《Ascension Of The Immortal Asura》


 Chapter 1 - John Fenix

    In the vast and endless expanse of space, only the distant shimmering stars could be seen, shining intensely throughout the cold and lifeless void.


    However, within the endless void appeared a streak of immense power, tearing the very fabric of space itself wherever it passed. After an untold amount of years barreling through the infinite dark of space, the streak descended on a lonely at the edge of the universe.


    At that moment, the dark of night gave way to day as the streak plummeted into the, upheaving the nearbynd and rendering it asunder. After the dust settled, only ruin and devastation could be seen for tens of thousands of miles in each direction.


    From all over the continent and beyond, thousands of experts descended upon the ravagednd, looking for whatever caused the immense destruction. However, the search ended up fruitless. From that day on, a legend was born about a heavenly meteor of apocalyptic power descending upon thend, destroying all in its path.


    Endless eons passed, and legends turned to myth.


    The Skycleave forest, at the foothills of the Skycleave mountain range, was a forest expanse that spanned for thousands of miles in each direction. Sitting at the base of Skycleave Mountain range, the vast unexplored woond held secrets only known to experts. Within the forest, beasts are able to cultivate their bodies and be aligned with their surrounding elements, thus arge variety of magical beasts could be found there. Due to the danger associated with magical beasts, most humans avoid the forest out of fear.


    Deafening howls echoed through the forest as a pack of wolves could be seen running, chasing someone. The midday sun shone through the forest canopy, revealing a young boy that had wounds all over his body. He was breathing heavily as he ran from the wolves. His long ck hair, tied behind his head, bounced behind him, while his piercing ck eyes focused on the obstacles ahead. His physique was much more refined than expected of one his age, and he had no problem evading the wolves. He reached a clearing in the forest, a single Pagoda tree stood above a small body of water, its leaves bright green. It stood thirty yards high with a trunk ten yards wide.


    As the boy paused for a moment to take in the poetic scene, a wolf charged from a bush to his left. The boy turned and in an instant his greatsword shed overhead down on the wolf. The beast didn''t try to dodge the blow and was struck in the shoulder, the sword broke the hide of the wolf and the de mmed into the shoulder joint. The impact set the wolf off bnce due to the weight of the greatsword. The wolf continued his attack, attempting to w the boy''s arm holding the sword, but was too slow to notice the kick that followed the sword sh.


    The wolf went flying into the nearby tree only feet away, at which point the boy kicked off the ground and dashed to the wolf, plunging his sword deep into the wolf''s neck, killing it.


    He pulled the sword out of the wolf''s neck, blood spilling out andpletely covered the wolf''s underbelly. He quickly turned around, his long hair whipping behind him. The other wolves spared no time and in an instant, another wolf lunged at the boy. The boy raised his greatsword in an attempt to block the attack. He sessfully parried the massive paw but was sent flying backwards thirty feet into a boulder.


    "Gah!" the boy shouted in pain as his ribs nearly broke from the force of crashing into the rock. The boy wiped the blood from his lips, and slowly picked himself up.


    Above him seven wolves stood, growling and snarling before simultaneously attacking the boy.


    Suddenly, the ground was slightly upheaved as another boy crashed down in front of him. The force from his attack caused a small shockwave that knocked all of the wolves back. After slowly getting up, the wolves growled at the neer, but decided against attacking the new threat and fled the scene.


    "John, you really need to think of another way to train. This training method is going to get you killed. Those wolves were equivalent to early body refining cultivators, while you are just a normal human."


    The new boy walked over to the boy on the ground, and helped him get up.


    "It''s because I''m a normal human that I need to use these extreme methods to get stronger. Everyday I watch you and the rest of the n grow stronger, while I just stagnate. Anyways, thanks for cleaning up this mess Ryan." retorted John.


    John Fenix was the son of the Fenix n leader''s third son Barden, and was fourteen years old. Due to circumstances that no one understood, John was unable to cultivate. His n had hired countless medical doctors to find out what was wrong with him, but none could identify any issues with his body. Ever since then, John tried all sorts of crazy things, even battling with powerful beasts, to try to activate his martial potential, but nothing had worked.


    "Haha don''t mention it. These beasts aren''t anything worth fussing over." replied Ryan. Ryan had short brown hair, an average face and a slender build, with a cultivation level at the early Mist Creation realm. He was the son of a powerful Fenix n Elder, and had been John''s friend since they were toddlers as they were the same age.


    John smiled but didn''t reply. He looked back at the slightly upheaved ground from Ryan''s attack, his gaze lingering for a while before walking off with Ryan.


    They walked out of the forest and down a massive road before eventually arriving in front of a massive gate, with twenty yard tall walls stretching for several miles in each direction. As they approached the gate, the two guards stationed were about to stop the two neers, but noticed who the two approaching were.


    "Wee home young masters, was your forest expedition sessful?" asked one of the guards.


    "Very" replied John.


    Ryan could only give a wry smile at the guard, but didn''t say anything. The two of them walked past the gate and into n grounds. The n they stepped into was the Fenix n, one of the most prominent powers in the area. The n had nearly ten thousand members and controlled an area of several hundred miles in each direction. The n grounds sprawled along the northern side of the Skycleave Mountains, with grand buildings, majestic waterfalls and towering mountain peaks visible in the distance.


    "Where do you want to go next?" asked Ryan.


    "Let''s go to the Beast Trade Hall and sell these pelts. Although we get an allowance every month, extra money never hurts" replied John.


    They turned onto the main n road, which was one hundred feet wide and several miles long. Many shops, restaurants and other various buildings could be seen lining both sides of the streets as far as the eye could see. Side roads could be seen every few hundred feet, branching off into the distance. The road was bustling with people as they went about their daily lives. As John and Ryan walked down the street, they were greeted by many people.


    "Wee back young masters. How was your trip into the forest?" asked a middle aged man.


    "It was good. I got exactly what I wanted from it" replied John.


    "If what you wanted was almost getting killed sure" scoffed Ryan.


    "Is he still going out and fighting beasts in the forest? John, you''re going to get yourself killed. The n leader won''t be happy at all if that happens" said a middle aged woman.


    "Don''t worry auntie May, I''m always careful when I go out into the woods" John said back with a smile. Ryan could only roll his eyes as the two continued on down the road. They eventually came before a three story building, with various beast pelts decorating the outside entrance of the building. Walking up the stairs and into the building, they were greeted by thedy in charge of the Beast Trade hall. She looked to be around 25 years old and was quite good looking, with long ck hair andrge hazel eyes.


    "Oh, if it isn''t the young masters. What have you brought for me this time?" asked thedy.


    "One Earth Wolf pelt. What can we get for this Anne?" John asked as he took the beast out of his storage ring.


    Storage rings were quite amazing creations. One only had to think about opening the space of the ring, and the user would find their conscience inside the dimensional area. With another quick thought, the desired item would appear out in the real world. Only through skilled artificing and knowledge of the heavenly spatial daos could one make a storage ring.


    The storage ring sat on his left pointer finger, and allowed for easy travel without having to carry items everywhere. Storage rings were fairly rare in the mortal world, but the Fenix n had the means to provide them to all their young masters. The storage ring John had was quite a low level one, with an interior space of around ten feet on each side.


    "One Earth Wolf is worth fifty copper coins. Unfortunately you brought me a fairly low level one, so I can only offer this much" said Anne.


    "Fifty copper coins works for me." John replied as he gave over the pelt and collected the copper coins. After trading in the pelt, John and Ryan left the trade hall and continued towards the main n living grounds, which was situated higher into the mountainside. Turning around a building corner, John bumped into another boy, and fell down.


    "Watch where you''re going trash." sneered the boy before continuing on his path. The boy was Parker Fenix. He had short ck hair, and a face that looked perpetually arrogant. He was fifteen years old and was John''s older cousin. Parker''s father Orenn was the first son of the n leader, and Parker carried a haughty attitude due to his status and talent of a Late Mist Creation realm cultivator.


    After helping John to stand up, Ryan turned to look at Parker and muttered, "Man, Parker is just bing more and more of an asshole every time we run into him."


    "Well, he is the strongest junior of our n. I suppose that can go to your head eventually." replied John while looking at Parker before turning back to Ryan. "Anyways, I''m going to go home and wash up. I''ll be going to the martial library tomorrow. You want toe to the library with me?" asked John.


    "You know I have no interest in studying weapon theory. All I need to do is be stronger than the enemy" replied Ryan.


    John looked at Ryan for a bit before smiling and saying "Alright, well if you change your mind, you know where to find me. Later."


    John brushed the dust off his ck robe before walking in the direction of his mansion, which he arrived at a few minutester. The mansion was quiterge, with a dozen rooms of various purposes, and a sprawling courtyard which housed both arge garden and a small private martial training area.


    Walking past the gardens, he entered his mansion and was greeted by a delicious smell. He followed the smell to the kitchen, where he noticed a woman cooking his favorite meal. She looked to be in her thirties despite being older, a youthful benefit provided from cultivating. Her name was Rachel Fenix, and she had long ck hair, dark brown eyes and a smile that would warm the hearts of any who saw it.


    "I''m back mom" John called out. Rachel turned around with a smile on her face before jumping slightly in shock.


    "You''re wounded everywhere. Did you go out into the forest again? I told you that it''s dangerous. There are beasts out there that even I would fear" His mother eximed while tending to his wounds.


    "It''s alright, they''re just scrapes and bruises. They''ll heal in a few days. Besides, you''re making me my favorite Golden Ox stew, so how could I let a few cuts ruin my day" replied John. He walked over to the pot and took adle of stew, blowing on it to cool it before tasting it.


    "Delicious as always. When''s dad getting home so we can enjoy dinner?" John asked just as the front door opened again and a man walked in. He had short brown hair, with a full beard and a slight scar on the right side of his face. The man was Barden Fenix, the n leader''s third son, and also John''s father. He was a powerful Core Formation expert, and one of the most prominent figures in the n.


    He sniffed the air before turning happily towards the kitchen.


    "Wee back dad." John said as Barden Fenix walked into the room. Barden looked at John''s condition for a second beforeughing happily. He walked to John and pped him on the back saying,


    "I see you''ve been out fighting beasts again huh? Well that''s good, a man should be daring regardless of the circumstances. Did you manage to take one down at least?" asked Barden with a smile on his face.


    "Yep, managed to kill one Earth Wolf today. Ryan took out the rest though. Anyways, now that we''re all here, let''s eat." John replied while slightly wincing in pain from his dad patting the wounds on his back.


    The family sat down at the dinner table and discussed the day''s events. Barden detailed some of the issues the n was dealing with, including the ongoing skirmishes with the Crimson Valley Sect.


    "They keep getting more daring, although they don''t dare start a war outright yet. Guess it''s to be expected, but at least it''s nothing too serious right now" Barden stated while chowing down some of the Golden Ox stew.


    After finishing his meal, John thanked his mother for the meal and went upstairs to wash up. He washed all his wounds clean, put on a fresh ck robe, and went to bed after an exhausting day.

 Chapter 2 - Varis Clan

    The next morning after getting up from bed, John walked to his wardrobe. There was an assortment of various luxurious robes with multitudes of patterns and designs. He decided to wear a ck robe with a Phoenix embroidered on the back of it, the symbol of the Fenix n. Ever since he was young, John enjoyed wearing ck, and was rarely seen not wearing that color.


    After getting himself ready for the day, John walked out his mansion and headed towards the martial library. The martial library was located towards the center of the Fenix n grounds, near the martial training area. Ever since he found out he was unable to cultivate, he decided to make up for this by expanding his expertise in other fields, including academics, military strategy, weapon theory and more. He would often spend entire days inside the martial library, reading the countless books thaty within.


    After walking for a few minutes, John arrived in front of the martial library. The martial library was named the White Feather Library, and had served as the Fenix ns library for hundreds of years. It stood seven stories tall with six towering brownish red walls and eight ck flying eaves, and was made of smooth stone and wood. The interior was lightly decorated with carved beams and statues of past Elders and leaders. Each floor contained interior balconies that overlooked the entrance hall to the library, as well as exterior balconies overlooking the n grounds.


    He stepped through the main door and walked straight to the stairs. As he began ascending the stairs, he stared towards the center of the library and thought to himself, "Damn, I''ll be out of reading material before long".


    John had already read all the books on the first two floors and was working onpleting the third floor. Arriving at the third floor, he passed by a few aisles before deciding on where to start. Each aisle was lined with dark wooden bookshelves, filled with neatly packed books and scrolls.


    He turned down the third aisle and grabbed a book regarding cultivation theory. Though John could not cultivate, he enjoyed learning everything he could, and cultivation theory was no different. The book had a dark leather cover over the bamboo panels, it''s pages sandy white with a texture like sanded wood. After examining the cover, John walked over to one of the outside balconies overlooking the martial training grounds.


    Below the library, dozens of children between the ages of eight and eighteen could be seen training and sparring. Sighing, he opened the book and turned to the first page.


    "To cultivate is to challenge the heavens themselves. Only those with unbreakable wills should tread the cultivation pathway, as doing so¡­" Reading the opening page of the book, John felt the words stir an intense desire within him, but also a deep bitterness as well.


    "I don''t care how, but one day I will find a way to get this damn body of mine to start cultivating" John thought to himself. He turned his eyes back to the page and kept reading, eventuallying across the section he was looking for.


    "Cultivation starts with the body. In order to cultivate and utilize Qi, one''s body should be strong enough to handle the berserk energy that rampages within. Starting with the organs, the five stages of Body Refinement are Organ Refinement, Bone Refinement, Tendon Refinement, Muscle Refinement, and finally Blood Refinement. Once one''s body has beenpletely refined, it is able to handle the Qi provided by the dantian.


    After body refinementes the Mist Creation realm. To step into this realm, one must absorb Qi from the surrounding air, and guide it through the body and into the location of the dantian, three fingers below and two fingers back of the navel. Sessfully cultivating to this stage will result in the formation of a dantian of misty Qi. Mist Creation has three stages; early Mist Creation, middle Mist Creation, and Late Mist creation. Each minor realm will further condense the mist dantian, until it is unable to be condensed anymore in its mist state. Each major realm after Body refinement all have the three stages of early, middle, andte.


    At the peak of Mist Creation, the dantian will condense into a liquid dantian, known as the Qi Condensation realm. After condensing the liquid dantian to its peak, a cultivator will solidify their dantian into a solid core. This realm is known as the Core Formation realm. Beyond the Core Formation realm is the Meridian Forging realm."


    John read through the pages describing the cultivation stages, but it appeared to stop at the Meridian Forging realm. No information was provided other than its name.


    "Too bad it didn''t include more information on Meridian Forging and the realms after that. I suppose books with that information are stored in a more secure area." thought John. John stopped reading and watched the children below him train, various thoughts swirling through his mind. After a few hours of watching the sparring, John decided to grab a few more books to read.


    The moon was high in the sky before John snapped out of reading and realized what time it was. Stretching his aching legs, he stood up and left the martial library, and headed back home and fell asleep.


    The next morning, John woke up and walked back to his wardrobe. He was debating on whether to wear his favorite ck robe or something more luxurious. Afterall, today was the day that the nearby Varis n was paying the Fenix n a visit, and a celebratory feast was nned for the evening. He decided against the luxurious robes and donned his favorite ck robe with the embroidered Phoenix.


    "Guess I''ll go read some more today before I head over to the festive hall" thought John as he walked out of his mansion. He walked to the martial library and up the stairs to the same book aisle as he visited yesterday. Grabbing the next few books to read, John sat back down on the balcony and opened the first book, perusing through the contents.


    "John, the Varis n is already here. Come down already" a yell suddenly interrupted John and snapped him out of his reading. John looked over the balcony edge and noticed Ryan at the base of the building, waiting for him.


    "Oh, I guess I lost track of time. I''ll be right down" replied John. After putting the book back in ce, John walked down the steps of the martial library and met Ryan outside.


    "How long has the Varis n been here already?" asked John.


    "About thirty minutes. Your father sent me to find you since you werete. Also, Miko has been asking non-stop about where you are." replied Ryan.


    "Hah" John rubbed his head. He felt a headacheing along whenever Miko was mentioned.


    John and Ryan walked through the n grounds before they came to a massive sprawling building. The building was one hundred feet tall and almost a thousand feet long, withvish adornments and lifelike statues all along the outside and on top of the building.


    John noticed that there were many carriages parked outside. In front of the carriages were Qi Condensation Realm Armored Rhinos. The Armored Rhinos stood nine feet tall and fifteen feet long, and had grey armored tes all along the back of their bodies. They weren''t very fast, but they were quite powerful and served as the perfect beast for pulling heavy carriages. The Armored Rhinos signaled the power that the Varis n had to be able to have Qi Condensation beasts serve as mere carriage mules.


    Walking passed the carriages and up the front stairs, John and Ryan entered the great hall. The hall wasrge enough to hold thousands of people, with hundreds of tables scattered throughout. The walls and ceiling had detailed designs painted on them, andrge lifelike statues of previous n leaders and patriarchs lined the edges of the hall.


    "John, you''re finally here,e say hello to our guests" boomed a powerful voice at the center table. The voice belonged to Cade Fenix, the n leader of the Fenix n. He was quite tall and had an intimidating face and short ck hair with graying tints.


    Next to Cade was a contingent of people, with the front led by a middle aged man in a luxurious white robe. He had long brown hair, a full beard, and a friendly face. This man was Waylon Varis, the n leader of the Varis n.


    "John, good to see you again. It''s been awhile. How have you been?" asked Waylon.


    "I''ve been doing well uncle Waylon. I hope the journey wasn''t too rough" replied John.


    "Not at all" replied Waylon. John smiled and turned his eyes behind Waylon.


    Within the crowd behind Waylon John noticed two girls talking to each other, both fourteen years old. One of the girls had long ck hair, a pretty face, and wore a luxurious golden robe embroidered with a Phoenix. She was Ralia Fenix, the daughter of the sect leader''s second son, Rodi. Next to Ralia was E Varis, the only daughter of n leader Waylon Varis. She had long brown hair tied into a ponytail, with slender eyebrows,rge hazel eyes, and a radiant smile.


    Noticing E, John looked at Ryan and said "I see you''re still infatuated as ever with E. Why don''t you go over and talk to her?"


    Snapping out of his stupor, Ryan looked towards John and replied "Easier said than done. Why don''t you go talk to her instead?"


    "I''m not the one whose in love with her now am I? All you have to do is¡­" John''s voice trailed off as he felt something was off. He quickly looked towards the rest of the Varis n group, his eyes darting back and forth trying to find someone. Failing to find the person of interest, John had a bad feeling and quickly turned around.


    "Eat this" a voice shouted as a foot came crashing towards John. John was a step toote to block it and the footnded square on his face, sending him crashing backwards into and over one of the tables, food and drink flying everywhere. Slowly standing up while clutching his face in pain, John looked up to see a child standing there, with his arms crossed and a satisfied look on his face.

 Chapter 3 - Miko Varis

    "Miko, what the fuck is wrong with you?" yelled John, rubbing his nose. Tears were streaming down his face from the force of the kick.


    John looked up at Miko and noticed he had grown since hest saw him. He was eleven years old and had short and spiky brown hair, with an average build for his age. His childish face contrasted with the refined and luxurious white robe he was wearing. Miko was the only son of n leader Waylon Varis, and was considered by many to be a one in ten thousand years cultivation prodigy. He was the pride of the Varis n, and as such, they had pampered him his entire life leading to his unbridled attitude.


    "I''m just getting back at you for when you sneak attacked mest time!" eximed Miko. John was about to argue back, but suddenly remembered that it was in fact him thatnded a sneak attack on Miko thest time they met at the Varis n.


    "Well, whatever. That was a pretty good attack. At least now you''re waiting until the attack strikes before you yell out loud" said John. John walked up to Miko and heavily patted him on the back, causing Miko to stumble forward a few feet.


    Miko stabilized himself and turned to Johnughing. "Lets go spar, we haven''t sparred in almost a year" replied Miko.


    "We can''t just leave this n gathering to go spar Miko," John responded. As a downtrodden look appeared on Mikos face, a voice from behind them caused Miko''s face to brighten once again.


    "Of course you can. We''re just socializing right now. Lunch doesn''t start for another hour. Just be back by then" said Cade, with Waylon nodding in agreement beside him.


    "Lets go, lets go, lets go!" eximed Miko happily. John held his hand to his face, before agreeing to spar. John, Ryan and Miko then left the n hall and walked towards the martial training arena, with Miko happily jumping up and down in excitement.


    Watching them leave, Waylon smiled and said "Ever since John ''saved'' Miko from that stray dog as a child, Miko has be John''s biggest fan and supporter, although he has a weird way of showing that support. Speaking of John, his senses are getting sharper as well. He almost managed to dodge Miko''s kick in time."


    Laughing, Cade replied "John has been almost killing himself trying to get stronger, so it''s only natural his senses have improved. Miko on the other hand gets more and more impressive every time I see him. Middle Mist Creation at only eleven years old, and a special variant soul type. He''s probably the most promising cultivator our continent has produced in thest ten thousand years. I can''t help but be envious of his talent. By the way, have you figured out what type of variant his soul is?"


    "Not yet, we''ve checked every source of knowledge we have, and even had some terrifying experts check his soul, but none of them could identify what variant type it is. Several of those experts wanted to take him as a disciple, but it''s not the time for that yet," replied Waylon.


    John, Ryan and Miko walked for a few minutes before they arrived at the martial training arena. It had several sections dedicated to various aspects of martial training, such as practice dummies, weight training, and fighting arenas. There were several fighting arenas, each with dedicated stands for spectators to watch the sparring should they desire to do so. The group walked to one of the arenas that was empty and entered through the lower entrance. The sandy arena was circr, with a diameter of one hundred yards and stands dozens of rows high.


    John walked to one side of the arena and turned to face Miko. He pulled out his greatsword and held it by his side. The iron sword de was four feet long, weighed thirty pounds and had a dark gray luster to it. Although John was not a Body Refinement cultivator, he had an unusually powerful body, and was able to wield the greatsword without much problem.


    "Alright, same rules asst time, no using your cultivation or profound strength, this is purely a weapon skills spar," John said to Miko.


    Miko stopped at the other side of the arena and turned towards John. He too took out a greatsword and held it in front of him. The hiltless sword had a de that was four feet long and four inches wide at the base, with a golden sheen and a checkered pattern etched into the de. Being made out of profound gold ore, it was much heavier than John''s sword, weighing one hundred pounds.


    "I know I know, but this time you''re not going to win. I''ve been training my sword techniques almost every day since you beat mest time. Get ready!" Miko bellowed as he rushed towards John. John stood there, his stance wide and firm, sword ready at his side, waiting for Miko to reach him.


    Miko appeared in front of John and raised the sword high above his head with both hands, and cleaved down towards John. Based on the difference in sword qualities and weight, John knew he couldn''t block this attack head on. As the sword shed down towards John head, John gracefully twisted his body to the side and watched the sword narrowly scrape past his chest.


    "Oh no you don''t. Don''t think I didn''t remember this move fromst time" yelled Miko as he turned his shoulders and arms, redirecting the sword towards John''s waist. It was at that moment that John realized Miko had actually feigned the first attack, putting barely any power into it, all for the opportunity to redirect midswing when John least expected it.


    "Bang!"


    John was barely able to raise his sword in time to parry the attack, but his hasty defense allowed Miko to send John stumbling back ten feet. Not wasting the opportunity he created, Miko pounced forward towards John, swinging his sword towards John''s waist again.


    John steadied himself quickly and watched the de approaching him. A slight smile shed across his face and he raised his de in a show to block the iing sword. Just before the sword reached John''s waist, John crouched and spun down below the swing, his own sword arcing towards Miko''s waist.


    Not expecting the fast response from John, Miko had already put his power into the attack and was unable to stop his swing. Miko suddenly found a sword whirling towards his chest, with no way to block it.


    "Bang!"


    John felt like his arms were about to break as he was suddenly sent flying across the martial arena, tumbling violently a few times before he finally came to a stop.


    "Cough!", John coughed up some blood, the blood trickling from his lips.


    "Ahh sorry" Miko yelled as he and Ryan rushed over to John. "I instinctively used my full power at thest moment there to block your attack. Are you alright?" asked Miko as he helped John stand up.


    "Cough!" "Don''t worry,I''ll be alright. I''ll just need a few minutes to catch my breath." John brushed the dirt off his robe and took a small green pill out of his storage ring and popped it into his mouth. Although the pill was a fairly low level healing pill, it was enough to suppress the minor internal wounds that he had just suffered.


    "Lets head back to the gathering. We''ll just call this duel a tie." said John as he smiled at Miko. Ryan and Miko supported John as they helped him walk back to the n gathering.


    Arriving back at the gathering hall, John noticed the boisterous atmosphere as both ns drank and ate together, a sign of the two ns'' close rtionship. John''s mother and father were at the head table as well, talking to the Elders of the Varis n. John, Ryan, and Miko each took their seats at one of the tables close to the n leaders. Once the n leaders noticed the three of them had returned, they finished their discussion.


    Cade Fenix stood up and addressed the crowd. "Attention everyone. As some of you may know, there is an important matter involving the Fenix and Varis nsing up in the near future." Cade paused briefly before continuing "The ancient pocket realm."


    Excited murmurs echoed throughout the hall at the mention of the pocket realm. The pocket realm was an ancient and mysterious realm. No one knew what the origins of the realm were or who created it, but they did know that wonderful opportunities awaited inside for those able to grasp them.


    After quieting everyone down, Cade Fenix continued "The realm opens every twenty years, and the next opening will be in less than a year. Anyone sixteen years of age and under can enter. As such, each of our ns will select the most promising young cultivators to enter the realm. Unfortunately, due to the agreement in ce with all the participating ns and sects, we cannot directly hand out entry. Instead, the top one hundred cultivators, decided by strength will be permitted entry. A tournament will be held between all the participating ns and sects several weeks before the pocket realm opens to determine who will enter. Do your utmost to grasp this opportunity. We will be giving out more information on this matter at ater time."


    Cade returned to his seat and started discussing matters with Waylon, while excited discussions filled the hall.


    "I can''t wait to enter the pocket realm" one n junior enthusiastically eximed.


    "I''ve heard that previous generations received all sorts of amazing items and opportunities inside" replied another.


    "Hmph, look at all these frogs thinking they''ll achieve anything of merit. Anything of importance in the pocket realm will be yours for the taking, senior brother Parker" said one boy.


    "Right, Right. With Parker here, no one else has any hope of getting anything good" another replied.


    At one of the central tables, a group of youths surrounded Parker Fenix, showering him with praise in an attempt to get into his good graces.While he said nothing, the haughty look on his face betrayed his otherwise calm demeanor.


    "Look at them sucking up to Parker, it''s pathetic," said Ryan. "It''s not like they''ll get anything out of pleasing him anyways."


    John looked over to the table of youths but said nothing. As far as he was concerned, anything to do with Parker and hisckeys had nothing to do with him.


    The sun was setting by the time the festivities wrapped up, at which point the Varis n got up, ready to head back home.


    "Goodbye old friend, it was great catching up with you after all this time. I''ll see you in a few weeks in the Dreadel Kingdom" said Waylon to Cade as he stood up before leaving. The n followed suit, with Miko in tow. He turned around and waved goodbye to John and Ryan before leaving with the n.


    After the festivities ended, John bid Ryan and everyone else a goodnight and headed back to his mansion with his mother and father. As they walked inside, John was about to go upstairs to his room when his mother called out to him.


    "John, could you please take these gifts from the party today and put them in the cer?" Rachel


    "Sure," John replied.


    He took the several jars of wine that his mother gave him and walked to the back of the mansion towards the cer door. After passing through several rooms, John arrived at the cer door and opened it, looking down the staircase into the cer.


    "Now that I think about it, I guess I''ve never actually been down in the cer. I wonder what it looks like?" John thought to himself as he descended down the stairs.


    As he reached the bottom of the staircase, John took a look around at therge cer and the contents within. He could see various things stored down there, including wine caskets, weapons, books, medicinal ingredients and more. Walking passed the weapons racks and bookshelves, John arrived at the section of the cer for wine storage. He ced the wine jars on top of one of the shelves, and turned around to leave.


    Just as John was about to head up the stairs, he felt something stir inside him, urging him to turn back.

 Chapter 4 - Mysterious Sphere

    John turned back and stared back into the cer. For some reason he couldn''t exin, John felt that there was something down here, calling out to him. The feeling was so fleeting that John couldn''t decide it if it was an actual feeling or just his imagination.


    He decided to follow his gut feeling and turned back into the cer, walking around to see if he could find the source of the feeling.


    "Weird" John thought. "I clearly feel as if there''s something down here, but I can''t find anything." John kept walking around the cer for several minutes until he found himself at the far corner of the cer, facing towards the wall. He felt as if this was where the lingering feeling wasing from.


    "I don''t see anything out of the ordinary, it''s just a brick wall" thought John. "Maybe there''s something on the wall, or hidden slightly behind it."


    John started feeling each brick on the wall, seeing if any brick would fall loose and reveal whatever called out to him behind it. John searched for several minutes until,


    "Thunk!"


    The brick John touched was pressed slightly inwards. As John backed away, he could hear some machinations working behind the wall before the wall slowly parted, revealing a dark corridor and a narrow staircase leading downwards. John peered into the dark stairway, but couldn''t see what was at the bottom, or how far the staircase descended.


    "Why is there such a thing down here? What are mother and father trying to hide" thought John.


    He thought about returning upstairs to ask them about it, but decided against it. Whatever was down there, his parents had obviously wanted to hide it from him and others. John walked back to the main area of the cer and found a torch and flint. He lit the torch and walked back towards the staircase, where he stood for several minutes.


    "Well, standing here won''t solve anything. I''ve always been daring, so why should this be any different. Besides, I doubt mom and dad would store anything life threatening in our own house," John thought.


    He took his first step onto the staircase, pausing briefly before continuing down. Carefully, step after step, John descended down the staircase.


    "I''ve been walking for a minute already. How far down does this staircase go? And why would it need to be so deep?" John wondered. After another thirty seconds of walking, John eventually saw the narrow staircase open up. Stepping off the stairs, John peered into the dark ahead of him.


    The torchlight barely revealed arge cavernous area in front of him, but it was not bright enough to light up the entire room. Looking around at the entrance of the room, John noticed a formation disk and pressed his hand against it. Light suddenly illuminated the room in front of him.


    Shock flitted across John''s face as the room was revealed to him. Dazzlingly bright spirit crystals embedded across the ceiling that were lit by the formation disk he pushed revealed a room fifty feet across and thirty feet high, with a singlerge marble white altar in the very middle.


    The altar stood on top of a small tform, with white stairs on each side leading up to the tform. John stared at the scene in front of him for a few minutes before walking towards the altar in the middle. As he approached, the feeling he had before began to intensify.


    "Obviously whatever was calling out to me, it''s on top of this altar," John thought to himself.


    John arrived at the base of the staircase andposed himself before taking step after step up the staircase. He arrived on top of the tform and walked over to the altar, the feeling growing ever more intense. John stopped when he was three feet from the altar, staring at the object resting on top of it.


    On top of the chest high altar rested a small round sphere, about the size of arge grape. It was as ck as the void of space, and emitted a wispy red and ck aura so sinister John thought he had plunged into hell for a second. Coming back to his senses after a few seconds, John quickly backed away, his heartbeat racing.


    "Why would my parents have something like this?" John eximed. This sphere was nothing like John had ever seen before, or even read about. It was somethingpletely outside his realm of understanding. John stood there for a few minutes staring at the sphere, scared to approach but reluctant to walk away. Although he felt no danger from the sphere, the lingering aura was enough to scare anyone away.


    Before he noticed it himself, his hand was reaching towards the sphere, about to pick it up. Coming to his senses, he stopped himself at thest moment, but didn''t pull back his hand. His hand hovered there for some time.


    "Fuck it, whatever it is, I was drawn to it for some reason. I''ll trust my instincts this once and hope it really doesn''t kill me" John thought as he continued reaching for the sphere.


    The moment his fingers touched the sphere, an intense pain washed over his entire body. John gasped for air but found no relief. The air was hot, like it was filled with ash and smoke. John''s legs copsed, his knees mming into the ground as he wrapped his arms around his chest and tightened every muscle in his body. His vision went white. The sensation quickly spread throughout his entire body and quickly began to increase in intensity. There seemed to be no end to this torture.


    After what felt like an eternity, John felt as if a chain of some kind inside him snapped. John''s eyes opened as wide as they could, his mouth following suit. The pain had increased tenfold. John felt like his insides were being torn apart, his muscles stripped from his bones and organs violently exploding. He thought he was going to die, but suddenly, the pain subsided, and he copsed to the floor, unconscious.


    Darkness washed over John.


    He felt like he was floating in a void, with no sense of time. He felt like he had been floating for an eternity, and also just an instant.


    John managed to slowly open his eyes, taking in the scene in front of him. The air was filled with a hazy gray mist, like an early morning after fresh dewfall only thicker. There appeared to be no source of light and yet, the world was illuminated enough to see. The world in front of him seemed endless. Each direction John looked was filled with gray mist and in the distance, he only saw an endless ckness.


    John slowly turned around and took a breath, his lungs filling with cold air. He took a step forward and looked down at what he was standing on. wless white marble. John was standing on a pathway of perfectly sculpted white marble te. He followed the marble pathway for about a minute before the mist slightly dissipated.


    "What is this ce?" eximed John in pure shock.


    In front of John stood a massive white pce, so grand that John could not believe his eyes. Never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined a ce as majestic and real as this pce could exist. The pce stretched as far as the eye could see, and rose tens of thousands of feet high into the sky.


    Endless grand spires, thousands of feet tall, made of wless white stone, marble, and gold lined the pce. Each spire was surrounded by hundreds of wondrous statues of grand beasts and imposing humans. The statues were so lifelike that John initially thought they were guards.


    After staring at the pce for what felt like an eternity, John started walking towards it, eventually finding himself in front of a massive white gate, thousands of feet tall. To each side of the gate,rge white ivory dragons could be seen, their scales outlined in gold, eyes glowing green like enchanted jade. The bars of the gate were thick, about twenty feet thick in diameter. They were pearly white and covered in very thin golden flowers.


    Suddenly, the massive gates before him slowly started to open. As the gates fully opened, a pathway illuminated itself before John, as if asking him to walk through the gates. John hesitated for a moment before striding forward, walking by the massive gates and into the pce.


    As John stepped through the pce doors, a holy aura washed over him. A feeling of pure serenity and peace encapsted John, he felt as if his entire being was cleansed and born anew. He closed his eyes and bathed in the feeling for a few minutes before opening his eyes again.


    The pce entry room was incredible. The walls stood thousands of feet tall and were made of solid white marble, the ceiling was arched and was littered with small golden stars that radiated light and mirrored the night sky. To the left and right of the entry room wererge hallways. Long spiral staircases followed the walls upwards towards massive arched doors made of solid white stone. The staircases were lined with golden railings and had intricate patterns of beasts and flora carved along the sides. Beneath the staircases, were five doors dozens of yards tall and wide.


    John stood on immacte white marble flooring with arge circr flower medallion iy in the center of the room. It was made with at least ten different kinds of stone and was perfectly symmetrical.


    In front of John was a massive hallway lined with colossal statues made of wless stone. On the right side, statues of a man were seen striking different heroic poses. The man seemed to be middle aged, he had a full head of long flowing hair, a chiseled face, a set of piercing eyes that seemed as if they could see through all of creation. He held a majestic sword in his hand, and seemed as if he could cleave through the heavens itself.


    On the opposite side, the statues depicted a woman. She had luxurious robes, long flowing hair, and a face that would topple kingdoms and ruin empires. Simr to the man, she too had an aura of grandness surrounding her.


    John made his way through the room towards the statues in front of him. As he walked, additional stars on the ceiling above lit up, illuminating the entire hallway before him, and revealing endless statues down the hall and a grand white door at the end. He studied each statue as he continued down the hallway, and after some time he finally reached the end and stood in front of the white door which stood hundreds of feet tall and wide.


    He examined the majestic golden adornments embedded in the door and wondered to himself, "How am I supposed to open a door thisrge?"


    Curiously, he moved to ce his hands on the door in front of him. As if aware of his touch, the door started to slowly part, revealing the room behind it.


    The room wasrger than the previous hallway and entry room. Throughout the room countless white pirs dotted the floor, each pir wasrge enough to need several men to wrap their arms around it. John''s eyes followed the pirs upwards to the ceiling. To his surprise, the ceiling was not visible. A light gray mist filled the upper regions of the room.


    As John stepped into the room, rays of light pierced the mist and illuminated a pathway before him. John continued forward, following the illuminated path for thousands of feet. At the end of the room stood another massive marble white gate.


    The gate was different from the one before it. It stood upon a tform that had gray oval shaped stairs leading up to it. Standing thousands of feet tall wide, the gate had nine chains securing it in ce. Each chain was tens of feet thick and spanned the entire gate, seemingly locking something inside. Far to each side of the gate, stoodrge doors at the end of each side of the room but John did not notice them due to the imposing presence of what stood before him.


    Floating high above the ground in front of the gate was a translucent orb several feet across. Within the orb, ten spheres of viscous red blood could be seen revolving around each other, seemingly in an endless celestial dance.


    John stepped up the oval stairs towards the gate. As he stepped below the translucent orb, one of the blood drops slowly started to descend. As soon as it left the protection of the translucent orb, the humming stopped. The silence surprised John. He felt an incredibly powerful and holy aura wash over him. He tried to back away from the orb but found that he could no longer move.


    "Why can''t I move?" John yelled as he struggled to break free of his restraints.


    Despite using all his power, John couldn''t budge a single inch, and could only watch helplessly as the blood drop descended until it was right in front of him. John stared at the blood drop, at which point it slowly began to move towards the center of his chest. John wasn''t sure what this blood was, but after his experience with the ck sphere, he didn''t want to touch anything he didn''t understand.


    "Get away from me" John yelled, but no matter what he tried, he could not budge. The blood drop approached John before slowly merging into his chest. Another intense wave of pain washed over John, and he felt as if he was about to explode. Immense energy was rippling throughout his entire body, threatening to destroy him.


    "So this is how I die huh?" thought John while trying to withstand the pain.


    Light.


    John slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself lying in his bed back home in his mansion. Confused, he looked around expecting to see the majestic pce he was just in, but could only see his mother sitting on the side of his bed, staring at him worryingly.

 Chapter 5 - Body Refinement

    "John, you''re awake. Thank god." his mother Rachel eximed, crying while hugging him.


    John looked around the room, still confused as to what just happened.


    "Was that all just a dream?" John thought to himself. "The grandness of the pce, the power of the blood drop, all of it seemed so real..." John''s thoughts trailed off as he still tried to remember everything that happened in the pce. No matter how he thought about it, he couldn''t wrap his mind around it.


    "One minute I was in the pce, and now I''m back here in my room. Was that just a dream after all?" wondered John. He looked up at his crying mother and realized he had been sitting there in silence for quite some time. He reached out and hugged her as well,forting her as best he could.


    "Don''t worry mom, I''m fine. There''s nothing to cry about." John said to his mother. Her tears eventually stopped falling as sheposed herself, wiping the remaining teardrops from her face.


    John then thought about the situation that led up to all of this. Hest remembered walking down the stairs and to the altar, at which point he reached out and touched the ominous sphere. All he could remember was the intense pain that wracked his body, the feeling of something snapping inside of him, and the strange ce he dreamed about, before waking up in his room.


    John looked at his mother and asked "What happened? Why am I in my bedroom now?"


    After a few seconds of silence, a serious expression appeared on Rachel Fenix''s face as she looked at John. She took a few seconds to gather her thoughts, before saying "You had been down in the cer for quite some time, so your father and I went down there to check what was going on. We then heard your screams echoing from the room below, and rushed down there as fast as possible, where we found you unconscious in the middle of the room. We then brought you back to your room and have been watching over you ever since. That was three days ago."


    "Three days!" John thought to himself.


    Rachel paused for a few seconds before continuing "John, how did you end up down there?"


    Gathering his thoughts, John started to exin to his mother what happened. He detailed how he felt an instinctual attraction that led him to the wall, at which point he found the lever to open it. He exined the rest of the events to his mother, detailing everything he could remember, up to touching the sphere, at which point his memories ended. John decided to keep the portion of the pce secret, as he had no idea if it was a dream or not.


    His mother looked at him while he detailed his events, her face bing ever moreplicated as the story progressed. She sighed deeply at the end of John''s story, not knowing what to say.


    "Mom, what was that ce? And what was that sphere? Why was it hidden down there, and why are we in possession of something so terrifying?" John asked his mother.


    As John was asking his questions, his father Barden walked into the room. A relieved look washed across his face as he noticed that John appeared to be alright, but his expression immediately becameplicated as he heard John''s question.


    Rachel noticed her husband walk into the room and looked at him, unsure of how to reply to John.


    Barden opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find the right words to say, before answering John.


    "It involves a family secret that only your mother and I, as well as the n leader knows about." Barden answered. He continued "We will exin to you everything you want to know when you''re older, but now is not the time." Sitting to the side, Rachel Fenix had a downcast expression as she listened to her husband talk.


    "What do you mean now is not the time? If not now, then when? And what does my age have to do with it?" John asked, both perplexed and angry. The terrifying sphere had almost killed him, but his parents still refused to say why they had it in the first ce, or what it even was.


    "In due time, my son, but not now. Now, we have a question to ask you. What did you do with the sphere?" his father asked.


    John didn''t understand the question. As far as he could remember, as soon as his fingers touched the sphere, immense pain radiated throughout his entire body before he passed out. He didn''t even pick up the sphere, let along take it.


    "I didn''t do anything. Like I exined to mother, I touched the sphere, and then passed out from the pain it caused. I didn''t even pick it up, let alone take it. It should still be down in that room," John replied


    Rachel and Barden Fenix looked at each other, a range of emotions passing across their faces before letting out long sighs.


    "Well, if that''s the case then it''s alright. How are you feeling?" asked Barden.


    John slowly got out of bed and stretched his stiff body. He was expecting to feel pain after the damage his body received from picking up the sphere, but much to his surprise, he feltpletely fine.


    "I''m feeling great. In fact, I''m feeling better than ever. The three days of rest must have helped a lot" replied John while testing his body''s condition. He threw out a few kicks and punches, the power of whichpletely stunned him. Raising his hands in front of him, John was at a loss for words.


    Barden squinted, noticing that something about John was off. A secondter, a slight expression of excitement shed across his face before returning back to normal. He walked over to John and raised his right palm in front of John, saying "John, I want you to punch my hand with all your might."


    John was confused by the request, but agreed and squared himself towards his father''s hand. He took a wide and powerful stance before striking towards his father''s hand with all his might.


    "Boom!"


    A loud sound echoed around the room as John fist collided with his father''s palm, and a shocked expression evident on John''s face. John raised his fist in front of him, curious as to how he had put that much power into the punch.


    "That punch was much stronger than anything I''ve ever thrown in my life. When did I be this strong?" wondered John to himself. After looking at his fist for a few seconds, John looked up to see an absolutely ecstatic look on his father''s face. Barden raced over to John and grabbed his arms. He started poking and prodding John all over, before eventually letting out an excited shout of joy.


    After taking a few seconds to calm down, Barden excitedly eximed "I thought my divine sense was lying to me, so I had to personally check to be sure. John, I don''t know how it happened, but you are now a Body Refinement cultivator. And not only an early stage Body Refinement cultivator...you''re already at the Muscle Refinement realm."


    John could hardly believe the words he was hearing. In fact, for a few moments he thought his father was ying a cruel joke on him. But as he started analyzing his body, he realized that his father was telling the truth. Once he looked closely, he could clearly see the massive difference in his body. His organs were sturdier, his bones harder, his tendons more flexible, and his muscles brimming with power.


    "How did this happen?" wondered John with a shocked expression. He had never been able to cultivate, and even if he had been able to start cultivating, he would have needed to go step by step starting at the Organ Refinement realm. He had never heard of anyone going all the way to the Muscle Refinement realm in a single leap.


    "John, do you know how this happened? When did you be able to cultivate?" asked Barden. John was about to say he didn''t know, but suddenly thought about the events that happened with the sphere, as well as the strange realm thereafter. When he touched the sphere, he remembered the feeling of something snapping inside of him, like a chain breaking that was shackling his body. He also thought about the pce realm thereafter, and the blood drop of terrifying power that entered his body.


    "Was that actually all real and not a dream? I wasn''t able to cultivate before I touched the sphere, but now I''m already a Body Refinement cultivator. There''s nothing else that exins this situation," John thought to himself. Although it was hard to believe, John could onlye to the conclusion that everything that had urred after he touched the sphere really happened.


    "If everything from before really happened, then what exactly was that pce? And how did I get there?" John wondered, but no matter how he thought about it, he had no idea how any of that happened. All he could surmise is that everything was rted to that mysterious sphere.


    Noticing John''s silence, Barden didn''t ask again. "Well, regardless of the reason, my son is now a cultivator, and I couldn''t be happier. This calls for a celebration. I''ll immediately alert my father. We must throw a grand celebration for this asion." eximed Barden happily as he strode out of the room.


    Rachel Fenix could only smile at her husband''s newfound happiness as she watched him leave. She turned to John and said "Well, regardless of all that happened, you''re safe and sound and that''s all that matters. You must be starving. I''ll go make some of your favorite stew."


    John watched his mother leave the room as he stood there speechless, stilling to terms with everything that just happened. Arge smile eventually appeared on John''s face, as he came to terms with his newfound ability to cultivate.


    "Regardless of the reasons, I can finally start cultivating. The feeling of being powerless while watching others soar to heights I could never reach was unbearable. Never again. Now that I can cultivate, I will ascend as high as I can reach on the martial path, so I never feel like that again!" eximed John.


    John walked over to the washroom and cleaned himself, before walking to his wardrobe and donning his favorite ck robe. A thought crept across John''s mind as he started walking towards his balcony door. Opening the door and striding through, John took arge breath of fresh air and walked to the balconies edge.


    The sun hung high in the sky as John gazed at the scenery below him. His mansions sprawling garden stretched out in front of him, with flowers of various kinds dotting thendscape. Multiple fountains were arranged in a circle around the garden, their runoff causing rivulets leading to a small pond in the middle of the garden, which shimmered wonderfully under the bright sun.


    After taking in the scenery for some time, John climbed up on the balcony railing and looked towards the ground thirty feet below. Taking another deep breath, John stepped off the railings edge and plummeted to the surface below.

 Chapter 6 - Martial Arena

    "Boom!"


    The ground shook slightly as John crashed into it violently, his knees almost buckling under the force of thending. A satisfied smile crept across John''s face as he looked back up towards the balcony, admiring the distance he had just fallen.


    "Hahaha. A fall like that would have killed me before. I guess I really am in the Body Refinement realm" John eximed happily.


    "What should I do next? Normally I would go to the martial library to read around this time, but I can''t sit still after a situation like this has developed" John thought. "I should go to the martial training area and test out my new strength. Most of the other kids should be training weapon skills right about now."


    Brushing off the dust that had kicked up from thending, John started walking towards the martial training area, arriving there a few minutester. He looked towards the training grounds and noticed all the other kids were sparring with weapons, with several Elders instructing them on how to improve.


    "Ah John, have you decided to join us for today''s weapon training?" asked Elder Huran. Elder Huran was one of the older and more powerful Elders, and was the lead Elder in charge of training the children. He had a bald head and a full white beard, with a slightlyrge belly protruding out. His powerful arms looked as if they could tear apart boulders with ease.


    "Yep" replied John. He walked over to the Elder and said his greetings.


    "Alright. Ethan over there needs a sparring partner." stated Elder Huran. Elder Huran then shouted out "Ethan, John will be your sparring partner. Remember, this is a weapon training spar only. Do not use your cultivation base."


    Ethan was thirteen years old and had a cultivation at the Blood Refinement realm. He was the son of one of the Elders of the n and was decently talented for his age. Ethan turned towards the Elder as he heard his name called out before looking at John who was approaching him.


    "Alright" replied Ethan with a slightly annoyed face. For the weapon sparring training, using one''s cultivation base was not allowed as the purpose of the training was to improve on weapon skills, not overwhelm the opponent with power.


    Ever since John realized he couldn''t cultivate, he had focused on all the areas that he could improve on with intensely. These areas included academics, martial theory, and also weapon skills. Out of all the children in the n, John was the most skilled at almost every type of weapon. As a result, most of the children felt stifled when sparring against John, as none of the children could beat John during spars, despite knowing they were much stronger than him.


    John walked towards the sparring circle Ethan was standing at. On his way, he picked up a dull sword from the nearby weapons rack. The weapons avable during weapon training were dulled to make sure that no serious injuries were inflicted on the participants.


    John stepped into the sparring circle and stood ten feet away from Ethan and raised his sword. Both participants held their swords in their right hands. John quickly took two steps forward, raised his sword and shed down at his opponent''s head. Ethan raised his sword and met Johns, sessfully parrying the attack.


    "Peng!"


    While John''s sword was still above his head from the parry, Ethan extended his arm in a counter-attacked and stabbed towards John''s head. Turning his body, John easily dodged the oing sword and with the handle of his sword struck Ethan''s hand causing him to drop his sword. John had won this set.


    The two stepped back ten feet once more. Ethan charged forward, slightly angry at his loss just now. He raised his sword above his head with both hands and sliced downwards. Johnzily stepped to the right and watched Ethan''s sword strike the dirt. Ethan''s head followed John as he moved to the side, he scrambled to regain bnce and quickly followed up with a sh sideways taking a step forward following the momentum from his initial attack.


    John stepped back with one foot to widen his stance and raised his sword and sessfully parried the attack. John noticed that Ethan''s stance was narrow and unbnced. John stepped forward and shed towards Ethan''s neck. Ethan turned to the right and awkwardly blocked the powerful attack. He waspletely off bnce. John followed up with a simple kick to the knee and Ethan copsed.


    Ethan stood up visibly angry at his continued losses. John and Ethan once more stood ten feet apart and stared at each other for a few seconds. Suddenly, John dashed forward, swinging his sword from an awkward angle towards Ethan''s head.


    "Peng!"


    Ethan raised his sword and met John''s sword, sessfully parrying the attack. John struck out again with his sword at a lower angle, causing Ethan to awkwardly parry his attack. Expecting this, John''s right leg was already kicking forward at a low angle, targeting Ethans legs. Not expecting the sudden follow up from John, Ethan lost his bnce as John''s kick caused him to stumble slightly.


    This opening was all John needed, as he rushed forward to deliver the finishing blow. The t of John''s sword struck Ethan on the side of his head, sending him flying a few feet back and tumbling to the ground.


    "Agh, bastard" yelled Ethan.


    Ethan stood up and stared at John, an enraged look on his face. All of a sudden, Ethan dashed towards John and punched at him with all his power. While Ethan didn''t dare kill John, he felt like breaking a few bones wouldn''t be too big of a problem.


    "Gah!"


    John and Ethans fists collided, and Ethan was sent flying backwards, rolling head over heels a few times before finallying to a stop twenty feet away. Everyone in the area immediately stopped their sparring and looked towards the scene that had just unfolded, a dumbstruck look on all their faces.


    Ethan struggled to stand up, but was unable to muster the strength to do so. A shocked Elder Huran stood there for a few seconds before running over towards Ethan, popping a small green pill in his mouth after he arrived.


    "John, what just happened?" Ryan called out as he ran over towards John.


    John smiled wryly and replied "Ethan suddenly attacked me at full power, so I had no choice but to respond in kind."


    "That''s not what I''m talking about. Did you achieve body refinement?" asked Ryan, bbergasted at John''s reply.


    "Oh. Yeah, I suddenly woke up this morning and found out that I was able to cultivate" John replied. He figured keeping the truth of what really happened was a smart idea, since his parents obviously didn''t want the n knowing about the sphere.


    "Wha..what? You woke up...and could cultivate¡­? How does that even make sense?" asked a stunned Ryan.


    "Your guess is as good as mine. I just woke up and was a Body Refinement cultivator" John replied.


    "How did you knock Ethan back though? He''s at the Blood Refinement stage already?" Ryan followed up, the shocked look on his face still present.


    "Oh. I''m at the Muscle Refinement stage. I guess all those precious pills the n has been feeding me over the past few years finally worked. That''s the only thing I can think of as to why I went straight to Muscle Refinement" John replied sheepishly.


    Ryan looked at John as if he was aplete anomaly. Although John was now a Muscle Refinement cultivator, Ethan was one level higher at Blood Refinement. Normally hopping levels was nearly impossible, and was something reserved only for the most gifted of geniuses. Ryan had no idea how to follow up on what John just said, so he stood there in silence for a few seconds. Gathering hisposure, Ryan startedughing heartily.


    "Hahahaha, well whatever the reason, you''re finally a cultivator. I knew the heaven''s wouldn''t stay blind forever" Ryan eximed happily while pping John on the back. He continued "Come John, let''s spar. Let me test this new power of yours."


    "Alright" replied John. The two of them started walking over to an empty section of the martial arena, when from behind them Elder Huran called out. "John, you''re a cultivator now?"


    "Yep" responded John, not providing any further rification.


    Elder Huran was at a loss for words, before he eventually said "Anyways, you didn''t have to use so much power for that attack just now. I saw everything so I know you''re not the one at fault, but do remember to control your power in the future. These are your own n members afterall."


    "I understand Elder Huran," replied John. John and Ryan then continued walking over to an empty section of the martial arena.


    Over to the side of the martial arena, Parker Fenix and a few of his friends watched the events unfold in front of them.


    "John can cultivate now?" eximed one of the boys.


    "Even if he can, he''s only a Body Refinement cultivator. He''s already so far behind from all those missed years of cultivating. Trash will forever stay trash" another stated, looking towards Parker. Parker had an indifferent look on his face as if everything that happened was of no concern to him, before turning back to his sparring partner and continuing his training.


    "Show me what you got" shouted Ryan, an excited look present on his face. John smiled at Ryan before dashing towards him. The sun was starting to set, casting brilliant orange hues over the martial arena as the two of them sparred intensely for several hours before copsing to the ground in exhaustion.


    "Huff, huff. Although I limited my cultivation base to the Blood Refinement level, I still couldn''t beat you" stated Ryan, gasping while catching his breath.


    "Huff. Well it''s not like I won either. Don''t worry though, it won''t be long until I catch up to your cultivation level, so you won''t have to limit your power then" replied John with a grin on his face.


    "As if" retorted Ryan.


    They both caught their breaths before getting up from the ground and brushing the dust off their dirty robes. "Man I''m famished" eximed John. He hadn''t eaten in days, and his stomach was growling out in protest.


    "I''m going to go home to eat and wash up. I''ll catch up with you tomorrow. Thanks for the spars" John said to Ryan. He said his goodbyes to Ryan and Elder Huran before heading back home. John arrived home and sat down to eat dinner with his family.


    Barden Fenix downed another ss of wine, swaying slightly as he turned to John. "I talked to my father about you. He agrees that this is a wondrous asion worthy of a celebration. We will host a party in your honor soon, and invite some nearby ns to join in on the festivities."


    John smiled happily as he downed another mouthful of Golden Ox stew. He chatted with his parents for some time before retiring to his bedroom. John washed up and put on a fresh robe, before falling onto his bed, a smile lingering on his face as he fell asleep.


    Later that night.


    In another part of the n, n leader Cade Fenix could be seen kneeling in front of a shadowed figure.


    "Barden informed me today that John is now able to cultivate. He apparently found the item a few days ago as well, and it''s currently missing. What should we do?" asked Cade Fenix.


    "Nothing. For now. Let''s observe John and see what happens. I hope that this turns out to be a great fortune for the n, but if not, I''ll handle it myself" responded the shadowed figure.


    "As you wish" responded Cade before quietly leaving the room.

 Chapter 7 - Blood Refinement

    The next morning, John woke up and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the previous day''s events. Although he knew it was the truth, he still found it hard to believe that he could cultivate.


    John got up from his bed and walked over to his wardrobe, donning his favorite ck robe. He then walked downstairs and found his mother in the kitchen making breakfast.


    "Oh you''re awake. I''ve made some breakfast John. Sit and eat" his mother said as she saw John walk into the kitchen. John sat down at the kitchen table and started eating the eggs and bacon his mother had cooked for him.


    "I guess I''ll head over to the Medicinal Pavillion today and get some blood refinement pills" thought John while eating his breakfast.


    The Blood Refinement realm required one to consume various medicinal pills used to stimte the blood''s potential. By drawing in the natural energy of the pills, the blood could be refined and purified, increasing its quality and potency. It was thest step in the Body Refinement realm, at which point one could tackle the Mist Creation realm.


    After finishing his breakfast, John bid his mother goodbye before heading out the door and towards the Medicinal Pavillion. He walked for ten minutes before arriving in front of a grand building.


    The six sided Medical Pavilion stood seven stories tall with dark red walls and gray eaves. The interior was decorated with carved beams and statues of various pill Elders of the past. Each floor contained various medicinal pills and ingredients, with the rarity and price of the items increasing with each floor.


    John walked into the pavilion and looked around for a bit, before he was greeted by a middle aged man with a friendly face.


    "Hello young master, it''s been a long time since I''ve seen you in here. What brings you here this time?" asked the man with a smile on his face.


    "Elder Barus, it''s been a while. I''m here to get some Blood Invigoration pills" replied John.


    "Blood Invigoration pills?" Questioned Elder Barus. "Those are for Muscle Refinement cultivators looking to break through to Blood Refinement. What do you need these pills for?"


    "I broke through to Muscle Refinement recently, and I want to attack Blood Refinement" replied John. Although the Elder didn''t need to know the use for his pills, John felt no need to hide it from him.


    "You can cultivate now? When did that happen?" asked the shocked Elder.


    "Recently" replied John with a slight smile on his face, but he borated no further.


    The shocked look on Elder Barus'' face slowly faded as he replied "Well, that''s fantastic news for the n. I''ll go gather the standard amount of pills each member uses to break through to Blood Refinement. Be right back" replied the Elder before heading through a doorway in the back of the building.


    John started to wander around the first floor, looking at the various items avable for purchase. Before long, John heard footsteps behind him and turned around. He saw Elder Barus return carrying a jar.


    Elder Barus handed the jar to John before saying "Five blood refinement pills are inside. This should help you break through to the Blood Refinement realm"


    John thanked the elder as he took the jar, browsing the items around the pavilion a bit more before heading outside. John walked straight back home and into his bedroom, before he sat down in a meditative position. John ced the jar in front of him and calmed his mind. After sitting these for a few minutes, John took out the first red pill and popped it into his mouth.


    As the pill dissolved in his stomach, John could feel his body heating up. His blood started rushing, and he felt the energy in his body start to increase. John quietly observed the changes in his body, and after a few minutes, the effect of the pill died down.


    "Although it''s thest stage in the Body Refinement realm, going from Muscle Refinement to Blood Refinement is the quickest of the Body Refinement realms. All I have to do is eat these five pills and stimte my blood''s potential, at which point I''ll have reached Blood Refinement" John thought excitedly to himself as he grabbed the next pill and popped it into his mouth.


    Body Refinement was split up into five stages; Organ Refinement, Bone Refinement, Tendon Refinement, Muscle Refinement, and finally Blood Refinement. From Organ Refinement to Muscle Refinement, one had to ingest medicinal pills and slowly infuse their essence into their body, a process which normally took months for each realm. Only Blood Refinement was able to be tacked in such a direct manner.


    John continued the same process for the remaining pills, and after all five pills were consumed, John expected to feel an increase of power as his blood was refined and purified. But after consuming the fifth pill, John felt no different than before, just slightly hotter from the pills'' effects.


    "What the hell? Why didn''t that work?" John thought as he tried to figure out how he had failed to advance. It was quitemon logic that cultivators only needed five Blood Invigoration pills to advance to the Blood Refinement realm. There were some cases where cultivators needed more, but those were all cases where the cultivator had rare variant body types or powerful ancient bloodlines.


    John thought about the situation for some time but couldn''t seem to figure anything out. "Well, I guess I''ll just go grab some more pills and hopefully that will solve it" John thought while getting up and leaving his bedroom. He walked back to the Medicinal Pavilion and found Elder Barus.


    "Elder Barus, can I have some more Blood Invigoration pills please?" asked John.


    Elder Barus turned around and was surprised to see John back so soon. "What do you need more pills for John?" asked Elder Barus.


    "I failed to advance to the Blood Refinement realm, and so I came back to get some more" responded John with a sheepish look on his face.


    "You failed? That''s odd. Maybe the batch was defective. Anyways, give me one minute and I''ll be back with another batch." replied Elder Barus as he walked towards the back of the building. Elder Barus returned a few minutester with a new jar of pills and handed them to John.


    "This jar has ten pills, just in case. Once you''re done, pleasee back and return any unused pills" Elder Barus said to John. John thanked the Elder before walking back to his room. He closed the door and sat back down in his meditative position.


    After a few minutes of gathering himself, John popped a pill in his mouth. He felt his blood start rushing faster as his body heated up again. After a few minutes, the effect wore off and John returned back to normal.


    "What the hell? Still nothing? I refuse to believe I can''t break through" John thought to himself as he popped another pill in his mouth. An hourter, John looked helplessly at the empty jar in front of him, his cultivation still stuck in the Muscle Refinement realm.


    "I refuse to believe this. I need more pills" John said as he stormed out of his bedroom, before running back towards the Medicinal Pavillion. Arriving in front of the building, John stormed inside and found Elder Barus cataloging some medicinal ingredients.


    "I need more pills" John eximed to the elder as he walked closer. The surprised Elder Barus looked up to see John storming towards him, a look of displeasure all over his face.


    "John? What''s the meaning of this? Are you taking these pills and selling them? There''s no way you took them all yourself and still haven''t broken through" replied Elder Barus angrily.


    "Why would I sell the pills? I already can buy whatever I want in the n as long as I ask my father. I have no need to get money from the pills. I took all fifteen pills you gave me and I''m still in the Muscle Refinement realm" John replied furiously.


    Elder Barus stared at John, at a loss for words. He was about to open his mouth when John spoke up. "Just give me all the blood refinement pills you have. I''ll return any of the unneeded ones."


    "Do you have any idea how valuable these pills are? Although they''re not that expensive, they''re used to raise all the youths of our n" replied Elder Barus, some visible anger on his face.


    "Whatever the cost of the pills, my father will cover them. Please, just give me all the pills you have. I''ll return any pills I don''t end up using" John replied in an exasperated tone.


    Elder Barus stared at John for a few moments before sighing deeply. He turned around without a word and walked to the back of the building. A few minutester, the elder returned with arge barrel and ced it in front of John.


    "There are over one hundred pills in this barrel. These are all the Blood Invigoration pills we have. Please just return whatever you don''t use back to me as soon as possible" said Elder Barus with a defeated look on his face.


    John took a look at the barrel before saying "Thank you Elder. I promise to return the unused pills as soon as I''m finished" He excitedly collected the barrel before rushing off back to his room. Once more, John found himself in his room, a barrel of pills in front of him.


    "It''s got to work this time. I refuse to believe I''m stuck at Muscle Refinement" John thought to himself as he popped a pill in his mouth. Time ticked away as John popped pill after pill, the barrel getting emptier and emptier while John grew more and more frustrated. About to lose his wits, John popped the sixtieth pill into his mouth, when all of a sudden,


    "Boom!"


    The sound of a muffled explosion escaped John''s body as he suddenly coughed up mouthful after mouthful of ck blood. The smell of the ck blood assaulted John''s nose, smelling like a rotting carcass. After a minute of throwing up ck blood, John finally managed to stop and catch his breath.


    "I finally seeded. I finally broke through to the Blood Refinement realm" John said to himself, his face full of excitement.

 Chapter 8 - Weapons Hall

    The ck blood in front of John was proof of his breakthrough into the Blood Refinement realm. When one sessfully refined all their blood and stepped into the Blood Refinement realm, the impurities of the blood would be expelled, which was the ck blood that John had just thrown up.


    John was now at the peak of the Body Refinement realm. He felt as if all this was too good to be true. Just a week ago, John was still unable to cultivate, but now he was ready to tackle the Mist Creation realm. John sat there for a few moments before picking up the barrel containing the remaining pills.


    "I did promise Elder Barus that I would return the remaining pills once I''m done. I hope he doesn''t get too mad at me for using so many pills" John thought as he strode out of his room with the barrel in his arms.


    Arriving back at the Medicinal Pavillion, John walked in and found Elder Barus still cataloging his medicinal ingredients. John walked over to the elder, but was unsure of what to say. Elder Barus looked up from his work and noticed John standing there, barrel in hand. He scanned John with his divine sense, before smiling slightly.


    "Ah, I see you finally broke through to the Blood Refinement realm. I guess you really were using the pills after all. Tell me, how many did you use to break through?" asked the elder as he stood up and strode over to John.


    John didn''t answer the elder, and instead just handed the barrel over to the elder, a wry smile on his face the entire time. Elder Barus received the barrel and looked inside, a shocked expression shed across his face until it turned into slight anger.


    "John, what did you do with the other pills. Don''t tell me you ate over fifty pills from this barrel. No one would believe such nonsense" said the elder with a raised voice.


    "I really did eat all those pills, Elder Barus. I don''t know what else to tell you" John replied back, a sheepish look on his face. The elder carefully studied John, but saw no expressions from him that led the elder to believe John was lying.


    Elder Barus sighed before saying "Maybe it was a defective batch, and so the potency was diminished. I''ll just have to make another batch of pills for now."


    John thanked the Elder for not getting too angry before he bid farewell and left the building. After exiting the Medicinal Pavillion, John noticed that it was prettyte and headed back towards his mansion. After greeting his parents and having dinner, John walked up the stairs to his bedroom and fell on his bed before falling asleep.


    The next morning, John went about his normal morning routine before heading out his front door.


    "What should I do today?" thought John. "I guess I''ll go to the weapons hall and get another weapon. The sword I have now still works fine, but it will be too light and weak before long."


    John turned down the road to his right and walked towards the Thousand Weapons Hall. The Weapons Hall was located across the street of the White Feather Martial Library, both in close proximity to the martial training ground.


    After walking for a few minutes, John arrived in front of the Thousand Weapons Hall. The hall was named as such because there were approximately one thousand different weapons that one could choose from. The weapons hall stood five stories tall, and was made out of pure ck stone, giving it quite an imposing feeling.


    Each floor housed weapons for different cultivation levels, with Body Refinement grade weapons existing on the first floor, Mist Creation grade weapons on the second floor, Qi Condensation grade weapons on the third floor, and finally Core Formation grade weapons on the fourth floor. As for the fifth floor, only the n leader and important elders knew what was up there.


    John observed the building for a few seconds before walking up the front stairs and entering the building. Looking around, John saw that the front entrance area was quite small, with only a desk in the middle and a doorway behind it. At the desk sat the elder of the n that was in charge of the weapons hall.


    John walked forward towards the elder and called out "Greetings Elder Lawson."


    The elder looked up at John, slightly surprised to see him. "Greetings John, this is the first time I''ve seen you in here if I''m not mistaken" replied the elder.


    "Yep, this is my first time here. I''m here to get a weapon" replied John. He took out his sword from his storage ring and showed it to Elder Lawson. "This is the sword I''ve been using, but I need to upgrade as It''ll soon be obsolete."


    The elder observed the sword for a few seconds before replying, "I heard today that you broke through and are now able to cultivate? Seems like the rumors are true." He grabbed the sword and quietly observed it before continuing, "I do suppose you''ll be needing a more powerful weapon now that you can cultivate. Come with me, I''ll take you to the Body Refinement weapons section. I can point out some good swords for you that are simr to this one in size and shape."


    The elder handed back the sword to John before turning around and heading to the lone door behind the desk, John following behind. Elder Lawson took out a set of keys before putting one into the door lock, turning the key it sideways to unlock it.


    Following the elder through the doorway, John observed the room in front of him with awe. The room in front of him was one hundred feet long and one hundred feet wide, and had hundreds of weapons of various types lining racks ced all around the room. The weapons were sorted by type, with each rack holding dozens of weapons. There was a staircase on the right side of the room, leading up to the floors above.


    "Here are all the weapons suitable for Body Refinement cultivators" Elder Lawson stated before continuing. "Swords ofparable size and shape to your current one are over there in the right corner of the room, although they''re made of much better quality metals, providing more weight and power."


    John walked all around the room, perusing the different kinds of weapons that were avable. Spears, halbers, maces, swords, greatswords, bows. Every type of weapon that John was familiar with was avable to choose from. Due to his intense weapon skills training, John was proficient at almost all these weapon types.


    After ncing over the other weapons, John figured that none of them were as suitable for him as his greatsword and walked over to the section that the elder pointed out. Arriving in front of the rack, John could see dozens of greatswords of all different shapes and colors. After observing the various swords for some time, John reached out to pick up one greatsword that he liked the most. It was dark blue, and the de was almost five feet long and six inches wide at the hilt, eventually narrowing to a point at the tip of the de.


    Grabbing the handle of the sword, John tried to casually pick it up to inspect it, but was surprised to find it a lot heavier than he was used to.


    "This sword must weigh almost a hundred pounds" thought John as he put his strength into picking up the sword. After struggling for a second, John steadied the sword in front of him. He started swinging the sword around, trying out the various movesets he had trained for greatswords, albeit with some difficulty.


    "This sword is made from azurite iron ore, much heavier and stronger than regr iron ore. This is one of the best weapons on this floor in terms of quality" said Elder Lawson as he watched John swing it about.


    "I like it," replied John. "I think I''ll go with this one." John studied the de for a few more seconds, admiring its craftsmanship before storing it away in his spatial ring.


    John and the elder started walking back towards the front door, at which point a bashful look appeared on John''s face. "Elder Lawson, do you think I could go up to the next floor and take a look at the Mist Creation grade weapons?" asked John.


    Elder Lawson turned around and looked at John''s bashful expression before replying "That''s against the rules."


    A dejected look appeared on John''s face before it was quickly reced with delight. "But I''ve never been one to follow rules anyways," replied Elder Lawson before turning around and walking towards the staircase.


    John followed the elder up the staircase, before eventually arriving at the second floor. The second floor was quite simr to the first, with dozens of weapon racks housing weapons of all kinds. John walked forward and started inspecting each weapon rack.


    "The quality and aura of these weapons are much more profound than the weapons on the first floor," thought John. John eventually came to the greatsword section, and started looking at all the swords present. Like before, there were swords of all sizes and shapes, with various colors present as well.


    John reached out and grabbed one of the swords, putting his might into picking it up after his lesson on the first floor.


    "Gah. This is heavy." John struggled to say through gritted teeth as he picked the sword up, managing to raise it to waist level.


    "Well of course it is" stated Elder Lawson. "This greatsword is two hundred pounds and is meant for cultivators in the Mist Creation realm. You''re still only in the Body Refinement realm. The fact that you can pick it up at all is already astonishing."


    John struggled for a few more seconds before running out of energy and dropping the sword.


    "Thud!"


    The sword collided with the ck stone floor, sparks flying everywhere.


    "Ah sorry" John eximed as he reached out to pick up the sword and put it back in ce. As he was reaching out, John yelled out slightly in shock as the sword started floating in front of him before gently settling down on the weapons rack. He turned around to see Elder Lawson moving his hands slightly while smiling.


    "Don''t worry about it. Both the sword and the floor are sturdy enough to not get damaged from that" replied the elder.


    John looked towards the elder but said nothing. ording to what he knew about cultivation, cultivators at the Qi Condensation realm and above were able to use their control over Qi to move items without touching them. In the Fenix n, in order to be an elder, one had to have a cultivation level of at least the early Core Formation realm.


    "Thank you for showing me the second weapons floor," said John. He started following the elder back towards the staircase, his eyes still lingering on the weapons in the room.


    All of a sudden, John stopped, staring at a section of the weapons floor that he hadn''t noticed before. John turned around and started walking, before eventually arriving in front of a lone weapon rack in the far corner of the room.


    Elder Lawson was surprised at John''s sudden actions, before he too turned around and walked to where John was standing. John stood there for quite some time before he reached out towards the weapon.

 Chapter 9 - Scythe

    "Ah, this weapon is quite special. Although it''s made from the highest quality material whenpared to any other weapon on this floor, it''s been sitting here for several hundred years without anyone choosing it."


    John reached out to the lone weapon, his fingers grazing across the pitch ck handle. His fingers traced upwards to the sharp curving de, which cut him upon contact.


    "Ouch!" eximed John. He hadn''t expected the weapon to be so sharp. Just slightly running his fingers across the de drew blood. He could only imagine what would happen when someone was struck by this weapon at full force.


    "It truly was a waste for this weapon to be made. Profound dark crimsonite ore is actually quite rare, and is normally used to make Core Formation grade weapons. I have never understood why someone made this weapon using this rare material at only this level. This material is suitable for Core Formation level weapons" eximed Elder Lawson.


    The weapon in front of John and the elder was a ck scythe with red hues scattered throughout the weapon. The slender handle of the scythe stretched six feet, with a three foot curving de at the end. A sharp three pronged backside on the opposite side of the scythe de, as well as a sharp spear-like protrusion at the top of the de stuck out, making the weapon look quite formidable.


    "Why has no one selected this weapon before?" asked John. Based on what he could see before him, the weapon was quite remarkable for a Mist Creation grade weapon.


    "It''s pretty simple. The first issue with the weapon is that it''s a scythe. As I''m sure you know, almost no one uses a scythe, as it''s quite an awkward weapon to use. Bing proficient with a scythe is much harder than bing proficient with, say a sword or a spear. The second point is rted to the material used to make the weapon. Scythes wielders are known for their speed and nimbleness on the battlefield, while this weapon is too heavy for any Mist Creation realm cultivator to use properly" Elder Lawson exined.


    After staring at the weapon for a few seconds, Elder Lawson continued, "That''s why I mentioned the waste of good materials on this weapon." The elder shook his head and sighed at the thought of wasted materials.


    John studied the weapon for a bit before grabbing the handle. Breathing in deeply, John put all his might into picking up the weapon.


    Slowly, inch by inch, the weapon rose off the weapons rack. "I. Don''t. Believe. I. Can''t. Pick. You. Up" grunted John through gritted teeth. After fifteen seconds of struggling to raise the weapon, John finally managed to get it to waist height before losing his grip on the weapon.


    "Peng!"


    The weapon made a deafening sound as it collided with the dark stone floor. Elder Lawson sighed as he gestured to the scythe, making it float back into its original position. "As I was saying, the weapon really doesn''t make any sense, and therefore no one has selected it as long as I can remember. It''s already incredibly impressive that you can lift this weapon at all in the Blood Refinement realm."


    John stared at the weapon for quite some time. For some inexplicable reason, from the second heid eyes on the scythe he was drawn over to it. It wasn''t this scythe in particr, but more of a general sense of familiarity when he saw the scythe. Although John had trained scythe arts during his weapons training programs, he had never felt any affinity towards the weapon, finding it quite cumbersome instead. Now however, John felt a peculiar familiarity that he couldn''t describe.


    "Elder Lawson, is it okay if I take this weapon?" asked John. He didn''t know why, but John wanted this weapon.


    "Well, normally Body Refiners are not allowed to select Mist Creation grade weapons...but since this weapon hasn''t been selected for hundreds of years, I suppose I can make an exception" replied the elder.


    "Thank you" John graciously thanked the elder before turning back towards the weapon. He brushed his fingers along the handle and de a few more times before storing the weapon in his storage ring.


    "I now have two weapons that I can use. The greatsword should be useful in the near term, while the Scythe should be useful once I break through to Mist Creation."


    John followed the elder back downstairs, thanking the elder once more before leaving the building.


    "I''ve trained scythe techniques in the past, but I''m not as proficient at scythes as I am most other weapons. I wonder if the White Feather martial library has any more books on fundamental scythe techniques? I''ve already browsed through the first two and a half floors, but I don''t remember seeing much on scythes there" thought John while he walked towards the martial library.


    Arriving at the library a few minutester, John entered the building and walked to the main receptionist.


    "Excuse me, do you know if this library has any book regarding scythe techniques and fundamentals?" asked John as he approached the main lobby receptionist. The man looked up from his desk and responded "On the fourth floor, in the weapons section. There is one book regarding scythe fundamentals."


    "Thank you" replied John as he strode towards the staircase leading to the higher floors. After climbing the stairs, John arrived on the fourth floor and walked to the weapons section. Finding the right aisle, John perused the books for several minutes before finding what he wanted.


    "Ah, here it is," John said as he read the cover ''Fundamental Scythe Techniques and Stances.'' Taking the book off the shelf, John proceeded to the fourth floor balcony overlooking the martial training area and sat down. Opening the book to the first page, John started to read the contents contained inside.


    "The fundamentals of the scythe are simple yetplex. The essence of scythebat is sharpness and fluidity. Agility and power. Speed and decisiveness. While other weapons rely on powerful arts and grand inheritances, the scythe focuses on one thing: reaping lives...."


    John raised his eyebrows at the initial description of scythebat before continuing to read the rest of the book. The book covered everything from basic stances, toplex attack trajectories. Engrossed in the content before him, John once again lost track of time.


    The bright moon hung high in the sky, casting a light glow on the surroundings before John came to hits wits and realized the time. Stretching his aching legs, John stood up and strode back into the library, returning the book to its original location.


    After arriving home, John ate some dinner with his family before going to his room and climbing into bed.


    "Tomorrow, I''ll go back into the forest to truly test out my new strength" thought John as he slowly fell asleep.


    John found himself once again floating out in the void, but unlike the void at the pce, there was no mist to block his vision. In every direction, John could see stars shimmering in the endless distance.


    In the void thousands of miles away, John could barely make out two figures floating there, staring at each other. Although no features of either of them were discernible, John was sure that there were two figures floating there in the ckness.


    All of a sudden, an explosion beyond description filled the void, radiating outwards from where the two figures were floating. John watched as space copsed and disintegrated as the explosion annihted all in its path, including John himself.

 Chapter 10 - Wolf Hunt

    "Ahhh" John screamed out as he woke up, hastily sitting up in his bed while panting.


    John took a few seconds to analyze his surroundings before he realized he was still in his bed at home. "That was just a dream? It felt so lifelike though, like what I was dreaming about was actually happening."


    John sat there for a few minutes reying the dream he just had. "Well, it must have been a dream. There''s no way an explosion like that could ever exist. It seemed as if the entire universe would be destroyed by something like that" thought John as he climbed out of bed.


    John went and washed himself clean before walking to his wardrobe, donning his favorite ck robe.


    "Good thing I had mother get me a bunch of these ck robes, otherwise I would run out pretty quickly" thought John as he put the robe on.


    After getting ready to tackle the day, John walked downstairs and had breakfast with his family. "What are you going to do today John?" asked Rachel Fenix while looking at her son devouring his food, a slight smile on her face.


    John swallowed the food that was in his mouth before replying, "I''ll probably just go to the library again today and maybe the training area. I just got some new weapons so I need to go test them out."


    "Oh is that so? Well do be careful while sparing. Also remember that tonight is the night the n is throwing your celebration party. Do be home before dark so you can freshen up and make it to the party on time." replied Rachel Fenix before taking a sip of water.


    John hadpletely forgotten about it with all that was going on, but he did now remember that tonight was the night of the celebration.


    John finished his breakfast and thanked his mother before heading out the front door. After walking for a few minutes towards the martial training area, John looked over his shoulder for a few seconds. Seeing that no one was following him, John turned around and headed towards the n gate.


    After walking for some time, John arrived at the Fenix n front gate. He greeted the two guards that were stationed at the gate before walking through.


    "More forest hunting today John?" asked one of the guards.


    "Yep.Don''t tell anyone though" replied John with a coy smile before passing through the n gate and walking down the wide road leading away from it.


    The Skycleave mountain range spanned for thousands of miles, with the Skycleave forest at the base of the mountain range spanning for thousands of miles in each direction itself. The Fenix n was situated at the base of one of the Skycleave mountains, and had cleared out quite an expanse around the n grounds.


    The road leading out from the Fenix n eventually branched off in multiple directions leading to different ns and kingdoms. However, each road cut through the Skycleave forest, making it quite a dangerous journey to undertake without appropriate protection.


    John kept walking for about an hour before he came to a branch in the road. By this point, John was quite deep in the Skycleave forest, with Body Refinement level beasts visible everywhere.


    "This is around the same spot asst time," John thought to himself as he turned off the road and started to walk deeper into the forest on the side of the road. John walked for several minutes before hearing a loud howl.


    "Awoooo!"


    A mighty wolf''s howl echoed throughout the forest, at which point many simr howls were heard responding to the first howl. A smile crept upon John''s face as he started walking towards the source of the howls.


    A few minutester, John walked through the treeline and into an open clearing in the forest, at which point he saw around a dozen Earth Wolvesying aroundzily in the hot sun.


    "I hope you guys haven''t missed me too much. Our meetingst time got interrupted, but this time it''ll be just you and me" John called out as he started walking towards the pack.


    Surprised by the sudden intruder, the wolves hastily stood up before growling at the neer. Although the wolves recognized the boy as the one they were hunting not long ago, there was a different air about him that made them feel danger.


    John took out his Body Refinement grade greatsword from his storage ring and held it at his side. He stared at the wolves for a few seconds before pushing off the ground and dashing forward as fast as he could.


    Before the wolves could react, John was in front of one of them, his greatsword shing down. The wolf raised its giant paw to parry the sword, but was unable to stop the sword as it cut directly through the paw before continuing down towards the wolf''s head.


    "Bang!"


    The sound of metal meeting bone rang out as John''s sword passed straight through the skull of the wolf. John quickly steadied himself and spun around, his sword whistling sideways as he struck out with all his power to the three wolves attacking him from behind.


    The sound of metal cutting through flesh and bone continuously rang out as John bisected all three wolves with a single attack. The wolves could hardly believe what happened before they copsed to the ground, dead.


    The other eight wolves had been getting into position to follow up on the attacks of the previous three, butpletely abandoned the thought as they saw their three members felled with one attack. The wolves hesitated for only an instant before turning around and fleeing as fast as they could.


    "Oh no you don''t" John shouted out loud as he started to give chase. It took quite some time before John caught up to the first one, bringing his sword down on the wolf and piercing its skull. This momentary attack was all the other wolves needed to put some distance between John and themselves.


    John hastily removed his sword from the dead wolf before continuing his chase. Weaving between trees and jumping over boulders, John chased after the remaining wolves, traveling deeper and deeper into the Skycleave forest. Despite running with all his might, John was only able to slightly close the cap after several minutes of running. After John kept up his chase for almost fifteen minutes, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and watched the wolves run off into the distance.


    In front of him, John could see dozens of trees to either side of him painted with red markings. These markings were painted by the Fenix n elders, and signified that beyond this point was the area that Mist Creation level beasts started to appear. Although John might manage to avoid running into Mist Creation level beasts, he knew the risk was not worth it.


    "Well, I guess that''s where today''s hunt of the Earth Wolves ends. I did manage to bring down five of the wolves, so it wasn''t aplete waste of time. I should look around the area for more powerful Body Refinement level beasts to fully test my strength, as those wolves were onlyparable to Tendon Refinement cultivators at best."


    John stored his sword in his storage ring and turned around. He walked away for a few minutes from the red painted trees, before stopping and looking around the area. Not seeing any beasts in the area, John turned to his side and started walking in parallel with the red lined trees, although quite a distance away from them.


    After walking for several minutes, John came to a halt as he squinted his eyes.


    One hundred feet before him on top of a massive felled tree slept arge lizard.


    "An Ironhide Lizard!'' John quietly muttered as he observed the beast. The lizard was eight feet from head to tail, and stood about four feet tall. It had a dark brown hide with small spikes jutting out of its spine.


    As their name might suggest, Ironhide lizards were known for their strong hides. Among all Body Refinement level beasts, Ironhide Lizards boasted one of the strongest defenses, while having powerful attacksparable to that of a Blood Refinement cultivator. They were a beast that almost all Body Refinement cultivators avoided.


    John took out his greatsword from his storage ring and observed the lizard for some time, before quietly moving closer to the lizard. When John was about fifteen feet away from the Ironhide Lizard, the beast slowly opened its eyes and spotted John.


    "Hiss!"


    The Lizard screeched out as it saw John rapidly approaching it. John swung his greatsword out with all his might before the lizard could fully react, leaving a deep but non-fatal wound on its back.


    "Wow, it''s hide is even stronger than I expected. No wonder most Body Refinement cultivators avoid fighting this beast" thought John as he quickly dashed backwards, narrowly avoiding the lizard''s tail as it whipped it towards him.


    John dashed back towards the lizard, shing out with his sword when he could find openings and blocking the fast tail attacks of the lizard.


    The speed of the lizard''s tail surprised John. He made a mental note of the speed and trajectory of the tail before his next attack. The two faced each other for a brief moment before either of them moved. John moved towards the beast with his sword at a low ready position in front of him, prepared to block any tail or w attacks.


    Knowing that he would need to create an opening to deal a fatal blow to the creature, John nned to evade or parry the next attack from the beast in order to find an opportunity to strike where the defenses of the lizard were the weakest. The lizard shifted to the left away from the fallen tree and mmed its tail on the ground, throwing up the dirt and grass. John''s visibility was cut in half, he could clearly see the lizard in front of him but could no longer see its tail. He knew this was when the creature would strike. John immediately swung his sword overhead towards the lizard''s eyes.


    The lizard reacted exactly how John intended; the beast raised its left w in an attempt to block the overhead attack. At the same time, it whipped its tail around towards John. John''s attack was a feint however. Once he saw the lizard react, he let the handle of the sword go for half a second so that the de would continue its arc and be facing downwards with the handle upwards. He grasped the handle and quickly plunged his sword into the ground beneath him with the edge facing the direction of the tail.


    The tail came flying towards John from beyond his vision and struck the sword that John had ced in the ground cutting off part of the tail. The lizard shrieked in pain pulling its tail back behind its body, leaving a trail of thick blood behind it.


    The fight kept on going for a while before both John and the lizard separated. John was breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath, but other than fatigue, John was unscathed. The lizard on the other hand was covered with dozens of deep wounds, blood dyeing its brown scales red.


    "Time to finish this" said John as he quickly dashed towards the Ironhide Lizard. Although wounded, the Lizard turned around and whipped its tail towards John. However, the lizard had clearly forgotten that half its tail was missing. Its attack fell short of John, at which point he dashed forward and plunged his sword straight into the eye of the lizard.


    "Spurt!"


    John''s greatsword plunged deeply into the eye of the lizard, before eventuallying to a stop when all but the hilt and handle of the sword was visible. The lizard twitched for a few moments before lifelessly slumping to the ground.


    "Whew" John exhaled as he struggled to catch his breath. "That was quite a fight. This beast definitely deserved its reputation. I can see why most Blood Refinement cultivators would avoid fighting it. Without my weapon skills, that would have been quite a hard fight."


    Smiling happily at the scene of his victory, John ced the lizard carcass in his storage ring before muttering "This lizard just barely fits in this ring''s spatial dimension. I''ll need to get a better ring if I''m to start doing this more often."


    John looked up at the sky before noticing it was starting to get darker, at which point he turned around and walked back towards the main road. "I should head home since it''s going to be dark soon. Don''t want to be caught out in this forest at night"


    After walking for a few minutes, an uneasy feeling assaulted John''s senses. At first he thought it was his imagination, but as he kept walking, the feeling of unease grew stronger and stronger. Trusting his instincts, John stopped and quickly turned around, his face turning white as he stared ahead.

 Chapter 11 - Dark Spotted Panther

    About one hundred yards back and perched up high on a tree branch, John could see a beast staring straight at him.


    John started breathing heavily as he thought "A Dark Spotted Panther? What the fuck is a Mist Creation level beast doing this far past the red marked tree line?" John stared at the beast, quickly trying to think of what he could do in this situation.


    "Whatever the reason, I can''t fight that thing, even if it is only at the early Mist Creation level."


    Dark Spotted Panthers were one of the numerous beasts that inhabited Skycleave forest. Their power usually peaked at the early Mist Creation level, and were known for their great speed and sharp, deadly attacks. The panther was seven feet long and four feet tall, with dark spots all over its otherwise white fur.


    John immediately turned and began to run as fast as he could, trying to get back to the road before the beast could catch him. Although the road was not a safe haven, there were often carriages traveling back and forth, and were usually escorted by powerful cultivators. As long as he could get back to the road, John figured he would have a chance at survival.


    The panther realized that it had been spotted and quickly gave chase after its prey, darting from tree branch to tree branch as it closed the distance between itself and John.


    After running through the dense forest for a few minutes, John looked over his shoulder and realized that the panther was almost upon him, about to attack.


    "Fuck, how is it so fast?" yelled John as he took out his greatsword and twisted his body, his sword barely being raised in time.


    "Peng!"


    The panther''s w collided with John''s hastily raised sword.


    "Gah" John yelled out in pain as he was sent flying backwards like a broken kite. John crashed into the ground and tumbled a few times beforeing to a stop. He felt like his body was on the verge of copse after taking that attack head on.


    After struggling to stand up for a second, John realized that this was no time forining and quickly turned around again to flee. The panther had expected that attack to kill John, and so had been in no rush to follow up with another attack. Seeing its prey stand and flee, the panther became enraged as it started its pursuit again.


    After a few more minutes of chasing, the panther once again caught up to John andshed out, this time using even more power.


    John looked over his shoulder and saw the panther rapidly approaching, its w swinging forward about to strike him. With his previous defeat still fresh in his mind, John knew that he was no match for this Dark Spotted Panther, and could not block its attack head on.


    Right as the panthers w was about to hit his shoulder, John twisted his upper body and watched the panthers attack barely miss his chest by an inch. Seizing the only opportunity that he just created, John was already swinging his sword as hard as he could at the ribs of the beast.


    "ng!"


    A loud sound rang out as the panther was sent flying into a nearby tree. The tree broke at the point of impact and slowly tipped over as the panther was knocked straight through the tree. John knew that this victory was only temporary as he turned around once again and kept running.


    The panther slowly appeared on the other side of the broken tree stump, its ragepletely evident. A small inch deep cut was now visible on its hide where John had struck it, but other than that, there was no significant damage. What should have been an easy hunt had turned into one filled with non-stop frustrations for the panther. The panther spotted John running off in the distance before it too once again chased after John.


    John was panting heavily as he mustered all his energy into his legs, running as fast as his body would allow. Although he had struck the beast head on, he knew that a Mist Creation level beast would not be too troubled by the attack he had just made. Looking back over to confirm his suspicions, John saw the panther darting back and forth from tree branch to tree branch still in pursuit.


    "I need to think of something. I can''t outrun this thing and I can''t keep running forever" John thought as he desperately tried to think of something to get out of this lethal situation.


    As John was desperately trying toe up with something, the panther had once again caught up with him. Deep in thought from trying to think of a n, John was a stepte to notice that the panther had fully caught up and its attack was about to reach him. With no time to dodge this time, John hastily raised his sword and put all his power into blocking the attack.


    "Peng!"


    The sound of w on steel rang out as John was sent flying backwards, rolling over and over until finallying to rest in a clearing.


    "Cough, cough"


    John continuously coughed out blood as the force of that attack had nearly taken his life. He felt as if his arms were about to break, and had almost no strength left in his body. John raised his head with difficulty to see the panther rushing towards him from a distance.


    "So this is how I die" thought John as he struggled to stand up. He figured if he was going to die, he might as well die on his feet fighting, even if the fight was futile. Despite his heroic intentions, John barely managed to get to his feet, his body propped up against his sword. John stared at the approaching beast and did his best to raise his sword once more.


    Just as the Dark Spotted Panther was about to reach him, John felt his blood begin to rush and his body begin to heat up. Although John had no idea what was happening, a surge of energy beyond anything he had felt before rushed through his body. He gripped his sword tightly and was prepared to swing it down with all his strength as soon as the panther came into range.


    "Che!"


    A sharp sword light appeared from behind John and flew towards the Dark Spotted Panther. The panther noticed the light and moved to block it with its w, but was immediately bisected into two parts as the sword light cut clean through the panther. The two halves of the panther fell lifelessly to the ground, tumbling over a few times from the remaining momentum it had.


    "Wha...What just happened" thought John as he watched the panther die right in front of him. Just now, he had been prepared to make hisst stand against the panther, when all of a sudden it was cleaved in half.


    John turned around to find himself in the middle of the road he had been on earlier in the day. When he was struck by the panther, John remembered being knocked out of the forest and into a clearing, but during the high pressure situation, he hadn''t been able to take a good look at his surroundings.


    He looked up towards where the sword light came from and was shocked to find a group of people he was quite familiar with. In front of John was the Varis n which were on their way towards the Fenix n for the party. Miko was at the front of the group with his sword raised, looking around for any more would be attackers. There were several carriages behind Miko, all being pulled by powerful Qi Condensation beasts, and dozens of guards surrounding the carriage perimeter.


    "John?" asked Miko in confusion as he put away his sword and ran towards John. John felt a wave of numbness and fatigue wash over him as he copsed, falling to the floor unconscious.

 Chapter 12 - Desire To Leave

    The slight shaking of the carriage stirred John from his deep slumber. Slowly opening his eyes, John looked around his enclosed scenery in confusion.


    "Where am I? Wasn''t I just out in the forest? The Dark Spotted Panther! Wait, I remember it dying before me¡­" John''s thoughts were a mess as he tried to remember what exactly happened before he passed out.


    "Ah John, you''re awake." A voice beside John stirred him out of his thoughts. John looked to his side to see various people inside the carriage with him, namely Waylon Varis, Miko Varis, and E Varis.


    "Uncle Waylon, what happened? Why am I here?" asked John.


    "We were on the way to the Fenix ns celebrations, celebrations in your honor I might add, when we saw you flying out of the forest half dead. Luckily, Miko managed to kill the beast before itnded its final blow on you" replied Waylon Varis, pausing briefly before continuing. "John, what exactly happened? Why were you out alone in the forest and why were you fighting a Dark Spotted Panther?"


    "Ah, now I remember. Right before I passed out, I felt that surge of energy before that sword light from behind me killed the panther" thought John as the final scenes before he passed out became clear to him.


    Thinking of Waylon''s question, John replied "I was out in the forest hunting Earth Wolves. For some reason, the Dark Spotted Panther was near the road and started hunting me. I fled as fast as I could, just barely managing to make it back to the road. Thankfully you were there."


    John thought about it for a second, but decided to keep the part about the surging energy a secret. For some reason, he believed that in that final moment against that panther, he would have been fine.


    "We''re all relieved that you are safe. Thankfully I had a few extra Life Spirit Healing Pills on me, otherwise you would have had half a foot in the grave" said Waylon Varis.


    John quickly analyzed his body and realized it was in much better condition than when he had fainted. Otherwise, he would have needed to rest and recuperate for weeks at the minimum.


    "Thank you Uncle Waylon," John responded.


    "Of course. However, I''m sure this venture of yours was not approved by your parents, otherwise you would have had some guards to protect you. Am I wrong?" asked Waylon with a questioning tone.


    John could only wryly smile at the question. His expression revealed the answer to Waylon, at which point Waylon Varis continued "I''ll cover for you this once, but don''t go out and try something like this again. Understand?"


    "Thank you Uncle Waylon. I understand," replied John. Keeping this a secret from his mother would definitely save him a big headache of having to deal with that fallout.


    The Varis entourage continued on towards the Fenix n before eventually arriving before the Fenix n gate.


    "The Varis n has arrived" shouted one of the Varis n guards. Several Fenix n guards came out to greet the Varis n, before escorting them to the Fenix n festive hall.


    The entire ride back, Miko was asking John various questions, including what John was doing in the forest and how he had survived the attacks of the panther. John gave short one sentence answers while his mind was elsewhere.


    "That panther almost killed me several times today, and were it not for the Varis n coincidentally being there at the right time, I might have died. Even if that surge of power I felt saved me, I was still half dead at that moment" thought John.


    "That panther that I struggled so hard against, the one I could barely scratch with my full power was effortlessly killed by Miko in a single stroke of his sword...I''m weak. Far too weak" He kept thinking about that sword light that killed the panther so easily.


    Despite Miko being only eleven years old, he was far stronger than John at the moment. John didn''t even know Miko was capable of such an attack, but the attack truly showed him the difference between Body Refinement cultivators and Mist Creation cultivators.


    After traveling a bit towards the festivity hall, John thought for a moment before saying "Uncle Waylon, I''ll get out here and head home to wash and put on a new robe. This one is quite torn up."


    "Yes you''re right. We''ll see you at the celebration. Don''t bete again" responded Waylon before opening the carriage door.


    John walked for several minutes before arriving in front of his house. He quietly checked the interior before proceeding. Noticing that both his parents were not home, John scurried up to his room to wash himself clean and put on a fresh robe.


    "Ahhhh, much better" said John as he put on the new robe. After looking at himself for a few seconds in the mirror, John strode out of his bedroom and down the main staircase, before leaving his mansion through the front door.


    Turning down the road in front of his mansion, John walked towards the celebration hall, arriving a few minutester. He stopped for a few seconds to take in the sight of the majestic hall, before proceeding through the front door.


    "Ah, John, you''re finally here" called out Barden Fenix as he saw his son enter the building. He continued "Now that you''re here, we can start the festivities."


    Cade Fenix, standing a few feet to Barden side nodded his head before loudly calling out "Friends, family. We are all here to celebrate John''s newfound ability to start his cultivation journey. Many of us thought this day would nevere, but I suppose the heavens really aren''t blind after all. To John"


    "To John" everyone in the hall shouted out happily before downing the drink in their hands. John sheepishly rubbed the back of his head before walking towards the table his family was located at.


    The celebrations continuedte into the night as wine was drank, food was eaten, and good times were had. The attending n members and invited guests partied for some time before eventually retiring for the night and heading back to their respective ns.


    John and his parents eventually decided to call it a night as well, and retired back to their mansion. After several minutes of walking, they all arrived at their house and walked through the front door. John bid his parents good night before retiring to bed. He crashed on his bed and thought about the harrowing events of the day.


    "I have to get stronger" thought John as he quietly drifted to sleep.


    The next morning, John washed up and put on a fresh robe before heading out. With his newfound passion for getting stronger, John visited the martial training arena from sunup to sundown. Every night he woulde home battered and bruised, but content that he had done all he could to raise hisbat power as fast as possible.


    Every night after arriving home, John would meditate for hours on end, trying to feel the Qi in the air and direct it into his body. For most, this was a long and arduous journey, with most cultivators taking half a year or more to be able to fully condense their Mist Creation dantian.


    Laying in bed a few nights after the events with the Dark Spotted Panther, John stared at the ceiling.


    "I''m still not strong enough, and my strength is rising too slowly right now. Although I am getting stronger, I''ll still be far too weak to participate in the pocket realm by the time ites around."


    While cultivating and sparring within the n grounds was helping John steadily improve, he knew it was still quite some time before he broke through to Mist Creation, let alone get strong enough to participate in the pocket realm.


    "When I was fighting with the Ironhide Lizard and even the Dark Spotted Panther, I could feel myprehension and abilities rising at a pace I haven''t felt since. Perhaps putting my life on the line is much more beneficial when ites to cultivation and grasping the essence of the techniques I''ve learned" thought John while staring nkly into his bedroom ceiling.


    "Also, I still don''t know what that strange energy that welled up inside me was. It seemed to surge when I was on the cusp of death, although I can''t be too certain if that''s what caused it. Regardless of the reasons, I must find out more about it."


    John thought about everything that had happened for quite some time, before a determined look shed across his face as he fell asleep.


    The next morning, after getting prepared for the day, John strode out of his room and went to go find his parents. Finding them both in the living room, John paused for a few seconds before walking in and saying "Mom, Dad...I have something I want to talk to both of you about."


    His parents turned to look at him, at which point they noticed the serious expression on his face.


    "Let me go grab some tea. I''ll be right back" said Rachel Fenix as she got up off the couch and walked towards the kitchen.


    John walked over and sat on the couch opposite his father. Rachel Fenix returned a few minutester with the hot tea, pouring tea for everyone before sitting down herself.


    Sitting there in silence for quite some time, John was thinking about how he wanted to word his next statement.


    "Mom, Dad, I think I''m going to leave the n for a while and explore the surrounding world on my own" stated John as he stared deeply into the living room firece in front of him, the fire crackling energetically.


    "Wh..What? What are you talking about John? Why would you need to leave the n?" responded his mother, perplexed at what he was saying. Barden Fenix looked at John with a straight face, not saying anything.


    "For my entire life, I haven''t been able to cultivate. The feeling of watching everyone around me soar to heights I can only dream of while I stay powerlessly grounded is a feeling I never want to experience again. And now, with the pocket realm opening in less than a year, everyone is doing their best to be prepared for it and I''m still stuck in the Body Refinement realm."


    John breathed deeply before continuing, "While I am immensely thankful that I am now able to cultivate, that feeling of powerlessness hasn''t left me. In fact, it''s growing even stronger. I don''t want to be a disappointment to myself, and I don''t want to be a disappointment to both of you."


    "John, never once have we considered you a disappointment. You are the greatest blessing in both of our lives" responded Rachel Fenix. She was about to stand up and hug John before Barden Fenix put a hand on her shoulder, gesturing to let John finish talking.


    He took another deep breath before continuing "I know that, and I know I can never repay what both of you have done for me. Still, this gnawing feeling inside of me won''t stop. My greatest desire right now is to advance my strength as much as possible, even if it means putting my life on the line. While staying in the n is a surefire way of raising my strength, It won''t be enough by the time the pocket realmes around. Only through drastic measures will I be able to improve to a sufficient level within a year."


    While John mentioned the pocket realm as a reason for his desire to increase his strength, he decided to keep the secret about that energy that he felt inside of him to himself. He surmised that most likely, only through extreme measures would hee to learn the truth about that power.


    Rachel Fenix was at a loss for words while she tried to think of something to say to John to persuade him off this path.


    "Sigh!"


    A deep sigh filled the room as Barden Fenix looked towards his son, aplicated look of both pride and sadness filling his eyes.


    "Rachel, there''s no reason to try to convince John otherwise. I can see that he''s made up his mind on this matter." stated Barden. Despite Rachel''s protests, Barden managed to convince her that there was no changing John''s mind.


    Barden looked at his son for a few seconds before saying "Son, if this is the path you want to take then I support it." Barden Fenix then stood up and gestured towards John to follow him.


    "But before you head out, I want to teach you a few things regarding cultivation."


    John nodded his head resolutely before hugging his mother one more time, at which point he turned and followed his father, a determined look visible on his face.

 Chapter 13 - Essence Of Cultivation

    John followed his father out the backyard and to the small martial training area that his house had there. It was quite smaller than the main training areas of the n, but was quite suitable for two people to train. The training area was a round raised tform that was forty feet in diameter. A small walkway circled around the training tform. A small stream surrounded the walkway, with flowers and medical nts of all sorts growing on the banks of the stream.


    Barden walked up onto the raised tform and walked to the center, before calmly sitting down in a meditative position. John followed his father''s lead and sat opposite him, mimicking his seated posture.


    Breathing in and out deeply a few times, Barden sat there for quite some time before speaking out to John "Have you been sessful in feeling the Qi in the air during your meditations?"


    John, who was breathing in and out deeply in a simr manner as his father stopped for a second before responding "I don''t know. I''ve only been in the Blood Refinement realm for a week or so now. When I sit down to cultivate, I think I feel something, but I can''t be sure. Sometimes I''ll fall into a trance and realize my skin will start to tingle, like something is crawling over it, but other than that I haven''t really felt anything."


    Barden looked at his son, a slight smile on his face as he responded "That tingle you''re feeling is the surrounding Qi responding to you, almost like a summoning. Although you yourself weren''t aware of it, that''s the first sign that you''ve begun to feel the Qi in the air. Most people take a few months to get to that stage, so you feeling the Qi only a week in is a very good thing."


    Barden paused for a while before continuing, "Your ''summoning'' of Qi draws it to you, but you were unsure of what to do next, and that''s why it felt like a tingle. You brought the Qi to your body, but then it just danced along your skin as it had nowhere else to go."


    "The next step once you learn to summon the surrounding natural Qi is to draw it into your body, through your meridians, and into the area that your dantian will form. This step will also take a bit of time as you learn which parts of your body allow for this transfer of Qi from your skin to your dantian, but if you keep trying at it, you''ll get the hang of it before long."


    "Once you learn to draw Qi into your body, you must guide it to the exact location your dantian will form. This location is three fingers below your navel, and two fingers back. After repeating this process continuously, the Qi you have collected there will start to coalesce, and once you have stored enough Qi in this location, a point will naturallye when it condenses and converts into a dantian."


    Barden paused a while, letting his son soak in the information he had just imparted before continuing, "When you suddenly feel a surge of power flowing into your body from your dantian, that is the point that you will know you have sessfully stepped into the Mist Creation realm."


    A resolute look shed across John''s face at the mention of the Mist Creation realm. Barden noticed this, but didn''t say anything as he let John continue to digest the information he had given. After processing everything his father had said, John calmed down and started to focus on his surroundings.


    Breathing out calmly, John focused his mind and slowly forgot about his surroundings, his father, and even himself. Emptiness filled John''s mind as he instinctively started to guide the surrounding Qi to his body.


    A shocked look appeared on Barden''s face as he watched John in front of him. "Is this a joke? He went into a fully meditative state just like that?" Barden said nothing as he watched John cultivate. With his cultivation realm of Core Formation, Barden could see the surrounding Qi slowly drift towards John, eventually stopping at this skin and swirling all around. Before long however, the Qi started to disappear.


    The shock on Barden''s face grew even more apparent as he muttered "He''s absorbing Qi already? How heaven defying is my son? First he falls into a full meditative state which is something a cultivator can only pray for, and will be lucky to achieve a few times in their life, and then he starts absorbing Qi the same day as learning how to do so?"


    John sat in that state for several hours before slowly opening his tranquil eyes. He took a few seconds toe to his senses before analyzing his body.


    "Dad, I feel it. I finally feel some Qi where my dantian will form!" John called out to his father ecstatically.


    "That you did my son. You have crossed the second tost barrier to be a Mist Creation realm. Now all you need to do is keep this up until enough Qi collects to form a dantian. Here."


    A book appeared in Barden''s hand, at which point he handed it over to John.


    "What''s this?" asked John.


    "Our n''s cultivation technique" replied Barden with a serious expression. "This is one of the n''s most guarded secrets, and is one of the reasons for our regional supremacy. You can cultivate this, but you must make sure it never falls into enemy hands."


    John grabbed the book with a serious expression. He opened it to the first page and began reading. The book detailed how to absorb Qi from the air, which acupoints to absorb the Qi through, and which meridians to guide the Qi to the dantian. It also contained a few other methods of improving cultivation speed.


    John couldn''t help but smile enthusiastically as he tried to go back to cultivating.


    "Hold on son, there''s plenty of time in the future for cultivation. My teachings aren''t done yet" said Barden as he halted his son from cultivating again.


    "Ah, sorry Dad. I just got so caught up in the feeling of cultivating. I''ve never felt so alive" responded John with a smile on his face.


    "I know. It truly is one of the greatest feelings a man can experience. Now, before long you''ll be a Mist Creation cultivator, and once you be one you''ll need to know how to keep advancing your cultivation steadily." replied Barden. He waited a few seconds for his son to calm down and focus before continuing.


    "Mist Creation is broken down into three minor realms; early Mist Creation; middle Mist Creation, andte Mist Creation. There is also peak Mist Creation, but that is not a realm of its own, and just refers to someone who is at the cusp of breaking through to Qi Condensation."


    John intently listened to his father as Barden exined everything he could to John.


    "At the early mist creation stage, your body is strong enough to ept the natural Qi that flows around us. As Qi flows around and through us, our Dantian begins to form and fill with light amounts of Qi. The initial condensation of Qi is extremely light and almost unnoticeable. To increase the density of your Qi and advance to middle Mist Creation, you must continue to naturally and actively absorb Qi through training and meditation. There are also things called spirit crystals that one can absorb, but those are only used for higher cultivation levels due to the chaotic energy they possess."


    "Anyways, like I was saying, absorbing more and more Qi will thicken the mist dantian, until it is quite thicker and much more noticeable. At this stage, you will be ready to break through to the middle Mist Creation realm. It will be at this point that your first bottleneck will ur. Bottlenecks ur at each major and minor realm increase. The reason for this is that each realm uses a slightly different Qi essence to cultivate. Although the Qi itself is the same Qi you were absorbing before, you must have a higherprehension and grasp of the nature of the Qi before you are able to start using it for cultivation."


    Barden paused for a second, noticing that John was looking quite confused. He cleared his throat before continuing,


    "Think of it this way, when you first began training your sword arts, you started with the fundamentals; breathing, stance, grip, and posture. Only after mastering the fundamentals were you then able to confidently hold a sword and begin learning basic forms. Once again, only after you mastered the basic forms were you then able toprehend the next set of forms. This is exactly how Qi cultivation works. You must fully understand the essence of Qi in your current realm before you are able to advance to the next realm."


    A sh ofprehension appeared in John''s mind as it all started making sense to him. "I think I understand" responded John as he continued to echo the words of his father in his mind.


    "Good, good" responded Barden with augh before once again continuing, "Once you are ready to break through tote Mist Creation, the same bottleneck will ur again, and then again at the cusp of Qi Condensation. Each realm advancement wille with a bottleneck you need to break through. Another thing to keep in mind is that major realm advancementse with a much harder bottleneck to break through, but we''ll cover that at ater time."


    "Another thing I want to mention is that toprehend the essence of your Qi, there are two ways to go about it. One is through meditation as you had just done, and the other is to actively use your Qi from your dantian. Using Qi from your dantian will help you understand quicker, and the best way to do so is to fight."


    Barden paused for a while before looking at his son seriously and continuing, "This brings me to why I am allowing you to go out into the world. I understand your reasoning''s, and I don''t disagree with them. The fastest and most natural way for you to raise your strength is to fight. I know your mother doesn''t want me telling you this, but the more intense a fight, the more your life is on the line during the fight, the faster your cultivation speed will be."


    A confused look once again appeared on John''s face, but as he thought about his encounter with the Dark Spotted Panther, John started to understand what his father was trying to say.


    "When fighting with your life on the line, your body will instinctively use the Qi from your dantian in the most efficient and optimal way in order to increase your odds of survival. Even if you are not consciously aware of it at the time you are fighting, being in this state of optimal Qi usage will subconsciously allow you to understand the nature of Qi faster than if you were just to meditate instead. Also, sometimes a bottleneck will never break loose no matter how much you meditate on it, and the only way to advance is to use your Qi in fights and be ustomed to using it."


    All the teachings that John had been listening to were slowly starting toe together, allowing John to understand the big picture of the essence of cultivation.


    "I think I understand. Thank you so much father" John replied with a face full of gratitude. His cultivation before today could be described as stumbling through the dark trying to find what he was looking for, whereas now he was on an illuminated path walking straight towards his goal.


    "Now, onest thing I want to mention is in regards to your soul. When you break through to the Mist Creation realm, your nascent soul will form naturally. The heavenlyws themselves are responsible for forming your nascent soul. Every major realm you break through as well, your soul power will strengthen."


    "Your soul exists now, but is in too weak a state to interact with. Your soul is useful for many things, but most let it strengthen naturally and don''t focus on improving their soul power. This is mainly due to the potency of soul attacks. Attacking with the soul is much harder than defending with it. Unless you have some extremely lucky circumstances, your soul is very hard to improve on other than passively growing stronger as your cultivation grows stronger. Only those with variant souls focus on soul power, as they have a natural birth advantage that makes it worthwhile to do so. That''s everything I want to say on that."


    Barden let his son contemte everything that he talked about for quite some time before speaking up once more, "Now that you know all this, I will allow you to set out...on one condition."

 Chapter 14 - Preparation

    John looked up at his father before asking, "What condition?"


    Suddenly, a small and thin disk-like object appeared in Barden''s hand.


    "What''s that?" asked John as he saw his father take something out of his storage ring. It was a small disk about three inches in diameter, and quite thin. It seemed to be some kind of carved stone, and had fantastic patterns etched all over the surface.


    "This is a spatial talisman. When broken, it teleports the user anywhere in a thirty mile radius. They are quite rare and our Fenix n only has a few, but my condition is that you take one of these with you, no exceptions. If you ever run into a situation that you cannot handle, crush this talisman and you''ll be able to escape from it. If you do end up crushing one, immediately return back to the n."


    John reached out and took the talisman from his father, his fingers tracing the wonderful patterns on the surface. Although he had no idea what the lines meant, he was sure that they were the core that allowed the spatial talisman to work. After inspecting it for a while, he stored it in his storage ring.


    "I have no problem with that. If I ever run into trouble that I can''t handle, I promise I''ll crush this ande back to the n as fast as possible" responded John.


    "Good. There''s only one thing you must be aware of. Any cultivator at the Meridian Forging realm or above can use their power to suppress the space around you, making you unable to teleport even if you crush the talisman. I don''t expect you to run into any Meridian Forging experts as they are very rare on this continent, but you should still know this piece of information nheless," said Barden.


    "Anyways, the day is getting prettyte. We should end things here for now and head back. Dinner should be ready pretty soon" said Barden as he stood up and stretched his legs. John stood up as well and followed his father as they walked back into their mansion.


    John had dinner with his parents, with his mother making his favorite Golden Ox stew. Rachel Fenix tried a few more times to convince John to stay before she realized the effort was futile.


    "Just make sure to keep yourself safe. That''s all that matters" said Rachel as she looked at John, concern clearly on her face.


    "I will mom. Dad even gave me a spatial talisman just in case, so I''ll be fine" responded John before he ate another mouthful of stew.


    After dinner was done, John decided to head out and prepare for his journey. "I''ll head out tomorrow, so I should go and get all the items I''ll need for this journey."


    John decided to visit the Medicinal Pavilion first. After walking for a few minutes, John arrived in front of the building and walked in. He looked around for a few seconds but couldn''t find Elder Barus anywhere.


    "Can I help you?" a voice asked from behind John. He turned around to see a young girl around 20 years old. She had long ck hair and a fairly attractive face.


    "Uh, I''m looking for Elder Barus. I want to get some pills" responded John. Being a young master of the n, John was afforded free ess to medicinal pills as long as the requests were not too excessive or expensive.


    "Oh, Elder Barus is out for today. I can help you with that though. What type of pills were you looking for?" responded the girl.


    "Some healing pills, suitable for Mist Creation cultivators. I guess around twenty will do" John stated.


    The girl nodded her head before turning around and walking to the back of the building. She returned a few minutester with a small jar and handed it to John. "Here you go, twenty Life Mist Healing Pills. They''re quite effective for Mist Creation cultivators, although if you are fatally wounded they won''t be of much help."


    "Thank you" said John as he epted the jar before putting it in his storage ring. John then walked out of the building, wondering where he should go next.


    "Now that I think of it, my storage ring''s spatial area is quite small. I should at least upgrade to a better one" thought John.


    Although his storage ring was good for his day to day uses, he had no idea how long he was going to be away from the n. It was better to be prepared and bring a ring that wasrge enough to carry everything he needed.


    John turned down the street and walked for a little while before arriving in front of arge ornate building, the ns Trade Hall. The Trade Hall was seven floors tall, and appeared quite simr to the Medicinal Pavillion, the only difference being that the trade hall was solid white with ck eaves.


    After stepping inside, John found the attendant in charge and walked up to him. "Excuse me, I''m looking to buy a storage ring" John said as he approached the attendant. The attendant was a middle aged man, who had short ck hair and a thin ck mustache.


    "What type of storage ring? Howrge should the interior be?" asked the attendant.


    "My current ring is ten feet on each side, so I would like one at least double or triple that" replied John.


    "We have quite a few good rings with that storage capacity. One moment please" responded the attendant before walking to the back storage area. He returned a few minutester, carrying a few rings on his palm.


    "Here are our best rings with that storage capacity. Might I suggest this one" said the attendant as he handed one to John before continuing, "This one has an interior space of thirty feet on each side, and the ring itself is made from Altrius Ore, which is a very sturdy material. Even during intense battles, your ring will be safe and won''t be at risk of breaking."


    John took the ring and inspected the interior space with his mind. The interior of the space was indeed thirty feet on each side, and was muchrger than his current ring.


    "I like it. How much for the ring?" asked John.


    "10 gold pieces" replied the middle aged attendant.


    John winced as he heard the price. Although he had several dozen gold coins that he had saved up through his n allowance, it was still a decent chunk of his overall wealth.


    "Oh well, it''s still worth it" thought John before saying to the attendant "I''ll take it. Here''s ten gold coins."


    John gave the attendant the gold as he kept the storage ring. He transferred all his items from his old storage ring to his new one before asking the attendant, "How much for this storage ring of mine?"


    The attendant took the ring and inspected it before replying "Two gold coins."


    John agreed to the price and received two gold coins, bing slightly less unhappy about spending ten gold coins. He walked out of the building and onto the main street, stopping to think if he needed anything else.


    After a few seconds of thinking, John muttered "How could I be so stupid. I''m almost at Mist Creation and I still don''t have a proper technique or attack suitable for that level. I can''t believe I forgot that all my attacks are based off of weapon fundamentals that don''t use Qi."


    John shook his head at his own stupidity before heading down the street towards the White Feather Martial Library. He arrived a few minutester and walked inside, immediately heading up the stairs due to his familiarity with the library.


    "I''ve read most of the books on the first three floors, but I''ve never been to the fourth floors and above. From what I know, the fourth floor has the n''s Mist Creation techniques, with higher floors having higher cultivation level techniques."


    John walked up the fourth floor, at which point he was greeted by an elder standing guard.


    "John? What are you doing here?" asked the elder.


    "I''m here to browse the n''s Mist Creation techniques. Although I''m not quite a Mist Creation cultivator yet, I''ve started to absorb Qi into my body, so it''s only a matter of time" responded John. Normally one had to be the appropriate cultivation level to get ess to the floor, but John decided to try his luck anyways.


    The elder thought about it for a moment before nodding his head and saying "Well I suppose that does make sense. Alright then, you can head on inside. Do you have any ideas of what you''re looking for?" asked the elder.


    "Well, I suppose some techniques for a greatsword, oh and also a scythe if we have any. Also some movement techniques would be nice" replied John.


    "Scythe huh? Well we do have multiple greatsword techniques, but I think we only have one scythe technique. Unfortunately it''s in anguage that no one in the n recognizes. It''s been in the n for a few hundred years but since no one can read it, no one has bothered learning it. We only know it''s a scythe technique since there''s a small scythe drawn at the top of the page" responded the elder. John talked to the elder a bit more to find out the locations of those techniques before heading inside.


    As he stepped inside the fourth floor, John could see dozens of book shelves each holding dozens of books and scrolls. "There must be over three hundred books here" thought John in amazement as he started walking towards the greatsword techniques.


    Arriving there a few secondster, John started reading the names on the spine of the books. "Mountain Crushing Sword, Ferocious Cleaving Technique, Flowing Sword Art."


    "Wow, these are some impressive sounding techniques" thought John as he took a few books off the shelf and started reading the summary on the first page. After finishing those books, John went back and grabbed more of the greatsword techniques and read their summaries.


    After reading all the books, John decided to go with the "Mountain Crushing Sword."


    "This technique utilizes the cultivator''s pure power to unleash devastating attacks, and even has a powerful ranged sword light attack. My body has always been much stronger than normal, so this technique suits me perfectly" thought John as he stored the technique in his storage ring.


    John then walked over to the location that the elder pointed out had the scythe technique. After a few seconds of searching he saw it. It wasn''t even a book and instead was just a single page sitting alone on the shelf. The page looked quite old and appeared to be made out of some kind of hide. John looked at the page for a bit before slowly reaching out to pick it up. As he picked it up and started reading it, a disappointed look shed across his face.

 Chapter 15 - Heading Out

    "As the elder said, it''s anguage that I don''t recognize. It''s pretty much useless to me" John thought as he reached out to put the page back. His hand stopped halfway to the shelf before returning to his side.


    "Well, if no one has used it for hundreds of years, it''s uselessly sitting here collecting dust. I''ll keep it for now. Who knows, maybe I''ll get lucky enough to run into someone who can read thisnguage."


    John put both techniques in his storage ring before walking over to the section that contained movement techniques. Ever since his fight with the Panther, John hade to realize the importance of having a good movement technique.


    John spent the next hour reading all the different movement technique descriptions before deciding to pick the "Five Step Movement Technique." As the name suggested, the technique revolved around taking five steps, with each step building off the previous resulting in ever increasing speed. It was effective for both fighting and running.


    "These techniques shouldst me through the Mist Creation realm. I think I''m pretty much ready to head out" thought John as he put back the remaining books before walking over the elder.


    "Which techniques did you choose?" asked the elder curiously.


    "Mountain Crushing Sword and the Five Step Movement Technique" replied John.


    "Both very good choices. Among Mist Creation realm techniques, they are both top tier techniques" replied the elder. John talked with the elder a bit more before thanking him and walking back downstairs. On the first floor of the library, John grabbed a map of the surrounding area before leaving.


    After leaving the library, John walked back to his mansion as it was already nighttime. He greeted his parents when he returned home before heading up to his room and falling into bed.


    Early the next morning, John woke up and got prepared for the day.


    "I should wash up before I head out. Who knows how long it''s going to be before I have another chance to clean up" thought John as he walked over to his washroom. After cleaning himself up, John walked over to his wardrobe. He donned his ck robe and stored the rest of his ck robes in his storage ring.


    "Good thing I have a lot of these robes. I''ll be able to change them out quite often" thought John as he turned around and left his room. Arriving at the kitchen a minuteter, John was greeted by a full meal sitting on the kitchen table.


    "What''s all this?" asked John as he saw his mother standing there with a smile.


    "Well, it''s thest meal I''ll be able to cook for you for a while, so I decided to make sure to go all out. That, and you''ll need the extra energy on your journey ahead" replied Rachel Fenix.


    "Oh. Thanks mom" John replied with a smile as he sat down and started to eat. Barden walked in a few minutester and sat down as well, joining John in scarfing down the meal in front of them. The three of them ate for quite some time before finishing the meal.


    "Man, I''m stuffed. That was delicious" said John out loud as he proudly patted his bulging belly.


    Rachel smiled at her son''s content expression before a serious look appeared on her face.


    "John, you must be careful. If any trouble arises, use the talisman right away ande back home immediately" said Rachel with a concerned expression.


    "I will. Don''t worry, I''ll be extremely careful on this journey, so you don''t have to worry too much" replied John.


    John stood up from his seat and walked over to his parents, hugging them both tightly before parting. "I''ll be back before the pocket realm opens," said John.


    "Good. I expect nothing less than youing back and surprising us both" replied Barden with a proud look on his face.


    After hugging his parents once more, John turned around and left his house.


    "I hope he''ll be alright" said Rachel as she watched her son walk out of the house.


    "He''ll be fine. He has the spatial talisman. Besides, someone with his destiny won''t die easily" replied Barden as he held his wife''s hand.


    John left the mansion and walked onto the main road of the n. He passed by hundreds of other people before eventually arriving at the front n gates.


    "Leaving to hunt beasts again young master?" asked one of the guards as John approached.


    "Something like that" responded John with a smile as he continued to walk through the n gates.


    After walking through the n gates, John stepped to the side of the busy road and took out the map he had collected earlier.


    "Lets see what we have here."


    The Skycleave mountain range was an expansive mountain range that spanned for thousands of miles from east to west. The Fenix n was situated about the halfway point of the mountain range, on the north side. At the far east side of the mountain range, the Skycleave mountains eventually branched off and travelled north to south for thousands of miles as well.


    "The Varis n is a few hundred miles to the west of here, while the Flowing River Sect and Crimson Valley Sect are opposite us on the south of the mountain range. I don''t want to venture towards the Crimson Valley Sect, and I''ve already been to the Varis n, so I suppose I''ll follow the mountain range east" thought John as he studied the map.


    To the east of the Fenix n were various other smaller sects, ns, and kingdoms.


    "The Dreadel Kingdom is about a thousand miles to the northeast of here it seems. I''ve heard quite a bit about it, and I believe it''s on the same status level as our n. I guess I''ll start my journey by heading there" thought John as he put away the map.


    "To get to the Dreadel Kingdom from here, I could take the main road that leads all the way there, but that will be too safe. No beasts dare stray onto the main road, so I suppose I''ll travel through the Skycleave Forest to the south of the main road. Although I shouldn''t stray too far away from the road or I''ll run into stronger beasts than I can handle."


    John shuddered a little bit as he recounted his experience with the Dark Spotted Panther.


    On both sides of the Skycleave mountain range, the Skycleave Forest stretched for thousands of miles as well. Every sect and n in the surrounding area was technically located within the Skycleave Forest.


    Putting away the map, John stepped back onto the main road and started walking north. About an hourter, John came to the same bend in the road asst time. Instead of stepping off into the woods on the west, John followed the road branch that led northeast away from the Skycleave Mountains.


    "This road heading east eventually leads to the Dreadel Kingdom. I''ll follow it for a bit before stepping into the woods. The journey should take me about a month on foot." thought John as he took the road to the east.


    John followed the road heading northeast for a full day beforeing to a town as the sun was setting. The town had several dozenrge buildings and hundreds of houses dotting the openndscape on both sides of the road. Arge wall surrounded the perimeter of the town.


    "I''ll stay here for the night and then head into the woods tomorrow" thought John as he walked into the small town. After paying the two copper entrance fee to the guards at the front gate, John found one of the town Inns and walked inside. The main floor of the Inn was bustling with activity, as dozens of people could be seen eating, drinking andughing.


    "Excuse me, how much for one room for the night?" asked John as he approached the Innkeeper.


    The Innkeeper looked up and was slightly surprised to see a lone boy. "Twenty five copper for one night" replied the Innkeeper.


    John took out twenty five copper and gave it to the Innkeeper. The Innkeeper took the money before leading John to his room on the second floor. The room was quite small with only a single bed and wardrobe closet inside.


    John looked around the room a bit before sitting down on the ground. Gathering his focus on feeling the surrounding Qi in the air, John slipped into a meditative trance. Having studied the ns cultivation technique earlier, John started cultivating ording to its principals.


    "Feel the Qi. Draw it to my body. Draw it into my body." thought John as he repeated the steps his father had taught him. Several hourster, John slowly opened his eyes.

 Chapter 16 - Into The Forest

    "How long was I cultivating for?" thought John as he stood up and looked out the window. The moon was high in the sky, indicating that at least several hours had passed since he started cultivating.


    "Weird, it felt like no time at all" thought John. "Well, time for bed I guess. Tomorrow is when the true journey begins."


    The next morning, John sat up in his bed for a few minutes before getting up and walking out into the hallway. Downstairs, John noticed several men passed out at their tables in drunken stupor.


    After ordering some breakfast from the Innkeeper, John sat down at a table and ate his breakfast.


    "This might be thest good meal I have for a while" thought John as he scarfed down his meal.


    After finishing his meal, John walked out of the Inn and explored the town for a bit. The town had many different buildings, ranging from trade halls to brothels, but nothing of interest grabbed his attention.


    "Guess I''ll head out" thought John as he turned south of the town and headed towards the nearby treeline. The Skycleave Mountain range was visible in the far distance, its peaks jutting high into the sky.


    After walking for a few minutes, John arrived in front of the forest and paused for a moment before heading in. The bright sunshine was immediately reced with a darker atmosphere as the dense tree cover stopped much of the sunlight. Large trees several feet wide and hundreds of feet high could be seen everywhere.


    Taking care of his surroundings, John ventured deeper into the forest. Unlike the forest surrounding the Fenix n, the trees here were not marked at all, so John had to rely on his intuition on where to journey.


    "From what I know, this part of the forest should still be a rtively low beast level area. As the road strays further northeast away from the Skycleave Mountains, the beast level will steadily rise. It should be a few days before I need to really worry about my surroundings" thought John as he ventured through the forest.


    After walking for a full day, John still hadn''t found any sign of a beast worth fighting.


    "Although I saw some low level beasts earlier, those wouldn''t have been much of a challenge. Oh well. I''ll set up camp for today and keep heading deeper into the forest tomorrow."


    John quickly made a rudimentary campsite before sitting down and cultivating some more. Several hourster, John emerged from his meditative trance.


    "It happened again it seems. I''m not sure what the reason is, but I can tell my cultivation is progressing quite rapidlytely. I should be able to reach the Mist Creation realm soon" John thought with an excited look on his face.


    After standing up, John took out one of the items his father had given him and set it up. It was a small formation disk, and when activated set up an invisible perimeter around the disk. If anything moved within the hundred yard radius perimeter, John would be alerted. Having set the perimeter up, John fell asleep deeply.


    The next morning, John woke up to the calls of various animals and insects echoing throughout the forest. After packing up the formation disk, John once again started walking deeper into the forest. Unlike the day before, instead of staying parallel with the road, John decided to stray a little bit farther from it, heading deeper towards the Skycleave Mountains.


    Half a dayter, John entered arge clearing in the forest and suddenly stopped, silently taking out his greatsword.


    "That should be a Gray-Scaled Crocodile. It seems as if its equivalent to a peak Body Refinement cultivator" thought John as he stared at the animal.


    About one hundred yards from John, the Gray-Scaled Crocodile was basking in the sunlight next to arge crystal clear pond. The beast was ten feet long, and had razor sharp teeth. It was known for its powerful tail attacks, as well as its deadly strong bites.


    "It should be a bit stronger than Ironhide Lizard I fought a while back" thought John as he slowly approached the Crocodile. After creeping up to the animal slowly, John stopped for a few seconds beforeughing out loud in self shame.


    "Hahaha, why am I being so careful? I''m using this journey to strengthen myself. Even if I sneak up on this beast and sessfully kill it, I will gain no battle experience. Every fight of mine must be on the edge in order for me to advance the fastest that I can"


    The suddenughter and monologue afterwards alerted the crocodile. The crocodile roared in rage as it saw John walk towards it. It quickly dashed towards John, arriving just a secondter. Its head violently snapped towards John''s waist.


    "Let''s y" shouted John as he dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding being bitten in two by the beast. John punched the snout of the beast with his full strength, which pushed the crocodile backwards a few feet while it howled in pain.


    Enraged by the sudden attack, the Gray-Scaled Crocodile twisted itsrge body sideways and sent its massive tail whipping towards John.


    "Boom!"


    The tail crashed violently into the ground where John had just been standing, leaving a small hole in the ground and sending dirt flying in every direction.


    "Wow, that tail has some serious power. I should try my best to avoid it" thought John as he dodged the tail attack. Using the opportunity that had just opened, John dashed forward and swung his greatsword down with all his might.


    "Roar!"


    The crocodile howled in pain as the sword sliced deeply into its back.


    "Its defense is pretty tough. This attack would have sliced an Earth Wolf clean in half" thought John as he quickly backed up, narrowly avoiding yet another tail attack.


    After dodging the attack, John once again dashed forward, his sword piercing towards the beast this time. Although it tried to avoid the attack, the crocodile was a hair toote as the sword plunged into it all the way to the hilt.


    Quickly pulling his sword out, John once again dashed backwards quickly as the crocodile tried to bite him in half.


    "It''s moving a lot slower now. The two blows so far have dealt critical damage it seems. Time to end this" said John as he once again dashed towards the beast. Right as he was about tond the final blow, the Crocodile quickly whipped around, sending its tail crashing towards John.


    "Gah!"


    John barely raised his sword in time before he was sent flying backwards by the tail attack.


    The crocodile dashed towards John, hoping tond a fatal blow after its sessful attack. John sluggishly stood up as he tried to stabilize himself, blood flowing slightly from his lips.


    John looked up and saw the crocodile dashing violently towards him. He quickly steadied his sword and prepared to take its attack. Just as the crocodile was about to reach John, it copsed, eventuallying to a stop directly in front of John.


    "Is it dead?"


    John quickly backed away from the beast and observed it for a bit before realizing that it was in fact dead.


    "I guess my second attack must have hit its heart" thought John. "I got extremely lucky. Had I not hit his heart, I would have been in serious danger."


    John slowly approached the crocodile before stabbing his sword directly into its head, confirming the kill. He stored the body in his storage ring, at which point he sat on the ground in pain.


    "I got too overconfident at the end of the battle. Even a wounded beast is still deadly. I need to keep that in mind for future battles and never underestimate my enemy no matter how grave the situation looks for them."


    John took out one of the Life Mist healing pills he had brought along and popped it into his mouth. He sat on the ground and focused on recovering, only standing up several hourster.


    "Let''s continue on. My first battle has already given me an incredible lesson. I knewing out here was the right call" thought John as he continued to venture deeper into the forest.

 Chapter 17 - Cave

    In another part of the Skycleave Forest, a boy and a girl could be seen walking through the forest. Both of them appeared to be around fourteen years old, and both wore pure white robes with a dazzlingly blue lighting bolt embroidered on the back of the robe.


    "This part of the forest doesn''t seem to have what we''re looking for. Maybe we should head to one of the more powerful ns in the area and ask around" said the girl.


    "We would have done that already if that was a solution. Do you really think if the ns knew of something like this, they would freely tell us about it? The only way we''re going to find out if it exists or not is to find it ourselves" replied the boy.


    A small item suddenly appeared in his hands. It was shaped like a small disk, and it had manyplex looking runes carved into its surface. Sending his Qi into the item, the runes on the disk started glowing, before it eventually dimmed and returned to normal.


    "There''s nothing here as expected. Let''s keep looking around. We only have to be within thirty miles for this disk to detect it" said the boy as he put away the disk.


    As the two of them talked, a pair of eyes stared at the two of them from above.


    "Rustle!"


    The boy and girl turned around to see the beast rapidly lunging towards them from the tree canopy above. The beast had four muscr limbs, a thick tail, and was dark green and covered in thick scales. Dozens of massive spikes could be seen jutting out of its back and head.


    Just as the powerful beast was about to reach them, a light suddenly appeared, splitting the beast in two. Its two halves flew past both of them, crashing violently into the ground behind them.


    "These pests are everywhere in this forest" eximed the boy disdainfully as he put away his sword and started walking away, not giving the beast a second nce. The girl nodded her head as she followed the boy deeper into the forest.


    Had John been here, he would have been extremely shocked. The beast that had just been killed with absolute ease was a Tree Baloth, and was equivalent to ate Mist Creation cultivator.


    A weekter¡­


    The moon hung high in the dark sky. Light from the fire John had created flickered, illuminating his meditating figure. After meditating for a few hours, John slowly opened his eyes and breathed out heavily.


    "I can feel myself getting closer and closer to the Mist Creation realm" thought John as he took out a piece of meat from his storage right and ced it over the fire.


    As he watched the leg of meat roast over the fire, John thought about his journey over the past week. He had fought and killed over a dozen Body Refinement level beasts, with each battle helping him advance in both cultivation and battle experience.


    "It should be a few more weeks until I advance to the Mist Creation realm. After I do, I can start venturing deeper into the forest" thought John as he took the leg of meat off the fire and bit into it. Juices ran down John''s chin as he devoured the meat. After finishing his meal, John set up his formation disk and fell asleep.


    The next morning, John woke up early and took out leftovers fromst night. After having a small breakfast, John got up and started venturing further into the forest.


    "Let''s be a little more adventurous today" said John as he turned a bit more to his right than normal, heading farther away from the road and civilization as he had the previous week.


    Several hours of walkingter, John spotted an Iron Tusked Boar. Although Iron Tusked Boars were not particrly strong, they were still equivalent to Blood Refinement Cultivators.


    "This boar is pretty weak, but I''ve heard that the meat of an Iron Tusked Boar is quite delicious. Time to go hunting" thought John as he started walking his way over to the boar.


    Although John could sneak up to the boar and kill it before it would notice him, John preferred letting his prey spot him. If it wanted to fight, John would be treated to a fight. If it wanted to run, John could work on his movements and footwork while he chased the beast.


    "Snap!"


    The sound of a twig snapping underneath John''s foot alerted the boar. The boar looked up and spotted John, at which point it screeched and charged towards him.


    A smile crept up on John''s face as he watched the boar approach.


    "Boom!"


    John fist collided with the tusk of the boar, sending the boar flying backwards. He immediately dashed forward and followed up with another punch, whichnded on the still tumbling boar.


    Another boom echoed out as the boar was once more sent flying backwards. After tumbling backwards for dozens of yards, the boar eventually came to a stop and sluggishly got back on its feet. Looking at John with fear in its eyes, the boar immediately turned and fled.


    John started chasing the boar, all the while working on the fundamental teachings of the Five Step Movement Technique. Although the technique required Qi in order to function properly, John still emted the technique, learning the fundamentals as best he could. This way, once John stepped into the Mist Creation realm, he would already have the fundamentals of the technique mastered and could learn the rest of it faster.


    After a few minutes of chasing the boar through the dense forest, John watched the boare to a sudden stop. Startled by the boar''s strange behavior, John stopped as well. The boar looked back at John and again in front of it, before taking off to the side.


    "What''s it doing? By running to the side instead of straight away from me, I''ll be able to catch up much easier" thought John as he watched the boar run away.


    John thought about giving chase, but the strange actions of the boar alerted John into acting more cautious. John walked over to where the boar had stopped, at which point a small clearing in the forest came into view. In the middle of the clearing was arge cave.


    "It seems like there''s something in the cave that caused the boar to decide to take his chance with me instead of whatever is in there"


    John climbed one of the trees nearby and sat down on a branch. He observed the cave for several hours but saw no activity at all.


    "No activity has happened so far" said John as he climbed down the tree and started walking towards the mouth of the cave.


    John reached the mouth of the cave beforeing to a stop. He peered into the cave, but only saw a long straight cave that eventually blended into darkness. After peering into the cave for a while, John took out his greatsword and proceeded inside.


    "Maybe there''s a strong Body Refinement level beast inside. If I do end up running into something I can''t handle, I can just use my talisman."


    After a few minutes of walking, the cave became so dark that John could hardly see in front of him. Just as he was about to bring out a torch to light the way, he spotted a small light further into the cave.


    "Hmm? What''s that light" thought John as he started walking towards it.


    After carefully walking forward for another minute, the cave passage opened up to reveal arge expansive cavern. The cave was several hundred yards wide and deep, and had a ceiling dozens of yards high. As his eyes scanned over the cavern, John suddenly paused, his eyes wide open in shock.


    In the middle of the cave, a dazzlingly beautiful flower could be seen. The flower looked like a sunflower, but emitted a beautiful white glow that illuminated the cave.


    "A Mist Essence Sunflower" John eximed in shock as he stared at the flower.


    Mist Essence Sunflowers were rather rare flowers that only grew in dark and damp ces. The flower naturally absorbed the most elementary form of Qi, resulting in the radiating white glow it gave off. Because the Mist Essence Sunflower absorbed the most basic essence of Qi, it was an extremely beneficial item for Body Refinement cultivators.


    Cultivating at the Blood Refinement realm in front of the flower would allow the cultivator to feel the surrounding Qi more profoundly, as well as absorb it easier. However, because the flower absorbed only the most basic levels of Qi, it was only useful for Body Refinement cultivators. Due to its difficulty to grow, as well as its limited use, most ns and sects did not have ess to this flower.


    John stared intently at the flower.


    "If I can cultivate in front of this flower, I should be able to advance to Mist Creation within a few days. Not only that, but cultivating in front of the flower will also help stabilize my cultivation base, resulting in a much more sturdy foundation."


    John started to walk over the flower when he quickly froze, his breath caught in his throat. Because of his excitement over the flower, John had failed to notice that just ten yards from the flower slept a powerful Mist Creation realm beast.

 Chapter 18 - Night Wolf

    Near the flower slept a Night Wolf. Night Wolves were pitch ck in color, and hunted mostly during the night. They ranged anywhere from early mist creation tote mist creation, depending on their age. The wolf in front of John was at the early Mist Creation level.


    Although beasts didn''t cultivate the way humans did, they emanated a natural aura that made it easy to judge what level their strength was at.


    John stood as still as possible, fearing that any sound would alert the beast. He stood there for several minutes, neither moving forward nor retreating. The beast, unaware of his presence, slept soundly.


    "Although I''m much stronger than when I fought the Dark Spotted Panther, there''s still no way I can beat this beast" thought John. A conflicted look appeared on his face as he debated about what to do.


    "I can''t beat the Night Wolf, but on the other hand, that Mist Essence Sunflower is extremely important to me." John stared at the wolf for quite some time before clenching his fists tightly.


    "I need this flower. If I end up in danger, I''ll just teleport away" thought John as he started to slowly sneak towards the flower.


    After sneaking forward slowly for several minutes, John started to approach the flower from the side opposite the wolf.


    "I''m almost there. Just a few more yards."


    Each second was agonizingly stressful as John slowly approached the flower. Just as he was about to reach out and store away the flower, the Night Wolf quickly opened its eyes.


    "ROAR!"


    An extremely loud and furious roar echoed throughout the entire cavern. The Night Wolf had felt John''s presence right as he was about to take the flower, and as such had woken up in a furious rage.


    "Shit" yelled John as he hastily retreated and dashed towards the cave exit with all his speed, abandoning all thought of obtaining the flower.


    John came to a sudden halt as he was ten yards from the cavern exit. The Night Wolf had obviously sensed his intention of retreat and had ran to the only exit to block his path.


    John stared at the Night Wolf in front of him as he thought about what to do.


    "Should I crush the talisman now?" He pulled out the talisman and held it in his hand for a moment before storing it once again.


    "No, I can only use this as ast resort. Once I crush it, my adventure is over and I have to go home. I''ll see if I can fight my way out of here, maybe the wolf won''t want to leave the cave if I reach the exit."


    John hastily took out his blue greatsword and steadied it in front of his body. Breathing in deeply, John took the most defensive stance he knew and prepared for the Wolf''s attack.


    Noticing that John was daring to challenge it, the Wolf howled in rage once again before dashing rapidly towards him.


    John barely had time to react before the wolf was right in front of him, its massive paw swinging powerfully towards him. Based on his fight with the Dark Spotted Panther, John knew that he couldn''t block this attack head on without taking serious damage.


    Right as the giant paw was about to smash into his body, John twisted his shoulders to the side and brought up his greatsword. The paw made a ncing strike against John''s sword as it barely missed gravely injuring him.


    As the wolf lunged past him, John raised his other hand and punched out with all his strength. The wolf was knocked back slightly, but other than that had taken no damage. John felt his hand trembling slightly in pain from the punch.


    "How tough" John cursed as he rapidly dashed backwards, narrowly avoiding the follow up strike from the wolf.


    After narrowly dodging the strike, John used the slight opening and dashed forward and swung his sword down with all his might.


    "Peng!"


    A metallic sound rang out as the wolf''s paw blocked John''s sword with ease. John was sent flying backwards, eventually crashing into the cavern wall. He sluggishly stood up and wiped the blood off his lips. He quickly looked up saw the Night Wolf rapidly approaching him, trying to deliver the finishing blow.


    "Boom!"


    A loud boom echoed through the cavern as the wolf''s paw mmed against the cavern wall.


    John had just narrowly dodged the wolf''s powerful attack at thest possible moment. After dodging the wolf''s paw attack, John lunged forward and shed his sword towards the wolf with all his might.


    "Roar!"


    The wolf roared in anger as a slightly deep cut was opened up on its side. It had never regarded the human in front of it as a threat, and in its carelessness had been wounded.


    "Shit" John eximed as he hastily backed up, narrowly dodging the wolf''s paw swipe.


    "That was the best opportunity I''m going to get, and all I could do was slightly injure the wolf" thought John as he hastily swung his sword out again, blocking the follow up attack from the wolf.


    "Gah!" John screamed out in pain as he was flung back dozens of yards, tumbling head over heels multiple times. He eventually came to a stop and rose to his feet as fast as he could, his legs shaking and blood covering his entire body. All his bones felt like they had almost shattered, but he knew that the wolf wouldn''t give him time to recover. Panting in pain, John stared at the rapidly approaching wolf.


    "I guess it really is too much to expect that I can fight this wolf. After all, jumping realms is basically impossible" thought John as he took out a small disk from his storage ring.


    Gritting his teeth in frustration at having to use his spatial talisman this early, John was about to crush the talisman when he suddenly stopped.


    "This is just like before" thought John as he examined what was going on inside of him.


    John felt his blood boiling and his energy rising, just like it had when he was about to sh with the Dark Spotted Panther one final time. A wild thought appeared in John''s mind as he stowed away the disk and raised his sword in front of him.


    Gripping his sword as tightly as possible, John shed down with all his might as the wolf''s paw swiped towards him.


    "Peng!"


    Another loud metallic sound rang out as the sword and paw collided. Unlikest time however, John was not sent flying back hopelessly. John excitedly stared at his sword which had sessfully blocked the wolf''s paw. Pushing out with all his strength, John managed to force the wolf back a dozen yards.


    Surprised by the sudden increase in strength, the wolf stared at John with more caution than before, not daring to attack right away.


    "Haha,e!" shouted John as he quickly dashed towards the wolf. "I need to do something different this time however."


    As he neared the wolf, John once again swung his sword down. The wolf raised its paw to block the sword, and having faced this attack before, put even more power in the counter attack.


    Just as sword and paw were about to collide, John hastily changed the trajectory of his sword attack, narrowly missing the paw. The wolf had expected a full power attack from John, and as such had not considered that John would throw in a feint attack. Since John had not put much power into his initial swing, he was able to change the trajectory at thest moment, causing the wolf''s paw to hit nothing but air.


    "Boom!"


    John''s sword struck the side of the wolf, carving arge wound across its side. The wolf howled in pain as it quickly turned around, sending a massive paw towards John. John hastily blocked the paw and was thrown backwards dozens of yards, his blood tumbling inside his body.


    Although John had managed to maintain his bnce, he was still shaken from blocking that attack. Coughing out a small amount of blood, John wiped the blood of his chin as he stared at the wolf.


    "That was my strongest attack, and all I managed to do was wound it. I won''t be able to kill it at this rate." John stared at the wolf as he considered his options before his eyes widened in shock and fear.


    "What''s happening?" said John


    He suddenly felt like all the energy in his body was rapidly leaving. A huge wave of weariness started washing over him as John felt the energy surge slowly start to leave his body.


    John was worrying about his sudden predicament when all of a sudden he looked up to see a massive paw swiping towards his head.


    "Gah!"


    John cried out in pain as he was sent flying backwards by the attack. Although he had managed to block the attack at thest possible moment, his hasty defense was not enough to prevent any damage.


    John tumbled over a few times beforeing to a stop. After struggling for a few seconds, John stood up as fast as he could. He looked up to see the wolf once again dashing towards him, looking to end the fight.


    "What can I do? I feel as if I only have enough energy for one more attack before I copse. Either I crush the talisman or I attack, but myst full power attack wasn''t powerful enough to kill it"


    John''s mind was racing as he desperately thought of something to turn the tide of this battle. His eyes suddenly brightened as he thought of something.


    Watching the wolf approach, John feigned weakness, acting as if he could barely stand up. Seeing its prey was on itsst legs, the wolf prepared to put all its power into its final blow.


    "Boom!" Therge cavern shook as the wolf''s paw violently mmed into the ground, upheaving earth and creating a small crater. The wolf had not expected its prey to be able to move quickly, and as such had attacked with all its might to deliver a finishing blow.


    The Night Wolf looked to its side but saw nothing. It suddenly looked upwards, at which point it saw the human above it, lunging downwards with a pitch ck weapon in hand.


    After dodging to the side at thest possible moment, John jumped high into the air above the wolf. Putting his greatsword away, John took out his scythe from his storage ring as he fell towards the beast. His arm muscles strained with all their might as John was just barely able to control the trajectory of the scythe. He swung the scythe will everyst shred of energy he had. If this attack failed, he didn''t know if he would have enough energy to take out his spatial talisman and crush it.


    "Roar"


    The wolf howled in anger as it raised its paw to block the attack, but having put all its power into its previous attack, it was just a moment too slow to recover in time.


    "Slice!"


    John violently crashed into the ground and tumbled over a few times. With hisst remaining strength, John slightly lifted his head to look behind him.


    John stared at the beast for a second before darkness washed over him.


    ¡­


    A pair of eyes slowly opened.

 Chapter 19 - Advancement

    John slowly opened his eyes, unaware of his surroundings. After a few moments of recalling the prior events, John quickly came to his wits and tried to stand up as fast as possible.


    "Gah!" John cried out in pain. His bones felt as if they were shattered, and his muscles felt as if they were on fire. Had John not experienced the pain that came from the mysterious sphere, he undoubtedly would have passed out from this pain.


    "How long was I out for?"


    Realizing he could barely move, John carefully spent the next few minutes struggling to sit up. After managing to get into a seated position, John breathed out heavily and turned his head over to the side.


    Ten yards in front of him was the Night Wolf, its head separated from the rest of his body. John stared at the wolf for a long time, his thoughts reliving the battle he had with the wolf over and over.


    I got extremely lucky this time," thought John as he continued to think about the battle.


    "Had I not had that surge of energy, I would have had no choice but to flee. And if the wolf hadn''t underestimated me at the final moment, at best my scythe attack would have gravely injured it but not killed it."


    John kept thinking about the battle, where he could have improved and where he faltered.


    "After realizing the energy surge within me was leaving my body, I got distracted and almost died to the wolf''s attack. I suppose getting distracted in battle, no matter the reason, is a sure way to die. I still have much to learn" thought John as a smile slowly crept on his face.


    Although he had almost died, John was able to kill a Mist Creation level beast while at the Body Refinement realm. As far as John was aware, this feat was unheard of.


    "Not only did I manage to kill the wolf, I also learned yet another valuable lesson regarding battle. This journey was definitely the right decision" thought John


    "Just what is that energy though? I felt it when I almost died to the Dark Spotted Panther, and I felt it again during this fight. I''ve never heard of anything like this happening to any of the other n members."


    Every time his life was on the line, John felt a surge of energy ovee him, granting him with power beyond his current level. John continued to try to think of what the energy was, but was unable toe to a definite conclusion.


    John took a Life Mist Healing Pill out of his storage ring and popped one into his mouth. He spent a full day focusing on healing his body before he fell asleep. Waking up the next morning, John once again popped another healing pill into his mouth and focused on recovering.


    After another half day of healing, John was finally able to stand up. John walked over to the Night Wolf, admiring his foe before storing it in his storage ring, at which point he walked over to the Mist Essence Sunflower and sat in front of it.


    Breathing in and out deeply, John could feel a stronger resonance with the surrounding Qi than he had ever felt before.


    "Amazing" John eximed as he focused on drawing the surrounding Qi into his body. This process was at least several times faster than before. Not only that, the quality of Qi being drawn into his body was higher than before.


    John slowly slipped into a meditative trance as he focused on cultivating. Two days passed by before¡­


    "Boom!"


    A slight muffled boom emanated from within John''s body. John slowly opened his eyes, a look of pure excitement contained within them.


    "Mist Creation!" eximed John in pure excitement.


    "Hahaha, I''m finally a Mist Creation realm cultivator!" John couldn''t stop shouting out in joy. He had finally stepped into the true realm of cultivators. While Body Refinement was considered a realm, one was only considered a true cultivator once they could control Qi.


    Just as John was about to get up, he felt a surge of energy wash over him. This energy was unlike anything he had felt before. John felt as if the energy was from the heavens themselves; a holy energy that could not be defied or profaned.


    The energy eventually coalesced in his brain, at which point it started to condense.


    "Gah!" John let out a muffled grunt. He felt as if his head was splitting in half. Just as he thought he would pass out from the pain, the pain vanished, and the energy left him as if it was never there.


    After a few seconds of confusion at what just happened, John thought back to what his father Barden had told him.


    "Father said that when I break through to Mist Creation, the heavens will naturally form my nascent soul. I suppose that energy I felt just now was the heavens acknowledging me as a cultivator and creating my nascent soul."


    John quickly sent his conscience inwards towards his brain, at which point he found himself in a wide open void. The void was pure white in every direction, and in the very center of the void floated a small figure. The figure looked just like John, only it was ethereal and white.


    "This is my nascent soul" eximed John in excitement.


    All living creatures had souls, but only upon getting approval from the heavens would the soul turn into something corporeal and real. As cultivators grew stronger, so would their soul. The soul was used for many things. Improving soul power would lead to increasedprehension speeds, stronger soul attacks, and farther divine sense ranges."


    Thinking of his new found soul powers, John sent out his divine sense as naturally as if he was extending his own arm. Within ten yards in every direction, John could "see" every detail through his divine sense. From the smallest ant crawling on the ground to the Mist Essence Sunflower, John was aware of everything in the ten yard radius around him.


    "Amazing" eximed John. He had never thought that divine sense would be so useful.


    Standing up in excitement, John threw out a punch. The air rippled outwards from the force of the punch.


    "My attacks are at least several times stronger than before. If I fought the Night Wolf like this from the start, I would have beenpletely fine" thought John as he continued to throw out attacks.


    After throwing out dozens of punches and kicks, John took out his blue greatsword.


    "Swish!"


    John swung the sword around freely as if it weighed nothing. After executing a few sword moves, John put away the greatsword and took a deep breath. A ck scythe suddenly appeared in his hands, at which point it started to sink downwards.


    "Guh!"


    After a second of struggling, John managed to stop the descent of the scythe and steady it in front of himself. His muscles were bulging as he struggled to wield the scythe. Gathering all his power, John swung the scythe out in front of him, the power of the attack shocking him.


    "Wow, the power I can unleash with this weapon is unreal. It''s at least twice as strong as the attacks with the Mist Creation greatsword, but it takes too much effort to wield this scythe right now. At most I can unleash one or two attacks before my arms can bear the weight no more" thought John as he put away the scythe.


    For some reason, swinging the scythe made him feel content, as if it was a natural extension of himself.


    John sat back down and digested everything that had just happened.


    "All the struggling so far has been worth it" said John with an excited expression.


    "Growl!"


    A growl escaped from John''s stomach as he realized he was starving.


    "Man I''m hungry. Who knows how many days I was out for, and then on top of that, I didn''t eat at all while cultivating. Impletely famished."


    John took out a piece of cooked meat from his storage ring and bit out arge chunk. After eating for several minutes, John pulled out another piece of meat and devoured that as well. Only after eating enough for an entire family did John stop eating with a satisfied look on his face.


    "Oh yeah, I forgot to take a look at my dantian. Now that I have divine sense, I can look internally into my body and inspect it with utmost rity" thought John as he sent his divine sense towards his dantian.


    Just as his divine sense washed over his dantian, apletely shocked expression appeared on John''s face. Before he could react, John found himself floating in the misty void once more, a familiar majestic pce in front of him.

 Chapter 20 - Palace Once More

    John found himself standing in front of the same majestic pce from when he touched the mysterious sphere.


    "What? Why am I here again?" shouted John in confusion. Once more, he found himself in thispletely foreign ce.


    After staring at the majestic pce for some time, John started walking forward. He found himself on the familiar illuminated pathway from before. After entering the pce, he saw the same majestic statues asst time, lining the pathway as far as the eye could see.


    Following the pathway for several miles, John eventually came to the same massive door asst time. Unlikest time however, the door was already opened, as if inviting him inside. John walked past the door and into the massive room. The room was the same as before, with massive white pirs dotting the interior of the grand hall. Thousands of feet in front of him, John once again saw the massive gate with the nine chains hugging it.


    After walking for some time, John once again arrived at the solid white gate. The same translucent orb hung high in the sky in front of the gate, the nine blood drops revolving inside of it.


    Taking a deep breath, John once again walked below the translucent orb, at which point he found himself unable to move likest time. At the same time, a single drop from the translucent orb started to descend. As soon as it left the protection of the translucent orb, John''s eyes widened in horror.


    Last time, the blood drop had an aura of pure holiness. This time however, the holiness was apanied by an aura so sinister that John stopped breathing for a few moments.


    As the blood drop slowly lowered in front of him, John struggled with all his might to escape. He was willing to absorb another drop likest time, but the sinister aura of this blood drop was something John did not want anything to do with.


    Despite his struggles, John was unable to move as he watched the drop once again fuse into his body. A wave of pain so intense that it eclipsed thest time washed over him. John could onlypare this pain to when he had touched the mysterious sphere. He felt as if the blood was doing everything it could to destroy his body from within. Death felt as if it was encroaching on him.


    Just as John was unable to endure it any longer, the portion of blood that radiated the holy aura activated within him, fighting against the sinister blood. After a brief battle inside his body, John felt everything return to normal. Fatigue washed over John as he once again copsed into unconsciousness.


    The cave once again appeared in front of John as he slowly opened his eyes. After sitting up slowly, John took a few seconds to recollect what had happened to him.


    "I ended up in that pce again. Why did that happen?" thought John.


    "Thest thing I remember doing was scanning my dantian, at which point I suddenly felt myself being drawn into that space again."


    John remembered that when he sent his divine sense to his dantian, he had suddenly found himself in that strange ce. Thinking of that, John hesitantly sent his divine sense back towards his dantian to see if it would happen again. After slowly prodding his divine sense towards his dantian, John shouted out in shock.


    "What the fuck is this?"


    Upon slowly sending his divine sense towards his dantian, John was shocked to find that his dantian was not the only thing upying the space. Right next to his mist dantian sat the mysterious sphere. The two objects slowly revolved around each other in an endless dance.


    "What is this? Why is that sphere by my dantian?" John couldn''t make sense of the situation. When he had touched the sphere back in his house, he had immediately dropped it. Not once did he take it, let alone bring it into his body. More so, he had never heard of anything else existing in the dantian space besides the dantian itself.


    "How is this possible? Is my divine sense ying tricks on me?" thought John as he studied the scene before him. No matter how he thought about it, John could not make sense of what was happening. After tentatively scanning the dantian space with his divine sense, John decided to investigate more thoroughly and sent his divine sense directly into the sphere, trying to understand what it was.


    "AGAIN?" John shouted furiously as he once again found himself in the void, standing in front of the majestic white pce.


    "Is this pce rted to that sphere?" John thought about the situation before him, but the only thing he could conclude was that the sphere and this pce were somehow rted. After thinking over the situation for quite some time, John tried sending out his divine sense into the void.


    As soon as he did, John found himself back in the cave, his position the exact same as before.


    "The pce and the sphere are definitely linked. I don''t know how it''s possible, but I think this pce is inside the sphere, almost like a giant storage ring. Although I''ve never heard of a storage ring like this" thought John.


    "Maybe my conscience or soul is inside of this space, while my true body is still in the real world. Maybe I should explore this pce. It might hold some clues as to what this ce is."


    John started walking down the illuminated pathway, eventually heading inside the pce. After striding inside, John once again found himself on the pathway with statues lining both sides as far as the eyes could see.


    "I''m not going that way anymore" said John as he stepped off the illuminated pathway and entered one of the side halls. The side hall stretched into the distance, with massive doors lining both sides of the walls every few hundred yards. Walking up to one of the doors, John tried to open it, but was unable to do so. Walking to the next one, John tried that door as well but was unable to budge it as well.


    "None of these doors are opening" thought John as he continued to try all the doors in the hall. After walking for miles and miles and trying hundreds of doors, John was frustrated that not a single one had opened. Returning to the original pathway, John walked to one of the other side halls and tried all those doors.


    The same as before, John was unable to open any of them.


    "Is the only way forward really towards that dreadful ce?" thought John as he once again returned to the illuminated pathway. After hesitating for quite some time, John followed the pathway and eventually found himself in the massive room.


    "Well, although it hurts like hell, I haven''t actually died yet from that blood, so it can''t be all bad." thought John as he looked towards the translucent orb in the distance. After quite some time, John walked forward and eventually found himself beneath the translucent orb once again.


    "Huh?"


    Although John had walked below the orb like before, he was not bound likest time. As for the blood, no drops left the orb. They continued to revolve around each other in an endless dance.


    "What''s going on? Why are no blood dropsing this time?" thought John as he stared above him at the translucent orb. No matter how long he waited, no blood came towards him. After standing there for quite some time, John decided to look around the rest of the massive hall since nothing was happening.


    As John looked around the rest of the hall, he found arge door a thousand feet to the side of the massive gate. Although the door was only a few dozen feet tall, it was still quiterge.


    After walking up to the door, John ced his hand on it, at which point it started parting before him. As soon as the door opened, John felt as if he had been plunged into hell. An aura simr to the blood drop radiated out of the door, but it was dozens of times stronger and more sinister.


    John could hardly breath as he stared into the room in front of him. After several seconds of being frozen in pure fear, John finally came to his senses and hastily retreated, running away from the door. Only then was John able to slowly calm down.


    "What the hell? What is inside there? That aura is like I''m literally in hell, and I was only standing outside of the room" thought John while breathing heavily. John had never thought that something so evil and sinister could exist in this world.


    Afterposing himself, John turned to leave. As he was walking away however, a nagging feeling urged him to turn around.


    "Why? Why do I want to turn around? What is wrong with me?" shouted John as he came to a halt. No matter how much he wanted to be away from that room, for some reason, he felt as if he was meant to go inside.


    "Haaaa, what is actually wrong with me" shouted John out loud as he turned around and started walking back towards the door. No matter how he tried to rationalize it, this action of his made no sense.


    "This might be the dumbest thing I''ve ever done. And Ive done a lot of dumb things" thought John as he once again arrived at the open door.


    After standing there for over an hour, John finally steeled his nerves and stepped inside the room.

 Chapter 21 - Sinister Gate

    A sinister aura washed over him with an intensity that threatened to make him go insane. If the aura outside the door could be described as a stream, then inside was a river.


    John fell to the ground and clutched his head. Non-stop murmurs echoed in his mind. The murmurs encouraged him to murder, pige, defile, destroy. The murmurs echoed endlessly, almost driving John insane. Only after struggling for a long time was John able to calm himself slightly and gather his wits.


    Although John still felt as if he was in an endless pit of hell, he was now able to manage, if not with great struggle.


    After spending a long time adjusting himself to the horrifying environment, John finally stood up and steadied himself. Although this ce was the most terrifying ce that John had ever been in, he could also feel his will being tempered and strengthened. The constant resistance of the corrupting energy in this ce was like a whet stone, constantly sharpening his will.


    "Maybe this hellish environment can actually be used to my benefit" thought John.


    Johnposed himself before venturing further into the darkness. A dim reddish glow illuminated the hallway in front of him. Several minutester, the hallway ended and a massive room appeared.


    The room was basked in a dark red hue, and was designed the exact same as the massive room he had juste from. Large ck pirs dotted the interior, and John could just barely make out arge pitch ck gate on the opposite end of the room, simr to therge white gate in the room prior.


    Breathing out heavily, John stared at the scene in front of him. Heposed himself once more before walking forward towards the massive ck gate. After walking for several minutes, John arrived in front of the gate. The gate was thousands of feet high and wide, and was covered by ten massive pitch ck chains. Each chain link was dozens of feet thick. The sinister aura seemed to flow out of the gate.


    "The sinister aura seems to being from behind this gate" thought John as he stared at it.


    "What could possibly be giving off such an aura?" thought John as he stared intently at the gate. Being this close to the gate, John could barely keep his wits about him. Even with the help of the holy blood, John constantly struggled to keep his sanity.


    Unlike the previous room, there was no translucent orb high in the air in front of the gate. John stared at the gate for quite some time before walking up directly in front of it. The ten massive chains snaked all about the gate, but all of them were embedded on one end at the base of the gate. Walking up to the chains, John reached out and touched one.


    "ng!"


    A metallic sound rang out and filled the hall. Startled, John hastily retreated as he stared at the gate. To his surprise, the chain he had just touched started to shatter into millions of pieces before eventually falling apart, the metallic dust scattering outwards.


    "What did I just do?" thought John as he saw the massive chain in front of him shatter. Right as the chain shattered, the sinister aura radiating from the gate intensified tenfold.


    "AHHHH!"


    John screamed out once more as he clutched his head. The murmurs from before reappeared in his mind, filling it with all sorts of sinister thoughts. Once again, John thought he was about to go insane. He felt as if ten thousand needles were stabbing into his skull.


    As if sensing the impending doom John faced, the holy blood radiated its power, smothering and calming the sinister thoughts rampaging through John''s mind. Although it was much worse than before the chain crumpled, John was barely able to hang on mentally and stabilize himself. He still felt like needles were stabbing into his brain however.


    John breathed in and out heavily. Looking up at the gate in horror, John hastily retreated.


    "Fuck this. I''m out of here" shouted John.


    As he was rushing towards the exit of the room, John spotted something out of the corner of his eye.


    "What''s that?"


    On one side of the room stood a single lone altar. It was pitch ck, and was raised on a small tform. It was about a thousand feet from the exit. Gritting his teeth, Johnposed himself once more and walked over to the altar.


    "My curiosity is really going to get me killed one day" thought John.


    After stepping on the raised tform and walking around to face the altar, John was shocked to find a book lying on top of it. The book was bound in a pitch ck cover. On the cover were words carved into it, but it was in anguage that John didn''t understand. Although John didn''t understand thenguage, for some reason he felt it was familiar.


    "What is this?" thought John. After his previous experience with the chains, John was hesitant to touch anything. He stared at the book for some time, but couldn''t understand anything written on the cover. The lingering aura of the room was threatening to drive John insane, and he knew he couldn''t stay there much longer.


    "Fuck it, I''ve beenpletely stupid up to this point, I might as well continue that trend" thought John as he reached out to grab the book. As soon as his hand came in contact with the book, pain wracked John''s brain as he felt a flood of information fill it. John clutched his head while the pain continued. Unlike before however, this was just regr pain and not pain that threatened to kill him.


    After a few seconds of intense pain, the information stopped transmitting and John once more returned to normal.


    "What just happened?" thought John as he tried to make sense of what just urred. He felt as if he was learning something, but when he tried to recall what he learned, he drew nks.


    Looking back down at the book, John was shocked to find that he could actually understand the front page.


    "Immortal Asura Body" read the front cover.


    "What a domineering sounding name" thought John as he stared at the book. Although he was curious about the contents, John could hardly withstand the lingering sinister aura that threatened to drive him insane.


    Making a quick decision, John grabbed the book and started running towards the exit. A little bitter, John ran out of the doorway that he had previously entered and copsed on the ground.


    "Phew!"


    John was panting heavenly as he slowly managed to recover. After nearly an hour of stabilizing himself, John was finally able to wash the vile lingering murmurs out of his head.


    "Just what was that ce" thought John as he shivered. The sinister aura inside of there was unlike anything he thought could exist. It was as if every evil thought that ever existed was present in that ce.


    John looked at the book in his hands. "I''ll read this book after I leave this ce. For now, I just want to get out of here."


    John was just about to send his divine sense out of this ce likest time to leave it when he stopped.


    "The previous room was an exact mirror of this room. If that room had an altar and a book, I wonder if this room has something as well" thought John. Turning to the side that would house the altar, John managed to spot another small altar about a thousand feet away.


    John walked up to the altar, which was an exact copy of the previous one except it was pure white. On top of the altar sat another book. Its cover was a mix of blue, purple, and white.


    "Celestial Lightning Script" read the cover.


    Another domineering name thought John. John grabbed this book as well. After looking around the rest of the massive room, John found nothing. He then turned towards the massive white gate.


    Based on his experience with the previous room, John figured that he might as well touch one of the chains in this room as well. While the gate in the other room gave off a vile, sinister aura, the gate in this room radiates nothing but holiness.


    "I highly doubt that something this holy would be something bad" thought John as he walked up to one of the chains. He paused for a second before reaching out and touching it.


    "ng!"


    Another metallic sound rang out as the chain started to crumple, eventually shattering into nothingness. The holy aura radiating from behind the door intensified. John felt like his soul was being cleansed as the holy aura washed over him.


    "I can actually feel my soul being cleansed and strengthened slightly" John eximed in shock. From what he knew, strengthening the soul very hard. Besides some incredible rare medicinal ingredients, one could only increase the soul by increasing their cultivation level. John had never heard of something as simple as an aura strengthening the soul.


    "This ce keeps getting more and more mysterious. If nothing else, these two rooms will be immensely beneficial for tempering my will and strengthening my soul" thought John.


    After basking in the holy aura for some time, John reached out and touched another chain.


    "Huh? Nothing?"


    Although John had touched the chain, nothing had happened this time. John proceeded to touch all of the other chains, but nothing happened.


    "Strange" thought John as he stared at the massive gate.


    John stepped away from the massive gate and explored the rest of the massive room, but was unable to find anything else of interest.


    "Time to leave I suppose" thought John as he sent his divine sense outwards.


    The dark cave appeared in front of John once more as he returned to the real world.

 Chapter 22 - Immortal Asura Body

    In the lightly illuminated cave, John sat there for quite some time without moving. Everything that had just happened seemed unreal, like it had all been an illusion. But when John sent his divine sense back towards his dantian, he once again found the mysterious sphere revolving around his dantian.


    While carefully observing the sphere, John started to slip into a trance. Several minutester, John came back to his senses.


    "What just happened? One second I was observing the sphere, and the next I was, well I don''t know what I was doing." John couldn''t exin the suddenpse in his concentration. It felt almost as if he was falling into a meditative trance, but he wasn''t trying to cultivate.


    Sending his divine sense back over the sphere, John once more fell into a meditative trance. Snapping out of it a few minutester, John gasped in shock.


    "This sphere also acts as a perfect meditation enabler? What the fuck? Is there anything it can''t do" thought John.


    When he started to drift off into a trance, John realized that it was the same type of trance as when he was cultivating. Such a thing was too good to be true. From what John knew, falling into a perfect meditation state was something that only happened through pure chance. It was so rare that some cultivators went their entire lives without ever falling into a perfect state of enlightenment.


    "What else can this sphere do?" thought John as he continued to observe it, but was unable to find any other uses.


    "No matter. Just helping me fall into a perfect state of enlightenment is already beyond amazing. If nothing else, this will improve my cultivation andprehension speed several fold." John had a look of pure excitement on his face. Something like this was exactly what he needed to be able to catch up with his peers quickly.


    After observing the sphere for a bit more time, John stopped and thought about the books that he had found in the pce. He looked at his hands. Each hand held a book.


    "These must be pretty amazing" thought John. "Other than the blood drops, I found nothing else inside the pce."


    John looked at both books for a bit before deciding to open the pitch ck one.


    "Immortal Asura Body huh? Sure sounds impressive."


    John brushed his fingers across the cover of the book, tracing each of the strange letters. Although he was still unsure of how it happened, John was now able to understand thenguage on the book cover.


    John opened to the first page of the book, at which point a confused expression appeared on his face.


    "What? No introduction or summary of the technique?"


    The first page of the book didn''t have a detailed description of the technique. Instead, it had variousplex drawings etched on it.


    "That''s the translucent orb in the pce?" thought John. The very first picture at the top of the page depicted a translucent orb, with 10 revolving blood drops within.


    After analyzing the first drawing for some time, John lowered his eyes to the second one on the page. It showed a person standing below the sphere, a blood drop hovering in front of them.


    "This is exactly what''s happened to me" thought John as his eyes continued downwards.


    The next drawing showed a person, but unlike before, all the person''s veins, arteries, meridians and acupoints were visible. Looking closely, John started to fall into a trance-like state. Although the picture was stationary, John could almost see the blood flowing through the body in the diagram. As he looked closer, there seemed to be two streams of blood. One was normal blood, while the other was a much darker red.


    The normal blood seemed to flow throughout the body unimpeded, while the dark red blood flowed towards the dantian. After flowing into the dantian, what came out of the dantian was not blood, but something else. John couldn''t'' tell exactly what it was, but he could see it flow through certain meridians leading from the dantian to the rest of the body.


    Still in his trance like state, John looked further down the page, but was shocked to find that there was nothing else.


    "That''s it?" thought John. He tried turning to the next page, but was shocked to find he was unable to budge the second page.


    "What? Why won''t it open?" eximed John as he put more power into his fingers. But no matter how much power John put into his fingers, he was unable to budge the page even slightly.


    "Maybe I can only open it when I''m stronger" thought John. He stopped trying to open the book and focused once more on the contents of the first page. After studying the drawings for some time, an idea formed in John''s mind.


    John sent his divine sense into his body, specifically his veins and arteries.


    "Ah!"


    Although it was diffused, John was able to notice a darker blood intermixed with his own.


    "This is the blood from the orb!" said John as he studied it. It had the same sinister aura as the blood drop within the pce.


    John studied the blood flowing within him for some time before he took a deep breath and started using his new control over Qi to guide the dark blood towards his dantian.


    "Gah!"


    John cried out in pain as the blood came into contact with his dantian. He felt as if he was about to explode for an instant there.


    "Whew, that was close. If I hadn''t pulled it back so fast, I honestly think I might have died."


    "What''s going on, doesn''t the diagram show to do this. Is it perhaps not actually referencing the sinister blood?" thought John as he tried to work out what went wrong.


    "If the blood can''t go to my dantian, does it go to the sphere instead? But why? Isn''t the sphere just a giant storage ring"


    Despite his spections, John could only test his theory out to see if he was correct. Learning from his near fatal mistakest time, John slowly guided the tiniest portion of blood towards the sphere.


    "Careful, careful."


    The dark red blood carefully approached the sphere. Once it was almost there, it was suddenly sucked in. John''s eyes brightened as the blood was rapidly sucked in.


    "No pain! This must be what the diagram is depicting" eximed John. John guided more and more blood into the sphere, and after a few minutes, all the dark blood had been absorbed into the sphere.


    Just as John was feeling happy about solving the riddle, a burst of energy escaped from the sphere and surged throughout his body. John gritted his teeth in pain as he did his best to suppress the surge of energy, but no matter how much he struggled, he found the energy growing more and more intense.


    "I''ll die at this pace. What can I do?" said John through gritted teeth. Wracking his brain for ideas, John nced downwards and happened to spot the ck book. Struck with understanding, John opened the book to the first page and carefully studied thest image.


    After studying the page through the pain, John drew the surging energy back towards the sphere, at which point he started guiding the energy through the meridians depicted in the drawing.


    The pain slowly started to fade from his body as John managed to get the energy under control. Slowly guiding the energy through his meridians, John waspletely shocked. Wherever the energy was absorbed, John could feel that portion of his body strengthening.


    Despite his shock, John continued to guide the energy through his meridians to various parts of his body. Several hourster, John had finally finished absorbing all the energy. Sending his divine sense throughout his body, John was beyond shocked.


    "Every part of my body has been strengthenedpared to before. Whatever the reason, I''ll dly wee any increase in strength." John started celebrating before he suddenly came to a halt.


    "Wait, does this mean I''m stuck as a body cultivator now?"


    It wasmon knowledge in the world of cultivation that a cultivator either focused on cultivating the body or essence.


    For essence cultivators, the cultivator would store their Qi in their dantian and release the Qi for devastating magical attacks. As such, while their attacks would be strong, their bodies would be weaker.


    On the other hand, body cultivators focused on strengthening their bodies. By constantly nourishing their body with Qi from their dantian, body cultivators were able to strengthen their bodies to absurd levels. Not only would their defensive abilities increase, but so would their explosive power. The trade off for cultivating the body was that the Qi in the dantian would constantly be used by the body for body nourishment.


    Thinking of Qi as food, the body would require a constant supply in order to be able to function properly. As the body grew stronger, more and more ''food'' was required to function at peak levels. Since Qi was constantly used to nourish and power the body, body cultivators were unable to store vast amounts of Qi reserves in their dantian. Withoutrge Qi reserves, any magical attacks would be underwhelming and ineffective.


    Because of this, cultivators knew that they were to pick one aspect of cultivating, body or essence, and stick to it. There were genius cultivators that tried to defy the norm and cultivate both, but every single one of them ended up average in both categories instead of a genius in one. As such, no one bothered to cultivate both body and essence together anymore.


    The Fenix n was a n of essence cultivators, and as such, John had always nned on following that path. Now however, he was unsure if he could


    "Although I stepped onto the body cultivation path, I just started. If I stop now and focus on essence only, the harmful effects won''t be too great" thought John as he slowly started to calm down.


    Just as he calmed down, John once again was jolted by a sudden revtion.


    "Wait a minute, the energy that strengthened my body came from the sphere, not my dantian."


    John focused on his dantian and extracted some Qi from it, at which point he heaved a sigh of relief.


    "It still works fine. Wait¡­" John''s thoughts trailed off as a shocking idea came into his mind.


    Focusing on the sphere again, John treated it as if it was his dantian, and focused on extracting energy from it.


    "Ah!"


    A surprised cry echoed throughout the cavern.


    "The sphere...the sphere is a dantian?"

 Chapter 23 - Second Dantian

    "How is this possible?" eximed John in shock.


    When he tried controlling the sphere like he would his own dantian, John was shocked to find out he couldpletely control it. It felt as natural as controlling his own dantian. Furthermore, his own dantian still functioned normally, showing it was not impeded by the sphere at all.


    John once more focused on extracting Qi from the sphere. Just like before, Qi naturally started to flow out of the sphere and into his meridians. John guided the Qi through his body ording to the diagram once more, and slowly but surely, John could feel his body strengthening slightly.


    "Amazing" eximed John as he kept extracting Qi from the sphere and sending it towards the rest of his body. The feeling of his body growing ever stronger was intoxicating. John kept at it for quite some time before no more Qi flowed from the sphere.


    "Huh? Is it empty already?" A wave of fatigue washed over John''s body.


    "I don''t know how it happened, but this sphere is acting like another dantian of mine. It seems when it runs out of Qi, I''ll feel fatigued just like I would if my own dantian ran out of Qi."


    After thinking for a bit, John started to extract energy from his own dantian and guide it ording to the diagram.


    No matter how much Qi John guided through his meridians, there was no change in his body.


    "Does it only work with Qi from the sphere?" John thought about it for a second before noticing something. When he extracted Qi from the sphere, it had a slightly different quality than the Qi he extracted from his own dantian.


    Qi was the natural energy of the universe, and embodied all thews of the universe. Depending on the cultivator''sprehension, differentws and properties were extracted from the Qi.


    "The sphere must be altering the Qi in some way that I can''t understand. It seems I can only cultivate this Immortal Asura Body using the sphere''s Qi" thought John as he returned the Qi flowing through his body to his dantian.


    Still fatigued from his empty sphere dantian, John started cultivating, focusing on drawing in the surrounding Qi towards the sphere to fill it up.


    As soon as the Qi that John had drawn into his body hit the sphere, it was rejected and scattered towards his own dantian. No matter how much Qi John drew towards the sphere, all of it was rejected.


    "What do I do? If I can''t cultivate this dantian with Qi, then what is it good for?" said John in frustration. He had thought he had discovered an amazing treasure that would help him immensely, but it soon revealed itself to be quite troublesome instead.


    John kept trying for an hour to get Qi to flow into the sphere, but was unsessful no matter how hard he tried.


    "Forget it!" shouted John in frustration.


    He stood up and paced back and forth, thinking for a solution to this newfound problem. After pacing for quite some time, John spotted the ck book out of the corner of his eye. An idea crept into his mind.


    "Could it be?" thought John.


    He sat back down in front of the book and studied thest diagram once more. Some timeter, the corpse of therge Gray-Scaled Crocodile appeared in front of John.


    "I used that sinister blood to cultivate this sphere earlier."


    John cut open the beast and extracted some of its blood. Using Qi from his own dantian, John guided a small portion of blood from the beast into his own body and towards the sphere.


    Right as the blood approached the sphere, it was violently sucked in. John felt the wave of fatigue he felt lessened slightly.


    "It worked! Blood is the key!"


    He quickly drew in more blood from the crocodile and guided it through his body towards the sphere. Slowly but surely, John felt some of the fatigue wash away. After extracting quite arge portion of blood and absorbing it, John thought for a moment before walking over to the head of the crocodile.


    He took out his greatsword and sliced open a deep cut right between the eyes of the beast. As soon as the cut was made, an extremely vibrant and dense blood flowed out. John quickly collected the blood.


    "This should be its blood essence."


    Every creature and cultivator contained two types of blood. One was the normal blood that flowed throughout the body, and one was concentrated blood essence. No matter how much normal blood was lost, as long as the living being didn''t die, it would eventually recover it.


    However, blood essence was different. It was the concentrated life essence of the living being, and as such was much more vibrant and potent. It was the source of blood energy in the body, and as such was very important. Restoring lost blood essence was very hard, it not almost impossible without special means.


    John took the small bowl of blood essence and held it in front of him. He pressed the bowl against his chest and used his Qi to absorb and guide the blood essence into his body.


    "Guh"


    A small grunt escaped John''s lips. As soon as John absorbed the blood essence, it felt like his body was heating up and the blood was trying to rampage through his body. This was due to the blood essence being much more potent than regr blood.


    Although the blood was trying to rampage through the body, John was able to easily control it and guide it towards the sphere. When the blood essence approached the sphere, it was once more violently sucked in.


    A happy expression appeared on John''s face.


    "That was at least several times more effective than all the blood I''ve absorbed from the beast so far. It seems that blood essence is the way to cultivate this technique."


    John focused on absorbing the rest of the blood essence before he focused back on the sphere. Guiding it like he would his own dantian, John started to extract Qi from it. Slowly, a small amount of Qi came out of the dantian before it quickly returned to an empty state.


    Fatigue once more washed over John.


    "That''s it? The entire beast only provided that much Qi? Who knows how much blood I would have to absorb to restore this sphere to its peak state" John eximed in frustration.


    John took out all the remaining Body Refinement level beasts from his storage ring. There were about a dozen of them. After extracting their blood essence, John guided the blood essence towards the sphere.


    "It''s still only this much?"


    Even after absorbing a dozen Body Refinement level beasts, John had still only slightly filled up his sphere dantian. At this pace, it would require hundreds of beasts just to reach a full state, let alone use it to continuously cultivate.


    A ck headless corpse appeared in front of John.


    "I don''t believe that a mist creation level beast won''t be enough" said John as he walked over to the head of the wolf and extracted the blood essence. The wolf''s blood essence was dozens of times more potent than any of the Body Refinement beasts.


    John took a deep breath before he started to guide the blood essence into his body.


    "Guh!" a pained grunt escaped John''s mouth. Compared to the previous blood essence, the wolf''s blood essence was much more potent. John struggled a bit before managing to get the blood under control, at which point he guided it towards his sphere dantian.


    "Much better!" eximed John. Compared to the previous blood, this blood had provided much more energy to the dantian. Although the dantian was still mostly empty, John felt the fatigue wash away and energy once more return to his body. Not only that, he could even feel the sphere dantian itself grow slightly stronger.


    "I suppose this is the way to cultivate this dantian. Right now, the amount and quality of Qi it provides is simr to my own. I suppose this dantian will follow the same leveling pathway as my own dantian."


    Although the sphere was already solid and quite different to John''s mist dantian, the quality and potency of the Qi extracted from it was simr to his own dantian. As such, John surmised that it would most likely follow the same power progression pathway.


    Learning his lesson fromst time, John kept the Qi stored in the sphere dantian.


    "I''ll keep cultivating thister once I collect more blood essence. It seems like I will need arge and steady supply of blood essence to cultivate this body cultivation technique. It also seems that the higher level the beast, the better."


    "If the sphere provides Qi for the Immortal Asura Body cultivation technique, then I can use my own dantian for essence cultivation. I can cultivate both!"


    With two dantians focusing on a separate cultivation pathway, John would be able to defy the norms and cultivate both essence and body.


    "This is amazing!" eximed John, an excited look on his face. He took a few minutes to calm down.


    John then put away the beast corpses and the book, before once more taking them out.


    "The sphere also seems to act like a giant storage ring for the pce. I wonder if I can store my own items in there as well."


    John grabbed one of the beast corpses and then thought about storing the corpse inside the pce. The corpse suddenly disappeared.


    "It worked?"


    John quickly sent his sense into the pce, at which point he saw the corpse lying inside of it in one of the hallways.


    "It worked. This pce is massive. Now I won''t have to worry about a storage ring again." A happy expression appeared on John''s face as he thought about all the money he would save not having to buy any more storage rings.


    He quickly took out all the items from his storage ring and transferred them inside the pce.


    "I''ll hold on to this ring for now though." thought John as he kept the ring on his finger.


    After dealing with all his items, John looked towards the second book lying on the ground in front of him.


    "Celestial Lightning Script huh? Sounds impressive."


    After examining the book cover for some time, John reached out and opened the book.

 Chapter 24 - Celestial Lightning Script

    John had expected the book to be like the previous one, with the first page detailing a cultivation technique.


    Instead, as soon as John opened the book, what was revealed was not pages, but a hollow interior. In the hollow interior was a small round piece of jade, four inches across. It was a vibrant green, and had fantastical markings carved all over the surface. John could see the carvings extend into the interior of the jade piece as well, making it look even more remarkable. At the very center of the jace piece, a small yet bright pulsating glow could be seen.


    "What is this? And what''s that glowing thing at the center?" thought John.


    It was quite unexpected that the book was not a book, but a container for this jade stone. John had never seen anything like this before in his life. After tracing the exquisite markings on the outside of the jade with his fingertips, John sent his divine sense into it in order to figure out more about it.


    "Ah!"


    John quickly retracted his divine sense. As soon as he had sent his divine sense into the jade piece, he felt his conscious being pulled inside.


    "What just happened?"


    Although unexpected, John felt no danger from what just happened, and so he sent his divine sense back into the jade piece. His divine sense started to follow the etchings on the jade piece, as if it was being guided through them. John fell into a trance like state as his divine sense traveled further and further into the jade piece.


    Coming out of his trance, John was shocked.


    When he guided his divine sense into the jade, John could see many images start to sh into his mind. Images of lightning. The further he sent his divine sense into the jade piece, the more images appeared in his mind. It almost felt as if the lightning in the images were right in front of John. He could almost feel the very essence of the lightning bolts itself.


    "This is amazing."


    John sent his divine sense back in, but was unable to make it go further than a few millimeters into the jade piece. No matter how much he tried, he was unable to proceed any further. Despite it only being such a small portion of the jade piece, John was already overwhelmed by what he saw.


    John awoke from his trance several hourster.


    "This jade piece acts like a book. The farther I send my divine sense into the piece, the more information is presented to me. I only got such a small sliver of informationpared to the whole thing, but it''s already overwhelming."


    The jade piece revealed many images in John''s mind. Whenever he focused on one, he felt as if he was being drawn into the image, as if he was there himself. The images showed all sorts of fantastic scenes. A person cloaked in lightning floated high in the sky, unleashing apocalyptic lightning sts wherever he pointed. Another scene showed a man standing below dark clouds as far as the eye could see. Lightning bolts so powerful they seemed as if they could destroy all of creation rained down, bathing the person in its power.


    Many simr images shed through John''s mind, and each image seemed to have many profundities contained within.


    "This jade piece contains information on how to cultivate it. By studying these images, I can grasp more and more of its profundities."


    "Based on what I can tell so far, the script uses real lightning to train the body, eventually turning the body into a lightning attribute body. Amazing!"


    Most people in the world were born with normal bodies. Very rarely, a genius blessed by the heavens would be born with an attribute body. Lightning bodies, water bodies, earth bodies, fire bodies, etc. People with attribute bodies would find it ten times easier to cultivate those specific attributes, and would almost always be heavenly geniuses.


    Attribute bodies were something that was innate, and could not be forced or cultivated. John had never heard of a cultivation technique that allowed someone to transform their normal body into an attribute body.


    John recalled one image in the lightning script. It showed a person being struck by lightning, at which point they guided the lightning through certain meridians towards their dantian, refining the lightning, and then sent the refined lightning back outwards towards the rest of their body. The body would be bathed in refined lightning essence, slowly turning it into a lightning attribute body.


    Not only was the meridian pathway that the lightning traveled extremelyplex, but John was also unsure of how the dantian refined the lightning into something that could be controlled and used for nourishment.


    "I suppose I will have to mediate with this script for quite some time before I start toprehend how to cultivate it."


    John was eager to start cultivating this technique, but he knew it would be some time before he was able to do so. First he would have to understand the fundamentals of refinement, as well as practice controlling the lightning through theplex meridian pathways depicted. Only then would John be ready to start training with real lightning.


    The thought of being struck by actual lightning sent shivers down his spine.


    "This technique is going to hurt...a lot" said John with a wry smile on his face. Despite the expected pain associated with a technique that forces one to get struck by lightning, John had no intention of not using it.


    "Anything to get stronger."


    John sent his divine sense back into the jade piece. Several hours passed by before he stopped trying toprehend the technique.


    "I feel as though I''m getting a better idea of what to do, but it''s gonna be quite some time before I''m ready to start cultivating it."


    The cultivation technique was exquisite. John had never imagined something so profound could exist. He was only at the surface level, and yet it was more that he could understand.


    John put the Jade piece in the pce. He stood up and stretched his aching legs, as he had been sitting for hours.


    Taking out a cooked piece of meat, John bit into it as he thought of what to do next.


    "I just advanced to the Mist Creation realm. I still need toprehend both the Mountain Crushing Sword, as well as the Five Step Movement Technique. Bing proficient in both of these will increase mybat power substantially."


    John sat back down and took out the book detailing the Mountain Crushing Sword technique.


    Opening the book to the first page, John started reading the details about how to use the technique.


    "Lets see here, it says to send Qi from my dantian through these specific arm meridians, eventually leaving various acupoints located on my arm and hands. Once the Qi reaches the acupoints, it builds up for a split second before being unleashed as an attack through my sword. It seems like the attack can be used both in closebat and as a ranged attack, although it''s more powerful being used up close."


    Linking his consciousness to the sphere, John fell into a meditative trance as he erased all distracting thoughts from his mind. After studying the technique for several hours, he took the attacking stance depicted in the book.


    "The meridian pathways I need to utilize are extremely simplepared to the Celestial Lightning Script. It shouldn''t be too hard to get a hang of this technique."


    John held his greatsword out in front of him as he focused on sending Qi from his dantian through the meridian pathways depicted in the technique. Only after half a day of failed attempts was John finally able to guide his Qi properly. His face whitened slightly.


    "Now!"


    John shouted out as he struck forward with his sword. His sword started to glow slightly as he sent Qi into it.


    "Boom!"


    John struck a small boulder in front of him with the sword. The boulder exploded into countless pieces.


    "Sess!" John shouted joyfully. Although he had failed for several hours, John was finally able to guide his Qi property and unleash the Mountain Crushing Sword.


    "It''s even more powerful than I thought. I''m only at the early Mist Creation realm, and yet it destroyed this boulder. My fight with the Night Wolf would have been much easier if I could unleash this attack back then."


    John studied the ranged portion of the Mountain Crushing Sword, and surmised that it functioned exactly like the attack he had just unleashed. However, instead of keeping the amplified Qi contained in his sword, John would just have to guide his sword forward, at which point the powerful Qi attack would fly towards his target.


    John spent the next several minutes catching his breath. Although the sword was powerful, it required a lot of Qi in order to execute properly. At his current level of cultivation, John surmised that he could only unleash this attack a few times before he ran out of Qi. What John didn''t know however is that this technique was quiteplicated and powerful for a Mist Creation level attack. Most cultivators took a week to learn the basics, not just a few hours.


    Not only that, but the attack was quite harsh on the body as well. Most early Mist Creation realm cultivators would feel as though their body was breaking whenever they used the attack. It was an attack almost more suitable for Qi Condensation experts than Mist Creation cultivators.


    "Not only am I still in the early Mist Creation realm, I also just started learning this technique. As I be better at using it and increase my cultivation, I should be able to unleash this attack many more times, with it growing stronger as well."


    Although John had seeded, his control over his Qi was still very unstable. Not only that, he was still in the early stages of learning the Mountain Crushing Sword. As a result, the attack drained arge portion of his Qi, and was also quite weak whenpared to what the technique could actually do.


    John unleashed another attack before copsing to the ground in exhaustion. He sat down and started cultivating the surrounding Qi to replenish his empty dantian. Several hourster, John opened his eyes.


    "My dantian is back to being full. I should now try the Five Step Movement Technique."

 Chapter 25 - Five Step Movement Technique

    John brought out the Five Step Movement Technique book, opened it to the first page, and read the book over and over for several hours.


    "It says to guide Qi from my dantian in five stages through my meridians towards my legs. The first stage targets the feet acupoints, allowing for a short but quick speed burst. Each sessive wave of Qi is sent higher and higher up the leg, eventually leading to the upper leg acupoints. Each sessive wave also builds off the momentum and energy of the previous wave, resulting in an ever increasing speed and distance covered by each step."


    John practiced sending his Qi through the pathways depicted in the technique. Half a dayter, John finally managed to sessfully guide the Qi for the first step.


    "Ah!"


    John shot directly forward, not ready for the sudden increase in speed. He tripped over his own feet and came crashing to the ground.


    "Ouch! This is a lot harder than it looks."


    John rubbed his sore head and once again assumed the correct stance and started guiding his Qi through his legs. Based on his recent sess, John was able to correctly guide his Qi once more.


    In a second, John dashed forward a dozen yards and managed to keep his bnce this time.


    "Wow, that''s fast! And that''s only the first step. Lets try the second step."


    John once again prepared to use the technique, and guided his Qi through his leg meridians. As soon as his Qi exploded out of his feet, John found himself propelled forward. Focusing on the second step, John followed that up by guiding his Qi depicted in the second stage.


    "Ahh!"


    Unable to correctly guide the Qi in time, John came to a crashing halt as he stumbled over himself.


    "This is pretty damn hard. Not only do I have to get the first stage right, the second stage is harder to guide and also has to be done quicker than the first stage. This is going to take a while to master!"


    John kept practicing the Five Step Movement technique for the next two days. After two days of non-stop practice, John was able to sessfully implement the first two steps. However, the Qi requirement for both quantity and control was too much for him to execute the third through fifth step yet. Additionally, executing the second step took up a decent amount of his Qi reserves.


    "The first two steps are already this fast. I can''t wait to perform the remaining steps. Who knows how fast I''ll be able to move at that time" thought John as he took out a piece of meat and bit into it. After eating his fill, John stored all his belongings into the pce storage area.


    "I think it''s time to head out. I''ve been in this cave for almost a week. Compared to when I entered this cave, it''s like I''ve be apletely different person."


    When John entered the cave, he was still just at the Blood Refinement realm. Now, not only was John a Mist Creation realm cultivator, but he had two dantians at that realm as well as a bevy of techniques that had been learned.


    John decided to leave the Mist Essence Sunflower behind. Although it was quite rare and valuable, it was only useful to him at the Blood Refinement realm. If he plucked it, it would lose most of its value anyways, and so there wasn''t much reason to do so.


    "Thank you for your help," said John to the flower before turning to exit the cave. A few minutester, John exited the cave and took in arge breath of fresh air.


    "It feels good to be back outside" eximed John as he looked around.


    "I suppose with my power increase, I can start to venture a bit deeper into the Skycleave Forest. So far this journey has been amazing for my strength. I can only imagine what else is awaiting me" said John with a smile on his face.


    He looked around for a bit before picking a direction and walking forwards.


    "This direction should lead to the area where Mist Creation level beasts are more numerous. I can''t wait to test out my newfound strength."


    A few days passed by.


    John was venturing deeper and deeper into the Skycleave Forest. He had fought with several Blood Refinement level beasts, but hadn''t seen any Mist Condensation level beasts yet.


    "Boom!"


    A loud boom echoed throughout the forest.


    "What''s that noise?"


    John started speeding towards the sound of the loud boom.


    "Boom!" "Boom!"


    Several more loud booms echoed out before John eventually found his way to the sound of the noise.


    "Two of them!"


    A few hundred yards in front of John were two early Mist Creation level beasts staring at each other. Dozens of nearby trees were felled, a testament to the power of the battle.


    "A Titan Ape and a Night Wolf! Seems like the Titan Ape is winning. What''s a Night Wolf doing outside during the day anyways?"


    Looking at the battle, John could clearly see several deep wounds on the Night Wolf. The Titan Ape on the other hand was rtively unscathed.


    Roaring loudly, the Titan Ape charged towards the Night Wolf. The ground shook beneath its power as itshed out at the Night Wolf. Utilizing its superior speed, the Night Wolf dashed to the side of the ape and bit down on its arm.


    "Roar!"


    The ape roared in pain, but quickly recovered and used its other arm to reach over and grab the wolf. The Night Wolf was a hair too slow to retreat as its neck was caught by the ape.


    "Crunch!"


    A loud snapping sound rang out as the ape violently smashed the wolf to the ground, breaking its neck.


    "What a battle!" eximed John. "This Titan Ape managed to kill the Night Wolf rtively easily."


    Slightly tired from the battle, the Titan Ape sat down by the wolf''s corpse and tore off a leg and started munching on it. John stared at the Titan Ape for a bit while it ate. It was over ten feet tall and had bulging muscles on all its limbs. After a while, John hopped of the tree branch.


    "Sorry to interrupt your meal!"


    The Titan Ape was enjoying the spoils of its battle when it heard something behind it. It turned around and saw a small human approaching it.


    "Roar!"


    The Titan Ape was absolutely furious that its meal would be interrupted, even more so by a small human. It quickly turned around and charged towards John, the ground shaking beneath every step.


    "This is my first battle in the Mist Creation realm, please don''t disappoint me" shouted John to the Titan Ape as he dashed forward as well before punching out.


    "Gah!"


    John was sent flying back dozens of yards after his and the apes fists collided. After rolling for some distance, John quickly got up and wiped the dirt off his face. His arm was shaking in pain from the force of the collision.


    "I suppose I''m thinking too highly of myself if I think I can fight a Titan Ape barehanded just yet."


    Although John had started to cultivate the Immortal Asura Body art, he had just started and was barely even considered a body cultivator.


    Standing steadily, John took out his blue greatsword.


    "Let''s see how strong you really are!" shouted John as he dashed towards the charging beast. Having won the previous exchange, the Titan Ape became overconfident and charged John with no hesitation before punching out.


    Right as the first was about to connect with his body, John slid on his knees under the attack and shed out with his sword.


    "Slice!"


    A wound opened up on the Titan Apes right leg as John slid past it. The ape cried out in pain as it quickly turned around and sent a fist flying straight towards John.


    Sword and fist collided as John was knocked back a few feet. Another wound had opened up on the apes fist from where the sword had collided. The ape now realized that the foe in front of it posed lethal danger to it.


    "I need to get used to utilizing Qi effectively in battle. I''ll use this Titan Ape as a whetstone" thought John as he once again dashed towards the ape.


    The battle raged on for almost an hour before the Titan Ape eventually copsed.


    "Guess it''s about time to end this!" said John while panting heavily before he dashed forward. As expected, the ape sent out onest desperate attack as John approached. Learning from his mistakest time, John was fully prepared and dodged the fist before jumping towards the apes head.


    The sound of a head hitting the ground sounded out as Johnnded back on the ground. Panting heavily from his lengthy battle, John walked over to the apes body and stored it away before sitting on the ground.


    "Phew! That was quite the battle. The ape actually forced me to use the Mountain Crushing Sword several times."


    John sat on the ground and caught his breath after a few minutes.


    "At least I know now that I can fight against beasts in the same realm as me, and even suppress them! I wonder if father would be shocked if he found out."


    It was quitemon knowledge that within the same realm, beasts were normally more powerful than humans. Most cultivators would flee if they saw a beast in the same realm. Although they might be able to beat the beast, the risk of dying was too high to justify the cost. Only a battle fanatic like John would eagerly seek out an enemy like he just had.


    A little whileter, John got up and walked further into the forest. He set up camp when night fell, making sure to activate the perimeter warning disk. Having set everything up, John took out the head of the Titan Ape.


    He sliced open between its eyes and extracted its blood essence before guiding the blood into and through him ording to the principles of the Immortal Aura Body. The blood essence entered the sphere, at which point a portion of the energy was sent back out as nourishing Qi. John guided this energy through the various meridians depicted in the diagram, allowing it to infuse into the various parts of his body.


    The process continued for several minutes before John opened his eyes. He clenched his fist, feeling the slightly greater strength than before. After John was done absorbing the Titan Ape Blood Essence, he took out the Celestial Lightning Script jade piece and studied it for several hours. He did the same for the Mountain Crushing Sword and Five Step Movement Technique, making sure that no aspect of his cultivation wascking.


    The night waste before John was done with his cultivation. Putting everything away, John ate some of his left over meat before falling asleep.

 Chapter 26 - Battle Art Test

    Two weekster¡­


    "Che!"


    A small sword light traveled through the air before colliding into the body of an early Mist Creation level beast.


    "Roar!"


    The beast howled in pain as arge wound was opened up on its side. Seizing the opportunity, John dashed forward quickly. He evaded the attack of the wounded beast before plunging his sword deeply into the beast, killing it.


    John stored the beast''s body away before continuing on.


    "That''s the 10th early Mist Creation level beast I''ve killed so far. All this battle experience has really helped meprehend the essence of the Mountain Crushing Sword."


    After two weeks of continuous battle, John had reached a new level ofprehension regarding both the Mountain Crushing Sword and the Five Step Movement Technique. Although he was still stuck on the second step, he was much closer to sessfully executing the third step than before.


    Additionally, he cultivated the Immortal Asura Body every night, as well as studied the Celestial Lightning Script jade piece. John would also send his soul into the pce every night to temper his will in front of the sinister gate and strengthen his soul in front of the holy gate.


    Although John could onlyst a few minutes in front of the sinister gate, it was enough to slowly temper his will. Standing resolutely in the face of pure evil helped John steel his nerves and resolve.


    "Every single aspect of my cultivation is improving rapidly. At this rate, I should be able to reach thete Mist Creation realm before the tournament" John said with an excited expression.


    John walked for some time beforeing to a stop as a thought crept into his mind.


    "Although my greatsword is still useful, it''s still a Body Refinement grade weapon. The only Mist Creation grade weapon I have is the scythe, but I don''t have any techniques for it. I wonder if I can use the Mountain Crushing Sword while holding the scythe?"


    A ck scythe appeared in John''s hands as he took the attacking position required for the Mountain Crushing Sword technique.


    "This is still pretty damn heavy" said John as the weight of the scythe caused his body to dip down a bit. He strained his muscles to support the weight of the scythe.


    Having practiced the Mountain Crushing Sword Technique quite extensively, John had be very proficient in correctly guiding his Qi through the required meridian channels and into his weapon.


    John focused for a bit before sending his Qi through the required meridian channels in ordance to the Mountain Crushing Sword. His scythe started to glow slightly as more Qi was poured into it, at which point John swung his scythe forward with all his might.


    "Bang!"


    The ground in front of John was violently upheaved as arge crater appeared. John was sent flying backwards violently from the force of the attack, his facepletely pale.


    Johny on the groundpletely dirty and bloodied. He winced in pain as he gasped for air over and over. Using his remaining strength, he took out a Life Mist Healing Pill and popped it into his mouth.


    John crawled into a seated position and focused on guiding the medicinal healing properties of the pill throughout his body. Several hourster, John finally opened his eyes. His pale white face had once more returned to normal.


    "I almost just killed myself! I''m lucky that no strong beasts came here after all that noise, or I might have died. Good thing I''ve also strengthened my body with the Immortal Asura Body cultivation art, or I might have actually died there. Cultivating both essence and body sure is amazing!"


    John calmed his mind before thinking about the attack that had severely injured him.


    "My Qi control was wless, but as I poured my Qi into the weapon, I could feel the technique be disharmonious. Instead of pouring my Qi into the de of the sword, I had to first channel it through the handle of the scythe and up to the curved de at the top. That was when I felt myself lose control of the technique. Half of the power ended up being used properly while the other half exploded outwards violently in front of me."


    "I suppose this technique really is only suitable for a greatsword. I have to say though, the power of this attack was monstrous. Even with half the power being wasted, it''s still far more powerful than when I use my greatsword. The difference in weapon quality really does make a difference."


    "If I run into a situation where my greatsword isn''t enough, this attack will be a great fallback. The only problem is that it causes damage to myself, and uses up almost all my Qi. I''ll only be able to use it as ast resort."


    John focused on recovering to his peak state before standing up and continuing on. Several hourster, John came to a sudden stop, his breath caught in his throat.


    "That''s a Tree Baloth!"


    As John was walking through the forest, he just barely managed to spot a Tree Baloth sleeping on a tree branch. The Tree Baloth was two hundred yards in front of him, and hadn''t yet noticed John''s presence.


    "It''s at thete Mist Creation realm."


    John made as little noise as possible as he silently retreated.


    "There''s no way I can fight that."


    John retreated for several miles before he finally breathed a sigh of relief.


    "I guess I''ve traveled a bit too far into the forest. Let''s see where we are" thought John as he pulled out his map.


    Based on his movements over thest several weeks, John surmised he was about halfway between the Fenix n and the Dreadel Kingdom.


    "If I turn north from here, I''ll eventually run into the Dreadel Kingdom after several hundred miles. There appears to be a few towns and viges on the way as well. I guess I''ll head that way since it was my original goal to make it over there."


    Putting away the map, John turned north and started walking in the direction of the Dreadel Kingdom. Night came before John decided to set up camp. After setting up the perimeter formation disk, John took out a corpse of an early Mist Creation realm beast he had in earlier in the day.


    He made a cut between the brow of the animal and extracted the blood essence. Following the Immortal Asura Body diagram, John guided the blood essence into the sphere. As the blood entered the sphere, John could feel the energy within grow slightly stronger beforeing to an abrupt halt.


    "Hmm? It stopped absorbing the blood? What''s going on?"


    Just as John was about to send his divine sense to the sphere to investigate, a muffled boom echoed throughout his body. A shocked expression appeared on John''s face.

 Chapter 27 - A Town?

    "I advanced? My sphere dantian advanced to middle Mist Creation already? Isn''t this cultivation speed a little exaggerated?"


    When John investigated his sphere dantian and pulled some Qi out of it, he was shocked to find that the nature of the Qi had transformed. If before it was wispy and barely noticeable, now it was much thicker, like a thick fog in the early morning. This was clearly a sign of advancing to the middle Mist Creation realm.


    "I advanced!" John shouted out in excitement.


    "Wait a minute, shouldn''t there be a bottleneck? Father mentioned that every realm increase has an associated bottleneck. Why didn''t I experience one?" John thought about the issue, but could only surmise that due to the mysterious nature of the sphere, he wasn''t faced with a bottleneck when advancing.


    "The Qi thates out of the sphere is already quite strange. Maybe I won''t follow the cultivation norms when cultivating my sphere dantian. No matter, no bottleneck means I can advance even faster. It''s just too bad that I can''t use the Qi from my sphere dantian for essence attacks. I''ve tried to use it for essence attacks, but for some reason it refuses to obey mymand when I use it for anything but cultivation of the Immortal Asura Body or using it for physical attacks. It seems that it can only be used for body cultivation."


    John once again focused on his sphere dantian, and focused on extracting Qi from it and guiding it throughout his body ording to the Immortal Asura Body diagrams. A little whileter, John opened his eyes in excitement.


    "I can feel my body strengthening even faster than before." A smile appeared on John''s face as he stood up. Instead of using Qi to nourish and strengthen his body, John focused on using it explosively to augment his body.


    For body cultivators, Qi was used in two ways. The first way was to send a steady and gentle supply of nourishing Qi throughout the body. The body would slowly absorb the Qi, growing stronger in the process. This was the main way body cultivators strengthened their body. Each body cultivation art refined a different Qi essence based on the body cultivation art, and each art had different meridian channel pathways it utilized during the nourishment process.


    The second way body cultivators used Qi was using it explosively for powerful attacks. By supplying a powerful burst of Qi to the body, body cultivators were able to stimte their body to their peak and unleash powerful physical attacks. The stronger their body, the more Qi they would be able to handle, and the more powerful their attacks would be.


    What John was doing now was sending Qi from his sphere dantian explosively outwards towards his fist. Unfortunately, the Immortal Asura Body art had no techniques provided, and so John could only guide his Qi in the most simple pathways towards his fist.


    John stood in front of a boulder and punched out.


    "Boom!"


    Large cracks appeared on the boulder, before it eventually started to crumble and fall apart. John smiled as he looked at his fist.


    "Even such a simple attack is so powerful. I can only imagine how strong it will be once I learn some body cultivation battle techniques. I need to get one as soon as I can." John had not picked up a body cultivation technique when he was in the Fenix n. One reason was that the Fenix n was a n of essence cultivators. The other was that John had only started body cultivation after he had left the n.


    "Still, it''s not all bad. By explosively increasing my physical strength during battle, my Mountain Crushing Sword attack will be even stronger. Having two dantians really is amazing" thought John with a smile on his face.


    No matter how he thought about it, his current situation really was heaven defying. Cultivators could only dream of being both body and essence cultivators. Although John had just stepped on the pathway of cultivating both, he could already see all the amazing advantages that it would bring to him. Not only would all his attacks be stronger, but his physical defense would also be stronger.


    Essence cultivators were known for their amazinglyplicated and powerful Qi attacks, but had weak physical defenses. Although they could use techniques that focused on defense to make up for this deficiency, that would take away from their explosive power.


    On the other hand, body cultivators didn''t have manyplicated attacks, but they were equally feared. They could withstand attacks with their physical body that would kill a normal essence cultivator, and could also unleash devastatingly powerful physical attacks. However, their attacks were normally more straightforward and easier to deal with.


    "Bybining both body and essence cultivation, I''ll practically have no weakness. Even my soul is being passively strengthened by the holy aura in the pce. Although I won''t be an amazing soul cultivator, I''ll at least be able to strengthen my soul to the level that I won''t have to fear most soul cultivators."


    John tested out his newfound strength a bit more before sitting back down.


    "My own dantian is still at the early Mist Creation realm, while my sphere dantian is at the middle Mist Creation realm. I wonder if I can keep pushing my sphere dantian into higher realms quicker. Wouldn''t I be able to be a Qi Condensation body cultivator in no time?"


    John once more focused on absorbing blood essence and using it to cultivate the Immortal Asura Body art. Things progressed smoothly for some time before John suddenly clutched his head.


    "Ahh!"


    Murmurs simr to the ones he experienced in the hellish room inside the pce started to appear in his mind.


    Murder! Pige! Defile! Destroy! Evil thoughts crept into John''s mind as he did his best to suppress them. He felt like something was trying to take over his soul and guide him tomit these heinous acts. John forcibly struggled against the murmurs.


    Several minutester, John was finally able to focus his mind and erase the vile thoughts from them.


    "What just happened?" John was still breathing heavily as he slowly recovered.


    "As soon as I focused on cultivating the Immortal Asura Body art, the murmurs started and I felt like a thousand needles were stabbing into my soul!"


    Afterposing himself, John once more tried cultivating the Immortal Asura Body art to see if the same thing would happen.


    "Guh!"


    John once again clutched his head in pain as the murmurs and intrusive thoughts welled up again. He spent the next several minutes calming down and washing the lingering thoughts out of his mind.


    "I''m not sure why, but I guess I can''t continue to cultivate the Immortal Asura Body art for now." John wracked his mind for solutions to this problem, but couldn''t think of any way to remedy it.


    "Although it is quite unfortunate that I can''t cultivate the Immortal Asura Body right now,it''s already a nice surprise that I was able to advance to middle Mist Creation so quickly. I need to work on my essence cultivation now."


    John spent the rest of the night cultivating his own dantian before falling asleep.


    Several dayster, John was walking through the Skycleave forest when it suddenly opened up into arge open area.


    "Hmm? Is that a town?"

 Chapter 28 - Village

    John pulled out his map and examined it closely.


    "This should be¡­.huh? It''s not marked on the map. It''s pretty remote from what I can tell. Why is there a vige so far from the main road?"


    John was still roughly one hundred miles from the main road leading to the Dreadel Kingdom. He hadn''t expected to run into civilization so soon.


    The vige was several miles across and hadrge wooden walls surrounding the perimeter. Several hundred buildings could be seen inside the walls, while farnd surrounded the outside of the walls.


    "Let''s check it out I suppose. Maybe I can find an inn to stay in. It''s been weeks since I''ve had a bath and a proper meal."


    John walked towards the main gate of the vige.


    "Halt! Who goes there?"


    John was stopped by several guards stationed at the front gate.


    "Hmm? They''re normal humans? They''re not even Body Refinement cultivators. Why are normal humans acting as guards for a town in the middle of the forest?"


    John walked up to guards before saying "I''m just a traveler who happened upon this vige. What is this ce anyways? It''s not marked on any map?"


    John was curious as to why this vige was unmarked.


    The guards eased up slightly at John''s answer. One stepped forward and responded "If that''s the case you can enter. The entry fee is two copper coins. As for your question...this vige was founded by those who sought to distance themselves from the Dreadel Kingdom."


    John handed over two copper coins before asking "You''re all just regr humans. Does the vige have any cultivator guards?"


    The lead guard hesitated for a bit before responding "Our vige contains no cultivators. Almost all of its inhabitants sought to distance themselves from the world of cultivators, and so we established this vige roughly a decade ago."


    "Isn''t that a bit dangerous?" asked John. "There''s Body Refinement level beasts everywhere, and if you''re unlucky you might even run into a Mist Creation level beast. What will you do if that happens?"


    "The walls are sturdy enough and high enough to deal with any Body Refinement level beasts. As for Mist Creation level beasts...let''s just say that we have a way of dealing with that as well" responded the guard.


    John noticed that the guard had aplicated look on his face when he discussed the Mist Creation level beasts, but didn''t ask for further boration.


    "Is there an Inn in this vige?" asked John.


    "Yes, the Nightfall Inn. It''s in the center of the vige and has a moon symbol card posted out front. You''ll easily recognize it."


    "Thanks." John thanked the guard before heading through the open gate.


    As soon as he stepped inside, John could see hundreds of people scurrying around, going about their day to day lives. John started walking towards the center of the vige, all the while scanning everyone he crossed with his divine sense.


    "They really are normal humans. How do they deal with strong beasts?" thought John. He soon approached the center of the vige, at which point he spotted the moon-carded building.


    John walked inside and noticed a rather downtrodden atmosphere inside. He approached the female innkeeper and called out.


    "Excuse me, how much for one room?"


    The innkeeper turned around and was slightly surprised to see John.


    "Not often we get strangers around here. What do you want?" asked the innkeeper.


    "I''m looking to rent a room for the night. How much for one night?" asked John.


    "One room is twenty copper coins." The innkeeper paused for a second before saying "I would suggest that you don''t stay inside the vige tonight."


    Perplexed by the response, John asked "Why is that?"


    The innkeeper hesitated for a moment before saying "Some mean folk will be arriving here tomorrow. It''s best that you''re not here when they arrive."


    "Oh" responded John. "Thanks for your concern, but I''ll be fine." John handed over the twenty copper coins. The innkeeper looked at him for a bit before turning around and leading him to his room.


    The room was quite small, with a bed, wardrobe and a small washroom. John immediately washed himself clean before taking out a new robe from his storage area and putting it before climbing into bed.


    "Phew! It''s been awhile since I''ve been in bed. I''ll take a break from cultivation for one day. Tonight I''m just going to get some good rest." John drifted off into a deep slumber.


    The next morning, John was woken up by a loud racket.


    "Huh? What''s going on?"


    John quickly left his room and walked downstairs. The entire main floor of the inn was empty, even the innkeeper was missing. Finding this odd, John thought about what the innkeeper had said to himst night.


    He walked out the inn and onto the main road. A few hundred yards down the road, John could see thousands of people gathered in the town center. Curious as to what was going on, John walked down the road and approached the gathering. After arriving at the gathering, John stood off to the side away from the crowd and watched.


    "The entire vige must be here" thought John. There were thousands of people gathered together. John''s eyes wandered over the crowd until he spotted six men standing in front of therge crowd.


    "Cultivators?"


    Although John was too far for his divine sense to reach the six men to see their cultivation levels, John knew just by the natural pressure that they radiated that they were cultivators.


    "Although I can''t be certain, they seem to be a Mist Creation realm cultivators. I thought this town was a cultivator free town? What are they doing here?"


    Just as John was thinking about the six men, one of the men stepped forward and shouted.


    "Alright, where is my money?" The man who stepped forward was quite muscr and had a nasty scar on his face, making him look quite mean.

 Chapter 29 - Vile Men

    A trembling man stepped forward from the crowd and raised a small pouch out in front of himself.


    "Here you go. Five gold coins as promised."


    The scar faced man looked at the pouch before responding with disdain in his voice.


    "I''ve just decided, the price has gone up. I''ll be taking ten gold from now on."


    "Ten!" the trembling man responded in shock. "We can hardly afford to give you five gold coins. There''s no way we''ll be able to manage ten. If you don''t ept five, then we''ll just have to hire someone else to defend our town"


    The scar faced man spit on the ground before responding


    "Defending your town from beasts is hard work. It''ll be ten gold coins...or you can offer something else as well" the man said with a sinister smile while eyeing a young girl at the front of the crowd. He continued "Besides, if you refuse me right now, there won''t be a town left to defend, let alone a need to hire new guards."


    The trembling man cried out, almost at the verge of tears "Please no. One moment." The trembling man walked back to the crowd before talking to several people at the front. After much arguing, the man turned around.


    "I apologize, but none of us have any money left. We''ll make sure to get ten gold for the next offering."


    The scar faced man took the pouch, at which point he violently pped the trembling man. Blood flew everywhere as the man was knocked backwards.


    "I said I want ten gold coins, so I want ten gold coins. If you can''t provide me that, then I''ll be taking other things." The scar faced man looked towards one of his men behind him, at which point that man walked forward towards the young girl in the crowd. She appeared to be around eighteen years old, and was quite pretty. She struggled, but was unable to free herself from the man.


    "No, pweaase!" the trembling man had just managed to stand up when he saw what was going on. He pleaded with a broken jaw as he saw the man drag the young girl back with him.


    "If you don''t want this to happen next time, then have ten gold coins ready" responded the scar faced man with a sinister smile on his face.


    Although the vigers were trembling in rage, there was nothing that they could do. Not one of them was a cultivator. They had originally hired these men to guard the town, but had never expected them to be so vile. As a result, every month the men would return to the town and demand a tribute. This had been going on for quite some time.


    "I guess I see why the innkeeper told me to stay elsewhere. These men are quite vicious." thought John as he watched everything happen.


    "Although this is mostly a problem for the town to solve, I can''t just sit around and watch that girl get taken."


    The crowd helplessly watched the girl get dragged off with the men before they heard a loud sigh behind them.


    John sighed out loud as he thought to himself "I shouldn''t even be interfering with this. This town needs to learn a valuable lesson about obtaining strength to defend themselves. Only with strength can they stop something like this from happening. Even if I help them out now, it won''t solve their problem in the future."


    The six men heard the loud sigh, at which point they turned around and saw a young boy donned in a fine ck robe walk towards them. The leader of the men squinted his eyes beforeughing sinisterly.


    "And what do we have here?" said the man as he watched John approach. When John was close to the man, he felt a small amount of energy pass over his body.


    "He must have just used his divine sense to look at my cultivation level" thought John.


    "I''ll give you the five extra gold that the vige is missing. Just leave the girl behind" John said to the man. Sending his own divine sense out, John noticed that five of the men were early Mist Creation realm cultivators, with the leader being a middle Mist Creation realm cultivator.


    The man was slightly shocked at John''s response before he startedughing out loud. The five other men also startedughing.


    "Hahaha, I don''t know where you''re from kid, but you clearly have no idea how the world works. How about this, you give us everything you have, and we''ll leave you with your life" responded the scar faced man whileughing.


    "Who is this kid. He seems like some pampered and naive child. He must have some pretty decent items on him" said one of the other men.


    "He''s probably some spoiled brat" responded another.


    It was at that moment when one of the men stoppedughing as a shocked look appeared on his face.


    "Boss" he cried out.


    "What?" asked the scar faced man.


    "His robe, that insignia on the shoulder of his robe¡­"


    The scar faced man hadn''t looked closely at what John was wearing, but after one of the men brought it up, he looked at John''s robe. A shocked look appeared on his face.


    "That''s¡­The Fenix n insignia" the scar faced man cried out in shock.


    "What the fuck have I done, did I just threaten a Fenix n member?" thought the scar faced man. From what he knew, the Fenix n had a phoenix as their insignia. The n was one of the strongest powers for thousands of miles, and was not something that they could afford to antagonize.


    The man was about to apologize when a thought appeared in his mind. Fear was quickly reced with a rxed smile once more as he said to John.


    "I don''t know where you got that robe, but I''m guessing it''s either a fake or you stole it from a Fenix n member. From what I''ve heard, all young masters of the great ns are pampered. When traveling the world, they''ll ride in carriages and be escorted by a bevy of guards."


    The man looked around in every direction, at which point his smile grewrger.


    "I don''t see anything of the sort here. Which means my guess must be right. Tell me, is that a fake or did you steal the robe?"


    John was quite shocked at the man''s horrible guess. His shocked expression only served to make the man more certain that his guess was right.


    "This is my robe, but I don''t care if you believe me or not. Like I said, I''ll give you the five extra gold, just return the girl" said John with an indifferent expression.


    The man ignored what John had said and stared at the robe once more. His smile became even more sinister.


    "That robe is quite luxurious. Luxurious to the point that I''m believing it''s authentic, which means you either stole it, or killed the person wearing it...either way, you should have quite a lot of treasures on you."


    John narrowed his eyes slightly. He had an idea of where this man was taking the conversation.


    "I changed my mind" said the scar faced man. "You''ll give us everything, including your life."


    As soon as he was done speaking, John found himself surrounded by the five other men.

 Chapter 30 - First Kill

    John sighed at the turn of events. He took out his greatsword and said to the man.


    "I don''t care about the arrangement you have going on here. I have no ns on interfering with that. I only want you to return the girl. I''ll even give you the missing money. Why won''t you ept?"


    The scar faced manughed loudly before responding. "You don''t get it do you. We''ll kill you, take all your belongings, and then still collect our tribute from the vige. Your proposition has no value to us. Kill him!"


    "I don''t want to kill you," said John as he prepared for their attack.


    The scar faced manughed loudly once more. "You''re only an early Mist Creation level cultivator, and you probably don''t even have much fighting experience. You have no choice but to die!"


    John was shocked at the man''s response. "Early Mist Creation? My sphere dantian is at the middle Mist Creation realm. Can his divine sense not detect that?"


    Just as John was thinking about this, one of the men charged straight towards him. John snapped out of his thoughts and watched the man approach.


    "That''s it? A head on attack? There''s no technique involved, he''s just using brute force." With John''s experience in weapons training, he could easily tell that the man was just shing out with brute force, relying on his power and cultivation to suppress John.


    "He must really think I''m an easy target."


    John scoffed as the man approached. John had sparred extensively with weapons since he was a child. Before he could even start cultivating, John was considered an expert when it came tobat. Not only that, his recent journey in the Skycleave Forest greatly expanded hisbat experience and power. The man''s attack was almost an insult to John.


    The five other men were smiling sinisterly as they watched their partner attack John.


    "This should be over quickly. You want to make a bet on how long the boysts?" asked one of the men.


    "Sure, I''ll give him five moves" responded another.


    "Five? You think too highly of him, I say he won''tst more than three moves" stated the first man.


    Swish!


    They were about to continue their betting discussions when they suddenly stopped. A headless corpse suddenly copsed to the ground in front of John.


    "What? What just happened?" shouted one of them men.


    The scar faced man squinted his eyes as he watched John kill one of his men.


    "Looks like I was mistaken. You''re a lot more skilled than I gave you credit for" said the scar faced man. "All of you surround him and attack together. Don''t think he''s just some naive child anymore. He''s quite strong."


    The four men snapped out of their shock and hastily surrounded John.


    While being surrounded, John looked at the de of his greatsword. Blood trickled down the de edge, a sign of what he had just done. He stared nkly at it for a moment.


    "That was my first kill. My first human kill. Why don''t I feel..fear? I should feel scared, or shocked, or disgusted. But I feel nothing...in fact, I hate to admit it, but I feel quite excited..what is wrong with me?"


    John had expected his first human kill to make him feel some negative emotions, but the only thing he felt was indifference. In fact, a few seconds after he was done with his kill, a lingering sense of excitement started to build up inside of him.


    Just as he was thinking about his emotions, John looked up to see all four men rapidly approaching him. Realizing that he was surrounded, John made a quick decision and channeled Qi into his feet.


    Five Step Movement Technique


    John utilized the first step of the five step movement technique to quickly dash through a hole in the approaching circle of men.


    "Wha.."


    The man he had just dashed by cried out in shock before his cry was silenced. His lifeless head fell to the ground.


    "Careful, he knows a profound movement technique" shouted the scar faced man. He had thought the circle of four men would be enough to kill John. He was not expecting John to know such a profound movement technique. Even he himself didn''t have a movement technique, let alone any of his men.


    The three other men were seasoned veterans. Despite theirrade dying right in front of them, they quickly changed directions and dashed towards John.


    Peng!


    John quickly raised his sword with one hand and blocked the attack of the man who had first reached him. His free hand quickly punched out, connecting with the man''s ribs.


    "Gah!"


    The man was sent flying backwards, several of his ribs having shattered from the force of John''s punch. A fractured rib punctured his heart, causing him to die several secondster.


    John quickly utilized the first step of the Five Step Movement Technique once more, dashing forward rapidly. A sword passed by momentster where he had just been.


    John dashed directly towards the man farthest from him. The man was rapidly approaching John''s previous position and was unable to change his direction in time. He quickly raised his sword to block John''s iing attack.


    Bang!


    A loud bang sounded out as swords collided. The man was sent flying backwards dozens of yards, violently tumbling over and over. John quickly followed up his sessful attack by dashing forward to the tumbling man. Before the man could right himself, he felt cold steel enter his body. His eyes turned lifeless.


    John turned around and looked at thest remaining man. The man''s eyes opened in shock before he quickly turned to flee.


    Che!


    A sword light cleaved the man in half. His lifeless body copsed to the ground.


    John squinted his eyes.


    "Why did you kill your own man?" asked John.


    "He was useless. He couldn''t even handle a child, and even turned to flee. What use would I have for such a subordinate?" replied the scar faced man.


    John stared at the man but said nothing.


    The man was silent for some time before speaking out.


    "Based on your movement technique, I guess you really are from the Fenix n. Only someone from a n such as that would have ess to such a profound movement technique. It''s curious however, why are you traveling alone when you could be protected by powerful guards? Aren''t you afraid of dying?"


    John realized that the man was trying to get information from him. If John confirmed he was from the Fenix n, the man wouldn''t hesitate to ughter the entire town to cover up the fact of him killing John. The scar face man realized that even if John was from the Fenix n, it was toote for apologies. Either he killed John and the entire town, or his life would be over regardless.


    John stared at the man but didn''t respond. He wasn''t about to y along with the man''s game.


    "It doesn''t matter. Once I''m done killing you, I''ll handle the rest of them anyways!" The scar face man dashed quickly towards John, his sword glowing slightly as he shed down.

 Chapter 31 - Fighting The Leader

    John quickly dashed to the side, narrowly dodging the man''s attacks.


    Boom!


    The ground was upheaved and a small crater was formed at the site of impact.


    "Powerful!" thought John. "He''s much more powerful than his subordinates. Not only is his cultivation in the middle Mist Creation realm, it appears that he knows a pretty powerful sword art."


    Although John was faced with a more powerful foe, he wasn''t scared. In fact, he felt his body grow hotter, as if heating up in excitement for the fight toe.


    "I still don''t know why these fights are making me so excited, but that doesn''t matter right now."


    John shed out as his sword collided with his opponent''s sword. Sparks flew everywhere as bothbatants were pushed backwards.


    "You really do have some skill, but if that movement technique of yours is all you can do, then I''m afraid this is where your journey ends" shouted the scar faced man as he dashed towards John.


    Five Steps Movement Technique: First Step!


    John instantly dashed to the side of his enemy, his sword soon following.


    Boom!


    John and his opponent were once again knocked back.


    "Like I said, if that movement technique of yours is all you can do, then this is where you die¡­Warrior Cleaving Art" shouted the scar faced man.


    His sword glowed before a beam of sword light pierced towards john.


    Peng!


    John hastily blocked the sword light, but had to take a few steps backwards to stabilize himself.


    "Again!" shouted the man as he sent another beam of sword light towards John.


    John once again blocked the attack, but the superimposing power of the attacks sent him flying backwards. After tumbling for a bit, John hastily stood up and looked at his foe. He felt his blood tumbling inside him from the force of that attack. His arms shook slightly.


    "He''s much more powerful than I thought. As expected of a middle Mist Creation realm expert."


    Although his enemy was a powerful middle Mist Creation realm expert, John was not scared. He himself was middle Mist Creation in body cultivation. Not only that, his powerful movement and sword arts granted him even more assurance.


    John once again utilized the first step of the Five Step Movement Technique, quickly appearing in front of his opponent.


    "I told you, I''ve already seen through this move" shouted the scar faced man before his eyes widened quickly in shock.


    Mountain Crushing Sword!


    John shouted out as he furiously hacked down at his opponent.


    "Gah!"


    The scar faced man screamed out in pain as he was sent flying by the attack. He had not expected John to attack with such a powerful move. As a result, his hasty defense caused him to suffer a loss in that exchange.


    After tumbling over a few times, the scar faced man quickly hopped onto his feet and looked up.


    Boom!


    Another loud sound echoed out as swords collided. John had hoped to take advantage of the situation andnd a final blow, but his opponent had recovered faster than he expected. Having sessfully parried the attack, the scar faced man shed out with his sword.


    "Warrior Cleaving Art!"


    He once more struck out with his most powerful attack. John hastily raised his sword and blocked the attack with all his power. The force of the attackunched John backwards dozens of yards, at which point he eventually came to a stop. John and the scar faced man stared at each other.


    "You''re a lot stronger than you look. How are you so strong for an early Mist Creation cultivator?" asked the scar faced man.


    John ignored the question, but responded "You''re not so bad yourself. However, I think it''s time to end this battle, don''t you think?"


    The scar faced man was shocked at John''s response before he broke out intoughter.


    "You''re exactly right. I had been holding back slightly in this battle, but it seems that I can do so no longer. You''re the first to see this move in quite some time. Prepare yourself!" the scar faced man shouted as he rapidly dashed towards John.


    "Idiot" muttered John as he prepared himself. Just as the man was about to reach him, John utilized the first step of the Five Step Movement Technique and dashed to the side.


    "Idiot, I already told you I saw through this technique of yours! Divine Warrior Art" A sword came crashing down towards John, its power several times stronger than the Warrior Cleaving Art executed earlier.


    Boom!


    The ground was violently upheaved as the man struck outwards.


    "What?!" the scar faced man cried out. He had been sure of his attacknding on John. His timing had been perfect, and he struck out right as John ended his movement technique. John had used his first step a few times already, and the man had noticed that whenever his step ended, he was stationary for a split second. He thought that John would once moree to a stop right in front of him. But when he struck out, nothing but earth was in front of him.


    Mountain Crushing Sword


    John cried out as a sword crashed down on the back of the scar faced man.


    "Puh!"


    The man spewed out blood as his body was violently sent into the distance. He traveled dozens of yards before crashing into the ground, his remaining momentum causing him to tumble over and over.


    John was breathing heavily as he stared at the man on the ground. The second step of the Five Step Movement technique, coupled with the several Mountain Crushing Swords had drained over half of his Qi. He breathed in deeply before slowly walking over to the man, his sword tip dragging in the dirt behind him. He arrived in front of the man a bitter.


    He stared at the man for a few seconds. "Like I said, you''re an idiot. Who lets their opponent know that they have a more powerful attacking?" asked John as he stared at the half-dead man. Blood gargled out of the man''s mouth as he tried to speak, but he was unable to form any words.


    John closed his eyes for a moment before opening them once more. His greatsword plunged into the heart of the man, finishing the deed once and for all. Life started to fade from the man as shock was evident on his face.


    John took out his sword and wiped the blood off the de.


    "Thanks for letting me know that your ultimate attack wasing. It was really easy to know when to use the second step of my movement technique" replied John. His enemy had clearly enjoyed a life of bullying the weak. Only such a person would have such little battle experience and telegraph their attacks.


    The man finally realized the error of his ways, but it was toote to change his fate. Regret was all he felt as hepsed into darkness, forever erased from this world.


    John stared at the corpse for some time before putting away his sword. He analyzed all the bodies, and realized only the leader had a storage ring on his person. John sent his mind into the ring but was quite disappointed by the minimal contents within.


    John collected the ring before heading back towards the vigers. The vigers were trembling in fear from the sight of the battle. John was about to speak when the trembling man from before spoke up as best he could.


    "Whhat hhav youuu donn!?"


    "Excuse me?" replied John.


    As far as he could tell, he had saved the vige from a group of vicious men. He had even saved the young girl that was being taken. Although he didn''t expect praise, he certainly wasn''t expecting condemnation.


    Another viger spoke up. "Who will protect us from the beasts now? How are we supposed to survive?"


    Soon after, the mob of viges all started throwing insults at John. John was shocked at their response. Although it wasn''t his original intention, he had freed them from the clutches of the vile men. Although their safety was at risk, was it not better than living under the boot of a vicious ruler?


    John stared coldly at the vigers as they continued to curse him. He shouted out "If you wanted to live in a ce filled with powerful beasts, you should have the strength to do so. Only an idiot would live in a ce that they couldn''t survive in. Don''t curse me for your shorings."


    John was seriously pissed. He hadn''t expected to be treated as a savior, but he definitely wasn''t expecting to be treated as an enemy. He thought about cursing back before deciding against it.


    "These hypocrites aren''t even worth my time. I should get going."


    John turned around and started walking down the main road leading to the vige gate. He suddenly paused before turning back. The vigers, thinking he was going tosh out at them, started fleeing in every direction.


    John ignored the vigers as he walked up to the corpses. He stared at one of the corpses for a while before cutting open a small cut between their brow. Following the principle of the Immortal Asura Body art, John guided the Blood Essence towards his sphere dantian.


    Shock washed across John''s face at the result of his experiment.

 Chapter 32 - Dreadel Kingdom

    Sinister murmurs instantly assaulted John''s mind.


    "Gah!" John screamed in pain as he focused on erasing the lingering thoughts. His soul power red as he focused on calming his mind.


    Several minutester, John was finally able to calm himself down and erase the lingering murmurs. He started at the corpse in front of him with shock on his face.


    "That was at least ten times more efficient than when cultivating with beast blood essence."


    John only guided a minuscule portion of blood essence towards his sphere dantian for his experiment. He wanted to see if human blood essence worked with the Immortal Asura Body art. Much to his shock, he was immediately overwhelmed.


    "Human blood essence seems to be more potent for cultivating the Immortal Asura Body art? Not only that, but it also seems to be resonating with the Immortal Asura Body art. I haven''t felt this using beast blood essence. What is going on?"


    John thought about it for several minutes but couldn''te to a definite conclusion.


    "I suppose the reason doesn''t matter, only that it exists. I should take these bodies with me."


    John walked to each of the bodies and stored them in his pce spatial area.


    "Good thing that no matter how much time passes, none of the beast corpses rot in spatial dimensions. It should be the same with the human bodies."


    After collecting the bodies, John started walking towards the town gate. He paid no attention to the scurrying vigers. After leaving this vige, John looked at his map once more before choosing a direction.


    "I should arrive in the Dreadel Kingdom in a few days."


    That night, John set up camp before starting his cultivation. A few hourster, he opened his eyes.


    "I seem to have hit the bottleneck that father spoke of. No matter how I channel Qi into my dantian, nothing changes."


    Every time John cultivated, he could feel the essence and quality of the Qi subtly change. This was the sign that he was advancing in his realm. As hisprehensions increased, so would his ability to refine more powerful Qi. This was the first time that John had experienced a stagnation in his cultivation. No matter what he did, the Qi he extracted from his dantian stayed the same.


    "Well, if my cultivation has paused, then I''ll just focus on something else for tonight."


    John sent his divine sense towards his sphere dantian, at which point he found himself floating in front of the pce. John walked all the way to the holy gate before he stopped. A holy aura radiated out of the gate, cleansing his soul.


    "No matter how many times Ie here, I''m still amazed. I wonder what''s behind this gate?"


    John sat down and meditated in front of the gate for several hours. As he sat there and focused on the holy aura washing over him, John could feel some faintprehensionse to him. Resonating with andprehending the essence of this holy aura allowed John to learn more about the nature of his soul. This increasedprehension also resulted in his soul power slowly but surely growing stronger.


    John sat in front of the holy gate for several hours before he stood up. The soul feltpletely refreshed, as if it had just bathed in the holiest of waters. John stared at the gate for a bit before walking to his side.


    He eventually approached arge door. A resolute look appeared on his face as he pushed the door open.


    A vile, sinister and evil aura washed over John. Murder! Pige! Desecrate! Defile! Destroy!


    All sorts of evil thoughts crept into John''s mind. He steeled his heart and did his best to withstand the lingering murmurs. John took a deep breath before stepping inside the room. Each step forward increased the pressure on John''s mind and soul.


    Several minutester, John arrived in front of therge gate. The sinister aura washed over out from the gate, threatening to drive him insane and corrupt his soul. John gritted his teeth as he sat down and let the aura wash over him. Although this aura was almost unbearable, John felt his will being tempered every time he stepped inside of the room. Initially, he had only been able to withstand the room for a few minutes. John knew that if he stayed any longer, he would lose himself to the corrupting aura.


    Now however, after enduring this aura night after night, John was able tost almost ten minutes before his mind was at its limit.


    "Anything to get stronger!" thought John as he grit his teeth and focused on withstanding the aura. Ten minutester, John felt as if his mind was on the brink of copse. He hastily sent his divine sense outwards to leave the pce spatial area.


    His campsite appeared in front of him once more. John took ragged breath after ragged breath as he clutched his head. The longer he stayed in that ce, the longer it would take to erase the sinister murmurs from his soul. Fifteen minutester, John finally calmed down, the murmurs sessfully purged.


    "I truly wonder what''s behind that gate. What kind of thing could cause such a dreadful aura?" John truly had never experienced anything like it. He took out a piece of meat and bit into it. After finishing his meal, John practiced both the Mountain Crushing Sword and the Five Step Movement Technique. After exhausting over half his Qi reserves, John stopped practicing and went to bed exhausted.


    Several dayster.


    John was walking on the main road leading to the Dreadel Kingdom. He had left the Skycleave Forest the day prior, and had been traveling on the road since. The road was bustling with people traveling in both directions. Anything from lone persons torge caravans could be seen.


    John eventually spotted the distant Dreadel Kingdome into view. Although he was still quite far from it, John could not see the ends of the kingdom. Stone walls nearly thirty yards tall surrounded the entire kingdom. Behind the walls, grand buildings could be seen lining the various streets. Perched at the highest point within the walls, a grand majestic castle was visible.


    "It''s muchrger than our n grounds. There must be over one hundred thousand people living here!" thought John as he continued to walk forwards. The Dreadel Kingdom was one of the most prominent powers for thousands of miles, and was almost on par with the Fenix n in terms of power.


    The ruler of the Kingdom was the Rolde family. They had been the ruling family of the kingdom for hundreds of years. Grant Rolde, the king of the Dreadel Kingdom was a powerfulte Core Formation realm expert. The Dreadel Kingdom and the Fenix n had a neutral stance towards each other. Although they were not enemies, they were not allies either.


    After walking for some time, John finally approached the front gate of the kingdom. The gate was a dozen yards tall, and was heavily guarded. A long line stretched out as the guards inspected each and every visitor.


    John was about to step into line when he heard amotion behind him.


    "Move, swine!"


    A loud shout echoed out. John turned around to see arge beast rushing forward. A carriage was attached to the beast, and the one who had just shouted was the driver of the carriage.


    "An Onyx Horse? It seems to be at the early Mist Creation level, and the driver seems to be a Body Refinement cultivator" thought John


    Onyx Horses were often used as travel beasts. They were powerful enough to pullrge carriages, while still looking quite regal. John watched the horse approach. Although the horse wasn''t a threat to him, he still decided to step to the side as it raced by. The driver, enraged by John''ste response,shed out with his whip.


    "You should have moved sooner" yelled the man as the whip came crashing towards John.


    "What?" cried the driver. He had expected the whip to severely injure the boy. He was alreadyte to his masters event, and now this boy had dared cause him trouble. He whipped the boy to teach him a lesson, but waspletely shocked to see the boy catch his whip with ease.


    "Gah!"


    The man was violently pulled off the carriage as John tugged on the whip. He crashed into the ground, tumbling over several times beforeing to rest right at John''s feet. The Onyx Horse came to a halt soon after.


    "What''s going on?" shouted a displeased sounding voice from the carriage and a young man soon stepped out. He appeared to be around fifteen years old, and had short blond hair and an immature face. The luxurious clothes he wore hinted at his status.


    He was about to ask his driver what themotion was when he spotted him lying on the ground. He looked up towards John and narrowed his eyes.


    "How do you want to die?" asked the boy.

 Chapter 33 - Son Of The Duke

    "Excuse me?" asked John in confusion. The boy''s question waspletely out of his expectations. The driver had been the one tosh out at him. He only tugged on the whip to teach him a lesson and nothing more.


    "I asked how you want to die?" repeated the young boy. Two guards quickly hopped out of the carriage and surrounded John on each side.


    "Late Mist Creation! Both of them. Seems like this boy is someone decently important in the kingdom to have twote Mist Creation guards following him around!" Although John was surrounded by two Late Mist Creation realm cultivators, he wasn''t worried.


    He looked away from the guards and back to the boy as if he was stupid.


    The boy became enraged by the way John looked at him. "Kill him!" shouted the boy.


    The guards had just arrived on the scene and had not yet taken a chance to assess the situation, but their young masters orders were orders. They took out their weapons and were about to charge at John before they came to an abrupt halt. Fear quickly appeared on both their faces. Their eyes were glued to John''s hand.


    In John''s hand was a small item. It was a small badge which had an ornately carved phoenix on it. It was a Fenix n badge, and every member of the Fenix n carried one. It was almost impossible to fake, and was used by Fenix n members to quickly identify themselves. Although John had this back when he was attacked by the bandits, he had no intention of revealing his identity and had therefore not taken out this badge.


    "The guards are pretty blind. I have the Fenix Insignia embroidered on the shoulders and back of my robe!" thought John.


    "What are you stopping for? Kill him!" shouted the young boy once more. He obviously didn''t recognize the Fenix n insignia. The boy lived a sheltered and pampered life, and did not care for learning about the surrounding powers. Fear appeared on both guards faces as they quickly admonished the boy.


    "Young master, apologize to this man right now!" shouted one of the guards. He quickly followed up by turning to John and said "Young master, please take no offense. Our young master is spoiled and unbridled. He had no idea who you were."


    The young boy was confused by his guards'' reactions. He was just about to shout out once more when his guard appeared directly in front of him. He bent over and whispered into the boys ears, at which point the boy''s eyes grewrge with shock.


    His guard quickly turned back towards John and spoke out before his young master could cause any further harm. "Young Fenix n Master, please ept our most sincere apologies. We will be leaving." The guard quickly turned around and started dragging his young master back towards the carriage.


    "Wait!" a shout came from behind the guard. The guard winced before turning around.


    "Yes young Fenix n master? How can I help you?" asked the guard.


    "He asked for my death. Had I not been who I am, I would have certainly died to your hands. Don''t you think leaving like this is getting off a little too easy?" asked John with anger in his voice. If he was somemoner and not a member of the Fenix n, John would have surely died right now. All for standing in the path of the carriage for slightly too long.


    "Mercy please, young Fenix n master. Our young master is the youngest son of Duke Trommel."


    The guard was clearly trying to use the young masters status as a shield against any punishment. John scoffed at the man''s response. John was a direct descendant of the Fenix n leader himself. Not only was the Fenix n more powerful than the Dreadel Kingdom, John status was much higher than the boys. Even if the boy was a prince of the Dreadel Kingdom, he would still need to be respectful to John.


    John didn''t like unting his ns power, but every now and then it was needed. This was one of those times. He still felt indignant about the way the driver and boy had treated him. They considered all beneath them, to the point of them taking lives for trivial reasons.


    "Duke Trommel huh?" John said for a moment before continuing. "I will be staying in the Dreadel Kingdom for some time. Duke Trommel better give me an eptable answer for what has happened. If not, I don''t mind asking my grandfather Cade Fenix to show up personally."


    The guards eyes widened in horror, his worst fears realized. Not only was the boy in front of him a Fenix n member, he was also a direct descendant of the Fenix n leader. The boy in front of him was someone even Duke Trommel would have to be respectful towards, let alone the Duke''s son.


    The guard hesitated for a moment before responding "I will ry today''s events to Duke Trommel himself. We will give you an appropriate answer before you leave the kingdom."


    John nodded his head at the guards answer. The guard breathed a sigh of relief before quickly turning around and getting in the carriage with the boy. He threw the injured driver in the carriage as well, while the other guard assumed the driver''s mantle. The Onyx Horse sped off into the distance.


    John watched the carriage leave before he started chuckling slightly.


    "Although I don''t like abusing my status, it is pretty convenient at times. That was pretty refreshing."


    John knew what it felt like to be powerless. Most of his life was spent being powerless and watching others soar. Because of this, John had a soft spot for the weak, he understood their struggles. The son of the Duke was clearly someone who didn''t care about the lives ofmoners and the weak, he only cared about himself. John hated people like him the most.


    After dealing with the situation, John stood in line to enter the Kingdom. The nearby people who had been watching the events unfold looked at John with shock and reverence. The son of the Duke was known by all themoners as a horrible, vicious person. All of them did their best to avoid him at all costs. Seeing the Duke''s son take such a loss was quite refreshing for them.


    John waited in line for nearly an hour before he reached the front of the line.


    "One silver coin," said the guard stationed at the gate.


    "Silver? That''s quite expensivepared to other ces" responded John.


    The guard looked at John before responding "The Dreadel Kingdom is the bastion of power in the surrounding area, and as such many people seek to enter and live inside. The silver entrance fee is meant to keep things from getting overcrowded."


    "Oh" mumbled John. He took out a silver coin and gave it to the guard.


    The guard took the money and handed him a piece of paper. "This paper is proof of your payment. It''s good for one week, at which point you''ll have to renew it."


    John took the paper before heading inside. A bustling city soon revealed itself to John. Thousands of people could be seen walking in the busy streets, going about their daily lives. Mist Creation realm cultivators were quitemon, and John even noticed a few Qi Condensation realm guards walking about.


    "This ce surely deserves its reputation" thought John as he walked through the busy streets. John walked for some time before he eventually arrived in front of arge building. It had deep purple colored walls and was ten stories tall and one hundred yards wide. Two majestic lion statues were ced on either side of the front entrance, and a steady stream of people was constantly entering and leaving the building. John read the front sign, which was written inrge characters.


    "Mystic Trade Hall? Never heard of it. Let''s see what''s inside."

 Chapter 34 - Mystic Trade Hall

    John stepped off the road and entered the building. Inside, a bustling atmosphere greeted John. Dozens of people were on the first floor talking to one of the numerous attendants or perusing the various items on disy.


    A middle aged man walked up to John and asked "How can I help you sir?"


    "What is this ce?" asked John.


    "This is the Mystic Trade Hall. Well, a branch Trade Hall stationed in the Dreadel Kingdom. How can I help you?" asked the man once more.


    "Branch trade hall?" thought John. This building was quite luxurious, and was evenrger than his own ns trade hall, and yet it was just a branch building?


    Realizing he had been standing there in silence, John quickly said "I''d like to sell some early Mist Creation level beast corpses. Also, if you have any weapon battle arts, I''d like to look at those as well."


    "Very well, follow me" responded the man before turning around. John followed him through a door in the back of therge room, at which point arge staircase was revealed to John.


    The man led John to the third floor of the building before walking down the hallway and entering one of the many rooms avable. John stepped inside the room and looked around. There were twofortable looking couches with a table in between them. Many luxurious statues and vases were ced on small pedestals all around the perimeter of the room.


    "Please be seated. Someone will soon arrive to attend to your needs." The attendant slowly closed the door and left.


    John looked around the room for a while before sitting on one of the couches. He closed his eyes and started focusing on cultivating. John was currently stuck at a bottleneck, and was meditating in order to better understand his dantian and the Qi he used. Although fighting was the best way to loosen a bottleneck, meditating helped as well.


    Five minutester, the door slowly opened and an attendant stepped inside. It was a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties. She had long ck hair andrge brown eyes. Her face was quite sharp, giving her quite an intimidating presence.


    "Qi Condensation?" thought John as he opened his eyes in surprise. Even an attendant for the Mystic Trade Hall had such a cultivation. And this was only one of its branch buildings.


    The woman sat down on the couch opposite John and ced a tea set on the table in between them. She poured two cups of tea and slid one towards John.


    "Just how powerful is the Mystic Trade Hall?" mused John.


    "I heard that you have some beast corpses to sell. And you''re also looking for some weapon battle arts?" asked the woman.


    "Yes. I have many beast corpses, all at the early Mist Creation level. Please see for yourself" responded John as he handed over his storage ring. He had already transferred all the beast corpses from the pce spatial area into his storage ring.


    The woman took the ring and inspected the contents inside. As she inspected all the beast corpses, her eyebrows raised slightly.


    "They''re all missing their blood essence?" asked the woman.


    John nodded at her question but borated no further. The woman looked at John for a few seconds before looking back into the storage ring. After a few seconds, she spoke up.


    "The missing blood essence lowers the value a bit, as many alchemists use blood essence for refining pills. I''ll give you ten gold for all the corpses."


    John thought about it for a bit before epting. Although the missing blood essence lowered the value of the corpses by quite a bit, there was nothing he could do about that. The woman transferred the corpses to her own storage ring before handing John his storage ring back with the ten gold coins inside.


    "Now that this matter is settled, what type of battle arts are you looking for?" asked the woman curiously. She had already taken note of the boy in front of her. His robes clearly showed that he was from the Fenix n. As such, she had treated him with respect from the start and even attended to him personally despite being quite important in this branch location. She was curious however, as to why a Fenix n youth was so far from their n, alone nheless.


    "Well, my request depends on what you can provide," said John, his response causing the woman to raise her eyebrow slightly.


    "I''m looking for any Mist Creation level scythe arts you have. If you don''t have any, then I want to look at all your Mist Creation grade greatswords" responded John.


    He was currently in a bit of a predicament. His mountain crushing sword was quite powerful, but his weapon was only at the Body Refinement grade. The low quality of the weapon impacted the technique''s power, lowering it significantly.


    On the other hand, he had a powerful Mist Creation grade scythe, but no techniques to use. His only technique was written in an ancientnguage he couldn''t understand. If the Mystic Trade hall had some powerful scythe techniques, John could start using his scythe. Otherwise, he figured he would just get a stronger greatsword.


    "Scythe techniques huh? How interesting" the woman responded while rhythmically tapping the armrest of her couch.


    "We do have a few techniques. One moment." The woman took out a small disk. It had many runes carved into its surface. John could tell she was channeling her Qi into the disk, but didn''t ask what she was doing.


    A few minutester, the door to the room opened. A young boy entered the room and quickly approached the woman before handing her two storage rings. The woman inspected the rings before nodding to the boy, at which point he quickly left the room.


    "Seems like she used the disk in her hand to contact the boy. I think I remember father using something simr once" thought John.


    While John was deep in thought, many books and scrolls suddenly appeared on the table in front of him. John was quickly startled out of his thoughts.


    "So many!" thought John in surprise. There were clearly almost a dozen books on the table in front of him, all regarding scythe battle arts. His n only had the one ancient page, but the mystic trade hall had almost a dozen of them.


    "Well, I guess that makes some sense. No one in our n uses scythes, and so there''s no need for the n to collect any scythe battle arts" thought John as he picked up the book closest to him.


    "Body Cleaving Scythe! Pretty impressive name" thought John. He opened the book and read over the introduction of the technique. After reading for a minute, John put the book down and picked up the next one.


    "Myriad Annihtion Scythe! Sounds domineering." John read the first page technique introduction before setting the book down and picking up the next one. He proceeded to do the same for the remaining books before his eyes widened in shock as he looked at an unfurled scroll.


    The woman noticed John''s shocked reaction and narrowed her eyes slightly but said nothing.


    John took a few seconds topose himself before he reached out and picked up the unfurled scroll.


    "This is the same scythe technique as the one from our n...but, I can read it?" thought John in pure shock.

 Chapter 35 - Divine Reaping Scythe

    John quickly realized that his expression was quite exaggerated. Trying to cover his shock, John quickly asked the woman "What is this? Do you know what this technique says?"


    The woman looked at John in silence for a moment. His exaggerated expression almost seemed to indicate that he could read the scroll, but that should be impossible. From what the woman knew, thenguage was an ancientnguage from a time before the shattering. No one knew how to read thenguage anymore. She decided to test John and see what his shocked reaction was about. This matter was too important to leave alone.


    "I do not unfortunately. By the way, why were you so shocked to see this scroll. A scroll in a foreignnguage shouldn''t be too shocking should it?"


    John quickly realized that the woman was onto him. He racked his brains for ideas before finally thinking of something.


    "I was shocked because my n has this exact same scroll in its martial library. The Elder in charge told me that it''s written in anguage that no one understands but didn''t borate further. I didn''t expect to see it anywhere else."


    The woman looked at John but didn''t respond. "I suppose that does make sense as to why he would be shocked to see it here. How foolish was I to think this boy could read this scroll" thought the woman while slightly chuckling at herself.


    "Your n Elder is right. This scroll is written in an ancientnguage that has long since been erased from this world. This scroll is one of the few remaining items that have withstood the test of time. What we have here, and what your n has as well is just a copy."


    John finally understood why both his n and the Mystic Trade Hall had this technique. "So it''s just a copy huh? I wonder where the original is?" thought John.


    John wanted to ask if there was more to the technique than just this single scroll, but he stopped himself at thest moment. "Asking that question would raise some gs. Why would I be interested in more than just this page if I didn''t know how to read it?"


    When John had originally read this technique back in the Fenix n, he was unable to understand it and as such had tucked it away deep with all the other junk he carried around. He had never considered reading it again. But only after seeing the scroll in front of him did John realize that it was written in the samenguage as the Celestial Lightning Script and the Immortal Asura Body.


    "How could I be so stupid?" thought John. "I''ll have to lookter tonight at the technique and see what it''s about. Hopefully it''s something good."


    John looked back at the woman and said "Thank you for the information. In regards to the scythe techniques, I''ll take the Myriad Annihtion Scythe technique. On second thought, I''d like to look at your greatswords as well."


    "I''m already proficient at the Mountain Crushing Sword, so while I''m learning the ancient technique and the Myriad Annihtion scythe, I should have a powerful greatsword just in case" thought John.


    "Of course, we have over one hundred greatswords. Please take a look inside the ring and pick out the one you want" responded the woman as she handed over one of the storage rings.


    John sent his mind into the storage ring, his eyes widening in shock. "So many. Just their greatsword collection is as vast as the entire Fenix n Mist Creation grade weapon arsenal."


    John perused the many greatswords before picking one that caught his attention. The de was five feet long and six inches wide at the base.


    He took it out of the storage ring and wielded it. "It''s quite heavy. It must be around two hundred pounds. This is perfect for now" thought John as he stored the greatsword away.


    "How much for the Myriad Annihtion Scythe and the greatsword?" asked John.


    "The Myriad Annihtion Scythe is fifteen gold, while the greatsword is eight gold" responded the woman.


    John was prepared for a high price but still sucked in a breath of cold air. "That''s nearly a quarter of my gold coins" thought John, but he decided to ept anyway.


    "I need both of these things more than I need the money. Besides, money is only good when it''s used to buy things I need."


    "Is there anything else you need?" asked the woman, snapping John out of his depressive thoughts regarding his money situation.


    John thought for a moment if he needed anything else, but couldn''t think of anything in particr that he needed.


    "I''m all set for now. Thank you" responded John with a smile on his face. He was quite happy at today''s transactions. The two things that were weighing heavy on his mind recently had been solved, making him feel much more at ease.


    "Great. If you need anything else, pleasee again" responded the woman with a smile. John got up from the couch and said his goodbyes to the woman before leaving the room. After leaving the building, John stood on the side of the road and pondered his next move.


    "I''ve taken care of my urgent needs for now. I really am curious about that scythe technique though. I should find an Inn and study it tonight" thought John as he stepped back onto the road and started walking.


    A few minutester, John stopped in front of a cozy looking three story building. "The Orchard Inn? Sounds like a good ce to stay while I''m in the kingdom."


    John walked into the building and was greeted by a boisterous atmosphere. Men and women were eating, drinking andughing. John smiled before walking up to the main counter.


    "Excuse me, I''d like a room for the next few days" said John as the approached the innkeeper.


    The fat middle aged man turned around with a smile on his face. "The rate is ten silver coins a night."


    "Ten! This kingdom sure is expensive" thought John. "No matter though, I have enough money."


    John epted the offer and followed the innkeeper to his room. It was quiterge and far more luxurious than the other inns he had stayed in on his journey.


    After settling down and washing up, John sat down on the floor and cleared his mind. Soon after, a small page made of animal hide appeared in his hands.


    "I couldn''t read you before but I can now. Lets see what secrets you''re hiding."


    John looked at the page and read the technique.


    "Divine Reaping Scythe!"

 Chapter 36 - Scythe Techniques

    "What a name. It sure sounds impressive." eximed John.


    His eyes trailed downwards as he started to read the technique. John soon fell into a trance as he read the page. Several hours passed by before he finally snapped out of his trance.


    "How profound...wait, how long have I been studying this for?" eximed John as he looked out of the nearby window. The sun was still up when John had started reading the technique, but now it was already night time.


    John looked back to the page in his hand, his mind swirling with various thoughts. When he started reading the technique, John felt as if his mind was being drawn into a separate space. The words on the page seemed to contain a profound meaning far beyond what he couldprehend.


    "Just these words are so profound. I can only imagine what the original is like." He thought over what he had read, taking several hours to organize his thoughts.


    "This page describes how the creator saw the essence of the scythe. Not only that, but it contains a powerful battle art which utilizes thoseprehensions. Unfortunately my original guess was right. This page is only part of theplete technique."


    John could only frown at the fact that the technique was an iplete one. Even so, however, the technique was far more profound than anything John hade across before. The only thing of simr profundity he had experienced was the Immortal Asura Body and Celestial Lightning Script, but those were cultivation techniques whereas this was a battle art.


    "The words on the page seem to be a way to understand the essence of the technique. It also describes the first three steps to this technique, each more profound than thest. Each step seems to be describing meridian and acupoint pathways for my Qi, but it''s soplex that I don''t know if I''ll be able to learn it anytime soon. The Qi requirement alone for unleashing the first step once should be more than I can currently manage."


    John was slightly depressed at the fact that he was unable to unleash even the first step of this technique right now. But the more he thought about it, the less depressed he became.


    "I suppose the more difficult the battle art is to learn, the more powerful it should be. I''ll learn the first step eventually, at which point it should be one of my greatest strengths...In the meantime, I can learn the Myriad Annihtion Scythe."


    John put away the Divine Reaping Scythe page and took out the Myriad Annihtion Scythe technique. John studied the technique for several hours beforeing back to his senses.


    "It seems that this technique has three parts. The first attack is suitable for me now, the second should be attainable at the middle Mist Creation realm, and the third attack should be achievable at thete Mist Creation Realm."


    The technique detailed three distinct attacks, each with an increasing required amount of Qi to perform. Much like the Five Step Movement Technique, the Myriad Annihtion Scythe superimposed each attack on top of the previous, building on the power already generated. It was a devastatingly powerful battle technique that focused on power and destruction.


    "The meridian pathways depicted in this technique are prettyplicated, but I should be able to learn the first step pretty quickly" thought John. John had full confidence in hisprehension ability, and was not daunted by this task.


    John put away the technique and cultivated for a bit longer before climbing in bed. He was about to fall asleep before his mind thought of something.


    "I should have purchased a body cultivation battle art as well! Right now I have a powerful body, but only use my powerful body in the most basic ways. A battle art would greatly increase my battle prowess."


    John thought about going to get a body cultivation battle art the next day before he decided against it.


    "I''m already learning so many techniques right now, I wont even have time to train any other techniques even if I wanted to. I''ll obtain a body cultivation battle art once I master some of the techniques I already have" thought John before he fell asleep.


    John woke up early the next morning and started cultivating once more. Several hourster, his stomach started growling out in protest.


    "I guess I did skip breakfast. I should visit a nearby restaurant" thought John as he got up and left the inn. John walked for a minute before spotting a two story restaurant. He walked inside and was seated at a table.


    "What will you have today sir?" asked the waiter. John looked at the menu for a bit before deciding on their specialty for the day; a meat pie. After ordering his meal, John stared out the nearby window, thinking of what to do next in his journey.


    His ears soon perked up as he heard a conversation between two men sitting at the table beside him.


    "So, did you see the new posting today? Seems like someone needs some guards for an escort through the Skycleave Forest. Should we take it?" said the one man enthusiastically.


    "What''s the requirement?" asked the other.


    "Middle Mist Creation is the posted requirement, but I''m sure they''ll allow us to join even though we''re in the early Mist Creation realm" responded the first man.


    "Forget about it, those postings are pretty urate on what the job requires. If they require middle Mist Creation, then we''d probably be in over our heads if we joined up. Let''s just wait for another posting" responded the man. The first man instantly became downtrodden, but didn''t argue back.


    "Excuse me, what''s this posting business you''re talking about?"


    The two men looked at the person who just spoke, and noticed it was a young teenage boy. They were about to ignore him until they noticed his cultivation level.


    "Early Mist Creation at his age? He must be someone important" thought the first man before responding.


    "There''s a notice board in the center of town that allows anyone to post jobs. People are often looking for cultivators for various reasons, and its a pretty good way to make money if you have the required strength."


    "Oh, thanks for the information" replied John with a smile on his face.


    "Jobs requiring cultivators huh? Maybe I can find something interesting to do" thought John. After finishing his meal, John once again thanked the men for the information before heading off to where the job board was located. He arrived fifteen minutester, and saw arge crowd gathered around it.


    John pushed his way through the crowd and eventually arrived in front of the board. Many of the people being pushed aside were about to curse John for his actions, but they immediately piped up as soon as they saw the insignias on his robe.


    "Lets see what we have here...Mansion guard...Nope. Protect a farm from Body Refinement level beasts? Nope...Ah, here''s the one. Escort mission to the nearby Rayel Kingdom; Cultivation requirement is Middle Mist Creation."


    John took note of the time and ce of where to gather for the job before leaving the area.


    "The notice says to meet in two days¡­ That''s still some time away. I should find somece to practice the Myriad Annihtion Scythe in the meantime."


    John decided to leave the city limits of the Dreadel Kingdom and head into the nearby forest, as his attacks were likely to cause some damage. John arrived in the forest an hourter before he settled on a spot.


    "This spot will do. Nothing to damage and it''s quite remote."


    John took out his scythe, with the weight of the scythe causing his arms to dip down slightly.


    "Even now it''s still pretty damn heavy. Although I can control it and use it properly, I''ll run out of strength pretty fast fighting with a weapon this heavy. I should use my greatsword for normal fights and only bring this weapon out in desperate situations."


    John took a wide and firm stance and focused his mind. Having studied the technique extensively the night before, John was quite familiar with the fundamentals behind the technique. Now he had to apply those fundamentals."


    John sent a surge of Qi from his dantian through the meridian pathways depicted in the technique. His Qi surged out of his body and towards his scythe at which point he swung it out with all his might.


    "Pft!"


    A small, pathetic sound echoed out from the scythe as nothing happened. A frustrated look appeared on John''s face.


    "This technique requires me to send my Qi through three different meridian pathways, which arrive at the weapon in a certain sequence. Each Qi surge reinforces and superimposes over one another which results in a powerful attack. I must have messed up the timing somewhere."


    John took his stance again and tried to execute the technique again but was once more unsessful. Day soon gave way to night as John was still focused on learning the technique. After practicingte into the night, John set up camp and went to sleep.


    Waking up early the next morning, John once more started practicing the Myriad Annihtion Scythe. Finally, after many hours of failure.


    Boom!


    A wave of scythe Qi was sent out and several trees thirty yards in front of John were sliced clean in half, toppling to the ground loudly.


    "Sess" shouted John, his face full of joy and fatigue.

 Chapter 37 - Mission

    After almost a full day of practicing the Myriad Annihtion Art, John had finally seeded. The power of the attack had exceeded his expectations. The scythe beam he had just sent out was far more powerful than the melee attack of the mountain crushing sword.


    "Now I won''t have to use that suicidal attack I had made earlier with the Mountain Crushing Sword and my scythe!" John said with a smile. "The only problem is this attack exhausts quite a lot of my Qi. I''ll only be able to execute it a few times before I run out of Qi."


    Although the cost required to execute this attack was high, John wasn''t unhappy. The higher the cost was, the more powerful the attack would be.


    "I have my Mountain Crushing Sword, my Five Step Movement Technique, and now the Myriad Annihtion Scythe. Mybat prowess keeps growing rapidly."


    John sat down and recovered his Qi for an hour before walking back towards the kingdom gates.


    John walked straight past the line out front and showed one of the guards his entry papers, at which point he was granted ess to the kingdom once more.


    "I still have a day until the meeting. I should head back to the inn and cultivate. Every second of cultivation brings me closer to being strong enough to participate in the pocket realm" thought John, a determined look on his face.


    John cultivated untilte into the night, at which point he went to bed. Waking up early in the morning, John started cultivating once more before it was time to head out for the job posting.


    John slowly opened his eyes. "I can feel my bottleneck getting weaker and weaker. One or two good fights and I should be able to ascend to middle Mist Creation."


    John was anxiously awaiting his ascension to middle Mist Creation. Not only would his Qi attacks grow stronger, he was also curious to see if he could once again raise his sphere dantian to a new level. He had continually tried to absorb more blood essence, but was unable to do so without almost being driven mad.


    John walked downstairs and ordered breakfast from the Inn. After finishing his breakfast, John set out to the meeting ce. The meeting ce was located just outside the city walls, on the side of the main road.


    John walked for some time before he left the city walls. After walking down the road for a few minutes, John spotted a group of people gathered on the side of the road.


    "This must be it" thought John as he approached the group. The group had roughly ten people waiting already, and they were all at least middle Mist Creation realm cultivators. John even spotted e Mist Creation realm cultivator. He was an older man with graying hair and arge beard. Most of the other cultivators were either in their twenties or thirties.


    As John approached the group, one of the cultivators turned and looked at him. An amused smile appeared on the man''s face as he spoke up.


    "What''s this now? A little runt wants to join the group?" Several other men in the group looked towards John beforeughing at thement.


    "Come on now, he might just be lost is all. There''s no way this child thinks he''s strong enough for this mission right?" responded another.


    John stopped in front of the group and looked at the men but said nothing. The man who first spoke up walked towards John and stood right in front of him, towering over him. The man was quite tall and appeared to be in his thirties. He had a bald head and a pockmarked face.


    "What are you doing here boy? You lost?" asked the man while a bemused smile on his face.


    John frowned at the man. He was deciding whether to answer the man or "show" him his strength when suddenly another group member spoke up and walked over to John.


    "Come on now. He''s just a boy, there''s no reason to be bullying him. Besides, I''m sure you already noticed his cultivation. Although he''s still at the early Mist Creation realm, do you really think you have the right to speak down to a boy who''s half your age but almost as strong as you?"


    The troublesome man looked towards the neer but said nothing. He spat on the ground and looked back at John before turning around and once more joining the group.


    "Pay no attention to him," replied the neer. "By the way, my name is Austin. What''s yours?" asked the man as he extended his hand in greeting. He appeared to be in his early twenties, and had short brown hair and a short, patchy beard.


    John shook Austin''s hand before responding, "My name is John. Nice to meet you."


    Austin smiled at John before asking "While our friend over there is a little bit of an asshole, his concern is still a bit valid. This mission requires middle Mist Creation cultivators. Do you think you''ll be able to keep up?"


    "I''ll be fine. You don''t have to worry about me" responded John with a smile on his face. John''s first impression of Austin was a good one, and so he was quite friendly towards him. One of John''s motto''s in life was to treat others who respected him with respect, while returning enmity with enmity.


    "Alright. Don''t worry though, I''ll watch over you if anything happens" said Austin as he winked at John. Johnughed but didn''t reply.


    Several minutester, a carriage pulled up to the group and a man hopped out. He was dressed in luxurious business clothes and had quite a fancy mustache. He looked at the group for a while before happily nodding.


    "Gentleman, I''m d so many of you decided to ept my job notice. As the notice said, I need a group of middle Mist Creation cultivators and higher to assist me. There will be some danger associated with this mission, so anyone who is unwilling to put themselves at risk should leave now."


    The group all looked at each other, but no one left.


    "Good, it seems as if we have a daring bunch¡­" The man was about to continue speaking before he noticed John in the group.


    "What is a child doing here?" he asked.


    John was just about to respond when Austin spoke up behind him, "Don''t worry, I''ll vouch for him. He won''t be a hindrance on this mission." John looked to Austin, surprised that he would back him up. Austin smiled at John and winked, before whispering "Don''t worry, I got your back."


    The mustachioed man thought for a moment before nodding. "Very well then. He''ll be your responsibility on this mission. If he manages to cause any trouble for us, I will be withholding both yours and his payment at the end."


    The man paused for a moment and looked around, seeing if anyone else was near. Once he confirmed that the coast was clear, he cleared his throat and spoke up.


    "Now, back to the mission. The notice said this was an escort mission. That was a lie."


    John narrowed his eyes at the man''s words but said nothing.


    The man paused for a moment before speaking up once more, "Due to legal reasons, I couldn''t post the real mission. If anyone has any issue with doing something illegal, please leave now."


    The group once more looked around to see if anyone would leave, but no one did.


    The man was relieved to see that no one left. "Good, good. Now, to be honest with you all. The real mission is to break into Duke Trommels house and steal something from him."


    John raised his eyebrows slightly. He hadn''t expected the real mission to involve Duke Trommel.


    "It seems like we have a certain linked fate" thought John, a small present on his face.

 Chapter 38 - Duke Trommel

    A few days prior...


    "You did WHAT?"


    A loud, angry shout bellowed from a luxurious mansion. Inside the mansion stood a middle aged man. He was looking at a young boy in front of him with furious anger, almost at the verge ofshing out at him. A guard to the side of the boy stood there with his head down and said nothing.


    The man looked towards the guard and shouted, "Narrate what happened again. Do not miss a single detail!"


    The guard looked up at the man and narrated the events that had happened earlier in the day. The middle aged man''s anger grew more and more the longer he listened to the story. After the story wasplete, he once more erupted in anger.


    "How could I have raised such a useless son. Do you know what you have done!" yelled the man in anger. The man screaming was Duke Trommel himself. He had just found out what his son had done earlier in the day to a Fenix n member, and was almost on the verge of insanity.


    "I''m sorry father, I had no idea." the boy cried out in apology, but it fell on deaf ears.


    "This is what I get for spoiling this useless son of mine. What should I do?" Duke Trommel paced back and forth deep in thought.


    "I have to apologize personally to the young master. Even as a Duke of the Dreadel Kingdom, if the boy wants our family annihted, all he has to do is say the word. Not even the king would dare interfere in this matter, especially since my son was in the wrong."


    The Duke kept pacing back and forth while ignoring his useless son. After several minutes of deep thought, an idea came to his mind. He winced at the thought of it, but saw no other alternatives.


    "We must give him the family heirloom. Only such an item will convey our most sincere apologies. Hopefully it will be enough to appease him" thought the Duke. He stopped pacing and looked towards the guard.


    "Find out where the boy is staying. When you find him, notify me immediately."


    "By yourmand" responded the guard before swiftly striding out of the room.


    The Duke looked at his trembling son. Every time he looked at him, rage would well up within him. "It seems I''ve been too lenient regarding your antics over thest few years. You will atone for your sins!"


    The trembling son looked up in fear as he watched his father approach. That night, long and anguished screams could be heard echoing across the Trommel Family grounds.


    ¡­


    The moon hung high in the dark sky.


    John was dressed in an all ck robe, but unlike his normal robe, this one had no Fenix n insignias embroidered on it. On his head, John wore a face covering to hide his identity.


    John looked to his side and saw that all the cultivators of the group were wearing all ck robes and face coverings. Due to the nature of the mission, all the cultivators wore dark clothing and face masks to hide their identity.


    "Don''t be nervous. I''ll get your back if anything happens" assured Austin as he patted John on the back. He had mistaken John''s silence for nervousness, and was trying to reassure him.


    John was about to respond when he heard someone speak up behind him.


    "Based on my sources, all the Qi condensation guards under the employ of Duke Trommel should be away for some kind of escort mission. My sources indicate that there is only e Mist Creation guard and several middle Mist Creation guards stationed in the Duke''s residence. As such, this is the perfect time for us to strike."


    The mustachioed man paused and looked at all the cultivators, making sure that they were listening.


    "The target of this mission is a spear. The spear should be located in the Duke''s vault, which is located in the basement of the mansion. From what my sources tell me, the Duke skimped out on paying for a decent vault, and so it''s quite breachable. I suppose he was expecting his Qi Condensation guards to protect it at first, but after all this time it seems that he had growncent."


    "Your mission will be to infiltrate the Duke''s mansion, neutralize any guards you run into, and bring the weapon back to me. Regardless of who brings back the weapon, you will all be paid. Are there any questions?"


    None of the cultivators spoke up.


    "Good, it''s the dead of night, so now is the best time to strike. I wish you luck" said the mustachioed man.


    After receiving their instructions, the group set out and soon found themselves on a small hill overlooking the Duke''s residence. The Duke was quite important in the Kingdom, and as such had arge manor and vast amount ofnd under his control. The surrounding few miles all belonged to the Duke.


    From their high viewpoint, the group could see arge mansion in the center of the plot ofnd, with smaller manors located all over.. Lush gardens dotted thendscape, while arge pond behind the mansion shimmed beautifully under the moonlit night.


    Although this mission had no official leader, most of the cultivators defaulted to following the directions of the old man, as he had the highest cultivation.


    The white haired man observed the mansion for some time before speaking up.


    "I will handle the singlete Mist Creation guard. The rest of you will move towards the vault and neutralize any other guards you run into. Lets move out."


    John nodded along with the rest of the group and started silently approaching the mansion several miles away.


    Some timeter, the group arrived at the perimeter wall surrounding the mansion. The white haired man looked over the wall before hopping over. The rest of the group followed the man as they slowly crept up to the mansion.


    Two guards were stationed outside at the front entrance of the mansion. They werezily conversing with each other, unaware of the impending danger.


    Che!


    A sharp sword beam sliced towards the guards, severing their heads before they could respond. They silently fell to the ground, their lifeless eyes still wide open in shock.

 Chapter 39 - Fighting Within The Mansion

    John narrowed his eyes and looked towards the white haired man. Based on the man''s cultivation level, he would have been easily able to suppress both guards without killing them. There was no reason for their deaths.


    Although John disagreed with the man''s actions, he knew now was not the time for arguments and so kept his words to himself.


    "I suppose this is how the cultivation world really is. The strong prey on the weak, and the weak can only sit there and wait for their deaths" though John. Once more, John found another motivation for getting stronger.


    "Only by bing strong can I control my own fate."


    After killing the two guards, the white haired man motioned for the group to move forward. John and the group stepped over the dead bodies and entered the mansion. Beingte in the night, the mansion was dark inside, with only a fewnterns lit throughout the mansion.


    "The vault is in the basement, the stairs of which should be through those doors on the opposite side of the room. Let''s move" whispered the white haired man.


    The group proceeded forward and crossed therge room, eventually arriving at the basement stairs. The group slowly proceeded down the stairs and found themselves in the basement soon afterwards. The basement was massive; it was more like a cavern than a basement. It was dozens of yards tall, and hundreds of yards long and wide. There were many side doors on the walls of the basement, seemingly leading to other rooms.


    At the very opposite side of the basement was arge vault door. Two more guards were stationed on either side of the vault door, conversing with each other.


    "There''s not much cover between here and the vault door, so it looks like this is where we''ll have to use brute force" whispered the white haired man. "I don''t see thete Mist Creation realm guard anywhere, so he must be somewhere upstairs. You all proceed forward and neutralize the guards and see if you can break into the vault. I will wait here in case thete Mist Creation realm guard arrives. Go."


    Because of the nature of the mission, the white haired man had not used his divine sense to look around the mansion. Unless someone was at a much higher cultivation realm, their divine sense would be detected by whoever they scanned over, alerting them.


    The group quickly sped off towards the guards. Due to the little cover avable, the guards were almost immediately alerted by the intruders presence.


    "Intruders!" shouted one of the guards as he took out his sword.


    Almost immediately, several of the side doors opened and nearly a dozen guards flooded out. The two groups rapidly approached each other, at which point they all unleashed their strongest attacks.


    Boom!


    A loud explosion echoed throughout the mansion. Duke Trommel, who had been deeply asleep, was woken up in a fright. He quickly hopped out of bed and walked towards the door, at which point it was opened from the outside.


    "Sebastian, what is going on? What was that sound?" asked the Duke. The man the Duke had spoken to was thete Mist Creation realm guard. He was guarding the Duke''s room when all of a sudden he heard the loud noise. He immediately entered the room to make sure the Duke was alright, at which point he breathed a sigh of relief.


    "I''m not sure. It seems to havee from the basement" responded Sebastian. "I''ll stay here and guard you for your protection."


    "Nonsense" replied the Duke. "Go downstairs and find out what is happening."


    Sebastian bowed quickly before turning around and running down the long hallway.


    "Curses. Of course something happens when my most powerful guards are away" muttered the Duke.


    Back downstairs, John found himself standing in front of the vault. As the two groups had shed, Austin instructed John to go to the vault himself and try to get in.


    "He''s clearly trying to keep me away from fighting any of the middle Mist Creation guards. I guess he is actually trying to look out for me" thought John as he stared at the vault.


    Although John was more than strong enough to join the battles behind him, he figured that this truly was the best course of action. If he could get in the vault and get the item within, the mission would be a sess and they could leave. Although John was itching to fight, he realized that this was not the best time to take liberties with the mission.


    "The vault does look quite impressive" thought John as he took out his greatsword and swung down at it.


    Mountain Crushing Sword!


    A loud boom echoed out as John''s sword struck the vault. Arge indent was made on the steel vault, but other than that, it appeared to be fine.


    "My Mountain Crushing Sword isn''t going to get me through this. I guess I''ll have to go all out then" thought John as he put away his greatsword and pulled out his scythe. Although John now had a Mist Creation grade greatsword, it could just barely be qualified as such. The quality of the weapon wascking whenpared to his scythe, and so the power he could unleash from it was less.


    John had been hesitant to use his scythe and the Myriad Annihtion Scythe battle art because of how much Qi it required to execute, but he realized there was no other way for him to break the vault.


    John breathed in deeply and tightly gripped his scythe before raising it above his head and shing forward with all his might.


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe!


    The scythe swept downward onto the vault, at which point the de of the scythe sliced through the vault like it was butter. John grit his teeth and used his full force to continue the attack as the scythe trailed down the vault.


    Boom!


    A loud sound echoed out as the vault door was sliced clean in half at a diagonal angle.


    John pushed on the vault door in order to push it down, but it still held firmly. Although John could see the other side of the vault through the thin slice in it, he was unable to enter. Loud booms echoed out behind him as the fights between the two groups raged on.


    "Again!" shouted John as he once again readied his scythe. The first slice had been diagonal to the left, so John aimed to slice diagonally to the right on the vault. The bottom of the vault would be separated from the rest of the vault door, allowing him to push that portion down and enter.


    "I''m already almost at half my Qi reserves. Using this attack is going to drain me of most of my essence Qi. At that point, I''ll be relying on my sphere dantian and body cultivation alone. Even so, I''ll still be more than strong enough to protect myself" thought John as he steadied his scythe once again.


    It was times like these that made John realize just how amazing having two dantians was. Even when he was about to run out of Qi from his own dantian, he wasn''t scared. When most cultivators ran out of Qi, they were essentially powerless. John on the other hand had his sphere dantian and powerful body to fall back on. Not only that, but his sphere dantian was in the middle Mist Creation realm, which was even more powerful than his own.


    "It''s too bad I don''t have any powerful body cultivation battle arts, otherwise with my sphere dantian at the middle Mist Creation realm, it would be easier to knock this door down" thought John.


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe!


    John once again shed down with all his power. Another loud boom echoed out as his scythe sliced clean through the door. John kicked the bottom section of the vault powerfully, at which point it fell down and revealed a hole in the vault door.


    "Sess" eximed John in excitement, his face a little bit pale. Although he still had his sphere to fall back on for energy, John still felt quite ufortable having an almost empty dantian.


    Just as John was about to step through the hole in the wall, a sharp attack pierced towards his back.

 Chapter 40 - Vault

    John had his divine sense spread out the entire time he was attacking the vault, just in case a guard tried to attack him. Just as he was about to step through into the vault, John felt someone rapidly approach him.


    He quickly turned around and readied his scythe, when all of a sudden a person appeared in front of him.


    Peng!


    The sound of swords colliding rang out.


    "Hurry and get the item. I''ll hold this one back" shouted Austin as he blocked the attack of the guard. John was quite surprised at Austin''s actions. From what John could see, Austin was quite wounded already. Blood stained his ck robe in several areas, hinting at the damage he had taken from the fierce fights. Even so, Austin had still taken the initiative to block the attack for John.


    John was conflicted on whether to help Austin or get the item, when another loud shout echoed out.


    "GO! I''ll be fine, just get the item so we can get out of here!" yelled Austin once more.


    "Sky Piercing Sword" yelled Austin as he sent out a sharp attack towards his foe. His foe was thrown back slightly, at which point Austin dashed forward and delivered another strong attack.


    John watched the exchanges take ce before he finally turned around and entered through the hole in the vault.


    John looked around and quickly sucked in a breath of cold air. All around the vaulty valuable items; chests of gold and silver and jewels were aplenty, and the vault included other exotic items that John had no idea what they were. John swept his eyes across the room, looking for the item he came here for.


    "Ah, there it is" eximed John as he quickly dashed forward.


    An ornate spear was mounted on the wall in front of John. It had an exquisitely detailed gold colored shaft, and a deep blue spear de. A powerful aura radiated from the weapon.


    "A Core Formation grade weapon?" John eximed in shock.


    Core Formation grade weapons were extremely valuable. Even his powerful n of over ten thousand members only had a few dozen of these weapons, and only Core Formation Elders were allowed to wield such weapons.


    John reached up and grabbed the spear.


    Boom!


    A loud boom echoed out as the spear crashed to the ground, its weight far more than what John was capable of supporting.


    "How heavy!" eximed John as he looked at the spear. He quickly bent down to pick the spear up and channeled arge surge of Qi from his sphere dantian into this body. John grit his teeth and was just barely able to lift the spear one inch off the ground, but this was all that he needed.


    The spear quickly disappeared as John stored it in his storage ring. For storing things in a spatial area, the user was required to be able to physically move the object. If an object was too heavy for the cultivator to move or was firmly rooted into the ground, it was unable to be pulled into the spatial area of the storage ring. John quickly turned around and nned on leaving the vault before pausing.


    A mischievous look appeared on his face as he turned back towards the chests filled with gold and jewels. Three chests quickly disappeared from the room.


    "Let''s just say that this is payment for his son''s actions a few days ago. Besides, I''m only taking some of the chests and not all of them. I really am a kind person" John rubbed his nose as a bashful smile appeared on his face.


    After storing away the treasures, John quickly stepped out of the vault. His eyes widened slightly at the scene in front of him. On the ground were all of the guards from the battle before, as well as a few of the cultivators.


    "It seems like there were quite a lot of casualties in this battle" thought John. In the distance, John could see a single man surrounded by the white haired man and the remaining five cultivators who hadn''t yet perished. John was relieved to see that Austin was one of the men still standing.


    John rapidly dashed towards the group, at which point he noticed one of the side doors had been opened and a person was inside.


    "Thats?" That''s the Duke''s Son? Why is he chained up?"


    Inside the rooms was the Duke''s son. He was chained to the wall of the room, and had several long wounds on his body, seemingly made from a whip.


    "He appears quite miserable. Seems like the Duke is quite unhappy with his son''s actions" thought John as he ignored the boy and dashed towards the group of cultivators. As he approached the group, John heard the lone man speak out.


    "Who are you people? Do you have any idea who you are attacking? This is Duke Trommel''s residence. You will be executed for this" yelled the man. The man was Sebastian. He hade down shortly after the loud boom echoed out, at which point he found himself ambushed by another powerfulte Mist Creation realm cultivator.


    His battle raged on for some time, but he was unable to overpower his foe. He could only watch in despair as all his fellow guards were ughtered by the group of unknown men. After all the guards were ughtered, he found himself surrounded by the remaining men.


    Unable to sessfully fight his way out of this encirclement, the guard attempted to use the Duke''s status to scare the men off.


    The group of cultivator''s heard John approaching from behind, at which point the white haired man turned around.


    "Do you have it?" asked the white haired man.


    John nodded in affirmation, at which point the white haired man once again turned back towards Sebastian.


    ''We know exactly who we''re dealing with. Since we have what we came for, you can now die!"


    Powerful attacks flew towards the cultivator as all the men but Johnshed out with their most powerful move. A look of horror and despair washed over Sebastian''s face as heshed out with his most powerful attack.


    Boom!


    The ground was violently upheaved and the basement half destroyed from the force of the attacks. When the dust settled, all the men could see was arge hole in the ground with Sebastian''s dead, mutted corpse at the very center, the look of despair still evident on his face.


    "We have what we came for. Let''s leave before any reinforcements arrive" said the white haired man before dashing towards the stairs. John and the rest of the group quickly followed as they ran upstairs and out of the mansion.


    Duke Trommel stood on the top floor of his mansion and stared out of his window. He saw a group of seven men run out of the main entrance and into the distance before eventually disappearing in the darkness of the night.


    The Duke quickly turned around and walked towards the basement. Shock washed over his face as he came into view of the battlefield. He looked at Sebastian with slight anguish in his eyes.


    "Sleep well, old friend" whispered the Duke before walking past his body. He eventually found himself at the vault, his anguish turning to rage as he saw what was missing from within.


    He quickly took out a small round disk from his storage ring and channeled Qi into it. The disk lit up, revealing a dot traveling further and further away from the center of the round disk.


    "So you think you''ve sessfully managed to steal from me? We''ll see who has thestugh" murmured the Duke in a cold voice, his eyes fiery with rage.

 Chapter 41 - Middle Mist Creation

    John and the other men ran for several miles until they returned to where the mustachioed man was standing. He was sitting on a logzily, at which point he heard the group approach and quickly stood up.


    "Do you have it?" asked the man with excitement in his voice.


    The group all looked towards John, at which point he stepped forward.


    Boom!


    The spear loudly crashed to the ground in front of the mustachioed man. The cultivator eyes all opened wide at the site of the weapon. Several envious eyes gazed at the weapon, their minds thinking about whether they should take such a weapon for themselves or not.


    Suddenly, white haired man stepped forward and bent over to pick up the weapon. After a brief struggle, the man managed to slightly lift the weapon, at which point it suddenly disappeared. Everyone''s eyes narrowed at this new development.


    "I would suggest you put away such thoughts" said the white haired man out loud. He walked over to the mustachioed man, took off his storage ring and handed it over to the man.


    John suddenly realized that the white haired man was working for the mustachioed man all along.


    "I would advise that you all forget what you just saw. My employers want this weapon quite badly, and it would be in all your best interests if you set aside any greed you have. Now, for your payment." The mustachioed man waved his hand, at which point six leather pouches floated towards each of the remaining men, John included.


    John reached out and grabbed the pouch. His eyebrows arched slightly at the contents within.


    "Three hundred gold coins...It seems like this weapon really was valuable to this man" thought John as he put the leather pouch away. John had made three times what he had money wise in this single mission. It turned out to be quite lucrative for him. Not only that, but John had siphoned thousands of gold coins from the Duke''s vault.


    "It seems like money wont be an issue for a long time" smiled John as he thought about his great gains.


    While everyone was looking at their payment, the mustachioed man spoke up. "I thank you all for your assistance today. In fact, I have another opportunity for you all, should you choose to ept."


    The group looked back towards the man and all nodded. The mustachioed man smiled at which point he exined the new opportunity.


    "Now that I have this weapon, I need to escort it safely to my employer. We will be journeying through the Skycleave Forest to avoid any prying eyes, and so I will need men to guard the carriage from any attacking beasts. The payment will be the same as tonight, three hundred gold coins."


    "When do we set out?" asked John. Although he didn''t fight today, John felt his own dantian was ready to break through to the middle Mist Creation realm.


    "I want to raise my strength first. If we leave now, I will have to decline" thought John as he waited for a response.


    The mustachioed man looked at John and replied "I have a few matters to take care of before we set out. We will leave tomorrow night. The meeting point will be the same as for this mission.


    John thought about it for a moment before nodding his head.


    "This should give me enough time to break through" thought John.


    All of a sudden, a heavy palm pped John on the back several times.


    "Not bad today. Those attacks of yours on the vault were quite impressive. You''re a lot stronger than you look" eximed Austin as he cheerfully patted John on the back.


    John smiled back at Austin but said nothing. After the meeting was done, John slipped back towards the inn he was staying in, making sure to not be spotted on the way.


    "Phew!" John sighed out loud as he fell onto his bed. "That was quite the night."


    After resting for some time, John hopped off the bed and sat on the ground.


    "Although I didn''t fight tonight, the pressure of the situation allowed me to focus all my strength into those two attacks. I felt myprehensions towards my Qi increase by quite a lot. I should be able to tackle the middle Mist Creation realm now."


    John cleared his head and connected his mind with the sphere, at which point he fell into a meditative trance. Several hourster¡­


    Boom!


    A muffled boom echoed throughout the room as John slowly opened his eyes. A smile hung on his face as he sent his divine sense towards his dantian.


    "Sess!" eximed John as he clenched his fists in excitement.


    "My own dantian is now at the middle Mist Creation realm."


    John inspected his dantian with his divine sense and noticed that the Qi within was much more potent than before. While he was in the early Mist Creation realm, the Qi in his dantian was wispy and ethereal, almost as if it didn''t exist. Now however, the Qi in his dantian was much thicker and more noticeable. Although it was still quite misty and diffuse, it was much more powerful than before.


    "I''m one step closer to entering the pocket realm" muttered John with a determined look on his face. John was about to start meditating on the second attack of the Myriad Annihtion Scythe when he suddenly thought of something.


    A body suddenly appeared in front of John. It was the body of the leader of the bandits that John had killed. John looked at the man for a moment before cutting open between his brows and extracting a small sliver of blood essence.


    He paused for a moment before absorbing the blood through his chest and guiding it with his Qi towards his sphere dantian.


    "Slowly, just the slightest amount" thought John as the blood approached the sphere. He didn''t want the murmurs to assault his mind like they had before. This was merely a test to see if his guesses were correct regarding the sphere and the Immortal Asura Body.


    A small amount of blood essence neared the sphere dantian, at which point it was rapidly sucked in. John held his breath and prepared his mind for the mental assault, but instead of murmurs, John received a wave of refined Qi from the sphere. John focused his mind and guided the Qi ording and let it nourish the different parts of his body.


    He opened his eyes in surprise before a happy grin took over his face.


    "It''s just as I thought. I am once again able to cultivate the Immortal Asura Body technique. It appears that cultivating this technique really is limited by my own dantian. From what I can tell, my own dantian must be within one minor realm of the sphere dantian in order to keep it under control."


    John quickly took out the other corpses of the bandits and cut open their brows. After extracting and absorbing all the blood essence, John guided the blood towards his sphere dantian and greedily absorbed it all. A wave of nourishing Qi was soon released from the sphere, which John appropriately guided to all the various parts of his body. John could feel his body growing stronger and stronger as it was nourished by the refined Qi.


    Several minutester, John opened his eyes with a slight look of disappointment.


    "It seems that this blood essence wasn''t enough to push my sphere dantian to thete Mist Creation realm. I''ll have to get more blood essence it seems."


    From what John could tell, the blood essence from the early Mist Creation bodies provided very little towards his dantian, while the one middle Mist Creation body provided more, but still not nearly enough for advancement.


    "It seems that the higher the realm of the blood essence, the more beneficial it is for cultivation. I''ll have to see if I can find more bodies to cultivate with. Although its not as if I can buy human blood essence. I suppose I''ll have to hunt beasts for now and use their blood instead."


    Although human blood essence was far more efficient and potent than beast blood essence, John had no solution to this problem. Unless he started killing cultivators indiscriminately, beast blood essence was all he would be able to attain for now.


    John finished cultivating the Immortal Asura Body technique before he took out the jade piece and started meditating on the Celestial Lightning Script. After meditating on the script for several hours, John took out the Myriad Annihtion Scythe and focused on learning the second attack of the battle art. John meditatedte into the night before eventually copsing onto his bed in exhaustion.


    The next day¡­


    Knock! Knock!


    Knocks at John''s door woke him up from his deep slumber.

 Chapter 42 - Escort Mission

    (Author Note: From here on out, when John is thinking, I will use '', and " when he is talking. This is to clear things up and make the story flow smoother).


    Early in the morning, Duke Trommel was listening to a report from one of his guards. The guard was actually the one who was in charge of watching over the Duke''s son, and was the one John had run into several days ago.


    "Sir, I''ve done as you''ve instructed and contacted the Guild regardingst night''s invasion. They said they will take the task andplete it within three day."


    "Good, good" responded the Duke with weary eyes. The previous night''s events had taken quite the toll on the Duke, and he had gotten no sleep at all. He thought for a moment before asking the guard a question.


    "Have you found the young Fenix n boy yet? Althoughst night''s matter is of utmost importance, we can''t ignore that matter either."


    "Yes, while I was out in the cityst night, I asked around and found out that the boy is staying at the Orchard Inn. It''s unfortunate that I was not around to defend you and the family heirloomst night however" stated the guard, sincere regret evident in his eyes.


    "It''s alright. Even if you were here, I doubt the situation would have changed much. Since the matter of the heirloom will be resolved soon anyways, let''s depart and amend things with the Fenix n boy" responded the Duke. The Duke and the guard hopped in a carriage and proceeded towards the Orchard Inn.


    Knock! Knock!


    "Huh?"


    John woke up from the knocks and took several seconds toe to. He wearily rubbed his eyes before getting off the bed and walking over to the door. John opened the door and raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.


    "Hello Mr. Guard, it''s been a few days."


    The guard coughed awkwardly. "Yes, it has. I sincerely apologize for those events. This here is Duke Trommel himself."


    John looked towards the Duke and narrowed his eyes slightly. When John had been leaving with the groupst night, he turned back and noticed that the Duke was watching them from his bedroom window.


    ''Hopefully he doesn''t recognize me, although I''m pretty sure that would be impossible.''


    The Duke stepped forward and bowed his head slightly.


    "Young Fenix n master, I havee here in person to sincerely apologize for my son''s actions. Please rest assured that he has been severely punished, and I can guarantee that he will never do such a thing again."


    John smiled towards the Duke but said nothing. His silence caused the Duke to cough awkwardly before he continued, "I was initially going to give you our family heirloom as a gift to show my sincere apologies. Unfortunately¡­"


    The Duke paused for a moment before speaking up once more, "Unfortunately, my family estate was attackedst night, and our heirloom was stolen. As such, I can only offer you this meager gift. I hope it will suffice."


    Arge chest appeared in the guards hands, at which point he set it at John''s feet and opened it up for him to see the contents. Inside the chest was a wealth of gold coins and jewels.


    ''There must be at least a thousand gold coins, as well as other various gems and jewels. Seems like the Duke is taking this matter quite seriously.''


    Although John had already helped himself to part of the Duke''s money reservesst night, he felt no reason to decline this generous offer.


    John nodded his head in eptance and stored the chest away in his spatial area. The Duke winced slightly as John epted but said nothing. Although not all his money was stolenst night, around thirty percent of it was taken. With this gift as well, the Duke had lost almost half his family''s wealth in less than a day, wealth that had been built up over generations.


    "It''s fine. With this, we can consider the matter settled" said John with a happy smile on his face. The Duke breathed a sigh of relief. With this matter settled and the heirloom soon to be retrieved, the Duke was finally at ease once more.


    "Great. I knew a young master of the Fenix n would be someone of great wisdom and understanding. Now that this matter is settled, I shall leave. I bid you a good day" The Duke before nodded slightly before walking off.


    John watched the Duke and the guard walk off before he closed his door, barely containing hisughter.


    "Hahaha, that was quite refreshing. Getting paid after I''ve already helped myself to his money. The Duke is too kind."


    John took out all his money and started counting it.


    ''With thistest gift, I have over three thousand gold coins, not to mention various jewels and gems. I''m rich.''


    Johnposed himself once more before leaving his bedroom and walking to a nearby restaurant. John ordered lunch while he thought about what to do next.


    ''I have this escort missioning up, at which point I''ll be out of things to do. I suppose I''ll figure out my next step after this mission.''


    After eating his meal, John walked back to his Inn and focused on cultivating. He mainly focused on studying the second form of the Myriad Annihtion Scythe and third step of the Five Step Movement Technique, as these were the aspects that would improve his power the most in the shortest amount of time.


    Night soon arrived as John opened his eyes. He left the Inn and proceeded towards the meeting spot, and after walking for a long time, John finally arrived.


    ''All six are here it seems.''


    "John, you''re here" called out Austin with a smile on his face.


    The mustachioed man was waiting along with the rest of the group. He opened his eyes at John''s arrival and said to the group "Now that we''re all here, we can head out. We will be traveling the entire way through the Skycleave Forest."


    John and the group turned off the road and started heading towards the Skycleave Forest treeline. As the group was about to step into the treeline, John felt something and turned around. His eyes scanned thend behind him but saw nothing.


    ''I must have imagined it.''


    John stared for a few seconds before he turned around and rejoined the group.


    As the group walked into the Skycleave Forest, a dozen pairs of eyes were seen staring at the group from far away. One of the men was holding a small disk in his hands, the disk showing a small dot traveling further and further away from the center.

 Chapter 43 - Ambushed

    The group travelled for half a day before finally setting up camp.


    "We''ll camp here for the night" stated the mustachioed man. "We''ll head out again first thing tomorrow."


    "Hey John,e here" called out Austin as he saw John about to walk away. John turned around and joined Austin at the campfire.


    "What''s up?" asked John.


    "Here, have some. I cooked and seasoned it myself" said Austin as he handed a roasted piece of meat. The meat had a delicious aroma wafting from it, and John was quite hungry after a full day of traveling.


    "Sure" replied John as he sat next to Austin and bit into the meat.


    "Delicious!" eximed John. He hastily bit into the meat again, savoring its deep vor.


    "Haha, right? If there''s one thing I''m best at, its roasting meat" responded Austin whileughing. He handed John another piece of meat before biting into one himself.


    While eating the delicious meat, John heard Austin all of a sudden speak up "So, I have a very important question to ask you." Austin had a serious expression on his face, causing John to be slightly rmed.


    "What is it?" asked John. ''He seems quite serious right now. I wonder what this is about?''


    Austin paused for a few seconds before speaking once more. "My question is...what kind of woman do you like?"


    "Huhhh?" John almost fell off the log he was sitting on as he heard that question. He stabilized himself before bbergastingly asking "What did you say?"


    "I asked what type of woman you like. Me personally, I love beauties with nice, firm butts. You know, the ones you can.." Austin started enthusiastically describing all sorts of things. John just sat there in silence, unsure of how to respond.


    After talking for several minutes, Austin paused before once more asking "Come on. You have to have a favorite type. What''s your type?"


    John thought about it for a moment, and was surprised to find out he didn''t have an answer.


    ''I''ve always focused on raising my strength all my life, even before I could cultivate. I''ve never actually pursued any woman before.''


    "To be honest, I have no idea what my type is" replied John with a wry smile. He had no other idea of how to respond to the question.


    "Huhh? Surely you have to have a type? Everyone has a type" replied Austin with a sly smile on his face.


    John had no idea how to respond. He truly didn''t have a type, at least he didn''t know for sure yet as no girl had caught his eye yet.


    Austin noticed John''s awkward silence, at which point a serious looked appeared on his face. He stood up with a flourish and stood before John. "If that''s the case, just leave this to your older brother Austin. I''ll help you with anydy troubles you have."


    John could only give a wry smile and chuckle at Austin''s antics, but a warm feeling crept into his heart. He started to see Austin less and less of a random person and more like an older brother that he never had.


    "Sure, when we''re done with this mission, you can teach me all you know about picking up girls" replied John.


    A happy Austin cheered loudly before sitting back besides John and putting his arm around John''s shoulder.


    "Fear not. By the time I''m done teaching you, you''ll be able tond any girl you desire" said Austin with a mischievous grin on his face. John nodded his head as he bit into another piece of delicious meat.


    An hour passed before John finally decided to get up and go practice his second form of the Myriad Annihtion Scythe as well as the third step of the Five Step Movement Technique. He left the group and walked for fifteen minutes to find a remote spot in the woods to practice.


    ''This ce will do. I''ll practice the Five Step Movement Technique first, before switching over to the Myriad Annihtion Scythe''


    Bang!


    Dust was slightly kicked up as John dashed forward, unleashing the first step of the technique. While moving, John channeled Qi from his dantian towards a new spot on his legs and executed the second step.


    Rapidly dashing forward, John once more channeled Qi into his legs and attempted to unleash the third step of the technique.


    "Ahhh"


    John went crashing forward after losing his bnce. He stood up and brushed the dirt off his in ck robe before thinking about what he did wrong.


    ''With my essence cultivation in the middle Mist Creation realm now, I have enough Qi reserves to unleash this step. The problem wasn''t the quality or quantity of Qi, it was the timing. I was slightlyte on unleashing my Qi to the third acupoint, and as a result I misstepped and stumbled. I need to make sure to get this timing down perfectly so I can use it inbat.''


    John prepared to unleash the technique again, but once more mistimed the third step and tumbled to the ground. The sound of John crashing into the ground continued for some time, and he had to rece his robe once already due to the dirt it had umted. Finally, two hourster, John seeded in unleashing the third step correctly.


    "Sess!" yelled John as he came to a stop while panting heavily.


    ''The eleration and speed of that third step is far faster than the second step, but the Qi requirement is quite brutal.''


    John sat down and replenished his Qi reserves over the next hour before standing up once more. A dark ck scythe suddenly appeared in his hands. It dipped in his hands as he grasped it, but far less than before.


    ''It feels quite a bit lighter now that I''ve grown stronger in both essence and body cultivation. Now for the Myriad Annihtion Scythe!''


    ''It''s somewhat simr to the Five Step Movement Technique in that I have to time the second attack perfectly after the first one. The leftover momentum and power from the first attack builds into the second one, resulting in an even stronger attack. Lets try it.''


    John took a wide stance and focused his mind before swinging out with all his might.


    Che!


    A strong beam of power was emitted from the scythe as he swung it forward. The beam carried on for a dozen yards before crashing into a tree and severing it in half.


    Spinning around fully after his first attack, John retained the momentum of the first attack and swung his scythe out with great force.


    Boom!


    A small explosion of Qi appeared right in front of John, sending him tumbling back slightly.


    "Mistimed it. Again!" said John as he once again tried to execute the attack. After several attempts, John put away his scythe and sat down to focus on recovering his diminished Qi reserves.


    ''I can feel that I almost have it down. I might be sessful on my next attempt.''


    An hourter, John was just about to stand up and try his attack once more when his eyes widened and he quickly dashed to the side.


    Boom!


    The earth was upheaved and a small crater had formed where John had just been. As the dust started to settle, John heard a voice call out from the distance.


    "Jejeje, you''re not a bad kid. I didn''t think you''d be able to dodge that attack in time." A man clothed in all ck from head to toe approached John, his eyes glinting with a murderous light.

 Chapter 44 - Assassins

    "Who are you?" asked John as he narrowed his eyes. He had just barely detected that powerful attack in time and managed to dodge at thest possible moment.


    "You don''t seriously expect me to answer that do you?" responded the man with an amused tone. "Ah, well, you''re going to die soon anyways, so there''s no harm in telling you. I''m from the Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild. We''ve been tasked to retrieve an item that your group stole recently."


    A shocked expression appeared on John''s face as he finally understood what this was about.


    ''How did they find us so quickly? Did someone rat us out?''. He looked back towards the man with a serious expression.


    "None of you even bothered to destroy the tracking formation on the weapon. You guys are really dumb" The masked manughed at the groups stupidity.


    ''Hes middle Mist Creation huh? I guess he thinks I''m an easy target due to my age.''


    The man looked at John''s expression before bursting out inughter. "Although you are a middle Mist Creation cultivator as well, I can tell you just broke through recently based on the fluctuations in your aura. As for me, I''m currently at the peak of the middle Mist Creation realm. You have no choice but to die here."


    John looked at the man but said nothing. He was very confident in his ability to handle the man in front of him. Not only did John have an arsenal of powerful techniques, he also had a powerful middle Mist Creation body cultivation level. Thebined power of his body and his essence attacks made him far stronger than any ordinary middle Mist Creation realm cultivator.


    As the manzily approached him, John lowered his stance and prepared to attack, taking out his Body Refinement grade greatsword. The man saw the low grade weapon and once again burst out inughter. John''s actions lowered the man''s guard even more, as he was once again more assured in being able to neutralize John quickly.


    ''I''m going to strike out with my full power from the start. I must keep him on the defensive if I''m to end this as fast as possible. The man said he was from an assassin guild sent to retrieve the item, so I''m sure he''s not the only one. I need to get back to camp as fast as possible.''


    Boom!


    Dust kicked up behind John as he utilized the first step of the Five Step Movement Technique to rapidly close the distance.


    "Hmm?" the man opened his eyes in shock at John''s movement technique. It was clearly quite profound, and was definitely better than anything he had himself. "Seems like my opponent isn''t as easy a target as I thought" Thee man he struck out towards John, aiming to block his greatsword.


    Mountain Crushing Sword!


    John struck out with his full power, sending a powerful attack straight towards his opponent.


    "Wave Splitting Art!"


    The man stuck out with his own powerful attack and sessfully blocked John''s attack. He was about to send out his own attack to put John on the defensive when all of a sudden he lost track of John.


    Five Step Movement Technique: Second Step!


    John utilized the second step to quickly dash behind the man, at which point he quickly swapped out his greatsword for his scythe.


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe!


    The man quickly turned around to see John swinging down at him with his scythe. He opened his eyes in shock at the power of the attack and hastily sent out his own attack to block it.


    The two attacks collided violently, and John was sent back several steps while his opponent was knocked back dozens of yards. Because of the explosion that forced John backwards, John was unable to execute either the third step in the Five Step Movement Technique or the second attack in the Myriad Annihtion Scythe.


    "Shit" muttered John as he quickly recovered and once again utilized the first step to instantly close the distance between him and his foe. John once more sent out the first attack of the Myriad Annihtion Scythe. However, his opponent had recovered in time to once again send out his own attack and sessfully defended against John''s attack.


    John quickly utilized the second step of his movement technique to instantly close the distance once more.


    Peng!


    Sword and scythe collided and locked against one another as both men came to a halt. Before the man could make any move, John let go of the scythe handle with his right hand and sent a powerful punch towards the man''s chest.


    "Pft, is this boy an idiot?" thought the masked man. The masked man could clearly tell that John was an essence cultivator. Since this was the case, his opponent''s punch would hurt no doubt, but would fail to do any significant damage. He decided to take advantage of his foe''s naive attack. What he failed to realize was that John was hiding his physical body strength in this fight, all tond a blow such as this unblocked.


    "As soon as his punchnds, I''ll back up and send another Wave Splitting Art attack at him. He''ll still be off bnce from his punch, and so I''ll be able to force him back and go on the offensive from here on out. He''s as good as dead." thought the man as a sinister smile crept over his face.


    Boom!


    A horrified expression appeared in the man''s eyes as he was sent flying back violently, the sound of cracked ribs echoing out. Blooded spewed out of the man''s mouth as he was sent tumbling backwards.


    Another loud sound echoed out as John unleashed another Myriad Annihtion Scythe on his opponent. The masked man had yet to recover when the attacknded, and so he was once more violently sent flying into the distance.


    Breathing heavily from his Qi expenditure, John quickly dashed forward towards the man''s tumbling body. He was about to unleash another devastating attack when he came to a quick stop.


    Blood flowed from many deep wounds all over the man''s body. He was lying against a tipped over tree, nearly dead from the attacks John just delivered.


    John slowly approached the man and stood in front of him with expressionless eyes. The half dead man started to cackle maniacally as he constantly coughed up blood.


    "You...you train in both body and essence cultivation?" asked the man.


    John looked at the man but didn''t respond. He put away his scythe and took out his greatsword before pointing it towards the man''s heart.


    The man started cackling maniacally once again. "No matter, that punch clearly revealed you''re a body cultivator, and an extremely powerful one at that. But the fact that you train in both essence and body puts me at ease. I''ll die knowing that you''ll soon be a useless cultivator. Your death won''t be long off with this path of mediocrity you''ve chosen."


    Arge smile appeared on John''s face as he looked at the man. "Unfortunately, your words couldn''t be farther from the truth, but it doesn''t matter. Die for me." John quickly plunged his sword into the man''s heart.


    The masked manughed as the sword plunged into his heart before hisughs eventually ceased.


    "Even in death this man wasn''t afraid" thought John with slight shock as he watched the man die.


    "Austin! The others!" John suddenly remembered the rest of the group. He stored his greatsword and the man''s corpse away before quickly turning around and running back towards the camp. John ran for several minutes before he finally approached the camp site.


    Boom!


    Two powerful attacks collided, sending one of the men tumbling violently backwards. John recognized the man flying backwards


    Austin!


    John quickly looked around the rest of the campsite. A wave of despair washed over his face as he noticed all the cultivators were dead, even the white haired man. He looked back towards Austin and noticed that he was wounded severely.


    Austin sluggishly stood up and was about to attack once more when he noticed John out of the corner of his eye.


    "John! RUN!" yelled Austin as he noticed several men approaching John.


    "Shit, I''ve been noticed,'' thought John. He had stopped at the edge of the battle site and stood in the darkness behind a tree, but he was still detected by the other men.


    John hesitated for a moment. He didn''t know whether to help Austin or run. Austin noticed his hesitation and yelled out "There''s nothing you can do. Run!" Gathering all his remaining strength, Austin sent out a powerful sword light towards the two masked men approaching John.


    Boom!


    The men were knocked backwards, which gave John all the opportunity he needed to run off into the darkness. One of the other men lunged forward at Austin as he focused on helping John.


    "Pft!"


    John turned his head around to see Austin standing there in a daze. A sword was plunged straight through his chest, piercing his heart. Austin looked towards John onest time, a regretful smile on his face as he copsed to the ground lifelessly.

 Chapter 45 - Fighting Again

    John grit his teeth, barely containing his anger and urge to turn around and attack the men behind him. But he knew it would be a futile action. Not only were there several men in the group, John could tell that they were mostly in thete Mist Creation Realm, with one of them even in the early Qi Condensation stage. John knew he would surely die if he tried to fight a Qi Condensation cultivator, and so his only option was to flee.


    The man with the Qi Condensation cultivation looked at John fleeing into the distance before he turned to his side and called out to one of his men.


    "Bolton, go after the boy and finish him off" said the man in a loud booming voice.


    "Captain, are you sure you want just me to go?" asked Bolton.


    "What? Do you think you can''t handle a boy who''s barely entered the middle Mist Creation Realm? It seems like he was able to evade Carson, so his strength isn''t bad, but you should be far more than he can handle. Besides, the mission we were tasked with was retrieving the item, and so that is what I will do. I still need to search all these storage rings for the spear to make sure it''s really here" said the man.


    "Yes, Boss'' answered Bolton before quickly running off in the direction John was fleeing.


    John was running as fast as his legs would carry him.


    ''Motherfuckers, I''ll have my revenge if it''s thest thing I do''


    John cursed as he sped through the forest. He had been running for several minutes already, and had put quite a bit of distance between him and the campsite. John was starting to think that he had sessfully ran from his enemies when he suddenly dashed to his side as fast as he could, and even used the first step of the Five Step Movement Technique to barely dodge in time.


    Boom!


    A powerful Qi attacknded where John had been just a moment ago, knocking John sideways several yards. He hastily scrambled to his feet and turned around, at which point he saw another Qi attacking straight for him.


    John quickly took out his scythe and shed out with all his might.


    "Gah!"


    John was sent flying backwards dozens of yards like a broken kite, as many small wounds were opened up on his body. He tumbled head over heels several times before he hastily managed to stand up once more. Expecting another attack would follow, John utilized the first step of the Five Step Movement Technique before he even looked back towards his enemy.


    Boom!


    The ground was once more upheaved as a powerful attacknded just where John had been. With his quick thinking and fast movements, John was finally able to stabilize himself. He looked backwards from where the Qi attacks hade from, at which point he saw a single man walking towards him.


    "You''re quite hard to kill. No wonder Carson had trouble with you. Did you manage to kill Carson or just escape from him? If you tell me, I promise to grant you a swift death" said the man as he slowly approached John.


    John narrowed his eyes but said nothing. His mind was currently thinking of the best way to get out of this situation.


    ''It seems like he''s alone. I suppose that makes sense though, e Mist Creation realm cultivator should always be enough to neutralize a middle Mist Creation cultivator. If he''s alone, then that changes things. Although I''ve never fought above my realm, I''m itching to find out if I can.''


    John felt his blood heat up as the prospect of theing fight excited him. Ever since John was a child, he had brushed with death over and over as he dangerously tried to stimte his martial potential. Over the course of many years of doing so, John had developed a strange rtionship to life or death battles. Instead of a battle to the death scaring him, John looked forward to it. Not only that, this battle was his first battle in which he was going to fight above his cultivation realm. John was truly curious if his unique cultivation situation would allow him to do the impossible and fight across realms.


    Even John was uncertain of where his strengthy. He had a middle Mist Creation cultivation for both body and essence, but unlike all other cultivators, John would be able to use one hundred percent of his power on both his essence and physical body attacks. This dual power would superimpose on each other, allowing John to unleash attacks far beyond the capabilities of a normal middle Mist Creation realm cultivator.


    The man saw John smile and became quite irritated. He had expected John to beg for his life or run in fear. He always loved it when his enemies begged for their lives. It made the moment when he killed them all the sweeter as he watched their terror when they died.


    "What are you smiling for, boy? Don''t you realize the situation you''re in. I''ll ask onest time, what happened to Carson?" asked the man with a cold voice.


    John didn''t respond to the man. Instead, he steadied his scythe in front of himself and took a wide, powerful stance. He took a deep breath and calmed his mind, focusing his all on the fight toe.


    "Fine, you can just die" yelled the man in anger as he charged towards John. He appeared in front of John in an instant and shed out with his ive. John shed out with all his strength to meet the attack. Sparks flew as the weapons collided and both men were pushed backwards several yards.


    "Heh, not a bad kid" sneered the man before he once again sent out an attack, this time even more powerful than the one before.


    John swung his scythe out with all his might to parry the attack. He decided against using the Myriad Annihtion Scythe to merely block an attack, as he was running quite low on Qi.


    The two attacks violently collided, and once again John was knocked back dozens of yards. He felt his blood tumble in his body from the force of that attack. The man instantly sent out another attack, and John hastily sent out his scythe once more. The result was the same as before, with John being knocked backwards dozens of yards.


    John finally managed to stabilize himself and looked up towards the man.


    ''I need to end this quickly. Although I haven''t sessfully used it yet, I need to try it. It''s the only way to end this fight fast.'' John steadied his scythe and started to approach the man.

 Chapter 46 - Jumping Realms

    John utilized the first step of his movement technique to instantly appear in front of the man. His essence Qi reserves were starting to run low from the previous battle and this one, and so John wanted to end the fight quickly.


    John shed his scythe out towards the man with all his strength, and poured in strength from his sphere dantian to his body to augment his attack. Scythe and ive collided, and the man was shocked to find out that he had actually lost in that exchange. He was knocked back several yards while John had stood firmly at the site of the attack.


    "How can he be so strong" thought the man. He was sure that this attack of his would at least knock the boy back once more, but the boy had met his attack with equal power. He was just about to speak up to John when he noticed John charging straight towards him.


    Five Step Movement Technique: Second Step


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe


    John instantly appeared to the side of the man and shed down with the first attack of the myriad annihtion scythe. The man had recovered just in time to see John''s attack flying straight towards him.


    Instead of taking the attack head on, the man proceeded to use his own movement technique and rapidly dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding John''s attack.


    The man quickly raised his ive to send his own attack out towards John, at which point shock covered his face.


    "Where is he" thought the man as he frantically looked around to find John. He sent his divine sense outwards, at which point he noticed John was several yards behind him, unleashing another attack. The man quickly turned around and saw that John''s attack was almost on him.


    "How can he be so quick?" thought the man as he watched John rapidly dash towards him, the power contained in John''s scythe shocked the man.


    "I don''t have time to dodge, and I can''t overpower his attack with the little time I have to power my attack. The only thing I can do is trade fatal blows with the boy. He''s young and inexperienced, there''s no way he''s not afraid of death. He''ll pull his attack away at thest moment to dodge my attack" thought the man as he quickly formted a counter attack in his head. He quickly powered up his own attack and aimed for John''s vitals.


    John had just unleashed the third step of the Five Step Movement Technique to rapidly get behind the man once more. He was in the process of unleashing the second attack of the Myriad Annihtion scythe, at which point he noticed what the man was doing.


    ''He''s giving up on defense and wants to trade blows?''


    John was thinking about whether he should redirect his attack to block the man''s own attack or keep his current trajectory. After a moment of deliberation, John came to a decision as a resolved look appeared in his eyes.


    ''I have to trust in the strength of my body and the Immortal Asura Body technique.'' John prepared to exchange blows with the man.


    "Are you crazy" yelled the man as he noticed what John was doing. He had never expected John to be a lunatic who was willing to exchange his own life for the mans, but it was toote to do anything but attack with all his might.


    Boom!


    Arge explosion radiated outwards as both John and the man were sent flying backwards like broken kites. Blood heavily spewed out of John''s mouth and chest and he flew dozens of yards before violently crashing into the ground. He tumbled back for nearly a hundred yards before finallying to a rest. Hey there motionlessly for several minutes before he finally came to his senses.


    "Cough!"


    John continued to cough out blood from the attack he had just taken. He felt many of his ribs had cracked from the force of the attack, and several of his organs had taken substantial damage. Arge wound cut deeply into his chest and blood was flowing out profusely. John mustered thest remaining power from his sphere dantian and managed to take out a Life Mist Healing Pill and pop it into his mouth.


    John continued to cough out blood for several minutes before the medicinal pill finally started to slowly heal some of his inner wounds. Although the pill had helped, John felt as if he was still half a foot into the grave. He gasped for breath and tried to recover his Qi as fast as possible.


    ''Who knows how long it will be until the rest of that group shows up.''


    After sitting there for fifteen minutes, John had finally managed to restore enough energy and managed to stand up. He limped over slowly towards where he had seen his foe fly off to. John hobbled for several hundred yards before he finally managed to spot the man.


    "This!"


    John drew in a deep breath as he finally saw the results of his attack. The man''s bodyid in two pieces fifteen yards apart from each other. His body was split from his right shoulder down to his left waist. A shocked and unbelieving expression was still evident on the man''s face. Even in death, he was unable to believe that a mere middle Mist Creation boy would be able to kill him.


    ''The second attack of the Myriad Annihtion Scythe is even stronger than I imagined.''


    John stared at the man for several seconds before walking over to him and storing his corpse away in his spatial area.


    "I better leave quickly" muttered John as he started to walk away. The longer he stayed in the area, the more likely it was that the other men caught up to him.


    "Leave? You won''t be leaving I''m afraid." A voice suddenly sounded out behind John.

 Chapter 47 - Talisman

    John quickly turned around and looked towards the sound of the voice. Several hundred yards away, John spotted the source of the voice and narrowed his eyes.


    ''That''s all the men from the campsite. I won''t be able to run from this.''


    John silently looked towards the men. The group consisted of six men, one of which was the powerful Qi Condensation cultivator. All the men wore pure ck uniforms and face masks covering their faces. Clearly, they wanted to keep their identities a secret, although John knew they came from the Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild from the loudmouth he had killed earlier.


    ''Even in my peak state, I can only die in front of that man.''


    John looked towards the powerful Qi Condensation cultivator, as he had been the one who had just spoken up.


    The Qi Condensation cultivator looked around at the battlefield, his eyes searching for something.


    "Where is Bolton" asked the man in a cold, threatening voice.


    "Bolton? Sorry, I don''t know a Bolton" responded John in an equally cold voice.


    "Don''t y dumb with me. Where is the man who we sent after you?" asked the man once more.


    The man and his group had been sorting out the treasure situation from all the storage rings back at the campsite. After they had finished sorting everything, the man and his group proceeded to head in the direction of the battle that was taking ce. Although they had heard loud booms echo through the forest from the battle, they had assumed they were from Bolton who was in the process of killing John.


    When the group finally arrived on the battle scene, all they saw was a severely injured John walking away.


    "Oh, that guy. He was quite annoying, so I sent him to the afterlife" stated John with an indifferent tone. With the situation he was in, nothing would be able to convince the men to let him go, and so John wasn''t about to plead for his life.


    The man narrowed his eyes as he looked at John. He was just about to speak up when John interrupted him.


    "You should really be thanking me instead, after all, a useless cultivator who cant even kill a middle Mist Creation boy isn''t someone worth worrying over."


    Slight anger appeared on the man''s face as he responded back to John in a raised voice.


    "It seems you don''t know the situation you''re in. Once we capture you, I''ll make you beg for death" The man stared at John, his eyes glowing with rage. Although Bolton wasn''t a strong cultivator within the assassin guild, the man still considered him a close friend. Hearing he had been killed ignited his rage. He would make sure that John suffered as much as possible before death.


    "Hahahaha"


    John startedughing profusely as blood continued flowed from his lips from his earlier battle. He coughed out some blood several times before looking towards the man as if he was a fool before a small round disk suddenly appeared in John''s hands as he stared at the man with a mocking look.


    The man looked at the object before his eyes widened in shock.


    "Stop him now!" yelled the man as he dashed towards John with all his speed and sent out his fastest and most powerful attack. The men beside him all did the same, although they were unsure of why their boss all of a suddenshed out in panic.


    John watched the approaching attacks with an amused expression.


    "I''ll be leaving for now, but don''t worry, we''ll meet again soon enough." His hand crushed the object, at which point he disappeared moments before the attacksnded violently where he was previously standing.


    "God damnit" the man cursed out in rage. From what had happened, he knew the current situation just got a lot moreplicated. One of his men walked beside and asked him a question.


    "Boss. What just happened? Where did the boy go?"


    The man narrowed his eyes before responding in a cold voice, "The boy just used a spatial talisman to leave the area. Even if we wanted to, there''s no way we can find him now. Not only that, spatial talismans are quite rare, and even I''ve only seen one in my life before. If a boy that young has one, then his status may be something our guild cannot handle. I need to inform the Guild Leader about this."


    The underling drew in a cold breath at the description of what just happened. After a few seconds, he thought of something and spoke up.


    "Boss, even if the boy has a powerful backing, we should be fine. After all, there''s no way he knows who we are, right?"


    The boss thought about it for a moment before nodding, his expression bing much lighter. "You''re right. Even if he wants to take revenge, there''s no way he can link this to us as long as the Duke says nothing. We''ll be fine."


    While the men were talking, John found himself suddenly teleported to a different ce.


    "Ahhh!"


    John screamed as he crashed violently into the ground. His wounds once again opened as his body felt like it was on the verge of copse.


    "Fuck. Couldn''t this talisman have teleported me onto the ground instead of fifty feet up in the air" cursed John.


    Gritting his teeth through the immense pain, John channeled his remaining strength and barely mustered himself to stand up. He looked around in all directions before spotting something and walking towards it.


    John limped for several minutes before he found himself at the mouth of a cave. The cave was a few dozen yards deep, and John could just barely make out the end of it. He sent out his divine sense just to make sure it was empty.


    ''Good, it appears empty.''


    John slowly limped into the cave. He finally managed to make his way towards the back of the cave, at which point he copsed onto the ground. A wave of fatigue washed over John as he fell unconscious.


    ¡­

 Chapter 48 - Two Strangers

    John finally opened his eyes after an unknown amount of time.


    "Oww!"


    John cried out in pain as he tried to stand up. He sent his divine sense towards his body to inspect the damage and sucked in a cold breath as he finally understood the extent of the damage.


    ''All my ribs are cracked in several ces, several of my organs have been slightly ruptured, and I have several torn muscles. Not to mention, thisrge gaping wound on my chest. I''m lucky to be alive.''


    John finally managed to sit up after a great deal of struggle, at which point he took out a Life Mist Healing Pill and popped it into his mouth. He spent the entire day focusing on recovery before eventually copsing once morete into the night. The next day, John consumed another pill and once more focused on recovery. John proceeded to eat, heal, and sleep for the next week before he finally recovered enough to stand up.


    ''Fuck, I nearly died from that battle.''


    John thought back to the battle that had happened several nights prior. He started cursing himself for the stupidity of taking ate Mist Creation cultivator''s attack head on, relying only on his body to block it.


    "Do I really have a death wish?"


    After beating himself up for several minutes, John finally calmed down, at which point a smile slowly appeared on his face.


    ''Even if I almost died from that attack, the only thing that matters is I didn''t. My body is powerful enough to withstand an all out attack from ate Mist Creation cultivator. Not only that, but I was able to kill one as well. However, that energy surge from before didn''t happen this time. I can''t be reliant on it to happen every time I''m in danger it seems.''


    Although John could still hardly believe the results of that battle, the truth wasid bare before him. Not only was John powerful enough to kill ate Mist Creation Realm cultivator, he also had a body that was powerful enough to take a direct attack from someone a full minor realm above him without dying. The circumstances of the battle were in his favor however. The man had underestimated John, and so he had used this to his advantage by striking out with his full power right away and trading blows with the man. If the man had time to strike out with his full power attack, John didn''t know if he would have survived it or not.


    John clenched his fist in excitement at the thought of his own strength.


    ''With my body and essence cultivation being so powerful, won''t I be unrivaled in the same realm?''


    His excited thoughts quickly turned sour as John thought of Austin.


    "Those bastards. What did that guy say, Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild? I''ll be sure to pay them a visit once my strength grows" muttered John in rage. He had taken quite a liking to Austin, and had even started to see him like an older brother. He would make sure that Austin was avenged.


    ''Should I get my n involved? Or should I handle this myself?''


    John thought about it for a moment before deciding against including his n in this matter. Austin was his friend, and so he would make sure to personally avenge this matter.


    ''I''ll find out where their base is, and when I''m strong enough, I''ll be sure to pay them a personal visit. Although I have no idea how strong the guild really is. I''ll have to ask my n if they have any information on the assassin guild, and if not I''ll have to find out some other way.''


    John was wracking his brain for ideas when he suddenly thought of something.


    ''The Duke. He hired them, and so he must be aware of some information regarding their strengths and location of their base. I''ll pay him a visit in the future as well.''


    Just as John was bing immersed in his own thoughts of revenge, he heard a loud boom echo from just outside the cave.


    ''Have they found me?'' thought John in a panic. In his haste, he had teleported in a random direction away from the battlefield, but he was sure he had managed to teleport the full one hundred miles.


    "There''s no way they could find me so fast? Right?" muttered John.


    John held his breath and made as little noise as possible in hopes of evading detection of whoever or whatever was outside the cave. After a few minutes of waiting in silence, John finally breathed a sigh of relief as he assumed whatever was outside had passed by.


    "Growl!"


    John looked up to see a beast standing at the entrance of the cave.


    "Another fucking Night Wolf?" John cursed out at the beast in front of him. The cave was apparently the Night Wolf''s home, and this particr Night Wolf was at the Late Mist Creation realm.


    ''Normally I would have no problem killing this wolf, but I''m still injured and mybat power is less than half of normal.''


    John grit his teeth at his predicament.


    "Fuck it, I''ll try to fight my way out of here."


    Boom!


    Just as John prepared to stand up and fight, the area where the Night Wolf was standing exploded. After the dust settled, John saw the Night Wolf''s dead corpse sliced cleanly in half. John was confused at what had just happened before a powerful wave of divine sense scanned over him.


    "Fuck. A divine sense this powerful clearly belongs to a Qi Condensation cultivator. Did they find me already?" John hastily stood up to prepare for a futile fight.


    John grit his teeth in pain as he watched two people stand at the entrance of the cave and peer inside.


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe!


    John decided to take the initiative and attack before any words were exchanged and sent a powerful beam of scythe Qi towards the exit of the cave. He figured his only hope of escaping was attacking his way out of the cave and utilizing his movement technique to evade his enemies. As he sent out the attack, his freshly healed wounds once again opened up.


    The two people at the entrance of the cave noticed the iing attack, and one of them shed out with their own ability.


    John widened his eyes in shock as his attack was easily overwhelmed by his enemies attack, at which point it proceeded to head straight for him. Although his attack had weakened this attack by quite a bit, it was still more powerful than anything he could manage.


    John hastily dodged to the side as the attacknded at his feet.


    "Gah!"


    John was sent flying from the immense force of the attack before he crashed violently into the cave wall. He rebounded viciously off the wall and fell hard to the ground.


    John coughed up blood as he felt most of his wounds open up once more. Blood flowed out of his mouth as he tried to stand up, but couldn''t muster the strength to do so. Thest thing John saw before hepsed into unconsciousness was the two people walking directly towards him.


    ¡­

 Chapter 49 - Who Are You?

    The cave once more came into John''s view as he slowly opened his eyes. Still groggy from what had happened, John sluggishly looked around the cave to figure out what was going on.


    "You''re finally awake?"


    A voice entered John''s ears and he turned his head to the side. His eyes opened wider in confusion as he stared at two people who he had never before met in his life. They were sitting on some logs ced around a campfire.


    "Who are you?" asked John as he started to stand up. He was expecting a great deal of pain to assault his body, but much to his surprise, his body feltpletely fine. He sent his divine sense into his body and opened his eyes wide in shock.


    ''I''m almostpletely healed? But how?''


    John continued to inspect his body. He had required a week to heal when he first arrived in the cave, and even then he was only half healed.


    "How long was I out for?" asked John absentmindedly. The shock of his healed body had made him forget his perilous situation for a moment.


    "About a day" responded the same voice as before.


    "A day! And I''mpletely healed? How is this possible?" asked John inplete shock. From what he knew, even the best healing pills at the Mist Creation Realm would take several days to fully heal him, and those were extremely valuable.


    From what John knew about alchemy, pills that healed a body quickly andpletely were extremely rare. Not only would the alchemist have to infuse arge amount of medicinal ingredients into the pill to heal the body, they would also need to make it gentle enough for the cultivator''s body to handle.


    A pill designed for a Core Formation expert would have more than enough healing properties to fully heal John in less than a day, but the immense medicinal energy in the pill would blow his body apart. This was the perpetual bnce that alchemists struggled against in developing the most efficient pill for each cultivation level.


    While John was deep in thought, the person once again replied. "We gave you a Mistflower Essence Pill. But I have to say, your recovery speed is monstrous. Even with this pill, it would normally take a few days to recover."


    John scrunched his face in confusion as he had never heard of the pill before. He was just about to ask another question when he suddenly remembered his situation.


    A ck scythe suddenly appeared in John''s hands as he stared vigntly at the two people in front of him.


    "Rx, we don''t intend to hurt you" said a kind, gentle voice. John looked to the girl who had just spoken and sent his divine sense over both her and the boy next to her.


    ''What? Middle Qi Condensation? Both of them? How is this possible? They look to be the same age as me.'' Shock covered John''s face as he took in the situation in front of him. After some time, he put away his scythe.


    ''Even if I wanted to, I''mpletely out of options in the face of two middle Qi Condensation cultivators. If they wanted to kill me, they would have done so already.'' John took a deep breath at the realization of his situation before he walked over to the campfire and sat on a log opposite the boy and girl.


    He sat there in silence thinking about what to say, when suddenly the boy spoke up.


    "Sorry about that attack earlier. I was so shocked that you would suddenly attack us that I sent out an attack of my own. I tried holding back, but the suddenness of the situation caused me to attack with a bit too much power. I hope you can forgive me" the boy said with a sheepish look on his face.


    John looked at the two of them in silence. The boy in front of him had short ck hair and hazel eyes, and had a slightly childish face, while the girl had long, flowing ck hair,rge ck eyes and a youthful face and body that had yet to blossom into womanhood. They both wore pure white robes, which had dazzlingly blue lighting bolts embroidered on both the shoulders and back.


    John stared at the lighting bolts for some time. He suddenly thought about the Celestial Lighting Script and his need to start actually cultivating it.


    John was once more deep in thought before he heard an awkward cough.


    "I''m Elliot by the way, and the girl next to me is Leah. Nice to meet you" said the boy as he stared at John.


    John was stirred out of his thoughts, at which point he realized he had ignored Elliot''s first apology.


    "Oh, sorry. I was thinking about something. I''m John. Nice to meet you" responded John with an awkward smile on his face. Thinking about the absurdity of the situation, John couldn''t help but ask.


    "What''s going on? Why did you heal me? And who are you?"


    Elliot rubbed the back of his head before replying, "There was beast outside about to enter the cave. We noticed someone was inside and so we killed it before it could enter and attack you. We were going to greet you, but then you attacked us. When we realized you were just a mid Mist Creation cultivator, we felt bad about having wounded you, so we stayed here and fed you a healing pill to make sure you recovered."


    "Oh, that makes sense" John absentmindedly replied before he quickly stood up.


    "Ah, sorry. I just remembered that I was the one who initially struck out at you first. I thought you were someone else, and so I attacked. It seems you even saved me from dying to a beast. Sorry" apologize John. He felt quite guilty about attacking the two of them without warning.


    Elliot smiled at John. "Don''t worry about it. Who did you think we were by the way? To suddenlysh out like that, you must have some enmity with them."


    John thought about it for a moment before he decided to tell both Elliot and Leah what had happened with the Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild, although he left the rest of the details vague.


    John eventually finished his story, at which point Elliot said, "You sure are crazy. You actually traded blows with ate Mist Creation cultivator? How did you not die?"


    "Luck, I guess" responded John. He wasn''t about to tell them about his dual essence and body cultivation, or the Immortal Asura Body.


    "Well, however it happened, you still managed to kill ate Mist Creation cultivator at the mid Mist Creation realm. That''s amazing!" responded Elliot.


    John smiled at thepliment but said nothing. He was still quite curious as to who exactly the two in front of him were. From talking to them, John had learned that they were also fourteen years old just like him, but their cultivation level was unreal. Both of them were middle Qi Condensation cultivators. From what John knew, no power in the surrounding thousands of miles was capable of producing such geniuses. The only exception to the rule that he knew of was Miko Varis, but Miko was considered a one in ten thousand years prodigy and was a one off anomaly.


    John figured he would just ask them outright instead of guessing about their origins.


    "I have a question for the both of you. Who are you exactly?"

 Chapter 50 - Special Realm?

    Elliot and Leah turned to look at each other, unsure of how to answer. Elliot thought for a while before replying to John''s question.


    ''"We''re not from around here, as I''m sure you can tell, but that''s all we can say on that matter unfortunately."


    John was disappointed at the vague response but understood them nheless. Everyone had their secrets, John included. After some silence, the group started talking about various things, including John''s origins and the Fenix n itself.


    After a while, silence descended on the group before Leah suddenly spoke up.


    "John, since you''re from the Fenix n, do you happen to know about anything rted to a special realm?"


    "Leah!" Elliot suddenly spoke up and gave her a meaningful re. The purpose of their mission from their sect was to remain top secret.


    John narrowed his eyes at Leah''s question.


    ''Special realm? Are they referring to the pocket realm? How do they know about it, and why are they looking for it?'' John couldn''t help but be internally shocked at Leah mentioning the pocket realm.


    From what John knew, the pocket realm was supposed to be an absolute secret known only to the various ns and sects that surrounded it. Each n and sect had strictws regarding the pocket realm, and as such, no one was allowed to let outsiders know about it. If news of the pocket realm was known by the outside world, who knew what the other powers on the continent would do to get their hands on it. To keep it an absolute secret from the world, only the involved ns and sects knew about the realm. In fact, speaking about the realm was punishable by imprisonment or death in many cases, depending on the severity of the offense.


    Although John had no idea how Elliot and Leah knew about the realm, it was clear that they had found out somehow. Not only that, but based on their cultivation level at their age, it seemed as though the power behind the two of them was potentially even stronger than the Fenix n.


    ''I should let father know about this matter when I return.'' John sat there in silence for a moment before responding to Leah.


    "No, sorry, I''ve never heard of such a thing around here." John kept his response brief and simple to reduce the chance of slipping up and identally hinting towards its existence.


    "Hmm, that''s too bad" responded Leah with a disappointed look on her face. She was hopeful that John would know something so they could wrap up this mission of theirs, but his response squashed those hopes.


    "Although they don''t seem like bad people, I still don''t know what power theye from." John was thinking about his next steps to take.


    His spatial talisman was used up, and so he no longer had an assurance of escape if he ran into another situation likest time. He also promised his father that he would return as soon as he used the talisman.


    ''I guess this is where my journey ends for now.''


    John became slightly depressed. This journey had explosively increased his strength, and so he was not ready for it to end quite yet, but he had no choice unfortunately.


    "What do you n on doing next, now that you''re healed? Would you like to travel with us for a bit?" Elliot suddenly inquired.


    John was surprised by the sudden question and the offer to travel together. He thought about it for a while, wondering if he should head straight back home or join them on their offer.


    "What direction are you heading?" asked John. As long as they were traveling in the same direction, John wouldn''t mind staying in theirpany.


    "We''ve been traveling west so far, and n on doing so for the next few thousand miles" responded Elliot.


    ''West for a few thousand miles? That should take me past the Fenix n.''


    John thought about it for a moment before epting the offer. If he could travel with Elliot and Leah, then based on their cultivation level, he should be pretty safe. They were also traveling in the direction he was going, so it all worked out well for him.


    "Well, it''s prettyte tonight, so let''s get some sleep and head out in the morning" said Elliot. John agreed and fell asleep right away, still exhausted from all the recent events that had happened.


    ¡­


    A long ways away, a group of five young boys were riding on beasts on the main road towards the Dreadel Kingdom. They were all donning blood red robes, which had an image of a blood red sun setting behind a mountain range embroidered on the back of the robes.


    "How much longer do we have until we arrive in the Dreadel Kingdom?" asked one of the boys.


    All the boys looked over to the oldest of the group. He had long ck hair and a small scar on his left cheek, making him look quite fierce, and had ate Mist Creation cultivation.


    "It should be another month or so before we arrive. We will meet Elder Holde there" responded the boy.


    "What are we doing in the Dreadel Kingdom anyways? This seems like a waste of time" responded another boy.


    The scarred boy looked towards the one who had just spoken. "The Elder told me that this is in regards to the recent movements of our sect. We are going to the Kingdom to improve our rtionship, as well as spar with their princes to exchange pointers."


    "Oh, I see, so this is in regards to our preparations regarding the Fenix n and Varis ns?"


    "That''s right, as soon as we take care of both of those ns, we will have dominion over the pocket realm as well as the surrounding thousands of miles ofnd. Also, I''ve heard rumors that this involves that sect, but I''m not too sure."


    "That sect?" asked one of the boys before his eyes widened. "Are you referring to the Crimson Devil Sect?"


    The scar faced boy nodded his head and continued. "Like I was saying, these ns are most likely ording to that sect. We are just helping set up all the relevant pieces for when the time to strikees. I''m also guessing it''s the reason why Jason arrived at our sect recently."


    Although the scar faced boy hated Jason, he had to admit that the boy was frightening beyond all description.


    "With him entering the pocket realm, everything will only belong to the Crimson Valley Sect" thought the boy as he continued traveling towards the Dreadel Kingdom.


    ¡­


    Two weekster.


    John slowly opened his eyes as an excited expression appeared on his face.


    "My body cultivation dantian is now in thete Mist Creation realm."

 Chapter 51 - Parting Ways

    John had been traveling with Elliot and Leah for the past month, and had made immense strides regarding his sphere dantian and body cultivation. With their immense power, Elliot and Leah had decided to travel deeper within the Skycleave Forest, and had in several early Qi Condensation level beasts.


    John had been awed by their power and techniques as they fought the beasts, and had even helped serve as a distraction for several of the battles, which helped Elliot and Leah kill the beasts easier. Although he didn''t dare attack Qi Condensation level beasts, John was able to use his Five Step Movement Technique to evade them for long enough for Elliot and Leah tond the final blows.


    As such, John had requested the blood essence of the Qi Condensation level beasts. Although Elliot and Leah were quite curious as to why John would request the blood essence, they obliged and gave him all he needed. Using this blood essence and the blood essence from thete Mist Creation cultivator that he had killed, John was able to step into thete Mist Creation realm for his body dantian. He even had some beast blood essence left over to be used to continue cultivating.


    (Author''s Note: from here on out, the mysterious sphere dantian will be called the "Body Dantian" while his own natural dantian will be called his "Essence Dantian".)


    ''Although I can feel the beast blood essence grow less and less effective in regards to cultivating my body dantian and the Immortal Asura Body, it was still able to push me through to thete Mist Creation realm.''


    John sat there and focused on cultivating the Immortal Asura Body technique. He sent the refined Qi from his body dantian towards the rest of his body in ordance with the technique. John could feel his body grow stronger as he nourished it with his Qi.


    ''Once again, I had no bottleneck regarding my body dantian. It seems like the only thing I will require is sufficient blood essence to cultivate this technique.''


    John couldn''t help but be shocked at his body dantian and the Immortal Asura Body. Both defied all logic, and gave him endless surprises. The only thing holding his body cultivation back was hisck of blood essence, as well as his ability to control the sinister murmurs that assaulted his mind and soul once his body cultivation exceeded his essence cultivation by too much.


    "With how quickly I can cultivate my body dantian, I should almost always have a cultivation level one minor realm higher than my essence cultivation. I really need to learn a body cultivation battle art to take full advantage of my strength."


    After cultivating his body dantian and Immortal Asura Body this far, John realized his body was currently his greatest strength. Although his Myriad Annihtion Scythe was powerful and his essence attacks were stronger than most in his realm, it was stillparable to other geniuses in his realm, at least until he started cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script or the Divine Reaping Scythe battle art.


    In his fights, John realized that he was relying on his superior physical power to overwhelm his opponents, but he was doing it in the most basic form. By learning a body cultivation battle art, John would be able to take advantage of his greatest strength and explosively increase hisbat strength.


    While thinking of his cultivation, John was stirred out of his deep thoughts by an approaching Elliot.


    ''John, I''ve been talking to Leah and I think this is where we should part.''


    John looked up at Elliot and thought about it for a moment before nodding his head.


    "I think you''re right. The level of beasts this deep into the Skycleave Forest are already a lethal danger for me. I''m only holding you back at this moment."


    Elliot had an awkward expression on his face but didn''t refute John''s thoughts. Leah approached and stared at John for a moment before an item suddenly appeared in her hands. Elliot raised his eyebrows in slight shock at her actions but said nothing.


    "John, please take this," Leah handed the item over to John.


    John took the item and inspected it. It was a hexagonal badge, pure white in color with a bright blue lightning bolt in the center.


    "What is this?" asked John in confusion.


    "It''s a badge of our sect. If you ever find yourself at our sect, you can use this to get in and find us" responded Leah with a smile on her face.


    "What sect would that be?" asked John with a curious expression on his face. Even now, Elliot and Leah hadn''t let him know what sect they came from.


    Leah thought about it for a moment before looking at Elliot. Elliot stared at Leah in silence for a few moments before nodding his head.


    "We''re from the Heavenly Lightning Sect."


    "Heavenly Lightning Sect? Howe I''ve never heard of it?" asked John in confusion. He was quite familiar with the notable powers for thousands of miles in each direction from his n, but had never heard of the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    "We''re quite far from here. It''s only natural that you haven''t heard of the sect" responded Elliot.


    John noticed that Elliot hadn''t given the exact location and so decided against asking further about the sect. John looked back at the badge and traced the lightning bolt with his fingers. He thought of the Celestial Lightning Script, and how he still needed to start cultivating that.


    After a few moments of silence, John put away the badge and smiled towards Elliot and Leah. "If I ever find myself in the area, I promise to visit the both of you."


    Over the several weeks of traveling with Elliot and Leah, John hade to consider them as close friends. He was reluctant to part with them, but had no other choice given the circumstances.


    "I guess this is where we part ways. Take care."


    John said his goodbyes to the two of them before turning around and walking away. Elliot and Leah watched John walk into the distance before they too turned around and ventured deeper into the Skycleave Forest. John turned around once to look at their departing figures before he steeled his eyes and continued on.


    "I only have myself to keep me safe from this moment on."


    With no talisman, John had to be extra careful on his journey back to the Fenix n. He decided the best route was to head straight towards the main road leading from the Dreadel Kingdom to the Fenix n. Due to the presence of cultivators, powerful beasts stayed away from the road.


    "The road will be my safest bet to get back home. It should be a few days before I reach the road based on my current location."


    John spent the next several days walking through the Skycleave forest. Although he had run into many beasts on the way, they were all at the Mist Creation level and so were of no threat to him. Several dayster, John finally spotted the road through the thick forest.


    ''I can finally rx.''


    John finally stepped out of the Skycleave Forest and onto the main road. Although the road wasn''t extremely busy due to being far away from any major settlement, John could see carriages and people asionally pass by. John continued on the road towards the Fenix n, asionally stopping at towns alongside the road for lodging and food.


    Several dayster, John was walking on the road when he spotted a group of young boys heading towards him riding beasts. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of the robes they were wearing.


    "Crimson Valley Sect!"

 Chapter 52 - Crimson Valley Sect

    From what his father had revealed to him, John knew the rtionship between the Crimson Valley Sect and Fenix n was bad. In fact, it was better to describe them as enemies. John was uncertain what happened in the past to cause such enmity, but that didn''t matter to him now. John was also wearing his Fenix n robes, easily identifying him as a member of the n.


    Although John was not afraid of the boys approaching him, he didn''t want to start any trouble for his n either.


    John decided to ignore the boys and walk past them.


    As the group of boys approached John, thete Mist Creation boy noticed John''s robes.


    "Oh, what do we have here. A lost Fenix n boy out alone?"


    The other boys in the group looked towards John, at which point they all had smiles appear on their faces.


    "Goddamnit" thought John as he stopped walking and looked directly at the group. The group consisted of five boys around his age, and John''s divine sense told him that they were four middle Mist Creation and e Mist Creation realm cultivators.


    Thete Mist Creation boy hopped off his beast and started walking towards John. The other boys followed suit and John soon found him face to face with the five of them. John looked at the five of them indifferently.


    "What do you want?" asked John with an unconcerned tone.


    "Is that any way to greet someone?" asked the oldest boy.


    "It seems like he doesn''t ce senior brother in his eyes at all," responded another one of the boys.


    John stared coldly at the group but said nothing. He once again tried to walk around the group, but the oldest boy once again moved in front of John to block his path. The boy looked at John with a skew smile.


    "You know what, I''m in a good mood today. Bow down before me and apologize for your rude behavior, and I''ll let you go."


    The other boys started snickering, looking forward to the show that was about to unfold before them.


    John narrowed his eyes at the boy, and after a few seconds he once again tried to walk by but was forcibly stopped once more.


    "Let me pass" said John in a gloomy voice. Although he could easily use his movement technique to get around these boys, he felt no reason to. He didn''t want to cause trouble for his n, but he wouldn''t lower his head to these boys either.


    The Crimson Valley Sect boy startedughing and turned to his friends.


    "What should we do with this Fenix boy? It seems like we need to teach him some manners."


    "That''s right, he has no respect at all. We should teach him in ce of his parents"


    The oldest boy looked back towards John with arge smile on his face. "Right, right. We''ll teach you respect since your parents failed to.."


    Bang!


    A loud sound rang out as the Crimson Valley Sect boy was sent flying dozens of yards, loosened teeth and blood trailing behind him. The boy tumbled over several times beforeing to an unconscious halt. The other boys stared at John inplete shock at what had just happened.


    John waspletely willing to endure these petty taunts of the boys, but as soon as they mentioned his parents, John could hold back no longer. His anger red and he instinctively reached out and pped the boy with full force.


    John looked at the boy, surprised at how much damage he had just caused with a single p. Although the boy wasn''t prepared and had no defenses raised, he was still ate Mist Creation realm cultivator, but he was sent flying with a single p and knocked unconscious as well. He had underestimated John and had not used any Qi or techniques to block his attack. With the weaker bodies of essence cultivators, a full power p from John was more than enough to render them unconscious if they made no effort to block it.


    Experienced cultivators always had a thinyer of Qi wrapped around their bodies to protect themselves in case of surprise attacks. Thisyer would consume the same amount of Qi that the cultivators dantian naturally replenished, so it resulted in no extra burden on the cultivator. If the boy had been passively using this technique, John''s p would have hurt but not knocked him unconscious. Unfortunately for the boy, he enjoyed a life of trampling on others due to his sects power and was rarely disrespected let alone struck, and so he was unprepared for John''s surprise p.


    "Bastard, die!" The group of boys finally came to their senses and attacked John.


    John looked towards the group of boys and scoffed. The group consisted of only middle Mist Creation realm cultivators, and were of no threat to John.


    "Although they''re attacking me, I still shouldn''t kill them. But I will leave them a gift they''ll all remember" thought John as he took out his greatsword and charged towards the group of boys.


    Several minutester, John looked down at the mass of unconscious boys at his feet. Just using the power of his body alone, John was able to easily subdue the group and knock them out. John dragged all the boys to the side of the road.


    A few minutester, John smiled and nodded his head with pride as he stared at his handiwork.


    "They should all wake up within the hour. I''m sure they''ll enjoy my gift to them" John took onest look before setting off down the road once more.


    A rumor soon appeared afterwards of a group of Crimson Valley Sect boys each tied to a tree,pletely naked. The news spread like wildfire, although John was unaware of the storm his actions caused and the damage to the illustrious prestige of the Crimson Valley Sect.


    ¡­.


    John spent the month traveling on the road towards the Fenix n. He would asionally stop at a town situated on the road and lodge for the night, before once again continuing on towards his n.


    A familiar sight eventually appeared in John''s view, and John paused for a moment to take in the majestic view. Arge wall would be seen stretching for miles in each direction, with the Skycleave Mountain Range in the distance behind it. Behind the wall, grand buildings, bustling streets and towering waterfalls could be seen sprawled all along the mountainside.


    "Im finally home"


    After nearly half a year, John had finally returned home to the Fenix n.

 Chapter 53 - Sneak Attack

    "Halt, who...oh, Young Master, you''re back!"


    "I''m back" replied John to the guard stationed at the front gate.


    "Fantastic. You''re back just in time" responded the guard. John was confused by what the guard meant and asked him to rify, but the guard told him that his father would tell him more about the situation.


    "Strange" thought John as he strode through the front gate and into the n grounds. He was immediately greeted by the familiar scenery of his busy n, and hundreds of n members were visible bustling about their daily lives. John greeted many members as he walked towards his familial mansion.


    When John arrived at his mansion, he quickly stopped and crouched behind one of the bushes in the front garden. One hundred yards in front of him, he could see his father sitting by the side of the small pond at the center of the garden.


    ''He seems quite rxed...I should give him a nice greeting present''


    A mischievous smile appeared on John''s face as he slowly snuck towards where his father was sitting. He concealed his presence as best he could as he moved forward inch by inch. When he was twenty yards from his father, John stopped and started to channel Qi into his legs.


    Five Step Movement Technique!


    John dashed forwards towards his father in an instant and sent his fist crashing towards his fathers back.


    Ssh!


    Just as John reached his father and punched out, his father suddenly disappeared from his view. John was unable to stop in time and went flying into the pond. John swam up to the water''s surface and spat out arge mouthful of water. He looked towards the shore, and found his father still sitting there peacefully, only moved over to the side a few yards.


    "How did you dodge that?" yelled John.


    His father slowly opened his eyes and calmly looked at John.


    "I could sense you approaching before you even entered the garden. You really need to work on your concealment skills."


    ''I couldn''t even see him move. I guess this is the difference between Mist Creation and Core Formation.'' John stared at his father before he started to swim towards the shore.


    His father looked at the soaked John leave the pond before arge smile broke out on his face.


    "You''re in the middle Mist Creation realm! Amazing. It seems your journey was extremely beneficial!"


    ''Seems like even father cant detect myte Mist Creation body dantian cultivation.''


    John smiled and nodded his head.


    "Very beneficial, let me show you what I learned!" responded John as he dashed forward and hugged his father.


    Barden embraced his water soaked son with arge smile on his face. "It''s good that you''re back, but you''re still soaked. Put on a new robe and meet me at our sparring arena. Also go greet your mother, she''s been worried sick the entire time you''ve been gone."


    John nodded his head and hugged his father one more time, making sure to get him as wet as possible. Barden noticed John''s mischievous actions but said nothing, and instead decided to rub John''s wet hair with great force. A slightly surprised look appeared on Barden''s face as John stayed emotionless. He had wanted to cause John to cry out in slight pain and back off to get back at John, but John had no reaction at all.


    After hugging his father, John quickly dashed towards his mansion. He greeted several of the maids inside and asked for his mothers location.


    "She''s in the back garden tending to her flowers" stated one of the maids.


    John thanked the maid and went to his room to put on a new robe. After donning a new robe, John walked out to the back garden and spotted his mother kneeling in front of a rose bush.


    "Mom, I''m home!"


    Rachel Fenix quickly turned around in shock, at which point she ran to John and embraced him


    "John!"


    John stood there in silence and hugged his mother. After a few minutes, Rachel let go of John and looked at him seriously.


    "Are you hurt? Is there anything wrong with you?"


    "I''m fine mom. Never felt better."


    Rachel looked at her son for a while before arge smile broke out on her face. "Good, good! It''s good to have you home."


    "It''s good to be home."


    John talked with his mother for several minutes regarding all the things he had done over thest four months, but left out a few details like the assassin guild and robbing Duke Trommel. After talking for a while, John gave Rachel onest hug before heading towards the martial training area where his father was waiting.


    He saw his father sitting in the middle of the training arena with his eyes closed. John once more wanted to sneak up on him, but realized the situation was futile and instead walked over to his father. He sat down in front of his father and assumed the same sitting position.


    After a few minutes, Barden opened his eyes and looked towards his son.


    "Show me your progress!"


    "Yes, father!"


    John stood up and walked over to one side of the circr training arena. The training arena was approximately one hundred yards wide, and was just as grand as the sparring arenas used by the n in the training area.


    John turned around and noticed his father was still sitting in his seated position. A frown appeared on his face but he said nothing.


    "Attack me with your full might! Show me just how powerful you''ve be!" Barden Fenix opened his eyes and looked towards his son with a nk expression, before closing them once more.


    John took a deep breath before taking out his scythe and steadying it in front of himself.


    "I''ll make you move from your seated position!" shouted John as he looked towards his father. His father remaining seated was a clear challenge to John.


    John ran towards his father and raised his scythe high above his head before sending it slicing down violently towards his father.

 Chapter 54 - Fighting Barden

    Peng!


    John opened his eyes in shock at the sight in front of him. The very tip of his sharp scythe had been blocked by his father effortlessly, but to add even more insult, his father had blocked it with a single finger. John stared at his fathers finger and saw a extremely thin but very denseyer of Qi surrounding his finger, turning into something just as powerful as his own scythe, or even stronger.


    John quickly recovered from his shock and jumped backwards, putting some distance between him and his father. Barden slowly opened his eyes and stared at John for some time before speaking out.


    "Is this everything you''ve learned so far? You disappoint me if so."


    John gripped his scythe tightly before he steadied it in front of him once more.


    "This is just the beginning" grunted John as he once again charged towards his father. He used the first step of his movement technique to instantly close the distance to try to catch him off guard, at which point he sent his scythe slicing towards his father with even more power than before.


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe!


    John sent a surge of Qi into his weapon in ordance with the technique and sent it crashing down towards his father. He decided to use the melee version of the Myriad Annihtion Scythe, as it was more powerful than the ranged attack. By keeping the powerful Qi within the weapon instead of sending it outwards, John was able to increase the strength of the attack.


    Barden opened his eyes and stared at the iing attack, but made no effort to move.


    Boom!


    A loud sound rang out as scythe and finger once again collided. Although he didn''t want to believe the difference was so great, John was expecting this to be the result, and so was prepared to follow up his attack instantly.


    John quickly used the second step of his movement technique to get behind his father, at which point he sent the second attack of the myriad Annihtion Scythe towards his fathers back. Barden raised his eyebrows slightly, but made no effort to move nheless.


    Boom!


    A loud sound exploded out once more as John''s scythe came crashing down on his fathers back. A denseyer of Qi appeared on Barden''s back and sessfully blocked the attack with ease. John pushed his scythe forward with all his might, but it wouldn''t move no matter how much he tried.


    John once again jumped backwards and separated himself from his father. He was panting slightly from the continuous attacks, but still hadn''t given up yet. Thinking that was everything, Barden was just about to speak up when John suddenly dashed forward to him once more.


    John quickly unleashed the first attack of the Myriad Annihtion Scythe, which was unsurprisingly blocked with ease. Continuing the momentum of the first attack, John channeled his essence to its strongest state for the second attack of the Myriad Annihtion Scythe, and also sent his most powerful surge of Qi from his body dantian to unleash the most powerful attack he could.


    John''s previous attacks had only been essence attacks, and he had kept his body strength hidden. John had thought about keeping his body strength a secret from his father, but decided to reveal it after all. There were only a few people John would trust with this secret of his, and his father was one of them.


    Barden''s eyes widened in shock at the power of the oing attack. He quickly raised his hand and covered it with a powerfulyer of Qi.


    Boom!


    Scythe and hand collided, and the scythe de came to a abrupt halt in Barden''s hand. John pushed forward with all his might, but was unable to make his fathers hand budge even slightly. Barden stared at the scythe de in his hands for some time before he looked over towards John with a serious look on his face.


    "That''s enough for now," stated Barden. "We have some things to discuss, and I''ve seen enough."


    John quickly put away his scythe with a slightly dejected face but didn''t argue. He wanted to keep fighting, but listened nheless.


    "Sit!" ordered his father. John nodded his head and sat before his father. He noticed the serious look on his fathers face and was fairly certain why his father had be gloomy all of a sudden. John sat there in silence for some time before Barden finally spoke up.


    "Thatst attack of yours clearly had the strength of a body cultivator behind it...Do you want to exin yourself?" Barden looked towards John with some anger visible on his face. Everyone in the world knew that it was a terrible idea to cultivate both body and essence. The Fenix n was an essence cultivation n, and John was clearly an essence cultivator as well. But thatst attack of hisbined the power of both essence and body, which caused Barden to be both shocked and angry.


    John sat there in silence for some time as he thought about what to say.


    ''What should I tell him? Should I reveal the sphere? And if so, how much should I reveal?''


    John had wanted to keep the sphere a secret from the world, as he was sure if it was found out, it would be a disaster for both him and his n. But his father was different. Even so, he still was hesitant about how much he revealed.


    ''If I can''t trust my father, then who in this world can I trust?''


    John continued to debate internally for some time before he took a deep breath and looked up towards his father. He decided to tell his father some of the truth, but not all of it. The less his father knew, the more safe he would be, and the safer the n would be as well. Although it was at a level much higher than his n was capable of, John had heard rumors and legends of extremely powerful cultivators being able to read souls and memories. As such, he didn''t want to reveal too much to his father in case that ever happened to him.


    "Father, when I touched that sphere you kept in the basement, it changed something inside of me. I don''t know how, but I am able to cultivate both essence and body fully with no negative effect on the other."


    John decided to keep the exact nature of what happened a secret. That way, if anyone ever found out about the sphere, they would assume that his body was changed by it and not that the sphere existed in his body itself. With no treasure, the greed of anyone who found out would be much less. Also, both Barden and Rachel believed that the sphere went missing after John touched it. No one knew it existed inside of him.


    Shock appeared on Barden''s face at John''s answer. No matter how he thought about it, such a thing should bepletely impossible, as no one had ever managed to find a way to cultivate both body and essence to full effect. Barden was just about to question John about the truth of this im when he thought of the sphere, and the nature in which he had found it. Although what John said seemed too good to be true, whenever he thought about what he saw and heard when he found the sphere, he figured nothing was impossible.


    Barden and John sat there in silence for quite some time as Barden tried to collect his thoughts. Several minutester, Barden startedughing boisterously.


    "Hahahaha, if that''s the case then everything is fine. You can cultivate both body and essence. My son will be a genius that soars through the heavens!"

 Chapter 55 - Innate Variant Body Types

    Although Barden had many questions, he decided against asking them. He could tell that John was still keeping some information from him, but if his son didn''t want to reveal it, he figured he must have a good reason to do so. As such, he was just happy that such a heaven-defying thing was aplished by his son.


    Afterughing for quite some time, a serious look appeared on Barden''s face.


    "John, in the future, questions will arise about your ability to utilize both essence and body cultivation. At first, some might think that you''re walking a path of mediocrity, but eventually they''ll realize the truth, or at least some of it."


    A serious expression appeared on John''s face as he nodded to what his father had just said. Once the world found out about his abilities, who knew how many people would be curious about how this came to be, and some would definitely get greedy for any potential heaven defying treasure that John possessed.


    While he was thinking, a powerful wave of divine sense passed over John. John looked towards his father who was inspecting his body and waited for him to speak.


    "Strange" murmured Barden as he continued to inspect John''s body.


    A few minutester, the scan stopped and Barden spoke up.


    "John, after inspecting your body thoroughly, I must say that it is unlike anything I''ve ever seen. If I didn''t know any better, I would assume you were born with some amazing innate variant body type, but we both know that''s not true. It seems whatever happened with the sphere, it changed your body constitution."


    Barden paused for a while before continuing.


    "To anyone else who inspects you, they will assume you were born with an amazingly powerful innate variant body type. We can use this to our advantage, since in this case, if anyone questions you about your ability to utilize both body and essence attacks, you can just say you were born with an innate variant body type that naturally grants you an extremely powerful body."


    John thought about it for a moment before he nodded his head.


    ''It seems as though the Immortal Asura Body is even more amazing than I thought. ording to my father, it seems to be changing my body into something equivalent to an innate variant body type, instead of just strengthening it like all other body cultivation arts. Just how amazing is this technique?''


    Innate variant body types were extremely powerful bodies given to someone at birth. They were extremely rare, and ranged from bodies that were slightly stronger than normal persons to bodies that defied the heavens themselves. They allowed cultivators to learn body cultivation arts extremely quickly, and also allowed the cultivators to utilize body battle arts with more power than a normal body cultivator.


    Innate variant body types were simr to attribute bodies that granted cultivators with natural born advantages, but attribute body types were aligned with essence cultivation while innate variant bodies were aligned with body cultivation. There were also variant soul types, such as the soul of Miko Varis.


    John was just about to fully agree when he thought of something.


    "Father, if I didn''t have a variant body before, won''t people refuse to believe this exnation?"


    Barden smiled at John''s question.


    "We can just say your variant body type was unnoticeable before you could cultivate, but that when you became able to cultivate, your variant body type naturally came about. It''s very hard to detect if someone has a variant body before Qi starts to flow through it, at which point you canpare how it handles Qi and how powerful it ispared to a normal body. With this, no one can refute our ims."


    "Variant body types aren''t only powerful because the body is stronger, but also how efficiently it can utilize Qi for body powered attacks. As such, many people fail to detect variant body types before the Mist Creation realm. As for your ability to fully cultivate your body and essence, we''ll just say you have a body type so rare that even we don''t know what it is, and that will exin your ability to unleash both at full strength. No one can steal your body as its yours and yours alone, and so that should handle any greedy eyes from targeting you. Also, even the most gifted variant body cultivators still focus solely on body cultivation, and so you will still be an incredibly unique cultivator being able to unleash both essence and body powered attacks at full power. Some might scoff at you and say you''re wasting your natural body talent by cultivating essence, but we both know the truth and that''s all that matters."


    John thought about it for a moment before nodding his head. This exnation really did make sense, and was the perfect cover up for his ability to cultivate both essence and body. Not only that, but John was sure that his Immortal Asura Body really was an unheard of variant body type, and so there should be no holes in this exnation.


    Now that this matter was taken care of, John figured that getting a powerful body battle art was the best thing in order to improve his strength. Unfortunately, he hadn''t gotten anything at the Mystic Trade Hall, and realized that he had been short sighted to not at least buy one at the time.


    John looked at his father and asked.


    "Father, does our n have any powerful body battle arts? My body is my most powerful aspect right now, but I have no way to fully take advantage of it."


    Barden thought about John''s question for a moment as he tried to think of solutions.


    "Our n is an essence cultivation n, and so we do not have any impressive body battle arts."


    John became sullen at his fathersment. Barden noticed John''s disappointment and was about to say something when his eyes suddenly lit up.


    "But, I do think I might have a way to get you an amazing body battle art. I can''t promise anything yet, but I''ll try my best. I''ll let you know within a week."


    John immediately brightened up at his fathers words. If he could get a powerful body battle art, hisbat prowess would increase by leaps and bounds.


    While thinking about his body cultivation, John suddenly remembered what the guard had said when he entered the n. John looked towards his father and curiously asked him a question.


    "Father, when I entered the n, the guard said that I had returned just in time, but wouldn''t exin more. What was he talking about?"


    Barden suddenly remembered what John was talking about. He had been so excited about John being able to cultivate both essence and body that he hadpletely forgotten this important matter.

 Chapter 56 - Tournament Details

    "Son, the pocket realm opens roughly every twenty years, and before it does so, the area around the entrance shows signs of spatial instability. That instability has started to appear as of a few weeks ago. It seems as if the pocket realm will be opening within the next month or two, much earlier than previously expected."


    John raised his eyebrows in shock at this information.


    ''I had expected the pocket realm to open in another six months, not soon.''


    John had expected to have plenty of time left, but it appeared that this was no longer true.


    ''Oh well, I''m not the only one who is having their cultivation time cut short by this change. Everyone has to adapt to this. Besides, I should be plenty strong to enter the top one hundred in the tournament and enter the pocket realm.''


    While John was deep in his thoughts, he was once again brought out of them by Barden.


    "Another thing, even more important in fact, is that the spatial fluctuations at the entrance of the pocket realm are extremely weak this time around. The strength of the spatial opening changes every time it opens, and dictates how many cultivators it can hold inside without the realm copsing. The fluctuations this time are extremely weak for some reason, and so it seems that the pocket realm won''t be able to hold the normal one hundred cultivators. The participating ns and sects have inspected the entrance and have determined that based on the strength of the spatial fluctuations, no more than thirty participants will be able to enter this time around."


    "What?" John blurted out his surprise at this revtion. "Only thirty people can enter?"


    "That''s correct. It''s unfortunate, but it''s the truth. Only thirty people will be able to enter this time. Also, from what I''ve heard of the other ns and sects, including our own, there are ten that have advanced to the early Qi Condensation Realm."


    "What? Ten already?" John couldn''t believe his back luck. Not only were there only thirty avable spots, but ten would be upied by the Qi Condensation cultivators.


    ''That means I''ll have to ce in the top twenty for the Mist Creation cultivators.''


    John went deep into thought about his chances of qualifying. Based on what he knew, he still would most likely qualify due to his unique cultivation system, but it would still be much harder than before where he only had to ce in the top one hundred. Not only that, but he would be forced to show off the full power of his body cultivation to do so.


    "How many cultivators will be participating in the tournament?" John asked his father. The more the cultivators, the harder it would be to qualify. John was still at the middle Mist Creation Realm for essence cultivation. His body was powerful however, and so he was confident nheless, especially if he obtained a body battle art.


    "There are three ns and two sects that participate in the pocket realm event. Us, the Varis n, the Ronan n, the Flowing River Sect, and the Crimson Valley Sect. The pocket realm exists at the top of the Skycleave Mountain Range directly in the middle between these five powers. Us and the Varis n on the north side of the mountain range, while the other three are on the south side. There are normally between five hundred to one thousand cultivators participating in this event, but with how weak it is this time, things have changed. Our n alone will be sending fifteen children to the tournament, all with cultivation''s at thete Mist Creation Realm and above, since early and middle Mist Creation children have no chance of qualifying. You will be the exception. I would expect the same from the other ns, so I would assume no more than one to two hundred children will be participating this time, depending on how many children each power sends."


    John went deep into thought once more, thinking about his chances of qualifying.


    "One more thing John. The ten Qi Condensation cultivators have already had their tournament to determine rankingsst week. The tournament for Mist Creation cultivators will happen in two weeks. Not only that, but there is quite a nice prize funded by all the ns and sects to the winner of the tournament. Do your best to win."


    John''s ears perked up at the mention of a prize, and one funded by all the ns no less.


    "A prize? What prize?"


    Arge smile appeared on Barden''s face as he replied. "A Golden Marrow Condensation Pill"


    "What? Really?"


    John couldn''t believe his ears. Golden Marrow Condensation pills were made from the condensed marrow essence of various Qi Condensation beasts, and was an extremely hard pill to make. Even his powerful Fenix n would find themselves lucky to be able to obtain one. The pill was in extremely short supply, and only Alchemists at the fourth tier, known as Pill Kings, were able to make it, and Pill King''s required a cultivation level of at least the Meridian Forging Realm. Since none of the five powers involved in the tournament focused on alchemy, obtaining important pills such as the Golden Marrow Condensation Pill was quite difficult due to its low supply.


    From what John knew of the pill, it was an extremely beneficial pill that allowed one to break through to the Qi Condensation Realm quicker, as well as establish firmer and more powerful foundation. It was the desire of any Mist Creation cultivator.


    "Really" Barden replied with a smile. "So like I said, do your best to win."


    "I will."


    John was extremely excited for the tournament now.


    ''I must win. This pill will be extremely beneficial for me.''


    John was thinking about the pill when he remembered what his father had previously said.


    ''Father, you said the tournament for the Qi Condensation Realm children has already happened. Who won?"


    A depressed look appeared on Barden''s face as he responded. "A child from the Crimson Valley Sect won. His name was Jason, and none of the other ns and sects have ever seen or heard anything about him. The Crimson Valley Sect said they had been keeping him a secret all for this pocket realm event..but I don''t know, something seems off about the whole thing."


    "What seems off?" asked John curiously.


    "Well, for one, none of us have ever heard of him, and hisbat prowess was beyond anything the Crimson Valley Sect has produced in hundreds of years. He''s a frightfully powerful genius, and I didn''t think the Crimson Valley Sect would be able to produce someone like him. Maybe the heavens are blind and gifted them with a genius though. Who knows."


    Barden was quite depressed at the event before he slightly cheered up.


    "Can you guess who came second and third?"


    "Second and third? Hmm?" John wracked his mind for potential candidates. His eyes suddenly lit up as he blurted out.


    "Did Parker ce in the event? Is he in the Qi Condensation Realm now?" asked John.


    "That''s right. Parker managed to take second ce in the tournament, although he was thoroughly defeated by Jason. But still,ing second is enough to bring immense pride to our n."


    "Wow. That''s amazing" When John had left, Parker was still in thest Mist Creation Realm, but that was six months ago. That was plenty of time for Parker to break through to the Qi Condensation Realm.


    ''It seems like Parker hasn''t been cking off either.''


    Although John wasn''t friends with Parker by any means, they were still part of the same n, and so John was happy for Parker''s cement. It also meant that barring anything happening to him, the Fenix n would have another incredibly powerful cultivator in the future.


    "Now, can you guess who came third?" asked Barden with anotherrge smile.


    "Third?" asked John. Other than Parker, there wasn''t any other amazing genius in the Fenix n, and so he was quite confused as to why his father had answered his question. He racked his mind for the answer before his eyes widened in shock at his guess.


    "It couldn''t be? Right?"

 Chapter 57 - Let’s Fight

    "That''s right" responded Barden.


    "Miko managed to ce third in the tournament, only losing to Jason in the semi-finals."


    "What? Miko is a Qi Condensation cultivator now? He''s only eleven" blurted out John. While he was incredibly shocked, he was also incredibly happy. He considered Miko to be one of his best friends, and was happy for any good news regarding him.


    "Mhm, he managed to break through to early Qi Condensation a day before the tournament. The fact that he ced that high despite only breaking through the previous day shows just how much of a monster he is. He might have won the tournament if it wasn''t for Jason. That variant soul of his ispletely terrifying. He''s going to be an absolute monster once he grows up."


    Barden thought back to Miko''s fights and shook his head. "If only he was a Fenix n member, wouldn''t that be great? But it seems like John is going to be just as monstrous, so its not all that bad" thought Barden.


    John sat there stunned and could hardly believe his ears.


    ''It seems like Miko hasn''t been cking off either. In fact, he''s leaving me in his dust.''


    Hearing that both Parker and Miko had already reached Qi condensation, and had ced extremely well in the tournament lit a fire under John. His motivation to cultivate and get more powerful had already been extremely high, but this news once more inspired him to try even harder to get stronger.


    John and Barden spent the next hour chatting and catching up about any other events that had urred during thest half year.


    "The Crimson Valley Sect seems to be making some moves in the shadows. It seems like they''re nning to do something big" said Barden with a serious look on his face.


    "The Crimson Valley Sect? What could they be nning?" asked John curiously.


    "We''re notpletely sure yet, but they''re definitely up to something. It matters not though, our n is even stronger than the Crimson Valley Sect, and we have the Varis n as close allies. Whatever the Crimson Valley Sect tries, we''ll stop it with pure might."


    John thought about his run in with the Crimson Valley Sect boys earlier, and decided to tell his father about it. He even told him about tying them all the trees naked.


    Barden couldn''t contain hisughter as he heard John tell his story.


    "Hahaha, that was you? I had heard of some rumors yesterday about that, but I never expected it to be you. Good, good. You should be fearless and never lower your head to anyone, especially those from the Crimson Valley Sect. You did a good job."


    Johnughed along with his father as he told the story. They continued to chat for several hours before Barden finally stood up and stretched his legs under the setting sunlight.


    "It''s gettingte, let''s head in for now. Tomorrow, I''ll set out and try to obtain you a body battle art"


    "Thanks dad."


    John stood up and followed his father into the mansion. After chatting with both his father and mother for hours, John went to bed and fell onto his bed.


    ''There''s nothing like sleeping in your own bed.''


    John fell asleep deeply as soon as his head hit his pillow.


    The next morning, John followed his normal routine and washed himself before putting on a fresh robe from his wardrobe. He walked downstairs to have breakfast with his family, but was surprised to find out that his father had already left the n in search of a powerful body battle art.


    John finished his breakfast with his mother before walking out the front door.


    ''What should I do today? It''s been a long time since I''ve been in the n.''


    John decided to take it easy for the morning and just walk around the n grounds. He first visited the Beast Trade Hall and traded in the corpses of all the beasts he had in, and obtained quite a bit of gold by doing so. Afterwards, John decided to just walk around with no particr mission in mind.


    Several hourster¡­


    "John!"


    John heard his name called out and quickly turned around. A smile broke out on his face as he saw who was approaching.


    "Ryan! Long time no see!"


    "Long time no see my ass. I heard you returned yesterday but you still haven''te to see me. I guess you don''t even consider me a friend." Ryan pouted as he looked towards John with a yfully sad look on his face.


    "Alright, no need to act like this. I was busy yesterday, but you know I consider you as one of my best friends so stop pouting. How have you been?" John rolled his eyes at Ryan''s antics.


    "I''ve been good. I''ve advanced to thete Mist Creation Realm recently. What realm at you at?" asked Ryan with a curious expression. He could use his divine sense to scan John and see his cultivation level, but it was normally considered rude to scan others without asking. Only family and enemies would do so without hesitation.


    John thought about it for a moment.


    ''What should I say? I guess I have to say middle Mist Creation, as no one can see my body dantian.''


    "I''m at the middle Mist Creation Realm" responded John with a smile on his face.


    "So fast?" Ryan was bbergasted by John''s cultivation speed. It took Ryan two years to go from starting cultivation to middle Mist Creation, but John had done it in six months.


    "I guess you''re a cultivation freak. It seems like we have two geniuses in our n now. Hopefully you''ll knock Parker off his pedestal soon"ughed Ryan.


    "Haha, it''s still going to be quite some time before I can think of catching up to Parker" responded John with a confident grin.


    "Are you going to participate in the pocket realm tournament? I heard from my father that its going to be quite tough to enter this time around due to the limited amount of entries." Ryan was quite depressed at hearing that only the top thirty children would advance. He was confident to make the original top one hundred to quality, but top thirty was going to be a hard task to achieve.


    "Yep, not only that, but I n on winning it" John confidently answered Ryan.


    "Haha, as if. You might be a genius, but you''re only at the middle Mist Creation Realm. It''s unfortunate that the realm is opening so quickly. If it waited another half year, I''m sure you would be powerful enough to do so given your cultivation speed."


    "Don''t believe me huh? How about we go to the training arena so I can show you just how I''m going to win" responded John with a confident grin.


    Ryan looked at John as if he was crazy but agreed nheless.


    "Haha, alright, I ept. Show me just how you''re going to win the tournament." Ryanughed at John''s confidence and epted right away. He was curious as to why John was so confident in himself. Having known John his entire life, he knew that John wasn''t someone who spoke empty words.

 Chapter 58 - Sparring

    John and Ryan arrived at the sparring arenas a whileter and entered one of the empty ones. Dozens of ongoing spars could be seen taking ce in either the main sparring area or the many fighting arenas.


    John and Ryan both picked up a blunt training sword before walking to opposite ends of the arena.


    "Show me what you got!" Ryan shouted out to John from across the arena as he held his sword by his side.


    John smiled and started running towards Ryan "Here Ie. Prepare yourself!"


    Ryan scoffed but said nothing. He watched as John began running towards him, and steadied his sword as he too ran towards John.


    The two approached each other and swung their swords forward.


    Peng!


    The sounds of sword colluding rang out and John and Ryan came to an abrupt halt. Their swords were locked together, and neither one had the power advantage in thatst exchange.


    A slightly surprised look appeared on Ryan''s face after the exchange. Although he hadn''t used his full power there, he had still used around fifty percent and had expected John to be knocked back due to his higher cultivation.


    "Not bad!" Ryan was truly impressed by John''s power.


    "I know that''s not all you got. Come at me for real" responded John as both of them jumped backwards and stared at each other.


    Ryan startedughing at John''s provocation. "Haha, fine, but don''t me me if you get hurt. I''ll attack with my full power so prepare yourself."


    Ryan assumed a wide stance and raised his sword which began to glow slightly before shing it towards John. A powerful sword light flew straight towards John.


    John opened his eyes in shock at Ryan''s powerful attack.


    ''It seems like Ryan hasn''t been cking off either. This attack is even more powerful than the attack of thatte Mist Creation Assassin I fought.''


    John quickly channeled Qi into his feet and utilized the first step of the Five Step Movement technique to narrowly dodge the attack. Ryan instantly reacted and used his own movement technique to close the gap between them.


    "If you''re gonna just dodge my attacks, then I''ll start attacking up close." Ryan reached John quickly and shed down with his sword. His sword was glowing slightly as he hacked down towards John.


    ''I could dodge this attack with the second step, but I''m here to have a fun fight.''


    John raised his own sword and quickly struck out with his Mountain Crushing Sword.


    Boom!


    The two swords collided, and John was knocked back a dozen yards while Ryan was still standing at the site of the collision.


    John quickly recovered and instantly dashed forward again and sent another Mountain Crushing Sword towards Ryan. Ryan quickly dodged the attack and sent his sword cleaving towards John''s waist.


    John quickly redirected his sword and hastily raised it to block the attack. Swords collided and once again John was the one knocked back while Ryan was standing firmly. Ryan instantly followed up his attack with a ranged Qi attack. John sent out his own ranged Mountain Crushing Sword, and the two techniques collided in mid air. Ryan''s attack slightly overwhelmed Johns, at which point it continued to fly towards John, although weakened considerably.


    John quickly dashed to the side and narrowly avoided the attack.


    Boom!


    The ground behind John kicked up earth as the Qi attacknded on it. John once again dashed towards Ryan and swung his sword down and Ryan raised his sword to block, but just as the swords were about to collide, John used the second step to appear at Ryan''s side. Ryan instantly turned and struck out with a Qi attack, but was surprised to find it hit nothing but air.


    John utilized the third step of the Five Step Movement Technique to appear behind Ryan, at which point he struck out with a Mountain Crushing Sword. Ryan was surprised at the speed of John''s movement technique, but managed to quickly turn around and send his own attack towards Johns.


    Boom!


    Techniques collided as both Ryan and John were knocked back. John was panting slightly from his many attacks as he stared at Ryan and wiped the sweat off his brow. Ryan''s breathing was slightlybored, but other than that, he was for the most part fine.


    ''It seems like trying to fight Ryan with only my middle Mist Creation essence attacks is a little too much. I would need to use my scythe and the Myriad Annihtion Scythe to fight him evenly at the very least. Time to add some body power into the mix.''


    Ryan stopped for a moment and looked at John. "That seriously can''t be everything huh? Where''s this power that you imed would win you the tournament?"


    John smiled once again. "Prepare yourself Ryan, our warmup is over!"


    A serious look appeared on John''s face as he started to explosively channel Qi from his body dantian into his body. John''s face instantly changed as a hardened look appeared in his eyes. Ryan''s face instantly stiffened as he noticed the aura around John change in a heartbeat.


    Before while fighting, John had a normal aura around him, but now all Ryan could feel was an intense and sinister blood lust, as well as an intimidating battle aura radiating from John. This aura was abination of the Immortal Asura Body, the sinister aspect of the Qi that John generated, as well as the newly acquired blood lust that John had umted by killing all the cultivators on his recent journey. John''s tempered will by cultivating in front of the sinister gate also added to the mix, making his battle aura both sinister and resolute.


    John himself was unaware of the intense aura he was projecting however.


    It took a few seconds for Ryan to realize that he was breathing quite heavily before he managed to get his breathing and emotions under control.


    "Just what the hell is going on?" thought Ryan as he looked towards John. Although he didn''t know what was going on, Ryan was well aware of the fact that John was like apletely different person right now.


    "He''s even stronger than me right now I think. I have to use my full power to stand a chance." Ryan steadied his sword and prepared to use his most powerful attack.


    "Here Ie. Prepare yourself!" John pressed off the ground and dashed towards Ryan.

 Chapter 59 - Serious Sparring

    John appeared in front of Ryan and shed down with his sword.


    Ryan was prepared for this attack and sent out his own powerful attack to meet John''s attack.


    Swords collided and Ryan was sent backwards a dozen yards by John''s attack. Ryan quickly steadied himself and struck out with a ranged Qi attack towards the approaching John.


    John was prepared to strike out at Ryan again, but was surprised to find Ryan recover faster than he had expected. Ryan had even managed to counterattack before John could reach him.


    ''Not bad, he''s still stronger than I expected. It seems like I really will have to go all out to beat Ryan.''


    John raised his sword and shed it out at the iing Qi attack, and was knocked backwards a few steps. Ryan used this opportunity to send another Qi attack towards John, hoping to take John down as fast as possible.


    John quickly utilized his movement technique to dodge the attack, and utilized the second step to dodge the next attack that Ryan followed up with. Ryan had expected John to use the second step, and so had prepared a follow up attack before John even dodged, but was still just a hair too slow tond the blow on John.


    ''It seems like the Five Step Movement Technique bes quite predictable once I''ve used it a few times against an enemy. The same thing happened against the Stalking Mantis Assassin. I need to use it less and only when striking out decisively it seems.''


    John used the third step of the movement technique to quickly appear beside Ryan. An explosive surge of Qi was channeled from his body dantian and essence dantian and into his arms at the same time as he struck down with all his might.


    Mountain Crushing Sword!


    Ryan''s eyes opened wide in shock at the power of the oing attack. He widened his stance and struck out with his most powerful attack.


    Ferocious Cleaving Technique!


    Ryan had cultivated one of the other powerful sword techniques that the Fenix n had to offer, and used its most powerful attack to strike back against John.


    "Gah!"


    Swords collided and Ryan was sent flying backwards dozens of yards, crashing head over heels before eventuallying to a stop.


    John''s hardened eyes quickly went back to normal as he realized that he had struck out with too much power.


    "Ahh, sorry Ryan!"


    John dashed over to Ryan and found him lying there breathing heavily and covered in dirt.


    "Are you alright?" John asked with a concerned look on his face.


    "I''m alright, it''s not that bad. I just need to recover for a bit" responded Ryan. A few minutester, Ryan finally recovered enough to stand up. He sluggishly brushed the dirt off his dirty robe and looked towards John. A smile appeared on his face as he patted John on the back.


    "You really are a monster, you know that? What the hell was that aura you were radiating during the fight?"


    "Aura? What aura?" John asked in confusion. He waspletely unaware of the intense aura he had projected while channeling Qi from his body dantian into his body.


    Ryan looked at John for a moment before responding. "Nevermind, I guess. Anyways, you really do have the power to back up your words. Maybe you can win the tournament after all!"


    "Haha, I hope so. You''re not bad yourself. I think you have a good shot at making the top thirty and entering the pocket realm as well!" John hoped that his friend would be able to join him in the pocket realm.


    "Haha, I hope so as well. Come, let''s go to one of the n restaurants and grab a bite to eat." Ryan was quite famished after that fight, and so was John. John instantly agreed and they both left the martial arena and walked over to the nearest restaurant.


    John and Ryan sat and ate at the restaurant while discussing the various things that had happened to both of them over thest half year. John told Ryan all about the happenings in the Dreadel Kingdom. At times, Ryan would beughing to the point of near tears, while other times he could hardly believe how crazy John had been.


    After a few hours of catching up, John bit Ryan farewell and walked back home.


    "Wee home John, what do you want for dinner?" asked Rachel Fenix with a smile on her face.


    "Oh, I had dinner with Ryan at the Flying Crane Restaurant, I''m all set!"


    "Oh, alright."


    John talked with his mother for a while, and found out that his father had yet to return. John bid his mother good night and walked upstairs to his room. He closed the door and sat on the ground, then spent the next several hours cultivating all the aspects he could, including essence cultivation, strengthening his soul in front of the holy gate, tempering his will in front of the sinister gate.


    John was able tost nearly fifteen minutes in front of the sinister gate before he was forced to leave. Each time, he would hang on until he felt he was about to go insane before he left the sinister area.


    John continued to study both the Celestial Lightning Script as well as the Divine Reaping Scythe. Both techniques were so profound that John could barely grasp the basics, but he was still making steady progress in understanding the essence of both techniques.


    ''It''s too bad though. These two essence techniques are my strongest essence techniques, but I can''t cultivate either yet. The Celestial Lightning Script needs real lightning to cultivate, while the Divine Reaping Scythe needs a cultivation at the early Qi Condensation stage to even start to utilize its most basic forms. I need to get stronger!''


    John continued to cultivatete into the night before he finally felt he was at his limit, at which point he copsed into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

 Chapter 60 - The Yuan Continent

    John spent the week cultivating, sparring with Ryan, and doing whatever he could to improve hisbat prowess. Every day he would spar until he was bloodied and bruised, and every night he would spend hours focusing on his cultivation.


    John opened his eyes and got out of bed, ready to tackle the day ahead of him. He washed up and then walked over to his wardrobe and donned his ck robe. After getting ready for the day, John walked downstairs to have breakfast with his mother, but waspletely surprised to see someone he hadn''t expected. His father was sitting at the dining room table, eating breakfast with Rachel.


    "Dad, you''re home?"


    John ran over to his father and hugged him. Barden rubbed his son''s head whileughing boisterously.


    "Yup. I''m home. And I have a gift for you."


    John opened his eyes wide as he stared at his father expectantly.


    "Did you really get a body battle art?" John asked with excitement in his voice.


    "Haha, yes I did. And not just any normal body battle art. I had to use a massive owed favor I had been saving for a long time to get my hands on this art. Here, take it."


    Barden took out a scroll and handed it to John. John took the scroll and quickly unfurled it, eager to read its contents.


    "Supreme Battle Art. Wow, this sounds pretty amazing!"


    Barden patted his sons back andughed loudly before replying. "That it is. In fact, I can guarantee you that no one within thousands of miles has a better body battle art. Not only that, but this scroll also contains a body strengthening technique, the Supreme Battle Body."


    John quickly read through the scroll and confirmed what his father said was true. The scroll contained both a body cultivation technique, as well as a body battle art.


    ''I don''t need a body cultivation technique since I have the Immortal Asura Body, but this body battle art will be extremely useful. Just at a nce I can tell its incredibly profound.''


    Although John only skimmed through the contents of the scroll, he could easily tell that the battle art was incredibly intricate and powerful.


    "This will surely raise my strength by a lot. Thanks Dad."


    John once again hugged his father as he thanked him profusely.


    "No problem son. Try your best to learn some of this technique before the tournament. Your chances of cing well will go up by a lot if you do so."


    John nodded his head and put the scroll away, stored safely in the pce inside the body dantian.


    "Where did you get this battle art from?" John asked curiously. Since his father said it was more powerful than any body battle art within thousands of miles, John had no reason to not believe it.


    Barden looked at his son and thought about his response for a moment.


    "Lets just say it''s from quite far away. No where near us."


    John frowned at his fathers exnation. Between this battle art and his encounter with Leah and Elliot, John realized there was much about his world that he didn''t understand. He felt like a frog at the bottom of a well, and the feeling was stifling.


    "Dad, I want to know more about our world. You''re obviously hiding information from me. I don''t know why, but please tell me."


    Barden looked at his son''s serious expression and thought about what to say. He had been keeping this information a secret as to not give John a mental blow upon finding out the truth, but based on John''s expression, he wasn''t going to let the situation rest until he found out the truth.


    Sigh!


    Barden let out a big sigh. "I suppose it is about time for him to find out. Also, with his cultivation system, maybe he can one day make his way over there and join one of those powers." thought Barden


    "Let''s discuss this outside on the meditation tform."


    John nodded his head and followed his father outside to the family meditation tform. The tform was raised slightly above the ground, and was surrounded by flowers and a small stream, giving it a very tranquil feeling.


    Barden sat in the middle of the tform and John did the same. The two of them sat there in silence for a while before Barden suddenly spoke up.


    "How much of our continent do you know?"


    John had expected his father to tell him about the world, but he had asked a question instead. John thought about it for a moment before responding.


    "We live in the middle of the continent at the base of the Skycleave Mountain Range, which spans thousands of miles from east to west. Thend stretches thousands of miles both north and south of the mountain range until it reaches the ocean. To the west, thend eventually reaches the ocean as well, while to the east, there is a massive mountain range that stretches from north to south and spans the entire continent. That''s all I know."


    Barden nodded his head at John''s description.


    "That is correct. The continent we live on is called the Yuan continent, and it is exactly as you described. Thend stretches for thousands of miles in each direction from us, and we are located in the very center. There are hundreds of other ns, sects, and kingdoms that upy thisnd, and their power ranges from the Mist Creation Realm all the way up to the Meridian Forging Realm. Even when considering all these powers, our n stands at the very peak of power. There are ns and sects equal to us, but none of them are stronger than us."


    John raised his eyebrows at this revtion. He knew his n was strong, but he didn''t know it was at the very top of the power pyramid.


    ''Meridian Forging? Seems like our n has powerful elders that even I''m not aware of.''


    John was just about to ask his father about this when Barden spoke up once more.


    "But...what you know of our continent isn''t the entire thing, in fact, the area you described consists of only around ten percent of all of thendmass of the Yuan Continent."

 Chapter 61 - Yuan Continent Holy Land

    John opened his eyes wide in shock.


    "What? Ten percent? How is that possible?"


    John couldn''t believe what his father had told him. His entire life, he had grown up believing this was everything in the Yuan continent, but it seems like he waspletely wrong.


    "It''s true. As you said, there is a mountain range east of here that spans north to south, and spans from ocean to ocean. It cuts the entire continent in half, but have you ever considered what is on the other side of the mountain range?"


    John finally realized where the other ny percent ofnd existed.


    "I never considered what was on the other side. I had always thought it was ocean on the other side of the mountain range, and that everything I knew was the entire continent. Just what is on the other side?"


    "That mountain range is called the Great Desert Mountain Range. On the other side of the mountain range is a desert. A desert so massive it is actuallyrger than the entire area on our side of the mountain range. It spans for thousands of miles, and is impossible to cross over without a cultivation level at the Core Formation Realm or above. Even at the Core Formation realm, it is still extremely dangerous to cross the desert, which is why you haven''t heard anything of thisnd before now."


    Barden paused for a moment, deciding how to carefully word his next statement. After a minute of silence, he once again spoke.


    "Oh the other side of the great desert, lies the rest of the continent. Thend spans for tens of thousands of miles in each direction, and it is apletely different worldpared to ours. Over there, the natural density of Qi is much much higher than here. That higher Qi density allows cultivators to cultivate faster, and reach higher heights than they ever could here. It is truly a holynd for cultivation. This body battle technique is from one of the powers of thatnd, and those two Qi Condensation friends of yours from the Heavenly Lighting Sect that you told me about alsoe from thatnd. Over there, geniuses sprout like grass. Those friends of yours aren''t even the best of the best from what I''ve seen of thatnd."


    John sat there in stunned silence. He could hardly believe his ears.


    ''I truly am a frog in a well.''


    "Father, if thatnd has powers beyond ours, why don''t theye over here and take over thisnd? Wouldn''t it be easy?" John asked in confusion.


    Barden shook his head and responded, "They live in a holynd for cultivation, and consider thisnd we live in a wastnd. Why would they willingly leave when there is really nothing of value for them over here? The Great Desert and Great Desert Mountain Range are also dangerous to cross, and so it''s really not worth it for the most part."


    John sat there speechlessly for quite some time. A worried look appeared on Barden''s face as he looked at his son. He had wanted to avoid telling John this information, for fear that it would cause a mental blow to John. It wasn''t easy for youths to find out that they werepletely insignificantpared to others out there in the world. Barden was just about to console John when a surprised look appeared on his face.


    "Father, I want to go to thatnd. I want to get stronger!"


    Barden had expected John to be depressed at learning the truth, but instead noticed that John became even more resolute in the pursuit of power. After a few seconds of surprise, Barden startedughing loudly.


    "Haha, I was worried for nothing. I should have expected as much from my son. I had wanted to keep this a secret from you, as before there wasn''t any chance of you going to thatnd. Even if our most gifted geniuses go to thatnd, their only fate is to be stepping stones for others, and that''s if they''re lucky enough to enter a sect over there. I suppose Miko would be the only exception to that, but now with your current cultivation situation, even you would soar even in thatnd. How about this, after the pocket realm, I''ll figure out a way to take you there, and maybe you can enter one of the powers there. Oh, by the way, thatnd is called the ''Yuan Continent Holy Land''."


    John nodded his head in agreement, before he suddenly thought of something.


    "Dad, if that ce is so amazing, then how did you manage to get this body battle technique? Have you been there before?"


    "I have been there twice before. As for the technique, let''s just say that I did someone over there a favor and they owed me. I used this favor to get my hands on this technique. Anyways, I still have matters to take care of, so I''ll be leaving for now. Make sure to study that technique."


    "Wait, father, before you leave, i have something that I haven''t told you yet."


    Barden paused and looked back towards John, "What is it?"


    "Those two friends I told you about, Elliot and Leah...I never told you why they were over here...They told me they''re looking for the pocket realm."


    Barden narrowed his eyes at John''s words as a serious look appeared on his face. "It appears that someone from the five powers has erred and let the secret of the realm out. I need to inform my father about this. You study the technique, I need to go."


    John nodded his head and watched as his father left the mediation tform and walked off into the distance. He sat there in silence for a few minutes, processing everything that he had heard.


    A furled scroll eventually appeared in his hands, at which point he unfurled it and started to read its contents. John read over the single scroll for hours before he finally stored it back in his spatial realm.


    ''How profound. Both the battle art and cultivation technique seem to be incredibly powerful, although I have my Immortal Asura Body so I only need to focus on the battle art. From what I can surmise, this scroll contains two stages to the battle art, but it still seems like there''s more. Oh well, even if father couldn''t get me theplete technique, this is still more than enough for now. I hope the technique ispatible with the Immortal Asura Body. It would be a shame if I need to cultivate the Supreme Battle Body to use the technique.''''


    John stood up and focused on what he had learned reading the scroll. Qi started to surge from his body dantian, and John started to guide it ording to the descriptions of the Supreme Battle Art. The battle art focused on maximum power in the quickest amount of time. It was a technique of pure, explosive power, and held nothing back for defense. John felt that it suited his fighting style quite well. As he started to guide his Qi, John''s eyes lit up.


    ''It works, it''spatible with the Immortal Asura Body.''

 Chapter 62 - Supreme Battle Art

    From what John read in the scroll, the Supreme Battle Art needed the Supreme Battle Body to work, but John wanted to test if his Immortal Asura Body was capable of using the battle art, and his test had been a sess.


    ''Although it''s not the Supreme Battle Body, the Immortal Asura Body is allowing me to utilize this technique with no loss in efficiency and no drawbacks.''


    The Supreme Battle Body not only strengthened the body enough to handle the berserk power it channeled throughout the body, but slightly changed the body in ways that made it a requirement to use the Supreme Battle Art to full effect. It also used its unique body Qiprehensions for cultivating the dantian. Other body cultivation techniques were unable to learn the supreme battle body effectively, which drastically reduced the power unleashed by the technique, but the Immortal Asura Body was different.


    However, John decided to study the Supreme Battle Body and see if he could learn anything from it.


    ''Maybe by learning how to cultivate the Supreme Battle Body but not actually doing so, I can utilize the Supreme Battle Art more effectively. I also want to see how it stacks up against the Immortal Asura Body.''


    John spent the next few hours studying the cultivation technique and guiding his Qi ording to it. Although he didn''t actually cultivate it, he was able to get a feel for the cultivation technique based on both the profundities of the teachings and the effect it would have on his body.


    Several hourster, John opened his eyes, an excited look apparent in his eyes.


    ''Although this is only the first stage of the Supreme Battle Body, I can tell that the Immortal Asura Body is more profound. Not only is the Supreme Battle Body not as profound, but the methods required to cultivate it are quite extreme on the body. Only those who truly are body battle fanatics would be able to endure such a method. It seems like the Immortal Asura Body is at a far higher level than what is avable in the Yuan Continent Holy Lands.''


    John couldn''t help but be excited at this revtion. The more profound the Immortal Asura Body was, the stronger it would allow him to be in the future. John didn''t just want to be strong, he wanted to be the strongest. Anything to aid that was immensely important.


    ''At first, my motivation for getting stronger was based on the desire to achieve things that I could only watch others achieve. After I started cultivating, I was entranced by the feeling of growing stronger, and fighting those who are strong. But after Austin died, I realized the most important thing of all. Only by having strength can I control my destiny, and the destiny of those around me. Only by being strong can I truly be free and in control.''


    After ruminating on the Supreme Battle Body for some time, John switched back to learning the Supreme Battle Art.


    ''For the first stage of the Supreme Battle Art, it mainly focuses on providing an intense power and strength boost to the body. It leaves absolutely nothing back for defense, and focuses only on offensive power. Based on what I can tell, using the Supreme Battle Body is quite taxing on the body, and can only be used for around a minute before toorge a burden is ced on the body. Lets try it out."


    John took a wide stance and deep breath, his focus consumed on executing the Supreme Battle Art. Qi started to wildly surge from his body dantian, through his meridians and into his muscles.


    "Waah!"


    John was suddenly sent flying forwards after inadvertently putting too much power into his legs, which propelled him forward. After tumbling a few times, John finally came to a stop.


    "This is going to be tough to learn" muttered John as he stood up and brushed the dirt off his robe.


    "I sent Qi to my legs in ordance to the technique, but wasn''t able to properly control both the Qi and my muscles during the fusion process, which resulted in me losing control and jumping forward. Let''s try it again!"


    John once again started to use the Supreme Battle Body technique, and yet again lost control during the fusion of Qi into the muscles, resulting in him falling over once again.


    John smoothed back his hair which had fallen in front of his face and thought about the technique once more.


    ''When I used Qi to empower my body during my earlier fights, I was doing it in the most basic form, which not only wasted almost all the Qi I was using, it also only superficially increased my strength, as most of that Qi was sent explosively to my extremities such as my hands and weapon, instead of being fully harnessed by my body and muscles. Back then, I was most likely wasting over eighty percent of my body Qi, resulting in only twenty percent being used effectively. The Supreme Battle Body allows me to use almost one hundred percent of my body Qi efficiently, but as a result, it''s also much harder to control properly. Again!''


    John spent the next four days learning the Supreme Battle Body. His sorry figure could be seen flying about the martial practice arena as he tried to control his Qi properly ording to the technique.


    On the fifth day.


    Boom!


    Arge boulder thaty in Johns backyard exploded into bits, revealing a smiling boy standing behind it.


    "Sess! I finally learned the technique!"


    It had taken five full days, but John had finally managed to learn to control the Supreme Battle Body properly, which explosively augmented his body strength to levels far beyond what he was capable of before.


    John looked further into thend behind his mansion and spotted another boulder in the distance.


    ''I wonder¡­''


    A thought suddenly crossed John''s mind as he took a focused stance and started channeling both essence and body Qi into his legs.


    Immediately after, a sorry figure was seeing tumbling violently across thend before eventuallying to a stop. John hastily stood up with an excited look on his face. Just now, he had tried to augment the Five Step Movement Technique, which was an essence movement technique, with the explosive physical power of the Supreme Battle Art. Although they were two different systems, and although he had failed, John could tell that it waspletely possible to superimpose the power of both, which would result in a much faster movement technique.


    "Although I failed, I can tell it''s possible tobine the two. All I need to do is work on the timing, at which point my movement technique will evolve to a new level."


    Once more, John spent the next day practicing using the two techniques at the same time, and was able to fully incorporate both techniques into a single movement technique.


    ''Sess once again. This time, it was much easier to be able tobine the two than learn either technique, since all I had to do was focus on the timing and make sure that I time my powerful body movements with the Five Step Movement Technique at the exact same time.''


    John practiced the technique for the rest of the day, making sure that he had it fully under his control. The sun was starting to set when John heard someone approach him from behind. John turned around and saw his father approaching him.


    "John, how has your training been going?" asked Barden.


    "Very sessful. I learned both the Supreme Battle Art, as well as how to incorporate it into my Five Step Movement Technique!"


    Barden smiled and nodded his head. Utilizing both body and essence into one system truly was a good idea for John to do, and Barden was proud that his son hade up with this on his own. His thoughts drifted to John''sments from earlier, at which point he realized that John never mentioned learning the Supreme Battle Body, only the Supreme Battle Art. Barden was just about to ask about this when John spoke up.


    "So, what did youe to see me for?"


    Barden put his thoughts aside and responded to John instead. "I came to tell you that we are going to head out to the tournament grounds tomorrow, as the tournament is in a few days. Make sure to be prepared to head out first thing tomorrow morning."


    John nodded his head. "I''ll be ready."


    "Good. Nowe inside and have dinner with your mother and I."


    "Okay."


    John followed his father back to his mansion and had a delicious dinner; Golden Ox Stew, before leaving for his room and getting into bed. Just before he fell asleep, resolute thoughts of the tournament crossed his mind.


    ''The tournament is almost here. I must win!''

 Chapter 63 - Setting Off

    Early the next morning, John woke up and washed himself, before putting on his signature ck robe. He looked at himself in the mirror, and noticed that his face had matured slightly since hest truly looked at himself. His long ck hair had grown even longer, and his face had be slightly less immature.


    "I guess I''ll be fifteen soon, just a few more weeks. Time really does fly by."


    John noticed that while his face has been full of youthful innocence before, it now had a slightly battle hardened look.


    "I guess that journey of mine did more than just increase my cultivation level."


    John finished preparing his belongings for the trip before he walked downstairs to have breakfast with his family. After a good breakfast, John and his father bid Rachel farewell before leaving their mansion.


    While walking towards the meeting point for all those attending the tournament, John turned to his father.


    "Dad, I guess I haven''t asked about this yet, but where is the tournament being held?"


    Barden looked at John and smiled. "The pocket realm tournament rotates between the five involved powers every time it opens. This year, it''s the Varis n that is hosting the tournament, and so the tournament will take ce within their n."


    ''I guess that makes sense. I always wondered why we have so many martial arenas in the n. I guess it''s for when our n hosts the pocket realm tournament.


    Barden once more spoke up. "The Varis n is several hundred miles away, but with our carriages being pulled by Qi Condensation beasts, we will arrive at them in less than two days."


    John nodded his head as he followed his father in silence. Fifteen minutester, John saw arge contingent of people, carriages, and beasts. There were over a dozen carriages, each attached to a Qi Condensation Ethyr Horse. Ethyr Horses were dark blue in color, and were famed for their power and speed, making for a perfect beast to pull heavy carriages.


    John saw many familiar faces standing in the crowd, including Ryan, Parker, and several Elders of the n.


    John walked over to Ryan and sped hands with him.


    "Ryan, are you ready for this tournament?"


    "Of course. I''ve made some decent progress since west fought, and will do my best toe top thirty. What about you? Still confident in winning the tournament?"


    John was just about to respond when he heard a voice from behind him.


    "You? Win the tournament, you''re only in the middle Mist Creation Realm. It''s a waste that we''re even bringing you along." John saw the one who spoke was one of Ryan''s friends, and was in thete Mist Creation Realm. He was fifteen years old, and had quite an ugly face which caused him to look down on others when he could to make himself feel better.


    Another boy chimed up. "Right. Someone who truly doesn''t know where they stand."


    John turned around with a frown and stared at the two boys who had spoken up. They were sons of powerful elders, and were friends of Parker Fenix. Although John was technically higher up in the n due to him being a direct descendant of the n leader while the boys were just sons of elders, the Fenix n didn''t enforce a strict hierarchy, and so juniors like them were free to talk as they pleased without fear of repercussion.


    John was just about to speak up when Ryan suddenly spoke up. "What the fuck do you know? Besides,st time we fought, I kicked your ass so hard you were bedridden for two days. Worry about yourself in this tournament."


    John startedughing profusely, quite enlivened by Ryan''sments.


    The boy who had first spoke up looked as if he had swallowed a frog. He tried to think of something to say back, but was unable toe up with anything. Ryan had truly beaten him quite badly thest time they fought. In the end, he just scoffed and turned around and decided to say nothing.


    Parker Fenix was standing some distance to the side, but had managed to hear everything. He looked towards Ryan and John with narrowed eyes, but said nothing. Although his tournament had happened weeks earlier, Parker was tagging along on the rmendation of his father, Orenn Fenix. Parker was the Fenix ns brightest star, and his attendance at the tournament was important as such, even if it was just for show.


    John waited around for around thirty minutes, conversing with Ryan and his father before a loud voice boomed behind him.


    "Such a beautiful sight, to see all the promising youths of our n about to set out for the glory of the n and themselves."


    John turned around and saw his grandfather, Cade Fenix, the n leader of the Fenix n.


    Cade walked towards therge group of people and looked around at everyone, his eyes pausing slightly on John before once again speaking up.


    "We will now set out towards the Varis n for the Mist Creation Realm Tournament. Parker Fenix already brought glory to our n with his performance at the Qi Condensation tournament. I hope you all perform your best and bring further glory to our n."


    Upon hearing the praise heaped on him, arge, confident smile appeared on Parkers face. John looked towards Parker, at which point a resolved look appeared in his eyes.


    Cade Fenix once again spoke up. "We shall set out for the tournament at once, and with our talented youths here, I''m confident we shall win. Everyone, do your best."


    A loud cheer erupted through the crowd as everyone shouted out in unison.


    John turned to Ryan and patted him on the shoulder before turning around and following his father to their carriage. John entered after his father and sat down. The carriage soon started moving as the beast was urged forward by the driver in charge.


    John watched out the window as the grounds of the Fenix n flew by, before the carriage eventually left the walls of the n. The Skycleave Mountain Range was visible in the distance as the carriage sped off down the road towards the Varis n.


    John was deep in thought when he was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by a question from Barden.


    "So, how well do you think you''ll do in this tournament?"


    A confident smile appeared on John''s face as he responded. "Thanks to your help with the Supreme Battle Art, I''ll win for sure!"

 Chapter 64 - Arriving At The Varis Clan

    The journey to the Varis n took two days. On the trip, John had spotted many viges and towns pass them by, all of which were under the protection of either the Fenix n or the Varis n. Although the two ns existed several hundred miles apart, they owned all thend between them, a testament to their power.


    John had spent the two days of traveling by carriage by practicing the Supreme Battle Art. Although he couldn''t fully unleash it inside the carriage without breaking the carriage, John was able to circte his Qi ording to the technique without using it, which allowed him to get a better feel for the technique. John also tried to cultivate the Supreme Battle Body just to see if it had any additional benefits to his body, but the cultivation technique was unable to alter his body at all.


    John surmised the reason was that the Immortal Asura Body was a higher level body cultivation art, and so his body was already more powerful than anything the Supreme Battle Body could provide. The only problem with his Immortal Asura Body was that it was limited by his essence dantian cultivation level, since going too far away from his essence cultivation resulted in those head and soul splitting murmurs. Also, the cultivation technique required the blood essence of either beasts or humans, which was troublesome.


    While cultivating the Immortal Asura Body to thete Mist Creation Realm, John could tell that the effect of beast blood essence was getting less and less potent. At the rate it was going, John figured that human blood would be the only reasonable way to cultivate the technique, which was going to be arge problem.


    John rested his chin on his hand as he stared out the window of the carriage as it sped along. Fresh morning dew was visible on the tree leaves and grass, while a slight fog that came from the nearby Skycleave Mountains hung in the air, giving an ethereal glow to the early morning sunshine.


    ''The human blood essence is going to be a problem going forward when cultivating the Immortal Asura Body, but I refuse to just stop cultivating it either. It''s far too powerful and profound for me to not utilize it. I''ll just have to figure out a way to get the blood essence of humans in a way that I can ept withoutpromising my morals.''


    Although John wasn''t a saint, he wasn''t a devil either. He refused to ughter indiscriminately just to cultivate his Immortal Asura Body. Not only that, but the blood he needed was from cultivators, and they needed to at least be at his cultivation level, so it wasn''t like he could go around ughtering innocents for their blood essence, not that he would have if it worked though.


    Finding an abundant source of blood essence from cultivators at his level or above was definitely going to be a tall task that persisted throughout his entire body cultivation journey, but the reward of a supremely powerful body was worth it in the end.


    "We should be arriving soon."


    John was stirred out of his deep thoughts by thement from his father. He looked forward through the window of the carriage and spotted arge stone-grey wall in the distance. It spanned for miles in each direction, and many guards could be seen patrolling on top of it. John looked past the wall and towards the Varis n''s grounds sprawled along the base of the mountain. Much like the Fenix n, the Varis n was situated against the Skycleave Mountain. By using their powerful cultivation''s, the two ns were able to clear out any powerful beasts that lived near and on the mountain, and establish their permanent n grounds.


    The Varis n was just asrge as the Fenix n, and just as wealthy. Hundreds of massive buildings could be seen lining the mountainside, while the early morning sun shone through a heavy mist that hung in the air, caused by the many waterfalls within the Varis n grounds, which made the n grounds look like an immortal paradise.


    "Father, whose n is stronger, ours or the Varis n?"


    Barden looked towards his son and thought for a moment before answering. "Our two ns are almost exactly the same in terms of power, although our n has a slightly more powerful ace in the hole."


    "What ace would that be?" John asked with curiosity.


    "You''ll find out eventually, but for now, it''s a n secret," Barden winked at his son but refused to answer anything further.


    John frowned at his fathers response but said nothing.


    ''If he''s keeping it from even me, then he must have a good reason for doing so. It doesn''t really affect me in the end anyways, so there''s no point in badgering him about it.''


    John once again looked outside the carriage window and watched thendscape pass by. The contingent of carriages soon arrived at the gates of the Varis n, at which point they were stopped by arge group of guards.


    The Varis n guards confirmed the identity of the Fenix n members, at which point they ushered them inside and sent two guards to act as escorts to guide them to the tournament grounds. The carriages continued on further into the Varis n, and John could see hundreds of people pass by on the busy streets, going about their morning routines.


    ''It''s been a few years since I''ve been here, but it''s just as lively as ever.''


    The carriage continued on for some time, and John watched as the busy business district gave way to the housing of the n, and eventually the martial area. The tournament grounds were situated directly at the base of the Skycleave Mountains, and the looming mountains gave the fighting arenas a more profound feeling. The carriage eventually came to a stop, and a loud voice from a Varis n guard boomed out, allowing everyone in the various carriages to hear.


    "You have arrived at the Varis n tournament grounds. Please enjoy your visit."


    The driver of John''s carriage hopped off and walked over to open the door of the carriage. Barden Fenix exited the carriage first, followed by John soon afterwards. After leaving the carriage, John took a deep breath of the fresh morning air and looked around at the familiar grounds of the Varis n. Although it had been several years since he wasst year, John had spent quite some time in the Varis n, including the tournament grounds. Some distance away, John spotted the carriages and cultivators of the Flowing River Sect, as well as the Ronan n, but was unable to spot anyone from the Crimson Valley Sect.


    Barden looked around and noticed the same. "The Crimson Valley Sect is always thest to show up. They act as if everything and everyone should wait for them. Arrogant bastards."


    John nodded his head in agreement at the words of his father. From what he had experienced so far regarding the Crimson Valley Sect members, they were all arrogant assholes. John thought back to hisst run in with the Crimson Valley Sect members, and arge smile soon broke out on his face. His gift towards the group of boys had been quite something, and he was sure they would look for revenge at this tournament.


    ''I look forward to what they can do.''


    John thought of something and turned around towards his father to ask him a question, but all he saw as he turned around was a foot inches from his face.

 Chapter 65 - Tournament Grounds

    Bang!


    A loud sound rang out as a flying foot collided with John''s face. All the nearby Fenix n members turned to the source of the sound, and were not surprised to see what had caused it, as it was amon urrence whenever the Fenix n and Varis n met.


    "Hahaha¡­..wait, what?" Miko Varis had beenughing heartily right as his foot hit John''s face, but hisughter quickly came to an abrupt halt as hended on the ground.


    He had expected John to go flying from the force of his kick, but John was standing firmly rooted in ce. Not only that, but there wasn''t even a scratch on John''s face. Miko had heard that John was now a middle Mist Creation Realm cultivator, and had used the amount of force he thought necessary to send John flying without really hurting him, but was surprised to see that there had been absolutely no effect.


    "What the hell? Why didn''t you go flying?" Miko could not understand how John was perfectly fine.


    "I should have expected as much." John looked down at Miko in front of him and shook his head in the way a disappointed father would. Although John was not ready for Miko''s kick, his powerful body was able to take the blow without so much as a scratch.


    ''If he attacked me with full force I would stand no chance, but he held back too much there. Time to repay the favor.''


    Miko was about to ask John the same question again when John''s right foot came flying at him from directly below. Miko''s confusion had clouded his awareness, and he only noticed the foot right as he was about to connect with his chin.


    Bang!


    Miko was sent flying a few feet up into the air and back quite a bit after John''s foot collided with his chin.


    ''I didn''t use my full power as Miko doesn''t focus on body cultivation, but this bit of power was still enough to give him a nice present.''


    John watched with arge smile as Miko crashed into the ground and tumbled over a few times. After a short second ofying on the ground, Miko quickly rebounded up to his feet and dashed back towards John, his hair disheveled and covered with dirt. John raised his guard for Miko''s retaliation, but Miko came to an abrupt halt right in front of him, an excited look apparent on his face.


    "John, how did you get so strong so fast? My kick didn''t even phase you! And why the hell is your body so tough. That kick should have at least hurt you a bit. Why¡­.."


    Miko rapidly asked John question after question as he tried to understand the situation. Although he had lost in that exchange, Miko was quite happy nheless. He considered John to be his best friend, and had alwaysmented the fact that John couldn''t cultivate. Now, not only could John cultivate, but Miko could tell that John was much stronger than a normal middle Mist Creation cultivator. As such, his excitement and curiosity exploded outwards, resulting in the question barrage towards John.


    John rubbed the back of his head as he listened to Miko''s unending questions. John eventually got fed up with the tirade and patted Miko vigorously on his head, which sessfully shut him up.


    "Good to see you too Miko. See, it''s not that hard to greet someone normally instead of greeting them with your foot."


    "Haha, that''s too boring. Besides, you started this tradition way back when. You only have yourself to me." Miko responded to John whileughing.


    John once again rubbed the back of his head as he cursed himself.


    ''He''s not wrong. I really was the one who sneak attacked him first all those years ago. I only have myself to me.''


    After a few seconds of brooding, arge smile broke out on John''s face as he stepped forward and sped hands with Miko.


    "Haha, true. Besides, I got the better of you in this exchange anyways."


    "That''s only because I held back. Next time, you won''t be so lucky."


    "I don''t know. Next time we meet, I might have a cultivation level at or even higher than you." John smiled back as he teased Miko. He knew Miko was superpetitive, and so he took any chance he could to take jabs at him.


    "As if. You might be awesome, but I''m even more awesome. In fact, you should be calling me Big Brother Miko based on our cultivation levels." A proud look appeared on Miko''s face as he stared at John.


    John rolled his eyes at Miko''sment and reached out to heavily pat Miko''s head. "You wish. You''ll always be Little Brother Miko."


    Miko brushed John''s hand off his head and huffed in feigned anger and stared at John ''angrily''. The two stared at each other for some time before...


    "Hahahaha"


    Both John and Miko broke out intoughter at each other''s antics.


    "All right. That''s enough goofing off, we''re heading towards the martial arenas now."


    Barden Fenix suddenly spoke up and let both John and Miko know of the n''s migration towards the tournament arenas. John looked up and noticed that most of the n had already started walking over, and only him, Miko, and his Father remained behind.


    "Let''s go." John turned to Miko and said.


    Miko nodded his head, at which point the three of them caught up with the Fenix n members and walked over to the tournament grounds. When he arrived at the tournament grounds, John raised his eyes slightly in surprise.


    There were fiverge circr arena tforms, each made from solid stone and each over one hundred yards across. Stands surrounded the entire tournament area, which allowed spectators to see what was going on at any of the arenas at one time. John could already see thousands of spectators sitting on the arena stands, waiting for the tournament to start.


    "Why are there so many people watching?" John asked his father.


    "Well, there''s spectators from the Varis n, as well as the other powers participating in the pocket realm. Many peoplee to see the power of the other ns and sects to judge where the strength of their junior generation lies."


    John nodded his head at his fathers answer as the group arrived at the tournament grounds. The Flowing River Sect and Ronan n were already standing by the tournament grounds, and the two groups were quite intermingled. Much like the Fenix n and Varis n, the Flowing River Sect and Ronan n were close allies.


    John, Ryan, and Miko conversed for some time about everything that had happened since theyst parted. Miko asked John dozens of questions about his cultivation, journey, and everything else he could think of, and John did his best to answer each one, although there were some details he kept to himself.


    The four groups stood around waiting for some time before amotion was finally heard down the road. In the distance, many powerful beasts could be seen pulling blood red carriages, with the symbol of a blood red sun setting behind a mountain range painted on the side of each carriage.


    "Just like they always are. Late." Barden scoffed as he looked at the approaching group with disdain. John narrowed his eyes as he stared at the approaching group.


    ''So they finally arrived.''

 Chapter 66 - Tournament Rules

    John watched as the Crimson Valley Sect approached the tournament grounds. The beasts pulling the carriages were Qi Condensation Blood Tigers. Blood Tigers were blood red in color, almost ten feet long and six feet tall, and were incredibly savage and powerful beasts. The Crimson Valley Sect found them both suitable for their sect''s image, as well as an effective intimidation tactic on others.


    The group eventually arrived at the tournament grounds and dismounted from their carriages. The group had over a hundred members, and ranged from young children to old men. Each of them had haughty looks on their faces, as if they were the most important people in the world.


    "Fuck, looking at their smug faces pisses me off every time." Barden couldn''t help but curse as he saw the Crimson Valley Sect group approach. John, Ryan, and Miko all nodded their heads in agreement.


    "They really do have smug, arrogant faces. All I want to do is beat them until I can''t even recognize their faces, especially that Jason. Even for the Crimson Valley Sect, his smug attitude stands out." Miko cursed out in anger at the group. He noticed Jason among the group, and seeing his face pissed him off immensely. Miko had lost to Jason in the Qi Condensation tournament, and Jason had been a smug, arrogant bastard during the whole tournament.


    "Don''t worry. We''ll get our revenge during this tournament. Besides, I gave a few of their members a nice present thest time I met them. I''m sure they won''t have forgotten." Miko and Ryan started bursting out inughter at John''sment. Earlier when they were talking, John had told them about his run in with the Crimson Valley Sect boys, and what he had done to them.


    Miko was enthralled the entire time John was telling his story, and pumped his fists and celebrated when John told him about the final present he left them.


    "If only I could have been there to witness it," Miko sighed and looked truly depressed, as if missing it was the worst thing in the world. John and Ryan looked at Miko and to each other, before they once again burst out inughter at Miko''s antics.


    After a little while, the Crimson Valley Sect group arrived where all the other powers had gathered. The front of the group was led by an aging man, who appeared to be in his sixties, but his true age was much older. The man had a Core Formation cultivation level, and at the Core Formation Realm, a cultivator could live up to five hundred years.


    The man had long, pure white hair that flowed down to his shoulders, and a clean shaven but slightly scarred face. His face was quite sunken, which gave him quite a sinister look. He was Warren Gildar, and he was the n leader of the Crimson Valley Sect. His eyes scanned over the group in front of him as he approached them, and stopped on Cade Fenix as a frown appeared on his face.


    Cade Fenix noticed his gaze as a smug smile appeared on his face. "Warren Gildar, it''s been some time since west saw each other. It seems like your face has healed up quite nicely from our battle."


    The crowd let out astonished murmurs at Cade Fenix''sments. Most of the crowd was too young to know of the battle that had happened between the two leaders thest time they met.


    An angry scowl appeared on Warren''s face as he snorted at Cade''sments. "You want to fight now? I guarantee you that you wont leave this ce alive if we do!"


    More astonished gasps echoed throughout the crowd. John looked towards his father and asked, "Father, what''s going on between our n leader and their sect leader?"


    Barden looked at his son and responded, "I guess this happened well before you were born. It was after one of the pocket realm events many decades ago. One of the Crimson Valley Sect juniors killed one of our Fenix n juniors within the pocket realm over a treasure, and so our n retaliated by killing one of theirs. It became quite bloody inside and over eight juniors total died. When my father heard about what had happened once everyone left the realm, he immediately asked for the head of the Crimson Valley Sect junior who started killing in the first ce. Warren Gildar refused and even tried to turn the situation back on our n, and so Cadeshed out at Warren. Although my father was unable to kill Warren, he did manage to leave some nasty scars behind on his body."


    "Oh, so that''s why our ns hate each other," John nodded his head in understanding at his fathers story. He had always been quite curious as to why the two were considered enemies, and this story revealed the truth quite clearly.


    "Hahaha"


    A loudugh echoed throughout the crowd. "Last time we fought, you fled with your tail tucked between your legs, and now you dare say those words to me? Seems like I didn''t educate you properly enoughst time."


    Cade was brimming with anger at Warren''s words. Even now, the pain of losing those juniors weighed heavily on Cade''s heart, and he wanted nothing more than to kill Warren where he stood. But doing so would surely start an all out war between the two powers, and that was something that the Fenix n did not want. Although they weren''t scared of the Crimson Valley Sect, they didn''t want to have their members die in a war that could be avoided either.


    Warren snorted and was just about to respond when another loud voice echoed throughout the crowd.


    "Alright, Alright, that''s enough from both of you. We are here to carry out the Mist Creation Realm Tournament for the pocket realm. Let us all proceed ordingly and put aside our plights for now." Waylon Varis said loudly.


    He had been waiting for the Crimson Valley Sect to arrive before addressing the crowd, but now that everyone had arrived, his duty as host of the tournament was to let it proceed ordingly.


    Cade Fenix buried his anger and agreed with his old friend Waylon. "That''s right. We''re here for our juniors. We can settle this at ater time."


    Warren Gildar snorted once more but said nothing. All five powers gathered around the stage that Waylon was standing on, and listened to what he had to say. Behind Waylon, arge, smooth stone tablet was visible. Fantastic carvings and mystical designs existed all over the tablet, making it look quite mysterious.


    "I want to thank you all foring today. We are all here for the Mist Creation Realm tournament to decide entry for the pocket realm. The rules for the tournament are as follows. One, when someone gives up, the fight stops immediately. Two, if someone is unconscious, the fight stops immediately. Three, no intentionally harming another gravely, or you will be disqualified. Grave injury is ssified as crippling or otherwise rendering a cultivator unable to proceed on their cultivation journey. Four, if you are knocked off the fighting tform, you lose. Five, the top twenty participants will qualify for the pocket realm, as the ten Qi condensation juniors will enter, plus twenty more Mist Creation juniors."


    Waylon paused for a moment to let the crowd gather their thoughts before he continued. "The tournament will be single elimination, and will continue all the way until we have a winner. There are three prizes to be awarded to the top three participants, with the winner obtaining a Golden Marrow Condensation Pill."


    Excited discussions immediately echoed throughout the crowd as all the juniors started talking about the Golden Marrow Condensation Pill. Not everyone knew of the prize, and so finding out that first ce obtained the legendary pill was extremely exciting for all involved.


    "A Golden Marrow Condensation Pill? I must win and get my hands on it." one Ronan n junior stated.


    "You wish. You''ll be lucky to qualify for the pocket realm, let alone win." Another junior piped up.


    Simr discussions continued on for some time before Waylon silenced the crowd and continued to speak.


    "Now, we must see how many juniors have decided to participate. All participants please set forward and onto the stage."

 Chapter 67 - Qi Test

    Barden turned to John and patted him on the back. "Up you go. I''ll be in the stands with the rest of the n. Good luck."


    John nodded his head and watched his father and most of the n walk off towards the stands before he turned around and joined the rest of his n''s juniors in walking up to the stage. The other powers followed suit, and soon over eighty juniors were on the stage.


    Waylon looked at the crowd of boys and girls for a bit before he continued.


    "There are eighty four participants. Since this is the case, we will be using a seeded format to decide which bottom twenty participants get eliminated. The bottom forty seeded participants will fight each other, and the twenty losers will be eliminated. That will leave us with sixty four participants, at which point we can proceed without any bye rounds until a victor is crowned. Any questions?"


    A Flowing River Sect junior raised her hand and asked a question. "How are we to be seeded?"


    "An excellent question" responded Waylon and pointed to the ten foot tall stone tablet behind him before continuing. "This stone tablet behind me is a Qi Formation Tablet. By cing your palm on the tablet and sending your strongest burst of Qi into it, it will measure how powerful your Qi surge is at its peak, and we will sort ording to those rankings. Qi power doesn''t necessarily equal fighting power, as fighting techniques and battle instincts can allow for someone weaker to win against someone with stronger Qi, but it is a good approximation for this tournament."


    The girl nodded her head after Waylon described the seeding process.


    "Any other questions?"


    No one had any further questions, and so Waylon Varis proceeded with the seeding process.


    "We will start with the Varis n, then the Flowing River Sect, the Ronan n, the Fenix n, and finally the Crimson Valley Sect."


    Waylon Varis turned to his daughter E Varis who was on the stage and urged her forward to begin the proceedings. E was almost fifteen years old like John, and had entered thete Mist Creation Realm just recently. Ryan looked at E with an infatuated look as she walked towards the stone tablet, an action not unnoticed by John.


    "Are you finally going to properly talk to her today?" John asked Ryan.


    Ryan snapped out of his trance and looked towards John with a sheepish smile. "Uhhh, maybe. We''ll see."


    John rolled his eyes at Ryan''sck of confidence but said nothing. They both watched as E Varis walked up to the tablet and ced her hand on a circr engraving at the center of the tablet. After a few seconds of focusing, E urged Qi from her dantian and into the stone tablet as explosively as she could.


    The engravings and marks on the tablet started to glow a dazzlingly beautiful blue color for several seconds before the color faded and the tablet returned to normal. A blue number soon appeared at the top of the tablet.


    A smile broke out on Waylon''s face as he looked at the number that his daughter produced.


    "Hey, not bad. Six Hundred. Looks like E might have a chance at qualifying for the pocket realm." In the crowd, Cade and his three sons, Orenn, Rodi, and Barden were conversing regarding the results of the Qi test.


    Barden nodded his head at his fathers words. "Waylon can truly be proud. His son Miko is an absolute genius, and his daughter is quite talented herself."


    "I just hope someone from this group of ours can put on a good performance like Parker." Orenn piped up regarding his son''s performance, and Parker, who was sitting closely to the site, had arge smile appear on his face.


    Barden looked towards his brother Orenn and smiled before replying. "Oh, I think you''ll be quite surprised today."


    Orenn looked at his brother and then towards the crowd of Fenix youths. "I still don''t know what your son is thinking of participating in this tournament. With his middle Mist Creation cultivation, the only thing he will do is embarrass both himself and our n."


    Barden looked at his brother Orenn from the side of his eye and remained silent for some time before answering. "Just wait and watch."


    Back on the stage, E Varis had finished up her tests and so had the rest of the Varis n. The highest score achieved was six hundred and thirty by a sixteen year old boy. E Varis came in third for her n, while the lowest score was three hundred.


    Waylon Varis nodded his head in satisfaction at the results before he turned towards the Flowing River Sect group and urged them forwards. Several participants scored between three hundred and five hundred before excited murmurs broke out throughout the crowd. A tall, muscr boy was standing before the stone tablet, his long brown hair flowing behind him.


    "Six hundred and fifty, that''s the new high score."


    "Who is that?" asked another in the crowd.


    "That''s Dalton. He''s the number one genius for this group from the Flowing River Sect. I heard he''s still fourteen, which is amazing."


    "Wow, he might be a favorite to win."


    Dalton looked at his number on the tablet as arge satisfied smile appeared on his face. He walked back to his group and was weed with happy cheers. The rest of the Flowing River Sect then tested themselves, but none of them equaled the number of Dalton.


    Waylon once again nodded his head in recognition at the impressive group of youths before he turned to the Ronan n and urged them to test. For the Ronan n, the highest tested number was also six hundred and fifty, and belonged to a young girl by the name of Joy Ronan. She had a petite frame and a fair face, and her long blonde hair fell down to her shoulders, making her quite a popr with many of the boys in the crowd.


    After the Ronan n was done with their tests, Waylon turned to the Fenix n youths and urged them forward. Ryan was the first one to walk up to the tablet. He took a deep breath at the tablet before he put his hand on the center circle and urged his Qi into it.


    Dazzling blue lights started to flicker off the tablet before they eventually died down.


    "Six hundred. Good job." Waylon Varis said to Ryan as he recorded the number.


    Ryan smiled happily as he turned back towards the Fenix n group.


    "Haha, not bad. Your number is well within the top twenty so far. You really do have a shot at the pocket realm!" John congratted Ryan when he returned to the group.


    "It''s not bad" responded Ryan with a nonchntment, but the slight smile on his face betrayed his emotions.


    John shook his head at Ryan''s actions and watched as several more Fenix n youths went up to be tested. The highest number in the group so far was six hundred and twenty five from Grant Fenix. Grant Fenix smiled at his score and proudly walked back towards the group.


    Ryan scoffed at his proud antics and whispered to John. "He acts so proud but he''s already sixteen. If we were his age we would be in the Qi Condensation Realm already."


    Johnughed lightly at Ryan''sments but said nothing, as the matter had nothing to do with him.


    John waited until it was eventually his turn, at which point he started walking towards the stone tablet.


    He felt several divine senses pass over him, at which point loudughter broke out throughout the crowd.

 Chapter 68 - Mocking From The Crowd

    "Hahaha, middle Mist Creation? What''s this? Are you lost?"


    "What the hell is this kid thinking? Is he brain damaged?"


    "He must be if he''s thinking he canpete in this tournament."


    Many jeers and taunts resounded throughout the crowd as John''s cultivation level was finally realized by all those at the tournament. Before when John was in the crowd, no one had used their divine sense to scan the cultivation''s of everyone involved. But as everyone went up one by one, many would send their divine sense out to see just how powerful their opponent was. Although divine sense mostly showed cultivation levels, slight variations in the power of the cultivation level would be able to tip off how strong someone was.


    Although the stone tablet would reveal just how strong everyone was, many juniors, mostly from the Crimson Valley Sect, still decided to inspect for themselves.


    Not one youth in the group was below thete Mist Creation Realm, except for John. Everyone knew that there was no hope for any middle Mist Creation cultivator to qualify, and so none had participated.


    Although most of the jeers and taunts were mostlying from the Crimson Valley Sect, John couldn''t help but notice many unsessfully stifled fits ofughter from the other powers. Only the Fenix n youths were notughing, and instead they were looking quite embarrassed. Ryan was the only exception, as he had arge smile on his face, as ifughing at the stupidity of all those speaking.


    "Motherfuckers, they dare mock John? Let''s see how theyugh when I beat them all into the ground." In the stands, Miko Varis was fuming at the words he heard thrown towards John. It took several Elders of the n to calm him down to make sure he did nothing foolish. Miko eventually calmed down, after much urging from his n.


    "Hmph. They''re just lucky that I''m not in this tournament. I''ll be sure to make them pay in the pocket realm." Miko muttered before finally sitting down.


    In the stands, Warren Gildar wasughing quite loudly. After several seconds of boisterousughing, Warren turned to look at Cade on the other side of the stands and yelled out to him.


    "Cade, you even need to register a middle Mist Creation boy for this tournament? The Fenix n truly isckingtely."


    Cade Fenix furrowed his brows but decided against responding to such cheap provocation. Although he didn''t know why his son Barden allowed John to enter, he knew Barden was a level headed individual and wouldn''t do something to embarrass the n without a reason.


    John turned to look at the group of Crimson Valley Sect youths and looked around to see if he could spot any familiar faces. After a few seconds of searching, John was disappointed to find that he did not see thete Mist Creation boy that he had pped into unconsciousness and tied naked to a tree.


    Arge smile broke out on John''s face as he thought about why the boy wasn''t present.


    ''Obviously, that incident is still a massive embarrassment for their sect. They''re probably keeping that boy away from the tournament to avoid any further embarrassments.''


    The Crimson Valley Sect youths noticed John smiling towards them, instead of being angry or embarrassed by their taunts.


    "What the fuck are you smiling at? Have you gone stupid?" One of the boys asked.


    John shook his head before responding. "I was just looking for an acquaintance of mine from your sect, but I don''t see him here. Unfortunate, I was looking forward to pping him unconscious and tying him naked to a tree once more."


    Theughter from the Crimson Valley Sect group instantly died down after John''s words. Anger quickly reced amusement as one of the boys instantlyshed out.


    "What the fuck are you talking about? No such this happened. You''re spouting nonsense."


    "What do you mean didn''t happen? Half the continent is talking about the incident. There''s no way your sect can keep it under wraps." John smiled at the boy as he responded.


    The boy''s words caught in his throat as he thought of how to respond. It was true that the incident had be a hot talking point throughout the entirend, despite the Crimson Valley Sect trying to contain the news.


    "So? Even if it is true, there''s no way an ant like you could have done it. Are you not ashamed to take glory from the achievements of others?"


    "You''ll find out soon enough if I''m lying or not." John responded to the boy before he turned around and ignored thempletely. The Crimson Valley Sect group were enraged at having been taunted and then ignored, but they decided to keep quiet in order to let the talks regarding the naked incident die down.


    In the stands, Orenn Fenix had quite an irritated look on his face as he watched what was happening. He turned to Barden and whispered angrily.


    "See, I told you this would happen. But you didn''t listen."


    Barden listened to his brother''s words but decided to ignore them. He knew John would silence the doubters soon enough.


    John took a deep breath before the stone tablet and raised his hand towards it. His palm touched the cold smooth surface of the tablet, at which point he sent out his most powerful burst of body Qi towards the tablet. Since his body dantian was in a higher realm, John decided to use that Qi for this test.


    The tablet started glowing dazzling blue colors, and continued on for some time. A confused expression appeared on Waylon''s face as the tablet glowed for much longer than any other contestant. After twenty seconds of glowing, the tablet dimmed down and returned to normal.


    Everyone held their breath for the results of the test, with those wanting John to fail wishing for it to be a terrible score, while those backing John wishing for a good score. The crowd waited for some time, but no numbers showed up.


    "Haha, after all that talk, he couldn''t even get a number to show up. What a clown."


    "Seriously, what a dumbass."


    The Crimson Valley Sect group broke out intoughter at John''sck of a score. Waylon Varis frowned at the results and walked over to John.


    "Try it again. This is the first time I''ve seen this happen."


    John nodded towards Waylon and turned back towards the stone tablet.


    ''I used my body Qi from the mysterious sphere, but it seems for some reason the tablet was unable to detect it, or unable to score it. Either way, it seems like I''ll need to do this test with my essence Qi. Oh well, I''ll show them my true strength in the battles toe."


    John once again took a deep breath and channeled his strongest burst of Qi into the stone tablet. The tablet glowed for several seconds before it died down. A secondter, a number appeared at the top of the tablet.


    "Three hundred and fifty."

 Chapter 69 - Crimson Valley Genius

    Shocked gasps echoed throughout the crowd at the revealing of John''s score. John stared at the number in slight surprise as well. Due to his middle Mist Creation cultivation, he had expected to score much lower, and was certain he woulde in deadst, but much to his surprise, he had scored above some of thete Mist Creation cultivators. Although he was still in the bottom five, it was still extremely impressive.


    "What the fuck? How did this rat score so high?"


    "I know, it makes no sense. How is he so strong at middle Mist Creation?"


    The Crimson Valley Sect group had been watching with anticipation, and were looking forward to the moment that John scored incredibly low and embarrassed himself, but much to their surprise, John had scored three hundred and fifty. Although it was still low to the point that he had no chance of qualifying in their eyes, John had sessfully shut up the crowd into thinking he was a dumb fool. His score showed that even if he was outmatched at this tournament, he was a cultivation genius nheless.


    Many simr discussions broke out in the crowd regarding John''s surprising score. In the stands, loudughter could be hearding from Barden Fenix.


    "That''s my son for you. Good Job John." Barden had expected John to score much lower, but he wasn''t worried about that. He knew most of John''s strength came from his body, and was sure that John would do fine in the tournament. However, he waspletely shocked to find out that John was able to score above even some of thete Mist Creation realm cultivators.


    "It seems like my son is even more of a genius than I thought." Barden couldn''t help but be proud of John.


    "Agreed." Cade Fenix nodded his head at his son''s words. "It seems like John is much more of a genius than we expected. These Qi Formation tablets measure peak Qi output. Typically, Qi power at least doubles when advancing a minor realm, so that means that John would score over seven hundred as soon as he advances tote Mist Creation, and score even higher as he advances through the realm. Most middle Mist Creation cultivators score between one to two hundred on these tests. An absolute genius indeed."


    Cade Fenix was quite happy to see John''s aplishment. For each realm in cultivation, everyone on the same level would have the same Qi essence in terms of quality and potency. The only difference was quantity, and the more a person was a genius, the more sturdy they could establish their cultivation foundation and the higher that quantity of Qi would be. Higher quantity of Qi allowed a cultivator to fight at a higher level of power than others, and for longer as well. These two advantages were invaluable when it came to battles.


    Although in Cade''s eyes it still wasn''t nearly enough to ce well in the tournament, this number of John''s alone brought great pride to the Fenix n. John would surely be another Parker Fenix in the future.


    Cade Fenix looked over towards Warren Gildar with a gloating expression, and was quite happy to see Warren with a sour look on his face. Warren noticed Cade''s gaze, but decided to say nothing.


    Warren turned to one of the elder''s sitting at his side and whispered, "It seems like this boy is someone we will have to keep our eyes on regarding our future ns."


    The Elder nodded in agreement as a slightly murderous light appeared in his eyes.


    Back on the stage, John was still standing in front of the tablet in a daze.


    ''I had thought only my body dantian and body was impressive, but it seems even my own essence dantian is much stronger than I thought it waspared to others. I wonder why it''s so strong.''


    John wracked his head for ideas to exin this, but was unable toe up with any. As far as he knew, none of the cultivation aids inside the pce increased his essence dantian power. The holy gate tempered his soul, and the sinister gate tempered his will. The Immortal Asura Body only focused on his body dantian and body itself, and so John was unsure of why his essence dantian was this powerful.


    ''Who knows. Maybe I''m also a naturally gifted essence cultivator.''


    John couldn''t think of any particr reason and so assumed that it might be a naturally urring thing. Cultivators were born with different talent levels, and two cultivators putting in the exact same effort could end up with drastically different results based on their natural talent.


    "Well done."


    Waylon Varis finally spoke up after regaining his wits. He smiled at John and nodded his head in approval.


    "It seems like Miko will have to try hard to keep you from catching up to him," Waylon said with a chuckle.


    John thanked Waylon for thepliment and walked back to his group. While his group had been embarrassed when he had initially stepped up, they felt quite refreshed having gained back some pride in this situation. Ryan wasughing loudly as he patted John on the back.


    "Good job. You silenced those fools quite nicely."


    John was just about to reply when a voice came from the Crimson Valley Sect.


    "Pfft, who cares. Even if he is a genius at the middle Mist Creation realm, he still is almost inst ce. His only hope in this tournament is to be someone''s punching bag."


    "Exactly, he acts so proud, but he''s still a fool for joining this tournament."


    The Crimson Valley Sect group had been silent for some time, but finally managed to regain theirposure and arrogant attitudes. Although John''s performance was impressive, it was still a far cry from what would be needed to qualify for the pocket realm.


    Ryan was just about to respond back when Waylon Varis spoke up.


    "Ok, we still have more people to test. The rest of the Fenix n, please step up to get tested."


    The rest of the Fenix n was then tested, but none of them stood out in particr.


    "Lastly, the Crimson Valley Sect, please step up and get tested."


    The Crimson Valley Sect started getting tested, and posted results above any of the other powers. They had five cultivators score above six hundred, which was the most of any group so far by quite a lot. Thest one to get tested was a young boy who appeared to be around thirteen years old. He had long ck hair that flowed down to his shoulders, and was quite handsome for his age, but his face and eyes contained a look of pure arrogance and disdain to all those around him.


    The boy started to walk up to the tform, and both Waylon Varis and Cade Fenix narrowed their eyes at the sight of the boy. Waylon Varis stayed quiet, but Cade Fenix was unable to contain his words.


    "Warren, what''s the meaning of this. Howe I have never seen or heard anything of this boy? Just like Jason, he''s another unknown that you''ve suddenly brought up for this tournament. Where did these twoe from?"


    All of the five ns had spies ced in or around each other power to gather information. Through this, each n and sect was quite aware of all the juniors in each power, their names, cultivation level, and talent level. The first anomaly that the Crimson Valley Sect produced was Jason, who popped up without anyone knowing of his existence. Not only that, but the talent and power he showed at the Qi Condensation tournament was beyond anyone else.


    Now the Crimson Valley Sect showed off this boy as well. Although he hadn''t tested yet, the powerful cultivators in the crowd could instantly tell that this boy was anything but ordinary. Such a junior would have been next to impossible to hide for thirteen years from the other powers, but the Crimson Valley Sect had managed to do so somehow.


    Warren Gildar startedughing quite loudly before he responded. "I have no idea what you mean. We aren''t nning anything. We have just kept both Jason and Dn a secret until the pocket realm is about to open."


    "Nobody would believe such nonsense," Cade Fenix vehemently rebuked. "Not only have you managed to keep them a secret somehow, but both of them are clearly talents beyond what your sect is capable of producing. What exactly is going on."


    Jason was fourteen years old, was already at the early Qi Condensation Realm, and had shockingbat prowess to back it up. Now, this Dn was another anomaly like Jason.


    "Don''t be blinded by jealousy just because our sect produced two heavenly geniuses and your n didn''t." Warren responded with an arrogant smile.


    "Alright, alright, let''s proceed with the test." Waylon Varis spoke up and squashed the arguing between the two leaders. Although he too was curious regarding this boy, he knew Warren Gildar would never reveal anything, and so bringing it up was useless.


    Dn walked to the stone tablet with a slight smile and ced his hand on the central circle. Soon after, brilliant blue lights emanated from the tablet before they eventually died down. The crowd held its breath as it expectantly waited for his score.


    "Seven Hundred."

 Chapter 70 - Tournament Start

    Loud gasps immediately echoed throughout the crowd, and heated discussion followed soon after.


    "Seven hundred. That''s the highest of anyone here!"


    "And he doesn''t even look that old. He appears to be around thirteen. How is he so strong?"


    "Well, I guess we know who is going to win this tournament."


    Discussions immediately broke out in both the stands and group of participants to discuss the astonishing number that Dn revealed. Despite being the youngest in the group of eighty four juniors at thirteen years old, his strength was by far the highest. John and Ryan narrowed their eyes at the score before they both stared at Dn.


    An arrogant look of pride appeared on Dn''s face as he walked proudly back to his group.


    "Nothing but country bumpkins" murmured Dn as he returned to his group.


    On the way back, he made sure to look at John, as if he was looking at an ant. John stared straight back at Dn, but refused to get worked up by his look of disdain. Although Dn''s score was impressive, John was still confident in histe Mist Creation body cultivation, his Immortal Asura Body, and his Supreme Battle Art.


    The crowd settled down after sometime, at which point Waylon once again addressed the crowd.


    "We will post the seedings on the board in front of the stage in an hour. The tournament will then start. Feel free to do whatever in the meantime, but no fighting."


    John and Ryan started walking towards his n that was sitting in the stands. They arrived a minuteter and joined the group.


    "Haha, good Job both of you." Barden Fenix greeted Ryan and John with arge smile. Ryan''s dad, an Elder of the n, also congratted the both of them.


    "So, what do you think of that Dn?" Barden asked John with a serious look.


    John thought about it for a moment before responding. "He''s definitely terrifying, but I have my own confidence."


    "Haha, good. In any case, you''ve already made your old man proud with the score you revealed." Barden responded withughter and arge smile.


    "Dad, how does that stone tablet work?" John asked curiously. He knew it was based on formations, but he was quite unfamiliar with formations in general.


    "Formations are things created by formation masters. Just like alchemy masters, formation masters focus on their particr field instead of just cultivation. Based on theirprehension in formations, formation masters draw or carve lines and shapes into an object in ordance to the heavenly daos, and insert their own Qi into the creation process to establish aplete formation. The lines then harness the surrounding Qi in the air, or Qi crystals if they need more powerful Qi to do what the formation master has in mind. This tablet in particr measures the level of Qi infused into it and quantifies it."


    John nodded his head in understanding. Although his fathers exnation was quite broad and vague, John was at least able to understand a little regarding formations in general. He knew his n had a few Core Formation formation masters, but had never personally interacted with them or learned from them.


    An hourter, Waylon''s voice was once again heard. "The seedings have been posted, everyone please look at what your seeding is and what stage you''ll be fighting on."


    "Good luck, and go all out!" Barden encouraged John as both John and Ryan walked towards the stage.


    John and Ryan arrived at the board and looked for their names.


    "Let''s see..I''m...number sixteen, not bad." Ryan was quite happy with his cing. Unless he got upset by a lower seed, Ryan had a good shot to make the top twenty required to qualify for the tournament.


    John looked at the bottom of the seeding list to find his name. There was no suspense, since he knew he ranked within the bottom five.


    "Im ranked eightieth. Lets see, I fight on arena four in the fourth round of the initial eliminations."


    Due to their being only five arenas, the twenty initial fights to determine which twenty people got eliminated would happen in four rounds. Ryan had a bye for this round, since his cing at sixteenth automatically ced him in the round of sixty four.


    "Should be an easy fight for you. Let''s go into the stands and watch some of the fights while we wait for your fight," Ryan suggested.


    "Sounds good." John and Ryan hopped back on the stands and sat down to watch the fights toe.


    Waylon Varis walked up to the main stage once more, and announced to all thepetitors. "I officially dere the start of this tournament. There will be a judge dedicated to each fight. You must listen to any instructions they give. Now, all the fighters in round one, please proceed to your designated arena."


    Cheers broke out in the crowd at themencement of the tournament. The participants for round one all walked to their respective arenas, and after a few words from the judges, started their fights.


    John and Ryan were watching the fights start, at which point Miko walked over to where John and Ryan were sitting and joined them.


    "Hey Miko" John called out in greeting.


    "Hey, good job up there. Watching you silence those Crimson Valley Clowns was extremely refreshing." Miko had arge smile on his face as he thought back to the faces of the Crimson Valley Sect group when John mentioned the naked incident, as well as his score reveal.


    "Haha, I felt refreshed as well. Don''t worry though, the refreshing feeling is just starting." John replied with a confident tone. Miko understood the meaning of John''s words and startedughing.


    "Good. I''m sure if you are joining the tournament, you have a good reason to do so. I look forward to both you and Ryan thrashing some of the Crimson Valley Clowns." Miko gave John a big thumbs up as he encouraged him in the fights toe. The three of them continued to chat while watching the fights below them.


    On the five arenas, various techniques and abilities were being used as the juniors of the five powers fought with their full strength. Although the fights were interesting, no one was really too concerned about who won or lost. These fights consisted of the forty lowest ranked juniors, and even the winners were most likely to be eliminated in the next round anyways.


    The crowd spent the next hour watching the first three rounds of participants battle it out. The Fenix n had quite a few juniors participating in the initial rounds, and over half of them were eliminated.


    "Tsk, what a disappointing generation. We''ve been too easy on them." Orren Fenix said while looking at the eliminated participants.


    "True, although we have some great geniuses like Parker and a few others, the overall quality of our juniors is rathercking this time around. It seems we''ve becent and have been too easy on them." Cade Fenix shook his head at the results so far. Usually, the Fenix n dominated both the Qi Condensation tournament and the Mist Creation tournament.


    While Parker did manage to ce second in the Qi Condensation tournament, the Fenix ns showing at this tournament was alreadycking. Of the fifteen overall participants, six had been eliminated already, and that was just in the first rounds which didn''t even matter much. Compared to previous years, this crop of juniors was performing quite poorly.


    "So, who do you have your money on to win this tournament?" Barden asked his brothers and father as he watched the fights below.


    "As much as I hate to admit it, Dn should win." Orren Fenix immediately blurted out. He hated the Crimson Valley Sect as well, but had to admit that Dn was a monster.


    Cade Fenix and Rodi Fenix thought about the question for a moment before they too agreed with Orenn. "Most likely Dn. Maybe that Dalton from the Flowing River Sect if he has some amazing battle techniques, but I still doubt it."


    Barden sat there in silence as he listened to the answers of his brothers and father. "So, who do you think will win?" Orenn asked curiously?


    "Hmm, who knows. All I know is we will have a good show on our hands," Barden smiled as he responded. The others were curious by what Barden meant, but they didn''t ask for rification since they would find out soon anyways.


    John, Ryan and Miko continued to talk and watch the fights until about an hourter, when the third round eventuallypleted and the fourth round of the initial elimination stage began.


    "Well, I''m up. I''ll see you guys in a few minutes," John nonchntly said as he got off his seat and walked towards his fighting tform.

 Chapter 71 - First Fight

    John arrived at his arena shortly and jumped onto the tform, at which point he noticed his opponent was already standing there.


    The boy appeared to be around fifteen years old, and had a more powerful looking build than most at the tournament. He wore a dark red robe, while a smug, arrogant smile hung on the boy''s face and his arms were crossed over his chest as he looked at John as if he were an ant waiting to be crushed.


    John only shook his head at the boys actions and walked towards the center of the tform.


    "You know kid, your luck is pretty bad to have run into me on the first round. Based on what you said earlier, my sect told me to use my full force to half cripple you. How about this, if you get down on your knees, beg for forgiveness, and surrender, I''ll consider letting you off."


    John looked towards the boy and started chuckling slightly but said nothing.


    "What are youughing at?" asked the boy, ire audible in his voice. He wanted John to cower, but instead wasughed at.


    "Oh nothing, I just remembered those sect members of yours I tied naked to the trees. Maybe I''ll do the same to you" John responded with a slight smile on his face.


    "Courting death!" The boy was truly angry, and was about to attack John when the Varis n referee suddenly appeared in between them and re exined the rules.


    "Are there any questions? No? Good, then you may begin."


    "Although I can''t kill or cripple you, I can still make you wish for death." The Crimson Valley Sect boy charged towards John without a care. Although he was in the bottom forty, his score on the Qi test had been almost five hundred, much higher than John. Not only that, but John was at the middle Mist Creation realm. In the boys eyes, John was a meal to be devoured in any way he saw fit. The Crimson Valley boy had no concerns that John would be able to fight back, and only hoped to crush him instantly.


    John watched with a nonchnt look as the boy rapidly approached him. He didn''t even take his weapon out yet, due to the disregard he held for his opponent.


    ''He''s leaving absolutely nothing back for defense. He wants to end it all with a single move and embarrass me as much as possible it seems.''


    John calmly started channeling his body Qi to be explosively released as quickly and powerfully as possible.


    "It''s over for you!" yelled the boy as he approached John.


    The Crimson Valley Sect boy raised his sword over his head and began to swing it down towards John as hard as he could. Powerful Qi covered his sword as he used his most powerful move right from the get go, with the intention of ending the fight in a single move.


    John watched as the sword started traveling towards him and scoffed before he quickly dashed forward under the boys raised arms and raised his own hand.


    p!


    A resounding p sounded out as John''s hand connected with the boy''s face, which sent him flying sideways dozens of yards as he tumbled head over heels before eventuallying to a stop just before the edge of the tform.


    ''Idiot, did he expect me to just wait for his long and easily readable technique tond on me? He clearly has never fought a life and death battle before.''


    The boy had raised his sword high above his head, and his attack had taken a while to fully channel as he dashed towards John. John had all the time in the world to close the distance and give the boy a powerful p. With his powerful body cultivation and the boy holding back nothing for defense, the p had been quite effective.


    John quickly used his movement technique to dash towards the boy whoy on the ground. Although he wasn''t knocked unconscious, the Crimson Valley boy was still quite dazed from the blow to his head. Blood dripped out of his mouth, and a few teeth were missing as well. Arge red handprint was visible on his cheek as he slowly and groggily began to stand up.


    Bang!


    John''s full powered kick connected with the boys ribs, and the boy was sent flying backwards like a bullet off the stage and into the stands dozens of yards away. Dust and stone was kicked up as the boy crashed into the stone stands, and the sounds of bones breaking was clearly audible to the entire crowd. The Crimson Valley boy immediately passed out from the pain of John''s attacks.


    The entire crowd was silent, unable toprehend what had just happened. The fight had just barely started, and most of the crowd had expected John to lose almost instantly, but the exact opposite had happened.


    After a few seconds of silence, a loud and ecstatic shout from the stands echoed throughout the tournament grounds, while some Crimson Valley Elders quickly dashed towards the injured boy.


    "Hahaha, good job John. You were right, that was even more refreshing than before. Keeping showing those Crimson Valley Assholes what you''re capable of."


    The dumbstruck crowd turned towards the source of the voice, and saw Miko Varis standing up and cheering wildly. Miko kept cheering until a Varis n elder forcibly seated and silenced him.


    A few secondster, the crowd finally came to their senses, and a wild eruption of various emotions exploded out.


    "What the hell just happened? How did that Fenix n boy win?"


    "Isn''t he supposed to be the weakest one here?"


    "Maybe his opponent went easy on him and the boy took advantage of that?"


    "Took advantage of that? Really? I''d like to see you beat someone at a higher cultivation level like that in any situation. Something else is happening here."


    Various discussions erupted throughout the crowd at the shocking results of the battle. Warren Gildar and the rest of the Crimson Valley Sect crowd looked like they had swallowed a frog, while the Fenix n crowd started cheering wildly after gathering their wits.


    A dumbstruck look was evident on Cade''s, Orren''s and Rodi''s faces as they looked from John towards Barden.


    "Is this the good show you were talking of?" Orenn asked his brother Barden inplete shock.


    "Hahaha, you know it. Do you really think I would allow my son to enter this tournament if he couldn''t handle it?" Barden was quite pleased by John''s performance. Even though he had expected John to win, he hadn''t expected him to win this fast.


    "What technique did he just use to beat that boy that fast? The fight was over before I could even look at it properly." Orenn was truly shocked at the results of the fight, and was unable toprehend how John had exploded with that much power. None of them had noticed any powerful essence Qi fluctuations emanating from John, and so they were quite confused as to how John had aplished such a burst of power.


    "Keep watching. The answers to your questions will be revealed soon enough," Barden replied with a smile on his face.


    The Varis n referee had been dumbstruck this entire time at the results, and had finally managed to gather his wits. He coughed a few times, before loudly announcing the results of the fight.


    "The winner of this fight, John Fenix."

 Chapter 72 - Ryan’s Fight

    John nodded towards the Varis n referee before he turned around and started to walk off the stage.


    "Wait a minute." A loud voice boomed out from the stands. The spectators all turned towards the source of the voice, Warren Gildar.


    "There''s no way a middle Mist Creation boy beat one of my juniors that easily. I have a feeling that he is using some sort of powerful treasure or artifact to help him, which is clearly prohibited."


    Waylon Varis was just about to respond when Barden Fenix suddenly shouted out instead.


    "What the hell are you talking about you slimy old bastard? Our Fenix n isn''t like your sect, we don''t cheat and never have. Besides, I''m sure even an aging old fart like you should realize that the fluctuations that powerful treasures or artifacts give off would be easily noticeable by all of us. Sit down while you still have some dignity left."


    Warren Gildar narrowed his eyes as he stared at Barden with anger. "You dare talk to me like that boy?" Warren Gildar was the sect leader of the Crimson Valley Sect, and was over three hundred years old. Compared to him, Barden Fenix, who was around fifty years old, was just a child, although both of them had Core Formation cultivations.


    "So what? What are you going to do about it?" Barden shouted back in anger. He was proud of John''s aplishment, but this Crimson Valley bastard was trying to get John disqualified without any evidence.


    Warren was about to respond when Waylon Varis spoke up. "We all know that John didn''t use an artifact or treasure, or we all would have noticed it. Do you have anything else to say or will you return to your seat?"


    Warren looked at Waylon before responding, "Fine, but the boy clearly attacked with excessive force. He could have easily won that fight without breaking half the bones in our juniors body."


    "Excessive force my ass. Give your boy a few healing pills and within a few weeks he''ll be back to full health." Cade Fenix had been silently listening to Warren mouth off, but he had finally shouted out in anger at Warren''s antics.


    "He''s right. Although John used more power than necessary to win, it was not excessive in terms of getting disqualified. John has won this round, so let''s move on." Waylon sided with Cade Fenix on this matter as well.


    "Fine, but don''t me us if your Fenix n boy is injured ''excessively'' in future rounds." Warren returned to his seat, but not before uttering onest warning.


    John stood there silently while the conversations were going on, at which point he returned to his seat by Ryan and Miko. Many of the surrounding Fenix n members looked at John with respect and reverence, especially those that had been eliminated already.


    "Haha, good job. I expected nothing less." Ryan said as John returned.


    "Goddamn that felt so good to watch. Do it again in your next fight." Miko excitedly followed up. He felt quite refreshed whenever he saw any Crimson Valley Sect member get beaten, especially in the manner that John had won.


    "Haha, don''t worry, there will be more toe." John chuckled as he sat down.


    Miko turned to John after and eagerly started badgering him with questions.


    "How did you get so strong? And how did you beat that guy that fast?"


    John only shrugged at Miko''s questions, which only further fueled Miko''s barrage of questions.


    After the crowd settled down, the remaining fights continued until the winners were decided. After twenty eliminations, sixty four participants were left in the tournament. Waylon Varis once again stepped onto the main stage and addressed the crowd.


    "We now have sixty four remaining juniors. The tournament will be single round elimination, and whoever makes the top sixteen automatically qualifies for the pocket realm. Thest four slots will be decided after we have a winner. We will post the next round matches shortly"


    Time quickly passed by, and the matches for the next round were posted. John and Ryan walked to the posting board and took note of their match ups. There were thirty two fights to be carried out in this round, and the fights were divided into seven stages. Ryan had his fight ur in the first stage, while John''s appeared to be in the fourth stage.


    "Looks like you''re up right away. Good luck!!" John said to Ryan.


    "Mhm, after your showing, I can''t have acking performance either." Ryan confidently walked up to his fighting tform while John walked back to the stands and sat next to Miko.


    Ryan''s first opponent was one of the winners from the first round of forty contestants. It was a girl from the Flowing River Sect, who appeared to be around fifteen years old. Her light blue robe appeared to wave in the wind like a winding stream, and she held a thin, light blue sword at her side.


    Ryan nodded his head to her, and she did the same. The referee exined the rules once more before the fight officially began. The girl knew she was the underdog in the fight, and so she immediately started the fight with her full power.


    The Flowing River Sect focused on fluidity and speed in fighting, as opposed to the pure power methods of the other ns and sects. The girl used a movement technique to quickly close the distance between her and Ryan, and struck out with her sword as she approached him.


    Peng!


    Ryan raised his own sword and sessfully parried the attack. He was just about to follow up with his own when the girl used a unique looking movement technique and gracefully spun around and appeared at Ryan''s side. A sword pierced towards his waist from an awkward angle, which caused Ryan to jump slightly in shock as he used his fastest movement technique to retreat.


    A small piece of Ryan''s robe was sliced off by the girls sword as he narrowly avoided the attack. Although he knew his opponent would be tough, Ryan still assumed it wouldn''t be too hard since he was seeded much higher, but only now did he realize that Qi power and battle power wasn''t the same thing.


    The girl in front of him was most definitely used to fighting, and her graceful yet unpredictable fighting style made it quite difficult for Ryan to predict what she was going to do next.


    The girl once again appeared in front of Ryan and pierced directly forward with her sword. It appeared to wobble and change trajectories as it approached him, and Ryan was unsure of if he would be able to sessfully parry it. He raised his sword to block the oing attack, but the girl''s sword twisted to the side at thest moment and managed to pierce his shoulder. Ryan quickly retreated backwards as blood started to flow from his shoulder.


    The girl dashed towards Ryan once more, hoping to stay on the attack and pierced her sword towards him. Ryan decided against fighting such an opponent at their pace, and instead mustered his full strength to jump high in the air, barely avoiding the blow. The girl looked up to see Ryan with his glowing sword raised high above his head.


    Ferocious Cleaving Technique!


    A powerful red beam of destructive sword Qi came crashing down towards the girl. She hastily used a movement technique to dodge it, but the shockwave of the technique violently crashing into the ground threw her off bnce. Ryannded on the ground and quickly used the Ferocious Cleaving Technique once more, and sent another powerful beam of sword Qi towards the girl.


    The girl, still off bnce from the attack, hastily raised her delicate sword and used her own technique to parry it.


    Techniques collided and the girl was sent flying backwards a dozen yards, but she managed tond gracefully at her feet.


    Boom!


    Just as the girlnded, a third Ferocious Cleaving Technique barely missed her andnded on the ground directly to her side and the force of the explosion immediately sent the girl flying once more. The girlnded hard on the ground and tumbled over a few times before she managed to right herself and prepared to stand up.


    Her eyes quickly opened in shock as she stared directly in front of her. A sword tip was resting two inches from her face, and if he wanted to, Ryan could easily kill the girl before she could respond.


    A disappointed look appeared on the girl''s face before she opened her mouth. "I concede."

 Chapter 73 - Round Of Sixty Four

    A smile appeared on Ryan''s face as he put his sword away and extended his hand to help the girl up. The girl epted and soon stood face to face with Ryan.


    "Good fight! You almost had me there for a second" said Ryan. He thought back to that agile sword that had almost pierced his waist and shuddered.


    "But in the end, I didn''t. Good luck in the next round" responded the girl before she left the tform and walked towards her n in the stands.


    "Good job Ryan. Nice fight!" A loud shout from Miko drowned out the rest of the cheering crowd as he congratted Ryan. Ryan gave Miko a thumbs up before he jumped off the stage and walked over to John and Miko.


    "Good stuff. Nice recovery." John congratted Ryan on his fight.


    "I had almost lost there. That girl is quite strong." Ryan responded as he sat down.


    "That she is. Those techniques of hers were quite strange and hard to predict, but you did the exact thing you should have. You overwhelmed her graceful and unpredictable techniques with pure power, and put her on the defensive at which point she couldn''t recover." John was quite impressed with Ryan''s battle there. Although it may seem simple, Ryan had made the correct decision and turned the battle from a battle of techniques to a battle of raw power.


    The group watched the rest of the fights until the fourth round finally arrived.


    "Well, I''m up again." John hopped up and started walking towards his fighting stage. He arrived at the same time his opponent did, who was a boy from the Ronan n. Since John won his fight in the first round, he assumed the ranking of his opponent, which was in the forties. As such, in this fight, he was fighting the eighteenth ranked opponent, who was much stronger than his previous opponent and was roughly equal to Ryan in strength.


    John nodded his head towards the boy and the boy did the same. While the Ronan n and Fenix n were not close allies, they were not enemies either. The two groups treated each other fairly well, and so neither fighter saw it fit to insult the other.


    "Let''s have a good fight, I''m John." John said as he smiled towards the boy.


    "Roy, I look forward to it. I won''t be like that Crimson Valley boy and underestimate you." Although Roy didn''t know exactly how John had managed to win, John''s fight at least showed that underestimating him would result in a quick loss.


    Roy took out his sword and steadied it by his side. John responded in kind and took out his scythe, which resulted in Roy raising his eyebrows in surprise.


    "A scythe huh? Never fought a scythe user before. This should be fun."


    The refereemenced the start of the fight, and John and Roy stood there staring at each other.


    ''I don''t want to reveal the Supreme Battle Art before I fight Dn in the finals, so unless I''m forced to do so, I want to hold that back and save it as a trump card. I''ll just use my body Qi like I did against Ryan, and use it to strengthen my body without using any particr technique or battle art.''


    Although his essence Qi power was astounding for his cultivation level, it was still much lower than Roy, who scored nearly six hundred on the test. John knew that only by using his body strength would he be able to win, but he still wanted to hold back as much as possible as to save trump cards for the final.


    "Let''s start this fight, shall we?" John blurted out and ran towards Roy. Roy smiled and dashed forward as well.


    Peng!


    Sword and scythe collided, and both fighters were knocked back a few yards.


    "You said you weren''t going to underestimate me, and yet that blow was still a testing blow." John couldn''t help but notice that the attack from Roy was far from his full power.


    Roy smiled and nodded his head. "I''m not underestimating you, that blow was a testing blow to see where your power lies. If it overwhelmed me, I held plenty back to quickly defend myself with. But I don''t think that was your full power either, was it?"


    John smiled and said nothing as he once more ran towards Roy.


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe!


    A powerful beam of scythe Qi flew towards Roy, and Roy struck out with his own technique.


    Boom!


    The techniques collided in midair, at which point John struck out with the second attack of the technique, and Roy widened his eyes slightly at the power of the attack.


    "No wonder you scored so high despite being in the middle Mist Creation Realm. You really are powerful!" Roy couldn''t help but praise John''s attack. It was definitely more powerful than anything he could have achieved back when he was in the middle Mist Creation Realm.


    Despite it being John''s strongest essence attack however, it was still blocked by Roy, although he had to use one of his strongest moves topletely cancel it out.


    John and Roy continued to exchange blows for several minutes, and John was repeatedly on the losing end of the exchanges. Roy dashed backwards after an exchange and shook his head at John.


    "That''s enough testing each other''s power. We have up to five more fights after this one if we win all the way to the finals, so I would like to save as much strength for the next battles as possible. Don''t you think it''s time we both go all out?" Roy enjoyed fighting John, as he could tell John was a fighting expert, but the Qi expenditure was not worth it in the end.


    "I suppose you''re right." John nodded his head at his opponent''s words. He had be so engrossed in fighting with his essence power that he had almost forgotten he was in a tournament. John shook his head at himself as well.


    ''I really am a battle fanatic. Even during this tournament, I just want to fight as much as possible. I guess it is time to end this.''


    John focused his mind and started to channel qi from his body dantian into his body. Immediately, an intense and slightly sinister battle aura exploded outwards from John, stunning both Roy and the crowd into silence.

 Chapter 74 - Battle Aura

    Roy looked at John with widened eyes and an open mouth,pletely shocked, and the crowd''s reaction was not so different as well. They could all feel an intense battle aura emanating from John, which made him seem like apletely different person. Not only that, but the power emanating from his body was unlike anything he had revealed before.


    "What the hell is going on with John?" In the stands, Miko stared at John with widened eyes as well.


    Ryan looked at John and nodded his head in approval. "It seems like he''s finally getting serious. He used this technique against me before, and was able to beat me with it."


    "Barden, what the hell is going on?" Cade Fenix couldn''t help but ask. Orenn and Rodi Fenix both had the same question as well.


    Barden also was quite surprised, but not as much as the others. He knew John had a unique cultivation system and powerful body, but this was the first time he truly felt the extent of that power, as well as that intense battle aura that John emitted. He could feel in intense blood lust and battle will in the aura, which was quite surprising considering John was still just fourteen years old.


    Barden quickly regained his wits and responded to the group. "I''ll exin it to you and everyone after the fight, as I''m sure there are going to be questions from many of those around."


    Back on the stage, John was channeling body Qi into his body without any technique. Although it was the simplest version of strengthening himself, the power it gave to his body was still quite intense, and the aura released was enough to shock anyone. The aurabined the intense battle lust and tempered will that John had acquired with the sinister nature of the body Qi he used. The three aspects mixed together, and gave anyone watching John the feeling that they were looking at a blood hungry battle demon.


    Roy noticed he had involuntarily retreated a few steps before he stopped himself. He calmed himself down and took a deep breath, at which point he steadied his sword in front of him and steeled his nerves.


    "It seems like you were still holding back in your first fight." Roy could tell that John was most likely even stronger than him right now.


    "That I did. Let''s end this, shall we?" Although this state was powerful, John didn''t want to use it for too long, as John''s body dantian could only be replenished through absorbing blood essence from beasts or humans.


    Through trial and error, John had discovered that beast blood essence was much less effective than human blood essence for raising his cultivation, but in regards to replenishing lost Qi reserves, it was just as effective as human blood essence. As such, John had stored a lot of Mist Creation beast corpses in his pce realm, and had collected the blood essence into many different barrels for storage. John had discovered that he could actually directly absorb the blood essence into his body dantian from the pce realm, and so he was able to replenish his lost reserves even while fighting, much like a normal cultivator would replenish their reserves by absorbing Qi from the air around them.


    However, John had limited beast blood essence, and he didn''t want to run out before the tournament was over. If he did, he wouldn''t be able to use his body Qi to empower his attacks, which would leave him at a disadvantage.


    Five Step Movement Technique!


    Johnbined both his body power and the first step of the Five Step Movement Technique to immediately appear in front of Roy with his scythe slicing towards Roy''s body. Roy had been in the process of thinking of a battle n, when John had suddenly appeared in front of him.


    "Too fast!" Roy thought as he desperately raised his sword and struck out with his most powerful attack he could muster.


    Bang!


    Roy was instantly sent flying backwards, but had managed to keep his bnce andnded on his feet. John once again dashed towards him, but opted against using the second step of his movement technique. The technique became predictable the more he used it, and he didn''t want to give his future opponents a good chance to read the technique. Others who witnessed the technique could tell that there were limitations with each step, such as direction and distance, and they could exploit these limitations.


    Sword Splitting Art!


    Roy immediately struck out at John, and a powerful beam of sword Qi instantly flew towards John. Unlike Ryan''s sword Qi which focused on power, this sword Qi focused on sharpness, and felt as if it could slice anything in half.


    John narrowed his eyes as he stared at the approaching attack.


    ''Although I wouldn''t die if I took this attack head on with my body, it would still injure me, and I can''t afford to take any injuries this early on into the tournament.''


    John decided against taking the attack head on, and quickly dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. John could have blocked the attack with his scythe, but he would have been knocked back slightly, at which point Roy would have taken the initiative in the fight.


    John once more dashed towards Roy, but put even more power into his legs as he dashed from side to side while approaching Roy, dodging every Qi attack that Roy sent towards him. The stone stage behind John was continuously sliced into by Roy''s attacks, showcasing the sharpness and power of the attacks.


    "Shit!" Roy blurted out as John sessfully managed to get into melee range once again.


    Bang!


    John struck out with his scythe once more, with even more power than before. Roy had managed to raise his sword in time to deflect, but was sent flying backwards more violently than the first time.


    "Why the fuck is his scythe so heavy?" Roy couldn''t help but notice that John''s scythe weighed far more than his own sword. Scythe wielders were usually known for their light and agile attacks, but John was theplete opposite. Not only was his scythe extremely heavy, the weight and power behind his attacks made Roy feel like he was fighting against a massive greatsword user and not a scythe user.


    John immediately took advantage of his attack by closing the distance with his first step of his movement technique and appearing in front of Roy once more. His scythe struck down again, and Roy once again raised his sword to parry it.


    Peng!


    Roy sessfully parried John''s attack, and had even managed to stand his ground in this exchange. John and Roy''s weapons were locked together as they stared at each other. Just as Roy was trying to think of how to turn the tides, John let go of the scythe with his left hand and sent a powerful punch towards Roy''s ribs.


    "Gah!"


    Roy was sent flying backwards like a kite, and he tumbled over several times before he eventually came to a stop. Although he had taken quite a bit of damage from that blow, Roy still managed to maintain consciousness, and even stood up as quickly as he could to continue fighting.


    "Give up!"


    Just as Roy stood up, he noticed John''s fist steadied right in front of his face. If John had wanted to, he could havepleted his punch there and ended the fight, but that would have severely injured Roy. John had quite a good impression of Roy, and saw no need to injure him excessively.


    Roy grit his teeth before responding. "I concede."

 Chapter 75 - Revealing The Innate Variant Body

    In thatst exchange, Roy had not expected John to punch out with his fist. None of the juniors of the five powers had body cultivations, and so none of them were used to fighting body cultivators. If an essence cultivator punched out like that, then it would have hardly any power and not be worth blocking. However, if an essence cultivator used a powerful technique on their fist to punch out with it, the Qi fluctuations would have exposed the technique early enough for Roy to notice and dash backwards.


    That''s what made body cultivators fearsome to fight against. Although their attacks were simple and straightforward, they were also incredibly quick and powerful.


    The crowd was silent for a moment before it exploded into apuse and heated discussions.


    "What the hell just happened? How did that Fenix boy explode out with so much power"


    "I don''t know, but did that boy just use body cultivation?"


    "Well, he also used essence attacks earlier. Is he actually cultivating both?"


    "Do you really think his n would let him do something that stupid?"


    "Well then how would you exin what just happened? Clearly he used both essence and body attacks there, and it didn''t seem like his power was hindered by that at all either."


    "Well, that''s impossible as we all know. Something weird is going on here."


    Many simr discussions broke out through the stands. No one could understand what had just happened.


    "Barden, what is going on here?" Cade couldn''t help but ask. He had no idea what to make of this situation. Although John winning was fantastic news, even he had no idea how John had unleashed such power at the middle Mist Creation realm.


    Barden was just about to respond when a loud shout echoed out.


    "I knew something fishy was going on. The boy must be cheating. Just what the hell is going on here Fenix n?" Warren Gildar couldn''t make sense of it either, and was convinced that John was cheating somehow. He could tell that John had exploded out with more power in both essence and body than what a dual cultivator could do, and so the only thing he thought of was that John was using some kind of powerful artifact or treasure to increase his power.


    "Shut your goddamn mouth you old fool" Barden Fenix barked back at Warren. Insulting his son like that had ignited his anger.


    "What did you say?" Warren Gildar had been disrespected twice by Barden now, and felt like killing him more than anything else right now.


    Waylon Varis jumped onto John''s fighting tform and called out to the Fenix n. "This situation is quite odd. Would you mind exining what''s going on?"


    Cade Fenix had no idea how to respond, but before he could say anything, Barden stood up and walked over to the arena John was standing on.


    "Nice job!" Barden winked at his son and congratted him on a good fight.


    "Thanks Dad."


    Barden stood besides John and turned to address the crowd in the stands.


    "I''m sure you could all tell that my son used his body in that fight along with essence Qi, and to a higher level than a dual cultivator could do. And you''re right, he did use essence attacks and powerful body attacks, but he did not use a treasure to aplish this, and he does not follow the body cultivation path either."


    "What the hell are you talking about. Isn''t what you''re saying impossible then?" Warren Gildar rebuked loudly, while the crowd nodded their heads in agreement. Everyone knew that if someone cultivated both body and essence, their attacks would be weaker than focusing on one, but without body cultivation, how could John exin the attacks he used in the fight.


    Barden smiled and shook his head before he turned to John. "There are going to be some powerful divine senses scanning you soon, but just bear with it for a moment."


    John nodded his head and reassured his father that it was fine.


    When a cultivator at a much higher level used their divine sense to inspect someone at a lower level, the lower level cultivator would feel a sort of pressure bear down on them. Therger the gap in cultivation''s, therger this pressure would be. The pressure wasn''t from physical force, but was felt by the mind and soul instead. Someone with a weak soul and weak will would be unable to bear the divine senses of powerful experts, and would either be scared stiff, or even copse into unconsciousness. In the worst of cases, there were stories of cultivators going crazy or dumb from the divine senses overwhelming their minds and souls. John was about to bear the divine sense inspections of Core Formation experts, and quite a lot of them, which was why Barden had warned him.


    "Why don''t you all do yourself a favor and use your divine sense to inspect John''s body." Barden suggested to the crowd. It was the only way to definitely silence the doubters once and for all. While many had scanned John earlier, none of the Core Formation experts had, otherwise they would have realized his unique body situation.


    John immediately felt dozens of divine sense''s pass over his body and soul. Although there was quite a bit of pressure on him, it wasn''t enough to make John flinch, let alone anything worse.


    ''Compared to the holy gate and sinister gate, the pressure of these divine senses is insignificant. Especially the sinister gate, these senses are like an antpared to a heavenly dragon. Although the quantity of pressure emanating from the sinister gate isn''t that high, the quality and profundity is far beyond anything I''ve ever experienced. These divine senses are far from what''s capable of making me feel uneasy.''


    John could immediately see a benefit to tempering his will in front of the sinister gate, and vowed to continue to do so in the future. Not only that, but his strengthened soul from cultivating in front of the holy gate helped him withstand these powerful senses as well.


    Barden had expected John to feel unwell and was ready to use his own divine sense to help alleviate some of the burden on John, but waspletely shocked to find that John didn''t even flinch, let alone look unwell at all.


    After a few seconds of close inspection, many of the Core Formation elders in the crowd drew in deep gasps.


    "This is?"


    "No, it couldn''t be. But it''s unmistakable."


    Many of the elders started talking amongst themselves regarding their findings.


    Arge smile appeared on Barden''s face as he once again addressed the crowd. "That''s correct, your divine senses are not ying tricks on any of you. The reason John is able to fight with body powerparable to a body cultivator is because...he has an Innate Variant Body."

 Chapter 76 - Variant Body Types

    The crowd immediately exploded in an uproar at the information that Barden just revealed.


    "What? Does he really have an Innate Variant Body?"


    "How is that possible? Aren''t Innate Variant Bodies supposed to be extremely rare?"


    "Obviously he was born lucky. It would help exin that power he unleashed."


    "That Miko Varis has an Innate Variant Soul, and now this Fenix n boy has an Innate Variant Body. Just what the hell is going ontely?"


    The crowd was conversing nonstop about this shocking revtion. Miko Varis was already considered a one in ten thousand year heavenly genius due to his Innate Variant Soul that not only helped him cultivate faster, but gave him frightfully shocking soul powers. Now John was thrown into this mix as well, which was almost too much for the crowd to believe.


    Warren Gildar had an extremely miserable expression as he shouted out in protest. "While he may have an Innate Variant Body, it still doesn''t exin how he was able to use that much body power. Innate Variant Bodies increase body strength sure, but not to the level that John just revealed. His body power is much stronger than his essence power, which is something I have never heard of in an essence cultivator, even with an Innate Variant Body."


    There were written records of some lucky cultivators being born with Innate Variant Bodies over thest several thousand years. Each of those cultivators became heavenly geniuses of the continent, but none of the written records indicated that any of them had bodies that were naturally stronger than their essence cultivation power.


    Innate Variant Body cultivators took two paths depending on when they discovered their variant bodies. If they discovered it before cultivation started, then most would opt to pursue body cultivation to make the most of their natural gifts. On the other hand, if a cultivator started essence cultivation before finding out about their variant body, they would continue on the essence pathway, but their naturally powerful body would be something they would use on top of their essence power to overwhelm their opponents in the same realm.


    However, there were absolutely no records of someone having an Innate Variant Body that by itself was stronger than their essence cultivation power, at least not any that Warren was aware of.


    Another factor for Innate Variant Bodies was just how unique and powerful they were. There were manymon types of Innate Variant Bodies that provided a decent increase in natural strength over a normal cultivator, and these would show up every few decades to a few hundred years in this part of the Yuan Continent. However, above Common Innate Variant Bodies were King Variant Bodies, Emperor Variant Bodies, Sovereign Variant Bodies, andstly Heavenly Variant Bodies.


    Cultivators born with King and Emperor Variant Bodies were incredibly rare, and almost all of them ended up being cultivators that stood at the peak of power on the Yuan Continent, including the Yuan Continent Holy Land. Beyond that were Sovereign Variant Body cultivators, and these were so rare that the Yuan continent had never had one despite its tens of thousands of years of cultivation history. Finally, Heavenly Variant Bodies were so rare as to only be myth, and no one truly knew if these body types existed or not.


    Because of this, Warren couldn''t help but call out in protest. He could tell that John had an Innate Variant Body, but even his Innate Variant Body wasn''t enough to exin the level of power he exploded out with, as he assumed John could only have a Common Variant Body.


    Barden scoffed at Warren and responded loudly. "That may be true for almost all Innate Variant Bodies, but when you inspected John, did you not pay attention to the quality of his body? Even a decrepit old fart like you could surely tell that John''s Innate Variant Body is something extraordinary, something none of us have ever seen in our lives. Even someone like you must know that there are tiers of Innate Variant Bodies, ranging from amon Innate Variant Body all the way to Heavenly Innate Variant Bodies."


    Barden paused for a moment to let the information sink in for everyone listening.


    "So what? Are you suggesting that John has a King Variant Body or a Emperor Variant Body? Who would believe such a thing?" Warren couldn''t help but interrupt Barden and preempt him on his conclusion as to what body type John had.


    "Do yourself a favor and inspect John''s body once more, but carefully and thoroughly this time. I''m sure that even you will understand the truth then." Barden responded to Warren.


    When Warren and the rest inspected John, they were shocked to find that he indeed had an Innate Variant Body, but they didn''t deem it necessary to look closer as almost every single Innate Variant Body belonged to the Common Variant Body type. Only by carefully inspecting John''s body could they truly see the intricate profundities of his body.


    Warren scoffed and once again sent his divine sense out to inspect John. John felt an even more powerful wave of divine senses pass over him whenpared to before, but even this was not enough to shake his will.


    Warren continued to scan John for over a minute, and his initial dismissive attitude soon turned to surprise, and thenplete and outright shock.


    "This¡­"


    Not only Warren, but the other Core Formation elders that inspected John carefully this time had alle to the same conclusion. The conclusion that John''s body type was so profound that even they couldn''t begin to understand exactly what tier it belonged to. From the muscles, tendons, bones, blood, and subtle Qi fluctuations that flowed through his body, John''s body was unlike anything they had seen or thought possible. It was like the heavens themselves had blessed every single cell of his body to be a true, perfect creation. Although they could also sense a hint of a sinister aura emanating from his body, they assumed it was due to his specific Variant Body Type.


    From what they could tell, John''s body was so profound that they had no idea what power potential John would have in the future, but the only word they could describe it as was "limitless."


    In the crowd, Cade, Orren and Rodi were all shocked speechless, as they too could hardly believe what their divine sense was telling them.


    Barden watched the powerful elders of all the powers be shocked intoplete speechlessness, and arge smile appeared on his face. He coughed once before he once again addressed the crowd.


    "That''s right. Although none of us can be one hundred percent certain, I believe that John''s Innate Variant Body is of the Sovereign Variant Body Type, or even¡­.the Heavenly Variant Body Type."

 Chapter 77 - Tournament Continues

    "How could such a thing be possible?" Warren Gildar refused to believe it. Even a Sovereign Variant Body was something that was myth and legend, let alone a Heavenly Variant Body. Although Warren couldn''t identify just how powerful and profound John''s body was, he still refused to believe it. He had already hated that the Varis n produced Miko Varis, and now the Fenix n produced John.


    "If these two boys are allowed to cultivate for even just ten years, they willpletely overthrow the power bnce, and our sect could possibly be wiped out. We must hasten our ns. I need to inform Elder Forren about this after the pocket realm." Warren Gildar thoughts frantically raced, and the thought of John and Miko cultivating to adulthood scared him stiff.


    While the Elders of all the powers were still shocked, the juniors who had no idea about the importance of Innate Variant Bodies started asking about it.


    "Why is everyone so shocked? Is John''s body awesome like my soul or something?" Miko couldn''t help but ask. Ryan was quite curious too, but knew the matter would be exined by the Fenix n elders soon enough.


    Barden once again spoke up, as he had dyed the tournament proceedings enough already. "As you can see, John has an incredibly powerful body, and it''s profound to an extent that even we cannot fully understand it. Only John himself understands it, but he has no intentions of letting anyone know anything about his body type, and so you will have to live with that. I only brought this matter up in the first ce to put all the cheating usations to rest. I hope we continue with the tournament now."


    Warren Gildar wanted to say something, but knew what Barden had said was the truth. There really isn''t anything he could disqualify John with, and so he sat down and remained silent, although a slightly murderous light glinted in his eyes.


    Waylon Varis finally regained hisposure, and walked up to Barden on the stage whileughing loudly. "Haha, I guess I should congratte your n. It seems like the Varis n is now not the only one with a heavenly genius."


    Bardenughed in response and thanked Waylon, before he hopped off the stage and returned to his seat.


    "Congrattions Cade and Barden. Seems like your n will soar in the near future."


    "Mhm, if only we were lucky enough to have someone with an Innate Variant Body."


    All the powers except the Crimson Valley Sect started showering the Fenix n with praises. They were truly jealous of this revtion, but expressed their goodwill nheless. Unless something disastrous happened, John was destined to be a mighty figure in the future, and they all wanted to be on the Fenix n''s good side.


    "Why didn''t you inform us of John''s variant body?" Cade Fenix couldn''t help but ask his son Barden.


    "You were going to find out today anyways, so I felt no need to reveal it beforehand." Barden nonchntly responded.


    "You know, this changes things. John''s heavenly talents will draw the envy and hate of many. We will need to use all our resources to make sure hes protected at all times from now on." Cade Fenix understood the hearts of men, and knew John would be targeted in the future.


    A serious look appeared on Barden''s face as he nodded his head. He knew revealing John''s talents would draw the eyes of many onto him, but entering the pocket realm was far too important for John to give up, and so revealing his full power, and thus body type, was the only way forward.


    "Now that this matter has been settled, let''s continue with the tournament." Waylon wanted to get the tournament started once more, as there were still many rounds toplete. John hopped off the stage and returned to his seat by Ryan and Miko.


    "John, what''s a Variant Body? And why is everyone freaking out so much?" Miko couldn''t help but ask John curiously. Ryan himself was quite curious, and when he thought back to how John had beaten him in their fight, it all made sense to him now how John was able to beat him while at the middle Mist Creation Realm.


    "Uhhh, it''s kinda like your variant soul, but only for my body." John tried to exin it in the most simple and vague manner, as even he was unsure of how powerful his body was or what type of variant body it was. The only thing he knew was that his variant body was caused by cultivating the Immortal Asura Body.


    "Oh, that makes sense. That''s awesome, now we both have special cultivation''s. With us working together, we''ll dominate the entire continent soon enough, hahahah." Miko startedughing like a deranged madman as he thought about him and John dominating everything and everyone. Miko had always felt like somewhat of an outcast, as almost everyone treated him as some kind of special cultivation prodigy, but he liked it when people treated him normally. John was one of those people, and finding out that John was special just like him made Miko incredible happy.


    John shook his head at Miko''s antics and sat down besides them. After such a big scene, the crowd took a while to settle down, and many eyes were curiously peering towards John, some with reverence, some with curiosity, and some with hate.


    In the Fenix n stands, a pair of eyes filled with jealousy and slight anger were staring straight at John. After some time of staring, Parker Fenix looked away and back towards the arenas where the fights were about to resume.


    All the fighters in the fourth round had stopped their fights when themotion involving John appeared. Now that it had settled down, they continued their fights until all of them had been finished. The fifth round began, and Ryan instantly perked up when he saw who was fighting.


    "Oh, my sister is fighting huh? Go E, kick some Crimson Valley butt." Miko Varis shouted out cheers of encouragement for this sister''s fight toe. E Varis looked towards Miko and smiled and waved. Her eyes lingered slightly on Ryan who was staring at her inplete infatuation before she once again looked towards her opponent in front of her.


    John noticed her gaze pause on Ryan and a smile crept up on his face. "Seems like there may be some mutual interest Ryan. Why don''t you go talk to her and congratte her after her fight?"


    Ryan blushed slightly and started stammering. "Uhhh...may..maybe."


    John shook his head and looked over towards Miko. "Miko, has your sister ever talked about who she likes?"


    Miko was surprised by the question, but paused to think for a bit before he shook his head. "She hasn''t said anything of the sort to me. Why do you ask? Do you like her?" A mischievous smile broke out on Miko''s face as he started poking John in his ribs with his elbow.


    "Cut it out. And it''s not me" John pushed Miko''s arm aside as he eyed Miko towards Ryan several times. Miko finally caught on to John''s meaning, and loudly started talking to Ryan.


    "You like my sister? Why haven''t you said anything? I can help hook you up." Miko winked at Ryan and started badgering him about his feelings for E. Ryan repeatedly tried to get Miko to stop talking about it, but to no avail.


    "Fine, I''ll go talk to her after her fight? Happy John?" Ryan finally gave up and agreed to John''s proposal.


    "Good. Looks like the fight''s about to start."


    The three of them looked towards the stage E was fighting on, and watched her battle with a member of the Crimson Valley Sect. Her fighting style was filled with grace and fluidity, and her unending and unpredictable attacks eventually allowed her to win over her opponent.


    Miko started cheering loudly for his sister''s win, and E waved to him before she walked over to the stands where her friends were.


    Ryan steeled his eyes and stood up resolutely. "Well boys, wish me luck."


    John and Miko startedughing and encouraging Ryan as he walked over to E, and John was just about to say something to Miko when he noticed a certain someone step onto the fighting arena for the next rounds of fights.


    "So, Dn is finally up huh?"

 Chapter 78 - Dylan Showing His Power

    The entire crowd immediately focused on the stage that Dn was fighting on. Being the highest rated fighter in the tournament, most people were expecting him to win. This was his first fight, and everyone was curious as to how powerful he really was.


    His opponent was a boy from the Fenix n whose ranking was deadst out of the sixty fourpetitors. He looked towards Dn with trepidation, but still held his sword firmly in his hand. The refereemenced the start of the fight, and Dn casually spoke to his opponent.


    "Give up, or don''t me me for being merciless."


    "No. I know I have no chance of winning, but I will still fight nheless," the boy responded. He knew he would lose, but he wanted to lose with dignity instead of giving up before even fighting.


    "Hmph, fight? There won''t be a fight." Dn quickly raised his sword and shed it down before his opponent could even react. An incredibly powerful beam of blood red sword Qi traveled towards the Fenix n boy, and arrived before he could even react.


    "So fast!" The crowd could hardly believe the speed at which Dn had attacked. Not only was the attack incredibly quick, but it was also powerful.


    The boy hastily raised his own sword to block, and the powerful beam of Qi collided against his sword.


    "Gah!"


    The boy was violently sent flying backwards, and the sound of his arm bones breaking was audible. The boynded hard on the stage and tumbled over several times, blood trailing behind him. Before his body could evene to a stop, Dn arrived next to the boy and kicked out with all his might. Qi covered his entire leg as he used a crude but powerful imitation of John''s kick to send his opponent flying off the arena and into the stands.


    Boom!


    The boy collided against the stone stands, and bones could once again be heard breaking. The entire crowd was immediately silenced as they had no idea how to react to what they just witnessed. Dn''s strength waspletely overwhelming, and he had won with just a single move.


    Some Fenix n Elders immediately reacted and ran over to the boy, and their eyes immediately hardened as they inspected the boy.


    "Quickly, take him back to the carriages and administer aid. Give him a Golden Mist Healing Pill." An elder barked out orders, and the boy was immediately carted off. Cade Fenix used his divine sense to inspect the boy''s body as he was carried away, and became instantly enraged at what he saw.


    "Warren, what the hell is the meaning of this?" Cade couldn''t help but yell out in anger. He knew that Warren had most likely given Dn instructions to hurt any Fenix n member, but this was going over the line.


    "What do you mean? Dn just did exactly what your boy did in his first fight?" Warren shrugged and nonchntly answered, but a slight smile betrayed his otherwise calm demeanor.


    "Exactly the same my ass. Your boy will heal just fine within a week or two, but Dn just nearly killed our junior. If he''s lucky, he''ll fully recover in half a year, if not more. I''m warning you, do not go too far, or don''t me me for being impolite." Cade Fenix angrily warned.


    Although the Fenix n boy was gravely injured, his dantian was not crippled and he was not dead. It would take a long time for him to heal, but he would eventually recover and be able to cultivate again. Since this was the case, he had no case to try to get Dn disqualified, so the only thing he could do was personally warn Warren from going too far.


    "Like I said before, if you want to fight, let''s fight. Otherwise, don''t threaten me with these petty words." Warren responded bluntly.


    Cade Fenix wanted to rebuke, but he knew arguing too much was beneath his status as a n leader. The only thing he could do was make anyone in his n surrender if they got matched up against Dn, to avoid something like this from happening again.


    Dn started walking off the stage, and he made sure to look directly at John as he did so. John''s provocation of the Crimson Valley Sect ignited his ire, and his revealing of having an Innate Variant Body ignited that ire even further. Dn was used to being the number one genius, and would do anything to make sure it stayed that way.


    John stared straight back at Dn with anger in his eyes. Although he wasn''t close friends with the boy who was injured, he still knew him quite well. They had spared many times while growing up, and John thought well of the boy. Seeing him injured in such a manner just to send John a message was going too far.


    "Goddamnit, this Dn pisses me off just as much as Jason." Miko was also enraged by the actions of Dn. "He acts like he''s so amazing, yet I would wipe the floor with his corpse if I wanted to. What''s so amazing about him?"


    Miko made sure to speak loudly so that the crowd and Dn himself heard hisments. Dn''s face contorted in rage and was about to respond when a voice suddenly spoke up from the stands.


    "That''s tough talk from someone who didn''t even make the finals of the Qi Condensation tournament. Last I remember, I kicked your ass in the tournament, so why are you acting so tough?"


    Miko and the rest of the crowd instantly looked over to the source of the voice, and found Jason from the Crimson Valley Sectzily leaning back in the stands with an arrogant look on his face. He had found Miko''sments all throughout the tournament annoying to listen to, and so he wanted to silence Miko here and now.


    "Motherfucker, you want to fight right now? I had only just advanced the day before the tournament and I still almost beat you. Not only that, but you''re three years older than me and you still have the gall to mouth off? If I was you, I would just kill myself out of embarrassment."


    Miko immediately responded to Jason in anger.


    "What did you say?" Jason''s face immediately darkened as his urge to kill Miko exploded outwards. Miko looked unflinchingly at Jason and was about to respond when Waylon cut both of them off.


    "That''s enough, it''s time for the next round."


    The sixth round had ended and the remaining fights of the seventh andst round were about to start. Both Dalton and Joy, who were the second highest cements after Dn fought in this stage. They both showed amazingbat prowess, and easily won their fights.


    "The round of sixty four has now concluded. From here on out, the matchups will be random, and the matchups for the next round of thirty two have been posted. Please look at your matchups and proceed to your respective arenas." Waylon once more instructed the group of participants.


    John spotted Ryan walking over to the matchup board and walked up to him with a smile. "So how did it go?"


    "Quite well, surprisingly." Ryan responded but added nothing further. Both of them were here for the tournament, so matters of the heart could wait forter.


    The next round fights were carried out, and John, Ryan, E, Dn, Dalton and Joy all won their fights rtively easily. John once again used the power of his body cultivation to overwhelm his opponent with pure force, which shocked the crowd once more, despite them knowing about his Innate Variant Body.


    When the round of sixteen matches were posted, both John and Ryan immediately walked over to look at their matchups.


    A depressed look instantly appeared on Ryan''s face as John reached out and consoled him with some back pats.


    "Tough luck buddy, but since you''re matched up against me, this is where your tournament ends."

 Chapter 79 - War Mages

    In the round of sixteen, Ryan and John had been matched as opponents. Based on their fight before, and also John''s performance today, Ryan knew that his tournament journey had ended.


    "Hey, you''ve made the top sixteen already though. You''re guaranteed a spot in the pocket realm, so the only thing you''re missing out on is the prizes awarded to the top three of the tournament." John tried to console Ryan given that he was the one about to eliminate him.


    "I guess you''re right. Besides, if I had to lose to anyone, I''d prefer it to be you. If I ran into that asshole Dn, I would have to surrender without even fighting, which would be embarrassing."


    John nodded his head at Ryan''sment. Fighting Dn really would have been the worst result for Ryan, so at least it wasn''t all bad. John and Ryan had their fight in the first stage of the round of sixteen, and so they immediately proceeded to their fighting stage.


    After hopping onto the stage, the refereemenced the start of the fight, and Ryan and John stared at each other.


    "I know I can''t beat you, but I don''t want to give up without a fight either. How about this, let me attack you with my strongest attack uninterrupted, and if you are fine afterwards, I''ll concede." Ryan wanted to at least show to the crowd, and E, what he was truly capable of, and so he came up with this to give himself some face in defeat.


    "Sure. I''ll ept." John couldn''t refuse this request from Ryan. He knew it was Ryan''sst fight, and knew that Ryan wanted to go out with a bang.


    "Thanks." Ryan smiled and took out his sword. "Prepare yourself John, cause I''m not holding back."


    John nodded his head and stared at Ryan, who started to prepare his attack. When it came to essence fighting, there were two main ways of using essence Qi to fight. The first was the way that almost all cultivators fought, and that was to use their Qi in quick but powerful bursts to unleash powerful attacks in a short amount of time. Bncing the speed and power of attacks was important, as taking too long to channel an attack, like John''s first enemy, would leave openings that an opponent could exploit.


    The second and less used method was to channel and umte essence Qi for a long duration before explosively releasing it outwards in a massive attack. The upside of this method was it allowed a cultivator to unleash their strongest attacks, which were much more powerful than what they would be capable of normally, while the downside was the long channeling time that left the cultivator open for any counter attacks.


    Using the second method was almost impossible in a one on one fight, as the enemy could easily interrupt anyone trying to channel an attack. However, when the cultivator had people to defend them while channeling, they could unleash devastating attacks. Channeled attacks would have muchrger attack areas, and were perfect for causing massive casualties. These types of cultivators were known as War Mages, and they received such a name due to the incredible destruction they could unleash inrge scale warfare.


    Being a War Mage took a unique type of talent, because the cultivator had to be able to channel and control a massive amount of Qi at once before unleashing it. Without proper talent in controlling Qi, a cultivator channeling a powerful attack could lose control of their Qi, and in the worst cases, cultivators had been known to explode from within by losing control of their Qi during such attacks.


    This type of control was a separate type of talent that some cultivators had, and was a fairly rare talent to have. Even one in a thousand cultivators might not have this talent of Qi control.


    Although the Qi reserves of War Mages might not be the highest, and their fighting prowess might not be the best, they had immense talent in controlling their Qi, and were able to unleash massively devastating attacks without losing control.


    Through his training, Ryan had discovered that he was exactly this type of talent. Hisbat prowess and essence Qi power was considered impressive, but what he truly excelled at was Qi control. Some Fenix n Elder''s had noticed this talent a while back, and had started to train Ryan in some of the ns most powerful channeled attacks.


    Ryan stood there for a moment and took a deep breath before assuming a wide and unique stance. One of his hands was resting on his chest, while the other hand was cupped below his stomach, right where his dantian was.


    John stared at Ryan and narrowed his eyes at what he was witnessing. Due to the unique nature of the talent, John had never run into someone who channeled their attacks, and was unsure what was happening.


    Ryan stood there in silence for some time, and the crowd started to be confused at what was happening.


    "What''s he doing? Is this a posing battle?"


    "I don''t know, but he''s been standing like that for ten seconds already without moving."


    While the crowd was talking, an incredibly powerful aura exploded from Ryan. The crowd was shocked into silence at the sudden change of events, and John was shocked as well. His eyes were wide open as he stared straight at Ryan.


    ''What is going on? I''ve never seen anything like this. I don''t know why, but Ryan is making me feel incredible danger right now. I need to go all out to defend this.'' A nervous smile broke out on John''s face as he took out his scythe and assumed a wide stance. Although he didn''t know what was happening, he could tell that Ryan was about to unleash an incredible attack, and was fully prepared to receive it head on like he promised.


    In the stands, Cade Fenix and the rest of the Fenix n Elders were watching Ryan channel his attack in surprise.


    "Why did I not know that Ryan had such a talent in channeling attacks?" Cade Fenix asked around to all the Elders around him.


    Ryan''s father, Darus Fenix, a powerful Core Formation Elder of the n, spoke up. "I was the one who discovered this talent of Ryan''s. He had wanted to keep it a secret for who knows what reason, but now it''s revealed for all to see." A proud smile was evident on Ryan''s fathers face as he watched his son channel his attack.


    Cade Fenix looked at Ryan and then back to Darus. "We''ll, whatever the reason, this is fantastic news. War Mages such as Ryan are absolutely invaluable on a battlefield, and his talent will surely bring immense benefits to our Fenix n in the future."


    Back on the stage, John stared at Ryan as he continued to channel his attack. An explosive battle aura radiated from John as he channeled body Qi into every inch of his body. He could tell that if he didn''t seriously receive this attack, he would lose.


    After a full minute of channeling, Ryan finally looked like he was unable to contain it anymore. Dozens of veins bulged under his slightly red glowing skin, and he looked like he was about to explode.


    "Prepare yourself" Ryan grunted through gritted teeth as he looked towards John.


    The hand that had been resting on his chest outstretched towards John, and his middle and pointer finger were pointing directly towards John.


    Bang!


    An incredible powerful and destructive beam of pure white Qi exploded out of Ryan''s fingers, and traveled in a line straight towards John. While most Qi beams at the Mist Creation level were several inches across and somewhat hazy looking, this attack from Ryan was two feet across and contained an incredibly dense Qi essence, and was something moreparable to a Qi Condensation attack.


    John''s eyes widened in shock as he stared at the rapidly approaching attack.

 Chapter 80 - Ryan’s True Power

    Myriad Annihtion Scythe!


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe, Second Attack!


    John struck out with the first two stages of Myriad Annihtion scythe in an attempt to weaken the attack. The techniques collided, and John was dismayed to see that although the Myriad Annihtion Scythe dimmed the approaching attack slightly, it was stilling towards him with incredible power.


    John focused once more on explosively sending body Qi to every inch of his body in order to achieve his most powerful state.


    ''I think I have to use the Supreme Battle Art to handle this attack. I don''t want to use it, but I have no choice. I''ll use it at the veryst moment, and hopefully no one notices it.''


    Ryans attack reached John, and John struck out with his scythe to meet the attack. His arm muscles were bulging, and veins could be seen popping out under his skin as he struck out with his full power. The very instant before Ryan''s attack reached him, John explosively used the Supreme Battle Art to increase his body power to its very limits.


    Both Jason and Dn instantly narrowed their eyes and stared at John, unsure of what they had felt from John for a moment.


    Boooom!


    A massive explosion of Qi radiated outwards as a figure was seen flying backwards like a bullet. John tumbled head over heels several times before he finally managed to swing his scythe downwards with his full power and bury its de into the stone arena below him while he his blood tumble inside him and his bones creak in pain from the power of the attack. He desperately held onto the shaft of the scythe, while his arms muscles bulged from the power needed to hold on to his scythe.


    The stone arena contentiously exploded outwards as John used his buried scythe de in an attempt to slow his momentum. After what felt like an eternity to him, John finally managed toe to a halt. His arms were still shaking from the force of the attack that he had received, and blood slightly flowed from his mouth as he had received some damage taking that attack head on. He let out a massive exhausted breath and looked behind him.


    Just inches behind him, John saw the arena end and drop off to the ground below. John felt himself start to sweat at just how close he hade to losing in this fight if he was knocked off the stage.


    ''Even with my powerful body, I don''t think I can receive that attack directly without half dying.''


    After a second ofposing himself, John put away his scythe and turned to look at Ryan. Ryan was breathing incredibly heavy, and looked like he was a candle flickering in the wind.


    Ryan started to copse, but before he hit the ground, John reached him and managed to keep him upright.


    "That was one hell of an attack." John had no other way to describe it. It was the most powerful attack he had ever received in his life, and if he didn''t have the Immortal Asura Body and the Supreme Battle Art, John would never have had the confidence to take it head on like he had.


    "Ha, thanks. But in the end, it still wasn''t enough. I concede" Ryan felt proud of that attack, but was still disappointed that he had lost.


    "I can say with confidence that if it were anyone else in this tournament receiving that attack, you would have won." John truly meant these words. Although no one in the tournament besides himself would be kind enough to wait for such an attack to bepleted, John was confident that no one else would have been able to receive that attack like he had, even including Dn.


    The crowd had been shocked into silence by the amazing attack and John''s impressive defense, but immediately exploded into an uproar upon Ryan''s concession.


    "What the hell was that attack? How was it so powerful?"


    "I think that''s one of those War Mage attacks, but I''ve never seen it in person before."


    "It sure was amazing however. I didn''t know a Mist Creation cultivator could attack with that much power."


    "I know, right? The boy who received the attack is amazing as well. That Innate Variant Body of his is already showing how advantageous it is. Otherwise, I doubt he would have been able to receive that attack without losing."


    Many simr discussions were happening all throughout the crowd as John and Ryan hopped off the arena and walked towards their seats.


    "That..was¡­.awesome!" Miko Varis rushed up to them and enthusiastically shouted. He immediately started barraging them with questions, mostly questions for Ryan and what his attack was.


    "It was a channeled Qi attack, which is a bit different than normal Qi attacks." Ryan didn''t want to go into the details as he was still quite tired, and so he gave Miko a quick exnation to satisfy his curiosity.


    John and Ryan sat down and focused on recovering their strength while they watched the remaining fights carry out. Joy, Dalton, and Dn won unsurprisingly, while E Varis also managed to win her fight and proceed to the top eightpetitors.


    After concluding all the fights, Waylon Varis announced the new fights. Since there were only eightpetitors left and only four fights, the fights were announced verbally instead of being posted on the board.


    "The first fight will be Dalton vs. Adam. The second fight, Joy vs Steven. The third fight, Dn vs Grant. And the fourth andst fight, John vs E."


    John scratched his head in frustration as he heard the pairings. "First I had to fight you, and now I have to fight E. Why does it seem like I''m destined to eliminate all my friends. Just pair me against Dn already so I can kick his ass."


    Ryan nodded his head in agreement, while Miko had no idea how to proceed with the situation. "Do I cheer for you, or do I cheer for my sister? Ahhhhh, I don''t know what to do. This is so frustrating." Miko wanted both to win, but that was obviously impossible.


    John andpany continued to sit in the stands as the first fight began. It was between Dalton of the Flowing River Sect, and Adam of the Varis n. The battle was absolutely impressive, and Dalton just managed to overpower Adam and win. In the second battle, Joy Ronan managed to overpower Steven from the Crimson Valley Sect and win, which led to the third fight between Dn of the Crimson Valley Sect, and Grant Fenix of the Fenix n.

 Chapter 81 - Dylan’s Brutality

    The crowd held its breath as they stared at the two juniors standing in the arena below. Grant Fenix stood there with a grave expression, while Dn had arge, sinister smile on his face.


    Based on what had happened thest time Dn fought a Fenix n member, the crowd was certain that Grant would give up. Although he was the highest rated Fenix n junior in terms of the Qi test, he was still far below Dn in terms of power.


    The refereemenced, and Dn looked towards Grant as if he were a piece of meat on the chopping block.


    Grant grit his teeth as he thought of what to do. He didn''t want to give up, but he knew fighting Dn was a surefire way to get beaten half to death. After a few seconds of deliberation, Grant finally made his decision and started to speak.


    "I...I con-"


    Boom!


    In the same manner as the fight before, Dn used his incredibly quick and powerful Qi art to attack Grant. Grant''s sorry figure was seen flying dozens of yards back before he finallynded on his feet. Some wounds had opened up on his arms from the force of the st.


    Although he had taken quite a bit of damage from that attack, Grant had managed to notice it at thest moment and hastily raise his own sword to defend. However, his hasty defense resulted in him taking quite a bit of damage from that attack.


    "I -!


    Once again, Dn used that technique to attack Grant before he could finish his sentence. Grant quickly used a movement technique to barely dodge the attack, but was dismayed to see another Qi attack flying directly towards where he had moved.


    He once again hastily raised his defense, but was sent flying miserably across the arena. This time, hended violently on the ground and tumbled over several times beforeing to a halt.


    John narrowed his eyes as a look of slight anger appeared on his face. Him and everyone else could tell that Grant was about to concede, but Dn never gave him the time to actually do so.


    ''If Grant resolved himself from the start and put up a good defense, he wouldn''t be in this situation right now. But his will was crushed before the fight even began, and Dn took advantage of that.''


    John was once more reminded of why a strong and tempered will was important. Although Grant was weaker than Dn, he wasn''t weaker to the point of being defeated in two moves. However, his will was crushed by Dn before the fight began, and he had no thought of fighting back. His defenses weren''t raised since he was about to concede, and thisck of preparation allowed Dn to attack and stay on the attack without any counterattacks from Grant.


    Dn used a movement technique to quickly appear next to Grant, and his foot stomped on the head of Grant. Arge, evil smile appeared on Dn''s face as he started to stomp over and over on Grant''s face.


    Although it wasn''t enough to kill Grant, it was still a miserable sight to see. Grant''s face became more and more mutted as Dn continued to stomp on it.


    "That''s enough, the fight is over." The referee couldn''t stand to see any more of this, and ended the fight himself.


    Dn looked towards the referee and responded with an indifferent tone. "What are you talking about? He hasn''t verbally conceded, and we can all tell he isn''t unconscious yet. The fight isn''t over."


    While talking to the referee, Dn continued to stomp on Grant''s face.


    "THAT''S ENOUGH!"


    An angry shout echoed out as an incredibly powerful aura immediately pressed down on Dn, instantly pressing him to the ground under the sheer weight of the aura. Dn struggled to stand against it, but was unable to move even slightly. The crowd all felt this terrifying aura and opened their eyes wide in shock, but since the aura was almost fully focused on Dn, the crowd was mostly fine.


    Dn struggled for a second before he immediately felt the pressure vanish.


    "Cade Fenix, what is the meaning of this? You dare attack a junior?" Warren Gildar shouted out. Just then, Cade Fenix had used his immense power of a peak Core Formation expert to suppress Dn with his aura alone, and Warren Gildar instantly countered with his own aura, which alleviated the pressure off Dn.


    As the two auras shed, a Fenix n elder quickly dashed onto the stage and collected the nearly unconscious Grant.


    "Grant concedes."


    The elder quickly and angrily muttered while staring directly at Dn before he dashed off the tform and carried Grant towards the Fenix n carriages to administer medical aid.


    "What''s the meaning of this? Your boy is clearly out of control. Grant attempted to concede twice but was forcibly stopped by Dn. Give me one good reason why I don''t ughter you and everyone from your sect this instant?" Cade Fenix was livid at Dn''s continued underhanded tactics against his n''s juniors.


    "Dn broke no tournament rules. Ande if you wish, I''ll ept your fight at any time." Warren Gildar was not scared by Cade''s threats.


    Waylon Varis felt his head ache as he thought of dealing with these two for the remainder of the tournament.


    "Cade, please be seated. Although Dn used heavy handed tactics, he broke no tournament rules. And Warren, you best control Dn in his future fights, or don''t me me for taking Cade''s side on this matter."


    Cade''s and Warren''s auras continued to sh for some time before they both retracted their auras and sat down.


    The elder that helped Grant off the stage returned to the stands, and reported Grant''s condition to Cade.


    "That''s good. No permanent damage. At least he''ll recover with a few weeks of rest." Cade was relieved that Grant was not gravely injured. He was one of the most promising juniors from the Fenix n, and losing him would be a blow to the n''s future power.


    After settling the situation, Waylon turned to the crowd once more and addressed them."The final battle of this roundmences. John...E, please proceed to the arena."

 Chapter 82 - Dylan Vs. Dalton

    John stared at Dn with cold eyes as he watched him walk off the stage. Dn noticed John''s gaze, and gave him a smug smirk in response.


    "Goddamnit, I hate Dn just as much as Jason. If I don''t kick both of their asses in the pocket realm, remind me to cripple myself." Miko was livid at the arrogance andck of respect that Dn showcased.


    "Don''t worry, I''ll take care of Dn today, and you can take care of Jason in the pocket realm." John was equally livid, and was determined to pay Dn back for everything he had done today.


    John hopped off his seat and walked to his fighting stage. He hopped onto it, and noticed that E was standing there already. John was slightly surprised to see that she held no weapon in her hand.


    E noticed his gaze and smiled. "I know I can''t beat you, and I wanted to have a good, fun fight. But that Dn really has gone overboard, and you''ll need all the strength you have to fight him...so I concede."


    E decided to make the difficult decision and concede in order to save John''s energy for the fight against Dn. Although E was not from the Fenix n, the two ns were close allies, and E was good friends with John. After what Dn had done to two of the Fenix n members, even E was angered and wanted to see him lose.


    John was quite surprised by E''s concession. "Are you sure? I should still be able to beat him even if we fight." John could tell that E wanted to fight, but was giving up to give John the best chance at winning, since she herself knew that she was absolutely no match for Dn.


    "I''m sure" E smiled before turning to the referee. "I concede." She immediately turned around and walked off the stage to return to her seat in the stands.


    "What? She conceded just like that?"


    The crowd was confused at E''s reaction, but both the Fenix n and Varis n elders knew the real reason for her concession, and most agreed with her decision. They could tell that John was the only one with a chance against Dn, and so improving his odds in his fight toe was important.


    "The winner by forfeit, John Fenix." The referee loudly announced the results to the crowd as John hopped off the stage and returned to his seat next to Miko and Ryan.


    "What happened, why did my sister give up?" Miko was unable to understand his sister''s decision. His entire life revolved around cultivation and fighting, and he couldn''t understand ever giving up when a good fight was avable.


    "She did it to give me the best chance I could have against Dn. Your sister is incredibly selfless." John had nothing but praise to say about E.


    Waylon Varis once again stepped up on the main stage and announced the next fights. "There will be a thirty minute break, at which point the semi-finals will begin. The match-ups are...Dn vs Dalton, and Joy vs John."


    "You''re pretty lucky Fenix boy, you''ve managed to dodge me in thest two rounds. Don''t lose in this round. I want the personal satisfaction of stomping you into the ground." Dn couldn''t help but spew fighting words to John at the announcement of the matchups.


    John stared at Dn with an unconcerned look before looking away.


    "Do you think I''ll be an easy opponent?" Dalton was quite upset by Dn acting like he had won already, and had some words to say of his own.


    "Hmph, you may be strong, but it still isn''t enough." Dn did acknowledge that Dalton was quite strong, but was still confident in his win.


    Time flew by, and soon the thirty minutes of waiting had passed by.


    Both Dn and Dalton hopped on the stage, and the crowd started roaring in anticipation of the exciting fight toe. Unlike his opponents before, Dalton was not afraid of Dn. On the contrary, he was looking forward to an intense fight.


    Although Dalton had to admit that Dn was terrifying, he was not about to concede like all the others had. He had his own pride as the number one genius of the Flowing River Sect, and was ready to put his life on the line for his sect.


    The referee signaled the start of the fight, and both fighters instantly attacked with powerful moves.


    Boom!


    The two techniques collided in midair, and arge explosion radiated outwards above the arena. Immediately after, both fighters collided in the center of the stage, and exchanged dozens of moves in quick session. The crowd watched in rapt attention as the two fighters battled it out for some time, each showcasing shockingly powerful moves and demonstrating why they had made it this far in the tournament.


    After nearly ten minutes of intense fighting, the two fighters separated and stared at each other. Dn was staring at Dalton while panting ever so slightly, while Dalton seemed like he was almost out of energy. He was breathing heavily, and several wounds were opened up on his arms and legs, making him look quite miserable.


    Although he was wounded and out of breath, Dalton still had a resolved look in his eyes, and once more charged towards Dn.


    "Unfortunately for you, I need to end this here." Dn suddenly spoke up as he watched Dalton approach. Although Dn was extremely arrogant, even he knew that reserving enough Qi for the final was important, and so while he had enjoyed his fight with Dalton, it was time to end it.


    Dn instantly struck out with a powerful Qi attack, and followed up behind it with a movement technique. Dalton stopped his approach and quickly raised his sword to block the attack. While he sessfully blocked the first attack, Dalton was not ready for Dn to instantly follow it up with a melee attack. He was at the end of his Qi reserves, and barely raised his sword in time to block.


    Peng!


    Swords collided and Dalton was sent flying backwards like a bullet. His momentum carried him far beyond the edge of the stage, at which point he crashed quite violently into the stone stands.


    After a few seconds of lying there, Dalton slowly started to stand up. He struggled for some time, but was able to finally stand on his feet. Blood was flowing from the several wounds on his body as he stared defiantly at Dn, and Dn stared back. After a few seconds of staring, Dalton turned around and started walking towards his n in the stands.


    "The winner of this fight, Dn." The referee announced.


    The crowd was holding their breath up to thatst exchange, but suddenly exploded out in apuse at the fight they had just witnessed. Although many were not fond of Dn, they couldn''t help but admit that the fight was incredible.


    John stared at Dn with narrowed eyes as he watched him leave the fighting tform.


    ''I can tell even in that fight he still held back.'' A smile broke out on John''s face at the thought of the fight toe. Although he knew Dn was incredibly strong, his desire for battle against a strong opponent only excited John further.


    "Well, I''m up. I''ll be back soon." John hopped off his seat and started walking towards the fighting stage. The crowd was roaring in anticipation for the fight toe as he hopped on the arena and was soon face to face with Joy Ronan, one of the top three scorers in the Qi test and one of the most powerful juniors from the five powers.


    The referee walked in between them before announcing, "Let the fight begin."

 Chapter 83 - John Vs. Joy

    John and Joy stared at each other, John with a confident smile while Joy had a look of slight worry. Her fighting style relied on extremely quick, agile and light attacks to get past her opponent''s defenses to inflict damage. She had managed to win all the way to the semi finals by being extremely quick and nimble in her fights, and had not even taken a single blow in return. No one was able to match her speed, and the only thing they could do was wait for her to slowly but surely wear them down. Since all her opponents were essence Qi cultivators, their defenses were naturally weak and her attacks were able to inflict serious damage.


    However, John was the worst matchup she could get. John had an Innate Variant Body, and the natural defense of his body was unlike anything she had faced before. Since Joy focused on speed instead of power, she had no idea whether her attacks would even work on John.


    While Joy was thinking of a battle strategy, John decided to take the initiative and charged towards her. He quickly approached her, and shed down heavily with his scythe. Joy was instantly roused out of her strategic thoughts, and used her movement speed technique to dodge John''s attack at thest moment.


    John once again dashed towards her, and swung down heavily with his scythe. Joy continued to dodge, as she knew she did not have the physical power to sessfully parry his attacks.


    Once more, John dashed towards her and swung down with his heavy scythe. This time however, Joy dodged and quickly sent out her own extremely quick counter attack. Her sword traveled at an unblockable angle towards John''s waist, and struck him before he could dodge.


    Peng!


    Both the crowd and Joy''s eyes widened in shock as the sword bounced off John''s body like it was made of metal. A small, thin cut opened up on John''s waist, and blood started to flow out ever so slightly. However, the wound was far from enough to cause any real damage to John.


    "What? How is his body so strong?"


    "I know right? That attack would have quite severely wounded a normal cultivator."


    The crowd instantly exploded into uproar at the sight of John receiving almost no damage from Joy''s attacks. Up to this point in the tournament, no one had managed tond a blow on John besides Ryan, and Ryan''s attack was mostly blocked by John''s scythe, so the crowd had no idea how tough John''s body truly was.


    Even John himself was slightly surprised at the toughness of his body.


    ''Although I knew my body was tough, this is the first time I''ve received an attack on it directly since my body advanced to thete Mist Creation Realm. The Immortal Asura Body continues to amaze me.''


    John had taken the attack directly from thete Mist Creation assassin when he was in the mid Mist Creation Realm, and although he was half dead after the attack, he had managed to survive which was a feat that was practically unheard of. Now that he was taking attacks from those in the same realm as him, John was truly able to see the sturdiness of his body.


    After taking the attack, John came to a sudden stop and put away his scythe. Both Joy and the crowd were confused by John''s actions, and some thought that he was about to give up since he couldn''t catch Joy.


    "What are you doing?" Joy couldn''t help but ask in confusion. She had no way of defeating John herself, and was quite shocked to see him put his weapon away.


    John looked towards Joy with a smile and responded. "You''re way too fast for me to catch up while holding my scythe. It weighs three hundred pounds, so it really slows me down quite a bit."


    Both Joy and the crowd were once more shocked.


    "Three hundred pounds? What weapon at the Mist Creation Realm weighs three hundred pounds?"


    "I know. Even greatswords don''t weigh that much for Mist Creation cultivators, let alone scythes."


    The crowd initially couldn''t understand how John was able to wield such a scythe, but when they thought about his variant body, it started to make sense to them.


    While the crowd waspletely shocked, only Roy had a knowing smile of depression on his face. He was the only one who had blocked John''s scythe in this tournament, and had personally felt the immense weight and power it carried.


    After putting his heavy scythe away, John felt like he weighed nothing at all. Even for him, three hundred pounds was quite a lot of weight, and it slowed him down considerably.


    "Let''s continue, shall we?" John said and dashed towards Joy with his fist flying towards her waist.


    Since John was weaponless, Joy figured that she might be finally able to attack him evenly with her sword and struck out with her sword.


    Peng!


    Fist and sword collided, and Joy was sent flying backwards dozens of yards, while John only had a slight wound open up on his fist. Shended gracefully on the ground, but found herself face to face with John once more. Having realized his power was still immense from thatst attack, Joy quickly dodged to the side to give herself some distance.


    Just as Joy dodged to the side, John followed up with the first step of his Five Step Movement Technique, and appeared right in front of her once more.


    "So fast!" Both the crowd and Joy were surprised to find that John had instantly caught up to Joy, and appeared to be just as fast as her. It was known that Joy was by far the fastest junior out of all the five powers in the tournament, so John equaling her speed was shocking indeed.


    What the crowd didn''t know was that John had worked onbining his body power with the Five Step Movement Technique, which made it even faster than before. Although it wasn''t John''s fastest movement, which was when hebined the Supreme Battle Art and the Five Step Movement Technique, it was still fast enough to keep up with Joy.


    Yet again, the advantages of having two dantians revealed itself. Unlike a normal Innate Variant Body essence cultivator that could only rely on Qi essence and physical body strength to utilize a movement technique, John was able to send both essence Qi and body Qi to his legs, which superimposed in power and propelled him forward incredibly fast.


    For the next several minutes, Joy was seen dashing all across the arena with John closely in tow. asionally, John would catch up enough tond a fist attack, which sent Joy flying backwards. After several minutes of this, Joy was feeling quite miserable, and her arms were shaking from repeatedly blocking John''s attacks.


    All of a sudden, Joy came to a stop and put away her sword. John stopped chasing and came to a halt as well, expectant of what was toe.


    "You really are my worst matchup. I concede." Joy had finally realized that no matter what she did, she was not able to beat John. Her attack power just wasn''t strong enough to breach his defenses, and John''s speed made it so that he couldnd asional blows on her. Eventually, the only one who would suffer in the end would be her.


    Although the crowd had expected this result as soon as they saw how John was Joy''s worst matchup, they were still slightly disappointed to have a semi-final end in concession.


    "The winner by forfeit, John Fenix."

 Chapter 84 - John Vs. Dylan

    "The finals between Dn and John willmence in thirty minutes." After announcing the winner of the fight, Waylon Varis addressed the crowd.


    John walked back to his seat and was congratted by Ryan and Miko. The three conversed for some time before Waylon finally announced the start of the final round.


    "Heh, its finally time." John couldn''t help but be excited of his chance to finally fight Dn.


    "Go kick Dn''s ass. He''s been an eyesore this entire tournament." Miko wanted nothing more than to see Dn lose, and lose badly.


    "Just be careful, he''s no easy opponent." Ryan gave onest piece of advice, and John nodded his head before he walked over to the central fighting tform.


    The crowd was roaring in anticipation of the exciting final fight toe. In one corner was Dn, the highest seeded junior of the tournament, who showed amazingbat power. Opposite Dn was John, who revealed his Innate Variant Body and showed amazing power as well as body toughness.


    Although the crowd had expected Dn to easily win once his Qi test result was revealed, they were much less sure now of who would be the winner. Both fighters seemed like they had still held back in all their fights, and so no one really knew just how strong either one was.


    John hopped on the stage and walked to the center, while Dn did the same. Dn had a smug look of self confidence as he stared at John like a hawk.


    "You didn''t disappoint me and lose before our match. Now I can personally have the satisfaction of crushing an Innate Variant Body into the ground." Despite John''s talents, Dn was still self assured in his victory.


    "I should say the same. I''ll finally have the chance to avenge my injured nsmen. I''ll pay tribute to them with your blood." John responded with a cold voice.


    "Haha, kid, you may be strong, but you''re far from strong enough to say those words to me." Dn took out his sword while responding back, while John took out his scythe. The crowd could feel a rising power build up inside Dn, while a berserk and powerful battle aura radiated from John.


    Waylon Varis stepped on the fighting tform and addressed both the crowd and the fighters. "I will personally referee this fight. May the best fighter win. Begin."


    Boom!


    John and Dn immediately dashed towards each other and collided violently in the center of the arena. Both were knocked back dozens of yards before they both dashed forward again, weapons colliding over and over.


    The crowd watched in rapt attention as John and Dn dashed all over the arena at immense speeds while their powerful attacks repeatedly collided. Dn was using amazingly powerful Qi attacks, while John was using the power of his body and heavy scythe to strike back. The stage shook violently as powerful attacks collided, and the crowd could feel their bones rattle from the force of the attacks despite being so far away.


    The juniors who had participated in the tournament all felt a cold chill run down their spine.


    "This is the power of Mist Creation Realm cultivators, and kids at the same age as us no less?"


    "How are they this strong. This is unreal. They weren''t even going all out in their previous fights."


    While many of the juniors were feeling shock and despair at the strength John and Dn were showing, John and Dn continued to violently collide in the arena. Their powerful exchangessted for several minutes before they both parted and stared at each other.


    "You''re truly not bad. I can see why an Innate Variant Body is valued so highly. Unfortunately for you, it is still not enough to beat me." Dn said in a mocking tone as he stared at him with a smug smile.


    "I don''t know where all this tough talk ising from. We''ve battled all this time and you''ve yet to leave a scratch on me." John mocked back.


    "Kid, you really have no idea howrge this world is and how high the heavens are. So I''ll do you a favor and teach you personally. I''ve been taking it easy on you up to here, but that ends now." Dn once more mocked before he turned his sword on himself and cut open the back of his left arm.


    John narrowed his eyes as he watched Dn start using his Qi to control his escaping blood into a ball of blood that floated in front of him. Qi was continuously infused into the ball of blood, while a terrible and powerful aura started to radiate from both Dn and the ball of blood.


    While John was watching in confusion, every elder in the crowd except for the Crimson Valley Elders opened their eyes wide in shock.


    "How can he use such a technique?" Orren Fenix cried out in surprise.


    Cade Fenix had a grave look on his face as he responded in a cold tone. "Let alone use such a technique, how does he or the Crimson Valley Sect even have such a technique. Their sects domain technique is much less profound than what is being used here."


    While all the elders were conversing amongst each other inplete shock, Dn pointed up to the sky, and the ball of blood raised above his head before it exploded violently outwards.


    "Crimson Hell Domain."


    Instantly, both the crowd and John saw everything around them turn blood red while they felt like they had been plunged into hell itself. While the crowd felt the residual effects of this domain, John was feeling almost the entirety of the technique press down on him. He felt like his blood was slowing down within his body, while his mind and soul felt like they were under assault as well.


    After moments of struggling with managing the technique, a sinister smile appeared on Dn''s face as he looked towards John like was a rat trapped in a cage.


    "Kid, count yourself lucky that you get to witness this domain of mine. But from here on out, your only choice is to lose."

 Chapter 85 - Domain Arts

    By this point in the fight, Ryan had already returned to where his n was sitting to watch the final fight with his n. Ryan was shocked, and also confused by the technique Dn was using, and so he turned to Cade Fenix to help exin what was going on.


    "n Leader Cade, what is going on, and why is everyone so shocked?"


    Cade had a heavy look on his face as he turned to Ryan to exin. "What Dn is using is called a domain art. The technique is an outward manifestation of a cultivator''sprehension and Qi essence. Inside that domain, Dn is being empowered while John will be weakened. Each of the five powers here have domain techniques, and each treat that domain technique as one of their most closely guarded secrets."


    "Then why is everyone so shocked?" Ryan asked in confusion.


    If all of the five powers had a domain technique, then why were they so surprised by it showing up in this battle. Although Ryan could tell that the technique was amazing, he couldn''t tell how powerful it really was, as he was just experiencing the residual effects while John was facing the bulk of the technique.


    A grim expression remained on Cade''s face as he looked at Dn below. "There''s two reasons why everyone is so shocked. First off, cultivators almost always have to be at least in the Qi Condensation Realm to learn to use a domain technique, and even many Qi Condensation cultivators are still unable to learn them. Dn being able to use one while being in the Mist Creation Realm shows just how much of a monster he truly is."


    Cade took a deep breath before continuing. "The second is that this is not the Crimson Valley Sect domain. All of us have experienced the Crimson Valley Sect domain technique before, and it is not what Dn is using. Not only that, but this domain is far more profound than what the Crimson Valley Sect uses." Cade replied.


    Not only had Dn and Jason shown up from nowhere, Dn was using a technique that none of them had ever seen a Crimson Valley Sect member use.


    Ryan raised his eyebrows in surprise at the exnation that Cade gave. Not only was Dn revealed to be even more of a genius than he showed before, he was also using an unknown domain art.


    As Cade had exined, domain arts were outward manifestations of a cultivator''s Qi essence andprehension. A cultivator would expand a domain around them, and anyone inside of it would feel its effects. The effects of a domain were extremely wide and varied, but each one had a specific trait that not only amplified their own power within the domain, but weakened their enemy inside the domain.


    When two cultivators met and only one knew how to use a domain, the one with a domain would be easily able to dominate the other. In most cases, the best way for a cultivator to counter a domain was either to leave the area of influence, or have their own domain. In the cases where one domain was vastly stronger and more profound than another, the stronger domain would overwhelm the weaker one and win out.


    If two domains were of rtively equal strength and profundity, their effect on each other would be simr and the two cultivators would be on an even fighting field. However, when one had a domain and another didn''t, the fights would bepletely one sided.


    However, in the cultivation world, not everything was an absolute, and there were always other ways of dealing with wondrous techniques.


    Ryan turned back towards the stage and looked at John in worry. "How are you going to get yourself out of this?"


    Back on the stage, John was looking all around him in slight surprise.


    ''I have no idea what is going on, but I can tell this is some amazing technique. But why does it feel like it''s not as amazing as it should be?"


    While John could feel that the technique Dn was using was amazingly profound, it wasn''t having much of an impact on him. He could feel that his blood had slowed slightly inside of his body, which made him feel a bit weaker, but the effect wasn''t so great as to worry John. John could also feel like there were something like mental demons trying to attack his mind and will, but the effect was so minimalpared to the sinister gate that he could easily ignore it.


    "Hahaha, how does it feel to be inside my domain. Are you quaking with despair?" Dn confidently asked John.


    John looked towards Dn as if he was stupid. "Is this technique supposed to be something amazing? Howe I don''t feel like it''s anything special?"


    "You can talk so casually even now? Not bad, but I know your bravado is fake. Right now, you should feel like you can hardly move, and your mind and will should feel like they''re about to crumble. I''m guessing you''re using everyst ounce of strength just to talk. Its time to end this." Any normal cultivator inside Dn''s domain would feel only despair, and their wills would be instantly crushed under the sinister pressure of the technique.


    Dn rushed towards John and struck out with his sword. He knew John was unable to muster much strength while being under the influence of his domain, and no longer considered John a worthy opponent.


    Bang!


    Scythe and sword collided, and Dn was sent flying backwards by the force of John''s attack. He quicklynded and looked towards John with shock.


    "What? How is this possible? You shouldn''t even be able to move" Dn had no idea how John struck out with that much power.


    "Hmph, if you think this little technique of yours is enough to subdue my body and crush my will, then you''re truly dumber than you look."


    Unfortunately for Dn, his domain was just about the worst type of domain to use on John. John''s body was the Immortal Asura Body, and was incredibly profound even amongst Innate Variant Bodies. The Crimson Hell Domain suppressed the blood and body of its enemies, and would make them feel like they were in quicksand, but to John, the effect was just a minor nuisance.


    Not only that, but the Crimson Hell Domain would assault the mind and crush the wills of those within it, eliminating any thought of fighting back. However, having tempered his will in front of the sinister gate for over half a year already, the Crimson Hell Domain was far from what was required to shake John''s will.


    After regaining hisposure, Dn once more smiled sinisterly and amplified the power of his domain even further. "I''m sure you used every ounce of energy you have left to unleash that counter attack." Dn refused to believe that John could ignore the effects of his domain.


    John frowned as he felt the effects of the domain amplify. Not only did the domain weaken John, if ever so slightly, it also strengthened Dn. He was already terrifying before, but within his domain, he was absolutely monstrous.


    ''Although I could still fight him as I am now, I''d probably lose without using a body battle art. I suppose the time hase to use it.''


    Arge smile appeared on John''s face as he stared straight back at Dn.


    "What are you smiling for?" Dn was quite enraged by John''s behavior. Whenever he used his domain on his opponents, they would almost always copse with little ability to resist. However, John continued to defy his domain, and even dared to smile while in it.


    "You may have your domain, but it''s not the only amazing technique that exists in the world. Allow me to respond in kind...!"

 Chapter 86 - Crimson Hell Domain Vs. Supreme Battle Art

    An overwhelmingly powerful aura exploded outwards from John,pletely shocking both Dn and the crowd. While the battle aura John radiated from before felt like he was a blood hungry battle demon, this aura he currently radiated felt like he was an undefeatable battle god.


    As John unleashed the Supreme Battle Art, he felt his body be empowered to much higher levels than before, and also felt the effects of the Crimson Hell Domain lessen. Although the effects of the domain were not causing much of a problem for him, John was still surprised to see that the Supreme Battle Artpletely cancelled out the effects of the domain.


    ''The Supreme Battle Art is even better at nullifying the effects of the Crimson Hell Domain than my own Immortal Asura Body. I wonder why that is?''


    While John was thinking about the wondrous effects of the Supreme Battle Art, he was stirred out of his thoughts by a panicked cry from Dn.


    "This is impossible. How the hell do you know that battle art?"


    "Hmm?" John couldn''t help but also be surprised by Dn''s reaction. "Does he know this battle art? But how is that possible, unless¡­."


    Not only John, even Cade and Barden Fenix were surprised by Dn''sment, and narrowed their eyes as they thought of a frightening possibility.


    "Does it matter how I know this battle art? The only thing that matters right now is this fight, and I think it''s time we end it, don''t you?" John responded with a confident tone and a smug smirk.


    "Arrogant. Don''t get too confident yet" Dn muttered, but internally, he waspletely shocked and panicked.


    "Enough talk." John summoned both the first step of the Five Step Movement Technique inbination with his Supreme Battle Art to explosively dash towards Dn. Dn''s eyes widened in panic as he noticed John directly in front of him, shing down with his scythe.


    "How is he this fast?" Dn hastily raised his sword, and swung it out to meet John''s scythe.


    Peng!


    Weapons collided and Dn was sent flying backwards like a bullet. Just before he was knocked out of the stage, he managed to control his body and stop his momentum. He looked up and noticed John rapidly approaching once more, at which point he sent out sessive Qi attacks towards him.


    The stage started to crumple as multiple explosive Qi attacks and powerful scythe attacks collided. After several exchanges between John and Dn, the stage was starting to look like it would break apart at any moment. Manyrge craters were carved into its surface, and almost the entire stage was covered in cracks. Although Dn was on the defensive, his power within his Crimson Hell Domain was shocking, and he was able to at least defend himself against John''s powerful attacks.


    "How is this the power of Mist Creation?" Both the juniors and the seniors in the crowd couldn''t understand how both of these fighters were so powerful. Although the Core Formation Elders were still much more powerful than either, they couldn''t help but admit that they weren''t even close to this level of power when they had been in the Mist Creation Realm.


    Boom!


    A powerful Qi attack collided with John''s scythe, and John came to a sudden halt, and even closed his eyes. The crowd was quite perplexed by John''s reaction, and some Fenix n members even stood in fright at John''s actions, thinking he was about to surrender.


    "Hahaha" A loudugh echoed boisterously from Dn. "The Supreme Battle Art puts immense strain on the body. I''m guessing you''re at your limits already." Dn was about to attack, but suddenly stopped as he saw John slowly open his eyes and stare at him as if he was a buffoon.


    "This is my first time fighting with the Supreme Battle Art, so I was still getting used to it during our exchanges. But between our exchanges and my recentprehensions regarding the battle art, I believe I finally have the first stagepletely mastered. Thank you for your help."


    John waspletely surprised at the profundity of his Immortal Asura Body. He could tell that the Supreme Battle Art was extremely profound, and by all means should take longer toprehend and master than any other technique he had learned so far. But, it was as if the Immortal Asura Body was the perfect vessel for learning body battle arts, and would cut down theprehension time needed vastly.


    This was one of the main advantages of having an Innate Variant Body. Not only would the body itself be immensely powerful, it would be naturally suited to learning body techniques, and would vastly decrease the time required to master said body techniques.


    Dn scoffed and was about to respond with a mocking tone when he suddenly opened his eyes in shock.


    Boom!


    Sword and scythe collided, and Dn was once more sent flying backwards violently. After managing tond on his feet, Dn once more exploded out with even more power than before. He had realized that John was currently absolutely monstrous, and he himself didn''t know if he was able to beat John. But his pride as a genius didn''t allow him to back down, and so he unleashed the most powerful state he could manage.


    John and Dn continued to trade blows repeatedly, and the once pristine stone arena now lookedpletely unrecognizable. The crowd watched in rapt attention as the two fighters repeatedly shed over and over. Although John had some wounds on his body, they were rather superficial and didn''t hinder his fighting prowess at all.


    John had also managed to send out many powerful Myriad Annihtion Scythe''s during their battle. Although it was far from enough to threaten Dn, he was still required to expend energy to block it, as he was not a body cultivator and couldn''t allow the attacks to fall on his body.


    After several minutes of intense fighting, Dn was at the end of his ropes. His Crimson Hell Domain expended a lot of Qi, and he was also required to use Qi for movement techniques and Qi attacks while fighting John.


    John on the other hand waspletely fine. His dual dantian situation allowed him to have almost double the amount of Qi a normal cultivator would have, which allowed him to unleash more attacks, both body and essence, without tiring. Not only that, but John was finally able to realize the absurd advantage of his body dantian and pce realm connection.


    During this fight, John was constantly absorbing blood essence from the pce realm into his body dantian, continually refreshing his Qi reserves, which allowed him to fight at his peak strength the entire time. The Supreme Battle Art required a lot of Qi to use, and was usually used at a final move to end a fight. Most first stage Supreme Battle Art users couldst for several minutes before running out of Qi, but John had already been fighting for almost ten minutes in this state,pletely shocking Dn.


    ''I have enough reserves to keep fighting like this for a little bit more, but I''ve learned enough from this fight by dragging it out so long. It''s time to end this.''


    If Dn could read John''s thought, he would most likely have coughed out blood from rage. John had been using Dn as a whetstone in this fight, and was prolonging the battle to learn more about the Supreme Battle Art and how to use it.


    But his Qi reserves were starting to run low, and it was time for the battle to end. All of a sudden, an even more explosive aura radiated outwards from John, making him appear like a demonic battle god.

 Chapter 87 - Surprise Attack

    While John was starting to run out of Qi reserves, Dn was faring much worse. He was breathing heavily as he did his best to maintain his Crimson Hell Domain. Its Qi expenditure was just as frightening as John''s Supreme Battle Art, and unlike John, he could only passively absorb Qi from the air to replenish his Qi reserves.


    While absorbing Qi from the air was much easier and guaranteed to always be avable, its replenishment rate was much slower than what John was able to do by directly absorbing blood essence. Dn''s Qi expenditure was greater than his rate of absorption, and so he was continually running lower and lower on Qi, unlike John, who kept his dantian topped off and brimming with energy.


    However, once John ran out of blood essence, he would be even worse off than Dn, as he would have no way of replenishing his body Qi reserves until he obtained more blood essence. While he could absorb Qi from the air into his essence dantian like Dn, his essence dantian was still in the middle Mist Creation Realm, and was unable to help him much in this fight.


    The aura exploding off of John right now frightened even the Core Formation elders. Not because of its strength, but because of its profundity and battle will. To them, it truly appeared like John was an undefeatable demon god, or at least his will was saying that. They could tell from this battle aura alone, that John never had the thought of defeat cross his mind. It was as if John was confident that no matter who fought him, as long as they were in the same realm, he would remain undefeated.


    When John had first utilized the Supreme Battle Aura against Dn, he did that and that alone. However, as the fight progressed, John was shocked to find out that he could improve slightly on the battle art. By using the Supreme Battle Art, and infusing his indomitable asura battle will into it, it strengthened him even further into his strongest battle state. Although he figured his asura battle will was something intangible, John could now tell that it truly had some practical uses.


    He could feel his emotions be thrown slightly into turmoil as the sinister murmurs assaulted his mind, but it was far from enough to overwhelm him. However, the constant assault did make his battle lust increase massively, as well as blood lust.


    "Crimson Blood Sword!"


    While John was powering up his Supreme Battle Art even further, Dn decided to take the initiative and struck out with his sword, sending a blood red sword light straight towards John. Nobody had seen Dn use this move yet, but they could tell it was by far his most powerful Qi attack he had unleashed thus far.


    Boom!


    John struck out with his scythe at the iing attack. The arena shook violently from the collision, and Dn smiled once more as he saw John be knocked backwards from the force of the attack, but his smile soon vanished as he saw that it had only knocked John back, but not severely injure him. Although there were some cuts and wounds on Johns body, they were far from hindering hisbat ability.


    Bang!


    The stone arena below John exploded behind him as he pressed off of it with his most powerful Five Step Movement technique. He appeared in front of Dn in a sh, and swung down powerfully with his scythe. Sword and scythe collided, and Dn was knocked backwards dozens of yards from the collision.


    Five Step Movement Technique: Second Step


    Afternding on his feet, Dn looked towards John to strike out with his Crimson Blood Sword once more, but was horrified to find John directly in front of him once more.


    Peng!


    Weapons collided once more, and Dn was sent flying backwards like a broken kite while his arms felt like they were about to shatter. He looked behind him and noticed the edge of the arena was fast approaching, and did everything he could to slow his momentum before he could be knocked off the stage.


    "You''re not getting out of this fight that easily!"


    Bang!


    The sounds of bones cracking echoed out as John''s full powered punch connected with Dn''s back. John had used the Third Step of the Five Step Movement Technique to appear behind Dn and stop him before he fell off the arena.


    Dn was sent violently flying back towards the center of the fighting arena, and eventually came to a stop after much effort. Dn struggled to stand up after taking John''s full powered punch directly, but eventually stood up and turned to face where John had been before.


    Boom!


    John''s punch once againnded on the back of Dn, and he was sent flying like a broken kite once more.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The crowd watched in silence as Dn was sent flying back and forth by John''s punches. Every time Dn would be about to fly out of the arena, John would use his movement technique to cut him off and punch him back the other way. Dn''s Crimson Hell Domain had vanished by this time, showing that he was already at his end, while John was still brimming with energy.


    The sound of bones breaking continually echoed out, and the speechless crowd was horrified to see Dn continually broken by John, who appeared in this moment to look like a blood hungry demon. Even Cade and Barden looked on in shock as they watched an almost unrecognizable John continually beat Dn into a bloody mess.


    Waylon Varis was continually using his divine sense to inspect the battlefield, and noticed that Dn was about to copse into unconsciousness. He watched as John dashed directly towards Dn with the intention of once more punching out, and was about to stop the fight when an incredibly loud shout boomed out.


    "STAY YOUR HAND!"


    John ignored the loud shout and sent a fist once more crashing towards Dn. Dn had been incredibly vicious in all his fights with the Fenix n members, and so John was avenging them by bathing the arena red with Dn''s blood.


    All of a sudden, an incredibly powerful Qi attack flew directly towards John. John looked towards the Qi attack and knew he had absolutely no chance of blocking it. In fact, he didn''t know if he would be able to survive such an attack even if he went all out to defend against it.


    Boom!


    The stone arenapletely exploded, and all the elders in the stands used their full power to protect their juniors from any flying debris. The explosion eventually settled down, and the awestruck crowd looked towards the now destroyed arena as the dust started to settle.

 Chapter 88 - Meridian Forging Weapons

    The dust eventually settled to reveal John standing on the shattered arenapletely unharmed. Standing directly in front of John was his father Barden, who had appeared at thest moment to block the attack.


    "Die!"


    Barden shouted in rage and suddenly flew towards Warren Gildar, who had struck out at John with the intention of killing him. Warren was surprised to see the attack had been blocked in time, and was also unprepared to respond to Barden''s sudden attack. What Warren didn''t know was that Barden had been keeping an eye on him the entire fight as he was the greatest threat to John, and was prepared to aid John in a moment''s notice.


    Bang!


    The stone stands where Warren was standing exploded into bits as Barden struck out with his sword, sending Warren directly through the stone stands and crashing into the Skycleave Mountain range hundreds of yards behind him. The mountainside exploded into a shower of rocks and dirt, and Barden flew directly towards where Warren was sent.


    Bang!


    A powerful ming inferno was sent out by Barden and exploded where Warren had crashed into the mountainside. The mountainside once again exploded outwards as an evenrger cloud of debris was upheaved. Barden''s figure quickly disappeared into the cloud, and devastatingly powerful explosions continued to rock out for some time.


    By this time, both the Fenix n Elders and Crimson Valley Sect Elders had taken out their weapons and stared murderously at the others. They were just about to start fighting when another incredibly loud explosion appeared on the mountainside, and two figures were soon seen leaving the mountainside and stood up in the air, staring at each other.


    Barden Fenix stood there staring murderously at Warren Gildar, and looked quite tired, but was otherwise unharmed. Warren Gildar on the other hand was both injured andpletely surprised. He knew Cade Fenix was his match, but other than Cade, no one at this tournament should have been able to threaten him.


    However, he could feel from those exchanges that Barden had the power to fight him equally, whichpletely shocked him. It should be known that Warren Gildar was hundreds of years old, and was at the peak of the Core Formation Realm, while Barden was not even fifty yet. Despite this age difference, Barden showedbat prowess on par with the Crimson Valley Sect Leader, which was shocking to any who saw it.


    Barden was just about tosh out in another attack when he quickly paused and stared at Warren''s hands. In Warren''s hands appeared a blood red sword, and a powerful aura radiated outwards from it.


    "If you want to die, then we can keep fighting."


    Warren''s shock was quickly reced with confidence as he stared at Barden. In his hands was the Crimson Blood Sword, which was the Crimson Valley Sects most powerful weapon. It was a Meridian Forging grade weapon, and was even impressive amongst Meridian Forging weapons. The weapon was so heavy and powerful that even Warren was unable to fully control it.


    But the power it could unleash was devastating, while Barden''s own sword was just an average Core Formation grade sword.


    "You think I''m scared?" Barden began to defiantly charge forward when a figure suddenly appeared in front of him.


    "Father!" Barden called out as he saw his father Cade standing directly in front of him with a bright fiery orange and red sword in hand.


    Warren Gildar narrowed his eyes as he stared directly at Cade''s sword. He hadn''t expected Cade to bring his ns most prized possession as well.


    "The Fenix Fire Sword?" Barden opened his eyes wide in surprise. Much like the Crimson Blood Sword, the Fenix Fire Sword was the Fenix n''s strongest weapon, and was also a peak Meridian Forging grade weapon.


    "Give me an exnation for your actions, or don''t me me for killing you right now." Cade Fenix was absolutely livid that Warren had struck out at his grandson with the intent to kill.


    "Hmph, I don''t have to exin anything to you." Warren responded with a dismissive tone. "Don''t think because you have your Fenix Fire Sword that I''m scared of you. If you attack, I promise that all your juniors will die today."


    Cade Fenix narrowed his eyes as he stared directly at Warren. If Warren truly wanted to attack the juniors below them, it would be impossible for Cade and the Elders to shield all of them. A battle between the two powers today would surely result in mutual destruction of their youths, and that was something Cade did not want to see.


    Waylon Varis suddenly appeared in the air between the two of them and spoke to Warren in a cold voice. "I don''t care about your reasons, but you stuck out at a junior during a tournament hosted by my n. This is a grave vition of our agreements, and the second ce prize won by Dn will be forfeit. Leave my n immediately."


    Waylon was livid as well, as he considered John like a second son to him, but did not want an apocalyptic battle to take ce within his n grounds.


    Warren was angered by Waylon''s interjection. Not only had he sided with Cade, but he had stripped them of their prize for Dn. Although it was not as amazing as the Golden Marrow Condensation Pill, it was still quite a substantial prize which was hard for even the Crimson Valley Sect to get their hands on.


    He stared at the two of them with defiant eyes as his aura continued to project a battle intent. Both Cade and Waylon were surprised to see Warren refuse to back down, as they were both his equal and could easily defeat him if they worked together.


    All of a sudden, an incredibly powerful and oppressive aura covered the entire Varis n. Everyone felt as if they were ants inparison to the powerful aura they were feeling, and only Warren, Cade, Waylon, and a few other Elders were able to resist the aura without much effort.


    "Meridian Forging!"


    Some extremely shocked shouts echoed out in the crowd at the recognition of the powerful aura. Clearly it was being projected by a powerful Meridian Forging expert, and was something almost none of them had ever felt in their life.


    "Leave my n now. Or don''t me this old man for being impolite!" An ancient sounding voice echoed throughout the entire Varis n.

 Chapter 89 - Celebrations

    A surprised and grim expression appeared on Warren Gildar''s face as he felt the aura and heard the voice. After a few seconds of hesitation, he put away his sword.


    "We''re leaving!"


    Warren called out to his sect and quickly flew down towards them,pletely ignoring Cade and Waylon. The Crimson Valley Sect quickly returned to their carriages, and left without another word.


    Barden quickly returned to the stage and stood in front of John.


    "Are you hurt?" Barden couldn''t help but be concerned that some of the attack had leaked out towards John and injured him.


    "I''mpletely fine. Thanks for protecting me," John answered with arge smile on his face. This was the first time he had seen his father fight, and the power he disyed made John awestruck, as well as proud. His father was able to fight against a powerful sect leader, and injure him in the process as well.


    "Well that''s good. Anyways, you won the tournament. I couldn''t be any prouder," Barden responded with pride and startedughing loudly. Although he knew John was strong, he had no idea that John''s strength was this monstrous, and was pleasantly surprised at John''s performance.


    Cade Fenix and Waylon Varis appeared on the stage as well, and asked John about his health as well. After confirming he was safe and sound, Cade patted John on the back in congrattions while Waylon turned to address the crowd.


    "I apologize for the sour turn of events that happened at the end, but the tournament hase to an end. The battles were amazing, and this generation of juniors have all brought pride to their ns and sects."


    "Now for the results. Due to Dn''s disqualification, second and third ce will be awarded to Joy and Dalton. Unfortunately, our fighting arena''s have been destroyed, and so we will have to decide tie-breakers at ater time. Now, in first ce, and the winner of the tournament, John Fenix."


    The crowd exploded in apuse at the announcement. John''s fight had been absolutely incredible, and all the spectators today knew they would never forget this tournament. Not only that, but they were treated to a battle between Core Formation experts, which was something that hardly ever happened.


    "Fuck yeah, go John!" A loud shout from Miko drowned out the rest of the apuse before a Varis n elder forcibly silenced him. Everyone present startedughing at the scene, and the atmosphere was instantly enlivenedpared to the serious atmosphere from before.


    The once dismissive Fenix n juniors now looked at John with respect and reverence. Only Parker Fenix looked towards John with some kind of animosity, but he quickly hid his emotions and apuded with everyone else.


    The Varis n hosted a banquet to celebrate the tournament and its fighters, and the four powers celebratedte into the night. During the banquet, John was bequeathed his Golden Marrow Condensation Pill, and he happily epted it and stored it in his pce realm.


    John returned to his seat with Miko and Ryan and chatted regarding the tournament, the final fight, and the pocket realm toe.


    "I can''t wait to go inside. I hear previous generations obtained some amazing things thatpletely changed the course of their lives. I hope I can find something amazing like that!" Miko said as he daydreamed about what the realm could possibly hold.


    "Hey, you''re already a genius. Save the fate changing items for someone like me," Ryanmented with a serious face.


    "What are you talking about? That attack of yours was freaking awesome. You''re a genius yourself" Miko responded quickly.


    The three of them talked for some time before the banquet was silenced by Waylon. Waylon stood up and addressed the crowd once more.


    "Thank you all for attending today. Despite its hups, this year''s tournament was quite a sess. The four powers have discussed the pocket realm, and have already agreed on who will enter. Unfortunately, the Crimson Valley Sect will still participate in the pocket realm per the five powers agreement, and this is something we are unable to change."


    The crowd listened to Waylon closely as he discussed the pocket realm and various details regarding it.


    "Based on the fluctuations of the space around the pocket realm portal, we figure it will open within two weeks. Do your utmost to grab any opportunities inside." Waylon said before sitting down and conversing with the other powers leaders.


    The banquet continuedte into the night before all the powers started leaving.


    "Take care old friend." Waylon smiled as he said partings to Cade.


    "You too. We must be careful from here on out. Based on recent events and everything that happened here today, I believe the Crimson Valley Sect will make some moves in the near future. We must be ready." Cade responded with a grim tone.


    "I feel the same. I''ll consult with the patriarch tonight and see what he thinks about it."


    "Your old man sure scared the shit out of Warren today. Warren probably thought he had long since died. I''m sure finding out he''s in the Meridian Forging Realm was a wonderful surprise for him." Cade startedughing as he remembered the look on Warrens face as he left.


    After conversing for some time regarding the Crimson Valley Sect, Cade bid Waylon farewell and instructed the Fenix n to head back to the carriages.


    "Good job today. Seeing you kick Dn''s ass was so satisfying. Hopefully we will see more of him and Jason in the pocket realm." Miko spoke out to John as he started to leave.


    "Mhm, that was quite satisfying. Take care, and I''ll see you in two weeks." John waved goodbye to Miko and Waylon before he started walking back to the carriages. As he started walking back, he managed to spot Ryan talking to E, and the conversation appeared to be going quite well.


    "Ryan, I hate to interrupt, but we''re leaving!" John called out to Ryan as he failed to notice the n was leaving. Ryan quickly said his goodbyes and rejoined the group, at which point the carriages started leaving the Varis n.


    John looked out the window of his carriage and watched the Varis n fly by as he thought about the events of the long, long day. His mission of winning the tournament had been achieved, and his thoughts now raced regarding the soon to be entered pocket realm.

 Chapter 90 - Preparing For The Pocket Realm

    "Great job today. You did even better than I could have hoped for." John was stirred out of his thoughts by his father congratting him.


    "Thanks dad. You were pretty awesome yourself" John responded as he thought back to his fathers fight with Warren.


    "Haha, thanks. Putting Warren in his ce really was satisfying." Bardenughed loudly for some time before a serious look appeared on his face.


    "Now that your full talent has been revealed, the Crimson Valley Sect and others surely won''t just idly sit about and watch you grow, as you saw today. While I''m confident in protecting you when I''m around, I can''t say the same of when you enter the pocket realm."


    "Not only that, both Jason and Dn are mysterious figures. Jason has talent above what the Crimson Valley Sect can produce, and Dn recognized your Supreme Battle Art today."


    Dn had recognized the Supreme Battle Art in the fight with John, a fact that was not missed by the Fenix n Elders. No junior should be able to recognize the technique, as it stemmed from and far removed from this one, but somehow Dn recognized it nheless.


    John nodded his head in agreement. Both of those characters truly were mysterious.


    "Father, if we believe them to be of mysterious origins, cant we disqualify them from joining the pocket realm?" John asked curiously.


    Only members of the five involved powers were permitted to enter the pocket realm per the agreementid down between all the powers.


    "Unfortunately, we have no proof of these usations. Warren will surely make something up that sounds usible. The only thing we can do is proceed with caution. In the pocket realm, I''m sure Jason will target you. While I''m confident in you being able to protect yourself, make sure to stick with Miko the entire time to ensure your safety." Barden said with a heavy voice.


    John nodded his head in agreement with his fathers suggestions. Although John had his own pride, he knew he currently was not a match for a Qi Condensation genius, and so he would most likely have to stick with Miko for now to ensure his safety.


    ''It truly is the only way for now. This is just another confirmation that strength is the only way forward. I can''t even protect my own life as I am right now, let alone the lives of those around me.''


    John had a heavy look on his face as he once again looked out the carriage window and watched the scenery pass by. The trip back to the Fenix n took two days, and after arriving back home, John immediately started his cultivation. He had asked his father if he was able to obtain as manyte Mist Creation and early Qi Condensation beasts as he could for him when he arrived back home. Barden was confused at John''s request, butplied nheless.


    Several dayster...


    A muffled sound rang out of John''s body as he sat on the floor of his bedroom.


    ''My essence dantian is finally at thete Mist Creation Realm.''


    Arge smile appeared on his face as he sent his divine sense into his body to inspect the changes. He inspected his dantian, and was delighted to see that both the quality and quantity of Qi in his essence had increased. In the middle Mist Creation Realm, his dantian was wispy and somewhat hazy, while now the Qi mist was so thick it appeared as if it was about to liquefy.


    Up to this point, John had been relying mostly on his body to fight, but his essence strength had finally caught up and would be able to assist him in the fights toe.


    After inspecting his body for some time, John took out some beast blood essence and tried to cultivate his body dantian with it. A frown soon appeared on his face as he examined the results.


    ''As I thought, beast blood essence has stopped working. It appears that only human blood essence will work for raising my body cultivation, but I can''t just ask my father to go gather human blood.''


    While there were cultivation techniques that involved the use of human blood, all were seen as heretical cultivation arts, and anyone practicing them would be hunted down. Only powerful sects that could protect themselves openly cultivated these types of arts, but they were all considered evil sects and were enemies of the world. John wracked his mind for solutions, but was unable toe up with any.


    ''Since this is the case, I should go outside and test my new strength.''


    The days quickly passed by, and John continued to vigorously cultivate and practice all his techniques. Two weeks quickly passed by, and once more the Fenix n was seen gathered together about to embark out. While the crowd for the tournament was filled with roughly one hundred people, this group was filled with many times more people.


    The opening of the pocket realm was a once in twenty years event, and even those who couldn''t participate wanted to at least witness its opening. Over one hundred carriages, each pulled by powerful Qi Condensation Ethyr Horses, were gathered at the Fenix n''s front gates.


    Cade Fenix stood at the front of therge group and spoke out with a loud voice.


    "The time of the pocket realm opening hase. All of our juniors made us proud with their performances in both tournaments, and I''m sure they will make us proud once more. Remember, the pocket realm is filled with wonderful, life changing treasures and opportunities, but it is also filled with immense danger. You must remember to stay vignt, not only for the dangers of the realm inside, but also the people."


    Based on previous pocket realm expeditions, Cade knew the biggest danger stemmed from the vicious hearts of others. After addressing the crowd, the Fenix n all set off towards the pocket realm.


    John steeled his eyes as he anticipated the events toe.


    ''It''s finally arrived.''

 Chapter 91 - Ancestral Building

    The pocket realm was a wondrous and mysterious realm that existed in its own dimension. None of the involved powers knew of its origins, and none even had the faintest clue of the power required to make such a realm.


    The only thing they knew however, was that it opened every twenty years, and inside existed treasures and opportunities most could only dream of. The pocket realm was also one of the reasons why each of the five powers were able to stand at the peak of power in this part of the Yuan Continent. In fact, the opportunities were great enough to entice even those in the Yuan Continent Holy Lands, which was why the five powers kept it a secret.


    The only reason the Five Powers were unable to soar to even higher heights was due to the thin levels of Qi that existed in this part of the continent.


    After several days of traveling, the Fenix n group was close to approaching the grounds of the pocket realm. The pocket realm existed at the top of one of the mountains of the Skycleave mountain range, which was located in the center between all the powers. John looked out the window of his carriage as it continued up the winding road to the top of the mountain.


    The vast Skycleave Mountain range was visible beneath him, and John could see many towns, viges, sects, and kingdoms in the far distance beyond the mountains. A thought appeared in John''s head and he turned to his father to ask a question.


    "Father, what''s the inside of the pocket realm like? Do you have any tips for once I''m inside?"


    "Good question, however it''s a futile one. The inside of the pocket realm changes every time it''s open, and so any map or tips I give you will be useless. The only thing I can say is that with every opportunityes danger, and so you must be cautious at all times."


    An understanding look appeared on John''s face as he listened to his father. He had always been confused as to why the n didn''t give them any aids such as maps, but his fathers response exined everything.


    "What type of power is capable of producing such a realm? That not only exists in an independent space, but changes every time it opens?" John was truly unable to fathom such power.


    Barden shook his head and responded with a voice of reverence. "I don''t know either, but whoever made the realm must exist at a level that we can only dream of."


    John continued to converse with his father regarding the pocket realm, and before long, the Fenix n arrived at the summit of the mountain. The carriages came to a halt, and as John hopped out, his breath caught in his throat.


    "This!"


    The top of the mountain appeared to be sheared off at the top, revealing a smooth t ground hundreds of yards wide. In the very center existed a massive building, so grand it dwarfed anything that existed in the Fenix n.


    "Even now, I''m in awe everytime I see this building." Barden couldn''t help but say.


    The majestic looking building was hundreds of yards wide and tall, and took up most of the area at the top of the mountain. Its stone walls were dark red, and the building tapered off towards the top, making it look like a six sided pyramid.


    Five massive, lifelike statues stood outside around the building, as if guarding the building. John never imagined such a building existed at the top of the mountain, and was caught off guard.


    "Father, what exactly is this building? And who are these statues of?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    "The statues are of the five founders of each of the powers." Barden pointed to a particr statue, which depicted a man in a luxurious red and ck robe, holding a sword at his side and peering into the distance, making him look quite heroic.


    "That statue is of our founder, Holus Fenix."


    Barden paused for a while before continuing. "As for this building, you''ll see why it exists when we get inside. Us five powers call it the ancestral hall, and the official purpose we let others know of is it is a shrine in honor of our five ancestors."


    John stared at the building and noticed many guards were patrolling outside, clearly protecting the hall from any unwanted intruders.


    John followed the rest of the Fenix n group as they walked towards the massive building, and after passing by the guards, they soon walked through the massive front entrance which was dozens of yards high and wide.


    Once inside, John looked around curiously and was shocked to find the entire structure waspletely hollow. The ceiling of the building stood hundreds of yards tall above them, and the opposite side of the building was visible.


    His gaze suddenly came to a halt as he looked towards the center of the massive room. Barden smiled as he looked at John''s reaction, as it was the same as his own when he first saw it as well.


    A massive arching gateway, over a hundred yards tall, stood in the very center of the room. The arch was shining in a lustrous color, and John could tell that it was made by incredibly valuable material. But the thing that shocked him the most was what existed in the center of the archway.


    The center of the archway revealed a dazzling array of ever changing colors, and John could faintly see the images of and beyond its entrance. The entrance radiated an incredibly powerful and profound aura, and made all those that felt it feel the urge to prostrate themselves before it.


    After a few seconds of standing there in silence, John finally managed to maintain hisposure and turned to his father.


    "I can see now why we built this building, the gateway is far too eye catching."

 Chapter 92 - Entering The Pocket Realm

    The gateway was so awe inspiring and eye catching that anyone who set their eyes on it would instantly be able to tell that it was incredibly profound. Only by building this massive building around it and iming it was a holy site were the five powers able to maintain its secrecy.


    Nearly a thousand years ago, the ancestors of the five powers discovered this gate and realm when they were young. The gateway normally stood dormant and inconspicuous to the eye, but whenever it prepared to open, it was extremely noticeable.


    The five of them were friends, and entered this realm together. After obtaining powerful treasures inside, the five friends all used those opportunities obtained inside to establish their own powers, which resulted in the five powers of today.


    To keep the pocket realm a secret from the world, the majestic building was built over the archway, and the ancient pact was made to never reveal its location to anyone. The tournament was also established soon after, to designate the limited number of slots for the most talented juniors sixteen years or younger.


    Although no one knew why there was an age limit imposed by the realm, they did know that the entrance wouldn''t allow anyone over sixteen years old to enter. Because of this, many in the five powers had kids so that they would be around fourteen to sixteen years old when the pocket realm opened, ensuring that they would have a chance to enter.


    This dynamic caused each power to have waves of generations of children, instead of a continuous output.


    After staring at the archway for some time, John looked around and noticed that all of the powers except the Crimson Valley n had arrived.


    Barden made an offhandment regarding their tardiness, while both Ryan and Miko made their way over to John to discuss the realm they were about to enter.


    "I hear we''ll be entering in waves, based on our rank," Miko said as he recalled what his father told him.


    "Mhm, the gateway only allows around ten cultivators to enter at a time, and so you''ll be in the first wave, while Ryan and I will be in the second wave," John responded in affirmation.


    While the three of them were talking, the Crimson Valley Sect finally arrived and entered the massive structure. John turned around with narrowed eyes and scanned the group.


    Without any suspense, Warren Gildar was at the front with Jason right in tow. Surprise entered the eyes of many as they saw Dn walking behind Jason, as many thought he would still be injured from the beating he had taken from John.


    Everyone knew that Dn was in serious condition after the fight, and most assumed that he would take months to heal, but he was with the Crimson Valley Sect, and looked to be in perfect health. Hate filled Dn''s eyes as he stared straight towards John.


    "Seems like you didn''t give him enough of a beatingst time" responded Miko with a voice loud enough for all to hear, and many loudughs were heard soon after.


    "Seems like I didn''t give you a beating enough either. Just wait for me patiently in the pocket realm." Jason spoke up with an icy tone towards Miko.


    "Fenix n kid, you may have beaten mest time, but don''t expect the same to happen again once we''re inside." Dn spoke up in a voice filled with confidence. Based on the beating he tookst time, no one knew where his confidence came from.


    "Who allowed his beaten dog to speak? Shouldn''t you patiently wait behind your master?" Miko sneered while looking sideways at Dn, disdain present on his face.


    "What did you say?" Dn exploded with anger.


    "If I had taken an embarrassing beating like that, I would have crippled myself to save face for my n." Miko responded, the same look of disdain evident on his face.


    At this time, the five leaders had gathered in front of the pocket realm archway, and confirmed that it was ready to be entered. The spatial fluctuations given off by the gateway had stabilized, which meant the pathway was now open.


    As the host of this pocket realm opening, Waylon Varis turned around and addressed the crowd, his booming voice silencing any words Dn was about to shout back.


    Thousands were gathered as they stared at Waylon, and the powerful gateway directly behind him.


    "We are gathered here today to watch our selected youths participate in the pocket realm opening. We have determined that the gateway is fully stabilized, and as such entry shallmence soon."


    Excited murmurs echoed throughout the crowd at the mention that the gateway was stabilized.


    "Now, before entry, I must reiterate the rules for once you are inside, and there is only one rule. No crippling, or killing another junior inside. All those who do so will be punished with punishments equal to the crimemitted."


    Waylon looked at the crowd seriously. The past had shown that killings inside happened, and the five powers decided to enact this rule ever since that incident to discourage such killings in the future. The five powers used to be quite harmonious with each other, but the Crimson Valley Sect had be more and more unruly in the past few hundred years, eventually leading to that incident decades ago.


    The Crimson Valley Sect was of the mind that the strong should never be punished, and that it was the fault of the weak for dying, but they begrudgingly epted the ruling since the other four powers all agreed on it.


    "Now, onest thing. The realm stays open for three months. After that, it will start to show signs of instability, and will eventually expel all those within back out here. Do your best to seize all the avable opportunities in that time."


    The gazes of those soon to enter the realm heated up, and Waylon once more spoke to the crowd and summoned the ten Qi Condensation youths to the front.


    "You will be the first group to enter. Good luck." Waylon said to the crowd, and gave his son Miko a look of encouragement.


    The group consisted of Parker, Miko, Jason, and seven other Qi Condensation youths. Two came from the Ronan n, and one girl and one boy, both sixteen years old. One came from the Flowing River Sect, a girl sixteen years old. Two more came from the Varis n, one of which was E Varis, and thest two belonged to two sixteen year old boys from the Crimson Valley Sect, which put their total Qi Condensation numbers at three, the most of any power here.


    The Fenix n only had Parker at the Qi Condensation Realm, revealing what a disappointing generation it was overall.


    "You may enter."


    All ten youths steeled their eyes and walked forward. The crowd watched them walk into the swirling energy that existed in between the archway, at which point all ten of them immediately vanished.


    The gateway dimmed slightly, and the crowd waited patiently for some time before it returned to its peak state. Waylon stepped forward once more and urged the next ten youths to step forward.


    "You''re up. Good luck inside" Barden said to John.


    John nodded and stepped up with ten other youths, Ryan included, and stood directly before the gateway. He could feel its immense power humming directly in front of him, and other than the pce realm, this was by far the most awe inspiring thing John had ever seen or felt in his life.


    "You may enter."


    John took a deep breath and stepped forward into the gateway, instantly disappearing from the crowd''s view.

 Chapter 93 - Inside The Realm

    As soon as John stepped into the gateway, he felt his body be dragged forward. A strange pressure descended on him as he felt himself both moving and not moving at the same time, which confused him. All of a sudden, his feetnded on solid ground and an expansive world appeared before him.


    John looked down, and noticed he was standing on a prairie, filled with grass and flowers. In the far distance, an expansive mountain range was visible, with towering waterfalls nketing the mountains in a hazy mist.


    John looked up to the sky, and noticed there was no sun, but the world was illuminated regardless. He took in a deep breath, and his eyes soon widened in surprise. The air was filled with Qi at a density he had never felt before.


    ''How is the Qi here so dense? Cultivating here would be multiple times faster than back home.''


    John breathed in the dense Qi for a few seconds before breathing out heavily with a refreshed look on his face. John''s eyes quickly narrowed and he turned around to look behind him, and immediately unleashed his Supreme Battle Art and punched out.


    Boom!


    An incredibly powerful Qi attack collided with John''s fist, and John was knocked back dozens of yards before he managed to stabilize himself. His fist was bleeding heavily, and his arms were shaking from the force of the attack he just blocked. Some of his finger bones were visible from the flesh that had been stripped from blocking that attack.


    Another powerful Qi attack immediately followed up the first, and John took his scythe out and struck out with his full power.


    Bang!


    John was once more knocked back dozens of yards, but this time was rtively uninjured as he managed to counter with his weapon and full power attack, although the attack still made the blood within his body tumble.


    John stabilized himself and stared straight ahead at the source of the attacks. Just thirty yards away from him, Jason, Dn, and the other Crimson Valley Sect members were standing. Jason was holding his sword, and the power emanating from it revealed that he was the one who had sent out the attacks.


    "Motherfuckers, do you all want to die?"


    An incredibly loud shout boomed out as a powerful Qi attacknded at the feet of the Crimson Valley Sect members. The three Qi Condensation members were thrown back several yards, while the Mist Creation members were violently thrown into the distance, coughing up blood.


    A second powerful attack traveled straight towards Jason, and Jason swung his sword out with his full power to block it.


    Peng!


    The attacks collided, and Jason was knocked backwards a few yards before he managed to stop. His hands were trembling slightly from the force of the attack he had just blocked, and he narrowed his eyes as he stared at his attacker.


    Miko quickly appeared by John''s side and pointed his sword directly towards Jason.


    "It seems you truly don''t ce me in your eyes at all. How about we fight to the death right here and now. I''ve been itching to pay you back forst time." Miko said loudly while looking directly at Jason. His anger had truly been ignited at the sneak attack towards John.


    When he was teleported to the pocket realm, Miko and the rest of the first wave all appeared in the same area. Although some words were thrown about, no one started fighting, and Miko decided to wait for John to show up. The other Qi Condensation junior from the Varis n stayed as well, while the Crimson Valley Sect walked somewhat to the side and waited there for their other members. While some of the juniors used this head start to start looking for opportunities first, Parker included, others stayed behind and waited.


    A whileter, Miko had seen the next wave appear, and spotted John as well, but quickly noticed that John had been ced much closer to the Crimson Valley Sect members. He ran over as quickly as he could, but was still just a bitte to stop Jason from attacking out twice.


    Luckily, John was able to block the attacks without being gravely injured, and Miko attacked the Crimson Valley Sect members full force as soon as he got into range.


    "Hmph, it was just a blow to return the favor for what he did to Dn in the finals." Jason scoffed in a dismissive tone.


    Dn''s face went even more icy as he heard Jason talk about him like that, but he remained silent nheless. However, a small smirk hung on his face, as if he knew something would happen soon that would be worth waiting for.


    By now, all the members who had been teleported here and stayed were watching the two sides argue. Jason looked around at all the peering eyes, put away his sword and started walking away.


    "We''re going to leave just like that?" One of the Crimson Valley Sect members asked Jason quietly.


    "Don''t worry. We''ll have our revenge soon." Arge smile appeared on Jason''s face as he took out an item from his spatial ring and channeled Qi into it.


    John watched as the group left and felt an odd sensation pass over him, but couldn''t tell what it was or if it was just his imagination. While thinking about it, he suddenly heard Miko speak up.


    "Are you alright? I got here as fast as I could."


    "I''m alright, just a fist injury" replied John as he popped a Life Mist Healing Pill into his mouth. "It''ll fully heal within a day and I''ll be as good as new.


    "That''s good. Those bastards really are despicable, attacking you like that despite the warnings from my father." Miko truly hated Jason to his core.


    "John, are you alright?" Ryan finally caught up to the group, and joined Miko and John.


    "I''m fine. Anyways, Miko, have you found anything amazing yet?" John decided to change the conversation to the pocket realm, as they were here for that, not the Crimson Valley Sect.


    "No, I was waiting for you. Now that you''re both here, let''s head out and explore."


    "Alright, lets go. You pick a direction." John responded.


    Miko picked the direction opposite the Crimson Valley Sect, and the three of them walked off into the distance towards the mountains. Everyone from the other powers also scattered, E Varis with the other Varis n member as well, in search of their own fortunes within the pocket realm.

 Chapter 94 - First Opportunity

    "This ce is amazing!" Miko couldn''t help but exim.


    John nodded his head in agreement. "Agreed, it''s like an entire world is located within here. We''ve been walking for hours but the mountains are still so far in the distance. I wonder howrge this world truly is."


    "I heard from my father that this world has no limits, or at least that no one has ever discovered an edge to the world. Not only that, but it changes every time." Ryan added.


    "Mhm, either we''re being sent to different areas of this world, or it truly changes every time it opens. Either way, whoever made this world must be absolutely incredible." John was truly in awe at whoever made this realm.


    While walking in the direction Miko picked, the group had run into some beasts that seemed to live in the world. They were species that they had never seen or heard about before, and several of them attacked the group. But they were all Body Refinement or Mist Creation beasts, and were easily dispatched by the group.


    After half a day of walking, the group finally spotted an object appear in the distance.


    "Is that...a pce?" Ryan asked as he strained his eyes to see.


    "Looks like it. Lets go check it out." John responded as the group started walking towards the pce. Half an hourter, they finally arrived in front of the pce, and all three had their eyes wide open in shock.


    The marble white pce was almost a mile tall and several miles wide, and many spires were jutting out high into the sky. It contained a majestic aura, but the dpidation of time was visible on its exterior. Parts of the pce were either breaking down or broken, and dirt and dust coated its exterior.


    "This is thergest pce I''ve ever seen," Miko muttered, while Ryan nodded his head in agreement. Only John was not all that shocked, as the pce in his special realm dwarfed this one.


    "Let''s head inside, but be careful." John said to the group and started walking forward.


    The group all walked forward, and entered the pce whose gate was wide open. Despite the pce being several miles wide, only the main hallway was open for them to walk down, and it led them directly into the heart of the pce.


    All three kept their divine senses pushed to their limits to identify any potential dangers before they fell into them. After several minutes of walking, the group came to a massively grand room.


    Their eyes all fell on an object at the center of the room, which was arge tablet, dozens of yards tall, with magnificent markings etched all throughout its surface. The rest of the massive room was empty, signifying that the only thing of importance was the tablet itself.


    The three of them cautiously walked forward before they were forcibly stopped by the pressure emanating from the tablet.


    "What the hell? We can''t move forward?" Miko asked in confusion.


    "Seems like it. I wonder what this tablet is about?" John said as he studied the tablet closely. All of a sudden, John found himself appearing in apletely different room, that was empty except for himself.


    "What the hell just happened?" John had no idea how he had appeared in the room, but quickly wanted to find a way out.


    While searching for an exit, a figure suddenly appeared in John''s vision. He took out his scythe in a sh, butughed at himself once he took a closer look.


    ''It''s just a training dummy. I wonder why it showed up?'' While thinking about this question, a monotone voice all of a sudden appeared in John''s head.


    "Attack the target with all your strength, and you may leave this ce."


    "What the hell? What was that voice?" John waspletely shocked to hear the voice echo inside his own mind. He had never experienced anything like this before, and had no idea who or what said those words.


    John waited for more words to appear in his mind, but nothing else happened.


    ''It said to attack the dummy, at which point I can leave. I don''t know why that''s the case, but I''ll just do as it says.''


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John powered himself up to his strongest battle state, and steadied his scythe in front of him.


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe


    John struck out with his melee version of the Myriad Annihtion Scythe, which was also empowered by his Supreme Battle Art.


    In the tournament, John''s essence dantian was at the middle Mist Creation Realm, and so the power it provided to his attacks was fairly minimal whenpared to his Supreme Battle Art. Now however, with his essence dantian and body dantian both in thete Mist Creation Realm, John''s most powerful attack was by using the Myriad Annihtion Scythe in conjunction with his Supreme Battle Art.


    A regr cultivator would send one hundred percent of their Qi output to their attack, be it essence or body, which would result in an attack at one hundred percent of their peak power.


    On the other hand, a dual cultivator would have to send fifty percent of their Qi to their essence attack, and fifty percent of their Qi to their body, which is superimposed to an attack at about seventy five percent of their full power whenpared to a single pathway cultivator. This was why no one tread the dual cultivation pathway, as it took longer to cultivate, and resulted in weaker overall attacks.


    However, with his two dantians, John was able to send one hundred percent of his essence Qi to his Myriad Annihtion Scythe, while one hundred percent of his body Qi went to his Supreme Battle Art. These two full powered attacks superimposed on each other to reach an attack power far beyond what a normalte Mist Creation cultivator was capable of.


    Boom!


    John''s scythe collided with the stone figure in front of him, and it exploded into a shower of rocks and dust. John breathed in deeply as he stared at the result of his attack, which was the first time he had unleashed thisbination attack since his essence dantian advanced to thete Mist Creation Realm.


    ''This is even more powerful than I expected.''


    While thinking about his attack, the voice once more appeared in his head.


    "You have no affinity for this inheritance."


    "What? No aff-" John asked back to the voice, but cut off his words as he found himself back in therge room where he had been before. Miko appeared just secondster, and looked around in confusion before spotting John to his side.


    "Where did you go? Did you also go to another room?" John asked Miko. Miko confirmed John''s suspicions as he detailed what had happened to him, which was exactly what had happened to John himself.


    "The voice told me I was not worthy of its inheritance. What the hell is that bullshit?" Miko fumed out in anger. "If a heavenly genius like me isn''t worthy, who is?"


    Johnughed at Miko''sment and nodded his head in agreement. If Miko, with his amazing talent and variant soul type, and John, with his innate variant body and dual cultivation weren''t worthy, then who was?


    A minuteter, Ryan appeared next to the two of them,pletely exhausted but with arge smile on his face.


    "What happened to you? Did you also have to attack the figure?" Miko asked Ryan. John figured that Ryan was so tired from his channelled Qi attack, but his smile confused John as well.


    "Could it be?" John thought of something and asked Ryan for confirmation.

 Chapter 95 - Door Of Light

    "Yep, it said I had an affinity with this inheritance" Ryan said with arge smile on his face.


    "What the hell?" Both Miko and John eximed.


    "What, you both didn''t get in?" Ryan asked in confusion. He assumed since he had obtained the approval of the test, John and Miko would as well. But much to his surprise, he was the only one who seeded.


    "Nope, neither of us got in. So, what did you get for seeding?" John asked curiously.


    "Nothing yet. It said to study the stone tablet, and that was it." Ryan responded.


    "That''s it? No treasure or weapon? That''s kindame" Miko remarked.


    "Well, go try it out and see what happens," John urged.


    "Okay."


    Ryan started walking towards the tablet, and was able to walk right past the invisible restriction that halted both John and Miko. He walked all the way to the tablet, and felt a profound aura wash over him that he couldn''t feel before.


    Ryan sat down in front of the tablet and closed his eyes as he sent his divine sense into the tablet. John and Miko watched Ryan sit there silently for over an hour before Ryan finally opened his eyes wide in ted surprise.


    "Guys, it''s a Mage Art. This tablet is an amazingly profound Mage Art." Ryan eximed in happiness.


    "Mage Art?" Miko asked in confusion.


    "It''s like the channeled attack that he unleashed on me during our fight. Ryan''s called a War Mage, ording to my father, and uses Mage Arts," John responded.


    "Oh," Miko nodded his head in understanding.


    Both John and Miko now realized why they failed to gain the approval of the test. The test asked for them to use their strongest attack, and neither of them attacked with a Mage Art. Obviously, only War Mages were able to win the approval of the test, and only talented ones at that.


    "How long will it take you to learn this art?" asked Miko. They had nothing to do here, and he was hoping it wouldn''t take long.


    "I don''t know, but I think quite a while. You guys should head out and look for other opportunities. I''m going to stay here and study this Mage Art," responded Ryan, tion evident in his voice.


    "Alright. Be careful." John and Miko turned around and left the pce, leaving Ryan to study the Mage Art.


    "How lucky is Ryan? The very first thing we find, and it''s a battle art perfectly suited for him," Miko said depressedly.


    "He''s probably already feeling left behind by both of us, so him finding his own luck in here is a good thing for him," responded John happily. Although Ryan hadn''t said anything, John could tell that he was feeling the pressure of being left behind by the two of them, and he could fully understand those feelings. He had felt those feelings his entire life before he could cultivate, and knew how terrible it felt.


    John and Miko left the pce and continued to walk towards the mountains in the distance. They continued forward for half a day before they finally came to the base of the mountains, at which point they spotted a giant cave dug into one of the mountains. After arriving at the mouth of the cave, they peered into its depths, but saw only darkness.


    "This cave is clearly not a natural formation, so I''m guessing it''s here for a reason," John remarked as he continued to peer into the darkness. He had sent his divine sense down into the cave, but its range ran out before he was able to sense the end. Even Miko''s divine sense, which was much stronger and could see much further due to his variant soul and powerful cultivation, was unable to see the end.


    "Well, standing here isn''t going to solve anything. Let''s head in."


    John and Miko steeled their nerves and stepped into the darkness. They used their divine sense to see where they were going while they continued deeper and deeper into the mountainside.


    After almost thirty minutes of walking, both John and Miko spotted a light further into the tunnel.


    "Light! There''s something down here!" eximed Miko as he dashed forward rapidly. John had wanted to proceed somewhat cautiously due to his fathers warnings, but chased after Miko towards the light.


    "Hey, wait up!" John eximed as he chased after Miko. The two of them arrived at the bottom of the cave, and were able to see the source of the light.


    "A door!" Miko eximed.


    At the end of the tunnel, against the cave wall was a door made of light. Neither of them were able to see through it, but it reminded them somewhat of the gateway into the pocket realm.


    "Let''s enter! I don''t sense any dangering from the door" Miko said and charged towards the door. Due to his powerful variant soul, Miko was much more sensitive towards danger, and his soul would often alert him of any surrounding danger. However, he felt no dangering from the door, and so proceeded towards it without any caution.


    John saw Miko step through the door and disappear, and decided to trust his friends instincts and step through as well. Light overwhelmed John''s vision for several seconds, before he suddenly found himself alone once again in a foreign room.

 Chapter 96 - Lightning World

    John looked around the unfamiliar room, making sure that there weren''t any enemies lying in wait. The room had the same dpidated look as the pce, with worn down bricks and pirs. The room was illuminated by torches that hung on the wall, although John had no idea how they had stayed lit this whole time.


    After a brief sweep of the room, he confirmed that it was empty. The room was not thatrge, only several dozen yards wide and long, and John quickly spotted six doors on the opposite side of the room.


    He walked towards the six doors, and quickly noticed that there was a carving of an image above each of the doors.


    "Whats this?"


    John looked closer at the carvings, and noticed that they were simple drawings, which he quickly identified as the various elements.


    ''Each of these carvings seem to align with an element. Water, earth, fire, air, wood...and lightning.''


    John''s eyes lit up brightly as he nced as the carving above the rightmost door. The carving disyed a simple lightning bolt. Ever since studying the Celestial Lightning Script, John had been yearning to start cultivating it, but never found the opportunity to do so.


    ''Do these symbols mean I need the associated elemental power to pass the test, or are the rewards based on the element?''


    John pondered over his question, but was unable toe to a definitive answer.


    ''Well, there''s only one way to find out.''


    John walked towards the door and pushed against it. After a brief struggle against the door, John was able to open it, and widened his eyes in surprise.


    The door revealed an expansive world directly behind it, muchrger than he imagined. Although he hadn''t stepped through the doorway yet, John could see much of the world in front of him. Dark grey clouds churned violently in the sky, and arcing lightning could be seen continuously shing within the clouds. The ground was charred ck, and no vegetation could be seen anywhere, making the world look quite apocalyptic.


    John took a deep breath as he stared at the world in front of him before he took a step forward and entered through the doorway.


    Bang!


    Just as he stepped through the doorway, he heard a loud bang behind him and quickly turned around.


    "It''s gone!"


    The doorway that John stepped through was nowhere to be found, and all he could see was the expansive lightning world in every direction. He turned in every direction to see if he could see something of importance, but it was the same charred earth and deste sky in every direction. He had hoped that some of the lightning in the clouds struck down towards him so that he could cultivate the Celestial Lightning Script, but much to his dismay, the lightning stayed up in the clouds.


    After looking around for some time, John noticed that in one particr direction, the lightning in the sky seemed to be more concentrated and powerful.


    "Maybe there''s something over there!"


    John decided to walk over in that direction. Charred ground cracked beneath his feet as he walked forwards. A small mountain range a few thousand feet tall soon appeared in front of John.


    ''This mountain range seems to extend in both directions for a long time. I suppose I''ll have to climb it.''


    Although the charred ck mountains were thousands of feet tall, with precipitous cliffs and jagged rocks, John was not too bothered about the climb. His powerful body allowed him to climb the mountain with rtive ease, and soon he found himself already halfway up the mountainside.


    "Roaaar!"


    A loud, guttural roar entered John''s ears and he quickly looked up towards the source of the sound.


    Bang!


    Rock and earth exploded at John''s location, revealing arge beast as the source of the sound and attack. John had managed to dodge the attack at thest moment, and calmly took out his scythe as he stared directly at the beast.


    ''What type of beast is this? I don''t think I''ve ever heard of something like this.''


    The beast in front of John was six feet tall, and stood tall on four powerful and thick limbs. It was white with bright blue stripes along its fur, and looked simr to a tiger. Small flickers of lightning danced over its skin.


    ''It''s a lightning elemental beast! I''ve never seen a lightning elemental beast before.''


    John couldn''t help but be shocked. Elemental beasts were incredibly rare back in his portion of the Yuan Continent, and were almost always powerful beast overlords. They would rule overrge swaths ofnd, and only the strongest of ns and sects would be able to challenge them.


    The Fenix n had one fire elemental beast in its care, and it was one of the n''s most powerful assets. However, John had never seen or heard of a lightning beast before, which was why this beast surprised him so.


    ''This one appears to only be a middle Mist Creation beast. Why is it attacking me?''


    John couldn''t understand the beast''s actions. Although beasts were not intelligent, they still had sharp instincts. The beast should be able to tell that John''s essence cultivation was at thest Mist Creation realm, and that he was more powerful than the beast.


    However, the beast attacked John nheless, surprising him somewhat.


    Boom!


    The ground exploded again as the beast attacked John, but it was only able to strike the ground as John easily evaded it. John danced back and forth for several minutes dodging the beast''s attacks while studying it closely.


    ''Well, I''ve learned nothing from its actions, so I might as well just end this.''


    A sharp beam of scythe Qi flew out of Johns scythe, and easily bisected the beast in two. John collected the corpse and studied it a bit before continuing to climb further up the mountain.


    Several minutester¡­


    Roar!


    Roar!


    Roar!


    Several loud roars echoed out once more, and John soon found himself face to face with over a dozen beasts. The beasts were of several different types, but they were all lightning elemental beasts, surprising John greatly.

 Chapter 97 - Temple

    ''How are there so many lightning elemental beasts in one ce?''


    John couldn''t help but be shocked at this revtion. Although the beasts were not that strong, they all had flickers of lightning flowing over their bodies, revealing the fact that they were all lightning elemental beasts.


    John wished he could capture these beasts and bring them back home to be raised, butmented the fact that he was unable to do so. He had tested out his pce realm and tried to store live animals there, but was unable to bring anything living besides himself into the realm.


    Also, spatial rings were unable to support life, which made it so that he was unable to gather any of these beasts.


    Peng!


    John raised his scythe and struck out, blocking the w attack of one of the beasts. The other beasts also pounced forward, looking to kill the intruder on theirnd.


    John dashed quickly all throughout the battlefield, and each swing of his scythe would fell one a beast. Like the first beast, these beasts were equivalent to middle Mist Creation cultivators, and so John had no problem dispatching them efficiently.


    Despite the fact that the beasts had no chance, they still swarmed towards John without a care for their safety. John continued to cut down the beasts with ease, but his surprise was growing by the second. It was unusual for a beast to throw away their lives like this, let alone dozens at a time.


    After several minutes of fighting, the battlefield was quiet once more. At John''s feety the corpses of over a dozen different beasts.


    ''Well, regardless of the reason, these beasts are giving me a nice supply of blood essence.''


    John collected all the corpses and drained their blood essences before continuing onwards.


    The same scene repeated itself several times as John ran into more and more beasts as he climbed the mountain. Towards the top of the mountain, John started running intote Mist Creation beasts. Although the beasts were still unable to harm John, he was required to use more and more of his strength to proceed forwards.


    Bang!


    Scythe struck the back of a beast, and it copsed to the ground dead. John swung his scythe to the side, throwing the blood off the de as he caught his breath.


    ''Just how many beasts live on this damn mountain?''


    John had killed over two hundred lightning beasts by this time, and finally dispatched thest one he could see. The corpses began to pile up in his pce realm, making John quite happy at the gain.


    John truly couldn''t understand their actions, but was happy to see that he was almost at the top of the mountain range. After a few more minutes of climbing, he finally reached the summit and peered over to the other side of the mountain.


    The other side of the mountain revealed thatrge depression surrounded by the mountain range, making it seem as if it was a giant bowl. The dark gray clouds churned violently overhead, and the lighting arcing throughout the clouds seemed as if they wanted to strike down violently at the center of the crater.


    The crater was around ten miles wide, and quite deep as well. John looked around for more beasts, but was surprised to see none. His eyes swept around the crater, eventuallynding on the very center many miles away. John strained his eyes to see what was there, but could only see a bright blue glow. Lighting asionally struck down at the very center, which made John want to get a closer look.


    Carefully, he started descending into the crater to get a better look at what was in the middle. After a long time of descending, he finally got close enough to discern what was in the center of the crater.


    A four sided temple, roughly one hundred yards tall and fifty yards wide rested at the center of the crater. The temple was dark blue and white in color, and gave off an ancient aura. Lighting asionally rained down and struck the roof of the temple, which would then cascade down the rest of the building.


    After inspecting the surrounding area for any danger, John was unable to notice anything of concern and proceeded forward towards the temple. After several minutes of walking, John stood directly in front of the temple. He peered into the open archway that led inside the temple, but was unable to see anything of note.


    ''Standing here won''t get me anywhere.''


    John carefully started walking forward, keeping his guard up in case of any sudden danger. After walking through the main hallway for a short bit, John eventually came to a wide open room much like the one in the first pce he, Miko and Ryan had encountered. At the very center of the room, a round object rested on a pedestal. John raised his eyebrows as he stared at the ground around the object.


    Dozens of human skeletonsid around the pedestal. Most of the skeletons were charred ck, a sign of lightning damage. John once more raised his guard, wary of whatever had caused the deaths of all these people.


    John observed the object for some time before daring to do anything. The object glowed a dazzlingly beautiful blue color, and small flickers of lightning danced all over it. Whenever the temple was struck by lightning, he noticed that most of the lighting entered the building and directly struck the round object.


    Every time this happened, the object''s bright aura would brighten ever so slightly. This process repeated itself many times before John finally decided to send out his divine sense to see if he could get any clues.


    His divine sense carefully spread out towards the pedestal, but he hastily retracted it as a voice echoed throughout the empty room.


    "I would suggest that you leave this ce."

 Chapter 98 - Lightning Trial

    John hastily retreated and pulled out his scythe, but was unable to find the source of the voice.


    "Who''s there?" John asked as he scanned the room closely.


    "You can put your weapon away. I am unable to harm you," the voice responded in a monotone tone.


    Unwilling to believe the voice, John kept his scythe out, continually scanning for any threats.


    "I am the artifact spirit in charge of monitoring this temple. As I said earlier, you should leave this ce. You have no chance to obtain the opportunity here."


    John thought about it and put away his scythe after some time.


    ''I guess it''s like the voice we heard back in that first pce. I suppose it''s telling the truth. But I can''t just leave this ce before finding out what it is. Besides, he said I have no chance to get the opportunity, not that one doesn''t exist. So there must be something good to obtain here.''''


    John looked around the room once more before his eyes rested on the round object in the middle of the room. A bright aura emanated from the object, making it hard to see clearly. The only details John could make out was that the object was spherical.


    "You said I have no chance to obtain the opportunity here, not that it doesn''t exist. What is the opportunity, and why am I not qualified?"


    Silence filled the temple for some time before the voice responded once more.


    "The opportunity is something beyond your imagination, but I am unable to divulge the secrets of it. Only the one who is sessful in this trial may learn of its secrets. As for why you are not qualified¡­"


    The voice paused for a moment, and John felt an incredibly powerful and profound divine sense wash over him.


    ''So powerful. If it wanted to, this artifact spirit could most likely annihte me with a single thought.''


    John started to sweat as he felt the powerful sense sweep over him. He knew that if the artifact spirit wanted him dead, it would have done so already, but it was still nerve wracking to not be in control of his fate.


    After a few more seconds of scanning, the divine sense faded and silence once more filled the room.


    John stood there for some time before getting impatient. The pocket realm was only open for three months, and each second was precious. Standing here doing nothing was aplete waste of time in his eyes.


    John was about to speak up when the voice boomed throughout the temple once more.


    "Interesting...Your body is very...interesting. It''s unlike anything I''ve seen before¡­.but unfortunately, it is not what is required to pass this test."


    John furrowed his brows at the bad news. "Then what is required to pass this test?"


    "This is the Elysian Lightning Temple, located in part of what was once the Elysian Lightning World. Its inheritance is obtainable only for those with lightning talents, and only the most heavenly of those talents are worthy of this prize."


    "Elysian Lightning Temple? Elysian Lightning World? Just what are those?" John couldn''t help but ask curiously.


    "That is not for you to know. Besides, when I inspected your body, I saw no lightning cultivation, no lightning attribute body, nothing. You have no fate with this temple."


    ''Lightning body? Its true that I don''t have one yet, but I know how to cultivate the Celestial Lightning Script, it''s just unfortunate that I haven''t had an opportunity to do so.'' John was quite dejected by the words of the artifact spirit.


    "What type of trial is this? What would I need to do to obtain the reward. Can you answer that much at least?" John asked, hoping that there was some way forward.


    "I suppose I can tell you that much. The reward for this trial is that object in the center of the room. As you approach it, a lightning field will erupt and attack you. As you approach closer and closer to the object, the lightning field will grow stronger and stronger. If you can sessfully withstand the lightning field and grasp the object, you can be counted as having passed the trial."


    John looked towards the object in the center of the room once more before speaking out. "That can''t be that dangerous then, can it? If I can''t withstand the lightning, can''t I just leave?" John wanted to see if he could withstand the lightning. Maybe, he could even use this opportunity to start cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script.


    "I''m afraid that''s impossible. Once you enter the lightning field, the way backwards is cut off. You can only proceed through the trial sessfully, or perish. There is no other option."


    John gulped at the trials description, and couldn''t help but nce at the corpses on the ground. Clearly they had underestimated the might of the trial, and were only able to perish miserably. John looked closer and noticed that the bodies at the edge of the trial were mostly intact skeletons, while closer to the object, the skeletons had been ground to dust and ash, a testament to the power of the test.


    "Has anyone ever passed the test?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    "No, none have passed, or this trial would not exist anymore."


    "Isn''t that a little too harsh then? What good is a trial if its never to be passed?" John asked dejectedly.


    "The reward for passing this trial is grander than you could ever imagine. In fact, even in the nine Hegemon Worlds and thirty six Great Worlds, this prize would be coveted greatly."


    "Hegemon Worlds? Great Worlds? What are those?" John once again asked curiously, but was quickly disappointed by the artifact spirits refusal to rify.


    John once again stared at the object in the middle of the room, and started wracking his brain for ideas.


    "Can I ask you questions about the trial?" John asked the voice.


    "I am constrained by certain rules on what I can and cannot answer, but if I can, I will do so," responded the monotone voice.


    "You said I didn''t have a lightning attribute body, and therefore could not pass the test. Does that mean if I have a lightning attribute body, I would be able to pass the test?"


    "Not necessarily. All those corpses you see before you had lightning attribute bodies, and you can see the results for yourself."


    John sucked in a breath of cold air. Attribute body cultivators were considered heavenly geniuses, and would normally stand at the top of the cultivation world, but they had all died here without a chance to resist.


    ''Just what is this world? How are there so many lightning attribute cultivators gathered in one ce. And they all died as well. This pocket realm is far too bizarre.''


    John wanted to ask about how old this pocket realm was, but based on the artifact spirits previous answers, John could tell that it was unable to give much detail regarding this world or other secrets.


    "Then, what level of lightning attribute body would be needed to pass this test?"


    Silence filled the temple for some time before the voice spoke up again.


    "I am unable to answer that question."


    ''What good this spirit is. Whatever, I''ll figure it out myself then.''


    John looked towards the center of the room, and noticed a faint line which circled around the object in the center.


    ''This must be the starting line of the trial...I wonder.'' John''s eyes lit up as he thought of something and carefully approached the trial starting line.


    The artifact spirit watched John approach the line and sighed, dejected at having to see another genius perish, but said nothing to stop John''s advancement. It was here to monitor and control the trial, not prohibit those from entering.


    John stopped a foot away from the line and stared at it carefully. Slowly, inch by inch, John raised his hand and pointed out his finger, sending it forward towards ever so slightly.


    Just as John''s finger broke the ne of the trial, John opened his eyes wide as lightning explosively struck out towards him.

 Chapter 99 - Testing The Lightning

    The lightning stuck out violently at John, exploding onto his finger and knocking him backwards dozens of yards. John''s body eventually collided with the temple walls, and rebounded off violently.


    "Cough, cough"


    John coughed out blood from the force of the attack he had just received. It had only been a finger entering the test, and so John thought the power of the lightning field wouldn''t be that great, but much to his surprise, it was stronger than he imagined.


    ''Damn, I shouldn''t have been so arrogant. I should have at least used my Immortal Asura Body or Supreme Battle Art to receive that attack. But¡­'' John''s eyes brightened as he stood up and caught his breath.


    ''Now I know that I can at least put part of my body in and extract it without being able to retreat. The worst that would have happened if I couldn''t have was i lost a finger tip, but this gives me an idea.''


    The artifact spirit said once he entered, he wouldn''t be able to leave. But it said nothing of only putting part of the body into the test. John decided to test with a part of his body he could afford to lose, and his test had been a sess. Clearly, only when the body was fully over the testing line was it unable to return.


    John collected his breath and focused on healing for some time before standing up and once more approaching the trial circle.


    The artifact spirit watched John''s actions in silence. At first it had thought that John was sending himself to his death, andmented the death of yet another junior, but much to his surprise, John only sent in a finger for the test.


    Every junior who had taken this trial before John could be considered heavenly geniuses, and all of them had their own arrogant pride. As such, they had all arrogantly strutted directly into the trial, sure of their sess. But the artifact spirit watched each and every one die without exception.


    However, the artifact spirit watched the boy in front of him do the exact opposite, which garnered his praise.


    ''At least the boy will now see that this trial is hopeless. He''s at least smarter than the others...wait, what is he doing?''


    Just as the spirit thought John would give up, John once again stuck his finger out towards the trial.


    Boom!


    Lightning exploded violently out from the round object and towards John, striking his finger once again. However, the spirit was surprised to find that not only was the boy not knocked back, he even seemed to be enjoying the ordeal. Lightning continuously snaked out from the center of the trial towards John, bathing his body in a never ending stream of lightning.


    Even with the Immortal Asura Body, John could see his finger start to slowly turn ck from the power of the lightning.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John started unleashing his Supreme Battle Art, strengthening his body further. With his body at his most powerful state, John was finally able to stop the damage of the lightning.


    ''This is just the very edge of the test. Just how powerful is the lightning at the center?'' John couldn''t help but get nervous at the thought of the trial ahead. However, this test of John''s had been better than he could have hoped for, and he slowly sat down on the ground directly outside of the trials starting line.


    His fingertip remained over the line, and lightning continued to continuously pour onto his finger. John closed his eyes and sat there for some time, calming his mind and preparing for the next step ahead.


    The artifact spirit watched John''s actions with curiosity, but said nothing.


    ''Interesting, but quite futile unfortunately. No matter how much this boy tries to temper his body with lightning, he has no chance without a lightning attribute body. Even if he had a lightning attribute body, advancing ones body by tempering it with lightning is almost impossible. If it was so easy to do, all these geniuses would have advanced their bodies to the peak before entering.''


    John sat there for some time before a lustrous green jade piece appeared in his hands. Small runes could be seen on and throughout the piece, and a bright glow emanated from its center. This jade piece was the inheritance he had received for the Celestial Lightning Script, which John had studied extensively up to this point. However, he had never had real lightning to train this technique with, but that had all changed.


    John sent his divine sense into the jade piece, linking his mind with the true meanings of the technique. Although John had already studied the outeryer extensively, having it in his hands while he cultivated the technique felt more natural to him.


    While John attuned his mind to the jade piece and prepared to start cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script, the artifact spirit waspletely shocked. It sent its divine sense into the jade piece, at which point its suspicions were confirmed.


    "That''s the Celestial Lightning Script, and one of the original True Jade Origin Pieces. How does this boy have this? This is impossible.''


    The artifact spirit couldn''t understand how this lowly boy could have such an inheritance, but the facts remained the same. Even this artifact spirit had never personally seen the True Jade Origin Piece, and had only heard of its details before. After oveing its shock, the artifact spirit thought about the script.


    ''If he has this script...and with his strange body...perhaps he can. This trial is based off the users cultivation level and talent, as it is testing them to find a worthy owner, but even so it wont be easy, as none have been able to do so to this point.''


    While the artifact spirit observed him, John had already attuned his mind to the true essence of the first stage of the Celestial Lightning Script. John could tell this jade piece has manyyers, each adding to the Celestial Lightning Script, but his divine sense was only able to pierce the firstyer.


    ''It''s unfortunate that I can only observe the firstyer...however, even this should be enough.''


    John grit his teeth and prepared for the pain toe. The Celestial Lightning Script required one to channel real lightning throughout the body. Using theprehensions from the script, the cultivator would guide the lightning through an extremely specific andplicated sequence of acupoints and meridian channels throughout the various parts of the body, slowly bathing it in pure lightning and tempering it. Eventually, with enough tempering, the body would be changed into a lightning attribute body.


    Such a cultivation art waspletely unheard of by John, and he knew this script was beyond amazing. He had no idea how far this art could temper his attribute body, since the firstyer only detailed the initial stages, however, even this was more than he could ask for.


    John once again breathed in deeply and steeled his mind. Lightning continuously flowed onto his finger, but exploded outwards after striking his hardened body. However, the visible lightning suddenly dimmed slightly, and a loud scream soon followed.

 Chapter 100 - Cultivating The Celestial Lightning Script

    Gah!


    John screamed out in pain and grit his teeth as the lightning that was striking his finger and exploding outwards was forcefully drawn into his body. John felt like his insides were set on fire, and that he was about to explode from within. Although he had only drawn a small portion of the lightning into his body, it was already more than he could handle.


    However, he calmed his mind and started guiding the lightning ording to the Celestial Lightning Script. Unbeknownst to him, the moment John started following the principles of the technique, the jade piece in his hand gave off a slight but profound aura, encapsting him in the aura and ever so slightly changing the nature of the lightning within him. At first, John didn''t know the technique would actually work, and it seemed like taming this wild and violent lightning was a futile effort, but he continued to follow the principles of the script.


    With his divine sense, John could see his meridians, muscles, and even organs start to slowly and painfully char internally. Lightning continuously snaked throughout his body, and John felt like his teeth were about to shatter from how hard he was gritting them. The pain kept growing, causing John to feel as if he was on the verge of death, but his previous experiences with pain allowed him to hold on far longer than any other cultivator at his level would be able to.


    After what felt like an eternity, John could no longer bear the pain and copsed to the floor unconscious.


    ...


    Some timeter, John slowly opened his eyes and tried to sit up.


    Ow!


    ''It feels like my entire body is on fire.'' John slowly sat up and popped a healing pill into his mouth. The next few hours were spent focusing on healing, and he was surprised to find his body healing much faster than expected. The charred spots within his body slowly started to heal, and he waspletely shocked to find that faint runes were left in the ce of the charred flesh. The runes emanated a slight lightning aura.


    "What are these runes?" John couldn''t help but murmur out loud.


    The Celestial Lightning Script did not mention anything about runes, and so John waspletely befuddled as to what was going on. He inspected his entire body, and although most of his body was normal, around five percent of it had these runes etched into his meridians, muscles, organs, and even bones.


    "Those are Lightning Origin Essence Runes..The Celestial Lightning Script is famous for many reasons, these runes included...but it''s strange. From what I know, these specific runes should not appear in your body. Peculiar¡­"


    The voice had suddenly spoken out at John''s question, startling him slightly.


    "Lightning Origin Essence Runes? What are those?" John asked.


    The voice stayed quiet for some time before speaking out.


    "I suppose I can exin this much. Attribute bodies contain essence runes. Almost all attribute body cultivators are born with essence runes naturally, and these runes allow cultivators to harness those specific powers with much greater power than normal cultivators. The more runes the body contains, the more powerful that cultivator will be. There are also different types of runes, each with their own profundity and levels of power."


    The voice paused for a moment before continuing.


    "The Celestial Lightning Script is famous for being one of the only arts that can forcefully create essence runes within the body. However, even then, I''ve never heard of¡­"


    The voice trailed off, leaving John curious as to what it was about to say.


    "Never heard of what?" asked John.


    "Nothing. As I was saying, the Celestial Lightning Script is extremely powerful and profound. How did someone like you manage to obtain it?"


    John was surprised by the sudden change, and decided to y the same game as the spirit.


    "I''m afraid I can''t tell you that."


    The artifact spirit was silent once more, and John felt quite refreshed refusing to answer in the same manner as the spirit.


    "No matter. Although I can''t be one hundred percent certain, I believe your situation is unique even amongst other Celestial Lightning Script cultivators. Perhaps...perhaps you may just be able to obtain the inheritance, but it will still be incredibly risky. I would still advise against it."


    John listened to the voice in silence before turning back towards the trial line. He took a deep breath and extended his finger once more. Lightning crashed out of the round object and onto his finger, at which point it violently entered his body.


    John grit his teeth in pain as he once again guided the lightning throughout his body, but was surprised to find that it was easier to do so than before. Although the pain was still great and the lightning struggled violently within him, he was able to guide it more efficiently. Every time the lightning passed by a rune, the rune would give off a slight fluctuation, calming the lightning ever so slightly.


    The process continued for almost an hour before he forced himself to stop. Although he hadn''t passed out likest time, his body was still quite badly damaged internally by the lightning. John popped another healing pill in his mouth and focused on recovering while he thought about the lightning trial.


    Hourster, John sent his divine sense into his body and watched as more charred flesh peeled away to reveal lightning runes underneath.


    ''How profound.''


    John was not sure how the Celestial Lightning Script etched essence runes into his body, but he could feel the effects it had on his body. Not only did the lightning do less and less damage as time went on, he could also feel a growing affinity to the lightning itself, as if it belonged to him.


    He continued to repeat this process for the next two days, guiding lightning from his finger through his body, and then circting it throughout ording to the Celestial Lightning Script. At one point, John tried to guide the lightning by his ownprehensions to see what would happen, but he immediately coughed out blood and quickly went back to following the Script.


    ''I almost just died there. If I hadn''t gone back to following the Celestial Lightning Script, I definitely would have. How dangerous.''


    After two days of continuous cultivation, John felt as if he was reborn anew. Wherever he sent his divine sense into his body, John was able to see faint runes etched into his body. Almost twenty percent of his body now contained runes, and his control over the lightning within his body had improved several fold.


    After careful inspection of his body, John looked up towards the pedestal holding the round object. He stared it at it for over an hour before finally making up his mind.


    ''Cultivation is about taking risks. If I y it safe whenever I face a dangerous opportunity, I can only resign myself to a life of mediocrity. And I would rather die than being mediocre. If my journey up to this point has shown me anything, it''s that the mediocre can only resign themselves to the whims of the powerful. And I refuse to allow anyone but myself control my fate.''


    John steeled his nerves and paused for a moment before taking a step forward towards the pedestal.

 Chapter 101 - Entering The Trial

    Boom!


    The moment he stepped over the trial starting line, John found himself immersed in a world of lightning. If before when he used his finger to draw the lightning was a stream, then the current situation in front of him was a raging river. Lightning struck out violently at him, striking his entire body.


    Even with his newfound essence runes and initial lightning attribute body, John found it hard to endure the baptism of lightning he was currently feeling.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John had wanted to avoid using the Supreme Battle Art to strengthen his body, since his blood essence reserves dictated how long he could use it. Although he had obtained a vast amount of blood essence prior to entering this world, and anotherrge amount from killing the beasts on the mountain, he still wanted to avoid using the Supreme Battle Art unlesspletely necessary.


    John took a few steps forward and was struck by an even more powerful stream of lightning. His flesh started to char ck and crack, shocking him into a painful retreat.


    ''Gah! How powerful. I won''t be able to move that much forward without tempering my body further.''''


    Although he could move forward for some time with the Supreme Battle Art, it was far too costly to do so.


    John sat down at the very edge of the trial and took out the Celestial Lightning Script jade piece, and started cultivating the script. Before he had focused on mostly his internal organs, bones and muscles, as his external body was strong enough to withstand the lightning with the Supreme Battle Art, but John soon realized that his thinking was foolish.


    ''I need topletely temper my entire body, leaving no part untempered. If I only focus on my internals, when the Supreme Battle Art runs out, I''ll die by having my skin violently shredded from my body.


    With the Supreme Battle Art active, John was able to resist the destructive damage of the lightning, but that was just a temporary solution. He could tell that his body alone would not be nearly strong enough to get to the center pedestal, which was over thirty yards away and had much stronger lightning.


    ''I''ll sit here and focus on tempering my outer body. Then my inner body until I can withstand this area fully, at which point I''ll slowly move ahead and repeat the process anew.''


    John grit his teeth at the pain and the pain toe. Based on this n of his, John knew he would be in continuous, unrelenting pain until he either passed the trial or died.


    Lightning continuously struck his body, while John did his best to resist it. His divine sense was sent into the jade piece, at which point he started cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script, this time focusing on his outer body.


    Time continued to pass slowly as John endured the painful torture of lightning raining down on him as he focused his mind as best he could on cultivating the script.


    ''If I hadn''t endured all the extremely painful trials so far in my life, I would no doubt have passed out from the pain by now, and passing out would mean sure death.''


    John had thought himself quite unlucky having experienced so many painful events in thest year, but now realized that those events were also blessings in disguise. Only by experiencing those painful events was John able to endure this current trial. If not, he would have passed out by now and died.


    After some time, John could see faint runes start to glow on his skin, but the progress was much slower than he would like.


    ''If it goes on like this, the pocket realm will close before I get to the pedestal. I have to think of something.''


    John wracked his mind for ideas on how to make himself progress faster. Thinking back to cultivating the script outside the trial area, John remembered how his charred body would peel away to reveal the lustrous runes glowing beneath. His eyes lit up as he thought of the solution, but also a tinge of reluctance was present as well at what it meant for him.


    ''Based on my previous experiences cultivating this, it seems the more I allow the lightning to damage my body, the faster the tempering process. But at the same time, the more damage I take, the closer I am to death if I make one mistake. The fastest way to cultivate this script seems to be bncing on the edge of death, making my body take as much damage as possible, without stepping over the edge...but this will also be the most painful and dangerous way by far.''


    John grit his teeth as he tried to think of other solutions, but was unable toe up with anything.


    ''I guess it''s this or nothing. I just hope I can endure the pain.''


    John sat there for a moment and took a deep breath before taking the plunge. He slowly started retracting the Supreme Battle Art, weakening his body''s defense.


    Gah!


    Flesh exploded in several ces as John''s body was struck by the continuous lightning stream. Without the protection of the Supreme Battle Art, John''s body was slowly but surely damaged by the lightning. Any other cultivator would have died a hundred deaths by now, but thanks to his extremely powerful Immortal Asura Body, John was able to hang on with just the strength of his body.


    The artifact spirit watched in shock as John allowed the lightning to fall on his body in such a manner.


    "I can''t believe his body, without being augmented by any arts or techniques can withstand the force of this lightning without being destroyed. Just what type of body does he have? Not only that, but the pain he is enduring now is immense. I suppose we will see what falls first. His will, his body, or this trial."

 Chapter 102 - Bitterly Enduring

    John sat on the ground, teeth gritted so hard he believed they could shatter at any moment. His divine sense was trained on the jade piece while the lightning struck out at his body, charring it and rending flesh. Pain continuously assaulted his body as he did his best to maintain consciousness. John ate healing pill after healing pill, hoping that it would provide some help withstanding the lightning, but its effects started to diminish the more he ate.


    Hours passed by as John watched his flesh char, fall off, heal, and char again. This process continued ceaselessly as he struggled to withstand the pain. Nearly a dayter, his weary eyes finally brightened slightly.


    Upon careful inspection, John could tell that his body was charring at a slower rate, and that the charred flesh was healing faster than before. Not only that, but the pain was diminishing slightly as his body began to temper to a level that could withstand this lightning.


    After several more days of cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script, John finally smiled for the first time in a long time. He stopped cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script, and allowed the lightning stream to fall on him unguarded.


    Boom!


    The sound of lightning striking his body continuously exploded out as John smiled and bathed in the lightning.


    "Hahahaha, sess!"


    John cried out in joy as the results of his bitterly painful ordeal had finally paid off. His body, both outside and internally, had been tempered to a level that was able to withstand this lightning. Although it was still quite painful, and was still causing damage to his body, it wasn''t lethal to him anymore.


    While celebrating, his joyful eyes started growing ever so weary, and before he could react, John passed out deep asleep.


    While John was passed out in deep slumber, the artifact spirit was observing him closely.


    "How has he progressed in the Celestial Lightning Script this fast? Even with it being a heaven defying technique, I''ve never heard of some being able to cultivate it this fast. If an ordinary cultivator were to try this method of his, they would have surely died by now. What is his secret...perhaps it''s that body of his."


    The artifact spirit couldn''t figure out what was happening, but the one thing it did know was that John was full of secrets, and perhaps he would be worthy of the reward. However, he knew the boy''s journey in the trial was just getting started.


    Some timeter, John finally woke up and slowly opened his eyes. Lightning continued to crash down on his body, and due to him not guarding his body, it was charred all over, with some serious wounds to his body, but it was not lethal. His clothes had long since been destroyed by the lightning, but he was not concerned about that since he was alone in this temple.


    John sat up in pain and popped several healing pills into his mouth as he focused on healing. By circting the medicinal energy throughout his body while simultaneously cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script, he was able to fully heal his body in less than two days. The natural recovery speed of his Immortal Asura Body also aided in his quick recovery.


    After fully recovering, John stood up, and with arge smile on his face, took several steps forward.


    Boom!


    Lighting exploded out of the round object with even greater force than before, knocking him back slightly and opening up several wounds on his body. The smell of charred flesh filled the air as John once again found himself almost unable to withstand the lightning.


    ''What the fuck? I just took a few steps forward and the lightning grew this much in power? Isn''t that too much? How is this a trial? This is just a death penalty.''


    Bleakness appeared on John''s face as he once again knew what he had to do. After taking a deep breath, John took a few steps forward and allowed the powerful lightning to strike his body. Wounds opened up continuously as he sat down with gritted teeth and took out the jade piece once more. Flesh, organs, bones, and muscle were charred, stripped away, healed, and charred once more in a never ending cycle of pain.


    For the next month, the scene of a boy cruelly cultivating under an endless torrent of lightning could be seen. John had lost count of how many times he had passed out from the pain, but each time he woke up, his body would be covered in gruesome wounds.


    However, a bitter smile was present on John''s face for two reasons. The first was that he had advanced almost eighty percent of the way towards the tform, and was almost in reach of it. The second was that during the continuous trials of enduring the lightning trial, John could see thousands of lightning essence runes on over eighty percent of his body.


    The runes flickered blue with dazzling light, and small wisps of lightning could be seen dancing around them asionally.


    The artifact spirit watched John in rapt attention. It was continually surprised by John''s progress, and had even be hopeful that he would manage to seed. Not only that, but John''s extremely firm will was something it had hardly seen in all its years of existence. Most of the heavenly juniors that took this trial entered with bravado and confidence, but almost all of them became terrified and scared as soon as they were faced with pain and danger.


    John however, entered the test with almost no lightning talent and through sheer will and determination, was able to carve his way forward. The Celestial Lightning Script yed arge part of it, since without it he would never be able to move forward, but the Celestial Lightning Script alone wasn''t enough. Only through his unflinching determination was John able to steadily proceed forward.


    "Only a handful of juniors had managed to make it this far, but even heavenly geniuses such as them perished. This trial is not only about the ability to withstand lightning, but also receiving the eggs approval. Without its approval, no amount of talent will be enough. Unfortunately, due to the nature of this trials reward, anyone who learns of its secrets but doesn''t obtain it cannot be left alive, as was the will of the trials creator. Let''s hope he has what it takes to win its approval."

 Chapter 103 - Trial Passed?

    Several dayster, John found himself only a few steps away from reaching the pedestal. However, the lightning in this portion was so strong that John was barely able to hold on, even with the Supreme Battle Art.


    Due to the strength of the lightning, John was forced to once again use the Supreme Battle Art to withstand its destructive power, even if it meant cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script slower. He was starting to get worried however, as his blood essence reserves were already less than half of what they were before he entered the trial.


    ''If I''m unable to advance the next few steps soon, I''ll perish. I need to push myself harder.''


    Although still using the Supreme Battle Art, John once again lowered its power, allowing the lightning to assault his body. Flesh stripped away, revealing muscle and bone underneath, but John grit his teeth and continued to cultivate the Celestial Lightning Script. Through continuous cultivation, John finally realized why his wounds were healing far faster than what should be possible.


    After tempering his body and creating the lightning runes, John was able to notice that whenever the lightning passed by a rune, the rune would slightly alter the properties of the lightning. After passing through his body enough times, the once destructive lightning would have a slight healing property.


    Although this healing property was only good for repairing lightning damaged parts, it was what had allowed him to get to this point so fast.


    John endured this hellish training for as long as he could.


    ''I can''t hold on much longer. I need to give thesest few steps my all and push through with brute force.''


    Although he knew it was probably not the best idea, he had no other choice. His blood essence reserves were waning, and once those ran out, his Supreme Battle Art would disappear. Once that happened, he was as good as dead, since he had no way to replenish those reserves in this field. Completing the trial while being at his peak strength was his only option.


    While he had been using a half powered Supreme Battle Art up to this point, John finally unleashed his maximum powered battle state. A wild, violent aura emanated from John.


    "It''s now or never. Only a few steps more."


    John grit his teeth and stepped forward with all his might. Using the Celestial Lightning Script helped alleviate some of the burden on his body, but even so the might of the lightning was almost more than he could handle. Flesh stripped away from muscle and bone as John pushed forward with all his might. Blood flowed freely from his body as he advanced forward with little regard to his safety.


    By this time, John was just one yard from the pedestal. Using thest of his remaining strength, John took onest step forward and reached out towards the round object on the pedestal.


    "Just...a...bit...more¡­"


    John grunted though gritted teeth as his hand slowly but steadily approached the object. Just as hisst strength was about to leave him, John''s fingertips brushed up against the object. The ever flowing destructive lightning suddenly ceased, and John copsed to the ground, barely conscious.


    Gasp! Gasp!


    Breathing heavily and struggling for every breath, John did his best to raise his arm and pop a healing pill in his mouth.


    "With how damaged my body is, it will take at least a week to fully heal."


    John''s thoughts began to grow weary as he silently fell asleep,pletely exhausted from the trial he had just conquered.


    ...


    A weekter, John finally healed himself to the point that he could stand up, although he was still quite wounded. John inspected his body and waspletely excited to find that most of his body was covered in runes, with only a few areas left to temper. The small flickering runes glowed slightly on his skin, making him look quite exotic.


    ''Almost one hundred percent of my body now contains runes.''


    After standing up, John looked at the object on the pedestal. During the trial, he was far too upied with living to be able to look at the object closely, but now that he was standing right in front of it, he was surprised to find that it was an egg. The egg was six inches tall, and had a slight scale like pattern on the outside.


    "An egg? What type of egg is this? This is the reward?"


    John was quite disappointed in the revealing of what was on the pedestal. He had figured it would have been some awesome weapon or amazing lightning based opportunity, but it had ended up being an egg.


    Looking closer at the pedestal, John noticed an incredibly intricate formation surrounding the egg. The fluctuations of the formation made John shudder, as he realized the source of that dreadful lightning was this formation itself.


    ''Well, If the egg is the reward for such a dreadful trial, I''m sure it''s quite amazing. Lets see.''


    John reached out and went to grab the egg. The second the touched the egg, John found himself appear in a different ce.


    "What? What just happened? Where am I?"


    John looked all around at this new ce he found himself in. A slight red tinge hung in the sunless sky, and violent clouds churned overhead. John took a step forward and heard a crunch underneath his foot.


    "What''s this? Is that¡­?"


    Upon closer inspection, he noticed that he had stepped on a skeleton. Looking all around, John noticed that he was standing on top of a small mountain madepletely of human remains. As far as the eye could see, he saw mountains of corpses. Rivers of blood weaved through the small mountains of corpses, making the world look like a literal hellscape. An extremely sinister aura of death and despair hung in the air.


    "Where the fuck am I? What is this ce?"


    Although John had braved other nightmarish ces such as the sinister room and gate in his pce realm, this was still beyond shocking. Had he not tempered his will so furiously before, John was sure he would have gone mad already.


    "What do I do? How do I get out of here? One second I was in the trial room, and now I''m here. Was that whole thing a trap? But how does that make sense?"


    John furiously wracked his mind for solutions to this predicament.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    John quickly took out his scythe and raised his head as he heard loud sounds echo out from the distance. The sounds grew louder and louder, eventually reaching a point that John could barely withstand. A short whileter, John opened his eyes wide as he spotted a massive figure step out from behind one of the mountains of corpses.

 Chapter 104 - Nightmarish Creature

    The figure was over three hundred yards tall, and walked tall on its two powerful legs. Its pitch ck body, like charred flesh, was covered all over with blood red lines which seemed to glow from within its body. Four incredible powerful arms jutted from its body, andrge sharp ws extended from each finger. Large spikes protruded from its head, shoulders, and back, making it lookpletely demonic.


    The creature had a face unlike anything John had ever seen before. Many sharp teeth extended out of its wide mouth, and intense fire could be seen deep within its mouth whenever it opened it. Its nose was empty and open, like the nose of a human skull, and hellish fire flickered within it as well. Glowing dark red eyes with vertical pupils, more sinister than anything John had ever seen, pierced directly towards him.


    Each step the creature took towards John made him feel as if his heart was about to explode. Its power was beyond anything John had ever felt, and he was sure that the creature could destroy the entire Yuan Continent if it so desired. Sweat dripped down John''s panicked face as he turned to flee as fast as possible.


    "I can''t fight this thing. I need to run!"


    John summoned all his power to run, but waspletely dismayed to find that he was unable to move. The creature was clearly using its immense power to suppress John''s movements, making him feel even weaker and smaller than an ant.


    John watched in terror as the creature approached him. Each step shook the very earth itself, and he felt like might die just being in its presence. When the creature was one hundred yards away from him, it stopped and stared directly at him.


    Despite John being at the top of a small mountain of bones, he was still eye to eye with the massive creature. He did his best to control himself, but knew he waspletely at the whims of this creature.


    The creature stared at him for some time before it opened its mouth, and a low, guttural voice followed after. Fire spewed out of its mouth as it spoke.


    "A mere human dare intrudes on my domain? Tell me, how would you like to die?"


    John felt as if he was listening to death itself speak. Each word the creature uttered chilled him to his bones, and a strange invasive energy threatened to drive his mind mad, and even his soul felt like it was being brought to the brink of copse. This effect reminded him of how the sinister gate assaulted his mind and soul, threatening to drive him mad.


    John held on to his mental state as best he could as he stared directly at the creature. Although he was scared beyond description, he refused to lose himself either.


    "Who are you...what is this ce?"


    John struggled to get these words out. He had no idea how he got here, but he refused to just give up now that he was trapped.


    "Oh? Even now, you can calmly speak? Impressive, for a human," responded the creature in its low, guttural voice. The creature reached out with one of its massive hands and grasped John within.


    John fiercely struggled to break free, but was unable to move even slightly as the hand, dozens of timesrger than him, picked him up with ease and brought him face to face with the creature. He could feel the intense heat emanate from the mouth of the creature as it spoke to him.


    "I see you have some promise. Perhaps you''re more useful alive than dead. Open your soul to me and allow me to ce a ve contract on it."


    John grit his teeth as he heard the creature speak his demands. He had been hoping to somehow talk his way out of this, but this demand left no room for negotiation. The creature was clear; open your soul to me, or die.


    ve contracts were seals ced on the soul of one living being by another. A ve contact would allow the owner to fully control the one with the seal on its soul, essentially making them a true ve. With a single thought, the owner could extinguish the soul of the ve, killing them instantly. Not only that, but all the thoughts of the ve would be clear for the owner at all times, so thoughts of rebellion were impossible.


    However, ve contracts could only be ced willingly by both parties. If one party tried to forcibly nt the ve contract on another, the soul could be extinguished instead of controlled, no matter how great the power difference in souls. Only a willing soul could have a ve contract ced on it.


    John wracked his mind for solutions, but was unable toe up with anything.


    ''I suppose, in the end, power is the only thing that matters in this world.''


    In the face of true power, any scheme John came up with was useless.


    "Don''t make me wait. Open your soul to me now...or die."


    The creature once again spoke out, stating its conditions to John. John was gritting his teeth from fear and stress so hard he thought they might shatter. His heart was pounding so loud that it was all he could hear.


    "No."


    John struggled to say something, but all he could muster was one word. The creature narrowed its blood red eyes in anger, and fire spewed out of its mouth as it spoke up once more.


    "You dare defy me? Surrender, or experience a death more painful than you can imagine."


    As John stared at the creature which demanded very or death, his panicked mind started to calm down. Faced with such a dilemma, John was shocked to find that he was able to eventually calm his nerves even in the face of certain death. He would rather die, than be a mindless ve.


    ''Although I''m afraid of death, there are worse things in this world than death. I refuse to be a ve, especially to something as evil as this creature.''


    After calming himself down, John looked directly at the creature. His once panicked demeanor now exuded an air of poise and calm, although a tinge of fear was still present on his face.


    "No...I would rather die, than be your ve."


    "Then die!"


    The creature shouted in anger and opened its mouth. John watched with eyes wide open as fire spewed from the creatures mouth, directly towards him. He slowly closed his eyes as he prepared to let death embrace him.

 Chapter 105 - Companion Pact

    John kept his eyes closed for several seconds, expecting excruciating pain before darkness overtook him, but much to his surprise, the pain never came.


    His eyes slowly opened, and he was surprised to find himself back in the Lightning Temple, exactly where he had been when he touched the egg.


    "Whaa? What just happened?"


    John couldn''t make sense of what had happened. One second he was in that hellish world, about to die, and the next second, he was back in the Lightning Temple.


    "Congrattions. You are the first and only person to have sessfully passed the final trial."


    The artifact spirit''s voice boomed within the temple, rousing John out of his thoughts.


    "Trial? What trial? Just what the hell happened? And what was that nightmarish creature?"


    "Thest trial was an illusion formation, meant to test the will and true character of the trial taker. Only those with the firmest wills, and unflinching resolves are worthy. Anyone who falters in the face of death, or takes the option of very over dignity, are unworthy of this reward."


    "Illusion formation?" John interrupted. "How the hell could an illusion formation feel so real?"


    Although John had never been in an illusion formation before, he had read about them, and knew they were nothing like the one he had experienced. There was always a way to eventually realize that the illusion was fake, but John did not doubt for a second that what he had experienced was real.


    Everything, from the aura of that ce, the feel of death lingering in the air, and even the malevolent feeling and overwhelming power emanating from the creature, made John one hundred percent convinced that it was real.


    "This illusion formation was created by someone so far above your power you couldn''t even begin to imagine. Just know that it was indeed an illusion formation, and you passed the trial within."


    John''s mind raced as he processed all the new information. After some time, he eventually calmed down.


    "Then what was that creature? Was that creature based on something real, or was it fake as well?" he couldn''t help but ask.


    The voice was silent for a long time before it responded, as if unsure of how to answer.


    "I can''t reveal too much, but let''s just say that if you ept this trials reward, you will eventually find out the truth regarding that creature. That creature has a certain fate with the egg, one that cannot be avoided."


    John furrowed his brows at the vague answer from the artifact spirit.


    "Every time I ask a question, you give me apletely vague answer that says nothing. Why can''t you just tell me the truth?" John yelled out in anger. He had be sick and tired of hearing nothing but vague answers from the voice.


    "I am unable to say too much, due to the instructions of my master who created me. These questions involve some of the greatest secrets of this universe. Learning of these secrets invokes karma, and this karma is something you are unable to bear at your current strength. The truth would only get you killed at this point."


    John scrunched his face in confusion.


    "Karma? Karma is an idea, it''s not actually real. How could karma kill me?"


    The voice took a while to answer.


    "Karma is very much real. And it''s far more profound and terrifying than you could ever imagine. Invoking too much karma will only draw disaster to yourself, and without the strength to protect yourself, you will have no choice but to resign yourself to fate."


    John wanted to ask more, but he knew from experience that the artifact spirit would tell him nothing further. After calming his rage down, John looked back towards the egg sitting on the pedestal. He reached out and brushed his fingertips on the egg, and was surprised to receive an electric shock.


    Despite his tempered lightning body, which had now fully transformed into an initial lightning attribute body, John was still hurt. He quickly retracted his hand.


    "What type of egg is this?" John asked the voice.


    "You will find out soon enough. Take a drop of your blood and drip it on the egg. The creature within has deemed you as worthy, and is willing to form apanion pact with you."


    John had heard ofpanion pacts before while reading through the trove of books in his n''s library. Companion pacts were blood pacts between two living beings. By agreeing to apanion pact, the souls of the two beings would be forever intertwined. It was one of the two methods that beast tamers used to control their beasts, the other being a ve contract.


    Withpanion pacts, neither party would be in control, but it was instead a lifelong mutual agreement of equal standing. Grown beasts almost never allowed apanion pact to be formed, and so most were formed when the beast was young and its will less independent.


    John took out his scythe and used the tip of it to cut open a small wound on his hand. Blood dripped down his hand, and John raised his hand over the egg and let a drop of blood fall on top of it.


    The blood drop was slowly absorbed by the egg, and John eventually shielded his eyes from the bright light that began to emanate from it. After several seconds of shining, the egg began to dim and returned to normal once more.


    During this process, John felt as though his mind and soul were being linked to something else. As the egg grew brighter, the feeling intensified until his own soul could feel the soul of the creature within the egg.


    ''How bizarre!''


    John had never experienced anything like this before. When the egg finally returned to his normal state, John expected something, but nothing else happened.


    "Thepanion pact process takes quite the toll on the one absorbing the blood. The creature within has retreated into a deep slumber, and will awaken once more in the future." The voice suddenly spoke up, answering his doubts.


    John nodded his head in understanding.


    "Is that the entire reward, or is there something else?"


    The artifact spirit was caught unprepared by John''s question.


    "Young man, you may not know exactly what this egg is, but let me tell you something. If the powers of this universe were to find out about this egg, they would start wars more apocalyptic than you can imagine to obtain it. Heavenly geniuses have died for the chance of obtaining this item. Count yourself lucky at having not died, let alone obtaining this egg."


    John blushed in embarrassment at having asked the question, and felt much better after being berated by the voice. Clearly this reward was something far greater than he could imagine.


    "How long until it hatches then?"


    Although this reward was amazing, it was useless until the creature inside hatched.


    "It depends. The creature inside, as I''m sure you can tell, is a lightning based elemental creature. Having it absorb lightning based things will speed up its growth. The more profound and powerful the lightning source, the better. However, something as simple as regr lightning cannot even be considered as a snack for this creature, so don''t insult it by trying"


    John nodded his head as his face once again flushed red. He truly did think of trying to ce it within a lightning storm, but his hopes had been squashed right away.


    ''Seems I''ll have to be on the lookout for lightning based things from now on.''


    John sent his divine sense over the egg, and quickly absorbed it into his soul space. Unlike regr objects, this egg had formed apanion pact with him, and their souls were connected. Because of this, he was able to directly absorb it into his soul space, instead of putting it in his cold and dreary pce realm.


    Just as he was about to ask the voice another question, he felt the world around him start to shake violently. Parts of the temple started to copse, and John felt as if the world was ending.


    "What''s going on?" John couldn''t help but panic.


    "This lightning world contains many trials and opportunities, but you happened to stumble on its core inheritance right away. This entire world was created to nurture this egg, and also provide the opportunity for one worthy junior to obtain it. Now that this has been achieved, the core of the word, the egg, is no longer, and the world itself is copsing. I will send you out."


    John nodded his head in understanding.


    "Thank you for your help." Although the voice had pissed John off quite a lot, it had helped him as well. Without its warnings and information, John would most likely have died in the trial.


    John felt his body grow lighter as a bright aura enveloped him.


    "Make sure to take good care of it."


    Just as John heard thest line from the artifact spirit, the world copsed, and he felt himself be transported away.

 Chapter 106 - Leaving The Cave

    In another part of the pocket realm world, a group of several boys, d in red robes, could be seen walking together.


    "Does the tracking artifact show his location yet?" one of the boys asked.


    The boy in the front of the group sent his divine sense into the artifact, and shook his head soon after.


    "Not yet. He must have entered a trial that is hiding his location temporarily. It matters not, he''ll eventuallye out. For now, let''s continue to search for our own opportunities. Our sect has tasked us with finding out as much as we can about this pocket realm, and that is just as important as the other matter. We have more than a month to find him."


    The other boys all nodded their heads and continued to move forward quickly. Jason put away the item in his hands, while arge smile crept up on his face.


    ¡­


    John felt his body twist and turn, before he suddenly found himself back in the cave with the door of light.


    "John! You''re finally back!"


    John turned around to see Miko hurriedly stand up and run over to him.


    "Miko? How long have you been waiting here?" John asked.


    "Almost two weeks. What took you so long in there?"


    John raised his eyebrows in surprise as he stared at Miko.


    ''Two weeks? He waited for me for two weeks, despite knowing that there are other opportunities out there.'' John was quite moved by Miko''s actions. Despite the overwhelming allure of treasures and opportunities in this world, Miko still waited for John toe out.


    "You didn''t have to wait, but thanks. And I was stuck in a trial that entire time. Sorry I couldn''te out sooner." John responded.


    "A trial for an entire month? That must have been a hard trial. What was it about?" Miko asked curiously.


    "A lightning trial," John responded quickly.


    "Lightning trial? But you don''t cultivate lightning skills do you?" Miko asked in confusion. John winked at Miko with a smile on his face, but didn''t respond.


    "Ah I see. Did you get something good from the trial?"


    "Sure did, but I can''t tell you what it is, not yet at least, even I don''t know what it truly is yet" responded John. "What about you, did you get anything good inside?"


    Miko nodded his head in happiness, while a pure white sword suddenly appeared in his hands. John stared at the sword, and the more he stared, the more surprised he became. Not only could he tell that the sword was at least at the Core Formation grade, but it also emanated a strange aura that John had never felt from a weapon before.


    "What is this sword?"


    "Here, grab it and see for yourself," Miko responded as he handed the sword over to John.


    John grabbed the hilt of the sword, and quickly dropped it while he clutched his head, which was throbbing like he had a headache.


    "Ah, what the hell was that?" John asked, unprepared for the sudden assault his soul felt when he grabbed the sword.


    Miko quickly picked up the sword and nced at John curiously.


    "What happened?"


    "My soul suddenly started feeling like there were nails being driven into it. What the hell is that sword, and why aren''t you feeling anything?" John asked while trying to shake off the feeling.


    "Hmm, strange. All I know is that when I touch this sword, it sends a strong soul wave towards me, which allows me to resonate with it and unleash my soul attacks at an even stronger level. I guess what you''re feeling is that soul wave, but I didn''t think it would have such a big affect on you." Miko responded, rifying the situation to John.


    John finally understood what had happened. "Miko, you have to remember that no one has a soul as strong as yours, and so what is manageable to you isn''t to others. But it''s alright, no damage to my soul was done. Seems like you found yourself quite a terrifying weapon."


    Miko smiled and nodded while stroking the de of his sword. John could tell that Miko had quickly be entranced by the sword, and he didn''t me him. It was a weapon perfectly suited for him.


    Just as the two were talking, a small sound filled the cave, and John and Miko turned around to see the door of light grow smaller and smaller until it disappeared entirely.


    "Seems like we won''t be able to get anything else from this trial," John said as he stared at the cave wall. Although he wanted to see what the other trials held, he didn''t care too much. The other trials that appeared for him were based on the other elements, and John had no affinity with any of those.


    "Seems like it," responded Miko, also somewhat disappointed.


    "Let''s head out and search for other opportunities. If this cave showed us anything, its that amazing rewards are avable as long as we can grasp them."


    John and Miko started walking towards the caves exit. While walking, John inspected his body to look at the runes more closely, but was surprised to find that the runes that were on body were gone.


    ''Hmm? Maybe they only show up when I''m cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script or using lightning?''


    After leaving the cave, John and Miko picked a direction and started walking. After walking through the mountain range for some time, John suddenly paused as an expansive swamp as far as the eye could see appeared in front of the two of them.

 Chapter 107 - Swamp

    "Should we go through?" asked Miko, unsure of what to do.


    "We''ll, we''ll have wasted quite a bit of time by returning to where we came from. I don''t see anything dangerous in the swamp, what about you? Do you sense any danger?" John asked Miko. Miko''s senses were much sharper.


    Miko shook his head. "Nothing yet."


    "Well, let''s head through then. Maybe there are opportunities inside as well. The cave was an unknown area, but look at what it gave us. Maybe the swamp is the same."


    Miko nodded his head and started walking into the swamp. Based on his stronger cultivation and more refined divine sense, Miko was more than willing to lead the way. The two of them entered, and stayed on a smallnd bridge that seemed to snake its way through the swamp.


    The sound of insects chirping and frogs croaking filled their ears, while dead trees everywhere held various forms of life that stared directly at the two of them. Everything in the swamp seemed to be drowned in a slight darkness, and an aura of death lingered in the air, giving the swamp an eerie and foreboding feeling.


    Ssh!


    The murky water next to them exploded outwards, revealing a bizarre looking creature pouncing directly at them. The creature looked like a hybrid between a frog and a smander, and was several feetrge. Its tongue quickly extended out of its mouth, piercing directly towards the two of them.


    Slice!


    With a wave of his sword, Miko cleanly bisected the strange creature in two. Its two halves fell back into the swamp, and John and Miko watched as many creatures swarmed towards the carcass for a free meal.


    "Hmph, a mere Mist Creation beast dares to attack us? It''s head must be screwed on wrong!" Miko spat out in annoyance.


    "Haha, I''m sure humans are umon sights here, and so it probably thought we were a free meal," John responded whileughing.


    The two of them continued to venture further into the swamp, and were ambushed time and time again by creatures looking at them as prey. However, each one was felled with a single attack.


    "Howrge is this swamp? We''ve been walking for over a day and the only thing we''ve seen in this ce are the creatures dumb enough to attack us. Even the sunlight seems to avoid this ce. Is there anything actually worthwhile here?" Mikoined while walking.


    Even John was starting to question whether taking this route was the best idea. So far, it had been a waste of time. Just as John was about to respond, both him and Miko managed to spot something through the thicket of dead trees.


    "What''s that?" Miko asked as he strained his eyes to see.


    "I don''t know, lets get closer," responded John.


    After several more minutes of walking, John and Miko came to an open clearing in the swamp. Green grass flowed in front of them, flowers bloomed, and birds sang, aplete opposite of the dead swamp behind them.


    In the center of the several hundred yard wide clearing was a single tree. Its branches, vibrant with green leaves, towered hundreds of feet into the sky.


    "Thats! That''s an Undying Vitality Tree. They''re said to grow in ces of death and dying, and thrive off the decay and death," John responded with excitement.


    He had read many books in his n''s library, including ones on both real and potentially mythical vegetation. This tree had existed in the mythical section, but included detailed drawings about what it looked like, as well as descriptions of where it grew.


    John looked towards the top of the tree to confirm his suspicions, and was quickly ted to find out he was right.


    "See, there!" John said as he pointed to the top of the tree. Miko followed his fingers'' direction and soon spotted what John was pointing at. On the very top branches, four massive blood red fruits with ck spots on them could be seen.


    "Those are the fruits of the Undying Vitality Tree, and what makes it so valuable. Directly consuming one of those fruits will increase one''s vitality, making their lifeforce stronger, as well as increase their cultivation a bit."


    Miko''s eyes widened in surprise and happiness as he stared at the fruit.


    "What happens if you eat more than one?" Miko couldn''t help but ask.


    John shook his head as he responded. "From what I read, directly consuming one is beneficial, but after that, its effects no longer work. However, there are some amazing pills that can be created using these fruits, which we would be able to eat on top of having one of the fruits. We should try to get them."


    "Then what are we waiting for," responded Miko as he took out his sword and prepared to send an attack out to cut down those branches at the top of the tree.


    "Wait!" shouted John as he quickly dashed to stop Miko.


    "What?"


    "These fruits are very delicate. The force of your attack would destroy them. We need to climb up the tree and pick them ourselves," responded John as he sighed a breath of relief. If he had been a stepte, Miko''s attack would have destroyed these valuable treasures.


    "Oh, sorry. Lets climb then," responded Miko.


    John and Miko started walking through the paradise like field towards the tree, but Miko quickly dashed backwards, grabbing John''s arm and bringing him with him. John also felt the danger at thest moment, but was a stepter than Miko.


    Boom!


    The two of them came to a halt, and stared directly at the beast that had attacked them from one of the branches above.


    "A Qi Condensation beast, huh?"

 Chapter 108 - The Power Of Soul Cultivators

    The beast was a giant hawk almost ten feet tall and thirty feet wide, and was at the early Qi Condensation realm.


    John''s eyes narrowed as he stared directly at the beast, scythe in hand.


    "Let me handle this!" said Miko as he raised his sword and prepared to attack.


    Although Miko was also only at the early Qi Condensation realm, he was more than confident in taking down this beast. While ordinary cultivators feared beasts in the same realm as them, Miko was anything but ordinary.


    John nodded his head, but internally he was conflicted.


    ''I really want to test my strength against this beast. Although I don''t know if I can beat it, I''m sure I can at least give it a good fight. But my blood essence reserves are limited, and I used over half during the lightning trial. I don''t know what other dangers I will face, so I should y it safe for now.''


    John took many steps back and watched as Miko casually walked towards the beast, sword by his side. The arrogant look on his face told John that he was not even slightly concerned by this beast''s power.


    The beast had been sleeping at the top of the tree, which it considered its home. It guarded the fruit, and every hundred years would harvest them for its young. However, just as the fruit were about to ripen to be harvested, it had spotted these two youths approaching,pletely igniting its anger.


    Screech!


    The hawk squawked angrily at Miko, hoping to scare it off, but much to its surprise, Miko continued to approach. The hawk flew up into the air and shed its wings down directly at Miko. A sharp stream of air, powerful enough to shatter boulders crashed violently down on Miko.


    ''Clearly the hawk is an air elemental beast. Why are there so many elemental beasts in this world?'' John couldn''t help but ask himself curiously.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The vibrant green field exploded as dirt and rock was kicked up. The hawk continued to send air attack after air attack towards Miko, making sure to kill him in one fell swoop, since it had felt great danger from the boy.


    Che!


    A sharp sword light flew out of the cloud of dirt and rock, and struck the hawk in the chest before it could even react. Blood erupted out of the wound as the hawk flew higher into the sky, giving itself more time to react to attacks.


    The cloud of dirt soon disappeared, revealing Miko standing there unharmed, although his clothes were quite battered.


    "Bastard, these are my favorite robes!" Miko yelled as he noticed the damage.


    The hawk squawked in anger at seeing the boy unharmed, and prepared to send an even more powerful attack down towards him.


    "I was nning on letting you live if you figured what was good for you and scrammed, but its toote for that now. Die for me!"


    Miko focused his mind to his most powerful state and quickly shed his sword towards the hawk that hovered high in the air. A bright white light that contained a holy aura flew directly towards the hawk, and hit it before it could even react. The white light passed directly through the hawk, but no visible damage appeared on its body.


    A secondter, the hawk let out onest shrill cry before it fell directly towards the ground below. John watched in shock as the hawk copsed violently onto the ground, and ceased to move at all afterwards.


    As he was watching the attack fly out, John winced slightly as his soul trembled.


    ''That must have been one of Miko''s soul attacks. I''m not even the target of the attack and I felt my soul tremble. I know beasts typically have weaker souls than humans, making it a poor matchup against Miko, but still. How terrifying.''


    Beasts typically had extremely strong and durable bodies, but at the same time had weaker souls. This was not an issue most of the time for these beasts, as soul cultivators were very rare, but when they did fight one, they would be at a massive advantage. While there were some beasts that focused on the soul and were exceptions, this quick battle John just witnessed showed just how fearsome soul cultivators could be.


    Without a strong soul, the beast wasn''t even able to resist slightly as Miko''s attack snuffed its soul out of existence. Miko stared at the beast before turning to John with arge smile on his face and quickly swapped out his damaged robes for new ones.


    "Haha, that was easy. Lets go get our fruit!"


    John nodded his head and joined Miko.


    "Hey, can I have this beast''s blood essence?" John asked.


    "Uhh, sure, just take the entire thing, but what do you need it for?" asked Miko in confusion.


    "It aids one of my techniques," responded John. He didn''t want to go into too much detail, as it involved his biggest secret, but didn''t want to leave Miko in the dark either.


    "Oh, okay, that makes sense."


    "Anyways, it seems like the tree is clear of beasts now, let''s climb and grab those fruits!"


    John put away the corpse in his pce realm, and nned to harvest its blood essenceter. Although beast blood was no longer efficient for cultivating the Immortal Asura Body, it was still very useful in replenishing his body Qi reserves, allowing him to fight much longer while using the Supreme Battle Art.


    John and Miko climbed the massive tree, and took some time to get to the top of it. Bright red fruit, with small ck dots soon appeared in their eyes, and both Miko and John found themselves starting to salivate. The fruit released an intoxicating and vibrant aroma.


    "Haha, up close these fruit are way more amazing than expected. Coming this way was the right decision," Mikoughed as he started reaching out towards the fruit.


    Just as his hand was about to grab one of the fruit, a small shadow darted towards the back of Miko''s head.

 Chapter 109 - Undying Vitality Fruit

    Slice!


    A sharp sound rang out behind Miko, causing him to turn his head quickly in fright. His eyes widened slightly as he saw the bisected corpse of a small snake flop down on the branch directly in front of him. Venom dripped slightly out of its fangs, indicating that it was a venomous snake.


    "Be careful. Never let down your guard!" John rebuked as he put away the knife he had used to kill the snake. Although the snake wasn''t strong, it was very venomous, and would have posed lethal danger to Miko. It was clearly living amongst the branches by the fruit, bathing in their radiance when John and Miko intruded on its territory.


    Due to his past experiences with letting his guard down at the final moment, John had learned to always remain vignt, even when it looked like things were safe, a lesson Miko had yet to learn with his sheltered upbringing.


    "What just happened. How did we not sense this snake?" asked Miko in confusion.


    When he had approached the fruit, he had let his guard down, causing him to miss the snake. Although the snake specialized in stealth and could fool even divine senses, Miko would still have been able to detect it if he was alert, but the allure of the fruit had dulled his senses.


    "You let your guard down, and almost died because of it. Never let your guard down, especially when you think it''s safe to do so. Only when you know you are absolutely safe can you afford to do so."


    "Oh, thanks. I guess you saved me, haha¡­" Miko rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. He was supposed to be the strongest of the two, and find all the danger first, but his inexperience had almost cost him his life.


    Two divine senses swept through the rest of the tree, making sure that the coast was clear. Only after confirming that it was safe did John and Miko reach for the fruit. There were four fruits hanging together closely, and each of them grabbed two fruits.


    The fruit was around the size of arge apple, and gave off a wonderful aroma. As soon as he picked it up, John felt a vibrant life force surge into his hand.


    "Wow, it''s this amazing just holding it?" Miko said.


    "Eat one now, and remember to save the other one for pills. Don''t eat it, or it will go to waste," John reminded as he stored one fruit away and bit into the other one.


    Juices ran down his chin as John savored the delicious vor of the fruit. As the fruit hit his stomach, an incredibly vibrant life force surged into his whole body. John felt as if he was being reborn anew as his entire body began to surge with life. Without his beckoning, the potent energy from the fruit fused into every inch of his body, and even surged towards his dantian. John could clearly feel his cultivation improve slightly without even doing anything.


    "This is incredible!" yelled Miko in excitement as he took another bite.


    Both John and Miko spent the next few minutes eating their fruits. By the time he was done, John felt as if his body had unlimited energy, and his cultivation had advanced quite a bit. Before the fruit, his essence cultivation was at the initial stages of thete Mist Creation Realm, but the fruit had advanced his essence cultivation beyond the middle stage and directly to the upper stage of thete Mist Creation Realm.


    "How amazing. Just this fruit alone has saved me months of cultivation. I''m already almost ready to advance to the Qi Condensation Realm. Although I still need to advance a bit more and improve myprehensions before I advance, this has saved me an incredible amount of work. Maybe I can advance before I leave the pocket realm" John couldn''t help but excitedly exim.


    Miko nodded his head in confirmation. Although the fruit wasn''t as amazing for him, as he was already in the Qi Condensation Realm, it was still better than anything he had eaten before in his life. This fruit had also saved him months of cultivation time, and had also filled him with a vibrant energy.


    "I also read that this fruit extends the youthful lifespan of anyone who eats it by over fifty years, but I didn''t believe such a thing. But after eating it, I believe it," John added.


    Although cultivation would extend the lifespan of people, adding an extra fifty years of vitality to one''s life was always a good thing. Not only would the cultivator live longer, but they would stay youthful for longer, extending their prime cultivation years.


    "This fruit might be even more amazing than my sword. This pocket realm has incredible treasures!" Miko eximed with arge smile on his face.


    John wanted to nod in agreement as he thought about the egg. Although he had no idea what type of creature the egg would turn into, the actions of the artifact spirit told him it would be anything but normal. Even within the whole pocket realm, John was sure that this egg was one of the best rewards possible, although that was only his guess.


    ''The egg might be amazing in the future, but I need to find something that improves my strength now. Although I was able to temper my body in the lightning trial to be a true lightning attribute body, I don''t know any lightning techniques yet. The Celestial Lightning Script is only a cultivation technique, and not a battle art. My strength is still mostly the same as when I entered this realm.''


    After savoring the fruit for a little bit longer, John and Miko climbed down the tree and began to continue down thend bridge that cut through the bleak swamp. Several hourster, the two of them stopped and raised their guard, staring directly and a dense approaching fog.

 Chapter 110 - Swamp Creature

    "What now?" Miko asked in irritation as the fog encroached on them.


    "I don''t know, but be prepared and don''t rx your guard," John responded as he took out his scythe, while Miko took out his sword.


    Although neither of them said anything, they could both tell that the fog was anything but ordinary. The fog slowly approached them, and before long it had reached them. Both John and Miko had a look of surprisee across their face.


    "My divine sense is restricted by the fog. It can normally reach a hundred yards, but right now its being restricted to just ten yards," Miko gravelymented. John nodded his head in agreement, as his divine sense was also restricted. With the limited visibility of the fog, alongside the restricted divine sense, they would both be essentially blind past a few yards.


    "Stick close together, and don''t move. This fog will eventually pass, and then we can continue on," John said as he came up with the best idea he could think of. If they were to walk around in this fog, they would be separated before long.


    The two of them stood in ce, senses pushed to their maximum as they waited for the fog to pass over. Nearly an hour passed by, and both were starting to think it was nothing but an unusual fog when all of a sudden, a w swung through the thick fog, heading directly towards John.


    Peng!


    Scythe and w collided, and John was knocked sideways into the murky swamp.


    "John! Hold on¡­"


    Peng!


    John heard Miko call out before he too heard Miko meet an attack with his sword. With the disorienting fog, the sound of Miko faded farther and farther into the distance as the two of them became separated.


    John''s legs sank down into the water up to his knees, and he soon found another w attacking directly at him. Due to the small distance that John could see in front of him, each attack gave him only a moment to respond to before it reached him.


    Peng! Peng! Peng!


    John continued to parry attack after attack as a non stop barrage of w''s attacked him from deep within the fog. It seemed as if he was being attacked by many creatures at once, and John found himself pushed backwards further and further as he did all he could to withstand the barrage of attacks. Although the attacks were not incredibly powerful, the ws were incredibly sharp, and John knew that even his body would take damage if enough attacks were allowed tond on him.


    The barrage continued for quite some time, and John became increasingly frustrated at his current predicament. He couldn''t see exactly where his enemies were, and so counter attacks became difficult. Whenever he found an opening and dashed forward to meet his enemy, all he would find was fog. Clearly, the source of the w attacks was skilled at staying hidden within the fog.


    While thinking about a solution, a w managed to slip by John''s defenses and graze his shoulder.


    Blood spurted out slightly as John saw the w cut right through his skin. Although the wound wasn''t all that deep, even a ncing blow like this one had managed to pierce his body. If it was any other cultivator, half their shoulder would have been removed by that attack.


    ''What do I do? I would be fine if I used my Supreme Battle Art, but I can''t use my Supreme Battle Art unless I know it will end the fight, otherwise its just wasted blood essence reserves.'''' John wracked his mind for solutions, until his eyes slightly brightened as a thought popped into his head.


    ''I have no idea if this will work, but it''s worth a shot.''


    While parrying the attacks, John exhaled all the air in his lungs before he breathed in as deep as his body would allow him. Air continued to pour into his lungs as a small torrent of air was forcefully sucked into his lungs. Due to his incredibly tough and powerful body, both externally and internally, John found that his lungs were able to withstand a muchrger burden.


    He hade up with this idea on the spot, but was unsure of if his lungs would be able to withstand the burden required. His doubts were soon cleared, and after breathing in for nearly ten seconds, John opened his mouth wide and screamed out at the top of his lungs.


    "AHHHHHHHHHH!"


    An incredibly loud shout echoed all throughout the swamp, and the pressure from the shout formed a small concussive wave that forcefully pushed back the surrounding fog. Arge smile appeared on John''s face as he saw that his idea had indeed been sessful, before it quickly reverted into a serious frown.


    The pushed back fog quickly revealed the source of the attacks, and John was surprised to find that it was just one creature instead of the many he had assumed. The creature was nearly fifteen feet tall on two hind legs, and had a body and head simr to a lizard. However, its body was decayed to the point of it looking like a dead corpse, and ten long arms with sharp ws protruded out of its back. A thick aura of death permeated from the creature.


    ''A half-step Qi Condensation beast!''

 Chapter 111 - Battle With The Swamp Creature

    John quickly made an assessment of the creature, and realized why it had been such a problem. Its cultivation was at the half-step Qi Condensation Realm, and clearly it was able to see perfectly inside the fog. Half-Step cultivations meant that the person or creature was starting to advance into the next realm, but had not fully advanced yet. They were more powerful thante stage cultivators of the same rank.


    ''Clearly the creature was not going all out, and was trying to tire me out to find an easy opening. It must be quite wary, and tries to use the fog to its full advantage. But I''ve managed to eliminate that advantage, for now at least.''


    John looked around at the parted fog and noticed it was moving in slowly.


    ''I probably have a minute or so before the fog goes back to normal. I need to end this quickly.''


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John decided to use his strongest state right at the start. Although he didn''t want to touch his blood reserves, it was best to finish the fight as soon as possible instead of drag it out. Also, John was sure that he was unable to outrun the creature. Although he was most likely faster than the creature, the swamp bogged him down, making his movements slower than usual. The creature however, was a creature of the swamp, and was most likely not hindered at all by it.


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe: First Attack!


    John sent out the first attack of the Myriad Annihtion Scythe, and the sharp Qi beam cut straight towards the creature.


    Peng!


    The creature sent out its many arms to block the attack, and sessfully parried it. However, a second, more powerful Qi attack followed directly after, startling the beast. It raised its arms to block again, but this time, some of its ws shattered while it was knocked back slightly.


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe: Third Attack!


    John sent out the third attack of the Myriad Annihtion Scythe, and the power of it was even stronger than the first two attacksbined. He had advanced tote Mist Creation in essence cultivation before he entered the pocket realm, and made sure to learn the third attack. This was his first time using it inbat, and its power surprised him.


    Boom!


    The creature was unprepared for such a barrage of attacks, and the third attacknded on its chest, opening arge wound and knocking it back quite some distance. The creature was a stealth based creature, and used its advantages in the fog to attack. It was not used to direct confrontation, and John''s quick and sessive attacks caught it off guard.


    ''Now!''


    John prepared to take advantage of the opening he just created to dash forward and end the first with a full powered attack of his scythe. However, just as he started to dash forward, he paused.


    "Really? After all that effort, you''re just going to flee? At least give me your blood essence!" John shouted as he watched the creature flee back into the depths of the swamp.


    "Although my third attack wounded the creature, it wasn''t fatal at all. I wanted to see how my strength stacks up against a half-step Qi Condensation beast. Clearly this creature avoids direct confrontations as much as possible."


    John was quite disappointed that he wasn''t able to add the creature''s blood essence to his reserves, but at least he was no longer under attack within the fog.


    ''Now I have a problem though. I have no idea which direction I was pushed in, and I have no idea which direction Miko went in. Should I wait out the fog, or should I try to get out myself?''


    John thought about it for a moment before he decided to wait with his guard raised. However, two days passed and the fog still hadn''t dissipated.


    ''At this rate, the pocket realm will close before the fog leaves. Although its risky, I need to try to make my way out myself. Miko is stronger than me, so he''ll be safe anyways.''


    John made up his mind and ventured forward. Wasting time in this one of a lifetime opportunity was something John was unable to deal with. He would prefer to wait for Miko, like Miko waited for him in the cave, but this situation was different. The fog couldst many months for all he knew, and that would be a problem.


    John chose a random direction and started walking forward.


    ...


    Ssh!


    A creature suddenly erupted out of the water next to him, its attack aiming straight for John''s back.


    Boom!


    A punch sent the creature flying, and its half dead corpse skipped over the murky water for some time before falling beneath its surface.


    ''I keep getting attacked by these annoying creatures. Just how long until I leave this damn fog?''


    John had been walking for another two days, trying to get out of the fog, but he was still trapped within. Many creatures had attacked him during this time, although John was relieved that nothing as powerful as the ten-armed creature attacked him again.


    Just when he thought he was never going to be able to leave the fog, John''s eyes brightened as he noticed the thickness of the fog start to lessen. After running forward for several minutes, John took a deep breath of fresh air with arge smile on his face.


    "Finally, I''m out of the fog."


    After leaving the fog, the swamp John was in ended and an expansive forest in front of him was revealed. Towering trees dominated thend, and lush vegetation made it feel vibrant and alive, a stark contrast to the dead swamp behind.


    John quickly climbed on one of the first trees he could find and once at the top, looked all around the swamp in the distance to spot Miko. However, even after a few hours of searching, John was unable to spot anything but swamp creatures roaming around within.


    "Either he left already, or he''s still within for some reason. Either way, I have no idea where he is, so the only thing I can do is keep moving forward."


    John hopped off the tree and after checking his surroundings, started venturing into the forest. Ancient trees towered over him as John proceeded forward.


    ¡­


    At another part of the pocket realm, the group of red robed boys were seen walking together. The boy in the front held an item and was inspecting it periodically.


    "How far is he?" asked Dn.


    "It seems he''s about fifty miles ahead of us. It should only take us a few days to catch up as long as he doesn''t run," responded Jason as he kept checking the item.


    "Good. I can''t wait to look down on his pleading face as I end him!" Dn responded as arge smile appeared on his face. He held a new sword in his hand, and stroked it repeatedly, clearly a powerful item he had obtained within the pocket realm.

 Chapter 112 - Chasm

    John proceeded through the ancient forest with his scythe in hand. Although he had not sensed any danger yet, the dense forest did not give him much time should something attack him.


    ''My essence cultivation is now almost at the peak of the Mist Creation Realm, and with the Golden Marrow Condensation Pill, I should be able to break through quickly. But with how fast the Undying Vitality Fruit raised my cultivation, I should stabilise my cultivation first before attempting a breakthrough. I also need moreprehensions on my essence Qi, as I can still feel a slight bottleneck.''


    Unfortunately, John had note up with a solution for his Immortal Asura Body cultivation yet. Beast blood essence was mostly useless in regards to raising his body dantian cultivation, and he did not have human blood essence to use either.


    Also, it required human blood essence at least on his level of cultivation, so that was another hurdle.


    ''I need toe up with a solution. Maybe when I''m out of the pocket realm, I can go hunt some cultivation criminals or something. I need to give this more thought, as it''s a serious hurdle for my body cultivation.''


    John''s greatest asset was his powerful body, and so having it fall behind his essence cultivation was a detriment to his overall strength. Also, he couldn''t just request human blood essence from his n, as human blood based cultivation techniques were considered taboo.


    He continued through the forest, keeping his guard raised for any dangers while simultaneously searching for any opportunities.


    Roar!


    A loud roar boomed out in front of John, and he quickly noticed a massive beast in front of him, blocking his path. It looked like a giant gori, and its cultivation was at thete Mist Creation Realm.


    John smiled as he stared directly at the beast. "Your blood essence will be very useful. Thank you for your sacrifice."


    Che!


    A sharp beam of scythe Qi flew out of his scythe, and John quickly dashed forward towards the beast. Loud booms echoed throughout the forest as John fought the beast for several minutes. The forest eventually quieted down, and John looked down on the beasts corpse with a smile on his face.


    "I fought that battle with just essence Qi, since that can be replenished naturally over time. I was unsure of how I would stack up against this beast using only that, but it seems I was worried for nothing."


    John had decided that unlesspletely necessary, he would only use his essence dantian for fighting. He was able to naturally replenish that over time by absorbing Qi from the surrounding air, and so he would not have an issue of running out of Qi in this realm.


    This was his first battle against anotherte Mist Creation Realm opponent using only essence Qi, but the results had been better than he had hoped. His body was extremely powerful naturally, and helped out greatly even without using the Supreme Battle Art. Thatbined with his powerful essence dantian, allowed him to easily overpower this beast.


    John harvested the beast''s blood essence and threw both the blood and the corpse into his pce realm. Many giant vats of blood were filled to the brim inside the pce, allowing for an immediate source of blood essence should John need it.


    "I wonder why all these beasts are either in the Mist Creation Realm or Qi Condensation Realm? The natural Qi density in this pocket realm is incredibly dense, and these beasts should be able to advance to higher realms, but I have seen none at all yet. Maybe they''re being suppressed to the Qi Condensation Realm, since this is a trial world for juniors?"


    He couldn''te up with a definite answer, so he decided to think no more of it. John continued on for several days through the forest, battling with many beasts along the way that were protecting their territory. His smile grewrger as his blood essence reserves were once again filling up, giving him much more confidence.


    After several days, John found himself leaving the ancient forest. He was slightly disappointed that he had found no amazing opportunities inside.


    "I suppose that not every ce has treasures, or maybe I just didn''t walk to the correct location in the forest. It was incredibly massive, and it''s more likely that I just didn''t get lucky."


    John shrugged his shoulders as he walked out of the forest, but before long his eyes widened slightly in surprise.


    Directly in front of John, a massive chasm was revealed to him. It stretched as far as the eye could see to each side, and was several miles wide. The walls of each side of the chasm was incredibly smooth, like polished marble. An incredibly sharp and profound sword aura emanated from the chasm, shocking John immensely.


    "What is this chasm? This sharp sword aura emanating from the chasm indicates that it was made by a sword attack...but that should be impossible right? No one has this much power¡­"


    John came to a conclusion on what made the chasm, but he was unable toprehend how a sword attack could have caused such a massive scar in the earth.


    "It seems the cultivation world is even more amazing than I initially thought," John mumbled to himself as he stared at the chasm in a daze. He eventually gathered his wits and carefully walked to the edge of the cliff, and peered into its depths below.


    "What is that?" John muttered as he stared into the depths.


    Hundreds of yards deep into the chasm, there was a massive whirlpool of energy that spanned as far as the eye could see. John tried to look into the whirlpool to see if anything was behind it, but was unable to. The whirlpool contained incredibly dense energy, and John''s divine sense was not strong enough to reach it hundreds of yards below.


    "I wonder what''s down there? Maybe there''s some amazing treasure, but I''m not about to throw my life away like that. I guess I need to turn back, as there''s no way forward."


    John was disappointed that this was the end of his journey in this direction. Turning back would waste time in search of more opportunities, but unfortunately it was the only choice. Just as John decided to turn back, he heard a slight sound behind him and quickly turned around. His expression became incredibly grave as he stared at a group of red robed boys walk out of the forest and directly towards him.

 Chapter 113 - Surrounded

    The group of boys continued to walk directly towards John, and based on their expressions, John knew that they were here specifically for him, and their intentions were not good either.


    "Would you look at this. In this entire expansive world, we somehow manage to run into each other. It seems like our fates are intertwined," Jason called out as he stared directly at John with arge smile on his face.


    Dn and the rest of the group stood behind Jason, also with simr looks on their face.


    "Something tells me fate has nothing to do with it," replied John in a casual tone. Although his demeanor appeared calm, he was constantly thinking of solutions to this crisis while keeping his energy ready to explode out at the maximum if need be.


    "Haha, you''re not as dumb as you look," responded Jason as he took out an item and waved it for John to see. John stared at the item, but did not recognize it at all.


    "Haha, you don''t even recognize a tracking artifact. You really are all country bumpkins," responded Jason whileughing.


    "Tracking artifact?" John asked, trying to stall for time while he thought of something to get himself out of this situation.


    "It leaves a small spirit mark on your body, allowing us to track you," said Jason. John''s eyes suddenly lit up in understanding.


    ''So that was the weird feeling I felt in the beginning of the pocket realm as they left. No wonder.''


    Jason noticed John''s change in expression. "It seems like you managed to detect it when it was ced on you. Not bad, it seems like you really are talented. But its a shame you country bumpkins are so stupid. If you had known you were being tracked, you could have used your soul power to find the spirit mark and erase it."


    The rest of the groupughed at John''sck of knowledge and misfortune. To them, he was a piece of meat on the chopping block, and ying around with him a bit first made it all the more savory.


    John sent his soul power to carefully scan his body after he heard Jason''s words. A minuteter, he suddenly detected an incredibly faint fluctuation attached to his body, so faint that it was hardly noticeable. His soul power red to that point and washed over it, erasing it from his body.


    ''No wonder I didn''t detect it. Without knowing it was there, and without incredibly close observation, I never would have noticed it.''


    John felt slightly better now that the tracking mark was off him, but he was still trapped by the group of boys, with no way to retreat. The chasm behind him closed off all opportunities of running.


    While thinking about his solutions, John suddenly remembered some information from back during the tournament. That, coupled with the way Jason kept calling him a country bumpkin ignited his suspicions further.


    "Back during the tournament, Dn recognized the Supreme Battle Art, and I''m sure you did as well. That coupled with how you address me...you''re not truly from the Crimson Valley Sect are you?"


    The surrounding group of boys all had surprised looks on their face at John''s words, which made him sure he was correct. Jason narrowed his eyes at John''s words before he suddenly changed his tune and startedughing loudly.


    "Hahaha, not a bad guess. Since you''ll be dying soon, I guess there''s no harm in telling you."


    Jason''s words confirmed both of John''s suspicions. One, that they were not from the Crimson Valley Sect, and that they were also here for his life.


    "You''re right. We''re not from the Crimson Valley Sect. Instead, we''re from the Yuan Continent Holy Lands."


    John narrowed his eyes further. He had been hoping that they were from another power that rivaled the Fenix n, but if they were truly from the Yuan Continent Holy Lands, then this was an extremely grave situation for both him and his n.


    John looked towards the few boys he knew were from the Crimson Valley Sect and spoke in a loud, mocking tone.


    "I guess you''ve gone ahead and sold yourself to the highest bidder. Dogs will always be dogs I suppose."


    "Courting death!" Yelled one of the boys.


    "You''ve already confirmed your here for my life, why wouldn''t I court a little bit more death in that case? At least I don''t bow down and lick the boots of a new master whenever I can," John responded once again in a mocking tone.


    The Crimson Valley Sect boys exploded in anger and prepared to charge forward, but were held back by a wave of Jason''s hands.


    John looked back towards Jason. "Then I have just one question. Why all this effort just to kill me? You have only three months to look for opportunities in this realm. That should be more important than wasting time to kill a Mist Creation junior, shouldn''t it?"


    John couldn''t understand why they had spent so much time and effort tracking him down, instead of looking for treasures and opportunities.


    "Unfortunately, this was a decision from the higher ups. Your talent is not bad. And based on you somehow knowing the Supreme Battle Art, our sect decided that it was important that you die. If you somehow became a member of the Supreme Battle Sect, that could spell trouble for us in the future. Besides, we''ve spent plenty of time looking for opportunities, and will spend plenty more once you''re dead. This won''t take long."


    Although both Jason and Dn didn''t want to admit it, John''s talent definitely was terrifying, and the elders at their sect wanted to eliminate him before he could potentially join any major powers. Once he did so, he would be well protected, and eliminating him would be much more difficult.


    "Are you not afraid that killing me will ignite the wrath of my n?" John asked.


    "Haha, your n is but a mere eyesore, waiting to be eliminated. Besides, how will anyone know that we were the ones to kill you. We can just feign ignorance."


    John''s mind continued to race, and he wanted to keep stalling for time. He was about to ask which power they came from that made them so confident in their schemes, but Jason saw through John''s intentions.


    "You''re just stalling for time, but unfortunately that won''t save you," stated Jason in a cold tone as he took out his sword.


    Boom!


    The ground exploded behind John as he dashed forward with all his might. The Supreme Battle Art and the Five Step Movement Technique were superimposed, making his burst of speed frightening. As long as he reached the tree line, John was confident in his escape due to his dual Qi reserves and fast movement speed.


    However, as he dashed forward, an incredibly sharp sword light pierced towards his back. John was forced to turn around and block the attack.


    Peng!


    The attack was blocked with his scythe, but the time it took to turn around and parry had allowed himself to be fully surrounded by the group of five boys.


    ''Three at the Qi Condensation Realm and two at thete Mist Creation Realm. This is going to be troublesome.''

 Chapter 114 - Surprise Attack

    ''If it was one Qi Condensation opponent, I wouldn''t be too scared. Even two I could probably get away from, but three Qi Condensation, and twote Mist Creation opponents is too much. I need to eliminate the Mist Creations first to create a hole in their defense and hopefully slip through.''


    John quickly analyzed his current predicament. He was unable to kill the Qi Condensation opponents, since doing so would take a long time and all his strength, allowing the others tond fatal blows on him. However, he was confident in eliminating the two Mist Creation Realm opponents quickly if he had an opening. His strength had increased greatly since the tournament Realm, and John no longer considered Mist Creation Cultivators his match.


    Dn and the other Mist Creation Realm cultivator were standing closely together, clearly intent on protecting each other and mostly staying out of the way of the Qi Condensation experts.


    Suddenly, John''s world went blood red.


    ''A domain! And a more powerful one than when Dn used his. This must be Jason''s.''


    John found himself inside another domain, almost exactly the same as the one during the tournament. However, this one was much more powerful than that time. Despite that, John found it not too difficult to resist. This domain targeted the blood of the opponent, trying to slow it down and weaken its enemies, as well as the will of the enemy.


    John''s blood was augmented by both his Immortal Asura Body and the Supreme Battle Art, making it almost impossible for the domain to have any effect on it. His will was extremely tempered, as this domain was unable to shake it. However, within the domain, Jason would find himself empowered, and John could still feel a slight detriment to his power from the domain.


    "Let''s see where you run to now," Jason called out in a confident tone while looking at John. He knew Dn''s domain was mostly useless against John, but he was much more confident in his own. Not only was it powered by his higher Qi Condensation Realm cultivation, it was also more profound in itsprehension, making it much more powerful than Dn''s.


    The entire group slightly rxed their guards once Jason''s domain went up. They knew how powerful it was, and were certain that John was unable to shake off the effects likest time. Jason started walking towards John, sword in hand.


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe: First Attack


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe: Second Attack


    John had been silently building up his essence power to unleash these two attacks almost simultaneously. Jason looked at the approaching attacks and scoffed while sending out his own Qi attack.


    "Hmph, powerful, but useless against me."


    Bang!


    The two attacks collided, and a small Qi explosion radiated outwards. Jason was about to follow up with more words, but his eyes suddenly widened as he shouted out.


    "Careful, that was a trap!"


    Boom!


    The ground exploded beneath John''s feet as he empowered his body with the Five Step Movement Technique and peak Supreme Battle Art. An indomitable battle will radiated out from him as he nearly instantly appeared next to the two Mist Creation Cultivators.


    Both Dn and the other boy''s eyes widened in shock as they hastily raised their swords at the approaching John. They had expected Jason to take care of John quickly, but he instantly took the battle initiative and struck out at them. What they didn''t know was that John had plenty of life and death battles already, and knew that taking the initiative was everything. Once he fell into their tempo, he was as good as dead.


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe: Third Attack


    John had used the first two attacks as a feint towards Jason to build power for this third attack. By unleashing this third attack with his peak Supreme Battle Art augmented body, this was the most powerful attack John had ever unleashed.


    Booom!


    The two boys were flung back violently after trying to block the attack. Not hesitating to waste this precious opportunity, John dashed forward towards the two of them while they were still tumbling backwards. The three Qi Condensation juniors were hot on his tail.


    Slice!


    John''s scythe cut clean through the body of the one Mist Creation junior. His dazed eyes quickly opened wide in surprise before his soul quickly dissipated, leaving this world permanently. His corpse suddenly vanished, and John quickly dashed towards Dn.


    Being much more powerful than the other boy, Dn had managed to mostly maintain his bnce and even sent out a counter attack towards John. However, his body was gravely injured from blocking John''s attack head on. He had been able to defend himself somewhat against John at the tournament, but now that John was in thete Mist Creation Realm in essence and body cultivation, Dn was no longer John''s match.


    Five Step Movement Technique: Fourth Step!


    John had utilized the first three steps to quickly close the distance on the first boy, and was unleashing the fourth step for the first time inbat. His body disappeared from sight as Dn''s attack exploded where he had just been standing.


    Dn was shocked to see John dodge his attack so easily, and before he could react, all he heard was a loud shout.


    "Dn, behind you!"


    Dn turned his body quickly to see John standing directly behind him. John''s eyes were like the eyes of a battle demon, shocking Dn to his core and freezing him momentarily. Dn quickly snapped out of his daze, but was horrified to see the de of John''s scythe was already behind his body.


    "Noooo-!"


    Dn''s horrified scream was cut short as John pulled his scythe violently back towards his body, bisecting Dn cleanly in two. His eyes were opened wide in horror and disbelief before the life quickly faded from them. His corpse suddenly disappeared from view.


    "You should have taken your loss in the tournament and moved on, you only have yourself to me!" John muttered before turning towards the treeline.


    Five Step Movement Technique: Fifth Step!


    After opening a hole in the group''s enclosure, John utilized the fifth step of the movement technique to dash towards the treeline as fast as possible. Being an escaping technique and not a truebat movement technique, the fifth step was incredibly fast, and before the others could react, John was almost at the treeline.


    "Catch him!"


    Jason yelled as he followed with all his might. John''s sudden attack and incredibly fast movements surprised even him, and he was unable to help his two sect members before they died. He had already allowed John to kill Dn, and if he escaped on top of that, he knew he was going to be severely punished by his sect.


    John was just about to enter the treeline when an incredibly powerful Qi attack flew directly towards him from within the forest. Having not expected it, and already having used the fifth step, John was unable to dodge the attack and could only block it head on.


    Bang!


    John sessfully parried the attack, but felt his arms creak from the power of the attack as he was knocked backwards nearly one hundred yards. He quickly stabilized himself, but was dismayed to find himself once again surrounded by the three Qi Condensation boys.


    ''Dammit, that was perfect, but someone attacked me from the treeline. I won''t get another opportunity like that.''


    John was livid at having his sessful escape attempt be thwarted. His anger was fully ignited, and he wanted nothing more than to kill the person who had just attacked him.


    ''Everyone from the Crimson Valley Sect who can threaten me is here. Just who the hell attacked me?''


    Just as John was thinking about this, a lone figure walked out of the treeline, sword in hand. John''s eyes widened in shock, before they filled with pure anger and hate as he stared at the familiar figure walking towards him.

 Chapter 115 - Betrayal

    "Parker, what the fuck are you doing?" John yelled out in confusion and rage.


    His Qi Condensation cousin showing up should have been a good thing. John was confident that with his and Parker''s power, they both would be able to escape, but Parker had attacked him instead. Parker looked at John in disdain and ignored him.


    The Crimson Valley Sect group was surprised at John being blocked and knocked back towards them, but they wasted no time in surrounding John once more.


    "What''s going on here? Why are you helping us? And how did you find us out here?" Jason turned to the approaching Parker and asked. Parker''s strength was enough to cause serious problems here, and he didn''t know if this was some kind of ruse the two had cooked up.


    When Parker was ten yards from the group, he stopped and addressed Jason. "I happened to see your group walking inside the forest, so I figured I''d follow you. Seems like it was worth following you after all."


    "You were following us?" Jason asked in surprise. He had no idea that they were being followed. "Clearly you have some skill to be able to follow us without being detected. What do you want?"


    "I heard the entire conversation you two had. It seems like you''re from some power in the Holy Lands¡­.I want to join you."


    Everyone present showed surprise at Parker''s sudden request, while John''s rage was ignited even further.


    "Parker, you''re going to betray your own family like that?"


    Parker looked dismissively at John and sneered but didn''t respond. He turned back to Jason.


    "I want to join. Is that possible?" Parker asked once again.


    Jason thought about it for a moment and came to the conclusion that this isn''t some sort of ruse the two had cooked up.


    "Why do you want to join us?" Jason asked, probing Parker''s intentions.


    "Strength is everything, and I can only obtain absolute strength in the Holy Lands. It''s that simple," Parker responded, his eyes resolute.


    Jason thought about it for a moment. Joining his sect wasn''t such a simple matter.


    "It''s not impossible. You showed some talent following us here and in the tournament against me, but the most important thing is your attitude. It aligns perfectly with our sect''s view of cultivation. Power is absolute, no matter the means of obtaining it. However, once you join our sect, you must forsake your n. Are you willing to do that?"


    "I am," Parker responded with no hesitation.


    Arge smile broke out on Jason''s face. "Good, then help us take care of this little problem here, and I''ll make sure you''re able to enter our sect."


    Parker nodded his head in agreement before joining the encirclement of John.


    John had been listening the entire time, but was trying to think of a way out. However, Parker''splete betrayal squashed any hopes of that. His first escape had been because of his Mist Creation enemies, as well as catching the group by surprise.


    That wouldn''t happen again, and the group''s power increased with Parker joining. John knew it was almostpletely impossible to escape.


    "You know, I had always thought that despite being an asshole, you had some redeemable qualities, Parker. I guess I was wrong. It''s really hard not to look down on you, as your masters will look down on you soon," John said, his mocking tone clear for all.


    "A dead person shouldn''t be talking so much. You really thought you were hot shit when you were able to cultivate, but to me you''re still nothing but an ant," responded Parker in an equally mocking tone.


    "Die!"


    John shouted out and dashed directly towards Parker, looking like a madman who had lost his mind. The group of Crimson Valley Sect boys watched in amusement as John attacked Parker.


    Boom!


    Scythe and sword collided, and neither party was able to knock back the other. John repeatedly struck out with his scythe, like he had gone insane with rage. Parker''s eyes widened slightly in surprise as John quickly dashed behind him with his movement technique, aiming to strike his back.


    "You really do have some skill, but it''s still useless. Die!" Parker turned and struck out at John with his strongest attack.


    Bang!


    A small smile crept up on John''s face as he blocked the attack but did nothing to slow his momentum. His body flew backwards rapidly towards the treeline. Both Parker and the Crimson Valley Sect boys quickly understood John''s actions.


    "Shit, we got careless again. After him!" yelled one of the boys as they started to dash towards John, but quickly stopped. John smiled, thinking his scheme had worked and quickly turned around, but his eyes widened in shock as he raised his scythe as fast as possible.


    Bang!


    A strong attacknded on John''s scythe, and his hasty defense made him be knocked back nearly one hundred yards. Jason''s sword was raised as he stared at John with a smile.


    "Do you really think I''d fall for your schemes twice in a row. It almost had me fooled, thinking you had gone mad in attacking Parker, but even so, I made sure to be on my guard."


    ''Shit, that was really myst opportunity,'' thought John as he wiped the blood from his lips. That attack had done some damage due to his hasty defense.


    John found himself once again encircled with the chasm directly behind him, and this time, each boy had their battle state at their peaks, ready tosh out with their strongest moves at a moments notice.


    "Where are you going to run to now? This has been fun, but we''re wasting valuable time here. You can die now!" Jason said in a nonchnt tone as he struck out with his strongest attack. The other boys followed suit, and John found himself facing directly against four incredibly strong Qi Condensation attacks travelling directly towards him.


    ''Even with my body, I would die taking all of these attacks head on.''


    John grit his teeth as he made up his mind. A small smile crept up on his face as he jumped with all his might backwards, soaring up into the air directly over the chasm.


    "Wash your necks for me and wait for your deaths," John said as he fell over the chasm. His small confident smile, even in the face of death, sent a chill down their spines.


    His eyes were locked with Parker''s as he fell down, eventually out of the view of the group and into the dark chasm below.

 Chapter 116 - Into The Chasm

    The group quickly dashed towards the edge of the cliff and looked down. A massive whirlpool of energy surged below, and John was nowhere to be found.


    "We let him get away!" one of the boys dismally stated. John''sst words still lingered in his mind.


    "Get away? Do you see how far this chasm drops? Or that whirlpool down there. He''s dead," Jason responded, and Parker nodded his head in agreement. Neither of them were confident in being able to survive such a fall or endure the intense energy of the whirlpool, let alone a Mist Creation junior weaker than them. Although they knew John had a strong body, they still believed he was unable to survive this fall.


    Jason looked away from the chasm and towards Parker. "You know, I was still doubting whether you were truthful, but now I''m convinced. I''ll make sure you get into our sect. But as an entry for getting in, I''m sure our sect will be asking you to do many things regarding the Fenix n."


    A small smile crept up on Parker''s face. "Don''t worry, I''ll fulfill any tasks given to me."


    "Good. Let''s get going. Now that this is settled, we still have about a month to look for more opportunities."


    The group left the battlefield and walked back into the forest, not giving the dark chasm a second nce.


    ¡­


    Darkness overwhelmed John as he jumped into the chasm. The gigantic whirlpool of pure multi-colored energy grew closer in his vision, until he eventually entered it.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John unleashed his peak supreme battle art, leaving nothing behind. His body was strengthened to its maximum state, but even so, he found it incredibly hard to withstand the terrifying whirlpool. Small pieces of skin and flesh continuously ripped off his body as he plunged further into its depths, and his bones began to creak from the pressure. If not for the lightning trial, John was sure this pain would have rendered him unconscious, resulting in his death.


    John continued to plummet for minutes on end, growing increasingly shocked at the depth of the chasm. The massive torrent of energy was almost viscous, slowing his descent, prolonging his fate within its powerful currents. After fifteen minutes of falling in constant pain and suffering, John felt like he was at his end. Just when he thought he would be able to hold on no longer, the whirlpool ceased, and John found himself falling rapidly once more.


    Boom!


    Johnnded violently on the chasm floor, causing dust and rock to kick up from the heavynding. His vision began to fade, and before long, John found himself fall unconscious from theck of energy and pain.


    ¡­


    An unknown amount of timeter, John slowly opened his eyes. Darkness filled every direction, while directly above, John could see the massively whirlpool of energy continue to revolve.


    "Ow, it feels like I don''t have a single part of my body unharmed," John mumbled as he struggled to sit up. He popped a healing pill in his mouth, and was dismayed to find that his healing pill stash was almost empty.


    "I guess I have been using them quite generously," John grumbled.


    After taking the pill, John took out a piece of cooked meat and bit into it. His stomach was growling out in protest, and he desperately needed his body to get to full energy and health quickly. While eating, John looked all around the dark depths of the chasm. The multi-colored whirlpool of energy above gave a faint light to the chasm depths, but it was still mostly shrouded in darkness.


    While eating, John noticed that in one direction, the whirlpool of energy seemed to taper downwards, like a tornado touching down on the ground.


    "What is that? Is there something over there?"


    John wanted to explore, but his body was nearly broken from the damage it had sustained from the whirlpool and the fall.


    "If not for my incredibly powerful body and Supreme Battle Art, I would have died in that whirlpool. In fact, even someone as powerful as Jason, with his normal body, would most likely have died several times over. I guess this is one of the amazing advantages of being a body cultivator. But the whirlpool did slow my descent as well. Without that, I might not have survived that drop. So I guess it was a blessing and a curse."


    John continued to eat his leg of cooked animal meat while he stared all around, but nothing other than the one direction where the whirlpool touched down revealed anything of note.


    "I''ll have to heal for some time before I can move. I''m guessing I was out for a few days, and it will probably take a week to heal. That should leave me with about two weeks before the pocket realm closes."


    John had no idea how he would get out of here, but ording to his father, the realm automatically expelled all those within at the end of the two weeks.


    "I guess I''ll just have to survive down here for that long," John grumbled.


    After spending an entire week on healing, John finally stood up with a body full of vigor and energy. Power exploded out of his body, indicating that it was at its peak state once again.


    "Now, lets go explore that area."


    John started walking towards the area in the distance where the whirlpool tapered down to the ground. The low light allowed John to see slightly, but his guard was raised to the maximum as he carefully proceeded forward. The area John wanted to explore was dozens of miles away, and it would take quite a few days of cautious travelling to reach it.


    The journey forwards was a rather uneventful one, as John did not run into a single sign of danger.


    "Nothing so far, not even a beast or formation or anything. Not that I''mining."


    After having faced all the struggles and battles in the pocket realm, John was quite refreshed to have a breather for once. As he approached the area over the next several days, the whirlpool reaching downwards grewrger in his vision. Eventually, when he was just a mile from it, the whirlpool was like a giant tornado violently crashing down into the ground.


    John strained his eyes to look where the whirlpool met the ground, and eventually spotted an object at its base. Arge object was illuminated by the concentrated light of the whirlpool above.


    "Is that..another temple? Really, is that all this realm is about? More temples?"


    Once again, John found himself standing in front of arge, majestic temple, The temple was several hundred yards tall, and was pure marble white in color. The whirlpool of energy streamed violently onto the roof of the temple, and seemed to be continuously absorbed within. Large white gates at the front of the temple stood open, as if inviting all to enter.


    "I''ve entered every temple I''vee across so far, so why not add another one to the list."


    John proceeded forward towards the open gates. Intense energy radiated high above his head as it crashed into the roof of the temple and exploded outwards. John''s body shuddered as he felt the intensity of that energy, which was hundreds of times stronger than where he had fallen into.


    "If I had fallen into the chasm at this point, and not at the outskirts of the whirlpool, I would have surely died."


    John shook off the terrifying feeling and proceeded into the temple. The marble white temple opened into one expensive room in the interior, which was alsopletely white. At the very center, a ball of soft white light floated dozens of yards in the air. Its power and profundity was unlike anything John had ever experienced in his life, rivaled only by the profound auras radiating from the gates within his own pce realm.


    "What¡­.is that?"

 Chapter 117 - Mysterious Voice

    Therge room was one hundred yards wide and long, and waspletely empty except for the floating ball of light in the center. John sent out his divine sense to inspect for any dangers, and hastily retracted it as a sharp pain entered his soul.


    "What a strong formation! My divine sense didn''t even touch it, but it was almost overwhelming. If it had touched it, it probably would have wiped out my soul entirely."


    His divine sense had revealed an amazingly profound circr formation on the ground. The violent tempest of energy that crashed into the temple and was absorbed within seemed to slowly meld into this formation.


    "This entire whirlpool seems to be powering this formation! Just what type of formation needs this much power? "


    John had seen some formations in his life, including the amazing illusion formation in the lightning world, but none of them came even close to this one when it came to its power source.


    "What do I do? It seems like this is a defensive formation, protecting whatever that ball of light is¡­"


    While standing there, a small bone from a beast''s corpse appeared in his hand. After taking a few steps back, John threw the bone forward, and took in a deep breath of cold air.


    As soon as the bone hit the perimeter of the formation, it evaporated into nothing immediately, as if it didn''t exist.


    "That was the bone of the Qi Condensation Hawk, and it disappeared as if it was nothing. I guess there''s no way i can enter this¡­


    John started walking around the perimeter of the formation, in an attempt to test any weaknesses. Objects were constantly thrown into the formation, but the result was the same as always;plete annihtion.


    Suddenly, the entire temple glowed brightly, and John found himself locked down by a divine sense so powerful he couldn''t even begin to fathom its true power. All he knew was that he felt like he was an ant facing against a hurricane.


    "Shit! I''ve gone and done it now," John grumbled, panic evident in his voice. He waspletely at the mercy of whoever or whatever owned this divine sense.


    John felt the powerful divine sense lock onto him and sweep through his body several times. The sense started with his soul, and John waspletely shocked to find that it was able to prate his soul space and explore every inch inside.


    The soul space of a cultivator was one of their most important and secretive areas. It contained all their memories, and other secrets as well, such as John''s egg he found in the lightning world. With his soul space invaded like this, John knew the power could snuff out his soul instantly and kill him without him being able to resist slightly.


    While the soul attacks of soul cultivators were asionally able to breach the soul space of another cultivator in hopes of snuffing it out, John never heard of a divine sense itself being able to do so as well.


    The divine sense inspected John''s soul, pausing temporarily on the egg before moving on to the rest of his body. John was relieved to find that the divine sense had not read his memories.


    It slowly scanned his body, until it paused at his dantian. John felt himself sweat as the divine sense lingered on his dantian for several minutes.


    ''Will a divine sense this powerful be able to detect my second dantian?''


    No one had ever been able to detect his body dantian, and he was hoping that this powerful being wouldn''t be able to either. Although it hadn''t killed him, who knew if that would be the case if his dantian turned out to be an amazing treasure even this divine sense would covet.


    The sense continued to scan for quite some time before it finally faded, returning the room to normal. John breathed a deep sigh of relief.


    "A pity. Your soul is quite strong, but it''s not what I am looking for. A pity indeed."


    A soft voice spoke out directly inside John''s head, surprising him once more. The voice was soft, but even the soft words spoken seemed to pierce to the core of his soul, as if the voice could eliminate his soul just through words if it wished.


    "Who, or what are you?" John asked.


    "It matters not who I am. As I said, your soul is not what I''m looking for in my sessor, so I can only wipe your memories and send you out of this ce."


    John felt the divine sense lock onto him once more, and he quickly thought of something as it began to invade his soul space.


    "Wait!" John shouted, and the divine sense quickly halted.


    "You mentioned your sessor..and a strong soul...are you looking for an heir, or are you trying to steal a powerful soul for yourself?" John asked. He had an idea, but wanted to probe the intentions of the mysterious party.


    He had heard of some stories of powerful cultivators using the souls of others to increase their power, so John was still wary.


    "Do not use me of being lowly enough to steal the souls of others," The voice responded in slight ire, sending sharp pains into John''s soul. Although the voice had not meant to hurt him, just the fluctuations of the divine senses'' emotions was enough to almost overwhelm John, shocking him once more.


    ''It seems to despise stealing the souls of others, and I have no reason to believe otherwise. It could have easily read my memories, but chose against it. In that case¡­''


    "If you are truly looking for a soul heir, I may have someone who would fit your criteria," John stated.


    "Oh? If you truly can find me a suitable sessor, I will be greatly in your debt. But I doubt you understand how stringent my requirements are...who is this person you speak of?" asked the voice.


    John could tell that its monotone voice became slightly excited at the mention of a potential sessor, but it hid its excitement extremely well.


    "He''s my friend." John said..


    The voice was silent for some time before John saw a passage in the formation open up directly in front of him.


    "You may enter," the voice stated.

 Chapter 118 - Mysterious Soul

    John nodded his head and walked into the opening, his nerves taught. As he passed through the opening, John felt an incredibly bizarre feeling wash over him, but other than that, he was unharmed.


    The white light that hovered high in the sky slowly dropped down, until it floated directly in front of John. John was slightly shocked that the source of the voice was this ball of light, but once he passed through the formation, John could feel extremely powerful soul fluctuations emanate off of it.


    ''A soul! It''s a soul existing outside of a body. How is this possible?'' John had never heard of such a thing. From what he knew, souls needed bodies to exist. Just how strong was this soul that it could exist on its own?


    "If this boy you speak of is truly good enough to be my sessor, I will be in your debt, but it''s extremely important that you are sure he is good enough. My strength has waned over the years, and every bit of energy I expend shortens my souls remaining life."


    John was surprised to hear these words. ording to the soul, it was in an extremely weakened state, but even so it was so powerful.


    ''Just how strong was this soul when it was at full power?'' A shiver was sent down John''s spine as he thought about this.


    ''First the massive chasm caused by a sword attack, and now this soul. Just how high does the cultivation world go?''


    As John was deep in thought, the voice spoke once more.


    "Before the topic of your friend, we must talk about you first. Who exactly are you? And why do you have the scent of "them" on you"


    The question startled John, as he was sure he waspletely beneath the soul''s curiosity.


    "I am John Fenix, from the Yuan Continents Fenix n. As for your second question, I''m afraid I don''t understand. Who is "them"?"


    John felt the powerful divine sense inspect him once more. The soul was silent for a moment before speaking out once more.


    "I did not detect any lies from your soul fluctuation. It appears you really do not know," the voice responded.


    John was irked that one again he was unable to find out the truth of matters, but did not ask for rification. He had a sneaking suspicion that this too involved the mysterious workings of karma.


    "You''re clearly just a weak child, but your body contains many mysteries even I am having a hard time peering into. Your body emits the faintest hint of them, while your dantian is a mystery as well. It appears normal, but I have a suspicion that there is more than meets the eye...how curious."


    ''It seems even this soul cannot detect my second dantian. It seems I shouldn''t be worried about others detecting it in the future, if even this soul cannot.''


    This was one less thing John would have to worry about going forward.


    "I''m afraid that due to the nature of your secrets, and what they could potentially mean, I must peer into your origins...your memories of birth locked away in the deepest parts of your soul."


    John''s eyes widened in shock as he shouted out. "Wait a minute, didn''t you say you despise such things? How can you change your mind so quickly!" His soul contained all his memories, and if the soul wanted to, it could find out the secrets about his body dantian, his Immortal Asura Body, his pce realm and more.


    "I know what I said, but unfortunately, I can very faintly sense their influence on your body. I must verify the truth. I will only inspect your origins, and how you came to contain the scent of them."


    John wanted to protest once more, but before he could, he felt the incredibly powerful divine sense pierce directly into his soul space. It went straight to the core of his soul space, and John suddenly felt a splitting headache as the soul invaded his memories, searching for whatever he wanted to find.


    Meanwhile, in the pce realm, the holy gate began to slightly glow as the discussion between the soul and John carried out, which was unnoticed by John himself. As the soul invaded John''s memories, the gate exploded with a holy light, piercing directly out of the pce realm.


    Rumble!


    An incredibly powerful soul aura filled the temple, even stronger than that of the mysterious soul in the temple. John shuddered as he felt this powerful aura. Although it showed no ill will towards him, John couldn''t help but be dumbstruck by its power. The very air itself seemed to tremble in fear and prostration at this aura.


    ''This! This feels like the aura of the holy gate...just what is going on?''


    John''s soul ached for a split second, before he felt the invading soul energy quickly flush outwards. He breathed a sigh of relief, since none of his memories had been read yet.


    "You¡­.how...how is this possible?" The temple soul spoke out, its voice clearly trembling.


    John was once again shocked. This amazingly powerful temple soul was clearly intimidated by the new soul aura.


    "Celestial Soulrend, it''s been quite some time," the holy aura spoke out. It was John''s first time hearing the voice of the holy aura, but he feltpletely refreshed when it spoke, and his soul felt itself strengthened with every word, which was theplete opposite of the temple soul.

 Chapter 119 - Karma

    "To dare invade the soul of someone I am overseeing, you''ve be even more daring than you were in the past," the holy aura continued.


    "Divin-"


    "That''s enough," the holy aura cut off Celestial Soulrend.


    The temple soul silenced instantly, and once more John was shocked. Even a powerful soul like that was cowed by the holy aura.


    "You were unaware, or I''m sure you would have never dared to do so. This formation of yours is truly not bad, you must have spent a terrifying amount of resources and time on it. It''s thanks to it that I am willing toe out in the open, so I won''t be too hard on you."


    "It''s thanks to this formation that I''ve been able to linger on for so long as well. But my time is sooning to an end," responded Celestial Soulrend.


    Silence filled the air before the holy aura continued. "I see you''ve yet to find a sessor, even after all this time, and you refuse to take someone like him even with your soul on the verge of copse," said the holy aura.


    "Unfortunately this world has regressed so much over the years, that not a single suitable candidate has shown up throughout the eons. As for this boy, his soul is quite strong, but I''m sure you know that it''s not suitable for my soul arts," Celestial Soulrend responded.


    "True. However, there is one in this world who is suitable. You will train him, and prepare him for the war toe."


    "War? So it hasn''t ended? A pity," Celestial Soulrend responded in a raised voice, and John could clearly hear the gravity of the situation in his words. Clearly this war was something even they were intimidated by.


    "It has only been a momentary respite, but before long they will reappear," stated the holy aura. John had no idea what war they were talking about, but it sounded quite serious.


    "Who is this boy you speak of? Is he the same one mentioned by this boy here?" Asked Soulrend.


    "That he is. Even you will be impressed by what you find" responded the holy aura''s voice.


    "War? What war?" John couldn''t help but interrupt. Although he knew it wasn''t his ce to talk here, his curiosity got the best of him.


    "Boy, this involves secrets you are unable to bear the burden of. In fact, you already know too much," Celestial Soulrend said to John.


    "Let me guess, it has to do with Karma," John responded, slightly in a mocking tone. He was sick of hearing about Karma, as he had never experienced it yet, but it was continually used to keep him in the dark.


    "Boy, you have no idea-" Celestial Soulrend started to speak with slight anger in his voice, but was once more cut off by holy aura''s voice.


    "It''s fine. He''ll have to learn sooner orter that there are forces in this universe more terrifying than he can imagine. The sooner he learns, the greater his odds will be."


    John suddenly felt an incredible power from the holy aura wash over him, more powerful and profound than anything he had felt before. He wanted to ask what was happening, but before he could speak, he started to see many faint translucent lines appear in his vision. The thin white lines appeared to snake towards him from every angle, and they all entered his body.


    "What the hell? Is this Karma?" John asked, trying to cut the lines off his body, but no matter how he tried, he was unable to interact with them at all. The lines started to be more solid in appearance, with one line in particr growing brighter and more powerful. John was horrified to find that an ever increasing sense of danger began to envelop him from that particr thread.


    Before long, he felt as if he was being stared at by the very universe itself, and he had never felt so small in his life before. Although he was unsure of exactly what was going on, John was convinced that he would meet with death eventually if this was allowed to continue.


    "These are the threads of Karma which you have invoked."


    Snip!


    The brightest line, which was giving John the greatest sense of danger, was suddenly snipped. The line faded into nothingness, and John felt the creeping sense of doom suddenly vanish.


    "And this particr line I just severed was the Karma you had just invoked by learning about the war."


    "What?" John blurted out in shock. He had only learned that there was a war, not even when it was fought, who was involved, or what happened. Merely the knowledge of it was enough to attach a thread of Karma to him that he was unable to bear.


    "If this thread was not cut, sooner orter, a cmity would befall upon you. If you have the strength to withstand it, then Karma can be ignored, but as you are right now, just this little bit of Karma will be your end," the holy aura''s voice exined.


    "If Karma is so amazing, then how did you just sever the thread?" John asked. Although he was sure it was much moreplicated than he could ever imagine, he still had to ask. If he could learn this power, then maybe he could control his own Karma, although he doubted this was possible.


    "Boy, there are only a few people who have ever managed to do what was just done. Do not think interfering with Karma is such a trifling matter," Celestial Soulrend spoke up, and John could hear some anger in his voice. Clearly he had upset Celestial Soulrend slightly.


    John took in a deep breath of cold air.


    ''It seems as if Karma is even more terrifying than I imagined.''


    The power that the holy aura was using vanished, and he was once again unable to see the threads of Karma attached to him. He was still sweating from the feeling he had just felt.


    He stood there in silence for some time, and Celestial Soulrend and the holy entity didn''t speak as well. But based on his understanding of them, John was sure that they had begun tomunicate directly between each other to avoid invoking more Karma on himself.


    All of a sudden, the holy aura''s voice spoke up.


    "My time is up. Soulrend, you know what to do."


    In an instant, the holy aura vanished, leaving John alone once again with the soul of Celestial Soulrend.

 Chapter 120 - Request

    "Why did he leave?" John asked in confusion. He was standing there in silence for some time, and then the holy aura suddenly vanished. John was hoping to ask it many questions regarding the pce realm, although he was sure he was unable to find out the truth due to Karma.


    Silence filled the temple for some time before Celestial Soulrend responded. "His matter is...unique, and he cannot be out in the open for an extended period of time. This formation can hide us from peering eyes, but for someone like him, he can only remain hidden for so long, even inside here."


    ''Hiding? Someone that strong needs to hide?'' John raised his eyebrows in surprise. He wanted to ask what he was hiding from, but knew he would not get an answer. Not only that, but after seeing the effects of Karma with his own eyes, John was no longer eager to find out about things he should not yet know.


    "Then...have you also been hiding in here? And for how long?" John asked.


    "Not hiding..I suppose telling you this much won''t impact you too much. Due to matters you cannot yet know, I was gravely injured, and was forced to cast my body aside and preserve my soul. This formation was made by me as a contingency for such a case."


    John had expected such an answer, due to the discussions he had heard prior. However, one thing he heard during the discussion still weighed on his mind.


    "Then, if I can know the truth, what is this realm exactly?" John had always wanted to know the truth regarding the pocket realm, and this seemed like the only chance he would have to find out the truth.


    "This realm was created by me as a collective trial and inheritance realm for the surrounding powers. However, it appears that through the vestiges of time, almost all the entrances have been destroyed. Your entrance is the only fully functioning one, while one can only act as an exit."


    ''Trials ground? I guess I expected as much.'' While John was thinking, the Celestial Soulrend spoke up once more.


    "Then, do you know anything about the Elysian Lightning World?" John asked. He had heard the temple artifact spirit mention something about the Elysian Lightning World, and it somehow rted to the egg of his.


    "Elysian Lightning World? Oh yes, I did see that you managed to obtain that inheritance. It seems you truly do have some talent. In time, once your strength grows enough, you''ll naturallye to learn all about that world."


    ''Another vague answer. Oh well, I guess I''m going to have to get used to this in the future until I raise my strength enough. Besides, it''s not an immediate concern of mine.''


    "Then I have another question I''m curious about. If you were looking for a sessor, why did you hide your inheritance down here?" Clearly Soulrend was looking for a sessor, but he put it in such a hidden ce. John only happened to stumble on it due to being forced off the cliff.


    "I scryed into the heavens many years ago and determined that I would sessfully find a sessor. I was not concerned about if, but only when. As such, the location of my inheritance did not matter."


    ''That makes sense I guess. I wonder how strong someone has to be to be able to scry the heavens itself?''


    John was about to ask another question when Celestial Soulrend cut him off.


    "My time is growing short. Divin..I mean, the other entity allowed me to grant you one thing you desire, should it be in my power to do so."


    "One thing I desire?" John was caught unprepared by the chance to request one thing from Celestial Soulrend. He knew this was an amazing opportunity, and didn''t want it to go to waste.


    ''What do I need? The Immortal Asura Body handles my body cultivation, and I doubt he knows anything about it. With enough human blood essence, my cultivation can proceed as fast as I want, the only thing holding it back is my essence cultivation...."


    John''s eyes lit up as he thought of a request, which was a high level essence cultivation technique. Essence cultivation techniques controlled how fast and how sturdy one could raise their essence dantians cultivation realm, and was an incredibly essential part of cultivation. His current cultivation technique was the one bestowed to him by his n, and it was good enough for now, but John had a suspicion that it would be a hindrance to his cultivation journey before long.


    "I would like an essence cultivation technique, if possible," John answered firmly.


    "Essence cultivation technique? Hmm, let''s see¡­.what type of essence cultivation technique would you prefer?" Celestial Soulrend asked, confusing John.


    "Type? Aren''t they all the same, just more profound?" John asked in confusion.


    "They are not. While there are straight forward cultivation techniques, there are also cultivation techniques that also aim to alter the very dantian itself to suit their power the greatest. For example, a fire cultivator might choose to use a fire essence cultivation technique, while a sword cultivator would choose a cultivation technique which favors sword Qi. This improves their dantians'' affinity towards those chosen fields, and strengthens their attacks in those fields as such."


    "There''s such a thing?" John asked in surprise. He had never heard of such cultivation techniques, and had only heard of one''s that raised the dantian''s cultivation realm and nothing else.


    "Wait, if one cultivates such a technique, does that mean they cannot use Qi attack types different from their dantian''s cultivation type then?" John asked.


    "Not necessarily. These cultivation arts, at least the high level ones, do not hinder the use of other Qi types, but only enhance the targeted Qi type," Celestial Soulrend responded, alleviating John''s concerns over such cultivation techniques. It seemed these cultivation acted in a simr nature to attribute bodies.


    "Then...do you have a lightning based cultivation technique?" John asked.


    "Lightning based? I guess I did detect that you have a lightning attribute body, and a stunning one at that. A lightning focused dantian to go along with that would be a frighteningbination. Let''s see¡­.I happen to know two techniques, one which focuses on cultivating a dantian focused on healing lightning, and the other on pure destructive lightning. You can choose from either one."


    "The destructive lightning," John answered without hesitation. His entirebat style was based on power, and having even more powerful lightning would be a perfect match.


    John suddenly clenched his head in pain as information began to flood into it. The painsted for several minutes. Images of lightning destroying worlds and stars flickered in his mind before eventually disappearing, along with the pain.


    "I have directly imparted the Primordial Extermination Lightning technique to you. This is one of the best lightning cultivation techniques you could ever hope to have."

 Chapter 121 - Leaving

    John inspected his soul space and noticed that it contained a new floating ball of light, which shimmered like lightning. He inspected the ball with his soul, and was instantly granted information regarding the technique.


    ''This is exactly like the Celestial Lightning Script jade piece, only directly in my soul. Amazing!''


    John felt ted, until his expression turned slightly sour.


    ''In my haste to get a good cultivation technique, I forgot I still don''t know a single lightning based battle art...Maybe Celestial Soulrend will be kind enough to grant me a second wish.''


    "Celestial Soulrend," John called out as he bowed deeply, putting on a great show of respect.


    "What is it?"


    "If it''s not too much to ask, could I also ask for a lightning based battle art?"


    "I already gave you a cultivation technique coveted by many, and you still have the gall to ask for more?..."


    John turned red from embarrassment, but thickened his skin and spoke out.


    "You said the other entity granted me one request, but you also said you would be indebted to me if I found you a suitable sessor. Even that other entity said my friend was suitable for you, so although you haven''t taken him as a sessor yet, you will owe me eventually."


    Celestial Soulrend was quite surprised by John''s logic, but he did indeed make that promise to John in the beginning. Based on the evaluation by the other entity, the sessor would be more than worthy.


    "I suppose you are correct, but we will determine that in a second. My soul is growing weaker every moment it is not in slumber, and I cannot stall any further."


    The formation that John was standing inside of suddenly disappeared, and a massively powerful soul aura emanated out from Celestial Soulrend. Just being in its presence awed John to the point of speechlessness.


    ¡­


    In another part of the pocket realm, Miko found himself face to face with the two Qi condensation juniors of the Ronan n. Although the Varis n and Ronan n weren''t enemies, they weren''t allies either.


    "What do you two want?" Miko sneered. Clearly the two hadn''t approached him with good intentions.


    "We noticed you just obtained a mysterious item here, and we just wanted to share it with us," said one of the boys.


    "Huh? Are you dumb? Why the hell would I do that?" Miko responded. He had obtained another mysterious fruit. Although he didn''t know what it was, the aura it gave off made him believe it was worth quite a bit. He was going to ask John or his n what it was before eating it though.


    "Although we can''t kill you in here, we can still rob you. It would be best if you shared," one of the boys responded. Although Miko had shown incredible power in the tournament, and on their own they were not confident in handling him, together they felt like they had a chance. Not only that, but they had found some amazing treasures in the pocket realm that raised theirbat power, and their confidence had boosted as a result.


    Miko slowly raised his hand and pointed his finger towards one of the boys. The two of them startedughing, unsure of just what he was doing, but a finger would not be enough to fight them.


    Suddenly, a translucent light flew out of his finger and directly towards the head of that boy. Theughter suddenly ceased as one of the boys suddenly copsed to the ground, unmoving.


    "You bastard, what did you just do? We are forbidden to kill each other," the other Ronan n boy yelled, but his fear was evident as he stared at Miko.


    With just a point of a finger, Miko had managed to make the one boy copse, without the slightest ability to resist.


    "Rx, he''s just asleep for now. He''ll wake up in a day or two," Miko said nonchntly as he stared at the boy with wolf-like eyes. Although the attack looked casual, Miko had sent out his concentrated soul-power to overwhelm the soul of the other boy. If he had used his full power, or his soul-sword to attack however, the boy''s soul would have beenpletely wiped out.


    "Now, you were just about to rob me...allow me to return the favor," Miko stated as he started walking towards the other boy.


    Rumble!


    An aura filled the entire pocket realm, and all within felt its power press down on them. None were able to utter a single sound as they cowered beneath the unknown aura, but everyone knew that it could kill them within a moment.


    The only one slightly unaffected was Miko, who urged his soul power to the maximum to resist the immense pressure the aura gave off.


    "What the fuck is this power?" Miko grunted as he struggled to fight back.


    The power left just as quick as it came, stunning all those inside the realm.


    "What the hell just happened? What was that power?" one of the Crimson Valley Sect boys shakily asked Jason.


    "I have no idea. I''ll have to report this to the sect leader," Jason responded, but fear was still audible in his voice. Clearly, there was more to this realm than met the eye.


    ¡­


    Back in the temple, John stood in silence while the soul power of Celestial Soulrend red outwards. Before long, John felt the soul power wane, and the temple returned to normal once more.


    "Amazing! Simply amazing!" Celestial Soulrend cried out excitedly.


    "Amazing? Did you find my friend?" John asked.


    "That I did, and he''s even better than I could have hoped for. I truly am in your debt. Here you go," Celestial Soulrend responded, and John once again felt his soul space tremble with pain as a new addition to the soul space was added.


    John was about to inspect the new lightning battle art in detail when Celestial Soulrend suddenly spoke up.


    "This is where our conversation ends. With my task being fulfilled, this world of mine will soon copse and disappear. Unfortunately for you, due to the interfering nature of the energy whirlpool above, and with my soul as weak as it is, I do not have the strength to send you out of this ce as well as send my soul to your friend. My primary task is the most important to me, and so I cannot send you out of this chasm. The rejective nature of the realm closing will not reach you here, and you will be unable to return to your ownnd."


    "What? Doesn''t that mean I''ll die when this world copses then?" John shouted out.


    "No. This formation of mine is connected by spatial channels to different nodes around this world, as a means of absorbing more energy. I will send you through one of these channels to the nearest node."


    Celestial Soulrend paused for a moment before speaking up once more.


    "Your destiny is muchrger than you can ever imagine. Pursue strength, but do not lose yourself. I wish you the best of luck."


    John was about to cry out in protest, but he suddenly felt a massive re of power erupt from Celestial Soulrend, which began to fight and struggle against the whirlpool above. The world began to crack, and spatial fissures in the sky itself became visible as John felt his body enveloped by this power.


    Bright light entered John''s vision, and he suddenly found himself cast into one of the spatial fissures.

 Chapter 122 - Unfamiliar Place

    A channel of multi-colored light suddenly entered John''s vision. The channel was about ten feet wide, and he found himself being propelled through it at immense speeds. The translucent barrier of the channel revealed a storm of chaotic space on the other side, the power of which chilled him to his bones.


    ''If I were to be ejected into that chaotic space, my body would be reduced to nothingness in an instant..let''s hope that doesn''t happen.''


    John continued to be propelled through the channel for nearly a minute, and was surprised to find that it did not make him feel any pain, only slight difort. The continuous tumbling however was starting to make him queasy. It seemed as if gravity did not exist within this channel.


    "I wonder where this channel is taking me to. I hope it''s not too far from home," John grumbled. He was still quite pissed off about how he had been treated by Celestial Soulrend in the end. He had found him a suitable sessor, and Celestial Soulrend still cast him off into this channel.


    However, when John thought back to how Soulrend seemed to struggle against the whirlpool above, he figured Soulrend really was telling the truth. With his soul on the verge of copse, he did not have the strength to send them both out through the whirlpool, which was incredibly strong above the temple.


    ''I wonder how long this channel goes for-...''


    John''s thoughts were quickly cut off as he found himself rapidly ejected out of the spatial channel. The light of the sun once again warmed his face as John found himself violently propelled forward. He tumbled head over heals on the hard ground for nearly half a mile before his body finally came to a stop. His bones felt as if they were almost shattered, and he was sure that he would have been half-dead if not for his powerful body.


    "Ouch, what the hell? Couldn''t that have been a bit more gentle?" John grumbled as he massaged his sore head.


    Afterposing himself, John stood up and looked around to see if he could spot anything familiar, but the scene all around him waspletely unfamiliar. He stood on arge field of grass and flowers, with towering trees sporadically dotting thendscape. Their canopies spread tall and wide, making the field feel incredibly vivid and alive. Majestic mountains,rger than any he had seen in his life towered into the sky in the far distance.


    John turned around, and saw that behind him, from where he had just been ejected, was a massive whirlpool of energy almost identical to the one in the pocket realm. However, he could tell that this whirlpool was very slowly losing its strength.


    John took a deep breath, and was surprised to find that the Qi density in this ce was incredibly high. It was as high as the pocket realm, and was much higher than back at home.


    "It seems like this isn''t the Yuan Continent that I know and call home. I need to figure out where I am," John mumbled to himself as he looked all around to make sure the coast was clear.


    Roar!


    An incredibly loud roar that nearly shattered his eardrums boomed out. John felt his body groan in pain at the mere sound of the beasts roar.


    He quickly turned his head to the source of the sound, and was horrified to find a powerful beast sitting on one of the top branches of a nearby tree. Although the beast was nearly half a mile away, its roar had caused severe damage to his body already. Its cultivation level was higher than any beast he had ever seen, and was far beyond what he was capable of fighting.


    "A drake? Aren''t those supposed to be mythical?"


    John was dismayed to find the source of the roar was a drake. He had seen a picture of this beast in his library, although the book said none had existed in the surroundingnd for thousands of years.


    Before he could even react, the drake jumped up and spread its wings to take flight. Its speed was faster than anything John had ever seen, and it was almost upon him before he could react.


    ¡­


    "The portal is showing signs of copse, they''re about toe out," one elder of the Varis n stated loudly. His loud words roused the attention of all in the ancestral building.


    "It is! But isn''t this too early? They should have another two weeks inside," Cade Fenix stated, slightly confused. Every single pocket realm openingsted three months exactly, without exception. However, this one was closing much sooner than anticipated.


    "True, I wonder what''s going on," Waylon Varis responded, equally curious as to why this was happening.


    Discussions began to heat up inside the ancestral building, and before long, the silhouettes of twenty-seven people began to shimmer into existence in front of the portal.


    "Twenty five? It seems like five have died inside," one elder called out. Thirty entered, while only twenty seven were being sent out. Clearly, a few had perished.


    "Seems like a few died this time around as well. Let''s hope it''s from the trials and not fighting between each other likest time," another said.


    If the Five who perished were truly caused by infighting, then that would be a massive problem, simr tost time.


    A few secondster, all of the twenty five bodiespletely phased into existence, revealing the identity of each one. The identities revealed that the five missing were one Mist Creation junior from the Ronan n, one Mist Creation junior from the Flowing River Sect, two from the Crimson Valley Sect, and John himself.


    Waylon Varis''s eyes turned stern, while Barden and Cade''s faces both turned ashen. They quickly identified that John was one of the missing parties. Barden''s ashen face soon turned red as his rage began to grow, and he was about to erupt when Waylon quickly stepped forward.


    A powerful pressure descended on the group of juniors, and a stern voice quickly followed.


    "We are missing five juniors. Tell me, what happened to them," Waylon spoke up in a raised voice.

 Chapter 123 - What Happened To Him?

    After some hesitation, two juniors, one from the Flowing River Sect and one from the Ronan n stepped forward.


    "n Leader Waylon, Garlen and I were in a trial where we were attacked by powerful beasts. I...I was able to escape, but unfortunately Garlen wasn''t," responded the one boy from the Ronan n.


    He and his friend had tried their luck in a trial, but only he was unable to make it out alive. Such were the dangers of the pocket realm. It held amazing treasures, but also great danger.


    The Flowing River Sect girl spoke up as well, telling a simr story. All the elders were carefully watching them, and found no hints of lies being told.


    "A pity," one Elder spoke up.


    "Indeed, it''s always like this, but it doesn''t make it any easier to bear," responded another.


    "You may step back," Waylon stated, and the two juniors quickly returned to their groups.


    Warren Gildar had a dark face as well, as two of his Juniors, including Dn, were missing. He was about to step forward and ask what happened, when Jason spoke up.


    "Sect Leader Warren, I will exin what happened to our two members at ater time."


    Warrens eyes narrowed, and he nodded his head before taking a step back.


    "Now...John Fenix is missing, what exactly happened? Who knows anything?" Waylon asked in a raised voice, himself hinting that foul y was at hand. Everyone instinctively looked over to the Crimson Valley Sect group.


    "What are you looking at us for? We had nothing to do with it," Warren Gildar responded, but a slightly smug smile hung on his face for all to see. Everyone knew his enmity with John and the Fenix n, and so even if they truly didn''t cause his demise, they would still take pleasure in it.


    "Bastards, do you really think anyone would believe such bullshit lies? Tell me what happened, or don''t me me for destroying your sect," Barden Fenix exploded in rage, causing everyone to jump. His powerful aura radiated off him, making everyone believe his words that he would start a fight at a moment''s notice.


    "Careful with those vicious usations," Warren responded in a cold voice. His narrowed eyes stared straight back at Barden unflinchingly.


    "usations? Everyone knows what happened in the tournaments, and how strong John was. If not for your vicious bastard ways, how else would John not be here?" Miko yelled out in rage.


    He had lost track of John in the swamp, and no matter how hard he looked, he was unable to find him. Eventually he went his own ways, assuming that John would be able to handle himself.


    When the pocket realm began to close, Miko felt an amazingly powerful aura wash over him and invade his soul. Although he tried to resist it, he was unable to do so. Just when he thought the powerful soul aura would kill him, the soul aura took refuge in his own soul space and immediately went into a slumber.


    Although he didn''t know what, or who it was, Miko was sure that if it wanted to kill him, it would have been able to do so. Instead, it went into a slumber, and Miko could tell that the soul was on the verge of copse. He didn''t know when it would awaken, but for now he had no answers as to what happened.


    He was looking forward to meeting back up with John upon exiting the realm and talking about these wondrous events, but was dismayed to see that John himself had never left.


    "If you won''t admit it, then I''ll have to beat it out of you," spoke Barden in an ever growing rage. His sword suddenly appeared in his hands, and a searing fire began to flow over it.


    Just as Barden was about to attack, a voice chimed up from behind, stopping him in his tracks.


    "Uncle Barden, I know what happened to John."


    Barden quickly turned around, and saw Parker standing there with his head lowered slightly in shame.


    "What happened? Why didn''t you speak up sooner?" Barden asked as he dashed over towards Parker.


    "I..I wanted to speak up, but I was ashamed of myself¡­."


    "Ashamed? Why?" Barden asked, but Parker''s behavior gave him a bad feeling regarding John''s fate.


    "I...Towards the end of the realm''s opening, John and I ran into each other and decided to adventure together. We came to arge chasm so deep we couldn''t see the bottom, and just when we were about to turn around, a Qi Condensation beast attacked us¡­.I was eventually able to kill it, but in the battle, John was knocked over the edge into the chasm by the beast¡­I wanted to follow him...but I was too weak to do so...Im so sorry Uncle Barden."


    While telling his story, Parker took out the corpse of a lizard type Qi Condensation beast he had killed in the realm. A faint hint of dried blood was left over on one of its ws, and close examination made everyone realize it held the same aura as John''s aura.


    What they didn''t know was that this beast was killed by Parker in an unrted matter, and some of the blood that John had leaked during their battle was collected off the ground and smudged on the beasts ws, making it look like it had attacked him. Although it was only the faintest hint of blood, it was enough to convince everyone.


    Barden''s face went ashen as he inspected both the beast and Parker, but he found no hints of lies in either one. The entire Fenix n turned pale as well, having lost their most promising junior, and a young master of the n.


    Only the Crimson Valley Sect had slight smiles on their face. Jason looked at Parker in an approving manner, clearly pleased with his performance.


    "So it''s true....He fell. I''m so sorry," Waylon walked over andforted Barden.


    Cade Fenix was boiling in rage at having lost such a promising youngster, as well as his grandson, but was unable to do anything about it. He suddenly called out to his n.


    "We''re leaving."


    Although a celebratory feast was normally held by all the parties afterwards, everyone understood the Fenix n''s reasons for leaving so hastily. The Fenix n bid the Varis n farewell, and quickly departed for their home.


    While watching them leaving, Jason turned and whispered something in Warren Gildars ears. His eyes lit up as he listened, and his smiling gaze shifted to the leaving Parker.


    "Interesting..this will greatly help with our ns."

 Chapter 124 - Restricted Area

    The massive drake rapidly approached John, and was almost upon him in no time. A scythe suddenly appeared in John''s hands as he stared at the beast. He knew he was absolutely no match for it, but he wasn''t about to die without at least attempting to fight.


    He was just about to unleash his supreme battle art when he heard a loud shout.


    "Naya, stop!"


    The drake, which was just twenty yards from John came to a sudden halt, surprising him. John quickly turned his head to see two people approaching him. They were two middle aged men, and both wore grey robes, making it impossible for him to identify them.


    With just a few steps, the two unknown men crossed over a mile of distance and appeared in front of him before he could react.


    ''So fast¡­''


    John had never seen anyone move this fast before. They were even faster than his father, who was a Core Formation expert.


    As the two men appeared in front of him, the drake obediently walked over and stood behind them, acting as a loyal sentry.


    ''They''re controlling such a powerful beast? Who are these people?''


    "Who are you? How did you end up in this restricted zone?"


    While thinking about their identities, one of the men spoke up and asked John who he was.


    ''What should I tell them? I still don''t know where I am or who they are, so the less I tell them the better.''


    John put away his scythe and addressed the two men in a humble and slightly timid tone.


    "My name is John. As for how I ended up here, I do not know that answer. I was kidnapped recently and knocked unconscious, and I just woke up now."


    Although it was a flimsy story, John was sure that they had no way to refute this. However, he didn''t know if they would care if he wound up here on purpose or not. Based on their stern questioning and calling it a restricted zone, John was sure that no one was supposed to be here.


    "Kidnapped and left here? How could we believe such a lie?" the man spoke up in an unbelieving tone.


    "Look at me, and how strong I am. Just this drake of yours is enough to kill me one hundred times over in an instant. How would I be able to get in here on my own?"


    Although he wasn''t sure exactly where he was, just based on the strength of these two men, John was sure that he would be unable to make it to thisnd on his own strength. The two men hadn''t released their aura''s yet, and John wasn''t about to be rude and use his divine sense to inspect them, so he was still unsure of exactly how high their cultivation''s were.


    At the very least however, he knew that they were Core Formation at the minimum.


    While John was thinking about this, one of the men powerfully released his aura and spread his divine sense over the nearby expanse ofnd, clearly looking for other hidden parties.


    ''Meridian Forging, and at the peak as well!''


    John was incredibly shocked to find out that this man was at the very peak of Meridian Forging. Such a cultivation would put him at the very precipice of power in John''s homnd, and it was even stronger than the patriarch of the Varis n.


    ''Clearly I''m not near home anymore. I wonder where I am?''


    "There''s truly no one else here. Perhaps your story is the truth. But regardless of it being the truth or not, this is a restricted area, and you are not permitted to be here. We will escort you out of here."


    Whether or not the man believed him, John''s strength was far beneath his notice, and the man was unconcerned about anything he could aplish with his strength. He clearly wasn''t strong enough to get to thisnd alone, but no other parties were spotted.


    "I understand. As I was saying, I was kidnapped recently, and I just want to get home," John responded in a humble tone, making himself appear sheepish to sell the story.


    "Mhm, hop on," the guardmanded as he hopped on the back of the drake.


    "Hop on!" John eximed. He had never ridden on a flying beast before, and was a bit hesitant, especially one as powerful as a drake, but it appeared that the man was giving him no other choice.


    "Ok," John responded with a head nod as he walked over to the drake and climbed up it. The beast''s body emanated an extremely powerful aura as John touched it, and he was shocked to find that it was at the peak of Meridian Forging as well.


    ''Just what is this ce? How is everyone so strong?''


    "Naya, fly," the manmanded, and the drake quickly spread its wings and took to the sky.


    ''Wow, this is amazing,''


    John watched the ground quickly grow farther away in his vision. The wind rushed through his long hair as the drake sped through the skies, revealing the full expanse of thend below. The sparsely forestednd outside of the energy whirlpool expanded for dozens of miles, and powerful beasts simr to the drake were seen roaming thends, giving it an incredibly vibrant but dangerous feeling.


    In the distance, the expansive mountain range jutted high into the sky. As they approached closer, John could start to spot massive pces dotting the mountainside. Thousands of massive pces, temples, and other buildings soon appeared in his vision, and covered an area for dozens of miles in each direction throughout the forested mountain range. Many towering waterfalls crashed on the rocks below, causing the mountains to be shrouded in a light but permanent mist. The sunlight crashed through the mist, giving the area an ethereal glow.


    Tens of thousands of people were seen going about their business in the streets below. Rainbows weaved throughout the mist, and many powerful flying mounts were seen flying all throughout the area, making it look like an immortal paradise. An incredibly massive blue and white pce towered over the rest in the very center, and it was so tall that it seemed to pierce into the clouds high above.


    John stared in awe at the scene, and the man next to him noticed his shock, but said nothing. The scene overwhelmed him, and John couldn''t help but ask the man about it.


    "I''ve never seen such a ce in my life...just where are we?"


    The man was caught slightly unprepared by John''s question. Everyone in the entirend should know this ce, even if they didn''t know how they came to be within it, but he answered nheless. A small tinge of pride hung on his face as he spoke out.


    "This...is the grounds of the Heavenly Lightning Sect!"

 Chapter 125 - Heavenly Lightning Sect

    ''Heavenly Lightning Sect? Isn''t that the sect Leah and Elliot said they were from? Then...that means I''m in the Yuan Continent Holy Lands!''


    Although he had expected to find himself quite far from home based on everything he had just seen, John was still shocked to find out his exact location. Based on what his father had told him, returning was most likely going to be a problem. But he needed to return, due to the Crimson Valley Sect''s n, as well as Parker''s betrayal.


    "Like I said, I was kidnapped, and it appears my kidnappers have taken me very far from home...How does one get back to the¡­"


    John stopped as he tried to exin where he was from. It was known as the Yuan Continent back home, but he was sure that to these people here, they knew it as something different.


    "Back to the what?" the man asked in confusion as John stopped halfway through his sentence.


    "Uh...we call it the Yuan Continent."


    "This is the Yuan Continent," the man responded in confusion.


    "Isn''t this the Yuan Continent Holynds though?" John asked.


    "Well, yes, but this is both the Yuan Continent, as well as the Yuan Continent Holynds. The Holy Lands refers to the area controlled by the four great sects, while this and the rest of the continent is the Yuan Continent," responded the man.


    John scratched his head as he thought of a better way to describe home.


    ''It seems as if everything not in the Holy Lands is just called the Yuan Continent generically, so I''ll have to be more specific.''


    "Hmm, lets see. The area I''m from is controlled by the Varis n, Fenix n, Flowing River Sect, Ronan n, and Crimson Valley Sect. Do you know of that area?"


    The man wracked his brain in thought before shaking his head.


    "No, I don''t think I''ve heard of any of those¡­.Wait, I think I''ve vaguely heard of the Fenix n before. There was a promising young junior many years back that stemmed from there, but he disappeared without a trace. I always wondered what happened to him."


    John''s eyes lit up as the man recognized his n. Although he had no idea who he was talking about, this was still good news.


    "Yes, that area where the Fenix n is from. How do I get back there?" John asked in an excited tone.


    The man shook his head before replying.


    "You best think twice about returning there anytime soon. That ce is nearly one hundred thousand miles away. Not only that, but many danger zones exist between us and them. And then there''s the Great Desert, which swallows Core Formation experts left and right, and even Meridian Forging Experts need to be careful. I''m afraid as you are right now, you won''t be able to return at all."


    The man''s exnationpletely extinguished John''s hopes. Since his father had made the trip twice, he figured it might be somewhat easy, but it appears that this wasn''t the case.


    "Isn''t there some other way? Like hitching a ride on a caravan or something? Surely someone must make that trip often?" John asked, but he knew the answer was most likely a resounding no.


    "No, I''m afraid not. That ce doesn''t have much to offer to the Holy Lands, and so many don''t go there due to the immense risk and minimal reward."


    John hung his head in disappointment.


    ''I need to get word back to the n before it''s toote. Either I need to get my cultivation to the Meridian Forging Realm before heading back, or I need to try to send a message somehow. Getting to the Meridian Forging Realm is just a matter of time, but by the time I do so, it might already be toote. As for a message, I don''t even know how to go about that yet.''


    He continually wracked his brain for solutions, but was unable toe up with any.


    ''I''ll have to get ustomed to thisnd first, and figure out what it has to offer, before I can make any ns.''


    John thought about Leah and Elliot, and the badge they gave him quickly appeared in his hands.


    ''Maybe they can help me.''


    The man noticed an item appear in John''s hands, and his eyebrows raised slightly once he noticed what it was.


    "How did youe by that item?" the man asked curiously.


    "I ran across two people my age, a boy and a girl, who imed to be from the Heavenly Lightning Sect. The girl ended up giving me this badge, and said to use it to meet them if I was ever in the area. Would I be able to go and see them?"


    "Hmm? If she gave you this badge, she must think quite highly of you. Let me see the badge."


    John handed over the badge, and the guard inspected it before another item quickly appeared in his hands. The man stood there in silence for some time before he handed the badge back to John.


    "I''m afraid those two are out on a sect mission, and won''t be returning for another six months. Without them in the sect to personally escort you, I cannot let you into the sect," the man responded as he shook his head.


    John''s hopes were quickly squashed. He was hoping that sect members like them could help him, but that wasn''t going to happen either.


    ''I''m a nobody in thisnd, and I''m sure my umted wealth is beneath the notice of a ce like this. The only way for me to get real help is to make a name for myself, make myself important enough that others will want to help me...I wonder¡­''


    John once more turned to the man and asked him a question.


    "Then, is there a way I could join your sect?"


    "Hahaha,"


    The man was unprepared for such a question, and couldn''t help butugh at John''s naivety. He quickly noticed the serious look on the boy''s face, and regained hisposure once more.


    "Boy, I can obviously tell that you''re not from around here based on your desire to get back to that farawaynd, so I''ll forgive your ignorance. Let me exin. The Heavenly Lightning Sect is one of the four great sects of thisnd, and tens of thousands of juniors try to enter it each year."


    The man paused for a moment to see if John was getting the picture, but his resolute face remained unchanged. He slightly shook his head and continued.


    "I can tell you''re about fourteen or fifteen years old."


    "I just turned fifteen a few weeks ago," John responded with a head nod.


    "Well, of those tens of thousands of juniors joining the trials to enter the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the lowest of cultivation''s are at your realm, the Late Mist Creation, while the majority are in the Qi Condensation Realm. To put it bluntly, you are far too weak to join the sect."

 Chapter 126 - Yuan Continent Holy Lands

    John''s eyebrows raised slightly at the man''s words. Although he knew the Holy Lands was impressive based on his fathers description, this was still far beyond anything he could have imagined.


    ''Tens of thousands of juniors my age in the Qi Condensation Realm! And thats just the bare minimum required to join the sect. Back home, the five peak powers only managed to have ten Qi Condensation juniors at Qi Condensation, and most of them were sixteen, but here they appear in the thousands. Just how amazing is this ce?''


    John was shocked by this revtion, but when he thought about the Qi density of thisnd, it began to make sense. Cultivating here would be much faster than cultivating back home.


    "If you''re truly thinking of joining a sect in thesends, you should think of other sects. Below the four great sects are the sixteen first tier sects, and below them are the one hundred and twenty eight second tier sects. There are even untold amounts of third and fourth tier sects. I''m sure one of those would be more suitable for you."


    John listened to the man''s words closely, doing his best to learn as much about thisnd as possible.


    "First Tier? Second Tier? What are the tiers?" John asked curiously.


    "To put it simply, they are strength levels of both the elders and juniors of the sect. The four great sects are stronger than the first tier sects, which are stronger than the second, and so on. The more powerful a sect, the harder the requirements are to join."


    The man paused for a moment before continuing.


    "As you can see, there are thousands and thousands of sects in thesends. One of them will surely be suitable for you."


    John continued to listen to the man''s words closely, and had established a rough power hierarchy for the Yuan Continent Holy Lands.


    "Just howrge is thisnd, that it can fit thousands and thousands of sects? Does each sect only upy a small piece ofnd?" John asked. If thousands of sects were to fit in his homnd, each sect would only control a very small amount ofnd.


    "The Yuan Continent is roughly one hundred thousand miles across, and is shaped rtively circr, hence the name. The four great sects are located in the very center of thend, spaced equally around the Qi whirlpool...the area you were just outside of. This is where the Qi density is the highest. The first tier sects upy the next set ofnd, and so on until you reach the coasts, where the Qi density is the least."


    The man thought for a moment before adding another rifying piece of information.


    "Other than sects however, there are many ns, kingdoms, and independent cities as well that upy thend throughout the continent, and they too have varying power structures. But many of them are as strong as first tier sects, so you can''t look down on any of them."


    ''So many powers! Should I maybe try to join one of those instead? No, I need to join the Heavenly Lightning Sect. It''s perfectly suited for my cultivation, and the stronger the power I join, the greater the chance I have to get home.''


    Aftering to a decision on which power he should attempt to join, John addressed the man once more.


    "I may be on the low side of the cultivation spectrum, but I can guarantee that I am among the most promising junior''s you''ll find," John responded resolutely.


    An amused expression appeared on the man''s face. "Is that so? Then tell me, how do you stand above those with higher cultivation''s than you?"


    "Well, for starters, I have a lightning attribute body," John responded bluntly.


    "Pfft..cough..What?" The man waspletely caught unprepared by this statement, and slightly choked on his own spit.


    "Don''t joke around boy. Attribute bodies, especially lightning attribute bodies don''t appear willy nilly. If you have a lightning attribute body, then demonstrate it." A smug look hung on the man''s face, indicating that he didn''t believe John one bit.


    John frowned but was undeterred. He had to enter the sect. Getting information and help from the sect would be much better than trying to do so alone.


    "Unfortunately, I do not know any lightning battle arts yet. If you don''t believe me, then test me. You''re from the sect right? So you should be able to use lightning based attacks. Strike me with lightning that would normally overwhelm an early Qi Condensation junior."


    "What? Are you crazy?" The man waspletely caught off guard constantly by John''s actions. He closely examined John''s expression, and saw no hint of falsity.


    "Alright, but if you get injured or die, don''tin to me."


    The man was slightly hesitant to do so, but the boy in front of him requested it. He only had himself to me if things went wrong.


    The man outstretched his hand, and incredibly powerful lightning began to crackle and flow on his palm and between his fingers. Just this small bit of lightning felt as if it could destroy mountains and raze sects to the ground.


    John stared in awe at the lightning, and his desire to obtain such a power increased even more.


    ''I need to join this sect!''


    The power of the lightning began to diminish, until it was at a level that no longer gave John any feeling of mortal danger.


    "This is the amount of lightning that would overwhelm any normal early Qi Condensation junior. Are you sure you want to go through with this?" the man asked.


    "Yep, go ahead," John replied bluntly.


    The man was surprised by John''s response. He had expected John to see the power of the lightning and back down in fright, but he remained undeterred.


    "Either you truly do have a lightning attribute body, or you''repletely crazy. Let''s find out."


    The lightning dancing over the man''s hand suddenly shot out, piercing directly towards John''s shoulder.

 Chapter 127 - Heavenly Lightning Sect Leader

    Zap!


    The clothing on John''s shoulder was instantly disintegrated, and the lightning struck his shoulder before sneaking into his body, seeking to destroy it from within.


    ''This is weaker than the lightning in the trial. I''m sure that trial was scaled to cultivation level, otherwise how could someone as weak as me seed but heavenly geniuses worthy of entering the artifact spirits eyes die? Wasn''t that trial a little too harsh then?''


    John was lost in thought while the lightning snaked throughout his body. Although it was causing some damage to his body, opening slight wounds on his body, it was not worth fussing over. Wherever the lightning passed, the lightning runes on his body would light up, altering the lighting slightly. However, John was unable to gain control over this lightning like he did the other lightning he had encountered before?


    ''Why is that? Can I not gain control over lightning from other cultivators? That''s the only difference I can think of between this and the trial, which was ownerless lightning...Regardless, my lightning attribute body is definitely making it much easier to withstand the power of this lightning.''


    While John was thinking about this, the man''s face was widened inplete and utter shock. The lightning runes that lit up on John''s skin and within his body did not go unnoticed.


    "He...He really does have a lightning attribute body..and it''s a grade that even I cannot identify" the man thought in a daze.


    He had not believed John at all, but the truth was clear for him to see. Not only did John not take much damage from the lightning, the lightning runes clearly indicated a lightning attribute body.


    The man''s daze quickly turned to excitement.


    "Boy, you said your name was John, correct?"


    John nodded his head in affirmation, and waited for the man to continue.


    "John, I am Elder Ragur. Your situation ispletely...unique. Per tradition, we only allow those who pass the annual entrance exams to join our Heavenly Lightning Sect, but..maybe an exception can be made."


    The man uttered some words to the drake, and the drake suddenly changed course, heading directly towards the massive pce in the center of the sect. John watched inplete awe as the drake neared the sect grounds. Each building was built with craftsmanship far beyond what was capable of in his homnd, and the sect looked like even more of an immortal paradise the closer he got to it. White seemed to be the main color of the buildings, with blue and gold ents making them look regal and majestic.


    After flying over hundreds of buildings on their approach, the drake finallynded in a massive courtyard directly in front of the pce. Thousands of people, ranging from teenagers to adults, were walking throughout the massive courtyard, and many quickly made way for therge drake.


    Thud!


    The drakended heavily, attracting the attention of many of those in the area.


    "That''s Elder Ragur! Who is that boy though? I''ve never seen him before," a girl of around fifteen years old stated.


    "I haven''t either. I wonder why he''s with the Elder?" responded a nearby boy. Simr conversations quickly broke out regarding the identity of the nemer.


    Elder Ragur turned to John.


    "Come with me, and remember your manners."


    John nodded his head and hopped off the drake.


    Arge wide marble staircase stretched upwards for one hundred yards before being greeted by massive pirs lining the top of the staircase. The pce stretched for miles in each direction, making it hard to see the entire structure. Its top pierced into the clouds above.


    Arge entrance, dozens of yards tall existed beyond the pirs, and guards were stationed on each side of the entrance.


    "Elder Ragur," The guards greeted him with respect, and Elder Ragur greeted them back.


    ''Seems like he''s pretty respected around here.''


    John respectfully followed behind Elder Ragur, making as little fuss as possible. The two of them entered the pce.


    He immediately took note of the grand designs within the well lit pce. Ornate statues, intricate paintings, powerful weapons, and more hung on the walls all throughout the main lobby of the pce.


    Elder Ragur walked directly through the main lobby and into the main hallway, which cut directly through to the heart of the pce. Many side hallways caught John''s attention as they walked, and he could see many people going about their business.


    Although he hadn''t sent out his divine sense as to not be rude, John could clearly tell that the power of these people was impressive. The weakest gave off Core Formation fluctuations, while many were giving John the same impression that Elder Ragur did.


    After walking for several minutes, a massive double door came into John''s view. Two dazzlingly blue lightning bolts were carved into both the left and right doors.


    Elder Ragur turned to John once more.


    "Remember to be respectful. Do not speak unless asked a question."


    John nodded his head and followed behind Elder Ragur. With a flick of Elder Ragur''s hand, the massive doorway began to part. The two of them stepped through, and were greeted by arge expansive chamber. At the very end of the chamber, an ornate staircase stretched upwards to a grand throne. The staircase zigged and zagged slightly, giving off the impression of a lightning bolt, while the throne emanated powerful lightning fluctuations.


    ''Just sitting on that throne would be impossible for me!''


    A somewhat elderly man sat on the throne, reading some documents in his hands. He seemedpletely undisturbed the the lightning that snaked over the throne and his body.


    John could tell that despite looking somewhat elderly, the man was full of vigor and power. He had long silver hair and a clean shaven and warm face.


    The man looked up from his documents and stared at the approaching Elder. A smile soon crept on his face as he spoke out.


    "Elder Ragur, it''s been quite some time since you''veste to see me. What is the asion this time?"


    Elder Ragur lowered his head slightly in respect and spoke out while gesturing to John at the side.


    "Sect Leader, I have brought this boy here for your inspection, and consideration for entry into our sect."


    The man looked from Elder Ragur to John, and John quickly felt himself almost be overwhelmed by the man''s inspection. Although it wasn''t a physical power pressing down on him, John felt as if the man''s eyes were piercing through his very soul, making him feel as if all his secrets wereid bare before the man. The man''s eyebrows raised slightly, and a warm, weing voice spoke out.


    "Oh, you have a lightning attribute body?"


    The man''s words shocked John. He had identified his lightning attribute body with only his eyes, and hadn''t even used his divine sense yet. Since the runes on his body had long since faded, John was sure that one could only tell he had a lightning attribute body when they lit up, but this man had identified it with a single nce.


    Whoosh!


    The air rapidly parted, making a slight noise, and John suddenly found the man standing directly in front of him, his eyes staring directly at him as if wanting to strip him bare of all his secrets.

 Chapter 128 - Enforcement Hall

    ''What? I didn''t even notice him moving at all, and he suddenly appeared in front of me!''


    The man moved so fast that to John, it seemed as if he had teleported. The slight sound of parting air was the only indicator that it wasn''t teleportation, and that the man had actually moved so fast as to be unseen.


    The man, who was addressed as the Sect Leader of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, inspected John closely for quite some time. John stood there in silence staring back, unconcerned of such an inspection.


    ''If that old ghost Celestial Soulrend couldn''t figure out my secrets, I highly doubt this man can.''


    After a while, a warm smile appeared on the man''s face.


    "Not bad, even under my close inspection, you can keep yourself calm. Most junior''s your age are scared stiff when this happens."


    "I''ve just had some...experiences that put me ahead of my peers when ites to nerves," John responded casually.


    "John, show some respect," Elder Ragur called out in a slight panic. He had told John not to speak unless asked a question or prompted to speak.


    "Haha, it''s alright Elder Ragur, he can speak freely here," the Sect Leader responded.


    His warm and friendly tone surprised John. He had expected a big shot sect leader of such a powerful sect to be intimidating and frightening, but this man reminded him of his grandfather instead.


    "Not only do you have a lightning attribute body, it''s quite an astonishing one. You also seem to be a body cultivator, based on the strength of your body...but I don''t sense a conflicting sh of essence and body Qi usually found in dual Qi cultivators...why is this?"


    John was slightly surprised at this description of himself.


    ''What a frightening perception. Everything is one hundred percent correct.''


    John was silent for a moment while he formted his response. His father had guided him on what to say if his dual Qi cultivation was ever brought up.


    "I have an Innate Variant Body as well, ording to my father."


    John gave a quick response without much exnation. The less he said, the less information people could use to figure out he was lying.


    The sect leaders'' eyes lit up slightly at John''s exnation, but quickly returned to normal before John could notice anything.


    "An innate variant body, and a lightning attribute body! Quite a profoundbination you have. Tell me, if you are this gifted naturally, then why is your cultivation so low. I can tell you are fifteen. Based on the talent you have shown, you should be peak Qi Condensation at the worst."


    John reddened slightly in embarrassment at the man''s appraisal. He truly was weakpared to those in thisnd, but it was outside of his control unfortunately.


    "I came from the...well not around here. Ie from the coastal areas if I was to describe it urately."


    "Hmm? Then if you''re from there, how did you get to be here?" the Sect Leader asked curiously. A warm smile still hung on his face, making John feel somewhat at ease.


    "Sect Leader, I found the boy in the restricted area, just outside of the Qi whirlpool. He said he was kidnapped and woke up there. I found no other persons in the area," Elder Ragur spoke up.


    "Kidnapped huh? And you just happened to be dropped off in the restricted area around the whirlpool where no one should be able to reach, at least not without my notice?"


    The Sect Leaders tone was a mixture of questioning and sarcasm. Clearly he didn''t believe John''s story. John steeled his nerves the best he could and remained as calm as possible, feigning ignorance and doubling down on his story.


    The sect leader looked closely at John for a moment before waving his hands in a dismissive manner and walking back to his seat.


    "No matter, I sense no Ill will from you, so how you came to be there isn''t of a particr concern of mine. Besides, your strength is far from whats needed to cause any disruptions to our sect or the whirlpool."


    The Sect Leader sat down, and lightning once again started to snake out from the throne and around his body. He sat there as if it didn''t affect him at all.


    "Sect Leader, what shall we do with this boy? Can he be permitted entry to the sect?" Elder Ragur asked, looking for a final answer. Although he wasn''t particrly concerned about John''s fate, John''s talent was worth noting.


    If he personally brought a powerful talent to the sect, the Elder would be rewarded handsomely as well.


    "Elder, you know the rules and why they exist. No one can be permitted entry to our sect without going through the entrance exams, no exceptions. He''ll have to wait three months until the entrance exams begin, at which point he can test his luck."


    The sect leader picked up his documents and started looking at them once more, paying no more attention to the Elder and John.


    Elder Ragur looked at John somewhat helplessly, but couldn''t argue with the Sect Leader. He too knew why only those who passed the entrance exam were permitted to the sect, and had no grounds to argue that.


    "John, I''m afraid you''ll have to leave this sect for three months before the entrance exams start."


    John nodded his head but was secretly disappointed. Joining this sect would have changed his fate.


    The two of them turned around and began to leave, but a voice from behind them stopped them in their tracks.


    "Elder, I said he can''t formally join the sect, but I never said anything about joining as a worker. Doesn''t your Enforcement Hall need some additional help these days?" The voice came from the Sect Leader, who was still casually reading the documents in his hands.


    Elder Ragur''s eyes lit up, and he bowed his head slightly towards the Sect Leader. He knew that while the Sect Leader mentioned being a worker, he would still be able to treat John as a quasi-disciple. This way, no one could argue the rules had been broken, while he could start to guide John himself.


    "You are correct. An excellent suggestion."


    Elder Ragur turned to John.


    "John, you may join my Enforcement Hall as a worker until the exams start if you so wish. What''s your decision."


    John''s face lit up slightly at the offer. Although a worker wasn''t nearly as good as a disciple of the sect, he would still be able to build connections within the sect in the next few months, which would greatly help in getting back home.


    "I ept!"

 Chapter 129 - Sect Details

    John happily followed Elder Ragur out the way they had entered. He had aplished his first goal of entering the sect. Although it wasn''t official, John wasn''t concerned about being unable to pass the entrance exam in three months. In the meantime, he could start building up connections and gather information on how to get home.


    After leaving the massive pce, the Elder and John walked back to the drake, which was still patiently waiting within therge courtyard. Elder Ragur said some words to the drake, and it took off to the sky without them. Its powerful wings created strong gusts of winds that billowed the robes of all those nearby.


    "The Enforcement Hall grounds are not too far from here. We will walk, and I will show you some of what this sect has to offer," Elder Ragur said to John as he started walking forward.


    John nodded his head in agreement and quickly followed behind. Many curious gazes stared at John, having never seen him before. It took John and the Elder some time to exit the massive courtyard, at which point the Elder led John down what appeared to be one of the main roads of the sect.


    The road was nearly fifty yards wide. Thousands of cultivators were walking in in every direction, and powerful beasts, almost simr in power to the drake were present as well, acting as carriage mules or powerful mounts.


    Massive buildings lined both sides of the road, and most of them sported the signature color scheme of white, gold and blue that the sect seemed to prefer. Each building exhibited grand designs on both the exterior and interior, and John was awestruck at the level of craftsmanship, which was much higher than back home.


    The buildings covered a wide variety of businesses and purposes, from trade halls, medicinal shops, libraries, weapons halls, martial halls, trial halls and more. Each building was bustling with activity.


    Powerful cultivators passed by John constantly, and he finally felt the weight of joining such a sect.


    ''Im probably the weakest person here, in terms of cultivation. However, with the Qi density of this ce, I''m confident that I''ll be able to catch up in no time.''


    John was not dismayed by his weak cultivation. He had the Immortal Asura Body, which only seemed to be limited by his ability to obtain human blood essence of high enough quality. The main limiter of his cultivation was his essence cultivation, which held back his Immortal Asura Body.


    However, Celestial Soulrend had given him the Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique.


    ''Although I haven''t cultivated the Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique yet, I''m sure its beyond amazing. My essence cultivation should start soaring rapidly, and all I''ll need to focus on is obtaining some more human blood essence...but I should have enough to reach the Qi Condensation Realm.''


    John''s Immortal Asura Body dantian was already at the peak of Mist Creation, and he had obtained the bodies of both Dn and the other Crimson Valley Sect boy. Both were also at the peak of Mist Creation, and John was sure that this blood would allow him to advance once more.


    His eyes lit up as he thought about what advancing a major realm could possibly mean.


    "Thest time I advanced a major realm, the pce realm gifted me with the drop of blood, which improved my Immortal Asura Body. Since there are more drops, I''m certain that another one will be gifted when I advance to the Qi Condensation Realm. Also, I haven''t had time to figure out what, or who, is inside the holy gate. But I need to ask him some questions soon.''


    The holy entity had appeared when Celestial Soulrend had tried to read his memories. John was certain that the aura that entity projected was identical to the holy gate, and figured that ity behind it.


    ''If there''s actually something as profound as that holy entity within the holy gate...what does that mean for the sinister gate¡­''


    He shuddered at the thought. The sinister gate projected an aura nearly as powerful and profound as the holy gate, but waspletely evil. The thought of something actually being inside the gate gave John the chills.


    ''I suppose I''ll find out when I get stronger.''


    John snapped out of his thoughts and started listening to Elder Ragur, who was exining the various buildings and their purposes as they passed them. The two of them walked for nearly ten miles, all while passing grand buildings along the way.


    ''And this is just one of the main roads of the sect, not to mention the other main roads and hundreds of minor roads. This ce is massive!''


    Although he had seen the massive sect from the sky, being down on the ground finally gave him the perspective on just exactly how massive it was. Despite walking for over ten miles, he had only seen a fraction of the sect.


    "This road we just walked down is one of the main trade hubs. Anything you want, from pills, weapons, techniques, clothes, pets, and more can be found here. You can exchange either spirit stones for them, or exchange contribution points," the Elder exined.


    "Elder, what are spirit stones..and contribution points," John asked.


    The Elder tapped his forehead slightly and responded. "Ah, I forgot you''re not from around here. Spirit stones are crystals of pure Qi. In certain locations, when the Qi in the air gets dense enough, it condenses into spirit essence, which is liquid, and eventually spirit stones, which is a solid crystal. Spirit stones are used as the main form of currency in the cultivation world. They can be used for cultivation at higher levels, and also to power formations and other wonderful things."


    John''s eyes lit up at the mention of such an amazing thing, but quickly dimmed.


    "I don''t have any spirit stones," John grumbled miserably, causing Elder Ragur to chuckle slightly.


    "There''s also contribution points. You can earn those by aplishing various tasks for the sect, at which point you''ll be awarded a certain amount of contribution points. You can trade these for any item in the sect, if you have enough of them."


    John''s eyes lit up once more, but were quickly dimmed once more by the following words of the Elder.


    "Unfortunately, you are only a worker, and not an official disciple of the sect, and so you can only be paid with money. Only once you be an official disciple can you start earning contribution points."


    He continued to follow the Elder as they walked towards the Enforcement Halls. Elder Ragur started exining various things, like the disciple ranks.


    "There are various ranks of disciples. The lowest ranks are the outer disciples, then inner disciples, and then core disciples. Each rank up gets more benefits, making each disciple yearn to advance. Thispetition brings out the best in everyone, and ensures our sect stays strong. Finally, there are direct disciples, which are the direct disciples of the powerful Elders of the sect. They have the most status out of all the disciples, and enjoy the greatest benefits."


    "Do you have a direct disciple?" John asked curiously. Given Elder Ragur''s powerful cultivation, John figured many would climb over each other for the opportunity.


    "Haha, I do not. Unfortunately, I am not strong enough to obtain a direct disciple, ording to the sect rules."


    This statement shocked John greatly.


    "But...you''re at the peak of Meridian Forging. Just how strong does an Elder have to be to have a direct disciple?"


    Elder Ragur chuckled once more.


    "One has to be in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and only then are they considered Elders of enough status to have the right to raise a direct disciple."


    ''Heaven Tribtion Realm? I''ve never heard of it, but from the sounds of it, it''s directly above Meridian Forging. This ce is amazing!''


    John suddenly thought of Leah and Elliot.


    "Elder, you mentioned that Leah and Elliot are out on a mission, so I cannot visit them. However, I''m curious, what status do the two of them have in this sect?"


    When he had met them, both Leah and Elliot had been fourteen like him. Despite that, their cultivations were at the middle Qi Condensation Realm, which astonished John.


    ''Surely at that age and cultivation, even within the Holy Lands, their status must be great.''


    "Hmm? Let me check." The Elder once again pulled out the same item he hadst time, which was a jade piece.


    ''I guess this jade piece records the status and whereabouts of every disciple, but I can''t be sure.''


    John waited for a moment before the Elder put away the jade piece.


    "ording to the disciple logs, the two of them are outer disciples."

 Chapter 130 - Enforcement Hall Grounds

    "Outer disciples? How is that possible? They were at the middle Qi Condensation Realm at fourteen years old!"


    John couldn''t believe it. He figured they would at least be inner disciples, or maybe even core disciples, but the truth was far from that.


    Elder Ragur chuckled slightly.


    "Like I said, only the most talented youths on the entire continent get to enter our sect. Hopefully this will paint a good picture on how hard you have to work to seed in this ce."


    John nodded his head in agreement, but was still slightly dazed.


    ''This sect keeps surprising me. But the stronger it is, the better chance I have to get home.''


    While thinking about home, John decided to ask Elder Ragur about Leah and Elliot some more.


    "Elder Ragur, I met Leah and Elliot in my homnd, and they said they were on a sect mission, but said no more. Howe they were able to get to my homnd, if it is so far away and dangerous to get to?"


    If Leah and Elliot were able to get to his homnd, maybe John would be able to return the same way.


    Elder Ragur sighed and shook his head slightly.


    "Unfortunately, it''s not that easy. The sect has its reasons for searching your homnd, and quite arge group of disciples were escorted by a Heaven Tribtion Elder there, as he had some business to attend to as well. The only true safe way to make it across the Great Desert is to be escorted by a Heaven Tribtion cultivator, but getting their help is sometimes harder than crossing the Great Desert by yourself."


    "Then, if they were on a mission, do mission''s often go to thatnd? Could I perhaps not join one of those missions?" John asked hopefully.


    Elder Ragur shook his head once more.


    "I''m afraid that the mission those two went on was quite special. Other than that, no other mission has visited thosends in decades, so I would not count on another mission popping up in the meantime."


    John was hopeful for a good response that left some room for him to get home, but it was quite the opposite. He thought about maybe telling the Elder about the pocket realm as a bargaining chip to head back home, but his n rules forbid the revealing of the pocket realm no matter the reason.


    ''If pushes to shove, I might have to reveal it. But in the meantime, I''ll keep it a secret and try to find some other way home, or at least a way to send a message to my n.''


    John looked back towards Elder Raur and asked another question.


    "So without the help of a Heaven Tribtion Elder, I can''t cross the Desert? Didn''t you say that Meridan Forging cultivators could cross?"


    "They can, but the road is still dangerous in that realm, so most choose to avoid it. Only Heaven Tribtion experts are truly safe in that ce," Elder Ragur responded.


    John stopped asking questions, and sunk deep into thought.


    ''So it seems that either I''ll have to reach Meridian Forging myself, or get the help of a Heaven Tribtion Elder. This might be harder to get back home than I thought.''


    John and Elder Ragur continued to walk for some time, and the Elder exined all the various buildings and their purposes. Many curious gazes of young sect members stared at John, as he was a neer and was being personally escorted by an Elder.


    Eventually, the two of them made it to the Enforcement Hall grounds.


    Unlike the rest of the sect, which was white, gold, and blue, the enforcement hall sported darker colors, and the buildings were mostly ck and dark red. The architecture style was also more foreboding, giving the Enforcement Hall grounds an eerie feeling.


    Elder Ragur noticed John''s curious stares at the buildings andughed slightly before exining.


    "The Enforcement Hall grounds are darker, and the architecture is more brutal as to install some fear in the disciples. If they were brought to a cheery ce to be punished, do you think they would be scared?"


    "I suppose not," John replied.


    "Come, I''ll show you to your room."


    The Enforcement Hall grounds had dozens of buildings of various sizes and purposes. Thergest of them was the Judgement Hall, which was where those who did wrong were brought to have their punishments decided, as well as imprisoned if necessary in the grounds below.


    The two of them walked into one of the smaller buildings, which was still several stories tall and several hundred yards wide.


    The Elder brought John to a particr door, and pushed it open.


    "This is your room. You can stay here until the entrance exams start. I''ll be back in a few days to hand out some duties for you, but in the meantime make yourself at home. Just don''t stray away from the Enforcement Hall grounds, as you''re not a true disciple yet."


    John nodded his head and thanked the Elder for his help, before entering the room and closing the door.


    The room was several dozen yards wide and long, and was quite spacious by John''s standards. It contained a bedroom, kitchen, as well a mediation chamber. John entered the meditation chamber, which was quite spacious as well, and took in a deep breath of fresh air.


    "The Qi density in the air is slightly higher than normal around here. There must be some formation that gathers the Qi here."


    John sat down and assumed a meditative position. He calmed his mind and cleared any excessive thoughts.


    "It''s been quite some time since I''vest cultivated. With the pocket realm and everything afterwards, I haven''t been able to cultivate in a few months. Considering the strength of the youths in this sect, and with the entrance exam in three months, I have some catching up to do. I think it''s about time I enter the Qi Condensation Realm."

 Chapter 131 - Qi Condensation

    John calmed his mind and eliminated all excess thoughts, before he sent his mind into his soul space. In the soul space existed the Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique that Celestial Soulrend had given him.


    As mentioned by Celestial Soulrend, there existed dantian cultivation techniques that focused on a single aspect, boosting the cultivators power in that aspect by arge amount. It acted simr to a variant body or attribute body, but was targeted to the dantian itself.


    When cultivators drew Qi from their dantian out into their bodies for magical attacks, they would use theirprehension to convert the pure Qi into the type of Qi they were using to attack.


    In the Mist Creation Realm, since cultivators were only just getting used to their Qi, they would unleash unrefined Qi out in attacks. While this method could release devastating attacks, it was still much weaker than refining the Qi into the state most suited for that cultivator, and then unleashing it. Only in the Qi Condensation Realm and above were cultivators adept enough in both theirprehensions and controlling their Qi that they could refine it into specific attacks.


    For example, a cultivator adept in fire based attacks could unleash pure Qi from their dantian for attacks, but by refining and amplifying the pure Qi into fire Qi, they could unleash attacks far stronger. This was due to theirprehensions being much higher for that specific nature of Qi, as well as having profound battle arts to fully unleash the attacks.


    In John''s case, in the future when he unleashed lightning attacks, he would convert the Qi leaving his essence dantian into lightning Qi, and then unleash his lightning based battle arts.


    However, cultivation techniques such as the Primordial Extermination Lightning technique would allow John to unleash lightning Qipletely naturally from his dantian, and not take the slight amount of time required to convert it manually. Not only that, but the lightning would be of a higher grade as well, resulting in quicker and more powerful attacks.


    John sent his divine sense into the technique floating in his soul space, and came to these conclusions after perusing through the cultivation technique.


    "How amazing. Not only is this cultivation technique amazing enough tost me all throughout my cultivation journey, it will also give me immense advantages in battle itself. I have a variant body, an attribute body, and now a dantian that is simr to an attribute body."


    John studied the technique for many hours before he finally grasped it enough to start cultivating it.


    However, John was pleased to find that cultivating the Primordial Extermination Lightning did not require actual lighting. Although it would help somewhat, it was not required.


    "It seems as if lightning can speed up the process in some cases, but isn''t required. In the meantime, I need to use my lightningprehensions to refine pure Qi into lightning Qi, then infuse it into my dantian in a very precise and specific manner. If I repeat this technique enough times, I''ll slowly transform my dantian, as well as advance to the Qi Condensation Realm. But first..."


    John''s divine sense left his soul space, and his divine sense drifted into his pce realm. Whenever he sent his divine sense into his pce realm, John would find his divine sense transformed into a soul version of himself, which allowed him to walk around the pce freely.


    John walked into the pce and into the main hallway, where he found many items lying around. Everything he had collected thus far in his cultivation journeyy strewn around the main hallway, including beast corpses and barrels of blood essence.


    "Such a mess. I need to figure out how to open one of the rooms in the side hallways to store this stuff."


    John walked past some of the items and stopped before the corpses of two young boys. He stared at the corpse of Dn coldly, as he was suddenly reminded once more of the predicament his n was in.


    "They said they were from a power in the Holy Lands. I need to figure out which one...but in the meantime, I''ll be borrowing your blood essence."


    John quickly drained the blood essence''s from both boys, and stored them in a small barrel. Much like the regr blood essence that John used to replenish his Qi reserves, John was able to cultivate with human blood essence without bringing it out of the pce realm. The pce realm seemed to have a unique connection with his body dantian, making this all possible.


    "At least this saves me arge headache of anyone potentially finding me using human blood essence."


    John prepared the blood essence and slowly started to infuse it into his body dantian. His body dantian was at the peak of the Mist Creation Realm, and only needed a slight nudge to advance to Qi Condensation. Unlike his essence dantian, John''s body dantian did not requireprehensions to advance, only blood essence.


    "I know that if my body dantian''s cultivation realm exceeds my essence dantian cultivation by too much, I''ll be overwhelmed by those mental assualts. Who knows what will happen in that case, but I can tell I wont have a good ending...I was able to maintain my mind by having my body dantian be only one minor realm higher than my essence dantian, but...I wonder if that''s true for a major realm as well."


    Although going from peak Mist Creation to early Qi Condensation was only one step up, it was advancing up a major realm. John was curious if he would be able to withstand such a disparity in his cultivations.


    Blood essence slowly started to infuse into his body dantian, and John could feel his body dantian at the verge of breaking through. However, just as John was about to push it over the edge and advance, the mental assaults struck John''s mind and soul with an intensity far greater than he had felt before.


    "Gah!"


    John cried out and hurriedly stopped infusing blood essence into his body dantian. After some time, the mental assaults faded. John was still breathing heavily from the pain he had just felt.


    "It seems I cannot have my body dantian be a higher major realm than my essence dantian. Then I''ll just raise my essence cultivation first, and then my body cultivation."


    John spent some time clearing the mental anguish he had just felt from his mind, and once more focused on the Primordial Extermination Lightning technique. After several hours more of studying, he finally started cultivating the technique.


    He followed the principles of Qi movement throughout the body, and was surprised to find that many tiny Qi whirlpools suddenly appeared all throughout his body, drawing the Qi in the surrounding air faster into his body.


    "How amazing!"


    While John was unsure exactly how the technique aplished this, he was only concerned in following it, not understanding it. Qi rapidly rushed into his body, at which point he focused on refining it into lightning Qi. The lightning Qi was then infused into the dantian, sent out, and infused again in a continuous cycle.


    His face lit up in excitement as he felt his cultivation rapidly rise, as well as his essence dantian ever so slightly begin to transform. He also consumed the Golden Marrow Condensation Pill, which greatly helped his cultivation speed.


    This processsted for nearly a day, before finally, a muffled boom echoed out within his body, and arge smile broke out on his face.


    "Finally, I''m in the Qi Condensation Realm!"

 Chapter 132 - Lightning Essence

    Arge smile hung on John''s face as he sent his divine sense into his essence dantian to inspect it.


    A strong aura radiated from his essence dantian, several times more powerful than when he was in the Mist Creation Realm.


    As the name Qi Condensation suggested, the Qi in his dantian was now condensed into a liquid form, while it was misty and ethereal in the Mist Creation realm. He could feel a much greater control over his Qi now.


    "Not only is my dantian more powerful now, it''s also muchrger in terms of Qi reserves."


    John inspected his essence dantian for quite some time, and started circting his Qi to get used to the new power. With a thought, small arcs of lightning started to dance along John''s skin.


    After ying around with his new cultivation, John quickly noticed that his soul space had grownrger, and his divine sense more powerful.


    John was pleased to find that his Nascent Soul had also advanced to the Soul Essence Realm. His divine sense now stretched several hundred yards, and his soul space was muchrger. Arger soul space meant a stronger soul power, which improved things such as divine sense, memory, andprehension speeds.


    "I nearly forgot, unless once specifically focuses on soul cultivation, essence cultivation and soul cultivation are closely linked. As long as my soul is powerful enough when I advance in essence cultivation, it will naturally advance as well. Improving my soul strength in front of the holy gate really is beneficial.


    Normally cultivators would also have to focus on their soul, and improve it in many different ways to have it keep up with their essence cultivation. Otherwise, if their soul was weak, a soul cultivator could eliminate them with a thought. However, all John had to do was mediate asionally in front of the holy gate.


    "Isn''t this pce realm a bit too powerful. It''s basically cheating for cultivation."


    John shook his head and once more focused on his soul space.


    "Now that I have the Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique, I can freely control lightning, although I still need to learn some battle arts. There is that one thing Celestial Soulrend gave me, but I haven''t had time to look at it until now. Let''s see what it is."


    John sent his divine sense into his soul space to inspect the battle art. The technique floated in his soul space in an isted area.


    As John''s divine sense approached the floating ball of lightning, his face began to scrunch up before a look of fear appeared on his face.


    "What the fuck? This isn''t a technique. This is a condensed ball of pure lightning essence. If this thing exploded, it would shatter my soul and erase my mind. What the hell was that con artist thinking?"


    John couldn''t'' help but curse Celestial Soulrend for doing something so dangerous. Although the ball of lightning essence seemed stable enough for now, as it seemed to be contained by a mysterious soul power than Celestial Soulrend put in ce, John didn''t know if it would ever be unstable.


    If not for thatyer of soul power, John would never be able to hold a ball of pure lightning essence into his soul space. Not only that, but his divine sense was far from strong enough to touch it at the moment, making him unable to move it at all.


    "Why the hell did he do this? I just have a lightning bomb in my soul now? What good does that do?"


    John had been expecting an amazing lightning battle art, and Celestial Soulrend had actually seemed pleased with his suggestion of Miko as a sessor, at which point he gave John this lightning essence.


    "Whatever, it seems stable enough for now, and I can''t do anything about it for now anyways, so I''ll just ignore it."


    Just as his mind was about to leave his soul space, John felt a slight tremble in another part of his soul space.


    "Hmm?"


    John sent his mind in the direction of the trembling, and quickly discovered the source.


    "You? You''re awake now huh?"


    He quickly discovered the source of the trembling in his soul space was the egg that he had received in the lightning trialnd. It had been in a slumber as soon as he obtained it, but it seemed as if it had awoken slightly now.


    John tried to send his divine sense into the egg to see what type of creature was inside, but his divine sense was unable to prate the egg. A frown appeared on his face, but he was unable to do anything about it.


    "You called me over here. So what do you want?"


    The egg trembled once more, and the image of the lightning essence ball appeared in John''s mind.


    He thought about it for a moment before his eyes lit up.


    "Do you want the lightning essence?" John asked.


    The egg trembled rapidly once more, seemingly more excited than before.


    John thought about it for a moment and finally put all the pieces together.


    "Celestial Soulrend clearly knew that I had obtained this egg, so he must know that it needs pure lightning essence, or powerful lighting to grow. He also mentioned that the holy aura said I could only obtain one technique from him, so this was probably his way of getting around that, since the lighting essence technically isn''t a technique."


    After figuring everything out, John felt less pissed off at Celestial Soulrend. Although he still would have preferred for a battle art, this was still something he could make use of.


    "Fine, but be careful. If you trigger this ball of lightning essence, I''ll die. And since you''re in my soul space, you''ll die as well, so don''t do anything stupid."


    Although John was unable to directlymunicate with the egg, their shared soul connection from thepanion pact allowed him to somewhat understand its intentions. John used his divine sense to pick up the egg and carefully brought it over to where the ball of lightning essence was floating.


    The egg started to tremble rapidly in excitement, and John ced it directly next to the ball of lightning. His eyes widened in shock as the egg rapidly dashed into the ball of lightning.


    "What are you doing?" John shouted, but was toote to stop the egg. He braced his mind for the explosion, but was relieved to find that nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ball of lightning, which now contained an egg inside. The egg seemed to be at home within the lightning.


    "Whatever, just don''t make it explode!" Johnmanded before his divine sense left his soul space.


    "The less I think about the bomb inside my soul, the better."


    Although he said this, John was still slightly sweating in nervousness from the ordeal. He took quite some time to calm down and clear his mind.


    "Now, let''s get my body dantian to the Qi Condensation Realm as well."

 Chapter 133 - Advancing Again

    John began to infuse the human blood essence from Dn and the other boy into his body dantian, and followed the principles of the Immortal Asura Body. Human blood essence flowed throughout his body, before eventually infusing into his body dantian. John could feel his body dantian grow in power, and before long, it was at the cusp of breaking through.


    Several minutester, the blood essence was emptied, and a slight muffled sound echoed out in John''s body.


    His eyes lit up in excitement.


    "The human blood essence I had was just barely enough to advance. Both my body dantian and essence dantian are now in the Qi Condensation Realm."


    John quickly stood up and sent a punch out in front of him. The air rippled from the power of his punch.


    "My explosive body power is at least several times stronger than before!"


    He was also pleased to find that the sinister murmurs were at a manageable level, unlike before when he tried to advance his body dantian to the Qi Condensation Realm first. Although they still asionally popped up and tried to overwhelm him, he had be experienced at keeping the murmurs in check.


    Meditating asionally in front of the sinister gate yed a great part in tempering his will and allowing him to resist the murmurs. His tempered will showed its strength in allowing him to withstand the lightning trials pain, and once again showed its use. Without his strong will, John realized he would have not gotten nearly as far in his cultivation journey as he had so far.


    Just as he was thinking about this, John once again found himself suddenly appear within his pce realm. This time, instead of appearing outside the pce, he found himself standing directly in front of the holy gate. The translucent sphere hung high in the air, and the many drops of blood continued to revolve within.


    John found himself unable to move, but had be ustomed to this. Every time he advanced in a major realm, he would find himself in this scenario.


    As expected, one of the drops slowly began to descend. When it broke through the translucent barrier, the power emanating from the blood was much stronger than the drop previously. Just likest time, half the blood radiated a holy aura, while the other half was pure sinister evil.


    John watched as the blood slowly descended to him, before it quickly entered his body. Pain assaulted his body as the blood rapidly spread throughout his entire body, infusing into every inch of flesh, as well as his dantian.


    The sinister blood did its best to destroy his body, but the holy blood soon radiated its power, calming the sinister blood to a level that he could control. He felt the level of his Immortal Asura Body rise once more.


    The process continued for several minutes before it finally ended. After regaining hisposure, John walked to the holy gate and touched one of the eight massive chains chaining up the gate.


    As expected, the chain began to crumble, before it shattered into nothingness. The holy aura radiating from the gate once more grew in strength, cleansing his soul and making him feelpletely refreshed.


    John bathed in the aura for some time before looking at the gate and calling out.


    "Hey, I know you''re in there. Who are you, and what is this pce realm?"


    He wanted answers, or at least to have the entity respond back, but despite waiting there for a long time, no answers came back. John shook his head and moved on, heading towards the sinister room.


    A sinister aura assaulted John as he ventured into the room, but its strength was far below what was needed to overwhelm him. The strength of the aura wasn''t even enough to temper his will anymore


    John walked to the massive sinister gate, and looked at the nine chains still chaining the gate. After some hesitation, he reached out and touched one of the chains.


    nk!


    The chain shattered, unleashing an aura much more powerful and sinister than before.


    "Gah!"


    John clutched his head in pain as the murmurs attempted to overwhelm his mind and soul. After a minute of bearing the assault, he could withstand it no more.


    He quickly left the pce realm, and found himself breathing heavily back in his Enforcement Hall room. The murmurs took several minutes to fade, and he once againposed himself.


    John punched the air once more, feeling yet another increase in his body strength. Arge smile broke out on his face, before he quickly thought of something.


    "The Immortal Asura Body book. Lets see if anything has changed sincest time I looked at it."


    Thest time John advanced, the Immortal Asura Body allowed him to look at the first page, which depicted how to cultivate the technique. However, despite there being more pages in the book, John was unable to turn to any of those pages, frustrating him greatly.


    "Everything in the pce realm seems to advance with a major cultivation increase. Let''s see if the Immortal Asura book did as well."


    ¡­


    In the majestic main pce of the Heavenly Lighting Sect, the Sect Leader continued to sit on his throne and read various documents. Powerful lightning snaked out from the throne and all over his body, but he acted as if he didn''t notice it.


    All of a sudden, the Sect Leader''s gaze shifted upwards, and it appeared as if he was staring through the very walls of the pce and into the sky. His figure quickly disappeared without anyone''s notice, and he soon appeared high in the sky above the sect.


    "Hmm? Tribtion Clouds? Is an Elder advancing?"


    The Sect Leader watched as the clouds high above the sect slowly began to gather and turn grey. Lightning began to build up within the clouds, and the center of the tempest seemed to be directly above the Enforcement Hall grounds. Just as soon as the clouds gathered, they dispersed, returning the sky above the sect to normal as if nothing had happened.


    His gaze pierced dozens of miles directly to the Enforcement Halls, and searched around for a moment before a small smile appeared on his face.


    "Interesting."

 Chapter 134 - Second Stage Of The Immortal Asura Body

    A ck bound book appeared in John''s hands. He opened the book to the first page, and was greeted with the familiar diagram that helped him start his Immortal Asura Body journey.


    "It seems like it was so long ago..but it was less than a year. So much has happened recently."


    He reminisced for a short while regarding his cultivation journey so far. Less than a year ago, he was unable to cultivate at all. However, his destiny changed when he found the mysterious sphere, which turned out to be a body dantian.


    After that, he fought with bandits, robbed a Duke, fended off assassins, won a tournament, entered a pocket realm, and more. John felt as ifst year was a dream.


    He quickly snapped out of his reminiscing trance.


    "There''s time in the future for reminiscing. Right now, I need to focus on raising my strength."


    John once more turned his attention to the book, and reached out to turn the page. Last time when he tried to open the book past the first page, he was unable to. John didn''t know if his theory was right, but he was hopeful that he would be able to find out more about the Immortal Asura Body after advancing to the Qi Condensation Realm.


    His fingertips brushed the side of the second page, and much to his delight, John found he was able to turn to the second page.


    "It worked!"


    Johnughed in joy as he turned to the second page. Unlike the first page, which just depicted diagrams, the second page contained both writing and diagrams, and was much more detailed than the first page.


    "Lets see...it has two parts. Let''s start with the first."


    The page was broken down into two sections. Both sections had written descriptions as well as diagrams depicting the internal structure of the body, including meridians, nerves, and muscles. John turned to the first words and started reading them.


    "All bodies contain natural limiters, which are ced by the heavens themselves. These limiters protect every person from their own natural potential. These limits include blocked meridians pathways, deadened nerves, and unactivated muscles. However, by cultivating the body, one is able to unlock these limiters. There are many limiters, and one can be unlocked in each major realm. The first limiter is the Limit of Speed."


    The wording stopped, and John nced down to the anatomical diagram of a human body below. Just like the first time he looked at the book, the diagram seemed to draw him in, and John could soon see the various muscles, nerves, and meridian pathways that were focused on the Limit of Speed, and were mainly located in his legs.


    "I need to first use my body Qi to forcefully clear these blocked meridian pathways. Once that''s done, I need to use the new cirction pathways of Qi to activate the deadened nerves and unactivated muscles that existed in those blocked regions."


    John studied the diagram for several hours before he finally felt confident enough to follow it perfectly. He calmed his mind and took a deep breath before sending out a powerful burst of body Qi out from his dantian and into his meridian pathways.


    The Qi flowed to the blocked meridian channels and crashed against the obstructions, but it was only able to clear the obstructions slightly.


    "Hmm? That wasn''t enough? Again!"


    John continuously sent out powerful bursts of body Qi to the obstructed meridians, and soon his meridian pathways felt like they were about to explode from how much powerful Qi was flowing through them. Normally body Qi would be sent to his muscles, bones, and other parts of his body during fighting to be used outwards, but right now John was sending all that Qi to explode against the obstructions within his meridians instead.


    Not only was this process painful, but it was also dangerous. If he used too much power and caused his meridians to shatter, he would be a cripple. Delicate bnce was required, and John could see why only body cultivators could achieve this.


    "Without my strengthened body, sending this much Qi to crash against the obstructions would have caused my body to explode from within."


    John clenched his teeth in pain as the power continued to flow throughout his body, but didn''t stop the process. After several painful hours of repeating this process, John finally cleared the first blocked meridian pathway.


    John breathed out heavily and caught his breath. He restored his body Qi using some of the blood essence reserves before once more starting the clearing process. The meridian clearing process continued for nearly a day before John finally broke through thest obstructed meridian pathway.


    What John didn''t know was that without powerful enough body Qi, some cultivators were never able to clear these obstructions and were forever stuck at this stage. Some exploded from within during the process, and some were too scared to even attempt it.


    John rested for some time before testing out the results of his progress.


    Powerful body Qi was sent to his blocked meridians, and John found that the Qi was instantly absorbed by the nearby nerves and muscles. These nerves and muscles had been starved of body Qi and had be useless, but they now began to brim with the same power as the rest of his body.


    "Amazing!"


    John hadn''t even been aware of these nerves and muscles before that were now greedily absorbing his body Qi and rapidly growing in strength.


    "Not only are my starved muscles growing in strength, but the body Qi in my legs now flows much smoother, resulting in me being able to unleash much greater power than before."


    John channeled body Qi into his legs once more, and was amazed at the results. However, the new meridian channels also added an extra burden on his body, once more making John realize why only body cultivators were able to unlock these limits.


    "Unfortunately this room is too small to test out my true speed. I''ll have to go outside once I''m done to truly see how much I''ve improved. There''s a second part to this page. I should study that first before I leave."


    John turned his eyes down to the page again, and started reading the description. His eyes began to widen slightly as he continued to read the descriptions of the page and the diagram below.


    "This second part is the true essence of the Immortal Asura Body..."


    John started to study the second part of the diagram, and spent quite some time bing ustomed with the new way to cultivate the Immortal Asura Body.


    "My human blood essence reserves are low, so I can''t really cultivate the Immortal Asura Body right now. I should focus on the battle aspect it mentions."


    Up to now, the Immortal Asura Body had been a body cultivation technique alone, and John had blindly used his body and body Qi to empower his attacks before he learned the Supreme Battle Art.


    However, this page revealed to John that the Immortal Asura Body was not just a body cultivation technique, but also a body transformation battle art. John was overjoyed, as he would be able to further augment his body with the body transformation art, and then utilize its great power with the Supreme Battle Art to achieve his maximum power state.


    John began to follow the principles of the Immortal Asura Body''s transformation art, and felt his body begin to slightly transform. Power began to well up inside his body, and John had never felt as powerful as he did at this moment.


    "Amazing! And this is just the beginning of the transformation technique, as I''m sure there are more stages."


    However, John was surprised to find that the rate of body Qi consumption to power this technique was immense, and his body dantian Qi reserves were quickly drying up.


    "This consumption rate is at least ten times greater than when I use the Supreme Battle Art."


    Just as John was thinking about this, Elder Ragur quickly opened the door to his meditation chamber in a hurry.


    "John, are you alri¡­."


    Elder Ragur''s words quickly cut off as he stared directly at John. Two blood red eyes stared back at him.

 Chapter 135 - Mysterious Figure

    Elder Ragur stared at John''s blood red eyes in stunned silence. He had noticed that John had been cultivating the past few days and so had given him some time to do so, but all of a sudden, apletely unfamiliar and terrible aura radiated out of John''s room.


    Elder Ragur had rushed in to see if there was an intruder, but was stunned to see John sitting there in peace cultivating. The terrifying aura radiated from John himself.


    Elder Ragur felt like he was in the presence of a demon, and John''s blood red eyes seemed to look at him as if he was unworthy of existing before him. Although the aura John radiated wasn''t nearly strong enough to affect or scare the elder, the profundity of it rmed him.


    "Elder Ragur, what brings you here in such a rush?"


    The color in John''s eyes started to fade, and his eyes once more appeared back to normal. Elder Ragur stood there in silence for a short while trying toprehend what just happened.


    "I came in here because I felt a different aura other than your own. What happened to you just now?"


    The Elder had several suspicions, and needed to confirm which one was correct. This was far too important a matter to leave alone.


    ''It seems that the Immortal Asura Body Transformation Art is causing him some concern...how should I alleviate those concerns?''


    John thought for a moment before responding back to the elder.


    "Elder, as I mentioned to the Sect Leader before, I have an Innate Variant Body. This body transformation of mine is one of the powers it contains."


    John didn''t want to mention anything about a body transformation art for two reasons. The first was that arts could potentially be used by others, which would incite greed if they thought the art was worth the trouble of stealing or killing for. The second was that it would raise questions as to where he obtained such an amazing body transformation art.


    By saying he naturally had this ability, although there still may be suspicions, no one could prove otherwise. While this could still cause headaches, John''s body transformation art was out in the open now, so he couldn''t deny its existence.


    Although it had only affected his eyes and aura, someone as knowledgeable as Elder Ragur would know roughly what had happened.


    "Is that so...Stay here for a moment. I need to follow up on something, at which point I wille back for you and show you around the sect."


    John nodded his head and watched Elder Ragur leave the room before returning to cultivating.


    "It seems like this art may have caused me some trouble, but I''m far too weak to escape or do anything about it right now. I''ll just continue to focus on cultivation for now."


    ¡­


    In the main pce of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, Elder Ragur quickly strode through the extensivework of hallways before reaching the main chamber where the Sect Leader sat, still reading various documents.


    Elder Ragur walked through the massive chamber and stopped directly in front of the throne. His head bowed down slightly as he spoke.


    "Sect Leader, I have some news to report regarding John."


    The Sect Leader looked up from his documents and gazed as Elder Ragur with a slight smile on his face.


    "He''s quite full of surprises, is he not?" stated the Sect Leader in an amused tone.


    Elder Ragur''s eyes widened slightly in surprise, but they quickly returned to normal.


    "Nothing can escape your notice it seems. Yes, he is full of surprises. Which is why I''m here. It seems John''s variant body has some¡­"


    Elder Ragur paused for a moment to find the right word to describe what he had felt.


    "...demonic properties, if I was to describe it urately. Although I can''t be fully sure, as it was just a fledgeling aura. Only time will tell what exactly happened."


    The Sect Leader stared at Elder Ragur for a moment before a smile broke out on his face.


    "I know what you''re thinking. Maybe he''s a spy. However, you don''t have to worry about him. I sent a sound transmission to Elder Mable earlier the day John arrived to check out his story. She did some research and confirmed it to be true. It appears the Fenix n has lost a young master named John recently, although they didn''t say how. Regardless, we do not have to worry about him. Just keep an eye on him in the meantime."


    Elder Ragur heaved a sigh of relief and nodded his head.


    "It will be done."


    ¡­


    Several days ago.


    The moon hung high in the sky over the Fenix n, and an all hands meeting of the ns Elder''s were gathered in the ns forbidden hall.


    Cade Fenix stood at the forefront addressing the group, and a shadowed figure sat behind him, his features obscured in darkness.


    Loud back and forth arguments were being carried out by many of the Elder''s present. Cade Fenix raised his hands and silenced the group of Elders.


    "Regardless of the reasons, our investigations have concluded that the Crimson Valley Sect truly is preparing to do something in the near future. We must prepare for war just in case ites to that."


    Many heated discussions broke out once more, filling the hall with morous arguments. Cade Fenix was just about to call for silence once more, when all of a sudden, every Elder present felt a chill crawl up their spine.


    Silence immediately descended on the room, and everyone soon noticed a shadowed figure standing in the corner of the room, their features obscured. Shock covered the faces of all those present, as no one had seen how this person had entered the room without any of their notices.


    Although the aura of the person was retraced, making them appear like a mortal, every Elder knew that this person''s power was beyond anything they had felt before. Only the shadowed figure sitting behind Cade Fenix was mostly undisturbed by the neer''s presence.


    The hall remained silent for a moment before the mysterious figure spoke up. A feminine voice soon filled the room, but it contained a power that no one dared to look down upon.


    "I am here to inquire if this n has a young master named John Fenix. If so, describe his features."


    Surprise covered the face of every Elder upon hearing John''s name brought up. It was still a very sore spot for the n, as they had lost their most promising young junior in the pocket realm. No Elder dared to speak up, and so the shadowed figure behind Cade spoke up instead.


    "We do, or did have a John Fenix. He was fifteen years old, with long ck hair and a strong variant body. He used a scythe as a weapon. However, he recently died, so I''m afraid you''vee here in vain."


    Although no one knew why the mysterious person was here, they could obviously tell it had something to do with John, although they had no clue how that was possible.


    The Elder''s all stared at the shadowed figure, which immediately vanished from their sight without them noticing how.


    A single fading sentence from the feminine voice soon filled the silent room, shocking every Elder to their core.


    "John Fenix still lives."

 Chapter 136 - Discussions And Doubts

    As one of the Elders of the Fenix n, Barden Fenix sat there in a stupor. He had beenpletely dead inside ever since John had perished within the pocket realm, and the words that just filled the hall seemed like a dream.


    Silence filled the Fenix n''s assembly hall for a short time before the room exploded in an uproar.


    "How is this possible?" one Elder asked loudly.


    "Just who was that woman? And how do we know she was telling the truth?"


    "True, she could be a spy, or have some other sort of objective."


    "John was not transported out of the pocket realm with everyone else, how could he possibly be alive."


    Many opinions regarding what just happened were spoken out loudly. Many Elders questioned whether the information was believable.


    "Silence."


    A soft but powerful voice filled the hall, causing every Elder to stop speaking. The Elders all looked towards the shadowed figure sitting behind Cade Fenix. The figure stood up and stepped into the light, revealing his features to all in the hall. He was quite elderly, with a long grey beard and white hair. His body radiated a powerful aura.


    "That woman was not a spy. If she wanted to, she could have killed us all here without us being able to resist."


    Every Elder was shocked to hear these words, but when they thought back to the mysterious person, they began to believe that woman''s words.


    "Patriarch, just who was that woman?" One Elder asked.


    "I have no idea, as she blocked my divine sense from inspecting her. Only those in the Heaven Tribtion Realm are able to do so," the Patriarch responded.


    "Heaven Tribtion Realm!" many Elder''s eximed in shock.


    "How is that possible, the peak powers of this region only have Meridian Forging experts. The only ce that has Heaven Tribtion experts is the¡­" the Elders words trailed off as he thought of a frightening possibility.


    "You are correct. The only ce with Heaven Tribtion experts, is the Holy Lands," the Patriarch affirmed.


    The Patriarch''s words once again stunned the Elders. They very rarely heard mentions of Heaven Tribtion experts from the Holy Lands, let alone meet them face to face. Although the Fenix n was a peak power in the surrounding thousands of miles, they knew they were no match for the mighty cultivators from the Holy Lands.


    morous uproar once again filled the hall as the Elders began to discuss this news, before the Patriarch silenced them once more.


    "As I was saying, her power''s are something we cannot match, and if she came here with ill intentions, we would not be alive right now. That can only mean that her words are true...John still lives."


    Barden''s eyes began to fill with tears as he listened to the Patriarch, his grandfather, utter these words. He would not have believed it had ite from anyone else''s mouth, but Barden knew his grandfather had worldly experience and would not speak of things such as this unless he was certain.


    "John''s alive!" Barden cried out with a loud yell, venting his emotions that had welled up inside him. The nearby Elders congratted Barden for the great news. Cade''s eyes also became slightly reddened at the news of his grandsons survival.


    After some time of celebration, the Patriarch once again silenced the hall.


    "This news most likely means that John is in the Holy Lands, and that someone of importance has taken notice of him. Otherwise, they would not waste their time inquiring about him here."


    "Patriarch," one Elder called out. "How can he possibly be in the Holy Lands. Thest news we had of him was that he fell in the pocket realm."


    The Patriarch shook his head and responded. "I''m not entirely sure, but the evidence leads to the fact that John is in the Holy Lands. The pocket realm is a mysterious ce beyond our understanding, and so such a thing cannot be ruled out. This is a great thing for now, as his cultivation should soar in thosends, so long as he does not perish."


    The Elder''s began to once again discuss this news, with various emotions and doubts disyed.


    The Patriarch paused for a moment before turning to his grandson, Orenn Fenix; the father of Parker.


    "Orenn. Your son gave us an ount of how he saw John fall down a chasm to his death, yet John still lives. While Parker''s story is not proven false by John being alive, as he could have somehow survived such a fall, I still must ask you...How loyal is your son to our Fenix n?"


    Orren Fenix nched slightly at what the Patriarch was suggesting. He wanted to know if there was a possibility that Parker could have betrayed them, and lied about his fate...or worse.


    "Grandfather, I can assure you that my son Parker is one hundred percent loyal. He would die for our n if need be! I have never once questioned his loyalty to our n." Orren stated resolutely. He had to convince his grandfather that his son was loyal, as he was sure that his son would never betray them.


    The Patriarch remained silent for some time, filling all the Elders with unease. His voice once more filled the hall, alleviating Orren''s fears.


    "I believe your son is loyal as well. Everyone may leave, I have much to think about. And one more thing, none of this information is to be told to anyone, even within the n. Am I understood?"


    The Elders all nodded their heads in understanding, and the Patriarch waved his hand in dismissal. The Elders all bowed their heads before leaving, and before long, only n Leader Cade and the Patriarch remained.


    Cade turned to the patriarch. "What do you think, father?"


    The Patriarch thought for a moment before replying. "It is great news that John is alive, and he seems to have found some powerful people who are interested in his identity... I''m sure we''ll hear from him before long. You may leave as well."


    Cade Fenix nodded his head and began to stride out of the room.


    "Onest thing," the Patriarch spoke out as Cade was about to leave the room.


    "Yes, father?"


    "While I have no grounds to suspect anything, something doesn''t sit right with me. From now on, keep Parker under close watch, and report to me if anything suspicious urs."


    Cade Fenix narrowed his eyes at what his father was insinuating.


    "It will be done."


    ¡­


    Back in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, John sat in his meditation room, contemting on what to do next. He had expected Elder Ragur to return promptly, but it had been some time yet the Elder had not returned.


    "This Immortal Asura Transformation Art is amazing. Unlike battle arts, which can only be used one at a time, this Transformation Art can use used on top of the Supreme Battle Art, increasing my power further. Although I''m sure the burden on my body is going to be immense."


    Battle Arts used Qi to empower attacks, and the Supreme Battle Art was no different. John would send Qi throughout his body in ordance with the battle art, allowing his body to unleash devastatingly powerful attacks. Battle arts could only be used one at a time, since the Qi used for two different battle arts used at the same time would sh, resulting in them canceling out and potentially causing internal harm.


    However, body transformation arts were different. Body transformation arts were transformations with the body itself, which absorbed Qi passively, instead of being actively used in attacks. As such, battle arts and body transformation arts could be used at the same time, resulting in devastating power.


    The only two drawbacks were that body transformations could only ur in bodies born with the natural ability to do so, as well as the immense burden transformations put on a body. Additionally, cultivators with ancient beast bloodlines could also transform if their talent was high enough, increasing their strength greatly.


    John was initially surprised that the Immortal Asura Body allowed him to transform, but his surprise quickly faded as he realized the cultivation technique contained more secrets than he could possibly imagine.


    "So far my body transformation is minimal, but it might get stronger and more apparent the stronger I get. In the meantime, what should I do now that I''ve exhausted my blood essence reserves?"


    John''s thoughts filtered through his various inheritances, before his eyes lit up.


    "That''s right. Now that I am in the Qi Condensation Realm, I can begin to train that essence battle art."


    An ancient page made of some sort of animal hide appeared in his hands. John''s eyes nced over the ancientnguage at the top of the page.


    "Divine Reaping Scythe"

 Chapter 137 - Unleashing The Divine Reaping Scythe

    "Severing All Creation. Reaping All Divines"


    John had read these words before, which appeared at the very top of the page, but was still mesmerized by its grand boldness.


    "I don''t know what a Divine is, but iming to sever all creation sure is a big im to make."


    John''s mind felt enraptured by these words, and he read them several times over before ncing down to the next section of the page. He had read this page before when he was in the Dreadel Kingdom, but hade to the conclusion that he was too weak to study it back then. Now that he was in the Qi Condensation Realm, John wanted to see if he could start using the battle art.


    He knew the immensely powerful Supreme Battle Art for his body cultivation, but had no grand essence attacks.


    "The Myriad Annihtion Scythe had been a good technique to use in the Mist Creation Realm, but now that I''m in the Qi Condensation Realm, I''ll need a new powerful ranged attack."


    He continued to study the page.


    "This page describes how the creator saw the essence of the scythe, and it uses thoseprehensions to unleash a powerful battle art. However, this page only contains the first three steps, or stages, of the technique, and the rest is iplete...but that should be more than enough for now."


    John continued to read the familiar page, and his fingers traced each word as he read. He fell into a trance, and before he knew it, several hours had passed.


    "Each step describes incrediblyplex meridian and acupoint pathways for my Qi. I first need to use myprehensions to convert my essence Qi into scythe Qi, at which point I follow the pathways throughout my body to unleash the technique. From what I can tell, the technique focuses on sharpness and speed, as the creator saw the scythe as the ultimate life reaping weapon."


    He slowly but surely felt his scytheprehensions improve as he studied the page for many hours.


    Qi contained the myriad of universalws within them, and cultivators had to use theirprehensions to iste and refine the specific Qi they were looking for, at which point they would use that Qi in attacks. The more refined and pure the isted Qi was, the more powerful the attacks would be.


    With the many days of studying the technique in the Dreadel Kingdom, as well as today, John felt that his scytheprehensions and understanding of the technique had reached a level that he could attempt to use the first attack.


    "I can''t unleash this technique indoors. Since Elder Ragur isn''t back yet, I should head outside and look for a ce to train this technique. He said as long as I stayed within the Enforcement Hall grounds, I should be fine."


    John stood up and stretched his aching legs, as he had been sitting for many hours. He walked out of his room, before quickly leaving the building as well. The dozens of Enforcement Hall buildings stretched into the distance, and John walked until he found a wide open expanse ofnd between the buildings to practice his technique. Although many Elder and Disciples were seen walking about in the distance, this particr area seemed to be devoid of foot traffic, making it a good ce to practice.


    "This spot should do nicely."


    A pitch ck scythe appeared in John''s hands, and he calmed his mind as he thought about unleashing the technique. Essence Qi began to build up within his dantian, and John did his best to iste and refine it into scythe Qi.


    He focused on this process for several hours, making sure to iste and refine pure enough scythe Qi before attempting the technique.


    "This technique has a very pure scythe Qi requirement to even attempt to unleash, otherwise it will fail and potentially harm me."


    Many people of the Enforcement Halls had walked by, and had noticed the unknown neer stand there inplete silence for several hours. Since he had not made any external attacks yet, the disciples of the sect who had walked by had no idea what he was doing.


    A small group of three male and two female disciples had stopped for a moment to watch what John was doing. They appeared to be around John''s age, and wore the signature grey robes of the enforcement hall.


    They had walked by earlier in the day and noticed him standing there, but had paid him no mind. However, they had just walked by him again, and noticed he was standing in the exact same spot.


    "Look at this kid, he''s been standing there for nearly half a day and hasn''t moved a single muscle," one of the male disciplesmented.


    "Maybe he''s slow in the head, although he does seem quite interesting for some reason" one of the female disciplesmented as she chuckled slightly. She had long brown hair tied up into a ponytail, and was quite attractive. Her thin nose was raised slightly in the air, as if he was used to looking down on others.


    One of the male disciples frowned for a moment before speaking up as well. "You''re right, he''s probably slow in the head given that he''s only in the early Qi Condensation Realm despite being our age. I''ll go "help" him."


    The two other male disciples rolled their eyes at the words they heard. They knew exactly of the scene toe, as they had seen it many times before.


    One of the boys turned to the girl that had just spoken and spoke to her in a slightly annoyed tone.


    "You just had to mention that he was interesting huh? You know how Roy feels about you, and what he does when you show interest in other boys."


    The girl feigned ignorance at the boy''s words. Her eyes turned back to the scene of Roy approaching the neer, and a slight smile appeared on her face.


    John''s eyes were still closed as he focused on refining his Qi into a scythe Qi pure enough to unleash the technique. He had beenpleting this process internally for many hours.


    "Now!"


    His eyes quickly opened in delight, and John quickly raised his scythe before shing it down with all his might. An incredibly sharp ck and red scythe Qi gathered on his scythe''s de for a moment before flying outwards extremely quickly.


    A sharp sound pierced the ears of all those nearby, and many of the nearby juniors felt their bodies tremble slightly as they stared at the Qi attack.


    John''s face lit up in delight as he watched the attack fly out rapidly. It was even sharper and faster than he imagined, and he was overjoyed with the result of his first attempt.


    However, his delight quickly turned to shock as he watched the attack fly head on towards a boy walking directly towards him.


    "Watch out!"


    John called out loudly. He had been so focused in refining Qi and unleashing the attack, that he had failed to observe his surroundings. He had chosen this spot for how isted it was, and no one had approached him all day, so John assumed it would be safe to unleash an attack as such.


    Roy had been casually approaching John, when all of a sudden an attack was heading straight towards him. He was surprised that the neer would suddenly attack out at him, but was unconcerned given the weaker cultivation of the boy.


    However, Roy''s eyes quickly became grim as he noticed the attack made him feel a slight sense of danger, whichpletely shocked him.


    Slice!


    Roy quickly unleashed a profound movement technique, and just barely managed to dodge the attack, which grazed his robe and sliced off a small section on his sleeve. The Qi attack sailed downwards into the ground below, and quickly burrowed into the ground.


    Both Roy and John stared in shock at the attack that cleanly cleaved an extremely thin but deep line into the earth for nearly one hundred yards before it finally dissipated.


    Roy breathed out a sigh of relief, before turning to John and staring at him with cold eyes.


    "You dare to attack me? If I don''t break a few bones in your body, you''ll be getting off lightly."

 Chapter 138 - Desire To Test Strength

    John narrowed his eyes as he listened to the words the boy spoke to him. His breathing was heavier than normal , having just unleashed the Divine Reaping Scythe. The attack had required far more essence Qi than he had expected.


    "That attack was clearly not intended for you, so why are you making such a fuss about it?" John responded in a curt tone.


    Clearly, this boy had not approached with good intentions from the start, and was using this opportunity to make things difficult for John. He could tell that this boy was around his age, but had a cultivation at thete Qi Condensation Realm.


    However, John was not too concerned about this. In fact, if the boy really wanted to fight, John would fully wee it. He had recently increased his strength massively by both advancing in cultivation and battle art prowess. Although he had never fought two minors realms above his own, he was willing to put it to the test.


    John had also not had a battle for quite some time, and was itching to test out his new strength. He had always been a battle fiend, and he could tell that his desire for battle had increased even further once he sessfully cultivated the Immortal Asura Transformation Art. In fact, there seemed to be a lingering hotbloodedness that came from his previous transformation, making him hope for a battle.


    Roy looked at John as if he was a fish on the chopping block. He had wanted to take him down a notch earlier, but John''spleteck of fear irked him even further.


    "You aren''t even wearing disciple robes, so you''re clearly just a worker. And yet you have the gall to speak to me like this?"


    Royughed slightly before his tone became even colder.


    "If you beg for forgiveness, I''ll let you off. Otherwise, don''t me me for being heavy handed."


    John stared at Roy directly with indifference. He had done nothing to provoke this boy, and his attack towards him had been an ident, but he still acted like this. Many of the disciples that had been walking about stopped to watch the event, with some looking on in amusement while others had looks of concern on their face.


    ''Clearly there are bad apples in this sect as well. It may not be as harmonious of a sect as I imagined, but I''ll only find out after I join it. In regards to this fellow however, it seems words won''t solve anything.''


    John didn''t want to start a fight before he even became a disciple, but he wasn''t about to let himself be trampled over either.


    "If you want a fight, then let''s fight!"


    Boom!


    A powerful aura suddenly exploded outwards from John, stunning Roy and the nearby group of disciples that had stopped to watch the show toe. Many had expected him to sheepishly back down and apologize, due the power and status difference. John pressed off the ground to lunge forward, when suddenly a hand pressed down on his shoulder.


    The hand felt as heavy as a mountain to John, and he was unable to move at all, even with his powerful body. John turned his head to look at the new intruder on his battle, and his aura quickly faded.


    "I leave you alone for less than a day and you''re already getting into fights?" Elder Ragur stated while shaking his head, although his amused expression revealed that he wasn''t mad.


    "He wanted to fight, so I was going to fight, it''s as simple as that," John responded nonchntly. He would not take me for this incident.


    Elder Ragur struggled to keep a straight face, but eventually managed to do so. He had no idea just how daring John was, but the fact that he was willing to fight someone two minor realms higher than him revealed his guts.


    Elder Ragur nodded his head in approval. "You''ve got the right attitude for a cultivator, but unfortunately I can''t allow this fight to happen on Enforcement Hall grounds."


    Elder Ragur turned to Roy, who was standing there in silenced fear. He had not expected an Elder toe to the defense of this boy , and knew he was about tond into a world of trouble.


    "Roy, I just so happened to witness this whole ordeal. You should be setting a better example as a disciple of the sect. Go to the Enforcement Wall and stare at it for three days."


    Roy nched at Elder Ragur''s words, and wanted to argue, but the Elder''s expression made him realize there was no getting out of this. His eyes locked to the nearby John, and John could feel great hostility from Roy.


    ''Clearly this isn''t over yet, but I don''t care. I''ll wee his battle any time he wants.''


    Roy turned without a word and headed off towards a certain building. John had noticed his expression at the mention of the wall, and was curious about it.


    "Elder, what is this Enforcement Wall you mentioned?"


    Elder Ragur turned to John and inspected him for a bit before responding. He had appeared earlier in the day, but had noticed John attempting to unleash a battle art, and so had waited in the shadows. The attack John unleashed shocked even Elder Ragur, and he was unfamiliar with such a powerful scythe battle art.


    "This boy has many many secrets," Elder Ragur thought before responding to John''s question.


    "The Enforcement Wall is a wall that disciples are made to sit in front of when they do wrong. The wall emanates a certain pressure, making it quite painful to sit in front of. However, enduring in front of the wall tempers ones will, so its training and punishment at the same time, although most disciples just see it as painful punishment."


    John nodded his head in understanding why Roy was unwilling to go there.


    ''These sect disciples have probably lived a pampered life here in the holynds, so pain for them is uneptable even in the pursuit of strength. So naive.''


    ''Now, the Sect Leader allowed you to stay as a worker, but to be honest, we don''t need any help in the Enforcement Halls right now, as we are very well staffed. Also, as a worker, I cannot allow you to wander about freely either, or take part in the lessons and training the disciples here do¡­So what should we do with you for the next three months until the entrance exam?"


    The truth of the matter was that Elder Ragur did not want to force John to do mundane work, which was the only thing he could assign to workers.


    John thought about it for a moment before responding.


    "Elder, I''ve advanced greatly in both cultivation and battle arts, and I need to test out my new strength and hone my battle skills. Is there any ce that I could do this?"


    John wanted to see the full extent of his power right now, as even he himself didn''t know where itnded.


    Elder Ragur thought about it for a moment.


    "That is indeed a good request. Building your strength as much as possible before the entrance exams will definitely raise your chance to get in. Since you are not allowed to train on sect grounds as of right now¡­"


    Elder Ragur wracked his brain for a moment before he thought of a fitting ce for John to train.


    "There is a forest covering a stretch of mountain''s just on the outside of the official sect grounds that we use for disciple training asionally. But since it''s technically outside of the sect grounds, you are able to train there. There are many Qi Condensation beasts in the forest, making it a perfect battle ground to test your strength."


    John''s eyes lit up at the suggestion.


    ''This is perfect. I get to train my battle arts, as well as collect more beast blood essence.''


    "That works perfectly for me," John responded, eager to set out immediately.

 Chapter 139 - Four Great Sects

    The wind rushed through John''s hair as he stared at the expansive sect grounds below. Elder Ragur had once again summoned his drake, and it was currently carrying them both to the forest that the Elder had mentioned.


    "Elder, howrge is the Heavenly Lightning Sect?" John asked, seeking to gather more information regarding the sect.


    "In terms of numbers, ornd?" Elder Ragur asked.


    "Both."


    "Hmm, in regards to numbers, we have several thousand Elders, and roughly thirty thousand disciples. There are twenty thousand outer disciples, nine thousand inner disciples, a few hundred core disciples, and a few dozen direct disciples. With workers, merchants, and other professions as well, there are about one hundred thousand members of our sect."


    John was prepared to hear arge number, but the number still surprised him. He remembered what Elder Ragur had told him earlier regarding disciples, and wanted to confirm his thoughts.


    "Wait a minute, you said that only Heaven Tribtion Realm Elders could have direct disciples..so that means that the sect has dozens of Heaven Tribtion Elders?" John asked, awestruck by such a number.


    Elder Ragur chuckled at John''s question. "Not every Heaven Tribtion Elder takes a disciple, so there are more than that."


    John was stunned silent by the answer.


    ''Just one Heaven Tribtion Realm cultivator would be enough to dominate my homnd, but this sect alone has so many of them!''


    "So how close are you to breaking through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm?" John asked the Elder.


    Elder Ragur smiled and stared up the sky as he spoke.


    "I''m quite close, within the next year or so I should be able to attempt to break through. Although, breaking through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm is very dangerous, and can easily result in the death of the cultivator, so I must only attempt to do so when I am certain of sess."


    John was starting to see why everyone called this ce the Holy Lands for cultivation. It could allow so many powerful cultivators to rise up.


    Elder Ragur continued answering the second half of John''s question. "In regards tond, the officialnd the sect upies is roughly a few tens of thousand of square miles ofnd, but that''s just officially. As I was telling you earlier, there are four great sects that surround the Qi whirlpool, which is located at the very center of the continent. Each sect oversees thend from the whirlpool to the coasts in an arbitration sort of manner, so any disputes that cannot be handled by the powers themselves in thisnd defer to the judgement of one of the Four Great Sects. Our sect unofficially oversees roughly one fourth of this continent in such a manner."


    John listened to the Elders exnation, and was starting to get a better picture regarding the Holy Lands.


    "You keep mentioning the Four Great Sects, and that the Heavenly Lightning Sect is one of them. Who are the other three sects?" John asked curiously.


    Elder Ragur chuckled once more at John''s question.


    "I forgot, you''re not from thisnd, so you wouldn''t know these things. The names of the Four Great Sects are known throughout the entire Holy Lands, and they are the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the Divine Soul Sect, the Bloodfiend Sect, and the Supreme Battle Sect."


    ''Supreme Battle Sect!''


    John waspletely surprised to hear that name mentioned, and that they were one of the Four Great Sects no less.


    ''Just how did father manage to get the battle art from such a powerful sect?''


    He knew his powerful battle art was from the Holy Lands, but never expected it to be from one of the Four Great Sects. If the Heavenly Lightning Sect was anything to go on, they were quite secretive about their sect, and wouldn''t hand out their battle arts to anyone not in the sect.


    ''Father clearly has his own secrets, being able to obtain such a battle art for use outside of the sect.''


    However, the news that it stemmed from the Supreme Battle Sect was troublesome as well.


    ''The page I have details the first stage of the battle art, which is suitable for Mist Creation and Qi Condensation Realms. After that, it will start to fall off in power and I''ll either need to obtain the next stages or find another body battle art...this is going to be troublesome.''


    John was sure that he wasn''t allowed to join two sects, and so that was off the table. However, the Supreme Battle Art was too powerful to not try to obtain the next stages.


    ''I''ll try to think of a solutionter, as I can''t do anything about it now.''


    The two continued to travel on the back of the drake for quite some time. John suddenly thought of another question to ask the Elder, as he seemed to be very knowledgeable about the Holy Lands.


    "Elder, do you know of any sects that use domain techniques that targets the blood and mind of a cultivator? I ran into a junior in my homnd who used such a domain, and he said he was from the Holy Lands."


    John needed to figure out which power was backing up the Crimson Valley Sect. The more information he had, the better chance he had to help his n out of this situation.


    Elder Ragur was surprised that John would suddenly ask such a question, and was also surprised that he had apparently ran into juniors from thisnd. He wondered if they were there following up on the same information as the Heavenly Lightning Sect was.


    "Hmm, there are many powers that have domains that do such a thing. Most of them are situated in the Bloodfiend Sect''snd, as many there train in taboo arts rted to blood."


    "Taboo blood arts? Aren''t taboo blood arts forbidden, and all those that use it hunted down?" John asked in confusion.


    "Unfortunately, the Bloodfiend Sect and the powers beneath them train in such arts. The situation is..plicated enough to hinder anyone from attempting to eliminate them. As such, the only condition that is in ce is that they are forbidden to practice their arts anywhere outside of their ownnd," Elder Ragur responded in a cold tone, clearly disgusted by such practices.


    Elder Ragur shook his head to eliminate such thoughts, before turning to John once more.


    "Do you know the name of the domain that was used? Perhaps I can recognize which power it is by the name of the technique."


    "The name of the domain was the Crimson Hell Domain," John answered quickly. His memories of the profound domain, used by both Dn and Jason, was still fresh in his memories.


    A look of slight surprise appeared on Elder Ragur''s face before it quickly appeared back to normal.


    "I''m surprised you ran into someone using that particr domain. That domain is one of the signature domain arts of the Bloodfiend Sect."

 Chapter 140 - Bloodfiend Sect

    ''Bloodfiend Sect! One of the Four Great Sects. Goddamnit.''


    John was dismayed to hear that the sect helping the Crimson Valley Sect was the Bloodfiend Sect. They were on par with the Heavenly Lightning Sect, which meant their power was something he was unable to even approach in the near term.


    Not only that, but it seemed as if the Bloodfiend Sect was strong enough to deter the other three Great Sects from acting against them, so it would not be easy to enlist the help of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, even if he joined them. If it was a first tier sect or below, John was sure he would be able to use his future status as a Heavenly Lightning Sect disciple to dissuade them, but the Bloodfiend Sect was a Great Sect instead.


    ''This is going to be a massive problem. The only way I can solve this is either get strong enough myself to change the situation, or be important enough to the Heavenly Lightning Sect that they would be willing to offend the Bloodfiend Sect for me.''


    John was sure that the first one was impossible. By the time he got strong enough to achieve such a result, the Crimson Valley Sect would most likely have destroyed his n already. The only other option was to be invaluable to the Heavenly Lightning Sect to the point that they would help him despite the consequences of doing so.


    John thought about potentially joining the Bloodfiend Sect and persuading them to alter their course, but he quickly dismissed that as impossible.


    ''From the sounds of the sect, and my dealings with Jason and Dn, the Bloodfiend Sect is a brutal sect that ces their own interest above all else. Even if I joined the sect and became important enough, I doubt they would alter their ns. Not only that, but a sect that greedy and evil would most likely target me as soon as they realized I had some secrets worth uncovering. Although I would be able to openly train my Immortal Asura Body''s blood cultivation, the risks are not worth it.''


    Obtaining human blood essence to cultivate the Immortal Asura Body would most likely be much easier in such a ce, but John was sure that he would not thrive in such a ce. Although he had good excuses for many of his secrets, such a ce might not care about the exnations and dig into the truth themselves. If they were to discover any of his secrets, John was sure that he would die a miserable death.


    ''I can''t believe those Crimson Valley Assholes sold themselves to the Bloodfiend Sect. They should be more than aware that they''ll just be swallowed whole once this whole thing is over and done. Idiots.''


    The two of them continued to travel on the back of the drake in silence. Elder Ragur could tell that John was deep in thought and seemed quite serious, but he didn''t ask for an exnation. If John wanted to confide in him, he could, but he wasn''t going to force it.


    The journey continued for several more hours, before the drake slowly began to descend. John looked down to the ground below, and saw an expansive mountain range covered in thick vegetation. The dense thicket of trees stretched hundreds of yards into the sky, and loud roars of various beasts echoed throughout the forest, giving it a vibrant but dangerous feeling.


    "There are many Qi Condensation Beasts in this forest, but do you don''t have to worry about any Core Formation beasts. The Elders remove any beasts that reach that level of strength, as this is a training ground for our Qi Condensation disciples. It''s currently not in use, so you shouldn''t expect to run into anyone at the moment."


    John nodded his head and peered into the forest as the drake began to descend. After some time, it hovered above the forest canopy, several hundred yards up in the sky.


    "Do you remember how we got here from the Sect?" Elder Ragur asked.


    John nodded his head in confirmation. Although the journey had taken many hours on the back of the drake, it was a rtively straight route back to the sect.


    "Yep."


    "Good, because here''s your stop."


    John frowned at the Elder''s words.


    "Surely you don''t mean for me to jump off at this height, do you?"


    "That''s exactly what I mean. This forest is too thick for the drake tond in, so you''ll have to jump to the trees below. Besides, you have a strong body, so I''m sure you''ll be mostly alright" Elder Ragur confirmed, causing John''s expression to beplicated.


    John peered off the edge of the drake and to the ground several hundred yards below, before turning back to the Elder.


    "This is my punishment for attempting to fight Roy, isn''t it?" John asked, and the Elder''s slight smile at his words confirmed his suspicions.


    "Isn''t that a little too harsh? I wasn''t even the one who started it."


    John tried to make his case, but it fell on deaf ears. He looked down to the ground below once more.


    ''If Ind on one of the tree canopies below, I should be alright.''


    John walked to the edge of the drakes back, and prepared to leap off.


    "Remember, the sects entrance exam starts in exactly ny four days. Make sure you arrive at the sect''s front gates before then," Elder Ragur reminded John, causing him to frown once more. It seemed as if the Elder was making him walk all the way back on his own as well.


    "You''re being too harsh," John rebuked, but his response once again fell on deaf ears.


    "Well, I suppose that will be training itself, so I can''tin. I''ll be back by then," John confirmed to the Elder.


    Just before jumping, John spoke up once more.


    "Thank you for your help so far, Elder Ragur."


    John took a deep breath and leaped off the edge of the drake. His figure plummeted rapidly towards the trees below.

 Chapter 141 - Fighting In The Forest

    Elder Ragur smiled and shook his head as he watched John plummeted to the ground below. A small object suddenly appeared in his hands, and Elder Ragur channeled his Qi into it. Some timeter, another person suddenly appeared in the air next to the drake that Elder Ragur stood on.


    He wore the same grey Enforcement Hall robes as Elder Ragur, signifying that he was an Elder himself.


    Elder Ragur turned to the neer.


    "The boy below will be in this forest for the next three months. Watch over him secretly, and make sure no fatal harmes to him. Other than that, do not interfere."


    "It will be done."


    The neer nodded in affirmation, and his figure suddenly vanished from sight. Elder Ragur turned his eyes back down towards John for a moment before the drake once more took to the skies, returning to the Heavenly LIghtning Sect.


    ¡­


    John braced himself for impact as he crashed into a tree''s canopy. Branches continuously shattered as he crashed through them violently, and continued to plummet to the ground below.


    Boom!


    John''s feetnded on the solid ground, causing a loud sound to echo throughout the forest. The force of thending sent a wave of pain through his body, and his organs shifted slightly, but he was unharmed for the most part.


    He looked up at the tree he had just fallen from, and was able to see the hole he had carved into its canopy. Many branches, both thick and thin, had been snapped in half from his quick descent.


    ''The tree branches slowed my descent by quite a bit. Otherwise, that would have hurt a lot more. I can''t wait until I''m able to start flying. Then I won''t have to deal with things like this.''


    Once one reached the Core Formation Realm, they were able to start using their powerful Qi to take flight and propel themselves through the skies. However, John was still quite a ways away from the Core Formation Realm, making him quite envious of those who were in that realm already.


    John''s head turned to observe his surroundings. In every direction as far as the eye could see, towering trees dominated the mountainousndscape. Their canopies stretched hundreds of yards high, and many massive branches on the way up held various beasts that were staring at him. The forest was nketed in a perpetual shade, due to the trees blocking most of the sunlight.


    "Mist Creation beasts huh? Let''s explore and see if I can find any Qi Condensation beasts to test out my strength. I also need to start gathering beast blood essence, so I have plenty of reserves for the entrance exam."


    John proceeded to walk through the forest for some time, curiously observing everything within. The forest was littered with areas scarred by battle, clearly due to fights between cultivators and beasts. Many towering trees were cut clean in half, their long trunks littering the forest floor. Sharp scars in both trees and earth hinted towards the attacks used in those battles.


    An ancient feeling permeated throughout the forest, making John feel quite insignificant within.


    Before long, John walked into a slight clearing in the mountainous forest. One hundred yards ahead of him, he could see a massive nest, housing threerge eggs. Behind the eggs, a giant lizard, nearly twenty feet long and eight feet tall was sleeping.


    "An early stage Qi Condensation Red Scaled Lizard? This should be a good test fight to gauge my strength."


    John started walking towards the lizard, with no intention of hiding his presence. The lizard quickly noticed John''s arrival. It powerfully hissed at him, attempting to drive it away from the eggs.


    "I''ll leave your eggs alone, bute entertain me for a bit," Johnmented, stopping fifty yards from the nest.


    The lizard noticed his provocation, and quickly dashed towards him. The ground quaked slightly with every step it took, and it reached John within a second.


    Boom!


    A fist collided with the head of the lizard, knocking it back slightly. John quickly dashed forward once more, raining a barrage of fist blows on the lizards head and body. He was using his fists at the moment to test the new strength of his body.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The rapid barrage of punches continued to rain down on the lizard, causing its scales to shatter and its blood to flow. The lizard hissed in pain, and quickly turned around, sending its massive tail directly towards John.


    The tail collided with John''s body, sending him flying back violently towards the treeline. His body collided with arge tree, causing it to snap directly in half.


    He slowly stood up and wiped the blood from his lips as the massive tree behind him crashed into the ground. The ground shook from the weight of the tree crashing violently to the forest floor, and dust kicked up all around them.


    "Not bad. Let''s kick this up a notch. Supreme Battle Art!"


    John once again dashed towards the lizard.


    The sound of powerful blows continued to echo throughout the forest, and trees were constantly snapped in half and crashing into the forest floor below. Before long, the area near the nest of eggs was littered with fallen trees and sunken craters in the ground, depicting a story of the battle that had taken ce.


    ...


    John sat on top of the unmoving body of the lizard with a satisfied smile on his face. His robes were torn in many ces, and blood was smeared on his body, from both the lizard and himself. His breathing was somewhat heavy, but other than that, he was mostly unharmed.


    Below him, the corpse of the lizard rested. Its body was broken in many ces and blood covered all of its scales, showing the brutal beating it had taken in their fight.


    A piece of meat was forcefully ripped off of its corpse, and John sent a slight stream of gentle lightning into the piece, slowly cooking it.


    "While I may not know any lightning battle arts yet, at least I can use my lightning like this," John chuckled as he cooked the piece of meat before biting into it. His eyes lit up at the taste of the meat.


    "Not bad."


    He added some salt to it from his storage ring, and continued to eat the juicy piece of meat while he ruminated over the battle he had just fought.


    ''My body alone, augmented by the Supreme Battle Art, is enough to defeat and kill an early Qi Condensation beast. If I were to throw in my scythe, as well as my Divine Reaping Scythe, I''m sure I could more than hold my own against a mid Qi Condensation beast. My strength has truly grown a lot in such a short time.''


    John was quite pleased with his progress, which had grown rapidly in just a short span of time.


    ''I wonder how strong my battle prowess will be when I use the Immortal Asura Transformation Art on top of all of that.''


    The Immortal Asura Transformation Art was a physical transformation of John''s body, and it provided an immense strength increase to him. It was his peak battle state, however, it required an equally immense amount of blood essence to maintain.


    ''It provides me a massive power boost, but from the small amount of time that I used it before, I can tell that it was putting a great strain on my body. I estimate that I can use it for a minute at most, before I am no longer able to endure the stress on my body. I''ll need to save it as a trump card. However, I need to test it out in battle, at least once, to fully quantify how much more powerful I am in that state.''


    John finished eating the piece of meat and hopped off the body of the lizard. He made a small incision on the lizard''s forehead and drew its blood essence from its body, before storing both the lizard''s corpse and blood essence in his pce realm.


    He walked over to the nest of three eggs next.


    "These won''t survive without their parents to guard them, but I can''t store living things in my pce realm or storage ring, so I''ll leave them here. Maybe their other parent will show up soon. Either way, good luck!"


    John walked through the forest once more, seeking powerful beasts to battle. Before long, he ran into the territory of another powerful beast. It was arge Spike-spined Snake, nearly thirty yards long, and its power signified it was equivalent to a mid Qi Condensation cultivator.


    John''s face lit up as he noticed the snake.


    "I''ve already cleared the surrounding area, and you''re the only strong beast here. You''ll be the perfect target dummy to test my full strength."


    He slowly walked towards the snake, which hissed at him in anger. It was unable to deter the boy from approaching, and so its massive mouth, filled with two sharp fans, lunged directly towards him.


    John smiled confidently at the approaching snake as a scythe appeared in his hands and his eyes slowly turned blood red.

 Chapter 142 - Day Of The Entrance Exam

    In a valley between tworge mountains, a massive white and gold gate several hundred yards wide and tall stood, guarding its entrance for all who wished to enter. Two massive blue lightning bolts were carved into either side of the gate, and massive walls extended outwards in both directions from the gate as far as the eye could see.


    A wide road led directly to the entrance of the gate, and over fifty thousand people were gathered before the gate, with more people arriving by the minute. The crowd ranged from young teenagers to the elderly, and a boisterous atmosphere filled the crowd.


    Manyrge and powerful beasts were seen throughout the crowd, with grand carriages attached to them. Powerful cultivators were seen guarding the carriages, and many important looking people, dressed in fine robes and surrounded by arge following were present.


    Some of the cultivators were floating in the sky above the crowd, but none dared venture higher than the height of the gate itself, as doing so was considered an act of disrespect.


    Closest to the gate, tens of thousands of young juniors stood. Their expressions ranged from nervous to confident, and their cultivations were all in the Qi Condensation Realm.


    Today was the start of the Heavenly Lightning Sect''s entrance exam, and all the juniors from the surroundingnds who wanted to join had gathered at the gate. The massive crowd showed just how many people yearned to enter the sect.


    The only requirement to enter the entrance exam was that the cultivator should be below the Core Formation Realm, and be sixteen years of age or below. As such, most of the cultivators gathered to enter the test were fifteen or sixteen years of age.


    The crowd of juniors bustled with anxious chatter, while the crowd of adults discussed their predictions of this years entrance exams amongst themselves.


    Within the crowd of juniors, one boy stepped forward to the front of the crowd, and the eyes of many looked towards him.


    "That''s Mason Light," one of the girls in the crowdmented, pointing to the boy standing at the front of the pack.


    He had long silver hair, which loosely flowed over his shoulders, and a handsome face with arched eyebrows. He wore a pure white robe, and his face disyed an unbridled arrogance and confidence.


    "He''s the prodigy from the Light n. I hear he''s their most promising junior to rise up in his n in hundreds of years, and his n believes he has a good shot to make it as a Core Disciple in the Heavenly Lightning Sect. He''s also aiming to be the number one junior in the entrance exam," a nearby boymented, drawing the eyes of many to look at Mason.


    Mason stood there with an arrogant smile, and basked in the attention he was getting. However, his cultivation was at the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, showing that he had the strength to back up such arrogance.


    A girl soon stepped up to the front of the crowd, and the eyes of all those in therge crowd focused on her. She had long brown hair, tied up into two ponytails, and had soft facial features, making her look quite childlike and adorable to most. Herrge brown eyes looked forward cheerfully. Heated discussions broke out once more.


    "That''s Mae Faerie, from the Faerie n."


    "Mae Faerie? That''s her? I hear she''s the number one junior of the Faerie n, and sessfully cultivated their Ancestral Water Tome. She''s definitely going to be one of the juniors aiming for the number one spot this year."


    While the group was discussing Mae, three more juniors stepped to the front of the group, each disying a look of confidence.


    "Who are these three?" one of the juniors asked. Clearly each of the three were confident enough in themselves to step forward.


    Although it was unofficial, during each entrance exam, all those vying for the number one spot would step forward to the front of the group before the exams started. Such an action signified that they were confident in fighting for the number one spot, which came with prestige, as well as extra rewards. However, only those with true confidence in themselves would do such a thing.


    One of the more knowledgeable juniors pointed to a girl who had stepped up. She had long blonde hair which flowed freely down to her waist, and a pretty face that stunned many of the boys speechless. However, she had a cold demeanor, that made all those nearby not want to approach her. A powerful aura radiated from her, and small wisps of lightning danced over her skin asionally.


    "That''s June, the number one junior from the Raging Lightning Sect."


    "Raging Lightning Sect? That''s a First Tier Lightning Sect, no wonder she has such confidence. I hear they train their lightning arts in quite a brutal way. They always have a small item filled with lightning essence on their body, which constantly tempers their body to be able to handle the brutal lightning techniques of their sect."


    Many looked towards the lightning asionally dancing over June''s skin and shivered slightly. Surely such a cultivation technique would be painful, but she acted as if she didn''t notice it.


    The eyes of the crowd shifted over to the boy standing next to June. He had a bald head, carried arge greatsword on his back, and appeared older than most of the juniors in the group. His tall frame towered over all of the other juniors, and his powerful body carried an intimidating presence.


    "Isn''t that one a little too old to be participating in these exams?" one junior asked in a hushed tone.


    Another looked towards that person as if they were stupid before responding.


    "That''s Russell Garde, from the Ruinous Earth Sect. He might look like that, but he''s only fifteen like the rest of us. He apparently has a very powerful body, and most of his fights end in him brutally beating his opponents into the ground. Most flee just at the sight of him."


    "Russell from the Ruinous Earth Sect? I hear he has an Innate Variant Body! Even though it''s only the Common Grade, it''s still enough to dominate most in his realm."


    "Innate Variant Body? No wonder he looks like that!" The eyes of many of the juniors opened wide in shock at the mention of Russell''s Variant Body.


    Even within the Holy Lands, Variant Bodies were notmonly seen. In fact, within the crowd of tens of thousands of juniors, Russell was the only one with such a body.


    The crowd''s eyes shifted over to the fifth and final junior who had stepped forward. It was a boy with long and straight brown hair. His face was more on the pretty side, making him appear quite feminine, and he carried an ornate fan in his hands which he waved in front of his face. His thin frame was dressed by a pure gold robe, which caught the attention of many.


    "That''s the second prince of the Randel Kingdom, Hartley Randel. I hear his brother, the first prince is taking over the kingdom when their father dies, and so Hartley has focused on his cultivation instead. He''s apparently the prince with the highest martial potential in the Randel Kingdom," one juniormented.


    "Randel Kingdom? That Kingdom is equivalent to a First Tier Sect, so he must be incredibly strong."


    All five of the juniors who stepped forward radiated a powerful peak Qi Condensation cultivation. Despite being from powerful backgrounds themselves, each of them yearned to enter the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Entering such a sect would change their fortunes forever, and would also elevate the status of the power''s they came from.


    While the crowd fervently discussed the many promising young juniors in this year''s entrance exam, many eyes peered down from the top of the walls at the crowd below.


    One familiar face in a grey robe scanned the crowd below for someone in particr, but was unable to locate that face. He turned to a man standing next to him who had just appeared, and spoke up.


    "You said John was going to make it back in time, so why don''t I see him here?"


    "Elder Ragur, John is just down the road. He''ll be here shortly."


    Elder Ragur nodded his head and peered into the distance, looking for a familiar face to show up. The man who had just spoken was the one who had secretly guarded him for several months, although John was unaware of his presence.


    Before long, a lone boy appeared, walking directly towards therge crowd gathered in front of the gate. His robe was torn in many ces, and dirt and blood covered most of his body. To most in the crowd, he looked like a homeless beggar.


    "Damn Elder Ragur, I just barely made it in time. I haven''t even had time to bathe, and all my robes are destroyed, leaving me looking like this."


    John had spent most of the past three months working his way through the ancient forest towards these gates, fighting powerful beasts along the way. The journey had taken much longer than he had expected, and he had just barely made it in time.


    John continued to walk and push his way through the crowd while grumbling to himself, making many nearby think he was a madman. After pushing his way through the crowd of adults gathered, he made his way into the crowd of juniors.


    He was deep in thought regarding his arduous journey and his revenge ns as he walked through the crowd. Arge white gate appeared in front of him, and John finally snapped out of his deep thoughts. He found himself standing next to five juniors at the front of the crowd, and turned to see everyone behind staring at him in an odd manner.

 Chapter 143 - If You Want To Fight, Lets Fight!

    The group of juniors all looked at John with mixed expressions. Some stared at him with curiosity, some confusion, and some as if he was stupid, with both Russell and Mason staring at him in such a manner. Mae and Hartley stared at John with amused curiosity, while June ignored everyone, focusing only on the gate in front of her.


    John began to be annoyed at how many of them were staring at him, namely the two boys in the front of the group.


    "Look at this stupid bumpkin, daring to step forward despite only being in the mid Qi Condensation Realm," Masonmented in a snide tone, causing John to frown.


    "What the fuck are you looking at?" John grumbled out towards Mason and Russell.


    He was still in a bad mood from his arduous journey, and did not like the way he was being looked at by those two, as if he was beneath them. He had been on constant edge in the forest, always having to be prepared for a battle with a powerful beast at a moments notice.


    As such, John had developed quite a sharp edge to his personality over the past few months, and it would take some time for him to unwind and rx himself.


    Many of the juniors in the crowd had looks of shock appear on their faces.


    "Who is this boy? Does he not know who he''s talking to, or does he not care?" one girlmented.


    "Look at him, he''s clearly a nobody, who probably doesn''t even know the customs of this entrance exam. He''s only in the mid Qi Condensation Realm, so he''s clearly unworthy of standing there," a boy in the crowd chimed up in a mocking tone, and those nearby all nodded their heads in agreement.


    "You''re probably right. That boy most likely doesn''t even know who he''s just offended. His time within the entrance exam won''t be a pleasant one," another junior chimed in.


    Many simr discussions broke out throughout the crowd.


    There were thousands and thousands of juniors who had cultivations at thete Qi Condensation Realm. Despite that, none of them dared step forward to the front of the crowd, as they knew that was reserved for only the strongest of them. However, this unknown boy suddenly did so, with only a cultivation at the mid Qi Condensation Realm.


    Clearly, he had no idea what he was doing, or who he was offending.


    ¡­


    Elder Ragur stared down from the top of the wall at John, and a slight smile hung on his face.


    "Not bad, he advanced once more to the middle Qi Condensation Realm. It seems his time in the forest was quite bountiful."


    Elder Ragur turned his head sideways to look at the man standing next to him.


    "You were watching over him for thest three months. Tell me, how is hisbat prowess?"


    Although Elder Ragur had spent quite a bit of time with John, he had never seen him fight, and so was unsure of how powerful he really was. He was hoping for a good assessment from the Elder who guarded John.


    The man next to Elder Ragur was silent for a moment as a thoughtful look appeared on his face.


    "Hisbat prowess...is terrifying."


    The man''s assessment was short, but it was enough to cause Elder Ragur to raise his eyebrows in slight surprise.


    He knew John was talented, given that he had an Innate Variant Body and a Lightning Attribute Body, but for him to get such an assessment from the man was beyond the Elders expectations.


    A smile slowly appeared on Elder Ragur''s face once more as he turned to look back down towards the crowd below.


    "Then it seems like this year''s entrance exam will be quite entertaining."


    ¡­


    John continued to stare at the two boys with cold eyes as they continued to look down on him.


    "Kid, you''re lucky we''re in front of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, otherwise I would love to see how long you can look at me like that," Mason spoke up in an annoyed tone.


    He was used to being looked up to and revered, and did not like the way this dirty and weak neer was looking at him.


    "Who cares about where we are, if you want to fight, then let''s fight," John stated bluntly, causing both Mason to frown. Shock appeared on the faces of all the nearby youths.


    All John had done was walk to the front of the crowd, and yet he was being looked down upon and insulted. He had no idea why this was happening, but would not stand by idly while it urred.


    "Haha, that''s exactly the type of attitude a cultivator should have, I''ll take up your offer" Russell stated loudly whileughing. His fists powerfully collided together, and his powerful aura began to re from his body. It appeared as if he truly was about to start fighting John in front of the gate.


    The power emanating from Russell''s body shocked all the nearby youths.


    "How powerful, no wonder he has the confidence to stand at front and im that he will obtain first this year."


    "That''s more like it," John replied with a smile as he too began to prepare for battle, undeterred by Russell''s disy of power. His aura began to grow as he prepared to sh with the muscr boy.


    However, just as he was about to move, a familiar hand of immense power once again pushed down on his shoulder, making him unable to move at all.


    "There will be no fighting before the exam begins," Elder Ragur stated. At the sight of a Heavenly Lightning Sect Elder''s arrival, Russell''s aura immediately retracted, and he bowed his head slightly as he retreated to his original position.


    "Apologies, Elder."


    John turned his head to look at Elder Ragur as a frown appeared on his face. He turned and pointed at the Elder.


    "You old fart, you clearly knew how tough getting back would be, didn''t you? Couldn''t you have dropped me off a little closer to the gate?"


    Shock appeared on the faces of all those in the crowd as they heard John speak to the Elder in such a manner. Not only that, but the boy''s words indicated that there was some sort of familiarity between him and the Elder.


    Elder Ragur cleared his throat and did his best to keep a straight face. He could tell that John was joking with him for the most part, but the Elder had to keep his poise to maintain face for the sect.


    A set of ck robes suddenly appeared in Elder Ragur''s hands as he handed them over to John.


    "Take these and put one on, you''repletely filthy. As for those words you just said to me, I hope you''re prepared to sit in front of the Enforcement Wall for some time as punishment."


    John''s lips quivered as he listened to the words of the Elder, but he didn''t argue back. He knew the Elder had to maintain his appearance and status, and so he decided to back down. He wasn''t truly mad at Elder Ragur, just frustrated from such an arduous journey.


    John epted the robe, and donned one immediately while storing the others away. With a thought, the dirty half torn robe on his body was sent to his storage ring, leaving only the clean robe on his body.


    He was just about to speak to Elder Ragur once more when the Elder suddenly disappeared from his sight.


    "Silence!"


    A loud voice suddenly boomed above the crowd, causing everyone to look up into the sky at the source of the voice.


    A woman, who appeared to be in her mid twenties hovered high above the gate, and stared down at the crowd below. Her luxurious white and gold robe billowed gently in the wind, and her long blue hair seemed to glow in the sunlight. Her face was very attractive, but her sharp features and serious face, as well as intimidatingly powerful presence made all those who looked at her feel as if they were staring at a powerful battle deity.

 Chapter 144 - Vice Sect Leader

    The crowd looked towards the woman high up in the sky. The woman looked down on all those below, and once more spoke up in a powerful voice.


    "As the Vice Sect Leader of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, I wee all those here to the annual entrance exams for our sect."


    John stared at the woman who had suddenly appeared.


    ''Vice Sect Leader? She''s just like the Sect Leader...her power is something so high up that I can''t even begin to imagine how strong she is."


    Although John did not use his divine sense to inspect her, as that would be suicide, he was able to tell that the woman was so strong that he had only ever met one person stronger in his life, who was the Sect Leader himself.


    Hushed conversations immediately broke out throughout the crowd.


    "That''s the Vice Sect Leader? I heard she''s an absolute battle maniac."


    "True, I''ve heard that amongst all cultivators in the Holy Lands, she''s the one who loves battle the most. Most avoid her out of fear, as when she starts fighting, blood is always shed."


    John heard some of the hushed conversations, and was surprised to hear such an appraisal of the Vice Sect Leader. However, he could feel an intimidating battle lust naturally emanate from the woman, making him believe those rumors.


    The Vice Sect Leader red at the crowd below, causing all those who were speaking to shut their mouths in fear. Silence descended on the crowd once more.


    The Vice Sect Leader stared at the crowd for a moment before speaking up once more.


    "I will now exin the rules of the entrance exam. The entrance exam willst one week. All those who enter must be below the Core Formation Realm, and sixteen years of age or below.


    There are five stages to the exam, and to enter the sect as an Outer Disciple, the third stage must be cleared. Those who pass the fourth stage will be Inner Disciples, and those who pass the fifth will be Core Disciples."


    Most in the crowd were familiar with the rules of the entrance exam, as they were exined in detail every year. However, this information was new to John, and so he listened closely.


    "The trials will be monitored closely by Elders, and cheating of any kind will be dealt with severely. No treasures or weapons that use outside power will be permitted. Everything must be powered by the cultivators themselves."


    John nodded his head in agreement at this rule. There were bound to be incredibly powerful treasures in the Holy Lands that the juniors could use, which would provide an unfair advantage.


    "Lastly, fighting within the exams are permitted only when allowed by the specific trial. Fighting outside the permitted trials will result in disqualification. Lastly, the top cultivators who do the best within the exams will be given special rewards. That is all."


    The Vice Sect Leader exined the rules to the crowd in full, which were fairly simple. After exining the rules, she suddenly vanished from everyone''s sight. No one had managed to see how she left.


    ''She''s just like the Sect Leader. She moves so fast that I can''t even track her movements. I wonder how high her cultivation is.''


    After the Vice Sect Leader left, the massive white gates began to part, and a different Elder appeared in front of them. His voice boomed out across the crowd, drawing the attention of all.


    "The Heavenly Lightning Sect entrance exams have begun. All those who wish to participate, please follow me through the gate."


    The eyes of all the juniors lit up as they began to walk forward towards the open gates, while excited shouts of encouragement boomed out from the crowd in the back.


    Mason turned to John and stared at him with an amused expression before he began to walk forward, making sure to stay at the front of the crowd.


    John stared at Mason indifferently before he too began to walk with the crowd. Before long, he appeared directly at the gate and stepped through. A strange feeling passed over him, but other than that, nothing happened.


    "Gah!"


    A loud cry of pain echoed out behind him, causing John to turn his head in curiosity. He managed to see a boy, who looked slightly older than sixteen, violently flung backwards away from the gate. Blood squirted out of various wounds on his body, and he appeared quite miserable. His bodynded on the ground, where he curled up in pain.


    Many adults in the crowd watching, as well as the Elders on top of the walls, shook their heads in a disapproving manner.


    "Idiot, does he think he can fool the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Every year people try to sneak in despite being older than sixteen years of age, and every year the formation at the gate rejects them violently. His bone age is clearly older than sixteen."


    John heard simr discussions brought up amongst the nearby juniors, and came to an understanding of what happened. He shook his head before turning forward once more. The crowd continued to talk for some time, led by the Elder who had spoken up earlier.


    The group followed the main road into the sect grounds, which existed in a valley that weaved through the surrounding mountains. The tall mountains were covered in lush green trees, giving them a vibrant feeling, and snow capped the very tops of the mountains.


    A wide and powerful river with clear blue water rushed next to the main road, and many grand bridges stretching over the river were seen. Many roads stretched out from the main road, leading to various unknown parts of the sect grounds. Magnificent buildings asionally dotted the sides of the road, although this part of the sect grounds was mostly uninhabited.


    Majestic looking deer withrge blue antlers roamed the riverbank, and they all seemed to be tamed. Many types of rare medicinal ingredients grew on the river bank, surprising John greatly. The early morning sunlight filtered through the mist kicked up by the powerful river, giving an ethereal glow to the valley.


    Many powerful cultivators, some being carried byrge beasts traveled on the road, going in both directions. Caravans carting various goods traveled in a hurried manner.


    John and the rest of the youths couldn''t help but take in all the grand sites as they followed the Elder.


    After fifteen minutes of walking through the picturesque valley, the Elder stopped at arge cleared out area next to the main road. Directly behind him, hundreds ofrge tables, each with a stone tablet next to them, were visible. There was an Elder seated at every table.


    John recognized the stone tablet, as he had seen something simr before.


    ''That''s just like the essence tablet during the tournament in the Varis n.''


    The Elder in charge addressed the massive crowd once more.


    "This is the first test of the entrance exams. The essence Qi and talent test."

 Chapter 145 - The First Test

    "Essence Qi and talent test? I know what an essence Qi test is, but what constitutes a talent test?" John mumbled out loud.


    He had taken the essence Qi test in the tournament, which quantified his essence Qi output and strength, but had no idea what a talent test constituted.


    "A talent test is an inspection of your body, from the meridians, acupoints, dantian and more to see if you have the required natural talent to be a powerful cultivator," a voice behind John chimed up, answering his question.


    John turned around to the source of the voice, which was a boy his age. The boy had an average face, with short brown hair and brown eyes. His face still had some baby fat on it, making him appear younger than most at the exam. He was a head shorter than John, and had a rtively thin frame for a cultivator.


    "Oh, thanks for answering," John stated, unsure of who this neer was.


    The boy stretched his hand out in greeting, and a smile appeared on his face as he spoke to John once more.


    "I''m Adam."


    There was a look of pride on his face, as if John should know who he was. John shook the boys hand, but was confused as to why he was talking to him or why he was so friendly, as he was sure he didn''t know this boy.


    Adam noticed the somewhat confused look on John''s face.


    "We don''t know each other, but I saw your bold disy earlier towards Mason and Russell. I have to say, I''m quite impressed with your guts, talking to them like that despite only being in the mid Qi Condensation Realm."


    Adam gave him a thumbs up, and John could only rub the back of his head, unsure of what to say. He hadn''t done that to get attention or make a statement, he had just been ticked off by how the two of them looked at him.


    "Uhh, thanks?"


    "No problem. I''m not sure why, but I can tell that there''s something special about you. Not only that, but you don''t seem like a pompous asshole like the others. I think you''re going to make it far in this Sect, and I want to ride your coattails as far as I can, so as of right now, I am your first official follower," Adam stated without a hint of shame, causing John to stare at him with a bewildered expression.


    "Uh, what? I don''t need any followers," John replied, unsure of what exactly was going on. He had no idea who this Adam was, and although he didn''t have a bad opinion of him, he preferred to be alone.


    However, Adam was undeterred by John''s response.


    "I know I know, I don''t look that strong, but trust me, I can help you in a lot of ways. I happen to know many things about this sect and the surrounding powers, so I can always help with that. You didn''t even know about the customs of the exam at the front gate, so I''m sure you don''t know much about thisnd.


    Besides, you''ll need followers once you''re inside the sect if you want to be a Core Disciple or higher. I can tell you''re unfamiliar with this sect and how it works, but it''s prettymon knowledge that every Core Disciple and above has a following of disciples below them."


    Adam paused for a moment, before walking to John''s side and draping his arm around John''s shoulders. His actions made it seem like he had been best friends with John for years.


    "I may not look strong, but I''m a formations expert. I''ll be invaluable to you," Adam stated, his face brimming with pride. Clearly he was proud of the fact that he studied formations, and imed to be an expert on top of all that.


    ''Formations expert? That could actually be pretty useful to know someone like that.''


    Formations experts were able to do all sorts of amazing things with formations if their talent andprehensions were high enough.


    John stood there in silence, staring at Adam who still had his arm draped around his shoulders.. Adam smiled and spoke up before John could say anything.


    "I know, you''re amazed that I''m a formations expert, and I don''t me you. But like I said, I see a bright future in you, and so I''m willing to follow you."


    Adam had a look on his face as if he was doing John a massive favor. John shrugged Adams'' arm off his shoulders, and shook his head in confusion before walking forward with the rest of the group of youths.


    Adam quickly dashed forward to catch up, and walked closely behind John, talking non-stop about himself and the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    The Elder in charge of the trials addressed the crowd once more.


    "Line up in even lines in front of every table, order or table does not matter. If you pass the first trial, you will be given an identity badge for the remainder of the exam. Those who fail will be asked to leave the sect grounds immediately."


    John stepped into one of the lines that had formed, and Adam followed behind closely. While waiting in line, John turned to Adam, who was still talking the entire time.


    "Since you im to know so much about this sect and its entrance exam, do you know the average passing rate?" John asked curiously. Knowing the passing rate would give him a rough approximation on how good he would have to dopared to the rest of the group.


    "I sure do. On average, the passing rate each year is around fifteen percent, with the other eighty five percent failing."


    John raised his eyebrows in surprise at Adams'' words. He had expected a failure rate of about fifty percent, but the truth was much more brutal.


    "Don''t worry though. Talent ys as much of a part as cultivation level in these exams, so some a mid Qi Condensation cultivators manage to be Outer Disciples," Adam borated. He assumed John was concerned with passing the exam with his lower cultivationpared to the elite here, and did his best to reassure him.


    John shook his head but didn''t borate. The line continued to creep forward, and before long, he was next.


    "Next in line, step forward," a voice called out.


    He walked forward to the table, and stood directly in front of it, waiting for the Elder to speak up. After a moment of silence, the Elder looked up to John and frowned slightly. He was still dirty and bloody from his arduous journey, and so he looked as if he didn''t take this exam seriously. All the other youths were dressed in luxurious robes and were as clean as possible, while John looked like a homeless beggar.


    "I had some troubles getting here," John rubbed the back of his head and mumbled with an embarrassed tone.

 Chapter 146 - The Bizzare Adam Fenks

    The Elder looked at John in a disapproving manner, but didn''tment on his appearance again.


    "Walk to the stone tablet, and ce your hand on the circle carved in its center. Inject your essence Qi into it. You pass if the light shines at the top of the tablets formation."


    The instructions were simple but clear. John nodded his head and walked to therge stone tablet at the side of the table. There were formation etchings all over the tablet, with arge carved circle located in the middle. He ced his hand on the center of the tablet, and took a deep breath before injecting his essence Qi into the tablet with all his might.


    He had already tried to use his body Qi on these types of tablets back in the tournament tests, and it didn''t work, so he didn''t bother attempting that today. Qi surged from his dantian, through his meridians, and into the tablet for several seconds before he stopped.


    The tablet remained quiet for a short time before it began to light up, giving off a vibrant blue glow.


    The Elder looked at the tablet and before turning to John and asking him to approach her. John nodded his head and walked over to the Elder, who quickly reached out and grabbed his wrist.


    A powerful divine sense invaded John''s body, and Qi from the elder was forcefully injected into John''s body. It began to snake through his body, meridian, acupoints, and more, and John feltpletely exposed at such a test. However, he did not resist such a probe.


    ''This must be the talent test Adam mentioned, although I figured it would be a bit more official than an inspection by an Elder. I suppose talent is a more subjective sort of test.''


    John had expected another wonderful item like the stone tablet to test his talent, but it was the Elder instead. John stood there awkwardly for some time as the Elder continued to inspect his body. A slightly confused look appeared on the Elders face as she inspected his body, but she let go of his wrist after a short while.


    "You pass. What is your name?"


    John breathed out a sigh of relief, having sessfully passed the first test. He didn''t expect to fail, but passing was a relief nheless.


    "John Fenix," he replied.


    The Elder looked up and closely studied John''s face. "So you''re the one Elder Ragur mentioned? He expects great things from you, so don''t disappoint him." The Elder''s tone had softened slightly.


    John was surprised that Elder Ragur had been talking about him to his colleagues, and in a positive light as well. He nodded his head and stood before the Elder in silence.


    The Elder had a small item in her hand, and seemed to be using her Qi to do something to it. After a brief waiting period, she looked back towards John and handed him the small item in her hands.


    "This is your identity badge for the rest of the entrance exam, do not lose it."


    John nodded his head and happily epted the item. "Thank you Elder."


    "Please proceed to the next trial. Next in line, step forward," the Elder called out, and John stepped past the desk and began to walk in the direction of all those who had passed. After a moment''s thought, John stopped and turned around, wanting to watch the next examinee.


    Adam quickly dashed towards the table, almost crashing into it, but managed to stop just before doing so.


    "Greetings, Elder," Adam called out in a friendly tone, as if they were best friends. He made sure to bow in an exaggerated manner, adding as much ir to his movements as possible.


    The Elder looked at him with a disapproving expression before giving him the same instructions she had given John.


    Adam confidently strode over to the stone tablet, and after a moment''s pause, began to channel his Qi into the tablet. He continued to do so for several seconds, and John watched closely, curious to see if Adam would pass the test.


    After nearly ten seconds, the stone tablet still had not lit up at the top, signifying that he had not passed.


    The Elder frowned and began to speak.


    "You have fail-"


    "Wait, wait, wait," Adam cried out quickly, waving his hands in every direction.


    "I..I just wasn''t warmed up is all. Let me try it again."


    His panicked tone amused John, causing him to chuckle slightly.


    Before the Elder could respond back, Adam ced his hand on the tablet once more and began to channel Qi into it with all his power. Before long, his face had turned blood red, and he seemed as if he was about to pass out from the exertion of trying to pas the test.


    However, after a short dy, the faintest of blue lights appeared at the top of the tablet. A look of pure delight appeared on Adam''s previously exhausted face, before a look of unbridled pride washed over it.


    "See," he said to the Elder. "Such a thing is trivial for a man as gifted as myself."


    He confidently strutted over to the Elder, ready to take the talent test. He outstretched his arm in an over the top manner, flicking his wrist in an exaggerated ir before it came to rest before the Elder. A confident smile hung on his face, and he smiled towards John.


    "Ow!"


    Adam cried out in pain as the Elder grabbed his wrist with much force. His prideful face quickly turned into one wincing with pain as the Elder began her talent inspection, being sure to use enough force on his wrist to cause some pain.


    "Ow! Ow! Ow! Mercy! I beg you!" Adam cried out as he tried to pull his arm away, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.


    The Elder nonchntly inspected his body, and made sure to take her time while doing so. Adam continued to yell in an exaggerated manner, causing John to have a look of disbelief on his face.


    ''Just..Who is this clown?''


    Merciful pleas continued to ring out as Adam begged for mercy. The Elder eventually let go of his wrist, as a small, satisfied smile hung on her face. Clearly she had enjoyed taking him down a notch.


    "You pass, but just barely. What is your name?" The Elder asked.


    Adam''s defeated look quickly turned back to one brimming with confidence and pride, as if his pathetic disy mere seconds ago never happened.


    "Adam Fenks," he stated proudly, as if his name resounded famously throughout thends.


    The Elder recorded the name in the identity badge, as well as other information, before handing it over to him. Adam took the badge, and arge smile appeared on his face. He strutted over to John with a confident stride.


    "Such a simple test can''t hold such talented cultivators as ourselves back, right?" Adam stated with his chest puffed out, causing John to put his hand on his face in disbelief.

 Chapter 147 - Second Trial

    John stared at Adam for a short moment before he turned around without a word and followed the pathway to the next test. Behind all the tables, a small pathway, several yards wide, cut into the nearby forest.


    The vibrant trees, covered with blooming flowers of different kinds, framed the pathway, making it quite a scenic walk. The pathway continued for nearly a mile. Adam closely followed John the entire time, and continued to talk non-stop about various things, such as the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the entrance exam, the powerful participants to look out for, and more.


    "If I were to give you any advice, it would be to stay away from Mason and Russell for now. Although I can tell you''re strong, those two areplete monsters. Mason is from the Light n, which is a First Tier n, and is their most promising junior. Hisbat prowess is terrifying.


    As for that Russell, he''s equally terrifying. He has an Innate Variant Body, so don''t ever try to fight him head on. Keep your distance and attack him from afar."


    "Innate Variant Body? Interesting" John replied. A small smile appeared on his face.


    ''Seems like this truly is the gathering ce for monsters. I should find some good opponents in this sect.''


    John was looking forward to the inevitable fights toe with those two, as he knew they would target him.


    ''The stronger people I fight, the faster my strength will rise.''


    After walking for some time, John and Adam arrived at the next trial. The pathway left the forest, and stopped directly in front of an ancient looking city.


    The city was several miles wide and long, and most of the brick buildings seemed to have been ravaged by the erosion of time. Arge stone archway stood tall at the entrance to the city, and tall brick walls encapsted the city within.


    There were several hundred youths waiting directly in front of the city, while dozens streamed into the city every minute. An Elder stood out front directly in front of the main road leading into the city, exining the trial to any who asked for boration.


    "Do you know what this trial is?" John asked Adam. He seemed to be quite knowledgeable about the entrance exam, and figured he would put his knowledge to good use.


    "Unfortunately, the second through third through fourth trial changes every year, so I don''t. I know thest trial has something to do with willpower, but I''m unsure of the specifics, as that too changes every year."


    John was slightly disappointed in being unable to find out the truth regarding the trials, but wasn''t too concerned. If trial takers knew of the tests every year, they would figure out ways to game the system and beat them without being worthy of doing so. Changing the trials every year was a good way to counter this.


    The two of them continued to walk until they reached the lone Elder, who was standing under therge archway directly at the entrance to the city.


    "Elder, what do we do for this trial?" John asked curiously.


    The Elder looked at John and replied. "To pass this trial, you merely have to enter the city and leave it on the other end. This main road stretches straight to the exit, however, it won''t be as simple as it sounds."


    John looked past the Elder and into the city. The main road stretched for many miles, and curved in many directions, making it impossible to look through to the other side. John was unable to see anything other than the other youths entering the city, making it appear bleak and deste.


    "Ok, thanks for the information."


    John started to walk forward into the city, and Adam quickly scurried up behind him.


    "Walk through a city? Such a trivial thing will never hold us two back!"


    John rolled his eyes and continued to walk forwards. Many other youths also entered the trial in a steady stream.


    ''It won''t be nearly as easy as it sounds.''


    Before long, John entered the walled city and began to walk down the main road. The main road was a wide dusty dirt road. Dpidated buildings lined both sides of the road, and many narrow alleyways branched off every few dozen yards.


    After several minutes of walking, nothing had yet happened, causing John to frown somewhat.


    "Nothing yet? Sure, this city is a bit creepy, but that''s it? Are they testing the nerves of us juniors?" Adam asked. He too was somewhat confused by this trial thus far.


    The two of them continued to walk for several more minutes, before John finally came to a stop.


    "What are you stopping for?" Adam asked, curious if John had sensed anything.


    John turned his head in every direction, looking around for something. He turned to look behind him, and a frown once more appeared on his face.


    "Haven''t you noticed anything yet? Or more urately, theck of anything here but us two? John asked Adam.


    Adam looked around curiously, somewhat confused by John''s question. His eyes soon widened slightly as he came to a realization.


    "The other youths! When we entered, there were many in front of us, and many behind us..but now, the only thing I can see is us two!"


    John nodded his head at Adams'' assessment of the situation.


    ''It seems like he has some brains at least.''


    "You''re correct. Without us even realizing it, we have be isted in this area. The other cultivators leaving this area would have drawn our attention, so something else is going on here¡­"


    John continued to look around in every direction, but was unable to make heads or tails of the situation.


    "The only thing we can do is move forward carefully, and raise our guard for any unexpected situations."


    The two of them continued to walk forward for some time, and John eventually spotted something appear out of an alleyway ahead of them. His eyes widened slightly.


    "Adam, we havepany!" John stated, but received no response. He turned to look behind him to see why Adam had not responded.


    "He''s gone!"

 Chapter 148 - Tests Within The Trial

    Without knowing how it had happened, John realized he had be separated from Adam.


    "I''m not too concerned about being alone, but how did he vanish without me even noticing. Just what is going on?"


    John spread out his divine sense as wide as it could go, but was unable to detect any other signs of life other than the creature in front of him. The creature stood directly in the middle of the road, blocking his path forward.


    The creature stood ten feet tall on six insect-like legs, which ended in sharp de-like tips. Its mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth, and its body exuded a foul smelling substance that was clearly venomous. Six beady eyes stared at him as if he was food. Although John wasn''t sure exactly what type of beast it was, it was clearly some sort of venomous spider.


    Its power was at the mid Qi Condensation stage, and would be a nightmare for any average mid Qi Condensation cultivator. However, John was no average cultivator, and the spider in front of him gave him no concern.


    "Something strange is going on here. First everyone disappears, and now this spider appears. Maybe we''re separated into individual battle trials? Let me kill this spider and see if that solves anything."


    John took out his scythe and calmly walked towards the spider. The spider stared at him for a moment before opening its mouth and shooting a venomous substance at him at great speed.


    John quickly dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the venom attack. The attacknded on the ground behind him and faded away. John turned his head back to where the attack hadnded, and a frown appeared on his face.


    Several more venom attacks shot out at John, causing him to use his Five Step Movement Technique to rapidly dodge the attacks. He continued to study the attacks and approach the spider, and his suspicions grew as the fight dragged on. He continued to send attacks towards the spider, wearing it down slowly but surely.


    "I don''t want to use too much Qi in this fight, as I don''t know what the future holds for me in these trials."


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe!


    John rapidly approached the spider and attacked out with the Myriad Annihtion Scythe. Although its power had grown quite a bit weaker in the Qi Condensation Realm, it was more than enough to deal with the spiders weak legs.


    The spider cried out in pain as several of its legs were severed. It crashed to the ground and attempted to stand up, but was unable to do so. John studied the spider for a few seconds before his scythe quickly struck forward, the de of the scythe piercing into its head.


    The spider struggled for a brief moment before it died. The venom of the spider was quite valuable, so John attempted to ce it''s corpse in his pce realm. However, John was unable to do so, and the corpse remained where it was.


    "There''s definitely something strange going on in this city, although I can''t say for certain what exactly."


    John had his suspicions of what exactly was going on, but he wanted to gather more information before he could bepletely sure. Since he was unable to collect the spiders corpse, he left it in ce and began to walk down the road once more.


    By now, John was about halfway through the city and had still not found another cultivator. He continued to walk forward, when a sound of music andughter down an alleyway to his side caught his attention.


    "Hmm?"


    It was the first sign of life that John had found since the spider, and so John stopped to peer down the alleyway. The alleyway extended for several dozen yards, and at the very end of it, he could make out a groupughing while ying music. The group consisted of many beautiful women, dressed in luxurious and exotic clothes. John had never seen such a group of beauties before.


    Harps, lyres, flutes and more were being yed in melodious harmony, causing him to nearly fall into a trance. The music was the most beautiful music he had ever heard in his life, and he felt as if his soul was being cleansed just by listening to it.


    The women continued to y their entrancing music, and before long noticed his presence. They all turned to look at him, and beautiful smiles appeared on their faces as they called out to him.


    "Hey you,e over here!"


    "Come join us!"


    "Come y with us!"


    The women all started to call out to John, hoping to draw him over to them. Their seductive calls, along with the entrancing music, made John feel as if walking over there was the correct decision.


    "The Sect trials can wait, right? There''s seven whole days toplete the tria-"


    "Wait, no no no, this isn''t right!" John quickly snapped out of the trance he was in and backed away a few steps. Sweat trickled down his face as he stared at the women.


    "Whew! My mind was almost ensnared by that music. How frightful."


    John had felt his soul''s defenses slowly erode as he listened to the music, and had nearly fallen victim to it. His soul power had red at thest moment as he noticed himself being ensnared, which allowed him to break free from the enchanting lure.


    John slowly backed away and returned to the main road. The music and enchanting calls from the women continued to y out behind him, but he paid them no more attention. His mind was steeled as he continued to walk down the main road once more, this time much more careful for any traps that existed.


    "I suppose not all traps are physical. There are traps that can target the soul itself, so I''ll have to keep my eye out for that in the future. Thankfully my soul is much stronger than the average cultivator, or I might have fallen victim to such a trap. But after all this, my suspicions are mostly confirmed. I believe...that this entire city is one giant illusion formation."

 Chapter 149 - Passing The Second Test

    John hade to this conclusion based on many things. When he first entered, him and adam unknowingly became isted from everyone else, which caught his attention. Then just a few minutester, he found himself separated from Adam, who was just mere yards from him as they walked.


    This happened without his notice, and so there were only two exnations for this that he coulde up with. The first was that an enemy, so powerful as to be unnoticed, swooped in and took all the other cultivators. However, this was a testing grounds, and such a thing would be worthless as a test. Also, why had he not been targeted yet?


    The other exnation was that there was some sort of illusion formation in the city, obscuring his vision and altering his reality.


    Illusion formations worked by tricking the mind into seeing and believing whatever the formation wanted them to. At a high enough level, illusion formations could be indistinguishable from reality, such as the one John experienced in the Lightning Trial World. In such formations, it was nearly impossible for a cultivator to see past the illusions, unless their cultivation was extremely high.


    This formation, however, was not nearly as profound. If it was, it would have altered his perceptions on how he became separated from everyone else, making it so that he would never realize it was a formation. Not only that, but John had an odd feeling as soon as he stepped into the city, as if his soul was being slowly invaded by an outside force. It was so minuscule as to be ignored as his imagination, but the feeling was there nheless.


    "I''m sure the Heavenly Lightning Sect could set up an illusion formation that is so powerful as to trick all those who enter, but that would defeat the purpose of it being a test. If I''m not mistaken, this is a trial to test the soul and willpower of all the youths.


    The first trial tested essence Qi power and natural talent, while this trial is testing willpower and soul strength. Only those will have strong enough souls to see through the illusions, or strong enough wills to stick on the forward path despite all the obstacles and allures will pass. I''m sure everyone sees something different."


    The first trial was the massive spider, whose power was a match for John''s cultivation wise. Since beasts were normally stronger than cultivators in the same realm, this was a test for nerves and bravery. Only those willing to take the battle head on and move forward could advance, while the cowards who were too afraid to risk their lives in battle would be eliminated.


    The next trial was with the alluring music and women. This was a test for his ability to resist temptation.


    "I''m guessing I was able to see through this formation due to my encounter with the one in the Lightning World, as well as my strong soul strength. Most of the youths wont see through this formation, which will make it quite the challenge to pass. Only those with the strongest of wills can trudge through the obstacles to make it through to the end."


    Now that John had seen through the formation, it had lost its potency. He could ignore all the future obstacles and walk directly to the end, knowing that it was only an illusion before him.


    After concluding all this, John set out down the path once more, much less concerned about this trial. Although his guard was still raised in the chance that he was wrong about the test, he walked forward unflinchingly.


    Several more illusions appeared before him, each with their own obstacle and allure. One mysterious and powerful cultivator appeared before him offering him immense wealth, should he be a member of their sect and spy on the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    John ignored the man and walked right through him, confirming his suspicions as fact. A little whileter, profound treasures appeared down another alleyway. Their powerful fluctuations would affect most cultivators, but John ignored them and continued to walk.


    Simr things continued to happen, until John finally saw the exit at the end of the road. The exit was framed by an archway simr to the one at the entrance, and John walked calmly towards its exit. Before long, he left the ancient city and breathed in a breath of fresh air.


    "Being out of that formation feels nice," John mumbled out loud. He felt as if his breath was stifled in there, always being under the influence of the formation.


    "I know right? That formation was a pain in the ass to see through, but it couldn''t keep a brilliant man like me blind for too long," a voice behind him replied, causing John to turn around quickly.


    Adam stood behind John, clearly having just left the ancient city just moments after him. John raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise at Adam''s arrival, which had only been a hairter than him.


    Adam noticed John''s surprised look and puffed out his chest in pride. "I told you didn''t I? I''m a formations expert. Such a measly formation couldn''t obscure my eyes for too long."


    John nodded his head at Adams'' words, but still took some time to believe it. He had expected Adam to be a bumbling fool based on his actions in the first trial, but¡­


    ''Maybe he actually is a talented formations expert. With my powerful soul and strong will, I''m sure I have one of the fastest clearing times for this trial out of all the participants, but Adam finished just a hairter than me. It seems like having him as a follower might be worthwhile.''


    John didn''t dislike having people around him, but his desire for strength triumphed all other emotions. However, having strong followers would aid in his quest for strength, and John was not opposed to such an idea.


    John walked forward and patted Adam on the shoulder in an approving manner. A smile appeared on his face as he spoke to him.


    "Not bad, truly. It seems you do have talent as a formations expert. I''ve decided to ept your offer. You are my first official follower."


    John felt somewhat awkward saying those words, as if he was doing Adam an immense favor by allowing Adam to follow him, but based on what he had seen so far from Adam''s personality, John was sure that this was exactly the type of response he was looking for.


    Adam''s face quickly beamed into one of unbridled pride. His nose stuck high into the sky as he patted John on the shoulder in a simr manner.


    "I knew my brilliance would be seen by you sooner thanter. I''ll humbly ept your offer."


    John stared at Adam for a moment before turning around and continuing on the path to the third trial.


    ''Dealing with Adam is going to be a willpower test on its own, isn''t it?''

 Chapter 150 - Start Of The Third Test

    John was unsure of what exactly he was getting into by allowing Adam to follow him, but he was sure it was going to cause many headaches in the future. However, he could tell that Adam was a sincere person through all his embellishments, and so John had a good impression of him.


    Also, if Adam truly turned out to be a formations expert, that would be invaluable in the future, and John would not pass up on such a thing.


    The two of them followed the path out of the city, which pierced into the nearby forest. Just likest time, the pathway was lined with beautiful trees in full bloom. Flowers of every color appeared all around, and the gentle wind nudged some of the blossoms off the trees, creating a mesmerizing rainfall of flowers.


    Many tranquil streams of blue colored water flowed by. Beautiful bridges with intricate craftsmanship crossed over each stream, and numerous types of fish were seen swimming in the streams below.


    "This Sect sure is beautiful," Adammented. John nodded his head in agreement.


    "It truly is, and the main sect grounds are even more so," John replied.


    "You''ve seen the main sect grounds?" Adam asked in surprise.


    "Yep. I''ve had a...unique rtionship with the Heavenly Lightning Sect for the past few months, although I''m still required to take the entrance exam like everyone else."


    "Well, that makes sense. I heard that there''s some sort of ritual or baptism for all who wish to enter the sect, and that it takes ce once a year. Without this baptism, no one can enter the sect officially," Adam replied, causing John toe to an understanding of why he was unable to directly join the sect.


    ''I wonder what type of ritual is so important as to be the main requirement for joining the sect?''


    John pushed these thoughts aside, as the truth would soon reveal itself. The two of them continued to walk down the scenic path for some time before they once more came to a clearing in the forest. Their eyebrows raised slightly at the sight before them.


    A massive four sided pagoda, several hundred yards wide and nearly one thousand yards tall stood before them. Its walls were painted dark grey, and it exhibited the same detailed level of craftsmanship as the rest of the sect grounds. Intricate red eaves jutted out of the building every dozen yards, revealing that the tower had many floors. Dozens of doors existed at the bottom of the tower.


    A crowd had gathered before the trial, and there was a line formed in front of each of the many doors. Although John and Adam had cleared the second trial extremely fast, they had been in the middle of the pack during the first trial, and many had started the second trial before them.


    An Elder stood at the very front of the building, and sat there with his eyes closed, as if the trial had nothing to do with him. John and Adam walked forward to the crowd, and joined one of the lines.


    "Excuse me, do you know what type of test this trial is?" John asked the girl in front of him. The girl had long brown hair and was quite tall for her age, nearly the same height as John. She wore exotic looking leather armor, making her look like a battle barbarian.


    She turned around and her hawk-like eyes inspected both John and Adam before responding.


    "No one really knows. The Elder in front of the building instructed us to form lines in front of the door and wait for it to light up before entering one by one."


    "Thanks," John replied. It seemed like he would have to enter the trail to figure out what type of test it was.


    The line gradually moved forward, with each door lighting up in various time increments, indicating that not everyone passed or failed the trial in the same amount of time. John had his suspicions regarding the trial, but wasn''t sure enough to make any concrete guesses yet.


    "What type of test do you think it will be?" Adam asked John curiously.


    "I can''t say for sure, but this is the trial that decides if one bes a sect disciple or not. Our essence Qi and talent, as well as our soul and perceptions have been tested already. I doubt there will be a body test, as the Heavenly Lightning Sect is an essence Qi based sect, so...I think it will be some sort ofbat test," John replied.


    Adam thought about it for a moment. "That sounds usible. It wouldn''t make sense to permit entry to those who aren''t at least somewhatbat capable, as the sect is primarily abat based sect," Adam agreed.


    John had expected Adam to be slightly nervous at his guess, given that he was a formations expert and not abat expert.


    "Aren''t you slightly concerned if it is abat test? Your essence Qi barely passed the first test," John asked curiously.


    Adam smiled proudly, and a small object appeared in his hands. It was a circr object roughly six inches across and one inch thick, and many rune''s were engraved on its surface.


    "Not to fear, I have plenty of these killing formations, specifically for a test such as this," Adam replied with a confident tone.


    "Killing formation? Didn''t the Vice Sect Leader say no outside treasure are allowed?"


    Adam smiled proudly once more, his chest puffed out as he responded. "No outside treasures, yes. But we are allowed to use treasures or formations we''ve personally made ourselves. And these killing formations have been made by me personally."


    John inspected the formation disk once more. As he studied it closer, he could tell that the craftsmanship of the runes on its surface was much less profound than any of the other runes he had seen before, as if crafted by an amateur.


    ''I suppose it makes sense that it''s this shoddy, given that he''s only started out on the formation path. I just hope it''s enough to pass the test, or him being my follower is all for naught.''


    The two of them continued to talk as the line slowly but surely crept forward, until John watched the barbarian-like woman enter the door. He waited in line for nearly thirty minutes before the door once more lit up, signaling that it was his turn to enter.


    "You''re up next. Good luck once inside, although I''m sure you won''t need it," Adam stated while giving John a thumbs up.


    John nodded towards Adam. "Good luck yourself. Don''t let me down after I''ve officially epted you as a follower," John stated, trying to give Adam some extra motivation. He knew Adam was a prideful person, and such a statement would only increase his desire to prove his worth.


    "Don''t worry, a sect such as the Heavenly Lightning Sect can''t hinder a great man such as myself."


    John shook his head and walked forward. He entered the door of light without pausing, and immediately found himself inside arge room one hundred yards wide and tall. The stone walls were light grey, and various light formations lit up the entire room.


    Just as John was about to question what type of test this truly was, he heard a voice fill the room.


    "Fight for as long as you can."


    Roar!


    A loud roar echoed throughout the room, and John found himself face to face with a profound beast that had appeared out of thin air.

 Chapter 151 - Battling Golden Mane Lions

    A profound beast appeared in front of John, and had materialized out of nowhere, most likely the work of some formation. However, unlike the illusion formation, this beast was corporeal, and was able to cause real damage.


    "A Golden Mane Lion? It appeared out of nowhere, so I''m guessing it''s a formation instead of it being an actual lion. Although the strength should be the same."


    The lion in front of John was a Golden Mane Lion, which was nearly six feet tall and fifteen feet long from head to tail. It had arge golden mane, which gave it its name, as well as razor sharp ws jutting from each of its paws. Its mouth wasrger than John''s head, and many sharp teeth jutted from its mouth.


    Its power was at the early Qi Condensation realm, which caused John to frown somewhat. He had been hoping for a good fight, but the lion was far too weak to provide that.


    "It said to fight as long as I can, so I''m guessing that as soon as I defeat it, another beast will take its ce. Let''s test it out,"


    The lion roared and pounced towards John, at which point he took out his scythe. Although he could easily defeat the animal barehanded, he was sure that strength preservation was more important than having a good fight during a test.


    The lion rapidly approached John, and its powerful w swung out towards him. John quickly dodged to the side, easily avoiding the attack.


    Thanks to his powerful body, as well as opening the Limit of Speed in his body, John''s natural movement speed was nearly equivalent to a movement technique on its own. If the Supreme Battle Art and Immortal Asura Transformation Art were thrown in on top of that, his speed would be incredibly terrifying.


    Slice!


    Before the lion could react, a ck scythe rapidly sliced towards its outstretched w, severing it from the rest of its body.


    Roar!


    The lion roared out in pain and tried to back up, but quickly stumbled to the ground due to its missing limb. John seized the moment and dashed forward quickly. His scythe de came vertically down towards the lions head, and pierced its skull before it could react. The lion twitched for a moment before it copsed.


    After dying, its body slowly dissipated into thin air, revealing that it was indeed a beast created by a formation and not a real one.


    "Surely that''s not all," John remarked.


    Just as he spoke up, light shed within therge room, and three more Golden Mane Lions appeared. They were each identical to the first one, and their powerful roars reverberated throughout the room.


    "More of you? Give me something a bit more challenging," John mumbled before dashing directly into the midst of the lions.


    Despite being three in number, their power was far beneath his notice. Just like the first lion, the three lions were defeated and killed in short order, without John having to utilize his most powerful techniques. Just his body alone was strong enough to make short work of the three lions.


    The bodies dissipated, and another sh of light filled the room. John''s eyes lit up slightly as he stared at the beast that had just appeared.


    It was another Golden Mane Lion, however¡­


    "This one is in the mid Qi Condensation realm. That''s more like it!" A smile appeared on John''s face as he stomped down on the ground and rapidly dashed towards the lion. Only something in his realm could make him slightly feel the thrill of battle, although even then it was just slightly.


    The lion roared at John before it too dashed towards him, unleashing a powerful w attack.


    Boom!


    Scythe and ws collided, and both the lion and John were knocked back slightly.


    "It has a much stronger defense than the previous lions."


    John''s scythe shed forward once more, aiming for the lion''s neck. The lion quickly raised its paw once more, and sessfully parried the attack.


    John suddenly let go of his scythe and dashed past the lions outstretched w. The lion had been expecting John to pull his scythe back and unleash another attack, but the boy had appeared directly before its chest before it could react.


    A powerful fist sailed forward, directly colliding with the front chest of the lion.


    Boom!


    A loud boom echoed out, and the sound of cracking ribs echoed throughout the room as the lion was knocked back dozens of yards. John used his essence Qi to quickly suction his scythe back into his hands, before he dashed forward as quickly as he could.


    Bang!


    A scythe collided with the back of the still tumbling lion, piercing deep into its body.


    Roar!


    The lion roared out in pain as the scythe carved a deep wound several feet long and deep into its back. Blood flowed out profusely as John once more struck out several more times at the lion. Some of the attacks were blocked at thest moment, but mostnded directly on the body of the lion, causing its body to be more and more gruesome.


    Before long, the lion copsed on the ground, and its body dissipated soon after. Before long, three shes of light filled the room, and three more lions appeared in front of John. Each of them were mid Qi Condensation beasts.


    A small smile appeared on John''s face once more.


    "That''s more like it!"

 Chapter 152 - A Bet Amonst Elders

    In a separate room in therge tower, dozens of Elders were gathered around arge formation. The formation projected the images of what was happening in each room, showing the Elders how each fighter was doing.


    Most of the eyes were glued to one particr screen, including those of Elder Ragur. The group had just watched John easily defeat the early Qi Condensation lions, before defeating the mid Qi Condensation Lion in impressive fashion as well.


    "This boy you found is truly not bad Elder Ragur. He was able to defeat that mid Qi Condensation Lion fairly easily, which is the limit for most of those who pass this test," one Eldermented.


    "True, he shows quite some promise. His battle instincts are incredibly sharp, and he''s able to grasp every opportunity without hesitation. Not only that, but his body is quite amazing as well. Just a single punch was able to crack the ribs of the lion," another Eldermented.


    Many of the surrounding Elder''s nodded their heads in agreement with the words just spoken. John had truly shown impressive battle instincts, such as when he dropped his scythe tond a fist blow on the lion.


    Most cultivators throught that letting go of their weapon was suicide in battle, but John was able tond a vicious blow by doing just that, showing that his instincts triumphed overmon logic.


    "He''s also able to dictate the flow of battle incredibly well, and never lets go of the initiative. This is something we normally have to beat into our disciples before they can fully understand it. I can see why he caught your eye, Elder Ragur."


    Elder Ragur stood there watching the screen of John''s room with a beaming smile. So far, John had met his expectations, and he was looking forward to how John was about to deal with the next trial.


    "Hmph, so what," a voice suddenly spoke up, causing all those nearby to look towards its source. A frown appeared on his face as Elder Ragur looked towards the source of the voice as well, but already knew who it was before he looked.


    "Elder Harn, do you have something to say?" Elder Ragur asked, keeping his tone as civil as possible.


    "Sure his battle instincts are impressive, and his body is powerful, but he''s shown nothing impressive other than that. He''s shown no impressive battle arts yet, and his overallbat prowess caps out at this stage if you ask me. If that''s all he has to go on, then I''m afraid he will fall during this next battle against the three mid Qi Condensation beasts," Elder Harn stated out loud in a confident tone.


    The nearby Elder''s remained silent on the matter, as they knew the antagonistic rtionship Elder Ragur and Elder Harn had.


    Elder Ragur frowned for a moment before a smile broke out on his face.


    "Then, would you like to make a wager on John''s performance?"


    A smile appeared on Elder Harn''s face as well, as if he had been expecting such a question. "Sure. Since you proposed the bet, you make the conditions."


    Elder Ragur thought about it for a moment. The words of the Elder who had watched over John for three months echoed in his mind. "His battle prowess...is terrifying."


    Although he had never seen John fight at full strength, he trusted the judgement of that Elder. Also, the attack John had sent out in the Enforcement Halls was incredibly powerful as well, and had not been used yet.


    He smiled towards Elder Harn and spoke up. "I bet that John makes it to the next stage of this trial, and not only that, butsts for at least five minutes. And I bet ten thousand spirit stones."


    The Elders in the room all had looks of surprise appear on their faces. Clearly Elder Ragur had incredible confidence in John''s battle prowess.


    Elder Harn had a look of surprise appear on his face before he broke out in a heartyughter.


    "Five minutes? And ten thousand spirit stones? Are you serious? That would ce him in the top five for talent out of the tens of thousands of juniors participating. Fine, I''ll dly take you up on that offer."


    Elder Ragur smiled and paid Elder Harn gave him no more attention. His gaze returned to the formation, and watched the screen depicting John''s battle.


    ¡­


    Back in the room, John was in the midst of fighting the three Golden Mane Lions. Many small wounds were opened up on his body as he dashed in between the three lions, narrowly avoiding their attacks andshing out with his own.


    However, the damage to the lions was also superficial. Many of the watching Elder''s noticed his struggle to inflict any damage, and figured this was the end of the road for him. Only Elder Ragur had a look of confidence on his face.


    "I suppose fighting three mid Qi Condensation beasts with just the power of my body alone is a bit too much. I suppose it''s time to kick it up a notch."


    John suddenly stopped, causing many of the Elders to believe that he was about to give up. A smile appeared on Elder Harns face, and he was just about to speak up in a mocking tone, when¡­


    Supreme Battle Art!


    An incredibly powerful aura exploded off John''s body, causing the nearby air to ripple under its power. John''s robes violently fluttered about under the powerful aura, and all the Elder''s watching had a stupefied look on their faces, Elder Ragur included.


    "How..How does he know that technique? Is he a disciple of the Supreme Battle Sect?" one Elder asked in confusion? The Supreme Battle Art was the signature battle art of the Supreme Battle Sect, and only disciples could know it.


    "He..He''s a disciple of the Supreme Battle Sect. Do you want to exin what''s going on here, Elder Ragur?" Elder Harn asked in a raised voice. Clearly this was outside of his expectations.


    Elder Ragur remained silent for a moment, as he was just as surprised as the rest of them. However, he quickly maintained hisposure.


    "We''ve already done a thorough background check on John. He is from a small n located at the coast, and is not a disciple of the Supreme Battle Sect. However, I am unsure of how he came to learn such a technique."


    Heated discussions quickly broke out amongst the Elders, discussing this unforeseen event.


    With the power of the Supreme Battle Art, John defeated the three mid Qi Condensation lions after several minutes of intense battle. His breathing was heavy, and there were a few small wounds on his body, but his power was still at its peak.


    Their bodies dissipated, and John figured the test was at an end before another sh of light appeared in his vision.


    Roar!


    The roar echoed throughout the room, and John could feel his bones rattle from the power of the roar.


    His stared at the neer, and eyes lit up in happiness.


    "Ate Qi Condensation Golden Lion? Finally, a good battle has arrived!"

 Chapter 153 - Stunning The Elders Once More

    It was consideredmon knowledge that fighting above your realm and killing such an opponent was almost impossible. Even a minor realm increase was no exception.


    While there were geniuses that were able to contest against an opponent above their realm and fight evenly, almost none of them were able to defeat or kill those opponents. Defeating an opponent was ten times harder than fighting evenly against one.


    As such, the final fight of the third trial was against an opponent a minor realm above each cultivator.


    For cultivators at the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, they would have to fight a half-step Core Formation beast, which was not quite Core Formation yet, but stronger than ate Qi Condensation expert.


    Since John was in the Mid Qi Condensation Realm, he was situated against ate Qi Condensation beast.


    In the Heavenly Lightning Sect forest that he had spent thest three months in, John had fought hundreds of Qi Condensation beasts. Most were early Qi Condensation beasts, but there were many mid Qi Condensation beasts that he fought when he was in the early Qi Condensation Realm for both body and essence cultivation.


    With the help of the Divine Reaping Scythe, Supreme Battle Art, and Immortal Asura Transformation Art, John was able to defeat these mid Qi Condensation beasts, doing what most considered impossible.


    He had managed to barely break through to the mid Qi Condensation Realm days before the entrance exam, which drastically increased his power. However, due to running out of human blood essence, John''s body cultivation was still at the early Qi Condensation Realm.


    As such, fighting thete Qi Condensation beast was going to be much harder than his fights before, due to his body cultivation being two whole minor realms below the lion''s power.


    ''This is going to be a lot harder than the fights in the forest. But...I still think I should be able to manage. However, I really need to figure out this human blood essence situation soon.''


    A pitch ck scythe reappeared in John''s hands, and its several hundred pounds of weight wasn''t even enough to cause his body to sink down slightly. A small frown appeared on John''s face as he inspected the weapon in his hands.


    Small chips were visible on the scythe de.


    ''This weapon is starting to be obsolete. Not only is its weight too low for me to fully utilize the strength of my body, but it''s also starting to show wear, affecting its performance. I''ll need to get a new weapon after this exam.''


    There were a few things John had on his list to upgrade after the exam. The first was his scythe, but he also needed new techniques, such as a movement technique, and essence attacks.


    His body, with his Limit of Speed unleashed was incredibly fast, but an essence movement technique on top of that would make his speed incredible. Also, his only essence attack of note right now as the Divine Reaping Scythe, but it was incredibly strenuous on his essence Qi, and he could only unleash it a few times before running out of essence Qi.


    John snapped out of his thoughts and looked up towards the Golden Mane Lion that was rapidly approaching him. Unlike thest fights, the power of the Lion was enough to threaten his life if he wasn''t careful.


    ''I could stall the battle out by using the Supreme Battle Art and Divine Reaping Scythe and slowly wear it down, but since it''s a beast created by a formation, I don''t think stamina is an issue for it. As such, only brute force and overwhelming power will result in victory.''


    Supreme Battle Art!


    An explosive aura once again radiated outwards from John''s body, causing his robes and hair to billow as if in a heavy wind. His aura kept climbing until it reached its peak state.


    The lion quickly reached John, sending out a powerful w attack. Its power was several times stronger than the previous lion''s w attacks, and John didn''t care to look down on it.


    Boom!


    Scythe and w collided, and John was knocked back dozens of yards while the lion was only knocked back two yards. John felt as if a mountain had just struck him, and his arms rattled from the force of the impact, and a small amount of blood escaped from his lips.


    ¡­


    "Haha, seems like this is the end of the road for your boy. I will admit he''s quite impressive, but that five minute mark is starting to seem quite far away for him. I''ll graciously ept your ten thousand spirit stone donation," Elder Harn said to Elder Ragur in a mocking tone.


    Elder Ragur frowned at the words said to him, but didn''t respond. His eyes stayed glued to the formation screens. He knew John still had more in the tank, and was looking forward to the fight toe.


    Elder Harn was still gloating about his soon to be acquired wealth, and was just about to make another snidement, when all of a sudden, his words caught in his throat. Him, as well as every other Elder in the room had their eyes glued to the screen in a disbelieving fashion.


    ¡­


    After being knocked back by the Lion, John knew he was just wasting time by fighting at his current strength.


    ''I think it''s about time to go all out! Let me end this as fast as possible.''


    As the lion once again charged directly towards John, his already impressive battle aura began to rapidly rise once more, and his eyes began to slowly turn color. Before long, his eyes werepletely red in color, and his pupils had be vertical, like the pupils of a snake.


    Before while using the Supreme Battle Art, his battle aura was like that of a powerful battle lord. However, his battle aura hadpletely changed in the blink of an eye, and all the Elder''s watching felt as if they were staring at a bloodthirsty demon god.


    Not only was the power he was revealing much stronger than anything a mid Qi Condensation cultivator should have, the very nature of that power chilled every Elder to their core.

 Chapter 154 - Fighting The Late Qi Condensation Lion

    John relished in the power and nature of the aura he was emitting for a short moment. The power he felt as he unleashed the Immortal Asura Transformation Art was intoxicating, and he couldn''t get enough of it.


    However, the strain it put on his body was immense, and John knew he wouldn''t be able to fight for more than a minute or two before the technique would end.


    A smile appeared on his face as he stared at the rapidly approaching lion, and John kicked off the ground violently and dashed forward. The solid stone floor trembled greatly from the force of his stride.


    Boom!


    Scythe and w collided once more, and both John and the Lion were knocked back ever so slightly, revealing equal amounts of strength.


    "Not bad! Again"


    John unleashed his body''s strength to his fullest, and dashed forward once more. Scythe and ws collided over and over, causing the room to tremble from the force of the collisions. John slowly but surely started to gain a small advantage over the lion.


    However, his arms were shaking greatly from the force of the collisions, and his body was slowly but surely starting to take damage from both the lion and the Immortal Asura Transformation Art.


    Blood began to flow from the lion''s paws, and it quickly dashed backwards, narrowly dodging one of his scythe attacks.


    It opened its mouth, and an incredibly powerful ball of Qi began to gather, before it shot out in a powerful beam directly towards John. The air rippled as the beam cut directly towards John.


    "Hmm?"


    John had never seen a beast use such a move before, as all the beasts he fought before had used their bodies. This was the first time he had seen a beast use a Qi attack. However, his face remained calm as he stared at the approaching attack.


    Boom!


    John narrowly managed to dodge the attack, and the attack exploded violently against the wall of the room far behind him. The explosion of Qi radiated outwards and washed over him from behind, causing John to lose his bnce slightly.


    The lion seized this opportunity and unleashed another powerful Qi attack towards John.


    ''Dodging these attacks in such a small room is just going to cause more of a headache than taking them head on. In that case¡­''


    John suddenly raised his scythe above his head, and it began to glow powerfully in an ominous color.


    Divine Reaping Scythe!


    He swung down with all his might and sent out the divine reaping scythe towards the Qi attack. An incredibly sharp and powerful scythe image of ck and red Qi cut directly towards the lions attack, and the two attacks collided in mid air. John''s face paled slightly as he felt his essence Qi reserves drop by over a third.


    The Divine Reaping Scythe cleaved the lion''s Qi attack in two, causing the two halves to lose some power and branch off to each side of him.


    Boom!


    The two halves of the Qi attack collided against the wall behind him once more, but their diminished power didn''t cause a problem for John this time around.


    The Divine Reaping Scythe cleaved directly into the lion''s Qi attack and continued to sail forth rapidly without losing much power at all. The technique focused on unleashing an incredibly fast and sharp scythe image, and was much more profound than the attack unleashed by the lion.


    Slice!


    The attacknded on the lion''s front chest before it could even react. Arge wound deep enough to see bones opened up on the lion, and blood began to flow out.


    Roar!


    The lion roared in pain and sent out another Qi attack towards John. He was already prepared for such an attack, and had started channeling his Divine Reaping Scythe once more.


    ''Even if Ind another attack like that, it still won''t be enough to kill it. I need to unleash this attack directly!''


    Much like the Myriad Annihtion Scythe, the Divine Reaping Scythe was at its most powerful state when concentrated on the scythe de itself. Essence Qi cultivators fought at range, and so they would send out the attack at range like John just had. Fighting up close against a beast an entire minor realm above them would be tantamount to suicide, as onended attack from the lion would be able to threaten their lives.


    However, John had his powerful body to ensure his safety up close against the lion, and so decided to unleash the Divine Reaping Scythe directly with the scythe itself.


    John stared at the approaching Qi attack, and dodged it at thest moment before kicking off the ground with all his strength. He rapidly approached the lion, and his scythe swung down just as he reached it.


    The lion roared once more at his counterattack, and it once again opened its mouth to send out a powerful Qi attack directly towards him in an effort to deter John''s attack. The lion felt its immense power, and knew it would be a fatal attack if itnded on its body.


    ''Hmph, I''ve already traded blows against an opponent a realm above me before, and I''ll do it again!"


    Just like when he fought the Stalking Mantis assassin, John was once again fully willing to trade blows to kill the lion. Unlikest time however, John had greatly increased the defensive power of his body by unleashing the Immortal Asura Transformation Art, which gave him much greater confidence in surviving without life threatening injuries.


    John swung down with his scythe, and met the lions Qi attack head on.


    His scythe directly carved through the Qi beam, while the remaining power of the lion''s attacknded directly on his body. John grit his teeth in pain as the attack sheared flesh directly off his body, exposing muscle and bone, but continued unflinchingly with his attack.


    Slice!


    His Divine Reaping Scythe carved directly through the lion''s attack, and reached it before it could react. The scythes de smashed directly against the lion''s skull, and after a brief moment of struggle cleaved into its head. The lion''s skull was directly cleaved in two, and its body copsed lifelessly to the floor.


    John stared at the lifeless lion''s corpse, before it slowly began to dissipate. His aura rapidly faded, and he once again returned to his normal state.


    His breathing was incredibly heavy and his face pale, as he had just used the Immortal Asura Transformation Art as well as two Divine Reaping Scythes. He had also taken the lions powerful attack directly head on, resulting in serious wounds all over his body.


    Pain and fatigue washed over him, and John copsed on the floor, struggling to maintain his consciousness.

 Chapter 155 - Recuperating

    "What...what just happened?" An Elder in the formations roommented, but received no reply.


    The Elders had all been watching and discussing the various fights, with most of their eyes glued to the room John was fighting in. He had shown some promise in his initial fights, and the bet between the two Elders spiced up the otherwise mundane watching experience.


    After his initial collisions with the Golden Mane Lion, many of the Elders guessed that Elder Harn was correct, and that John would notst five minutes against it.


    However, his aura and power had unexpectedly exploded to a level well beyond what a Mid Qi Condensation cultivator should be capable of, and he had also shown off an immensely profound and powerful scythe battle art.


    These two things allowed him to not only fight against the beast, but actually y it. None of the Elders had expected such a thing, and all had been stunned into silence.


    Elder Harn stood there with an incredibly sour expression on his face. He wanted to use the boy of cheating somehow, but he knew that was impossible. The power was clearly the boy''s own power, and doing such a thing would only disgrace himself.


    Elder Ragur stood there in equally stunned silence. His initial estimate of Johnsting five minutes against the beast was a bet of passion in the moment, and even he was unsure if John would be able tost that long.


    However, John''s performance far exceeded his expectations. His stunned silence soon turned to happiness.


    "I''ll collect those spirit stonester, so be sure to gather them for me," Elder Ragur turned to the still silent Elder Harn and spoke out, before his figure suddenly vanished.


    ¡­


    Johnid on the floor for several moments before he finally managed to climb back on his feet. His stance was unsteady and his breathing incredibly heavy, but as long as he maintained consciousness, John was unwilling to lie on the floor like that.


    After regaining hisposure, John inspected his body and let out a sigh of relief.


    ''Although I have some pretty nasty wounds from taking thatst attack head on, none of it is life threatening. I''m mostly just exhausted from using the Divine Reaping Scythe on top of the Immortal Asura Transformation Art.


    However¡­.These wounds are going to take quite some time to heal, and the Life Mist Healing Pills I have are only really good for healing Mist Creation Cultivators¡­''


    Although it was ineffective for his cultivation, a Life Mist Healing Pill still appeared in John''s hands.


    "This is myst one¡­"


    From his battles in the pocket realm, as well as the ancient forest, John had used up all his healing pills.


    "After I''m done with this entrance exam, one of the first things I should do is get a new batch of more effective healing pills."


    John raised the pill to his mouth and was about to swallow it, when a voice behind him suddenly spoke out.


    "That won''t be necessary."


    John quickly turned around and was greeted by a familiar figure. Elder Ragur stood there inspecting John''s condition, while a satisfied smile hung on his face.


    "You really do manage to give me surprise after surprise," Elder Ragur stated in a happy tone, his satisfaction with John''s performance evident.


    John had first given him a surprise with his Lightning Attribute Body, then his revealing of his Innate Variant Body. Now, he had revealed his incrediblebat prowess, shocking the Elder once more.


    A small pouch appeared in Elder Ragur''s hands, and he threw it over towards John before he could respond. John caught the pouch and quickly inspected the contents inside. A deep medicinal fragrance emanated from the pouch, and John felt his body be refreshed just from smelling its contents.


    "Those are Spiritgrass Healing Pills, which are very effective for Qi Condensation cultivators," Elder Ragur said as he watched John inspect the pills closely.


    John could feel a vibrant medicinal aura emanating from the pills. It was much better than his Life Mist Healing Pills.


    "Good stuff! Thanks," John replied without standing on courtesy. He took out one pill while storing the rest in his spatial ring.


    The pill was slightly bitter, but as soon as the pill entered his stomach, John could feel the gentle yet powerful healing properties of the pill circte throughout his body. Before long, John could see his superficial wounds begin to slowly heal before his eyes. His body began to feel lighter, and his pain began to slowly subside.


    "The light wounds should be healed within the hour, while the heavier wounds will take about a day. You''re in luck though, the next trial only starts once all the participants have either failed or passed the third trial, which should happen in about a day or so," Elder Ragur said with a smile on his face.


    He was in an incredibly good mood, as he had just won ten thousand spirit stones from Elder Harn. Not only that, but John''s talent was beyond his expectations, and the more talented he was, the more benefits he would receive from having brought such a talent to the sect.


    After healing his lighter wounds, John followed Elder Ragur out of the room while discussing the test that he had just taken.


    ¡­


    Later that night, John sat in a small room and focused on healing his body and recovering his peak strength. After the third trial had beenpleted, Elder Ragur escorted John to where the fourth trial would take ce.


    It was a massive circr building, hundreds of yards wide and several dozen yards tall, and was painted pitch ck, giving off an ominous feeling. Outside of the building, hundreds of small cottages were avable to rest in.


    After exining that the next trial would start in a day, Elder Ragur left, leaving John to himself. John entered one of the small cottages and began to recuperate.


    "I''m not sure what the next test will be, but I need to make sure I''m at my peak state for it."


    John closed his eyes and focused on guiding the medicinal properties of the Spirtgrass Healing Pill through his body, slowly healing the remaining wounds. He also focused on restoring his essence Qi reserves, and before long, it was back to being full.


    "I have plenty of beast blood essence, so I won''t have to worry about obtaining more for quite some time. I wonder how Adam did in the third trial."


    After healing to full, John decided to leave his small cottage and take a walk outside, and see if he could find Adam. He stood up and opened the door, and a look of disbelief appeared on his face.


    "J-John, help me!"

 Chapter 156 - Trial Of Pain

    On the small staircase leading to the cottage, Adam was lying there on his stomach, acting as if he was dying. John quickly rushed forward towards Adam to inspect him, but found no obvious wounds or reason for him lying on the ground.


    "Are you alright? What happened?" John asked, thinking that perhaps the wounds were internal.


    Adam dramatically turned over to lie on his back, and a look of anguish appeared on his face. John was just about to ask what was wrong once more, when a loud growl escaped Adams stomach.


    "I-I''m...so hungry!"


    Bang!


    John punched Adam directly on his chest, causing him to shriek out in pain.


    "What the fuck are you doing?" Adam shouted out and hurriedly stood up while rubbing the spot that John had just punched. Although John hadn''t punched that hard, it still hurt quite a bit.


    "That''s what I should be asking. Why are you acting like you''re dying when you''re just hungry?" John shouted out.


    Adam''s rage quickly subsided, and his face once more appeared to his normal prideful look.


    "I was just testing you to see if you were a good friend, but it turns out you''re a lousy friend. Who punches a friend in need?" Adam stated in a condescending tone, as if John was the one who faulted him.


    John stared at Adam in disbelief for a moment before silently turning, preparing to walk back into the cottage.


    "W-w-wait wait wait, I was joking" Adam hurriedly stated.


    Another growl escaped his stomach, and a look of embarrassment appeared on his face, causing John to be slightly surprised. It was the first time he had seen Adam with any type of look but undeserved pride.


    "So you do know how to be embarrassed," John stated bluntly, causing Adam to blush once more.


    "Uhh, I forgot to pack food before leaving for this entrance exam...Would you happen to have any spare food?" Adam asked while rubbing the back of his head.


    John looked at Adam as if he were an idiot. Even though they could go much longer without food and water than normal mortals, cultivators still had to eat and drink.


    Only once one ascended to the Heaven Tribtion Realm and shed their mortal body would a cultivator be able to go without food and drink indefinitely, thriving on only the Qi in the air itself.


    After a moment of silence, John walked back into his cottage, causing a look of disappointment to appear on Adams'' face.


    "You can enter, I have plenty of food," John stated without turning around, causing Adam''s look of disappointment to vanish. He hurriedly followed John into his cottage. The two of them ate while talking of their experience in the third trial.


    "I managed to kill thete Qi Condensation Golden Mane Lion, and my formations dominated it without it being able to resist them slightly. You see, I told you I''m a formation genius. But I ran out of killing formations while fighting the three lions and was unable to pass. If only I had made more, I would have ughtered them mercilessly," Adam stated, telling the story of his time inside the third trial.


    ''It seems like killing a beast in the same realm is the requirement for passing the third test,'' John thought while listening to Adam describe his battle in an embellished manner. Adam''s cultivation was at the Late Qi Condensation Realm, and so he had to defeat the Late Qi Condensation Lion to pass the trial.


    After spending quite some time describing his heroics within the third trial, Adam paused for a breath before asking John about how his trial went.


    "I managed to kill a Late Qi Condensation beast," John stated bluntly before taking another bite of the meat in his hands, not bothering to embellish any details.


    Adam''s eyes widened in surprise, and he took a moment to respond. "Wow, and I thought I was a braggart, but even I wouldn''t have theck of shame required to lie about killing a beast above my cultivation realm. How did you really do?"


    Adam refused to believe John''s words, and John didn''t feel the need to make him believe them.


    "I did what I said I did, you can believe my words if you want to or not, it makes no difference to me."


    Adam stared at John in a disbelieving fashion, butmented no further. The two of them continued to eat and discuss various things through the night, and before long, the start of the next trial came.


    ¡­


    Early the next morning, a crowd of several thousand youths gathered in front of the massive circr building. John and Adam stood amongst the crowd, waiting for the Elders in charge to describe the next trial.


    "I guess you were right. There were tens of thousands of youths that entered this entrance exam, and only several thousand remain," John said to Adam as he looked around the crowd.


    Adam has stated that the failure rate for entering the sect was roughly eight five percent, and it seemed as if his guess was correct. Passing the third trial was required to enter the sect, and all those gathered here had done so.


    However, passing the third trial was the requirement to join as an Outer Disciple, and no one wanted to settle for just that. Every youth present was eager for the start of the fourth trial, and the chance to prove their worth to the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    Before long, an Elder walked in front of the massive crowd and spoke up in a loud voice.


    "Congrattions for passing the third trial. You have proven that you''re the elite of thisnd, and are worthy of entering the Heavenly Lightning Sect. However, there are more trials toe, and you all have only joined as an Outer Disciple so far. To advance further, you will need to pass the next trial."


    Excited discussions broke out among the crowd, and the Elder waved his hand, asking for silence. The crowd eventually quieted down, at which point the Elder continued.


    "The journeys of cultivators are not easy. Only those with the firmest of wills are able to walk down the path and achieve heights others can only dream of. As such, the next trial will test your will, your resolve, and your determination. The next trial is the Trial of Pain."

 Chapter 157 - Fearful Youths

    Hushed murmurs immediately broke out throughout the crowd of several thousand youths. The faces of most of the youths paled slightly at the name of the trial, and many started to break down nervously.


    All the youths remaining were the elite youths of the Yuan Continent. Other than the Four Great Sects, each of these youths came from powers that stood at the top of the Yuan Continent. Most of these youths were pampered their entire lives, and enjoyed a life of luxury and pomp.


    They were given the best cultivation resources, and we''re allowed to grow in a controlled environment. They rarely felt pain, and such a thing was almost unthinkable for their elevated lifestyles.


    However, the Heavenly Lightning Sect was one of the Four Great Sects, and they wouldn''t allow pampered youths to be inner disciples.


    While most of the youths had looks of anxiousness or fear on their faces, some lookedpletely rxed. Clearly they had a rougher upbringing, and were unafraid of a little bit of pain.


    John''s head swiveled about, curious as to what reactions were going on in the crowd. He observed many of the anxious and fearful faces, and a few who werepletely at calm.


    At the front of the crowd, the five most prominent youths stood once more. Mason, Russell, and June each had calm looks on their face, showing that they were unmoved by such a trial. Mae had a look of slight worry, as she detested feeling pain, while Hartley had a look of disgust on his face.


    "Ugghh, Trial of Pain? My magnificent golden robes are going to get dirty, Aren''t they?" Hartley Randel scoffed, unhappy with the trial toe. The prince clearly ced great importance on his clean outward appearance.


    Next to him, Mae nodded her head timidly in agreement.


    "Haha, what''s there to worry about? It''s just a bit of pain. If you can''t handle that, you don''t deserve to call yourself a cultivator," Russell shouted out enthusiastically. Clearly, he was looking forward to such a trial, and had great confidence in doing well.


    John looked towards the five of them as they spoke up, before turning to Adam at his side.


    "What do you think of this tria-..."


    John''s words stopped as he stared at Adam in disbelief. Adam was slowly backing up, his face full of anxiety and slight fear.


    "What are you doing? Are you leaving?" John asked Adam.


    "I-I''m fine with being an Outer Disciple," Adam stated in an uneven voice while backing up still. John quickly dashed forward and caught Adams arm, causing him to jump slightly.


    "Didn''t you proudly state that you''re my first follower? How can I allow such a timid and scared cultivator to follow me? How about this, at least give the trial a shot. If the pain is too much to endure, then you can leave and I''ll be satisfied that you gave it a shot," John said to Adam.


    Although John had just met Adam recently, he could tell that beneath his prideful exterior was a good person. He had taken a liking to Adam, and wanted him to seed alongside him. Adam being his follower also represented John, and he wouldn''t allow his followers to be scared like this.


    Adam thought about it for a moment before he nodded his head in agreement.


    "Fine, I''ll try it."


    John nodded his head in approval and dragged Adam back to their original spot. The Elder in charge stood there for a while, allowing the various discussions to take ce before he once again raised his hand, and the crowd silenced once more.


    "The building behind me is where the Trial of Pain will take ce. Follow me if you wish to participate, otherwise stay here and wait for an Elder to escort you to the sect."


    The Elder turned around and began to walk towards the massive building behind them. It''s ominous pitch ck color made many feel uneasy. The youths followed the Elder, and John was surprised to see that several hundred youths had stayed behind, intent on skipping such a trial and instead be Outer Disciples.


    John shook his head in a disapproving manner, and continued to follow the Elder. Arge door, twenty yards wide and tall was at the base of the building. As the group approached, the door began to slowly part.


    The Elder entered the doorway, and the group of thousands of youths followed closely behind. John and Adam entered as well, and quickly looked around the massive circr interior.


    Light formations all around the interior of the building lit the room up, making it easy to see inside. The ck interior waspletely hollow, and only a small pedestal existed at the center of the room several hundred yards away. A formation line encircled the central pedestal, and had a radius of one hundred and fifty yards.


    The Elder turned to the group once more.


    "This is the Trial of Pain. The goal is simple, reach the pedestal in the center of the room. If you do so, you pass the trial. There will be no fighting allowed.


    All those who wish to partake in this trial, spread out around the edge of the building and wait for the trials to start. Do not cross the formation line until I say so."


    The youths all began to spread out around the room, making sure to avoid crossing the formation line as they did so. John started to move, but thought about something and turned to the Elder in charge of the trial.


    "Elder, you said there was no fighting allowed for this trial? Is that the only rule?" John asked curiously.


    "Along with the rules mentioned at the very start of the entrance exam, that is correct," the Elder confirmed.


    "Then, does this trial continue to affect those who copse into unconsciousness?" John asked another question.


    "No. Once one copses, the trial ceases to affect them. However, an Elder wille and escort them out if they do not regain consciousness after a certain amount of time," the Elder replied.


    John thanked the Elder and quickly returned to where Adam was standing.


    "What was that about?" Adam asked in a nervous tone, clearly anxious about the trial to start.


    "Oh, nothing to worry about," John replied. His rxed smile as he stared at Adam sent a shiver up Adam''s spine, and a bad feeling began to wash over him.

 Chapter 158 - Breezing Through

    John and Adam walked over to a rtively empty spot, and stood there in silence as they waited for the trial tomence.


    Once everyone was in ce, the Elder spoke up once more. His voice filled the entire massive room, allowing everyone to hear him clearly.


    "This trial will remain open for six hours. If you have not passed the trial within six hours, you will be eliminated. The trial will be easier over time, but those who finish first will have higher rankings within the Sect. You may proceed."


    The Elder waved his hand towards the central pedestal, and it began to glow in an ominous darkness. All those in the room soon felt a dreadful power begin to emanate from the pedestal, sending a chill up their spine. Many of the youths dropped to their knees, unable to take a step forward and begin the trial.


    "Haha, what''s there to be afraid of? You all disgust me," Russell yelled out before leaping into the formation.


    The eyes of everyone in the room looked towards Russell as he entered the formation. His expression changed slightly as he entered, but hended on his two feet and paused for a moment before starting to walk forward.


    His gritted teeth and slightly unstable steps revealed to everyone that even he was struggling slightly. His expression slowly became more unsightly as he continued to move forward, indicating that the trial became harder as one proceeded further into it.


    ''The Elder did mention that the trial is the hardest at the beginning and eases over time, so it must be quite painful as of this moment.''


    Soon after, June and Mason entered the trial as well, and began to proceed forward in a slow but steady manner. Mason had a calm and prideful look on his face, but everyone could see a tinge of pain lingering in his eyes.


    June had apletely rxed expression as she proceeded forward, and had the most steady steps of anyone inside.


    ''That lighting cultivation of hers seems like it would be quite painful, so this trial should be rtively easy for her.''


    Soon after, around half of the participants had entered the trial, with the other half still undecided. Those within all had looks of anguish on their faces, indicating the brutality of the trial. Many had copsed as soon as they entered the trial, and an Elder quickly escorted them away.


    "I think it''s about time we enter," John stated to Adam, but received no reply. He quickly turned around, and was unable to find Adam anywhere. His head swiveled left and right, and he quickly spotted Adam slowly but surely attempting to creep his way back to the entrance of the building.


    "Adam, what are you doing?" John yelled out.


    "I-I''ve decided that I''m fine bing an Outer Sect Disciple," Adam replied in an uneven voice.


    John shook his head and started walking towards Adam. Adam''s eyes widened slightly as he saw John approach and quickly turned to flee.


    "Oh no you don''t," John yelled, and he quickly unleashed his fastest movement to catch up to Adam.


    "Ahh!"


    Adam screamed out as John rapidly appeared in front of him before he could react. He quickly grabbed his arm, and began to drag Adam towards the formation line.


    "No, I give up, I''m fine with being an Outer Sect Disciple," Adam yelled as he attempted to pull his arm from John''s grip. However, he waspletely shocked to find that he was unable to make John''s grip budge slightly, despite being an entire minor realm higher in cultivation than John.


    Adam continued to plead for John to let go, but he refused to do so. His loud pleas entered the ears of all those who had yet to take the trial, and the Elder in charge looked towards the two of them curiously.


    "He couldn''t be thinking of-" the Elders thoughts trailed as he watched John forcefully drag Adam towards the start of the trial.


    Adam continued to struggle, but his pleas fell on deaf ears as John walked forward and entered the formation. Pain washed over his body, mind, and soul, but it was unable to make John flinch even slightly.


    ''Compared to the Lightning World Trial and the sinister gate murmurs, this is not even worth noting.''


    John had spent an entire month having his skin and muscles burned and ripped off in the lightning world, and had endured many other painful moments in his cultivation journey. To him, this trial felt like a slight breeze.


    Adam was forcefully dragged into the trial, and his pleas quickly turned into cries of pain as he felt the formation wash over him.


    "Gahh, let go, I give up"


    "Gahhh, I''m dying! Mercy!"


    John ignored the pleas and continued to walk forward.


    "Think of this trial as a tempering trial for your willpower. Endure it as long as you can," John stated bluntly.


    ''He''ll forgive me eventually, especially when he bes an Inner Sect Disciple. Besides, the meek and afraid will never walk far on the cultivation path. This will hopefully be an eye opener for him.''


    John steadily walked forward, with Adam''s arm in his tight grip. Adams wails continued to ring out, and those nearby in the trial curiously looked over through pained eyes to see what was happening.


    Each of them opened their eyes wide in surprise as they saw a boy steadily walk forward as if the formation didn''t exist, dragging another boy behind him who was screaming the entire time.


    Adams pained screams continued to ring out, and before long, he copsed into unconsciousness, clearly unable to withstand the pain of the trial.


    ''Finally, some quiet.''


    Although Adam had copsed into unconsciousness, John could tell that he was unharmed, and the Elder had confirmed his question earlier.


    Those nearby in the trial, as well as the Elder''s watching the trial, all stared at John with various expressions on their face.


    John continued to steadily walk forward, unaffected by the trial. Although the trial increased the level of pain he was feeling as he proceeded forward, it was still unable to affect him.


    He continued to pass those who had entered before him, and before long, he caught up to those in the front who were half way through the test. He easily passed by Mason, Mae and Hartley who were beginning to struggle with the trial. Mason grit his teeth as he watched John casually walk by, and attempted to match John''s pace, but quickly stopped as the pain that assaulted him nearly overwhelmed him.


    John soon reached Russell, who was in second ce, and passed him with ease. Russell too attempted to match his pace, but was unable to do so. John''s pace remained steady throughout the whole process, shocking all those watching.


    "What the hell? Does he even feel pain?" One youth grunted through gritted teeth as he watched John swiftly proceed through the trial.


    Soon after passing Russel, John caught up to June, who was in the front of the pack and only thirty yards frompletion. However, the pain began to grow tremendously the closer one got to the pedestal, and even June began to slow down her pace to withstand the pain from the trial.


    John smiled towards June as he passed her, and continued to walk forward while dragging the unconscious Adam behind him.


    June narrowed her eyes as a curious expression appeared on her face. She watched in a disbelieving fashion as John walked as if there was no pain assaulting him, and easily reached the pedestal in the center of the room.


    By the end of the trial, John could feel the pain begin to have an effect on him, but it was still unable to hinder his steady progress. Compared to the Lightning World Trial, even the most painful part of this Trial of Pain was far beneath what was required to affect him.


    ''It seems as if that Lightning World Trial gifted me with more than just the egg.''


    John''s hand reached out and touched the pedestal, and both him and Adam disappeared from everyone''s sight.

 Chapter 159 - Passing The Fourth Trial

    All those within the Trial of Pain stared at John''s figure in disbelief. He disappeared from their view as soon as he touched the pedestal in the middle, along with the boy he was forcefully dragging behind him.


    Many wanted toment on what had just happened, but the pain they were feeling within the trial made them unable to do so. Just enduring was already pushing them to their limits.


    Russell''s eyes lit up slightly as he witnessed John''s performance, clearly impressed with such a disy. A dark expression appeared on Mason''s face, but he said nothing and continued to slowly more forward within the trial. The trial continued for the next few hours, and more youths were failing by the minute.


    ¡­


    As soon as his hand touched the pedestal in the middle of the trial, John felt his body be pulled into a spatial channel and spit out almost immediately after. The pedestal itself was a transportation formation, and transported all those who passed to the starting area of the next trial.


    John took a second to get his bearings after being transported. He looked around, and found himself standing in an empty field. A single Elder sat there in silence with his eyes closed, and the power fluctuating off him was far greater than Elder Ragur''s.


    ''Heaven Tribtion!''


    The Elder''s eyes opened slightly in surprise as he noticed John''s arrival.


    "You''re here quite early, and you seem to be quite alright after the Trial of Pain. Interesting."


    John had arrived much earlier than the Elder had expected, and also showed no signs of fatigue or lingering pain from the trial, and instead appearedpletely at ease. The Elders'' eyes trailed downward and stared at the unconscious boy that was in John''s grip.


    "What happened here?" The Elder asked curiously.


    John looked down at Adam and noticed he was still unconscious. Drool was leaking out of his mouth, making him appear quite stupid.


    "He was too scared to join the Trial of Pain, so I gave him a little help," John responded, causing the Elder to raise his eyebrows.


    "You dragged him through the entire trial? Interesting" The Elder stated, before closing his eyes and ignoring John once more.


    John looked around and found nothing else in the field except the Elder himself.


    ''I guess I''m supposed to wait here until the next trial starts. Might as well cultivate.''


    John set Adam aside before sitting down in a meditative position. His mind linked with his pce realm, allowing him to fall into a meditative trance almost immediately.


    The Elder noticed this and slowly opened his eyes once more to stare at John. He inspected John closely for some time and a smile appeared on his face.


    "Interesting."


    John sat there in silence and focused on his cultivation. Currently, he was studying the Divine Reaping Scythe, and trying toprehend the second stage depicted on the page. His scytheprehension was high enough to unleash the first attack, but John found that he was stillcking by quite a bit when it came to unleashing the second attack.


    ''This will take quite some time before I''m able to fullyprehend the second stage. And even if I do, I''m sure the Qi requirement will be much greater than the first attack. I might have to be in the Core Formation stage to unleash the second attack.''


    John wasn''t depressed by this, and was instead quite pleased. The higher the requirements to unleash the attack, the stronger it would be. It was currently his strongest attack, and so John wanted it to be as powerful as possible.


    Some timeter, a moaning sounded out behind John, and Adam slowly regained his consciousness. He looked around groggily for several seconds before his eyesnded on John''s back. His face darkened as he hurriedly stood up and dashed straight towards John.


    "You bastard, what the hell was that for?" Adam shouted, rousing John from his tranquil meditation.


    John looked up towards Adam with a nk expression.


    "What was what for?" John feigned ignorance.


    "You know damn well. You dragged me through that trial, and I passed out from the pain. And where are we even? Why are we the only ones here? Did we get disqualified?" Adam angrily asked.


    "Disqualified? No, we got here first," John replied in an unconcerned manner.


    Surprise appeared on Adam''s face. "First? You came first?"


    "Yep, and instead of yelling at me, you should be thanking me. If not for me, you would have been an Outer Sect Disciple, but now you''re an Inner Sect Disciple. Aren''t I such a great friend?" John replied in a magnanimous tone.


    Adam stared at John with an open mouth, unsure of how to reply. It was true that he did advance solely due to John''s efforts, but the pain had been excruciating, and he was still quite upset about that.


    Adam was just about to reply, when suddenly a sound appeared behind him. John and Adam turned around to see June suddenly appear before them. Her face was red, and she was gasping for breath. After several seconds, her face started to return to normal, and her breathing evened out.


    She looked around and spotted John and Adam. Her eyes lingered on John for a moment, before she walked to an empty area, sat down, and started to recuperate.


    Not long after June, Russell appeared. His eyes looked around and he quickly spotted John. He rapidly dashed forward and appeared directly in front of him.


    "Not bad, that was a damn manly disy you put on there...let''s fight!"

 Chapter 160 - The Fifth Trial?

    John stared at Russell who had just appeared before him and asked for a fight. A powerful aura was emanating from Russell, indicating that he was serious in his request.


    John looked at Russell for a moment before he looked away and returned to his cultivation.


    "Sure, but after the trials are over," John responded.


    A smile appeared on Russell''s face as he heard John''s response. "You better not back out when the timees."


    Adam stared at John and Russell in surprise, especially John. John was just at the mid Qi Condensation Realm, while Russell was at the peak of the realm.


    "Why the hell would you ept such a fight? Your cultivation is way lower than his!" Adam asked in a panicked tone.


    "It''s just a fight. The worst thing that happens is I get beaten up," John replied in an unconcerned tone. Adam was shocked to hear such a response, as he himself avoided all confrontation unless he was assured victory.


    "Hahaha, that''s exactly the attitude a man should have," Russell responded.


    John continued to cultivate in silence for the next six hours as more and more youths showed up. By the end of the six hours, just under one thousand youths had passed the trial. There were several thousand youths that had passed as outer disciples, which showed the Trial of Pain had a high failure rate.


    ''More passed the trial than I expected, but the Elder in charge did say the trial gets easier as time goes on. I wonder why they allowed such a discrepancy in difficulty?''


    It didn''t make much sense to John why the trial varied by so much. Although the Elder did exin that there were rewards for finishing in the front of the pack, it would make sense to finish the trialter and conserve strength.


    John dismissed such needless thoughts and returned to cultivating. A short momentter, the lone Elder in charge opened his eyes as he stared at the group of youths in front of him. Most of the youths sat in silence, recuperating from the harrowing trial they had just experienced.


    "Silence,"


    The Elder stated, quieting the few discussions that were taking ce amongst the youths. The youths all quieted down and stared at the Elder. They were all curious as to what thest trial would be, as it would determine if they were to be Core Disciples or remain Inner Sect Disciples.


    "Congrattions on passing the Trial of Pain and bing Inner Sect Disciples. By doing so, you have all demonstrated to the sect that you are worthy of nurturing, and you will receive resources beyond your imagination."


    A proud look appeared on Adam''s face, acting as if he deserved to be here. John looked at Adam and rolled his eyes, and looked back towards the Elder.


    "Now, for thest trial to determine who of you bes Core Disciples and who remains Inner Sect Disciples¡­"


    Eager eyes stared at the Elder at the mention of the final trial. It was the dream of all the youths to be Core Disciples, and they would seize such an opportunity with all their strength.


    "Core Disciples represent the pride, the talent, and the resolve of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Only those who strive to achieve greatness in everything they do are fit to call themselves Core Disciples¡­


    The fifth and final trial has already beenpleted. The Elder in charge of the Trial of Pain mentioned rewards for finishing in the front of the pack, and any cultivator worthy of a Core Discipleship would have seized any and all opportunities given to them. Those who would wait for the trial to be easier, or took too long toplete it are unworthy of being called a Core Disciple. As such, those who finished in the top ten are now all Core Disciples."


    Stunned silence descended on the group of youths before a morous uproar burst out.


    "What the hell is that?"


    "How is that fair? We weren''t even told of such a thing."


    "That''s bullshit!"


    The Elder listened to the youths explode in an uproar as if he had been expecting such a reaction. His aura suddenly red outwards, and his powerful Heavenly Tribtion aura pressed down on all the youths, silencing them instantly.


    "You are all now disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and no longer pampered youths of your own powers. You best remember that, and proceed forward with poise and respect," the Elder stated in a calm voice, causing all those who had been shouting to blush in embarrassment.


    Silence nketed the group, until one youth raised his hand to speak up. The Elder acknowledged him, and he stepped forward in a humble manner before speaking up.


    "Elder, what you say is fair. However, I have oneint regarding this ruling." The boy suddenly pointed towards Adam, who was standing there with a prideful look on his face.


    "Everyone saw that boy be forcefully dragged to the end of the trial by that other boy. He wasn''t able to pass the trial on his own strength, and I believe he should be disqualified." The boy who had just spoken hade eleventh in the trial, and felt robbed by such a ruling.


    The eyes of all turned to look at Adam, and were disgusted at his prideful appearance, as if he had earned a Core Discipleship on his own merit. The Elder in charge looked towards Adam as well, and thought about it for a moment before responding.


    "Such a decision is out of my hands, and will be decided on momentarily."


    The boy was about to protest again, but the Elder suddenly waved his hand. Formation lines began to glow on the ground beneath all the youths, and a powerful aura began to emanate from it.


    Before anyone could react, they felt themselves once again pulled into a spatial chanel and transported through space. The transportationsted just a moment.


    John gathered his bearings and began to look around. His face, and the faces of all those in the trial widened in surprise as they stared around. They had appeared in the great courtyard within the Heavenly Lightning Sect, directly in front of the massive pce that existed at its center.


    Tens of thousands of people were gathered in the courtyard, surrounding the group of youths that had just arrived. John looked around in shock, and his eyes trailed upwards to the top of the stairs that led to the great pce.


    At the top of the stairs, several familiar faces stared down at John and the group of youths.

 Chapter 161 - Final Trial?

    John recognized several faces standing at the top of the stairs, namely the Sect Leader, Vice Sect Leader, and even Elder Ragur. All the Elders of the sect had gathered in front of the Heavenly Lightning Sect Pce to wee the Inner and Core Disciples.


    Tens of thousands of members of the Heavenly Lightning Sect had gathered as well to watch this year''s batch of disciples. Not only did they want to see who the neers were, they also knew they were in for a fantastic show shortly.


    The group of tens of thousands watching ranged from disciples no older than the group John was in, to the elderly.


    In the gathering of Elders, John was able to spot Elder Ragur looking down on him. Although he did his best to hide it, John could still see a slight smile on the Elder''s face. Elder Ragur noticed John''s gaze, and nodded his head slightly.


    "Congrattions on bing disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect,"


    A calm yet extremely powerful voice echoed out, causing all eyes to fall on the Sect Leader who had just spoken. His calm face smiled down at those below, and appeared as if he was an ordinary grandpa weing his grandchildren home. However, all could tell that despite his aura being constrained, his power was beyond anything they had felt before.


    The Sect Leader''s gaze roamed among all the youths, and his eyes paused slightly on John before he continued to look at all those who had passed the trials.


    "You have done what most in thisnd only dream of, and for that you should be proud. From now on, you will be able to call yourselves disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. However, to truly be disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, there is one more test that must be passed," the Sect Leader stated in a calm voice, causing frowns to appear on those in the group.


    They had been told that they had passed all the trials and had be disciples, but now the Sect Leader was saying there were more trials toe. Many were unhappy to hear this, but none of them dared voice their discontent to the Sect Leader himself.


    Upon hearing the Sect Leader mention the final trial, the eyes of all those in the crowd lit up, and excited discussions broke out.


    ''Another trial? I wonder what''s so important as to have another trial at this point.''


    Roooooaaaaaaar!


    A thunderous roar so loud that it nearly shattered the eardrums of many sounded out throughout the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Its roar covered the entire sect, and there wasn''t a single person who didn''t hear it. The roar sounded out several more times, each more powerful and deafening than thest.


    Despite the source of the roar being quite far away, it was still louder than anything John had heard in his life. Not only that, but the roar itself sent a chill down everyone''s spine, John included. It was as if death itself was roaring out.


    The only time he had felt a more dreadful aura was in the Lightning World Trial, when he hade face to face with that creature in the illusion formation. However, that was an illusion, while John was sure that this was a real, living...thing.


    Silence descended over the crowd, and John and all those in the crowd could hear the growing rumbles of wings approaching. A small tempest began to kick up within the courtyard, and before long, John felt as if he was in the middle of a windstorm. His robes and hair fluttered violently in the wind as it continued to billow over the entire Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    The courtyard suddenly grew dim, as if the sun had been blocked out. John and the rest of the youths turned their eyes to the sky to see what was going on, and all their eyes widened inplete and utter disbelief. Extreme shock covered their faces, and even John was shocked beyond all belief.


    Boooooom!


    The Heavenly Lightning Sect Pce and the massive courtyard in front of it trembled greatly. John shielded his eyes at the tempest that had been kicked up. After the tempest died down, John and the entire crowd stared up at the Heavenly Lightning Sect Pce, and the figure that had justnded on its roof high above the Sect Leader.


    The figure on the roof lowered its massive head to stare down at the crowd below, and its massive eyes locked on the group of youths who stood at the crowd center.


    John stared straight at the figure, still unable to believe his eyes.


    The four limbed creature had two massive wings, sorge that they blocked out the sun, and a tail that extended a hundred yards. It had a headrger than a building, which was covered in many sharp spikes protruding from the back of its head. Sharp teeth, each a dozen feet long, jutted out of its mouth, while massive razor sharp ws jutted out of its limbs.


    ck and blue scales covered the entirety of its body, and a powerful blue color glowed over its body, as if there was a strong light source shining out from within. Small wisps of lightning danced over its scales.


    John could hardly believe his eyes as he stared at the massive creature perched up on the roof of the Heavenly Lightning Sect Pce.


    ''A Dragon! A Lightning Dragon!''

 Chapter 162 - Lightning Dragon

    John had read about dragons in his n''s library, which stated that dragons were some of the rarest and most powerful beasts to ever exist. Their power would grow to the peak of the cultivation world, and all those who saw them would tremble at their power. However, every piece of literature had stated that dragons were either myths, or extinct.


    John never imagined dragons actually existed, and that he would ever be able to see one in the flesh.


    The massive dragon stared down at the youths below, and its power was so overwhelming that none of the youths dared to move a muscle. In fact, all of them were so scared and awed by the majestic creature, that they wouldn''t be able to move even if they wanted to. Sweat trickled down all their backs, and some even copsed to the floor in a nervous mess.


    John stared directly at the dragon, and was awestruck. It was the most awe-inspiring thing he had ever seen in his life, and the power of the dragon was so overwhelming that John couldn''t even begin to imagine its heights.


    The crowd that had gathered stared at the dragon inplete awe as well. Despite seeing the dragon once a year, they were amazed by such a sight every time.


    The dragon''s attention focused on the group of youths that had passed the trial. Suddenly, the power of the dragon red out, and all the youths felt an incredibly strange, yet overwhelmingly powerful energy invade their bodies, minds and souls.


    John felt this invasive energy as well, and did his best to resist it. However, it was as if he was an ant struggling against a hurricane. No matter what he did, he wasn''t even able to slightly hinder the progress of the invasive energy. John felt as if his very existence waspletely exposed to the strange energy.


    It reminded him of when Celestial Soulrend had started to probe his memories. However, it was slightly different. Celestial Soulrend''s soul probe was much more direct and invasive, while this felt different to John.


    "Don''t resist it," the Sect Leader''s voice suddenly spoke out.


    "This is the final trial I spoke of. Our Heavenly Lightning Dragon has a special power. It is able to read the thoughts and intents of those it inspects. Resisting will only result in self harm."


    Upon hearing these words, John gave up all ideas of struggling, and allowed the strange energy to invade wherever it pleased. However, true to the Sect Leader''s words, the invasive energy did not attempt to read his memories, causing John to breathe a sigh of relief.


    His memories held incredible secrets, and he wanted to guard them at all costs. John was unsure of why such a trial was needed, but he set aside such thoughts, as he was sure he would find out the truth shortly.


    The dragon continued to inspect the youths below it for some time, and not a single sound was uttered by those being inspected. After some time, John slowly but surely felt the invasive energy leave his body, and breathed out in relief when he felt it leave his bodypletely.


    The rest of the youths in the crowd also breathed out sighs of relief. They had never expected such a thing to happen, and were just happy that it was over. Being inspected by the dragon like that made them feel smaller and more powerless than they had ever felt before.


    After regaining hisposure, a determined look appeared on John''s face. The dragon''s overwhelming strength, and hisplete inability to resist its power was just another piece of motivation for him to get stronger.


    ''Unless I stand at the very peak of the cultivation world, I will always be at the whims of those more powerful. Only when I stand at the top can I truly control my own fate.''


    The crowd watched closely as the dragon inspected the youths. They all felt its power begin to fade, indicating the end of the test. However, just as the power was about to fadepletely, it suddenly surged out with incredible power and locked directly onto one boy standing in the crowd.


    The Sect Leader and Vice Sect Leader narrowed their eyes as they stared directly at the boy who had been singled out by the dragon. The dragon''s strange energy began to violently invade the body of the boy, and his face began to turn red from the power which was overwhelming him.


    "What do we have here?" The Sect Leader spoke out calmly as he stared directly at the boy. The Sect Leader waved his hand slightly, and all the other youths felt their bodies levitate in the air and quickly moved away from the boy.


    John felt the Sect Leaders power wash over him as well, and was surprised that he wasn''t able to resist it even slightly. His body levitated through the air, and was ced down in a spot several hundred yards away from the boy who the dragon had focused on.


    He stared back towards the lone boy who had been isted from the rest. He recognized the boy as the one who hade eighth in the Trial of Pain, and was to be one of the ten Core Disciples.


    He had never detected anything strange going on with the boy, but now somethingpletely unexpected was happening.


    ''What''s going on?''


    The Sect Leader slowly began to walk down the stairs and towards the boy in the middle of the courtyard. The strange yet powerful energy from the dragon continued to focus on him, locking him in ce.


    "Hehehehehe."


    A sinister soundingugh suddenly escaped the boys body, sending a chill up everyone''s spine. It was more sinister and vile sounding than anyugh they had heard in their life, and the voice seemed to contain a strange energy that made all their bodies lose their strength.


    Theugh prated into their souls, and many felt a sharp pain invade their souls.


    John too felt his soul ache slightly, and his soul power surged to resist the pain.


    All of a sudden, an incredibly powerful soul aura red out of the boy and washed over all those within the crowd, making them feel as if they were being peered down on by a sinister fiend.


    The soul aura gradually began to condense and take form, and before long, the ethereal outline of a human hovered directly above the boy.


    "Even with this much effort, your Heavenly Lightning Dragon still managed to detect me. Truly, not bad"

 Chapter 163 - Sect Leader Allfiend

    "Sect Leader Allfiend, it''s been some time since we''vest seen each other," The Heavenly Lightning Sect Leader said as he casually walked towards the ethereal soul form. The Sect Leader waved his hand, and the entire crowd suddenly felt the painful energy invading their souls disappear.


    "Sect Leader ThunderZen," the soul form greeted in return with a calm expression as well.


    ''Allfiend? ThunderZen? What type of names are these?'' John thought as he curiously watched what was going on.


    The Heavenly Lightning Sect Leader, who was addressed as ThunderZen, walked forward until he stood a few feet in front of the floating soul form.


    The soul form was still quite ethereal and hazy, but John was able to make out several features. It was a middle aged man, with sharp features, hawk like eyes, and a slender beard that gathered into a sharp point below his chin.. His hair was long and flowed behind his shoulders, and his eyes glowed in a sinister fashion, like that of a snake looking at its prey.


    "I knew your sect would try something like this again, but it''s quite unexpected that you yourself are the one doing it. You were even willing to sacrifice a small portion of your soul to attempt this. Aren''t you worried about the damage your soul will take once I snuff you out?" ThunderZen asked calmly.


    "Hahaha," Allfiendughed for a moment before responding. "While it is a bit troublesome to lose part of my soul, I have methods to make it whole again quickly. Besides, are you so sure that you are able to contain me here and now?"


    Sect Leader ThunderZen smiled at the soul form, as if everything was under his control. "Unfortunately for you, you won''t be able to leave here today."


    "Is that so? It''s true that this soul form is only a fraction of my full power, but it should still be more than enough to slip away from the likes of you," Allfiend replied in a rxed tone. Now that he was caught by the Heavenly Lightning Dragon, Allfiend had no hopes of slipping into the Sect undetected, and instead focused on leaving the sect.


    His soul form suddenly red with incredible power, and Allfiend began to fade out of existence, as if it was phasing into space itself. John felt his blood nearly stop in his body from the overwhelming power, and it seemed as if space itself was under the control of Allfiend''s power. Space began to twist and turn around Allfiend''s form.


    Sect Leader ThunderZen smiled as he watched Allfiend''s soul form start to fade. He casually raised his hand and pointed a single finger at the fading soul form of Sect Leader Allfiend.


    Boom!


    Lightning crackled on his finger for a single moment before it shot out towards Allfiend. John''s breath caught in his throat as he witnessed the attack. It''s power and profundity was more incredible than any attack he had ever seen, and it reached Allfiend''s soul form so quickly that John was unable to see it travel at all.


    The beam of lightning pierced directly through Allfiend''s soul form, causing him to scream out in pain. Allfiend''s body was almost imperceivable by the time the lightning struck it, but it quickly rematerialized after being struck.


    A pained and shocked expression hung on Allfiends face as he phased back into existence. Arge hole was pierced directly through his soul form, and he seemed to be on the verge of copse after taking that attack.


    "Your cultivation...how is this possible?" Allfiend asked in a shocked tone.


    "That''s not something you need to know," ThunderZen replied calmly before waving his hand once more. A strange power emanated from ThunderZen and washed over Allfiend''s soul form.


    "Noooo-" Allfiends soul form was on the verge of copse, and the wave of ThunderZen''s handpletely snuffed it out of existence, silencing his cries of disbelief.


    The crowd started with wide eyes at everything that had just happened, John included. He was able to piece together the small amount of information he had to get a rough idea of what had just taken ce, but the events, as well as overwhelming power that was just disyed, shocked him to his core.


    He wanted to ask questions about what had just happened, but he knew now was not the time for that.


    ''Elder Ragur most likely knows what exactly just took ce. I''ll ask him once this entrance exam ispletely over.''


    Sect Leader ThunderZen''s eyes lingered on the spot where Allfiend''s figure had been for a moment, before he casually nced at the nearby boy. Fear covered the boy''s face, and he had dropped to his knees in fright.


    "I...I had no idea, please, you have to believe me," the boy managed to barely cry out.


    ThunderZens eyes softened slightly, and he stared at the boy. He turned around to stare at the dragon that was still perched up on the roof. Although John was unsure of exactly how, he was sure that the two of them weremunicating directly with each other.


    "Why waste time on such a thing? Spies and traitors are to be given no mercy" A cold voice sounded out behind ThunderZen, and all eyes turned to look at the woman who had just spoken. She still stood at the top of the pce stairs, looking down at the boy in the courtyard below.


    The Vice Sect Leader, who John had seen at the very start of the entrance exam, waved her hand towards the boy. An incredible power washed over him, and his eyes widened in fear before his body instantly disintegrated into nothingness.

 Chapter 164 - Officially A Sect Member

    Silence filled the air as all those in the crowd stared at the ce where the boy had been. The Vice Sect Leader had dealt with him mercilessly, killing him without a chance of exining himself. Not only that, but the dealing with Allfiend had been a spectacle itself, and the powers revealed by both Allfiend and ThunderZen had beenpletely awe-inspiring and overwhelming.


    The whole ordeal had beenpletely unexpected, but John was starting to see why he had not been allowed to join the sect before.


    ''This must be their way of dealing with any potential spies entering the sect. It makes sense why they wouldn''t allow me to directly join before.''''


    From the stories he had read, John knew dragons were prideful creatures, and he was certain that even such a thing as what it did today was already the limit. There was most likely no way the dragon would agree to inspect a lone person trying to enter the sect, as such a thing would be beneath its notice.


    Sect Leader ThunderZen sighed, before his figure suddenly vanished and reappeared at the top of the pce steps where he had originally been. The Vice Sect Leader stood at his side with an expressionless face, as if nothing had happened at all.


    His face once again regained its warm smile as he stared down at the confused youths below.


    "Unfortunately, this year we had a spy in our midst. There are other powers in thisnd which seek to infiltrate our Heavenly Lightning Sect and learn its secrets from within. However, they have always been, and will always be, unsessful.


    Now that we''ve gotten that out of the way, we can continue. You have all proven your loyalty to the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and as such, have passed the final trial. You are all officially disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Congrattions!"


    A thunderous apuse broke out amongst the crowd watching, congratting and weing the newest members of the sect. Although he was usually calm, John felt a wave of emotions wash over him as he listened to the cheering crowd.


    He clenched his fists as his mind drifted to his n once more. Entering the Heavenly Lightning Sect made it so that he was one step closer to helping his n get through their crisis.


    The crowd continued to cheer for some time, and all the youths gathered in the courtyard hadrge smiles on their faces. Some hugged each other, happy and relieved that they had be disciples of the Sect.


    Adam stood there with a proud expression on his face andughed loudly, as if he was the one the crowd was cheering for.


    "You still have the issue with your Core Discipleship qualifications," John reminded, causing Adam''s smiling face to scrunch up immediately.


    "You don''t really think they''ll take it away from me, do you?" Adam asked in a concerned tone.


    John shrugged his shoulders in response, as he truly had no idea what was going to happen.


    After some time of cheering, the Sect Leader waved his hand, and silence descended over the area once more.


    "You alle from different backgrounds, and specialize in different powers. However, those powers and talents are useless now. The Heavenly Lightning Sect is a lightning based sect, and you will begin to study lightning based techniques. To assist you with that... I will give you your first reward for joining our Sect."


    John listened closely to the Sect Leaders words, and became quite curious about the reward mentioned.


    ''It should be something amazing, if he''s talking about it specifically like this.''


    John''s thoughts began to wander, thinking of what the reward could be. The other youths in the crowd all did the same, dreaming of wonderful treasures, amazing weapons, profound battle arts and more. Given that the Heavenly Lightning Sect was one of the Four Great Sects, everyone figured that the reward would be beyond their imagining.


    Roaaar!


    The Dragon on the pce roof, which had been silent for quite some time, roared loudly once more. Its roar caused the very grounds of the sect to tremble, and it immediately roused all the youths out of their thoughts. John turned his head upwards to look at the dragon, and his eyes widened as he felt the power of the dragon begin to rise.


    Lightning began to crackle on its body as it stared at the youths below.


    A panicked look appeared on Adam''s face as he hurriedly scurried behind John.


    "It isn''t about to attack us...right?" Adam asked, his voice filled with fear.


    John was unable to respond as well, as he felt the overwhelming power of the dragon lock down on him and the other youths in the group. The dragon suddenly opened its mouth, and arge beam of strange lightning suddenly exploded outwards, directly towards the youths below.

 Chapter 165 - Bathed In Lightning

    The beam of lightning crashed into the youths below, and John closed his eyes as it did so. He was unsure of why the dragon had attacked them, but knew he would not be able to resist its overwhelming power.


    However, his eyes soon slowly opened as he felt the dragon''s power wash over him. Unlike the devastating power he had expected, the lightning from the dragon danced over and within his body in a gentle manner. It was like a gentle lightning rain falling over his body, washing it clean and making it be reborn anew.


    "What is going on?"


    Wherever the lightning went, it would slightly alter his body, reminding him of the process he had felt when he trained the Celestial Lightning Script. Although the change he felt to his body right now was almost insignificant to what happened with the Celestial Lightning Script in the Lightning World Trial, he could still feel a change.


    His body, which was a Lightning Attribute Body, began to be even more attuned to lightning. On top of that, John could feel his lightningprehensions slowly rise as the dragons lightning washed over him.


    "How profound!"


    All the other youths also felt something simr, although the changes to their bodies andprehensions were even more pronounced than Johns.


    Most of them had no affinity orprehensions towards lightning, and so the changes taking ce within their bodies were drastic, as they were a clean te being molded.


    The process continued for several minutes, before the dragon closed its mouth and stopped bathing the youths in his lightning breath. It roared once more before it spread its wings and took to the sky. A violent wind tempest was kicked up within the courtyard, and the dragon flew high into the sky before it sped off in a certain direction, out of the view of all those in the crowd.


    After the process was done, each youth closely inspected their bodies, and were stunned by the results. While they had not attained a lightning attribute body, their bodies were much more aligned with lightning nheless. They could feel a greater affinity towards it, and theirprehensions had grown drastically.


    "Congrattions," The Sect Leaders voice sounded out, causing the youths to all stare up at him. Their eyes were filled with wonder.


    "You have been bathed in the Vital Lightning Essence Breath of our Heavenly Lightning Dragon. I''m sure each and every one of you has felt their bodies be more aligned with lightning Qi, and your lightningprehensions grow as well."


    The youths all nodded their heads eagerly in agreement. They all felt the immediate changes in their body. Such a thing was beyond their wildest expectations, and they were starting to see why the Heavenly Lightning Sect stood at the very top of the continent.


    The Sect Leader paused for a moment before continuing.


    "As was mentioned at the start of the trial, the top youths are to be rewarded for their efforts. Those being specially rewarded are those who ced in the top ten to be Core Disciples, and you will each receive your rewards ording to your rank."


    Excited expressions appeared on all those who had be Core Disciples, while a sour look appeared on one of the youths. He stepped forward and bowed to the Sect Leader, and was about to speak out when the Sect Leader cut him off.


    "I know what you are going to say, and there''s no need to say it. The boy who was dragged through the Trial of Pain will be a Core Disciple as well, as luck is just as important as talent in the cultivation world," Sect Leader ThunderZen stated clearly.


    The boy frowned slightly, unhappy with the response he was given. "Sect Leader, I understand your decision, but isn''t what they did cheating? Can''t anyone just drag their followers through in future trials, and im all the top spots?" The boy asked, trying to find a hole in the Sect Leaders answer.


    ThunderZen chuckled lightly as he turned to look directly at John. He was clear on exactly what had happened in each trial, and was impressed by what John had aplished.


    "Such a thing could happen in the future I suppose, but it''s highly unlikely. To forcefully drag someone through like that, the person doing so would feel double the pain, one for their trial, and one for the trial of the one being dragged. So I ask you, can it really be considered cheating when such a disadvantage is ced on the person doing so?" ThunderZen asked.


    Everyone''s eyes widened slightly, and all the youths who had seen John in the Trial of Pain turned to stare at him. He had breezed through the trial as if it was nothing, and now they were finding out he had experienced twice the pain they had felt during the entire process. They shuddered at the thought of feeling more pain than they had felt during the trial, and many stared at John in a new light.


    Some stared at him with a newfound respect, while others stared at him as if he was a monster.


    The boy who had stepped forward shuddered at the thought of experiencing double the pain during that trial, and found no way to argue it.


    The Sect Leader smiled and spoke out once more. "Besides, we had a casualty recently, and a new spot just opened up, so you may take the final Core Disciple position."


    The boy''s eyes lit up and he bowed and thanked the Sect Leader for his decision. The boy who had been killed recently hade eighth, and it was true that there was a new spot avable. Being that the one who stepped forward hade eleventh, it was only natural that he moved up into the Core Disciple slot that had opened.


    Adam''s face lit up at hearing that he would keep his core discipleship, and his face beamed with pride once more. John rolled his eyes once more.


    "Now then, we shall address the Core Discipleship rankings. These have been calcted by our Elders based on your performances in each of the four trials, and your rewards will vary depending on your rank."


    The Sect Leader waved his hand, and arge stone tablet suddenly materialized above his head. There were ten names written on it, each with a corresponding ranking. All eyes in the crowd and group of youths immediately darted towards the tablet, and the Core Disciples quickly read the tablet, eager to see their rankings.


    John casually read the tablet, and found his name amongst the others.

 Chapter 166 - Ranking

    John and the others read the stone tablet, eager to see the rankings of the Core Disciples. ording to the Elders and Sect Leader, the rankings would determine what rewards were given after the exam, and John was sure that having a higher rank would be beneficial for more than just those rewards.


    The higher he was ranked, the more valuable he would be to the sect, and the more likely they would be to help him and his n with the Crimson Valley Sect and Bloodfiend Sect.


    Adam Fenks had his name listed in deadst, at tenth ce. Although John had helped him forcefully qualify as a Core Disciple, it was not earned, and so he was put in deadst. However,st ce as a Core Disciple was still miles above the highest ranked Inner Disciple, and so Adam was unable toin about that.


    Several other familiar names popped up as John read down the list. Sixth - Mae Fairie, Fifth -Hartley Randel, Fourth - Russell Barde, Third - June, Second - Mason Light.


    First...John Fenix


    Discussions immediately broke out within the crowd to discuss the rankings, while all those ranked as Core Disciples had varying reactions to the rankings. Mae and Hartley smiled in happiness at their rankings, clearly pleased that they had done so well. Russell yelled out in rage, not at the rankings, but at his own poor performance ording to himself.


    June stared at her rank indifferently, while a cold look appeared on Mason''s face. He had confidently stated that he woulde first for this entrance exam to both his n and many others, and had been fully confident in doing so.


    He had sessfully cultivated one of his ns most powerful techniques, and hisbat prowess was extremely terrifying. After a moment of disbelief, Mason stepped forward and bowed to the Sect Leader.


    The Sect Leader smiled, as if anticipating such an action, and gestured for Mason to speak.


    "Sect Leader, it''s not that I don''t trust the judgment of the Elders, but I would like to know how the rankings were calcted? I refuse to believe that his talent is higher than mine, or that he did better in thebat trial. It''s true that he came first in the Trial of Pain, but surely a pain trail isn''t the main basis for the rankings? Not only that, but his cultivation is far weaker than mine, and that should count for something as well, should it not?" Mason asked in a respectful but questioning tone.


    An Elder stepped forward, and all the youths in the courtyard recognized him as the one who had greeted them at the front gate at the start of the entrance exam. A scroll appeared in the Elder''s hands, and he quickly read the contents on the scroll before looking down at Mason below.


    "Since you refute these rankings, I will directlypare your and John''s performance, and why the rankings are as such," The Elder replied in a calm tone.


    Although the sect could refuse Mason''s request, such a thing would be looked down on by many. Transparency was a big part of creating apetitive yet respectful environment within the sect.


    "Trial one, the Essence Qi and Talent Test : These trials are calcted on a pass or fail metric, and you both passed the trial easily.


    Trial two, the Illusion Formation Test : Youpletely saw through the illusion formation on the third illusion. John saw through the illusion formation on the second illusion," The Elder continued.


    Hearing that John performed better on the illusion trial caused a frown to appear on Mason''s face. He considered his soul to be quite strong, and was sure he had done the best or near the best, but John had still beaten him.


    However, both him and everyone else was sure that the most weight was assigned to thebat test. The Heavenly Lightning Sect was abat based sect, and so such a thing should be the most important of all.


    Mason was confident he did the best of all thepetitors regarding this test, and so he felt the need to question the results.


    "Trial three, thebat test. You sessfully advanced to the finalbat phase, and against the final beast, yousted fourteen minutes and thirty eight seconds before conceding. This was the longest anyonested against the final beast, and for that you should be proud."


    Hushed discussions immediately broke out throughout the crowd, and many youths stared at Mason as if he were a monster. Fighting against a beast a minor realm higher in cultivation was an almost impossible challenge, andsting against one for fourteen minutes was beyond impressive.


    The hushed discussions immediately changed direction however, as many thought about John''s performance. Despite Mason doing incredibly well against the beast, he was still ranked below John. Either John truly did better in thebat trial, or more weight was assigned to the other trials.


    The Elder paused for a moment to let the hushed discussions die down before he continued. "In the third trial, against the final beast, John Fenix fought for one minute and fifty eight seconds."


    Before the Elder could continue speaking, the crowd began to noisily discuss what they had just heard.


    "One minute fifty eight? Compared to fourteen minutes? What''s going on here?" One youth asked.


    "Remember the Elder at the start of the trial that greeted that boy? He clearly has connections within the sect. Maybe it''s rigged?" Another chimed up.


    Many simr discussions broke out, and the Elder in charge furrowed his brows as the discussions grew in volume. Mason''s face red with a confident look, and he was just about to speak up once more, when...


    "Silence!" The Elder yelled out, immediately hushing all the discussions.


    The Elder red at the youths and the crowd who had interrupted him.


    "As I was saying, John Fenix fought for one minute and fifty eight seconds...however, that was the time it took for him to y thete Qi Condensation Beast¡­"

 Chapter 167 - End Of The Entrance Exams

    Silence descended on the entire sect as the youths and surrounding crowd listened to the Elders words in stunned silence. They had all heard the Elder''s words, but none of them dared to believe it.


    Mason''s face was stunned at the Elder''s words as well, as he never imagined such a thing was possible. After many seconds of silence, Mason finally managed to regain hisposure.


    "Elder, surely such a thing is impossible...are you sure he didn''t cheat, or that you are mistaken?" Mason asked, trying to find a hole in the Elders story.


    He refused to believe that John was able to y a beast an entire minor realm above his cultivation. Fighting against an opponent was one thing, but killing them was several times harder.


    Many in the crowd nodded in agreement, as they too believed such a thing was impossible.


    The Elder in charge narrowed his eyes as he stared at Mason.


    "You dare suggest that we are incapable of monitoring our own trials?" The Elder asked in a cold tone, causing Mason to shiver in fear. The Elder''s pressure was pushing down on him, and clearly Mason had stepped too far.


    He had already questioned the sect and the Elders by bringing this up in the first ce, and now he suggested that they had been fooled by John as well.


    "I apologize, Elder. I have no further questions," Mason replied and stepped backwards, putting an end to that discussion. The youths and surrounding crowd all stared at John as if he were a monster. Such a thing was basically unheard of, and none could recall such a thing happening in a previous entrance exam.


    John was unconcerned with such attention, and stood therezily before Adam walked up and punched him on the shoulder.


    "Why didn''t you tell me you did something that amazing?" Adam asked in an inquisitive tone.


    John looked towards Adam as if he were aplete idiot before responding "I did, in the cottage before the fourth trial, but you refused to believe me."


    "Oh, haha, I guess you did. My mistake," Adam responded in a sheepish tone as he thought back to that night.


    "I knew I had an eye for greatness," Adam continued with a prideful smile on his face.


    John rolled his eyes and ignored Adam, who was doing his best to make it obvious that he was friends with John. John had just revealed his immense talents, and Adam was making sure all knew that he was a close friend of his.


    A pressure descended on the courtyard, and all those talking immediately became quiet. All eyes turned back to the Sect Leader at the top of the pce stairs. A warm smile still hung on his face as he stared at the youths below.


    "With that settled, that concludes this year''s entrance exam. Congrattions for bing Disciples of our Heavenly Lightning Sect," The Sect Leader stated for all to hear, before his figure suddenly vanished from view.


    The Vice Sect Leader and many other Elders also quickly left, and the crowd began to slowly disperse. Excited discussions were taking ce all around, as this year''s entrance exam had many noteworthy things happen.


    The Elder in charge of the trial addressed the group of new disciples, detailing the next steps of what to do. There were Elders assigned for Outer Sect Disciples, Inner Sect Disciples, and Core Disciples, and each group was told to follow those Elders to their new lodgings.


    John and Adam began to follow the main Elder, as he was the one in charge of showing the Core Disciples around.


    "Haha, you''re not bad. You actually managed to kill the final beast. I want to fight you even more now," A voice sounded out behind John, and he turned around to see Russell walking behind him. John began to talk with Russell, and they both agreed that they would have a friendly fight soon. Both were battle maniacs, and both were eager to test out each other''s strength.


    A gloomy look appeared on Mason''s face as he heard Russell mention such a thing, while Hartley, Mae and June curiously looked towards John, inspecting him closely. They had looked down on him at the start of the entrance exam, but surprisingly, he had bested all of them.


    Although his cultivation was still a realm lower than theirs, they didn''t dare look down on him now.


    The group followed the Elder through many streets that winded throughout the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and the Elder exined the various buildings they came across.


    John listened closely as well, as he had not toured this part of the sect before, and was only able to walk through the business district before.


    "These are the main grounds for the disciples of the sect. That building there is one of the main study halls, while that building holds severalrge arenas for battles," The Elder stated.


    The group walked for some time through the sect, and past many grand buildings that served various purposes. Before long, the group came to a small mountain, at which point the Elder leading them stopped.


    The mountain was several thousand yards tall, and was covered in many types of beautiful flowers and trees. Mesmerizing waterfalls cascaded down at many points, and an ethereal mist hung in the air. Through the mist, the youths were able to spot many grand buildings dotting the mountainside.


    "This mountain contains the lodgings for the First Year Core Disciples. Your houses have been assigned to you by your rank."


    The Elder waved his hand, and ten scrolls flew to each of the youths. John grabbed the scroll and quickly unfurled it, which contained a map pointing to his particr lodging on the mountain. The scroll also had a detailed schedule, which told John which sses he was to take and what buildings they were located in.


    "Please follow your maps to your lodgings. sses start tomorrow, make sure to not bete," The Elder stated before promptly leaving the group.


    John looked at the map before his eyes trailed up the mountainside to identify his house, which rested at the very top of the mountain. John bid Adam farewell before he quickly began to climb the mountain. A pathway zigged and zagged up the mountainside, and he reached his lodging at the top of the mountain a whileter.


    The view from the top was breathtaking, and John took several moments to take in the view. The sect grounds sprawled below him, and countless grand buildings dotted thendscape. Beautiful blue rivers meandered all throughout the sect, and many other mountains pierced into the sky.


    After taking in the view, John turned around to enter his new home. It was a grand buildingrger than his mansion in the Fenix n, and the architecture was incredibly detailed, making it feel incredibly luxurious.


    John walked to the main entrance doors, which had twin lightning bolts carved into each side, and pushed them aside. His eyes widened slightly as he looked inside.

 Chapter 168 - Luxurious New Home

    The main lobby of his new home was incredibly grand, and its beauty stunned even John who was used to a life of luxury. The lobby was a dozen yards long and wide. The floor was made of pure white marble, while an incredibly luxurious crystal chandelier hung down from the high ceiling.


    A small fountain existed at the center of the lobby, with Qi infused water spouting up and into its basin continuously. The mist from the water floated lightly in the air. John took a deep breath, and was immediately refreshed.


    Two grand staircases spiral up at the back of the lobby to the floors above, and hallways on each side of the lobby led to other parts of therge mansion. Directly in front of the water fountain, a small pile of treasuresy on the ground, and there was a boy and a girl standing on either side of the treasures. They both appeared to be the same age as John.


    The girl had brown hair down to her shoulders, and wore a ck and white maids outfit, while the boy had short blonde hair, and wore a ck butler''s outfit.


    John walked into his new house and towards the boy and girl standing in the center of the lobby. They appeared to have low cultivation''s, at the early Mist Creation Realm.


    ''My perceptions on cultivation are bing skewed. Such cultivations at their age would be quite normal back home,'' John thought and chuckled to himself slightly.


    "Greetings," The two of them said while bowing their heads slightly.


    "Hi, you two are?" John asked curiously.


    "I''m Francel, and this is Reya. We have been assigned to take care of your new house, as well as any other needs you may have," the boy replied.


    John thought about it for a moment before nodding his head and greeting the two of them. He wasn''t used to having maids and butlers, but he figured that would be quite handy in this new ce he was unfamiliar with.


    John''s eyes turned towards the treasure pile between them. "What''s this? Rewards for the entrance exam?"


    "Yes. These are all for you. You may do with them what you like," Reya nodded her head and replied in a calm and gentle voice.


    John nodded and inspected the pile closely. The first thing that caught his eye was the small pile of glowing crystals. They were each an inch across, and had various rough shapes. John picked one up, and immediately was able to detect it contained a dense source of natural Qi within. There were several hundred of them in the pile.


    Although he had never dealt with them before, John knew these were spirit crystals. Elder Ragur had mentioned that they could be used for currency or cultivation. After inspecting the crystals, John looked towards several scrolls thaty on the pile of crystals.


    He unfurled and read each scroll. Each scroll gave various details regarding the sect, such asyout, status structure, building locations, sect rules, and more. After finishing reading, John picked up several bottles thaty on the pile of crystals.


    Opening each bottle revealed a small batch of pills in each one.


    "That bottle there contains healing pills, that bottle contains cultivation pills, and that bottle contains Qi replenishment pills," Francel said to John.


    "Thanks," John replied. He stored the rewards away and his eyes looked towards the final reward near the pile. He had spotted this object first, but decided to save the best forst.


    His hand reached out towards the object, and his fingers gripped the smooth handle as he picked it up. John struggled for a moment before he picked up the object, unprepared for the weight of it.


    "That scythe is a gift personally given by Elder Ragur himself. He told us to tell you, ''Good Job''," Francel said to John.


    John closely inspected the scythe in his hands. It weighed twice as much as his previous scythe, and was dark blue in color. He could tell that it was made from a much stronger material than his previous scythe. Small lightning bolts were lightly etched into each side of the de.


    John ran his finger along the de, and was surprised that it managed to cut his strong body. Its sharpness was beyond his expectations.


    ''Based on the weight, this seems to be custom made for me. Elder Ragur really went above and beyond here. This is exactly what I need right now!''


    John was sure that the scythe was made specifically for him, mainly due to its weight. Scythe users were known for their nimbleness and agility, and their weapons would normally be light to amodate for this.


    Only John, with his incredibly strong body, used a heavy scythe, as his strong body was able tobine the terrifying agility and sharpness of scythe attacks with the devastating power of body cultivators.


    John looked up towards Francel and Reya. "Is there any ce here to test out this weapon?"


    He was eager to test out his new weapon.


    "There is. I will give you a tour of your new home. Please follow me," Reya replied in gentle voice.


    John nodded his head and began to follow Reya as she showed him his new abode. His mansion contained several bedrooms, each with luxurious beds, linens, and washrooms. Paintings hung on the walls, and various statues of different beasts dotted the hallways and bedrooms.


    The house also contained a kitchen, several living rooms, and study rooms.


    The backyard contained a pool, a meditation tform, another water fountain, several artificial streams meandering throughout, and was lined with various trees in full bloom. Just looking at it made John feel rxed, and a dense Qi emanated from both the pool and the streams.


    "The pool has a formation at the bottom which gathers Qi from the surrounding air and infuses it into the water. Just swimming in it will be beneficial for your cultivation," Reya said to John, causing his eyebrows to raise in surprise.


    "This ce is paradise for cultivators," John stated out loud, causing Reya to chuckle slightly.


    However, it truly was a cultivation paradise. Compared to his house back in his homnd, it was a night and day difference. After touring the house and the backyard, Reya led John to a staircase which led in the basement.


    "What''s down here?" John asked as they began to descend. Hisst encounter with a basement had been quite an ordeal.


    "The basement contains a cultivation chamber, as well as a battle art testing area," Reya replied.


    Before long, the two of them arrived in the basement, and John was once again shocked by the luxury of the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    The basement was dozens of yards tall, and nearly one hundred yards wide and long. In one corner, there was a chamber specifically for meditation, and John could feel a dense Qi emanate from it. The rest of the basement was wide open.


    "Your meditation chamber functions the same as the pool. It draws Qi in from the surrounding air and condenses it, speeding up your cultivation. As for the rest of this open area¡­"


    Reya suddenly sent a simple Qi attack towards one of the walls of the basement.


    Boom!


    The Qi attack collided with the wall, and many formation lines lit up, neutralizing the attack and protecting the walls. Not a scratch was left on the walls.


    John''s face lit up in excitement as he witnessed what had just happened.


    "You can practice your attacks here as much as you want without fear of damaging anything," Reya stated in a gentle voice, causing John''s tion to soar even more.

 Chapter 169 - Perks Of A Core Disciple

    "This sect is amazing," John said out loud, causing Reya to chuckle once more.


    "Not every abode is like this. In fact, yours is one of the most luxurious, thanks to your ranking as the top Core Disciple. Most disciples can only dream of the luxuries given to you here," Reya replied.


    John nodded his head in understanding. This was truly extravagant, and he was sure that even the Heavenly Lightning Sect was unable to afford such extravagance for its tens of thousands of disciples.


    Such rewards were given to the top disciples of the sect, and would serve as a motivation for others to improve and strive for.


    "I''m sure you read about it in the scrolls earlier, but every six months, the other Core Disciples are allowed to challenge you for your ranking. If they win, you''ll be required to leave this house and take over theirs. While they have great houses as well, they''re not quite as luxurious as yours," Reya said to John.


    John nodded his head, as he had read about that in one of the scrolls.


    "No worries. I''ll be keeping this house for quite some time," John responded in a confident tone.


    If he were to battle the other Core Disciples now, John was unsure if he would be able to win. His essence cultivation was still only in the mid Qi Condensation Realm, while his body cultivation was stuck in the early Qi Condensation Realm, and bing less of a strength he could rely on.


    His opponents however, were at the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, and battling them would be incredibly hard.


    ''Six months should be plenty to raise both of my cultivations. However, I need to figure out where to obtain more human blood essence.''


    John had been unable to raise his body cultivation in the forest due to this, and was in desperate need of some more.


    ''I''ll figure something out soon. Maybe there are some sect missions that can help with this.''


    John knew the sect would never provide the blood to him directly, but if he was able to leave the sect on a sect mission, the opportunity to obtain human blood essence would be possible. He just had to find the right targets.


    "Thanks for showing me around Reya. I''m going to cultivate now," John said to Reya. Reya bowed her head slightly, before leaving the basement.


    John''s new scythe appeared in his hands, and he gripped it tightly as he looked forward. His essence Qi began to build, and John raised his scythe high above his head. A profound and sharp aura began to emit from his scythe de as it began to glow ck and red.


    Divine Reaping Scythe!


    John''s face paled slightly as he unleashed his strongest Divine Reaping Scythe attack. He wanted to test the power of the new weapon, and unleashing a Divine Reaping Scythe attack was the best way to do so.


    The incredibly sharp scythe image sailed rapidly forward and collided with the basement wall. The formation lines on the wall lit up, and his attack was slowly but surely neutralized. Not a scratch was left behind, showing the power of the formation.


    John''s face lit up in happiness as he witnessed his attack fly out and collide with the wall.


    "This weapon is truly amazing. That was much stronger than before!"


    Battle art attacks such as the Divine Reaping Scythe were affected by many things. The main determinant of its power wasprehension levels and cultivation level, but things such as weapon quality also affected the strength and profundity of the attack.


    Better materials were able to hold more Qi without breaking, and also allowed for a smoother transition of Qi flow from the body, to the weapon, to the air. John''s new scythe was much more proficient at this, and could also handle more Qi during his attacks.


    When he had unleashed his Divine Reaping Scythes before, he could tell his weapon was at its limits, and would begin to break with just a bit more Qi infused into it during his attacks. However, this new scythe of his was much better, and showed no signs of weakness or instability, allowing him to unleash his attacks at his full strength.


    "Again!"


    For the next several hours, John continued to train his battle arts, fully utilizing his new practice grounds. After fully exhausting his essence Qi, he walked into his meditation chamber and began to cultivate.


    His cultivationstedte into the night, and he focused on everything, from essence cultivation, to soul and will tempering in front of the gates. After a long night of cultivation, John walked to his new bedroom and copsed on the bed, getting his first good night of rest in months.


    ¡­


    Early morning sunlight shined through the trees, bathing John''s new home with light. A light knock on his door woke John from his deep slumber.


    He hopped off his bed and opened his door, and was greeted by Francel standing there with a smile on his face.


    "Breakfast is ready for you in the kitchen. Wash up and meet us downstairs." Francel bowed his head slightly before turning and walking down the hallway, back towards the kitchen.


    John returned to his washroom and washed up. He was about to put on his usual robes, when a thought crossed his mind. He walked to the nearby closet, and unsurprisingly found many robes waiting for him.


    The robes were blue and white, and had the signature lightning bolts embroidered into the material. John donned one of the robes, and felt slightly out of ce with its colors. He was used to wearing ck and red, so the white and blue was quite the opposite.


    "Oh well, I''m in this sect now, so I have to look the part."


    After freshening up, John proceeded downstairs and had a hearty breakfast. After eating, John bid farewell to both Reya and Francel before leaving his new home. He took in the majestic scenery of the sect below him as he stepped outside. No matter how many times he viewed this scenery, John was sure he would never get tired of it.


    The sect stretched out below him like an immortal paradise. The early morning sun shone through the light mist hanging over the sect, giving it an ethereal glow. Hundreds of grand buildings sprawled below, and profound beasts flew through the air, with powerful Elder''s on their backs. After staring at the scene for some time, John finally snapped out of it.


    "Today''s the first day of sses. I can''t bete."

 Chapter 170 - First Day Of Classes

    John walked down the mountainside, taking in the breathtaking scenery all the way down. His pathway passed by several of the other houses of the other Core Disciples. Each house had detailed architecture, and were incredibly luxurious.


    The pathway down the mountain was lined with beautiful trees and flowers, and John would asionally spot a towering waterfall nearby. Many different kinds of birds were chirping, and John spotted many kinds of animals on his walk down. The walk down the mountainsted for quite some time before he finally reached its base.


    The academic portion of the sect was in arge valley, surrounded by many mountains where the disciples lived. The valley was many miles long and wide, and contained hundreds of buildings of various purposes.


    A wide road led from John''s mountain into the heart of the valley, and John followed it to reach his sses. Many other students were walking on the road to their sses, and Elders were asionally visible as well.


    After reaching the campus area, John continued to walk for some time before he found the particr building his first ss was being held in. It was arge circr building several stories tall, and many disciples were constantly streaming into it.


    John followed the other disciples inside, and after some searching, found his particr ssroom. It was arge auditorium, capable of holding thousands of disciples. A loud, boisterous atmosphere filled the room, as the hundreds of disciples inside talked excitedly about various things.


    While looking around, he spotted several familiar faces. Mason, June, Mae, and Hartley were all already seated in various ces, and many curious eyes were ncing at them. They had been some of the most impressive disciples in this year''s entrance exam, and many lower disciples were either discussing them, or trying to join them as followers.


    ''It seems like this ss contains Core Disciples, as well as Inner Sect Disciples. I guess Outer Sect Disciples have their own ss.''


    John walked a few rows in before deciding to pick a rtively empty row of seats to sit in. Nearby disciples immediately spotted John enter, and the topic of discussions immediately shifted. John''s performance as the top ranked Core Disciple was one of the hottest topics, and his presence caused those discussions to ignite once more.


    John sat down on a seat in his row and closed his eyes. His mind focused inward, and he soon found himself standing in front of the holy gate. Despite ss almost starting, John never wasted an opportunity to cultivate. Having his soul stand in front of the holy gate passively strengthened it, and he always felt refreshed after doing so.


    "John!"


    A voice called out happily, and John opened his eyes to see Adam approaching him.


    "Hey Adam, you seem to be in a good mood" John greeted, noticing Adams happy demeanor.


    "Of course I am. I''m a Core Disciple, and my new home is awesome! There''s a cultivation chamber, as well as a ce for me to practice using my formations without concern of causing destruction. I even have a butler! This sect really knows how to treat me correctly," Adam replied.


    ''Seems like his house is rtively simr, although I''m sure there are some differences between mine and his.''


    Adam sat down next to John, and the two began to discuss the various things regarding their houses and rewards they had received.


    "What? You have a cultivation pool? That''s not fair, I don''t have that. And you received three hundred spirit crystals? I only received one hundred," Adam''s happiness quickly turned slightly sour as he heard John''s better rewards.


    John''s rewards were much more luxurious, as he had received more money, pills, and a better home.


    "Hey, you can''tin. Without me, you wouldn''t even be an Inner Sect Disciple, let alone a Core Disciple. Be happy with what you have," John replied, causing a thoughtful look to appear on Adam''s face.


    "I...I guess you''re right. I suppose what I have is pretty awesome," Adams'' sour mood quickly turned into one of happiness again, and he shivered in fear at the thought of being an Outer Sect Disciple. He thanked himself for having such good vision for talent again, as that alone allowed him to get this far.


    By now, nearly one thousand disciples were present in the auditorium, which contained all the Inner and Core Disciple first years.


    "Hush now, ss is in session!"


    A loud yet calm voice sounded out, causing the eyes of all the disciples present to look towards its source. John looked at well, and quickly spotted an Elder walk out of a door near the stage at the end of the auditorium.


    The Elder was a woman who appeared to be in her forties. She had a gentle smile on her face and a calm voice, causing all those who looked at her to feel rxed.


    She reached the podium located at the middle of the stage, and addressed the crowd of eager disciples.


    "I am Elder Hale. In this ss, you will be learning about everything rted to lightning. From lightning types, to uses of lightning, to where you can find certain types of lightning, all will be discussed during this ss. By the end of the year, I would hope you all be experts in all things lightning," Elder Hale said to the ss.


    Many excited eyes stared directly at the Elder, eager to learn about such things. Since most of the disciples present came from powers not specialized in lightning, their knowledge regarding it was limited.


    John looked towards Elder Hale in eagerness as well, and hoped to learn as much as he could regarding lightning. By learning as much as he could about it, perhaps he could start to get closer and closer to the truth of the Celestial Lightning Script.


    The Celestial Lightning Script was aplete mystery to John at the moment, and he wanted to learn about its origins if possible. Byparing the teachings of the Heavenly Lightning Sect to the script itself, he would at least be able to begin establishing its power and profunditypared to the sects techniques.


    Elder Hale began her ss.


    "Lightninges in many forms, and can be used in many different ways. There is healing lightning, destructive lightning, restrictive lightning, lightning formations...the list goes on and on. By learning about each of these types, you can find what you wish to specialize in, which will begin your lightning cultivation journey."


    "The first type of lightning we will discuss is..."

 Chapter 171 - Lightning Attunement

    John listened closely to the lecture whichsted for several hours, and learned many new things regarding lightning. By the end of the first ss, he felt as though his lightning knowledge had increased several times, and this was just the first ss of many he would take during his time as a disciple of the Sect.


    "I will see you all here next week at the same time," Elder Hale said to the ss before leaving.


    "Wow, that was a lot of information, but incredibly helpful," John said to Adam as he stretched his sore legs.


    Adam nodded his head in agreement. "I''m particrly interested in learning about lightning formations, and Elder Hale mentioned there is a ss specifically for that. I''ll need to sign up for that today."


    John nodded his head at Adam''s words. Adam was a formations expert first and foremost, and needed to increase his knowledge and power in that field the most.


    "I''m pretty hungry, let''s go find a ce to eat," John said to Adam as he stood up. The ss hadsted for many hours, and it was already noon. Although John had food in his storage ring, he wanted to explore the campus a little bit and see if there were any ces to get food.


    "Sure, I famished myself," Adam replied.


    The two of them began to leave the auditorium, and were quickly blocked by a massive body that towered over the both of them. John raised his head to look up at Russell, who was a head taller and standing directly in front of him.


    A serious expression lingered on Russell''s face as he stared directly at John, and Adam clenched his fists in nervousness, not knowing what was about to happen. All eyes in the room turned to the two of them, curious as to what was about to happen.


    John stared at Russell for a moment "Want to join us for lunch?"


    Russell stared at John in a serious manner for a brief moment before arge smile broke out on his face. "Hahaha, sure sure. I''m starving. Let''s go."


    He had originally stopped John to ask for a fight, but John''s rmendation in joining them for lunch made him forget all about that. Adam stood there with a stupefied expression, as the situation had gone in apletely unexpected direction.


    The three of them walked out of the auditorium, and after asking some of the older disciples, managed to find the main cafeteria on campus. It was arge sprawling cafeteria, with many different stalls serving different types of dishes.


    A delicious aroma wafted over them as they entered the cafeteria, and both John and Russell quickly dashed forward to the nearest stall. The stall had many types of cooked meat on it, and both quickly ordered as much as they could carry, before finding a nearby table to eat at.


    "I bet you can''t eat more than me," Russell said to John as he began to stuff the food in his mouth.


    "You''re on!" John replied, as he too began to stuff food in his mouth. Both of them had incredibly strong bodies, and such strong bodies required arge amount of food to sustain it.


    Adam stared at the two of them in stupefied silence as he watched them both eat more food than an entire group of adults could, and they continued to eat more. John and Russell continued to travel back and forth between the stalls and the table, grabbing more food each time.


    "I concede," Russell finally stated with an anguished look on his face. He had eaten so much that he could hardly walk. Despite John being smaller than him, he had managed to easily outeat him, surprising him greatly.


    What he didn''t know was that John''s body had an evenrger energy requirement to sustain due to its power and profundity, and eating this much was normal for John.


    He carried entire roasted corpses of beasts in his storage ring, and would work through them quite quickly.


    Although he had won, John was starting to feel quite stuffed himself, and breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Russell''s concession.


    John originally had a rtively negative opinion regarding Russell from his first interaction with him, but was quickly starting to warm up to him. He could tell that Russell was a meathead who only cared for fighting and eating, and such a person was very simr to John himself.


    "Are you two done? We have our second ss starting soon," Adam suddenly said, causing both John and Russell to realize that their eatingpetition had taken quite some time.


    After cleaning up, the three proceeded towards their next ss, which was located in a different area. However, the ss was located outdoors this time, and the group of Inner and Core Disciples gathered in arge empty field.


    In the center of the field, there was arge stone tablet with many intricate formation runes. The setup reminded many of the Trial of Pain, causing them to shudder slightly at the memory. The memory of the pain they felt still lingered fresh in their minds.


    "Silence!"


    A loud, burly voice sounded out, and the disciples all turned to see a man approaching them. He wore a sleeveless leather outfit, and had arge, unkempt beard. His arm muscles bulged out powerfully, and an intense battle aura emanated from him.


    He walked up to the group of youths and took some time to individually inspect them before he spoke up.


    "I am Elder Orin, and this is Lightning Attunement 101. In this ss, you will increase both yourprehensions and your control over lightning."


    The faces of the youths all lit up in excitement, as many of them had limitedprehensions regarding lightning. Although they had all been bathed in the dragon''s lightning, which increased theirprehensions and attunement towards lighting greatly, that was mostly a passive foundation establishment.


    They had yet to learn how to actively control lighting Qi, and were all excited to learn how to do so.


    "In order to study the signature cultivation method of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, your lightningprehensions and control over lightning Qi must reach a certain level."


    The Elder suddenly snapped his fingers, and a powerful lighting field quickly radiated out of the stone table in the center of the empty field. Powerful lighting continuously snaked out of the tablet and into the surroundings, making it appear like a lightning domain.


    John''s eyes lit up at the sight of the test, as it was almost exactly like what he had encountered in the Lightning World trail.


    The faces of the disciples nched as they felt the power of the lightning.


    "This is a lightning field, meant to temper yourprehensions and control over lightning. The lightning bes more powerful the closer you get to the center, and the goal is to reach the central tablet."


    The Elder paused for a moment to let the disciples gather their wits before continuing.


    "Pain resistance won''t help you here, as the only way to proceed forward is to use your control over lightning to proceed forward. Without a certain level of lightningprehensions and lightning Qi control, it is impossible to move forward. Once you have sessfully reached the center, you will be given the first stage of the Heavenly Lightning Tome."

 Chapter 172 - First To Finish

    John was the first to step forward, as he had faced something like this in the Lightning World Trial. That lightning was much more terrifying, and only served to test the participants to see if they were worthy of the reward. It was pure destructive lightning, and contained no gentleness nor mercy.


    However, John was able to feel that the lightning for this trial was much more gentle. While it was still powerful and destructive to the average cultivator, it was still a night and day difference. His divine sense reached out and touched some of the lightning lingering in the air.


    ''While it''s still quite powerful, there''s a gentle and even slight healing property to this lightning. It''s most definitely meant to temperprehensions, and not test willpower or worthiness. This should be simple.''


    As Elder Orin said, the trial was meant to temperprehensions and affinity towards lightning. Most of the disciples who had just joined the sect came from powers not specialized in lightning, and so theirprehensions towards it was effectively zero.


    However, John was theplete opposite. He had extensively studied the Celestial Lightning Script so far, changed his body into a lightning attribute body, and spent an entire month bathed in a destructive lightning field.


    Hisprehensions and affinity towards lightning was immense, but he had not learned any techniques in which to use thoseprehensions.


    John quickly stepped forward and entered the lightning field. All eyes immediately fell on him, as he held the status as the first ranked Core Disciple. Everyone was curious if he would be able to repeat his miraculous performance from the entrance exam.


    As soon as he stepped into the lightning field, John felt the nearby lightning detect him and immediately snake towards him.


    Boom!


    Several streams of lightning crashed into his body, and continued to wash over him nonstop. The nearby disciples gasped from the force of the lightning they felt, but their gasps soon turned to wide eyed surprise as they saw John walk forwardpletely uninhibited by the lightning field.


    His steps werepletely steady, and John walked as if there was no lightning field at all.


    ''As Elder Orin said, I am unable to push forward with pure strength and pain resistance. Only by controlling the nearby lightning Qi and pushing it aside am I able to move forward. And it seems like the lightning is getting more powerful and profound the closer I get to the tablet...but at this level, it shouldn''t be a problem.''


    A frown appeared on Mason''s face as he witnessed John''s performance. He was about to step forward as the first to enter, but John had beaten him to the punch. As such, he wanted to see if John would make a fool of himself. Although he disyed a terrifying pain resistance in the Trial of Pain, Elder Orin said such a talent was useless here, and Mason was sure John would struggle within.


    However, his expectations werepletely subverted, and John was walking as if he were taking a nice leisurely stroll. Mason''s eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched as he watched John''s performance.


    "Elder Orin," Mason turned to the Elder. "Didn''t you say that pain resistance has no advantage here? Howe he is able to walk forward like that? Surely his lightningprehensions aren''t that impressive?"


    He was still unconvinced by John''s disy, and figured he had found a loophole in it somehow.


    Elder Orin stared closely as he watched John proceed forward wlessly. He too was quite shocked by John''s performance so far.


    After a moment of observing, realization dawned on him, and he remembered something another Elder told him regarding one of the entrance exam participants.


    He pointed to John, and asked a question towards Mason. "Do you see those glowing runes on his skin?"


    Mason and the rest of the disciples all carefully looked at John, and after close scrutiny were able to spot faint runes on his neck, face, and hands. They looked quite exotic, and many disciples had no idea what they were. However, there were a few well educated disciples in the group, and one remembered what runes such as these signified.


    "Elder Orin, are you trying to say that he has a lightning attribute body?" One girl asked.


    "That''s correct," Elder Orin responded, causing all eyes to go wide once more.


    "What the fuck? Isn''t his luck a little too much?" One disciple muttered out unhappily. Mason stared at John with cold eyes, unhappy with what he had just heard.


    "How the hell are we supposed topete with someone like him," Another disciple grumbled. Many nearby heads nodded in agreement.


    John had yed a beast above his cultivation level, showed incredible pain resistance in the Trial of Pain, and now showed his lightning attribute body. Such a series of incredible things were too much for many disciples to handle.


    While in the lightning field, all John could hear was the loud cracks of lightning exploding on his body. However, with hisprehensions of lightning, as well as his lightning attribute body, John was able topletely ignore them. While the lightning was raising hisprehensions slightly as he walked forward, it was not by much.


    This trial was meant for those who were just starting to walk the lightning Qi path, and so such a tempering trial was mostly useless for John.


    Within a few minutes, John walked all the way to the center of the field and touched the central stone tablet.


    Unlike the Trial of Pain, his body was not transported away, and so John began to walk back towards where the Elder and disciples were.


    By this time, most disciples had entered the trial, and most were struggling to move forward at the very edge of the test. John looked around, and managed to spot a few familiar faces within the trial.


    Russell was at the very edge of the trial, his face red with exertion. Although the Elder explicitly stated that power and pain resistance would not help in this trial, Russell was still attempting to break through with brute force. He was almost always able to solve any problem he had with his powerful body, and was attempting to do so once more. However, his attempts were for naught, and he had made almost no progress within the trial.


    ''What a meathead.'' John shook his head as he stared at Russell.


    John spotted Mason, Hartley, and Mae, who were at the front of the pack once more, but still struggling at the outer edge of the trial.


    The only one steadily moving forward was June, however her progress was just a bit slower than John''s.


    John walked past all the struggling disciples, and their eyes looked towards him with a mix of respect, envy, and displeasure.


    John ignored these looks and walked directly towards Elder Orin.


    "Not bad. I remember Elder Ragur mentioning you, and he has quite high hopes for you. It looks like you haven''t disappointed so far," Elder Orin said to John with an approving look on his face.


    After John''s performance in the entrance exams, many Elders were looking forward to how he would perform within the sect itself.


    "Thanks," John replied with a smile and a light chuckle.


    A small item suddenly appeared in Elder Orin''s hands, which was a small jade piece simr to the Celestial Lightning Script. However, it was much less profound than the Scripts jade piece, and did not glow like the Script either.


    "This is the first stage of the Heavenly Lightning Tome. Take it."

 Chapter 173 - Lets Fight!

    John took the jade piece and sent his divine sense into it to inspect it. The details regarding the Tome immediately entered his mind, and John perused it for a while before stopping.


    ''It''s a cultivation technique. I already have the Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique, which is far more profound, so I can ignore this."


    "Thanks, Elder," John thanked Elder Orin and put the Tome away in his spatial ring. Although he wasn''t going to cultivate it, he wouldn''t let others know that just yet.


    "Make sure to not lose it, and you are prohibited from showing this to anyone else. This is yours and yours alone," Elder Orin''s stated in a serious tone.


    John nodded his head in understanding. Although it was just the first stage, the Heavenly Lightning Tome was the signature cultivation technique of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Such a cultivation technique was one of the reasons they were hegemons of thend, and they would guard such secrets closely.


    "What do I do now?" John asked the Elder. He hadpleted the trial early, and had no more sses for the day.


    "It takes most disciples several weeks to fully pass this trial, but you''ve already passed. You can do whatever you want for the rest of ss, and you don''t need to show up to next week''s ss," Elder Orin replied.


    John nodded his head in acknowledgement. He had this lightning attunement ss once a week, but since he had already passed it, it would give him some more free time for his cultivation.


    John thanked Elder Orin once more and was just about to leave, when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye, causing him to stop in his tracks. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the sorry sight he was witnessing.


    "Adam, why am I not surprised?" John called out.


    He had almost missed it, but he managed to spot Adam hiding behind a nearby bush at thest moment. He had not even entered the trial yet, and was avoiding it out of fear.


    "Leave me alone," Adam yelled out, still fearful of what John had donest time.


    "How are you supposed to improve in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, a sect that focuses on lightning, without establishing lightningprehensions?" John asked as he stood before Adam.


    "I''ll figure something out," Adam responded, slowly backing away from John.


    "You''re a Core Disciple, you need to act like one. If you don''t raise your strength fast enough, someone will challenge you in six months and take your Core Disciple spot from you. Do you really want to lose that nice house of yours?" John asked, causing Adam to pause slightly.


    An internal debate started in Adam''s mind, and John shook his head in disappointment.


    "I would normally leave you alone, as your strength has nothing to do with me...but you have already made it clear to all that you''re my first follower, and I can''t have weak or timid followers," John stated with a firm voice, causing Adam to jump and attempt to flee.


    "Nope!" John rescinded as he quickly caught up and gripped Adams arm.


    Before Adam could even respond, John turned around and threw Adam towards the lightning field.


    "Ahhh...Aiya!"


    Adam''s screams of fear were cut off by his new screams of pain as he entered the trial. Lightning immediately crashed onto his body, and Adam screamed out nonstop. John shook his head in disapproval.


    "The trial might be painful, but it''s not nearly painful enough to cause you to yell like that. Stop embarrassing yourself," John called out to Adam and crossed his arms just outside the trial.


    Adam looked towards John and noticed him guarding the exit of the trial, making it clear that he would not allow Adam to leave.


    "I''ll have my revenge eventually," Adam yelled out, before focusing on the trial itself.


    John nodded in approval as he watched Adam begin to take the trial seriously, and worked to improve hisprehensions and affinity towards lightning.


    ''I was going to go back home to cultivate, but I can temper my soul and will here just as well.''


    He knew if he left, Adam was most likely to leave the trial early. Only by staying here could he ensure that he would remain in the trial. While John was normally unconcerned with others, he wanted Adam to grow in strength. Not only did he represent himself as a follower, but John was very interested in having a strong formations expert as a follower.


    There were some problems that brute force would not be able to solve, and John wanted to make sure he had all types of help in the future.


    John sat down in a meditative position and sent his soul inward. He strengthened his soul in front of the holy gate, and tempered his will in front of the sinister gate. While cultivating in front of the sinister gate, John began to emit an aura containing his will without himself realizing.


    Elder Orin looked over to John in surprise and he studied him closely.


    "What a terrifyingly firm will. How is his will so firm at his age?"


    The ss continued for several more hours, and John cultivated outside of it the entire time.


    "Time''s up. ss is over," Elder Orin yelled out, and the lightning field immediately receded.


    John opened his eyes to inspect the progress of those within. June was nowhere to be seen, as she had already passed the trial and left the area.


    Mason, Mae, and Hartley were more than halfway through the trial, and were ahead of anyone else. Russell was still towards the edge of the trial, his face red from exhaustion.


    "What the fuck is this trial?" Russell yelled out in frustration. No matter how hard he attempted to move forward, he was unable to do so.


    John quickly spotted Adam, and raised his eyebrows slightly. His progress was quite impressive, signifying he had established a good amount of lightingprehensions already.


    ''Maybe his talent really isn''t all that bad.''


    However, as the trial ended, Adam dramatically flopped to the floor and remained unmoving as if he was dead. Clearly he was trying to make John feel bad for his actions, but John only rolled his eyes and stood up ready to leave.


    "Wait!" A loud yell sounded out behind John, and he recognized the source of the voice immediately.


    "What is it Russell?" John asked as he turned to look at him.


    Russell quickly ran over to John and stood directly before him.


    "Lets fight!"

 Chapter 174 - Martial Arenas

    John felt his blood boil in excitement at the words Russell just spoke. He had always enjoyed battle, but ever since he first sessfully practiced the Immortal Asura Transformation Art, he could tell that his desire for battle had exploded even more.


    However, he thought about the battle for a moment before epting.


    ''Russell is at the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm. His strength is even above thete Qi Condensation Lion I fought, which is a problem. If I went all out, we might be rtively even strength, but that would make me reveal all my trump cards. Even so, revealing all my trump cards still wont result in a win.''


    Russell was one of the strongest first year disciples, and his strength was terrifying. Unfortunately for John, his body cultivation was still at the early Qi Condensation realm, which was an entire two minor realms lower than Russel. If it was in the middle Qi Condensation realm, he would have much more confidence, but sadly he had found no opportunity to obtain more human blood essence.


    Even with his Supreme Battle Art, John knew he was most likely not a match for Russell. He would have to use his Immortal Asura Transformation Art to fight him evenly, but that would mean revealing his biggest trump card to the entire group of first years.


    Such a fight would draw the eyes of many, as all of the disciples would be eager to witness a fight between two of the top first years. While John was not all that concerned about the Elders knowing about his full strength, he knew revealing all this trump cards to the other youths this early was a bad idea.


    ''I can tell that Mason hates me, and he''ll probably challenge me for my spot as soon as he is allowed to. I have no idea how strong he is, or what our cultivations will be like when he challenges me, so I need to keep my Immortal Asura Transformation Art hidden until that battle at least.''


    John wanted to maintain his spot as top Core Disciple. Not only did it provide the most benefits, it would elevate his status in the Sect itself, making it easier to have the sect help him and his n in the future.


    However, despite all this¡­


    "Sure, lets fight," John responded, his battle lust climbing.


    Despite not being able to use his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, John was still eager to battle.


    ''I want to see just how powerful the top youths are.''


    "Wraahhhhh," Russell belted out a warcry as a smile broke out on his face. "That''s what I like to hear, prepare yourself!"


    Russell''s aura began to rapidly climb in preparation for battle. The nearby disciples all stopped and prepared to watch the fight about to take ce, eager to see what the top disciples were made ofbat prowess wise. Suddenly, a figure appeared between the two of them, causing Russell to pause.


    "Fights between disciples are only permitted inside the martial arenas. You cannot fight here," Elder Orin stated to both of them.


    Russell frowned for a moment before speaking. "Fine, then we''ll just move there now."


    Elder Orin shook his head before replying. "You think you''re the only disciples who want to battle? This sect has tens of thousands of disciples. The martial arenas are always upied, and as such, you have to register your battle beforehand and find an open time slot."


    "What? Why the fuck is there such a thing?" Russell belted out in frustration. "Can''t you just build more arenas? And why cant we just fight here?"


    "Elder Orin," John spoke up quickly before Elder Orinshed out as Russell. "How do we register for a battle?"


    Elder Orin turned to John. "You need to go to the martial arena''s entrance. There''s arge stone tablet with all the registered battles. Send your Qi into the tablet and register a time."


    "So there''s such a thing. Thank you Elder," John responded before turning to Russell.


    "How about we go register our battle?" John said to Russell.


    "Sure, lets go." Russell''s battle lust was ignited once more, and he quickly ran off in the direction of the martial arenas, with John following immediately after. With sses done for the day, the disciples were free to use their time how they wished until the following days sses.


    "Wait for me!" Adam yelled out and chased after the two quickly. Many of the other disciples also chased behind as well, eager to see if the battle would take ce today.


    After some time running through the vast campus of the sect, Russell and John finally arrived in front of the martial arenas. There were severalrge arenas with vast stands surrounding them, allowing for tens of thousands of people to witness each battle. Glowing formations surrounded the fighting tforms, clearly designed to protect the crowd from any attacks.


    Hundreds of other disciples streamed in and out of the martial grounds every minute, showing how busy it was.


    In the very center of the grounds, a massive arena stood tall, dwarfing the other arenas. The stands stretched high into the sky, allowing for hundreds of thousands of people to witness the battles within. Its grandness was beyond all the other arenas.


    However, the arena was empty at the moment.


    At the entrance to the arena grounds, arge smooth ck tablet stood. It was twenty feet tall, and close inspection revealed hundreds of names and arena numbers, as well as times associated with them.


    "This is the tablet the Elder was talking about. Let''s see when the next avable time slot is," John said to Russell, before walking towards the tablet and cing his hand on it.


    His Qi flowed into the tablet, and he was immediately presented with information regarding the avable time slots. A frown appeared on his face.


    A momentter, John stepped away from the tablet, and all eyes could see both his and Russell''s name slowly appear on the bottom of the list. An associated arena appeared next to their names, as well as a time.


    Russell''s eyes narrowed as a displeased look appeared on his face.


    "What the hell? Two weeks from now? Bullshit!"


    Russell was clearly displeased, and the surrounding disciples were also disappointed that they wouldn''t be able to see a fight right away.


    "It''s the earliest slot avable. It seems like the arenas are quite popr," John replied.


    "Therge arena ispletely empty, why the hell can''t we fight in that one?" Russell shouted in displeasure, causing the surrounding disciples to look at him with mixed expressions.


    An older disciple stepped towards the group and spoke up.


    "That''s the Life and Death Martial Arena. Only life and death battles are allowed in that arena. As such, it''s normally empty."

 Chapter 175 - Revealing The Truth

    "Life and death battles? They allow such things?" One of the nearby first years asked in surprise. This was their first time hearing about such a thing. In fact, none of the first years had heard about this arena yet, or the life and death battles.


    "Yep, when two sect members are at odds to the point that only life and death can solve the issue, they are allowed to request a life and death battle. If it''s approved by the Elders, the fight takes ce within thatrge arena, and it only ends when one side is dead. But such battles are quite rare, so the arena is usually empty" the older disciple replied. He was an older boy who appeared to be around seventeen years old, and his cultivation revealed he was in the Core Formation Realm.


    John''s gaze lingered on therge arena in the distance. Its dark grey and ck walls gave the arena an ominous feeling. After a few seconds of looking at the arena, John turned to the older disciple once more.


    "Are the martial arena''s normally this busy? Part of growing as a cultivator is to fight. Isn''t having a two week waiting period to fight quite excessive?" John asked curiously. It currently made no sense to him that there would be such a dy.


    "Ah, that''s a good question, and it has a simple answer" the older disciple replied. "The martial arenas are normally not this busy, but as I''m sure you know, disciples are allowed to challenge others for higher spots every six months. Well, that six month period aligns with the start of the new disciples inauguration, which started today.


    For the next few weeks, every disciple from all the different years who wants to rank up within the sect is challenging those ranked above them, resulting in the arenas beingpletely booked up for weeks. After this period is over, the arenas be much more empty and the waiting period is usually no more than a few hours," the disciple exined, causing all the first years nearby toe to an understanding.


    As first years, they were only allowed to challenge others in six months time, but those within the sect already were free to do so, as the challenging period had just begun.


    There were disciples ranging from first years all the way up to the Meridian Forging realm, each with their own goals and desires, and each would reach as high as possible. Such arge number of disciples would clearly lead to many fights for advancement.


    After reaching Meridian Forging, the disicples would be Elders, or were allowed to roam the world as they pleased under the banner of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, spreading its fame far and wide.


    John wanted to fight Russell as well, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment.


    "I guess we fight in two weeks, I''m going to head off for now," John said to the nearby Russell before leaving the martial grounds.


    Although he was interested in the fights taking ce within, he figured he would have plenty of time to watch them in the future. For now, his biggest concern was with raising his strength and cultivation, and he would take every opportunity avable to do so.


    The nearby first years all had looks of disappointment on their faces, but they soon dispersed as well. News soon broke out among the first years about the fight between two of the top disciples, and a frenzy was stirred up by those anticipating the fight.


    All were curious about both John''s and Russell''s true strength, and bets were starting to appear in great numbers on who they thought would win. The overwhelming majority favored Russell over John, mostly due to his higher cultivation.


    While John dide first overall and kill the Late Qi Condensation Lion, Russell was at the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, and no one had ever seen someone fight and win against a cultivator with a higher cultivation.


    However, there was a small group of followers that bet on John to win. Unbeknownst to him, he had be an incredibly popr subject of discussion amongst the first years. Some of the first years were awed by his disys within the entrance exams, and believed that he was the strongest amongst the first years, despite his cultivation level.


    John had no idea about these discussions, and soon returned to his mansion at the top of the mountain. A familiar figure stood outside the front door, causing John to be slightly surprised.


    "Elder Ragur!" John called out as he saw the Elder standing there.


    He had not seen the Elder since the start of the entrance exams.


    "John, you did not disappoint me. How does it feel to be the number one disciple amongst the first years?" Elder Ragur asked with a slight smile on his face.


    "I don''t really care about that stuff, but the rewards were quite nice though. Oh yeah, thanks for the scythe" John replied. He had just remembered the scythe gifted by the Elder himself.


    "How is it? I had it specially made for you, and it cost me quite a bit to have it made" Elder Ragur asked.


    "I haven''t used it yet, but I can tell it''s a great weapon. It''s definitely a big upgrade over my previous weapon" John replied with a smile on his face.


    He was quite pleased about the scythe, and was eager to use it as soon as he could.


    John was about to ask Elder Ragur about the scythe, when he suddenly thought of his n, and his entire reason for joining the Heavenly Lightning Sect. However, he had never been important enough to request help from them before. He was just about to speak up to the Elder, when Elder Ragur spoke up first.


    "I came here because I could tell something has been on your mind since I first met you. I''m guessing it''s regarding your n, given your anxiousness whenever you bring them up. Tell me, what is going on?"


    John was slightly surprised to hear the Elder ask him about this first. After a moment of silence, John spoke up and told the Elder about the Crimson Valley Sect, the pocket realm, and the Bloodfiend Sect.


    Although his n rules forbid him from talking about the pocket realm, John decided to break those rules. If his n was destroyed, those rules were useless anyways. It was better to have the Heavenly Lightning Sect learn of the pocket realm, than have his n annihted.


    After learning that the Bloodfiend Sect was involved, John knew that getting the full help of the Heavenly Lightning Sect was the only way forward.


    Besides, he was fairly sure that based on what Celestial Soulrend said, the pocket realm was no more. Celestial Soulrend said that he was the core of the world, and it was to copse upon his leaving.


    As such, John decided to describe everything that was happening, while being sure to leave out the parts regarding Celestial Soulrend and other secretive subjects.


    Elder Ragur listened in silence, but his slight facial expressions betrayed his otherwise calm demeanor. Clearly, such a story was far beyond his expectations.


    After exining the whole situation to the Elder, Elder Ragur stood there in silence for some time before speaking out.


    "The nature of this situation is far beyond me. I will ry this information to the Sect Leader, and let you know of his decision."

 Chapter 176 - War Hall

    John was slightly disappointed to hear this, but he understood the Elder. Since the matter concerned the Bloodfiend Sect, who were on par with the Heavenly Lightning Sect, only someone like the Sect Leader himself would be able to decide on the matter.


    Interfering with the Bloodfiend Sect''s ns would surely draw their ire, and depending on how invested they were with their ns, could lead to conflict or even war.


    However, a big weight felt like it had dropped off his shoulders. He had sessfully joined the sect, and now everything was no longer in his hands. All he could do was wait for a response and hope it was a good one.


    John and Elder Ragur continued to converse for some time regarding various things about his new life within the sect. After some discussions, the topic of spirit crystals came up.


    "Elder, you said I need to earn either spirit crystals or contribution points to buy things within the sect. How do I go about earning those?" John asked curiously.


    He only had the spirit crystals that were provided as his reward for the entrance exam. Although he didn''t know its true value yet, he was sure it would not be sufficient to cover all his expenses as a cultivator.


    "Hmm, the easiest way for you to buy things within the sect would be to earn contribution points. You can earn those bypleting certain tasks for the sect, or by joining certain Halls within the sect and earning them as sort of a sry," Elder Ragur replied.


    "Halls? What halls are there to join?" John asked curiously. He knew about the Enforcement Hall, but that was it.


    "There are many Halls within the sect, and you are already familiar with one...my Enforcement Hall," Elder Ragur stated. "By joining my Enforcement Hall, you can earn a monthly contribution point sry," the Elder added.


    John thought about the offer for a moment, as it was enticing. However, he figured he might as well learn more about the other Halls before making such a decision.


    "Elder, what other Halls are there?" John asked.


    "There are dozens of different Halls, each serving different purposes. There''s the Medicinal Hall, which collects medicinal ingredients throughout the continent. There''s the Pill Hall, which is in charge of making all the pills required for the Sect. There is the Beast Hall, in charge of raising powerful beasts for the sect¡­"


    Elder Ragur began to exin the various Halls and their purposes within the sect. John listened closely, wanting to see if there were any that suited him in particr.


    "...There''s the War Hall, which is in charge of participating in various battles and assassination missions for the sect. They are our front line for the sect, and the Hall consists of the sect''s battle maniacs or those punished to fight on the front lines. I don''t know if such a hall would interes-"


    "War Hall? That sounds perfect!" John replied with excitement.


    Based on what the Elder had just said, it seemed as if frequent conflict was part of the War Hall, including even assassination missions. Battles and assassinations were the perfect opportunity for John to obtain human corpses for more human blood essence.


    Not only that, but John was growing more and more of a battle maniac, as both his personality and the Immortal Asura Body began to lust for battle. Such a Hall sounded like a perfect fit.


    A surprised look appeared on Elder Ragur''s face as he heard John''s sudden excited outburst.


    "John...the War Hall is a ce of great danger, where your life will be constantly on the line. Not only that, but there are some truly...unique character''s within the Hall. Also, but first years are typically not allowed to join. Are you sure you want to try to join such a ce?" Elder Ragur asked.


    He had been hoping that John would join the Enforcement Hall, but would understand if he wanted to join another Hall. However, the War Hall was truly the most brutal and dangerous Hall to join within the entire Sect, and was even used as a punishment for various sect members at times.


    Very few disciples chose to willingly join the War Hall. Most disciples within the sect were pampered throughout their entire lives, and the thought of putting their lives on the line made them nch.


    However, John knew that only such battles truly led to great growth as a cultivator, and he had experienced many of those battles beforehand. He would also most likely be able to sort out his human blood essence issue this way as well.


    "I''m sure," John responded to the Elder.


    Elder Ragur stared at John for some time, hoping he would change his mind, but John only stared back resolutely. After a moment of silence, Elder Ragur sighed deeply.


    "Alright. The time for first year disciples to join Halls only officially happens in a few weeks, but if I escort you there personally, you can join earlier."


    John nodded his head and thanked Elder Ragur.


    Elder Ragur waved his hand, and John felt a power envelop his body. He began to hover off the ground, and John soon found his body high above the ground, flying through the air behind Elder Ragur.


    The two of them rapidly soared through the air, and John watched the magnificent sect grounds pass by below. After some time of flying through the sect, Elder Ragur began to descend towards the ground.


    John looked down to where the two of them were descending, and soon spotted a sprawling area of dozens ofrge castle-like buildings. The castles were made of pitch ck stone, and gave off an incredibly ominous feeling.


    There were hundreds of cultivators walking about throughout the grounds, and many sparring sessions could be seen taking ce in various ces.


    As John and the Elder began to descend towards the castles below, a figure suddenly appeared in the air in front of them. It was a middle aged man, who appeared to be around the same age as Elder Ragur. A dense battle aura emanated off the man, as if he had experienced hundreds of life and death battles. There were many battle scars on his bare arms and face, making him appear quite vicious.


    Much like Elder Ragur, the man wore custom colored robes, different from the standard white and blue colors of the Sects normal robes, signifying the hall he was part of. His robes were ck, with a blood red lightning bolt embroided on the back and each shoulder.


    "Oh, so it''s Elder Ragur. What brings you to our War Halls today?"

 Chapter 177 - Elder Thame

    "Elder Thame, I''ve brought along a first year disciple who wants to join your War Hall," Elder Ragur responded while gesturing to John at his side. The three of them quickly descended andnded on the ground.


    Elder Thame looked over to John with an amused expression. "Oh? A first year disciple actually wants to voluntarily join our War Hall? You''ve got guts kid, I''ll give you that much. But even so, you won''t be able to join."


    He inspected John closely, and a surprised expression soon appeared on his face.


    "Aren''t you the kid who came first in this year''s entrance exams?" Elder Thame asked. Almost the entire sect had been at the entrance exam ceremony, and he recognized John from that.


    "That he is. You should be happy that such a talent wants to willingly join a Hall such as yours. Perhaps you should make an exception for the first year''s rule" Elder Ragur replied.


    "Hahaha," an amused expression suddenly appeared on Elder Thame''s face. "That we should. I don''t know why you want to join our War Hall, but we''ll be more than happy to let you join."


    While there was a rule that first years were not allowed to directly join the War Hall for their own protection, Elder Thame was unwilling to pass up on allowing such a talent to join. John stood there in silence listening to the Elders converse. After some time, Elder Thame turned to John.


    "Let''s go get you registered with our War Hall. Hopefully it''s not too brutal for you. You got quite unlucky with your timing kid." Elder Thame said, causing a weird look to appear on Elder Ragur''s face.


    "Is¡­"she" here today?" Elder Ragur asked, his tone somewhat awkward.


    "That she is," Elder Thame confirmed.


    Elder Ragur looked towards John with an apologetic expression. After a moment of silence, he patted John on the shoulder.


    "Good luck. Don''t say I didn''t warn you," Elder Ragur said to John before turning to Elder Thame.


    "Take care of him for now. I will head off now. Have him healthy and back at his home in time for tomorrow''s sses," Elder Ragur said to Elder Thame before he quickly flew off.


    John stood there in silence, but could obviously tell that something was off. After mentioning "she", Elder Ragur did his best to leave immediately. Not only that, but his look towards John as he left was quite apologetic.


    "Uhh, what''s going on?" John asked Elder Thame.


    "You''ll find out soon. Follow me."


    The Elder began to walk towards one of therger castles, and began to exin various things to John.


    "This entire area is the War Hall area. That building is the weapons storage building. That building is the formations storage building. That building is the war provisions building¡­."


    The Elder exined the various buildings and their purposes. All of them had castle-like designs, and were hundreds of yards tall and wide. The Elder pointed to thergest castle in the center of the grounds, which was several miles away.


    "That''s the War Pce, the home of the War Hall leader, the War Deity."


    John looked towards the War Pce. It was nearly a thousand yards tall, and just as wide. It was pitch ck, with many fires lighting up various spires and windows within the building. A massive metal checkered gate existed at the base of the castle, as if it was a mouth swallowing all those who entered.


    Elder Thame led John to one of the mid-sized castles. Its design was simr to the War Pce, but was much less grand. Dozens of cultivators were streaming in and out of the castle, all with cultivations at the Core Formation Realm and above.


    Each of them emanated a dense battle aura, making John feel as if his blood was boiling in resonance.


    "This is the administrative building. We''ll register you for the war hall here," Elder Thame exined.


    The two of them entered the front gate, and John found himself standing inside a massive atrium. Many hallways branched out from the atrium, leading to other parts of the castle. Large chandeliers, each lit by zing fires hung overhead, giving a hearthy and warm feeling to the interior.


    There was a lone desk in the middle of the atrium, nearly a dozen yards wide. A lone person sat behind the desk, writing something on arge book.


    Elder Thame walked directly towards the desk, and John followed closely behind.


    "Elder Yurel, we have a new addition to our War Hall," Elder Thame spoke out to the man behind the desk.


    The man looked up towards Elder Thame, and then to John.


    "Oh? A first year? Interesting. What is your name?" Elder Yurel asked as he grabbed a book lying on the desk. He opened it, and picked up a pen.


    "John Fenix."


    Elder Yurel wrote in his book for some time before setting it down. John suddenly felt a divine sense pass over him briefly, and Elder Yurel wrote something down again in his book. John stood there in silence while the Elder carried out his work.


    Suddenly, a small badge appeared in the Elder''s hand, and he sent his Qi into it. A momentter, the Elder threw the badge over to John, which he caught and began to inspect.


    "This is your War Hall identification badge. It contains your identification information, and any instructions or alerts from the War Hall will be sent to you through your badge. You will also directly receive your contribution points to this badge monthly," Elder Yurel exined.


    "That''s quite handy," John replied with a satisfied expression before putting the badge away.


    After putting the badge away, several robes appeared in the air in front of Elder Yurel.


    "Here, these robes should fit you" The Elder said as the robes floated over towards John. He grabbed the robes, and could immediately feel the expensive quality of them. They were much more luxurious than the robes provided by his n, and also quite durable. Clearly they were made from expensive materials.


    His fingers traced the blood red lightning bolts embroiders on the robe before he put the robes in his storage ring with a happy look on his face.


    ''These colors suit me much better.''


    "Now you''re officially a member of our War Hall," Elder Thame said to John while patting him on the back. "Lets go get you familiar with other things within the War Hal-"


    Boom!


    A loud boom sounded out directly next to John, and John waspletely shocked to see the Peak Meridian Forging Elder Thameunched forward violently. His figure rapidly sailed through therge atrium, and violently collided with the walls on the other side. His figure slid down the wall to the ground below, andy there unmoving for a while before sluggishly standing up.


    John turned his head to the side to see a woman standing directly where the Elder had just been. Her fist was slightly extended, revealing her as the source of the attack that had just sent Elder Thame flying.


    "Elder Thame, who said you could register a first year to my War Hall without my permission?" The woman asked in a cold tone.


    John''s eyes went wide as he recognized the woman standing beside him. Her long blue hair flowed down to her shoulders, and an intense battle aura, unlike anything John had felt before, emanated off her.


    ''The Vice Sect Leader!''

 Chapter 178 - Vice Sect Leader

    The Vice Sect Leader was standing directly next to John, staring at the distant Elder Thame. She was a head shorter than John, but exuded an aura that made no one dare to look down on her. John was unable to tell what her cultivation was, since it was drawn inwards and hidden, but he could tell it was far beyond Elder Thame''s peak Meridian Forging cultivation.


    Elder Thame struggled to his feet and hurriedly dashed over to the Vice Sect Leader.


    "Vice Sect Leader, I apologize for not consulting you first, but I did not want to disturb your cultivation," Elder Thame spoke out in a reserved tone.


    John was slightly surprised. Even the brash and vicious looking Elder Thame, who exuded a battle aura of a veteran, was cowed by the Vice Sect Leader.


    The Vice Sect Leader looked at Elder Thame with a cold expression and said nothing. The silence caused Elder Thame to panic even more.


    "V-Vice Sect Leader, although we have that rule, this boy is far too talented to pass up on. I figured you wouldn''t mind breaking the rules just once," Elder Thame spoke up.


    "Oh? You''re making decisions for me now? It seems I have been too easy on you alltely," the Vice Sect Leader replied. The calm tone in which she spoke sent a shiver down Elder Thame''s spine, and he began to panic even more.


    Just as he was about to speak out, John spoke up instead.


    "Vice Sect Leader. Don''t me Elder Thame. I was the one who requested to join the War Hall in the first ce."


    The Vice Sect Leader nced at John at her side and stared at him. Elder Thame heaved a sigh of relief, having the pressure taken off of him. However, he felt bad for John, having to face the Vice Sect Leader himself.


    The Vice Sect Leader inspected John for a moment before speaking up.


    "Do you think just because you requested it, you can disobey the sect''s rules?" she asked in a cold tone. Her intimidating aura pressed down on John. Most who felt his aura were scared stiff, and were barely able to talk, as it was the most intimidating aura they had ever felt in their lives.


    Even Elder Thame, an expert of many battles, still felt intimidated by the aura. He had experienced many hardships at the hands of the Vice Sect Leader.


    However, John was unaffected by such an aura.


    Having experienced the unreal power and auras of Celestial Soulrend, the holy entity, the sinister gate and especially the dreadful creature in the lightning world illusion formation, John had be ustomed to being under such auras. His tempered will was unable to be shaken by something as flimsy as a passive aura.


    In fact, the Vice Sect Leaders aura felt refreshingpared to those, as it was just an intense battle aura and nothing more sinister.


    John stared at the Vice Sect Leader unaffected, causing her to narrow her eyes slightly. Almost all those who she came across would never dare to look at her directly in her eyes, and most were scared stiff to the point of barely being able to talk.


    However, John stood there as if nothing was going on, acting if he waspletely unaffected. The Vice Sect Leader didn''t know if John was truly unaffected or if he was bluffing to act tough, while actually barely holding on.


    While her aura that pressed down on John before was a natural one, the Vice Sect Leader decided to increase the pressure of the aura on him. Although it still contained no cultivation power, the intensity of what he was feeling was far greater than before.


    However, John continued to look back towards the Vice Sect Leader,pletely unaffected. He knew what she was trying to do, and he wouldn''t let her intimidate her. His will was unshakable, and something like this was unable to rock it.


    "While I don''t know why there''s such a rule in ce, I don''t think it''s a good one. Only through true life and death battles can a cultivator truly ascend, so I don''t know why you deprive the first years of such things," John replied casually.


    An amused look appeared on the face of the Vice Sect Leader. "Oh? It''s easy to spout such words, but what would a little newborn like you know about life and death battles?" she asked in a slightly mocking tone.


    John frowned, but remained calm upon hearing her tone.


    "I know more than most in this sect, at least more than any of the other disciples," John replied in a calm tone.


    "Is that so?"


    The amused smile still hung on the Vice Sect Leader''s face as she inspected John.


    Since she was part of the entrance exam ceremony, she recognized John as the number one disciple of the first years. However, what he had done inside the trials was beneath her notice, and she never paid attention to such things.


    She inspected John a bit more, before turning around and proceeding to walk towards the building''s exit. Her voice trailed out behind her as she walked away.


    "Nheless, you''re far too much of a greenhorn. No first years may join the War Hall. Leave the way you came¡­ and Elder Thame, be sure to stop by my War Pceter for a talk..."


    Elder Thame paled and was just about to respond, when his face became filled with shock. He rushed forward in an attempt to stop what he was witnessing, but he was just a hair toote.


    Boom!


    A simple yet powerful Qi attack exploded on the back of the Vice Sect Leader, resonating throughout the hall. All of the eyes within therge atrium looked towards the source of the sound, their eyes opening with disbelief.


    The Vice Sect Leader''s footsteps halted. She paused for a moment, before turning around. Her eyes locked directly with John''s, who was still holding his scythe in his hand.


    "You dare attack me?"

 Chapter 179 - Initiation Trial

    All eyes within the atrium werepletely wide in shock at what they had just witnessed. Although all those within were part of the War Hall, and were the staunchest of those within the sect, they still couldn''t believe their eyes.


    They never thought they would ever see the day when someone had the guts to attack the Vice Sect Leader. Not only that, but it was a young first year boy.


    Not a single sound filled the atrium as all those within stared at John and the Vice Sect Leader. Although they didn''t know what was going to happen next, they knew John was a dead man.


    The Vice Sect Leader stood there silently,pletely unharmed by John''s attack. However, her rising aura, growing ever more violent, betrayed her otherwise calm demeanor.


    John stared right back at her, not cowed at all.


    "The Elder''s said that the War Hall is used as punishment for those within the sect who do wrong. Surely what I just did is worthy of such a punishment," John replied. His response caused the Vice Sect Leader to narrow her eyes as she stared at him.


    His response caused all those within to widen their eyes once more, and hushed discussions broke out amongst them.


    "What did he just say?"


    "That was his reason? Is he okay in the head?"


    "Clearly he has no idea what he''s just done. He''s dead."


    After a moment of silence, the Vice Sect Leader finally spoke out.


    "Are you not afraid that I''ll kill you right here and now?"


    While John had considered that a possibility before he attacked, he doubted she would do such a thing. Regardless of the reason, cultivators usually disdained killing those weaker than themselves, as it was beneath them to do such a thing. They would only draw ridicule by doing so.


    Not only that, but John figured the Heavenly Lightning Sect wouldn''t severely punish a talented disciple such as himself for something so trivial. Based on his cultivation technique, John needed to join the War Hall. He needed human blood essence, and would do almost anything to obtain the opportunity to do so.


    "No, not really," John replied quickly, his demeanor still calm and collected.


    Those within couldn''t believe their ears, and waited with bated breath at what would happen to John. After a moment of silence, the Vice Sect Leader turned around once more and began to leave the building.


    Her voice trailed out behind her.


    "Elder Thame. Take him to the trial hall. If he passes, he can join the War Hall. Afterwards, take him to the Bottom Layer Crypt for three days as punishment."


    A small, intrigued smile hung on her face as she left.


    After a brief bout of silence, the room exploded into an uproar of discussion. The disciples and Elders within who had witnessed the event couldn''t believe it. Each of them thought John was a dead man, but the Vice Sect Leader had left without so much as a slight retaliation.


    However, they looked at John with slight pity as they heard his punishment in the crypt.


    Elder Thame walked up to John and shook his head in disbelief.


    "I don''t know if you''re the bravest person I''ve ever met, or the dumbest. Probably both."


    "Well, it worked, didn''t it?" John replied with a smile. Although he had no idea what the crypt punishment was, it was worth it as long as he could join the War Hall.


    "Yes, but at quite a cost. Don''t be too happy yet," Elder Thame responded. "Not only do you have the crypt punishment, but you also are going to be on the Vice Sect Leader''s shit list going forward. Life in the War Hall is not going to be easy for you."


    John shrugged at such words. Life as a cultivator was not easy, and any punishment was worth it as long as it resulted in increasing his strength.


    "Come, I''ll take you to the trial hall," Elder Thame said to John.


    The two of them walked out of the administrative hall, and towards another part of the War Hall grounds. The two of them worked for several minutes, before they arrived in front of anotherrge castle.


    They entered the main castle gate, and John followed Elder Thame inside. The main atrium was simr to the administrative building, although the only thing John could see was arge stairway in the center of the atrium.


    The stairway descended down into the earth, and John followed Elder Thame down the staircase into the depths below. The stairway descended for nearly a mile before finally opening out into an expansive dungeon like cavern.


    John''s eyes widened slightly as he witnessed the sights within. There were hundreds of dungeon cells, each holding someone within. Those within looked quite miserable, and some seemed to be on the verge of death. The cells contained men, women, and children no older than himself.


    Powerful formations surrounded each cell, locking those inside.


    As John closely inspected those within the cells, he was surprised to find that each of them excluded a malevolent aura, as if the souls of all those they had killed still clinged to them. A dense scent of blood wafted off each of them.


    "Elder, what is this ce?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    "These are the holding dungeons for the most sinister and vile criminals of the Yuan Continent. Most here are cultivators of the sinister path, who practice taboo blood arts and use the lives of innocents to raise their cultivations," Elder Thame replied.


    Elder Thame led John deeper into the dungeon. They passed by hundreds of caged cultivators, and each of them looked towards John and Elder Thame with bloodthirsty eyes. Clearly, they would not hesitate to kill the both of them if they managed to escape.


    Elder Thame walked to one of the other Elders stationed in the dungeon and whispered some words in his ear. The Elder nodded and scurried off.


    Elder Thame returned to John, and escorted him into the deepest depths of the dungeon. Eventually, the two of them came to a small arena, surrounded by a screen of light.


    ''Clearly the light is some sort of formation.''


    John inspected the arena, curious as to why an arena was in the same room as a dungeon full of criminals. The two of them waited there for a short while before another Elder arrived. The Elder was escorting one of the criminals from the dungeon. It was a boy around his age, and a cursory nce told John that he was in the mid Qi Condensation Realm.


    Elder Thame waved his hands, and the screen of light parted. The other Elder threw the boy into the arena, and Elder Thame turned to look at John.


    "Enter inside. Your trial to enter the War Hall, is to kill him. He''s killed hundreds of innocents and dozens of other cultivators, so don''t show him mercy. Also, no matter what happens inside, we will not interfere, even if you die," Elder Thame said to John.


    A perplexed look appeared on John''s face, causing Elder Thame to think John was unwilling to do so. He sighed at John''s actions, although it wasn''tpletely unexpected.


    The trial for entering the War Hall was to fight and kill another cultivator. The Heavenly Lightning Sect used death row criminals for such a trial. Only those who were willing to fight with their life on the line, and kill their enemies with no mercy would be allowed to join the War Hall, as only those who could do so could thrive on the battlefield.


    The Heavenly Lightning Sect had originally allowed first years to join the War Hall, but the pampered first years, who had yet to experience the true horrors of the cultivation world, died in droves during this initiation trial. They were either scared stiff while fighting someone who was truly looking to take their life, or were unwilling to take the lives of others.


    Such fears and naiveties would only spell their death out on the battlefield.


    The sect had then decided that first years were too inexperienced, and that the cost of losing first years was not worth it. As such, they had ced a ban on first years joining the War Hall, and only allowed the more seasoned disciples to attempt to join.


    Elder Thame figured John was one of these youths, who were all talk and no bite. However, his expression quickly changed as he heard John speak up.


    "That''s it?"

 Chapter 180 - Brutal

    Elder Thame figured John would have been intimidated by this test, but he acted as if it was beneath him.


    Elder Thame frowned at John''s words. They were theplete opposite of what he was expecting.


    "John, I know you''re strong, but overconfidence will only lead to your downfall. The cultivators of the sinister path are unlike us. They bathe in battle daily, and ughtering is like a drug to them.


    Even this boy, who is no older than you, has fought and killed more people than you can imagine. Do not underestimate him, or you will perish."


    Elder Thame could tell that John was not taking this trial seriously, and wanted to warn him against such an attitude. Before the Elder could say another word, John hopped forward into the arena, scythe in hand.


    Elder Thame sighed, and waved his hand. The light screen closed, trapping John and the other boy inside.


    "The boy has been promised freedom if he can kill you, so he will do everything in his power to kill you. Be careful."


    Johnnded twenty yards from the boy, and stared directly at him. The boy''s hair was disheveled, and there was blood and dirt smeared all over his body. He looked like a homeless beggar, but a malevolent aura emanated from the boy, making him appear quite sinister. His mid Qi Condensation cultivation thrummed with power, revealing he was on the cusp of breaking through to the next minor realm.


    The boys bloodshot eyes stared directly towards John, as if he were prey to be devoured. He could tell John was also in the mid Qi Condensation Realm, and a smile broke out on his face as he began tough.


    "Jejeje, its been a while since I''ve ughtered anyone. I can''t wait to bathe in your blood, jejeje. Not only that, but I can leave this damned ce if I kill you, so die for me."


    The arena suddenly turned slightly grey in color, and a powerful aura washed over all of it. It wasing from the boy, and it reminded John of something he hade across before.


    ''This is like the Crimson Hell Domain, just less impressive.''


    The boy was clearly using a domain art, which had washed over the entire arena. Just like when John fought Jason and Dn, the domain targeted his blood and mind. However, the domain was less profound than the Crimson Hell Domain.


    Even the Crimson Hell Domain, the signature domain of the Bloodfiend Sect, was unable to affect him much, so this domain affected him even less.


    "Hehehe, this is my sects domain art. Tremble before me," the boy yelled out as he rapidly dashed towards John. His domain made his opponents much slower in battle, and also affected their will and soul. He expected John to be feeling the same way, and dashed forward with bloodlust in his eyes.


    His sword pierced directly towards John, aiming for a killing blow.


    John sighed, clearly disappointed with his opponent. He had been looking forward to a good fight, as this was the first time he had seriously fought another cultivator since the pocket realm.


    "Maybe if you were in thete Qi Condensation Realm, this would have been fun," John sighed out loud.


    The boy''s expression changed into one of anger as he heard the words, and he sped towards John even faster. When he was right in front of John, his sword pierced directly towards his throat.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John quickly exploded with the full power of the Supreme Battle Art.


    Peng!


    In the blink of an eye, John punched out, and his fist met the side of the sword just as it was about to pierce him. The power of the punch was tremendous, and the boy''s eyes widened as he saw his sword fly out of his hand.


    Gah!


    Before the boy could react, John took a step forward and reached out his hand. His hand gripped the throat of the boy, and he suspended him in the air as he clenched tightly on his throat. The boy struggled to break free of John''s grip, but was surprised to find the grip was more powerful than he ever imagined.


    It was as if he was being held by a hand of steel, unable to be budged even slightly. He kicked and punched John''s chest in an effort to break free, but his hands and feet became bloodied and sore, as if he was punching a steel wall.


    "Like I was saying, this would have been a good fight if you were in thete Qi Condensation Realm. A pity," John sighed.


    The battle had clearly not satiated his desire for a good battle.


    John inspected the boy closely, and was surprised to find that even in his current predicament, there was hardly any fear in his eyes. Although John could still see a slight tinge of fear of death in the boy''s expression, he was much calmer than anyone else John had seen before.


    "Not bad. Are you not afraid of dying?" John asked calmly.


    The boy looked at John with venomous eyes. Despite being at John''s mercy, he still didn''t plead or beg.


    "I already resigned myself to death when I got caught by your damned sect. Just kill me," the boy replied hoarsely, struggling to speak through the tight grip John had on his throat.


    John looked at the boy, while some ideas were brewing in his head. Although he had easily defeated the boy, he could tell that most mid Qi Condensation cultivators would die by the boys hands. It was just unlucky that he had run into John, or he might have fared better.


    "You''re not bad. My battle lust still hasn''t been satiated, so¡­"


    John suddenly took a step forward and threw the boy violently like a ball. The boy felt his neck nearly break from the force of the throw.


    Boom!


    The boy collided violently with the wall of the arena, causing a loud sound to explode out. He fell to the ground, and struggled to stand up.


    Elder Thame looked at John in surprise, not expecting his actions at all. He had breathed a sigh of relief when John had easily defeated the boy, and was waiting for him tond the killing blow. However, his expression changed into one of disbelief as he heard John''s next words.


    "I''ll be fighting without my scythe. Come at me with all your strength."


    The boy''s expression changed into one of confusion. He was unsure why John would give him another chance, but he seized the opportunity he had been given, and attacked John with all his might.


    An incredibly powerful sword image, blood red in color, pierced directly towards John. It''s power was incredibly strong for a mid Qi Condensation cultivator.


    Arge smile broke out on John''s face as he watched the attack approach him.


    "That''s more like it!"


    Boom!


    Fist and sword image collided, and a small explosion radiated outwards.


    ¡­.


    For the next few hours, explosions began to echo throughout the dungeon. Elder Thame stood there in stupefied silence as he watched John fight the boy barehanded.


    A small crowd of Elder''s had gathered to watch the source of the loud sounds, as it had been ringing out for quite some time. They all watched in stunned silence as they saw John viciously beat up the sinister path boy for hours on end, clearly using him as a practice dummy.


    John slowly walked towards the sinister path boy, whoy on the ground. He waspletely bloodied and bruised, and had several broken bones. His face was hardly recognizable. He had tried to stop fighting John and give up, but he had learned that John would make the consequence of such actions be quite painful.


    As such, he had continued to fight John for hours on end, barely managing to hold on.


    "Thanks for the fun fights, that really hit the spot. For your reward, I''ll put you out of your misery!" John said as he stood above the motionless boy. The boy struggled to say some words, but was unable to do so.


    Boom!


    John''s fist punched down with all his might, and it shattered the boy''s ribcage and pierced directly into his chest and out his back. He withdrew his fist, and watched thest vestiges of life leave the boys body.


    John waved his hand, and the boy''s body disappeared from sight. He wiped the sweat from his brow, and a satisfied expression washed over his face.


    "That really was fun!"

 Chapter 181 - Crypt

    The Elder''s watched in stunned silence, not uttering a word. Although they were all Elder''s from the War Hall, and had experienced many battles and seen many brutal things, this was their first time seeing something like this.


    A momentter, Elder Thame waved his hand, and the protective screen of light surrounding the arena faded. John noticed the formation cease, and hopped out of the arena and to the ce where the Elder''s were standing.


    "That was quite a fun trial, that should count as passing the trial, correct?" John asked with a smile on his face. The Elder''s all looked at John with mixed expressions, while Elder Thame tried to think of what to say to John.


    After a moment of silence, Elder Thame spoke up.


    "...Yes, you pass the trial¡­.But why did you go about it the way you did? You had him dead on the first exchange."


    John had expected such a question, as he was sure something like what he had just done was unconventional.


    "It''s pretty simple. I haven''t had a good fight against another cultivator in months, and so I wanted to test my strength and enjoy a battle fully."


    "Were you not concerned about him turning the tides?" Elder Thame asked.


    "Nope," John replied bluntly.


    He knew that giving enemies second chances was a stupid decision, but in a controlled environment like this, John was unconcerned about his enemy. His strength was far below what was needed to threaten his life.


    Elder Thame''s eyes trailed towards the arena behind John. Blood soaked the ground and walls of the arena, showing what a brutal beatdown it had been.


    "Why were you so heavy handed against him?" Elder Thame asked. John''s disy had been quite a brutal one.


    "You said he killed hundreds of innocents right? Isn''t that a good enough reason for the treatment I gave him?" John replied quickly.


    Although he was not a saint, and never considered himself as such, he also considered the killing of innocents and mortals to be indefensible. He had already decided that the boy would die brutally, and he took full advantage of such an opportunity.


    "I suppose it is. Besides, killing your opponent is the goal of the trial, so regardless of how you did it, you passed the trial. However, why did you take the corpse?" Elder Thame asked John.


    Upon killing the boy, John had taken the corpse, which surprised the Elder. Only sinister path cultivators used bodies for cultivating, and normal cultivators had no use for such a thing.


    John quickly thought of something to say that sounded usible.


    "I always take the bodies of my enemies I have killed. I collect them, sort of like a trophy. That''s not a problem, is it?" John asked.


    It wasn''t aplete lie, as John still had the corpses of all those he had in in his pce realm.


    Elder Thame was surprised by such a response, and thought for a moment before responding.


    "No, it''s quite a weird and brutal reason, but there''s nothing wrong with that I suppose. You can keep his body then...


    Besides, killing your opponent is the goal of the trial, so regardless of how you did it, you passed the trial. Congrattions, you are now a member of the War Hall," Elder Thame replied.


    Arge smile broke out on John''s face, but the Elders'' next words quickly dashed his happy expression.


    "As your reward, you are now to be sent to the lowest level of the Crypt for three days as punishment, per the Vice Sect Leader''s instructions."


    John wanted to say something back, but the Elder silenced him and let him know he had no choice in the matter.


    "The Crypt happens to be in this building as well. Follow me!" Elder Thame said and began to walk to a different part of therge cavernous dungeon.


    John followed closely behind.


    ''Compared to the sinister gate and the lightning world trial, I doubt it can be that bad.''


    John knew his pain tolerance and mental fortitude was far beyond his peers, and was confident that he would be able to endure whatever was thrown at him quite easily.


    Elder Thame walked to one of the dungeon walls. Small runes were visible on the wall, and Elder Thame pressed his hand against some of them in a certain order. The runes began to glow, and arge hidden door suddenly parted directly in front of them.


    The parting doors revealed arge staircase behind them, descending even deeper into the earth.


    "Follow me."


    The two of them began to descend down the dimly lit staircase. Every few hundred yards, a door would appear, but Elder Thame continued to walk.


    ''Those must be the other levels of the crypt. I wonder what''s inside.''


    John followed the Elder in silence. After walking for nearly another mile, the two of them came to arge door, several dozens of yards tall, at the bottom of the staircase. The door was made of ck metal, and covered in many powerful runes.


    There were two Elders stationed outside the door, standing guard. They noticed the two neers, and stepped forward to inspect them.


    "Elder Thame. What brings you here today?" One of the Elder''s asked.


    "This one is to spend three days down here, per the Vice Sect Leader''s instructions," Elder Thame pointed to John at his side and replied.


    The two guarding Elder''s looked at John in slight surprise, and felt some pity for him. He was clearly on the Vice Sect Leader''s bad side, and such a thing would only lead to misery within the sect.


    "Very well," The Elder replied.


    The two of them returned to the door and tinkered with the powerful runes on the door. After a short moment, the door began to part open, and an incredibly foul aura began to emanate from it.


    John paled slightly as he felt it wash over him, as it was unlike anything he had felt before.

 Chapter 182 - Leaving The Crypt

    As the door continued to open wide, John was able to peer into the depths of the crypts lowest level. The stairwell where the four of them were standing began to glow more and more red as the crypt began to be revealed.


    Elder Thame had exined the crypt in some detail as they had walked down the stairway.


    ording to the Elder, the crypt was used to punish both criminals and wrongdoing sect members. The crypt had five levels, and each level down was a more brutal ordeal to withstand.


    The lowest level of the crypt was the most brutal, and only the worst offenders would be sent down there. In fact, it was used an a torturous execution ground for the worst offenders, who would be kept inside until they died.


    However, death only urred by spending weeks and months inside. John''s stay was only three days, so his life would not be in danger.


    As the door opened fully, the foul aurapletely washed over John and the Elders. John was able to see inside the crypt, which was unlike anything he had seen before.


    It was like the pits of hell itself. Intense fire burned continuously within, and a foul odor which threatened to empty John''s stomach wafted over him.


    Elder Thame nched slightly at the scent, but escorted John within. As soon as the two of them stepped inside, an intense heat washed over them. John felt his skin start to heat up, making it feel like he was on fire.


    "The deeper you go into this lowest level, the stronger the fires, smell, and everything else gets. You will be in the shallowest part, due to your low cultivation," Elder Thame exined.


    John could see hundreds of dungeon cells stretching into the far distance. Some of the cells contained cultivators inside. Some of them were screaming in torturous pain, some unconscious, and some babbling nonsense, clearly the sign of having gone insane inside the crypt.


    In fact, some of the nearby cells contained the corpses of the recently dead, a sign of the brutality of the crypt. They all emanated the aura of mid andte Qi Condensation cultivators.


    "This is your cell, I''lle fetch you in three days," Elder Thame stated as he stopped in front of the first cell.


    John nodded and stepped inside, at which point the cell door closed and trapped him inside. Although there were no formations surrounding these cells, they were made from extremely durable material, and John was unable to even slightly dent the bars.


    "Good luck."


    Elder Thame looked at John apologetically before leaving. John watched the Elder leave, not too ufortable.


    ''This isn''t so bad. Although this smell is so nauseating as to nearly make me vomit, three days should be fine.''


    Just as John thought this, Elder Thame left the crypt and therge entrance door shut. The second the door shut, the intensity of the crypt skyrocketed. The heat picked up tremendously, the smell amplified tenfold, and John could even feel some mysterious power within the crypt assault his mind, his soul, and all five of his senses.


    John vomited several times as he desperately tried to block out the smell, but was unable to do so. Despite blocking his nose, the smell was somehow able to prate into his senses, causing him to feel its effects fully.


    The intense heat within began to build and slowly cook his skin, turning it redder and redder. The power invading his mind and soul also pained him, but due to his extremely strong will and soul, John was able to ignore those aspects for the most part.


    However, thebined pain from all the attacks threatened to drive him mad.


    "Gah!"


    John grit his teeth as he let out a slight scream of pain. Even with his high pain tolerance, this ce had be a miserable existence. If he activated his Supreme Battle Art and Immortal Asura Transformation Art, John was sure he would be able to withstand this ce much easier.


    However, he did not have nearly enough blood essence reserves to maintain those arts for three days straight, and so he could only bitterly endure the crypt head on.


    "Fuck! Isn''t this too much of a punishment for what I did?" John grunted through gritted teeth.


    He had felt it was quite weird that the Vice Sect Leader had gone so easily on him after he had attacked her, but now he realized that this punishment was even more brutal than her attacking him back and beating him up. All he could do was endure as best he could, and hope the three days would pass quickly.


    His eyes darted around the crypt, at which point they focused on the several corpses in the nearby cells. A slight smile crept up on his face.


    ¡­


    News of John''s antics soon spread like wildfire throughout the sect. No one could believe that he had directly attacked the Vice Sect Leader, and those who knew the Vice Sect Leader assumed she had killed him.


    However, when they heard his punishment was three days in the lowest levels of the crypt, they felt as though that was even more brutal than death itself. All knew of the crypt, and the horror stories from the lowest levels of the crypt were enough to scare anyone within the sect.


    When this news reached Elder Ragur''s ears, his heart stopped for a moment. He thought about asking for leniency from the Vice Sect Leader, but knew doing so would only result in a brutal beatdown from her. Whenever the Vice Sect Leader made a decision, no one could shake her, not even the Sect Leader himself.


    Amongst the disciples, two camps had formed regarding John''s actions. The first camp thought he was an idiot for doing such a thing, and should be severely punished, and even kicked out of the sect. The most vocal of this group was Mason Light, who wanted nothing more than to see John kicked out of the sect or worse.


    However, another camp had formed, which praised, and almost worshiped John''s disy of pure arrogance. His bold and brash actions inspired others in this camp to be more bold and brash themselves, acting to their true nature.


    The loudest voice of this camp was none other than Adam himself. He made sure that John''s disy of unbridled boldness would echo loud across the entire sect, as the more popr John got, the more popr he would get. In fact, he relished at the opportunity to be the center of attention, and did his best to rile his camp up as much as possible.


    Adam had be the defacto leader of the group, and did his best to raise John''s fame far and wide. In fact, he even began to embellish some of the details regarding John''s actions, making it seem even more bold and heroic than it actually was.


    The two groups had bepletely at odds, and some small skirmishes even broke out between the two camps, forcing the Elders to intervene and quell such things.


    Despite the situation being settled, John''s fame once again skyrocketed amongst the disciples, making him the most popr and talked about disciple within the first year group. News of John even managed to spread beyond the first years, attracting the attention of those far removed from the normal disciples.


    ...


    Somewhere in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, in arge luxurious abode at the top of a majestic mountain, a fifteen year old boy sat in silent meditation. Dozens of servants scurried about with work throughout the mansion, which was muchrger and more grand than the mansion John lived in.


    The boy had long silver hair, and a handsome face. His cultivation emanated powerfully, revealing it to be in the early Core Formation Realm. Lightning danced all over his skin as he cultivated in silence.


    Suddenly, the door to his room opened, and a young girl around his age walked in. She bowed towards the boy as he slowly opened his eyes.


    "What is it?" the boy asked calmly, although his face clearly contained agitation at having been disturbed.


    "Lord Hunter, I''m sorry to interrupt your cultivation, but you instructed me to inform you if there was ever any news of someone else having a Lightning Attribute Body," the girl replied.


    Her words caused the boys ears to perk up.


    "Oh? And?"


    "Well, a first year has just appeared. ording to the Elders, he has an Innate Variant Body, as well as a Lightning Attribute Body," the girl replied with her head still bowed.


    Silence filled the room for a moment before the boy spoke up once more.


    "You may leave. Oh, and find out more information regarding this boy. I want to know everything about him."


    The girl nodded and bowed slightly before leaving. A small smile crept up on the boy''s face as he stared forward.


    "Interesting. Perhaps I can finally start cultivating that technique!"


    ¡­


    Three days passed by, and the door''s slowly began to part to the lowest level of the crypt. John''s eyes slowly opened as he stared at the distant door slowly opening.


    A familiar figure walked into the crypt, his hurried steps clearly filled with worry. Elder Ragur finally came to stand in front of John''s cell, and stared at the figure within.


    "Hi, Elder," John said with a calm voice.


    Slight surprise appeared on Elder Ragur''s face as he closely inspected John''s condition. Although John''s body was bakedpletely red, and his skin was cracked all over, he still looked rtively at ease. Most who spent even three days inside would be driven mad from the pain and other things they had felt within.


    Elder Ragur had expected to find John half dead, but his calm smile indicated that he was not in too much pain. However, Elder Ragur knew John had an innate variant body, and such a thing would definitely help within a ce like this. His body was in a pretty bad condition though and would take a few days to healpletely.


    "Come, let''s go," Elder Ragur replied and waved his hand. The cell door opened, allowing John to leave.


    John stood up and stretched his aching body, and quickly followed the Elder out of the crypt. His eyes lingered on the nearby cells for a moment, which nowid empty, before he turned to follow the Elder.


    Although he had managed to survive, it had still been a brutal experience. John was d to be leaving, and did not want to return to the crypt anytime soon.


    ''This ce truly deserves its reputation. It was just as hard to endure as the lightning world trial, and I''m sure even I would die after a few months being locked up in here...buting here waspletely worth it!''


    A small smile hung on John''s face as he left the crypt with Elder Ragur. He clenched his fists with his full power repeatedly, relishing in the feeling of his newfound Mid Qi Condensation body cultivation.

 Chapter 183 - Soul Tremble

    Elder Ragur escorted John back to his abode in the first years district. Although John was a member of the War Hall now, he was still primarily a student of the sect, and would still need to attend sses.


    The War Hall would provide additional training asionally, as well as provide him with missions toplete periodically. Completing the missions would result in receiving contributions points, with more difficult tasks receiving more points.


    ''I can''t wait to start taking on missions for the War Hall. Not only will I get paid to do so, but I''ll most likely also be able to obtain more blood essence.''


    John was constantly in need of human blood essence, and joining the War Hall was the best way he could think of obtaining more. His near suicidal actions of attacking the Vice Sect Leader were in pursuit of this goal, and thankfully, it had worked out.


    ''Not only will I get blood in the future, but I was able to obtain quite a few corpses from the nearby cells in the Crypt, which had allowed my body dantian to advance to the Mid Qi Condensation Realm. Not only that, but there were severalte Qi Condensation corpses that I obtained, which might be able to push me to thete Qi Condensation Realm.''


    John had spent his three days of agony cultivating the Immortal Asura Body technique. The blood from the youth he had killed, plus a few other of the crypt corpses he had obtained allowed him to break through. With both his body and essence cultivation at the Mid Qi Condensation Realm, his strength had increased greatly from where it was before.


    ''Now, I feel much more confident in my fight against Russel. Before I advanced, I doubt I could have won, but now I should have a shot, although it will still be a close fight.''


    Elder Ragur escorted John all the way back to his home, and John listened closely to the stories of what had happened while he was imprisoned.


    "Me attacking the Vice Sect Leader caused that much of a stir?" John asked curiously. He had not expected such a thing to happen.


    "That it did. You are quite a popr discussion amongst the first years, although that friend of yours made sure is a handful. He lit the fire many times, making sure to cause as much trouble as possible in the pursuit of elevating your name," Elder Ragur replied.


    John shook his head at Adam''s antics, although they were notpletely unexpected. John could tell that Adam loved being in the spotlight, and such a situation was perfect for that.


    "Oh, while you were in the crypt, you missed three days of sses. Here, take this," Elder Ragur said while waving his hand.


    A small pile of scrolls and books appeared in mid air and floated over to John, which he caught and stored away.


    "Those are your reading materials you need to go over to catch up. sses start again in a few days, so you have a few days to yourself to catch up and recover your strength," Elder Ragur stated further while looking at John''s sorry condition.


    Although John didn''t make a fuss of it, his body was in quite a battered shape.


    "Thanks," John replied.


    The two of them soon arrived at John''s abode, and John bid Elder Ragur farewell before entering his home.


    "Wee back."


    John was greeted by the warm wees of Francel and Reya, who were both standing in the main lobby waiting for John''s return.


    "Hey," John replied with a smile on his face. "It feels good to be back."


    Reya suddenly dashed forward with a frown on her face. She closely inspected John''s condition, which was quite terrible.


    "You''re injured. The pool outside has healing properties as well as cultivation benefits. You should go swim in it to recover," Reya said to John.


    "Healing properties? Alright, I''ll check it out," John replied. He had no idea that his pool was this impressive.


    "The Heavenly Lightning Sect sure knows how to treat its disciples well."


    John walked to the backyard where the pool was, and took off his robes, leaving only his undergarments, before jumping into the pool.


    A refreshing wave of revitalizing energy washed over him, causing his body to shiver in slight ecstasy. He had felt quite miserable after enduring the hellish crypt for three days, but the pool was doing a great job of washing that fatigue away.


    The healing properties of the pool began to work its magic, and John could slowly but surely feel his body start to recover.


    ''This is actually quite amazing. I should eat a healing pill as well to speed this up.''


    John popped a healing pill in his mouth, which he had obtained from the rewards ofing first in the entrance exams. As soon as the pill hit his stomach, the vibrant energy contained within began to infuse all throughout his body, making him feelpletely refreshed.


    ''With thebined healing effects of the pill and the pool, I should be back to new in a few hours!''


    John continued to rx within the pool. Taking a breather such as this was a rare asion for him, and he relished in thefort and peace he felt right now.


    "While I''m doing nothing, I should review those materials Elder Ragur gave me."


    John took out one of the scrolls from his storage ring and began to inspect it. The quality of the scroll was quite impressive, and was impervious to water damage, allowing John to study it while rxing in the pool.


    "Medicinal Ingredients 101? Sounds like a helpful ss."


    John began to read the scroll, which contained information regarding identifying medicinal ingredients, and their uses in alchemy. The first scroll contained general information, as well as a fewmon medicinal nts that could be found around the Yuan Continent.


    After finishing the scroll, John opened the next one, which contained a much more in depth list of medicinal ingredients. There were dozens of nts mentioned, with small diagrams of each one, as well as descriptions of what they were used for in alchemy, where they could generally be found, and how valuable they were.


    John perused through the various medicinal ingredient reading documents,pletely engrossed in the pages. Although he was not an alchemist, he wanted to know as much as possible about the cultivation world, as finding rare nts could help him sell them forrge sums of money.


    "Money is the most important thing after all. If I have enough money, I can buy just about anything to help with my cultivation...well, almost everything."


    After finishing the Medicinal Ingredients reading materials, John took out one of the other scrolls Elder Ragur had given him. His eyes lit up as he read the top of the page.


    "Lightning Finger. Finally, a lightning battle art to learn!"


    John had wanted to cultivate a lightning battle art for quite some time now, but had nevere across one. He eagerly read the scrollpletely, making sure to not miss a single detail.


    "This battle art is about projecting a sharp and intense beam of lightning out from the finger towards the target. Although it doesn''t seem to be a particrly high level technique, its better than nothing."


    He was notpletely surprised that the technique was a rtively low level one. It was the first technique the sect had given its disciples, and it was mostly used for learning how to properly control lightning based attacks.


    Lightning was a violent energy, and if cultivators were not careful, they could lose control of their lightning Qi, resulting in harming themselves more than the enemy. This was why the Heavenly Lightning Sect slowly introduced techniques to their disciples, rather than allow them to study high level arts right away.


    With his Lightning Attribute Body, this was not a problem that John would run into. His body had be almost impervious to lightning damage, and only extremely high level lightning could hurt him. Not only that, but his control of lightning Qi was far beyond a normal cultivators, so losing control would not be an issue.


    "Lets test it out!"


    John practiced the technique internally for quite some time, following the meridian and acupoint pathways depicted in the technique. Because it was not a very high level technique, it was incredibly quick for him to learn and unleash.


    John pointed his finger up into the sky, and began to channel lightning from his dantian, through the meridian pathways depicted in the battle art, and towards the finger acupoints, when all of a sudden...


    Tremble!


    John suddenly lowered his finger as he felt a tremble within his soul. Although it was incredibly slight, he was sure it wasn''t his imagination.


    Tremble!


    The tremble urred again, causing John to raise his guard. A thought crossed his mind, and he sent his divine sense inwards to his soul, inspecting his soul space.


    All was normal in his soul space, and John was just about to leave it when his soul trembled again.


    "It''s you!"


    John called out as he appeared next to the ball of lightning essence. The lightning egg was trembling inside, and its trembles began to increase in intensity as time went on. The egg was quite a bitrger than thest time John had inspected it, clearly signs of it growing as it absorbed the lightning.


    It was nearly three feet across now.


    "What''s going on? You''re not about to hatch, are you?" John asked, but received no response.


    ording to the artifact spirit, the egg would require an incrediblyrge amount of pure lightning energy to hatch. Although John knew the ball of lightning essence was incredibly pure and profound, he was unsure if it would be enough to hatch the egg in one go.


    "Looks like the gift that Celestial Soulrend gave me was even more amazing that I had originally guessed."


    He had paid it no mind over thest four months since the egg went into the lightning essence ball, but the lightning essence ball had lost most of its energy. It had been an incredibly potent source of lightning before, but now only dim flickers of lightning remained.


    John watched closely with bated breath as the egg began to tremble with increased intensity, until it was almost to the point of vibrating.


    Crack!


    Suddenly, and without warning, a crack appeared on the egg.


    Crack!


    Another crack appeared, and another. The cascading series of cracks spread throughout the entire egg, when suddenly, a burst of lightning from within the egg caused the eggshell to explode.


    The lightning burst slowly faded, revealing the creature that hadid dormant within the egg.


    John''s eyes widened withplete and utter shock as he looked directly at the creature as it emerged from the egg. He recognized the creature, although he was unable to believe his eyes. ording to his knowledge, such a creature was aplete myth, and was told as fairy tales and legends.


    However, having run into the dragon earlier, who John had also figured was a myth and legend, he began to realize that there was more truth to these myths than he originally figured.


    The creature let out a slight whimper as it stretched its legs which had been cramped up in that egg for untold years, before it looked up to John.


    "I knew you were supposed to be special, but this...!"

 Chapter 184 - Kirii

    John hadn''t even read of such a creature in any of the many books he had read during his lifetime. The only way he recognized it was that he recalled stories his mother used to tell him when he was younger regarding many fantastical and mythical creatures. They were apparently stories that had been passed down throughout the world for untold millennia.


    ording to his mother, there were several heavenly creatures, whose power was so unimaginable that they stood at the top of all existence. These creatures each controlled a certain power, and reigned as the undisputed rulers regarding those powers.


    His mother only described three creatures however, as the others had been lost to time. The first was the Phoenix, whose control over fire was undisputed, and could even be reborn anew within its mes.


    The second was the pure-blooded dragon, which controlled the aspect of pure physical power. The stories described dragons destroying stars with a single wave of their ws. While there were elemental dragons, they were normally lesser variant dragons, and only the true pure-blood dragons reigned supreme.


    Lastly, his mother described a creature of lightning, whose control over the element was so fearsome that it was practically god-like. While there were other creatures, such as the lightning dragon John saw before that contained immense power, only this creature could stand at the top and im it was the true ruler of lightning.


    John reyed his mothers description of the creature in his head while he stared at the creature in front of him, carefullyparing the two to make sure he had not made a mistake in identifying it.


    "ording to mother, the creature has a blue and gold dragon-like head, with a thick blue mane that flows upwards from below its neck to its ears. Two regal and majestic antlers on both sides of its head...a body simr to that of a horse, covered in dark blue and gold scales..and a long, regal tail¡­."


    Afterparing the two for quite some time, John felt more than sure it was a match. Although the creature was in its infant state and slightly different than the description his mother had told him, it was still incredibly simr.


    It had yet to grow its antlers, which rested on its head as no more than two small stubs, and its mane was small and almost unnoticeable, but John was sure there was no mistake in his analysis.


    "A Divine Lightning Kirin!"


    John could hardly believe it, despite the evidence being directly in front of him.


    The description matched almost perfectly, however, there was one aspect of the creature that John had not been told by his mother. An incredibly profound and beautiful crystal existed at the very center of its forehead. It pulsed blue light from within, as if there was lightning snaking about within the crystal.


    The creature stared up and John curiously, having seen him finally for the first time. It had known that their souls were connected some time ago, but today was the first time it had set its eyes on him.


    It stood about two feet tall, with a body around three feet long, which made it look quite adorable at the moment. After a moment of staring at John, the creature felt a longing to be near him, and walked over to him. It rubbed up against his legs and let out an excited noise, clearly happy.


    After getting over his stunned stupor, a smile broke out on John''s face as he crouched down and began to pet the head of the Kirin. The Kirin shivered in delight, and began to rub up against John even harder, making adorable sounds the entire time. Thepanion soulbond the two had established made them feel incredibly close, as if they were a direct family.


    "Haha," John couldn''t contain his happiness as well, and began tough happily. He was happy not only because of the amazing lineage of his newfoundpanion, but because the creature itself gave him a feeling offort and belonging.


    John picked up the creature and held it in front of his face. Its tongue stuck out and began to lick his face.


    "Haha, alright that''s enough of that. Now, what should we call you?" John asked Kirin. However, the Kirin only tilted its head to the side, slightly confused.


    Although they could understand each other''s feelings through the soulbond, directmunication was not possible at the moment, as the Kirin did not understand speech yet.


    John scratched his head, unsure of what to name the creature. He had always been terrible at naming things, and his pets of the past all had simple names. After a long time, he was still unable toe up with a suitable name.


    "Aahhhhhh, why is this so hard?" John cried out in frustration as he looked at the tiny Kirin in his hands.


    "I should just name you something like Kirii and be done with it," John grumbled out loud, slightly as a joke. He had named pets in the past simrly, but didn''t think such a name would fit a creature as majestic as a Kirin.


    However, upon hearing the name, the Kirins head perked up, and it let out a soft noise of happiness. Although it couldn''t understand John''s speech, it could tell that it had called him by that name, and approved of it.


    An odd look appeared on John''s face as he stared at the creature.


    "You couldn''t really like Kirii...right?"


    The Kirin made another noise of happiness, causing the odd look on John''s face to be even more exaggerated.


    "Well, I suppose Kirii it is then," John said out loud as he set the Kirin down again. Having settled the name, John was about to bring the Kirin out of his soul space, when a frown appeared on his face. He had just thought of a huge problem.


    "If I can recognize you, surely someone else in the Sect could as well. I can''t just bring you out like this," John said to Kirii.


    Kirii leaned its head to the side, trying to understand what John was trying to convey. John grumbled for a moment, unsure of what to do. He continued to think of a way to bring Kirii out of his soul space without arousing suspicion, but was unable to do so.


    Suddenly, light red from Kirii, causing John to shield his eyes slightly. The light began to fade, and John raised his eyebrows in surprise.


    "You can transform?" John asked excitedly.


    The once regal and majestic looking Kirin now looked different. Although it still looked rtively simr to its previous form, the antler stubbs were gone, the small mane vanished, and the dragon-like head transformed into one more simr to that of a horse.


    A happy expression appeared on John''s face, as he could now take Kirii out of his soul space.


    "I guess I don''t know the extent of what you can do. What else can you do?" John asked excitedly, but all he got in return was a confused stare from Kirii. Despite waiting for some time, Kirii continued to stare at John unmoving, causing him to sigh.


    "Well, it''s not a big deal. Anyways, let''s bring you out of my soul space."


    With a thought, John''s divine sense left his soul space, wrapping around Kirii as he did so. Kirii appeared right next to the pool he was in, and began to look around at the nearby world excitedly. It was the first time it had seen the real world, and everything was a new experience for it.


    John hopped out of the pool and dried off, before putting on one of his ck and red War Hall robes. After getting dressed, John inspected Kirii more closely.


    "Wow, you''re already equivalent to an early Core Formation cultivator despite just being born? Isn''t that cheating a bit?" John asked with a pained expression.


    He had trudged through many life and death situations to climb to where he was, and yet Kirii was simply born with a higher cultivation than his.


    He could feel a dense power emanate from the core of Kirii, where its Core Crystal was located. Beasts cultivated differently than humans. They were blessed by the universe, and were able to increase their strength merely by eating and absorbing the surrounding Qi in the air.


    They didn''t have to train like humans, although the trade off was that their intelligence was normally lower and their attacks less profound.


    When beasts reached a certain level of power, a crystal core would form in their body and be the main source of their strength. Beasts would have the same strength as a Core Formation human at this point, and after this stage, beasts would follow the same cultivation tiers as humans.


    Even still, they still did not need to actively cultivate, and were able to raise their power just by existing. However, unlike humans, beasts had natural limits, and depending on their type and innate bloodline, they would reach a point where their cultivations would cap out and never increase.


    The more profound a creature''s bloodline, the higher their cultivations could reach. Since Kirii was a Kirin, John was sure that it would not have any issues soaring to the top of the cultivation world alongside him.


    While thinking about this, a thought crossed John''s mind. He began walking into his mansion, and Kirii followed behind closely.


    "Oh, you''re done healing alrea-?" Reya asked John, but her wordspaused as she spotted Kirii behind John.


    John''s breath caught in his throat. Despite Kirii transforming, John was unsure of how other cultivators would perceive it. After a moment of silence, Reya dashed forward towards Kirii.


    She hastily picked him up.


    "Wahhh, what''s this creature? It''s so cute!" Reya said loudly while hugging Kirii. She had never seen something like it before, but found itpletely adorable. Kirii enjoyed the sensation of being picked up, and happily epted Reya''s embrace.


    John heaved a sigh of relief, and responded with a smile on his face. "That''s my soulpanion. I found him a few months ago."


    "Soulpanion? How do you know such a technique?" Reya asked while continuing to hug Kirii. Although soulpanion techniques were not all that rare, they were notmon techniques either.


    John scratched his nose. "Uhhh, I got it from my n. Anyways, Kirii and I have business to attend to."


    "Oh, sorry!" Reya replied and quickly put down Kirii. Her expression turned slightly sad, indicating she wanted to y with Kirii more.


    John shook his head and continued on, eventually arriving in the basement. Kirii followed closely, and John stopped in the very center of the room. He pointed to the wall on the opposite side of the room, and spoke out to Kirii.


    "If you can understand me, try attacking that wall over there."


    He was unsure if Kirii could unleash an attack, but wanted to try it anyway. Kirii stood there in silence, looking at John curiously. John continued to try to convey his intentions for nearly an hour, but Kirii stood there, looking at him curiously.


    "Oh well, I guess it''s too much to ask a newborn to do such things right away. We''ll try again tomorrow."


    John patted Kirii on the head, before walking over to the corner of the room containing the cultivation chamber. He sat down on the ground, and calmed his mind.


    ''Now, lets see if the remaining human blood essence I have is enough to push me to the Late Qi Condensation Realm.''

 Chapter 185 - Pill Hall

    In the vast expanse of space, a shadowed silhouette floated in the void. Its size was sorge that it seemed like another floating in the void. Lightning continuously danced over its massive body, like a perpetual storm.


    Suddenly, the eyes of the massive creature opened, and it peered deep into the vast expanse of space. Its vision eventually locked onto a floating on near the edge of the universe, and its gaze lingered there for a moment, observing something on the.


    A small flicker of light appeared in the creature''s eyes, before they slowly closed once more, returning to its endless slumber.


    ¡­


    Back in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, John was still cultivating in his cultivation chamber, trying to break through to thete Qi Condensation realm for his body cultivation. He had been in the cultivation chamber for nearly a day.


    John''s eyes slowly opened as he inspected the progress of his body. He could feel that his body cultivation had grown even stronger than it was just a day before. However, a frown lingered on his face.


    "Damn, I was just a tiny bit of blood essence short of breaking through to thete Qi Condensation realm."


    Despite having the corpses of severalte Qi Condensation cultivators, it was still just shy of what he needed to advance. However, his strength had still risen considerably whenpared to just a few days ago, and so John was not all that upset.


    His eyes trailed downwards, and he spotted Kirii sleeping peacefully on the floor just a few feet away from him. A small smile broke out on his face as he looked at Kirii. Not wanting to disturb Kirii, John wrapped Kirii up in his divine sense and drew him into his soul space.


    Because they had formed a soulbondpanion pact, Kirii was able to live inside John''s soul space without any problems. He inspected Kirii inside his soul space, and confirmed he was still sleeping before getting up.


    "What should I do today. sses don''t start up again for a few days, so I have free time for now."


    The first year ss schedule had the disciples attending sses for several days in a row, before giving them several days off as well. John''s mind went over the list of things he could potentially do, when he suddenly remembered a particr item.


    "The Undying Vitality Fruit! I still have one left from the time in the pocket realm."


    Him and Miko had obtained two Undying Vitality Fruits each in the pocket realm. They had eaten one directly, and were saving the other one to make into pills. Due to the nature of the fruit, directly eating more than one had no benefits, and so the second fruit had to be refined into a pill to make it useful.


    John walked out of the basement and searched around his house for a bit before running into Francel.


    "Greetings, what can I do for you today," Francel greeted.


    "Hey there. I have some medicinal ingredients I would like to turn into some pills. Do you know of a ce in the sect that I can visit to have this done?" John asked.


    Since Francel had grown up in the sect, John assumed that he would be a great starting point to identify such a ce.


    "I do know of such a ce. While the Sects Pill Hall provides pre-prepared pills for the disciples, they also take special requests. However, alchemists are quite stuck up, and most will only take special requests if the ingredient is rare enough. They don''t take special requests for run of the mill ingredients," Francel replied.


    He exined where the Pill Hall was located.


    "Thanks," John thanked Francel and turned to leave his house.


    ''The Undying Vitality Fruit is a rare ingredient. I''m sure they will take my request.''


    John began to descend the mountain and walk towards the Pill Hall which was located quite some distance from his abode. The Heavenly Lightning Sect was a massive sect, and sprawled dozens and dozens of miles over hundreds of mountains.


    "If I can get the Undying Vitality Fruit condensed into a pill, I might be able to break through to thete Qi Condensation realm for essence cultivation."


    Although John''s essence cultivation had just recently broken through to the mid Qi Condensation realm, the Undying Vitality Fruit was an amazing fruit for aiding cultivation in the Mist Creation and Qi Condensation realm.


    John spent the next hour quickly traversing through the sect on foot, following the roads described by Francel. The streets bustled with activity as John passed by thousands of grand buildings on his way to the Pill Hall.


    Several gazes nced at John curiously as he walked by, at which point their curious gazes would turn quite interesting. He was wearing the robes of the War Hall, signifying he was a member of it, but his age was clearly that of a first year. After some careful thought, most quickly identified him as the one who had attacked the Vice Sect Leader.


    They stared at him with even more curiosity, wondering just what kind of madman would do such a thing. John noticed the inquisitive gazes, but paid them no attention as he walked briskly towards the Pill Hall.


    "I really need to advance to the Core Formation Realm. Walking takes too long over these types of distances," John grumbled as he finally arrived at the Pill Hall over an hourter.


    The Pill Hall was one of the most important Halls in the entire Sect. The entire Pill Hall was located in one building, which was the secondrgest building after the main Heavenly Lightning Sect Pce. It was a massive building that looked extremely wide pagoda, and dwarfed all the other buildings nearby. It had pure white walls, with light blue colored eaves.


    Its walls stretched over a mile wide in each direction, and several thousands yards tall. It had grand spires, intricate carvings, and majestic statues located all throughout the outside, from the base of the building to the top of the roof. John stared in awe at the building for some time before he decided to enter.


    An incredibly busy steam of cultivators flowed in and out of the building every second. It was the most foot traffic John had seen at any of the buildings in the sect, which showed how important the Pill Hall was.


    John walked towards the main entrance of the building, which was over one hundred yards wide and tall, allowing for therge amount of cultivators to enter and exit unimpeded.. Two grand statues, of one of man and one of a woman, lined each side of the doorway. Both were over fifty yards tall. They wore luxurious robes, and both exuded a lofty air.


    John stared at the statues for a moment before he entered the Hall. A massive atrium greeted him as he entered, and thousands upon thousands of cultivators could be seen within. There were dozens of tables in the center of the main lobby, acting as information booths for cultivators looking for various things within the Hall.


    John got in one of the lines, and after a short wait, arrived in front of the desk.


    "How may I help you?" the person at the desk asked John.


    "I have a fruit I would like to be turned into a pill. How do I go about doing that?" John asked respectfully.


    "Qi Condensation special requests are located on the second floor, room 212. The stairs are located at the back of the atrium."


    John thanked the woman and walked towards the stairs. He arrived on the second floor, looking both ways in awe. The hallways, which were a hundred yards tall and wide, stretched for over a mile in each direction. He followed the signs to the room the woman identified, and quickly entered.


    Just like the first floor, there were several tables, each containing an Elder or a disciple sitting behind them. John got into one of the lines again, and eventually got to the table.


    "What is your request," the Elder in charge asked in a somewhat dismissive tone.


    He was used to disciples wasting his time with requests that were not worthwhile, and had be quite indifferent to this whole process.


    "I have an Undying Vitality Fruit that I would like to have turned into a pill," John replied, getting straight to the point.


    The man''s eyes lit up, but quickly dimmed back down.


    "Are you joking with me? If you''re going to y jokes, move along and don''t waste my time."


    John frowned at the man''s response.


    "What? No, I''m not joking. I truly have an Undying Vitality Fruit. See!"


    The fruit suddenly appeared in John''s hands. It emanated an aura of vibrancy and life, filling the room with a refreshing feeling. The eyes of all those in the room immediately turned to look at the fruit in stunned silence.


    The Elder at the desk looked at the fruit in a stunned fashion as well.


    "It..it truly is the Undying Vitality Fruit. How..how did you obtain this?" The man asked in an excited tone.


    "Does it matter? I just want it turned into a pill," John replied bluntly.


    "No, I suppose it does not. Follow me," the Elder Replied. He closed his table, and instructed John to follow him out of the room and up higher into the pagoda.


    "Why are we heading this way? Aren''t there alchemists on the second floor for Qi Condensation grade pills?" John asked in a confused manner.


    Alchemists had a different ranking system from normal cultivators, and it was predicated on what grade pill they could create. John knew of the starting levels of alchemy grades, which were Pill Pupils, which could create Mist Creation grade pills. Pill Adepts, who could create Qi Condensation Pills, then Pill Barons, and finally Pill Kings, which could create Meridian Forging grade pills.


    His knowledge was limited to that level regarding alchemy ranks, but from what he knew of the Pill Hall, each floor represented an alchemy grade. The second floor would contain Pill Adepts, who would make the Qi Condensation pills for the sect. As such, he had expected someone on that floor to make the pills for him.


    "One of our Pill Emperors has been looking for the Undying Vitality Fruit as aplementary ingredient for something he''s wanted to create for quite some time now, but no one on the continent has been able to find any in the past few years," The Elder exined briefly.


    John was surprised to hear such a thing, but nodded his head in understanding.


    ''If it''s this important, maybe I can get even more out of this fruit than I had originally intended. And a Pill Emperor? I suppose that''s a grade above a Pill King. Amazing!''


    The two of them ascended the stairway for some time, and eventually arrived on the fifth floor, which was much more grand and luxurious than the second floor.. The amount of cultivators on the fifth floor was much less than the floors below, and only a few cultivators could be seen walking about here and there. They all exuded tremendously powerful aura''s, slightly stunning John.


    "This is the room. Follow me, and be respectful," the Elder instructed. John nodded his head and followed closely behind. As soon as they entered the room, an incredibly powerful divine sense washed over John, nearly forcing him and the other Elder to their knees.


    "You dare interrupt my alchemy session?"

 Chapter 186 - Pill Emperor Thunderpill

    The ancient sounding voice reverberated in John''s ears, like a thunderp directly inside his mind. He hastily red his cultivation base to wash away the lingering effects of the voice, just barely managing to maintain his consciousness.


    The source of the voice was a man who was seated on the opposite side of therge room with his back turned to John and the Elder. Arge cauldron sat on the floor in front of him, and exquisite glowing runes were carved into its surface. An extremely powerful me emanated from the man''s hands and onto the cauldron, causing the room to be quite hot.


    A dense medicinal aroma wafted out from the cauldron.


    "Pill Emperor Thunderpill, apologies for the interruption, but wee here on important business," the Elder escorting John hastily spoke up in an attempt to quell Thunderpill''s anger. The Elder alongside John was in the Meridian Forging realm, and so the Heavenly Tribtion aura that pressed down affected him as well.


    "Important business? What could be so important as to interrupt my alchemy?" Thunderpill bellowed out. Their sudden interruption had ruined his concentration, causing him to lose control over his pill me.


    Although he quickly regained control and steadied his me, the slight increase in temperature, even for just a moment, would result in a lower grade pill. Thunderpill had used valuable resources in this alchemy session, and so he was beyond livid at having it reduced in potency.


    "It''s about the Undying Vitality Fruit you expressed interest in a while ago." The Elder quickly spoke up before Pill Emperor Thunderpill did anything in anger.


    "Undying Vitality Fruit?" Thunderpill replied withplete shock.


    He immediately stood up and walked towards John and the Elder, leaving the cauldron to cool. The materials inside the cauldron were now useless, showing just how much value he ced on the fruit.


    John inspected the man as he turned around. The man had an extremely aged face, and it appeared as if he was nearly on the verge of death. A long, grey frazzled beard hung from his face, and the white hair on his head stuck out in every direction. He quickly walked over towards the Elder and John, and John was able to notice that he walked with an arched back.


    ''He seems to be nearly on the verge of death. I wonder how old he is? Close to ten thousand years I would presume.''


    Pill Emperor Thunderpill was a Heaven Tribtion expert, and Heaven Tribtion experts had lifespans of nearly ten thousand years. When a cultivator passed their heaven tribtion trial, they would shed their mortal bodies and ascend to a higher realm of existence. This allowed their lifespans to increase ten times immediately whenpared to Meridian Forging cultivators.


    "Yes, the Undying Vitality Fruit," the Elder confirmed, causing Pill Emperor Thunderpill''s eyes to widen once more in anticipation. He had issued the order to find the pill many decades ago, but no one had been able to find one. He had just about given up hope of ever finding it until today.


    "What about it. Have you found one?" Thunderpill asked in a hurry.


    Although he was wizened with age, Pill Emperor Thunderpill still carried the air that a Heaven Tribtion expert should. However, upon hearing about the fruit, he had be like an excited child ready to receive a gift.


    "I didn''t. This boy here did. I brought him here as soon as I found out he had it," The Elder hastily replied.


    Pill Emperor Thunderpill''s eyes immediately darted over towards John, who he hadpletely ignored up to this point. He briefly examined John, and raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise at how low his cultivation was. He expected someone who was able to find the fruit would have a higher cultivation.


    "You have it? Give it to me," Pill Emperor Thunderpill said to John.


    John frowned as he heard Thunderpill''s words. Clearly he was just trying to take it without giving anything in return.


    As a Pill Emperor, Thunderpill had always had an elevated position, even whenpared to other Heaven Tribtion experts. As such, he was used to getting what he wanted when he wanted it, especially when dealing with young disciples. Most disciples wouldn''t even dare look at him in the eyes, scared of offending him.


    However, John was not like most disciples.


    "What are you waiting for? Give it to me," Thunderpill spoke up again, as if waiting a few seconds was an insult.


    "Then what will I get in return for this pill? I''m not giving it to you for free," John replied bluntly. Thunderpill was treating him with no respect, and so he returned the favor equally.


    The nearby Elder''s eyes widened as he heard John''s response, and he was just about to rebuke him when a powerful aura once again filled the room. Thunderpill''s aura began to press down on John as his rage climbed.


    "You dare speak to me like this boy?" Thunderpill replied in a raised tone, his face filled with anger.


    "You''re trying to rob me, and I''m supposed to thank you? I don''t think so," John grunted through gritted teeth as he struggled against the aura pressing down on him.


    Thunderpill''s eyes narrowed as he stared directly at John. He had never been treated in such a way, especially from a disciple.


    His anger calmed down slightly as he tried to reason with John. "How about this, if you give me the Undying Vitality Fruit, I''ll owe you a favor," Thunderpill remarked.


    However, he had no intention of repaying a brat like John, and was only saying this to get the fruit. While he could forcefully take it, the Sect prohibited stealing of any kind from anyone, and he wasn''t about to break its rules.


    John''s eyes narrowed as he stared at Pill Emperor Thunderpill. His expression rxed as well as he replied. "Fine, I can ept that deal."


    A small smirk appeared on Thunderpill''s face, but he quickly repressed it. However, John''s next words caused his expression to drastically change once more.


    "And I''ll be cashing in that favor right now. The favor I ask of you is to pay me the appropriate value for this fruit," John replied with a calm tone, showing that he would not be swayed.


    Although he wanted to have the fruit turned into a pill to improve his cultivation, he could tell that the fruit was of utmost importance to the Pill Emperor. Just the fact that no one had managed to find the fruit over the past several decades showed that John could basically name his price for the fruit.


    The Elder standing to the side could hardly believe his ears. He had never seen someone with as much guts as John, and even he was beginning to respect him more. He had always been treated poorly by the other higher up Pill Elders, and seeing them taken down a notch was quite refreshing.


    "You dare y these games with me?" Thunderpill raged once more. His temper was wild, and he would be set off with the slightest disrespect.


    John scoffed as he continued to struggle against the aura pressing down on him. He could unleash his Supreme Battle Art to resist it more easily, but he was sure Thunderpill would just increase the pressure of the aura then.


    Thunderpill was not trying to hurt John, but instead just intimidate him with his power. It worked nearly every time, but against John, such a tactic was useless.


    "Hmph, I dared to directly attack the Vice Sect Leader, why wouldn''t I dare to argue with you?" John replied coldly.


    Thunderpill''s eyes widened considerably, before turning back to normal.


    "If you had done such a thing, you would be dead by now. What''s the point in lying about such things?" Thunderpill rebuked.


    He spent his entire time up in this room making pills, and so he cared not for what was happening in the rest of the sect. As such, he had not yet heard about John attacking the Vice Sect Leader, despite it being the talk of the sect.


    However, the other Elder in the room had heard about the event.


    "That was you?" The nearby Elder spoke out loud.


    Thunderpill''s expression changed as he looked towards the Elder who had just spoken. Based on the Elder''s words, such a thing had actually taken ce. His expression becameplicated as he looked back towards John.


    If the boy in front of him truly had done such a thing, then he was dealing with an actual madman. Not only that, but the fact that the Vice Sect Leader hadn''t outright killed him showed that she valued him somewhat.


    Thunderpill took note of John''s clothes, and recognized them as the colors of the War Hall. A first year in the War Hall was unprecedented, and gave even more credibility to his story. Not only that, but Thunderpill was surprised that John could resist his aura this long without breaking down even slightly. Clearly his talent was far above the norm.


    Thunderpill sighed as his aura began to fade.


    "Clearly I''m dealing with a madman. Tell me, what do you want? And don''t you dare try to take advantage of me," Thunderpill said to John.


    John breathed a sigh of relief. Although he had been able to resist the pressure, it had still taken some effort to do so. However, he was pleased to hear that his stubbornness had won out.


    "I''m d we coulde to an understanding," John replied.


    Hisment caused Thunderpill''s anger to rise again, but he quickly repressed it as it would do him no good here.


    John began to think about the price he should ask for.


    ''Based on his age, the fruit''s nature, and his eagerness to obtain it, I believe the pill he''s trying to create will extend his lifespan, allowing him to live longer. As such, this fruit is the most important thing to him right now, and I''m sure he''ll pay any price to obtain it.''


    John thought about it for a moment beforeing to a decision.


    ''I might as well start super high and get him toe down to something more reasonable. I don''t want to sell myself short here.''


    The fruit suddenly appeared in his hands, as he was trying to get into Thunderpill''s head. Thunderpill immediately looked over to the pill, and his face became full of anticipation. However, he quickly returned back to normal, not trying to show his eagerness.


    John cleared his throat and spoke up.


    "For this Undying Vitality Fruit, I want¡­.a million sprit crystals!"

 Chapter 187 - Fleecing Thunderpill

    Emperor Thunderpill''s eyes nearly popped out of his skull at John''s price. Based on what John had seen so far, Pill Emperor Thunderpill wore his emotions on his sleeve. He was sure that if the price he mentioned was high, Thunderpill wouldsh out loudly, while if it was reasonable, he would act moreposed, but still say it was too high.


    As expected, Thunderpill erupted in angered protest, doing nothing to hide his stance on that price.


    "A million spirit crystals? Are you insane?" Thunderpill raged loudly.


    His reaction waspletely expected. John smirked, as he knew he had started exactly where he wanted to.


    With his status as a Pill Emperor, Thunderpill had amassed a small fortune. However, that small fortune was still only between one and two million spirit crystals, as being an alchemist was an expensive profession. Most Heaven Tribtion experts didn''t even have a million, while the Meridian Forging Elder''s of the sect usually capped out at a worth of a hundred thousand spirit crystals.


    A million spirit crystals was well over half of Thunderpill''s worth, which was why his reaction was so exaggerated.


    "Yep, a million spirit crystals. Do you want the Undying Vitality Fruit or not?" John asked in a calm manner while juggling the fruit in his hands.


    Pill Emperor Thunderpill grimaced at seeing the fruit handled in such a manner, and his eyes could barely resist staring at the fruit in pure longing. Thunderpill did his best to maintain his calm, as he had realized that his actions were quite telling.


    "A million spirit crystals is far too high an ask for this fruit. The best I can do is offer you one hundred thousand spirit crystals," Thunderpill countered, trying to drive the price down as much as he could.


    John''s smile turned into a slight frown as he heard the price.


    ''Clearly Thunderpill is trying to use my inexperience against me. I''m sure one hundred thousand spirit crystals would be an irresistible price for most people my age, but...I want more.''


    John acted as if he was considering the offer for a moment. A small smirk appeared on Thunderpill''s face. He figured he had won out in this battle.


    However, after standing there in silence for a moment, John simply turned around without a word and began to leave the room.


    "Where are you going?" Thunderpill asked anxiously. Clearly he had not expected John to just turn and leave during the middle of their negotiations.


    John paused at Thunderpill''s words and turned around to look back at him.


    "Your offer is insulting. Just based on this fruit not being found for decades throughout the whole continent, I''m sure I can get a better price than that elsewhere. Since you wont take me seriously, I''ll be leaving now."


    John once again turned around and walked towards the room''s exit. A panicked expression appeared on Thunderpill''s face as he watched John leave.


    Whoosh!


    The air rapidly parted as Thunderpill moved to block John''s path. He had moved so fast that John hadn''t even seen Thunderpill until he was directly in front of him. John frowned once more as he looked at Thunderpill.


    "What? Are you going to forcefully take the fruit from me?" John asked in a cold tone.


    However, the Sect forbade such things, and John was more than sure that Thunderpill would not do such a thing.


    "Two hundred thousand. I can give you two hundred thousand spirit crystals. That''s my final offer," Thunderpill replied. For a supplemental ingredient, two hundred thousand was already an incredibly high offer.


    The true value of the fruit was around fifty thousand spirit crystals, which was why Thunderpill had started there. However, that had not been enough to entice John.


    John scoffed at the offer and moved to walk around Thunderpill. Although that offer was enticing, John was sure he could fleece Thunderpill for more. Just based on his actions today, he could tell that Pill Emperor Thunderpill valued the fruit highly.


    "You brat! That still isn''t enough for you?" Thunderpill asked in an angry tone.


    John turned to look at Thunderpill, his expression still calm and rxed.


    "This Undying Vitality Fruit is extremely rare. I''m sure there will be a higher bidder somewhere out there, and I''m willing to take my chances," John replied.


    "Boy, I can tell you know little about alchemy, so I''ll give you a lesson for free right now," Thunderpill replied. "The Undying Vitality Fruit may be a rare fruit, but it is far less valuable to the world than you believe. It''s normally used as the main ingredient for Qi Condensation Grade pills, as that''s where its potency caps out."


    John listened closely to Thunderpill, wondering where he was going with this.


    "As you may or may not know, Qi Condensation Pill''s, even the most amazing one''s, cap out at around ten thousand spirit crystals. As such, most won''t even offer one hundred thousand spirit crystals for the fruit, no matter how rare it is. You won''t find a better offer than mine."


    John listened to his words closely, and nodded along in agreement. It was true what Thunderpill had said, and most likely, he would not find a better offer elsewhere.


    However, the Undying Vitality Fruit was famed for its vibrant life potency, and John knew it was a required ingredient for the pill Thunderpill was trying to make.


    Unless he found another Heaven Tribtion Elder who needed the fruit for the same reason, it was most likely the best offer he was going to get. Nheless, he could tell that Thunderpill was at the end of his life, and would most likely spend much more to obtain the fruit.


    "You''re most likely right, but that doesn''t mean there isn''t another cultivator out there like you looking for this fruit for the same reason. If I put it up for auction, I''m sure it would be quite the betting frenzy," John replied, acting unswayed by the Pill Emperor''s words.


    "There are no others like me out there," Thunderpill rebuked. "Only I have this pill recipe. You won''t find a better offer."


    "Like I said, I''m willing to take my chances. I have my entire life to sell this fruit. However...it looks like your time is quite limited. I wonder who will break first then?" John replied with a smirk on his face. He knew Thunderpill was trying to y him, and so he decided to get straight to the point.


    Thunderpill grimaced once more at John''s words. It waspletely true that John could out wait him, as his remaining years were quite short.


    Thunderpill sighed, knowing he had lost this battle. After a moment ofposing himself, Thunderpill once again gave another offer.


    "Fine, five hundred thousand spirit crystals. That''s truly as high as I can go."


    John stared at Thunderpill, closely examining his features. He wanted to see if he was lying or telling the truth, and John could tell that he was most likely telling the truth, or most of it. However, he still wanted more.


    "Seven hundred and fifty thousand spirit crystals¡­" John counter offered. Thunderpill''s face lit up in rising anger once more, but John interrupted him before he could say anything.


    "I''m not done yet. Seven hundred and fifty thousand spirit crystals. Also, whenever I want a pill concocted, you will personally concoct them for me, free of charge, using all of your ability. No half assing the pills. This is my final offer, and I swear on my dao-heart, if you do not agree to this, I will walk out of here and find someone else who wants this pill," John finished.


    His final sentence caused Pill Emperor Thunderpill''s expression to be quite grave. A cultivator swearing on their dao-heart was an incredibly serious matter. It was an oath to themselves that they would fulfill their promise they just made. If they did not act ording to their promise, a w in their dao-heart would form, severely affecting their cultivation going forward.


    While it was not a fatal oath, it was still serious, as it would harm their future potential. There was no way to remove a w created from a broken dao-oath. John was serious with his words, as he was sure that he would find another good offer for the fruit elsewhere.


    While it may take some time to find another situation like this, he wasn''t in a rush at the moment for resources. He could take his chances on this one to fleece as much as he could out of Thunderpill.


    "Brat, do you know how much my services cost? Cultivators line up for years just for the chance to have a pill made by me, and they spend tens of thousands of spirit crystals just for the service, let alone the ingredients," Thunderpill replied.


    He could barely ept the price John had stated. Although it would be around half his worth, it was worth it in the long run, as he would be able to live for another thousand years if he sessfully made the pill. If he could live another thousand years, there was always the hope of breaking through to the next realm, which would further increase his lifespan.


    This was his all or nothing gamble, and he needed to make it.


    However, bing John''s pill servant was something he was not fond of. However, John''s dao-oath had made it so that he had no choice in the matter.


    After a moment of consideration, Pill Emperor sighed.


    "Fine, you win. I ept your conditions. Seven hundred and fifty thousand spirit crystals, and my pill services, free of charge, whenever you want. Are we in agreement?" Thunderpill asked in a defeated tone.


    He had truly lost out to a youth hundreds of times younger than himself.


    "Almost," John replied. "I want you to swear a dao-oath as well, that when you create the pills I request, you put in your full effort, and don''t sabotage the pills in any way."


    Although John didn''t know if Thunderpill would do such a thing, he wanted to be sure that he wouldn''t.


    Thunderpill suddenly erupted in rage at John''s words.


    "Who do you take me for, boy? The alchemy arts are sacred, and even if I had mortal enmity with you, I still wouldn''t let my pill arts suffer. Do not insult me like that again."


    John casually looked towards Thunderpill, unconcerned by his act of rage. Although he could tell that Thunderpill was sincere in his words, John took no chances when it came to his life.


    "Then swearing such a dao-oath shouldn''t be a problem then," John replied.


    Thunderpill''s face conctored once again, but he did not rebuke John. After a moment of hesitation, Thunderpill spoke out loud.


    "Fine. I, Pill Emperor Thunderpill, swear on my dao-heart, that I will create all your pills whenever you want them free of charge, with my utmost effort, and will perform no trickery or do you any harm."


    "There, is that good enough?" Thunderpill scoffed after making his dao-oath. If he were to break it in the future, his dao-heart would be tainted, and his cultivation and alchemy would forever suffer. Thunderpill wanted to strive for the peak of the alchemy arts, and so he would never do such a thing.


    "That''s perfect," John replied as arge smile broke out on his face. He had decisively won this battle.


    Thunderpill suddenly tossed John a spatial ring, which he caught.


    "There, the spirit crystals are inside."


    John sent his mind into the spatial ring, and inspected its contents. His eyes widened in delight as he saw the small mountain of spirit crystals, glowing vibrantly with energy. A quick sweep with his divine sense confirmed that the number was correct.


    "Pleasure doing business with you," John replied with a smile as he threw the fruit over to Thunderpill.


    Thunderpill carefully caught the fruit, and began to inspect it closely. His face broke out into an ecstatic grin, as if he had forgotten about therge loss he had just taken.


    "Leave me, I have a pill to create. And Elder, stand guard outside my door and let all know that I am not to be disturbed for any and all reasons until Ie out myself. Is that understood?" Thunderpillmanded.


    The Elder confirmed his instructions, and both John and the Elder left the room. The door violently closed behind them.


    "Now, what should I do with my newfound wealth?"

 Chapter 188 - Buying Pills

    John was extremely pleased at the wealth he had just made. Although he didn''t know exactly how much it was worth, he could tell that it was a significant sum even for a Heaven Tribtion Pill Emperor.


    ''This amount of money should be more than sufficient tost me throughout my entire Qi Condensation and Core Formation journey, but I wonder how much its truly worth."


    John turned to the Elder standing next to him, who began to guard the door seriously.


    "Elder, just how much is seven hundred and fifty thousand spirit crystals worth in terms of buying power?" John asked the Elder curiously.


    The Elder looked at John closely.


    "You really are something. I''ve never seen anyone best a Pill Emperor like that, let alone a kid. Not bad. As for your question, lets put it this way. My worth as a Meridian Forging Elder is around a few hundred thousand spirit crystals, so that should give you a pretty good idea."


    John raised his eyebrows slightly. He had expected it to be a lot, but not that much.


    "That much? Seems like I really did get a good deal for that fruit," John replied with a slight grin.


    After a moment''s thought, he suddenly tossed fifty thousand spirit crystals to the Elder, which fell at the Elder''s feet and made a small pile. The pile of spirit crystals glowed brilliantly with vibrant energy.


    "What''s this?" The Elder asked with piqued interest. This sum of spirit crystals was an enticing number even for him.


    "You guided me to Pill Emperor Thunderpill. Without that, I probably would have refined the Undying Vitality Fruit into a Undying Vitality Pill, which while nice, is not nearly as nice as the sum I just made now. Think of this as a gift," John replied.


    He truly was grateful to the Elder. Although he knew the Elder hadn''t taken him to the Pill Emperor out of concern for him, it still ended up in him getting a lot of money, and he figured he should repay the favor.


    Although fifty thousand was an incrediblyrge sum of money, John was certain that the amount he had now was more than sufficient for the next few years. During the next few years, he would be able to obtain even more money, so money was no longer an issue he had to worry about.


    The Elder was at a loss for words, as he felt awkward for taking a gift from a disciple. However, the amount of money was truly too enticing, and he could only ept it. The Elder waved his hand, and the small pile of spirit crystals disappeared.


    "You have my thanks, young man," The Elder thanked John sincerely.


    John nodded and began to walk away, when he suddenly stopped and turned back to the Elder.


    "Elder, where is the best ce to find the most impressive Qi Condensation pills. I want to try to break through to thete Qi Condensation realm."


    Although John''s essence cultivation had broken through to the middle Qi Condensation realm only a few weeks ago, he wanted to see if he could push it to thete Qi Condensation realm with pills. Even if he couldn''t, cultivation pills would surely speed up the time he took to reach that realm.


    "Qi Condensation Pills? The most expensive ones are sold on the second floor of this Pill Hall. However, instead of the room you went to the first time, the room you want is located at the very end of the east hall."


    "Thanks," John replied before heading off.


    He returned to the main stairway, and began to descend to the floors below. The amount of people walking through the halls steadily increased as he descended, as most within the building were between Qi Condensation and Meridian Forging.


    Upon reaching the second floor, John turned down the east hallway, which was bustling with activity. Thousands of cultivators could be seen scurrying about to the many rooms lining the hallway, each with a different purpose.


    John walked for over a mile down the incredibly long hallway, before he eventually reached the very end of the hall. A grand door came into view, with incredibly detailed and ornate designs on it. Two two doors were wide open, allowing him to see directly inside to the room.


    The room was muchrger than any of the other rooms he had seen within the hall, and was the most luxurious by far. Dozens of pedestals dotted the room, each containing a pill on top of it. The pills were all resting on silk pillows, and guarded by thick ss.


    There were only a few other youths in the room, showing that most were unable to afford the prices of the pills.


    John entered therge room, and began to peruse through the various pills. There was a namete on each pedestal giving the name and description of what the pill did.


    "Lightning-Flower Condensation Pill...helps one attune to lightning better, improving their control over it. Sounds nice, but I don''t need such a thing."


    "Foundation Correcting Pill...helps one correct and improve their foundation if they have had a w in their cultivation...interesting, but useless to me."


    "Hundred-Poison Antidote Pill...Is a fast acting antidote over one hundred types of poisions. Sounds very useful. I might take a few."


    John continued to browse through the various pills, taking note of each and every one. Each pill performed a different tasks, but none of them were useless. He could tell why they had been put in this room, as each one was quite amazing.


    "Ah, here we are, just what I was looking for. Thundergrass Essence Pill...Made from one hundred year old Thundergrass. Helps significantly boost the essence cultivation of lighting attribute cultivators. One of the most effective Qi Condensation cultivation pills. Loses potency after the third pill. Perfect."


    After finding all the pills that he wanted to buy, John walked up the main desk in the room, in which an Elder sat. She had ck hair tied up into a bun on her head, and appeared to be in her forties. Her cultivation was also in the Meridian Forging realm, at the early stage.


    "Excuse me, but I would like to buy several pills," John stated to the Elder.


    The Elder looked up from the scroll she was reading and inspected John for a moment. He appearance didn''t scream wealth, and his age indicated he was a first year. As such, his contribution points would be low, and so she was unsure if he could actually pay for the pills in this room.


    "The pills in here are quite expensive just so you know. What pills are you interested in?" The Elder asked.


    John took out a scroll, on which he had written down all the pills and quantities he wanted as he perused the room. He handed the list over to the Elder, who quickly inspected it.


    Her eyebrows raised in surprise, before she looked back up at John.


    "This is quite the list. Five Hundred-Poison Antidote pills, Twenty Mist-Lotus Healing Pills, Three Thundergrass Essence Pills, Five Lightning Explosion Pills, Ten Qi Replenishment Pills...are you sure you can afford all this? Just the Thundergrass Essence Pills alone are incredibly expensive"


    The Elder became skeptical at John''s list. Many youths came into this room looking to buy the spectacr pills, but when it came time to pay, they were not able to pay for the pills. The Thundergrass Essence Pills were just as potent at the Undying Vitality Pills when it came to raising cultivation, which was why they were so expensive.


    However, the pills did not contain the vibrant life energy of the Undying Vitality Pills, and therefore would not increase the cultivator''s lifespan, resulting in a cheaper price.


    "How much are the pills?" John asked casually. He was unconcerned with the price.


    "Lets see, these pillsbined will total to...one thousand three hundred contribution points, or thirty five thousand spirit crystals," The Elder replied.


    "Thirty five thousand? Not bad," John replied.


    He sent his divine sense into his spatial ring which contained his wealth, and moved thirty five thousand spirit crystals to one of the rings he had obtained from his enemies bodies."


    "Here you go, thirty five thousand crystals," John said to the Elder as he handed her the spatial ring.


    The Elder inspected the ring''s contents, and was slightly surprised that John actually had the funds to purchase it, and didn''t even seem concerned at the price. Such a sum was significant, even for her.


    "Wait a moment," the Elder instructed before heading to a room located behind the desk. John waited for several minutes before the Elder returned.


    She handed John a spatial ring, and he quickly inspected its contents. A rich medicinal aroma filled the spatial rings storage area.


    "There you go, the pills are all in the ring, divided into small jars based on the pill. Is there anything else I can do for you?" the Elder asked?


    "That''s it for now, thanks for your help," John replied before leaving the room.


    "Should I look around the sect for more things to buy?"


    John considered seeing what else his wealth could buy, but eventually decided against it.


    "I''ll have all the time in the world to look at what I can buy. My main concern right now is raising my strength. I''ll return home for now."


    After deciding his next moves, John left the Pill Hall and returned back home. As he reached his house, he once again spotted a familiar figure waiting outside his door, seated in a meditative position, cultivating the hours away.


    "Elder Ragur! I hope you haven''t been waiting long," John called out as he noticed the Elder sitting there.


    Elder Ragur slowly opened his eyes as he heard John call out, and stood up to greet him.


    "Not at all. Besides, cultivation works anywhere, what the difference between cultivating here or cultivating at home?"


    "That makes sense," John replied. "What brings you here?"


    Although John had an inkling of what the reason was for Elder Ragur''s arrival, he still asked.


    "It''s about your n. I informed the Sect Leader of the issue your n is facing, and he''s made his decision."

 Chapter 189 - Elder Ragur’s Troubles

    John had expected that the Elder had shown up for this issue, but still waited with bated breath at hearing the answer. If the Heavenly Lightning Sect chose not to assist his n, then they were most likely doomed.


    The serious expression of Elder Ragur''s face soon gave way to a rxed smile.


    "Don''t worry, the Sect Leader decided to help you."


    John''s bated breath breathed out in a relief.


    "We have a Heaven Tribtion Elder, Elder Mable, in the area already. She has already made contact with your n before, and so she is familiar with them somewhat. We have sent a sound transmission to her that she is to remain in the area for the foreseeable future and act as a guardian for your n. Should the Crimson Valley Sect or Bloodfiend Sect decide to make a move, she will take action and thwart any such attempts."


    Hearing that the Sect was stationing a Heaven Tribtion Elder as a protector surprised John. Despite the Heavenly Lightning Sect having many Heaven Tribtion Elders, each one was considered a considerable asset to the sect. Stationing one to act as a guardian was a very open disy of their immense support for John.


    Otherwise, if they did not care about John or his talent, they would have just left his n to their own fate.


    "You should thank yourself for such an action from the Sect," Elder Ragur continued. "If you had not disyed your immense talent, the sect would not have ced such importance on your matters."


    John felt the biggest weight fall from his shoulders. It was the only issue he had that he could not resolve himself right now, and it concerned his entire n. Having a Heaven Tribtion Elder assist them was basically a guarantee of their safety.


    At the same time, John felt increased pressure on himself now. The sect showed such support due to his potential, but he needed to keep showing them that their support was worth it. However, he wasn''t worried about such a thing, as he hadplete confidence in himself and his talent.


    After a moment, John thought of something and spoke up to the Elder once more.


    "Elder, our n has an extremely close ally, the Varis n. I know I''m asking a lot, but is there any way we can help them as well?" John asked.


    He knew the answer was most likely no, but he had to ask anyways.


    "Varis n? Why does that name sound familiar?" Elder Ragur mused out loud.


    "You recognize it?" John asked curiously. His homnd was extremely far away, and most in the Holy Lands did not know the names of the powers there.


    Elder Ragur continued to think about it for a short while before his eyes lit up in realization.


    "Ah yes, that''s why the name sounded so familiar. Don''t worry, the Varis n is safe and sound. You shouldn''t worry yourself with their safety," Elder Ragur confirmed


    John looked at the Elder with a confused look. "How are they safe?"


    Elder Ragur smirked slightly. "It''s not for me to say, as the parties involved have asked for this to stay low-key for now, but all I can say is that the Varis n is in safe hands, and that you do not need to worry about them."


    John was unsure of why Elder Ragur was certain of the Varis n''s safety, but since the Elder had guaranteed it, he had no reason to not believe it. Elder Ragur had no reason to lie to him.


    ''Maybe they''ve somehow found a powerful benefactor like myself. I guess time will tell.''


    John''s thoughts trailed to Miko. ''I wonder how he''s doing. He should have Celestial Soulrend''s soul within his own, so I''m sure he''s making even more progress than I am.''


    When John had been forced out of the pocket realm, Celestial Soulrend had confirmed that he was going to make Miko his sessor. Although John didn''t know exactly how powerful a Celestial was, he was sure it was higher than anything else he had seen in his life, besides the holy entity.


    ''Whatever the reason for their safety, now that I know both my n and the Varis n is safe, I can rest easy and fully focus on myself.''


    The two of them began to talk about various things, such as John''s cultivation and his time so far in the sect. After a while of talking, Elder Ragur suddenly changed the tone of the discussion.


    "Now that we''ve settled your matters, I need to let you know that I won''t be around for the next few years most likely."


    John was stirred out of his thoughts as he looked towards Elder Ragur.


    "You''re going to be gone for a year? Why?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    Elder Ragur had be his biggest supporter in the Sect. Without him, John was unsure how far he would have gotten on his own.


    In fact, he had started to see Elder Ragur as an uncle of sorts. Although John was not reliant on the Elder, he still enjoyed seeing him around.


    "I''ve been at the peak of Meridian Forging for many years, and I finally feel myself at the cusp of breaking through. However, I still need a final boost to truly break through that barrier and ascend to the Heaven Tribtion Realm," Elder Ragur replied.


    He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts, before he continued.


    "While I could naturally reach the Heaven Tribtion Realm eventually, that would take many more years, and as you know, each year for cultivation is precious. The sooner I can break though, the greater the chance I have of advancing further in the future."


    John nodded his head in agreement. Every year was precious in the cultivation world, as breaking through earlier in life would result in a stronger foundation and a higher peak potential. While Elder Ragur could potentially break through on his own eventually, he had no idea when that would happen. It could be two years or twenty, and that was too much of a gamble to take. He needed to seize the opportunity now.


    "My next step is to purchase a Heaven Ascending Pill. Unfortunately, the price of purchasing this pill and pushing through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm is quite immense. Not only that, but the pill''s nature is quite unstable, and so it must be prepared and consumed on the same day. As such, I will need to hire the services of one of the sect''s Pill Emperors, which is incredibly costly as well.


    While I have a significant sum of money to my name, I need to gather quite a bit more to afford this pill. As such, I''ll be spending the next few years out of the sect focusing on money acquisition," Elder Ragur exined.


    While the sect did provide Elder Ragur with a fixed payment as an Elder, getting required spirit crystals would take a decade with only his fixed sry. As such, he decided to focus onpleting various tasks for the sect, which also paid outrge sums oncepleted. The two streams of ie would help him raise the needed capital much quicker.


    John nodded his head in understanding, as everything Elder Ragur said made sense. A pill as impressive as the Heaven Ascending Pill, which nearly guaranteed ascending through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm from the Meridian Forging Realm would surely be incredibly expensive.


    A small smile broke out on John''s face.


    ''I didn''t think I would be employing his services this soon. I''m sure he''ll be more than happy to see me again.''


    Elder Ragur noticed John''s smirk, but was confused as to why he was smirking. He figured John would be slightly sad to see him leave, not happy.


    "Elder, how much does the pill cost?" John asked.


    "Two hundred thousand spirit crystals," Elder Ragur confirmed. "On top of that, the pill is quite a hard one for Pill Emperors to make, so the cost of employing their services is around one hundred thousand spirit crystals, bringing the total to three hundred thousand spirit crystals."


    While Elder Ragur had sizable wealth as a Meridian Forging Elder, he was still around a hundred thousand spirit crystals shy of the three hundred thousand required. Not only that, but he would need additional crystals for living expenses, and so he could not blow his entire savings on the pill.


    ''Seems like I can repay Elder Ragur for all he''s done for me even sooner than I expected. Not only that, but having a Heaven Tribtion Elder as a direct supporter would be incredibly beneficial.''


    Although Elder Ragur had status in the sect due to his Peak Meridian Forging cultivation, it still paled inparison to the status Heaven Tribtion Elders had. There were several thousand Meridian Forging Elders, while there were only around one hundred Heaven Tribtion Elders in the entire sect, which showed not only how hard it was to break through, but how much more elevated the status of Heaven Tribtion Elder''s were.


    One example of this was that Heaven Tribtion Elder''s could have direct disciples, while Meridian Forging Elders could not.


    Heaven Tribtion Elder''s also received more resources from the sect, and were allowed into areas exclusive to those at the Heaven Tribtion Realm, such as the Forbidden Archives.


    John began to chuckle slightly, causing the Elder to be even more confused. His confusion soon turned to surprise at John''s next actions and words.


    A small mountain of spirit crystals suddenly appeared in front of Elder Ragur, to the tune of two hundred thousand spirit crystals. Elder Ragur''s eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sudden sight, which waspletely out of his expectations.


    "Elder, you don''t need to worry about the Pill. Leave everything to me."

 Chapter 190 - Thundergrass Essence Pill

    Elder Ragur''s eyes were locked onto the pile of spirit crystals on the ground in front of him. Although his wealth was a simr value as the pile before him, he had never expected John to have such a sum of money.


    "John...how did you get this?" Elder Ragur couldn''t help but ask.


    He knew John was from a small power on the coast. Over there, they mostly dealt with silver and gold as currency, and spirit crystals were reserved to be used in formations. There was no way his n had given him this kind of money, and so Elder Ragur had no idea how John could have this kind of money.


    Even stealing was not an option, as John was not strong enough to steal this amount of money from anyone who would have these amounts.


    A small smirk broke out on John''s face as he remembered the events that had happened just hours ago.


    "Let''s just say that I had an item that someone wanted very badly, and was able to get a good deal from it," John replied.


    Elder Ragur''s surprised expression turned into one of confusion, and John could tell the Elder was wondering what item he could have had to receive this amount of money, and from who.


    "You''ll find out the truth soon enough," John replied once more, giving Elder Ragur a taste of his own medicine. The Elder liked keeping John in the dark on many subjects, and so John decided to follow his teachings.


    Elder Ragur noticed John''s cheeky reply, but said nothing in response. After a moment of silence, Elder Ragur spoke up.


    "John, while this would help immensely, I cannot ept such a sum of money from you. You should save this for your own cultivation."


    Elder Ragur had already received some good benefits for bringing John to the sect, and so he felt guilty about epting money directly from him. Besides, John would need this money for his own cultivation, as cultivating was an expensive profession.


    John once again waved his hand, and an evenrger pile of spirit crystals appeared on the ground, revealing about six hundred thousand and fifty spirit crystals in total.


    Elder Ragur''s conflicted expression once again turned to pure shock as he looked at the pile.


    "As you can see, I''m doing pretty well for myself, so don''t feel guilty about epting the spirit crystals. Besides, you''ve done so much for me already in bringing me to this sect and also getting help for my n, it''s the least I can do to repay you," John replied.


    Elder Ragur once again wanted to ask John about how he had obtained this kind of money, but he knew John would not answer directly. After a moment of hesitation, Elder Ragur sighed and waved his hand.


    Two hundred thousand spirit crystals suddenly disappeared from the pile. John smiled after seeing the Elder take his portion, and the remaining four hundred thousand and fifty crystals went back into his own storage ring.


    "This will help immensely, I can''t thank you enough," Elder Ragur said to John. This was the first time John had seen the Elder be slightly emotional.


    "There''s no need for that. Also, in regards to getting the pill made, don''t worry about that either. In a very short amount of time, you''ll be in the Heaven Tribtion Realm," John replied with a smile.


    "You''re helping with the pill as well? Such a pill can only be made by Pill Emperors, and they are all stingy and stuck up. The waiting period to have a pill made by one is months if not years," Elder Ragur replied.


    "Like I said, don''t worry about it," John responded with a sly smile, enjoying his turn to keep the Elder in the dark.


    Elder Ragur shook his head at John''s cheeky response but said nothing.


    "I don''t know when exactly, but it should be soon that we can have this pill made. I''lle find you at your Enforcement Hall when it''s time," John said to the Elder.


    He knew Thunderpill was currently making his most important pill, and was not to be disturbed. John was fine with waiting a few days for the pill to be made.


    John and Elder Ragur said a few more words to each other, before the Elder left. John watched Elder Ragur fly off before he turned around and walked into his house.


    After greeting Reya and Francel, he walked directly into the basement and to the meditation chamber. With a thought, Kirii suddenly appeared in the room beside him. With their souls connected, John could let Kirii into or out of his soul space with just a thought.


    "Kirii, you can run around and y down here if you want, just don''t be too loud" John said to Kirii, who tilted its head to the side, trying to understand his words.


    After a moment of trying to figure out what John wanted to say, Kirii somewhat understood his intentions through their soul bond and let out a little yelp of happiness. Kirii then began to run all about therge basement in glee, truly stretching its legs for the first time in its life.


    "How fast!" John couldn''t help but mutter as he watched Kirii dash about. Kirii''s speed was even faster than his own, despite only being born recently. Kirii almost appeared like a blur to John he was moving so fast.


    After watching Kirii continue to run about, John turned and entered the meditation chamber. He sat down, and a pill bottle suddenly appeared in his hands.


    "The Thundergrass Essence Pill. It''s the sects most expensive Qi Condensation Pill, so I hope for great things from it," John mumbled out loud.


    When cultivators broke through realms too quickly, they would weaken their foundations, and would need to spend quite a bit of time stabilizing and solidifying them to make sure there were no future ws. Even the slightest w could affect a cultivators future potential, but thankfully John did not have to worry about that at the moment.


    Although he had broken through recently, John had an incredibly firm cultivation foundation. There were no instabilities or ws, as he had endured many tribtions, as well as eaten the Undying Vitality Fruit.


    The many battles he had experienced, alongside the fruit, made his foundation as solid as possible, which gave him a chance of another quick breakthrough. However, he would need to spend some time stabilizing his cultivation afterward before attempting to ascend to the Core Formation realm.


    "The description said the pills lose their effect on a cultivator after the third one, so I need to break through by the third pill...hopefully."


    After inspecting the pill in his hands for a brief moment, John popped the pill into his mouth and swallowed. As soon as the pill hit his stomach, a powerful force of lightning Qi exploded out, rampaging through his body. However, the medicinal half of the pill quickly took action, calming the effects of the lightning and quickly healing any parts it had damaged.


    John focused his mind, and began to guide the rampaging Qi towards his essence dantian. The Qi began to be absorbed, and John could slowly but surely feel his cultivation rise. After nearly an hour, all the potent Qi from the pill had been absorbed, and John once more opened his eyes.


    Another pill appeared in his hands, and he quickly swallowed it. After another hour, the third pill appeared in his hands.


    "I hope thisst one is enough to push me through to the next realm," John grumbled before he swallowed the pill.


    His eyes closed once more as he focused all his energy on absorbing the pill''s Qi.


    ¡­


    In the endless expanse of space, a lone floated in the void. The was sorge as to be unfathomable, and a close inspection revealed the to bepletely barren of any life. Incredible formation runes covered the entire, and the energy flowing through the runes was enough to exterminate any who got close. The glowed beautifully, as the runes were easily visible from space.


    Qi from both the and the surrounding void of space was continuously drawn in, making the seem like it was in a perpetual Qi storm. The terrifying runes continuously absorbed Qi from the surrounding space. Deep within the Qi storm, the formation runes all led to a single massive structure which stood in the storm defiantly.


    The structure''s shape was simr to a pyramid, and its highest point pierced high into the storm. Continuous pulses of energy thrummed off the pyramid and out into the void of space.


    A single opening at the base of the pyramid led to the interior, which revealed the structure to be mostly hollow. Within the structure, all the fantastic formation lines, glowing vibrantly with power, led to a central point, in which a lone person sat.


    The man had a middle aged appearance, with a clean shaven face and bald head. He wore monk robes, and was seated in a meditative position with his eyes closed. He was so motionless as to almost seem dead. However, the terrifying power passively emanating from the man revealed him to be alive.


    His face was calm but contemtive, as if he was continuously searching for something. This man had sat here motionless for countless millennia, until¡­


    The man''s eyes slowly opened and he peered into a certain direction, staring through the pyramid walls and out into the vast expanse of space. The power emanating from his eyes seemed as if it could pierce all the way to the end of the void.


    A frown appeared on the man''s face, and his body suddenly vanished from the interior of the pyramid.


    ¡­


    Several yearster, in the endless void where no other stars,s, or anything existed for untold distances, the Monk suddenly appeared, with another person alongside him.


    The monk floated in the void of space with a serious expression on his face. Directly in front of the monk, a small point in the void glowed slightly. It was so small as to be almost imperceivable, but close inspection revealed it to be thrumming with ever growing energy.


    After close inspection, the monk sighed and shook his head slightly in pity. The man beside him inspected the point in space as well, and a grave expression appeared on his face.


    "I was hoping this day would nevere again, but it seems like that will no longer be the case," the man sighed out loud.


    The monk turned to the man beside him, who wore simr robes.


    "Return and inform the Abbot about this development. I will remain here"


    "It will be done," the man replied, and his figure suddenly vanished without a trace.


    The monk watched the man leave before his eyes once turned to the glowing point in space.


    "So, the events of the past will happen once again."

 Chapter 191 - Lightning Finger

    Muffled booms continued to ring out of John''s meditation chamber for quite some time. A whileter, the muffled booms subsided. John continued to sit there in a meditative position as a small smile broke out on his face.


    "The Thundergrass Essence Pills did not let me down."


    John''s essence cultivation had sessfully reached thete Qi Condensation realm. The Thundergrass Essence Pills were the best cultivation pills for Qi Condensation cultivators in the entire sect, and each had cost over seven thousand spirit crystals. John had been expecting much from them, and they did not let him down.


    His divine sense pierced internally into his body to inspect his dantian and its changes. Whereas the Qi in his dantian in the mid Qi Condensation Realm was condensed into a honey-like viscosity, it was now so thick as to almost be a solid substance. It was brimming with much greater energy.


    John carefully continued to inspect his dantian, and eventually noticed some signs of potential ws if he continued on this quick cultivating path. When he was in the mid Qi Condensation realm, his honey-like dantian waspletely pure and uniform, while now there were small signs of instabilities and impurities. However, taking time to focus on stabilizing his cultivation would remove these impurities before they became ws.


    "This is to be expected after breaking through so quickly. I''ll focus on consolidating my foundation before I think about breaking through to the Core Formation realm."


    After inspecting his dantian thoroughly, John stood up and walked out of the meditation chamber. Kirii was sleeping just outside of its entrance, clearly having worn itself out from all the running.


    John bent down and pet Kirii for a moment before walking further into the battle area of the basement.


    A scroll suddenly appeared in his hands, which was one of the scrolls Elder Ragur had given John for his missed sses.


    "I didn''t have time to go over this one yet, but now''s a good time."


    One of the sses John had missed was one that went over introductory lightning techniques. It was meant to introduce the youths to the process of using lightning Qi in attacks, as lightning Qi was quite destructive and hard to control, especially during Qi attacks.


    Improper control could lead to self-harm, and so the ss focused on the basics. However, John still did not have a proper lightning based attack, so he was willing to learn any attack at this moment, no matter how rudimentary.


    "Lightning Finger, sounds quite simple," Johnmented as he continued to read the scroll.


    The attack was one of the most simple attacks possible, which was just sending lightning Qi from the dantian through several main meridian pathways, reinforcing the Qi slightly, and finally sending the Qi through the finger acupoints to unleash a simple beam of lightning.


    John read through the scrollpletely and practiced several times before putting it away and raising his arm. His finger pointed outwards towards the far wall of the basement, and his mind focused on converting his Qi to lightning Qi and sending it in the manner depicted in the battle art.


    Lightning Qi immediately surged out of John''s essence dantian, surged through his meridians, and exploded out of his finger.


    Bang!


    A loud thunderp sounded out as a destructive beam of lightning pierced directly towards the far wall.


    Boom!


    The lightning beam collided with the wall of the basement, and the formations of the basement lit up in full to neutralize the power of the attack. John stared at the wall in a slight daze, before he walked over to it to inspect it.


    A trace of lightning continued to linger on the wall where the beam hadnded, and John could notice that the wall had charred ever so slightly, even with the formations neutralizing power.


    "That attack was far more powerful than what the scroll depicted," John mumbled out loud as he inspected the remnants of the attack.


    The attack was supposed to be a simple one, incapable of doing much harm, but John was sure that evente Qi Condensation experts would not want to take this attack head on, at least not without resisting with their full force. Not only that, but there was a lingering aura of destruction where the lightning had struck.


    "Isn''t this a bit much?" John mumbled with a wry smile as he came to an understanding.


    John had quickly put two and two together. His attack had been far more powerful for two reasons. The first was his Lightning Attribute Body, thanks to the Celestial Lightning Script. His lightning body gave him incredibly precise control over lightning Qi, and therefore none of the Qi was wasted throughout the attack process, unlike other cultivators.


    The other part which helped was the Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique. This cultivation technique had been given to him by Celestial Soulrend, and was an essence dantian cultivation technique.


    The technique was quite amazing, as John could tell his essence cultivation had instantly increased in pace as soon as he had started using it. Not only that, but the technique also changed the very nature of the dantian itself, making it more attuned to lightning Qi, and John was finally able to see first hand how amazing it was.


    Although he had noticed some slight changes to his essence dantian as he had used the Primordial Extermination Lightning technique to cultivate, he didn''t know what the chances would be since he had never attacked with a lightning based battle art.


    However, without him even thinking about it, his dantian had naturally infused a destructive and annihtive property to his lightning Qi, instantly changing it to something far more powerful than normal lightning.


    With these two thingsbined, a simple training battle art had turned into something he could use in real battles. While it wasn''t stronger than his Divine Reaping Scythe or Supreme Battle Art, it was something he could unleash almost instantly to catch his opponents off guard.


    "With my cultivation advantages in lightning, I really need to learn higher level lightning battle arts. Mybat prowess will skyrocket if I do so."


    John''s mind trailed towards his spirit crystal situation, and a thought crossed his mind.


    "I never gave it much thought as I didn''t have any money before, but I''m sure there are lightning battle arts to buy, just like I bought the pills."


    Although he had spent nearly three hundred thousand spirit crystals so far with his generous gifts, as well as the pills he bought, John still had over four hundred thousand spirit crystals. This sum would be more than enough to purchase several lightning based battle arts.


    While the Sect would teach him and the other youths more powerful battle arts as the sses progressed, that was too slow for John. The Sect eased the youths into the more powerful battle arts to get them ustomed to using lightning, but John had no such concern for caution with his unique situation.


    "My battle with Russell ising up soon, and I''m sure he''s also made progress since thest time I saw him. I need to be as prepared as possible."


    John had obtained the help of the Sect in regards to his n''s matters, but that was contingent on his talent. If he ended up being an average talent in the sect''s eyes, they wouldn''t see the benefit in stationing a Heaven Tribtion cultivator as a protector. As such, John wanted to maintain his status as the top first year Core Disciple without question.


    John''s scythe suddenly appeared in his hands.


    "It feels quite a bit lighter than before. I''ll be able to swing it with much greater force now."


    After feeling the weight of the scythe for a bit, John focused his mind and raised the scythe above his head. It began to glow a brilliant red, and a momentter, the scythe sliced down in front of him. His face paled slightly from the Qi exertion.


    Divine Reaping Scythe!


    An incredibly sharp red scythe image flew out from John and towards the walls of the basement.


    Che!


    Instead of the loud boom given off by most attacks, a sharp piercing sound echoed out as the attack collided with the wall. The formation runes lit up once more, and began to neutralize the attack. However, the formation runes stayed lit much longer than before as it struggled against the attack.


    Only several secondster did the formation finally die down having finally neutralized the attack. However, John was able to see a faint line carved into the wall itself, showing that the formation had notpletely neutralized the attack. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.


    "It''s at least twice as strong as before."


    John put away his scythe, and pointed his finger outwards once more. He wanted to feel the thrill of utilizing a lightning attack again, as it was intoxicating the first time he used it. The rush of the rampaging lightning surging through his body and out towards his target made John feelpletely alive, as if he was battling a beast internally the entire time.


    Lightning Finger!


    Having practiced the attack already, the Lightning Finger John produced this time around was even more powerful. It exploded against the wall once more, and after being neutralized by the formation, a small charred area remained visible


    Lightning Finger!


    Lightning Finger!


    Lightning Finger!


    John dashed all about the basement, simting a battle while unleashing his attack. He wanted to be as familiar as possible when using this attack, as its simple but quick execution could help him in battle.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Loud booms continued to echo throughout the basement, causing quite a ruckus. The sound eventually woke Kirii from his deep slumber, and Kirii began to curiously watch John as he continued to attack with his lightning battle art.


    While watching the lightning attacks, Kirii felt an innate longing towards the lightning, and an urge rise up within himself.


    Lightning Finger!


    John unleashed one final Lightning Finger, and it once again exploded outwards in an incredibly fast beam of lightning towards the wall. Suddenly, the amount of lightning in John''s vision increased greatly, and a feeling of danger overwhelmed his senses.


    BOOOOM!


    Therge basement suddenly shook violently, and arge explosion radiated outwards from the wall John had just struck. The runes on the basement walls lit up with full force in an attempt to neutralize the attack.


    The force of the st knocked him back quite a distance, and would have injured him if he had not had such a strong body. Johnnded on his feet and slid back quite a distance beforeing to a stop.


    "What just happened? I attacked the wall, when all of a sudden a beam of lightning even more powerful than my own appeared."


    After a moment of thought, realization struck John.


    "It couldn''t be."


    He quickly turned around, and noticed that Kirii was awake, standing just a few feet behind the spot where he hadnded. Small flickers of lightning danced on the outside of the crystal located on Kirii''s forehead, before it eventually faded away.


    Kirii looked up at John with its innocent eyes, and quickly hopped up into his arms, snuggling deeply in his embrace.. John caught Kirii, and began to pet him before turning around once more. His eyes looked towards the site of the st, and his eyes widened in surprise.


    The basement wall now had arge hole in it, several yards wide and deep.

 Chapter 192 - Changes In The Qi Whirlpool

    At the very center of the Yuan Continent Holy Lands, the massive Qi whirlpool, or better described as a Qi hurricane, continued to revolve in perpetuity. The Four Great Sects had established their sects around the whirlpool, as the Qi in this area was the most dense anywhere on the continent.


    Not only that, but each sect had devised a way to siphon Qi from the whirlpool to harness it for various purposes within the sect. This siphoning had been going on for tens of thousands of years, but the Qi whirlpool remained as dense and powerful as ever.


    High up in the air, several figures floated on the outskirts on the whirlpool, looking into it and closely inspecting it. The man in front reached out his hand and attempted to move it forward into the tempest of Qi.


    However, his hand was stopped midway, and no matter what he did, he was unable to move it forward at all. A screen of light blocked his hand.


    "It''s the same as always," Sect Leader Thunderzen spoke up. "The formation surrounding the whirlpool remains in effect."


    Sect Leader Thunderzen was joined by several high ranking members of the sect, including the Vice Sect Leader.


    "If the whirlpool is weakening, then why is the formation not weakening as well?" The Vice Sect Leader asked.


    As far back as anyone could remember, the Qi whirlpool had always been surrounded by a protective formation. After many tests to find its weakness, the only thing discovered was that the formation allowed those sixteen years and younger within.


    As Celestial Soulrend had exined, there used to be many entrances to the pocket realm, but all but one had been lost to time. This entrance was one of them, as the protective formation that kept the storm contained had been broken by unknown means, while the age formation had not been. This resulted in the contained Qi storm expanding uncontrobly, to its present day size.


    The age formation had also been warped by the powerful Qi storm, and had expanded with the storm to its edges.


    All those with a bone age over sixteen years were unable to enter. The reason for this had always been baffling to those who did not know the truth, as the Qi storm within the formation was strong enough to kill any Qi Condensation or Core Formation youth when they entered.


    When John had been expelled from this Qi whirlpool, he had the protection of Celestial Soulrend, who was the creator of the pocket realm, and this Qi whirlpool. Otherwise, if he was to enter it on his own, he would die as well due to the storm''s immense power.


    However, the Sect''s most powerful experts had gathered today before the storm due to a startling discovery. The Qi whirlpool, which had remained stable for tens of thousands of years, was now weakening at a frightening rate. At the current weakening rate, it wouldn''t be long before the stormpletely died out.


    None of the experts gathered knew the reason why, and when they tried to explore within, they discovered that the formation keeping them out was unaffected. As such, all they could do was look into the storm from the outside, and try to figure out the reason for its weakening.


    "The age formation must be independent from the Qi whirlpool, and is unaffected by its weakening," Sect Leader Thunderzen replied to the Vice Sect Leader''s question.


    "Without this whirlpool, how is our Sect supposed to maintain hegemony over thesends?" Another man spoke up. He was middle aged, with a thick ck beard and a shaved head. He wore the robes of the Enforcement Hall, simr to Elder Ragur''s, and was the head of the Enforcement Hall.


    The whirlpool provided a massive advantage to the Four Great Sects, which allowed them to remain unmatched.


    "You should know more than anyone that our hegemony does not depend on this whirlpool. If the whirlpool truly dies out, we can always receive more aid from the maind," Thunderzen looked over to the man and replied.


    His vision once again pierced into the storm, examining its depths as far as he could see.


    "Besides, if the whirlpool truly does die out, I wonder if we can find out what sort of wonderful things exist within?" Thunderzen said with an amused tone. His thoughts suddenly thought of a lone boy, who was mysteriously found directly outside of this whirlpool several months ago.


    Thunderzen knew it was impossible for John to reach this area undetected, as it was a restricted area, and so that only left one exnation. Now, several monthster, the whirlpool, which had remained stable for tens of thousands of years, suddenly began to weaken.


    "Some of you remain here and continue to inspect this situation. Let me know if anything changes. In the meantime, it seems like I have to ask a certain someone some questions," Thunderzen stated out loud before his figure suddenly vanished.


    ¡­


    John inspected Kirii closely after Kirii''s attack.


    "Can you do that again?" John asked in an excited tone.


    Kirii''s attack had been incredibly powerful, and would be an incredible help in battle if Kirii was able to unleash it whenever John asked for it.


    However, Kirii only snuggled deeper into John''s embrace, fully falling asleep without concern for his question.


    "I suppose you still are only a few days old," John mumbled out loud as he began to leave the basement. With a thought, he transferred Kirii from his embrace to his soul space, to allow Kirii to rest without anything disturbing his rest.


    Suddenly, Reya and Francel burst through the door leading to the basement stairs and spotted John walking towards them.


    "What happened?" Reya asked anxiously. "We heard a loud explosion, and the house shook quite violently."


    John smiled wryly before responding. "Just training down here. It''s nothing to worry about."


    Both Reya and Francel looked at John with disbelieving eyes, but said nothing to argue against his words. As long as he was safe and the house was not destroyed, they were content.


    "Oh yeah," John suddenly spoke to the two of them. "I want to buy some battle arts. Do either of you know a ce where I can do so?"


    It was the next main thing on his to do list. Once he obtained some powerful lightning battle arts, hisbat prowess would soar even more.


    "The Sect will teach you many battle arts for free as the year progresses, and you can save money or contribution points this way," Francelmented, but John''s look on his face made him realize that John already knew this.


    "If you can''t wait for that, there is such a ce. The Heavenly Lightning Library. It contains all the literary works of the sect, including battle arts," Francel replied, before exining where it was located.


    "That''s perfect, thanks," John replied in a thankful tone. He quickly left his house and began to descend the mountain, heading straight towards the library.


    The Heavenly Lightning Library was located quite close to the central Heavenly Lightning Pce, and was one of the most popr buildings for the sect''s cultivators to visit. Not only did it contain a vast array of battle arts ranging from the Qi Condensation realm all the way to the Heaven Tribtion realm, it also contained other documents covering a wide range of topics, such as history, art, and business.


    John leisurely strolled through the sect, taking in the scenery.


    "No matter how many times I walk through the sect, I''m always amazed by it."


    The grand buildings, beautifulndscape, majestic waterfalls, tranquil streams, and towering mountains made the sect feel like an immortal paradise. John eventually found himself passing by the Martial Arena''s, and his vision lingered on therge stone tablet in front.


    "Only a week until my fight. I can''t wait."


    John had not fought a proper fight against another cultivator since the pocket realm, and was eagerly looking forward to his fight with Russell.


    All of a sudden, John felt himself wrapped up in a mysterious power, which he was unable to do anything about. It was so powerful as to make any attempt of resisting futile. Before he could even react however, John found his scenerypletely change.


    The sect grounds, which he had just been in a moment ago, sprawled out far below him. John quickly looked around to get his bearings and figure out what had just happened. He noticed that he was on a balcony, over a thousand yards above the sect grounds below. Above him, a towering spire pierced high into the sky, its top obscured by the clouds.


    "Take a seat," a voice spoke out.


    John quickly turned around to the source of the voice, and his face lit up in surprise. Sect Leader Thunderzen was seated at a table on therge balcony, a small smile on his face as he stared at John.

 Chapter 193 - Discussion With Sect Leader Thunderzen

    "Come, take a seat," Thunderzen spoke up once more, stirring John from his daze.


    John nodded his head and took a seat. The table was several feet across, and Thunderzen satzily in his chair while he smiled at John with an inspecting look. John could tell that Sect Leader Thunderzen was closely inspecting him, as if looking for something, but could do nothing to stop it.


    He knew his body dantian was undetectable, and so he wasn''t worried about anything Thunderzen would find. However, he was curious as to why Thunderzen had looked for him specifically.


    ''My n issue is not worth him talking to me directly like this, so it must be something else.''


    John sat there calmly and stared at Sect Leader Thunderzen, but said nothing. He was waiting for Thunderzen to speak first, as he did not want to say anything unneeded for revealing. Thunderzen continued to inspect John for a moment before a slight smile appeared on his face.


    "Just likest time, you''repletely calm in my presence. Where did you get such nerves?" Thunderzen asked John.


    Based on his status as Sect Leader, as well as his overwhelming power, Thunderzen was used to Elder''s being cautious and timid before him, let alone disciples. However, both times John had met him face to face, John had beenpletely calm and collected.


    "I''ve been in many life and death situations before. Compared to those, this is nothing," John replied calmly.


    Based on his many life and death battles, his experiences in the pocket realm, and tempering his will nightly in front of the sinister gate, John''s will waspletely firm. Something like a casual conversation was unable to shake him.


    "Regardless of the reason, this is the attitude cultivators should have. I just wish more in our Sect were more firm in their wills," Thunderzen replied with a slight sigh.


    The Heavenly Lightning Sect hadn''t had arge scale war in many years, and so both the disciples and Elder''s were bing soft. Only the War Hall, who constantly performed life and death activities, maintained their sharp edge.


    Once again, John sat there in silence and stared at Thunderzen calmly. He knew the Sect Leader didn''t drag him up here for casual conversation, and so he waited in silence patiently until Thunderzen got straight to the point.


    Thunderzen immediately picked up on what John was doing, and a small smile once again broke out on his face.


    "Alright then, I''ll get straight to the point," Thunderzen stated. "When you arrived at our sect, you were found by Elder Ragur just outside the Qi Whirlpool."


    John''s eyebrows raised slightly as Thunderzen mentioned the whirlpool, but his face remained calm, giving nothing away.


    "Whatever the reason you gave Elder Ragur, I know that was a lie. You came from within the whirlpool, and I want to know why and how that came to be," Thunderzen asked John, getting straight to the point.


    John remained calm, but his mind began to race for exnations that would sound usible. However, even after thinking of many possibilities, John was unable toe up with something that would fool Thunderzen.


    The Sect Leader was incredibly knowledgeable and wise, and John knew he would be unable to trick him.


    ''Based on what I know, the pocket realm began to copse when Celestial Soulrend left the realm to help Miko, so revealing it won''t really be an issue anymore.''


    However, that was not what gave John pause. He was more concerned about the Sect Leader targeting him once he found out John was in a mysterious pocket realm, and wanted whatever he got inside.


    However, John''s gains had been Kirii, who was now disguised as a mundane creature, the Undying Vitality Fruit, which was already consumed and sold, and the gifts from Celestial Soulrend, which could not be stolen from him.


    After considering all the potential oues, John decided toe clean, as he figured it was the safest path. The Heavenly Lightning Sect was now his home as well, and he needed to start treating it as such. They had also decided to help out his n situation, and so he had no reason to feel ill will towards the Sect or Thunderzen.


    Thunderzen sat there patiently, waiting to hear John''s exnations. He was wondering if John would tell the truth, or try to cover it up with a lie.


    "You''re right. I dide from within the whirlpool," John suddenly said, causing Thunderzen to raise his eyebrows.


    "Oh? And how did such a thinge to be? You''re far too weak to survive within that Qi whirlpool."


    "That''s because I was never in the storm directly, but only thrown out at its edges," John replied. He didn''t want to reveal that he had the protection of Celestial Soulrend, and so he slightly lied about this small fact.


    "Thrown out from what?" Thunderzen asked curiously.


    John paused for a moment before replying. "A mysterious realm."


    "A mysterious realm, huh? And how did youe to be in that mysterious realm? I want to know everything about what happened in that realm." Thunderzen asked.


    John once again paused, thinking about his next response carefully. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to reveal the truth. The pocket realm was no more, and so the n requirement of guarding the secret of the realm did not exist anymore.


    John began to exin to Thunderzen about the pocket realm. About how his n and the other ns entered it, as well as what was inside. However, he left out the Elysian Lightning World trial, as well as his encounter with Celestial Soulrend.


    Thunderzen sat there calmly as he listened to John''s story. He became quite surprised at what John had revealed, such as finding a Undying Vitality Fruit, a special inheritance for his friend Ryan, as well as his encounters with the Crimson Valley Sect.


    "You fought three Qi Condensation youths and two Mist Creation youths at the Mist Creation realm, and managed to kill two and escape with your life intact? Truly impressive," Thunderzen said as he listened to John''s story closely.


    John included the part with the Crimson Valley Sect and Jason and Dn, revealing why his n had an issue with them and the Bloodfiend Sect.


    "I suppose it all makes sense now, why the Bloodfiend Sect would pay attention to and aid such a small and insignificant sect such as the Crimson Valley Sect," Thunderzen replied.


    "So, after you fell into the chasm, what happened next?" Thunderzen asked.


    "I was trapped down there by the Qi Whirlpool, unable to escape. After a week of being down there, the entire pocket realm began to shake, and spatial tears started to appear. I was ejected out of one, and before I knew it, I found myself thrown out of the Qi whirlpool here," John replied.


    The matter of Celestial Soulrend, the holy aura, and everything they had discussed was of utmost secrecy, and John didn''t dare talk about them. He had learned the lesson regarding Karma, and made sure to treat it with respect. Although he didn''t know if revealing them to Thunderzen would invoke Karma, he wasn''t about to test his luck.


    Thunderzen examined John closely as he exined thest parts of his story. Although Thunderzen could tell that he was hiding something, he didn''t press for more information, as his original intent of speaking to John was to find out why the whirlpool was weakening. And now he had.


    "Quite a thrilling story," Thunderzen replied with a smile on his face. "I thank you for telling me the truth. If you had decided to lie to me about the mysterious realm, I wouldn''t have hesitated to cast you out of the Sect," Thunderzen said, causing a shiver to creep up John''s spine.


    ''It''s a good thing I revealed the truth then.''


    "Sect Leader, I have to ask, why these questions now? Why not before when you found me?" John asked curiously. The timing was quite peculiar.


    "I suppose it won''t hurt to say, as everyone will be finding out eventually anyways," Thunderzen replied. "Based on your story, I am rtively certain that in the end, the pocket realm copsed for whatever reason. The Qi whirlpool our sect is located around is connected to that pocket realm, and with its copse, the whirlpool will copse as well."


    John was surprised to hear this, but it made sense. With the realm copsed, the whirlpool, which was linked to the realm to provide a continuous supply of Qi, served no more purpose. As such, it would eventually cease to exist.


    "Isn''t that a bad thing?" John asked.


    Although he didn''t know the exact specifics, he knew the whirlpool was important to the sect.


    "Who knows, it may be a bad thing, or it may be a blessing. Only time will tell." Thunderzen replied as he stood up.


    "In the meantime, I advise you to raise your strength as much as possible in the next few weeks. Because soon, you''ll be entering thends revealed by the Qi Whirlpools disappearance."

 Chapter 194 - Heavenly Lightning Library

    "We''re entering the whirlpoolnds?" John asked with some surprise. "Why am I entering, instead of you?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen sighed slightly before responding. "If only I could. Unfortunately, there is a powerful formation surrounding the whirlpool, and it restricts those over sixteen years from entering. If my guess is correct, it''s the same formation that you experienced when you entered the pocket realm...only, the warping of the whirlpool also warped the formation, causing it to expand to its edges," Thunderzen exined.


    John nodded his head as he came to an understanding. "So that''s the reason."


    John began to think about what could potentially exist inside such and. It had been guarded by the Qi infused whirlpool for untold millenia, and no one knew exactly what existed inside of it. Those who could enter the formation were too weak to explore thends within, causing it to bepletely unknown to all.


    "Sect Leader, couldn''t there potentially be extremely strong beasts within thosends, far stronger than what anyone sixteen years or younger could handle?" John asked.


    While there were restrictions on humans entering, John was unsure if there were any restrictions for beasts. If beasts did manage to survive and live in thatnd, surely they would have grown to immense levels of strength, having been baptised by the Qi whirlpool for thousands of years.


    "It''s possible. However, what is cultivation without taking a few risks? If you detect a strong beast, avoid it and you''ll be fine," Thunderzen replied, causing John to frown slightly.


    He wasn''t scared of entering such and, but the Sect Leader''sments made it seem like they treated the disciples as disposable fodder. Sect Leader Thunderzen could read John''s thoughts by the look on his face, and began to chuckle slightly.


    "If you do end up running into a dangerous situation however, you''ll be fine. The sect will be providing a spatial talisman to each disciple that enters thend, as ast measure to ensure safety," Thunderzen continued.


    His exnation satisfied John, as it would more than likely ensure none died within unless they were careless with their lives. While spatial talismans would be locked down by cultivators at the Meridian Forging realm and above, beasts typically did not have the same skill set. With only disciples under sixteen and beasts, a spatial talisman would almost be a guarantee of safety.


    ''A spatial talisman for every disciple? That sounds quite expensive, but I suppose such a thing is trivial for a sect of this size.''


    Spatial talismans were quite rare in John''s homnd, and even his n only had a few at their disposal. This was due to the talisman''s needing a Heaven Tribtion cultivator experienced in formations and talismans to make the spatial talisman. However, the Heavenly Lightning Sect had no shortage of Heaven Tribtion cultivators, and so getting that many spatial talismans was not a big task.


    After a moment of silence, Thunderzen spoke up.


    "I have matters to attend to. You will find out more about this situation in the near future."


    John looked back up to the Sect Leader to ask another question, but suddenly found himself standing in the same spot he had been before, on the sect grounds below. He took a few seconds to gather his senses.


    ''He moves me miles without me even noticing the process of how he does it. Just how strong is he?''


    Afterposing himself, John decided to once again continue his trek towards the library, as he still had not aplished his original purpose.


    ''It seems like my need for powerful lightning based battle arts is even greater now, so I definitely need to get something good today.''


    John continued to walk through the sect, and eventually arrived in front of the Heavenly Lightning Library. It was located near the Heavenly Lightning Pce, and was one of the most impressive looking buildings in the sect.


    It stood nearly a thousand yards tall and a few hundred yards wide, and appeared to be a nine sided pagoda with twenty eaves spanning to the top of the building. The building walls werepletely white, and the eaves were gold and blue, making the building appear incredibly regal.


    Arge marble staircase led up to the main entrance of the building, and thousands of cultivators, ranging from disciples to Elders, were streaming in and out of the building every minute. John even managed to see several Heaven Tribtion Elders entering the building.


    After taking in the sight for a moment, John entered the building as well. An incrediblyrge atrium greeted John, with many desks located in its center. John looked up, and was stunned to see that the very center of the building waspletely hollow, stretching up all the way to the top a thousand yards above. A circr staircase, made of dark wood, continuously revolved around the hollow interior, winding all the way to the top.


    Ornately carved beams existed all throughout the staircase, making it look incredibly grand.


    After taking in the sight once again, John walked up to one of the desks. A female disciple was seated behind it, perusing through some documents. She looked up as she noticed John approach.


    "What can I help you with?" The disciple asked.


    "I''m looking to purchase lightning based battle arts suitable for the Qi Condensation and Core Formation Realm," John exined his purpose for visiting.


    "Lightning based Qi Condensation battle arts are on the second floor of the library, in section 2E. For the Core Formation realm, the battle arts are located on the third floor, in section 3E," the disciple exined.


    "Thanks."


    John turned towards the massive winding staircase that led all the way to the top of the building. The staircase was ten yards wide, allowing for many cultivators to walk up and down it unobstructed.


    John arrived on the second floor, and began to search for section 2E. The hallway stretched in a circle around the outside of the interior staircase. Every few dozen yards, a new hallway would appear, leading to a different part of the floor.


    Sections A through D contained many pieces of literature regarding the Qi Formation Realm, such as pills, cultivation techniques, cultivation aids, and more.


    "Section 2E, here it is."


    John quickly entered the hallway marked as 2E, and the hallway quickly led to arge room, dozens of yards long and wide. There were many rows of bookshelves, each containing tens of books and scrolls.


    "So many techniques, there must be several hundred in total" John''s eyes lit up in excitement.


    "Ahem"


    A sound to John''s side stirred him out of his thoughts. He looked over to his right and spotted an Elder sitting at a desk nearby.


    "Do you know what technique you are here for?" The Elder asked in a dull tone.


    "How am I supposed to know that? I don''t even know what techniques this room has," John replied in a confused tone.


    The Elder sighed, as if John''s response burdened him somehow.


    "Fine, go ahead and peruse the techniques. However, you are not allowed to study them here, and can only purchase them for study. If I catch you studying any of the techniques, you will be kicked out," the Elder exined in his same dull tone.


    "I''ll be sure to stick to the rules," John replied.


    While the sect did teach its disciples many techniques during their years as students, they also wanted something for the disciples to work towards. Pills, cultivation techniques, and battle arts were part of these motivations, and so disciples had to earn them appropriately with contribution points or spirit crystals.


    Without proper motivations, many of the disciples would getzy andcent, resulting in them actually bing weaker despite knowing more techniques.


    John walked into the room, and noticed many other disciples within, browsing the various techniques. He randomly picked a corner of the room, and began to read the battle art descriptions.


    "Lightning Burst. One thousand spirit crystals or one hundred contribution points. Send a burst of lightning from the hand towards the target. This seems quite simr to the Lightning Finger technique I know already. Next."


    "Lightning st. Send a burst of lightning in all directions. Weaker power than directed attacks but wide areas of effect. Might be useful, but I need something a bit stronger."


    John continued to read through the various techniques. While some did sound impressive, none were good enough for him.


    "Excuse me," John said as he approached the Elder at the front of the room. The Elder looked up at John.


    "What part of the room contains the most impressive battle arts?" John asked. While he did enjoy reading through the various techniques, it would take far too long to read them all at this rate.


    "They are in that corner," The Elder said as he pointed to a certain part of the room. "However, they are quite expensive."


    "Thanks," John replied as he walked over to the section pointed out by the Elder. He was unconcerned regarding the price.


    John picked up a rather impressive looking scroll, and unfurled it to read its description. His eyes immediately lit up.


    "Heavenly Lightning Domain."

 Chapter 195 - Obtaining Battle Arts

    The name instantly intrigued John, as his mind immediately trailed towards his fight with Dn and Justin. They had used the Crimson Hell Domain, and although it was quite ineffective against him personally, John could tell that domains were incredibly powerful.


    Although he hadn''t personally used a domain art yet, John could already identify two great advantages one had by unleashing a domain. As Dn had exined in his battle with John, domains amplified the users power within the domain, while it simultaneously weakened the enemy. This alone was something enticing enough for John to want to learn a domain art.


    The second advantage of a domain was that it could be unleashed in conjunction with normal battle arts. While essence battle arts were limited to being used in session, domain arts and battle arts did not conflict with each other in such a manner, and so John would be able to unleash his scythe and lightning battle arts, while also unleashing this domain.


    The only negative aspect of a domain art was that it drained Qi quite ferociously, and so could only be used for a short period before the user would run out of Qi. It was simr to his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, in that it would only be used as a trump card.


    A small smirk appeared on John''s face as he thought aboutbining a domain art with his Immortal Asura Transformation Art. Normally, such a thing would be impossible for a cultivator to achieve, but with his unique dantian situation, John would be able to achieve the impossible.


    ''I wonder just how strong my peak state will be, when I unleash both the Immortal Asura Transformation Art, as well as this lightning domain.''


    Not only could he unleash these two arts at the same time, but John would also be able to utilize his Supreme Battle Art and Divine Reaping Scythe at the same time as well. Such an impressivebination of techniques could only be achieved by John himself, and his advantages were only bing more and more clear as he cultivated further.


    Such a thought sent a shiver of anticipation down John''s spine as he thought of such a thing. After thinking about this, John''s eyes returned to the page, and he casually began to read the introductory description at the top of the page.


    "The Heavenly Lightning Domain is the signature lightning domain of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Sessfully cultivating this domain art will allow the user to create a domain of lightning around them, amplifying their lightning powers within while constantly attacking enemies. At higher stages, the domain evolves and bes even more powerful. Suitable up to the Heaven Tribtion Realm."


    The description sent a wave of excitement through John''s body, and thest sentence only amplified that. Cultivation arts and battle arts that were useful throughout many realms were quite rare, and their price would skyrocket due to this.


    John had discarded many of his previous techniques, such as the Myriad Annihtion Scythe and Five Step Movement Technique, due to the fact that they were low level and suitable only for the Mist Creation realm.


    ''Learning, discarding, and then learning a new technique again is quite burdensome, so thissting me all the way to the Heaven Tribtion realm is quite a pleasant surprise.''


    The top portion of the long scroll contained the basic description of the technique, while the bottom majority contained information about the technique, as well as how to cultivate and use the domain art. John was tempted to read the bottom section, but a casual nce towards the front desk revealed the Elder in charge watching John closely like a hawk.


    ''I suppose that''s to be expected, as I''m at the spot containing the most valuable Qi Condensation techniques.''


    John furled the scroll and held onto it as he began to peruse through the rest of the techniques. While the domain art was nice, John still wanted something for when he wasn''t going all out.


    ''My Divine Reaping Scythe is incredibly powerful, but it has a short charging time to unleash that gives my enemies an opening. I need something strong, but quick to unleash.''


    John continued to read the techniques, and many stood out to him as quite impressive battle arts. However, most of them were trump card techniques, and were not what he was looking for.


    ''Although I don''t know it''s true level, I can tell that my Divine Reaping Scythe is far above any of these techniques. Not only that, but the ancient page I have still has two more attacks for the Core Formation and Meridian Forging Realm, and so I''m set on having an essence Qi trump card. Learning these trump card battle arts will only be a waste of time.''


    After reading through many techniques, John felt as though he wasn''t going to find what he was looking for. However, his eyes finally lit up as he read through another scroll.


    ''Lightning Ruin. Based on the description, it''s very simr to the Lightning Finger I have already learned in terms of attack and speed, but it''s far more powerful. This is perfect.''


    While the Lightning Finger John had learned could be used in battle, it was a starter technique used to train disciples, and so it wasn''t very powerful. Only John''s unique lightning situation made it powerful.


    However, Lightning Ruin was an incredibly quick yet powerful attack, which would only be amplified further by John''s lightning talent.


    ''Although I can''t look through the details yet on why it''s much stronger than the Lightning Finger battle art, I''m sure the sect wouldn''t lie about such things. It''s settled, I''ll choose these two techniques.''


    John felt incredibly happy having found these two techniques, as they suited him perfectly. He could grab more, but his time was limited, and John knew that biting off more than he could chew would be a death sentence. Training in many techniques would make him a jack of all trades, but a master of none, and John did not want that to happen.


    ''Thest thing I need is a movement technique, as my Five Step Movement Technique is quite useless. Although I have unlocked the Limiter of Speed for body cultivation, utilizing an essence movement technique in conjunction with by bodies speed will surely be terrifying.''


    John looked around for a bit longer, before he found a technique called Thundersh Steps. It was the most impressive movement technique he could find, and so John grabbed it as well.


    "I''ll take these three techniques. There wasn''t a price listed for any of these techniques. How much is it going to cost me?" John asked as he set down the two scrolls in front of the Elder.


    The Elder grabbed the three scrolls and read their descriptions. His eyebrows raised slightly before he set them down again.


    "The Heavenly Lightning Domain, Thundersh Steps, and Lightning Ruin. These are the first, fourth and ninth most expensive techniques within this entire room," the Elder stated in his ever dull tone, however, there was a slight tinge of surprise in his voice this time.


    "The Heavenly Lighting Domain art costs ten thousand spirit crystals or one thousand contribution points, the Thundersh Steps cost three thousand spirit crystals or three hundred contribution points, and Lightning Ruin costs five thousand spirit crystals or five hundred contribution points, bringing the total to eighteen thousand spirit crystals."


    "No problem."


    A pile of spirit crystals suddenly appeared on therge table between John and the Elder, shining gloriously in the daylight that filtered through the nearby windows. The Elder once again raised his eyebrows in surprise, and the pile quickly disappeared from view.


    "You may take the scrolls," the Elder stated.


    John happily stored away the scrolls in his spatial area and thanked the Elder before beginning to leave. However, his steps suddenly paused as he turned back towards the Elder.


    "Elder, in regards to the Heavenly Lightning Domain art, the scroll said that it was useful all the way up to the Heaven Tribtion realm. My quick nce through the scroll revealed that this scroll only contains the portions in rtion to the Qi Condensation realm."


    The Elder stared at John nkly, waiting for him to get to the point.


    "I know room 3E contains Core Formation battle arts. Does it perhaps contain the Core Formation portion of the Heavenly Lightning Domain and perhaps the other techniques, and if so, are there any restrictions in me going up there and getting it?" John asked.


    Although he wasn''t in the Core Formation Realm, John always liked to be prepared. He didn''t know when he would break through to the Core Formation realm, and for all he knew, it could be when he was in the mysterious Qi whirlpoolnd. If he didn''t have the Core Formation Heavenly Lightning Domain when he broke through, it would be much weaker to use at that stage.


    "It does, and there are no restrictions other than you having enough spirit crystals or contribution points to purchase them. However, be aware that the prices for Core Formation battle arts are much more expensive than Qi Condensation battle Arts," the Elder replied.


    "Understood. Thanks for your help."


    John once again thanked the Elder before leaving the room. Upon reaching the main part of the second floor, John immediately walked towards the inner staircase and ascended to the third floor.


    He quickly found room 3E, walked down the short hallways to enter it. A voice once again caught his attention as he entered the room.


    "Excuse me, are you lost?"

 Chapter 196 - Day Of The Fight

    John looked towards the source of the voice, and noticed an Elder sitting at a deskpletely simr to the Elder downstairs. In fact, the room was almost identical to the one below.


    "I''m here to look at some Core Formation Battle arts, namely the Heavenly Lightning Domain, Thundersh Steps, and Lightning Ruin," John replied, getting straight to the point.


    The Elder in charge looked John up and down for a moment, and frowned.


    "These techniques are incredibly expensive for a Qi Condensation first year."


    "I know. Can you tell me which section contains those techniques?" John asked once again.


    The Elder, noticing John''s undeterred expression, pointed over to a corner of the room. "All three techniques can be found over there."


    "Thanks."


    John walked over to the identified section, and began to peruse through the scrolls. After a short while, he found the Core Formation portions for all three techniques.


    "How many spirit crystals for these?" John asked the Elder as he set the scrolls down in front of him.


    "Thirty thousand spirit crystals for the Heavenly Lightning Domain, nine thousand for the Thundersh Steps, and fifteen thousand spirit crystals for Lightning Ruin," the Elder replied.


    John raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.


    ''The price tripled between realms. That''s quite a bit, but still not a problem.''


    Arge pile of spirit crystals suddenly appeared in the air above John and the Elder. There was not enough room on the table for therge pile of crystals, and so John used his essence Qi to hover the crystals in the air above the two of them.


    The Elder waved his hand, and the spirit crystals disappeared. Although he was quite surprised that John was able to bring out such a sum of money, he said nothing about it.


    "You know, you should really buy a lot of cheap spatial rings and use them to transfer wealth, instead of doing what you just did," the Eldermented.


    John did that when he had spare spatial rings, but had run out recently and hadn''t obtained anymore. The scrolls were ced in his spatial realm, and John thanked the Elder for advice before leaving the library.


    ''Although I''m sure there''s a lot of interesting things to read in the library, I unfortunately do not have time for that right now. Every bit of free time I have needs to be spent on cultivating. I can alwayse backter.''


    John immediately set off to return to his home atop the mountain, eager to start training the three techniques he had just obtained.


    After a long walk, he arrived at his house and walked directly inside and towards the basement. He greeted Reya and Francel and told them not to disturb his cultivation for any reason unless it was an extremely important matter, before heading downstairs. He entered the meditation chamber and sat down.


    After calming his mind, a scroll appeared in his hands. John unfurled it, and his eager eyes began to read its contents as he fell into a meditative trance.


    ...


    In another part of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, in arge luxurious house at the top of a majestic mountain, a fifteen year old boy with long silver hair sat in silent meditation.


    A knock suddenly appeared on the door, startling him out of his cultivation. However, instead of being upset at the sudden interruption, a look of slight anticipation appeared on his face.


    "You may enter," the boy called out loud, and a young girl quickly entered the room.


    "Lord Hunter, I have finished gathering the requested information regarding the boy with the lightning attribute body," the girl stated.


    "Oh? And?" The boy asked.


    "He''s just entered the sect as a first year, and has already made quite a ssh within the sect. He finished the entrance exam in first ce, and also seems to have the direct support of Elder Ragur."


    "Elder Ragur? He''s only a Meridian Forging Elder and can be ignored. What else?"


    The girl cleared her throat before continuing. "He''s also joined the War Hall, and-"


    "War Hall? He''s a first year, how could he join the War Hall?" the boy cut off the girl and asked.


    "ording to rumors, he directly attacked the Vice Sect Leader, and was punished to the Crypt for three days. However, the Vice Sect Leader also allowed him to live and enter the War Hall, although no one knows why," the girl replied.


    A frown appeared on the boys face.


    "Anything else?"


    "That''s all I could find out about him," the girl replied.


    The room remained silent for a moment as the boy fell into contemtion.


    "You may leave."


    The girl bowed and left the room, leaving him there alone.


    "If any issues arise regarding Elder Ragur, my master can easily handle that. However, there are still two problems. His cing as first in the entrance exams has given him an elevated position within our Sect, and so doing anything to him now surely won''t go unnoticed. Not only that, but he may potentially have some unknown connection with the Vice Sect Leader¡­"


    If John truly did have the support of the Vice Sect Leader, then he would most likely be untouchable. The boy trembled at the thought of getting on her bad side, as he knew even his master would not want to offend her. However, although the situation had be moreplex, a determined look appeared on the boys face.


    "I''ll have to proceed with caution it seems¡­"


    ¡­


    A weekter, several loud booms continuously echoed out from John''s basement. After a long time, the sounds finally subsided. John eventually emerged from the basement, looking quite tired and worn.


    He took off his robe and put on some swimwear before hopping into the rxing outdoor pool.


    "Ah, that''s the stuff," John sighed out loud as he relished in the rxing feeling of the pool. The soothing water revitalized his diminished Qi reserves, and also healed the small amount of wounds on his body.


    "You''re finally out," a voice suddenly called out to John.


    John opened his eyes and saw Reya standing on the opposite side of the pool, staring at him.


    "Finally out? How long was I down there for?" John asked in a slightly confused manner. When he entered his meditative trance, John lost track of time, and so he wasn''t exactly sure how long he had been down there.


    "It''s been seven days. You''ve missed the entire week of sses," Reya replied.


    "Seven days?" John eximed in slight surprise. "What were the sses about? Did anyone drop off reading materials?" John asked.


    "They did. I left them on your bed upstairs," Reya confirmed.


    "Thanks, I''ll take a look at them tonight."


    Although it was unfortunate that he missed the sses, John wasn''t too concerned. Most of the early sses seemed to be about teaching the basics regarding lightning, and John''s unique cultivation situation allowed him to skip those basics.


    However, he was curious about other things, such as the medicinal ingredients and pill sses. The reading materials would make sure he did not miss any important information.


    "You came out just in time. Another day and I would have had toe down there," Reya suddenly stated.


    John was about to ask what was so important in a day, when he suddenly remembered his fight with Russell.


    "I almost forgot, my fight is tomorrow, isn''t it?" John asked Reya for confirmation.


    "That it is. It''s the talk of the entire first year ss, and even some of the older disciples are paying attention. You can''t miss it."


    A battle between two of the top first years was sure to draw many curious eyes to it. Not only that, but John had developed a special status amongst the disciples. His lower cultivation but highbat prowess, alongside his crazy disregard for his own life in attacking the Vice Sect Leader made many very curious about him.


    "Thanks for the reminder, I''ll be sure to make it," John replied as he once again closed his eyes and focused on healing.


    After fully healing, John went to his upstairs bedroom, changed clothes, and copsed on his bed. He began to read the scrolls that were left there, and he soon drifted into a deep sleep while reading.


    ¡­


    The next morning, John woke up to the sound of knocking at his door. He wearily rubbed his eyes, and walked over to the door.


    "It''s quitete already. Breakfast is ready for you in the kitchen," Francel greeted John.


    "Thanks, I''ll be down soon."


    John closed the door and prepared himself for the day. He walked to his wardrobe, and put on one of his War Hall robes. A brief inspection in the mirror satisfied John, as he feltfortable to be back in his most liked colors of ck and red.


    John then ate a hearty breakfast before he left for the Martial Arenas. His fight was scheduled before noon, and the walk to the arena took quite some time. The breathtakingly scenic route awed him as he leisurely walked over to the Martial Arena''s, eventually arriving there an hourter.


    Despite being earlier in the day, the martial grounds were incredibly lively, and thousands of disciples could be seen walking about. Many fights were taking ce in the arenas at all times, making it one of the most lively areas of the entire sect.


    "John, you''re here!" A familiar voice called out, and John soon spotted Adam standing at the front entrance to the martial grounds.


    "Hey," John greeted as he approached Adam.


    "Hey my ass. Where have you been thest week? Although your attendants said you were training, a rumor began to circte that you had left the sect out of fear of fighting Russell."


    Adam looked quite displeased as he told John about the rumor, as if he was the one being insulted, causing John to chuckle slightly.


    "Well, it''s only a rumor. I''m here, aren''t I?"


    "I guess so, anyways, let''s head inside. Your fight starts soon," Adam replied.


    John nodded his head and followed behind Adam. He was unsure of exactly which of the many arenas he was fighting in, and Adam seemed to know the way. A whileter, the two of them arrived at one of therger arena''s, and entered through the lower tunnel after passing verification by an Elder guarding the entrance.


    A boisterous cacophony of sound began to fill John''s ears as he walked through the deep tunnel into the heart of the Arena. Bright sunlight shone on his face as he finally entered the arena, and arge stadium full of disciples entered his vision.


    "Wow, that''s quite a few people," Johnmented as he took in the sight. He had not expected his fight to attract so many people.


    "Ten thousand of them, all here to watch your fight," Adam replied in a proud tone, as if he was the one who had drawn the crown here.


    However, his embellishment of the facts regarding John''s run in with the Vice Sect Leader did elevate John''s position by a bit, causing many more disciples to want to see what John was about. Nearly all of the many thousands of first years, as well as a few thousand second and third years had shown up to watch the fight.


    "HAHAHA, you''re finally here, now we can finally fight!" A loud and boisterous voice boomed out.


    John turned to the source of the voice, and spotted Russell standing at the opposite end of therge arena. John briefly inspected Russell, and noticed that his strength had increase by quite a bit since he hadst seen him. His muscr body seemed to be bursting with power.


    ''Half-Step Core Formation? It seems like I''m not the only one who has made great improvements.''

 Chapter 197 - Start!

    John''s quick divine sense inspection of Russell''s cultivation revealed him to be at the Half-Step Core Formation Realm. Although not an official realm, the half-step realm was when a cultivator was in the middle of breaking through to the next realm, but had not broken through all the way.


    In Russell''s case, his dantian was beginning to solidify from a liquid to a solid Core, but hisprehensions towards the Core Formation realm were just slightlycking. After this fight however, Russell would most likely break through to the Core Formation Realm.


    Those in the half step realm were not as strong as those who hadpletely broken through to the next realm, but were also much stronger thante stage cultivators in the same realm. In this particr case, Russell was much stronger than a Late Qi Condensation cultivator.


    ''I thought this might be an easy fight with my recent break through, but it seems like Russell''s gone and made that quite difficult.''


    While John still wasn''t too worried, he was slightly upset, as he would most likely have to reveal at least some of his trump cards in order to win. Revealing his trump cards was something John did not want to do unless his life was on the line, but Russell''s strength made it impossible to win without doing so.


    If Russell was a normal Half-Step cultivator, then John wouldn''t be too concerned. However, Russell''s talent was immense, and he even had an Innate Variant Body. While it was only the Common Grade and far below John''s in terms of quality, it was still strong enough to make him a threat.


    However, John was definitely not going to reveal his ultimate trump card, his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, no matter what.


    ''Of all the techniques I can reveal today, that one must remain secret, as it''s my ultimate trump card. If only my body dantian was at the Late Qi Condensation Realm as well, then I wouldn''t have to try so hard¡­.I really need to find a way to get more consistent human blood essence.''


    John quickly put such thoughts aside and focused on the issue in front of him; his fight with Russell. Russell was one of the strongest first years in the entire sect, and John would need to give it his all.


    "I knew those rumors had to be false," Russell said to John in a loud voice. "There''s no way someone like you is running away from this fight. I just hope after all this, you don''t disappoint me."


    John smiled at Russell''s words of provocation. "I can say the same to you. After this long wait, at least give me a good fight."


    An Elder walked into the middle of the arena, signaling both John and Russell to approach. Adam quickly turned towards the stands, and hopped over the tall wall towards the nearby seats.


    Seeing this, the Elder waved his hand infused with Qi towards a certain direction. The formation surrounding the arena suddenly lit up, ring with full power. The formation waspletely transparent, allowing the spectators to see the fight unobstructed, but would block any attacks that went toward the stands.


    This allowed weaker cultivators to watch the fight without fear for their lives.


    "The rules are simple. No crippling. No killing. Stop when one side says they surrender, or when I say stop. Understood?" The Elder asked the two of them in a firm tone.


    While John and Russell had no grudges against each other, and would fight a clean fight, that could not be said for all the fights that took ce in the arenas. Some went overboard, and the Elders made sure that no one suffered greatly unless it was a life and death battle.


    "Understood"


    "Understood"


    Both sides agreed, and the Elder nodded his head.


    "Good. then you may begin!"


    A loud eruption of anticipation boomed out from the crowd at the signaling of the fight.


    Both Russell and John broke out in grins as they stared at each other, getting ready to attack at a moment''s notice.


    "It''s unfortunate that your cultivation is still lower than mine." Russell said to John.


    Although it sounded like arrogance, Russell''s body truly was powerful. It was enough to overwhelm mostly anyone in the same realm, and no one knew just how high John''sbat prowess was.


    Although his feats in the entrance exam were known by all, many were skeptical, and figured John had done some trickery to aplish those feats.


    "Then don''t cry when you lose out on a test of bodies," John replied. He was more than willing to fight through pure strength, as he loved the feeling of it.


    The crowd broke out in surprised discussion at John''s words.


    "He''s going to fight Russell using only his body? Does he want to die?" one first year chimed up.


    "He may be strong, but that''s only because of his Lightning Attribute Body and essence talents. Fighting Russell like that, who has an Innate Variant Body, is pure suicide," another replied.


    Simr discussions broke out throughout the entire crowd. The disciples knew John was strong, but that was because of his essence strength and Lightning Attribute Body. Only the Elders of the sect knew about John''s Innate Variant Body, and that information had not yet been revealed to the rest of the sect.


    "Hahahah, good, lets go!" Russell yelled as he suddenly pushed off the ground and dashed forward. The earth at his feet rippled slightly from the force of his strides.


    "About time!" John replied as he too dashed forward with all his might. His aura rapidly climbed as he began to strengthen his body.


    Their two fists punched out as they rapidly approached each other.


    Boom!


    Fists collided, and a loud boom echoed throughout the entire arena. Both John and Russell felt a powerful vibration travel up their arms from the force of the blow, but neither were knocked back or injured.


    Russell''s eyebrows raised in surprise, and he soon beganughing in delight.


    "Hahaha, good, good. It seems like you too have an Innate Variant Body. Now I can fight without fear of breaking you!"

 Chapter 198 - Battle Of Bodies

    Russell''s loud words entered the ears of all those in the arena.


    "What? John has an Innate Variant Body as well?"


    "How is this possible? Howe we haven''t heard of this yet"


    "Innate Variant Body and Lightning Attribute Body? What type of dogshit luck is this? How can one person be so lucky?"


    "I know. How the hell are we supposed topete against someone like that?"


    Heated discussions broke out, as all eyes remained glued to the arena grounds below.


    John and Russell traded several quick blows of punches and kicks, testing each other''s power out. Loud bangs echoed out every time, revealing the power of the blows, and the sturdiness of both their bodies.


    Both John and Russell relished in the feeling of fighting with their bodies. They had never gone against another cultivator with a strong body, and so this was the first time they had been able to do something like this.


    After trading probing blows for several minutes, the two of them separated and stared at each other. Other than panting slightly, neither was injured, and only slight scratches and cuts could be seen on their bodies.


    "This is fun, but how about we kick it up a notch?" John suddenly said.


    "Haha, agreed. Let''s go all out with our bodies!" Russell agreed. He wanted to experience more of this, and so did John.


    The arena suddenly descended into silence as a serious expression appeared on both John and Russell''s face. After a moment of silence, two aura''s suddenly exploded out and began to violently grow in power.


    Both John''s and Russell''s robes began to flutter, as if a wind was picking them up, while John''s hair began to dance about as well.


    John was powering up his Supreme Battle Art, while Russell was powering up his own body cultivation battle art.


    Russell''s eyebrows once more raised in surprise as he stared at John with slight envy. However, his surprise soon became tedughter.


    "Hahaha, I don''t know how you could possibly know the Supreme Battle Art, but this changes things."


    Both of them quickly reached their peak state, and they once more dashed towards each other. Their speed amplified several foldpared to before, and they reached each other in the blink of an eye.


    Bang!


    An incredibly loud sound echoed out as fists collided once more, and both John and Russell were knocked back several yards. Their arms began to tremble from the power of the collision, and both dashed forward again once they regained their bnce. Both their knuckles were slightly bloodied from the exchange.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Continuous loud bangs rang out as their powerful bodies collided over and over again. The air rippled from the force of each blow. Using his honed battle instincts and immense martial prowess, John managed tond several blows to Russell unguarded, causing Russell to take some damage.


    During the furious barrage of blows, John ducked under one of Russell''s punches, and sent his own uppercut towards Russell''s chin. He quickly followed up by sending a powerful kick into Russell''s ribs while he was dazed.


    Bang!


    The sound of bone on bone rang out, and Russell was sent flying backwards dozens of yards, tumbling head over heels in the process. He eventually collided with the wall of the far end of the arena and fell to the ground. The entire arena grimaced at the sight, as they knew their heads would most likely have exploded if they had taken such a blow directly.


    "HAHAHA!


    Laughter echoed out as Russell quickly hopped back on his feet. He wiped the blood leaking from his lips away, and shook his head back and forth several times to regain his senses.


    "This is what fighting is all about!" Russell shouted as he dashed back towards John.


    Each of his steps filled the arena with loud echoes from the force of his strides.


    Russell quickly reached John and sent out a punch from the side. John moved to block it, but was taken by surprise as Russell used it as a feint, and quickly attacked with his other arm. John had be used to Russell''s incredibly straightforward manner of fighting, and had not expected such a thing from him.


    Boom!


    Russell''s fist collided with John''s rib cage, and John flew back rapidly from the force of the unblocked blow.


    Boom!


    John''s body violently collided with the arena walls, and he bounced off it with great force. The entire crowd grimaced once more at the brutal fighting.


    "If I took a blow like that to my body, I would be dead." A youthmented.


    "Right? He has to be injured, right?" another replied. However, the youths eyes opened wide as John quickly bounced back to his feet, as if nothing happened.


    "Haha, not bad. I didn''t expect you to change up your fighting pattern like that," Johnmented as he wiped some blood from the corner of his lips. Russell''s power truly was terrifying, and that blow had caused some damage to his body. His ribs still ached with pain. However, it was nothing serious that hampered his fighting potential.


    "I hate to admit it, but your fighting instincts are even more impressive than my own, so I had to throw some trickery in there," Russell replied with a slightly sour tone.


    Although he didn''t want to admit it, he was outssed in this fight when it came to battle instincts and martial prowess. John was a true fighting master, as he had studied martial theory intensively before he began to cultivate, and had fought many life and death battles, which honed his battle instincts to a terrifying level.


    John shook his head at himself for making such a stupid mistake, before he rapidly dashed forward once more.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Continuous blows were traded, with both Russell and Johning out on top at times. John used his superior martial prowess tond several unblocked blows, while Russell used hisrger frame and longer reach to do the same.


    John sent a punch towards Russell''s face, but it was only a feint. Russell went to guard it with his arms crossed, and was surprised to find himself falling to the ground as John sent a sweeping leg kick towards Russell''s legs.


    Bang!


    John kicked the falling Russel with full force again, and his kick colliding with Russell''s ribs sent him flying back violently. Russell collided with the arena wall again. Dirt and blood was sent flying outwards.


    Russell quickly regained his senses, and dashed back towards John. They continued to trade blows, and Russell managed to catch one of John''s punches in his hand. Before John could pull back, Russell swung John by his arm, violently mming him into the ground. The ground shattered below John''s body from the force of the attack.


    Russell picked up John and attempted to m him down again, but John managed to twist his body in a flexible manner andnd a kick on Russell''s lower leg, knocking him off bnce and breaking free from his grip.


    The crowd watched in curious horror at the sight of the brutal battle. Blood flew everywhere as the brutal collisions continued to take ce. Before long, both of them were covered in blood, from both their own and their opponents. However, neither backed down, and both seemed to be enjoying the brutal battle.


    The violent barrage continued to for some time before the two of them separated. Both were breathing heavy, having fought in their peak body state for quite some time. John probed his spatial area, and found that he still had arge supply of beast blood essence, allowing him to fight like this for a long time.


    Since he had been using Qi from his body dantian this whole time, his Essence Qi reserve was virtually untouched.


    However, Russell did not have the same luxury, and everything he did in battle used up his Essence Qi.


    Although he was unsure of why, as his cultivation was higher and his Qi reserves should berger, Russell could tell that John had more left in the tank than him. Not only that, but much to his surprise, Russell was shocked to find out that John''s body was of an even higher grade than his own. He was slowly starting to lose out in his trades, as both John''s body, as well as body battle art were more profound.


    He decided that it was time to stop ying and start the real fight.


    "Haha, this has been incredibly fun, but I think it''s about time we both go all out!" Russell suddenly said.


    "What? They haven''t gone all out?" A youth chimed up.


    "The power they disyed so far is enough to kill any of us, and they still have more? How is that possible?"


    "I guess it makes sense. They''ve both only been fighting with their bodies, despite being essence cultivators," another chimed up, reminding all those nearby of this fact.


    The fight had been so brutal and powerful, that most had forgotten that both Russell and John were essence cultivators, and their battle so far had been all body.


    "Sure! Let''s end this!" John replied to Russell. He was loving the fight, but he could tell that Russel was going to reach the end of his Qi supply before long. His advantages of having two dantians only became more and more clear on how powerful it was to have as he progressed in his cultivation.


    Suddenly, an incredibly strong earth-power filled the arena as Russell began to power up to his peak state.


    "While we are in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, I have not been able to learn any of the powerful lightning based battle arts yet. However, have a taste of my Ruinous Earth Sect''s strongest battle art."


    John narrowed his eyes as Russell unleashed his full power. Russell hade from the Ruinous Earth Sect before he joined the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and had managed to train in their ultimate battle art. The Ruinous Earth Sect was a First Tier sect, and its battle arts were incredibly powerful. His power continued to climb, and John started to feel the very earth beneath their feet begin to shift towards Russell.


    Russell''s essence power reached an incredibly high level, and John could even feel some of Russell''s Core Formationprehensions in his Qi, showing that he truly was at the Half-Step Core Formation Realm.


    Cracks began to form in the sturdy arena, and soonrge chunks of earth were upheaved. Therge boulders of earth began to revolve around Russell, and he looked towards John in a state of full power.


    "Prepare yourself, I don''t want to crush you to death!"

 Chapter 199 - Russell’s Power

    A powerful aura emanated from Russell, rich in earth Qi. Russell controlled the earth that he had uprooted from the arena, which continuously revolved around himself like a small storm. The boulders within his control were quiterge, and if John was not careful, he would take damage being hit head on by them.


    As the tempest of rubble and boulders continued to expand around Russell, John suddenly felt his feet rooted to the ground, as earth wrapped around his feet.


    "Hmm?"


    John looked down at his feet to confirm what was happening, and saw his feet slowly dig deeper and deeper into the arena grounds.


    ''This is quite annoying. He''s not only controlling those massive boulders in the air, but also the very ground beneath my feet. This is going to slow me down considerably.''


    Bang! Bang!


    John sent a surge of power into his legs and forceful uprooted them from the hard ground, making two loud explosive sounds in the process.


    After breaking his legs free from the ground below, John once again felt them begin to sink.


    ''I can''t stay in one ce for long. I''ll need to keep moving.''


    John suddenly began to dash about, not towards Russell, but in random patterns, throwing off Russell''s ability to root him down.


    ''I don''t know exactly what this battle art of his does, so I''ll test it out first.''


    While Russell''s body was weaker than John''s, his essence power was stronger due to his higher cultivation. John was unable to look down on it like he did before.


    "Stop dancing about!" Russell shouted as power erupted from his body.


    John suddenly came to a sudden halt as a tall and thick earthen wall suddenly rose up before him. He quickly turned around, and another tall wall appeared. John frowned at he continued forward and punched out with all his might.


    Boom!


    His fist collided with the thick wall, and a shower of rocks and debris rained outwards as he punched arge hole directly through the wall. He began to leap through to the other side, but was slowed down considerably by his effort of destroying the wall.


    John suddenly turned around and sent his fist outwards.


    Bang!


    His fist collided with a massive boulder which was thrown over by Russell''s battle art. The collision knocked him backwards into the wall, causing him to rebound off it. As he regained his bnce, anotherrge boulder was hurled over rapidly.


    Che!


    A sharp de suddenly sliced through the boulder,pletely bisecting it in two. The parting boulder revealed John on the other side, scythe in hand.


    ''I''ve given him far too much initiative. I need to take back the advantage.''


    While John wanted to y the waiting game to see what Russell was capable of, he realized he could do it no longer. His immense speed was neutralized by the constantly appearing walls, and so a direct confrontation with Russell was the only way forward.


    John sent an even stronger surge of Qi from his body dantian into his body, powering his Supreme Battle Art to its peak state. He turned to stare at Russell, his face cold and calm.


    "You''re not running anymore? Good!" Russell yelled as he sent out another boulder towards John.


    John could feel his feet begin to bog down, but he moved before it could take hold. He narrowly dodged the approaching boulder, which crashed violently into the earthen wall behind him.


    Lightning Finger!


    John suddenly pointed towards Russell, and in instantaneous beam of lightning quickly shot out fo it.


    Boom!


    The sound of thunder echoed throughout the arena, and the lightning strike reached Russell in the blink of an eye.


    Having also been in the sses, Russell recognized the attack as the one they had just learned recently. He scoffed as he watched John attack him with such a meager and simple attack. Just based on the strength of his body alone, Russell was more than confident inpletely neutralizing such an attack.


    Bang!


    Lightning struck Russell''s body, and his eyes opened wide in surprise as he wasunched back several yards. He skidded backwards on his feet, finallying to a stop. His surprised face looked down towards his chest, and his hand slowly hovered over the ckened flesh that had been charred by John''s attack.


    Lightning continued to dance over his skin, and it took some effort from his own Qi to neutralize the lingering destructive lightning.


    After neutralizing the lightning, Russell looked back up towards John and spoke out to ask him about it.


    "Just what the hell was tha-"


    Russell''s words caught in his throat as he noticed John had nearly reached him, and was sending his scythe directly towards his chest.


    "Earthen Barrier!"


    An earthen barrier suddenly appeared in front of Russell, blocking the attacking scythe that John had just struck out with.


    Boom!


    The earthen barrier exploded as the scythe continued forward, but the slight dy was all the time Russell needed to retreat and dodge the attack.


    Lightning Finger!


    John suddenly shot another lightning finger out at Russell, which was blocked by a hastily formed earthen barrier.


    "I won''t fall for that again. I don''t know how your lightning finger is so strong, but it won''t work again!"


    Suddenly, an even more powerful aura red from Russell, and the tempest of boulders and earth magnified three fold. Boulders asrge as a small house began to float around in the air around Russell, at which point they were constricted down into a smaller but much denser boulder.


    "It seems like Russell is finally going all out!" one youthmented.


    "It seems like it. That attack of John''s seems to have raised his guard a lot!"


    "Yeah, but how was a simple lightning finger that strong? It doesn''t make sense!"


    Heated discussions broke out throughout the crowd as they watched the intense fight below.


    John felt the ground beneath his feet be even more constrictive, and he required his full power to break free from it.


    One of therge boulders was suddenly hurled towards John with great speed, and John prepared to dodge it as it was much stronger than before. However, three earthen walls suddenly appeared in front of him, allowing his only route of escape being towards the boulder.


    Che!


    John''s sharp scythe attack sliced through the boulder, but stopped half way due to the boulder bing incredibly hard and dense. His body was hurled back towards the earthen wall behind him, and he was violently sandwiched between the boulder and earthen wall.


    Boom!


    The earthen wall exploded, and John was sent tumbling through it with great force. The crowd gasped as they watched John take that attack head on.


    "Is..is he dead?" a first year asked.


    "If he''s not dead, then he must be half dead," another replied.


    However, their eyes widened in surprise as John quickly regained his wits and bounced back to his feet. His legs were shaking somewhat, and blood was flowing from several shallow wounds on his body. Thebined attack from Russell has been quite brutal and effective. Had it been any other cultivator, they would have been seriously injured and unable to continue fighting.


    John wiped the blood from his lips, as a cold look appeared on his face.


    ''Russell truly deserves his spot as one of the top disciples in the sect. I won''t be able to beat him without showing a few of my trump cards¡­''


    John wanted to keep as much as he could a secret, including the Divine Reaping Scythe, Immortal Asura Transformation Art, and the other attacks he had just recently learned. However, it seemed that was not going to work when battling with Russell.


    ''If only I was in the same realm, then I could hold back more, but things aren''t that way, so there''s no point in brooding over it. I think its about time I turn things around.''


    As he regained his bnce, John once again found himself trapped by three quickly rising earthen walls, and a rapidly approaching boulder. He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the boulder approaching.


    John suddenly raised his finger, and pointed it at the boulder.


    "Haha, these boulders of mine have beenpressed several times over, and are as hard as steel. There''s no way a Lightning Finger will stop them!" Russell yelled as he watched John.


    Bang!


    Thunder suddenly pped out throughout the entire arena, as a blindingly bright beam of lightning exploded out of John''s finger. It was far more powerful and intense than before.


    Boom!


    The lightning beam struck the boulder, and the boulder exploded into a shower of rubble.


    "What?"


    Russell yelled out in surprise. He had not expected such a thing to happen, and neither did the crowd.


    "What just happened?" a youth asked.


    "I don''t know, but there''s no way Lightning Finger is that strong," another replied.


    "That''s not Lightning Finger," a voice spoke up, and the first years turned to the source of the voice. A nearby third year who was watching the fight had spoken up. "That''s Lightning Ruin, one of the sects top quick use battle arts. Just how did he obtain it already, and not only that, it''s quite a hard technique to unleash, as its quite stressful on the body and its meridians. How can he do it so effortlessly?"


    Understanding washed over all the first years as they heard the exnation. However, based on the words of the third year, it wasn''t an easy attack to use.


    Russell finally came to his senses after a moment of being stunned. It didn''t matter what attack John had just used, only that his attacks were able to neutralize his strongest boulders. Another boulder flew rapidly towards John, and John once again sent out a Lightning Ruin, neutralizing the attackpletely. The two attacks were at aplete stalemate.


    "Fine, lets crank it up a notch!" Russell yelled out.


    John aimed his finger towards Russell, and was about to unleash another Lightning Ruin, when all of a sudden, his eyes darted downwards, and he jumped off the ground with all his might.


    Che!


    A sharp patch of earthen spikes suddenly erupted from the ground, just where John had been standing. Had John not dodged in time, his legs would have been impaled by the spikes, or at least injured. They suddenly shot up into the sky after him. John shed his scythe down hastily, blocking the attack at thest moment. However, one spike managed to slip through, and it pierced his shoulder.


    The spike stopped after only going an inch deep, thanks to John''s incredibly sturdy body. It would have normally pierced directly through the shoulder of a normal cultivator, and caused a serious wounds. However, John''s wounds were starting to add up.


    Hended on the ground, and just as he did so, he jumped again, narrowly dodging another spike attack. Earthen walls suddenly began to appear around him, and John knew Russell was attempting to attack him with the spikes when he had nowhere to go.


    The three walls fully enclosed around John''s position, and the ground spikes violently erupted upwards.


    The crowd gasped, fully expecting to see John impaled, but after a moment of panic, they noticed that John was nowhere to be found.


    Russell turned his head to the side, and his cold eyes stared directly at John, who was now standing in apletely different position. However, a lightning beam was almost upon him, and Russell hastily created an earthen shield with as much defense as possible.


    Boom!


    The shield exploded, and Russell was sent flying backwards dozens of yards. Due to his Innate Variant Body, Russell was mostly unharmed from the explosion of lightning and rock. He regained his bnce, and looked back towards John.


    "How did you move so fast?" Russell asked.


    He was sure that John would fall victim to hisbined attack, but John was able to escape the wall prison by moving faster than they could rise. He was so fast that Russell could hardly believe it. Russell''s eyes lingered downwards on John''s body, and he noticed lightning continue to dance over his legs.


    "Thundersh Steps as well?" The third year chimed up once again. "How did he afford all these techniques, and learn it in such short notice as well?" However, he quickly remembered that John had a Lightning Attribute Body, and it all started to make sense. Such a thing truly wasn''t fair at all.


    John stared coldly at Russell without saying a word.


    ''If I use my Thundersh Steps and Lightning Ruin, I might be able tond some blows on him. But now that he knows both of these battle arts, I''m sure he''ll be on guard for such a thing. That earthen barrier of his is incredibly sturdy and can be raised in an instant, so he''ll be able to block such attacks. Not only that, but when he does, I''ll have to worry about his earthen walls, boulders, and spikes¡­.I didn''t want to use it, but it seems like I have no other choice.''


    John sighed as he realized he would have to use another one of his trump cards. However, as long as he kept the Immortal Asura Transformation Art hidden, John was fine with anything else. However, he wasn''t too upset. Russell truly was an incredibly powerful opponent, and John knew it would be an extremely close battle if he decided to fight using only Thundersh Steps and Lightning Ruin. In fact, with Russell''s higher cultivation, John would most likely not win by using only those two attacks. He would need to use nearly his full essence power, and alsobine it with his superior body power to overwhelm Russell.


    Russell was using his ultimate battle art, and so John would have to respond in kind.


    "Your cing in the top five in the entrance exams was not a mistake. You truly are powerful, and should be proud" John suddenly said to Russell, as if he was an Elder praising a disciple..


    Russell narrowed his eyes as he stared at John. "So far in this fight, you''ve been on the defensive the entire time! Why are you sounding like you''re an Elder talking down to me?" Russel asked in a cold tone. He didn''t like other''s looking down on him, or treating him like a child.


    John smiled as he heard Russell''s question. "Well, that''s because I''m about to teach you a bit of a lesson!"


    "Heavenly Lightning Domain!"

 Chapter 200 - Heavenly Lightning Domain

    While John normally did not call out the names of his battle arts, as doing so gave away their nature, he felt that the first time he used this technique should be done as such. Not only that, but being in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, he was sure that the technique would be recognized instantly anyways.


    Lightning, which danced all along his body, continued to quickly grow in intensity.


    "What did he say? Heavenly Lightning Domain?" a first year spoke up.


    "Isn''t that one the signature domain of the sect? How did he get it already?"


    "However he got it, if he can truly use it, then I can''t wait to see the sect''s signature domain in action."


    Russell''s eyes narrowed as he stared directly at John. Lightning continued to build up over his body, and before long it looked like he wore lightning armor.


    Booom!


    A thunderous cacophony of lightning exploded outwards, and everyone shielded their eyes from the brightness of it.


    "Earthen Armor!"


    A solid armor of rocks suddenly formed over Russell''s body, and he fortified it as much as he could. Although he had not been attacked yet, his instincts had told him that he needed to go all out to have a chance of winning this battle.


    As the bright sh of light faded, all were able to see John once again. Their eyes opened wide.


    ¡­


    Boom!


    Lightning exploded in John''s face, and he was sent flying backwards by his own battle art.


    "Ouch!"


    John rubbed the back of his head. He slowly stood up, and brushed the dirt off his robe.


    "This Heavenly Lightning Domain is a lot harder to learn than I thought it would be."


    John stood in his basement, pondering over where he went wrong with the technique. He had been trying to learn it for a full day, and so far it had only ended in failure. Thankfully, the bacshes were minimal in damage, as his Lightning Attribute Body was mostly immune to lightning of this level.


    He took out the scroll once more that depicted the technique and read over it. There was a detailed description of how to use the domain art. The description included how it should feel to use the art, the dantian Qi conversion process, the meridian pathways, and the acupoints that needed to be targeted.


    Unlike normal battle arts, which typically used meridian pathways in a very precise and concentrated manner, domain arts used many more meridian pathways. It was more of a full body technique, in which almost every pathway was used.


    This was one of the reasons why other battle arts could be used in conjunction with domains. During the use of a battle art, the specific domain meridian pathways could be opened to allow the use for the battle art. While this would slightly weaken the domain for a very brief moment, it was only by a fraction of its full power.


    Using hisprehension of converting Qi to Lightning Qi, John had been able to learn the Heavenly Lightning Domain already. However, using his Primordial Extermination Lightning Qi instead of normal lightning Qi had made the domain much harder to use, as it was far more powerful but also more unstable. John was working to stabilize his domain now.


    The domain, at least in his realm, worked by creating lightning nodes in the space around him, and lightning could strike between any two nodes whenever he wanted it to. At his current realm, eight nodes was the maximum he could create, and the nodes surrounded his body in every direction like a circle.


    The nodes were made by concentrating pure lightning Qi in space, which could unleash attacks at a moments notice. Thisbination made it so that there was a perpetual lightning storm brewing around John, and that all those who fought him would also have to deal with those non-stop strikes.


    The nodes maintained a fixed position from John''s body, and they also moved as he moved. With the nodes constantly moving, an opponent would not have an easy time tracking them, even if the attacks could be predicted.


    Another aspect of the domain was that it amplified his lightning abilities while it was active. With lightning Qi coursing through his body in such intensity, John was at his peak state in regards to controlling and using lightning based attacks, and so all his lightning attacks would be more powerful than usual. It truly was an impressive battle art.


    "Again!"


    ..


    John stood there calmly, while an intense storm of lightning continued to rage all around him. Lightning continuously snaked outwards from his body in every direction, and also randomly appeared at points within his domain and struck in random directions.


    Close observation revealed slightly glowing points in space, and lightning continued to strike towards any of the other points.


    With the lightning domain around him, and his body surging with power due to the Supreme Battle Art, John looked like a lightning war god to the crowd of disciples. While the Heavenly Lightning Domain was an incredibly impressive and profound technique, all those who had seen it before felt like it was slightly different this time. More destructive. More lethal.


    By this time John''s domain covered half of the arena. Russell was standing just outside the area of effect, peering into the storm. Even with his rock armor and tough body, Russell felt danger from the domain. Even more earth was uprooted from the arena and formed into dense boulders floating around his body.


    The arena was quite rugged from all the damage, and only small parts were left untouched.


    "Let''s end this!"


    John suddenly dashed forward towards Russell, his speed incredibly quick. He had utilized Thundersh steps to close the distance quickly, allowing Russell no chance at retreating.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    As soon as John approached Russell, his lightning domain continuously attacked outwards at the powerful boulders revolving around Russell. They were his most powerful attacks, and John wanted to neutralize those.


    The boulders were constantly attacked, and before long, each of them exploded into rubble. However, Russell continued to quickly make more of them, resulting in a stalemate.


    "Fine, then let us once again battle with our bodies!" John stated as he dashed forward.


    As long as his domain could neutralize the boulder attacks, John was happy with that. Not only that, but his lightning strikes were winning out against the boulders, and so Russell would have to worry about them attacking him as well.


    Arge greatsword suddenly appeared in Russell''s hands, and it was the first time he had taken out his weapon in this fight. He thought he would be able to defeat John without a weapon, but their battle revealed otherwise. He would not be able to hold back at all anymore.


    Che!


    A patch of earthen spikes suddenly erupted below John. John didn''t even slow down to block the attack, and instead sent a destructive lightning attack between two nodes which happened to line up with the spikes.


    The spikes exploded in a shower of rubble, and John continued towards Russell uninhibited.


    Bang!


    Sword and scythe collided, and Russell was shocked to find that he was sent flying backwards by the collision. HIs Qi reserve was running low, and he could no longer afford to focus on his body strength as much.


    Earthen Boulder!


    The earthen boulders were floating in a wide array, and Russell suddenly sent one from behind John''s body towards him. However, before the boulder could move much, a lightning strike exploded from a node and onto the boulder, destroying it.


    At the same time, John noticed that Russell himself was standing between two lightning nodes, and sent an attack with the domain towards him, while also raising his finger forwards.


    Lightning Ruin!


    Russell noticed the domain attack, and turned to block it with a sh of his sword. He sessfully blocked the attack, however, his instincts kicked up as he felt danger approaching from the other direction.


    He turned as quickly as he could to block it, but was just a hairte.


    Boom!


    Lightning ruin exploded onto Russell''s armor of rocks, and created arge hole in the armor. Lightning continued through the armor and onto Russell''s body.


    "Gah!"


    Russell cried out in pain as lightning continued to flow within his body. Even though he was a disciple of the sect, and had been tempering his body with lightning, the lightning he felt coursing through his body was far more destructive than anything he had felt before. It took him a good while to neutralize the rampaging lightning, but doing so allowed John to approach him once more.


    Russell hastily swung his greatsword out towards John, and its power was something that even John had to take seriously.


    Bang!


    Weapons collided, and Russell once again cried out in pain as an attack from the lightning domain struck out from behind him and onto his back. Although he knew of the threat of the domain, Russel was helpless to stop the attacks from behind when he had to focus forward.


    At the same time, a boulder from Russell''s attack was sent towards John''s back, and John quickly dashed to the side with his Thundersh Steps.


    The boulder missed him due to his dodging and continued forward. Since he was busy neutralizing the rampaging lightning in his body again, Russell was toote to notice this, and was violently struck with his own attack.


    Boom!


    The fast moving boulder, which was as hard as steel, struck Russell and sent him flying backwards dozens of yards. His body collided against the arena walls and rebounded to the ground below.


    John dashed forward rapidly once more while also raising his arm, looking to seize the opening.


    Lightning Ruin!


    The destructive beam of lightning pierced directly towards Russell, who had just stood up.


    Earthen Shield!


    Russell formed an incredibly dense earthen shield, and just barely managed to neutralize the attack. However, by this time, John was already directly in front of him, shing down with his scythe. Russell sent out his greatsword with all his might to meet the attack.


    John scoffed, as he knew he would win out in this exchange. However his eyes widened slightly as he noticed part of Russell''s rock armor change shape and pierce towards him in an earthen spike. At the same time, an earthen spike from behind him pierced towards his back.


    "Not bad!" John said to Russell. Thebination attack truly was impressive, but John was not concerned.


    A lightning domain strike pierced towards the spike behind him, shattering it into rubble. However, there was no node connection in the way of the front attack, and so John could not use the domain to neutralize that attack.


    ''I''ll bet on the strength of my body here!''


    John decided to ignore the earthen spike piercing towards his chest, and continued with his scythe attack. His Supreme Battle Art surged to its maximum peak, increasing both his attack power and his body defense.


    Bang!


    Weapons collided, and Russell was sent flying backwards like a kite. While flying backwards, Russell happened to go between two nodes, and was struck by a lightning attack without being able to defend.


    At the same time, John''s chest was pierced by the earthen spike, but his sturdy ribcage managed to stop it before it hit any internal organs. While the wound was deep and slightly serious, it was something that could be ignored for the remainder of the fight. He was knocked back by the attack a few yards, but managed to stabilize quickly.


    John smiled, as the sturdiness of his body had not let him down. If any other first year disciple had taken that attack head on like that, they would have been pierced right through and lost the fight. Russell was truly unlucky to have an opponent like John, who did not have any obvious weaknesses. Not only that, but his battle arts were of a lower grade than John''s, and so he was at arge disadvantage in many aspects of this fight.


    If Russell had a battle art on the same level as John''s Lightning Ruin and Heavenly Lightning Domain, then he would have had a much better time in this fight. This brief fight showed the difference in battle art profundity and power between a First Tier sect like the Ruinous Earth Sect, and one of the Four Great Sects.


    John seized the initiative once more, and utilized his fastest movement speed to reach Russell before he could recover. Hebined the Thundersh Steps with his body cultivations Limiter of Speed to reach an incredible speed. His body looked like a blur to the first years as he dashed forward.


    Russell was still tumbling backwards, but finally managed to maintain his bnce and began to stand up. While he had taken damage in that exchange, he was still in rtively good condition, and could continue fighting. His Innate Variant Body was truly impressive, as any other disciple would have lost by now having taken that many attacks head on.


    However, Russell''s body suddenly froze as he looked directly in front of him. A frown appeared on his face. Silence descended on the arena for several seconds before Russell spoke up.


    "I concede!"


    The scythe that lingered directly in front of his head was withdrawn. Had John wanted to, he could have taken Russell''s life in that moment, but had obviously held the attack back.


    Arge smile appeared on John''s face as he stuck his hand out to help Russell up.


    "That was a good fight!"

 Chapter 201 - Visiting Thunderpill Once More

    Russell stared at John''s outstretched hand for a moment, and the crowd held its breath as they waited for his reaction. Everyone knew Russell was a verypetitive person, and they didn''t know how he would react.


    After a moment''s pause, Russell reached out and grabbed John''s hand.


    "Haha, that was a good fight. I haven''t had that much fun in a long time!" Russell responded whileughing. It was as if the fight he had just lost never happened.


    Russell was a battle maniac just like John, and although he loved to win, his love for a good battle triumphed all. His battle with John was one of the best fights he had ever had, and he was in a good mood as a result.


    The crowd erupted into a thunderous apuse at the conclusion of the fight.


    "That was amazing! I need to learn the Heavenly Lightning Domain," a first yearmented.


    "I know! John was able topletely take the advantage once he pulled that domain out!" another replied.


    "Not only that, but he''s a lower cultivation than Russell. Even if Russell''s Half-Step Core Formation cultivation can only be considered half a minor realm higher, it''s still higher nheless. I guess those rumors of his battle prowess are not exaggerated."


    Many simr discussions broke out throughout the entire arena, and the two main talking points were John, and his Heavenly Lightning Domain, although Russell had put up a great fight too, and had gained some followers for his disy as well.


    "We need to fight again once I learn some of the sects'' battle arts," Russell said to John.


    Although he was proud of his Ruinous Earth Sect battle arts, Russell was able to see the difference in profundity between the two in this fight. His battle prowess would increase immensely once he learned some of the sects battle arts, and his desire to start training them increased several fold.


    "Sure," John replied,pletely willing to fight Russell again. This battle today was not only fun for John, but also increased hisprehension towards his new battle arts immensely.


    "You may leave the arena," the Elder approached them and said.


    The arena schedule was quite busy, and so the arena had to be repaired before the next fight. John and Russell left through the lower entrance, and were greeted by a familiar face on the other side.


    A cold pair of eyes watched them leave the arena, and Mason too left after watching the fight. He was quite upset at thebat prowess that John had shown, and he knew he would have to improve greatly to knock him off his top disciple pedestal in a few months.


    At the same time, a lone girl sat at the top of the arena. She had been observing the fight closely, and quietly slipped out once the fight was done.


    "John, when did you learn those battle arts?" Adam asked with much curiosity.


    "I bought them," John replied quickly, hiding nothing.


    "Bought them? How much did those battle arts cost?" Adam inquired.


    Adam had not yet been to the Heavenly Lightning Library, and was unsure how much techniques cost.


    "The three techniques cost me around eighteen thousand spirit crystals," John replied, revealing how much the Qi Condensation forms of the battle arts cost him.


    "Eighteen thousand? That''s not too bad?" Adam replied, causing John to raise his eyebrows in slight surprise.


    ''Seems like Adam has some considerable wealth already if he can scoff at eighteen thousand spirit crystals.''


    Although John was not sure how Adam hade across such sums of money, it wasn''t his ce to ask. Russell soon went his separate way, as he was confident that the fight had given him theprehensions needed to fully break through to the Core Formation Realm. Once he did so, hisbat prowess would increase explosively.


    Even John felt his cultivationprehensions increase greatly, and his once shaky foundation was soon bing stabilized without any ws.


    John spoke with Adam for some time, and told Adam to visit the Heavenly Lightning Library to try to find some lightning formation arts. Adam agreed, and the two of them soon parted, each with a specific agenda in mind.


    The boisterous crowd also dispersed, and the battle between John and Russell soon became the talk of the entire sect.


    After leaving the arena grounds, John looked towards a certain direction and began to walk. He put on a fresh set of robes as well, as his previous robes were dirtied and bloodied. However, the robes were undamaged despite the intense fight, showing the quality of the War Hall robes.


    ''It''s been over a week since I wasst there, surely he''s out of his seclusion by now.''


    John walked through the sect for some time before he arrived in front of the Pill Hall. He quickly entered, and walked up the stairs to the fifth floor. He walked to Pill Emperor Thunderpill''s door, and did not find anyone guarding it.


    "Thunderpill said for the Elder to guard the door until he was finished, so I''m guessing he''s done. Perfect."


    After confirming this piece of information, John heard some soundsing from the other side of the door, confirming that Thunderpill was inside his pill room. John left the Pill Hall, and walked across the sect, soon arriving at the Enforcement Hall.


    He quickly found Elder Ragur''s house. As an Elder of the sect, Elder Ragur had quite a luxurious abode, and it was muchrger than John''s own house. He knocked on the door, and was soon greeted by a butler.


    "How can I help you?" The man asked, as this was his first time seeing John.


    "I''m here for Elder Ragur. Tell him John is here about the pill," John replied. The butler nodded, and ventured back into the house. After a while, Elder Ragur came to the door.


    "John, you''re here about the pill already?" Elder Ragur asked. He had expected this matter to take weeks or months, not just a single week.


    "Mhm, do you have the ingredients on hand?" John asked. He knew that Elder Ragur would need to supply the ingredients for the pill.


    "Yes I do. I bought them this week with the money you gave me," Elder Ragur confirmed. Although he felt quite awkward spending that money, he couldn''t resist the allure of obtaining a Heaven Ascension Pill. Now thest hurdle was employing the help of a Pill Emperor, but Elder Ragur knew all the sects Pill Emperors were haughty individuals, and getting their help would cost a lot of money and take a lot of time.


    However, John had said he had a solution to this problem, and so Elder Ragur decided to trust him.


    "Perfect, lets go greet a friend of mine," John replied.


    Elder Ragur was confused who this friend was, but said nothing. He and John walked back to the Pill Hall, and soon arrived on the fifth floor. They stood in front of arge luxurious door, and a peculiar look quickly appeared on Elder Ragur''s face.


    "John, this is Pill Emperor Thunderpill''s alchemy room. He''s an incredibly entric man, and quite hard to get along with¡­.surely he isn''t the ''friend'' you mentioned?" Elder Ragur asked.


    "He sure is, let''s go in," John replied as he began to open the door.


    "Hey, wait, you cant just barg-" Elder Ragur tried to stop John, but was a hair tote to do so.


    John fully opened the door, and stepped inside therge alchemy room. Elder Ragur quickly followed.


    An intense heat billowed both of them, and a strong medicinal smell filled the entire hall. The two of them spotted a man sitting on the other side of therge room, providing a me to his pill cauldron.


    The man frowned at the interruption, and turned around to see who dared do such a thing.


    "Who dares interrup-," however, he paused as he saw who it was.


    John stared back at the man with a confused expression. The man in front of him was a middle aged man, full of vigor and vitality, and looked nothing like Pill Emperor Thunderpill. However, after a brief moment, John remembered what Pill Emperor Thunderpill had wanted the Undying Vitality Fruit for.


    ''Surely the pill wasn''t that potent? Isn''t this a bit exaggerated.''


    "Our apologies, we were here for Pill Emperor Thunderpill. We will leave immediately," Elder Ragur replied. He didn''t know who was in front of him, as Pill Emperor Thunderpill was an elderly man, but he did know the cultivation of the man before him was in the Heaven Tribtion Realm. As such, he had to treat him with respect.


    "Elder," John spoke up. "We''re in the right ce. That is Pill Emperor Thunderpill."


    Thunderpill stood up and suddenly appeared directly in front of John. The Thunderpill John knew from before was no more, as that Thunderpill was basically on his deathbed. The Thunderpill before him now surged with vitality, and John could hardly believe the two were the same person.


    The two stared at each other silently before John spoke up.


    "I see you were sessful in making the pill. Per our agreement, I have a pill for you to make."

 Chapter 202 - The Day Arrives

    Pill Emperor Thunderpill stared at John silently, while Elder Ragur felt some panic after hearing John talk to a Heaven Tribtion Elder in such a direct manner. Not only that, but it was a Pill Emperor, and one with incredible status within the sect.


    After a brief moment, Thunderpill spoke up.


    "What pill do you want?" Thunderpill asked in a slightly amiable tone. His cold and explosive tone of the past was no where to be found.


    John was surprised to hear such a tone from Pill Emperor Thunderpill, as his previous interaction with Thunderpill was quite intense. Thunderpill noticed the look on John''s face, and chuckled slightly.


    Elder Ragur was once more surprised, as the rumors painted Thunderpill as a stern and entric man. He had never heard anyone mention Thunderpill everughing.


    "Don''t be so surprised by my good mood boy," Thunderpill said to John. "I was on my deathbed, and I most likely only had a few years of life left in me, but thanks to your Undying Vitality Fruit, I was sessfully able to create the Life Revitalizing Pill. I now feel like I''m back in my prime, and I have at least another thousand years of life, more if I break through again...and it''s all thanks to you brining the fruit to me. Without it, I would have nothing."


    While still surprising to hear such an amiable tone from Thunderpill, John nodded his head in understanding.


    ''It seems like gaining his life back has made him much more reasonable. That''s good. He''ll be much easier to deal with this way.''


    "Then lets get to the point. I am here for Elder Ragur," John replied as he gestured to Elder Ragur. "He wants a Heaven Ascension Pill, and so I''ve brought him here to have it made. He has all the ingredients for the pill on hand already."


    "Heaven Ascension Pill?" Thunderpill asked while briefly inspecting Elder Ragur. "I suppose you do seem on the cusp of breaking through, so that makes sense."


    After a moment of thought, Thunderpill spoke up once more. "I don''t have time to make a Heaven Ascension Pill. While they are not incredibly hard to make, they take quite a bit of time, and I have many things to do now that I''ve gotten my youth back," Thunderpill continued.


    John frowned, as this waspletely against their agreement, and Thunderpill had even made a dao-oath. He was just about to bring up the dao-oath, and its consequences, when Thunderpill spoke again.


    "Don''t look at me like that boy, I know about our agreement, and I wouldn''t dare break the dao-oath I swore. Like I said, I''m far too busy right now to waste time on a Heaven Ascension Pill, so instead I''ll just give you one," Thunderpill said as a pill suddenly appeared in his hand.


    John looked at the pill, which was shiny and bright blue, with three rings of gold circling the outside of the pill. He could feel an incredible energy emte from the pill, but for some reason, he felt a very slight sense of revulsion towards the pill, although he couldn''t exin why.


    Elder Ragur, on the other hand, stared at the pill withplete longing. It had been his goal to obtain it for years and years, and now it was finally so close. Pill Emperor Thunderpill noticed his longing gaze, and chuckled before tossing the pill over to Elder Ragur.


    Elder Ragur carefully caught the pill, and a perplexed expression appeared on his face.


    "You''re going to give it to me? Just like that?" Elder Ragur asked in confusion. He was unaware of the deal John had made with Thunderpill, which was free pill creations.


    "I have much better things to do with my time right now, and making this pill again will just be a waste. Give me your ingredients for the pill, and we''ll be even."


    Elder Ragur hastily gave Thunderpill a storage ring, which contained the ingredients he had gathered to make the pill. While John''s agreement did include free pill making, it did not include free ingredients, and so Thunderpill was not breaking his dao-oath by collecting this.


    John stood at the side silently watching, a slight smile lingering on his face. He had expected some hassle in today''s dealings with Thunderpill, but it had gone much smoother than expected. Elder Ragur didn''t even have to wait to have the pill made, or bear the slight chance of the pill creation failing and everything being for naught.


    "Now that this matter is settled, leave me. I have pills to create," Thunderpill stated.


    John nodded, as he had aplished everything he hade for.


    "Thanks, and I''m sure we''ll see each other soon again," John replied as he left. Thunderpill acted as if he didn''t hear John, and hastily sped back to his cauldron. An intense me emanated from his hand and onto the cauldron as he continued his experiments.


    John and Elder Ragur left the room, and Elder Ragur still had a dazed expression on his face. Things had gone far smoother than he ever expected. After a moment of silence, Elder Ragur turned to John.


    "John, how did you manage that just now?"


    He had no idea how John had such a rtionship with Thunderpill.


    "Oh yeah, it''s rted to why he looks so young right now. Thunderpill needed an Undying Vitality Fruit to create his Life Revitalizing Pill, and only I had one. So I sold it to him for seven hundred and fifty thousand spirit crystals, and also made him swear a dao-oath to make any pill I ask for free of charge," John replied with the truth.


    Elder Ragur shook his head after a moment, figuring only John would be daring enough to haggle with a Pill Emperor like that. Also, it now made sense on how John had such an immense sum of spirit crystals.


    "Making a Pill Emperor swear a dao-oath...you haverger guts than me, I''ll give you that," Elder Ragur replied.


    "All that matters is you have your pill now. Are you going to go into seclusion immediately?" John asked curiously. Having a Heaven Tribtion Elder as a mentor would be greatly beneficial to him.


    "Yes. I''ll most likely take quite a few weeks to break through even with the pill, and so I''ll be unavable until my seclusion is over."


    John nodded his head in agreement, as ascending was the most important thing right now. The two of them continued to talk for some time, before Elder Ragur left for seclusion. Upon parting, he thanked John once again, as all this was made possible because of him.


    "Now, what should I do with my time?" John pondered.


    He had no immediate ns, and had aplished everything he wanted to, such as obtain pills and battle arts, as well as help out Elder Ragur.


    "The Sect Leader said I''ll be entering the whirlpoolnds before long, so I should focus on stabilizing my foundation. I doubt I have enough time to leave the sect and obtain blood essence to rank up my body, as who knows when the whirlpool will vanish."


    John thought about doing something to be sent down to the crypt again, as he had obtained bodies therest time, but decided against it. If he did something bad enough to be sent down there again, the sect might just think of him as more trouble than it''s worth, and cut him loose, or worse, keep him down there indefinitely.


    John also thought about seeking out missions to undertake at the War Hall, but yet again decided against it. He knew the whirlpoolnds most likely held amazing things within, and he didn''t want to miss it no matter what. If he undertook a mission and was gone when thends were revealed, he would only be able to me himself.


    John decided that cultivating as much as possible during the next few weeks would be the smartest idea. Since the whirlpoolnds allowed those sixteen years or below inside, John was sure there would be some Core Formation youths that entered.


    After deciding this direction, John headed back home and began to focus on his cultivation. During ss days, John would attend sses, which covered a variety of things, such as medicinal nts, pills, battle arts, lightning cultivation, and more. On his days off, he ventured into the forests controlled by the sect, and hunted down some Qi Condensation beasts. He wanted to make sure that his blood essence reserves were as full as possible.


    He also inquired about the status of Elder Ragur''s seclusion over the next several weeks, but was always told that he was still in seclusion. Before long, a month had passed by, in which John only focused on cultivation and sses. It was the most rxed he had been in a long time, and he began to feel restless, as a rxing lifestyle such as this was not his preference.


    At the same time, rumors began to brew throughout the sect about the whirlpoolnds, and the mission the sect would send its young disciples on soon. It became the hottest topic of discussion throughout the sect, and many theories began to be floated around about what existed inside thosends.


    ¡­


    It was a normal day for John, and he was walking towards his morning ss for the day, when all of a sudden, an incredible power washed over the entire sect. Everyone stopped what they were doing, and a familiar voice soon filled the entire sect.


    "All Sect disciples, sixteen years and below, are to immediately gather at the Heavenly Lightning Pce."


    John narrowed his eyes as he listened to the message. A smile broke out on his face.


    "That was the Sect Leader''s voice. It seems like the day has finallye."

 Chapter 203 - Direct Disciples

    The sect was immediately thrown into an uproar over the Sect Leaders announcement. It seemed as if the rumors floating around the sect thest few weeks had some merit to them. All disciples sixteen years old and younger immediately rushed towards the Heavenly Lightning Pce, while many older disciples did as well.


    Although they knew they would not be able to participate in whatever was taking ce, the older disciples still wanted to see exactly what was going on. It wasn''t often that such a summon was issued out, so whatever was happening was definitely important.


    John followed the crowd and set off towards the Heavenly Lightning Pce as well, arriving there some timeter. Arge crowd of tens of thousands of disciples and Elders had already gathered, and therge za in front of the pce was packed densely.


    John stepped off to one side, choosing to avoid standing in the dense crowd. He found a small tree off to the side of the massive courtyard, and sat underneath it. The shade from the tree canopy above washed over him, relieving him from the hot sun above. Hezily rested against the tree, waiting for the announcement of todays events.


    The crowd continued to grow in size, until nearly every disciple and Elder of the sect was gathered. Although the crowd wasn''t asrge as during the entrance exams, it wasn''t far off as well.


    The crowd was boisterous, as thousands of heated discussions were taking ce regarding today''s events. Suddenly, an incredible power washed over the entire crowd, causing it to fall into an immediate silence. Everyone knew what this meant, and all eyes turned to look towards the top of the Heavenly Lightning Pce stairway.


    Soon, several figures emerged from within the pce and stood at the top of the steps, peering down the stairway to the massive crowd below. The Sect Leader, Vice Sect Leader, and several other powerful Elders were present.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen looked at the crowd for a moment before speaking up.


    "This Heavenly Lightning Sect hassted for tens of thousands of years. In all that time, we have stood guard over the nearby Qi storm, obtaining many benefits from it," Thunderzen spoke up.


    As many assumed, today''s matter truly was rted to the Qi storm.


    "Now, however, the Qi storm has grown weaker, and today, it will fade out of existence."


    An uproar of discussions immediately broke out throughout the crowd, as such a thing waspletely unexpected. The Qi storm, which had stood strong in perpetuity, was actually failing.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen waved his hand, calling for silence. The crowd quickly died down, and he continued once again.


    "With the Qi storm disappearing, thends hidden by the storm will once again be revealed. However, there is a powerful formation that keeps us Elders at bay, and only allows those from the younger generation to enter.


    The other Great Sects will no doubt send their youths in to explore thends within, seeking out any treasures and powerful artifacts for them to use. While thends within will most likely be rife with danger, we have no choice but to send you in as well, as we cannot allow those treasures to fall into their hands" Thunderzen stated.


    The previously boisterous atmosphere became quite serious, as everyone could tell that based on the Sect Leaders words, there would be considerable danger within.


    "However, we will provide a means of everyone ensuring their own safety, so do not fear for your lives," Thunderzen continued, causing some of the first years to breath out a sigh of relief.


    Many of them had never experienced true life or death danger, and the thought sent a shiver down their spine. John looked towards the Sect Leader with an unassuming expression, as it was to be expected that danger existed inside.


    "We have recently done some tests, and have concluded that the age formation surrounding the forbiddennds has been warped slightly. Although there is no exact date identified yet, it appears that the formation will only allow those just slightly over sixteen years old to enter. Since all our second years are well into theter half of sixteen, only first years will be allowed to enter the formation," Thunderzen continued.


    The second years, as well as the older first years who were over this age all had looks of disappointment appear on their faces. They could tell that such an event was monumental, and they would be missing out on it.


    While John didn''t care too much, such a thing was to his liking. If second years were able to venture within, they would surely dominate all the good opportunities, as many of their cultivations were in the Core Formation realm.


    "We will not force anyone inside against their will. Saying that, all the first years who are willing to venture forth for our Heavenly Lightning Sect, step forward."


    After Sect Leader Thunderzen''sst line, a throng of disciples hurriedly pushed forward through the crowd to the front of the giant za. Before long, around ny perfect of the first years had stepped forward. John arrived towards the end of the pack, and all eyes turned to him as he joined the group.


    After his fight with Russell, his status as the number one Core Disciple was undisputed. However, that was a month ago, and things had changed in that time.


    "Haha, you''re here. Good, with the sect rules not applying in the stormnds, we can fight as much as we want," a voice sounded out near John.


    He knew who it was before he looked, and he soon spotted Russell standing there with a proud expression. A brief inspection revealed his cultivation to be firmly in the early Core Formation Realm.


    "You broke through? Not bad. It seems as if our fight won''t go my way anymore" John replied towards Russell. If they were to fight now, it was John who would most likely be on the defensive. However, with his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, John was confident in fighting someone like Russell on even ground, at least for a short while.


    However, jumping major realms was much harder than jumping minor realms, and so John was unsure if such a thing was possible, even for him.


    After saying some words to Russell, John felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He turned to look at the neer.


    "Adam? You''re actually joining?" John asked in surprise.


    He had not expected Adam to join, and was not going to force him to join this like previous trials. However small, there was a real chance of death if one was not careful, and so he was not going to force Adam to do such a thing.


    "I can''t let you go out there alone can I? Besides, I''m looking forward to what kind of treasures exist in thosends," Adam replied with a prideful look, as if him joining the mission was incredibly heroic.


    John said nothing, but was slightly happy inside.


    ''It seems like pushing Adam through all those trials has toughed him up a bit.''


    "Now that those who wish to join have stepped forward," Thunderzen spoke up again, causing all eyes to turn to him.


    Suddenly, thousands and thousands of spatial talismans appeared in the air high above the first years, and each quickly moved towards an individual. Before long, everyone found a spatial talisman hovering directly in front of them.


    John''s eyebrows raised as he stared at the Sect Leaders disy. Although it wasn''t sheer power, individually controlling thousands of items with pinpoint precision was quite a feat, and Thunderzen continued to showcase his awesome power time and time again.


    John reached out and grabbed the talisman. His fingers traced the runes written on the surface, and he could feel an intense power emanating from within.


    "If you run into trouble, crush the talisman you have been given. It should transport you right back here to this za," Thunderzen said to the crowd.


    With such a lifeline, all the first years felt much more confident in entering the mysteriousnds. If they ran into trouble, they could just leave with the talisman. While that would mean giving up all the opportunities within, saving their own lives was their top priority.


    "Now that we''re all set."


    Suddenly, the za ground began to glow with brilliant lines and runes all over. John could feel a familiar power wash over him, and his vision went white for a moment as he felt his body sent through space. Before long, sunlight lit his face once more as he found himself standing in arge open field.


    Directly before them, the Qi storm continued to churn, stretching for hundreds of miles in each direction. However, John could tell that it was much much weaker than when he wasst here.


    After inspecting the whirlpool, John looked around to see what was going on.


    ''It seems as if there was a spatial formation in the sect''s courtyard, leading here.''


    John looked around and spotted that the formation had only transported the first years that had stepped forward. There were also many Elders in the surrounding area, although John still couldn''t spot Elder Ragur.


    ''He must still be in seclusion.''


    Directly in front of the group of first years, the Sect Leader, Vice Sect Leader, and a few other powerful Elders stood. Close to their side, there were several other powerful Heaven Tribtion Elders, and before each of them stood a youth around the same age as the first years. However, the power each of the youths were emanating was immense, and John could easily tell that each was firmly in the Core Formation Realm.


    There were three males, and two females in the group, each with a unique look and style.


    "Do you know who they are?" John turned to Adam and asked.


    While he wasn''t sure if Adam would know, John knew that information was Adam''s specialty. If any first year knew who they were, it would be Adam.


    "I might," Adam replied. "I''ve only heard rumors, as none of them have made their appearance yet, but I believe those are all the Direct Disciples of the sect below sixteen years of age."


    Understanding washed over John at Adam''s exnation. While it was a while ago, he remembered Elder Ragur telling him about the structure of the sect. There were Outer Disciples, Inner Disciples, Core Disciples, and at the very top, Direct Disciples.


    One could only be a Direct Disciple of a Heaven Tribtion Elder, and each Direct Disciple had status above all other disciples, even Core Disciples. Not only that, but their power would most likely also be the greatest of all same age disciples, as they were personally nourished by a Heaven Tribtion Elder.


    "Howe we never saw any of them in the entrance exam then?" John asked again. He recognized none of their faces.


    "Again, it''s all rumors, but apparently every one of these direct disciples have been personally raised by a Heaven Tribtion Elder from a young age, and so they have all been part of the sect for many years already," Adam replied.


    "That makes sense I guess," John responded. He was unsure why the Direct Disciples had not mingled with the other first years, but after a moment''s thought, he understood their reasoning.


    As a Core Disciple, he barely interacted with Inner and Outer disciples, and so for Direct Disciples, he was lumped in with those groups as well. However, he wasn''t concerned about it, as it had nothing to do with him at the moment.


    "As you can tell, the storm behind us has weakened considerably, and based on our estimations, it will fully fail today," the Sect Leader spoke up once more.


    All the disciples inspected the whirlpool, and although its power was still immense, it was a far cry of its full power. While many had not personally seen the whirlpool this close before, they had heard stories of its power. They could tell it was failing.


    While inspecting the storm with the other disciples, John felt a shiver quickly crawl up his spine. He had only felt this type of feeling a few times in his life before, and each time danger followed soon after.


    The first was when he entered the woods after robbing the spear in the Dreadel Kingdom, and the second was in the pocket realm. His instincts were telling him something, although he didn''t know what.


    He quickly turned his head in every direction, looking for the source of unease. As his head passed by the Heaven Tribtion Elder''s, John spotted one of the Direct Disciples looking directly at him. The youth was a male, with long silver hair and a handsome face. He had a friendly expression on his face, and he smiled and waved in a warm manner towards John when he noticed John''s gaze.


    John waved back with a smile, but his instincts kicked into overdrive at the same time. He felt as if he was being stared at by a powerful beast, looking to devour him.

 Chapter 204 - Entering The Wastelands

    John was unsure of why he felt such a threat from the seemingly nice boy, but he trusted his instincts regarding this.


    ''I haven''t even met this boy before. Why does he have such hostility towards me?''


    Although John was the number one Core Disciple, a Direct Disciple was far above his status. The only thing he could think of was that his revealed talent level potentially threatened the boy''s status as one of the top disciples, but based on their strengths right now, John was not a match for the boy.


    ''No matter what happens, I have to make sure to have my guard up fully whenever he''s around.''


    Not trying to give anything away, John casually looked away and began to discuss a few things with Adam. One of the Elders spoke up to the crowd of youths, and his stren voice caught John''s attention, as it seemed it was an important matter he was speaking up on.


    "Inside, you will most likely run into the disciples of the other Great Sects. While our rtionship with the Supreme Battle Sect and Divine Soul Sect is quite amiable, the same cannot be said for the Bloodfiend Sect. If you run into a Bloodfiend disciple, they will most likely try to do you harm, so you must be alert at all times."


    John nodded his head, as based on his experiences with the Bloodfiend Sect so far, that seemed to be true. Both Dn and Jason were members of the sect, and both had tried to kill him without mercy. John smirked slightly as he recalled the sensation of bisecting Dn in two, reaping his life from him in a single attack. The feeling of that felt quite nice, and he hoped to teach a few other Bloodfiend Sect disciples a lesson as well.


    Since they had targeted his n with the intention of eliminating it, John was going to show the Bloodfiend Sect disciples no mercy.


    ''Maybe I can even build up a nice reserve of human blood essence inside thesends.''


    "However, if you do run into any other disciples inside and they wish to do you harm, do not hold back. If you still cannot win, crush your talisman to leave thends safely," the Elder continued.


    After giving the warning to all the disciples, various different Elders began to talk about different topics. Some gave quick lectures on what potential medicinal ingredients could be found inside, and which ones to bring back to the sect. Another gave a lecture on formations, how to spot them, and how to avoid them. Another on beasts and poisons. Another on the dimensions of thends within, and where to venture towards.


    "The Qi stormnds before you stretches for over a thousand miles in diameter, and so it is quite vast. We suspect that the best opportunities can be found in the very center, and so that is the direction you should head."


    One disciple asked about the possibility of an Elder flying above the storm and peering into it from above. However, the Elder exined that the storm also stretched all the way to the upper atmosphere of this world, and at those altitudes, vicious spatial storms existed. The power of those spatial storms had the power to eliminate any one of the Elders, and so none of them dared to do such a thing.


    The lectures continued for some time, and all could spot the massive storm behind them continuing to lessen in intensity. The Sect Leader''s eyes suddenly looked towards the storm, and a small smile appeared on his face.


    "It appears as if the time is upon us. Good luck."


    Just as the Sect Leader finished talking, the revolving Qi storm suddenly came to an immediate halt. After a brief moment, the storm dissipatedpletely, slowly revealing thends inside.


    As far as the eye could see, all that was visible was a barrenndscape, shredded by the power of the storm. Not a single shred of vegetation or life was visible, and only barren dirt and rock was visible.


    Silence descended on the group for a moment, and no one dared move into the formation first. However, John had already been inside thesends temporarily, and felt no fear towards it. He began to walk forward, and all eyes turned to him as he approached the formation. Without pause, John walked through the formation and into the barren wastnd.


    His steps continued steadily as he walked deeper into the wastnds, and after a moment of pause, all the other disciples began to rapidly enter thends. A stampede of disciples soon erupted, and before long, all had entered.


    Adam quickly caught up to John, who was walking at a steady pace.


    "Where do you want to go first? Should we head directly towards the center like the Elder instructed?" Adam asked.


    John nodded his head in confirmation.


    "Until we see something of interest, there''s no point in not heading towards the center," John replied as he steadily continued forward.


    By this time, the other disciples had caught up, and many rushed forward passed John and into the distance.


    Adam frowned as he observed this. "Shouldn''t we do like the others are doing and be first into the unexplorednds?"


    John shook his head. "There''s no rush. Thesends are massive, and even if the sect sent in all its disciples, it would still take a long time to explore it all. Besides, who knows what danger lurks out front, so isn''t it best to let others test the waters first?" John replied.


    Adam thought about it for a moment, before following up with another question. "I suppose that makes sense."


    While this was part of John''s reasoning, the other was that he was wary of the silver haired boy. Before he knew what his intentions were, he wanted to treat with caution. The silver haired boys power was far above his own, and so he would not be able to ignore the danger he presented.


    As if summoned by John''s thoughts, the silver haired boy quickly approached John and Adam from behind and joined their group. While John appeared rxed on the outside, his guard was raised to full.


    ''I doubt he''d try to do anything when there are so many disciples to witness it, so he''ll most likely wait until we''re isted.''


    "Hi there," the silver haired boy suddenly spoke out as he walked alongside John and Adam. "I''m Hunter, it''s nice to meet you."


    John nodded towards Hunter, while Adam had a look of surprise on his face at being joined by a Direct Disciple.


    "I''m John, and this is Adam," John replied. "Is there anything in particr you''re talking to us for?" John got straight to the point.


    Hunterughed at John''s question before replying. "I''ve just heard alot about you, from your talents to your brave disys, so I wanted to see if the rumors held any merit. I have to say, I''m not disappointed."


    While listening to Hunter''s reply, John felt a slight sensation wash over him. He instantly recognized it.


    ''This is a tracking mark, just like the one left on me in the pocket realm. It appears he truly does have ill intentions towards me.''


    Due to his strong soul, John was just barely able to detect the mark nted on him. However, although John detected the mark, he did not immediately erase it. Doing so would raise Hunter''s suspicions towards John, and also make him much more careful in his approach towards John. By leaving it on for now, John would have an opportunity to slip away in the near future.


    John and Hunter began to converse about various things, such as the Sect, the wastnd, and cultivation as they walked deeper into the wastnds.


    Before night fell on thends, John spoke up to Hunter, who was still with the group.


    "Adam and I are going to go our separate ways from you now. I wish you the best of luck."


    His sudden and blunt words surprised both Adam and Hunter, but for different reasons. Adam was quite happy with having a strong Direct Disciple in the group, as he felt much safer with Hunter around. Hunter, on the other hand, became slightly suspicious of John, but decided to let him exin himself.


    "Can I ask why? I thought we were getting along quite nicely," Hunter replied with a friendly smile on his face.


    "To be blunt, if we run into any good opportunities, your strength will allow you to seize it before us. As such, I want to go my own way," John replied. His exnation sounded quite believable, and it fooled even Hunter himself.


    "Its a shame you see it that way, but I can understand that. In that case, good luck," Hunter replied. John smiled and bid Hunter farewell, before quickly heading in a different direction.


    Adam followed behind John, slightly unhappy about the situation, but understood John''s reasonings. Hunter''s smile soon faded as he watched the two walk into the distance.


    "It doesn''t matter where you go, once you''re alone, I''ll make my move."


    Trying not to appear suspicious, Hunter walked a different direction. With his tracking mark ced on John, he was not concerned about losing his prey. He had all the time in the world to hunt John down.


    John and Adam continued to walk forward at a brisk pace for the next day, still running into nothing but barren wastnd. He zigged and zagged in every direction, sometimes doubling back to hide his tracks. Adam was confused by these actions, and inquired into them multiple times, but John always gave vague answers.


    John had been carefully observing his surroundings, and was confident that Hunter was nowhere close at this time.


    "Finally, I can get rid of this damned mark," John muttered. He sent a strong burst of divine sense towards the mark on his body, forcefully erasing it. As soon as he did so, he grabbed Adam''s hand and began to move forward with his top speed, dragging Adam along.


    Adam screamed in pain from his arm being dragged in such a manner, but was unable to break free of John''s grip. While John was not afraid of Hunter, he didn''t want to have to use his talisman early, and miss out on the opportunities within the wastnds. If he could find some good opportunities as well, he could potentially raise his strength and turn the tides on Hunter.


    The two of them sped into the distance, towards the center of the wastnds.


    ¡­.


    Nearly a dozen miles away, Hunter continued to walk towards the center of the wastnds, periodically checking up on the mark he nted on John.


    He decided to check again, and a ugly look suddenly appeared on his face.


    "The tracking mark is gone? That fucker detected the mark already?"


    Although he didn''t know how John had managed to detect it, things were not going ording to his ns. He suddenly attacked the ground in front of him in rage, causing arge cloud of dirt and rock to erupt outwards. Anger appeared on his face as he sped towards thest location he knew John had been in, in a desperate hope to find him.


    ¡­.


    John and Adam eventually came to a stop after running for quite some time. They were already dozens of miles away from their previous position, and over a hundred miles into the wastnds. Adam fell to the ground in a dramatic fashion, rubbing his arm in pain.


    "What the fuck was that about? Why did we run like that? And why are we stopping now?"


    However, he received no response from John, and so he quickly stood up and walked beside him. Adams eyes widened slightly as he stared at what John was staring at.


    Before them, a cave appeared before them, its mouth dozens of yards tall and wide. A beautiful and majestic bright glow of light could be seen shining from within, revealing there to be something inside.

 Chapter 205 - Cave Treasures

    John and Adam stared at the cave opening for a short while. They both sent their divine senses down into the cave, but the cave was longer than their senses could reach.


    "What do you think is down there?" Adam asked curiously,pletely forgetting the fact that John had just dragged him for dozens of miles.


    "I''m not sure. Our divine senses revealed nothing. We''re here to explore thesends, so let''s head inside," John mumbled as he began to walk forward.


    Adam nodded his head and followed behind, although he could tell that John appeared to be distracted by something. However, he didn''t ask about it.


    As they were walking towards the mouth of the cave, John''s mind was elsewhere, as he had observed something concerning.


    ''I only fully noticed it now, but ever since I decided to run from Hunter, something has been nagging me, as if something was wrong, and I think I know why now.''


    John had slightly noticed it as soon as he started running, but ignored the feeling as it was fleeting. However, it grew more intense the farther he ran, until he eventually found the cave and stopped. The feeling stemmed from his dantian, and eventually spread all throughout his body.


    The way it spread throughout his body reminded him of the meridian pathways needed to cultivate the Immortal Asura Body, which is how he finally figured out what was making him feel this way.


    ''My body dantian, and also my Immortal Asura Body...almost seems to be rejecting me.''


    Although it was only slight at the moment, John could tell that his body dantian, and by extension his Immortal Asura Body, was not operating as smoothly and efficiently as before. In fact, there seemed to be a slight rejection by the dantian itself in its willingness to send Qi to his body, as if it was a sentient thing.


    John didn''t know how such a thing was possible, but when it came to the mysterious dantian, he didn''t rule anything out.


    Although he was not one hundred percent sure, John was mostly sure that this feeling stemmed from the fact that he had run from Hunter. It started as soon as he did so, and grew in intensity until he stopped just now. It was the first time he had run from a battle of a simr strength opponent without at least trying to fight back, and also the first time he was experiencing this feeling.


    ''Retreating from Hunter was the smart decision, as I would most likely lose in battle with him. What the fuck does my dantian want? For me to fight a futile battle to the death?''


    John was quite perplexed by this development. He had done the smart thing, but his body seemed to be disagreeing, as if it had a mind of his own. John didn''t know what to do about it in the meantime, and so he decided to ignore it.


    ''Maybe it''s due to the fact that I have a safety lifeline, and still chose to avoid the fight. I can''t do anything about it now, so I''ll just keep an eye on it and notice if anything makes it worse.''


    John shook these thoughts from his head and focused on the cave in front of him. He had some bad experiences with caves in the past, and knew to be careful when entering them.


    John and Adam stood at the mouth of the cave and peered inside. The intense glow from within was even brighter, but they were still unable to see the end of the cave, and it snaked in many directions at it went deeper.


    "Let''s go," John said in a firm tone. He was still in a bad mood from his current predicament, and wanted to find something to do to relieve his confusion and stress.


    Adam nodded and followed closely behind, as if he were a child being escorted by an adult. John pushed his divine sense to its maximum, peering several hundred yards into the cave ahead of them.


    The cave snaked down for over a mile, and the intensity of the glow continued the deeper they went. John''s eyes finally lit up.


    "It''s the end of the cave up ahead."


    The two of them turned the final corner, and were finally able to see the source of the glow. Their eyes widened inplete shock at the sight before them.


    "Are...are all of those...spirit crystals?" Adam asked in a dumbfounded tone.


    "I think so," John replied.


    The cavern before them was several hundred yards deep and wide, and contained thousands upon thousands ofrge spirit crystals embedded into the walls of the cave. John did a quick mental check against his current wealth, and estimated that there were at least ten million spirit crystals worth in this cave alone. However, they were muchrger than normal spirit crystals, and so he didn''t know its true value.


    "This is an extremelyrge spirit crystal mine. It must be due to the constant Qi nourishment from the storm," Adammented.


    The storm had existed for thousands and thousands of years, battering thend with dense Qi. Over time, the Qi must have umted and crystallized, ending in the spirit crystal mine before them.


    John nodded his head, as such an exnation sounded quite usible. He carefully inspected the entire cavern and did not find another sign of life. After confirming the cavern to be empty, John walked into it and stood directly in front of one of therge spirit crystal geodes.


    His hand reached out and attempted to pry it from the wall, but even with his immense strength, he couldn''t make it budge. His scythe suddenly appeared in his hand, and he shed down on the cavern wall, attempting to loosen the crystal.


    However, his scythe bounced off the wall, leaving only a small mark on it. John frowned, as he assumed extracting the spirit crystals was going to be an easy task.


    Divine Reaping Scythe!


    John utilized his divine reaping scythe, and his scythe carved into the wall with some effort. It cut off a small section, and the spirit crystals fell to the floor.


    ''This must be worth about fifty thousand spirit crystals. It''s arge sum, but each Divine Reaping Scythe uses a considerable portion of my essence Qi. At this rate, it will take me weeks topletely mine this dungeon.''


    While such a thing was not out of the question, John was unwilling to do so. A few weeks were far too long to spend on obtaining mere wealth, when there were potentially muchrger treasures deeper into the wastnds.


    John turned to Adam and spoke up. "Let''s forget about this ce. It will take far too long to mine it all."


    However, he noticed Adam starting closely at the walls of the cavern, as if deep in thought. John sat down on the ground and watched as Adam closely inspected the walls, seemingly trying to think of something. A whileter, Adam turned to John.


    "I think I might have a solution. These walls are so hard because they have been reinforced with Qi from the storm, and a dense Qi still flows within, hardening it to an extreme level¡­ I may just have a solution to this."


    John''s ears perked up as he listened to Adam. If he really could have a solution to this issue, that would be extremely helpful. John did not want to leave such a sum of wealth behind.


    "What solution?" John asked curiously.


    "I''m not too sure, but I think I can make a formation that forcefully extracts the Qi from the wall, weakening it. At that point, it should be much easier to break the spirit crystals free," Adam replied.


    "A formation? Alright, lets see what you can do," John replied.


    ''Maybe Adam''s formation expertise really can be useful for once.''


    Adam immediately set about his work. He extracted a strange looking item from his spatial ring, which looked almost like a disk. There were many fantastic runes carved on the surface. Adam then took out many other items, such as spirit crystals, and other things John had no idea what they were.


    He started carving lines into the ground with a certain item, and John quickly saw the lines take the shape of runes. Adamid spirit crystals and other power sources at certain locations within the cave, and did many other things John was unfamiliar with.


    The processsted for nearly half a day, and John sat therezily against the cave wall watching it all take ce.


    ''It seems he really does know a bit about formations.''


    After a long and arduous process, Adam finally breathed out a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his brow.


    "All set. It should work," Adam said to John as he stepped into the very center of the formation.


    "Will it? I don''t feel anything from it yet," John replied. To him, it just looked like fantastical lines carved in the cavern floor, and certain itemsyed about in a haphazard fashion.


    Adam smirked, and a prideful expression appeared on his face.


    "You clearly underestimate this formation master. Watch and learn."


    Power began to build up within Adam, and he quickly sent an extremely strong burst of Qi into the center of the formation, where the strange diskid. The disk absorbed the Qi Adam sent out, and John''s eyebrows raised as he watched the Qi from the disk spread throughout the formation lines on the cave ground.


    Before long, the entire cave was glowing brightly from the formation lines, and the entire cave looked incredibly mystical. John could feel a strange power build up at the center of the formation.


    Boom!


    Something seemed to finally click in ce, and John was shocked to find that there was a forceful suction force targeting the Qi in his body. He hastily raised his defenses and was able to resist the suction, but he was still shocked that Adam was able to aplish something like this.


    After a moment, John could feel the flow of Qi be much more erratic within the cave, and everything seemed to be flowing towards the disk in the center of the room.


    His eyes lit up.


    "It''s actually working," John said to Adam, quite surprised. He had actually been able to aplish what he said he would do.


    "Of course it''s working. I''m the one who made it after all," Adam replied with a prideful scoff.


    "How long is this going to take?" John asked curiously.


    "About a day, and then the Qi from the walls should be fully extracted. Not only that, but the amount of Qi here is quite dense, and it will serve as a nice power source for my formation disk in the near future."


    John nodded his head, fully willing to wait. Additionally, it seemed as if Adam was also getting something else by doing this, and so the wait was well worth it.


    ''I guess it really is nice to have a formation expert following me. If I was alone, I would have to leave these spirit crystals.''


    The two of them waited a full day, and John could slowly but surely notice the cavern walls begin to weaken. After a full day, the formation suction stopped, and Adam cleaned up his formation materials.


    "Try it now," Adam said to John.


    John stood up and walked to a nearby spirit crystal spot, and shed his scythe down.


    Che!


    The scythe sliced through the wall like butter, causing the spirit crystals to fall to the floor.


    "Haha, it worked," John replied as he began to sh at the wall repeatedly.


    He didn''t even need to use his Divine Reaping Scythe, and instead was able to extract the spirit crystals with ease. Both him and Adam quickly got to work, and before long, most of the crystals had been extracted.


    "Hahaha, we''re rich. Rich!" Adam shouted enthusiastically.


    Just as they began to work on the final section, John''s ears perked up, and he turned to look at the entrance of the cavern. Three youths soon came into their line of sight, and noticed John and Adam standing nearby arge amount of spirit crystals.


    Although John and Adam put away the spirit crystals when mined, there were still a decent amount yet to be mined. Despite mining most of it already, the amount still left over was still enticing to all who saw it.


    Their eyes all lit up in unhidden desire, and they immediately noticed John and Adam standing nearby.


    "Haha, we not only get these spirit crystals, but also get to eliminate some Heavenly Lightning Sect members. How refreshing," one of the boys spoke up.


    John looked at the three in an uncaring fashion. There were two boys and one girl, and they all wore robes familiar to John. Each had a cultivation in the Late Qi Condensation Realm, although a quick inspection revealed they had all just recently broken through.


    ''Bloodfiend Sect huh? Seems like I can start cultivating my Immortal Asura Body again much sooner than I expected.''

 Chapter 206 - One Sided Battle

    John had not expected to run into any disciples of the three other Great Sects this soon. The Four Great Sects were spaced equally distant from each other around the Qi Whirlpool, and so these Bloodfiend disciples had strayed quite a far distance away from the optimal path towards the center of the wastnds.


    The three Bloodfiend sect disciples began walking towards John and Adam with little regard for their opponents, as if the battle was a foregone conclusion. Since both John and Adam were also at the Late Qi Condensation Realm, the Bloodfiend Sect disciples outnumbered them. Not only that, but Bloodfiend Sect disciples were bathed in conflict andbat on a daily basis, and life and death battles were the norm for them.


    Due to this constant battle-filled lifestyle, Bloodfiend Sect disciples usually had higherbat prowess against those in the same realm. These two factors gave themplete confidence in the battle toe.


    A panicked expression appeared on Adam''s face as he watched the three approach. He was a formations expert, and his battle prowess stemmed from being prepared before the fight started. In a straight up fight against the Bloodfiend Sect disciples, he knew he would lose.


    He turned to John to ask what they were going to do, and saw John''spletely rxed expression. Adam''s panic soon faded away quickly as he regained hisposure. John had fought against Russell who was at the Half-Step Core Formation realm, and had still won. A fight such as this posed no threat to him.


    "Haha, I almost lost myself there for a moment. Such a thing is unbing from a man such as myself," Adam said to John whileughing slightly. He quickly regained his prideful persona, as if nothing had just happened.


    John only shook his head, slightly disappointed in Adam''s initial panic.


    ''Seems like I need to battle harden him quite a bit, or that panic will be the death of him.''


    The Bloodfiend Sect Disciples, who had expected John and Adam to panic, were surprised to see them calm and evenughing at each other.


    "Oh? Does the Heavenly Lightning Sect finally have some disciples with a bit of guts? Or are you just so stupid that you don''t know the situation you''re in," the front disciple asked.


    "They''re clearly stupid. I mean, look at that one, he''s clearly all brawn and no brain," the girl of the group said while pointing to John. Even below his robe, his muscr physique was clear for all to see.


    The Bloodfiend Sect disciples stopped when they were twenty yards from John and Adam, and eyed them carefully. They noticed the lingering formation runes on the ground, and wanted to make sure they were no longer active.


    "If I''m stupid, then you must bepletely braindead," John replied in a mocking tone.


    "What did you say?" The three youths all growled as they glowered at John.


    "I called you stupid. Everyone knows that the best opportunities within thesends most likely exist at the center, and yet you strayed all the way over here, far away from the center. If that''s not brain dead, then what is it?" John replied.


    He was still quite confused why they were all the way over here, and wanted to find out more about the reasonings.


    "Shut up. You clearly have no idea what you''re talking about," one of the boys yelled back, clearly irate.


    "Oh? Then enlighten me? Why are you all the way out here?" John asked.


    "You''re going to die here soon, so why does that information matter," the girl replied, as she took out a long whip.


    The other two took out their weapons as well, and powerful auras began to emanate from the three of them. Their sect used the blood of others to cultivate, and while it was normally mortals, cultivators were much more beneficial. This was why the Bloodfiend Sect was so dangerous, as they were always looking for opportunities such as this.


    John brushed off the dust on his robes, and a scythe quickly appeared in his hands.


    "Give me a few minutes, and then we can get back to clearing out this cave," John said as he turned to Adam.


    Adam nodded, and stepped back to the edge of the cave, wanting to avoid any of the attacks toe.


    The three youths noticed John was the only one fighting, and an amused expression appeared on their faces. One of them was about to speak out, when his eyes suddenly went wide.


    Before the three of them could even react, John had appeared right next to them. He had utilized both his Thundersh Steps and his powerful body to move to them in an instant.


    His scythe was already shing forward violently towards the boy at the front. The boy hastily raised his sword to block the attack, and barely managed to do so at thest moment. His hastily raised sword had no power behind it, and the boy''s weapon crashed powerfully against his own body, sending him flying violently towards the cave wall.


    Boom!


    The boy''s body collided against the wall, and the sound of bones breaking echoed throughout the cave. He fell down to the cavern floor, and began to cough up blood.


    Just as John had finished his attack, the other two youths were already attacking him.


    "Die!" the girl screamed out in rage.


    ''Hmm, not bad. Even with such a surprise attack, the two others instantly attacked me. Their battle instincts truly are honed.''


    The two attacked John from opposite directions. John scoffed, and let go of his scythe as he did not have enough time to swing it around for an attack. He outstretched his arms in opposite directions, one towards each opponent.


    Lightning Ruin!


    An incredibly quick and powerful beam of lightning burst out of John''s fingers, piercing directly towards the other boy in the group. The boy had not expected John to be able to counter attack so fast, and was unprepared to block it. He hastily twisted his body to the side, but was slightly too slow.


    Bang!


    The lighting st pierced directly through the boy''s shoulder. Blood sshed everywhere, as the boy fell to the ground in agonizing pain. Destructive lightning coursed all throughout his body, which he did his best to suppress.


    John smiled, as he knew he had made the right decision in obtaining Lightning Ruin. He was able to instantly unleash it without any build up time, and its power was impressive as well. The destructive nature of his lightning, due to his Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique, made it all the more deadly.


    Crack!


    The crack of a whip echoed out as the girl struck out at the same time. She was surprised that John had managed to counter attack the other boy so quickly, but it was toote for him to do the same to her.


    "Wrong choice!" the girl shouted out as her attack was about tond on John. Her whip glowed bright red as she channeled a battle art through it.


    She had the strongest attack power of the entire group, and figured John had made the wrong choice in his targets. John smiled as the whip crashed down on him. He outstretched his hand towards the whip.


    Boom!


    John caught the powerful whip in his hand, and the cave floor below John exploded from the power of the attack. His legs buckled as he braced against the attack, and he sent a surge of the Supreme Battle Art into his arms and legs to resist the attack. John''s body sank several feet into the cave floor before it finally came to a stop.


    "What!" the girl cried out as she couldn''t believe her eyes.


    Her attack had struck John directly, but he had managed to catch it. She had scoffed when she saw him attempt this, as this attack would make a normal essence cultivator''s hand explode into bits. However, John''s expression was calm and his hand intact as he tightened his grip on her whip.


    "Get over here!"


    John pulled on the whip, and the girl, who still had a tight grip on her whip was quickly flung towards John.


    "Shit!" The girl let go of the whip, but it was toote.


    Boom!


    John''s fist crashed against her face, and the girl was flung back like a broken kite into the far cave wall. Her body brutally crashed into the cave wall before falling to the floor below. Silence descended on the cave, and the only remaining sounds were the agonizing cries of three youths.


    Adam stood there dumbfounded as he watched John end the fight as soon as it began. He quickly came to his senses.


    "That...was¡­.awesome! You ended that fight in less than ten seconds!" Adam shouted out excitedly as he ran towards John.


    "They had barely just broken through to the Late Qi Condensation Realm, so they were nothing. If they had gone all out from the start, the battle would have taken much longer, but they underestimated me by far too much. If I''m not mistaken, they are either Outer Disciples, or barely Inner disciples of the Bloodfiend Sect," John replied.


    He had seized the opportunity, and had culled their numbers by one from the first attack. The other two had been forced to hastily attack him, which was easy for John to counter. If they had used their strongest battle arts from the start, John would have had to expend more energy to win the fight, although the result was never in question.


    He turned to Adam.


    "Can you make a formation to seal the entrance of the cave?" John asked.


    "Uhhh, sure, but why?" Adam replied.


    John turned to look at the three Bloodfiend Sect disciples still writhing on the ground.


    "We need to ask these three some questions, and I don''t want their screams to echo out of the cave," John replied.


    Adam gulped as he understood what John was intending. "I''ll get right on it."


    A little whileter, Adam had hastily constructed a formation. The formation formed a solid wall at the cave entrance, making it look like a dead end to all those who entered. John nodded his head in approval at the formation.


    During Adam''s formation construction, John had gathered the three Bloodfiend Sect disciples at the far side of the cave. They had finally managed to stabilize themselves, but were still quite injured.


    Che!


    Suddenly, a powerful attack of blood red Qi pieced straight towards John as one of the boys sent out a surprise attack.


    Boom!


    The attacknded directly on John''s chest, and he was knocked back several yards from the force of the attack..


    "Let''s get out of here!" the boy shouted as he attempted to seize the opportunity. He quickly dashed forward towards the exit, but his eyes suddenly widened in horror. He looked down at his chest, and saw a hand piercing directly through it.


    Bang!


    John flung his arm around with all his might, and the boy was violently thrown against the cave wall. His body nearly exploded from the force of the impact, and the remaining life soon faded from his eyes as he died on the spot.


    John turned to the two other disciples who still lived, who both had terrified expressions on their faces. They figured that attack thatnded on John would do some damage, but he stood there as if it only tickled him.


    "Now, I have some questions to ask, and you''re going to answer them. If you don''t..well, you''ll find out soon enough what happens then," John said as he crouched down in front of them, looking them straight in the eyes as they sat on the ground. His cold eyes seemed to pierce into their souls.


    The two of them felt like they were looking into the eyes of a demon. Evening from a blood and strife filled background, they had never experienced a look like this.


    For the next few hours, many screams echoed throughout the cave, until finally all became silent.

 Chapter 207 - Soulspirit Carp

    John looked down at the now dead Bloodfiend Sect disciples thatid before him. Their bodies were quite mutted, showing that theirst few hours were quite excruciating.


    John waved his hand, and the three bodies disappeared. He sat down, and began to ruminate over the information he had extracted from them. Adam watched John from the other side of the cavern, still shaken from what he had witnessed. He had never seen something so brutal.


    John''s mind reyed the conversation he had with the youths. It had taken quite a bit of ''effort'' to get the answers out of them, but John was able to make them finally crack.


    First, he had asked why they did not have spatial talismans, and they answered that only the most promising disciples of the Bloodfiend sect were given such a thing. The sect would never waste money on Outer Disciples like themselves.


    John then asked about their purpose ofing into the wastnds, and the answer was expected. The Bloodfiend Sect wanted their disciples to look for treasures, and to also eliminate as many of the other sect disciples as possible. They would need to cover their tracks and not openly kill, as drawing the ire of all three sects would be quite burdensome, but as long as they could kill without being discovered, they were encouraged to do so.


    Lastly, John asked about the ''promising disciples'' that the sect cared about the most. ording to the two disciples before John, there were seven total disciples that stood at the top of the Bloodfiend Sect. They were divided into two groups, and were known as the Four Kings and Three Emperors.


    The Three Emperors stood at the very top of the youths that had entered, and all had cultivations at the Early Core Formation Realm. However, they were at the top of the early realm, and were primed to break through at any moment. Theirbat prowess was considered to be impossible to beat in the same realm.


    Below them were the Four Kings, who were also in the Early Core Formation Realm. Their strength was below the Three Emperors, but was still terrifying. Due to the nature of power reigning supreme in the Bloodfiend Sect, these disciples had been the ones to venture into the heart of the wastnds, and so the Outer and Inner Disciples had to settle for the scraps on the outside areas.


    ''I guess it makes sense why these three were all the way out here. They were forced to do so, as the central grounds have been imed by the most powerful of their sect.''


    John had asked about thebat abilities of the seven disciples, and any battle arts they knew. However, even the Bloodfiend Sect disciples did not know, as they had never seen them fight. John tried to probe for more information, but eventually, the two youths knew they were not getting out alive, and decided to kill themselves.


    "Hahaha, you may be strong, but if you run into one of our Emperors or Kings, you''re dead," the girlughed as she sent a burst of Qi into her body, destroying her heart. The boy did the same.


    ''Early Core Formation, and about to break through to the Mid Core Formation Realm at any moment. It seems I really do need to raise my strength as much as possible while I venture into the heart of thesends.''


    John sent his soulform into his pce realm, and stood before the corpses of the three youths. He quickly extracted their blood essence, and began to send it directly towards his body dantian. Due to the unique connection between the pce realm and his body dantian, John was able to send blood essence directly into it without anyone noticing.


    To Adam, John was just sitting there quietly.


    John had just been shy of breaking through to the Late Qi Condensation Realm for body cultivation back in the sect, and these three Late Qi Condensation youths was exactly what he needed to get over that final hurdle.


    A muffled boom echoed inside John''s body. His eyes slowly opened as he clenched his hands over and over, feeling his newfound body strength. Both his essence and body cultivations were now in the Late Qi Condensation Realm.


    After feeling out his newfound strength, John suddenly stood up and walked over to Adam. Adam had already collected the remaining spirit crystals, and so there was no more value to being in the cave.


    "Let''s go," John said as he walked through the formation Adam had set up.


    Adam nodded and followed closely, unsure of what to say. He was still recovering from what he had witnessed. As they began to leave the cave, John noticed Adam''s disposition.


    "This is how the cultivation world is. They tried to kill us, so it''s only right that we can kill them," John said as he continued to walk forward.


    "I..I know, but was thetter part really necessary?" Adam asked.


    "As far as I''m concerned, if someone tries to kill me, their life is mine to do with as I please," John replied in a blunt tone. "You really need to harden your resolve, or you''re going to die before long. The cultivation world does not amodate the meek and timid."


    "I know, it''ll just take a while," Adam replied.


    John nodded his head in approval. "At least you know this. If you had tried to reason with me into believing I was wrong and that I should have let them live, I would have left you right here and now," John replied.


    The two of them left the cave, and inspected the outside area. They spotted no one else.


    "Let''s keep heading towards the central wastnds. We already found such a thing, I can''t imagine what exists deeper into thends."


    John and Adam began to venture forth, and John was deep in thought once more.


    ''My body dantian is back to acting normal, which is good. I''ll just have to keep a close eye on it from now on.''


    John and Adam continued to walk deeper into the wastnds, and several dozen milester, they came to a stop. Before them, patches of vegetation were starting to be visible in the barren wastnds. Although it was just grass for now, both John and Adam could see that in the very far distance, trees were visible.


    "nt life? Either they were resistant to the storm, or the storm didn''t affect the centralnds," John surmised. "Let''s continue."


    The two of them ventured forward, and the patches of grass soon became a dense field. Bushes began to pop up, then trees. Before long, it looked exactly the same as thends directly outside the wastnds. Every direction was lush with vegetation.


    As they crested over a small hill, ake suddenly became visible below them. Its waters were crystal clear, and the sun shimmered brightly off the water''s surface, making it appear quite beautiful. Theke was several miles wide, andrge fish were seen swimming below the surface.


    "Those are Soulspirit Carp!" Adam eximed as he rushed forward.


    John quickly followed behind, and the two of them came to a stop directly at the shoreline.


    "They really are Soulspirit Carp. Eating them boosts your soul strength slightly, and also aids your cultivation. They''re extremely rare!" Adam eximed in an excited tone.


    Adam was about to rush in to try to catch some, when John suddenly reached out and grabbed the neck of his robe.


    "Gah!" Adam cried out as he was quickly dragged backwards.


    Che! Che! Che!


    Adam was about to yell at John and ask for an exnation, but his eyes went wide as he noticed a volley of arrows pierce the ground directly where he was standing previously. Had John not pulled him back, they would have hit him.


    Adam noticed John looking over to their side, at the top of a cliff above them. He looked up as well, and he quickly spotted four youths standing at the top. The group contained two girls and two boys, and they each wore beautiful white robes, which appeared to almost be mist like.


    The robes billowed gently in the breeze, and each of the youths gave off a calm and rxing feeling, as if they were mist and clouds.


    "Friends, we would prefer it if you did not disturb the waters," one of the girls spoke up. Her voice sounded enchanting and ethereal, and Adam''s previous anger quickly washed away as a smile appeared on his face. He appeared to be in a daze.


    John frowned as he stared at the girl. His soul power red outwards, and Adam immediately snapped out of his daze.


    The four youths had slight surprise wash over their faces.


    "I would prefer if you don''t use a soul art on me or my friend, or try to mow us down with your arrows" John said as he stared directly at the four of them. His scythe suddenly appeared in his hands.

 Chapter 208 - Soul Sage

    John prepared himself to attack at any moment. Although he knew which power the four were from, he still didn''t let down his guard.


    The four were surprised that John was able to neutralize the bewitching soul art used by the girl. Although she wasn''t an amazing cultivator within their sect, they were still used to such a thing working, at least for a moment. The three of them were Outer Disciples, while the girl who had used the soul art was an Inner Disciple.


    "There appears to be a misunderstanding," the girl replied in her calm voice. "Our Divine Soul Sect and your Heavenly Lightning Sect have never been enemies. Our arrows were meant to prevent your friend from disturbing the waters, and the soul art I used was to persuade you to leave the area."


    "Then tell me, why are you so concerned about us disturbing the water?" John asked.


    "Soulspirit Carp are incredibly sensitive to any movement, and so your friend entering the waters would have scared them away to the bottom of theke. Only by using your soul power to calm them into a sense of ease can you have a possibility of catching them," the girl replied.


    Clearly, these carp were important to them, as they had nourishing effects for the soul. Being from the Divine Soul Sect, such a thing was of tantamount importance.


    "Or, I can just go in theke itself and catch them at the bottom," John replied.


    The girl shook her head, as they had already tested the waters and found it to be quite strange. "I''m afraid such a thing isn''t possible. These waters are quite strange, and they drain your essence Qi as soon as you enter it. It only takes a few minutes for one to bepletely empty of Qi."


    John raised his eyebrows slightly. "There''s such a thing?"


    "There is," the girl confirmed.


    His eyes trailed back towards theke.


    ''If I can store this water in my pce realm, perhaps it can be of use to meter.''


    He immediately thought of a ce to store it. In the main hallway of the pce realm, there was a massive water fountain, majestic and grand. However, it was empty, and no water flowed in it. It hadn''t been of use to him before, so John had ignored it, but now there was a purpose for it.


    ''If I can get some carp, as well as this water, this will be quite a worthwhile expedition so far.''


    John turned to look back at the Divine Soul Sect group above them. Despite being primarily soul cultivators, soul cultivators also cultivated their essence power. These two systems did not conflict like essence and body did, and so they were free to do so. Soul cultivators used their powerful souls for fearsome soul arts, while they used their essence cultivation for everything else.


    However, since they focused primarily on their soul power, their essence power wasckingpared to essence only cultivators.


    "It affects essence Qi huh?"


    A thought crossed John''s mind. If he had to use his soul power to lure the carp over to them before catching them, that would take a great deal of time. John was unwilling to waste such precious time.


    "In that case¡­."


    John began to walk towards the water, surprising all with his actions.


    "Didn''t you hear me, it will drain your essence Qi!" the girl eximed once more. She was not concerned for John''s safety, but did not want him scarring the fish away to the center of theke, where their soul power could not reach.


    John reached the water and paused for a moment, before cing his hand in it. He immediately felt a strange energy invade his body, and just like the girl had said, his essence Qi was rapidly beginning to drain from his body. At this rate, he would be empty of essence Qi in less than ten minutes. However, a small smile appeared on his face.


    ''It doesn''t affect body Qi, or at least my unique body Qi. Perfect.''


    While John would feel quite fatigued being drained of all his essence Qi, he still had his immense reserves of body Qi. With his body power unaffected, he could freely enter theke without too much danger.


    ''With this being the case, I think its time I go swimming.''


    John suddenly took off his robe, leaving only his undergarments on. He didn''t want it to get wet. Surprise appeared on the faces of the youths above.


    "What are you doing?" the girl yelled out.


    "Going for a swim," John replied as he began to wade into the water.


    The Divine Soul Sect group began to panic. If John disturbed the fish, all their efforts would be for naught. A cold look appeared on the lead girls face.


    She suddenly touched the center of her forehead with her right pointer finger, and closed her eyes for a moment. A brilliant glow began to emte from her forehead, and the glow intensified for a few seconds until it was incredibly bright yet ethereal, like mist.


    Suddenly, an almost translucent beam of light pierced directly towards John. The beam glowed in a holy fashion, making all those nearby want to worship it. The beam of light entered John''s head from behind, and his steady pace suddenly stopped immediately.


    "John!" Adam called out as he witnessed the attack, but was toote to stop it.


    "I tried to warn you, but you didn''t listen. You only have yourself to me," the girl said out loud. Clearly she had attacked him with a soul art, one which was much more potent than the one she had used before.


    John still stood there motionless for a short while. He suddenly turned around, and his cold eyes looked directly at the girl at the top of the cliff above him.


    "What? How?" the girl reacted in surprised fashion. This soul attack of hers was her most powerful attack, and should have rendered John unconscious for days if he was lucky, or damaged his soul and rendered him stupid if he wasn''t.


    However, John waspletely unaffected due to the immense power of his soul''s strength. While he did not know any soul arts to utilize this soul strength, it was more than enough to act as a defensive shield against such soul arts.


    Boom!


    The water at John''s feet suddenly exploded in a small tsunami as he used his greatest body power to leap from the water. Before the Divine Soul Sect disciples could react...


    Boom!


    Another loud boom exploded out as Johnnded violently on the cliff above, where the four disciples were standing. The ground shattered from the force of thending, and the cliff crumpled beneath the feet of all those standing on it.


    "Ahhh!"


    The four Divine Soul Sect disciples screamed out as they fell from the cliff to the ground below. They were soul cultivators, and so their body defense was the weakest of all cultivators. A fall such as this, while not lethal, would definitely hurt.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Continuous booms echoed out as the cliff rubble crashed into the ground below. Dust kicked up into the air as therge rocks crashed into the beach below.


    Adam stood on the beach some distance away, watching the whole scene dumbfounded. He thought John had been ambushed by that attack and injured, but before he could react, John had brought the whole cliff down with him.


    The dust finally settled, and the three Outer Sect disciples from the Divine Soul Sect slowly stood up, rubbing their sore spots. They had been lucky that none of therge pieces of rubble had fallen on them, or they would have been quite injured.


    All three looked around, and their eyes went wide open.


    "Give me a good reason why I shouldn''t kill you right now," John asked in a cold voice. The girl who had attacked him was in his outstretched arm, as he gripped her directly by the throat. She struggled to break free, but was surprised to find that John''s grip was like steel.


    "Emma," the three of the youths called out. They prepared to attack to save their friend and leader.


    "Stop!" Emma suddenlymanded. "You''re no match for him!"


    The three stopped, and stared at Emma in a helpless manner. Emma turned her eyes to look back at John, who stared at her with cold emotionless eyes. A slight shiver went up her spine being looked at in such a manner. She grit her teeth before replying.


    "That attack of mine... wasn''t meant to kill... you. You obviously... have great soul strength, so it should have¡­.only immobilized...you," Emma replied as she struggled to speak through the tight grip John had on her throat.


    "Even so, your attack was with no regard for my life, so why should I care about yours?" John asked. He wasn''t convinced by her exnation.


    The girl noticed that John had not been convinced, and did not know what else to say. Normally she would use a soul art to get out of this situation, but clearly such a thing was useless against her opponent. Normally the Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples she had met were quite reasonable, but the boy before her was much different.


    Resolve appeared in her eyes. "Kill me...if you must. But...if you do so¡­.your death won''t...be far behind," Emma replied. John''s grip had be even tighter, making it hard for her to speak.


    An amused expression appeared on John''s face, as he had heard these lines all too many times. However, each time, he had defied such words.


    "Oh? And why is my death so certain?" John asked in an amused tone.


    His grip on the girl was so tight now that she was struggling to breath. Her expression hardened, impressing John slightly. Clearly she wasn''t afraid of death.


    "Because...if you kill a member of...our Divine Soul Sect¡­you will draw the wrath...of our Soul Sage...you might be strong...but before our Soul Sage...you are...nothing!"

 Chapter 209 - Mysterious Lake

    "Soul Sage, why would I care about a Soul Sage? Your Soul Sage can''t reach us in these wastnds," John replied.


    "Our..Soul Sage...is in these¡­.wastnds," Emma replied. Her face was turning more and more red.


    "Your Soul Sage is a disciple of your sect?" John asked in an amused manner. "First the Three Emperors, and now a Soul Sage? Why are your sects naming your disciples like they are gods? It''s quite tasteless."


    In his Heavenly Lightning Sect, the top disciples were just known as the five Direct Disciples. They hadn''t been given any gaudy names like Emperors or Sages, and so John was amused to see such a thing bemon for the other sects.


    Even with her neck tight in John''s grasp, Emma still managed to force out a smile. "You''ll find out...soon enough...why he''s...called that."


    John narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared into Emma''s eyes. His grip began to tighten even more, and she was unable to breathe at all. The slight fear in her eyes vanished as she epted her death.


    A small smirk broke out on John''s face as he loosened his grip. "Not bad."


    Emma fell to the ground, gasping for breath. John looked at her for a moment before walking off.


    "Our sects have no animosity towards each other, so I''ll keep it like that for now. If you target me again though, not even your Soul Sage will be able to save you," John said as he walked back towards where Adam was standing, not giving Emma a second nce.


    The three other Divine Soul Sect disciples rushed over to Emma to help her.


    "Emma, are you alright?" one of the boys asked in a concerned tone. They had thought for sure that she was about to die, and so did Emma herself.


    Emma struggled to breath for a short while before she finally recovered. She rubbed her red neck and slowly stood up.


    "I''m fine," Emma replied with a hoarse voice. She looked over towards where John and Adam stood, and noticed John was once again wading into the water. She grit her teeth, but said nothing as she began to walk away.


    "We''re going to leave? What about the fish," the other girl in the group asked.


    "The fish have all been scared to the middle of the pond by his actions, so there''s nothing for us to do here anymore," Emma replied. The others nodded, and they all decided to leave and seek other opportunities. Besides, with a madman like John around, none of them felt safe.


    Adam watched the four Divine Soul Sect disciples begin to leave, before turning back to look at John. Curiosity filled him as he touched the water. He instantly recalled his hand as he felt his Qi begin to be forcefully taken from him.


    "How frightening," Adam murmured, before looking back up at John walking deeper into the water.


    ''Now, lets see if I can store this water.''


    John began to pull the water around him into his pce realm, directing it into the water fountain in the main hallway. The weird water instantly began to fill the fountain, but John''s expression changed quite quickly.


    ''Hmm? The Qi absorption nature is gone? What''s going on?''


    John was disappointed to find that the water had be normal water as soon as it entered his pce realm. He tried a few more times, and the same thing continued.


    ''What a shame.'' John shook his head as he stopped trying. Water with that nature truly would have been quite a reward.


    "John, will you be alright in there? I won''t be able to save you if you drown," Adam called out.


    "I''ll be fine. Just stay here and wait for a bit," John replied as he walked deeper and deeper into the water. "Oh, in the meantime, if you can form a quick formation that speeds up essence Qi recovery, that would be great," John called out before he took a deep breath dove under the water.


    Adam shook his head as he watched John, as he never knew what John would do. He took out some of his formation materials, and began to work on what John had requested.


    John dove down in a quick manner towards the center of theke. Due to him being in the Qi Condensation Realm, and also because he had a powerful body with powerful organs, John was able to hold his breath for nearly an hour under water.


    He paused for a moment, as his essence Qi was draining even faster as he approached the center of theke. However, his body Qi remained unaffected, and so John continued to swim forward once again.


    ''How strange.''


    The waters were crystal clear, and so John was able to see all the way to the center of theke. Other than the Soulspirit Carp and a few other smaller fish, nothing else was visible. The Soulspirit Carp had all gathered in the center of theke at the very bottom, and were grouped quite closely.


    ''This should be rtively easy with them so close together.''


    A spear suddenly appeared in John''s hands, one that he had obtained from one of his victims. His powerful soul spread out over the fish, attempting to calm them. The fish felt the aura and gradually calmed down.


    Che!


    John pierced forward with his spear, spearing two fish in one go. He immediately sent them into his pce realm, and pierced his spear forward once again.


    Che! Che! Che!


    His spear continuously struck out, spearing nearly a dozen Soulspirit Carp. However, by this time, his soul aura effect had be nullified, and so the remaining fish quickly swam away. He tried to calm them again, but was unable to do so.


    ''Damn, they are far faster in the water than me, so I guess I''ll have to make due with what I have so far.''


    John turned around and prepared to swim back to the shore, when a sh of light at the bottom of theke caught his eye.


    ''Hmm? What''s that?''


    Now that the fish were gone, John was able to see that something existed at the bottom of theke. Her probed it with his divine sense, but was surprised to find that his divine sense was interfered with by something.


    ''Since I can''t inspect it, I''ll just go take a look personally.''


    By this time, John waspletely drained of essence Qi, but was still full of energy due to his robust body Qi. He quickly swam down to the depths of theke, towards the shining light. Light flickered asionally from whatever was down there.


    After a moment of swimming, John finally arrived at the bottom of theke. The suction force on his Qi was the strongest here, and John could see a very small Qi whirlpool form just above the object.


    ''What is this thing?''


    John reached down, and brushed some of the sediment away, revealing the object below. The object was a small disk, which was half fragmented. It contained many amazing runes on it, which were unlike anything he had seen before. Even the runes in the Heavenly Lightning Sect weren''t as impressive.


    ''This seems to be what''s causing the water to forcefully take Qi.''


    John reached down and picked up the item. The second he touched it, John could feel an extremely strong absorption of his essence Qi, but such a thing could be ignored by him. However, he could tell that this item was a real treasure, despite being broken. He put the item away in his pce realm, intending to inspect it closer after leaving theke. Arge smile hung on his face from finding such a treasure.


    ''My luck seems to be quite good in these wastnds so far.''


    Suddenly, he spotted something moving to his side, and quickly looked over. Shock covered his face as he noticed a massive eyeball appear from out of the sand floor. The eyeball was the size of a horse, and looked around for a moment before locking directly onto John.


    The sand began to shift, as a massive creature began to emerge from theke floor.


    "Shit!"


    Supreme Battle Art!


    Boom!


    John punched out with all his might directly on the eyeball, and used the rebounding force of the punch to retreat as fast as possible.


    Roar!


    The creature roared out in pain, as its body began to emerge.


    John used his powerful body to swim through the water as fast as possible. He sped through the water like a bullet, using every ounce of energy to move as fast as he could.


    Roar!


    A powerful roar echoed out from the creature, shaking the entireke.


    "What the hell was that?" Adam quickly stood up and looked around. He didn''t know what it was, but he could tell that it wasn''t anything good.


    Tentacles began to emerge from theke floor, and John looked behind to spot the creature fully emerged from the floor. It looked like an octopus, and was dark purple in color. Its body was several dozen yards wide, and each of its tentacles were incredibly powerful.


    It emanated the power of a Late Core Formation beast, shocking John greatly.


    Boom!


    The water exploded as John propelled himself out of it like a bullet. However, he was still quite deep into theke, and would fall back into it, right into the monsters clutches.


    Adam saw John erupt from the water, and knew it wasn''t a good sign. He nched as he saw a massive set of tentacles explode out of the water, piercing directly towards John.

 Chapter 210 - Broken Formation Disk

    After exploding out of the water at great speed, John was a nearly dozen yards in the air. However, his momentum stopped, and he began to descend back into the water.


    The massive and powerful tentacles pierced directly towards him. John steeled his resolve as he knew he only had one opportunity to survive this predicament against ate Core Formation beast.


    He waited for the perfect opportunity, just as the first tentacle was about to hit him.


    ''Now! Immortal Asura Transformation Art!''


    An incredible amount of body Qi surged into his body to feed the transformation art, and John felt his body rapidly increase to its maximum strength. He could feel the very nature of his body subtly change, filling him with incredible power. This was his first time unleashing the technique while having a cultivation at the Late Qi Condensation Realm, and John felt overwhelming power flow through him.


    His eyes turned blood red as he focused on the tentacle directly in front of him. It reached him in an instant, and John struck his scythe out with all his might.


    Boom!


    Scythe and tentacle collided, and John felt like his arms had nearly shattered from the force of the blow. His organs trembled, having taken some damage as well. Pain rushed through his entire body, and John was sent flying backwards like a broken kite.


    However, a small smile broke out on his face as that was exactly what he had wanted to happen. John was not egotistical enough to think he could fight evenly with a Late Core Formation beast, even if he used the Immortal Asura Transformation Art.


    Despite this, it was enough to survive a head on attack from the creature, and use the backwards momentum to his advantage.


    John''s body shot backwards like a cannonball, and he reached the beachfront in an instant.


    Boom!


    His body crashed violently on the sand, forming a small crater where he hadnded. Arge cloud of sand and dust was kicked up, obscuring the vision of the creature. John took a second to recover from the blow, before he instantly dashed towards Adam several dozen yards away.


    Adam was still in a daze, but finally came about his wits. He turned to run, but John knew he was not fast enough to escape the creature on his own. John grabbed Adam''s arm, and without missing a stride, continued to run forward with all his might. Adam felt his arm nearly separate from his body, but was unable to do anything about it.


    John''s speed was incredible, as he was using his full body power,bining the Supreme Battle Art, Immortal Asura Transformation Art, and recently unlocked Limiter of Speed. John looked like a blur as he sped away from the creature with Adam in tow. He ran in the direction still obscured by the debris cloud, hiding his trail for as long as possible.


    Boom!


    A tentacle struck down where the cloud was, shattering thend beneath its power, and the creature frantically searched for John on the beach. However, the creature realized that John was no longer there, and its attack had only made the situation worse.


    Roar!


    The creature roared out incredibly loud, shaking the nearbynds from its power. The water surface rocked back and forth, appearing as if it was in the middle of arge storm. Its anger was fully ignited, but it knew it had lost its prey, and also its treasure it had cultivated around for hundreds of years.


    It was a creature of the water, and its speed was quite subpar onnd. It would not be able to catch John onnd, and so it didn''t even try.


    Roar!


    The creature roared out in anger once more, before retreating into the water''s depths. Many nearby youths were attracted by themotion, but when they arrived, all they saw was a monstrous creature returning to the depths of theke.


    After a while of running at his top speed, John was confident that they were safe. He stopped by a nearby rock formation, and took out his scythe.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Multiple booms echoed out as John struck down on the dirt below with his strongest attacks, clearing out a cave. After making a small cave, John threw the dazed Adam inside, and moved some nearby boulders towards its entrance. He entered it as well, and covered the entrance with boulders, making it appear the same as the rest of the nearbynd.


    "Whew!"


    John sighed out in both relief and fatigue. His run in with that creature had been incredibly stressful, as a single mistake would have cost him his life. John sat down on the ground next to Adam, who was recovering from his daze of being violently dragged for many miles.


    John began to release his Immortal Asura Transformation Art. He had used it for several minutes already, and felt quite drained. His body ached greatly from both the attack of the creature, as well as using the transformation art.


    ''It''s a good thing my beast blood essence reserve is sorge, or else I would be in trouble after using this transformation art just once or twice.''


    The Qi requirements for the technique was immense, and only by converting his beast blood essence into body Qi was John able to utilize it repeatedly. However, the strain it ced on his body was equally immense, and John knew he would need to recover for a few days before he was back in top shape.


    The technique filled him with so much power that his body could hardly withstand it, despite being so tough.


    He had made the cave for this reason, so that he could recover without threat from other cultivators or youths.


    Adam noticed John''s demonic looking red eyes begin to turn back to normal. He had never seen such a thing from John, and felt an instinctual fear from it. The aura John emitted chilled him to his bones.


    The only reason he could keep his nerves was he knew John was an friend, otherwise, he would be scared stiff. He wanted to ask about it, but decided against such a thing. Everyone had their secrets.


    "That was a close one," John suddenly said as he copsed on his back, lying spread out on the ground. He breathed heavily as he tried to catch his breath, and he popped one of the healing pills he had bought from the sect into his mouth.


    "Close one? You almost got us killed," Adam replied in a raised voice, as if he hadpletely forgotten about John''s previous demonic-like presence.


    "I mean, I guess, but how was I supposed to know that that creature lived in theke?" John rebutted. He had checked theke carefully, but the creature had been living beneath the sands of theke floor, making it impossible to detect.


    "What was that creature anyways? And why did it look like it wanted nothing more than to kill you?" Adam asked.


    John slowly sat up and looked towards Adam. His ragged breaths has be slightly more even.


    "I''m not sure what it was, some kind of water-beast, but it was most likely chasing me because of this," John replied as an item suddenly appeared in his hands.


    Adam''s eyes instantly darted towards the item in John''s hands, and they lit up immediately. The half broken disk, etched with incrediblyplex and brilliant runes, mesmerized Adam. John smiled slightly, as he had expected such a reaction.


    "Can...can I see that for a second?" Adam asked in a mesmerized tone.


    "Sure, but be careful, its quite strange," John replied as he tossed the item over to Adam.


    Adam carefully caught it, but his expression quickly changed as he immediately dropped it.


    "What the hell? It was draining my Qi as soon as I touched it!" Adam eximed in surprise.


    "Yep. I''m pretty sure the reason thatke water was so strange was because of this disk. It seems to be some broken formation disk from long ago. I wonder what it was used for."


    "I''m not sure," Adam replied in a daze as he inspected the item closely. John had never seen Adam disy such a level of focus or caring before.


    "Say, if I let you study this disk, do you think you''d be able to make a formation that could utilize it?" John suddenly asked.


    He had thought about it carefully, but couldn''t really find a use for the item other than smacking someone directly with it. While that could work, the item drained Qi over time and not instantly, making such a thing worthless.


    On the other hand, Adam studied formations extensively, and John was wondering if he would be able to make a useful formation for them using this as the core.


    Surprise appeared on Adam''s face as he looked up towards John.


    "You''re...going to let me have this?" Adam asked.


    "Sure, if you can make something good for us out of it. Otherwise, I''ll take it back," John replied.


    An emotional expression appeared on Adam''s face for a moment, before it was quickly washed away. Pride soon reced his previous expression as he puffed out his chest.


    "I''m a formations expert afterall. Of course I can make something amazing out of this. Just wait. Before long, you''ll be dazzled by my creation," Adam replied in a prideful tone, as if he was doing John a favor.


    John smiled and shook his head, expecting such a reaction from Adam.


    "We''ll stay in this cave for a few days while I recover my Qi and also rest my body. Once that''s done, we''ll head out deeper into the wastnds."


    John sat in a meditative position and closed his eyes, focusing on recovering as fast as possible. Adam once more looked down to the formation disk on the ground and began to study it, eager to include its mysterious powers to his formation arsenal as fast as possible.


    ¡­


    A group of three youths were attracted by a loud noise, and quickly rushed towards it. The group consisted of three boys, all in the Late Qi Condensation Realm. They wore blood red robes, signifying their status as Bloodfiend Sect disciples.


    After surmounting a nearby hill, the group spotted a massiveke in front of them.


    "What the hell is that?" one of the boys suddenly pointed out in the far distance.


    The two others followed his gaze, and spotted a massive octopus-like creature swim back into the depths of theke.


    "I''m not sure, but its power is far beyond what we can handle. Lets move to a different area, as thiske won''t hold any treasures for us," the boy leading the group replied. The two others nodded and began to follow the boy.


    If John was here, he would recognize the face of the leading boy.


    "Where do you want to go next, Jason?" one of the boys asked?


    Jason looked in all directions, and noticed a small trail of dust kicked up away from theke, leading into the far distance. A small smirk broke out on his face as he pointed in that direction.


    "That way. It seems as if someone escaped from the creature, and are most likely injured. If they obtained something from theke, we can snatch it from them!"

 Chapter 211 - Familiar Face

    John and Adam spent the next day and a half in the cave. John focused on recovery, while Adam studied the broken formation disk with almost possessed passion. Every time he looked at the disk, its runes, and its formation make-up, Adam was inspired with new insights regarding the formation path.


    "Amazing, truly amazing!" John heard Adam exim over and over.


    He continued to tinker with the disk, and constantly tried new things regarding it.


    John smirked but said nothing while he recovered.


    ''Seems like he''s at least getting something out of it.''


    By this time, John had fully recovered his lost essence Qi, and his body was over half healed. At the rate he was recovering from his wounds, John figured that it would only require one more day to be at full strength.


    A frown suddenly appeared on John''s face as he opened his eyes and stared towards the cave entrance.


    ''It seems I didn''t hide my tracks well enough.''


    Boom!


    The boulder guarding the cave entrance exploded, sending debris everywhere. John slowly stood up, while Adam yelled in fright as he was stirred from his studies. He had been so engrossed in studying the disk, that he had failed to notice that another party had just arrived.


    "Come on out! We know you''re in there!" A voice from outside shouted.


    John''s ears perked up as he heard the voice. The voice sounded familiar, and it took him a second to put the voice to a face. A surprised expression appeared on his face, before it was reced with a slight smile.


    ''There''s no way I''m that lucky, right?''


    John turned to Adam.


    "Keep studying the disk. I''ll be back in a few minutes."


    "But you''re hurt. Don''t you need help?" Adam asked with slight concern.


    "They''re only in the Late Qi Condensation Realm. Even in this injured state of mine, its still more than enough to handle the likes of them," John replied before turning to leave the cave. His essence Qi was fully recovered, and even without using his injured body, it would be more than enough to win.


    Even without using his body powers, John''s battle prowess was immense. His Lightning Attribute Body,bined with his Primordial Extermination Lightning made his lightning attacks incredibly powerful. Not only that, but his essence cultivation was incredibly firm and robust, resulting in an essence power that was far stronger than a normal cultivator.


    Adam nodded, fully confident in John if he said it was alright. He took out the formation disk from his spatial ring once more, and began to intensively study it.


    John''s shadowed silhouette appeared at the mouth of the cave as he began to walk out. The three Bloodfiend Sect youths saw someone emerging, and a smile broke out on Jason''s face.


    "At least you know what''s good for you. Tell me, what did you obtain from thek-"


    Jason''s voice suddenly cut off as the shadowed figure emerged from the cave, his facial features revealed for all to see. His words caught in his throat as he couldn''t believe what he was seeing.


    The two other youths with Jason noticed his bizarre behavior.


    "Jason, what''s going on?" one of the boys asked.


    "Yeah, why the hell are you acting like this?" the other asked.


    After a few seconds of stunned silence, Jason finally regained his wits. Arge, sinister smile appeared on his face.


    "Haha, what kind of dogshit luck do you have? First you run into me in the pocket realm, and now here. I don''t know how the hell you survived that fall, but you won''t be so lucky twice," Jason said to John whileughing sinisterly.


    John smirked as he looked at Jason unfazed.


    "I thought I recognized that voice. Do you remember what I told you in the pocket realm as I jumped off that cliff?" John asked Jason.


    The two other youths looked between Jason and John in a confused manner.


    "Jason, do you know this Heavenly Lightning Sect boy?" one of them asked.


    Jason nodded while keeping his eyes on John. "We ran into each other several months ago, and he ran with his tail tucked between his legs. Well John, there''s no cliff this time, so where are you going to run off to now?"


    John smirked as he slowly began to walk towards the three of them.


    "I guess you wouldn''t remember, but when Ist saw you, I told you to ''Wash your neck and wait for your death,'' and now you''ve delivered yourself straight to me. How thoughtful of you," John replied.


    Jason frowned slightly, as he had expected John to attempt to run likest time. However, John was walking alone directly towards the three of them, unconcerned.


    A thought suddenly struck Jason, as he hadpletely forgotten about it. His divine sense washed over John, and a slight tinge of fear crossed his face before turning to normal, but this change in expression did not go unnoticed by John.


    "Ah, you finally put two and two together," John said to Jason, his smile growing everrger.


    "What''s going on? Why the hell aren''t we killing him and taking all his belongings?" one of the youths asked.


    It was quite unusual, as their group just eliminated anyone they saw immediately.


    "Since he won''t tell you, I''ll let you know. To put it simply...if your cultivation is in the same realm as mine, your only choice is to die," John replied with arge smile. His eyes looked towards the three as if they were prey.


    "Pfft."


    "Hahaha."


    Both of the Bloodfiend Sect youths startedughing loudly, as if they had heard the funniest joke.


    "You''re outnumbered three to one, the only one who will die is you," one of the boys replied with a smug smile. Tears hung from his eyes fromughing so hard.


    However, both boys suddenly stoppedughing as they noticed Jason was standing there in silence. Normally he would have been the one to lead such mockery, but he was as silent as the grave right now.


    While the boys wereughing, Jason was thinking about his previous encounters with John. John had dominated Dn, who was in the same realm as him back in the tournament, and had even managed to kill him despite being surrounded in the pocket realm. Although Dn had a weaker cultivation than Jason, hisbat prowess within the same realm was simr. They were both Inner Disciples, and had the same talent level. Dn was only a year younger than Jason, resulting in his lower cultivation.


    Jason was used to looking down on John, but he finally realized that was only due to having a higher cultivation.


    Now that their cultivations were even, Jason did not see a path to victory. Although Jason acted high and might back in the past, he was only an Inner Disciple of the Bloodfiend Sect, and he knew that he was nothing whenpared to someone like John in the same realm. Their only hope was to team up on him and overwhelm him with numbers.


    The surrounding sky suddenly turned blood red as Jason unleashed his Crimson Hell Domain. The two other youths were surprised by such an action, as that was Jason''s strongest move being used right at the start.


    "Use your full strength immediately!" Jason shouted out as he summoned his domain. His sword appeared in his hand, and he shed it towards John.


    The two other youths were Outer Disciples, and did not know any domain arts. However, they noticed the seriousness in Jason''s voice and actions, and heeded his advice. Their weapons appeared in their hands, and they each struck out with their strongest attacks.


    John smiled as he watched the three attacks approach.


    "This is more like it. Entertain me with your lives!"


    Boom!


    The three attacks struck John at exactly the same time, superimposing on each other. The two Bloodfiend youths were about to celebrate such an attacknding, when their eyes locked onto John''s figure being revealed after the dust settled.


    John stood there with his scythe in his hand,pletely unharmed. His smile grewrger.


    "My turn!"


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    John unleashed his lightning domain, as he wanted to see how it operated against superior numbers. He also wanted to practice using it in realbat to be more experienced in using it.


    Eight lightning nodes, brimming with power, suddenly appeared in the air surrounding John. Each existed roughly thirty yards from his body, as this was the maximum range he could currently support.


    However, all three Bloodfiend Sect youths were inside this range, making it more than enough.


    John suddenly sat down in the middle of his domain and put his weapon away. His actions shocked the three boys, but they were not in the mood to make any mockingments. The power brimming in the three nodes were immense, and it chilled them to their cores.


    Che!


    Jason struck out with one of his attacks at one of the lightning nodes in an attempt to destroy it. The attack struck the lightning node, and the two opposite forces struggled for a moment before the attack erased the node.


    Relief appeared on Jason''s face.


    "Destroy the nodes, and we''ll be fin-"


    His words cut off as the destroyed lightning node reformed a secondter.


    "Come now. You don''t think my sects signature domain art is that easy to destroy, do you? I can''t just erase your Crimson Hell Domain, so why could you do that to mine?" John asked in a mocking tone.


    Jason''s Crimson Hell Domain was still washing over John, and it targeted his blood, soul, and will. However, John''s blood was tempered by his Immortal Asura Body, and was unable to be affected at all. His soul and will were tempered to extreme levels, and were unaffected as well.


    Jason''s domain was effectively useless.


    Jason grit his teeth but didn''t panic. He had been in many life and death battles, and his mind quickly worked for a new solution. If attacking the domain was useless, then attacking John was the only option.


    "Group up. Brett, you and I will attack John. Ren, you focus on blocking any attacks from those lightning nodes!" Jasonmanded quickly.


    John nodded his head in approval. "That''s not a bad idea. Let''s see if it works."


    "Lets go!" Jasonmanded as he began to dash towards John. His sword began to glow, as it prepared to unleash his strongest attack. Brett followed alongside him, ready to attack. The both unleashed their attacks, which pierced directly towards the seated John.


    John casually raised his finger and pointed it at the approaching attacks.


    Lightning Ruin!


    A powerful lightning beam exploded out of his finger, emanating an aura of pure power and destruction.


    Boom!


    The three attacks collided in mid air, which resulted in an explosion of Qi in every direction. Jason grit his teeth, as this confrontation revealed they werepletely outmatched.


    Bang!


    An attack from John''s domain struck directly towards the group, and the boy in the back struck his weapon out with all his might to block it.


    "Gah!"


    The boy screamed out in slight pain as he wasunched backwards by the collision. Although he managed to block it, its power was overwhelming, and he felt his blood tumble. His eyes widened as he noticed another attack from the lightning domain travel straight for him. He raised his sword once more and struck out with his own battle art to block it.


    At the same time, Jason prepared to send out another attack towards John, but his eyes widened as another incredibly powerful lightning beam pierced directly through the fading explosion. John''s ability to attack with Lightning Ruin was much faster, and Jason was unable to counter in time with his own attack.


    "Shit!"


    Jason managed to twist his body at thest moment, barely dodging the attack in time.


    "Aahhhhh"


    A deathly scream sounded out behind Jason, and he turned around to look at it. His eyes widened as he noticed arge charred hole in Ren''s body, directly through his chest. The attack that Jason had just dodged had just hit Ren in the back, and Ren looked down at his chest for a moment before copsing, thest vestiges of life fading from his body.


    "Tsk tsk," John suddenly said out loud in a condescending manner while shaking his head, as if he was disappointed.. "Why''d you have to dodge my attack Jason? Your friend, who was fighting so valiantly against my domain, died because of you. You should feel ashamed."

 Chapter 212 - Overwhelming

    "Shut up!"


    Jason yelled with a belly full of rage. He was used to being the one controlling the battles, deciding the fates of others, but today''s events werepletely different.


    It had taken them over a day to track down the person who fled from theke, and once they finally did, Jason believed that they were in for quite a treat. Not only would they be able to kill whoever it was, they would also be able to take all their things.


    However, things had not gone ording to n. He grit his teeth in rage as he gripped his sword tighter. His mind raced for solutions. The power of John''s attacks were incredibly powerful, and Jason knew that he would be overwhelmed before long. The fact that the single lightning attack was enough to pierce through Ren was proof of this. Although Ren was facing the other direction and was not prepared for such an attack, most Late Qi Condensation attacks would have only injured, not killed in one blow.


    Fleeing was also an option, but how would he break free from John''s domain.


    A thought suddenly crossed his mind, and he turned to hisst remaining ally.


    "Brett, group up. You take the lead, and I''ll focus on the domain. The domain attacks are more elusive, since they cane from any direction. All you have to do is deal with his straightforward attack from the front."


    Upon hearing such a n, Brett wanted to argue, but knew Jason was stronger than him. Strength was everything in the Bloodfiend Sect, and so Brett had no option but to follow along. He knew he could not block that lightning attack from John, but he had to at least try.


    John sat there with an amused smile on his face as he watched them n their next attack. Although he appeared quite casual and rxed in his seated position, he was actually using arge portion of his full power. Lightning Ruin and his Heavenly Lightning Domain were two of his strongest essence attacks, and only his Divine Reaping Scythe had more firepower.


    However, whenpared to his overallbat prowess when he used his body as well, his currentbat state was far below his full power. This battle was extremely beneficial for him, as he was learning to control his Heavenly Lightning Domain better. He had even identified a w where it could be improved upon, and wanted to explore that after the fight.


    "Lets go!" Jason shouted as he instructed Brett to lead the charge.


    Brett grit his teeth and began dashing towards John, preparing to unleash his strongest attack. His sword glowed for a brief instant before a powerful sword image pierced straight towards John. John once again casually raised his arm and pointed his finger towards the attack.


    Lightning Ruin!


    Boom!


    The attacks collided, causing a small explosion.


    At the same time, a domain attack from behind pierced directly towards Jason. He sent out his strongest attack and managed to barely neutralize it, and quickly turned towards Brett.


    Bang!


    Jason''s foot kicked Bretts back with full force, sending him flying like a broken kite directly towards John. At the same time, he used the rebounding force from the kick to dash away as fast as possible away from the fight. He then utilized his fastest movement technique to flee.


    "Jason you bastard!"


    Brett yelled out as he struggled to regain his bnce. He knew that Jason had used him as a sacrificial tool.


    John raised his eyebrows in slight surprise at Jason''s actions.


    "You keep disappointing me more and more. You really should feel ashamed for your actions today!"


    John quickly stood up, and his scythe appeared in his hands.


    ''I guess it''s time to end this. I can''t let my prey escape after all.''


    Thundersh Steps!


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John dashed forward as fast as possible, appearing like a blur to Brett. Brett was still struggling to recover from Jason''s attack, and was unable to stop his forward momentum towards John.


    Che!


    John''s scythe sliced forward as he dashed past Brett, cleaving towards him before he could even react.


    "Nooo-"


    Brett''s screams were cut short as his head was cleanly removed from his body. John didn''t even give him a second nce as he continued towards Jason, who was quite far ahead due to his previous actions.


    However, just as Jason thought he was free..


    Bang!


    Jason rebounded off an invisible wall that he had previously been unable to detect. The wall lit up slightly as it used its power to block his forward momentum.


    Jason''s blood tumbled in his body from such an unexpected stop, and his nose was broken from having run face first into the invisible wall.


    "What the fuck is this?" Jason yelled as he quickly stood up. His sword shed forward with all his might, and the invisible wall quickly shattered, opening a gap beyond.


    However, this dy was all John needed.


    Lightning Ruin!


    A lightning ruin pierced directly towards Jason''s back, forcing him to turn around and block the attack.


    His sword glowed blood red, and he shed out with all his might!


    Boom!


    Techniques collided, and Jason was knocked backwards dozens of yards from the exchange. He turned to run once again, but found another Lightning Ruin fast approaching.


    Techniques collided once more, and Jason was forced back yet again. After tumbling over several times, he hastily stood to brace for another attack, but his eyes suddenly widened.


    Che!


    John''s scythe sliced forward as he was already directly in front of Jason. The opportunity created by the invisible wall and his Lightning Ruin was all he needed to catch up.


    Jason was a hair toote in blocking John''s scythe. The lightning ruin that he had blocked with his sword seeped into his arms and then his body. The destructive nature of the lightning slowed his movements for a moment, which was all John needed. Jason''s legs were cleanly separated from his body, and his upper half tumbled down to the ground.


    "Ahhhh!"


    Jason''s pained screams echoed out, but before he could do anything more, a hand mmed directly into his lower abdomen. John''s hand pierced directly into Jason''s dantian, crippling it. Qi slowly began to seep out of Jason''s body, until his dantian was eventually no more


    Jason''s eyes became listless, and he quickly copsed into unconsciousness from the pain of losing his legs and his dantian.


    John looked down at the now unconscious Jason with cold eyes. He had hastily crippled his dantian, after having his previous Bloodfiend Sect victims use their Qi tomit suicide. Without his dantian, such a thing would be impossible.


    After a moment of staring at Jason, John looked up at a certain someone approaching.


    "I said you could stay in the cave."


    "I know, but how could I pass on such an opportunity to show how awesome I am?" Adam replied in a proud tone with his chest puffed out. The invisible wall, simr to the formations that surrounded sparring arenas, was his work.


    He had slipped out of the cave when the fighting had started, and began setting up a quick formation in the direction he assumed one of the Bloodfiend Sect members might flee. Although the wall was not powerful, it was enough to stop them for a moment, and had worked out perfectly.


    "Well, I can''t say it didn''t help. Let''s return to the cave," John replied as he began to drag Jason by the arm towards the cave. He sent out a simple burst of lightning towards Jason''s severed legs, charring the flesh and stopping the bleeding.


    He had questions he wanted to ask, and would not let Jason get off easy.


    ¡­


    Jason''s weary eyes slowly opened, taking in the dimly-lit cave he was in. His mind was hazy for a second, before they opened wide in realizing fear. His head swiveled to the side, and he spotted what to him looked like the grim reaper.


    John noticed that Jason had woken up, and a smile appeared on his face. He walked over towards Jason and crouched down directly in front of him.


    "You and I are going to have a long, long talk."

 Chapter 213 - Getting Answers

    Jason raised his arm and attempted to unleash a battle art at John, but nothing happened. A confused expression appeared on his face for a moment, before he realized what had happened before he passed out.


    His slight confusion and fear turned into despair, and his desire to live faded from his body. Without his cultivation, he was nothing. He couldn''t even run away, due to having no legs.


    "Just kill me," Jason said with a shaky voice.


    "Oh, don''t worry. That will definitely happen. But before then, you''re going to tell me about a few things," John replied in a calm voice.


    "First things first, what is your Bloodfiend Sect intending to do to my n?" John asked.


    Although his n already had the protection of a Heaven Tribtion Elder, he still wanted answers.


    Jason ignored John, and instead stared off into space. He wanted nothing more than to die right now.


    John frowned at Jason''sck of cooperation. His hand moved forward, and pressed down on one of the stumps of Jason''s legs.


    "Ahhhhhh!"


    Jason screamed out in pain. John kept pressing harder, causing Jason''s screams to grow in intensity. After a moment of this, John stopped and asked Jason the same question once again.


    Jason recovered from his pain slowly, and a determined look appeared on his face. He suddenly clenched his jaw, and bit off his tongue. Blood began to spew from his mouth, as Jason attempted suicide from such an action.


    John shook his head in disappointment as he admonished Jason.


    "Come now Jason. You should know just how amazing healing pills are, especially when done on mortals."


    Now that Jason was crippled, he was the same as a mortal. Although his lingering cultivation benefits still existed, such as having a stronger body than true mortals, he was no longer a true cultivator. As such, the healing pills were much more effective on such a person, as their bodies were weaker and required less energy to heal.


    A healing pill appeared in John''s hand, and he forced it down Jason''s throat. The healing pill settled in Jason''s stomach, and the healing nature began to spread throughout his body. Before long, Jason''s tongue began to heal, and eventually reformed.


    Since it was a small part of his body, and had been very recently injured, his tongue was able to heal back to full. However, his legs, which were muchrger, and damaged quite some time ago, were not healed.


    John suddenly pointed his finger towards Jason''s stumpy legs, and shot out a small burst of lightning. The lightning pierced into his flesh, and continued to burrow deeper and deeper in an agonizing manner. Although the lightning John used was not powerful, due to Jason''s now weakened body, it still contained his destructive nature of lighting.


    To Jason, this felt like hot steel nails being driven into his flesh continuously.


    "Gaaahhhhh!"


    Jason screamed out in an even more agonizing manner, on the edge of insanity. After what felt like an eternity


    "I have more than enough healing pills to make sure you can''t die. And everytime you attempt such a thing, the pain you will experience will grow. Do not test me!" John''s cold tone and cold eyes seemed to pierce Jason''s soul, and he shuddered in fear.


    Even within his bloodthirsty sect, he rarely saw such cold, terrifying eyes. Jason grit his teeth, before finally replying.


    "My Sect...found out about the pocket realm...and wanted to im it as our own. The Crimson Valley Sect came to us with this information in a hope of partnership, with the condition that we crush your n and the other powers."


    John nodded his head, as this was what he had assumed already. However, it was good to get confirmation.


    "And when does your sect n on crushing my n and the other powers?" John asked.


    Jason paused for a moment. His parched throat made it hard to talk.


    "I''m not sure. My Sect does not inform me of such things. I was just there to explore the pocket realm and report my findings back to my sect," Jason replied in a hoarse tone.


    "A pity," John replied. He began to ask various things about the Bloodfiend Sect, such as its make-up, who was in it, and what their signature battle arts were.


    Jason answered as best he could, but most of the questions he had no answers to.


    ''It seems like the Bloodfiend Sect is far more secretive than my sect, even towards its own disciples.''


    He had asked Jason most of the questions he wanted to ask, and only had one remaining question. His eyes hardened as he looked back towards Jason, and Jason shivered for a moment after seeing those eyes.


    "Parker...Was he a spy for your sect?" John asked coldly.


    Jason recovered his wits, before responding. "Parker? No, he was never a spy. His betrayal was never nned."


    "Is that so? Then let me ask this, where is he now? Is he still in my n? Or has he be one of your sects disciples?"


    John remembered Parker''s request of bing a Bloodfiend Sect disciple. It had been the reason he betrayed the Fenix n afterall.


    "He''s be a disciple of our sect," Jason replied.


    "Is he here in these wastnds then?" John asked hopefully. He wanted nothing more than to eliminate Parker as soon as possible.


    "No. When he was brought to our sect, an Elder noticed he had a unique constitution that perfectly matched our Bloodfiend Sect''s cultivation techniques. He''s been taken somewhere to further explore than constitution, but as to where, I have no idea," Jason replied, his voice growing more and more hoarse.


    John frowned at the response. Not only was Parker not in the wastnds, but it seems like he was obtaining more and more benefits from his betrayals.


    "No matter, I''ll find him eventually and eliminate him. As for you," John said as he stood up.


    His finger pointed directly at Jason''s chest, and a beam of lightning struck out, piercing directly through it. The remaining vestiges of Jason''s life slowly faded away, and he died soon after. John coldly stared at Jason''s corpse before waving his hands, causing it to vanish.


    "Only one more enemy remains from the pocket realm. I''ll be seeing you soon enough Parker. And I''ll make your fate much more miserable than Jason''s."


    Anger red through John as he thought of Parker once more. His betrayal was inexcusable, and he would have his revenge.


    John stood there for a moment before turning around and returning to where Adam was sitting. He was instantly studying the broken formation disk, doing his best to ignore John''s ordeals with Jason.


    "How are your studies of that disk going?" John asked as he sat down on the ground. He took a piece of cooked meat out of his spatial ring and bit into it.


    Adam looked up from the disk, his eyes full of wonder.


    "This disk gets more and more amazing the more I study it, and I only have half of it. Whoever made it is a genius. I have only understood less than one percent of this disk, and yet I''ve learned so much," Adam replied in an excited tone.


    "Have you been able to incorporate it into your formations yet?" John asked curiously.


    "No, and I won''t be able to for a long time. It''s far tooplex to utilize yet. But it has improved my understanding of the formation arts, and even given me insights into how to make my formations more powerful."


    John nodded his head in an approving manner as he took another bite of meat. As long as Adam was making use of the disk, he was fine with him keeping it for now.


    After finishing his meal, John sat in a meditative position and focused on recovery. His recovery efforts had been interrupted halfway through, and he had expanded quite a bit of essence Qi in his recent battle.


    Based on what he heard about the other youths in the wastnds, as well as what he had seen so far, John knew he needed to be in peak condition to explore deeper into the wastnds.


    ¡­


    Several dayster, John slowly opened his eyes. His fists clenched tightly, feeling the power of his newly recovered body. His body strength had improved once more, as he had absorbed the blood essence of the three youths he had just in.


    His body power had beengging behind his essence power ever since he joined the Heavenly Lightning Sect, but now it had finally caught up. He could fight Russell, who was a half-step Core Formation expert when his body was still in the Mid Qi Condensation Realm.


    With both in thete stages now, John''s strength had grown tremendously. He was confident in fighting against early Core Formation experts now, despite the difference between Qi Condensation and Core Formation being incredibly vast.


    Jumping between major realms waspletely unheard of, and John had never heard of such a feat ever being aplished. However, with his incredibly unique cultivation system, he was confident that he would be the first to do so.


    He stood up and dusted off his robe.


    "I''m fully recovered, let''s head out," John said to Adam as he began to leave the cave. Adam hastily packed up his formation disk, before catching up to John.


    The two of them ventured further and further into the wastnds. They asionally spotted other members of the Heavenly Lightning Sect going about their business, such as exploring uncharted caves or fighting against powerful beasts, but never interfered with what they were doing. There were many opportunities to be found within thesends, and John was not going to steal them from his own sect members.


    John and Adam eventually came to the base of a thick forest. The trees towered high into the sky, and they brimmed with vibrant life. After pausing for a moment, John continued to walk forward and entered the forest. Adam followed closely behind, and before long, they both heard raised voices ahead in the forest.


    John curiously followed the voices, and eventually came to a slight clearing in the forest. He stopped, and watched what was going on.


    There were two groups of youths, each with several members. One group was from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and contained several familiar faces to John.


    "Hmm? They''re in here as well? They''re not second year disciples?"


    The group opposite them consisted of four boys. They all wore brown robes with their sleeves torn off, revealing incredibly powerful arms. Their bodies exploded with vigor and power, and were much stronger than anything John had seen before.


    "Are they body cultivators?" John asked Adam curiously.


    Adam closely inspected the group, and nodded his head in confirmation. "Those sleeveless brown robes are quite telling. They''re from the Supreme Battle Sect."

 Chapter 214 - Supreme Battle Sect

    John''s ears perked up after hearing this. He had always wanted to fight body cultivators, to see just how strong his body truly was. Not only that, but he could also see how these boys utilized the Supreme Battle Art.


    "We found this first, so you best leave," one of the Heavenly Lightning Sect boys said to the Supreme Battle Sect group.


    "Hahahaha, what good does being first do? The only thing that decides anything in this world is strength, and battle. Why use words, when our fists can do the talking," a Supreme Battle Sect youth replied.


    His own fists collided violently as he amped himself up for the battle toe. All members in both groups had cultivations at the Late Qi Condensation Realm except for one. The lead boy of the Supreme Battle Sect had a cultivation at the Half-Step Core Formation Realm. If they truly were to fight, the Supreme Battle Sect would surely win.


    The boy in the front of the Heavenly Lightning Sect group grit his teeth as he thought of solutions. The Supreme Battle Sect was known as a battle maniac sect, who would settle everything with fists instead of words. There was no reasoning with them.


    "Roy, you need to think of something. We can''t give this opportunity up!" A girl behind the lead boy said with a worried voice.


    "I know, give me a second to think of something!" Roy replied through gritted teeth.


    The group of Heavenly Lightning Sect youths consisted of several familiar faces to John. The lead boy, Roy, was the one who had attacked him when he first joined the sect. The girl behind him was the one who had antagonized Roy into doing such a thing, and the remaining youths John did not recognize.


    He had expected them to be second years due to them being in the sect before the entrance exams, but apparently he was wrong.


    "Enough standing around! Lets fight!" A yell from the Supreme Battle Sect group echoed out, and war cries followed immediately after.


    Power surged from the body of each of the Supreme Battle Sect youths, and John instantly recognized it, as he used it himself.


    ''The Supreme Battle Art! Let''s see how they use it.''


    "Shit! Fight all out!" Roy eximed.


    The Supreme Battle Sect disciples had given him no time toe up with a n, and all he could do now was fight back.


    A volley of lightning attacks exploded outwards towards the Supreme Battle Sect disciples. Each Heavenly Lightning Sect disciple was using their own battle art, making it look quite impressive. However, John could tell that the quality of the battle arts was far below his own.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Thunder continuously echoed out from the lightning based battle arts, making the scene quite loud and chaotic. The lightning battle arts exploded on the bodies of the Supreme Battle Sect disciples. Some of them were knocked back slightly as their skin slightly ckened, but they immediately bounced back into the fight with a grin on their faces.


    The lead disciple charged forward nearly unaffected.


    Boom!


    His fist stuck forward, and collided with the ground where Roy had just been standing a moment ago. If Roy had not dodged in time, he would have taken severe damage from that blow. The ground shattered from the force of the impact.


    Before long, each disciple had an opponent, and were fighting with their full strength against one another. However, John could tell that each Heavenly Lightning Sect disciple was slowly but surely losing out in their fight.


    "Should we help them out?" Adam asked with a slightly concerned tone.


    "No."


    Other than Roy, all the others had the same cultivation as their opponents. However, their battle instincts were much worse than those of the Supreme Battle Sect, and so each was losing out. The powerful bodies of the Supreme Battle Sect youths impressed John.


    Not only that, but they fought withplete disregard for their own safety, much like John did as well. They put everything on the line.


    "Truly worthy of being called the Supreme Battle Sect," John stated as he nodded his head in approval.


    "Gah!"


    The scream of one of the Heavenly Lightning Sect youths rang out as he took a fist directly to the chest. The sounds of ribs cracking echoed out, and the youth was sent flying backwards like a broken kite.


    Another simr cry rang out soon after, as another youth was knocked down, leaving only Roy and the girl standing. The girl was looking quite miserable, while Roy was barely holding on. Roy was just about to give up, when his head swiveled and he noticed John standing at the edge of the clearing.


    His eyes lit up as he recognized who it was.


    "John! Help us against these idiots, and we can get the treasure here!" Roy yelled out.


    Slight surprise washed over his face as he heard those words from Roy. Roy had wanted to crush him when he first joined the sect, and now was asking for help. John shook his head in disapproval as he slowly began to walk towards the other youths.


    Now that he was spotted, he figured he might as well join in.


    The Supreme Battle Sect youths stopped for a moment to inspect the neer. Based on Roy''s words, he was confident that John could turn the tide for them. However, their expressions changed from serious inspection to disappointment as they inspected John''s Late Qi Condensation cultivation.


    If John was powerful, that would mean a good fight was ahead of them. But to them, all they saw was another weakling. However, upon closer inspection, they could tell John''s body was quite impressive.


    John and Adam walked forward until they approached the two groups.


    He inspected the Supreme Battle Sect youths, before he turned to look at Roy.


    "Scram!"


    John''s words stunned both groups of youths. The Supreme Battle Sect assumed he would be reinforcements, while Roy thought he would help them out. Roy grit his teeth before replying.


    "I know we had a...misunderstanding before. But that was in the past. We''re from the same sect after all, and we should help each other out!"


    John narrowed his eyes as he stared coldly at Roy. Although Roy targeted him previously, it was not with the intention of killing John. As such, John did not want to kill Roy, as he was part of his own sect.


    His body suddenly blurred, and he appeared directly in front of Roy. His hand reached out before Roy could even react.


    p!


    A deafening p rang out as Roy was sent flying sideways until he hit a nearby tree.


    Boom!


    His body mmed violently into the tree, and he slumped down to the ground. Half his face had been caved in by that p, and he was groaning in pain.


    "I said scram. Don''t make me repeat myself!"


    "Roy!"


    The girl dashed towards Roy and popped a healing pill in his mouth before helping him stand up. She looked back at John with slight fear in her eyes, before she left with Roy. Clearly John still held a grudge fromst time. And with her being the instigator of it all, she wanted nothing more than to leave.


    After watching the two of them leave, John turned to look at what caused this fight in the first ce.


    However, Adams'' excited words soon revealed to him the truth.


    "John, look. There''s a sword embedded in this tree. It looks incredibly ancient, and I can tell that it''s an incredibly impressive sword."


    John soon spotted what Adam was talking about. A sword, halfway pierced into a tree, emanating an incredibly ancient and powerful aura.


    "It must be at least a Meridian Forging grade weapon. Not bad!" John replied as he closely inspected it.


    His eyes turned to the nearby Supreme Battle Sect youths, who were standing there slightly confused at his previous actions.


    "I want this sword. So I guess the only thing left to do, is decide with our fists who gets it!"

 Chapter 215 - Supreme Battle Art

    "Hahaha," the Supreme Battle Sect youths startedughing loudly, not at John, but in happiness at his words. "Well said. Although I don''t know where you get your confidence from, a man should be like this!"


    John turned to Adam, and instructed him to step back. "Although you can be useful in fights like these, sit this one out."


    Adam nodded his head and walked to the side where the sword was. He began to closely inspect it, curious as to just how powerful it was. Studying the sword could give him insights on how to make his own.


    The Supreme Battle Sect boy noticed this, and instructed his friends to step back as well. Valuing battle above all, the Supreme Battle Sect detested ganging up on someone with superior numbers. While they were battle maniacs, they were honorable battle maniacs. In their eyes, ganging up on an opponent would not lead to increased strength, and would only dull the instincts of everyone fighting.


    With everyone stepping back, only John and the lead Supreme Battle Sect boy were left.


    "What''s your name! You''re worthy of me remembering your name!" The Supreme Battle Sect youth asked.


    "John, and you?"


    "Mark!"


    John nodded his head in greeting, and before saying another word, appeared like a blur as he dashed forward. His fist punched out, surprising the other boy. He had expected John to attack with a weapon, as his sect was the only one of the Four Great Sects that focused on body cultivation.


    While he could tell John had a strong body, he still assumed he was an essence cultivator.


    Boom!


    Mark crossed his arms in front of himself, blocking John''s fist. He wasunched backwards several yards, his feet skidding on the ground for a while beforeing to a stop. Arge smile broke out on his face.


    "Not bad! It seems like this will be a good fight!"


    "Supreme Battle Art!"


    Mark instantly activated his Supreme Battle Art. Although he didn''t know the extent of John''s strength, he could tell that he could go all out without fear of breaking him immediately. His body began to surge with immense power, stunning even John himself.


    ''It seems that his Supreme Battle Art is even more powerful than mine. I need to figure out what the difference is.''


    While John was unsure how exactly it was different, he could tell that Mark''s Supreme Battle Art was more powerful, more refined. Not only that, but he could sense another strange energy within Mark''s body that he was unfamiliar with.


    Boom!


    Mark kicked off the ground, the force of his steps shattering the ground beneath him. Being a body cultivator as well, he had also unlocked his first body limiter, which was the Limiter of Speed. He reached John in an instant, and punched out with his fist.


    John punched out with his own fist, and fists violently collided together. John lost out in the exchange as he was knocked backwards, his arm trembling slightly from the force of the blow.


    Surprise appeared on Mark''s face as he watched John take his attack head on. He could tell that John was only using his body power, with no additional power generated by any battle art.


    "What the hell type of body do you have?" Mark asked curiously. For John to fight like this, he had to have an Innate Variant Body, and an impressive one at that.


    Envy appeared on Mark''s face as he thought of such a thing. If he had an Innate Variant Body, his strength would be much greater. He powered up his Supreme Battle Art even further, drawing out every ounce of strength he could.


    "I do have an Innate Variant Body, but as for the type, that''s not for you to know," John replied casually.


    Mark frowned, and dashed forward once more. A leg came kicking up towards John''s waist, and he raised his own leg to block it. However, he felt a strange force wash over him, slowing his movements by a hair.


    This slowing effect was all Mark needed tond the blow, and his legs collided with John''s ribs.


    Boom!


    John was sent flying backwards like a broken kite, tumbling head over heels several times before he mmed into a thick tree. The tree shattered in half as he crashed through it, and came toppling down to the ground.


    Dust kicked up from the collision, and Adam casually looked over to where John was before looking back to the sword in the tree. He knew John was just warming up.


    "Hell Yeah!"


    "Good shit!"


    Cheers rang out from Mark''s fellow disciples watching the fight. However, their cheers slowly faded as they watched John emerge from the dust cloud.


    He was rubbing his ribcage, while wincing slightly in pain.


    "Ow, that was a pretty damn good hit you got in there. Had it been anyone else, you would have shattered their ribcage." Although he was acting casually, John was actually surprised by thatst exchange. That strange feeling that washed over him had slowed down his movement, and caused him to take the blow head on.


    Not only that, but Mark''s power was truly impressive, and John''s internal organs had taken slight damage from that exchange. He felt a lingering pain in his ribs as well, showing the immense power of Mark''s body.


    Mark furrowed his brows at John''sments and actions. He had expected John to be injured quite badly after havingnded a blow like that, but he had stood up as if it was just a minor inconvenience.


    "Seriously, what the hell kind of body do you have?" Mark asked again. Even within his Supreme Battle Sect, a body with the natural durability John revealed was rare.


    "What use does it make knowing what kind of body I have?" John replied. "I guess it was a little foolish to think I could fight you head on with just the power of my body. Not only that, but your Supreme Battle Art is quite different than mine. It''s much more impressive."


    Mark''s expression turned confused and cold at the same time at John''sst words. "You act as if you know our Supreme Battle Art. Such a thing is impossible without being a member of our sect! Watch your words carefully."


    The Supreme Battle Sect valued their battle arts above all else, and were like the gospel to them. No outsiders were allowed to know it.


    A smile broke out on John''s face as he looked directly at Mark. "Maybe by studying your Supreme Battle Art while using my own, I can figure out what the differences are."


    Supreme Battle Art!


    A surge of power suddenly emanated from John''s body, stunning all the youths from the Supreme Battle Sect. Mark''s surprised expression soon turned incredibly cold as he stared straight back at John.

 Chapter 216 - Fighting Mark

    The powerful aura surging from John''s body was undoubtedly the Supreme Battle Art. While it was slightly different than the aura Mark emanated, there was no mistaking it.


    Mark''s cold eyes stared straight at John, and his previously yful attitude was no more.


    "How did you get your hands on our battle art?" Mark asked in a cold tone.


    Outsiders were not permitted to cultivate this battle art, and doing so was a grave offense in the eyes of the Supreme Battle Sect.


    "My father obtained it for me," John replied back. It was the truth, as his father had gotten it for him, however, he didn''t know exactly how his father had managed to obtain such a secretive and powerful battle art.


    "Then how did he obtain it?" Mark asked once more.


    John frowned at these constant questions, and also did not like the cold toneing from Mark.


    "I don''t know, and I really don''t care either. If you have a problem with me using this technique, then juste at me with all your power," John replied.


    "That''s exactly what I''ll do," Mark replied coldly. "After I defeat you, I''ll drag you back to our Sect, at which point the Elders can decide on what to do with you."


    John''s frown turned into a slight smirk at hearing this from Mark. He began tough lightly.


    "Haha, thene at me and see if you have the power to do so. Show me the true power of your Supreme Battle Art."


    Mark''s eyes narrowed even further at John''s mockery. Although he knew John was strong, he was just in the Late Qi Condensation Realm. Mark, with his Half-Step Core Formation cultivation, was unsure of where John got his confidence.


    Mark had been going easy in his early exchanges with John, but would now fight with his full power. His aura began to sure even more powerfully, and all the muscles on his body bulged.


    Boom!


    Mark stepped off the ground, shattering the earth beneath his feet as he dashed towards John. John''s yful smile disappeared as he too dashed towards Mark.


    Bang!


    Fists collided, and both fighters were locked in a stalemate. The ground cracked beneath them from the force of the impact. Surprise appeared on Mark''s face for a moment, as he was sure John would not be able to take his full force punch without losing out. However, they had beenpletely equal in that exchange, despite his Supreme Battle Art being moreplete and powerful than John''s.


    ''Its that strange power again!''


    John felt his body grow heavier whenever he was close to Mark. He felt it once again, which slowed down the movement''s of his body, although only slightly. However, this slight hindrance was enough to throw off his attack timings and power.


    John suddenly went low with his body and sent a kick towards Mark''s legs, aiming to knock him off bnce. Mark raised his leg to block with his shin, and sessfully parried the attack. Mark sent a fist towards John''s ribcage, but John dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Continuous loud bangs rang out as John and Mark exchanged dozens of moves quickly. Whenever their bodies collided, it sounded as if two beams of steel were colliding. The power and durability of their bodies were shocking, and even Adam stopped inspecting the sword to watch the fight.


    He knew John had a strong body, but this was his first time seeing such a disy from John. For him to go face to face with a Supreme Battle Sect cultivator, who even had a higher cultivation than him, shocked him greatly.


    Boom!


    A punch from Mark managed to break through John''s defenses, andnded on his ribcage. The force of the impact knocked him back dozens of yards, and he slightly grit his teeth from the pain of the impact before quickly dashing backwards. The earth beneath him shattered from the quick change in direction.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Continuous blows were traded once more, and slowly but surely John was beginning to get a hang of the flow of the fight. Every fight he had fought so far was against an essence cultivator, and so John''s instincts were notpletely honed for fighting against another body cultivator.


    On the other hand, Mark had fought against his fellow disciples for many years, and waspletely used to such a thing. However, his initial advantage in battle instinct was quickly diminishing, shocking him greatly. John''s rate of improvement in this fight waspletely monstrous, and before long, he was the one with the slight advantage in the fight.


    ''I''m finally getting used to that strange energy emanating from Mark. But I still can''t figure out what it is exactly or how to emte it.''


    Mark''s superior Supreme Battle Art, coupled with the strange energy it emitted, allowed him to fight somewhat evenly with John. John on the other hand had a much more powerful body, which allowed him to overwhelm Mark. His Immortal Asura Body was showing its true power in this fight.


    Bang!


    After throwing in a feint, John was able tond an unblocked kick to Mark''s waist.


    Mark cried out slightly in pain, as he flew backwards like a broken kite. HIs body mmed into and through a distant tree, toppling it to the ground. After a moment of recovery, Mark dashed right back into the fight, exchanging blows with John once more.


    Fists, legs, knees, and heads collided repeatedly, causing brutal sounds to ring out constantly. Adam began to wince from the brutality of the fight, as blood began to freely flow from the wounds both cultivators had suffered. However, Mark''s wounds were adding up much quicker, showing he was losing out as the fight went on longer.


    Bang!


    After throwing a punch which was blocked but threw Mark slightly off bnce, John managed tond a kick to Mark''s head unguarded. A slight cracking sound rang out from the kick.


    Mark flew backwards like a broken kite, tumbling head over heels from the blow. His body mmed against a distant boulder and quickly came to an abrupt halt. The boulder cracked slightly from Mark''s momentum.


    Marky there motionlessly for a while before he finally regained consciousness. He groggily stood up, and shook his head several times before looking up at John. His previous cold expression was slightly softened, although he still grit his teeth from the pain of losing the battle.


    "Let''s go," Mark suddenly said to his fellow disciples. He looked to John once more. "Based on this battle, I can say you are worthy of our Supreme Battle Art, but that is not for me to decide. One way or another, our sect will have our Elders decide your fate."


    John scoffed at such ament. "To have that happen, you would have to defeat me and drag me back to your sect. There''s no one in your sect capable of such a thing, at least not in these wastnds," John relied.


    Mark''s eyes furrowed, before a slight smile appeared on his face. "We''ll see if you can say that once you run into our two strongest disciples. If you fight them as you are right now, you''ll lose without even being able to put up a fight," Mark replied before turning away.


    He knew John was stronger than him, and would be able to forcefully take the sword despite their efforts. As such, he gave up on the idea of obtaining the sword. Adam returned to John''s side as they watched the Supreme Battle Sect disciples walk off further into the forest.


    While the battle appeared to be a somewhat easy win for John, he had utilized the full power of his Supreme Battle Art to win. While it wasn''t his full power as he had not used his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, it was still his second strongest body state. His reason for winning had been his more powerful body, and his incredibly impressive battle instincts.


    If he wanted to fight the top disciples, John would have to use his full strength, such as using the Immortal Asura Transformation Art. However, he wanted to keep his trump cards secret for as long as possible.


    Adam turned to John with a look of curiosity. "When the fuck did you be a body cultivator as well? Why are you focusing on both essence and body cultivation?"


    John smiled as he continued to watch the other disciples leave. "That''s not for you to worry about. But it seems like each of the three other sects have disciples standing at the top. I can''t wait to fight them!"


    For the Bloodfiend Sect, there were the Four Kings and Three Emperors. For the Divine Soul Sect, there was the Soul Sage, and now Mark had mentioned two incredibly powerful Supreme Battle Sect disciples. Such a lineup made John''s blood boil, and his desire to grow stronger intensified.


    ''I need to reach the Core Formation Realm as soon as possible.''


    After thinking of such things, John''s eyes turned to the nearby sword stuck in the tree. His eyes lit up slightly.


    "Now let''s see exactly what we have on our hands here."

 Chapter 217 - Blood Tiger

    John stared at the ancient sword embedded into the tree. Despite giving off an ancient aura, there was no rust or damage to the sword, at least on the portion visible to John.


    "Did you notice anything while inspecting it?" John asked Adam.


    Adam had been intensively inspecting the sword while he had been fighting Mark. After everything John had seen regarding Adam so far, he was starting to trust his judgement more and more on things such as this.


    "Nope. I didn''t detect any formations or any dangering from it," Adam replied confidently.


    John nodded his head and stepped towards the sword. His hand reached out, and firmly grasped its hilt as he tried to pull it out of the tree.


    "Gahhhhhhh!"


    John cried out in pain and fell to his knees, desperately struggling against the sword.


    "John!" Adam cried out in surprise. He had truly not detected any dangering from the sword, although his realm was far below the person who used this sword. If whoever used this sword in the past wanted to hide a nasty formation in it, Adam most likely would not be able to detect it.


    John continued to cry out in pain, and Adam panicked for a moment before rushing up to John and pulling him off the sword, not knowing if he would be affected by the formation as well or not.


    John plopped to the ground andid there motionlessly for a while.


    "John, are you okay?" Adam asked in a panicked voice.


    John continued to lie there in silence for a short while beforeughter started to escape from his mouth.


    "Hahahaha!"


    John continued tough, and the worried expression on Adam''s face quickly turned to anger. He kicked John in the ribs as hard as he could.


    "You damn bastard! How was that funny?" Adam asked angrily.


    Clearly John had been joking the whole time.


    John slowly stood up, wiping the tears ofughter from his eyes. He took a moment to calm down before replying.


    "I''m sorry, I just couldn''t resist."


    A formation disk suddenly appeared in Adam''s hand, and a surge of power from it mmed into John, sending him flying backwards dozens of yards. He tumbled head over heels several times before finallying to a stop.


    "That''s what you get for tricking me like that," Adam replied. His anger had faded afternding that blow on John.


    John stood up from Adam''s attack and walked back over to him. He draped his arm around Adam''s shoulder as a happy smile appeared on his face.


    "Part of it was a joke, and part of it was to test you. I wanted to see what you would do if I was in danger, and you didn''t hesitate to risk your own safety to help me. I considered you as a follower before, but now I consider you as a brother."


    Adam''s fading anger became stunned for a moment, before his face changed to contain both happiness and pride. He puffed out his chest, as if such a thing was only natural.


    "I knew you would see straight one of these days. I''ll do you a favor and allow you this whole thing to slide...brother!" Adam replied, his prideful tone filled with tion.


    John nodded his head with an approving smile, and patted Adam on the shoulders several times before turning once more to the sword. His hand reached out, and he gripped it tightly before pulling it out with all his might.


    The sword resisted for a moment, before it slowly began to be pulled from the tree.


    "Goddamn this sword is heavy," John grunted as he activated his Supreme Battle Art to increase his body strength.


    With his increased strength, the sword slid out of the tree faster, until it was fully revealed. The sword''s hilt was a foot long, with a four foot de. The de was a lustrous silver, with small formation runes carved into its surface to give it extra power.


    Boom!


    The de mmed into the ground after having been removed from the tree. John gritted his teeth as he once again picked it up, barely managing to do so before it crashed to the ground once more.


    "This sword must weigh at least five thousand pounds, if not more." John said as he sighed in fatigue. Just lifting that sword was a workout of its own, and only in his strongest state, using his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, would he be able to slightly wield it.


    Even then, he would most likely only be able to swing it one or twice before running out of energy. His current scythe weighed close to eight hundred pounds, and it was the perfect weight for him. Going to five thousand pounds for a weapon was a leap toorge for him to make right now.


    He would need his body to be in the Core Formation Realm before he would think about using it, and even then it didn''t suit him that well as it was a sword, and not a scythe.


    ''Oh well, at least I can use this as a final blow or something, if brute force is all I need.''


    John let the sword sit on the ground, and both him and Adam began to closely inspect it for some time. They wanted to see if they could notice anything unique about it, but even after a lengthy inspection, neither noticed anything useful.


    "Those runes on the sword act as an amplifier. When the user sends their sword Qi into the sword, it will amplify and make the attacks stronger. Unfortunately, neither of us know how to generate Sword Qi, so that feature is mostly worthless," Adam said after his careful study of the sword.


    "I''m sure we''ll find a use for it eventually. If not nothing else, I''m sure it will sell for a hefty sum of money," John replied as he put the sword away into his pce realm.


    With the sword safely secured, John''s anticipation for exploring thesends increased even further. If a Meridian Forging Grade weapon was just lying around like this, what else could exist deeper into its core?


    John and Adam set up a campfire and roasted some meat, both making sure to eat their full and replenish their energy. After finishing their meals, the two stood up and brushed the dust off their robes, before walking deeper into the forest.


    The direction they chose was still towards the center of the wastnds.


    The forest was quite expansive, and the two of them walked through it for over a day without running into any other cultivators or beasts. Eventually, slight frustration washed over Adam as he had been expecting something more out of the forest.


    "Fuck this, I''m done blindly walking," Adam said out loud as he sat on the ground.


    John looked over to Adam in a confused manner, as this outburst hade from nowhere. He was about to ask what Adam was doing, when he noticed Adam began to set up a formation. He paused and walked over to the side, curious as to what Adam was up to.


    "I don''t know if this will work, but I''ll give it a shot," Adam said as a formation disk appeared in his hands.


    Formation disks were usually the core of formations, and formation experts had a wide variety of them suited for a wide variety of tasks. John had no idea how many Adam had, but he always seemed to pull out a different one every time. Curiosity got the best of him as he decided to ask about it.


    "Adam, how many of those disks do you have? Aren''t formation disks quite expensive?"


    From what John knew, being a formations master was an expensive profession, and formations disks were incredibly expensive. Some formation masters didn''t even have more than a handful of disks, but Adam seemed to pull them out like it was nothing.


    A weird expression appeared on Adam''s face for a moment before he replied.


    "They are, and I have quite a few," Adam replied with vague details, clearly not wanting to talk about it.


    John noticed this, and decided to drop it there as he watched Adam continue his work. He carved formation lines into the ground, and set up various items at various locations. After a long while, Adam finally wiped the sweat off his brow as he sat at the center of the formation and picked up the disk.


    His Qi was channeled into the disk, which flowed through the recently made formation lines, and were amplified by the various items he put throughout the formation. A strange energy began to whirl around Adam, and Adam closed his eyes as he focused intently on whatever he was doing.


    This process continued for several minutes, before his eyes opened and he stared in a certain direction. The formation died down, and Adam stood up as he pointed in the direction he was staring.


    "There''s a slightly increased density of Qi in that direction, and it had a strange property I couldn''t identify. I''m sure we''ll run into a treasure, or at least something worth checking out, if we continue that way," Adam said to John.


    John''s eyes lit up. "You can do such a thing with your formations? Haha, having you around truly is beneficial," John replied in a happy tone. Formations masters truly were amazing, not when it came to fighting, but when it came to many other things.


    "It doesn''t work every time, and will only work if I''m in range of something giving off a unique Qi signature. Also, this disk has limited uses before it runs out, so we can''t just use it all the time," Adam replied.


    After cleaning up the formation items, Adam and John set off in the identified direction. They continued on for many hours, before they saw a glow of red light leak through the foliage in front of them. They both looked at each other for a moment, realizing that this must be the source of what Adam detected, before proceeding carefully towards the light.


    Eventually, the source of the light came into view several hundred yards away. Their eyes widened in surprise, before also bing slightly grave.


    In the dense forest before them, the source of the red glow was revealed to be a small nt, several feet tall. The nt had three blood red fruits on it, which gave off the vibrant red glow. The red fruit seemed to swirl from within, as if there was blood pulsating through it. While both of them were not sure what type of fruit it was, they could both tell it was amazing.


    However, the thing that shocked them about this nt was beneath it, and before it. The nt grew out of a dead skull, which neither John nor Adam could identify. The skull seemed slightly humanoid, and at the same time was different enough to tell them it wasn''t. Not only that, but it was three timesrger than a normal human skull.


    Despite being dead for who knows how many years, a dense aura of blood and death emanated from it. The deathly aura was not from the skull itself, but from the lingering death aura of all those it had in while it was alive. Although the cultivation of the skull owner was unknown, John estimated that it was at least in the Meridian Forging Realm, if not the Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    Neither John nor Adam had felt anything like it before, and Adam was scared stiff just by the aura alone. John on the other hand, felt a slight pull from both the fruit and the skull, as if he had a connection with it. While he couldn''t pinpoint this feeling, he knew he needed to inspect it more closely.


    However, a small problem existed when it came to approaching the skull and fruit. Before the skull and fruit, a beast slept.


    "A Blood Tiger, and an early Core Formation one at that," Adam stated as he stared at the beast.


    Blood Tigers were attracted to sources of blood, and this one seemed to be cultivating around the blood-like fruit.


    John nodded his head, and inspected the surroundings to see if there was anything else of note. After confirming the coast was clear, John looked back towards the Blood Tiger. It was eight feet tall and twenty feet long from head to tail. Blood colored stripes covered its back, and sharp red ws extended from its paws.


    "The fruits are quite enticing, but with that Blood Tiger, there''s no way we can obtain it. We might as well get goin- Hey, what the fuck are you doing?"


    Adams'' words advising of their departure quickly turned to words of panic, as he noticed John had stood up and was walking directly towards the beast.

 Chapter 218 - Sneak Attack

    John had already scouted the nearby area, and knew it was clear of both humans and other powerful beasts. In this fight toe, he would potentially have to use his Immortal Asura Transformation Art to fight with the Blood Tiger, and he did not want to use it around strangers.


    Learning from his past mistakes, John began to slowly sneak up to the Blood Tiger.


    ''In the past, I approached every enemy upfront, as I thought it was the best way to train my strength. Now however, I know that killing an enemy is the most important thing, no matter how it''s done. While direct flights do hone my instincts, working on my sneaking skills may allow me to kill a much stronger opponent than me in the future. Lets see if I can kill this Blood Tiger in a single blow.''


    If John was to fight the Blood Tiger directly, he would have to use his full strength and all his trump cards to do so, as the blood tiger was a major cultivation realm higher than his own. However, if he couldnd a severe blow to the Blood Tiger right from the get go, it would be a different story.


    Blood Tigers were famed for their attack power, and their method of fighting was to overwhelm their opponents with great power and speed. Their defense was mediocre at best for an early Core Formation beast, and John was attempting to take advantage of this.


    Although this was the first time John had employed this method while being a cultivator, he had hunted beasts many times when he was just a mortal. His skills at concealing his presence were quite refined, and bing a cultivator only amplified those abilities.


    The Blood Tiger was sleeping at the base of the skull. However, the slightest amount of noise would alert it awake, and its senses were incredibly sharp.


    John slowly but surely began to calm his breathing as he strived to maintain the most emotionally neutral state he could maintain. Getting too anxious or excited would quicken his movements, making more noise.


    Drawing his methods from his meditative practices, John emptied his mind and brought his breathing down to the bare minimum as he slowly but surely crept forward. His naturally emanating aura of his cultivation was pulled inwards, making sure that the Blood Tiger did not pick up on that as well.


    ''Hmm?''


    John was surprised to find that when he withdrew his aura, it had almostpletely been drawn inwards. It should be known that even when cultivators want to do such a thing, a small portion of their aura will still naturally leak outwards. Completely withdrawing an aura was incredibly difficult, but John surprisingly found himself able to nearly do it. Hardly any aura leaked out at all, and even Adam was surprised at John''s disy. If he had his eyes closed, he would not be able to notice John at all, unless he sent out his divine sense to inspect him.


    There were sects that trained solely in assassination arts, and strived to do what John had just done. While some were able to do such a thing, they trained for many years to achieve such a state, and were the most talented of their sects. If they were here, they would cry in fury at the ease at which John had aplished such a thing.


    ''My control over my body and aura seems to be amplified by the Immortal Asura Body. This is quite a nice surprise. The Immortal Asura Body keeps impressing me more and more.''


    While surprised, John did not let this affect his emotionless state as he slowly crept towards the sleeping Blood Tiger.


    Fifty Yards!


    Thirty Yards!


    Twenty Yards!


    Ten Yards!


    Five Yards!


    John continued to creep towards the Blood Tiger, and still remained undetected. His breathing had beenpletely stifled by this point to make as little noise as possible.


    Two Yards!


    John suddenly stopped at the two yard mark as he stared at the sleeping Blood Tiger. He was directly behind it, getting ready tosh out. It was still sound asleep, although it''s twitching ears made it apparent that it was on the lookout for any sounds. However, John had managed to get this close without being detected, surprising both himself and Adam.


    ''I''ll only get one shot at this, so I''ll go out from the very start!''


    John calmed himself onest time, getting his body ready for the explosive energy toe. When he powered up normally, it was a gradual process, allowing the body to get used to the increasing power. John was about to explode with his full power in an instant, which would ce a heavy burden on his body.


    ''Now!''


    A sword suddenly appeared in his hands, the weight of it causing his body to droop.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    Immortal Asura Transformation Art!


    The inrush of Qi from both of his dantians flowed powerfully through his meridians, but all John could do was grit his teeth and continue forwards.


    The Blood Tiger''s eyes shot wide open as it noticed themotion.


    Roar!


    It roared out powerfully, and immediately bounced on its feet. It looked forward, and saw a beam of lightning piercing directly towards it. The Blood Tiger opened its mouth, and after a momentary buildup, a powerful blood red beam of Qi exploded outwards towards the lightning attack. The blood red Qi beam obliterated the lightning attack in an instant, and continued onwards deeper into the forest.


    The Tiger saw Adam standing in the far distance at the edge of the treeline, and roared out in anger as it assumed he was the one who had attacked him.


    However, this lightning attack was just a diversionary one that John had made. He had utilized his expansive Heavenly Lightning Domain to have an attacke from in front of the Blood Tiger, hoping to make it think that was where the danger was. The Blood Tiger''s intelligence was rather low, and it had fallen for his tacticpletely.


    Boom!


    A sword smashed down with incredible power, exploding onto the back of the Blood Tiger. The Blood Tiger had not been expecting such an attack as it was focusing forward. John''s full body power was utilized in this one swing, and it was by far the strongest attack he had ever performed in his life.


    The sword was the one he had just obtained, and its weight was so much that even in his most powerful state, he was struggling to wield it. He knew he only had the strength for this one attack.


    The sword''s sharp de paused for a brief moment against the hide before it continued downwards into the Blood Tigers body. A sickening sound rang out as John''s sword sliced directly into the Blood Tiger''s spine, severing itpletely and continuing deeper into its body.


    The de stopped after slicing three feet into the back of the beast. However, this much was all John needed, as the Tiger copsed to the ground, unable to move any of its limbs. John quickly dashed forward, and his scythe appeared in his hands.


    Che!


    The scythe struck down powerfully on the back of the Blood Tigers neck, digging deeply into its spine and arteries. Life quickly faded from the Blood Tiger''s eyes, and it passed away from the world before long.


    John stared at the Blood Tiger for a moment before he released his Supreme Battle Art and Immortal Asura Transformation Art. He plopped to the ground in exhaustion and pain. His divine sense quickly inspected his body, and he drew in a breath of cold air as he inspected his meridians.


    His meridians showed slight signs of cracking, due to the immense power he had used in one burst. If they fully shattered, then he would be a cripple with no hope of cultivation in the future.


    ''Looks like I need to take it easy for a while and let them heal. I suppose this is why the Meridian Forging Realm is so important.''


    With his meridians in such a state, John would have to avoid fighting for several days to allow them to heal. He looked back towards the Blood Tiger, and touched it. The Blood Tiger disappeared from sight.


    "John!"


    Adam called out as he ran towards John''s position. John turned to look at him, expecting to hear an earful of admonishment for doing such a dangerous thing. Had his sneak attack not worked, John would have had to fight with his life on the line against the beast.


    "That...was...awesome!"


    Adam suddenly eximed as he reached John. John''s expression turned to one of slight surprise, and a small smile appeared on his face.


    "Ha, thanks!"


    "Of course, if it was me doing such a thing, that Blood Tiger would have ceased to exist in an instant," Adam replied with his ever prideful tone, as his chest was puffed up fully.


    "Oh? We can continue through this forest and look for another one for you to fight then," John replied with a small smirk on his face.


    Adam''s prideful expression quickly changed, and he waved his hands.


    "No no no, that won''t be necessary. I don''t want to steal your spotlight, afterall."


    "Is that so? In any case, guard me while I recover my Qi" John replied.


    Adam nodded and began to set up a defensive formation around John as he began to focus on gathering his Qi. Beast blood essence from his pce realm began to flow into his body dantian, filling it up and replenishing his reserves. He spent some time recovering, as his body had taken quite a bit of damage from the strain his techniques put on it.


    After several hours of recovery, John finally opened his eyes and looked over towards the skull. The blood red fruits glowed vibrantly, emanating a powerful red glow. He stood up and dusted the dirt off his robe, and began to walk over towards the skull, Adam in tow.


    "Now, let''s see what these fruits are all about."

 Chapter 219 - Mysterious Red Fruits

    John approached the massive skull, proceeding with slight caution in case of any danger lurking about. The feeling he had experienced earlier regarding the skull and fruit intensified slightly as he approached it, but he still couldn''t pinpoint what the cause was.


    John eventually stood directly in front of the skull, and inspected it closely. The skull was almost as tall as his shoulders, and gave off an ancient aura.


    Ping!


    John whacked his scythe against the skull as a test for danger, but nothing happened.


    "Wow, that''s tough!" Johnmented as he inspected the skull more closely.


    Despite him hitting the skull quite hard with his scythe, it didn''t leave so much as a scratch.


    "What do you think it is?" Adam asked curiously as he closely inspected it. Despite his vast knowledge about many things, Adam had never seen a skull simr to this one.


    "No idea...but whatever killed it was quite impressive," Johnmented as he pointed to the side of the skull. Adam looked over, and noticed a small hole in the temple of the skull.


    "I couldn''t even scratch it, but someone pierced directly through it in one shot. It must have been quite the attack," John continued.


    He closely studied the skull and the hole for a while, and Adam did the same.


    "The skull seems to bepletely devoid of any remaining vitality and essence, as the fruits havepletely absorbed what little blood and Qi was left when this creature died," Adam suddenly stated after a thorough inspection.


    John nodded his head in agreement, as he hade to the same conclusion. He was hoping the skull would be able to offer some sort of value to them, but after all this time, it was just an extremely hard skull now.


    "Do you have any need for this skull?" Adam suddenly asked John.


    John thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. He didn''t know of any way he could make use of it.


    "No. Do you want it?" John asked.


    "Mhm. This skull is incredibly durable, and while I wont be able to craft anything out of it now, I could potentially use it in the future for some of my formation arts, or potentially even weapon forging," Adam replied.


    "Weapon forging? You never told me you could forge weapons," John replied in slight surprise.


    "Hmph, who do you think I am? I am the amazing formations master, Adam Fenks! Of course I can forge weapons. Formations and weapon forging are incredibly simr, and stem from the same basic principles," Adam replied with a proud look on his face and puffed out chest.


    John rolled his eyes but said nothing. The more talented Adam was, the better news it was for John.


    "Fine, go ahead and take the skull, but first, let''s inspect the fruit," John replied as his eyes trailed upwards to the top of the skull. The nt that the fruit grew on drilled its roots into the top of the skull, and seemed to have drawn thest bit of essence and vitality from the skull to make the fruits.


    The two of them inspected the fruits for quite some time beforeing to any conclusions. They didn''t even know if they were safe to eat, as neither had seen anything like it before.


    "I don''t recall ever learning about this fruit. I wonder how we should to about testing it?" Adam mumbled as he inspected the fruits closely.


    John was just about to reply when he felt a stirring in his soul. He was about to go inward and check on it, when all of a sudden, Kirii appeared before him and Adam.


    "Kirii, what are you doing?" John asked in slight confusion.


    Since John and Kirii made apanion pact, they shared linked souls. As such, Kirii was able to live inside John''s soul space, when no other life could. At the same time, this allowed Kirii to enter and leave his soulspace on his own, without needing John''s permission.


    Kirii suddenly dashed forward towards the fruit, and before John could react, bit one of them and swallowed it.


    "Hey Kirii, dont-" John tried to stop Kirii, but was toote. Kirii swallowed one of the fruits whole. John and Adam watched closely as Kirii had a satisfied look on its face after swallowing the fruit. Suddenly, Kirri''s skin began to turn a dark shade of red, and steam began to emanate from its body.


    It seemed to be fighting internally against the energy of the fruit, and slight struggle and pain appeared on Kirii''s face. John wanted to help, but didn''t know of any way to do so. He helplessly watched as Kirii struggled in pain against the energy of the fruit for quite some time.


    Eventually however, the red color of Kirii''s skin began to fade, and the pain on its face subsided. A satisfied look appeared on Kirii''s face, and slight surprise appeared on Johns.


    A close inspection of Kirii''s body revealed some startling details. Kirii''s body glowed with a brighter luster, as if it had been polished many times over. The power emanating from its body also increased substantially, surprising John greatly.


    Kirii was an essence based beast, and was powerful from its essence attacks, not its body strength. However, John could clearly tell that Kirii''s body power had been given quite a boost by the fruit.


    "John, what is this beast?" Adam suddenly asked. It was his first time seeing Kirii.


    "He''s mypanion," John replied without much details. The less people knew about Kirii''s origins, the better.


    Kirii was now quite a bitrger than previously, and was almost as tall as John''s waist. It had doubled in size in the past few months.


    After fully savoring the fruit, Kirii quickly returned to John''s soul space and fell asleep. John shook his head slightly at these sudden antics of Kirii''s, but wasn''t upset. It''s instincts were much sharper than his, and had detected no danger from the fruit. As such, John was now certain that it was safe to eat.


    John reached out and plucked one of the two remaining fruits. Without hesitation, he quickly bit into it and ate it fully. As soon as the fruit hit his stomach, a violent energy wildly run amok throughout his body.


    John grit his teeth in pain as the energy tried its best to destroy his body, but he resisted it. He didn''t activate his Supreme Battle Art, as he wanted to absorb as much of the energy as possible, instead of just resist it.


    John''s skin began to glow a bright red color, and his body heated up greatly. Steam began to emanate off his skin from the heat, and John felt like he was sitting in the middle of a furnace. Wherever the fruits energy went, it tried to destroy his body. However, his incredibly tough body resisted this destructive power, and instead absorbed it.


    John could tell that even though his body was incredibly powerful already, it was slowly but surely growing even tougher and stronger, surprising him greatly. His Immortal Asura Body was a one of a kind body, and run of the mill fruits and pills were unable to increase his body strength and durability any further.


    However, this fruit was doing just that, showing just how amazing it was. His body was in a state of battle against the fruit, constantly being destroyed and healed, and in the process, strengthened. The processsted for quite some time, before John could feel the energy begin to run out.


    Eventually, all the energy from the fruit was absorbed by John''s body, returning his state back to normal. John breathed a sigh of relief as he began to inspect his body. A small smile appeared on his face as he discovered that the base strength and durability of his body had increased by quite a bit, making him all the more powerful.


    "That was quite an amazing fruit!" John mumbled out loud as he continued to inspect its benefits.


    "What happened?" Adam asked curiously.


    "The fruit increased the strength and durability of my body by quite a bit. It was truly incredible," John replied with a smile.


    Adam nodded in agreement as he stared at John''s body. Just like Kirii, Adam could tell that John''s body had improved, as it seemed to be more clear and lustrous than before. It was as if he had shed ayer and revealed a body of carved marble beneath.


    Adam gulped in anticipation as he looked over to the remaining fruit and began to reach out to it.


    p!


    "Ow! What was that for!" Adam eximed in slight pain as he recoiled his outstretched hand. John had pped his hand away as soon as he began to reach out for it.


    "I did it for your own safety. You have a weak body. If you had consumed that fruit, you would have exploded from within and died," John replied in a voice of caution.


    Surprise appeared on Adams face as he looked back towards the fruit with slight fear.


    "Was it that intense?" Adam asked. John nodded in confirmation, squashing any hopes Adam had of eating the fruit.


    John reached out and plucked thest fruit. He thought about eating it, but decided against it. It was a fairlymon trait for medicinal ingredients and fruit, that the more one ate them, the lesser their benefits would be.


    He had already experienced this with the Undying Vitality Fruit, and did not want this amazing fruit to go to waste. The best practice for these kinds of events was to eat one, and have the other turned into a pill to get maximum efficacy from it. John put the fruit away in his spatial realm, so that Kirii would not be able to eat it either.


    The spatial realm was unique to him and him alone, and only he could enter it. As John stored the fruit in his spatial realm, a slight tremble emanated from within the pce. However, it was so slight that John did not detect it, and he quickly returned to the real world.


    With the fruits gone, there was no use for the nt anymore. Neither John nor Adam had any idea how to raise such a nt, and so they didn''t bother with it. Adam took the skull away, storing it in his spatial ring along with the nt attached to it.


    Both John and Adam had satisfied expressions on their faces, as they had once again obtained immense treasures from thesends.


    "Where to next?" Adam asked John as he looked around.


    "Don''t you want to use that formation of yours again?" John asked in response.


    Adam shook his head. "I already told you it has limited uses. Unless we wander for days without finding something likest time, I don''t want to use it. Let''s just pick a direction and proceed forward," Adam replied.


    John agreed with Adam and picked a direction. It was still towards the center of the wastnds. The two of them proceeded forward for nearly a day, walking through the thick forest. They encountered many beasts within, but all were weak enough to ignore.


    Bright light eventually began to filter through from in front of them.


    "It looks like we''re about to exit this forest," Adam said as he rushed towards the forest''s end.


    John ran alongside him, and before long, the two of them exited the forest. Bright light from the sun high above lit thend in front of them, as well as their shocked and stupefied faces.


    "Just...what is this?" Adam mumbled out as he stared in front of him inplete shock.

 Chapter 220 - Ancient Battlefield

    Both John and Adam stood there in stunned silence as they stared out at the scene before them.


    John took a moment to gather his wits, before replying to Adam.


    "It...seems like an ancient battlefield," John replied with a somewhat dazed voice.


    In front of them, as far as the eye could see, thousands and tens of thousands of skeletons were scattered on the battle-scarred terrain. The terrain had beenpletely changed, with massive craters miles and tens of miles wide formed on the ground. Sword scars ran so deep into the ground that the bottom could not be seen, and stretched out into the distance.


    The ground was charred all over, and not a single spec of vegetation or life was seen within the ancient battlefield. The tens of thousands of skeletons strewn across the battlefield varied greatly in shape and size.


    Many human shaped skeletons were visible, which numbered in the thousands. There were also skeletons sorge that they appeared to be small mountains, with hundreds of these skeletons easily towering several hundred yards tall. The structure of the skeletons were somewhat simr to humans, but a quick nce revealed that they were not humans. Many of the skeletons had four arms or more, and their skulls were shaped quite differently.


    Alongside these skeletons were those of various other shapes and sizes, indicating that there were many different species that took part in this battle. John even recognized many skeletons simr to the one he had just encountered in the forest, and they numbered in the thousands as well.


    Many of the skeletons were iplete, indicating that they had been severely damaged by the powerful attacks used in this battle. Ancient weapons jutted out of many of the corpses, while others were strewn about in a random fashion.


    An incredibly profound and powerful aura lingered on the battlefield, and both John and Adam could still feel the traces of the incredible battle arts used in this battle, even after all this time. Lingering sword Qi, fire Qi, ice Qi, blood Qi, and many other types lingered, nearly overwhelming their senses.


    The auras of the corpses still emanated incredible power, despite being dead for countless years.


    John''s eyes lingered on a nearby corpse, which was just several hundred yards away. An incredibly powerful weapon jutted out of its ribcage. John was about to step forward, when his instincts screamed out in danger.


    His footsteps paused, and his eyes narrowed as he stared forward. After a moment of contemtion, John bent down and picked up a stone near his feet. He juggled it in his hands for a moment before throwing it out towards the battlefield.


    Boom!


    The rock suddenly exploded into bits as it entered the battlefield, and John could see lingering spatial rifts erupt from where the rock had entered. A frown appeared on his face as he looked forward.


    "It appears that the battle was so intense, that lingering spatial rifts remain," Adam mused as he watched the rock be reduced to nothingness. Not even dust remained afterwards.


    A weapon suddenly appeared in John''s hands, which was one of the swords from the Bloodfiend Sect disciples John had killed. It was a Qi Condensation grade weapon, and was quite sturdy.


    Compared to John''s body, the sword was as sturdy as his body in his peak state. John hurled the sword towards the battlefield, wanting to see if perhaps something more study could survive the lingering battlefield aura''s.


    However, just like the rock, the sword was quickly erased to nothingness as soon as it entered the battlefield. A disappointed look appeared on John''s face.


    "Looks like we won''t be able to obtain any of the spoils within," John grumbled out loud. He thought he had run into a goldmine, but unfortunately was unable to obtain any of the treasures in his view.


    "Unfortunately," Adam replied. He had noticed several items within that he wanted to im as well, but their strengths were far too low to enter without dying.


    "I wonder what this ancient battle was about?" Adam continued. The scene before them was apocalyptic, and was unlike anything they had ever seen before.


    "I''m not sure,maybe we can find clues about it deeper into thesends," John replied as he began to walk.


    The ancient battlefield spanned for tens of miles in each direction, and the two of them needed to walk around it to continue further in the wastnds. Reaching the central parts of thesends was still the goal, as long as it wasn''t destroyed like this battlefield.


    The two of them continued to walk around the battlefield for quite some time, and asionally spotted other disciples from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the Supreme Battle Sect, and Divine Soul Sect inspecting the ancient battlefield from outside as well.


    However, since there were no opportunities to obtain from this battlefield, no fighting was carried out, as the three sects did not consider themselves enemies. Only the Bloodfiend Sect would fight without reason, but John had not seen any of them yet.


    asionally, John and Adam spotted the other disciples seated on the ground, meditating around the battlefield. If they found a matching aura, the lingering auras gave them profound insights, allowing them to deepen theirprehensions towards their battle arts and cultivation.


    After walking for several hours, John''s footsteps slowed as he turned to stare at the battlefield. He closed his eyes to feel the powers washing over him, and was able to identify a trace of a scythe aura within the mix. He suddenly sat down in a meditative position, and began to use his divine sense to study this aura.


    "Let''s rest here for a moment," John said to Adam, before turning his attention towards the scythe aura again. Adam nodded and sat down as well. The broken formation disk appeared in his hands, and he quickly put it on the ground as he continued to study it.


    John concentrated on the scythe aura, doing his best to iste it from the other auras.


    ''Once I iste this aura, I can gainprehensions from studying it.''


    John eventually isted the aura from the others, and his mind fully focused on studying the scythe aura. Although it was a lingering scythe aura from an unfamiliar battle art, John was still able to learn from it.


    ''How profound. There are many aspects to this aura, and it''spletely different to the Divine Reaping Scythe. The Divine Reaping Scythe focuses on pure sharpness and power, seeking to cleave anything in its path in half, while this aura focuses on fluidity and speed.''


    John had always used his scythe in a brutish manner, almost akin to a sword. However, this aura was revealing new aspects to the scythe arts that he had never learned or considered, showing him an entire new world of scythe insights to explore.


    Although he would not be able to learn the battle art he was feeling, it would still help push his scythe skills to a new level.


    ''While the Divine Reaping Scythe is an incredible battle art for head on fighting, and used as a finisher move, it cant be used more than a few times. This battle art however, focuses on the unique aspects of the weapon itself.''


    John''s mind focused even more, and he began to see images form in his head. A man stood in the sky, holding an incredible looking scythe in his hands. Hundreds of enemies swarmed him from every direction, but the man stood there with a calm face.


    His scythe began to move, and wherever it moved, an enemy was cleaved. The scythe moved nonstop in graceful yet unpredictable arcs, which made each attack look like it stemmed from thest. There was no wasted energy in each attack, as one attack flowed into the next as if it was natural.


    The scythe appeared like a blur to John, as it moved at speeds he considered impossible.


    ''Speed, and fluidity¡­''


    After many hours of studying the aura, John slowly opened his eyes as the aura began to fade. New auras took its ce, as if the auras within were a stream, never staying in the same ce.


    John continued to sit there for a while, making sure to remember what he had just seen. An entirely new fighting style had been revealed to him. Although it was just insights and not aplete battle art, his gains had been immense.


    John turned to Adam, who was still closely studying the formation disk.


    "Let''s set out again."


    Adam nodded his head, and put away the formation disk. The two of them continued to walk around the massive battlefield, seeking to get to the other side and continue further into the wastnds. By now, they were several hundred miles into these unknownnds, and had a few hundred left before they reached the center.


    Nearly a dayter, John and Adam finally made their way around the incredibly massive battlefield. They passed by hundreds of other youths meditating around the battlefield simr to what John did, and John even spotted Hartley and Mae seeking insights from the battlefield.


    Unfortunately, neither John nor Adam noticed any auras that they had affinity with, and so paid the ancient battlefield no more attention. As they finally broke away from the ancient battlefield, John and Adam spotted something in the distance.


    As they continued to walk towards it, the objects in view grewrger andrger until it became readily apparent what it was.


    "It''s an ancient city. A massive ancient city!" Adam eximed


    Walls thousands of yards high stretched in each direction as far as the eye could see, with massive gates at the base of the wall appearing every dozen or so miles. Behind the massive walls, towering buildings were visible, each emanating an incredibly profound and ancient aura.


    However, due to the ravages of time, both the wall and many of the buildings behind it were crumbling or destroyed. Arge hole in the gate in front of them, which stretched up hundreds of yards, allowed John and Adam passage into the city.


    "It seems a massive ancient city exists in the very center of these wastnds. Let''s enter and see what it''s about," John said to Adam as he began to walk forward. Many other disciples were also in the area, also intent on entering the city.


    John and Adam entered the city through therge hole in the wall. An ancient aura washed over them as they stepped inside, and they looked around in awe as they entered. Roads, hundreds of yards wide, stretched into the distance as far as the eye could see. Grand buildings lined the roads, although many had decayed to near ruin.


    Just stepping inside this city made John feel incredibly small, as it was sorge that it dwarfed the Heavenly Lightning Sect. John had been expecting to see many more corpses like the ancient battlefield within the city walls, but surprisingly found none.


    John and Adam soon noticed arge crowd of hundreds of disciples, inducing disciples of all four sects, had gathered in the middle of the massive road that stretched deeper into the city.


    "I wonder what''s going on?" Adammented as the two of them walked towards the crowd.


    John and Adam made their way into the crowd, and pushed their way forward to the front. A somber atmosphere filled the crowd, making John all the more interested in what was going on.


    He eventually made his way to the front, and spotted several youths in blood red robes standing in front of the crowd.


    "This is what happens when you challenge one of our Three Emperors," one of the Bloodfiend Sect disciples said as he looked at the crowd with an amused and prideful expression.


    John''s eyes looked towards the middle of the group, and his face instantly ignited with unbridled rage. A severed head was mounted on a pike, blood still dripping down to the ground below. Russell''s lifeless eyes seemed to pierce directly into his soul.

 Chapter 221 - Fury

    Those who had arrived this deep in the wastnds this quickly were all towards the top of their sects in power, and had experienced many things, but even they were chilled by the disy before them.


    There were quite a few Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples in the crowd as well, but they were all in the Qi Condensation Realm. If someone like Russell, who was in the Core Formation Realm was killed with such ease, they did not want to speak out and make themselves a target as well. They felt rage for Russell''s death, as well as shame in themselves for not having the resolve to speak up to the group of Bloodfiend Sect youths.


    It was known to all of them that Russell had a lifeline in the spatial talisman, and somehow he still ended up dying. This alone showed that the person who had killed him, one of the Three Emperors of the Bloodfiend Sect, had incredible power.


    None of the Five Direct Disciples, or most promising Core disciples were present in the crowd, and so no one had the power to do anything about it. Russell himself was at the top of the Core Disciple strength list, and so only those who stood at the very peak of power in thesends could tread forward without fear.


    "Now, if you know what''s good for you, you''ll all scram out of this city. This ancient city now belongs to the Bloodfiend Sect, and all those who linger within will be ughtered without mercy," the Bloodfiend Sect disciple continued.


    "What? You can''t do that!" one of the disciples from the Heavenly Lightning Sect cried out in protest. None of them wanted to give up on an opportunity such as this.


    "The Four Kings and Three Emperors have ventured deeper into this city, and only they are worthy of exploring it. Leave now, or face the wrath of the Bloodfiend Sect!"


    The boy had a cultivation at the Half-Step Core Formation Realm, making him one of the strongest youths present. While there were several other Half-Step Core Formation youths in the crowd who could fight against him evenly, they would then have to deal with one of the Four Kings or Three Emperors of the Bloodfiend Sect, and few of them had the confidence of doing so.


    Only the Soul Sage from the Divine Soul Sect, the two strongest disciples of the Supreme Battle Sect Mark had mentioned, or the Five Direct Disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect were capable of fighting against the strongest of the Bloodfiend Sect, and none of them were currently present in this crowd.


    Anger washed over the crowd at the boy''s remarks, but none of them dared to protest. The Bloodfiend Sect was a merciless group, and those in the crowd knew they would follow up on their threat.


    A smile broke out on the Bloodfiend Sect boys face as he watched the crowd begin to turn around and leave. The group of four other Bloodfiend Sect youths, two girls and two boys, all who were in the Late Qi Condensation Realm, also watched the crowd begin to depart with smug expressions.


    However, there were several Supreme Battle Sect youths in the crowd that did not back down. One was in the Half-Step Core Formation Realm, while the rest were in the Late Qi Condensation realm. Their strength was rtively even whenpared to the group of Bloodfiend Sect disciples, and they stared defiantly at the group before them, and were ready to battle it out. The Supreme Battle Sect valued battle above all else, even their own lives.


    It was ingrained into them from young that they could die, but they could never retreat as cowards. The only time they were allowed to retreat was when the odds of winning werepletely hopeless. Otherwise, they would fight with all their strength. They were truly a group of battle maniacs.


    "Fuck that!" one of the Supreme Battle Sect disciples yelled out. "The worst thing that happens is we die, but we''ll never back down to assholes like you."


    The lead boy frowned as he looked at the group before him, and he suddenly noticed John in the crowd, who was staring in anger at Russell''s lifeless head. An even smugger smile appeared on his face as he spoke out towards John, as he noticed John was from the same Sect as Russell.


    "Didn''t you hear me? Leave now, or die. Staring at your friends head won''t bring him back to lif-"


    The boy''s words caught in his throat as John''s gaze was shifted from Russell''s head to his eyes.


    A terrifying aura suddenly and violently unleashed from John, making his robes flutter wildly from its power. Blood red eyes stared straight at the group of Bloodfiend Sect disciples, making them feel as if their very souls were frozen.


    The crowd of retreating youths all noticed this terrifying aura appear behind them, and they all turned to see what was going on. Even with everything they had experienced, they had never felt something this...sinister.


    The Bloodfiend Sect youth took one step backwards as he spoke out to John once more, this time with a voice trembling with fear. Despiteing from a sect filled with blood and violence, the boy was still chilled to his core just by experiencing this aura.


    "If..you don''t leave...our Four Kings..and Three Emp-"


    Boom!


    John kicked off the ground with all his might, causing the earth beneath his feet to explode backwards. Lightning coated his legs as he dashed forward in the blink of an eye, dashing directly past the Bloodfiend Sect youths.


    John''s speed was so great, that all five of the youths had barely been able to keep up with his movements. They suddenly turned around, and noticed John standing there with Russell''s head in his hands.


    John looked at the lifeless head with ever growing anger and hatred. The crowd heard a low and incredibly cold voice echo out from him.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll bury the entire Bloodfiend Sect for you, as well as the one who killed you...brother."


    While John did not say so outright, he had begun to consider Russell like a brother. John stored the head away in his spatial realm, before he once again looked towards the group of Bloodfiend Sect youths.


    "Kill him! He''s still only in the Late Qi Condensation Realm!"


    The lead youth shouted out. They knew reasoning with John in his current state was no longer possible, and figured his aura was overstating his strength. No matter how terrifyingly sinister the aura felt, he was still only in the Late Qi Condensation Realm.


    The group snapped out of their stupor, and quickly encircled John from all directions.


    "Attack!"


    Five powerful Qi attacks were unleashed, each piercing directly towards John. The Qi attacks were blood red, a signature feature of the Bloodfiend Sect. Those in the crowd felt the blood in their body tumble about and their souls ache out in pain just from watching the attacks, let alone taking it head on. None of them present were confident in being able to take on an attack from the lead boy, let alone all five of them at the same time.


    Boom!


    The attacks all exploded on John''s position, engulfing him in an explosion of Qi. The explosion radiated outwards, causing each of the five youths to retreat to avoid injury. The crowd''s face filled with disappointment, as they were hoping for the mysterious Heavenly Lightning Sect youth to defeat the group, and carve a way forward into the city.


    The Bloodfiend Sect''s Disciples'' previously fearful faces slowly turned back into confident and smug faces. The lead youth scoffed as he watched the explosion begin to fade away.


    "Idiot. An ant who doesn''t know how big the heavens ar-"


    The boy''s voice once again caught in his throat, as he watched a standing figure begin to be revealed from within the fading explosion.

 Chapter 222 - Slaughter

    The Bloodfiend Sect disciples, as well as the crowd of other youths, all watched in stunned silence as John''s figure was slowly revealed within the fading explosion. Once the explosion fully faded away, John''s figure became clear to all.


    Small trickles of blood flowed over his body in several areas, but a brief inspection revealed them to be shallow and superficial wounds. They were barely skin deep, and would not hamper his fighting prowess in any way. In fact, John''s aura seemed to be stronger than ever, as if thebined attacks of five Bloodfiend Sect disciples had only tickled him, and only made him look even more sinister.


    Even the Supreme Battle Sect youths were stunned silent. While they had the strongest bodies of the Four Great Sects, as they were the only body cultivation sect, none of them would dare to take a head on attack like that. If it were them, they would be severely injured, or even killed by allowing five attacks tond on them in such a manner.


    Their bodies allowed them incredible durability, but not to the level they had just witnessed.


    "Who are you?"


    The Bloodfiend Sect youth asked in a slightly trembling voice. He had a bad feeling about what was about to happen. The five regrouped together, to form the strongest battle formation they could.


    John ignored the question, and his scythe suddenly appeared in his hands. The scythe began to glow in an incredibly ominous red and ck color, and the power building up on it stunned all those present. His face paled slightly as he put his full essence power into this attack, unleashing it with the intent to kill.


    Divine Reaping Scythe!


    John unleashed his divine reaping scythe towards the group of five Bloodfiend Sect youths. He shed out horizontally, allowing the arcing scythe beam to slice at all of them at the same time. Although it was unrted to his Divine Reaping Scythe, John''s recent scythe insights elevated his scytheprehensions to a higher level, further increasing the power of his Divine Reaping Scythe.


    The power and sharpness of the attack instilled nothing but dread into the five, and they each readied their weapons in an attempt to stop the attack.


    "Block it together!"


    At the same time the attack approached from the front, several lightning nodes appeared in the air behind them.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Five Heavenly Lightning Domain attacks pierced from behind the group directly towards their backs. Each youth noticed the lightning attacks at thest moment, but were toote to stop it. John had prioritized speed instead of power for these domain attacks, and each reached the youths in an instant.


    "Gah!"


    Each youth cried out in pain, as the lightning attacks struck directly onto their backs. While the power of each attack was lessened to improve their speed, the destructive and annihtive property of the attacks, due to John''s Primordial Extermination Lightning technique, ravaged their body from within, slowing their movements greatly.


    Fighting against John and his Heavenly Lightning Domain, with his incredible control over lightning due to his Lightning Attribute Body and Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique, was like fighting multiple enemies at once.


    Normal Heavenly Lightning Domain users would have a short activation time for their domain, which would give it away. John however, was able to activate it in an instant, catching those unaware of such an ability by surprise.


    The slowed movements due to the lightning domain attacks was all John needed, as his Divine Reaping Scythe reached the youths.


    Che!


    A sharp slicing sound rang out, as the Divine Reaping Scythe attack collided with the Bloodfiend Sect youths. Each youth, powerless to stop it due to the rampaging lightning in their bodies, was cleanly sliced in half at the waist.


    "Gahhh!"


    Pained cries rang out again, as the now severed in half youths each copsed to the ground.


    "Gahhh!" The pained cries continued.


    "Shut up!" John replied in a cold tone as he slowly walked over to the youths. He arrived next to one of the youths, who was a boy with spiky red hair. Blood soaked the ground beneath him as he continued to cry out in pain.


    Che!


    His scythe de sliced out, cleanly severing the head of the boy and silencing his cries. He walked over to the next Bloodfiend Sect disciple, who was one of the two girls in the group. Her pained and fearful eyes looked up at John in a pleading manner as she cried out to him.


    "Please, no-"


    However, her cries were silenced as well as her head was cleanly severed from her body. John walked over to two of the other youths, doing the same to them. His cold and emotionless face while carrying out these acts chilled the watching crowd to their very core.


    Eventually, all that was remaining was the lead youth who had been talking the most. John walked slowly over to him, and looked down on him from above.


    Blood was flowing from the youths lips and severed waist, as he slowly began to have the life fade from his body. John''s cold eyes pierced into the boy''s very soul, and he knew pleading would do him no good.


    His fearful eyes turned to one''s of gloating, as he coughed up a message to John.


    "Heh, at least I...won''t beg for my...life...like a dog. Unlike...your friend...hehehe."


    John''s eyes turned even colder at hearing those words. He stared in silence at the boy for a moment before responding.


    "Russell would never beg for his life. He would have rather died than beg. But as for you, I''m afraid the same can''t be said."


    Che!


    John''s hand pierced forward into the boy''s abdomen, instantly crippling his dantian.


    "Gahhh!"


    The boy cried out once more in excruciating pain, and John quickly forced a healing pill down his throat. The boy''s bleeding quickly stabilized, and his previous smug expression was reced with one of misery and despair.


    John looked up towards the crowd, and his cold eyes chilled them once more.


    "None of you are to leave this spot. When I get back from dealing with him, I have some questions to ask you all. If anyone leaves, I''ll hunt you down and kill you myself," John said in an incredibly cold tone.


    His voice froze all those presentpletely stiff, and none doubted the authenticity of his threat.


    John looked back down towards the boy at his feet, and reached down to grab his arm. The crowd watched in silence as John dragged the boy into one of the nearby buildings.


    Pained cries echoed out loudly over the crowd for hours as they waited for John to return. After many many hours of this, the cries stopped, and silence descended over the area. John quickly left the building and returned to the crowd. He briefly stopped by each of the corpses and gathered them in his spatial realm, before walking directly to the crowd.


    He stopped several yards away from them, and stared at them for a moment. His terrifying aura had long since died down, but none in the crowd had forgotten it''s terrifying and sinister nature.


    "I already got the details from him, but I want to be sure they''re urate. Who saw what happened here before I arrived?" John asked.


    He wanted to get to the bottom of what had truly happened. His interrogations of the Bloodfiend Sect youths had revealed many things. He managed to get a description of what the Four Kings and Three Emperors looked like, as well as their names, although the youth didn''t know what battle arts they used.


    The youth also gave an exnation of what had happened in the fight with Russell, but John wanted to be sure of the details.


    The crowd remained silent for some time before a disciple of the Supreme Battle Sect stepped forward. The youth was the one who had spoken out earlier in protest, and was one of the only Half-Step Core Formation disciples present.


    John looked over to him and remained silent as he waited for an exnation.


    "I arrived just as the fight began to take ce. It urred only thirty minutes before you arrived. Although I''m not sure what started the fight, but the two were already arguing, and I saw your...fellow disciple unleash a powerful earth attack towards the Bloodfiend Sect opponent."


    The boy paused for a moment to gather his thoughts, before continuing.


    "His opponent was one of the Bloodfiend Sect''s Three Emperors, Damon, the Blood Emperor. Damon easily evaded all of your friends'' attacks, at which point he unleashed his own attacks andpletely overwhelmed your friend. Your friend was severely injured, and as ast resort took out a spatial talisman to leave the area¡­"


    The boy paused once more, causing John to frown slightly.


    "Continue," Johnmanded.


    "Just as your friend was about to crush the talisman, Damon used a strange technique,pletely freezing the movements of your friend. That short opening was all he needed tond the final blow," the Supreme Battle Sect youth replied.


    John listened in silence to the description of the fight. It matched what the Bloodfiend Sect youth had told him, and gave him a pretty clear picture of what had happened. John''s eyes turned towards Adam, who was standing to the side of the crowd.


    "Let''s go," John said to Adam, as he turned and began to walk deeper into the ancient city. His previous goal of exploring the city had been reced with a new one...eradicate the Bloodfiend Sect.

 Chapter 223 - Exploring The Ancient City

    The crowd watched in stunned silence as John and Adam walked off further into the city. No one said a word for quite some time, as they were still processing what they had just witnessed.


    John, as a Late Qi Condensation cultivator, had beaten four Late Qi Condensation and one Half-Step Core Formation cultivator in two moves. Such battle prowess was unheard of, and none of the disciples of the other sects had expected to see such a thing.


    The few Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples that were present knew of John''s incredible battle prowess, but didn''t know it was this great. Even they were stunned by his overwhelming disy, as well as his demeanor and sinister aura during that fight.


    "Who was that?" one Divine Soul Sect disciple could help but ask. They had addressed one of the nearby Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples.


    The disciple snapped out of their stupor, and looked towards the one who had just asked the question.


    "He''s John Fenix. Our number one first year Core Disciple," the youth responded absentmindedly.


    Heated discussions immediately broke out upon hearing this news, and the group of disciples quickly scattered in different directions. News of John''s actions spread like wildfire throughout the ancient city, reaching the ears of most disciples before long.


    ¡­


    John and Adam continued to walk deeper into the ancient city. It''s roads were incredibly wide, and every inch of them was lined by an ancient building. Many of the buildings towered high into the sky, although most had been worn down by the ravages of time.


    Streets winded every which way, making the city simr to a maze. It was incredibly easy to get lost inside this city.


    Eerily, all the roads in the city werepletely devoid of any left over items, and even the nearby buildings werepletely cleared out. Since John had spent quite a bit of time extracting information from the Bloodfiend Sect youth, he knew Damon was most likely far ahead in the city.


    With how the roads weaved about, finding him was going to depend on luck. However, John was sure that if he continued to venture deeper into the city''s center, he would eventually run into Damon.


    After John had calmed down slightly, he and Adam explored several of the buildings lining the roads. However, every building waspletely empty, with only dusty and ruined furniture remaining.


    There wasn''t a single item of value in any of the buildings, disappointing John and Adam.


    "I wonder what happened to this city. There are no signs of battle within this city, but it''spletely devoid of life, treasures, or anything of note. It''s quite eerie," Adam suddenly spoke up, looking to lighten the tension.


    "I''m not sure, but I''m sure it has something to do with that ancient battlefield we saw outside the city walls. Maybe those living in this city were forced to flee, and left nothing behind. Or maybe it waspletely piged of anything of value," John replied.


    Ancient zas continuously popped up, sporting majestic water fountains, grand statues, and other marvels. However, the wear and tear of time had reduced these wonders to near scrap.


    "This city must have been amazing back in the day," Adam stated in wonder as he looked around.


    Although the city was mostly destroyed, there were still hints of its former glory, stunning him. As a formations and weapons forging master, Adam appreciated any crafting art, building and status included. He could tell that the work and skill that went into creating this city must have been incredible, and was far beyond anything he had seen in his life so far.


    "I''m sure it was," John replied.


    He didn''t care much for the city, as his mind was focused elsewhere at the moment.


    While walking through the city, John and Adam asionally saw disciples from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, Divine Soul Sect, and Supreme Battle Sect. They had taken quite a few detours in getting to this city, and so they were hardly the first to arrive. Quite a few had been inside the city for days already, and were exploring it as thoroughly as they could.


    However, with the size of the ancient city, even all the disciples in the mysterious wastndsbined still wouldn''t be able to explore everything in less than a year. The city spanned over a hundred miles in each direction, and contained countless buildings.


    "Hmm? What''s that?" Adam suddenlymented as his eyes stared into the distance.


    John looked over to where Adam was pointing, and quickly spotted what he was talking about. An ancient building white and gold building appeared before them, and unlike the others, this one was in perfect condition. Its exterior designs and craftsmanship was exquisite, making the building appear even more impressive than the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    It was smooth and circr, appearing as if it was arge pole stuck into the ground. Windows lined the building every dozen yards, revealing that the building had hundreds and hundreds of floors within. The building narrowed as it rose upwards, and it pierced high into the clouds above.


    A small crowd had gathered at the base of the building in front of the main entrance, also seemingly interested in it.


    "Let''s check it out," Adam said as he began to stride towards the crowd.


    John didn''t much care about the building, but any crowd had the potential to contain Bloodfiend Sect members. If he found any, John was going to kill them on the spot. As far as he was concerned, the entire sect had been marked for death.


    It had first targeted his n, and his n would have been annihted had it not been for him obtaining the support of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. After he thought everything was resolved, one of the disciples had killed Russell. John would never forgive them.


    John and Adam quickly reached the crowd of youths, and disappointment appeared on John''s face as he noticed no Bloodfiend Sect members.


    "What''s going on?" Adam asked a nearby youth, wondering why they were not entering the building.


    The youth, a boy from the Divine Soul Sect, turned to Adam and inspected him briefly before responding.


    "This building seems to be much more impressive than the others, so we came to see what potentially lies inside. However, there''s an incredibly strong formation surrounding the building, and none of us can get in," the boy responded.


    "A formation?" the word instantly piqued Adams interest, and the stepped forward to inspect the formation.


    As soon as he came within a few feet of it, Adam could feel the power of the formation. It was not an offensive formation, but a pure defensive one. He studied it for some time, and even sent out some probing attacks, but was unable to shake it at all.


    He returned to John, with both disappointment and wonder on his face.


    "This ancient formation is incredible. Despite existing for who knows how long, its still incredibly strong. I estimate that it would take at least a Heaven Tribtion expert to pierce its defenses, if not someone stronger," Adam exined to John.


    John frowned as he stared at the formation, before he quickly turned around and began to walk deeper into the city.


    "Hey, we''re leaving just like that?" Adam cried out from behind as he quickly caught up to John.


    John continued to look forward, as if he was slightly distracted, while replying to Adam.


    "You said it was imprable, so there''s no point in wasting any time here," John replied.


    Adam wanted to argue against that, but decided against it. What John had said made sense, and despite the fact that he could potentially draw insights from studying the formation, doing so was much less intriguing than continuing to explore the city.


    The two of them continued to walk for some time, and Adam became more and more confused by John''s choice of direction. He would weave down random streets, seemingly taking them to more and more isted ces. The two eventually arrived in arge abandoned courtyard.


    Ancient statues, mostly crumbled, dotted the courtyard, and arge but dried out water fountain existed at its very center. John suddenly stopped, surprising Adam slightly. He was about to ask what was going on, when he noticed John''s face had be cold and ruthless, quite simr to the day before.


    "Stop ying these games ande out of the shadows, or I''ll drag you out myself," John suddenly said out loud, surprising Adam once more.


    "Oh? You actually managed to detect me?" a voice sounded out from a distance. A shadowed figure stepped out from behind a building, soon revealing his features to John and Adam.


    John''s eyes narrowed as he stared at the figure, but his emotionless face revealed hisck of surprise at who it was.


    "Hunter?" Adam asked in confusion. He couldn''t understand why Hunter was stalking them from the shadows.


    "Oh? You''re not going to run this time?" Hunter asked in an amused smile as he slowly walked towards John.


    John stood there without a hint of retreat, surprising Hunter greatly. He thought he was going to have to chase him down once more, and was waiting for an opportunity to strike with a sure chance of sess.


    John''s face remained expressionless as he stared back at Hunter. However, his anger was building up once more, and he was ready to explode at a moment''s notice.


    "You don''t have to worry about me running this time," John replied in a cold tone. "I''m not sure why you''re targeting me, but I''ll make sure it''s a choice you''ll regret for the remainder of your short life."

 Chapter 224 - Fighting Hunter

    "Hahaha," Hunter immediately broke out intoughter upon hearing those words.


    "That''s quite a bold statementing from someone who ran for his life just a few weeks ago," Hunter replied with sarcasm once he contained hisughter.


    John felt that strange sensationst time when he had run from Hunter, and refused to do so again. He had also raised his body cultivation to the Late Qi Condensation Realm now, and was much more confident in fighting against Hunter. Not only that, but he had recently absorbed the blood essence of the five Bloodfiend Sect youths, which had pushed his body to the peak of the Late Qi Condensation Realm.


    His body power was overwhelmingpared to when he first entered the wastnds and ran from Hunter.


    Adam looked between John and Hunter in a confused manner. While he had put some pieces together from their short dialogue, he was still in the dark as to what exactly was going on.


    "John, what exactly is going on?" Adam asked in a confused and concerned manner. He could tell that the situation was not good.


    John nced sideways at Adam before looking back at Hunter. His calm eyes rxed Adam''s taught nerves somewhat.


    "Although I don''t know why, Hunter has been targeting me since the start of entering thesends, isn''t that right?"


    An amused smile appeared on Hunter''s face once more.


    "That''s right. You have something that I want, and I''ll be taking it from you today," Hunter replied.


    "And what is it that I have that you want?" John asked, looking for rification. He really didn''t know what Hunter was looking to steal from him.


    "You don''t need to worry about that," Hunter replied as he took out his weapon. It was a lustrous silver colored sword, with fantastic designs on the de and gold hilt.


    "Aren''t you afraid that we''ll just use our spatial talismans and leave this ce, and then let the Elders know about what you''ve done?" John asked in a slightly confused manner.


    It was a gaping w in Hunter''s n, and John did not know why he didn''t care about it.


    Hunter scoffed before replying. "Do you really think I didn''t think about that? Who do you think created those talismans? My master, that''s who. He''s one of our sect''s leading talisman forgers, and made the talisman you hold...He also gave me this!"


    An item suddenly appeared in Hunter''s hands. He sent Qi into it, and the item red outwards as it unleashed a special aura. John felt the aura wash over him, and it continued to linger in the surrounding space.


    "This item specifically counters the spatial fluctuations of the talisman you hold, so you won''t be going anywhere," Hunter stated with a confident grin on his face. He was staring at John as if he was prey.


    John nodded his head in understanding. "Ah, so that''s why. Truly, not a bad n. However, you need the appropriate strength to carry it out."


    "I heard about your little disy of power at the entrance to this city, which is what allowed me to track you down. Not bad, defeating those opponents at your realm. But if you think that''s enough to beat me, then you''re far dumber than you look," Hunter replied once more.


    John''s scythe suddenly appeared in his hands, and he turned to look at the nearby Adam.


    "Leave this area for now, as it''s about to get quite chaotic. I don''t want you getting caught up in our attacks."


    Adam nodded his head and began to leave. Being a formations master, his expertise was not in direct fighting. He turned around and began to leave.


    "You won''t be leaving either," Hunter confidently stated as he pointed out his sword at Adam. He would not allow either of them to leave, as he could not leave any witnesses alive.


    An incredibly powerful lightning attack shot straight out of his sword, piercing directly towards Adam''s unprotected back.


    Boom!


    The lightning exploded outwards, revealing a figure after the explosion faded. John stood there with a look of growing anger on his face as he lowered his scythe once more. He had been ready for such an attack, and had acted the instant Hunter attacked.


    "That attack truly was meant to take his life, in that case..." John stated with a calm voice, although his rage was growing like an inferno internally.


    Despite being from the same sect, Hunter truly wished to kill both of them. Now he had no reservations about reaping Hunter''s life. Hunter was surprised that John had moved quick enough to block the attack, but wasn''t too concerned. Even if Adam did escape, no one would believe his words over those of a direct disciple.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    John instantly activated two of his strongest techniques. Hunter''s cultivation was in the Early Core Formation Realm, a major realm higher than John''s own cultivation. While strength roughly doubled between minor realms, the jump in power between major realms was nearly four times that.


    Fighting Hunter was equivalent to jumping two minor realms, and so John would need to put his full power into this fight.


    Lightning nodes instantly appeared in the air, surround both John and Hunter. Hunter scoffed at the disy.


    "Do you think you''re the only one who knows this technique?"


    More lightning nodes instantly appeared in the air around the two of them. The number of nodes from Hunter was more numerous than John''s, due to him practicing the Core Formation version of the technique.


    However, John wasn''t concerned about the quantity or power of the nodes, but the speed at which they were established. Slight surprise appeared on his face as he looked at Hunter.


    "You have a Lightning Attribute Body?" John asked.


    The speed at which Hunter would establish the domain nearly rivaled his. Although it was a little bit slower, it was still much faster than the average lightning user.


    "Hahah, I do. Are you scared now?" Hunter asked in an amused tone.


    John''s surprise soon turned into arge smile.


    ''I wonder what would happen if I absorb the blood essence of someone with a Lightning Attribute Body. I can''t wait to find out.


    Excited by the prospect of absorbing Hunter''s unique blood essence, John instantly pointed his finger outwards.


    Lightning Ruin!


    A burst of lightning pierced directly towards Hunter, while a beam of lightning from the domain attacked from behind. Hunter scoffed as he noticed both attacks. He pointed his finger outwards as well, and lightning soon exploded from it in a simr manner to John''s.


    Boom! Boom!


    Both Lightning Ruins collided, neutralizing each other, while the domain attack from John was neutralized by Hunter''s own domain attack. Surprise washed over Hunter''s face, and his once humorous expression turned slightly serious.


    Despite having a much higher cultivation than John, their power in lightning based attacks was even. The only exnation for this was that John was more talented than himself, and that his Lightning Attribute Body was of an even higher grade than his own. Envy and Jealousy washed over Hunter at this realization.


    His desire to obtain John''s corpse intensified further.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The two exchanged lightning attacks repeatedly. The nearby buildings shook from the powerful shockwaves, and the za was half destroyed by the explosions. Lightning radiated everywhere as the techniques collided, and neither one was able to win out on the other.


    Bang! Bang!


    Eventually, the lightning attacks from both John and Hunter managed tond on each other, sending both flying backwards. Lightning coursed over John''s skin and into his body from Hunters Lightning Ruin. The lightning runes on his body quickly red up, and he instantly repressed the rampaging lighting. With his incredibly high grade Lightning Attribute Body due to the Celestial Lightning Script, John could essentially ignore lightning damage. Unless it was from an overwhelmingly powerful source, John was pretty much impervious to lightning damage.


    "Pathetic," John barked out as he quickly repressed the lightning.


    Hunter, on the other hand, was still struggling slightly against John''s lighting. The destructive nature of the lightning, due to the Primordial Extermination Lightning technique, shocked Hunter greatly.


    He grit his teeth as he finally neutralized it, although it had done some damage to his body.


    "Impossible, how can an ant like you have such powerful lightning," Hunter shouted out in protest. He had never seen anything like it before.


    "Does it matter? Now taste this ''ant''s'' power," John replied as he sent out another Lightning Ruin. He put even more power into the attack this time, and was unleashing it at full power.


    "Hmph, don''t get too cocky yet," Hunter shouted out as he sent out his own Lightning Ruin once more.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The za continued to shudder from the force of the explosions, as both sides sought to overwhelm the other with pure lightning power. However, despite Hunter''s best efforts, he was unable to overwhelm John with his lightning power, shocking him greatly. John was jumping major realms in this fight, which waspletely unheard of.


    Boom!


    The earth behind John suddenly shattered as he dashed forward with his full body power, seeking to close the gap between the two of them. With his powerful body, he held the advantage in close quartersbat. John reached Hunter in an instant and shed out his scythe.


    Peng!


    A confident expression appeared on Hunter''s face as he shed his own sword out. He might be inferior in terms of lightning talent, but he refused to lose out in weapon talent and overall cultivation power.


    Sword and scythe collided, and a look of surprise appeared on Hunter''s face as he was sent flying backwards like a broken kite.


    Bang!


    His body mmed into a nearby building, rebounding off the hard surface violently. The sounds of bones creaking echoed out, as Hunter fell to the ground below.


    "Idiot," John muttered as he dashed forward once more. If Hunter had done just a bit of research, he would have known that John was a body cultivator as well.


    Hunter quickly stood up and wiped the blood from his lips as he noticed the fast approaching John. He realized John was an incredibly bad matchup for him, as most of his power stemmed from lightning attacks. John''s body was clearly able to ignore the damage from such attacks, effectively cutting Hunter''s power in half.


    A determined look appeared on Hunter''s face as he jumped up into the air before John reached him. John suddenly paused as he watched Hunter jump up, at which point his body remained in the sky.


    John frowned as he looked at Hunter. Once a cultivator reached the Core Formation Realm, the energy output from their core dantian allowed them to fly. While those in the Early Core Formation Realm were only able to stand in the sky and not achieve true flight yet, it was still enough to obtain a massive battle advantage.


    "If Lightning won''t work on you, then I''ll just have to resort to other means," Hunter said in a vicious voice as an item suddenly appeared in his hands. It was a banner, containing fantastical runes, as well as ancient words written on the surface.


    John''s eyes narrowed as he recognized the ancient words, which was the same as thenguage of the Divine Reaping Scythe page, as well as the Celestial Lightning Script and Immortal Asura Tome book.


    ''Soul Stealing Banner?''

 Chapter 225 - Soul Stealing Banner

    John read the title, and got an ominous feeling from it. As soon as Hunter took it out, a dark and malevolent aura emanated from it. Ethereal spirit forms could be seen attempting to leave the banner, as if it was trapping them inside.


    Hunter had personally killed the owners of these souls and harvested their souls in the banner, turning them into vengeful spirits. Although he didn''t know how the banner truly worked, he knew it was an immensely powerful ancient item. Not even his master knew he had this banner, and he kept it as his ultimate trump card.


    "I found this item a few years ago in a mysterious ce that I stumbled upon, as well as a cultivation technique in which I can absorb your Lightning Attribute Body to raise the talent of my own. You''re one of the first to see me use it." Hunter stated as he stared at John with vicious eyes. "I can only use less than one percent of this banner''s full power, but its more than enough to deal with you."


    As soon as he finished speaking, Hunter activated his Soul Stealing Banner. Hundreds of malevolent spirits instantly dashed out of the banner, piercing straight towards John. John shed out his scythe to destroy them, but the spirits pierced straight through his body, and into his soul space, as they were incorporeal soul forms.


    The moment they arrived, John felt his soul cry out in pain as it surged out in power to defend against it. It felt as if a thousand needles were stabbing into his soul. John grit his teeth as he red his soul power out fully, defending against the malevolent spirits with all his might.


    His soul was much stronger than the average cultivator, but whenpared to his essence power and body power, it was still the weakest aspect of his cultivation.


    The malevolent spirits constantly collided with his soul defenses, slowly whittling it down. If they managed to break through his soul defenses and pierce his soul space, John would instantly die. John''s face remained struggling as he fought against them.


    The banner, being an ancient weapon of untold power, was so powerful that most cultivators would be overwhelmed by it, even those from the Divine Soul Sect. Only the strongest of soul cultivators would be able to resist it.


    John could feel the banner tug on his soul as the vengeful spirits weakened his defenses. Clearly it was looking to absorb his soul and add it to its collection. While struggling against the spirits, he looked to see if Hunter was taking any additional actions. However, Hunter''s face was red and full of exertion, clearly struggling to utilize the banner.


    Primordial Extermination Lightning!


    John had no idea if the vengeful spirits could be harmed by lightning, but he tried it anyway. Lightning red from within his body to his soul space, rampage about. It struck onto the soul form of the first vengeful spirit, which caused the spirit to screech out in pain.


    Screech!


    John''s eyes lit up as he realized his lightning was effective against the spirits. He immediately sent out more lightning, which pierced through several of the malevolent spirits. However, as many as he killed, that many woulde out of the banner once more, replenishing their numbers.


    It became a stalemate between who would run out of energy first, John''s soul power, or Hunter''s essence Qi powering the banner.


    Hunter''s exerted face turned into one of frustration and anger as he watched John struggle against the malevolent spirits. He had expected the power of the spirits to overwhelm John quickly, but he was resisting thempletely at the moment, revealing the shocking strength of his soul.


    "What the fuck. How does he have such a strong soul?" Hunter grunted out through gritted teeth as he sent more of his essence Qi into the banner. The number of malevolent spirits he had inside the banner was limited, as he had to kill and harvest a soul from a cultivator to form a malevolent spirit.


    The more spirits that died, the weaker his banner would be, and the more work he would have to put in to raise its power once more.


    ''With how strong my soul is, I should be able to oust his essence Qi expenditure, as I''m sure that banner uses a lot of it. But I''d rather not go down that route.''


    Through the incredible soul pain John felt, his eyes brightened, and he suddenly raised his scythe and sent out a scythe Qi attack towards Hunter.


    Che!


    "Hmph," Hunter scoffed at such an attack. While it would injure him if itnded, it was trivial to dodge, even in his current state.


    The scythe attack sliced right past Hunter, sailing off into the far distance.


    "Haha, that''s right. Struggle for me," Hunter barked out as he raised the power of the Soul Stealing Banner once more, seeking to end John once and for all.


    "Idiot," John replied, as a small smile suddenly appeared on his face.


    The smile sent off bells in Hunter''s head, however.


    "Eat shit, asshole!"


    Boooom!


    An item suddenly collided against Hunter''s back, sending him flying into a nearby building and knocking him out of the sky. Hunter''s body rebounded off the building, and fell to the ground below.


    Boom!


    Dirt and dust kicked up from his violentnding on the earth below. John quickly eradicated the remaining malevolent spirits due to Hunter no longer controlling the banner, before he quickly dashed over to where Hunter was.


    After a brief period of recovery, Hunter quickly jumped onto his feet, his face full of rage. He had no idea what had hit him, but it was strong enough to knock him out of the sky.


    "Die!" Hunter yelled out at the top of his lungs, full of rage.


    "Soul Stealing Bann- What?"


    Confusion filled Hunter''s face as he raised his Soul Sealing Banner to utilize it on both John and the one who had just struck him. Instead of his Qi going into the Soul Stealing Banner, it was leaving his body out of his back, shocking him greatly.


    "What the fuck is going on?" Hunter yelled out in confusion. Without being able to use Qi, he was useless.


    Bang!


    John''s fist struck into Hunter''s ribcage, using the moment of his confusion against him. The sounds of cracking bones rang out as Hunter violently flew back like a broken kite, once again mming into a nearby ancient building.


    "Gah!"


    Hunter cried out in pain from John''s punch, as well as mming into the building, before he copsed on the ground.


    John turned from looking at Hunter to the one who had surprised attacked him.


    "Not bad, what did you do?" John asked as he stared at the approaching Adam.


    While he still believed he would have won the fight in the end without help, John was not upset to see Adam lend a helping hand.


    Adam approached John with arge, proud smile on his face. His chest was puffed out, and each stride was as if he was a king walking on an undeserving ground.


    "Not bad? That was the most amazing attack you''ve ever seen in your life," Adam rebuked as he reached John.


    He looked over to Hunter, who was struggling to stand up from the ground. His prideful face became even more prideful.


    "That was my new ultimate move, the Fuck You Formation," Adam replied. The name caused John''s face to turn into one of disbelief, as he asked Adam to repeat himself.


    "Uhhh, what did you say?"


    Adam smoothed back his hair, as he once again assumed his prideful stance.


    "I''ve decided, from here on out, my ultimate formation will always be called the Fuck You Formation. And I just used that formation on Hunter," Adam replied with a serious voice.


    John stood there in disbelief, not sure whether Adam was joking with him or being serious.


    "And...why is it called that?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    "Because...if I''m using my ultimate formation against someone, then clearly I have a grudge against them...so...fuck them," Adam replied without a hint of shame.


    After a moment of stunned silence, John suddenly broke out inughter. Hisughter continued on for quite some time, and his stomach began to slightly hurt from it. He knew Adam was a unique character, but this was too much.


    Afterposing himself, John patted Adam on the back in an approving manner.


    ''Whatever you call it, it worked quite well. Does this formation use the disk I gave you?" John asked curiously.


    Even after all this time, Hunter was struggling against it, showing just how potent it was.


    "Mhm," Adam replied. "Using the formation disk as the core, I''ve created a formation that attaches to one''s body and forcefully drains their Qi. It''s not perfected yet, but it was enough for this fight. Hunter waspletely distracted by you, and so I had no problemnding a clean blow with it."


    John was both surprised that Adam had figured out the ancient formation disk this quick, as well as a way to utilize it. While it was quite a rough method of use, its potency was undeniable.


    "The only weakness to this formation is it''s hard to get attached to someone. However, Hunter waspletely upied by you, so it was quite easy," Adam rified once more.


    John nodded his head and gave Adam onest pat on the shoulders. His eyes looked back towards Hunter, who was still struggling to remove the formation. However, it clung to him like glue, frustrating him greatly. Without removing the disk, Hunter''s Qi output for his attacks would be halved, and if not removed quick enough, his Qi would be drained fully eventually.


    John began to stride towards Hunter with Adam in tow. He stopped several yards from him, and peered down with cold and merciless eyes.


    "Do you have anyst words?" John asked in a cold tone.


    Hunter looked back up to John, his face full of rage. He had been so confident in obtaining John''s corpse and with it, upgrading his own body. But nothing had gone ording to n.


    "This isn''t over yet. Once you return to the sect, I''ll make sure you die," Hunter replied in a cold tone as he suddenly took out his spatial talisman.


    John was ready for such a thing, and instantly sent out a Lightning Ruin to pierce the talisman, destroying itpletely. However, to both John and Adam''splete surprise, John''s Lightning Ruin stopped halfway to Hunter, freezing in the air.


    Hunter didn''t know what happened, but he utilized this opportunity to crush the talisman. His body was wrapped in spatial fluctuations, and disappearedpletely from sight.


    John''s confusion soon turned to anger as he suddenly looked upwards, peering up into the sky above. A girl was floating there, her hand slightly raised as she looked down at John at Adam.

 Chapter 226 - Mysterious Girl

    Despite hovering over them a few dozen yards away, John had been unable to detect the girl. Only when she revealed her presence did he detect her, shocking him greatly. John''s instincts were incredibly refined, and someone sneaking up on him in such a manner was a shocking disy of talent.


    John tried to inspect her cultivation level, but was surprised to find he was unable to do so. Despite his best efforts, her cultivation level was hidden away behind a shroud, one he was unable to pierce with his divine sense.


    However, the fact that she could fly signified that she was at least in the Core Formation Realm.


    After failing to identify her cultivation level, John looked upwards to her face. His eyes met her eyes, and his heart stopped for a second. Herrge, gentle eyes were the clearest color of blue he had ever seen, and seemed to pierce directly into the very core of his soul.


    Her long hair, a deepvender, fell down to her waist behind her, and billowed gently in the breeze. Her frame was petite but showing signs of growing, revealing her age to be around fourteen years old. She wore a luxuriousvender veil, covering the lower half of her face, as well as a beautiful white dress.


    Despite the veil, John was stunned silent by her beauty. He knew that she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen, even without seeing the lower half of her face. His anger at her letting Hunter escape had subsided, and was reced with stunned silence.


    "Friends," the girl suddenly spoke up, her voice like soft silk. "You two were from the same sect, why were you trying to ki-"


    Che!


    A powerful scythe image suddenly pierced directly towards the girl, interrupting her words halfway through. Surprise filled the girl''s eyes as the attack reached her, and she quickly waved her hand at the scythe image.


    The scythe image froze in the air directly in front of her, as if it was suspended in time.


    Che!


    Another scythe image, more powerful than the first, pierced directly towards her. It contained the power of the Divine Reaping Scythe, and was John''s most powerful scythe attack. The surprised expression on the girl''s face quickly turned to frustration as she once again waved her hand at the approaching attack.


    However, the frustration on her face once again turned into surprise as she realized she was unable to stop this scythe attack from John, and was only able to slow it down. While it was not more powerful than she could handle, the profundity of the technique pierced right through her ability to stop it.


    Che!


    The girl dodged the attack at thest moment, and the scythe imagended on a building behind her.


    Boom!


    The ancient building, long having lost its strength, was pierced directly through by the attack. Parts of the building began to crumble, and before long, it all came toppling down to the ground.


    John and the mysterious girl stared at each other in silence as the deafening echoes of the rubble falling to the ground filled the area.


    "Do not use a bewitching soul art on me, witch," John suddenly eximed as the sound of the copsing building began to fade.


    He had initially thought the girl''s beauty was real, but came to his senses quickly. He had never seen anyone this beautiful in his life, and had never experienced beauty that could overwhelm his senses the way she did. In his mind, such a thing could only be due to a bewitching soul art.


    "Soul Art?" the girl asked in slight confusion, not knowing what John was talking about


    However, understanding soon came to her, and a small and soft giggle escaped her lips for a moment.


    Even herughter was mesmerizing, and Adam was still stunned silent by her beauty and voice. He stood there like a babbling idiot, unaware of how stupid he looked at the moment.


    John frowned once more at the girl''sughter, as it seemed to want to put him into a state of tranquility and ease, and quickly sent out another powerful scythe image towards the girl.


    Che!


    The scythe image pierced directly towards the girl once more. The girl had be ustomed to John''s antics, and gracefully dodged the attack. John once again raised his scythe, and prepared to power his body to its full battle state.


    "Friend, wait," the girl spoke out once more.


    John raised his soul defenses to its maximum, seeking to resist her soul arts. However, he was surprised to find that regardless of his soul defense, he was unable to see through the girl''s soul art. This left him with two conclusions.


    ''Either her soul art is so powerful that I am unable to see through it, or...she''s not using a soul art at all.''


    If the first case was true, then John knew the girl would be able to overwhelm him despite his best efforts. If the second case was true, then she was not trying to bewitch him. Either way, John realized that attacking her was no longer the best action.


    John slowly lowered his scythe, and stared at the girl in silence. The girl breathed a sigh of relief, before once again speaking out to John.


    "Are you done attacking me?" The girl asked in a calm but amused voice, as if John''s actions were quite entertaining.


    John remained silent for a moment before responding.


    "Why did you stop my attack earlier. What was your intention in helping Hunter escape?"


    "I have no rtions with this Hunter you speak of, but I did notice that you three all belong to the same sect. I happened upon this ce after hearing the loud battle sounds, and arrived just as you were about to kill him. Is your enmity so great that you cannot spare his life?" The girl asked with a gentle voice.


    John was ready to hear some good reason for her previous actions, but after hearing her exnation, anger once more filled his body.


    "That''s it? That''s why you interfered?" John asked in an ever louder voice.


    Anger filled his eyes as he looked directly at the girl.


    "That boy you saved tried to kill me twice now, and even tried to kill my friend. We had done nothing to provoke him, but he still hunted us down. And you want me to spare him?" John''s voice trembled in rage.


    The girl stood there in silence for a moment, as if she was thinking about how to word her next response.


    "I apologize for my actions," the girl suddenly replied with a slightly guilty tone. "When I arrived, your...unique aura... made me think that you were the aggressor in the fight. I had done what I thought was right at the time."


    John''s growing anger began to fade upon hearing the girl''s apology. With the sinister nature of his Immortal Asura Body Qi, John could understand how she had figured him to be the evil one between him and Hunter.


    "Apologies won''t solve anything though. Now I have to deal with this headache when I return to my sect, thanks to you," John replied in a still cold tone.


    Even if the girl was mistaken in her actions, John still had to deal with Hunter when he returned to the sect, as well as Hunter''s Heaven Tribtion master.


    A guilty expression appeared on the girl''s face, and an item suddenly appeared in her hands. John''s eyes warily locked onto the item, but he quickly recognized it as a medicinal pill. A potent vibrancy emanated from the pill, revealing it to be an incredible pill.


    "This is a Core Foundation Pill. Not only will it allow you to break through to the Core Formation Realm, it will also help your dantian establish a very firm foundation when breaking through. Please ept it as a token of my apology."


    The pill slowly floated from the girl''s hands over to John, and hovered in front of him. John inspected the pill closely, making sure it was not a trap. His actions amused the girl once more, as she had never seen anyone act this way around her.


    After confirming that the pill was safe, John reached out and grabbed it. Despite only holding it in his hands, John could feel an incredible vibrancy emanate from the pill. It was far more profound and valuable than any pill he had seen before, excluding the Heaven Ascension Pill given to Elder Ragur.


    John put away the pill, and looked back to the girl still hovering in the sky. The two stared at each other in silence for some time before John turned to look at the nearby Adam. Adam was still standing there with an open mouth and dazed expression, making him look quite stupid.


    John shook his head in disapproval, disappointed that Adam would allow himself to be overwhelmed by the girl''s beauty in such a manner. While she was undoubtedly the most beautiful girl John had ever seen, he still expected Adam to control himself a bit more.


    p!


    A hand suddenly pped Adam''s face, startling him out of his dazed stupor.


    "What was that for?" Adam suddenly eximed.


    "We''re leaving, let''s go," John stated to Adam as he began to walk away.


    While the girl did allow Hunter to live, she had admitted her fault in the situation and even gifted John with an incredibly valuable pill. As far as he was concerned, the te had been wiped clean. Also, despite him being unable to see through her cultivation, John was sure that the girls power was beyond his ability to fight against.


    He had no idea who this girl was, but she didn''t fit the description of the Three Emperors, the Soul Sage, or anyone from the Supreme Battle Sect. John was curious as to her origins, but knew she would reveal nothing even if he asked.


    "Oh," Adam replied, before following John.


    "Wait," the girl''s voice sounded out from behind.


    John turned and stared at the girl. "What?"


    "What is your name?" the girl asked in a friendly tone.


    John paused for a moment before responding.


    "John."


    He stared at the girl for onest moment before turning back around and continuing to walk off. John and Adam quickly left the area, venturing deeper into the ancient city. The girl stood there in silence watching the two of them leave, before she suddenly vanished from sight.

 Chapter 227 - Core Formation Realm

    "Who do you think that was?" Adam asked in a still dazed tone. He was still recovering from being stunned by the mysterious girl''s beauty and aura.


    "No idea, but I don''t think she belongs to any of the Four Great Sects. She doesn''t match the description of any of the Four Great Sect''s powerful cultivators, and I have a feeling that she might be even stronger than any of them," John replied.


    The girl had easily stopped his attacks in midair, as if she was freezing them in time. Only his Divine Reaping Scythe was able to pierce her defenses, but even then, she was able to slow it down and easily dodge it. John was sure that none of the Four Great Sect disciples were capable of doing such a thing, at least not to the level that girl had shown.


    However, she had shown no Ill will towards John, and so he decided to ignore her.


    "Let''s stop here," John suddenly said as he turned to enter a nearby building.


    The building was dpidated and half ruined, but would serve as a sufficient shelter in the meantime. John and Adam entered the building, and just like all the others, it was mostly empty except for ruined furniture.


    John made sure the area was clear before he sat down on the ground.


    "Make yourself busy for now. I''m going to be cultivating in the meantime," John said to Adam as he sat down. The pill the girl had given him appeared in his hands, glowing with a golden luster.


    The potency of the pill still shocked John, as he was sure even his sect did not have such a high quality pill for Qi Condensation Cultivators to use. He sent his divine sense into the pill once more, thoroughly inspecting it and making sure that there was nothing wrong with it.


    John confirmed that the pill was safe to consume, and calmed his mind as he entered a meditative state. His essence dantian was brimming with energy, ready to break through to the next realm. His liquid Qi had congealed into such a dense state that it was almost solid, but it was still a bit shy of the energy required to break through. The pill was exactly what he needed at the moment.


    His multitude of recent battles had increased hisprehensions regarding his essence Qi to a level that a bottleneck would not be an issue.


    John popped the pill in his mouth and swallowed it. The moment the pill hit his stomach, an incredibly potent and vibrant energy spread all throughout his body. John focused his mind on the task ahead, and began to guide the rampaging energy back towards his dantian.


    While the energy spreading throughout his body would help it level up a bit, that was mostly a waste, as it was best served entering the dantian and pushing it through to the Core Formation Realm.


    Vibrant pill Qi continued to spread into his body from the dissolving pill, at which point John utilized his own Qi to guide the pill''s energy towards his dantian. Slowly but surely, the pill Qi entered his own dantian, rapidly growing it in size.


    His dantian started out the size of arge marble, but quickly kept expanding, nearly reaching the size of an apple.


    Boom!


    John sent a wave of his own Qi to surround and crush against his dantian,pressing it into a smaller size. His dantian waspressed to the size of arge marble again, and John could feel the density of his dantian thicken. John could also feel an incredibly profound medicinal property within the pills Qi remove any impurities from his dantian, strengthening his foundation to an incredible degree.


    ''Again!''


    The pills vibrant Qi was once again guided from his body into his dantian, growing it to arger size once more.


    Boom!


    John used the full power of his own Qi topress his dantian back down to its original size. This time, thepression took more energy and was harder toplete, but John was once again able to sessfullypress it.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Muffled booms continued to ring out within John''s body, stunning Adam senseless.


    "He''s already on his eighth dantianpression. Just how much of a monster is he?" Adam mumbled out loud as he watched John in an awestruck manner.


    When ascending to the Core Formation Realm, the cultivator would have to use their Qi topress their dantian, eventuallypressing the dantian from a thick liquid state into a solid core.


    The morepressions that took ce, the more solid the core would be, and the firmer its foundation would be. With a more solid and firm dantian core, a cultivator could unleash more powerful Qi with a higher quality than those with lesspressions.


    Establishing a firm and potent dantian core was an incredibly important step in cultivation, and was considered the first real test of cultivation talent. Only those whopressed their dantian''s enough times would be able to stand at the peak of the cultivation world.


    Compression count was based on one factor, the talent of the cultivator. The amount of Qi a cultivator had, as well as its quality and power forpressing the dantian were both based on the talent of the cultivator.


    While having an incredible pill like the Core Foundation Pill helped slightly, it was ultimately up to the cultivator themselves to utilize the pill to its full effect.


    If an average cultivator consumed the pill, they would still run out of Qi quite quickly, only achieving a fewpressions despite the amazing qualities of the pill.


    It was typically regarded that an average cultivator could achieve one to twopressions before they reached their limit, either running out of Qi, or not having powerful enough Qi to continue thepressions. Above average cultivators reached three to fourpressions, while incredibly gifted cultivators reached five to sixpressions.


    From what Adam knew, absolute geniuses that stood at the peak of the cultivation world reached seven or eightpressions, while heavenly prodigies reached nine or tenpressions. Adam had never heard of anyone getting nine or tenpressions, as it was generally believed to be the limit. However, there were some legends of amazing cultivators in the distant past achieving such goals, and each one became a hegemon of the cultivation world.


    John''s foundation was incredibly solid, due to the valuable pills he had eaten so far, the Primordial Extermination Lightning Cultivation technique raising his dantian to a new level of profundity, as well as the Undying Vitality Fruit he had consumed.


    Not only that, but John''s natural cultivation talent was also immense, as was revealed during the Mist Creation Tournament. Despite not having eaten any valuable pills or the Undying Vitality Fruit yet, John showed an essence power above some of the higher cultivation youths, a feat which waspletely shocking.


    Boom!


    A ninthpression sounded out from John''s body, once again shocking Adam senseless.


    "Nine, just what¡­" Adam couldn''t even finish his sentence, as he was stunnedpletely silent.


    Silence filled the room for quite some time as Adam studied John closely. John was gritting his teeth from the exertion of all thosepressions, and sweat had drenched his robespletely.


    John''s face was quite pale, showing that he was reaching the end of his limits. After recovering his breath, John grit his teeth incredibly hard and surged forward for thest hurdle. Hisst remaining essence Qi exploded outwards, pressing against the expanding dantian core.


    The struggle continued for quite some time, as John gave it his all topress the dantian onest time. Adam held his breath during the process, as he noticed John was at thest stage of his internal fight.


    Eachpression took more energy than thest, making each step forward incredibly difficult.


    ''One¡­.more¡­..time!''


    John pushed out everyst bit of essence Qi towards his dantian in one final bid topress it. His Qi mmed against his core, pressing against it with all his might.


    Suddenly...


    Boom!


    A muffled echo sounded out within John''s body onest time, as Johnpletely ran out of essence Qi. His breathing was heavy, and his facepletely drenched in sweat.


    Adam''s expression waspletely stunned, as he struggled toprehend what he had just witnessed. He knew John was talented, but ten dantianpressions was almost unheard of. In fact, Adam had never heard of anyone aplishing it, and it was mostly relegated to the realm of myths.


    "T-Tenpressions. What..." Adam mumbled out loud, unable to control himself. He took quite some time to gather his wits, at which point arge smile broke out on his face. He stood up quickly and began to stride over to John.


    "Congrat-" He called out, but quickly became silent as he noticed something was off.


    John waspletely out of essence Qi, but was still seated in a meditative position with his eyes closed.


    "What...what is he doi-"


    Boom!


    Another muffled sound rang out within John''s body. Adam instantly fell to his knees in stunned disbelief.


    "What--what is going on? How is this possible?" Adam couldn''tprehend what was going on, as he had never heard of such a thing.


    "Elevenpres-"


    Boom!


    Another muffled sound rang out, interrupting Adam once more. He closed his mouth as he stared at John in a daze, unsure of what to think anymore.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Four more booms rang out over the next few minutes, stunning Adampletely. He stopped trying toprehend the monster he was seeing before him.


    After running out of essence Qi, John had decided to test if his body Qi would work. To his tion, his body Qi was able to sessfullypress his essence dantian, pushing him over the natural limit of tenpressions.


    His body Qi was constantly replenished by the beast blood essence in his pce realm as he utilized it topress his dantian nonstop. He had achieved five additionalpressions in this manner, but had finally run into a barrier.


    John grit his teeth as he utilized his full body Qi power topress his dantian, but was unable to do so anymore. Despite having enough body Qi for the process, his essence dantian had reached such apressed state that his body Qi was no longer powerful enough topress it.


    No matter how much body Qi he used, John was unable topress his essence dantian any further. He continued to try for some time, but eventually came to the conclusion that this was his limit.


    However, fifteen dantianpressions was an unheard of level, and John was more than happy to have aplished it.


    ''I guess this is where it ends-''


    John''s thoughts were interrupted as a mysterious energy suddenly welled up inside him, shocking him greatly. His brief confusion suddenly turned toprehension as John recognized the energy.


    ''It''s the mysterious energy I felt when I was younger!''


    The mysterious energy welling up inside John was the energy he felt during his life and death battle with the Dark Spotted Panther, as well as the Night Wolf.


    Both times he had been on the absolute verge of death, and both times he had felt this mysterious energy well up inside him. He had not felt it since fighting the Night Wolf however, and had almostpletely forgotten about it. He had no idea how to draw it out by hismand, and so thinking about it was mostly useless.


    He could tell that it waspletely unrted to either his Celestial Lightning Script or Immortal Asura Body, but could not pinpoint what the source of the power was. It was surging out with immense power once more, filling John''s body with an incredibly potent and vibrant energy.


    John didn''t hesitate at all, and guided the mysterious energy to work alongside his body Qi to once morepress his dantian.


    Boom!


    More pill Qi was instantly drawn into his dantian, at which point he used his newfound well of Qi topress down on it once more.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Four more booms echoed out from within John''s body over the next ten minutes, before the mysterious energy faded away and silence once again filled the room. John copsed on the floor, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.


    His essence Qi waspletely exhausted, and his body Qi reserves were halved. John spent the next few minutes recovering his breath before he finally recovered enough strength to sit up. Arge smile appeared on his face as he inspected his newly formed dantian.


    The dantian was a dark golden color, with a hint of red due to using his body Qi, and waspletely solid. There were twenty thin blue lines circling around the dantian, indicating that it had beenpressed twenty times.


    It brimmed with vibrant energy, filling John''s body with incredible power. He was about to continue inspecting it, when a voice from within the room broke his concentration.


    "What¡­.the¡­..fuck!"

 Chapter 228 - Center Of The City

    Adam''s stunned words lingered in the air as he stared at John as if he didn''t recognize him. John scratched his head, unsure of how to respond.


    "Haha, I guess that pill was pretty impressive," John replied. He couldn''t reveal the truth of what happened.


    "Pill my ass," Adam replied with a raised voice. "No pill helps like that. Just how the hell did you manage that?"


    Adam was truly curious, as he was about to ascend to Early Core Formation soon as well. If he could simte John''s ascension, it would improve his power by untold amounts.


    "Luck. Anyways, stop asking about it. We have wasted enough time here, let''s move out," John replied quickly, his voice indicating that he didn''t want to talk about it.


    Adam wanted to rebuke, but held his tongue. Everyone had their secrets, and while John''s appeared to be absolutely monumental, Adam still respected his privacy. His face suddenly filled with undeserved pride, as he tried to lighten the mood.


    "Well, if someone like you reaches twentypressions, then the heavenly talented prodigy such as myself surely will reach thirty."


    John scoffed and shook his head at Adam''s antics as he packed up his stuff. John wanted to venture further into the city, as he had wasted enough time already. He had a goal he needed to fulfill, and would not forgive himself if this wasted time made him fail that goal.


    The two of them left the building and continued further into the city. They hastened their pace this time, making sure to not get distracted by any minor things of interest that drew their attention.


    asionally, a unique looking building or mysterious aura would pop up, but John ignored them all as he ventured directly to the city''s center. They ventured forward for several hours at a quickened pace, when they suddenly found themselves leaving the cities streets lined with ancient buildings.


    The city opened up into a massive open circr area, over a dozen miles wide. The ground before them sloped upwards, revealing arge hill at the very center of the city. The hill was half a mile tall, and nearly ten miles wide at the top. It was covered in grass, trees, beautiful flowers, and other vibrant vegetation.


    John and Adam''s eyes trailed upwards, and became stunned at the sight before them. At the very top of the hill, a massive temple stood. It was nearly the full width of the hill''s top, and stood ten miles from end to end.


    The temple was marble white, with blue and gold ents, making it look incredibly beautiful. Massive columns, hundreds of feet high, lined the outside of the temple, each carved with ornate and detailed designs. Large statues, depicting many different people lined the outside as well, as if they were guarding the temple.


    Each statue was so detailed that they appeared life-like, and an impressive ancient aura emanated from each one. Unlike the other crumbling buildings in the city, the temple before them was in pristine condition, adding to its majesty.


    Both of them stood there in silence for a moment before John spoke up.


    "Well, we''ve discovered what exists in the center of this city. Let''s go."


    Adam nodded his head and followed along, his eyes lingering on the temple above. It was more grand and beautiful than anything he had seen in his life, and he truly appreciated master craftsmanship. The two approached the base of the hill, at which point they spotted a massive set of marble white stairs leading up the hillside to the temple at the top of the mountain.


    John could spot several cultivators ascending the stairs, although they seemed to be struggling for some reason.


    Arge crowd of disciples had gathered at the bottom of the stairs, piquing John''s interest.


    "We really took our sweet time to get here if this many people have already gathered outside this temple, let alone how many might have entered already" Johnmented as he shook his head in disapproval at himself.


    He moved over towards the crowd, intending to ask what was going on. He quickly reached the crowd, which contained nearly thirty cultivators of all the sects. They were broken into groups, each group consisting of a sect.


    The Heavenly Lightning Sect group had eight disciples in it, and John recognized three that belonged to the lower ranked Core Discipleship. There were also several Inner Disciples, and they nodded their heads towards John with respect as they noticed him approaching.


    The Divine Soul Sect had nine disciples outside, each emanating a pure aura, as if they were untouched by the mortal world. There were six Supreme Battle Sect disciples, each emanating an intense fighting spirit, as if they wanted a fight to break out at any moment.


    Lastly, at the far end of the gathering were five Bloodfiend Sect Disciples. They each had a Half-Step Core Formation cultivation, and stood there at the very front as if they owned the ce.


    John''s eyes instantly darkened as he saw the Bloodfiend Sect Disciples. While they were making no trouble for the others right now as they were outnumbered, John knew none of them would hesitate to kill if the opportunity arose.


    His scythe suddenly appeared in his one hand, as he raised his other hand and pointed his finger towards them.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Several Lightning Ruins were instantly unleashed, piercing directly towards the five Bloodfiend Sect Disciples.


    "What the hell are you doing!" one of the disciples yelled out in rage, and each of them took out their weapon to block the approaching attacks.


    As the Lightning Ruins were travelling forward, John shed his scythe out, sending a powerful scythe image towards the five of them.


    Five attacks, the most powerful the Bloodfiend Sect Disciples could muster were unleashed as they fought against the three Lightning Ruin attacks. Despite their superior numbers, the disciples were dismayed to find that they had actually lost out in power against the Lightning Ruins.


    Bang!


    The Lightning Ruins struck against the disciples, inundating them with pain. Their attacks had weakened the power of the Lightning Ruins, but the destructive properties of John''s lightning rampaged through their bodies, destroying them from within.


    Che!


    The scythe image finally caught up, slicing into the five disciples who were struggling against John''s lightning.


    "Ahhhhhh!"


    Pained cries rang out as each disciple was cleanly bisected in two, not having the slightest ability to resist. Their severed bodies copsed to the ground, and before long, each disciple died from the excessive blood loss.


    Silence once again filled the crowd as all those present stared at John with wary eyes. He had attacked without warning, and had mercilessly killed the five Bloodfiend Sect Disciples in an instant. Hisck of emotion when killing the five, as well as the shocking power he disyed, stunned everyone.


    John casually walked over to the bodies and collected them, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.


    ''Those casual essence attacks of mine just now were much stronger than before to a terrifying degree. Achieving twentypressions on my dantian has raised it''s power to an incredible level, and I can now rely on it just as much as my body dantian.''


    John had always favored his body dantian, as it naturally at a much higher level than his own essence dantian. The power and quality of Qi it unleashed waspletely shocking, and it gave John his incredible battle prowess. While his essence dantian was always impressive, it was alwayscking whenpared to the mysterious sphere acting as his body dantian.


    However, the twentypressions hadpletely transformed his essence dantian into one beyond the level of myths and legends, and had firmly put it alongside his body dantian in quality and profundity.


    John quickly absorbed the blood essence from each cultivator, making sure to do so through the connection to his pce realm. No other cultivator could see this process taking ce, and so it perfectly hid his taboo cultivation method.


    A frown appeared on John''s face after he absorbed all the blood essence.


    ''It''s still not enough to advance my body to the Core Formation Realm. Each major realm increase seems to require a massive increase in blood essence requirement. Oh well, I''ll advance my body as well before long.''


    John wasn''t too worried about it, as his newfound essence strength gave him an amazing power to rely on. He was practically a new person after ascending to the Core Formation Realm for essence cultivation, and his advantages over other cultivators would only continue to grow in the future.


    Afterpleting his dirty work regarding the Bloodfiend Sect, John turned to one of the Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples, who was still staring at him as if he was a monster.


    However, some pride was also evident on the Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples'' faces, as John was a member of their sect, and his achievements only served to elevate the status of their sect.


    "What is this ce, and why are you gathered before thisrge staircase?" John asked curiously.

 Chapter 229 - First Of The Four Kings

    The disciple, eager to have been called on by John, stepped forward and answered his question. While the disciples of the other sects were incredibly wary of John, those belonging to the Heavenly Lightning Sect were not worried.


    "This staircase leads to the temple above, and there is a mysterious energy covering it. As soon as one steps on the staircase, a type of pressure pushes down on them. The higher one goes, the greater the pressure."


    John looked back towards the staircase, and noticed the few disciples on it were struggling quite a bit.


    "Can''t one just go around it?" John asked.


    "Sure, some have already done that, and there''s no pressure going that way. But those who have sessfully ascended the staircase have said that they gained great cultivation benefits from it, and so those daring enough are seeking out those benefits," the boy rified.


    John once more looked back towards the staircase, his interest piqued. If the ancient people of this city ced such a thing on this staircase, then surely they had good reason to. If it was a dangerous formation, the weak disciples ascending it would have already died. Just based on the ancient battlefield alone, John knew these ancient people had much higher cultivations than today''s standards.


    "How many people have already entered the temple?" John asked another question.


    "I''m not exactly sure, but we''ve seen at least fifty enter so far, and I''m sure more entered before we got here," the boy responded.


    "Thanks. Adam, lets go"


    John thanked the boy before beginning to walk towards the staircase, Adam following closely behind. John reached the base of the staircase, and stretched his leg out to step on it. A frown suddenly appeared on his face, and he instantly turned around, scythe in hand.


    Peng!


    Sword and scythe collided, sending a loud metallic sound outwards. All eyes turned to the source of the sound with surprise, as they had not expected such a thing.


    "You dare kill my sect''s disciples? Your punishment shall be death," the boy holding the sword spoke out as he stared at John with cold eyes.


    John grunted as he pushed his scythe outwards, sending the boy backwards. The boynded on his feet, and stared at John as if he was a dead man walking.


    "You failed to kill me despite attempting a stealth attack. I''m afraid that was your only good opportunity to kill me," John responded with an indifferent voice as he stared at the boy.


    The boy was wearing a blood red robe, signifying his status as a Bloodfiend Sect disciple. His cultivation was in the Early Core Formation Realm, and was at the very peak of the realm. His energy brimmed with power, and it was clear to see that he was close to breaking through to the Mid Core Formation Realm.


    "That''s Grant, one of the Four Kings of the Bloodfiend Sect, the Stealth King" a surprised voice suddenly spoke out from the crowd, revealing the identity of the neer.


    "Oh? A King huh?" John mumbled out loud in an unimpressed manner.


    "That''s right. A King. Now, how will you fight? Will you flee for your life, or will you beg for mercy as I cut you down?" Grant asked with an arrogant tone.


    His status as a King of the Bloodfiend Sect inspired fear wherever he went, and other than the Three Emperors, the Soul Sage, several of the Heavenly Lightning Sects Direct Disciples, and two of the Supreme Battle Sects strongest, Grant was the strongest around.


    He was top twenty in strength in the entire wastnds, out of the tens of thousands of youths that had entered, which gave him great confidence, as well as arrogance. His forte was assassination arts, and he was incredibly deadly in such arts. However, his directbat prowess was a bit weaker than the other kings, but was still terrifying whenpared to others.


    He had already in a handful of other youths within the ancient city, and had arrived at the temple just in time to see John kill his fellow disciples. While he did not care about those disciples, as everyone in the Bloodfiend Sect only cared for themselves, John''s actions besmirched the reputation of his sect, which was unforgivable.


    "The only one who will flee is you. I guarantee that within thirty seconds, you''ll be crushing your spatial talisman to escape," John replied with a calm voice.


    While he wanted to kill Grant, he knew doing so when he had a spatial talisman would be incredibly difficult. He also mentioned that to confirm if the Kings and Emperors truly had spatial talismans or not.


    "Spatial Talisman? I don''t have such a thing on me. My Bloodfiend Sect would never hand out such a crutch to its disciples. Only those who trample over all others are worthy of being a Bloodfiend Sect disciple. Those who would flee deserve only death," Grant replied in a haughty tone.


    "Oh?" John replied in an amused voice. This was incredibly good news for him.


    "In that case, you can just go ahead and die," John responded.


    His scythe shed out in an incredibly quick manner, sending a scythe image towards Grant. The attack looked incredibly simple, as it was just a basic scythe Qi attack. John didn''t even augment it with his Divine Reaping Scythe technique, and had only used his normal Qi as a base.


    "Hmph."


    Grant scoffed at the attack, and pointed his sword towards John. Three blood red sword images appeared around his sword, at which point they pierced directly towards the scythe attack.


    Boom!


    The two attacks collided, creating a powerful explosion of Qi, which quickly radiated outwards.


    "Gah!"


    The nearby disciples, caught up in the radiating explosion, were violently thrown backwards by its power. They had not expected such strong attacks, and quickly retreated hundreds of yards for safety.


    The ground beneath the explosion had shattered, revealing a crater several yards deep and dozens of yards wide.


    A silent sword suddenly pierced towards John''s back, as Grant had managed to move directly behind him, using the explosion of Qi as cover. Grant specialized in speed and stealth, and was able to get behind John in an instant. This was his sure-kill assassination art.


    Most of his enemies died without even knowing how they had died.


    His sword shed down towards John''s back, the de brimming with incredible power. Grant had made no sound during his movement technique as well as this attack, and was sure this blow would kill John. A small smile hung on his face as the sword approached John.


    "Hmph."


    John suddenly scoffed, as his head turned around over his shoulder to look at Grant. His eyes locked with Grant''s, and his body quickly turned around to meet the attack.


    "Toote," Grant yelled as his sword reached John.


    There truly was no time for John to raise his scythe to block the attack.


    Peng!


    A metallic sound rang out as Grant''s sword collided against John. The crowd grimaced as it prepared to see carnage ensue, but their grimaces quickly turned into looks of shock and disbelief.


    Grant''s confident face had also turned into one of pure disbelief as he looked at his sword. John''s outstretched hand firmly grasped his de, and had sessfully blocked Grant''s full strength stealth attack. John stood there like an unmovable battle deity, not even moving a step backwards as he blocked the attack barehanded.


    John''s other hand suddenly raised up in the air, his hand outstretched straight like a de. Incredibly powerful Qi coated his hand, turning it into a sharp weapon as he suddenly shed it down towards Grant''s shoulder.


    Che!

 Chapter 230 - Ascending The Staircase

    John''s hand sliced down incredibly fast, appearing like a blur to all watching from the sidelines.


    Che!


    His hand sliced directly into Grant''s shoulder, severing his arm offpletely.


    "Gahhh," Grant cried out in pain from losing an arm.


    John''s counter attack had been so fast that he didn''t even have time to react. Grant tried to pull his de free from John''s grip and retreat, but found that it wouldn''t budge no matter how hard he pulled.


    This dy was all John needed as his other hand, still holding the de, suddenly pushed outwards with all his might.


    Boom!


    Grant''s sword collided with his own body, its power overwhelming him. The sounds of bone''s cracking rang out.


    "Gah!"


    Grant once more cried out in pain as he shot backwards like a broken kite, mming into the hard ground. His body tumbled head over heels dozens of times as his body carved a long ditch in the earth. After tumbling backwards for over three hundred yards, Grant''s body finally came to a rest.


    Boom!


    Another loud boom echoed out as John powerfullynded on Grant''s ribcage, having just jumped over from his previous position. Blood spewed out of Grant''s mouth as his ribcage shattered. The previous haughty and arrogant Bloodfiend Sect King nowy on the ground, ruined and half-dead.


    Blood escaped from several parts of his body, and gurgled out of his mouth as he watched John stand above him.


    "You might want to conceal your killing intent next time," John said to Grant, his cold eyes looking down on the dying boy.


    Understanding washed over Grant as he realized the fatal w he had made, but it was toote to change anything. Even with that knowledge, Grant knew he was destined to die as soon as he had picked a fight with John. His power had been overwhelming, and there was no hope of victory.


    Life faded from his eyes, and the former King of the Bloodfiend Sect soon ceased to exist. John looked down on his corpse with cold, unmoving eyes for a moment before he collected his corpse in his pce realm.


    Grant had underestimated him, which resulted in his quick death. Had he taken John more seriously, the fight would havested a bit longer, but his only fate was death as soon as he challenged John.


    "Let''s see what his spatial ring holds," John mumbled to himself as he sent his divine sense into the spatial ring.


    A soul seal was ced on the ring, preventing him from peering with. John sent a powerful wave of his soul power to wash over the seal, instantly shattering the seal. His divine sense peered inside the ring.


    "Weapons, spirit crystals, cultivation scrolls¡­" John noticed quite a few valuables inside Grant''s ring.


    However, with John''s incredible wealth, none of it truly enticed him.


    "Hmmm?" John''s interest was suddenly piqued as he noticed arge box, a dozen yards tall and wide, sealed in the corner of the spatial realm. It had a seal ced on it as well, hiding the contents within. John sent his power once more to erase the seal, and quickly opened the boxes to peer within.


    His face instantly darkened, as the open boxes revealed several fresh corpses to him. This wasn''tpletely surprising to him however, as the Bloodfiend Sect was known to cultivate taboo arts which required human blood.


    Two corpses belonged to disciples of the Divine Soul Sect, and John quickly recognized one as belonging to the girl he had met at theke. He shook his head in pity. While he had some enmity with the girl, it wasn''t to the point of life or death.


    Another corpse belonged to a Supreme Battle Sect boy who John had never seen before. John suddenly spotted blue cloth on the bottom of the pile, and pushed aside the other bodies to reveal the source of the blue.


    It was a Heavenly Lightning Sect member, and was one of the Inner Disciples John recognized from his sses. He had spoken with the boy once or twice, and had a rather good impression of him. John shook his head in pity as he moved the corpses to his pce realm..


    ''He must have been snuck up on by Grant, otherwise he would have crushed his talisman.''


    Despite the safety of the talisman''s, danger lurked all around. No matter how prepared one was, in the cultivation world, danger would always be present.


    The corpse''s blood essence, Grants included, was quickly separated from their bodies and sent to John''s body. A surge of vibrant energy filled his dantian, raising its level once more. However, much to John''s expectations, it still wasn''t enough to break thorough.


    ''Each major realm truly does require a monstrous increase over thest realm''s requirements.''


    It appeared that each major realm increase required nearly ten times the amount of corpses as the previous realm. This scaling was massive, and John shook his head at the thought of how many bodies he would need in the future to level his body up.


    However, John wasn''t too disappointed. With how many Bloodfiend Sect youths were present in the ancient city, he knew he would advance sooner orter.


    His soul suddenly left his spatial realm and returned to the real world. John brushed the dust off his robe and walked back towards the staircase. The crowd watched from a distance as John returned to his previous position, as if nothing had happened. His monstrous disy of strength still left them speechless.


    "Let''s continue," John said to Adam as he took his first step onto the staircase.


    Adam nodded his head and followed behind quickly. He was rather used to John''s disy of overwhelming power, and after watching him sessfullyplete twenty dantianpressions, Adam was no longer stunned silent by John''s battles.


    A unique pressure instantly descended on John and Adam, making them both pause for a second.


    As John and Adam stepped onto the staircase, the crowd behind them suddenly exploded into an uproar.


    "What the fuck just happened?"


    "Did we see that right? Did Grant, one of the Four Kings of the Bloodfiend Sect, really die within thirty seconds to someone in the same cultivation realm?" another chimed up.


    The youths soon turned to the nearby Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples, looking for more information on the mysterious youth who had shattered their reality of power. They all considered themselves impressive disciples, butpared to the scene they just witnessed, each disciple felt as small as an ant.


    ¡­


    "No more¡­"


    "I''m about to die, please let me go."


    "Stop killing me! I''m really about to die"


    Repeated cries of pain and desperation rang out loudly over the massive staircase, drawing the attention of those already on it. They were fully focused on the staircase in front of them, and had not noticed the incredible fight that had taken ce behind them recently.


    They struggled against the stairs with all their might, as the mysterious pressure that pressed down on them made it incredibly difficult to advance. However, each step they advanced, they could feel the pressure give great benefits to their cultivation.


    The mysterious pressure seemed to act as a whetstone, further increasing ounces cultivation, as well as solidifying it even more. Not only that, but it also tempered their will giving an additional benefit. However, these benefits came at a cost, and that was resisting the immense pressure washing down on them. It took all their effort to resist it, and most who ascended the staircase did not make it to the top.


    Mae, one of the Core Disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect was on the staircase as well, and her curious eyes also looked towards the source of the sound. Her eyes turned into ones of amusement, as she had witnessed such a scene before, while the eyes of the other cultivators bulged out in surprise.


    "Ahhhh," Adam once again cried out in pain as he struggled against John''s grip. John had his arm gripped like a pincer, refusing to let go as he forcefully dragged Adam up the staircase.


    Although his own foundation was incredibly solid, he could still feel slight benefits from ascending the staircase.


    "How mysterious," John couldn''t help but mumble out loud as he continued further up it.


    The pressure was almost insignificant to John, but he could tell that it was incredibly beneficial for almost all youths who ascended it. Adam continued to kick and scream as John dragged him upwards, increasing the pressure and pain on Adam.


    Before long, the pain became too much, and Adam copsed into unconsciousness. John didn''t stop however, and continued steadily ascending the staircase, Adam in tow. He passed by the other cultivators one by one, shocking each with his speed.


    They had been struggling against the stairs for hours, and John had passed that progress in mere minutes.


    "Hi there," John suddenly greeted Mae with a smile as he passed her by. Mae returned John''s greetings with a smile of her own, but didn''t have the energy to respond verbally. Her eyes locked onto John''s back as he passed her by.


    "He truly is a monster." Mae had thought of catching up to John with hard work, but every disy of his crushed these hopes.


    John''s pace didn''t slow despite the pressure growing as he ascended further upwards, and he eventually reached thest step without too much strain. The pressure at the top was enough to make even him exert effort to move within, although he was still fairly rxed. It pressed down on his dantian in a strange way, almost simr to hispressions.


    John suddenly sat down on the top step and breathed out a breath of relief, as he plopped Adam on the step beside him on his back.


    He suddenly took out one of the weapons he had found in Grant''s spatial ring. It was a battle hammer which was quite heavy. John tested the weapon in his hands for a moment before he reached over and ced it on Adam''s chest.


    Several minutester, Adam slowly regained consciousness, and began to scream out again from the pressure at the top step. He tried to stand up and leave, but the weight of the weapon pressing down on his chest pinned him to the earth.


    "John...no more," Adam cried out in protest, but his cries fell on deaf ears.


    John shut his eyes and focused on cultivating, as cultivating in this unique pressure was quite beneficial. Pained screams continued to ring out for several minutes before Adam once again passed out into unconsciousness.


    Several minutester¡­


    "Ahhhh, John¡­..I''m dying."


    The screams started again, but John ignored them once more. While he knew Adam was in pain, it was mostly theatrics. Adam detested feeling pain, and had an incredibly low tolerance towards it. However, the pain was not life threatening, and John knew Adam was far too soft to survive in the cultivation world with his current mindset. This was both cultivation training, as well as mindset and will training.


    Screams!


    Silence!


    Screams!


    Silence!


    Adam continued to regain consciousness, before he passed out once more. This continued for quite some time, all while John ignored the pleas.


    John sat there in silent meditation, when suddenly his eyes opened as he inspected Adam closely. His divine sense closely inspected Adam''s dantian.


    "It''s about time."

 Chapter 231 - Nascent Yang Fruit

    John reached out and removed the weapon from Adam''s chest, and grabbed his arm once more as he took the final step. The pressure instantly vanished, and John took a breath of relief. Even he had been quite exhausted resisting that pressure for that long.


    Several minutester, Adam regained consciousness once more.


    "Gahhhh!" Adam screamed out in pain.


    p!


    John''s hand pped Adam''s face, bringing him back to his senses.


    "You''re not in the formation anymore, stop crying like an idiot," John said to Adam.


    Adam quickly came to his senses, and realized John was telling the truth. Relief washed over his face, before anger quickly reced it.


    "What the hell is wrong with you?" Adam barked out in an angry voice.


    "Stop yelling and thank me instead," John replied in a calm voice.


    "Thank you? Thank you for what?" Adam once again asked in a raised voice.


    "For helping you advance to the Core Formation Realm. Inspect your dantian."


    Adam''s anger was put on hold as he quickly sent his divine sense towards his dantian. ted surprise quickly reced his anger at his findings. His dantian, tempered by the mysterious pressure, had advanced to the very peak of Qi Condensation, and was ready to break through to the Core Formation Realm.


    "Here," John suddenly threw a pill to Adam, which he carefully caught.


    "This pill was the pill I originally prepared for myself when I broke through, but I don''t need it anymore. Go to the side over there and focus on breaking through."


    Adam eagerly nodded his head and moved over away from the staircase, as if nothing had just happened. He sat down in a meditative position, and cleared his mind for a while before swallowing the pill.


    John stood next to Adam, acting as a protector and making sure no one disturbed his breakthrough. The Core Formation breakthrough was the make or break point of a cultivators journey, and he couldn''t allow Adam to be disturbed.


    A dense energy began to emit from Adam after swallowing the pill, and Adam focused his full power on guiding that energy to his dantian, and thenpressing it.


    Boom!


    A muffled sound echoed out of Adam''s body shortly after swallowing the pill.


    "So it started. I wonder how manypressions he will achieve," John mumbled softly as he watched Adam ascend.


    Based on what he knew of Adam, he would guess three to fourpressions would be his maximum, as that was an above average talent. Five to sixpressions was the realm of incredibly gifted talents, while seven to eight was reserved for those who stood at the top of the cultivation world. John assumed that even talents like the Bloodfiend Sect Emperors would be five to sixpressions.


    While he had achieved many morepressions, an anomaly like John couldn''t bepared on the same scale.


    Boom!


    Another muffled boom echoed out, followed shortly after by another, and another. The booms continued for some time, before the energy finally began to fade from Adam''s body as he drew his aura back into himself. His eyes slowly opened, full of delight as he instantly inspected his newly formed core dantian.


    "Sixpressions! That''s truly not bad," John said to Adam with a smile.


    Sixpressions truly was impressive, and such a breakthrough would surely help Adam to grow fast in the future. John had an inkling that the sixpressions Adam reached was due to the staircase pressure, which helped him reach a height far above his revealed talent so far.


    "Of course it''s not bad. Sixpressions is the sign of a genius," Adam replied, and began tough loudly like a madman.


    John shook his head once more at Adam''s shameless antics before he patted him on the back.


    "Now that this is done, let''s head inside. I have a suspicion that a certain someone is inside this temple, and I need to pay them a visit," John said.


    Adam''sughing face instantly darkened as a serious look appeared on it. He nodded his head in agreement.


    "Mhm, we need to get revenge for Russell. Let''s go," Adam replied.


    The two of them started walking towards the temple''s entrance, which was arge open arch at its very center. The arch was a hundred yards high, and disyed exquisite craftsmanship on its edges.


    They quickly set foot inside. An ancient aura washed over them, making them feel incredibly small. The entrance of the temple revealed arge hallway, which was surprisingly simple. The walls were smooth and marble white, and the hallway only pointed in one direction.


    There were no side halls, and so John and Adam ventured down the main path. The main path stretched forward for nearly a mile, before John and Adam finally saw the end of the hallway, illuminated brightly by an outside light source.


    John and Adam picked up their pace, and eventually found themselves at the end of the hall. They both walked forward, surprise on their face, as they saw whaty before them.


    The massive temple had given way to an incrediblyrge and open expanse, nearly eight miles wide. The ceiling of the temple high above acted as a false sky, although John and Adam struggled to tell the difference between it and the real sky. Clouds moved above realistically, and the sun, moon, and stars did the same.


    The expanse before them was open terrain, which appeared incredibly natural. Fields stretched for miles, in which flowers bloomed vibrantly. Trees lined the fields asionally, forming small pockets of forests. Hills rose high, and valleys descended deep, making the room they stepped into feel as if it was outside.


    In the distance several miles away, John and Adam spotted arge object jutting high into the sky, nearly touching the temple''s roof. It appeared to be a pitch ck monolith, and was the only object that looked out of ce in the expanse before them.


    "Well, this was unexpected," Adam suddenlymented.


    John nodded his head in agreement, and he pointed to the monolith in the very center of the massive room.


    "That''s the only thing of note here. So let''s proceed towards it and see if it reveals anything."


    Adam agreed, and the two quickly began to proceed forward towards it. As soon as they stepped into the room, both John and Adam felt an unusual energy was over them, pressing them down to the ground.


    John frowned as he tried to use his newly established Core Formation cultivation to fly upwards against the energy. While he had not done so yet, flying was incredibly natural to a cultivator once they reached this realm. However, he was unable to do so, no matter how hard he tried.


    "Seems like there''s some sort of formation restricting flight. No matter, we''ll just walk then."


    There were no animals or beasts in the area, slightly surprising John. He had expected to fight his way towards the monolith, but his progress was proceeding incredibly quickly.


    Other disciples of the other sects were asionally spotted, searching through the forests, fields, valleys and hills for any and all opportunities that may exist. John ignored these disciples, as none belonged to the Bloodfiend Sect, and proceeded forward steadily.


    Suddenly, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and John paused for a moment to get a better look. There was a dense expanse of vegetation before him, but a tinge of orange and red in the otherwise green vegetation caught his interest.


    He turned towards the source of the color, pushing through the thick vegetation to get a better look. After walking through the thicket, John spotted what the color was. His eyes lit up in delight at his discovery.


    There were ten fruits growing on a short tree, not more than six feet high. They each emitted a dark orange and red color, and were about the size of a grape. A zing aura emanated from them.


    "A Nascent Yang Fruit Tree!"


    Adams'' eyes lit up as well as he spotted the tree.


    "Haha, we''ve hit the jackpot once again," Adam replied with an enthusiastic tone.


    Nascent Yang Fruit Trees absorbed pure Yang Qi from the air, and refined it into the fruit. While pure Yang Qi was far more powerful than John or Adam could handle at the moment, the fruit distilled it into trace amounts, making it edible.


    The fruit was mainly beneficial for fire users, as it bolstered their fire Qi and pushed their fireprehension to the next level. However, lightning was also a yang based element, and the fruits could also serve the same purpose.


    "Help me!"


    A cry for aid suddenly sounded out, catching the attention of John and Adam. They soon spotted the source of the sound, which was a girlying on the ground, several dozen yards away from the fruits.


    Blood seemed to be seeping into the ground below her body, revealing her to be injured. Her face looked up towards the two of them, revealing her to be incredibly beautiful.


    Adam''s heart stopped in his chest, before he suddenly puffed his chest out in a strong and prideful manner.


    "Don''t worry mydy, with me here, your safety is guaranteed."


    John rolled his eyes, as he watched Adam rapidly dash over towards the girl to give her aid. John shook his head in disappointment, and he suddenly raised his finger.


    Lightning danced on it for a moment, before a Lightning Ruin blessed out of his finger, piercing directly towards the girl on the ground.


    Boom!


    The Lightning Ruin mmed into the girl''s body, instantly destroying it.


    "Aiya-" Adam screamed out in surprise and backed away quickly, before he quickly turned towards John.


    "What the hell did you kill her for?" Adam yelled out, however, his anger quickly faded as a sinisterugh suddenly sounded out behind him.


    "Jejejeje, you actually managed to detect that the girl was a corpse-puppet. Not bad."


    A boy suddenly stepped out from behind a nearby boulder, revealing himself to John and Adam. His cultivation was at the Mid Core Formation Realm, revealing himself to have great power. His blood red robe billowed slightly in the breeze.


    John looked towards the boy with unmoved eyes.


    "Seems like I can add another Bloodfiend Corpse to my growing collection."

 Chapter 232 - Corpse King

    John had noticed that something was wrong as soon as the girl cried out for help. There was a lingering scent of blood in the air, that was too thick to belong to just the girl alone. Not only that, but there were faint signs of battle that had taken ce in the nearby area.


    Although they had been covered up pretty well, John still noticed the signs. As such, John had sent his divine sense out towards the girl to inspect her. While she looked very lifelike, John was able to notice that there was no soul aura emanating from her. All living things had a soul, and so the girl was not what she appeared to be.


    John''s instincts were extremely sharp thanks to his strong soul and unique body, and so he trusted it as he sent a lightning st towards the girl. His decision had been the correct one, as the girl was quickly revealed to be a trap.


    "You''ve been baiting these fruits I assume," John asked the neer.


    "Jejeje, you''re correct. I''ve been here for some time, and have managed to kill quite a few disciples who tried to take the fruit. Now that you''re here, you''ll be joining them as well," the boy replied with a wicked smile on his face. His eyes stared at John as if he was prey.


    John frowned at this news, as some of those victims most likely belonged to the Heavenly Lightning Sect. The boys robes and cultivation pointed to the fact that he was one of the Four Kings, or Three Emperors. John wanted to know who he was.


    "Who are you? Are you a King, or an Emperor?" John asked the boy.


    "Jeje, you''re not worthy of fighting against an Emperor with your measly cultivation level. Even against me, the Corpse King, you''re still not worthy. Die!"


    The boy instantlyshed out at John, sending a powerful Qi st towards him, ignoring Adam in the process. He could tell that John was the real threat here.


    "Ahhh!"


    Adam screamed out in panic as he rapidly dashed away from the fight. He finally reached a safe enough distance and turned to watch the spectacle toe. If he got caught up in the sts, he would take quite a bit of damage.


    A finger pointed directly at the oing Qi attack.


    Lightning Ruin!


    Boom!


    Both attacks collided in midair, creating a powerful explosion that destroyed the nearby area. John frowned as he looked towards the fruits. Although they were still fine, the battlefield was still too close to the fruits forfort, and they could identally be destroyed.


    Limiter of Speed!


    Thundersh Steps!


    John instantly activated his two fastest movement techniques, pushing his speed to the limit. He dashed forward quickly, appearing like a blur. He reached the Nascent Yang Fruit Tree in an instant, and quickly chopped the tree down, storing it in his pce realm. He didn''t want to destroy such an amazing tree, but he didn''t have the time to y around and risk their destruction.


    "Die!"


    The Corpse King shouted out in rage as he saw John take the fruits. He was nning on taking them after baiting enough victims, but John had stolen it whilepletely ignoring him. Such an act was unforgivable.


    A corpse-puppet suddenly appeared next to the Corpse King, then another, and another. Soon, three corpses stood next to him, each brimming with the power of an Early Core Formation cultivator. They were much more powerful than the corpse-puppet that had beenid out as a trap.


    The corpses suddenly all raised their hands, as well as the Corpse King himself. Powerful balls of blood red Qi began to build up within them, and before long, each was holding an incredibly powerful Qi ball in their hands.


    "Combine!"


    The Corpse King controlled all the puppets to move their hands towards his. The four balls of powerful blood red Qi quicklybined into one, making it grow exponentially in power.


    As soon as the attacksbined, the incredibly powerful attack was quickly sent outwards towards John. It destroyed whatever it touched as it rapidly sailed towards him


    John scoffed at the attack. While it was powerful, it wasn''t that fast, and he would easily be able to dodge it.


    "Hmm?"


    John quickly looked downwards, as he noticed something grab his feet. A hand had pushed through the earth below him, grabbing his foot and holding him down. Another hand broke through the earth, grabbing his other foot, as it became evident that the Corpse King had controlled another corpse to hold him in ce.


    "Not bad," John mumbled. Such abined attack truly was impressive, and would work on almost all cultivators at the Mid Core Formation Realm and below.


    The hands of the corpse were incredibly durable, and essence cultivators would need a short period of time to charge up an attack to break them. However.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Two loud bangs echoed out as John utilized his full body strength to break free from the hands holding him down. The hands were incredibly tough, and it had taken his full body power to do so, but John had managed to instantly break free from the ensnarement.


    "What?"


    The Corpse King''s eyes widened in surprise as he watched John instantly break free from his carefullyid trap, and quickly dash to the side. The Qi attack sailed past John, colliding with the earth far behind him.


    Boooooom!


    An incredibly massive explosion radiated outwards in the distance, destroying all in its path. All disciples in the massive room instantly looked up towards the explosion, fear filling their faces as they watched it. If they were hit with such an explosion, they would die without leaving a body behind.


    The explosion faded, revealing a crater dozens of yards deep and a hundred yards wide. John''s eyes widened slightly as he stared at it.


    ''That was actually a really powerful attack. If it hit me head on, even I would have taken a bit of damage.''


    This one attack revealed the Bloodfiend Sect Kings to not be as simple as John had assumed. His battle with Grant was incredibly easy, and so John did not give them any respect. However, the Corpse King''s attack revealed that they were incredibly powerful.


    ''If he''s this strong, I wonder how strong the Blood Emperor is?''


    John quickly put such thoughts aside as he once again focused on the Corpse King. The Corpse King was breathing slightly heavily, indicating that the attack he had just unleashed took quite a toll on him.


    Lightning Ruin!


    John quickly pointed his finger and unleashed a Lightning Ruin, piercing directly towards the Corpse King.


    "Hmph,"


    The Corpse King scoffed at the attack, and unleashed even more corpse-puppets. Soon, seven corpse puppets were dashing towards the attack. Their fist''s punched out.


    Boom!


    The Lightning Ruin collided with the corpse-puppets, knocking them backwards a few yards. However, they were all intact, showing their incredible durability.


    "My corpse-puppets are incredibly durable, and have durability simr to peak Qi Condensation Grade Weapons. You have no chance of destroying them," The Corpse King shouted out towards John with a voice full of gloating.


    "Is that so? Then let''s put that to the test," John replied.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    An incredibly powerful aura instantly exploded off John''s body, shocking the Corpse King greatly. John quickly dashed towards the nearest corpse-puppet and swung his scythe outwards with all his might.


    Peng!


    His scythe collided with the fist of the corpse, and a metallic sound rang out from the collision. John''s scythe, augmented by his powerful body, sliced into the fist of the corpse, and travelled halfway up its arm beforeing to a halt.


    Both John and the Corpse King raised their eyebrows in surprise, and John quickly dashed backwards. The Corpse King was surprised that John was able to destroy the arm of one of his puppets. They were incredibly durable, and even powerful essence attacks normally didn''t scratch them.


    On the other hand, John closely inspected his scythe''s de. A small chip had appeared on the de, indicating that it had taken damage from the collision. While his scythe was a powerful Qi Condensation Weapon, it was still just that.


    Fighting against such powerful puppets revealed the weakness of the scythe, which was its durability against more powerful objects. John frowned, as he thought of what to do.


    ''I could unleash Divine Reaping Scythes to easily cut down these puppets, but doing so would waste precious essence Qi. If I can''t fight them with my scythe, then I''ll just use my body instead.''


    John suddenly put his scythe away, surprising the Corpse King. He began tough sinisterly.


    "Giving up already? I told you, you can''t destroy my puppets. Jejeje."


    John looked at the Corpse King with a calm face. His powerful body aura continued to surge out wildly.


    "I could, but it would require using more energy than it''s worth. In that case, I think I''ll just beat you to death with my fists, and then the puppets will no longer be an issue."

 Chapter 233 - Losing Control

    The Corpse King began tough at John''s ridiculousment. While John had shown surprisingbat prowess, he was still an entire minor realm lower than the Corpse King. Everyone knew fighting above your realm was incredibly difficult. As for killing above your realm, that was essentially impossible..


    "Jejeje, you could barely fight evenly with your weapon, what can you do barehan-"


    Boom!


    John dashed forward incredibly quickly, upheaving the earth behind him from the force of his steps. He appeared like a blur of lightning as he sped directly towards the Corpse King. His speed was incredibly fast, shocking the Corpse King. His eyes widened slightly as he formed a hand seal.


    The two closest puppets to the Corpse King retreated to stand directly in front of him, forming a solid defensive wall. John reached the puppets in an instant, and punched out with all his might.


    The puppets punched out as well, looking to counter John''s attack.


    At thest moment, John twisted his shoulders sideways at an awkward angle, narrowly dodging the fist attacks of the puppets. While the puppets were incredibly durable, they were not all that quick. His fist punched straight towards the first puppet''s chest.


    Bang!


    An incredibly powerful punchnded solidly on the puppets chest, sending it flying backwards like a broken kite. While the puppet took minimal damage, it wasunched backwards hundreds of yards, being removed from the fight in an instant. John felt a slight wave of pain rush up his hand from the attack, but took no damage either.


    ''How tough.''


    Utilizing his momentum to his advantage, John spun around andnded a solid kick on the other puppet who was still recovering from missing its attack.


    Bang!


    His kicknded centermass, once again delivering an incredibly powerful blow to the second puppet. The puppet wasunched upwards and backwards even farther than the first, nearly half a mile away, tumbling head over heels in the sky before itnded. The ground shattered beneath the puppets body as it violentlynded, and the puppets body carved a long trench into the ground before it finally came to a stop.


    John''s head instantly snapped towards the nearby Corpse King, who no longer had any puppets between him and John. John pushed off the ground once again, speeding towards the corpse king like a blur.


    The Corpse King narrowed his eyes as he stared at John. John was an anomaly, as he was both an essence and body cultivator, but he didn''t seem to havepromised power on either one. Hisbat prowess was incredibly shocking, and the Corpse King could no longer hold back.


    The Corpse King scoffed as he formed a hand seal.


    A sh of light appeared before John as a corpse puppet appeared before the Corpse King. John''s eyes narrowed as he stared at the puppet, its features still obscured by the fading light. It disyed overwhelming power whenpared to the other puppets, and had an odd shape as well.


    It was incrediblyrge, and was headless. John''s eyes grew with rage as he considered a possibility, and the fading light confirmed that possibility to be true.


    "This corpse was provided to me by Damon, the Blood Emperor. I hope you enjoy my trump card, jejeje" the Corpse King said in a sinisterugh as he revealed his trump card.


    The fading light revealed Russell''s headless corpse, standing tall before John. John instantly recognized the aura, as well as the Innate Variant Body that Russell had, making it easy to recognize.


    John''s rage instantly snapped his mind and reasoning, as he unconsciously activated his full power.


    Immortal Asura Transformation Art!


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    Without even thinking about it, John unleashed his full power. It was as if his mind had be possessed, with the only desire being to kill the Corpse King.


    The Corpse King''s smug face instantly turned toplete shock as he felt the overwhelming power emanate from John''s body. He had expected John to tremble before the might of the puppet, but his reaction was theplete opposite. He took a step backwards, both in fear and from the force of the aura spreading outwards. It was unlike anything he had felt before, especially from a fellow Core Formation cultivator.


    It was as if a bloodthirsty Demon God stood directly before him. His bloodlust and sinister aura was shocking even to the Corpse King, who grew up his entire life around such things.


    "DIE!"


    A sinister growl escaped John''s mouth as he dashed towards the Corpse King. The earth behind him exploded from the power of his steps, and he appeared next to the Corpse King in an instant. His speed was more than double the speed he disyed earlier in the fight.


    "Shit!"


    The Corpse King grunted in shock as he hurriedly moved to defend. He didn''t know what was going on, but he knew he could not defeat his enemy anymore.


    John''s fist sailed directly towards the Corpse King, its power causing the air to ripple and boom as it sailed through it. A powerful body suddenly appeared directly in front of the Corpse King.


    Boooom!


    John''s fist collided with Russell''s body, creating a shockwave of pure power and causing the ground beneath them to shatter. Russell''s body instantly went airborne as it sailed far into the far distance, unable to withstand a single blow of John''s full power. Slight cracks appeared on Russell''s chest from the force of the blow, shocking the Corpse King senseless.


    "Die!"


    John growled out once more as he pointed a finger and sent a Lightning Ruin directly towards the Corpse King. At the same time, lightning nodes sprung up in the air behind the Corpse King, unleashing a devastating barrage of lightning.


    Panic appeared on the Corpse King''s face as he formed new hand seals. The remaining puppets that lingered in the area all sped towards John. As they reached him, they began to glow for an instant before¡­


    Boooom!


    Each puppet exploded from within, catching John in a series of incredibly powerful sts. The Corpse King had sacrificed all his puppets in an attempt to kill John. At the same time, the Corpse King formed onest hand seal, and his body suddenly disappeared from sight.


    Bang!


    John''s Lightning Ruin and lightning domain attacks exploded on the ground where the Corpse King had just been, but hit nothing but earth.


    The puppet explosions slowly faded, revealing John standing within. His clothes were tattered from the force of the sts, and there were slight cuts and bruises on his body. He had suffered a slight amount of damage from the incredibly powerful explosion, but it was nothing serious, as he had been in his most powerful state during the explosions.


    His cold and ruthless eyes quickly surveyed the nearby area, searching for the Corpse King. However, he was unsessful, as the Corpse King had already disappeared. He spread out his divine sense to the maximum range it could reach, but was unable to detect any traces of the Corpse King.


    "Fuck!"


    John screamed out in rage, as he had let the Corpse King leave with his life. He punched his fist down furiously onto the earth below, causing it to explode outwards. A massive boom echoed out, filling the entire expanse with its deafening boom.


    Adam suddenly approached John after the exploding earth settled, his hand holding a certain object.


    ¡­.


    Nearly a mile away, Russell''s corpse puppety on the ground, quite damaged from John''s attack. Suddenly, a rune lit up on its chest, and a sh of light appeared. The sh faded, revealing the heavily breathing Corpse King. Fear still filled his face, as he looked downwards with a frustrated look.


    Russell''s corpse was nowpletely shattered like y, leaving only fragments of it left.


    "Goddamnit. This amazing corpse was the only one durable enough to hold that spatial rune my master gave me, and now it''s ruined because I used it. Fuck that kid. I don''t know what''s up with him, but I''ll have my revenge. I must obtain his corpse to make into a corpse puppet."


    The Corpse King had lost out greatly in his fight, losing all his puppets, including Russell''s. He had sacrificed it to escape, and now hisbat prowess was incredibly low. He relied on puppets to do his fighting, and no longer had them to rely on.


    His face once more ignited in rage, as he cursed John again.


    "I''ll kill that kid, if it''s thest thing I do."


    "Is that so?"


    A rage-filled voice suddenly sounded out behind the Corpse King, shocking him greatly. He knew he fully escaped the fight, and should be alone right now. The familiar voice sent a chill down his spine, and he quickly turned his head to see John staring directly at him, just mere feet away from him.


    The Corpse King had expended all his Qi on causing the puppets to explode, and had no Qi to fight or be wary of his surroundings.


    John suddenly noticed thepletely shattered corpse of Russell beneath the Corpse King, igniting his fury and rage once more.


    "Die!"


    A fist punched out,nding on the defenseless Corpse King''s face.


    "Noo-"


    His short pleas were instantly snuffed out as John''s fist connected with his head, exploding it like a watermelon. Blood and brain rained out as the Corpse King was finally killed.


    John stood there motionless as the blood rained down on him. After a moment, his rage-filled eyes slowly faded back to normal as he looked at the shattered corpse of Russell.


    "I''m sorry brother. I couldn''t even give you a proper burial."


    Adam walked alongside John with an item in hand, and put his other hand on John''s shoulder.


    "You did all you could. You can''t me yourself." Adamforted John.


    John nodded his head, and collected the shattered pieces of Russell''s corpse, storing it in his spatial ring.


    "I''ll give you a proper burial once we''re back at the Heavenly Lightning Sect."


    A deep sigh escaped John''s lips as the overwhelming power faded from his body. His body began to ache from the strain of the power he had used, but it was nothing he couldn''t handle. Thankfully, his body was greatly strengthened due to the mysterious blood red fruit, allowing him to handle the Immortal Asura Transformation Art for a longer time, with less drawbacks afterwards.


    "At least you managed to put a spirit mark and track him with that item of yours, or he would have permanently escaped," John said to Adam as he sat down on the ground heavily.


    During their fight, Adam had stealthily attached a spirit mark to the Corpse King, in the small chance that he escaped. Luckily, it had worked out, allowing John to instantly track down the Corpse King once more. The Corpse King was far too busy fighting John, or he would have noticed such a thing.


    John stared at the Corpse King''s body, slightly upset with himself. In his blinded rage, he hadpletely destroyed the head of the Corpse King. The blood essence of all human cultivators dwelled in the center of the forehead, between the brows. John''s punch had destroyed itpletely, making him unable to absorb it.


    "We rest for a few hours, and then we''ll proceed forward once more."


    John closed his eyes and recovered, before standing up. A determined look appeared on his face once more.


    "If the Corpse King is here, I''m sure the Blood Emperor is as well. Let''s go."

 Chapter 234 - Second Level

    John fully recovered his expended essence Qi before proceeding forwards. The Corpse King''s power was quite shocking, and he was only a King. The Emperors were even more powerful, and John wanted to be sure that he had enough power to cut them down.


    He inspected his beast blood essence reserves. They were growing lower, due to his incredible breakthrough earlier.


    ''I probably have about thirty minutes at most using my Immortal Asura Transformation Art before I run out of blood essence. I need to be careful how I use it.''


    John shook such thoughts from his head and proceeded towards the monolith in the distance. They reached it before long, finding no trouble along the way. John thought this was quite odd, but didn''t give it much more thought.


    As they finally approached the pitch-ck monolith, the two of them realized it was muchrger than initially expected. The monolith stretched over a mile high into the sky, and was a hundred yards wide and long.


    It waspletely smooth, and the only thing of note was an opening at its base, a dozen yards wide and tall. John and Adam walked towards the opening, and stopped just outside of it. John sent his divine sense down into it, making sure it was safe to enter.


    "It''s a staircase leading downwards. I don''t detect any danger," John said to Adam as he proceeded downwards. Adam quickly followed behind.


    The staircase was pitch ck, with no light source.


    Flicker!


    Lightning suddenly danced over John''s hands, serving as a light as they proceeded downwards. The staircase winded downwards for nearly half a mile, before they finally reached t ground.


    "It seems like there are a few levels to this temple," Adammented.


    "Seems so," John replied, his attention fully focused ahead of him.


    Before him stood an open area of pure whiteness. Every direction he looked, John could only spot an endless whiteness stretching into the far distance. There were no trees, no grass, nothing. Just an endless expanse of white.


    "Hmm?"


    John noticed a group of cultivators standing off to the side, discussing something. It consisted of members of the Heavenly Lighting Sect, Divine Soul Sect, and Supreme Battle Sect.


    John quickly walked towards them, curious as to why they had gathered up seemingly around nothing. The other disciples quickly noticed John and greeted him. They did not know of his previous feats as they had entered the temple first, and so did not look at him with wary eyes.


    "Why are you all gathered here?" John asked the group.


    One of the Divine Soul Sect disciples spoke up.


    "We''re trying to get to that," The disciple said as he pointed his finger in a certain direction. John''s vision followed the finger, and soon spotted something about half a mile away. There seemed to be another gathering of disciples, as well as several glowing sources of light. John also noticed another smooth ck monolith near the group in the distance.


    It was the only thing of note in this expanse of whiteness.


    "What is that? And why aren''t you joining the other disciples over there?" John asked curiously.


    An inner disciple from the Heavenly Lightning Sect stepped forward and answered.


    "As soon as we step forward from this spot, there''s a restrictive energy that stops us. However, it didn''t stop any of the disciples in the distance. We''ve discussed this matter seriously amongst ourselves, and the onlymonality we can find is that none of us here ascended the mysterious staircase outside. We all went around it. Did you ascend the staircase?" The disciple suddenly asked.


    "Yep," John replied quickly.


    "In that case, can you proceed forward and let us know if our theory is true," The disciple replied.


    John inspected the area and found no danger. He took a step forward, and felt a pressure wash over him. However, it did not restrict him, and he easily took several more steps forward. The disciples watching sighed at the sight.


    "It''s as we assumed. We must head back outside and ascend the stairs fully, or we cannot proceed further."


    The disciples soon turned around and left, leaving only John and Adam behind. Adam walked alongside John with a proud expression.


    "Haha, I knew those stairs were special for some reason. It''s a good thing I ascended them. My forward thinking is exemry."


    John rolled his eyes at Adam''s shameless antics, and he proceeded to walk forward once more and reached the next group of disciples quite quickly.


    The disciples noticed the arrival of the neers, and nodded at them before turning their attention to the objects in front of them once more. John looked at the objects curiously as well, as it was the only thing of note on this level.


    There were five arches, around ten feet tall. They were made of a mysterious lustrous material, and had profound glowing runes all over the surface. Within the arches, light swirled and glowed, revealing them to be some sort of formation.


    The light instantly reminded John of the pocket realm arch, as it was quite simr. John soon noticed several Heavenly Lightning Sect Disciples standing nearby, including June, Hartley, and Mason.


    He walked over to them, and was greeted with warm smiles by Hartley and June, while Mason ignored him.


    "Do any of you know what these things are?" John asked curiously.


    "These five arches seem to be five different trials," the usually quite June replied.


    "Trials? How do you know this?" John asked.


    "Some of us have already entered, myself included. It takes you to abat area, which tests yourbat prowess. If you pass, you are rewarded with something. The rewards are different for everyone," June replied.


    "Is that so? Which one did you enter?" John asked curiously.


    "Yes. I entered the second arch from the left. Thebat trial was quite challenging, but I managed to pass it eventually."


    John''s eyes trailed towards the arches once more, and he studied them in more detail. Each arch emanated a different aura, varying in power and profundity. The left-most one emanated a gentle aura, while the one to its right was a bit more powerful and frightening. The center arch emanated quite a shocking power, brimming with a strangely terrifying aura.


    The next one, the forth from the left, swirled with incredible power, dwarfing the previous one. Not only that, but the sheer profundity of the power was nearly overwhelming. It was as if it was an ominous warning sign, for no one to enter unless they desired death.


    Lastly, on the far right, the arch there emanated an absolutely horrifying power. Not only was the power overwhelming, but all those who looked at it could only think of one word; Death. It was as if their life would end the moment they entered, and none dared to do so.


    John''s eyes trailed towards the top of the arches, and he soon spotted small writing carved into the arches, written in the ancientnguage that only he could read.


    The leftmost one read "Talent: Average."


    John raised his eyebrows slightly as he read this.


    ''It seems like it truly is abat trial used to test talent.''


    He looked to the second arch. "Talent: Gifted."


    The third arch. "Talent: Genius."


    The fourth arch. "Talent: Heavenly Prodigy."


    And finally, John''s eyes trailed towards the fifth arch. "Talent: Divine."


    "Has anyone entered the other arches yet?" John asked curiously.


    June nodded her head. "Yes, all but the far right arch have been entered. Most entered the first or second arch, as their auras were much less dreadful. After passing the trial and exiting, we''ve been able to determine that the trials get harder as you proceed towards the right-most arches. Also, it appears as if you can only enter a trial once, at which point all other trials reject you."


    John nodded his head at June''s assessment. Based on the writing, this truly was the case.


    "Who entered the fourth arch?" John asked.


    The aura from the fourth arch was powerful and profound enough to give even him pause, let alone others.


    "Quite a few of the most talented disciples from each sect have entered. One of our sects Direct Disciples has entered, as well as a few other powerful members from other sects. However, none have exited, no matter how much time has progressed," June replied. She paused for a moment before continuing.


    "The Divine Soul Sect has a unique Soul Item which can tell which disciples have perished or not. Each disciple has one, and they have confirmed that all the disciples of their sect that entered that arch have died, except one."


    "Oh? Which one? The Soul Sage?" John asked curiously.


    June nodded her head in affirmation. "Yes, he entered just a bit ago, and is still alive. However, other than him, all the others have died, and I''m afraid it''s the same for the Direct Disciple of our sect that entered," June confirmed.


    John''s eyes turned towards the nearby ck monolith, which was just a hundred yards behind the arches. A brief inspection revealed no opening like the first monolith, confusing John slightly. It appeared as if it was just a ck p of rock.


    John looked around for a moment before once again turning back to June.


    "Why don''t I see any Bloodfiend Sect disciples here?"


    June thought the question strange, as she didn''t know why John would care about them. She had not heard of what had happened yet.


    "Several of them arrived a bit ago. They acted quite haughty, and even threatened to drive us away. However, our numbers are superior, so they didn''t dare to do so. A few of them entered the second arch, while the others entered the third arch after hearing about the dangers of the fourth one," June replied.


    "Which Bloodfiend Sect disciples entered the arches?" John suddenly asked with a cold tone.


    The tonal shift surprised June slightly, but she answered quickly.


    "Two of the Blood Kings entered the second arch, while the Three Blood Emperors all entered the third arch," June replied.


    Boom!


    John''s aura instantly erupted outward, washing over all the nearby disciples as his cold, rage-filled eyes stared directly at the third arch.

 Chapter 235 - Waiting

    John''s sudden, powerful, rage-filled, and bloodlust heavy aura suddenly washed over all the nearby disciples, shocking them greatly. There were several incredibly powerful disciples in the nearby area, and yet all of them felt shocked by this aura. Not only was it incredibly powerful, but it was also incredibly sinister.


    They quickly inspected who the aura came from, and all were shocked to find it came from John. His cultivation was only at the Early Core Formation Realm, yet he was making even the Mid Core Formation Realm cultivators in the area sweat with nervousness.


    They had no idea why he had unleashed such an aura, but it was nearly overwhelming.


    John''s outward explosion of rage was quickly pulled inwards as he slightly calmed himself. However, those looking at him became even more frightful.


    He turned to June and spoke up once more.


    "How long did it take you to leave your trial?" John asked in a calm but cold voice.


    June paused for a moment,pletely surprised by John''s sudden burst of emotion.


    "About an hour," June replied.


    John''s eyes turned to the third arch once more.


    ''The third arch is harder than the second, and the Three Emperors just entered. That should give me a bit of time.''


    "Adam," John suddenly called out.


    "What is it?" Adam asked. Despite John''s intense outburst, Adam was standing right next to him, unmoved. He knew the reason for John''s outburst, and was feeling the same rage himself.


    "Is it in your power to build a formation around the third arch, making sure no one leaves?" John asked with a cold voice.


    Adam was slightly surprised by the question, but quickly understood John''s intentions.


    "If I do, you''ll be trapped as well," Adam replied, making sure John knew the risks.


    "That''s fine. Are you able to do it?" John once again asked.


    Adam thought about it for a moment, taking a note of the items he had at his disposal before responding.


    "I do know of one such formation. It''s simr to the one I used to block Jason from escaping. However, I will need to use many more spirit stones as a power source to activate it," Adam replied.


    "That''s fine. I''ll reimburse you for any spirit stones you use, just make the formation."


    Adam shook his head in disappointment.


    "We''re brothers, and we are both here to avenge our fallen brother. It''ll be my honor to help you eliminate Damon," Adam replied in a sincere tone, his attitude quite different from normal.


    John nodded his head in approval.


    "However, with how strong you and the Blood Emperors are, I can only make itst for thirty minutes. Once that time is up, it''ll fade. Also, if you allow them to repeatedly attack the wall several times with full power attacks, it''ll crumple also," Adam borated on his formation.


    "That''s fine. Thirty minutes is more than enough," John confirmed.


    His blood essence reserves would onlyst thirty minutes anyways, so he would need to finish the fight before then.


    Adam patted John on the back before he got to work.


    The arches were all spaced around one hundred yards from each other, making the total area around five hundred yards including the width of the arches. There were plenty of disciples in front of the first and second arches, deciding on if they wanted to enter or not.


    "Everyone, scram," John suddenlymanded in a loud voice as he walked towards the arches.


    The eyes of all the disciples turned to John, confused as to what he was doing. Some shouted out in protest, thinking he was trying to monopolize the arches.


    "You can''t do that." one Divine Soul Sect disciple protested.


    "That''s right. These trials are not for you alone," another protested.


    John''s cold and ruthless eyes locked on those youths, instantly silencing them. They each swallowed deeply in fear, unwilling to say another word.


    John''s sinister aura once again radiated outwards.


    "I''ll say this once more, scram now, or suffer the consequences," Johnmanded again.


    While he seemed uncaring, John did not want any of the other disciples to get caught in the crossfire. He wanted a fight between him and Damon alone.


    The other disciples were still upset about this, but decided not to protest. They could tell that John was in a foul mood, and his overwhelming aura told them his threat was real. Despite being in the Early Core Formation Realm, none of the disciples present wanted to fight him in his current state.


    The area quickly cleared out, and the disciples stood off to the far side, watching what John and Adam were doing.


    sh!


    A sh of light appeared at the first gate, revealing a youth who had juste out. They had a look of delight on their face, as they had clearly passed the trial. They held a unique looking sword, clearly the reward they had been given.


    The disciple''s delight quickly turned to confusion as they looked around. They noticed the empty area, as well as the sinister looking John, and quickly fled towards their respective sect gathered in the distance.


    John frowned as he had inspected the youth that left. When the youth left, they had a lingering trace of the aura from the gate they had entered, acting as a sort of shield. While the power quickly faded away, it was still not what John wanted to see.


    ''I was going to attack Damon as soon as he left the arch, but it seems as though there''s a temporary protection for those who leave. It was probably done for this exact reason, so those who entered didn''t get snuck upon and killed for their rewards.''


    John shook his head in disappointment, but the ns didn''t change. If he couldn''t kill Damon with a sneak attack, then he would just kill him head on.


    sh!


    sh!


    sh!


    More shes from the first and second arch appeared, revealing more youths that had passed. They were quite injured, but also had looks of delight on their faces. Simr to the first youth, they quickly noticed the odd atmosphere, and retreated to their fellow sect members.


    "John, what is going on?" A voice suddenly sounded out behind John.


    John turned around and looked straight at the nearby June.


    "Damon, the Blood Emperor, killed Russell," John got straight to the point.


    June''s face lit up with surprise, and then quickly anger. This was her first time hearing of this.


    "Those bastards. Let me help you kill them," her temper instantly ignited. John was slightly surprised to see such reactions from June, as she was unusually emotionless. However, it seemed as if she had grown somewhat attached to the Heavenly Lightning Sect and its disciples.


    However, John shook his head, rejecting her offer.


    "He''s mine to kill. Besides, your battle prowess is too weak," John replied, not mincing any words.


    June''s cultivation was at the Early Core Formation Realm, while Damon and the other Emperors were at the Mid Core Formation Realm. Despite her impressivebat prowess within the same realm, June''s cultivation was just too low at the moment.


    June grit her teeth in silence. After a moment, she sighed and turned around.


    "Good luck."


    John nodded his head at June''s words of encouragement, as he once again turned his attention towards the arches.


    Several more shes of light appeared as more disciples left the trials. Eventually, the shes died down, revealing that only the Bloodfiend Sect Disciples were left, as they had enteredst.


    John sat down on the ground, a few dozen yards away from the third arch, and calmed his mind as he focused on maintaining his peak state. He appeared like a pressurized cauldron, ready to burst at a moment''s notice.


    Adam walked next to John, patting him on the shoulder.


    "The formation is all set up.? You have thirty minutes toplete your fight."


    Adam wanted to help, but was powerless to do so. He was too weak in a direct fight, and his only offensive formation strong enough to help at the moment was the strange broken disk. However, that had been attached to Hunter when he left with the spatial talisman, taking away his one way to help.


    "Thanks."


    John replied with a short thanks, before once again closing his eyes.


    At the same time, the reason for John''s sudden actions spread out throughout the crowd behind him. They finally understood why John had done such a thing, but shook their heads in confusion.


    "While he does appear powerful, he''s only at the Early Core Formation Realm. There''s no way he can beat a Blood Emperor," a Supreme Battle Sect youthmented.


    "You''re right. We''re about to watch him die," Mason suddenlymented. He was more than happy to see John perish, as it would only elevate his own importance within the sect.


    John continued to sit there for nearly an hour in focused meditation.


    sh!


    John''s eyes snapped open as a sh of light appeared at the third gate, revealing a cultivator d in blood red robes standing before it.

 Chapter 236 - One Against Five

    The cultivator stepped out of the arch, a pleased smile evident on their face. Long, pitch ck hair draped down her shoulders, while she wore a tight and revealing outfit. Her face was quite beautiful, but in a pure seductive way and almost evil way.


    Her eyes quickly looked around, noticing the unusually empty space. She noticed John sitting alone, a few dozen yards ahead of her. His eyes burned with a cold rage, displeasing her greatly.


    "I should kill you for looking at me like that," The girl said to John. She was Azalea, one of the Three Blood Emperors.


    sh!


    sh!


    Two more shes urred at almost the same time at the third arch, revealing two more youths draped in blood red robes. Both were boys of simr builds, although one had short brown hair and a slightly ugly and wicked looking face, while the other had blood red hair and reddish tinted eyes.


    His face was quite handsome, but his sharp gaze and features gave him quite an intimidating look.


    They noticed the three of them standing in the same spot, having exited the trial at the same time, revealing their simrbat prowess''s.


    "You actually beat us here Azalea? You must have gotten lucky," the brown haired boy stated in a displeased voice. He was Culein, the Sword Emperor. It was rumored that he could cut down anyone in the same realm with just a single attack of his sword.


    "Or I''m just stronger than y-" Azalea responded, but a powerful aura suddenly washed over them.


    The Three Emperor''s looked over to the source of the aura, John. John''s eyes were staring directly at the boy with blood red hair, his eyes growing with a burning rage.


    "Do you know him?" Azalea asked Damon.


    "No, never seen him. But the way he looks at me displeases me. I think I''ll kill him and refine his blood for my battle arts. It seems as if he has quite a strong lifeblood," Damon replied as he looked at John in a nonchnt manner.


    John''s aura was powerful, but his cultivation was only at the Early Core Formation Realm.


    Outside the formation Adam had set up, all the disciples of the various sects were looking inwards, ready to witness what was about to happen.


    Adam grimaced as he saw the Three Blood Emperorse out at the same time, especially when he noticed their cultivation levels.


    "They''re all in the Late Core Formation Realm now!" one Divine Soul Sect youthmented.


    "They must have been rewarded with something to advance their cultivation within the trials," another said.


    "Well, I was looking forward to a good fight, but now it will just be a ughter," A Supreme Battle Sect boy spoke up.


    There was no hope for John in their eyes. His only fate was to be instantly cut down. The faces of the Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples turned into ones of worry. They knew John was strong and could jump one level, but two was something he had never shown.


    Not only that, but there were three Emperors, the strongest disciples of the Bloodfiend Sect. Their battle prowess was surely the highest of all disciples within the same realm. They had no idea how John was going to get out of this one.


    Standing to the side of the crowd some distance away, a girl stood there with a slightly apprehensive look on her face. No one in the crowd noticed her, as if she was invisible to them.


    Hervender hair fell down to her waist, and her crystal blue eyes looked straight at John''s back. She had only just met the boy before her, and didn''t even know him, but for some reason, she felt worried for him.


    Power began to build up on her hand, before it slowly faded away.


    "I''ll wait and see what happens. He doesn''t strike me as someone who would throw his life away."


    Back in the formation, John''s aura continued to rapidly climb, as if a sleeping demon god was finally awakening.


    ''Three of them came out at the same time, and they''re all in the Late Core Formation Realm. This has made things much more difficult, but it changes nothing.''


    John slowly stood up, and a scythe quickly appeared in his hands.


    sh!


    sh!


    Two more shes of light appeared at the second gate, revealing two more youths wearing blood red robes.


    "Now the two Kings have emerged. There''s truly no hope for him," a youthmented.


    The two Kings instantly noticed the unique atmosphere, and walked over to the three Emperors.


    "What''s going on?" one of the King''s asked while staring at John.


    "This ant before us had been staring at us like this since we came out. I''m not sure why, but let''s just kill him and move on," Azalea replied.


    She raised her hand, and power began to build up on it, growing to an incredible level.


    Bang!


    A powerful Qi attack exploded from her hands, piercing directly towards John. A powerful pressure from the attack pressed down on John, attempting to lock him in ce. John scoffed at the approaching attack, as lightning began to dance on his legs.


    Boom!


    The Qi attack exploded on the ground where John was standing, sending a massive explosion outwards. This simple attack from Azalea was as strong as the Corpse King''s ultimate attack, showing her immense power. Smiles appeared on all their faces, before they suddenly frowned and looked to the side.


    A sh of blue and red blurred past them, slicing directly into one of the Bloodfiend Sect Kings.


    "Gahhh!"


    The boy had managed to twist his body at thest moment, but the sweeping scythe had still managed to sever one of his arms. His pained cries rang out as John attempted a follow up attack.


    Peng!


    A sword image instantly met his scythe attack, stopping it in its tracks. John was knocked back slightly as the Sword Emperor lowered his sword, having just saved his fellow disciple.


    Due to them underestimating John, John had been able tond a significant blow to one of the Kings.? He had been hoping to cut one down in a surprise attack, but even the Kings were no pushovers.


    "Kill him," The injured Bloodfiend Sect King screamed out in rage.


    The five of them had not taken John seriously, but now none of them looked down on him. Five powerful attacks instantly struck out towards John, seeking to destroy him in a single blow.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John activated the Supreme Battle Art, strengthening his body to immense levels. His scythe struck out in a circr manner, utilizing theprehensions and insights he had just learned from the ancient battlefield to its full extent. This was John''s strongest defensive scythe stance.


    Booooom!


    Five attacks collided against John''s sweeping scythe, overwhelming him in an incredible explosion.


    The crowd grimaced at the scene, assuming that John was surely dead from taking an attack like that head on.


    John''s body shot out of the explosion like a cannonball, sailing rapidly through the air.


    Bang!


    HIs body collided against the far side of Adam''s formation,ing to aplete stop and bouncing back against it quite brutally. He fell to the ground below, managing tond on his feet.


    "Oh? He''s still alive?" Azalea spoke up with a disbelieving tone. Although those weren''t their strongest attacks, even one of them was enough to erase an Early Core Formation cultivator, let alone five of thembined.


    John looked up and wiped the blood off his lips as he stared at the five with cold and rage-filled eyes. His body ached from taking that incrediblebined attack head on, but hisbat prowess had not yet dropped.


    ''I didn''t want to use my strongest battle state right away as I have limited reserves, but it seems I have no other choice. Immortal Asura Trans-''


    John''s asura blood began to surge as he started his transformation, but it quickly stopped as he noticed something. His soul space began to tremble, and a smile appeared on John''s face.


    Light shed before John, quickly revealing a neer standing right before him. It was an odd looking creature, about the size of a wolf, and appeared to look more like a horse. It''s cultivation was at the Mid Core Formation Realm.


    ''It seems as if that fruit he ate helped him out quite a bit as well. His power right now is quite incredible.''


    John smiled as he stared at Kirii. Kirii was still using its disguise ability, making sure no one recognized it as a Kirin.


    "Are you sure you''re strong enough for this battle?" John asked.


    Kirii hade out of his soul space on its own, and its growing battle intent showed its intentions clearly.


    Kirii nudged his head against John''s body, and his soul connection with John confirmed his intentions. Lightning began to dance over Kirii''s body as it too began to power up to its peak state.


    Although it didn''t know much about what was going on, it could tell that John was in a dangerous situation, and so it hade out to help. Kirii was a heavenly beast, and so John was not too worried about it holding its own.


    John patted Kirii''s back as a confident smile appeared on his face.


    "In that case, let''s bathe this area in Bloodfiend Sect Blood, together."

 Chapter 237 - Kirii’s Power

    Kirii''s cultivation was now at the Mid Core Formation Realm. Based on its incrediblytent talent as a heavenly beast, John was not worried about Kirii ensuring his safety.


    John pointed at the five distant Bloodfiend Sect youths, his finger pointing to Azalea.


    "If you can keep her upied for the next while, that will be more than enough," Johnmunicated through his soul connection with Kirii. Kirii''s eyes immediately lit up in an excited manner, eager to experience its first battle, as well as help out John anyway he could.


    John wanted Kirii to stay away from the Sword Emperor, as his sharp attacks were quite terrifying, and only he was confident in blocking them with his body. As for Damon, he was John''s prey from the start.


    John lowered his hand and began to walk over to the five distant youths, who were staring at him in amusement. Despite his toughness being shocking in that he survived theirbined attacks, they were not worried about him turning the tides at all, even with the arrival of hispanion.


    John''s sneak attack had been mostly sessful, but that was because the Bloodfiend King was not ready for it. If the Emperors truly wanted to interfere with that sneak attack, they could have. But the Bloodfiend Sect was every man for themselves, and so they had no intention of helping those weaker than them in such a manner.


    John''s aura once again began to climb as he started walking over to the five youths. His battle intent shot into the sky, revealing that he was not backing down in the slightest. There wasn''t a trace of fear in his aura or intent, slightly surprising the other youths.


    Kirii''s battle aura also skyrocketed, mimicking John as it prepared for battle.


    "Even with your pet at your side, your only choice is to die here," Azalea said to John in a mocking tone.


    John ignored the mockingment, and continued approaching.


    While his body Qi reserves were quite limited, his essence reserves were filled to the brim. With corepressions, eachpression improved the quality of the Qi stored, as well as the quantity. Even whenpared to a heavenly prodigy who achieved tenpressions, John''s essence Qi reserves would be more than double, let alone whatever the Bloodfiend Emperors achieved.


    John was not worried about running out of essence Qi before them.


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    Unworried about his essence reserves, John instantly activated his lightning domain. Thirty six lightning nodes suddenly sprung up in the surrounding area, spaced all around John, and stretching up to a hundred yards away.


    He had bought the Core Formation portion of the Heavenly Lightning Domain, and was now disying its true power. Not only were there more nodes, but the lightning he could unleash from the nodes was much more powerful.


    When John was at the Qi Condensation Realm, he could only unleash one lightning node attack at a time. Now his limit was eight. It should have been two when advancing to the Core Formation Realm, but John''s incredibly dantian core allowed him to exceed the limits of the technique.


    The Emperors and Kings immediately noted the domain, and frowned slightly. Its power was far beyond their expectations.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Several lightning node attacks pierced directly towards Azalea. She scoffed and turned to block the approaching attacks. A strange looking weapon, like a mirror with a long handle suddenly appeared in her hands,


    Bang!


    The lightning attacks struck onto the mirror, knocking her backwards dozens of yards. Her eyes opened in slight surprise, at both the power and profundity of the lightning.


    "Careful, his lighting is much more powerful than it looks. Don''t let it strike you," Azalea spoke up. Her words of caution surprised the other youths, as they knew how powerful she was. She would only give such a warning if it was warranted.


    Azalea finally stopped her backwards momentum two hundred yards away from the group. She remained uninjured, and scoffed at John''s attack.


    "If that was all you have, you''re as good as dead."


    John looked at Azalea, and shook his head.


    "Idiot."


    Roaaaaaar!


    A loud, guttural roar echoed within the formation, drawing the attention of all those inside. The source of the roar sped towards Azalea like a blur, reaching her in an instant. Azalea barely managed to raise her mirror in time to block the attack.


    Boooom!


    Kirii''s head struck Azalea''s strange mirror, forcing it against her body. Azalea shot backwards like a cannonball, smashing into the formation wall behind her. Her body violently rebounded to the ground below, as she struggled tond on her feet. She had not been prepared for such an intense attack.


    Lightning began to build up on Kirii''s body, gathering on its forehead, where its now disguised lightning crystal existed.


    Bang!


    Lightning immediately exploded out of Kirii''s forehead, piercing directly towards the still recovering Azalea. Its power was incredible, and was even more powerful than John''s full powered Lightning Ruin!


    Azalea''s blood and Qi were still in turmoil within her body from the previous attack, and she was not able to muster a normal defense in time to block this attack. Azalea grit her teeth as she raised her mirror before her.


    Her mirror suddenly began to glow, and a strange aura wrapped around it.


    The lightning beam struck onto the mirror. Everyone was expecting a powerful explosion to radiate outwards, but there was only silence as the attack disappeared.


    Boom!


    A loud boom suddenly echoed out as the lightning beam appeared once more, piercing directly towards Kirii. Azalea''s face paled considerably as she redirected the attack.


    Kirii noticed the approaching lightning beam, but did not understand how it had been deflected. However, Kirii did not dodge the attack at all.


    Boom!


    The attacknded directly onto Kirii''s body, causing a powerful explosion to radiate outwards. Kirii was engulfed in an explosion of extreme lightning, causing its body to be lost within.


    "Hahaha, that pet of your''s is an idiot," Azaleaughed out loud after turning the tides.


    The technique she used was one of her ultimate defense techniques, and it took out quite a bit of Qi from her. She could also only use it twice before the burden on her body became too great and she had to rest. However, the cost had been worth it to eliminate the meddling pet.


    John ignored Azalea as he continued to approach the others, as he muttered under his breath once more.


    "Complete idiot. How is lightning going to injure Kirii?"


    Another powerful lightning beam suddenly pierced out of the fading explosion, once again piercing directly towards Azalea. Her eyes widened in surprise as she suddenly utilized a movement technique, narrowly dodging the attack.


    The fading lightning explosion revealed Kirri, standing there in perfect health. Its eyes burned in anger, not having been attacked, but having missed Azalea with its attacks. It was like a child throwing a temper tantrum at not achieving its goal. Kirii suddenly sped towards Azalea, appearing like a blur of lightning as it reached her in an instant.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    A series of loud explosions began to ring out as Kirri and Azalea began to exchange moves, neither seemingly getting the upper hand. However, the other Bloodfiend youths could tell that due to Azalea using that technique of hers already, she was starting to lose out due to lessenedbat prowess.


    Damon frowned at the scene, and suddenly gestured to one of the Bloodfiend Kings.


    "Kaiden, go help Azalea. The three of us here will be more than enough to handle this lowly Heavenly Lightning peasant."


    Damon had no idea how John had such a powerful pet, but that didn''t matter right now. They could study Kirii after John was dead.


    Kaiden nodded his head and sped over to Azalea, joining in her fight. Booms continued to echo out on the other side of the formation, as Kirii fought against Azalea and Kaiden.


    John continued to walk over to Damon, and his slow but steady steps as he approached the youths seemed to be like the war drums of a battle god, signifying the start of an incredible fight toe. His battle intent rose with every step, and by the time he stood before them, John''s battle intent was unlike anything the crowd had seen before.


    John finally approached the three youths, and stood only a dozen yards away from them. His cold, smoldering eyes stared directly at Damon, seemingly ignoring the two other youths.


    "With your death, I''ll finally pay tribute to my fallen brother," John said in a cold but steady tone.


    Understanding finally appeared on Damon''s face, as he began tough loudly.


    "So that''s why you''ve decided to throw your life away? For your stupid friend I cut down earlier? Haha, you Heavenly Lightning Peasants truly are idiots." Damon replied. "Don''t worry, you''ll be joining him soo-"


    Boom!


    Lightning rained down from every direction from John''s Lightning Domain, all piercing directly towards Damon. At the same time, John''s body shot forward like a blur, as his scythe struck down directly towards Damon''s head.


    The time to avenge Russell had finally arrived.

 Chapter 238 - Each Side Revealing Their Power

    Damon''s eyes stared at the approaching scythe without any fear at all. He didn''t even make a move to block it, as a small but smug smile hung on his face.


    Peng!


    An incredibly fast sword image sailed forward and collided with John''s scythe, stopping it in its tracks. John quickly looked to the side, and saw Culein, the Sword Emperor, look at him in disdain, as if he was unworthy of receiving such an attack.


    He suddenly dashed forward and appeared next to John in an instant, his sword piercing towards his chest like a blur.


    Peng!


    John raised the handle of his scythe just in time, blocking the attack. The force of the attack sent him a dozen yards backwards. Not only was Damon extremely dangerous, but when it came to sheer killing moves, the Sword Emperor was even moreso.


    "Crimson Blood Sword!"


    Damon suddenly shed out with his own sword, using the Crimson Blood Sword that had been demonstrated by Dn back in the tournament. However, this sword technique was miles ahead of what Dn could aplish, and appeared almost like a different attack.


    A blood red sword image shed towards John, attempting to overwhelm him with its sheer force and power. While Culein had extremely sharp attacks, Damon''s attacks were powerful and oppressive. John could even feel his blood slightly affected by Damon''s attack, but his powerful blood and body was able to instantly suppress it.


    Bang!


    Bang


    John shed his scythe out twice in quick session against the two attacks, blocking them fully. His body was sent flying backwards once more, losing out slightly in the exchange.


    They were just about to press their attacks, when thee lightning nodes suddenly lit up, sending multiple beams of powerful lightning to each opponent. All three opponents turned to block the attacks at the same time.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The ground continuously shook as lightning continued to rain down on the youths, causing them to focus their attention on it. It was like they were in a perpetual lightning storm, being struck at from all directions. The Heavenly Lightning Domain when utilized to its full extent was extremely powerful, but also extremely taxing on Qi reserves.


    Thankfully, John did not have to worry about thatst part too much due to his formidable essence dantian. Lightning continued to rain down ceaselessly, causing his opponents to get more frustrated by the moment.


    After stabilizing his backwards momentum, John shed his scythe forward with one hand, sending a powerful scythe image towards Culein. At the same time, his other hand raised, pointing his finger towards the remaining Bloodfiend King.


    Lightning Ruin!


    A powerful lightning beam shot out of John''s finger, piercing directly towards the King who was still busy fighting against John''s Lightning Domain. He noticed the attack at thest moment, but would be a hairte to stop it.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Both the scythe image and the lightning attack collided with suddenly appearing swords, causing the attacks to fall just off their targets.


    "Hmph,"


    Culein scoffed at the two attacks. A dozen swords now floated in the air around him, each brimming with the power of an early grade Core Formation weapon. Clearly it was some sort of sword domain.


    Not only that, but he suddenly held a different sword in his hand than before. It was brimming with an ancient aura, clearly something the Sword Emperor had obtained in this ancient city, or perhaps even in the arch trials.


    Lightning continued to rain down on the youths, but the swords revolving around Culein suddenly shot out in every direction. They moved incredibly quickly, and formed a revolving defense around the three youths,pletely fighting back against the lightning domain. Not only that, but the swords sliced into the domain nodes as well, severing them apart. The nodes would quickly reform, but nodes destruction, although momentarily, gave the youths more reprieve than before.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Lighting and swords continually collided, exploding against each other and bathing the area with powerful shockwaves. At the same time, the battle between Kirri, Azalea, and Kaiden continued to rage on the other side of the formation area, violently shaking the ground from their exchanges.


    Kirii darted around like a blur, looking like a beam of lightning itself, his speed unmatched. Azalea and Kaiden attempted to pin Kirii down, but were unable to do so. Azalea suddenly activated a defensive domain, which slightly slowed down Kirii''s speed. The two sides continued to trade blows, with neither sideing out on top.


    John narrowed his eyes as he stared forward and Culein and Damon. Not only did Culein reveal shocking power and a shocking weapon, but an incredibly ancient and powerful weapon now rested in Damon''s hand as well.


    It was a blood red sword, and its grade was at the peak of the Core Formation Realm. John could tell it was an amazing weapon. The two Emperor''s auras exploded out with incredible power, shocking all those watching.


    "What monsters!" a youth in the crowd muttered.


    The nearby youths all nodded their heads in agreement. The two Emperors were showing why they were so feared.


    "Your strength isn''t bad. But now you die," Damon scoffed as the surroundings suddenly went red.


    ''Crimson Hell Domain!''


    John instantly recognized the domain, as it was disyed by both Jason and Dn previously. However, this domain of Damon''s was much more profound, being on apletely different levelpared to the amateur disys of the other two.


    John felt the same invading force on his body and soul, seeking to control his blood in his body, as well as overwhelm his soul and will. John steeled his will, resisting the soul portion of the attack, while powering his body even further to resist the blood portion.


    ''Even with my incredibly powerful Asura Body, I can still feel effects on my blood and body from Damon''s domain! I think it''s about time to use it.''


    John was shocked at this discovery, which showed just how powerful Damon was. His body was actually being affected greatly by the domain, which was outside of his expectations. Unfortunately, his body, which was at the Late Qi Condensation Realm, was just too low at the moment to resists such a domain.


    John narrowed his eyes as he stared at the three youths. His eyes slowly began to turn red.


    Immortal Asura Transformation Art!


    The area went silent for a brief moment, before John''s aura suddenly shot up into the sky, much more powerful than before. The aura continued to be more sinister and bloodthirsty,pletely shocking the crowd. Its power was unlike anything they had ever felt before. It was like they were witnessing the birth of a demon god.


    The Two Emperors and one King narrowed their eyes as they stared at John with serious expressions. They noticed John''s eyes gopletely blood red, clearly indicating that it was some sort of transformation art. His aura was alsopletely unlike before, giving even them a moment of pause.


    Even Azalea and Kaiden paused for a moment to look over towards John,pletely shocked by his sudden explosion of power.


    John felt the negative effects of Damon''s domainpletely wash away, once again freeing him from Damon''s control.


    Damon quicklyposed himself and suddenly shot forward like a bullet, appearing directly before John, his sword shing down powerfully. John quickly raised his scythe.


    Peng!


    Sword and scythe collided, and John was the one to lose out in the exchange as he was sent several steps backwards. Damon raised his eyebrows in surprise, as he expected John to be unable to move at all due to his formation.


    "Your power and body truly is shocking. Once I kill you, I''ll use your blood to improve my battle arts," Damon said in a mocking tone as he suddenly shed at John again. The Bloodfiend King, who wielded a sword as well, joined Damon in his assault on John.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Swords continuously pierced and shed towards John in an endless barrage, seeking to take his life. John''s scythe revolved and twirled endlessly, fully utilizing the scythe insights he had recently gained. His twirling scythe was like a defensive wall, blocking whatever attack came his way. However, he was slowly but surely being pushed backwards. Even with his incredible transformation, John was still on the losing end.


    His body cultivation was unfortunately only at the Late Qi Condensation Realm, an entire major realm below Damon''s cultivation. Despite the incredible powerup, he was still on the defensive.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    At the same time, lightning from John''s lightning domain continued to rain down on the three youths, like an endless lightning storm. However, swords quickly flew about,pletely blocking each and every lightning domain attack. The swords would also asionally join in the assault on John, making things even harder on him.


    The crowd watched in stunned silence at the battle before them. Despite John being on the losing side of things, he was still holding his own against two Bloodfiend Emperors and one Bloodfiend King. While the Emperors and Kings were not going all out yet, it was an incredibly shocking scene, as none of those present would be able to remotely do such a thing at John''s cultivation.


    "Is he a reincarnated battle god?" One Divine Soul Sect youth asked in a stunned tone.


    "That, or a demon god," another replied, unwilling to take their eyes away from the fight.


    While the Divine Soul Sect was stunned, the Supreme Battle Sect youths felt their blood boil at the sight. While they didn''t know how John knew the Supreme Battle Art, watching him use it and fight three against one sparked their battle intent. The Heavenly Lightning Sect youths watched on with mixed reactions of pride and worry. However, they were not powerful enough to help John, and so they could only watch.


    John''s scythe continued to twirl about, blocking the attacks that came from Damon and the other boy. He would asionally send a counter attack out, nearly taking the King''s life several times. However, all of his blows had been blocked or dodged at thest moment.


    John''s eyes suddenly focused on his scythe. His scythe was nowpletely riddled with cracks and scars, having blocked the higher grade weapons for quite some time. It was only a Qi Condensation grade weapon, and could not keep up with the barrage from the ancient Core Formation grade weapons.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Shatter!


    After blocking several more attacks, a powerful sword attack from Damon collided against John''s scythe, shattering itpletely. It fragmented into bits, the bits mming against his body, while Damon''s Crimson Blood Sword alsonded on John''s chest.


    John suddenly shot backwards like a bullet, a trail of blood following behind him. The crowd grimaced as John mmed against the formation wall on the far side,ing to aplete stop and rebounding to the floor below. Hey face down afternding, appearing as if he was dead, or at least greatly injured. Blood pooled below his body, revealing the state of his injury.


    "Hmph," Damon scoffed as arge smile appeared on his face. He and the Bloodfiend King slowly began to walk over to John''s body.


    Outside the formation, a concerned look appeared on the girl watching from the sides. Her hand suddenly raised once more, beginning to glow with incredible power.


    "Forgive me, Russell," a soft voice suddenly spoke out. It was incredibly soft, but for some reason, everyone could hear it.


    Damon scoffed once more as he approached John. His sword slowly raised above his head, ready to sh down at a moment''s notice. "Apologize when you meet him in the underworl-"


    Boom!


    His voice suddenly cut off as John''s aura instantly exploded outward once more, even greater than before. The clouds above the temple began to churn, and quickly gathered into a violent tempest. Lightning continuously snaked through the sky within the clouds, sending deafening booms echoing through the air.


    A terrifying pressure suddenly pressed down on all the youths, with John at the center of its focus. The pressure waspletely overwhelming, causing even the Three Emperors to stop in their tracks and stare upwards, their faces showing signs of fear. While they could not see the storm above the temple, they could clearly feel and hear it.


    Tribtion Clouds!

 Chapter 239 - Tribulation Clouds?

    The tribtion clouds churned violently overhead, as if it was an apocalyptic storm ready to destroy all below it. The lightning within the clouds violently churned, as if it was searching for its target. However, they never struck down, seemingly unable to find the intended victim.


    "This pressure...these sounds...there are tribtion clouds above us," one Divine Soul Sect youth eximed inplete surprise.


    "I''ve witnessed my master ascend to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and this pressure is definitely the same," a Supreme Battle Sect youth agreed.


    "But...tribtion clouds only appear when ascending to the Heaven Tribtion Realm. Just what is going on?" another Divine Soul Sect youth replied.


    Their eyes looked towards the still face down John, unsure exactly what was going on. However, everyone could tell that John was the center of the tribtions pressure, and that it was pressing down on him the most.


    None could make sense of it. The pressure pressing down on the entire area was so great that none dared to move, even the three Emperors. Despite the fact that John was face-down and defenseless, they didn''t dare to move or attack him.


    In his fight just now, John had been incredibly impressive, fighting three against one, jumping multiple realms in the process. Such a thing waspletely unheard of. However, it still hadn''t been enough. He had prepared to fight the Emperors based on their Middle Core Formation Cultivation, but unluckily, all of them had advanced to the Late Core Formation Realm within the arch trials.


    This put their strength at apletely new level, one that John was not able to match.


    His essence attacks, whilepletely powerful, were neutralized by the Sword Emperor, while the Blood Emperor and the other King forced him back with their constant barrage of attacks. John had taken a great loss because of his scythe breaking, but even then he could tell that the Blood Emperor and Sword Emperor were not going all out.


    They were ying with John, and did not consider him to be worthy of using their full strength. Unfortunately, John''s body was still too weak.


    His body dantian had been rtively close to breaking through, but he had not had the opportunity to obtain more blood essence to do so. With his current predicament, he was forced to do something he had hoped to avoid.


    John continued toy there on the ground as he guided the remaining blood into his dantian. Human blood essence existed in the forehead, and John had onest source of blood essence at his disposal.


    Russell''s potent blood essence, due to his Common Grade Innate Variant Body, surged into John''s body dantian with vibrant potency. John guided the blood ording to the Immortal Asura Tome, quickly raising his power to higher and higher levels.


    There was a brief resistance at the very peak, as if the heavens were resisting the breakthrough, before¡­.boom!


    A muffled sound echoed in John''s body, his body cultivation sessfully breaking through to the Early Core Formation Realm. As soon as he did this, his aura exploded wildly, and tribtion clouds instantly appeared.


    Before he could react, John once again found himself standing within the pce in his pce realm, directly below the revolving drops of blood. His expression changed quickly, as he waspletely vulnerable.


    His consciousness immediately left the pce realm and explored the real world, seeing what was going on. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as he noticed no one moving, too afraid to draw the wrath of the heavens.


    His attention once again went to the blood drops above him, which revolved in an endless dance. The familiar pressure once again wrapped around him, locking him in ce as one of the blood drops slowly left the translucent barrier and descended down towards him.


    The blood drop was much more powerful than the previous one he had absorbed, and contained both the holy and sinister aura. The holy aura was even more holy than before, while the sinister blood was more dark and evil. John could tell that based on the power emanating from this blood drop, this ascension to Core Formation was going to be a great leap forward in power.


    John remained calm as the blood descended to his chest, and watched the drop slowly enter it.


    Boom!


    The sinister blood immediately rebelled within John''s body, seeking to destroy it from within. It rampaged violently, as if he was unworthy of subduing it. The holy aura immediately red up, washing over the sinister blood and fighting against it.


    The two sides began to sh against each other, their power neutralizing the other side. With both sides neutralized in power, John guided the sinister blood drop to his body dantian, allowing his dantian to absorb it and grow.


    His dantian absorbed the sinister blood quickly, as if the blood naturally belonged to it, greatly increasing his dantian in both power and profundity. The processsted for nearly a minute, before all the blood was absorbed.


    Since the mysterious sphere, which was acting as his dantian, was already solid, John did not have to undergo dantianpressions. However, the power now emanating from his body dantian did not lose out to his essence dantian at all in power or profundity, revealing it to be of nearly equal quality.


    As the sinister blood waspletely absorbed, the holy blood stopped ring its power and began to defuse within John''s body. He could feel his body advance, not in strength, but in talent, as the holy blood purified it.


    The entire process only took several minutes, much quicker than his essence dantian advancement. John''s consciousness instantly returned to the real world, his body still face down on the ground.


    Blood pooled below him, but John could feel that the wound on his chest had beenpletely healed during his ascension. John slowly stood up and inspected his body, which was now brimming with absolute power.


    The nearby youths all looked at John as if he were a monster,pletely unable toprehend what was happening. It seemed in this entire area, only John was able to move against the heavenly pressure descending down from above.


    John finally noticed the tribtion pressure pressing down on him from above. With him at the center of its focus, the pressure was greatest on him. However, he found himself able to mostly ignore it. Not only that, but his body felt a growing disgust against the pressure, as if he was sworn enemies against it.


    His blood red eyes stared straight up, as if he could see the clouds through the temple roof above. The clouds continued to churn for a short while, before they gradually began to disperse, unable to locate John anymore. His ascension was alreadyplete.


    The pressure gradually vanished, but no one moved even after itpletely left. John''s blood red eyes looked down from the ceiling above and immediately locked onto Damon, who was standing several dozen yards away.


    Damon''s expression was a mix of confusion and fear, but he quicklyposed himself as he noticed John''s gaze. His divine sense washed over John, and a mocking expression quickly reced his previous fear.


    "I don''t know what the hell just happened, but that was quite a show you just put on. Despite all that, your strength is still at the Early Core Formation Realm. Was that some sort of illusion formation you just unleashed to buy yourself a bit of time to recover?" Damon asked in a condescending tone.


    Due to John''s body dantian being undetectable by anyone, everyone assumed that John''s cultivation realm had stayed the exact same. While his aura felt quite different, they did not see a big enough change in his body to turn the tides of the battle. The tribtion clouds had beenpletely shocking, but the crowd came to two conclusions regarding them.


    Either they were an illusion, or even if they weren''t, they were not rted to John ascending realms, as his cultivation had stayed the same.


    John stared at Damon, but didn''t respond. It was as if his focus was elsewhere. John remained that way for a short time before he snapped back to reality. His cold eyes looked down on Damon with disdain, as if he was not worthy of standing before him.


    Damon''s smug look was reced with one of displeasure at how John was looking at him. The Sword Emperor and the other King, who stood beside Damon, all felt the same way.


    Boom!


    John''s aura, which was already powerful, exploded outwards in an even more terrifying fashion. The sinister nature of his aura increased greatly, chilling all those feeling it to their core.


    Faint, blood red runes suddenly began to appear on John''s body, almost faint enough to not notice. Two small protrusions, pitch ck in color, suddenly appeared on the top of his head, as if they were two small horns.


    His nails suddenly grew slightly, bing as hard and sharp as weapons themselves. His muscles bulged slightly, as if they were forged of steel and brimmed with incredible power.


    Both Damon and the Sword Emperor unconsciously took a step backwards as they looked at John, as if such a fear came instinctually from their core.


    John felt an overwhelming power rush through his body, nearly destroying it from within. However, his incredibly sturdy body resisted the rampaging energy, and quickly controlled it to his will. His cold, ruthless eyes stared straight at Damon, as his fiendish aura washed over all.


    Immortal Asura Transformation Art: Second Form!

 Chapter 240 - Battle God

    John''s blood red eyes became even colder with his new transformation, chilling all those who looked at them. His aura exploded off his body with great power, shocking all with how sinister it felt. It was as if they were staring at a true Demon God.


    Damon''s expression changed slightly as he noticed John''s newfound power. It was much greater than what he was able to disy before. However, he was still confident in his own power, and his ability to handle John.


    Damon had been bathed in blood and battle all his life, and so just an aura was not able to scare him off.


    John once again activated his Heavenly Lightning Domain, causing lightning to rain down ceaselessly on the three youths before him. The power of each strike was shocking, and the Sword Emperor once again activated his Sword Domain to fight back against it.


    The power of his Sword Domain was even stronger than before, revealing that he had not gone all out before. John increased his domain output to his maximum, leaving nothing behind anymore.


    Swords and lightning continuously collided, bathing the battlefield with deafening booms. At the same time, the Sword Emperor held his sword and faced John alongside Damon and the other King. With his expanded sword domain, he was able to fully focus on John in directbat.


    A sharp sword intent emanated from his body, causing John to narrow his eyes slightly. In regards to lethality of attacks, the Sword Emperor was the one he had to worry about.


    Damon suddenly smirked as he made a strange hand seal. A ball of blood floated between his hands, and a brief inspection from John revealed the blood to be his own. The blood had been collected when his sword attacknded on John''s chest.


    "This is the blood I collected from you earlier. I used this technique on that friend of yours, and I''ll use it now again. Be a ve to my Crimson Hell Domain, hahahaha," Damon said to John, hisughter echoing out afterwards.


    Damonpleted his hand seals, and John could feel a sudden force invade his body. The force seemed to want to take control of his blood, in an even greater fashion than the initial Crimson Hell Domain.


    The energy continued to invade John''s body, seeking topletely enve him to Damon''s control. John felt that strange connection between his blood in his body and the blood hovering in Damon''s hands. However, his expression remained calm, but his rage burned even greater.


    ''This must be the move Damon used on Russell to control him, based on the descriptions of the battle I received.''


    However, John scoffed at such a feeble attempt at controlling him.


    "My body is not something someone likes you can control," John replied in a cold tone.


    "Haha, we''ll see about tha-"


    Boom!


    John pressed off the ground, lightning snaking all over his legs. He appeared next to Damon in an instant, and his fist punched outwards with all his might.


    Damon''s expression instantly changed, and he raised his blood red sword to block the attack. However, his arrogant assumption of controlling John had lowered his guard, making himte to do so. This was the first time his technique had failed.


    Peng!


    John''s fist collided with a sharp sword light just as he was about to reach Damon''s chest. A metallic sound rang out, and John was knocked a dozen yards backwards. Blood slightly tricked down his fist.


    While Damon was unprepared, Culein, the Sword Emperor was not. He had the fastest attacks of any of the three Emperors, and had just saved Damon.


    John instantly pressed off the ground once more, his speed incredibly fast as hebined his Thundersh Steps with the power of his body.


    John''s three opponents realized he was no longer the same person, and started to fight with all their strength.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Explosions continuously shook the ground, as lightning, metal, and fists continuously collided in an endless barrage of attacks.


    Due to losing his scythe, John was fighting barehanded right now, sending powerful kicks and punches towards his opponents. Every move of his caused the ground to shake and the air to ripple, revealing the incredible power of his body.


    The crowd watched in stunned silence once again. John was fighting evenly against the two Emperors and one King.


    "How is this possible? Is he truly a reincarnated battle god?"


    "He must be, otherwise how else can you exin his strength?"


    The youths spoke out in stunned voices as they watched John fight with incredible prowess. The Heavenly Lightning Sect youths gripped their fists tightly, expressions of pride and excitement on their faces.


    Standing a distance away from the crowd, a lone girl stared at the fight, her expression stunned as well. While the overall power John was disying was not above what she was used to, his battle prowess waspletely unlike anything she had ever seen before.


    Not only that, but his aura and will was incredible, as if he would fight against the heavens themselves without pause.


    "Maybe...with his help," her soft voice murmured out.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Attacks continued to fly out, shaking the battlefield with nonstop explosions.


    John suddenly pointed his finger outwards, sending an immediate Lightning Ruin towards Damon. Damon shed out his sword, sending a powerful Crimson Blood Sword attack to meet it.


    Boom!


    The attacks collided, sending an explosion of Qi radiating outwards.


    Che!


    An incredibly sharp and fast sword light pierced towards John''s back as the Sword Emperor got behind him, seeking tond a fatal blow.


    Lightning Domain!


    John''s divine sense was constantly expanded in this fight, giving him vision in every direction. While such a thing was incredibly taxing on the soul, John''s soul was strong enough to withstand the burden. A lightning domain attack instantly red out, colliding with the sword light.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    A continuous barrage of sword lights from both Culein and Damon filled the battlefield, while the Bloodfiend King sent out his own attacks as well. Lightning continuously rained down from the sky,nding on the sword attacks piercing towards him, bathing the battlefield in explosions.


    However, Culein''s sword domain swords continuously flew about the battlefield as well, neutralizing most of the lightning domain attacks.


    John''s finger continuously pointed in many directions, sending off st after st of Lightning Ruin''s to meet the attacks his lightning domain was not able to neutralize. He was like a one man army, fighting against insurmountable odds, but someone managing to do so.


    His aura remained unchanged, appearing as if he were a Demon God fighting against the world.


    The battlefield continued to shake violently from the continued explosions, as John continued to fight back three against one. His powerful body collided against weapons and Qi attacks over and over, somehow withstanding the power of those attacks. However, despite his powerful body, his strength was diminished due to having no weapon.


    Not only was his reach lessened, but the Sword Emperor''s sword attacks were so sharp that they cut into his own body. While the wounds were not deep, John quickly came to the conclusion that he could only block so many of those attacks before they added up to something detrimental.


    John''s body suddenly blurred, and he instantly appeared next to Damon once more. His fist punched out powerfully, aiming for Damon''s head. Blood freely flowed off his fists from the damage they had taken, but John ignored the pain as he continued to fight with all his power.


    Peng!


    Sword and fist collided, and Damon was sent flying backwards like a cannonball. While flying backwards, Damon shed his sword out several times, sending sharp Crimson Blood Swords directly towards John.


    Che!


    Che!


    More sword lights from the Sword Emperor pierced towards John''s back, and he was forced to go on the defensive instead of follow up on his attack on Damon. John sped in every direction, narrowly dodging the sword attacks, while a frown appeared on his face.


    ''I need more firepower. Even when Ind attacks, if they focus on defense, they get out rtively unscathed.''


    John''s blood essence reserves continued to dwindle as he used the Immortal Asura Transformation Art. Before long, he would run out, and as a result, run out of body Qi. He wanted to avoid using attacks that burned through his blood essence reserves faster, but realized that he needed to make a gamble.


    His essence Qi reserves would oust his opponents, but not his body Qi reserves. Once that happened, he was as good as dead.


    ''I guess I can''t hold back anymore. Let''s finish this.''


    All of his opponents were incredibly powerful, and only overwhelmingly powerful attacks would be able to break their defenses andnd fatal blows.


    Che!


    Another incredible sharp sword image pierced towards John''s back, looking tond a critical blow. John''s body blurred, and he narrowly dodged the attack.


    He appeared in front of the Sword Emperor in a sh, his cold eyes staring at him as if he were prey. Lightning domain attacks pierced towards his two other opponents, seeking to keep them away for a moment.


    The Sword Emperor scoffed, not caring about John''s attacks. John''s fists, while strong, were unable to break his defenses. John raised his hand above his head, slightly surprising the Sword Emperor with this strange action.


    An ancient sword suddenly appeared in his hands, brimming with incredible power and lethality. John grit his teeth as his arm muscles bulged out with great power, controlling the sword to the best of his abilities. He suddenly swung down towards the Sword Emperor with all his might.


    "Die!"

 Chapter 241 - Overwhelming Power

    The Sword Emperors eyes instantly locked onto the sword in John''s hand, his expression turning grave.


    With his newfound ascension, John was just strong enough to wield this Meridian Forging grade ancient weapon. His body was even more powerful than he expected after advancing to the Core Formation Realm, and he could wield the sword now, although with great effort and Qi expenditure.


    The sword shed right towards the Sword Emperors head, seeking to take his life in one blow. The Sword Emperor realized the overwhelming might of the attack, and didn''t hold anything back for defense.


    Eight more swords suddenly appeared in the air around him, signifying that he had not used his full sword domain power before. The swords were all incredibly fast, and pierced directly towards John''s sword, looking to block the blow.


    At the same time, the Sword Emperor shed out with his ancient Core Formation grade sword, adding to the blocking power.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    The flying swords collided with John''s sword one after another, seeking to slow the attack. However, John''s sword was far too powerful to be slowed, as it shed through each of the eight flying swords.


    The flying swords shattered upon contact with John''s sword, revealing its overwhelming might.


    Booom!


    John''s sword finally collided against the Sword Emperors ancient sword.


    "Gah!"


    The Sword Emperor, despite his best efforts, was sent flying backwards like a broken kite. Blood escaped his mouth from the force of the impact.


    Bang!


    His body collided against the formation wall, causing it to rebound off it. The formation wall dimmed slightly, revealing it was starting to run out of power.


    John dashed forward with his greatest speed, looking to follow up his attack. His speed was slowed, due to holding the incredibly heavy sword, but he still moved quite fast.


    Damon and the other King suddenly appeared before the Sword Emperor. Based on the oue of the previous attack, they all realized that John''s current attack power was something only the three of them could block together.


    "Block his attacks together. That sword seems to weigh an incredible amount. He''ll run out of energy before us!" Damon instructed.


    The Sword Emperor slowly stood up from the ground, holding his ribs in pain from the previous exchange.


    John finally reached the three of them, and shed his sword out sideways directly toward the weakest of the three, the Bloodfiend Sect King.


    Crimson Blood Sword!


    Bloodfiend Sword Domain!


    Parting Blood sh!


    The three Bloodfiend Sect youths all used their most powerful attacks, which they sent outwards to meet John''s attack.


    Booom!


    The attacks collided violently, sending an incredibly powerful explosion outwards. The three youths were all knocked backwards from the force of the attack, unable to withstand both its power.


    John''s body suddenly appeared through the radiating explosion, blood slightly trailing down parts of his body. However, he ignored the wounds as he bounded forward, appearing in front of the other youths once again.


    Che!


    His sword shed out downwards towards Damon, who was still getting up.


    Bloodfiend Steps!


    Damon instantly activated his fastest movement technique, narrowly dodging John''s attack.


    BANG!


    John''s sword collided with the incredibly sturdy floor below, sending out an incredibly loud echo. The ground shook from the force of the attack, revealing to all in the crowd just how heavy and powerful that attack was.


    John picked up the sword to his side once more, his cold and ruthless eyes once again locking on Damon. His breathing was heavy, as wielding the sword was hard even for him. Each swing of the sword consumed a great amount of strength and energy, sapping his Qi reserves incredibly quickly, and putting an immense strain on his body.


    At the same time, his three opponents were also breathing incredibly heavy, their faces bing more and more pale. The fight was clearly exhausting them, and they too seemed to be running low on Qi reserves.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Lightning domain attacks rained down on the three youths, giving them no reprieve to catch their breath. Each shed out with their swords, blocking the domain attacks. John appeared in front of them like a ghost once more, his sword shing out with incredible power.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Continuous blows were exchanged, with John shing his sword out with incredible power, and the three Bloodfiend youths using their full power for defense. The battlefield continuously shook as the four continued to exchange series after series of attacks. Each time John''s sword was blocked, one of the youths would fly backwards violently, unable to withstand his powerful assault.


    John''s aura continued to climb even higher, his bloodlust and battle-will pressing down on the youths like a guillotine on their necks. Even with their cruel and blood filled history, they had never felt a bloodlust like John''s right now.


    John''s barrage continued to overwhelm the three Bloodfiend youths, although their attacks used for pure defense allowed them to slow his assault. Despite John being the one pressing the assault, his face was bing more and more grave.


    ''At this rate, I''ll run out of blood essence reserves in the next minute or two. I need to make an all out gamble.''


    John could no longer waste any time. His assault had whittled the three youths down to theirst legs as well, and each of them were extremely injured from John''s nonstop assault.


    ''I''ll do what I do best, exchange attacks using my body tond a fatal blow.''


    John had done it several times in the past, allowing his opponent tond a blow on his body unblocked in order tond a crippling blow himself. With the fight proceeding as it was, John realized this was his only hope to end the battle.


    John''s aura continued to climb, and his incredibly strong battle-intent seemed to solidify, as if he was ready to throw his life away.


    John rested his sword on his shoulder as he stared at the three youths. He lowered his stance, ready to push off the ground with his full power to unleash his ultimate attack.


    sh!


    A sh of light appeared behind John, surprising him, his opponents, and the entire crowd. John quickly turned around to the source of the sh of light. The fourth arch.


    "It''s the Soul Sage! The Soul Sage actually survived the fourth arch!" A Divine Soul Sect youth eximed with happiness and pride.


    Against all odds, the Soul Sage had actually managed to survive the sure-death trial.


    The Soul Sage stood in front of the arch, his gaze looking every which way. His visionnded on John, noticing his incredibly ruthless and rage filled eyes. However, the rage and ruthlessness instantly evaporated as a slightly confused look appeared in John''s eyes.


    "Miko?"

 Chapter 242 - Soul Sage

    Miko stood there before the arch, his gaze still trying to make sense of what was going on before him. He had just left the trial, and had expected the crowd to be just outside the arches, but all he saw was an incredible battlefield, and someone he had not expected at all.


    "John? You''re alive?" Miko asked in a confused manner. ording to his knowledge, John was dead. The Fenix n had not let the news out that John was alive, and so Miko still thought he was dead.


    An incredibly powerful divine sense suddenly washed over John as Miko inspected him, making sure his eyes weren''t somehow ying tricks on him. After a brief moment of hesitation, pure tion appeared on Miko''s face as he rushed forward.


    "You''re alive! Hahahahahah!"


    Miko instantly embraced John, confirming once and for all that he was not an illusion. John, after a brief moment of being stunned as well, embraced Miko as well. It had felt like forever since hest saw his lifelong friend.


    The faces of the Bloodfiend Sect youths turned grave as they watched John and Miko embrace. They had run into the Soul Sage earlier in thesends, and knew his power was not something they could look down on. If the Soul Sage and John teamed up together, they would be unable to withstand the onught.


    Miko''s cultivation was only in the Middle Core Formation Realm, but even then he was able to match up evenly against the Emperors, showing his incredible battle prowess.


    Miko and John parted, and Miko looked around in a confused manner at the battlefield before them.


    "What''s going on, are you fighting the Emperors?"


    "Soul Sage," Damon suddenly spoke up, drawing the attention of John and Miko.? "I don''t know what rtionship you have with this Heavenly Lightning Peasant, but it''s in your best interest if you do not interfere."


    Miko''s ted face instantly turned sour.


    "What the fuck did you say to me?" His burst of anger surprised all those present, even his own Divine Soul Sect. They knew him as an ethereal prodigy who stood above all, but they had never seen this side of him before.


    "Motherfucker, even without you having enmity with John, just speaking to me like that is deserving of death. But since you and John are enemies, you must die!"


    His coarsenguage stunned all who heard it. John''s rage and bloodlust was slightly lessened by Miko''s usual antics, and he fought off the urge tough in order to keep his optimal battle state.


    "You handle the Sword Emperor. The Blood Emperor is mine." John said to Miko, who nodded his head in understanding. Clearly there was extreme enmity between John and the Blood Emperor for him to say something like this.


    Miko looked at the Sword Emperor with a look of pity. His figure suddenly blurred, as he nearly instantly appeared before the Sword Emperor. A marble white sword, radiating an ancient aura as well, appeared in his hands and shed down towards the Sword Emperor.


    The Sword Emperors face turned extremely grave as he shed out his own sword, parrying the attack.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Miko and the Sword Emperor instantly exchanged dozens of attacks. Although even at first, it quickly became apparent that Miko was winning. His incredibly powerful soul infused with every attack, nearly driving the Sword Emperor mad.


    At the same time, Kirii was still fighting against Azalea and Kadien on the other side of the formation, the battle still in aplete stalemate.


    John''s cold gaze returned to Damon, who now had a look of panic on his face. Without the Sword Emperor to help him, he was not confident in being able to withstand John''s blows.


    However, he could tell that John was nearly at the end of his ropes, and would run out of energy soon. If that happened, he could instantly turn the tides.


    John wasted no words, and dashed towards Damon. His body appeared like a blur as he arrived before him in an instant, his sword shing down onto Damon. Damon''s Crimson Hell Domain was still active, butpletely ineffective against John''s strong body and soul.


    Crimson Blood Sword!


    Damon shed out his most powerful attack, meeting John''s sword head on. He dashed backwards in an attempt to soften the blow, as he was looking to waste time instead of fight head on.


    John smirked at this action, his eyes looking at Damon as if he were an idiot.


    "Idiot, without the Sword Emperor around, who will block my Lightning Domain?"


    Damon immediately understood the reason for John''s smirk. He had became so used to the Sword Emperor neutralizing John''s Lightning Domain that he had forgotten about it. Now that the Sword Emperor was gone, he no longer had that luxury.


    "Turner, block the lightning domain attacks!" Damon barked out to the King who was still joining him in battle.


    Turner grimaced, as his power was only in the Middle Core Formation Realm. He was unable to block the assault of John''s lightning single handedly. However, he had no choice. It was do or die.


    Turner shed out his sword sessively towards each lightning domain attack, neutralizing several of them. However, there were too many, and he did not have a perfect defensive domain like the Sword Emperor.


    "Gah!"


    A lightning domain attacknded on Turner, charring his flesh and sending him flying backwards violently.


    Lightning Ruin!


    John pointed towards Turner, sending out a powerful lightning st.


    Boom!


    The lightning st struck onto Turner, who was still struggling against John''s destructive lightning from the previous attack. The lightning struck his chest, piercing directly into his heart. A look of extreme agony and regret washed over Turners face, as the life instantly left his body.


    Che!


    John shed his sword down once more at Damon, using only the weight of the sword, with no battle arts. However, the weight of the sword alone allowed these attacks to be more powerful than any battle art Damon could muster.


    Panic appeared on Damon''s face as he shed out at John''s sword.


    "Gah!"


    Damon was knocked backwards by the force. His arms felt like they had shattered from the impact, but he knew he had no time for pain.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    Damon shed out continuously around him, each sh sending a powerful sword image towards a lightning domain attack.


    Sword images and lightning attacks continuously collided, bathing the battlefield in non-stop explosions. However, Damon was slowly but surely losing out to the lightning domain attacks.


    John put away his sword, as it was slowing him down. Now that he was one on one against Damon, he no longer had a concern for his fists not being strong enough.


    Lightning coated John''s legs as he dashed forward, instantly appearing next to Damon. His fists punched out rapidly in a non-stop barrage against Damon''s sword, causing Damon''s arms to feel like they were shattering with every blow. John''s body was like a blur as he danced around Damon with incredible speed,nding punches and blows from every direction.


    Lightning rained down non-stop on the two of them, making the situation even harder for Damon to defend.


    Boom!


    A lightning domain attack managed to get through Damon''s defense, bathing him in pure destructive lightning. The lightning coursed through his body, slowing his movements and filling him with agony.


    Bang!


    John''s fistnded on Damon''s unguarded chest, and Damon was thrown back violently by the force of the attack. The sound of shattering ribs echoed out, and Damon violently collided against the formation wall.


    Blood spewed out of Damon''s mouth, and he struggled to get up as fast as possible.


    Bang!


    John suddenlynded down from above, having jumped over from his previous position. Hended hard on Damon''s outstretched leg, shattering itpletely.


    "Gahhhhh!"


    Damon cried out in pain, and once again as John stomped down with all his might once more, shattering his other leg.


    Che!


    John''s hand pierced forward like a knife, piercing directly into Damon''s abdomen. His dantian was instantly crippled.


    Damon, the lofty Bloodfiend Sect Emperor who stood at the top amongst all the youths of thend, had lost.

 Chapter 243 - Bloodfiend Demise

    John stared down at the now powerless Damon, his cold eyes burning with bloodlust.


    "Your death will be a tribute to Russell," John said to Damon, who was clutching his abdomen in pain. Even now, Damon did not want to give up. His life was far too good to lose it like this. However, he quickly realized the futility of it all without his dantian.


    Damon looked up to John, and a smirk appeared on his pained face.


    "That friend of yours begg-"


    Che!


    John''s hand shed sideways, severing Damon''s head from his body. John did not want to give him the luxury of having thestugh before he died.


    Damon''s lifeless corpse copsed to the ground. The Blood Emperor, one of the most gifted youths on the entire Yuan Continent, was dead. John collected Damon''s corpse, and felt some anger wash away from his body. He was unable to save Russell, but at least he had avenged him.


    John turned to look at the other two battlefields. Although he was at the end of his Qi reserves, he still had a bit left to help them.


    Miko''s sword shed sideways towards the Sword Emperor, glowing with a soft white light. The Sword Emperor stood there like he was in a daze, not realizing Miko''s sword was cleaving straight towards his neck. Clearly, he was under the control of one of Miko''s powerful soul arts.


    Che!


    Miko''s sword sliced straight into the dazed Sword Emperors neck, severing it cleanly. A brief moment ofprehension and fear washed over the Sword Emperors face as he snapped back to reality, but it was toote to change anything.


    His body fell to the ground, dead. Another prodigy of the Bloodfiend Sect was dead. John walked over to Miko and patted him on the shoulders.


    "Thanks."


    He collected the body of the Sword Emperor, and tossed the Sword Emperors spatial ring to Miko. Miko was slightly confused why John wanted the body and not the treasures of the Sword Emperor, but said nothing about it. He knew John always had a purpose in his actions.


    Boom!


    A loud boom echoed behind John and Miko, causing them to turn around to the source.


    Kirii was still fighting against Azalea and Kaiden, still locked in a stalemate. Blood soaked the bodies of all three of the fighters, showing how intense it had been. John nodded his head in approval at Kirii''s disy.


    ''Kirii is only in the Mid Core Formation Realm, and he was able to hold his own against one Mid and one Late Core Formation opponent. This is his first fight and he''s disying suchbat prowess!''


    John was truly impressed with Kirii''s disy. He quickly dashed over to the battlefield, and Miko followed. John appeared like a blur behind Kaiden punched out with his fist,nding a powerful blow on his back.


    "Gah!"


    Kaiden screamed out in pain as his spine shattered. John pointed his finger at Kaiden.


    Lightning Ruin!


    A powerful lighting beam mmed against Kaiden, piercing right through his body. Another Bloodfiend prodigy was dead. John, Miko, and Kirii all turned to look at Azalea. Her once proud face was nowpletely exhausted, and filled with fear.


    Taking quite note of the dire situation, she paused and spoke out to John.


    "Unlike those other idiots, I''m not nearly stupid enough to enter thisnd without a lifeline," Azalea said as a spatial talisman suddenly appeared in her hand. She instantly crushed it, giving John and Miko no time to stop her.


    The spatial fluctuations wrapped around her body, swiftly taking her away. John frowned as he saw her quickly leave. However, he wasn''t too upset at the situation. He had wanted to kill Damon, and he had achieved his goal.


    As for keeping today''s events a secret, John knew that wasn''t possible either. THere were many many witnesses from the Divine Soul Sect and Supreme Battle Sect, and unless John killed them all, word would get out about today''s events.


    Even if he wanted to kill all those who witnessed the fight, he wouldn''t be able to stop them all from leaving. As such, John made no effort to contain the news. The only thing he could do was continue to raise his strength and fight back against whatever came to him.


    John''s powerful aura faded from his body, as he once again returned to normal. His face was pale, and wounds dotted his entire body, a sign of the intense battle he had just fought.


    The crowd behind him stared in stunned silence at what they had just witnessed. When they saw the Emperors leave the arch, their cultivations all in the Late Core Formation Realm, they assumed John was dead.


    However, against all odds, he had managed to kill all but one. While he did have help from both Kirii and Miko to be able to do so, the battle prowess he just disyed was unlike anything they had ever heard of.


    Even the Heavenly Lightning Sect, who were slightly used to John''s disys, were stunned silent.


    John popped a healing pill in his mouth, as well as one of the Qi recovery pills he had bought earlier from his sect. He sat heavily on the ground, his bodypletely exhausted from the grueling fight. He had used the second form of the Immortal Asura Transformation Art for quite some time, and also wielded the extremely heavy sword.


    These two things ced an enormous burden on John''s body, and he would need quite some time to recover. Miko sat on the ground next to John, as well as Kirii. Kirii nudged up against John in a loving manner, his head rubbing against his chest.


    John rubbed Kirii''s head and gave him a healing pill as well, which Kirii happily swallowed. Adam arrived next to John at this time as well, patting John on the shoulders in a proud and happy manner.


    "I was worried you were finally in over your head. You truly are a crazy bastard!" Adam said.


    John chuckled slightly, and gestured to Adam while speaking to Miko.


    "This is Adam, who I met in the Heavenly Lightning Sect. He was the one who set up the formation around the battlefield, and just like you, I consider him as my brother."


    Miko''s looked up towards Adam, who stood there with a proud expression on his face after being described by John in such a manner. Adam''s proud face slightly paled as Miko''s eyes stared straight into his own.


    It was like he was being stared at by an ancient monster, who''s very look could pierce into his soul. The pride look on Adam''s face instantly died down, and he meekly sat down on the ground next to John and Adam. He realized he was in thepany of twoplete cultivation anomalies, and had no grounds to act proud here.


    After a brief inspection, Miko broke out intoughter and patted Adam on the back.


    "Not bad, not bad. Anyone who John considers a brother is also my brother."


    Adam breathed out a sigh of relief, and greeted Miko back as well.


    Miko suddenly turned to John and asked the question that had been on his mind the entire time.


    "John, I thought you were dead? How did you manage to survive?"


    John''s expression was slightly surprised at Miko''s question.


    ''Celestial Souldrends soul found its way to Miko when he left the pocket realm, and should have ryed the information that I''m alive to Miko. I guess Soulrend truly was in an incredibly weakened state like he said, and must have gone into a slumber as soon as he found Miko.''


    John decided to ask a probing question to ascertain if he was right.


    "When the world copsed, I was forced out through a different spatial channel and found myself appearing by the Heavenly Lightning Sect. What about you? What happened when you left?"


    "So that''s what happened," Miko replied. "As for me, when the realm copsed, I felt a strange force wash over me, and then left the realm. I''m not sure what happened, but my soul cultivation has improved greatly ever since I left that realm," Miko continued.


    ''It seems like Soulrend truly is asleep then, or he would have told Miko all about what happened.''


    John patted Miko on the shoulders once more. "Sounds like you got a nice reward from that pocket realm then. But how did you end up in the Divine Soul Sect, and be its ''Soul Sage''?"


    Miko nodded his head at John''s firstment, before borating on the second.


    "After the realm closed, those powerful cultivators that had always tried to recruit me returned once more. With you gone, I had no reason to stay in thosends, and so I epted. The Sect Leader instantly made me her direct disciple, and gave me the moniker of Soul Sage," Miko exined.


    "So that''s what happened," John eximed. It had beenpletely unexpected to see Miko be the Soul Sage.


    Although John was still confident in being able to Kill Damon and the Sword Emperor without Miko''s help, he would have been at a much greater risk of being cut down himself in the process. Miko''s surprise arrival had truly been a blessing.


    John and Miko continued to talk about everything that had happened to them up to this point, while Adam and Kirii sat there in silence, listening to the conversation. Miko detailed his journey in the Divine Soul Sect and wastnds, and everything that happened up to this point.


    John did the same, revealing the reason for his battle with the Bloodfiend Sect disciples.


    "Those bastards. They dare cut down one of our brothers? Their deaths were more than deserved," Miko replied in slight anger.


    Any brother of John''s was a brother of himself, and although Miko did not know Russell, he still felt anger for his death.


    "With Damon''s death, Russell has been avenged," John replied with a slightly sullen tone.


    The conversation eventually led to the arch trials, at which point John''s gaze lingered on the fourth arch from which Miko had emerged.


    "What happened once you entered the fourth trial?" John asked curiously.

 Chapter 244 - Miko’s Trial

    sh!


    A sh of light appeared, revealing a heavily breathing girl. She had appeared in arge courtyard, directly in front of a towering castle. The caste was red, ck, and purple, and towered several thousand yards into the sky. It was grand enough to rival the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    It omitted an incredibly ominous and foreboding aura, as if it would swallow whole whoever entered and never spit them back out. Guards were seen patrolling the outside of the castle, each emanating a powerful and slightly dark aura.


    Space twisted, and a person suddenly appeared in front of the girl.


    "Azalea, why have you returned so soon, and in defeat, it appears?" the man before her asked with a cold voice.


    Azalea felt a shiver creep up his spine as she bowed to the man before her.


    "Sect Leader Allfiend!"


    The man''s face remained emotionless. "Speak, what happened within thends you entered?"


    All of the Four Great Sects were curious as to what existed in the forbiddennds. If their disciples could obtain powerful artifacts for them, then that would be greatly beneficial for their ascendance to the top of the Yuan Continent.


    Azalea paused for a moment, before beginning to describe her journey through the mysteriousnds. She knew she couldn''t lie, as if Allfiend detected that she had lied to him, her fate would be miserable.


    Azalea detailed the various things she encountered, and eventually got to the massive temple at the center of the ancient city.


    Sect Leader Allfiend stood there in silence, listening to her story with an emotionless face. Azalea eventually got to the arch trials, and detailed what happened within. Sect Leader Allfiend slightly raised his eyebrows at this part,ing to a conclusion about the ancient city and its trials within.


    After revealing the trials, she paused, unsure of how to continue. Allfiend noticed this, and frowned.


    "Speak. What happened next?"


    Azalea grit her teeth, and began to speak once more. She detailed what happened when they all left the arch trials, and her battle with John, Kirii, and Miko. However, she left out the cultivation level of John, as she knew Allfiend would most likely severely punish her for losing to someone with such a low cultivation.


    Allfiend, assuming that John was in the Late Core Formation Realm as well, did not ask for his cultivation. The cultivation world knew jumping realms was incredibly difficult, and killing above ones realm nearly impossible.


    Azalea breathed a slight sigh of relief when Allfiend did not ask for rification on John''s cultivation. However, apletely displeased look appeared on Allfiend''s face as the end of Azalea''s story.


    "So, you allowed Damon and Culein to die before you, and all you could do was flee?" Allfiend asked in a cold and displeased voice.


    A panicked expression appeared on Azalea''s face, but all she could do was nod.


    "In that case, take yourself to the dungeons. You''ll spend the next month within!" Allfiend replied.


    Fear washed over Azalea''s face, but all she could do was nod. She began to leave, dreading the next month of pain and torture.


    Sect Leader Allfiend frowned, and a dark expression appeared on his face after Azalea had left.


    "It seems both the Heavenly Lightning Sect and Divine Soul Sect have found themselves some incredible new prodigies. It seems we''ll have to trim some weeds soon!"


    ¡­


    "When I entered the trial, I was transported to an empty room," Miko began to exin what happened when he entered the fourth arch.


    "A strange energy washed over me, at which a shadow figure appeared before me. They began demonstrating a soul technique, at which I first thought was to attack me. Only after watching for a while did I realize I needed to study the technique and emte it.


    I figured out the technique after a while, at which point the shadow figure disappeared, and an image of a boy around my age appeared. His cultivation was at the Half-Step Core Formation Realm, while I was at the Early Core Formation Realm. I thought he was real at first, but quickly realized it was a formation," Miko exined.


    The crowds of youths that had been watching the battle had slightly calmed down, and began to enter the arch trials once more. As they passed by the seated group of John, Miko, Adam, and Kirii, they looked at them with a mixture of awe and fear.


    Miko took a sip of water before continuing.


    "Despite my opponent being below my cultivation, he was actually quite strong. It took some effort, even from me, to defeat him."


    John raised his eyebrows at this information. Miko''s battle prowess was terrifying, and someone with a weaker cultivation giving him trouble was surprising. However, since it was just a formation, and not a real cultivator, John didn''t know if the power of that youth was truly urate.


    "After I defeated him, another youth, a girl this time, showed up. She was the same cultivation as me, and radiated an incredibly strong soul aura, nearly equal to my own. I fought her, and the battle was quite intense, but I won out. Lastly, another boy showed up, and his power was shocking. His cultivation was the same as me, and his soul was nearly on par with my own. While I had a stronger soul power, his battle arts were far more profound than what I had.


    The battle raged on for quite some time, and I barely managed to win over him. After I won, a strange energy washed over me once again, and I found both my dantian and soul power rose a level, sending me directly to the Middle Core Formation Realm," Miko borated.


    John sat there silently, listening to the whole ordeal. It was surprising that someone as powerful as Miko struggled like that, but when John thought about the fact that his enemies were just formations, it made more sense. The formation could make the enemies as strong as they wanted, regardless of cultivation level.


    Based on Miko''s description, John was not surprised that the other youths that entered the fourth arch had all perished. If Miko struggled within, then there was no hope for the other youths.


    ''These ancient people were quite brutal. Making trials with either victory or death as the conditions.''


    "Not only that, but I was rewarded with choosing some weapons and items, and I chose this sword," Miko stated as he raised his sword in front of him. It was incredibly powerful, and radiated an ancient aura.


    John inspected the sword, and nodded his head in approval. It was truly an impressive weapon, and would serve Miko well even through the Meridian Forging Realm. In fact, it was so incredible, that he could maybe use it through the Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    Normal weapons increased in weight as they went higher grades, making them impossible to wield for weaker cultivators. However, Miko''s weapon specialized in speed, and was incredibly light and sharp. Not only that, but it was made of a special material that amplified soul power, revealing just how incredible it was.


    John and Miko continued to talk about the trial Miko experienced, while John also focused on recovery. Nearly half a dayter, with the help of many healing pills and Qi Recovery pills, John finally managed to heal himself back to full strength.


    However, his blood essence reserves were incredibly low due to his recent battle. By John''s estimate, he had slightly less than a minute of using his Immortal Asura Transformation Art before running out of blood essence, and therefore running out of body Qi.


    ''While it''s amazing when I have the blood essence reserves, as I can replenish my reserves at my whim, only being able to make body Qi from blood essence is quite troublesome when I don''t have any blood essence left.''


    John did have the blood essence of the Bloodfiend youths he had recently in, but using such precious human blood essence for Qi reserves, instead of raising his body cultivation was an extreme waste. John only used beast blood essence for replenishing Qi reserves, as it could not raise his cultivation.


    An idea suddenly came to John, and he looked back to Miko.


    "Miko, do you have any beast corpses? Preferably ones in the Core Formation Realm?" John asked. The higher the beast cultivation, the better the blood would be for replenishing his Qi.


    Miko found the question quite strange, but nodded his head. "I killed several beasts on my way over here. I think I have three Core Formation beast corpses," Miko replied.


    John''s eyes lit up, and he gave Miko a storage ring with a hundred thousand spirit crystals. His wealth, after having found that spirit crystal mine, was immense.


    "Can I buy them off you?" John asked. Miko inspected the ring, and frowned.


    "You expect me to ept this shit?" Miko feigned anger.


    He tossed back John''s spatial ring, which John quickly epted and inspected. The corpses of two Core Formation beastsid inside, as well as the spirit crystals.


    John smiled at Miko''s antics. "Thanks."


    Miko nodded his head in approval. "That''s more like it."


    Confidence once again welled within John.


    ''With these two corpses, it should add several minutes to my time at which I can use my Immortal Asura Transformation Art...in that case.''


    John''s eyes trailed towards the fourth arch, and paused for a moment before looking towards the fifth arch. An extremely dreadful and terrifying aura emanated from the arch, as if all those who entered were destined for death.


    Based on the aura alone, all the youths in the area had assumed that the arch was just a death arch, with no trial within. Surely no trail could have such a dreadful power within. However, based on the words on the top of the arch, John knew otherwise.


    ''Divine...The talent needed to pass the trial is Divine. I wonder what level of talent that is?''

 Chapter 245 - Entering The Arch

    Johnpared his talent next to Miko''s. Miko revealed incredible battle prowess in his battle against the Sword Emperor, and had managed to jump a minor realm and even kill the Sword Emperor. Such talent truly was amazing, and John was sure that Miko had not revealed his trump cards in that battle.


    However, with his incredibly unique and powerful inheritances, as well as cultivation situation, John waspletely confident in his talent, or at leastbat prowess, being above all others. Not only that, but he had managed twenty dantian corepressions, raising that talent even further. While his talent before could be attributed to his mysterious sphere dantian, now it could be attributed to his own talent.


    "Oh yeah, how many corepressions did you manage to achieve? I''m sure you did quite well," John suddenly asked Miko. If he could know this information, he could gauge his talent against Miko''s.


    With Miko''s incredible talent, John expected eight to tenpressions to be the answer.


    Pride lit up in Miko''s eyes at the question, as he began tough wildly. "Hahaha, of course I managed to do well. I got fourteen corepressions," Miko replied.


    Both John and Adam thought they heard wrong, and asked Miko to repeat himself.


    "Yes, I got fourteen," Miko replied, his face full of pride. "When I reached ninepressions, I hit my limit, and was about to end it, when all of a sudden, I felt a strange mix of power well up within my body, which aided five morepressions," Miko borated.


    Adam sat there inplete speechlessness, truly wondering how he had be acquainted with two monsters such as John and Miko. Ten was the known limit to Adam and the rest of the Yuan Continent, and yet both of these monsters had been able topletely shatter that barrier. Not only that, but ten was the limit of the absolute pinnacle prodigies relegate to only myths and legends, let alone thepression counts that were realistically obtainable.


    Meanwhile, John began to surmise about that strange energy.


    ''It must have been from Celestial Soulrend. Miko is his true sessor, so I''m sure he used some weird technique to aid Miko''spressions.''


    However, whatever the true reason, John was truly happy for Miko. The more powerful he was, the stronger of an ally, and friend, he would have in the future.


    "How many did you get?" Miko suddenly asked John with great curiosity. He had always been extremelypetitive against John.


    John cleared his throat before replying. "I did pretty well."


    "Pretty well my ass," Adam suddenly spoke up in an annoyed tone. "This bastard got twentypressions. TWENTY. How the hell is that even possible?" Adam raged out, although mostly in joking.


    Miko'' face became stunned at the news, and he looked to John to see if it was a joke. John''s rxed look told him it was the truth, as he didn''t correct Adam.


    "Twenty? How the hell did you manage that?" Miko asked in a stunned voice.


    "I guess I''m just much more talented than you, is all," John replied with a yful tone. He knew Miko thrived offpeting with him, and this would only serve to motivate him further.


    Miko punched John on the arm, as a fiery look appeared in his eyes. "I can''t lose out on talent to you. I guess that just means I''ll have to try even harder in the future," Miko replied.


    While he considered John his best friend and brother, he was incrediblypetitive against him as well. This news only served to raise his desire for power even more.


    The group continued to chat for quite some time, as they ate around a bonfire they made. Roasted meat was consumed in great amounts, while the stories of everything interesting in each other''s lives were told.


    While the group was conversing, a lone cultivator, unnoticed by any of the others, slipped into the fourth arch, disappearing from sight.


    After the feast was done, John replenished his blood essence reserves slightly with the two beasts Miko had donated. His eyes locked onto the fifth arch, determination burning in his eyes.


    Miko noticed John''s gaze, as a surprised look appeared on his face.


    "Are you actually going to try the fifth arch?" Miko asked.


    "What? The fifth arch? Are you crazy?" Adam eximed.


    John smiled and replied to Miko. "Haha, you truly know me best. Yep, I think I''ll enter the fifth arch," John replied.


    "Are you sure? That aura gives me a bad feeling," Miko replied. His instincts were incredibly sharp, and as such, he had avoided the fifth arch.


    "Yep," John replied once more, not borating any further. He knew it wasn''t a death trial, and that as long as he qualified as having Divine talent, he would be fine. With his unique cultivation, he was sure he qualified as such.


    Miko patted John on the back with several forceful ps. "Well, good luck. Don''t die on me in there!"


    He knew there was no changing John''s mind when he made it up. Adam still wanted to protest, but after seeing Miko''s reaction, he remained silent.


    John stood up, stretching his aching legs as he readied himself to enter the fifth arch. Kirii noticed his change in mood, and quickly slipped back into his soul space.


    "I''ll return in a short while," John said to Miko and Adam as he began to walk towards the fifth arch.


    "Good luck," Adam replied.


    The youths all noticed John finally stand up, and were curious as to his next move. However, shock appeared on their faces as they noticed which arch he was walking towards.


    "The fifth arch? Surely he''s not going to enter it?" A Divine Soul Sect youth spoke up.


    "Didn''t you see his battle prowess? Maybe he can pass the trial?" A proud Heavenly Lightning Sect youth replied.


    "Yeah, but that aura is dreadful. Surely its too much even for him," another youth replied.


    Heated discussions immediately broke out as everyone watched John calmly walk towards the fifth arch. He soon arrived before it, and to everyone''s surprise, John entered it without hesitation. He didn''t even pause for a moment.


    "He actually entered it," a youth eximed.


    "He''s as good as dead then," Mason suddenly replied. He hoped John would perish, or he would never be able to rise to the top of the sect.


    All eyes focused on the dreadful fifth arch, waiting to see what the fate of John would be.

 Chapter 246 - Battle Axe

    John felt a strange energy wrap around himself as he suddenly found himself floating in an empty white? void. Every direction was just filled with nothingness. However, the space was lit, as if there was lighting from every direction.


    Despite seemingly being in an empty void, John found himself standing on solid ground.


    A strange energy washed over him again, reminding John of what Miko told him. He felt the energy scan all the parts of his body, as if it was taking a note of his strength, talent,bat skills, and much much more.


    John felt the energy wash over his both his essence dantian and body dantian. It paused for a moment on his essence dantian, but skipped over his body dantian, as if it couldn''t notice it.


    ''Even something as amazing as this trial can''t detect it? Just what is this sphere''s origins?''


    The energy finished washing over John, as if it hadpleted its inspection of him. A shadowed figure suddenly began to materialize in the void, sending John into high alert. The figure was simr to what Miko had initially described, at which point Miko was forced to learn a technique from it.


    Suddenly, four shes of light appeared before John, before quickly fading. The shes revealed four different weapons, which hung in the void directly in front of him.


    The weapons were a pair of gauntlets, arge battle hammer, arge, two handed, two sided battle axe, and a saber.


    John frowned as he stared at the weapons. He sent his divine sense to bring out his ancient sword, but was surprised to find that he could not do so. There seemed to be some restrictions on essing his sword.


    John stared at the sword, and the shadowed figure, who stood there silently. After some time, John came to a conclusion as to what was going on.


    "I guess that energy scanned my body, and came to the conclusion that these weapons suit me the best. I suppose I''ll have to pick one," John murmured out loud.


    While he did not really want to learn another weapon other than his scythe, John hade to the conclusion a while ago that it was not the perfect weapon for him. The scythe focused on speed and sharpness, but not power.


    While his immense essence power was able to unleash incredibly sharp and agile attacks, he was leaving half of his power behind by not utilizing the full power of his body, as scythes could not fully utilize power. Not only that, but scythes were quite hard toe by, both in weapons and techniques.


    ''My Divine Reaping Scythe is far too profound and powerful to stop using, but it''s only good through the Core Formation Realm, at which point I''ll have to find another technique, or the second part of it. I suppose having a backup weapon to fully take advantage of my powerful body isn''t such a bad thing. If I can switch out between precision and power in battles that most suit that aspect, that would greatly boost mybat power.''


    John had intensively studied weapon theory back in his early days, and had befortable with many weapons. These weapons included a battle axe and a saber, both of which he found quite easy and straightforward to use.


    ''I can utilize both my scythe and another weapon I suppose. My scythe when speed and sharpness is required, while another weapon when raw power is required.''


    John''s eyes locked once again on the weapons in front of him.


    ''The gauntlets are quite nice, but the power they give is not worth the range that is lost. Not only that, but my fists are basically gauntlets themselves, so its mostly a waste. The battle hammer is also nice, and would be the best for sheer power, but I don''t really like its simplebat style.''


    John''s eyes locked onto the battle axe and the saber, both in which he had trained with as a youth. He had confidence in wielding both, as he had solid fundamentals with them. If this trial was simr to Miko''s, then John would have to emte whatever the shadow figure taught him. Doing so with a weapon most familiar to him would be the easiest way to do so.


    ''A saber is more powerful than a sword, but less powerful in pure attack power than a two handed battle axe. If I''m going for a weapon to maximize my attack power, then I should choose the axe.''


    Not only was the axe an incredibly powerful weapon, it was also the most simr to his scythe in terms of how to wield it. Its handle length was simr, and both the scythe and the battle axe had its de concentrated at the far end of the handle. This would make it much easier to grasp the concepts of using it thanpared to gauntlets or a saber.


    John''s hand reached out and grabbed the two handed battle axe. The handle of the battle axe was five feet long, and had fantastic silver runes carved all along its ck handle. The one side of the axe was an incredibly sharp andrge crescent de, a few feet across, also containing small runes carved into its surface. Small gold and red trimmings lined the de, making it look quite impressive.


    The other side had a smaller yet sharper protrusion, acting as a small counterbnce to therge crescent de.


    The weight of the axe quickly overwhelmed his one hand, forcing him to grab it with both hands to stabilize it.


    "How heavy!"


    The battle ax was almost as heavy as the ancient sword, although it was only a Core Formation grade weapon. However, it feltpletely natural in his hands, as if he had found the perfect weapon. It was simr to when he first noticed and picked up a scythe, although in a different way.


    He swung it out a few times, testing the power of the axe. The air rippled from the force of each blow, despite it only being a brute force attack. John''s face lit up as he tested the weapon, truly appreciating its power.


    ''With this, I can fully unleash the true strength of my body!''


    John''s thoughts were interrupted as the shadowed figure finally moved. A massive two handed, two sided battle ax suddenly appeared in the shadowed figure''s hands. The figure raised the battle axe, and it began to emit an incredible battle aura.


    John''s eyes focused on the shadow figure, and its weapon, as he prepared to tackle the first trial of the fifth arch. He felt a strange aura wrap around him, pressing down on him by the second.

 Chapter 247 - Power! Annihilation! Destruction!

    John felt an aura lock down on him, as if slightly embracing him.


    "Hmm?"


    John stopped to inspect the aura, but much to his surprise, it got ever so slightly tighter around him.


    "Is it constricting me?"


    John could feel that slowly but surely the aura was pressing down on him, as if it would crush him eventually. However, his attention was once again moved to the shadow figure, as it held the battle axe above its head.


    John''s eyes locked on both the shadow figure and the battle axe, making sure to miss no details. He would think about the strange aurater.


    The figure held the axe in the air for a brief moment, before it casually shed it downwards in front of it. The attack lookedpletely rxed and natural, as if the shadow figure was merely lowering the axe.


    Death!


    The word entered John''s mind as the axe shed down in front of him. As if seeing a vision, John saw the white void split apart before him, as the axe tore the entire void asunder. His breathing rapidly increased as he thought he was about to die, but found that he waspletely alright, as if he was in a separate dimensionpared to the shadow figure.


    The void instantly healed before John, returning to normal once more. The shadow figure raised its axe above its head once more, and shed down in the same manner.


    Power!


    The word filled John''s mind in a simr manner to the first, as if the axe was speaking to him. The void once more tore asunder from the seemingly casual attack, the exact same as the first time.


    The void healed once more, and the shadow figure shed out again.


    Annihtion!


    The same scene continued to y out before him, of the shadow figure shing out with the axe, and the entire void being torn asunder. Every sh filled John''s head with a word, although he was uncertain exactly what was going on and how those words wereing to mind.


    He watched the shadow figure sh out countless times, trying to grasp what it was doing. However, he could detect no battle art at all from the figure, as all it seemed was a simple sh.


    "Is it some sort of concealed battle art? Or is the power of this shadow figure so immense, that a casual sh from it results in such power?"


    John sat down on the ground and watched the figure continue to sh the axe out. No matter how he looked at it, all John could see was a casual attack, unfueled by a battle art, strike out with immense power.


    "Hmm?"


    John once again felt the strange aura wrap around him, pushing down on him with even greater force. While it was not a physical restriction, John could feel that the power of the aura pressing down on him was growing greater and greater.


    "It''s a time trial!" John realized what was going on.


    "This strange energy will continue to grow in power until I pass this trial, or the energy kills me!"


    John initially felt that this trial was too easy for the fifth arch, as it was just watching the shadow figure attack and learning from it. Now however, there was a time limit.


    "This trial is testingprehensions! Not only must a divine talent have divine battle prowess, they must have divineprehensions as well, or they will quickly fall behind their peers in the future!"


    Now that John fully understood what was going on, he focused on the shadow figure with his full concentration.


    sh!


    Destruction!


    sh!


    Annihtion!


    sh!


    Power!


    The same scene continued to y out again and again, while the same few words filled John''s mind. He meditated on the attack, the words, and the seemingly hidden battle art, but was getting nowhere.


    John stood up, and raised his axe above his head in a simr fashion to the shadow figure. He shed it down, causing the air to ripple from the force of the attack. However, there was no destruction at all, and his attack feltpletely different in both power and profundity whenpared to the shadow figure.


    "It seems to be a simple sh. Why is it so profound, and also so powerful?"


    John continued to sh outwards, doing his best to mimic the attack perfectly. His form continued to improve on the sh, and John could feel his affinity with the axe steadily grow. However, no matter what he did, he was unable to emte the attack.


    Time continued to grind on, and John could feel the strange energy continue to press down on him. While it was ignorable at first, it continued to steadily grow. Its power was now at a level that even John could not ignore, and he felt death slowly but surely creep up on him.


    John had lost track of time, as the endless void gave him no hints towards time. He could have been in here for a few hours, or a few days. It was the same to John.


    "I''ve been in here for who knows how long, and I still haven''t made any progress!"


    John didn''t expect a divine talent trial to be easy, but he didn''t expect it to be this hard as well. He could tell that his time was running out.


    Not wanting to panic, John once again sat down and calmed his mind. He formed a meditative link with his pce realm, falling into a trance and raising hisprehensions to their peak. His axe wasid out on top of his legs, his fingers slowly tracing the de of the axe.


    His eyes locked onto the shadow figure, but instead of focusing on the figure, he focused solely on the axe this time. He washed out all other thoughts, and only had the axe in his mind.


    sh!


    Power!


    sh!


    Destruction!


    sh!


    Annihtion!


    The words echoed in his mind like drums. Without realizing it, John fell into a rhythm, as if forming a connection to both the axe he was watching, and the words they were speaking out to him.


    Power!


    Destruction!


    Annihtion!


    The words continued to beat in his mind like an endless drumming, while John soon forgot himself, the trial, and everything else. All that filled his mind was the axe. His world was the axe. Everything was the axe.


    The strange pressure pressed down on John with even greater power, seemingly nearing the end of the trial. However, despite death quickly approaching, John ignored it as he only focused on the axe.


    The words that seemed to speak to John continued to grow in volume, until John felt like his mind was shattering with each echo. His mind was being driven to the edge, but his focus remained. He pressed through the soul-tearing pain, as the words seemed to sear their teachings into his mind and flesh.


    Time lost all meaning to John as he focused only on the axe before him.


    The pressure continued to grow, nearing the very end of the trials time limit.


    "The Dao of the Axe! The Dao of Power! The Dao of Destruction! The Dao of Annihtion!"


    At his time came to an end, John''sprehensions snapped together, understanding finally washing over him. He stood up, still in a trance, and raised his axe above his head. Theprehensions that hade to him swirled in his mind, and he casually shed his axe forward.


    The axe seemed to fall before him, as if he was dropping it. The motion was simple, yet the void seemed to tremble as the axe fell. There was no physical power behind the attack.


    Silence...and then.


    Boooom!


    The void before John split open from the power of the attack. The fissures spread for dozens of yards in each direction. While paling inparison to the destruction the shadow figure caused, a simr power and intent spread out, cleaving the void.


    John''s calm eyes suddenly brightened, as he finally snapped out of his trance. He suddenly realized the pressure around him was incredibly powerful, and felt as if he would die at any moment.


    However, just as he thought he was at his end, the pressure vanished. John breathed out a massive sigh of relief, as he had seemingly managed to pass the trial just in time.


    The void before him healed, returning to pristine white once more. The axe still rested in his hands, as if it was the reward for passing the trial.


    "No wonder that attack was so difficult to understand. There was no battle art, its power stemmed only from the Dao''s infused into its attack. Not only that, but there were three Dao''s mixed together, forming a perfect fusion of power, annihtion and destruction. How profound!"


    John had only managed to grasp the very initial fundamentals of the three Dao''s but even that resulted in his sh having incredible destructive power. John shed his axe out once more, infusing the newfoundprehensions he had obtained into the de.


    Boom!


    The void trembled once more as it was torn apart in front of John. Arge smile lit up on his face, as his new weapon and Dao insights were now an incredible source of attack power for him.


    sh!


    A bright light appeared before John, revealing the start of his next trial.

 Chapter 248 - Second Trial

    The axe followed John into the next trial as well,forting him greatly. With his scythe destroyed, it was his best hope of passing the trials ahead of him. While the sword he had was powerful, he didn''t have any goodprehensions or insights towards it, unlike the axe.


    "It seems that although this Divine trial is sure death to those below that talent level, its also a great boon as well. I have obtained an amazing weapon, and incredible Dao insights."


    John looked before him after the light faded, revealing him to be in apletely new area. John once again found himself standing in the void, however, this void was not an endless expanse of white like before, but instead an endless expanse of darkness. Countless stars shimmered in the far distance, providing light within the void, making it notpletely pitch ck.


    Before him, a ten yard wide bridge of light stretched out as far as he could see. Other than the bridge, there was nothing. John peered over the side of the bridge, and only saw a ck expanse of nothingness below him.


    A thought crossed his mind, and he took out an insignificant weapon from one of his spatial rings. John threw it over the edge, and his eyes trailed the weapon as it fell down unhindered, eventually disappearing into the pitch darkness of the void below.


    A shiver crawled up his spine at the sight.


    "It seems as if below this bridge is truly an endless void. I need to make sure to stay on the path before me."


    John once again looked back towards the light bridge. Afterposing himself and searching for any danger, he took a step forward.


    Boom!


    His foot mmed onto the bridge''s surface with great force, sending pain washing up his legs. His legs buckled from the unexpected force, as he hastily increased his power to withstand the pressure.


    John took another step!


    Boom!


    His foot mmed against the bridge once more, sending out a deafening sound from the force of the impact. John''s body was now fully on the light bridge, and he felt the pressure on his full body. Even with his incredibly powerful body, John felt it difficult to resist the pressure on the bridge.


    "What the hell is up with all these pressure trials?" John grumbled as he stabilized himself.


    There was the pressure trial on the stairs outside, and now this trial. However, the pressure on the light bridge was countless times more profound and powerful than the outside staircase trial, giving even John a hard time.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    John slowly but surely continued to walk forward, resisting the pressure washing down on him. Each step he took, he could tell that the pressure was slowly but surely growing stronger.


    ''I''ll advance through this trial for as long as possible without using my Supreme Battle Art or Immortal Asura Transformation Art, as my blood essence reserves are limited.''


    John relied just on the strength of his body to resist the pressure, however, the pressure was not only physical. He could feel the pressure invade his body, pressing down on his dantian in an attempt to crush it, as well as on his soul in an attempt to overwhelm it. He heard murmurs, enticing him to step off the edge of the bridge. However, he ignored them, his soul resisting their charms.


    Had he not cultivated in front of both the holy gate, increasing his soul power, and the sinister gate, increasing his will, John felt that he might have fallen victim to these murmurs.


    At the same time, John scoffed at the pressure on his dantian. He had a twenty timespressed dantian, which was incredibly firm. The pressure would need to be far greater to threaten his dantian. However, John understood the reason for this pressure.


    "If someone with an average, or even an above average dantian entered this trial, it would be crushed under this immense pressure. Based on the power of the pressure? I''m guessing only someone who achieved tenpressions would be able to withstand it, and even then just barely."


    While John was fine against this dantian pressure, he once again became slightly shocked at the profundity of the trials. Tenpressions was considered the peak of the human realm, the absolute pinnacle of what someone could achieve. For that to be the baseline requirement was quite shocking.


    John smirked at himself for thinking the Divine Trials would be easy for him based on his battle prowess. These trials were testing every aspect of his cultivation, making sure he had no ws. Only such a cultivator could be Divine.


    John continued to slowly walk forward, feeling the pressure rain down on his body, dantian, and soul. Every step made the next one more difficult, and the pressure was beginning to grow hard for even him. Sweat began to drip down his forehead as he exerted himself greatly. His bones creaked from the pressure on them. His soul began to ache greatly from the power of the trial.


    "Hmm?"


    John paused for a moment as he carefully inspected his body. The overwhelming pressure made John focus on his journey forward, but he finally noticed some changes within his body.


    The pressure washed over every cell, cleansing them of impurities and ever so subtly changing the nature of his cells. His muscles began to be refined even further, while his blood was purified and cleansed. John could feel his body, which was already incredibly pure and powerful, be even more so.


    Not only that, but the constant pressure on his soul slowly but surely strengthened it, as long as he could resist its nearly overwhelming power. His face lit up with joy.


    "With every triales opportunity!"


    John suddenly quickened his pace and strode with great speed through the trial. Every step increased the pressure on him, and before long the pressure grew to a level that even John could no longer withstand. He grit his teeth tightly while he resisted the immense pain on his body and soul.


    "Here!"


    John found his current limit, and suddenly sat down in a meditative position. The pressure continued to rain down on him, and John allowed it to wash over him. Even while seated, John struggled against the immense pressure.


    "While I could force my body and dantian through this trial, my soul would not be able to withstand that. I need to raise its power first before I continue."

 Chapter 249 - Cleansing One’s Body

    John sat on the light bridge in silent pain, resisting the constant pressure of the trial. The trial not only tested body, dantian, and soul talent, but also willpower. Only those with incredibly firm wills would be able to resist the pain of this trial.


    Those with even slightly weaker wills would eventually be ovee by the trial, and either go mad, or give up. Either way, they would perish.


    Even for John, with his great pain tolerance, the trial was driving him to the edge. However, he resisted the pain as best he could, while he allowed the mysterious pressure to slowly but surely cleanse and strengthen his body and soul.


    John sat there with no concern for the passage of time. He no longer knew how long he had been sitting there, and no longer cared. His body and soul were going through immense changes, allowing him to ascend in power once more.


    A foul smelling ck substance began to emit from his pores, as all the impurities within his body were forcefully removed by the pressure. John steeled his mind and resisted the smell, as he continued to expel all the impurities from his body.


    As he did so, he could tell that the quality of every cell in his body improved, and that his Qi seemed to flow easier within his body, unhindered by the impurities that existed there before.


    The process continued for several hours, until no more impurities were expelled. John finally opened his eyes after sitting on the bridge for an unknown amount of time. Qi red from his body, washing away all the impurities with great force. His robe had been sullied, and so he threw his robe away, quickly donning a new one.


    John quickly sent his divine sense to inspect his body. His skin now glowed slightly with a lustrous sheen, smooth and wless. His muscles rippled with incredible power, while his blood flowed cleanly and purely. His body looked like it was carved from marble.


    His soul now resisted the pressure with much more ease. John spread his divine sense outwards, and was surprised to find it had nearly doubled in the distance it could reach. Both his soul and his body had gone through immense changes.


    John smiled at the great changes within his body, as he slowly stood up and stretched his legs.


    "I must have been sitting there for days, or even weeks. I can''t really tell, but I can tell my body has been purified to immense levels, and my talent and power improved!"


    It had been an arduous time, and even John felt like he was going to go mad from the pain at times, but he always grit his teeth and steeled his mind, pushing through the pain.


    The pressure washing down on John felt much less severe now, and John felt himself able to move much more freely than before. He began to walk forward, his pace much more rxed than before.


    Boom!


    Each step caused the light bridge to quake from the force of his steps. John''s bones creaked from each step, but he was able to withstand the pain and walk forward.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    His pace remained steady as he walked forward, eventually spotting the end of the light bridge. Solid ground was visible at the far end, and John''s eyes lit up at the sight of it. Fog washed over thend, making him unable to peer deeply within it, but he could tell that it was the end of this trial.


    He quickened his pace, doing his best to ignore the pressure of the trial, which was the greatest at the very end. His breathing became heavy.


    However, his quick forward momentum suddenly came to a near halt, as if he had run into a wall.


    John felt the pressure nearly solidify, and he felt like he was trapped in quicksand. The end of the trial was a mere dozen yards away, but the pressure at the very end of the trial was incredible, not allowing him to move forward. Not only that, but the pain had amplified several fold, nearly driving him mad before he stabilized his mind and soul.


    John thought about sitting here and cultivating like before, but quickly washed the idea out of his head. The pressure was far too great to do such a thing. If he attempted to do so, the only result would be his death.


    "I need to push through as quickly as possible."


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John activated his second strongest body state and began to press forward.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The ground quaked with every step, as John was able to slowly but surely move forward in this state against the pressure. Every step increased the pressure even more, pushing both his body and mind to the brink of copse.


    "Just...a...bit...more!"


    At the veryst step, John found himself unable to continue, despite using the Supreme Battle Art.


    Immortal Asura Transformation Art!


    His body suddenly surged with incredible power, giving him the strength needed to step forward.


    Boom!


    John''s foot finally stepped forward, breaking free of the final hurdle. It mmed powerfully on the solid ground, and John quickly stepped onto it. He quickly deactivated the transformation art, making sure to keep his beast blood essence reserves as high as possible.


    John copsed to the ground and began to breathe heavily. Sweat dripped down his body as he struggled to catch his breath. The trial had truly been both incredibly hard, as well as incredibly painful. However, he had managed to pass it, relieving him greatly.


    Not only that, but he had obtained great benefits from it.


    "Your talent is quite good, but you''re incredibly stupid," a voice suddenly spoke out behind him, shocking John greatly. He had not detected anyone after he stepped on thend bridge.


    He quickly turned around and spotted the talking figure. His eyes lit up in shock and surprise. Before him, an immense figure stood there within the fog, peering down on him like he was an insignificant ant.

 Chapter 250 - Haruth

    John stared up at the creature before him with great shock, and even slight fear. Its power waspletely overwhelming, and if it wanted to, it could kill him in an instant without him being able to resist. John couldn''t tell its cultivation level, but could tell that it was far beyond his current realm.


    The creature was nearly fifty yards tall, and had the body of arge ape. Its head was not that of an ape, but of a tiger. Massive wings spread out from its back, stretching far to each side. It was ck in color, with hints of blue. Its eyes glowed with incredible power and profundity, as if it could see through John and into his very soul.


    It was a creature unlike anything John had read about or heard about.


    However, his shock and fear was quickly reced with slight displease at having been called stupid.


    "What the hell do you mean stupid?" John asked in a displeased tone.


    The creature gazed down on John as if he was beneath him, and scoffed at his question.


    "I mean you''re stupid. You could have passed the final portion of this trial in a much easier fashion," the creature responded in a low and ancient sounding voice. Its voice reverberated loudly through the area, shaking John with its power. He had to use some strength just to withstand its voice.


    John thought about the trial, and how he had passed thest portion. He used his Immortal Asura Transformation Art to get through, and didn''t know of any other way that he could have aplished that.


    John continued to think about it, and the creature realized his confusion. It shook its head once more at John''s ignorance, and spoke up again.


    "It matters not. You''ve passed the second trial of the Divine Trial''s, and have reached the third." The creature paused for a moment, and lowered its head down towards John.


    John took a step backwards instinctually, as the creature was nearly eye to eye with him. Its eyes tried to peer through all his secrets, as it spoke up once more.


    "But before that, why do you possess their power?" the creature asked, its voice getting slightly colder. At the distance it was from John, its voice nearly overwhelmed John.


    John braced himself as best he could.


    "Them? Who the hell are ''they''? Be more specific," John replied with gritted teeth.


    "Do not lie to me," the creature said in a raised voice. "The power that you used to break through the final portion of the trial. Where did you obtain it?"


    John finally understood what the creature was referring to. The Immortal Asura Transformation Art.


    ''Does this creature know something about the origins of this art?''


    John thought for a moment to ask more about it, but remembered hisst encounter with Karma. He was sure this was still far beyond his means to handle.


    ''How should I exin this.''


    John didn''t want to reveal too much, but could also tell that the creature was not in the mood for lies and games.


    ''I can''t say it''s an inheritance that I found, or who knows if he will desire it. I also can''t say its natural to me, as it seems as if he does not like the source of this power. Maybe he has enmity with whoever made this transformation art, or the source of this power. Either way, I''m fucked right now.''


    Just as John was about to respond, the creature scoffed and stood up straight. It peered down at John with cold eyes.


    "No matter. All traces of them must be eradicated. Despite your talent, you must die."


    Shock and panic appeared on John''s face at these words. Without hesitation, he sent his divine sense into his spatial realm, and took out his spatial talisman. He crushed his hand instantly to break it, seeking to leave this ce immediately.


    He didn''t know if it would work, but it was his only option. The talisman was crushed, instantly wrapping him with its spatial powers.


    "Hmph, insignificant,"


    The creature waved its hand, instantly shattering the spatial power of the talisman. John returned to normal once again, nowpletely out of options. The creature raised its hands above John, ready to m down on him, killing him for good.


    "Wait," John yelled out. He wanted to try to reason with the beast.


    "Nothing you can say will change my mind. All traces must be eliminated." The creature began to m its hand down towards John. John could not move, and all he could see was the end of his life fast approaching.


    sh!


    A bright sh of light appeared between the creature and John, and the creature instantly stopped its hand. While confused at first, the creature''s eyes opened wide in surprise as it saw what the sh of light was.


    John''s eyes also widened slightly, as he saw an ethereal soul form of a man float in the air between him and the creature. John instantly recognized both the aura, and the face.


    ''Its the holy aura, and not only that, but he has the same appearance as the statue of the man in the pce!''


    John had always wondered who the man and women were who were depicted in the statues within his pce. Now he knew who the man was, at least partially. The holy aura!


    It was the first time the holy aura had taken a solid form. When he spoke to Celestial Soulrend, it had only been his aura present, and not this current form of his.


    "You darey a hand on my chess piece?" the man suddenly spoke. His voice seemed to cleanse John of any fear, and instilled calmness and peace within him instead.


    The creature was yet toe to its senses, but eventually managed to do so.


    "You? How is this possible?" the creature asked in surprise.


    "That is not important," the man replied quickly. "All you need to know is that he is not to be touched by you. As for this trial, continue with it as normal. If he cannot pass, then it was never destined to be," the man said to the creature.


    He suddenly peered up into the sky, as if seeing something far beyond in the void. A frown appeared on the man''s face, as if he had seen something displeasing. He suddenly turned to look at John, and their eyes met.


    John instantly felt as if he was being stared at by the universe itself. He had never felt so exposed, or powerless. It was as if he was being stared at by a god.


    The man carefully stared at John, as if inspecting every detail of him. He suddenly raised his hand, and a small portion of his powernded on John''s forehead, carving a rune into it.


    "Gahhh!"


    John cried out in pain from the rune being carved. It felt as if his skin was being yed and seared, while his soul was being destroyed. The painsted for a few seconds, until the rune waspletely carved. The pain suddenly stopped.


    John quickly inspected his forehead with his divine sense. Aplex circle, innately detailed, surrounded a symbol he had seen before, the symbol of infinity. The rune wasplex and simple at the same time, and emanated an incredible power, simr to that of the holy aura.


    "This is thest time I can aid you."


    The man suddenly peered up into the sky again, and his frown deepened. He suddenly disappeared, returning to the holy gate once more, his aurapletely vanishing. His lingering voice echoed through the air.


    "Exin it to him."


    Confusion washed over John at what had just happened, and he noticed the bright white rune on his forehead instantly fade. His forehead returned to normal, as if there was never a rune carved into his flesh in the first ce.


    He stared at the creature, who had just been about to kill him. The creature stood there with a dazed expression, also stunned at the events that had just unfolded. It snapped out of its daze and peered at John, its expression quite amusing.


    "Exin what?" John asked.


    ¡­


    A seemingly endless distance away, arge hovered in the void. It was sorge as to nearly be a star, and contained countless lives on it. Numerous cities, filled with temples and pces sorge that they dwarfed mountains, covered much of the.


    Within the most regal and grand of those cities, a central pce towered high into the sky. It was the most grand and awe inspiring building on the entire, hinting at its importance.


    On one of the highest floors within the pce, several men and women, d in luxurious robes fit for the most heavenly of kings, stood around a glowing object. Incredibly detailed formation runes glowed on the surface of the object.


    They each emanated incredible power, as if a wave of their hands could shatters and extinguish stars.


    The object before them suddenly faded, causing frowns to appear on all their faces.


    "The connection was lost before we could identify its location, but we can now be certain of it. His inheritance still exists, and so does a trace of his spirit. We must locate it, and obtain it," one of the men spoke out. His voice was ancient sounding, but just listening to it was as one was listening to the heavens itself speak.


    He paused for a moment before continuing. "Our search has failed, as he noticed the search quickly. He will not appear out in the open again, and will return to whatever ce obscures our vision of him. However, we have narrowed the search to a corner of this universe."


    The man looked towards one of the other men in the room, who appeared to be much younger. He appeared to be in histe teens or early twenties, and his face was incredibly handsome. Long ck hair flowed down his head to his shoulders, and he wore an incredible gold and blue suit of armor, making him look even more impressive.


    His cultivation was lower than everyone else in the room, but he was allowed to stand equal to them, signifying his incredible status.


    "Haruth!" The ancient man spoke out.


    The young man stepped forward and fell to one knee before the leader.


    "I am at your service, Patriarch!" the young man replied.


    "With your recent ascension, I believe the time hase to give you a trial to prove your worthiness as my sessor. Travel to the area we have narrowed our search down to, and find the inheritance. If you do this, you will have proved your worth," the Patriarch said.


    "It will be done!" Haruth bowed once more, and quickly turned around. His face was lit with determination and anticipation, as he strode out of the grand chamber.


    A woman within the group watched the young man stride out of the room, before she turned back towards the Patriarch.


    "You''re sending him out alone?" The woman asked in a slightly concerned voice.


    "The area where Haruth is going is low in power. He will be far stronger than any threat he runs into there. Besides, if he cannot even aplish this much, then he was never destined to seed me," the Patriarch spoke out in an unfazed tone.


    His gaze shifted to a certain direction, and pierced out into the endless expanse of space. A slight hint of anticipation appeared on his usually emotionless face.

 Chapter 251 - Third Trial

    The creature stared at John with a conflicted expression. Even with his background, he was shocked at the events that had just unfolded.


    "Exin what?" John asked once again. He had just escaped another brush with death, but it seemed as though the holy aura, or man, was no longer able to help him.


    "Send some soul power into the rune on your forehead," the creature instructed.


    Although it had disappeared, John could still feel the rune. He did as he was instructed, and sent soul power into the rune. Upon doing so, the faded rune lit up once more, and emanated the same aura as it did before. However, other than that, he felt nothing else.


    "What does this rune do?" John asked curiously.


    "That rune is the signature rune of the man who just appeared. It signifies you as someone he has marked, and as such, you are not to touch. If you run into someone like me again, who targets you due to your...abilities...you can show them this rune, and they should leave you alone. Few would want to draw his wrath upon themselves. While those old enough to recognize the rune are few and far between, those who do are the ones you want to be most wary of," the creature exined.


    "Oh," John replied with understanding. He was hoping it was some amazing protective ward of some sort, but it appears as if it was just an indication of his status as being important to that man.


    ''It seems he will no longer appear, so this should help in situations like these going forward. I''m not sure what the Immortal Asura Body is to draw the ire of this creature, but it sounds like those who know something of it will also know of the rune.''


    A thought suddenly came to John.


    "Wait a minute, you said that they ''should'' leave me alone. Are there those who will recognize this rune and still choose to attack me?" John asked curiously.


    The creature was silent for a moment before responding. "As is with all things in life, there are always exceptions. There are those who exist who would recognize the rune, and still choose to attack you. If such a thing happens, you are as good as dead. You must be careful who you show this rune to in the future, and only do so as ast resort," the creature replied.


    John nodded his head in understanding.


    Who are you? And how do you and the man know each other?" John asked, trying to get some more information.


    "I am the guardian spirit of this temple, '''' the creature replied quickly. "I was once a living creature, but my body was in and my soul and lifeforce tied to this ce. I am now tasked as its permanent overseer. As for that man, I know of him...but he does not know of me. He only appeared since I was going to kill you. He seems to be extremely weakened, but even so, he''s not someone I want to offend."


    The creature paused for a moment before quickly changing the subject. It was still slightly dazed by the events that had unfolded.


    "Now, we shall proceed to the third trial," the creature said to John in a calm tone, as if it hadn''t just tried to kill him.


    John wanted to make ament on it, but decided against such a thing. He was lucky to have gotten through this ordeal alive. He didn''t want to push his luck any further.


    "Normally, we would just get started on the third trial, but unfortunately there is a problem," the creature stated.


    "Problem?" John asked with a slight tinge of apprehension.


    "Yes...your cultivation, whenpared to your age...is far too weak. As such, you are not powerful enough to pass the third trial," the creature replied.


    "Huh? Come again" John couldn''t help but mutter out loud. He was considered weak?


    "Yes, you are far too weak. Although I have not seen you fight, based on your early Core Formation Cultivation, you will not be able to pass the third trial. The third trial is based on your bone age, and based on your fifteen years of age, your cultivation should be at the Late Meridian Forging Realm if you want to pass this trial," the creature replied.


    "Late Meridian Forging? At Fifteen? How the hell is such a thing possible? No one in thesends has done anything remotely close to that," John blurted out loud. He had never heard of such a thing. Was the ancient world truly so much more impressive than the current world?


    The creature stared at John for a moment, before a sigh escaped its mouth. "It seems as though this world has truly regressed since then, a pity" the creature sighed.


    It''s mood quickly changed though, as it once again regained its regal stature. "As the overseer of the realm, it is within my power to change the difficulty of the trial. Since you are "his" chess piece, I shall do just that. However, because you are his chess piece, while the overall power will be weaker than what it should be to give you a chance for survival, the test will not be any easier than it was for those who took this trial before you."


    John sighed out in relief, but his relief stopped at the creature''s next words..


    "As such, your next trial is to withstand three attacks from me, without perishing."


    John''s eyes went wide at the trial''s description. The creature found his expression amusing, and borated a bit more on the trial.


    "I will not be attacking with my full power. This is a trial, not a death sentence. I will attack you three times, and each attack will be more powerful than thest. In between each attack, you will be allowed to rest for several hours," the creature exined.


    "Okay...and how strong are your attacks going to be?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    The creature thought about it for a moment before responding. "Your world seems to be incredibly weak right now, but you cannot help or change that. However, this is the Divine Talent Trial, which is far more important than you could ever imagine. As such, you must disy Divine Talent, regardless of the worldly circumstances. As to how strong the attacks are, you''ll find out soon enough."


    John frowned at theck of information, but could do nothing about it. There was no retreating from this ce, and his only way forward was to pass all the Divine Talent trials.


    The creature, which was several dozen yards away from John, stood there as John got into position. He was instructed to move to the other side of the creature, so as to not be knocked off the edge behind him and fall into the endless void.


    John moved into position, and steeled his mind. Both his mental and physical states were pushed to their very peaks, ready to take whatever attack was thrown at him. His battle axe appeared in his hands, giving him an even greater chance of survival.


    "Wait, can I have a bit of time to prepare for the first attack?" John suddenly asked.


    He had yet to use the blood essence of the Bloodfiend Sect members for body cultivation, and wanted to see if it was enough to advance to the Middle Core Formation Realm. While the process did not take all that long, absorbing that much blood essence would still take around ten minutes.


    "No. However, you may rest for several hours after taking the first attack," the creature replied, squashing John''s hope for a quick cultivation boost.


    He frowned and wanted to argue, but decided against such actions.


    ''Even with the trial being a Divine Level test, I am fully confident in my battle prowess. I should be more than capable of handling the first attack, at which point I''ll cultivate. Jumping realms is considered a nearly mythical feat, and so I''m sure the first attack will be at the Middle Core Formation Realm, or if I''m unlucky, the Late Core Formation Realm.''


    "Have you prepared yourself?" the creature asked John.


    John nodded his head and steadied his axe on his shoulder.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John exploded with the strength of the Supreme Battle Art, making sure his body was powered up for the attack.


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    The Heavenly Lightning Domain sprung up around John as well, forming thirty six lightning nodes that filled the space between him and the creature.


    "Hmm, not bad," the creature replied as it raised its finger. Power began to well up on its incrediblyrge finger for a split second before it shot out towards John.


    John widened his eyes in surprise as he stared at the approaching attack. Its power was far greater than he had expected, and it reached him in nearly an instant.


    ''Half-Step Meridian Forging on the first attack? What the fuck is this death trial?''


    John grit his teeth as he powered up even further. He would need his full strength to withstand the power of such an attack.


    Immortal Asura Transformation Art!


    His aura exploded out powerfully, its sinister and demonic nature spreading all throughout the area. The massive temple spirit narrowed its eyes as it stared at John, but said nothing.


    John''s body hit his peak state of power as the attack reached him. Eight lightning nodes lit up and fired out eight lightning attacks directly towards the approaching attack.


    The lightning attacks collided on the creature''s attack, causing arge explosion to radiate outwards. The attack was weakened slightly, but continued charging through the lightning directly towards John. He narrowed his eyes as he shed his axe forward with all his might.


    The might of three profound Dao''s emanated from his axe.


    Boom!

 Chapter 252 - Middle Core Formation Body

    John''s battle axe, brimming with the might of his newly learned three Dao''s, collided against creatures Qi attack. After having been slightly weakened by the lightning domain attacks, John was able to meet this attack head on without losing his life. However, even then, it was nearly overwhelming.


    John felt the battle axe tremble in his grip, sending powerful and painful vibrations up his arms as he resisted the attack with all his might. His body was continuously sent backwards, his feet carving two long lines in the earth as he used all his power to resist the attack.


    After having been knocked back several hundred yards, the attack finally subsided. John copsed to his knees from both exhaustion and pain, as he quickly undid the Immortal Asura Transformation Art.


    He had only used the transformation art for a few seconds, and so had not used too much body Qi. His body dantian was still quite full with body Qi, and so he did not need to draw any beast blood essence into it to replenish his Qi.


    The creature had a slight look of surprise on its face, as John had managed to take the attack head on much easier than he had expected. Of all those who had taken this trial in the past, this trial was where most failed and died. Although there were two more attacks to take ce, John''s performance in the first attack was quite impressive.


    However, when the creature thought of who was supporting John from the shadows, the power he disyed made more sense.


    Blood trickled down his arms, as several wounds had been opened on them from the force of the impact. He quickly popped a healing pill in his mouth, and looked up to the distant creature with slight displeasure.


    "What the hell kind of death trial is this? How is anyone supposed to pass this trial when the very first attack is three minor realms above their level?" John yelled out.


    "Three minor realms?" The creature asked with slight confusion and amusement. "The attack I sent out was barely equivalent to a Late Core Formation attack."


    Surprise appeared on John''s face as he heard this.


    "Barely a Late Core Formation attack? That attack was equivalent to a peak Half-Step Meridian Forging attack!" John rebuked.


    The creature scoffed at John''s ignorance. "Maybe for your regressed world of today. But from when I roamed the world, the attack I sent out was what Late Core Formation youths were capable of," the creature replied.


    Understanding immediately washed over John.


    ''Just how weak is our current worldpared to the past? From what this creature is saying, any average youth from back then would be a heavenly genius based on today''s standards.''


    John could hardly believe it, but had no grounds to argue against it. The only thing he could do was rest, recover, and prepare for the next attack. Defending against an attack was easier than truly fighting back, but it still wasn''t a guarantee of safety.


    ''Based on what the creature said before, each attack will be stronger than thest. The next attack should be equivalent to an Early Meridian Forging Expert, and thest a Middle Meridian Forging Expert.''


    John grit his teeth at this thought. Even with his heavenly talent and wonderful cultivation advantages, even he didn''t know if he was capable of that. He was only in the Early Core Formation Realm. Blocking an attack from a Middle Meridian Forging Expert was jumping more than a major realm.


    With each realm having three true realms, and four if one considered half-step as a realm, John would need to jump five minor realms. Not only that, but the jump between major realms, from Late Core Formation to Early Meridian Forging, was roughly equivalent to two minor realms on its own.


    ''I''ll need to jump six minor realms when blocking hisst attack. Even with my talents, that''s impossible. I need to improve my body to the Mid Core Formation Realm, as well as make some improvements somewhere regarding my battle prowess. Just how insane is a Divine Level Talent for this to be the requirement?''


    John ignored the creature and sat in a meditative position, to heal as fast as he could, as well as start cultivating his Immortal Asura Body.


    His mind formed a link with his pce realm, in which the corpses of his enemies rested. Damon, Culein, Kaiden, and Turner were all collected, giving him the blood essence of two Mid Core Formation cultivators and two Late Core Formation Cultivators.


    ''The jump between major realms for my Immortal Asura Body requires an absolutely insane amount of blood essence, but the minor realms in between require a bit less. Hopefully this is enough to break through to the next realm.''


    With his body only at the Early Core Formation Realm, the blood essence of the youths before him were quite potent. John made a small cut on the forehead of Turner, one of the Bloodfiend Sect Kings.


    The blood was quickly extracted, and John''s body dantian immediately absorbed the blood in ordance with the Immortal Asura Tome. His body dantian began to surge with power, pushing its level slowly but surely closer to the Mid Core Formation Realm.


    However, the blood essence ran out before John could advance, although this was to be expected. He extracted the blood essence from the other King, Kaiden, and absorbed it as well. His body cultivation began to steadily rise once more, but still stopped short of breaking through to the Core Formation Realm.


    His eyes locked onto the body of Damon, and grew slightly cold. Even with him sessfully avenging Russell, he still felt hatred and anger any time he looked at Damon. Damon''s blood essence was extracted as well, and brimmed with an incredible vitality and potency. Its potency was enough to shock even John himself, who had dealt with blood quite frequently.


    ''I guess he deserved his title as the Blood Emperor for a reason. I''m not sure what technique he cultivated, but his blood potency is incredible. Surely this will allow me to break through.''


    John quickly absorbed the blood essence, and channeled it into his dantian. The potency of the blood essence filled John''s dantian with incredible power, and quickly raised his cultivation. Without hesitation, his body dantian shattered the minor realm barrier, breaking through to the Middle Core Formation Realm.


    It continued increasing for quite some time as well, reaching the middle stages of the realm before finally dispersing. A satisfied smile appeared on John''s face. He was much more confident now regarding the trails.


    ''At least Damon provided me with some benefits.''


    The creature, who had been resting quietly, opened its eyes and stared at John curiously. From what it could tell, John still had the same cultivation, but for some reason, he could tell there was a slight change to John. However, the creature was unable to determine what had happened, despite its great power.


    "How peculiar."


    After breaking through, John focused on recovery. His body was still injured from taking that first attack head on, and he didn''t want to go into the second attack injured. After consuming numerous pills, John''s body slowly but surely healed over the course of the waiting period.


    ''Thankfully my wounds aren''t too deep, or I would need more time to heal.''


    John''s body finally fully healed, and he inspected it to make sure he missed nothing. After doing so, he nodded his head with satisfaction.


    ''With this, although it will still be incredibly difficult, I should be able to live through his next attack. I just need to figure out how to raise my battle prowes- Oh, I forgot about that!"


    John''s eyes lit up in excitement, as hastily sent his mind into his pce realm. However¡­


    "Time''s up. Prepare for the next attack!" the creature spoke out.


    John''s excited face soon turned sour, as he looked at the creature with slight displeasure. He just needed another hour, but knew he couldn''t argue against the creature.


    His battle axe once again appeared in his hands, as he steadied himself and faced the creature. A look of determination appeared on his face, while a thick battle-intent emanated off him. As soon as he had obtained the mysterious sphere, Immortal Asura Body and Celestial Lightning Script, John had always looked down on those within his realm. None of them had been able to provide him with a challenge, and he needed to fight above his realm to experience a good battle.


    Now however, this trial was indicating that even with his immense talents, there were those in the past who were just as talented as him. If not, this trial would not have been this difficult. This ignited his battle spirit, as he wanted to rise above even those geniuses of the past.


    "Not bad!" the creature nodded his head in approval. John''s battle intent was truly impressive, and he didn''t falter even in the face of a nearly impossible trial. Even in the ancient times, this trial was basically a death sentence for those who attempted it.


    The creature once again raised his finger and pointed it at John. The power brimming on his finger was even stronger than before, and this time contained more than just power. John could immediately tell that the attack was going to be equivalent to an Early Meridian Forging Experts attack. A thick blood-lust was emanating from the attack as well, so thick that it was tantamount to a soul attack.


    John felt his blood boil in the presence of the blood-lust, as if he was being challenged by it.


    John felt the blood-lust attempt to invade his mind and drive him mad. Those with weaker wills and souls would be driven insane by it, resulting in their deaths. However, John only grinned as he raised his own aura to be filled with a thick battle-intent and bloodlust, shing against that of the creatures. He shouted at the creature with all his might, arms spread wide.


    "COME ON!"

 Chapter 253 - Limiter Of Pain

    John''s fighting spirit ignited fully, impressing the creature quite a bit.


    "That''s how a cultivator should be!" the creature replied as it pointed its finger at John.


    Boom!


    The Qi attack exploded off the creature''s finger, piercing rapidly towards John. It emanated the power of an Early Meridian Forging Experts attack. Any other youth at John''s cultivation would nch at the attack, seeing only death in their future.


    However, John''s face was filled with only determination and grit, as he watched the attack rapidly approach him.


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    John once again activated his Heavenly Lighting Domain, and eight lightning nodes instantly lit up as they unleashed his most powerful lightning attacks. At the same time, his finger pointed towards the attack.


    Lightning Ruin!


    Lightning Ruin!


    John was able to unleash two lightning ruins before the attack would reach him. He put his full essence power into these attacks, supported by both his Lightning Attribute Body and twentypression dantian core.


    "Hmm?" The creature narrowed its eyes as it stared at John''s essence attacks. Its power was far beyond what he expected John to be capable of.


    "Just how many secrets does this boy contain?"


    Boom!


    The lightning domain attacks and lightning ruin attacks mmed onto the approaching attack, causing an even more powerful explosion thanst time to radiate outwards. John was bathed in heat and fire as the explosion washed over him, but he stood there firmly with his battle axe raised, ready to meet the attack.


    His skin and robes were singed from the explosion, but he didn''t even flinch as he kept his fighting spirit at maximum.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    Immortal Asura Transformation Art!


    John instantly activated both arts, pushing his body to its maximum power state. The Immortal Asura Transformation Art changed the very nature of John''s body, allowing him to unleash its greatest power, while the Supreme Battle Art utilized his body Qi to empower his body even further.


    As expected, the creatures Qi attack sped through the explosion, dimmed slightly but still containing immense power. While John''s essence attacks were far beyond what anyone in his realm could aplish, they still were quite a bit weaker than an Early Meridian Forging Experts attack.


    As the attack approached him, the bloodlust grew stronger. It attempted to invade his mind and drive him mad. John scoffed at this, and empowered his willpower to its maximum, resisting the maddening murmurs. Such a thing was trivial whenpared to the sinister gate, which he cultivated in front of daily.


    John raised the aura of his bloodlust to the peak, shing against and fully negating the bloodlust of the creature''s attack.


    "How can someone so young have such a strong bloodlust?" the creature murmured once again in surprise. John was truly shocking him with every move he made.


    John raised his axe above his head, and gripped the handle with all his might. His arm muscles bulged out powerfully, as he swung the axe down in front of him. The air rippled from the attack, causing booms to echo out just from his swing.


    Three incredibly profound Dao''s emanated off the axe, giving it even more power.


    Boom!


    John''s battle axe collided against the Qi attack. The ground shattered beneath his feet from the power of the collision, and John was sent soaring backwards by the attack. His feet carved two long lines in the earth as he maintained his bnce, his axe still cleaving against the Qi attack.


    John grit his teeth as his arm muscles bulged out with full power. He felt an incredibly powerful and terrifying energy run through his axe and into his body. His blood tumbled within his body while his arms felt like they were shattering from the force of the impact. HIs Immortal Asura Transformation Art was pushed to its peak as he resisted the attack.


    Boom!


    The Qi attack exploded in John''s face, sending him flying backwards like a broken kite. His body tumbled head over heels dozens of times before hended on the ground below. However, he managed tond on his two feet, and once again slid backwards for nearly a mile before finallying to a rest.


    Blood soaked his arms, which now shook with pain. His skin was slightly charred from both the initial and final explosion, and his breathing was incredibly heavy. However, despite all the damage, John stood there with a steady body and an unflinching expression.


    His eyes, still filled to the brim with fighting spirit, stared directly at the creature who was now several miles away.


    Slight surprise appeared on the creature''s face as it looked back at John. It had expected him to be half-dead at best after taking that attack head on, but John stood firm and resolute still.


    "Hmm, not bad. Maybe you truly do have the power to pass this trial," the creature mused. "You have six hours to rest."


    John breathed out arge sigh and sat on the ground. Despite him standing at the end of the attack, the attack was the limit of what he could withstand.


    ''If I take the next attack, which should be a Middle Meridian Forging attack head on, I''ll either die, or be crippled. I need to raise my power once more.''


    John instantly popped a healing pill in his mouth as he focused on recovery.


    ''Its a good thing I bought so many of these healing pills,'' John mused with a smile on his face. While they were Qi Condensation Grade healing pills, they were the very peak of that grade, and so they were still quite effective if eaten inrger quantities.


    ''However, I''ll need to start purchasing pills above my realm so I have them on hand when I level up.''


    John put such thoughts aside and focused on recovery. At the same time, his mind went into his pce realm, to do what he had attempted to do before the second attack.


    A ck bound book appeared in his hands, and John traced its exterior words for a second before opening it to the third page. Just like the second page, the third page of the Immortal Asura Tome contained information on the Immortal Asura Body, the Immortal Asura Transformation Art, and the Body Limiters.


    ''In my haste toplete the Divine Trials, Ipletely forgot about the Body Limiters. Let''s see which one is next.''


    John had already read the first part of the page. When he had been fighting Damon, he had paused for a few moments to reach the parts on the second form of the Immortal Asura Transformation Art.


    However, in his haste, he was unable to read about the Body Limiters. A new body limiter was unlocked with every major realm advancement, and so John had a new one to look at.


    "Lets see¡­.the next body limiter is the...Limiter of Pain."


    John quickly read the section, and just as it did with the first body limiter, the page described the second body limiter, and how to activate it.


    "The second body limiter is the Limiter of Pain. The core of the Limiter of Pain is located at the lower spine, and many blocked meridians, deadened muscle and nerves, and weakened bones are connected to this area. By clearing these obstructions and activating the appropriate muscles, nerves, and bones, the Limiter of Pain will be unlocked. Doing so will result in an incredible increase to the body''s flexibility and durability."


    John''s eyes instantly lit up at the description.


    "Increase in durability! That''s exactly what I needed."


    John looked at the diagram below the description, which depicted which meridians needed to be cleared of obstructions. After carefully studying the diagram, he sent his Qi to the meridian pathways depicted. His Qi instantly ran into many blockages.


    "Without the diagram, it''s near impossible to even tell that these are meridian channels. I would never have been able to find them without it. Time to open them."


    John''s Qi powerfully exploded against one of the obstructed meridians, sending a wave of pain throughout his body. However, he continued to do so, battering the blocked meridian with his powerful Qi.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Muffled sounds echoed from within his body, as John repeatedly sent powerful Qi to sh with the obstructions. After nearly an hour of doing this, thest meridian obstruction was finally cleared. John instantly felt his Qi flow in an easier manner, and the Qi flowing through the newly opened meridians diffused into the nearby muscles and bones, nourishing them with their power.


    John slowly but surely felt his body begin to strengthen, in both power and durability. While the Limiter of Pain focused mostly on durability, every Limiter unlocked would also increase his body''s attack power.


    John continued to feed the malnourished areas with rich and vibrant Qi, quickly bringing them to full power. He felt the core of the Limiter of Pain, located at his lower spine, activate, as if all the meridian channels, muscles, nerves, and bones concentrated to that area.


    John''s eyes lit up in excitement.


    ''My body has be much more durable than before, and with the added flexibility of this limiter, my attack power has increased as well. With this, I should be able to live through thest attack.''


    By this time, John''s body had fully healed. His eyes once again lit up with a fiery passion for battle, as he stood up and looked directly at the creature once more.


    "Come on. Hit me with your final attack."

 Chapter 254 - Final Divine Talent Trial

    The creature was slightly surprised at John''s confident demeanor. Although it couldn''t detect the source, it could tell that John''s power had increased between the first and second attack, allowing him to withstand the second attack, although barely.


    However, it could not detect a cultivation based power increase this time. Its divine sense washed over John''s body, inspecting it for some time before realization came to it.


    "Ah...you unlocked your Limiter of Pain I see. Interesting. Perhaps with this, you truly can live through this trial," the creature mused out loud.


    John ignored thement, and stood there with absolute confidence in himself. His fighting spirit was fully ignited.


    The creature slowly raised his finger once more and pointed it at John. Power equivalent to a Middle Meridian Forging expert began to quickly build up on it, which was more than twice as strong as the previous attack John had blocked. Like thest time, an intense blood lust emanated from the attack, attempting to drive John mad.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    Immortal Asura Transformation Art!


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    John''s aura exploded out violently, filled with a dense battle intent and blood lust. His aura shed against the aura of the attack, neutralizing a great portion of the negative effects it had on John''s mind. Thest bit washed over him, but John''s firm will was able to ignore it.


    The creature wasted no time, and unleashed the attack towards John. Its power was nearly overwhelming, and its speed even more so. The attack reached John in nearly an instant.


    Eight lightning nodes lit up and sent out attacks to meet the attack head on. However, John did not have time to send out any lightning ruins.


    The lightning domain attacks mmed against the Qi attack, but were almost immediately engulfed in the power of the creatures attack. In fact, the lightning domain attacks only reduced the power of the attack by less than ten percent.


    John git his teeth and red his body power to its absolute maximum state. With his Limiter of Pain unlocked, John felt an easier and more natural cirction of Qi in his body, strengthening it more than before. Not only that, but the newly activated parts of his body surged out with power, adding to his power and defense.


    His battle axe, surrounded by the three powerful Dao''s John had recently learned, cleaved downwards with all his might.


    Time seemed to stop for a brief moment as John''s axe met the attack, before¡­


    BOOM!


    The collision of the two attacks caused a massive explosion to radiate outwards, engulfing John in its power. Intense shockwaves and heat rocked his body, as the Qi attack continued to attempt to pierce John''s defenses and end his life. His body was ckened by the power of the explosion, his skinpletely singed.


    His blood tumbled within his body, and his organs shifted, sending a wave of pain throughout his body.


    John grit his teeth as he sent his full power into his arms, resisting the creature''s attack. The power being transmitted through his axe and into his body was beyond immense. John felt as if his arms were going to shatter. The skin on his arms had alreadypletely shattered away from his body, revealing nothing but muscle and bone underneath.


    Crack!


    A slight cracking sound rang out, followed by another, and another. John''s body rapidly flew out of the explosion as the Qi attack continued to push him backwards. His arms continued to send out cracking sounds, as they began to give under the force of the attack.


    Even with his Limiter of Pain unlocked, John was at the edge of life and death. John''s body was several miles away from the attack site already, having been pushed backwards like a cannonball.


    BOOM!


    The Qi attack, as if it had reached the end of its life, exploded out violently directly in front of John''s face. His body flew backwards out of the explosion, flying several more miles away as a smoke trail followed his charred body.


    Bang!


    John mmed against the hard earth, causing the ground to shatter. His body continued to travel within the earth, carving a long trench into it, only stopping after several hundred yards.


    After a series of incredibly loud explosions, silence once again filled the area.


    The creature stared intently at the location that John''s body hade to rest, waiting to see what happened. While it could use its divine sense to check if John was alive or dead, it chose not to do so.


    Several minutes passed by, without a single sound filling the area. A hand suddenly reached out from the ground,nding on the edge of the trench and pulling the rest of the body up with it.


    The creature''s eyes lit up, as it watched John slowly but surely crawl out of the trench. He inspected John''s body, and even the creature, with all its experience, took in a deep breath.


    His robes had beenpletely destroyed, leaving only his naked body beneath. Not a single inch of skin remained, revealing only muscle, sinew and bone. Even thisyer of his body was charred, making him look like a burned corpse.


    The creature had no idea how he had survived in such a state, or how he remained conscious through the pain he was feeling right now. All it did was stare at John in silence, impressed by the disy he had just witnessed.


    John''s feet nted on the ground, as he stood there defiantly. Pain and exhaustion wracked his entire body, but the only thing he was truly feeling right now was a sense of victory. Despite the odds being against him, he had managed to live through this trial.


    He stared at the creature with defiance in his eyes, as he popped a healing pill in his mouth. However,pared to the damage he had sustained, the healing pill was like throwing a bucket of water on a wildfire. It hardly made a difference.


    The creature nodded its head, as if approving of John.


    "I understand now why he chose you. Your attitude truly is worthy of being a Divine Talent, which is just as important as talent itself."


    It raised its finger towards John once more, causing him to narrow his eyes. However, John made no moves, as he watched the creature take whatever action it was taking.


    A strange energy emanated from the creature''s finger, and instantly pierced out towards John. It reached him before he could react, and entered his body. John felt a strange energy, filled with incredible vibrancy, wash throughout his body. Wherever it went, it infused every cell with vitality, slowly but surely healing it.


    "You''ll never heal with those healing pills of yours," the creature exined.


    John closed his eyes and allowed the energy to wash all throughout his body. Its efficacy at healing his body was dozens of times better than the pills he had on him. Several hours passed by, as the energy did its work.


    John''s charred muscles began to heal, and his skin began to reform on his body. Whenever a damaged cell was healed, John could feel that it was filled with even more vibrancy than before. It was as if his body was undergoing another transformation, simr to the one he felt when he had eaten the blood colored fruit.


    After several hours, his body was finally fully healed. John gripped his fists, feeling the power of his body. Every cell brimmed with incredible energy.


    ''Its a good thing I unlocked my Limiter of Pain, or I truly would have perished in this trial. Just how crazy were the youths of the past for this to be a trial instead of a death sentence?''


    Even with his heaven defying talent, John had just barely managed to live through this trial. If he had been even a slight amount weaker, he would have perished. With his two dantian advantages, John was not too shocked that he had managed to live through the trial, but could not imagine how those who did not have this advantage could do so.


    ''I''m sure my two dantian system is incredibly unique, so just how did the youths of the past manage to make it through this trial?''


    John looked towards the creature that stood there silently in the distance.


    "Was that the reward for passing the Divine Talent trials?" John asked.


    "No," the creature immediately replied. "That was a gift from me. Think nothing of it. As for these Divine Trials...that was not the final trial. You still have one trial yet to take."


    John''s face remained emotionless as he heard this, as if he had been expecting such news.


    "I figured as much. What is the final trial then? Also, how many youths have managed to pass this trial?" John asked.


    The creature thought about the question for a moment before responding. "This temple is one of countless that are linked with the same trial system. The number of youths that have taken this trial is beyond counting. Even so, the amount of youths that have passed this trial, in all of history, can be counted on two hands," the creature replied.


    John''s face lit up with surprise. "So few?"


    Before John could ask any more questions, the creature spoke up once more.


    "And...your final trial...is to fight against one of these divine talents."

 Chapter 255 - Lightning Dao

    John''s face slightly soured at hearing this from the temple spirit. He knew the final trial would be the most difficult, but he didn''t think it would be impossible.


    "Didn''t you say that these divine talents all had Late Meridian Forging cultivations? How the hell am I supposed to survive this trial?" John couldn''t help but ask. He was hoping the creature would scale the trial to his cultivation, like he did on thest one.


    "As I said before, your cultivation is far too low. However, it is in my power as a guardian of this trial to adjust it, as long as I keep it a divine talent difficulty for the participant. For this particr trial however, it is automatically scaled to the cultivation of the participant. Since you will be fighting a divine talent, fighting above your realm would be impossible. As such, your opponent will be the same cultivation as you," the creature replied.


    John breathed out a sigh of relief upon hearing this. With this being the case, at least he had a shot at passing the trial.


    "However, do not think that this trial will be easy as a result. Your opponent will be one of the most gifted geniuses this universe has seen in countless millennia. You''ll find out soon enough why," the creature continued.


    John nodded his head in agreement with the creature''s words. He did not think this trial was going to be easy. He had just managed to pass thest trial by the skin of his teeth, and although he had received a slight body upgrade and power boost due to the creature''s healing energy, he still knew it would be an immense struggle.


    "Do I need to win against my opponent?" John asked the creature.


    "No," the creature replied. "If you could win against a divine talent, then you would be above a divine talent. We are not testing for such a thing. Thest trial is governed by my judgement alone. You will fight with all your power against your opponent, and if you are fit to be called a dvine talent, then I will bestow that upon you. However, if you are too far below your opponent in power and talent, then you will not pass this trial."


    "That sounds fair enough," John responded with a head nod.


    ''This trial would have been impossible if I had to win, but if its fighting somewhat evenly against my opponent, then I should be able to manage. The only problem is I do not have a weapon battle art right now, so mybat prowess is a bit lower than I would like.''


    Despite his battle axe being incredibly strong, and the three profound Dao''s equally strong, John did not have a true battle art for his battle axe. This hampered his battle prowess by quite a bit, and would put him at a disadvantage against the youths.


    ''If I had a battle art for my battle axe, I probably would have been able to pass the previous trial a bit easier as well. I''ll need to obtain one as soon as I leave this trial realm.''


    John put such thoughts in the back of his mind, as they served no purpose right now.


    "When does the trial start?" John asked.


    The creature, which towered dozen''s of yards above John, looked down at him and replied. "You can rest and gather your strength for the fight toe. Let me know when you are ready to take it."


    He sat down on the ground and began to meditate.


    ''Is there anything I can do to raise my strength quickly?'' John mused internally.


    He had exhausted all the quick powerup options unfortunately.


    ''I can meditate on the three profound Dao''s I recently learned, and see if I can improve myprehension on one of them, but I doubt I''ll make much leeway now.''


    John''s mind went to his Celestial Lightning Script.


    ''The Celestial Lightning Script! While I''ve been cultivating it this entire time, I haven''t made any progress with it recently. However, I think I''m pretty close to breaking through to the nextyer, once again improving my lightningprehensions.''


    The Celestial Lightning Script was condensed in the Jade Piece which John had. By sending his divine sense into the piece, John was slowly but surely able to learn about the Celestial Lightning Script, and its incredible profundities.


    He had managed to obtain a Lightning Attribute Body thest time he truly focused on the Jade Piece, as well as Lightning Origin Essence Runes on his body. The runes covered every inch of his flesh, amplifying his control over lightning.


    However, ever since that breakthrough, John had not been able to push hisprehensions to the nextyer on the Celestial Lightning Script. However, he had never tried once he had advanced to the Core Formation Realm, as he had been too busy to do so. Now, he had the perfect opportunity to revisit that treasure of his.


    A Jade Piece, glowing in the center, suddenly appeared in his hands. The creature''s eyes instantly locked on the piece, as it emanated an extremely profound aura. While the creature had never seen this jade piece, it could extrapte what it most likely was based on the rich lightning aura it was emanating.


    "Is that¡­.just how many treasures does this boy have?"


    John''s divine sense entered the Jade Piece, and lightningprehensions instantly began to flood into his mind. However, he had already learned these portions, and was seeking to push hisprehensions to the nextyer.


    There were manyyers to the Celestial Lightning Script, and eachyer needed a certain lightningprehension level to break through to.


    John''s divine sense surged forward, eventuallying to a halt as it reached the nextyer''s barrier. A thickyer obscured his ability to move forward. John studied thatyer for quite some time, before his eyes opened in understanding.


    "It''s the profound Dao of Lightning, just like the three I recently learned about! The Dao of Lightning is obscuring my ability to study the next portion, and I need to at least reach theyers profundity with the Lightning Dao before I can move forward.''


    John had already started his journey regarding the Dao of Lightning. It was the first thing he had to learn to be able to generate lightning Qi. However, that Dao level was the absolute minimum, and was only used to generate that Qi.


    However, the Daoyer before him was much more advanced. It was simr in overall profundity to the battle axe Dao''s he had learned.


    John''s mind instantly focused on that Lightning Daoyer, probing its secrets as best he could. shes appeared in his mind, depicting lightning attacks. Some were unleashed by cultivators, some by creatures, and some by nature.


    Simr to what he had experienced with the battle axe trial, John closely studied this images that were appearing in his mind, doing his best to understand the profundities behind each attack.


    The attacks he saw were awe inspiring, and with every lightning burst, mountains would crumble and oceans would empty.


    He sat there in silence for quite some time, quietly ruminating on the Celestial Lightning Jade Origin Piece. The creature sat there in silence as well, closely studying John.


    "He fell into a full meditative trance already. Whether his talent allowed him to do so, or if he had a heavenly treasure aiding him, it doesn''t matter. Such an ability will surely allow hisprehensions to soar to terrifying levels in the future."


    ¡­


    John slowly opened his eyes, a profound gleam appearing in them, as if lightning was flickering within them. A small smile appeared on his face, as his endeavor had been a sess.


    He quickly stood up, and ayer of dust fell off his robes. John noticed this, and quickly looked up to the creature.


    "Just how long was I meditating for?" John asked curiously. He lost track of time every time he did so.


    "Two weeks," the creature replied.


    "Two weeks?" John slightly grimaced at this. There were those still waiting outside the trials for him. With this much time having passed, surely they would figure he had died inside these trials.


    The creature, noticing John''s expression, quickly understood the reason. It chuckled slightly before replying once more.


    "Do not worry, the flow of time within these trials is far different than the flow outside. Only a few hours have passed in the real world."


    He breathed a sigh of relief at hearing this.


    "That''s good then. I''ve done all I can to raise my strength, so I''m ready for the final trial," John said to the creature.


    The creature nodded his head, and waved his hand. John felt spatial power instantly wrap around him, and a new area soon came into his vision. It was arge open tform, several miles wide and long. The tform was made of white tiles, each with many runes on it, making it look quite regal.


    At the edge of the tform was emptiness. John quickly walked to the edge and peered over it. A slight shiver went up his spine, as it was an endless void below.


    "I''m guessing if I''m knocked off, I die?" John asked the creature.


    "Yes," the creature replied, not sugarcoating anything.


    A thought crossed John''s mind, as he spoke out to the creature once more.


    "I''m assuming I''m fighting some formation recreation of the divine talent youths. You said there were quite a few that have passed this trial, so do I get to choose who I fight?" John asked curiously.


    If he could inspect the youths beforehand, maybe he could get some clues as to who would be his best matchup.


    "Normally yes," the creature replied. "However, I have given you far too many concessions so far in this trial, and so I will be choosing your opponent for you."


    John frowned at this response, but didn''t argue. It was true that the creature had helped him out already, and so he didn''t see grounds to argue back. A small smirk appeared on the creatures face for the first time, giving John a bad feeling.


    "You should recognize your opponent," the creature said in an amused tone. It waved its hand, and a sh of light appeared on the other end of the fighting tform.


    John quickly turned to the source of the light as it began to fade. A figure was quickly revealed.


    It was a boy who appeared about fifteen years of age. He held a thin, light blue sword in his hand, which rested at his side. Long ck hair flowed down to his shoulders, framing his handsome face. An incredibly sharp and profound aura emanated off the boy.


    John''s face instantly became grave as he looked at the youth before him. Although the face was much younger, it still bore a resemnce to someone he had seen before. However, he clearly recognized the aura, as it was unmistakable.


    "The holy aura!"

 Chapter 256 - Sword Dao

    Just like every human has a unique face, or unique voice, aura''s were simr in that regard. Every cultivator had an aura, and those aura''s were always easy to identify. Despite the fact that the youth before him had an aura that was countless times weaker than the holy aura from within his pce realm, John was still able to identify that the two stemmed from the same source.


    ''Its the mysterious man from within my pce realm!''


    John turned to the creature who stood behind him, his face still full of shock.


    "This youth is the mysterious man that just showed up, correct?" John couldn''t help but confirm.


    The creature smiled, as if it was enjoying John''s shocked reaction. "That is correct. The man who saved you just a bit ago is far more terrifying than you can imagine. And as for this youth before you, it is indeed him when he was younger. While it''s just a formation that copies his strength and battle arts that he disyed during his own Divine Trial, it is essentially as if you were fighting him when he was fifteen," the creature replied.


    John looked back to the youth, who stood there silently, as if awaiting instructions. The boy''s cultivation was emanating a Late Meridian Forging cultivation, shocking John once again.


    "I guess you really weren''t lying when you said that I needed a Late Meridian Forging Cultivation," John wrylymented.


    The creature waved its hand towards the youth, and its cultivation slowly but surely regressed. Before long, it was at the Early Core Formation Realm.


    "As promised, I have scaled his cultivation to match your own. However, his insights, Daoprehensions, and battle art profundities have not been scaled down. Those will be the same as he disyed when he took his Divine Talent trial," the creature exined.


    A thought crossed John''s mind. "In that case, if I pass this trial, will I be added to this trial just like the boy before me?" John asked curiously.


    "Yes," the creature replied. "If you pass, a formation copy of you will be created. It will emte your battle prowess, insights, andprehensions. I suppose if any of the Divine Trial temples ever run into someone like you again, who takes the trial with such a low cultivation, then they will use your formation copy as the final trialbatant."


    John nodded his head before looking back to the youth before him. It stood there silently, but even then John could tell that it was an absolutely terrifying opponent. His aura was absolutely shocking, and John could even feel profound Dao''s infused into them, simr to how he infused his own Dao''s into his battle axe.


    He was used to jumping multiple realms to find a good fight, but John could tell that he was going to be the one on the defensive in this fight.


    ''Despite the fact that my body is at the Middle Core Formation Realm, I''ll still need to use my full power to survive.''


    John took a deep breath and closed his eyes, calming his mind and emptying any negative thoughts.


    Boom!


    John''s aura suddenly exploded outwards, radiating an intense battle-intent. His eyes snapped open and locked onto the youth before him. He began to walk towards the youth, step by step. Each step was like the beat of a war drum, growing louder and louder.


    The arena below him quaked with every step as he continued to increase his aura, getting himself to his optimal battle state.


    "You can start the fight," John said to the creature without looking back.


    His eyes were still locked on the youth before him.


    "Your cultivation might have been reduced, but I refuse to lose to anyone in the same realm as me. Let''s see how amazing you truly are," John said in a confident voice.


    The creature nodded his head in approval at John''s fighting spirit, and waved his hand once more. The youth before John suddenly moved, as it turned its head slightly to stare at John.


    Their eyes locked, and they both paused for a split second.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Both youths instantly pressed off the ground, and charged directly towards each other.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John activated his Supreme Battle Art, and his aura and body power surged greatly once more.


    Three profound Dao''s!


    Three profound Dao''s emanated from John''s battle axe as he and the youth reached each other in an instant. In fact, the youth John was fighting moved even faster than he did. They both swung out their weapons at each other.


    John''s battle axe cleaved downwards powerfully, like it was a mountain looking to crush its opponent.


    Peng!


    Weapons collided, sending a loud metallic echo throughout the arena. John slightly raised his eyebrows as he stared at the youth before him.


    ''He''s not even a body cultivator, but he managed to block my attack without being knocked back at all.''


    John was sure he would win out in a direct power battle, as the youth before him was solely an essence cultivator. However, things had not gone ording to n.


    The youth suddenly raised its other hand, and pointed it towards John''s chest.


    "Shit!"


    John rapidly dashed to the side, as an absolutely terrifying power exploded out of the youths fingers. It contained an incredibly dense and profound sword aura.


    Che!


    John was slightlyte to dodge, and the battle art from the youth pierced directly into his shoulder. It was so sharp that it pierced out through the other side, forming a small hole through his body.


    John grit his teeth in pain and dashed backwards, creating some distance between the two of them. Blood flowed down his shoulder freely, but thankfully it had not hit anything vital that impacted his battle prowess.


    "Using my move, huh?" John grumbled as he stared at the youth. He was normally the one who made such moves, but he had fallen victim to it now.


    John''s eyes locked back on the boy, who''s aura had grown even more. The Dao of the Sword swirled around within his aura and body, and it was as if John could see tiny swords materialize in and out of existence.


    "A Sword Dao cultivation? This is going to be troublesome."


    Sword Dao cultivators were absolutely terrifying, and were known to have some of the sharpest and most deadly attacks of all cultivators. While most cultivators used the sword, they did not truly focus on the Sword Dao, and instead dabbled elsewhere.


    Sword Dao cultivators, however, only focused on the sword and nothing else. Their life was about the sword, and only the sword.


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    John activated his domain, and thirty six lightning nodes sprung up into existence. The youth''s body flickered, as if it phased in and out of existence, before appearing directly in front of John.


    Lighting exploded out of eight lighting domains, piercing directly towards the youth. At the same time, John''s axe cleaved down on the youth.


    The emotionless youth suddenly exploded with his own domain, as dozens of ethereal swords, formed of nothing but Qi and the Sword Dao, sprung into existence.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The lightning attacks exploded against the ethereal sword, creating small explosions constantly in the air above the two youths. Lightning continuously rained out from the lightning nodes, while ethereal swords constantly swirled about, intercepting them non-stop.


    At the same time, weapons once again collided, and John and the youth traded dozens of blows in the blink of an eye.


    The creature opened his eyes in slight surprise, as he was able to tell that John''s lightning domain was actually evenly matched against the youths sword domain.


    "The Hegemon Sword Domain, one of the most terrifying domains in existence, is actually being evenly countered by a lower level lightning domain? What''s going on?"


    The creature closely inspected John and his domain, and finally came to the realization of what was going on.


    "The domain is quite weak, but this boy''s essence power is absolutely horrifying. Just by sheer essence power, he is able to make up the difference between the two domains. The youth before him was rumored to have achieved fifteen dantianpressions. Just how manypressions did he achieve to be able to do such a thing?"


    Peng!


    Weapons collided once more, and both youths were knocked backwards a few yards. John stared with narrowed eyes at the youth before him. His lighting domain had beenpletely countered, and he was slowly but surely losing out on the direct shes against the youth.


    Every sword stroke from the youth contained incredibly sword Dao profundities in it, and even casual strikes from the youth had the power and sharpness to threaten John''s life. The youths swordprehensions were absolutely terrifying, and dwarfed theprehensions John had towards the Dao of Power, Destruction, and Annihtion. It was like a toddler versus an adult. It was as if every single swing of his sword contained an incredibly powerful battle art.


    He had barely managed to stabilize in theirst exchanges, and had definitely been on the losing side.


    For the first time in his life, John was losing to someone in the same cultivation realm as him.


    John''s eyes turned grave as he stared at the youth. The youths'' aura once again rose greatly, and the Sword Dao profundities emanating off him increased several fold. John felt his soul ache just by staring at the youth, as if the sword aura was piercing his very soul.


    ''It seems he wasn''t even using close to his full strength. I wanted to conserve as much blood essence as possible, but that doesn''t seem possible anymore. I''ll only have a few minutes of this state before I run out off blood essence, but I can''t hold back.''


    John''s aura exploded out violently once more, this time dyed with a sinister bloodlust. His eyes turned blood red, as two small protrusions appeared on his head. His nails grew slightly and sharpened, and faint blood red runes suddenly lit up on his body.


    His power increase matched the youth before him as they both locked eyes.


    Immortal Asura Transformation Art! Second Form!

 Chapter 257 - Sword Vs Axe

    John activated the second form of his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, pushing his power to its peak state. His aura exploded wildly off his body, shing against the aura of the mysterious youth.


    The creature narrowed its eyes as it stared at John. Before it had been his strong suspicion as to the origins of the power, but now there was no mistaking it.


    "There''s no doubt about the origins of his transformation now. Just what is he thinking allowing such a dangerous power to be wielded by this boy?" the creature mused.


    John''s hands gripped his battle axe powerfully as he stared at the youth before him.


    "I don''t have much time in this state, so why don''t we speed things up a bit," John said to the youth.


    Although he knew it was a formation and couldn''t respond, it still felt natural to talk to him.


    Boom!


    John pressed off the ground, causing it to quake with every step as he instantly reached the mysterious youth. His axe cleaved outwards, the power of it causing the very air to ripple and boom.


    Peng!


    Sword and axe collided, and the mysterious youth was the one knocked backwards. The creature''s eyes once again widened in surprise.


    "Just how strong is his body to be able to do such a thing?"


    What the creature didn''t know was that John''s body cultivation was at the Middle Core Formation Realm, and so it was only natural that he would win out in power when fighting someone with a lower cultivation than him.


    The youthnded on his feet and shed his sword out towards John while skidding backwards.


    Peng!


    John shed his axe against the sword image, the power of which was enough to cause him to sweat slightly. Every casual sword attack from the youth was like an overwhelming battle art.


    ''Just a casual sword attack from this youth, ifnded on my body, would cause me great harm. And he''s technically a lower cultivation than me. How terrifying.''


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    The youth shed his sword out repeatedly, so fast that John could hardly keep up. Countless sword images suddenly pierced towards John, reaching him in an instant. His battle axe shed out continuously, doing his best to keep up with the growing number of sword images.


    Lightning continued to crash down from the lightning nodes, exploding against the revolving swords. John frowned, as no matter how much essence power he put into his lightning domain, it was countered by the boy''s sword domain. Its profundity was at a much higher level than John''s, once again showing their vast difference in Daoprehensions.


    ''I have to change my fighting style up a bit. His sword attacks are too fast for my heavy battle axe to keep up with, and without a battle art, I cannot overpower them either.''


    Thundersh Steps!


    John augmented his speed to his greatest level,bining his Thundersh Steps with his Limiter of Speed. His body shot forward like a blur, appearing directly in front of the youth in an instant.


    His axe cleaved sideways, shing towards the youths waist. The youth shed his sword out as well, the power of the Sword Dao emanating from it.


    Peng!


    Weapons collided, resulting in the youth being knocked back slightly. John immediately dashed forward, gripping his two handed battle axe in one hand, while keeping his other one free.


    Despite it being a two handed battle axe, John''s immense strength was barely able to wield it with one. However, the attack power would be greatly weakened, but John was not worried about that.


    His axe cleaved down once again, piercing towards the youths head.


    Peng!


    Sword and axe collided, resulting in a stalemate. John''s free hand thrust forward, catching the youth off guard.


    Boom!


    John''s hand mmed hard against the youth, but the youth waspletely unaffected.


    "What?"


    His hand quickly withdrew, and John was able to see what had happened. A small sword from the sword domain had materialized between the youth and John''s hand, blocking the attack. The sword disintegrated from the force of the attack, but quickly rematerialized due to it being made from Qi.


    ''Fine. If speed won''t do, then I''ll just go back to full power attacks.''


    John decided to retreat to his full power attacks. While they had not managed to pierce the youths'' defenses yet, it was the only type of attack that John was able to win out on.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Lighting and swords continued to explode in the sky above, while John and the youth crashed against each other time and time again. They exchanged dozens of blows in the blink of an eye, causing the arena to shake with the power of their attacks.


    Every time they collided, John would knock the youth backwards due to his overwhelming body power. However, the youths ultimate sword defenses allowed him to remain rtively unharmed.


    Meanwhile, several attacks from the youth had managed to pierce John''s defenses, slowly chipping away at his body. Several thin sword cuts could be seen on John''s body, and blood slowly began to soak his robes.


    However, he ignored the wounds, as he continued to press forward.


    The creature watched the battle unfold, bing more and more impressed by John''s performance.


    "Hisprehensions are incredibly low, and his battle arts are either weak or non-existent, but just with the power of his body transformation and overwhelming essence power, he is able to keep up with that man. Impressive."


    The battle raged on for several more minutes, with both sides managing tond blows on the other. John''s body was covered in sword wounds, making him look like a blood demon, while the youths arms were shaking, and his attacks slowed down slightly.


    Clearly, having blocked so many powerful attacks from John''s battle axe, the attacks were starting to add up.


    John''s soul space suddenly trembled, and before he could react, Kirii appeared out in the open. It immediately began to charge up a lightning attack, intent on helping John against the enemy he was struggling against.

 Chapter 258 - Overwhelming Sword Attack

    "A Lightning Kirin!" the creature eximed in surprise. He had not expected to see one of the most profound of heavenly creatures show up unexpectedly. The creature suddenly waved its hand towards Kirii, wrapping it up with his power.


    Kirii found itself instantly appearing next to the creature, unable to move.


    "I apologize for this, but you cannot interfere. Just sit here and watch the battle unfold with me," the creature said to Kirii. "The final exchanges should be taking ce soon. Let''s see if he can survive it."


    Kirii struggled against the creature''s power, but was unable to do anything to it.


    He eventually calmed down, and did as the creature instructed. Its eyes locked onto John, watching his battle unfold.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Dozens of more attacks were exchanged, the battle resulting in a stalemate. John was breathing heavily as he stared at the youth, unsure of how to continue.


    John finally felt his blood essence reserves run out, and was now only running on the remaining Qi in his body dantian.


    ''Without a strong attack-based battle art for my battle axe, I just don''t have enough power to pierce his defenses. Also, I only have a small amount of time before I run out of body Qi. I need to end this soon. However, he seems to be at his limit as well, so I shou-''


    John''s thought instantly stopped as he stared at the youth. The youths'' aura exploded once more, climbing to another level. He suddenly pointed to the sky, and a incredibly dense ball of Qi began to condense. The ball of Qi exuded an incredibly dense Sword aura.


    At the same time, half of the swords from his sword domain retreated to the ball of Qi, infusing with it.


    The ball instantly transformed, bing an incrediblyrge sword. The sword was several dozen yards long, and brimmed with absolutely horrifying power. It was a battle art unlike anything John had ever seen. He even felt a restrictive force wash over him, locking him into ce.


    Before John could react, the youth pointed his finger at John, and the sword shot towards him.


    John''s eyes turned grave as he watched the sword reach him in an instant.


    His lightning domain attacks changed targets, piercing directly towards the sword. At the same time, his finger pointed towards the sword.


    Lightning Ruin!


    John managed to unleash one fully powered lighting ruin, before the sword reached him. His lighting attacks weakened the massive sword by a bit, but its power and sharpness were still incredibly overwhelming.


    John grit his teeth and unleashed everything, pushing his body to the absolute peak. His axe, infused with the three profound Dao''s, cleaved outwards with all his might.


    The sword and axe collided, and time seemed to stop for a brief moment before¡­


    Boom!


    An absolutely shocking power radiated outwards from the collision, as the sword struck down on John''s axe. John felt his arms nearly break from the attack, as his body shot backwards like a cannonball through the air.


    The blood within his body tumbled, and he became disoriented as he shot backwards towards the edge of the arena.


    "Shit!" John cursed as he struggled to regain his bnce. If he fell off, he was as good as dead.


    However, his speed was too great, and with flying restricted in this area, John had no way to reach the ground and stop his momentum.


    Wracking his brain for ideas, John quickly came up with one. His battle axe, still in his hand, was thrown towards the arena below with all his might.


    Bang!


    The de of the battle axe collided with the arena floor, piercing into the floor slightly. At the same time, a whip suddenly appeared in John''s hand. It was the whip he had obtained from the girl he had killed earlier.


    He struck the whip out towards his embedded battle axe, and just barely managed to wrap it around the handle of the axe.


    John gripped the whip with all his might, as his body came to a sudden halt as the whip was stretched taut. The whip began to tear, struggling to withstand the force of John''s momentum. After a brief struggle¡­


    Snap!


    The whip snapped, and John''s body once again continued with its backward momentum.


    Bang!


    John''s body finallynded, and he instantly pierced his ancient sword into the arena below. A trench was carved as he resisted the momentum. His body finally came to a stop, as his one foot dangled over the arena edge.


    Phew!


    He breathed out a massive sigh of relief, having barely managed to survive his ordeal. However, he quickly remembered his battle, and his head snapped upwards once more, looking for the follow up attack from the youth.


    John''s face suddenly turned incredibly grave as his body dantian finally emptied.


    His Immortal Asura Transformation Art faded, returning him to normal. The youth in the distance once again pointed his hand to the sky, clearly attempting to unleash the same attack once more.


    John stared at the youth, unsure of how to get out of this predicament.


    p!


    p!


    Two ps resounded out, and the youth before John instantly vanished, his strong sword attack with him.


    "Alright, I''ve seen enough," the creature suddenly said, as John felt a power wrap around his body.


    Simr to Kirii, he found himself standing before the creature, which towered over him. The creature looked down at John with scrutinizing eyes, as if it was closely studying him.


    John breathed out a sigh of relief once more, as the fight had ended.


    ''If I took that attack head on again, I was as good as dead. With no battle axe battle arts, and low blood essence reserves from the start, just surviving that battle was all I could do. It might have been different if I had a strong battle art and more blood essence reserves, but there''s nothing I can do about it now. Let''s just hope that this creature found my performance good enough.''


    "I''ve decided," the creature suddenly said, causing John to hold his breath.? His fate was in the creatures hands. "Its quite clear from that battle, that you...lost."

 Chapter 259 - Trial Rewards

    A look of displeasure appeared on John''s face upon hearing the creature''s words. Although thatst attack he had taken had been absolutely incredible, he had suffered no significant damage in taking the attack head on. Were it not for his blood essence reserves, and therefore body Qi, running out, John was confident he could keep fighting.


    Not only that, but John did not have a weapon battle art, and so he was at a great disadvantage in that regard, using only the Dao''s and body strength to fight back against such profound sword battle arts.


    The creature noticed John''s displeasure and smirked. "However, the point of this trial was not to win, but to prove yourself worthy of being called a Divine Talent. In that regard, you have passed."


    John looked back at the creature, his look of displeasure slightly fading. He breathed out a slight sigh of relief at hearing he had passed the trial. He wanted to keep fighting the mysterious youth, as his battle intent was still surging, but unfortunately the trial had ended.


    "Despite having a weaker domain art, and no weapon battle art, you were able to fight somewhat evenly against your opponent. Fighting evenly against someone like him, even in his youthful state, is more than deserving of being called a divine talent," the creature continued.


    "If I had a weapon battle art, it wouldn''t have just been a somewhat even fight," John rebuked, still confident in himself.? Kirii, who was still standing next to the creature, quickly retreated back into John''s soul space.


    "That may have been the case," the creature replied. "However, we cannot know such a thing anymore, as the trial has beenpleted."


    "What do I get for passing the trial?" John curiously asked. Since the trial was over, his thoughts of fighting the youth were washed away to the back of his mind.


    "Right to the rewards huh?" the creature asked with a slightly amused tone. "I suppose that''s to be expected."


    "These arch trials are not the final trial of this temple. In order to advance to the next trial, one has to pass the Heavenly or Divine Talent trials. Your first reward is getting ess to the final trial, which is a reward in and of itself."


    John''s ears perked up at hearing this. He was always more than happy to get more trials, and therefore more rewards.


    "What type of trial is it?" John asked curiously.


    "The trial is an entirely different realm, in which incredible opportunities await. Only those with high enough talents are allowed to enjoy its risks and rewards," the creature exined.


    John frowned at hearing this.


    ''This sounds exactly like the pocket realm. If my guess is correct, the pocket realm is the final reward for participants in these temple trials. The pocket realm has copsed, so it should be no more. How does this creature not know that?''


    "You don''t look too happy to hear about such a trial," the creature said to John, noticing his change in mood.


    "That''s because I''ve already been to a pocket realm that''s linked to this area, and its copsed already," John exined.


    "What?" the creature eximed in surprise and confusion. "Are you sure? How did you enter the realm already?"


    John thought about it for a moment, before exining the entrance he and his n had entered. He exined how the realm copsed when he left it, but left out all the important details that were secretive to him.


    "An entrance on a mountain? With no trials linked to it beforehand? Sounds like someone with great power established a deviant entrance without anyone noticing. All entrances to the trial realm are tightly controlled, and only those who pass the requisite trials are permitted to enter," the creature exined.


    "I cannot say for sure if the realm you entered and the realm this trial is linked to are the same. I suppose you will have to find that out for yourself soon," the creature continued.


    "Can you not just check yourself?" John asked in a slightly confused manner. The creature said he was the controller of this trial, and that his spirit was linked to the temple.


    "Unfortunately I cannot. I am the overseer of the five arch talent trials, and more specifically, the Divine Trial. My vision cannot extend beyond these trials," the creature replied, his tone slightly saddened.


    "You''re trapped here? Isn''t that incredibly boring?" John asked.


    "Of course it is," the creature replied in a slightly raised voice. "I used to be incredibly powerful, and roamed this world as one of its strongest rulers. Unfortunately, I offended the wrong people, and was in. My soul was then tied to these trials, forever burdened to keep watch over them. Not only that, but I also have another purpose I serve, but that is not for you to know about," the creature exined.


    John stared at the creature in silence. He could tell the creature longed for freedom, but could not obtain it.


    "What would it take to get you out of here?" John asked curiously.


    "Haha, I''m afraid such a thing is not possible," the creature quickly replied. "Not only would I need to find a suitable host body to take over, since I am only a spirit right now, someone incredibly powerful would need to break the shackles this temple has on me. Such a thing won''t happen."


    John frowned as he heard this. If he could free the creature, he could potentially obtain an immensely powerful helper. However, such a thing seemed to be next to impossible.


    "What if I became strong enough, and found a strong enough host body. If I freed you, would you be willing to serve me?" John asked.


    "Hahahahaha," the creatureughed loudly, his voice rattling John''s body. "Not only are you not anywhere close to strong enough to aid me, I will never serve another again. Most of my life has been in servitude to this temple. I''d rather die than be a ve once again."


    John nodded his head in understanding. He would most likely have the same reaction if he was in the creature''s position.


    "However," the creature suddenly stated, drawing John''s attention. "If you truly are able to help me in the future, as small as that possibility may be, I would be willing to aid you wherever you needed it."


    John stared at the creature for a moment.


    "Deal. If I ever break you out of here, you must aid me whenever I ask. Other than that, you would be free to do whatever you want," John agreed.


    A slight ray of hope appeared in the creature''s eyes. John was a Divine Talent, and had the support of "that" man. If anyone would be capable of achieving such a feat in the future, it would be him.


    After a moment of silence, the creature waved his hand, and an item suddenly appeared in the air before John. It was a circr disk, with an octagram carved into its center. In the middle of the octagram, there was an etching of an eye. Despite the object being inanimate, John felt as if the eye was staring at him.


    "Take this," the creature said to John.


    John snapped out of his daze, and reached out to grab the item. As soon as it hit his hand, a unique energy invaded his body, as if inspecting him. After a brief moment, John felt a small portion of his Qi extracted and withdrawn back into the disk.


    The disk, which had its own unique and profound aura, now contained a small portion of John''s Qi in there as well.


    "What is this disk for?" John asked curiously.


    "This disk is the second half of your rewards for this trial," the creature exined.


    "What does it do though?" John asked for boration.


    "Oh, yes, I suppose you do not know this, since the world has regressed so. This disk is that of the Order of the Divine''s, whic-"


    Boom!


    The entire Divine Trial world suddenly shook. The creature''s expression suddenly became serious, as his eyes looked out towards the void past the arena grounds.


    Boom!


    Another boom echoed out, shaking the arena and the void once more. A guttural growl followed the boom, chilling John to his core. He had never heard such a terrifying noise before. It was as if the sound of the growl alone was soaked with an incredible bloodlust, wanting nothing more than to kill him.


    "What''s going on?" John asked with apprehension.


    "You take this time where I am distracted to show your face once more?" the creature suddenly eximed as it stared out into the void. "No matter how many times you try, you cannot escape your prison."


    BOOM!


    The void in the distance suddenly shattered, as if a dimensional rift was opened. A gaping hole in the void appeared, and John could see movement within the hole. Suddenly, a massive, blood red hand quickly escaped from it, the size of the hand asrge as the entire creature that stood before John.

 Chapter 260 - Leaving The Divine Trial

    Long, gnarled nails extended from each finger of the massive hand, as if each nail was a weapon. A massive chain wrapped around the slightly exposed arm, which stretched back into the shattered rift.


    Fear appeared on John''s face as he looked at the creature. Its power waspletely overwhelming, and he was having trouble just standing in its presence.


    "Gah!"


    John''s mind was suddenly assaulted by a strange energy emanating off the hand, threatening to drive him insane.


    "Hmph," the creature scoffed. It opened its mouth, and an incredibly powerful ball of Qi began to gather.


    An incredible attack exploded out of the creature''s mouth, piercing directly towards the hand.


    BOOM!


    An absolutely apocalyptic explosion radiated outwards as the attacknded on the hand, engulfing the void in the explosion.


    A pained, guttural growl once again escaped from the shattered hole in space, its powerpletely overwhelming. The creature suddenly looked backwards, and noticed John on the ground, grabbing his head.


    Not only was the aura of the handpletely overwhelming to John, each growl was so powerful that it nearly killed him.


    "You cannot stay here. I will handle this, but I''m afraid our time together hase to an end," the creature stated as he waved his hand towards John.


    John felt himself wrapped up in a spatial energy, and his body was quickly carried away. A massive hand suddenly pierced towards his escaping body, attempting to snuff his life out.


    "Hmph," the creature scoffed once more, as a saber suddenly appeared in his hands. He shed it out, and an incredible, world-shaking attack collided against the hand.


    Grahh!


    Another guttural growl echoed through the void as the hand was knocked back once more. John''s body slipped through unhindered, his vision suddenly going white.


    "John!"


    A surprised and excited cry suddenly filled John''s ears. He quickly looked around, suddenly noticing the overwhelming pain was no longer assaulting his mind. Two familiar faces appeared before him, and John quickly came to his senses as to where he was.


    "You''re alive. Does that mean you managed to pass the trial?" Miko asked John in an excited tone.


    John sat up from his pained position, and cleared his head as best he could.


    ''Just what the hell was that hand, and the creature that hand belonged to? It was unlike anything I have eve-'' John''s thoughts suddenly stopped as he recalled something incredibly familiar.


    ''That hand...although it wasn''t the exact same, it reminds me of the creature I saw in the illusion formation in the Elysian Lighting World.''


    When John had taken the trial to get Kirii, the final trial had been to stand firm in the face of sure death. It was an illusion trial, in which an absolutely massive creature asked John to be its ve, or die.


    The guardian spirit of Kirii said that Kirii had a "certain fate" with that creature, but it had just been an illusion. However, the hand John had just seen was no illusion. It waspletely real, andpletely terrifying.


    ''Just what the hell is that creature? And what secrets does this world hold? Does that creature have something to do with why our world has regressed from ancient times?''


    "Did you pass?" Adam''s voice suddenly entered John''s ears, snapping him out of his deep thoughts.


    "You must have, since you''re still alive. What happened inside the trial?" Adam asked with a curious expression.


    "John? You okay?" Miko suddenly called out, noticing that his mind was elsewhere.


    John finally snapped out of his daze. "I''m fine. I''m fine. As for the trial...I did manage to pass," John replied with a smile.


    The creature''s power was so overwhelming that he could do nothing about it right now, and so John decided to put the event in the back of his mind for now.


    Shock and surprise covered the faces of all the disciples in the area. Arge crowd had gathered before the fifth arch as soon as John had entered, waiting to see if he would pass or not.


    "How did you pass so quickly though? You''ve only been gone for a few hours," Adam asked curiously.


    "A few hours? I was inside there for weeks!" John exined. Between theprehension trial and the bridge trial, John had indeed spent weeks, perhaps months, inside the trial.


    "Weeks? How is such a thing possible?" Adam eximed.


    "I''m not sure. I guess time flows differently in the trial whenpared to here," John guessed. "Anyways, I''m alive, so clearly I passed the trail."


    "That''s true. So what trials did you have?" Miko asked with great curiosity.


    "What trials? Let''s see, first I had¡­"


    John exined his trials in great detail to Miko and Adam. He first went over theprehension trial, and how he had barely managed to pass it. Afterwards, he had crossed the bridge, barely pushing himself to the edge.


    When John exined the creature and the three attacks he had to take, both Miko and Adam took in a cold breath of air. However, he left out the parts with the mysterious man from within his pce realm.


    "How frightening. That creature sounds like a nightmare. What happened next?" Miko asked.


    John paused for a moment before exining the final trial. He depicted his fight with the youth, as well as the overwhelming sword arts he used.


    "Someone in the same realm as you gave you such a hard fight?" Miko asked in surprise before he started tough maniacally.


    "Hahaha, I guess we might be amazingpared to the Yuan Continent, but apparently there''s a muchrger and more powerful world out there. It makes me want to raise my strength even more!"


    John nodded his head in agreement. Based on everything he had seen in the trails, the world was much muchrger, and more powerful, than either of them knew. His desire to explore the world intensified, as well as his thirst for strength.


    "So what then?" Adam asked once more.


    John snapped out of his thoughts, and continued.


    "After I fought the youth, I was determined to have passed, and the trial ended. I was then sent out here," John exined. He didn''t detail the final parts that had happened.


    "That''s it? Did you not get a reward?" Adam asked.


    "Oh yeah, apparently there''s another trial further on that''s the true reward, but the creature exined that only those who pass the fourth and fifth arch can enter that trial," John exined.


    He kept the item he had received a secret, as he had no idea what it meant or was used for. Until he found that out, he didn''t want anyone to know of its existence.


    "What? That''s bullshit!" Adam eximed


    Although he had not taken his trial yet, he knew based on John and Miko''s descriptions that he would not be able to pass either trial.


    As if summoned by John''s voice, a loud boom suddenly echoed out in the distance. All the eyes of the youths turned to stare at it. The sound came from the ck monolith staircase in the distance. At the base, a new door had suddenly appeared, leading to a set of stairs continuing downwards.


    "That must be the entrance," John said. "Let''s go check it out."


    The three of them stood up and quickly walked over to the new door. Many of the disciples had already rushed towards it to enter the next area, but found that there was an energy restricting them from entering.


    "What the hell? Why can''t we enter?" A Supreme Battle Sect youth eximed.


    "Maybe we need to use force to get in?" another eximed as they used their full might to try to push forward. However, no matter what anyone did, they were unable to enter.


    John, Miko and Adam reached the entrance by this time, and stood there for a second to inspect it. Arge crowd had already gathered around it. After a momentary pause, John stepped forward, his body unobstructed by the energy.


    Miko quickly followed behind, finding himself also able to enter.


    "Hey, why can you only enter?" A Supreme Battle Sect youth eximed.


    Miko turned to look at the youth, his face full of displeasure at being talked to like that.


    "Go pass the fourth or fifth arch trial, and then you can follow us. Otherwise, shut your mouth."


    The youth immediately stopped talking, as Miko barked out at him. After his fight with the Sword Emperor, Miko, or the Soul Sage, had be even more elevated in his status. No one wanted to offend him.


    John turned to look at Adam, who was still stuck behind.


    "I''m afraid this is where we part for now. Go take one of the trials, either the second or the third. We''ll meet up again eventually."


    Adam frowned, but nodded his head as he watched John and Miko turn around. They descended the stairs, and soon disappeared from sight. The crowd watched them leave, before an uproar surged through the crowd.


    "We can follow them if we pass the fourth trial!"


    "Let''s go!"


    The crowd quickly rushed off to the arches once more, and a stream of enthusiastic but stupid youths entered the fourth arch. However, none were seen again. The others quickly noticed this, and their enthusiasm died down as rationality once again took over.


    From that point on, no more youths entered the fourth or fifth arch, which were now deemed the "death trials."


    While the youths were taking the trials, another person slipped into the new entrance, unnoticed by anyone.


    ¡­


    John and Miko continued to descend down the dark stairs for some time, and a unique aura continued to grow in power as they descended. They finally hit t ground, and arge expansive area came into view, although it was mostly obscured by darkness.


    "This must be it," Miko said as they looked out into the darkness.


    John raised his hand, and a bright ball of lightning suddenly danced on it, illuminating the room before them. Both their eyes suddenly widened in surprise, as they stared at the brutal scene before them.


    "What...happened here?"

 Chapter 261 - Skeletons

    The room before them was incrediblyrge, several miles long and wide, with a ceiling a hundred yards tall. However, almost none of the floor of this room was visible, and was instead almostpletely covered in skeletons. Countless skeletons, both intact and shattered littered the floor.


    "Just what happened here? There must be at least one hundred thousand corpses here?" Miko mumbled in a stunned tone.


    The skeletons ranged in size, from full grown adults to infants. Most of the bones were shattered, indicating that they had taken incredible damage while they were alive.


    "I''m not sure," John replied in an equally stunned tone. "But I''m guessing this is why we didn''t find any bodies or signs of life in the ancient city. They''re all here."


    It finally made sense to John, why a city as massive as the one they had walked through had no signs of life whatsoever. Not even a single corpse. John scanned the room before him, looking for clues as to what happened.


    In the very center of the room, there were two things of note. The first was a massive arch, almost identical to the one that John used to enter the pocket realm. It emanated the same ancient aura, but the top portion was shattered, rendering it broken.


    "I guess we know now why the age restriction formation went crazy," John mumbled.


    Behind the arch, there was a raised tform, several feet off the ground. Incredibly intricate formation runes lined the sides and the top of the tform, making it look quite impressive.


    "That''s a transportation formation, and an incrediblyrge one. Muchrger than I''ve ever seen before. This thing must be able to teleport someone tens of thousands of miles, or even more!" Miko eximed as his eyes fell on the formation.


    All the corpses seemed to be facing the formation,? as if they were attempting to flee through it. On the sides of the formation, there was a ring of armored skeletons. Each had their armor and bones shattered, but the power emanating off them indicated that they had incredible power while alive.


    Finally, on top of the formation tform, two skeletons stood tall. The first was the skeleton of a man d in incredible ck and gold armor. His dead corpse still emanated an incredible power, and he held a sword in his hand that was pierced forward.


    The sword was pierced into the skeleton of another who stood before him. Unlike the man, this skeleton was clearly not human. The skeleton had four arms, and stood quite a bit taller than the man. There were two sharp horns on the head of the creature. One of its arms was outstretched, and had pierced directly through the armor of the man before him and out the back.


    Clearly, their battle had ended in mutual destruction.


    "They were all attempting to flee," a soft voice suddenly sounded out behind John and Miko. Both jumped in fright, as they had not detected anyone else in the area, and they quickly turned around to the source of the voice.


    John''s eyes went slightly wide as he recognized who it was. Her face was hooded and veiled, but thevender hair that fell out of the hood gave her identity away.


    "You! What are you doing here?" John asked with his guard raised.


    The girl before himughed slightly, as if she was amused by John''s guarded reaction. "I passed the trials, the same as you and your friend, and ventured down here afterwards," the girl replied.


    Miko also stared warily at the girl. His instincts were incredibly sharp, and despite that, he had not been able to detect the girl until she had spoken. Clearly, her power was far above his and Johns.


    The girlughed once again, amused by the reactions of the two before her. It was much different than she was used to, and was quite refreshing to be treated in such a way.


    "Rx, I''m not here to fight you. I''m just here to explore thesends the same as you," the girl replied with a gentle voice.


    "Is that so?" John replied with a suspicious voice. However, he took no moves against her, as he was not confident in being able to fight against her.


    "As I was saying, all these corpses were trying to flee through the transportation formation. However, it seems as if the battle between the two who stand on top of the formation was too much for the others to bear, and they all perished," the girl borated.


    John looked back towards the carnage before him, and nodded his head in agreement. It truly did appear as if such a thing happened.


    "We''ll, the final reward was supposed to be the arch before us, allowing us to enter anothernd, but that''s no longer possible," John grumbled out loud.


    His eyes locked onto the two participants on the tform, as well as the other powerful corpses lined around it. They all held incredible weapons and armor, which were quite valuable. Each emanated a power greater than the ancient sword he had obtained, indicating how powerful they were.


    John looked towards a nearby corpse, and spotted a spatial ring still on its finger. He took a step forward and picked it up, and sent his divine sense into the ring. A frown appeared on his face.


    "The spatial dimension within this ring has already copsed, destroying everything within. Just how long have these corpses been here for?" John mused out loud.


    "Most likely several hundred thousand years," the girl replied.


    John turned to look at her, as it seemed as if she had some information regarding what happened here.


    "How do you know that?" John asked curiously.


    The girl looked back over therge room, inspecting it for a brief moment more before looking back at John. Her crystal blue eyes locked onto his, causing his breath to catch for a moment before he snapped out of it. He frowned once more, displeased at himself.


    ''It''s the same damn thing asst time. This witch is far too dangerous.''


    The girl''s eyes brightened slightly. Although John could not see her mouth due to her veil, he could tell that she was smiling, either at him or for some other reason.


    "I can''t be one hundred percent sure, but I''m guessing this event is rted to the cmity that nearly destroyed this world in the past," the girl borated.


    "The cmity?" John and Miko asked in unison. "Is the cmity rted to why this world has regressed in power so much?" John asked further.


    "While the world did regress quite a bit in the past, it''s not so weak anymore. However, in regards to the cmity, I unfortunately don''t know much about it, only that it happened."


    "Is that so?" John mumbled in response.


    He began to walk forward cautiously, and sent his divine sense out to inspect for any danger. Miko and the girl followed behind him, as the three of them ventured towards the tform in the far distance.


    The sounds of ancient bones breaking beneath their feet continuously rang out. The mysterious energy surrounding the temple still restricted their flight, making it so that they could not fly to the tform.


    The three slowly but surely approached the tform. They passed by the massive ancient arch, and John momentarily inspected it before continuing on. When they were a dozen yards away from the tform, the three of them stopped once more.


    A power energy, emanating off the long dead corpses on top of the pedestal, radiated outwards.


    "Even after all this time, their corpses still contain this much power! I wonder how strong they were while they were alive," Miko couldn''t help but exim in astonishment. Just standing before the corpses was a burden for him and John.


    John nodded his head in agreement, equally impressed by the power they were still emitting. Every step they took increased the pressure on them further, causing them to raise their own power to resist it.


    John stood before one of the armored cultivators that circled the base of the tform.? He inspected it briefly, but his eyes suddenly darted upwards towards the tform above him.


    His eyes widened greatly as he saw the skull of the bizarre four armed creature staring right at him. A deep chill crept up his spine, as the creature had been looking at the man in front of it before.


    John instinctively took a step backwards, which caused Miko and the girl to look at him with curiosity. They trailed his eyes, and looked up towards the tform once more.


    The creature''s skeleton now fully faced John, its eyeless skull staring straight at him.


    Boom!


    A loud echo rang out as the skeleton took a step towards John, sending a chill up the spines of all three youths.


    The skeleton of the bizarre creature, which had been dead for countless millennia, had somehowe back to life. Its power pressed down on John, as it suddenly lunged forward towards him.

 Chapter 262 - Dao Of Life

    "What the hell?" Miko screamed out in surprise. Neither him nor the mysterious girl had expected to see this skeleton, which had been dead for countless years, suddenly start moving again.


    The creature reached John in an instant, and one of its hands pierced out towards him, intending on taking his life.


    Thundersh Steps!


    John instantly activated his movement technique to dodge the attack. He no longer had any body Qi, and so was unable to use the Supreme Battle Art or Immortal Asura Transformation Art. Without his strongest trump card, John only focused on dodging instead of taking the attack head on.


    The skeleton sped right to John, who managed to dodge the attack at thest moment. The skeleton''s hand collided with the floor where John had been standing.


    Boom!


    The floor shattered as its hand pierced into the ground, signifying the power of the attack. John and Miko both slightly nched at the power of the attack. Just this casual attack from the skeleton was equivalent to a Meridian Forging attack.


    While John was able to withstand such attacks before, he was unable to do so due to his weakened state. After dodging the attack, John turned towards the exit in an attempt to leave this ce. This skeleton was not something he could fight at the moment.


    Both Miko and the girl turned to flee as well, and all three quickly rushed towards the staircase.


    Boom!


    A w attacknded right next to John once more as the creature caught up. Due to his sharp instincts, John was barely able to dodge at thest second. However, the force of the attack caused his body to fly sideways, away from the exit.


    Bang!


    John collided against one of the far walls of the room, falling down onto the pile of skeletons below.


    "John!"


    Miko called out in worry. He suddenly turned around, as his ancient sword appeared in his hand. He shed it out with all his might, as the attack contained an incredibly dense soul attack.


    The attacknded on the back of the skeleton, whopletely ignored it.


    "What?" Miko eximed in surprise. He had expected the attack to do something at the very least.


    "The skeleton has no soul," the mysterious girl quickly exined as she too turned around. "This skeleton is long dead, but its lingering will, which was incredibly strong in life, still remains. That alone is causing it to move."


    "What? Is such a thing possible?" Miko asked in surprise.


    He had never heard of will alone being so strong that it lingered even in death. However, the truth wasid before him.


    The skeleton once again sped directly towards John, who was getting up from his previous attack. John''s eyes locked on the approaching creature, and his face turned grim.


    ''I guess I''ll have to fight my way out of here.''


    Heavenly Lighting Domain!


    Thirty six lightning nodes appeared in the air around John, while a battle axe appeared in his hands. Without his body Qi to augment his power, John''s attacks would be quite weaker. However, the three profound Dao''s he had learned would still allow his attacks to contain some power.


    His essence Qi was full and unhindered, and so John decided to focus on that.


    Lightning Ruin!


    John pointed his finger out towards the creature, and sent out his strongest Lightning Ruin. At the same time, lightning nodes in the air above John constantly lit up, sending continuous strikes of lightning down onto the approaching skeleton.


    The lightning mmed onto the skeleton, and its movements were slightly slowed as it approached John. However, no damage was done to it, and it reached John quickly. Its hands once again pierced out towards John.


    Boom!


    John narrowly managed to dodge once more, using his Thundersh Steps to their full power. He sped towards the exit once more, as his attacks werepletely useless against the skeleton.


    Peng!


    Miko''s strongest Qi attacknded on the creature, but the creaturepletely ignored it once more.


    "Shit. I specialize in soul attacks. I''mpletely useless against this thing," Miko cursed.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Therge room continuously shook as lightning continued to rain down on the creature, while the creature continued to attack John. His body appeared like a blur as he dodged non-stop, but each attack was getting closer and closer to hitting him.


    His axe would asionally cleave outwards, shing onto the skeleton''s bones. However, it didn''t even chip it.


    Both Miko and the mysterious girl had sent out attacks to thwart the creatures assault, but none of them had been able to do it any harm. Despite being dead for countless eons, the creature''s bones were as hard as Heavenly Tribtion grade weapons, and were unable to be harmed at all.


    Miko paused for a moment as he stared at the girl in surprise. She was just slightly older than him, but unleashed essence attacks that were even stronger than his own. His curiosity as to the identity of the girl spiked, but he put such thoughts aside as he once again focused on helping John.


    For some reason, no matter what happened, the skeleton only focused on John. Even when both Miko and the girlnded their attacks on the skeleton, it would ignore them.


    "Why is it only attacking John?" Miko cried out in anger.


    John was under a constant barrage of attacks, all which contained the power to kill him. While he had managed to dodge them all so far, the skeleton was getting closer and closer with each attack. It also prevented him from leaving the room, as if it knew to do so.


    "I''m not sure," the girl replied, equally confused. Lingering wills would normally attack those around it equally, unless there was something instinctual that drove it to a particr person.


    Boom!


    A fist exploded against the ground right next to John, sending him flying once more. His body sailed through the air for hundreds of yards before mming into one of the walls. HIs bones rattled from the force of the impact, and John coughed up some blood, clearly having taken damage from that blow.


    He hastily stood up, his legs slightly unsteady as he recovered from the attack. His head snapped up as Miko called out to him.


    "John, watch out!"


    Boom!


    Another fist mmed down, as John barely managed to once again dodge in time. However, he was even closer to the impact this time, as the shattering blow sent earth and skeleton fragments mming into him.


    "Gah!"


    John cried out in slight pain as his body once again shot off into the distance. His body mmed into the opposite wall of the room, over a mile away. He rebounded to the ground below, andnded in a pile of skeletons. Blood trickled out his mouth, and covered much of his body due to the fragments colliding into him.


    ''Fuck. If only I had my spatial talisman,'' John cursed internally as he looked up at the approaching creature once more.


    ''What do I do?''


    He needed to do something before it was toote. His eyes slightly lit up as he thought of a crazy idea.


    ''I don''t know if this creature can leave this area, but I need to escape first to have a chance at living. When it attacks me next, I''ll allow the blow tounch me like before, but towards the exit. If I mistime the dodge even slightly, I''m as good as dead, but I need to take the gamble.''


    John steeled his mind and prepared to execute his crazy n. His legs were unsteady as he stood up and faced the approaching skeleton.


    The mysterious girl watched the skeleton approach John, slight worry, as well as hesitation and confliction, evident in her eyes.


    After a momentary pause, the girl''s conflicted expression turned into one of resolve, as she made up her mind.


    "John!" Miko cried out in worry. He sent another essence attack out, but was dismayed to find that it did nothing. He knew John had taken significant damage by now, and was sure he was going to get hit directly by an attack soon as well.


    He too wracked his brain for ideas on how to help, but was unable toe up with anything that would work in short notice. His head suddenly snapped to the side, as he felt an incredible power well up next to him.


    "What?" Miko couldn''t help but exim in surprise as he quickly spotted the source of the power. His eyes went wide, as he noticed it stemming from the mysterious girl.


    Her hood was now removed from her head, revealing her still veiled face. An incredibly mysterious and powerful rune began to glow on her forehead, as her power suddenly spiked. Her aura washed outwards with incredible power.


    "How is this possible?" Miko mumbled as he watched the girl''s cultivation climb. It was shrouded to him before, but now he was able to see it clearly, as if she had unshackled it.


    "Middle Meridian Forging! How!"


    Not only that, but an incredibly unique and mysterious power dwelled within her aura, shocking Miko further.


    Her closed eyes snapped open, and quickly locked onto the skeleton that was almost upon John. Her hand pointed out towards the creature.


    "Stop!"


    The skeleton, as if mired in time, came to a sudden halt. Surprise and confusion appeared on John''s face, as he looked over to the girl in the distance. Her aura once again exploded, emanating a strong life energy. It was as if John could see blooming flowers and towering trees within her aura.


    ''The Dao of Life!''


    That life energy mmed down on the skeleton who was still frozen. John''s surprise turned to shock as he noticed that slowly but surely, the remnant will of the skeleton was washed away by the life energy.


    The girl''s face scrunched up in exertion, as she utilized her full power to repress the creature. The two sides struggled against each other, locked in a stalemate.


    Bang!


    After quite some time of struggle, the skeleton copsed to the ground below, its remnant will was finally erased from the world.

 Chapter 263 - Divine Martial Continent

    John stared at the now motionless skeleton before him in shock. He had just been prepared to gamble with his life to get out of this predicament, but the skeleton had suddenly stopped, and then after a brief struggle, copsed, no longer moving.


    The remnant will, which John had felt locked onto him the entire time, was no more. John once again looked up towards the mysterious girl in the distance, still shocked at the power she had disyed.


    He had struggled against this skeleton without a hope of fighting back, but the girl had managed to defeat it.


    ''Middle Meridian Forging!''


    John''s expression changed once again as he finally noticed her now revealed cultivation. He had expected her to be stronger than him based on their first encounter, but not to this level. Not only that, but the profundity of the power that emanated off her was incredible, and was far greater than anything he had seen the youths of the Four Great Sects emanate.


    The girl''s aura suddenly and quickly began to regress, and before long she returned to her previous state. Her cultivation was once again obscured, and the profound power she had emitted before hidden.


    Both Miko and John stared at her as if she was a monster for a moment. John looked down to the skeleton before him, and pointed his finger at it.


    Lightning Ruin!


    Boom!


    A beam of lightning exploded on the skeleton, but the skeleton still remained motionless.


    "I guess it truly is finally dead," John mused as he stared at the skeleton. His gaze once again returned to the girl in the distance, who stood there silently.


    John waved his hand, and collected the skeleton into his spatial ring. He didn''t know if he would find any uses for it, but it was better to have it in case it turned out to be valuable.


    After collecting the skeleton, John began to walk over to the girl. He arrived before her, and stood there in silence as he inspected her closely. Silence descended over the two of them for some time before John finally spoke up.


    "How did you kill that skeleton?" John asked.


    "I didn''t kill it," the girl responded, her face still veiled. "The creature was controlled by its remnant will, which was rife with Death Qi. I simply used my Life Qi to erase that remnant Death Qi."


    John had expected as much after he had felt her aura, but wanted to be sure. He once again inspected the girl closely.


    "Who exactly are you?"


    The girl looked at John, her blue eyes staring intently at him. "Are you alright?"


    John was slightly surprised by her question, but replied anyway. "I''m fine. Once again, who are you? There''s no way you belong to any of the Four Great Sects, and the other powers of the Yuan Continent are even less impressive. Are you from a reclusive power hidden from the continent, or from somewhere else?" John asked.


    While John didn''t know of anynds beyond the Yuan Continent yet, he did not dismiss the possibility. When he lived in his homnds, he had never heard of the Holy Lands. He was sure there were othernds within the vast world.


    The girl paused for a moment, her lips parting and closing several times as if she was thinking of what to say. She replied after a moment of silence.


    "You are correct. I am not from this continent. As for where I am from, with your talent, you would find out about it soon enough anyways, but I am from the Divine Martial Continent," the girl replied.


    John''s face remained mostly emotionless, as he had expected such an answer. However, a tinge of displeasure appeared in his eyes.


    "Divine? No matter how powerful the continent is, I highly doubt they qualify to call themselves Divine," John replied.


    The girlughed lightly, finding John''s response amusing. "If you''re basing your standards off the Divine Talent Trial, then I agree."


    John''s eyes slightly widened at the girl''s response. Based on her words, she could also read the ancientnguage, and knew John could as well. John''s eyes narrowed once more, treating the girl with even more caution.


    "So, where is this Divine Martial Continent?" Miko suddenly asked, not able to contain his curiosity.


    "Quite far from here I''m afraid, although I''m sure both of you will be stepping foot on it before long," the girl replied.


    "Oh? Why is that?" Miko replied with an excited tone. He loved finding out new information about the world.


    "That''s because the Divine Martial Continent is the pinnaclend of this world, where the strongest powers dwell. With your talents, I''m sure you''ll find your way there soon," the girl replied with a soft voice and a small smile.


    "Why did you help me?" John suddenly asked, changing the subject. He didn''t care much about the Divine Martial Continent right now, as it did not currently affect him. "You could have just left, as the creature was focusing on me alone. Why help?"


    The girl remained silent for a moment, once again taking the time to choose her words carefully. Her lips finally parted, ready to reply.


    Boom!


    An incredible energy suddenly descended on therge room, as a loud bang echoed out. John and Miko instantly turned around, their wary eyes scanning the room for the source of the noise and energy.


    "Is it another skeleton?" Miko cried out.


    "I don''t know. I don''t see anything out there," John replied.


    Boom!


    Another loud boom echoed out, both of which John and Miko hearding from the middle of the room. However, neither of them could see anything. The girl behind them stared at the center of the room, her face filled with anxiousness.


    "It''s not another skeleton," the girl replied from behind them, causing John and Miko to turn around to look at her.


    "Then what is it?" John asked, as the girl seemed to know what it was.


    Boom!


    Another boom, even louder than before echoed out, followed by a tearing and shattering sound. John turned his head once more, just in time to see the space before him tear and shatter.


    ''This is just like when therge blood-red hand shattered through space!''


    A gaping hole in space was created. John and Miko stared at the maw with heightened caution, ready to flee at a moment''s notice. John could see into the hole in space, which revealed a small portion of the location at the other side.


    Massive mountains, d in mist, thick vegetation, and heavenly rainbows stretched high into the sky. Waterfalls mmed down on the earth from high above, andrgendmasses, holding exquisite looking buildings, floated in the sky. It looked like an immortal paradise.


    "Found you!" A powerful voice suddenly echoed from within the hole in space. "This uniquend you''re in did obscure you from me for quite some time, and took an incredible amount of energy to break into, but you can hide no longer," the voice continued.


    "I wasn''t hiding. I was exploring thesends for opportunities," the girl suddenly replied, causing both John and Miko to turn around and look at her. The incredible source of power that had shattered a hole in spacetime hade for her!


    Her voice trembled slightly.


    "Nheless, your little escapade is over. You''re returning, now!"


    "Can''t I just explore thesends a little while longer?" the girl asked in a pleading voice.


    "No!"


    An incredibly powerful energy suddenly pressed down onto her body, locking her in ce. Both John and Miko felt the remnants of this energy, and werepletely shocked by its power. Despite them not being the target of it, they were nearly overwhelmed just by being in its presence.


    "Oh, and who are these two?" the voice suddenly asked, as it finally had noticed John and Miko.


    Slight panic appeared on the girl''s face, and she quickly responded. "They''re nobodies. I was using them as my assistants in thesends."


    "Is that so," the voice replied in a bored tone, as if it had quickly lost interest in both John and Miko.


    The energy locking down on the girl suddenly turned into a suction force, and the girl was quickly propelled through the air towards the hole in space. Her power was insignificant before this energy, and she was not able to resist in the slightest.


    She quickly flew into the hole, and her eyes locked with John''s one final time, unwillingness, as well as well as a mix of many other emotions were clear in her eyes, before she disappeared in the hole.


    The energy keeping the shattered hole in space disappeared, and space quickly copsed back in on itself, repairing the damage and quickly returning to normal.


    John and Miko stood there silently for quite some time, staring at the empty room with stunned expressions. The situation had beenpletely unexpected, andpletely out of their realm of understanding. After some time, Miko''s chimed up.


    "What...the fuck...just happened?"

 Chapter 264 - Returning To The Sect

    Miko''s words echoed throughout the now empty room as they both stood there in silence. First John had been assaulted by a long dead creature, controlled only by its lingering will, and then a hole was torn in space and the mysterious girl taken through it.


    Both events werepletely unexpected, and showed just how little both of them knew of the cultivation world.


    "Well, whatever just happened, it no longer concerns us," John replied as he began to look around the room once more.


    His gaze rested on the lone skeleton standing on the tform, its sword still? outstretched in the same position as when it had been pierced into the four armed creature.


    Other than the sword the man held, John did not see anything else of particr value within the room. The armor worn by the other long dead cultivators had deteriorated with time, and were no longer valuable. Only the sword emanated any aura worth noting.


    However, after his experience with the four armed creature, John no longer treated this room lightly. He was not sure if the remaining skeleton had a remnant will controlling it, but it seemed as if its purpose while it had been alive was to defend the transportation formation and prevent the creature from entering.


    ''If a remnant will still remains for that corpse, I''m sure it would defend the formation, as that was itsst purpose in life. I''d rather not risk it, as my power is greatly diminished due to having no more blood essence reserves or body Qi.''


    John''s gaze continued to sweep over the room for some time before a deep sigh escaped his lips.


    "This arch was the final reward of this temple, taking us to the pocket realm we already entered a year ago. With the arch broken, there are no more opportunities that await us within this temple," John said to Miko.


    A disappointed look appeared on Miko''s face, but he nodded his head in agreement. "That makes sense. What should we do next then?" Miko asked John.


    John remained silent for a moment while he thought of what to do next. Based on the information the temple creature had given him, this temple was a trial for ancient youths, and was the main purpose of the city. With him having explored the temple fully, there was no more to be found opportunity wise.


    Not only that, but the ancient city was barren of any opportunities, as they had all been swept clean in the past.


    "I think our journey into thesends has concluded," John replied to Miko. "Thesends will be a great opportunity for the youths of this continent in the future, especially these temple trials, but other than that, I don''t see any other purpose. I guess it''s best we return to our sects."


    While John was hesitant to pass up on potential opportunities that still awaited him in thesends, it was still not worth the time it would take. There were certainly opportunities to be found outside the city, like the spirit crystal mine, or the broken formation disk he had found in theke.


    However, those opportunities were not guaranteed to be found, and would not necessarily be better than what he could obtain in the Heavenly Lighting Sect. With his newfound ascension in power, John was now the strongest first year in the sect, even trumping the strength of the direct disciples.


    He was sure that he would obtain great benefits once he returned, not only as the number one first year disciple, but also with the informaiton he had about thends he had just explored.


    "I suppose that makes sense," Miko replied with a slightly sullen tone. Returning to their own sects meant him and John parting once more.


    John noticed the change in Miko''s demeanor, and patted him on the back.


    "Don''t worry, we''ll definitely meet up again soon. If what that girl said is correct, I''m sure both of us have an adventureing up soon in our lives," John replied.


    Miko''s sullen expression instantly brightened, as John reminded him of the Divine Martial Continent.


    "You''re right. We still have to go to that ce and show those ''Divine Youths'' that they''re not much at all," Miko replied with a confident expression on his face.


    Johnughed slightly and patted Miko on the back once more. "That''s more like it. Now let''s head out of here."


    The two turned around and ascended the staircase they hade down on. John turned around at thest moment, his gaze lingering on the lone skeleton on the formation tform, as well as the formation itself, before he continued forward once again.


    "They''reing out already! They''re also alive!" an excited voice suddenly chimed up from the top of the stairwell as one of them noticed John and Miko''s arrival.


    "What? Seriously?" another youth eximed. Heated discussions amongst the youths instantly broke out.


    The youths had been standing at the top of the staircase, where the strange formation restricted their movement. After John and Miko had entered, they had heard incredibly loud explosionsing from below, so powerful that the temple itself shook.


    Not only that, but they had felt an incredible energy well up for a short while before disappearing. None of them knew what it meant, but many surmised that John and Miko had run into trouble, and may have perished.


    However, their appearance squashed that theory. John and Miko stepped out of the staircase, and all eyes were locked onto them.


    "Soul Sage, what happened down there?" A Divine Soul Sect youth asked with respect.


    Miko looked towards the youth, and replied nonchntly. "We were attacked by a strange creature but managed to survive. However, there were no opportunities down there, so we returned."


    There wasn''t anything to keep a secret, and so Miko exined the events that had unfolded. Disappointment appeared on the youths'' faces as they heard there were no opportunities down there, but they felt relief at the same time.


    They were unable to go down there, and so the did not feel like they had missed out much.


    John scanned the area looking for Adam, but did not find him.


    ''He must still be taking his arch trial.''


    John walked over to the arches in the distance, with Miko following closely. All eyes remained on them as they walked away.


    "We''ll wait here," John stated as he sat down in front of the arches. Miko sat down beside him, and they continued to discuss their lives over the past year.


    An hourter¡­


    sh!


    A sh of light on the second trial appeared, revealing Adam. John shook his head in expected disappointment, as Adam had taken the second trial and not the third. However, passing the second trial wasn''t bad, and so John was not too upset.


    "Hahahahaha," Adam began tough wildly to himself. "Such a measly trial truly couldn''t hold back a talented genius like me!"


    Adam continued tough, until his gaze finally noticed John and Miko. Hisughter instantly turned into silence as he noticed John''s gaze, before he walked over to the two of them.


    "You''re back already? What happened?" Adam asked.


    "I''ll exin it to youter, but I think it''s time we return to the Heavenly Lightning Sect," John replied.


    "We''re returning already?" Adam asked in confusion.


    "Yes. Do you still have your spatial talisman?" John asked.


    "Yep."


    John turned to Miko, his expression turning soft. "Well Miko, this is where we part ways for now. I''m sure we''ll meet again shortly."


    Miko''s expression turned sour, but he didn''t argue against it. He nodded his head before replying with a smile on his face. "And next time we meet, I''ll be sure to be much stronger than you. You caught up to me already, so it seems as if I''ve been toozytely."


    "That''s more like it," John replied as he gave Miko onest pat on the back.


    He turned to Adam and grabbed his arm. "Take us back to the Heavenly Lightning Sect."


    Adam nodded his head, and took out his spatial talisman. As long as one was in contact with the one using the talisman, they would be transported as well. Adam crushed the talisman, and all eyes watched the most shocking person of all Four Great Sects finally disappear.


    ''After months inside thisnd, I''m finally returning to the sect!''


    Spatial energy wrapped around John as he felt his body transported through space. His mind was feeling mixed emotions, thinking about everything that had happened within thends, from Russell''s death, the Bloodfiend Sect, the mysterious girl and the Divine Trials, but he steeled his mind as he knew there would be work to be done soon. He still had loose ends to wrap up.


    sh!


    John''s and Adam''s scenery suddenly changed, revealing them to be back in the courtyard of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. They took a moment to get their bearings, shaking off the lingering affects of the spatial talisman.


    "Its him. He''s finally returned!" A voice entered John''s ears, causing them to perk up.


    "I guess we''ll finally get to the bottom of this, and see what really happened," another voice eximed.


    Word quickly spread, and a crowd soon gathered in the courtyard.


    John frowned, as he quickly put two and two together. Confirming his suspicions, a powerful voice suddenly echoed throughout the courtyard, and John felt a powerful aura press down on him.


    A man suddenly appeared before him, who appeared on the older side. He had a full grey beard and a wrinkled face. However, his aura emanated the power of the Heaven Tribtion Realm. His eyes locked onto Johns.


    "You better give me a good exnation for your crimes, or don''t me me for being merciless."

 Chapter 265 - Overbearing Elder

    John stared at the man before him, who emanated a Heaven Tribtion Realm cultivation, his face remaining rxed, as he had expected such a thing to happen.


    "Who are you?" John asked in a confused tone. "Am I supposed to know you?"


    While he had already put two and two together, he wanted to take this man before him down a notch. Pride was the thing most cultivators valued the most, and John would not give him a sense of pride at his status as an Elder.


    The Elder was slightly taken aback by John''sment. He had expected him to be scared beneath the powerful aura he was emitting, and had expected to reduce John to a blubbering mess. However, John stood therepletely rxed, contrary to his expectations.


    Meanwhile, those who had gathered in the crowd snickered slightly at John''sment, finding his attitude quite amusing. There weren''t many who would have such a nonchnt attitude towards an Elder, especially when they were in a grave situation.


    The Elder paused for a moment, before replying once more.


    "You know exactly who I am, boy. Do not y games with me!"


    His Heaven Tribtion Aura pressed down on John with even more power, making it slightly difficult for John to stand there undisturbed. However, John''s face remainedpletely calm in the face of this pressure.


    "I''ve faced countless aura''s far beyond the power of yours. Do not try to scare me with something so¡­.weak. It''s quite embarrassing," John scoffed, his face unamused.


    Surprise covered the faces of many in the crowd once again, while othersughed lightly, unable to contain themselves.


    The Elders face turned red from slight embarrassment, as well as growing anger. He was used to being treated as an incredibly lofty figure. It had been hundreds of years since someone had talked to him like this.


    "Do you want me to kill you right where you stand, boy?" the Elder exploded in a rage.


    He had expected to show up and reduce John to a mess, making him beg for forgiveness. However, things had not gone ording to n, and he had beenpletely embarrassed by John''s nonchntments and attitude.


    A voice from a sound transmission suddenly appeared in John''s mind, causing his expression to change slightly. A small smile crept up on his face.


    "Do it," John replied quickly, his face still calm.


    "What?" the Elder''s face filled with surprise, as he had not been expecting such an answer from John.


    "Come on, kill me. Although, I doubt the fate of an Elder who kills the disciples of his own sect without any damning proof of their crimes will live much longer afterwards," John continued.


    He knew this Elder was looking to make things difficult on him, and get him to confess to targeting Hunter. Only then would he be able to do anything to John, especially given John''s elevated status in the sect.


    If the Elder killed him without any proof, his own fate would be sealed as well. John knew this, and decided to use this knowledge as a weapon.


    The crowd was stunned by John''splete disregard towards the powerful Elder before him. However, at the same time, they were quite impressed. They had heard rumors of John targeting Hunter, and also wanted to know what truly had happened.


    Hunter was a direct disciple, and so he had an incredibly lofty status. Not only that, but Hunter was incredibly powerful for his age, and so the rumors were believed to be false.


    The Elder stood there in silence, unable to respond to John. What John was saying was correct, and without proof of any crimes, he could take no actions. He only had the word of his disciple as ''proof''.


    By this time, several other Elders had shown up in the crowd, and were watching from the sidelines, increasing the pressure on the Elder even more.


    "So, what do I have to give you an ''exnation'' for?" John asked calmly.


    "You know exactly what I''m talking about!" the Elder replied with a raised voice.


    "I''m not sure I do. You''ll have to borate for me," John replied as he crossed his arms, assuming apletely rxed posture.


    "Don''t y games with me boy! Admit your crimes, now," the Elder rebuked, as he once again increased the pressure on John.


    John frowned as he felt the pressure increase to a great degree. He was beginning to struggle under the pressure, but was still able to resist it with some effort.


    John suddenly turned around and began to walk away,pletely ignoring the Elder. His actions shocked both the Elder and the crowd once more, as he was giving the Elder no respect.


    The Elder was also surprised that John was able to even stand up in his pressure, let alone walk away. He had used an amount of his aura that should overwhelm an Early Core Formation youth, but John acted as if it didn''t exist.


    "Stop this instant," the Elder raged out once more,pletely irate at John''sck of respect. However, John continued to walk away,pletely ignoring him.


    John narrowed his eyes as he stopped in his tracks. The Elder had suddenly appeared before him, blocking his path.


    "Admit that you targeted my disciple, and attempted to kill him!"


    "Ohhhh, that!" John''s eyes lit up as if he suddenly remembered something. The Elder raged-filled face suddenly changed to a small smile, as he figured he had finally convinced John to confess.


    "Sorry, don''t know anything about that," John suddenly replied, causing the Elder and the crowd to have stupefied expressions on their faces.


    The Elder''s face quickly turned back into one of anger, as he yelled out to John once more.


    "Admit your crimes boy. We have all the proof we need! You attacked my disciple a month ago!"


    John suddenly began tough, as if he had heard the funniest thing in the world. "If you have the proof, then why are you trying to get me to admit to anything?" John replied with a sarcastic tone, as if the Elder was an idiot.


    "Also, if what you are saying is correct, then I, a Late Qi Condensation youth at the time, bested your Early Core Formation Disciple and forced him to flee. If that''s truly what happened, then you should just kill yourself right now for being such a useless master to a useless disciple,'''' John continued, his tone slightly tinged with disgust.


    "I-..." the Elder''s voice caught in his throat, as he had not been expecting such a reply from John. While everyone knew John could jump realms, that was only one minor realm. Jumping between Major realms waspletely different, and no one would believe such a thing.


    John''s heroics within the ancient city had yet to be revealed to the sect, as he was one of the first to leave thends from the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Those who had seen his battle prowess were still within thosends, searching for more opportunities.


    John began to walk away once more, ignoring the Elder.


    "Oh, and onest thing," John suddenly replied to the Elder while looking over his shoulder. "Everything you said is true. However, it was your disciple that targeted me originally, wanting to kill me. However, he was so useless and weak, that I unexpectedly ended up beating him ck and blue, and would have killed him were it not for that spatial talisman of his," John said in a calm voice.


    His words stunned the crowd into silence. He had actually admitted to such a thing.


    A smug smile quickly appeared on the Elder''s face, as he had finally gotten John to admit to his crimes of attempting to kill a fellow disciple. He raised his hand and pointed it at John, as power began to build up on it.


    "So you admit your crimes. In that case, die!"


    Bang!


    An incredibly powerful beam of lighting pierced towards John, reaching him in an instant. The lightning contained a tinge of the heavens themselves in it, making it even more potent and powerful. There was no way John could survive such an attack.


    Boom!


    The lightning exploded where John stood, creating arge explosion that kicked up dirt and dust. The crowd grimaced at the sight, not expecting such a turn of events.


    "What just happened? Why did he suddenly admit to it?" A youth in the crowd couldn''t help but ask.


    "I''m not sure, but he''s dead now. Such a shame that our sect lost such a promising youth," another replied.


    The Elders in the crowd watched the scene unfold with calm expressions however, as if nothing had happened.


    The Elder who had attacked John suddenly had a look of surprise on his face, before it turned into a cold re.


    "You dare interfere in my business?" the Elder spoke up with a cold voice. "Its best if you don''t interfere with something you''re not involved in!"


    "Interfere? John is my direct disciple. How could I not be involved?" A voice within the explosion suddenly echoed out, stunning the crowd. The fading dust revealed two figures standing there, John in the back and the neer in the front.


    The neer turned to John and inspected him, as an approving smile appeared on his face. "I see you''ve grown quite nicely over the past few months."


    John smiled at the person before him. "That I have. It seems like you''ve improved as well. You''ve finally reached the Heaven Tribtion Realm, Elder Ragur!"

 Chapter 266 - Request

    John had received a sound transmission from Elder Ragur when he had first arrived, telling him to do what he wanted, and that he would protect him.


    Sound transmissions were directmunications of the mind, and it became possible to transmit sound transmissions once one ascended to the Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    "Thanks to your help, I was able to reach this realm quite quickly," Elder Ragur replied with a smile on his face.


    John inspected the Elder closely, observing his power increase. While he was not actively emitting his aura, John could tell that Elder Ragur had leaped forward a great deal in power. Faint fluctuations of the heavens itself lingered around the Elder, making him even more profound.


    "You just ascended to the Heaven Tribtion Realm. There''s no way he''s be your direct disciple already," the Elder watching John and Elder Ragur scoffed.


    He wanted John''s life, here and now.


    "How could you possibly know about our business, Elder Wren. Besides, words are useless. If you want John, you''ll have to deal with me first," Elder Ragur replied.


    "Deal with you?" Elder Wren scoffed. "You just ascended, while I have been in this realm for hundreds of years. I would crush you in an instant," Elder Wren replied.


    "Oh? Then try me," Elder Ragur rebuked.


    Elder Wren narrowed his eyes as he stared at Elder Ragur. While it was true that he had been in the Heaven Tribtion Realm for much longer, they were both in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    Not only that, but Elder Wren was a formation''s expert, who toiled away on nonbat rted things. Elder Ragur however, was an Elder of the Enforcement Hall, and specialized inbat first and foremost.


    While the Elder''s were arguing, John felt the gaze of someone familiar fall on him. He turned his head to the direction he was feeling the gazee from, and his eyes quickly lit up as he spotted who it was.


    Heughed loudly before yelling out loud for the entire crowd to hear.


    "Haha, Hunter, why are you hiding in the crowd like that? Come out here and let''s finish what we started, or should I say, what you started but could not finish."


    All eyes turned to where John was looking, and quickly spotted Hunter doing his best to mingle with the crowd. However, as a Direct Disciple, almost everyone knew what he looked like, and they soon picked him out of the crowd.


    Hunter felt the gaze of everyone fall on him, and could tell that those eyes were full of judging and ridicule. John had imed to have beaten him despite being a major realm lower in cultivation, and despite being in the crowd, Hunter had not rebuked this.


    If it was not true, everyone knew that Hunter would have stepped forward and disparaged the im, but he had not done so. The eyes of all in the crowd lit up as they thought of the possibility of John'' story actually being true.


    If that was the case, then John was even more of a monster than anyone knew, and the Heavenly Lightning Sect had an absolute prodigy in its midst.


    With all the eyes on him, Hunter knew that he could not run away from this, or he would confirm the rumors about him and John. His usual prideful look once again appeared on his face as he began to strut from out of the crowd towards John.


    "I wasn''t hiding. I was waiting to see how my master makes you beg like a dog, but I guess I can be the one to do that instead," Hunter replied.


    However, John could see uncertainty in Hunter''s eyes as he approached John. Hunter knew that he was stuck between a rock and a hard ce, but he could not back down now, or he would be ridiculed for life.


    "Is that so? Then why don''t we finish what we started right now," John replied.


    Hunter was a loose end that he had to tie up, no matter what.


    Hunter looked at John as if he was looking at an ant, making sure to keep up his act of confident bravado.


    "Hmph," Hunter scoffed as he finally reached John and stood before him. John''s face was slightly pale, due to having no body Qi, and this fact was not unnoticed by Hunter.


    Hunter''s eyes slightly lit up at this sight, as he assumed John was in a badbat shape from something that happened within the realm. While he was not wrong, he was only half right, as John''s potent essence Qi was still filled to the brim and ready to go.


    Boom!


    A loud boom echoed behind John once more, and he quickly turned around to see Elder Ragur standing before him once more. Elder Ragur''s eyes were burning with anger now.


    "Elder Wren, if you try that again, I will cut you down where you stand. Do not test my patience."


    Elder Ragur wanted nothing more than to kill Elder Wren right now, but an Elder killing another Elder was a serious matter. He could not just go about it willy nilly, even if Elder Wren was targeting John.


    "What''s going on here?" An ancient voice suddenly sounded out across the massive courtyard, filing the ears of everyone present.


    Everyone instantly recognized the voice.


    "The Sect Leader!"


    As if summoned, the Sect Leader suddenly appeared within the courtyard. His movements were so fast that no one had seen him arrive, but only that he now stood within the courtyard. He emanated absolutely no aura, and appeared to be just like a mortal, but everyone knew better.


    Elder Wren immediately stepped forward and bowed to the Sect Leader before quickly replying.


    "Esteemed Sect Leader, John attacked Hunter within the formationnds a month ago, and thanks to a strange item he found within the realm, nearly took his life. I am here to get justice. The Sect rules are clear. If one targets another member of the sect with the intent to kill, then their life is forfeit. Please help me get justice."


    Elder Wren had changed tunes immediately once the Sect leader arrived. He made sure to mention that John had won due to a strange item he had found, in order to maintain Hunter''s status as a top disciple.


    "Is that true? Did he only win due to an incredible item he found?" several in the crowd asked.


    "Who knows. Maybe it''s true, maybe it''s not," another replied.


    "Is that so?" the Sect Leader replied with a calm voice as he suddenly looked towards John.


    John stood there calmly, as if none of these things were rted to him. The Sect Leader smiled slightly as he noticed John''s improvement, but was quick to hide that smile.


    "I merely tried to cut down a useless fool who targeted me first is all," John replied nonchntly as he shrugged his shoulders.


    "See, he admits to his crimes," Elder Wren quickly chimed up.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen remained quiet as he stared at both John and Hunter. "You two,e to me," he suddenly chimed up.


    John immediately began to walk towards the Sect Leader, while Hunter paused for a moment before approaching as well.


    Both of them stood before him, awaiting his instructions. "I want you both to focus on the fight you had in the wastnds, and only that fight," Thunderzen suddenly instructed.


    Both John and Hunter didn''t know the reason for this, but followed along anyways. They thought back to the fight.


    Thunderzen suddenly grabbed the heads of both John and Hunter on each of his hands.


    "What is he doing?" the crowd couldn''t help but ask.


    The eyes of many Elder''s suddenly went wide, Elder Wren included, as a thought crossed their mind.


    "He couldn''t be doing a targeted memory search, could he? One''s cultivation would have to be in the Wor-" One Elder mused out loud, but his musings were soon confirmed as an incredibly profound energy emanated off the Sect Leader.


    "World Expansion Realm! The Sect Leader is actually in the World Expansion Realm!" several Elders eximed in surprise.


    The Sect Leader had not revealed his full cultivation in thousands of years, and so no one truly knew where it stood. However, today it was confirmed, shocking all those within the sect.


    While the crowd and Elder''s werepletely shocked, John and Hunter felt an energy invade their souls. This energy locked onto the memories they were focusing on, and began to read them.


    Targeted memory searches were much harder than normal soul searches, and could only be done when reaching a certain realm. Normal soul searches were brutish, like kicking a door down to get inside. While this would work for getting inside, one would leave much damage in its wake, and the soul would be greatly harmed.


    Targeted soul searches were much more gentle, like picking the lock to a door and opening it the proper way to get inside. However, they were much harder to do, and required an incredibly powerful cultivation and soul to do so.


    ''So that''s why he wanted us to focus on the fight we had!''


    John finally understood the intentions of the Sect Leader. The Sect Leader quickly read their memories of the fight, his face going grave at the sight of Hunter using his Soul Banner. Hunter began to be a nervous mess, but was unable to break away from the Sect Leader. All he could do was stand there in silent panic.


    When their memories got to the mysterious girl, the Sect Leader''s eyes narrowed for a moment, as a thought of who it may be crossed his mind. He eventually got to the end of the fight, as which point he let go of both Hunter and John.


    "Sect Leader...I can exin!" Hunter suddenly eximed in a panicked voice.


    His panic and words shocked the crowd, as they could immediately tell that Hunter was attempting to justify himself.


    "Fuck your exnation," John suddenly interrupted. He looked at the sect leader before him.


    "Sect Leader Thunderzen, now that you''ve seen the truth, I have a request. I request a life and death duel with Hunter, right here, right now!"

 Chapter 267 - Tying Up Loose Ends

    Sect Leader Thunderzen''s eyebrows raised slightly at John''s request. "You want to take this matter into your own hands?"


    John nodded his head in confirmation. Hunter had targeted him, and so John had to personally repay the favor. If he had not been strong enough in their first fight, both John and Adam would have died, and he would never forgive such a thing.


    "Sect Leader, what is going on?" Elder Wren suddenly asked.


    While he knew his disciple could be trouble at times, he truly believed his disciple when he said John had targeted him. That was why he hade here with such fire, intent on eliminating those who would target Hunter.


    He had raised Hunter from when he was a small boy, and considered him to almost be like a son to him. He was panicking now, as he could tell that the situation was not good for Hunter at the moment.


    However, the Sect Leader ignored Elder Wren, as he considered John''s proposal. Normally, such a situation would be handled by the Enforcement Hall, and he deferred such decisions to them.


    His gaze turned towards Elder Ragur, who stood there silently. As a Heaven Tribtion Elder now, Elder Ragur''s status had skyrocketed, and he was now one of the main Elder''s in charge of all things rted to Enforcement Hall matters.


    Elder Ragur paused for a moment and looked towards John, who stood there with absolute confidence. His gaze returned to the Sect Leader, and he nodded his head in affirmation.


    "Then it''s settled. I approve of the Life and Death duel," Sect Leader Thunderzen stated loudly for all to hear.


    A thunderous uproar immediately exploded out within the crowd.


    "A Life and Death Duel? How long has it been since thest one?"


    "I''m not sure, but this battle should be incredible. It''s between two of the most promising first years in our sect."


    "I wonder who will win. Let''s go to the Life and Death martial arena immediately."


    Life and Death duels were alwayspleted in the Life and Death Martial Arena, in order to contain the battle and minimize destruction to the surroundings.


    "There''s no need for the arena," John suddenly stated out loud. "This won''t be a fight, but an execution."


    Hunter''s panicked face darkened at such ament. Even though he was in a serious situation, he would never allow himself to be spoken down to like this.


    The crowd became shocked at John''s overbearingments, and their gazes fell onto the Sect Leader. Sect Leader Thunderzen wore a small smile on his face, bing more and more approving of John''s attitude.


    "Then let the fight take ce here," Thunderzen replied.


    The courtyard in which John and the others stood was massive, and there was easily enough ce for a Core Formation battle to take ce. Not only that, but with the Sect Leader present, he alone was able to easily negate any coteral damage to the surroundings.


    The crowd once more exploded into an excited uproar, ready to see the fight unfold before them.


    "Sect Leader, I implore you to change your mind," Elder Wren pleaded towards the Sect Leader.


    "He has broken the rules of the sect, and must be punished ordingly," Thunderzen replied, his gaze unflinching.


    "Don''t worry, if Hunter can kill me, then I am fine with letting him live and go free," John suddenly stated.


    Everyone in the crowd, as well as the Elder and Sect Leader, looked towards John with mixed expressions of either surprise or confusion.


    However, only John knew his reason for such a request. He had no intention of losing this battle, and knew Hunter''s life wasing to an end. However, killing Hunter, who had no hope of surviving after the fight brought John no satisfaction.


    On the other hand, giving Hunter the hope of freedom, before crushing those hopespletely, was what John wanted. He wanted to shatter Hunterpletely, in both body and mind.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen paused for a moment before nodding his head. "It shall be as you say. If you are to lose, Hunter will have his freedom. While he will be exiled from the Sect, he will not be executed."


    Hunter''s eyes instantly brightened, going from the depths of hopelessness to ted happiness.


    "That was the dumbest thing you could have said," Hunter suddenly replied to John, his confidence once more restored. "I get to kill you, and I get to live. What a day this will be."


    He had made great improvements in the past month while waiting for John to leave the mysteriousnds, and was ready to show those improvements today. While he would be forced out of the Sect afterwards, he would have his life, and his revenge.


    John stood there with a rxed face, unconcerned with Hunter''s provocative words. Despite having no blood essence or body Qi, John was unconcerned with Hunter. His strength had improved leaps and bounds since theyst fought.


    Even by only using his essence Qi, and the natural strength of his body, John was more than confident in crushing Hunter.


    "Clear the way," an Elder suddenly stated, moving the crowd back away from the fighting area. A clearing was soon created, leaving only John, Hunter, the two Elders, and the Sect Leader standing there.


    Elder Ragur patted John on the shoulders and gave him a small smile, before walking off. He said no words, because he hadplete confidence in John. He would be able to talk to him after the fight.


    At the same time, Elder Wren, unable to change the course of events, gave Hunter some words of encouragement before stepping aside.


    Thunderzen looked at both John and Hunter before speaking to them. "This fight will only end with one of your lives being taken. You may begin."


    His body suddenly vanished, and he instantly appeared at the top of the steps of the Heavenly Lightning Pce which overlooked the courtyard below.


    "Haha, now that it''s gone this far, you only have yourself to me," Hunter stated whileughing like a maniac.


    His aura exploded outwards, revealing that he was now in the Middle Core Formation Realm. Not only that, but he was towards the peak of this minor realm, showing the great improvements he had made since hest fought John.


    The soul banner hunter used suddenly appeared in his hands, filled with malevolent energy. All those in the crowd narrowed their eyes as they stared at the banner. They could all tell how many lives had been sacrificed to it, and they pulled their faces in disgust.


    "My Soul Stealing Banner is even stronger than thest time we fought, and so am I. Prepare to give me your life," Hunter said to John, confidence clear on his face.


    Soul wraiths suddenly pierced out towards John, flooding the area and entering his body. They began to attack his soul from within, seeking to destroy it. However, with his cultivation raised to the Core Formation Realm, John''s soul was strengthened greatly as well. He ignored the pain in his soul and mind, focusing only on his prey before him.


    John casually looked towards Hunter, and slowly raised his finger. Lightning began to build up on it, quickly reaching an incredibly dense and profound level.


    "How can an early Core Formation youth generate such power?" a shocked crowd member mumbled out. Those nearby all nodded their heads in agreement, as they could tell John''s essence power was far beyond what an Early Core Formation youth should be capable of.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen narrowed his eyes as he stared at John, and slight surprise could even be seen, as well as a hopeful anticipation.


    "It appears that he may truly be the one we have been looking for," Thuderzen mumbled out loud.


    Boom!


    An incredible lightning beam exploded out from John''s fingers, as he unleashed his strongest Lightning Ruin.


    "What?" Hunter eximed in shock, as the power of John''s casual lightning attack was far beyond his expectations. It was more akin to a Late Core Formation attack, and was not something he could take head on without taking damage.


    Boom!


    John''s lightning mmed against Hunter''s soul banner before he could react, and Hunter was blown backwards like a cannonball, unable to resist the power of John''s simple attack. The banner flew out of his hands, and Hunter did his best to stabilize himself.


    After flying backwards for a short moment, Hunter stabilized the tumbling blood and Qi within his body and regained his bnce. He looked back towards John''sst position as his eyes went wide.


    John stood directly before him, his speed shocking all as he appeared next to Hunter in an instant.


    An incredibly powerful battle axe appeared in his hands, as his cold gaze pierced down on Hunter, as if he was cutting down nothing more than a momentary nuisance. Three profound Dao''s began to emanate from the axe, as John suddenly cleaved it down with all his might.


    Hunter grit his teeth, and summoned his Core Formation Grade sword. His sword shed out with all his might in an attempt to parry John''s battle axe, as it was toote to dodge.


    Bang!


    Shattered metal fragments flew out in all directions, as John''s battle axepletely shattered Hunter''s sword in half. It continued cleaving towards his body, unimpeded.


    Hunter''s eyes went wide with panic and fear, as the battle axe reached his body. It was toote to do anything.


    Che!


    The crowd grimaced as John''s battle axepleted its arc, mming into the ground behind Hunter. The earth shattered beneath the force of the axe, upheaving earth and dust, obscuring the vision of all.


    After a short while, the cloud of dust began to fade, slowly revealing the scene within. John stood there triumphantly, staring down at the bisected body before him. In just two casual moves, John had killed Hunter, whose lifeless eyes now stared eternally at the sky above, fear and regret forever etched on his face.

 Chapter 268 - Burying Russell

    The crowd stared in stunned silence at the scene before them. While they had been expecting one side to die due to it being a Life and Death duel, they had not expected it to end so quickly.


    After a brief moment of silence, an absolute thunderous cacophony erupted within the crowd.


    "Two moves! He just killed Hunter in two moves!"


    "I know. Not only that, but he did so with a cultivation of a minor realm lower than Hunters."


    "How is that possible? Has such a thing been done before? And did I see that correctly? Is he already utilizing profound Dao''s to enhance his attacks?"


    Heated discussions immediately broke out, with hardly anyone remaining silent.


    John''s cold eyes stared down at the corpse beneath him. The final threads to this nuisance were finally tied up. After a momentary pause, John reached out to gather Hunter''s remains. However, his eyes narrowed as Hunter''s body suddenly disappeared before him.


    His eyes trailed upwards, as he saw the hate filled eyes of Elder Wren staring at him. He had snatched the body from John.


    "You may have taken his life, but I will not allow you to take anything else from him," Elder Wren said to John, anger and sadness mixed within his voice and face.


    John looked at the Elder but said nothing. While he did want the body, he didn''t have a good reason to demand it from the Elder. Trying to do so would draw suspicion on him and his cultivation technique, which was not good.


    Not only that, but John could tell that the Elder truly did care for Hunter, and most likely wanted to give him a proper burial.


    However, Hunter had something that didn''t belong to him.


    "You can have his body, but give my friend his formation back. Hunter took the liberty to steal it from him earlier," John replied, his gaze unwavering even in the presence of an angered Heaven Tribtion Elder.


    The Elder''s eyes narrowed, especially when John said the word ''steal'', as he was smearing Hunter''s name even more, but did not argue. After a brief inspection of Hunter''s spatial ring, the Elder found the item John was talking about.


    He threw the item at John''s feet without a word, before turning around and leaving. John''s eyes locked on the Elders back for a moment before he reached down and gathered Adam''s formation item.


    "You''ve done well," Elder Ragur suddenly said to John as he ced his hand on his shoulder.


    "Elder, where can one bury the dead of those belonging to the Heavenly Lightning Sect?" John asked, changing the subject.


    His question was unexpected to the Elder, but he replied nheless.


    "There is a Sect burial ground, where all those who died in service to the Sect may be put to rest. Why do you ask?"


    John remained silent for a moment before replying, his voice heavy. "It''s to bury Russell."


    Elder Ragur''s eyes lit up in surprise, and soon changed to sadness. "I see. I''ll take you there. Follow me."


    John nodded his head and followed Elder Ragur, who took to the sky to fly to the burial ground. Now that John was free of the restrictions of the ancient temple, his ability to fly was restored, and he was able to do so for the first time in his life.


    Once one reached the Core Formation Realm, flying became as natural as walking. John''s body quickly left the ground, as he soared higher and higher into the sky. Adam, overhearing their conversation, joined behind John, making sure he was there for the burial.


    The crowd watched John leave, slightly surprised to see him leave so soon. They began to slowly disperse, but the subject of John and his battle spread all throughout the sect, bing the hottest topic of discussion.


    "After you are done with all you have to do,e see me," a voice suddenly appeared in John''s head. It was the voice of the Sect Leader.


    John continued onwards, flying for several minutes beforending in arge, expansive area. Headstones were visible as far as the eye could see, and easily numbered in the hundreds of thousands.


    Elder Ragur noticed John''s gaze, and sighed deeply.


    "The path of cultivation is a dangerous one, and is one that ims many lives. When those we care about fall, the only thing we can do is live on for them, for they will always exist in our memories."


    John felt a slight wave of emotion wash over him upon hearing those words, and couldn''t help but nod his head in agreement, while his eyes lit up with fire.


    "It''s not the only thing we can do. And it''s not the only thing I will do. I will drown the Bloodfiend sect in their own blood, and erase them from this world."


    His voice was filled with determined passion, as his thoughts lingered on the Bloodfiend Sect. While he had killed the one responsible for Russell''s death, that had not satiated his blood lust nearly enough.


    Elder Ragur looked to John with a concerned expression, but could only sigh. John walked a much more dangerous path than him, one filled with battle, death, and blood. His talent was incredible, but that would only draw the eyes of his enemies to him even more.


    "I will not try to deter you from this path, but I will advise you. You cannot fully avenge Russell if you are dead. Only by remaining alive can you carry out your vengeance."


    He gave these words of caution to temper John''s fiery emotions, and hopefully stop him from throwing his life away in a futile effort.


    John nodded his head to Elder Ragur''s words, but did not respond. He walked through the burial ground for some time, before finally finding an empty spot.


    "You can bury him here. I''ll speak with the Sect to erect a headstone for himter today."


    John waved his hand, and a small hole in the ground suddenly opened up. The fragments of Rusell''s body, which had been used as a corpse puppet, suddenly appeared in John''s hands, and he lowered them into the hole.


    Russell''s head suddenly appeared in John''s hands, causing Elder Ragur to sigh once more.


    "Goodbye, my brother. I will drown the Bloodfiend Sect for you."


    Adam stood there in silence, unsure of what to say. However, his face was scrunched up with emotions, as he watched his brother getid to rest.


    After saying thesest words, John lowered Russells head into the hole. He stared at the body for a short while before waving his hand once more, covering up the hole with the dirt he had removed.


    "I am returning to my abode, Elder Ragur. Thank you for your help today."


    John''s words echoed out, as he turned to the Elder and thanked him. Were it not for him, Elder Wren may have taken his life today.


    Elder Ragur patted John on the shoulders, saying no words, as no words were necessary.


    "Here," John said to Adam as his formation disk was tossed to him.


    "My Fuck You Formation!" Adam eximed, his mood suddenly brightened.


    John chuckled slightly at Adam''s childlike antics, his mood also lightening slightly. Without saying any other words, John took to the sky, heading off to his home. After a long and arduous journey within the mysteriousnds and ancient city, he wanted a brief moment of solitude.


    "Wee back. We are pleased to see you have safely returned," the voices of Francel and Reya entered John''s ears as he strode into his house.


    John nodded his head towards the two of them, who had been going about their day making sure his house was in top shape.


    "I''ll be going into seclusion for a while. Unless something is urgent, make sure I am not disturbed," John replied without missing a stride.


    Francel and Reya nodded their heads in affirmation. "It will be done."


    "Oh, and take this as payment for your diligent service thus far," John replied without looking back. Two spatial rings suddenly appeared in the air and floated towards the two of them.


    Confused looks appeared on both their faces, as John was not in charge of paying them, but they grabbed the rings nheless and inspected them. Their faces lit up with absolute shock, as they both noticed the mountain of spirit crystals within each ring.


    Such a sum was more than they would make in a lifetime of working, and was far beyond their expectations.


    "We cannot ep-" Reya cried out as she looked back up towards John, but found him long gone.


    Francel and Reya looked at each other, unsure of what to do. However, tion could be seen in both their eyes, and they quickly went back to their work, more diligent than ever.


    ¡­


    John sat in his mediation chamber in the basement of his abode, taking in the rare silence. His life had beenpletely hectic these past few months, and had contained many highs, as well as several lows.


    Arge amount of spatial rings and other items suddenly appeared before him.


    "Now, let''s see what these rings contain."

 Chapter 269 - Inspecting The Spoils

    John had in many people within the mysteriousnds and ancient city, obtaining their spatial rings in the process. Not only that, but he had in all but one of the Bloodfiend Sect Emperors, as well as a few kings. While Miko had kept the ring of the Sword Emperor, John still had the ring from Damon, as well as the Corpse King and the Grant, the Assassination King.


    Each of them had in countless youths within the ancient city and obtained their spoils. The number quickly added up, and after a brief search through all his belongings, John found over forty spatial rings, all containing various items.


    The items within would surely contain the various wealth''s of each of the youths, as well as all the items they had obtained within the ancient city.


    Tremble!


    John''s soul suddenly trembled, and Kirii quickly escaped it.


    "Hmm? What are you doing?" John asked curiously. Kirii rubbed up against John, nudging his head against him, before it took off within the basement. It sped around like a blur, running every which direction.


    "Haha, I suppose you have been cooped up for some time."


    John watched Kirii speed about with happiness and glee for some time before his gaze returned to the rings before him.


    "Let''s see what''s here."


    John sent his divine sense into the first ring he had picked up, quickly inspecting its contents. A small pile of spirit crystalsid in the center of the spatial dimension, and several weaponsid scattered about.


    "Spirit crystals, some shitty weapons, and some low grade pills. Not much to look at."


    John gathered the items to his own pce dimension, before inspecting the next ring.


    "Shit."


    "Nothing of value."


    "Useless."


    John inspected ring after ring, but mostly found things far beneath his notice. While there were a few somewhat impressive items, such as Core Formation Weapons or pills, it was nothing to go crazy about.


    "Hmm?" John''s interest was suddenly piqued as he inspected yet another ring.


    A scythe suddenly appeared in his hands, as he inspected the weapon that was in the ring. His expectant gaze soon turned into disappointment however. He stood up and gave the weapon a few swings, testing its might, before sitting back down.


    "Just a low grade Core Formation Scythe. I was hoping it would have been an ancient scythe, much like the sword or axe I have. It''s not a bad weapon, but I''ve already outgrown Core Formation Weapons. Only Meridian Forging Weapons and above have the weight I need to fully take advantage of my body''s strength."


    While John could use the scythe in the meantime, his battle axe was far more powerful, and so there was no need to do so.


    "I''ll see if the sect has any profound scythes for sale. If not, I''m sure there''s a master weaponsmith in this sect who can make me my scythe. It''ll probably cost quite a sum to do so, but I have no shortage of money right now."


    John tossed the scythe aside, before continuing to inspect the rings. His inspection revealed several pills, many of which he didn''t know the origin of, as well as some other baubles of varying purposes.


    "Most of this stuff is useless to me, but I can sell them for quite a hefty sum."


    While John did not want for money after his discovery of the spirit mine, he wouldn''t mind adding more money to his reserves. Money was everything in the cultivation world, and without it, getting the resources needed to advance was very difficult.


    His inspection of the Corpse King''s ring revealed many corpse puppets, as well as some decent ancient weapons. However, none of them suited him.


    After going through all the lower level spatial rings, John finally got to the ring of Damon, the Blood Emperor.


    "Damon was a ruthless bastard who probably cut down dozens of youths in thatnd, or even more. I''m sure there will be quite a few treasures inside this ring."


    John''s divine sense entered the ring, and his eyes quickly lit up.


    A small mountain of spirit crystals, containing at least several million crystals, immediately came into view. To the side of the mountain, dozens of weaponsid strewn about. Several of them emanated an ancient aura, and some of them were even Meridian Forging Grade weapons.


    Several barrels and jars were grouped together, containing a countless amount of pills with varying purposes, from raising cultivation levels, to medicinal, and much much more.


    "There must be at least a million spirit crystals worth of pills here. Damon was quite spoiled."


    There were some that would serve his essence cultivation well, allowing him to advance more quickly.


    "No wonder that asshole had such a high cultivation. These pills are incredible, and were probably found within the ancient city."


    After inspecting the pills, John''s divine sense inspected the final corner of the spatial area. This area contained the odds and ends of Damon''s collection, including scrolls containing cultivation techniques, battle arts, medicinal recipes, as well as other items.


    "Hmm?" John''s eyes locked onto one particr scroll. He quickly unfurled it.


    "The Crimson Hell Domain! How kind of Damon to gift me such a nice domain technique."


    While the Crimson Hell Domain had no effect on John, that was just because of his unique cultivation situation. Against all others, it was an incredibly ruthless and powerful domain.


    "I''ll be sure to study this in the future."


    John put aside the scroll, and continued to read through the others. He spotted an ornate scroll, more detailed than the others. He quickly unfurled it.


    "The Blood Tyrant Law!"


    John quickly read through the scroll. "This is the cultivation technique of the Bloodfiend Sect. While it''s useless to me as I cultivate using the Primordial Extermination Lightning Technique, it still could serve a purpose for me in the future."


    John read through the scroll before putting it down. He quickly inspected various other items, including several formation disks and talismans.


    "This is thest item," John murmured as his eyes locked onto the item. A small frown appeared on his face, as he was hoping it would be an incredible item. It radiated quite an ancient aura, revealing it to be an item found within the ancient city. As such, John had high hopes for the item.


    "Its a mask?"


    The item was a featureless mask, as if it was from a mannequin. There were two holes for eyes, a nose, and a slight opening for the mouth. If the aura was not so incredible, John would have assumed that it was a mask a mortal had made and tossed away.


    After inspecting the front of the mask, John turned the mask over and inspected the back of the mask. After careful inspection, he was able to notice incredibly faint yet incredibly detailed formation runes lining the interior of the mask.


    He studied the runes for a moment to see if he could make out their purpose, but was unable to.


    "I really need to start studying formation runes, as I won''t always have Adam to tell me what they are," John grumbled to himself.


    "Does this mask even have a purpose?" John grumbled out loud.


    After a moment''s hesitation, he pressed the mask to his face, expecting nothing to happen. However, his expression quickly changed as he noticed it suction to his face, bing flush with his skin.


    "What the fuck?" John yelled out loud as he pulled the mask with his great strength. The mask resisted him, intending on staying flush with his face. John put even more strength into his grip, desperate to get the mysterious mask off of his face.


    After a momentary struggle, the mask was pulled off his face, leaving John slightly disturbed. However, he had felt no danger from the mask when he had worn it.


    After a moment of hesitation, John once again donned the mask, feeling the same suction force before it became flush with his skin.


    John quickly raised a mirror that he had found in one of the spatial rings in front of him, inspecting his face. The mask rested on his face with the same featureless design, making him look quite odd.


    "Is this it? This is all it does?" John mumbled out loud as he continued to inspect it. However, no amount of Qi being sent into the mask, or anything else would cause it to do anything.


    "I noticed small formation runes, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, on the back of the mask. Maybe I''ll ask Adam about it and see if he knows what this mask is."


    John went to set the mirror down, but his hand suddenly paused as he quickly nced back at it. His eyes widened in shock as he stared at the mirror, and the reflection staring back at him.


    "What the hell?"


    The face that was staring back at him was not that of his own. His face, now in the image of Adam, now stared back at him.

 Chapter 270 - Lord Of The Blood Pool!

    John quickly stood up, shocked by what he was seeing. The mirror was still in his hand, showing him the face of Adam staring back. After a momentary panic, John calmed down and sat back down.


    He carefully inspected his face, studying all the small details. He even used his divine sense to inspect his face, to see what his divine sense would see. He continued this inspection for quite some time, and despite this lengthy inspection, was not able to spot any shorings in his disguise.


    "How incredible. I look just like Adam, with not a single detail out of ce. What an incredible item."


    John thought back to his actions before, as another thought crossed his mind.


    ''When I thought of Adam, my face changed to him¡­I wonder.''


    John''s thoughts strayed to another person he was quite familiar with, his father, Barden. He focused on his fathers face, and soon after, John could feel a small pull from the mask, as it siphoned Qi from him to fuel the transformation.


    Slowly but surely, John saw his face change to that of his fathers. He couldn''t tell the difference. John continued to inspect his face, and even assumed the demeanor of his father. If he was in front of his mother, he was sure he would fool her.


    "However, it only disguises my face, and not my body, so the disguise would only work if I had the same body proportions as whoever I disguise myself as."


    John changed his thoughts, and focused on Elder Ragur. After a moment of slow transformation, his face once again changed. John could feel the same Qi siphoning asst time, but this time, he felt something else.


    His face turned slightly grave as he discovered something with the mask.


    "I didn''t notice it at first, as it was incredibly small, but every time I assume the identity of someone new, the mask siphons an incredibly small portion of my soul to infuse into the mask, to fully transform with no ws."


    While John was fine with the mask siphoning Qi from him, as this was easily expendable, he was not fine with it siphoning parts of his soul. The soul was the absolute core of a human, and was unable to be reced as easily as missing Qi.


    Every time the mask siphoned a small part of his soul, it was as if he was losing part of his identity. Not only that, but his soul power would diminish, which was something John would not allow.


    "Thankfully I noticed it so soon. The amount siphoned so far is inconsequential, but if I continued to transform continuously, it would soon add up to something I would not be able to recover from."


    John inspected the mask a bit more, and carefully thought back to the details of each transformation. His identity was still that of Elder Ragur, and John felt no more soul siphoning at the moment.


    "It appears that the soul siphoning only urs during a transformation. I''ll have to be careful with this mask in the future, and make sure to not use it too much. I can recover from a small bit of soul damage, but anything more will be irreparable."


    John continued to inspect his face for quite some time more, to study the effects the mask had on his body. However, even after an extended duration of using the mask, he didn''t find any other negative effects.


    His hand reached up, and with great effort, the mask was pulled off. His face instantly returned back to his own. A smile lit up on his face as he studied the mask before him, which had now assumed its featureless mannequin-like face.


    "This will be quite useful in the future. I''ll definitely be keeping this."


    John stored the mask in his pce realm, and cleaned up the rest of the junk in front of him. While his gains had not been incredible, they had not been small either. He had obtained plenty of weapons, pills, and other baubles that would be useful in the future.


    "Now then. Time to focus on cultivation once more."


    John assumed a meditative position and calmed his mind. He appeared in his pce realm, and his face quickly turned into a frown.


    "How messy."


    John had appeared in the main lobby of the majestic pce within his spatial realm, and was greeted with mountains of items he had collected over the past year. Theyid strewn about haphazardly, making the pce look like an absolute mess.


    "I really need to do something about this."


    His gaze swept throughout the pce, and lingered on the massive doors that lined the side hallways. The doors stretched hundreds of yards high, and had stood closed the entire time.


    "I tried to open them earlier, but was unable to do so, and haven''t tried since. Maybe there is a cultivation barrier to opening these, or a strength requirement. I should try again."


    John strode into the first side hallway, and approached the first door. He was like an ant to the door, which towered over him. Ornate carvings and designs covered the door, making it look incredibly exquisite.


    He reached out, and pushed against the door. The door refused to budge, causing John to put more strength into it. His full might was put into moving the door, as his face turned red. However, his red face quickly changed into tion as the door finally began to slowly move.


    After much effort, John was finally able to move the door wide enough for his body to slip through.


    "It worked!"


    After confirming that the door would not close on its own, John slipped into the small crack he had created.


    A massive room greeted him on the other side, no less grand and exquisite than the rest of the pce. The room was hundreds of yards wide and long, with a ceiling several hundred yards tall.


    Majestic chandeliers hung down from the ceiling, which glowed with ethereal light, giving a soft light to the room. In the center of the room, arge basin was present, which was empty. The basin was also several hundred yards wide and long, and took up around eighty perfect of the floor space.


    John walked forward, and peered over the edge into the basin. It stretched down nearly two hundred yards.


    "Was this used as a pool by the previous pce owner?" John mused out loud. It was the only thing he could think of, despite the ''pool'' being empty.


    An idea suddenly appeared in his mind, as a smile appeared on his face. He quickly dashed back into the lobby, and gathered quite a few items into his spatial ring before dashing back into the room.


    John stood at the edge of the basin, and waved his hand outwards. Hundreds of wooden barrels appeared in the air before him, suspended in the air by his Qi. They began to tip to the side, and soon, a waterfall of blood tipped out of the barrels and into the hole below.


    This beast blood essence was blood from Mist Creation beasts that John had obtained. The blood had long be useless to him, and so John had not used it during his fights. While he was able to technically use them to fuel his body Qi, each barrel would provide him less than a second''s worth of Qi, and was not worth the soul power it took to infuse from this pce realm to his dantian.


    He would need to go into each barrel and extract the blood essence, which was far more effort than it was worth for only one second of body Qi.


    However, if it was all in one spot, that was different.


    The barrels all emptied out, filling the bottom of the basin with a small pond of blood. The blood remained there, and John began tough like a madman.


    "Hahaha, it worked. I now have a pool of beast blood essence, ready for my use at a mere thought. No longer do I have to individually go through each barrel to extract blood essence. I am now the Blood Sovereign, Lord of the Blood Pool!"


    John''s maniacalughter continued on for some time before he finallyposed himself. He emptied out all his remaining beast blood essence reserves, and stared at the blood pool below.


    "It''s all Mist Creation beast blood, so it''s useless to me, but once I start mixing in Core Formation beast blood and above, it will be an incredible boon for me. Not only will I be able to extract the blood essence to my dantian in an easier manner, I can also store more blood more easily now."


    John concluded his business with the room. He strode out into the hallway and gazed to the next door. He pushed on the door with great effort, at which point it too began to part. John happily slipped into the room, but his tion quickly turned to slight disappointment.


    "Its empty."


    The entire room was empty, with not a single item inside.


    "Oh well, this will be a perfect storage room for all my items."


    John moved back into the lobby and gathered all his items, before returning to the empty room. Before long, the main lobby was spotless, causing John to nod his head in approval.


    "Much better."


    John''s gaze then turned to the next door down the hallway. After approaching it, John gave it a push, but no matter how hard he pushed, it was unable to budge.


    John tried every other door in the pce, but each one did not budge an inch. His ted mood had quickly turned sour as he approached the final door he had yet to try. He harrumphed in displeasure as he pushed on the final door. Just like the first, the door began to part, causing a look of Joy to once more appear on John''s face.


    Light began to shine out from within the crack he had created, and a strong medicinal aroma wafted over him.

 Chapter 271 - Continuous Advancements

    After putting in more effort to open the door, John finally managed to slip into the room.


    Before him, arge, expansive room came into view. The room was evenrger than the previous, and taller as well.


    "Is this...a medicinal field?"


    Covering almost the entire room was fertile soil. A brief scan of his divine sense showed that the soil stretched deep below into the pce, and a steady stream of Qi infused into the soil from below.


    Above the soil high in the air, a single chandelier hung from the ceiling. The chandelier contained a round ball of transparent material from which light was emitted from. However, the light was not from a formation or spirit crystals.


    "Is that...is that a fucking sun?"


    John couldn''t help but exim out loud as a ball of roiling sma revolve around within the translucent sphere. It burned brightly like the sun in the sky, but unexpectedly, gave off a soft and warm heat.


    John shook his head, not even wanting toprehend how such a thing was possible. His vision once again returned to the field before him, in which several dozen nts could be seen growing.


    The nts gave off an incredibly dense aroma, making John feel incredibly rxed. His eyes lit up in excitement.


    "These nts have been growing here for who knows how long. They must be incredible by now!"


    John approached the nts growing in the field, his excitement growing with every step. However, upon reaching the nts, his excitement turned sour.


    "Are these...tea nts?"


    John had been hoping for incredibly rare medicinal ingredients that could be used to raise his cultivation, but all he saw in the field before him were tea nts. Dozens and dozens of tea nts. While the aroma''s the nts gave off were incredible, and John had no doubt the tea would be amazing, he was still disappointed.


    "Oh well. At least I know that nts can grow here. I should be able to use this in the future to store any medicinal ingredients I run into in the future, instead of leaving them behind."


    While John was still slightly disappointed, he was still happy with this room. It would be very helpful for him in the future.


    "Now, I still have one more goal to aplish here."


    John strode back out into the main lobby, and nodded his head with satisfaction. The excess clutter was no more, returning the pce to its regal glory. John strode down the main hallway, into the massive chamber containing the holy gate.


    The translucent sphere still hung high above the ground in front of the gate, the blood within forever revolving in a circle.


    John had already received his blood drop when advancing both his body and essence dantian to the Core Formation Realm, but had not yet touched the chains.


    John thought about saying some words to the gate, which he now knew contained the mysterious man, but decided against it. He had asked the man questions in the past, but he had ignored John''s questions, and so John didn''t bother anymore.


    He approached the gate and reached out to the nearest chain.


    nk!


    As soon as his hand touched the chain, the chain snapped and dissolved into nothingness. The holy aura that emanated from the gate exploded out with great intensity, washing over him. John bathed in the aura as he felt his soul grow in strength. The slight damage that the mask had inflicted on him was slowly erased away.


    John remained like this for some time before once again opening his eyes. He strode over to the side door, and quickly entered the sinister room. A malevolent aura washed over him, filling his mind with murmurs and attempting to drive him insane.


    John ignored the murmurs, and strode deep into the room towards the sinister gate. He reached the gate, and reached out towards one of the chains.


    nk!


    The chain snapped and dissolved as expected, and the sinister aura emanating from the gate exploded out with far greater intensity. John grit his teeth as he struggled against the aura, which was now strong enough to threaten him.


    He remained in front of the gate for some time, tempering his will to the best of his ability, before the strain became too much. Each removed chain would increase the power of the sinister aura greatly, making it much harder for John to endure.


    However, this is exactly what he wanted, as only something that drove him to the brink of insanity could temper his will to this level. Murmurs filled his mind, threatening to drive him mad, while all he could think of was destruction, devastation, and death.


    John pushed himself to the brink, and finally reached his limit. He quickly turned around and retreated out of the room.


    Growl!


    An incredibly soft and muffled growl echoed out behind John, nearly destroying his mind.


    "Gah!"


    John was going to walk back to the holy aura room, but the unexpected growl that filled his mind had nearly killed him. His soul and mind were nearly overwhelmed, but he just managed to hold on enough to send himself out of the pce realm and back to the real world.


    Ragged breaths escaped John''s lips as he struggled against the remnant murmurs which assaulted his mind. Only after quite some time did John manage to fully erase the murmurs and return himself to normal.


    ''What...the hell...was that?"


    John thought back to the moment of the growl.


    "That guttural, beast-like growl...came from the sinister gate! If the mysterious man is contained within the holy gate, then it makes sense that something is within the sinister gate. However, just the growl, which was mostly blocked by the gate, nearly managed to shatter my mind and soul¡­.just what the hell is within that gate?"


    John shivered in slight fear at such a thought. If whatever was inside that gate escaped somehow, he was as good as dead.


    "That mysterious man is too crazy," John couldn''t help but grumble out loud. It was no different than putting a ticking time bomb inside his body. Sooner orter it would explode.


    "The chains I touch lessen the restraints on that gate. When I undo thest one¡­"


    John shivered slightly once more at the thought. The entity within the gate was most likely the source of the sinister aura. If it was so sinister and powerful, despite being restricted by the gate, then just what was the entity''s true nature and power like?


    John could hardly imagine such a thing. His mind suddenly thought of the mysterious creature within the Lighting World Illusion Formation, as they had given him simr vibes, but shook his head after careful thought. Both werepletely sinister, but were not exactly the same in nature.


    The creature he had seen in that formation was more about power, while the aura within the gate was the epitome of evil.


    After calming down more, John put such thoughts aside. He was far too weak to concern himself with such things. Not only that, but the entity seemed to be properly contained by the chains for the moment, and so John was not too concerned of whatever existed inside escaping.


    John calmed his mind, and several pills suddenly appeared before him. They were some of the pills he had obtained from the spatial rings, one''s which he had identified as cultivation pills.


    Pill after pill was consumed, sending waves of Qi into his dantian, which he would refine, slowly but surely increasing his cultivation. His dantian, which waspressed twenty times, was incredibly dense, and required an incredible amount of energy to advance.


    After consuming over half the pills before him, John felt his essence dantian reach the tipping point. From his recent battles, hisprehension levels were already incredibly firm, and he did not have a bottleneck.


    Boom!


    A muffled sound rang out within John''s body, as the power emanating off him surged greatly. His eyes snapped open in delight, as he once again advanced. Minor realm advancements were less eventful than major realm advancements, and were usually done in a much smoother manner.


    "With this, both my essence and body dantian are in the Middle Core Formation Realm! However, my recent battles were incredible, and my fight with the Divine Youth gave me incredible insights. I think I can push my cultivation further even more!"


    Advancing two minor realms in a single cultivation session was usually impossible, as one would have to have the appropriate cultivation insights to advance, as well as a firm enough foundation.


    However, John''s cultivation insights had improved by leaps and bounds after fighting the Divine Youth, as well as his life and death battles with the Bloodfiend Sect. These battles had pushed him to the very edge of death, and as a result, had brought hisprehensions and insights regarding essence Qi to a new level.


    As for his cultivation foundation, it was more than firm enough to increase two minor realms without much concern. His twentypression dantian continued to show its incredible advantages. However, even he would need to pause after doing such a thing, and would not be able to push for three realms at once.


    John once again closed his eyes and began to consume pill after pill. While doing this was not the best course of action, as each pill had impurities that would harm one''s foundation, John was not too concerned about this.


    His foundation was incredibly firm, and a few impurities would not harm it. Not only that, but after advancing once more, John would take some time to erase those impurities, ensuring that they did not linger when he advanced to the Meridian Forging Realm.


    Several hourster!


    Boom!


    An even louder boom echoed within John''s body, as his power surged greatly once again. His eyes snapped open once more, filled with glee.


    "Late Core Formation Realm! My essence cultivation is now at the Late Core Formation Realm. Now, I need to find some more human blood essence to raise my body cultivation to the Late Core Formation Realm!"

 Chapter 272 - Meeting With The Sect Leader

    John was in a great mood, as he had finally aplished one of the goals he had set out to do.


    His cultivation had alwaysgged behind those of his peers in thisnd, due to his lower starting point. In every fight he had, he would have to jump realms to fight those of the same age as him. Now however, he had finally caught up to those the same age as him, greatly pleasing him.


    "The profundity of the Primordial Extermination Lightning Cultivation Technique is finally showing its merits. Not only does it provide me with a naturally potent and destructive lightning, as well as allow me to use lightning more efficiently, it also allows me to cultivate faster than my peers. It shouldn''t be long until I leave them in the dust, and ascend far beyond their sights."


    John''s thought suddenly drifted to the girl he had met in the ancient city, and the words she had spoken. If what she said was true, then John was sure that the Divine Martial Continent was an incredible world for cultivation.


    "Just looking at her cultivation, it was at the Middle Meridian Forging Realm, despite her being slightly younger than me. Just because I''ve caught up to the youths in thisnd doesn''t mean I can ck off."


    John continued to cultivate for a while longer, making sure to stabilize his foundation to eliminate any ws. Only after solidifying his new cultivation base did John stand up, eager to aplish the various tasks he still needed to do.


    "I need to get a new scythe, a new battle axe art, beast blood essence, and much much more. Oh, and I need to talk to the Sect Leader. I suppose I''ll do that first to get it out of the way."


    John looked to his side, and noticed Kirii sleeping peacefully there. A smile appeared on his face as he gave Kirii a few good pats, before withdrawing him into his soul space.


    John stretched his aching legs, before walking out into the battle area of the basement. A thought crossed his mind, and he pointed his finger out towards the wall.


    Lightning began to flicker on his finger for a moment before¡­


    Lightning Ruin!


    An incredible beam of lightning, many times more powerful than his previous Lightning Ruin, exploded out of his finger and mmed into the basement wall.


    Boom!


    The lightning pierced into the wall,pletely destroying the defenses of the wall''s formation. The entire house began to shake, as rubble crumbled off from the wall to the floor below. Arge hole, several yards wide and deep, now lingered in the basement wall.


    "Oops. I guess I''m even stronger than I expected. I suppose I forgot this house was meant for a Qi Condensation youth."


    John smiled wryly as he stared at the damage. He now had a new goal...obtain a new testing area. John shook his head at himself, and walked upstairs. He spotted Reya and Francel running to him with great worry, but their worry subsided as they saw John emerge from the basement unharmed.


    "Don''t worry, I was just testing out my new strength," John reassured them.


    "Did you have a good cultivation session?" Reya asked with a smile on her face. She had been in an incredibly good mood ever since John had gifted her all those spirit crystals.


    "A very good one," John replied with a smile on his face. He exchanged a few more words with the two of them, before leaving his house.


    As he strode out of his house, John was greeted with the view he hade to love. His mountain abode towered over thend below, allowing him to see much of the sect below. Hundreds of grand buildings lined the valleys below, while towering waterfalls coated the valley with an ethereal mist, in which the morning sun shone through brilliantly. Lush vegetation, from blooming flowers to towering trees, lined the valleys and covered the mountains, making the entire sect feel incredibly alive.


    Dozens of flying mounts were seen soaring through the sky, carrying various members of the sect to their desired location. John took in the scenery for some time, bingpletely rxed.


    "I wonder...if one day I will have my own sect like this, looking over all that I have created."


    A new goal of John''s sprung into his mind, as he looked up to the distant Heavenly Lightning Pce. Despite him standing on a tall mountain, the pce still towered over him in the distance.


    "I''ve never tested my full ability of flight. Let''s see just how fast I can go."


    Boom!


    The ground shattered beneath John''s feet as he leaped up into the sky. Utilizing his Qi as a propent, John suddenly raced through the sky, piercing through the clouds with incredible speed. The ground below him whirled past in a blur, and arge smile appeared on John''s face.


    "Incredible. This feels incredible. And I must be going at least several hundred miles per hour!"


    John''s body rocketed through the air of the sect, appearing like a blur as he sped towards the Heavenly Lightning Tower. Most cultivators did not fly in the sect air, as it was a luxury reserved for only Elders, but John did not care for such rules.


    He rapidly approached the Heavenly Lightning Pce, at which point two Elder''s suddenly appeared before him. They both had Late Meridian Forging Cultivations.


    "What are you doing flyin-"


    Their words trailed off as they noticed who it was. Ever since his fight with Hunter, John had assumed the status of the number one first year in the sect. Not only that, but everyone could tell that he had the highest talent of all the youths in the sect, and thus his status was cemented. It wouldn''t be long until the sect took an official stance regarding his status in the sect.


    The Elder who had spoken up cleared his throat before speaking out once more.


    "This is restricted space. Where are you going?"


    "The Sect Leader himself sent me a sound transmission earlier to see him when I was avable. I''m going to see him now," John replied, getting straight to the point.


    The Elder''s had suspected such a thing, and thought about it for a moment before replying to John.


    "You still need to go through the official process to see the Sect leader. You cannot just fly up to his-"


    "Let him pass," the Sect Leader''s voice suddenly sounded out in the ears of the Elders.


    "You may proceed. The Sect Leader is waiting for you on his balcony," the Elder said to John.


    John nodded his head and proceeded upwards through the air, flying quickly towards the balcony that sat high in the clouds above.


    The Elders watching him sighed. "The youths of today are something else. It won''t be long until he makes his way to the main branch," one Elder sighed.


    "The young are destined to surpass the old, such is the way of the world," the other Elder replied. "However, this boy is special. Even in the main branch, he should soar to incredible heights."


    The other Elder nodded his head in agreement. "He should bring great pride to our branch that has lingered in mediocrity for so long."


    The Elder''s stared at John''s figure for a short moment before returning to the ground below and once again assuming their duties.


    Johnnded on the highest balcony of the Heavenly Lightning Pce, which rested thousands of yards above the sect grounds below. A majestic view sprawled before him, but he ignored it as he stared at the man before him.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen was leisurely sitting on his chair by the table, sipping tea. His face lit up each time he sipped the tea, showing his love for it.


    "Good stuff," Thunderzen muttered to himself, as if he had not noticed John''s arrival.


    John shook his head and slightly bowed to the Sect Leader. "Disciple greets Sect Leader," John spoke up, announcing his presence.


    Thunderzen nced over to John, and a smile appeared on his face. "Not a bad greeting. Come, sit down."


    Thunderzen gestured to a seat next to him, beckoning John to sit down. John obliged, and quickly seated himself. He stared in silence at the Sect Leader, who continued to calmly sip his tea for some time.


    "Good stuff, good stuff," Thunderzen asionally muttered to himself, as if John was not present.


    Only after the tea was finished did Thunderzen put the cup down and look back at John. An approving smile appeared on his face as he inspected John.


    "Your power continues to grow at a shocking rate. Quite impressive. And your battle with Hunter was equally so. I noticed you have already started to incorporate several Dao''s into your attacks. The mysteriousnds must have been quite amazing." Thunderzen nodded his head in approval.


    His piercing eyes locked onto John''s as he slightly leaned forward. "So, do tell me of everything that happened within thosends. And before you do that, settle this matter I''ve been curious about. How many dantianpressions did you achieve?"

 Chapter 273 - New Master

    John was slightly surprised to hear the question from the Sect Leader. Normally, things like dantianpressions would be kept secret, and most wouldn''t ask about it. However, John felt no ill will against the Sect Leader, and knew the Sect Leader would not disclose this information to others.


    John paused for a moment, thinking of whether to tell the truth or not, but his mind suddenly thought back to some words the Sect Leader had told him many months ago about lying to him.


    "I achieved...twenty dantianpressions," John finally replied, deciding that the truth was the best course forward. The more valuable he appeared to the Sect Leader, the better opportunities he would obtain, and the more powerful he would be.


    The Sect Leader, who was normallypletely calm and rxed, had his eyebrows shoot up in shocked surprise. He remained that way for a short while before regaining hisposure.


    "Twenty? Are you sure you didn''t miscount?" Thunderzen asked in a questioning voice.


    John noticed Thunderzen''s stunned reaction. ''I guess twenty is even more amazing than I thought if even someone as strong as the Sect Leader is that shocked.''


    John nodded his head in confirmation. "I achieved twenty. Adam was there, and he can confirm it," John replied, his gaze calm.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen inspected John''s face for some time, and found no hints of a lie. His heartbeat was steady as well, revealing himself to be telling the truth. After a moment of silence, a smile once again appeared on Thunderzen''s face.


    "In that case, that is beyond remarkable. I would ask you how you achieved such a thing, but I''m sure you wont tell me that, even if it meant getting kicked out of the sect."


    John was surprised to hear these words, but nodded his head in agreement with the Sect Leaders statement. There were some secrets that he could reveal to no one, even the Sect Leader himself.


    "I assumed as much," Thunderzen sighed, but his demeanor quickly returned to normal. "Now then, tell me everything that happened within thosends. Do not leave out a single detail."


    John paused for a moment, thinking of where to start, before beginning to tell his story. He started at the moment he felt Hunter''s predator-like gaze, setting the stage for their enmity. Thunderzen raised his eyebrows slightly at John''s description, slightly shocked that John''s instincts were so sharp already as to identify bloodlust from a mere gaze.


    John then continued his story, exining his many run-ins with the Bloodfiend Sect, his discovery of the spirit mines, the ancient battlefield, and finally the ancient city. The temple trials were described in great detail, although John kept a few details regarding the Divine Trial to himself.


    Lastly, John exined what had happened in the lowest level of the temple, and why he had returned to the sect.


    "I see. How incredibly interesting. An ancient city, built for the purpose of testing its youths. And by the looks of it, it was besieged by a mysterious race of creatures, and wiped out overnight."


    Thunderzen''s thoughts drifted to what he knew about the ancient history of the Yuan Continent, as well as the world atrge, as he began to put pieces together. He remained silent for quite some time while he thought over all the details John had revealed.


    "Interesting. That ancient city may yet hide secrets far beyond our expectations," Thunderzen mused.


    "Nheless, it sounds like this ancient city will be a boon for the future youths of this continent. The trials within the temple will hone their skills and talents to the maximum, and we should see quite a nice rise in power for the youths of thisnd in the future," Thunderzen continued, his mood quite happy.


    John remained silent, as such things were not his expertise. Not only that, but he had explored thends already, and was sure the best opportunities for him were already discovered. After much contemtion, Thunderzen focused back on John.


    "Now then, your battle with Hunter caused quite the stir within the sect, as well as the full revealing of your talent," Thunderzenmented.


    His ability to end Hunter with two moves, despite being in a lower cultivation realm, was beyond the wildest imaginations of anybody, and his name was quickly surging throughout the entire sect, and the nearbynds as well. All eyes were focused on him now, curious to see his potential meteoric rise in the cultivation world.


    John had expected such a thing to happen, and thus remained calm and expressionless.


    "I''ve had many Elder''se to me with thoughts of what we should do regarding you. Many tried to im you as their Direct Disciple, saying a newly ascended Heaven Tribtion Elder like Elder Ragur is unfit to keep you under his reigns," Thunderzen continued.


    John''s eyes slightly darkened at thesements, but he said nothing yet.


    "However, those Elder''s are just looking to raise their own status, and will im your talents revealed in the future as their aplishments, and so they can be ignored. However, their words are notpletely off base."


    John was slightly unhappy to hear the Elder''s discuss owning him like some toy, but waited for the Sect Leader to finish his exnation.


    "While it is true that Elder Ragur found you and brought you into the Sect, and is essentially your master within this Sect, it is also true that he is unqualified to call train you himself."


    John frowned at the Sect Leader''s words, which did not go unnoticed by the Sect Leader himself.


    "Do not worry, he can still in name call you his disciple, and he will also get the full benefits of bringing you into the sect and raising you to this level. With the support Elder Ragur will be getting, he will flourish like a tree in the most fertile of soil," Thunderzen replied with a smile on his face, alleviating most of John''s unhappiness.


    "However, the fact remains that someone who is fully qualified needs to train you to the best of their abilities. While most of the Elder''s are unaware of it, your...unique cultivation pathway is one filled with strife, blood, and death. I will not stray you from that path, as it is the best pathway for you to walk."


    Thunderzen had already noticed the cultivation pathway that John would be traversing. There were many pathways cultivators could take while raising their strength, but someone like John, who was bloodthirsty by nature and whose talent would attract the ire of all, could only walk one pathway, the pathway of blood.


    "Your talent and your...attitude will attract the gaze of many, and most of those gazes will be heavenly talents themselves. As such, the only pathway before you is to step over the bodies of countless opponents, or be one of those bodies yourself. There is no other pathway for you," Thunderzen borated to John.


    John nodded his head in agreement with this statement. It was something he had already deduced, as his short year-long cultivation journey had already revealed this much to himself.


    "With this in mind, there is only one person who is fit to truly teach you," Thunderzen finally got to his point.


    "You don''t mean-," John couldn''t help but chime up as someone popped into his mind.


    "Yes. Your new master, who will guide you forward, will be the Vice-Sect Leader," Thunderzen confirmed. "As you are part of her War Hall as well, it only makes the match even more perfect."


    John grumbled out loud, and a wry smile appeared on his face as he thought of that woman. She was quite heavy handed, and had only spelled out bad news for John in the past. Not only that, but she was unanimously regarded as the most violent Elder within the sect, and was quick to temper.


    "Once youplete all you need to do in the short term, you are to report to her for training," Thunderzen instructed.


    John grumbled once more, but didn''t argue. While the Vice-Sect Leader was heavy handed, her strength was the real deal. Other than the Sect Leader, she was the strongest Elder within the Sect, as was most likely the only one capable of truly teaching John.


    "Now, I have some questions for you, Sect Leader," John suddenly asked in a casual tone, causing an amused look to appear on Thunderzen''s face.


    "Oh, and what would those questions be?" He asked. Thunderzen was usually treated with rigid respect, and had gotten tired of that. Only the Vice Sect Leader treated him casually, and now John was added to that mix. Thunderzen found it quite refreshing, especiallying from a disciple.


    "First off, what, and where, is the Divine Martial Continent?" John asked, getting straight to the thing he was most curious about. The girl he met had revealed thesends to him, and his curiosity needed to be satiated.


    "The Divine Martial Continent? I suppose it''s time you learn about it after all," Thunderzen replied with a smile on his face.

 Chapter 274 - Further Discussion

    John perked up upon hearing the Sect Leader''s response. He leaned slightly forward in his chair, eager to learn about the world atrge.


    "Let''s see. The best way to describe the Divine Martial Continent¡­I suppose I should start with this world first, Thunderzen mused. "This world is farrger than you could imagine, and contains dozens and dozens of continents simr in size to the Yuan Continent," Thunderzen exined.


    John''s eyes opened wide in shock upon hearing this. He had thought the Yuan Continent to be quite amazing, but it seemed it was just one of many in this world.


    Thunderzen noticed John''s shocked reaction, and an amused smile appeared on his face. "Not only are there dozens of these continents, there are also many types of races in this world," Thunderzen continued.


    "Many types of races?" John asked curiously.


    "Yes," Thunderzen nodded his head in confirmation. "Many, many types of races. Humans are not the only sentient species on this, and are definitely not the only race of cultivators either," Thunderzen replied.


    Once again, John''s face was filled with surprise. He had only known of the human race thus far, and did not know that other races existed in this world.


    John wanted to ask about how many there were, and what they looked like, but he reigned in his curiosity and let Thunderzen continue his exnation.


    "Anyways, many of these continents are inhabited by a single race when they im dominion over it. Most of the time, the various races tend to keep to themselves, and prefer not to mingle with the others too much. The only exception to that, is the Divine Martial Continent," Thunderzen exined.


    "Oh? And why is that?" John couldn''t help but curiously ask.


    "Because as the name suggests, it''s truly a divine ce for cultivation. The Divine Martial Continent has several advantages over the rest of the world. It naturally has the most dense Qi, which speeds up cultivation for all those who live in thosends. Not only that, but it also has the most ancient inheritance opportunities, and is also by far thergest continent on this world. Every few years, a new area or inheritance is discovered, further raising the importance of thend as time goes on. Compared to it, the Yuan Continent is just an insignificantnd," Thunderzen continued.


    John listened intently, bing more and more interested as the description went on. After Thunderzen finished, John sat there in silence for some time, gathering his thoughts.


    "Sect Leader, if that ce is so amazing, then why are you here? And why is our Sect here? Wouldn''t it be beneficial to make a sect in the Divine Martial Continent instead?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    The Sect Leader''s power was immense, and John was sure he would be able to do something, even a ce as amazing as the Divine Martial Continent.


    Thunderzen chuckled lightly before responding. "A good question. A question in which I must follow up with one of my own," Thunderzen replied. "When you think of our Elders, what do you think of their cultivations?"


    John was confused by the seemingly unrted question the Sect Leader had just asked, but he decided to y along regardless.


    "The Elder''s all appear to be in the Meridian Forging or Heaven Tribtion Realm, which is incredible...However," John paused for a moment, thinking of how to word his next statement. "However, when I truly think about it, their cultivations still seems to be quite low," John replied.


    He had not realized it before, but now that he was in the Late Core Formation Realm, John did find it quite curious regarding the Elder''s cultivation levels. Most of the Elders were in the Meridian Forging Realm, which was a realm John would reach in the next few months.


    John was only sixteen now, having just turned so recently, yet he was about to reach the cultivation levels of the Elders. He was not alone either, as several of the Direct Disciples would reach that realm within the next year as well.


    Not only that, but from what John learned of the second and third year disciples, their cultivations were far less impressivepared to their age whenpared to the first year ss, further confusing John.


    "You''re absolutely correct," Thunderzen replied. "And there''s a good reason for that. The most talented of our disciples, at the end of their first years here, are allowed to be members of the True Heavenly Lightning Sect," Thunderzen continued.


    John tilted his head to the side slightly at Thunderzen''s statement, but quickly caught on.


    "Does that mean, there''s a main Heavenly Lightning Sect on the Divine Martial Continent, and this is just a branch sect?" John asked.


    Thunderzen smiled once more. "That is correct. This sect of ours is just a branch sect to the main Heavenly Lightning Sect, which exists on the Divine Martial Continent. Every year, the main Sect allows those from the branch sects to travel to it for the annual entrance exams. If you are deemed worthy of the main sect, you are allowed to join it. Otherwise, you are removed back to the branch sect from where you came," Thunderzen exined.


    John finally understood the reason for the strange power discrepancies he saw between the first years, the other years, and the Elder''s themselves.


    "So, when is the next entrance exam for the main sect?" John asked curiously.


    "The selection will happen in six months. When the new entrance exams for our branch sect arepleted, that is when the journey to the Divine Martial Continent happens," Thunderzen replied.


    John nodded his head in understanding, as that made sense. He wanted to ask more about the Divine Martial Continent, but that was something he would find out about eventually. He had more pressing matters to take care of. He decided to take advantage of this time with the Sect Leader to ask about other things.


    "Sect Leader, I have two thing''s I''d like to ask if you," John chimed up.


    "Oh? Ask away," Thunderzen replied with his warm smile ever present on his face.


    John cleared his throat before continuing. "In the ancient temple trials, I obtained the battle axe you saw me use against Hunter. However, I do not have a battle axe battle art, which greatly hinders mybat prowess. Do you know where I could obtain a good battle art for it?" John asked.


    "Battle Axe Battle Art huh? We have quite a few of those in the sect''s martial library, but they are not our forte, and so they are quite mediocre I''m afraid," Thunderzen replied, causing John''s mood to slightly sour.


    "However," Thunderzen continued, causing John to perk up once more. "There is a ce that specializes in heavy weaponry battle arts, and have one of the most profound battle axe battle arts in thend," Thunderzen exined.


    "What ce is that?" John asked, his voice filled with anticipation.


    "The Supreme Battle Sect," Thunderzen replied.


    "The Supreme Battle Sect?" John replied, disappointment tingeing his voice. "How am I supposed to obtain a battle art from them?" John grumbled.


    "You already have some karma established with them, it would appear. I''m sure something will present itself to you in the near future," Thunderzen replied.


    John was slightly disappointed to hear this, but decided to put it aside for now. He was sure the Supreme Battle Sect would inquire into why he had the Supreme Battle Art in the near future, and so he would have to deal with them soon enough. Maybe during that time, an opportunity would arise.


    ''I''ll just learn one of our sect''s battle arts in the meantime, and figure out something as I go.''


    "And your second question?" Thunderzen asked.


    John snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at Thunderzen. "My second question is, where can I obtain a good scythe? My previous weapon broke, and so I am looking for a new one."


    "A scythe huh?" Thundzen pondered. "Scythes are quite umon, and are harder to make than normal weapons, so they''re hard to find, and when you do find one, they''re usuallycking in quality," Thunderzen exined. John nodded his head in agreement.


    "Our sect has a few scythes, but they''re all mediocre at best. You could have one forged by a weapon master, but that will be quite expensive and time consuming, and none of our weapon masters specialize in scythes, so they will still be wanting in quality once created," Thunderzen continued.


    John frowned at hearing this, but remained silent as he let Thunderzen continue.


    "There is one ce that many of its sect members prefer the scythe, and so there are plenty of high quality scythes, as well as proficient weapons masters to make some if you were to request it. Not only that, but it contains the most profound and valuable scythe in the entire Yuan Continent. However, I''m afraid that ce is out of your reach," Thunderzen said to John.


    "Out of my reach? Why''s that?" John asked curiously.


    "Because, that ce is the Bloodfiend Sect."

 Chapter 275 - Obtaining Beast Blood Essence

    John''s eyes narrowed as he heard the Bloodfiend Sect. If that was the case, then it was truly out of reach. Not only was the Bloodfiend Sect his enemy, it was a ce that practiced taboo cultivation arts. As such, they were an enemy of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and would kill him as soon as they spotted him.


    "Based on what I did to the Bloodfiend Sect in the ancient city, I''m sure I''m one of their must-kill targets at this point," John grumbled out loud. Thunderzen nodded his head in confirmation, as it was the truth.


    John was just about to put the thought aside, when an idea suddenly popped into his head. An item suddenly appeared in his hands, which Thunderzen closely inspected. His eyebrows raised slightly as he inspected the item, which was quite profound.


    John quickly put on the mask, and thought of Adam. Before Thunderzen''s eyes, John''s face changed into that of Adam''s, until he was basically indistinguishable from him.


    "What do you have here?" Thunderzen mused out loud as he inspected John.


    "It''s something I found in the rings of the Blood Emperor. It must be a mask he found in the ancient city, and it disguises the user," John exined. "Sect Leader, how is the disguise? Are you able to see through it?"


    John had a n in mind, but needed to gather some information first.


    Thunderzen continued to inspect John for some time, bing more and more amused with the mask.


    "This mask of yours is quite remarkable," Thunderzen confirmed, causing John''s eyes to light up. "However, I can still see through it," Thunderzen continued.


    John''s face instantly soured as he heard this.


    "However," Thunderzen continued. "Other than me, there''s no one else on this continent that this mask won''t fool."


    John''s face once again lit up upon hearing this. If that was the case, then his idea was still a possibility.


    "This idea of yours is quite reckless," Thunderzen suddenly said to John, snapping him out of his thoughts.


    John gave a wry smile to the Sect Leader, as he knew he had been found out. John gave the Sect Leader a shrug, but said nothing.


    "However, that mask of yours might be quite useful for something I, and the War Hall, has in mind. Report to the War Hall for now, and the Vice-Sect Leader will take care of you. I have some matters to attend to."


    John nodded his head and stood up. He gave the Sect Leader a slight bow of respect, before he left.


    John stepped off the balcony and flew to the ground below.


    ''I need to report to the War Hall, but I have some important matters to take care of first.''


    John started walking in a certain direction, eventually stopping in front of a trade hall specialized in beasts and animals. He walked in, and was quickly greeted by an attendant.


    "How can I help you?" the attendant asked in a genial tone.


    "I''m looking to buy beast blood essence," John got straight to the point. He waspletely out of usable beast blood essence, and only had Mist Creation beast blood essence left, which was useless to him.


    "Beast blood essence?" the attendant asked. While the request was a bit unusual, it was not too umon. Alchemists would asionally infuse beast blood essence into their pills to increase its potency, and so the trade hall did have some blood essence separated beforehand.


    "Of course we do," the attendant continued. "What grade would you like? And how much? One jar? One Barrel?."


    "I would like Core Formation and Meridian Forging beast blood essence," John replied. "As for volume...I want everything you have in stock."


    The attendants'' eyes widened considerably by John''s request. He had never heard of such arge need for beast blood essence.


    "Everything? You seem quite young, so perhaps you don''t understand prices much yet, but Meridian Forging creatures are quite pricey, and their blood essence is their most valuable part. All of our stores are far more than you can afford, I''m afraid."


    John frowned at the response, but didn''t argue. "How much?" He asked once more, his tone more firm.


    The attendant noticed John''s serious face, and his amused smile quickly washed away. He cleared his throat ufortably.


    "Ahem, while we would not be able to give you all of it, as it would be unfair to our other customers, the blood essence we can give you would cost roughly one million spirit crystals," the attendant replied.


    As the attendant mentioned, Meridian Forging beast blood essence was quite valuable, and so the price added up quickly.


    "Sold," John replied without pause. "Give me everything you can, the payment is not an issue."


    Johncked blood essence, but did notck spirit crystals. He had received a healthy sum from Pill Emperor Thunderpill, and then had obtained millions upon millions of spirit crystals in the mine he and Adam had discovered.


    While the price was quite hefty, even for him, it would solve the blood essence reserve issues he had for a long time, and ensured he wouldn''t run out like he did in the Divine Trial.


    The attendant stared at John curiously, wondering who he was exactly. Unlike the rest of the sect, the trade halls had yet to learn about John''s status, as they only cared for trade and nothing else.


    The attendant excused himself for a moment, and retreated into the back storage area. After some time, he returned to the main lobby.


    "Sir, please inspect this ring and see if it is to your liking," the attendant said to John while respectfully handing the ring to him.


    John took the ring and quickly inspected it. There were dozens of barrels full of beast blood essence, all in the Core Formation or Meridian Forging realm.


    John''s eyes lit up as he saw this. When he collected beast blood essence, he normally only had a few barrels worth. Not only that, but they were normally at or below his cultivation realm, diminishing the effects further.


    ''Meridian Forging blood essence is a bit too potent for me to absorb straight, but if I mix all this blood together in my blood pool, it will form the perfect blend of blood essence for me!''


    "This is perfect. How much?" John asked.


    "That will be nine hundred and twenty thousand spirit crystals," the man replied.


    John quickly divided that sum of spirit crystals into a separate spatial ring before he handed it to the attendant. The attendant quickly inspected it, and tion appeared on his face. He would get amission of this sale, and so he was happy that John actually had the sums of money he imed to have.


    "Is there anything else I can help you with?" the attendant asked, his tone much more friendly.


    "That''s all, thanks," John replied as he turned around and left.


    ''That solves the beast blood essence issue, so my body Qi reserves should be more than good for a long time. What should I do next?''


    John thought about it for a moment before an idea came to mind and a smile appeared on his face.


    "I suppose I''ll pay my old friend a quick visit."

 Chapter 276 - Returning To The War Hall

    ¡­


    Knock! Knock!


    "Who dares disturb me during my alchemy session?" an angry voice echoed through the door John was knocking on.


    Bang!


    The door was flung open violently, revealing a fuming middle aged man. The man was just about to start yelling, when he noticed who it was.


    "You! What are you doing here?" Pill Emperor Thunderpill asked with a vexed voice.


    "What am I doing here? You should know that already. I want you to make a pill for me," John replied as he strode past the Pill Emperor and into his alchemy chambers.


    "You can''t just waltz in as you please," Thunderpill rebuked angrily as he turned to look at John.


    "Of course I can. Now, is there anything you can do with this?" John asked as a blood red fruit suddenly appeared in the air before him.


    Thunderpill was about to reply angrily, but his eyes suddenly locked on to the fruit hovering before John. He quickly dashed forward, and stood directly before it, inspecting it closely.


    "Do you know what this?" John asked curiously. He had eaten one of the fruits back in the ancientnds, when he had plucked them from the fruit that had grown out of therge skull. The fruit had greatly improved the constitution of his body, and so he was hoping that Thunderpill could do something with thest remaining one


    Thunderpill continued to inspect the pill for some time, his face bing more and more excited, before replying.


    "I have absolutely no idea what this fruit is, as I''ve never seen it before or even read about it. But I can tell it is an absolutely amazing fruit. How much do you want for it?" Thunderpill asked, his voice eager.


    "I don''t want anything for it," John frowned as he replied. "I want you to turn it into a pill for me to eat, hopefully to boost my body''s constitution."


    Thunderpill frowned for a moment, but didn''t argue against John. Their agreement was clear, and he had to make John whatever pill he wanted.


    "Fine. As long as I get to improve my alchemy, I''m fine with making this pill for you," Thunderpill replied. He would definitely take any opportunity to work with new ingredients, as such a thing was rare at his level of expertise.


    "Also, is there anything you can do with these?" John asked, as several orangish fruits hovered before him.


    "Nascent Yang Fruits!" Thunderpill replied, slightly shocked.


    Although he recognized the fruits, they were quite rare, and incredibly valuable.


    "I want you to use these fruits to make pills that will improve my strength. Can you do that?" John asked.


    "Can I do that?" Thunderpill replied with a displeased tone. "Of course I can. I didn''t achieve my rank of Pill Emperor for nothing!"


    Thunderpill quickly gathered the fruits carefully, making sure to keep them intact. He rushed towards his cauldron, and took out severalrge pieces of paper from a side drawer. An ink quill appeared in his hands, as he began to write formtions and theories regarding the pills he would create.


    "Ah," Thunderpill suddenly remembered John. He looked over his shoulder and tossed an object to John.


    "This is a sound transmission disk. It already has my sound transmission signature recorded in it, and so I will use it to contact you when your pills are ready," Thunderpill exined.


    John inspected the disk for a moment before putting it away. He was going to get one of these in the near future, but Thunderpill''s generous gift would not go unreceived.


    John strode out of the Pill Hall, and stood before the building for a short while, thinking of what to do next. He quickly made up his mind, and strode to the martial library, at which point he picked out one of the battle axe battle arts, the Sky Sundering Axe!


    While the battle art was not too profound, and left John wanting a bit more, he did notin. It was the best battle art he could find at the moment for his battle axe, and it would boost hisbat power quite significantly.


    John also picked up the Meridian Forging portions of the Heavenly Lightning Domain and Lightning Ruin, as he would soon enter that cultivation tier and wanted to be prepared beforehand.


    After visiting the library, John visited a weapon trade hall, and picked up a scythe. It was a high Core Formation grade scythe, and was decent, but nothing too spectacr. Compared to his battle axe, it was quitecking.


    "Is there anything else I need to do?" John mused as he stood outside once more. His mind raced through everything he needed, and could not think of anything else.


    "I guess I''ll head over to the War Hall now," John grumbled as he began to walk.


    After leisurely strolling through the sect, John arrived at the War Hall quite some timeter. Wearing the signature robes of the War Hall, John was not stopped by the guards, and was allowed to enter its grounds unhindered.


    "John?" A voice sounded out behind John, causing him to quickly turn around.


    "Elder Thame, it''s been a while," John replied with a smile on his face. Elder Thame was the Elder who had first greeted him when he had joined the War Hall, and had guided him through it.


    "John, where have you been?" Elder Thame asked in a hurried voice. His demeanor instantly told John that something was off.


    "I-" John replied, but was cut off by Elder Thame.


    "The Vice-Sect Leader had been expecting your arrival for nearly half a day now. Where have you been? Ah, nevermind, get out of here and let her cool down before she finds yo-"


    Boom!


    Elder Thame''s words were cut off by a sudden explosion of earth before him, as a pained cry echoed out from within. Dust and dirt was kicked up, and the ground shattered, forming a crater before the Elder.


    Elder Thame''s face turned into one of pity, as he stared down into the pit before him. The fading dirt and dust revealed John, lying painfully and miserably on his stomach as a foot pressed onto his back from above.


    "You dare have the gall to keep me waiting" the voice of the Vice Sect Leader sounded out, as her foot dug deeper and deeper into John''s back. "It seems you don''t ce me highly in your eyes. Don''t worry, we''ll fix that vision of yours quite quickly."

 Chapter 277 - Beatdown

    Curses sounded out from beneath the Vice Sect Leaders feet, as she continuously dug her heels into John''s back. Despite his incredibly powerful body, he was still feeling pain, and so he couldn''t help but curse out.


    "Motherfu-, get off me!" John cursed out in rage. He was still unsure exactly what was going on, as one moment he was standing just fine, and then next he was mmed into the ground.


    He had heard some wordse from the person on top of him, but couldn''t make them out due to the sound of debris falling back to the ground. As such, he had no idea it was the Vice-Sect Leader herself standing on top of him.


    Boom!


    John''s aura exploded out powerfully as he attempted to fling whoever was on his back off. The Vice-Sect Leaders eyes widened slightly, in surprise at John''s durability, and also guts to defy her so. She had expected him to be incapacitated from her previous blow, but he seemed to bepletely fine.


    A small smile crept up on the face of the Vice-Sect Leader, sending chills up the spine of Elder Thame who saw it. Everyone knew that such a smile was only bad news.


    Bang!


    The Vice-Sect leader mmed her foot into John''s back once more, pressing his face deeper into the earth. John groaned out in pain, as this blow was even stronger than the first.


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    John couldn''t turn around to attack whoever was on top of him, as he was pinned down on his stomach. He instantly activated his Heavenly Lightning Domain, and thirty six lighting nodes sprung into existence.


    Twelve lightning nodes immediately lit up, mming lightning strikes onto his assant. Now that John was in the Late Core Formation Realm, his lightning node count went up even further, and he was able to unleash much stronger domain attacks.


    The Vice-Sect Leaders eyes lit up once more, as she noticed how many nodes John was able to use. Those in thete Core Formation Realm could normally only use four nodes, but John had tripled that count due to his incredible essence dantian.


    Lightning continued to m down powerfully on the Vice-Sect Leader, but she stood there unflinchingly as if it was a light rain. Her foot mmed down onto John once more, even more powerful than the previous attack.


    "Gah!"


    John couldn''t help but moan out in pain, as the foot mmed onto his back. The creaking sounds of bones reaching their breaking point echoed out, as more and more force was ced into her back.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John instantly increased his power with his Supreme Battle Art. He raised his arm and punched the earth below him, easily smashing a deeper hole in the earth beneath him.


    This hole was all John needed to slip downwards and free of the foot on his back, and he took the opportunity instantly. His body finally broke free, and he immediately stood up and backed away from his assant. He quickly spun around and was just about to dash forward, axe in hand, when he finally stopped.


    His eyes went slightly wide as he finally noticed who it was that hadnded on him. The Vice-Sect Leader stood there with a smug smile on her face as she stared at John.


    "Come now, you''re not going to stop no-"


    Che!


    The Vice-Sect Leaders words cut off as she looked at the powerful battle art flying towards her. Her small smile became evenrger as John''s attack reached her in an instant.


    Boom!


    John''s sudden attacknded directly on the Vice-Sect Leader, bathing her in a powerful battle axe battle art. John stared at the spot that he had attacked the Vice-Sect Leader, his face slightly grave.


    ''I probably just fucked up hard by attacking the Vice-Sect Leader, but I won''t allow someone to step on me like that and not retaliate.''


    Ever since he had retreated from Hunter and felt his dantian reject him, John had developed a slight personality shift. He had be more bloodthirsty, as well as more prideful. As such, he would not allow anyone to step on him in such a manner, no matter who they were.


    "Hahaha,"ughter began to sound out from within the fading explosion, as the Vice-Sect Leader''s figure once again began toe back into view.


    Her eyes locked onto John, a mix of amusement and joy seen within them.


    "To think that after yourst punishment, you still dare to attac-"


    "Shut up," John yelled in response, cutting the sect leader off. His axe, surrounded by three profound Dao''s, unleashed yet another Sky Sundering Axe towards the Vice-Sect Leader. "I won''t forgive anyone who steps on me like that, regardless of the punishment."


    Boom!


    The Sky Sundering Axe battle art once againnded on the Vice-Sect Leader, causing a rain of earth to radiate outwards as a small crater was created beneath her feet.


    Elder Thame, still standing to the side, stood there in stunned silence at the scene ying out before him.


    "Hahaha," theughter, even louder and more amused this time, echoed out once again. John was just about to send a third attack forward, when his throat was suddenly caught in a hand, and his body lifted off the ground.


    His surprised face quickly turned grave, as he stared at the Vice-Sect Leader with narrowed eyes, who now held his throat in her hands.


    Her fingers gripped down powerfully on his neck, not giving him any opportunity to break free. Arge smile hung on her face as she stared intently at John, as if she had just found something amusing to y with.


    "You have guts, which is rare, even within the War Hall. However," her voice trailed off as her eyes stared at John like a hawk, sending a shiver up his spine.


    Boom!


    John suddenly found himself mmed into the earth, his neck still held tight by the Vice-Sect Leader. The earth shattered beneath his body, as a wave of pain radiated throughout his entire body.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The loud explosions had attracted a small crowd by this time, who had shown up just in time to see a boy, held by his neck, be repeatedly mmed into the earth by the Vice-Sect Leader. Each m waspletely brutal, and would cause everyone in the crowd to wince as each blow shattered the ground with its force.


    Loud booms continued to echo for some time, as John''s body was mmed non-stop into the earth. Arge crater, nearly a hundred yards wide, had formed by this time, as each m would erge the crater further.


    Boom!


    One final boom echoed out as John''s body, already bloodied and bruised, was thrown to the ground by the Vice-Sect Leader.


    Johnid there motionlessly, as if he was dead. The Vice-Sect Leader looked at him for a moment before turning around and beginning to walk off.


    "Elder Thame, take him to the infirmary and heal him up. Then tell him to find me."


    Elder Thame nodded his head in confirmation as he watched the Vice-Sect Leader leave the battle-scarred area. He looked back to John, and shook his head, in both questioning and pity.


    Elder Thame walked over to John, ready to carry him to the infirmary, when a voice sounded out before him.


    "Is that crazy wench finally gone?"


    "Keep your voice down," Elder Thame cried out as he looked at John below. John waspletely covered in blood, and looked like he was half dead. However, his expression was rather calm,pletely shocking the Elder.


    The Elder had expected him to be unconscious, and in need of immediate medical assistance, but his tone signified otherwise.


    "She''s gone," Elder Thame confirmed.


    "Phew, finally. I thought that woman was actually going to kill me," John replied as he slowly stood up.


    His beating had been incredibly brutal and painful, as the Vice-Sect Leader seemed to havepensated for his powerful body by increasing the force she put into her attacks. She made her attacks powerful enough to incapacitate any Late Core Formation cultivator.


    However, John hadpletely unlocked his Limiter of Pain, massively increasing his body durability. Not only that, but he had also increased his durability in the Divine Trials, by taking the attacks of the temple creature head on. At his current state, his durability was far beyond anyone would ever expect a Core Formation youth capable of.


    While he was definitely hurt, it was nothing that John could not withstand or deal with.


    Elder Thame stared at John in surprise as he casually brushed the dirt off his robe. A small smile crept up on John''s face as he looked at the Elder.


    "Don''t tell the Vice-Sect Leader of this. I don''t want to catch another beating."


    Elder Thame sat there silently for some time before shaking his head in disbelief at John''s antics. He walked up and patted him on the back.


    "Come, we must at least make a show of going to the infirmary, or the Vice-Sect Leader will return to give you another beating if she found out you were faking your injuries."


    John nodded his head and followed behind Elder Thame as they both walked towards the infirmary in the War Hall.


    Meanwhile, high above at the top of the War Hall Pce, a pair of eyes, framed by bright blue hair, stared down at John, as a smile crept up on her face.

 Chapter 278 - Meeting The Vice-Sect Leader

    John followed Elder Thame to the infirmary hall, which was quiterge. The hall spread hundreds of yards wide and long, and contained thousands of infirmary stations, which treated the most gravely injured sect members.


    Several hundred of the beds were upied, each victim showing gruesome wounds, causing John to raise his eyebrows slightly.


    "What happened here?" John asked curiously.


    Elder Thame looked around the room for a moment before responding.


    "Many of them were injured by trivial things, like fighting against strong beasts they couldn''t handle. However, about half of them were injured by the taboo sects, namely the Bloodfiend Sect and its allies," Elder Thame exined.


    "Bloodfiend Sect? Are we at war with them?" John asked. He had not heard of such a thing.


    "No, we are not. But many of these members were scouts that attempted to gather intel inside the taboo sects territory. They were discovered, and hunted down. These are just the ones that made it out. The others¡­" Elder Thames'' voice trailed off.


    John stared at the wounded with some pity in his eyes. His thoughts trailed back to the taboo sect boy he had fought and killed when joining the War Hall.


    ''It seems like both sides show no mercy when discovering those of the opposite side in their territory.''


    "While there is no war, that doesn''t mean each side will allow their territory to be walked over. Just like the Bloodfiend Sect and its allies kill our sect members when discovered in theirnds, we do the same to any taboo art cultivators we find in ours," Elder Thame continued.


    John nodded his head in understanding, as he had already seen such things in action.


    "Here," Elder Thame suddenly tossed John a round object, which he caught. It was a medicinal pill, and one of pretty decent quality.


    "Your wounds aren''t too bad, but this pill should take care of them."


    John quickly swallowed the pill, and felt the medicinal properties swell throughout his body. Slowly but surely, the wounds on his body began to heal.


    "It should be a few hours before you''re healed up. Just stay here for a while to give credibility to your lie, before you make your way to the Vice-Sect Leader," Elder Thame said to John.


    John hopped on an infirmary bed andid down. He decided to rest for a few hours, as such a thing was a luxury to him.


    Several hourster, Elder Thame returned, and instructed John to follow him. The two walked out of the infirmary hall and across the War Hall grounds, heading straight towards the massive War Hall Pce that towered over all the other buildings.


    There were many guards stationed within the War Hall, and John could see hundreds of sparring sessions and other training going on in the grounds they crossed.


    John quickly arrived before the War Hall Pce, and entered therge gate at the base of the pce. He followed Elder Thame to the staircase and up it, climbing nearly a thousand yards up before they finally arrived on the top floor.


    The staircase led to arge, expansive hallway, and arge door, detailed with ominous designs. Two guards, both in the Late Meridian Forging Realm, were stationed outside, ensuring the Vice-Sect Leader was not disturbed without reason.


    "Elder Thame, please proceed. The Vice-Sect Leader is expecting you," one of the guards spoke out upon noticing their arrival.


    Elder Thame nodded his head and strode forward, through therge door that seemed to open on their own as they approached. John followed closely behind, taking in all the sights of the War Hall Pce.


    Unlike the Heavenly Lightning Pce, which was grandiose and bright in its design, the War Hall Pce was much darker, and much more grim.


    Upon passing through the doors, John found himself standing in a massive chamber, quite simr to the one in the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    There was arge open area, with a small wide staircase leading to an elevated throne. The throne was ck and red in color, the colors of the War Hall. Hundreds of spikes jutted out of the back and sides of the throne, making it look quite ominous.


    The Vice-Sect Leader sat on the throne, looking quite out of ce on it. Her frame was rtively slim, and her face attractive, while her bright blue hair contrasted against the ck and red throne she sat on.


    However, her hawk-like eyes and cold demeanor gave her a powerful presence, which at the same time made it feel natural for her to sit on that throne.


    "Vice-Sect Leader," Elder Thame spoke out and bowed his head slightly. "I have brought John."


    "You may leave us," The Vice-Sect Leader spoke up.


    Elder Thame turned to John and gave him a pat on his shoulders, as if tofort him, before he strode out of the room. Therge door closed after his departure, leaving only John and the Vice-Sect Leader alone in the chamber.


    John stood there in silence while he stared at the Vice-Sect Leader, his face expressionless. However, while he did not want to admit it, he had developed an instinctual fear when he saw her, as every encounter he had with her had ended in his miserable and painful defeat.


    The Vice-Sect Leader stared back at him, inspecting his body.


    "I see your wounds have healed up quite nicely," she said to John. "Too nicely, almost as if you faked your injuries before," she continued.


    John''s face remained expressionless as he heard this, but internally he grumbled.


    ''Goddamnit, was this old wench watching me? Hopefully she doesn''t start beating me like a maniac again.''


    "Nheless," the Vice-Sect Leader spoke up once more. "That is not the reason you are here. You are here, because the Sect Leader has assigned me to train you, as if you were my disciple. However, do not think for a moment that you are truly my disciple, or that I am your master. You have not earned the privilege yet of calling me master."


    John rolled his eyes as he heard this, an act that did not go unnoticed by the Vice-Sect Leader.


    "Oh? Do you not find this arrangement to your liking?" The Vice-Sect Leader asked, her voice growing slightly frosty.


    John narrowed his eyes as he stared back at her. "You''re acting as if I''m nothing more than a nuisance to you. Since I did not ask for this arrangement, and you do not find it agreeable either, why don''t we just ignore it," John replied, his voice equally frosty.


    He was more than content to go back to Elder Ragur, and receive training from him.


    The Vice-Sect Leader stared at John in silence for some time, her frigid aura chilling both the room and John.


    "Unfortunately, this was amand from the Sect Leader himself, and so it must be carried out," the Vice-Sect Leader finally responded.


    "Now," the Vice-Sect Leader suddenly stood up from her throne and began to walk down the stairs and towards John. "I''d like to get this arrangement over as soon as possible, so that I may go back to my own dealings, so I''ll be training you with my utmost effort, until you reach a satisfactory level, or you die."

 Chapter 279 - Training

    John frowned at these words from the Vice-Sect Leader.


    "Isn''t that a little harsh?" John replied in a grumpy voice. He was liking the Vice-Sect Leader less and less the more he talked to her.


    "On the contrary, this is being done to give you the best chance of survival," the Vice-Sect Leader replied.


    "Best chance at survival? For what?" John asked.


    "You''ll find out eventually, but it involves that little mask of yours," the Vice-Sect Leader replied as she strode past John.


    John turned around and watched her walk towards the doors. "Now follow me. We will begin your training immediately."


    John stared at her back before sighing.


    ''It seems like I''m in for a long, long day.''


    John followed the Vice-Sect Leader out of the room, and through the War Hall Pce before eventually stepping outside.


    They continued to walk for some time, drawing the curious eyes of all they passed by.


    The Vice-Sect Leader suddenly took to the sky, surprising John slightly. He had expected to walk to the martial training area of the War Hall, but it seemed as though the Vice-Sect Leader had other ns.


    He took to the sky as well and quickly followed behind her, flying past several valleys and mountains before the Vice-Sect Leader started tond. John followed, and the twonded on the top of a mountain, several thousand yards tall.


    The top of the mountain had been sheared t, as if cut down by a stroke of a sword.


    "We will train here," the Vice-Sect Leader said to John as she turned around. "The faster you learn, the faster...and less painful your training will be. So do your best to not disappoint me."


    John once again rolled his eyes at her words, but didn''t reply.


    "Before we start working on yourbat prowess, we will work on other things first," the Vice Sect Leader continued. "Many of you youths get caught up with the sole goal of getting stronger. However, once you run into a single hurdle in battle, you crumble. As such, we will work on those hurdles first, to make sure they do not hinder yourbat prowess when your life is on the line."


    "What hurdles?" John asked, his curiosity slightly piqued.


    "There are several, but the first hurdle we will start with...is pain."


    As soon as the words left her mouth, the Vice-Sect Leader raised her hand and waved it at John. Lightning instantly snaked out of her hand with incredible power and mmed onto John, catching him off guard.


    John was knocked back several dozen yards before he managed to stabilize himself.


    "If you cannot tolerate pain, then any injury in a life or death battle could be the end of you," the Vice-Sect Leader said to John in a raised voice, her voice fighting against the loud sounds of lightning mming against John.


    After recovering his bnce, John stood there as the lightning washed over him. With his Lightning Attribute Body and Celestial Lightning Script, John was able to ignore this level of lightning, as it felt like a breeze to him.


    His expressionless face stared back at the Vice-Sect Leader, causing her eyebrows to raise slightly in surprise. Her face quickly returned to normal.


    "Ah, that''s right. I forgot you had a Lightning Attribute Body," she stated out loud while shaking her head at herself. "I could increase the power of my lightning to overwhelm you, but that wouldn''t be the best avenue. In that case¡­"


    The lightning suddenly ceased, and a round object appeared in the Vice-Sect Leader''s hands. She threw it into the air above John, at which point formation runes started to glow on its surface.


    Boom!


    John instantly felt an incredible power wash down on him, locking him in ce. He instantly recognized the item, as it was the item used in the entrance exams Trial of Pain. However, the setting seemed to be greatly increasedpared tost time.


    John stood there in silence, feeling the strange energy wash over him, wracking his body with pain. However,pared to the other things he had experienced in his life, this was almost trivial.


    "We will continue with this training until you can withstand this setting for ten minutes."


    John looked back towards the Vice-Sect Leader with bored eyes, as if this was a joke to him.


    "Is this really what you consider pain?" John asked with an unamused voice.


    "Oh?" The Vice-Sect Leaders face lit up with surprise as well as amusement as she stared at John. "Not bad. But if you want to speak like that, then I''ll be more than obliged to cooperate."


    The pressure on John instantly increased, as well as the pain he was feeling. John felt the pain radiate throughout his body, wracking every inch of his body with excruciating pain. This pain was enough to drive any Core Formation cultivator mad, and would even drive many Meridian Forging cultivators to the brink.


    However, John still stood there calmly, as if such a thing was beneath reacting to.


    Surprise once again appeared on the face of the Vice-Sect Leader.


    When one advanced in cultivation, their will and tolerance for pain would naturally improve. As such, the device she was currently using had many settings for different cultivation levels, and she was currently using the Meridian Forging setting.


    At this level, more than half of Meridian Forging cultivators would crumple beneath the pain, but John stood there with a rxed expression.


    "It seems I looked down on you a bit too much," the Vice-Sect Leader spoke up. "However, since you''re so confident in your ability to withstand pain, let''s see how incredible it truly is."


    John frowned, and his frown quickly turned to a grimace as he felt the pain instantly increase several fold. Despite his incredible pain tolerance, he was beginning to be pushed to his limits. He grit his teeth as he struggled against the pain, doing his best to withstand it.


    He felt as if every inch of his body was being yed off and seared. His bones felt like they were breaking within his body, while his mind felt like it was about to explode from within.


    Small groans of pain escaped John''s lips, but he remained standing tall. Seconds felt like hours to him, and he was just about to reach his limit when the energy, and thus the pain, faded away.


    "Not bad. You''ve truly exceeded my expectations," the Vice-Sect Leader chimed up.


    Heavy breaths escaped John''s mouth as he leaned over, doing his best to catch his breath.


    "However, pain is not the only thing you need to be able to resist inbat. One must have good mental defenses alongside their physical defenses. As such¡­"


    The item above John started emitting a strange energy once again, and John instantly felt his mind be assaulted. In a simr fashion to the murmurs he felt when he cultivated in front of the sinister gate, John felt his mind tugged on, as if it was stretched and squeezed.


    The strange energy attempted to find a crack in his will and drive him mad. However, John once again scoffed at the training.


    "Let''s just get started with thebat training," John said, his facepletely expressionless. "This is useless for me."


    Surprise and amusement once again appeared on the Vice-Sect Leaders face. She knew John was strong, and a prodigious genius at that, due to his battle with Hunter. However, she did not care much for such things, as plenty of prodigious geniuses failed and died due to their hubris and weak wills.


    However, John''s disys today were far beyond her expectations, and were quite to her liking. He disyed incredible pain tolerance, as well as an incredibly firm will, which were two things the Vice-Sect Leader valued highly. Not only that, but his bold and brash attitude in dealing with her before was also to her liking, once more raising her opinion of him.


    She had expected the pain training and will training to take several weeks to get John to an eptable level, but he showed that he was already at levels she deemed eptable and more.


    A smile appeared on her face as she stared at John.


    "Maybe you are worth training after all."

 Chapter 280 - Wooden Stick

    "Take out your weapon," the Vice-Sect Leader instructed. Against her expectations, John had passed the initial training agendas she had in ce, and had even exceeded them.


    John followed the instructions, and his battle axe appeared in his hands.


    He could choose between the battle axe or the scythe, but decided to use the axe. While his Divine Reaping Scythe was his most powerful and profound essence attack, he only had the first three stages to it. Thest stage he had was for Core Formation attacks, and so it would soon be obsolete unless he found the additional stages somehow.


    As such, John wanted to get as powerful with the battle axe as he could, as he had already started to infuse three Dao''s into it. While he could infuse the Dao of Annihtion into his scythe attacks, as they would mesh incredibly well, the Dao of Power and the Dao of Destruction did not mesh well with a scythe.


    With this in mind, his battle axe was his highest priority right now.


    John stood there, battle axe in hand, as he awaited further instruction from the Vice-Sect Leader.


    The Vice-Sect Leader stood there and closely inspected John. She nodded her head in approval.


    "You have quite a formidable battle intent. I can tell you''ve been through many life and death battles so far in your cultivation journey," the Vice-Sect Leader said to John, his voice tinged with approval.


    "Now, I want you to attack me with your utmost ability."


    John''s ears perked up at hearing this. He would take any opportunity to attack the woman before him.


    His battle axe was steadied at his side, while John took a moment to calm himself and entered a focused state. Lightning immediately coated his legs, and he quickly dashed forward.


    Thundersh Ste-


    Bang!


    A simple wooden stick suddenly struck John on the side of the head, and his body wasunched sideways, tumbling over the mountaintop for several dozen yards beforeing to a stop.


    He quickly stood up while rubbing his aching cheek.


    "What the fuck was that for?" John yelled out towards the Vice-Sect Leader.


    Just as he had started his attack, the Vice-Sect Leader appeared before him, and pped him in the face with a simple wooden stick. However, the power behind the attack was immense, and it sent John flying with ease.


    "I never said I wouldn''t strike back," the Vice-Sect Leader replied. "Besides, with the way you telegraphed your movements, even someone weaker than you would have been able to do the same thing just now."


    "What are you talking about? How did I telegraph my moves?" John asked in a disgruntled tone.


    "Figure it out yourself, but for this training, every time you telegraph your move to me too early, the same thing will happen. Again."


    John frowned upon hearing this, but assumed his attacking stance once more. His mind calmed down, and he focused on the Vice-Sect Leaders words.


    ''Maybe the Thundersh Steps gave it away, lets try it with only using my body speed, amplified by my unlocked Limiter of Speed. Lets go!''


    Bang!


    John once again found himself pped by the wooden stick as soon as he started moving. His body was once again thrown to the side, tumbling in the dirt before righting himself.


    "What the hell! You''re just using your superior cultivation to do this shit. There''s no way I telegraphed my movements there," John yelled out at the Vice-Sect Leader.


    "Oh? Is that so?" An amused look appeared on the Vice-Sect Leaders face as she listened to John''s outburst.


    "Fine. I''ll limit my cultivation to the Late Core Formation Realm. Try it again," she replied.


    John felt the Vice-Sect Leaders cultivation be forcefully restricted to the Late Core Formation Realm. While her instincts and battle arts would still be amazing, the amount of power and speed she could explode out with was limited now, and would restrict her to the Core Formation Realm.


    John smiled as he saw this.


    ''I don''t believe her lies. There''s no way she can do this in the same realm as me.''


    John instantly dashed forward, attempting to catch the Vice-Sect Leader off guard. However, his eyes widened as the Vice-Sect Leader appeared directly before him in an instant. Her expressionless eyes stared at him, while her hand travelled in a graceful arc towards his face.


    Bang!


    The wooden stick once again found John''s face, knocking him back several yards. However, since the Vice-Sect Leaders power was restricted, the blow was much less severe.


    John instantly turned around and stared at the Vice-Sect Leader, unsure of what had just happened.


    ''Her movement speed was not anything a Late Core Formation cultivator couldn''t do, but she appeared before me, before I could react, andnded that blow. Maybe my movements are too obvious. Let''s change it up a bit.''


    John once again dashed towards the Vice-Sect Leader. She appeared before him once more, and John internally scoffed as he saw her hand with the wooden stick start to swing towards him.


    ''Too obvious!''


    John ducked down at thest moment, intending to duck under the stick andnd an attack from below. His axe began to swing out with a low arc, slicing up towards the Vice-Sect Leader''s waist.


    Bang!


    A loud sound echoed out as John was once again knocked backwards. A thin red line appeared on his face, indicating that he had once again been struck. He looked back towards the Vice-Sect Leader, unsure of what had happened.


    His movements had been extremely well timed, and he thought he would be able to get away with his schemes.


    ''Just what the hell is going on?''


    The Vice-Sect Leader''s movements were not all that quick, and were most definitely something a Core Formation Cultivator was capable of, but still John was not able to dodge her attacks.


    "Again," the Vice-Sect Leadermanded.


    John grit his teeth as he once again dashed towards her.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The sound of wood hitting face continuously rang out on the mountaintop for many many hours, as John was flung backwards over and over. His face was now red and slightly welted from the amount of face attacks he had taken.


    ''How the hell can the Vice-Sect Leader keep up with me, despite being slower than me? Also, I can''t seem to dodge her attacks either.''


    John wracked his mind for solutions, and came up with a few as he once again dashed towards the Vice-Sect Leader.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The next few hours yed out the same as before, with John being made a fool by the Vice-Sect Leader. John''s face was almost unrecognizable by now, and his anger was reaching its boiling point.


    Despite asking many times, the Vice-Sect Leader refused to borate how she was able to predict his movements so easily.


    ''Motherfucker. I''ll hit this old wench if it''s thest thing I do!''


    John''s anger reached an absolute peak, but he did his best to suppress it.


    John suddenly sat down and entered a meditative position, calming his mind andpletely forgetting about the Vice Sect Leader. The Vice-Sect Leaders eyebrows raised slightly at his actions, but she decided not to disturb them.


    ''Calm down! Calm down! I can''t do anything to her if I''m wearing my emotions on my sleeve. Let''s think. What could she possibly be doing....I don''t feel her divine sense on me, so she must be predicting my movements visually. What can she see visually when I attack her. She can see my movements, my angle of attacks, but she reacts to them even before I start them. There has to be something she''s seeing before I start my attacks.''


    John began to think about everything that had happened so far, and for any solutions he could think of. His mind quickly entered a meditative trance as he attuned with his pce realm, increasing hisprehension and learning speeds greatly.


    "Oh? He entered a meditative trance this easily? Quite impressive," The Vice-Sect Leader mused to herself in surprise.


    John continued to y the fights with the Vice-Sect Leader from today, as well as all the fights from his life thus far. Every inch of the battles were analyzed in great detail, looking for any and all clues he could find.


    An hourter, John''s eyes finally opened slowly, his eyes calm and rxed.


    ''So that''s what it was. I can''t believe I was doing such a thing the entire time.''


    John shook his head at himself before slowly standing up. His calm eyes stared at the Vice-Sect Leader who stood before him, and his body quickly seemed to meld away. Despite being visible to the naked eyes, John''s aura hadpletely vanished, making him appear like a mortal. Not only that, but his movements became incredibly rxed, as he slowly began to walk towards the Vice-Sect Leader.


    The Vice-Sect Leader once again raised her eyebrows in surprise, and slight shock as she watched John slowly approach her.


    "Interesting," a smile appeared on her face, and she opened her arms wide as if weing John towards her. "Show me what you''ve got."

 Chapter 281 - Concealing Movements

    In a simr fashion to when John snuck up on the Blood Tiger, he was approaching the Vice-Sect Leader in the same manner.


    Such an approach would never work in true battle, but John was testing out his theory right now.


    ''My aura is a natural extension of myself, in the non-physical form. When I prepared to move a body part, or unleash a battle art, I subconsciously gave away hints in my aura. The aura ring from that limb about to move would slightly increase in preparation, or traces of my battle arts would leak out before I used them.''


    Aftering to this conclusion, John had decided to withdraw his aurapletely into himself. He approached the Vice-Sect Leader slowly, who stood there with an amused expression on her face.


    However, she made no movements, and allowed John to approach.


    Upon reaching within arms distance of the Vice-Sect Leader, John stopped. He stood there in calm silence, staring at the Vice-Sect Leader before him. His expressionless face gave no hints as to what he was thinking about.


    The two of them stared at each other for a short while, before John instantly exploded with his full power. He forsook his battle axe for his fist, as a punch was much faster than using a heavy weapon.


    His fist arced powerfully towards the Vice-Sect Leader''s waist.


    Bang!


    A wooden stick once again mmed across John''s face, knocking him backwards several yards. His calm expression instantly turned into one of agitation.


    "What the hell? I concealed my aura perfectly, how did you know which way I was going to attack from?" John yelled out in consternation. "Did I leak some of my aura?"


    The Vice-Sect Leader smiled at John, finding great enjoyment at his angered reactions, as well as repeatedly hitting him in the face.


    "No, your aura concealment was actually incredibly impressive, and was far beyond what you should be capable of. However, aura is not the only thing I''m reading when predicting your movements,'' the Vice-Sect Leader, giving her first hint to John.


    John frowned upon hearing this.


    ''She''s reading something other than aura?''


    He once again sat down in a meditative position and went into a trance. His mind instantly began to rey all the fights he had been part of throughout his cultivation journey, making sure to go over every detail as much as possible.


    The Vice-Sect Leader watched him once again fall into a trance. She stared at him for a moment before walking off. Hisst meditative session took quite some time, and so she decided to take care of some things in the meantime.


    John continued to sit there for hours, reying his fights.


    ''Something that''s readable, that''s not aura¡­''


    Simr to the first time, by reying all his fights in his head over and over, John slowly but surely started to understand the Vice-Sect Leader''s words.


    ''Is..is she reading my muscle movements? Whenever I attack, I tense certain muscles in anticipation for movement. Is that what shes reading?''


    John didn''t know if such a thing was urate, but it was the only other thing he could think of. It was a subconscious act of all living creatures, to tense their muscles in anticipation for exploding outwards with power.


    However, if one looked carefully enough, they could see the microscopic changes in their opponents body whenever they did so. The slight vibration of a leg preparing to press off the ground, the contracting of the muscles about to be used, the slight shift in posture.


    All these seemingly meaningless things added up to a point where one skillful enough could read them, and as a result, anticipate movements before they happened.


    John''s eyes slowly opened as he came to this realization. However, a frown appeared on his face, as realizing the problem and fixing it were two separate things. The micromovements his body made were subconscious movements, and would take a great deal of time and effort to fix.


    John looked all around him, but was unable to find the Vice-Sect Leader.


    "Did she just leave? Should I just leave?"


    While thinking about leaving, and the potential consequences of such an action, John felt a presence approach him from behind. The presence reminded him of someone, and he quickly turned around.


    "It''s you! But didn''t yo-"


    His words cut off as he saw who it was.


    "It''s me? Who am I supposed to be?" The Vice-Sect Leader asked John. "Have I made you go crazy from all these head blows?"


    John stared at the Vice-Sect Leader in a slightly confused manner. He shook his head at himself after a short while.


    "Maybe," John relied, his voice unsure.


    "Did you figure something out?" The Vice-Sect Leader asked, hoping that he would continue to progress forward. The faster he picked up on her teachings, the sooner she could go back to her personal business.


    "I think so," John replied. However, he was unsure, as he was not sure if he would be able to control those micromovements of his to a level that the Vice-Sect Leader could not read.


    "Oh? Then show me what you''ve learned," the Vice-Sect Leader replied.


    John nodded his head and stood up from his seated position. He took in a deep breath, and once again withdrew his aura within himself. He once again appeared to meld into the world itself, making him appear like a mortal. If one wasn''t looking directly at him, it would be incredibly easy to miss him.


    John once again slowly approached the Vice-Sect Leader until he stood directly before her. He made no moves or sounds, and only focused on himself. He kept his body as rxed as possible, with the intention of making as little movements before his actions as possible.


    The Vice-Sect Leader raised her eyebrows slightly as she noticed what John was attempting. John stood there silently for quite a long time, focusing only on himself and his body.


    Suddenly, and without warning, his fist arced straight towards the Vice-Sect Leader''s waist. Her eyes widened slightly as she noticed it approaching, and sent her hand with the wooden stick out towards John.


    Bang!

 Chapter 282 - Destroying The Mountain

    Wood once again struck John on the face, knocking him backwards once more. John grumbled in pain once more, but he quickly looked back towards the Vice-Sect Leader after regaining his bnce.


    A frown appeared on the Vice-Sect Leader''s face as she stared at John. Her eyes trailed downwards, and stared at her waist. Her spotless white and gold robe now had a small patch of dirt, where John''s fist had barely managed tond in time before being struck himself.


    Her vision trailed back upwards towards John, her face showing slight displeasure.


    "Hey now," John said out loud as he took one step back. "You''re the one who said to hit you, don''t me me for following your instructions."


    His face was feigning panic, but the Vice-Sect Leader could see his true emotions of victory and tion beneath. She scoffed at him.


    "Hmph, not bad. I suppose you''re a quicker learner than I had expected," the Vice-Sect Leader replied. "You''ve realized that not only is your aura a source of trouble, so are your natural body movements. Only by controlling both to their utmost can you make sure your enemies cannot read your moves."


    The Vice-Sect Leader paused for a moment before continuing.


    "Your aura concealment talents are incredible, and will be something we work with in the near future. However, concealing your aura in battle is not a viable option. When aura explodes from your body, it''s because your battle state is at a level that your body can no longer contain within, and so some of your aura naturally escapes. By concealing your aura, you are suppressing yourself to a weaker battle state. This is quite useful for things like assassination arts, where one explosive attack is all you need, but is quite useless for things like drawn out battle," she exined.


    John nodded his head in agreement at her words.


    "As for your natural body movements, they are still there, but are harder to read now that you''re aware of them. You must continue to work on this in the future, and must also learn to read the movements of your opponents. Only when you achieve this will you have the greatest advantage in battle."


    John once again nodded his head in agreement. He had never read his opponents moves, as he was unaware of such a thing. Now however, he would be on the lookout for any and all avenues he could exploit for an advantage in battle.


    While thinking of this, John suddenly noticed the expression on the Vice-Sect Leader''s face darken. She stared at the dirty patch on her robe, before once again looking up at John.


    "However, this¡­"


    John suddenly lost sight of the Vice-Sect Leader, and a powerful force crashed into his back from behind. His bones creaked from the impact, and he nearly coughed up blood.


    "Gah!"


    John cried out in surprised pain as his body was knocked hundreds of yards into the distance from the powerful blow. He toppled off the mountain, and began to fall down its sides, knocking over towering trees as his body crashed through them.


    Loud echoes filled the valleys beneath the mountain as John''s body mmed into the trees, uprooting thempletely. He finally managed to catch his bnce, and stopped his momentum halfway down the mountainside.


    Anger appeared on his face as he took out his battle axe once more and flew up towards the top of the mountain. He quickly reached its summit, and saw the Vice-Sect Leader standing there, staring at him with an amused smile.


    "Fuck you, you crazy wench!"


    Supreme Battle Art!


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    John instantly unleashed his powerful axe battle art, sending a powerful battle axe image mming down on the Vice-Sect Leader below.


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    He instantly unleashed more Sky Sundering Axes, which all mmed on the position where the Vice-Sect Leader was standing. The mountain began to shake from the incredible attacks, as earth was flung up high into the sky.


    In his state of pure anger, John for some reason remembered his friend Ryan, and his abilities as a War Mage. Perhaps it was a fleeting memory out of nowhere, or his subconscious telling him something, but John followed his instincts and pointed towards the Vice-Sect Leader.


    Lightning began to dance over his hand as he began to channel his Lightning Ruin. However, instead of releasing it right away, John continued to allow the lightning Qi to build up within his dantian and body.


    The Qi reached an incredibly dense, as well as dangerous level, before long as it continued to build up within him. John''s face began to turn red, and his body felt like it was beginning to explode from within. However, he used his potent Qi from his incredibly powerful dantian to suppress the energy from losing control and destroying his body from within.


    His meridians began to stretch and strain from the immense Qi circting within, nearly reaching their breaking point. However, John continued to push forward, pushing his body to its limits.


    The dust and dirt kicked up by John''s attacks faded away, revealing the Vice-Sect Leader standing there unharmed. She looked up towards John, her face a mixture of more amusement, as well as expectation.


    After reaching the point where John felt like his body was about to explode from within, John unleashed everything. He braced his outstretched arm with his other, preparing to unleash his attack.


    "Eat Shit!"


    BANG!


    His arm suddenly recoiled backwards from the power of the attack as an incredible beam of lightning, many times thicker and stronger than his normal Lightning Ruin, exploded out of his finger and pierced towards the Vice-Sect Leader. The mountainside lit up brightly as the lightning exploded onto it where the Vice-Sect Leader was standing.


    BOOM!


    The mountainside exploded beneath John''s attack, as arge portion of the mountaintop was destroyed. Large boulders of earth the size of houses rained down on the valley below, as the mountaintop was reduced to rubble.


    Thousands of sect members in the valleys below stared up at the scene above them, as they watched an entire mountaintop be destroyed. The weaker members ran for cover as the boulders began to rain down on them, while others unleashed battle arts to destroy the falling dangers.


    The explosion and dust eventually faded, fully revealing the scene of destruction to John. The smooth mountaintop on which they had trained was no more, and was now mostly destroyed andpletely charred. His eyes quickly darted around to find the Vice-Sect Leader as he came back to his senses.


    "Where is she?"


    John finally realized that in his moment of anger, he had gone overboard.


    ''I should leave!''


    A hand suddenly gripped his shoulder, the fingers digging deep into his flesh.


    "Right here," a chilling voice filled his ears from behind.

 Chapter 283 - Escape

    John felt the Vice-Sect Leader''s fingers burrow into his flesh, as blood began to appear. Despite his incredibly strong body, the Vice-Sect Leader''s grip was piercing right through it. He winced in slight pain as her fingers dug deeper.


    Before John could reply back, he felt his body be violently flung to the ruined mountain below. The speed at which his body was thrown was immense, and his momentum was far too great for him to stop it.


    Boom!


    His body mmed onto the mountain, and another explosive sound filled the valley. John''s body began to burrow deep into the mountain, his incredible momentum and powerful body piercing through the mountain as if it was butter.


    The mountain began to crumble from the force of the impact, as even more of it was destroyed. The dust finally settled, revealing John lying at the bottom of a massive crater. The mountain, which used to stand thousands of yards tall, was now half its former height.


    At the center of it, only a crater could now be seen.


    Johnid there motionlessly, as he groaned in pain. The attack from the Vice-Sect Leader had been incredibly vicious, and would have killed any other person in his realm of cultivation. Not only that, but the force at which she had thrown him was enough to kill an early Meridian Forging cultivator, showing that she was now cognizant of his strong body, and had ounted for it in her attack.


    Blood covered most of his body as Johnid there motionlessly.


    ''Thankfully I had my Supreme Battle Art activated, or else the damage would have been worse.''


    John made sure to make no movements, as he faked being unconscious.


    "Really? You''re going to try this one on me again? Do you think I''m stupid?" A voice from above filled his ears.


    However, John continued toy there motionlessly, not making a single move or sound.


    "Fine then, since your body seems to be quite tough, I think I''ll tie you up to a tree and practice some battle arts on you,'' the Vice-Sect Leader continued.


    John''s eyes instantly snapped open as he heard this. If that happened, he was as good as dead.


    "Fuck you, you crazy wench," John shouted out as he activated his Supreme Battle Art, Thundersh Steps, and Limiter of Speed.


    His body instantly reached an incredible speed as he pushed off the earth, causing it to shatter beneath him.


    However, he was still at the bottom of the crater, with the Vice-Sect Leader floating in the sky above him. The tall walls of the crater surrounded him, making himpletely trapped. The crater walls were hundreds of yards thick as well, making them incredibly sturdy.


    His battle axe once again appeared in his hands as he dashed to the nearest corner of the crater. It was raised high above his head, preparing to cleave down on the thick crater wall to make an opening to escape.


    The Vice-Sect Leader looked on at John''s actions with amusement.


    "You''re trying to escape?" she scoffed. "The only attack you have that is strong enough to breach the walls of this crater is that lightning attack you unleashed earlier, and that takes far too long to channel in a situation like this."


    However, John ignored her words as he reached his target.


    Immortal Asura Transformation Art!


    At thest moment, John activated his strongest ability, pushing his battle state to the absolute maximum. His power more than doubled, as his aura instantly towered into the sky.


    Absolute shock appeared on the Vice-Sect Leaders face as she watched John cleave his axe down. Without any warning, his battle prowess more than doubled, and an incredible sinister and bloodthirsty aura radiated off of him.


    She had never seen him use this battle art, and did not know he had it.


    BOOM!


    John''s Sky Sundering Axe, strengthened further by the three profound Dao''s infused into his attack, mmed against the crater wall. An absolutely massive explosion radiated outwards, as his attack pierced directly through the thick crater wall.


    Those in the valleys below, who had gathered in great numbers to observe what themotion was about, saw the half destroyed mountain once again explode outwards. From within that explosion, a lone cultivator dashed out, his speed absolutely incredible.


    The Vice-Sect Leader''s eyes narrowed as John escaped in an instant. It was far beyond her expectations, and she had not been ready for it.


    Her body vanished as quickly dashed through the hole in the mountain John had made. She appeared on the other side in an instant, and quickly spread out her divine sense to find John.


    "He''s gone? That''s not possible," the Vice-Sect Leader grumbled as she scanned the area. However, there truly was no sign of John''s existence anywhere. Her divine sense continued to scan over the nearby area, as she erged it to her maximum range.


    She was just about to give up, when she suddenly detected a slight fluctuation in space. Her body instantly appeared next to it as she inspected it.


    "He used a spatial talisman? Does he think that''s enough to get away from me?"


    ¡­.


    John''s body instantly appeared in the Heavenly Lightning Sect courtyard, directly before the Heavenly Lightning Pce. During his endeavors earlier, he had purchased a few of these spatial talismans, just in case.


    ''I didn''t think I would be using one this quickly. However, it''s a good thing I''m so good at nning ahead.''


    Many eyes turned to John, as his sudden appearance in the courtyard was eye-catching. They instantly recognized him, as his fame within the sect was growing to incredible levels. However, his body, which waspletely covered in dried blood, looked quite gruesome, causing many to wonder what was going on.


    "Do you think you can escape from me with a mere talisman?" the Vice-Sect Leader''s voice entered his ears from behind.


    John turned around instantly in panic, as he saw a hole in space quickly be formed. His eyes widened as he watched the Vice-Sect Leader begin to step out from a spatial portal she had created with her own power.

 Chapter 284 - Tea Leaves

    ''She followed me here by following the spatial talisman''s trail? Is such a thing even possible?''


    John didn''t know the extent of what someone as powerful as the Vice-Sect Leader could do, and he wasn''t about to stick around to find out. He turned around and instantly took to the skies, piercing directly towards the top of the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    There was only one person who could save him now from the Vice-Sect Leader''s wrath.


    ''Please be here.''


    The Vice-Sect Leader finally stepped through the spatial channel that she had created. Her eyes trailed upwards as she saw John reach the top of the Heavenly Lightning Pce. Her eyes darkened as she realized what he was doing.


    John appeared at the top of the Heavenly Lightning Pce, and quicklynded on the balcony that jutted out at the top of the pce. His heart was pounding within his chest, as he only had one shot at salvation. His eyes suddenly brightened as he quickly dashed forward.


    "Sect Leader, save me!" John cried out, as if he was about to be murdered. The Sect Leader looked up from his documents he was reading, his face tinged with amused curiosity at what was happening.


    Bang!


    An incredibly powerful lightning attack pierced through the sky where John was just standing. It narrowly missed him as he dodged forward, and pierced upwards high into the sky. John reached the Sect Leader and stood beside him, his breathing heavy and ragged.


    The Vice-Sect Leader suddenly appeared on the balcony, her hawk-like eyes staring at John. Anger was evident in her face.


    "You dare run from me?" the Vice-Sect Leader asked in a slightly angered voice.


    "Screw you! You said you were going to tie me to a tree and use me as a practice dummy. Why wouldn''t I leave?" John cursed back.


    "Hmph, you should consider it a privilege and an honor to be able to see my battle arts up close like that," the Vice-Sect Leader retorted. "Maybe you would finally learn a thing or two that way."


    "See, she admits it. Sect Leader, please have someone else train me. This wench is far too crazy," John cried out.


    While he was learning a lot from the Vice-Sect Leader, she was far too crazy. She would attack John powerfully and viscously, even when he did exactly as she instructed. Were it not for his incredibly strong and durable body, he would be crippled already. John finally realized why the entire sect feared drawing her wrath.


    The Sect Leader began to slightly chuckle as the two of them argued before him. He waved his hand, as if to silence them.


    "Come now, have a seat and join me for some tea," he said to the two of them.


    John instantly took him up on the offer and sat down in the chair right next to him.


    The Vice-Sect Leader frowned. "Our training is not done yet. John ising with me."


    The Sect Leader looked towards the Vice-Sect Leader, and then John. He nodded his head in agreement. "I suppose John''s training doese first," he agreed.


    Panic appeared on John''s face as he wracked his head for ideas. He would do anything before returning to be alone with the crazy Vice-Sect Leader. His gaze locked onto the tea the Sect Leader was enjoying, as an idea appeared in his mind.


    "Sect Leader, I have some amazing tea leaves that you might want to enjoy. Shouldn''t that take priority?" John asked, his voice hurried.


    The Sect Leader chuckled, as he realized what John was attempting to do. "Unfortunately for you, I''ve had more types of tea in my life than the number of days you have lived. There''s nothing you can show me that I haven''t seen befo-"


    The Sect Leader''s words instantly cut off as some tea leaves suddenly appeared in his hands. His expression instantly changed, as he closely inspected the leaves.


    "What are these? Where did you get these?" Thunderzen asked in an shocked and excited tone. His quick inspection of the leaves revealed them to be unlike anything he had ever seen in his life before.


    "I found them. What? Are they to your liking? I thought you''ve seen it all," John replied with a sly smile on his face. It seemed this ploy of his was working.


    These tea leaves were the ones he had found growing within his pce realm, for who knows how long. Since they were part of the pce, surely they were amazing.


    The Sect Leader looked from John back to the tea leaves. "I rescind my earlier statement. It seems I still have much to learn about this world," Thunderzen replied, slightly humbling himself.


    However, one of his greatest joys in life was savoring delicious tea, and the tea leaves before him were the most incredible he had ever seen before. Not only was the aroma intoxicating, the Sect Leader could tell that each leaf was infused with the Heavenly Dao''s. The leaves were also clearly incredibly ancient.


    As long as they were cared for properly, tea leaves would be more and more vorful and enjoyable as they aged. The leaves before him were clearly far older than anything he had ever seen before.


    Just by drinking this tea, one would improve theirprehensions towards the Heavenly Dao''s.? However, the requirement was that one had a high enoughprehension to even notice such things, and only the Sect-Leader and Vice-Sect Leader were at that realm ofprehension. Such an opportunity was incredibly rare, and would not be passed up on by the Sect Leader.


    "How about it," John suddenly spoke up. "If I give you these leaves, will you save me from this crazy woman?" John asked.


    The Sect Leader paused, as if he was conflicted. On one hand, he greatly desired the tea, but on the other, John''s training was also incredibly important.


    John noticed this hesitation, as another item suddenly appeared in his other hand. This time it was the entire tea nt, roots and all. The Sect Leader''s eyes nearly popped out of his head upon seeing this.


    "How about this. I''ll give you this entire nt, which you can nt and grow these leaves forever. However, you have to answer quickly, because I don''t know how long a nt like this can survive out in the open."


    John had dozens and dozens of these nts in his pce realm. He didn''t mind giving one away, especially if he received some benefits from it.


    "You have a deal," Thunderzen replied, unable to resist the temptation.


    The Vice-Sect Leader''s eyes narrowed upon hearing this, but she didn''t say anything. John''s face brightened, and he quickly handed over the nt to Sect Leader Thunderzen.


    "One moment," Thunderzen stated, as his body suddenly disappeared.


    He reappeared a short whileter, clearly having nted the tea nt in his own personal garden.. His face was radiating happiness, as if he was a child who had just received birthday gifts.


    He quickly prepared some tea using one of the leaves John had gifted him.


    "Come,e, enjoy some tea with me," Thunderzen stated in an ted voice. He poured some tea for himself, before handing the pot over to John.


    John obliged, and poured himself some tea as well. An intoxicating aroma filled his nose, and John felt himself nearly enter a meditative trance just by smelling the tea. Clearly it was more amazing than he realized.


    The Sect Leader looked towards the Vice-Sect Leader, who still stood there with an unpleasant look on her face. He warmly smiled at her as he called out to her.


    "Come now daughter, why don''t you rx for once and join us for some tea!"


    John nearly fell off his chair upon hearing this.


    "Daughter!?"

 Chapter 285 - Discussions Over Tea

    A look of pure shock covered John''s entire face as he heard this. His head swiveled back and forth between the faces of the Sect Leader and the Vice-Sect Leader, trying to put two and two together.


    However, he could not find any matching features, making the subject matter all the more confusing.


    "Adopted daughter," the Vice-Sect Leader rified as she sat down per her fathers request.


    She had seen John''s confusion, and decided to clear it up right away. However, she truly did treat the Sect Leader as her true father.


    John''s reaction slightly faded upon hearing this, as it made much more sense now. However, the news was stillpletely shocking, and quite frightful. He had hoped to seek bastion with the Sect Leader, but now found out the Vice-Sect Leader was his daughter.


    Not only that, but he had insulted her multiple times, causing a shiver to crawl up his spine. His face became quite grim.


    ''I''m fucked.''


    The Sect Leader noticed John''s look of despair, and began to lightly chuckle. However, he said nothing as he once more focused on the teacup in his hands. His face lit up in excitement and anticipation as he took his first sip.


    John watched the Sect Leader carefully, as his reaction was everything. Only if the Sect Leader was pleased by his gift would he be able to escape the Vice-Sect Leaders clutches.


    The Sect Leaders eyes popped open, as arge and ted smile appeared on his face. He quickly took another small sip, making sure to savor every bit of vor.


    After a moment of silence, he finally spoke up. "Incredible, this is the best tea I''ve ever tasted."


    John breathed out a sigh of relief upon hearing this. This was the reaction he was hoping to see.


    The Sect Leader took another sip and closed his eyes. He savored every bit of vor, and also basked in the Heavenly Dao''s that were imbued with each sip. Even at his level of cultivation, each sip was giving him new insights into both his own Dao''s, as well as the heavens itself.


    This alone showed how incredible the tea was.


    John turned to look at the tea in his own teacup. After a brief pause, he took a small sip as well. Warm, fragrant, and incredibly vorful tea poured down his throat and warmed his body. The vor was unlike anything he had experienced before, and he could even feel a strange energy flutter within his body.


    These were the Heavenly Dao''s John was feeling, but unfortunately his cultivation was too low to iste and learn from these Dao''s.


    "Good stuff," John couldn''t help but exim as he took another sip.


    The Vice-Sect Leader sat there in silence as she watched the two men before her continue to sip tea. Both of them had looks of rxed tion on their faces as they sipped the tea nonstop.


    After a while, curiosity welled up within her as she too poured herself some tea and took a sip. Her face instantly lit up upon tasting it, and she took several more sips while savoring both the vor and the Heavenly Dao''s flowing within her.


    Like the Sect Leader, she too felt herprehensions slowly but surely increase, satisfying her greatly.


    Like this, the three of them sat in silence for quite some time, sipping tea. It was a rare moment of peace in John''s life, and he savored every second of it.


    A whileter, the Sect Leader finally set down his cup. He sighed out in pure contentment, as a warm smile stayed on his face. He looked over to John, who was long done with his cup of tea.


    "Thank you for that, and the gift of the nt as well. You have brought great joy to this old man."


    John smiled as he heard this. "No problem. It''s the least I could do."


    The Vice-Sect Leader put down her cup as well, as her hawk-like eyes locked onto John once more.


    "Now that this is done, you''reing with me."


    John''s face instantly soured as he heard her say this.


    "Why the hell are you so obsessed with training me? Don''t you hate training disciples. Go back to that attitude of yours and leave me alone," John replied, his voice filled with discontent.


    "What did you say to me? You keep getting more and more brazen with how you speak to me. Don''t worry, I''ll fix that w of yours soon enough," the Vice-Sect Leader replied.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen chuckled as he heard the exchanges between the two of them. It was quite refreshing for him to see someone treat his daughter normally, as well as her reactions without her usual stiffness.


    "Come now Lilian, we should at least exin to him why we''re training him this hard. He should understand the severity of his situation then, and be more obliged to cooperate," Thunderzen spoke up.


    ''Lilian? I guess that''s her actual name. I guess I only ever called her Vice-Sect Leader.''


    The Vice-Sect Leader frowned, but didn''t argue. She sat back down in her chair, giving the green light for the Sect Leader to exin their actions.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen looked towards John, his warm smile slowly turning serious.


    "Lilian is not only pushing you to your limits because she enjoys it. It''s true that she''s quite heavy handed, but the intention behind her methods are pure," Thunderzen exined.


    John frowned at this exnation, as he strongly disagreed, but he remained silent to let the Sect Leader exin himself.


    "This news rtes to a subject in which you have great interest in...the Bloodfiend Sect."


    John became serious upon hearing the Bloodfiend Sect brought up. With his desire to destroy the entire sect, he treated every matter regarding the Bloodfiend Sect of utmost importance.


    "Our spies within the Bloodfiend Sect''snds have indicated that they''re starting to make quite a few movements, and appear to be preparing for something. We are not sure what they''re up to, but it''s most likely not good news for the Yuan Continent."

 Chapter 286 - Rules Of The Alliances

    John''s face turned grim upon hearing this. His family n was part of some of their ns. He had not seen or heard from them since he left for the pocket realm, and was filled with a sense of mncholy, as well as worry.


    ''I hope it''s not rted to my n.''


    John couldn''t help but interrupt the Sect Leader and ask a question that was burning in his mind.


    "Sect Leader Thunderzen, based on your previousments regarding my mask, I''vee to the conclusion that you''re most likely the strongest person on this continent. Am I correct in that assumption?" John suddenly asked.


    The Sect Leader paused, not expecting this question from John, but was quite amused at his astute observations.


    "You are correct," Thunderzen replied. He knew what John was getting at, but decided to let him ask the questions anyway.


    "Then if the Bloodfiend Sect is trying something nefarious, why don''t you personally stop it. You should have the power to do so, correct?" John continued.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen smiled at John''s na?ve question. "You would not be faulted for thinking in such a way. If I truly wanted to, I could destroy the entire Bloodfiend Sect myself without too much trouble," Thunderzen confirmed. "However, doing so would draw down a cmity on our Heavenly Lightning Sect, far greater than I would be able to bear."


    John frowned upon hearing this, and couldn''t help but ask why.


    "What are the cmities you would draw upon our sect?" John asked.


    "There are two," Thunderzen replied. "The first is that, in my assault of the Bloodfiend Sect, surely some Elders and powerful members of the sect would slip away. Those Elders would ligner in the shadows, and fueled by a desire for vengeance, would carry out unspeakable acts on the Yuan Continent. While we would most likely eventually root them out, the damage would be unthinkable, and countless lives would be lost."


    Sect Leader Thunderzen paused for a moment to let John digest this information, before continuing once more.


    "However, that isn''t the real reason for me staying in my hand," Thunderzen continued. He paused for a moment to pour himself more tea.


    John pondered this matter during the silence, as an idea came to his mind.


    "Is it rted to the Divine Martial Continent?" John couldn''t help but ask. He had already learned that the Heavenly Lightning Sect was only a branch sect, with a more powerful main sect on the Divine Martial Continent.


    With this in mind, couldn''t the same be the case for the Bloodfiend Sect?


    Thunderzen nodded his head in affirmation as he took a sip of tea.


    "That is correct. Much like our sect, the Bloodfiend Sect has their own main sect on the Divine Martial Continent. While their system is a bit different than ours, a powerful sect on the Divine Martial Continent still treats them as a branch sect," Thunderzen confirmed.


    John frowned once again upon hearing this, but remained silent as the Sect Leader continued his exnation.


    "You can consider our sect, and the Bloodfiend Sect, to have...different allegiances. Our sect is part of the conventional path of cultivation, or the Honorable pathway, while the Bloodfiend Sect belongs to the taboo, or the Forbidden pathway of cultivation. While there are many different alliances on the Divine Martial Continent, our Honorable Alliance and the Forbidden Alliance are sworn enemies," Thunderzen exined.


    He took another sip of tea before continuing, as John sat there in silence.


    "In the past, our two sides had no rules, and as a result, we nearly drove both alliances to extinction. This allowed the other alliances on the Divine Martial Continent to rise in power, which nearly resulted in our mutual destruction. As such, a sort of...pact was made, to ensure our survival."


    "What pact?" John asked.


    "The pact is that those above the Heaven Tribtion Realm are not allowed to interfere with those at the Heaven Tribtion Realm or below. There are a few otherws in ce, but those are not ones you need to know right now. All you need to know is that in the past, the most powerful cultivators with nows restricting them would wipe out entire sects, and bury entire continents with their power.


    However, as I mentioned before, the only thing this achieved was mutual destruction of both sides, and so this restriction was put in ce. As such, if I step over the lines, not only will I draw the wrath of our Honorable Alliance, I too will draw the wrath of the Forbidden Alliance to our sect. While my power is something that can reign freely over this continent, it is not something that can dominate that continent," Thunderzen exined.


    John sat there in silence as he took in all this information.


    ''It seems like the world is a lot moreplicated than I originally thought.''


    "As such," Thunderzen once again spoke up. "I am unable to directly interfere with the matters of the Bloodfiend Sect. Doing so will cause far more issues than it solves. As for our spies, they are unable to gather much information regarding these movements, as none of them hold high positions in the Bloodfiend Sect. As such, we are not sure what they are nning. However, that doesn''t mean we can''t do anything," Thunderzen continued, a small smile forming on his face.


    "And that is where youe in," the Vice-Sect Leader suddenly chimed up. "And this is also the reason for your recent training."


    "Me?" John asked in a questioning voice. "How am I supposed to do anything to a sect as powerful as the Bloodfiend Sect? And what does this have to do with my training?"


    "Yes," Thunderzen confirmed. "We were discussing how to go about this issue, when the solution was presented right into ourps. You, with the help that ancient mask of yours, will disguise yourself as a disciple of the Bloodfiend Sect and infiltrate their sect with the intention of finding out their ns."

 Chapter 287 - I Accept

    John wanted to protest against this n as he heard it, but remained silent.


    ''This does align with my previous n of sneaking into the Bloodfiend Sect to steal some scythes. While I was half joking on that matter, it seems like this matter is not a joke.''


    "Why me?" John couldn''t help but ask for rification on the n. "Wouldn''t it be better to send someone stronger, or someone...less¡­"


    "Valuable to the sect?" Thunderzen interrupted John, finishing what he was struggling to say.


    A wry smile appeared on John''s face, but he didn''t argue against the Sect Leaders'' guess. While John didn''t like putting himself on a pedestal, he was without a doubt the most talented youth in the sect. Any sect would find it extremely risky to send their most promising disciple into enemy territory, where one mistake would spell their death.


    "You''re not wrong," Thunderzen confirmed John''s thoughts on the matter. "It would be much more advisable to send someone stronger, or someone less promising to the sect on this mission...however, much like our spies already in the Bloodfiend Sect, they would fail."


    "Fail? Why?" John asked.


    "The reasons are simple," Thunderzen replied. "First, if we send someone stronger, like an Elder, he would have to assume the identity of an Elder of the Bloodfiend Sect. The Elders all know each other extremely well, and would quickly pick up on odd mannerisms, exposing the Elder for the fraud he is. That only leaves a disciple to go in their ce, as the Elder''s have only known the disciples for a year or less.


    However, an average disciple doing there would aplish nothing.? Even a strong disciple would fare no better. Only a disciple who could stand on top of their peers and look down from above would draw enough attention from the Elders. It is that attention that we need, as only when you are important in the Bloodfiend Sect''s eyes will they divulge any information to you," Thunderzen exined.


    John nodded his head in agreement at this assessment. What the Sect Leader said truly did make sense. However, he had one more question to ask before he was fully convinced.


    "That does make sense and all, but I have one more question before I agree. Isn''t there a chance I get exposed, much like that incident with the dragon at our entrance exam ceremony?" John asked.


    The dragon had detected the spy within the entrance exams midsts, and had quickly rooted that spy out.


    "Truly a good question," Thunderzen replied. "But not one you have to worry about."


    "I don''t have to worry about being detected? Why''s that?" John asked once more.


    Thunderzen smiled as he replied. "That''s because of the hubris of the Bloodfiend Sect, and their trust in their cultivation pathway. When you think of the Bloodfiend Sect disciples, whates to mind?" Thunderzen asked.


    John thought about the question for a moment before replying. "The disciples I met in my homnd, as well as the ancient city, all had a few traits inmon. They were brutal, ruthless, and bloodthirsty," John replied.


    "That is correct," Thunderzen confirmed. "Those traits are what is needed to survive in the Bloodfiend Sect. Without those qualities, one is destined to be stepped on, or killed, within the sect. When those qualities triumph in a cultivator, it seeps into their very core, and as a result, aura. I''m sure you''ve noticed that every single aura of the Bloodfiend Sect''s disciples that you ran into was bloodthirsty and evil."


    John nodded his head in confirmation. The aura''s of every Bloodfiend Sect disciple he had fought had these traits.


    "It''s this very aura that allows the Bloodfiend Sect to be confident in their screening process. Such aura''s are unable to be faked, and only those that truly walk the Forbidden Path of cultivation are able to achieve such bloodthirsty and evil aura''s. All of us Honorable Pathway cultivators cannot achieve such a thing...except you," Thunderzen exined, finally getting to his point.


    John raised his eyebrows slightly as he finally understood the reason for the Sect Leader sending him. Due to his Immortal Asura Body, John naturally generated a very bloodthirsty and sinister aura. In fact, it was so bloodthirsty and sinister that it even overwhelmed those of the Bloodfiend Sect themselves, despite growing up around such aura''s their entire lives.


    With this in mind, John would truly look like a cultivator of the Forbidden Pathway to the Bloodfiend Sect, with zero chance of him being a spy. However, another question came to John''s mind.


    "Can''t there be spies from other Forbidden Pathway sects? How do you know I won''t be rooted out even with my..unique aura?" John asked.


    "You don''t have to worry about that," Thunderzen replied with a smile on his face. "The Bloodfiend Sect is by far the strongest Forbidden Alliance Sect on this continent. They do not fear spies from their brethren sects, as their power is unshakable," Thunderzen replied.


    John, who had been leaning forward while listening to the Sect Leader, heavily sat back in his seat. He fell into a deep contemtion, as he considered everything the Sect Leader had told him.


    While such a mission would be incredibly risky, it also had several upsides as well.


    ''If I venture into the Bloodfiend Sect, I can go about getting the best scythe possible for myself. Not only that, but they also have the best scythe arts in thesends, which would further boost my power. And¡­''


    A small smile appeared on John''s face as he thought of hisst point, which did not go unnoticed by the Sect Leader and the Vice-Sect Leader.


    ''And...ughter and violence within the Bloodfiend Sect is a natural thing. I''m sure with that being the case, I''ll be able to collect more and more human blood essence...Bloodfiend Sect human blood essence. And only by getting stronger will I be able to bury the Bloodfiend Sect for my n...and for Russell. This situation couldn''t be more perfect for me.''


    John''s smile turnedrger as he thought of this point. The Sect Leader and Vice-Sect Leader looked at each other for a moment as they noticed John''s slightly sinister smile creep up on his face, but said nothing. They waited for him to finish his contemtion on the matter.


    John looked up from his contemtion and straight at the Sect Leader. His smiling face became one filled with resolve as he relied.


    "I ept."

 Chapter 288 - Resuming Training

    Sect Leader Thunderzen smiled as he heard John''s eptance of the mission. However, his mailing face quickly turned serious as he spoke up once more.


    "Now that you''ve epted this mission, I''m afraid you must go back to your training," the Sect Leader replied.


    John''s face instantly turned sour, as he had forgotten about such things. He was about to protest, when the Sect Leader interrupted him.


    "It''s true that your battle prowess is incredible, but that is only because of your overwhelmingly powerful...natural talents," Thunderzen continued.


    He didn''t exactly know how John had such incredible power other than his twenty timespressed dantian, but didn''t ask either. John clearly had some incredible secrets that allowed his body to be so strong. Not only that, but his aura was also quite unique, however the Sect Leader did not ask John to exin himself.


    "However, those natural talents have been exposed to the Bloodfiend Sect, have they not?" Thunderzen asked.


    John was unsure of what the Sect Leader was talking about, but he quickly realized the truth of things.


    "Azalea!" John eximed.


    "Exactly. Based on the story you told me, one of the Emperors escaped. She surely divulged information about you, including your incredibly powerful body, your battle style, and much much more," Thunderzen exined.


    John frowned as he heard this, but didn''t argue. Everything the Sect Leader said was true.


    "As such, you''ll have to change your fighting style, as well as tone the power of your body, in order to not be detected. While your dantian is incredibly profound, you cannot reveal the true extent of its power either. Doing so will draw too much suspicion on where someone as talented as you came from, unnoticed previously. Not only that, but you''ll be unable to use any lightning based battle arts. As such, the only thing we can do is increase other aspects of your battle prowess to its fullest potential.


    Only by doing this, will you be able to stand above all others within the Bloodfiend Sect without drawing too much suspicion on yourself. And only by doing this will you be important enough to the sect for them to divulge any information to you," Thunderzen exined.


    John sat there in silence once more as he contemted the words of the Sect Leader. Everything he said made perfect sense. He would need to be the number one disciple, but in a way that seemed realistic.


    "I suppose that makes sense," John replied, although he wasn''t too happy about it.


    Thunderzen smiled at John as he saw his downcast reaction. "While this training is for this mission, do not think it as wasted training. Everything Lilian teaches you will greatly improve your overallbat prowess, allowing you to climb further and further. It would be things you learned eventually anyways, we''re just...speeding up the timeline a bit," Thunderzen replied.


    John frowned, but didn''t argue against the Sect Leaders words. It truly was the best way forward.


    "Fine," John replied with a slight grimace, already thinking about the brutal beatings the Vice-Sect Leader would give him. He looked over to the Vice-Sect Leader, who was staring at him like a hawk. A small smile crept up on her face upon hearing his agreement with their ns.


    "Perfect," Thunderzen replied. "We''ll be sending you out to the Bloodfiend Sect in two months. During these two months, Lilian will be training you."


    "And that training starts now," the Vice-Sect Leader stated. "Let''s go."


    John sighed but did not argue. He slowly stood up and thanked the Sect Leader for his hospitality, before leaving with the Vice-Sect Leader.


    The Vice-Sect Leader started to fly in a certain direction, most likely towards the next training ground. They had destroyed the mountain they had trained on, and would need a new training location.


    Silence descended over the two of them as they continued to fly through the air. After quite some time of silence, John couldn''t help but ask a question that had been burning in his mind.


    "You''re his daughter? Well, adopted daughter, as you rified. How did such a thinge to pass?" John asked.


    "That''s not something you need to know," the Vice-Sect Leader replied, shutting down the question immediately.


    John remained silent after that, as the two of them finally reached their new training area. Unlike the mountain before, this was one of the martial arenas...the Life and Death arena. It was thergest, as well as the sturdiest arena in the sect, and could withstand even the battles of Heaven Tribtion Elder''s without breaking.


    John''s face turned grave as they entered the arena. Many curious eyes watched the two of them enter it, but were unable to enter themselves as the Arena was considered off limits unless a true Life and Death battle was taking ce.


    "What the hell is this? I thought this arena was only reserved for Life and Death battles?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    "It is, unless I deem it otherwise," the Vice-Sect Leader replied. "We already destroyed one mountain with our training. Do you want to destroy another?"


    A wry smile appeared on John''s face, but he didn''t respond. Training in a sturdy arena such as this, with powerful formations surrounding it, was truly the best way to train without fear of destroying the sect.


    The Vice-Sect Leader turned around and stared at John with her hawk-like eyes. A small smile appeared on her face. "Now, let''s begin, shall we?"


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    For the next several hours, many explosive booms echoed from within the Life and Death arena, causing many curious sect members to wonder what was going on. After many hours, the loud noises stopped, and a lone figure came walking out.


    The eyes of all in the area widened, as they saw John, looking half dead, slowly walk out of the arena. His body waspletely covered in blood, and his robe was torn in several ces.


    He walked past the curious spectators, all while grumbling to himself.


    "Goddammit, she''s far too heavy handed. And I have to show up first thing tomorrow to resume our training. I might die at this rate," John grumbled.


    He continued to walk through the Sect towards his mountain abode, not in the mood to expend more energy and fly there. While walking, John''s ears suddenly perked up as he heard a voice, one that sounded familiar.


    "Leave us alone," the voice cried out, a tinge of fear in it. "We already paid you forst week. We don''t have any more spirit crystals to give you this week."


    Bang!


    A loud bang sounded, followed by the pained cry of a boy.


    "Elliot," the concerned cry of a girl sounded out, another voice which John recognized. He quickly turned around towards the source of the noise.


    Before the two youths on the ground were three youths, who each stood there with crossed arms and smug smiles on their faces. The two youths on the ground had Half-Step Core Formation cultivations and were Outer Disciples, while the three standing with their arms crossed, one girl and two boys, and were Inner Disciples.


    "You better get the spirit crystals for this week by tomorrow, or don''t me us for being heavy handed," the lead youth barked out.


    John''s face quickly turned cold, as his body blurred. He suddenly appeared next to the youth that had just spoken out, and put his arm across his shoulder as if he was a close friend. He had done so without any of the five youths noticing him.


    "What do we have here? Some casual disciple on disciple extortion going on?" John asked in a calm tone.


    The boy finally noticed the neer, who was covered in blood and wore a torn up robe. His long hair was also disheveled, making him look like a homeless beggar. He pushed John''s arm aside in a rage, as he yelled out to him.


    "Who the fuck do you think you are, putting your arm-," the boys voice immediately cut off, as he finally noticed who it was. His face, as well as the faces of the two youths with him, instantly changed into ones of fear as they each took a step backwards.


    "I-I-I meant no disrespect. We''ll take our leave immediately," the boy cried out in a panicked tone. However, he, as well as his two aplices, immediately stopped in their tracks as John''s powerful aura pressed down on them.


    "You''re not going anywhere," John''s calm yet cold voice sounded out. The youths could tell something was wrong, but didn''t argue as they immediately stopped moving.


    John''s gaze turned to the two youths on the ground, who were still staring up at him in a stunned daze. His cold face turned warm as he smiled at them.


    "Leah, Elliot. Long time no see!"

 Chapter 289 - Meeting Two Old Friends

    Thest time John had seen Leah and Elliot was back in his homnds, when he had roamed the Skycleave Forests with them for a few weeks. They had fought many beasts together, and had eventually parted after spending several weeks together.


    However, he had formed a bond of friendship with them at that time, as they had been sincere and friendly in their interactions with him, despite their strengths being far above his at the time.


    "John?" Leah called out in slight confusion.


    John had aged slightly since theyst met, bing taller, more muscr, and his face had matured a bit as well. Not only that, but his features right now were quite distracting as well, with his long disheveled hair, and blood covering most of his body.


    Leah wasn''tpletely sure it was John at first, but after his greeting, she became positive it was him.


    "What are you doing here?" Elliot asked in a confused voice as he slowly started to stand up.


    The three youths behind John had panicked expressions appear on their faces, as they could tell that John had some sort of friendship with these two. They wanted to run, but knew such a thing was impossible in front of John.


    Not only that, but they didn''t want to anger him further, and so they stood there silently, awaiting whatever fate wasing their way.


    "What am I doing here? Well, I''m a member of the sect, just like you!" John replied with a smile on his face.


    "What? When? How?" Leah couldn''t help but spew out a list of questions.


    "Haha, I''ll answer those questions after you answer my question. When did you return to the sect?" John asked curiously.


    Leah and Elliot looked at each other for a moment before Elliot began to describe what had happened with them.


    ording to Elliot, he and Leah had spent thest half year or so in John''s homnd, searching for news of the pocket realm. After many months of fruitless searching, the Elder in charge of them, Elder Mable, cancelled their mission without exnation.


    Leah and Elliot had expected to return to the sect at that time, but Elder Mable decided to stay in the area for the next few months. While the reason for this was to protect John''s n, neither Elliot or Leah knew of this.


    As such, they lived for the next few months in thosends, unsure of when they would return. While living in thesends, their cultivations stagnated quite a bit, due to the lower Qi in the air. While the Elder in charge did mostly make up for it by giving them precious pills and resources, it was not as good as cultivating in the Holy Lands.


    "So we lived in your homnd for quite some time, until just two weeks ago, Elder Mable said we were returning, and escorted us, as well as the other youths in the area, back here," Elliot exined as he finally finished summarizing the events that had urred.


    John frowned as he heard this story.


    ''It seems like their cultivations stagnated a bit and suffered, mainly due to Elder Mable staying there and protecting my n. While I''m not sure of the reason for her return, the sect must have a good reason for doing so.''


    A small sense of guilt washed over John as he thought of this, as he was the main reason for their current predicament. Neither Elliot or Leah were able to cultivate to their fullest extent, and neither were able to enter the wastnds at the opportune time and obtain its opportunities.


    While they could still enter, as they were only fifteen, most of the opportunities within had already been snatched.


    While thinking over this, John looked between Elliot and Leah, and the three other youths.


    "So, what''s going on here then?" John asked, his tone growing a bit colder. While he figured he knew what was going on, he allowed Leah and Elliot to exin it clearly.


    Shivers crawled down the spines of the three youths as they heard John''s tone, but they didn''t make any moves.


    "Ah¡­you don''t have to worry yourself with our issues," Leah cried out in a concerned tone.


    Due to theirte arrival to the sect, they did not know who John was within the sect. They had heard of the monumental rise of a member named John, but they never put two and two together, as such a thing was too far-fetched.


    As such, Leah did not want to get John involved with their problems, and make him suffer as well.


    However, while Leah was concerned for John, Elliot took quick note of the awkward atmosphere. The three youths, who had been confidently bullying them for the past two weeks and extorting them of spirit crystals, were as meek as mice right now.


    Since John was withdrawing his aura at the moment, he was not broadcasting his cultivation level. One would need to scan him with their divine sense to detect his cultivation.


    With great curiosity, Elliot scanned John to detect his cultivation level. John watched with a smile as? Elliot''s eyes grew wide as he felt his divine sense wash over him. He quickly put two and two together, as he began to stutter.


    "Y-yo-you...you''re the John we''ve been hearing about!?" Elliot eximed in a surprised voice.


    "What?" Leah cried out at Elliots words, as she too quickly scanned John. Her face filled with shock as she too finally noticed his cultivation level.


    "I''m not sure what you''ve been hearing about me, but that''s not the important part. The important part is us friends have finally met again. And since you two helped me outst time, it''s only natural that I return the favor this time," John replied with a warm smile on his face.


    His warm smile quickly faded as he thought of the hardships the two of them had to endure after returning to the sect. He looked towards the three youths who still meekly stood there. They noticed his cold gaze, and each began to panic.


    "We...we didn''t know they were your friends," the girl suddenly spoke up, trying to defend herself.


    "So that makes it okay to bully and demean fellow sect members? You disgust me," John replied, his tone incredibly cold. He was already in a bad mood from dealing with the Vice-Sect Leader all day, and now he ran into this unpleasant situation.


    "Please, spare us," the lead boy pleaded.


    "John," Leah suddenly called out, but John waved his hand to interrupt her.


    "If you''re going to plead on their behalf, don''t bother. You''re far too kind, and that kindness will only serve as fuel for these assholes to do this in the future again, only to different sect members. People like them need to fully taste punishment before they change," John replied.

 Chapter 290 - Catching Up

    His words caused Leah to hold her words, as she truly was going to ask for their forgiveness.


    John shook his head at seeing this.


    ''She''s far too kind for cultivation. She''ll either need to toughen up, or resign herself to such fates all her life.''


    His eyes once again locked on the three meek youths before him. While he wanted nothing more than to kill them now and rid his sect of such vermin, he knew he didn''t have the authority to do so. Only the Enforcement Hall or the Sect Leader and Vice Sect Leader could make such a decision.


    However, he could take other measures.


    "Grovel before Leah and Elliot and ask for their forgiveness," John suddenlymanded.


    The three youths each grimaced with unwillingness as they heard thismand, but once nce at John''s cold eyes stopped them from protesting. The lead boy grit his teeth and hesitated for a moment before dropping to his knees before Leah and Elliot.


    The two others followed his lead, and groveled as well.


    "This¡­" Leah eximed out loud. Elliot ced his hand on Leah''s shoulder, as if to remind her of John''s previous words.


    "We''re sorry. We''ll never do this again," the lead boy apologized with a shaking voice. The two others repeated his words as well, as John looked down on them coldly.


    "Again," Johnmanded.


    "Again."


    "Again."


    John continued tomand them to grovel and apologize, as a small crowd had gathered around them to see what was going on. Embarrassment washed over the three of them, but they did not do anything to displease John further.


    Only after apologizing for quite some time did John allow the three of them to stand up. He slowly looked each in the eye, as he gave one finalmand.


    "From now on, you''ll be subordinates to Leah and Elliot. If they ask you to do anything, regardless of themand, you ept it. If I found out you haven''t obliged with thismand...well, you can put the dots together," John said to the three of them.


    Each grimaced once more as they thought of such a fate. They had seen how John had easily and gruesomely cut down Hunter, and none of them wanted such a fate.


    John stared at them for a bit longer in silence before dismissing them.


    "You can leave," hemanded. Each of the youths breathed out a massive sigh of relief as the quickly stood up and prepared to leave. However, John''sst words caused a look of panic and fear to appear on their faces once more.


    "Oh, and you are to immediately report to the Enforcement Hall and state what you did. They will decide what to do with you. I''ll be speaking to Elder Ragur within the day, and if I find out you didn''t report yourself to them¡­"


    John''s voice trailed off, as he didn''t need to verbalize his threats. The three nodded their heads and instantly ran off, wanting to be in John''s presence for as little as possible.


    John''s cold face warmed up as he looked back to Leah and Elliot with a smile on his face.


    "Come, lets have some food together and talk about our lives over thest half year," John said to the two of them.


    Leah and Elliot were still in a daze after what had just happened, but happily epted John''s proposal. The three of them walked to the business district, and entered one of the finest restaurants.


    John booked a room on the top floor, which was a private room with only one table. While the attendant at the front of the restaurant doubted John''s ability to pay for such a thing, as he still looked like a homeless beggar, John''s quick sh of a small pile of spirit crystals changed the attendant''s tune.


    Leah and Elliots eyes nearly popped out of their heads at the sight of the spirit crystals, as John was blowing more on a single meal with them than they had umted in six months as outer disciples.


    The attendant happily escorted the three of them to the top floor, which was empty at the moment.


    "Your table sir. And here are the menus. I will return shortly for your orders," the man said to John before leaving.


    John quickly read the menu, his face lighting up at the descriptions of the meals. The ingredients used were quite incredible, and each made him nearly salivate upon reading. His eyes nced over one dish, and immediately lit up.


    ''Golden Ox Steak, from a Meridian Forging Golden Ox!''


    John had always loved the Golden Ox stew his mother made, but the Golden Ox she used was always at the Mist Creation realm. As animals grew in age and power, so did their vor. The same was true for nts, fruits, and vegetables.


    John had never eaten a Meridian Forging beast, but he was sure going to try it out today.


    The waiter quickly returned, asking for their orders.


    "I''m getting the Golden Ox Steak, with a side of the one hundred year Spiritdew Sd," John ordered.


    "An excellent choice," the waiter replied with a smile on his face. He looked towards Elliot and Leah for their orders.


    John quickly noticed the hesitation on their faces, most likely from the prices.


    "Don''t worry, I''m paying for this, money is not a concern," John said to them. He still felt bad about their stagnated cultivations, and was going to make it up to them in several ways. This meal was just the start.


    After convincing them for quite some time, Leah and Elliot finally obliged and ordered their meals. The waiter left, and the three of them began to converse happily once more.


    "How can you afford all this?" Elliot couldn''t help but ask.


    John smiled as he replied. "I''ve had quite a few fortuitous encounters with other sect members and also the mysterious wastnds," John replied.


    At the same time, two spatial rings suddenly appeared in the air before him, and quickly floated over to Leah and Elliot.


    "This?" Leah couldn''t help but ask.


    "Just think of it as a gift. And I won''t take no for an answer, or I''ll take it as you not considering me your friend" John replied.


    The two grabbed the rings and quickly inspected them. Their eyes widened immediately as they saw the contents.


    Pills, cultivation aids, and more spirit crystals than they had seen in their livesid inside.


    "We can''t," Leah eximed. "This is far too much to ept."


    John''s smiling face slightly darkened as he looked at Leah. "Do you not consider me to be your friend?" John asked.


    Leah paused for a moment, unsure of how to reply. Elliot knew refusing wasn''t an option and quickly stored the ring and thanked John. Leah, after some hesitation, did the same.


    John''s darkened face instantly brightened once more as a smile appeared on it.


    "Perfect. Oh, it looks like the food is here. Let''s eat!"


    The food arrived right afterwards, and all three ate to their heart''s content. John''s face lit up as he savored every bite of his steak, which was the most delicious meal he had ever eaten.


    The three continued to converse over their meals, catching up on thest half years in each of their lives. Leah and Elliot became more and more shocked at John'' story, finding it hard to believe most of it.


    However, John''s power and status in the sect was proof that it was all true. Their conversationssted for quite some time before....


    "Bzzt"


    A small buzz startled John out of his conversations as he suddenly took out his sound transmission disk that Pill Emperor Thunderpill had given him. A voice sounded out of it.


    "Your pills are ready. Come pick them up."

 Chapter 291 - Consuming More Pills

    John''s eyebrows raised slightly in surprise as he heard this.


    ''It''s been less than twenty four hours and he''s already done? He must have put all his focus into making these pills.''


    John finished his meal and discussions with Leah and Elliot before he parted ways with them.


    "If you ever have any problems within the sect, just reach out to me," John gave them some parting words. However, word should soon spread of the incident today, making John confident that neither of them would be targeted again.


    "Sure thing," Elliot happily replied, while Leah nodded her head in agreement.


    John bade the two of them farewell before walking towards the Pill Hall. He climbed to the sixth floor, and quickly reached Pill Emperor Thunderpill''s room.


    Knock! Knock!


    Learning from hisst encounter, John decided to knock this time. He heard hurried footsteps on the other side of the door, before the door was quickly opened.


    "Ah, you''re here. In that case, here you go," Pill Emperor Thunderpill stated as he threw a few pill bottles to John.


    John caught them, somewhat caught off guard, and looked back up to Pill Emperor Thunderpill who was beginning to close the door once more.


    "Wait," John called out, causing the Pill Emperor to pause for a moment.


    "What is it?" he asked in an exacerbated tone.


    "This is it? Shouldn''t you exin what the pills do first?" John asked. He had no idea what exactly the pills would do for him.


    "Figure that out yourself," Pill Emperor Thunderpill replied. "The ingredients you gave me, especially that blood fruit, gave me new insights into the Pill Dao. I must capitalize on them before they leave my mind. As such, goodbye."


    Bang!


    The door mmed shut in John''s face, slightly startling him. He stared in silence at the door for a moment,pletely caught unprepared for this bizarre interaction. However, the Pill Emperor had fulfilled his side of the bargain, and so John was not about to make a fuss about it.


    ''Anything that will boost my power andbat prowess is a boon for me right now. The sooner I can meet that crazy woman''s standards, the sooner I can get done with her hellish training.''


    After receiving the pills, John quickly retired to his mountain abode for the night. He greeted Reya and Francel for a moment, who were still in high spirits from receiving John''s generous gifts, before entering his meditation chamber in the basement.


    He quickly sat down, and just as he did so, he felt a tremble in his soul space.


    Kirii appeared before him once more, and began to rub up against him affectionately.


    John smiled as he patted Kirii. "You know, you don''t have to stay cooped up inside my soul space all the time. If you want to follow me around, you can do that as well, as long as you remember to disguise yourself."


    Kirii tilted its head to the side as it listened to John speak. It couldn''t understand his words, but could understand his intentions for the most part. Kirii rubbed up against John once more before speeding out into the training area of the basement, once again running around it like a child.


    John shook his head as he watched Kirii for a moment before returning his attention to his pills.


    "Now then, let''s see what Thunderpill concocted for me."


    There were two pill bottles, one containing a single blood red pill, and the other containing many orangish pills.


    "The blood red pill should be from that blood fruit, while the orange pills are from the dozen or so Nascent Yang Fruits I gave the Pill Emperor. Let''s start with the Nascent Yang Fruits."


    John set aside the other bottle, and grabbed a single pill from the Nascent Yang Fruit bottle. He observed it for a moment, and noticed a strong yang aura emanate from the pill. It was quite a remarkable pill, and would be quite potent at John''s cultivation realm.


    "Let''s hope it advances my lightning quality," John mused to himself as he popped the first pill into his mouth and swallowed it.


    An intense heat instantly burned within his stomach as the pill began to dissolve. John felt his body grow hotter, and soon felt as if he was a furnace himself. His entire body turned red from the heat, as steam began to emanate off his body.


    John ignored the pain wracking his body and started guiding the medicinal properties of the Nascent Yang Pill throughout his body, as well as his dantian. The Nascent Yang Pill was used to upgrade Yang based powers, of which lightning was one.


    Slowly but surely, John infused the intense yang energy into his flesh, meridians, muscles, and dantian. His body continued to heat up from the process, but John ignored the intense pain wracking his body as he grit his teeth instead.


    However, through the pain, John felt tion, as he could feel his body, and especially his dantian, begin to grow in profundity. The yang energy from the pill infused into his dantian, which he had formed using the Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique.


    He could feel his natural affinity towards lightning improve, as well as the potency of the lightning Qi he could generate. After several minutes, the affects of the pill faded, and John''s body returned to normal.


    Sweat drenched his entire body as John closely inspected it. He raised his hand, and lightning began to dance over it. Arge smile appeared on his face.


    "My lightning Qi is definitely more powerful and explosive now than it was before consuming the pill."


    John continued to inspect his new lightning potency for a while before he grabbed another pill.


    ''Most of the time, pills are a one time thing before they lose their efficacy, but let''s see if that''s the case here.''


    John popped another one in his mouth and swallowed it. Heat once again assaulted his body, and John followed the principles he had learned from the first pill once again. His smile grewrger as he inspected his lightning once more.


    "It actually improved it once more!"


    John popped another pill in his mouth, and another. Only after the fourth pill did the helpful effects of the pill finally vanish. However, John was not too upset about this, as his gains had already been tremendous.


    "Just my lightning power alone is at least thirty percent stronger than before. Just from consuming some pills. The Nascent Yang Fruit sure is amazing."


    John stored the rest of the Yang Fruit Pills away, as he figured he could give them to some of his friends, or sell them. His eyes trailed down once more and focused on the other bottle sitting on the floor in front of him.


    A single blood red pill sat inside the bottle, its aura incredibly enticing to John. He reached out and grabbed it, and raised it in front of his face. Its color was blood red, and it emanated an incredibly simr aura to the fruit itself. However, its potency seemed to be concentrated even further, putting a hopeful smile on John''s face.


    "Now, let''s see what you can do for me!"

 Chapter 292 - Blood Fruit Pill

    John had high hopes for the pill before him. When he had given the fruit to Thunderpill, even the Pill Emperor himself didn''t recognize the fruit. This clearly indicated that the fruit was incredibly rare, and most likely incredibly valuable.


    John thought of selling the fruit for a high sum of money, but decided against such a thing.


    ''I have more money than I can spend at the moment, and everything is secondary whenpared to my cultivation.''


    He put such thoughts aside and once again focused on the blood red pill in his hands.


    When he had consumed the fruit directly, it had greatly improved the constitution of his body, boosting it to a higher level of durability and power.


    While John had an incredible body due to cultivating the Immortal Asura Body, and strengthened it further with the mysterious blood drops, he didn''t have many other opportunities to improve his body''s strength.


    His foundation was much more profound than others, but without continuously building upon it, he would fall further and further behind.


    Body cultivation based sects would shower their disciples with many types of wonderful materials and pills to strengthen their bodies, pushing it to new heights. However, John had only consumed the Undying Vitality Pill and the mysterious blood fruit to boost his body''s power, and needed more of such opportunities to make sure he didn''t fall behind his peers.


    The pill before him was one such opportunity.


    "I''ll have to continue to find such opportunities in the future to make sure I stay ahead of the pack, but for now, this is more than enough."


    After a brief pause, John directly consumed the pill.


    The pill hit his stomach, and quickly began to dissolve. An intense energy, almost identical to when he ate the fruit, began to assault his body from within. However, it was even stronger than when he had directly consumed the fruit, due to the refining process of the pill.


    John grit his teeth as he struggled against the rampaging energy in pain. Everywhere the energy rampaged, it destroyed cells, tore muscles, and pushed his meridians to their limits.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John activated his Supreme Battle Art, pushing his body''s power and durability to the next level. At the same time, his incredibly strong essence dantian surged in power, as he sent his own essence Qi to contain the rampaging energy.


    A stalemate was quickly achieved as John managed to stop the destruction within his body. His essence Qi enveloped the rampaging energy, and began to guide it throughout his body in manageable quantities.


    He slowly but surely infused the energy into his bones, tendons, muscles, and meridians. Every infusion process was incredibly painful, as the energy would do its best to destroy his body from within, as if it had a mind of its own.


    However, with his incredible body durability and powerful essence Qi, He was able to triumph over the rampaging energy.


    After nearly an hour, John finally let out a deep breath as the process finally came to an end. His entire body was drenched in sweat, and was aching with incredible pain. Even his essence Qi was drained quite a bit, indicating how strenuous the process was, and how potent the ramping energy had been. However, John ignored the pain as he began to inspect his new body strength.


    However, he couldn''t fully inspect the strength of his body without testing it out.


    "Today was quite a day," John mumbled to himself as he began to walk upstairs. His body ached in pain from all he had experienced over the past day, but overall he was in a happy mood.


    John walked outside and flew to a nearby empty mountain. The training area in his basement was no longer suitable for his power level, which forced John to train elsewhere.


    Afternding on the empty mountain, he took a deep breath before punching the earth beneath his feet.


    Boom!


    A loud explosion sounded out, as dirt, rock, and vegetation were flung high into the sky from the force of his attack. The dust eventually faded, revealing arge crater, several dozen yards wide and deep before him.


    A smile appeared on his face as he saw this.


    "This punch was just my base strength, without any power augmentation from the Supreme Battle Art or Immortal Asura Transformation Art!"


    Boom!


    John threw another punch, relishing in the feeling of his new power.


    "Amazing. The effect it had on my body is no less profound than when I ate the fruit directly. It''s actually even slightly better. My body''s durability, as well as power, has increased greatly. This powerup,bined with my lightning Qi upgrade, is almost as if I advanced half a minor realm of cultivation on its own!"


    He was incredibly happy with the results of consuming the pills. Thebined effect of the pills had increased his overallbat prowess by at least fifty percent, which was nearly unheard of by only consuming pills.


    However, this just showed how amazing the ingredients he had given Pill Emperor Thunderpill were. Only by having incredible base ingredients could consuming a pill achieve what it did today.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    John continued to inspect his newfound power for quite some time before he finally decided to leave and return back to his mountain abode. He was exhausted from the day, which had been incredibly busy, as well as painful.


    He had trained with the Vice-Sect Leader, discussed highly important things with the Sect Leader, and also caught up with old friends. While tomorrow would start his crazy training with the Vice-Sect Leader once again, John decided to push such negative thoughts out of his mind.


    After soaking in his outside pool for some time, he retired to his room and fell into bed heavily.


    "It''s been quite some time since I''ve slept on this bed," John mumbled to himself as he quickly fell into a deep sleep. Something he had not experienced for quite some time.

 Chapter 293 - Unexpected Visitor

    Five weeks passed by in the blink of an eye, as John continued his hellish training with the Vice-Sect Leader. John was now sixteen, and had spent his birthday being beaten by the Vice-Sect Leader.


    His powerup after the first day had caught her off guard for a moment, and had resulted in Johnnding a few blows on her body as she had restricted her cultivation to the Late Core Formation Realm. However, this trickery from John only served to ignite her anger, which resulted in his training bing even more hellish.


    He would report to her the first thing in the morning, and train all day until he was beaten ck and blue. He would retire to his abode at night, walking through the sect each time to get back home.


    Intense discussions quickly broke out amongst the disciples of the sect as they took note of John''s permanent state of being bloodied and beaten.


    "I heard he said some things to the Vice-Sect Leader that she didn''t like, and as a result, she beats him up every day as punishment."


    "That''s not what I heard. I heard that he is being punished for something he did in the wastnds."


    "No, that''s not it. Apparently, she''s taken him as her disciple and is training him as a result."


    Shiver''s crawled up the spines of all who heard this theory.


    "He''s her disciple now? That''s a fate that''s even worse than any of the other theories floating around. I can''t help but feel bad for him if that''s the case."


    All who heard this couldn''t help but agree. The Vice-Sect Leader was the most feared person in the sect, and for good reason. Being her disciple would surely be a non-stop source of pain and despair, and would not be worth it, no matter how much their power increased.


    John heard such discussions break out around him every day as he walked through the sect, and couldn''t help but agree with everything he heard. Every single day was a brutal hellscape of training, which pushed him to his absolute limits.


    "I''m not her disciple," John grumbled to himself. The Vice-Sect Leader had made this point very clear to him early on, that she was only training him due to the circumstances.


    However, he couldn''t argue with the results he was seeing by training with the Vice-Sect Leader. His shaky essence foundation, which had happened due to his sessive breakthroughs, had beenpletely refined and solidified, eliminating any ws that were present before.


    Not only that, but he was surprised as to how much hisbat prowess was increasing. He had not improved his cultivation or any other source of power over the past several weeks, but hisbat prowess had increased to an absolutely incredible level.


    Inbat alone, he was at least twice as proficient in battle as he was before, and was now able to do things inbat that he was never able to before. He had eliminated many ws that were previously present in his fighting style, while also honing his instincts and battle intuitions to new heights.


    If he fought his old self from just a few weeks ago, he wouldpletely dominate that old self, despite not being any stronger cultivation wise.


    Today, he found himself enjoying lunch with Adam, Elliot, and Leah in a courtyard, a rare treat these days. The Vice-Sect Leader had unexpectedly given him a half day off, which was a rare urrence. However, John did not argue, as any respite from his hellish training was a blessing.


    "So, how''s the training going? Are you doing alright?" Leah couldn''t help but ask in a concerned tone as she looked at John''s appearance.


    "She''s beyond crazy," John replied. "But she does know what she''s doing. My power has increased greatly, so I can''tin too much. Also, my body is pretty strong and durable, so I am fine for the most part. While the training is incredibly hellish and pushes me to my absolute limits, I can tell the Vice-Sect Leader is being careful to not push me over those limits. So I can be thankful for that at least. Also, for some reason, the training has gotten slightly easier as ofte, so there''s that as well."


    "That''s good," Leah replied with a relieved sigh.


    "I have to say, it''s quite refreshing to see you like this," Adam said with a smug tone. While he did feel bad for John, he did find it refreshing to see some payback for all the times John dragged him through those hellish trials of pain.


    John looked at Adam, and a devious smile appeared on his face, sending a shiver down Adam''s spine. "I can always convince the Vice-Sect Leader to let you join me," John replied.


    "No no no no no," Adam rebuked while waving his hands in panic. "I''m not worthy of such an honor. You should be the one to experience it, not me."


    John shook his head at Adam''s response and looked over to Leah, who was asking him a new question.


    "So what are you going to do nex-" Leah''s question was cut off by an incredible power pushing down on the four of them.


    John frowned as he felt this power, as it contained a small amount of hostility. However, there was no bloodlust within it, signifying that whoever this was, was not seeking their lives.


    John looked up into the sky and saw a man hovering above them. The man wore earthen colored pants, and an earthen colored sleeveless shirt, which revealed two incredibly muscr arms. A brief inspection of the man revealed his cultivation to be in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and at the very peak of the realm as well.


    "I finally found you," the man stated as he looked directly at John.


    John stared back at the man with a cold expression. The man was unting his power in the middle of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, clearly not cing it in his eyes.


    "And who would I be to you?" John asked, his tone cold.


    The man scoffed at John''s tone, clearly finding it displeasing. However, he ignored it as he responded to John''s question.


    "The one who somehow stole and cultivated our Supreme Battle Sect''s signature battle art! You''ll being with me back to the Supreme Battle Sect for questioning!"

 Chapter 294 - You’ve Forgotten Me Already?

    John''s face became incredibly cold as he heard the man say this. His father had obtained the technique for him, and so the man was essentially calling his father a thief.


    Not only that, but his tone and attitude werepletely overbearing, as if he didn''t respect the Heavenly Lightning Sect at all.


    The Heavenly Lightning sect and the Supreme Battle Sect were practically even in power in the Holy Lands, as they were both one of the Four Great Sects. They even had a rtively good rtionship, in that they were not enemies by any means.


    However, this man was giving the Heavenly Lightning Sect no face at the moment.


    "John¡­.what''s going on? What is he talking about?" Leah couldn''t help but ask in a slightly panicked tone.


    She had never seen John use his Supreme Battle Art, and so waspletely out of the loop. On top of that, the man''s aura, which radiated a peak Heaven Tribtion cultivation, was pressing down on them with great power, intimidating her further.


    John nced towards Leah, and a small smile appeared on his face. "Don''t worry about this. This man won''t do anything to me," John replied in a confident tone.


    The Supreme Battle Sect Elder heard this, and his serious face turned slightly dark. "You think I won''t dare to do anything to you? Do you not know of the reputation of my Supreme Battle Sect? There isn''t a single thing we dare not do," the man scoffed.


    John''s calm smile remained on his face as he looked at the man. Based on what he had heard of the Supreme Battle Sect, they were a sect of battle maniacs who truly did dare to do almost anything, including waltzing into another Great Sect to kidnap a disciple in broad daylight.


    However, with his importance to the Heavenly Lightning Sect being at the absolute peak, John was not worried about a thing.


    "Aren''t you afraid of my Heavenly Lightning Sect retaliating against you and your sect for such a brazen action?" John asked, his voice tinged with amusement.


    The man found John''sck of fear, and instead pure amusement,pletely displeasing. Anger slightly began to well up inside him as he increased the pressure on John alone, looking to quell him with his aura alone.


    However, John acted as if nothing had happened, because to him, nothing had. The man had increased his aura to intimidate a normal Late Core Formation youth. However, John was not a normal Late Core Formation youth, and the aura on him felt like a light rain at the moment.


    However, the aura slightly leaked to Leah, Elliot and Adam, and John could tell that they were having a hard time struggling against it. He frowned as he saw this, and looked back up towards the man with a cold re.


    "Is this how your daring Supreme Battle Sect does things? They use a Heaven Tribtion Elder to bully youths in the Core Formation Realm? If that''s the case, then I really look down on you and your sect," John stated.


    "What did you say? You dare besmirch my glorious Supreme Battle Sect?" the man replied in an angered tone.


    He was a vaunted Elder of the Supreme Battle Sect, and was used to those below him from sects other than his own looking up at him with awe, respect, and fear. It was the first time he had seen a youth like Johnpletely disregard his position, and even repeatedly mock him.


    However, the man could not argue against what John had said, as he truly was using his power to bully and intimidate those weaker than him. His powerful aura subsided, relieving the pressure off Leah, Elliot and Adam, as they all sighed deeply in relief.


    "Regardless of what you say, you''reing with me," the man spoke up. "As for your Heavenly Lightning Sect, they would do the same thing if one of my sect''s disciples had somehow cultivated the Heavenly Lightning Tome. They would send an Elder to take them back for questioning, as I am doing to you today."


    "And what would your sect''s response be to such an action?" John asked. "Would your sect roll over and let one of your disciples be kidnapped?"


    "Of course not," the man bellowed out, as if John had once again insulted his Supreme Battle Sect. "However, do notpare the grit of our Supreme Battle Sect to your Heavenly Lightning Sect. While we may be equal in power, we are not equal in attitude and wills. Your sect would not dare to start a battle or war for a single disciple, while ours would. That is the difference between your sect and mine," the man exined with a prideful tone.


    John nodded his head in slight agreement as he heard this. "It''s true. My Heavenly Lightning Sect can be quite soft, as most of my fellow disciples, and even Elders came from pampered backgrounds and expect that to continue within the Heavenly Lightning Sect," John agreed.


    A small smile once again appeared on his face, as if he was mocking the man. "However, that is not true for everyone in my sect. There are those within my sect that even you would fear to anger. Do not test your luck, or you will draw their ire, and that ire is not something you, or even your entire sect, can withstand" John replied.


    The man frowned angrily as he heard this statement from John, which was demeaning his entire sect.


    "You dare to besmirch my sect once again? Fine, in that case, I''m bringing you back with me now. Other than your Sect Leader, no one had the gall to stop me, and he sits in his pce all day, unconcerned of the happenings beneath him. Let''s see who else from your sect dares to interfere," the man replied as he reached out towards John.


    John felt an incredible power wrap around him, seeking to bring him away with the man. He was powerless against such an overwhelming might, but didn''t even bother to struggle against it. The man''s overbearing disy of his aura surely didn''t go unnoticed within the sect, and John knew those two would not allow him to be taken away by anyone.


    "Hmph," a scoff suddenly filled the area. While it was a normal scoff, it contained incredible power which focused on the man from the Supreme Battle Sect.


    John instantly felt the power that had wrapped around him dissipate as the man suddenly looked in a certain direction. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the person before him, who had appeared instantly and without any warning.


    Her blue hair billowed in the wind, while her white and gold robe glowed brightly in the sunlight. Her face was a mix of amusement and displeasure as she looked at the man with disdain.


    "So, I step away from the spotlight for a few years and you''ve already forgotten about me? It seems as though I didn''t make enough of an impressionst time, but after I''m done with you, I''m sure no one in thesends will forget again," her calm voice sounded out.

 Chapter 295 - Dao Transformation

    The Supreme Battle Sect Elder narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Vice-Sect Leader. Being a lifelong member of a sect such as the Supreme Battle Sect, the man did not fear death, but the situation before him was not good. Being the target of the Vice-Sect Leader was never a good thing.


    Even within the Supreme Battle Sect, the Vice-Sect Leader had a reputation of brutality and violence.


    "You...Why are you here?" the man asked.


    "Why am I here? This is my Heavenly Lightning Sect, where else would I be?" The Vice-Sect Leader asked in response, her tone still tinged with amusement, as if she was talking to a ything.


    "You know very well what I mean. You went to the Divine Martial Continent, and even began to make a name for yourself in thosends. Why...and when did you return?" the man asked.


    "Oh, that," the Vice-Sect Leader responded. "Maybe if your Supreme Battle Sect cared about anything besides battle, you would have already known this intel. I have done absolutely nothing to keep my presence thisst year a secret, but yourck of interest in deploying spies to other sects truly shows how short sighted you bunch truly are."


    The man frowned as he heard the Vice-Sect Leader talk about his sect in such a way, but couldn''t argue. Everything the Vice-Sect Leader said was true. The Supreme Battle Sect only cared about cultivation and battle, and ignored everything else.


    This included having a robust spy and informationwork, and so the Supreme Battle Sect was always thest to pick up on news regarding thends. The Vice-Sect Leader had returned just a year ago from the Divine Martial Continent, and had not shown her face outside of the Heavenly Lightning Sect yet.


    As such, the Supreme Battle Sect thought she was still in the Divine Martial Continent.


    The Vice-Sect Leader suddenly felt the man''s divine sense pass over her, as he was attempting to inspect her cultivation. However, much to his surprise, he was not able to do so.


    "You''re wearing a cultivation shrouding artifact?" the man asked in a questioning tone.


    Normally, cultivators were able to detect the cultivation of others with their divine sense. However, if one was wearing a powerful enough cultivation shrouding artifact, it would hide their cultivation from whoever scanned it.


    There was another exnation for why the man could not detect her cultivation, but he dismissed such a thought, as the Vice-Sect Leader would never have returned to the Yuan Continent if that was the case.


    The Vice-Sect Leader smiled smugly at the man. "Do you really believe I would concern myself with such useless things?" she asked in a mocking tone.


    The man''s eyes suddenly widened as he heard this. "You''re hardly thirty years old, and yet you im to have reached that realm? If this is true, why would you have returned to the Yuan Continent. With your age and talent, you would be valued even in the Divine Martial Continent," the man rebuked, refusing to believe the Vice-Sect Leader.


    Slight surprise appeared on John''s face as he heard this. Not because of her cultivation, but because of her age.


    ''Cultivators age much slower than mortals, so while the Vice-Sect Leader appears to be in her twenties, I figured she was much older. It seems like she''s actually still quite young!''


    John was shocked to hear this, but didn''t say anything as he sat there in silence as the two adults conversed.


    "Hmph," the Vice-Sect Leader scoffed at the man''s assumptions. "My reasons for leaving thatnd are my own. But that''s not the important thing right now. The thing to discuss is your brazen barging into my sect, acting as if we are not worthy of being ced in your eyes. That is not something I can forgive."


    The man frowned as he heard this. It seemed as though the Vice-Sect Leader was going to make things difficult for him.


    "This boy, a disciple of your sect, stole our Supreme Battle Art and had been tantly using it. I''m sure someone like you can understand that this is a serious matter, and that the boy must be brought back for questioning no matter what. Your sect would do the same if it was in this position," the man replied, his tone firm.


    He still didn''t believe the Vice-Sect Leader''s story about not using a cultivation shrouding artifact, and so figured their strength was on the same level. Thest rumors of the Vice-Sect Leader was that her cultivation was in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and so the man was confident in keeping himself safe at the very least.


    The Vice-Sect Leader nodded her head in agreement at the man''s words. "What you say is true. If one of your members had the Heavenly Lightning Tome, we too would bring them back for questioning."


    The man slightly rxed upon hearing this.


    "However," the Vice-Sect Leader continued. "You''ve made one grave error here. This ''boy'' isn''t just a disciple of my sect, he is also my Direct Disciple."


    The man frowned upon hearing this, while a slight surprise appeared on John''s face. The Vice-Sect Leader had always told him he was not her disciple, but she seemed to have changed tunes now.


    "As such, you treating my disciple with no respect is as if you''re treating me with no respect," she continued.


    The Supreme Battle Sect Elder opened his mouth to reply.


    Bang!


    A fist collided with his face, sending him flying back like a cannonball. His body flew backwards violently, and mmed onto an unupied mountain in the far distance several miles away. The mountain exploded into a hail of rubble, and began to crumble from the force of the impact.


    John, as well as his three friends, stared at the scene inplete shock. The man, who was a Peak Heaven Tribtion Elder, was knocked back violently with a single attack, unable to do anything to stop it.


    Not only that, but the force of a single attack from the Vice-Sect Leader was enough to shatter a mountain, stunning thempletely.


    "Wait here a moment," the Vice-Sect Leader said to John as her body suddenly disappeared.


    The four of them saw her reappear above the mountain in the distance, staring down at its shattered remains below.


    An explosion of debris erupted from the ground as the man shot out of the rubble. He stopped, and stared up at the Vice-Sect Leader who hovered above him. She stared down at him with a calm face, as if his Peak Heaven Tribtion cultivation was nothing more than a trifling matter.


    He now believed the Vice-Sect Leader on why he could not detect her cultivation level.


    As he thought of this, a bad premonition appeared in his mind.


    "You''re...you''re actually in the Dao Transformation Realm!"

 Chapter 296 - Distant Booms

    "What''s going on?" a sect member asked in surprise as they saw the mountain in the distance crumble.


    "I don''t know...wait. Is that the Vice-Sect Leader?"


    "Is she fighting someone?"


    The loudmotion drew the eyes of all those nearby, as they watched the events unfold before them.


    The Supreme Battle Sect Elder stared up in surprise at the Vice-Sect Leader who floated above him in the sky.


    The man was extremely shocked by this. He was hundreds of years old, and was at the peak of the Heaven Tribtion Realm. However, this woman before him, who was ten times younger than him, was at a higher realm of cultivation than his own.


    Such talent was enough to make her a distinguished name even in the Divine Martial Continent.


    "Who cares about such things," she replied. "You intended on kidnapping my disciple, and so I must make an example of you."


    The man frowned as he heard this, but didn''t back away. As an Elder of the Supreme Battle Sect, he was incredibly battle hardened. Even in the face of death, he wouldn''t retreat.


    "Come on then," he yelled as his aura suddenly exploded outwards, reaching the clouds high above. Despite his cultivation being lower than the Vice-Sect Leader''s, he still charged forward unflinchingly.


    The man kicked off the ground, causing the earth to shatter beneath his feet as he appeared in the sky next to her in an instant. The Supreme Battle Art exploded off his body, elevating his power to an incredible level.


    John''s eyes locked onto the man as he watched him from a distance. The Supreme Battle Art he was using was far beyond John''s in profundity and power, making him desire the higher levels of the art even more.


    While his strongest battle state was when he used the Immortal Asura Transformation Art, that was a physical transformation of his body. The Supreme Battle Art was a battle art, and so the two arts could bebined at the same time without any issues.


    The stronger his body battle art, the stronger his peak fighting state would be.


    The man''s fist exploded towards the Vice-Sect Leader, his might overwhelming. The air rippled and boomed as his fist traveled forward, and the power behind it seemed as if it could raze entire mountain ranges in a single blow.


    Bang!


    An incredibly loud back echoed out throughout the entire sect as the man''s fist exploded against a wall of lightning.


    The lightning wall had been constructed by the Vice-Sect Leader at thest moment, and hadpletely blocked the man''s attack. The nearby clouds were all washed away from the force of the attack.


    "A battle here will cause too much damage," the Vice-Sect Leader suddenly stated as she stared at the man. "Let''s move locations."


    The man was about to reply, when he suddenly found himself trapped in a cage of lightning that the Vice-Sect Leader had created. Their bodies suddenly vanished from sight.


    "Where did they go? Will she be alright alone" Leah couldn''t help but ask in surprise. Everything had happened too quickly.


    "She''ll be fine," John replied casually as he took a sip of tea that he had ordered for lunch. He leaned back in his chair and rxed, happy for once that the focus of the Vice-Sect Leader was not him.


    "Are you sur-'''' Leah''s voice was cut off by a loud boom that echoed out from the distance. While she knew the Vice-Sect Leader should be stronger, she couldn''t help but worry regardless, as the Supreme Battle Sect Elder''s power was overwhelming as well.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    A long series of booms continued to sound out over the Heavenly Lightning Sect, although no one could see the source of the explosions.


    ''They must be pretty far away for us to not see anything. I wonder how long this will take.''


    John continued to sit therezily, as he bit into the food he had ordered before it got cold. The other three around him noticed his rxed attitude, and eventually rxed themselves. They returned to their previous discussions, while continuous booms continued to sound out over the sect.


    A bitter¡­


    Whoosh!


    The sound of parting air was heard as John raised his head. He looked towards the source of the sound, and noticed a falling body dropping towards them.


    Bang!


    The body fell on the ground and remained motionless, as the eyes of Leah, Elliot, and Adam all opened wide in extreme shock. Only John remained rtively calm, as he raised his eyebrows at the sight before him.


    The Supreme Battle Sect Elder, who had stood above them and imed that no one in the Heavenly Lightning Sect dared oppose him, nowid there unconscious before John. John inspected the man before him, and shook his head in knowing pity.


    ''His neck is bright red, with many deep finger marks on it. Poor bastard. He got the same treatment as me.''


    The man had clearly been mmed into the earth by the neck repeatedly, a favorite move of the Vice-Sect Leader, and one that he hade to know quite well. His body was bloodied all over as well, revealing the severity of the beating.


    The Vice-Sect Leader suddenlynded next to John. She showed no signs of taking any damage, revealing the fight to be a one sided affair.


    The man, who was unconscious before, suddenly regained his consciousness and quickly stood up. John once again raised his eyebrows, slightly surprised at the durability of the man. Despite being beaten so severely by the Vice-Sect Leader, he had regained consciousness so quickly, and still seemed to have energy left to fight.


    ''The bodies of body cultivators sure are impressive.''


    He looked at the Vice-Sect Leader, his once proud expression slightly wary. Even though he had taken such a beating however, he still didn''t back away or flee in fear.


    "Not bad. At least your Supreme Battle Sect is good at one thing," the Vice-Sect Leader stated out loud, showing her respect for his unflinching attitude, even in the face of sure defeat. Such a thing was something she could agree with.


    "John has some business to finish up first that will take some time. After that, he may or may not visit your sect to answer some questions. It all depends on my mood at the time." the Vice-Sect Leader spoke up.


    The man was about to speak up, but was cut off.


    "Now leave, before I change my mind about letting you leave."

 Chapter 297 - Mission Start

    The Elder stared in silence at the Vice-Sect Leader, thinking of what to do next. As an Elder of the Supreme Battle Sect, he was used to getting anything he wanted by pure brute force. However, in the face of the Vice-Sect Leader, such a thing was impossible.


    Even the Sect Leader of the Supreme Battle Sect would have to give the Vice-Sect Leader respect in battle, let alone himself.


    He contemted arguing back, but eventually decided against it. If it was a regr disciple of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, he would argue that their sect''s alliance was more important, but since John was her direct disciple, there was no way he would convince her.


    After a brief moment of silence, the man took to the skies. His body reached incredible speeds in an instant, and he quickly disappeared over the horizon.


    "Amazing!" Leah suddenly eximed in an excited voice. All eyes looked to her, and were surprised to see that she had dashed directly towards the Vice-Sect Leader and stood before her.


    "You''re so amazing. That man was so strong, and yet you handled him so easily. You''re incredible," she excitedly eximed. "I hope to be like you one day! Strong...and unafraid!"


    The Vice-Sect Leader stared at Leah, and a small smile broke out on her face. "You sure know how to tter, unlike this brat over here," she replied as she looked towards John.


    John took a step backwards instinctively as she looked at him, but the Vice-Sect Leader did nothing and looked back towards Leah.


    "John and I have some important business to attend to, but I''ve taken a liking to you. Report to the War Hall, and find Elder Thame. Tell him that I personally instructed you to have one of our Heaven Tribtion Elders wee you as their direct disciple. If he has any questions, he can report to meter."


    Leah''s eyes nearly popped out of her head, while John, Adam, and Elliot smiled at the news.


    "Congrattions, Leah," John congratted her, with Adam and Elliot doing the same.


    ''Hopefully with this new master of hers, she will be able to shed her timid shell and be a true battle hardened cultivator.''


    Leah started to tear up at the news, both shocked and happy at the same time. The Vice-Sect Leader patted her on the shoulder, before looking towards John.


    "We have business to attend to. Follow me."


    She instantly took to the skies, and began to fly in the direction of the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    John had a feeling that his training was over, and that his mission was to begin soon. He looked to his three friends before him.


    "Well friends, I have some things to take care of. It may be a while before we see each other again, so while I''m gone, do not ck off on your training."


    His eyes locked onto Adam hard at the end, suggesting that he meant his words to Adam the most. Adam smiled wryly as he heard John''sment.


    "Don''t worry, when have I ever cked off," Adam replied with a pride smile on his face.


    Bang!


    "Ouch!"


    Adam cried out in surprised pain as John mmed him on the back with quite some force.


    "When I return, if you haven''t improved by leaps and bounds, well...I''m sure you can fill in the rest," John said to Adam.


    He knew Adam would ck off if he was not here, and so decided to remind him with onest warning not to do so. John valued Adam as a friend and a formations cultivator, and did not want to see him fall behind and be useless.


    Adam gulped in fear, as he could guess what John was talking about.


    "Don''t worry, when you return, you''ll be the one looking up to me," Adam replied, his smug pride still as strong as ever.


    "Good, make sure its so," John replied. He said a few parting words to Leah and Elliot, before he took to the sky and quickly caught up to the Vice-Sect Leader. Their destination was clearly the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    "Is it time?" John asked curiously.


    "It is," the Vice-Sect Leader replied.


    John''s face became stern as he heard this, and he followed her to the Heavenly Lightning Pce in silence. When they arrived at the top balcony, the Sect Leader was sitting there, once more sipping tea.


    He nced up, and spoke to his two new arrivals.


    "Have a seat, we have much to discuss."


    John nodded his head and quickly took a seat at the table. A fragrant aroma filled his senses, one which he recognized.


    ''Seems like the Sect Leader is still enjoying that tea of mine.''


    "How has your training been thesest few weeks?" Sect Leader Thunderzen asked, snapping John out of his thoughts.


    "Brutal nightmare," John instantly replied, not mincing any words. The Vice-Sect Leader frowned as she heard this, but said nothing.


    Thunderzen smiled at John''s reply, and rified his question. "How have your improvements been thesest few weeks?"


    John thought about the question for a moment before replying. "As much as I hate to admit it, my battle prowess has improved substantially over thest five weeks. If I fought myself from before I started this training, I would dominate my past self without any question," John replied.


    "Good," Thunderzen replied, his smile lingering on his face for a moment before turning into a look of seriousness.


    "The Bloodfiend Sect is bing more and more brazen with their actions, and I believe whatever they have nned for this continent will be carried out within the next half year. As such, there is no more time to dawdle. You will begin your mission today, of infiltrating the Bloodfiend Sect and finding out exactly what is going on," Thunderzen exined.


    John''s face turned serious as he heard this, but a bit of excitement welled up inside him as well.


    "So the time has finallye, huh? Good, that means I can start getting closer to my one true mission of drowning the Bloodfiend Sect in their own blood."

 Chapter 298 - Mission Details

    Both the Sect Leader and Vice-Sect Leader remained silent upon hearing John say this. They both knew his enmity with them, both from his n and Russell, and so did not advise against such a goal.


    If John was truly able to destroy the Bloodfiend Sect somehow, it would be a great boon for the Yuan Continent. Also, since his power was below the Dao Transformation Realm, he would not be held to the Alliancews that bound the Sect Leader from taking action himself.


    "Now that the time hase, I will give you the mission details," Thunderzen spoke up.


    John stirred out of his thoughts once more and listened closely to what the Sect Leader had to say.


    "On the borderingnds between the Bloodfiend Sect and our Heavenly Lightning Sect, small skirmishes break out all the time. The Bloodfiend Sect is constantly trying to test us, to see if we stop them from expanding their territory. Not only that, but they send many of their disciples as well, to train them through battle," the Sect Leader exined.


    John sat there in silence, listening to everything the Sect Leader was saying.


    "Our War Hall sends out Elders and disciples as well, to keep the Bloodfiend Sect from encroaching on ournds. As part of the War Hall, you will join them on an official excursion out to the bordends. There, you will eventually find yourself in a skirmish with the Bloodfiend Sect, and hopefully, find a suitable target to take the identity of. Once you do so, you will leave the protection of your War Hallpany, and sneak into the forbiddennds.


    The rest of the details are up to you, but you are to return to the Bloodfiend Sect as the disciple you took the identity of, and say you were the only survivor of the group. The Bloodfiend Sect does not take kindly to deserters, and so you will have to do something...eye catching, so make it so that they do not execute you."


    John''s eyebrows raised at thest sentence, causing the Sect Leader to chuckle slightly. "Don''t worry, in the event that you are unable to do anything to stop such an action, all you need to do is crush this," Thunderzen continued as he threw a small item to John.


    John caught the item and quickly inspected it. It was a small formation disk, with simple rune carvings over it. It was even less profound than the spatial talismans given to them when they entered the wastnds, causing John to frown.


    "How is this supposed to save me?


    "It''s not, but I will," Thunderzen replied with a smile on his face.


    John looked questionly at the Sect Leader, who borated further.


    "This simple formation disk is linked to this one," Thunderzen stated as he took out another disk that looked exactly identical to the one John had. "In the event that your safety is at risk, crush that disk. It will immediately alert me that you are in danger, and I will arrive to bring you out safely from the Bloodfiend Sect," Thunderzen exined.


    "I thought you can''t interfere in matters such as this?" John asked in a questioning tone.


    Thunderzen had been expecting such a question. "I can''t interfere with Bloodfiend Sect matters, but now said anything about rescuing a disciple of mine who is in distress," Thunderzen borated.


    "So that''s how it is," John replied. His confidence instantly soared upon hearing this, as he had a nearly guaranteed lifeline out of the Bloodfiend Sect if he ever needed it.


    "Once you''re inside the Bloodfiend Sect, you are to quickly establish yourself as a disciple worthy of being raised to the top of the Sect. This is where your recent training wille into y. You will be unable to use any lightning powers, battle arts not trained by the Bloodfiend Sect, or powerful body of yours. This is where your recent training wille into factor. By iming you had some incredible insights and breakthroughs during your near death experience during your recent battle, you will show an incrediblebat prowess that is worthy of nurturing."


    Thunderzen paused to take a sip of tea, which was still wafting the area with a fragrant aroma. A small smile appeared on his face as he contently sipped the tea, before setting the teacup back down and resuming his mission details.


    "Once you be a disciple of note, you will climb the internal ranks until someone high enough notices you and takes you under their wing. You will keep showing your talents, and keep climbing as high as possible. Only once you are truly considered an important asset of the Bloodfiend Sect will they deign to divulge any important information to you. Utilize any and all means to gather this intel, and once you have a good understanding of their ns, leave. That is your mission. Any questions?"


    John leaned back heavily in his chair as the Sect Leader finished his mission exnation. John sat there in silence for quite some time, taking in all the mission details.


    "In the battle on the borders, what happens if we''re overwhelmed by a stronger enemy force?" John asked. It was the one question he had.


    "I will follow you all the way to the border in secret," the Vice-Sect Leader suddenly spoke up. "If you run into any situations you cannot handle, I will aid you. Otherwise, I will remain in secret, no matter what happens. The border skirmishes are typically kept to the Meridian Forging realm and below, so you should be fine," she exined.


    "Any other questions," Sect Leader Thunderzen asked?


    "No, I have no more questions," John eventually replied. He was clear on what he had to do.


    "Good. Then Lilian here will take you to the War Hall, and introduce you to your new squadron. Good luck."


    John stood up and bowed his head slightly to the Sect Leader in respect, before turning around and following the Vice-Sect Leader.


    Sect Leader Thunderzen watched the two of them leave, as a small smile appeared on his face.


    "If my guesses of the prophecy are true, then I wonder how the Bloodfiend Sect will deal with the prophesized Asura of Annihtion!"

 Chapter 299 - Squadron

    John followed the Vice-Sect Leader in silence while he thought about everything he had heard.


    ''Not only is this mission incredibly risky, its also incredibly difficult. I only have six months to gather all this intel ording to the Sect Leader, so I will have to be extra brazen with my actions.''


    While thinking about his mission, John looked to the Vice-Sect Leader to ask a question he had forgotten to ask.


    "Vice-Sect Leader, how long would it take for the Sect Leader to arrive to aid me once I crush that item he gave me?" John asked curiously.


    He would need to know this information in order to use it properly.


    The Vice-Sect Leader looked over her shoulder.


    "Oh? I already publicly stated that I epted you as my direct disciple, and still you address me without the proper respect? Do you want another beating?" she replied in an amused tone.


    John frowned as he heard this, as he had never epted such a proposition. However, he knew he was powerless to change it, and didn''t want to be beaten up for no reason again.


    He grit his teeth slightly before replying with a wry look on his face.


    "Master¡­"


    "That''s more like it," the Vice-Sect Leader replied in response. "As for your question, his powers are far beyond your reckoning, so you don''t have to worry about his response time. As soon as you crush that disk, regardless of distance, he''ll appear there within several seconds," she exined.


    "So fast?" John eximed.


    He had been expecting several minutes at the very least, but such a response time was incredibly fast. It had to be known that the Sect Leader would be in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, tens of thousands of miles away from the Bloodfiend Sect, and yet he would arrive within mere seconds.


    John sighed out slightly in relief as he heard this.


    ''Since this is the case, then I can definitely be more brazen with my actions. If I''m caught out, the Sect Leader should be able to arrive before any harm befalls me.''


    "We''re here," the Vice-Sect Leader stated, and John looked down to notice that he had already arrived at the War Hall grounds.


    ''I guess since joining the War Hall, I haven''t done anything official with them. This will be my first official War Hall mission.''


    John followed behind the Sect Leader andnded in front of one of the War Hall buildings. A signboard, carved with ornate wordings, read ''Mission Hall.''


    There were two guards stationed out front, and each quickly bowed to the Vice-Sect Leader with full respect as soon as they saw her.


    "Greetings, Vice-Sect Leader," they both called out.


    The Vice-Sect Leader strode past them, and into the Mission Hall. John followed closely behind, and entered the Mission Hall as well. The Mission Hall was quiterge, and spanned a hundred yards wide and long, and several hundred yards tall.


    Most of the floors were reserved for administrative purposes, such as intelligence gathering, creating mission documents, and other such things.


    The main lobby of the Mission Hall was quite expansive, a signature architecture style of the War Hall.


    Hundreds of sect members could be seen going about their business, and John quickly spotted an organized group of about a dozen sect members standing in formation in the front of the lobby.


    They spotted the Vice-Sect Leader, and each of them instantly bowed their heads in respect to their War Hall Leader.


    "We pay our respects to the Vice-Sect Leader," they each called out in unison.


    The Vice-Sect Leader stopped before them, and inspected each of them before turning to John.


    "John, this is the squadron you will be joining for this mission. Its led by Elder Rein here, so you will follow any instructions he gives you, understood?" the Vice-Sect Leader instructed.


    John nodded his head in understanding, before ncing over the group before him. They inspected him as well, curious about the first year neer. First years were not allowed to join the War Hall, or the missions they carried out, but John was the one exception.


    Not only that, but his fame within the sect had skyrocketed recently, making those within the squadron even more curious about him.


    John nced over the group, inspecting each of their cultivations. The one Elder of the group, Elder Rein, had a cultivation at the peak of the Meridian Forging Realm, simr to Elder Ragur when John had first met him.


    The rest of the group consisted of disciples of the sect, namely second, third, and fourth year disciples. After the four year of being in the sect, disciples had the option to be an Elder if their cultivation was high enough, or carry out other tasks for the sect. This was John''s first time really meeting disciples of the sect above him in age, and so he inspected each of them carefully.


    ''Their cultivations range from the Late Core Formation Realm, to the Early Meridian Forging Realm. A bit disappointing, but expected I suppose. Based on what the Sect Leader revealed to me a while ago, all our most talented disciples to go the Divine Martial Continent, so this bunch is mostly those who didn''t qualify for that honor I suppose.''


    The Vice-Sect Leader noticed John inspecting the group, as well as his unimpressed attitude.


    "Do not look down on them," the Vice-Sect Leader said to John. "While their cultivations may not be impressive to you, their battle prowess is not to be questioned. Each of them has stared death in the face multiple times ande out alive. Each attack is done so with their lives on the line, and I am proud to call them members of my War Hall."


    Each member before them felt pride well up inside them after hearing the Vice-Sect Leader speak of them in such a way. They treated her as a god, and getting praise from her was valued incredibly highly by them.


    John raised his eyebrows slightly at the Vice-Sect Leader''s words, as it was rare for her to talk about anyone in a positive light.


    ''Seems like she''s not a fully terrible person after all.''


    John nodded to the group before him, and smiled towards them in a friendly manner. "Then I look forward to seeing the true fighting spirits of my War Hall brothers. I will be in your care for this mission."


    John''s friendly greeting improved their impressions they had of him. Based on his status as the number one disciple of the sect, they had expected him to be overbearing and prideful, but he had greeted them in a friendly manner.


    "It''s too early for you to call us brothers. Only when you prove yourself on the line of battle will you be able to call us as such, but we wee you nheless," Elder Rein spoke up.


    His deep and grizzled voice boomed out loudly, and the way he carried himself made John sure that he was incredibly battle hardened.


    "Elder Rein, your squadron will set out to the Hindnds region and scout for any Bloodfiend Sect excursions into our territory. If you find any Bloodfiend Sect squadrons, if you determine your squadron''sbat prowess to beparable or greater than that of the enemies, you are to engage and wipe them out. The Bloodfiend Sect is bing more and more overbearing thesest few months, and act as if we are too scared to retaliate," the Vice-Sect Leader said to the group.


    The eyes of all in the squadron darkened at the Vice-Sect Leadersst line. They were the frontline of the sect, and such an insult from the Bloodfiend Sect was an insult directly at the War Hall itself.


    "You and your squadron will show no mercy, and remind them of why our War Hall is feared across the continent," the Vice-Sect Leader spoke out with an impassioned voice.


    "Haaah," the squadron yelled out in unison, their fighting spirits fully ignited by her words.


    The united battle intents of the squadron exploded out, and ignited John''s own fighting spirit as he felt it. He nodded his head in approval at the group, as they truly did seem to be battle hardened veterans. Such was a group John was sure he would get along well with.


    "Set out," the Vice-Sect Leader instructed.


    Elder Rein nodded his head, and looked towards John.


    "Fall in line," he instructed.


    John obliged and fell in line with the rest of the squadron. The Elder walked out of the formation and stood before them, closely inspecting every member.


    "It''s been a while since our des have tasted Bloodfiend blood. Let us whet our de''s appetites once more. We move!"


    "Haaah!"


    The group once again cried out a war cry in unison, and John joined in as well.


    Elder Rein turned and strode out of the building, closely followed behind by the squadron. John looked at the Vice-Sect Leader.


    "Good luck," a sound transmission from the Vice-Sect Leader sounded out in John''s mind, surprising him slightly by her sincere tone. John nodded his head, and left with the squadron. The Vice-Sect Leader watched the group leave, before her body vanished from sight.

 Chapter 300 - Flying Ship

    John strode outside of the Mission Hall alongside his squadron, and followed Elder Rein to an empty part of the War Hall grounds.


    Elder Rein waved his hand before him, and a massive object suddenly came into view before the group.


    John''s eyes widened slightly as he saw the object, which slightly resembled a boat. However, the ''boat'' was much more sleek in design, and floated off the ground in front of them. It was thirty yards long, ten yards wide, and made out of some kind of metal. Formation etchings were visible all over the exterior of the boat, which pulsated ever so slightly.


    "What''s this?" John couldn''t help but ask curiously.


    "It''s your first time seeing one of these?" a second year youth next to John replied. "This is a flying artifact, or flying ship, whatever you want to call it."


    "Flying ship? Are we taking this to the bordends?" John asked.


    "Yep. The bordends are over ten thousand miles away, and would take too long for us to fly there. This ship will carry us all there much faster," the boy replied.


    "Oh," John replied.


    "I''m Steven, by the way," the youth greeted John. He had a Late Core Formation cultivation, the same as John''s.


    "John," John greeted back.


    "Oh, I know who you are. The whole sect does. I''m curious to see if the rumors about you are true however, or if they are overblown exaggerations," Steven replied with a smile on his face.


    Johnughed slightly at Steven''s remark, finding him quite amiable. "I guess you''ll find out soon enough," John replied.


    "Enter the ship, we set out at once" Elder Rein instructed.


    The group quickly followed behind Elder Rein, and entered a lower door which had opened for them. John was thest to enter, and quickly found himself in a rtivelyrge, open area.


    The cabin of the ship was quiterge, but mostly empty.


    "This ship is used for short range missions, and so the interior amodations are quitecking," Steven exined.


    John nodded his head in understanding. The interiorcked any rooms or amodations, but such a thing made sense if they were not going to spend too much time on the ship.


    Elder Rein walked to the front of the ship, where a pedestal rested. On top of the pedestal were several glowing crystals, and many rune formations. He ced his hand on one of the crystals, and the ship began to rise higher and higher into the sky.


    John looked down, and was slightly surprised to see that the once normal floor and walls of the ship quickly became transparent, allowing him and all the others to see the outside world unobstructed.


    "How interesting," John mused as he watched the ground beneath him grow farther and farther away.


    All of a sudden, the ship sped forward, reaching incredible speeds in an instant. John braced himself, expecting to be thrown backwards within the ship, but surprisingly found himself remaining stationary.


    ''This ship must have some sort of spatial properties that limits momentum and inertia within the ship itself.''


    The ground beneath the ship whirled by rapidly, much faster than John had ever travelled in his life. Within a few minutes, he saw that they had already left the official grounds of the sect, which spanned for hundreds of miles in each direction.


    "So fast!" John couldn''t help but exim.


    "John,e here," Elder Rein suddenly instructed.


    John looked up towards the Elder, and noticed the squadron had grouped up once more. John walked over and joined the group.


    "Before we start our mission, you should learn the names of all your squadron members. After that, we''ll go over mission assignments," Elder Rein instructed.


    John nodded in understanding, and the group quickly revealed their names, cultivations, and which year of discipleship they were from. There were five second years, four third years, and three fourth years in the group.


    John noticed the dwindling numbers as the years of discipleship went higher, either an indication of the high death rate in the War Hall, or some other reason for the disciples leaving as they advanced in years. Each of the disciples greeted John warmly, and each carried themselves as a battle hardened warriors would, causing John to nod his head in respect to each one.


    "Now that you know everyone in the group, we''ll go over mission assignments. If we find a suitable enemy unit to engage, you are to engage the enemy in pairs. Unfortunately, the twelve before you already know their pairing assignments, which leaves us in a bit of an odd situation," Elder Rein exined.


    "No need to worry," John stated in response. With a thought, Kirri suddenly appeared in the ship before the group, still disguised as a hybrid creature of a wolf and a horse. It had the head of a wolf, but the body of a horse, and was something none of the War Hall members had ever seen.


    "What is this?" Elder Rein asked.


    "This is Kirii, my animalpanion," John exined. "I''ll pair up with him."


    Elder Rein inspected Kirii, which now had a cultivation at the Late Core Formation Realm.


    "This is unconventional, but I suppose it works," Elder Rein replied. He was going to rearrange the pairings, but this worked out better. The pairing units had fought many battles together, and had grown ustomed to fighting alongside each other.


    Reorganizing the pairings would lower the group''sbat prowess, so John''s solution was an eptable one.


    "Now that the pairings are set, all we need to do is find a suitable group to ambush," Elder Rein instructed. "In the meantime, rest and maintain your optimal battle state, as you never know when a battle will break out."


    John walked to the side and sat down in a corner of the ship. Kirii followed closely behind, and sat down next to him, rubbing his head into John''s chest constantly. John patted Kirii''s head, enjoying this moment with his animalpanion.


    The ship continued to speed forward at immense speeds for the next several hours, speeding over thends of the Yuan Continent. John looked down towards the ground the entire time, taking in the continent he had yet to explore.


    Towering mountain ranges popped up asionally, as well as deep valleys, dense forests, and barren wastnds. John spotted thousands of other cities, sects, and viges pass by underneath, revealing the massive scope of the Yuan Continent.


    Many of the Sects were almostparable to the Heavenly Lightning Sect in size, revealing the scope of their might.


    "Those must be the first grade sects just underneath the Heavenly Lightning Sect," John mused to himself as he spotted many such sects pass by far underneath the ship.


    Eventually, the incredible cities and sects turned into smaller viges and farnds, and before long, there were only a sparse amount of smaller viges to be seen below.


    "We''re here," Elder Rein suddenly instructed.


    John now understood why the viges had be smaller and less frequent. They were now at the border of the Bloodfiend Sectsnds. This was a dangerous area, and so those who could afford to do so chose not to live in thesends.


    "Elder, what''s going on there?" A War Hall disciple suddenly spoke up as he pointed in a certain direction.


    The eyes of all looked in that direction, and quickly spotted smoke rising up in the distance. The Elder turned the ship and sped off in the direction of the smoke, and the flying ship quickly arrived at the source of the smoke.


    "Prepare to leave," Elder Rein instructed, as the ship suddenly disappeared.


    John was unprepared for such a thing, and fell down a few yards before stabilizing himself in the air. Kirii did the same, and the War Hall squadron found themselves floating in the air above the source of the smoke.


    John looked down, and his curious expression quickly turned dark.


    Below them, a small vige, containing no more than a hundred buildings, waspletely razed to the ground. The corpses of countless vigers were seen lying all around the vige grounds, many of them showing signs of an absolutely gruesome death.


    John grit his teeth as he saw the scene before him. Clearly, these were the actions of the Bloodfiend Sect.

 Chapter 301 - Hunting The Assailants

    The faces of all present turned dark as they stared at the scene below. These vigers, although they were not strategically important to the Heavenly Lightning Sect, were still considered to be under their protection.


    They were just mortals peacefully living out their lives, but the Bloodfiend Sect had deigned to ughter them mercilessly.


    John suddenly felt a powerful divine sense release from Elder Rein and wash over the vige below. It retracted after a short moment.


    "The area is clear. Let usnd and inspect the vige for any clues. Gather in the vige center in fifteen minutes to discuss any findings," Elder Rein instructed to his squadron. His eyes swept out over thend before they descended, looking for any signs of those who hade and left.


    The vige was surrounded by an incredibly thick and expansive forest, and so if the assants were to flee through the forest, it would be quite hard to spot them.


    The squadron immediately descended to the vige below. Johnnded in the vige center, his face incredibly dark.


    Around him were the corpses of hundreds of people, brutally mutted, charred, and severed. The scent of blood and seared flesh filled his nostrils, but John ignored it as he began to look around for clues.


    The rest of the squadron did the same, and they searched every inch of the vige. Fifteen minutes quickly passed by, and the group regathered at the vige center.


    "The corpses here are all male," Elder Rein said to the group. "There are no corpses of the women or children, so the assants have clearly taken them captive."


    The dark faces of the group darkened further as they all had noticed the same thing. If they were not able to help those women and children, their short lives would be incredibly miserable before they died. The Bloodfiend Sect did unspeakable things to its captives in the name of raising their cultivations.


    "Elder Rein," a third year disciple stepped forward. "I found this."


    He outstretched his hands, and the group could see a small piece of cloth in his hands. It was blood red, and perfectly matched the color of the Bloodfiend Sect.


    "So it was the Bloodfiend Sect," Elder Rein sighed. "But this find is good. It should help us track them down, if they''re not too far away by now. The vige seemed to have been attacked quite recently, and they''re tied down transporting women and children. Let us hope we still have time."


    A creature suddenly appeared next to Elder Rein, slightly surprising John.


    ''It seems like he has an animalpanion as well.''


    The beast was arge dog,pletely red in color. It stood as tall as Elder Reins shoulders, and emanated a Core Formation cultivation. Elder Rein grabbed the piece of cloth from the youth, and put it in front of the beast''s nose.


    "Nara, which direction did they go?" he asked as the beast began to smell the cloth.


    The beast took in many quick whiffs of the cloth, and began to turn around in a circle, smelling the air. John was slightly surprised that this was the method they were using to track the assants down with, but it made sense however.


    The assants were far out of divine sense range by now, so this was their only hope at the moment. After a brief moment of smelling the air, Nara suddenly locked onto one direction. The beast stared in the direction for a moment, before letting out a soft growl.


    "That direction? That''s not towards the Bloodfiend Sect, but towards the next closest vige. We set off at once," Elder Rein stated as the flying ship suddenly appeared before them. The group quickly boarded the ship, and Elder Rein piloted it to fly rapidly towards the next vige.


    The ship sped forward for several minutes, before it suddenly came to a stop. A vige in the distance came into view, but no signs of damage were visible. Elder Rein strained his eyes, and his gaze furrowed as he spotted something.


    "Wait here one moment," Elder Rein instructed, as he suddenly left the ship.


    The group waited there patiently, and John could feel the battle intent of the squadron of disciples begin to rise, slightly surprising him.


    "What''s going on?" John curiously asked.


    "Elder Rein has spotted the group of assants. He''s currently scouting their strength, and if their strength isn''t too far above ours, we will begin battle at once," Steven replied, as if this was amon urrence.


    "Oh," John replied.


    ''It seems like the time to officially start my mission has finallye. Hopefully there will be a suitable person to take the identity of in the group.''


    Several minutester, Elder Rein returned to the ship. His gaze was hardened, and his battle intent was climbing as well.


    He stood before the group, his expression serious. "Their squadron consists of sixteen members, two Elder''s, one at the Late Meridian Forging Realm, and one at the Middle Meridian Forging Realm. Other than that, they have fourteen disciples, and their cultivations are slightly higher on average than ours. With this in mind, I will not force any of you to join the battle."


    "Elder Rein, do you still look down on us?" one of the disciples stated.


    "Right. Who cares if they''re stronger. All that happens is we die, but we refuse to let the Bloodfiend Sect trample over ournds and our people," another stated, his voice filled with vigor and pride.


    The rest of the group agreed, their hearts and fighting spirits one in the same. John raised his eyebrows in surprise at their attitudes. It was the first time he had seen such passion from his fellow Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples, and he was immediately impressed by them.


    ''Unlike those useless pampered disciples who fear battle, these disciples truly are willing to fight with their lives on the line. The War Hall is truly incredible.''


    Elder Rein smiled as he stared at the squadron before him. "Good. Such are attitudes cultivators should have. I should be able to handle the two Elders for a good period of time. You''ll be outnumbered, but we do have a promising new member in our midst this time," Elder Rein stated as he, as well as the rest of the group looked towards John.


    "Before we start this mission. I need to fully assess ourbat strength. Normally cultivations alone would suffice, but I''ve heard that your case is...a bit different than normal," Elder Rein said to John. "As such, what level is yourbat prowess at right now?" Elder Rein asked.


    The eyes of the entire group fell on John, so waited for his answer as well. They had all heard several rumors about him, but none had ever seen him fight. When he had in hunter, they had been out on a mission.


    John thought about the question for a moment before replying.


    ''I suppose I haven''t thought about this for quite some time. My essence cultivation is at the Late Core Formation Realm, while my body is at the Middle Core Formation Realm. In the past, this would have allowed me to jump one and a half realms, so I would be able to overwhelm someone one minor realm higher than me. Since going from Late Core Formation to Early Meridian Forging is akin to a two minor realm increase in power, this means I would be able to fight against an Early Meridian Forging Cultivator.


    However, my essence dantian is now incredibly firm and powerful, and mybat prowess has exploded as ofte due to my training with the Vice-Sect Leader. Not only that, but I further strengthened my lightning Qi with the Nascent Yang Pills, as well as my body with the Blood Fruit Pill. With all this in mind¡­"


    John looked back up at Elder Rein after ruminating for some time. "Do you want what I can fight against, or what I can kill?" John asked.


    "What you can fight evenly against is fine for now. I just need to gauge your overallbat strength," Elder Rein rified.


    "If that''s the case, then I should be able to fight evenly against a Middle Meridian Forging cultivator," John replied casually.


    A deafening silence descended within the ship.

 Chapter 302 - Battle Commences

    Silence filled the ship as John answered the Elders question. They all had looks of disbelief on their faces, as if they had heard wrong.


    "Surely you''re joking," Elder Rein couldn''t help but reply.


    John was only in the Late Core Formation Realm. Jumping to the Middle Meridian Forging Realm was akin to jumping three minor realms. Even jumping one minor realm was considered only a thing reserved for the most absolute of talents, let alone two. However, John had imed to be able to jump three minor realms, which was far too shocking for them to believe.


    What they didn''t know was that if John''s body was also at the Late Core Formation Realm, not only would he be able to fight against a Middle Meridian Forging Expert, but would also have a chance to kill them.


    "I''m not joking, but I won''t waste my time to convince you either," John replied calmly.


    Elder Rein fell into a deep silence, as did the rest of the squadron with mixed expressions. Some believed he was embellishing hisbat prowess, while others looked at him as if he were a monster.


    John stood there calmly with Kirii beside him, unconcerned of what each of them thought.


    "The Vice-Sect Leader herself vouched for you, so I''ll trust her judgement and believe you," Elder Rein replied. "With this in mind, our battle strategy has changed, and our odds of victory improved. Here''s what we will do."


    ¡­


    "Get back in line!"


    Crack!


    "Gahhhh"


    The sound of a whip striking flesh, followed by a pained cry rang out, filling the forest around them with the pained echo. A group of men and women, d in blood red robes, could be seen escorting hundreds of women and children.


    Panicked, feared, and tearful expressions filled the faces of all the women and children, as they were helpless to do anything about their fates. Each of them had been happily going about their daily lives this morning, when hell descended on them.


    Without warning, over a dozen blood-red robed cultivators had descended from the skies and invaded their vige, like reapers of death. The men of the vige tried to fight back, but were like children fighting against adults. Each of them were ughtered without mercy, and those were the lucky ones.


    The women and children had eventually been gathered together, and had to watch many of the men be tortured to death in cruel and sadistic ways. There seemed to be no purpose to the torture other than pleasure derived by those carrying it out.


    The cries of despair and pain were still fresh in the minds of the women and children.


    "Mom!"


    The worried cry of a child rang out as a small girl ran towards the woman who had just been whipped.


    "Kaya, get back," the woman yelled out.


    Crack!


    A whip struck the woman once more, as another pained cry rang out.


    "Control your child, or the next whip will be for her," the man who had done the whipping instructed, his voice slightly tinged with amusement.


    The woman stood up slowly, as blood trickled down her back. She fell back in line with the rest of the woman and children, as her child fell deeply in her embrace.


    "Mom! Are you alright?" The little girl asked with tears in her eyes.


    "I''m...I''m fine," the woman replied, doing her best to mask the pain in her eyes. The pain was not only the physical pain she felt at the moment, but the emotional pain as well. Although she didn''t know exactly what was going on, it was easy to tell that their situation was dire.


    She could only imagine what was in store for them in the future, which nearly made her cry out in anguish upon thinking what would happen to her daughter. However, the woman kept a strong face on for her child, and stood up to walk with the group once more.


    "Keep your pace, we don''t have all day," the man instructed.


    To the side of the group, two younger boys, also d in blood red robes, were walking and keeping an eye on the group.


    "Why don''t we just fly back to the Sect, each carrying a few of these captives?" one of the boys asked. He had sandy blonde hair, a fairly powerful looking body, and an average looking face. His cultivation was at the Late Core Formation Realm, as was the other boys.


    "It''s your first mission, so I suppose you wouldn''t know. Transporting mortals is quite tricky. Their bodies are too weak to be carried by flight, as the slightest force on them could kill them," the other boy replied.


    "Then why don''t we just take a flying ship instead. Wouldn''t it be faster that way?" the boy asked another question.


    "Do you think flying ships grow on trees?" the second boy replied. "Our mission isn''t deemed important enough to give a flying ship to upfront. Only after we capture a certain amount of captives will one of the Elder''s send a sound transmission to the sect. At that point, they will send a flying ship to pick all of us up," the boy exined.


    "Oh, I suppose that makes sense," the first boy replied.


    His face turned to one of delight as he thought of the rewards forpleting this mission. He would receive quite a handsome reward of spirit crystals forpleting this mission, which he desperately needed at the moment.


    His look of delight quickly turned into one of anger and disgust as he felt something hit his back. He turned around, and saw a boy, around twelve, had stumbled and tripped into him. The boy was incredibly dirty from their journey through the forest, and had identally dirtied the robe of the Bloodfiend boy.


    "Idiot," the blonde haired Bloodfiend Sect disciple yelled out. The back of his hand struck the boy in the face, sending him flying backwards a few feet.


    The small boy cried out in pain, as several teeth flew out of his bloodied mouth.


    "You''re lucky I can''t kill you, or you would have had a much worse fate than that," the Bloodfiend Sect youth barked out.


    The two Bloodfiend Sect youths watched as the small boy painfully scurried back with the rest of the captives, while the older youth smiled as he smiled mockingly at the blonde haired boy.


    "You look like one of them now, with that dirt and grime on you. Maybe you should join them," he smugly mocked.


    "Shut up," the blonde haired boy replied, but didn''t do anything to the other boy. The other Bloodfiend boy was stronger, and so he didn''t dare attack him for his words.


    "When we get back to the sect, I''ll be sure to make that captive boy regret each day he was bor-"


    Bang!


    A loud bang suddenly sounded out, as something violently struck the earth where the captives were standing. Dust and dirt kicked up in the air, obscuring the vision of all. The dust quickly faded, revealing a glowing formation of light, which surrounded all the captives. The captives were all alive, andpletely shocked. They tried to leave the barrier, but were unable to do so, while those outside were also unable to break the barrier easily.


    "We''re under attack. Prepare for battle," a Bloodfiend Sect Elder instructed loudly as he suddenly dashed to the sky above.


    Loud bangs immediately began to sound out from above from attacks being exchanged.


    The sandy-blonde haired boy waspletely shocked by such an event, but quickly smiled sinisterly.


    "Good. It''s been a while since I''ve whetted my de with the blood of another cultivator. It seems like my luck has turned around quite nicely," the boy yelled out loud as a battle cry while arge smile hung on his face.


    He took out his weapon, which was a blood red scythe, and prepared to dash into the sky to join the battle as well, when a person suddenly appeared before him. It was a boy his age, with long ck hair, a handsome face, and dark, piercing eyes.


    The ck haired boy smiled at with a mocking expression, and spoke out with a cold yet amused tone.


    "Unfortunately for you, your luck has just run out."

 Chapter 303 - Battling The Bloodfiend Youth

    The Bloodfiend youth was shocked by the Heavenly Lightning Sect youth''s sudden arrival, but a smile quickly appeared on his face after he assessed the situation. Both their cultivations were in the Late Core Formation Realm, and all knew that on average, Forbidden Alliance cultivators were stronger in the same realm, due to their brutal upbringing and constant battles with their lives on the line.


    "My luck ran out?" The Bloodfiend youth replied with a sarcastic smile on his face. "The only one who has run out of luck is you, who decided to throw your life away."


    ??


    The ck haired youth before him sighed, as if their verbal exchanges were exhausting. A weapon suddenly appeared in the hands of the ck haired youth, who also wielded a scythe.


    "Oh? A Heavenly Lightning Scrub that actually uses a scythe? Well, allow me to teach you how it''s done," the Bloodfiend youth yelled out in an enthusiastic manner as he suddenly dashed forward.


    His scythe came crashing down on the ck haired youth, who raised his scythe at thest moment to block it.


    Peng!


    Scythes collided, and the ck haired youth was knocked backwards dozens of yards, eventually mming against the base of a thick tree. A pained expression appeared on his face, which made the Bloodfiend youths smile all therger.


    "All that talk, and you''re this weak? Pathetic."


    The Bloodfiend youth raised his scythe, and shed it forward. A crimson scythe image pierced towards the ck haired youth with great power.


    Bang!


    The scythe image mmed against the base of the tree, as the ck haired youth just barely managed to dodge the attack in time. He returned his own scythe image towards the Bloodfiend youth, who easily blocked it.


    "Weak, just weak. I''ve wasted enough time with you, so I''ll end your miserable life now," the Bloodfiend youth called out as he dashed forward.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Weapons continuously collided as dozens of moves were exchanged. The fight between the two youths dragged on for several minutes, with the Bloodfiend youth taking the advantage the entire time.


    However, his frustration began to grow, as no matter what he did, he was unable tond the finishing blow on the Heavenly Lightning Sect youth before him. With each exchange, the boy he was fighting seemed to get stronger and stronger, eventually getting to the point where they were even in power.


    "What''s going on?" the Bloodfiend youth couldn''t help but call out in slight panic as he began to lose the initiative, and was eventually put on the defensive.


    Bang!


    A powerful scythe attack from the Heavenly Lightning Sect youth mmed onto his scythe, its power nearly overwhelming. His body was thrown back violently, eventuallying to an abrupt halt as he mmed into a boulder.


    "I''ve gotten a pretty good look at your fighting style, both when you''re on the offensive, as well as the defensive. Thanks for that," the Heavenly Lightning Sect youth said to him.


    The Bloodfiend boy slowly stood up, a slightly pained expression lingering on his face, as he looked towards his opponent.


    He was just about to reply, when his eyes went wide. The ck haired youth suddenly disappeared from his sight.


    Bang!


    A powerful force collided onto the back of the Bloodfiend youth, and a shattering sound echoed out as an incredibly pained cry escaped his lips.


    "Gahhhhh!"


    The Bloodfiend youth copsed to the ground in agony, unable to move his legs any more.


    Bang!


    Another powerful blownded on his body, this time piercing into his abdomen. The Bloodfiend youth''s eyes went wide as he felt his dantian shatter within his body.


    "Noooo!"


    His cries of agony rang out throughout the forest, as his body was suddenly kicked, causing him to roll over onto his back. His pained and despairing eyes looked up, and all they could see was the cold eyes of the ck haired youth staring back at him.


    The ck haired youth suddenly took out a pill, and quickly forced it down the boy''s throat. Healing properties quickly spread throughout his body, stabilizing his condition.


    "Stay here for a bit. I''ll be back to talk to you in a moment," the ck haired youth said as he stood before him.


    Despair washed over the Bloodfiend youth as heid there motionlessly. One second he was fighting the youth, and the next, he was crippled. He still couldn''t understand what had happened.


    ¡­


    John stared at the Bloodfiend Sect youth before him, making sure his condition was stable.


    ''He can''t run away now, so I''ll return to question him a bit moreter. But I have a good grasp of his fighting style now, so I think this boy will be a suitable target to begin my mission.''


    John looked to the sky above, and through the thick tree canopies could see where the fighting was taking ce. Powerful booms echoed throughout the surroundingnd and the ground quaked violently as powerful battle arts were continuously exchanged.


    "I''ve wasted enough time down here," John mused to himself as he kicked off the ground and took to the sky.


    ¡­


    Bang!


    Three incredibly powerful battle arts collided in the air, causing arge explosion to radiate outwards. A short distance away, many other battles could be seen taking ce between the Bloodfiend Sect and Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    As therge explosion faded, three cultivators were revealed. There were two Bloodfiend Sect cultivators, and one Heavenly Lightning Sect cultivator. In the near distance, many explosions continuously rocked thend as the disciples of both sects fought with their lives on the line.


    Elder Rein stood there, breathing slightly heavily, as he stared at the two Bloodfiend Sect Elder''s before him.


    Although he was slightly stronger than the strongest Bloodfiend Sect Elder, he was outnumbered two to one. While the Middle Meridian Forging Elder was not a threat on his own, he was still strong enough to turn the tides of battle in favor of the Bloodfiend Sect.


    "Where the hell is he?" Elder Rein couldn''t help but mumble under his breath.


    The strongest Bloodfiend Sect Elder smiled at Elder Rein. "All of you from the Heavenly Lightning Sect are like this. You run into battles even when the odds are against you, and end up dying as a result. Idiotic, the lot of you," the Bloodfiend Elder spoke out in a mocking tone.


    "However, since you decided to donate your bodies and blood to us, we will humbly ept," the man continued, his smile growingrger by the second.


    Elder Rein looked at the man with hardened eyes. He was truly at a disadvantage in this fight, and could only hold out for several more minutes while outnumbered.


    "We don''t have a lot of time to waste, so we''ll be finishing things," the Middle Meridian Forging Eldermented.


    He raised his weapon and prepared to sh it out once more, but his expression suddenly changed as he quickly dodged to the side. However, he was slightly toote, as a lightning beam suddenly exploded onto his shoulder.


    "Gah!"


    The Elder cried out in pain, as the lightning seemed to want to destroy his body from within. He hastily sent his Qi to wash over the lingering lightning, erasing it from within his body.


    "Another Elder?" the strongest Bloodfiend Elder called out, slightly rmed. He had not been ready for any surprise attacks, as he had not detected anyone in the Heavenly Lightning Sect group that was strong enough to concern them.


    However, his expression quickly changed into one of disbelief, as well as amusement, as a Late Core Formation youth suddenly appeared next to Elder Rein.


    "You''rete," Elder Rein said to John as he stood next to him.


    "Apologies. I had some business to take care of which took a bit longer than expected. But now that I''m here, let''s put an end to this battle."


    John put away his scythe and took out his battle axe. His aura suddenly exploded outwards, as he stared at the two Elder''s before him.


    His excitement, as well as battle intent, rose rapidly, as he was about to fight a Middle Meridian Forging Elder.

 Chapter 304 - Fighting An Elder

    Elder Rein looked at John closely as he arrived. He didn''t let his guard down at all, as he was still unconvinced that John could truly do what he said he could. However, their ns were made with John''s tremendousbat prowess in mind, and so there was no going back now.


    "Betterte than never," Elder Rein replied. "Keep the Middle Meridian Forging Elder upied. You don''t have to kill him, just keep him busy so I can focus on the Late Meridian Forging Elder. If you buy me five minutes of time, I should be able to kill him in that window," Elder Rein exined.


    ??


    John nodded his head in affirmation of the ns as he stared at the Middle Meridian Forging Elder a hundred yards away.


    The two Bloodfiend Sect Elder''s were within earshot of the conversation John and Elder Rein had, and could hardly believe their ears. Looks of pure amusement appeared on their faces.


    "Is this how low the Heavenly Lightning Sect has fallen these days? They have to sacrifice a disciple in such a futile manner?" one of the Eldersmented sarcastically.


    "They talk as if this boy can actually stall me for five minutes. I don''t know if I should be amused or angry, but boy, within five minutes, I''ll have you wishing you were never born," the Middle Meridian Forging Elder said to John.


    John ignored the sarcasticments as his battle intent continued to climb. He wanted to fight, not sit around and throw verbal insults at each other.


    Limiter of Speed!


    Thundersh Steps!


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John activated his two battle arts and one limiter, instantly reaching an incredible level of speed and power. He flew forward, his speed shocking all three Elder as he appeared directly above the Middle Meridian Forging Elder.


    His battle axe cleaved down with incredible power, unleashing his Sky Sundering Axe. Three profound Dao''s, the Dao''s of Power, Annihtion, and Destruction, were infused into its de.


    The Middle Meridian Forging Elder''s eyes instantly opened wide as he finally noticed the power that John contained. The de was almost upon him, and he had been too busy mocking John to mount a sturdy defense.


    He raised his sword upwards at thest moment to meet the axe.


    Peng!


    Time seemed to stop for a moment before an incredibly loud metallic sound rang out. The Elder''s body, unable to withstand the force of the blow, violentlyunched downwards towards the earth below.


    Bang!


    The Elder collided with the earth, his momentum shattering the earth. A crater formed where hended, as earth was kicked high into the sky and the nearby trees shattered from the impact.


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    Still standing high above in the sky, John raised his axe to unleash another attack down below.


    The Late Meridian Forging Elder, just now recovering from his shock, hardened his eyes as he sped towards John. He didn''t know how John was able to explode with such power while only being at the Late Core Formation Realm, but he didn''t care at the moment.


    John was an incredible threat, both now and in the future once he grew up. A threat that had to be eliminated at all costs.


    "Did you already forget about me?" Elder Rein scoffed as he appeared before the Bloodfiend Elder.


    His spear pierced directly towards the Bloodfiend Elder''s throat, and was coated with an incredibly powerful lightning based battle art. The Bloodfiend Elder, unable to ignore such an attack, stopped his assault on John and turned to block it.


    Elder Rein was at the Peak of the Meridian Forging Realm, while the Bloodfiend Elder was only at the Late Meridian Forging Realm. Without the other Elder to assist him, the Bloodfiend Elder was at a great disadvantage, and would need to focus his all on Elder Rein''s attacks.


    John''s Sky Sundering Axe cleaved downwards, sending a massive battle axe image mming into the crater below.


    Boom!


    Another explosive sound rang out as the Sky Sundering Axe sundered the nearbynd. He raised his axe once more, but quickly halted and dodged to the side as a blood red sword image pierced from below towards him.


    Che!


    The sword image, its might be incredible, barely missed John. A small bead of sweat trickled down John''s spine.


    ''That''s Middle Meridian Forging for you I guess. If that attacknds on me, I''ll be in trouble, even with my powerful body.''


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    Sessive blood red sword images pierced upwards towards John from the ground below. He dodged about at the absolute fastest speed he could muster, barely dodging each attack with inches to spare.


    "Bastard, I''ll kill you!" an enraged voice shouted out from below.


    The earth below once again shattered as the Bloodfiend Elder pressed off it with all his might. His body shot upwards towards John like a bullet, and he reached John in an instant. His sword shed outwards, glowing red from a battle art infused within the de.


    John''s eyes hardened as he swung his battle axe out with all his might to parry the attack.


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    Boom!


    Weapons and battle arts collided, creating a massive explosion of Qi in the air. Two bodies were seen violently thrown out of the explosion, both quickly stabalizing their backwards momentums. However, John was thrown farther backwards, revealing that he had lost out in power in thatst exchange.


    The Bloodfiend Elder, further enraged that John had sessfully blocked his attack, dashed forward and instantly appeared before him once more. His glowing red sword cleaved down on John with incredible power.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Dozens of attacks were quickly exchanged, as John did his best to block the relentless onught of the Elder. However, not only were the Elders'' attacks incredibly sharp and powerful, they also contained a stinging soul attack that also whittled away at John. While John''s soul was incredibly powerful, thebined assault of these three aspects were beginning to overwhelm him.


    John activated his Heavenly Lightning Domain, as lightning began to rain down from all directions towards the Elder. The Bloodfiend Elder snorted in disdain, as a blood red barrier of Qi suddenly formed around him, shielding him from John''s lightning domain attacks.


    "Two can y that game, little boy," the Elder scoffed, as the sky around John suddenly went red.


    ''Crimson Hell Domain!''


    The Crimson Hell Domain instantly washed over John, assaulting him with a familiar energy. However, unlike the previous times he had encountered the domain, this one was done by someone much higher in cultivation than himself. Even with his natural resistance to the Crimson Hell Domain, John felt his soul pain greatly, and his movements slowed by the domain.


    The Elder once again appeared before John, arge grin on his face.


    "This is the end for you, boy!"


    His sword cleaved down once more, and John hastily raised his battle axe to parry the attack.


    Peng!


    Weapons once again collided, and John, weakened by the Crimson Hell Domain, was sent flying down towards the earth below.


    Boom!


    His bodynded violently on the ground, shattering thend as it burrowed deep within the earth. The Bloodfiend Elder had a look of surprise appear on his face, as he had expected John to be unable to move within his domain. While John did disy incredible battle prowess, he was still an entire major realm below the Elder in cultivation.


    "He shouldn''t be able to move within my Crimson Hell Domain. Just who the hell is this brat? We cannot allow him to live, or it would be the end of the Bloodfiend Sect," the Elder mused out loud through gritted teeth.


    The Elder raised his sword above his head for a moment, as his sword began to turn from a soft red glow into an incredible dense and dreadful red color. After a moment of powering the attack, the Elder shed his sword down at the ground below.


    "Crimson Blood sh!"


    An incrediblyrge and powerful blood red sword image filled everyone''s vision as it cleaved into the earth below. The ground exploded outwards from the force of the attack, as it shattered the earth for hundreds of yards in each direction.


    "John!" Elder Rein cried out as he saw the attacknd where John had been. While he was pressing the Bloodfiend Elder to his limits, he needed just a few more minutes before he was able to finally kill him.


    However, the attack that the Middle Meridian Forging Elder just released was not something a Late Core Formation youth could take head on and live, no matter how strong their battle prowess was.


    In the far distance, the Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples saw what had happened, but could only grit their teeth as they continued their live and death battles with the Bloodfiend youths.


    "Jejeje, stupid brat. You may be strong for your age, but you bit off far more than you can chew. Don''t worry though, I''ll retrieve whatever remains of your corpse and put it to good use," the Meridian Forging Eldermented sinisterly.


    He was just about to turn and help the other Elder with his battle once more, when he suddenly paused. A voice, sounding slightly demonic, and tinged with an incredibly dense bloodlust, filled his ears.


    "You may be done with me, but I''m not yet done with you!"

 Chapter 305 - Cabin

    The falling dust faded, revealing John standing there on the shattered ground below. His body was bloodied, with several small wounds visible, indicating that he had taken quite some damage in thatst attack.


    However, the Elder didn''t even notice the wounds, as his eyes were locked onto John''s. John''s blood red eyes stared back at him, as if he were a predator staring at his prey. On top of his head, two small blood red protrusions stuck out. An aura of red and ck surrounded him, exuding a dense bloodlust.


    ??


    Faint red rune lines were visible on his exposed skin, while his body surged with absolute power.


    "What the hell is this?" the Meridian Forging Elder couldn''t help but exim in shock.


    Not only the Elder, but Elder Rein, as well as the other Bloodfiend Elder also took a second to take a look at John,pletely shocked at what they saw and felt. Not only had he gone through some kind of transformation, the power and aura he was disying right now was not something a Late Core Formation cultivator should be capable of.


    In the far distance, the Heavenly Lightning Sect Disciples, who were still fighting with their lives on the line, noticed John''s reappearance and increase in power. Although they had only known him for a short time, they hade to like him quite well.


    Their fighting spirits ignited even further as they saw John appear from that terrifying attack, and their assault on their Bloodfiend opponents intensified greatly.


    After a moment of pure shock, the Bloodfiend Elder recovered his wits. He looked down on John from above as he spoke out to him.


    "No matter. While your power is impressive, you''re stil-"


    His words cut off as John pressed off the ground, rocketing towards him like a bullet from below. The ground shattered beneath John''s feet, as a wave of earth radiated outwards. He reached the Bloodfiend Elder in an instant, and his axe cleaved out with incredible power.


    The Elder noticed the attack, but scoffed at it. Unlike before, John wasn''t even using his Sky Sundering Axe, and was only using a physical attack. The Elder considered such an attack an insult to him, and shed his sword out powerfully in response.


    Bang!


    Weapons collided, and the Elder''s eyes widened quickly as his body shot back like a cannonball into the distance. The power of John''s normal axe attack had been far beyond his expectations, and was not something even a body cultivator should be capable of.


    After being knocked back hundreds of yards, the Elder finally managed to stabilize his body. He looked back towards John, and grit his teeth as he shed out with all his might. John had appeared before him against in an instant, and was cleaving down towards him with his axe.


    This time however, the axe was exuding the aura of John''s Sky Sundering Axe.


    "Crimson de sh!"


    The Elder countered with his Crimson de sh, which had been the powerful move he used before to injure John. However, he did not have as much time to prepare the attack, and so its power was reduced. Not only that, but the Elder was used to attacking with sword images and not his sword directly, as most essence cultivators chose to do.


    Weapons collided, and an absolutely horrifying explosion radiated outwards. Two bodies shot out of the explosion, each followed by a trail of smoke. John''s body flew back several hundred yards, while the Elder flew back even more.


    John recovered his bnce first, and pointed his finger towards the distant Elder. The Elder had underestimated John, allowing him to take the initiative in this battle. John was not about to let that advantage slip away from him.


    Lightning Ruin!


    A powerful lightning beam exploded out of his fingers, piercing directly towards the Elder. John shot off a dozen more lightning beams in the span of a few seconds, each with incredible power.


    The Elder finally managed to control the tumbling blood and Qi within his body, and stabilized himself in the air. He looked back towards John, and noticed a barrage of lightning beams already upon him. The power of the lightning beams were not something the Elder could ignore and take head on.


    The Elder shed his de out rapidly, each one meeting a lightning beam and neutralizing the attack. His body was knocked slightly backwards with each exchange, but he had taken no damage. His head suddenly snapped upwards as John appeared directly above him, his speed incredible due to his Limiter of Speed and Thundersh Steps.


    John''s battle axe cleaved down on the Elder, who raised his sword to block the attack at thest moment.


    Bang!


    Blood slightly escaped the Elder''s lips from the force of the blow, as his body shot down to the earth below like a bullet. The Elder fell into the forest below in an instant, his body snapping each and every tree he collided with.


    The Elder''s body flew through a small wooden cabin, destroying most of it, before colliding into the earth a short distance away. His sword fell out of his hand andnded a short distance away from him.


    Boom!


    A small crater formed from the impact. The Elder quickly bounded to his feet, blood trickling from his mouth as he did the best to not allow John to take the initiative any further. While John had been overwhelming in his assault, it was mostly because the Elder had underestimated him. Now that he had regained some distance, the battle would be much more of a stalemate.


    John quickly appeared near the Elder,nding on the ground. He prepared to dash forward and unleash yet another attack, when a small sound appeared to the side of him.


    Both John and the Elder paused their battle, as they looked towards the source of the sound. It was incredibly soft, but for some reason, it caught both of their attention.


    The sound came from the nearby cabin, which the Elder''s body had flown through and broken half of it. The roof and most of the walls had been destroyed, revealing the interiors of the cabin. The cabin was mostly empty, save for a wooden chair, desk, and simple bed.


    On the chair, a lone man sat, holding an item in his hands. The man''s face was shrouded by a hood, which obscured his face in darkness. His shirt was sleeveless, revealing two incredibly powerful looking arms.


    The man, who sat there motionlessly, seemed to blend into the very world itself, as if he was a natural part of it.


    "Someone''s here?" John couldn''t help but muse out loud in surprise. The battle between the two sects had been incredibly intense, and he was surprised that someone would still stick around in the area.


    His divine sense quickly scanned over the man, but he could not detect a cultivation at all. When he tried to see what his face looked like, John was unable to do so. It was as if something was blocking his divine sense from inspecting the man.


    ''Is he a mortal? Or is he like the Vice-Sect Leader, whose cultivation is too high to detect?''


    However, it was different than the Vice-Sect Leader. With her, he couldn''t directly detect her cultivation, but he could still tell that she was a cultivator. However, this man exuded absolutely no aura at all, as if he were a mortal.


    His divine sense washed over the item in the man''s hands, which was revealed to be a simple picture frame. The picture frame held a portrait of someone, seemingly a woman, however, it was half destroyed, most likely from the Elder crashing through the cabin.


    After what seemed like an eternity of silence, the hooded man slowly stood up. Although there were no Qi disturbances or powerful aura''sing off the man, John felt as if an ancient, slumbering volcano, was awakening before him.


    The man looked towards the Bloodfiend Elder, who finally gathered his wits. He too inspected the man, and found him to have no cultivation. The Elder frowned as he stared at the man.


    "Get lost, or don''t me me for killing you as well," the Elder said to the man in a cold voice.


    The hooded man, whose features were still obscured, looked at the Elder, and then the Elder''s sword lying a short distance away.


    "Pick up your weapon," the mysterious man''s voice sounded out. The voice was deep and gruff, and exuded a sense of calm and rising anger at the same time, confusing John at how such a thing was possible.


    "What? You daremand me?" The Bloodfiend Elder rebuked, incensed that a mortal would tell him what to do.


    "Pick up your weapon," the man instructed once more. "Every man deserves the honor of dying with a weapon in their hands."


    The Bloodfiend Elder exploded in a rage, absolutely incensed that a mortal wouldmand him twice.


    "Die!" he cried out, as the Elder pointed towards the mysterious man, about to unleash a Qi attack.


    The Elder''s angered face instantly turned to shock, and then pure fear, as his body suddenly disintegrated in less than a second.


    John took a step backwards at this sight, as without warning, the Elder who had been fighting had disappeared from the world. He was about to flee, when the mysterious man turned to look at him.


    He felt as if death was staring at him.

 Chapter 306 - Mysterious Man

    John didn''t move, as he found himself unable to. It wasn''t a physical resistance, but a mental one. He knew that his life was not in his own hands at the moment, and no matter what he did, he lived and died by the whims of this mysterious man.


    The Bloodfiend Elder, who had been in the Middle Meridian Forging Realm, had been disintegrated by what appeared to be a look from the man. John had never seen or heard of such a power, and was mostly sure that even the Vice-Sect Leader and Sect Leader could not kill someone with a single look in the same manner that this man just did.


    ??


    With his own strength the same as the Elder''s, John realized the futility of fleeing.


    The mysterious man, whose hood he wore still hid his face in darkness, stared at John intently for quite some time. The man suddenly looked to the sky for a moment, as if staring at something, before looking back to John.


    After what felt like an eternity to John, the man finally spoke out to him for the first time.


    "So you''re the one?" the man''s deep voice boomed out. Although the voice was not backed by any cultivation or power, John felt an incredible mighte from it. It was as if the voicemanded the greatest of respect, like an emperor talking to his subjects.


    John''s face turned from one of fear into one of slight confusion, as he mustered up the will to reply.


    "I''m the one? I have no idea what you''re talking about," John replied.


    The man continued to look at John for a moment, and John was sure he saw a small head nod, as if he approved of something he saw. However, he couldn''t truly tell what the man was thinking, as he could not see his face.


    His figure suddenly vanished from sight, as if it had never existed. His fleeting words echoed in John''s ears.


    "Do not disappoint me."


    John stood there, dumbfounded at what had just happened. One moment he had been battling the Bloodfiend Elder with his life on the line, and the next moment he watched the man be erased from the world by the mysterious man.


    Then, the man seemed to somehow know John, and even expected something from him. John had no idea what had just happened, and could not make sense of anything.


    He stood there in silence for some time before he came back to his senses. His gaze locked back up to the sky in the distance, as he saw the fight between Elder Rein and the Bloodfiend Elder continue.


    "I''m burning precious blood essence reserves right now using my Immortal Asura Transformation. I need to help finish this battle quickly, and just put whatever happened behind me for the moment."


    John shot back up to the sky, his battle intent climbing once more. He arrived at the battle between the two Elder''s, his arrival shocking both of them.


    They could tell that John was alone, and that his battle with the other Elder was over. Otherwise, the other Elder would have returned alongside John. The Bloodfiend Elder''s vision turned grave, while Elder Rein''s brightened.


    "John, help me finish this fight," Elder Rein instructed.


    Although John was not strong enough to defeat the Late Meridian Forging Elder, his attacks were strong enough to force the Elder to mount a defense. These small interferences would be all that was needed for Elder Rein tond the finishing blow.


    John nodded his head and sped towards the Bloodfiend Elder, who now had thoughts of fleeing. However, Elder Rein knew this was a possibility, and focused on his effort on locking down the Bloodfiend Elder,


    At the same time, spatial talismans were no longer useful. At the Meridian Forging Realm, once could use their overwhelming Qi might to interfere with the spatial fluctuations of the talismans, rendering them useless. As such, the Elder would have to fight his way out of here.


    John arrived near the Bloodfiend Elder, who was still under assault from Elder Rein. He held his axe above his head for a brief moment, before unleashing a peak power Sky Sundering Axe towards the Elder.


    The Elder''s flicked his arm out to the side, and sent out a quick Qi beam towards John''s attack. At the same time, his other arm shed out with his sword, parrying the attack of Elder Rein.


    The Bloodfiend Elder, having to focus on two attacks, was knocked backwards quite a distance, but was rtively unharmed. Elder Rein quickly saw through the Bloodfiend Elder''s intents.


    "John,'' hes trying to use the backwards momentum to escape. Attack him with your absolute strongest attack!"


    Elder Rein could tell that the Bloodfiend Elder was trying to flee by blocking attacks and being knocked backwards away from the battle. As such, he wanted to end the battle in a single blow.


    He didn''t know how strong John''s strongest attack was, but if it was strong enough that the Elder had to seriously focus on it, Elder Rein was confident he could finish the fight in a single blow.


    John stopped as he heard Elder Rein''s words. He undid his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, as it only boosted his body power and was draining his precious blood essence reserves quite quickly.


    "My strongest attack huh?"


    John looked towards the Bloodfiend Elder several hundred yards away, and pointed a finger at him. The Elder scoffed as he saw this, as he had seen John unleash his Lightning Ruins before. Such an attack would not be strong enough to affect him.


    Elder Rein frowned as well, but said nothing as he continued his assault on the Bloodfiend Elder.


    Lightning began to dance and crackle over John''s outstretched hand, confirming that he was using his Lightning Ruin.


    The Bloodfiend Elder prepared to negate the attack, but was surprised when it didn''te right away. He looked to the side towards John, and his eyes began to open wide.


    The lightning dancing over John''s hand and arm began to grow to incredible levels, as John continued to channel his lightning ruin.


    "He''s a War Mage as well?" the Bloodfiend Elder couldn''t help but curse as he shed his sword out towards Elder Rein, sending a powerful crimson sword image towards him. He needed to stop John before he unleashed the attack.


    Elder Rein scoffed, as he would not allow such a thing. He appeared before the Elder once more, and shed out with his own weapon.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Dozens of moves were exchanged, as the Elder desperately tried to fight his way over to John. However, Elder Rein held steadfast, preventing such a thing.


    John felt the lightning Qi within his body surge to incredible levels, and his face began to turn red from the internal pressure of the Qi. However, he kept building the Qi within his body and dantian, pushing his attack to his absolute limits.


    His meridians began to strain and stretch, nearing their breaking points, as his body felt like it was about to explode. After a full minute of channeling the attack, John finally reached his limit, as any more would destroy his body from within.


    His finger pointed towards the Bloodfiend Elder, who now had a look of horror on his face.


    Bang!

 Chapter 307 - [Bonus ]Cleaning Up The Battlefield

    The sky above and thend below suddenly lit up in a brilliant blue hue as an incredible lightning beam exploded out of John''s fingers. The lightning beam surged with incredible power, and was many times stronger than a normal Lightning Ruin.


    The Bloodfiend Elder''s face turned incredibly grave as the attack reached him in an instant. The power of this attack was not something he could casually parry, and would need to focus a good amount of his strength to properly block it.


    ??


    However, such an opening was all Elder Rein needed. The Bloodfiend Elder panicked, unsure of what to do, but the lightning beam reached him in an instant, forcing him to face it head one.


    The Bloodfiend Elder grit his teeth as he shed towards the lightning beam, sending an incredibly strong sword image towards it.


    Boom!


    Sword image and lightning beam collided, causing a terrifying explosion of Qi to radiate outwards. The Bloodfiend Elder didn''t waste any time at all, and instantly turned to unleash a sword image to Elder Rein.


    However.


    "Toote!"


    The words sounded in the Bloodfiend Elder''s ears as an absolutely shocking attack pierced towards him. It had already reached the Elder, as Elder Rein had timed the attack perfectly with Johns.


    "Nooo!"


    The Bloodfiend Elder cried out as he did his best to mount a defense, but it was toote. The spear image from Elder Rein''s weapon had already reached the Elder, and sliced into his head like it was butter.


    The Bloodfiend Elder''s head exploded, as a shower of blood rained down on the ground below. The two Bloodfiend Elders were now dead.


    Both John and Elder Rein breathed out a heavy sigh of relief, as their battles had been incredibly intense.


    "Don''t rx just yet. Let us clean up the other battle''s first," Elder Rein instructed.


    The other disciples were still fighting with their lives on the line. John nodded his head, and sped off towards the distant battles at his top speed. Their arrival spelled doom for the Bloodfiend disciples, who were dealt with shortly.


    A short whileter, silence descended over the previously chaotds. The Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples collected the corpses of the Bloodfiend cultivators, and piled them together as they gathered around them.


    John''s arrival was greeted by the gazes of all the disciples, who now saw him in a different light. Before, they had considered him a fellow sect member, but not a fellow War Hall brother. Now, after watching him put his life on the line fighting an Elder three minor realms above his own cultivation, they were proud to call him one of their brothers.


    However, within this respect was also a trace of sadness.


    "Where is Steven?" Elder Rein asked as he approached the group.


    The heads of all the disciples dropped slightly, giving Elder Rein his answer. Elder Rein sighed a deep sigh, while John also had a trace of sadness wash over him. Although his interactions with Steven had been brief, he had a very good impression of him.


    However, death wasmon for the War Hall, who put their lives on the line in every battle.


    "He will be honored with the greatest respect once we return to the sect," Elder Rein said to the group.


    As a frontline member of the Sect, he would be buried amongst his fallen War Hall brethren, and given a grand burial ceremony.


    However, this battle had been overwhelmingly won by the Heavenly Lightning Sect. They had killed over a dozen promising disciples, and even two Elders. Such an overwhelming victory would not only bring great honor to the Heavenly Lightning Sect, but also be rewarded handsomely.


    John thought of asking for the corpses, or at least the blood essence, but decided against it. The corpses would be disyed to the War Hall as proof of the kills, and so John could not take them for himself.


    As for asking for blood essence, that too was impossible. Only taboo cultivators used human blood essence, and so John could not expose such a thing.


    After finishing everything, several of the disciples went to where the captives were and instructed them to flee deeper into the Heavenly Lightning Sect territory. The Bloodfiend Sect was bing more and more overbearing, and sonds that were once safe were no loner.


    After this, the group regrouped once more, and Elder Rein waved his hand. The flying ship appeared before them, ready to take them to the next target.


    "Everyone, hop on," Elder Rein instructed.


    "Elder Rein," John called out.


    Elder Rein turned to John, and smiled at him slightly .He now saw John in a new light, and his respect for him had grown. Not only was such a prodigious talent a member of his own sect, but that talent was willing to put his life on the line for the sect. Such an attitude was something Elder Rein agreed with very much.


    "What is it, John?" Elder Rein asked.


    "I''m afraid this is where we part for now," John replied back.


    "Ah, I forgot about that," Elder Rein replied.


    He had been briefed by the Vice-Sect Leader that at one point in their mission, John would have to leave to undertake another secret mission. The details were kept secret, but Elder Rein was instructed to let John leave at that moment.


    Elder Rein looked at John with serious eyes, and patted him on the shoulder in an approving manner.


    "You did extremely well today. I don''t know what mission you have now, but I wish you the best of luck," Elder Rein said to him in a sincere tone.


    John nodded his head and smiled back, before he turned to leave the area.


    "Where is he going?" one of the disciples asked as they watched John leave.


    Elder Rein remained silent for a moment before he turned around and entered the ship as well.


    "We set off to the next target," Elder Rein instructed, not revealing where John was going.


    John watched the ship climb into the sky and fly off into the distance, before his gaze turned in a different direction. He had other goals to achieve, and the first step to achieving those goals was to have a conversation with a certain someone waiting for him.


    John sped off into the distance, and arrived in a thickly forested area. A familiar figure stillid on the ground, their despair filled eyes staring at the sky above.


    The boy heard the noise of John''s arrival, and turned his head to look at him. John''s smile towards him was as if he was staring at a demon.


    "Now then, you and I are going to have a little talk."

 Chapter 308 - Auction

    A dayter, a sandy-blonde haired boy, d in a blood red robe, was seen walking through the forests in the Forbidden Alliance territory.


    John had already assumed the disguise of his victim, who had been persuaded all night to reveal every single detail about himself, his rtionships with others, and the Bloodfiend Sect. Coincidentally, the boy''s name was also John, saving John a headache of having to learn to respond to a new name.


    ??


    After getting all this information from the boy, John swiftly ended his life and absorbed his blood essence.


    ''I just need a few more Late Core Formation cultivators worth of blood essence, and then I should be able to push my body cultivation to the Late Core Formation Realm,'' John mused internally while walking through thends of the Bloodfiend Sect.


    Thends between the Bloodfiend Sect and Heavenly Lightning Sect were divided by a massive river, which spanned several miles wide. John had reached the river half a day ago, and had flown over it to reach thends of the Bloodfiend Sect.


    ''The boy told me that the Bloodfiend Sect is a three week journey away without a ship, so I have quite a way to go. But it''s not all bad. This way, I get to see a bit more of the Forbidden Alliancends, and learn more about them.''


    After travelling for a few dozen miles, he came across his first vige. It was simr in size to the viges he had seen before, and John decided to visit it, in order to see the differences in people and culture. The more he learned about the Forbidden Alliancends before he reached the Bloodfiend Sect, the better his odds of seeding in his mission were.


    The vige contained just shy of one hundred small wooden buildings, and was fairly simple. Johnnded in the vige center, and saw no other signs of life whatsoever. His divine sense spread out over the vige, and still no signs of life were detected.


    ''It''spletely empty? Strange. The viges in thesends do not have to fear raids from my sect or the other Honorable Alliance sects, so what''s going on? Surely the Forbidden Alliance sects aren''t using their own people for cultivation?''


    John perused the vige for any and all clues, but could not find anything. After concluding any more useless exploration, John proceeded onwards on his travels. A small dirt road stretched out from the vige and deeper into the Forbidden Alliancends, and so John decided to follow it.


    On his journey, he saw many different types of beasts, ranging from normal animals to Core Formation beasts. However, each one ran in fear upon seeing John, making him wonder if it was something he was doing to scare them off, or their nature in these brutalnds.


    After another several dozen miles, another vige came into view. It was slightlyrger than the previous vige, but much like the first, it waspletely empty as well.


    "Strange. It''s the same as before."


    John explored the vige for a moment, but couldn''t find any signs of what had happened once again. He found thergest house in the vige, and entered it.


    "I suppose it''s been a long day. I''ll rest here for the night, before I continue onwards tomorrow."


    John assumed a meditative position, as a scroll suddenly appeared in his hands.


    "Crimson de sh huh? I suppose I''ll have to learn that boy''s techniques before I reach the Bloodfiend Sect."


    John began to study the technique, and did sote into the night before retiring to bed. At the Late Core Formation Realm, one could go for weeks without sleep, but doing so still made John feel incredibly refreshed.


    Early the next morning, he once again set out, venturing deeper into the Forbidden Alliancends. Simr to before, there were many vigespletely devoid of any life. On the fourth day of travel, John arrived at a small city. The city was several miles across, and had nearly a thousand buildings inside its walled interior.


    "There''s actually people this time!" John couldn''t help but exim.


    There was a line of people lined up at the front gate of the city, in which some guards were inspecting them individually. John began to walk towards the line to line up, when a thought crossed his mind.


    ''That''s right, I''m a member of the Bloodfiend Sect now, which is the most illustrious, as well as feared, sect in thesends. I should y the part.''


    Instead of lining up, John strode straight towards the gate. The guards, both in the Core Formation Realm, began to shout out order''s for John to stop, but their words immediately ceased when they noticed his blood red robes.


    "A Bloodfiend disciple? Forgive us for our earlier words," one of the guards said to John, a slight tremble evident in his voice. Clearly, upsetting Bloodfiend Sect members was something to be avoided in thesends.


    John ignored the guard, and strode past both of them into the city. Neither made a move to stop him, or tried to make him pay the entry fee.


    ''This is actually quite nice,'' John mused internally. ''I could get used to this.''


    Inside the city, hundreds of people could be seen scurrying about their business. The bustling city was not unlike the cities found in the Honorable Alliancends, but there was a noticeable difference in moods.


    The cities John was used to disyed an outward sense of cheerfulness, hopefulness, and optimism. However, the faces of those he saw within the city were cold, with many constantly looking over their shoulders.


    After walking through the city roads, John reached therge open city center, which housed most of the city''s vendors and markets. He began to peruse through them, although he was mostly unimpressed with what he saw.


    ''Poorly crafted weapons, cultivation aids that are low quality, useless battle arts. I suppose this is a city located towards the borders of the Bloodfiendnds, and so it''s quite weak. But still¡­''


    John continued to peruse through the offered wares for a while, but became more and more disinterested. He finally reached the very heart of the market, and the cold and gloomy atmosphere began to disappear, as he heard excited shoutse from up ahead.


    ''What''s going on there?''


    John pushed through the crowd, which at first would give him a cold look and begin to speak out to curse him, but their words would instantly end as they noticed his robes. While he could fly above the crowd, John wanted to see everything the city could offer.


    "Two thousand Spirit Crystals," a loud shout sounded out from the crowd ahead.


    "Three thousand Spirit Crystals," the shout of another echoed out from within the crowd.


    Many more loud bids were shouted out in quick session, until no more bids were uttered.


    "Sold," an excited shout loudly echoed through the crowd. "Eight thousand Spirit Crystals.


    ''Sounds like whatever they''re bidding on, it''s causing quite themotion.''


    He eventually made his way through the crowd, and finally spotted what was going on in the heart of the city. His expression darkened as he saw the auction.


    On a stage in which therge crowd had gathered in front of, dozens of mortals shackled in chains, ranging from children to the elderly, were being auctioned off.

 Chapter 309 - Slave Market

    As he arrived, John saw a person in the crowd walk up to the stage, at which point he grabbed the chains of one of the mortals. It was a boy in histe teens, no older than John. The boy had no cultivation, and was incredibly dirtied. A look of hopeless despair was evident on his face, as well as the faces of the others on the stage.


    The boy was led by his chains through the crowd, and the auctioneer on the stage immediately started the next bid. A woman in her thirties was the next to be auctioned. She was rtively attractive, but the dirt and grime on her face and body hid that fact.


    ??


    "We''ll start the bid at one thousand Spirit Crystals," the auctioneer bellowed out. His cultivation was at the Core Formation Realm, and he appeared to be in his forties.


    "One thousand Spirit Crystals," someone in the crowd shouted.


    "Two thousand!"


    "Three thousand!"


    After a series of bids once more, the woman was auctioned off for four thousand spirit crystals. The woman, her face equally despairing and hopeless as the first, was dragged off the stage by her chains by the one who had purchased her, disappearing into the crowd


    John eventually snapped out of his shock at the sight before him.


    ''They''re auctioning ves?''


    Such a practice was long ago ouwed in thends John lived, but apparently things were different in the Forbidden Alliancends.


    ''Can I do anything to help them?''


    John thought about helping the captives, but eventually figured out his hands were tied. If he bought them and freed them, they would most likely be captured again, as they were mortals and could not flee far.


    As for escorting them back to the Honorable Alliancends, he couldn''t do that either. He had no transportation ship, and so the journey across hundreds of miles would have to be on foot. That would take the mortal''s weeks to do, which was time he could not afford to waste.


    As for purchasing their freedom and setting them up with housing, he couldn''t do that either. A Bloodfiend disciple would never be so altruistic, and so he would be quickly exposed after doing such a thing.


    His mission was his main priority, and he could not do something that would dy it or expose it.


    ''If only I had teleportation talismans to help them all out, but sadly I only have a few remaining.''


    John shook his head in pity, displeased that he could not help the captives. He nced at them a moment longer before turning to leave.


    "What''s this? It appears we have a very special guest here today," the auctioneer suddenly called out.


    His visionnded on John, and all eyes in the crowd turned to look at him.


    "It appears we have a Bloodfiend Sect disciple in our midst," the auctioneer called out in an eager tone. Bloodfiend disciples were quite rich whenpared tomoners such as themselves, and were a great source of potential ie.


    John paused as he noticed the gazes of all those on him, and turned around to look at the auctioneer that was addressing him.


    "Honorable Bloodfiend disciple, do any of these ves suit your eyes? I''ll give a special discount, just for you," the man called out.


    Those in the crowd frowned slightly upon hearing this, but did not protest. Establishing a rtionship with a Bloodfiend Sect member was something they all hoped to do, as it could lead to much greater riches.


    "Not interested," John replied, his tone t and emotionless.


    "Surely at least one suits the eye of someone as great as you. How about this girl," the man pointed to a girl, around John''s age, who was quite attractive.


    John frowned as he replied once again. "Not interested."


    The man cleared his throat, not prepared for the hard no''s from John. Most Bloodfiend disciples, as well as the other strong sect disciples, would purchase several ves for whatever purposes they had, before disposing of them.


    Not only that, but many of the cultivation techniques required humans, either for their blood, or other purposes, and so ves were a hotmodity in thesends.


    After rejecting the man''s offer for the second time, John pushed his way through the crowd as he walked away. His face, gloomy and dark, caused all those around him to part away quickly, allowing him a quick path out of the crowd.


    The man watched John leave, as a frown sat on his face. John had given him no face or respect, which was highly valued in thesends. He beckoned towards a man standing next to him, and whispered a few instructions in his ears.


    The man''s eyes narrowed as he heard the instructions, and he nodded his head soon after in affirmation.


    ¡­


    John quickly left the city after determining there was nothing else he could do for the ves, or anything worth buying within the city.


    ''My mission is my priority above all, but...If I manage to destroy the Bloodfiend Sect, situations such as these won''t happen in the future. So...my goal is still the same as always. Destroy the Bloodfiend Sect.''


    John walked down the main road leading deeper into the Forbidden Alliancends. He travelled down the road for several dozen miles, before stepping off the road and venturing into the forest that lined the road.


    After walking for several miles, John stopped.


    "Are you going to keep hiding in the shadows, or are you going toe out?" John''s voice echoed through the forest.


    Silence descended on the area for a moment before a voice replied from the shadows.


    "You were aware of us trailing you? Not bad, as expected from a Bloodfiend Sect disciple," a voice replied.


    Soon after, six men appeared from all directions. Their cultivations were all in the Late Core Formation Realm, and they quickly surrounded John from all directions.


    John''s divine sense washed over them, and he instantly recognized one of the men.


    "You''re the man who was standing on the stage next to the auctioneer. Was this his bidding?" John asked, his face and voice calm.


    The man smiled as he looked straight at John.


    "It doesn''t matter who instructed us to do this. All that matters is that you have gotten yourself into a situation that you won''t be able to get out of," the man replied with arge smile.


    "Aren''t you afraid of my Bloodfiend Sect finding out about this and destroying you all?" John asked curiously.


    The man scoffed, his smile growingrger. "Don''t try to use your sect to scare us. You''re alone, travelling from the bordends. If you had means to travel to your sect quickly, you would have already done so. As for sound transmissions, we won''t give you the time to send one out if you have a transmission formation," the man replied. "So, your sect won''t find out about anything, as your body will never be discovered."


    John nodded his head in agreement with the man''s assessment. What he said truly would have been correct, had the Bloodfiend youth who John had recognized truly been the one before them.


    They were most likely coveting his wealth, as even an Outer Sect Disciple of the Bloodfiend Sect would have a level of wealth that these people would desire.


    "Not a bad n. Unfortunately for you, things wont go ording to those ns. Also, you''ve given me a great excuse to solve something I had been brooding over, so thank you for that," John replied with a calm tone.


    The man, dumbfounded by John''s words, began tough boisterously as if he had heard the funniest joke. He opened his mouth to reply to John, but instantly felt cold steel touch his neck. His expression became confused, as his vision began to fall to the ground below.


    The eyes of the man''s severed head stared back upwards at John, who stood before him with cold, emotionless eyes. His vision faded as his life left his body. The sounds of pained cries were thest thing he heard as he died.

 Chapter 310 - Tribulation Thoughts

    The sound of metal on metal, as well as the anguished cries of men, rang out within the forest for a short while.


    John, utilizing his Thundersh Steps and unlocked Limiter of Speed, dashed around the battlefield like a bolt of lightning, instantly appearing before his opponents. They had not expected him to be so powerful, and were instantly put on the defensive.


    ??


    John didn''t even activate his Supreme Battle Art, as he would be unable to do so within the Bloodfiend Sect. He was using this opportunity to get used to fighting without his Supreme Battle Art, relying more on his essence Qi, as well as battle instinct to overwhelm his opponents.


    However, even without his Supreme Battle Art, the might of John''s attacks were overwhelming. His blood red scythe, procured from the body of the boy he had in earlier, shed out continuously, each strike filled with incredible power.


    Crimson de sh!


    John sent out a Crimson de sh towards one of his opponents, testing out its might. The Crimson de sh had many forms for many different types of weapons, and John was using the scythe form at the moment.


    A blood red scythe image pierced towards one of the men, its mightpletely shocking. With his twenty timespressed dantian, just a casual essence attack from John was more than someone in the same realm could handle.


    The scythe imagended on the man''s body, who could not fully block it. His body was cleaved in half, ending his life in a single blow.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    The sounds of attacks rang out for a short while longer, before silence descended within the forest.


    John stared down at the six corpses gathered before him. With his opponents only being in the Late Core Formation Realm, ughtering them was incredibly easy.


    "Thank you for your contribution to my cultivation, as well as solving a headache of mine," John said to the corpses before him.


    Their blood essence was already collected, and absorbed in ordance with the Immortal Asura Tome.


    ''My body cultivation is now in the Late Core Formation Realm as well. It took the blood essence of over a dozen cultivators to advance, but I finally made it. However, advancing major realms is always a major headache when ites to my body cultivation. I''m sure I''ll be requiring the corpses of dozens and dozens of Meridian Forging experts to advance to the Meridian Forging Realm.''


    Not only that, but John''s mind strayed to thest time he had advanced a major realm with his body cultivation. It had been back in the ancient temple, and at the time of his advancement, tribtion clouds had appeared. They had been on the verge of sending down tribtion lightning, but had just barely stopped before doing so.


    John frowned as he thought about this.


    ''If my guesses are correct, I''ll experience a heavenly tribtion when advancing to the Meridian Forging Realm, which ispletely unheard of. All other cultivators experience their first tribtion when advancing to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, hence the name, but I guess I''m different. It must be the Immortal Asura Body of mine that is drawing the wrath from the heavens, causing it to rain down tribtion on me early.''


    John didn''t know how powerful his tribtion would be. When he felt the tribtion cloudsst time, he could tell that there was anger, hate, and the desire to destroy him emanating from the tribtion clouds.


    Normal tribtions were supposed to be a barrier for cultivators to ascend beyond. It was a trial that could result in the death of the cultivator, but the true purpose was to allow those who were worthy to advance their powers to be closer to the heavens. While death did ur, it was an incredible boon for those who passed the tribtions.


    However, John had felt no such goodwill from the tribtion cloudsst time. The only thing he felt was the desire to destroy him. Another thought suddenly appeared in John''s mind.


    ''My tribtion lightning is probably going to be absolutely brutal, and much harder to pass than a normal tribtion. I always found it strange that the only other cultivation material in my pce realm was a lightning based art, with the only purpose of giving me a lightning attribute body. Did the creator of the pce realm know that the Immortal Asura Body would draw the wrath of the heavens, and give me the Celestial Lightning Script in order to increase my chances of passing the lightning tribtions?''


    John mused on this subject for a while, but couldn''t confirm or deny it. His gaze once again focused on the pile of corpses before him.


    John''s battle axe sliced out six times, severing the heads of each corpse. He gathered the heads, as well as all their valuable belongings, before waving his hand towards the pile of corpses before him. Lightning exploded onto the bodies, burning them to ashes.


    After doing so, John turned around, his vision focusing on the direction he hade from.


    ¡­


    "Eight thousand spirit stones!"


    "Nine thousand spirit stones!"


    A flurry of bidding raged out amongst the market crowd, as they stared up at the auction stage where the ves were being sold. A girl in herte teens was being auctioned off at the moment. Her beauty had attracted the eyes of many, as so a bidding spree had broken out.


    "Fifteen thousand!" a bid skipped several thousands, causing the faces of many who had bet before to grimace. They could not afford to spend fifteen thousand spirit crystals on a single mortal ve.


    "Fifteen thousand!" the auctioneer on the stage called out loudly, arge smile on his face.


    "Do I hear any other bids? No? Going once, going twice...sold-"


    His words cut off as an object suddenlynded on the stage before him, followed by five more simr objects. The man quickly inspected them, and his gaze instantly turned to one of panic. He looked up to the sky above, and saw a blood red robed person standing above, looking down on him with a cold stare.


    "We have a new addition to the auction," John''s voice boomed out over the crowd, as all their eyes locked onto him. "Begin your bids on this man before you. The price starts at one spirit crystal."

 Chapter 311 - City Leader

    Shocked looks filled the faces of all in the crowd at John''s words. Some asked those nearby if they had heard correctly.


    "Young Bloodfiend Sect friend, what are you talking about?" the auctioneer replied back to John, his face slightly grim. However, he tried to have as neutral of a face as possible, to convince both John and those in the crowd of his innocence.


    ??


    "Who...who do these heads belong to as well, and why have you dropped them before me?" the man continued.


    "Oh? It''s going to be like this, huh?" John replied with a mocking smile. His body raced downwards, quickly appearing on the stage next to the man.


    He leaned down and picked up one of the heads, holding it high for all the crowd to see.


    "Does anyone recognize this head?" John called out to the crowd.


    Knowing eyes lit up within the crowd, but no one replied. John frowned as he saw this.


    ''This auctioneer probably has a high status within this city, so no one dares offend him. Seems like I''ll have to be a bit heavy handed.''


    Boom!


    John''s aura exploded outwards, shocking everyone in the crowd, as well as the auctioneer. It was far more powerful than they had expected, and contained an incredibly deep and sinister bloodlust.


    "I won''t repeat myself again. Who is this dead man? If no one answers, I''ll destroy this city," John spoke out in a loud, cold tone.


    "He...he was the City Leader''s highest advisor, Count Ashcort," a shout echoed from within the crowd.


    The auctioneer''s face instantly darkened as someone had ratted him out, but put on a genial smile as John looked at him. He had sent six men in the same realm as John to kill him, and all had failed. Clearly, he had underestimated his opponent, and was in a grave situation.


    "City leader huh? So, I would assume that to be you?" John turned around and said to the auctioneer. He had assumed the man to just be the auctioneer of this ve market, but it seemed as if the man''s status was higher than first expected. However, this was not an issue.


    The man smiled, as if he had nothing to hide. "That is correct. I am the leader of this city. Now I have a question of my own," the man replied, assuming his previouslymanding stature. "For what reason did you kill my advisor, or bring me his head?"


    "Still ying dumb huh?" John replied in an amused tone. He raised his voice for all to hear as he kicked the other heads into the crowd, whichnded amongst them.


    "I''m sure you can all recognize the other faces," John called out.


    The crowd closely inspected the heads, and more knowing looks appeared on their faces. Clearly they recognized them.


    "They''re under the City Leader''s employ," a voice called out within the crowd.


    "Young Bloodfiend Master," the auctioneer, identified as the city leader, called out to John. "I have no idea what happened between you and my underlings, or why you decided to kill them, but I can assure you that I had nothing to do with it," the man pleaded his case.


    John paused for a moment. He truly didn''t have any evidence that the city leader had ordered his henchmen to attack him.


    ''I really don''t have proof. If this was back in the Honorable Alliancends, I would need to present proof in order to find this man guilty. However...these are the Forbidden Alliancends. Proof is secondary to strength and status here, of which I have both.''


    A look of contemtion appeared on John''s face, at which point a wry smile took over. "Forgive me, City Leader. I suppose you are right. I really do not have proof it was you, and so I apologize for my brash actions," John said to the man.


    The crowd was slightly surprised by John''s sudden change in mood, and the City Leader as well. However, the City Leader breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at John warmly.


    "Young Bloodfiend Master, I am extremely d that you can see reaso-"


    The man''s words cut off as his eyes suddenly opened wide. He looked down at the arm now piercing into his chest, grabbing his heart. He looked back up at John in absolute shock and horror, and could only see extremely cold eyes staring back.


    The man was also in the Late Core Formation Realm, but was absolutely sure John would not outwardly attack him. Even if he did, he should be able to respond in time, and so his guard was slightly down. He was used to looking down on others, and not the other way around. This w proved fatal.


    "However, I do not need proof. I know it was you," John''s cold voice entered the man''s ears. "Even if it wasn''t, a superior needs to properly control their underlings, so either way, I''ll be taking your life."


    Boom!


    A muffled sound escaped the man''s chest as John''s hand squeezed tightly, shattering the man''s heart. The man''s eyes opened as wide as possible, and he copsed to the ground, dead.


    The crowd looked up at the stage in silent shock. Although they were used to violence, as the Forbidden Alliancends were quite chaotic and brutal, this was still far more than they had expected. Their city leader, who had ruled for decades, was now dead by the hands of a boy not even twenty years old.


    Not only the crowd, but the captive ves on the stage behind John and the city leader stared at the scene before them in absolute shock and horror. They were captives from the Honorable Alliancends, simr to those who John had rescued on his mission with the War Hall.


    They were not used to seeing such violence, and could hardly stomach it. Their shocked looks turned to fear as John turned around to look at them. His gaze seemed like the gaze of death.


    ''There''s roughly thirty captives who haven''t been sold.''


    John turned back towards the crowd, his gaze sweeping over them like a hawk. Since the city was located at the outer edges of the Forbidden Alliancends, the cultivations of its citizens were not very high. John had the highest cultivation of them all, which meant they were at his mercy.


    "Listen up," John''s voice boomed out. "Who is the strongest citizen of this city?


    The crowd all looked towards one man as John asked his question, and John followed their gaze. It was a man who appeared to be in his thirties, who had a cultivation at the Middle Core Formation Realm.


    "Come here," John instructed the man.


    The man had no idea why John wanted him to step forward, and had a grim look his face as he had just seen John ughter the city leader. However, he couldn''t argue against John or his strength, and so heplied and walked up onto the stage.


    John inspected the man for a moment before nodding his head and turning back to the crowd once more.


    "From this day forward, I will be the new leader of this city" John called out with a loud,manding voice.


    The crowd was not expecting to hear that, as John was a disciple of the Bloodfiend Sect. Why would a Bloodfiend member bother themselves with a city such as this one?


    "As for this man, he will now be my direct advisor. When I am in this city, my order''s arew. When I am out of the city, his order''s are my orders. If either my order''s, or this man''s orders are disobeyed, I will personally return to the city to end those who disobey. That is all."


    John''s words shocked the crowd once more, as the events of the past several minutes werepletely out of their expectations. However, none had the power to argue, and so none did. Besides, having a Bloodfiend member as the city leader would surely elevate the status of the city, raising its importance and power to a new level.


    This would lead to a greater influx of citizens, and as a result, money and status. The crowd could already see the city''s booming future, and hopefulness appeared in their usually glum and gloomy hearts. Such a thing was something the citizens looked forward to, and so none argued.


    John turned to the man beside him, who stood there silently. He had not expected to be raised to such a status instantly, but a small smile of happiness could be seen on his face.


    "What is your name?" John asked the man.


    "My name is Hanze," the man replied.


    "Well then Hanze, take me to the previous city leader''s estate," John instructed the man before gathering the dead city leaders corpse.


    Hanze nodded his head and began to walk off in a certain direction. John turned to look behind him, at all the captive ves on the stage who still stared at him in shock and fear.


    "You all, follow me to my new estate. From now on, you''re all my personal servants."

 Chapter 312 - Aderite Mines

    The captive ves all stared at John in a stupor.


    "Did I stutter? Follow me. Now!" Johnmanded once again.


    ??


    The captives all snapped out of their stunned stupors, as faces of slight panic and fear appeared instead. They had just seen the brutality of John''s methods, and could only assume the worst for their future. However, they were powerless to stop it, and so they could only do as hemanded.


    Hanze walked through the crowd, which quickly parted for him, as John and the captive ves followed closely behind. The crowd closely inspected John as he walked by, as from today onwards, he was their new leader.


    After pushing their way through the crowd, Hanze walked down the most grand and populous road of the city. The road sloped slightly upward, leading to an elevated plot ofnd in the very center of therge city. At the top of the plot ofnd, arge, expansive estate sprawled for hundreds of yards in each direction.


    The estate was lined with tall walls, and several guards were posted outside its entrance. They were both in the Middle Core Formation Realm.


    "Halt," the guards instructed as they saw Hanze and those following behind approach the estate.


    "Who goes there?" the one guard asked.


    A wry smile appeared on Hanze''s face, as he had no idea how to exin the situation. John strode past Hanze and walked towards the entrance without missing a stride. The two guards frowned, and moved to stop John, but immediately stopped.


    They stared at John, whose cold eyes were staring back at them like a predator. They could tell that if they moved to stop him, he would kill them on the spot.


    "From now on, this estate belongs to me. You''ll continue your guard duties as normal," John instructed as he walked by the guards and into the estate.


    The guards still had stunned looks on their faces as they turned to face each other. They had no idea what had happened, but could tell something had changed. John''s power was far beyond their own, and so they could do nothing about it.


    They both looked towards Hanze, who they recognized, as if asking for an exnation.


    Hanze shrugged his shoulders as he replied. "He just killed the old city leader."


    Surprise appeared on the guards faces as Hanze and the captive ves strode by them and into the estate.


    Upon entering the estate, nearly a dozen buildings came into view. The main mansion, sitting in the very center of the plot, rose above all the other buildings. There were ten other smaller buildings located at various parts of thend, clearly for servant lodging and other purposes.


    Dozens of servants were seen going about their business, trimming bushes, cleaningundry, and doing other tasks. They all looked towards the neers curiously.


    "Hanze," John called out. "These captives are now my servants. Introduce them to the already established servants of this estate, and get them up to speed on things. When you are done, meet me in the main building," John instructed.


    Hanze nodded his head, and immediately set out about his tasks. The captives followed closely behind him, not sure whether to believe their ears or not. The fate of captives usually were extremely brutal, and resulted in muttion or death. However, John had promised to make them servants, which was a fate much better than they could ever have hoped for.


    While this was talking ce, John strode into the main mansion of the estate. He entered the mansion, and a luxurious abode came into view. Many of the furniture and furnishings were gold lined, revealing the gaudy greed for wealth the previous leader had.


    There were servants going about their business inside the building as well, but John ignored them as he explored the mansion for a while.


    ''Not bad. This ce is actually on par with my estate in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and itsrger too.''


    However, other than its size and gaudy disy of wealth, there really wasn''t anything else of note within the mansion. After exploring it for anything valuable, John found a chair to sit on and waited for Hanze.


    Hanze appeared fifteen minutester.


    "I have done as you have instructed," Hanze said to John.


    "Good," John nodded his head. "Hanze, tell me about this city," John instructed. He wanted to know more about the city he had just assumed leadership of.


    "You want to know about this city? What exactly would you like to know?" Hanze asked.


    "Tell me everything you know, from the cities strength, its status in thesends, how it makes money. I want to know it all," John borated.


    Hanze paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts, before he began to exin. John sat there and listened closely.


    ording to Hanze, the city was quite average in the grand scale of things. Its strength and economic power were average, and most of its money was made by the ve trade. Being a city closely located to the bordends, it was one of the first cities to receive ves for trade.


    John frowned as he heard this. The ves were from his side of the border, which were innocent people going about their lives. He wanted to stop this outright, but knew he was powerless to do so. If he stopped the ve trade in the city, two issues would arise.


    The first is that the ves would just be sold to other cities, not stop it outright. The second, was that cutting off the cities economic lifeline would surely cause riots, and his newly assumed leadership would crumble once he left for the Bloodfiend Sect.


    John brooded over this issue in silence, as Hanze stood there patiently. Although he didn''t know John, he didn''t really care. His status was now elevated to new heights, and he would follow everymand of Johns to ensure he kept this new status.


    "You said the second biggest economic boon for this city is mining, correct? What ores are being mined, and where?" John asked as he came up with an idea.


    "That is correct," Hanze confirmed. "There are Aderite Ore mines located a dozen miles from our city, in the Harel Mountain Range that borders this city to the north. However¡­" Hanze paused for a moment.


    "However, what?" John asked.


    "However, the mines are currently under siege...so to say."


    "Under siege? How? And by who?" John asked for rification.


    Hanze paused for a moment, thinking of where best to start, before exining the situation to John.


    "The Aderite Ore mines were previously fully upied by this city. In fact, the name of the city, Aderite City, was named so because of the mines. However, when the previous city leader took over several decades ago, he switched the cities focus from mining, to the ve trade. As such, the mines have been encroached on by other nearby cities and powers, and are now mostly out of our control," Hanze exined.


    John remained silent as he heard this. The mines would be a fantastic solution to his problems, but he needed them to be trouble free. Aderite Ore was used for crafting weapons, and could be used to craft weapons up to the Heaven Tribtion Grade. This valuable ore would normally be exported to strong sects such as the Bloodfiend Sect and the First Grade sects just below it. As such, it was quite valuable.


    "Which powers have taken over them?" John asked.


    "There are two powers," Hanze replied. "The nearby city, Whitecrest City, and a nearby n, the Ashcort n."


    "Ashcort?" John replied. "Isn''t that the name of one of the previous city leaders'' subordinates? One of the men I killed?" John asked


    "That is correct. He was the second son to the patriarch of the Ashcort n. I''m sure they''ll be looking for some...vengeance," Hanze confirmed.


    "What is the cultivation of the Ashcort Patriarch?" John asked Hanze.


    "Its been a while since he''s appeared in public, but hisst cultivation a decade ago was at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm," Hanze replied.


    A small smile appeared on John''s face as he heard this. If they could take back the mines, then the solutions to his ve problem would be solved.


    "Well Hanze, it appears that we need to make a quick trip to the Aderite Mines, as well as the Ashcort n."

 Chapter 313 - Ashcort Mines

    "Get back to mining!" a loud shout boomed out. The sound of a whip cracking sounded out shortly after, followed by a pained cry.


    After coaxing the ve to get back to mining, the man turned around and began to walk through the mining field. This was the Aderite Mines, located in the Harel Mountain Range. Dozens of mining pits could be seen in the near distance, as thousands of ves, both mortals and cultivators, went to work on mining Aderite Ore.


    ??


    Aderite Ore was quite peculiar in its mining methods, as brute force would often destroy it to unusable levels. As such, delicacy was needed, resulting in therge-scale need for mortal miners.


    The mining fields stretched over several miles, and were located at the base of the mountains to nearly half way up them. A constant flow of caravans streamed in and out of the mountain range, transporting the recently mined Aderite Ore.


    After inspecting that all the mining pits were at full production, the man climbed up one of the mountains overlooking the mining fields. The mountain was several thousand yards tall, and housed arge building at the top of it.


    He walked in, and was greeted by one of the servants of the building, who bowed slightly to him before speaking out.


    "Sir, you have a guest waiting for you in the main hall," the servant said to him.


    "Guest? Which guest?" the man asked with a scowl on his face. He was extremely busy running the mining fields, and he didn''t have time to waste it on meeting random people.


    "It''s...its the leader of Whitecrest city, as well as the Patriarch," the servant instructed.


    The man''s scowl quickly disappeared as he heard the status of his guests. Not only was the leader of Whitecrest city here, but also his very one Patriarch of the Ashcort n. The man was an Ashcort n member himself, and was ranked quite highly. He was not a direct descendant of the Patriarchs lineage, but his high cultivation, at the Late Core Formation Realm, earned him an important position within the n.


    He was assigned to oversee the entire mining operations of the n, which was one of its main sources of wealth.


    The man quickly hurried towards the main hall, not wanting to keep his important guests waiting. Because the mining fields were located in the middle between Whitecrest City and the Ashcort n, it was often used as a meeting location for the two powers.


    "For both leaders to gather together, it must be quite important. I just hope its nothing too troublesome," the man grumbled as he strode towards the main hall.


    Tworge doors were pushed aside, revealing arge sprawling hall. In the very center of the hall was arge, wooden table. Seated on opposite sides of the table were the two leaders the servant had mentioned.


    The man inspected them both, trying to gauge their moods. The man on the left had long brown hair, a light beard, and appeared to be in his forties. He wore a white robe, and was the leader of Whitecrest City. He appeared to be in a good mood, as a small smile hung on his face.


    Next to the Whitecrest City Leader was another man, his assistant, who had a cultivation in the Late Core Formation Realm.


    The man on the right was the Patriarch of the Ashcort n, who had long silver hair, a sign of his age. He appeared to be in his sixties, and a unhappy frown was stered on his face.


    The Patriarch noticed the doors open, and looked towards the man who had just entered.


    "Crant, you''re finally here. Sit down, and we can begin our discussions," the Patriarch instructed.


    Crant nodded his head, and took a seat next to the Patriarch.


    "Now, lets begin," the Patriarch spoke up.


    "I would hope so," the Whitecrest Leader spoke up. "You sent me a sound transmission, urging my immediate presence for a meeting. I left some important matters toe here, so it better be worth it," the man continued.


    The Patriarch frowned at the Whitecrest Leader''s tone, but didn''t say anything about it.


    "It will be more than worth your time," the Patriarch replied. "This matter regards your biggest target, Aderite City."


    The Whitecrest City Leader''s eyebrows raised slightly as he heard this, and an expectant expression appeared on his face.


    The rtionship between Whitecrest City and Aderite City was antagonistic, and both wanted to cannibalize the other and bring it under its rulership. There had been small scuffles in the past, but neither side could win out as their powers were quite even with each other. They both dealt in the ve trade, as well as Aderite mining, and so both had strong desires to eliminate, or control the other side.


    "Oh? Do go on," the Whitecrest City Leader replied.


    "I will take you up on your previous offer that you gave me all those years ago. I will go to war with you against Aderite City, and crush them into the earth," the Patriarch replied, his face slightly angered.


    The Whitecrest City Leader once again raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had offered an alliance with the Ashcort Patriarch many years ago to ally against Aderite City and crush it with theirbined strength, but the Ashcort Patriarch had refused at the time.


    "Oh? What made you change your mind and ept my offer after all this time?" the Whitecrest City Leader asked in an amused yet happy tone.


    The Patriarch frowned in anger as he replied. "I just received a sound transmission from a n member stationed in Aderite City. It appears that a new person has taken charge of Aderite City, and has in the previous City Leader," the Patriarch exined.


    "Oh? Such a thing happened? Just how strong is this neer? Is he in the Meridian Forging Realm?" the Whitecrest Leader asked?


    "No, the reports are that he is in the Late Core Formation Realm, and used some trickery to kill the previous leader," the Patriarch replied.


    The Whitecrest Leader frowned slightly as he heard this. "This shouldn''t be enough for you to want to destroy the city and the new leader," the Whitecrest Leader replied. "What made you change your mind?"


    The Patriarch paused for a moment before replying. "In his dealings with the previous city leader, the neer also ughtered my precious second son. Such a thing is intolerable, and he must be destroyed," the Patriarch replied angrily while mming his fist down on the table.


    A loud boom echoed out in the main hall, before silence descended on it. A small smile crept up on the Whitecrest City Leaders face.


    "I apologize for your loss, but I will happily go to war with you and bring Aderite City to its knees."

 Chapter 314 - Alliance

    The aderite ore mining fields were located in the very center between the Ashcort n, Whitecrest City, and Aderite City. At the top of one of the mountains, the Whitecrest City Leader and the Ashcort Patriarch were still carrying out their discussions.


    "Given that the new city leader killed the old city leader quite easily, we must assume that his strength is above that of the previous city leader," the Whitecrest Leader spoke out. "However¡­" the man paused as he inspected the Ashcort Patriarch. "I don''t think that will be a problem. I see you have made progress in your cultivation recently."


    ??


    The Ashcort Patriarch smiled as he heard this.


    "Indeed I have. After three hundred years, I have finally reached the Meridian Forging Realm," the Patriarch replied.


    The Whitecrest City Leader''s cultivation was at the peak of the Core Formation Realm, and he was nearly ready to break through to the Meridian Forging Realm as well.


    "It appears that soon, I won''t be the only one in the Meridian Forging Realm," the Ashcort Patriarch replied as he inspected his counterpart. He could tell that the Leader of Whitecrest City had an incredible firm cultivation at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, and was just about to break through.


    "Indeed," the Whitecrest City Leader replied with a smile on his face. "In a few weeks, or at most a few months, I should be able to ascend to Meridian Forging as well."


    The Patriarch waved his hand to a nearby servant who was standing by. The servant walked towards the table, with a small jug in hand.


    "Please, ept some of my wine," the Patriarch said as the servant began to pour some wine.


    The Whitecrest City Leader frowned for a moment as he inspected the wine. His actions caused the Patriarch to smile in amusement at the man''s caution.


    "Inspect it all you want, it''s not poisoned."


    After a brief inspection, the Whitecrest City Leader confirmed as much, and grabbed the cup of wine.


    "With our new ascensions in power, I propose a new alliance between our two powers," the Ashcort Patriarch spoke out.


    The Whitecrest Leader''s eyebrows raised, as an intrigued look appeared on his face. "An alliance? Go on."


    "Too long have we been forced to live near the bordernds due to our weak power. We get the least amount of natural Qi in these areas, as well as other resources. We were pushed out here because we could not fight back, but now things have changed. I propose an alliance between our two powers, so that we may conquer some of the surrounding powers and expand our domain," the Ashcort Patriarch proposed.


    The Whitecrest Leader''s face lit up as he heard this. He relished in war and conquest, but unfortunately was too weak to do so. However, with both him and the Ashcort Patriarch in the Meridian Forging Realm, their power would be enough to dominate the nearby powers and assume control over them.


    The stronger sects and ns, such as the Bloodfiend Sect, turned a blind eye to such activities. As long as the conflicts between the weaker powers did not interfere with their supply chains, such as the aderite ore exports, they wouldn''t care how many wars were breaking out in theirnds. In fact, they encouraged it, as in their eyes, war would only serve to strengthen the strong and eliminate the weak.


    "I ept," the Whitecrest Leader replied quickly. He raised his cup of wine towards the Ashcort Patriarch, "To our new alliance. May our conquests be swift and brutal."


    The Ashcort Patriarch smiled and raised his wine cup towards his counterpart. They both then downed their wine, a sign of the alliance forged.


    The Ashcort Patriarch set his winecup down, and spoke out once more.


    "Our first order of business is to kill the Aderite City Leader and bring the city into our fold. Based on your history with the city, I will allow you to assume leadership of it, and my n will take over the next power we conquer" the Ashcort Patriarch said. "However, killing the Aderite City leader will be left to me. I want to watch the man who killed my son suffer before he dies."


    "Deal," the Whitecrest Leader replied with a smile. This deal was more than he could have hoped for, and dreams of expanding his domain already swelled within the Whitecrest Leader''s mind.


    The Ashcort Patriarch turned to Crant at his side. "Begin the logistical preparations for our ns."


    Crant nodded his head, and was about to stand when...


    Boom!


    A loud boom suddenly sounded out from outside the building, as the building began to slightly shake.


    "What''s going on?" the Ashcort Patriarch spoke out with a frown.


    "Its most likely one of the idiot miners have triggered an Aderite explosion," Crant replied with an angry tone.


    Aderite was quite sensitive to Qi, and would explode whening? into contact with too much of it. This was the reason why primitive mining methods were used for aderite ore.


    "I''ll go handle it," Crant stated.


    Boom!


    Another explosion rocked the mountainside, causing the Patriarch and Whitecrest Leader to frown. They detected the Qi signature of an attack in thatst explosion.


    "Who would dare to attack my Ashcort n?" the Patriarch raged out loud as he stood up and strode out of the main hall. The Whitecrest City Leader followed behind closely, ready to help his new forged ally.


    The group strode out of the building, and noticed two new craters formed into the mountainside below, clearly the result of an attack. They scanned the area with their divine senses, and their heads quickly turned upwards to the sky.


    Several hundred yards above them, two men stood in the sky. One was a middle aged man, and the other a young boy with blonde hair, d in a blood red robe. The boy looked down on the group with a smile.


    "It seems as if the intel I received was correct. I''ve run into both the Ashcort Patriarch, as well as the Leader of Whitecrest City in the same location. This will save me quite a bit of time," John spoke out in an amused tone.


    "What is the meaning of this? Why would a Bloodfiend Disciple attack my n?" the Ashcort Patriarch asked in an angered tone.


    He instantly recognized the robes as belonging to the Bloodfiend Sect, and a bad premonition crept into his mind. However, the cultivation of the youth before him was at the Late Core Formation Realm, and so he did not have to fear the youth himself, only the sect standing behind him.


    However, the sect was thousands and thousands of miles away, and wouldn''t most likely not do anything to aid a single disciple so far away.


    John smiled as he heard this, and quickly replied.


    "What am I doing? I''m here to reim the aderite mines that belong to my Aderite City."

 Chapter 315 - Fighting The Patriarch

    "What are you talking about? You''re from the Bloodfiend Sect, not Aderite City," the Ashcort Patriarch replied, his voice slightly raised.


    He had not expected a Bloodfiend Sect member to show up out of the blue. The Bloodfiend Sect was the strongest sect in thends, and so he knew to tread carefully. However, everyone knew the Bloodfiend Sect had quite a hands off approach regarding its members.


    ??


    The Sect believed that aiding its disciples was a source of weakness, and so they mostly left them to their own when outside of the sect. If a Bloodfiend Disciple was killed, they would not retaliate unless those who did the killing also besmirched the reputation of the Bloodfiend Sect itself.


    With this in mind, the Ashcort Patriarch decided to tread carefully, but would not back down in front of the youth before him.


    "Have you not received the news yet?" John asked. He shook his head in a disapproving manner. "Seems like the Ashcort n informationwork is quitecking. There''s a new leader of Aderite City. Me!"


    The Ashcort n Patriarch''s eyes shot wide open upon hearing this, as a look of anger and hate appeared on his face.


    "You! It was you who killed my son!" the Ashcort Patriarch raged out loudly.


    The Whitecrest City Leader frowned upon hearing this. The information about the new city leader said nothing of a Bloodfiend Sect disciple. However, this would not change the ns.


    "Your son tried to kill me first, but I doubt you care about such things anyways. I killed your son, and you want revenge. I can understand that," John replied, his voice calm. "However-"


    "Silence!" a loud shout of anger erupted from the Ashcort Patriarch. "I do not care for your reasons. You killed my son, so I will kill you right here, right now!"


    Boom!


    The Ashcort Patriarch shot up into the sky towards John like a bullet. His Meridian Forging cultivation red outwards, which caused John to raise his eyebrows slightly. However, he could tell that the Ashcort Patriarch just recently broke through, as his foundation and cultivation base was still shaky. As such, he could barely be considered as an Early Meridian Forging Cultivator.


    "Meridian Forging huh? This will be more fun than I expected."


    A curved saber appeared in the Patriarch''s hands as he reached John. He shed it towards John with great power, intending to kill him with a single strike.


    A blood red scythe suddenly appeared in John''s hands, and he swung it out in full force at the Patriarch''s saber.


    Peng!


    Weapons collided powerfully, and both cultivators were knocked backwards from the force of the impact. John stabilized his backwards momentum immediately, and looked towards the Ashcort Patriarch, who now had a look of shock stered on his face.


    John smiled as he saw the look, as he had seen it dozens of times by now. Clearly the Patriarch was surprised that John would fight back, despite being much lower cultivation wise.


    After a moment of shock, the Patriarch snapped out of it and flew towards John once again. This time however, his saber began to glow, as he unleashed a powerful battle art.


    "Die!"


    The Patriarch shouted out as he shed his saber towards John. A pitch ck saber image, dozens of yards long, shed directly towards John. A smile appeared on John''s face as he raised his scythe above his head.


    "That''s more like it," John shouted out as he shed his scythe forward.


    Crimson de sh!


    A blood red scythe image sliced out, its sharpness and power not losing out to the saber battle art at all.


    Boom!


    Battle arts collided, and an explosion of Qi radiated outwards from the impact of the two attacks. A dumbfounded look appeared on the Ashcort Patriarchs face once more, as well as the Whitecrest City Leader''s face. They were bothpletely shocked at John''s power, and his ability to fight a major realm above his own cultivation.


    "How is this possible?" the Ashcort Patriarch couldn''t help but exim in shock and disbelief.


    John suddenly appeared next to the Ashcort Patriarch, his scythe slicing at a strange angle towards the Patriarch''s waist.


    The Patriarch angled his saber to block the scythe, just barely managing to do so in time.


    Peng!


    Weapons collided, and the Ashcort Patriarch was knocked backwards hundreds of yards. He quickly stabalized his body, and shed out his saber as John was on him once again.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Dozens of attacks were quickly exchanged, with neither sideing out on top. The longer the fight went on, the more shocked the Patriarch became.


    John''s body shed, and he suddenly appeared above the Patriarch. His scythe shed down with incredible power as it glowed with the light of a battle art.


    Crimson de sh!


    Scythe and saber collided, and the Ashcort Patriarch''s body shot down to the ground below, unable to negate the force of John''s attack.


    Boom!


    His body collided with the mountainside, causing the mountainside to explode outwards. Soon after, the Ashcort Patriarch exploded out of the fallen debris, his face full of anger.


    He looked towards the nearby Whitecrest Leader, who stood there motionlessly.


    "What are you standing around for. Help me kill this brat, or is our alliance good for nothing already?" The Patriarch yelled out.


    The Whitecrest Leader frowned as he heard this. John''s power was clearly above his own, if even the Patriarch couldn''t overwhelm him. However he could tell that if nothing was done, the Patriarch would most likely lose, and he could not allow that to happen.


    His power was at the very peak of the Core Formation Realm, and so he could at least cause John to be wary of his attacks, as if theynded head on, they would do great damage to him.


    A small sigh left the Whitecrest Leader''s mouth as he appeared next to the Ashcort Patriarch.


    "You be the main point of attack. I will assist you whenever I can," the Whitecrest Leader replied.


    "That''s enough. This brat is quite strong, but he''s not strong enough to withstand ourbined might. Let''s go!"


    The two suddenly sped towards John in tandem. A small smile appeared on John''s face as he saw this.


    "Both of you are ganging up on a lonely Core Formation youth? That''s quite pathetic," John mocked. "Since this is the case, don''t me me for being heavy handed."


    A serious look appeared on John''s face as he concentrated on the technique he was about to use. It was his first time truly using it, and he wanted to see how strong it would be in his hands.


    The surrounding sky suddenly turned red, as both the Ashcort Patriarch and Whitecrest City Leader felt their bodies get heavy, blood slow down, and souls be pained.


    Within the blood red sky, John stared down at the two of them, his now incredibly sinister aura making him appear like a bloodthirsty demon.


    Crimson Hell Domain!

 Chapter 316 - Crimson Hell Domain!

    John had obtained the Crimson Hell Domain technique in one of the scrolls he found in Damon''s spatial ring. Normally, disciples were not allowed to keep the most important techniques of the Bloodfiend Sect, but Damon as one of the Three Emperors was different.


    No Elder at the Bloodfiend Sect thought that he would perish in the wastnds, and so they were unconcerned with the technique falling into the wrong hands. However, things had not gone ording to n, and now John, disguised as a Bloodfiend Sect member, was using their signature domain art.


    ??


    The Crimson Hell Domain was a domain art on the level of the Heavenly Lightning Domain. However, when it had been used against John, his unique cultivation situation had rendered most of it useless.


    Other cultivators were not like John, and would not be able to ignore its affects as he had done so far.


    With himself ced at the very center of the domain, John felt his own body heat up and be more powerful. His eyes opened slightly as he finally realized the truth of the Crimson Hell Domain.


    ''This! Its stealing their power, their Qi, and giving it to me! That''s what I felt when the domain was used on me. I thought it just slowed down my body and blood, but it was actually slightly siphoning it instead and sending it back to the user. How profound!''


    John had looked down on the domain slightly due to his history of ignoring it, but after using it personally for the first time, his perspectivepletely changed.


    Clearing his thoughts and focusing on his two enemies before him once more, John stared down on them as if they were ants. His body surged with incredible power, while the Ashcort Patriarch and Whitecrest City Leader felt themselves weakened by the domain.


    "Shit, it''s the Crimson Hell Domain," the Whitecrest City Leader eximed. "What should we do?"


    The Ashcort Patriarch grit his teeth, trying to wrack his brain for ideas. Neither he, nore the Whitecrest City Leader, had a domain art of their own. Domain arts were some of the most valuable arts in the cultivation world, and only the peak powers would have them.


    Since neither of them had a domain, they would not be able to negate John''s Crimson Hell Domain. All they could do was fight with their full power, and hope it was enough.


    "We have no choice. We must fight within his domain," the Ashcort Patriarch replied before speeding towards John. The Whitecrest City Leader followed behind closely, ready to assist at any moment.


    John watched the two of them speed towards him. Their speeds were clearly slower than before, a sign of the domain affecting them. Not only that, but John felt the siphoning affect of the domain grow stronger as his opponents got closer to him, surprising him once more.


    ''Its the most powerful in closebat range? Perfect!''


    Arge smile appeared on John''s face as he sped forward straight towards the Ashcort Patriarch. His scythe shed out with incredible power, unleashing a Crimson de sh in an instant, its power far greater than normal due to the Crimson Hell Domain.


    Boom!


    The Crimson de sh collided with thebined attacks of his two enemies, who had mustered their full strength in thetest attack. Arge explosion of Qi appeared high in the sky, the shockwaves from it rocking thend below.


    John sped through the explosion, and appeared directly in front of the Whitecrest City Leader, who was still recovering his bnce from the previous attack. His fist pierced towards the Whitecrest Leader''s chest, its speed far too fast to block.


    Bang!


    Fist collided with chest, sending the The Whitecrest Leader crashing down to the mountainside below. Blood spewed out of the City Leader''s mouth, as some of his ribs cracked from the force of the impact.


    Boom!


    His body mmed against the mountain, creating arge explosion of rock and earth. The Ashcort Patriarch suddenly appeared behind John, intent on taking advantage of this opening. He shed his saber out towards John''s back with all his might, leaving nothing behind.


    With his other hand, John shed his scythe out to his side, sending out an attack without even looking at the Ashcort Patriarch.


    Boom!


    The attacks collided, and the Ashcort Patriarch was knocked back hundreds of yards, unable to withstand the might of John''s casual attack. He tumbled head over heels through the air several times before finally managing to control his tumbling Qi and stabilize himself.


    Che!


    The Patriarch''s eyes opened wide in shock, as a blood red scythe de pierced directly through his chest from behind. The Patriarch slowly tilted his head to the side to look over his shoulder, still unable toprehend what had just happened.


    He saw John standing behind him in the air, his cold, ruthless eyes staring directly into the eyes of the Patriarch.


    "I have ns for the Whitecrest Leader, but as for you, your grudge with me is far too much to leave alone. You can only me your useless son for this," John''s cold voice echoed in the Patriarch''s mind.


    Blood gurgled from his lips as he opened them to respond, but a surge of Qi from John''s scythe de exploded out within the Patriarchs body, destroying his organs and snuffing out his life in an instant.


    While the Patriarch was a Meridian Forging cultivator, he was the absolute weakest of all Meridian Forging cultivators, having just broken through days before. Not only that, but within the Crimson Hell Domain, he was weakened even further. Thisbination had allowed John to kill him easily.


    John quickly stored the now lifeless body of the Patriarch, before he looked down at the shattered mountainside below. The Whitecrest Leader, still recovering from thest attack, was slowly climbing out of the rubble.


    His body shed, and he quickly appeared before the Whitecrest Leader. Fear appeared on the Whitecrest Leader''s face, but he did not beg for his life.


    "I''ll give you one opportunity to live," John said to the man. "Your Whitecrest City now belongs to me. You will be a subordinate of mine, and act as its overseer in my absence, but the city is now under my control. Do you ept this offer, or do you ept death?"


    The Whitecrest Leader grit his teeth upon hearing John''s words. His grand ambitions of expanding his own empire had crumbled in less than a day. A sigh escaped his lips as he replied, his head slightly bowed.


    "Your subordinate epts!"

 Chapter 317 - Ashcort Clan

    "A wise decision," John replied.


    The Whitecrest City Leader sighed once again upon announcing his surrender. However, a thought crossed his mind regarding his new superior. John had revealed hisbat prowess to be absolutely amazing, and surely he would flourish within the Bloodfiend Sect.


    ??


    ''Perhaps such an arrangement isn''t such a bad thing after all,'' the Whitecrest City Leader mused to himself.


    When John soared in the future, he would also potentially be able to reap those benefits. With this in mind, the Whitecrest Leader fully epted his new fate.


    "What is your name?" John asked.


    "Xavier," the Whitecrest City Leader replied.


    "Well Xavier," John said. "From now on, the Aderite Mines are back in my control. You and Hanze will take over the mining operations from the Ashcort n. Hanze will stay behind to instruct you on the further details," John instructed.


    He turned to leave, at which point Xavier called out to John.


    "Where are you going?"


    John stopped and looked over his shoulder. "I still have to clean up this Ashcort n mess. I will return shortly."


    ¡­


    In the Harel mountain range, several dozen miles away from the Aderite Mines, a horde of people could be seen scurrying about, as if in a panic. They all rushed towards thergest building in the area, and gathered there with looks of uncertainty on their faces.


    "Listen up," a man standing at the front of the group said. "The Patriarch''s soul jade had shattered. He is dead."


    "What? The Patriarch is dead?"


    "How is this possible?"


    Amotion erupted out within the group upon hearing the news, as the Patriarch was the lifeblood of the Ashcort n. He was the strongest of them all, and ensured that they were able to maintain their domain over the nearbynds.


    The man standing at the front addressing the crowd was the Patriarch''s first son, who had now assumed leadership of the Ashcort n.


    "What are we going to do?" A panicked cry echoed out from the crowd.


    "Do not panic," the new Ashcort Leader instructed. "We will investigate this matter carefully, and proceed as needed in order to ensure the survival of our n."


    Replies erupted from within the crowd, but a booming voice sounding down from above drowned out all of them.


    "There''s no need to investigate," the voice sounded out.


    All those within therge building quickly rushed outside and looked to the sky. Above them, a lone boy, d in blood red robes floated.


    The new n Leader rushed outside as well, and narrowed his eyes as he saw John. The blood red robes were a giveaway as to his status, and the power John was emanating was beyond what he could contest against.


    "Who are you?" the man spoke up. "Why are you invading my Ashcort n?"


    Although the man had an idea who John was, he still asked for rity on the situation. A misunderstanding with a Bloodfiend Sect disciple was not something he wanted to have on top of his current situation.


    "I''m sure you''ve already guessed it. I''m the one who just slew your Patriarch," John''s voice boomed out. His introduction left no guesses as to who he was anymore.


    Looks of anger, hate, and many other emotions immediately broke out within the crowd, as several members shot up into the sky, prepared to kill John for his actions.


    "Halt!"


    A loud shout boomed out from the new Ashcort n leader, hismanding voice causing all those rushing forward to stop. They all turned around to look at their new n Leader, confused as to why he wasn''t joining them to help ughter their Patriarchs killer.


    "n Leader, he''s only in the Core Formation Realm. We have three Late Core Formation experts on our side. Join us and help us avenge your father!" one of them cried out in protest.


    "Do you think I don''t know that?" the n Leader shouted out loudly. "Our Patriarch, my father, was at the Meridian Forging Realm, and was meeting with the Whitecrest Leader as well, and yet he still fell. I''m not sure of the details, but clearly we are no match for this boy before us."


    John raised his eyebrows in slight surprise at the man''s assessment of the situation. He had arrived at the n, ready to eliminate any and all possible future headaches, namely the main lineage of the n. However, this man before him seemed to be quite sensible.


    "You seem to be quite a clever man," John spoke out to the man. "I hade here with the intention of destroying half your n for your Patriarch''s actions, but maybe such a thing is not needed after all," John''s voice boomed out over the crowd.


    John''s voice angered the crowd once more, as his words were looking down on the entire n. However, they listened to their new leader''s instructions, and did notsh out at John.


    The Ashcort n Leader looked back up to John, who stood there with a calm face. He could tell that John was not bluffing, and that he truly did have the power to bury the entire Ashcort n. However, he still wanted answers to his fathers death.


    "For what reason did you kill my father?" the man asked, keeping his tone as calm as possible.


    "I was ambushed by a group of men, who intended on killing me and taking my belongings. One of those men was from your n, the second son of the patriarch I believe. Since they made such a foolish decision, I helped each of them leave this world permanently" John began to exin.


    Angered looks appeared on many faces in the crowd once again at the news, and the Ashcort n leader frowned upon hearing this. His brother''s death was a mystery to him, but hearing about the reason for it, he started to put two and two together.


    "I''m assuming my father tried to kill you for your actions?" the n Leader asked.


    "That is correct," John confirmed. "As such, I had no choice. However, you seem much more reasonable, and I''m sure you can see the bigger picture of what would happen if you tried to get vengeance for your fathers death."


    The Ashcort n leader frowned upon hearing this, because what John said was the ugly truth. He did want to avenge his fathers death, but knew his n was too weak to do so. Trying to do such a futile thing would only result in itsplete destruction.


    "What do you want then?" the Ashcort n Leader asked.


    "I came here to make sure your n wouldn''t be a future threat, but I can see that should no longer be an issue. As long as you stay in line and do not seek vengeance, I will allow your n to continue to exist," John replied. "The Aderite Mines have been reacquired by me and my city. You will leave them alone, and make a living another way. If not...I''m sure you can fill in the rest."


    The Ashcort n leader frowned once again upon hearing this. The Aderite Mines were a great source of revenue for the n, and losing it would hurt them greatly. However, it was still better than being wiped out.


    "You have my word. We will make no more ims to your mines," the n leader confirmed.


    "Good. See that it stays that way, or I will return to this n of yours to finish what I had intended on doing in the first ce," John replied.


    After ncing down at the n below him onest time, John sped off into the distance. The Ashcort n leader sighed a sigh of relief, as he knew his n had just escaped a great cmity.

 Chapter 318 - Details

    In therge building atop the mountain overlooking the aderite mines, Hanze and Xavier were in deep discussions regarding the aderite mining operations. Crant, the previous operator of the mines, stood by silently, providing information as needed.


    He had seen his patriarch in without much effort, and knew the situation had been changed. Only by cooperating with the new owner of the mines did he have a chance of surviving.


    ??


    Bang!


    Therge two-sided door to the main hall of the building mmed open, and John strode in. His face was calm, revealing to the group that his goal had been aplished.


    "My Ashcort n...are they¡­" Crant couldn''t help but ask John as he saw him enter.


    John nced towards Crant as he strode towards therge table in the middle of the great hall.


    "Your n is alive. Your new leader is quite sensible, so not a single person died," John replied casually before ignoring Crant.


    Crant let out a sigh of relief, as that was the best news he could have heard. He had expected to hear of his n''s destruction. While John did not care for the Ashcort n, and wouldn''t bat an eye at destroying them due to them, doing so would only cause more headaches than letting them live while agreeing to never interfere again.


    "So, where are we in the discussions of the new operations?" John asked Hanze and Xavier as he reached the table.


    "We''ve discussed most of what there is to discuss, other thanbor and exports," Hanze replied.


    John remained silent for a moment before speaking out once more.


    "Labor will be acquired from any ves that we can get our hands on. As for theirbor in the mines, I want the work conditions to be reasonable, and each shall be provided reasonable amodations as well," John exined.


    He knew that he was unable to stop a titanic thing such as the ve trade, as there was too much money invovled in it for anyone to stop. If he didn''t buy them, others would. All he could do was buy them and provide them with reasonable conditions, as this would be a fate infinitely better than what they would have otherwise.


    At the same time, John would use theirbor to further his wealth, allowing him to proceed further down the cultivation pathway. Only once he destroyed the Bloodfiend Sect and rid the continent of the Forbbidden Allinance powers would very be illegal.


    While John was not a morally upstanding person, he detested the thought of very of the innocent nheless.


    "These suggestions of yours¡­" Xavier spoke up and paused for a moment. "Providing such conditions to theborers will not only cost us more money, but will also decrease our mining output."


    John looked towards the Whitecrest City Leader, his face stern. "I do not care for such things. I''m sure the mining operations are incredibly profitable. A small hit to that is something I can stomach," John replied.


    The Whitecrest City Leader frowned, but didn''t argue against his new superior.


    "You''re thinking about it wrong," John said as he saw the man''s reaction. "Working ves to their limit does increase output, you''re correct about that, but that output is only increased momentarily. Pushing a miner to their limits will result in them bing crippled, and as a result, worthless.


    When that happens, we not only have to buy a new ve, costing us money upfront, but also have to train the new ve to reach the mining speeds of the former. When you factor in these two things, overall output should not drop once the new system is fully established," John exined.


    The Whitecrest Leader thought about it for a moment, before nodding his head. "I suppose that does make sense."


    With vebor in such overwhelming abundance, owners of operations such as mines did not really think about such things, as recing ves was not an issue. However, what John had exined truly did make sense, and so the City Leader hopped on board with the method.


    "Now, regarding exports," John changed the subject to the second matter. "Exports will remain the same, with one change."


    "What change?" Hanze asked.


    "Twenty percent of all mining revenues will be sent to me, in the Bloodfiend Sect where I will return shortly," John instructed.


    While carrying out his recent operations, John identified an opportunity to make even more money than he already had. While he did not currentlyck money, cultivation was an expensive pathway. Sooner orter he would run out of money, and he wanted that to be as far down the road as possible.


    "Twenty percent? That''s quite reasonable," the Whitecrest City Leader replied.


    The Ashcort n had been taking half of the revenue stream for themselves, and used the other half to pay workers, traders, and buy ves for the mining operations. John was only one person, and so twenty percent was a massive sum.


    Not only that, but John knew his new methods would make the operation more costly. If he took too much money, the entire system would copse, leaving him with nothing instead. With this is mind, John settled on twenty percent.


    "You and Hanze will each receive four percent from these operations, while the rest will be used to buy ves, train and amodate them, and pay traders for exports. Is that understood?"


    Hanze and Xavier both smiled and nodded their heads in agreement. Although their share was much smaller than John''s, four percent was still arge sum of money for a single person. Not only that, but John was not interfering with the Whitecrest City operations, and so the Whitecreast leaders'' normal revenue streams were still untouched.


    "Good." John replied, satisfied with the oue.


    Aftering to an understanding, John exined to the two of them that he was returning to the Bloodfiend Sect for the foreseeable future. Hanze was to run Aderite City, while the Whitecrest City Leader ran his. On top of the mining operations, both cities were to offer another three percent of overall tax revenue to John, to be delivered to him at the start of each month.


    The details were hammered out over the next several hours, before John was happy with their understanding of everything.


    "I may return here in a week, or in a year. Either way, I will return, and when I do, I expect everything to be operating the way I desire it to. Is that understood?" John reiterated one more time.


    "It will be as you have instructed," both men replied.


    "Good."


    John strode out of the main hall of therge building, leaving the two men behind to begin their mining operations. He was sure the operations were in good hands, as both men knew what would happen if they crossed him. Not only that, but John gave them a hefty sum of money from the operations as well, making them much more loyal as well.


    John strode outside, and took in a deep breath of cold mountain air. He stared down the mountain to the mining pits far below, watching the ves go about their work. A small, satisfied smile appeared on his face, before it slowly faded away.


    He turned to face a certain direction, and his body suddenly shot up into the sky, flying deeper into the Forbidden Alliancends.

 Chapter 319 - Bloodfiend Sect

    In the very heart of the Forbidden Alliancends, a sprawling sect could be seen. The sect existed within arge, expansive mountain range, and thousands upon thousands ofrge buildings could be seen weaving their ways between the mountain valleys, and resting on the mountain peaks.


    The sect was every bit the equal of the Heavenly Lightning Sect in size and grandeur, but carried apletely different atmosphere about it. Therge, grand buildings had a more gothic design to them, with dark colored walls and tall, sharp spires piercing into the sky. Resting between the high mountains, a perpetual darkness seemed to cover the sect, making it even more ominous.


    ??


    This ce was the Bloodfiend Sect, the cornerstone of the Forbidden Alliance powers of the Yuan Continent. Within the streets, thousands of cultivators could be seen roaming about. Some walked, some flew, and some rode atoprge, powerful beasts.


    Each wore blood red robes, and each emanated a dark, sinister aura.


    At the front entrance, a hooded figure could be seen walking towards the entrance and falling into the line attempting to enter the sect.


    On one of the main streets at the front entrance of the sect, a group of disciples were gathered. They were first and second years, and their cultivations ranged from the Early Core Formation Realm to the Early Meridian Forging Realm. Only one of them had a cultivation at the Early Meridian Forging Realm, a second year who was known fairly well within the sect.


    He had long ck hair, grey eyes, and a fairly formidable aura around him. He was one of the second year Core Disciples.


    "Have you heard the recent rumors brewing within the sect?" one of the first years spoke up. He was a boy around sixteen years of age, with short ck hair and ck eyes.


    "Rumors? There''s plenty of rumors about plenty of things. Which rumor are you talking about specifically?" one of the second years, a female of average features, scoffed.


    "The one about the mysterious person who had been travelling towards our sect over the past few weeks," the first year disciple replied.


    "That one! I''ve also heard about it. Apparently the rumors are that one of our disciples had been causing quite amotion out towards the bordends," another first year replied.


    "Commotion? Whatmotion?" the Early Meridian Forging disciple couldn''t help but ask, his curiosity piqued.


    "Again, these are just rumors, but apparently one of our disciples has been conquering some small cities and ns over the past few weeks, and iming them as under his leadership. What do you think, Jacob?" a first year disciple replied.


    "Such a thing has happened?" Jacob, the Meridian Forging disciple, replied.


    Even him, with his cultivation at the Early Meridian Forging Realm, would find such a task to be quite difficult. Not only did some of the powers in thend have cultivations at the Meridian Forging Realm as well, but one needed to be very careful in how they went about conquering those cities and ns.


    "The rumors are most likely false, but even if they are true, whoever it is, is quite an idiot. How does he expect to rule over those cities when he''s returning to the Bloodfiend Sect?" the disciple spoke out.


    Based on the rumors, it was clear that whoever it was, was making their way back to the sect.


    "True, but it''s still quite interesting. I wonder who the disciple could be?" one of the first years replied.


    "Who cares," the Meridian Forging disciple replied, as if he had lost interest in the topic. His eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had spotted something amusing.


    "Is that who I think it is?" Jacob yelled out in a loud, boisterous voice.


    The eyes of all in the group looked over to the direction Jacob was looking, at which point they spotted who he was talking about. Their eyes too lit up, as if they had found something amusing to watch.


    Jacob walked over to the person he was talking about, whopletely ignored him. Jacob frowned, and moved in front of the person to stop them from proceeding forward.


    "What? You go to the bordends to capture some ves for a few days, and now you''ve grown some balls?" Jacob mocked as he stared at the boy before him.


    John stood there in silence, staring back at the boy who had stepped in front of his path. After many weeks, he had finally reached the Bloodfiend Sect. His weeks had been quite busy and adventurous, and he had added several more cities under his dominion. The total number of controlled cities now stood at four.


    Much like the first, most of these powers had sought to take advantage of him being alone and full of wealth, and so John had taught each power a lesson. However, he eventually reached the powers that were too strong to conquer, and had at that point proceeded straight towards the Bloodfiend Sect.


    "Is that John?" the rest of the disciples walked up to where John and Jacob were standing, and surrounded him.


    "John? Didn''t you go to the bordends, but you somehow managed to fail even at that. I heard that your entire squadron got wiped out, yet you somehow live. Did you flee from battle?" another disciple mocked.


    John frowned as he heard the group speak to him.


    ''Seems like this John was considered to be quite pathetic within the sect. It seems he had a much higher opinion of himself than the rest of his sect.''


    "Get out of my way," John replied calmly as he tried to walk forward.


    "Where do you think you''re going?" Jacob snickered as he pushed John backwards. "I knew you were useless, but this is pathetic even for you. Not only did you fail the first mission you joined, but you also fled from battle. I''m sure even someone as useless as you knows what the consequences of that are."


    "Get out of my way," John once again replied calmly.


    Jacob''s smile grewrger as he heard John''s reply. "The Elder''s will surely execute you for your actions, so you might as well just give me all your possessions now. At least this way, you''ll be useful for something in your life," Jacob mocked.


    Several other mockingments erupted from the crowd surrounding John.


    John''s eyes locked onto Jacob, as his cold re pierced straight at him. The mocking smile on Jacob''s face instantly vanished, as he instinctively took a step backwards.


    Bang!


    John''s fist pierced out like lightning,nding against Jacob''s chest in an instant, who waspletely unprepared for an attack. The assumed identity of John had always been easily bullied and intimidated, and so none thought he would eversh out like this.


    "Gah!"


    Jacob cried out as his body was sent flying backwards. He tumbled head over heels several times, and mmed into a nearby wall,ing to an abrupt stop.


    Bang!


    Before he could stand up, a loud sound echoed out once again, as arge battle hammer mmed down on one of Jacob''s legs. A shattering sound rang out, causing everyone who witnessed the scene to wince in pain.


    "Ahhhhhh!"


    A pained cry escaped Jacobs mouth as he shouted out in agony. John stared down at Jacob with cold eyes for a moment, before turning and walking away, proceeding deeper into the sect.


    The stunned group eventually snapped out of their daze, and rushed towards Jacob to aid him. Several of them helped him up, and escorted him to the medical ward of the sect. Those rest stood there in stunned silence as they looked at each other.


    "You don''t think...that he is the one the rumors are about?" a first year disciple suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence.


    Surprise appeared on the faces of all as they thought of the possibility, but each quickly shook their head in disagreement.


    "Surely such a thing is impossible, right?"

 Chapter 320 - Punishment Hall

    John ignored themotion behind him as he walked deeper into the Bloodfiend Sect. Much like the Heavenly Lightning Sect, grand buildings lined every street, as thousands upon thousands of cultivators streamed in and out of them.


    The sect was vibrant with life, but was instilled with a much darker and more sinister atmosphere. Not only was the Sect shrouded in perpetual shadows casted by the high mountains above, but the naturally dark auras of all the cultivators mixed together, bathing the sect in a sinister aura.


    Bang!


    A sound to John''s right caught his attention, and his head swiveled to see what was going on. To his right, a group of youths were surrounding a lone youth, throwing fists and kicks while the youth was on the ground. Taunts, jeers, and insults were being spewed from all of them, as the youth did his best to cover his head.


    An Elder happened to walk by the scene, who casually nced at it before continuing onwards as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. John raised his eyebrows at this sight.


    ''It seems as if this sect truly is quite a brutal ce. The strong thrive while the weak die, and the Elder''s want it this way. No wonder their cultivations were stronger in the wastnds and ancient city than anyone else''s.''


    John had always found this fact quite peculiar. When he was in the ancient city, he had run into several of the strongest members from each of the Four Great Sects. While Miko was the strongest other than himself, the highest cultivations all belonged to the Bloodfiend Sect''s Three Emperors.


    No other first year disciples had cultivations at the Late Core Formation Realm, which John had always found strange. However, upon seeing the way the Bloodfiend Sect operated, it started to make sense.


    ''There''s a much greater incentive to get strong in this sectpared to my own. Here, strength is the only thing that keeps you safe.''


    John continued deeper into the sect, and saw simr scenes y out several times. However, he ignored them all as he strode deeper into the sect, towards the area where his housing should be. John had extracted as much information from his assumed identity as he could, and was using that information to act as normal as possible within the sect.


    After walking for nearly an hour, he finally arrived at his housing, which rested at the base of one of the mountains. It was a small house, moreparable to a cottage, and was only ten feet wide by ten feet deep. It was much less luxurious than his amodations back at the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    There were hundreds of simr houses in the nearby area, which was clearly a spot for housing outer sect disciples.


    John pushed open the dpidated door, revealing the contents within. A simple bed rested in the corner of the room. A small table and chair sat in another corner, with a small bookshelf nearby. Other than that, there was nothing else within the room.


    ''This is quite depressing.''


    John strode into the house, and explored its interior momentarily. The bookshelf held some low level cultivation and battle art scrolls, none of which were of interest to John. After reading the scrolls, he sat down on the simple bed and stayed there.


    ''I''m sure there will be some peopleing for me soon for questioning, now that word should be spreading that I have returned to the Sect. In that case, I''ll just rest and cultivate in the meantime.''


    For the next several hours, John rested. His trip had been quite an arduous one, filled withbat and excessive travelling. Even for a cultivator, travelling such distances took its toll, and so this moment of respite was more than weed.


    The daylight faded, as night began to creep in. John opened his eyes, as his door was opened. A lone figure stood there, staring at him from its entrance.


    "Come with me, now!" amanding voice barked out, giving no room for objection. The voice was deep and aged, clearly the voice of an Elder.


    Expecting as much, John stood up and walked outside. The Elder stood there with a face of displeasure and disgust, as if he was looking at a worthless thing. Without a word, the Elder turned on his heels and began to walk away from the cottage.


    John followed closely behind in silence, as the two of them walked deeper into the sect. Dimnterns lit the streets of the sect, giving it a dark, ominous vibe. After walking for quite some time, the Elder turned down a street leading away from the main road they were on.


    An opened gate framed the entrance of the street, and a signboard hung above it. John paused for a moment to read the sign.


    ''Punishment Hall''


    ''Punishment Hall huh? Must be something like the Enforcement Hall back in my sect, only much more to the point with its naming.''


    "Keep up!" the Elder barked out, angry that John had paused for a single moment.


    John quickly caught back up with the Elder, as they walked down the dark and narrow road. The road was lined by tall, gnarled trees, blocking most of the moonlight that cascaded down on the sect.


    At the end of the mile long road, a series of buildings dotted the base of a mountain. The buildings ranged in size, from small houses, to hundreds of yards tall. The Elder strode towards one of thergest buildings. John followed closely behind, and the two quickly entered the building.


    The interior was brightly lit, and the main entrance of the building was quite expansive. However, it was mostly empty, making it feel a bit lifeless. The Elder strode to one of the side halls, and stopped at the very first door.


    He opened it, and motioned for John to enter.


    "Get in, now!" the Eldermanded.


    John did as instructed, and quickly entered the room. The door mmed shut behind him, but John''s eyes were staring ahead of himself.


    In front of him, a group of ten Elders were gathered, each seated on an ornate chair which formed a semi-circle. The Elder''s all looked towards John as he arrived.


    "Step forward!" one of the Eldersmanded.


    John followed the instructions once more, his face calm and rxed. He stood in the middle of the semicircle, as the eyes of all ten Elders stared at him closely.


    The Elder who had spoken before spoke out once more.


    "The Execution Trial of John Harren will now begin!"

 Chapter 321 - Execution Trial

    "The Execution Trial will now begin!"


    Those words seemed to linger in the air, giving seriousness to the situation. John frowned as he heard this, but was not too shocked. It was one of the possibilities that he had ounted for whening to the Bloodfiend Sect, and now he had to find a way to worm out of it.


    Otherwise, he would have to crush the talisman the Sect Leader gave him, thus ending the mission early.


    John suddenly felt the divine senses of ten Meridian Forging Elders press down on him, closely inspecting him. He remained as calm as possible while the inspection took ce, and after some time, the senses faded away.


    "You appear to be unharmed, almost as if you fled the battlefield before battle even started," one of the Elders suddenly spoke up.


    "You will tell us what happened," the leading Elder instructed. "And do not think to lie to us, or your punishment will be far worse."


    John''s face remained calm, but internally he was scoffing at the Elder who had just spoken.


    ''Such feeble intimidation tactics. Although I suppose it would most likely work on almost any other disciple.''


    However, John understood the severity of the situation, at least from the perspective of the Bloodfiend Sect. They had sent out over a dozen disciples, as well as two Elders of the sect on the ve hunting mission. From that group, only one had returned, and the rest had been seemingly wiped out.


    "What happened to the squadron you were with?" another Elder asked.


    John looked at that Elder, his facepletely calm, as if he didn''t consider this an execution trial at all. His attitude slightly shocked the Elders, as they had been expecting him to be panicked and fearful. Such trials almost always ended with the death of the used.


    "We were ambushed by the Heavenly Lightning Sect," John replied, getting straight to the point.


    "The Heavenly Lightning Sect? It''s as we suspected then," one of the Elder''s mused out loud. "What happened during this ambush, and why were you the only one able to leave alive?"


    John paused for a moment, getting his story straight before he began to speak to the Elder''s before him.


    "We had already captured the ves of the first target vige, and were en route to the second vige. All of a sudden, a squadron from the Heavenly Lightning Sect showed up, and attacked us without warning," John began to exin.


    "What color robes were they wearing?" an Elder interrupted him.


    "ck and red," John sinctly answered.


    "ck and red...The War Hall," the Elder spat out his words with a curled mouth, as if he was disgusted just saying the name.


    "The War Hall is getting more and more bold with their actions," another Elder stated. The lead Elder raised his hand, silencing the other Elders.


    "Go on," the lead Elder instructed John.


    "As I was saying, we were ambushed. The squadron from the Heavenly Lightning Sect had twelve disciples, and one Elder at the peak of the Meridian Forging Realm. When they attacked-"


    "Are you lying to us?" one of the Elders suddenly burst out with a raised voice. "If what you say is true, then how is it possible that your squadron got wiped out? With theirbined power, the two Elders in your squadron should have been able to fight evenly against their Meridian Forging Elder. Not only that, but you had sixteen disciples, while they only had twelve. How is it possible that you not only lost the battle, but were wiped out to a single man?"


    The Elder''s all focused on John intently, looking for any signs that he was lying.


    "I''m not lying," John replied with a calm voice. "When the battle took ce, Elder Firo and Elder Weller attacked the Heavenly Lightning Sect Elder, while us disciples shed with theirs. The battle was going in our favor, until a disciple from the Heavenly Lightning Sect started to fight Elder Weller," John exined.


    He wanted the details to be as true as possible, to expose as little lies as possible. The Bloodfiend Sect already knew about his true identity and abilities, so hiding information about it was futile. John''s n was to embarrass the Bloodfiend Sect and the Elder''s, so that the me did not fall on him, but the sect itself.


    "This disciple, who only had a cultivation at the Late Core Formation Ream, fought evenly with Elder Weller, and finally managed to kill him," John exined.


    "Do you take us for fools," one of the Elders suddenly erupted out in an angry voice.


    "You expect us to believe that a disciple fought an Elder, while being that much lower in cultivation?" another Elder chimed up, his voice calmer.


    "Wait a minute," another Elder spoke up. "Do you not remember the reports from the Sect Leader?"


    His words caused the Elders in the room to stop and think for a moment, at which point all their eyes lit up at the thought of a possibility.


    "What did this boy look like?" the lead Elder asked.


    "He had long ck hair, a powerful body, and incredible lightning powers, far more powerful than I''ve seen any other disciple of that sect use," John replied.


    "It does match the descriptions we were given," one of the Elder''s mused.


    The others fell silent, several of them having gloomy looks on their faces.


    "If he is already fighting against Meridian Forging Elder''s, then his progress is much faster than we expected. We must inform Sect Leader Allfiend about this," one of the Elders spoke out.


    John remained silent, but internally he was smiling mockingly.


    ''It seems as if my fame has already spread amongst the Elder''s of the Bloodfiend Sect.''


    The Elder''s discussed this matter between themselves for some time before they once again focused on John.


    "Continue," the lead Elder instructed.


    "As I was saying, this boy, after killing Elder Weller, aided the Heavenly Lightning Sect Elder in ughtering Elder Firo. After that, they killed the rest of us disciples, leaving only me left standing," John exined.


    "And how is it possible that they left you alive?" an Elder asked, not believing John''s words. "Why didn''t they just kill you with the rest?"


    "Because," John replied with a smile. "They couldn''t find me."


    "They couldn''t find you? How is that possible?" an Elder asked in a questioning tone.


    "I had been fighting with several of their disciples, and was pushed to the edge of death. However, I managed to turn the tides, and killed one of their disciples. In the chaos of battle, they lost track of me, which is when the Heavenly Lightning Sect Elder and that other boy started ughtering our disciples.


    Seeing this, and knowing that fighting was sure death, I concealed myself," John exined.


    "Concealed yourself? Exin," an Elder asked for rification.


    As if expecting this, John suddenly withdrew his aura into himself, not letting a single shred of it escape. This was his concealment arts that John had learned on his own, and honed further by training with the Vice-Sect Leader. When he employed it, he was almost unnoticeable.


    The Elder''s in the room all raised their eyebrows in surprise, and began to scan John with their divine sense. Although they could see him, their divine senses washed right over him. Unless they were paying incredibly close attention, it was easy to pass over him without noticing.


    After a brief inspection, the Elder''s pulled back their divine senses, and began to discuss the matter amongst themselves.


    John stood there silently, waiting for them to address him once more. After several minutes, they turned back towards John.


    "What you have told us makes sense, and is valuable information for the sect. However, you still abandoned your squadron, and did not fight to the death alongside them. ording to the Sectws, such a thing is punishable by death. What do you have to say to this?" the lead Elder spoke out to John.


    John frowned as he heard this, and his next words stunned the Elder''s into silence.


    "Fuck the Sectws."

 Chapter 322 - Angered Elder

    John knew no matter what story he told, or how good his excuse was that he survived while the rest of his squadron died, the Elder''s of the sect would seek to execute him to set an example of him.


    From his questioning of the boy he assumed the identity of, John had discovered that he was quite average in every regard. His cultivation was not terrible for his age, as not every first year had reached the Late Core Formation Realm. However, it wasn''t incredible either, as there were youths at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm already.


    However, the boy was looked down upon, because his entire life had been one big failure after the next. Every time he would try to achieve something, he would fail miserably, often bringing those around him down with him. After some time this reputation had spread throughout the sect, and all had started to consider him a failure of the sect.


    As such, the Elder''s had no problem using John''s assumed identity to set an example for the rest of the sect. After his execution, they would just say he abandoned battle like a coward, and this was what happened to cowards. No matter what exnations John gave, he could already tell the Elder''s had their minds set on this oue.


    The only reason they had brought him here in the first ce was to gather intel before the execution.


    As such, John knew he would have to change their minds in another way.


    "What did you say!" several of the Elder''s erupted immediately with fiery rage.


    John''s words had not only insulted the sect, but them as well.


    "As I said, fuck the Sectws," John repeated himself, annunciating every syble carefully.


    Even the Elder''s who had remained calm the first time he said it felt their anger grow quickly. John smirked as he saw this, and quickly spoke out before any of the Elder''s could.


    "See, this is what I mean. The Bloodfiend Sect ims strength is the most important thing, yet hides behind things likews and rules when it suits them. If anything, it should be you Elder''s who get executed for what happened at the bordends," John said to the group.


    "You dare speak to us like that!" an Elder erupted in rage.


    "I dare," John replied with a firm voice. "Whose fault is it that my squadron was wiped out on the bordends? Hmm? It surely wasn''t me, a first year disciple. Not only did you send a weak squadron to the Heavenly Lightning Sectnds and expect it to do anything, the Elder''s you sent were so weak that they were beaten by a disciple of that sect. If anything, it''s you Elder''s that should be executed for the shameful disys you''ve put on for this Sect," John replied, his voice fiery with passion.


    "That''s it!" an Elder suddenly erupted in a rage, unable to contain himself. The Elder was the youngest in the room, and appeared to be in his early twenties. Clearly, he had just advanced to the level of an Elder.


    He stood up from his chair, the speed of which shattered it beneath him, as he suddenly dashed towards John. His hand pierced towards his chest, clearly intent on taking his life. John smiled as he saw this, as the situation could not have been more perfect.


    The Elder charging him was the weakest one in the group, with his cultivation barely at the Early Meridian Forging Realm. Not only that, but he was not using his full power, and was clearly only using the power required to kill a Late Core Formation youth.


    The Elder''s outstretched hand reached John''s chest.


    Bang!


    A loud, sharp sound rang out within the room, quickly followed by a crashing sound. John slowly lowered his outstretched hand, which still slightly stung from the p he had just given the Elder.


    ''That Elder''s face is quite hard. That actually hurt a bit.''


    The Elder''s in the room all stared with stupefied expressions as the Elder who had crashed into the far wall of the room. He had just been about to execute John, which none of the other Elder''s had any intention of stopping, when all of a sudden, John''s hand struck out like lightning and struck the Elder square on the face, sending him flying across the room.


    It had all happened so fast, and none of them could have predicted such a thing could happen. John should have been locked down by the immense pressure the Elder was radiating, and should have been far too slow to respond.


    You bastard! You dare p me?"


    The Elder who had been pped quickly stood up and erupted in an explosive rage. His voice rattled the room from its power, shaking the walls with every word. A red hand print lingered on his right cheek, a sign of what had happened.


    "You try to take my life, and I can''t respond?" John replied in a mocking tone.


    The Elder''s anger ignited even further, as his power climbed to the maximum. He no longer wanted to just kill John, but wanted to erase any trace of him from this world. He began to speed forward once more, when a calm yet loud voice filled the room.


    "Stay your hand!" the voice from the lead Elder sounded out.


    The Elder charging John suddenly stopped, and looked towards the lead Elder with an angered face.


    "Why do you stop me? Let''s just kill this bastard right now and be done with it," the Elder replied. However, he kept his voice lowered, as he dared not to shout at the lead Elder.


    The lead Elder looked at the other Elder for a moment, but ignored him. His gaze locked back onto John, as he inspected him closely. The power John had just disyed waspletely shocking, and was not something the John they knew was capable of.


    John felt this power inspect him more closely, as if trying to see through something. The scansted for quite some time before fading away.


    After a moment of silence, the lead Elder spoke out once more.


    "Exin yourself!"

 Chapter 323 - Execution Decision

    John raised his eyebrows as he heard this line from the Elder.


    ''Did he detect my disguise? No, that''s impossible, the Sect Elder confirmed that no one would be able to see through it. As for my body, I''ve already used my control over it with my Immortal Asura Body to make it look normal, so he shouldn''t be able to detect that either.''


    John remained silent for a moment.


    "Exin myself? Exin what?" John asked.


    "Your power! Exin where it came from," the Elder borated.


    John internally heaved a sigh of relief, but outwardly kept a straight face. Even though the p he had given the other Elder was a simple p, it wasced with many profundities that the lead Elder saw.


    Not only was it incredibly quick, it was also powerful, and without any warning or telltales at all. Before the Elder realized what was happening, it had already struck him. A normal Late Core Formation youth should not be able to do this, and even an early Meridian Forging cultivator shouldn''t be able to either. Just from the p, the Elder was able to tell that John''sbat prowess and instincts were incredible.


    This p infused many of the trainings and teachings John had learned from the Vice-Sect Leader, which was why the Elder had been unable to detect it in time. Now that he was prepared for it, he would be able to defend against it however.


    "As I said before, during the fight with the Heavenly Lightning Sect, I was pushed to the brink of death. While on death''s door, I was able to peer deeper into the martialws of this world and make several incredible breakthroughs" John replied, keeping his exnation as short as possible.


    The shorter the exnation, the less holes there would be in his story.


    The room fell silent at John''s exnation, as they ruminated over whether his words could be true or not.


    "That''s it?" the lead Elder asked another question.


    He wanted to discover if John had discovered something incredible, like a medicinal ingredient which bolstered his power, or an ancient cultivation technique.


    "That''s it," John replied calmly.


    The Elder once again fell into a deep contemtion. It was true that John had only revealed incredible instincts, and nothing else. Since this was the case, what John had said was most likely the truth.


    "Who cares about that. He must die!" the Elder who had been pped spoke up. He was still incredibly angry, and embarrassed, about being pped by a youth much weaker than him, in front of his peers no less.


    "Silence," the lead Eldermanded.


    The angry Elder wanted to rebuke, but decided against it. The lead Elder began to ponder the situation, as a look ofprehension suddenly appeared in his eyes. He looked back to John.


    "I''ve heard some rumors as ofte, about a Bloodfiend Sect youth conquering some powers near the bordends, iming them as his own. I dismissed such news as mere rumor, as none of our powerful disciples have been to that area, or would care to do such a thing. However, maybe they were more than just rumors. Was that youth you?" the Elder asked.


    John raised his eyebrows slightly, surprised that the news had even reached the Elder''s of the sect. However, he had no reason to hide it. He nodded his head in confirmation.


    "That was me. "


    John''s reply was short and to the point. Slight surprise filled the faces of the rest of the Elder''s upon hearing this.


    "Of those powers you conquered, three had early Meridian Forging leaders. How did you achieve such a thing? Did you coax them with promises of riches from the sect?" another Elder chimed up.


    John looked to that Elder and shook his head.


    "No, I just killed them, and took over their cities. I was bored, and those experts all offended me one way or another, so I took their heads and cities as payment," John replied, hiding nothing.


    "Impossible. You dare lie to us again?" the Elder who had been pped raged out. He wanted nothing more than to see John be killed, and so was finding any opportunity to achieve such a thing.


    John''s eyes turned cold as they locked onto the Elder before him.


    "Do you want to find out right now if such a thing is impossible?" John spat out words at the Elder. The Elder''s cultivation was the same as those he had in, and so the threat was quite straightforward.


    John still wasn''t satisfied however, as the Elder was getting on his nerves. He took a step towards the Elder, as if ready to attack at any moment.


    "How did you even be an Elder anyways?" John mocked. "You''re the weakest Elder I''ve ever seen. I should kill you right now to do our glorious Bloodfiend Sect a favor."


    The eyes of all the Elders in the room widened slightly in surprise at John''s brashments, but none of them rebuked him. It was true that the Elder John had pped was incredibly weak, and was only promoted to the rank of Elder due to some connections he had in the sect.


    However, none of the Elder''s treated him with much respect, as they knew he didn''t deserve the position.


    The pped Elder took a step backwards as he looked into John''s eyes. Based on the look John was giving him, he knew his threats were true. There wasn''t a single falsity in his eyes. He had hoped to use this opportunity to get a bit of respect from his fellow Elder''s, but his brash decisions seemed to have only worsened his situation.


    After a moment of hesitation, the Elder harrumphed and strode out of the room, clear that the situation was far out of his control by now. Staying would only serve to further embarrass himself, and so he decided to remove himself from the situation entirely.


    The other Elder''s watched him leave, but made no efforts to stop him. The door mmed hard behind him as he left the room, leaving John and the other nine Elders left in the room.


    Silence filled the room for some time before the lead Elder spoke up once more.


    "I''ve made my decision. You are not to be executed. Leave and return to your lodgings," the Elder instructed.


    Slight surprise washed over John''s face as he heard this. He had been expecting to put a lot more effort into changing their minds, but all it took was a simple p and a little bit of defiance. He nodded his head and left the room, as no matter the reasons, his goal had been aplished.


    The nine Elder''s watched John leave the room, as the proceedings for the Execution Trial had ended.

 Chapter 324 - Martial Stadium

    The other Elders turned to the lead Elder once the door closed.


    "Elder Vryn, what do you have in mind?" one of the Elder''s asked.


    They could tell that Elder Vryn had a reason for letting John go, as normally this trial would end in John''s public execution.


    Elder Vryn remained silent for a moment before addressing the room.


    "Did you not hear the boy? He clearly stated that he ughtered three Meridian Forging experts on his way back from the bordends. There are hundreds of ounts to confirm these events, and so it''s impossible to be fake" the Elder exined.


    Regardless of the reasons, one of their disciples had shown absolutely shockingbat prowess. There had been other such cases in the past where on the brink of death, an incredible breakthrough urred, propelling a cultivator to incredible heights.


    "We have been brooding over what the Sect Leader has instructed all of us Elder''s with. However, perhaps this is the opportunity we were waiting for," Elder Vryn exined.


    "You mean¡­" one of the Elder''s asked, his voice slightly surprised.


    "I do. However, it will be up to Sect Leader Allfiend if he will be a suitable candidate," Elder Vryn replied. "This Execution Trial is now over. For now, all of you better keep what has transpired here a secret, at least until Sect Leader Allfiend makes his decision."


    The Elder''s in the room all nodded their heads, and quickly cleared the room. Elder Vryn remained for a moment longer before leaving the room as well. He took to the sky, and flew through the sect to thergest building in the entire sect, the Bloodfiend Citadel.


    It stood just as tall as the Heavenly Lightning Pce, and was made of ck and grey materials, making it quite foreboding. There were hundreds of guards posted outside, constantly roaming the grounds.


    Elder Vryn walked through the massive open gates, and strode into the Bloodfiend Citadel. The inside was lit by various lightning formations, revealing a mostly lifeless interior. Unlike the Heavenly Lightning Pce, the Bloodfiend Citadel was mostly just for use by the Sect Leader, and was a symbol of his status and power.


    A set of stairs at the back of the main lobby winded up high into the citadel, leading to the top floor thousands of yards above. Upon reaching the top floor, the Elder informed the two Heaven Tribtion guards of his purpose for visiting.


    "Let him enter," a voice boomed through the closed doors.


    The guards bowed their heads, and opened each side of the doors, allowing passage for Elder Vryn. Elder Vryn strode into therge chamber, which was mostly empty save for arge throne at the far end of the chamber.


    The throne was incredibly ornate, lined with gold, jewels, and other furnishings. On the throne sat a middle aged man with long hair that flowed behind his shoulders. His face was sharp, and his hawk-like eyes stared straight at Elder Vryn, sending shivers down his spine. A slender beard flowed down and gathered to a sharp point beneath his chin.


    "Sect Leader Allfiend," Elder Vryn spoke out as he bowed before the throne.


    Sect Leader Allfiend stared down at the Elder beneath him with emotionless eyes.


    "For what reason do you disturb me?" Sect Leader Allfiend spoke out, his deep voice booming within the chamber.


    "Sect Leader Allfiend, I may have found a suitable candidate for you," Elder Vryn replied, head still bowed.


    Allfiend''s eyes narrowed as he heard this.


    "Who?" his voice echoed throughout the chamber, as his eyes seemed to glow with a sinister light.


    ...


    John quickly left the Punishment Hall grounds and returned to his lodgings. His mind still raced over everything that had happened.


    ''I still think I was let off too easily. I had been expecting to put in far more effort to convince them to let me live.''


    John reyed the events over and over, but couldn''t figure anything out from it.


    ''Maybe they realized the value of my talent,'' John couldn''t help but muse with a confident smile.


    Regardless of the reason, he had managed to aplish his first goal of the mission, which was to enter the Bloodfiend Sect and live through the Execution Trial. Now that this goal was aplished, John was able to start on his true mission, which was to uncover what was going on within the Bloodfiend Sect.


    John fell into his bed, exhausted from his recent journey, as well as his Execution Trial. While he had gotten out of it without a scratch, it was still extremely tense and exhausting. He fell deeply asleep, the first time having done so in quite some time.


    ¡­


    Sunlight crept through the windows of John''s house, waking him up early in the morning. John sat up on his bed and stretched deeply, before standing up and walking outside.


    "What should I do today?" John mused, still waking up from his deep sleep.


    Unlike the Heavenly Lightning Sect, there were not set sses and schedules in the Bloodfiend Sect. The disciples were mostly left to themselves, and could earn rewards and money bypleting missions for the sect.


    ''I guess I''ll check out the mission board.''


    John started walking deeper into the sect, towards where the mission hall should be.


    Gong!


    A loud bell sounded out across the sect, alerting all within.


    ''A gong?''


    John had no idea what the gong meant, but quickly saw disciples scurrying towards in a certain direction.


    ''Might as well follow the crowd.''


    John followed the crowd of disciples, who seemed to have been kicked into a furor for whatever was going on. Following the crowd, John eventually arrived in front of an incrediblyrge martial arena.


    The fighting tform itself was nearly a mile wide on each side, and was surrounded by a stadium that stretched hundreds of rows back. Arge crowd of tens of thousands of disciples had already gathered inside. John entered the arena, and found a rtively empty area to sit in the stands, waiting for whatever was happening.


    A loud buzz of heated discussions erupted within the stadium, as an Elder suddenly walked on stage. He addressed the crowd, his voice booming across the stadium.


    "The monthly life and death battles have arrived."

 Chapter 325 - Insanity

    "Monthly¡­" John couldn''t help but mumble out loud.


    He was no stranger to life and death battles, having partaken in one with Hunter. The Heavenly Lightning Sect did allow life and death battles, but they were extremely rare. The previous life and death battle before John''s took ce nearly a year prior, showing just how rare they were.


    However, the Elder on the stage had clearly said monthly, which waspletely shocking to John.


    ''Surely there''s hardly anyone participating...right?'' John mused with a wry smile on his face.


    "All those who wish to participate, please step forward onto the arena," the Elder instructed.


    Instantly, a dozen youths in the crowd stood up and walked onto the stage, once again shocking John greatly.


    ''This many!!!''


    While John did not care if the Bloodfiend Sect ughtered themselves, and actually wanted such a thing to happen, the scene before him was still shocking. The Elder quickly went one by one to each of the youths on the stage, asking them several questions.


    After a brief period of information collecting, the Elder addressed the crowd once more.


    "All the participants have agreed that their grudges can only be solved through death. There will be six fights taking ce. The first fight is between Ancel and Trax. The second fight is between¡­"


    The Elder listed off the pairs of fighters, each of which clearly had great enmity with their opponents. John couldn''t help but stare at this scene with a nk look on his face, as the Elder did nothing to try to ease the tensions between the groups, and instead seemed to look forward to the fight toe.


    The ten other fighters stepped off the fighting tform, leaving only the two youths of the first group, and the Elder. The youths were both first year youths, and both had cultivations at the Middle Core Formation Realm. Each stared at the other with hate filled eyes, a sign of their great enmity.


    "This fight will only end when one, or both of you, dies. Begin"


    Hismencement echoed throughout the entire stadium, which erupted in a thunderous uproar of cheers and excitement. The entire stadium seemed to be whipped up into a wild frenzy of bloodlust, shocking John once again.


    "Kill that fucker Trax. Rip his head off!" an impassioned shout boomed out from next to John.


    "Trax, kill that bastard Ancel. Make him suffer first though!" another shout boomed out, conflicting with that of the first.


    The two who had shouted these lines looked towards each other with fiery eyes, as if they were about to start fighting each other at a moment''s notice.


    Thousands of simr lines echoed throughout the entire stadium, drowning it in a nearly deafening cacophony. John sat there in stunned silence, unsure of how to take in the scene before him. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before.


    However, he had to admit that even he felt himself being wrapped up in the frenzied atmosphere.


    ''Life in the Bloodfiend Sect seems quite brutal, so this must be a rare treat for those not fighting to sit back and enjoy.''


    John''s eyes turned from those in the stadium to the martial arena below.


    Boom!


    The first exchanges between Ancel and Trax collided in mid air, washing the stadium with a loud boom as the Qi attacks exploded.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Dozens and dozens of attacks were exchanged over the next several minutes, as the two youths fought with their lives on the line.


    ''Perhaps its things like this that make the Bloodfiend Sect so fearsome. Their disciples are truly thrown into the pits of death, and only the strong survive. No wonder they were the most fearsome group within the entire wastnds and ancient city,'' John mused as he watched the fight closely.


    Che!


    A sharp, blood red sword light suddenly pierced through Ancel''s shoulder, its speed and power too overwhelming for him to block. Blood spurted out of the wounds, as his arm was nearly severed from his body.


    "Haaaaaa!"


    The crowd erupted in thunderous cheers at the sight of blood. As if further fueled by the thunderous apuse, Trax followed up with several more overwhelming attacks. Crippled from his previous exchange, Ancel fought back with his full might, but was unable to stem the tide.


    Che!


    Trax dashed by Ancel, his sword shing out like a blur. A moment of silence descended over the arena before a thin red line appeared on Ancels neck. His head fell to the ground below, as blood spurted out of his neck. Ancel''s body dropped to the floor, nowpletely lifeless.


    "HAAAAAAAA"


    Both Trax and the crowd erupted into an absolute frenzy at the conclusion of the first battle. The stadium''s frenzied bloodlust only seemed to be ignited further, and several fist fights broke out within the stadium itself.


    Some attendants rushed onto the martial tform and quickly cleaned up the mess of Ancels blood and corpse, before the Elder stepped up onto the stage once more.


    "The next fight willmence. He, Averia, step up onto the arena," the Elder instructed loudly.


    Two girls hopped onto the stage and walked to the middle near the Elder. Both were second year disciples, and had cultivations at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm. They were both fairly attractive, and both had many suitors staring lovingly from the stadium surrounding the martial tform.


    The frenzied cries from the stadium boomed out even louder than the previous fight.


    "He, kill that bitch!" a loud shout washed over John.


    "Fuck you," an impassioned cry echoed out from the other side of John. "Averia will ughter He mercilessly."


    "What did you say?" the one who had shouted first turned his head and yelled out.


    "You heard me. In fact, why don''t I follow in Averia''s footsteps and beat you down right now," the second yelled back.


    "That''s it," the first youth yelled, and sped towards the other. The second youth did the same, and they collided against each other directly in front of John. They began to fight each other with their fists.


    "You''re blocking my view," John spoke out as he suddenly stood up.


    Bang!


    A loud sound boomed out, and both youths cried in pain as a kick from Johnunched them down the stadium towards the lower seats. They crashed into several youths below them, causing those youths to be angered.


    The misunderstanding caused an even bigger fist fight to break out, as now dozens of youths were fighting each other with their fists. Although the fights were not to the death, they were still quite brutal, as noses were broken, and eyes were ckened.


    John sat back down and looked back towards the martial arena, as the fight between the two girls took ce. Both were quite talented, and disyed numerous abilities that John had not seen a Bloodfiend Sect disciple use yet.


    He specialized in a whip, while Averia used two daggers. Their fight was quite impressive, and John watched intently, unknowingly getting caught up in the frenzied atmosphere.


    "Gah!"


    A pained cry erupted from He, as one of Averia''s daggers pierced into her abdomen. He stumbled backwards and tried to stem the bleeding, but Averia utilized a strange movement art, which allowed her to get behind He without her noticing.


    "Die, you bitch! Let''s see you steal my man now!"


    Averia''s hate filled words echoed throughout the stadium, as her other dagger pierced into He''s abdomen once more, shredding her internal organs. He''s eyes widened in pain, and a pained cry once again escaped her lips.


    To add insult to injury, Averia sliced her dagger over the front of He''s robes, cutting them in half. He''s bare body was exposed to the crowd, humiliation now apanying her near death. He''s face turned into one of pure despair, while the crowd erupted into a further frenzy at the sight before them.


    Averia withdrew her daggers and took a step backwards, as she watched the life slowly leave He''s body. Before long, her life fully faded, and Averia spat on her corpse once before turning around and leaving.


    The crowd, still unable to contain their emotions, broke out into thunderous apuse or grief, and dozens of fist fights broke out in the stadium once again.


    The mess was cleaned up, and without missing a stride, the Elder stepped up onto the stage once more and spoke out.


    "The third fight will begin¡­"


    John stared at the scene before him, his face nk, but his internal emotions running wild.


    "This ce is pure insanity!"

 Chapter 326 - Chase

    John was dumbstruck by everything he had seen. He knew the Bloodfiend Sect was a brutal and bloodthirsty ce, but this was still far beyond his expectations.


    ''It''s bing more and more clear why the Bloodfiend Sect disciples are so strong, and why the Elder''s are okay with this. Things like this allow those who win to grow stronger, while it also gets rid of the weaker disciples, and the sect''s obligations to raise them. While the Heavenly Lightning Sect seems to value quantity over quality, the opposite is true here. The Bloodfiend Sect only values the cream of the crop. The rest are expendable resources which allow the most talented disciples to climb.''


    John hated to admit it, but when it came to the cultivation world, the Bloodfiend Sect''s system was definitely superior. The cultivation world valued strength above all, and the Bloodfiend Sect adopted this idea to its fullest extent.


    The next fight started, snapping John out of his thoughts. It was between a boy and a girl, both which were Late Core Formation first years. Loud cheers erupted from the crowd as expected, causing John to swivel his head towards the out of pure curiosity. His gaze swept across the stadium near him, seeking to learn as much about the sect''s culture as possible.


    "Hmm?"


    A curious sight entered John''s vision, catching his attention. A hundred yards away, away from any of the other disciples, a lone youth sat. It was a boy, who sat in istion. He didn''t cheer with the rest of the crowd, and only watched the battles with a stoic expression. In fact, it seemed as if he didn''t enjoy the battles at all.


    The youth had short blonde hair, and a youthful, almost child-like face.


    There was a strange aura around him, so miniscule as to almost be imperceptible. However, the aura caught John''s attention, as it was both familiar andpletely foreign at the same time. Additionally, there was no bloodlust or sinister aura emanating from the boy, unlike everyone else in the stadium.


    The youth had a cultivation at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, slightly higher than John''s. He seemed to be around the same age as John, revealing that the youth was quite talented.


    After a moment of inspection, John stood up and walked over to the youth.


    The youth, as if lost in his own thoughts, didn''t notice John approaching at all. John walked up to the youth and sat beside him, his actions snapping the youth out of his thoughts. The youth warily looked at John, as if his guard was fully raised.


    However, when he saw John make no ill actions towards him, he slightly rxed.


    "What do you want?" the youth asked in an unfriendly tone.


    John was slightly surprised by the hostility, but then quickly remembered he was in the Bloodfiend Sect. Everyone here had their guards up at all times, due to the nature of the sect itself.


    "I''m just here to introduce myself to you, as you stand out quite a lot here. I''m John," John introduced himself with a friendly smile.


    The youth nced sideways towards John, taking a while to respond.


    "Chase," he replied.


    "Well Chase, I came over here because you stand out quite a bit," John replied, keeping his voice friendly.


    His friendly tone slightly surprised Chase, who fully turned his head to look at John.


    "What do you mean by that?" Chase replied, his voice still quite unfriendly.


    "I mean, unlike everyone else here, I sense no taboo cultivation arts emanating from you," John replied.


    If Chase found his way into the Heavenly Lightning Sect, John would not be able to pick him out of a crowd based on his aura. It was almost as if he cultivated a Honorable Alliance cultivation technique.


    "That''s because I don''t cultivate taboo arts," Chase replied.


    John''s eyebrows raised slightly as he heard this. "Such a thing is possible? Howe I''ve never seen anyone else in the sect like you then? Isn''t it a requirement to cultivate the Blood Tyrant Law?" John asked.


    The Blood Tyrant Law was the cultivation technique of the Bloodfiend Sect, and was what all its disciples and Elder''s cultivated. Its also what resulted in each disciple and Elder emanating a sinister aura.


    Chase looked at John with a suspicious light in his eyes, but replied nheless.


    "I practice the Pill Dao, which traverses a different cultivation pathway," Chase replied.


    "Pill Dao?" John replied, slightly surprised. "How does the Blood Tyrant Law interfere with the Pill Dao? There are plenty of Pill Elder''s who practice the Blood Tyrant Law," John replied.


    Chase remained silent for a moment before replying.


    "My case is...different. I am ipatible with such techniques, and so I cultivate something else," Chase replied, keeping the details sparse.


    ''Clearly he has some secrets he''s guarding closely. I don''t know what it is, but I feel as though there''s more to this boy than meets the eye.''


    "Why are you sitting here alone?" John asked, changing the subject. Clearly Chase did not want to talk about it anymore.


    Chase looked at John with an odd expression.


    "Why do you want to know so much about me?" Chase asked suspiciously, his guard clearly raised.


    "Because I find you interesting is all," John replied casually as he shrugged his shoulders.


    Chase stared at John, carefully inspecting him before he sighed.


    "I''m here alone because my...cultivation situation has made me something of an outsider in this sect," Chase replied.


    John sat there in silence as he listened to chase, understanding his situation. Being different, especially in a ce like the Bloodfiend Sect, was clearly a way to be an easy target for other disciples to bully. John could only imagine the types of harassment Chase went through.


    "Haaaaa!"


    A thunderous uproar erupted within the stadium, as yet another match came to its conclusion. Both John and Chase looked down to the martial arena below, which was being cleaned up and prepared for the next fight.


    "What do you think of these fights?" John asked curiously. He had seen Chase watch them, but seemingly in disgust instead of enjoyment.


    "They''re boring," Chase replied, getting straight to the point.


    "Then why are you here? You don''t have to be here, right?" John asked.


    Chase remained silent, and didn''t answer John''s question. John dropped the subject, and looked back towards the arena below. The second tost fight had just begun.


    The two of them watched the fight carry out for a while before John turned to Chase once more.


    "You said you cultivate the Pill Dao, right? What alchemy rank are you?" John asked curiously.


    There were many ranks to the Pill Dao, starting at Pill Pupil, then Pill Adept, Pill Baron, Pill King, Pill Emperor, and so on.


    Alchemy ranks usually went hand in hand with cultivation ranks, as Pill Pupils were Mist Creation cultivators, while Pill Emperors were Heaven Tribtion cultivators. The reason for this was that pills at each rank required not only a certain level of expertise, but also a certain level of Qi in order to make pills at that rank.


    However, being the appropriate cultivation did not guarantee being at that respective Alchemy Rank. There were some Heaven Tribtion pill experts who never became Pill Emperors, no matter how hard they tried. Some were stranded at the Pill King rank or below, their talent too low to push them forward.


    Chase''s eyes lit up as he heard John''s question.


    "Pill King," Chase replied. His tone seemed to lighten and be more friendly once John discussed alchemy.


    "Pill King!" John eximed. "How is that possible? You''re only in the Core Formation Realm, and Pill King is for Meridian Forging Pill experts. Shouldn''t Pill Baron be the highest you can be?" John asked.


    "No," Chase replied. "Alchemy requires two things, alchemy knowledge, and alchemy talent. Talent is determined by how powerful your Qi is, and how well you can use it to create pills. If one''s talent and knowledge is high enough, they can jump alchemy ranks, although its extremely rare" Chase exined.


    He seemed to be a bit excited, like a child talking about their favorite toy, as if talking about alchemy was his favorite thing. John sat there in silence as he listened to Chase prattle on and on about alchemy.


    Although he had only asked one question, Chase began to branch off onto unrted alchemy topics.


    ''He''s quite child-like. I wonder how a person like him became part of the Bloodfiend Sect.''


    John turned his eyes back to the fighting arena below him, while Chase continued to talk about alchemy and the Pill Dao. John did not stop him, as he was learning quite a bit about the Pill Dao from Chase. Not only that, but Chase''s withdrawn and guarded nature vanished, and excitement took its ce, as he talked to John about alchemy.


    John''s opinion of Chase began to rise at the same time, as it seemed his guarded nature was merely a defensive tactic used to stay unnoticed.


    "Do you cultivate the Pill Dao?" Chase asked.


    "No," John replied.


    Chase was slightly saddened upon hearing this, but the answer was to be expected. The Pill Dao was looked down upon within the Bloodfiend Sect, as most cultivation techniques used blood instead. Unlike in the Heavenly Lightning Sect where Pill Experts were vaunted high in status, they enjoyed much lower statuses here.


    Boom!


    Thest fight finally ended, as an incredibly powerful attack obliterated one of the fighters. The crowd cheered loudly at the sight, as the monthly life and death battles finally came to an end.


    The Elder walked back on stage, and addressed the crowd.


    "That concludes this month''s life and death battle-"


    "Wait," a loud shout erupted from the stadium.


    The Elder frowned at having been interrupted, but remained silent as a youth suddenly hopped on stage. He had a cultivation at the Late Core Formation Realm, and all eyes fell on him as he walked towards the Elder.


    John raised his eyebrows as he recognized the youth. He was one of the youths in the group that had greeted him as soon as he entered the sect.


    The youth turned on his heels and suddenly pointed to a spot in the stadiums. The eyes of all fell on that spot, as they looked at the spot at which he was pointing. Two lone youths sat in that area. The youth on the martial arena shouted out loudly for all the stadium to hear.


    "John Harren, I challenge you to a life and death battle!"

 Chapter 327 - First Battle Within The Bloodfiend Sect

    The boy''s challenge was loud and clear, indicating that he wanted a life or death battle with John.


    "What? He wants to challenge that loser? Why even bother?" a Bloodfiend disciple ridiculed.


    "Didn''t you hear? John apparentlynded a sneak attack on his senior brother and injured him, and so he''s trying to get revenge," another chimed up, giving rity to the situation.


    "Such a thing happened? I guess this makes sense then."


    Simr discussions broke out throughout the stadium as all eyes stared at John. Chase, sitting next to John, looked at him with confused eyes.


    "What did you do?" Chase asked, unclear of the situation.


    "Who cares," John replied nonchntly, as if he was uninterested in the whole thing.


    "What? Are you scared? Typical for the Sect''s biggest failure!" the disciple on the stage yelled out in a mocking tone.


    The other disciplesughed in unison at this insult. John''s many failures were known within the sect, and many considered him an omen of bad luck. Many of the people who had gotten close to him had died brutal deaths, and most of the missions he had taken as a disciple ended in miserable failure. As such, most avoided him.


    "What are you going to do? Are you going to fight? Or decline and ept the punishment?," Chase asked.


    "Punishment? There''s a punishment for declining a life and death battle?" John asked, slightly surprised.


    Chase raised his eyebrows, surprised that John did not know this. "How do you not know this?" Chase asked, but shook his head and began to exin.


    "If someone in the same exact realm challenges you to a life and death battle, you have two choices. ept, or decline. If you decline a battle against an opponent at the same or lower realm than you, you are sent to the Sect Dungeons for a month."


    "Sect Dungeons? That doesn''t sound too bad," John replied.


    "What are you talking about?" Chase rebuked. "It''s one of the punishments everyone avoids, as it''spletely hellish and brutal. Some prefer death to spending a month in the dungeons, as death is alsomon in that ce," Chase replied.


    John sat there in silence for a moment. ''It seems I don''t know nearly enough about this sect. My interrogation of that boy didn''t cover everything. I need to find a book or something about this sect and learn more, before my ignorance betrays my false identity.''


    "Well, if that''s the case, there''s only one thing left to do," John replied calmly as he stood up.


    He pressed off the ground, jumping high into the sky. His body plummeted down to the surface below, mming into the fighting tform. A loud boom echoed out from his hardnding, and all eyes widened slightly, surprised to see John ept the fight.


    The disciple on the stage smiled as he saw John ept the fight. He wanted to kill John to avenge his senior brother, and gain favor in his eyes. Although John hadnded an attack on him, it was only a sneak attack. He did not think John''sbat prowess, which was known to be less than average, was something to be afraid of.


    "At least you''ll die with some dignity this way," the boy mocked.


    The Elder looked at the two youths, and looked towards the one who had made the challenge.


    "Next time, dere your challenge at the start," the Elder said in an exasperated tone, as if he was annoyed. His words seemed to already dere the boy the winner of the fight, as if he didn''t consider John a possibility to win at all.


    The boy bowed his head slightly.


    "Apologies. I will, Elder."


    The Elder looked at the two youths for a moment before his voice boomed out loudly.


    "The final life and death battle for this month, between Esker and John, will now begin!"


    His body flickered, leaving only John and Esker left on the stage. The crowd immediately exploded into an uproar, as words of encouragement were yelled to Esker, while words of mockery were thrown at John.


    "Go on Esker, kill that useless bastard!"


    "Hahaha, today is a good day. We finally get to see this bad luck charm of the sect die!"


    "Embarrass him before you kill him! Don''t let him off easy!"


    Thousands of simr shouts erupted out, drawing the stadium in deafening shouts. John stood there with a calm, emotionless face, as he stared at the boy before him. The boy stared back, his smile filled with mockery.


    "Today is the day I do our Sect a favor and remove you from it," the boy mocked. "Come on, lets see you sneak attack me like you did my senior brother!"


    The boy put his arms out to the side, as if weing the attack. However, John could tell that the boy''s guard was raised to his absolute maximum, ready to defend and counter attack at a moment''s notice. Esker stood thirty yards away, plenty of time for him to switch to defense as soon as John made a move.


    He clearly wanted to embarrass John as much as he could before he killed him. John shook his head as he saw this, out of pity for the boys near demise.


    "What? Not going to take this opportunity to sneak attack me? We all know its the only way you can win fights. Soe on, do it already!" the boy shouted out loudly in a mocking voice for all to hear.


    The crowd erupted in a fit ofughter upon hearing this, and threw out simr taunts to John. They wanted to see John attempt such a thing, and fail miserably, before his opponent cut him down viciously.


    "You are all truly a bunch of moronic idiots," John mumbled out loud as he shook his head in a disapproving manner. His eyes locked onto those of Esker''s. "But if this is how you want to die, then I will oblige your final wish."


    John slowly primed his fastest speed, activating his Limiter of Speed, as well as one of the Bloodfiend Sect movement techniques he had learned.


    Esker, as well as the crowd, as if they had heard the funniest joke, began to erupt into a fit ofughter. However, that fit ofughter, from both Esker and the crowd, suddenly ceased.


    The crowd stared in pure shock at the scene before them, which had happened far faster than they couldprehend. Esker, his eyes wide, looked down at his chest. An arm now pierced into it, and John stared at Esker with cold eyes.


    Boom!


    Esker''s body suddenly exploded from within, as a surge of Qi exploded from John''s hand within Esker''s body. Blood, viscera, and bones exploded outwards in all directions, painting the arena for dozens of yards in each direction blood red.


    Using his Qi as a defensive wall, John made sure none of the blood touched him. Esker''s head, the only thing remaining intact, flopped to the ground before John. His wide open eyes, filled with absolute shock and horror, seemed to stare up at John.


    "I''ll be taking this," John murmured out loud as he reached down and collected the head.


    Without missing a beat, John hopped off the arena and walked out of it, leaving the stunned crowd, as well as Elder, behind. Silence was all he heard as he walked away.

 Chapter 328 - Bloodfiend Library

    John left the arena without pause, since as far as he was concerned, he was done with it. The monthly death battles had already concluded. He had managed to aplish one of his initial goals, which was to start to make himself stand out.


    ''I didn''t think I''d get an opportunity this early to make myself known to the Elder''s and sect atrge, but this truly was the perfect opportunity. I didn''t even have to do anything myself really. Not only that, but I got a bit of blood essence as a reward. Today has truly been a good day so far.''


    John walked forward with a satisfied smile on his face. He strode deeper into the sect, intent on exploring it for a while. His discussion with Chase had revealed that he knew too little about the sect, and needed to learn more. If not, someone could potentially expose him for the imposter he was.


    Back in the Arena, silence still nketed the stadium. All of those within, including the Elder''s, were still taking some time toprehend what had just happened. John had moved with such incredible speed that even some of the Elder''s thought they may be slower, and had killed Esker with a single blow.


    It had to be known that all essence cultivators instinctively formed a thinyer of translucent Qi around their bodies at all times. This thinyer of Qi was an incredibly good measure to insure that sneak attacks failed most of the time.


    Sneak attacks achieved their incredible speed and lethality by sacrificing power. In most cases, the thinyer of Qi would be good enough to deflect such attacks, or at least reduce the damage done. However, John had managed to pierce that Qiyer with ease.


    Not only that, but it wasn''t even a weapon that had struck the killing blow, but his own hand. Such a thing was many times harder than killing with a weapon, further shocking the crowd.


    After some time of shocked silence, the first person finally spoke up.


    "What...what the hell just happened?" the boy asked in a confused tone.


    As if acting as the trigger for an avnche, the rest of the stadium immediately erupted into an absolute uproar.


    "Seriously, what the hell just happened?"


    "Was that really John? Isn''t he supposed to be absolutely useless?"


    "How the hell did he do that?"


    "He must have cheated somehow."


    The crowd erupted into thousands of discussions, as everyone within the stadium discussed what they had seen. They had never seen a battle with two opponents in the same realm end so quickly, and the only other people they thought would possibly be capable of such a thing were the Emperors of the sect.


    Chase, still sitting alone in the back of the stadium, sat there in silence for some time as well. He eventually stood up without a word and slipped out of the stadium, leaving the mor of the crowd behind.


    John''s battle, or execution, was quickly spread throughout the sect. There were many prevailing theories of what had urred, ranging from cheating with a powerful artifact, to Esker just having his guard down too much, to John somehow obtaining the talent and power of an Emperor.


    ...


    "That bastard!" an angered roar erupted from within a closed off room.


    Within the room, several disciples gathered around Meridian Forging disciple, who was lying on a bed. The boy''s leg, which had been previously shattered, was now mostly healed.


    "What are you going to do, Jacob?" one of the disciples asked.


    Jacob was the boy John had run into when he entered the sect. As a result of John injuring Jacob, Esker had tried to get revenge for him. Jacob considered Esker to be like a little brother, and so the news of his passing filled him with unbridled rage.


    "I''m going to strip him of all his flesh in front of the entire sect, and make it so that he wished he was never born," Jacob replied angrily through gritted teeth.


    ...


    Unconcerned about the discussions about him, John ventured further into the sect. He passed by hundreds of grand yet foreboding buildings, including a Pill Hall, a Weapon Hall, a Formation Hall and more, but none were what he was looking for.


    His vision nced over the next building in line, and his eyes lit up. The building was a ck pagoda, hundreds of yards tall and two hundred yards wide. ss windows, detailed with ornate designs, covered most of the building''s exterior walls. Above therge, open gate at the base of the pagoda read two words.


    "Bloodfiend Library!"


    ''Perfect, this is what I''ve been looking for.''


    John had been searching for the library, to gather as much information about the sect, taboo cultivation, and anything else he needed to know to keep his identity a secret. John strode into the building, which was incredibly grand.


    The central portion of the pagoda waspletely hollow, which stretched up all the way to the ceiling. A circr staircase at the center of this open space winded up high into the building, all the way to the top. Hundreds of cultivators, most which had their features shrouded by the hoods they wore, walked throughout the library in search of various documents.


    The staircase led to each floor, which existed on the perimeter of the building. Each floor seemed to have thousands upon thousands of books. John''s eyes lit up at the sight of it, as he had always loved to read.


    ''There must be at least a hundred thousand books and scrolls here!''


    Unlike in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, there were no attendants here to assist John. He quickly found arge board set up at the entrance of the Bloodfiend Library, which contained the locations of all the different categories within the library.


    John quickly read through the list, trying to find what he wanted. His eyebrows raised as he read some of the topics.


    ''Necromancy, Blood Formations, Dual Cultivation, Soul Binding Arts, Demon Summoning''s, Poison Arts...what a list.''


    John shook his head and continued to read, as none of these topics truly interested him. His eyes finally found what he was looking for.


    ''Sect Rules and Laws. Floor 2, section 1. Perfect.''


    He quickly moved to the listed section, and found nearly a hundred books in the area.


    ''So many! I don''t have time to read all of these.''


    John walked towards the shelves which contained all the books, and nced at each of them. Most covered incredibly obscure and niche topics, and were of no interest to him. His eyes finally lit up upon reading one of the book''s covers.


    ''General Overview of Important Sect Law''s and Traditions. Perfect.''


    John took the book and found a ce to sit down. There were several tables and seats near one of the windows, which John sat at. The window overlooked the street below, which was bustling with activity.


    John sat there for the next eight hours, reading away at the book. The book covered many topics rting to the important sect rules and traditions, without going into too much detail. After eight hours, John closed the book and leaned back in his chair. A satisfied smile hung on his face.


    ''Now I should know most of the important things I need to know about the sect. My identity should be safe for now, as I doubt most of the disciples know this much information about this sect.''


    Growl!


    John''s stomach growled, snapping him out of his thoughts.


    ''I suppose it had been quite some time since Ist ate. Let''s see if I can find a ce to eat around here.''


    John put the book back and quickly left the library. After walking down the street for a few more minutes, therge, grand buildings gave way to a smaller market, of which many of the stalls were selling food. The market had quite a lively atmosphere, and seemed to contain more merchants than disciples and Elder''s of the sect.


    John quickly ordered a meal, and scarfed it down, which was a bowl of noodles, with a blood sausage on the side.


    ''Not bad. At least this ce knows how to make some good food. Guess I''ll head back to my abode for now.''


    Halfway back to his home, he hopped onto a small trail that entered a wooded area. The trail he was on was rather unupied, and was just a foot trail which cut through one of the small forests in the sect. It was the fastest route back to his house, and so John had taken it.


    While on the trail, he heard amotioning from within the woods to his left, piquing his interest.


    ''Hmmm, what''s going on?''


    Deciding to remain stealthy, John concealed his aura to the best of his abilities, almostpletely eliminating his aura, which made him almost undetectable. He snuck through the nearby foliage, at which point the forest turned into a field, and the source of themotion came into view. His eyes lit up, then, quickly narrowed, at the sight before him.


    In the far distance, nearly five hundred yards away, hundreds of captives or ves, each bound in chains, were being escorted through the sect. The captives were all mortals, and each looked as miserable as the next.


    The sound of a whip cracking echoed out, along with pained cries and loud shouts.


    "Get moving, or you''ll get anothershing!"


    The ves were following several Elder''s, who walked to a nearby base of a towering cliff. The smooth cliff spanned up hundreds of yards high into the sky, at which point a sloped mountain took over.


    The leading Elder uttered some words, although John was not sure what was said, and suddenly, red formation lines lit up on the base of the cliff. The lines quickly spread, until arge outline of a door came into view. The cliff walls suddenly parted open, revealing a glowing interior within.


    ''What''s going on?''


    He could not see what was inside the mysterious chamber, but the chamber flickered from within with bright light, as if roaring mes existed inside. The incredibly faint sound of screams echoed out from within, causing many of the ves to shudder and attempt to retreat. However, the Elder''s did not allow such a thing to happen, and the ves were quickly led inside the mysterious chamber. As thest Elder entered the mysterious opening, the cliffside doors began to close, and quickly reverted to its previous state.


    The base of the cliff, which was moments ago the entrance to some mysterious area, quickly returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.


    ''What the hell was that?''

 Chapter 329 - First Clue

    The words Sect Leader Thunderzen said to John echoed in his mind as he looked at the base of the cliff. The spies for the Heavenly Lightning Sect had indicated that the Bloodfiend Sect was up to something, and Thunderzen''s intuition made him believe it was nothing good for the Yuan Continent.


    John''s face became serious as he thought of these words, and looked at the scene before him.


    ''I''m not sure if what I just witnessed is in rtion to these ''movements'' Sect Leader Thunderzen mentioned, but I wouldn''t be surprised if they were. I need to investigate further.''


    His entire purpose for being in the Bloodfiend Sect was to figure out what the sect was up to, and potentially help put a stop to whatever ns the Sect was hoping to carry out.


    John''s head swiveled in every direction, inspecting to see if the coast was clear. After many minutes of careful inspection, he started to move forward slowly, making sure to stay low to the ground.


    The cliff base was several hundred yards away, mostly through open terrain. Only the cover of dark masked his advance, although cultivators had good eyes, and could easily see in the darkness of night. His aura was withdrawn as much as was possible, making him as unnoticeable as possible.


    After many minutes of careful advance, he reached a small boulder, roughly thirty yards away from the spot where the cliffside had opened into a doorway. He pressed his body against the small boulder as he peered over it, towards the cliff base.


    ''I don''t see anything at all. It appears to be just like the rest of the cliff. Whatever formation is here, it''s quite advanced.''


    Normally there were signs of formations, be it formation lines, or faint energy emanating from it. However, John was unable to detect anything at all. Clearly, the Bloodfiend Sect had gone all out when making this formation.


    John''s divine sense carefully washed over the area of interest, inspecting it as closely as he could. However, he still found nothing of interest.


    ''How bizarre. I should take a closer look.''


    John took a step towards the wall, when a muffled boom echoed out.


    ''Shit!''


    John instantly dashed back behind the boulder, as the cliff began to part once more, revealing the doorway that had appeared before. John, as slow as he possibly could, peered his head just over the boulder, looking towards the doorway.


    Light began to flicker out of the doorway as it continued to part, and John could finally see a bit of it with his new position. The doorway led to arge stairwell, which seemed to stretch down for an unknown amount of distance into the earth below.


    Fire seemed to glow from deep within, which bathed the stairwell in flickering light. The screams which John had heard before now echoed out slightly louder, sending a chill up his spine. The screams were those of pure pain, despair, and desperation.


    Those cries were soon drowned out by a discussion between two Elder''s who were leaving the stairwell.


    "That''s another two hundred and fifty three mortals. Just how many are needed for this thing to work?" one of the Elder''s asked in a displeased voice.


    "I''m not sure. You''ll have to ask Formations Master Yarron about the details, but I believe we are about halfway there by now," the other Elder replied.


    "Half way? Just what the hell is Allfiend nning?" the first Elder grumbled out loud.


    Behind the boulder, John remained as motionless as possible while he listened to the conversation. His ears perked up as he heard more and more of the conversation.


    ''Seems like Allfiend is nning something down there. This truly might be what I''m after. How lucky am I to stumble across it already?''


    John''s mood was lifted quite a bit. Although he didn''t know what was going on, he at least knew where to start.


    "I''m not sure, but I''m sure he had a reason for us running around collecting mortals like this. You know, I heard this isn''t the only big thing he''s been working on. Apparently there''s another group working on something even more profound," the second Elder said.


    "Another project? I just wished Allfiend would let us know what was going on, instead of being kept in the dark," the first Elder grumbled.


    "Haha," the second Elderughed while patting the other on the back. "Just ascend to the Heaven Tribtion Realm,? then all the secrets will be divulged to you," the second Elder said with aughing tone


    "Hmph, easier said than done."


    By this time, the two Elder''s had left the doorway, which had automatically parted shut. The two of them walked deep into the darkness of the night, eventually disappearing out of sight. John was just about to walk away, when a sound down the road caught his attention. He hid back behind the boulder.


    "How the hell did you forget your spatial ring?" a voice boomed out mockingly.


    "I''m not used to taking it off. I still don''t know why they force us to remove our rings before we enter the chambers. Do they think we''re stupid enough to steal anything down there?" the first Elder grumbled out, clearly in a foul mood.


    "Just grab your ring and let''s go," the second Elder said.


    The two approached the cliffside, which had returned to normal. The first Elder pressed his hand up against a certain spot on the wall, and uttered a phrase.


    "All blood belongs to the Bloodfiend!"


    Boom!


    A muffled sound echoed from within the cliff, as the formation lines lit up. The door slowly began to part, and the two Elder''s quickly slipped into the doorway, disappearing down the stairwell within the earth.


    As they disappeared, John''s head peeked out from behind the boulder. His face was quite serious, as he learned that he was only just beginning with his mission.


    ''Two projects? Seems like my time here will be busier than I thought. However, I have already made some good gains regarding intel gathering. Time to leave.''


    Deciding staying any longer was too risky, John slipped back into the darkness of the night. The first clue regarding his mission had been uncovered.

 Chapter 330 - Elder Praxx

    Sunlight filtered through the window shades in the early morning, waking John up. He stretched his body for a moment before standing up.


    ''What a day yesterday. First the monthly life and death duels, and then discovering that mysterious ce. I wonder if today will be as eventful.''


    John put on a clean blood red robe, and quickly inspected his soul soon after. He inspected it for some time before sighing in relief.


    ''Good, it seems as though the mask truly only siphons my soul when I change my appearance, not when I use one appearance for a prolonged time.''


    He had been worried that the mask would siphon his soul after prolonged use, as such a thing would be far too steep a price to pay for this mission. If the mask had truly had negative effects on prolonged use, he would most likely call the mission off and return home.


    ''It''s too bad though. Changing appearance often would be beneficial for infiltration, but I assume I can only change my appearance once or twice more before the damaging soul affects be too much to heal.''


    After cleaning up, John prepared to step outside, but his footsteps paused as he looked at the door. A momentter, the door flew open, revealing a person standing there. The bright morning sunlight cascading from behind the man obscured his features, and the man had no cultivation.


    John frowned as he saw this, as he didn''t know who this man was.


    "Are you John Harren?" the man asked.


    "I am, who are you?" John replied, his guard still raised. It was quite rare to see someone without a cultivation, and there were only two exnations. Either the man was wearing a cultivation obscuring artifact, or he was above the Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    The man suddenly stepped into John''s house, his features now revealed. He was an older man, appearing to be in his sixties. He had a clean shaven face, but quite a mean looking face. He wore a perpetual scowl on his face, and his nose was pointed and sharp. He wore blood red robes with two wide bands on his arms, signifying his status as an Elder of the Sect.


    "I am Elder Praxx," the man replied to John''s question as he looked around the small room. His gaze found nothing of interest, and his attention quickly focused back on John.


    John felt an incredibly powerful divine sense wash over him, inspecting him closely. John was not sure whether this divine sense belonged to a Heaven Tribtion Elder or higher, but it didn''t matter to him at the moment.


    He wasn''t worried about the Elder finding out about his secret identity, as none of the previous Elder''s had been able to. The divine sense scanned John''s body closely for some time, making him frown as he shifted his weight.


    It was quite rude to scan someone like this, especially for so long. However, John could say nothing, as the Elder was much stronger, and also had much higher status within the sect. A momentter, the divine sense scan disappeared, and a slight look of approval appeared on the man''s previously scowling face.


    "Not bad. I can somewhat understand why you were able to win your duel so quickly," Elder Praxx said to John.


    "Thank you for your praise, Elder Praxx," John replied. "Is there something I can help you with?"


    John was unsure of the reason for this Elder''s visit, and wanted to get to the bottom of it.


    ''I hope I wasn''t spotted by the mysterious tunnelst night. I don''t really want to exin my way out of that one.''


    Elder Praxx walked deeper into the room past John and looked around. He inspected the bookshelf, which contained only low level battle arts and cultivation techniques, before turning around to face John once more.


    "Before today, I have never heard of you. Now I hear you''re the talk of the sect, disying battle prowess far beyond what you were capable of just mere months ago. Exin to me how such a thing is possible?" Elder Praxx asked John in a questioning tone.


    John frowned as he heard the Elder''s questioning tone, but remained calm.


    "I already exined it to the Punishment Hall Elders," John replied.


    "I am not part of the Punishment Hall, nor did I hear anything about that. So, I''ll ask for thest time. How did you increase your battle prowess this quickly?" Elder Praxx replied with a voice of displeasure.


    John was slightly surprised to hear that the Punishment Hall had kept this information a secret, as it really wasn''t a big deal. However, he had to stick to the story he had given them, and so told Elder Praxx the same thing.


    "As I told the Punishment Hall Elder''s, my battle in the bordends with the Heavenly Lightning Sect pushes me to the edge of life and death. On that precipice, where my life was hanging by a thread, I had some insights, and managed to peer deeper into the martialws of this world. Those insights greatly increased mybat prowess, and allowed me to get out of that situation alive," John replied.


    Elder Praxx remained silent and listened closely while John revealed what had happened, as if he was looking for a hole in John''s story.


    "What insights did you have?" Elder Praxx asked.


    John was slightly caught off guard by this question, as such things were normally cultivation secrets that others did not dare to ask. However, as an Elder of the sect talking to a disciple, such a thing was not unheard of.


    However, John had already prepared his answer beforehand if someone asked such a question.


    "I managed to gain insights into several heavenly Dao''s. More specifically, the Dao''s of Annihtion, Destruction, and Power. Not only did my insights increase my battle prowess, but also solidified and strengthened my cultivation," John replied.


    He had not yet revealed these Dao''s with his true identity to anyone other than the Vice Sect Leader, the Sect Leader, and Miko. As such, no one would be able to put two and two together about John''s real identity.


    Elder Praxx raised his eyebrows in slight surprise at John''s exnation.


    "Three Dao''s at once? That''s quite impressive. Many cultivators struggle their entire lives to peer into a single Dao. Show me!"


    "What?" John asked. "You want me to show you myprehension?"


    "Yes," Elder Praxx replied with a stern voice, leaving no room for discussion.


    John frowned once again at this, but did asmanded. He raised his hand, and focused his mind. Soon after, three unique forces began to emanate from his hand. They each contained impressive power, and Elder Praxx could clearly feel them.


    "The Dao of Destruction, which focuses on the inanimate, which when yielded to its full might can destroy continents and empty oceans.


    The Dao of Annihtion, which focuses on life, and the annihtion thereof.


    The Dao of Power, which as its name indicates, focuses only on power. It is the perfect Dao to interlink and amplify the Dao of Annihtion and Dao of Destruction, forming a perfect trinity of strength and might."


    Elder Praxx stared at John''s hand as he mumbled out these words. His words struck John''s mind like a hammer, infusing new perspectives and insights regarding the dao''s he controlled. John fell into a trance as he ruminated over these words, and Elder Praxx remained silent as he noticed this.


    A whileter, John finally snapped out of his trance. His eyes focused back on the Elder before him, and he bowed slightly in thanks.


    "Thank you Elder, for your words of insight."


    Regardless of whether the Elder was an enemy or not, his words had truly helped. John felt hisprehensions for all three Dao''s increase, which would increase hisbat prowess even further.


    Elder Praxx nodded his head slightly in approval at John''s disy of gratitude.


    "I was skeptical when I heard of your sudden rise, but I am now convinced. I will allow you the opportunity to be my Direct Disciple."


    John raised his head as he looked at the Elder. "Opportunity?"


    "Yes. The bi-annual disciple battles will begin next week. You will participate in it," Elder Praxx exined.


    ''Bi-annual disciple battles? I read about this yesterday. It''s quite simr to the battles that take ce every six months within the Heavenly Lightning Sect, where disciples can challenge each other to rise through the ranks.''


    "I just have to participate in it?" John asked.


    "Of course that''s not all. You will challenge one of the Three Emperor''s, and im your status as one of them," Elder Praxx exined. "Only if you defeat one, can you be my Direct Disciple. If you can''t even aplish such a thing, then you are unworthy of such a title."


    John remained silent as he thought over the Elder''s proposal.


    ''Three Emperors? Seems like Damon and the Sword Emperor have already been reced. But...this is actually perfect. This Elder seems like he''s quite strong, so I''m sure he knows a bit about what''s going on within the sect. Hopefully this will allow me to gather more intel in the future.''


    "It will be done," John replied with a confident voice.


    Elder Praxx smiled slightly, momentarily erasing the permanent scowl on his face.


    "Good. If you manage to seed, perhaps you can rise above the level of my previous useless disciple, Damon. Do not disappoint me."


    Elder Praxx walked past John and out of his house, leaving him alone once more. John''s thoughts raced as he heard the Elder''sst line.


    ''He was Damon''s master?''

 Chapter 331 - Weapon Hall

    John stood there for a moment before shaking his head in pity for the Elder.


    ''Poor bastard. I killed his disciple, and now he wants me to rece that dead disciple. This guy really has the worst luck.''


    While John did feel a bit of pity for the Elder, he wasn''t going to decline this opportunity. The Elder had raised Damon, who ended up killing Russell, so with this in mind, John didn''t want to give Elder Praxx any mercy.


    John put such thoughts aside and strode out of his small house. The morning sun illuminated the sect with bright light, making the normally ominous looking sect look quite normal at the moment.


    ''What should I do today? Elder Praxx said the cement battles are next week, so I have a week to kill before I can be his disciple. I guess I''ll explore the sect a bit more, maybe buy a weapon and some pills if any are worth buying.''


    While he had the scythe he obtained from his assumed identity, the scythe was of average quality. One of his reasons foring to the sect was to obtain a scythe of good quality, which couldst him through the Meridian Forging Realm.


    With this in mind, John began to meander through the sect, perusing all it had to offer.


    ''Those two Eldersst night mentioned another project the sect was carrying out. I still need to uncover clues about that as well, so exploring the sect further may aid with that mission.''


    The Bloodfiend Sect was incredibly vast, and exploring it all by foot would take days at the very least. Unfortunately, flying was prohibited within the sect unless one was an Elder, and so John had to walk wherever he went.


    After an hour of walking, he arrived before arge, metallic building. The building was made of some sort of ck metal, and had various sharp protrusions jutting from it. It was five stories tall, and hundreds of yards wide and long.


    A ck metallic gate, which was raised open at the moment, protected the front entrance. A steady stream of cultivators, ranging from Mist Creation to Meridian Forging streamed into the building.


    John also noticed several Elders who entered the building, who disyed no cultivation at all, a sight he found quite peculiar.


    ''That''s the tenth Elder I''ve seen that''s disying no cultivation. There''s no way they''re all above the Heaven Tribtion Realm, or Sect Leader Thunderzen would have mentioned such a thing. Are they all using cultivation obscuring artifacts?''


    ording to what John knew, the Heavenly Lightning Sect and Bloodfiend Sect were rtively on par strength wise, except for Thunderzen who was far above any other power in thend. While he was sure there were others, the only Elders of the sect that he had met that were above the Heaven Tribtion Realm were the Sect Leader and Vice-Sect Leader.


    ''Even within my sect, Elder''s above the Heaven Tribtion Realm are very rare. These Edler''s must be using artifacts to hide their cultivation, but the Vice-Sect Leader said those artifacts are quite expensive. I wonder why they''re all doing this?''


    John mused on the bizarre situation for a moment before throwing away such thoughts. The reasons were not that important to him right now. John followed the stream of cultivators into the building, and arrived at the main lobby.


    While the Library did not have attendants, the weapons hall did. There was money to be made here, and the sect would do everything in its power to collect that money, and ensure nothing was stolen.


    John approached one of the attendants, who was just finishing a chat with another disciple. It was a man who appeared to be in his mid thirties, who had a thin mustache on his face. His eyes locked onto John as he noticed him approaching.


    "What weapon do you desire?" the man asked.


    His tone was not as friendly as John was used to from an attendant, but he expected such things. The Bloodfiend Sect was not a ce of cheer and weing.


    "Scythes. Meridian Forging Scythes," John replied, getting straight to what he wanted.


    "Meridian Forging Scythes?" the man replied in a questioning tone while he inspected John up and down.


    Meridian Forging weapons were quite expensive, and were not something most Core Formation Disciples could afford. John rolled his eyes at the situation, as he had encountered this before. There was only one way to get through to these kinds of people.


    A spatial ring appeared in John''s hand, which he flicked over to the man. The man caught the ring, and quickly inspected it. His eyes lit up, and he quickly put away the ring as he looked back towards John, this time with a lot more respect.


    "I will personally guide you to the area. Follow me," the man said.


    John nodded his head and followed behind the man. The attendant led him up the stairs to the fourth floor, which was guarded by two Meridian Forging Guards. The guards moved to halt the neers, but stopped when they saw the attendant leading the way.


    John followed the attendant past the guards, and onto the fourth floor. An expansive room, hundreds of yards wide and long, came into his view. There were hundreds of individual pedestals, each holding a singr weapon.


    Clearly, weapons of this quality were highly valued, and each was given the respect it deserved. John''s eyes swept across the room, and quickly lit up as he spotted what he was here for.


    ''Scythes, and nearly fifty of them! This ce truly is a scythe paradise!''


    The attendant noticed John''s eyes light up, but only smiled as he walked towards the weapons. John followed closely behind, and they quickly arrived by the scythes. The scythes ranged in shapes, materials, and colors, giving each a unique look.


    John began to closely inspect the scythes, as the attendant exined the unique aspects of each one he was looking at. Each scythe radiated quite an impressive aura, and John could clearly tell that they were far above his current scythe in quality and power.


    There were several that caught his eye, but he didn''t want to settle until he had inspected them all. After inspecting thirty scythes, John arrived in front of another, which was pitch ck in color. It radiated an incredibly fearsome and unique aura, and he could quickly tell that it was the most impressive one so far.


    The attendant noticed John''s gaze of desire.


    "Ah, you have a good eye. That''s the Scythe of Anguish, named so by its creator as it instills anguish in the hearts of all who see it," the attendant exined.


    John looked at the scythe with desire, as he set his heart on having it. "This is the scythe I want."


    "Unfortunately, its not up to me to decide if you can wield this wea-" The attendants voice cut off as John reached out and picked up the weapon.


    A strange. sharp energy immediately entered his body, fighting against him with all its might.

 Chapter 332 - I’ll Take It

    "What the hell?" John blurted out as the strange energy invaded his body.


    It had entered from his palm, and it clearly came from the scythe itself. A shrill cry pierced into John''s mind, and the weapon attempted to break free from his grip. John grit his teeth as he struggled against this energy.


    His mind focused on bringing the energy under his control, while his soul ignored the piercing pain from the shrill cries.


    ''Let go! You are not worthy! Let go!''


    These words seemed to echo within his mind like war drums, and attempted to overwhelm his will and force him to obey. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before, as if the energy had its own will and soul.


    However, this was not John''s first experience with dealing with rampaging energy within his body, and so he knew exactly what he had to do.


    ''Hmph, I''ve conquered energies far more powerful and frightening than you. You will OBEY!''


    His essence Qi and soul power suddenly red with great power within his own body, mming against the mysterious energy. At the same time, his tremendous will power resisted the shrill cries in his mind. His willpower red out so powerfully that it overwhelmed the shrill cries, to the point where it felt like it was the one being overwhelmed.


    The mysterious energy continued to be rapidly subdued by John''s own power, until it was nothing more than a flickering candle in the wind. With a single burst of power, John knew he was able to snuff this energy out for good.


    Another shrill cry echoed within his mind, but this time it was much more meek, as if it had lost all its power. The weapon stopped shaking in his hand, and becamepletely still. The resistance he felt from the weapon disappeared, and his affinity towards it suddenly seemed to increase by leaps and bounds.


    John had never heard of such a thing, and looked towards the attendant with a slight look of confusion on his face.


    "What just happened?" John asked.


    The attendant looked back at him with a dumbfounded look on his face, as if he had seen the most unbelievable thing. After a few seconds of stunned stupor, the attendant snapped out of it, and cleared his throat.


    He looked down at the scythe in John''s hands, and reached out after a moment to touch the handle.


    "Ouch!" the man yammered out as he quickly recoiled his hand.


    After shaking his hands a few times, he looked at John with an even more astonished expression.


    "You don''t know what you just did?" the man asked, replying to John''s question.


    "Nope. What was the strange energy that just invaded my body?" John asked.


    The man took a moment to recover himself, before he answered John''s question.


    "That energy...was the energy of an artifact spirit...or a pseudo-artifact spirit, to be more precise," the attendant replied.


    "Artifact spirit!" John eximed.


    He had heard of artifact spirits before, but it was usually rted to incredibly profound and ancient items. He had run into the artifact spirit within the Elysian Lightning World trial, but that was the only artifact spirit he hade across. He also thought of the strange beast within the ancient temple trials, but didn''t know if the beast constituted a normal spirit, or an artifact spirit.


    "A pseudo-artifact spirit," the man once again rified. "However, it''s almost unheard of for a Core Formation cultivator to be able to subdue one. Over a hundredMeridian Forging experts have tried their hand at subduing this weapon, to no avail."


    John looked back towards the scythe in his hand as he listened to the man''s exnation.


    ''So it was an artifact spirit. No wonder it felt like it had a will of its own.''


    "Howe I''ve never heard of artifact spirit''s being ced in weapons before?" John asked as he looked back towards the man.


    "Artifact spirits are almost exclusively reserved for Heaven Tribtion grade weapons and above," the man exined. "Artifact spirits require heavenly energy to be created, and only Heaven Tribtion grade weapons and above are capable of containing such energy."


    John cocked his head to the side as he heard this. "Why''s that? Couldn''t you just make a Meridian Forging grade weapon with incredibly rare materials and house an artifact spirit?"


    The man chuckled slightly as he heard this, as clearly John was not well versed in weapon creation and artifact spirits.


    "A Heaven Tribtion grade weapon is not only so due to its rare materials used, but also the fact that the weapon itself transcends a heavenly tribtion itself," the man exined.


    "What? Weapons have tribtions as well?" John replied, shocked by the man''s response. He had never heard of such a thing.


    "Indeed," the man replied. "If a weapon, formation, or any item nears the level that the heaven''s deem worthy of note, they go through a tribtion as well. Items deemed worthy are imbued with heavenly energy, transforming them to new heights, while items that do not transcend are destroyed," the man exined.


    John stood there in silence as he listened to the man''s exnation. He was learning quite valuable information regarding weapon creation.


    "Only after ascending their own tribtion do weapons be capable of housing artifact spirits. The only exception are pseudo-artifact spirits, which are not truly one hundred percent sentient. These types of spirits can be infused into Meridian Forging grade weapons, but only the ones made of the absolute highest grade materials," the man exined.


    He pointed to the scythe in John''s hands. "That scythe you''re holding is made from Onyxite Ore, which is profound enough to make Heaven Tribtion grade weapons. However, the creator of this weapon kept it below the level of a Heaven Tribtion grade weapon, and thus infused a pseudo-artifact spirit into it," the man continued his exnation.


    John nced at the weapon in his hands as he inspected it closely. It was as if his mind was linked with the weapon itself, making it much more natural to wield. Not only that, but he could tell his Qi flow through the weapon was much smoother than any other weapon he had wielded, which would allow for faster and stronger attacks.


    A smile formed on his face as he held the weapon firmly in his hand. While the material itself was not as profound as his battle axe, the artifact spirit would make up for that difference and raise its power to the same level.


    He nced at the price tag located at the top of the pedestal housing the weapon, which read eight hundred thousand spirit crystals, before ncing back at the man with a content look on his face.


    "I''ll take it."

 Chapter 333 - Cultivation Shrouding

    The man smiled as he heard John say this. He didn''t expect him not to want the weapon after subduing it, but he was unsure if John truly had the money to pay for it.


    "Excellent," the man replied.


    John threw him a spatial ring, which contained eight hundred thousand spirit crystals. Although it was a hefty sum for a weapon, it was well worth it. The weapon wouldst him all the way through the Meridian Forging Realm, and would even be useful in the Heaven Tribtion Realm as well.


    With the money he had fleeced from Thunderpill, as well as the money he had found in the spirit crystal cave, John had over ten million spirit crystals to his name, and so money was not a huge concern of his.


    The man happily caught the ring and inspected its contents, before putting it away. His smile grewrger as he looked at John.


    "Are there any other weapons you''re interested in?" the man asked.


    "No, that''s it for now," John replied.


    He had aplished what he came here for. The man frowned as he heard this, but quickly put his smile back on his face.


    "Surely you must have your eye on something else? A dagger perhaps? Or a Bow? A strong looking boy like you must have a fancy for a powerful weapon, like an axe or a greatsword," the man replied as he stepped in front of John.


    John shook his head and walked around the man. "Thanks but no thanks. I''ll be heading off now."


    The man frowned but said didn''t argue back. He had identified John as being quite rich, and was hoping to make more money off of him. However, John had shot him downpletely.


    "Oh, there is one thing," John suddenly said as he turned around. The man''s face lit up, but quickly soured as he heard John''s question.


    "Do you happen to know why the Elder''s of our sect wear cultivation shrouding artifacts?" John asked.


    "I do not," the man''s response was quick, but John could tell that he was not lying.


    "In that case, I will be off then," John replied as he turned around once more.


    John shook his head as he walked down the stairs and strode out of the building.


    ''I had quite a good impression of that man, but I suppose I am in the Bloodfiend Sect after all.''


    As he walked, nearby disciples warily looked at him, as if he were a leper.


    John ignored the nces, as he knew the disciples were just wary of him. The killing prowess he had disyed had been incredibly shocking, and many of the disciples ncing at him warily had bullied ''John'' in the past. As such, they stayed far away and kept their guards up.


    The sun hung directly above in the sky, when John stumbled upon a food market. His stomach growled in protest for a good meal.


    He entered the food market and perused the various stalls, before choosing one of them and ordering a meal. After getting the meal, John looked for a ce to sit and eat, when he stumbled upon a familiar face already eating.


    "Chase," John called out in greeting as he noticed Chase eating a meal alone at a table.


    Chase nced up from his meal at the sound of his name, but his guard was rxed as he saw who it was. John sat down beside him at the table, deciding to eat his meal with new only acquaintance in the sect.


    "John,'' Chase greeted with a headnod as John sat down.


    John sat down and took a bite of his food, which was still steaming hot. After finishing his bite, John looked towards Chase once again, who sat there in awkward silence.


    "How''s your day been so far?" John asked, breaking the silence.


    "Alright," Chase replied with a single word.


    "Do anything fun today?" John asked another question before taking another bite of food.


    "Not really," Chase replied before going back to his food.


    John smiled wryly as he shook his head at Chase''s antics.


    ''Clearly this boy is quite awkward, or really hates small talk.''


    An idea popped into John''s mind, and he took another bite of food before speaking out once more.


    "How are your alchemy studies going?" John asked.


    As if roused from a deep sleep, Chase looked straight at John, his face full of excitement.


    "Great! I just started learning about Heaven Tribtion Grade medicinal pills, which I should be able to start making once I reach the Meridian Forging Realm. Also, I just made a batch of Thousand Poison Nullification Pills this morning, which were quite exhausting to make. Then I¡­"


    Chase began to babble non-stop about his Pill Arts, causing John to shake his head slightly.


    ''He truly is a pill fanatic.''


    John sat there in silence as he ate his food and listened to Chase prattle on about pills. The one sided discussion ranged from pills crafting, to ingredient theory, to things John had no idea what they were. However, he remained silent as he listened to Chase talk, as he had nothing better to do while eating his food.


    He also gained some useful information about the Pill Dao here and there, making the one sided discussion at least slightly beneficial for himself. After talking for nearly half an hour straight, Chase finally realized what he had been doing and became silent.


    "Sorry, I prattled on about the Pill Dao again," Chase apologized.


    "Don''t worry about it," John replied. "I learned some useful things from it."


    John had long since finished his food, and was about to stand up and part ways with Chase, when a question that had been burning in his mind came forward once more. He had asked the man in the weapons hall, as well as a few other people afterwards while walking through the sect, but none of them had the answer.


    "Chase, do you know why the Elder''s of this sect wear cultivation shrouding artifacts? I''ve inquired quite a bit about it, but couldn''t find the answer," John asked.


    His studies in the Bloodfiend Library mentioned nothing of the matter, and so he knew it was not a well known or widely discussed topic.


    Chase raised his eyebrows at John''s question, as it was quite unexpected.


    "It''s not surprising you don''t know the answer, as all the Elder''s keep their reasons a secret. But I do happen to know the reason," Chase replied.


    "Oh? What''s the reason?" John asked.


    "Much like the disciples of the sect, the Elders of the sect are constantly fighting against each other for top positions within the sect. These battles can be ones of subterfuge, or literal battles, but all are conducted with the intention of raising their own status. As such, those who can afford to, shroud their cultivation. If other Elder''s within the sect do not know their true cultivation, they are much less likely to challenge them," Chase exined. "Think of it as a self-preservation mechanic."


    "So that''s why!" John replied as he listened to Chase''s exnation.


    He did not know that the Elder''s were also constantly battling for higher positions like the disciples, but such a thing would be a very good reason to hide one''s true strength.


    "Where do they get all the cultivation shrouding artifacts though?" John asked. "I thought they''re quite rare and expensive."


    "They are," Chase replied. "However, due to the high demand within our Sect, there is a dedicated artifact crafting hall, the Artificer Hall, which specializes in creating such things. However, even with the dedicated hall, they are still quite expensive," Chase exined.


    "Oh, that makes sense," John replied absentmindedly.


    He was already thinking of how to put this information to good use regarding his true mission within the sect.

 Chapter 334 - Artificer Hall

    After hearing this information from Chase, John''s mind drifted back towards his mission.


    ''My biggest hurdle for sneaking through the sect was my cultivation, which clearly identifies me as a disciple. However, if I could get my hands on one of those artifacts, I would be able to assume the status of an Elder. I can only do so about twice before the burden on my soul from the mask bes too great, but that should be more than enough.''


    He had thought about all sorts of ideas regarding the mysterious area he found, as well as how to get inside unnoticed. However, none of his ideas had a good chance of working out, and would only serve in his capture and the ending of his mission prematurely.


    ''If I assume the status of an Elder who uses a cultivation shrouding artifact, I have a good chance of getting into that chamber without anyone finding out. I guess the next thing to do is visit this artifact hall.''


    John stood up from his seat, and smiled towards Chase.


    "Thanks for the conversation. I''ll see you around!"


    Chase nodded his head as he watched John stand up and leave.


    John quickly worked his way through the Bloodfiend Sect, and arrived in front of the Artificer Hall a short whileter. He stood there, slightly awe-struck, at the size of the building. He had seen this building from the far distance as he walked through the sect previously, but assumed it was something else.


    The building stood roughly five hundred yards tall, but its width and length were incredible. The building was two miles long and wide on each side, making it thergest building by base size in the entire sect. A unique aura emanated from within the building, as if something powerful lingered within. Not only that, but John felt the Qi in the air lessen, as if it was being pulled out of the air.


    After standing there for a moment, John walked forward towards the entrance of the building. Unlike the other trade halls within the sect, there was not a constant stream of cultivators entering and exiting the building.


    ''I thought Chase said this hall was incredibly important. I wonder why not many people visit it.''


    John arrived at the front entrance, which was guarded by two Peak Meridian Forging experts. They stopped John with loud,manding voices.


    ''Pay the tribute to enter, or leave the premises,'' the guards spoke up in unison.


    "Tribute?" John asked, as he had never heard of such a thing.


    "Yes. Pay it now, or leave," one of the guards replied.


    "How much is the tribute?" John asked.


    "Twenty thousand spirit crystals," the guard replied with a stern voice and serious face.


    "Twenty thousand!" John eximed in shock. "Isn''t that a bit much just to enter a building?"


    "Pay it now, or leave," the guard replied, revealing there was no wiggle room.


    John shook his head as he heard this, and suddenly came to the realization of why there were so little people entering and exiting the building. Twenty thousand spirit crystals just to enter a building was an incredibly steep price.


    However, John grit his teeth and took out the sum of money to hand to the guards.


    ''I need to get this artifact, no matter what. I''m sure I can have my sect reimburse me for my expenses after this is all set and done.''


    The guard inspected the spirit crystals John had given him momentarily before he stepped aside, as did the other.


    "You may enter," the guard stated.


    John strode past the two guards, who quickly reformed their close guard of the entrance.


    He entered the building, which led not to the main lobby, but instead was a long hallway. The hallway was twenty yards wide and tall, and was incredibly detailed. In fact, the ornate carvings on the wall were more detailed than any other building he had seen on the Yuan Continent, making it look incredibly regal and grand.


    ''Seems like this Hall is well off with money,'' John mused as he walked deeper into the building.


    He asionally passed by an Elder leaving, who looked at John with slight surprise. A disciple having the expendable funds to enter this building was quite rare. John ignored those stares as he walked, and after nearly two hundred yards, he finally arrived in the main lobby.


    His eyes once again opened wide at the sight before him. The interior of the building waspletely hollow, and stretched for a mile and a half in each direction. The ceiling, hundreds of yards above, waspletely covered in thousands of formation lines, as were the walls and floor.


    The formation lines glowed with incredible power, and seemed to be siphoning the nearby Qi in the air.


    ''So this was the mysterious power I felt emanating from the building, as well as the reason why the Qi in the air feels thin here.''


    His gaze shifted, focusing on what he could see within this massive room. Dozens of Elders, d in blood red robes with blue formation line designs all over, were going about their work.


    There were several different areas, which seemed to be separated from each other by translucent barrier formations. Each section had different formation lines on the ground, which seemed to have different purposes.


    The formation lines on the ground resonated with the Qi siphoning lines on the wall and ceiling, which formed stunning designs of Qi in the air. The designs were formation runes themselves, which seemed to be concentrating power in the air above the Elders.


    Boom!


    A loud boom suddenly echoed out, catching John''s attention. In one of the sections, the aerial formation runes began to fade, as a small artifact was revealed within. The artifact floated to the ground below, which was caught by an Elder.


    The Elder stored the artifact, before the section once again began to work on the next artifact. Aerial formation runes made of Qi sprung up once again, as the process began anew.


    John stood there in stunned silence as he watched this all take ce. After quite some time, he snapped out of it.


    "Incredible."

 Chapter 335 - Obtaining A Shrouding Artifact

    After watching the artifact''s be made before him, John could start to understand why they were so expensive. The building itself was absolutely incredible, and must have cost an incredible amount of money to construct.


    Each formation rune was incredibly detailed, with hundreds of formation lines making up each rune. They covered the entire interior of the building, and seemed to take nearly a dozen Elders to operate a single artifact crafting station.


    Not only that, but each artifact seemed to take quite some time to craft, further adding to its cost.


    ''Pill''s normally take a few hours to create, and each session creates a handful of pills. However, this process makes a single artifact, and takes longer as well. No wonder the artifacts are so expensive.''


    After standing there for quite some time, an Elder of the Artificer Hall happened to walk past John. He noticed him standing there, and stopped to address him.


    "What do you need. Are you lost, boy?" the Elder asked in a rushed, seemingly in a hurry. His gaze was as if he was suspicious of John being inside, as disciples were rarely seen here.


    "I''m here for a cultivation shrouding artifact," John replied, getting straight to the point.


    He had no reason to hide that he would obtain one, as no one would ever be able to guess that he also had a wless mask which could perfectly disguise his features.


    The Elder''s suspicious re turned into one of slight anger. "If you''re going to waste my time with this nonsense, then just leave the building before I have you thrown out," the Elder replied.


    Cultivation shrouding artifacts were incredibly expensive, and almost none of the disciples could afford one. Even most Elders struggled to afford one, which is why the Elder thought John was just wasting his time. Either he was joking around, or did not know the true cost of the artifacts. Either way, it was a waste of the Elder''s time.


    John, expecting such a reaction, had his response already prepared. A spatial ring suddenly appeared in his hand, which he tossed over to the Elder. The Elder caught the ring, and nced at John suspiciously before he inspected the contents of the ring.


    Slight surprise appeared on his face as he inspected the pile of spirit crystals, which numbered at one million. However, he tossed the ring back to John, as if he was uninterested.


    "That''s an impressive sum of money for one so young, but its not enough," the Elder replied and turned to leave.


    "Wait," John called out, causing the Elder to stop and turn around to John once more.


    "How much exactly are cultivation shrouding artifacts?" John asked.


    "It depends on what grade you want. For artifacts only shrouding against Meridian Forging cultivators, the price is one million two hundred thousand. For artifacts shrouding against Heaven Tribtion experts, its one million seven hundred thousand. For artifacts shrouding against Dao Transformation experts, its two million five hundred thousand," the Elder replied.


    John raised his eyebrows as he listened to the Elder, as the prices truly were incredibly high.


    ''These prices are equivalent to Heaven Tribtion grade weapons, and are even slightly higher for the best grade artifacts. Is the situation for the Elder''s truly so dire that they spend this sum of money just to hide their true power? I suppose the Bloodfiend Sect is quite a brutal ce, even for the Elders, for them to resort to such a thing.''


    John''s attention focused back on the Elder once again, who was standing there waiting for his reply. He thought about it for a moment before picking one.


    "I''ll take the Dao Transformation shrouding artifact," John replied.


    He had thought of taking a cheaper one, but decided against it. There were clearly Dao Transformation Elder''s within the sect, and he couldn''t risk being found out by them.


    The Elder opened his mouth to reply, but John threw him another spatial ring before he could say anything. The Elder inspected it, and raised his eyebrows slightly before putting the ring away.


    He nced to John once more, with a new light of respect in his eyes.


    "Follow me," the Elder instructed as he turned around and began to walk deeper into therge room.


    John followed closely behind, as the two of them weaved between formations deeper into the room. The sounds of runes humming, artifacts being created, and Elder''s conversion filled his ears as he walked deeper into the room.


    The translucent formation barriers glowed slightly with power as he walked nearby them. The Elder eventually approached one of the translucent barriers, and raised his hand to a certain point of it.


    A small stream of Qi left his hand and entered the barrier, at which point an opening in the barrier formed. He turn to John.


    "Wait here."


    After saying these words, the Elder strode into the barrier and approached one of the other Elders. They exchanged some words, and the other Elder took out an item from his spatial ring. He handed it to the first Elder, and the Elder handed him the spatial ring John had given him.


    After some more words were exchanged, the Elder left the formation and returned to John. He handed him the item he had just obtained.


    "One cultivation shrouding artifact, at the Dao Transformation Grade, freshly created just this morning."


    John grabbed the item, which was a circr band several inches across. There were exquisite rune''s on both sides of the bands, which glowed brilliantly. He could tell the item was incredible, and a smile appeared on his face.


    He thanked the Elder for his service, and quickly strode out of the building. The item was a wrist band, which easily fit on his arm and after injecting some Qi into it, constricted the band to fit perfectly on his wrist.


    The artifact then slowly but surely disappeared from sight, making it appear as if nothing was on his wrist. However, John could still feel his connection to the artifact, as well as the ability to activate it, which would shroud his cultivation level from all who inspected him.


    ''Spending two and a half million spirit crystals is enough to make me cry, but the cost was worth it. Tonight, I start my infiltration!''

 Chapter 336 - Infiltration

    Night settled over the Bloodfiend Sect, bathing it in its usual ominous darkness. In a forest near a cliffside, a lone person was leaning against a tree while casually looking into the distance.


    In the distance, arge group of people were walking towards the cliffside. Most were dirty, chained, and had looks of despair on their faces, as they were led to the base of the cliff. The leading person chanted a few words while cing his hand on the door, at which point the glowing formation lines appeared upon the cliff.


    After a short moment, the formation lines outlined a doorway, which parted aside, revealing a glowing tunnel within.


    "Enter, now!"


    A loud shoutmanded the group, which quickly disappeared into the tunnel. After all had entered, the tunnel closed, once again returning the base of the cliff to normal.


    ''Seems like they''re at it again,'' John mused while watching the proceedings from within the forest.


    Just like the previous night, anotherrge group of mortals had been escorted into the mysterious tunnel.


    ''I have no idea what they''re nning, but that''s four hundred mortals already gathered in just two nights. Just what are they nning that requires that many mortals?''


    John knew that no matter how much he spected on the subject, he would most likely never be able to guess the truth. The only way he would uncover the truth was to enter the mysterious ce, and see whatever was inside with his own eyes.


    Hours passed by, as John continued to lean against one of the trees in the forest. His eyes were closed in a meditative trance, but they slowly opened as sound filled his ears. His eyes turned to the source of the sound, which was the parting of the doorway on the base of the cliff. He made sure the coast was clear other than the two Elders in the distance, before he silently moved closer.


    The door fully parted, and two Elders stepped outside. Both had their cultivations shrouded.


    "Our work is almostplete," one of the Elders said to the other.


    "That it is. Hopefully this is all worth it in the end," the other replied.


    The two exchanged a few more words, before they both parted and walked in opposite directions. As the two Elder''s left, a head poked out from behind arge boulder some thirty yards away.


    After a brief inspection of both Elder''s, John made up his mind.


    ''That one. His body size and demeanor is most like mine.''


    John slipped back behind the boulder, and focused his mind on the face of the Elder. He felt a tug on his soul, as a small portion of it was siphoned from his soul to the mask he was wearing. The feeling sent a shiver down John''s spine, as well as a tinge of pain.


    ''No matter how many times I do this, I''ll never get used to the feeling.''


    John felt as if a small part of himself had been lost, but ignored the feeling.


    ''I''ll be able to restore this soul damageter on. The important part is to focus on the mission.''


    At the same time, the circr band on John''s wrist glowed for a moment before disappearing. As this happened, his cultivation, which was at the Core Formation Realm, disappeared, making it so that others could not detect his cultivation.


    He used his divine sense to inspect himself, and nodded his head in approval.


    ''I look just like that Elder. This should work.''


    John waited fifteen more minutes to make sure that the coast was clear, and that the Elder would not return like the one didst night. After waiting for fifteen minutes, the nearby area remained empty.


    ''Now''s the time.''


    John stepped out from behind the boulder, and did onest check to make sure the area was empty. After one final confirmation, he walked up to the base of the cliff.


    ''Even standing just feet away, I still can''t detect the formation. They really went all out on it.''


    John ced his hand on the cliffside where he had seen the Elder''s do so, and chanted the words he had heard.


    "All blood belongs to the Bloodfiend!"


    Boom!


    A muffled boom echoed out, as the formation lines on the cliffside began to part. John took a step back as the stone doorway moved aside, before a glowing tunnel entered his vision.


    The tunnel stretched down into the earth at a steep angle, and was only illuminated by torches that hung on the side of the walls. The tunnel seemed to stretch down for hundreds of yards, and a bright glow appeared at the base of it.


    John took a deep breath before taking a step forward and stepping into the tunnel. He began to walk down it, and as soon as he entered, the doorway behind him began to close. On the side of the tunnel, a small formation disk, norger than a hand, glowed as well while the door closed.


    When the door closed, the disk faded.


    ''I hope that formation disk on the wall is used to exit this tunnel, or I might be stuck.''


    John shook his head at himself for a moment before looking back before him. The only way forward was to descend down the stairwell, and so John did just that. As he moved forward, the glow emanating from the bottom of the tunnel began to glow brighter and brighter.


    At the same time, agonized screams and loud shouts also began to fill John''s ears, just like they had the previous night. John steeled his nerves, as well as his mind, for whatever was at the base of the tunnel.


    ''I''m here to uncover the truth, and nothing more. No matter what I see down there, I have to maintain myposure and not to anything stupid.''


    He took onest deep breath, before continuing down the tunnel. After nearly eight hundred yards, he finally reached the bottom step. There were two Elders standing there, both with their cultivations shrouded. They looked towards John as he arrived, and seemed to be acting as guards.


    "Elder Koza, you just left. Why have you returned already?"

 Chapter 337 - Cauldron

    "Elder Koza, you just left. Why have you returned already?" one of the Elder''s asked in a questioning voice.


    John felt a powerful divine sense wash over him, inspecting him closely. He ignored the divine sense, as he knew neither his identity or cultivation would be detected. He was just about to reply, when the other guard cut him off.


    "We made sure you received your spatial ring when you left, so what reason do you have for returning already? You''re not scheduled to work here again until tomorrow," the other guard replied.


    John''s face remained calm, but inside he cursed at the situation.


    ''Shit, I was just about to use that spatial ring excuse that the Elder yesterday had done, but it seemed they made sure such an issue would not arise again. What should I say.''


    John remained silent for a moment, before he decided to fully embrace the nature of the Bloodfiend Sect.


    "My nature is my own. Do I have to report my every action to you? Do you want me to tell you every time when I wipe my ass?" John replied, his voice slightly ''angered''. "I left something inside, and I n to retrieve it," John replied.


    The Bloodfiend Sect was a ruthless ce, and John decided to channel some of that ruthlessness into his response. Both Elder''s were slightly taken aback at John''s reply, before the first Elder spoke up.


    "It seems like someone is in a foul mood today. No matter, we have more important matters to care about. Enter and retrieve what you left inside. Just don''t let it happen again," the Elder replied.


    He had already fully inspected John, and found no irregrities with him. John nodded his head and began to walk forward, when the first Elder barked at him to stop.


    John stopped, and looked at the Elder with a frown. "What do you want?" John asked.


    The Elder too frowned, not exactly liking the tone that John was using. However, both of the Elder''s were rtively even in status, and so neither could do anything to the other. The Elder pointed to one of the tables to his side, which contained a box filled with spatial rings.


    "Your spatial ring," he instructed.


    "Oh," John replied. "In my rush, I forgot."


    He walked over and took off his spatial ring, and ced it into the box. All spatial rings contained defensive mechanisms to ensure that they were not tampered with, and so John was sure that the Elder''s would try no funny business with his ring.


    ''Good thing I moved most of my stuff to my pce realm already.''


    "You may enter," the Elder instructed as he saw John ce his ring into the box.


    John nodded his head and began to walk forward, towards the glowing light that grew brighter and brighter in his vision.


    ''Whatever they''re nning here, the security is pretty tight. They don''t even let their own Elder''s bring their own spatial rings in.''


    While thinking about this, he soon reached the end of the tunnel. An incrediblyrge chamber entered his vision, which glowed brightly with fiery light. The chamber was a mile long on each side, as well as half a mile tall.


    His eyes swiveled in all directions, as he took in the sight before him.


    In the very center of the chamber, a massive cauldron, hundreds of yards wide and tall rested. It stood on three legs, and was maroon in color. Tens of thousands of red formation runes were etched into the side of it, making it by far the most impressive cauldron John had ever seen in his life. The cauldron was filled nearly three fourths of the way to the top with a liquid which sloshed around. The liquid seemed to be refined andpressed by the formation lines on the cauldron, slowly but surely purifying it.


    Circling around the cauldron on the ground, a massive blood red formation glowed and thrummed, as if it had a life of its own. It seemed to provide even more power to the cauldron, and John could tell something incredibly profound was happening inside.


    Beneath the cauldron, a massive fire raged, bathing the bottom of the cauldron in incredible mes. The mes illuminated the room brightly, as well as the tunnel behind him.


    On the outskirts of the cauldron, thousands of mortals stood there, divided into dozens of groups. Each group was guarded by dozens of Elder''s, making sure that each group was kept in order.


    The mortals all had looks of pure fear and despair on their faces. Half of them stared at the ground beneath them in hopelessness, while the other half stared up in the air, their fearful eyes locked onto something.


    John followed where they were looking, and his heartbeat began to rise. Descending from the roof of the chamber high above, thousands upon thousands of metallic hooks were suspended in the air. The hook''s descended in pairs, each pair spaced only a foot apart from each other.


    From each of these pairs of hooks, a mortal hung, each hook piercing directly through each shoulder.


    John clenched his fists tightly as he witnessed this scene. Thousands of mortals hung from the hooks, looks of anguish, pain, and despair on their faces. Anguished cries left their mouths, echoing loudly throughout therge chamber. Most of the anguished mortals still lived, but some seemed to have died already, as their limp bodies hung there lifelessly.


    From those still living, the blood from the hook wounds freely flowed out, and fell down into the cauldron below. At the same time, a suction force seemed to emanate from the cauldron below, as if a hungry maw was consuming all the blood it could. Slowly but surely, the blood of the mortals was drawn out to the cauldron below, making it appear as if blood was raining down from the sky.


    John''s eyes widened wide as he finally realized what the liquid was. The cauldron, hundreds of yards wide and tall and almost fully filled, was filled with the blood of humans.

 Chapter 338 - Chamber Of Anguish

    John''s heart beat loudly within his chest from the burning rage he felt at the moment. While he was not a saint, he wasn''t a monster who would kill innocents either. The amount of blood within the cauldron was staggering, and must have taken tens of thousands of human sacrifices to reach this level, if not more.


    His hands were clenched tightly as he looked at the scene before him and listened to the wails of paining from those being sacrificed. John closed his eyes and calmed himself, before slowly opening them once more.


    His face had once again returned to its former calm.


    ''I can''t do anything about this right now. However, every single thing I learn about this sect increases my desire to destroy it. I will destroy it, and all those within it!''


    After regaining hisposure, John started walking around therge chamber. He looked for any and all clues regarding what this process was, or how to potentially stop it in the future. However, no clues were evident, and all he could see was the asional pile of corpses thrown in far corners of the chamber, from those who had already been sacrificed.


    After doing a full circle around the chamber, John had still not found any sort of information regarding what was going on. His eyes locked onto the cauldron in the center of the room, as well as the formation runes etched onto its surface.


    The formation runes glowed with incredible power, signifying that they were doing something to the blood within the cauldron. A thought appeared in his mind as he looked at the formation runes.


    ''If I could somehow destroy some of those runes, I''m sure it would stop whatever is going on, at least for some time.''


    After thinking about this n, John shook his head at himself.


    ''That''s not good enough. If I destroy some of the runes, I''m sure they will just rece them in short notice. While it might affect whatever is going on a bit, I''m sure the amount of damage I could cause would not be enough to destroy whatever this is. Not only that, but if I tamper with the cauldron, I''m sure there would be a massive investigation of what went on, and the fact that I assumed the identity of that Elder would be discovered. While they wouldn''t know it was me, they would know that there was someone capable of disguising themselves as another. If that happened, my mission would most likely be over once everyone is thoroughly investigated.''


    With this in mind, he decided not to take any drastic actions at the moment. His gaze once again lingered on the cauldron, and the blood within. Even from the distance he was standing at, John felt a thin connection with the blood. With just a thought, he would be able to draw it into his pce realm.


    However, such a thing was mostly useless. The blood was too low in quality for him to use for his Immortal Asura Body, as it was the blood of mortals. Ever since he had ascended to the Qi Condensation Realm, John had discovered that only blood from cultivators at his realm or at a higher realm would be able to boost his body cultivation.


    The blood of mortals, despite being in such arge quantity, would not be able to help him at all.


    At the same time, if he siphoned the blood from the cauldron right now, it would not only raise the guard of the sect that something was amiss, but also require the blood of more innocents toplete whatever was going on here.


    John continued to wrack his mind for solutions to this problem, but was unable toe up with anything.


    ''I could inform Thunderzen by crushing the talisman and having him arrive, but I still don''t know what the n of the Bloodfiend Sect is. Thunderzen instructed me to discover their ns, not save some mortals. Until I figure out what is going on, I can''t crush the talisman, regardless of how angry this scene makes me.''


    John continued to walk around the chamber for some time, investigating its interior while looking as natural as possible. He was stopped by some Elder''s for casual small talk, but he kept the conversations as brief as possible.


    ''I guess I can''t stall any longer, or the two guard Elder''s will get suspicious. I''ll leave for now, but at least now I know where part of the Bloodfiend Sect''s ns are being carried out.''


    With this in mind, John turned and walked to the exit of the chamber. The screams of those hanging from the hooks above had grown quieter and quieter, until not a whimper was heard.


    "This batch is done," one of the Elder''s shouted loudly. "Put the next batch up."


    At hismand, several Elder''s flew up into the sky above the cauldron and removed the dead mortals from the hooks. After this was done, the other Elder''s grabbed the living mortals on the ground, and began to fly them up towards the hooks.


    The mortals screamed in fear and despair, but were powerless to stop what was going on. Before long, a thousand new mortals were thrown on the hooks, each screaming out in anguished pain as the hooks pierced through their flesh.


    John watched this process be carried out as he arrived at the exit of the chamber. His eyes turnedpletely cold, but his face remained calm as he burned the scene into his mind. He made a silent pledge in his heart to have all those within this sect suffer for their actions, before he turned around and left.


    The anguished cries of those he made the vow to echoed within his mind as he left the chamber.


    "Did you find what you were looking for?" one of the guard Elder''s asked John as he returned to the entrance.


    "I did," John replied with a short response, as he walked past the guards and up onto the stairs. He grabbed his spatial ring from the box as he passed by it, before leaving the way he had entered.


    At the top of the stairs, he ced his hand on the formation disk, and a boom was heard. The stone wall in front of him began to part, allowing him to leave. John quickly slipped out and sped into the distance, blending into the darkness of the night.

 Chapter 339 - Ancestral Guards

    Johnid down in his bed, staring at the ceiling above. His mind was repeating everything he had seen in that chamber, unable to forget what he had seen.


    He had no problem with cultivators doing such things to each other, as such was the way of the cultivation world. When one stepped on the cultivation pathway, they were doing so with the knowledge that strength was the only truth in the world, and without it, their fates were not their own.


    However, mortals were different. They valued the simple life, and did not tread the cultivation pathway. It was an unwritten rule of the cultivation world that mortals were off limits. However, John could see that those ''rules'' were as flimsy as wet paper, and were only followed by the Honorable Alliance.


    He kept wracking his mind for solutions to what he had witnessed, but could onlye up with one idea.


    ''The only way I can see that issue solved is through Sect Leader Thunderzen''s help. As I am right now, I am far too weak to do anything about it.''


    Bang!


    John''s fist mmed on the wooden frame of the bed, shaking it slightly.


    ''No matter how strong I get, it''s never enough. Until I stand at the very peak of the cultivation world, I will always be weak.''


    Although he needed no such motivation, as his motivation to stand at the peak of cultivation was already at the utmost, this still lit a fire under John once again.


    ''The only thing I can do next is be Elder Praxx''s direct disciple. Once that is done, maybe I can get his trust enough for him to divulge some secrets of whats going on. Only then can I contact the Sect Leader.''


    With this in mind, John ignored the immediate issue and focused on cultivation until the morning.


    ¡­


    In the middle of a vast mountain range, a mountain was carved t at the top, and a great pyramid pierced up hundreds of yards into the sky, catching the attention of all those nearby. The pyramid was surrounded by five great statues, each facing outwards, as if guarding the pyramid itself.


    On the pathway up to that mountain, several caravans were traversing the perilous road. Each caravan, painted with the insignia of a Phoenix, was being pulled by a Mist Creation beast.


    Boisterous conversation andughter could be heard from within the caravan''s, as those within happily conversed with one another.


    "Garve, how much longer until we reach the Ancestral Building?" a shout boomed out from within the caravan.


    The driver, sitting at the front of the caravan and steering the beast, looked over his shoulder as he shouted out in reply.


    "We''re almost there, just a few more minutes."


    "You hear that? Just a few more minutes, and then we get toy our eyes on the grand Ancestral Building once again," a man inside the lead caravan boomed out in joy.


    "Right, no matter how many times I see it, it still instills awe in me," another man within replied.


    "Dannel, how long is our guard duty this time around?" a woman within the caravan suddenly asked.


    "It should be around four months this time around, before the next guard dutyes to rece us," the man who had spoken up first replied.


    "Let''s just hope that the Crimson Valley Sect doesn''t try anything," the woman replied. "They''ve been getting more and more brazen with their actions."


    "We''ll be fine. If they try anything, we''ll just teach them a lesson," Dannel replied, his voice filled with confidence.


    His cultivation was at the Middle Core Formation Realm, and he was one of the strongest warriors within the Fenix n. With him in charge of guarding duty for this rotation, those within the caravans felt a great sense of ease.


    "We''re he-"


    The driver''s voice boomed out for a short moment, but quickly cut off.


    "Garve? Did you say something?" Dannel asked, but received no reply.


    "Garve?" He called out again, but still nothing.


    "What''s going on?" the woman asked.


    "Not sure, let''s get out and check it out," Dannel replied.


    He stood up and walked to the caravan door, and opened it with heightened caution. The open door revealed no danger in sight, and so Dannel hopped out and surveyed the area. He noticed Garve sitting in the driver''s seat, not moving at all and staring forward. He followed Garvey''s gaze, and is head swiveled towards the Ancestral Building.


    "This!" Dannel''s voice sounded out, as his gaze turned heavy. "Crimson Valley Sect, what is the meaning of this!"


    His voice boomed out with anger and rage, startling those within the caravans. The several dozen guards from the caravans quickly hopped out. Their gazes turned heavy and angered as well as they noticed what Dannel was looking at.


    In the distance, directly in front of the Ancestral Building, a dozen or so Crimson Valley Sect Elder''s stood with looks of amusement on their faces. Next to them, dozens of pikes jutted out from the ground, each containing a bodypletely impaled through.


    The bodies all wore robes etched with Phoenix insignias'', revealing them to be the previous Fenix n guards.


    "What''s the meaning of this?" one of the Crimson Valley Sect Elder''s chimed up in an amused tone. "We''re just cleaning out the trash of thesends."


    "What did you say?" an angered shout boomed out from within the Fenix n''s group.


    "You will die for this," another shout echoed out,pletely angered.


    The bodies on the pikes were their fellow n members. Some brothers, some sisters, some friends, and some parents. However, all of them were dead, and had been killed in apletely brutal manner.


    "I don''t care for your reasoning, you will all die here!" Dannel boomed out in anger.


    He had already inspected the cultivations of the Elder''s of the Crimson Valley Sect, and the highest was at the Early Core Formation Realm. It would be trivial to eliminate them, permanently.


    "Is that so?" the Elder replied with an amused smile on his face. "Thene."


    Dannel instantly pushed off the ground and dashed towards the Crimson Valley Sect Elders. He was followed up by all the other Fenix n members, who wanted nothing more than to rip out the throats of their enemy.


    The Crimson Valley Sect Elder''s stood there unflinchingly, with smiles on each of their faces. A sense of danger crawled up Dannel''s spine, but it was toote to do anything about it.


    Boom!


    A loud boom echoed out, as the ground before the Fenix n was upheaved. The Fenix n members all stopped in surprise at the sudden attack, but quickly realized it was not an attack at all.


    Dannel stared forward, eyes wide, as the dust faded, revealing the source of the sound.


    A middle aged man stood there, d in blood red robes. However, it was not the same robe design as the Crimson Valley Sect, and was something else entirely. He stood there with an indifferent expression as he stared at the Fenix n guards, as if they were beneath notice.


    Dannel stood there in stunned silence, while a panicked cry sounded out from behind him.


    "Meridian Forging!"


    The mysterious man stood there for a moment before his figure blurred. Agonized cries echoed out from the mountaintop for a short while, before silence once again descended on the mountain.

 Chapter 340 - Patriarch’s Instructions

    "Those bastards!"


    An angered shout boomed loudly within a gathering hall as a fist mmed down on a table. There were over a dozen people within this room, who were looking towards the one who had just mmed his fist.


    n Leader Cade still had an angered look on his face, as he slowly unclenched his fist. Behind him, an opaque drape revealed a seated figure, sitting there in silence.


    As if to mock them further, the Crimson Valley Sect had sent several of the guard''s heads back to the Fenix n, not concerned at all about the consequences.


    "n Leader Cade, let us go to war with the Crimson Valley Sect. Their actions have crossed the line this time," a passionate yell echoed within the gathering hall.


    "That''s right. We can''t sit idly anymore," another yell boomed out.


    Several more yells of agreement echoed out, but were silenced as a figure from behind the drapes spoke out.


    "Such decisions cannot be made lightly."


    "Patriarch!" The first person spoke out as he heard the Patriarch''s voice. "The Crimson Valley Sect killed our fellow n members. They must be avenged! We must take back the Ancestral grounds!"


    Several others in the room nodded their heads in agreement, and waited on bated breath for the Patriarch''s response. Silence filled the room for a moment before he spoke up once more.


    "I have received some troubling news recently," the Patriarch''smanding voice filled the room. "It appears as thought the Crimson Valley Sect has sold themselves to the Bloodfiend Sect."


    "What!"


    "Are you sure?"


    "Who told you such things?"


    Many surprised shouts echoed within the hall, filling it with a boisterous uproar. n Leader Cade raised his hand, gesturing for silence. The Elder''s within the room realized they had acted out of line, and quieted down to let the Patriarch speak.


    "My source is not important, only that it is a valid source. The Crimson Valley Sect has sold themselves to the Bloodfiend Sect, and have used the pocket realm as payment. The Bloodfiend Sect has set their eyes on the pocket realm entrance, and will im it as their own," the Patriarch exined.


    A deafening silence filled the room upon hearing this. The Bloodfiend Sect was far beyond what the Fenix n was capable of going against. Just a random Elder would be able to raze the Fenix n to the ground.


    The only reason this had not happened yet is that the Fenix n was in a remote, barren area for cultivation, and was not worth the hassle to destroy. However, with the pocket realming to light, things had changed. Such a thing was more than enticement enough for the Bloodfiend Sect to set its eyes on this barrennd.


    "As such, we will have to relinquish the rights to the pocket realm entrance. We do not have the power to fight the Bloodfiend Sect, and so this is the only course," the Patriarch continued.


    The heads of the Elder''s in the room drooped down, some in anger, and others in depression. The pocket realm was an ancestral rite that had been in the n for generations, and was now no longer a part of the n.


    "Hopefully, this will be enough to sate the Bloodfiend Sect''s appetite, and that they do not turn their eyes on our n as well. Keep this information secret. Do not divulge it within the n. I do not want to cause further panic," the Patriarch instructed. "You are dismissed."


    The Elder''s within the hall silently left, leaving only Cade and the Patriarch behind. Cade waited for thest Elder''s to leave before turning around to face the Patriarch.


    "Father, what are our next ns of action?" Cade asked.


    "For now, we wait and see what happens. We do not have the power to fight the Bloodfiend Sect ourselves. However, my information source has instructed me that as long as we do not provoke the Crimson Valley Sect or Bloodfiend Sect, we should be safe," the Patriarch replied.


    "Is this rted to that mysterious person that showed up that one night? The one who let us know John still lives?" Cade asked.


    "Indeed. She has reached out further, and rified the situation to me. Not only is John in the Holy Lands, but he has joined the Heavenly Lightning Sect."


    "What! He joined the Heavenly Lightning Sect?" Cade eximed in shock. He knew that John was in the Holy Lands, but did not know any further details.


    The Patriarch nodded his head in confirmation. "Not only that, but he seems to hold a fairly high importance to the Heavenly Lightning Sect. That mysterious woman is acting as a protector of our n, should the Bloodfiend Sect attack. However, she will only defend, and not seek out the Crimson Valley Sect or the Bloodfiend Sect. As such, all we can do is bury our anger for now," the Patriarch exined further.


    Cade descended into silence for some time, ruminating over everything he had heard. He raised his head after some time and looked at his father.


    "Then at this point, we can only ce our hopes in John."


    The Patriarch nodded his head in agreement. "At this point, he is our only hope to get out of this situation."


    ¡­


    John opened his eyes as sunlight crashed through the windows of his small cabin. He had been hard at work the past week, raising his cultivation, his proficiency with Bloodfiend Battle Arts as much as possible, and also exploring the sect for more clues as to what was going on.


    However, he had not discovered any more information as to what was going on, disappointing him greatly.


    This constant grind exhausted him to the core, and he had fallen into a deep sleep. His tired and aching body feltpletely refreshed, and he bounded off the bed with renewed vigor. He donned a new, fresh robe, before walking outside.


    The bright sunlight crashed onto his face, illuminating his features. A small lingered on his face as his determined eyes looked forward.


    "It''s finally the day of the bi-annual disciple battles, and my opportunity to be a direct disciple."

 Chapter 341 - Bi-Annual Placement Battles

    John took in a deep breath of crisp early morning air, before he closed the door behind him and began to walk deeper into the sect. His housing was located near many of the other disciples, and he quickly spotted most of the other disciples also leaving for the bi-annual cement battles.


    As he ventured forward, the amount of disciples heading towards the martial arena steadily increased, and before long, a massive crowd was moving towards the arena. Countless discussions amongst disciples broke out, as an air of excitement and anticipation filled the crowd.


    John heard many boasts from various disciples, as they detailed to their peers of how they would triumph and rise in status. Other discussions were about predictions on which disciples would rise through the ranks, and if there would be any shake up at the very top.


    "You think there will be a change in direct disciples, or the Three Emperors?" one excited youth asked as John passed by.


    "Maybe for some of the direct disciples, but there''s no way any of the Three Emperors are defeated," another youth replied.


    As John pushed his way through the crowd, many discussions broke out about him as those nearby noticed him.


    "Hey, it''s John. You think he''ll have another surprise victory today?"


    "No way. I heard a rumor that the only reason he was able to kill Esker was that he used a bizarre soul art, which distracted Esker for a moment. This was the only reason he was able to kill him," a nearby youth replied as he nced sideways at John.


    "That''s right. As long as you stay on your guard and raise your soul defense to the maximum, it shouldn''t work a second time. Esker was just caught off guard, and wasn''t expecting it. Such a trick won''t work twice," another youth mocked.


    John scoffed internally as he heard these discussions, but ignored them as they were beneath him to react to. His only goal today was to kill an Emperor, and im their spot to be a direct disciple of Elder Praxx. Everything else was inconsequential.


    Although there were many discussions that mocked John, most of the disciples in the crowd still parted aside as he walked, not wanting to offend him. Regardless of how he had killed Esker,?he still disyed frightening killing potential in that battle, and most outer disciples and even some inner disciples did not want to offend him.


    The crowd continued to move in unison towards the martial arena''s, and eventually arrived some timeter. The main arena, which could house up to several hundred thousand spectators, was being used for the battles today.


    The arena was over well over a mile in diameter, and the stands towered up high into the sky. At the front base of the arena, a grand entrance was opened for all to enter. The crowd steadily moved towards the entrance, and began to flood into the arena.


    The flow of the crowd slowed down considerably as they were bottlenecked through the entrance, making the process take quite a long time. After standing in line for quite some time, John finally reached the entrance.


    "Look!" an excited cry echoed out nearby.


    "It''s them!"


    The crowd quickly turned into one of excitement and anticipation. Curious as to what was going on, John paused and turned around. The crowd behind him had begun to part to the sides, and before long, a long open channel was formed down the middle of the crowd.


    At the very end, three youths were walking forward, each carrying an air of arrogance around them. John''s eyes narrowed slightly as he recognized one of them, Azalea. The two others he had never seen before, and were the recements for the Blood Emperor and Sword Emperor, which had been killed in the ancient city.


    One of them was a rather tall boy, with short ck hair, a rugged face for his age, and a powerful, muscr body. An aura of brute power emanated from him, surprising John slightly.


    ''Does he have an innate variant body?''


    The other youth was of average height, and had long, smooth ck hair. His face was incredibly handsome, and all the nearby girls looked at him with infatuation. He had a look of smug arrogance on his face, as if such infatuation was only natural. A dense blood aura emanated from him, simr to Damon.


    "It''s the Three Emperors!"


    "It''s actually them. We hardly ever see them!"


    "Thats Thraks! I hear he had a innate variant body, and used his incredible strength to be an Emperor!"


    "Thats Alix, who reced Damon. Apparently his blood talent is just as high as Damon''s was. Maybe it''s even higher."


    Excited discussions immediately sprung up within the crowd as the Three Emperors continued forward unhindered. They each acted as if such reverence was only natural, and John could only roll his eyes at this sight.


    "How can Azalea act so arrogant after she fled with her tail tucked between her legs," John mumbled as he shook his head at the sight.


    The crowd had now fully parted for the Three Emperors, leaving only John standing at the end of the channel, looking at the three of them. He nced at Azalea onest time before he turned around, intending to head into the arena.


    Now only several dozen yards away, the Three Emperors finally noticed John, who was facing away from them and walking into the arena. With him not standing to the side like everyone else, he was clearly saying that he didn''t ce the Three Emperors in his eyes.


    Azalea, as well as the muscr youth frowned as they saw this, but it was the long haired boy who spoke up.


    "You there, halt," the boymanded. His tone was authoritative, as if his everymand must be followed.


    John could tell that he was talking about him, and grumbled internally.


    ''Seriously? I''m just walking into the arena, and they find offense with it. These Emperors truly are a pain in the ass,'' John grumbled internally.


    However, he decided to ignore the boy, and continued to walk deeper into the arena entrance.


    The boy frowned as he saw this, and slowly raised his finger.


    When he was almost within the arena, John''s instincts red, and he quickly moved his head to the side. Immediately after, an incredibly sharp Qi attack flew by.


    Boom!


    The Qi attacknded on the wall behind John, and pierced several feet into it beforeing to a stop. Clearly the attack had been with the intention of killing John.


    Surprise appeared on the boy''s face as John dodged his attack, while looks of interest appeared on Azalea''s and the muscr boy''s face.


    John paused his footsteps and looked backwards towards the boy. His face waspletely calm and rxed, as if the attack wasn''t even worth noting.


    "I was going to choose the big guy, but I guess I''ll be choosing you instead," John calmly said to the boy.


    Without missing a step, he turned around again and entered the arena, leaving the Three Emperors, as well as thepletely stunned crowd, behind.

 Chapter 342 - Rules And Registration

    After a moment of silence, the crowd erupted into an uproar of conversation.


    "What did he just say? Did he say he''s actually going to challenge Alix?"


    "No way, he must be joking. Otherwise, that would just be signing his own death wish."


    "Even if he isn''t going to challenge Alix, he''s as good as dead now. There''s no way Alix will let him off the hook for what he just did."


    "John got one lucky victory and now he thinks he''s on the same level as the Three Emperors? What an idiot."


    The crowd buzzed with conversation, while Three Emperors stood there for a moment. Thraks was smiling with an amused smile at Alix, as if mocking him. Azalea was looking at John''s figure, which disappeared into the arena.


    For some reason, she felt John to be familiar, although she couldn''t put her finger on why. She had never seen or talked with John''s identity, and so couldn''t ce why she felt the familiarity.


    Alix, who had beenpletely ignored by John, was frowning in displeasure. He brushed aside Thrak''s jeers, and began to walk towards the arena entrance. The other two Emperors followed as well, and the three of them disappeared from the crowd''s view.


    The crowd quickly followed behind, and a steady stream of disciples, Elder''s and various other sect members entered the grand arena. The Bi-Annual cement Battles were quite the spectacle, and drew a huge crowd every time it was carried out.


    Upon entering the arena, John swiveled his head in all directions, taking in the grand sight.


    ''So many already? There must be one hundred thousand people in the stands already, with more streaming in every second. This event seems to be far more popr than the monthly life and death battles.''


    John walked up the stands and found an empty spot towards the top of the stadium.


    The arena grounds were divided into seven martial tforms, with six smaller tforms surrounding thergest one in the middle of them all. Each of the smaller tforms were several hundred yards across, while thergest was close to a thousand yards across.


    The stadium stands circled around all the fighting tforms, stretching back dozens and dozens of rows. At maximum capacity, it would most likely be able to hold several hundred thousand people easily.


    From his seat high above, he was able to easily see all six martial arena''s, as well as the bustling crowd below. He sat there in silence for the next hour while the crowd continued to stream in. A hand suddenly rested on his shoulder, catching his attention.


    "Hey there," a familiar voice sounded out.


    John turned his head towards the voice and smiled in greeting. "Hey there Chase."


    Chase sat down next to John, and turned his eyes to nce down at the bustling scene below.


    "Are you going to participate in these battles?" Chase asked while looking forward.


    John nced at Chase, before looking down to the arenas below once more.


    "Yep."


    "Why am I not surprised?" Chase replied. "How far do you intend on going?"


    John opened his mouth to answer, but a loud shout, backed by a powerful cultivation, suddenly filled the arena, silencing all those within.


    "Silence!" the voicemanded, and the crowd quickly quieted down.


    A middle aged man with a thin moustache walked onto the middle fighting tform, his cultivation shrouded as expected. John had never seen this Elder before, but he could tell that he was incredibly powerful.


    "I will now exin the rules, at which point the Bi-Annual cement Battles will begin," the Elder addressed the crowd.


    "Those wishing to do battle and raise their status within the sect can only challenge the tier above them. So outer disciples can only challenge inner disciples, inner disciples can only challenge core disciples, and so on."


    John listened closely to the instructions, as he wanted to be sure on how to approach the battles today. There was no room for failure.


    "If the challenger wins their battle, they will rece the person they challenged. If they lose, then they will remain at their current discipleship level. When challenging, one can directly challenge a specific individual, or request an opponent at random.


    We will begin the battles starting with outer disciples. Once all the outer disciple vs inner disciple battles areplete, we will move to the inner disciple vs core disciple battles, and so on. Registration for the battles will take ce at the tables you see before you," the Elder exined.


    John nced to where the Elder was gesturing, and noticed a group of twenty tables on the perimeter of the arena grounds, just before the stands started. Each table had an Elder sitting at it, ready to register whoever wanted to battle.


    "As for the battles themselves, there are no rules, other than one''s own strength must be used. All outer disciples wishing to participate, step forward and register now."


    As the Elder said this, an excited uproar swept through the crowd, as hundreds and hundreds of outer disciples stood up and moved forward to participate. Each was seeking to raise their status to inner disciples, and flourish further within the Bloodfiend Sect.


    While they knew the battles were dangerous, and could result in their deaths, each moved forward with determined passion, thinking only of elevating their status and wealth.


    Before long, over a thousand outer disciples had stood up and walked to the registration tables, surprising John slightly.


    "So many battles? How long is this going to take? Are we going to be here for days?" John asked Chase.


    Chase shook his head. "No. I''m sure you know there is quite a disparity in power between disciple levels. Most of these battles should take less than a minute to end. At the same time, seven battles will take ce at the same time. It shouldn''t take more than half a day for these battles to end and the next round start," Chase replied.


    John nodded his head in agreement at Chase''s assessment. Without saying another word, he stood up and began to walk down the stands to the arena grounds below.


    The registration portion of all the participants took quite some time, but eventually all those who desired to participate were enrolled. John had requested a random opponent for his battle, as he didn''t know the names of any inner disciples, nor did he care who he battled.


    He returned to his seat next to Chase, and began to talk with him regarding the battles toe.


    The Elder from before walked onto the main martial tform once more, and silenced the crowd. After the crowd was fully silenced, his voice boomed out once more.


    "All participants are registered. I now announce the start of the Bi-Annual cement Battles."

 Chapter 343 - Battle Start

    The crowd immediately exploded into an uproar of excitement, anticipation, and anxiousness. For some, these battles were just entertainment, a good way to spend the day. For others, these battles were thest opportunity they had to rise within the sect and make a name for themselves.


    "Who did you challenge?" Chase asked John, curious as to who he decided to challenge.


    "No idea, I just let them pick one for me at random," John replied.


    He didn''t care who he fought, as long as he fought. His only goal was obtaining the title of Emperor. As to how he got there, he did not care about that.


    "Oh," Chase replied.


    John''s eyes swept through the entire stadium, as he made note of who was there. Most of the stadium was filled with disciples, but there were others as well. On one section that seemed to be reserved, only Elders sat. The section was quitevish, with ornate seating instead of the stone stands. The section was arge t area, with wine, food, and other spectacles in it.


    In that section, John noticed one of the Elder''s staring straight at him. The Elder nced at him for a moment before looking at a nearby Elder who seemed to be talking to him.


    ''So Elder Praxx is here as well huh? Makes sense I suppose.''


    Elder Praxx sat with the other Elder''s, and seemed to be quite high in status, as he was seated in one of the most luxurious seats.


    Elder Praxx nced at John, before looking at the Elder seated to his right who was talking to him.


    "Elder Praxx, it''s quite unexpected to see you here," the Elder said.


    "That''s right. With the untimely demise of your previous disciple, I figured you would have skipped these battles. After all, you don''t have a disciple participating in these battles," another nearby Elder said.


    Elder Praxx felt his anger rise for a moment, before he calmed down. Damon''s death was a sore spot in his reputation, as he had been an Emperor, but had been defeated and killed by someone with a lower cultivation.


    While most assumed that Damon''s killer used some sort of trickery to make it happen, there were those that assumed Damon''s status as an Emperor was undeserved, and that Elder Praxx had used his status to make Damon an Emperor.


    Regardless of the reasons, Elder Praxx would be quite agitated whenever it was mentioned. However, he had finally put that aside as soon as he found the next promising disciple.


    The Elder''s who had spoken to him both had direct disciples that were Core Disciples, and both at the very top of the Core Discipleship as well. Both drew great pride from this, as they believed it served to highlight what great cultivators they were, to be able to raise such powerful disciples.


    Not only that, but the stronger a disciple was, the more rewards the sect would give to their masters.


    As such, all the Elder''s of the sect were seeking to have their disciples climb all the way to the top, and be an Emperor. Emperors were the most valued disciples of the sect, as well as the strongest. Their status was vaunted, and their masters would be showered with great rewards.


    This was one of the reasons why Elder Praxx had be so sour upon Damon''s death, as he had lost quite a bit of financial gain when Damon had died.


    Elder Praxx scoffed and nced sideways to the Elder that had just spoken, before his gaze once againnded on the arenas below.


    "Don''t you worry about me. Worry about your own disciples, for I have a suspicion that before this is over, your disciple''s death may very well happen," Elder Praxx replied calmly.


    "What did you say?" the Elder replied, his voice slightly angered.


    Elder Praxxpletely ignored the Elder, and the Elder eventually backed down. Despite him having a more valued disciple under his tutge, he was still lower in status, as well as power than Elder Praxx.


    The Elder in the middle arena suddenly silenced the crowd once again.


    "The outer disciple and inner disciple battles will now begin. The battles will be continuous, and as soon as one fight finishes, there will be an announcement on who fights next. For challengers, you have fifteen seconds to get to the stage when your name is called, or you forfeit.


    For those being challenged, you too have fifteen seconds to get to the correct arena, or you will automatically forfeit your rank and be reced with your challenger. Once a person had been challenged twice, they can no longer be challenged again. In the event that the same person is challenged again, a disciple will instead be picked at random to fight," the Elder exined.


    ''So that''s why there''s so many disciples today,'' John mused internally.


    It seemed as if the entire first year discipleship was here, and that actually seemed to be the case. If one was challenged and they did not fight, they would automatically be demoted to the challengers discipleship rank. With this in mind, no disciple dared to miss these battles, in case they were selected to fight.


    "With all that set, let us begin. The first seven fights are as such. In arena one, Ashe Shurin will fight Lyle Axnel. In arena 2¡­"


    The fourteen fighters were called out, and each quickly moved to their fighting tform, wasting no time to do so. Within fifteen seconds of being called, all participants were on the stage and ready to fight.


    The outer disciples who had been called first were incredibly excited, as they had been able to get those who they had picked to battle.


    Most of the outer disciples who issued challenges challenged specific disciples, who were lowest ranked, or weakest inner disciples. By doing this, the outer disciples would have the best chance to advance up a rank.


    The inner disciples stood there with looks of displeasure on their faces. By being selected first, it was as if the outer sect disciples were stating to the whole stadium that they were the weakest inner disciples, and did not deserve their position.


    An Elder stood near each arena, prepared to act as the referee. The lead Elder nced at the fourteen disciples, who stood facing their opponents. His voice boomed out one final time.


    "You may begin!"

 Chapter 344 - Outer Sect Battle

    "You may begin!"


    The Elder''s voice echoed throughout the entire facility. The start of the battles were announced, and the crowd once again erupted into an excited uproar.


    The fighter''s on each stage, wasting no time at all, unleashed their strongest attacks.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Each arena was immediately rocked by powerful attacks, as the participants began to fight it out.


    "Gah!"


    A pained cry sounded out from one of the arena''s, as the outer disciple was cleaved in half by their opponents attack. They had not evensted a single exchange.


    "Haaaaa!"


    The crowd erupted again in a wild uproar at the sight of blood and death, as the first casualty of the battles had taken ce. Watching from high above, John shook his head at watching the first disciple die.


    ''That disciple was truly in over his head if he thought he could win a battle against an inner disciple. He didn''t evenst a single move, and now his greed only means that his journey has ended.''


    He was not surprised that the battles could result in death. There had been no rules against killing an opponent, and so doing so was almost expected. The inner disciples on the stage right now had been personally challenged by the outer disciples, and thus were being looked down upon as the ''weakest'' inner disciples.


    As such, they wanted to win overwhelmingly and prove their worth as true inner disciples. It was as if they were saying that even if they were on the weaker side of inner disciples , they were still far above their pathetic outer disciple challengers.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Battle arts of all colors continued to fly out on the arenas below, as the other battles continued to rage on.


    "Ethan Krile, and Xunder Zoyl, make your way to stage 1 now," a booming voice echoed within the stadium, so loud that it drowned out the powerful battle art explosions below. The first battle had ended, and the recements were being called up with no dy.


    The two new participants immediately jumped down from the stadium stands to the arena below, making sure to make it to the arena in time. Both did, and their fight started almost immediately.


    John looked at the scene and nodded his head in approval. "They truly are pretty good at making sure there is no downtime. I guess these initial battles really shouldn''t take more than half a day."


    "Yep," Chase replied. "Everyone here, other than the outer and inner disciples, are looking forward to the Core disciple battles and above, and so they want to keep things moving to get there as fast as possible."


    John nodded his head, and turned his eyes back down to the arenas below.


    "Gah!"


    Another outer disciple screamed out in pain as his body was violently thrown off the fighting tform to the grounds below. Many bones stuck out of his flesh in several areas, and a look of agonized pain wracked his face.


    However, he had been lucky, as he had been eliminated by knockout, instead of death. While his recovery would take some time, it was still better than dying.


    Almost immediately after, two new disciples were named to move to the tform on which the previous battle had just concluded.


    Like this, battles continued to rage out for the next half day, as a constant stream of battles took ce. The inner disciples won their battles in overwhelming numbers, winning at a rate of nine out of ten battles. However, asionally there would be an outer disciple that was able to defeat the inner disciple, surprising the crowd.


    Thunderous apuse would greet each of these challengers, as most of them cut down their inner disciple counterparts to make a statement to all. Those outer disciples all strode back to the stadium stands with looks of tion and pride on their faces, as their fortunes had immediately changed for the better.


    The sun, which had just risen at the start of the battles, was now setting over the other side of the mountains, bathing the arenas in shadows. Lightning formations immediately lit up, bathing the arena''s in bright light once more.


    After twelve hours of battle, almost all the participants of the first stage had battled it out. There had been nearly a thousand battles, and the battles had resulted in over six hundred deaths. Such an amount of deaths was surprising to John, as even a single death in the Heavenly Lightning Sect was a big deal, let alone six hundred in a single afternoon.


    However, the sect only seemed to be driven even crazier by the sight, cheering for more and more blood.


    At this moment, John frowned. ''That''s pretty much everyone from what I can remember. Either I''m deadst to fight, or they didn''t properly register me for the batt-''


    John''s thoughts were cut off by a loud announcement once again.


    "And for thest battle of the outer sect group, the fighters will be Axel Gomek vs John Harren.."


    John raised his eyebrows slightly at the announcement. ''I guess I truly was pickedst. Oh well, it doesn''t matter.''


    Such a thing would normally be considered extremely bad luck, as he would only be assigned an inner disciple opponent who had not been chosen yet. This far into the battles, only the disciples at the very top remained to be opponents, which all sought to avoid.


    To John however, such a problem was trivial. He stood up, and wasting no time at all, jumped off the stadium stands. His body propelled through the air for five hundred yards before it came crashing down to his fighting tform below.


    Boom!


    His hardnding echoed all throughout the facility, and another boom sounded out before him immediately after. A smiling boy stared straight at him, as if John was a dead man. John stared right back, unimpressed.


    "You may begin!" the Elder''s voice immediately sounded out, signaling the start of the fight.

 Chapter 345 - Overwhelming Attack

    "You got shit luck kid," Axel mocked John.


    He had seen John''s fight with Esker, and knew John had strong sneak attack abilities. However, as long as he kept his guard raised, such tactics would not work against him. Not only that, but while Esker was also an inner disciple, he was much weaker than Axel, who was one of the five strongest inner disciples.


    "Kill his Axel," a loud shout came from the crowd.


    "Get revenge for Esker. Kill this arrogant bastard."


    Many simr shouts immediately drowned out the stadium, slightly surprising John once again.


    ''Just how unpopr was the person who I assumed this identity of, to get such a reaction?''


    John found the issue slightly amusing, but put such thoughts aside as he looked towards the boy before him. It was true that he was definitely stronger than Esker, but his strength was still far beneath John''s notice.


    John smirked as he stared at the boy. "You think the only thing I''m good at is sneak attacks?" John asked in an amused tone.


    The Bloodfiend Sect disciples had gotten quite the wrong impression of his skills. He had not attacked Esker like that due to it being his strength, but due to him not wanting to waste any more time on a useless battle.


    "Am I wrong?" Axel mocked back. "Your strength isughable, and without sneak attacks, you are as good as dead. But like I said, they won''t work on me, so you''re already as good as dead anyways."


    Axel took out his weapon, which was a long spear with barbed tips on the side. It was quite a gruesome looking weapon. His aura also red out, as he prepared for the battle.


    John smiled and shook his head at the boy''s incredibly stupid assessment. His blood red scythe appeared in his hands, and he casually raised it above his head while looking straight at Axel.


    "In that case, block this ''weak'' attack for me," John mocked.


    Axel was about to reply with another mocking insult, when his expression suddenly froze. John''s scythe had suddenly exploded with a horrifyingly powerful aura, as a battle art was channeled into it.


    Before Axel could say or do anything, John shed his scythe forward with a single casual motion. The motion appeared incredibly casual, but waspleted incredibly quickly. In fact, it was too fast for most in the crowd to see, as his attack already pierced towards Axel.


    Crimson de sh!


    Red light immediately lit up the fighting tform, as a massively powerful blood red scythe image shed directly towards Axel. It reached him almost instantly, and Axel just barely managed to raise his weapon in time to block it.


    Boom!


    An incredibly loud explosion rocked the arena, as John''s Crimson de sh collided against Axel''s hastily raised weapon.


    Boom!


    Almost immediately after, another thunderous boom echoed out, and the defensive formation surrounding the stadium stands lit up. All eyes turned to the point where the defensive formation had been assaulted, and those eyes quickly opened wide in absolute shock.


    Where the defensive formation had lit up, Axel''s half-broken corpse was pressed against it. Blood sttered everywhere, while bones were sticking out of his mangled flesh at various locations. His neck was snapped to the side, and his lifeless eyes were half popped out of his skull.


    Axel, who had been mouthing off confidently, was now reduced to this mangled state. If the attack he had just blocked had not killed him, the incredible speed at which he had impacted against the defensive formation had.


    His dead body slowly slid down the defensive formation, and eventually settled to the ground below. The crowd, which had just momentarily ago been shouting loudly, was as silent as the grave.


    John looked at the corpse on the ground for a moment before he pressed off the ground and jumped high into the air. Shortly after, hended high in the stadium stands where he had been sitting before, and took a seat next to Chase.


    The crowd, still stunned silent, looked up to John who sat there casually, before they all turned to each other as thunderous discussion broke out amongst themselves.


    "What just happened? How was his Crimson de sh that powerful? And how did he release it so quickly?"


    "I don''t know, but it was so strong that Axel was reduced to a smear just by blocking it!"


    "Was John always this strong? What''s going on? I thought he was only good at sneak attacks?"


    "I heard he wanted to challenge Alix. Everyone thought he was joking, but maybe he''s actually going to do it."


    "Even if he is strong, challenging an Emperor is just suicide."


    At the same time, a set of workers came out to the arena grounds and cleaned up the mess Axel had left behind.


    John suddenly felt two pairs of eyes stare directly at him, and he nced in the direction of the first. Elder Praxx was staring right at him, with a look of approval on his face. Clearly, John''s disy had been to his liking. There were several other Elder''s in the area staring straight at him with inquisitive looks, as if they were trying to figure out how they had never noticed John before.


    John swiveled his head and looked to the second pair of eyes that stared intensely at him. He slightly raised his eyebrows as he noticed who it was, but his face remained calm. The girl staring at him did so for quite some time, before she looked away, as did John.


    Next to the girl, a boy had noticed her gaze and began to mock her.


    "What is Azalea? Have you taken a liking to that boy?" Thraks, one of the Three Emperors, amusingly jeered.


    "As if," Azalea scoffed. "For some reason, he seemed familiar to me, but I''ve never seen the boy before. Must have been my imagination."


    "Oh? How interesting," Thraks replied as he stared at John onest time before looking away.


    John breathed out a sigh of relief as Azalea looked away. ''There''s no way she can recognize who I am through this mask, right?''


    "Silence," a loud shout boomed within the stadium, silencing the heated discussions.


    The lead Elder walked out to the central arena once more.


    "The outer disciple battles have now concluded, and the inner disciple battles will nowmence. Inner disciples who wish to challenge core disciples, step forward now and register."


    The second round of cement battles had begun.

 Chapter 346 - Core Disciple Battles

    With the same amount of excitement and fanfare as the first round, the second round kicked off with a buzz. Roughly one hundred inner disciples had registered for the next round, John included.


    He had advanced the previous round to the status of an inner disciple, and was now allowed to challenge core disciples. Continuous advancements like this were incredibly rare, and almost no one ever had the guts to try their luck twice.


    Many eyes glued to John as he registered, filling the expectations of many. The essence power he had shown in that one attack had been overwhelming, and was easily on par with core disciples. While no one knew how he had advanced so much so quickly, no one was willing to look down on him any more.


    His first battle with Esker could have been chalked up to himnding a surprise blow, but the second battle just now squashed those theories. He had used overwhelming power to kill his opponent, and had done so in a single attack.


    Elder Praxx gazed down from above as John walked back to his seat from the registration tables. The nearby Elder''s noticed his gaze.


    "What''s this? Has this boy''s performance caught your eye?" one of the Elder''s asked.


    "His attack just now was quite impressive. He definitely has the power of a core disciple. He wouldn''t be a bad choice to have as a direct disciple. Maybe I''ll make him my direct disciple," another Elder replied.


    Elder Praxx nced over to the Elder who had just spoken and gave him a cold look, but ignored him otherwise. He already had an agreement in ce with John, and was not concerned about him backing out of it.


    He was one of the highest ranked Elder''s within the sect, and would be the best choice for any disciple to choose to have as a master. The only reason he didn''t rece Damon with a different core disciple was that none of them were talented enough for him to waste his time on.


    After the registration wasplete, the battlesmenced immediately. Instead of all seven arena''s, only four were used, as there were only one hundred battles to take ce. The quality of the battles were much higher than the previous battles, as inner sect disciples battled core disciples.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Powerful battle arts were used in quick session, and the explosions from the powerful collisions shook the sect. The entire stadium erupted into apuse and cheers whenever a blow wasnded, or a kill confirmed.


    Even at the inner disciple and core disciple level, the Bloodfiend Sect did not interfere when it came to life and death in these battles. The strong survived and flourished, while the weak died. They raised only the strongest disciples this way, and concentrated all their resources on a select few.


    Much like the first round, the challengers were beaten in overwhelming numbers. For every ten challengers, only one would seed in their challenge. Also simr to the first round, the death ratio was quite high.


    Of the nearly one hundred battles, over fifty had resulted in a death. Such numbers werepletely shocking, as the disciples seemed to throw themselves into the gauntlet of death without a care for their lives.


    "Do they not care if they live or die?" John couldn''t help but muse out loud as he watched the battles below.


    "I''m sure you know it yourself already," Chase replied. "Life within this sect is quite harsh, especially for those at the bottom. Even inner disciples have quite a brutal life, as they need to go on life and death missions all the time just to make ends meet and raise their cultivations. Only by being a core disciple can one truly thrive within this sect," Chase replied.


    John nodded his head but said nothing. While what Chase said made sense, it was still shocking to see so many throw their lives away for the small chance of advancement.


    ''I suppose it''s no different than when I gambled with my life on the line in the past for the pursuit of power. The lightning world trials, the divine talent trials, all of it was done with my life on the line, for the sole purpose of raising my cultivation and strength.''


    Whatever the reason, John was not too concerned by what he saw. As far as he was concerned, the more dead Bloodfiend Sect disciples, the better.


    After ny or so battles, an announcement echoed throughout the arena.


    "The next battle will be between...Giles Stone, and John Harren."


    The announcement immediately caught the attention of the crowd, as one of the names they were most looking to see fight was finally called.


    "Welp, guess I''m up again. I''ll be back soon," John said to Chase as he patted him on the back in a friendly manner.


    "Good luck," Chase replied, but didn''t seem too concerned.


    John jumped off from where he was seated andnded hard on the arena below.


    Boom!


    Another boom echoed out right after, as his opponentnded on the arena next to him. It was a boy his age, who had long blonde hair and a fairly attractive face. His body was pretty slender, but his aura red out powerfully, revealing that he was no push over.


    "It''s Giles. He''s one of the strongest Core Formation disciples."


    "Right. He hasn''t ever been defeated in battle yet. John has drawn an incredibly difficult opponent this time."


    "I don''t know. Giles is strong, but would he be able to kill Axil like John did in a single attack?"


    Heated discussions broke out as they began discussing their predictions of the battle toe. Unlike the previous rounds, those in the crowd seemed to finally respect John''s strength, and discussed his battle toe instead of just jeering at him.


    John stared at his opponent with a calm expression, as he casually inspected him. Unlike his previous opponent, this one seemed to havee prepared. His aura was already ring out powerfully, billowing his hair and robes as he stared straight at John with weapon in hand.


    "I have to admit, that attack of yours was quite powerful. But if you think you can defeat me in the same manner, you''repletely mistaken," the boy said to John with a confident smile.


    John thought about it for a moment before he nodded his head in agreement. "You''repletely right. You''re much stronger than the previous opponent I faced.. Instead of one attack to kill you, it will most likely take three."

 Chapter 347 - Three Attacks

    John''s words were shocking to hear, but no one dared look down on them anymore. Giles, his opponent,ughed in an amused manner as he heard John''sment. However, there was a tinge of anger in thatughter, as he felt he was being looked down on.


    "Haha, looking down on me is a mistake you won''t be making twice," Giles replied.


    John shrugged his shoulders at Giles'' reply, as if he couldn''t be bothered to reply. His scythe suddenly appeared in his hands, and his aura began to steadily rise.


    ''If I could use my full body strength and Immortal Asura Body, I would be able to kill him with a single blow as well, but I''m quite a bit weaker being unable to utilize my full body strength. However, my essence power should still be more than enough to dominate this entirepetition.''


    Cultivation wise, John had finally caught up to his peers. His cultivation was at the Late Core Formation Realm, and even the Three Emperors were only at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm. While that was a slight bit higher, it was technically still considered the same realm.


    The power of his twenty timespressed dantian was absolutely horrifying whenpared to the rest of all cultivators, and so even with just his essence power, he would still be able to dominate anyone within the same realm. This boy, the core disciples, and the Emperors wouldst in battle a bit longer, but they would fall, just like all the rest.


    Seeing John power up for battle, Giles did the same. He steadied his saber in front of himself, and stared at John with absolute concentration. He knew that John was an incredibly difficult opponent, and that he would need to go all out. However, he was confident that even if he couldn''t win, he could still keep his life.


    "You may begin!"


    The starting words sounded out from the Elder, and the crowd instantly went silent, as they held their bated breath.


    Instantly, Giles'' saber glowed with a brilliant light as he shed it down towards John. A massive saber image cleaved forward, scraping against the arena floor. The arena floor was made out of incredibly durable material, but this attack of Axil''s was able to leave a small singr scratch trail behind as the attack pierced forward.


    Boom!


    The saber image exploded onto John''s position, bathing the location in a powerful explosion of Qi. John quickly dashed to the side at thest moment, narrowly dodging the attack. He looked back towards the explosion, and a look of approval appeared on his face.


    ''Not bad, that attack truly was quite impressive. However, it''s still far from enough to injure me, let alone kill me.''


    After narrowly dodging the attack, John pressed forward with all his might. Qi rapidly surged through his legs as he utilized one of the movement speed techniques of the Bloodfiend Sect.


    His figure appeared before Giles in an instant, who was prepared for the counter attack. Giles sped forward to meet him, and his saber was shing out with the same power as the first attack, as if he wanted a head on battle.


    John noticed this, and decided to wee itpletely. His saber shed forward from the side, as it too began to glow with the familiar red light of the Crimson de sh. While he had not been expecting Giles to move forward to meet his attack, it made no difference.


    "Hmph, toote," Giles smirked as he noticed John''ste attack. With him moving forward, John had less time to prepare his Crimson de sh, which would result in a less powerful attack.


    Saber and scythe shed out, and collided with absolute power.


    Boom!


    An incredibly powerful boom echoed throughout the entire stadium, as weapons and battle arts collided.


    Giles, unable to withstand the power of the collision, suddenly flew backwards across the arena while his eyes were wide open in shock. While he had not been injured in thatst exchange, he hadpletely lost out on power, despite forcing John to unleash his attack early.


    "Impossible," Giles muttered in shock while stabilizing his body and slowing down his momentum.


    With the ability to fly, knockout''s in these battles were quite rare. Cultivators could stabilize their momentum much quicker than before, as Giles had just done. Before he could press forward once again, John appeared in front of Giles like a blur.


    His speed was almost unreal, and even the crowd of disciples had trouble keeping up with it. Only the Elder''s, as well as the Three Emperors, could fully track his movements.


    He appeared directly above AGiles in the air several feet above, and his scythe was already shing down with incredible power.


    Crimson de sh!


    A second Crimson de sh, far more powerful than the first, cleaved directly towards Giles. Giles grit his teeth and shed his saber out with full force to meet the attack, as he knew he could not dodge in time.


    Peng!


    Weapons and battle arts collided once again, and an incredible force entered Giles'' arms from the collision. He felt as if his arms were about to break from resisting the incredible power, and his knees nearly buckled beneath him, but he managed to hold on and fully resist the attack.


    However, it had taken his absolute full power to resist that attack, which left him open for a moment while his body and Qi recovered from such excessive use.


    Taking advantage of this momentary state of recovery, whichsted less than a tenth of a second, John utilized his movement technique once more to appear behind Giles. He had only used part of his full strength in thatst exchange, and so was not suffering from the same recovery period as Giles.


    "It''s over."


    These words echoed in Giles''s mind as his eyes opened wide. John had just been before him, but disappeared in an instant. His movement was so fast that it had appeared like a blur to Giles, but the source of the voice came from directly behind him.


    Giles spun as fast as he could, but his eyes once again widened in shock and fear as the cold steel of John''s scythe was already at his neck.


    Che!


    John''s scythe arced out beautifully, and a brilliant red shower of blood rained down as Giles'' head was severed cleanly from his body. Fear was still etched on his face as it plopped down to the crowd below.


    The jubnt crowd, all cheering at the sight of his death, and John walking towards his head was thest thing he saw before darkness took over.

 Chapter 348 - Emperor Battles

    John stared at the body for a moment before moving forward and collecting Giles'' head in his spatial realm. The Bloodfiend Sect openly practiced taboo cultivation arts, and so John had no reason to hide anything here.


    After collecting the head, John jumped off the stage and walked towards his seat high up in the stadium. All eyes turned to look at him as he passed them by, as John was the hottest topic of discussion as ofte.


    "He did it again, and this time with only three attacks!"


    "How did he get so strong so fast? Did he find an amazing ancient item or something?"


    "Regardless of the reason, his fortunes have definitely changed. He''s now a core disciple, and can look down on the rest of us."


    "Shit. I used to pick on him all the time. I hope he forgot about it."


    John ignored all these discussions as he walked by, and returned to his seat next to Chase. Chase looked at John closely, as if he was seeing John in a new light.


    "Congrattions. You''re now a core disciple," Chase said to John with a small smile on his face.


    "Thanks," John replied.


    His battles were not over, but he didn''t feel the need to bring that up at the moment. After themotion of John''s battle died down, the remaining battles were carried out.


    While they were exciting, none were as exciting as John''s battle, which had ended in just three attacks. The battles eventually concluded, and the results were simr to the previous round. Only a handful of inner disciples had been sessful in their challenges, while the majority had either lost or been killed.


    So far, over seven hundred disciples had been killed, and the arena''s were beginning to be tinged red with blood, despite being cleaned after every battle. Every kill only seemed to further excite the crowd, making the sect appear incredibly barbaric and wild.


    The final battle of the core disciple round finally concluded, marking the end of the round. The lead Elder once again stepped up on the stage and addressed the crowd.


    "The core disciple battles have been finished, and the round concluded. There only remains one final round. The Emperor battles."


    Mentioning the Emperors sent a wave of excitedmotion through the crowd, as these were the battles that the crowd had been waiting for all day.


    "Unlike the previous rounds, there will be no need for registrations. Any core disciple wishing to challenge an Emperor needs only to step on this central arena and issue their challenge. With that said, the challenges may begin."


    Unlike the Heavenly Lightning Sect, there was no distinction between core disciples and direct disciples. In the Bloodfiend Sect, they were one in the same.


    The crowd instantly descended into silence, as everyone waited for someone to step onto the stage. It wasn''t all that unusual for no challenges to be issued, as everyone knew the might of the Three Emperors was above everyone else.


    John nced to a certain part of the stadium, and saw Elder Praxx looking straight at him.


    Boom!


    A boom echoed out in the central fighting arena, drawing the attention of all. A lone figure was seen standing there, as he loudly dered for all the arena to hear.


    "Azalea, I challenge you to battle," his voice echoed out throughout the entire arena.


    The crowd instantly broke out into thunderous discussion at the neers challenge.


    "That''s Leon! He''s actually challenging Azalea!"


    "That''s not too surprising. He''s one of the strongest core disciples, and has been talking about? challenging her."


    "I guess that makes sense. She apparently suffered an embarrassing defeat in the ancient city, which made many question whether she is worthy of the title or not."


    High up in the stadium stands, Azalea frowned as she looked down at the arena below. The challenger had singled her out first, clearly indicating that he thought she was the weakest. Ever since losing the battle within the ancient city, she could tell that those around her looked at her with much less respect than before.


    After a moment of sitting there, Azalea stood up and casually walked to the arena below, as all eyes followed her. She arrived before her opponent, and looked at him with indifferent eyes.


    "I suppose I should thank you," Azalea spoke out to Leon.


    "Oh?" Leon replied. "And why is that?"


    "Because...when I ughter you in front of this entire crowd, they will be reminded once again of why I am an Emperor," Azalea replied calmly.


    She was going to use this battle to once again cement her status as an Emperor, and silence those hushed discussions of if she was worthy of the title or not.


    "Is that so?" Leon replied with an amused tone. He was confident in his own power, and fully expected to win against her.


    The lead Elder walked off the stage,, and spoke out for all the crowd to hear.


    "The battle may now begin!"


    "Haaaaaaaa!"


    The crowd instantly erupted into an excited uproar, as the battles they were wanting to witness most had finally arrived.


    Leon waved his hand, and arge greatsword suddenly appeared within his grasp. At the same time, two slender daggers appeared in Azalea''s hands.


    "Haha, die!" Leon shouted out as he dashed forward. His greatsword began to emit an absolutely incredible power, shocking the crowd. They finally understood why Leon had the guts to challenge Azalea, as the power he was emanating right now was incredible.


    At the same time, the arena turned red, as he utilized his Crimson Hell Domain, further amplifying his power.


    "Hmph," a soft scoff escaped Azalea''s lips as she stood there motionlessly.


    Without warning, a strange power emanated from her, and covered the entire arena.


    John raised his eyebrows in surprise at the power he was feeling at the moment, as it was unlike anything he had felt from her before. The strange power, which appeared to also be a domain, washed over Leon, but he seemed to ignore it.


    Boom!


    His attacknded on the arena stage, shaking the entire arena from its explosive power.


    "Hahaha, this was all it took to defeat you? Pathetic. You truly didn''t deserve your title as an Emperor," Leon mocked for all the crowd to hear.


    The crowd had looks of shock and surprise on their faces, as the stared at the scene before them.


    Leon was looking at the ground, mocking Azalea whileughing like a maniac. However, the spot he was staring at waspletely devoid of anything, and Azalea was standing in apletely different part of the arena.


    Slowly but surely, Azalea walked up to Leon, without him reacting to her presence at all. She finally reached him, and her daggers slowly slid across his neck while he stood there, not reacting at all.


    "Gah!"


    Leon cried out in shock and pain as he finally noticed Azalea, as well as the gaping wound on his neck. However, it was toote to do anything, as his throat had already been slit. Blood spurted out freely as Leon copsed to his knees. He stared at the ground where he had attacked, before looking up to Azalea once more.


    Bang!


    His body copsed to the floor, and life left his body.. Even in death, he had no idea what had just happened.

 Chapter 349 - Thraks Vs Alex

    "Pathetic," Azalea mocked as she stared down at the corpse before her. She stored his body, before calmly walking off the stage and back to her seat. The crowd watched in stunned silence, unsure of what just happened.


    "What just happened?"


    "I don''t know, but it seemed like Leon didn''t even notice her approaching."


    "Did she vanish from his sight somehow?"


    John stared at Azalea''s back, slightly surprised at the progress she had disyed.


    ''That was clearly a soul art she just used, and a powerful one at that. Her opponent thought he had struck her down, but those were just visions she put in his mind. She was able to walk up to him unnoticed, and kill him before he could react. Seems like she''s made quite a deal of progress since our battle in the ancient temple.''


    The strange aura that had emitted from her was clearly soul art, although John didn''t know which one.


    "So Azalea has sessfully cultivated the Despairing Soul Domain?" Chase suddenly murmured.


    "Despairing Soul Domain?" John asked. "Howe I''ve never heard of it."


    Chase remained silent for a moment. "Because it''s quite a rare soul art to havepatibility with. One can only havepatibility with it when theyve been driven to the edge of despair, and overcame that hurdle. Even then, they must still have the talent needed to cultivate it. Its quite surprising that she was able to, but now that she has, her power has increased greatly," Chase exined.


    John looked back to Azalea, as she finally sat down in her seat.


    ''Edge of despair huh? Must have been from the battle in the temple, or perhaps her punishment for running and losing afterwards. Either way, she should be thanking me for her advancements.''


    John chuckled to himself, before turning to Chase once again.


    "Hey, how do you know so much about this sect? Many of the things you''ve revealed some are notmon knowledge, and some seem to be a bit more forbidden knowledge at that?" John asked.


    Chase always seemed to have the answers to everything, regardless of the subject.


    Chase remained silent for some time before replying. "You learn a lot of things in the Pill Hall, things that most others don''t talk about freely."


    His reply was short, and John frowned as he heard it, as he didn''t believe it, but he didn''t prod further. If Chase didn''t want to tell him the truth, there was no way of making him do so. John focused his attention back on the martial arena below, as another challenger has suddenly appeared.


    "Thraks, get down here!"


    His appearance stirred the silent crowd into a frenzy of discussion once more, as he shouted out towards the Three Emperors.


    "That''s Alex! He''s actually challenging Thraks?"


    "What''s so strange about that?"


    "Don''t you know? They used to be childhood friends, and have been all the way until Thraks got chosen as an Emperor and Alex didn''t!"


    "There was such a thing?"


    "Yep, apparently their strength was rtively even, but Trhaks managed to be an Emperor and Alex didn''t. I guess he''s trying to change that now."


    Thraks looked down at Alex from above, and his calm face revealed that he was not surprised at the neers'' challenge. He stood up from his seat, and pressed off it with great force.


    His massive body took to the sky, and came crashing down on the arena tform below.


    Boom!


    His hardnding seemed to shake the very arena itself, revealing just how heavy and sturdy his body was. Hended just before his opponent, and the two stared at each other with serious expressions.


    Both had veryrge and powerful bodies, which towered over the rest of the disciples. They almost seemed like twins, and both seemed as if they could pull apart boulders with their bare hands.


    "Are you sure you want to challenge me?" Thraks asked. "Once this battle starts, I will take your life, regardless of our past history."


    "I''m sure," Alex replied confidently, while also having a look of slight anger on his face. "We were always even in power throughout our entire lives, even up to the point when you were chosen as Emperor and I was not. Our fights always ended in ties, but ever since the day you became Emperor, I''ve trained harder than ever to take that title from you," Alex replied.


    John raised his eyebrows slightly at the conversation between the two. They seemed to have been good friends, but Thraks was talking about killing his ''friend,'' while Alex revealed anger and jealousy instead of happiness at his friend''s recent boon.


    ''Seems like friends are just superficial things in the Bloodfiend Sect. The only one anyone can trust is themselves. What a cruel and miserable ce to live,'' John mused internally.


    "Unfortunately for you, this is your end," Thraks replied.


    A greatsword suddenly appeared in his hands, and also in the hands of Alex. Even in weapons, they were the same.


    "You may begin," the words from the Elder echoed throughout the entire facility.


    Boom!


    Two powerful auras instantly exploded outwards, towering high into the sky as the two friends dashed towards each other. Greatswords cleaved down with immense might, colliding in the center of the arena, and shaking the stadium violently.


    The first exchange between the two fighters seemed to be a tie, and both swung their greatswords out again and again. Violent collisions continuously rocked the martial arena, making it feel like there was a constant earthquake.


    ''Not bad. Both of them seem to havemon grade innate variant bodies, and both are exploding with incredible power.''


    John watched intently as the battle raged out below. The battle seemed to be even, as both sides collided with absolute power. The strength of their attacks shocked the other first year disciples, as they saw first hand just how far the gaping maw between their own strength and the strength of the Emperors were.


    After exchanging dozens and dozens of powerful attacks, both fighters took several steps backwards and stared at each other. Alex seemed to be breathing slightly heavily, while Thraks seemedposed.


    A smile broke out on Alex''s face as he stared at Thraks.


    "Just like before, our strengths are evenly matched. However, unfortunately for you, that was just a warm up. I''ve made incredible improvements over the past several months, and now I''ll be using those improvements to defeat you," Alex said to Thraks.


    Thraks stood there calmly, as if the words uttered by Alex meant nothing. Alex suddenly raised his greatsword above his head, and after a moment of silence, it exploded out with incredible power.


    "What battle art is that?" one of the disciples in the crowd eximed in shock. Its power was far beyond anything they had seen in the battle so far.


    "It''s the Bloodrending Greatsword Art!" another disciple chimed in.


    Alex swung his weapon forward, and his greatsword art cleaved towards Thraks with incredible power. Thraks stood there calmly, as he shed his own greatsword out to meet it.


    Boom!

 Chapter 350 - Get Down Here

    The two attacks collided, and the arena was bathed in a powerful collision of the two attacks. The entire stadium shook violently, before the explosion faded and the shaking died down.


    Alex smiled as he stared at the fading explosion, as his attack hadnded head on. Even if Thraks was not defeated, he must have taken great damage from that attack.


    "Stage one of the Bloodrending Greatsword Art, huh?" a voice boomed from within the fading explosion.


    Alex''s eyes narrowed slightly as he stared forward. Thrak''s figure was eventually revealed, which seemed to bepletely fine. Other than some shallow wounds on his body, he seemed to otherwise be unharmed.


    "Not bad for you to have learned that attack. Now let me reply," Thraks said to Alex as he raised his greatsword above his head.


    Boom!


    His sword instantly began to radiate an incredible might, much stronger than what Alex had revealed. Alex''s eyes widened greatly as he stared at Thrak''s greatsword, which suddenly cleaved towards him.


    "Bloodrending Greatsword Art, Stage Two!"


    Thraks sped forward and appeared directly before Alex, as his greatsword cleaved down. An overwhelmingly powerful battle art, twice as strong as Alex''s attack, cleaved towards Alex.


    Alex''s surprised face turned grim as he channeled his battle art once more, and shed his own greatsword out to meet it.


    Greatswords and battle arts collided, and the collision between the two seemed to drown the entire stadium in its power. The stadium quaked as if it were soon to copse, but all within ignored the shaking as they had their eyes glued to the battle before them.


    Alex grit his teeth as he strained with all his might to resist Thrak''s attack. After a momentary defense, two snapping sounds ran out, and Alex screamed out in pain as both his arms broke from the force of the attack. His greatsword was knocked out of his grasp, as his arms lost all their strength.


    Thrak''s greatsword continued downwards unimpeded now, and cleaved directly into Alex''s shoulder.


    Che!


    Flesh and bone were rendered apart as Thrak''s greatsword cleaved down into Alex, only stopping after it had reached his lungs. Alex''s eyes, wide open with pain and shock, stared unblinkingly at Thraks.


    He hade into this battle with absolute confidence, as he had trained nearly to the death, and raised his strength to incredible levels. While he was not nning on killing Thraks, he was nning on dethroning him, and iming the title of Emperor for his own. However, those ns had seemed toe to a grinding halt today.


    Thraks stared down at Alex, his eyes slightly tinged with sadness.


    "I''m sorry friend, but any and all challengers must be cleaved down mercilessly, or else my status as an Emperor will be in question. Rest easy now!" Thraks said softly to Alex. His greatsword pressed down further into Alex''s body, cleaving into his heart.


    While he didn''t want to kill his friend, he was now an Emperor. If he did not kill any and all challengers, his status as an Emperor woulde into question, as only the fiercest and cruelest of Emperors would thrive within the Bloodfiend Sect. Those who had soft hearts would be looked down on by the Elders and Sect Leader, and disposed of sooner orter.


    Pain wracked Alex''s body as the greatsword pushed deeper into his chest. Alex''s shocked face slowly turned into a pained smile.


    "I guess we finally have an answer on who is stronger," Alex replied as blood spewed from his mouth and onto his chest and the ground below.


    It seemed as though while he made incredible gains over thest few months, the gains Thraks made were even more immense.


    "No wonder they chose you," Alex uttered out onest line as his eyes slowly lost focus, and he copsed to the ground, dead.


    "Haaaaaaaaaaaa!"


    The crowd erupted into a frenzy from the battle, as it had by far been the most intense and interesting battle of the entire day. Thraks ignored the crowd''s chants as he stored his friend''s body away, and calmly returned to his seat in the stadium.


    "Did you see thatst attack! That was incredible," a disciplemented with an excited voice.


    "Yup. No wonder the Emperor''s are the Emperors. Their strengths are unmatched," another replied.


    The crowd remained wild for quite some time before themotion eventually died down and the fighting tform was cleaned up.


    "Do you think anyone else will make a challenge?" one disciple asked their friends.


    "No way. Did you see how overwhelming Azalea and Thraks were? Theres no one that can challenge that power."


    "Right, the only thing one will do if they challenge the Emperors is throw their life away."


    "I guess that was thest battle of the day, but what an amazing battle to end it on."


    "Right, right. Thest two battles were absolutely incredible. The only thing I want to do now is cultivate and raise my power as much as possible, so that maybe one day I can be even somewhat simr to the Emperors."


    Simr discussion broke out all throughout the crowd, as the disciples prepared to leave the stadium after an intense day of battles. Many of them stood up and prepared to leave the arena, as the day had finallye to an end.


    Boom!


    A loud boom suddenly radiated outwards from the central arena, catching the attention of all the disciples and Elder''s who had stood up and were beginning to leave. Their eyes widened in surprise as they saw who it was, but each and every one of them quickly sat down, as there seemed to be onest challenger.


    The challenger stood there calmly, and suddenly pointed into the stands, straight at Alix, one of the Three Emperors.


    "Alix, we have some unfinished business. Get down here, so that I may im your life," John''s calm voice sounded out over the entire stadium, as he pointed straight at Alex.


    The time for his battle against an Emperor had finally arrived.

 Chapter 351 - Courting Death

    John''s calm yet firm voice reverberated over the entire stadium, silencing it for a moment as all in the crowd looked towards Alix. He was seated next to the other two Emperors, just below the VIP Elder''s, Elder Praxx included, who were observing the battles.


    "What? He''s actually challenging Alix. Why would he do that after he saw how strong the other two Emperors are?"


    "He said he was going to challenge him before the battles started. I thought he was joking, but apparently he was serious."


    "He may be incredibly strong, but the Emperors are on another level. If his strength is just what he disyed earlier, I don''t see how he can win."


    "You''re right. The strength he disyed earlier was equivalent to a top Core Disciple, but not nearly an Emperor."


    The crowd instantly began to discuss John''s challenge, while looking at Alix in the stands.


    Alix frowned in displeasure as he saw John challenge him. He had taken it as a source of pride after the other two Emperors were challenged before him as a subtle statement that he was the strongest Emperor.


    If he was weaker than the other two, surely he would have been challenged first. However, John''s challenge smashed that assumption, displeasing Alix greatly.


    Alix''s frown quickly changed into an amused smirk as he looked down on John from above, like a king looking down on amoner from his throne. However, now that he was challenged, he needed to heed the call.


    Boom!


    His aura suddenly red outwards while still seated, as if John''s very presence was insulting him. The nearby disciples, other than the other Emperors, all felt their blood run hot and their minds start to go crazy. It was as if their blood was no longer under their own control, and werepletely dominated by Alix.


    Just from releasing his aura, Alix was driving the other disciples to the edge of madness. His body suddenly shed, and he quickly appeared before John, as if he had moved like a blur. The other disciples had not even seen him move, and turned their heads in shock as they noticed the source of the aura had moved to the fighting arena below.


    "How fast. I didn''t even see him move," a disciple couldn''t help but exim.


    "That speed was unreal. How is he so much faster than us while still in the same realm?"


    Just his casual disy of speed shocked all the other disciples, as they were sure he could most likely move even faster. Alix arrived before John and stared at him as if he was inspecting livestock.


    There was no respect in his gaze. Instead, it only contained disdain and disgust, in that John had the gall to challenge him.


    John noticed this gaze, as well as what Alix was thinking, and smirked in response.


    "Does my challenge hurt your pride?" John asked in a mocking tone. "You''ve been an Emperor for only a few months and you act like you''re an undefeatable god? You couldn''t even be an Emperor before Damon died and a spot opened up. How delusional."


    Alix narrowed his eyes as John uttered these words for the entire crowd to hear. Small snickers ofughter filled the crowd as many disciples couldn''t help butugh at the truth of John''s words. It was true that Alix was incredibly strong, but it was also true that his arrogance had soared to incredible levels once he became an Emperor, and only after Damon''s death allowed him to do so.


    "I was just going to cut you down instantly with overwhelming power, so that those in the crowd see my power and know the futility of challenging me, but I''ve changed my mind," Alix replied in a cold tone. "First I''m going to break you, and then I''m going to torture you to the limits your body can handle, all while the entire stadium watches."


    John smiled as he heard Alix''s reply, as it seemed his words had cut deep into him. Alix had tried to kill him earlier, and so John was going to make sure that Alix paid for his earlier actions.


    "That''s a pretty good suggestion," John replied. "I think I''ll do what you just said. I just hope you don''t pass out on me before the deed is done."


    "Courting death," Alix replied angrily through gritted teeth.


    "Courting death? You literally just now said you''re going to torture me to death. I think death has already been courted, has it not?" John replied in a mocking tone.


    "Hahaha."


    The entire crowd burst out inughter at John''s words, and the truth of them. Alix had already said John was going to die, so why would he not court death further. Alix turned slightly red at the crowdughing at him, partly from embarrassment, but mostly from anger.


    Boom!


    His aura erupted out powerfully, piercing high above himself into the sky. His aura was blood red, and bathed him in a glow of red. Standing in the middle of it, Alix looked like a blood demon, frightening many in the crowd.


    "How powerful," many disciples couldn''t help but utter in awe.


    Boom!


    John''s aura exploded out as well in answer, towering up high as well. His aura was red as well, but a darker crimson red, with wisps of ck in it. It was just as powerful as Alix''s, surprising the crowd greatly. On top of that, it had a malevolent and sinister quality that even Alix''s didn''t have, shocking the crowd further.


    "Wow, his aura is even stronger than before," a disciple pointed out.


    "It seems that even in his previous battles, John was still holding back. Maybe he can keep up with Alix."


    "Who knows, but what I do know is that we''re about to watch an incredible battle take ce before our eyes."


    The crowd broke out in morous discussion, while both fighters were staring at each other with hate in their eyes, ready to explode out with power at a moment''s notice.


    "You may begin," the Elder''s words suddenly sounded out across the stadium.


    Boom!

 Chapter 352 - Constant Barrage

    Sword and scythe collided powerfully in the middle of the arena as John and Alix shed against each other. John was wielding his signature blood red scythe, while Alix was wielding a slender pitch ck sword.


    The first exchange was pure might and strength, and contained no battle arts, as each side wanted to triumph over the other using nothing but weapon skill and cultivation power.


    Alix''s cultivation was at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, while John was solidly in the Late Core Formation Realm. Although Alix was a bit higher in cultivation base, such a thing did not concern John at all. Cultivation level was not the only thing that dictated power.


    In the ensuing collision, the result was a tie. If John had wanted to, he would havepletely crushed Alix in a pure collision of strength. However, doing so would reveal his body cultivation, and would out him as an imposter.


    No matter how talented he now imed to be, it was known by all that John Harren was not a body cultivator. One could not be one overnight as well, and so using any of his body cultivation power was not possible.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The two exchanged dozens of moves in quick session, each trying toe out on top using nothing but martial prowess. Weapons sliced from strange angles, twirled in defensive parries, and collided dozens of times as the two continued to exchange attacks.


    The crowd watched in awe, barely able to keep up with the moves being exchanged. Just a casual weapon attack from either of the fighters on the stage would be enough to im their lives, let alone when they used battle arts on top of such attacks.


    Several more attacks were exchanged, until both fighters jumped backwards and separated from each other. They stared at one another with focused eyes.


    "Wow, John actually kept up with Alix in those exchanges," a disciple eximed in excitement.


    "Sure, but that was just pure martial attacks. Wait until Alix uses his battle arts and essence Qi, and then we can see if John can still keep up," a nearby disciple who was a fan of Alix replied in slight disdain.


    Alix stared at John for a while, slightly annoyed that he was not even able to slightly scratch John in their initial exchanges. He wanted to kill John using only his weapon, as a testament to his overwhelming strength.


    He wanted to proim to the crowd that even without using his battle arts, he was undefeatable. However, things had not gone ording to n, as John was surprisingly just as good at wielding a weapon as Alix was, if not even better.


    Alix frowned as such a thought, and his aura once again towered high into the sky.


    "Fine, if I can''t kill you like that, then it will just have to be through overwhelming power," Alix said to John.


    Without waiting for a reply from John, Alix shed his de out immediately. The attack was simr to the Crimson de sh John used, in both speed and power.


    Che!


    A sword image pierced towards John at incredible speed, reaching him in almost an instant. It was the fastest attack John had ever seen from a Core Formation opponent, and made him respect Alix''s strength slightly.


    John infused his scythe with his essence Qi and shed it out in response. Scythe and sword image collided, and John was bathed in an explosion of essence Qi as his body was knocked back slightly.


    ''No wonder Alix was able to be an Emperor. Just this casual attack of his is quite powerful, and would be able to severely injure most of the Core Formation disciples.''


    However, while the attack was incredibly quick and powerful, it was not nearly enough to overwhelm John. His reaction times, partially due to his natural talent, and partly due to the Vice-Sect Leader''s training, were at the absolute peak of his realm.


    Not only that, but his essence Qi was stronger, and his natural body defense was high as well. Even if he didn''t use body arts, his natural defense was more than enough to keep him protected.


    Alix frowned slightly as he saw John parry his attack with ease. His sword shed out again, and again, and again, sending an endless barrage of sword images towards John.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    The sword images reached John in an instant, bathing him in a constant barrage of powerful sword attacks. His attacks were so quick and seamless that it gave John no chance to counter attack, and so he could only focus on defending with his full power.


    The arena began to quake violently from the battle art explosions, as John shed his scythe out rapidly to meet every attack.


    This barrage of powerful sword attacks continued for several minutes, as the crowd watched in rapt attention at the scene before them. John''s figure wasn''t even visible anymore to the crowd, as his constant parries of the sword images showered him in a perpetual explosion of Qi.


    The longer this barrage of attacks went on, the more surprised the crowd became. Just unleashing one of these attacks would be draining for them, but Alix was able to do so nonstop. Once again, he was showing his status as an Emperor was well deserved.


    After several minutes of sending out these attacks, Alix stopped attacking. His face was slightly pale and breathing slightly heavy, as even he found himself starting to be exhausted after sending out that many powerful Qi attacks.


    The crowd watched with bated breath as the Qi explosions began to fade.


    "Do you think John survived that?" A disciple couldn''t help but ask.


    "Are you kidding? Did you see how powerful a single one of those attacks were? How could he possibly survive a continuous barrage like that?" another replied.


    "You''re probably right. His body probably doesn''t even exist anymore, just a smear of him most likely remains," another replied.


    The battle art explosions faded, revealing the now damaged arena. All the previous battles had not significantly damaged the arena, but the barrage from Alix had, showing how powerful his attacks were.


    The smooth arena tform was now riddled with cracks, and several areas had small holes carved into the surface.


    Standing in the very middle of this ruined section was John, whose clothes were slightly torn. Blood trickled down several parts of his body, indicating that he had taken some damage in thest exchange. His narrowed eyes stared at Alix with full vigor, showing that his fighting spirit had not diminished at all.


    The crowd gasped in surprise at John''s revealing, as most did not expect him to be alive anymore. The barrage from Alix had beenpletely overwhelming, and most likely only the other Emperors would be able to survive it.


    "How is that possible?" A fan of Alix couldn''t help but exim in shock. Alix himself couldn''t help but open his eyes slightly in surprise at seeing John''s mostly healthy condition, as he assumed John would be half dead at best by now.


    ''Fighting without my body battle arts is quite different. Alix was actually able to injure me slightly with those attacks, although that''s mostly because I allowed those attacks tond on me. Still, I need to be a bit more careful going forward, at least until I can utilize my body battle arts again.''


    John''s free hand brushed some collected dust off his shoulder, before he looked back at Alix. he raised his scythe in front of his chest, as it began to radiate incredible power.


    "My turn."

 Chapter 353 - Unique Constitution

    John''s scythe shed out quickly, and a bright red scythe image pierced directly towards Alix.


    Crimson de sh!


    The scythe image emitted great power and speed, and reached Alix in an instant. Alix shed his own sword out to parry the attack, and the battle arts collided. Alix''s attack sessfully neutralized John''s attack, and he was just about to send out his own counter attack, when another scythe image was in front of him.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    Scythe image after scythe image pierced towards Alix with great power as John mimicked Alix''s attack style. Still in the recovery process after hisst barrage of attacks. Alix could only defend against John''s continuous onught.


    At first, John''s attack speed was a bit slower than Alix''s, as continuous attacks like this were not his forte. However, he quickly picked up on it, and his scythe began to sh forward at incredible speed, sending out faster and faster attacks.


    Alix''s sword continuously shed out as well to meet the constant barrage of Crimson de shes, and the arena and stadium was once again rocked by the powerful battle arts exploding outwards.


    The disciples watched in awe at the battle before them, while the Elder''s watched intently at the battle between two of their most promising disciples.


    John''s continuous attacks continued to overwhelm Alix, as if there was no end to his Qi supply. Both the disciples and the Elder''s were surprised at John''s endurance, as his barrage hadsted even longer than Alix''s by now.


    "Just how much essence Qi does John have?" A disciple eximed.


    "I don''t know, but this doesn''t make sense. Either he had a variant body that stores incredible amounts of Qi, or his dantian waspressed an incredible number of times," another replied, unsure of what the real reason was.


    Even the Elder''s watching from high above were impressed by John''s disy, as his attacks were only growing stronger, not weaker.


    "Who is this boy? Why have we not heard of him before today?" an Elder asked.


    "He was just an outer sect disciple until recently, so its only natural none of us knew about him. However, we will need to get to the truth of his strength after these matches are concluded," another replied, equally interested in John''s secrets.


    They knew John had no master, and so he was not protected by a powerful Elder. As such, they would be able to question him as they pleased, and could dive into the source of his powerup. Perhaps, he would have something interesting on hand to increase their own strength.


    To the side, Elder Praxx heard the ongoing discussions, but ignored them. His eyes remained glued to the battle below.


    John''s scythe twirled in a continuous cycle, and each full rotation resulted in another Crimson de sh being unleashed. He had managed to optimize his attack pattern, and was now unleashing attacks at an unreal speed.


    His scythe appeared like a blur to all watching, as it twirled with such speed that their eyes could not keep up with. Just like John before, Alix''s figure was bathed in non stop Crimson de shes, and he could not even be seen anymore.


    All those watching held their breath, waiting for the result of this barrage to be apparent.


    "Do you think Alix is alright? Can he survive such an onught?" a concerned disciple asked.


    "Are you kidding? This is an Emperor we''re talking about, he should bepletely unharmed," another nearby disciple replied.


    "Are you sure?" a different disciple asked. "This onught is incredibly overwhelming. I don''t think there are many Core Formation experts anywhere in the world that could survive this type of atta-"


    As if summoned by the disciples words, an absolutely incredible aura suddenly exploded out from within the barrage of John''s attacks. The nearby attacks were all knocked back, as the aura from Alix within forcefully pushed back all the attacks.


    John stayed his hand and steadied his scythe by his side, as he raised his eyebrows in slight surprise. Alix''s figure was now revealed, causing many to gasp in surprise. Much like John, he was quite injured, with blood trickling down many parts of his body.


    In fact, he seemed to have taken more damage than John, but the surprising part was not his blood, but his aura. His aura radiated outwards with absolute power, far beyond what he had revealed earlier.


    In fact, it was more akin to the aura of an early Meridian Forging expert than a Peak Core Formation Expert.


    "What''s going on?" many confused voices asked from within the crowd. "How is Alix exploding with this much power?"


    Alix seemed to be on the verge of defeat, but had suddenly revealed power far beyond what anyone thought he was capable of.


    Standing closest to Alix, John quickly realized what was going on. He frowned as he figured out the truth, as it was not good news for him, both in terms of Alix''s strength, and what it meant when John killed him.


    "You''re actually burning your blood essence in a situation like this?" John asked Alix.


    His voice was heard by all within the stadium, and their expressions turned into ones of shock and surprise at John''s words.


    "What? He''s burning his blood essence? Why would he do that?"


    "I know right. He might be losing, but even if he wins now, his talent will drop a level whenpared to before. Burning his blood essence is not the answer at this point," another replied.


    Simr discussions broke out, as they all discussed Alix''s move. Burning blood essence was something a cultivator could do to explode with absolute power, reaching their maximum potential.


    However, doing so would only result in a temporary power increase, and that power increase would subside once too much blood essence was burned.


    Blood essence was one of the bases of a cultivator''stent talent, and burning it was avoided at all costs. Doing so would cripple one''s talent, and make it so that they would never be able to rise to the peak of the cultivation world in the future.


    Replenishing lost blood essence was almost impossible, and only the most heavenly of medicinal ingredients was able to do so. As such, almost no one ever burned their blood essence, even on the doorstep of death.


    In their minds, even if they lived by doing so, they would forever be a cripple whenpared to their former strength and talent. Doing so was not worth the price.


    A smirk appeared on Alix''s face as he listened to John, and all those in the crowd.


    "Idiots, you think I would cripple myself just to beat you?" Alix replied in a mocking tone. "I''ll let you in on a little secret of mine. I have an incredibly rare body constitution, which allows me to replenish my blood essence, as long as I haven''t burned too much."


    Alix''s words shocked not only the crowd, but John as well.


    "There''s such a thing?" John asked, as it was the first time he had heard of such a thing. Almost none in the crowd had heard of such a thing either.


    "There is. Now that I''ve revealed this strength of mine, your only choice is to die," Alix replied with absolute confidence.


    His figure suddenly shed forward with greater speed than he had ever disyed before, and appeared before John in an instant.. His sword pierced forward, directly towards John''s neck.

 Chapter 354 - Crimson Hell Domains

    Che!


    Alix''s sword pierced right by John''s neck, who had managed to move it to the side at the veryst moment. A thin red line appeared on John''s neck as he dashed backwards, as a small amount of blood began to drip down his neck.


    John pressed his hand against his neck and inspected the blood for a moment, before his focused eyes turned back to Alix.


    "Not bad," John replied, as if the move that had nearly just taken his life was nothing worth panicking over.


    Alix smiled as he saw John act like this. "Even now you''re putting on this fake disy of confidence? Let''s see how long that smile of yours canst as absolute power cuts you down."


    Che!


    Alix''s figure blurred once again, and he appeared at John''s side in an instant. His sword shed out with incredible speed, as it aimed to cleave him in half.


    Peng!


    John''s scythe sliced out in defense, and sessfully parried Alix''s attack. However, Alix''s speed was now at a level that John had to take seriously, as he subtly unleashed more power from his dantian.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Alix''s sword shed out with incredible speed and furry, inundating John with an endless barrage of powerful attacks. John''s scythe twirled in an endless circle, parrying each and every attack of Alix''s.


    Like this, the two of them darted around the arena at incredible speeds, exchanging hundreds of attacks. The disciples watching could hardly keep up with the speed disyed by the two fighters, as they fought in every corner of the arena.


    Alix''s onught was ruthless and ceaseless, as he attacked from each and every angle, seeking to pierce past John''s defense. However, John''s scythe, which revolved in a circle, forming a shield like barrier, blocked each and every attack without falter.


    "What? Even now, this nobody disciple can keep up with Alix?" an Eldermented.


    His attitude had been one of pride when Alix revealed his trump card, as he was Alix''s master. He was an incredibly powerful Elder of the Sect, and had great status within. Alix''s status as an Emperor only served to elevate his own status even more, and so the Elder was looking forward to John being cut down by his disciple.


    However, John had somehow managed to match Alix''s power everytime it was increased, greatly shocking, and also frustrating, Alix''s master.


    "Elder Ancer, are you worried about your disciple?" a nearby Elder mocked.


    Elder Ancer red at the Elder who had mocked him, before he looked back down to the fight happening below.


    "Worried? No. Not in the slightest," Elder Ancer replied. However, the bead of sweat rolling down his forehead revealed otherwise.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Weapons continued to sh with incredible ferocity, and the stadium continued to tremble as if there was an earthquake.


    Alix''s expression turned more and more frustrated as John continued to parry all his attacks, as he figured thistest increase in power was all he needed to overwhelm John. In that state, he would likely be able to hold his own, or at least keep himself alive against an Early Meridian Forging Expert.


    However, John was still able to hold on against this power, shocking everyone watching, Alix included.


    "How can Core Formation disciples be this strong?" an outer sect disciple mumbled in a stunned stupor. He had been dreaming of rising to the top of the cultivation world like everyone else, but this disy between John and Alix shattered those hopespletely.


    Only someone like them would be able to do such a thing. The rest, such as an outer cultivator like himself, could only look up at those at the peak and dream.


    "Enough!" Alix suddenly shouted in a rage. His blood essence was being continuously burned off, and he couldn''t afford to keep going like this. Even with his unique constitution, he was not able to burn blood essence forever.


    Alix stopped, and stared at John with hate filled eyes. He didn''t know how John was able to match his strength even in this moment, but right now that didn''t matter. The only thing Alix could think about was cutting John down once and for all.


    A red bubble formed around Alix, which quickly expanded over John and the entire fighting tform.


    "Crimson Hell Domain! Alix is finally using the Crimson Hell Domain! He truly is serious!" a disciple eximed.


    "What? Can''t John also just use his own Crimson Hell Domain to negate its effects?" a nearby disciple asked.


    The first disciple looked towards the one who had just spoken and shook his head. "No, have you not heard? Alix is like Damon. He has absolute control over blood, and as such, his Crimson Hell Domain is far beyond what any other disciple can match. Even if John uses his own domain, it will be overwhelmed by Alix''s domain," the disciple exined.


    Alix stared at John as if he were a dead man, as John inspected the domain and his own body.


    ''It''s just like when Damon used it on me. Its slowing my blood, making my movements slower, and also assaulting my mind and soul. Only, it''s far more powerful than Damon''s domain. I guess Alix is actually quite talented after all.''


    John tried to fight back against the effects on his body, but was only able to half-purge them.


    ''I guess without using my Immortal Asura Body or Supreme Battle Art, I cannot fully purge the effects of this domain. Man, holding my full strength back really is a pain in the ass.''


    John grumbled about his current situation, but didn''t panic. He looked at Alix with indifferent eyes, who was slowly approaching him.


    "Why do you act like your domain is undefeatable?" John asked. His power suddenly red, as ovepping domains suddenly shed.


    Crimson Hell Domain!


    John unleashed his very own Crimson Hell Domain, which instantly shed against Alix''s domain.


    Normally when two domains shed, they would ignore each other and persist at full power, assaulting each opponent. When John had fought Damon, his Heavenly Lightning Domain struck down constantly, while Damon''s Crimson Hell Domain assaulted John continuously.


    However, when two domains of a simr type met, they would sh against each other, with the stronger one eventuallying out on top.


    The martial arena began to rumble under the immense power between the sh of the two domains. The tform, which was incredibly sturdy, began to crack all over, while the stadium violently shook.


    The final struggle between the two strongest disciples had begun.

 Chapter 355 - Final Attack

    The arena tform continued to form cracks all along its surface, while the air above the arena trembled from the power sh between the two domains. Both John and Alix grit their teeth in strain as they unleashed their maximum power through their domains.


    "Gah!"


    Most of the disciples in the arena suddenly cried out in anguished pain as the two domains expanded, washing over the disciples.


    The formation barriers surrounding the arenas protected the disciples from harmful physical attacks, but did nothing to negate soul affects. The disciples all grabbed their heads in pain as the mental and soul assaults from the two domains washed over them, nearly instantly driving them mad and snuffing out their souls.


    Blood began to leak out of their noses and mouths, and some began to w their own flesh apart from the pain they were feeling. Even the two other Emperor''s frowned as they felt the domains start to affect them, and red out their own powers to protect against it.


    The Elder''s, watching from high above in the stands, frowned as they saw this. Several suddenly moved to different parts of the arena, and red their powers outwards, pushing back the soul domains of the two fighters.


    Thanks to the interference from the Elder''s, the soul effects were washed away, returning the disciples back to normal. All were breathing heavily as they thanked the nearby Elders for saving them.


    "Wow, just being under the domains for a few seconds nearly killed us. Just how strong are these soul affects in the middle of the arena," a disciple couldn''t help but exim.


    "I''m sure it''s much stronger in the middle of the arena than on the outskirts by us. Just how strong are those two?" another replied.


    The Elder''s stayed in position to make sure that no more harm came to the disciples in the stands, while the fight continued to rage on in the arena below.


    Alix, still burning his blood essence and utilizing his maximum power, erupted with his absolute strongest Crimson Hell Domain he could muster. It was the strongest domain he had ever used, and would be strong enough to be effective against a Meridian Forging expert.


    However, no matter how much power he exerted, he still was not able to overwhelm John''s domain.


    John stared at Alix with gritted teeth as he too red his power. He was using nearly all of his essence Qi at this time, and was holding very little back. Even so, Alix was even with him, revealing just how strong his soul domain was, and how powerful burning blood essence was.


    With his higher cultivation, blood essence burning, and incredible control over blood and the Crimson Hell Domain, Alix was on par with John regarding the domain.


    As it was right now, it was equivalent to John fighting an extremely talented Early Meridian Forging expert. If he could use his body power as well, he would be able to overwhelm Alix eventually, but without using his Immortal Asura Body, the battle had be a lot more difficult.


    ''Even with me nearly using my full essence power, he''s still even with me. I might have only started training this domain recently, so my control is far from perfect, but he''s still far stronger than I expected, but that makes me want his blood essence even more.''


    "What''s going on? Why has one domain not been overwhelmed yet?" A confused disciple asked.


    "There''s only one exnation," another disciple replied. "Their domains are exactly even in power, and so neither can overwhelm the other."


    "What? How is that possible? Alix has a slightly higher cultivation, is burning blood essence, and has the best control over the Crimson Hell Domain of all disciples. How can John possibly keep up?" another asked in stunned confusion.


    "There''s only one exnation," the disciple replied. "His essence Qi is far beyond Alix in terms of power, and through that alone is he keeping up."


    The disciple''s answer stunned all those nearby who heard it, as such a thing was nearly inconceivable.


    Alix was an Emperor, who should havepleted seven dantianpressions. However, John was showing even greater might, revealing that hispressions had to be higher. None of them had expected such a thing to be possible, but the truth was clear before their very eyes.


    Rumble!


    The arena and sky above continued to rumble with absolute power as the domains constantly shed against each other. Alix''s teeth were bared as he grit them from the strain of burning blood essence and using his peak power, while John grit his teeth in strain as well.


    ''He''s burning too much blood essence. If I let this go on any longer, there won''t be any blood essence left to absorb. I can''t hold back anymore.''


    John had been holding just a small sliver of power back in reserve, but the time to unleash it had arrived.


    John slowly raised his scythe above his head, and focused his mind as he prepared to unleash a technique he had not used in a long time. His scythe began to emit absolute power, drawing the attention of all, including the Elders.


    "What technique is the boy about to unleash?" an Eldermented as he leaned forward in his seat. None of them had ever seen this technique used by anyone in the sect.


    Other nearby Elder''s stood up from their seats as they looked at John, as the technique he was using right now was beyond anything they had expected. At the same time, there was the profundity of a singr Dao infused into his de, further amplifying the attack.


    "The Dao of Annihtion!" an Elder eximed in shock. "How does this boy know how to use Dao''s already, and a high level one like Annihtion at that?"


    Elder Praxx ignored their prattling as a small smile appeared on his face.


    "It seems as if I chose wisely," he murmured to himself.


    In the arena below, John''s narrowed eyes stared at Alix as he suddenly shed his scythe forward. A scythe image of absolute speed and sharpness pierced out towards Alix, reaching him in an instant.


    Divine Reaping Scythe!

 Chapter 356 - New Emperor

    John''s Divine Reaping Scythe, augmented by his understanding of the Dao of Annihtion, pierced towards Alix with absolute speed and sharpness.


    All watching the attack felt as if a knife was at their throat, ready to slice at any moment. This was John''s first time unleashing his Divine Reaping Scythe in the Core Formation Realm, and its power shocked even him.


    It was his strongest scythe attack he could use, and he was using it to end this fight once and for all.


    Che!


    A powerful sword light suddenly pierced out and mmed against the Divine Reaping Scythe, neutralizing most of the scythe attacks power. Alix''s sword slowly lowered as he stared at John with hate filled eyes. His breathing was incredibly ragged, revealing he was at the end of his energy supply.


    John''s eyes widened slightly in surprise, as he did not expect Alix to have the spare energy to counter attack.


    ''He countered it? It truly does seem like his status as an Emperor is well deserved. But I can tell that was hisst remaining bit of energy to spare, while I still have a good amount remaining. It''s time to end this.''


    Johns scythe raised once again above his head as he stared with cold eyes at Alix. Their domains were still shing with absolute power, and Alix could not afford to pull his power back in that power struggle.


    Doing so would subject himself to John''s domain, and that would be tantamount to suicide. The crowd held its breath as it saw John prepare another Divine Reaping Scythe.


    "What? He can unleash another one already? Just how much energy does this boy have?" Elder Ancer raged.


    He was watching his disciple lose, and was beyond incensed at the sight. Alix''s performance had been all he could have hoped for, but John had been able to counter him at every step. His hate for John was now equal to Alix''s hate for John.


    Che!


    John shed his scythe outwards once again, sending another incredibly powerful Divine Reaping Scythe piercing towards Alix. His face paled considerably and breathing became uneven after unleashing the attack, revealing his waning energy reserves, as well as the toll the attack took to unleash.


    Alix grit his teeth as he struggled against John''s domain, but could not muster any defense against the scythe attack. His face turned to one of growing panic as the attack approached him, as its sharpness was not something he could withstand.


    Peng!


    Scythe and steel collided, shattering the Divine Reaping Scythepletely. The crowd, which had been expecting Alix to die in that attack, opened its eyes wide in shock at the sight before them, while John narrowed his eyes in anger as he stared forward.


    "What''s the meaning of this?" John asked in a cold voice. After this intense battle, he was mostly out of energy himself, and would not be able to send out another powerful attack such as the previous one.


    "The meaning?" Elder Ancer replied. He had appeared before Alix at thest moment, and had protected his disciple from the fatal attack about tond on him. "The meaning is you have overstepped your bounds. Die!"


    Without warning, Elder Ancer pointed his finger at John to send out a powerful Qi attack, with the intent on iming his life.


    Che!


    "Gahh!"


    An incredibly fast attack suddenly pierced by, and Elder Ancer''s outstretched hand fell to the ground, separated from the rest of his arm. His pained cry rang out across the stadium, and the crowd gasped at the sight of an Elder losing a hand.


    After containing his anger and pain, Elder Ancer looked up towards the top of the stadium, and his voice boomed out for all to hear.


    "Elder Praxx, what is the meaning of this?"


    Seated high above in the Elder seating, Elder Praxx sat there with an indifferent expression on his face as he looked down on Elder Ancer.


    No one had seen the attack, but Elder Ancers words signified to the crowd that the one who had attacked just now was Elder Praxx. He had been able to sever the hand of another Elder from that distance, without even moving, shocking the crowd greatly.


    "The meaning of this?" Elder Praxx scoffed, as if he was talking to someone beneath him. "The meaning is that you have overstepped your bounds."


    Elder Praxx threw Elder Ancer''s words right back at him, causing Elder Ancer to be even more enraged. He was about to argue further, but Elder Praxx cut him off.


    "Now leave the arena, before Ie down there and cut you down myself. My disciple still has unfinished business with yours," Elder Praxx continued as he looked down at Elder Ancer with slight disdain.


    "What?"


    A collective exmation of surprise reverberated from most of the crowd at Elder Praxx''s words. To the shock of all, Elder Praxx had revealed John was his disciple.


    Elder Ancer stared at Elder Praxx with hate filled eyes, but did not reply or counter attack. He had been unable to detect or defend against Elder Praxx''s attack, clearly indicating that his cultivation and power was higher.


    Although the Elder''s had shrouded cultivations, it was easy to put two and two together. If he counter attacked, his death was almost guaranteed. Elder Ancer grit his teeth in anger, and his figure suddenly blurred, vanishing from the sight of all.


    John''s eyes narrowed as he saw this, as Alix had vanished as well. Clearly Elder Ancer had retreated, and had taken his disciple with him.


    ''Tch, it seems I won''t be able to obtain Alix''s blood essence after all. What a shame.''


    The events had happened incredibly quickly, and surprised the crowd even further. Silence descended over the arena for a moment before the main officiating Elder stepped forward and addressed the crowd once more.


    "This battle is over. With Alix''s withdrawal, John has taken his ce as an Emperor. With this, the bi-annual disciple battles havee to an end."


    Stunned silence descended over the stadium for a short moment before an absolute thunderous cacophony of apuse, cheers, and discussion broke out throughout all the disciples present. The unthinkable had happened for the first time ever.


    An outer sect disciple had be an Emperor!

 Chapter 357 - New Housing

    John''s figure stood tall on the martial tform as the entire crowd cheered with absolute enthusiasm. He had been a pariah going into this day, as he was looked down upon by almost all the disciples of the sect.


    However, each battle of his today had outssed the previous, and slowly but surely the crowd began to root for the underdog. The outer disciples cheered when one of them became an inner disciple, and continued to climb battle after battle.


    He had be a sort of beacon of hope for the lower ranked disciples, as if someone like him could achieve such a thing, then perhaps they themselves were not hopeless after all. While the core disciples felt less warm towards him, as they felt irked that an outer disciple could outperform themselves, the rest of the discipleship cheered for John with all their hearts.


    John stood there with a nk expression on his face as he watched the crowd cheer for him.


    ''Lt''s see if you cheer for me when I burn this sect down.''


    John couldn''t care less about the cheers, or the fact that he was now the new ''hero'' of the lower ranked disciples. His only care in the world right now was to discover what the sect was up to, and he had achieved his first major goal in being able to do so..


    A figure suddenly appeared before John, and nodded at him with approval.


    "You did not disappoint me, my disciple" Elder Praxx said to John.


    John stared at Elder Praxx for a moment before nodding his head in agreement.


    ''It seems Elder Praxx truly is quite strong to be able to overwhelm the other Elder that easily. It seems as if my choice to ept his offer was the correct one.''


    The cheers continued for some time, before the crowd finally began to flood out of the arena. After more than twenty hours of battle, the bi-annual disciple battles had finallye to an end. The battles had been exquisite, and everyone knew this particr day would be discussed for many years toe.


    "Follow me," Elder Praxx suddenly instructed as he took to the sky.


    Flying through the sky of the Bloodfiend Sect was reserved only for Elders, or when Elders approved of disciples to do so. John took to the sky directly after, and followed Elder Praxx as they sped through the air.


    After some time of flying, Johnnded on top of a mountain which contained only three mansions. The mansions were incredibly grand, and wererge enough to house dozens of people.


    Elder Praxx pointed to one of the mansions. "As one of the Emperors now, this is your new lodging. The servants have already removed Alix''s belongings."


    "That was fast," John eximed in slight surprise. His battle had just recently ended, but it seems as though Elder Praxx was prepared for this moment.


    ''I guess he believed in my ability to win a bit more than he lets on.''


    Enter and make yourself ustomed to your new home, and take a few days to rest from your battles. Find me at my mansion, located on Ashlite Mountain, in three days time," Elder Praxx instructed.


    John nodded his head, and Elder Praxx immediately took off to the sky, disappearing from sight. He watched the Elder leave, before he turned back towards the mansion directly in front of him.


    ''Well, I guess this is my home for the next short while. Might as well make the most of it.''


    John quickly entered the mansion, and was greeted by over twenty people standing in the main lobby.


    "Wee, master," they called out in unison, their heads bowed as they did so.


    John closely inspected each one, and discovered that each person was only in the Mist Creation realm.


    ''Mist Creation servants I suppose. Although there''s quite a bit more than my house back in the Heavenly Lightning Sect.''''


    John greeted the servants, and had one of them show him around his new lodging. The mansion was absolutely grand, and had facilities even more luxurious than his house back in the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    His training facilities were top notch, impressing John greatly. He had many stations dedicated to rxation and luxury, although John didn''t really find interest in those. After getting the full tour of the house, John dismissed the servants as he retired to his room.


    The room was incrediblyrge and luxurious, and John washed himself and changed his robes before he retired to bed,pletely exhausted from the long day of battles.


    The next few days were spent locked in his room, cultivating and meditating on hisprehension from the battles. After consolidating all his newprehensions and raising his cultivation slightly, John finally left his room and mansion, and sped off towards Elder Praxx''s location.


    Ashlite Mountain was located near the center of the sect, and was one of therger mountains within the sect. John arrived before the mountain, and raised his eyebrows slightly at the sight.


    ''There''s only a single, massive pce located at the very top of the mountain. The rest of it ispletely uninhabited. Elder Praxx has an entire mountain to himself? Seems like he wasn''t lying, and that his status within the sect is quite high.''


    John climbed the trail that led up the mountain, and took his time in doing so. Flowers, blooming trees, streams, and waterfalls lined the singr trail, making it quite beautiful. John eventually arrived at the top of the mountain, where the lone pce stood.


    The pce was absolutely massive, and easily dwarfed Johns new housing. The pce was ck and gold, and had many ornate details cared into the outside walls and spires, and many detailed statues lining the property.


    Two guards stood outside the main gate, stopping any unwanted intruders. John greeted both, and they let him in, already knowledgeable that John was Elder Praxx''s new disciple. A servant met John out in the courtyard.


    "Elder Praxx is expecting you. Follow me."


    John followed behind the servant, which led him deep into the heart of the pce. In a luxurious study, Elder Praxx was sifting through some ancient scrolls when John entered. The servant quickly left, leaving only the two of them there.


    "Ah, you''re finally here. Follow me," Elder Praxx instructed as he set his scrolls down.


    "Where are we going?" John asked as he followed closely behind.


    Elder Praxx looked over his shoulder at John before looking forward once again.


    "We''re going to see Sect Leader Allfiend."

 Chapter 358 - Meeting Allfiend

    "What? We''re going to see Sect Leader Allfiend?" John couldn''t help but exim in surprise.


    Sect Leader Allfiend was very rarely seen within the sect, and most disciples would go their entire lives without seeing him. John''s surprise was the natural reaction Elder Praxx was expecting, and he nodded his head in confirmation.


    "Correct. You are now an Emperor. One of the pirs of our sect. While your power is not enough to influence the sect, you are a symbol of what our sect can produce. As such, Allfiend wants to see you in person, and judge if you are worthy or not," Elder Praxx replied.


    "Oh, that makes sense," John replied.


    ''I''m not worried about Allfiend seeing through my disguise, as Sect Leader Thunderzen said only he was capable of doing so. I just need to keep my actions natural, and he shouldn''t suspect a thing..''


    "Do not do anything to embarrass yourself, or more importantly, me," Elder Praxx replied to John.


    "I''m not dumb enough to do something like that," John replied.


    "Good. Then follow me."


    Elder Praxx walked out of his mansion and instantly took to the sky. John quickly flew up as well, and followed closely behind.


    Elder Praxx''s mansion was located quite close to the Bloodfiend Citadel, which could be seen stretching high up into the sky before them. It was the tallest structure by far within the entire sect, and even rose above the very mountains themselves.


    Elder Praxx flew to the base of the Bloodfiend Citadel. Clearly, even he was not allowed to fly directly up to the top floor where Allfiend resided.


    Elder Praxx and John''s arrival caught the eyes of all those in the courtyard, and many curious stares focused on John as they spotted him. He was the most discussed topic within the entire sect, and quickly found himself as the center of attention within the courtyard.


    Elder Praxx ignored the stares, and strode up towards the Bloodfiend Citadel entrance. The entrance was guarded by several Elders, who greeted Elder Praxx with much respect as he walked by.


    "Greetings, Emperor John," the Elder''s also called out, surprising John slightly.


    Elder Praxx noticed Johns surprised expression, and quickly exined it to John.


    "You''re an Emperor now, the highest of all disciple statuses. In fact, this position is so elevated in status, that you are now equal in status to any Meridian Forging Elder. While Heaven Tribtion Elders and above are of higher status, they must still treat you with respect," Elder Praxx exined.


    "Emperors are valued this highly?" John replied. "I can get used to this!"


    "Just do not let it go to your head. Just as you defeated Alix, someone else maye for your ce. Do not getzy andcent," Elder Praxx replied with a stern voice.


    "You won''t have to worry about that," John replied with a slight smile. "I''m sure that before long, I''ll surprise even you with how fast I''ll rise."


    Elder Praxx saw John''s sly smile, and assumed he was overestimating his power and talent. However, such a thing was good for a youth, as they should move forward with absolute confidence in themselves.


    "Good. I''ll look forward to that surprise," Elder Praxx replied, before he looked forward once more and strode up the Bloodfiend Citadel stairs.


    The main stairwell spiraled all the way up to the top of the Bloodfiend Citadel, and led directly towards a massive set of doors. The doors were guarded by two Elders, both of which had their cultivations shrouded. However, John could tell that both were quite powerful, yet they were acting as mere door guards.


    "Elder Praxx, you''ve arrived," one of the Elder guards called out.


    "Sect Leader Allfiend has been expecting you and your disciple. You may enter," the other said as he summoned his Qi to open the massive set of doors.


    The doors slowly swung open, revealing the interior chamber. The chamber was quiterge, and was empty except for a massive throne at the other end of the chamber. The throne was incredibly ornate, as well as incredibly foreboding.


    Skulls, bones, gold lined the throne, making it incredibly unique. John and Elder Praxx entered the chamber, and John quickly spotted the lone person sitting on top of the throne.


    It was a middle aged man, with incredibly sharp features and a sharp, pointed strip of facial hair on his chin. His eyes seemed to pierce directly into John''s soul, causing him to catch his breath for a moment.


    John instantly recognized the man.


    ''It''s the man who tried to invade our sect through the disciple during the entrance exam!''


    John had seen Allfiend before, only it was when he was in soul form. Sect Leader Thunderzen had ruined those ns of Allfiend, greatly irking him. John had dismissed that man as weak at the time, as Thunderzen had easily eliminated his soul form.


    However, seeing Allfiend in the flesh, John realized he couldn''t have been farther from the truth. While he couldn''t detect his cultivation level, he could tell that he was incredibly strong.


    ''He''s just as strong as the Vice Sect Leader, maybe even stronger!''


    John instantly felt an incredibly strong divine sense wash over him, inspecting every detail of his body. John did his best to maintain hisposure as Allfiend scanned him, as there was nothing he could do to stop him.


    The scansted for quite some time, while Elder Praxx stood to the side with an indifferent expression, as if he had been expecting such a thing. Only a whileter did the scan subside.


    John breathed out slightly in relief after the scan was over, as the power he felt from Allfiend was quite overwhelming. Silence descended over the chamber, and John felt like he was being stared at by a primordial beast.


    After a while, Allfiend spoke out. His voice was deep and powerful, and shook John to his core. However, it was not the voice itself that shook John, but the words that were uttered instead.


    "Who are you?"

 Chapter 359 - Allfiend

    John''s heart nearly leapt out of his chest upon hearing these words, but he barely managed to keep a calm face and steady his heartbeat as he stared at Allfiend with a confused expression.


    He bowed his head slightly as he spoke out.


    "Sect Leader Allfiend, I''m not sure what you''re asking," John replied, acting dumb.


    "Who are you?" Allfiend repeated after a moment of inspecting John. "You were a no-name outer sect disciple, but you suddenly made a monumental rise through the ranks of our sect, all the way to bing an Emperor. How did thise to be," Allfiend exined.


    John''s body quickly rxed, as he realized Allfiend was just looking to see how he came to be so powerful, and not that he detected John''s disguise.


    "Who am I? I''m just a lowly disciple born in a small vige who managed to have a lucky breakthrough at the bordends, which enabled me to achieve this rise in status and power," John exined.


    "Hmm?" Allfiend mused.. "What breakthroughs?" he asked, brushing aside the question regarding John''s origins.


    John was surprised to see Allfiend disy such an interest in him, but couldn''t refuse to answer, and so yed along with whatever Allfiend was doing.


    "I nearly died in battle, and at the edge of death, I peered deeper into the martialws of this world. Not only was my cultivation base strengthened considerably, but I also hones my battle instincts, and evenprehended the initial essences of several Dao''s," John replied in a humble tone.


    He couldn''t act haughty and arrogant in front of Allfiend, not if he valued his life. Allfiend mused on John''s words for a short moment before he leaned slightly forward in his seat. Just the subtle movements of his radiated incredible power, shocking John greatly.


    ''Just how strong is this man?''


    "Show me," Allfiend replied.


    "Show you? Show you my Dao''s?" John asked for boration.


    "Yes, show me what you have achieved regarding Dao''s," Allfiend confirmed.


    John was slightly confused at why Allfiend was so interested in his Dao''s, but obliged nheless. He raised his hand, and focused his mind on the three Dao''s he had started peering into.


    Before long, the might of three simr but distinct Dao''s began to radiate from his hand, turning it from a normal hand into a formidable weapon. If he were to slice at someone with this hand at the moment, it would be like slicing them with a dagger.


    Allfiend''s eyes locked onto John''s hand as he seemed to be musing on something, and John continued to infuse his hand with his Dao''s of Destruction, Annihtion, and Power.


    "That is enough," Allfiend instructed John to stop, and John quickly ced his hand back by his side.


    Allfiend continued to stare at John for a moment, and John stood there as calmly as possible, trying not to give any hints away. After what seemed like an eternity to John, Allfiend finally leaned back in his chair and stopped his predator-like gaze.


    "As a new Emperor of the sect, you carry the entire reputation of the sect on your shoulders. Do not disappoint me," Allfiend said.


    "I will not let you down," John replied sincerely while bowing his head.


    Elder Praxx knew this was Allfiend dismissing them, and bowed his head slightly as well before he turned around.


    John followed behind Elder Praxx without looking back, but he could feel the gaze of Allfiend on his back, like it was burrowing into his flesh. John ignored this feeling and departed with Elder Praxx, quickly leaving the chamber behind his new master.


    Boom!


    The guards shut the doors as the two of them left the chamber, and John breathed out a sigh of relief as he felt the gaze leave his back.


    ''Goddamn that was stressful. It felt as if I was being stared at by a monstrous predator.''


    While he had experience with powerful entities, his encounter with Allfiend had been stressful nheless.


    "So what do you think?" Elder Praxx suddenly asked John a question as they began to descend the stairwell.


    "Hmm? Think of what? Of Sect Leader Allfiend?" John asked for rification.


    "Yes, what do you think of your first meeting with our sect leader?"


    John thought about the question for a moment, figuring how best to answer as someone who had supposedly never seen the Sect Leader.


    "He was incredible, and also terrifying," John replied. His best guess is that any disciple would find the leader of such a bloodthirsty sect a terrifying figure.


    "That he is," Elder Praxx replied. "Make sure to never get on his bad side, or your end will be brutal and swift."


    "I wouldn''t do something so suicidal," John replied with a sincere face, as if he truly meant it.


    His eyes suddenly widened slightly as he spotted someone he was not expecting to see here.


    "Chase?" John called out as he saw someone ascending the steps.


    Chase, who was walking up from below, looked up and spotted John walking down. Neither of them had been expecting to see the other here.


    "John? What are you doing here?" Chase asked, but quickly understood the reason for John''s presence.


    "Ah, nevermind. I''m sure you just met with the Sect Leader regarding your new Emperor position, am I correct?" Chase asked.


    "Yep," John replied. "What are you doing here though? Are you also meeting the Sect Leader?"


    "That...Not really. I have other business on one of the other floors today," Chase replied.


    The Bloodfiend Citadel was incredibly tall, and had many floors that served many different purposes. John had already passed by several floors on his way down, although he had no idea what they were used for.


    "Oh, I guess that makes sense," John replied.


    "So what have you bee-"


    "Ahem," a stern voice suddenly cut off John, and he quickly realized that Elder Praxx was waiting for him.


    "Ah, sorry. I gotta go. We''ll talkter," John called out as he began to run down the steps to catch up with Elder Praxx.


    Chase looked at John for a moment before he turned around and ascended the steps towards his destination.


    "Wee back, Young Master Chase," the two guards called out with a slight bow as they opened the door for him.

 Chapter 360 - Assassination Mission

    John and Elder Praxx continued walking down the Bloodfiend Citadel stairs.


    "You know that boy?" Elder Praxx suddenly asked, breaking the silence between them.


    John looked at Elder Praxx and nodded his head. "Yep. I met him a few weeks ago at the monthly life and death battles, and we seem to be running into each other quite a bit since," John replied.


    Elder Praxx''s expression remained neutral, but John could tell he was thinking about something regarding Chase. However, it didn''t really concern him, and so John did not ask for boration.


    "Where are we going now?" John asked, as Elder Praxx seemed to have a new destination in mind.


    "The Mission Hall," Elder Praxx exined.


    .


    "Mission Hall? Even as an Emperor, I still have to do missions?" John asked with a grumpy voice. Missions would take him away from the sect, which he did not want at the moment.


    "Of course, you''re the face of the sect''s disciples now. All Emperors take part in missions, which are publicly revealed afterwards, to elevate the status of the Emperors and the sect itself. Now that you are an Emperor, you will need to participate in some of these missions," Elder Praxx exined


    "Oh," John replied with a short acknowledgement, but still internally grumbled.


    ''Damn, this is going to throw a wrench into how fast I can explore this sect for further clues, but I guess it can''t be avoided. I''ll just do my best toplete any missions quickly, and return as soon as possible.''


    The two of them eventually left the Bloodfiend Citadel, and John once again found himself the center of attention anywhere he walked. Other Elder''s would look at John with curiosity, while the other disciples would look at him with awe or fear, or a mix of both.


    John ignored these looks as he followed behind Elder Praxx, and they arrived at the Mission Hall a short momentter. The Mission Hall was quite arge building, and contained many floors andrge rooms, each containing missions for different sect members.


    John followed Elder Praxx as they strode past all the normal mission rooms dedicated for normal disciples, and they quickly arrived in a secluded area that contained only a few other people.


    The room was quiterge, as well as incredibly luxurious. There were many boards located throughout the room, each with missions pinned to them. When John entered the room, there were only two other people in there, an Elder and a disciple.


    "Hmm?"


    John quickly spotted someone familiar, who noticed his presence as well. She quickly turned around and stared straight at John with curious eyes.


    "Azalea," John greeted as he nodded his head towards her.


    It was his first time talking to Azalea directly since the battle in the ancient city. Since then, Azalea seemed to have matured quite a bit, in both physical appearance, as well as demeanor.


    She seemed much more focused now, and her bloodthirsty aura that naturally radiated from her was much stronger.


    "John," Azalea replied quickly with a face of disdain, as if the name itself insulted her tongue for saying it.


    John noticed this look, and furrowed his brows.


    "Does my addition alongside you truly disgust you that much? If you have a problem with me as an Emperor, I don''t mind taking you out right now and recing you with someone else," John replied arrogantly.


    Azalea''s brows furrowed, but they quickly rxed as she returned to normal.


    "It''s not that. It''s just that after running into a certain someone, I despise the name John. It has nothing to do against you. Although, for some reason, you also remind me of that asshole," Azalea replied, her voice slightly amiable, although still mostly cold.


    John raised one eyebrow in slight surprise at her response. She was far more arrogant in the ancient city, but something seemed to have calmed her down, or at least made her less arrogant than before.


    Otherwise, there was no way she was brushing those words aside that he had just said.


    "Oh, well I can''t do anything about that resemnce for you unfortunately. As for what I said, I''ll take it back for now," John replied before walking past her.


    Azalea closely inspected John as he walked past, but quickly ignored him as she returned to inspecting some of the missions.


    John let out a slight sigh of relief as he arrived in front of a mission board.


    ''Good. It seems as though I remind her of my true self, but she cant put two and two together. As long as thats the case, my secret identity should be safe.''


    "These are the missions you can choose from," Elder Praxx exined as he stood besides John. "You have toplete two missions every month."


    "Two?" John grumbled out loud. "Isn''t that too much? How am I supposed to cultivate when I''m always outpleting missions?"


    Azalea scoffed as she heard this, and snagged a mission off the board before leaving the room, seemingly having found the mission she wanted toplete.


    "Most of the missions only take a few days time, even with travel to and from the mission site. If you truly want short term missions, I suggest taking some assassination missions," Elder Praxx replied.


    "Assassination missions? That seems quite fun," John replied as he looked towards the board before him.


    He had always wanted to carry out some assassination missions to hone his stealth arts, but never had the opportunity to do so.


    "Normally Azalea carries out the Emperor assassination missions, while Damon and Alix did the more straightforward ones, but you can choose whatever you want," Elder Praxx exined.


    John nced over the mission board, which contained dozens of missions.


    ''y threete Core Formation Griffons and collect their corpses? Sounds useful to me, but too time consuming¡­ Travel to a nearby sect and participate in a tournament? No, too time consuming¡­.Ah here we go.''


    John snatched a mission paper from the board.


    "Assassinate a Half-Step Meridian Forging merchant who is siphoning funds that should be going to our Bloodfiend Sect? And he resides only half a days travel away? Perfect. I''ll take this one," John said to Elder Praxx.


    Elder Praxx nodded his head in agreement, and pointed to the Elder sitting at a table in the corner of the room.


    "Register the mission with Elder Grollo, and then head out immediately toplete it. Afterwards, when you return, you can focus on cultivation for a few weeks before your next mission," Elder Praxx replied.


    John nodded his head and quickly registered the mission, before leaving the building with Elder Praxx.


    He said some parting words to his new master before he sped off in the direction of the merchant''s city. His first assassination mission had officially begun.

 Chapter 361 - Assassination

    In a secluded alleyway of an extremelyrge city, dozens of workers could be seen going about loading a caravan with chests. The chests were quiterge, and were all closed, hiding the contents of whatid within.


    To the side, two wealthy looking men stood, observing the loading process. They were dressed in fine suits, a far cry from the normal robes worn by most cultivators.


    "Load the goods into the caravan. Be sure to not drop a single chest, or I''ll have your heads," one of the finely dressed men instructed with a firm voice.


    The man was a middle aged man, with gray hairs just starting to show on his head. He had a thin moustache, and a slightlyrge belly. He exuded a half-step Meridian Forging cultivation, revealing himself to be quite strong.


    To his side was another man dressed in a fine suit as well, who revealed a cultivation at the middle Core Formation Realm.


    .


    "Sir Blo, are you sure we should be doing this?" the man asked in a hushed yet concerned voice.


    Sir Blo looked over to the man at his side, and smiled with a confident smile.


    "Do you truly think a sect asrge as the Bloodfiend Sect would notice a sum such as this missing? To them, this isn''t even an hour''s worth of yearly ie. It''s just a rounding error for them. And even if they do manage to spot the discrepancies, we can just say it was a shipping error, or that some of our caravans enroute were robbed. There''s no way the Bloodfiend Sect will use resources for something this small," Sir Blo exined.


    Sir Blo was a merchant of the Hazel City merchant guild. Hazel city was one of thergest cities within all of the forbidden alliancends, and contained millions of people within. As part of the agreement between the Bloodfiend Sect and the Hazel City merchant guild, the Bloodfiend Sect would ensure their safety as long as the merchant guild paid monthly dues for such protection.


    Not only that, but as part of the Bloodfiend Sect controllednd, the merchant guild was required to pay a monthly tax as well. Sir Blo was one of the merchant halls lead merchants, and controlled most of their finances.


    While this sum of money was trivial for the Bloodfiend Sect, it was more than a lifetime''s worth of money for Sir Blo. As such, the risk was worth the reward for him.


    "If you insist," the man to his right replied with a half-defeated tone.


    "Don''t worry. I''ve covered our tracks with the utmost care, and I also have informants within the sect itself. If they were to discover this, I should get a heads up anyways, and be able to flee before any danger arrives. Besides, we''re almost done here. Only a few more days, and we''ll both be able to leave thesends for good, and find a better life elsewhere. With the money we''ll have at our disposal, we could even establish a small kingdom somewhere to rule over," Sir Blo continued.


    Sir Blo continued to watch the caravans be loaded with the chests, when his eyes suddenly opened wide. A sword was quickly drawn out, and he turned around with incredible speed.


    "Who dares!" his loud shout boomed out as he shed his sword forward.


    His eyes opened wide as his sword shed nothing but air, as there was absolutely nothing behind him.


    The man besides Sir Blo turned around with a great fright, but saw nothing either.


    "What happened? Why did you suddenly draw your weapon?" the man asked.


    "I...I thought I sensed someone sneaking up on me. I was almost sure of it...but there''s no one here. I guess I was wrong," Sir Blo replied with a slightly confused voice.


    He was absolutely certain that he had detected something, but there was nothing when he turned around. His guard slightly rxed, and he went to withdraw his sword when his eyes widened once again.


    He quickly turned, and his sword shed out with great speed, backed by his powerful half-step Meridian Forging cultivation.


    Peng!


    Sword and scythe collided, and Sir Blo''s eyes locked onto the person before him.


    ''I knew I detected something. Who are yo-"


    Sir Blo''s eyes widened greatly as he saw John standing before him, draped in the robes of the Bloodfiend Sect.


    A look of slight displeasure lingered on John''s face as he kept the man''s sword at bay.


    "Guess I still need to work on my assassination arts, if even someone like you can detect me twice," John spat out as his free hand suddenly pierced forward.


    Che!


    His hand, infused with the Dao of Annihtion and hardened by his durable body, pierced forward directly into Sir Blo''s chest. Sir Blo, who never thought John was capable of such an attack, was caught off guard.


    "Puhh!"


    Sir Blo spat out blood as his chest was pierced, as a look of despair entered his eyes. John held his heart in his hand, putting his lifepletely in John''s hands.


    "Please...spare me," Sir Blo begged for his life.


    The man besides him took out his weapon to assist, but a single nce from John stopped him in his tracks. He knew that if he made a single move, John would kill him in a single blow.


    John looked back to Sir Blo, his indifferent eyes chilling the man to his core. It was as if John didn''t even consider the man''s life at all.


    "While I understand your actions, I unfortunately have a mission I need to carry out," John replied as his hand suddenly clenched tightly.


    "Gahhh!"


    Sir Blo cried out in pain as his heart was instantly crushed, but his cries were immediately silenced as John''s hand sliced sideways, severing his head from his neck. Sir Blo''s limp body copsed to the ground, while John held his severed head by his blood soaked hair.


    He turned to look at the other man, who waspletely frozen in fear.


    ''I have no problem killing this man, but anyone willing to rob the Bloodfiend Sect is alright by me.''


    His mission was to take Sir Blo''s life and take his head back as proof. None of the other men concerned him, and their cultivations were too low to add to his body cultivation. John''s figure suddenly vanished from sight as quickly as he came, leaving no trace of his actions other than the headless corpse of his victim remaining.

 Chapter 362 - String Of Clues

    At the very top of the Bloodfiend Citadel, Allfiend sat atop his throne, staring at the person leaving the chamber. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, while a small scowl lingered on his face. His power was slowly withdrawing into himself, revealing that he had exploded in rage enough to unconsciously re his power.


    "Stubborn, but that stubbornness won''tst for much longer. When this is all over, you''ll thank me," Allfiend grumbled to himself as he watched the person leave.


    Allfiend took out some scrolls from his spatial ring and began studying them, which depicted a detailed map of the Yuan Continent. Points of interest all over the map were marked, with many other markings depicting some sort ofrge scale n for the continent.


    Not long after the first person left, another person opened the chamber doors and entered. Allfiend looked up from his scroll and watched the person walk to the base of the throne.


    After bowing her head in respect, the woman who had just entered, an Elder of the sect, addressed Allfiend.


    .


    "Sect Leader Allfiend, I have done as you have instructed," the woman spoke up.


    "And? What is the status regarding your mission?" Allfiend asked with slight seriousness in his voice, indicating that he ced quite a bit of importance on what the Elder was mentioning.


    "I have had all our spies within the Heavenly Lightning Sect look everywhere, without raising too much suspicion, and they have alle to the same conclusion...the boy is no longer in the sect," the Elder replied.


    Allfiend''s eyebrows raised slightly as he heard this.


    "Why do you say that? Could he not be in seclusion?" Allfiend asked.


    "We have considered that as a possibility, but have decided to rule that out. The boy suddenly vanished around two and a half months ago, and has not been seen or heard within the sect since," the Elder replied. "Its unlikely that someone as young as him will enter seclusion for that long, and so the most usible exnation is that he is out of the sect at the moment."


    Allfiend''s eyebrows furrowed upon hearing this, clearly indicating his displeasure.


    "This boy has disyedbat prowess far beyond anything we have seen before. Every day he stays alive is another day of which his power grows, and he bes more and more of a threat to our sect, and potentially our entire Forbidden Alliance," Allfiend replied in a cold, slightly angry voice.


    The Elder looked up at Allfiend with slight surprise etched on her face.


    "You rate him that highly? That one day he could threaten even the entire Forbidden Alliance itself? Surely you''re overestimating him," the Elder replied, although her voice remained respectful. "The Forbidden Alliance''s strength is far beyond what we can imagine. For him to threaten the Alliance itself, he would have to raise himself to the peak of this world."


    "I know how strong our Forbidden Alliance is," Allfiend replied with an icy voice, angered that the Elder would question his judgement.


    The Elder quickly realized the error of her ways, and lowered her head in deference.


    "Apologies for doubting you, Sect Leader. If you say it is so, then it must be so," the Elder replied with a slightly quivering voice, fully realizing she had angered Allfiend. Those who angered Allfiend usually did not have good endings.


    Allfiend remained silent for quite some time as he thought over the whole situation. His eyes once again locked onto the Elder after some time, and his cold voice filled the room once more.


    "You said he disappeared from the Heavenly Lightning Sect just over two months ago? Is there anything else you know about the boy? Any family? Or alliances within the sect itself? Anything?" Allfiend asked, looking to find any clue at all.


    "Nothing on his family," the Elder replied. "We have pried into his family secrets as deep as we possibly could, but we have not been able to discover anything yet. It seems the sect values him highly, and must be keeping that information top secret. The only thing we know is his full name, John Fenix."


    "Fenix?" Allfiend repeated, as if the word was familiar to him. "Fenix¡­.Fenix¡­.Fenix¡­."


    Allfiend''s eyes lit up slightly as he finally recalled the origin of that name.


    "That small sect we have had some dealings with, the..." Allfiend paused for a moment, struggling to recall the name.


    "Crimson Valley Sect, that''s the name," Allfiend finally remembered.


    "We have had some dealings with the Crimson Valley Sect, regarding the discovery of a potentially game-changing pocket realm. We have sent Elder Farren and Elder Borg to investigate, and they have reported that there are several other powers in the area, including a n named the Fenix n," Allfiend exined.


    His expression was hopeful, but it quickly soured. "However, the n is located on the other side of the Great Desert, in some deste, backwater part of this continent. Their names may match, but I highly doubt a n that low in power could produce someone like that boy. Nheless, it is worth checking out," Allfiend continued.


    "I will reach out to Elder Farren and Elder Borg to inquire further," the Elder instructed, as her current mission was to locate any news about John.


    "Is there anything else of note from that boy?" Allfiend asked.


    "The only other thing we can conclusively say is that he has be the disciple of the Vice-Sect Leader, and he is also part of the War Hall," the Elder replied.


    "Her huh? What a pain in the ass that woman is," Allfiend replied with slight disgust. His thoughts switched to the War Hall, at which point his eyes slightly lit up once again.


    "War Hall? They typically go on missions that canst for months, so if he''s missing, I''m sure its rted to that," Allfiend mused.


    "It is very much possible," the Elder replied.


    Allfiend put his hand on his chin as he fell deep into thought. Words asionally escaped his mouth as he mumbled to himself.


    "War Hall¡­.two months ago¡­.frequent bordend missions¡­"


    Slowly but surely, a vague idea began to form in Allfiend''s mind. After thinking about it for a while, an almost impossible idea came to his mind. Allfiend''s eyes focused on the far wall of the chamber as his face became serious.


    He once again focused on the Elder before him after some time.


    "You are dismissed. Keep me informed if you discover any other information," Allfiend instructed.


    "It will be done," the Elder replied with great respect, before she turned around and left the room.


    After she left the room, Allfiend sat on his throne for some time before his body blurred, disappearing from sight.

 Chapter 363 - Summoning

    Plop!


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


    "I''m handing in the head of my assassination mission," John said to the Elder with a small smile on his face.


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


    "Get that head off my desk," the Elder replied with slight anger. "You need only show me the head, not sully my desk with its filth."


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


    .


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


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


    "Why do you need the details? Isn''t the head sufficient?" John asked, slightly confused.


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


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


    "Oh, that makes sense," John replied.


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


    "That is all. You may leave," the Elder instructed.


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


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


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


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


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


    Growl!


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


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


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


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


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


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


    "I''ve been thinking. I''ve be your disciple, but I haven''t received a training session from you yet, or been introduced to any other new experiences yet," John replied with a slightly bummed look on his face.


    "I suppose I do have time for some training sessions," Elder Praxx replied in a carefree tone. "I just finished a personal assassination mission of eliminating some meddlesome powers in the Honorable Alliancends, and so I have a bit of free time as of now. We can''t have you fall behind the other Emperors, or die like that useless disciple of mine, Damon."


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


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


    "As for new experiences, what are you referring to?" Elder Praxx asked.


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


    "Ah, that. Those wille in due time," Elder Praxx replied.


    "So secretive," John grumbled. A thought came to his mind, and he decided to go for it. "Such as the reason why all those mortals are being dragged into the mountainside at night. What is the reason for that?" John asked.


    Elder Praxx''s head quickly turned towards John as he spoke out in a serious voice. "How do you know about that? Who told you about that?"


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


    "Oh, so that''s how you know," Elder Praxx breathed out a sigh of relief. "As for what''s going on down there, I cannot reveal exactly what''s happening, but all you need to know is that its in preparation for a summoning."


    "A summoning? What type of summoning? A beast summoning? Fairy? Demon?" John asked.


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


    "I can''t reveal that," Elder Praxx replied. "But let''s just say that when it happens, you''ll be more than aware that the summoning has urred. Now, let''s start your training."

 Chapter 364 - Meridian Ascension Pill

    Elder Praxx strode past John and descended deep into a chamber below his mansion, in which a massive training room was located. Like this, John trained with Elder Praxx for the next week regarding many things, such as honing battle instincts, assassination arts, and much much more.


    John''s days were spent training with Elder Praxx, while his nights were spent cultivating and preparing to break through to the next realm, as well as exploring the sect when he could. For some reason, John felt his nerves be more and more taught, and so he became much more careful when looking around the sect for any and all clues.


    Eventually, he realized that Elder Praxx was his best source of information, and that any further exploration was mostly useless. Slowly but surely, Elder Praxx was revealing more and more information to John.


    By now, he had learned that the summoning was part of a ratherrge n the sect had in ce, but the n was still vague, frustrating John slightly.


    On this day, John found himself eating in the lunch district, taking a rare break from training with Elder Praxx.


    ''Whew, training with Elder Praxx is quite intense, although not nearly as intense as training with that crazy woman who calls herself my master. Still, this training is quite valuable, and I can feel mybat prowess continue to rise steadily.. Not only that, but Elder Praxx seems to be quite knowledgeable about assassination arts. With what he''s taught me over thest few days, I''m sure I would be able to assassinate that merchant without him detecting me now.''


    John took a bite of his meal, which was arge sandwich made with Core Formation beast meat, and a soup containing various expensive ingredients.


    "Hmm, not bad. This sandwich is quite filling, while the soup is replenishing my expended Qi reserves quite nicely," John mused to himself out loud.


    "Not bad, right? Although I prefer the tea here," a voice behind John snapped him out of his thoughts.


    "Chase, we meet again," John replied with a smile as he turned to greet chase.


    In this ce he despised to the very core, Chase was the only person he could stomach to talk to without wanting to kill them. Unlike the others, he seemed to be quiteid back, and had no bloodthirsty or menacing traits about him.


    "That we have," Chase replied with a smile on his face. "I haven''t seen you in over a week. Where have you been?" Chase asked.


    John finished his bite of food before responding. "I''ve been training with my master, as well as doing some sect missions. Right now is a rare break from training," John replied before taking another bite of his sandwich.


    "Ah, I see. That makes sense."


    Chase inspected John for a moment before his one eyebrow raised slightly.


    "Your cultivation seems to have improved quite a bit since Ist saw you as well. It seems as if you''re at the Half-Step Meridian Forging realm, and are quite close to breaking through," Chase replied.


    "Yep. I''m pretty close, and myprehensions are more than enough, but thest hurdle is still a bit too much to leap over right now. I need to consolidate more internal Qi before I can push through and reach the Meridian Forging Realm," John confirmed.


    "Hmm," Chase hummed while listening to John. "Then you should take this," he suddenly said as he stretched out his hand towards John.


    On his hand rested a round red pill which contained four rings of blue that circled the exterior of the pill. The pill emitted a dense medicinal aura, as well as a potent vibrancy, causing John to widen his eyes slightly.


    "And what''s this?" John asked, although he had his suspicions.


    "It''s a Meridian Ascension Pill, but not the kind you would find just anywhere. I made this one personally, and can vouch for its efficacy. If you take it, you should instantly be able to push through to the Meridian Forging Realm," Chase exined.


    John looked at the pill for a moment before he reached out and took it, as he refused to stand on courtesy when it regarded his cultivation.


    "Thanks," John replied with arge smile on his face. "This will help a lot."


    "I''m d to hear it," Chase replied with an equallyrge smile, and he guestered to a nearby waiter to order some food.


    For the next hour, John and Chase discussed various things about cultivation, the pill dao, and the Bloodfiend Sect, before they parted ways. John made his way back to his house on top of the mountain, and secluded himself in his room as he took out the pill Chase had given him.


    His divine sense red out with its strongest power, as he scanned every single millimeter of the pill for any irregrities. While he was not a pill expert, he had taken enough pills to know when some ingredients were out of ce.


    "Can''t be too careful," John murmured to himself. "Even though Chase seems like a pretty nice guy, this is the Bloodfiend Sect after all."


    After inspecting the pill for over an hour, John finally let out a deep sigh of relief as he confirmed the pill was safe to consume.


    "I guess Chase really is an alright fellow," John mused. He prepared his state of mind and calmed himself before grabbing the pill and popping it into his mouth. The pill went down his throat and into his stomach, where it began to slowly dissolve.


    The pill instantly began to fill John with incredible energy, ting him.


    ''It seems as if this pill truly is amazing. Chase must be quite the Pill Expert to make such a pill.''


    Boom!


    The doors to John''s room suddenly burst open, surprising John greatly. Not wanting to waste any of the medicinal properties of the pill, John sent out a stream of essence Qi to wrap around it, isting it from the rest of his stomach.


    After doing so, John looked up at the opened door with frustration on his face, ready to yell at whoever just barged in. His face of anger quickly turned into surprise and confusion as he saw who it was.


    "Chase? What are you doing here?" John called out.


    Chase seemed to be out of breath, as well as in a hurry as he ran towards John and grabbed him by the arm.


    "Don''t ask me what''s going on. Just follow me, okay?" Chase replied to John.


    John carefully inspected Chase, who seemed to have something making him quite concerned. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded his head in agreement.


    "Sure, lead the way."

 Chapter 365 - Desperate Situation

    "Sure, lead the way," John confirmed to Chase, who instantly turned around and began to leave the house.


    ''I''m not sure what''s going on, but I''ll follow Chase for now and see what this is about.''


    John quickly followed Chase out of the building, who instantly began to speed down the mountainside towards the valley below. He kept pace right behind Chase, but was surprised at how fast he was moving.


    The two of them quickly reached the valley, and moved towards a certain direction, speeding past all the other disciples and Elder''s in the valley who turned in surprise and confusion at seeing Chase and John speed away like that.


    "I wonder what''s got them in such a hurry?" a disciple asked his nearby friend.


    "Not sure, but if even someone like John is speeding off like that, it must be quite important," the boy''s friend replied.


    Chase suddenly turned into a busy business district of the sect, and sped down a secluded alleyway. After entering the alleyway, he paused for a moment and made sure the coast was clear, before he turned to John and gave him a new robe to put on..


    "Here, put this on," Chase instructed.


    John found the situation odd, but didn''t argue as he quickly changed robes. Chase did the same, and the two of them quickly disguised themselves as sect merchants instead of sect disciples.


    After changing, Chase began to move once more before John could speak to him. John let out a frustrated sigh, not liking that he didn''t know what was going on, but followed behind Chase nheless.


    They both slipped onto the main road of the sect, and meandered with the crowd, aiming to leave the sect grounds. Like this, John and Chase travelled through the sect for quite some distance, before John reached out to Chase and grabbed him by the shoulder. Chase tried to shrug off John''s hand, but was not able to and came to a halt as he turned to look at John.


    "What is it? We need to keep going!" Chase said to John with a frustrated voice.


    John frowned as he heard this tone from Chase, but kept his opinions to himself.


    "What is going on? We''ve been speeding forward for quite some time now, and yet you''ve yet to tell me what is going on. The rest of the sect seems to be fine and at peace, so why are we the only ones rushing off like this?" John asked.


    Chase''s expression turned into one of slight anger as he heard John''s question. "Can you not just trust me this one time? Do you not consider me a friend?" Chase asked, his tone growing more and more frustrated.


    John was slightly taken aback by Chase''s tone, but remained calm himself.


    "Then why don''t you exin what''s going on, and I''ll follow along willingly then," John replied.


    Chase''s expression changed from anger to frustration, to eventually defeat. He grabbed John by the shoulder and moved him to one of the side alleyways of the main road, and spoke to him in a hushed tone.


    His expression changed several more times, as if he was trying to formte his words, before he let out a deep sigh of defeat and looked at John directly.


    "I''ve juste across some news that you''re a target for the higher ups of the sect, who will try to capture you tonight. As such, I''m helping you escape," Chase replied, rifying a bit of the situation.


    "Huh?" John replied, his voice slightly tinged with confusion. "The higher ups are targeting me? Why would they be doing that? Did I do something wrong recently?" John asked.


    His mind reyed everything he had done in the sect, and confirmed he had given away no information regarding his real identity.


    ''There''s no way they know who I truly am, as I''ve given no clues. This must be rted to something else.''


    Chase remained silent for a moment, once again thinking of how to exin his next words, before he sighed deeply once again.


    "Fine, I''ll juste out with it, as it seems you won''t admit it yourself. I know John. I know," Chase replied.


    John felt his heart leap in his chest at Chase''s words, but his face remained confused.


    "Know what?" John asked for rification.


    "I know you''re not truly John Harren. I know that you are John Fenix, at least, those at the top of the sect believe there''s a good chance you are," Chase finally replied after some time of silence. "And they''re going to find out if you truly are John Fenix once and for all tonight. So before that happens, you need to leave."


    John''s eyes widened slightly, but they quickly returned to normal as John did his best to maintain hisposure.


    ''I don''t know how they''ve even thought to associate this identity with my true self, but maybe they only have a hunch and this is a test to see if I''ll crack. I need to remain clueless about this situation.''


    John remained speechless for a moment, as if he had no idea what was going on.


    "What? I''m John Fenix? Who the hell is John Fenix? Is that why you''ve dragged me into this mess? Because you think I''m someone else? What the hell is this bullshit?" John replied, his voice steadily going from confusion to anger.


    "Besides, even if I was somehow this person you''re mentioning, and the sect truly did want me, you helping me escape can only end badly for you. Why are you doing this in the first ce?" John asked.


    Chase remained silent for a moment before replying. "I''m not just doing this for you. I have my own personal reasons for allowing you to escape. In fact, helping you escape is mostly to help myself, so just leave now, okay?" Chase replied.


    John stared at Chase with a mix of confusion and contemtion.


    ''Helping me escape helps him? If that''s the case, then maybe I should follow him. He already knows my true name somehow, so I''m sure he''s telling the truth. And he doesn''t seem to be lying, so I''ll follow him for now.''


    "Son, you disappoint me," a new voice entered their ears as a person suddenly appeared before them. "But after tonight, you''ll be a changed man, and we can put this situation behind us."


    Chase''s face turned into one of anger and desperation, while John''s turned into stunned surprise.


    It was as if the grim reaper himself had shown up, which sent a shiver down John''s spine. He instinctively began to n his escape, including crushing the talisman, as there was no fighting his way out of this situation. He couldn''t help but call out as he looked straight at the person who had appeared before him.


    "Allfiend!"

 Chapter 366 - Captured

    "John Fenix. I''m d I finally get to meet you," Allfiend said to John. His aura pressed down on John with incredible power, making it so that he couldn''t even move a muscle. "Or at least, I''m ny percent certain you''re John Fenix. I''ll know the truth in a few seconds."


    It was at this time that John knew Allfiend knew of his secret identity. It didn''t matter how he knew, but the truth was that he knew.


    Allfiend reached out towards John''s face and ran his fingers across it, and his eyes lit up slightly upon doing so.


    "So that''s how you did it," Allfiend said as he suddenly pulled his hand back.


    Rip!


    John''s mask was torn off his face, causing him to cry out in pain.. The mask had been on his face for so long that it had even begun to fuse with his soul unknowingly. As such, it was also as if part of his soul was torn from his body, sending an excruciating wave of pain throughout his body.


    With his mask removed, John''s facial features returned to his true self, revealing himself for all to see.


    "So this is what you truly look like?" Allfiend stated. "Quite handsome indeed. My son will do well piloting this body of yours."


    John grit his teeth as he stared at Allfiend, as he knew the time for excuses was over. It didn''t matter how it happened, but his true self was revealed fully. Allfiend''s words finally registered in John''s mind, and he turned to look at the nearby Chase.


    "Son?" John asked, his voice no more than a whisper.


    Chase stared at John in silence, unsure of how to respond.


    "You''re Allfiend''s son?" John repeated the question, with a louder, angrier voice this time.


    "Yes," Chase finally replied. "But-"


    John cut Chase off, his anger fully ignited. "I knew I shouldn''t have trusted anyone from this sect, including you. Oh well, it doesn''t really matter, it? seems I would have been caught with or without your interference anyways," John continued.


    "I truly did try to help you escape, I swear," Chase replied, his face full of regret.


    "This is so very touching, but we don''t have time for this," Allfiend suddenly interrupted, growing tired of the conversation between the two boys.


    John felt a power suddenly wrap around him, and his body transported suddenly, before his vision turned back to normal. He quickly pivoted his head in every direction, taking in the new scene before him, and his eyes opened wide as he did so.


    John found himself standing on the center of a tform, several dozen yards across. The tform was circr, and had incredibly detailed formation runes carved into its surface. A few dozen yards away, Chase stood on an identical tform, also at its center.


    The tforms seemed to be linked by exquisite formation runes carved between them, as if they were all part of the same formation. There were Elder''s surrounding the two tforms, seemingly to operate the formation.


    John spotted Elder Praxx amongst the Elder''s, who stared at him with hate in his eyes.


    "What the fuck is this?" John shouted out as he struggled to break free from the tform.


    He red out with his absolute power, seeking to at least free his arm to be able to crush the talisman so that Thunderzen could arrive. However, the power of the formation restricted him wholeheartedly, making it so that he couldn''t not move anything other than his head.


    Even his Qi was restricted, making it so that he was unable to retrieve his talisman from his pce realm and crush it.


    "This?" Allfiend replied. "This is a formation I have prepared specifically for my son, to take his power to new heights so that he may ascend to the top of the martial world," Allfiend replied as he gestured towards Chase.


    John looked over towards Chase, who seemed to be struggling to break free of the formation as well. However, just like John, he was unable to move even an inch. Realizing this, Chase looked towards his father, with hate and anger in his eyes.


    "How many times have I told you, I don''t want anything to do with these ns of yours, or you yourself!" Chase spat out angrily.


    Hearing those words, John was slightly taken aback, as Chase truly seemed to hate his father.


    ''It seems he truly was telling the truth, that he was not in on this. But that doesn''t matter right now. The only thing that matters is getting out of this situation.''


    "You say those words now, but you''ll realize the error of your ways after this process ispleted," Allfiend replied to Chase with a look of displeasure on his face. "It was a good try to help John escape, but I knew you would try something like that. Always aplete disappointment."


    It seemed as if his son was truly starting to annoy him. Allfiend stared at his son for a little while longer before he moved towards where the Elder''s were standing, and began some discussions that John could clearly overhear.


    "Is the formationplete?" Allfiend asked one of the Elders.


    "Yes. Formations Grandmaster Seera has alreadypleted the formation. Shepleted it this morning, and has already left to return to the Divine Martial Continent. She left full instructions to us on how to operate the formation," the Elder replied.


    "Good, then we may proceed with the first stage of our ns," Allfiend replied.


    "What ns?" John called out angrily as he continued to struggle against his shackles. "Just what the fuck are you miserable bastards trying to do?"


    Allfiend turned to John with a smile on his face, as if he enjoyed John''s struggles. He walked up to John and stood before him, peering menacingly into his eyes.


    "Since you''re going to die soon, I might as well let you know what I have in n, so that your death will be all the more miserable," Allfiend replied with a wicked smile stered on his face.


    "The ns are the destruction of the Honorable Alliancends...including that pitiable little Fenix n of yours."

 Chapter 367 - Meridian Forging Ascension

    John''s eyes trembled ever so slightly as he heard Allfiend mention his n, but he maintained hisposure as best he could.


    "Fenix n? I''m not from any n," John replied with a disdainful tone, as if he considered Allfiend to be a moron.


    Allfiend smiled as he stared at John, as the very small tremble did not go unnoticed. He turned around and walked a few steps away from John before he turned around once again.


    "Whether you admit it or not, I already know you are from the Fenix n. We''ve dug into your n''s history, and it seems as though a certain youth named John of the Fenix n went missing about a year ago, right before the meteoric rise of John Fenix started in the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Coincidence? Perhaps. But I think we all know better than that," Allfiend replied, the sinister smile still lingering on his face.


    "We''ve already confirmed you''re from the Fenix n, so there''s no use hiding it anymore, not that it matters anyways," Allfiend said to John.


    John grit his teeth as he heard this, as it seemed as though Allfiend knew for certain that John was part of the n.. Any future charade would be useless.


    "What are you nning to do to them?" John asked through gritted teeth.


    "Do to them specifically? Nothing," Allfiend replied as he began to stride back and forth in front of John. "Other than wipe every single one of them from the face of this world. They somehow gave rise to a talent such as yourself. We can''t chance that happening again, no matter how unlikely it is," Allfiend exined.


    John''s eyes turned incredibly icy upon hearing that, as his bloodlust exploded from his body. Allfiend stopped his pacing for a moment as he looked at John in slight surprise.


    "That bloodlust is quite impressive. It''s a shame you didn''t grow up as a member of our sect. If you did, you truly could have helped us dominate this world in the future," Allfiend said to John. "However, we still have ns for you."


    "What ns?" John asked through still gritted teeth.


    "You don''t need to know the specifics, as you will be dying soon. I just wanted to let you know that your n will be a part of it. Let''s just say that this continent will be drawn into quite the nightmare in the near future," Allfiend replied.


    John''s thoughts instantly snapped to the cauldron of blood, and what Elder Praxx said about a summoning.


    "It''s the summoning, isn''t it? Well I can tell you now, its not going to work," John replied.


    Allfiend looked at John with slight surprise on his face, before he turned to look at Elder Praxx. Elder Praxx had a look of slight embarrassment on his face, as he knew he was outed.


    "Apologies, Sect Leader Allfiend. I had no idea I was telling our ns to a spy when I revealed them. However, he knows nothing else, other than its a summoning," Elder Praxx spoke out.


    Allfiend continued to stare at Elder Praxx with slight anger in his eyes before his face returned back to normal and he once again turned to look at John.


    "You are quite correct. Our ns do involve the summoning, but you won''t be alive to see it take ce.? I''m guessing that since you know its a summoning, but that Thunderzen hasn''t shown up yet, that you have yet to inform him of this matter. Good, but enough of that," Allfiend said as he gestured to the formation below their feet.


    "This formation you are on cost us an absolute fortune to employ a Formations Grandmaster to create. Do you know what it does?" Allfiend asked.


    John recalled what Allfiend had offhandedly mentioned before, as well as the fact that Chase was on a simr tform as himself.


    "If I had to guess, I would imagine you''re going to have Chase take over my body," John replied.


    "Correct. You are quite clever it seems," Allfiend replied. "This formation will slowly erase your consciousness over the course of several weeks, while slowly infusing that of Chase''s into it. When this is done, he will obtain your incredibly talented body, and use it to soar through the world of cultivation," Allfiend exined.


    "Fuck off. I don''t want any of this," an angry cry suddenly interrupted Allfiend.


    Both John and Allfiend looked over to Chase, who had nothing but hate and anger in his eyes as he stared at his father.


    "Regardless of if you want it, it will still happen. As I told you before, when you inherit his body, and the might of forbidden cultivation arts floods your veins for the first time, you will realize that I was right all along. Until then, keep quiet."


    Allfiend flicked his wrist, and a stream of powerful Qi wrapped around Chase''s mouth, silencing him from speaking again. After doing so, Allfiend looked back to John with great curiosity.


    "Tell me, how did you be so powerful. Surely you have some amazing secrets. If you reveal them to me, I''ll make your death painless. However, if you deny me these details, I''ll make it so that you wish you were dead one thousand times over," Allfiend said to John menacingly.


    Hearing this, John drooped his head down as he looked at the ground. Allfiend took this as a sign of defeat, and his smile began to growrger as he waited for John to reveal all his secrets.


    After a moment of silence,ughter began to fill the air.


    "Hahahaha."


    Theughter grew louder, and was clear for all to hear. Allfiend looked at John with slight ire, as John lifted his head to look at Allfiend whileughing at the top of his lungs.


    "You find all this funny?" Allfiend asked with a voice of growing frustration. "We''ll see how long you can keep thisughter up for."


    "Of course I find this funny," John replied with a tone ofplete mockery. "You''ve gone through all this trouble, and I''m about to ruin every single aspect of this n."


    "Oh?" Allfiend asked with an amused tone. "And how do you n to do that? I''m sure that bastard Thunderzen gave you some sort of talisman to crush to inform him of any danger, but I''ve restricted all your movements. You''re trapped, and have no way to escape this formation. So do tell me, who is going to help you get out of this?" Allfiend asked.


    Boom!


    An explosive power suddenly emanated from John, and all those nearby felt his power surge to incredible heights. It was as if he had gone through a metamorphosis, and his power had grown to even make some of the Elder''s feel threatened.


    This process continued for several minutes as Allfiend and the Elder''s watched on, and they even felt a tinge of the heaven''s descend before quickly retreating. Several minutester, the violent energy exploding from John''s body subsided, returning the area to normal once again.


    Allfiend studied John closely, and quickly noticed what had happened.


    "You broke through to the Meridian Forging Realm? That was your n? Are you truly so stupid as to think that this little bit of power is enough to break the formation that binds you?" Allfiend asked.


    After he was captured, John had allowed the pill he had isted from his stomach to once again be absorbed. Slowly but surely, he infused all the energy into his dantian, and at the very end, had ascended to the Meridian Forging Realm.


    He instantly felt his power increase several fold, and he quickly guided the remaining energy through his meridians, reinforcing them and expanding them, making them much more formidable.


    At the same time, astral meridians, gifted from the heaven''s themselves, fused with his meridians, making them stronger once more. With all this done, John''s power exploded to incredible levels, and his meridians were capable of withstanding much greater energy flows. John also felt his soul advance an entire realm as well, ascending from the Soul Condensation Realm to the Soul Sea Realm.


    His soul space, which was a condensed sphere of soul energy, instantly expanded to incredible proportions, expanding to a sea of soul energy. He felt his soul grow much more powerful, and his divine sense climb to new heights.


    Allfiend was also initially shocked at the power John had disyed, as it had been quite incredible, and far beyond what a newly ascended Meridian Forging expert should be capable of.


    However, as Allfiend had mentioned, it was still not enough to break free of the formation that bound him.


    John relished in his power for a moment before he looked up at Allfiend with a look of absolute confidence.


    "No, I''m not stupid enough to think this bit of power is enough to help me escape," John replied, his voice tinged with mockery. "You asked me who I''m getting to help me break free of this formation? Well you''re right. It''s not Thunderzen, but something much, much stronger."


    Allfiend had a look of confusion on his face as he heard John''s exnation. He was about to mock him further, when another muffled boom echoed out from within John''s body.


    Just like before, a wild energy surged from within his body, bathing the nearby area with incredible power. The robes of Allfiend and the nearby Elders fluttered violently as an incredibly demonic and bloodthirsty aura exploded off from John with absolute power.


    Even someone as powerful as Allfiend took a slight step backwards, as he was unsure of what was going on. To them, it was as if John was going through a second Meridian Forging ascension, but they all knew such a thing was impossible.


    Boom!


    An extremely loud crack exploded up above the heads of everyone, drawing all their attentions. The eyes of all the Elder''s, as well as Allfiend''s, widened with shock and horror.


    Tribtion Clouds!

 Chapter 368 - The Power Of Tribulation Lightning

    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    Thunderous booms echoed down from above as lightning began to snake through the ever thicker clouds that gathered at an unnatural speed. Within seconds, the entire sky was covered with ckened clouds, bathing the sect in a near nighttime darkness.


    The clouds spread for a hundred miles in each direction, and made it appear as if a storm of judgement was descending upon the sect.


    Everyone within the Bloodfiend Sect, no matter who they were or what they were doing immediately felt the heavenly pressure of the tribtion clouds pressing down upon them. It was as if the apocalypse hade for the sect.


    Everyone flooded to the streets and looked at the ck clouds high above, as lightning continuously struck out within the clouds, asionally showering the sect below with shes of light.


    "What the hell is going on?" many disciples asked, both scared and confused at what was happening.


    .


    "Those are tribtion clouds," the more experienced Eldersmented. They had all seen tribtion clouds, either from their own tribtions, or from other Elders breaking through.


    "However, I have never seen anything like this before," an Elder eximed. "These are less tribtion clouds, and more clouds bringing the wrath of heavenly judgement. Just what the hell is happening."


    Back at the formation circles, John continued to push the cultivation of his body dantian over the edge towards the Meridian Forging Realm.


    When his body had broken through to the Core Formation Realm back in the ancient temple, he had felt the tribtion clouds back then, searching for his location. He didn''t know if the temple was somehow shrouding him, or if the clouds just couldn''t find him yet, but he knew they were there for him.


    Not only that, but he knew they would find him when he broke through the Meridian Forging Realm, and would strike down on him with absolute power and fury.


    John watched Allfiend slowly back away from him as he continued to look up towards the sky, before John too looked up to the sky. Lightning continuously snaked through the clouds, nearly racing down to the ground below but stopping just before doing so, as if they couldn''t find what they wanted to strike just yet.


    John narrowed his eyes as he stared at the clouds above, as his suspicions were confirmed. Both in the timing, and the nature of the tribtion.


    ''I had a feeling this would happen. In fact, I was almost certain of it, and it seems as though I was right. Tribtion will rain down on me when my body cultivation breaks through to the Meridian Forging Realm, and not only that, but it will be unlike any tribtion I''ve ever heard of.''


    Allfiend, and the Elder''s as well, all couldn''t help but stare non-stop at the clouds above, stunned expressions stered on each and every one of their faces.


    "What the hell is going on?" one of the Elder''s eximed in shock and confusion.


    "It''s the boy, the tribtion clouds are centered on the boy!" another eximed.


    "Impossible. Tribtion clouds only appear when one breaks through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm. How could a Meridian Forging ascension trigger heavenly tribtion?" another replied, his voice full of panic and uncertainty.


    "We can all clearly tell it''s centered on the boy, the main question is why is this tribtion so powerful?" another Eldermented. "Every tribtion, while shockingly powerful, leaves a thread of hope for the one ascending, as the tribtion is not meant to kill outright, but test the cultivator. If they are deemed worthy of being blessed by the heavens, the heavenly tribtion serves as a means to bathe their bodies in the heavenlyws, which not only heals them after the tribtion, but also helps them ascend closer to the heavens¡­"


    The Elder paused for a moment.


    "However, there are no blessings in this tribtion lightning. No healing properties. No path for survival. There is only death for the one who undergoes this tribtion. It''s as if the heavens wants nothing more than to snuff out the life of that boy, giving him no hope of survival," the Elder exined.


    "Good," a different Eldermented as he heard this. "Although it''s a shame Chase will not inherit his body, at least we''ll be rid of this headache in the future," the Elder continued as he stuck up his nose at John.


    "Indeed. Watching this boy die miserably will be quite entertaining," another replied smugly.


    "Have you all gone stupid?" Allfiend suddenly barked at the Elders angrily. "If this boy undergoes a tribtion of this magnitude in the center of the sect, what do you think will happen to the sect?"


    The faces of all the Elder''s lit up in shock as they realized what Allfiend was saying. If John truly underwent such a tribtion within the sect, a great portion of it would be ruined. They were currently in quite an important part of the sect, and its destruction would cost them dearly.


    "Then what are we waiting for? If we take his life, this all ends," Elder Praxx suddenly shouted as he dashed forward towards John. "Since I was the one to bring him this far, it''s only natural that I''m the one to end his life."


    His power red out, revealing his might as a peak Heaven Tribtion Elder. In fact, he was actually a Half-Step Dao Transformation expert, revealing that he was incredibly powerful. He was still incredibly hateful of John, as he was the one to y his previous disciple, Damon. However, Allfiend''s ns took precedence, and so he did not make any hasty actions when he found out the truth just the day prior.


    "Elder Praxx, stay your hand!" Allfiend called out, but it was toote.


    Elder Praxx was directly before John, ready tond the final blow. John smiled as he watched Elder Praxx approach, and thest bit of Meridian Forging blood essence he had at his disposal was finally absorbed. He had been saving the blood essence of the three Meridian Forging experts he had in months earlier for just this moment.


    Boom!


    An explosive sound echoed out from within John''s body as his cultivation was finally pushed over the edge, cing his body cultivation firmly in the Meridian Forging Realm. As if they had finally found their prey, the lightning snaking through the clouds above stopped for the briefest of moments, before a horrifying bolt of lightning came exploding down on John below.


    Just as it was about to reach John, the tribtion lightning noticed Elder Praxx, and his interference in this tribtion. Even in normal tribtions, tribtion lightning would strike any who would interfere.


    Many still chose to do so, and would shield a portion of the lightning from the one ascending, assuring that they broke through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm. Doing so would not fully baptize the tribtor in tribtion lightning, making them weaker than those who fully ascended on their own power.


    However, such things were done by strong Elders or parents who knew without interference, their sons, daughters, or disciples breaking through would die without some aid. The lesser future talent was worth it if their offspring survived. Their immense strength allowed them to withstand the might of the heaven tribtion, giving it a strong but manageable reputation.


    However, this lightning was different. There was only destruction, and it would not allow anyone or anything to interfere with its main purpose of ying John. It could not tell the difference between those helping John and those trying to kill him, but only that they were near him, which it assumed was to aid him.


    John knew this more than anyone, as he was the center of the tribtion, and could feel its purpose press down on him.


    He smiled sinisterly at Elder Praxx who was nearly upon him, and that smile sent a shiver down the Elder''s spine.


    "Goodbye Elder Praxx. Tell Damon I said hi!"


    BOOM!


    The tribtion lightning bolt, which split in two, rained down on John and Elder Praxx. A deafening p of thunder exploded out, and the explosion of lightning knocked everyone off their feet as the lighting radiated outwards. The ears of all those nearby rang for quite some time, before they slowly mored to their feet to inspect the damage.


    Their eyes all opened in shock at the sight before them.


    A charred pile of flesh, barely recognizable as a human, was smoldering on the half-destroyed formation tform. Before that charred pile of flesh stood John, whose flesh was ever so slightly charred. Smoke drifted off his damaged robes, while a sinisterly wicked smile entered the eyes of all who looked at him.


    "Don''t worry. There''s plenty of tribtion lightning to go around for the rest of you!"

 Chapter 369 - Apocalyptic Tribulation

    John stood defiantly on top of the ruined formation tform, his eyes piercing down towards the Elders standing below him. The lightning had destroyed the formation binding him, once again freeing his body from the restrictions previously ced upon it.


    The Bloodfiend Elder''s stared in stunned disbelief that John was alive, and seemingly unharmed as he stood on the shattered formations tform, while the incredibly powerful Elder Praxx was no more than a charred pile of flesh.


    ''I could summon Thunderzen now, but I don''t want him to get caught up in this. I''ll save that trump card forst.''


    John casually brushed some dirt off his shoulder before he inspected his body.


    He raised his hand before his face, inspecting the slight damage to it. A small portion of flesh on his arm, neck, and back were slightly charred, while the rest of his skin was unharmed.


    Glowing runes covered his skin, emanating a faint blue light from beneath his skin, much like embers glowing beneath a fire.


    .


    ''The Lightning Origin Essence Runes. These are from the Celestial Lightning Script! So that''s why! It all makes sense now!''


    John had always found it strange why the mysterious pce realm he had ess to only had two cultivation techniques, the Immortal Asura Tome, and the Celestial Lightning Script. While the Immortal Asura Tome gifted him with an incredibly strong body and battle art, the Celestial Lightning Script did not have any apanying lightning based battle arts, making it quite useless to him for a considerably long time.


    While it eventually started to show its might when he learned battle arts from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, John was always confused as to why the lightning script was the cultivation technique the creator of the pce realm had chosen to ce inside. Now it all made sense.


    The Celestial Lightning Script, which gave him his Lightning Attribute Body, would be the thing that allowed him to survive this hellish tribtion. The Immortal Asura Body attracted the tribtion, while the Celestial Lightning Script saved him from it. It was perfectly bnced and nned out, as if the creator had foresaw all of this.


    Upon realizing this, John''s confidence in passing this tribtion soared, as he had utmost confidence in his Immortal Asura Body and Lightning Attribute Body.


    His focus once again snapped back to those who stood before him, and his eyes swept over them like a hawk looking at prey. Allfiend immediately noticed this look of John, and could tell what John was about to do.


    "Flee!" Allfiendmanded the Elders, before his body suddenly vanished. While he wanted nothing more than to cut John down at the moment, he knew doing so would only lead to his swift death as tribtion lighting rained down on him.


    His speed was incredible, and John couldn''t even see him move before he disappeared from his vision.


    John watched Allfiend flee, and a scowl washed over his face as his fists clenched with anger by his side.


    "A pity. However, taking your lives will suffice," John sneered at the Elder''s while raising a fist and pointing at them.? His power red, and his body suddenly exploded with absolute speed.


    Thundersh Steps!


    Limiter of Speed!


    Utilizing techniques he had not used for many months, John exploded with incredible speed. The broken formations tform shattered beneath his feet as he sped forward. He instantly appeared before the Elders, who were still in a daze at having been abandoned by Allfiend, and were a stepte to react as John arrived between them.


    "Die for me!"


    Johnmanded as the sky suddenly lit up, and another apocalyptic beam of lightning crashed down to his location below.


    "Shit!"


    "Flee!"


    The other Elder''s finally understood Allfiend''s meaning, and instantly fled at their fastest speeds, seeking to get as far from John as possible.


    Two of the Elder''s suddenly felt themselves yanked backwards, as something incredibly strong gripped their wrists. They both turned around in a panic, and saw John grabbing both their arms.


    "You little shit!"


    "Let go or die!"


    The Elder''s cursed out at the same time, and turned to quickly unleash a strong attack on John. John was still only a recently ascended Meridian Forging cultivator, while these Elders were all in the Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    An attack from them was something he could need his full power to defend against.


    "Toote," John mocked as a look of amusement appeared on his face.


    Both Elder''s looked up to the sky above as pure panic, fear, and despair washed over their faces.


    BOOM!


    The entire area shed white for a brief instant, as the second bolt of tribtion lightning exploded down on John''s position. The earth shattered and crumbled beneath their feet as the lightning sought to destroy all in its path.


    The explosion of lighting faded quickly after, revealing the scene of carnage and destruction left behind. A massive crater formed at the location of the lightning strike, leaving only John and two charred piles of flesh behind.


    More wounds of charred flesh were opened up on John''s skin, revealing that the second lightning strike had been even stronger than the first. However, it was still far from enough to im his life.


    This heaven tribtion was a tribtion targeting John''s body dantian, and by extension, his body. It ignored all essence Qi defenses, and focused only on the flesh of those it struck.


    John''s body was incredibly durable, hardened by an absolutely supreme body cultivation art, and was further protected by his Lightning Attribute Body. However, these Heaven Tribtion Elder''s had no such defenses, and their bodies were naturally much weaker than John''s. As a result, they were reduced to piles of charred flesh as soon as the lightning struck their bodies.


    "Pathetic," John spat out in disgust as he stepped over the two piles of charred flesh.


    He jumped up high into the air, leaving the crater which he had been standing in, and floated up in the sky. His head swiveled in every direction, looking for more Elder''s to destroy, but much to his dismay, the Elder''s had all fled out of his sight.


    "A pity. However¡­"


    John''s gaze shifted from searching for the Elder''s, to the expansive Bloodfiend Sect below. While his official mission foring here was to find out the sect''s ns, his personal mission was to destroy the sect and burn it to the ground.


    The day for that mission to be fulfilled had finally arrived.


    The disciples, lower ranked Elder''s, merchants, and all other members of the sect had gathered in the streets, looking up at the sky above. Hundreds of thousands of them crowded together, seeking out what was happening.


    The two lightning strikes had struck not far away, but those who witnessed it were too scared to move closer to inspect what had happened.


    Shortly after, a lone cultivator appeared high up in the sky, floating above all those below who looked up at him.


    BOOM!


    Another apocalyptic beam of lighting struck down on the boy, knocking him down slightly. However, the boy stood there definitely in the air, as the shes of lighting asionally illuminated his features.


    The tribtion clouds above kicked up a tempest all around him that billowed trees, toppled buildings, and shattered earth. The boy stood stably in the very center of it all, as if none of it affected him at all. It was as if an apocalyptic lighting god had arrived before them.


    "Bloodfiend Sect," the voice of the lone figure boomed out loudly for all to hear. "Your day of judgement has arrived. After tonight, the name of the Bloodfiend Sect will be erased from the annals of history!"

 Chapter 370 - Lion Among Lambs

    asional shes of light from the clouds above illuminated John''s figure, revealing his face for all to see. None of them recognized him, but they could tell he was a young boy by his features.


    The sky suddenly opened up, and rain washed down on the entire sect, as if a waterfall from the heavens had opened up above the sect.


    The clothes and hair of all those within the sect quickly became soaked, and a howling wind chilled them to their core. Trees toppled from the might of the winds nketing the sect, while streets quickly became flooded. It was truly as if the apocalypse had arrived for the sect.


    "Who is that?" a petrified disciple mustered the courage to ask.


    "Is he a god? How did he survive that lightning?" another disciple muttered in fear.


    Most of those within the sect looked up at John as if he were some fabled god, but several Elder''s scrunched their eyes as they closely inspected him.


    .


    "Who are you!" an Elder loudly barked out at John. "What is the meaning of this? Is this some sort of illusion formation?"


    John''s vision shifted to the Elder, his cold eyes staring causing the Elder to take a slight gasp before heposed himself. It was as if a demon was staring at him.


    "Come up here and find out," John replied, his voice full of cold mockery.


    "You little brat," the Elder spat out. "I don''t know what games you''re ying, but your cultivation is clearly at the Meridian Forging Realm. This must be an illusion of some sorts."


    "The only illusion here is you thinking you''ll survive this night," John replied with an indifferent tone, as if talking to the Elder was beneath him.


    "That''s enough. It''s time to end this pathetic charade!"


    The Elder, clearly incensed by John''s words, yelled out in anger as his body suddenly shot up into the sky. John stared at the approaching Elder with disinterest, as if such a thing was only a temporary nuisance. The Elder only had a cultivation at the Late Meridian Forging Realm, further lessening John''s interest in him.


    "That''s Elder Jaypee! He should be able to stop whatever this is!" an excited disciple eximed.


    The Elder took out his sword, and it began to glow powerfully as he reached John and began to swing it down on him.


    Bang!


    The back of John''s hand mmed across the Elder''s face before he could react, shattering his cheekbones and rocketing him down to the ground below faster than he had sped up towards John. The Elder''s body mmed into the crowd below with incredible force, the force of which shattered the bodies of dozens of disciples before the Elder eventually came to an unconscious stop.


    "Annoying," John spat out disdainfully.


    With his essence and body cultivation both in the Meridian Forging Realm now, a Meridian Forging Elder was a trivial thing to handle for John when he utilized his full power. It would take a Heaven Tribtion Elder to challenge him at this point.


    The crowd looked at John with stunned terror on their faces, as his power slowly subsided. He had exploded with the might of his Immortal Asura Transformation Art for the briefest of instants to deal with the Elder, before returning to his normal state.


    The crowd was frozen in confusion and fear as they watched a trusted Elder broken with a single p from the boy above. Several screams of agony and pain cried out for the disciples who had been mowed down by the Elder''s violently crashing body.


    Without a word, John suddenly rocketed down to the ground below,nding within the crowd of disciples, Elders, and other sect members. The force of hisnding caused a small crater to form in the streets, the exploding debris knocking back the stronger cultivators while shattering the bodies of the weaker disciples.


    Before anyone could react, the sky once again lit up brightly, as another apocalyptic beam of lightning struck down on John.


    BOOM!


    Just as the strike before it, this strike was even stronger than the previous, indicating that the tribtion would only get harder and harder to withstand. A massive explosion of lighting radiated outwards after striking John, washing over the nearby crowd and shattering the ground beneath their feet.


    A brief moment of silence descended on the sect as the hearing of those nearby slowly came back from being deafened by the thunderous explosion. The sound of torrential rain and howling winds became audible once again.


    Those who were close to the lighting strike were silenced permanently, while cries of anguish, fear, and pain spread through the crowd that was farther away. The shattered remnants of the street came into view, revealing arge crater a hundred yards wide. The crater was filled with ash and the charred bodies of those unfortunate enough to get caught up in the lightning strike, and the crowd instantly descended into panic upon seeing this.


    The crowd finally realized that what was happening was far beyond their ability to stop, and everyone instantly began to flee in fear.


    "Run!"


    "Flee for your lives!"


    The panicked cries of the crowd echoed out as they began to scatter in all directions like scurrying rats.


    "Heh, it''s toote for that," John snickered as he took out his scythe and dashed forward with insatiable anger and bloodlust.


    The Bloodfiend Sect had tried to kill him numerous times. The Bloodfiend Sect had killed his good friend Russel. The Bloodfiend Sect had killed his fellow Fenix n members, and aimed to exterminate them forever.


    Tonight....Tonight was the night of unbridled retribution.


    His aura towered high into the sky as his scythe cleaved out rapidly, every sh reaping a life. After reaping dozens of lives with a single sh each, John dashed forward and grabbed the head of another disciple, mming it into the ground and exploding it like a watermelon.


    His finger pointed outwards immediately afterwards, as lighting snaked off of it andunched into a dense cluster of the crowd.


    Lightning Ruin!


    An incredibly strong beam of lightning pierced through the bodies of over two dozen disciples before eventually fading away. Without looking at the oue of his attack, John sent off a dozen other Lightning Ruins in other directions, each one piercing towards a dense cluster of fleeing disciples, merchants, and weaker Elders, and each beam taking the lives of dozens of Bloodfiend members.


    Boom!


    John''s fist connected with the head of a disciple he caught up to, which exploded into a fine pink mist.? He raced towards another nearby cluster of disciples, who were tripping over each other and pushing their fellow members behind in an attempt to flee faster. He quickly reached them, and each swing of his scythe cleaved a person in half.


    Divine Reaping Scythe!


    John swung out his scythe immediately after, sending an incredibly sharp and fast horizontal attack towards another cluster of Bloodfiend members.


    Che!


    The Divine Reaping Scythe carved through the group like butter, separating their bodies into two.


    "Die you brat!"


    An angered cry rang out behind John, as a Heaven Tribtion Elder appeared behind him, daggers in hand. John scoffed and pressed off the ground, narrowly dodging the attack. The Elder prepared to send out another attack, when he suddenly looked towards the sky with absolute fear in his eyes.


    BOOM!


    Another beam of lighting crashed onto John, charring the Elder and dozens of other nearby disciples to ashes. John groaned as the strength of thisst lightning strike was quite powerful, and rendered some of his flesh apart.


    The Lightning Origin Essence Runes on his flesh glowed brilliantly, as his Lightning Attribute Body did the best to negate the damage.


    With his current strength far above the other disciples, and the tribtion lighting dealing with all the powerful Elder''s, John was unstoppable during this rampage of his within the sect. However, even he was starting to find it harder and harder to bear the power of the tribtion lighting in his current state.


    His flesh was starting to be rent apart, revealing a small amount of muscle beneath. His flesh was seared all over as well as the damage began to umte. Even with his strong body and Lightning Attribute Body, the power of the tribtion lightning was immense.


    "I guess I need to kick it up a notch."


    Supreme Battle Art!

 Chapter 371 - Destroying The Bloodfiend Sect

    The might of the Supreme Battle Art flowed throughout John''s body, raising his strength and durability to a new level. John relished in the feeling of this power for a moment, as he had not felt it in quite some time.


    "Not using my body power thesest three months has made me feel suffocated, but I can finally let it all out once again."


    John raised his arms to his side while he smiled with eyes closed, feeling the rain falling down on his face. After a singr moment of serenity, his eyes snapped open once again, ready to continue his mission.


    "Killing these disciples and Elder''s is quite fun, but destroying the sectpletely will be much more damaging than cutting down a few members of the sect. Time to get to work."


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    John activated his Heavenly Lightning Domain, which would help him not be snuck up on by Elder''s such as the previous one had. Not only that, but his Heavenly Lightning Domain had advanced to a new height after breaking through, and was much more powerful than before.


    .


    Just by being activated around him, the destruction he would be able to personally cause would be immense, not to mention the tribtion lightning adding to that destruction.


    Seventy two lightning nodes sprung up around John, each ring with absolute lightning power.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Lightning continued to crash around John from his lightning domain, striking anyone caught in its reach, while also destroying many of the nearby buildings. By now, John had discovered a certain cadence to the tribtion lightning above.


    The strikes woulde down in fixed intervals, unless someone was trying to interfere with its destruction of John. Each time it struck down, the strike would be stronger than the previous. However, John could tell that after each tribtion strike, the clouds above grew ever so slightly weaker.


    "It seems as though even tribtions that want nothing more than to kill me have their limits. I''m guessing that even the heavens themselves havews they must follow, but such a thing is far beyond my scope of understanding. The only thing that matters is that if Ist long enough, the tribtion should eventually disappear."


    John suddenly sped off in a certain direction as he felt the next tribtion lightning strike fast approaching. His body, powered by his Supreme Battle Art, red unbelievable might, while his lightning domain destroyed whatever stood in his path. To those fleeing from him, he looked like an undefeatable battle god whose sole purpose was to destroy everything.


    John reached his desired target just as the next tribtion strike was descending down on him. His finger pierced outwards, sending off a Lightning Ruin, which crashed into the closed gates of the Pill Hall''s main entrance.


    Boom!


    A small hole was created in the sturdy front doors of the Pill Hall, allowing for John to slip inside. Just as he did so.


    BOOM!


    Another apocalyptic lightning strike from above pierced down towards John, who now stood within the Pill Hall. The tribtion lightning struck onto the top of the pill hall, and shattered anything it came into contact with. Its might was unstoppable, and with a single lightning strike, the entire Pill Hall was rent asunder.


    "Fuck off!" John shouted out as his scythe shed upwards at the lightning above.


    BOOM!


    Scythe and lightning beam struck together, sending a wave of absolute power radiating outwards. Any portion of the Pill Hall that still stood after the initial strike was sted into smithereens.


    John''s body wasunched into the ground below, the immense speed of his body forming a crater that stretched for a hundred yards. He eventually came to a stop, and quickly hopped on his feet. Using his scythe to fight back just now had reduced the strain on his body, which let John know he could fight back against this lighting.


    He quickly hopped out of the crater and floated in the sky for a moment before he found his next target. His body blurred forward, and another tribtion lightning strike pierced down on him shortly after.


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    Thunderous booms continued to echo out over the Bloodfiend Sect for the next fifteen minutes. John''s body sped from building to building during this time, taking down whatever stood in his path. His scythe shed out at the lightning each time, fighting back as best he could to hopefully withstand the full tribtion.


    Floating high in the sky in the far distance was a gathering of cultivators. They all looked down on the Sect''s destruction below, their faces turning red with unbridled anger.


    "Sect Leader Allfiend, what should we do? We cannot allow this destruction to continue," an Elder said to Allfiend with panic in his voice.


    They were watching everything they had worked to create be destroyed before their very eyes.


    "What can we do?" Allfiend replied angrily through gritted teeth. His fists were clenched so tight that they were turning white, and his body trembled with anger.


    His n had been perfect. He had not only discovered John through his own intellect, but also knew what contingency n John would have to get out of this situation. It had all gone ording to n, but then the tribtion urred.


    Such a thing could never be ounted for, and Allfiend felt incredibly stifled that his perfectly calcted n was destroyed by something so far out of his control.


    "Can''t weunch long range attacks on him? Perhaps the tribtion clouds won''t take notice of us if we''re far enough away," an Elder suggested.


    Allfiend nced towards the Elder with a look of disdain, as if he considered the Elder to be incredibly stupid.


    "If you want to throw your life away, then go for it," Allfiend replied, no longer interested in that Elder.


    The Elder, who was a Late Heaven Tribtion Elder, took this as an opportunity to prove his worth to Allfiend, and ascend to higher heights within the sect. His sword suddenly appeared in his hand, and he raised it to his side as it began to glow with incredible might.


    After a moment of charging the attack, the Elder swung his sword down with his strongest power.


    "Haaa!"


    The Elder shouted as he shed his sword out. A crimson sword image, dozens of yards long, appeared in the air and rapidly traveled down to the sect below. Allfiend, as well as the other Elders, instantly separated themselves from the Elder who had just attacked.


    "Hmm?"


    John felt his hair stand on their ends, and his head swiveled in a certain direction in the sky. His eyes narrowed as he saw a rapidly approaching sword attack, and his body red with lightning as his speed was pushed to the very limits.


    Boom!


    The sword image crashed onto the ground at John''s location, sending a rain of rubble and debris sailing outwards as arge crater was formed from the powerful battle art. John''s body was seen shing out of the cloud of debris, narrowly dodging the attack.


    His narrowed eyes looked to the sky above, and the source of the attack, when¡­


    BOOM!


    Tribtion lightning struck down in the far distance. John saw the lightning strike a singr person who floated high above in the sky, most likely the one who had attacked him.


    "Idiot," John sneered as he once again began to move throughout the sect at incredible speeds. There was plenty more of the Bloodfiend Sect to destroy.

 Chapter 372 - Fighting Against The Tribulation

    Allfiend and the other Elder''s regrouped after the Elder was struck down, and silence descended amongst them. After watching the Elder be struck down, they knew they could not interfere with this tribtion until it was over, or their lives would be imed from the heavens above.


    They had never felt so powerless in their lives, as their opponent tonight was the heavens itself.


    BOOM!


    Another tribtion strike struck down, reaching incredible levels of power that began to make John''s hair stand on end. Even with his incredibly durable body, his Supreme Battle Art, his Lightning Attribute Body, and his lightningprehensions gifted from the Celestial Lightning Script, he was finding it hard to withstand the growing might of the tribtion above.


    If it were anyone else in the world undergoing this tribtion at John''s current realm, they would have already died ten times over.


    John''s scythe struck out once more, as he sent an attack out to meet the lightning.


    "Gah!"


    John cried out in slight pain as the lightning easily outpowered his scythe, crashing onto his body and bathing it with destructive tribtion lightning.. His skin charred in several areas, while his body slowed for a moment as lightning rampaged through.


    The strike subsided, and John fell to his knees, breathing incredibly heavy.


    "This can''t keep going on like this.? While I can still defend right now, I can tell the lightning will eventually be too powerful for me to handle, even if I use my Immortal Asura Transformation Art. I need to think of something."


    John wracked his brains for ideas during the short reprieve, going over any and all ideas that could work. After a short while of thinking, he came up with several ideas.


    John put away his scythe, and his battle axe suddenly appeared in his hands. The scythe was meant for reaping lives, and was best used against other humans. However, the axe was purely meant for power destruction, and was much more suited for defending against tribtion lightning.


    The power of two Dao''s, the Dao of Destruction and the Dao of Power emanated from John''s battle axe, as it began to glow with absolute might. The Dao of Annihtion, while incredibly powerful, was only useful on the living, and served no purpose here.


    "When I first trained the Celestial Lightning Script, I used the lightning of the Elysial Lightning World Trial to wash over me. I was able to temper my body with that lightning, as well as absorb it to strengthen my Lightning Origin Essence Runes...Perhaps¡­"


    John looked to the clouds above once more as he thought over this idea of his. The howling wind howled all around him, fluttering his robe and hair violently. He had never considered absorbing this tribtion lightning, as its power was far too destructive to consider such a thing, but John realized it was his only hope forward.


    "It''s the only chance I have. I have to trust in the might of the Celestial Lightning Script!"


    BOOM!


    Another apocalyptic lightning beam exploded out from the ck clouds above and pierced towards John with incredible speed and power.


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    An incredibly powerful battle axe image shed upwards from John''s battle axe towards the lightning above.


    Boom!


    His Sky Sundering Axe collided with the tribtion lightning strike, causing an incredible explosion to radiate outwards in the sky. The sky trembled for a brief moment, before the lightning continued forwards and pierced down to John below.


    However, its power had been diminished considerably, causing tion to appear in John''s eyes.


    "This is the way forward."


    Boom!


    The lightning struck on his body, and John gritted his teeth through the pain as he allowed the tribtion lightning to wash over his body. The lightning quickly pierced into his flesh, and began to rampage wildly within, seeking to destroy everything.


    Through the pain, John calmed his mind as a jade piece, glowing brightly from within, appeared in his hand. He focused on the task at hand, and began to revolve his essence Qi ording to the Celestial Lightning Script.


    John''s Qi shed with the tribtion lightning, and was nearly incinerated by it. However, he focused his mind nheless, and continued to revolve his Qi ording to the Celestial Lightning Script.


    At first, the tribtion lightning destroyed anything it came into contact with, but by constantly fighting against it, John''sprehensions towards lightning, and especially tribtion lightning, began to rapidly grow.


    After a short while of excruciating agony, he finally found himself able to fight back against the lightning,ing to a stalemate within his body. His eyes lit up with hopeful expectation, as his suspicions were confirmed.


    "The Celestial Lightning Script is absolutely incredible. Not only has it been raised by Lightning Attribute Body to a level that can withstand tribtion lightning, but it can also fight back against tribtion lightning! Let''s see if I can take it one step further, and absorb this tribtion lightning for my own use."


    By this time, the remaining tribtion lightning rampaging through John''s body was purged, and he would have to wait for the next strike to test his theory. He jumped up into the sky once more, and swiveled his head in all directions.


    The smouldering ruins of buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, as the Bloodfiend Sect was nearly fully destroyed by this time. A smile appeared on John''s face as he took this scene in, before his gaze shifted to a particr building still standing tall.


    After a moment of pause, he sped towards the building and quickly entered at its base.


    In the distance, Allfiend, who was still watching this all take ce, cursed out with absolute anger and hate.


    "My Bloodfiend Citadel. I will y this bastard alive, if its thest thing I do."


    BOOM!


    Lightning crashed down once again, striking the top of the Bloodfiend Citadel. It ignored the buildings incredibly durable material, and pierced into it and towards John below.


    John shed out with his Sky Sundering Axe, reducing the power of the tribtion lightning, before it struck onto his body once more. The lightning rampaged through, and John instantly revolved his Celestial Lightning Script to the limits, seeking to control the rampaging lightning.


    The fight within his body raged back and forth for quite some time, as John grit his teeth to withstand the absolutely agonizing pain wracking his body. Before long, calm finally descended at the base of the Bloodfiend Citadel.


    John breathed out a sigh of relief, which also contained smoke from the internal damage the lightning did to his body. His body was charred all over, making him look incredibly miserable. However, a smile lingered on his face.


    "I was actually able to do it," John eximed happily. "I absorbed tribtion lightning!"


    His ecstatic gaze looked through the broken roof of the Bloodfiend Citadel to the ck skies above, and he raised his arms to the side as he shouted at the top of his lungs.


    "Come on! Smite me down, if you can!"

 Chapter 373 - Destroying The Bloodfiend Citadel

    John''s words echoed throughout the half-destroyed Bloodfiend Citadel. His anger towards the heavens was bing stronger and stronger as the tribtion went on, as being targeted like this was beyond infuriating. While it was helping him out immensely at this time, it was still the case that the heavens wanted him dead.


    "You want to kill me? Fine. But I''ll be taking this power of yours for my own use in that case," John shouted out once more.


    His words seemed to anger the heavens, as another powerful beam of tribtion lightning struck down on him.


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    John unleashed another Sky Sundering Axe in an attempt to fight back against the lightning. Lightning and battle art collided, and a thunderous explosion radiated outwards half-way down the Bloodfiend Citadel.


    Boom!


    The explosion rocked the Citadel, tearing it apart once and for all.. The half-destroyed structure finally began to fully copse as the lightning strike continued onwards towards John.


    The tribtion lightning exploded onto his body once more, and John instantly revolved his Celestial Lightning Script.


    "Gah!"


    John cried out in pain once more as the lightning rampaged throughout his body, seeking to destroy it from within. Although he had learned to slightly absorb tribtion lightning, this strike was even more powerful than the previous, thus negating his resistance to it.


    John grit his teeth as he struggled against the tribtion lightning. After a short while, he finally managed to absorb some of it, while he sessfully purged the rest. His breathing was ragged as he stared at the smouldering ruins of the Bloodfiend Citadel around him.


    ''I can''t keep this up. While absorbing tribtion lightning is helping me right now, it''s also causing incredible damage to my body at the same time. I think I can absorb another strike or two before I reach my limit, at which point I will need to focus on absolute defense instead.''


    John instincts red, and he suddenly felt a cold stare press upon him. He turned his head and looked high into the sky at the source of the bloodlusted re, and spotted a familiar figure staring at him with hate-filled eyes.


    "That bastard. I will y him alive when this is done," Allfiend raged out as he stared down at John below. His glorious Citadel waspletely destroyed, leaving only a charred pile of rubble behind.


    John nced at Allfiend for a moment before he averted his gaze.


    ''He''s too fast for me to catch up with, so the best thing I can do is continue to destroy the sect. Where should I go next?''


    John jumped into the sky and began to look around in all directions. Fire raged throughout the sect as far as the eye could see, while smouldering ruins of once grand buildings littered the sect grounds.


    The once glorious Bloodfiend Sect was now no more than a pile of charred remains. After a moment of contemtion, John''s eyes lit up.


    ''Time to ruin yet another one of Allfiend''s ns.''


    His body suddenly sped off in a certain direction, towards a less popted portion of the sect. Allfiend, as well as the Elder''s, watched John fly off, hate contained within each of their eyes.


    "Where is that bastard going off to now?" an Elder asked, barely containing his voice of trembling rage.


    "Who cares. As long as he stays away from the heart of the sect, that''s for the better," another Elder replied. "While most of the buildings have been destroyed, their foundations are still intact. It will take a lot of money and resources to rebuild, but there is still hope."


    "True. After this tribtion ends, I cant wait to capture this boy and y him alive," another Elder replied. He was just about to continue speaking, when his, as well as the faces of all the others, lit up in surprise, and then panic.


    "He''s¡­.He''s heading towards the Summoning Chamber!" an Elder eximed as they finally noticed the direction John was heading.


    "How does he know of its location? Did Elder Praxx tell him everything?" another Elder eximed.


    "We need to stop him!" another Elder cried out, but his words were met with a deafening silence.


    How were any of them supposed to aplish such a thing, when interfering meant dying a quick death.


    Allfiend remained silent as he saw this, but his rage continued to rise to incredible levels.


    "If the tribtion lightning is more than the cauldron and formations can handle, then I will activate the summoning early," Allfiend suddenly spoke out.


    "Activate it early? Will it be powerful enough to handle Thunderzen if you activate it early? It will at most have eighty percent of the power we are hoping to summon," a worried Elder asked.


    "What other choice do I have?" Allfiend barked out in rage as his hand moved quickly.


    Bang!


    His hand pped powerfully across the face of the Elder, shattering half of his face as the Elder''s body rocketed down to the ground below. The Elder mmed against the earth, and burrowed deep into it.


    The other Elder''s looked to Allfiend with trepidation, and knew he was not in the mood to be questioned.


    Allfiend scowled, and his body suddenly sped forward. The Elder''s all looked at each other with mixed expressions, before they all followed after him.


    ¡­


    "Finally here," John eximed as he arrived in front of the cliffside where the secret entrance was located. He dashed towards where the entrance was, and ced his hand on the seemingly normal surface.


    "All blood belongs to the Bloodfiend!"


    After a moment''s hesitation, a formation lit up on the cliffside as the entrance began to part. John smiled as the formation was still intact, and raced into the entrance as soon as it was wide enough to enter.


    He reached the base of the stairwell in no time, and the two Meridian Forging Elder''s guarding the entrance quickly noticed his appearance.


    "Halt, what are you-"


    Che!


    John''s battle axe cleaved out before either Elder could react, bisecting them in two with a single swing of his axe. If the Elder''s had been expecting a fight, they would have been tougher to kill, but neither expected an intruder in their top secretir.


    Looks of surprised horror appeared on the Edler''s faces, while John sped past the two of them without looking back. He quickly arrived in the main chamber, which glowed with fiery heat as it did previously.


    The cries of anguish John had expected to hear once more did not ring out. He quickly scanned the chamber, and found no alive mortals, much to his surprise.


    ''I guess this summoning is almostplete if they are done with the sacrifices. It seems as though I arrived just in time. Time to get to work!''

 Chapter 374 - Destroying The Chamber Of Anguish

    John sped forward once more, his actions grabbing the attention of the Elder''s in charge of maintaining the formations. While they could feel that something incredible was happening outside, none of them dared to abandon their posts. As such, they had no idea what was truly going on outside.


    "Who is that?" an Elder asked as he watched John speed towards the cauldron.


    "Who cares, stop him!" another Elder barked out an order. Going near the cauldron was not allowed, and John was clearly approaching it with ill intent.


    The dozens of Elder''s all sped forward at the same time, their Meridian Forging and Heaven Tribtion cultivations ring out powerfully. John arrived before the cauldron, which towered over him. Its size was even more incredible up close, and rage once again flowed through his veins as he looked at it. The amount of mortals sacrificed to fill it up was unimaginable.


    The Elder''s arrived behind John, trapping him between the cauldron and them.. However, none of them dared to unleash rash attacks, as they were afraid of damaging the cauldron or the formations on and around it.


    "What are you doing here boy?" one of the Elder''s asked with a raised voice.


    They had never seen John before, but could tell that he was not afraid, even when surrounded by this many Elders. His skin was charred all over, as if he had been burned in a fire, startling the Elder''s further as to what was going on.


    John nced over his shoulders at the Elder''s before he looked up to the ceiling of the chamber high above. His eyes narrowed for a moment, and his body tensed up once more.


    "Itsing," John replied to the Elder.


    The Elder''s looked at each other, confusion on each of their faces, before they looked back at John.


    "What''sing? Speak clearly, or don''t me us for killing you where you stand," the Elder barked back.


    John''s eyes shifted to the Elder once more.


    "Your death''s," John replied with a monotone voice.


    BOOM!


    The ceiling of the chamber suddenly shattered into thousands of pieces, as if it had been struck by a massive hammer. The Elder''s all looked up at themotion in shock, and their shock only grew as they noticed what had caused its destruction.


    John''s axe shed out with all his might to meet the attack.


    Before any of them could run, the next tribtion lightning beam struck down on John''s location, bathing him and all the other Elder''s in apocalyptic lightning. The lightning snaked in all directions as it sought to destroy not just John, but those nearby as well.


    Cries of startled pain rang out, before they were quickly silenced. Therge boulders from above continued to rain down, crashing into every inch of the chamber below.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The sound of crashing debris rocked the chamber for some time, before it eventually came to an end and silence once again returned to the chamber.


    John suddenly jumped out from beneath the rubble andnded on top of it. His body was even more damaged than before, as the lightning began to take its toll on his body. A cursory nce of his revealed that none of the Elder''s had survived the st, giving him slight enjoyment within this hellish tribtion.


    After inspecting the surroundings, his visionnded on the cauldron next to him. His eyebrows raised slightly as he inspected the damage.


    "It''s only very slightly damaged, despite part of the tribtion striking it! Just how durable is this cauldron?"


    John had expected it to be half destroyed, but the truth waspletely different. It was just some superficial surface scratches, and not something significant at all.


    "Will I be able to destroy the cauldron, even with this lighting?" John mused to himself.


    He quickly jumped up to see if he could do anything to it from within, but found that the cauldron had been closed, as it was seemingly at the end of the summoning process, and no more blood was needed.


    He couldn''t stand under the cauldron either to shield him from the tribtion, as an inferno raged below powerfully, far hotter than his body could handle.


    "Oh well. The only thing I can do is carry out this tribtion here, and hope it''s enough."


    John stared up at the clouds above, which now could be seen through the shattered ceiling of the chamber. The tribtion clouds continued to brim with absolute power, but he could tell that it had weakened considerably since the start of the tribtion.


    "It seems like it''sing to an end soon enough. I just have to endure as long as I can."


    John gripped his axe tightly as he waited for the next tribtion lightning strike. The clouds above brewed for a moment before it once again shed brightly, and another lightning beam struck down on his location.


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    John sent out repeated Sky Sundering Axe''s as fast as he could muster, which mmed against the approaching lightning strike. Each collision weakened the lightning slightly, but the lightning still struck down on him with incredible power.


    Just like before, John allowed the lightning to rampage within his body as he sought to absorb its power. The internal struggle continued to raged on once again as he revolved his Celestial Lightning Script to its absolute peak state.


    Blood and smoke spewed out of John''s clenched teeth as the battle reached its climax.


    "Gah!"


    John fell to his knees as he finally absorbed thest thread of tribtion lightning. His breathing was heavy and ragged as he struggled back on to his feet. His gaze once again shifted to the cauldron, and then the clouds high above.


    ''I''m at my limit for absorbing tribtion lightning. Absorbing it has increased my Lightning Attribute Body and resistance to tribtion lighting, but if I try to absorb anymore, I''ll die. I need to fight the remaining lightning strikes head on to get through this tribtion. Its time I go all out.''


    The lighting at this time had reached an absolutely terrifying level of power which John could no longer hold back against. His eyes narrowed as a resolved look appeared on his face. His eyes suddenly turned blood red, as two small protrusions jutted out from his skull.


    Blood red formation lines began to glow on his skin as he felt his power surge like never before.


    Immortal Asura Transformation Art!

 Chapter 375 - Final Tribulation Strike

    High above the chamber, Allfiend and the Elder''s all watched the events taking ce below. Their fists and teeth were clenched as they watched on, unable to do anything.


    After watching the cauldron take the tribtion strike head on and remain rtively unscathed, he let out arge sigh of relief.


    The cauldron was on loan from the Divine Martial Continent, and so it had incredible origins. Even so, Allfiend couldn''t help but worry about its destruction earlier.


    The Elder''s all sighed out with relief as well, but their rxed expressions soon scrunched up once again as they all gazed below in shock.


    "The boy can still increase his strength further?" an Elder eximed in shock as John unleashed his ultimate battle state.


    "And not by a small amount either. There are clearly some incredible secrets to this boy," another Elder replied. "No wonder he was able to defeat our three Emperors in the ancient city.."


    Allfiend red at John, his hate growing by the second.


    "We cannot allow this boy to live," Allfiend said through gritted teeth. "As soon as the tribtion is over, I will kill this boy myself."


    BOOM!


    The tribtion clouds high above suddenly stopped for the briefest of moments, before they began churning with far greater speed and power than before.


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    As if angered to a point of no return, the tribtion clouds suddenly unleashed sessive strikes at John, each more powerful than the previous.


    A serious look appeared on John''s face as he noticed the tribtion clouds grow ever more furious with him.


    "Hmph, it''s obviously this Immortal Asura Body of mine you hate. Let''s see what''s stronger then. Your lightning, or my body!"


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    John unleashed a non stop barrage of Sky Sundering Axe''s towards the lightning above. Thunderous collisions of battle arts and lightning exploded out, followed by a deafening explosion as the lightning struck onto John''s body.


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    The battle between John and the tribtion clouds above continued to rage on for several minutes, as John pushed his Immortal Asura Transformation Art to its absolute limit. His cries of anger and pain echoed out throughout the entire Bloodfiend Sect as a battle of apocalyptic proportions took ce.


    Bang!


    John''s axe mmed against a tribtion lightning strike, reducing its power greatly. Each swing of his battle axe carried monstrous power and strength behind it. However, it still wasn''t enough, and his body was mmed into the earth repeatedly.


    Each time John would hastily stand up and counter attack once again, and each time he would be thrown deeper into the ever growing crater formed from the lightning strikes.


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    The Bloodfiend Sect was drowned with thunderous explosions as the apocalyptic storm raged on. Those who still yet lived could tell that the clouds were growing smaller and weaker, and that the end was drawing near.


    After taking yet another lightning strike head on, John slowly crawled back up on his feet and sluggishly looked up at the clouds above. His body was almost entirely ckened, as every inch of flesh had been charred.


    His aura, while still incredibly powerful, was beginning to waver, as his body was reaching its limits.


    ''Even in normal times, the Immortal Asura Transformation Art ces an incredible burden on my body. With this transformation art and lightning damagebined, I''m reaching my limits.''


    John stared up at the tribtion clouds, his gritted teeth covered with ash and blood. His blood slickened hands gripped his battle axe with all its might.


    "I can tell the tribtion is also nearly at its end. I just have tost a bit longer, and I''ll get past this tribtion!"


    BOOM!


    Another lighting strike, the most powerful yet, exploded down on John''s position with absolute fury.


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    John fought against the strike with all his might, before the beam once again struck his body.


    "Gah!"


    John was thrown into the ground with incredible speed, and his body shattered the earth further as the crater he was standing in deepened. Ragged breaths escaped his lungs, as John barely managed to get to his feet.


    In his entire life, this was by far the most damaged his body had ever been. Both his essence Qi and body Qi were reaching their limits, as his fighting had raged on for far too long. However, the tribtion clouds seemed to be able tost just a little bit longer than John, causing him to curse at them.


    "These fucking heavens," John grumbled through panted breaths. "I''ll fucking topple the heaven''s itself when I get the chance."


    BOOM!


    Another lightning strike stuck down on John, its power far greater than the previous strike. His axe shed out repeatedly with incredible power, before his body was struck and thrown into the crater once again.


    Bang!


    John hit the ground with incredible force, driving the air from his lungs. His body ached with absolute pain, and he couldn''t imagine a more painful existence. Thoughts of giving up seemed to creep into his mind, and John began to wee such thoughts for the briefest of moments before his eyes snapped open once again.


    "No. I refuse to give up now!"


    With incredible struggle, he got to his feet and slowly stared at the sky above. His body swayed from side to side as he barely managed to stand on his feet. The clouds, angered once again that he had survived the strike, seemed to churn even more with absolute power.


    The clouds suddenly grouped together, going from dozens of miles wide to no more than one hundred yards wide directly above of John. It seemed as if the heavens were preparing to unleash one final attack, which would be by far the most powerful yet.


    A talisman suddenly appeared in John''s hands as he stared at the clouds above.


    "Even if I can''t survive this strike, I need Thunderzen to clean up the remaining mess here. If I was in peak condition, I would have a good chance of living through this strike, but it seems the heaven''s have other ns."


    However, despite the sure death approaching him, John''s resolve didn''t waver. His one hand crushed the talisman, while his other gripped his battle axe, ready for the final confrontation.


    His eyes suddenly filled with anger, and his strength rose to his absolute peak.? He suddenly shouted out, his yell so loud that the entire sect could hear it clearly.


    "You may destroy my body, but you will never destroy my resolve. Come on! Let''s finish this!"


    The ck clouds suddenly stopped, as if they were frozen in time, before...


    BOOOM!


    A beam of lightning, far more powerful than anything that had struck down previously, descended on John''s location. Its power was far beyond anything he had faced thus far, and in his current state, he was ny percent certain that he would not be able to survive this st.


    Suddenly, his soul space began to tremble, and before he could do anything, a familiar figure appeared before him and shot up towards the tribtion lightning above.


    "Kirii!"

 Chapter 376 - End Of The Tribulation

    "KIRIII!" John shouted out at the top of his lungs, as Kirii ignored his first shout.


    The beam descending right now was absolutely terrifying, and even John didn''t think he would be able to survive through it. However, Kirri had left his soul space at thest moment, and dashed up to the lightning strike without hesitation.


    He knew Kirii was a lightning beast, but this lightning waspletely different from any other lighting that existed. It was the most destructive lighting the heavens could muster for his current tribtion, and it allowed for no room for survival for those who took it head on.


    John''s soul space suddenly trembled once more, as a thought appeared in his mind. While he and Kirri could notmunicate clearly with each other, they could convey their rough thoughts and emotions to one another.


    Small beads of tears appeared in John''s eyes as the emotions of Kirii entered his mind. He couldn''t tell the exact meaning, but he could guess as to what Kirii was saying.


    "If we die, we die together!"


    .


    BOOM!


    Deafening thunder filled the entire Bloodfiend Sect as thest lighting bolt of the horrifying tribtion struck down on Kirii. Kirii didn''t use any attacks at all, and instead opted to take the attack head on.


    John''s eyes locked onto Kirii from below, as he saw the horrifying beam collide with his body. A deafening cry of pain boomed out from Kirii for the briefest moment, before John''s soul connection with Kirii suddenly cut off.


    "Nooo!"


    John''s thunderous cry boomed out as he watched Kirii fall from the sky, smoke trailing his falling figure. The lightning that had struck Kirii paused for the briefest of moments, before it pierced down towards John once again.


    However, its power had been greatly diminished by Kirii''s interference, cutting its power in half.


    "Ahhhhh!"


    John shouted out a cry of anger and anguish, before his body suddenly shot towards the sky. The mysterious energy that he had no control over once again welled up within his body, as he felt an overwhelming surge of power fill his body.


    His axe cleaved out towards the approaching lightning beam, and his Sky Sundering Axe cleaved out, infused with the Dao''s of Power and Destruction. His Immortal Asura Transformation Art was pushed to its absolute limits, leaving nothing behind.


    BANG!


    Axe and lighting collided, and an horrifyingly powerful explosion radiated outwards, destroying what little remained of the chamber of anguish, as well as the Bloodfiend Sect. John''s arms strained with power as he shed against the lighting, before it pierced through his battle axe and into his body.


    "FUCK OFF!"


    John cried out with absolute fury, as his remaining essence and body Qi revolved to its peak state, removing the rampaging tribtion lighting from within his body. The tribtion lighting struggled against him, and even seemed to have a will of its own as the two powers collided.


    Blood and ash continued to spill from John''s lips as he struggled against the tribtion lighting. The struggle continued for a brief movement, before it suddenly ended. The mysterious power that filled his body faded once more, filling him with a wave of additional fatigue.


    John''s body swayed in the sky as he nearly lost consciousness, but he barely managed to hold on through the excruciating pain as he looked down to the ground below.


    "Kirii!"


    Using what remaining energy he had left, John shot down to the earth below, andnded next to a smouldering body. His eyes filled with anguish, and his hands shakily reached out towards the body before him. He felt no soul connection with Kirii, and prepared himself for the worst.


    "Kirii!" John whispered softly as he stroked Kirii''s motionless body.


    His eyes began to tear even more, when suddenly, the slightest tremble urred beneath his hands. John''s eyes shot wide open.


    "Kirii! You''re alive!" John eximed as he put his ears to Kirii''s chest.


    Thump!


    Thump!


    The faint sound of a heartbeat echoed out, indicating to John that Kirii was indeed alive. Kirii was unconscious, resulting in him unable to feel his thoughts or emotions. However, he could tell that Kirii was just barely holding on, and was on the edge of life and death.


    "Hold on Kirii! I''ll get you help!" John cried out as he stored Kirii in his soul space once more.


    His body, nearly on the verge of copse, struggled to get up. Kirii was his only thought at this moment.


    "Help?" a mocking voice, tinged with barely contained anger entered John''s ears.


    John''s head snapped up above him, and he quickly spotted thest person he wanted to see at the moment.


    Directly above him, Allfiend floated, his eyes locked on to John''s. Hatred flowed through his eyes, and John could tell that Allfiend wanted nothing more than to skin John alive at this moment.


    "Allfiend!" John replied though gritted teeth as he stared at the man above him. He suddenly felt Allfiend''s power wrap around him once more, restricting any movements he tried to make.


    It was truly as if the grim reaper had arrived. The tribtion clouds above were beginning to disperse, indicating that John had sessfully passed his tribtion. While this would normally be great news for anyone undergoing tribtion, it was the worst case scenario for John.


    As long as the tribtion continued, he had guaranteed protection from Allfiend. With it gone, he only had one hope left, and he had yet to see that hope reveal himself.


    "You''ve destroyed my sect!" Allfiend replied as he stared at John with unbridled hatred. His gaze shifted to the nearby cauldron, which while damaged was still mostly intact, before it shifted back to John. "But s, your efforts are for naught. I will torture you to death, before I unleash hellfury on the rest of the continent. Your pitiablest stand ends now!"


    John felt Allfiend''s power, as well as his anger, tighten around him, nearly crushing him to death. However, he still had absolute confidence in the one that had orchestrated this whole thing. A defying look appeared on John''s face as he finally felt that familiar aura suddenly appear once more.


    Allfiend noticed this look on John''s face, before his head quickly snapped up the sky above him. His eyes narrowed and his fists clenched tightly, as he called out through gritted teeth at the man before him.


    "Thunderzen!"

 Chapter 377 - Thunderzen’s Arrival

    Thunderzen sat on his simple throne in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, parsing through some important documents.


    "Hmm?"


    Thunderzen suddenly looked out towards a certain direction, seemingly staring through the walls of the Heavenly Lightning Pce. He could feel an incredibly faint aura, unlike anything he had ever felt before. It reminded him of heavenly tribtion, but was alsopletely different.


    His body suddenly vanished, and quickly appeared on therge balcony overlooking the sect below. His gaze pierced into the distance as far as he could see, but he was still unable to make anything out visually.


    The Vice-Sect Leader suddenly appeared next to Thunderzen, as she had noticed his sudden movements.


    "What is it, father?" she asked curiously. She could tell that something had caught Thunderzen''s attention.


    .


    "I''m not sure," Thunderzen replied. "But it seems as though something spectacr is urring within the Forbidden Lands."


    "The Forbidden Lands?" she asked. "Could it be rted to John?"


    Thunderzen thought about it for a moment before he shook his head in disagreement. "This energy is quite spectacr, even over all this distance. John is incapable of causing something this grea-"


    Thunderzen''s voice trailed off as his thoughts went back to a certain event that had briefly urred many months ago. He could still vividly remember that when John broke through to the Qi Condensation Realm, tribtion clouds formed above the Heavenly Lightning Sect for the absolute briefest of moments.


    Thunderzen fell into deep contemtion as he considered all the possibilities, while the Vice-Sect Leader remained silent next to him. She could tell her adoptive father was deep in thought.


    After a short while of thinking, Thunderzen snapped out of his thoughts and gazed into the far distance once again.


    "John still hasn''t crushed his talisman, so I doubt it has anything to do with him. However, we will still n for the worst," Thunderzen said to the Vice-Sect Leader.


    "You mean?" the Vice-Sect Leader asked for confirmation.


    "Yes," Thunderzen replied while nodding. "Summon the Battle Elder''s and set out at once towards the mysterious energy. In the meantime, I will go ahead and check it out myself."


    Without waiting for his daughter''s reply, Thunderzen reached out before him and grabbed the empty space before him. As if tearing something apart, his hands began to part from one another, and after a short struggle, a hole in space was torn open.


    His body quickly shed through the hole, and it closed behind him. The Vice-Sect Leader watched Thunderzen disappear, before she quickly followed his previousmands.


    ¡­


    High above the Bloodfiend Sect, a hole in space suddenly opened, and a single man stepped out from it. Such an action would normally be easily detected, but with the current happenings within the Bloodfiend Sect, it was easily overlooked.


    Thunderzen stepped out of the spatial channel he had just created and quickly surveyed the area before him. His eyes widened greatly in absolute shock as he took in the scene before him. His gaze looked up to the tribtion clouds above, before it focused on a group gathered far below him.


    "Goodbye Elder Praxx. Tell Damon I said hi!"


    These words entered Thunderzen''s ears, and a deafening thunderp entered his ears as a tribtion strike pierced right by him. Thunderzen hastily dodged to the side, narrowly dodging the lighting strike, before his gaze once again focused on the ground below.


    BOOM!


    The tribtion beam struck onto John and Elder Praxx, showering the nearby area in an explosion of tribtion lightning. The explosion quickly faded, revealing John standing before the charred corpse of Elder Praxx, and the horrified Elder''s looking on at John.


    Thunderzen gazed at John, then the tribtion clouds above, before gazing at John once more. His eyes lit up slightly as he put the pieces together.


    "So this is what I felt. How interesting," Thunderzen mused while stroking his chin. He was about to intervene and save John, but he quickly understood that immediate action was not necessary.


    As such, Thunderzen slipped up higher into the sky, out of the sight of anyone in the Sect. He could capture Allfiend immediately, but without John revealing to him that Allfiend had done something forbidden, Thunderzen couldn''t make hasty decisions.


    With his figure hidden from all below, Thunderzen watched as John destroyed the Bloodfiend Sect. His amusement rose with every lightning bolt, until he noticed that John was starting to lose out on the tribtion lightning.


    As powerful as he was, he knew he could not interfere with this lighting. Not because he would not be able to survive it, but because he knew this tribtion was only one of many trials John would have to ovee himself in order to fulfill his prophecy as the Asura of Annihtion. If he sheltered him now, he would only be dooming him to misery and deathter on.


    Thunderzen''s gaze focused intently on the tribtion lightning, as new insights began to creep into his mind.


    ¡­


    "Thunderzen!" Allfiend called out angrily as he noticed Thunderzen floating before him.


    Thunderzen''s power red out, washing over John and instantly freeing him from Allfiend''s clutches.


    "I''m afraid you won''t be touching my disciple today," Thunderzen replied calmly. His gaze shifted to the nearby cauldron, of which he could instantly tell what it was about. He had wanted to destroy it, but the Cauldron was made of some of the most durable materials known to the cultivation world.


    "A demon summoning?" Thunderzen asked. "To dare have the gall to attempt such a thing beneath my nose, it seems as though you no longer ce me in your eyes. Do tell me, how did someone as lowly as you get your hands on a cauldron made of pure Profound Malecorum?"


    "Heh," Allfiend sneered at Thunderzen. "You do not need to know the reasons for that. Just know that today marks the beginning of the end for you, and the entire Honorable Alliance."


    Boom!


    A muffled boom echoed out from the cauldron, followed by another one, and another. The booms grew progressively quicker and louder, and John could feel a horrifying energy begin to emit from the Cauldron.


    Thunderzen''s eyes locked onto Allfiend, who stared at him with a mocking expression on his face.


    "I initiated the summoning fifteen minutes ago," Allfiend sneered. "It''s toote to stop it. While its early activation will lessen its power, it should still be enough!"


    BOOM!


    The lid of the cauldron suddenly exploded off, as an absolutely horrifying and powerful aura escaped from it.


    John felt the power overwhelm him, before Thunderzen suddenly appeared before him. John saw his vision blur, and quickly found himself on top of a distant mountain, dozens of miles away.


    Roar!


    A deafening roar rocked the Bloodfiend Sect, its power destroying what little remained of it. Both John and Thunderzen turned to look at the source of the guttural cry, and John''s eyes quickly widened as he spotted its source.


    Rising from the crumbling remains of the chamber of anguish, a creature over one hundred yards tall began to stand up. Its skin was dark red, and it had two horns growing out of its head. Its mouth wasrge and wide, and sharp teeth were visible whenever it roared. A long tail swished behind its body, and sharp ws extended from its hands.


    "A demon!" John eximed. He had seen depictions of demons before, and could instantly tell that this was one of them.


    "It is indeed a demon," Thunderzen replied as he looked calmly at the distant creature. After a moment of silence, he looked towards John with a soft smile on his face.


    "You''ve done well, child."


    John felt a wave of emotion wash over him, mostly due to the fresh pain of watching Kirii nearly die. Even now, he still didn''t know if Kirii would survive.


    "Now wait here while I take care of that creature, before it destroys the entire continent," Thunderzen said to John before his body suddenly vanished.


    Bang!


    A distant bang echoed out, catching John''s attention once more. Lightning surged out from a figure hundreds of times smaller than the demon, and crashed onto its body with incredible might.


    The battle between titans had begun.

 Chapter 378 - Thunderzen’s Might

    Bang!


    Lightning mmed onto the demon that had just been summoned, staggering it and knocking it back quite a distance.


    Roar!


    The demon roared loudly, out of both frustration and pain. Its eyes snapped onto the nearby Thunderzen, who floated in the sky in front of the demon. Compared to the demon, Thunderzen was no more than a speck of dust.


    "I was wondering what Allfiend was nning," Thunderzen said to the demon. "But I never expected him to stoop this low and break one of thews set down by the alliance agreement."


    Thunderzen shook his head slightly as his gaze trailed towards Allfiend, who was speeding towards John in the distance.


    "Pitiable human, you dare stand against me?" the demon replied, its voice deep and guttural. Just his speech alone was powerful enough to shake the nearbynd..


    Thunderzen nced back at the demon, his face rtively calm. "If you were summoned properly, I would be in quite the problematic situation, but it seems as though you have not been summoned with your full power."


    "Even still, that is enough to kill the likes of you!" the demon replied as his hand suddenly swiped out towards Thunderzen.


    Thunderzen''s body shed, narrowly dodging the attack from the demon. The demon''s hand mmed onto the earth below, the force of the attack shattering the earth for over a mile in each direction. Whatever was left of the Bloodfiend Sect within that area was nowpletely destroyed.


    "Tsk, so impatient. How typical of your race," Thunderzen mocked as he reappeared near the demon. "Tell me, what did Allfiend promise you in exchange for your summoning? Flesh? Blood? Riches? Heavenly Materials? And in exchange for that, you were to destroy the Honorable Alliance powers of this continent, am I correct?" Thunderzen asked curiously.


    "Die!"


    The demon shouted out without answering Thunderzen''s question. Its aura red out with absolute power as its body was coated with infernal hellmes. It opened its mouth, and a ball of monstrously powerful Qi suddenly formed in it. The Qi attack shot out towards Thunderzen in an instant.


    Thunderzen frowned as he stared at the attack. His finger pointed towards the attack, and lightning built up on it for a moment before it shot out towards the attack.


    ¡­


    Boom!


    The two attacks collided, and the explosion resulting afterwards billowed outwards for over a mile. Even dozens of miles away, John felt the heat from the demon''s hellmes on his skin, revealing how powerful it was.


    However, he ignored the demon, as his focus was locked onto Thunderzen.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Repeated collisions between the demon''s attacks and lightning urred, each one grabbing John''s attention. After watching him attack, John finally understood why his Sect Leader was called Thunderzen.


    Each time he attacked with lightning, the area around him seemed to turn into and of peace. John felt a sense of tranquility and ease while staring at Thunderzen''s lightning, as if being touched by it would be the greatest of feelings.


    Even dozens of miles away, John felt himself be nearly wrapped up in this feeling. He knew that if he was right in front of Thunderzen, the urge to wee the lightning would be overwhelming.


    The lightning even made no sound upon release, further adding to this feeling of tranquility, as its warm light bathed the nearby area. However¡­


    Bang!


    Upon contact with its target, Thunderzen''s lightning would explode with absolute power. John had never seen lightning this powerful, even whenpared to the tribtion lightning he experienced. He knew that if he took one of Thunderzen''s attacks head on, he would die without being able to fight back.


    sh!


    The next lightning attack shed out from Thunderzen, and John once again felt himself fall into the same daze once again. To him, nothing looked more rxing and wondrous than touching the lightning. It was as if his lightning was the most Zen thing in existence.


    Bang!


    Thunderzen''s lightning exploded onto the demon once again, knocking it backwards hundreds of yards. The two titans exchanged dozens of attacks, destroying the nearby mountains, and shaking the entirend for dozens of miles. Even if he hadn''t destroyed the Bloodfiend Sect himself, this battle urring now would have done the job.


    John snapped out of his daze once again, and shook his head to regain his senses.


    "How dangerous. No wonder Thunderzen is feared across this entire continent. Just how powerful is his full strength?" John couldn''t help but muse out loud.


    Watching his Sect Leader fight instilled him with a desire to elevate himself to that level, and eventually ascend beyond it.


    While he wanted to keep watching, John knew he had more important things to focus on right now. His soul power red, and Kirii suddenly appeared on the ground before him. Kirii''s breathing was light and uneven, and its body was quite damaged from the tribtion lightning that had struck him.


    A pill quickly appeared in his hands, which emanated a dense medicinal aroma. It was the best healing pill he had on him.


    "Kirii, eat this," John whispered as he ced the pill into Kirii''s mouth and guided it into Kirii''s stomach with his Qi. A dense medical energy quickly began to disperse throughout Kirii''s body, slowly healing his wounds.


    However, despite the wounds slowly healing, Kirii''s breathing remained light and uneven, clearly indicating that the flesh wounds were not the real damage Kirii had taken.


    "What''s going on?" John grumbled through gritted teeth. "Why aren''t you getting better?"


    "It''s not your pet you should be worried about," a malevolent voice suddenly entered John''s ears.


    His face grimaced as he looked up to the sky above him. His eyes focused on the person before him, who was thest person John wanted to see at the moment.


    "Allfiend," John replied through gritted teeth. His gaze shifted to Thunderzen in the distance, who was still fighting against the demon. Clearly Thunderzen was too upied to help John at the moment.


    Allfiend noticed this gaze of John''s, and arge, sinister smile appeared on his face. "Your helper can''t help you anymore, and your tribtion is over. You''re mine. You destroyed my sect, so I will take you away with me now, destroy your n before your very eyes, and then destroy you slowly," Allfiend replied sinisterly.


    John''s mind raced as he thought of a solution to get out of this situation. His Qi was nearly drained, and his body incredibly damaged. Just standing up right now took his full strength.


    However, his face suddenly lit up with happy surprise, as he heard the voice of someone he normally avoided at all cost.


    "You want to destroy my disciple?" a voice suddenly appeared as a figure shed between John and Allfiend. "Our previous battle ended in an unsatisfying tie. Today, I will im your life!"


    Allfiend stared at the figure who appeared before him, and his eyes narrowed with unpleasant frustration.


    John''s eyes stared at the figure who appeared before him, and a sense of ease andfort washed over him. His voice echoed out softly, causing the one before him to turn around and look at him.


    "Master!"


    It was the first time he had called her that, but it felt natural at the moment. The Vice-Sect Leader stared at John, and a small smile appeared on her face.


    "You''ve done well today. Leave the rest of the burdens to your master to shoulder."

 Chapter 379 - Battle Deity

    John felt himself ovee with emotions he usually never felt as he heard these words. Most of his cultivation life, he had only himself to rely on. While he did join the Heavenly Lightning Sect, he didn''t really use their power for anything, other than Elder Ragur shielding him that one time.


    After a moment of silence, John nodded his head and sat on the ground, finally rxing after the most strenuous day of his life.


    "You think too highly of yourself," Allfiend replied as he suddenly attacked towards John, intending on taking his life.


    Bang!


    Fully prepared for such a sneak attack, the Vice-Sect Leader moved forward with incredible speed, blocking the attack before it could be unleashed towards John. John stared intently at the Vice-Sect Leader, as it was the first time he had ever seen take out her weapon.


    It was a small, slender sword, which glowed a brilliant hue of blue.


    "War Elder''s," her loud shout suddenly echoed out across thend.. "Eradicate whatever remains of this sect."


    As if summoned by her words, dozens of Elder''s, all revealing might at the Heaven Tribtion realm and above, appeared before John. Twonded next to John, seemingly to act as protectors, while the rest flew off into the sect, seeking out other Bloodfiend Elder''s to y.


    The Vice-Sect Leader herself shot forward, speeding straight towards Allfiend who had finally stopped his backwards momentum.


    Bang!


    Weapons once again collided, but this time Allfiend was prepared for such an attack, and remained stable through the collision. Allfiend red at the Vice-Sect Leader, who stared at him with a smug expression on her face.


    "It appears as thoughst time I went too easy on you," Allfiend said. "I should have erased you from existence back then, but you were far more trouble than it was worth to defeat. It seems as though I was incredibly wrong. I will finish today what I should have done years ago."


    "Hmph," the Vice-Sect Leader scoffed at Allfiend''s words. "When we fought, I had barely ascended to the Dao Transformation Realm, and yet our battle was still even. Today, I will im your life, and ce your head at my disciples feet for him to spit on."


    Allfiend''s eyes narrowed as he heard this, and a look of growing anger appeared on his face. He put away his current weapon, and took out another one. It was a sword of incredible power which glowed from within, as if a fire was raging inside its de.


    The Vice-Sect Leader stared at the weapon for a moment, before ncing back to Allfiend.


    "A peak Dao Transformation Grade weapon? This sword is not from this continent. It seems as though you''ve been having quite extensive trades with the Divine Martial Continent as ofte," she said to Allfiend.


    "Hmph," Allfiend scoffed. "Our Forbidden Alliance ns are far beyond yourprehension. I will use this sword to im your life as a tribute to the ns which will drown this world in our power."


    Bang!


    Allfiend shed the sword towards the Vice-Sect Leader, and an incredible blood red sword image appeared in the sky. Hints of mes surrounded it, clearly augmented by the weapon itself.


    The attack shed towards her with absolute power, as if nothing could stop it. The Vice-Sect Leader''s eyes narrowed as she shed her sword out as well, sending a powerful sword image to meet it.


    Bang!


    The collision between battle arts created a violent explosion, uprooting trees and causing the verynd to shake.


    The Elder''s next to John red their power out to meet the explosion, shielding John from harm.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    John watched from below as the two exchanged dozens of attacks in an instant. Their attacks collided with absolute power, shaking thend and destroying whatever was in its path. The mountain John was sitting on began to crumble, and the two Elders quickly wrapped him up with their power and took him to a safer distance away from the fight.


    Arge smile was permanently stered on the Vice-Sect Leader''s face, as if her fight right now was the most enjoyable thing in the world to her. In fact, she even looked a bit crazy at the moment to John, making him fully realize why she was called the continent''s number one battle maniac.


    Soon, the entire Bloodfiend Sect was engulfed in an incredible war, as Thunderzen battled the demon, the Vice-Sect Leader battled Allfiend, and the other Elder''s battled with the remaining Elders of the Bloodfiend Sect.


    Before long, the entire sect had been destroyed from the cmitous battle arts being used, reducing thend to an unrecognizable state. Valleys formed where they had never been, and entire mountain ranges crumbled to the ground.


    Bang!


    Another cmitous collision exploded above John, causing him to nce in the direction.


    "Master!" John screamed out in panic as he watched his master lose out on an exchange and be violently knocked to the ground below. Her body mmed into the earth with incredible force, causing a massive crater to appear where she had fallen.


    "Hahaha!"


    Growingughter began to echo out from the crater as the Vice-Sect Leader suddenly shot out of it and towards Allfiend above. Herughter trailed behind her as she appeared next to him in an instant and shed out her sword once again.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The two continued to exchange incredible attacks, with the Vice-Sect Leader losing out on more and more exchanges. Small wounds were inflicted on her, causing blood to drip down her face and arms. However, the smile on her face never faded, as if she was truly enjoying every second of the battle.


    John shivered as he saw this, as he could tell that she truly was a battle maniac, even more so than himself. However, his worry also grew at the same time, as his master was beginning to lose out against Allfiend.


    John turned to the two nearby Elder''s


    "Shouldn''t you help her?" John asked.


    The Elder''s looked at John with calm eyes, as if they had no worries in the world.


    "Clearly you don''t know your master at all. Just sit and watch," one of the Elder''s replied before looking back to the fight.


    "Oh, she hasn''t used her lightning power yet," John replied, finally understanding what was going on. However, all he got was a smallughter from the nearby Elder''s followed by words that stunned him.


    "Your master hardly uses lightning powers, as her proficiency with lightning is quitecking."


    John stared at the Elder for a moment before looking back to the Vice-Sect Leader fighting in the distance.


    The Vice-Sect Leader began tough loudly as she put her sword away.


    "Haha, that was a pleasant warm up. But let''s get to the real battle, shall we? I still need to im your head as a gift for my disciple" she said to Allfiend, who stared at her angrily.


    Suddenly, a scythe, pitch ck and exuding a dense aura of death appeared in her hands. Her aura instantly exploded out with far greater power than before, as she seemed to transform into apletely different person.


    Her figure shed forward, and appeared before Allfiend in an instant as her scythe shed down with absolute power.


    "However," the Elder who had previously talked to John spoke out once more. "She has a proficiency in something far more terrifying than lightning! Just sit back and watch why the continent considers her to be a battle deity!"


    Bang!

 Chapter 380 - Lilian’s Power

    Sword and scythe collided as the two powerhouses exchanged their strongest attacks A dense death Qi emanated from both the Vice-Sect Leader and her scythe, shocking John greatly. That death Qi instantly wrapped around Allfiend, and John could see his flesh ever so slightly start to age and decay.


    "What?" Allfiend eximed in shock as he noticed the strange energy, and quickly sped backwards to avoid it.


    The Vice-Sect Leader instantly sped up once again to catch up to Allfiend, and continued her assault with power far greater than she had disyed before. Each attack of her scythe was beyond quick and sharp, causing John to take a deep breath of cold air upon seeing it.


    Comparing his scythe skills to hers was likeparing an ant to an elephant. Her scythe twirled and shed at unreal speeds and unpredictable angles, constantly keeping Allfiend on the defensive. It was a non-stop barrage of scythe attacks, each strong and sharp enough to im Allfiend''s life if one of themnded on him.


    Allfiend''s sword shed out with the greatest speed and power he could muster, barely managing to keep the Vice-Sect Leader at bay, who seemed like a transformed person after switching to the sky.


    But the thing that caught John''s attention the most was not her scythe, but the strange and deadly energy she radiated around her..


    "Death Qi!" John eximed as he watched his master fight in the distance. "How does she control death Qi?" John asked the two nearby Elders.


    The Elder''s both smirked with pride as they watched the Vice-Sect Leader instantly take the advantage over Allfiend.


    "It''s not just death qi, but the Dao of Death that she is using," one of the Elder''s exined.


    "Dao of Death!" John eximed in surprise. "But isn''t the Dao of Death one of the rarest Dao''s to be able toprehend and use?" John asked.


    "Indeed it is," the Elder replied as he continued to watch the distant battle. "The Dao of Death is incredibly hard to even grasp the faintest of concepts of, as all of us are living things. We cannot know what death is while we yet live, yet somehow your master has managed to do so," the Elder exined.


    "We''ve asked her many times how she managed toprehend the Dao of Death, but she never gave us an answer," the other Elder replied.


    John stared back at his master who continued her assault on Allfiend in the distance. Utilizing herprehensions of the Dao of Death, she was changing her essence Qi into death Qi. Death Qi was incredibly potent, as it would age, decay, and destroy almost anything it touched.


    Not only that, but John could tell herprehensions over the Dao of Death was far beyond hisprehensions towards the three Daos he knew how to use. Hisprehensions were only in the very initial stage ofprehension, while his master''sprehensions were far beyond that level. As to what level she was at, John didn''t know.


    The Vice-Sect Leader suddenly shed her scythe in front of her, and an incredibly sharp and fast scythe image sped towards Allfiend. It was one of her scythe battle arts, and was one of incredible speed and power.


    Allfiend shed his sword out as fast as he could to meet the attack.


    Bang!


    Sword and scythe image collided, resulting in a tie between the attacks.


    "Hmph," the Vice-Sect Leader scoffed as she shed her scythe out again, and again.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    Scythe image after scythe image pierced towards Allfiend in a non-stop barrage, each more powerful than thest. Allfiend shed out his sword in response, sending crimson sword images to meet them.


    The battle arts continuously shed with immense power in the sky, causing explosions to continuously explode down on the earth below. A massive crater began to form below the collision of battle arts, which soon grew to be miles across as the two cultivators continued their barrage of battle art attacks.


    "How powerful!" John couldn''t help exim as he watched his master fight evenly against Allfiend.


    Allfiend was over two hundred years old, while his master was only around thirty years old. Despite this massive age difference, she was able to fight evenly against Allfiend, showing just how shocking her talent was.


    The battle art collisions continued for some time before the Vice-Sect Leader suddenly stopped attacking. Allfiend stopped as well as he stared warily at her.


    Her gaze shifted towards a certain spot in the distance, and locked onto Thunderzen''s fight against the incredibly powerful demon. While Thunderzen was unharmed, it seemed as though the Demon''s defensive power was enough to mostly ignore his attacks. This couldn''t be allowed to continue.


    Her gaze shifted back to Allfiend once more and spoke out.


    "This battle has been beyond thrilling, but it seems I cannot drag this out any longer. Time to end this!"


    Allfiend''s eyes filled with anger as he heard how the Vice-Sect Leader spoke about him, but his words were cut off as she suddenly appeared before him. Her aura of death exploded out with far greater power than before, washing over Allfiend.


    Allfiend felt his speed slow down considerably, as his flesh began to age. Even his Qi seemed to be affected, and was weakened considerably.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The two exchanged dozens of attacks, with the Vice-Sect Leader winning each exchange. She made sure to stay close to Allfiend for each attack, so that her aura of death could continue to weaken him.


    Allfiend grit his teeth in anger as he continued to fight back against her. When it came to their strongest battle arts, Allfiend was even slightly stronger than the Vice-Sect Leader. However, her death Qi weakened him considerably, and Allfiend had no way to defend against it other than to use his Qi as a shield.


    Doing this was draining his essence Qi far faster than he could maintain, and Allfiend finally realized he could not win this battle. The attacks from the Vice-Sect Leader were starting to add up, and Allfiend soon found himself at the end of his energy. His body was riddled with wounds, and his flesh was starting to be decayed from the non-stop death energy assaulting him.


    Che!


    Allfiend shed his sword out to meet one of her attacks, and used the power of the attack to fuel his backwards momentum. After getting some distance from the Vice-Sect Leader, Allfiend turned around and began to speed away.


    Bang!


    An attack from in front of Allfiend collided against him, shocking him greatly. His eyes snapped to the source of the attack, and quickly spotted another Heavenly Lightning Sect Elder. The Elder''s attack was not powerful enough to injure him, but it was powerful enough to stall him.


    Allfiend''s eyes snapped wide open as he realized this, and he quickly turned around. However, it was toote.


    Che!


    An incredibly quick blur of sharpness shed right past Allfiend, and his eyes opened wide as the realization of what just happened hit him. His eyes locked onto the one standing nearby, who stared at him with cold, indifferent eyes.


    "I--"


    Allfiend tried to say some words, but the thin line on his neck quickly grew, silencing those words forever.


    In the distance, John watched in stunned disbelief as he saw Allfiend''s headless body fall to the ground below. The monstrously powerful leader of the Bloodfiend Sect, who had ruled over the Forbidden Alliancends for hundreds of years, had finally fallen in battle.

 Chapter 381 - Master Lilian

    Thud!


    Allfiend''s head fell on the ground by John''s feet, which was soaked in blood. His zed eyes were wide open, as if he still couldn''t believe what had happened. Immediately after, the Vice-Sect Leadernded before John. Blood flowed down her face, arms, and legs, as several shallow wounds were easy to see on her skin.


    However, the Vice-Sect Leader ignored the wounds, as if they were not worth noticing. The aura of death around her faded as she approached John.


    "Vice-Sect Leader," the two Elder''s said respectfully as she approached. The Vice-Sect Leader nodded at them.


    The Vice-Sect Leader nodded at them in approval of their job protecting John, before her gaze focused on John himself. Now that there was a slight bit of calm, she was able to inspect him closely.


    .


    "It seems you have made quite considerable progress. Quite impressive," she said with a slightly surprised face. The power emanating off John, even without him actively ring his aura, was incredible.


    "Thanks, Vice-Sect Leader," John replied.


    "Oh?" she raised her eyebrows and replied with an amused tone. "You called me master earlier, but now you''re back to Vice-Sect Leader? Am I not worthy of being your master?" she asked.


    John felt a chill creep up his spine as she stared at him like a hawk. It seemed as though she truly did consider him to be her disciple now, and John knew he had no say in the matter.


    "Uhhh, thank you, Master," John corrected.


    The Vice-Sect Leader waved her hand in a disapproving manner at John''s reply. "Don''t call me master either. It makes me sound old. Just call me Lilian. Just know that you are truly my disciple now, and I your master," she replied.


    John was far too tired to argue about such a trivial thing, and only nodded his head in understanding.


    Lilian smiled slightly as she saw him agree. "Good."


    Both their gazes focused on the head of Allfiend between them.


    "As for him," Lilian gestured towards the head. "I must thank you. Without your aid, killing him would have been much, much harder to do."


    "My aid?" John asked in a confused manner. "What did I do?"


    "The summoning," Lilian replied. "Because you forced Allfiend to speed up the summoning process before it was ready, he was forced to use some of his own vitality to fuel the summoning process. This drained him considerably, making it much easier to overwhelm him. I would have killed him regardless, but the process would have taken much longer, and been much more dangerous," she exined.


    "Oh," John replied.


    It seemed as though his tribtion affected Allfiends ns more than he thought, which indirectly resulted in his death. However, John was more than happy to hear this, as he hated Allfiend.


    "Take it," Lilian guestered to Allfiends head.


    John nced at the head, which still contained Allfiend''s blood essence. He wanted to take it, but didn''t want to do anything suspicious.


    "What good will having his head do me?" John replied.


    Lilian shrugged as she heard this. "Use it as motivation. Stare at it nightly, and remind yourself that without my help, you would have died today. Use it to remind yourself that strength matters above all else, and that the only strength you can truly rely on is your own," Lilian replied.


    John stared at her for a moment before he nodded his head and grabbed Allfiend''s head.


    Boom!


    Roar!


    Distant sounds echoed out, catching both John''s and his master''s attention. In the far distance, incredibly powerful lightning smashed down on the demon, indicating that the battle between Thunderzen and the demon was still raging on.


    Lilian frowned as she saw this, as she had assumed Thunderzen would have been able to take care of the demon already. John could instantly tell what she was nning to do.


    "You''re going to help him fight that demon?" John asked.


    Lilian looked back at John with a smirk on her face. "What? Are you concerned for my safety?"


    John looked at the demon before looking back at her. "Its just that...while you are incredibly strong, their strength is¡­"


    "Far beyond that of my own?" Lilian finished John''s words for him.


    A wry smile appeared on John''s face, and he nodded his head soon after.


    "You aren''t wrong," Lilian replied. "My father, as well as that demon, are far above me in strength. But...there is one thing I can do to turn the tides. Stay here and watch your master put on another incredible disy."


    Bang!


    The earth exploded beneath her feet as Lilian shot up into the sky and towards the battle raging on in the far distance. By now, the Bloodfiend Sect waspletely destroyed, and there was only the matter of the Demon to contend with.


    Boom!


    Lightning mmed down on the demon once again, as Thunderzen unleashed another incredibly powerful battle art on it. The attack knocked the demon back hundreds of yards into a nearby mountain. The mountain shattered as the demon mmed against it.


    Roar!


    The demon roared out once again, as the hellmes surrounding its body intensified. It quickly stood back up from the attack it had just received, as if the attack was not worth noticing.


    Thunderzen frowed as he saw this. No matter what he threw at the demon, its defenses were incredible. Not only that, but it had incredibly regenerative abilities, and any damage he inflicted on it was quickly healed.


    Thunderzen suddenly shed to the side as a powerful attack from the demon pierced by. The attacknded dozens of miles away, and arge explosion, miles across, rocked the distantnd where it had exploded.


    After dodging the attack, Thunderzen nced over in a certain direction as he watched a familiar figure approach.


    "Father," Lilian called out as she arrived in front of him. She nced down at the demon below, and a frown appeared on her face.


    "Even after battling it for this long, you haven''t been able to bring it down?" she asked.


    "Unfortunately not," Thunderzen replied. "That bastard Allfiend summoned a demon who specializes in defense and regeneration. Its attacks are not that strong, but it''s bodies defense is beyond incredible. Allfiend probably did this so that we wouldn''t be able to bring it down, allowing it to ignore our attacks while it rampaged across thend," Thunderzen exined.


    He was definitely stronger than the demon, but none of his damage lingered on the demon''s body. Not only that, but it seemed to have a slight lightning resistance, making it even harder to damage.


    "Speaking of which, I no longer feel his aura. Did you¡­" Thunderzen asked.


    "Allfiend is dead," Lilian replied.


    "Good. Then thest thing we need to focus on is this demon," Thunderzen nodded in approval. "With Allfiend dead however, the binding summoning contract between him and the demon is broken, and it will be free to do whatever it pleases. We must stop it here before it escapes and causes untold destruction to this continent," Thunderzen continued.

 Chapter 382 - Familiar Power

    "Do you have any ideas of how to bring it down?" Lilian asked.


    Thunderzen remained silent for a moment before replying. "I have two. I can keep the demon locked in battle for as long as I can, while we call for reinforcements from the Honorable Alliance headquarters...or we can bait it into the Heavenly ughter formation back at our sect."


    Lilian shook her head in disagreement at both ns. "Those won''t do," she replied. "It will take weeks for reinforcements to arrive. We cannot wait that long. As for the Heaven ughter formation, just leading the demon to it will cause incredible destruction to our sect and the nearbynds."


    .


    "Then do you have a better idea?" Thunderzen asked.


    He was the only one on the continent who had a cultivation in the World Expansion realm, and as such, was the only one who could fight directly against the demon.


    Lilian studied the demon below, who seemed to be ignoring them as it began to destroy the nearbynd.


    "I have one idea," she replied after a moment of silence. "I''ll use my full power to negate its regenerative defenses, while you use that opportunity to strike it down."


    "You mean?" Thunderzen looked at his adoptive daughter, immediately understanding her intentions.


    "Yes," she replied without hesitation.


    "If you use it, they will know you still live," Thunderzen replied, slight worry evident in his voice. "You will not know peace again. Are you sure about doing this?"


    "I know, but we have no other choice right now. Also, I have the feeling that the time to return to that ce is fast approaching, as the winds of fate on this world seem to have stirred as ofte," Lilian replied as she looked off at John in the far distance.


    Thunderzen followed her gaze, and immediately understood what she was talking about. A deep sigh escaped his lips.


    He ced his hand on his adoptive daughter''s shoulder in a loving manner as a smile appeared on his face. He knew she had made up her mind, and did not try to argue against it.


    "Then let''s take down this creature together," Thunderzen replied. "I will keep its attention, while you get close over its head. Use your power to negate its regeneration, while Ind the final blow. Just be careful, as a single one of its attacks is far more than you can withstand."


    Lilian nodded her head in understanding of Thunderzen''s ns. Thunderzen''s body suddenly shed, and he appeared before the demon once again.


    Hundreds of lightning nodes sprung up in the air around him, as he activated his own Heavenly Lightning Domain. Lightning began to crash down on the demon ceaselessly, causing it to roar in anger and pain.


    Each strike would scorch its body, but it would quickly regenerate, eliminating the damage. A staff appeared in Thunderzen''s hands as he unleashed staff battle arts, which mmed down on the demon with incredible power.


    The surroundingnd for dozens of miles in each direction began to shake violently and started to crumble as the two powerhouses resumed their battle. When cultivators of this level of power fought, they would usually do so high in the air to avoid destroying thend below.


    However, the demon had no reservations of such destruction, and neither did Thunderzen, as they were located in the Bloodfiend Sect.


    Lightning attacks and staff battle arts continued to rain down on the demon, while it''s hellmes and Qi attacks pierced towards Thunderzen as well. Each one of their attacks carried absolute power, capable of killing any other cultivator on the continent dozens of times over.


    In the distance, John watched the incredible battle unfold. Each one of Thunderzen''s attacks was far beyond anything John had ever seen, while the demon fought back with incredible power as well.


    All of a sudden, John spotted his master, who had appeared directly above the head of the demon. As soon as she appeared, Thunderzen increased the intensity of his assault, keeping the demon''s focus on himself.


    Lilian closed her eyes and ced her hands together, as if she was focusing on something. Her eyes suddenly snapped open, and an absolutely horrifying aura exploded out around her. She had revealed this aura before in her fight against Allfiend, the Dao of Death. However, the intensity, power, and profundity of the aura was far beyond the level she had disyed earlier.


    The difference in power between the two aura''s was akin to John''s normal body state fighting against his Immortal Asura Transformation Art. There was noparing the two in power, as they were onpletely different levels.


    Thunderzen nced at his adoptive daughter for a moment, as another sigh escaped his lips. He quickly focused back on the demon, continuing his assault.


    The aura quickly spread, and any vegetation touched by her power instantly withered into nothingness.


    John''s eyes suddenly snapped open wide in shocked surprise as he stared at his master. Even the Elder''s next to John had looks of shock appear on their faces, as they had clearly never seen this happen either.


    On her forehead, a mysterious rune appeared, which glowed with a deathly ck light. It seemed to be a part of her flesh, which only lit up after she activated its power. It instantly reminded John of someone else, who he had met several months ago in the past.


    ''This...it''s just like that mysterious girl I met in the ancient city. She had a simr rune on her forehead when she used her power. It was the runic symbol for the Dao of Life, which seemed to be an innate ability of hers. However, the rune on my master''s forehead is theplete opposite. It''s the runic symbol for the Dao of Death!"


    With her innate Dao of Death rune activated, his master seemed to be apletely different person. It was as if the living incarnation of a death god had appeared, wanting to eradicate all life.

 Chapter 383 - Thunderfall Judgement

    Roar!


    The demon roared out incredibly loud as the death aura assaulted his body. Because the demon relied on its body for defense and did not have a protective coating of Qi surrounding it, the aura mmed against its body directly.


    The flesh of the demon instantly began to wither and rot, bing a decayed mess of flesh, before it''s regeneration kicked in, healing the rotting wounds. The two opposite powers instantly began to fight against each other in a seemingly endless battle.


    Bang!


    A cmitous lightning strike struck against the demon, piercing through a spot of flesh that had just been withered and weakened. The lightning pierced into the demon''s body and began to rampage from within.


    Roar!


    The demon roared out in anger and pain, but was unable to do anything to stop the rampaging lightning. Its regenerative powers were doing everything it could to stop the aura of death from destroying its body, and so none was left tobat Thunderzen''s attacks.


    .


    The demon suddenly switched targets, and swatted its massive hand towards Lilian who hovered above its head. Thunderzen knew the demon would attempt this, and instantly appeared before Lilian.


    His staff mmed down with absolute power as he sent out a powerful battle art.


    Boom!


    The battle art collided against the demon, overwhelming it and knocking it deep into the earth. A crater nearly a mile deep formed from the attack, as the battle art and demon''s body rent thend asunder.


    The aura of death parted around Thunderzen, as Lilian made sure to avoid Thunderzen at all costs. Thunderzen turned around to look at Lilian, whose breathing was starting to be haggard, and her energy wavering.


    "How much longer can youst?" Thunderzen asked with concern in his voice.


    "Long enough," Lilian replied through gritted teeth, as if using this power of hers took all her focus and might. "Just use your Heaven Suppressing Staff and Thunderfall Judgement already."


    Thunderzen stared at Lilian for a moment before his gaze shifted over thends below. The Bloodfiend sect waspletely destroyed, and all the Elder''s seemed to have finished their battles.


    He had held back out of concern for the safety of his sect members, but it seemed as though they had all fled to a safe distance. Another reason Thunderzen had not unleashed this attack was that it was incredibly draining on his Qi, and so he could only unleash it once. If he used it and didn''t kill the demon, the demon would be able to freely roam and destroy everything in its path while Thunderzen recuperated.


    With Lilian''s help, the best opportunity to kill the demon was now.


    Thunderzen nodded his head, and put his one staff away while he took out another.


    Even dozens of miles away, John could feel the incredible might of the new weapon Thunderzen had taken out, as it was the most powerful weapon he had ever seen. Not only that, but he could feel a dense soul aura radiate from the weapon, as if it had its own soul.


    ''An artifact spirit!''


    The eyes of the Elder''s widened as they saw Thunderzen take out his weapon.


    "It''s time to leave," the Elder''s instructed as they wrapped John with their energy and began to flee at incredible speeds.


    Lillian''s death aura continued to assault the demon below, which was flying back up to them at incredible speeds from the bottom of the crater. Thunderzen readied his staff in front of him as he watched the demon approach.


    An incrediblyrge and powerful staff image, made of pure lightning Qi, began to form above his head, as Thunderzen prepared to unleash his ultimate battle art, Thunderfall Judgement. It was his strongest weapon battle art, thatbined his powerful staff with his incredible lightning prowess.


    Just as the demon was about to reach him, Thunderzen mmed his staff down. He felt the artifact spirit draw out most of his Qi to use on this one attack.


    "Thunderfall Judgement!"


    The staff image made of pure lightning Qi mmed down towards the demon below with absolute power. The demon, who was still being assaulted by Lilian''s death aura, mmed out its fist to meet the attack.


    ¡­


    "Why are we running?" John cried out to the Elder''s as they continued to speed off into the distance. He wanted to stay and watch the battle between Thunderzen, his master, and the demon.


    Before the Elder''s could respond, bright light, followed by a deafening sound boomed out behind John. He quickly turned his head around to look behind him, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.


    A massive explosion, over ten miles across, rocked thend where the battle had been taking ce. The explosion continued to radiate outwards, upheaving thend and destroying anything in its path.


    The Elders carrying John away finally stopped as they had gotten far enough away, and turned around to look at the results of Thunderzen''s battle art. Debris rained down all around them, having been thrown dozens of miles away by the explosion.


    After radiating outwards for over a dozen miles, the explosion eventually faded, revealing the aftermath for all to see. John''s eyes nearly popped out his skull once again as a crater, over a dozen miles across and several miles deep, was carved into thend. Entire mountain ranges had been swallowed up by the attack, which hadpletely altered thendscape of the once glorious Bloodfiend Sect.


    ¡­


    High up in the sky above the center of the explosion, a battered and bruised Thunderzen and Lilian floated. Thunderzen had used his power to shield his daughter from the attack, as even Lilian was not strong enough to survive that explosion.


    Their eyes surveyed the destroyednd below, looking for any remnants of the demon they had been fighting. However, there were no signs of the demon anymore. Thunderzen breathed out a sigh of relief as he saw this.


    "The demon''s incarnation seems to have been destroyed."


    Unless the summoning was of the highest quality, the creature being summoned was usually an incarnation of its true body, instead of its true body. When the incarnation was damaged enough, it would dissipate, as it had in this case.


    Thunderzen''s narrowed eyes nced towards his daughter, who swayed slightly from fatigue. Using that ability of hers drained her considerably, as she had to push it to the very limits to have an impact on something as strong as the demon.


    However, the cost had been worth it, as the demon''s defenses were weakened by it, allowing for Thunderzen tond the final blow.


    "You''ve done well today," Thunderzen said to Lilian. "Let us return."


    Lilian nodded her head and began to fly off in a certain direction. Thunderzen nced at the now decimated Bloodfiend Sect, and sighed slightly.


    The peace he had enjoyed for so long was clearlying to an end.

 Chapter 384 - Clan Master

    Far from the Bloodfiend Sect, a group of three male cultivators could be seen walking through an incredibly beautiful valley. Picturesque snow capped mountains, lush with life, surrounded them in all directions, as towering waterfalls cascaded down on the earth below.


    In the sky above the valley were dozens of floatingnd masses, each defying gravity as they hovered in the sky. Eachnd mass contained an incredibly grand and luxurious pce, while lush vines and vegetation hung down on the underside of thendmasses.


    Exotic creatures of incredible power flew through the sky, each mounted by one or more cultivators.


    The valley below contained thousands of exquisite buildings as well, making the entire area look like an immortal paradise.


    The group of three men stepped on a formations tform, and their bodies suddenly vanished. They instantly appeared on one of thendmasses high above and continued walking as if such a thing were a normal urrence.


    Their destination was the pce that was built on the floatingndmass, which was over two miles in diameter, and many miles tall. Just with a single nce, one could tell that this building was of incredible importance to the area, as it was thergest and most luxurious by far..


    The pce sprawled for nearly the entire width of thendmass, and was colored white, light blue, and gold. As they walked through the main courtyard of the pce grounds, they passed by many fountains shooting water. However, unlike normal water, the water within the fountains was infused with incredible life and vitality, as if taking a single sip would heal any wounds and extend one''s life.


    The group continued forward as if such things were beneath their notice. One man was leading the group, followed closely behind by the other two, as if they were advisors. The one leading the small group was a middle aged man, who had long ck hair, piercing eyes, and a handsome, clean shaven face. He seemed to emit no cultivation at all, but it was beyond apparent that the man contained incredible power.


    The man listened to his two advisors discuss various things as he strode into the massive pce. The front doors were opened by several guards, who bowed as they greeted him.


    "We pay respect to the n Master," they shouted out in unison.


    The man ignored the greetings and strode into the pce, as he continued to listen to his advisors speak of various things. The interior of the pce was even more luxurious and grand than the exterior, and was far beyond anything that existed on the Yuan Continent.


    While it was smaller than the Heavenly Lightning Pce, the Heavenly Lightning Pce paled inparison to the luxuriousness of this pce. Every inch of the pce was created using only the most heavenly of materials, and just this one pce was worth more than the entire Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    "That brings us to Laia, n Master," one of the advisors spoke up as they made sure to maintain pace with him.


    The man''s face slightly perked up slightly as he heard that name.


    "Has she resumed her training?" the man asked.


    "Not yet, n Master," the advisor replied, his voice slightly tepid. "We have tried everything to get her to cultivate, but she refuses to do so."


    The man frowned as he heard this.


    "Stubborn girl," he grumbled out loud as he continued to walk deeper into the pce. "Doesn''t she find that maid of hers to be quite a close friend? Use that maid''s safety as motivation to resume her training. I''m sure that will change her mind."


    The advisors both nodded their heads in unison. "It will be done."


    They continued walking forward, when all of a sudden, the man stopped without warning. The two men behind him nearly bumped into him, but avoided doing so at thest moment. The man at the front stood there motionlessly for quite some time, before his eyes looked in a certain direction.


    He was staring at one of the pce walls, but his vision seemed to be piercing through time and space instead. Both men behind him were confused as to what was happening, but didn''t dare to make a sound as they could tell something important was on their n Master''s mind.


    The man remained emotionless for quite some time as he stared into the distance, before a slightly surprised look appeared on his face. Both advisors noticed this look, and looked at each other with great curiosity. They knew not many things were able to surprise their master.


    "Interesting," a small smile appeared on the man''s face as he once again resumed walking. The advisors quickly followed behind, and one couldn''t help but ask what had just happened.


    "n Master, did...did something catch your attention?" one of them asked.


    "Indeed," the n Master replied, his smile still lingering on his face. "It seems as though we were wrong as to what happened fifteen years ago. Or at least, partially wrong."


    "Fifteen years-" the advisor''s words cut off as a certain event came to mind. "You mean?"


    "Indeed," the man replied again in a simr fashion. "I just now felt that aura, the Dao of Death. It''s incredibly faint, but it''s unmistakably her."


    Both advisors opened their eyes wide in surprise, as they had not expected to hear such a thing.


    "How is such a thing possible?" one of the advisors asked, shock evident in his voice.


    "I am not sure, but I aim to find out," the n Master replied as his eyes narrowed, a devious glint easily apparent. "Our ns have changed. We must find her, find out how such a thing happened, and make bring her back. If we do that and make her as she once was, our position in this world will be absolute."


    The advisors nced at each other, before they looked back to the n Master.


    "Were you able to locate where she is?" one of them asked.


    "No," the n Master replied. "Her aura is incredibly faint, so she must be quite far away. If she never revealed her power, I would have remained clueless as to her existence. However, she chose to do so, which means she no longer wishes to hide her existence. With this in mind, I''m confident my precious daughter will reveal herself before long."

 Chapter 385 - The End Of The Bloodfiend Sect

    John watched from afar as dozens of Elders, as well as his master and Thunderzen approached him. The Bloodfiend Sect below waspletely obliterated, mostly by Thunderzen''s attack, leaving absolutely no trace of it behind.


    They allnded together near John, and Thunderzen''s eyes swept over the nearby Elders. He could tell that they were missing a few. As theynded, John saw his master consume a pill, and the color on her pale face slowly began to return.


    "Status report," Thunderzen asked one of the nearby Elders.


    The Elder, whose cultivation was at the early Dao Transformation Realm, stepped forward.


    "We have sessfully eliminated the remaining Bloodfiend scourge...however," the Elder paused for a moment before continuing.. "In the battle with the Bloodfiend Elders, nine of our own Elders were in."


    Thunderzen sighed upon hearing this. While it was not unexpected, it was still saddening to hear.


    The Bloodfiend Sect, being one of the premier sects of the continent, had formations within the sect that could be used defensively in times of war. These formations were incredibly dangerous, even to Dao Transformation Elders. While it was not the only reason, this was one of the reasons why the Bloodfiend Sect was never destroyed before.


    However, John''s sudden tribtion has ruined the sect from within, destroying most of these formations before they could be activated. Even still, the result of the Bloodfiend assault had imed the lives of nine Elders of the sect.


    While nine Elders for an entire sect was a good trade, everyone present still couldn''t help but feel saddened by the news.


    "Each Elder will receive the highest burial honors," Thunderzen replied. He nced down to the destroyed sect below, before he nced back to the same Elder.


    "The Bloodfiend Sect''s destruction will surely have the other Forbidden Alliance sects scavage its ruins like buzzards. Have several of you stay behind to find and remove any remaining artifacts and weapons," Thunderzenmanded.


    "It will be done," the Elder replied.


    After talking to the Elder, Thunderzen nced at the nearby John, who was sitting there half-dead of fatigue. Thunderzen took note of John''s condition, which was incredibly grave.


    Most of his body''s exterior waspletely ruined and charred by the tribtion lightning, while his organs were also damaged within. If it were any other person, Thunderzen couldn''t see them living through this amount of bodily damage. However, John always seemed to have surprises up his sleeve.


    "You''ve done well child," Thunderzen said as he smiled at John. "In fact, you did far better than I ever could have imagined. Your actions have saved this continent from sure destruction, and you should be incredibly proud of what you have done."


    Thunderzen walked closer to John as a pill suddenly appeared in his hands.


    "Here, take this," Thunderzen instructed as he tossed the medicinal pill to John. The pill emitted an incredibly dense medicinal aroma, and John could easily tell that it was an incredibly precious healing pill.


    sh!


    Kirii suddenly appeared on the ground in front of Thunderzen, as John was more worried about Kirii than himself.


    "Help Kirii instead," John replied. He would be able to heal from his wounds eventually, but he was unsure what was going on with Kirii. Kirii''s flesh wounds had been mostly healed, but he was still unconscious, and his breathing was still uneven.


    Thunderzen nced at Kirii and his divine sense washed over him. He inspected Kirii briefly, before he retracted his divine sense.


    "I cannot help him," Thunderzen replied. "No one can. Kirii is a beast of lightning, and he was struck by that tribtion lightning meant for you. He could have taken the attack and been mostly fine, but he decided to do something incredibly crazy...he attempted to absorb that tribtion lightning. He is currently struggling against that tribtion lightning, which is rampaging deep within his core. If he sessfully absorbs it, he will transform himself to new heights, but if he fails¡­" Thunderzen''s voice trailed off.


    John nced at Kirii, his eyes tinged with sadness. He could understand Kirii''s actions, as he had done the same thing himself. A deep sigh escaped John''s lips as his soul power red once more, and Kirii was withdrawn to his soul space.


    Thunderzen suddenly waved his hand, and arge flying ship appeared in the sky above them. It was his own personal flying ship, which was incrediblyrge and luxurious.


    "We depart back to the Heavenly Lightning Sect," Thunderzen instructed. "These events today will haverge-scale ramifications in the near future, and we must prepare for them."


    The Elder''s all flew up to the ship and began to board it, but John remained behind. Thunderzen and Lilian nced at John, who seemed to be thinking about something else.


    "Do you need help getting up to the ship?" his master asked, as she didn''t know if John was too injured to fly or not.


    John remained silent for a moment before he shook his head.


    "It''s not that," he replied.


    "Then what is it? Are you not returning to the Sect?" Thunderzen asked.


    "It''s just that...I''ve been away from home..my n, for far too long. If possible, I would like to visit them," John replied.


    He had not seen his family in nearly a year, and was a bit homesick. Not only that, but he was also worried for their safety, as Allfiend had figured out they were rted to him.


    Thunderzen thought about it for a moment before he nodded his head in agreement.


    "You have indeed been away from your home for too long. To get there, you have to cross the Great Desert, which is something far too dangerous for you at the moment. I will have an Elder escort you there," Thunderzen replied.


    "No," Lilian suddenly spoke up as looked at John. "I just took this brat at my personal disciple, and would like to meet the family of my disciple. I will escort him."


    John nced at his master with slight surprise, before a small smile appeared on his face. "You''re finally acting like a proper master should, instead of being a crazy-" he replied before thinking.


    Bang!


    A thin stick suddenly pped John across the face, knocking him into the ground.


    "Ouch! What the hell was that for?" John groaned in pain as he struggled to get up. "And where did you even get that stick? Do you just carry around a stick on you at all times?" he yelled out in protest.


    "It seems my first true lesson as your master will be to teach you proper respect," Lilian replied with an icy re. She suddenly waved her hand, and another flying ship appeared in the air above them.


    "Hop on and stop wasting my time," Lilianmanded.


    John rubbed his pained cheek while he red at his master, before he flew up to the ship above. He nced at the ruined Bloodfiend Sect below for a moment, as a satisfied smile smirk appeared on his face. Against all odds, his goal of destroying the Bloodfiend Sect had been achieved.


    Ignoring the pain that wracked his body, he flew into the flying ship, and his expression became one of excited anticipation.


    "I''m finally returning home!"

 Chapter 386 - The Great Desert

    Thunderzen remained behind for a moment as he watched his adoptive daughter''s ship fly off into the distance. After watching it disappear over the horizon, he turned around and entered his own flying ship.


    The other Elder''s were patiently waiting inside for their return to the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Thunderzen nodded his head towards one of the Elder''s who assumedmand over the ship at its main piloting station. His hand pressed on a raised pedestal which contained numerous small formations, and the ship suddenly shot forward at great speeds.


    "What happens now?" one of the Elder''s asked Thunderzen.


    "Now we prepare," Thunderzen replied.


    "Prepare for what?" another Elder asked.


    "Prepare for the arrival of the emissaries from the two alliances," Thunderzen replied.


    .


    "Emissaries?" an Elder asked. "From the Divine Martial Continent?"


    "Correct," Thunderzen replied. "A sect like the Bloodfiend Sect disappearing overnight is going to raise many questions, and it won''t be long until emissaries from both factions arrive, and for that we must prepare."


    ¡­


    John looked up at the massive gate before him, which radiated an incredibly holy aura. It had been several days since his battle in the Bloodfiend Sect, and his body wounds had eventually all been healed.


    As such, John found himself back in his pce realm, prepared to unlock the next steps in his cultivation system.


    Used to the process now, John stepped forward beneath the translucent sphere, in which several blood drops continued to revolve around each other perpetually. He found his body wrapped up one again, making it so that he was unable to move, while a single drop of blood fell down towards him.


    As soon as it left the protection of the translucent sphere, the blood radiated an equally holy and sinister aura, and quickly pierced into his chest. John grit his teeth in silent pain as the sinister blood rampaged within, seeking to destroy his body.


    However as expected, the holy blood red its power immediately after, quelling the destructive rampage of the sinister blood. With practiced experience, John guided the blood into every inch of his body, infusing itpletely to himself.


    He immediately felt the power of his body rise a considerable level, filling him with a sense of unbridled power.


    "At least the process this time was nice enough to wait for me toplete my tribtion," John said to himself.


    His previous breakthrough had resulted in him entering this ce immediately, while the rest of the outside world remained frozen. He was unsure of how that happened exactly, but John was certain such a thing wouldn''t work on the heavens and its tribtion it sent to kill him.


    After infusing the blood into his body, John stepped forward and touched one of the massive chains on the holy gate.


    Snap!


    The chain snapped and instantly began to crumble, as an even more powerful and holy aura began to radiate out of the gate. John basked in the holy power for some time, as he felt his nerves calmed and soul power rise.


    After bathing in this aura for some time, John stepped away from the gate and entered the room containing the sinister door. The same as always, he touched one of the chains, and withstood its demonic assault for as long as possible before he could no longer bear it.


    "Hah!"


    John breathed out a tired sigh as he found himself in the real world once again. The floor of the ship he sat on was translucent from his perspective, allowing him to see the ground far below pass by at tremendous speeds.


    "Even after days and days of travelling at this speed, we''re still not at the Great Desert! No wonder travel back to my homnd is so restrictive," John couldn''t help but grumble out loud.


    Suddenly, two objects suddenly appeared in his hands, one in each hand. The one object was a jade piece of incredible beauty, while the other was a ck tome. He nced at the two objects in his hand as the thought back to his recent tribtions.


    "It seems as though I have been neglecting my cultivation of the Celestial Lightning Script. The creator of the pce realm clearly only left me these two items to rely on, and yet I would have died to thest attack of the tribtion were it not for Kirii. Clearly, I have not raised my strength to the level that power thinks I should have."


    John''s fingers stroked both items for a moment before he put away the jade piece.


    "I''ll learn the next steps in my Immortal Asura Body, Immortal Asura Transformation Art, and next body limiter, before I wholeheartedly focus on the Celestial Lightning Script for the rest of the trip."


    John opened the Immortal Asura Tome, and turned to the Core Formation section, before he quickly flipped to the next page. He had been unable to open the Meridian Forging Section before, but with his cultivation firmly in the Meridian Forging Realm, he was finally able to do so.


    His eyes took in all the words on the page, which described how to further raise the base power of his Immortal Asura Body, how to unlock the next stage of his Asura Transformation, and how to unlock the next body limiter.


    "The Meridian Forging Limiter - The Limiter of Power," John read silently to himself. "This limiter has several nodes, which are located in the legs, back, chest, and arms. Unlocking these nodes will result in an explosive increase in body power, several times stronger than before."


    John''s eyes lit up as he read this, as it was exactly what he wanted at the moment. His previous limiters made him faster and more durable, but power was what he truly wanted to increase. Only with strength could he control his own fate.


    His Qi suddenly red internally with great power as he began to follow the principles of unlocking the body limiter.


    ¡­


    Lilian sat at the front of her ship in silence as she stared out at the ground below. Her mind seemed to be upied with something, as her gaze was distant and unfocused.


    The sound of someone behind her snapped her out of her thoughts as she turned around.


    "Finally out of seclusion, are you?" Lilian asked with a small smile on her face. She inspected John closely, and could tell that his strength had once again improved drastically. She gave John a small nod of approval as he sat down besides his master.


    "How close are we to the Great Desert, Mast-", John quickly stopped his words, as he remembered Lilian did not like being called Master, as it made her feel old. To her, as long as John considered her as such and treated her as his master, that was all that mattered. She did not need to be addressed with such titles.


    Lilian noticed the end of John''s sentence, but chose to ignore it. Her gaze shifted to look forward once again, as her chin flicked upwards slightly, gesturing to John to look into the distance.


    "We just arrived," she replied calmly.


    John followed her gaze, and saw what she had gestured to. Far out in the distance, a massive mountain range stretched out from side to side as far as they could see. The mountain range was also several miles deep, and just beyond it was a barren wastnd of seemingly no life at all.


    John''s eyes widened slightly as the flying ship quickly sped over the mountains, and entered the barren wastnd. He had heard of this ce many times before, but had never seen it with his own eyes.


    "The Great Desert! Just beyond this barren wastnd is home!"

 Chapter 387 - Crossing The Great Desert

    As soon as the ship entered the Great Desert, a look of slight surprise appeared on John''s face.


    "The Qi!" He eximed. "There''s almost no natural Qi here!"


    Lilian nodded her head at John''s words. "There is almost no natural Qi within this desert, making it truly a barren wastnd. In fact, the Qi only thins further as one approaches the center of the desert. This is one of the reasons why crossing the desert is so challenging," Lilian replied. "You cannot rely on the natural Qi of this world to replenish your energy, and can only do so through pills and other physical means."


    John nced down at the desert below, which was rapidly speeding by. He finally understood why crossing this desert was such a challenge.


    A cultivator couldn''t easily fly over it, as they would quickly run out of Qi, and would only be able to replenish that Qi through the use of Qi replenishing pills, or spirit crystals. However, unless one was in the Heaven Tribtion Realm or above, directly extracting the wild Qi from spirit crystals directly was too dangerous to do..


    As such, the journey would need to be an arduous and slow journey on foot. The only exception was if someone had a flying ship, but there were only a handful of them on the entire Yuan Continent, and such a method could not be relied on regrly.


    "Wait a minute," John replied. "If there is no Qi, then how can powerful beasts exist here?" John asked. He had heard stories that powerful beasts roamed thesends, adding to the difficulty further.


    "You see that hole over there?" his master pointed in a certain direction. John strained his eyes, and noticed a hole roughly ten yards wide far off in the distance.


    "Yes," John replied. "What is that hole?"


    "That is hole linking thend above with the tunnels below of the Great Desert. Most of the creatures of thisnd are ground-dwelling creatures, who only surface when there is a disturbance. Down there are special materials in which these powerful creatures can absorb Qi from. Its simr to spirit crystals, but much less valuable. However it is enough for them," Lilian replied.


    John studied the desert below and noticed many other holes scattered around at varying locations.


    "Doesn''t that mean that as long as we''re in the sky, there''s no danger at all?" John asked.


    Lilian smirked as she heard this, and his gaze shifted to the side, looking through the translucent flying ship.


    Schreee!


    A loud screech rocked the area near the ship, shaking it violently, followed by a bang that shook the ship even more.


    "Wha-" John yelled out, but his words quickly cut off as he saw what had caused themotion.


    "A heaven tribtion flying beast?" John eximed as he saw a creature flying next to the ship.


    "Yes. A Profound Desert Wasp to be exact," Lilian replied as she paused the ship''s forward momentum. She walked to one of the ship''s exits, and quickly opened the formation door. Her figure shed outside, and instantly appeared before the wasp.


    The wasp immediately noticed her arrival, and struck its stinger out at her with the intent on iming her life. Lilian looked at the wasp with calm eyes as she pointed out her finger.


    Bang!


    A thin but powerful beam of Qi exploded out of her outstretched finger, and mmed on the body of the wasp. It pierced through the wasp with no resistance at all, killing it almost instantly. Her body shed forward once more as she gathered the wasp and cut it in half. The top half containing the head was mounted to the front of the flying ship, while the bottom half was collected in her spatial ring. After doing that,? she quickly returned to the ship.


    The ship began to fly forward once again, while John stared at his master with a weird expression on his face. She could instantly tell what he was thinking.


    "The flying beasts of thisnd hunt exclusively in the sky, and mostly ignore thend below. The mounted wasp head will alert any other flying creatures of the danger of assaulting this ship. I don''t want to stop even thirty minutes to fight these lowly creatures," Lilian exined.


    "Oh," John replied as he understood her actions. "I guess that makes sense."


    The ship continued forward at an incredible pace, while John studied thend below closely. The speed they were moving at was unreal, instilling a sense of desire in John to obtain one.


    "How much does a flying ship like this cost?" John looked at his master and asked.


    "Oh? Thinking of obtaining a ship like mine. Not a bad idea, but you''ll have to save up at least one hundred million spirit crystals to obtain one," Lilian replied.


    "One hundred million!" John eximed.


    He had a significant sum of money due to fortunate endeavors, but even then his total sum was only just over ten million spirit crystals. One hundred million was a sum he couldn''t even fathom at this moment.


    "And that''s just for the lowest quality ship," Lilian replied with a smirk on her face. "Also, you can really only get these ships on the Divine Martial Continent, so there''s that as well."


    John remained silent after hearing that, as such a thing was too far off in the future. Like this, the two sped forward in silence for half a day as they traversed the Great Desert. As his master had said, no other creatures assaulted the ship.


    "Hmm?" John''s mind suddenly focused as he felt something incredibly faint wash over him.. He focused his mind and soul on what he felt, but couldn''t pinpoint any one sensation. It was as if something was calling out to him, but he was too far away to hear anything.


    No matter how much he focused on the feeling, he still couldn''t pinpoint anything. His eyes narrowed as he eventually felt this sensation growing more and more faint.


    ''I don''t know what it is, but there''s something in this desert...calling out to me!''

 Chapter 388 - Faint Calling

    "What is it? Something appears to be on your mind," he heard his master ask.


    John nced over to Lilian as he snapped out of his thoughts. Clearly, she could tell that something had caught his attention.


    John thought about the sensation he felt for a moment, before he decided to ask his master about it.


    "I don''t know. I just felt something in the desert...call out to me. Did you not feel anything at all?" John asked.


    "No.. Nothing at all," Lilian replied quickly.


    John focused his mind once more, but could no longer feel the faint sensation. He thought about it for a moment before putting it out of his mind.


    ''Maybe I can explore it a bit more when I return to the Heavenly Lightning Sect, but the main thing to focus on right now is returning home.''


    The ship continued to speed forward unimpeded for several more hours before a distant mountain range eventually came into view. John''s eyes lit up as he saw this, as he knew this mountain range was the final barrier between the Great Desert and his homnd.


    The ship quickly reached the mountain range and flew over it for several minutes before the mountains ended and a forest began. John''s eyes lit up as he saw the familiar forest, which stretched out over half his homnd.


    "The Skycleave Forest!" John eximed. "We''re almost there!"


    Lilian smiled as she saw John''s excitement, but her smile vanished for a brief moment before returning. The excited smile continued to linger on John''s face as he watched his homnd blur by below.


    Although he had never been to these particr areas of his homnd, everything about it was nostalgic. From the vegetation, to the very nature of the Qi, everything made him feel weed.


    The lush forest and grasnds continued to pass by below, while the Skycleave Mountain Range came into view on the left side of the ship as well. John''s excitement continued to grow as they sped forward, but his smile suddenly vanished as he stared at the horizon ahead of them.


    Smoke was lifting into the sky from the ground below in many locations, as if multiple fires had broken out within the Skycleave forest. The ship quickly sped over those spots, and John was able to tell that the ruined areas of forest seemed to be remnants of battles between cultivators.


    The earth was scarred with craters and thin lines, revealing that weapon battle arts had caused the destruction. His vision once again snapped back to the horizon, as more and more smoke clouds began toe into view.


    Lilian also noticed these lines, and could immediately tell what it was.


    "The damage is unmistakable. This was caused by war!"


    ...


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Sessive loud sounds echoed out across thend as Qi attacksnded on a translucent barrier, which red out with power to block each attack. The barrage continued ceaselessly, with each attack seemingly weakening the barrier.


    A person suddenly burst through a door and entered a room, which contained dozens of Core Formation cultivators huddled around a glowing formation that was etched into arge b on the ground.


    Spirit crystals were located at various nodes of the formation, which were quickly absorbed into the formation to power it.


    "How much longer will this formationst?" the one who had burst into the room asked worryingly. The man was covered in blood and fresh wounds, clearly having just left an incredible battle.


    "Not much longer," one of the cultivators in charge of the formation yelled out in response. "The spirit crystal supply is nearly exhausted, and unless that mysterious Elder gives us more, the formation she established will copse soon."


    "Damnit," the man replied before he turned around and strode out of the building.


    Another man was standing there, equally covered in blood and fresh wounds.


    "How much longer will the formationst, father?" Barden Fenix asked.


    His cultivation, which was now in the Meridian Forging Realm, was ring out powerfully as he had just left a battle.


    "Not long," Cade Fenix replied through gritted teeth. "Where is my father now?"


    "Grandfather is still in front of the barrier, fighting off the Crimson Valley Sect with all his strength. I''m not sure how long he can hold on. We need to return to the front line and assist him," Barden Fenix replied.


    Cade grit his teeth once more as he nodded his head. "Our only hope now is for that Elder of John''s Sect to return. She had not shown herself since the start of this siege several days ago. I expect the worst has happened to her, but we will fight until ourst breath if need be," Cade replied.


    Barden nodded his head in fiery agreement, and they both shot into the sky towards the sound of battle. On their way forwards towards the defensive formation, both Cade and Barden spotted the growing number of casualties piled up within the defensive formation.


    The siege of the Crimson Valley Sect had started several days prior without warning, and had caught them off guard by its power and ferocity. They had managed to activate the formation Elder Mable had constructed for them in time, but the initial assault had imed the lives of hundreds of sect members.


    In the defense of the Fenix n and the formation over thest several days, even more Fenix n members had perished, and the n was on itsst breath.


    Barden Fenix felt his anger rise by the second as he took in the carnage below. Up ahead of them, powerful battle arts and Qi attacks continued to explode in the air against the translucent formation barrier, while an even fiercer battle raged out a small distance from the barrier.


    Barden and Cade pierced through the barrier to the outside, and instantly began to unleash a furious barrage of battle arts towards the red robed enemy. Dozens of powerful Crimson Valley Elders instantly surrounded them, as an incredible battle instantly broke out.


    Barden and Cade, now both firmly in the Meridian Forging Realm, fought with uncontained fury, as each fought outnumbered but not outmatched. Powerful mes surrounded the both of them as they dashed from opponent to opponent, exchanging attacks with their lives on the line.


    Up ahead of them, an even grander battle was taking ce, as the Fenix n Patriarch battled against the Patriarch of the Crimson Valley Sect, as well as a mysterious Elder none of them recognized.


    An incredibly powerful me surrounded the Patriarch as he dashed between his two opponents, constantly unleashing his strongest fire based battle arts.


    The Fenix n Patriarch''s Late Meridian Forging cultivation red out powerfully as he upied the two strongest opponents. In fact, his might was overwhelming enough to keep both on the defensive, causing the mysterious Elder to grumble with frustration.


    The Crimson Valley Sect and mysterious Elder had not expected the Fenix n Patriarch to be so strong, which was the only reason why the siege had not been sessfully carried out yet.


    "Keep fighting with all your strength!" The Fenix n Patriarch''s voice boomed out over thend. "This is not the day the Fenix n dies!"


    His cries impassioned all the nearby Fenix n members, who began to fight with even more fury and strength.


    "Grandfather!" a cry suddenly sounded out next to the Fenix n Patriarch. "Let me help you!"


    The Patriarch turned his head quickly, and shouted out to the one who had just arrived.


    "Orren, you are not strong enough to participate in this battle. Retreat and help your brothers!" the Patriarchmanded loudly.


    Orren, the first son of Cade Fenix, stared at the back of his grandfather as the battle continued to rage out.


    "Just do it already, or don''t me us for not counting you as loyal," the mysterious robed Elder barked out.


    "What are you talking abou-" the Fenix n Patriarch spoke out, but his words were quickly silenced.


    Che!


    A sword pierced through the back of the Patriarch without warning, shocking everyone on the battlefield.


    "Father!"


    "Grandfather!"


    Cade and Barden cried out as they saw the Patriarch be stabbed from behind. The Patriarch''s stunned face turned to nce back over his shoulder. His gaze locked with that of his grandson, Orenn, who held the sword piercing through his back.


    The sword slid out from the Patriarch''s body, who stood there in the air staring at his grandson for a moment. Blood spewed from the wound and his mouth, before he copsed down from the sky to the earth below.

 Chapter 389 - Fenix Clan’s Last Stand

    Orenn had waited for several days until the Patriarch was exhausted, and his guard lowered, to stab him in the back. His patience had paid off, as his one attack hadnded a critical blow.


    Barden''s eyes instantly lit up with uncontained rage as he dashed forward with his fastest speed.


    "Orenn, you fucking traitor. Die!"


    A crimson bird, made of pure fire appeared above Barden. It ovepped with his body, making him appear as if he was a phoenix himself. His speed and power increased even more, and he appeared before Orenn in an instant.


    The wings of his fire phoenix shed towards Orenn, with the intent of iming his traitorous life.


    "The Phoenix Fire Form? Let''s see how strong our fathers favored son truly is then!" Orenn yelled out as he shed his sword forward, and a? massive fire de shot forward towards Barden.


    .


    Bang!


    The two attacks collided, sending a fiery inferno across the sky.


    "Gah!"


    Orenn cried out as he lost out in the exchange, and was knocked backwards considerably. His flesh was slightly charred from the attack, as he was unable to negate the full might of Barden''s attack.


    Barden shot forward towards Orenn once more, his phoenix form appearing before him and shing at him with his wings once more.


    Orenn''s eyes widened in panic as Barden was attacking once more, as the previous exchange revealed to him that Barden''s power was far greater than his own. Due to Elder Mable''s help, both had been brought into the Meridian Forging Realm.


    However, even in the same realm, Barden''sbat prowess and talent was far above Orenn''s, making the battle one sided. The Phoenix Fire Form was one sign of that, as Barden was able to use it, but Orenn was not talented enough to do so.


    As he reached Orenn, Barden''s phoenix fire wings shed down at Orenn once more. At thest moment, the mysterious Elder appeared before Orenn. His red sword shed out towards the phoenix wings, sending arge and powerful crimson sword image towards it.


    Che!


    The crimson sword image pierced right through Barden''s phoenix fire wings, severing them from the rest of the fire body. Barden quickly reformed the phoenix wings, but this reprieve was all the time Orenn needed to flee.


    "Agghhhh!"


    Barden yelled out in anger and fury as he increased his power once more. His Phoenix Fire Form strengthened further, and shed down towards the mysterious Elder that had interfered.


    "Pathetic," the Elder sneered as the attack reached him.


    His sword shed out once more and sent out an even stronger crimson sword image towards Barden. Instead of targeting the wings, the sword image targeted Barden himself this time. The sword image was incredibly quick, and reached Barden before he could fully react.


    Bang!


    The attack smashed powerfully against Barden''s phoenix form,unching his body backwards. A trail of blood followed behind Barden as the attack shed across his chest, piercing his flesh and opening up arge wound.


    "Barden!"


    Cade Fenix yelled out in panic and anger as he saw his son injured by the attack. He attempted to dash forward to aid Barden, but the Crimson Valley Sect elders surrounding him gave him no reprieve, and attacked him with all their might.


    "Fuck Off!


    Cade Fenix yelled out with absolute frustration, as his power suddenly shot up into the sky. All the nearby eyes, both friend and enemy, locked onto him in surprise.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    With his Fenix Fire Sword in hand, Cade Fenix shed out towards his nearby enemies. His sudden increase in power caught them off guard, and three of them were cleaved in half before they could even react.


    Using this opening, Cade shot forward at incredible speeds, augmented by his sudden explosive increase in power. He appeared before the falling Barden, and instantly caught him by his arm.


    Without missing a beat, Cade shot off towards the ground below, arriving before the Patriarch before anyone could react. He grabbed the Patriarch with his free hand and pressed off the ground once more.


    The ground beneath his feet shattered from Cade''s explosive force as he shot backwards.


    "Futile!"


    The mysterious Elder yelled out as he saw Cade fly backwards. He sped towards himself and unleashed a battle art towards Cade.


    Bang!


    The battle artnded on Cade''s location, drowning the area in a powerful explosion. The explosion quickly faded, revealing Cade standing there unharmed as he stared at the Elder who had just attacked.


    The translucent formation red slightly, revealing it had blocked the attack. The mysterious Elder sneered as hended on the ground just outside the defensive formation. He was just mere feet away from Cade, but was unable to reach him.


    Cade''s power began to drastically drop, as a massive wave of fatigue swept through him. The Elder sneered once more as he saw this.


    "You burned your blood essence, just to retreat to a formation that is soon to be destroyed? How pathetic!"


    Cade narrowed his eyes as he stared at the man, but did not reply, and instead quickly turned around towards his father. A pill appeared in his hand as he shoved it into the Patriarch''s mouth, and forced him to swallow it.


    "Father, eat this. It''s only a low level healing pill, but it will slow the bleeding!"


    After doing this, Cade turned to Barden, who was struggling to get off the ground. After a brief struggle, he stood firmly on his own two feet. Arge gaping wound was evident on his chest, deep enough to see the bones of his ribcage.


    Blood flowed out freely from the wound, increasing the sense of fatigue Barden felt. He suddenly covered his sword in mes, heating it up until it was red hot. Barden grit his teeth as he mmed the t of the sword against his chest, directly onto the long wound.


    "Gah!"


    Barden cried out in pain as the hot sword seared his flesh. A strong smell of burnt flesh assaulted Cade''s nose, but he did not move to stop his son. Barden bared the pain as the wound was seared shut.


    "Are you alright?" Cade asked his son with heavy concern.


    "I''ll live," Barden replied through pained breaths. His eyes pierced forward towards the mysterious Elder, who was smiling at them from just a few feet away.


    Without saying a word, the Elder retreated a bit away before he turned around once more.


    "Hear mymand...the enemy has fully retreated. Focus all your attacks on the spot I attack, and this formation will soon fall," the Eldermanded.


    With the Fenix Patriarch, Cade, Barden, and the others fighting outside the formation, the enemy had been unable to coordinate their attacks on the defensive formation. Now that the entire Fenix n had retreated into the formation, they were able to do so.


    The mysterious Elder quickly unleashed a powerful battle art, and all the nearby Crimson Valley Sect elders did the same.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The defensive formation was instantly assaulted with a volley of attacks. The formation lit up with its full power to defend against the attacks, sessfully blocking them. However, everyone could tell that with each volley, the formation weakened.


    The siege continued for several minutes, before a shattering sound rang out as a crack appeared in the formation. The crack quickly spread as more and more attacksnded on it, before¡­


    Bang!


    The formation shatteredpletely, having finally been unable to withstand the onught of battle arts that had mmed against it.


    Cade, Barden''s and the rest of the Fenix n''s faces turned grim, as thest thing protecting them finally faded away.


    "Fuck it, if we die, we die taking out as many as we can!" an fervent cry suddenly boomed out from Barden as he watched the enemy fast approach. His Fenix mes lit up once more as his power began to rise above anything he had revealed before.


    Clearly he was prepared to burn his blood essence and go out with one final bang. The Fenix n members behind Barden became impassioned by his actions, as they too prepared to charge forward in theirst stand.


    "Tch, useless," Warren Gildar, Sect Leader of the Crimson Valley Sect, mocked as he watched the Fenix n prepare for theirst stand. He knew that even if the Fenix n did so, their only fate was to die here. The Bloodfiend Sect had given great resources to the Crimson Valley Sect to boost their power, which allowed them to overwhelm the Fenix n. Not only that, but they had the direct aid of several Bloodfiend Sect Elders, and the mysterious Elder was only the tip of the iceberg.


    Barden''s power continued to grow as he sped towards the mysterious Elder. The Elder scoffed as he shed out his power with all his might, sending his strongest attack yet towards Barden.


    Barden grit his teeth as he prepared to unleash his strongest counterattack. He knew he could not defend against this attack fully, but at this time it no longer mattered. He would rather die fighting than die cowering in fear.


    Boom!


    The sword image suddenly exploded in the air, sending a destructive st of crimson Qi outwards in all directions. The shocked eyes of everyone in the battle, both friend and foe, looked up towards the explosion, as the Elder''s sword image had exploded before it even reached Barden.


    The fading explosion revealed a lone figure floating in the air, clearly the reason the battle art had exploded early. He was d in ck and red robes, and his long ck hair billowed out behind him in the wind as his piercing eyes stared forward with furious anger. His aura radiated outwards with incredible power, and contained a deep and violent bloodlust.


    Barden suddenly felt a chill within his entire body as he stared at the unrecognizable yet undeniably familiar figure before him, and he couldn''t help but emotionally call out that familiar name.


    "John!"

 Chapter 390 - Timely Arrival

    The flying ship sped forward at the fastest speed Lilian could muster. John''s nerves were as taught as could be, as the destruction only seemed to increase the closer and closer they got to his n.


    Eventually, John spotted the familiar terrain of thend surrounding his n, and his expression darkened considerably. What once used to be a ce of forest and farnd was now just charred ruins.


    In the distance against the mountainside, the smoke rising from the ground thickened to an incredible level, while shes of light from exploding battle arts could be seen. A translucent barrier appeared asionally as the attacksnded against it.


    Shatter!


    The barrier shattered just as the flying ship arrived above the Fenix n. Lilian brought the ship to an immediate halt, and John immediately jumped out of one of the exits.


    ""Fuck it, if we die, we die taking out as many as we can!"


    John heard the impassioned cry from his father boom out right as he left the ship, along with his death charge.. John sighed a small sigh of relief for the briefest of moments when he saw his father was still alive, before it immediately darkened as he took in the rest of the scene.


    Thend outside the barrier waspletely shattered, and thousands of corpses could be seenying about. Just inside the n grounds, he spotted his grandfather, who was holding a man he had never seen before.


    However, John could clearly tell the rtionship between the two, and immediately guessed it was the Patriarch of his n. Blood soaked the Patriarch''s robes, and his life force seemed to be on the very edge of fading away.


    Deeper within the sect, John could see more bodies piled up, clearly having died in the battles earlier. His rage and fury instantly reached levels beyondpare as he took in everything before him. His master put away the ship and floated beside him, taking in the scene of carnage as well.


    The mysterious robed Elder below suddenly unleashed an attack towards his father, raising John''s level of anger even further.


    "They''re mine," John said to Lilian without looking back as his body sped down to the ground below.


    He arrived before the crimson attack from the elder, and punched out with his fist.


    Boom!


    The attack exploded upon contact, unable to withstand the might of John''s bare handed attack.


    "John!"


    John heard his name called out by a trembling voice behind him. He turned to look over his shoulder, and saw a battle worn face that he had not seen in a year.


    "Father!" John replied, his voice soft but filled with barely contained rage. "You can rest now. Leave the rest to me."


    A shocked look appeared on Barden''s weary face as he heard John''s words. He quickly inspected John''s cultivation, and his shock only increased further as he realized his son was the exact same cultivation as his own.


    In less than a year, John had gone from having no cultivation at all, to equaling himself. Barden could not be more proud at what he saw at the moment, but he set that feeling of pride aside as he called out to John.


    "It''s the young master of the n!" a surprised shout from the Fenix n below sounded out.


    "What? Didn''t he die a year ago? How is he alive? And how is he so powerful?" another Fenix n warrior cried out.


    The leaders and Elder''s of the n had kept John''s status a secret, and so the n had assumed that he was dead.


    "John, this man has a cultivation at the Late Meridian Forging Realm. You cannot help us here. Run!"


    Although he was shocked by John''s arrival, Barden could not be any happier to see his son. However, his son showing up here with an Early Meridian Forging cultivation would only get him killed alongside the rest of the n.


    "I''ll burn my blood essence and put my life on the line to let you escape. Use that moment to escape!" Barden said to John as he flew towards him.


    John smiled a sad smile as he watched his father say such a thing. Clearly his father had been through an immense battle, and had lost all hope until John had arrived. Even then, he saw no room for victory, and instead only cared about John''s safety.


    "Toote!"


    A wicked voice sounded out behind John as the mysterious Elder appeared next to him without warning. His sword, which was glowing with an incredible crimson might, shed down on John with all his might. While still looking over his shoulder at his father, John raised his hand and pointed a single finger at the Bloodfiend Elder.


    Bang!


    The surrounding sky turned bright as the sound of thunder suddenly sounded out. A thin beam of lightning exploded out of John''s outstretched finger, instantly mming against the Elder before he could even react.


    The lightning beam pierced directly through the Elder''s chest, who had held nothing back for defense while he attacked John, as he looked down on John''s lower cultivation.


    A stunned expression appeared on the man''s face as he staggered back slightly, his head drooping down to look at his chest. A charred hole of flesh, six inches wide, carved straight through his body.


    The Elder looked back up at John for a moment, as he saw John suddenly sh out at him with a scythe


    Che!


    The scythe carved straight through the Elder''s neck, severing it from the rest of his body. The headless corpse fell down to the ground below, while the head suddenly disappeared from sight.


    Barden and the remaining Fenix n members stared at John with absolute shock, while the Crimson Valley Sect members stared at him with horrified expressions.


    John turned to look back at the Crimson Valley Sect members, and quickly spotted their Patriarch, as well as the Sect Leader, Warren Gildar. Both felt a chill crawl up their spine as John''s cold, rage filled eyes stared directly at them.


    Suddenly, an attack mmed down on John from above, as John shed out his scythe towards it.


    Bang!


    The attacks collided, causing the nearby area to quake from its power. John narrowed his eyes as he watched a man float down from above, looking at John with sinister eyes. The red robed man radiated a powerful Heaven Tribtion aura, much stronger than the previous Bloodfiend Elder.

 Chapter 391 - Battling A Heaven Tribulation Elder

    John looked at the approaching man with calm eyes, unconcerned about the neer''s power, which was in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    "John Fenix in the flesh! I assumed Allfiend would have already killed you, but it seems you somehow managed to escape. No matter. I will kill you now and bring your head back to him. Surely he will reward me for it," the man said to John as he approached.


    John nced at the man for a moment before he turned to look over his shoulder once more. His father still floated in the sky behind him, the stunned expression still lingering on his face.


    "Retreat to where Grandfather is," John instructed his father. "I''ll take care of things here. You don''t have to worry for my safety."


    Barden wanted to argue against John''s words, but John''s reassuring smile revealed to Barden that he was confident in his own power. Barden didn''t know the extent of John''s power, but his previous disy gave a hint towards it.


    Not only that, but he knew his son was not a stupid boy who would throw his life away. After a moment of hesitation, Barden nodded his head and retreated without a word, leaving his son alone in the sky with the new Bloodfiend Elder.


    "You were watching this whole battle take ce, without assisting at all?" John asked as the man stopped a few dozen yards away from him.


    The man frowned at John''sck of fear, but replied nheless. "Partaking in such a lowly battle is beneath me. If the Crimson Valley Sect couldn''t win the battle, even with the help of one of our Elders, then they were not worthy to be one of our underlings," the man replied.


    "I must thank you then," John replied, his voice still cold. "If you had assisted the enemy, I would have arrivedte. As such, I will let you die quickly, so that you may join the rest of your pathetic sect in the underworld."


    The Elder''s eyes narrowed as he heard John say this. John instantly picked up on the man''s slightly confused expression, and a slightly amused look appeared on his face.


    "I guess you don''t know. Not that it matters anyways."


    As if talking to the man was beneath John''s notice, he suddenly shed his scythe out towards the man without warning.


    "You think too highly of yourself."


    The man scowled as he saw John attack him without warning and shed out his sword at John''s attack.


    Bang!


    The battle arts collided high in the air above the Fenix n, its power great enough to shake the distant ground below. The Fenix n members shielded their eyes and braced themselves as a violent tempest, kicked up by the explosion of battle arts, washed over the n grounds.


    The Elder was slightly surprised by John''s power, as he had expected topletely overwhelm him in that exchange. However, it was a rtively even exchange.


    "Your talent truly is a threat to our entire alliance. As such, you must die here today."


    After saying this, the Elder''s aura exploded out with even greater power, revealing he had been holding back considerably in theirst exchange. John watched the Elder'' power up with indifferent eyes as the Elder suddenly unleashed another sword battle art towards him.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    John instantly activated the Supreme Battle Art, which explosively increased his strength, and shed out his scythe towards the Elder.


    Bang!


    Weapons collided, and John was knocked backwards hundreds of yards in the collision before he finally stabilized his backwards momentum. A frown appeared on his face as he inspected his body.


    ''I only have the first three stages of the Supreme Battle Art, which caps out at the Core Formation Realm. It seems like this technique is useless to me for now.''


    John''s head snapped up as another sword battle art was upon him, and shed his scythe out to meet it.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The Elder unleashed a torrent of battle arts in quick session, giving John no breathing room. His scythe twirled in front of him defensively as he parried each attack, but each attack was strong enough to knock him backwards hundreds of yards.


    Boom!


    John''s body suddenly mmed into the mountainside above the Fenix n and burrowed deep inside it.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang


    A barrage of additional sword images mmed against the mountainside, shattering the top half of the mountain as the barrage continued.


    "John!"


    Barden cried out in panic as he saw his son overwhelmed with powerful battle arts. However, the debris raining down from above threatened the n, and so Barden and the rest of the able bodied Elders unleashed their own battle arts to destroy the falling boulders and debris.


    The Bloodfiend Elder ended his barrage of attacks as he looked at the half-destroyed mountain.


    "Truly overestimating himself," the man scoffed out loud.


    He nced at the Fenix n below, but his eyes quickly locked back onto the mountainside as a horrifying aura suddenly exploded out from within it. The shocking aura was so powerful that the nearby mountain exploded open, revealing the source of the aura for all to see.


    Two small, straight, and sharp horns, pitch ck in color, protruded from John''s head, as his blood red eyes stared at the distant Elder. Blood red runes covered most of his body, and his malevolent aura radiated outwards with absolute power. A powerful battle axe rested in his hands, its aura alone making anyone who looked at it feel fright.


    "How is this possible?" the Bloodfiend Elder cried out in shock, as the power John was revealing right now was enough to make even him scared.


    Lightning coated John''s legs, as he suddenly activated his Thundersh Steps and unleashed him Limiter of Speed to appear before the Elder in an instant.


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    At the same time, dozens and dozens of lightning nodes sprung up in the air around John, surrounding both him and the Elder. The lightning nodes instantly began to unleash a ceaseless barrage of lightning at the Elder, while John''s battle axe, infused with the Dao of Power and Annihtion, struck out at him.


    The Bloodfiend Elder instantly activated his own domain, and the sky around him and John suddenly turned red. John felt the familiar aura of the Crimson Hell Domain wash over him, but he ignored it as he continued his assault on the Elder.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    A series of horrifyingly powerful weapon and battle art collisions exploded out high above the Fenix n as John and the Elder fought with all their might. The Fenix n members looked up at the battle with absolute shock and awe on their faces, still not believing that their own young master was capable of such power.


    Barden and Cade looked up at John with a mix of shock and pride on their faces, as they watched John fight evenly against a Heaven Tribtion Elder. Never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined such a thing was possible. However, the truth was clear before their very eyes.


    The Fenix n members watching from the ground watched the battle in the sky, and they soon began to cheer for their young master. The young master of their Fenix n, once believed to be dead, had returned to them at their greatest time of need with power far beyond their imagination.


    Their impassioned cries echoed out in unison, loud enough to shake the earth, and loud enough for John to hear in the sky high above.


    "Young Master John! Young Master John! Young Master John!"

 Chapter 392 - Young Master John

    "Young Master John! Young Master John! Young Master John!"


    John heard the excited cries of his n below echo out with fervent passion. These were his people, crying his name out with absolute passion and hope. A wave of emotion washed over him for a moment, before he quickly regained his calm and focused on the Elder before him.


    The Elder before him was an Early Heaven Tribtion cultivator, while he was only Early Meridian Forging. It was taking his full power to fight evenly with the Elder, as the difference between those that had ascended tribtion and those that had not was immense.


    The Elder had received the blessings of the heavens during his ascension, and as such received a muchrger power increase than a normal major realm ascension. While achieving Core Formation was considered the first true hurdle in the cultivation world, ascending to Heaven Tribtion was the second.


    Undergoing a heaven ascension tribtion would shed the mortal body, as the heavens infused their will and power into the flesh of the ascender.


    If John had not gone through his own unofficial tribtion several days earlier, his power would not have increased enough to battle this Elder. While the tribtion he went through was meant to kill him, it did the undesired thing of increasing his strength immensely instead.


    ''I guess I should thank the heavens afterall,'' John mused to himself while he unleashed Sky Sundering Axe towards the Bloodfiend Elder.


    The Elder unleashed his own Crimson de sh to counter the attack, causing another monstrous collision of attacks to explode in the sky.


    "How is John so powerful?" an impassioned Fenix n member cried out in awe.


    They had witnessed the entire battle take ce, and knew the might of the man John was fighting. He was far more powerful than the Patriarch, shocking everyone with the knowledge that John was somehow able to fight evenly against him.l


    "Who knows, but our young master is fighting evenly against a Heaven Tribtion opponent while only at the Meridian Forging Realm. He truly is a heavenly talent never before seen," another warrior cried out.


    "John! John! John!"


    The fervent cries continued to boom out across thend as John''s battle continued above.


    Barden and Cade Fenix stood to the side and watched the battle in proud and worried silence as their flesh and blood fought for the fate of the n above. They felt ashamed they couldn''t help him, but knew he was their only hope at this time. A proud yet slightly sad smile appeared on Barden''s face as he looked up at his son high above.


    The battle raged on for some time as the two sides unleashed their strongest attacks. However, neither side seemed to have the upper advantage. John eventually added in his Limiter of Power, which explosively increased his battle prowess to unreal levels.


    If he had fought this Elder before unlocking this limiter, the battle would have been much harder to win. However, unlocking his Limiter of Power had increased his explosive body power severalfold, making each physical swing of his battle axeparable to a full powered battle art. Each swing of his battle axe caused the nearby air to boom and tremble, as if he was cutting into the very fabric of space itself.


    This unlocked limiter gave him the advantage in the exchanges, and slowly but surely he was starting to overwhelm the Elder.


    However, the Elder was incredibly strong himself, and was managing to hold on without taking too much damage. John could tell that the Elder was trying to work his way towards the Fenix n below, most likely to hinder John''s ability to attack with his full power.


    Both sides had taken damage in the fight so far, and both were reaching the ends of their energy reserves.


    ''It''s time to end this!''


    John suddenly pointed his finger at the Elder, who had seen him use his Lightning Ruin already. The Elder scoffed at the attack and steadied his sword, ready to parry it and counter attack immediately.


    John smirked as he saw this, as this was exactly what he wanted the Elder to do. Lightning instantly exploded out of his finger, piercing towards the Elder with heaven defying power.


    Tribtion Lightning Ruin!


    John felt his essence Qi drain considerably as he unleashed a beam of pure destructive tribtion lightning. This was the tribtion lightning he had absorbed, and infused into his lightning Qi to use as he pleased.


    However, the essence Qi cost to control and unleash the attack was far beyond his expectations.


    ''This attack drains nearly half of my Qi, even with my twenty timespressed dantian. However, this should be more than enough!''


    The Elder shed his sword out to parry the attack, but immediately realized he had made a huge mistake. He had detected there was a unique nature to the lightning as it approached him, but only when his sword was shing against it did he realize how unique and problematic the lightning was.


    The lightning ignored the Elder''s Qi defense and instantly mmed onto his body.


    "Gah!"


    The Elder cried out in pain as the tribtion lightning pierced through his flesh and began to run rampant within his body. The destructive nature of the lightning destroyed whatever it touched, and the Elder was shocked to find that it was incredibly resistant to his efforts to remove it.


    His Qi surged out with his utmost strength, as he utilized his heavenlyprehension to slowly erase the rampaging lightning from within his body, which he found was the only effective way to do so. After a brief struggle, he finally managed to purge the lightning from his body, which had locked up all his movements.


    "Toote!"


    Che!


    John''s Dao infused axe cleaved onto the Elder''s body with his absolute full strength, causing the very air around him to boom and part violently. The axe cleaved onto the Elder who had yet to reform his defenses, and carved through his chest like butter.


    The Elder''s eyes went wide as he felt his body severed in half, but was toote to do anything about it.? The powerful Elder, who had lived for hundreds of years in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, was in by a junior dozens of times younger than him. Even in death, he still couldn''t believe what had happened.


    The Elder''s lower half fell to the ground below, while John grabbed the upper half and stored it away in his spatial realm.. The battle that would be talked about for thousands of years across thesends had finallye to a shocking end.

 Chapter 393 - Reunited With Family

    The stunned crowd of the Fenix n and Crimson Valley Sect below watched as they witnessed the impossible happen.


    A Meridian Forging youth had sessfully in a powerful Heaven Tribtion Elder. Even watching it happen before their very eyes, they still couldn''tprehend how such a thing was possible.


    After a moment of stunned silence, the Fenix n below erupted into an absolute frenzy. Their impassioned shouts to John above reverberated across thend.


    "John! John! John!"


    "Young Master! Young Master! Young Master!"


    "Our Young Master is Mighty! Our Young Master is Invincible!"


    The nearby Crimson Valley Sect, who had yet to flee, looked on at the scene with a mix of panic and hate.


    High above, John''s aura began to fade as he undid his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, as well as his activated Limiter of Pain.


    A wave of thick fatigue washed through him as he swayed momentarily in the sky before catching himself. His essence Qi was mostly drained after unleashed all those attacks, and his body was wracked with intense pain for fighting in his transformed state for so long.


    ''It seems like the more I advance the Asura Transformation Art, the more powerful it bes, but the more damage it does to my body when I utilize it. Not only that, but my new ability to unleash tribtion lightning is also quite devastating on mybat potential. I''ll need to be more careful when using these two arts in the future.''


    However, everything he had utilized was needed to y an opponent a full realm above his own, and one that was in the Heaven Tribtion Realm. Pain and fatigue was more than a worthwhile cost for eliminating such a powerful opponent. However, John knew that if he had to go up against another Heaven Tribtion opponent at this time, he would not have the strength to do so.


    After taking note of his body''s condition, John nced down to his n below. A sigh of relief escaped his mouth as he assessed the situation.


    ''Good. It seems my battle did not reach the n grounds below.''


    John nced towards the nearby Crimson Valley Sect, and was surprised that they had not attempted to flee yet. His gaze locked with Warren Gildar''s, who was staring at John with hate in his eyes.


    However, there was only hate, and not fear, surprising John slightly. He had disyed power far beyond what the Crimson Valley Sect was capable of fighting against, and had in their powerful Bloodfiend protector.


    ''Interesting,'' John mused. ''He must have someone even more powerful to rely on if he still has this much confidence. I''m sure that person will reveal themselves soon. When that happens, my master can join in on the fun as well.''


    After ncing at the Crimson Valley Sect, John flew towards his father below. He quicklynded before him and Cade Fenix, who looked at John with a mix of pride and surprise. After a moment of pause, Barden bounded forward and embraced John tightly.


    "Wee home son. You''ve made us all so incredibly proud."


    John embraced his father as well, as a wave of emotion washed over him. After a full year of being away from his home and worrying for them everyday, he was finally home. The rest of the Fenix n kept their distance as they watched the emotional reunion between father and son.


    Instead they embraced each other in cheerful happiness, beyond ted that the war that had nearly imed all their lives was finally over.


    "We live. The young master saved us!"


    "The Fenix n is eternal! The heavens watch over us!"


    Many simr cries of joy boomed out, as a sense of salvation and victory swept through the crowd.


    After a lengthy embrace, John parted from his father, and a slightly sad look appeared on his face as he nced around at the destruction of his n. Barden noticed John''s look, and shook his head at him.


    "Do not me yourself for this," Barden said to John.


    "The Bloodfiend Sect started this assault because of me," John replied emotionally, a tinge of guilt in his voice.


    "While that may be true, they would have started this war eventually regardless for the pocket realm. You cannot put the me for this on your shoulder," Barden replied.


    John remained silent for a moment before he nodded his head. His eyes scanned the nearby Fenix n members, seemingly searching for someone. Barden smiled as he saw this.


    "Your mother is fine. She is in the central n hall, sheltering herself with the rest of the n from this battle," Barden said to John.


    John breathed out a sigh of relief upon hearing this, and his gaze turned to the nearby Patriarch, who was resting in his Grandfather''s arms. Blood soaked his robes fully, and his breathing was incredibly ragged as he was barely holding on.


    John walked forward and kneeled before the Fenix n Patriarch, as a medicinal pill appeared in his hands. Its medicinal fragrance was intense, and everyone nearby could easily tell that it was an incredibly valuable and potent pill, far greater than anything they could obtain.


    John gave the pill to his grandfather Cade. "Here, give him this."


    Cade epted the pill and immediately gave it to the Patriarch, his father. The pill instantly started to work its magic, and before long, color once again returned to the Patriarch''s face. His breathing evened out, and his condition stabilized, causing everyone nearby to breathe out a sigh of relief.


    "Thank you, John," Cade said to John emotionally.


    John nodded his head as he stood up and turned around. His gaze locked onto the Crimson Valley Sect, who were still looking on at the Fenix n.


    "Something''s not right," Barden said as he stood beside John. "You would expect them to flee after your victory, but they''re staying there, seemingly waiting for something."


    John nodded his head in agreement at his fathers assessment. "They most likely have an even stronger helper, far beyond my ability to fight against," John replied calmly.


    A surprised look appeared on Barden''s face, but he could tell that his son seemed to be perfectly at ease. A small smile appeared on his face as he looked back at the distant Crimson Valley Sect.


    "Then I look forward to seeing how you will get out of this situation," Barden said as he patted his son on his shoulder.


    As if summoned on cue, a powerful voice suddenly boomed out from above.


    "What''s this? I leave for a short moment to handle my own business and this is the scene Ie back to?"


    The voice contained quite a bit of bloodlust and malice, and was targeted towards the Fenix n.. In the distance, Warren Gildar smiled as his assurance had finally arrived.

 Chapter 394 - Lilian’s Swift Brutality

    John nced up and locked eyes with the man who had just appeared. The man wore a blood red robe, the signature style of the Bloodfiend Sect. He was far stronger than the previous Elder, and was not something John could fight against, even in his peak state.


    The man''s gaze swept across thend below before it locked onto John.


    "You! You''re the Fenix n boy Allfiend inquired about. What are you doing here? And where is Elder Farren?" the man asked with a cold tone.


    John smiled as he looked at the man. "I don''t know an Elder Farren," John replied. "But I do somewhat know this man."


    As he said this, the top half of the Elder he had in appeared in his hands. The Elder above narrowed his eyes as he stared at John and his clear provocation. After a moment of ring at John, a small smile appeared on his face as something appeared in his own hand.


    A severed head suddenly appeared in the Elder''s hands. He held the head by its hair, and the face dangling below clearly belonged to a woman. John frowned as he saw this. He did not know who this person was, but he had a guess.


    "Is this the source of your confidence?" the man mocked John. "This Elder of your Heavenly Lightning Sect was quite powerful, and quite a pain to kill, but she eventually sumbed to my power. I''m afraid yourst hope of salvation has fallen to my hands, and as such, you and your pitiable n will be joining her momentarily" the man continued his taunting.


    John''s frowning face stared at the man as another head suddenly appeared in John''s other hand. As soon as the head appeared in his hand, a look of absolute shock appeared on the Bloodfiend''s Elder''s face.


    His wide eyes stared at the head of Allfiend, whose zed eyes seemed to be staring back at him. A sense of confusion and panic filled the man, who didn''t know how to react to what he was seeing.


    "So that''s what happened to Elder Mable," a voice suddenly boomed over thend before the man could react to what John had revealed to him.


    The Bloodfiend Elder suddenly turned his head towards the source of the voice.


    "Who!" the man eximed, as he had not sensed the presence of anyone else in the area. His eyes quickly spotted a person appear before him, and they opened wide in shock.


    "You! Why are you here!" the man cried out.


    "I''m here because I want to be here," Lilian replied with a calm voice. However, there was a detectable amount of simmering anger in her voice. Her gaze locked onto the head still in the man''s clutches, and her gaze turned even more heated.


    "I found it strange that the Fenix n was under assault, and the Elder we stationed here to protect them was nowhere to be found. Elder Mable was an honorable woman, so I assumed the worst. It seems as though my assumptions were correct," Lilian said as she slowly approached the man.


    Everyone had been shocked by the man''s arrival, and became even more shocked as another person showed up. They could feel the cultivation of the man, who radiated a Peak Heaven Tribtion cultivation, but could not feel the cultivation of the woman.


    However, while they could not feel her cultivation base, they could tell that she was incredibly powerful.


    "Who is this woman?" Barden suddenly asked John. "Do you know her?"


    John smiled as he looked up at his master above. "Just stay here and watch the show," John replied. "It will be over before you know it."


    John had already done everything he wanted to, and was leaving the rest to his master. He could tell that his master cared for the in Elder Mable, and so was sure that there would be quite the carnage urring soon.


    "Elder Mable was strong, but she was only in the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm. We assumed that the Bloodfiend Sect would not ce enough importance on this ce to send someone stronger, but I suppose those ns failed as soon as you found out John''s true identity," Lilian continued.


    Her gaze shifted again to the head clutched in the man''s hands, and her gaze turned soft and apologetic for a moment.


    "I''m sorry my friend. You fought to the death for the good of our sect, and so I will spill every drop of this man''s blood in your honor."


    Her voice was soft, but it strangely echoed out across the entire area for all to hear. Everyone felt a chill crawl up their spine as they could feel both the mncholy in her voice, as well as the extreme bloodlust.


    The man also felt this extreme bloodlust in Lilian''s voice, and he turned to speed off without a single notice. He knew his power was no match for Lilian''s, whose reputation across the Yuan Continent was unmistakable.


    Lilian appeared before the man like a ghost before he could flee, and her foot came crashing up into his groin with incredible power.


    Bang!


    An incredible loud sound boomed over the entire area, shaking the very ground from the force of the attack.


    The man''s eyes nearly popped out of his skull as a cry more pained than anyone had ever heard echoed across thend.


    "Ggrahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"


    Those who had witnessed the attack winced at the brutality of it, and even John winced at his master''s actions.


    ''It seems like she truly is angry. Although I don''t me her.''


    John understood his master''s fury and anger, as he had experienced the same fury and anger when he witnessed Russell''s death. As far as he was concerned, no punishment was too great for the Bloodfiend Elder.


    The man instantly curled into a ball and fell down to the earth below. However, Lilian appeared before him and wrapped him up in her power. The man floated there before her, barely holding onto his consciousness as a pain more brutal than he had ever felt surged through him.


    The man threw up several times as well, while Lilian looked on with cold eyes. She reached out and grabbed the severed head of Elder Mable, before she gazed at John below.


    "There is no one else of noticeable power in the area. You handle the rest of the enemy, while I deal with this man for a while."


    Without waiting for John to respond, Lilian''s body suddenly vanished, along with the man who had been unting his power just moments ago. Barden, Cade, and the rest of the Fenix n stared at the now empty sky for a moment before they all turned to look at John.


    "John¡­.who was that woman?" Barden couldn''t help but ask.


    John rubbed his cheek with one of his fingers as a wry smile appeared on his face.


    "That... was my master."

 Chapter 395 - Cleaning Up The Battlefield

    Barden, Cade, and the rest of the nearby members of the Fenix n looked at John with stunned expressions as he revealed the truth. John''s wry smile lingered on his face for a short moment before a serious look reced it.


    His gaze locked onto the distant members of the Crimson Valley Sect, who were beginning to retreat in absolute panic. Their greatest assurance had been defeated, and they no longer had any hope of victory.


    The rest of the Fenix n looked at the retreating Crimson Valley Sect with heated hate filled gazes. Those members had nearly destroyed their sect, and had in their friends, their brothers, their sisters. They could never forgive such actions.


    However, all of them were injured and weary from the battle, and knew they were no match for the retreating members. John nced at his father, and hisrge wound on his chest. A pill suddenly appeared in his hand which emanated a vibrant vitality, which John immediately popped in his mouth.


    With the pill digesting in his stomach, he felt his drained Qi reserves slowly returning to him.


    "Leave them to me. I''ll be back in a few hours," John said to his father.


    Barden remained silent for a moment before he nodded his head at John''s words.


    "Stay safe," Barden instructed.


    John smiled at his father and nodded his head before he pressed off the ground. The ground shattered slightly beneath his feet as his body raced into the sky and towards the enemy at incredible speeds.


    Despite his drained Qi reserves and pained body, he knew his strength was still more than enough to eliminate the rest of the Crimson Valley Sect and finally rid thesends of their scourge.


    The still stunned Fenix n watched as their Young Master sped off into the distance towards the enemy. As he arrived in their midst, dozens of lightning nodes suddenly sprung up in the air around his body, as he began dashing from enemy to enemy.


    The Fenix n watched in stunned silence as the enemy force of nearly a thousand members was cut down in quick session. Each bolt of lightning from his lightning domain shattered a body, while each swing of his weapon cleaved someone in half.


    Although they were dozens of miles away from the fight, the Fenix n could feel the ground tremble beneath their feet from the force of the distant attacks their Young Master was unleashing. It was as if the apocalypse had arrived for the enemy force.


    The enemy force, which had been beyond powerful and menacing in their assault of the Fenix n, looked absolutely pathetic and miserable in the face of their Young Masters power.


    Cries of anguish, pain, and horror continued to echo out over thend for several minutes, before silence once again descended on thend. In less than five minutes, the enemy force of thousands, including three Meridian Forging experts, had been cut downpletely.


    ...


    Che!


    John''s axe cleaved through thest remaining Crimson Valley Sect Elder, who cried out in anguish for a brief moment before his body waspletely shattered. His eyes surveyed the area to make sure that no one had escaped, as he wanted to leave absolutely no loose ends regarding the Crimson Valley Sect.


    After confirming that the entire enemy force, which had contained Elder''s and disciples alike, were dead, John''s gaze shifted to the nearby person who he had left alive. The person was trembling in fear as he looked at John.


    "John, please don''t kill me," Orenn said to John with a quivering voice.


    John looked at Orenn with cold eyes, before he sped towards him and knocked him unconscious before Orenn could react. After doing so, his eyes shifted to the nearby Skycleave Mountainrange, which separated the Fenix n from the Crimson Valley Sect.


    "I still have one thing left to do before I can rest."


    John turned and sped off towards the mountains, disappearing from the sight of the Fenix n.


    ¡­


    "Where is the Young Master going!" a concerned Fenix n member asked.


    They had watched John decimate the Crimson Valley Sect force, and had expected him to return back to them.


    A stoic expression remained on Barden''s face as he watched his son fly over the Skycleave Mountainrange and out of sight. Thest hour of events had seemed like an absolute dream to him, but he knew it was more than real.


    "He''s going to the Crimson Valley Sect," Barden replied calmly. "To erase their viny from thesends once and for all."


    Without missing a beat, Barden turned around and stared at the injured and battle worn warriors of the Fenix n. His eyes shifted to his father Cade for a moment, who was transporting the Patriarch to the medical center of the n, before it shifted back towards the warriors.


    "John will return before long. You do not have to concern yourself with that," he said to them before pausing for a moment. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before slowly exhaling. "The War is over. Our Fenix n has weathered this tribtion, despite all the odds against us. We will celebrate this victory soon, but we must first gather our fallen brethren."


    The Fenix n members shifted their gaze to the battle field, which still contained hundreds of corpses. They all nodded their heads in unison as they set out to gather their fallen warriors, and clean up the battlefield.


    While the n started gathering the fallen, Barden''s cold eyes looked into the distance, and he quickly flew towards the ce of John''s recent battle.


    ¡­


    After flying for quite some time over the picturesque Skycleave Mountainrange, John finally arrived on the other side. His gaze swept over thend below, and he spotted his target far in the distance.


    His body sped forward once more, and he arrived above the Crimson Valley Sect. Like the Fenix n, the Crimson Valley Sect was nestled into the mountainside. Waterfalls cascaded down the mountain, leading to streams that meandered through the Sect. The sect members below, both disciples and Elder''s alike, scuttled through the sect, going about their daily lives.


    If he did not know the true nature of this Sect, John would have found it quite the weing ce. His gaze hardened as his battle axe once again appeared in his hands.. His axe began to glow with a powerful light as his cold eyes stared at the sect below him.

 Chapter 396 - Destroying The Crimson Valley Sect

    "How long do you think it''s going to take before the Fenix n is wiped out?" a youth asked his nearby friends as they walked through the Crimson Valley Sect.


    The youths were all in the Qi Condensation Realm, and were thus too weak to participate in the battle.


    "I would imagine they''re already dead," another youth sneered. "There''s no way they can withstand the onught of our sect, as well as that mysterious sect aiding us."


    "Right, right," another youth replied enthusiastically. "And when that pathetic n is wiped from the map, these entirends will be under the control of our sect. Think about it. Soon our sect will be the overlords of thesends, and we''ll be able to do whatever we want."


    The thought put a smile on all their faces, as they imagined what they would do with their new status. With the Fenix n out of the way, and the Bloodfiend Sect aiding them, no one would be able to get in their way.


    "I heard that after the Fenix n is done, the war force will assault the Varis n. Apparently a blockade has been formed between the two sects to stop them from reinforcing each other, so it''s only a matter of time," another youth replied.


    Just then, each of the youths felt a strange energy wash over the sect. Their gazes all looked up towards the source of the energy, and quickly spotted a lone person hovering high in the sky above them.


    "Hmm? Whose that?" one of the youths asked curiously.


    "I don''t know. Maybe one of those mysterious Elder''s have returned," another replied.


    "Crimson Valley Sect," the voice of the figure floating high above boomed out. The voice sounded quite young still, surprising all those below who were looking up at the figure.


    "Your days of terrorizing thisnd are over. Allow me to reunite you with the rest of your sect in the underworld!"


    ¡­


    John''s battle axe shed down towards the Crimson Valley Sect below as he unleashed his strongest Sky Sundering Axe.


    This battle art was strong enough to injure a Heaven Tribtion Elder, and was far more than a sect as weak as the Crimson Valley Sect could handle. The Bloodfiend Sect had not gifted them with a defensive formation like the Heavenly Lightning Sect did for the Fenix n, which made the sectpletely vulnerable.


    John''s Sky Sundering Axe smashed down on the sect below as he watched every sect member flee for their lives. However, there was no escape from this attack, as it reached the sect before most of the members could react.


    Boom!


    The Sky Sundering Axe battle art, infused with the Dao''s of Power and Destruction, smashed on the sect. Its power instantly ruptured thend below, and an incrediblyrge explosion radiated outwards in an instant, drowning the entire Crimson Valley Sect in its power.


    Cries of anguish and horror sounded out for a brief moment, before they were all drowned out by the sound of the battle art explosion.? He raised his axe again and again as he unleashed sessive Sky Sundering Axes on the Crimson Valley Sect.


    After unleashing his barrage of attacks, John watched on with an indifferent expression as the battle arts ravaged the sect, annihting any person it came into contact with.


    The battle art explosions faded eventually, returning calm to the area once more. Where the Crimson Valley Sect had been now only existed a brokennd, shattered by a might far more than it could withstand.


    Every building of the sect had been reduced to rubble, and a series ofrge craters now existed where the sect used to reside. John scanned the sect after destroying it, but found no remaining traces of life.


    His cold eyes looked at the sect for a brief moment before his body sped off into the distance once more, returning from the direction he had arrived.


    Several hourster, those brave enough to approach the smouldering ruins of the Crimson Valley Sect did so. To theirplete shock, the once mighty sect was nowpletely destroyed. The news that the Crimson Valley Sect had been annihted quickly spread throughout all thend, as it was by far the most shocking thing that had urred in thesends in centuries.


    ¡­


    After flying back for some time, John once again found himself hovering above his Fenix n. The battlefield had seemingly been cleaned up of all fallen members of the Fenix n, and any remaining fires and hazards had been snuffed out.


    John''s gaze shifted deeper into the Fenix n to where seemingly all the Fenix n members had gathered. He flew towards the gathering, which was located in the Fenix n burial grounds. John hovered in the sky above the burial grounds, watching in silence as a procession honoring those who had given their lives for the n was taking ce.


    Over a thousand pyres had been built, each one with a corpse lying on top of it. The n, which was originally a n of ten thousand members, was now whittled down to eight thousand. The Fenix n was a n of fire, and through fire their members would beid to eternal rest.


    Cade Fenix, who was leading the procession, nced at John above before he continued to address the gathered members of the n.


    "We will now put to eternal rest those who had given their lives for our n. Their names will be etched in our Halls of Remembrance, their ultimate sacrifices never to be forgotten."


    Everyone in the n bowed their heads towards the bodies as the pyres were lit up in mes. John watched with a stoic expression as thousands of his flesh and blood n members were finally put to rest.


    His fist tightened as he felt a wave of anger wash over him. Despite saving his n in the end, John still felt that what he had done was not enough.


    ''Only with absolute strength can one thrive in this world. Only with absolute strength can I ensure the safety of my people!''

 Chapter 397 - Celebrations After Mourning

    The memorial procession ended after some time, and the Fenix n members all gathered in the Great Hall of the n, which was used for gatherings and celebrations. While a deep sense of mncholy and grief still lingered amongst all those who still lived, the n had just survived the greatest tribtion it had ever faced, and celebrations were nned to lift the moods of everyone.


    John remained alone for some time, gathering his thoughts and restoring his energy. However, the main reason he didn''t join his n in their celebrations right away was his feeling of guilt.


    His conversation he had with his father earlier in the day echoed within his mind.


    <i><strong>"The Bloodfiend Sect started this assault because of me."</strong></i>


    <i><strong>"While that may be true, they would have started this war eventually regardless for the pocket realm. You cannot put the me for this on your shoulder."</strong></i>


    "I suppose father is right," John mused to himself.


    He breathed out a deep sigh before he steeled his mind and floated down to the Great Hall below. The sound of music, discussions, andughter seeped through the closed doors of the Great Hall.


    John stood there silently for some time before he reached out and pressed against the tworge doors. The doors parted open, revealing the scene of celebration within. The Great Hall was incrediblyrge, and all the remaining n members were located within.


    n members danced together to music, while others feasted and drank to their heart''s content. In the far distance at one of thergest tables, John spotted his father, grandfather, and mother sitting together and happily conversing amongst each other.


    The downcast atmosphere from earlier in the day was no more, as those who were living decided that the best way to honor those who had died for them was to happily live their lives. He smiled slightly as he saw this scene before him, which instilled him withfort and ease.


    "Young Master John! It''s Young Master John!"


    An excited cry suddenly boomed out as someone noticed John''s arrival. The entire Great Hall went silent and the music stopped ying as everyone stopped what they were doing to look over at John.


    John felt the eyes of all eight thousand n members stare at him. Most of them were staring at him with awe on their faces, as they still could hardly believe what he had done earlier in the day.


    After a brief moment of silence, the Great Hall erupted into an absolute frenzy. The adults of the n instantly began to discuss amounts themselves regarding John and his disys of power, while the younger children all rushed towards him and swarmed around him, assaulting him with a barrage of questions.


    "Young Master John! I heard you saved us yourself!" one of the kids said enthusiastically. "How did you get so strong!"


    "You have to tell us how you became so strong! I want to be just like you when I grow up!" another child said with great excitement.


    "Haha, alright, alright! Leave him be," a voice boomed behind the group of youths that had gathered around John. The group of kids all turned around to see Cade standing there, smiling as he looked at John.


    "John has had a busy day, and you must let him rx," Cade said to the group of children. "There will be plenty of time to ask him questionster on."


    "A!" A collective groan sounded out from the group of kids, who were quickly shooed aside by several adults.


    John watched the group of kids around be shooed away, before a person racing towards him suddenly leaped at him. They wrapped their arms around John, and began to sob uncontrobly.


    John smiled as he embraced his mother in return, who continued to weep into his shoulders.


    "I''m home, mom," John said to his mother in a shaky voice filled with emotion.


    His mother lifted her face from his shoulder and looked at him with tears still streaming down her face. With the war that had nearly destroyed their n, she had thought she would never get to see her son again.


    A smile appeared on her tear soaked face as she looked deep into her son''s eyes.


    "Wee home, son."


    John, who didn''t consider himself to be an emotional person, couldn''t help but feel tears start to form in his eyes. His mother smiled and wiped those tears away, before she embraced him once more. They embraced for a short while before John felt a hand rest on his shoulder.


    He looked up and spotted his father standing next to him, a look of pride evident on his face.


    "You did well today, son," Barden said to John. Even now he could hardly believe his son was as strong as he had disyed earlier.


    John nodded his head happily as he embraced his father for a moment. After a short embrace, the two separated.


    "Come," the nearby Cade said to the three of them. "It''s time for celebrations!"


    His voice boomed out loudly for the entire Great Hall to hear, which instantly erupted into an uproar of celebration. John nodded his head and followed his family to his seat. Delicious dishes and wine of all kinds covered the table, although John didn''t find himself in the mood to eat at the moment.


    Ting! Ting! Ting!


    A series of tings echoed out across the Great Hall as Cade tapped his wine ss, silencing the rest of the hall. Everyone looked towards Cade as he addressed his n.


    "My fellow Fenix n members," his voice boomed out for all to hear. "Thesest fews days plunged our n into the darkest pits, of which we thought there was no escape. However, at the precipice of our destruction, our very own John appeared, with power far greater than any of us could have imagined."


    The eyes of everyone in the hall looked towards John, who sat there silently as he listened to his grandfather speak.


    "We have honored the dead, who gave their lives to defend this n. Without their sacrifice, we would have no doubt fallen to the enemy swiftly. However, we must also honor the living as well. To John, and the rest of the brave warriors that fought against our enemy! To the Fenix n!"


    Cade shouted out thest words of his speech and raised his ss high above, and the rest of the n did the same as they too shouted out in unison.


    "To the Fenix n!"


    John felt a wave of emotion flood through him once more, and he too raised his wine ss and shouted out before downing the drink. The hall quickly exploded once again into a frenzy of celebration, as n members danced, ate, and drank the night away.

 Chapter 398 - The Wooden Stick Returns

    John ced his wine ss down and looked around the hall, taking in all the faces that were partaking in the celebration. Despite looking at everyone, he still didn''t spot a face he had wanted to see.


    "Where''s Ryan?" John turned to his father who was seated next to him and asked. "I didn''t see him on any of the funeral pyres, and I don''t see him here."


    "You don''t need to worry," his father replied with a smile on his face. "Ryan is fine. He participated in the war and was injured, and he is resting in the Hall of Healing right now."


    John breathed out a sigh of relief as he heard this. "He participated in the war?" John asked. "How strong is he now?"


    When he hadst seen Ryan, they were both in the Mist Creation Realm. Ryan had gotten the blessing of the mysterious spirit in the pocket realm to learn the Mage Art there, but that was thest John had heard of him.


    "Quite strong," Barden replied.


    "He was more than quite strong," Cade chimed up as he heard Barden''s reply.


    An inquisitive look appeared on John''s face as he heard this, which Cade borated further.


    "In the initial stages of the battle, Ryan unleashed a spectacrly powerful War Mage battle art many times, which decimated a good portion of the enemy force. The enemy eventually reached him and injured him quite badly, forcing him to retreat, but if it weren''t for him, we would have fallen much faster," Cade borated.


    "Such a thing happened?" John asked with great surprise.


    "Why? Is that so hard to believe that I''m strong as well?" a voice sounded out behind John.


    John turned his head to see the person of discussion standing behind him, smiling at him with arge smile.


    "Ryan!" John called out as he stood up and embraced his lifetime friend.


    Ryan smiled as he embraced him back, but quickly winced and backed up from John.


    "Ow," Ryan cried out. "The wound on my chest is still quite fresh. Take it easy on me."


    "Ah, sorry about that," John replied as he patted Ryan on the shoulder.


    A medicinal pill suddenly appeared in his hand, and he handed it off to Ryan.


    "Take this. It should help heal that wound of yours faster," John exined to Ryan.


    Ryan took the pill and swallowed it without hesitation, as he trusted his friend fully. A rich medicinal energy instantly filled his body, causing Ryan to raise his eyebrows in surprise.


    "This is good stuff!" Ryan eximed as he felt his wounds start to heal at a faster pace.


    "It better be," John replied. "I spent several thousand spirit crystals for this one pill."


    "That much!" Ryan eximed in shock. "Isn''t this pill a little too valuable to give to me then?"


    "Don''t fret over such things, it''s really not that much money to me right now" John replied. "Better yet, you better tell me what battle art you learned from that ancient spirit."


    "Oh, that!" Ryan replied. "I guess I can tell you about it."


    Ryan sat down next to John and began to exin what had happened to him after they had separated in the pocket realm. Ryan had spent all the remaining time in the pocket realm learning the Mage Art, and had managed to do so just in time before the pocket realm copsed.


    After that, he was raised to be one of the main youths of the Fenix n, and was given incredible resources. He managed to improve his cultivation to the Core Formation Realm, and had then used the Mage Arts to unleash devastating attacks on the enemy.


    "What about you?" Ryan asked. "We''ve all been dying to hear your story."


    John didn''t even know where to begin, as he had been through more events and trials than he could exin in a single night. Those nearby, including his mother and father, all asked John to reveal what he had been up to this past year, and why he was unable to return earlier.


    Just as John was thinking of how to start his story, the front doors to the Great Hall mmed open with great force, grabbing the attention of everyone in the hall. Everyone looked at the neer with stunned silence, as their performance earlier in the day was also one of the hottest topics of discussion within the Fenix n.


    Without missing a step, the person who had opened the doors entered the Great Hall and confidently strided towards where John was sitting. They strode up to the table where John and his family were sitting, and gazed at each of his family members.


    "Are you not going to introduce me to your family?" Lilian asked as she stared straight at John.


    "John, who is this?" John''s mother Rachel couldn''t help but ask. "She''s incredibly beautiful. Is she your girlfriend?" she continued with a mischievous expression on her face.


    "Mom! What the hell are you talking about!" John eximed as he stared at his master, ready for her to beat him for such a thing having been said.


    "This is the Vice-Sect Leader of my Heavenly Lightning Sect," John quickly rified. "And also my Master!"


    Cade and Barden immediately stood up and bowed his head towards Lilian as a sign of respect.


    "Thank you for your assistance today," Cade Fenix said to Lilian. "Without your aid, our n would have no doubt been destroyed."


    "No need to thank me," Lilian replied with a calm voice. "I dealt with that man for my own personal reasons."


    "Then I must thank you for watching over my son, and raising him as your disciple," Barden suddenly replied. "Clearly you have taken his power to incredible heights."


    John rolled his eyes as he heard his fathers words.


    "Tch, the only thing this crazy woman ever did for me was beat me," John grumbled, but quickly realized the error of his ways. His eyes widened in panic as he stared at his master.


    Lilian''s hawk-like gaze locked onto John, who quickly tried to flee from the Great Hall.


    Bang!


    A pping sound resounded out across the entire hall, as everyone saw their powerful Young Master savagely beaten across the face by a woman holding a wooden stick. Their Young Master, whose power was far beyond their imagination, was yelling curses and profanities at the woman who was chasing him around the Great Hall, constantly beating him senseless with her wooden stick.. His pained cries echoed throughout the Great Hall as his stunned Fenix n looked on.

 Chapter 399 - Nostalgic Feelings

    The Fenix n festivities continued deep into the night, before most of the Fenix n members returned to their homes. Everyone knew that while they were safe and no longer on the verge of destruction, the rebuilding process would need to begin the very next day.


    ¡­


    "John!" an ethereal, feminine voice entered John''s ears, causing his head to swivel in all directions, searching for the source of the sound.


    "Who are you!" John cried out in confusion as he spotted no one around him.


    "John!" the voice sounded out once more, filling John with a familiar feeling.


    "Hah!"


    John suddenly sat up straight in his bed, after being hastily roused from his deep sleep. He looked around for a moment, taking in what had happened, before he wearily woke up and took a deep stretch, yawning in the process as well.


    "It was just a dream," John mumbled to himself as he got out of bed. "But why did it feel so real, and why was that voice so nostalgic. It''s like I''ve heard it before, but have never heard it at the same time...weird."


    After the festive celebrationsst night, John and his family retired to their mansion, which was luckily still intact. John''s mother had invited his master to lodge in the house as well, but Lilian refused and disappeared from sight eventually. Upon arriving in his room, John fell onto his bed and almost immediately fell asleep. His dreams had been quite chaoticst night, mostly likely due to the umted stress from over thest few months.


    However, none of his dreams had felt as real as thest one. John shook his head a few times to get the lingering thoughts out of his mind, before he hopped out of bed and walked to his wash room.


    "Today is going to be quite a busy day again," John sighed as he began to wash up.


    After washing up, John put on a fresh Fenix n robe. While he had many Heavenly Lightning Sect Robes which were more luxurious, it felt right wearing his Fenix n robes at the moment.


    John finished his morning routine, before he walked downstairs. A familiar sense of nostalgia washed over him as he smelled his mothers breakfast cooking.


    "John, you''re awake," Rachel Fenix called out happily. "Come, sit. I made your favorite breakfast," she said to him with arge smile on her face.


    "Morning Mom. Morning Dad," John called out as he sat at the table where his father was already seated. Barden Fenix smiled as he greeted John.


    "Morning son. Seems like you slept quite wellst night. It''s already almost midday," Barden replied.


    "Thatte huh?" John replied. "I guess I was more tired than I realized."


    "Eat up before the food gets cold," Rachel suddenly spoke up. John nodded his head and began to eat the meal his mother had prepared.


    "So good!" John called out as he took the first bite and a familiar taste filled his mouth.


    "Of course it is," his mother replied. "I wouldn''t have your first home cooked meal in a year be a bad one."


    John nodded his head as he took another bite of his breakfast. He quickly finished the meal, and a satisfied feeling filled his body.


    "The Patriarch wants to see you today," Barden suddenly said to John.


    John nced at his father and nodded his head. "Sure. I''m sure you all have a lot of questions," John replied.


    "Something like that," Barden replied. "We have quite a busy day ahead of us. We should head out now."


    "Lead the way," John replied.


    Barden and John bid Rachel farewell with two warm embraces, before they left their mansion and strode out into their courtyard. John took in the familiar courtyard, and also spotted the cultivation tform to the side of the house.


    Barden noticed his gaze, and smiled in reminiscence as well.


    "Seems like just yesterday I was teaching you about cultivation on that tform, and look at you now. Already stronger than your old man. Time surely does fly," Barden said as he shook his head in self-pity.


    "Don''t feel too bad father," John replied. "I was cultivating in the holynds, while you were here. If you were in the holynds as well, I''m sure your cultivation speed would be incredible as well."


    Despite being the youngest son of Cade Fenix, Barden already had the second highest cultivation in the Fenix n after the Patriarch, revealing his immense talent.


    "How could I feel bad?" Barden replied boisterous with arge smile on my face. "My son is a heavenly prodigy. Just that alone is enough to die happily."


    John shook his head as he asked his father to lead the way. Barden immediately took to the sky and flew towards the deeper reaches of the Fenix n. John followed closely behind, and the two quickly arrived at the building located at the highest point within the Fenix n.


    The building was constructed against the mountainside, and was quite luxurious. John examined it closely from the outside for a moment.


    "I guess I''ve never been in this building before," John said to his father as theynded and strode through the main doors.


    "Most in the n never have," Barden replied. "This is where the Patriarch lives. When he passed his authority of n Leader down to my father, he decided to stay out of the spotlight. That''s why you never saw him," Barden exined as he strode deeper into the building.


    John followed closely behind, and quickly spotted many other Fenix n Elders gathered as well. They all turned to look at John, whose status within the n was at the highest, even above that of the Patriarchs.


    As soon as John walked in the room in which the Elder''s were gathered, his eyes locked onto a particr person who was extremely eye-catching.


    In the very center of the room, Orenn Fenix, stripped bare, was chained to a pole.. His body was bloodied and bruised, and his eyes stared at John with hate.

 Chapter 400 - Gathering Of Elders

    John raised his eyebrows slightly as he took in the scene before him. After he had vanquished the Crimson Valley Sect army, he had knocked the traitor Orenn unconscious and left his fate for the n to decide.


    After looking at Orenn, John nced up ahead and spotted a familiar figure. He walked over and bowed his head in respect.


    "Patriarch, you seem to be doing much better today," John said respectfully.


    The n Patriarch, Grayson Fenix, was seated up on a raised tform at the front of therge room. His body still seemed weak, but hisplexion was fuller than the day before, and his aura much more stable.


    The Patriarch smiled as he inspected John closely. "I am doing well thanks to you," he replied with a warm smile. "I never thought the savior of our n would be a junior a dozen times younger than me, but fate is a fickle thing."


    John smiled as he heard this. "I''m not the n''s savior," he replied. "I was just defending my flesh and blood, just like anyone else in the n would."


    "Everyone is here? Then let''s get started" a voice from behind boomed out within the room.


    Everyone turned to see their n Leader, Cade Fenix, stride into the room. Cade looked at his son Orenn for a moment, his eyes both angered and sad, before he strode past him and seated himself next to the Patriarch.


    All eyes looked to Cade as he addressed the group of gathered Elders.


    "We have survived the n''s greatest tribtion, and must now focus on rebuilding. But before that, we must deal with my traitorous son."


    All eyes nced at Orenn, before they nced back at Cade. John walked back to where his father was and took a seat.


    "We interrogated himst night, but did not find out much. He gave us no information regarding the reason for his betrayal, or if anyone else was involved with his betrayal," Cade exined.


    "I have some information," John suddenly spoke up.


    Everyone in the room looked to John, curious as to what he knew about Orenn.


    John stood up as he addressed the gathered Fenix n Elders. "Orenn''s betrayal is most likely linked to the Bloodfiend Sect," John started to exin.


    "The Bloodfiend Sect!" several Elder''s eximed. That name had instilled a sense of fear within them, as it was the reason for their near destruction.


    "Yes. I imagine that they have given him promises of riches and power for his betrayal, just like they did for Parker," John replied.


    "Parker?" Cade replied. "Parker was taken in by a Holy Land Elder, who imed to be part of the Firelight Sect. Is this not the case?"


    John raised his eyebrows as he heard this exnation.


    ''It seems as though the Bloodfiend Sect made up a story, as to keep the details of Parkers betrayal a secret. I suppose it makes sense.''


    John shook his head as he addressed the room once more. "Parker didn''t join that sect. Instead, he betrayed me in the pocket realm, forced me nearly to my death, and joined up with the Bloodfiend Sect instead," he exined.


    "What?" a collective yell of surprise echoed out within the room as many Elder''s stood up in shock. Parker was one of their most promising young geniuses, and such news was aplete shock. Cade Fenix raised his hand to call for order, silencing the other Elder''s within the room.


    "You have no idea what you''re talking about," Orenn Fenix suddenly shouted out at John.


    John nced at Orenn with indifferent eyes before he addressed the group of Elders once more.


    "In the pocket realm, I was surrounded by Dn, Jason, and a few other enemies. I would have escaped, but Parker betrayed me, forcing me to enter a zone of death. His condition for his betrayal was to join the Bloodfiend Sect, which was happily epted by Jason. Luckily I escaped the zone of death and was transported to the Holy Lands," John exined all that had happened.


    His gaze locked onto the nearby Orenn. "As the father of Parker, I''m more than certain that Orenn''s betrayal is linked to Parkers. They must have agreed beforehand to join the Bloodfiend Sect."


    "Is this true?" Cade gazed at his son Orenn with hate filled eyes as he asked for the truth. Orenn looked at his father, and arge, sinister smile appeared on his face.


    "Who knows," Orenn replied . He knew his fate was sealed, and so was keeping as much information about his son a secret, not that it mattered anyways.


    "It really doesn''t matter anyways," John replied. "The Bloodfiend Sect has been destroyed, and will no longer be a concern of ours."


    "What?" Another collective gasp of shock filled the room as John revealed this truth.


    "Are you sure of this?" Cade Fenix asked John with great concern in his voice. They were still on edge due to the Bloodfiend Sects interference, and were trying to figure out ways to deal with that threat. However, none of them coulde up with a solution, other than remain under the protection of the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    "I''m more than sure," John replied calmly. "Because I was the one that destroyed them."


    The room of Elder''s, who were already more shocked than they had ever been, felt their shock rise even higher to levels they thought impossible. Even Barden couldn''t believe what his son was saying, as it truly sounded impossible.


    "How is that possible?" the Patriarch spoke up for the first time.


    "Impossible!" At the same time, Orenn called out in shocked protest, unwilling to believe the words John had uttered.


    "The details aren''t that important, but what I said is the truth," John replied. Exining his tribtion was more trouble than it was worth.


    His calm and assured tone made everyone realize that he was telling the truth, which shocked them even further. However, such news was beyond fantastic for the Fenix n, causing them to breathe out a collective sigh of relief.


    Even Cade and the Patriarch did so as well. "Then our greatest threat is no more," Cade said to the room. "What about Parker. Was he destroyed as well?" he asked John.


    John shook his head at Cade''s question. "Parker was no longer in the Bloodfiend Sect when I destroyed it. I''m not sure where he was taken, but he still lives."


    "Hahahaha," Orenn startedughing maniacally at John''s words. Everyone in the room looked towards him, as hisughter continued for some time. "Parker is far out of your reach. When he returns, his power will be far more than you can withstand."


    John frowned at Orenn''s words, as he seemed to know a bit more about Parker''s fate.


    "Silence, you traitorous filth" Cade shouted as he wrapped up his son with a restrictive Qi, stopping hisughter. He nced at two nearby Elder''s, and instructed them to take Orenn back to the dungeons for further interrogation.


    After dealing with Orenn and finishing the discussion on his treason, the discussion turned to the rebuilding of the Fenix n, and how to best go about it. Upon hearing this topic brought up, John stepped forward once more and gave his suggestion.


    "Why not establish a Fenix n branch in the Holy Lands?"

 Chapter 401 - Holy Land Branch

    Chapter


    John''s suggestion of establishing a Holy Land branch instantly caught the attention of everyone in the room. Such a thing would be beyond their wildest hopes and dreams. Every power on the continent desired to establish a power in the Holy Lands, but such a thing was impossible without strength.


    "John, is such a thing even possible?" Barden couldn''t help but ask his son. "We know you''re important to your sect, but even then, allocatingnd in the Holy Lands won''t be an easy thing for them."


    "It won''t be a problem," a voice suddenly sounded out from one of the shadowed corners of therge room. Everyone turned to the source of the voice with great surprise, as they had not noticed this person at all. Only John remained calm, as he had expected such a thing to happen.


    Everyone spotted Lilian standing there in the corner of the room, partially shrouded in shadows. Her aura waspletely retracted, making her seem to blend into the world itself. With her cultivation shrouded by her Dao Transformation cultivation, it was almost as if she was invisible unless she wanted to be seen.


    "You''re...John''s Master," the Patriarch said to Lilian as he shakily stood up, still weak from his grave injury.


    He had been injured and healing during the celebrations, and had yet to meet Lilian.


    "No need to stand up," Lilian replied calmly as she watched Grayson Fenix approach her. Cade Fenix was supporting him, making sure he didn''t strain himself too much.


    "Nonsense," the Patriarch replied. "Were it not for your timely assistance, our Fenix n would no longer be a part of this world. Standing up is the least I could do to show respect," he continued as he stubbornly walked over to her. Blood began to spew out of his freshly opened wound, but the Patriarch ignored it.


    Lilian stared at the Patriarch for a moment before she nodded her head in approval. "Not a bad attitude you have. I can see where John gets his stubbornness from."


    "What are you talking about? You''re far more stubborn than me," John blurted out as he rolled his eyes. He quickly realized he had said something he shouldn''t have, and warily looked at his master.


    Surprisingly, she remained in ce, and only red at him. John breathed a sigh of relief as he admonished himself, and his inability to keep his mouth shut when talking about his master.


    Lilian gazed at John for a moment, before looking back at the Patriarch who stood before her. The Patriarch bowed his head slightly in respect and thanks, to which Lilian stopped.


    "Your thanks are enough. I do not need additional praise," Lilian replied.


    The Patriarch nodded his head, quickly getting a gauge of Lilian''s personality. She seemed to be a person who did what she did because she wanted to, and not because she expected praise from others. Such a person was someone worth befriending, or in John''s case, following.


    He turned to John and smiled. "You have a good master. Be sure to follow her closely."


    John rolled his eyes at thement but said nothing and only nodded his head. The Patriarch turned back to Lilian to inquire about what she had said earlier.


    "You said establishing a Fenix n branch in the Holy Lands won''t be a problem. Is such a thing the truth?"


    "It won''t be a problem," Lilian replied. "Our Heavenly Lightning Sect owns thergest portion ofnd out of any powers on this continent. We can carve out a small unused section for your n branch."


    Everyone''s eyes in the room lit up at the confirmation of such a thing. Never in their wildest dreams had they expected such a thing to be possible, but the fate of the n seemed to be changing for the better, all because of their Young Master''s actions.


    "Then I will thank you right now for aiding our n yet again," the Patriarch replied.


    He turned around to face the rest of the room, and addressed them. "However, there is still one thing to be decided. Who will lead this branch? I have lived my entire life here, and will die here. My son is the Leader of this main branch here, and so we will need someone else to lead the other branch."


    The hopeful eyes of many Elder''s lit up at the thought of leading a Holy Land branch for the n, but their hopes were quickly dimmed as they realized there truly was only one perfect fit for the job. Their eyes all turned to look at one person in the room.


    Barden quickly noticed the gazes of everyone in the room.


    "Me?" he asked.


    "There can be no one else more suited for the role," Cade replied. "You are not only a direct lineage of the current n leadership, but are also the second strongest in the entire n. Even I am no longer a match for you. Andstly, you are young, and full of vigor. The perfect qualities needed to undertake a task as grueling as establishing a new branch."


    Barden remained silent for a moment as he gauged the reactions of everyone in the room. While there were some indifferent faces, the overwhelming sentiment was approval for this n.


    "I ept," Barden replied decisively.


    "Good. Good," the Patriarch replied with a happy smile as he walked to his grandson and patted him on the back. "Under your leadership, I''m sure the branch there will soar to heights we cannot yet fathom."


    He turned to address the group of Elder''s once more. "Then with my authority as Patriarch of this n, I announce that Barden Fenix will be the Branch Leader for our very first Fenix n Branch."


    An uproar of congrattions filled the room as the Elder''s one by one walked up to Barden and personally congratted him. John walked over to his master and stood there watching the events unfold. The smile on his fathers face revealed to him that he was truly happy to be entrusted with such a thing.


    "Thank you," John said to Lilian.


    "Oh? You''re actually thanking me for once. Today truly is a day of rare events," Lilian replied somewhat sarcastically.


    John only rolled his eyes at her response. After appointing Barden as Branch Leader, the assembly of Elder''s conversed about many things regarding the ns future, such as the rebuilding process, the fate of Orenn, and much more.


    John watched the discussions take ce for some time, before he silently turned to leave the room.


    "Where are you going?" Lilian couldn''t help but ask.


    "I have some unfinished business I have to take care of. I''ll be back before long."


    Upon saying this, John strode out of the building and immediately took to the skies.. He had not yet forgotten his vow of vengeance for his fallen friend.

 Chapter 402 - Dreadel King

    John quickly left the Fenix n grounds as he flew towards his desired destination. The Skycleave Forest rushed by below him, filling him with another wave of nostalgia. This very forest was where he first set out on his cultivation journey. It was where everything had started.


    After a moment of thought, John diverted his route slightly as he veered to the right. After flying forward for several hours, he finally arrived at his first destination. He hovered high in the sky as he looked down at the deste stretch of forest below him.


    In this deste stretch of forest was arge clearing, with arge vige built in this clearing. This was the vige that shunned cultivation, and fled from the Dreadel Kingdom''s protection. This was the vige where John had killed his first human, and where he was yelled out of the city he interfered with the bandits acting as guards.


    The vige, which had once been brimming with human activity waspletely empty. Dried blood was sttered all over, while w marks from powerful beasts were visible. Clearly the vige was attacked by powerful beasts, and the vige was no longer able to protect themselves, resulting in their destruction.


    John sighed slightly as he saw all of this, as its destruction was rted to his interfering actions. However, his heart remained steady.


    "This vige was destroyed because I interfered, but the me cannot be put on me alone. Despite having no strength at all, they shunned the cultivation world and lived amongst beasts. Sooner orter, those bandits would have abandoned them, and their destruction would have happened regardless. They only have themselves to me for their na?ve thinking. The only assurance in this world is strength. Shunning that assurance is tantamount to suicide."


    John gazed at the vige below for a moment longer before his body sped forward once more, leaving the vige behind for nature to eventually reim, its existence eventually forgotten for all time.


    ...


    In the very center of arge city, a grand castle towered over the rest of the city. The white walls of the castle gleaned in the sunlight, while the blue-tipped spires caught the attention of all. This castle belonged to the king of the Dreadel Kingdom.


    Within this castle, a meeting between all the important members of the kingdom was taking ce. Seated on the throne before all the members was the king, who nced down at his subjects who were reporting on the matter at hand.


    "Reporting to your excellency. Our scouts have just returned from the Fenix n," one of the men said as he stepped forward.


    "Oh?" the king replied as he nced at the man. "What is the oue of the battle? Has the Fenix n been wiped out as expected? If so, we will need to give our tribute to the Crimson Valley Sect with utmost haste. While we will fall a bit in power over thesends, this will ensure our survival as a kingdom."


    The man who had stepped forward paused for a moment after hearing his kings words. "Actually your excellency...it was the Fenix n who was victorious. The Crimson Valley Sect has been fully eradicated, sect and all."


    "WHAT?"


    The man''s report caused amotion in the council chambers, as no one could believe what they were hearing. The king too was beyond surprised, and asked his man to rify.


    "Are you sure that''s what happened. Could your scouts be wrong?" the king asked.


    "They are not wrong, your excellency," the man replied. "Simr reports havee from other sources, adding to the veracity of the im."


    "Silence," the kingmanded as the room became loud at the news once again. He nced at the man once more. "How did such a thinge to pass?"


    "Well¡­" the man was unsure of how to report the message without sounding incredulous. After a brief moment of silence, he decided to just tell the truth.


    "The Fenix n was on the verge of annihtion, when...they were saved by one of their Young Master''s, as well as a mysterious woman."


    "Saved by one of their Young Masters? How could the youth of their n make a difference?" the king asked, not believing the story.


    "We are unsure of how such a thing happened," the man replied.


    The king remained silent for a moment before he addressed the man and the group before him once more.


    "If that truly is the case, then we must find out more about this. Perhaps the youth discovered some amazing secret that elevated his power quickly. If we can obtain that secret, it could raise our kingdom as well," the king instructed.


    Boom!


    A sudden boom shook the castle, surprising everyone within the council chamber. A small part of the ceiling of the castle exploded, showering the council below with debris. Guards quickly flooded into the room at the sound, ready to fight against any intruder.


    "Who dares interrupt my council meeting and destroy my castle!" the king yelled out furiously as he noticed a new person had arrived.


    The person stood at the center of the room, instantly drawing the attention of everyone, including the guards. However, the guards didn''t dare move as they noticed the power and cultivation of the person before them.


    John''s eyes swept over the council, looking for a particr person. He had arrived at that person''s mansion earlier, and his questioning had revealed that person to be in this very council.


    John immediately spotted the person, who looked at him as if he had seen a ghost.


    "You¡­" the man called out with absolute shock in his voice.


    "Duke Trommel, we meet again," John replied with a smile as he approached the Duke.


    John had no ill-will towards the Duke, despite the fact that he had hired the Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild. The Duke was only doing what he could to take back his spear, and did not know John was part of the group that had stolen it. It was the assassins themselves that dealt the finishing blow, when they were only tasked with retrieving the spear.


    However, the Duke had information that John needed, and so he decided toe here directly.


    John ignored everyone else in the room, including the king, as he walked over to the Duke. "Where can I find the Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild?" John asked, getting directly to the point.


    "What?" the Duke replied. He had expected John toe find vengeance for his son''s actions a year ago.


    "Answer me," Johnmanded. "Where can I find them?"


    His aura pressed down on the Duke, sending a shiver of fear up his spine.


    "At the Shrake Mountains. They''re located in a cave at the base of Shrake Mountain," the Duke replied hastily.


    John inspected the Duke for a moment to make sure he wasn''t lying, before he suddenly flew up out of the hole in the castle ceiling he had created. Just as fast as he had arrived, he had left, filling the council with a sense of confusion as to what had just happened.


    "What just happened? Who was that boy?" the king cried out for answers. "How dare he invade my kingdom!"


    His gaze locked onto the Duke, who was still shivering from John''s aura. "Duke Trommel, who was that boy!" the kingmanded answers once more.


    "Your excellency," the man who had addressed the council first stepped forward once more. "I believe that was the Fenix n youth I was talking about!"


    His words sent a wave of shock through the council, while the king felt the color drain from his face. He had nearly shouted out and ordered his guards to attack John, but John had left before he could do so.


    The king slumped on his throne as he sighed out deeply, realizing he had barely dodged death today.


    ¡­


    John quickly arrived before a medium sized mountain, which was rtively un-eye catching. His divine sense swept out over the mountain, and he quickly spotted what he was looking for.


    "It seems as though Duke Trommel was wise enough to not lie to me. There truly is a well-hidden hideout at the base of this mountain.. Time to pay some old acquaintances a visit once again."

 Chapter 403 - Visiting The Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild

    "Gahhhhh!"


    A tortured cry echoed within a small room as a man and a woman looked on at the one screaming. The man screaming was tied to a chair, his body beaten and bloodied.


    Bam!


    The man''s hand pped across the face of the one screaming, knocking out several teeth.


    "Yell again and I''ll knock out the rest of your teeth," the man growled at the tied down man. "We''ve just yet started our interrogation, and you''re already yelling like this?"


    He turned to nce at the woman next to him. "Seems like we won''t be ying around with our food too long this time around."


    The woman frowned as she heard the man''s words. "We''re not ying around. The captain ordered us to extract where this man''s leader stored their treasures. The one paying for this job paid quite a nice sum of money, and so the captain wants no mistakes at all."


    The man clicked his tongue in frustration but said nothing as he let the woman take the lead on the interrogation. A plier appeared in her hands, and she took a step towards the tied down man when a door opened behind them.


    "Captain!"


    Both of them called out as they saw who it was.


    "What brings you here? Are you not confident in our ability to get this information?" the woman asked respectfully.


    "No, it''s not that," the captain replied as he walked into the room. "I''m just feeling restless today for some reason. I figured I''d walk about and see what everyone is doing to upy my mind."


    "Hoh, what''s this?" the other man in the room replied. "Our captain is uneasy? Has such a thing ever happened?" he asked as he turned to the woman next to him.


    The woman frowned at the man''s goading, before she turned to her captain once more.


    "We were just about to start extracting the needed information from him," she instructed.


    "Carry on then, I''ll return shortly, and hopefully will be given good news by the two of you."


    Boom!


    A loud boom echoed throughout the underground hiding, as it trembled violently for a short time. The three in the room struggled to stay on their feet, while the man tied to the chair was knocked over sideways.


    "What the hell is going on?" the woman shouted as the trembling stopped and she finally regained her bnce.


    "I''m not sure, but it seems like someone is assaulting our front entrance. Let''s go!" the captainmanded as he stormed out of the room. The two others in the room quickly joined him, as well as various other members from different parts of the hideout.


    "Captain, what''s going on?" several others asked as they caught up to the group that was speeding towards the entrance.


    "I''m not sure, but gather all the members of our guild. We may have a fight on our hands soon," the captainmanded.


    The man nodded his head and sped towards other parts of the hideout, while the main group sped forward towards the entrance, weapons in hand.


    ¡­


    Johnnded at the front entrance of the hideout, and gazed around for a moment. He could tell there were two nearby cultivators in hiding, waiting for the perfect opportunity to assassinate him. Their stealth arts were quite impressive for their cultivation levels, and John was sure they would be incredibly lethal against anyone in the same cultivation realm.


    However,pared to himself, they were far too weak.


    ''They''re quite a cautious bunch. I guess without the proper invitation, they kill on sight. Not bad.''


    His hands stretched in opposite directions as his fingers suddenly pointed out.


    Bang!


    Two beams of Qi fired out of his fingers, each followed by a pained cry. Two bodies fell out of the canopies of nearby trees, thumping to the ground.


    ''If only they were stronger, this trip of mine would have been more fulfilling.''


    After taking care of the guards outside, John strode towards the front entrance. Arge metal door was covered by vegetation, making it almost unnoticeable to the naked eye.


    ''This door is quite thick. It would easily stop the attack of Qi Condensation experts, and thwart Core Formation cultivators for a good bit of time. It''s too bad for them that they angered the wrong person.''


    John''s foot suddenly kicked out, mming against therge metal door. The metal door instantly caved in from the force, and wasunched deep into the front entrance of the cave.


    Boom!


    The door mmed against the cave wall, creating a loud boom and shaking the small mountain from the force of the collision.


    ''That should get their attention,'' John mused to himself as he began to walk deeper into the hideout. His eyes swept in all directions, and an approving nod appeared on his face.


    ''This is actually quite a nice hideout. This Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild seems to be quite capable.''


    The interior of the cave was incredibly organized, and didn''t look like a cave at all. The interior system was clean and easy to navigate, and contained many traps.


    Che!


    Dozens of knives from the wall of the caves propelled towards John as he stepped on one of the traps the guild had set up.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    The knives collided against John''s skin, ricocheting off without even leaving a scratch. John continued on without pause, stepping on another one of the traps.


    Fire shot out of the wall, drowning his entire body in powerful mes. Against almost any other cultivator in thesends, these traps would be deadly, but¡­


    John strode out of the mes and dusted off one of his shoulders, as some dust had umted there. His footsteps were steady as he strode deeper into the hideout. His ears perked up as he finally heard somemotion deeper into the cave.


    "Finally, someone to greet me. I was starting to think no one was home."


    Before long, arge group of cultivators came speeding into his vision. The group consisted of over thirty members, several of which he recognized.


    The group instantly spotted John as they rounded the corner, and came to a screeching halt.


    "Who dares intrude here. Prepare to di-"


    The man who had spoken out with vigor in his voice suddenly became silent as he saw who it was that stood before him. His face turned slightly pale as he noticed the cultivation level of the one standing before them.


    John raised his eyebrows slightly, as there were even some Core Formation experts in the group. He had expected their power to cap out at the Qi Condensation Realm, as the captain of the group had just barely ascended to Core Formation recently, but it seemed as though hierarchy in the guild was not based on strength.


    "Hi there," John called out with arge smile on his face as he waved to the captain.. "I told you I would being back for you, and I always keep my word."

 Chapter 404 - Reunion With The Assassin Captain

    The captain, as well as several other members of the Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild all had looks on their faces as if they had seen a ghost.


    Those in the group who did not recognize John could tell the situation was bad just based on their captain''s reaction. Their captain was an incredibly stalwart man, and they had never seen him cower at anything, especially a young boy who appeared no older than sixteen.


    Their divine senses scanned out, and shock appeared on their faces as well.


    "Meridian Forging!" the woman from the torture room couldn''t help but exim in shock.


    John''s smiling face gazed at the group before him, as he took note of the several familiar faces. His vision darkened for a brief moment as he spotted the one who hadnded the fatal blow on Austin in the group.


    His finger suddenly pointed out to the group, who instantly jumped in fright and readied their weapons for an attack.


    "You, you, you, you, and¡­.you. The one''s I pointed to, step forward now," John instructed with a calm voice.


    The ones who had been pointed at felt their hearts leap out of their chests. They all recognized John, as they had been part of the group that had assassinated Austin and the rest, and had attempted to kill John as well.


    The ones who had been pointed at froze, and some started to take several steps back in an early attempt to flee.


    "Shit! Run!" one of the singled out members turned and began to flee at his fastest speed.


    John frowned as he saw this, and his body suddenly blurred in the vision of those looking at him.


    "Gahhhh!"


    A pained cry echoed out behind the group, causing them to all turn their heads in fright. However, when they looked back behind them, the only thing they saw was some blood sttered on the ground.


    "Please, don''t kill me," a pained and frightful cry sounded out in front of the group, causing them to look forwards once more.


    A collective look of absolute shock appeared on their faces as the man who began to flee was kneeling before John, who looked down at him with cold eyes. One of his arms had been ripped off, and was lying on the ground next to him.


    The group of assassins instantly felt a chill crawl up their spines as they saw this. They were a group that specialized in speed and stealth, but even they were unable to see John move. He had moved towards the man, cut off his arm, and brought him back to his original spot without them even seeing his blur.


    There were even several of them at the Core Formation Realm, and they had been unable to see John''s movements.


    It was at this moment that everyone in the group, the captain included, knew they were at the mercy of the one before them. There was only one hope for them left, but that hope was out of the hideout at the moment.


    "Please, don''t kill me. We were only taking orders that night!" the man cried out again to John.


    He instantly recognized John as the youth that had escaped, as John''s actions that night were beyond shocking.


    John nced down at the man kneeling before him with cold, indifferent eyes.


    "I know Duke Trommel hired you all, but he seems like a reasonable man. I doubt he called for the execution of all of us, and only paid you to retrieve the spear. What exactly were his orders that night?" John asked calmly.


    The man trembled as he heard John''s question.


    "I...I don''t know. I wasn''t told the orders. I only did what I was instructed," the man cried out in panic.


    John''s divine sense was locked onto the man, and he could instantly tell that the man was lying based on his soul fluctuations. His hand reached out and gripped the man by his throat, dragging him up off his feet and into the air.


    "Don''t lie to me, or I''ll make your fate beyond miserable," John instructed with an icy tone.


    The man nearly passed out from fright upon hearing this, and quickly babbled out the truth for John to hear.


    "You''re right. I was told the instructions from Duke Trommel," the man cried out hastily. "The instructions were to retrieve the spear, as well as kill the leader of the operation. We were to incapacitate the rest of you and bring you back to the Duke himself to decide your fate."


    John narrowed his eyes as he heard this.


    ''Most likely, the Duke would want to publicly arrest us and incarcerate us for life, as a show of his power. However, I could have gotten us out of that situation. It seems like this guild took matters into their own hands.''


    "Oh?" John said as he nced at the man. "And you chose to instead execute us all?"


    "It''s because we leave no witnesses or survivors in our missions, no exceptions," a voice suddenly boomed out from the crowd.


    John nced towards the crowd, and raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise. The captain stepped forward out of the crowd, as he had been the one to speak out just now.


    "Have you finally regained your nerve?" John asked while staring at the man who had led the assassination mission against him.


    The captain smiled at John as well, as he had fully epted death at this moment.


    "Death is only death, but I refuse to let myself die without pride and dignity. It would be unbing of an assassin," the captain replied firmly. "I have taken hundreds of lives in my lifetime. It was only a matter of time until my life was the one being silenced."


    "Captain," the woman called out with great concern in her voice.


    "Silence," the captainmanded as he looked over his shoulder and smiled at the woman. "I have made up my mind."


    A look of pained despair appeared on the woman''s face, as tears began to stream down her face. A curious look appeared on John''s face as he saw this scene carry out before him.


    "Oh? So even cold-blooded assassins can know love?" John said to the captain, as he could clearly tell what was going on between the captain and the woman.


    The woman suddenly stepped forward and stood next to the captain.


    "What are you doing? Get back," the captainmanded with an angry voice.


    The woman smiled as she stared up at the man before her. "If we die, we die together. I have no regrets."


    A wave of emotion flooded through the captain as he heard this, and he could tell she had firmed her resolve. A pained smile appeared on his face as he wrapped one of his arms around the woman, pulling her in close.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    John''s finger suddenly pointed in several directions in an instant, as thin but powerful Qi beams raced towards the group. The Qi beams pierced through the heads of those in the crowd he had recognized from that night, but had not stepped forward yet.


    Those struck by the Qi beams died without even realizing it, and their bodies fell to the ground lifelessly. The nearby assassin guild members all jumped back, before they gazed at John with icy res. It was like their fear was erased, and reced with calm bloodthirst.


    "It seems as though you have all found your nerves again? Not bad."


    John looked towards the captain once more and pointed his finger at his head, ready to unleash the final attack. "This assassin guild of yours is quite impressive. You should be proud of what you have made here."


    The captain smiled as he heard John''s words. "It''s not all by my own doing, but I will thank you nheless. I know my fate is sealed, but I will still make the request that you let the rest of them live."


    John thought about it for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. "I can make use of a guild with such skills, so I''ll let them live."


    The captain smiled upon hearing this, and his gaze shifted from John to the woman next to him. She smiled at the captain as well, and they both nodded their heads in unison.


    Che!


    Knives held by their own hands shed across each of their necks, severing their arteries. Blood began to spew out, but each ignored the pain as they stared into each other''s eyes.. Life slowly drained from their bodies, as they copsed into each other for one final embrace.

 Chapter 405 - Assassin Guild Leader

    John watched the scene before him in silence, giving them the respect they deserved in their final moments. While he did consider the captain an enemy and wanted his death, he still allowed him and his woman to go out together, their love and dignity intact.


    The group of assassins behind watched the scene before them with mixed expressions. Some had tears in their eyes, while others looked on at John with anger and hate. John ignored those stares, as their anger was beneath his notice.


    A woman suddenly stepped forward towards the bodies, uncaring about John or what he did to her. She touched both bodies, collecting them into her spatial ring, before her gaze shifted towards John.


    "I''m going to bury them together. If you have a problem with that, just kill me now."


    John raised one eyebrow at her words, as well as her unflinching resolve, and nodded his head.


    "Go ahead," he replied, allowing her to leave with the bodies.


    The woman walked by John, not giving him a second nce. He allowed her to go, as his gaze shifted back towards the group of assassins that stood before him.


    Their cultivations ranged from Mist Creation to Core Formation. While this level of strength was pathetic in the Holy Lands, it was quite respectable in thesends. Just getting to Core Formation in John''s homnds was an aplishment that only one in a million was able to achieve.


    "So who is your leader?" John asked the group. "You addressed that man as captain, but surely you have a leader? Why has he not appeared?"


    The group remained silent as they stared at John. Silence filled the cave for a moment.


    "Just kill us already. You expect us to sell out our leader? Forget about it," one of the men in the group eventually replied.


    The rest nodded their heads in agreement, their resolves firmed together. John nodded his head in approval at their attitudes. If they had sold out their leader, he would have killed them instantly, as they would have revealed they valued their own lives more than those around them. Such people weren''t worthy of living.


    John''s consciousness suddenly red, as his instincts kicked into high alert. His power red outwards, and he was just about to dodge to the side when he decided not to do so at the veryst moment.


    Peng!


    A metallic sound boomed within the cave, as the walls trembled slightly from the collision that had just taken ce. The force of the collision sent a slight shockwave through the hall, knocking the nearby assassins off their feet.


    They slowly mored back to their feet and took in the site before them. Their eyes opened wide in shock at what they saw.


    John stood there motionlessly, as an elderly looking man stood directly behind him. A dagger was in the elderly man''s hands, and was pressed against John''s back between the shoulderdes.


    The assassins all had their eyes light up in hopeful optimism as they saw who had arrived. However, that optimism quickly dimmed as they saw the next scene y out.


    John smiled over his shoulder as he stared at the Elderly man behind him. The man''s face turned from an emotionless face to one of slight grimness as he noticed John''s gaze. He instantly retreated, putting some distance between himself and John.


    John turned around and faced the man, who had shown up without any warning. The man''s cultivation was at the Meridian Forging Realm, and John could instantly tell that this was the assassin guild leader.


    His stealth and assassination arts were incredibly impressive, and even John had only noticed his presence at thest moment. While he would have been able to dodge the attack in time, he decided not to do so, as a disy of the power difference between him and the man.


    The dagger had exploded onto his back with incredible speed and precision, which would have plunged deep into the flesh of any other Meridian Forging cultivator. However, John''s body toughness was far above anything the elderly man hade across before, and the dagger couldn''t even scratch the surface of his skin.


    "Who are you?" the elderly man asked with a cold voice. His gaze swept across the group of assassins behind John, and noticed several of them lying on the floor, dead. His gaze turned slightly angry at the sight, but his aura remained calm and undisturbed.


    "Not bad," Johnplimented the man. "Even when you see your underlings dead before you, you are able to maintain yourposure. As expected of the leader of such a guild."


    The man ignored John''spliment as his eyes swept over the group once more. He immediately noticed that several members were missing.


    John could tell what the man was thinking, and decided to clear up the situation from the start.


    "If you''re looking for your captain, he''s dead. Along with his woman," John exined.


    The man''s expression turned dark as he heard this, and his aura quickly disappeared. At the same time, he disappeared from John''s vision, causing John to raise his eyebrows once again in surprise.


    Peng!


    A metallic sound rang out once more as John''s hand caught a dagger in front of his face.


    "Going straight for the eyes? You''re quite brutal," John eximed as he kicked his leg out.


    Bang!


    His leg collided with thin air, but it made a loud sound as the eldelry man was suddenly revealed to all once more. His body collided violently against the cave wall, causing him to spew out blood. The man struggled to get up, but copsed to the ground as the force from John''s kick had been incredibly strong.


    John observed the man for a moment before he once again nodded his head in approval.


    "That stealth art of yours was actually quite impressive. You seemed tobine a soul illusion art with strange movements to disappear from sight. That,bined with your speed and ability to conceal your aura is an incredibly deadlybo against anyone in the same realm as you. Unfortunately, you went against me."


    "Leader," several of the assassins cried out as they ran towards the elderly man. Several of them helped him up, and one gave him a low tier healing pill. The man epted their aide, before he gazed at John once more.


    "Who are you?" the man asked once more. "With your power, if you wanted me and everyone else here dead, we would be dead already. What are your intentions with my guild?"


    "You''ll get to find out who I am after you answer this one question of mine," John replied. "Are you willing to have your assassin guild be a subordinate of my n?"

 Chapter 406 - Acquiring An Assassin Guild

    The leader of the guild stared at John with a calm expression as he heard his question. He assumed it was something like that, as he had received many such offers in the past. However, every offer in the past was from a power that he could ignore, and thus he rejected them.


    John''s power was far above his own, and he was only a child. Clearly he was far from normal.


    "It''s either that, or I kill everyone here and burn this ce to the ground," John continued as he was met with only silence.


    The guild leader remained silent for a moment longer before a sigh escaped his lips.


    "Let me ask you this one thing before I answer," the man replied. "For what reason did you kill my underlings?"


    He had been out of the headquarters on a mission, and when he returned, he saw John standing before his guild members, several of them dead already. Without asking questions, he had attempted to assassinate John, but was unable to do so.


    "They ambushed a group I was part of about a year ago, and killed one of my friends. They also tried to kill me, but I was barely able to escape. Today''s events are a natural consequence of their actions, and their failure to finish the job that night," John replied calmly.


    The elderly man stared at John for a moment before he closed his eyes and sighed once more.


    "I see. If that is the case, then they only have themselves to me."


    The line of assassin work was clear on one thing...never leave any survivors. Survivors could rise in power and do what John had done today.


    "I ept your offer," the man finally replied. The choice was between following John, a youth who disyed incredible talents, or death. The decision was easy to make.


    John nodded his head in satisfaction at the man''s answer, but his face quickly darkened as he stared at the man.


    "Good choice. Following me will bring you benefits far beyond your imagining. But know this. If you ever betray me, not only will I kill everyone here, I''ll make sure that each and every single one of you experiences a death more painful than you could ever imagine."


    John''s words,bined with his incredibly thick bloodlust, sent a shiver down everyone''s spine. They could tell that he was serious with every word he had said.


    The elderly man sighed once more as he heard John''s words.


    "No one here is foolish enough to enrage a power far beyond our level. What is your name, so that we may serve you appropriately," the man asked.


    John smiled as he heard these words, as he could tell the man was sincere in his offer.


    "John Fenix."


    "Well then Young Master John. My Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild is now under yourmand."


    ¡­


    Two dayster, John arrived back at his Fenix n, with the Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild leader behind him. John had spent thest two days instructing the guild on their new responsibilities, as well as leaving them some pills and weapons to improve their power.


    The best way to win over the hearts of cultivators was to bestow them powerful gifts, and he had done just that. The pills and weapons he had obtained from the Holy Lands were enough to shock the guild speechless, and his promises of further rewards served as additional fuel for them to slowly but surely ept his proposition.


    Upon arriving at the n, John noticed that the Elder''s had all gathered in the great meeting hall at the base of the mountain. He flew directly there and quickly entered the building, along with the assassin guild leader.


    John spotted his father, his grandfather, the patriarch, and all the other Elders gathered in the meeting hall. They quickly noticed his arrival and turned to greet him.


    "John! You''re finally back," Barden greeted him with an embrace. After parting, he noticed the elderly man standing behind John, and inspected him closely.


    His eyebrows raised slightly as he noticed the man''s cultivation, as well as the dangerous feeling he got from staring at the man. Despite Barden''s increase in power, he knew the man was stronger, and far more deadly than himself.


    "Who is this?" Barden asked curiously.


    The rest of the Elders in the room also noticed the man, and could instantly tell that he was incredibly dangerous.


    "This is Harlow, the leader of the Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild," John replied with a smile.


    "What? The Stalking Mantis Assassin Guild?" several Elder''s cried out in surprise.


    The guild had the reputation of being one of the most lethal assassin guilds in the entirend, mostly due to the leader himself being incredibly powerful. The leader had quite a legendary reputation in thesends as one of its most deadly cultivators. The only one in the room who would be able to survive against him would be the Patriarch.


    "What is he doing here?" Barden asked curiously.


    John scratched his cheek as a wry smile appeared on his face. "They work for our Fenix n now," he replied.


    "What?" another collective outburst boomed within the room.


    Cade Fenix walked up to John, his face slightly confused.


    "John, how did such a thinge to pass?" he asked curiously.


    "The details don''t matter, do they?" John replied with a wry smile. "Only that the guild now directly serves the Fenix n as its main assassination branch. If you have any problems that need silent solutions, they will be at your beck and call," John exined.


    The guild leader looked on at the scene with a strange look on his face. John had been incredibly intimidating and overwhelming back in the hideout, but now seemed like nothing more than a child. However, he had been won over by John''s power and promised rewards, and so his loyalty to the Fenix n was absolute now.


    He knew that if he ever betrayed them, there would be no safe ce to live anymore, and so such a thought didn''t even cross his mind.


    The details of adding the assassination guild to the Fenix n powerwork was discussed in great detail, before the meeting of Elder''s convened for the night. John followed his father home as they discussed various details of what had transpired over thest few days, with John revealing his reason for running into the guild.


    "Such a thing happened?" Barden eximed as John exined the night the guild had almost imed his life.


    John onlyughed at his fathers response and told him it was all water under the bridge, as the two continued to converse. When they arrived before their house, Barden suddenly became silent, his mood shifting.


    John instantly noticed this shift, and couldn''t help but ask about it.


    "Father, what is going on? Why did you suddenly be quiet?"


    Barden remained silent as he stood there for a moment, before he began to walk towards the mansion once more. John followed closely behind, and followed his father into the house, and eventually into the basement.


    Surprise appeared on his face as Barden opened the secret passageway to the mysterious ce beneath his house. Thest time John had been here was when he discovered the mysterious sphere, which his parents refused to borate the secrets of.


    John followed silently down to the secret chamber below, and when he arrived, he saw his mother standing there, her face seemingly stained with tears.


    Barden turned to his son with a solemn expression on his face.


    "Son, with your new power and everything else that has happened....your mother and I have decided that it''s finally time to tell you the truth about everything we know."

 Chapter 407 - Sandstorm

    John sucked in a deep breath as he heard his fathers words. Everything had started in this basement chamber when he had discovered the mysterious sphere.


    Upon touching it, it appeared inside of him as a second dantian, and the rest of his journey was set into motion. It was the thing that broke his curse of not being able to cultivate, and was the thing that changed his fate forever. If not for the sphere, John knew he would most likely still be unable to cultivate, and his n would have been wiped out.


    It was not unreasonable to say that the sphere was one of the things that saved his n from destruction.


    He had asked his father the day after obtaining the sphere what it was, but Barden had only said he would exin things when John was older. It appeared that the time for those exnations hade, and John was waiting for each word on bated breath to learn the truth about it.


    "Do we have to?" Rachel Fenix said softly to Barden as she stood next to him.


    Barden smiled sadly at his wife and wrapped one of his arms around her. "We must. Its only right at this point," Barden replied.


    John could clearly tell that there was something in the story that his father was about to tell that neither he nor his mother wanted John to know, but were going to tell him anyway.


    Barden turned his gaze from his wife to John, and his face turned stern as he looked at his son.


    "I knew this day would eventuallye, ever since you found this sphere. We hid it out of sight, deep beneath the earth, but yet you still found it regardless. While it may seem like coincidence, it is not," Barden started exining. "While you may not yet know it, you have a deep intertwined fate with the sphere."


    John remained silent as he listened to his father speak. When he had first stumbled down in the basement, he had felt a strange feeling that had drawn him to the sphere. He had assumed it was just the power of the sphere that he had detected, but it appeared that there was much more to the story.


    "Just know...finding out the truth of everything...Are you sure you are ready?" Barden asked John.


    John''s face turned stern, and he nodded his head at his father.


    "I''m ready."


    Barden sighed, and embraced his wife a bit tighter as he began to tell John the truth.


    "This story starts many years ago¡­"


    ¡­


    In the middle of the Great Desert, a sandstorm covering a wide swath ofnd raged with great ferocity. The winds howled at incredible speeds, while the sand kicked up by the winds pelted all in its path.


    The power of the sandstorm was enough to grind downrge boulders to mere pebbles in several minutes.


    In the very heart of this sandstorm, two people were fighting against it with all their might.


    Bang!


    A loud bang echoed out within the sandstorm, followed by a screeching roar as a powerful fire battle art attack exploded against a desert beast. The beast was knocked backwards hundreds of yards into the sandstorm as it quickly disappeared from sight.


    "Grandfather¡­" a man who appeared to be in his twenties cried towards the one who had just attacked the creature. "I can barely hold on anymore. We need to find shelter."


    The man turned around as he heard these words, and nodded his head in agreement. "This storm is far too strong. If we stay inside of it, we''ll die. Our Qi is being depleted at rapid rates fighting against the storm, and we can''t hold on much longer," the older man yelled out, his voice partially drowned out by the storm.


    The man''s divine sense swept out in all directions as far as it could go, as he searched for any form of shelter. After searching for a short while, the man''s eyes lit up slightly.


    "This way, Barden. Follow me," Barden''s grandfather, the Fenix n Patriarch, called out loudly.


    The youth, who appeared to be in his twenties, was John''s father Barden Fenix. His cultivation was at the early Core Formation Realm, while his grandfathers was in the Meridian Forging Realm.


    Barden shielded his eyes as he followed closely behind his grandfather. The two fought against the powerful storm as they slowly moved forward towards whatever Grayson Fenix had spotted. After great struggle, Barden and Grayson arrived at their target destination.


    A cave system, with ny percent of its entrance covered by the desert sand, was revealed before them.


    "It''s a cave system," Grayson called out. "The storm must have swept away the top of it, barely revealing its entrance. Stand back for a moment."


    Barden stood several steps back behind his grandfather, who shed his weapon out towards the sand blocking the cave.


    Boom!


    His weapon mmed against the sand, upheaving most of the sand in their way. The cave entrance that was just barely revealed before opened up to them, allowing them to enter.


    "Quick, enter!" Grayson instructed as he dashed into the cave. Barden followed behind quickly as they left the powerful storm and finally felt shelter. The storm howled just outside the entrance of the cave as the two descended deeper into it.


    "We''ll set up camp here," Grayson Fenix instructed as he sat on the ground. A ball of me lit up in his hands, illuminating the cave around them. The ball of fire floated in the air before them, acting as a permanent light source within the otherwise pitch ck cave.


    Barden fell heavily onto the floor, his exhaustion nearly overwhelming him. They had been in the storm for over a day, and he didn''t know how much longer he would have been able to survive. His breathing was heavy as he fought to catch his breath.


    Grayson Fenix unpacked some supplies from his spatial ring, as he set up a temporary camp.


    "We''ll shelter here until the storm passes. Then we continue onwards to the Holy Lands," he instructed as he took out a piece of meat and began to roast it over the ball of fire.


    Barden sat up and nodded his head in understanding and took out some meat of his own, roasting it as well.. After finishing their meals, Barden and his grandfather fell into a deep slumber as the storm continued to rage overhead.

 Chapter 408 - Truth

    The night passed by, and the next day arrived as the storm continued to rage without showing signs of weakening. Both Barden and Grayson made no attempt to leave the cave, as it was the only sce in the storm of misery.


    Grayson gazed from the fire to his grandson, who appeared to be deep in thought.


    "Thinking about her?" he asked Barden.


    Barden looked at his grandfather, as a smile full of longing appeared on his face. He nodded his head at his grandfather''s words.


    "How could I not?" Barden replied. "I just got married to the love of my life several weeks ago, and I''m already leaving her behind. Am I truly doing the right thing here?" Barden asked, his tone full of confusion and doubt.


    "You are doing this for your n, and your family, are you not?" Grayson asked.


    Barden nodded his head at his grandfather''s question.


    "Then you are not doing the wrong thing. You may be parting with your wife for now, but you are doing so to raise your strength, allowing you to better protect your family. Offers from a Holy Land power, especially one as powerful as the Supreme Battle Sect, are not given out lightly. You must seize this opportunity with all your power. You will return to our n eventually, and your power will be able to ensure our survival. That alone makes it worthwhile," Grayson said while smiling at his grandson.


    Barden remained silent as he stared into the ball of fire and listened to his grandfather''s words. He only nodded his head to his grandfather''s words, as he was unable to muster his voice at the moment.


    The fire continued to burn as time slowly passed by within the cave. Before long, night once again descended, and Barden and Grayson both fell into another deep slumber.


    In the middle of the night, Barden suddenly opened his eyes as he was roused from his deep slumber. His dreary eyes scanned the nearby area, but found nothing of note.


    "I must have imagined it," Barden mused to himself as he fell back asleep. Just as he was about to fall back asleep, the same feeling that roused him from his slumber passed over him again.


    He sat upright, and nced over to his nearby grandfather, who was still deep asleep.


    ''Strange. If there truly is something deeper in this cave system, grandfather surely would have noticed it when he cleared out the cave.''


    Barden continued to feel the slight lingering feeling within him, and he finally stood up from his makeshift bed. He peered deeper into the cave, as that was the direction he felt the feelinging from.


    Barden nced back at his grandfather, unsure if he should rouse him or not, but decided against it. His grandfather had used an incredible amount of energy to shield them both through the storm, and was still weak.


    ''He needs all the rest he can get. I''ll check it out, and if I notice anything, I''ll alert grandfather.''


    With his mind made up, Barden began to slowly walk deeper into the cave. A ball of fire appeared in his hand to illuminate the area, while his divine sense was pushed out to its maximum range as his caution was raised. Slowly but surely, Barden walked deeper into the cave, which stretched for over a mile down deep into the earth.


    There were many side-caves that sprung up asionally, but each led to a dead end. Barden ignored these routes, as he strode down the main channel.


    ''The strange feeling is getting stronger and stronger. Just what is down here?" Barden mused out loud.


    After walking for a lengthy amount of time, he eventually came to the end of the cave. A dead end greeted him, causing him to frown as he put his hand against the wall of the cave.


    ''What is going on? The strange feeling seems to being from the other side of this wall, but it''s clearly a dead end. Should I attack my way through this wall?''


    sh!


    Barden''s vision suddenly went bright as he felt his body wrapped up in a strange energy.


    "What''s going on?" Barden cried out as he struggled against it, but was unable to budge even slightly. His body was pulled through the wall of the cave as if it wasn''t there, shocking him greatly.


    Almost immediately after, he found himself in an incrediblyrge, open cavern. His gaze swept around in all directions, and his eyes quickly opened wide in shock as he took in the scene before him.


    Hundreds of corpses, some clearly belonging to ancient cultivators far above his level in power, were scattered on the ground of the chamber. In the very center of the chamber, a bright glowing ball of Qi several feet across hovered in the air.


    Just from a nce, Barden could tell that the ball of Qi was so powerful that he couldn''t evenprehend it, but it was also shrouded by a mysterious power to make its aura undetectable, even at this close range.


    "What is this thing?" Barden mused to himself as he stared warily from a distance, unwilling to approach any closer.


    However, the strange power wrapped him up once more, dragging his body closer to the floating orb of Qi in the center of the chamber.


    "Dammit. I need to escape! Grandfather!" Barden cried out, but his words were drowned out and his power was insignificant whenpared to the power wrapping around him.


    Barden quickly found himself floating directly in front of the orb, as a powerful divine sense far beyond hisprehension suddenly scanned over him, invading his soul. Barden was not even able to put up a slight resistance as the divine sense read each and every memory of his.


    Barden grit his teeth against the pain invading his soul, and just when he thought his soul was about to shatter, the divine sense stopped its soul search.


    Barden''s heavy breathing echoed within the otherwise silent chamber for a few minutes, before a voice entered his mind.


    "You are a good man. A man of love, care, and pride," the voice whispered softly within his mind. "I shall choose you."


    "What? Choose me for what?" Barden cried out, his voice echoing within the chamber.


    Barden''s eyes suddenly locked on the orb of Qi before him, which began to slowly unravel, revealing the contents within. His eyes went wide, as he was unable to believe what he saw within.


    ¡­


    John listened closely as his father exined everything that had happened in the Great Desert. He was surprised to hear that his father had somehow gotten an offer to join the Supreme Battle Sect, and had attempted to do so just after marrying his wife Rachel.


    However, on his trip to the holynds, the storm caused them to seek shelter, which eventually led to Barden discovering the mysterious chamber, and the orb within.


    Barden paused for a long time after revealing this, while his wife gripped him tighter, her tears starting to flow once more.


    John clenched his fists tightly as he broke the silence.


    "What happened next. What was in the orb of Qi? Was it the mysterious sphere?" John asked. He could tell his father was struggling to find the right words to say next.


    Barden sighed deeply once more. His firm and resolved eyes locked onto John''s, as he decided to reveal the truth.


    "When the orb of Qi faded, I found the mysterious sphere....as well as you, no more than a few days old, holding the sphere in your hands."

 Chapter 409 - Mysterious Spirit

    "Wahhhh"


    The cries of the newborn baby before Barden echoed out throughout therge cavern as the cocoon of Qi finally faded away fully. Barden stood there in stunned silence for an incredibly long time as the baby floated before him.


    After standing there for some time, he reached out and embraced the baby, cradling it gently in his arms. He stared closely at the child in his arms, whose cries softened as it snuggled in his embrace. The mysterious sphere was still in the baby''s embrace, as if it belonged to him alone and brought himfort.


    Barden rocked the child in his embrace for some time, before his gaze shifted to look forwards. A soul spirit floated before him, incredibly powerful, but also ethereal, as if it would fade away at any moment. It took the form of a woman, who took Barden''s breath away at her beauty. However, her aura was also incredibly intimidating and strange, unlike anything he had ever felt before, making it hard for Barden to look directly at her.


    "What is his name?" Barden asked.


    "John," the soul form replied gently, love and warmth in her voice.


    Barden looked back down at the baby in his arms, and felt lost at the moment. "What am I supposed to do with him? Do you intend for me to raise him?"


    "Yes," the spirit replied gently. "You will raise him as your own child. You will show him love, care, and a good life."


    Barden frowned at these words, as he considered himself not fit to raise a child, let alone someone else''s. However, the spirit''s next words made any potential rebukes of him vanish into thin air.


    "If you do not raise this child, and you do not raise him with love and care, if anything happens to this child... I will be sure to destroy everyone and everything you hold dear."


    There was no bluffing in the voice, which sent a chill up Barden''s spine. The power of the spirit before him was beyond hisprehension, and he did not doubt it was capable of it.


    At that moment, the baby shifted deeper into Barden''s embrace, and fell into a deep slumber. Both Barden and the spirit smiled at the scene, and Barden felt a wave of emotions enter his body.


    After a long silence, Barden sighed deeply and nodded his head at the spirit.


    "It seems that I have no choice in the matter. I will do as you say, and raise this child as my own."


    The spirit stared at Barden closely, as if inspecting the truth of each of his words. After another moment of silence, it spoke up once more.


    "The sphere is his hands contains secrets far beyond yourprehension."


    Barden''s eyes locked onto the sphere as it was mentioned, and he felt as though his soul was being drawn into it. A feeling of both holy rxation, and also sinister malevolence entered his mind at the same time, causing him to shift his gaze in fright.


    "What is this thing?" Barden couldn''t help but ask.


    "I cannot reveal that," the spirit replied. "The only thing you need to know is that it belongs to John, and that it must never be found or used by anyone else. Do you understand?"


    Barden immediately nodded his head, as he found both the spirit and the sphere beyond frightening.


    "Good. Listen to my words carefully. You must keep this sphere and John separate, until he is old enough to handle its power," the spirit instructed.


    "How old is old enough?" Barden asked for rity.


    "Fate will decide when he is old enough," the spirit replied. "Hide it away from view. When he is ready to obtain this item, he will naturally find it."


    Barden remained silent for a moment, not really believing in fate, but nodded his head nheless.


    "Good. Then I only have onest instruction for you. When the child has found this sphere, and has had ample time to adapt to it and ept his own nature, you will lead him back here."


    Barden nodded his head once again, acknowledging the spirit''s instructions. The spirit''s gaze shifted from Barden to the baby in his embrace, and a warm smile appeared on her face.


    Her gaze lingered for some time, before the familiar power wrapped up Barden and his vision turned white. He immediately found himself back in the cave, as if he had never left the dead end. In fact, it all appeared to have been a dream.


    However, the baby he held in his embrace revealed that everything that had happened was reality. Barden stared at the baby in his arms for quite some time before a wry smile appeared on his face.


    "How do I even begin to exin this to grandfather? Or Rachel?"


    He shook his head at himself, before he turned and walked back up the cave towards his grandfather, an unexpected newborn child in his arms.


    ¡­


    "After that, instead of going to the Holy Land, my grandfather and I returned to the n. We hid your identity for many months so that we could let the others believe that you were truly our son and a member of the n."


    John stood there in stunned silence as his father exined what had happened in the cavern, and what the spirit had said to him. He was unable to muster a single sound, as his entire reality was shattering before him. Every word his father spoke felt like a war-drum booming in his mind, shattering what he knew about himself.


    After Barden finished speaking, the only sounds filling the room was the soft sobs from Rachel. She had not wanted to reveal the truth to John, but knew there was no other way.


    Barden sighed once more as he saw his son unable to process what he had heard. Rachel Fenix turned from Barden''s embrace and walked forward to embrace John, who stood there staring off at nothing.


    "Son, while you now know the truth, that does not change the fact that you are our son," Rachel said as she hugged John tightly.


    Barden walked up as well and ced a heavy hand on John''s shoulder.


    "That''s right, son. At first I''ll admit that I was a bit hesitant about the whole thing. But...after spending more and more time raising you, I truly do consider you my son. While we may not be linked by blood, we are linked by our hearts and our souls."


    "That''s right," Rachel said as she nodded her head. "No matter what, you will always be our precious son. None of this changes that at all."


    John finally snapped out of his stunned daze and looked at his two parents who stood before him. Tears streamed down his mothers face, while his father stared at him with heavy eyes. John could clearly tell that both were broken by the truth they had hidden from him, and also that they had to reveal to him today.


    "We both love you, John. That will never change," Barden said to John.


    After standing there in stunned silence all this time, John finally snapped out of his stunned daze and raised both his arms, pulling his mother and father into an embrace. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes as he felt their warm embrace.


    "I love you both," John replied before parting from their embrace. He stared at both of them with blurry eyes.


    "Despite what you''ve told me today, you''ll both always be my mother and father...but I need some time to process this all," John replied with a heavy tone..


    Even now, he could hardly believe what he had heard. It came from nowhere, and was the thing he was never expecting to hear. It was as if his entire world and life was a lie, and he needed time alone to sort that all out.


    Barden nodded at his son. "Take all the time you need. Return to us when you are ready to leave for the Great Desert, and find out the truth for yourself."


    John nodded his head before his body suddenly vanished from Barden''s and Rachels sight. Rachel turned and embraced Barden tightly, as they stayed in that embrace for the rest of the night.


    ...


    John sat on the very precipice of one of the Skycleave Mountains, overlooking the mountainous region before him. He had sat here all night, his wild thoughts running rampant as he tried to process everything he had heard.


    The morning sun crested over the horizon, illuminating John and thend before him. His eyes suddenly hardened, and his soul entered his spatial realm. He found himself standing before the holy gate, which continued to permanently radiate its holy aura.


    John frowned as he stared at the gate, of which the mysterious man resided within. He stared at the gate for a moment, his questions, uncertainty, and confusion building by the moment.


    "Who the fuck are you?" John suddenly shouted out at the holy gate, his voice booming out as loud as possible.. He wanted answers, and was certain the mysterious man had them.

 Chapter 410 - Self Acceptance

    John stared at the gate, which remained silent.


    "My father exined everything to me, but I''m sure you''re already aware of that. Who the hell are you?" John asked once again. "I was found by my father, holding the sphere in my hand. At the same time, that spirit said it belonged to me? And you seem to be linked to this ce as well. Who are you? Who am I?"


    John''s voice trailed off towards the end, as he questioned his own existence. The mysterious man within the gate was the same person who was depicted by the many statues within this pce. Clearly the man knew about what this pce was, and potentially what the sphere was. Even more, he potentially knew about John and who he was, which was what John wanted to know the most.


    However, he was only met with silence, as the man within the holy gate refused to answer. John''s frowning face turned angry at this silence, and he walked up and kicked the gate with all his might out of frustration.


    Even still, the man within remained silent. John scowled at the gate, and turned around angrily. His soul was just about to leave the spatial realm, when a voice entered his ears.


    "You are far too weak to know the truth yet," the mysterious man''s voice sounded out. John turned around in surprise as he stared at the holy gate.


    "Too weak? Then when will I be strong enough to know the truth?" John asked.


    However, the gate remained silent once more, as if the previous line was all it would reveal to him. John''s anger rose once more, but he knew arguing with the mysterious man was a waste of time.


    His soul form suddenly left his spatial realm as he returned his consciousness to the real world. The morning sun hung a bit higher in the sky, illuminating the beautifulndscape before him. John took in the view in silence, as he continued to process everything.


    ¡­


    In the Fenix n, Barden eventually left his house and arrived at the Chamber of Elder''s, where he found Cade Fenix and the Patriarch. They both stared at Barden, and could tell what had happened.


    "How did he take it?" Cade asked his son.


    Out of the entire Fenix n, the only other people who knew John was not Barden''s flesh and blood son were Cade and Grayson. They knew Barden would reveal the truth this past night, and were waiting here as a result.


    "He took it as well as he possibly could have, given the circumstances," Barden replied with a heavy voice.


    Cade walked up and put his hand on his son''s shoulder, as a warm smile appeared on his face.


    "You cannot me yourself for this situation, as it was bound to happen eventually. Instead, you should be proud of your aplishments. You did what many would not be able to, and as a result, John has be a fine young man that has elevated this n far beyond what it would have been capable of on its own."


    Barden remained silent, and only nodded his head.


    He walked past his father and towards therge table in the middle of the room, which contained maps, scrolls, and other documents.


    "I need something to take my mind off this situation," Barden said as he stood before the table. "Let us begin the nning of the Holy Land Branch."


    The three of them gathered around the table and began to n the logistics of establishing the Holy Land Branch, including who should go, what the leadership structure should be, what resources should be taken, and howmunication between the two headquarters would be handled.


    The discussions continued throughout the night and into the morning, when suddenly the sound of a parting door sounded out behind them.


    Barden, Cade, and Grayson all turned to see John stride into the room. Barden smiled and nodded his head at John, as he could tell his face of confusion and doubt had turned into one of resolve.


    He walked up to his father and embraced him for a moment, before he separated.


    "Are you nning the Holy Land branch establishment?" John asked, acting as if nothing from the previous night was a concern anymore.


    Barden, as well as Cade and Grayson all smiled, as they could tell that John had already resolved his mind on the subject, and was acting normal once again.


    "Yes," Barden replied as he turned to look at the documents on the table before them.


    "Good, then let me help as well," John replied.


    The four of them discussed the details of the Holy Land branch establishment through the next few days, before everything was sorted out.


    ¡­


    John stood before his master, who summoned her flying ship. It hovered before the gathered members of the Fenix n, who stared at the ship with awe and wonder. None of them had ever seen a flying ship, and were stunned by its grandeur.


    Barden stepped forward out of the crowd and stood next to John, before he turned and addressed the gathered Fenix n members.


    He gave a rousing speech towards the n, before roughly one hundred members stepped forward. These were the members chosen to establish the branch of the n, as the flying ship could only amodate one hundred people.


    The members all said their final farewells, before they hopped onto the ship.


    "Goodbye, father, grandfather," Barden said to Cade and Grayson Fenix, who had decided to stay behind and lead the main n.


    "What''s with the parting words?" Grayson replied with a smile. "You''re only going to the Holy Lands. We will see each other again before long."


    Barden smiled as he heard this, and nodded his head at the patriarch.


    John watched this all happen with a smile on his face, as his mother stood next to them. Barden regrouped with John and Rachel quickly, and the three entered the flying ship as well.


    Johns gaze turned hard as the flying ship then took off at great speeds, leaving the Fenix n behind as it sped towards the Great Desert, and the truth contained within.

 Chapter 411 - Seeking Out The Truth

    Lilians flying ship sped forward at great speeds as it entered the Great Desert. John had asked his master to follow his fathers instructions on where to pilot it, but had not borated further.


    While Lilian was curious as to what was going on, she could tell that John did not want to talk about it. She epted John''s request, and allowed Barden to tell her where to take the ship.


    The interior of the ship was quiterge, and the hundred members of the Fenix n were gathered in several groups, discussing the ship and everything else with great excitement. Ryan, John''s lifetime friend, was also on the ship, as he was to be the Fenix n''s foremost disciple after John.


    He wanted to talk to John on the trip, but could tell his mind was upied with something, and decided to let him be.


    It had taken a while toe to terms with the truth, but John had eventually done so. He realized that none of this changed anything, and that his main goal of obtaining strength was only furthered by this event.


    The words of the mysterious man still rang in his mind, that only when he was stronger could he learn the truth.


    Barden walked over to John, who was sitting in a corner of the ship. He sat down next to John as they both stared through the translucent floor to the desert below.


    "We''re approaching the location. We should arrive there soon," Barden said to John.


    "I know," John replied. "I can feel something in the desert calling out to me, and its growing stronger. It could only be that."


    Barden remained silent upon hearing this, and decided to just sit next to his son as they watched thend pass by. Rachel Fenix also walked up and sat next to her son, leaning against his shoulder. Like this, the three sat in silence for quite some time before John''s face turned serious.


    "We''re here," John said to his father.


    Barden was surprised that John''s connection to this area was this strong, but not too surprised. He nodded his head as John''s words, as they had truly arrived.


    John quickly got up and instructed his master to stop the ship. She did so, and John quickly jumped out of the ship and sped to the ground below. She had asked if he needed help with what he had to do, but John politely declined her offer, telling her that he would be alright.


    The strange feeling only grew stronger as John approached the ground, and he quickly spotted the slightest opening of a cave, simr to what Barden had described. His hand shed out, sending a Qi attack that exploded the sand at the cave''s entrance away.


    His figure quickly dashed inside, the feeling only growing stronger.


    ''There''s no doubt about it. This is the cave father was talking about.''


    John took a deep breath and paused at the cave''s entrance for a moment before his footsteps started once more. His steps remained steady as he walked deeper into the cave, and eventually arrived at the dead end that his father had described.


    The feeling within him was nearly overwhelming at this point as John put his hand against the wall of the cave.


    ''It''s just on the other side of this wall.''


    Just as he thought this, John felt himself be wrapped up with a strange power, and his body was drawn through the wall itself. It was an incredibly strange feeling to be drawn through a solid object, but John didn''t struggle against the power as he allowed it to bring him forward.


    Arge cavern, just as his father had described, came into view. Hundreds of ancient skeletons were littering the ground before him, causing him to raise one eyebrow at the scene. He could tell that some of the skeletons used to belong to cultivators as strong as Thunderzen, or even stronger.


    His gaze shifted from the skeletons before him, to the center of the cavern. In the very center of the cavern, a hazy ball of light floated, seemingly part of this world, and yet at the same time not, making it incredibly bizarre.


    John remained silent for a moment and took a deep breath, before he walked forward towards the ball of hazy light. His footsteps became less and less steady as he approached the light, but he eventually managed to stand before it.


    The hazy ball of light slowly began to transform before his eyes, quickly taking the shape of a woman. The soul form was hazy and ethereal, but John could clearly distinguish the features of the woman.


    The woman looked at John with soft eyes, as a smile appeared on her face. On the other hand, surprise appeared on John''s face, as he had seen this woman before.


    ''This...she''s the woman depicted by the statues in my pce realm.''


    The simrity was unmistakable, in both her physical features, as well as the demeanor and aura she carried herself with. It was as if she was the holiest battle maiden in the universe, incredibly strong, but also incredibly caring.


    The soulform suddenly moved forward, and reached up with one hand to stroke John''s face. Her hand passed right through John''s face, but she seemed to not notice, or not care, as she gently caressed his face.


    Such an action from a stranger would normally cause John to jump back away from it, but he felt his body grow soft at the touch, as if it was the thing he wanted the most at this moment.


    A slightly saddened look appeared in the soulforms eyes as she spoke up for the first time.


    "You''ve grown up into a fine young man," her soft, ethereal voice seemed to whisper in John''s ears.


    John felt himself ovee with a wave of emotion upon hearing those words, but he quickly shook his head and took a step back as he recovered his senses. His gaze hardened as he looked at the woman before him.


    Although he was certain he knew the answer, he needed to know the truth for certain. He took a deep breath, collecting himself for a moment, before he spoke out to the soul form.


    "Who are you?" John asked. "Are you my¡­"


    John couldn''t finish thest word, as it seemed to get stuck in his throat. The woman''s loving smile returned to her face as she replied to John''s words, each word from her echoing loudly in his mind like a drum.


    "You already know the truth in your heart....my dear child."

 Chapter 412 - The Truth Of The Past

    Although he had been expecting this answer from the first moment he saw the woman before him, the word still echoed in his mind like war drums. A flood of emotions washed over him, as he stood there in silence for several minutes.


    Although it was not a guarantee, he had been aware of the possibility that the mysterious spirit was his mother just based on Barden''s description of the events that had happened. Even so, the confirmation of the truth nearly overwhelmed him, as tears began to form in his eyes.


    The woman''s spirit form floated before John stared at him lovingly in silence as she let him process everything.


    "How...how did this all happen? How did I end up here as a baby? Why did you send me away? Why are you not here in person. Who¡­"


    John''s string of questions trailed off as he became choked up with an overwhelming surge of emotions. The woman smiled at John as her hand suddenly reached out and touched his forehead.


    Her outstretched finger went right through his head, and pierced into his soul. Visions instantly filled John''s mind, telling him a story of what his mother wanted him to know.


    ...


    John''s mother, who was in her real body and not the soul-form he saw before her, was standing on top of a magnificent mountain, farrger than any mountain John had ever seen before. The wind howled violently around her, its power easily strong enough to shatter the bodies of Heaven Tribtion experts.


    However, his mother ignored the howling winds, as if their power was not of the slightest concern.


    Cradled in her arms was John, who was no more than a few days old. He was sleeping in her embrace, while she rocked him gently, a sad smile on her face.


    After cradling John for some time, her expression turned from sad to serious as her cultivation base red out with absolute power.


    John, who was experiencing these visions right now, was stunned beyond all belief as he felt his mothers power. It was far stronger than anything he had seen from a cultivator, and he had no doubt that she would be able to erase Thunderzen with the single wave of her hand.


    As her power red, a ball of Qi began to wrap around John, encasing him in the Qi cocoon. John could not only feel that immense power, but also strange Dao''s infused in the Qi cocoon.


    ''Is that...the Dao''s of Space and Time?''


    John couldn''t help but be shocked further as he felt the Dao''s of Space and Time be controlled by his mother. Her control of the Dao''s were wless, and he could tell that she had full mastery over the Dao''s.


    Comparing her Daoprehension to his own was likeparing an ant to the heavens.


    The Dao''s of Space and Time fused into the cocoon, forming a space-time cocoon independent from the rest of the world. At the very end, she separated a portion of her soul and infused it with the cocoon,? her face paling considerably from doing so.


    "Goodbye, my precious son," his mother whispered to John as the cocoon finally fully formed around her. "May fate one day allow us to reunite."


    Upon saying this, her gaze shifted up into the sky, seemingly peering deep into the void of the universe. Her gaze locked onto a singr direction, and her arms suddenly pointed forwards.


    The Qi cocoon, with John''s encased inside of it, propelled forward, and immediately left the surface of the she was standing on. It screamed out into the void of space at unimaginable speeds before it quickly disappeared from her sight.


    Tears formed in her saddened eyes as she stared up at the sky, before she wiped them away and her gaze turned cold.


    Suddenly, eight other people d in incredibly luxurious robes appeared on the top of the mountain, surrounding his mother. Each emanated monstrous power, with two of them disying equal power to his mother.


    "Where is it, and where is he?" one of the two strongest men asked. "Give both to us now, and you will be allowed to return to the n unharmed."


    John''s mother scoffed with disgust as she stared at the man before her.


    "To think I once considered you as a brother," his mother replied with a cold voice. "Your brother is the only reason you yet draw breath, and this is how you honor him? You disgrace yourself."


    The man''s face turned red with anger as he heard these words, but he quickly regained his calm.


    "My brother will be honored for all time, but it is time to think about the future of our n, not the past. The war brought incredible turmoil to this universe, and we must solidify our power now more than ever. Where is the artifact? Where is John?" the man asked once more, his voice growing colder.


    John''s mother smiled as she heard these words, as she knew John was out of reach of the man. It had been beyond hard to separate from her newborn child, but her hasty decision had turned out to be the correct one.


    With her power over space and time, she knew they would not be able to locate where she had sent him off to.


    "The Artifact and John? They''re gone, far out of your sight and reach. You''ll never find them. You have lost."


    Boom!


    The man''s aura exploded out, incinerating the entire mountain they stood on as if it never existed, just from the power of his aura alone, as he dashed forward towards her.


    His mother struck out with her own attacks, as an apocalyptic battle between her and the eight other cultivators began.


    ¡­


    John''s vision returned back to normal as the visions his mother had bestowed upon him faded away. Deafening silence filled the chamber as John stood there motionlessly, still processing everything he had just seen.


    A million questions quickly formed in his mind, as he thirsted for the truth of everything.


    "Whe...when did you send me away? How long was I underneath this desert for?" John couldn''t help but ask. Although he was unsure of the details, he could tell that a great deal of time must have passed for him to reach this, as well as for him to be found by Barden.


    "I''m not sure of the exact number of years," his mother replied gently. "My soul was in slumber to maintain my power, and only awakened when you were discovered by others," she exined as her gaze shifted towards the skeletons on the ground.


    John''s gaze shifted towards them as well, as he finally realized what had happened to them. When his father had discovered this ce, he was thoroughly examined by his mother, and was deemed to be a suitable father for John.


    The others must have failed this test of hers, as their characters and personalities did not line up with what she wanted. With the secret of John''s location far too precious to be revealed, her only course of action was to eliminate anyone who discovered this ce and was deemed unworthy.


    "However," she spoke up once more, causing John to shift his gaze back to her. "You have been down here in slumber for at least several hundred thousand years."


    Boom!


    The truth once again struck John''s mind like a drum, as he took several steps backwards.


    "Wha..what? How is such a thing possible?" John asked, his voice unsteady.


    His thoughts shifted back to the Dao of Space and Time his mother had used.


    "I used my powers to wrap you in a separate spatial dimension, until I found someone to raise you. In that dimension, time for you was frozen," she exined.


    John stood there in silence once again, the series of truths piling up and bing harder and harder to process. He had no idea the level of power one would need to be able to aplish such a thing, but he was certain that it was far beyond his current scope of knowledge.


    "Now you know the truth, or at least the truth I can reveal to you," John''s mother said, breaking the deafening silence.


    John''s gaze shifted back to his mother''s soulform, a million more questions quickly forming in his mind.


    "Wha...what happened next?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    "I cannot reveal that to you, as you are too weak to know the truth yet," his mother replied with a gentle voice.


    John frowned as he heard this, although he had been expecting such a reply. The mysterious man had already revealed to him long ago that Karma was a real thing, and invoking too much of it too quickly would only spell doom for himself.


    "Goddamn Karma," John muttered in frustration, as his thoughts suddenly shifted to a different topic rted to the mysterious man.


    John''s eyes slowly widened inprehension as he put two and two together.


    ''If my mother is the one depicted by the female statues in my pce realm, then¡­''


    His widened gaze stared at his mother who floated before him, smiling at him lovingly.


    "If you''re my mother...then the man in my pce realm¡­is he..."


    "Yes," his mother replied gently, her voice slightly saddened. "That man is your father."

 Chapter 413 - Additional Answers

    John didn''t even know if he could feel additional shock and surprise at the moment, as his mind had already gone numb. He stood there in a daze once more, thinking back to all his interactions with the mysterious man within his spatial realm.


    The man had never once given any hint that he was John''s father, and had even used terms such as "chess piece" to describe John, further separating himself from any sort of father figure.


    John''s shock and surprise turned to slight agitation as he thought back to this.


    "He literally referred to me as a chess piece? What type of father does that?" John couldn''t help but ask his mother.


    John''s mother gave a wry smile as she heard this, as well as a slight chuckle.


    "Your father is very...serious," she replied. "As for calling you a chess piece, with the ns he has set in motion...he would consider that an honor. But do not think that an insult. Your father has put all his hopes on you. He is a very calcting man, and yet he has put all his faith in you and your future potential. In his eyes, that is the greatestpliment he could give you."


    John fell back into silence upon hearing that, while his mother floated before him patiently.


    "Since he has not yet appeared before us, I''m assuming that he is unable to do so?" his mother asked him gently.


    John gazed back up as his mother and nodded his head.


    "He...my father...appeared several times to help me get out of dangerous situations. But on thest time, it appeared as if he noticed something, and said he would no longer be able to appear out in the open."


    A soft sigh escaped his mothers lips. "As I assumed.


    John''s thoughts shifted to his father, the holy gate, the spatial realm, and the sphere. He had so many questions regarding all of it.


    "Mother," John called out, causing arge smile to appear on his mother''s face, as it was his first time calling her mother.


    "What can you tell me about all these secrets I have on me? What is the sphere? What is the pce within my spatial realm? What is behind the sinister gate? What is the strange energy I asionally feel well up inside me at critical moments? Why couldn''t I cultivate at the start of my life? Why am I my father''s chess piece?I have so many questions, but no answers," John asked.


    John''s mother reached out once more and stroked his cheek, although her hand passed right through it. Her loving gaze stared at him closely, as if she wanted to savor this moment forever.


    "There are some truths I can reveal, and some that you are not yet ready to hear," his mother replied.


    John took a deep breath upon hearing this, as he was about to learn at least some of the truth behind the incredible secrets he held.


    "The reason you were unable to cultivate at first was because of the restriction I ced on you. If you were able to cultivate too early on, you would have noticed the Artifact sooner than intended, before your body and mind were ready to ept such an incredible power. As such, I locked your cultivation away until the day you stumbled upon the Artifact," his mother began to exin.


    "But what if I never found the Artifact?" John couldn''t help but interrupt with this question.


    His mother shook her head slightly upon hearing this. "You and the Artifact are linked, and so you would eventually find it. That was a certainty."


    John fell back into silence as he allowed his mother to continue revealing what truths she could.


    "As for the Artifact...the Artifact is something your father personally created just for you. I''m sure you already know it acts as a second dantian, which will help you climb to the peak of the martial world. Your father intended this to be his greatest gift to you, as well as his greatest assurance of your safety," his mother exined.


    John could tell she left out some information, but knew if she had done so, that she was not going to borate further on it.


    "As for the pce and the spatial realm...the spatial realm exists within the Artifact," his mother revealed. "The pce houses great secrets, of which I cannot reveal. However, you will discover those secrets when you reach the required strength you father intended you to be to find out the truth."


    John frowned slightly upon hearing this, but was not surprised, as he had expected such an answer for many of his questions.


    "The only other question of yours I can answer is rted to the strange energy you feel well up inside you upon critical moments," his mother continued.


    John''s eyes lit up slightly upon hearing this, as this mysterious surge of energy had saved his life several times, but he still had absolutely no idea what it was, or how to control it.


    "That energy, that surge of power, is an innate ability of anyone from your father''s bloodline," his mother exined. "It is an incredibly unique and powerful ability, and was one of the reasons your fathers n was able to rise to the top of the martial world."


    "An innate ability?" John repeated. "Then how do I control it?" John asked his mother.


    "Normally someone of your father''s bloodline goes through an ancestral ritual, which allows them to control this unique ability. However, that ancestral ritual can only be done within the grounds of your father''s n," his mother exined.


    This exnation made John''s mood go slightly sour, as he had been hoping to learn to control this ability. His mood quickly changed to one of tion as he heard his mothers next words.


    "However," his mother spoke up once more. "With my power, I can at least give you limited control over this ability."


    Her hand suddenly reached out and tapped John on his forehead. John felt a strange energy invade his body and soul, changing it in ways he couldn''t evenprehend. The process continued for quite some time, until suddenly John felt something in his body snap.


    It was as if a chain locking a gate had snapped, and he was now able to freely open the gate at will.

 Chapter 414 - Bloodline Ability

    John''s divine sense pierced deep into his body, and his eyes opened in surprised tion as he noticed the changes within his body. There was not one particr area that had been improved, but instead was aprehensive upgrade to his body as a whole, most particrly his blood.


    The blood flowing through his veins thrummed with absolute power now, each blood cell infused with incredible energy. If this level of energy had been infused into his blood cells before his mother had unlocked his potential, they would have exploded from within, unable to contain such potent energy.


    Now however, his cells seemed to freely absorb any and all Qi, until they were nearly bursting from the power contained within.


    "This innate ability...its a bloodline ability?" John asked his mother as he continued to inspect his body.


    There were different types of innate abilities within the cultivation world, ranging from innate body abilities, dantian abilities, soul abilities, bloodline abilities, and more.


    John could clearly tell this ability of his was a bloodline ability, and was an incredibly high level one at that.


    "That it is," his mother replied gently. "Although I do not have this ability myself, your father had instructed me on how to unlock some of it in case a situation like this urred. However, there are limitations due to the nature of which your bloodline was unlocked."


    John''s divine sense left his body as he gazed back at his mother.


    "What limitations?" he asked curiously. He could tell that right now, with a single thought, he could unleash the energy contained within his blood cells, giving him a surge of incredible power.


    It was not a badparison to think of his bloodline ability as a third dantian at the moment, which unleashed a short but strong burst of potent Qi to use at critical moments.


    This is exactly what had happened before when he felt it, both when it saved his life, and also when it aided in his dantianpressions, giving him an unheard of twentypressions.


    "My technique of unlocking your bloodline ability is wedpared to the true way, and so while you will be able to unleash this bloodline ability at the time of your choosing, it will have three drawbacks. The first is thatpared to your fully unlocked bloodline, the potency and duration of the ability will be diminished. The second is that the toll on your body will be far more severe when you use it, and will cause a great deal of self harm each time it is used."


    His mothers eyes turned slightly saddened upon exining this part, as she unlocked an ability that would cause her own son great harm and pain.


    "And the third," his mother continued despite her grief. "Is that the recovery period of this ability will be much longer. In fact, you will only be able to use this ability twice a year," she exined.


    "Twice a year?" John repeated, his mood soured slightly again. However, he quickly hid that soured expression as he knew his mother had done her best for him.


    "Twice a year is still more than before," John replied with a smile on his face.


    "You must be careful when you use this ability," his mother reiterated once again. "After you use it and it fades away, you will be far too weak to do any fighting for many days after the fact. You should only use it when there is no other way out of a situation, understood?"


    "I understand," John replied quickly as he received his mothers first scolding.


    He inspected his body and improved bloodline for a bit longer, before his gaze shifted back to his mother.


    "Mother...where do Ie from?" John suddenly asked, as the topic of his bloodline brought his thoughts to his fathers n, as well as his mothers origins.


    His mother smiled another sad smile as she shook her head slightly at his question. "I cannot reveal that either, as knowing the truth will invoke additional Karma between you and your fathers n. If I''m not mistaken, your father cannot currently reveal himself any further due to his n bing aware of his existence. Your father already used some of his limited power to shroud what Karma you had due to your blood rtion. He will be unable to interfere further, and so I cannot reveal the truth to you," his mother exined.


    John frowned once again as he heard the word Karma mentioned. However, he knew he was powerless to do anything about it, and so he put such thoughts in the back of his mind.


    John''s mother noticed his frown, and smiled as she spoke up once more as her hand stroked his face lovingly.


    "In time, when your power reaches the level where you can start bearing the weight of the truth, you will find out about your origins, both your fathers, and mine. Until that day, focus only on raising your strength and keeping yourself alive."


    John remained silent as he heard his mothers instructions, and only nodded his head in acknowledgement.


    ''Yet again, strength and power is everything.''


    John''s gaze shifted from the floor before him, to his mother once again. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed a change in her appearance. Compared to when he first entered the cave, her soulform had dimmed considerably, and had be more ethereal and hazy.


    "Mother...you¡­" John called out as he noticed this change. The change had urred after she had unlocked his bloodline potential, as she seemingly used most of her power to be able to do that.


    "Do not worry child, this is only a portion of my soul," his mother replied. "This soul portion of mine has lingered on for hundreds of thousands of years, waiting for this day. I can now rest assured, as I know we will one day meet again. When that dayes, I will be able to embrace you properly. Goodbye for now, my precious son."


    John''s eyes became misty as he heard this, and before he could say anything else, his mother''s soulform fully dissipated, disappearing from the world.

 Chapter 415 - Absorbing Bloodfiend Blood

    John stood there as he watched his mother disappear before his very eyes, unable to do anything to stop it. Although it was just part of her soul, and not her true body, he felt as if she had just died before him.


    Just as he met his mother for the first time, she disappeared before he could truly spend any time with her. While she had answered many of his questions and even blessed him with an incredible gift, John didn''t care about any of that.


    "I didn''t even get to ask my mother for her name," John mumbled softly as he stared into space despondently.


    His eyes began to be misty once more, but his mothers words regarding strength above all else reappeared in his mind, stirring him from his self-pity.


    "Mother is right. Sitting here in sadness won''t aplish anything. Only with strength can I break free of the shackles that keep me from the truth. Only with strength can I meet her once again."


    John wiped his eyes dry, as his gaze hardened considerably. He wanted to go before the holy gate and ask for more questions, as he was sure his father within was able to see his conversation just now with his mother, but he knew his father would most likely just say the same thing as before.


    "You are far too weak to know the truth yet."


    Those words uttered from his supposed father echoed in his mind. Both his mother and his father gave him only one piece of advice. Raise your strength.


    John suddenly sat on the ground as he calmed his mind as best he could. His resolve firmed as he linked his mind with the mysterious sphere, which his mother called the Artifact, and quickly entered a meditative trance.


    ''When mother unlocked my innate bloodline, she also left behind another small gift for me. Although I just ascended to the Meridian Forging Realm, the remaining energy she gave me will allow me to break through to the Mid Meridian Forging Realm, and its unique nature will ensure I have no foundation instabilities from breaking through so quickly.''


    John closed his eyes as he began to guide the energy his mother had left him through his body and towards his essence dantian. His recent fights within his n grounds also served to solidify his foundation, as the battles had increased hisprehension regarding Meridian Forging Qi significantly.


    John continued to infuse the Qi his mother had bestowed him into his essence dantian, which climbed closer and closer to the Mid Meridian Forging Realm. This process continued for quite some time, until John felt his dantian on the verge of stepping over the boundary.


    Boom!


    A muffled boom echoed out within his body, as his essence dantian stepped into the Mid Meridian Forging Realm. An explosive flood of essence Qi surged out of his dantian, and began to rampage throughout his Meridians. John focused his mind as he guided the Qi through each and every inch of his meridians, infusing the newly ascended Qi into his meridians to widen them, as well as reinforce them. The process continued for several minutes before the surge of essence Qi died down, returning John''s body to a normal state.


    His divine sense washed over his body, inspecting the changes. A small smile appeared on his face as he noticed the differences.


    ''Not only has the power of my essence dantian increased significantly, my meridian channels are much more firm than before, and can handle a muchrger flow of Qi without breaking, allowing me to unleash even stronger attacks.''


    John wanted to test out his new essence power, but decided against it. He was in the only ce where he shared a connection with his mother, and didn''t want to destroy any part of it.


    After inspecting the changes in his body, John once again sat down on the ground, ready to increase his power even further.


    ''Now that my essence dantian is at the Mid Meridian Forging Realm, I can raise the level of my body dantian, and not just by a single level either.''


    With the way his body dantian worked, John could have it be one minor realm above his essence cultivation without the sinister murmurs of the dantian overwhelming his mind and soul.


    John''s soul suddenly appeared in his spatial realm, and entered the pce. He quickly found the three heads he was looking for. The heads were all lying next to each other, at the edge of his blood pool.


    John nced at them with cold indifference, as their zed eyes almost seemed to be staring back at him. John reached out and picked up one of them, which was the Meridian Forging Bloodfiend Elder he had killed at the Fenix n.


    The Elder''s blood essence was quickly extracted, and infused into his body dantian ording to the principles of the Immortal Asura Tome. The blood essence was greedily absorbed by his body dantian, and John felt his body cultivation steadily rise. However, it was not enough to raise his body cultivation to the next minor realm, causing him to frown slightly.


    ''This was a Late Meridian Forging Elder, and yet it can''t even raise my body cultivation to the Mid Meridian Forging Realm? This body dantian of mine is getting greedier and greedier for blood essence it seems.''


    John shook his head as he couldn''t help it, and quickly picked up the head of the Heaven Tribtion Elder he had in. The blood essence was quickly drawn out and infused into his body dantian, and a massive surge of energy from the high level blood essence filled his dantian to the brim.


    After lingering on the precipice of breaking through for a short moment, the surge of Qi from the blood essence exploded over, pushing his body dantian to the Mid Meridian Forging Realm. However, the entirety of the Heaven Tribtion Elder''s blood essence was used to do so, leaving John with nothing left.


    A sigh escaped his lips as he once again shook his head at the greedy nature of his body dantian, before his gaze shifted towards thest head remaining. The familiar face of Allfiend seemed to be staring back at him as John picked his head up and held it before his face.


    "It seems like the time for you to repay all your debts to me has finallye."

 Chapter 416 - Late Meridian Forging Body

    "I guess I truly should thank my master for such a wonderful gift," John mused to himself with a smile on his face.


    The blood essence from Allfiend was quickly extracted, and John began to infuse it into his dantian in the same fashion as all the other blood essence. However, he quickly stopped as he felt an overwhelming surge of energy wash through him, nearly exploding himself from within.


    "How potent," John couldn''t help butment as he breathed out a sigh of relief. "If I had gone quicker and absorbed more at once, I truly may have injured myself severely."


    John shook his head at himself for making such a simple mistake, before his gaze shifted to the partially filled blood pool next to him. This blood pool was filled with the blood essence of Core Formation and Meridian Forging experts, and was far too low to make any change to his body dantian. However, it was the exact thing he needed at this moment.


    "I truly am a genius after all," Johnughed as he stared at the blood pool. "Diluting Allfiend''s blood within this blood pool will make it much easier to absorb, while still boosting my cultivation level."


    John quickly extracted Allfiend''s blood essence from his forehead, which floated as a small ball of blood before him. His face became slightly excited as he struggled to maintain its shape.


    "Even just constraining it together takes quite a bit of power to do. Off you go."


    John tossed the ball of Allfiend''s blood essence into the blood pool below. Allfiend''s blood essence quickly diluted amongst the rest of the blood, and John could instantly tell that the quality of the blood pool had advanced considerably, while still being at a level that he could withstand.


    A satisfied smile appeared on his face as he saw this. "Using this method, absorbing the blood essence of cultivators much higher than my own level won''t be a problem."


    With his pce realm and his body dantian linked, John was able to freely infuse any blood essence within the blood pool directly into his body dantian.


    With his recent near-ident, John tested the new blood essence otu with a very small amount. The blood essence infused into his body dantian, which instantly turned into Qi and began to raise the cultivation of his dantian.


    A satisfied smile once again appeared on John''s face as he confirmed the sess of his experiment. Blood began to infuse at a steady rate into his body dantian, slowly but surely increasing his cultivation. The process continued for several minutes, before once again, his body dantian hovered at the edge of breaking through.


    Unlike his essence dantian, his body dantian never had any bottlenecks, and he didn''t need anyprehensions to break through. It only required a certain amount of high quality blood essence, and then it would break through.


    Not only that, but there were never any instabilities or ws in his foundation, regardless of how fast he broke through.


    John couldn''t help but be impressed at the profundity of it, as his thoughts shifted to his mysterious father.


    ''That mysterious man within the holy gate, my supposed father, was able to make something as heaven defying as this Artifact, which serves as my body dantian. Just how strong is he to be able to aplish such a thing?''


    Boom!


    Interrupting such thoughts, another muffled boom echoed out within John''s body, as his body dantian was once again pushed over the edge to a new realm, quickly reaching the Late Meridian Forging Realm.


    The same mysterious Qi surged out of his body dantian once more, flooding into his body and increasing its strength and profundity. John felt the power and durability of his body rapidly rise to new heights. With each minor and major realm breakthrough of his body dantian, his Immortal Asura Body rose a level as well.


    The naturally sinister and bloodthirsty aura John emanated increased greatly as his body dantian surpassed his essence dantian in power, but John quickly reigned in that aura as he began to inspect the changes to his body.


    His satisfied smile only grewrger as he inspected his new power, which dwarfed his power just half a day ago.


    Upon inspecting his new power, a crazy idea popped into his mind.


    ''I wonder if with my new power, coupled with my innate bloodline ability, if I would be able to fight back against master¡­''


    John''s thoughts shifted back to her battle with Allfiend and the summoned Demon, and he quickly shook his head rapidly at himself as he wiped such thoughts from his mind.


    ...


    The flying ship hovered above the Great Desert for over a day as everyone waited for John to return to the ship. Lilian had at one point grumbled at John''sck of haste, and had begun to descend to the desert below, when Barden quickly appeared before her and revealed that John was doing something of paramount importance.


    Although Lilian questioned how such a thing was possible in a ce as barren as this, she could tell the sincerity and seriousness on Barden''s face, and had agreed to patiently wait until John returned to the ship. She returned to the ship and began to cultivate in silence as she ignored everything else.


    Her eyes asionally opened as she felt an incredibly faint but powerful energy surge out from the desert sands below, as a small smile appeared on her face.


    "Seems like he truly is doing something down there," she mused to herself before returning to silent cultivation.


    Some timeter, John''s figure emerged from the cave below, and he quickly boarded the ship hovering high in the sky. The eyes of everyone on the ship nced at John, his parents as well.


    Lilian immediately noticed his arrival, and appeared before him in a sh. She closely inspected John, who almost seemed to be a changed person. His gaze was more resolved, and she could tell his will and thirst for strength was even stronger than before. Not only that, but she could tell that his strength had increased significantly, at a rate she was unsure was even possible.


    While his cultivation had only improved by one minor realm, she could vaguely tell that his strength had increased much more than what his cultivation increase revealed.


    A small, satisfied smile appeared on her face as she nodded at John. "Not bad. Perhaps you truly are worthy of being my disciple."


    John rolled his eyes as he heard such words, but before he could reply, Lilian appeared at the helm of the ship and began to pilot it forward once more, wasting no time at all.. The ship sped forward through the Great Desert once again, rapidly sailing towards the distant Heavenly Lightning Sect.

 Chapter 417 - Returning To The Heavenly Lightning Sect

    John walked over to his parents, who stared at him with an unsure expression on their face. They didn''t know how John would react after finding out the truth and talking to his real mother.


    "Did you find the answers you were looking for?" Barden asked his son.


    "Somewhat," John replied, before embracing both his parents. The three reconciled all their feelings and emotions, while the ship sped forward towards the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    ¡­


    A weekter, the flying ship arrived within the sect grounds of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. The event had been uneventful, which is exactly what everyone wanted at the moment after the recent series of tumultuous events.


    The Fenix n members all looked down through the transparent floor in a daze as they gazed at the Heavenly Lightning Sect. The sect, which was nestled in the valleys of a majestic mountain range, appeared like and of paradise to them.


    The sect itself was farrger than they could have ever imagined, and the buildings were massive and grand as well.


    "Wow, this is amazing," one of the Fenix n members blurted out.


    "Right! I thought our Fenix n was amazing, but this ce puts us to shame. I guess we truly are frogs in a well," another member replied while shaking his head at himself.


    "Look! Look at that building in the center of the sect! It''s massive!" another excitedly eximed as they spotted the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    "Hey John," one of the younger members around his age called out. "What type of status do you have within the sect?"


    "I guess I could say that I''m pretty popr," John replied with a wry smile.


    "That''s so cool!" the youth replied with much enthusiasm.


    John could only smile at the reactions of his n, as his reaction when he first entered the Heavenly Lightning Sect was mostly the same. In fact, his first encounter with the sect was almost dying to Elder Ragur''s drake, which was far more embarrassing than what his n was doing right now.


    John''s smile soon turned into a look of contemtion as he gazed down at the sect grounds below, as well as the sky above it.


    As they reached the very center of the sect, he was able to spot two other flying ships however above the sect. Each ship was incredibly elegant and regal, and John was sure that their quality did not lose out to his master''s flying ship.


    On the ground below, a throng of people had gathered in the courtyard before the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    John walked over to his master, who was standing at the helm of the ship. The ship began to veer off to the side, heading for the War Hall which his master lorded over.


    "What''s going on?" John asked Lilian as he walked up to her. "The sect seems to be in quite a buzz right now...and those two flying ships above the sect."


    Lilian nced at John and nodded her head. "You''re right, there is something going on. It seems that the representatives from Divine Martial Continents? Honorable Alliance and Forbidden Alliance have arrived. They arrived quite sooner than expected," his master exined. "Normally a small sect like the Bloodfiend Sect would be far below the Forbidden Alliances notice. Something strange seems to be going on."


    "The Divine Martial Continent?" John replied as he gazed at the two flying ships in the air. "Why are we headed to the War Hall?"


    "To safely shelter your n members for now," Lilian exined. "We''ll deal with their branch establishment after we deal with the two alliance factions."


    John nodded his head in agreement at his master''s words, and the ship sped towards the War Hall. It arrived quickly, andnded in the main courtyard of the War Hall, just before the War Pce. Everyone quickly departed the ship as instructed, and stood in the courtyard staring at awe at the surroundings.


    Just the War Hall alone was bigger than the Fenix n, and its gothic style buildings drew the intrigue of all who looked at them.


    "Vice-Sect Leader!" a Heaven Tribtion Elder called out as they sped towards the ship after its arrival. "Its good to have you back!"


    Many other War Hall members quickly gathered around the ship as well, greeting their leader with great enthusiasm. Their questioning gazes quickly looked over at the Fenix n, and one couldn''t help but ask about it.


    "Who are these people?"


    The Fenix n all had weak cultivation bases, and so they were unsure why the Vice Sect Leader would bother with transporting them to the sect.


    "These are members of John''s n," Lilian exined.


    "The Youth War Hall Master''s n?" one of the Elder''s eximed in slight surprise.


    However, the one who was the most surprised was John, as he heard himself be called the "Young War Hall Master."


    "When did I start being called by that name?" John couldn''t help but ask. He had never received any such status or name before.


    The Elder looked over at John, and instead of looking at him like a disciple, his gaze carried much more respect, like he was looking at a superior.


    "Since we heard what you did," the Elder exined. "News of you destroying the Bloodfiend Sect has spread across this entire continent. Your name has truly shaken the entire continent. With you aplishing such a feat, naturally you have be the Young Master of the War Hall, second only to the Vice-Sect Leader herself."


    John stood there in silence for a moment before shaking his head. The Fenix n next to John all stared at him with stunned awe, almost not believing what they were hearing. Their very own Young Master was already famous across the entire Yuan Continent, and seemed to be of paramount importance to the sect.


    Bardenughed boisterously as he heard this. "Such a thing is only natural for my son."


    He felt himself be hit on the shoulder by Rachel, who was embarrassed by her husband''s antics. Barden quickly quieted down after being scolded by his wife, while the Vice-Sect Leader addressed the War Hall once more.


    "Take care of the Fenix n members, and ensure theirfort and safety." she instructed before turning to John.


    "Let''s go," she said to him before flying off towards the Heavenly Lightning Pce. John nodded at his parents in reassurance before taking to the skies as well, flying towards the meeting of the Divine Martial Continent Alliances.


    ''This will be my first experience with anything rted to the Divine Martial Continent.. I wonder what it will be like.''

 Chapter 418 - Assembly Of Alliances

    John quickly caught up behind his Master, who reduced her speed to let him fly alongside her. The two of them rapidly sped through the sect, before arriving at the Heavenly Lighting Pce a short whileter.


    They bothnded in the courtyard at the base of the steps leading to the pce entrance, and quickly caught the attention of everyone gathered in the courtyard.


    "Look, it''s the Vice-Sect Leader...and John!" one of the disciples called out with great excitement.


    They had all been part of the same year as John, and at first considered him to be at the same level status wise. However, with the news of him single handedly destroying the Bloodfiend Sect spreading across thend, his status was no longer the same as before.


    Almost all of the disciples of the sect considered him to be almost godlike, and looked up to him as the benchmark for what they wanted to achieve.


    Many disciples yelled out at John in excitement, with many of the girls yelling the loudest. The Vice-Sect Leader smirked at John as they both heard the excited yells.


    "Seems like you''ve established quite the fanbase for yourself. Why don''t you go over and greet your lovers?" she mocked him.


    John rolled his eyes at his master and ignored her words as he began walking up the steps towards the Heavenly Lightning Pce. The two of them quickly entered the building, and were greeted by Elders of the sect with utmost respect.


    "Vice-Sect Leader...the assembly is already gathered and discussing the Bloodfiend Sects destruction," the Elder instructed as he nced at John.


    Lilian nodded her head as she continued forward, with John following closely behind. They arrived at Thunderzen''s chamber at the top of the Heavenly Lightning Pce, which was where the assembly was gathered, and were greeted by dozens of Elders guarding the entrance to the chamber.


    They all parted to the side to let John and Lilian enter, as John heard heated discussion between two parties.


    "You expect me to believe those rumors?" The voice of a man boomed out loudly. "Only an idiot would believe such a thing."


    "Why don''t we wait until the one who the rumors speak of arrives, and then we can determine the truth for ourselves," the voice of a woman followed afterwards in direct opposition to the man''s opinion.


    "I already told you," the voice of Thunderzen entered his ears. "Those rumors are false. I was the one to destroy the Bloodfiend Sect, as you can tell by the lingering aftermath. The me for its destruction falls solely on me. However, we shouldn''t forget the true reason for its destruction, which was a clear vition of the-"


    The doors parting caught the eyes of all inside, who stopped speaking as they gazed at the two new arrivals. John felt the gazes of hundreds of people lock onto him as he himself gazed at the gathering before him.


    At the back of the chamber, Thunderzen sat atop his throne, while before the throne gathered two distinct groups. John also spotted Elder Ragur standing amongst many of the Heavenly Lightning Sect Elders, who smiled at John as he noticed him.


    To the left side of the chamber was a group of a dozen cultivators dded in white and gold robes, while to the right was a group of roughly a dozen cultivators as well, all wearing ck robes.


    ''They''re obviously the Honorable and Forbidden Alliance representatives. Couldn''t they be a little less cliche in their colors though?'' John mused internally and shook his head slightly.


    Both groups were clearly led by a singr person, who stood at the forefront of each group. The one in front of the white robed group was a woman who appeared to be in her forties, who carried herself with grace. The one standing before the ck robed group was a middle aged man who also appeared to be in his forties, and had sharp features and a powerful gaze. Just by looking at him, John felt as if his soul was being lit by mes, shocking him slightly.


    Clearly, the ones who had been speaking when he had entered the chamber were the two of them. Their power was shrouded to John, revealing that they were most likely in the Dao Transformation realm or above.


    In fact, the two at the front of the group gave off a feeling of danger even greater than that of his master, revealing them to be even stronger than her. In fact, their power was closer to Thunderzen''s. However, that was not too shocking to John, as they seemed to be much older than his master, who was only around thirty years old and was considered a childpared to the rest of the cultivation world.


    Cultivators such as the two of them, who appeared to be in their forties but had cultivations in the Dao Transformation Realm or above could be thousands or tens of thousands of years old.


    Standing directly behind both the man and the woman were two youths, one on each side. Behind the woman stood another girl, who appeared to be around sixteen years old. She was quite beautiful, and her features were as soft and supple as water, making John feel rxed when he stared at her.


    On the other side, a boy around the same age stood behind the lead man. Like the man before him, his features were sharp as well, and there was a slightly arrogant glint in the boy''s eyes as he stared at John.


    John raised his eyebrows as he noticed both of their cultivations.


    ''Half-Step Heaven Tribtion? Seems like the youths of the Divine Martial Continent truly are far superior in powerpared to this continent. Yet again I''ll be climbing up from the bottom cultivation wise. Oh well, that can''t be helped.''


    John followed Lilian who walked towards Thunderzen without missing a step. Her face was calm and rxed as she strode past the two alliances. The alliances all looked at John, as they could clearly tell that he was the one the rumors were about.


    Thunderzen smiled at his daughter as she approached him, before his warm gaze shifted to John.


    "Let me take the heat for this one. You don''t have to put a target on your back before you even go to the Divine Martial Continent. However, if they do find out the truth, you have nothing to fear. I''ll ensure your safety," a sound transmission from Thunderzen directly entered John''s mind.


    John smiled at Thunderzen as he heard these words, as Thunderzen was clearly trying to shield him. However, being shielded by others would only serve to hinder his progress, and John knew now more than ever that only by walking on the edge of danger constantly would he be able to raise his power to the needed level to reunite with his mother and find out the secrets of his existence.


    John stopped before Thunderzen before he turned around and gazed at the two alliances before him. A confident smile appeared on his face as he addressed both of them.


    "The rumors are not wrong," he said as he addressed both groups. "I was the one who destroyed the Bloodfiend Sect....and I''d do it again if given the chance."

 Chapter 419 - Dao Oath

    John''s words stunned everyone in the room, before several in the Forbidden Alliance group began tough loudly at his words. The man standing at the front of the group narrowed his eyes as he stared at John.


    "You expect me to believe such an obvious lie?" the man replied to John with a cold tone. In his eyes, John''s words were basically telling him that John believed he was gullible enough to believe such a lie.


    On the other side, the Honorable alliance group stared at John with great curiosity, also judging the veracity of his words. Both the lead Elder, as well as the girl behind her, stared at him with curious expressions. However, after scanning his cultivation base, even they couldn''t understand how such a thing was possible.


    "To be fully honest, I really don''t give a fuck what you think," John sneered at the Forbidden Alliance man. In his mind, any Forbidden Alliance member was as bad as Allfiend, as the Bloodfiend Sect was a part of the Alliance.


    ''I started with the Bloodfiend Sect, but that''s not where it ends. The Forbidden Alliance allowed the Bloodfiend Sect to rise to power without the surrounding powers being able to interfere. As far as I''m concerned, this alliance is just as guilty for Russell''s death, the deaths of thousands of my n members, and its near destruction. What I did to the Bloodfiend Sect, I''ll be sure to do to their entire miserable alliance.''


    "You dare speak to me in such a manner," the Forbidden Alliance leader stood up and took several steps forward towards John, his aura climbing to incredible levels.


    John felt this aura wash over him, clearly intent on breaking him physically and mentally. The man raised his aura to the level that any Meridian Forging youth would crumble before, as his goal was not to kill John, but to take him down a notch.


    Thunderzen frowned as he saw the man act so brazen before him, but did nothing to interfere just yet. Now that John had made his im public, he knew John didn''t want to be shielded by him at every single turn.


    Thunderzen sighed slightly, as he knew this path of John''s would be rife with danger, and that his life could end at any moment. However, if John was able to make it out to the other side with his life intact, his power would be at a level even he could only look up to.


    This moment right now was a good chance to knock the Forbidden Alliance leader down a notch or two, and blunt any prestige or momentum he had in these discussions. Thunderzen would only interfere if John''s life was on the line.


    John frowned as he felt the man''s aura press down on him, as the man was clearly trying to make him cower before him and make him look pathetic. Everyone else in the room looked on with mixed expressions of interest, gloating, and curiosity as to what would happen next, as the aura continued to climb and press down on John.


    John''s frown turned into a sneer as he mocked the man before him.


    "Is this truly the extent of your power? You act so haughty towards a junior hundreds of times younger than you, and yet this is the best you can do? It seems like the Forbidden Alliance is truly a joke."


    John''s words shocked the entire room, and even the Honorable Alliance group had expressions of surprise on their faces. They knew the Forbidden Alliance was not only just as strong as them, but that they also had arrogant characters. Antagonizing such people would only lead to future hardships.


    The man''s face turned cold as he heard John''s words, as his aura once again climbed to another level. It was now at the level that even a Heaven Tribtion Elder would find hard to endure, and would surely make any Meridian Forging youth crumble beneath him.


    However, John stood there with a nonchnt expression on his face as he stared at the Elder. Although the pressure was starting to get a bit heavy on John, it wasn''t anything he couldn''t handle.


    John''s nonchnt attitude under the man''s aura once again surprised everyone, as they could tell that he truly was fine before such a powerful aura. The Honorable Alliance leader raised her eyebrows in surprise, as she had not expected such a backwater ce to have such a disciple.


    Before John could mock the man once again, another powerful aura washed over the room, shing against and wiping out the Forbidden Alliance leaders aura.


    "That''s enough of that," Thunderzen said to the man as his own aura retracted slowly. "You''re here to discuss the Bloodfiend Sect, not bully one of my disciples. Do that again, and don''t me me for not being kind," Thunderzen said to the man with a cold tone.


    John was slightly surprised to hear such a tone from Thunderzen, as Thunderzen was normally warm and kind with his words. The Forbidden Alliance man frowned at Thunderzen''s words, as if he left things as is, he would be considered the joke of the assembly.


    However, Thunderzen''s power truly was strong, even whenpared to the Divine Martial Continent, and the man couldn''t do anything to antagonize him too much. He himself was just a lower representative of the Forbidden Alliance, tasked with the job of finding out what had happened to the Bloodfiend Sect.


    The man grit his teeth but did not argue with Thunderzen. Instead his gaze shifted back to John, who stood calmly before him.


    "You might be slightly impressive, boy, but that still doesn''t mean you are capable of destroying the Bloodfiend Sect. Clearly it was Thunderzen, and you are using yourself to shield him," the man said to John.


    The Forbidden Alliance wanted to pin the Bloodfiend Sects destruction on Thunderzen, so they could say he vited the ancient pact between the two alliances, and punish him ordingly.


    John was able to tell what was going on as well, which was another reason why he had stepped forward and revealed the truth. He was not about to let the man who took him in and showed him kindness to suffer from his own actions.


    "As I said, I really don''t care what you think," John once again said to the man. "But since I don''t want Thunderzen to take me for what I did, I guess I''ll have the heavens verify the truth instead."


    John paused for a moment, as the rest of the room realized what he was about to do. Surprised expressions appeared on their faces as they heard him speak.


    "I swear on the heavens and my Dao Heart, that the destruction of the Bloodfiend Sect was due to my own actions.. While it''s true that Thunderzen also fought due to the demon the Bloodfiend Sect summoned, the Bloodfiend Sect was destroyed by me far before his battle began."

 Chapter 420 - Questions From Both Alliances

    John''s words seemed to echo throughout the chamber, as it fell into a deafening silence. Swearing on the heavens, and ones on Dao Heart, was an incredibly serious thing. If one was telling the truth when they made such an oath, nothing negative would happen.


    However, if one made such an oath to the heavens and themselves and were lying, a w in their Dao Heart would appear. The Dao Heart was the cultivators'' entire being, their resolve, determination, and even involved the mysterious force of Karma.


    When they lied on their Dao heart, a w would form. It was undetermined how big this w would be, or when it would appear during their cultivation journey, but a Dao Heart w would eventually affect their cultivation, making them unable to advance anymore. Such a thing was basically a death sentence to cultivators, who stove to raise their power above all else.


    Everyone in the room could tell that John was a genius, and a genius would never allow such a w to appear in their Dao Heart. As such, no one doubted the veracity of his words anymore.


    Even the Forbidden Alliance leader was at a loss for words upon hearing John''s statement, as he no longer doubted its veracity. However, John''s power was still far too weak to aplish such a feat.


    "With that, I''m sure everyone in the room has epted this boy''s im that he was the one to destroy the Bloodfiend Sect," a soft voice sounded out.


    All eyes turned towards the leader of the Honorable Alliance, who had just spoked out now. John''s words had shielded the Thunderzen and the Heavenly Lightning Sect, as him destroying the sect was not breaking the ancient pact. Only someone above the Heaven Tribtion Realm doing such an act was a vition of the pact.


    "However, there are two questions I would like to ask you," the woman said to John.


    John remained silent as he waited for the woman''s questions.


    "First, while we no longer doubt your words, we do not understand how a youth in the Meridian Forging Realm could destroy a sect like the Bloodfiend Sect, which was guarded by powerful Elders and formations. How did you aplish such a thing?"


    John frowned as he heard this question, as the woman was basically asking for him to reveal if he had used a powerful secret to do such a thing, such as an ancient weapon or artifact. If he were to reveal such a thing, it would only further serve to put arger target on his back.


    ''It seems like even the Honorable Alliance can''t be fully trusted, as her asking such a question is clearly trying to probe into my secrets.''


    Thunderzen and Lilian frowned at the question as well, but remained silent as it was John''s decision on how to answer.


    "Typical Honorable Alliance. Conniving and greedy," Lilian muttered under her breath, but loud enough for the woman to hear. The woman nced at Lilian for a moment, her gaze going icy, before it turned back to normal and she once again looked at John.


    John smiled slightly, as he knew Lilian''s words were a warning to him to not reveal too much. She knew John would most likely not reveal anything, but just wanted to be certain.


    John gazed at the woman with an indifferent expression as he replied to her question.


    "I really don''t think that concerns you," he replied bluntly, causing the woman to frown slightly. "I revealed that I was the one to destroy the sect. As for the methods I used to destroy it, you don''t need to concern yourself with it."


    His words slightly surprised everyone in the room, as he was quite hostile against both Alliance leaders. The Forbidden Alliance leader smirked slightly as he heard John direct his hostility towards the woman, who was a rival of his. Even their disciples were rivals, continuing their lifelong grudge.


    While he too wanted to know the truth, he still enjoyed this moment of seeing her knocked down a peg.


    The woman remained silent as she stared at John, who stood there calmly. It was clear that he was not going to reveal any secrets, no matter how hard she pressed. With Thunderzen in the room and acting as John''s guardian, there was nothing she could do about it.


    "Fine, then we''ll move to the second question of mine," the woman continued as if nothing had happened. "You said the Bloodfiend Sect summoned a demon? Thuderzen has already revealed this to us, but we might as well ask you as well. Is this true?"


    John nodded his head in confirmation at this question, and quickly went into details regarding what he had discovered in the Bloodfiend Sect, from the Mortal Sacrifices, to Allfiend activating it early due to John''s mysterious methods of destroying the sect.


    The woman''s expression turned Ice as John detailed the cauldron, and her icy gaze shot towards the Forbidden Alliance leader.


    "Your alliance gave the Bloofiend Sect the Cosmic Blood Cauldron?" she asked with an icy tone. "It seems as if your alliance had something to do with its summoning, and that it wasn''t just the actions of Allfiend."


    "I have no idea what you''re talking about," the Forbidden Alliance leader replied calmly. The cauldron, which had a powerful artifact spirit within, retreated back to the Divine Martial Continent on its own after the Bloodfiend Sects destruction, leaving no evidence of its existence behind.


    John''s indifferent gaze shifted to the man, as his eyes turned slightly icy.


    ''It seems as though they truly did have a hand in everything that had happened. Why they targeted this continent is still a question though? Maybe the recent revealing of the ancient city and its potential secrets within caused the alliance to want dominion over this continent, so they could explore its secrets undisturbed. The demon was only the method for removing the other powers from thend, and then when everything was done, they could im ignorance on how a demon was summoned. Although it''s only spection, it seems quite usible.''


    The Honorable Alliance head gazed at the man for a moment longer before diverting her gaze. Clearly she would obtain no information from him. Before she could speak up once more, a voice from the side of the Forbidden Alliance spoke up.


    "Everyone here might believe this lie of his, but I don''t buy it for a second," the youth from the alliance said as he took several steps forward.


    John had embarrassed his master, causing anger to well up within him. He wanted to take John down a notch, and let him know his ce as a lowly disciple from a backwater ce.


    John nced at the boy withplete indifference as the youth walked up to him. He stopped when he was a few feet from John, and gazed at him with a mocking expression.


    "Your cultivation is pathetically weak, only at the Mid Meridian Forging Realm, and yet you im to have destroyed the Bloodfiend Sect? While the Bloodfiend Sect itself was pathetically weak as well, it''s still far more than you could aplish."


    John gazed at the boy before him as if he were stupid.


    "Who are you?" he asked, as if he was speaking to an idiot.


    The boy frowned, and his figure suddenly blurred from John''s vision as he appeared directly behind him, the dagger in his hand piercing directly towards John''s neck.

 Chapter 421 - Fenix Branch Establishment

    Peng!


    A loud metallic sound rang out as John quickly spun around and punched the t of the dagger, knocking it to the side before it reached his neck. Sparks flew off the weapon from the collision, and the youth quickly jumped back, putting some distance between himself and John.


    Those within the chamber had looks of slight surprise on their face, both at how fast John had reacted, and also the sound his barehanded parry had made. Clearly his body was incredibly strong and durable to be able to make such a noise when colliding against a hard weapon.


    They could tell he was an essence cultivator, but his body was also incredibly strong, indicating that he was either a dual cultivator, or had an innate variant body.


    John frowned as he looked at the youth before him. While he wanted to kill the boy who stood before him, he couldn''t take any brash actions at the moment, or he would make things hard for Thunderzen and the sect.


    "You mind exining what that was for?" John asked coldly.


    The youth smiled at John as if nothing had just happened. "I was only testing your power. If you were not even able to block this weak attack from me, then you were clearly lying about destroying the Bloodfiend Sect. If that was the case, then lying to our faces in such a manner is worthy of death."


    The youth walked right past John, back towards where his alliance was standing, as if nothing had happened.


    "Still, I don''t believe what you said was the truth," the youth spoke up once more as he reached his alliance and turned around. "Maybe you''ve resigned yourself to taking the me for this event, and are willing to ept a Dao Heart w. How can we trust your words so blindly?"


    John nced sideways at the youth before he looked away, as if looking at him was not worth his time.


    "Everyone else in the room can clearly see the truth of my words, so why is this dog still barking? Shouldn''t you put a muzzle on him already?" John said to the leader of the Forbidden Alliance.


    "What did you say?" the youth shouted out in rage as he took a step forward, but was stopped by his master.


    The rest of the room broke out into softughter, further igniting the rage of the youth. However, his master had forbidden him from taking action, so all he could do was swallow his rage at the moment. Even his master could tell that John''s Dao Oath was sincere, and that he was telling the truth.


    His disciple speaking up further about it would only serve to make him look ipetent. His disciple had stepped forward because he refused to believe a youth with a weaker cultivation than his own could aplish a feat such as destroying the Bloodfiend Sect.


    However, both Alliance leaders knew there were powerful secrets in the world, and that John had most likely used the aid of a powerful artifact or weapon to aplish such a thing. Neither of them believed he had the power to do such a thing on his own, and they were partially correct in their assumptions.


    "Let''s get back to the matter at hand," the Honorable Alliance leader spoke up once more.


    "Based on the events described, this boy before us was truly the one to destroy the Bloodfiend Sect, and had done so to stop the Demon Summoning. While normally destroying a sect would lead to further discussion on any potential punishments, the Bloodfiend Sect had brought such a fate upon themselves when they summoned a demon and broke the ancient pact. As such, I believe we can leave this situation as is, and no punishments are necessary."


    John nced at the woman and raised one eyebrow as he heard her words. Clearly she was trying to shield him and the Heavenly Lightning Sect. While it may not be from a ce of altruism, and could only be to frustrate the Forbidden Alliance, John still epted such aid.


    The Forbidden Alliance leaders'' face darkened, but said nothing to argue against it. It was as the Honorable Alliance leader had revealed. The Bloodfiend Sect had summoned a demon, which was prohibited by the ancient pact between the two alliances. Despite traveling all this way, the man knew his alliance would leave aplishing nothing.


    "Tch," the Forbidden Alliance leader sneered before he turned around and began to leave the chamber. The rest of the alliance understood that the discussions were over, and quickly followed behind him.


    The man''s disciple looked at John with a cold gaze before he too followed his master, as they all quickly left the chamber. John watched with indifference as the alliance left, before his gaze shifted towards the Honorable Alliance leader who was approaching him.


    A warm smile lingered on her face as she stood before John and inspected him closely. John felt like he was being looked at by a hawk, but remained calm as he gazed back at her with indifference. After a moment of silence, the woman''s gaze shifted to Thunderzen who sat on his throne behind John.


    "You have quite a talented disciple here. I''m assuming you''ll be sending him to our Divine Martial Continent soon?" she asked.


    "Naturally," Thunderzen replied calmly.


    "Good," the woman replied before gazing back at John. "The Forbidden Alliance has be more and more unruly as ofte. Watching your disy today was quite refreshing. I''m sure with you joining us soon on the Divine Martial Continent, you will be quite the headache for the Forbidden Alliance. I look forward to seeing it."


    Before waiting for a response, the woman turned around and also began to walk out of the room. The rest of the alliance followed, while the woman''s disciple gazed at John for a moment with a look of curious interest before she too followed her master out of the room.


    Sigh!


    A collective sigh of relief left the mouths of many of the Heavenly Lightning Sects Elders'' mouths, as they knew the severity of what had just happened. If the Forbidden Alliance had found that the fault was with the Heavenly Lightning Sect, they would have demanded hard reparations, or even its destruction.


    Also, if the Honorable Alliance found fault with the sect as well, they may have severed its ties with the Heavenly Lightning Sect, no longer shielding it from the Forbidden Alliance. Such a fate would be dire for the sect, and many of the Elders felt like they had juste out of a life and death battle.


    John turned around to look at Thunderzen, who was smiling at him.


    "You did well," Thunderzen voiced his approval. "I take it that with your return, you''ve settled everything you needed to do in your homnd?"


    John nodded his head. "I have. Although I brought some of my n members with me to establish a branch somewhere nearby." John exined.


    "Lilian has already informed me of that," Thunderzen replied. John wondered when she had done such a thing, but didn''t bother asking.


    "We have already discussed where your n shall establish its branch. Thends we control are incredibly vast, and there is a patch ofnd roughly two hundred miles from here that is quite fertile, but unused by us. Your n can establish its branch there," Thunderzen continued.


    A smile lit up on John''s face, and he bowed deeply towards the Sect Leader. "Many thanks."


    The three of them began to discuss the details of the Fenix n''s branch establishment, as well as the trip John would soon be taking to the Divine Martial Continent.


    ¡­


    A group of roughly a thousand people stood in a lush valley filled with vibrant life. Streams meandered through the valley, while towering trees and blooming flowers dotted thendscape.


    "It''s perfect," Barden said with incredible enthusiasm as he and the rest of the n looked over thend that the Heavenly Lightning Sect had gifted them.


    The Qi in the air was many times denser than back in their homnd, which would greatly speed up the cultivation of anyone here.


    John nodded his head in agreement as he surveyed thend, as he was truly content with it. Thunderzen had even given the aid of hundreds of builders, formation experts, and many other professions to help build the branch.


    The establishment of the branch started immediately, and progress was swift. Within a month, the branch was mostlypleted, and only the moreplicated things such as formations crafting were left to bepleted.


    The new Fenix n branch was incredibly grand, and easily dwarfed the scale of the original n grounds. During the month of construction, John spent his time with his family and friends, as he knew such a thing would notst long.


    ¡­


    After spending an entire month with his n, and helping its construction, John returned to the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    As he entered the Sect, he was stopped by Elder Ragur, who John had not talked to in quite some time.


    "Elder Ragur, it''s been quite some time since west spoke," John said to the Elder with a smile on his face. "What''s the asion for today''s meeting?" He asked, as he could tell that the Elder had a specific reason for finding him out however.


    "There''s someone here to see you," Elder Ragur replied.


    "Someone here to see me?" John asked with slight confusion in his voice. He was expecting no visitors. "Are you sure they''re here to see me specifically?" John asked.


    "Yes. Follow me, and if you don''t recognize the person, we can just kick him out of the sect," Elder Ragur replied.


    John nodded his head, and followed Elder Ragur to the Enforcement Hall grounds. They entered one of the buildings, and Elder Ragur took John to a specific room. He entered it, and his face lit up inplete surprise at the one waiting for him.


    "Chase!"

 Chapter 422 - Meeting Chase Once Again

    "It seems like you know this boy," Elder Ragur said to John. "In that case, I''ll leave you alone for now."


    Elder Ragur closed the door behind him, leaving John and Chase in the room.


    John inspected Chase, who looked a little roughed up around the edges. His clothes were worn out, and his body a little dirtied, but other than that, he appeared mostly fine.


    John had no idea what had happened to Chase once he started his heaven tribtion. His tribtion had shattered the formation tforms binding the both of them, before John sped deeper into the Bloodfiend Sect.


    Chase stood there in silence as he looked at John, a slightly guilty expression on his face. He was the son of Allfiend, who had tried to kill John and transfer his body to Chase. Although he had protested against it, Chase still felt guilty about the whole thing.


    John could easily read these thoughts that were clearly written on Chase''s face, and so he decided to break the silence himself.


    "I don''t me you for what happened," John said, causing Chase''s slightly guilty face to light up in surprise.


    "You don''t?" Chase replied, his voice slightly meek.


    "No, why would I?" John replied while shaking his head. "You clearly protested against it, and the entire thing was clearly your fathers idea. Why would I me you for something you tried to stop. In fact, you tried to get me out of the Bloodfiend Sect before it even happened, putting yourself at risk. So if anything, I should be thanking you."


    John could clearly tell that Chase was surprised to hear this from him, and still didn''t know what to say. John had thought Chase most likely died in the tribtion or the battles that took ce afterwards, and was surprised to see him alive and well. He had many questions that he wanted to know the answers to, and so John decided to be the one to once again break the silence.


    "How did you escape the destruction of your sect?" John asked with great curiosity. Almost everyone belonging to the Bloodfiend Sect had died, and only a handful of members had managed to escape before itsplete annihtion.


    "I ran," Chase replied. "When you started your...tribtion, the first lightning strike shattered the shackles that held me to that formation tform. Upon feeling the power of whatever that was, I knew the sect was doomed. It was my one opportunity to get away, and so I took it. The moment I was free, I fled as fast as I could. Even so, I still barely avoided the monstrous explosions that destroyed the sect a short whileter," Chase exined.


    ''He must be talking about Thunderzens battle with the demon.''


    "So after you escaped, you came here?" John asked another question.


    "Not exactly," Chase replied after a moment of silence. "After I fled the sect and learned about its destruction, I wandered thend looking for my purpose. My sect, my home, my...family...all of it was destroyed. While I hated my father and the Bloodfiend Sect, they were still the only things in my life that I felt I belonged to," Chase exined.


    He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, before continuing his exnation. "I wandered about for quite some time, and gathered my thoughts in the process. However, I quickly realized that I had no outside connections at all. My entire life was spent in the Bloodfiend Sect, and everyone I knew was dead. The only other person I knew still lived...was you."


    John raised his eyebrow slightly at this statement as he felt a tinge of pity for Chase. While Allfiend truly was a terrible person, he was still Chase''s father. John didn''t know how he would act if he lost everything close to him.


    "So you came here to seek shelter, or potentially join the Heavenly Lightning Sect?" John asked.


    Chase stood there in silence as he stared at the ground before him, but did not refute John''s ims. John stared at Chase closely, carefully inspecting his every move. While he thought Chase to be a good person, he still had a few more questions before he made a decision.


    "I still have another question or two," John replied. Chase looked up at John once more as John asked his next question.


    "When you were helping me escape, you said my escape would benefit you. But after thinking about it after everything that happened, I can''t see how me escaping would have been to your benefit. Not only that, but your father wanted to transfer you to my body, despite you being quite talented. Your cultivation is already at the Early Meridian Forging Realm, which is incredibly impressive. Why was your father so hellbent on transferring your consciousness to my body?"


    John fell silent after asking his string of questions. Chase gathered his thoughts for a moment before answering John''s first question.


    "When I was trying to help you escape, I really was telling the truth that your escape would help me...or it should have helped me. And the reason for this is also the answer for your second question" Chase replied.


    John stayed silent as he allowed Chase to continue talking. Chase took a deep breath before continuing to answer John''s questions.


    "The reason my father wanted me to take over your body is because I was born with a unique constitution," Chase exined.


    "Is it rted to your love of the Pill Dao?" John asked, as he had always wanted to know how Chase was so gifted in the Pill Dao despite being so young.


    Chase nodded his head in affirmation of John''s guess, before continuing his exnation.


    "I have a Wood-Attribute body constitution," Chase exined, causing John to once again raise one of his eyebrows in slight surprise.


    ''Wood-Attribute body? That''s like my Lightning-Attribute body. Attribute bodies are quite rare, and I''ve heard that wood type bodies are even rare among attribute bodies.''


    "Do you know of Attribute-Bodies?" Chase asked.


    "I know a bit about them," John replied while nodding his head. "Although not much about Wood-Attribute bodies, other than they are quite rare."


    "That they are," Chase replied. "But the rarity of my body type was of no concern to my father. Wood-Attribute cultivators are naturally gifted in the pill dao, as their affinity with medicinal herbs and nts are second to none. However, my father despised the Pill Dao, and only cared about brute strength. My Wood-Attribute body does not allow me to cultivate the more...sinister styles of Forbidden Alliance cultivation arts, as I''m sure you''ve noticed."


    John once again nodded his head, as he had noticed no sinister nature at all from Chase''s Qi.


    "My father despised this about me, and so he wanted to find a suitable host for me instead, which was you."


    Chase paused as he said this, giving John the chance to ask his first question once again.


    "So how did allowing me to escape help you?" John asked.


    Chase became silent for a moment before speaking up once more.


    "I hated my existence to bepletely honest. Due to my Wood-Attribute body, I despise the violence, the malevolence, the bloodthirstiness of forbidden cluvation cultivators. It makes me sick to be around them, and yet I was forced to be around them my entire life. It got to the point where I saw no end, and as a result, I attempted to kill myself."


    Chase paused once again, as the event clearly was a heavy one for him to talk about. John remained silent as he allowed Chase to gather his thoughts, although he was quite surprised to hear this from him.


    Chase took a deep breath before continuing his exnation once more.


    "My father made sure I survived, and also punished my actions for doing so. In front of my very eyes, he ughtered one hundred mortals, as he knew I despised blood and death."


    John raised his eyebrows again as he heard this, as such an action was quite evil, even for a man such as Allfiend.


    ''It seems like Allfiend was even more of a piece of shit than I could have imagined. It''s quite a good thing that he''s dead and can''t terrorize this world anymore.''


    "Afterwards, he ced a powerful curse on me, which prevented me from attempting such a thing again. I thought I would be forever doomed to grow up in that hellish environment. However, when you showed up, I knew if I helped you escape, my father would be so angry at me that he would perhaps kill me himself in a fit of rage. It was the only way out of it I could see at the time."


    Chase''s voice trailed off as he exined why he had tried to help John escape, which was not even close to what John had been expecting. Both of them stood there in silence for quite some time, before John spoke up once again.


    "Well with all that said and out of the way, there''s only one thing left to do."


    Chase looked at John,pletely resigning his fate to John. John walked over towards Chase and stared at him for a moment before he patted him on the back in a friendly manner.


    "Let''s take you over to our Pill Hall and introduce them to their newest member!"

 Chapter 423 - Pill Dao Discussions

    Chase''s face lit up in surprise at John''s words, as it was thest thing he was expecting to hear. A small smile formed on his face after his surprise faded, and he nodded his head with much enthusiasm.


    "Good, then follow me."


    John turned around and strode out of the room, and quickly left the building. Chase followed behind closely, and the two of them quickly made their way through the Heavenly Lightning Sect towards the Pill Hall.


    Chase''s face was filled with emotional wonder as he looked from building to building and person to person.


    "It''s...its so calm, and peaceful!" Chase couldn''t help but exim.


    In the Bloodfiend Sect, it wasmonce to see fights break out in the streets, and weaker disciples bullied and beaten bloody. Compared to the Bloodfiend Sect, the Heavenly Lightning Sect looked like a tranquil paradise, which suited Chase''s nature perfectly.


    "It''s not really that our sect is peaceful, its just that the Bloodfiend Sect was way over the top," John replied. "I mean, just the life and death battles were surprising, let alone the disciple cement battles which resulted in over one thousand deaths. That''s just crazy that it was allowed to happen."


    "You don''t have monthly life and death battles here?" Chase asked with a surprised voice.


    "No," John replied quickly. "Life and Death battles must be requested individually, and only one life and death battle has urred during thest year."


    "Only one?" Chase eximed, as if it was the most shocking thing to hear.


    "Who fought in that battle?" Chase couldn''t help but ask to sate his curiosity.


    A wry smile appeared on John''s face as he scratched his cheek. He was just insulting the Bloofiend Sect''s brutality, and yet he was the only one in the Heavenly Lightning Sect to have a life and death battle over thest year.


    ''Maybe I truly do fit in better in such a brutal sect,'' John mused as he shook his head at himself.


    "Oh look, we''re here," John shifted the topic of conversation as they arrived before the Pill Hall.


    Chase''s face lit up again in surprise once again, as the Pill Hall was muchrger and grander than the Pill Hall in the Bloodfiend Sect. The Heavenly Lightning Sect ced much more importance on Pill Experts than the Bloodfiend Sect, as the cultivation methods of the Honorable Alliance sects focused more on pills, while the cultivation methods of the Forbidden Alliance sects focused more on using blood.


    As such, the Pill Hall in the Heavenly Lightning Sect dwarfed that of the Bloodfiend Sects, both in its size, as well as its member count.


    "Follow me," John once again instructed as he entered the building.


    ...


    Knock! Knock! Knock!


    A series of knocks at a door sounded out within a room, startling the one within.


    "What the...whoever is at the door, go away!" an angered shout boomed out from within the locked room.


    Knock! Knock! Knock!


    The knocks continued once more, yet again startling the one within from their work.


    "Who the hell dares disturb me?" the one within the room shouted out as they stood up angrily and walked briskly towards the door. The door flung wide open, and the one inside who was about to yell out with absolute agitated anger bit his tongue.


    "You¡­" Pill Emperor Thunderpill eximed as he noticed who it was who had knocked.


    John had not visited him in nearly half a year, and he had almost forgotten about him.


    John walked into Thunderpills room without his permission, causing Thunderpill to get a bit huffy. Chase followed behind closely, further igniting Thunderpill''s frustration.


    "What is going on?" Pill Emperor Thunderpill asked. "I''m in the very middle of an important concoction. If you have no specific business, then leave."


    John gestured to Chase at his side, who stared at the room with awe. There were many pill rted objects that he had never seen before, drawing his intrigue.


    "This is my friend Chase," John began to exin. "He''s quite talented in the Pill Dao. I want you to take him under your wing and train him regarding the Pill Dao."


    "What? Why would I do such a thing?" Pill Emperor Thunderpill eximed with slight ire. "I have much more important things to do than teach a brat how to make pills."


    "Just give it a shot," John replied quickly. "If nothing else, he can be a valuable pill assistant while you concoct your pills."


    Pill Emperor Thunderpill was one of the sect''s most prominent pill experts, and John knew Chase would learn a lot from him.


    John''s suggestion caused the Pill Emperor to pause for a moment as he thought it over. However, after a moment of contemtion, he shook his head in refusal.


    "Forget about it. I''ve already looked for pill assistants before, but they''re all useless and only slow down my alchemy. I''m sure this brat is no different."


    Chase''s normally genial and warm expression turned sour upon hearing this, as the Pill Dao was the one thing he held sacred and considered himself to be best at. Without pause, he walked over towards Thunderpill''s cauldron, which was in the middle of making some pills.


    "What are you doing, you brat?" the Pill Emperor eximed as he saw Chase get near his cauldron. "Get away from there."


    Chase ignored the Pill Emperors instructions, and leaned in close to inspect the cauldron closely. He took in a deep whiff of the cauldron''s thick medicinal aroma, and his eyes quickly lit up in surprise.


    "You''re actually making a Nine-Lotus Ice Pill?" Chase eximed.


    Thunderpill''s angered expression quickly turned to one of shock upon hearing Chase''s words.


    "You can tell what I am making, just from the aroma?" Thunderpill asked.


    "I can clearly smell the extracts of the Nine-Lotus flower, as well as the Ice-Heart nt. With this in mind, the Nine-Lotus Ice Pill seems the most logical, although I can''t be certain as I''ve never made it myself," Chase replied quickly.


    The Pill Emperor was speechless for a moment before a smile appeared on his face as he nodded his head in confirmation of Chase''s guess.


    "You are correct. I am making the Nine-Lotus Ice Pill. The Ice Cliff Sect pays quite a handsome price for these pills, and have ordered a batch from me," Thunderpill replied.


    "But something seems off," Chase said as he took in another whiff. "It seems as though you have added something else, although I''m having a hard time identifying it...did you add Nether Ice Root as well?" Chase asked after thinking for a moment.


    Thunderpill''s face lit up once more as he strode over to Chase and began to excitedly converse with him, as if he had forgotten his frustration at John''s interruption just moments ago.


    "I did," Thunderpill replied. "I''m testing out a new pill recipe, to see if I can make the Ice potency of the pill even stronger."


    Chase tilted his head to the side as he frowned at these words. "Won''t the different ice natures of the Nether Ice Root and the Nine-Lotus Ice Flower conflict with each other, making the entire batch unstable?" Chase asked as he tried to piece together what the Pill Emperor was doing.


    "You''re exactly right," Thunderpill eximed. "That''s why I''ve also added the Willow Water Flower, which is quite soft and supple in its properties. I am testing out whether it''s the perfect additive to meld the two conflicting nts together."


    John smiled as he saw the two of them start to excitedly discuss the Pill Dao, as if the previous events did not ur. He began to leave the room, and as he was about to walk out, he turned to Thunderpill once more.


    "Oh, and onest thing. Chase has a Wood-Attribute constitution, so you better teach him all you know now so you can im he was your disciple. Before long, he''ll far surpass you, and the honor of being his master won''t be possible for you anymore."


    The Pill Emperor''s mouth opened wide in shock as he heard this, and John smiled once more before he left the room, leaving Chase behind to learn all he could from the Pill Emperor.


    John explored the rest of the Pill Hall for the next several hours, and bought many pills suitable for his Meridian Forging cultivation, before he left the Pill Hall and stood outside.


    "What should I do now?" John mused out loud.


    However, before he could think of what to do next, an Elder suddenlynded in the Pill Hall courtyard next to him. The Elder was wearing the robes of the War Hall, and John instantly recognized him.


    "Elder Balor, what brings you here?" John asked, as he could tell the Elder was here for him.


    The Elder bowed his head ever so slightly, as John was now considered the young master of the War Hall, and his status was only second to Lilian''s.


    "The Vice-Sect Leader has instructed you to return to the War Pce," Elder Balor replied.


    "Hmm? What for?" John asked curiously.


    "A representative from the Supreme Battle Sect has arrived, and the Vice-Sect Leader has summoned you as a result."

 Chapter 424 - Sect Leader EarthFist

    "The Supreme Battle Sect huh?" John replied, a little bit surprised. "Sure, lead the way."


    The Elder nodded, and John quickly followed behind the Elder who sped towards the War Hall Pce.


    ''The Supreme Battle Sect? They must be here to question me again about how I obtained the Supreme Battle Art. Weren''t they supposed to wait for me to go to them? Whatever, it''s easier this way I guess, as it saves me a trip.''


    They arrived shortly after, and the Elder escorted John to the top of the War Hall Pce, which was the chamber his master ruled the War Hall from. Several Elder''s were guarding the entrance, and quickly let John inside.


    The parting doors to the chamber caught the attention of those inside, who all turned around to look at John enter the room. His Master sat atop her throne at the other end of the chamber, while there were several men standing before her.


    They all wore sleeveless brown robes, revealing bulging muscles containing incredible power. John felt as if he were looking at rampaging beasts instead of humans.


    ''They''re the Supreme Battle Sect guests, no doubt about it.''


    The power of their bodies surprised John, especially the one who stood in the middle of the group. It was an elderly man, who had a long white beard and a bald head. The man appeared to be in his eighties or nies, but the power emanating from his body made John realize that he was the strongest one of the group.


    ''Dao Transformation. No doubt about it.''


    John could easily tell that the elderly man was in the Dao Transformation Realm just from the powerful presence he was emitting. The fact that John could not detect his cultivation also alluded to the fact that he was in the Dao Transformation Realm, but John would have been able to tell regardless.


    The elderly man inspected John as he approached, and John felt like he was being stared at by a powerful beast. He knew that the man had the power to crush him in one blow.


    "John, you''re finally here," Lilian called out from her throne as she watched John walk towards her. "In that case, we can get finished with whatever you came here to do, Sect Leader EarthFist," she said as she nced at the elderly man.


    ''Sect Leader? He''s the Sect Leader of the Supreme Battle Sect!''


    John arrived before Lilian and stood before her as he turned around to face the group from the Supreme Battle Sect. There were five people, all men, with four standing slightly behind the elder in the front.


    They gazed fiercely at John, as if they were inspecting each and every detail of him. John felt powerful divine senses scan over him, but was expecting such a thing to ur and so did not show any reaction.


    The scanssted for a moment before they faded away, and a smile suddenly broke out on the face of the elderly man.


    "Quite the impressive disciple you have here," Sect Leader EarthFist said to Lilian. "I still don''t know how he aplished it, but the rumors of your disciple destroying the Bloodfiend Sect have spread far and wide. That he used the Supreme Battle Art in the process brings glory to our sect as well."


    John raised his eyebrows slightly at the man''s words, as they seemed to beplimenting him slightly. He had been expecting to defend the fact that he could use the Supreme Battle Art, as it was the secretive battle art of the Supreme Battle Sect, and outsiders were forbidden to learn it.


    However, the elderly man seemed to be impressed instead of angered, surprising John slightly. Sect Leader EarthFist began to walk over to John, and another one of the men behind him walked forward as well.


    The man was a middle aged man who appeared to be in his twenties, and his cultivation was in the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm. He had an incredibly powerful body, and John could tell that he would have a hard time battling against this man if they were to ever fight.


    The two of them stopped before John and stared at him for a moment before the elderly man clicked his tongue and gestured to the man behind him with a frown on his face.


    "What are you waiting for? For the grass to grow and the sky to turn dark? Give it to the boy already!" the elderly manmanded.


    The man behind him scowled slightly, as a scroll suddenly appeared in his hands.


    "You don''t have to make it so embarrassing for me, you old fart" the man in his twenties grumbled as he stepped towards John and handed him a scroll.


    A confused frown appeared on John''s face as he reached out and took the scroll. The man took a step back towards the elderly man after giving John the scroll, and before John could open it to read it, he heard a sound before him that caught his attention.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    John''s eyes popped open wide as the elderly man started beating the man who had just given John the scroll.


    "You dare talk back to me like that?" the elderly man yelled out as he rained down blows on the man. "It seems I haven''t properly instructed you even after all these years."


    "Goddamnit you old geezer! Fuck off already!" the man cried out as he tried to fight back against the elderly man, but was unable to get the upper hand.


    The two of them traded punches and kicks for a short while as the War Hall chamber shook violently from the power of their punches. The old mannded almost all of the blows, while the younger man did everything he could to fight back.


    However, his power wascking in the face of the leader of the Supreme Battle Sect, and before long, the younger man had two ck eyes and many other bruises on his body.


    John stood there in stunned silence as he watched the scene unfold before him, while Lilian sat there with a slightly amused expression on her face, as if she was thoroughly enjoying the show.


    The elderly man stopped beating the younger man eventually, whoid on his back, pained from the beating he had just taken.


    "Get up already, or I''ll continue training your body," the elderly manmanded, and the younger man immediately bound to his feet and stood there as if nothing had happened. However, the two ck eyes on his face and the man''s bruises on his body were lingering reminders of what had just happened.


    The elderly man turned to face John once more, and a small smile appeared on his face.


    "Forgive my useless grandson for his poor manners. I had to give him a little lesson there," the man said to John. "However, this is how we teach lessons in the Supreme Battle Sect. I hope you don''t mind."


    John stood there in stunned silence for a moment longer before he snapped out of it and waved his hand before him in a dismissive manner.


    "Not at all," John replied quickly as he nced sideways at his master. He wanted to say something sarcastic about his master giving simr lessons, but the re he got from her made him swallow his tongue before he could say anything.


    "Not going to open that?" the elderly man said as he nced at the unopened scroll in John''s hands.


    John nced at the scroll in his hand, as he had forgotten about it as he watched the shocking scene earlier. He quickly regained his wits and unfurled the scroll, his eyes going wide as he read the contents contained within.


    "This...this is the Meridian Forging and Heaven Tribtion steps to the Supreme Battle Art!" John eximed.


    His eyes quickly shifted from the scroll to the elderly man, who was standing there smiling slightly.


    "Why?" was all John could ask, as he truly couldn''t understand the man''s reasonings.


    The original Supreme Battle Sect elder that hade many months ago had made it quite clear that outsiders were not permitted to learn the Supreme Battle Art, and that John was to be punished in one way or another for such a grave offense.


    However, the very leader of the Supreme Battle Sect was now giving him the next steps to the battle art, which he sorely needed. With his cultivation in the Meridian Forging Realm, the Supreme Battle Art had be useless to him as he only knew the steps up to the Core Formation Realm.


    However, this scroll solved all of his problems regarding that issue.


    "I''ll let this useless grandson of mine exin," the elderly man said to John as he guested for the younger man to speak.


    The younger man, who acted as if the beating he had taken earlier never urred, looked at John closely for some time before speaking out.


    "I still don''t see the resemnce at all, but the rumors are undeniable that you are from that n, and also his son," the man said to John.


    "His son? You mean this matter rtes to my father?" John replied, slightly shocked.


    "Yes," the man replied, as he began to tell a story of the past.

 Chapter 425 - Conditional Offer

    John listened closely to the man''s story, as he exined what had happened in the past.


    "I suppose I should introduce myself first. My name is Anton, grandson of the Supreme Battle Sect Leader. Over twenty years ago, I found myself in a remote part of this continent, following up on some clues regarding an ancient weapon spotted in the area. On this trip, I ran into a Bloofiend Sect Elder, and due to some things out of my control happening, he and I got into a life and death fight. He was slightly stronger than me at the time, but I was strong enough to hold out for nearly a day, and was able to slip from his sight at the very end of the battle. However, I was on the precipice of death, and copsed in a thick forest.


    Darkness enveloped me, and I thought my life was soon to be over, but I eventually woke up, and found my wounded body being nursed back to health by another."


    "I''m guessing that was my father?" John asked as the man paused for a moment.


    "It was," Anton confirmed before continuing his story. "As I regained my consciousness, I informed your father of the grave danger of aiding me, as the Bloodfiend Sect Elder would y both him and myself if he managed to find me. However, your father dismissed all my warnings, and did his utmost to bring me back to full health.


    I would have without a doubt perished without his aid, and his steadfast attitude even in the face of danger and death also impressed me greatly. Luckily, the Bloodfiend Elder was not able to find me, and eventually I was healed back to full health. Afterwards, your father and I struck up a great friendship, and I came to consider him almost as a younger brother. To do my best to repay him for his aid, I offered him the opportunity to join our sect and be a full fledged member, but for some reason he declined the offer. With this in mind, I left him the first three stages of the Supreme Battle Art, should he ever decide to cultivate it. I have not heard from him since, but when word was spread that his son had destroyed the Bloodfiend Sect, I knew I had to meet you myself."


    Silence filled the room as Anton finished his story, and John thought over the words he had just heard.


    ''This is obviously the reason why father started his trip to join the Supreme Battle Sect. He would have joined them, were it not for the fact that he stumbled upon me in the Great Desert. It all makes sense now why he would be able to join such a sect at such ate age.''


    "How is your father?" Anton suddenly asked. "I have not heard from him in quite some time. Is he doing well?"


    John nodded his head in confirmation. "He is. In fact, he''s helping establish a branch for our Fenix n just a few hundred miles from here."


    Anton''s eyes lit up as he heard this. "Truly? Where exactly?"


    John exined where the Fenix n was establishing their branch, as he could tell the man before him truly wanted to see his old friend once again. Anton became so excited to hear this that he turned to leave the building immediately, eager to see his friend once more.


    Bang!


    A loud bang echoed within the room as Sect Leader EarthFist''s mmed his grandson into the ground, the force of which shook the chamber once more.


    "What the hell are you doing old man?" Anton cried out as he quickly rebounded to his feet and stared warily at his grandfather.


    "Did you already forget the main reason we came here for? You useless grandson of mine," Sect Leader EarthFist replied.


    Anton''s face lit up inprehension as he heard his grandfather''s words.


    "Oh, I got so excited for a moment that I nearly forgot."


    Anton turned to look back at John once more, his excited voice booming out throughout the entire chamber.


    "Since you are the son of the man I consider a dear friend, its only natural for me to be the one to extend this offer to you. Since your father was unable to take me up on my offer in the past, I will now extend that offer to his son. We would like you to join our Supreme Battle Sect as an official disciple."


    Anton''s words stunned John, as he was not expecting to hear such an offer from the Supreme Battle Sect. He hade to this meeting prepared to defend his use of their most secretive battle art, but instead he was being offered to be a disciple of their sect.


    After standing there in silence for a moment, John nced over to his master, as he was unsure of how to answer. He was already a disciple of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and did not know how such things would work.


    Lilian could clearly tell what his gaze was saying, and she quickly addressed his questions.


    "Bing a disciple of multiple sects isn''t something that''s unheard of," she replied calmly. "We have a friendly rtionship with the Supreme Battle Sect, so I see no issue with you bing an official disciple of theirs."


    John''s eyes lit up as he heard these words, as joining the Supreme Battle Sect was beyond his wildest dreams. Their body battle art was the strongest in thend, and he greatly desired to train it to the peak.


    When hebined the Supreme Battle Art with his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, his body power was nearly unstoppable.


    "However," Lilian''s voice filled the room once more, causing all eyes to look at her. "Just know that John is first and foremost a disciple of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and also my direct disciple. Do not forget that."


    A rxed smile appeared on Sect Leader EarthFist''s face as he heard these words.


    "Naturally," he replied, as he had been expecting such a thing to happen. He nced back at John, and took several steps forward, eventually stopping a few feet before John. "However, the offer is still conditional on one thing."


    John tilted his head slightly to the side as he looked at the eldelry man before him.


    "What thing?" John asked calmly. He was sure he would be able to meet any condition the man gave him.


    "You are clearly an essence cultivator, but you clearly utilize body battle arts as well. I''m guessing you have an Innate Variant Body which allows you to use both powers, instead of doing something as foolish as dual cultivating body and essence. As such, you must prove that your Innate Variant Body is of high enough quality to use the Supreme Battle Art to its utmost. If I find your ability to utilize the Supreme Battle Art to becking, I''ll rescind the offer to be our disciple and force you to swear an oath to never use the Supreme Battle Art again."


    John''s rxed gaze stared at Sect Leader EarthFist as he listed his conditions, before a small, confident smile broke out on his face.


    "That''s it?" John replied confidently, as if such a test was beneath his concern.


    "Hoh? You seem quite confident. Good, only such a confident temperament is worthy of cultivating our battle arts," Sect Leader EarthFist replied. "Then show me the source of this confidence. Hit me with your strongest punch."


    Boom!


    Sect Leader EarthFist''s incredible body power red out as his muscles bulged. The upper portion of his robes ripped apart from the force, revealing his incredibly muscr upper body.


    John nced at the man''s body, which seemed to be more durable than the hardest of materials. A smile broke out on his face as he assumed an attacking posture, ready to explode with his full power at a moments notice.


    "Just know, you asked for this," John replied with a confident tone as he began to channel his body power.


    Sect Leader EarthFist scoffed at John''s words, as John''s words seemed to indicate that he could cause damage to the Sect Leader. Sect Leader EarthFist was about to mock John, when his expression turned serious.


    John''s body dantian exploded with absolute power as he channeled his Supreme Battle Art to the highest extent he could. At the same time, he activated his Immortal Asura Body to further augment his strength, pushing it to an extreme level. However, he decided to not use his Transformation Art, as such a thing was not needed at the moment.


    He was more than certain his current level of power was far beyond anything the Sect Leader could have imagined possible. His Supreme Battle Art aura exploded out powerfully as it washed over everyone in the room, shocking all but Lilian.


    After a moment of channeling his battle art, John punched out with his full force, his fist violently colliding with the chest of Sect Leader EarthFirst.


    Bang!

 Chapter 426 - Ushering In The New Era

    A deafening bang boomed out within the War Pce chamber, and it shook violently from the force of the blow. The attack created a shockwave that caused the other Supreme Battle Sect members to take several steps backwards, as they were unable to resist its powerful force.


    John''s aura died down after his attack, as he stared at Sect Leader EarthFist with a slightly shocked expression. The Sect Leader stood there unflinchingly, not having moved even a single bit.


    John''s attack just now was strong enough to threaten even someone as strong as Anton, who was in the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm. Yet the man before him shrugged it off as if it were a light breeze. Clearly his power was towards the top of the Dao Transformation Realm, or even higher, to be able to shrug off a blow in such a manner.


    ''How strong!''


    The other Supreme Battle Sect members regained their bnce, and quickly looked back at John with looks of absolute shock on their faces. While they had heard the rumors of his strength, seeing and believing were two different things. They had assumed the rumors of his ability to jump an entire realm inbat were nothing more than exaggerations from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, but now they knew it was the absolute truth.


    John took a few steps back after his fist attack as he stared at Sect Leader EarthFist. He shook his hands a couple of times in pain as a wry smile appeared on his face.


    "What the hell is your body made of?" John couldn''t help but exim.


    The serious look on EarthFist''s face quickly melted away into arge smile as he began tough boisterously. Hisughs boomed loudly within the chamber, its power so great that it shook the floor and walls.


    "Haha, it''s been a long time since I''ve felt surprised, but boy...today you surprised me," EarthFist said loudly. His gaze shifted to Lilian who sat nearby.


    "You got quite the disciple here," he said to her.


    Lilian smiled ever so slightly as she nodded his head. "That we do. But I''m assuming he easily passed your trial, so isn''t he also your disciple now?"


    "Hahaha, that he is," EarthFist replied happily as his gaze shifted back to John. Hisrge hand rested on John''s shoulder as an approving look appeared on his face.


    "You are now an official disciple of our sect," he said to John. "I''m sure you''ll bring glory to our sect."


    John smiled as he nodded his head, incredibly happy to have be a member of the Supreme Battle Sect.


    ''Now I won''t have to worry about obtaining a body battle art for a long, long time.''


    EarthFist''s gaze shifted back to Lilian, as he spoke to her once more.


    "I''m assuming he will be going to the Divine Martial Continent soon?"


    "In the next few months," Lilian said as she nodded her head in confirmation.


    "Good," he said as he looked back at John. "Much like the Heavenly Lightning Sect, our Supreme Battle Sect has our main sect located on the Divine Martial Continent. In fact, it''s quite close to the location of the main Heavenly Lightning Sect, so you won''t have trouble finding it. Make your way there when you can, and I''m sure you''ll obtain even more benefits from our sect," EarthFist exined.


    John nodded his head once more, as he was sure to do so. Any opportunity to obtain power and resources would be an opportunity he would not miss.


    "Good, then our business here is done today," EarthFist said with a satisfied tone.


    Without saying anything else, he turned and strode out of the room, quickly followed behind by the other members of the sect. John watched them leave, before he turned to Lilian who still sat on her throne.


    A small smile appeared on her face as she stared at him. "It seems like you''re bing quite popr with others. Are you already bored of this sect of ours?" she teased.


    John rolled his eyes at herment and didn''t bother to reply. He knew anything he said would most likely result in a beating, as he would say something sarcastic back.


    John decided to switch topics, as his focus shifted to the Divine Martial Continent.


    "You said we will leave for the Divine Martial Continent in several months?" John asked for rification.


    "Correct," Lilian replied. After the entrance exam for the newest ss of disciples, we will leave for the Divine Martial Continent." she exined.


    "Until then, be sure to raise your strength as much as possible. The Divine Martial Continent has many monstrous disciples as well. You may be undisputed here, but even you will find yourself challenged over there."


    John raised one eyebrow as he heard this, but didn''t argue against his master''s words. She knew more about the continent than him.


    ''Maybe she''s just saying that to scare me into raising my strength as much as possible, but I don''t need any extra motivation. My motivation and desire for strength is already at the precipice of what is possible.''


    John conversed with Lilian for a short while longer before leaving the War Hall, and set out to take care of everything he needed to get done in the next few months.


    As he strode out of the War Hall, he was greeted by a familiar face that he had not seen in quite some time.


    "You bastard," Adam eximed. "You returned months ago and you''ve yet to say hi to me? Do you not consider me your friend?"


    An item suddenly appeared in John''s hands as he tossed it over to Adam, who quickly caught it. It was the shrouding artifact that he had obtained in the Bloodfiend Sect, which contained a powerful shrouding formation.


    Adam''s eyes lit up as he quickly began to study the artifact, as John rolled his eyes at how easy it was to appease Adam.


    ¡­


    Time passed by incredibly quickly, as John set out to deal with everything he needed to get done before he left for the Divine Martial Continent. During the day, he would go about helping his n build their branch and his friends raise their power, while he would focus on cultivation at night.


    During thest few months, Miko had shown up several times as well, and he and John quickly caught up on everything that had happened and also discussed their future adventures in the Divine Martial Continent.


    Like this, three months passed by.


    ...


    In a valley between tworge mountains, a massive white and gold gate several hundred yards wide and tall stood, guarding its entrance for all who wished to enter. Two massive blue lightning bolts were carved into either side of the gate, and massive walls extended outwards in both directions from the gate as far as the eye could see.


    A wide road led directly to the entrance of the gate, hundreds of thousands of people were gathered before the gate, with more people arriving by the minute. The crowd ranged from young teenagers to the elderly, and a boisterous atmosphere filled the crowd.


    Manyrge and powerful beasts were seen throughout the crowd, with grand carriages attached to them. Powerful cultivators were seen guarding the carriages, and many important looking people, dressed in fine robes and surrounded by arge following were present.


    Some of the cultivators were floating in the sky above the crowd, but none dared venture higher than the height of the gate itself, as doing so was considered an act of disrespect.


    Towards the front of the crowd, over one hundred thousand youths, aged twelve to fifteen, gathered before the gate. Excited discussions filled this crowd, as they discussed today''s event.


    "I can''t believe this day finally came," one youth eximed.


    "I know. I''ve been looking forward to this day for so long," another replied with absolute enthusiasm.


    "Do you think he will show up?" another nearby youth asked.


    "Him? You mean John Fenix? No way," another youth replied. "He''s the sect''s number one disciple. I''m sure he has better things to do with his time."


    "That''s too bad," the first youth replied, slightly downcast. "Oh well, just joining the same sect as him is already exciting. If the sect can raise someone to be as powerful as him, who''s to say it can''t do the same for me!"


    Today was the day of the Heavenly Lightning Sect''s annual entrance exam, and as expected, it had drawn an incrediblyrge and excited crowd to its front gates. However, the crowd was many timesrger than usual.


    High above the crowd, two figures floated in the sky as they looked down on the crowd. John''s eyes swept over everyone below as a wave of nostalgia washed through him. This is where his true journey had started, leading him to where he was today.


    "Feeling nostalgic?" Lilian asked as she looked down on the crowd below.


    John remained silent, but nodded his head in agreement to her words. A small smile appeared on Lilian''s face as she gazed at the crowd below.


    "The crowd is many timesrger than ever. Obviously everyone is here because of the tales they''ve heard of you. It seems you''ve made our sect more popr than ever," Lilian said, her tone slightly teasing. "Go on, it''s time to begin the entrance exams. Don''t keep the eager crowd waiting."


    John rolled his eyes once more as his body began to descend down to the crowd below, ready to usher in the new era of Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples.

 Chapter 427 - Observing The Entrance Exam Trials

    "Wee to the Heavenly Lightning Sect!" John''s voice boomed out as he hovered above the crowd, drawing the attention of all.


    Everyone looked up and saw a young boy above them, causing many, especially the older cultivators, to frown at the sight. It was known that the Vice-Sect Leader would wee the guests to the start of the entrance exam, and many were drawn to the gates each year to get a sight of her.


    However, the Heavenly Lightning Sect had instead sent a boy to the gates, which many considered as a sign of the Heavenly Lightning Sect not caring that much about this year''s entrance exam.


    In fact, many of the older cultivators were about to speak out in a questioning manner against such a thing, but their voices caught in their throats as they inspected John''s cultivation. He was clearly only around sixteen years old, but already had a cultivation in the Middle Meridian Forging Realm.


    Not only that, but just a single nce from the elders in the group told them that John could easily kill them, despite their higher cultivation. In particr, an early Heaven Tribtion elder from a First Grade n was about to speak up and protest such a reception, as a way to draw attention to himself and elevate his position, but his words also caught in his throat.


    Although John was not actively emanating his aura or power, this elder could tell that John was not someone he could handle in a fight. In fact, he felt lethal danger from him, which lead him and everyone else to one conclusion.


    There was only youth in the entire Heavenly Lightning Sect who could fit this description.


    Meanwhile, the youths in the crowd below all became the epitome of frenzied excitement, as they immediately recognized John. While they had never seen him before, they could tell that despite only being a year or two older than them, his power was far above anything they could look up to.


    Most of the youths in the crowd were in the Qi Condensation Realm, and so John''s Meridian Forging cultivation was far above their scope of power, and was something they thought only elderly cultivators would have.


    "It''s him! It''s actually him!" many disciples cried out excitedly.


    John smiled as he saw this frenziedmotion,and waited for a short moment to let them vent their emotions before he waved his hand for silence. The crowd quickly descended into silence, as they all stared up at John floating above them.


    "Thank you foring to my Heavenly Lightning Sect today," John said to the crowd, who listened with great passion. "It was just one year ago that I too was in the crowd before these gates, eagerly trying to join this sect."


    John''s voice was tinged with nostalgia, and he paused for a moment before continuing his speech.


    "After spending a year in this sect, I can say with absolute confidence that this is the greatest sect on this continent, and your decision to enter it was the correct one. By entering this sect, you will have opportunities you could only dream of before."


    John''s speech sent the disciples into an excited furor again, and he waved his hand for silence once more.


    "I will now exin the rules of the entrance exam. The entrance exam willst one week. All those who enter must be below the Core Formation Realm, and sixteen years of age or below.


    There are five stages to the exam, and to enter the sect as an Outer Disciple, the third stage must be cleared. Those who pass the fourth stage will be Inner Disciples, and those who pass the fifth will be Core Disciples."


    Most in the crowd were familiar with the rules of the entrance exam, as they were exined in detail every year. However, this information was new to some, and so they listened closely.


    "The trials will be monitored closely by Elders, and cheating of any kind will be dealt with severely. No treasures or weapons that use outside power will be permitted. Everything must be powered by the cultivators themselves."


    Many nodded their heads in agreement at this rule, while some had looks of disappointment on their faces. There were bound to be incredibly powerful treasures in the Holy Lands that the juniors could use, which would provide an unfair advantage.


    "Fighting within the exams are permitted only when allowed by the specific trial. Fighting outside the permitted trials will result in disqualification. Lastly, the top cultivators who do the best within the exams will be given special rewards. That is all."


    John exined the rules exactly as he had remembered his master had done a year ago, and following her actions after as well, he suddenly disappeared from the crowd''s view as he returned to where his master was, far above the crowd.


    "Not a bad speech," Lilian teased as John returned next to her. "In fact, I think you exined the rules verbatim as I did. Couldn''t you have done it a bit differently?"


    "Why bother," John replied as he gazed down on the crowd below.


    The gates parted, allowing the disciples to enter the sect. Over one hundred thousand youths flooded into the sect, looking like a surging river as they all moved towards the first testing location.


    While John did not participate in any of the trial testing as the other Elders did, he decided to stay around and watch the youths attempt the trials he had done just a year ago. It was a rare rxing break in his routine, which would soon be chaotic again thanks to his trip to the Divine Martial Continent.


    "Come find me after the trials are over," Lilian instructed before she flew away, leaving John behind.


    John found a nice spot in a tree not far away from the talent testing area, and sat one one of its branches as he watched the testmence. Those that passed the trial all cheered in excited happiness, while those that failed looked like their dreams had shattered.


    John sighed as he saw such sights, as he had a heavy heart for those that failed.


    "Strength is the only thing in this world that allows someone to control their own fate, and yet the is the one who world dictates who gets strength and who does not. If one is given terrible talent, then even if their hearts are the firmest in thend, they are still destined to be stepping stones for others. What a cruel, uncaring world."


    John''s thoughts shifted to the Artifact that his supposed father had made for him, and its effect on his life.


    ''Although my talent without the Artifact is still world-shaking, as I achieved fifteen dantianpressions on my own, and also have a heavenly bloodline ability, I still would not have nearlye as far as I have without the Artifact bestowed upon me by my father. I wonder...if I be strong enough to stand atop this entire martial world and look down from above, could I rewrite thews of the martial world? Make it so that those who have an unflinching heart and unbreakable resolve can reach the top, while those undeserving of their talent fall to the depths? Wouldn''t that be perfect.''


    John continued to think over such things as he watched the trialspleted. The first trial ended, with roughly half of all participants eliminated. The second trial started, which for John was the illusion formation trial.


    Since the trials changed every year to keep people from cheating, this year''s second trial was a willpower test, not of pain, but of resolve. Those that entered had their resolve tested with money, power, lust, and other things the heart would normally desire.


    Only those with firm enough resolves to stand against such temptations were allowed forward, and yet again roughly half of the participants were eliminated.


    The next trial was abat trial, with the disciples fighting not against beasts as John had done, but against themselves. With rankings assigned to the talent test scores the disciples had received in the first trial, a single elimination tournament was held until only several thousand remained.


    Those within fought with all their might and strength, and some even managed to impress John with their determination. Not only that, but there were many talented youths as well, some showing power that made John raise an eyebrow.


    ''This ss of youths is definitely stronger than the one I was a part of. With such an infusion of talent, it seems like the Heavenly Lightning Sect''s future strength is on a sure path rise."


    The trial afterwards, thest trial, was the trial of pain, which was the only trial not changed in any way. Even if one knew there was a trial of pain, they still needed the willpower and resolve to push through it.


    John sighed as he watched the disciples struggle against the pain, and many give up.


    ''So close, and yet they let such a thing stand in their way. Oh well, only those who can pass such a trial are worthy of bing Inner and Core Disciples anyways."


    Several youths once again stood out, and surged to the center of the trial, passing it swiftly. Although none had passed the trial as fast as John had done the year prior, there were several youths that once again impressed him.


    The trial finally ended as all either passed or gave up, and John quickly stood up and moved to a different location. Just as he arrived, a sh of light appeared before him, as all the disciples that had passed the Outer, Inner, and Core Disciple tests arrived in the Heavenly Lightning Sect courtyard.


    Arge crowd of all the Heavenly Lightning Sect members gathered around the courtyard, eager to see the new batch of disciples, as well as the one spectacle they came for every year.

 Chapter 428 - Seeing The Lightning Dragon Again

    "Congrattions on bing disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect,"


    A calm yet extremely powerful voice echoed out, causing all eyes to fall on the Sect Leader who had just spoken. His calm face smiled down at those below, and appeared as if he was an ordinary grandpa weing his grandchildren home. However, all could tell that despite his aura being constrained, his power was beyond anything they had felt before.


    Thunderzen''s gaze roamed among all the youths, who were now new members of his sect.


    "You have done what most in thisnd only dream of, and for that you should be proud. From now on, you will be able to call yourselves disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. However, to truly be disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, there is one more test that must be passed," the Sect Leader stated in a calm voice, causing frowns to appear on those in the group.


    They had been told that they had passed all the trials and had be disciples, but now the Sect Leader was saying there were more trials toe. Many were unhappy to hear this, but none of them dared voice their discontent to the Sect Leader himself.


    Upon hearing the Sect Leader mention the final trial, the eyes of all those in the crowd lit up, and excited discussions broke out. John smiled as well, as he was looking forward to seeing the amazing creature once again.


    Roooooaaaaaaar!


    A thunderous roar so loud that it nearly shattered the eardrums of many sounded out throughout the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Its roar covered the entire sect, and there wasn''t a single person who didn''t hear it. The roar sounded out several more times, each more powerful and deafening than thest.


    Silence descended over the crowd, and John and all those in the crowd could hear the growing rumbles of wings approaching. A small tempest began to kick up within the courtyard, and before long, everyone felt as if they were in the middle of a windstorm.


    The courtyard suddenly grew dim, as if the sun had been blocked out. All the new youths of the sect turned their eyes to the sky to see what was going on, and their eyes all widened in shock. While most of the youths had heard the rumors of such an event taking ce, seeing the creature and hearing about the creature were twopletely different things.


    Boooooom!


    The Heavenly Lightning Sect Pce and the massive courtyard in front of it trembled greatly. John and the entire crowd stared up at the Heavenly Lightning Sect Pce, and the figure that had justnded on its roof high above the Sect Leader.


    ''Despite already seeing it once, I can''t help but be awed yet again by this Lightning Dragon,'' John mused as he studied the creature closely. It was his second time seeing it, but his awe was no less prevalent than the first time he had seen it. Even now he couldn''t tell how strong it was.


    ''It must be at least as strong as Thunderzen, if not stronger.''


    The Dragon lowered its massive head to stare down at the crowd below, and itsrge eyes locked on the group of youths who stood at the crowd center.


    Its power was so overwhelming that none of the youths dared to move a muscle. In fact, all of them were so scared and awed by the majestic creature, that they wouldn''t be able to move even if they wanted to. Sweat trickled down all their backs, and some even copsed to the floor in a nervous mess.


    Even the crowd of Heavenly Lightning Sect members were awed at the scene. Despite seeing this ur once every year, it still filled them with wonder.


    Suddenly, the power of the dragon red out, and all the youths felt an incredibly strange, yet overwhelmingly powerful energy invade their bodies, minds and souls.


    John stared on at the scene before him, as he knew what the youths were going through.


    ''This power of the dragon detects any intruding souls hiding within the disciples. Although the Bloodfiend Sect has been eradicated, I guess one can''t be too careful.''


    The youths initially tried to resist the power, but Thunderzen''s instructions to not do so squashed any of such intentions, and all the youths allowed it to thoroughly invade their bodies. After a brief inspection, the dragon''s power faded, revealing that there were no invading souls hiding within any of the youths.


    ''As expected,'' John mused.


    After the inspection, the dragon opened its mouth, and arge beam of strange lightning suddenly exploded outwards, directly towards the youths below. John watched on as the youths were bathed in the dragon''s lightning.


    ''This special ability of the dragon truly is wondrous. It contains incredible power, not destructive power, but nurturing power. I wonder how it aplishes such a thing.''


    Every lightning attack John knew was only about one thing; destruction. Having such a special ability would be quite nice, but John knew it was most likely a natural inborn ability that only such a creature could possess.


    The dragon''s lightning continued to purify and cleanse the bodies of the youths, as well as increase their lightningprehensions and future lightning talent significantly.


    The process continued for several minutes, before the dragon closed its mouth and stopped bathing the youths in his lightning breath. It roared once more before it spread its wings and took to the sky. A violent wind tempest was kicked up within the courtyard, and the dragon flew high into the sky before it sped off out of the view of all those in the crowd.


    The youths in the center of everyone had stunned looks on their faces as they inspected the changes in their bodies. John smiled as he saw such reactions, as his reaction was the exact same just one year ago.


    "You have been bathed in the Vital Lightning Essence Breath of our Heavenly Lightning Dragon. I''m sure each and every one of you has felt their bodies be more aligned with lightning Qi, and your lightningprehensions grow as well," Thunderzen''s voice boomed over the crowd once more.


    The youths all nodded their heads eagerly in agreement. They all felt the immediate changes in their body. Such a thing was beyond their wildest expectations, and they were starting to see why the Heavenly Lightning Sect stood at the very top of the continent.


    Not only that, but the sect had given rise to a talent such as John, whose name was now famous across the entire continent. Although no one was certain how he aplished such a thing, everyone knew the Bloodfiend Sect''s destruction was directly rted to him.


    Not only that, but there were stories of him jumping an entire major realm of cultivation and winning, which was even more unbelievable. Even jumping one minor realm was beyond impressive, let alone a major realm which was equivalent to four minor realms in power.


    "As was mentioned at the start of the trial, the top youths are to be rewarded for their efforts. Those being specially rewarded are those who ced in the top ten to be Core Disciples, and you will each receive your rewards ording to your rank," Thunderzen addressed the youths once more.


    John stood to the side as he watched the new disciple ceremony go to its conclusion. The top ten Core Disciples were each given their rankings, establishing the pecking order for the next year of Heavenly Lightning Sect youths.


    "That concludes this year''s entrance exam ceremony," Thunderzen called out, but a raised hand suddenly caught his attention


    The hand being raised was a youthful girl of the new discipleship, whose face was slightly red from embarrassment of drawing attention to her.


    "Oh? What is it?" Thunderzen asked with a smile on his face.


    The girl''s expression turned slightly panicked, but the urging of the disciples nearby her gave her confidence, clearly indicating that she was just speaking for the group of youths.


    "When...when will we be able to see big brother John again?"


    "Huh?" John couldn''t help but exim out loud as he heard the question. "When the fuck did I be a big brother to these kids?"


    "What? You don''t like being their big brother?" a mocking voice behind John sounded out, causing him to turn quickly around in surprise.


    "Can you not sneak up on me like that?" John cursed as he saw his master standing behind him with an amused expression on her face. "Even more, how long were you standing behind me?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    He had not detected her presence at all.


    "The entire time," she replied, as if the truth was further mockery.


    "Tomorrow there will be a special training session given out by John personally," Thunderzen''s voice sounded out once again, causing John cry out in confusion once more.


    "Huh? When did I agree to such a thing?" John asked Lilian, who shrugged her shoulders in response.


    "It seems as though you''re the most talked about topic amongst the youths these days. We figured you could give them a few pointers and raise their morale before you leave for the Divine Martial Continent," Lilian replied with a dry tone.


    John stared at his master with an amused expression, but didn''t argue against it. Teaching the youths of the sect wouldn''t be such a bad thing, and it was one way to repay the sect that had done so much for him already.


    "Really?" the girl excitedly replied, while the rest of the youths around her pumped their fists in happiness.


    As such, the next day, John found himself standing before all the new youths of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, as their eager and excited gazes all focused on him, waiting to learn from the Yuan Continents foremost genius.

 Chapter 429 - Giving The Discples Their First Lesson

    In arge open field somewhere in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, arge group of several thousand disciples were gathered. The atmosphere within this group was excited and anxious, as the lessons they were looking forward to receiving were about to begin.


    After going about his morning routine, John set off for the training area, and arrived there shortly after. Therge crowd gathered in the field entered his view, and John hovered high above the group as they excitedly discussed today''s events toe.


    He shook his head slightly as he saw how rxed and unguarded they were currently.


    "A shame, this generation, while quite talented, seems to be like the previous one...naive and pampered."


    None of the disciples noticed his presence, although he had done nothing to hide it. If any of them were truly on their guard, they might have noticed his arrival. Within the Heavenly Lightning Sect, they felt safe and secure, but John knew this was the type of attitude these disciples would carry regardless of where they were.


    While the group of new disciples were most definitely talented, even more so than the group fromst year, John could tell that they were just as spoiled. It was something he found out even more clearly in the ancient city, when the Bloodfiend Sect youths rampaged without being questioned or challenged.


    The Bloodfiend Sect youths all had a hard and brutal upbringing, which tempered their nerves and hardened their resolve. They were constantly thrown into life and death scenarios, and so were much calmer and more collected when facing such a situation. Not only that, but in the same realm, theirbat prowess was usually higher, due to the intense and rigorous upbringing they received.


    On the other hand, the youths that joined the Heavenly Lightning Sect and the other Honorable Alliance powers were much softer. They mostly all came from powerful sects and ns, and were raised as their top geniuses. They were spoiled and coddled with attention, cultivation gifts, and more, but rarely ever forced to put their life on the line.


    This made their power great, but their resolves and willpowers weak.


    ''While talent is important, a firm willpower and resolve is even more important for a cultivator to be able to soar through the cultivation world. It seems like I will have to teach these kids that lesson.''


    "When do you think he''s going to show up?" an excited youth asked his friends nearby.


    "I don''t know, but I can''t wait for this lesson. Maybe we''ll be able to see a bit of why he''s so strong," another excited youth replied.


    Simr discussions were taking ce throughout the group, but those discussions quickly stopped as they all noticed something strange happen.


    Lightning nodes, over a hundred total, suddenly sprung up in the air around them. The youths all looked at the nodes in confusion, as they were unsure of what was going on. However, even still none of them raised their guards, as they figured their safety within the sect was absolute.


    John frowned as he saw this, and shook his head before unleashing a small portion of his power.


    Bang!


    Lightning instantly exploded out of all the lightning nodes, snaking all throughout the crowd. Lightning inundated each and every youth with shocking pain as they all cried out in pain and confusion. The weaker disciples copsed to the ground and curled up into a ball, while the stronger ones did their best to resist. However, each and every disciple was feeling absolute pain at the moment, as they were unable to struggle against the lightning.


    John let the lightning from his Heavenly Lightning Domain continue for some time while he watched the group of youths below.


    ''If I end this lesson too soon, none of them will really learn the lesson I''m giving here. Only by etching this pain into their flesh will they never forget it. However, I am also giving them two small gifts with this lightning tempering, so they will thank me.''


    John could have instantly killed each and every disciple here without them noticing, but had obviously restricted his power to the Qi Condensation realm for this lesson. Even so, it was more than any of the youths could handle.


    Agonized cries continued to ring out for some time, drawing the attention of nearby Elder''s, who quickly arrived to figure out what was going on. They frowned in confusion as they saw the scene, but quickly saw John floating above the group, looking down with disappointment.


    They quickly understood what was going on, and only shook their heads at the brutalness of the lesson before leaving.


    After quite some time, John finally withdrew his power, and the lightning bathing the youths faded away. Many of the youths instantly copsed to the ground, unable to stand from the pain they had just felt.


    "This is my first lesson to all of you," a voice from above boomed out, catching the attention of the youths below. Their pained gazes looked up, and were surprised to see who had just said that.


    "What?...This...was done by you?" one of the stronger first year disciples replied through gritted teeth, frustration evident in his voice. "What the hell did you do that for?"


    Several other youths also chimed up, as their reverence for John was reced with anger. John remained calm as he saw their attitudes, and he slowly descended to the ground to stand before the crowd.


    "Silence," John''s voice boomed out, silencing all the voices of discontent. A frown appeared on his face as he stared at all the youths before him.


    "If you''re going to ask me why I did what I just did...it''s because you''re all far too naive and spoiled," John''s voice boomed out for all to hear.


    "I arrived above this group without restricting my aura at all, but none of you were even slightly on guard to notice my arrival. You think just because you''re within the sect, that means you''re safe?" John''s question echoed out throughout the crowd.


    Many were about to reply that it did, but John''s next line quickly squashed those voices.


    "I''m sure many of the Bloodfiend Sect youths were feeling the same thing. That their sect protected them from any and all dangers. Such thoughts, the exact same as yours, were only one thing....naive."

 Chapter 430 - Further Lessons

    The faces of all the disciples turned from slight anger to surprise, to shame as they thought over John''s words. It was now known that he had been the one to destroy the Bloodfiend Sect, whose power was equal to the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Surely those youths felt the same as they did recently, that they were safe within its borders.


    "That safety was only an illusion for them, as it is for all of you," John continued. "The only safety you have is your own strength. And strength is derived from more than just talent. Willpower and unflinching resolve are just as important as talent in the cultivation world, maybe even more important. Without those two aspects, even a talented person is doomed to fail."


    John paused for a moment to let his words sink in, before he began to speak once again.


    "Never for one second believe you have absolute safety, because in the cultivation world, you never do. Always have your guard raised, so that situations like this never happen to you again. Besides, if that little bit of pain was enough to make you question cultivating, then you were never worthy of treading down the cultivation path in the first ce."


    John''s words once again instilled a sense of shame within the youths, as they knew his words to be true. John took a deep breath and rxed himself before shifting his tone, as he knew he had been a bit heavy handed with his approach.


    "However, now that you have all learned this lesson and etched it into your heart, I''m sure each and every one of you will be a cultivation powerhouse, with the ability to rise to the top of this world."


    While he didn''t believe these words, he knew the disciples would. Their looks of pain and shame quickly washed away, as hopeful looks reced them.


    "Lastly, the lightning I bathed you all in wasn''t just to cause you pain, but to give you two small gifts," John addressed the crowd.


    "What gifts?" a girl''s voice asked. John''s gaze locked with the girl''s, who he recognized as the one who had addressed Thunderzen the previous day. A small smile appeared on his face as he replied to her.


    "First off, the pain of what just happened has tempered your wills, but more importantly, it has tempered your bodies."


    The disciples all inspected their bodies closely after hearing these words, and surprise lit up on each and every one of their faces as they noticed some incredibly minute but significant changes to their bodies.


    "I have a special type of lightning under my control...heavenly tribtion lightning. By bathing you all in a tiny portion of this lighting, I have slightly increased yourprehensions and body affinity towards heavenly lighting. While it''s not nearly as grand as what the Lightning Dragon did to you yesterday, it will still help quite a bit in the future," John''s words echoed throughout the crowd.


    By bathing the youths in the tiniest portion of heaven tribtion lightning, he was able to raise theirprehensions towards lightning ever so slightly, as well as their affinity towards lightning as well.


    "Now, let''s begin your lessons for the day," John said with a warm smile on his face.


    The youths all had excited looks as they began to thank John profusely, and apologize for their previous behavior. John dismissed those apologies as not needed, and continued the lesson in full. Hundreds of questions were asked, ranging from cultivation questions to personal questions about John''s life.


    John answered as many as he could, and also demonstrated several battle arts and techniques for the disciples to learn. The lessons continued until the sun began to set, at which point John dismissed the exhausted but happy disciples. His smiling face watched all of them leave, as he knew his lessons would truly help these youths.


    "You''re not a bad teacher, although you''re quite brutal in your methods" a voice behind John caused him to turn, although no longer in fright as he was used to her showing up without warning.


    John turned to see his master standing behind him, and nodded his head at her words. "Thanks, I learned my methods from you," John replied without hesitation.


    "Good. Then at least I know my lessons didn''t go to waste," Lilian replied, her response slightly surprising John. He had been expecting a beating from his words, but he received no such response.


    "What brings you here?" John asked, as he knew his master had a reason for showing up.


    Lilian''s yful expression faded away as she replied to John. "We are setting out tomorrow for the Divine Martial Continent. Go home to your family and spend thest day with them, and be ready to set out midday tomorrow."


    John''s face turned serious as he heard this, and he nodded his head in confirmation of her words. Lilian''s figure disappeared from his sight, seemingly to go handle other important matters before tomorrow. John stood there in silent contemtion for a moment, before he took to the skies and flew towards his branch n where his family was.


    He arrived a whileter, and spent the night and the early morning the next day with his mother and father, making sure to spend each second with them before he would leave for who knows how long.


    Although they were sad to see their son go, both his mother and father understood that John''s next step was to go to the Divine Martial Continent.


    "Just make sure to keep yourself safe," Rachel Fenix said with teary eyes as she parted from her embrace with her son.


    "I will," John nodded his head at her words, before he gazed at his father before him. Their gazes said everything that needed to be said, and John embraced his father as well for a moment before he took to the sky, heading back to the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    A firm and resolved look appeared on his face as he flew through the sky at rapid speeds, towards the next step of his cultivation journey.


    "Today is finally the day....the day that I travel to the Divine Martial Continent."

 Chapter 431 - Leaving For The Divine Martial Continent

    John arrived at the Heavenly Lightning Sect before midday, and headed straight towards the Heavenly Lightning Courtyard, which was where the sect carried out all its important public sect business.


    Upon arriving at the sect, John raised his eyebrows slightly at the scene before him.


    ''It seems as if the entire sect has gathered here in this courtyard. Is the sendoff process really such a big deal?''


    Regardless of the reasons, John quicklynded in the middle of the courtyard, which was where many of the other members of his disciple ss stood. There were roughly one hundred disciples gathered, which consisted of the five Direct Disciples of the sect, all the Core Disciples, and the most talented Inner Disciples. John even spotted Chase and Adam amongst them.


    He didn''t really know the exact criteria the sect had for approving which disciples were worthy of going to the main sect or not, but he was confident Adam and Chase were more than talented enough. His guess was right, and the two of them approached him as soon as hended.


    "You''re finally here huh? I''m pretty sure you''re thest one to arrive," Adam said while shaking his head as he walked towards John. "What would you do if we left without you?"


    "Left without him?" Chase piped up as he approached as well. "I''m pretty sure the only person the sect would not leave without is him. The rest of us are probably all discardable whenpared to him," Chase said in a slightly self-defeated manner.


    "What are you talking about?" John said with a smile as he patted Chase on the back. "You''re just as valuable as I am. Good Pill Experts are hard toe by, and ones with Wood Constitutions are even more rare. The sect probably ces you just as high as me in terms of value."


    "Right, right," Adam chimed up with a smile on his face as he replied with closed eyes. "Us three are the most valuable disciples to the sect. There''s no way they would leave without any of us."


    Adam''s eyes slowly opened as he heard no response, and all he saw was John and Chase looking at Adam as if he were stupid.


    "Did I ever mention you?" John replied with a look as if Adam was stupid. "If it wasn''t for me dragging you through all those trials, you wouldn''t even be in the sect today, let alone going to the Divine Martial Continent."


    "What? How can you say such a thing," Adam nearly yelled out back at John.


    "Did I say anything false?" John replied with a straight face.


    Adam was about to argue back, but quickly realized John only told the truth. He truly had been dragged forward in both status and talent by John, and he wouldn''t really be the same person today if not for him.


    "Fine, I admit you''re right," Adam replied. "But before long, I''ll prove myself as a valuable member to this team, just you wait!"


    Adam''s eyes burned with determination, causing John to nod his head slightly in approval. He was mostly jesting with Adam, as he needed to knock him down a peg. It seems as though it had worked, and he had lit a fire under Adam, which was something that rarely happened.


    While John, Chase, and Adam conversed, the rest of the Heavenly Lightning Sect gathered in the courtyard around the youths. A buzzing atmosphere filled the crowd, as discussions broke out amongst the sect members regarding this year''s discipleship being sent to the Divine Martial Continent.


    "Thank you for gathering here today," a voice boomed over the crowd, and all eyes turned to look at Thunderzen who had emerged from the Heavenly Lightning Pce. "Just like a few days ago, today is an important day for this sect. It is the day we send our best disciples to the main branch of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, to learn and prosper, and bring pride to our branch here. We have high hopes for this year''s ss."


    Thunderzen''s gaze swept over the crowd and youths, and paused on John for a moment as a smile formed on his face.


    "I''m afraid there isn''t much fanfare to this event other than sending you all off. All I can say is I wish you all the best of luck, and bid you farewell."


    "Farewell!"


    A booming cry echoed out in unison from the crowd, shaking the very ground with its might. John felt himself get ever so slightly emotional, as he could tell he had the support of the entire sect, as well as the hopes of all on his shoulders.


    A ship suddenly appeared in the sky above the group of youths, with Lilian standing beside it.


    "Hop on," Lilian instructed, as she had been the one to summon the ship from her spatial ring.


    ''I guess my master herself is escorting us to the Divine Martial Continent.''


    John inspected the ship closely, and raised his eyebrows in slight surprise. The ship was not the ship his master had used to get him to his homnd, but the ship Thunderzen had used when he arrived at the Bloodfiend Sect.


    ''It seems as though they have traded ships for this situation. They must ce quite a bit of importance on it if Thunderzen is giving Lilian his much more valuable ship for this trip.''


    The youths all obliged, and flew up to the ship hovering in the sky above them. John was thest one to fly up, and his gaze swept over the crowd onest time, before eventually resting on Thunderzen who stood at the top of the stairs leading to the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    "Good luck," Thunderzen''s voice transmission sounded in John''s mind. "And be careful. The Divine Martial Continent is far beyond the Yuan Continent in terms of power and talent. Although you will still flourish without a doubt, you must have your guard raised at all times. But above all, be true to your cultivation heart, and do not waver from the path you have set out for yourself. Only by doing this can you rise to the top of the martial world."


    John nodded his head upon hearing Thunderzen''s words, and bowed slightly towards him. Thunderzen had done so much for John, and he was eternally grateful for each and every single thing Thunderzen had done for him.


    After bowing to the Sect Leader, John flew up to the ship above and quickly entered it. The ship''s interior was incredibly spacious and luxurious, even more so than the ship Lilian had used a month ago. The interior was easilyrge enough to carry several hundred people, and there were even dozens of rooms within to house individual people.


    Lilian boarded the shipst and quickly inspected everyone inside to make sure none were missing. Upon confirmation of the youths on the ship, she walked to the front of the ship, which contained the piloting module. Her hand pressed down on a formation disk on top of a pedestal, and the ship quickly flew higher in the sky before speeding off to the east at incredible speeds.


    John, as well as the rest of the disciples, felt a wave of emotion was over them as they watched the ship speed away from the Heavenly Lightning Sect. It was where they had spent thest year of their lives, and each and every single youth felt incredible attachment to it.


    The ship flew at incredible speeds, much faster than the ship John had been on previously. John watched the Yuan Continent fly by below, before his gaze shifted to his master who now stood in the center of the ship. She waved her hand, and over one hundred scrolls suddenly appeared in the air, before each one shot towards a disciple.


    "Read this," Lilian instructed as each disciple caught a scroll and unfurled it.


    John did the same, and quickly perused through its contents.


    ''Hmm? This scroll contains information regarding the Divine Martial Continent. The nearby allies and enemies to the Heavenly Lightning Sect, nearby danger zones and more. How useful.''


    John, as well as the rest of the disciples, read each and every word of the scrolls and etched all the information into their minds. Such information was incredibly important, and would certainly be useful for them in their cultivation journeys toe.


    After reading through his document, John put it away and walked over to his master, who stood at the helm of the ship. Lilian nced at John as he approached, before looking forward once more.


    "What is it?" Lilian asked as John stood next to her, as she could tell he had a question on his mind.


    "I''ve always wanted to ask this question, but never really got around to it," John replied. "Howe Sect Leader Thunderzen, Sect Leader Earthfist, and Allfiend go by such names. Surely those aren''t their natural birth names, why do they all go by such strange names?"


    It was something that had always seemed strange to John, and was something he wanted to know the truth behind.

 Chapter 432 - String Of Questions

    "Oh, that?" Lilian replied, slightly surprised to hear John bring up such an offbeat topic. "That''s because all of them had their Heavenly Dao-Names given to them by the Ancient Heaven-Dao Tablet."


    "Ancient Heaven-Dao Tablet? What is that?" John asked, as he had never heard of such a thing before.


    "You wouldn''t know about it, as it''s something that exists in the Divine Martial Continent only," Lilian replied. "It''s an ancient artifact that no one really knows how it works, but only that it does. When one reaches the Dao Transformation Realm or above and infuses their Qi and Dao''s into the tablet, the tablet gives them their Heavenly Dao Name."


    "Heavenly Dao Name?" John asked for rification, as he had never heard of such a thing, although he could assume what it was based on the name alone.


    "Yes. It is essentially the name by which the Heaven''s themselves recognize you as. Many cultivators consider this to be their true name once they hear it, and go by that name once they receive it," Lilian exined.


    "Have you received your Dao-Name?" John asked, as his master had exined that one needed to have their cultivation in the Dao Transformation Realm or above to receive their Dao-Name, which his master was.


    "Not yet," Lilian shook her head in response to John''s question. "I broke through to the Dao Transformation Realm in the Yuan Continent, and have not visited the Divine Martial Continent since. I suppose the Ancient Heaven-Dao Tablet is something I can visit at ater date once we get settled in," she replied.


    John fell into silence for a moment before he thought of another thing he was curious about.


    "Mast...Lilian...how many branch sects does the Heavenly Lightning Sect have? Surely we''re not the only one," John asked. It still felt a bit awkward to call her by her real name, but Lilian despised being called Master, as it made her sound older than she really was.


    "There are five other branches," Lilian replied quickly.


    "Will they be sending a ss of disciples to the main sect like we are?" John asked. He was sure they were, but wanted to be certain.


    "Naturally," Lilian replied. "The main sect of the Heavenly Lightning Sect is the strongest by far, and also has the most opportunities to raise one''s strength. The branch sects are basically required to send their strongest disciples each year to the main sect, and in response, the main sect gives resources and protection to the branch sect each year," she exined.


    John nodded his head in understanding, as such an agreement was what he was expecting for the most part. Another burning question popped up into his mind upon hearing that there were six total branch sects.


    "And how does our branch stack up against the other branch sects?" John asked.


    Lilian nced sideways at John for a moment before looking forward once more. She remained silent for a moment before finally answering John''s question.


    "Each year, our sect is usuallyst, or second tost," Lilian replied, not hiding the truth of things.


    Although he was expecting it, John still couldn''t help but frown slightly as he heard this.


    "That''s bad huh? What''s the reasoning for our branch being so far below the others? Didn''t the Qi from the mysterious energy whirlpool help with cultivation?" John asked.


    "The Yuan Continent is a naturally barren ce, devoid of natural Qi. The mysterious whirlpool artificially boosted this Qi level, but only to a level that wasparable to the ces the other branches exist. Even then, it''s still a bit lower."


    "It''s that bad on the Yuan Continent?" John asked, slightly concerned for the branch sect and his family sect.


    "Well, not anymore," Lilian replied, causing John to ask for rification.


    "It''s not that bad anymore because of two reasons," Lilian began to exin. "First off, while the mysterious whirlpool of energy faded away, it infused enough Qi into the environment to keep levels high for many, many years. About a thousand years to be exact if our estimates are correct," Lilian exined.


    "But won''t that just keep things the way they are right now?" John asked.


    "No, because of the second thing. The ancient city. The ancient city has many wondrous opportunities to raise one''s strength, as I''m sure you''re aware, and we have yet to discover everything contained within. With the ancient city serving as a perfect training ground for our new disciples, I''m confident our branch sect will rise in power considerably in the foreseeable future."


    John thought about it for a moment, before eventually nodding his head in agreement. What his master had said made sense, as he had personally experienced immense growth within the ancient city. If all the disciples could go through something like that, it would definitely be beneficial to the sect''s future power.


    Not only that, but the Bloodfiend Sect was gone, eliminating the biggest threat to the talented disciples. While there were other Forbidden Alliance sects on the continent, none were as strong as the Bloodfiend Sect, and so control of the ancient city would fall into the hands of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the Supreme Battle Sect, and the Divine Soul Sect.


    The two of them continued to talk about many things for quite some time while the ship continued to fly forward at incredible speeds, fast approaching the coast of the continent. John saw the incredibly expansive oceane into view, aweing him with its vastness.


    "How far away is the Divine Martial Continent?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    "Let''s just say that crossing the Yuan Continent is just a drop in the bucket for how far our trip across this ocean will be," Lilian replied, giving a sense of scale to the distance between the twondmasses. "If you were to use your own power to fly there, it would take you several years."


    "That far?" John eximed. "No wonder we''re taking a ship."


    His gaze scanned the ocean below, but all he saw was an endless expanse of water. Another thought popped into his mind, causing him to fire off yet another question at his master.


    "Are there any powerful sea creatures below?" John asked, as he was sure there was a vast variety of mysterious sea creatures he had never before seen.


    "There are," Lilian replied. "In fact, there are creatures in this ocean below us that are stronger than me. If we were to run into them, I would be unable to fight back against them."


    Her words surprised John, as his master was incredibly strong. In fact, when she activated her Dao of Death rune on her forehead, her power was nearly overwhelming to any form of life. Even still, she imed that she would be unable to beat some of the creatures that dwelled in the depths of the ocean below them, instilling John with a slight sense of unease.


    "If that''s the case, then I''m sure you have a contingency, right? Surely you wouldn''t send yourself into a deathly situation without a backup n," John replied.


    "Of course, I wouldn''t do something so stupid, nore would my father. Do you think my father would allow me to send me to my death?" Lilian asked.


    John didn''t answer, as his silence was an answer enough. Lilian smiled slightly at his reaction, before her gaze shifted forward once more.


    "Why do you think we waited until this moment to leave for the Divine Martial Continent?" she asked. "If we wanted to, we could have left months ago, after the business with the Bloodfiend Sect and your homnd was settled. Why do you think we only left now?"


    John thought about it for a moment, but the only thing he could think of was that they waited for the entrance exam to finish before sending off the previous ss.


    "I''m guessing it has something to do with the entrance exam," John replied, but didn''t know how exactly that made sense. His thoughts suddenly shifted to another aspect of the entrance exam, as an idea crept into his mind.


    "Could it be...the dragon?" John asked, his voice slightly unsure. It was the only thing he could think of that had enough power to make a difference in this trip, but the dragon had left immediately after the entrance exam ceremony.


    Lilian smiled as she heard John''s response.


    "I suppose you''re not as stupid as I thought you were," Lilian replied, causing John to frown at the insult. "You are correct, the answer has to do with the dragon."


    "But didn''t the dragon leave immediately after the entrance exam? How is it supposed to help us now?"


    Roaaar!


    As if answering his question, a loud roar boomed out over the ocean, shaking the ship slightly. John looked towards the source of the sound, as he saw the dragon flying off in the distance in the direction the ship was heading.


    "There, you have your answer," Lilian replied as she too stared at the dragon.


    As if noticing their arrival, the dragon suddenly sped forward much faster than it was flying before.. Lilian pushed the ship to fly even faster, as the ship followed behind the dragon as they sped over the ocean at incredible speeds towards the distant Divine Martial Continent.

 Chapter 433 - Lightning Comprehensions

    John looked at the dragon before them, which flew through the sky with absolute power and grace. It was equally terrifying and mesmerizing, giving John a conflicted feeling when looking at the creature.


    Screech!


    A loud screech boomed out from below the ship, as the ocean suddenly exploded outwards. From the explosion of water emerged a creature which looked simr to an octopus, only muchrger and much more powerful. Just the movements of a single tentacle caused tidal waves to wash over the nearby ocean, and its screech shook the sky above.


    The ocean creature had noticed intruders invade its territory, and had exploded out of the ocean with absolute fury. However, the creature suddenly froze for a moment before darting back into the waters below, as it had finally gotten a good look at what had invaded its territory.


    Unperturbed at all, the dragon continued to fly forwards without a care, as if the creature below wasn''t even worth noticing. In fact, it had not even nced in its direction, as if the ocean creature was nothing more than an eyesore.


    In the ship trailing the dragon from behind, John watched all of this take ce. When the creature had exploded from the water below, he was shocked at its power, and could tell that although it was not as strong as his master, it was definitely stronger than himself.


    ''With my current essence and body cultivation, I''m quite confident in being able to fight against a Mid Heaven Tribtion Realm creature, and even keep my life against ate Heaven Tribtion Realm creature. Against that ocean creature, I would stand no chance, and yet it fled from the mere sight of the dragon. Just how strong is this dragon?''


    John stood at the helm of the ship and observed the dragon for quite some time while also conversing with his master on various things rted to the Divine Martial Continent. After a long discussion, he retired to his room, which was reserved for him alone.


    The room was quite spacious, as well as luxurious. There was a bed, a washroom, and everything else he could need for the trip to the Divine Martial Continent. There was even a small room for cultivation, which blocked out any and all sound from the outside.


    After getting settled in, John entered the cultivation room and closed the door, isting himself from any and all distractions. Calm filled his body, making him feelpletely at ease. However, a fleeting thought of his brought him out of this calm state, as his divine sense entered his soul space.


    Within his soul space, Kirii still slumbered after having blocked part of the tribtion lightning beam for John. John''s heart ached slightly as he saw Kirii still unconscious, but a quick inspection of Kirii made him realize that Kirii seemed to be much better off than before.


    ''I guess Thunderzen was right. Kirri is fine physically, it''s just that he needs to ovee whatever internal battle he''s having at the moment. Hopefully he''s able to do so, andes out the other end stronger than ever.''


    John enjoyed fighting next to hispanion, and hoped to do so in the near future again. After confirming that Kirii was alright, John sat down on the floor of the meditative chamber and linked his mind with the mysterious artifact of his, which allowed him to fall into a perfect meditative trance.


    The Supreme Battle Sect scroll that had been gifted to him by Sect Leader Earthfist appeared before him, as he began to read the contents contained within once again. The Supreme Battle Art was an immensely helpful battle art for his fighting style, and learning the Meridian Forging stage of the battle art would be incredibly useful.


    As he read through the scroll, John''s eyes read over a piece of information that caused him to raise his eyebrows in slight surprise.


    "So that''s what it was," John eximed slightly. "I always found it strange that essence cultivators could use domains, but body cultivators didn''t. It seemed with this being the case, body cultivators would be at a great disadvantage. However, ording to this scroll, body cultivators do use domains, just internally instead of externally."


    Domain Arts were incredibly powerful, and if used by only one side in a fight, would be able to overwhelm the other. With this in mind, John was always confused by this aspect, but his question had been answered within the scroll.


    "It says here that the Supreme Battle Art establishes an internal domain, flushing out negative affects inflicted by other domains, while also augmenting the body even further. It seems as though the version father had was iplete, as it did not contain this domain version. No wonder the Supreme Battle Arts used by the other youths in the ancient city felt different, as well as more powerful. They were establishing internal domains whenever they used it!"


    John''s eyes eagerly scanned over the rest of the scroll as he etched all the information deep inside his mind. After reading the scroll many times, he followed the principles of the Meridian Forging Stage of the battle art, as well as the domain establishment portion.


    Powerful body Qi instantly surged throughout his body, infusing every inch of blood and muscle with incredible power. John felt his body rise to levels of power unfelt before, as he sessfully unleashed the Meridian Forging Stage of the Supreme Battle Art.


    With a thought, he activated the next portion of it, which was the Supreme Battle Domain. Upon doing so, John felt even more power surge within his body, as he felt the domain seem to almost take control of his body for him. It was as if a puppet was moving his muscles, but the puppeteer was himself.


    "How strange!" John couldn''t help but exim as he felt using the Supreme Battle Domain to be quite strange. However, he could tell that the domain augmented his body even further, boosting his power once more.


    ''This domain aspect is quite incredible, but is also quite taxing on the Qi reserves. It seems as though the main portion of this domain is tobat the negative effects of other domains, while the strength increase is the secondary concern. This would be incredibly useful to others, but my Immortal Asura Body already achieves this neutralizing effect naturally.''


    John was a little disappointed to find that the Supreme Battle Domain was mostly useless to him, but it woulde in handy in certain situations.


    ''I suppose in situations when I need more power than the base form of the Supreme Battle Art, but less power than using my Transformation Art, this domain will be quite useful. My Transformation Art is quite taxing on the body, and I can tell its getting harder on my body as my cultivation increases. At this rate, it might eventually be like my bloodline ability, in which I can only use it in dire situations. With that in mind, this battle art and battle domain are just what I need.''


    John practiced using the Supreme Battle Art and Supreme Battle Domain for the next day or two before he felt fullyfortable using it, at which point he stopped cultivating the art and shifted his training.


    A jade piece suddenly appeared in his hand, which seemed to glow and flicker from within. John stared at the jade piece in his hands for a moment before he sent his divine sense as deep into it as he could.


    His divine sense pierced the firstyer of the True Jade Origin Piece in his hands, before it came to a halt at the secondyer. The moment he felt the secondyer, he saw visions of lightning flicker within his mind, almost as if they were real lightning strikes. Images of cultivators utilizing lightning, as well as nature itself unleashing lightning attacks filled his mind.


    He focused on the shes of lightning, as they transitioned from strike to strike, each lightning strike simr yetpletely different to the previous. While focusing on the images and the Dao''s they contained, John felt a pain in his soul, which continued to grow stronger.


    He grit his teeth and focused on the lightning images as he struggled through the pain, as doing so was the only way forward. While studying the jade piece and struggling through the pain, John lost track of time as he fell into a deep meditative trance.


    Lightning continued to sh in his mind and soul, as if it was trying to etch itself into his very being. However, each sh of lightning brought a sh of pain, as he could not fullyprehend the lightning Dao''s contained within. It was as if the universe was telling him that he was not ready to see the truth of the lightning Dao before him. Each strike contained different essences of lightning, which seemed just out of his reach ofprehension.


    This internal struggle continued for an untold amount of time, as John felt himself grow closer and closer to the lightning he was studying. He could feel hisprehensions slowly but surely increase, building atop the already robust lightning Dao foundation he had already established.


    This process continued endlessly, as he felt himself grow closer and closer to the truth, until eventually he felt something click in his mind and soul. The lightning shing in his mind, which before seemed obscure and more profound than he could understand, suddenly seemed to make sense to him.


    It was as if the heavens had opened up and gifted him with a clear vision of the true nature of lightning. John looked at the shes of lightning in his mind and soul as if he was seeing true lightning for the very first time in his life.


    Without thinking about it, John raised his palm upwards as lightning started dancing on it. The lightning snaking over his hand excluded a nature far beyond what he was capable of before. This different nature was not power or intensity, but profundity.


    He gazed at the lightning on his hand, and seemed to be able to see its very nature of existence more clearly.


    "Myprehensions towards the Dao of Lightning seemed to have changedpletely, although I''m not exactly sure what has happened. However, the control I have over lightning, as well as the power I can unleash are now both far greater than before!"

 Chapter 434 - Dao Comprehension Stages

    Sometimeter, John walked out of his room, needing a break from his recent breakthrough. He walked to the helm of the ship where his master still stood and looked ahead at the Lightning Dragon before them.


    "Congrattions," Lilian said to John without even looking at him, causing him to tilt his head to the side in slight confusion.


    "For¡­?"


    "For your Lighting Dao breakthrough," Lilian replied, causing a slightly surprised look to appear on John''s face.


    "How can you tell I broke through?" John asked.


    "You underestimate me if you think something like this is beyond my scope of power,'' Lilian replied with a slightly mocking tone. She finally turned her head to gaze at John, and closely inspected him for a moment before turning her gaze forward once more.


    "Despite the fact that you''re quite stupid, your talent atprehending Dao''s is beyond freakish. It''s quite a mystery how that''s possible," she continued.


    "Who the hell are you calling stupid?" John quickly rebuked with a look of displeasure on his face.


    Lilian smiled at his response, as it seemed to be the reaction she was looking for.


    John rolled his eyes at his master''s antics, before asking for rification on what she had just said.


    "You said I broke through, and also that it''s quite freakish, what do you mean by that? Although I can tell myprehensions towards the Lightning Dao increased, I''m not sure exactly what happened," John asked for rification.


    "I suppose you haven''t learned about them yet, so I can teach you now," Lilian replied as she turned to gaze at John.


    "Comprehending Dao''s, or heavenlyws, are broken up into stages. These stages are dictated by the heavens themselves, and each stage allows one to peer deeper into the Dao''s they are cultivating," Lilian exined, causing John to frown as she still hadn''t clearly exined it.


    Lilian noticed this look and decided to borate further.


    "Put it this way, much like cultivation levels, there areprehension levels. When you firstprehend a Dao, you are at the Dao Initiate level. Once youprehend roughly five percent of a Dao, you advance to the next stage ofprehension, the Dao Adept level, and so on," she exined, which John instantly understood.


    "Wait, so myprehensions so far have all been less than five percent of what''s there toprehend?" John asked.


    "Indeed," Lilian replied. "Being a Dao Initiate means having roughly five percent of the Daoprehended, while Dao Adept is five to twenty percent. There are stages above that, but you don''t need to know about them yet, as that is very far away in your cultivation journey," Lilian exined.


    ''That means not only my lightning Dao, but the other Dao''s I cultivate, like the Dao''s of Power, Annihtion, and Destruction, are all less than five percent of their true power!''


    John had thought his control over these Dao''s was quite impressive, but had just learned that he merely saw the tip of the iceberg so far.


    "That''s why I said congrattions earlier," Lilian spoke up once again. "Your Lightning Daoprehensions have advanced from the Dao Initiate Stage to the Dao Adept Stage. You should be quite proud of your aplishments. It''s incredibly rare for someone to advance to the Dao Adept stage before being in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, which is why I called you freakish."


    John mused over his master''s words for a moment, before asking another question.


    "What about you? When did you first advance to the Dao Adept stage?"


    "In the early Meridian Forging Realm," Lilian smiled as she replied to John''s question. John''s face lit up in surprise, as she had aplished this even before he did cultivation wise.


    "However, don''tpare yourself to me. My situation is quite different, as I achieved this breakthrough in the Dao of Death, which I''m sure you noticed I have a special rtionship with," Lilian rified.


    John nodded his head at his master''s words, as they were quite true. His master had the Dao of Death rune on her head, clearly indicating that she had some sort of innate ability regarding this Dao. It was only natural that herprehensions towards it was freakish as well.


    John continued to discuss Daoprehensions with his master for some time before once again retreating to his room to cultivate more.


    After his breakthrough in lightningprehensions, he continued to cultivate each and every aspect he could think of. He pushed his lightningprehensions to the peak, until he felt a resistance he could not get through.


    This was clearly his limit in cultivating the Lightning Dao at the moment, and he would need to consolidate hisprehensions and use them in realbat before he was ready to push hisprehensions to the next level.


    After doing all he could do regarding his Lightning Dao, John focused on his mind and soul, and cultivated in front of both the holy and sinister gates within his pce realm. A mixed feeling welled up within him whenever he cultivated in front of the holy gate, as he knew his supposed father was on the opposite side of it but refused to speak to him.


    After pushing his soul to the limits, John cultivated in front of the sinister gate, and pushed his will and resolve to the limits. By doing this each night, he felt a noticeable increase in his soul power and willpower.


    John also focused on studying the Immortal Asura Tome further, as well as his Limiter of Power, both which allowed him to push his body to new heights.


    Like this, John increased his proficiency in all aspects of his cultivation, as the ship continued to fly towards the Divine Martial Continent. The tripsted almost a month, which shocked John and all the other youths in the ship.


    They knew the Divine Martial Continent was far away, but the ship still took a long time to arrive despite its incredible speed the entire time. Sea creatures would asionally emerge from the depths below in a fury at the new intruders but would all quickly retreat as they saw who it was.


    One particr creature seemed to be blinded by rage and attacked the dragon without care. A casual lightning breath from the dragon instantly obliterated the creature, shocking each and every person on the ship who watched the attack take ce.


    It was the strongest attack they had ever seen, but it seemed to be a casual action from the dragon. John also saw this attack take ce, and the only stronger attack he had seen in his life was Thunderzen''s Thunderfall Judgement, which was absolutely monstrous in its power.


    While the journey carried on, John conversed with the other disciples asionally, as they would often approach him and ask him for pointers on cultivation. He was without a doubt the strongest one in their group by far, and even the five direct disciples acknowledged this.


    Mason Light, who used to feel quite antagonistic towards John as he considered him a rival for the number one disciple spot, no longer concerned himself with such things. He knew that as it was right now, John was so far ahead of him that it no longer made sense topare himself to John.


    In fact, he was one of the youths who swallowed their pride and asked John some questions regarding cultivation and how he approached it, surprising John slightly. John nodded his head in approval at Mason''s growth of character, before he sincerely answered as much as he could to help out his fellow disciple.


    He also asionally talked to Chase and Adam, who were both deep in their own studies, one for pills and the other for formations. Adam seemed to be making great breakthroughs by studying the formation artifacts John had given him, while Chase was consolidating all the information Pill Emperor Thunderpill had given him.


    ...


    On this particr morning, John was sitting in a quiet corner of the ship, observing the ocean fly by below. He was taking a rare break from cultivation, as he felt he was pushing himself to the limit over the past month.


    Despite his cultivation level not rising, John felt an incredible increase in power whenpared to his former self before the trip. If the two of them fought, he was confident in winning quite easily.


    "Look! Over there!" an excited shout sounded out within the ship, drawing the attention of all those in the ship.


    Everyone walked over to the person who had spoken, who stood towards the front of the ship. John walked over as well, and quickly noticed what the other disciple was pointing at.


    In the far distance, the coastline wasing into view. Towering cliffs lined the ocean coast, as surging waves mmed into them ceaselessly. Just past the coastline, a massive forest with trees that towered nearly a mile high into the sky was visible, further adding to the grandeur of the scenery before them.


    John''s face lit up with excitement and anticipation as all of this came into view.


    ''The Divine Martial Continent!''

 Chapter 435 - Arriving At The Main Sect

    The ship quickly sped forward, reaching the Divine Martial Continent soon after it came into view. Each disciple stared in awe at thendmass before them, as it was already grander than anything they had seen before.


    Expansive forests with towering trees a mile high stretched out as far as the eye could see, while mountains far taller than any mountain they had seen before stretched off in the distance. Raging rivers carved through the valleys between the mountains, the power of the water shocking as well.


    It was as if everything in the Divine Martial Continent wasrger, stronger, more profound, than anything they had seen on the Yuan Continent.


    The coast of the continent was a mix of tall cliffs, which eventually blended into oceanside beaches. Many port cities and towns were easily visible from their high vantage point on the ship, which lined the coast as far as the eye could see.


    As soon as the ship sped over the continent, each disciple felt a significant increase in natural Qi in the air. In fact, the natural Qi in the air at the moment was even higher than the most Qi dense ces of the Yuan Continent.


    "Why did the natural Qi suddenly increase so much as soon as we entered thesends?" one of the disciples couldn''t help but ask Lilian, as it was quite odd to feel such a disparity in Qi at the coasts.


    "The oceans absorb most of the Qi from the air, which is why the Qi felt thin until we reached thesends," Lilian exined.


    The youths nodded their heads in understanding, before another youth decided to ask another question.


    "Is the natural Qi this high everywhere?"


    "The natural Qi here is actually quite thin whenpared to the rest of the continent," Lilian replied, causing all those within the ship to widen their eyes in surprise. "In fact, the closer to the center of the continent you get, the denser the natural Qi. When we reach the main Heavenly Lightning Sect, I''m sure you will all be beyond shocked at what you feel."


    ''No wonder this ce is a divinend for cultivation,'' John mused internally. ''With the natural Qi this thick, cultivation would be several times faster than back in the Holy Lands. Is this how it''s going to be all the time? Constantly having to fight uphill against people who spent their entire lives in such bountiful ces?''


    John shook his head at himself in a slightly self-defeated manner, as the location he had grown up in truly was a barren wastnd for cultivation. However, he would have it no other way, otherwise he would have never met his parents, or the Fenix n.


    Roaar!


    The dragon roared once more, catching the attention of all as it suddenly veered to the side and instantly sped in a different direction. The speed of the dragon increased significantly, quickly flying out of sight of everyone on the ship, and shocking them greatly at just how fast it had moved.


    "It could move even faster?" John couldn''t help but ask his master.


    "Of course," Lilian replied. "However, this is as fast as this ship can go, and so it kept a pace that we could keep up with."


    John remained silent upon hearing this, but his respect for the dragon only grewrger. Its power continued to shock him, and he didn''t know how high it truly went. A thought suddenly came into John''s mind, which he asked his master about.


    "What is that dragon anyways? And why does it help our sect?" John asked Lilian.


    The dragon was clearly incredibly powerful, yet it still helped out the Heavenly Lightning Sect branch every year.


    Lilian remained silent for a moment before replying.


    "The dragon is thepanion of the Heavenly Lightning Sect Patriarch," Lilian exined. "Much like you and Kirii," she said while ncing at John.


    "The Patriarch of our sect huh? That''s the first time I''m hearing about our main sect having a patriarch," John replied at the new information.


    "How strong is the Patriarch?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    "No idea," Lilian replied. "I''ve never seen him before, and have received no information regarding his cultivation level. I''m assuming he''s at least as strong as my father," Lilian replied.


    "As strong as Thunderzen?" John mused, as Thunderzen''s strength was terrifying. However, it naturally made sense that the patriarch of the main sect was as strong or stronger than the sect leader of a branch sect.


    John continued to talk to his master for a short while longer before he walked to one of the corners of the ship and sat down. His gaze pierced through the translucent floor of the ship to thend below, which still filled him with awe.


    Different biomes, fantasticallyrge beasts, and exotic vegetation entered his vision as the ship continued to speed forward over the Divine Martial Continent. Expansive cities and towering buildings continued to speed by below as well, giving a sense of scale to just how popted the Divine Martial Continent was.


    Other flying ships also rapidly sailed by asionally, some even grander than the one they were flying on.


    ording to the documents they were given, the Divine Martial Continent was tens of timesrger than the Yuan Continent, which was already freakishlyrge. John could hardlyprehend just howrge the Divine Martial Continent was, but their journey started to add some scale to it.


    Despite shooting forward at incredible speeds, the journey to the main Heavenly Lightning Sect still took nearly two weeks. The Heavenly Lightning Sect was located somewhere midway between the coast and the center of the continent, and yet it still took such a long period of time.


    ''At this rate, it would take over two months for this ship to cross the Divine Martial Continent from one end to the other.''


    Such a sense of scale was beyond what John could wrap his head around at the moment, and so he put such thoughts aside. He continued to focus on his cultivation, all while observing thend below.


    ¡­


    The sun hung high in the sky as the ship sped forward, when Lilian''s voice suddenly entered everyone''s ears.


    "We have arrived."


    Everyone raced to the front of the ship, at which point their faces all lit up in stunned shock. Before them, an incredibly expansive sect, far grander and more luxurious than anything they could have imagined came into view.


    John''s eyes lit up as well as he took in the scene before him.


    ''The true Heavenly Lightning Sect!''

 Chapter 436 - Gathering Of Branch Sects

    Johns stared at the sprawling sect before him, which was many timesrger and more luxurious than the branch sect they belonged to, andparing the two was likeparing mud to gold.


    Simr to the branch sect they belonged to, this main sect was nestled in the valleys between mountains, with buildings also located at the peaks of the mountains. Towering waterfalls crashed down to the earth below, while beautiful streams meandered throughout the sect.


    Lush vegetation, blooming with vibrant life thrived everywhere, while profound beasts flew through the sky, each being ridden by a cultivator. The buildings themselves were incrediblyrge, several timesrger than the buildings of the branch sect, and there were over a dozen buildings which were grander and more luxurious than the Heavenly Lightning Pce back in the Yuan Continent.


    Spanning hundreds of miles long, an incredibly tall wall circled around the entire sect. The wall was several hundred yards tall and dozens of yards thick. Lightning bolts were carved into the walls in a regr interval, making it looks quite unique.


    A translucent dome barrier seemed to shimmer above the walls, indicating that the sect was surrounded by a powerful defensive formation.


    In the very center of the sect in the far distance, andmass roughly a mile wide floated in the sky above the sect. Vegetation hung from the underside of thendmass, while a magnificent pce existed on the top side. Lightning snaked in the sky all around the pce, making it look both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.


    The sect sprawled as far as the eye could see, and John was sure he was only seeing a portion of it. The rest was hidden on the other sides of the mountains, only adding to the grandeur of the sect.


    "No wonder this is the main sect. Its way better than our sect back home," one of the disciples couldn''t help but mutter out loud, before he realized what he said and sheepishly nced at Lilian.


    However, she acted as if she had not heard him, and began to pilot the ship to a certain location on the outskirts of the sect. The ship veered towards a particr mountain which stood alone from the others nearby. An expansive forest surrounded the mountain range, and John quickly spotted a massive clearing in the forest at the base of the mountain.


    From his high vantage point, John could barely make out other people gathered in the field, which the ship was heading towards. They appeared smaller than ants at the moment, but there were thousands upon thousands of them. Several flying airships hovered in the sky above the people, which seemed to be divided into several distinct groups.


    ¡­


    "Late, as usual," a disgruntled voice sounded out amongst a group of five people that stood near each other. They all wore white and blue robes, signifying that they were from the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    The group consisted of three men and two women, which appeared to be between forty and sixty years of age. However, as they were all powerful cultivators, each with cultivations in the Dao Transformation Realm, their ages were indeterminate, as they could be thousands of years old.


    The one who had just spoken up was one of the women, who had a look of displeasure on her face. She appeared to be forty years old, and was a bit on the heavier side. Her hair was puffy and round, making her look quite unique.


    "This happens every year," one of the men replied, his voice slightly dismissive. He appeared in his fifties, and had a clean-shaven face, short brown hair, and a scar running down the left side of his face. "They do have to travel the farthest distance by far out of all of us, so it''s only natural that they run into more dys."


    "They should just leave earlier then," one of the other men replied. The man appeared younger, about in his thirties, and was quite handsome. He had long ck hair, and a chiseled face. His aura was quite powerful, and didn''t lose out to any of the older cultivators in the group. "Thunderzen does this every year. He may be the strongest out of all of us, and also have a special status within the sect, but he should still make an effort to be on time at least," the man continued his small rant.


    Several of the people in the group nodded their heads in agreement at the man''s words, before their gazes all shifted to the sky in a certain direction.


    "Speak of the devil," the woman who had first spoken said as she spotted an airship approaching.


    "About time," the younger man replied as he crossed his arms over his chest.


    ¡­


    John and the rest of the disciples watched as their airship approached the open field which held all the other people within. As they got closer, they could tell that almost all of the people in the field were youths their age, and were divided into five other groups.


    "Get out and gather up," Lilian instructed as she opened the main exit to the ship. She hopped out, and was quickly followed by the other disciples.


    ''These youths must be from the other branch sects,'' John mused as he hopped out of the ship. His gaze scanned over the other youths, and he raised his eyebrows slightly.


    ''Not only are their groups muchrger, with roughly a thousand per group versus our hundred, but their cultivations are on average quite a bit higher. We only have a handful of youths who have Meridian Forging cultivations, but there seems to be several dozen youths per group with that level of cultivation. I guess my master wasn''t lying when she said our sect lingers behind the others.''


    The youths from the other groups all gazed at the neers, and John could tell there were mixed expressions amongst them. Most of the looks on the faces of the other youths were those of amusement or mockery, indicating that they were looking down on John''s group. At the front of each group stood a single disciple.


    Clearly, they were the strongest disciple of each group, and had the status to be able to stand in front of everyone else and draw attention to themselves. Three of them were boys, while the other two were girls. Three of them had cultivations in the Middle Meridian Forging Realm, while one of the boys, as well as the girl who had looked at John curiously, had cultivations at the Late Meridian Forging Realm.


    The three boys and one of the girls looked at John and his group as if they were beneath them, while the remaining girl looked at John''s group with a curious expression. She had long blonde hair, a pretty face, and piercing blue eyes.


    Her eyes scanned his group as if she was searching for something, before her gaze locked onto John. After staring at him for a moment, a slight smile appeared on her face before she looked away.


    John rolled his eyes and sighed slightly, as he knew exactly what was going to happen in the near future, as it already had happened to him before.


    ''These youths are definitely looking down on us.. I guess I''ll have to beat the shit out of each of them until they get the message that such gazes at me and my fellow disciples are uneptable.''

 Chapter 437 - Wager

    John hade to consider each and every disciple on the ship his friend, as he had not only spent a year with them in the sect, but also almost three months together on the airship. Any mockery directed towards any of them was uneptable in his eyes, as he knew that with their current cultivation levelspared to the others, their only fates were to be bullied until they were miserable.


    ''A few dozen beatings handed out to the most powerful disciples of each group should do the trick.''


    A small smile crept onto John''s face as he thought of all the fun he was about to have in the near future. Only through force and violence could some lessons be taught, and John knew he was about to dish out quite a few lessons.


    Lilian walked to the group of older cultivators, who watched her approach with a slightly surprised expression.


    "You...you''re Thunderzen''s daughter? Is Thunderzen himself noting this year?" the man with the scar on his face asked.


    "I have some business on the Divine Martial Continent, so I decided to escort this years batch of youths," Lilian replied as she walked up and stood next to the others in the group.


    "Is that so? Does Thunderzen consider this event beneath him to the point that he puts it off on his daughter?" the hefty woman spoke up with a slightly dismissive voice. "He should take such matters more seriously. His sect keeps falling further and further behind all of ours, and yet he does nothing to change it. Why does he even stay in such a backwater and remote ce anyways? It seems quite absurd and stupid if you ask me."


    Lilian''s face soured slightly as she heard the woman insult her father. The woman would never dare to insult Thunderzen to his face, but was more than happy to do so behind his back.


    "My father may not be here, but I am," Lilian replied, her face and voice cold. "Insult him one more time and I''ll make sure its thest time you can insult anything."


    The hefty woman''s face lit up in surprise upon hearing these words, before her face darkened with anger. Her aura began to climb a bit as she raised a finger towards Lilian.


    "How dare you speak to me in such a manner. You''re just a cub who''s seen her first winter, and you think you can spe-"


    The woman''s words cut off as Lilian''s aura suddenly red out powerfully, drowning the entire area in her power. She added a tinge of the Dao of Death to the aura, making it feel as though all within were suffocating.


    The hefty woman was absolutely surprised by Lilians power, which was even greater than her own. She could tell that Lilian was in the Dao Transformation Realm, but never expected her power to be so great at such a young age.


    She knew that if the two of them fought right now, she would definitely lose. She was the Sect Leader of one of the six branch sects, and as such looked down on a young Vice-Sect Leader such as Lilian. However, she now knew she had made a mistake.


    "Surely Branch Sect Leader WhisperWind was just joking," the man with the scar on his face suddenly spoke up and tried to calm the situation. A fight between two powerhouses here would only draw condemnation from the main sect, which they were standing just outside of.


    To the side, the young man who appeared to be in his thirties nced at Lilian with amused interest, as if she had caught his attention.


    "Of..of course I was joking," the woman suddenly replied, a small bead of sweat dripping down her face.


    "Is that so?" Lilian replied, her voice still unamused. She nced to the side, and spotted John who was staring at her after her recent re of power caught his attention. A small smile crept up on her face as she looked back to the branch sect leaders before her.


    "How about we make a little bet?" Lilian asked the group as she quickly changed the subject.


    "A bet?" the faces of the branch sect leaders lit up slightly.


    "What bet?" the man who appeared in his thirties asked.


    "The only bet there is to make at such a time," Lilian replied. "Let us bet on which disciple here will im the top spot of these entrance exams."


    The faces of two of the branch sect leaders, the hefty woman and the scar-faced man, lit up with intrigue, while the faces of the other three branch sect leaders dimmed slightly. The cultivations of the lead disciples of each group were two in the Late Meridian Forging Realm, while three were in the Middle Meridian Forging Realm.


    Clearly the two disciples in the Late Meridian Forging Realm would be the ones toe out on top, and belonged to the sects of the hefty woman and the scar-faced man.


    "What do you propose we wager?" the heft woman asked with a smile of anticipation on her face, and her expression was rxed as if she had already forgotten about Lilian''s earlier threat. It seemed as though in the face of money, everything was secondary to the woman.


    "Why don''t we wager Fifty Million low grade spirit crystals?" Lilian replied with a calm smile on her face.


    The faces of the other branch sect leaders lit up in slight surprise at Lilian''s wager suggestion. While fifty million spirit crystals would not make or break their worth, it was still a significant sum of money for them.


    To bet such an amount on a wager such as this was quite a daring thing to do. The scar-faced man thought about the bet for a while, before his gaze shifted to the group of disciples behind Lilian. His gaze rested on John for a moment, before he shook his head dismissively.


    "I''ll take the advice of my friend and sit this one out," the man said, his words slightly confusing the others in the group.


    The hefty woman dimmed slightly upon hearing the man bow out, but her gaze shifted to Lilian as a small smile crept up on her face.


    "I ept your bet," the woman replied with an eager smile, as if she had already won the bet.


    "Wait a minute," the younger branch sect leader chimed up and looked at Lilian. "You said we should wager on which disciple will win, instead of if our own disciples will win. In that case¡­"


    The man''s gaze swept over all the disciples in the field, until it settled on one of them.


    "I''ll choose that one to win," he replied. The one he had singled out was the boy who had a cultivation in the Late Meridian Forging Realm, and was one of the most likely to win.


    "Oh? You have good eyes to pick my personal disciple," the hefty woman replied.


    "Does anyone else want to get in on this?" Lilian asked.


    The three other branch sect leaders all decided to get in on the bet after all, with one of them picking the boy, while the other one picked the Late Meridian Forging girl.


    The scar-faced man was thest to pick other than Lilian, and he thought about it for a moment before choosing.


    "I''ll choose whoever you choose," the man said as he looked at Lilian. His answer stunned everyone in the group, as they expected he would choose the girl from his sect who had the Late Meridian Forging cultivation.


    Lilian raised her eyebrows slightly at the man''s reply, but his next words made her realize why he had said such a thing.


    "I spoke with Thunderzen recently through long distance sound transmission, and he was kind enough to fill me in on a few details," the man said as he nced at John for a moment.


    "You''re a smart man to trust my father''s words," Lilian replied as she finally understood the man''s reasoning.


    The other branch sect leaders listened with slight confusion, as other than the two Late Meridian Forging youths, they didn''t see another option to choose.


    "So, who are you going to choose? You''re thest one to pick," the hefty woman asked Lilian.


    "I''ll be choosing him," Lilian said without hesitation as she pointed to John.


    The other branch sect leaders looked over and inspected John, and their faces quickly lit up with confused amusement.


    "Him?" the hefty woman mocked slightly. "While his cultivation level is impressive when you consider he came from your backwater location, how do you expect him topete with my sect''s Aaron, who''s an entire minor realm above him?"


    The others in the group remained silent, but had the same opinion as the woman. The only one who disagreed was the scar-faced man, but he kept such disagreements to himself as well.


    "John,e here," Lilian''s voice boomed out, catching John''s attention as he was standing with the other disciples of his sect.


    He walked over to his master, who stood next to other powerful middle-aged cultivators. They all nced at John, and he could see mixed expressions on their faces as they inspected him.


    "During the uing entrance exam, I want you to beat up anyone who tries to take the number one spot from you, understand? " Lilian said as John reached her and stood next to her.

 Chapter 438 - Haggling With Lilian

    She said her words loudly for the other branch sect leaders to hear, as if she was saying such things out loud only to mock them and make them angrier.


    John raised his eyebrows as he heard these words, and a quick nce at the expressions of the others nearby told him that there was clearly a reason his master had said such a thing. However, the reason didn''t matter to him, and he quickly replied with arge smile on his face.


    "Don''t worry, with how all the other youths are staring at us with disdain and mockery, I was going to beat the shit out of everyone here anyways," John replied without hesitation.


    The branch sect leaders, especially the hefty woman, became incensed upon hearing John''s words. They nearlyshed out at John, but stopped themselves at thest moment, as stooping to his level would be unbing of a branch sect leader.


    "Since you and your boy are so confident, why don''t we raise the wager to one hundred million spirit crystals?" the hefty woman suddenly said in a fit of rage.


    A small smile broke out on Lilian''s face, which she quickly hid as she turned to face the woman.


    "If you insist, I suppose I can''t refuse," Lilian replied while shrugging her shoulders in a self-defeated manner. The other branch sect leaders would never have agreed to arge sum of one hundred million spirit crystals before, but with their anger clouding their judgement, they were more than willing to do so now.


    John watched all this take ce and rolled his eyes upon realizing what had just happened.


    ''It seems like my master just conned these Elders out of quite a bit of money. I''ll have to talk to her afterwards and get a cut of the winnings, otherwise I''ll feel like I lost out on a good opportunity."


    He couldn''t help but feel a bit bad for these other people, as they had already lost the bet, they just didn''t know it yet.


    With the wagers agreed upon, the final sum of spirit crystals in the betting pot was six hundred million spirit crystals. Three hundred million was bet on Aaron, one hundred million was bet on the blonde girl, and thest two hundred million was bet on John.


    The required money was quickly added together in a pot, and given to the man with the scar on his face. He was by far the longest standing branch sect leader of the group, and everyone knew him to be an honorable man. With this in mind, they knew the prize pool was in safe and honest hands.


    "Good, with that matter handled, I''ll bid you all farewell," Lilian said to the group as she turned around and walked back to her group of disciples with John in tow.


    The other branch sect leaders looked at Lilians confident stride as she walked away, and some couldn''t help but frown at the sight.


    "Why do I feel like we just got scammed?" the other woman in the group said, who appeared to be in her thirties and was quite attractive. She had long brown hair and her face was soft and warm, as if she was a bubbly aunt.


    By all reason, Lilian should never have bet on John, as his cultivation was too low.


    They knew she was not a stupid person, yet her confidence was clear for all to see. With all this in mind, the woman figured something fishy was going on.


    "How could we have possibly been scammed?" branch sect leader WhisperWind replied with confidence. "The boy she bet on has a cultivation at the Middle Meridian Forging Realm. While he does seem quite impressive, I highly doubt he can fight above his realm against another genius."


    Further discussion quickly broke out amongst the group regarding the bet, while Lilian walked back with John to their group.


    "You''re going to give me some of the winnings, right?" John said to his master while ncing sideways at him.


    "Hoh? You dare ask for such a thing?" Lilian replied with an amused yet slightly cold voice, as if she was trying to scare John to reconsider.


    "I mean, I could always lose ande second ce in these exams, and thenter on be the top disciple. It makes no difference to me," John replied with a casual tone while shrugging his shoulders.


    Whether he became the top disciple right now in a few weeks made now difference to him. He knew these cements didn''t really matter, as the true geniuses of the main Heavenly Lightning Sect were the ones that were raised here since young. Those that came from branch locations did not concern him, as he knew they would be second rate to anything this sect produced directly.


    As such, his cements in these exams didn''t concern him too much. Lilian frowned as she heard this, but knew she had no grounds to argue as she could tell John truly would throw the bet if she was stingy with him.


    An exasperated sigh escaped Lilian''s lips as she held her hand to her forehead in a frustrated manner.


    "Fine," Lilian replied after a moment of silence. "I''ll give you five percent."


    "Fifty," John replied instantly, as if he didn''t even consider her offer.


    "Fifty? Did I manage to take an idiot under my discipleship?" Lilian replied while staring at John. "There''s no way that''s happening...ten percent."


    "Forty," John replied once more with a calm tone and a small smile on his face. He could tell his master was fond of money, and ached to part from it. This was his small way of getting back at her for all those vicious beatings she had given him.


    "Fifteen percent," Lilian replied.


    "Thirty percent," John replied quickly once again.


    Lilian frowned at John''s response once more, but quickly calmed herself.


    "Twenty percent, and that''s my lowest offer. I''d rather give up all the money than be haggled further with a brat like you," Lilian replied.


    Her tone made John realize she was serious, and he fell into contemtive silence for a moment before nodding his head in agreement.


    "Agreed," John replied with a smile on his face. His response caused Lilian to sigh slightly, although she still felt like she had lost out to John despite her getting eighty percent of the winnings.


    Before Lilian could reply, a loud voice boomed out over the open field in which all the disciples stood.


    "Wee, everyone, to the Heavenly Lightning Sect."


    Everyone in the field turned their eyes to the sound of the voice, and quickly spotted a singr man walking towards the groups in the field from one of the valleys behind him. The man appeared to be in his forties, and had a clean shaven face with sharp facial angles. He walked with his two hands behind his back, while a smile permanently lingered on his face.


    His cultivation was shrouded to all the disciples, revealing that he was most likely in the Dao Transformation Realm or above.


    "I am Elder Yelore, and I will be in charge of this year''s branch disciple entrance exam."


    Elder Yelore''s eyes swept over each group of youths as he inspected them closely, before he nodded his head in an approving manner.


    "It seems like this year''s batch of disciples is even more talented thanst years. I look forward to seeing how each of you performs in this year''s entrance exam. Now, all the disciples who wish to participate, please follow me."


    "Without any boration, Elder Yelore turned around and began walking back into the forested valley where he came from. The disciples from the other groups all quickly rushed behind him, each disciple eager to be the closest to the front as possible.


    Lilian stood before her group of disciples and nced over them before giving a very brief statement of encouragement.


    "Good luck."


    Without borating further, her figure shed and disappeared from the sight of the youths, while John shook his head slightly at his master''s antics.


    ''She always tries to act lofty and mysterious by disappearing like this all the time.''


    Paying no more attention to his master, John began to walk in the direction of Elder Yelore, and was quickly followed behind by all the other disciples. Even the other direct disciples like Mason and June followed behind John, as they had already acknowledged him as the de facto leader of their disciple ss.


    Their group was thest to fall in line, and was therefore at the back of the pack. Adam and Chase both quickly caught up to John and walked beside him, as they eagerly began to discuss the entrance exam.


    "What do you think the test is going to be?" Adam asked with great curiosity. "Hopefully it''s a formation test. I''d easilye first ce if that was the case."


    "Or a Pill Dao test," Chase chimed up with a small smile on his face.


    "I highly doubt a sect specializing inbat will test either of those things," John replied dismissively. "Besides, the scrolls we received detailed that although the tests vary from year to year, they focus on one main thing...bat strength."

 Chapter 439 - Registration

    Chase and Adam looked at each other for a moment after hearing John''s words, before they looked back at John.


    "Haha, surely they won''t just testbat strength...right?" Adam asked whileughing, but hisughter was clearly nervousughter.


    Hisbat strength was incredibly poor, and the only thing that bridged the gap for him were his formation disks that he could employ duringbat. However, he had been studying and creating nonbat formation disks recently, and so hisbat strength was most likely the lowest out of everyone here.


    Chase on the other hand already had a cultivation at the early Meridian Forging Realm, which was the highest other than John. Despite the fact that he was a Pill Dao expert, his upbringing in the Bloodfiend Sect had honed hisbat prowess as well, making him one of the strongest youths in the group of disciples.


    "No, it will just bebat strength," John replied with assurity. "Our branch sect already tested us duringst years entrance exam for things such as talent, soul strength, and willpower. I''m sure the other branch sects did something simr, and so those with weak souls and willpowers have already been weeded out before they even got here. As such, the main sect probably will only testbat prowess, as that is the main thing the sect focuses on.


    Besides...like I already said, the documents my master gave us on the airship already detailed that each year tests some form ofbat prowess, even if its not direct one on one fights."


    Adam frowned upon hearing this, but his frown quickly disappeared as he patted John on the back in a brotherly manner.


    "Well it''s a good thing we''re a team then, huh? With ourbined strength, there''s no way we''ll lose to anybat test they have."


    John rolled his eyes at Adam''s antics, as he was clearly using John as a shield, but didn''t say anything. He already knew Adam''sbat prowess was incredibly weak, and as such didn''t expect much from him in a fight.


    It was Adam''s formation talents that he respected, and knew woulde in handy in the future.


    The group of disciples continued to walk behind the other branch sect groups deeper into the valley. The valley was nestled between two mountains, and had lush and thick forests on either side. A river flowed through the middle of the valley, which they walked next to. Eventually, they came to another clearing in the valley, in which dozens of tables were seen set up.


    Behind each table sat an Elder, with various items scattered about the tables. Elder Yelore stopped when he reached the tabled area, and turned around to address the crowd of branch disciples.


    "Form even lines between each table. You will receive an identification badge, which you will use for both this test and when you are in the sect itself. Line up now."


    Upon hearing his instructions, all the disciples quickly formed into many even lines, and the lines quickly began to move as each disciple was set up with an identification badge.


    John fell into line somewhere in the middle, and after some time eventually made his way up to the front. His eyes fell upon the one behind the desk, who appeared to be a male youth a few years older than himself.


    The youth had a cultivation in the early Heaven Tribtion Realm, which caused John to raise an eyebrow slightly.


    ''A youth who is only a few years older than me and is already in the Heaven Tribtion Realm is being relegated to administrative duties? Is the talent level truly so high in this sect?''


    If this youth, who appeared to be around twenty, was in the branch sect on the Yuan Continent, they would be the most talented young Elder in the sect by far. While he couldn''t be one hundred percent certain of his age, John was mostly certain that the man before him was still quite young, which gave a glimpse into the talent of the sect.


    Unlike the branch sect on the Yuan Continent, which only focused on one discipleship ss each year, the main Heavenly Lightning Sect had multiple sses, namely first years, second years, and third years.


    The boy before him was most likely a third year disciple.


    ''I highly doubt they would have their most talented disciples do something like this, so this at least gives me a minimum floor of the talent level I''ll encounter in the sect.''


    "Name," the youth behind the desk called out as John stood before him.


    "John Fenix," John replied quickly.


    "Branch sect?"


    "Uhhh, the Yuan Continent branch," John replied quickly once again.


    The youth looked up at John and inspected him for a moment, before a slight look of surprise appeared on his face.


    "Middle Meridian Forging? Seems like you''ll at least bring some honor to our branch this year," the youth stated.


    John raised his eyebrows at the youths'' words, as they implied he was from the same branch.


    "You also came from the Yuan Continent branch?" John asked.


    "I did," the youth replied with a sigh. It seemed as though he was about to start telling a story, but he quickly remembered his duties for today and got back to them.


    A t object about three inches across, a six sided hexagon with a lightning bolt carved into the center appeared in his hands. The boy''s Qi red up for a moment as he engraved John''s information in the object, before he handed the object to John.


    "This is your identification badge. It will be used for both this test and for other purposes down the road, so be sure not to lose it."


    The boy seemed to emphasize thest part of his sentence, giving deeper meaning to his words. John thought on his words for a moment before he thanked the youth and stepped aside, allowing the other disciples to get their badges.


    The registration process continued for some time to register all the youths, which numbered around four thousand in total. After an hour of registering, all the disciples had received their identification badges, at which point Elder Yelore stepped forward once again and addressed the crowd of youths.


    "With everyone registered, I will now exin the rules for this year''s exam."

 Chapter 440 - Rules Of The Exam

    Elder Yelore''s words caused all the youths to fall silent as they eagerly awaited the start of the test. They didn''t want to miss a single detail, as that could spell their doom.


    "This year''s exam will take ce right here, in these valleys and on the mountains behind us," Elder Yelore began to exin as he gestured to thend behind him.


    An expansive mountain range extended into the distance, with a mountain in the center of the mountain range standing high above any of the others in the area. Each mountain was covered in thick forests, making it look both beautiful, as well as dangerous.


    "The area of the test is surrounded by a perimeter formation, which will be readily apparent. If you step outside of this formation, you will be counted as having failed the test."


    Many disciples frowned upon hearing this, but remained silent as they continued to listen to the instructions. Such a rule was designed to allow those who wanted to forfeit or surrender to do so easily, without the threat of being chased outside of the formation by those stronger than them. However, doing so would result in their failure, and so such a thing would only be done by the timid and weak.


    "The test willst one week, and there are only two goals you must strive to aplish for this test. The first is that you are not to lose your identification badge. If you do so, you will be counted as having failed the test."


    Upon hearing this goal, John could already surmise what the second goal was, as could the other disciples. However, they remained silent still to allow Edler Yelore to exin the rules clearly.


    "The second goal...is to im as many identification badges from the other disciples in the test as possible. The more badges you collect by the end of the trial, the higher your cement will be."


    Although most were expecting this to be the second goal, mixed reactions washed through the crowd, as some were excited to hear such rules, while the weaker disciples were afraid.


    "You are not to kill or permanently cripple anyone during this test, and doing so will count as failing the test. However, you may use any other means at your disposal to obtain the identification badges of others," Elder Yelore exined.


    His message was clear, besides killing or crippling, any other means of obtaining another''s identification badge would not be punished. This included things like torture, which caused John to widen his eyes ever so slightly.


    ''Seems as though they are doing the bare minimum to protect the disciples during this test. Although I suppose that''s not a bad thing. The cultivation world is a cruel ce, and only those willing to do what is necessary will thrive. Take the Bloodfiend Sect for example, they did whatever they needed to do to win, and with that attitude they dominated the other honorable sects without much trouble. Maybe this is this sect''s way of toughening up the disciples a bit.''


    John really didn''t care about this rule either way, as it wouldn''t affect him at all. John nced at Adam, who appeared to be quite calm and collected, surprising him slightly. He expected Adam to be nearly scared to death at this point, but he seemed to be the opposite at the moment.


    His surprise was interrupted by Elder Yelore, who spoke up once more.


    "Lastly, you are not permitted to store your identification badges away in your spatial realms. They must be physically on you at all times. If you store your badge away, you will count as having failed the exam."


    John nodded his head in approval at this rule. He was already thinking of ways to extract the badges from the spatial rings of others, but this rule had solved that for him.


    ''All I need to do now is beat them into submission and forcefully take it from them. Should be simple enough.''


    "Are there any questions about the rules?" Elder Yelore asked the crowd as he finished exining the test to everyone.


    The rules were incredibly self-exnatory, and so no one had any questions.


    "Good, then we will begin the test immediately," Elder Yelore said to the crowd.


    Before anyone could say or do anything, their identification badges suddenly lit up and wrapped each of them with spatial powers. Each disciple felt their body dragged a short distance through space, before they found themselves standing in a different area.


    John felt himself wrapped up by this power, and didn''t resist it as he was transported a short distance as well. Almost immediately after, he found himself standing in a valley.


    Nearby, a tall waterfall crashed down into a stream below, at which point the calm and gentle stream meandered deeper into the valley below. Both sides of the valley were lined by thick, dense trees, while the calls of wildlife seemed to bellow out asionally.


    John sent out his divine sense all around him, but was surprised to discover no one else in the area. He red his power to take to the sky and get a vantage point of the area, but his eyes widened slightly as he felt himself pressed down to the earth.


    "Hmm? The formation covering this entire area restricts flight as well? How interesting."


    John sat down on a rock near the stream and thought over the rules of the exam, and how he was to proceed over the next week. He was slightly disappointed to be separated from his fellow disciples, as he was their best insurance of passing the test, but after thinking it over, he figured such a thing was a good thing.


    "If I was with my fellow disciples, I would just protect them instead of letting them fend for themselves. Only by getting by with their own power will they truly improve, so I suppose its for the best that things ended up this way."


    John picked up a nearby pebble and threw it into the stream as he put such thoughts aside and focused on himself.


    "Elder Yelore said the examsts a week, and the only real goal for me is to collect as many identification badges as possible. There are several ways I could go about doing so, but I think I''ll take the easiest of the routes."


    A fishing rod, one that he had stored in his spatial ring, suddenly appeared in his hands as he sat down and cast the line into the stream before him.

 Chapter 441 - Start Of The Trial

    shes of light filled the valleys and mountains in the testing area, as several thousands youths were teleported into the testing area. The testing area wasrge enough that each disciple was several miles away from each other, giving them a small window of time to prepare for the trials toe.


    Upon getting a grasp of their surroundings, the youths all had different reactions on how to proceed. Some immediately found a ce to hide, hoping that they would be able to allude capture. Some set up traps and other means of aiding their chances, and some immediately sped off at random, seeking out others to obtain their badges.


    ¡­


    In one part of the testing area, a girl with blonde hair and piercing blue eyes spread her divine sense out in all directions before retracting it. Her gaze shifted in every direction, as her eyes seemed to change a shade, turning an even more piercing and mesmerizing color of blue.


    These eyes of hers swept across everything that was in her line of sight, before a frown appeared on her face.


    "I don''t see him at all. He must be on the other side of one of these mountains for him to evade my eyes...Oh well, I''m sure I''ll run into him eventually. I might as well take the time to look for any good opportunities this area may hold."


    The girl''s eyes swept in all directions once more before locking onto a seemingly barren part of one of the mountains in the distance. Her eyes lit up slightly as her eyes once again seemed to change a slight shade, bing more profound by the second.


    "Something this valuable is just lying around in this testing area? I guess I''m quite lucky today!"


    Without another word, the girl sped off in the distance towards the ce her gaze had rested on.


    ...


    Lightning cackled ceaselessly around a youth that sped through the testing area at incredible speeds. The powerful lightning continuously danced all over his skin, making him appear as if he was a lightning god. His Late Meridian Forging cultivation red out without a care for who felt it, as the youth acted as if he reigned supreme within the testing area.


    Boulders shattered and trees splintered as the youth smashed through any obstacle in his way, as if those obstacles didn''t even exist. He pierced in a straight line towards whatever direction he wanted to go, as his body carved a visible trail of destruction and ruin through the valleys. The lightning cackling around his body charred any vegetation it came into contact with, making his trail of ruin one of fire and destruction.


    While speeding through the testing area at immense speed, the youth suddenly stopped in his tracks as his gaze snapped to another nearby youth he had run into. The other youth had been climbing the mountainside for a better vantage point, when all of a sudden the lightning d boy had smashed through the nearby forest, arriving directly before him.


    "Aaron," the boy cried out as he looked at the lightning d youth.


    The lightning covered youth was Aaron, who was one of the two Late Meridian Forging youths. Aaron stared at the boy he had just run across, and looked at him with a raised nose.


    "Brett, you''re quite unlucky to have already run into me," Aaron replied.


    Brett looked at Aaron with a panicked expression. He was only in the early Meridian Forging Realm, and could not contest with the strongest disciple of his branch sect.


    "Can you let me off?" Brett asked Aaron with a pleading expression. "I''m sure you''ll obtain hundreds of badges...and wee from the same branch sect. Surely you can let me go?"


    Aaron stared at Brett in silence for a moment before a scowl appeared on his face.


    "What kind of meek dogtshit attitude is this? I was just going to take your badge and leave due to us being from the same sect, but now I''m going to beat the shit out of you to teach you a little lesson before I take your badge."


    Brett''s expression immediately turned into one of great panic as he turned to flee at his fastest speed.


    Bang!


    Aaron''s fist mmed into Brett''s back as he immediately arrived next to him. The sound of bones creaking and fracturing echoed out, as Brett wasunched into the far distance at incredible speeds. He mmed against the mountainside of another nearby mountain, the force of the collision causing arge crater to form on the mountainside.


    The loud noise caught the attention of all those in the valley below, who looked up to see a streak of lightning jump across from one of the mountainsides to the one where the crater had just formed, mming into the crater with absolute power.


    Boom!


    Another thunderous boom echoed out across the valleys below, as all the youths in the valley could immediately tell who had caused that destruction. They all instantly fled the area at their fastest speeds, not wanting to be the next one to catch the wrath of the person on the mountainside above.


    Aaron stood up within the crater he had formed as he stared at the motionless body of Brett. A scowl lingered on his face as he reached down and took the identification badge off of Brett''s unconscious body.


    "Pathetic. With an attitude like that, you don''t deserve to be part of the True Heavenly Lightning Sect," Aaron spat out in disgust.


    After obtaining the badge, Aarons vision swept out across the mountainside and the valley below. The valley below had arge river meandering through it, while lush forests lined both sides of the river and stretched halfway up the mountainsides.


    He could see dozens of other youths fleeing as fast as they could, and a smile quickly formed on his face as he watched them flee.


    "Hunter and prey is it? I don''t mind ying that game."


    Bang!


    Lightning exploded all around his body once again as he jumped out from the crater with incredible speed.. His body, which appeared like a blur of lightning, sped down to the valley below as he began his hunt.

 Chapter 442 - Pills And Formations

    Boom!


    A muffled boom echoed out, its faded power barely scattering the water of the gentle stream.


    Ssh!


    Startled by the boom, the fish in the stream scattered in all directions. John frowned as he watched the fish swim away from his fishing line, as he had just nearly caught one. His eyes shifted towards the center of the testing area, where the muffled boom hade from.


    "Seems like the fighting has started. That attack sounded quite powerful as well. I wonder who was on the receiving end?"


    John thought about it for a moment before his gaze shifted to the waters before him once more as he cast out his line once again. He sat back in a chair he had taken out of his spatial realm, and rxed as he started to fish the day away.


    The sound of parting brushes behind him sounded out, before amanding voice entered John''s ears.


    "You there...give me your badge, or don''t me me for being heavy handed."


    John turned to look over his shoulders and spotted a boy who was in the Mid Meridian Forging Realm. He appeared to be one of the stronger youths in the test, and had managed to stumble across John''s fishing oasis.


    A soft sigh escaped John''s mouth as he put away his fishing rod and stood up from his chair. His body blurred forward, which was followed by some loud bangs and horrified screams, before he quickly sat back in his chair and took out his fishing rod once more.


    The bag attached to his hip, which contained his identification badge, now included one more.


    ¡­


    In a different area of the testing ground, Chase was walking through the thick forest, several pills in hand. The pills each emanated a unique fragrance and aura, and at a quick nce, one could tell the pills were not for consumption.


    Chase suddenly dodged to the side, as the ground was upheaved where he had just been standing. A boy appeared in the small crater that had just been formed, and quickly turned around to look at Chase who had barely dodged his attack.


    His face scowled slightly, and he pointed to Chase in an overbearing manner.


    "Give me your badge, or face my wrath," the youth yelled out confidently. His cultivation was at the Early Meridian Forging Realm, the same as Chases. However, he did not feel an overwhelmingbat prowessing from Chase.


    Chase remained silent for a moment before he replied to the boy.


    "You know, you should really pay more attention to your surroundings."


    "What?" the boy replied with a confused expression, before he looked down at his feet after feeling something below him. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed tree roots had already circled around his ankles and had started creeping up his legs.


    "What the hell is this?" the youth cried out as he tried to kick his legs out of the root shackles but was unable to. His power suddenly red as he attacked the roots with great might, which broke under the power of the attack.


    However, new roots instantly took its ce, wrapping up the youth once more. Some of the roots pricked into the flesh of the boy, breaking the skin and drawing a small amount of blood.


    "Fuck off!"


    The youth exploded with absolute power, as lightning danced off his body in every direction. The roots holding his legs shattered, and the youth looked at Chase with an angry expression.


    Chase looked back with a rxed expression, before a small smile crept up on his face.


    "Toote," Chase said to the youth, who suddenly felt his head grow heavy.


    "Wha...what the hell is happ-"


    Before the youth could finish his sentence, he copsed to the ground, unconscious. Chase stared at the boy for a moment before walking forward and taking the identification badge off his body.


    His other hand, which had been holding the various pills, now contained one less pill. Chase quickly reced the pill with an identical one as the one which was missing, before he continued walking deeper into the testing area.


    ¡­


    "Gah¡­" a panicked cry echoed out loudly from Adam as his body sped forward at incredible speeds.


    Behind him, a young girl, who had a cultivation at the Early Meridian Forging Realm was chasing Adam. Adam, who only had a cultivation at the Half-Step Meridian Forging Realm, was too far behind in power to contest against the girl that was chasing him.


    As such, he had elected to run at his fastest speeds away from the girl, who frowned as she unleashed attack after attack on Adam, but none seemed to do anything to him. Another lightning beam pierced forward towards Adam, which seemed to veer to the side at the veryst moment, barely missing him.


    The girl frowned as she saw this, as she had not directed her attack to veer to the side like that. She had unleashed many other attacks towards Adam, which all seemed to veer to the side at thest moment and barely miss him.


    Adam sped behind arge boulder, disappearing from the girls vision for a few seconds as she raced to catch up. The girl quickly rounded therge boulder, and stopped in her tracks as her eyes searched in every direction. However, she was unable to any traces of Adam, who had seemed to disappear into thin air as soon as he went behind the boulder.


    Her divine sense red out, but it too was unable to detect anything.


    "Tch," the girl sneered as she realized she had lost her prey.


    She had no idea what was going on, as her power was far beyond Adam''s cultivation level wise. She should have been able to easily catch him and take his badge, but Adam was like a slippery fish, too devious to catch.


    Not only was his speed far greater than a Half-Step Meridian Forging youth should have, but the strange ability to make her attacks miss also baffled her. Lastly, he had simply vanished, baffling her even more.


    Her foot stomped down on the earth below in an agitated manner, which shook the nearby area with its power, before she sped off in another direction.


    The area remained silent for some time before a soft sigh sounded out from behind a nearby tree. Adam walked out from behind the tree, and his expression quickly turned from one of fear to one of confident pride.


    "Hahahahah, I knew my formations would be far too profound for these simple youths to handle. The Elder said I only need to ensure I keep my badge. With these powerful formations of mine, that will be an easy task to achieve. I truly am a genius hahaha!"


    Adam''sughter echoed loudly through the valley, as several others heard it and sped towards him.. Hisughter quickly ceased as he spotted a powerful youth speeding towards him, and he screeched out in panic and fear as he once again began to flee through the valley.

 Chapter 443 - Good Fish!

    John sat next to the stream, his fishing rod still in hands. Behind him, a small hut had been built, which contained a makeshift bed, chairs and a table, and a fire pit outside, in which a fire was currently roaring. A spit had been erected over the fire pit, in which several fish were currently roasting. There was even a hammock that had been made between two trees right next to the stream, which John had often found himself sleeping the day away in.


    It had already been several days since the test started, and John had decided to erect a makeshift house for himself, as he nned on staying here until the veryst day of the test.


    A rich and fragrant aroma wafted over John''s nose, who stood up in a rxed manner and walked over to the firepit. He leaned over and inspected the fish for a moment before a satisfied smile appeared on his face.


    "Cooked to perfection."


    John took the fish off the firece and walked inside his hut to eat at the table. Each bite of the fish infused his body with a rich Qi essence, as the fish were seemingly incredibly high quality fish.


    "I have no idea what kind of fish these are, but they are beyond any fish I''ve ever had before. Each bite seems to fill my body to the brim with Qi, and I can even feel my essence Qi foundation stabilize and also rise slightly. Is everything this amazing on the Divine Martial Continent?"


    If this type of fish were sold back on the Yuan Continent, it would fetch the highest of prices. However, here in the Divine Martial Continent, the fish were just left to do as they pleased, and it seemed as though it was beneath the true Heavenly Lightning Sect to farm them.


    This fact alone made John realize just how big of a difference there was between the Divine Martial Continent and the Yuan Continent.


    "And to think I came from a ce that even the Yuan Continent considers backwater," John mused to himself as he took another bite and ruminated on his incredible journey to this point thus far.


    While eating and thinking about his journey, the distant sound of tree limbs breaking and fearful cries entered John''s ears, who took one of the fish with him as he walked outside his hut to see what was going on.


    As he took another bite of the sulent fish, a cultivator suddenly crashed through the nearby treeline several dozen yards down the riverside in a panic. Their speed was quite incredible, and a lightning attack suddenly pierced towards them from behind, which veered to the side at thest possible moment. John raised his eyebrows slightly as he saw the one who had just appeared was Adam, who seemed to be running from someone.


    "Stop running and give me your damn badge," a flustered voice boomed out from behind.


    "Fuck you! Just piss off already!" Adam replied angrily as he turned to speed off once again, but suddenly spotted John standing several dozen yards away next to the river, eating fish.


    "John!" Adam cried out in tion, as if he had seen his savior, and suddenly sped towards him.


    The youth chasing Adam crashed out from the treeline as well, as lightning cackled all around him. He had an Early Meridian Forging cultivation, and seemed to be quite powerful whenpared to others in the same realm. The youth spotted Adam racing up the river bank, and quickly moved to chase him.


    However, he stopped in his tracks as he saw Adam arrive next to John, who stood there casually taking bites of a roasted fish in his hand.


    "John! I finally found you!" Adam cried out as he arrived before John, huffing and puffing. However his happy expression quickly turned sour as he spotted what John was doing.


    "You built yourself a house? And you''ve been fishing while I''ve been running for my life? What the hell are you doing?" Adam cried out in protest.


    John stood there casually, eating his fish while inspecting Adam before him. A strange aura seemed to be emanating from Adam, which John couldn''t exactly identify. However, it seemed to be some sort of formation power, the level of which impressed even John.


    John reached out his free hand and moved it towards Adam, and felt a strange resistance push back against his hand.


    ''Hmm, it seems as if this strange repulsive power was what caused the boy''s attack to miss.''


    "Not bad. This formation of yours is quite impressive," John said to Adam with an approving look on his face.


    "Right?" Adams'' expression quickly turned from fatigue and discontent to one of pride upon hearing John praise his formation. He quickly raised the sleeve of his robe, and revealed something that made John''s skin crawl slightly.


    Embedded into the flesh of his arm was a small formation disk, which seemed to almost be a part of his body. John had never seen a formation embedded into the flesh of someone before, and the sight was quite disturbing.


    "It''s this formation disk here!" Adam replied with great excitement, more than happy to talk about his creation.


    "I used that formation disk you found in the ancientke, which had a great attractive power towards Qi, and was able to reverse its design toe up with something to repulse Qi and Qi attacks instead. Aren''t I a genius?" Adam replied proudly, as if he had not just been running for his life from the youth still standing in the distance.


    "I won''t lie, that''s actually quite impressive," John replied before taking another bite of fish in his hand. "But why embed it into your flesh? Isn''t that kind of going overboard?"


    "Not at all," Adam replied proudly. "This is actually an ancient secret of my family, which specializes in formation. We have learned how to embed formation disks into our body, which allows us to control them in the most optimal way. My ability to control this formation has increased by fifty percent whenpared to just holding it."


    John raised one eyebrow as he heard Adams'' exnation. He had never heard of such a thing before, but he knew he was not really knowledgeable when it came to formations.


    ''That''s the first time Adam has mentioned his family, which appears to be a powerful n. I wonder what power hees from?''


    John took another bite of fish, while Adam turned around to face the nearby youth, who was still standing there unsure of what to do. He wanted Adam''s badge, but John''s cultivation was higher than his own, and he knew he could not take Adam''s badge if John decided to protect him.


    "What the fuck are you still waiting here for? Scram!" Adam yelled out at the youth with his nose raised, as if he was looking down on the youth.


    His meek attitude from before had vanished as soon as he found John, which caused John to shake his head slightly in a disapproving manner.


    ''It seems as though I''ve coddled Adam too much during the trials we''ve had together. He''s be too reliant on me. Without him fending for himself, he''ll never truly grow.''


    "It''s fine," John suddenly said to the youth down the stream. "I won''t protect him. If you can catch him and take his badge, you have my blessing."


    "What the fuck John?" Adam suddenly turned to look at John with a look of betrayal on his face. However, he could tell that John was serious.


    John''s smiling face stared back at Adam, as he took another bite of fish.


    "Good luck. I''d suggest you start running," John replied with a mouth full of fish, as the youth down the river suddenly sped towards Adam.


    "Gahhh!"


    Adam cried out in panic as he suddenly sped off into the distance, while John stood there watching for a moment before taking another bite of fish.


    "Good fish!"

 Chapter 444 - Entrance Exam Heats Up

    The week-long entrance exam continued to quickly pass by, as day by day the trial wasing to an end. As the trial winded down, the frenzied nature of the branch disciples within grew. Those who had their badges stolen were doing everything in their power to get it back, even teaming out with other badgeless youths, as they targeted the ones who had stolen their badges.


    As long as they were able to retrieve their identification badges before the trial ended, they would still be able to pass the trial.


    Meanwhile, those who had amassed arge collection of badges didn''t stop but continued to do so with even more haste and passion. The branch disciple rankings were based on who could collect the most badges, and everyone at the top knew the rewards for cing first would be beyondpare.


    The Divine Martial Continent''s Heavenly Lightning Sect was beyond anything they couldpare their branch sect to, and their rewards would be the same. They were already at a disadvantage whenpared to the true disciples who had grown up in this sect all their lives, and they knew they needed to grasp every opportunity avable to them to make the gap.


    ¡­


    In an incredibly thick part of one of the trial area''s forests, a lone youth could be seen resting amongst the branches up high. Roots, leaves, and vines wrapped all around the area he was in, shielding him from sight from any of the other disciples.


    Concealed within the cocoon of vegetation, Chase studied some documents rted to the pill Dao,pletely ignoring the rest of the trial. He had collected enough badges to satisfy passing the trialfortably, and as such had retired to a safe ce.


    With his Wood Constitution, he was able to control any and all vegetation, and had used his control over it to make a shield for him from the rest of the disciples. Even if they managed to stumble upon him and find him within the cocoon of vines and roots, its defense was far more than it was worth to break apart, and everyone eventually left empty handed.


    Boom!


    A loud boom washed over the area, disturbing him from his studies.


    "How barbaric!"


    Chase muttered under his breath and frowned as he looked towards the source of the sound, which was two disciples fighting in the distance, before his gaze once again fell onto the document before him.


    ¡­


    In a cave somewhere under the earth, Adam was lounging about in a makeshift abode he had created. Taking inspiration from what he had seen John do, Adam decided to do the same, and so had dug himself a deep hole in the ground far beneath the earth, and had covered it back up, making it look as if he had never dug a hole.


    His powerful formations reinforced the walls of the makeshift cave, while his shrouding formation that he had personally crafted himself hid him from any unwanted divine sense scans.


    "Ahhh, this truly is so much better," Adam sighed in a rxing tone with a satisfied smile on his face while heid back on a soft bed he had brought out of his spatial realm. A formation disk appeared in his hand as he began to study it, while the muffled sound of battles taking pce topside filled the cave below.


    ¡­


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Sessive powerful attacks shattered the mountainside, as Aaron continued his rampage of destruction within the entrance exam. He had been hunting other disciples non-stop for six days, and even hunted those from within his own branch sect.


    None were spared from his wrath as he took badge after badge.


    "Aaron, we''re from the same branch sect. Can''t you let me off just this once?" a panicked girl spoke out to Aaron as he cornered her against a cliffside. She was a disciple that belonged to the same branch sect as Aaron and was trying to use that to get out of this situation.


    She knew firsthand just how strong he was and knew no one else within the entrance exam trial could fight against him. Her only hope against him was for him to let her go, which she tried desperately to make happen.


    "Sorry, Kayle. Our Sect Leader instructed me to win this trial no matter what, even if it means eliminating everyone else from the branch sect. You can only me your dogshit luck for running into me," Aaron replied with a care as he suddenly shot forward.


    Kayle tried to flee, but Aaron caught up immediately and mmed her into the cliffside, before taking the badge from her waist. He shot in another direction immediately after, and all the battered Kayle could do was watch as her hope of joining the main Heavenly Lightning Sect faded away.


    ¡­


    Night descended upon the trial area as the battles continued to heat up, before the light of the seventh day washed over thend.


    John''s eyes slowly opened as he light fell upon his face, and he got out of his makeshift bed and stretched deeply while wiping the sleep from his eyes. He washed up in the nearby river, before donning a fresh new robe for the day.


    His face, which had been one of pure bliss and rxation over thest six days suddenly hardened as his gaze shifted to the centralnd of the testing area, which was just over a small mountain range. A series of incredibly powerful explosions lit up on the other side of the mountains, rocking thend and sending light cascading in all directions.


    "I guess my little vacation has finallye to an end," John mused while stretching his arms and legs in all directions. "It seems the main battle is taking ce over there. I''ve let my prey fatten up nicely over thest six days, so I think it''s just about time that I go hunting."


    After stretching, John hopped on his toes back and forth several times, getting his hot blood flowing through his body once again, before he suddenly pressed off the earth.. The power of his steps shattered the earth behind him as he sped towards the source of the explosions in the distance.

 Chapter 445 - The Last Day Of The Exam

    Bang!


    A powerful lightning beam struck the earth, shattering itpletely and spreading a wave of destruction in all directions.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Several more lightning beams pierced out at incredible speeds as they shot towards a girl that darted back and forth, narrowly dodging each beam. However, the girl''s movements seemed to be perfect, as if no movement was wasted at all in dodging the attacks.


    All those nearby who were watching the battle take ce had no idea how the girl was so perfect with her movements, but each attack was dodged with absolute precision.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Lightning beams continued to crash down on the girl''s location, who continued to wlessly dodge each and every single one. Thend behind her shattered from the continuous attacks, and the valley that the battle was taking ce in changed from a lush oasis to a grave of fiery destruction. Even the river that had meandered through the valley had been vaporized, leaving only a parched riverbed as evidence of its existence.


    High above on the mountains surrounding the valley, hundreds of branch disciples watched the battle take ce. More arrived by the second, and each seemed to have forgotten about the trial, as they all turned their attention to the battle below.


    "What''s going on?" a neer asked as they arrived next to a group of disciples they recognized from their own sect.


    "That boy Aaron is fighting against Iris," one girl in the group replied to the neer.


    "Iris is fighting? How is she doing?" the youth asked as he sat down next to his group of friends and watched the battle below.


    "As you would expect," the girl replied. "That Aaron is freakishly strong, and his reputation as the strongest in this year''s ss is not unwarranted, but Iris is doing her usual thing of ying with her opponent."


    A wry smile appeared on the neer''s face as he watched the girl below battle against Aaron.


    "Aaron is more likely to die from frustration of fighting against Iris than he is from her directly," he replied, and received several head nods of confirmation from the other youths in the group.


    This group was part of the same branch sect that the girl fighting Aaron came from and knew the special abilities Iris had. Fighting against her was more of a headache than anything, as no attack ever seemed to be able tond on her. She darted back and forth in the battle, smiling the entire time as if she was having a fun time ying with a friend instead of a battle against an incredibly powerful opponent that could decide her future.


    In fact, small fits ofughter could be heard from her as she danced around the battlefield at incredible speeds, her actions further shocking the disciples unfamiliar with her.


    "She canugh like this when fighting Aaron? Just who is this girl?" a youth from another group asked his nearby friends, who were all from the same sect as Aaron.


    "No idea, but she''s freakishly strong for being able to treat Aaron like this. Although Aaron hasn''t gone all out, it''s like she''s just ying with him at the moment," another youth replied.


    "I wonder how long until Aaron snaps and unleashes his domain?" one of the disciples in the group asked.


    "We''re out of the range of his domain if he were to use it, right?" another disciple asked with concern in their voice. Those in the group fell into a deep contemtion before they all stood up and retreated further up the mountain, making sure they wouldn''t be caught up in the next attacks toe.


    "Stop dodging and fight back!" an angered shout boomed out from Aaron as he unleashed another attack at the girl.


    As expected, the girl''s body twisted at the perfect angle with the perfect timing, narrowly dodging the attack. Her lightughter rang out across the valley upon dodging the attack, further enraging Aaron.


    "Why would I?" the girl replied with a mischievous tone. "Watching you bursting at the seams from anger is far more fun than battling you directly," she continued as she dodged yet another attack.


    "Besides, I''m not the main character of this battle. I''m waiting for someone else to arrive," she said to Aaron.


    Her words confused both Aaron and the rest of the youths in the area watching the battle, as no one else could think of anyone in the entrance exam who was strong enough to fight against the two of them.


    Even the strongest disciples of the three other branch sects knew they were weaker, as their cultivations were only at the Middle Meridian Forging Realm. As such, they regrettably stood aside, and even ran away when they fell into the sights of Aaron or Iris.


    "What the hell are you talking about?" Aaron replied angrily. "Just give me your badges, or I''ll make sure all you feel is pain and regret after today."


    "Hahaha, make me!" Iris''ughter echoed throughout the valley as she continued to dodge around with calm nonchnce, as if she were ying around instead of fighting.


    Aaron''s anger rose to an almost uncontroble level, as he felt his urge to kill the girl before him rise. Iris''s face lit up with a mocking smile as she pointed at Aaron andughed with her other hand covering her mouth.


    "Heheh, your face is so red you look like a steamed apple. You should really chill out," herughing voice sounded out, further angering Aaron.


    "That''s it! Die!"


    Aaron suddenly exploded out with uncontained rage as his power began to rise to incredible levels. Clearly, he was about to unleash an ultimate attack, and all the nearby disciples quickly began to flee further up the mountainsides above the valley below where the battle was taking ce.


    Even Iris stopped dashing about for a moment to stare at Aaron, surprised he was so easy to anger. Her gaze suddenly shifted to the side as if she had spotted something, and a small smile crept up onto her face.


    "I finally get to see if my visions were correct," Iris mumbled to herself as she watched something fast approach the area.


    Aaron noticed her gaze shift from him, and thought she was mocking him even further by not paying attention to him. His anger rose once again, and he prepared to unleash his attack on her.


    Boom!


    A powerful force suddenly mmed into the valley near where Aaron was standing, which shook thend and upheaved the nearby earth. All eyes fell on the area of shattered earth, as no one expected anyone else to interfere with this battle.


    Aaron stopped his attack at thest moment, as he too turned to look at the area that had been upheaved. The dust slowly faded away as a lone youth walked out of the freshly formed crater and became visible for all to see.


    John''s eyes swept over the area he had arrived in, which had beenpletely destroyed. He quickly spotted the two he had been looking for, which were the two Late Meridian Forging youths he had seen before the start of the trial. One was the blonde-haired blue-eyed girl, who was staring at John with an odd expression, while the other was the boy named Aaron. A small smile crept up on his face as he spotted both, and therge bags of identification badges tied to their waists.


    "You both fattened up quite nicely for me," his words echoed out for all to hear.. "Now if you''ll both hand me those bags of identification badges, it''ll save both of you the trouble of being beaten into a bloody mess."

 Chapter 446 - Fighting Aaron

    John''s words, while not uttered with much strength behind them, seemed to reverberate throughout the valley and over the mountains, stunning everyone who heard those words. They could clearly tell that he was implying he let them gather the badges for them, and now he was going to take it from them.


    Everyone knew Aaron and Iris were the strongest two youths in this trial, and yet this mysterious neer with a cultivation a minor realm below his opponents showed up with such overbearing arrogance.


    Only the youths from the Yuan Continent branch sect knew this would happen, and were watching on with gazes of expectation and excitement. Due to their strength being weaker than most in this trial, they had been on the receiving end of quite a few beatings, and many of them had already lost their badges, mostly to Aaron.


    They were wondering when John would reveal himself, and once he finally did, were looking forward to a good show that allowed them to vent their frustrations.


    Meanwhile, the youths from the other branch sects all looked at John as if he were stupid, especially those from the same branch sect as Aaron.


    "Huh? Who the hell is this kid? He''s below Aaron''s cultivation level, yet he says such arrogant words? Who the hell does he think he is?" a girl who was a fan of Aaron''s mocked.


    "I know right? Either this kid ispletely stupid or overestimates his abilities. Either way, we should get a good show soon," another replied.


    They knew Aaron would not take such words lightly from the neer and would savagely beat him to set an example for all the other youths. Aaron wanted to be the undisputed number one branch sect youth and would allow no challengers or doubters.


    "What did you just say?" Aaron asked John, unsure he was hearing John correctly.


    "I said you have a choice. Give me your badges, or I''ll beat the shit out of you. Your pick," John replied sinctly, leaving no room for misinterpretation.


    To the side, Iris looked at John with a mixed expression of intrigue and amusement, as if she found John interesting, as well as funny. John noticed this odd expression from Iris but chose to ignore it at the moment while he focused on Aaron. There was plenty of time to deal with her afterwards.


    Aaron''s face, which had been red with rage, seemed to calm down upon hearing John''s words. All those watching became slightly surprised at this reaction, as they had expected Aaron to explode with even more anger than before.


    "Hahaha, I guess I can only me myself," Aaron said whileughing at himself. "I suppose I''ve been too lighthanded this past week, and so even scrubs like you can think of themselves equal to me."


    Hisughter was soft, yet everyone could tell it was fueled by a growing anger than he held internally. Aaron''s eyes turned cold as he stared at John, before he slowly pointed a finger at him.


    "I know we''re not supposed to kill or cripple in this trial, but no one said I can''t beat you to the point that it''ll take a year for you to recover," Aaron said to John calmly, as if he were talking down to a child.


    Bang!


    Lightning exploded out of Aaron''s finger, piercing directly towards John in an instant. John raised his eyes slightly as he watched the lightning approach, as it was quite an impressive attack.


    ''This attack is very simr to my Lightning Ruin, and is incredibly powerful. Aaron seems to have a Common Grade Lightning Attribute Body, which is why he canmand such control over his lightning attacks. No wonder he''s one of the strongest disciples here.''


    While musing about the attack approaching him, John took no effort at all to dodge. To everyone watching, it was as if John was either unable to react in time, or he was frozen scared by the attack. Only those from the Yuan Continent knew the power of this attack was beneath John to dodge.


    Boom!


    The lightning attack exploded directly onto John''s chest, engulfing him in an incredibly powerful explosion. Thend beneath his feet shattered and spread out in all directions, while the entire valley shook from its power.


    "Ah!" a startled cry sounded out from Iris, before her gaze pierced into the fiery explosion. Her eyes widened as she witnessed what was happening within and remained like that for a short while before returning to normal.


    "I guess they were correct," Iris sighed as her eyes stayed glued to the center of the explosion.


    "He didn''t even dodge or block it? Is he stupid?" Aaron cursed as he watched the attacknd on John directly. He had at least expected John to block the attack with his weapon and be injured in the process.


    With him not blocking, Aaron was convinced John was dead, or at least gravely injured.


    "The Elders can''t me me for him not blocking the attack," Aaron said in a disgruntled voice, as if he figured a headache of exnation wasing on. "He only has himself to -"


    Aaron''s words cut off as the explosion faded quickly, revealing John still standing there. He waspletely unharmed, and his calm and rxed eyes were staring straight back at Aaron. Aaron, as well as the other youths watching from the mountains above, all opened their eyes wide in shock.


    There wasn''t even a single scratch on John''s body, as if the attack had never even reached him.


    "You really do have dogshit luck," John said to Aaron, stirring him from his shocked state. "Not only did you try to fight me with such a low cultivation, but you also used lightning, which I''m essentially immune to. Truly unlucky," John continued while shaking his head sideways as if he were scolding a child.


    John slowly raised his finger and pointed it at Aaron, who was still staring with wide eyes at John. Lightning began to dance over his finger as he spoke out once more.


    "Now it''s my turn. Surely you''ll take this attack head on, just like I did, right?"

 Chapter 447 - Obtaining Identification Badges

    John''s words of mockery echoed throughout the area, getting mixed reactions from the crowd watching. Those from the Yuan Continent allughed in unison at John''s words, as they knew he was just ying with Aaron. Even the likes of Mason Light, who had always hated John, couldn''t help butugh at the situation.


    He had once been just like Aaron, fighting against John and not knowing just how tall of a mountain it was to climb. He now knew that in this world, there were freaks that could never be judged by reason or logic, and that it was best to notpare oneself to them.


    It had taken a lot of self reflection and self doubt to resolve this internal demon of his, but Mason finally realized the truth of the matter, and decided to focus on bing the best he could be, withoutparing himself to others like John.


    Watching Aaron make the same mistake as he did in the past filled him with a wave of nostalgia, as he sighed in pity for Aaron''s brutal beating toe.


    "At least I never made the mistake of fighting directly against him," Mason mused softly while watching the fight. Although he had been antagonistic with John, he never challenged him or fought him directly, which he now considered a blessing.


    Aaron''s surprised expression quickly turned cold again as he heard John''s words. He felt his anger rising by the second, as nothing had gone his way today. He didn''t know how John had blocked his attack, but figured he had employed the help of a powerful formation or something simr.


    "Heh, you block a half-powered attack from me and all of a sudden you feel like you''re strong?" Aaron replied with a mocking tone. "Fine, show me the power of your attack. I won''t dodge."


    Aaron opened his eyes wide, revealing his unguarded chest to John. He was one hundred percent confident in his strength, as well as his Common Grade Lightning Attribute Body. With John using a lightning based attack, as well as his essence cultivation being a minor realm weaker, Aaron felt no fear in taking this attack head on.


    John smirked slightly, as he could tell what Aaron was thinking.


    "Should I add some tribtion lightning into this attack?'' John mused internally, before shaking his head against the idea. ''I better not. I don''t want to identally kill him after all.''


    Bang!


    Without wasting any more time, John unleashed his Lightning Ruin. An explosive lightning attack, far more powerful than the one Aaron had unleashed pierced towards him. Aaron, as well as everyone watching, widened their eyes in absolute shock at the power of the attack. It was clear at a single nce that this simple attack from John was stronger than Aaron''s previous attack.


    Aaron''s widened eyes narrowed once more as he pushed his cultivation to the limit, reinforcing his body with Qi and preparing himself for the attack. However, as he promised, he did not dodge or block the attack, his actions surprising John.


    ''I figured he would block or dodge the attack once he saw it, but he''s staying true to his word. Not a bad attitude to have as a cultivation.''


    Boom!


    John''s Lightning Ruin exploded against Aaron''s chest, which was followed by a grunt of pain as Aaron was knocked back several dozen yards. The explosive lightning Qi quickly faded, revealing Aaron still standing on his own two feet.


    John raised one eyebrow in surprise, as Aaron had managed to block the attack. While there was clear damage visible on his chest and arms, he had still managed to stay standing while taking it head on.


    ''He truly is quite talented. Although I only used a small portion of my full power there, that attack would be enough to threaten a normal Half-Step Heaven Tribtion expert. No wonder he''s been able to rampage freely in this trial.''


    p! p! p!


    A series of slow ps echoed out as John pped for a short while, congratting Aaron.


    "For you to be able to not only keep your word of taking the attack head on, but also sessfully doing so, I''ll allow you to keep your badge when I take the rest from you," John said to Aaron.


    Aaron''s attitude, while arrogant, was something John could respect. He would at least allow him to enter the main Heavenly Lightning Sect, instead of taking his badge from him.


    "Ahhhhhh!" Aaron suddenly belted out an angry roar, clearly incensed by everything that had happened. His aura suddenly climbed up to a new height, and he clearly was no longer holding back.


    Boom!


    An incredibly powerful st of lightning exploded out in all directions, forming a spherical sea of lightning around Aaron for hundreds of yards in each direction. Iris, who had been standing close by, darted away to avoid the st, leaving only John contained within.


    John stood there as the sphere of lightning washed over him, its power truly shocking. The explosive sphere of lightning shattered the earth beneath their feet and carved a hundred yard deep crater into the valley. The powerful sphere of lightningsted for a short moment, before it faded away, returning the area to normal once more. Only the ruined valley and massive crater remained as evidence of its short existence.


    Due to his inability to fly, John now stood at the bottom of the crater


    ''This is clearly some sort of short duration domain attack. Its power was actually quite impressive. This would have severely harmed his opponent, had it been anyone other than me.''


    However, Aaron was truly unlucky to have John as his opponent, as John was essentially invulnerable to lightning damage from someone close to his realm.


    ''Time to end this. I don''t know just how much longer the trial willst for, so no more ying around.''


    Supreme Battle Art!


    Thundersh Steps!


    Aaron''s gaze pierced into the crater below, trying to see if John was down there. However, his eyes suddenly widened as he turned around and punched out, as he did not have enough time to take out his weapon.


    Bang!


    John''s leg collided with Aaron''s fist, and the sound of shattering bone boomed out as Aaron''s body was violently mmed into the earth below.


    "Gah!" A pained cry echoed out, and the force of Aaron''s body mming into the earth deepened the alreadyrge crater, as more earth was violently ejected outwards.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Giving Aaron no reprieve, John assaulted Aaron with a ceaseless barrage of punches, far greater in power than he could contest against. With John''s body cultivation in the Late Meridian Forging Realm, and powered by his Supreme Battle Art and unlocked Limiter of Power, his power was enough to overwhelm a Heaven Tribtion expert, let alone a Late Meridian Forging youth.


    All the youths in the area watched with wide eyes as John pummeled Aaron into the earth, with thetter being unable to resist in the slightest. After a series of incredibly strong blows, silence once again returned to the valley as John bent over and plucked the bag of identification badges from Aaron''s waist.


    He rifled through the bag for a moment before finding Aaron''s badge, at which point he tossed it onto the barely conscious Aaron, staying true to his word that he would allow him to be a disciple of the sect.


    In the blink of an eye, John had obtained first ce in the trial, shocking everyone watching, who still couldn''t believe their eyes.

 Chapter 448 - End Of The Entrance Exam

    After the brief yet explosive battle between John and Aaron, only silence remained as everyone fell into a stunned stupor. Aaron, the youth that had been rampaging with absolute power within this trial had just been defeated in the blink of an eye by someone who had a lower cultivation than him.


    In fact, it didn''t even look like John had really tried, as all he did was beat Aaron with his incredibly powerful body before Aaron could react. Aaron had not gone all out either, as he had been defeated before he could even pull out his weapon, but such a thing could only be med on Aaron himself. Any cultivator treating a fight with such a half-hearted attitude didn''t deserve to win in the first ce.


    "Wha¡­.what the hell just happened?" a stunned youth asked his nearby friends.


    However, all he received in response was silence, as almost everyone else was too stunned to speak.


    The sounds of cheering suddenly filled the area, as those from the Yuan Continent branch finally got to vent their frustrations at Aaron''s overbearingness throughout this trial. Watching him get beat savagely by John''s arms and legs was beyond refreshing, and even Mason Light, who still had his badge on him couldn''t help but softly cheer.


    Their entire branch sect had been looked down upon this entire week, and so having a victory such as this, even if it wasn''t their own personal victory, was more than rewarding.


    "You would have put up a better fight if you had taken me seriously," John said to Aaron, whoid on the ground below him, barely conscious. "Although the oue wouldn''t have changed. You only have yourself to me for making yourself such an enticing target."


    John clipped the bag of identification badges to his waste, thoroughly securing it, before he prepared to hop out of the crater. However, a sound from beneath him caught his attention, and he turned to look at what was going on.


    "Ow¡­my head¡­what the fuck just happene-"


    While rubbing his head in a pained manner, Adam suddenly crawled out of the ground before John. John couldn''t help but widen his eyes in surprise at the sight of Adam crawling out of the ground, as such a thing was beyond unexpected.


    "Adam? What the hell are you doing down here?" John couldn''t help but ask as he reached out to help Adam stand up.


    "John?" Adam replied in a dazed manner as he epted his help and stood up out of the rubble which had been on top of him. His gaze swept around in all directions, and his eyes slightly widened as he noticed the absolute carnage around him, before his gaze settled on the barely conscious Aaron below him.


    The destruction, the crater, the barely conscious Aaron. Everything came together and painted a picture for Adam, who suddenly reached out and punched John on the shoulder as hard as he could.


    "First you abandon me earlier in the trial, and now you destroy my hiding spot! Are you trying to get me killed?" Adam cried out in unhappy protest, although he did so mostly in a joking manner.


    "I had no idea you were down here," John replied. "In fact, why the hell are you hiding like a rat down here?"


    "It might be a newssh to you, but some of us don''t have abnormally freakish strength, and need to do other things to ensure our survival," Adam replied, his voice slightly disgruntled.


    "Maybe you would be stronger if you tried a bit harder, instead of running away at every slight inconvenience," John replied as he rolled his eyes at Adam''s antics.


    Adam opened his mouth to argue once again, but quickly silenced himself as he tried to think of a good counter argument. However, no matter how he thought about it, John was right.


    "Just go join the others up there," John said as he pointed to the top of a nearby mountain. Adam looked over to the mountain, and spotted arge group gathered there, which consisted of youths from their branch sect.


    Chase, June, Mason, and other strong disciples were there, and Adam nodded his head in silent agreement. However, he nced at Aaron below him for a moment as a frown appeared on his face, before he kicked him in the ribs once as hard as he could.


    "That''s for chasing me earlier in the trial. I nearly died because of your attacks, you bastard."


    After venting his frustrations, Adam turned and climbed out of the crater, leaving only John down there with Aaron. John raised a single eyebrow as he watched Adam leave.


    ''He was chased by Aaron and actually managed to sessfully evade him. It seems as though his running and hiding skills are without equal.''


    John shook his head once again at Adams'' antics, as he had clearly designed formations to help him run and hide instead of fight.


    ''If only he used that big brain of his toe up with attack formations, he could most likely be one of the strongest disciples here.''


    John shook his head once more at his incredibly smart yet incredibly dumb friend, before he too jumped out of the crater.


    Boom!


    Johnnded with a thud just outside the crater, and his vision quickly turned to the next person on his list.


    Just a few dozen yards away, Iris still stood there, looking at John intently. She carried none of the arrogance as Aaron did, but instead seemed to be looking at John with intense curiosity. John couldn''t tell what she was thinking, which was a rather strange feeling to him.


    Most cultivators wore their emotions on their sleeves, and one could quickly identify what they wanted or thought. However, Iris seemed to be an enigma to John. Her eyes subtly changed color, bing an even deeper and more piercing color of blue as she stared at John.


    John suddenly felt as if he was being seen throughpletely, leaving no secrets behind.


    ''She''s strong.''


    Iris''s vision shifted to John''s abdomen, where his dantians existed, and lingered there for a short moment as a look of confusion appeared on her face.


    After the brief moment of confusion, her expression seemed to be one of determination andmitment as she slowly started walking towards John.


    "As I said to Aaron, I''ll say the same thing to you. Give me your bag of badges, or suffer the same fate as Aaron," John said to Iris, cutting straight to the most important topic at hand.


    Iris continued to calmly walk towards John, and John detected no hostility from her at all.


    ''She''s not actually going to just hand me her badges, right? Things are never that easy,'' John couldn''t help but muse internally as he watched Iris walk up to him and stand just a few feet away.


    The two stared at each other for a short while, neither making a movement, before Iris suddenly reached out and grabbed her bag, and to the surprise of all, handed it to John. However, the words she uttered next were even more shocking than her actions.


    "Here you go," she said with a cheerful smile as she handed the bag to John. "The badges I have collected for you are all yours, Master!"

 Chapter 449 - Battling Iris

    Master!


    Master!


    Master!


    The word almost seemed to echo throughout the entire valley, stunning absolutely everyone who heard it. It was thest thing anyone had expected to hear from her, especially John.


    John stood there in silence as he stared at Iris with a frown on his face. He couldn''t tell if she was joking or not, and he had not yet let his guard down. He stood there for a short while before finally reaching out to the bag which Iris held in front of him.


    Even if it was a trap of some kind, it was a trap he could afford to trigger.


    Just as John''s hand was about to reach the bag, John saw her eyes change to a brighter, more piercing shade of blue, and she suddenly disappeared from his sight.


    John instantly turned around, his full powered fist punching out at Iris''s leg that was sweeping towards his head.


    Iris''s eyes went wide at John''s quick response to her actions, and pulled her leg back at thest moment before dashing a short distance away. Her eyes went slightly wide as she let out a deep sigh of relief at having dodged that attack. She knew that if their limbs had collided, her leg would have shattered from the impact.


    Iris, with her incredible speed, was used to darting around the battlefield and using her limbs as quick but surgical weapons. However, she now knew that if she were to do such a thing against John, her oue would be miserable.


    A pair of daggers suddenly appeared in her hands, each glowing with a strange sheen. Just from a nce, John could tell that the daggers were poison. However, his eyes stayed calm, as no matter how much Iris tried, her des would not be able to pierce his tough defenses. While daggers were incredibly quick weapons, they were also light on their power. Such a weapon was the worst match up against John, whose entire body was as if it were made from the hardest of materials.


    Thundersh Steps!


    Limiter of Speed!


    With his Supreme Battle Art still active, John instantly unleashed his top speed and appeared next to Iris in an instant. His fist pierced towards her chest, clearly intent on incapacitating her. Normally this punch would be to her head with the intention to kill, but John was unable to take such extreme measures within this trial.


    Peng!


    John''s fist collided with Iris''s daggers, and a soft metallic sound rang out as his fist was redirected to the side, barely missing her body. He quickly stopped his momentum and turned around to face Iris once again, his eyebrows raised slightly in shock. Meanwhile, a soft giggle escaped Iris'' lips, as if she found the whole thing amusing.


    ''Her power is far weaker than mine. By all ounts, she shouldn''t even be able to redirect my attacks at all. Something strange is going on here.''


    Bang!


    John pressed off the ground once again, appearing before Iris in a sh and sending out another punch. Iris once again used her daggers to redirect his attack to the side with incredible precision. Without missing a beat, John''s leg swept out from the side towards her waist, his attack transitioning from one to the next with absolute fluidity.


    Iris jumped backwards, her back arching just above John''s sweeping leg as she flipped backwards, narrowly dodging the attack once again.


    John frowned once again at what was going on, but was now more intrigued than ever at what was urring. Although he was far from going all out, almost every cultivator in the Late Meridian Forging Realm would be on the floor by now. Even Aaron was unable to react to John''s attack, but Iris was continuously dodging his attacks.


    The disciples above watched in rapt attention as John and Iris dashed across the battlefield with incredible speed as their attacks were exchanged. Each exchange was John on the offensive, with Iris barely managing to dodge each attack in time. However, no matter what John did, his attacks were unable tond.


    John''s fist once again pierced out towards Iris, who smiled as she saw an opening. Her dagger swayed to the side of his fist as it shed against it, intending on inflicting him with her poison.


    Peng!


    The tip of her dagger collided against John''s hand, as another metallic sound rang out. Iris'' eyes went wide for a brief moment, before she collected herself and narrowly dodged John''s follow up punch. Herughter continued to trail behind her blurring figure as she continued her battle with John, as if this was not a dangerous situation to her, but a fun game of tag being yed.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The air exploded continuously from the force of John''s body attacks as he continuously pressed the advantage against Iris. At this point, he no longer saw her as an enemy, but a fantastic training opportunity to improve his body-basedbat prowess.


    ''The only other time I''ve been this stifled was when I was fighting my master. I need to figure out what is going on, and how to break her defenses. I could just use my absolute power, namely my Transformation Art and Heavenly Lightning Domain to overwhelm her, but where''s the fun in that.''


    The incredible exchange continued for some time, as John started to piece together a bit of what was happening.


    ''It''s those eyes of hers! They are able to see through all my movements, allowing her to read what I am going to do beforehand, and prepare a countermeasure with absolute quickness.''


    John suddenly stopped, his actions surprising Iris as well as the others watching the fight.


    "Is he giving up?" one of the disciples above asked their group.


    "Of course he is. He''s going against our Iris, who had never allowed anyone in the same realm as her tond a blow on her, let alone someone in a lower realm. Although this boy is beyond strong and was able to beat Aaron,nding a blow on Iris is an entirely different thing."


    The nearby youths all nodded their heads in agreement as they had absolute faith in the strongest disciple from their sect.


    Meanwhile, the youths from the Yuan Continent branch watched on calmly, as they knew the strength John had disyed was only a fraction of what he was capable of. Clearly he had a reason for not going all out, as if he wanted to end this battle, he could do so in a second.


    John''s mind focused on the teachings his master had given him, especially the ones regarding his body''s micromovements, which would give his attacks away.


    Iris stopped and watched as John''s aura was withdrawn into himself while his presence seemed to disappear. While he was still visible to everyone, it was as if he had be one with the world. Iris''s eyes widened slightly as she watched this take ce before her, before an excited smile broke out on her face.


    "Come on," she said to John whileughing slightly. "Show me what you got!"

 Chapter 450 - Confusing Intentions

    John stared at Iris for a moment, before a small smile broke out on his face. He had uttered words like that many times to others, but had never been on the receiving end of such words. He shook his head at himself for being in such a situation, before his body shot forward with absolute speed, appearing before Iris in an instant.


    Boom!


    His fist collided with the earth as he punched down on the location Iris was previously standing, as his attack had narrowly missed her. Without hesitation, John followed up his attack with a kick, his actionspletely fluid, as well aspletely natural.


    Iris''s daggers crossed in front of her chest as she raised them to block John''s kick, which collided squarely on the daggers.


    Bang!


    A loud collision rang out, and Iris''s body shot back like a cannonball for some distance, before she managed to recover her bnce. Her gaze shifted down to the daggers in her hands, which were shaking from the force of the impact she had just blocked.


    "Monstrous," Iris muttered under her breath, as just a casual kick had been enough to fill her with a slight scent of death. If that attack hadnded on her body and not her daggers, she knew she would have one foot in the grave.


    John had managed to shroud his movements from her sight. Although she could still see through them, they were much more difficult to see through, which revealed John had incredible control over his body and its movements. Such a thing was only able to be aplished through abination of incredible talent, as well as incredibly harsh training.


    "It appears he was the one I saw in my visions, but I need to push him a bit farther to make sure."


    Just as John was about to speed towards Iris once more, he felt a strange power begin to emanate from her, which gave him a slight pause, not out of fear, but curiosity. It was unlike anything he had felt before, and was as if he was being stared at by the universe himself.


    After a thought, essence Qi flooded into his eyes, elevating his vision to the maximum. He stared at Iris for a brief second, before his gaze shifted to above her head. His eyes widened slightly as he could barely make out the existence of an ethereal eye hovering above Iris.


    Iris noticed John''s gaze, and raised an eyebrow in slight surprise. Clearly John was able to see this ability of hers, which was invisible to most at her realm of power.


    "You can see it?" Iris asked John as he stared at the ethereal eye hovering above her.


    John nodded his head slightly, before his gaze shifted back towards Iris.


    "Good, then I''ll tell you one thing. With this innate Astral Eye of mine being used, my ability to see through all of your movements has amplified severalfold. If you keeping at me with such a half-assed attitude, you won''t even be able tond a single finger on me."


    Iris''s yful manner had been reced withplete seriousness, her mood shift slightly surprising John.


    "Come now, this is a perfect opportunity for me to train by body-basedbat prowess. Why would I ruin such a thing by going all out?" John replied nonchntly.


    Whether she had the Astral Eye or not, the only thing that changed was the difficulty ofnding a blow on her. Her ability to inflict damage on John, poison or not, had not changed. Besides, even if she did inflict him with poison, John had a variety of poison neutralizing pills on him, as well as Chase nearby, who was a Pill Dao genius and could most likely figure something out.


    Iris frowned as she heard John''s reply, as she could clearly tell he did not consider her a threat at all. His gaze shifted from John to the top of one of the nearby mountains, and focused on a group of youths gathered together, watching the fight take ce.


    Her gaze shifted back to John, who was now frowning, as she had gazed at a group consisting of disciples from the Yuan Continent branch.


    "If you won''t take me seriously, then I''ll make you take me seriously," Iris said to John. "I''m going to go with that group of your fellow disciples over there, and if I make it to them before you stop me, I''ll start ughtering them one by one until you stop me."


    John''s gaze hardened upon hearing this, as any threat against his fellow disciples was something he would not stand for. However, he didn''t believe her words, as doing such a thing would eliminate her from the entrance exam, and probably bring other troubles with it as well.


    "I don''t believe you," John replied, his voice slightly colder than normal. "If you did that, you would be kicked out of this exam, and have no way to join this Heavenly Lightning Sect."


    Iris fell into silent contemtion for a brief moment, before her hardened eyes locked onto Johns.


    "There are worse fates in this world than merely being kicked out of this sect," Iris replied calmly, yet filled with resolve. "To avoid such a fate, I will do whatever is needed to be done to find the path of survival."


    Without another word, Iris turned and shot towards the group of disciples on the top of the mountain, leaving John standing there alone. John''s gaze hardened as he could tell Iris waspletely serious about what she had just said.


    ''I can''t tell why she''s doing this, but I can tell she''s one hundred percent serious. I need to stop her.''


    Without another thought, John activated his Thundersh Steps, unlocked his Limiter of Speed, and pushed his Supreme Battle Art to the peak and shot towards Iris. Hundreds of lightning nodes appeared in the air around him as he activated his Heavenly Lightning Domain, intent on stopping whatever Iris was nning to do.


    However, Iris''s speed was absolutely incredible, and was far beyond what someone in the Late Meridian Forging Realm should be capable of. Although he was catching up to her, the short distance to the nearby group of disciples would mean she would arrive there first.


    ''I won''t make it in time like this!''


    Boom!


    An absolutely sinister aura suddenly spread across the entire area, drowning the valleys below and mountains above in a sea of bloodthirst and malice. Iris felt her body chill as she felt this aura wash over her, before a figure suddenly appeared before her, shocking her senseless with its speed.


    Before her, a pair of blood red eyes stared at her with a gaze so cold it seemed to freeze her in ce.

 Chapter 451 - Visions

    With no other choice to make, John had activated his Asura Transformation Art. With his advancements in the art, the physical change to his body had be more pronounced than before. Blood red runes covered his entire body, glowing from within like hot embers within a fire.


    Two horns that were thin, sharp, and straight, jutted a few inches out of the top of his head, making him look even more menacing. The horns themselves were ck at the base, and gradually melded into a blood red color at the tip, making them look even more menacing.


    Not only that, but his aura itself had bepletely different than before. His aura before was firm and unflinching, like a warrior defying all that came at it. Now however, it was like a demon god had arrived before them, wanting nothing more than to y each and every one of them.


    The disciples watching this all unfold shuddered upon feeling this aura, and some even began to flee as they had no idea what was going on. The only thing they could clearly tell was that if they got on the wrong end of John at the moment, they would bepletely at his mercy.


    Only the disciples of the Yuan Continent remained mostly calm, as they had seen this power of John''s before. However, their heartbeats all increased nheless, as seeing and feeling it was still more than frightening. It was like a natural instinct kicking in, urging them to flee for their lives.


    Iris, who was at the very center of this aura and was feeling its effects the most found herself almost unable to move. The aura emanating from John was not only sinister beyond belief, but also pressed down on her with incredible power.


    It clearly wasn''t a domain being used, but the force of the aura itself that was restricting her movements, shocking her greatly.


    Without warning, John''s body shed towards Iris at incredible speeds. Her eyes went wide as both her natural eyes and her Astral Eye picked up on John''s movements, and her body began to move to dodge his attack.


    Bang!


    Iris''s eyes went wide as John''s hand firmly gripped around her neck before she could react to his movements. Although she could see his movements, her body was not nearly fast enough to keep up with John''s speed at the moment.


    Iris grit her teeth in pain as she struggled against John''s hand, but was unable to make it move even slightly.


    Boom!


    A powerful kick from her right leg, which was infused with a unique energy mmed against John''s unguarded waist, the power of the kick shaking the nearbynd. Her eyes went wide once more as the attacknded sessfully, but John didn''t even flinch slightly at its power. It was as if the attack was beneath him, no more a nuisance than a flynding on his body.


    "Give me a good reason not to kill you now," John said to her, his voice cold.


    Iris remained silent for a moment while struggling against John''s grip on her neck, her breathing ragged as John was gripping her neck quite tightly.


    "I¡­would¡­tell you¡­if¡­you¡­let¡­me¡­.speak," Iris struggled to get these words out, as John''s grip was too tight.


    John''s face remained calm as he suddenly let go of her neck, causing Iris to fall down onto the ground on her knees. In his current form, nothing Iris attempted to do could work, and so John felt no hesitation against his current action.


    He wanted a good reason for her actions, or he may truly kill her on the spot. Dealing with the fallout of his actions was something he was willing to deal withter.


    Iris breathed several ragged breaths while rubbing her aching neck, before she gazed up at John with a mixed expression.


    "You really are quite heavy handed," Iris said to John, her pained expression slowly turning into a small smile. "But that''s exactly the type of attitude and resolve I would expect of the one I n to follow."


    John frowned upon hearing her words, as she constantly seemed to be speaking in riddles. He was just about to tell her to speak clearly, when Iris stood up and slowly moved her outstretched pointer finger towards John''s forehead.


    John frown lingered on his face as he watched her actions, but felt no ill intent from it and allowed her to do what she was trying to do. Her pointer finger tapped against John''s forehead, and John suddenly saw his vision change.


    Different scenes started blurring by in his mind, visions of people he had never met, battles, asura''s, demon''s, golden-armored gods, and death. He felt his heartbeat steadily increase as the visions continued to fly by. The scenes also included himself, although his face was blurred. However, his asura aura was unmistakable.


    The scenes in his mindsted for a short while, before his vision once again returned to normal.


    John had never felt anything like this before, and the closest experience he had was that one strange dream he had the day after he started cultivating. The dream that appeared to be a vision instead of a dream, of the past, or the future.


    However, he was clearly able to tell that he was part of all of these visions, being stared at as if from another''s point of view.


    John''s gaze locked onto Iris once again as his heartbeat slowed down, regaining his former calm.


    "What the hell was that?" John asked, his voice still cold due to his transformation art.


    "I''ll tell you after this trial, but these are all visions I have seen myself. Each vision has onemonality¡­you."


    John remained silent as he heard this reply from Iris, while he tried to figure out what was going on.


    "I have two sets of visions," Iris spoke up once again. "One with you in them, and one without you in them. Let''s just say the one with you in them is¡­much better for me. Which Is why I needed to confirm that you were truly the one in the visions. I wasn''t actually going to kill any of your sect members, I just needed you to show your true power to confirm that you were the one in the visions, and this was the only way I knew how to do that. Now that I have confirmed it''s you¡­here you go¡­Master!"


    Iris once again took the bag of identification badges from her waist and raised it before John for him to take. John''s hand swiped out swiftly, taking the bag, but was surprised that there was no trickery from Iris this time around.


    His aura suddenly faded, returning his body back to normal, as the Asura Transformation Art was quite taxing on his body. John tied the bag to his waist before his gaze shifted back to Iris, who was smiling happily at John as if nothing had just happened.


    ''Tch, another headache has showed up.''


    Bang!


    His leg suddenly swept out, smashing into Iris''s waist before she could react, which sent her flying backwards down the mountainside.. Regardless of her intentions, she had still pissed him off.

 Chapter 452 - The Trial Ends

    The Divine Martial Continents Heavenly Lightning Sect, also known as the True Heavenly Lightning Sect, was a sprawling paradise beyond the imaginations of anyone who had never seen it before. Especially those from the remotends far removed from the Divine Martial Continent. To them, the Heavenly Lightning Sect was the grandest ce they had ever seen before.


    In the very center of the Heavenly Lightning Sect was a massive brick courtyard, several miles wide and long rested. Before the courtyard was an enormous building, quite simr in design to the Heavenly Lightning Pce. This too was known as the Heavenly Lightning Pce, and was one of the most important buildings in the entire sect.


    In the area behind the Heavenly Lightning Pce was the floatingndmass on top which rested the grand pce. Despite the pce being smaller than the Heavenly Lightning Pce, it was no less grand.


    Opposite the Heavenly Lightning Pce on the other side of the courtyard, wide roads stretched off into the distance, each linedpletely with buildings. The buildings were made from incredible materials, and each gave off a grand aura themselves. The sect sprawled for dozens of miles in each direction around the Heavenly Lightning Pce and the floatingndmass, and was filled with hundreds of thousands of cultivators.


    Currently, the courtyard was buzzing with activity as thousands of cultivators moved about in all directions toplete their daily duties. The Heavenly Lightning Pce was the administrative hub for the sect, and it alone had thousands entering and exiting every hour.


    Standing in the courtyard before the Heavenly Lightning Sect was a group of six cultivators who had all just arrived here around the same time. In this group, Lilian stared at the two pces for a moment, taking in the sight, as this was her first time visiting the True Heavenly Lightning Sect as well.


    The branch sect leaders, who were the other five members of the group, all noticed Lilian''s gaze at the magnificent buildings. A small, almost mocking smile appeared on the face of Branch Leader Whisperwind, who couldn''t help but speak up.


    "I suppose this is your first time visiting this sect," Whisperwind said to Lilian. "You look just like a newborn fawn, experiencing the world for the first time."


    While her words could be insinuated as youthful innocence, all could tell that they were mocking theck of experience Lilian had. Lilian''s gaze shifted from the Heavenly Lightning Pce to Branch Sect Leader Whisperwind. Her gaze was the epitome of calmness, as if she considered words from Whisperwind to be beneath her notice.


    Whisperwind''s face quickly turned into a scowl at Lilian''s reaction and was just about to reply when another spoke up.


    "I believe it''s about time that they arrive," the branch leader with the scar on his face said to the group, which squashed any further discussion on the previous topic.


    At the same time, around a dozen Elders of the sectnded in the courtyard and stood together in a group nearby the group of branch leaders. The two groups nced at each other, and gave each other nods of greeting, before their gazes shifted forward as thousands of shes of light caught their attention.


    ''Time to see if that brat lived up to his words, or I''m going to give him a severe beating for losing me all that money,'' Lilian mused internally while she stared at the shes of light.


    ¡­


    In the valley where the incredible battles had taken ce between John, Aaron, and Iris, roughly one hundred cultivators stood in a group.


    The group consisted almost entirely of the disciples from the Yuan Continent branch, which had gathered around John after thepletion of his fights.


    Standing in the center of the group, John''s divine sense continued to shift through the two bags on his waist, both of which were filled to the brim with Identification badges. His divine sense locked onto one badge, and he reached in to pull it out.


    His gaze shifted to a certain part of the group of youths before him, and he tossed out the badge to one of the youths. The youth, a girl who had been an Inner Disciple of the Yuan Continent branch sect, caught the badge with an ted smile on her face.


    "Thank you, John!" the girl called out happily.


    John nodded his head, before his attention locked onto the bags once more.


    For thest fifteen minutes, John had been going through his bags and returning the lost badges to those of his branch sect. Most badges in the entrance exam had been taken by Aaron or Iris, and so John was able to return the badges of those from his branch sect without impacting his number one position in the trial.


    "That''s all the badges belonging to our branch sect," John said to the group as his divine sense faded away.


    His words caused around twenty youths to be downcast, as they had not retrieved their badges yet. They had them taken by different youths, but were hoping that Aaron or Iris had then taken them from those youths.


    "Unfortunately, everyone else has scattered far away from here after my battle with Aaron and Iris, and we don''t have enough time to retrieve them," John said to the badgeless group.


    "Its okay John, we can''t me anyone other than ourselves for having our badges stolen," one of the youths spoke up. They couldn''t fault John for their shortfalls in this trial.


    John nodded his head in approval at the youths words, before replying to him and the group.


    "Hmm, good. That is the attitude a cultivator should have. Amit your weakness and learn from it. If you remain steadfast in your cultivation, and keep this resolve in your hearts, I have no doubts you''ll all be powerhouses of the Yuan Continent Branch Sect," John replied.


    His reply elevated the moods of those who did not have their badges, who all nodded their head at John. Although their journey to enter the Divine Martial Continents sect was over, their cultivation journey was not.


    With their strength and talent, perhaps it was better to return to the Yuan Continent. In that ce, they could thrive and be powerful Elders, which was more than many of them could ever have dreamed of.


    "We''ll do exactly as you say," one of the youths replied to John, his mood quickly recovering.


    "Right. When you one day return to the Yuan Continent, we''ll show you just how far our resolve will carry us," another replied, their hearts set.


    "Good," John nodded his head in approval at their attitudes.


    Standing behind John was Iris, who stood there silently. After having been kicked violently by John down the mountain, she had quickly returned to John''s side. John had tried to shoo her away, but regardless of his words, Iris only said that John was now her master that she was to follow.


    Despite repeated attempts from John to stop her from calling him master, Iris ignored each one, which led John to eventually give up out of frustration.


    Her gaze swayed over the group before John as she watched him inspire all of them, even those who seemed like they would be lost in their despair of failing the trial. She nodded her head in silent approval at John''s actions, as they were the actions of a leader, not a ruler.


    If Aaron had been the one in this situation, he would have told everyone to piss off, keeping everything to himself.


    Upon seeing this, Iris''s decision to follow John became even more firm.


    Suddenly, everyone who held their own identification badge felt the same spatial energy that had appeared at the start of the trial wrap around them. John''s face turned firm, as well as slightly excited, as he let the energy wrap him up and take him away.


    ''The trial has finally ended.. Well then, let''s see what the True Heavenly Lightning Sect is all about.''

 Chapter 453 - Arriving At The Sect Courtyard

    "They''re about to arrive," the scar-faced branch sect leader said out loud, as the group felt the slight trembles of spatial fluctuations begin to appear.


    Arge smile appeared on Branch Sect Leader Whisperwind''s face, as the moment of Aaron''s triumph, and herrge mary winnings were about to ur.


    Sect Leader Whisperwind nced sideways at Lilian, who was standing there with a calm expression on her face, as if the oue of the exam was of no concern to her.


    "Not even slightly nervous?" Whisperwind chimed up, causing Lilian to nce at her. "If I were you, I would at least be slightly nervous, mostly for the safety of your disciple. Although do not despair too much, with the rules confining him, Aaron will at least leave your disciple in one piece."


    Whisperwinds words were a clear provocation towards Lilian, which caused Lilian to smile slightly as she finally decided to cut the woman down slightly. A mocking smile appeared on Lilian''s face as she looked at Whisperwind.


    "You know, your bitterness towards me is quite understandable. Afterall I am already in the same cultivation realm as you despite being over a thousand years younger. You reaching the Dao Transformation at such ate age in your life caused you to waste your youthful appearance, causing you to now look like an old hag. Your jealousy and resentment is quite clear on that matter, which has caused you to be a vile bitch this entire time."


    Lilian''s words caused the other branch sect leaders to suck in a cold breath of air, as they were not expecting her to reply with such vitriol. However, they could understand it, as Whisperwind had been quite mean to Lilian upon her arrival, without any provocation from thetter. However, it seemed as though Lilian finally had enough, and flung insults back at Whisperwind.


    "Aaron winning this event is the one thing you could hold over my head gloatingly, but I''m afraid that too won''t go as you would expect it to," Lilian continued before Whisperwind could reply.


    "What did you say?" Whisperwind suddenly erupted in a rage as her power red outwards. Her power spike caught the attention of the nearby cultivators, who nced at her before going back to their business.


    "Oh? Do you want to fight? I''ll happily oblige you if that''s the case. I''m much better at fighting with fists than fighting with words," Lilian replied, but kept her aura withdrawn.


    However, Whisperwind recalled the terrifying power Lilian had revealed before the entrance exam, as well as the horrifying Dao of Death that had emanated from her. Despite being tens of times older than Lilian, Whisperwind knew it was a fight she could not win.


    Whisperwind stared at Lilian for a moment with unmasked anger, before she flicked her head to the side with a sneer.


    "Che, we''ll see just how wrong those words of yours are soon enough, won''t we?" Whisperwind replied, getting thest say in before ignoring Lilian.


    Lilian began to chuckle slightly at the temper tantrum thrown by Whisperwind, which only served to agitate her further. However, both parties ignored each other, while the other branch sect leaders stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to say.


    sh!


    shes of light broke the silence, as all the disciples who had passed the trial appeared in the courtyard before them at the same time.


    The branch sect leaders all gazed intently at the arriving group, as the results of this trial would decide whether they would receive a great sum of money or lose it. A small smirk appeared on Lilian''s calm face as she saw John arrive unharmed, while his one foot was resting on the body of a barely conscious youth below him.


    ¡­


    The vision of all the disciples who had passed the trial blurred for a moment as they were transported a short distance. After what appeared to be a singr moment, light once again entered their visions as they arrived at their destination.


    John''s vision swept about in all directions, as a frown slowly appeared on his face. A small group of curious cultivators, a dozen Elder''s and the branch sect leaders had gathered around them. However, other than these few people, the rest of the thousands of cultivators and sect members in the background continued to walk about, uninterested in the group of youths that had just arrived.


    ''This ispletely different than what happened back home. When that entrance exam ended, we were weed by the entire sect. However, this sect hardly seems to have noticed our arrival, as if we are of no consequence to them.''


    The other disciples that had passed the trial all noticed this as well, and couldn''t help but frown or be angry. The way they were being treated currently was as if the sect was saying they didn''t care one way or the other about the new members of the sect.


    After his brief inspection of the situation, John sighed slightly and shook his head at the situation.


    ''I suppose it can''t be helped though. Almost all branch sect disciples be administrative aids for the sect. I''m sure it''s incredibly rare for a branch disciple to make a name for themselves in this sect whenpared to the geniuses who grew up here all their lives.''


    John shook his head one more time before his gaze shifted over towards his master. Her smile entered his vision, and she gave him a small nod of approval as he had clearly kept his end of the deal.


    His gaze shifted over slightly, and spotted Branch Leader Whisperwind staring at John''s feet, her face bing more and more red by the moment. Clearly she was about to burst from anger.


    "This is for you," John said to Whisperwind as he suddenly kicked his foot outwards,unching the youth resting at his feet towards Whisperwind.


    Aaron, who was still barely conscious, flew through the air at great speeds towards Whisperwind, which raced forward to catch him. She caught him in her arms and inspected him briefly, before her angered gaze locked onto John.


    "What is the meaning of this, boy?" Whisperwind barked out angrily at John as she was barely able to contain his anger.


    "The meaning? Isn''t it clear?" John replied calmly. "You owe my master quite a bit of money now, don''t you?"

 Chapter 454 - The Grand Elder

    John''s reply caused everyone watching, from the disciples to the branch sect leaders, to suck in a breath of cold air. Only Lilian, as well as the other Yuan Continent disciples remained calm and evenughed lightly, as they were familiar with John''s overbearing and brash persona.


    Whisperwind, who was already fuming from seeing her star disciple beaten into near unconsciousness, became even more angry as her face turned a darker shade of red. Her power began to re as she was unable to control her emotions, before a light cough sounded out.


    Whisperwind nced over to the source of the cough, and her power instantly faded as she bowed her head slightly.


    "Sorry, Grand Elder. I lost my calm for a moment," Whisperwind said, as the one who had just coughed was supposedly the Grand Elder.


    ''Grand Elder? I wonder what type of rank that carries?" John mused as he stared at the man who had just interrupted Whisperwind. Clearly he was not happy with her antics, as she was showing callous disregard for the Heavenly Lightning Sect by ring her power before the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    The Grand Elder appeared to be a middle-aged man, who had a clean-shaven face and bald head. He appeared almost like a monk, and his calm expression only further added to that appearance. Unlike other sect members who wore robes of blue and white, the Grand Elder wore a golden robe, making him look quite grand. Standing behind the Grand Elder were six other Elder''s, who wore the usual white and blue colored robes of the sect.


    John couldn''t tell what his cultivation was exactly, but he could vaguely tell that the man was around Thunderzen''s level in strength.


    ''He''s most likely also in the World Expansion Realm!''


    While John couldn''t say who was stronger, the man being around Thunderzen''s level of power was a testament to his might.


    "Make sure it doesn''t happen again," the Grand Elder replied calmly, before his gaze shifted to the group of recently arrived branch disciples.


    His gaze rested on John for a moment, and John could feel the Grand Elder''s piercing gaze attempting to see through him, before it shifted to the other disciples. His gaze paused on a few other disciples as well that he found interesting, before he turned to the look at the branch sect leaders.


    "It appears you''ve brought us some incredibly promising youths this year," the Grand Elder said to the group before gazing at Lilian directly. "Especially you. You and Thunderzen have far exceeded our expectations."


    "Thank you for your praise, Grand Elder," Lilian said as she nodded her head slightly towards the Grand Elder as a sign of respect.


    The Grand Elder''s gaze shifted back towards the group of disciples, and his hand outstretched towards the group.


    John, as well as the rest of the disciples, suddenly felt themselves wrapped up in the Grand Elder''s power, and their bodies began to levitate a small distance off the ground. Startled cries echoed out from several disciples as they found themselves floating in a certain direction, unsure of what was going on.


    John remained calm as he felt this power move him about, and before long, he found himself moved just several yards away from the Grand Elder himself. His head turned to look behind him, and he found a long line of all the disciples formed behind him.


    The line was thousands of disciples long, and stretched almost to the other side of the courtyard. All the branch sect leaders other than Lilian opened their eyes wide at what they saw.


    Directly behind John were the three strongest youths from the other branch sects, followed by Chase, Adam, Iris, and then a mix of disciples from all the branch sects. However, what shocked the branch sect leaders the most was that the Yuan Continent sect, the weakest branch every year, made up over seventy percent of the top one hundred disciples.


    John smiled as he saw the line behind him, as he could immediately tell it was a ranking of the amount of badges they had. He had given both Chase and Adam quite a few badges to ensure a high ranking for them, as well as gave Iris some of her badges back, as she had supposedly sworn loyalty to him from here on out.


    "What is the meaning of this?" Whisperwind couldn''t help but exim as she saw the rankings. She was already incredibly upset, and wanted to vent her frustrations. "The Yuan Continent is always the weakest by far. Clearly they cheated somehow."


    As soon as Whisperwind said these words, the other branch sect leaders all winced slightly at the stupidity of her words. Whisperwind''s expression quickly turned from anger to realization at what she had just said, but it was toote to take it back.


    The Grand Elder calmly gazed at Whisperwind, although there was a piercing menace behind eyes. "To dare im a test administered by us Elders would allow cheating," the Grand Elder said to Whisperwind. "Either you think us Elders are corrupt, or inept. Either way, your words have gone too far this time Branch Sect Leader Whisperwind, or should I say, Whisperwind."


    The Grand Elder''s words were incredibly clear, as he had taken the "Branch Sect Leader" off her title. Clearly he was stripping her of the title of Branch Sect Leader.


    "Grand Elder," Whisperwind called out. "I lost myself for a moment. Please forgive me."


    "I''ll hear no more of this," the Grand Elder cut her off. "Return to your branch sect and inform Branch Vice-Sect Leader Lighthand of his promotion to Branch Sect Leader," the Grand Elder instructed Whisperwind.


    Whisperwind''s face nched, but she knew arguing would only worsen her situation. After a moment of hesitation, Whisperwind bowed her head towards the Grand Elder.


    "I will do as you say," Whisperwind replied before leaving without another word.


    Watching all this from the front of the line, John raised an eyebrow in slight surprise.


    ''This sect is far more no-nonsense than the Yuan Continent branch. I wonder if I''ll be able to get away with as much as I did under Thunderzen''s leadership."


    The Grand Elder watched Whisperwind fly away for a moment, before his calm gaze once again focused on the line of disciples before him.


    "Congrattions on sessfully entering our Heavenly Lightning Sect. The line you find yourself standing in is based on your performance in the trial.. I will now inform you of what your cements mean regarding your entrance to this sect."

 Chapter 455 - Entrance Exam Placements

    The disciples all held their breath upon hearing the Grand Elder''s words, as their cements would most likely determine the future course of the lives. Those who were ced high up would be able to get the most cultivation resources, further separating themselves from those beneath them.


    Such was the way the cultivation world worked, and each disciple knew they had to strive for the top, lest they be left behind.


    "The cements of this exam are as such. The bottom seventy five percent are to be pseudo-outer disciples, while the next twenty percent are to be outer disciples," the Grand Elder stated without a nk expression.


    His words caused shock to fill many of the disciples, including John, who was surprised to see that most of the disciples couldn''t even be true disciples of the sect. They would be pseudo disciples, which meant they would still have to prove themselves worthy in the future in order to be promoted to true outer disciples.


    These disciples were all Inner and Core disciples from the branch sect, but here they were considered next to nothing. A sobering reality washed over those at the bottom of the list, as their hopes and aspirations of soaring though the sect came to a screeching halt.


    Without waiting for anyone toe to terms with the news, the Grand Elder continued talking.


    "The remainder except the number one cement will be Inner Disciples," the Grand Elder revealed.


    John nced behind him, at the roughly five percent of disciples that were to be inner disciples. The count was just over one hundred disciples, and included Adam, Chase, and Iris. The most talented youths of the branch sects, the ones that stood supreme in their Core and Direct Disciple positions, were no more than rank and file Inner Sect disciples in the main sect.


    "Lastly, the first ce winner," the Grand Elder said as his eyes fell onto John and paused for a moment. John felt as if he were being seen right through from a single nce from the Grand Elder, which made him feel as though his truths were exposed.


    John noticed a slight change appear in the Grand Elder''s eyes as he stared at him, which faded away after a brief moment.


    "Interesting¡­" the Grand Elder mused. "Normally you would be a Core Disciple, but I can tell there is so much more to you than meets the eye."


    The Grand Elder''s words shocked everyone in the area who knew him, as words of praise were incredibly rare from him. Even those walking by in the background, hardly paying attention to the event, stopped for a moment to nce at John, who had been praised as unique by the Grand Elder.


    John raised an eyebrow at the Grand Elder''s words, as it appeared he could tell that he was special, but not what exactly that specialness stemmed from.


    ''Even if he can''t identify what is unique about me, just identifying that there are secrets on me from a single nce is quite terrifying. Just how strong is he?'' John couldn''t help but muse as he stared back at the Grand Elder.


    The Grand Elder mused over the matter for a moment before addressing him once more.


    "In this case, I will make an exception. You will be given a chance to prove your worthiness to be a Direct Disciple of the sect," the Grand Elder said.


    The eyes of the disciples, branch sect leaders, and the others gathered in the area opened wide in shock at the Grand Elders words. Such an exception had never been made before, and anyone who knew the Grand Elder would never imagine he would make such an exception.


    However, they knew what his special innate ability was, and trusted his judgement when it came to things such as assessing talent. Their gazes fell onto John afterwards, incredibly curious as to what was so special about him to allow him to get such an offer.


    Even John raised his eyebrows in surprise at the Grand Elder''s words, and bowed his head slightly towards the Elder in a sign of respect.


    "Thank you, Grand Elder, for this wonderful opportunity," John replied respectfully. "However, I''m afraid I must decline this offer. Please ept my apologies."


    "What?" Startled cries erupted amongst both the disciples and the ground gathered to watch the event, as they had never expected John to decline such an offer.


    "John, what the hell do you mean no?" Adam yelled up from behind John, before his gaze shifted towards the Grand Elder. "If he doesn''t want it, then I''ll take it instead."


    "Silence," the Grand Elder calmly stated while waving his hand towards Adam.


    Adam felt a powerful energy wrap around his mouth, making it so that he was unable to speak anymore. The Grand Elders'' calm gaze fell onto John once more.


    "May I ask why?" the Grand Elder replied to John, as even he was slightly surprised by John''s response.


    "Sure, it''s because I already have a master," John said as he pointed to Lilian who stood a short distance away. "If I became a Direct Disciple, I would have to take a new master, right? In that case, I must humbly refuse."


    Although the start of his master/disciple rtionship with Lilian had been brutal and rough, he now truly considered her as his master. She had aided him wholeheartedly with his family endeavors, ensured his safety in the Bloodfiend Sect, and did so much more for him.


    As such, he felt it wrong to ept anyone else as his master.


    The Grand Elder stared at John for a moment, before an approving smile appeared on his normally stoic face.


    "A fine attitude indeed."


    His gaze shifted towards Lilian, who was also surprised by John''s actions. She had expected him to cut ties at the first moment.


    "You have a fine disciple under your tutge," the Grand Elder said to Lilian.


    "Thank you Grand Elder," Lilian replied respectfully.


    "If he refuses to part from your tutge, then why don''t you be an Elder of this sect then? You have the cultivation required, as well as the talent," The Grand Elder said to her, causing the eyes of all to once again open wide.


    Lilian remained silent for a moment, before she too shook her head sideways in respectful refusal.


    "I must decline," Lilian replied, as she was still the Vice-Sect Leader of the Yuan Continent.


    "You can keep your Vice-Sect Leadership while being an Elder of this Sect," the Grand Elder replied.


    Lilian paused her prepared voice of refusal, as that was truly her biggest choice for not bing an Elder of the main Heavenly Lightning Sect. However, she was still on the fence, and the Grand Elder could tell she was.


    "Also, you will be rewarded with money and cultivation resources upon bing an Elder. Far more than you can imagine, and your rewards will also improve based on the performance of your disciple," the Grand Elder continued.


    His words cut right to the chase, as if he could see what truly motivated Lilian.


    ''Wow, his vision truly is great, as he found my master''s biggest weakness right away¡­money.''


    Lilian''s gaze turned heated upon hearing this, and she replied without hesitation.


    "Then I''m afraid I am unable to refuse your great offer, Grand Elder. I ept."


    "Good," the Grand Elder smiled upon hearing this, as Lilian truly was a rare talent that the sect would benefit having as an Elder, let alone her disciple as well.


    The Grand Elders gaze shifted back to John, who addressed John once more.


    "Then the matter of your concern has been solved. Should you prove your worthiness, you can be a Direct Disciple of your current master, while enjoying the resources the other Direct Disciples enjoy. What do you say?"


    John was surprised to see someone as lofty and powerful as the Grand Elder make so many concessions for him, but he figured there was a reason for the Grand Elders actions. It was most likely that the Grand Elder saw some glimpse of his true talent or had been watching the entrance exam and saw his frighteningbat prowess. Regardless of the reason, John no longer had a reason to refuse.


    "In that case, I no longer have a reason to refuse.. I ept."

 Chapter 456 - Innate Eye Talents

    Envious gazes stared at John from the disciples behind him, while surprised gazes stared at him from the small crowd that had gathered. It was the first time something like this had happened, and they knew something special was going on if the Grand Elder had decided to make such an exception.


    He was a strict man who followed thews of the sect closely, but for some reason he had decided to make an exception this time.


    "Good," the Grand Elder replied, his face still calm as if he had expected John to ept eventually. "In that case, I will proceed with the rest of the entrance ceremony."


    His gaze shifted upwards to look at the line of disciples behind John.


    "Those who were identified as pseudo-disciples, you will follow Elder Illio," the Grand Elder stated as an Elder stepped forward from behind him to identify himself.


    Without pause, the Grand Elder continued the instructions, assigning each group an Elder to follow, most likely to get them acquainted with the sect, as well as set up with housing. As the ceremony, if it could be called that, came to an end, the small crowd that had gathered began to disperse.


    John stood there patiently as he watched all the groups leave, as well as Lilian, who seemed to follow another Elder to a different part of the sect. The group of Inner Disciples, which consisted of Adam, Chase, Iris and more started leaving as well behind another Elder, leaving only John and the Grand Elder behind.


    "Girl, you stay here," the Grand Elder suddenly said, catching the attention of the group.


    Iris looked in both directions, seeing if the Elder was speaking to anyone else, before she pointed to herself for confirmation.


    "Me?" Iris asked, and the Grand Elder nodded his head in confirmation.


    Iris walked over to John and the Grand Elder, while the rest of the newly designated Inner Disciples followed the Elder away from the courtyard.


    Iris stood next to John as they both stared at the Grand Elder, curious as to why he had Iris stay behind. The Grand Elder stared intently at Iris for a short moment, before his eyes seemed to subtly change and his gaze became more profound.


    A surprised look appeared on Iris''s face, as her eyes suddenly seemed to change slightly as well. The two of them stared at each other for a short while, while John stood there in silence, wondering what the hell was going on.


    "You''re...you''re like me!" Iris suddenly said to the Grand Elder, who nodded his head in confirmation while a rare smile appeared on his face.


    "Indeed," the Grand Elder replied. "We are both blessed with innate eye abilities¡­however, I cannot discern what type of eyes you have, only that they are even more profound than mine."


    A contemtive look appeared on the Grand Elder''s face before he once again gazed at Iris.


    "It''s been hundreds of years since Ist ran into someone with such profound innate eye talents. How would you like to be a disciple under my tutge? You wont have the status of a Direct Disciple just yet, as your strength is not quite there yet, but your rewards will be far greater than that of an Inner Disciple"


    The Grand Elders words shocked both Iris and John, who had never expected him to extend another great opportunity.


    "I ept!" Iris replied without any hesitation. An offer to learn under the Grand Elder was an opportunity all could only dream of, and Iris did not have any reservations for such an arrangement.


    "Congrattions, Iris," John said to Iris. Although he had not known her for long, she had pledged her loyalty to John, and he saw no reason to doubt her based on the visions she had shown him. As such, he felt it only right to congratte her at this moment.


    "Good," the Grand Elder said as his smile lingered on his face. "It appears as though we gained two magnificent treasures today. Both of you, follow me."


    Without missing a beat, the Grand Elder turned on his heels and began walking through the courtyard of the sect at a leisurely pace, as if nothing could worry him. John and Iris both found it strange that someone so powerful would move so slowly, but they both kept their opinions to themselves as they followed the Grand Elder through the sect.


    Their path took them through many different parts of the sect, which was quite simr to theyout of the Heavenly Lightning Sect on the Yuan Continent. The Sect contained the typical business districts, tradehall districts, housing districts, and more. However, the main differences between the two was that these sections were much more profound in quality, size and craftsmanship, and the cultivators roaming throughout were also much more powerful.


    In the Yuan Continent, it was quite rare to see Heaven Tribtion Elders, and even more rare to see Dao Transformation Elders. However, just from his single trip, John had seen thousands of Heaven Tribtion cultivations, and many Dao Transformation experts as well.


    The wide streets were buzzing with activity, as sect members and distant travelers walked about, while others rode on powerful beasts, some which John had never seen before. Dozens of crystal blue streams meandered throughout the sect, while ornate bridges climbed over them. Every inch of the sect was thriving with activity, which made it feel incredibly vibrant and alive.


    As they walked, the sect members would all stop and give the Grand Elder a slight head bow of respect, as his status was incredibly lofty within the sect. Afterwards, their curious gazes would shift to John and Iris, who were clearly being escorted by the Grand Elder. For them to receive such a privilege, they must be quite special.


    John and Iris followed behind the Elder for nearly an hour as they slowly meandered through the sect, their curious gazes drifting in all directions as they took in all the sights. Eventually, they arrived at arge gate, from which tall walls spread out in both directions.


    A powerful formation seemed to cover everything beyond the wall, and the Grand Elder pressed his hand against a certain part of the gate, which caused it to part slowly. As the gates began to part, the Grand Elder nced sideways at John.


    "Your Direct Disciple trial lies just beyond these gates. All must take this trial to be a Direct Disciple. However, if you fail, your life may be at risk. Do you still ept it?" The Grand Elder asked.


    "Of course," John replied without hesitation.


    The gates slowly parted, and what existed within the walled area came into John''s view. His eyes widened slightly at the sight, and he couldn''t help but exim out loud at what he saw.


    "Thats¡­thats it?"

 Chapter 457 - Divine Talent Steps

    "That''s it?" John asked, as he stared at what was contained in the walled off section.


    The walled off section was two hundred yards in diameter, and the top of it was covered by an incredibly powerful formation. The floor of the walled off section was made of hard bricks, and the only thing that existed in this area was a circr staircase. To the side of the staircase was arge ck tablet, with words etched into its surface.


    The staircase, which was pitch ck, was roughly fifty yards across, and waspletely round. Each step circled around the entire staircase, which gradually tapered off towards the top. It looked almost like a small hill, and John couldn''t see anything else within the area that would serve as a trial.


    "Do not underestimate this trial," the Grand Elder replied to John''s question. "These stairs before you are far more profound than you could imagine."


    John gazed at the Grand Elder for a brief moment before looking back at the staircase before him.


    "Is that so?" John replied, half unconvinced. "What''s so profound about it then?"


    He could feel a unique auraing from the staircase, but was too far away to tell just how unique it was. As such, it was rather unimpressive from his current perspective.


    "Indeed, it is so," the Grand Elder replied. "In fact, this staircase you see before you is imbued with an incredible formation made by an ancient formation master, and can count as one of the most profound formations in this world."


    "Seriously?" Both John and Iris couldn''t help but ask, slightly doubting the Grand Elder''s words.


    The Grand Elder paused for a moment as he stared at the stairs before them, before he started exining the truth behind them once more.


    "These stairs are a talent testing formation, one that was created in the ancient era before the cmity," the Grand Elder exined. "While it is not the most profound of formations when ites tobat prowess, it is part of the most profound talent testing formation to exist in this world."


    "Is that so?" John once again mumbled as he looked at the staircase, before his interest in the Grand Elder''s words suddenly piqued up.


    "The cmity? What''s that?" John couldn''t help but ask. He had heard remnants of rumors regarding some sort of ancient cmity, but wanted to see if the Grand Elder knew more about it.


    The Grand Elder remained silent for a moment, as if thinking about how to word his answer.


    "The cmity was an¡­invasion in the past, by foreign entities many hundreds of thousands of years ago,," the Grand Elder began to exin. "When this world was at its very peak of existence, a foreign¡­race¡­invaded this world."


    "Foreign race?" John asked for more rification.


    "We do not know much about what happened in the past, as most of the world, its history, and legacy, was shattered in the cmity. We can only piece together bits and pieces of what had happened back then. But our best guess is that a foreign race of immensely powerful beings invaded this world, nearly destroying it. Only through thebined might of all the most powerful cultivators, as well as the ruler of the world at the time, did they just barely manage to fight off the invasion.


    However, the damage from that war broke this world, and sent it back into a dark age. Only now are we barely wing our way out of that dark age, with hopes of eventually reaching the level of power this world once knew."


    The Grand Elder fell into silence after exining the cmity to John and Iris. John fell into a deep silence as he thought over everything. His thoughts shifted to the ancient city, the ancient battlefield outside its walls, as well as the bizarre creature and massive blood red hand.


    ''I wonder if all of that is rted to the cmity,'' John mused internally. ''It seems like theres a good chance it is.''


    "This formation before you is one of the lingering remnants of that time," the Grand Elder suddenly stated, bringing John out of his deep thoughts.


    "If it''s so valuable, why have other sects and powers not tried to steal it?" Iris asked.


    "That''s because it''s not the only one in existence," the Grand Elder turned to Iris and replied.


    "Not the only one? You mean there are other formations just like this out there?" she asked.


    "Yes, the Grand Elder replied. "There are nine formation tforms just like this out in the world, and each formation tform is linked to the others. The other tforms are controlled by the other powers of the Divine Martial Continent."


    "Other powers? What are the other powers, if you don''t mind me asking," John couldn''t help but ask. His knowledge of the Divine Martial Continent was very limited and he wanted to know more about it.


    "I do not mind at all," the Grand Elder replied while smiling slightly. His attitude was incredibly amiable, like a passive monk who never angered.


    ''I like this Grand Elder already. He has none of the usual haughtiness that those high in status and power usually have. He reminds me a lot of Thunderzen.''


    "There are many different powers on the Divine Martial Continent, but only those strong enough to stand at the top have one of the nine Divine Talent Steps. Those powers are the Honorable Alliance, the Forbidden Alliance, the Beast Race, the Faerie Race, the Monster Race, the Giant Race, the Barbarian Race. Of thest two, one belongs to us, even though we are part of the Honorable Alliance, giving our Honorable Alliance two Divine Talent Formations. As for thest one, it is unounted for, and we do not know which power holds it."


    The Grand Elder fell silent after exining that all, giving John time to digest this information.


    ''Beast race? Barbarian race? Faerie race? Monster Race? Giant Race? This continent is incredible. The Yuan Continent only had humans, but the Divine Martial Continent contains so many other races!''


    John felt his blood heat up as he thought of this, as there was still so much of this world he had yet to explore.


    ''I''m sure there are incredibly powerful fighters from those races. I can''t wait to fight them all!''

 Chapter 458 - Talent Tablet

    John felt his blood boil with excitement, as the thought of fighting against all the other races nearly sent him over the edge.


    ''I can''t wait to fight against a giant barehanded. How fun will that be?''


    After thinking about such things for a moment, he breathed out a deep breath as he calmed himself to focus on the task ahead of him. Fights against other races woulde in the future, but his current goal was the talent testing steps before him.


    "So, the different powers use these talent testing steps to test their youths?" Iris asked the Grand Elder.


    "Indeed. Each power tests their most promising youths each year, and many use their cements to determine the amount of support they will give them. We ourselves weigh this test quite heavily, as it has identified our most heavenly of talents in the past," the Grand Elder exined.


    His gaze shifted to the side of the tform, which was where therge tablet rested. It was made of pitch-ck stone and had a soft metallic sheen to its exterior. He began walking over to the tablet and was quickly followed behind by John and Iris.


    They arrived there shortly after, and both John and Iris gazed intently at the tablet as they started to read over it. The tablet seemed to be broken down into ten different sections, each section several feet wide and tall. The bottom nine sections were arranged in a three-by-three grid, while the tenth section spread across from one side to the other at the very top of the tablet.


    The sections were divided by straight lines that were carved into the tablet''s surface, and each section was filled with words that Iris and John quickly read.


    "These are names," Iris stated. "And there''s a number next to each name¡­in ascending order."


    "Indeed," the Grand Elder replied. "This stone tablet is broken into ten sections. The bottom nine sections you see belong to the nine different talent testing steps scattered across this continent. The number next to their name represents how many steps they ascended, and each talent testing step has a recording tablet just like this one. Each year the names recorded on this list are erased and reced with the next year''s participants," the Grand Elder exined.


    "There is no testing age limit to this tablet, as it tests talent and not power, but almost all those who are on this list are twenty years of age or younger. Those who are older have already taken the test and see no reason to take it again as the result would not change," the Grand Elder continued.


    Both John and Iris stared at the tablet and continued reading the names. However, they did not recognize any of them, and many of the names from several of the tablets were quite strange, most likely belonging to those of the other races.


    "Does this mean these tablets update themselves, and are linked together?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    "Correct," the Grand Elder replied. "This is one of the reasons why these talent testing steps are so sought after. Not only do they identify which youths have the greatest talent, but it also reveals to the world just how talented they are. Many youths strive to have their names etched into these tablets as proof of their heavenly talent."


    John nced at the Grand Elder as he revealed this, before quickly gazing back at the tablet.


    "Why are some of the names on here so¡­unique," Iris couldn''t help but ask. Some of the names were not normal names, but instead were closer to cultivation names.


    "That''s because many of these youths keep their identity to themselves, either due to their race''s policies, or for their own safety. Some of the races, such as the Faeries, prefer to avoid conflict, and having your name on here will only draw conflict from other geniuses looking to make a name for themselves. There are many reasons for it, but that''s just one example. As such, they use aliases to keep their identities confidential," the Grand Elder replied.


    "I guess that makes sense," Iris replied. "It would be quite annoying to have to fend off other youths non-stop just because they want to make a name for themselves."


    While Iris and the Grand Elder were talking, John was looking at the names on the ck tablet. He started mumbling the names, as well as the numbers next to them.


    "Rijer Pridn, thirteen. Zulos Stonefist, fourteen. Vargoth agul, thirteen. Luth Chaster, fourteen¡­quite unique names indeed."


    There were ten names for each of the bottom nine sections, for a total of ny names. The number of steps ascended by each name was between eleven and fourteen steps, except for two names.


    "Amber Bloodrose, fifteen, and Asuros¡­sixteen. Who are these two youths?" John couldn''t help but ask. Both of them were separated from the rest of their peers.


    "Ah, those two," the Grand Elder replied with a slightly heavy voice, as if something was of concern.


    "The first, Amber Bloodrose, is from the Forbidden Alliance," the Grand Elder exined. John raised his eyebrow upon hearing the Forbidden Alliance, as he had quite the history with them, but remained silent as he continued to listen to the Grand Elder.


    "She is their most talented youth to appear in the past thousand years, and her talent is incredibly frightening. She is currently eighteen years old, and has never been beaten inbat ording to the rumors surrounding her."


    "Until she runs into me," John couldn''t help but blurt out loud.


    "Do not underestimate her," the Grand Elder scolded slightly. "You might have confidence in your power, but that girl is beyond terrifying. Her killing arts are unparalleled, and most who face her die without even knowing how they died. Of all the talents to rise over thest hundreds of years, she is one of the most fearsome. You would be wise to run away if you ever run into her."


    John remained silent, as he knew the Grand Elder was only saying this to help him but was still unconvinced. He had never run into someone who could contest against him evenly, and with his cultivation advantages, doubted such a thing would ever ur.


    "What about Asuros?" Iris asked with much curiosity. If Amber was so amazing, surely Asuros was as well.


    "That¡­we do not know," the Grand Elder replied.


    "You don''t know?" John asked, before realizing the likely reason. "Is he listed on the unounted-for testing formation?"


    "Indeed," the Grand Elder replied. "We do not know who owns thest tablet, but they do test talents every year. Their youths have been growing more and more powerful each year, and this year they have seemingly produced their finest talent yet. However, no one knows who this talent is, or where they are located. As of right now, they are aplete mystery to this world."


    John frowned upon hearing this, as he would have liked to hear more about Asuros, but dropped any questions as he knew he would find no answers. His gaze shifted to the top of the tablet, where thest section was. On it were ten names, eachrger than the names in nine sections below.


    He had noticed these names first, but decided to ask about themst. However, they werepletely shocking, as their scores were unparalleled. The lowest of the names were at seventeen, with five of them at that rank. There were four at eighteen, and a singr one with neen.


    The Grand Elder noticed John''s gaze, and a small smile appeared on his face, as he knew they would be asking about them.


    "The names on the top section of this tablet have been here since before the cmity," the Grand Elder exined. "They are the heroes from the ancient past, whose talent far surpassed the standards of today.. Unlike the names of the nine sections below, these names do not reset, but instead disy the top ten talents this world has ever seen for all time."

 Chapter 459 - The First Steps

    John''s gaze turned heated as he heard the Grand Elder reveal this, as he was looking at the names of the most talented cultivators to ever walk the world.


    "These names belonged to cultivators that inspired fear and awe back in the ancient times. Only the ninth ce spot belongs to someone of our timeline, the Astral Emperor," the Grand Elder exined.


    "Astral Emperor? Does he still live?" Iris asked, a tinge of excitement in her voice as she enjoyed learning about the world she lived in.


    "Indeed he does. He''s the Emperor of the Astral Empire, who is one of the strongest powers in this world," the Grand Elder replied.


    "How strong is the Astral Empirepared to our Heavenly Lightning Sect?" Iris asked, enthusiasm again present in her voice.


    "With the Astral Emperor at their helm, the Astral Empire is definitely stronger than our Heavenly Lightning Sect," the Grand Elder replied without hiding anything. "However, we too have powers we can rely on, such as the Lightning Dragon."


    Iris''s eyes lit up upon hearing about the lightning dragon. Unlike John, her sect was closer to the Divine Martial Continent, and the route much less dangerous. As such, they did not require the dragon''s escort across the ocean, and so Iris had never seen the dragon before.


    "How strong is the Dragon?" Iris asked, firing off question after question.


    "Strong enough to ensure our safety," the Grand Elder replied, not giving much detail regarding the dragon.


    Iris opened her mouth to ask another question, but John spoke up before she could. His gaze lingered at the very top of the tablet as he spoke to the Grand Elder.


    "Grand Elder, who was the Jade Dragon-God Emperor?" John asked as he stared at the number one name on the list, who had a score of neen steps.


    "Ah, him," the Grand Elder replied as he stared at the name at the top of the list. "He was from before cmity, and the myths surrounding him are many. He was the Emperor of the Jade Dragon Empire and was supposedly the most powerful cultivator in this world at the time of the cmity. He yed an enormous part in repelling the invading force and was one of the reasons this world still yet exists. However, details about him afterward the cmity are scarce, and so no one knows what happened to him after those times," the Grand Elder exined.


    John stared at the name for some time, thinking about what type of man the Jade Dragon-God Emperor was. Silence filled the area for a short while, before John turned to the Grand Elder with a confident and resolved look on his face.


    "Grand Elder, what about the twentieth step? Has no one ever reached it?" John asked, although he already knew the answer based on the names and scores.


    "None have ever set foot on it, at least not while taking the test the way it is intended," the Grand Elder replied. "There is a rumor of some sort of reward for the one who reaches the twentieth step, but obviously such a rumor has never been confirmed."


    The Grand Elder''s response was mostly what John had been expecting.


    "Grand Elder, what score do I need to be a Direct Disciple?" John asked.


    "Eight steps," the Grand Elder replied without hesitation.


    "And which section on this tablet belongs to our sect?" John asked.


    "The bottom right," the Grand Elder replied.


    John nced at the bottom right section and read over the names and scores, which ranged from ten to twelve.


    "Only twelve? Our Heavenly Lightning Sect appears to have the lowest score out of all the top talents," John replied.


    "That it does," the Grand Elder replied, not upset at John speaking the truth. The other tablets belonged to entire races or alliances, while the Heavenly Lightning Sect tablet was merely one sect. It wasmon for them to have the lowest scores out of all the sections. However, merely having one of the tablets for their use was an honor, and so they put up with such things as an afterthought.


    "What would happen if I were to score at the top of our sect, or even the top of all the powers?" John asked.


    "Then our Heavenly Lightning Sect would support you with all our resources, naturally," the Grand Elder replied.


    John nodded his head at the Grand Elder''s words, before he quickly nced at the top section which contained the names of the world''s greatest cultivators through all time.


    "And what would happen if I were to ce amongst the names at the top?" John asked.


    Iris''s face lit up in slight surprise upon hearing John''s question, while the Grand Elder raised an eyebrow as well. They were surprised to hear John consider such a thing a possibility, although neither truly believed he was capable of it.


    The Grand Elder remained silent for a moment, not knowing whether to actually entertain John''s question or not, but decided to do so after a short period.


    "Then we would throw the entire weight of the sect behind you, and support you without question," the Grand Elder replied.


    "Good," John replied. "Then I''ll keep you to those words."


    Without any dy, John turned and walked towards the talent testing steps, leaving the stunned Iris and Grand Elder behind.


    "He''s¡­he''s not serious, is he?" Iris asked the Grand Elder.


    The Grand Elder remained silent for a moment before shaking his head with uncertainty. "Who can truly tell what others are thinking. Only time will reveal to us if his words carry any weight, or if he simply overestimates himself."


    With his unique eye talents, the Grand Elder could tell that John was a special talent. However, even he couldn''t see through all John''s truths, and so was uncertain of just how talented John was.


    John arrived before the talent testing steps and stood just one step away. He felt an incredibly profound energy emanate from the steps, which only grew stronger as he got closer to it.


    ''I''m not even on the steps yet, and I can tell this formation is incredible. It reminds me of the steps trial in the ancient city, only far more profound.''


    Without wasting any more time, John calmed his mind and stepped out.


    Bang!


    His right foot mmed onto the first step, shaking the area around the formation from the might of his step. John raised an eyebrow in surprise, as he had not expected the first step to be so¡­violent. He felt an absolutely incredible amount of energy wrap his leg and force it down violently. A weaker cultivator would have had their leg shattered, unable to resist even slightly against the formation.


    ''No wonder only the most talented of youths are able to take this test. Youths who are Inner Disciples or below could seriously die taking this test.''


    Bang!


    He stepped forward once again, bringing his other leg onto the second step, and his entire body into the area of the formation. An incredible energy instantly washed over him, which surged through every inch of his body and over his dantian. However, it ignored his body dantian, and only focused on his essence dantian.


    ''So that''s how it is,'' John mused internally as he started to figure out how the test worked.


    ''This talent test sure is brutal. If it were someone with a dantian of fourpressions or less, I''m sure they would have had their dantian crushed instantly under this pressure.''


    The more a dantian had beenpressed, the harder it would be and the more energy it could store. This was a primary indicator of talent and was the main thing the talent steps were testing.


    Bang!


    John took another step forward as he stepped onto the third step. Upon doing so, he felt the pressure on his body and dantian increase again.


    Bang!


    His fourth step mmed down on the steps, shaking it from the force as he tested it. The level of pressure on his dantian, meridians, and body once again increased.


    He could feel an incredible energy squeeze down on his dantian as it tried to crush it, which he pressed back with his Qi to resist. The cultivators body constitution also made a difference, as only those with supreme body constitutions could move enough Qi through it to resist the pressure. Those with weak meridians or suboptimal meridian pathways would fail the test, as the amount of Qi used throughout the body to resist the pressure would be lessened.


    Not only that, but John could feel the pressure of the test seem to fight against his soul and perception, which he needed to quicklyprehend the nature of the energy and adjust to in order to resist it with maximum efficiency.


    The trial tested theprehensive talent of the cultivator, considering all aspects which affectedbat prowess talent. As such, if one was talented with cultivation and had optimal meridian pathways and perception talents, they could ovee their dantian weakness and ascend above their dantian limits. All the aspects that made up talent blended together to test the ultimatebat talent of the cultivators.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    His foot mmed onto the fifth and sixth step as he finally came to a halt and stayed there for several minutes as he felt the formation''s pressure wash over him.


    ''While the steps do test other factors, the main factors of these steps test dantianpressions, natural meridian talent, andprehension talent. Each step is a linear increase in pressure, starting from roughly four dantianpressions. Going from the first to the sixth step increased the pressure roughly threepressions worth. So, with this in mind, I''m currently at the limits of a seven dantianpression cultivator. So going forward¡­"


    John quickly did the simple math in his head, and a confident smile appeared on his face as he came to the truth of this test.


    "The twentieth step would be¡­fourteen dantianpressions....as long as the meridian pathways and naturalprehension talent keeps up¡­heh¡­"

 Chapter 460 - Successive Steps

    While John was ascending the talent testing steps, Iris and the Grand Elder were watching him intently, curious as to see just how far he could ascend.


    "It appears he''s reached his limit," Iris sighed as she looked at John on the trial. Both her and the Grand Elder had beenpletely shocked at his quick ascension rate to start, but lost confidence as John stood on the sixth step for several minutes without moving.


    The Grand Elder stared at John for a moment as well but remained silent as his eyes shifted slightly in color.


    "I''m not so sure about that," the Grand Elder replied, causing slight surprise to appear on Iris''s face. "He stopped, but doesn''t appear to be struggling as the others usually show when they reach their limit. He must be trying to be ustomed to the testing protocols. He''s quite levelheaded."


    "Is that so?" Iris replied while staring at John. Based on her visions she had seen, she had truly decided to follow John. However, she had no idea just how high his talent was, but was looking forward to seeing just how high the one she followed could go.


    On the talent testing steps, John continued to stand there for several minutes as he worked out the nature of the tests, before a small smile appeared on his face.


    ''All three steps focus on the three things I identified, but each step focuses on one of those aspects a bit more than the others. The tests that focus on the dantianpressions and meridian quality will be quite a breeze. The steps that emphasizeprehension talent will be a bit harder, but I have confidence in that as well. Afterall, even my master called me a monster when it came toprehension talents.''


    John''s gaze shifted from the step he was on to the next one.


    ''The first step focused primarily on dantianpressions, the second meridian, and the thirdprehensions, then the fourth dantianpressions again. With all that figured out, its time to climb.''


    Bang!


    John''s foot mmed onto the seventh step as heprehended the nature of the pressure, allowing him to press through it with ease. However, even if he didn''tprehend it, his dantianpressions and meridian pathways were so monstrous that he would have been able to brute force his way through regardless.


    "He took another step!" Iris eximed happily as John finally moved again. "I wonder how long it will take for him to take anothe-"


    Bang!


    Iris''s words were cut off by the sound of another loud step as John ascended to the eighth step immediately after the previous step. Iris''s face lit up in shock, and even the Grand Elder couldn''t help but be a bit shocked by what he had seen. The eight step was the threshold for bing a Direct Disciple, and even the most talented disciples in the sect would start to show signs of wear by now.


    Bang!


    Without missing another beat, John stepped onto the ninth step, once again shocking Iris and the Grand Elder. After three quick steps in session, John finally came to a brief halt as he arrived at theprehension focused step.


    ''Myprehension talent might be monstrous, but it''s still foolish to think it can match the talent of my dantian and body.''


    John stopped his quick session once again as he remained on the step for a short while. Both Iris and the Grand Elder couldn''t help but breathe out a small sigh, mostly recovering from their shock.


    The Grand Elder''s gaze locked onto John as his eyes seemed to change a bit. His gaze seemed to pierce through everything, which returned to normal after a while. The Grand Elder shook his head slightly at himself as he sighed once more.


    "Even with my eyes, I cannot tell what secrets this boy''s body holds, only that he is beyond special."


    "You too?" Iris said to the Grand Elder. "When I use my special eyes to look at him, its like its being shrouded, as if I''m staring through mist. When I do peer through that mist, it''s like I''m being given a false image. I''ve never had anything happen like this before. What do you see, Grand Elder?"


    "The same as you, child," the Grand Elder said with a small sigh. "I too have never seen anything like this in my thousands of years of existence. There is much more to this boy than meets the eye," the Grand Elder said as his head turned to look at Iris.


    "But for you to already see what I see, your eye talents truly are remarkable. I cannot tell what type of eyes you have yet, and I can tell you yearn for that answer as well. Together, we will discern the truth of your eyes."


    A smile broke out on Iris''s face as she heard this, as it truly was one of the things in her life that she had the greatest question about. She had always grown up knowing her eyes were special, but no one had ever been able to tell her what type of eyes she had.


    The Grand Elder was able to see through that matter instantly, which filled Iris with joy.


    "Thank you, Grand Elder," Iris replied with great sincerity.


    Bang!


    Breaking them out of their conversation, another loud bang sounded out as John''s foot mmed onto the tenth step.


    "I wonder how long he-"


    Bang!


    Bang!


    As he had just done prior, John took three steps in almost instant session once again, reaching the twelfth step almost immediately after leaving the ninth step.


    "Wha¡­.what''s going on, Grand Elder?" Iris couldn''t help but mumble out as she stared at John in shock.


    The twelfth tform was the highest step anyone in the Heavenly Lightning Sect had achieved this year, but John had reached it almost instantly after leaving the ninth step. However, as had happened before, he came to a halt once more.


    The Grand Elder, who was equally stunned despite his many years of watching such tests, remained silent for a short while before replying to Iris''s question.


    "These steps focus on many aspects of talent, but primarily focus on three main aspects. Dantian talent, meridian talent, andprehension talent. Each step leans more heavily into one of these aspects than the next, and alternate in the order I listed." the Grand Elder exined.


    "So that means.." Iris replied.


    "Yes. He is instantly shattering through the dantian talent and meridian talent tests without pause, while only briefly pausing on theprehension tests," the Grand Elder replied. "I can only say that based on what I have seen so far, hisprehension talents are monstrous, while his dantian and meridian talents are even more preposterous. I''ve never seen anything like it before."


    Iris''s gaze shifted from the Grand Elder to John as she stared at him in a daze.


    "It seems as if I truly chose correctly," she mumbled to herself.


    "However," the Grand Elder spoke up once more, snapping Iris out of her daze. "This twelfth step is quite the hurdle to ascend. None of our disciples in thest ten years have been able to surmount it, and even in the other powers, getting past this step ces them amongst their foremost geniuses. It testsprehension talent to a level that stumps almost all geniuses. I wonder if he will truly be able to-"


    Bang!

 Chapter 461 - Sect Leader

    After breaking through the ninth step, John immediately stepped onto the tenth, which tested his dantian talent. If his dantianpressions were too low, there was a threat of his dantian shattering unless he retreated. However, the pressure on his dantian was only great enough to threaten a ten dantianpression cultivator, which he eclipsed by two times.


    The pressure was almost negligible, and John immediately stepped forward onto the eleventh step, which tested meridian talents. Meridian talents tested not only the strength of the meridians themselves, but their natural pathways. Meridians were incrediblyplex and intricate, and each cultivator had a difference in meridians somehow.


    Some would have terminal meridians, which did not go all the way to where it needed to, resulting in a suboptimal Qi flow. Others would have thin meridians, which would only allow for a small amount of Qi flow whenpared to more talented cultivators.


    As he stepped on this step, another small smile appeared on John''s face.


    ''I was unsure of exactly how high my meridian talent was, as I''ve never tested it before. But this pressure on the eleventh step is almost negligible as well. My meridian pathways not only are incredibly strong, but the pathways seem to be the most optimal as well. I guess I can thank my true mother and father for blessing me with such a perfect body.''


    After thinking this, John stepped onto the twelfth step almost immediately after, shocking the Grand Elder and Iris who were watching. However, his steps came to a halt as he felt the formation pressure change, almost as if it became anothernguage he didn''t understand.


    He could brute force the previous steps, as they relied on body talent, but this step required more delicacy. John had toprehend the new, strange energy, and devise a way to pierce through it. Only by doing this could he truly advance to the next level.


    ''Based on the early steps, I thought this talent testing formation would only test dantianpressions, but I guess I was wrong. Oh well, time to see just how talented myprehensions truly are.''


    John closed his eyes and calmed his mind as he felt the strange energy wash over him. The energy was chaotic and jumbled, which John could not make sense of at the moment. His soul and divine sense red out as he studied the pressure and did his best toprehend it.


    Using the principles he had devised when learning the three profound Daos of Power, Annihtion, and Destruction during the Divine Talent Trial, John slowly but surely identified the main principles of the energy washing over him, and how to counteract those principles. However,


    After standing there for a short while, his eyes snapped open as his smile returned to his face. The chaotic and jumbled energy, which prevented him from moving forward just a minute ago, seemed to part before him as he countered it with his own energy, allowing him to advance freely.


    Bang!


    His foot mmed onto the thirteenth step, quickly followed up by his entire body. The Grand Elder, who had just been interrupted by John''s actions once again, decided that watching in silence was the best thing going forward.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    John once again surged forward without any pause on the next two steps, which was the same that had happened in the previous dantian talent and meridian talent steps. Iris, who was already stunned speechless from John''s actions, could only stare at John with awe.


    Meanwhile, the Grand Elder''s expression turned from one of surprise to one of seriousness as he watched John ascend the talent testing steps. He had brought John to these steps originally as he had witnessed hisbat prowess in the entrance exam, and figured he would be able to reach eight steps.


    However, John''s actions had shattered those expectations, and was now already far beyond any other talent within the sect as far as the step count was concerned. A small sound transmission disk appeared in his hand for a moment as the Grand Elder sent a message, before he put it away to once again focus on John.


    ¡­


    In arge chamber, a lone figure sat on a golden throne, glowing radiantly. Several documents were in his hand as he perused through them, before his attention shifted and a small transmission disk appeared in his hand.


    "What is it, Grand Elder?" the man asked, his voice deep andmanding.


    "Sect Leader Thunderfist, I would suggest you ce your attention on the talent testing steps," the Grand Elder replied respectfully.


    "Hmm?" the man hummed, before his gaze shifted to the side as he stared at one of the walls of his chamber. However, his gaze seemed to pierce through rock and earth as it focused on a spot several miles away.


    The man''s gaze locked onto the Talent Testing Steps, at which point his eyes widened slightly before returning to normal once again.


    "The fifteenth step? Has the one my brother sought out to find finally arrived?" the man replied.


    "It appears as though that may be the case," the Grand Elder replied. "Which means your brother should be returning to the sect shortly as well, as his self-appointed mission seems to have beenpleted."


    The gaze of the man on the throne hardened for a moment as his fists clenched tightly around the documents he was holding, ruining them.


    "Then we''ll have to see if he still has the strength to reim his position," the man replied, his voice slightly cold. "In the meantime, keep monitoring this boy on the steps, and make sure no one disturbs him."


    "It will be done," the Grand Elder replied quickly, before ceasing themunications. The man on the throne put his transmission disk away, before resting his chin on his fist as he stared at John on the steps miles away.


    "If my brother truly was right about everything, then today marks the starting day of our sect returning to its former glory, or its eradication.. There is no middle ground, but only time will tell if this boy truly is the one my brother was searching for."

 Chapter 462 - Fifteenth Step

    Just ten seconds after reaching the thirteen step, John found himself on the fifteenth step. The thirteenth step testing his dantian and the fourteenth step testing his meridian talents were still below what could cause him strain, and John instantly shattered through those steps.


    On the fifteenth step, he once again found himself running into a wall of energy, the nature of which seemed to be like a foreignnguage to him. It''s chaotic nature thwarted him from parting it aside and moving forward, causing John to sigh.


    ''Ahhh, why can''t myprehension talent keep up with my body talent? Is that too much to ask?''


    John shook his head at himself, but knew if his thoughts could be heard by others, that they would curse him for his greediness. He had already passed by the twelfth step which thwarted many profound geniuses, and yet he wanted more. Those geniuses would curse him into an early grave if they could hear his thoughts.


    ''Oh well, nothing else to do other thanprehend this energy and ascend beyond this step.''


    John''s divine sense and soul power red out around him once again as he focused his mind on the task ofprehending the nature of the strange energy. His face remained calm as he studied the energy, which seemed to allude to his every attempt to understand it. At the same time, the energy seemed to m into his divine sense, and even his soul space, causing sharp aches and pains to appear in his mind and soul.


    If it was a cultivator with a weaker divine sense and soul, their soul spaces were at risk of shattering unless they retreated. Thankfully, John had forged his soulspace into a formidable fortress due to his training sessions before the holy gate and sinister gate, and was able to withstand the dangers of this step.


    ''While these soulpains are quite annoying, this is nothingpared to what the sinister gate does to my soul. It''s bing more and more apparent just how amazing cultivating before those gates are for me.''


    However, a frown appeared on John''s face as he knew he had finallye to arge hurdle.


    ''It seems as though this step is going to take me quite some time to solve. In that case, I might as well make myselffortable.''


    To the side, Iris and the Grand Elder continued to watch John, their eyes never leaving him for a second. His actions thus far had been beyond shocking, and he was already at the fifteenth step. As they had discussed just earlier, only two other youths this year had managed to achieve such a thing, with Amber Bloodrose achieving fifteen steps, and Asuros achieving sixteen.


    With such a monumental event happening before them, neither dared to look away for a single moment. As was the case before, John had mmed by the body testing steps and came to a halt on theprehension step.


    Both Iris and the Grand Elder were wondering how long it would take John to pass the trial, or if this was the final hurdle he would be thwarted at. However, their eyes widened once again as a reclining seat suddenly appeared on the step, which John quicklyid down on and closed his eyes.


    Although they knew better, it appeared to Iris and the Grand Elder that John had decided to take a nap during the test, his actionspletely shocking them. The Grand Elder was especially shocked, as he knew just how tremendous the soul pressure was on this step. It was enough to shatter the souls of almost all geniuses and render them stupid for life.


    As such, only the most formidable of geniuses were able to reach this step, and those that did struggled with all their might to withstand the pressure and understand it. However, John had brought out a reclining seat, and was currently lying there without a single expression of pain or difort, as if he was sleeping peacefully.


    "Grand Elder, are these steps truly so easy to withstand?" Iris couldn''t help but ask as she stared at John.


    "That is not the case," the Grand Elder replied. "The soul pressure the fifteenth step exudes is beyond terrifying, and if you were to step onto that step, your soul would most likely copse within a minute of being on it."


    "Is that strong?" Iris replied with surprise on her face. "Then why does John look so¡­rxed right now? Shouldn''t his soul be in excruciating pain?"


    The Grand Elder remained silent for a moment as he inspected John, before a soft sigh escaped his lips and his head shook to the side slightly.


    "It''s not that he doesn''t feel any pain, but that he is already used to such pain. The pressure of this step is so great that no cultivator can stand on it and not feel pain. However, with his current attitude, the only exnation is that he has experienced soul pain far greater than he is experiencing now, and has experienced it quite often. So while he is feeling great pain right now, it pales inparison to his other experiences, allowing him to withstand it."


    After hearing the Grand Elder''s words, Iris fell into a silence as she stared intently at John. The minutes continued to tick by as Johnid there motionlessly, as if he were sleeping. After an hour of John not moving, Iris couldn''t help but speak up once again.


    "Grand Elder, how long has it taken those in the past to get to this step, and then past this step?" Iris asked, wanting topare John''s performance to the others.


    "Are you sure you want to know?" the Grand Elder asked as he nced sideways at her. "If you know the truth, it may further crush your pride as a genius yourself if youpare yourselves."


    "I want to know," Iris replied quickly.


    The Grand Elder remained silent for a moment, before replying to Iris.


    "I''m not sure exactly how fast the other youths havepleted these steps, but the highest anyone in our Sect has ever gone is the fifteenth step, and it took him six hours to reach it. It happened thousands of years ago, but his record still stands."


    "Fifteen steps in six hours?" Iris eximed in slight surprise. "But John took less than ten minutes to reach it."


    "Which is why I warned you," the Grand Elder replied. "This boy you see before you cannot beprehended bymon knowledge anymore. If he is able to get past this trial and ascend even higher, than he will truly be able to be considered a prodigious monste-"


    Bang!

 Chapter 463 - Pressing Forward

    The sudden sound caught the attention of Iris and the Grand Elder, who quickly looked back up at John with shocked expressions. However, both quickly breathed out a sigh of relief upon seeing John still standing on the fifteenth step. It was not that they didn''t want him to seed, but that they were bing weary from being shocked over and over.


    Clearly the banging sound was him standing up from his seat and putting it away. The pressure of each step was immense, and even the slightest of movements caused extreme force on the steps.


    "I thought he had advanced when he made that sound, but it seems as though he was just standing up. Maybe the pressure and soulpain is bing too much for him to lounge around like that, and now he''s taking the fifteenth step seriousl-"


    Bang!


    John''s foot pressed forward and mmed onto the sixteenth step, causing Iris to cut off her words before it was finished. Iris''s expression turned from one of surprise to one of exasperation, as she once again sighed deeply.


    "Watching John take this test might be more exhausting than actually taking it," Iris muttered softly as she sighed once more.


    Meanwhile, the Grand Elder next to her remained absolutely silent as he watched John''s each and every move. He was already on a step that was higher than any Heavenly Lightning Sect talent in history, and such a thing was beyond monumental.


    The Grand Elder had never expected such a thing to ur today, but was slowly but surely putting the pieces together as to who John could be.


    "The Asura of Annihtion," the Grand Elder sighed softly. "We cannot say yet if he truly is the Asura, but if he manages to reach the top ten list, then perhaps Sect Leader Thunderzen finally aplished his goal."


    On the steps, John had spent over an hour studying the pressure of the fifteenth step. Each second resulted in a soul pain being inflicted on him, but his incredibly durable soul was able to resist it.


    ''My soul may not be the strongest when ites to attacks, but cultivating in front of the holy gate and sinister gate has raised its defense to an absurd level. It''s the perfect thing needed for this trial, as I''m not trying to break through theprehension stage with pure soul power, but instead resist the soul pain for long enough for myprehensions to understand the pressure and move through it.''


    Afterprehending the fifteenth steps energy and pressure, it was as if a door had opened up for John to move forward. He immediately took the opportunity, and moved forward onto the sixteen step. The soul pressure instantly faded, relieving him of the constant headache he was experiencing, while an incredible pressure pressed down on his dantian once more.


    A smile appeared on John''s face as he breathed out a sigh of relief.


    ''Compared to thest step, this step truly is quite rxing.''


    The sixteenth step tested the dantian of the cultivator, and to withstand this pressure, one would need to have a twelve timespressed dantian. It was consideredmon knowledge in the Yuan Continent that ten dantianpressions was the natural limit of cultivators, a realm reserved only for the greatest of geniuses.


    This knowledge was not incorrect, as the natural ability for any cultivator regardless of race was ten dantianpressions. However, things such as bloodline abilities or innate abilities were exceptions to this rule, which would allow cultivators to ascend beyond their natural limits.


    Upon stepping on this step, John paused for a moment to feel its might as it crashed down on his dantian. While it was not constricting him at all, even he could start to feel the pressure building up.


    ''So, this is the step that mysterious Asuros achieved. This pressure is quite terrifying, and his dantian is most likely twelve timespressed dantian. He must be incredibly strong!''


    John closed his eyes for a moment as he allowed his soul to recuperate.


    ''I''ll rest here for a moment and allow my soul to recover. While the previous step didn''t do much harm to it, I can tell that the eighteen step will be quite challenging to get through. Just how monstrous were the talents of the past to get to that step, especially the Jade Dragon-God Emperor. Not only did he get to the eighteen step, he also surmounted it and reached the neenth step. I wonder just how terrifying thest step is to stop even someone like him.''


    John paused for a few minutes on the sixteenth step, while Iris and the Grand Elder watched in silence. They had learned by now to not make any assumptions, as John seemed to make them look foolish at the worst possible moments.


    His pause on the sixteenth stepsted for quite a while, making both of them internally think that maybe he was starting to reach his limit.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    However, as they both expected, once he started moving again, John sted through the sixteenth and seventeenth step, and found himself on the eighteenth step. Once again he came to a pause, but instead sat down in a meditative position this time instead of lounging on a seat.


    Despite remaining silent, Iris''s face lit up once again with shock as well as exhaustion, as John easily mmed through steps that most could only dream of ascending to. Meanwhile, the Grand Elder stared intently at John for a moment before a deep sigh escaped his lips.


    "Ahhh, it seems as though he truly may be the Asura of Annihtion. It appears as though the peaceful times afforded to this world are soon to be shattered. Sect Leader Thunderzen said our sect''s future would be linked with the future of the Asura, and either rise to the peak of this world, or fade from existence for all time. I suppose the time to find out has finallye."


    On the step, John assumed his meditative position, as it was the position that allowed him to best fall into a meditative trance. His soul linked with his dantian artifact, which allowed him to instantly fall into a pure meditative trance, which was something most cultivators only experienced a few times in their entire lives.


    John felt hisprehension rate surge upon doing so, but the pressure of the step seemed to want to shatter thatprehension. The pressure and energy mmed against his soulspace, causing sharp and excruciating pains to assault his mind and soul.


    John grit his teeth as he resisted the pain, and focused his all onprehending the truth of the step.


    The hours passed by as John sat there motionlessly, while Iris and the Grand Elder watched without moving an inch.


    An hour. Two hours. Four hours. Eight hours. Half a day.


    Twelve hours passed by, with John not moving a single muscle. To both him and the two watching him, it felt as if time had almost frozen. Doubt slowly started to creep into the minds of Iris and the Grand Elder, as John had not made any progress at all.


    Neither knew the tribtions his soul was experiencing right now, but they could guess at how excruciating enduring twelve hours of incredible soul pain would be. However, they could see his face be more and more pale while his body started to shake slightly, indicating that he was beginning to reach the end of his endurance.


    Iris sped her hands in front of her chest as she watched on with anxiousness, as she was truly hoping for John to seed. However, the fate of that sess was now in question.


    After eighteen hours, John''s soul felt as if it was bing numb, and was soon on the verge of shattering. Even with his incredible soul defenses, he was starting to reach his limit. His teeth chattered against each other as he struggled through the pain. It was like searing hot knives pressing into his brain and soul, nearly sending him over the edge.


    ''Just a bit more, I can almost understand this step!''


    re!


    John red his soul power and divine sense to the absolute maximum as he made one final bid to press through this step. Even reaching this step was only aplished by a handful of individuals through the entire history of the world, and John was beginning to understand why all but one failed.


    Even with his incredible training aids given to him by his mysterious father, he was on the verge of failure.


    ''Just a bit more!''


    John hadprehended almost all of the steps energy, but needed thest bit to break through. It was like the door to the next room was in front of him, but moved away from him at thest moment before he could open it.


    The pain of the test continued to assault his mind, driving him closer and closer to the edge. A wave of fatigue and pain washed over John and his body swayed slightly as his mind reached its limits, while his eyes suddenly snapped open, and he suddenly stood up.


    The pressure blocking his way seemed to part like an open door before him, and John wasted no time in pressing forward.


    Bang!


    His foot lifted up and mmed onto the next step, shaking the formation steps and surroundingnd. Even the walls surrounding the area trembled from the might of the step.


    John brought the rest of his body onto the step as he sessfully made it to the neenth step at the veryst moment. If he had taken just a few minutes longer toprehend that step, he would have failed and have been knocked off the formation steps.


    However, he had seeded. For only the second time in the history of the Talent Testing Steps, the neenth step had been reached.. However, his celebrationsted for only a singr moment as he felt an absolutely horrifying pressure approach him.

 Chapter 464 - The Terrifying Nineteenth Step

    "He did it!" Iris eximed in shocked surprise as John stepped onto the neenth step. Even the Grand Elder, who had thousands of years of experience and hardly ever felt truly surprised couldn''t help stare at John without knowing what to think. John, arriving only a week ago to the sect, had already shattered the realm of what was considered possible.


    However, the Grand Elder did not celebrate, and instead focused even more closely on John as he ascended to the neenth step.


    John breathed out a deep sigh of relief, before his eyes suddenly snapped wide open again. An absolutely terrifying wave of energy suddenly appeared out of nowhere and crashed down on his location.


    Boom!


    The wave of energy shook the talent testing steps and nearbynd from its might. Its power was incredible, and even Iris and the Grand Elder could clearly feel it. It was as if a Middle Heaven Tribtion expert suddenly unleashed their strongest attack, focused only on John.


    "John, step back!" the Grand Elder shouted out as he felt the powerful surge of energy. The might of the attack was enough to im the life of a Middle Heaven Tribtion expert, let alone someone in the Middle Meridian Forging Realm like John.


    The energy mmed down onto John before he could react, as he was still mentally sluggish from passing the eighteenth step just moments prior. The might of the energy nearly caused him to fly off the step, which John barely managed to avoid by the narrowest of margins. His heels dangled off the edge of the step as his body started to teeter over.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    An incredible power exploded outwards as John activated his Supreme Battle Art. His aura washed over the nearby area as he finally found the power within himself to resist the pressure and move slightly forward.


    Bang!


    His right foot mmed back onto the center of the neenth step, once again giving him stable footing. Iris breathed out a sigh of relief upon seeing John regain his ground, while the Grand Elder watched on with aplicated expression, weighing the options of forcefully intervening.


    However, he decided against it at thest moment, as even the Sect Leader himself had not shown up yet.


    On the neenth step, John''s robes fluttered, and even his skin rippled in waves from the force pushing against him. His robes had already shattered in many ces from the power of the step, and his bones were creaking under the pressure.


    Bang!


    John fell onto one knee as the pressure forced him down, as his current power was unable to contest against the full might of the step. His teeth were grit fully as he struggled against the power of the step.


    "He''s¡­Grand Elder¡­" Iris couldn''t help but ask as she watched John futilely struggle against thest step.


    In fact, the pressure seemed so great that it could crush him at any moment. However, the Grand Elder did not yet intervene, as he recalled a recent scene in his mind. The scene of John activating his mysterious power in the entrance exam was still fresh in his mind, and as such, the Grand Elder did not intervene. However, a frown formed on his face as he watched John struggle without activating that power.


    "He has yet to use that mysterious power of his," the Grand Elder mused out loud. "Which means either he is unable to use it in session in such a short period of time, or the step is not allowing him to use it."


    "Mysterious power?" Iris asked, but her mind immediately went to the transformation that John had used against her. Her body shivered slightly as she once again recalled that dreadful power, which seemed to instinctually send fear throughout her whole body.


    "How could I have forgotten?" Iris grumbled at herself while pping her forehead. She had been so caught up with everything that had happened that she had forgotten such an important thing. However, much like the Grand Elder, she didn''t know the rules behind John''s power, and the reason for him not using it at the moment.


    ''Just¡­fuck¡­off¡­already,'' John raged internally as his body was pressed down onto the step. As soon as he felt the incredible energy m into him, John had activated his Supreme Battle Art to counteract the pressure and step firmly back onto the neenth step.


    However, as he did that, the pressure once again increased severalfold, nearly crushing him to the step below. John had tried to activate his Asura Transformation Art at that moment, but to his shock, he was unable to.


    The energy of the test seemed to be a culmination of all three talent tests, which were dantian talents, meridian talents, andprehension talents. He could feel all three aspects swirling together within the terrifying test, threatening to overwhelm himpletely.


    John continued to grit his teeth as he tried to resolve his current predicament. As he was right now, he couldn''t even move a single inch.


    ''Every time I activate my Asura Transformation Art, the strange energy and pressure of the test courses through my meridians and fights back against it, making it so that I am unable to unleash it.''


    John had never felt such a thing happen to him before, and the feeling was incredibly stifling. It was as if he had to sneeze, but could never fully do so before the test stopped him. However, the energy resisting his transformation art was slightly familiar, and John''s eyes slightly widened inprehension.


    ''I need to understand this energy. Only then can I utilize my Qi to power my techniques. And then, only if my dantian is powerful enough and meridians durable enough to unleash the required amount of power to resist this step will I be able to ascend to the next step.


    John breathed out a deep breath to rx his panicked mind, before his divine sense and soul power red outwards. His senses intermingled with the incredible pressure washing down on him as he began to study it with utmost haste.


    At the same time, both Iris and the Grand Elder continued to watch as John remained motionless on his hands and knees. The Grand Elder suddenly felt John''s divine sense and soul power re outwards, and realized that John was working to get through the test. If he had been at his limits without any way forward, he could have given up or asked for aid from the Grand Elder.


    The Grand Elder felt his heartbeat, which had been steady for thousands of years, slowly speed up in anticipation of a potentially earth-shattering event.

 Chapter 465 - Bloodline Transformation

    On the neenth step, John continued to grit his teeth as mental and physical pain assaulted him. The physical pressure of the steps,bined with the mental pain inflicted by theprehension portion of the step nearly overwhelmed him.


    However, the incredibly durable nature of his body allowed him to focus more on theprehension portion, and allow his body to bear most of the burden without focusing on it. Like this, John stayed kneeled on the step fighting against its pressure for over an hour.


    His flesh slowly began to tear apart, and his mental walls began to weaken as he felt the energy threaten to overwhelm him. Blood began to seep from John''s mouth from the force of his gritted teeth.


    However, no matter how much he struggled against theprehension portion of the test, John found himself unable to advance forward anymore.


    ''What¡­the..fuck¡­is this test?'' John couldn''t help but internally grumble through the pain.


    Hisprehensions were already considered prodigious, but even he was unable to see through this step in time. The previous trial had drained most of his soulpower, requiring him to need a period to recover before reaching his peak once more.


    ''I guess I should¡­have rested on the previous step,'' John mused while he felt the urge tough at himself.


    He had thought with his talent, he would be invincible regardless of the test. Based on the order thus far, the neenth step should have been a dantian test, which John would have breezed through with no effort at all. However, the test focused on all three aspects, which was something John had not ounted for.


    With the weakened state of his soul power, John''sprehension speed was far below normal. It was like trying to think while having a searing headache. Every time he tried to focus on the energy washing over him, his soul would re with incredible pain, preventing him fromprehending the energy.


    "Something is not right," the Grand Elder suddenly stated as a concerned frown appeared on his face.


    "What is it?" Iris asked, concern in her voice.


    "As only one other person in history has ever reached this step, no one knew what the step tested. John''s soul power and divine sense red out recently, which is a sign that the neenth step does not only test dantian talents, but also testsprehension talents. However, his soul power is weakening by the second, and I can feel its is nearly on the verge of copse."


    "What?" Iris eximed in shock at the Grand Elder''s words. Her gaze shifted back to John. "Does that mean¡­.?"


    "Yes. While I was wrong at the other steps, this one is for certain," the Grand Elder replied. "Unless John does something to change the tide of things, he will no doubt fail at this rate. However, he has not given up yet, so maybe he has onest trick up his sleeve."


    After saying this, the Grand Elder fell back into silence, his eyes not leaving John for a single second. Even if John couldn''t reach the twentieth step and reveal himself to be the one that Thunderzen had sought for all these years, his talent was still beyond anything the world had seen before. Regardless of if hepleted thest step, John was no doubt the sect''s greatest treasure from this day forward.


    ¡­


    In the pce atop the floatingndmass, a pair of eyes gazed intently at a certain direction. The gaze pierced rock and earth as itnded on John, who was struggling against the test. After watching his soul power fade more and more, a soft sigh escaped the lips of the one watching.


    However, just as the sigh escaped his lips, his eyes widened slightly, his attention once again grabbed by the one on the steps.


    ¡­


    John''s teeth continued to chatter violently as pain wracked his body, and his soul power waned. Slowly but surely he was losing to theprehension talent portion of this test, which was the first thing he needed to get through.


    John could easily tell that the test worked in three parts. First, one had toprehend the nature of the energy in order to fully utilize their Qi. With the way the energy surged within his body and shed against his Qi,prehending the nature of the energy was the only way to fight against it.


    After that, the dantian would surge with its strongest Qi, which the meridians would need to withstand. This powered state would need to be strong enough to push forward to the top step. However, John was unable to get through the first stage of this step, let alone the next two.


    ''I hate to admit it, but with my previous hastiness, I am unable to pass this test byprehending this energy.''


    John felt a wave of defeat wash over him, as it was the first time since he started cultivating that he truly felt defeated. A self-mocking smile appeared on his face for a moment, as John etched this moment in his mind, making sure he never forgot it.


    ''I may have heaven-defying talent, but there is always a limit to what I can do. I will not forget this lesson¡­''


    John took a moment to appreciate the sense of pure defeat, before his face suddenly hardened as his eyes snapped open wide.


    ''This one aspect of the test may have defeated me¡­but it''s still far from being enough to stop me. I didn''t want to use it already, but it seems I have no other choice.''


    Bloodline Power!


    Asura Transformation Art!


    John''s power, which had been restricted by the formation, suddenly exploded out from his body with heaven shaking force, as thebined might of his bloodline power and Asura Transformation Art shattered through theprehension barriers. Whenpared to sheer power,prehension restrictions were always secondary.


    The steps'' energy, which had thwarted his Qi from activating his Asura Transformation Art, was pierced through like a piece of paper trying to stop a bullet.


    Boom!


    John''s power exploded out as his aura towered up high into the sky. Those within the sect all felt this incredible power ripple over them in waves, and all could see the aura ring out high into the sky. While none could identify who the power belonged to, they could all tell that it belonged to something incredibly profound. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the aura, and most started to move towards it.


    "No one shall move," a booming voice sounded over the sect, stopping everyone in their tracks. They could tell the words were said by the Sect Leader, and none dared disobey his words.


    Iris and the Grand Elder, who were the closest to John and felt the full extent of his power, could only watch with stunned expressions as John finally stood up from his kneeled state.


    Iris had nearly been overwhelmed by John''s aura alone, but the Grand Elder had intervened to shield her, allowing her to stand near John without being blown away by his power.


    Her gaze locked onto John inplete awe. His head, which had been bowed towards the step for the longest time, was now held high with powerful pride, like an imperial emperor looking down on his subjects.


    However, his kingly aura was also mixed with an absolutely sinister aura, making him look more like a demon emperor, looking down on all of creation. The glowing red runes which had appeared on his body, as well as the two straight horns that had protruded from the top of his head only further strengthened this image of a demon emperor.


    John''s blood red gaze stared at the twentieth step before him, as he no longer felt the restriction of the step affect him. His gaze shifted to his hands, which he outstretched before him to inspect. This was the first time he had used thebined power of his bloodline ability and Asura Transformation Art, and the result was beyond his wildest imaginations.


    John basked in the feeling of absolute power for a brief moment, before his gaze once again shifted to thest step before him. He knew this state of his was only temporary, and that the longer he used it, the worse the damage to his body would be afterwards. In fact, he could feel that his body was nearly unable to contain such power, and it seemed to be tearing at the seams.


    Without any further hesitation, John''s power surged once more as he took arge step forward.


    BOOM!


    His foot mmed down with incredible might, shaking the steps and the surroundingnd, as loosened boulders began to fall down the nearby mountains, as if an earthquake had struck thend.


    BOOM!


    Another earth-shattering force shook thend, as John''s other foot mmed onto the tform, bringing his bodypletely onto the top step.. For the first time in history, the twentieth step had been reached.

 Chapter 466 - Uncontrollable Power

    A pair of deep blue eyes, widened as far as they could go, stared at John as he stood on the twentieth step. His demonically heroic figure stood tall and proud atop the talent testing formation, and the aura surrounding gave off a sensation as if all of creation was beneath him. This wasn''t John''s opinion, but instead was the natural presence he gave off at the current moment.


    His long ck hair fluttered behind him, while his aura surged with power beyond what a Meridian Forging cultivator should ever be capable of.


    To Iris, looking at John was as if she was looking at a heavenly emperor who had made his first deration to the world that he would soon be ruling it. Iris almost felt the instinctive urge to kneel before John, further shocking her. However, the sinister and malevolent aspect to the aura made her instincts re with warning, giving her a conflicted feeling as she stared at John.


    The Grand Elder stared at John for a moment, both surprised and almost expecting the result after everything that John had done. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he stared at John, as the prophecy of the Asura of Annihtion was truly confirmed as of this moment.


    He knew that from this day on, the Heavenly Lightning Sect would walk a tightrope over a chasm of death. If they were to get to the other side, the rewards would be beyond counting. But if they were to slip and fall, all would be doomed.


    Che!


    A piercing sound suddenly erupted as a thick beam of golden light shot up from the formation and high into the sky. The light pierced several miles high into the clouds above before it split into eight parts. The eight beams of light each pierced off towards a different direction as they travelled over the horizon in an instant.


    All in the Heavenly Lightning sect saw the lights pierce into the sky, and their gazes turned confused at what was happening. They knew what the light meant, but knew it was not yet time for it to appear.


    "What''s going on?" a confused disciple couldn''t help but ask a nearby Elder, who was looking up at the light as well.


    "I''m not sure," the Elder replied. "But the Sect Leader himself told no one to move, and has not yet removed that order. You best obey it unless you want to face his wrath."


    The disciple shivered for a moment upon hearing the Elder''s words, and fell into motionless silence as he looked up to the beams of light above. Simr scenes yed out across the entire sect, causing it to fall into a collectively dazed silence.


    John''s gaze shifted upwards to look at the beams of light, before his gaze shifted to look in front of him once more. An item had suddenly appeared in the air before him, hovering there as if beckoning him to take it.


    John''s blood red eyes inspected the item for a moment, which was a ten-sided formation disk. It was shaped like a star, and had incredible tiny yet detailed formation runes etched into the surface of the disk. The formation runes glowed a deep purple color, contrasting the light blue color of the disk itself.


    The power of the disk was incredible, and John could tell that the item was an absolute treasure just from looking at it. Without hesitating, he reached out and grabbed the item, which put up no resistance.


    His blood red eyes inspected the formation disk in his hand for a moment before he put it away in his spatial realm. After doing so, John felt an incredible wave of pain wash through his body, as if his body was about to explode from within.


    Crack!


    The skin on his arms, legs, and face suddenly popped open in several ces as his durable body was unable to properly contain the rampaging energy within.


    Creak!


    The sound of bones creaking rang out, loud enough for even Iris and the Grand Elder to hear. Thebined power of his bloodline ability and Asura Transformation Art continued to surge, its power unstoppable even by his own body. Every second increased the pain, as well as damage incurred.


    Through the pain, John raised an eyebrow in surprise at the events unfolding. His body was incredibly special, and its durability was unmatched within the same realm. However, even it was unable to withstand the energy within him at the moment.


    ''I''ve only used this power for less than a minute, and yet I''m on the verge of copse. How terrifying. I better undo this before the damage adds up too much.''


    "Name!"


    A voice suddenly appeared in John''s head, taking his attention away from his body and towards the source of the voice. However, he was already on the verge of copse, and ignored the voice as he focused on withdrawing his bloodline ability and transformation art.


    "Name!"


    The same voice appeared in his mind, once again asking him for his name. John ignored the voice, as he instead focused on the energy once again. Much to his surprise, quelling the rampaging energy within his body was much harder than he had expected, despite it being his own energy.


    It was as if he had pushed a boulder off of a mountain, and the momentum had grown to an incredible level. John grit his teeth in strained pain as he focused his all on quelling the bloodline transformation, and a stalemate within his body soon broke out. His skin continued to crack and bones continued to creak as he struggled against it.


    "Name!"


    The voice once again appeared, but John''s full concentration was on his internal struggle. From the side, both Iris and the Grand Elder''s shocked expressions turned to concern, as they noticed John''s body became more and more bloodied and destroyed.


    "Gahh!"


    John suddenly cried out in pain as he copsed to the ground, while his surging aura faded away and returned to normal once more.


    "John!"


    John heard his name cried out by two voices, and quickly felt a powerful nket of energy wrap around him, bringing him off the top step.. His vision grew blurred as he noticed two faces appear above him, before turning ck as he copsed into unconsciousness.

 Chapter 467 - Honorable Alliance

    Beams of golden light pierced through the skies of the Divine Martial Continent, like eightets shooting through the sky. The eight beams lit up the early night sky, bathing thend below with its golden brilliance.


    The people of the Divine Martial Continent all looked up at the beams of light as they travelled overhead, and gazed at their mesmerizing glow. They had seen these beams before, but couldn''t help but be entranced every time they witnessed them.


    However, those that knew the truth of the beams were all confused, as they were not supposed to appear at the moment. The appearance of the beams of light sparked heated discussions across the entire Divine Martial Continent, as all tried to find out the reason for their appearance.


    ¡­


    In a distant area, a massive city with tens of millions of people sprawled across an ancient in. The city was sorge that the ends of the city could not be seen at the same time. Massive marble white walls, a thousand feet high surrounded the city, while a towering translucent formation covered the sky above it.


    Thousands of people streamed towards the city every hour, some arriving by foot on the roads that led to it, while others flew in themselves or on the backs of powerful beasts. Massive lines formed at the entrance gates as those entering the city were inspected by the guards stationed outside.


    Outside the walls, smaller cities, towns, and farnds spread out, making use of the entirend surrounding the massive city.


    Inside the walls, hundreds of thousands of buildings, from small houses to incrediblyrge pces existed. The style of the buildings varied in both color and design, giving it a unique look. However, the buildings were all in pristine condition, which made the city seem incredibly luxurious and well off.


    Thousands of wide streets pierced through the ocean of buildings and were packed to the brim with people walking about. Many powerful beasts with cultivations at the Heaven Tribtion realm and above roamed the streets with cultivators riding on their backs, while those walking gave the beasts wide berth.


    Hawkers sold wares on the side of the streets, while shop attendants beckoned those from the streets to enter their buildings, forming a buzzing and lively atmosphere. In different areas wererge open fields with verdant trees, giving an area for the children to y and roam about.


    Dotted across various locations of the city were many different sects, which carved out an area of their own and raised their disciples with great care. The size and power of the sects were quite impressive, and each sect attracted the attention of hundreds of thousands of youths every year that wished to enter and learn.


    Only the most talented of youths were able to enter these sects, and became the envy of many who wished to join but were not able to. Once a disciple of these sects, the youths were able to roam free within the city, their statuses far elevated whenpared to before.


    Ordinary people would make way for such disciples, while shop keepers tried to attract the gaze of such youths, who had incredible money at their disposal. Many of the youths belonging to these sects carried lofty and arrogant attitudes, as if they ruled thend. However, there were still those that they gave wide berth to, and lowered their head in deference whenever they crossed paths.


    In the very middle of this sprawling city was another walled off area, a dozen miles across. Within this area was a singr building, sorge that it could be seen from any one point of the city. It was a circr dome shaped building, which was many miles wide and tall. The building was made of pure white and gold materials, and glowed brilliantly in the afternoon sun.


    Between the building and the walls surrounding it was arge open area in which tens of thousands of disciples could be seen going about their daily training. A singr entrance to the interior walled off section was gated and guarded by many powerful cultivators.


    Above the gated entrance was a magnificent signboard, seemingly carved by an expert with incredible calligraphy and carving skills.


    Honorable Alliance!


    The signboard attracted the gaze of all who looked upon it as they walked by, as all cultivators in the city yearned to join the Honorable Alliance, which was the crown jewel of all honorable cultivators across the Divine Martial Continent.


    Although the Honorable Alliance was more a conglomeration of the most powerful sects instead of a sect itself, it acted as the unanimous leader of the honorable branch of humanity. Each honorable alliance sect with enough power and authority had representatives assigned to the Honorable Alliance, which made up the governing voice.


    At the same time, the alliance headquarters raised their own disciples, in a bid to improve the future strength of the alliance and ensure its survival. The disciples of the alliance headquarters were some of the most talented youths across thend.


    On the talent testing steps, many disciples had reached the thirteenth step, and two had even reached the fourteenth step, showcasing their talent and might. Whenpared to the Heavenly Lightning Sect, whose most talented youths only reached the twelfth step, the disparity was readily noticeable.


    In a certain part of the Honorable Alliance grounds, a group of Elders wearing white and gold robes and a dozen disciples were gathered around a pitch ck object.


    The Elder''s sighed as they watched the youth be knocked off the object, only getting halfway up.


    "Nine Steps. Next!" an Elder barked out instructions.


    "Haaa, our disciples are bing more and more disappointing. Maybe we''ve been too easy on them as ofte," one of the Elder''smented through his sigh.


    "Perhaps," another Elder quickly replied. "Each year we seem to fall father and farther behind. The Forbidden Alliance has given rise to that Amber Bloodrose, and even the mysterious Asuros has appeared. Even the monster, beast and faerie races have caught up in terms of their youths'' talents, while we have stagnated for thousands of years."


    The other Elders in the group all nodded their heads in agreement as they watched the next youth step on their talent testing steps, an eager expression on his face. Much like the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the Honorable Alliance ced heavy emphasis on the talent testing steps. Like the other powers, it was able to identify future powerhouses better than any other method they had at their disposal.


    "All of you are too gloomy," one of the Elder''s replied, causing the others to look at him. "While these steps do identify potential future powerhouses, they are not foolproof. How many spectacr talents of the past failed to do something with their talent, while those who could not achieve high scores soared to the top of the cultivation world? There are many other aspects to cultivation that these steps do not test, and we should be wise to remember that."


    The other Elder''s fell into silence for a moment beforeing to agreement with these words.


    "I suppose you are correct after all, Elder Mistfall," one of the Elder''s replied. "There are talent aspects that these steps do not consider, such as pill talent, formations talents, and special innate abilities."


    The talent testing steps were the best test for pure martial prowess talent, but did not ount for the multitude of other cultivation pathways. The Honorable Alliance, which focused more heavily on formations and pills than the other powers and races were one such example.


    "Your words do ring true, Elder Mistfall," another Elder replied. "Our supremacy in the arts of formations, pills, artificing, weapon forging and more have solidified our position as one of the great powers of this world, and we should be wise to remember that."


    The other Elder''s all nodded their heads in unison, before their gazes fell back on the disciple that began to ascend the talent testing steps.


    "However, we still have Luth, who is a powerhouse of his own. While his talent is one step below Amber, his battle prowess is beyond terrifying. It''s not as if we are without our own talents," Elder Mistfall spoke up once more.


    The other Elder''s nodded their heads once more, before all their gazes suddenly shifted towards the horizon. Their eyes squinted as they tried to discern what they were seeing, before the distant object arrived before them in a sh.


    Without warning, a golden beam of light crashed down onto therge ck tablet to the side of the talent testing steps, stunning everyone in the area. The disciple who was on the talent testing steps was so shocked by the sudden turn of events that they cried out in shock before losing their footing and falling off the steps.


    After a brief moment, the golden beam of light faded away, returning the area to normal once again. No one moved for a short moment, before the Elder''s all walked up to the ck stone tablet.


    "What was that? Why did themunication beacon appear suddenly?" one of the Elder''s asked in confusion.


    "I''m not sure," another replied. "This light is only supposed to appear once a year when the new scores are updated. Why did it suddenly appear now?"


    "Who knows? Maybe after all this time, the talent testing steps are bing erratic?" another replied.


    None of them had ever seen anything like it. The beam of light only ever updated on the same day each year, as the old scores were wiped and the new scores reced. It was an eternal cycle, and none had seen it follow any other pattern.


    As they approached the tablet, Elder Mistfall''s eyes widened slightly as he suddenly recalled a story from long ago.


    "I recall a story of such a thing happening once in the past before," Elder Mistfall spoke out loud, causing the other Elder''s to nce at him while they continued to walk towards the tablet.


    "What story?" one of the Elder''s asked.


    "It''s from tens of thousands of years ago, and rtes to the Astral Emperor," Elder Mistfall replied.


    "The Astral Emperor¡­you mean?"


    "Yes," Elder Mistfall confirmed. "When he reached the seventeenth step and was ced amongst the greatest heroes of this world, the beam of light appeared at that time. It was the only recorded incident of such a thing happening."


    The eyes of all the Elder''s widened inplete shock as the possibility of such a thing urring entered their minds. Upon thinking about this, their casual walking pace changed as they quickly dashed towards the tablet and gazed upon its contents.


    Their eyes all opened wide as they stared at the top section, unable to believe what they were seeing.


    Even Elder Mistfall couldn''t help but be stunned as he quietly read out the name etched into the very top of the tablet, with the score of twenty steps next to it.


    "Asura"

 Chapter 468 - Powers Of The Divine Martial Continent

    The Elder''s of the Honorable Alliance all stared at the tablet with stunned expressions, unsure of how to react. Stunned silence filled the area as other disciples and Elders from the surrounding area, attracted by the sudden appearance of light, started to arrive.


    Their gazes fell upon the tablet, at which point their eyes and mouths widened as well inplete shock.


    After remaining dazed for a short while, Elder Mistfall regained hisposure.


    "We must report this to the alliance heads at once," Elder Mistfall instructed. Before waiting for anyone''s reply, Elder Mistfall sped off towards the massive circr structure, the Honorable Alliance headquarters.


    ¡­


    In different parts of the Divine Martial Continent, simr scenes were ying out.


    In one corner of the Divine Martial Continent, an expansive jungle stretched out for thousands of miles in each direction. The jungle was incredibly dense and contained all sorts of exotic lifeforms within. The trees stretched miles high into the sky, their trunks dozens of yards across.


    Thick vines snaked around the various forms of vegetation, while powerful beasts thrived in the canopies above and swampish ground below. If viewed from high above, one would see many clearings opened up in the jungle at random locations. Each clearing was several dozen miles across, and a quick nce revealedrge cities within each clearing.


    The cities were much more exotic and unique than the Honorable Alliance city, as the lush vegetation of the jungle was allowed to thrive between the buildings. Vines wrapped around most of the buildings as well, many of which were made of wood from the surrounding jungle.


    The atmosphere of each city was wild and untamed, as if the cities were beasts themselves. Within each city lived the beast race. The beast race was humanoid in shape, but had the properties of many different types of beasts. Most were covered with fur or scales, and their heads were simr to the many different beasts found around the continent.


    In the very center of the massive jungle was thergest clearing, which was a hundred miles across. In this clearing was thergest city, which contained tens of thousands of buildings, farrger and grander than the other remote cities.


    There were eight massive structures, each erected by the eight most powerful ns of the beast race. In the very center of the eight structures was arge clearing, with only a singr object in the middle, the talent testing steps.


    The talent testing steps were shared by the beast races, which were made of many different powers. Simr to the Honorable Alliance, youths were currently testing themselves on the steps, while the powerful older members of their races watched on.


    The gazes of the elder members shifted up as a beam of light mmed down onto the testing tablet, shocking them greatly. After recovering from their stunned stupor, the elders all rushed over to the steps, their expressions bing more shocked as they read the top of the tablet.


    After a moment of silence, amotion broke out amongst the elder beasts.


    "We must alert the Council of Elders. This matter must be dealt with at once."


    ¡­


    In another area of the Divine Martial Continent was a frozen tundra, tens of thousands of miles across. The frigid cold was inhospitable to most cultivators, and only select races could survive in this area.


    In the very center of the tundra was a massive mountain range, in which a singr mountain pierced higher than all the others. The mountain was tens of thousands of yards tall, and was perpetually covered in snow.


    The very top of the mountain had been shaved t, and on top of the t section was a massive sprawling ice castle. The ice castle was dozens of miles wide and many miles tall, and was incredibly majestic. The walls of the castle were made with ice, which when reinforced with formations and special techniques was harder than even steel.


    Within this castle resided the most prominent members of the Faerie race, and those residing within the castle were exclusively women. Unlike the other races, only the females of the Faerie race had cultivation talents, which specializes in soul arts.


    The men of the Faerie race were much weaker, and mostly stayed out of sight as the female members ensured their safety. The Faerie race was rather removed from the world, and enjoyed peace and quiet over anything else.


    Within the castle walls a simr scene as the others yed out. The Faeries all gazed at the talent tablet, their expressions mixed.


    After a long silence, one of the Faeries sighed, her sigh soft and ethereal.


    "Ahh, the emergence of this "Asura" will surely spell chaos for this continent. The powers Asura belongs to will surely do everything to protect him, while the opposing powers will do everything to ensure such a talent is snuffed out before they can rise. The only question remaining is¡­is it a talent belonging to an ally, or a foe?"


    ¡­


    In another part of the Divine Martial Continent, a city simr to the Honorable Alliance city was nestled in the valley of a barren mountain range. However, unlike the Honorable Alliance city, the atmosphere was much more gloomy and sinister.


    In the very center of the city, a simrly massive building made of pitch ck material stood tall. Near the building, many cultivators with shrouded cultivations stared with a menacing gaze at the talent tablet, which had just been rocked by the beam of light. One of the Elder''s suddenly dashed away from the tablet and into the great building, at which point a council was formed to discuss the matter at hand.


    In the council chambers of the building, a dozen incredibly powerful cultivators, dressed in ck robes, all sat on a throne which formed a circle. In the middle of the circle stood the Elder who had rushed into the building and informed them of the matter.


    "Asura?" one of the cultivators on the thrones? sneered out. "It wasn''t from our Forbidden Alliance. Contact the Monster Race and see if it was one of their talents. If it''s from one of them, things are manageable. However, if this Asura is not from them, then we must find out which power they belong to and eliminate them, especially if they belong to the Honorable Alliance. We cannot allow such a talent to bloom in the future."


    The other eleven cultivators of immense power all nodded their heads in agreements, as a n began to be discussed amongst themselves.


    ¡­


    In another part of the continent, one of the beams of light travelled through the sky, until it suddenly vanished. This beam belonged to the talent testing step that was unounted for, and which had stumped the rest of the continent for tens of thousands of years.


    Attempts had been made to follow the beam of light, but it always disappeared from sight and divine sense at the same location. Massive search parties had been enacted to find what was causing such a thing to happen, but nothing was ever discovered.


    This invisible beam of light travelled for thousands and thousands of miles further, before it suddenly mmed down onto the earth below, burrowing deep into it.


    Below where the beam of light had pierced down upon, a cavern dozens of miles wide and high existed. Within it were a series of sprawling buildings, which were gothic in style, and were covered by statues of malevolent looking creatures.


    The cavern itself was lit byrge formation fires attached to the walls of the cave, giving the entire cavern a low but menacing ambiance.


    Large spikes covered the walls and ceilings of each building, making them look even more menacing. At the far end of this cavern, a massive pitch ck castle nestled against the cavern wall.


    The castle was several miles tall and wide, and also embraced the menacing style of the other buildings. Outside the castle, thousands upon thousands of heads could be seen mounted to pikes, some fresh while others werepletely rotten.


    The heads belonged to humans and beasts alike, and a river of blood flowed from within the castle to the outside, meandering through the rest of the cavern.


    "Gahhhhhhhhhh!"


    A tortured cry echoed out from within the castle, filling the cavern with its pained howl. Snickers andughter echoed out from those outside the castle who heard the screams, before they went back to their business.


    In the very center of the castle was a massive chamber. Roaring fires on the exterior walls of the chamber lit the interior with a reddish glow, while massive metal chandeliers above with lit candles provided some additional light


    However, the overall lighting of the chamber was still quite dim, which basked many corners of the chamber in shadows. At the very end of the chamber, a massive throne a dozen yards tall and wide rested. A close inspection revealed that the throne was made from the skulls and bones of powerful creatures and cultivators, making it look incredibly menacing.


    Behind the throne was the river of blood, which seemed to originate from the throne and work its way through the chamber and castle to the cavern outside.


    Upon this throne sat a shadowed figure, which appeared to be around five yards tall. The figure, its features obscured by the shadows, watched on as the pained cries continued to fill the chamber.


    To the side of the figure was arge cage, in which dozens of different creatures, from humans to beasts were trapped. They were all striped naked, and surprisingly all had cultivations at the Dao Transformation Realm or above. Such powers would be considered peak on the Yuan Continent, and even important on the Divine Martial Continent.


    However, at the moment, they were no more than caged prisoners, their freedomspletely stripped. As the cries disappeared, the shadowed figure reached out towards the cage and reached within, grabbing one of the cultivators from within.


    The human male, who appeared to be in his forties, cried out in horrified protest as he struggled against the massive hand that had sped around his waist. However, no matter how much he struggled, he was unable to force the arm of the shadowed figure to even budge slightly.


    "Noooo!"


    The horrified scream of the man rang out before it was quickly silenced, as the shadowed figure bit into the man''s skull, crunching it into a pulp. Blood rained down onto the floor, adding to the river of blood, while the figure continued to devour his meal.


    After eating the man, the figure reached out towards the cage once more, which caused panicked cries to boom out once more.


    However, his hand paused as the chamber doors suddenly flung open. A creature with red skin and piercing yellow eyes entered the chamber and raced to the throne before bowing respectfully.


    "What is it?" a low, guttural voice boomed out from the throne, sounding more like a growl than a voice.


    "My Lord, there has been a recent development with the talent testing steps," the creature replied while keeping his head down.


    "Out with it, do not waste my time," the shadowed figure growled.


    "Yes, my Lord. To put it bluntly, a new name has appeared upon the talent testing steps, and scored twenty steps."


    The shadowed figure, which waspletely uninterested in the man''s arrival, perked up slightly.


    "Oh? Such a thing happened?" the shadowed figure replied, its voice so deep and guttural that it shook the castle walls.


    "Yes, my Lord," the creature replied.


    The room fell into silence as only the crackles of the raging fires filled the chamber. After a moment of silence, the shadowed figure spoke up once more.


    "Go fetch Asuros and tell him toe to me. I have a task for him to fulfill."


    "I will do so at once," the yellow eyed figure replied, before turning on his heels and walking out.


    "Wait," the shadowed figure called out, causing the creature to turn on his heels. "What was the name of the talent?"


    "Asura, my Lord," the creature replied quickly.


    Boom!


    The aura of the shadowed figure red out with absolutely incredible power, causing shrieks of pain to echo out as the prisoners in the cage exploded from the force of the shadowed figures'' aura. Despite being in the Dao Transformation realm, they were unable to withstand the aura of the figure at such a close range.


    Even the yellow eyed creature felt his body nearly explode before the aura quickly retreated, causing the creature to breathe out a sigh of relief. After regaining hisposure, the creature stared at the shadowed figure warily, as he had never seen the figure react like this before.


    "Asura? Interesting" the guttural voice of the figure boomed out.


    After another moment of silence, the shadowed figure dismissed the red skinned creature.


    "Now leave me," the shadowed figure instructed, before its gaze shifted to the cage of exploded carcasses next to him. "And bring me more food."


    "It will be done, My Lord."

 Chapter 469 - Waking Up

    Darkness gave way to blurry light as John''s eyes slowly opened. A wet sensation assaulted his cheek, waking him from his long slumber. A groggy groan escaped his lips as he slowly came to his senses, and looked over towards the source of the wetness.


    Arge tongue licked out in quick session, as the face of a creature was right up in his face. John''s eyes, initially hazy with confusion, opened wide as he saw the creature before him.


    "Kirii!" John eximed in ted excitement as he quickly moved to sit up and hug his beastpanion. Kirii had been on the precipice of life and death for a long time, and John had been worried about him the entire time. However, there was nothing he could do but wait and hope Kirii made it through his ordeal.


    "Ahhh"


    While trying to sit up, John winced as he felt a wave of pain course through his entire body. He quicklyid back down to reduce the pain, while a sound to his right caught his attention.


    The sound was that of a door opening, after which a female walked in from. She was wearing all white robes, and appeared to be in her twenties. She had a warm face, and her eyes locked onto John''s as she walked in.


    "You''re finally awake?" the woman said to John as she walked up to him. Her gaze shifted to Kirii, and a warm smile appeared on her face. "You have quite the animalpanion here. He appeared a day after you copsed, and has not left your side since."


    John nced at Kirii for a moment, before his gaze shifted around the room he was in. The room contained many shelves, all lined with medicinal bottles containing various different pills.


    "Where am I, and how long was I out for?" John asked the woman who had walked in.


    "You''re in the healing ward of the sect," the woman replied as she walked towards one of the shelves and inspected the bottles before grabbing one. She turned around and walked back to John, at which point she took out a pill from the bottle and handed it to him.


    "Swallow this," the woman instructed John, who took the pill and inspected it for a moment before swallowing it. "As for your second question, you were unconscious for four days."


    "Four days? I''ve been out for that long?" John eximed, shocked at what he heard.


    "Four days is quite short for the condition your body was in," the woman replied as she returned the pill bottle to the shelf she had taken it from. "Many of your muscles were torn, and almost all your bones were fractured, with some of them brokenpletely. Even your meridians showed signs of cracking, and if that had happened, you would have be a cripple."


    John''s eyes widened slightly in surprise at the woman''s words, as he had not expected the damage to his body from his Bloodline Transformation to be so severe.


    ''And I had only used it for thirty seconds, and didn''t even use the bloodline transformation forbat. I wonder how bad my condition would be if I had fought under that strain?'' John mused internally as he sent out his divine sense to inspect his body.


    Simr to what the healer had told him, he was immediately able to see that his body was in bad shape. However, it was not as bad as the nurse had exined, showing that he had healed up quite a bit since falling unconscious.


    The healer quickly inspected John''s body as well, and raised her eyebrows in slight surprise.


    "Your body has healed much faster than expected," she remarked as she continued to inspect him. "At this rate, you will be able to be discharged in a few more days."


    The healer continued her examination on John''s body for a short while, before her two hands outstretched over his chest. A calm, healing energy left her hands and infused into John''s body, which slowly healed some of the lingering wounds he still had.


    This process continued for some time, before the healing energy faded away.


    "That''s all that can be healed today. I will return tomorrow to continue your healing process," the healer exined before turning around and leaving the room.


    After watching her leave, John''s gaze shifted to Kirii once again, who was patiently sitting next to him. A smile appeared on his face as he reached out and patted Kirii''s head in a loving manner.


    "I''m d to see you''re alright, Kirii," John said to his animalpanion.


    A warm tongue licked John''s face again in response, as Kirii showed his affection back. After petting Kirii''s head, John inspected Kirii''s body, as it had changed quite considerably. An incredibly thick and profound lightning aura naturally emanated from its body, far greater than what it had emanated prior to the tribtion.


    Not only that, but Kirii''s cultivation had also improved, surprising John as well.


    "You''re already at the Half-Step Heaven Tribtion Realm? But you''ve been slumbering all this time? How the¡­.ah forget it. Beasts truly are blessed by the heavens when ites to pure cultivation talents," John grumbled as he continued to pet Kirii''s head.


    Bang!


    The door to John''s room flung open and a figure raced in quickly.


    "Adam?" John called out as he saw Adam run to his bedside.


    "John, you''re finally awake," Adam eximed happily as he saw John was fine after all. "They''ve been keeping me outside this room, and I was never allowed to enter it until now. Those bastards! How could they keep me separated from my brother in his greatest moment of need!" Adam eximed angrily, as if he had been wronged.


    John stared at Adam speechlessly after his short rant, before his gaze shifted to the door once more as another person entered.


    "Chase!" John called out as he spotted Chase enter as well.


    "I''m d to see you''re alright," Chase replied as he walked up to John''s bedside. "You had all of us worried sick for a moment there."


    "Sorry about that," John replied with a wry smile, although a sensation of warmth entered his body upon seeing his two friends enter his room. Clearly they had been waiting night and day to see him.


    "How did you end up like this anyways?" Adam suddenly asked John. "The sect refuses to tell us anything, and only says it was a training ident? ident my ass. How could someone as strong as you have an ident this damaging?"


    "Who cares about that," Chase spoke up. "Clearly the sect would punish the person if it was caused by someone else, but I have a suspicion it was self inflicted."


    "Self-inflicted?" Adam eximed. "How the hell could John cause this much damage to himself?"


    "I''m not exactly sure, but I would guess it had something to do with the recent event that unfolded," Chase replied.


    His response caused Adam''s expression to change as he recalled something, before he eagerly looked over towards John.


    "That''s right! You were unconscious, but the new topic of discussion throughout the entire sect is the emergence of someone called "Asura," who did something shocking on some talent steps or something like that. That wouldn''t happen to you, right?"


    John raised an eyebrow as Adam revealed this information to him.


    ''Asura, huh? I guess I never gave my name to the testing formation, and so it probably used the name it felt suited me best. Asura is quite nice actually," John mused with a smile on his face, before his thoughts shifted.. ''However, it seems as though the sect is keeping the fact that I''m this Asura a secret. I wonder why that is?''

 Chapter 470 - Recovery And Contemplation

    John remained silent as he contemted how to answer Adams question. Clearly the sect was keeping the matter that he was "Asura" a secret, but he didn''t know the exact reason why.? However, he could guess of several reasons why the sect would tread carefully on this matter.


    ''I suppose reaching the twentieth step was a bit too shy afterall.


    Before John could react, the healer that had treated John previously walked back into the room, surprised to see both Chase and Adam there.


    "What did I say to the both of you?" the healer scolded them. "You may see your friend once he is discharged from our healing ward. Now off with the both of you."


    Chase wanted to protest but decided against it at thest moment. The woman was clearly upset, and both of them were only Inner Disciples, and newly appointed ones at that. They did not have the status to throw their weight around.


    "Sorry John," Chase said apologetically. "We''ll talk when you get out then."


    John nodded his head towards Chase, while Adam was arguing with the healer.


    "What the hell do you mean we have to leave? Our friend almost dies, and you treat us so coldly? Do you not have a heart?" his loud voice boomed out.


    "Out with you!" the healer shouted back, as her power red. Before Adam could react, he found himself thrown forcefully out of the room John was in and crashed into the opposite hallway wall.


    "Ow! You didn''t have to be so goddamn violent!" Adam protested angrily as he quickly stood up but fell into a silence as he noticed the angry re from the healer.


    "Forget about it," Chase said to Adam as he put his hand on his shoulder. "We confirmed that John is alright, so we''ll have plenty of time to talk to him once he is discharged. Let''s go and let him heal in peace for now."


    "Fine," Adam replied grumpily after remaining silent for a moment. His eyes red at the healer as he walked away, who red back much the same.


    After dealing with Adam and Chase, the healer walked back in the room and sighed at the ordeal she just had to deal with. She had carried in a meal and set it aside as she first spotted Adam and Chase, but picked it back up as she walked it over to John.


    "Here, eat this. You haven''t eaten in days, and your body will need the sustenance."


    John nodded his head at her words as the food was set down on hisp. He quickly inspected the food and curled his mouth in slight disgust. The food gave off a thick medicinal aroma and was mostly porridge and other liquid-based food.


    The healer noticed his expression andughed lightly before speaking up.


    "The food may smell and taste bad, but its the best food you can eat right now for healing. The sooner you eat this, the faster your body will heal, so eat up!" the nurse said before turning around and leaving the room.


    John gazed at the food for a moment, before he took a deep breath and ate a spoonful of the food. His face curled in disgust as he tasted the thick medicinal vor of the food, but forced it down nheless.


    After only a few spoonfuls of food, he could already feel the thick medicinal properties of the food be absorbed by his body and used to slowly but naturally heal his wounds. Upon seeing this, John forced down the rest of the food, although not without struggle.


    After finishing his meal, John set aside the tray of food andid back on his bed as he stared at the ceiling. The scenes of him ascending the stairs began to y in his mind as he recalled the struggles he faced as he ascended to the twentieth stair.


    The feeling of absolute power reyed in his mind, as he yearned to feel such overwhelming might once again. However, the strain just thirty seconds of use had caused on his body had nearly crippled him, and John knew he would have to wait several months before he used such a thing again.


    Not only that, but as he was right now, he was unable to use such a power without severe consequences.


    ''My true mother did warn me that the strain of my bloodline power would be immense, so it''s not unexpected thatbining it with the asura transformation does this to my body. However, thatbined power is something that could potentially save my life in the future, and I need to be able to use it without killing myself.''


    John sighed upon thinking about how strong yet weak he was, before his focus shifted on how to solve the issue at hand.


    ''The issue is my body. It is too weak to handle the power of my bloodline transformation. While I do have an incredibly durable body thanks to the Immortal Asura Tome, I have not really strengthened it any other way recently. The most recent thing I did to strengthen my body was eat that mysterious blood fruit in the ancient wastnds, but nothing since. My Immortal Asura Body may be a heaven defying body cultivation technique, but even such a body needs other sources of nourishment. Even the most heavenly of natural treasures spend thousands of years being nourished by the environment around them, and my body is no different.''


    John''s thoughts shifted once again, as he thought about the other time his body was in this bad of a condition. He reached over and patted Kirii''s head, who was lying next to his bed sleeping silently.


    ''This isn''t unlike when I received my heavenly tribtion. At that time, my body was on the verge of copse, and I would have died if not thanks to Kirii''s help. Both my body and my lightning attribute body are far too weak at the moment. When I heal up and start moving around again, I need to figure out how to strengthen both my body and lightning attribute body.''


    A jade piece suddenly appeared in John''s hands as he thought about his Lightning Attribute Body. He had made a vow to focus more of his time on studying this jade piece, as it contained many secrets that greatly increased his lightningprehension, which allowed him to have greater control over lightning.


    However, simr to his Immortal Asura Body, his Lightning Attribute Body needed to be constantly nourished by heavenly treasures, which had been something he neglected. However, the solution to his problems weren''t so simple.


    "Ahhh, this is such a headache of a situation," John grumbled out loud before falling back into silent contemtion.


    ''Both my Immortal Asura Body and Lightning Attribute Body are most likely ranked at the Heavenly Variant realm, which is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that they are far stronger and more profound than anything I encounter from my enemies, but the curse is that they require a far greater amount of nourishment to grow. And not only more nourishment, but also higher-grade nourishment. Normal things that are easily avable will not be able to raise the quality of my body. I will need to find some heavenly treasures soon, especially when ites to my Lightning Attribute Body. As I am right now, I will fail my next tribtion.''


    While thinking about this, John''s eyes grew heavy as he fell back asleep.


    ¡­


    "Ahhh, it feels good to stand up again!" John eximed happily as he finally stood up from his resting bed. It had already been three days since he woke up, putting his entire recovery period at over a full week. With his high recovery speed, such a long recovery time showed just how extensive the damage to his body was.


    However, he was almost fully recovered now, and the only lingering damage was to his meridians. The cracks on his meridians were still present and could only be slowly healed over time. As such, he would be unable to use his bloodline transformation until his meridians were fully healed, or he would permanently cripple himself.


    John dressed himself in a clean robe, before he walked out of the room. Kirii followed behind him, enjoying the chance to stretch his legs and remain by John''s side in the real world. Upon opening the door, John came face to face with someone waiting outside.


    The person waiting outside was seemingly an Elder, who was a man who appeared to be in his forties. He was leaning on the wall outside of John''s room with his arms crossed and eyes closed, and opened them to nce at John as he left the room.


    "You can finally walk? Good, then follow me," the Elder instructed.


    John was surprised by the Elder''s appearance, as he had never seen him before. "Follow you where?" John couldn''t help but ask as he walked up to the Elder.


    "To see the Sect Leader and his council.. They have been informed of your recovery and are expecting your arrival shortly."

 Chapter 471 - Sect Leaders

    John paused for a moment upon hearing this, before he nodded his head at the Elder.


    "Lead the way, Elder," John replied respectfully.


    He had been expecting such a thing to ur, as his actions had been too eye-catching. Not only that, but he wanted to see the higher ups as well, to ask about them hiding the truth of him being Asura.


    After following the Elder outside, the two of them took to the skies and flew towards the Heavenly Lightning Pce. Flight was normally restricted to Elder''s only, but due to the nature of recent events, exceptions were made.


    While flying over the sect, John couldn''t help but gaze down at his new home. The sect was incredibly luxurious, as well as beautiful. Blooming flowers and trees dotted the areas between buildings, while many crystal-blue streams meandered through the sect.


    Powerful beasts ridden by Elder''s asionally past them by in the sky, making both the ground and sky above the sect feel lively. After flying for a short while, John and the Elder arrived before the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    Theynded before its entrance and quickly entered inside amongst thousands of other cultivators streaming in and out of the building every hour. The Heavenly Lightning Pce was the busiest part of the sect, and John and the Elder blended in with the sea of other sect members instantly.


    As they walked into the Heavenly Lightning Pce, John noticed that not a single person was ncing at him, which he found a bit odd.


    ''Surely there must at least be rumors that I''m the Asura, right? I mean I was the only one who took the test on the day, and my aura was clear for everyone to feel. Perhaps they just don''t know what I look like is all, since I am new to the sect.''


    John found the situation a bit strange, but did not concern himself with it too much. Whether or not others knew he was the Asura was of no concern to him, as he cultivated for power, not attention and fame.


    Contrary to what he expected, the Elder did not lead him to the top of the Heavenly Lightning Pce. Instead, they walked to a tightly guarded set of doors at the other end of the first floor, and entered within.


    Behind the first set of doors was another set ofrge doors which was also guarded by powerful Elders. The guarding Elders nodded their head in greeting to the Elder escorting John, before they opened the doors for them to enter.


    The room behind the second set of doors was empty, except for a formation tform in the very center, and an Elder standing next to it with a formation pedestal besides him. The room glowed a brilliant blue color, mostly from the blue formation runes covering the formation tform.


    The Elder stepped up onto the tform, and turned to look at John who stood just outside of its perimeter.


    "Get on," the Elder instructed.


    John hopped up on the formation, and the Elder on the tform nodded to the one next to the formation pedestal. The Elder at the pedestal ced his hand on top of it, and John suddenly felt himself wrapped up by spatial powers, simr to the other times he was transported through space.


    His vision returned to normal instantly, revealing that they had travelled a very short distance. John gazed at his surroundings, and upon turning around spotted the Heavenly Lightning Pce just behind them.


    "We''re on the floatingndmass behind the Heavenly Lightning Pce?" John asked the Elder.


    "That we are," the Elder replied with a short response as he continued to walk forward. John followed behind the Elder, and they quickly approached the lone pce that existed atop the floatingndmass.


    Unlike the very thin but tall Heavenly Lightning Pce, the pce atop thendmass was shorter, but much wider. It was almost a mile wide, and was several hundred yards tall. While it was overall smaller than the Heavenly Lightning Pce, the grandeur of it was no less.


    In fact, a casual nce from John revealed that the pce before him was much grander than the Heavenly Lightning Pce. Before the pce was a sprawling courtyard and garden, which appeared like an immortal paradise. The garden contained countless water fountains of incredible design, which contained water that was clearly not ordinary.d John could feel his mind and soul be refreshed as he walked through the slight mist created by the fountains.


    As they passed by the garden and arrived before therge pce doors, John could clearly tell that the material that made up this pce was extraordinary. The pce was white, blue and gold, withrge round spires at the very top.


    The front gate to the pce was several dozen yards high, and was guarded by incredibly powerful Elders. Based on their power, John was unsure who would win between them and his master.


    The guards noticed their arrival, and used their power to open the massive set of doors to the pce.


    "The Sect Leaders are expecting you," one of the guards said with a slightly awkward expression, as if making the word ''Leader'' was new to him.


    ''Sect Leaders? Plural?'' John mused in slight confusion. As far as he was aware, the Heavenly Lightning Sect only had one true sect leader.


    The Elder leading John nodded his head and strode through the doors without missing a beat. John followed closely behind, and quickly entered the pce.


    "Incredible!" John couldn''t help but exim as he gazed at the interior of the pce.


    The ceilings hung high above his head, painted in their entirety with magnificent artworks. Meanwhile, marble white statues, each dozens of yards tall lined therge hallways, adding to its magnificence. They depicted both men and beasts, and were so well carved that they almost seemed lifelike. It was easy to tell that they were carved from incredibly rare materials.


    John and the Elder continued down the main hallway, but his gaze shifted asionally to the side hallways that popped up asionally.


    Those hallways were just as grand, and were filled with people going about their business of keeping the pce clean.


    "What is this pce used for?" John asked the Elder before him, although he knew the most likely answer.


    "It''s the Sect Leaders pce," the Elder replied. "His personal abode."


    The two of them continued to walk through the pce for several hundred yards before they finally arrived before a massive set of golden doors. The doors were nearly fifty yards tall, and were made of solid gold. However, John could tell that it was not normal gold, and seemed to be a more durable and expensive material.


    The two guards at the massive doors parted the door for John and the Elder, who quickly strode into the room. The room was arge chamber, a hundred yards long and wide. It contained massive pirs jotted about it asionally, and hundreds of banquet tables filled the interior.


    At the very end of the chamber was arge throne, incredibly simr to the design of the Yuan Continent Heavenly Lightning Sect Throne. In fact it appeared to be an exact replica, and John couldn''t help but stare wide eyed at the throne.


    However, his stunned expression was not for the throne itself, but the one who sat on top of it. Through his stunned expression, John couldn''t help but call out to the one sitting on the throne.


    "Sect Leader Thunderzen?"

 Chapter 472 - Thunder Brothers

    "Sect Leader Thunderzen?" John''s words echoed within the chamber as he spotted Thunderzen sitting on the throne.


    A smile appeared on Thunderzen''s face as he saw John''s reaction, although it was not an unexpected one.


    "It''s been a while since west saw each other John," Thunderzen replied with a warm smile and amiable tone.


    John''s gaze shifted from Thunderzen, to the area next to the throne. Standing on both sides of the throne were several other people, some which John recognized and some which he didn''t.


    The first person he recognized was his master, Lilian, who stood to the right of Thunderzen''s throne. Her expression was neutral as she stared at John, although she could tell from John''s gaze that he sought answers.


    Lilian shrugged her shoulders slightly at John''s gaze, and he suddenly heard a sound transmission from her appear in his mind.


    "Don''t ask me. I arrived here just moments ago and I''m as equally confused as you are. I''m sure we''ll find out the truth in a moment."


    John raised an eyebrow at the words of his master, as he had never seen her not know what was going on. However, it appeared that Thunderzen had kept secrets even she didn''t know about, despite the fact that she was his adopted daughter.


    ''I''m sure he has a good reason for keeping such secrets,'' John mused as he walked through the chamber and arrived ten yards from the throne. His gaze shifted towards the person standing next to his master, which was the Grand Elder.


    Each arm was resting in the sleeve of the opposite arm, while his expression was calm and rxed. His dull colored robes stood out from the rest, who all wore shier and more luxurious robes.


    John smiled at the Grand Elder, who nodded his head back slightly in greetings. After greeting the Grand Elder, John''s gaze shifted to the left of Thunderzen''s throne, where an intimidating man was standing. The man appeared to be in his fifties, and his grizzled face was lined with arge unkempt beard, making him look even more wild.


    His robes were sleeveless, which revealed his powerful arm muscles, more akin to a body cultivator than an essence cultivator. If John couldn''t feel the thick lightning auraing from the man''s body, he would have assumed he was a body cultivator based on how he looked.


    The man''s power was incredible, and John could tell that he was much stronger than his master. In fact, his strength seemed to be a rival for Thunderzen''s. However, on his exposed arms, John could see the very faint traces of scars and burnt flesh.


    Although it was mostly healed and was barely noticeable, John was able to spot it. Clearly the man had been in a fight recently, and had taken a bit of damage. His mood seemed to be a bit sour, and his heated gaze stared intently at John, although John was almost certain that was how the man looked all the time.


    Standing next to the grizzled man was a woman, who appeared to be in her thirties. Her brown hair was tied neatly behind her head, making her look quite reserved. Her face was very attractive, and her figure slender in the right ces and thick in the right ces.


    John''s gaze lingered on her for a moment before shifting to her robes, which were covered in incredible detailed formation runes. It was unlike any robes he had ever seen, and John could tell there was more than met the eye regarding this woman.


    After inspecting everyone in the chamber, John''s gaze shifted back to Thunderzen, who sat on the throne with a rxed posture, as if it were natural to sit on the throne. As was simr with the other throne on the Yuan Continent, lightning which was somehow mostly silent continuously snaked over the throne and Thunderzen, who ignored it as he gazed at John.


    "I''m sure you have many questions," Thunderzen suddenly spoke up as he gazed at John, and also shifted his gaze towards Lilian who was equally confused.


    John nodded his head in confirmation, and couldn''t help but speak up.


    "Very confused. Just what is going on?" John asked.


    When he had travelled with the other disciples to the Divine Martial Continent, they had been escorted by his master. Thunderzen decided to stay behind to take care of other things, and instead encouraged his daughter to escort the journey this time around.


    However, John found Thunderzen sitting before him, on the throne of the main Heavenly Lightning Sect no less.


    "Are you...the Sect Leader of the true Heavenly Lightning Sect?" John asked.


    "I was, and now I am again," Thunderzen replied with a smile on his face.


    "Grrmph," the grizzled man crossed his arms across his chest and snorted in an unhappy manner, clearly displeased by Thunderzen''s words.


    Thunderzen nced at the man for a moment before ncing back at John.


    "When were you going to inform me of this¡­news?" Lilian suddenly asked, slight displeasure in her voice.


    Thunderzen''s face turned slightly guilty upon hearing his daughters words, and he quickly apologized to her.


    "I''m sorry that I kept the truth from you, but the nature of the secret surrounding all of this was too important to disclose to anyone other than my brother and the Grand Elder," Thunderzen replied.


    "Your brother?" John asked. "You have a brother?"


    "Yet another secret I didn''t know about," Lilian spoke up as well while she stared at Thunderzen with narrowed eyes. "I too would like to know the truth of this matter. Speak, or don''t me me for giving you the cold shoulder in the future, father."


    "I like this one," the grizzled man suddenly spoke up, a small smile on his face. "She has a fiery temper. Good, such a thing is important for a cultivator to have. How you managed to raise someone like her is beyond my understanding, you pacifist brother of mine."


    John''s ears perked up upon hearing the man''s voice, as he couldn''t instantly tell it was the one that had told no one to move the day he had been on the talent testing steps.


    "Brother? You''re the brother?" Lilian couldn''t help but reply as she gazed at the man. She didn''t see the resemnce to her father, as the two wereplete pr opposites. Her father was a rather skinny man who was calm and tranquil, while the man before her was burly and ferocious, like a wild animal.


    "Lilian, John. I would like you to meet my brother, Garson," Thunderfist said while gesturing towards his brother.


    "Hmph, that old name of mine was discarded thousands of years ago," the man replied with displease. His gaze shifted to John and Lilian, as a heated look appeared in his eyes as he punched his fists together, causing a loud boom to shake the chamber.


    "My name is Thunderfist, the younger brother of the old fart sitting behind me, and the true Sect Leader of this Heavenly Lightning Sect!"

 Chapter 473 - Prophecy

    "Younger brother?" Lilian spoke up as she looked at Thunderfist. "I still don''t see the resemnce at all."


    John nodded his head at his master''s words, as Thunderzen and Thunderfist couldn''t not be farther apart in appearance.


    "At least you have good eyes," Thunderfist replied with a hearty voice. "Comparing me to the decrepit corpse behind me would be an insult to me."


    Sitting atop the throne, Thunderzen rolled his eyes at his brother''s words.


    "I see thousands of years of sitting on this throne and running this sect of mine has not made you any more mature," Thunderzen said to his brother, who turned around with a displeased look on his face.


    "Maturity is for old corpses who would rather solve problems with their words than their fists. Such a thing is beneath me," Thunderfist replied aggressively while crossing his arms.


    Thunderzen gazed at his brother for a moment before gazing back at John and Lilian.


    "You must forgive this brother of mine. He was dropped a few too many times on the head as a child."


    "And I''m d that it happened," Thunderfist replied quickly and without any shame. "If I had grown up calm and ''mature'' like you, I would have killed myself out of boredom."


    A strange expression appeared on both John and Lilian''s face as they heard Thunderfists words, as they never imagined someone as powerful as him could act like this. However, the others in the room, such as the Grand Elder and the mysterious woman remained expressionless, as if they were used to such things.


    Thunderzen shook his head at his brother''s words, as a sigh escaped his lips.


    "I had forgotten how irritating you can be," Thunderzen replied, before his gaze shifted towards John and Lilian.


    "Anyways, enough about that," Thunderzen spoke up quickly before his brother could speak up again. "Now that you have met my brother, I will exin everything to the both of you."


    The expression on John''s face turned serious upon hearing this, as he truly wanted to hear the truth of everything that was going on. None of it made sense to him at the moment.


    Lilian''s expression remained calm and neutral as she waited for her father to exin, but John could tell that she was eager to learn the truth as well.


    Thunderzen fell into silence for a moment, thinking of where to start his story, before he started his exnation.


    "Everything that brought us here today started a long, long time ago," Thunderzen started.


    "Many thousands of years ago, my brother and I were part of a group exploring a spatial realm that had been discovered in the middle of the Divine Martial Continent. The realm was seemingly a broken off remnant of the continent by the ancient war that had shattered this world.


    During that exploration, I came across an ancient city, and inside the city, and ancient library. I nearly lost my life getting past the powerful formation traps guarding the library, but eventually managed to make my way inside," Thunderzen exined.


    "The library contained a vast trove of ancient knowledge, from formations, battle arts, pill recipes, and even prophecies."


    "Prophecies? Are prophecies actually real?" John asked.


    Everyone had heard of prophecies, but very few knew if they actually existed and were true in what they prophesied, or just folklore.


    "Yes, prophecies are real," Thunderzen replied. "In fact, it was a prophecy that led me to you."


    John''s face lit up in surprise upon hearing this, but didn''t ask for boration as he knew Thunderzen would exin what he meant.


    "While pursuing through the ancient library, other parties who tried to enter caused a formation to trigger, which eradicated the library and the surroundingnd. I was just barely able to get away from the explosion with my life intact, and what I was able to bring with me before its destruction was limited.


    However...one of the items I was able to bring with me was this," Thunderzen said as an object suddenly appeared before him in the air.


    It was a cylindrical object, like a tube, and was two feet long. The object seemed to be divided into many separate parts, each able to rotate around the perimeter separate from the other parts. Strange symbols were carved into its surface, making it look incredibly exotic.


    John gazed at the object, but was unable to make any sense from it. Lilian''s expression turned into one of confusion as well, as she too was unable to make sense of it.


    "What do those symbols mean? I have no idea what they say," John couldn''t help but ask, as they werepletely foreign to him.


    "I wouldn''t expect you to know how to read this," Thunderzen said as he allowed the object to float over to John. "Even now I am unable to read its contents."


    John caught the object in his hands, and inspected it closely. He twisted the separate parts, which realigned the strange symbols. However, no matter how he rearranged the parts, he was still unable to make sense of it.


    His gaze shifted back towards Thunderzen, confused as to what this was.


    "If you couldn''t read this, and still can''t, then how do you know it contains a prophecy?" John asked.


    "The reason I cannot read it is because it is written in thenguage of prophecies," Thunderzen exined.


    "Language of prophecies?" John asked, as he had never heard of such a thing. "Can''t you just learn to read thenguage?"


    "Unfortunately not," Thunderzen replied while shaking his head slightly. "Thenguage of prophecies is an intuitivenguage, ever changing based on the stars, the winds of fate, and everything else in this world. The symbols may stay the same, but their meanings change as the world changes. Only those blessed with the innate ability of foresight are able to read thenguage of prophecies."


    John frowned upon hearing this, as he too did not have this ability. He was just about to ask Thunderzen how he knew what it said, when Thunderzen gestured to one standing at his side.


    "I may not have this ability, but another in this room does," Thunderzen said to John as he gestured towards the Grand Elder. The Grand Elder stood there with a rxed expression, as if he were a monk of absolute tranquility and peace. His calm gaze focused on John, and John felt once again as if the Grand Elder was seeing right through him.


    "Our Heavenly Lightning Sect''s Grand Elder does however have this innate ability, and was the person who helped me decipher this prophecy" Thunderzen exined. "A prophecy regarding you!"

 Chapter 474 - The Prophecy Of Asuras

    "Me?" John eximed, his voice full of surprise. "Why would I be part of a prophecy?"


    He had never expected that the prophecy Thunderzen was mentioning would be directly rted to him, or about him. Such a thing was behind his wildest thoughts, as he had considered prophecies myths just a moment ago.


    "How do you know it''s about me? Couldn''t it be about someone else?" John asked.


    "As I said, prophecies are almost impossible to read. Even if you have the talent to do so, they are often up for interpretation, and can be easily misread. However¡­" Thunderzen replied as his gaze shifted to the Grand Elder.


    "When the golden tempest fades and the bloodrops fall, eight stars shall illuminate the world, announcing his arrival for all; The Asura of Annihtion," the Grand Elder said, his words seemingly reverberating through the massive chamber.


    "Or that is as close to ournguage as I can put it," the Grand Elder rified. "Thenguage of prophecies is veryplicated, and hard to put into amon tongue. There is a bit more to the prophecy than that, but it can be summarized as such."


    The words uttered by the Grand Elder echoed in John''s mind as he reyed them.


    ''Golden tempest? Blood drops falling? Eight stars?''


    His mind reyed those words as he tried to make sense of them, before his eyes widened slightly as he potentially understood a part of it.


    "The golden tempest¡­and the blood drops¡­could it be the Yuan Continent?" John asked Thunderzen.


    "It is as you surmised," Thunderzen replied, impressed that John put some of the clues together so fast. "The golden tempest was the perpetual storm, the golden whirlpool of energy that surrounded the ancient city," Thunderzen confirmed.


    "Then the blood drops?"


    "Yes, that alludes to the Bloodfiend Sect," Thunderzen confirmed again. "When we first read this prophecy, the only thing that matched the golden tempest of this entire world was the energy storm. There were a few other clues that led me to the Yuan Continent, but with the Grand Elder''s help, we were certain that the arrival of the Asura of Annihtion would ur there," Thunderzen exined.


    "After confirming the location where the Annihtion Asura would appear, I let my brother take over for me as Sect Leader of this sect while I established a branch sect there. The hope was to monitor the continent, and eventually find the one the prophecy spoke of. With how much time had passed since I set out on this mission, I had started doubting the veracity of the prophecy. However, the mission was too critical to give up on, and it eventually bore fruit.


    The eight stars shooting through the sky, announcing the arrival of the ''Asura'' of Annihtion only confirmed the suspicions I had about you early on after you made a name for yourself. After your performance in the Bloodfiend Sect, I was certain it was you, but the talent testing steps truly confirmed it to be you," Thunderzen said, his voice the only sound in the chamber as everyone else was dead silent.


    John''s thoughts shifted to the beams of light that had appeared when he reached twenty steps, eight in total. At the time, they truly appeared like shooting stars, and his name had been etched as "Asura" on the testing tablet.


    With all these things lining up, John no longer doubted Thunderzen''s words regarding him being the focus of the prophecy. However, he still had many questions regarding everything he had heard.


    "While everything you say makes sense, one thing doesn''t," John replied. "Why would finding me be so important that you went through all those hurdles, even relinquishing your status as the true Sect Leader of the main Heavenly Lightning Sect? Surely there''s more to the prophecy than you''re telling me at the moment. Just finding someone called an Asura of Annihtion wouldn''t be so important as to move to a backwater continent and put everything else on hold?"


    His gaze shifted to his master who stood to the side, whose expression was mostly emotionless, but a very slight surprise was evident on her face. It was apparent that she too knew nothing of this prophecy, and was learning about it for the first time.


    Thunderzen sighed lightly, not surprised by John''s reaction, as finding out such a thing would be shocking to anyone who heard it. He remained silent for a moment before exining further.


    "That is because there is more to the prophecy, far more," Thunderzen replied. "You are not the only one mentioned in the prophecy, and more specifically, not the only ''Asura''."


    "What? There''s another Asura?" John asked, shocked at hearing this.


    He was not surprised about hearing that he was considered an ''Asura,'' as he cultivated the Immortal Asura Tome, and had an Immortal Asura Body. However, for someone else to be called an Asura was not something he was expecting.


    The origins of his Immortal Asura Tome were incredibly unique, and he was sure that simr legacy did not exist on this world, as his was made personally for him by his mysterious father. Unless there was more to his Immortal Asura Tome than he knew, John was unsure of how someone else had received the name of Asura.


    "We do not know who the other Asura is. In fact, much less is known about that Asura than you," Thunderzen replied. "The prophecy was able to roughly dictate where you would rise from, which allowed us to find you. However, it says absolutely nothing about the other Asura, almost as if the other Asura was shrouded from the sight of the one who made the prophecy," Thunderzen exined. He pushed for a moment to let his words sink in before speaking up once more.


    "The only thing we do know of this other Asura is the name by which the prophecy calls them."


    "And what is that name?" John asked after a moment of silence, and silence filled the chamber for a short while more before Thunderzen replied.


    "The Asura of Anguish".

 Chapter 475 - Unshaken Resolve

    John fell into silence upon hearing this name, as he could tell the name was quite foreboding. His name was Asura of Annihtion, but Annihtion was a mostly neutral word which could change how it was perceived based on the actions of the one carrying out the annihtion. Annihtion of good would be considered an evil act, while annihtion of evil could be considered a good act.


    However, Anguish was pretty straight forward as to whether it was a good or bad thing. There was hardly ever a moment where causing anguish would be considered a good thing.


    "Quite an impressive sounding name," John spoke up after a moment of silence. "So, if I''m the Asura of Annihtion, what does this Asura of Anguish have to do with me? John asked.


    He could tell that Thunderzen was working towards that part but wanted to ask and make sure he got the answer.


    Thunderzen nced at the Grand Elder for a moment, and the two of them seemed to be having a sound transmissionmunication, before the Grand Elder spoke up once more.


    "As I said before, prophecies areplicated and very easy to misinterpret, and knowing more about this prophecy may not be a good thing for you right now. Are you sure you want to know about this prophecy?" the Grand Elder asked.


    John nodded his head without pause, as he was truly curious now as to what this supposed prophecy said about him. However, regardless of what it said, it would not change his path forward.


    The Grand Elder sighed lightly before speaking up once more.


    "I can''t reveal too much about the details of the prophecy, as that could influence your actions in a negative way. The more one in a prophecy knows about the prophecy itself, the more it can take hold of their lives and dominate it. For example, if a prophecy told you how you would die, you would do everything to avoid that death and lose sight of everything else. However, bing aware of the generalities of this prophecy may aid you in the future, and as such, I will give you a broad summary," the Grand Elder borated, pausing for a moment before continuing.


    "To summarize, the prophecy mentions the rise of the Asura of Annihtion and the Asura of Anguish, at roughly the same time. Both your actions will shake this world, and throw it intoplete chaos. At the very end of it all, only one of you will remain, either you, or the Asura of Anguish. The one who remains will reign supreme over this world, with much different consequences for the rest of the cultivation world depending on which one of you lives at the end," the Grand Elder exined.


    The room fell into silence as those who knew of the prophecy allowed those who were hearing it for the first time toprehend the weight of the Grand Elder''s words. Thunderzen in particr focused closely on John, as he knew this type of news must be aplete and utter shock to him.


    It wasn''t everyday that one found out they were part of a prophecy, and one that had as many consequences as the one they had just revealed to him. Some cultivators would copse with fear at learning about such a future, while others would break down in nervous messes, unable to handle the pressure of it all. Afterall, the prophecy spoke of either his demise or the Anguish Asura''s demise, which was pretty straight forward.


    John stood there in silence as he thought over everything he had heard. It truly was a lot of new information, as well as shocking information, to take in at once.


    "Are you going to be alright, child?" Thunderzen suddenly asked, his voice soft and warm with understanding.


    John''s gaze shifted from the floor below him to Thunderzen, as a rxed expression appeared on his face.


    "Why wouldn''t I be?" John replied casually, his voice lined with confidence. "From what I can surmise, the prophecy most likely speaks of an ultimate showdown between me and this Asura of Anguish, upon which one of us will reign supreme over this world?"


    His thoughts shifted to that of his true parents, and everything they had revealed to him, before he focused on the topic of discussion once again.


    "Well, my goal from the start was to reach the pinnacle of this martial universe, as I''m sure we''re all aware of the existence of worlds other than our own. Reaching the pinnacle of this world was already my n from the start, and if it means I have to kill this "Asura of Anguish" in the process, that makes no difference to me. It''s just one more body to add to the mountain of corpses I will pile up on my way to the top of the martial world."


    John''s words, which were clearly lined with absolute self-confidence, stunned all those that were listening. The only one not stunned was Lilian, as she knew John the best, and knew his unwavering confidence more than anyone. She had very early on learned about his desire for absolute strength, not by his own confirmation, but by his actions and persona.


    After a moment of stunned silence, a loud and heartyughter boomed out, shaking the walls of the pce from its might.


    "Hahahaha, that''s the spirit a true warrior should have," Thunderfist boomed out loudly as he walked up to John. "If there''s an enemy in your way, just cut them down. All other troubles will disappear if you do so."


    Bang! Bang!


    He pped John on the back a few times in merriment, as John felt a wave of pain course through his body from the force of the ps. However, he remained steadfast on his feet, his actions slightly surprising Thunderfist. He had expected John to at least stumble a bit.


    "Not only did you raise a ferocious daughter like her," Thunderfist said as he nced at Lilian. "You somehow were also blessed with a disciple like this. The universe truly is blind for gifting someone like you with these two warriors."


    Thunderzen rolled his eyes at his brother''sments, but a smile appeared on his face as he heard John''s words. He had been worried about revealing the truth to John, as most would struggle to bear the weight of the prophecy, and some would copse from just hearing it.


    However, John had not been slightly disturbed at all, revealing how strong and formidable his will was.

 Chapter 476 - Raijen

    "So with everything you''ve revealed to me, does that mean you''ve returned to rule this sect?" John asked after Thunderfistsughter died down a bit.


    "Yes," Thunderzen replied. "I have left the Yuan Continent branch sect inpetent hands, and have returned to lead this sect once more."


    "Grhmph," Thunderfist grunted in displeasure once again, clearly not happy that he had been removed from his lofty position as Sect Leader. However, his actions were more like a grumpy child than anything else, which revealed to John that he wasn''t too mad.


    "At least being free of the shackles of Sect Leader will allow me to roam thesends without consequence anymore," Thunderfist said, his voice booming with excitement.


    John shook his head slightly as he heard Thunderfists words, but knew how he felt. Johnughed slightly, before his eyes suddenly widened as he thought of something. His gaze snapped back to Thunderzen.


    "Does that mean¡­does that mean the Lightning Dragon is yourpanion?" John asked.


    Lilian had revealed to him earlier that the Lightning Dragon supposedly was thepanion of the True Heavenly Lightning Sect Leader, although she didn''t know that was her father at the time.


    A smile appeared on Thunderzen''s face as he nodded his head in confirmation.


    "Indeed he is," he replied. "I met Raijen tens of thousands of years ago in an ancient realm, and found him when he was no more than an egg. We have beenpanions ever since."


    John''s eyes widened slightly upon hearing the truth as his thoughts shifted to him and Kirii. It was almost exactly how he and Kirii had met. A thought suddenly appeared in his mind, and his gaze swept across those standing in the room with him.


    Clearly Thunderzen trusted them with the gravest of truths regarding the Asura prophecy, so although he didn''t know them personally, he trusted Thunderzen''s judgement.


    John gestured behind him, which was where Kirii was sleeping at his feet. Kirii had followed him into the pce chamber, at which point he had curled up behind John and fallen asleep.


    "Since Kirii is a lightning beast¡­would he be able to learn from the Lightning Dragon? I don''t know if such a thing is possible however," John asked. Although it was a longshot, he was willing to do anything to raise Kirii''s strength, as he owed Kirii his life after the tribtion situation.


    Thunderzen nced at Kirii, who was sleeping soundly still. A frown appeared on his face before he shook his head against the idea.


    "I can''t tell exactly what kind of beast Kirii is, but it does seem quite talented. However, my Raijen is extremely proud, as all Dragon''s are, and would find teaching a lower tier beast beneath him," Thunderzen replied.


    Beasts were broken into rough tiers of talent, frommon grade beasts all the way up to heavenly beasts. Dragon''s were considered heavenly beasts, and although the Lightning Dragon was not a pure-blooded dragon, it was still considered a pseudo-heavenly grade beast.


    It was one of the most profound beasts on the entire Divine Martial Continent, and its pride was incredibly high.


    A small smile appeared on John''s face as he turned around to Kirii and whispered in his ear. Kirii, who was sleeping, woke up as he listened to John''s words. Although they could notmunicate yet, they could understand each other''s thoughts and feelings.


    John turned around and looked at Thunderzen once again.


    "And what if Kirii was as talented as your Dragonpanion?" John asked Thunderzen.


    "Then while he may still be a little prideful, he won''t consider it beneath him to do such a thing," Thunderzen replied. "However, for Kirii to be at the same realm as Raijen, he would need to b-"


    Thunderzen''s words cut off as John gave Kirii the signal, at which point his body shifted and changed. Ever since Kirii had hatched, John had instructed him to shapeshift to another form, which was one of the Kirins innate abilities. As such, none had ever recognized him for a Kirin.


    The eyes of everyone in the room went wide as Kiriis'' form was revealed to all.


    "A Kirin!" Thunderfist eximed in shock, before he quickly rushed towards Kirii. He began closely inspecting Kirii from all angles, as his face became more and more excited.


    "Hahaha, it truly is a Heavenly Lightning Kirin!" his voice boomed out as he acted like a kid who had seen his favorite animal for the first time.


    Kirii stared at Thunderfist with an odd expression, as if he didn''t know how to react to the man''s actions. John smiled as he petted Kirii, before his gaze shifted to Thunderzen once more.


    "How about now?" John asked confidently.


    "You truly are one surprise after the other," Thunderzen replied as his surprise faded and his smile returned. "A Heavenly Kirin? Even I was unaware if they truly existed or not, but here one is right before my eyes. How marvelous."


    When it came to lightning talents, Lightning Kirins reigned supreme. Even Lightning Dragons could only bow their head, maybe not in overall power, but definitely in terms of lightning prowess.


    "With this being the case, I''m sure Raijen will agree. With the fabled lightning talents of the Lightning Kirins, it won''t be long before Raijen is the one learning from Kirii," Thunderzen replied. "I will speak to mypanion, and if he is in agreement, we will have him train Kirii."


    Arge smile appeared on John''s face as he thanked Thunderzen profusely. He felt as if he owed Kirii his life, and this was one small way of paying him back. The discussion lingered on Kirii for a moment longer, before Thunderzen changed the topic of discussion.


    "Now, about your recent disy of talent," Thunderzen said as he stared at John, his face changing from rxed to serious. "While it was unavoidable as to confirm the prophecy, your performance on the talent testing steps was far too eye-catching."


    John frowned slightly upon hearing Thunderzen''s words, but didn''t argue against them as he knew Thunderzen was correct.


    "With such a level of talent revealed to the world, you will surely be the number one target of this world," Thunderzen continued. "Those from allied powers will grow envious of you, while those of enemy powers will do everything in their power to kill you."


    Thunderzen paused for a moment before he continued speaking.


    "There are enemies out there that even I would have to be cautious around, let alone someone as weak as you currently are. If your identity as "Asura" is revealed to the world, you will be killed, without us being able to do anything about it. The ancient pact between us and the Forbidden Alliance will be discarded by them if it means getting to you, and there are still the other races such as the monster race, which would never allow someone like you to rise."


    John sighed lightly upon hearing this, as it seemed as though the situation was more of a headache than he first expected.


    "As such," Thunderzen continued.. "Until you have the power to truly defend yourself, your status as ''Asura'' will remain unknown to this world for the time being."

 Chapter 477 - Thunderzen’s Conditions

    John''s expression remained neutral upon hearing this from Thunderzen as he did not care if the world knew who he was or not.


    "With this in mind, going forward I must regretfully forbid you from using that unique ability of yours," Thunderzen continued, causing John''s neutral expression to turn into a frown.


    While Thunderzen did not specify which ability he was speaking of, both him and John knew he was mentioning using his Asura Transformation Art. It was the only battle art he used that had any sort of connection to the word Asura.


    "May I ask why?" John asked while keeping his voice calm.


    "That ability of yours is unfortunately far too eye-catching, and exudes a thick malevolence and sinisterness from it. Those who felt its aura without seeing you would assume it wasing from a Demon or something worse," Thunderzen replied. "While I''m not sure how you have such an ability, it''s not unlikely that at least one person puts two and two together, and realizes you could be the Asura. That is too much risk to take at this point, and as such you must not use this ability around others."


    John''s frown persisted on his face as he heard Thunderzen''s exnation, but didn''t argue against it as he knew it made sense. The incredible powerboost he got from his Asura Transformation Art was beyond what was thought possible in the cultivation world, and the nature of the power would instantly attract guesses as to his identity.


    John''s gaze shifted to his master for a moment, who shrugged in response at what her father had said. Clearly even she didn''t have an argument against what he was saying. John sighed, before he gazed back at Thunderzen.


    "You said I cannot use it around others," John replied. "Does that mean I can use it when no one is around to see me use it?" John asked.


    Thunderzen nodded his head in immediate approval at John''s words. "As long as you know absolutely no one can see you use it, you have my permission to use it."


    "And what about if by using it, I can eliminate all those who see me use it?" John asked a follow up question, raising the eyebrows of Thunderzen.


    His question was clear; If I can eliminate all witnesses, can I use the ability to do so?


    Thunderzen fell into a short silence before he nodded his head in agreement to John''s words.


    "You may, as long as you are one hundred percent confident that you can eliminate any and all witnesses. You must remember, I am doing this not only for your safety, but the safety of your friends and family. Your secret being revealed to the world will be far too dangerous for those around you."


    "I understand," John replied calmly, as what Thunderzen was saying was the truth.


    ''This won''t be a massive problem then,'' John mused internally. ''At worst, I just need to lure an enemy to a dested area before killing them, if they truly are strong enough to force me to use my Asura Transformation.''


    "I will give you one exception though," Thunderzen followed up after a moment of silence. "If your life''s on the line and that ability of yours is the only way to survive, you may use it. However, doing so may have consequences far greater than even I can handle. Understood?"


    "Understood," John nodded his head in confirmation.


    The room fell into silence once more before John''s mind shifted to another topic rted to his talent testing steps performance.


    "Sect Leader Thunderzen, when I reached the twentieth step, the light beam clearly originated from the steps and shot outwards to the others. Those in the sect would have noticed this, and could easily surmise that Asura was from this sect. How¡­"


    "How have we dealt with that?" Thunderzen replied with a smile, impressed that John had thought of that trouble already.


    "Yes," John replied.


    "We made everyone forget," Thunderzen replied, his words causing John to frown in confusion.


    "What do you mean? How could everyone forget just like that?" John asked for rification.


    Thunderzen nced at the woman to his side who had been standing there in silence the entire time. Her expression had been rxed and neutral through all the discussions that had taken ce thus far, as if nothing could surprise her.


    "That would be thanks to our very own Formations Grandmaster, Grandmaster Mirage Dream," Thunderzen introduced the woman.


    The woman nodded her head towards John in greeting for the first time who nodded his head slightly more as a sign of respect.


    "Then how did¡­Grandmaster Mirage Dream manage such a thing?" John asked, as this concerned himself directly.


    "For her, such a thing was quite simple," Thunderzen exined. "Right after you reached the twentieth step, we summoned an all sect meeting, where everyone who was in the sect was required to attend. During that time, Grandmaster Mirage Dream worked on a formation, one targeted at the mind and soul of those within. At the same time, one of our Pill Experts created soul-waning pills, which temporarily lower the soul defense of all those that consume it. Through thisbination of formations and pills, we were able to erase thest hour of memories of all those who had seen your performance, and reced them with false memories," Thunderzen exined.


    John''s eyes widened upon hearing this, as he had never heard of such a thing before. He didn''t even know if recing memories was possible.


    "You can do such a thing?" John asked, his voice tinged with surprise.


    "We can, although only because all the members of our sect, the Elders included, trust us, and willingly consumed the pills we gave them. Without such a thing happening, we would not have been able to achieve the desired effects," Thunderzen replied.


    John fell into silence one more upon hearing this, as that truly did take care of the biggest source of trouble. If sect members leaked the truth, it would be easy for enemy powers to narrow in on him. However, that source of trouble had been dealt with.


    After thinking over such things, John decided to change the subject, as he had several important matters to handle before he ascended to the Heaven Tribtion Realm in the near future. Getting answers from Thunderzen right now would be the easiest solution for his problems.


    "Sect Leader Thunderzen, I agree to your terms, and will follow them as I can," John replied. "However, after my tribtion in the Bloodfiend Sect, and also what happened recently on the talent testing steps, I have realized I''m not as strong as I need to be. Especially my body constitution and Lightning Attribute Body. I can feel that if I undertake my Heaven Tribtion with my Lightning Attribute body as is, I will most likely die. With that in mind, are there any heavenly lightning treasures the sect can bestow upon me to upgrade my lightning body?" John asked, getting straight to the point.


    "Your lightning attribute body is the highest grade I have ever seen, and cannot be improved by most treasures we have," Thunderzen replied after a moment of contemtion, and a small smile appeared on his face. "However, there is a reason for the branch sects showing up at this time.. The annual Thunder-Realm opening is about tomence, and within it may just be the type of heavenly treasure you are looking for."

 Chapter 478 - Thunder-Realm

    "Thunder-Realm?" John asked for rification, although the name itself gave a hint as to what it was. "Is it a separate spatial realm?"


    "That it is. In fact, it''s the reason our Heavenly Lightning Sect was founded in this location in the first ce," Thunderzen replied.


    John raised an eyebrow at thisment, although it had answered a question he had since arriving here. The Heavenly Lightning Sect''s location seemed a bit odd, as he had detected absolutely no lightning sources anywhere nearby the sect when they had arrived.


    Normally sects of certain elemental affinities would establish themselves in areas rich in those attributes. For example, an ice based sect would establish themselves in a tundra, while a fire based sect would be next to a volcano.


    The natural Qi of these elements would be thicker in such ces, which would allow their disciples to thrive. However, he had detected no denser concentration of Lightning Qi upon arriving here, slightly surprising him.


    As the Divine Martial Continent was an incredibly massive ce, certainly there were locations rich with lightning Qi. Establishing a lightning sect there would make more sense, but it seemed as though the Heavenly Lightning Sect had a reason for its establishment in this location.


    "My brother and I discovered this realm tens of thousands of years ago, and as we were already lightning based cultivators at that time, we decided to create a sect on these grounds," Thunderzen continued.


    "So what exactly is in this Thunder-Realm," John asked.


    "Opportunities," Thunderzen replied with a slight smile on his face. "Such as the one you are seeking for to raise the quality of your lightning attribute body."


    John''s gaze heated up upon hearing this, as it was exactly what he needed to hear at this moment. Without upgrading his lightning attribute body, his death in his next tribtion was almost certain. For some reason, the heavens wanted him dead, and he needed to be strong enough to defy the heavens desires.


    "Are there any restrictions to enter this realm?" John asked, as the realms he had dealt with in the past had such restrictions, usually age requirements.


    "There are no such requirements to enter the realm. However, the realm seems to be an ancient lightning inheritance ground, and so there are restrictions to enter certain parts of it," Thunderzen exined. "As for our sect, we impose a restriction that only disciples may enter."


    "Why is that?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    Thunderzen remained silent for a moment as his eyes nced to the side, seemingly thinking of something else, before shifting back to John.


    "Let''s just say that the realm¡­isn''t unupied, and that those within do not like¡­older cultivators," Thunderzen replied, keeping his answer quite vague. "As such, we limit the ones who can enter to disciples, which includes those in their fourth year, or twenty one years of age."


    At this moment, John was solidly into his seventeenth year of age, and could apparently stay a disciple of the sect for four more years before he would have to graduate to Elder or something else within the sect.


    John wanted to ask more about this, but knew Thunderzen had kept his answer vague for a reason. Regardless, he would seemingly find out soon anyways, as it sounded as though the realm would be opening soon.


    "The realm will open in one week," Thunderzen continued after a momentary pause. "Now leave us for the moment. Us Elder''s here have important matters to discuss. Elder Lowell should still be waiting outside the door to this chamber. He will escort you to your new home."


    John nodded his head at Thunderzen, before he turned and left the chamber. As Thunderzen mentioned, the Elder who had escorted him to these chambers was waiting outside, and John followed behind him as he escorted him away.


    Thunderzen and the rest watched John leave, before arge sigh escaped Thunderzen''s mouth. It was as if arge weight of burden had fallen his shoulders, making even someone as experienced and aged feel as though he had be lighter.


    "Why didn''t you reveal the truth of the Thunder-Realm to him?" Thunderfist spoke up. "With his lightning talents, he is the one most likely to fulfil that old fart of a spirit''s conditions."


    Thunderzen nced at his brother, before his gaze shifted back to John as he left the pce.


    "He''ll run into that old-spirit undoubtedly, and also have to deal with his antics as we did. What use is there to warn him ahead of time?"


    ¡­


    After leaving the pce grounds, and eventually the Heavenly Lightning Pce, John followed Elder Lowell to his new house. His new house was located on a singr mountain, which stood roughly a thousand feet tall. The mountain was covered in lush forests, in which marvelous fruits and medicinal herbs that could bolster one''s cultivation grew.


    It was one of the most luxurious locations in the entire sect other than the areas of the higher ups, which caused John to nod his head in approval as hended at the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain was mostly t, atop which a massive mansion rested.


    The mansion was several timesrger than the one he called home in the Yuan Continent, as well as several times more luxurious. Arge courtyard with gardens and fountains surrounded the mansion, while the inside was d with luxurious furnishings.


    Like his home in the Yuan Continent, there were several attendants waiting for his arrival. After greeting them all, John followed one of them as they escorted him through his new home. It had all the amenities that his previous home had, as well as several new ones.


    John nodded his head in approval as he walked all throughout his home, as it truly was beyond luxurious.


    "You have a guest, sir," one of the attendants instructed him, causing John to raise an eyebrow in slight surprise.


    "A guest already? I just arrived here an hour ago."


    John followed the attendant back to the main lobby of his mansion, at which point he spotted the one who had sought him out.


    "Iris? What do you want?" John asked as he stared at the girl who said she was supposedly his follower.


    "I''vee to discuss those visions I showed you," Iris replied calmly.


    John recalled the visions that Iris had shown him, and thought about it for a moment before he shook his head. He had enough about visions and prophecies for now.


    "No need to exin."

 Chapter 479 - Discussion With Iris

    "No need to exin?" Iris asked, surprise tinging her voice.


    Her actions so far had been quite bizarre, as she had imed John was her master out of nowhere. She had shown him a glimpse of visions, but knew John had no way to verify what those visions meant, or if they were even visions at all.


    Iris hade here expecting to make her case in allowing her to follow John, but John had denied such an opportunity before she even had one.


    "You don''t want an exnation?" Iris replied.


    "Nope," John replied quickly and calmly.


    ''I''ve had enough about visions and prophecies and everything of the sort, and just don''t care about them anymore. Whatever happens in the future happens. Nothing Iris shows me will change my path to the top of this martial world.''


    Iris stood there in silence for a moment, as she had not been expecting such a development.


    "Are you saying you don''t want me following you?" Iris asked after a short while.


    "I honestly don''t really care what you do," John replied, his voice still calm. "I don''t even know you really, so whether you follow me or not doesn''t really affect me. If you want to follow me, you can follow me. If you don''t, then don''t. Just don''t get in my way if you do decide to follow me."


    Iris''s expression quickly brightened upon hearing John''sments, as he was indirectly telling her that following him was alright.


    ''Based on what I know of Iris so far, she apparently has incredibly unique eyes. Such a talent can potentially be useful for me in the future, so until she proves herself to be a detriment to my martial journey, I will allow her to tag along.''


    "You won''t regret this, Master!" Iris replied with a mischievous smile. She emphasized the word master, as she could tell that John did not like to be called that when she had done it before.


    John rolled his eyes at her tone and words, but did not argue against her. Based on her attitude when she had fought Aaron, Iris was a mischievous girl, and John knew she liked causing trouble.


    "Oh yeah, did you hear about this ''Asura?'' Apparently this ''Asura'' is the talk of the continent, although no one knows who it is." Iris suddenly asked as she changed the topic.


    John raised an eyebrow, as Iris should know it was him, but quickly remembered what Thunderzen had told him.


    ''It seems like Iris''s memory of the event was altered as well. That''s probably for the best, and at least I know she''s not following me solely due to seeing me be Asura,'' John mused internally.


    "No, I have not. Now leave me, I have business to take care of," John dismissed Iris.


    "Sending me away already? You''re so cold-hearted," Iris pouted, her eyes growingrge and face bing saddened.


    "Leave," John reiterated, causing Iris to raise an eyebrow in surprise. Her saddened expression quickly disappeared as a contemtive one reced it.


    "Hmmm, that act of mine usually works on men, especially boys my age," Iris mused out loud, before her gaze grew mischievous once more.


    She nodded her head at John''s words and bowed in an over-the-top manner.


    "Then I will be taking my leave, Master!"


    "Hmmm," John mumbled as he turned around and began to walk back into his mansion, before his instincts suddenly kicked in and he raised his left arm next to his head.


    Bang!


    A sweeping kick collided against his arm, causing the mansion to tremble from the might of the collision. John turned his head to look at Iris, who had a look of surprise on her face. Clearly she had not expected John to block the attack.


    He had felt no killing intent or malice in her kick, so he knew she was not trying to injure him.


    Irisnded on the ground after her kick and looked at John while tilting her head to the side. Clearly she had not expected such a thing to happen.


    Bang!


    John''s leg suddenly struck out against Iris''s waist before she could react,unching her into the wall of his mansion. She had seen through his movements but could not react to his leg in time.


    Boom!


    Her body collided with the sturdy wall, causing the entire mansion to tremble and several of the paintings on the wall to fall to the ground.


    A groan of pain escaped Iris''s lips as she struggled back onto her feet while holding her pained waist. Her gaze focused back on John, her face full of defeat.


    "Exin yourself," John said to her, his eyes slightly narrowed.


    "How did you detect my attack? My sneaking arts are unparalleled, and I''ve never failed tond a sneak attack against someone in the same realm as me," Iris grumbled out as she walked back to John.


    "Answer my question," John said to Iris, his tone a bit heavier and his eyes growing colder.


    Iris took a step back as she felt an instinctual wave of fear course through her, as she still remembered John''s malevolent power pressing down on her. A thought crept into her mind upon thinking about that power, but she quickly dismissed such a thought as she clearly recalled the light of the talent testing stepsing from another location, indicating that it had not originated from the sects talent testing steps.


    "I¡­I was trying to get you back for that attack younded on me in the entrance exam," Iris replied, her expression going docile again to tug on John''s heartstrings.


    John thought back to that time, and realized it was when he had transformed before her, and kicked her in the waist after confirming her intentions.


    ''It''s just like Miko,'' John mused as he sighed. ''Miko has a penchant for sneak attacking me, and now Iris as well? Terrific.''


    "Well you failed," John replied, causing Iris to flinch from the painful truth of his words. "I must ask though, have you ever studied assassination arts?"


    "Assassination arts?" Iris replied, slight surprise from the nature of the question. "Not at all."


    "Is that so," John replied as he fell into a state of contemtion. After short while, he gazed back at Iris. "Now, leave."


    "As youmand, Master!" Iris replied with an exaggerated bow, before she turned around and truly left.


    John watched Iris leave this time, his gaze focusing on her back.


    ''That sneak attack of hers almostnded on me, and I was only able to block it at the veryst moment. If she were using a weapon, and it was someone with a weaker body than me, they would have died without realizing it. I hate to admit it, but when ites to sneak and assassination arts, her natural talent is even better than mine. She also has her eye talents as well which could be of use.. Maybe I will have a use for her after all.''

 Chapter 480 - Friends And Wine

    "Ahhhh," John let out a sigh of relief and enjoyment as the hot water flowed over his body. He was lounging in the pool of his mansion, which could heat or cool the water with the formations etched on the bottom of the pool.


    The hot water soaked into his body, relieving his stress and making him feel a rare moment of rxation. John closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again. He took out a document and held it before his face as he read through the contents.


    The document was provided to him by one of the attendants of the house, and provided details regarding the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Things such as building locations, power structures, and ss schedules were contained within.


    "That''s quite nice," John mused as he read the document. "sses are provided by the sect, but are optional to join. The only true requirement of the sect is to earn a certain amount of contribution points a year, which can be earned through missions, tasks, or other methods. I don''t really need to attend sses as my cultivation pathway is quite different from the rest of this world, so I''ll just visit the mission board tomorrow and see what it''s about."


    After reading through the document, John put it back in his spatial realm before his head dipped below the water as he fell into a state of pure rxation.


    Poke!


    After being under the water for several minutes, John felt something poke the top of his head, causing him to surface once more. Water dripped off his face as his eyes focused on one of the attendants standing at the pool''s edge.


    "What is it?" John asked.


    "You have guests, young sir," the attendant replied respectfully.


    "Hmm, more guests?" John mused, before he nodded his head at the attendants words.


    He hopped out of the pool and red his power for a moment, pushing all the water off his body and swimsuit. He quickly donned a fresh robe, before he walked to the front lobby of his mansion.


    In his lobby were Chase and Adam, whose faces lit up in excitement upon seeing John.


    "There you are!" Adam boomed out as he walked over to John. "We''ve been waiting for you for quite some time already, but these attendants of yours wouldn''t let us further into your house," he grumbled.


    "Good, then they''re doing their job keeping the rats out," John replied.


    "What did you call me?" Adam yelled out, while Chase covered his mouth as he tried to stifle hisughter.


    John smiled at Adam''s response, as it was the one he was looking for. "What are you two here for anyways?" John asked, changing the subject.


    Adam''s rage faded away instantly as arge smile appeared on his face. Bottles of wine suddenly appeared in both of his hands as his smile widened.


    "We''re here to celebrate of course, both your recovery, and our sessful entrances into the sect!" Adam eximed.


    Behind him, Chase was holding a basket of assorted food items, as both had clearlye prepared to party. A smile appeared on John''s face as he felt the warmth of friendship, and he gestured for the two to enter.


    "Come on in then, let us party the night away!"


    The three of them ventured into the mansion, and Adam''s eyes swiveled in all directions as he took in the luxuriousness of the mansion.


    "Hey, why the hell is your ce so much nicer than mine?" his voice of protest echoed through the mansion as they ventured deeper into it.


    ¡­


    Groan!


    A groan sounded out as John''s eyes opened up, his vision still blurry and his head pounding. After getting his senses in order, John''s gaze shifted to the rest of the room, which he quickly spotted Chase and Adam lying there, still fast asleep.


    Chase was sleeping one one of the couches in the room they had partied, while Adam''s body was upside down, lying halfway off a different couch.


    Empty bottles of wineyed strewn about, while food leftovers lined the table and floor below. John took in the scene before rubbing his head in painful protest.


    "Just what the hell type of wine did Adam bring?" John grumbled as he picked up an empty bottle and inspected it, before tossing it aside.


    As cultivators grew in power, so did their resistance to the effects of alcohol. As such, alcohol making became more and more of a fine art, as the winemakers employed all sorts of techniques to increase their potency.


    Clearly the bottles Adam had brought had been quite potent, to the point of giving John a hangover. His power red out powerfully as his Qi began to wash away the negative effects of his hangover, and before long he felt back to normal.


    His power re startled both Chase and Adam awake, who groggily came to. They both went through the same steps as John as they recovered from their drunken state.


    "Where did you buy those bottles?" John asked Adam.


    "I didn''t buy them¡­I made them!" Adam replied, his expression prideful.


    "You made it? You made this wine?" John asked, his expression bbergasted.


    "Uh huh," Adam replied with a prideful look, as if he was the world''s finest winemaker.


    "Where did you even find the time to make wine?" John asked Adam.


    "I don''t have time to make it, so I made a series of formations to make it for me," Adam replied, his tone still prideful. "Although it seems as though I still need to work on the potency of the wine."


    "You don''t say," Chase grumbled. "You clearly used the wrong type of grapes for this potency wine. You should have used the Mistdew Grape instead of the Alishil Grape. Its much more mellow and would be perfect for a wine for Meridian Forging Cultivators," Chase exined.


    "You know about winemaking?" Adam asked, slightly surprised.


    "Of course I do, I''m a Pill Dao expert," Chase replied with exasperation.


    Pill Dao experts were usually also the best winemakers, as their professions were closely aligned.


    "Maybe you''re right," Adam replied. "You should help me with my next batch then!"


    "Sure, why not," Chase replied and nodded, as the two began to discuss the wine Adam had made.


    John stared at Adam and Chase for a short moment, before his gaze shifted back to the bottles of wine.


    ''The wine was a bit too strong, but it wasn''t bad at all. It seems like he does have talent in quite a few areas. With Chase''s help, they might be able to make some impressive wine.''


    Wine making was an incredibly respected art, and the most revered winemakers were some of the most respected people in the entire world. Their bottles sold for inordinate amounts, and as such they were some of the richest people around.


    "Well, get better and maybe you can make some good money selling the bottles," John said to Adam and Chase.


    "That''s the n!" Adam replied with a smile.


    The three of them cleaned up the room and the mess they had made, before Chase and Adam bid John farewell.


    "We''ll all meet in a week when the Thunder-Realm opens," Adam eximed with excitement, before he sped off down the mountain, Chase following behind.


    John watched them leave, before his focus shifted to other things.


    "Six days until the Thunder-Realm opens. I might as well check out the mission board and see if there''s anything for me to do before it opens."


    With this n in mind, John sped down the mountain and towards the center of the sect, where the mission hall and mission board was, ready to tackle his first official mission for the main Heavenly Lightning Sect.

 Chapter 481 - Mission Hall

    The Mission Hall was an averaged size building with five floors. The entrance to the building was quiterge at over a dozen yards wide, allowing for maximum foot traffic.


    Upon arriving at the Mission Hall, John spotted a bustling crowd of both disciples and Elders entering and leaving. Hundreds streamed in and out by the minute, showing just how popr the Mission Hall was.


    John gazed at the building for a moment before he entered it, upon which a buzzing atmosphere filled his ears. The sounds of disciples excitedly discussing missions with their peers and Elders exining missions filled the interior. It was incredible lively inside, and it was only the first floor.


    The first floor had missions for those below the Heaven Tribtion Realm, while the floors above focused on harder missions. Upon thinking about the mission difficulty and payout for a moment, John strode towards the back of the first floor, which was where the staircase to the next floor resided.


    He reached the steps and proceeded upward without any hassle, slightly surprising him.


    ''Hmm, I figured there would be an Elder stopping those below the Heaven Tribtion Realm from entering. I guess not.''


    John arrived on the next floor, and while the atmosphere was slightly less lively due to less disciples being on the floor, it was still quite boisterous. The floor was rather simple, and seemed to be divided into two sections.


    To his left was a massive mission board over a dozen yards tall and wide, upon which thousands of missions were posted. To his right were dozens of tables with an Elder seated behind each table. Short lines were formed at each table as those who hadpleted their missions gathered to hand them in and im their rewards.


    John inspected the other disciples on the floor, as it was his first good look at the older disciples of the sect.


    ''ording to what Thunderzen said, the oldest disciples of the sect are twenty one, at which point they graduate to other roles within the sect. Hmmm, the highest cultivation I see here from a disciple is middle Heaven Tribtion Realm. I wonder if there are any disciples with higher cultivations?''


    John inspected the other disciples for a moment before he strode forward towards the mission board on his left. His appearance caught the attention of a few other disciples, who noted his low Meridian Forging cultivation.


    However, they did not disparage him, and instead ignored him as they focused on their own tasks.


    John nodded his head in silent approval at the actions of the other disciples.


    ''I had half-expected the other disciples to mock me and ask if I was lost, but it seems as though this sect has raised level-headed disciples who focus on themselves more than others. As expected of Thunderzen, but I wonder how someone like Thunderfist was able to aplish such a thing¡­''


    When John thought of Thunderfist, he was slightly perplexed as to how someone as unique as him was able to run a sect asrge as this one. However, such matters did not concern him, and so he pushed such thoughts aside as he arrived before the mission board.


    Thousands of missions were posted, ranging from missions that a half-step Heaven Tribtion expert could aplish, to those that would challenge even the strongest of Peak Heaven Tribtion cultivators.


    John considered taking one of the more difficult missions for a moment, before he decided against such an idea.


    ''Taking a harder mission might pay more contribution points, but that will also take me longer to aplish, and I only have six days until the Thunder Realm opens. I should take an easier beast ying job, so I can add some beast blood essence to my reserves before I enter that realm. Besides, aplishing a peak Heaven Tribtion mission as a Meridian Forging expert is far too eye catching, and may cause some questions to arise about me.''


    John knew he had to remain low profile for the meantime, at least until he raised his strength to a level that he could protect himself at all times.


    A slight sigh escaped his lips upon thinking about his temporary lifestyle ofying low as he reached out and grabbed a mission slip from the board.


    ''Mission: A pack of ten Early Heaven Tribtion beasts have been terrorizing a small vige located six hundred miles east and killing livestock and vigers. Beast type is currently unknown. Kill these beasts and bring back their heads as proof.


    Reward: One Thousand Contribution Points''


    John read over the missions briefly before he decided to choose the beast ying one.


    ''This one will work. I can travel six hundred miles in a few hours, and the difficulty seems rather easy, so I''ll go with this.''


    John stored the mission slip in his spatial ring, removing it from the active mission pool. He quickly left the mission hall and returned to his house to gather resources for the trip, before he ventured out.


    Flying was prohibited inside the sect unless one was an Elder, and so John walked a few dozen miles to the entrance of the sect. The beautiful scenery of the sect passed him by slowly as John took in the flowers, crystal blue streams, elegant bridges, and grandiose buildings, before he eventually arrived at the front gate of the sect.


    The gate was several hundred yards tall, and several dozen yards wide. Guards were stationed on both sides of the gate to inspect all who entered, while those who left could do so freely.


    John walked out of the gates and nced at the long line formed to enter the sect. The line was over a mile long, and seemed to consist of traders and travelers looking to enter the sect for business purposes.


    Boom!


    Free from the flight restrictions, John pressed off the ground and shot into the sky.. His body sailed rapidly through the air as he flew towards his distant mission location.

 Chapter 482 - Traversing The River

    Whoosh!


    The air parted rapidly as John flew through thends of the Divine Martial Continent, his first such trip alone. John took the mission not only to burn some time before the Thunder Realm, but also learn a bit more about the Divine Martial Continent.


    ''ording to the general sect information I read, thend for several thousand miles around the sect has been cleared of the very strong and aggressive beast threats, although some remain. The strongest seem to be in the Dao Transformation Realm, but are docile enough that if left alone will not attack cultivators unless provoked. As such, I should be rtively safe on this trip, but I shouldn''t lower my guard.''


    With his cultivation firmly in the Meridian Forging Realm, John was able to fly at hundreds of miles per hour, and his body carved a quick path through the air. The ground sailed by below him, as John took in all the sights.


    Hundreds of smaller cities, viges, and sects dotted thendscape, nestled in the valleys between mountains, sprawled across vast expansive ins, and lined therge rivers that meandered through thend.


    It was much more vibrant and alive than the Yuan Continent in terms of poption, and it was quite umon for John to go a long stretch without seeing some sort of city.


    The first hundred miles of his journey was incredibly uneventful, as it was also the safest area being so close to the sect. John''s journey followed a massive river that meandered through thend, upon which the vige he was heading to was located.


    He spotted thousands of other cultivators flying through the air in all directions, either by their own power, or on the backs of beasts.


    The river was several miles wide, and his divine sense was unable to pierce down to the bottom, revealing how deep it was. The river itself was brown, obscuring his vision as to what lurked within.


    Ssh!


    While flying above the river, arge ssh appeared before John, catching his attention. A fish jumped out of the river, itsrge body over ten yards long. John''s eyes lit up upon seeing this fish, as he could tell that it was Meridian Forging realm fish, and would most likely be incredibly tasty.


    His scythe appeared in his hands as he sped forward, and shed out towards the fish with the intention of bisecting it in half.


    Boom!


    While the fish was in the air, another ssh, far more explosive than the one caused by the first fish rocked the waters. John stopped just before he reached the fish as a massive creature violently surfaced from the water. It looked simr to a fish, but hadrge tentaclesing out from its head, like a lion''s mane but made of tentacles.? Just the head of the creature was thirty yards wide and long, shocking John greatly.


    The tentacles grabbed the fish and forced it down its mouth as it swallowed the creature whole.


    John quickly retreated as he watched the bizarre creature fall back below the waters, its body disappearingpletely from sight. The river returned to its normal calm incredibly quickly, as if nothing had happened.


    However, a nervous bead of sweat formed on John''s temple as he backed away from the river''s surface, and hovered over the riverbank instead.


    "That was a Dao Transformation creature and must have been over a hundred yards long¡­.if I had been caught up in its mouth, I would have been swallowed whole along with the fish. Who knows if I would be able to survive such a thing."


    John shook his head at himself after a moment of silence, as he had truly been too bold in his actions. This new continent was incredibly powerful, and although the bizarre creature was not something that attacked humans, his life may have been lost regardless if he had been a bit more unlucky.


    "I suppose I need to be a bit more careful while still being so weak, as a creature that strong could kill me without even meaning to. This continent truly is far above the Yuan Continent.''


    A Dao Transformation beast was practically unheard of on the Yuan Continent, yet one had already popped up before John just hours after he left the safety of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. It truly was a night and day difference.


    After such a close encounter with death, John decided to travel on the safer side. He hugged the riverbank instead of flying directly over the river, as he could easily see whatid in wait outside the river, while the murky river itself obscured the dangers below.


    After changing his approach, the rest of his journey was rather uneventful. John asionally spotted Heaven Tribtion realm beasts in the forests lining the river, as well as on the riverbank itself.


    However, those beasts were quite docile, and ignored himpletely as most basked in the warm sunlight.


    As he travelled along the riverside, John came across dozens and dozens of cities that sprawled next to the river. The cities were quite massive, eachrger than thergest cities on the Yuan Continent.


    Most of the cities seemed to be port cities, focused on trading and business. However, each city seemed to contain at least one sect, which not only bolstered the strength of the city, but also served as protection from the local wildlife, as well as bandits.


    None of the sects were as powerful as the Heavenly Lightning Sect, which was a hegemon within the surrounding ten thousand miles.


    Ships travelled on the river to the ports of each city, slightly surprising John after experiencing the dangers of the river. However, he could feel powerful formation fluctuations emanating from the ships, revealing that they most likely had some sort of protection against the river''s dangers.


    The sun started to set over the horizon as John finally arrived at his destination, which bathed the area in a red tinge which was fading by the second.. Flying several hundred yards above the ground, John spotted the vige below, which rested alongside the river.

 Chapter 483 - Familiar Foe

    The vige was quite small, containing only several hundred buildings. The forests for tens of miles around the vige had been cleared out as farnd reced it. Clearly the vige focused on foodstuffs, and not on cultivation-based aspects.


    The vige relied on the local powers surrounding it for protection, as it focused on growing food and feeding themselves and the surrounding powers.


    "Now that I''m here, how should I go about finding these beasts?" John mused as he watched the townsfolk meander through the vige below, going about theirst duties for the day before retiring to bed. The strongest of the vigers seemed to be in the Meridian Forging Realm, which was an Elderly man. The rest seemed to be in the Core Formation and Qi Condensation realm, and were most likely in those realms from passively cultivating the high-density Qi of the Divine Martial Continent.


    ''Makes sense as to why they need help with Heaven Tribtion Grade beasts. I suppose even on a continent as powerful as this, not everyone strives for absolute power.''


    Upon inspecting the vige, John descended andnded in the vige square. His arrival caught the attention of those nearby, who jumped in fright at his sudden arrival. However, they seemed to breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing it was a human.


    A small buzz broke out, and the Elderly man who John had spotted from high above soon arrived in the vige square, along with dozens of other vigers of all ages. He inspected John for a brief moment, before his wizened voice spoke out to him.


    "Who are you? What brings you to our vige?" the man asked, his voice raspy with age. However, there was also a sense of wariness in his voice, as he did not recognize John''s robes. John was still wearing his ck and red War Hall robes, which were different from the robes worn by most Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples.


    "I''m a disciple from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and I''m here to assist with the mission your vige posted," John replied, his voice calm and respectful.


    The Elder, as well as those gathered around him fell silent for a moment, before the Elder spoke up once again.


    "How the hell are you supposed to help with the beasts?" the Elder raged, clearly frustrated by the situation. "We''ve had this mission posted for months and in the meantime have lost months worth of crops and livestock, and even several vigers as well, and when it''s finally answered, it''s taken up by a boy who has barely started to grow hair? Preposterous!"


    John remained calm as he listened to the Elder rage, as he could understand where the man wasing from. From what he could tell, John was even lower cultivation than him, and despite being from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, was not strong enough to help with their problem.


    "Ahhhhh!"


    A fearful cry suddenly echoed out in the distance, catching the attention of all in the vige.


    "The beasts, they''re back!" the voice sounded out, causing the vige to erupt into a panic.


    "Retreat! Retreat to the safehouse!" the Elderly man instructed with a booming voice as he turned around with the other fleeing vigers. The vigers were all retreating towards thergest building in the vige square, and a brief inspection from John revealed that the building had some simple formations surrounding it to provide it some protection.


    Upon retreating, the Elderly man suddenly stopped and turned around to look at John.


    "Come now boy, follow us into the safehouse. You''ll be safe from the beasts there!"


    John raised an eyebrow at the Elder''s actions, as despite his frustrations, he still extended protection to John despite him being a stranger. Clearly the Elder was a good man at heart, despite his earlier rage.


    "Thanks, but no need," John smiled as he thanked the Elder.


    "No need? Boy, you''re not thinking of fighting those beasts are you? They''re far too strong for you to hand-"


    Roar!


    The roar of the creatures sounded out as they approached the vige square. Hesitation appeared on the Elder''s face for a moment before he grit his teeth and turned around.


    "Fine, but your death is no longer on my hands," the Elder cursed before he fled towards the safehouse. The vigers all rushed into the building, upon which point the Elder began to m the door shut once he confirmed that everyone had entered.


    Boom!


    The door closed loudly, shaking the building for a moment before silence descended on the area. The vigers all gathered at the windows that overlooked the vige square, and focused on the lone youth standing calmly within.


    Awooooo!


    Loud howls sounded out as ck shadows started to appear in the vige square. Their eyes were the only thing visible as they reflected the firelight from the vige. Their presence seemed to dim the surrounding light, as if they were the night itself. John raised his eyebrows slightly at this ability, as he had never seen such a thing.


    A knowing smile appeared on John''s face as he fell into a state of nostalgia.


    "Night Wolves huh? Just like the one I ughtered all those years ago, only much stronger. I guess everything truly is stronger on the Divine Martial Continent," John mused out loud as his scythe appeared in his hands. "I always wondered why they had such a name, but it seems as though when they get strong enough, they have an innate ability to turn the areas surrounding them dark, as if they control the night."


    The wolves were three yards tall, six yards long, and towered almost as tall as the small vige buildings. Their fur was pitch ck, helping them blend into the night almost unseen, while their bared fangs glimmered under the fresh moonlight. A total of eleven of them appeared as they growled at John, each in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    The vigers watched in rapt attention as they looked upon the vige square. In the darkness of night and the wolves ability, they could only see the glow of eleven sets of eyes, as well as the slight glimmer of John''s scythe.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Sparks between the collision of scythe, ws and teeth asionally but briefly illuminated the area, revealing short scenes of the battle taking ce between John and the wolves as their battle erupted in the vige square.

 Chapter 484 - Lightning Cage

    John''s scythe sliced outwards towards one of the wolves. It bared its teeth and bit out at his scythe, resulting in a series of sparks being thrown out.


    ''Wow, those fangs are hard enough to block my pseudo¨CHeaven Tribtion grade scythe? Impressive.''


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    John''s scythe twirled in an endless flowing fashion as he utilized the scythe arts learned from the ancient battlefield to the best of his abilities. The wolves lunged out at him continuously, using both ws and fangs to attack him.


    The innate ability that the wolves used to instill darkness on the area also seemed to slightly warp divine senses, which was a strange feeling to John. This was one of the most blinded fights he had ever been in, and was relying purely on instinct and quick reactions to fight against the wolves. With his current level of power being used, he found himself in a stalemate against the wolves, as his scythe was mostly used defensively at the moment.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    The shing of ws and scythe continued to right continuously as John through of his next moves.


    ''I could use my asura transformation to easily overwhelm these wolves, but much like in the Bloodfiend Sect, I need to get used to fighting without using it. Thankfully the Supreme Battle Sect gave me the upgraded version of their battle art, so that should be enough to take these wolves down.''


    John''s essence cultivation was only at the Middle Meridian Forging Realm at the moment, while his body was at the Late Meridian Forging Realm. Even with the higher Qi of the Divine Martial Continent, it would take quite some time for his essence dantian to advance just based on how fast he had advanced it over thest few months.


    He needed time to stabilize his foundation, and ensure he did not break through again too early. While there were no ws present, some could potentially arise if he did not take caution.


    Not only that, but for the first time in a long time, John could feel a bottleneck on his essence cultivation. He had not fought a single time after breaking through to the Middle Meridian Forging Realm, other than the ''fights'' in the entrance exam. However, those were not fights that could increase hisprehension of his realm, as his opponents had been far too weak.


    As such, John needed fights like his current one to push his essenceprehension to the next level.


    ''I can easily hold my own against these Night Wolves with only my essence cultivation, but killing them will be quite challenging. I''ll fight as long as possible using only my essence cultivation, before killing them with mybined power at the end.''


    Bang!


    John''s scythe struck upon the side of a wolf, causing a small wound to form. The wolf was knocked several dozen yards away into the nearest building, which destroyed the buildingpletely.


    John stopped in his tracks as he stared at this, before a slightly guilty look appeared on his face.


    ''Ooops. I should take this fight away from here so as to not destroy the entire vige.''


    John''s body instantly blurred as he sped away, while the wolves chased after him immediately. The vige square that had been inundated with violent collisions from the fight turned silent.


    "Where did he go?" one of the vigers cried out as she stared through the window of the safehouse.


    "Who knows? It''s already a miracle he was able to hold on that long. He probably fled for his life," another replied.


    "Whatever the case, the boy has saved us from another assault, at least for now. We can only hope that he makes it out alive," the elderly manmented, causing all those within the safehouse to fall into silence.


    ¡­


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Continuous sharp sounds rang out as John dashed away from the vige, all while parrying the constant attacks of the Night Wolves. They had clearly determined him to be the greatest threat, and were intent on eliminating him.


    Upon speeding away for quite some time, John arrived in arge open field and stopped running.


    ''This should be far enough away.''


    Lightning Qi channeled within his essence dantian as he suddenly activated his Heavenly Lightning Domain.


    Over a hundred lightning nodes sprung up in all locations around him, some almost on him, while others were hundreds of yards away. However, John only focused on activating the farthest way nodes, sending lightning from one node to the next, forming a barrier. With the increase in the amount of nodes from ascending to the Meridian Forging Realm, such a thing finally became possible.


    It was the first time he had done such a thing, and found today''s fight the perfect opportunity to test it.


    Lightning started crashing out of the lightning nodes continuously, making it look like a spiderweb of lightning was surrounding him.


    Before the wolves would react, they found themselves trapped within this lightning cage.


    Awooooo!


    One of the wolves howled at the sight before it dashed towards the lightning cage.


    Bang!


    The wolf crashed against the lightning and its body rebounded back, unable to pierce through the lightning cage. A small smile appeared on John''s face, before his smirk vanished.


    Bang!


    A ck beam pierced out of the wolf''s mouth, like a beam of darkness. It contained incredible power, and it mmed against several of the lightning chains that had formed.


    Boom!


    An explosion of Qi radiated outwards after the collision, and a small gap in John''s lightning cage formed. The wolf quickly slipped out of the cage before John could react. The wolf dashed off into the distance, leaving the others behind.


    "Shit!" John cursed as he saw this. He wanted to dash forward and trap the wolf once again, but the other ten wolves started their assault on him once more, stopping him from doing so.


    John realized his cage was too weak with just oneyer of lightning, and quickly created a secondyer to his lightning cage. The secondyer doubled the amount of Qi required to operate the lightning cage, but John''s twenty timespressed dantian was showing its true value at the moment.


    Even with such a technique employed, John didn''t feel any strain on his essence Qi reserves. His essence dantian continued to pump out Qi ceaselessly, as if it was an unlimited reservoir of Qi. A smile crept up on John''s face as he dashed forward towards the wolf closest to him.


    Peng!


    Bang!


    Peng!


    Bang!


    The metallic sound of scythe colliding against fangs and ws continued to ring out once again, while the explosive sound of lightning node attacks boomed out. The wolves tried to pierce through John''s lightning cage as the first had done, but found going through twoyers too difficult.


    Upon realizing this, the wolves discarded running from the cage, and fought John head on with all their strength.


    ws swiped out as his head, intent on crushing his head, whilerge sharp fangs bit out, trying to bite him in half.


    John''s body and scythe twirled around in endless circles as he fought all of the wolves at once. The wolves would lunge forward as they spotted a gap, but would find his scythe there the moment their attack arrived.


    Like this, an endless dance between man and beast carried on, as John slowly but surely felt hisprehension of his essence Qi rise, and his proficiency in scythe arts climb.


    It was truly the perfectbat opportunity he required at the moment.

 Chapter 485 - Two Against Ten

    Che!


    A w attack pierced through John''s defenses, slicing into his flesh and causing a small wound to form. However, John ignored the wound and continued his ceaseless scythe movement, as if nothing could stop it.


    If he attempted to fight the wolves like this with his great axe, the weight of the weapon would make his attacks too slow, and he would quickly be overwhelmed by attacks. However, the scythe''s lower weight allowed him to attack with absolute speed and precision, forming a perfect defense againstrger numbers.


    The battle continued for over half an hour, as wounds began to pile up on both John and the wolves. The wolves asionally spat out their powerful beams of dark Qi at John, which made even his hair raise on end. However, his incredibly durable body withstood any ncing attack thatnded on it, keeping his fighting strength at maximum.


    His speed and reflexes ensured that even when overwhelmed by numbers, no attack was able tond directly on him.


    His body blurred back and forth, dodging such attacks while he continued his defensive assault.


    Tremble!


    A familiar tremble suddenly appeared in John''s soul, causing him to be slightly surprised.


    "Are you sure you want to join? These wolves are quite strong!" John called out in his soul while he continued to fight against the beasts?


    sh!


    Not waiting to answer his question, light shed as Kirii suddenly appeared before John. The wolves suddenly dashed back, surprised by the neer. Their piercing yellow eyes all focused on the neer, assessing if it was a threat or not.


    Kirii stood before John, muchrger than when they had first met. Kirii''s body stood as tall as John''s shoulders, while it was over three yards long as well. It had assumed its disguise once more, as it knew it wouldn''t be seen in its true form unless John gave it the clearance to do so.


    John reached out and patted Kirii on his back as Kirii red back at the wolves, its beastly instincts ignited by the challenge of the wolves.


    "Alright then buddy, let''s do this together," John said to Kirii with a smile as he allowed Kirii to join his fight. Although he did not need Kirii''s help in this fight, he realized it was a good opportunity for Kirii to get ustomed to its new power, as it had been in a slumber for thest few months.


    The wolves bared their fangs at Kirii, as their instincts told them it was a dangerous foe.


    sh!


    Kirii suddenly shot forward, blue lightning trailing behind it as it used some sort of lightning based movement technique to shoot forward rapidly. John stared in speechless shock as Kirii appeared before one of the wolves in an instant and lowered its head.


    The sharp horns on Kiriis head mmed into the waist of the wolf, skewering it in an instant. Powerful lightning suddenly red outwards from Kirii''s horns, which caused the wolfs body to explode from within.


    Just like that, a wolf had already died, something John hadn''t even aplished yet. Although he was fighting the wolves for training and not to kill, killing a wolf as fast as Kirii had just done would have been quite challenging.


    Not only that, but the speed at which Kirii had just moved shocked John to his core. It was far faster than any speed he himself could muster, even with his unlocked Limiters of Speed.


    "I guess the fables of the Lightning Kirin being one of the fastest beasts in existence is true," John mumbled in a daze as he watched Kirii dash towards another wolf. The myths of the Kirins speed were legendary, and John witnessed first hand how correct those myths were.


    Kirii was just a Half-Step Heaven Tribtion beast, and yet its speed was so great that even an Early Heaven Tribtion Night Wolf, which had great speed itself, could not react in time. The battle prowess of the legendary Kirin truly was incredible, on par with that of the dragons.


    The wolves became aware of Kirii''s speed, and their wariness rose instantly. As soon as Kirii dashed towards one, it would dash away while the others converged on Kirii. John watched from the side as Kirii started to dash like a blur of lightning all over the ce within his lighting cage, as the battle between beastsmenced.


    John suddenly sped forward and activated his Limiter of Speed and Thundersh Steps while shing out his scythe.


    Peng!


    His scythe collided against the w of one of the wolves that was just about to attack Kirii from behind. The wolf was knocked back as Johnnded next to Kirii, who pushed to assess the situation for a moment.


    "You can''t just blindly attack these wolves, buddy," John said to Kirri as he shed out his scythe once again. "When surrounded like this, you need to focus on defense, and onlysh out when an opportunity arises. Use your speed to outmaneuver your opponents. Don''t just blindly lock onto one target and forget about the others. Understand?"


    While Kirii didn''t understand John''s words, it would read his feelings and overall thoughts. Kirii bellowed out in understanding as it nudged his head against John''s chest for a moment, before it dashed forward once more.


    Unlike before when it had locked onto one of the wolves, Kiri nowi dashed around the battlefield in an unpredictable manner, creating openings with its immense speed while focusing on dodging the wolves attacks.


    John nodded his head in an approving manner as he shed out his scythe at an oing wolf, as the battlemenced in full once again.


    Several minutester, the lightning cage faded, revealing the scene of carnage within. Then wolvesid on the destroyed ground where the battle had taken ce, their corpses blooded and some cleaved in two.


    John''s eyes scanned the battlefield as he looked for any remaining signs of life, before his scythe was put away. Kirii walked up beside John, several shallow wounds on his hind legs. Clearly he had not been able to dodge all the attacks, although none of them were serious.


    "Not bad for your first fight in a year!" John praised Kirii, who nuzzled its head against his chest. John smiled as he patted Kirii''s head for a moment, before his eyes widened slightly and he pushed Kirii away with all his might.


    Boom!


    A powerful beam of ck light mmed into the ground between where Kirii and John were, sending both of them flying away from the force of the explosion.


    John''s gaze snapped towards Kirii, who was stabilizing himself as well. No visible wounds from the attack were on Kirii, causing John to breathe a sigh of relief before his gaze snapped to the nearby hilltop where the attack hade from.


    His eyes narrowed as he stared at the wolf that had escaped his lightning cage, which was standing next to arger Night Wolf. The Night Wolf gazed down at John with rage as it surveyed the scene of its fallen brethren.


    " A Middle Heaven Tribtion Night Wolf has shown up huh? Seems like this is the boss of the group. Now we''re talking!"

 Chapter 486 - Returning To The Sect

    John''s excited gaze stared at the beast, while the beast stared back. This new foe of his was incredibly strong, and John knew he could not rely solely on his essence Qi to beat it.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    Limiter of Power!


    John instantly activated two of his body strengthening techniques, pushing hisbat prowess to his strongest state without using his asura transformation or bloodline ability.


    Without waiting, John shot towards the beast, Kirii following closely behind. Lightning flickered along his body as his scythe shed out towards the beast.


    ¡­


    "Do you think its safe to go outside?" one of the vigers asked.


    They had heard an incrediblemotion take ce in the far distance, and assumed that it was most likely between John and the wolves. Themotion hadsted for over half an hour before a brief silence, at which point another half an hourmotion broke out.


    Silence once again descended upon thend, this timesting for quite a bit longer.


    "We stay put until sunrise as always," the elderly man instructed.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Two loud noises suddenly sounded out from the front door of the safehouse, startling everyone inside. Some hysterical vigers started crying out in fear, while the elderly man did his best to calm them down.


    "Do not fear," the man called out. "The beasts cannot breach this safehouse."


    "Open up, the coast is clear," a voice suddenly sounded out from the other side of the door, startling all those within.


    "Who...is that the boy?" a startled voice called out.


    "No way¡­he''s either long gone or dead. He can''t have beaten those wolves," another viger replied.


    "Silence," the elderly manmanded, causing the room to fall into silence. The elderly man walked towards the door and opened a smalltch, revealing the other side of the door. His eyes locked onto John''s, and a surprised look appeared on his face.


    "You! You''re alright," the elderly man eximed. "What happened. Did those wolves leave?"


    "Leave? No, they''re all dead," John replied calmly.


    The elderly man was just about to question Johns'' words, when suddenly John raised one of the wolf''s severed heads in front of the opening.


    The elderly man nearly jumped backwards in fright, before he quickly realized that the usually menacing eyes of the wolf were now zed over. He shifted forward to get a better look, and noticed that it was truly the head of the wolf.


    After a moment of hesitation, the Elderly man utched the door, causing the other vigers in the room to be startled. They never opened the door while it was still dark.


    The door creaked open, revealing John standing there with the wolf head in his hands. A smile lingered on his face as he stared at the vigers.


    "I killed twelve of them. I''m not sure if there are any more, but none showed up. You should be safe for a while at least," John said to the group.


    The group was initially doubtful, but quickly realized John was telling the truth. A celebratory cry erupted within the safehouse as the vigers started crying and hugging each other, as their nights of terror were finally over.


    John smiled again slightly upon seeing this, before he tossed one of the wolf''s corpses towards the man.


    "Here, take this and mount its head somewhere. That should keep the other beasts away for a while at least," John instructed. He had already removed the wolf''s blood essence, and no longer had any use for the head.


    While he could sell it for some money, he was notcking for money. Not only that, but he had eleven more heads, while the mission only required ten heads.


    John turned around to leave, when the elderly man called out to him.


    "Wait a moment young man," the man called out, causing John to turn around once more. "I must apologize for my earlier behavior. Despite my anger directed at you, you still chose to help us. I must humbly thank you. I must apologize that we are poor, and do not have anything to give you as payment."


    The man bowed slightly as he showed John true sincerity. John remained calm as he looked at the man, as he didn''t care about gratitude or rewards.


    "I would have killed the wolves regardless, as I''m getting a reward forpleting this mission. Your anger or payments are of no concern to me."


    After saying this, John turned around and took to the sky. His body instantly blended into the darkness of night as he sped off in a different direction.


    ¡­


    The sun began to crest over the nearby mountains, illuminating the Heavenly Lightning Sect in its morning glow.


    Bang!


    Johnnded in front of the Heavenly Lightning Sect gates, his body covered in dirt and blood. It had already been six days since he set out toplete his mission.


    After finishing his assigned mission, he had aimlessly wandered about the nearbynd, searching for other Heaven Tribtion realm beasts to fight against. He had found many such battles, which slowly but surely helped hisprehensions towards his essence Qi.


    "Whew," John sighed as he finally arrived safely back at the sect. "Some of those beasts were almost more than I could handle."


    Several shallow wounds that were slowly healing up were visible on his skin as John strode towards the gate of the sect. He walked past the long line that had already formed and headed towards the open gates.


    "Halt!" one of the guards instructed as they saw the dirtied John approach.


    John was initially shocked at such a greeting, as disciples of the sect were allowed free passage in, but quickly remembered the state of his appearance. Not only did he look like a homeless beggar, but he was also wearing robes of a different color than the normal sect colors.


    Between his fighting and traveling back to the sect, he had no time to clean himself.


    John quickly took out his identification badge and handed it to the guard, which inspected it briefly with an odd look on his face before he handed it back to John. Clearly, he had not expected such a development.


    "You may enter," the guard instructed, who John thanked before entering the sect. Upon entering the sect, John sped towards his mansion and quickly washed the grime off his body. After scrubbing himself clean, he donned a new set of robes before he set off towards the Mission Hall.


    He arrived there a whileter and was greeted by the usual boisterous atmosphere of the hall. He quickly entered the building and climbed to the second floor, before he arrived before one of the mission hall tables.


    A female Elder who appeared to be in her thirties sat behind the table as she perused various documents. John''s arrival caught her attention, and she looked up at him. Her gaze turned slightly confused as she noticed John''s Meridian Forging cultivation.


    "Yes?" the Elder inquired as to what he wanted.


    "I''m here to hand in a mission," John replied, causing the Elder''s face to be even more odd.


    "This is the desk for Heaven Tribtion grade missions. The Meridian Forging grade missions are downstairs," the Elder instructed before gazing back at her documents.


    "I know where I am," John replied calmly as he took out the mission page.


    Heid it on the ground, which the Elder quickly picked up and read over. Before she could speak out, a soft thud sounded out, catching her attention.


    A spatial ring appeared on the table before her, which after a moment of pause she reached out and inspected. Her face lit up in slight surprise as she inspected the heads of the eleven wolves within. She quickly noticed the blood essence missing but did notment on that as the mission was to kill the wolves, not bring them back intact.


    "Did you do this yourself- Ah, it doesn''t matter. Give me your identification badge," the Elder instructed John. The mission didn''t rify that he had to kill them personally, only that the wolves be killed.


    The Elder assumed that John employed the help of someone stronger to kill the wolves, which the sect did not disallow. Missions such as the one John had taken were to protect the people of thend and didn''t really care how such a thing was aplished.


    John took out his badge and handed to her, which the Elder grabbed for a brief moment before handing it back. John sent his divine sense into the badge, and quickly realized it contained new information.


    There was now a record of the badge containing a thousand contribution points. A smile appeared on his face as he thanked the woman, before he quickly left the building. As he stepped out of the building, a thunderous voice suddenly boomed out over the sect, which John recognized as Sect Leader Thunderfist.


    "All disciples who wish to enter the Thunder Realm should gather at the top of Thunderrealm Mountain before midday."


    His voice ended after his short instructions, and John''s face lit up slightly.. The time to enter the Thunder Realm and find the lightning treasures he needed had arrived.

 Chapter 487 - Thunder Realm Portal

    The announcement sent the sect into an expected frenzy of excitement, as disciples started to flock over to Thundderrealm Mountain in droves. Thunderrealm Mountain was located roughly eight miles from the sect center, and was a rtively isted mountain.


    It stood around ten thousand yards tall, and was covered in lush forests at the base which eventually turned into a snowyndscape. The top of the mountain was fully snowcapped, and seemed to have been ttened down by some unnatural force.


    After hearing the announcement, John himself also meandered over towards the mountain. As there was no rush, he took his time walking through the sect and exploring new areas he had never visited.


    After an hour of meandering, John found himself at the base of the mountain, in which thousands of disciples were streaming to every minute. There was arge winding pathway of steps that circled around the mountain, which eventually led to the peak.


    John joined the other disciples, and used the steps to get to the top of the mountain. An absolutely excited and anxious atmosphere buzzed through the other disciples, who were fervently discussing the realm.


    "I can''t wait to go back inside," one of the disciples nearby John eximed.


    "I know," another replied with much enthusiasm. "When I enteredst year, I hardly obtained any opportunities. Hopefully my increase in strength will make this time more fruitful."


    Both disciples were in the Half-Step Heaven tribtion realm, and were clearly second year disciples. John heard many simr sentiments amongst the other disciples as he climbed up the steps.


    ''It seems as though opportunities do note easily in this realm, which is good I suppose. If they were easy to obtain, I''m sure all of them would have been snatched by now.''


    The climb up the mountain took quite some time as it was done by foot, but John eventually arrived there half an hourter. He reached the top of the mountain, and the sight of tens of thousands of disciples came into view.


    Clearly most had already gathered ahead of time, and he was one of thest disciples to show up. His vision swept across therge group of disciples as he took in their appearances, ages, and cultivation levels. He tried to spot Adam and Chase, but they were lost in the sea of tens of thousands of disciples.


    ''Half-Step Heaven Tribtion. Early Heaven Tribtion¡­only a handful of Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivators. In fact, it''s the highest cultivation I see here.''


    John fell into a deep contemtion upon scanning the cultivation levels of the other disciples. The handful of Middle Heaven Tribtion disciples all seemed to be fourth year disciples, and were roughly twenty one years of age. They each emanated incredible power, and at his current level of strength, John was unsure if he would win against them or not.


    ''Clearly the geniuses of the Divine Marital Continent are much stronger than those back on the Yuan Continent, not just in cultivation level, but also inbat prowess.''


    Based on what he could tell from their naturally emanating aura, John wouldn''t be surprised if these geniuses were able to jump a minor realm against those from the Yuan Continent. He was almost certain that the Middle Heaven Tribtion disciples would be able to hold their own against Late Heaven Tribtion Elders of the Yuan Continent, which surprised him slightly.


    ''I suppose I''ll need to reassess just how many realms I can jump in thisnd. I used to be able to jump an entire major realm before, which is equivalent to four minor realms. However, I might only be able to jump three minor realms in thisnd. With that in mind, these Middle Heaven Tribtion geniuses are probably an even match for me at the moment.''


    While thebat prowesses of the disciples before him was shocking, it was not the thing that surprised him the most. The most surprising thing to John was their cultivation levels, as he expected them to be a bit higher than what he was seeing.


    ''I assumed that the most talented fourth years would be in the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm, but it appears as though I was mistaken. Is the gap between our cultivation techniques truly so great?''


    John cultivated the Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique that Celestial Soulrend had given him, which allowed his cultivation speed to be incredibly quick. It was one of the primary reasons that he had been able to catch up to his peers so quickly, despite being so far behind in cultivation at the beginning.


    When he had joined the Heavenly Lightning Sect, he had been allowed to study the main cultivation technique of the sect. However, upon inspecting it at the time, he had found it incrediblycking whenpared to his own technique.


    Although he had not yet reached the Heaven Tribtion Realm, John was able to tell that his cultivation speed would be faster than these youths.


    ''At my current rate of cultivation, I''ll probably reach the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm in a year or so, three years before these youths. It''s most likely only a matter of time before I blow past them cultivation wise, and the gap will most likely only keep growing¡­.if only I could teach this cultivation technique to others.''


    Although he knew how to use the Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique, John did not know how to teach it to others. The technique was imprinted on his mind by Celestial Soulrend, and John''s understanding of it was not great enough to impart the knowledge onto others.


    If he could impart such a cultivation technique to the rest of the sect, it would most likely only be a matter of time until the Heavenly Lightning Sect dominated the entire world. s, he was unable to do such a thing, which caused him to sigh slightly in disappointment.


    Bang!


    A distant rumble from high above broke John out of his contemtive thoughts. He looked up towards the sky, and noticed the clouds were starting to gather and darken slightly. His body tensed up instinctively upon seeing this, but he quickly breathed out a sigh of relief.


    ''Its not tribtion clouds, just some other sort of storm.''


    Bang!


    Another streak of lightning flickered through the clouds, and the thunder rumbled over thend.


    Suddenly, the Grand Elder appeared in the sky above the disciples, his appearance catching the attention of all.


    "The time for the Thunder Realm to open has arrived," the Grand Elder spoke out for all to hear. "When the portal opens, you will have ten minutes to enter before it closes. The realm will remain stable for fourteen days, at which time you will all be expelled back to this location."


    All the disciples paid attention to the Grand Elder''s words, although the second through fourth years already knew the rules of the realm.


    "There is only one rule within. No killing or crippling your fellow disciple. You can fight and dispute, but no lethal action may be taken. Failure to follow these rules will be dealt with severely."


    The Grand Elder''s tone was firm as he emphasized this rule. Although the sect did not have an issue with this normally, asionally disputes over an incredible treasure would turn fatal, and they wanted to avoid such internal strife.


    Bang!


    A bolt of lightning struck down onto the mountain, just a short distance away from where the disciples were gathered. Many of them jumped in fight at the sudden bolt.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Several more bolts mmed down onto the same location, as a glowing blue rune slowly started to be visible. It grew in strength with each bolt that mmed against it, and after several more bolts, it suddenly emanated an incredibly profound spatial power.


    Boom!


    A muffled boom echoed out as the rune suddenly red its power, and a spatial portal appeared before all.


    "The portal has opened," the Grand Elder instructed.. "You may now enter."

 Chapter 488 - Barren Wasteland

    Upon hearing the Grand Elder''s words, hundreds of disciples rushed towards the portal to enter first. Others slowly walked over to the portal, unconcerned about entering first as they knew such a thing held no advantage, while others waited for the frenzy to die down so that they could leisurely enter.


    John slowly made his way over at a steady but unrushed pace. ording to what he knew of the Thunder Realm, opportunities were rarely found immediately after entering. Not only that, but one would end up at a random location upon entering, and so things could not be nned out ahead of time.


    As such, he didn''t put much effort in grouping up with Adam or Chase, as they would be separated at the start regardless.


    John reached the portal, which glowed a bright blue and brimmed with absolute power. It was spherical in shape, and he could see a vague image of whatid on the other side.


    sh!


    He entered the portal, and felt the familiar sensation of spatial power wrap around him for a moment, before his feetnded on solid ground. His divine sense immediately red outwards to detect any nearby threats, but quickly retracted upon sensing none.


    "It''s quite barren," John mused out loud while raising an eyebrow.


    Before him was an endless expanse of charred earth, as if the ground had been struck by lightning continuously over hundreds of years. Not a single spec of vegetation could be seen on the ckened earth. Above him churned an endless ocean of clouds which contained flickering lightning within.


    Lightning would asionally leave the clouds above and m down onto the surface, charring it further.


    ''It''s quite simr to the Elysian Lightning World.''


    When he had arrived in the Elysian Lightning World where he had obtained Kirii, the scenery was much the same. However, such a thing made sense, as they were both realms dominated by destructive lightning.


    John started moving in a random direction, as there was nothing of note in sight. Mountains asionally pierced high into the sky, while valleys descended low into the earth. John climbed these mountains and valleys for some time, looking for any opportunity, but after several hours of exploration, was unable to find a single thing.


    He had spotted other disciples asionally, but they mostly ignored each other as they each searched for their own opportunities.


    "What the hell type of realm is this?" John muttered with slight displeasure.


    Despite searching for hours, he had found zero opportunities at all. Eventually his gaze shifted upwards and locked onto the ck clouds above as a thought appeared in his mind. He considered it for a moment before deciding to give it a shot.


    Boom!


    John''s body pressed off the earth and rapidly pierced towards the clouds above. If he couldn''t find any opportunities on the ground, he would find them in the sky.


    "I wouldn''t do that if I were you," a voice suddenly entered his ears, which caused John to stop his upward momentum and hover in the sky.


    His gaze shifted towards the source of the sound, and he quickly spotted a disciple standing on the top of a nearby mountain, gazing at him. It was a young man with short brown hair who appeared to be around twenty years old. He wore the same robes as all the other disciples, and had an average face and build. Small patches of facial hair lined his chin and upper lip.


    A quick inspection of the disciple revealed him to be in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, although he seemed as if he was ready to break through to the next realm at any moment.


    "Why shouldn''t I do this?" John asked.


    He could tell the disciple had no ill will, and was just giving him sincere advice from one Heavenly Lightning Sect disciple to the other.


    "Because at best you''ll be injured, and at worst you''ll die," the youth replied calmly. "Your cultivation is at the Middle Meridian Forging Realm, so I''m assuming you''re one of the new disciples from the branch sects. It''s natural that you do not know much about this realm in that case, but I would advise you to heed my advice. Even I wouldn''t dare to enter those clouds."


    John fell into silent contemtion for a moment as he mused over the disciples words, as well as a few other things. His gaze shifted to the clouds above, and then back to the youth.


    "Do you know how strong the lightning in these clouds are?" John asked, trying to gauge the strength of the lightning above.


    While his instincts didn''t sense any danger above, it was still best to ask.


    "They are strong enough to kill a Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivator, and greatly injure a Late Heaven Tribtion cultivator," the youth replied.


    A small smile appeared on John''s face as he heard this, as it should be no problem to him in that case. His body, which was at the Late Meridian Forging Realm, was already equivalent to a Late Heaven Tribtion cultivator in terms of durability.


    On top of that, he had a Lightning Attribute body, and an incredible resistance to lightning. Out of anything that existed in the world, lightning was the thing he feared the least. As such, the lightning above would be the perfect strength for what he had nned.


    "What''s your name?" John asked the boy.


    "Gerrid," the boy replied quickly, although was slightly taken aback by John''s rxed demeanor.


    When lower year disciples, especially ones that just came from branch sects ran into third year disciples such as him, they would usually be intimidated and tepid. However, John''s calm andposed demeanor was the exact opposite, slightly surprising the youth.


    "How well do you know this realm?" John asked.


    "I know it well enough," the youth replied. "The realm does not change every year, so everyone knows where the best opportunities are. Getting to those opportunities is the hard part unless you know they of thend. We''re currently on the outskirts of this realm, so our cement was quite unlucky."


    ''No wonder I didn''t find any opportunities here.''


    John had felt it quite odd that everything was so barren, but the boy''s words cleared everything up.


    How quickly are the opportunities you described obtained?" John asked another question.


    "Not too fast. Many are quite hard to obtain, so most will remain until thest few days of the realm''s duration," the youth replied.


    "Hmm, perfect," John replied with a happy nod as he pointed at the youth. "In that case, you will wait here while I take care of some business in the clouds above. Afterwards, you''ll escort us both to the area you spoke of.. If you do that, I guarantee you''ll obtain more treasures than you could have on your own."

 Chapter 489 - First Opportunity Within The Realm

    The young man''s expression darkened slightly as he heard John''s words and tones. He had been amiable up to this point out of concern for his fellow disciple, but John''s words insinuated that he required John''s help in this realm. It was as if he was being instructed by a child to do something.


    Even the most level-headed of individuals would be irate upon hearing such nonsense.


    "Who do you think you are?" the youth bellowed out, his amiable demeanor reced with agitation. "Perhaps I was too kind to yo-"


    Bang!


    A st of lightning suddenly exploded out of John''s already outstretched finger, and pierced directly for the youth below.


    "Lightning Wall!"


    A wall of lightning sprung up in front of the youth, and John''s Lightning Ruin mmed powerfully into the wall. After a brief struggle, his more profound lightning pierced through the wall and arrived before the youth, about to hit him square in the chest.


    The lightning beam suddenly disappeared, which caused the youths'' panicked expression to turn into confusion and relief. He jumped backwards several times to put some distance between him and John, while he stared at him warily.


    Clearly John had recalled his lightning at thest moment, or it would have struck onto the youths body. While it would not have been a great injury, it would still have caused some damage.


    While the youth had been caught by surprise and only mounted a hasty defense, he could tell that John''s attack was also quite hasty. Their power was at best even, and at worst he was weaker than John just based on that exchange. Shock filled the youths body as he thought of such a thing.


    "That was just a warning shot," John said to the youth with a hardened expression. "My offer before was non-negotiable. You will wait here, and when I am done, you will escort us both to thends of opportunity you spoke of. Understood?"


    The youth grit his teeth at John''s words, as they were quite insulting. However, he would tell that John was ready to attack at a moment''s notice to force him toply. While he could run and most likely get away, the cost of getting injured this early on in the realm was not worth it. If he was injured to the point that he had to heal for a week or more, all the opportunities would be taken by others.


    After a brief internal struggle, the youth sighed and sat down on the mountain peak he was on.


    "Fine!" a resigned sigh of eptance sounded out from the youth.


    "Good, then we have an agreement," John replied, his hardened expression reced with a small smile. "You won''t regret this decision of yours."


    Before the youth could reply, John shot up into the clouds above, his body disappearing from the youths'' sight.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The sound of continuous Thunder rang out as John entered the clouds. The clouds became more active, as if his arrival was considered trespassing. A small smile hung on John''s face as a beam of lightning suddenly pierced right by his body, as if it were firing off a warning shot.


    The nature of the lightning was incredibly profound, and John could tell that it contained many mysteries within. It was far more mystical and potent than normal lightning found in nature.


    "Perfect!" John eximed as he felt the power of the lightning, before he closed his eyes.


    A small piece of jade suddenly appeared in his hands as he attuned himself with it. His eyes opened after a moment, and his power red outwards, like a beacon of light in the dark. The clouds suddenly churned with even greater power, as if they were insulted by him even further.


    Bang!


    A bolt of powerful lightning struck onto John''s body, inundating him with incredible power. The lightning pierced his flesh and burrowed into his body as it aimed to rampage within. With his mind attuned to the Celestial Lightning Script jade piece, John started to guide the rampaging lightning within, infusing it with his body.


    The processsted for a short moment before the lightning within his body was fully absorbed, and John once again opened his eyes with a smiling expression stered on his face.


    "That lightning bolt was strong enough to slightly raise both the quality of my Lightning Attribute Body, as well as my lightningprehension. This is the perfect opportunity I was looking for.''


    ¡­


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The youth below sat on the peak of the mountaintop as he watched the clouds above constantly churn out powerful lighting sts. The power of the lightning sent shivers down his spine, as he knew he would be dead if struck by so many of those sts.


    After several hours, John had still not revealed himself, and the youth could no longer detect his presence within the storm of lightning.


    "Hahhh," the youth sighed as he slowly stood up. "I tried to warn him, but he unfortunately did not heed my warnings. He only has himself to me for dying in such a manner."


    The youth had stayed behind to see if John could pull off a miracle, but was unsurprised at the oue. He patted off some dust from his robes and prepared to venture further into the realm, when a voice from above him stopped him in his tracks.


    "Leaving without me? That wasn''t our agreement."


    The youth spun around in shock and looked up at the source of the voice. Floating above him in the sky was John, whose robe was torn and burnt in many areas. His skin was also burnt and charred, making him look quite miserable.


    However, his powerful aura had not waned even slightly, revealing the damage to be only superficial.


    "How¡­how is that possible?" the youth eximed in shock, his mouth agape as he stared at John.


    "Luck I guess," John replied with a casual shoulder shrug as hended next to the youth.. "Now lead the way to thend you spoke of."

 Chapter 490 - Lightning Beasts

    John followed Gerrid as the two sped across thend. Their direction seemed to be random to John, as he could not see any indicators of them moving towards anything in particr. Gerrid would stop asionally to check a map he had andpare it against localndmarks, before continuing on his journey once again.


    ''I really should have gotten a map for this realm,'' John cursed himself internally. ''Oh well, I was too busy to even think about such a thing.''


    His thoughts shifted to the recent lightning cultivation in the clouds above.


    ''Cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script within those clouds was incredibly useful. The Celestial Lightning Script requires real lightning to cultivate, and so I can''t cultivate it whenever I like. Both my Lightning Attribute Body and lightningprehensions received a nice boost, but I still don''t think it''s enough. My body only improved slightly, and myprehensions are still stuck on the second stage of the Celestial Lightning Script. From what I can tell, there are at least six differentyers, maybe more, so I''m still incrediblycking. I need to look for more opportunities to raise both my body quality and lightningprehensions in this realm.''


    "By the way, what''s your name?" Gerrid suddenly asked, breaking John out of his thoughts.


    "John," he nced over to Gerrid and replied.


    "Where did youe from, John?" Gerrid asked as he sped forward. "You''re clearly from a branch sect."


    "The Yuan Continent branch sect," John replied casually as he sped forward alongside Gerrid.


    "The Yuan Continent branch? Isn''t that branch always the worst branch every year regarding entrance exam cements? How did you get so strong in a ce like that?" Gerrid asked, his tone slightly surprised.


    "I had some lucky chances," John replied with a short response, revealing nothing to Gerrid. He had only just met the youth and didn''t see the need to reveal anything important to him.


    "Lucky chances huh?" Gerrid replied. "Whatever those lucky chances were must have been amazing."


    While Gerrid had not confirmed the extent of John''s strength, he knew it was far above anything he had seen before. He had never thought an attack from a Middle Meridian Forging youth could threaten him as John''s attack had done.


    While the attack was only effective due to him not expecting a first year to attack him which resulted in his hasty defense, he could still tell it contained power equal to his own casual attacks. He didn''t know if that attack from John''s was an all-out attack or a casual one, but he leaned towards the former, as thetter was truly something he could not believe.


    "How long until we arrive in this area you spoke of?" John asked, changing the subject from himself.


    "Several days," Gerrid replied. "We should start seeing various things appear asionally in about a day or so. Things like lightning beasts, vegetation, and other things of potential worth."


    "What''s in the center of this area you''re taking us to?" John asked, curious as to what opportunities might exist.


    "It depends, as the opportunities change from year to year. Last year there were very few opportunities, while the year before had several ancient buildings appear, each with their own treasures contained inside if one was strong enough to break through the defenses."


    "Is that so?" John replied with a neutral expression.


    ''Hopefully this year has many opportunities and isn''t like the previous year. Only time will tell I suppose.''


    After making a bit more small talk, John and Gerrid sped forward across thend in silence. asionally they would see other disciples, some who were travelling in the same direction, and others that were doing the opposite. Clearly not everyone knew where the opportunities existed.


    A dayter, the first thing of note came into view, which caught John''s attention immediately. Thendscape they had been traversing waspletely ashen and barren, while the first contrast to that had finally appeared.


    "A tree?" John mused as he spotted the object in the distance, but it was too far to make out at the moment. They arrived next to it after a short while, and stopped to inspect it for a moment.


    A tree, ten yards tall and half-covered with leaves stood alone amongst the otherwise barrenndscape.


    "We''re getting close," Gerrid replied as he touched the tree. "The closer we get to where we''re going, the more vegetation will appear. This vegetation seems to be lightning resistant, and so has weathered the lightning strikes through all this time."


    "How interesting," John mused as he inspected the tree. He thought about taking off part of it to inspect it''s lightning resistant properties, but decided against it. Based on Gerrid''sment, more and more vegetation should show up in the near future.


    Not only that, but external lightning resistant measures were not what he was looking for. His lightning resistance was already incredibly great, and the only threat to him was tribtion lightning. However, tribtion lightning ignored the inanimate to focus on the tribtor. Even if he armored himself in lightning resistant materials, it would serve no purpose in his tribtion toe.


    After inspecting the tree for a short moment, the two of them sped forward once again. More and more disciples came into view as many were funneling towards thesends. The vegetation also started getting denser, transforming thend from a barrennd of char and ash, to one a bit more vibrant and alive.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Roar!


    A series of bangs suddenly sounded out on the other side of a nearby hill, followed by a loud and powerful roar that shook thend. John and Gerrid nced at each other for a moment before they sped forward over the hill to nce to the other side.


    A battlefield came into view, one between beasts and disciples. On one side was a group of disciples who appeared to be made of second and third years, while the other side was a group of three lightning beasts, each emanating an Early Heaven Tribtion power.


    The two sides were rtively even in power, and seemed to be in a stalemate at the moment. John''s eyes lit up as he saw the beasts, as they were actual flesh and blood beasts, instead of lightning constructs as had been the case in the Elysian Lightning World.


    ''Lightning beasts! I wonder if their blood essence will be more potent for me than normal blood essence? Time to find out!''

 Chapter 491 - Alternate Route

    Bang!


    Bang!


    Roar!


    The sh between the disciples and the beasts raged on below, as the two sides seemed to be in a stalemate. John closely inspected the disciples, who appeared to be second and third years. Their cultivations ranged from Half-Step Heaven Tribtion to Early Heaven Tribtion.


    Their bodies seemed to be riddled with injuries, as shallow wounds and flowing blood was visible. On the other side, the beasts seemed to be in bad shape as well, as their bodies were blood stained as well.


    However, given the strongest constitutions of beasts, trading injuries with the disciples was a transaction they were willing to make. The lightning beasts seemed to be some variant of bear. Their hide was bluish white, and lightning flickered over their body non-stop, indicating that they were lightning beasts. They were over five yards tall and ten yards long, and towered over the much smaller disciples.


    "Gah!"


    A cry of pain rang out as one of the weaker disciples, a female at the Half-Step Heaven Tribtion Realm, was struck by a w of one of the three beasts and knocked far away. Her body mmed into the hillside below where John and Gerrid were standing.


    Blood spewed out of her mouth as she sustained internal injuries, while the other disciples all cried out in rm.


    "Kate!" a young male disciple around neen years of age cried out in worry as he turned to look at her. His gaze suddenly shifted upwards as he spotted Gerrid and John, and his face lit up in tion.


    "Gerrid! Come help us!" the disciple cried out.


    Gerrid dashed forward towards the beasts, as he heeded his fellow disciples plea for aid.


    Bang!


    An explosive bolt of lightning pierced out from his finger and mmed onto one of the beasts, knocking it backwards. A sword suddenly appeared in his hand as he sliced it out towards one of the other beasts.


    A brilliant sword art was unleashed, which shed onto the beasts fur.


    Roar!


    The beast roared out in pain from the attack, before it sent out a counter attack. The battle quickly reached a peak frenzy as John watched on from above. With Gerrid''s help, the tides were turned in the disciples favor, as they were quickly whittling down the beasts defenses.


    "I guess I''ll sit this one out," John mused as he sat down on the ground and watched the battle take ce. He had initially wanted to y the beasts himself, but decided against it as he instead watched how those from the sect fought.


    There would be plenty of opportunities in the near future to y some lightning beasts and obtain their blood essence.


    ¡­


    Bang!


    The body of thest beast fell to the ground, lifeless. The battle had raged on for another ten minutes before thest beast was felled, thanks to the help of Gerrid. John nodded his head in approval at what he had seen.


    ''He is quite talented. His attacks were sharp, precise, and quick. I wonder how high up in the sect he is.''


    The disciples cleaned up the battlefield and put away the beast corpses, before they retreated to where Kate was lying. She had popped a healing pill in her mouth and was focusing on recovery.


    "Are you alright?" the boy who had cried out to her earlier asked as he approached her, while the other four disciples crowded around as well.


    "I''ll be alright," Kate replied with a slight wince, as even speaking was painful at the moment. "I''ll just need some time to heal before I can move is all."


    "That''s a relief," the youth replied, before he turned to look at Gerrid.


    "Thank you, Gerrid. If not for your help, who knows how this would have ended up. As expected from one of our most talented third year Core Disciples," the youth said to Gerrid with a small smile on his face.


    "Don''t mention it," Gerrid replied casually.


    "Just be careful proceeding forward. These beasts won''t attack you unless you attack them, so don''t provoke any going forward," Gerrid instructed.


    A sheepish look appeared on the youths face as he heard Gerrid lightly scold him. "I know, we just figured we were strong enough to kill them and obtain their beast cores. We''ll heed your advice going forward. Hey, why don''t you join us while we venture deeper into thisnd?" the youth asked.


    Gerrid turned to nce at John who was still sitting on the hillside above them, before he turned back to the youth.


    "I''m afraid I''m already escorting the boy up there," Gerrid replied. "You can tag along if you want though."


    The youths nced up to John, and a frown appeared on some of their faces. One of the other boys, who appeared to also be neen and had an Early Heaven Tribtion cultivation had thergest frown as he stared at John.


    "Why are you helping out a first year, and a weak one at that? The boy is only in the Meridian Forging Realm. He''ll just be a hindrance going forward, especially if we try to hunt other beasts" the boy asked Gerrid.


    Gerrid''s expression turned slightly awkward as he heard this, as he knew the truth regarding John''s strength.


    "Sorry guys, I already promised I would escort him. If you don''t want to join us, then we''ll have to part ways here," Gerrid replied.


    The group of disciples wanted to employ Gerrid''s help, but they did not want to be slowed down by a weak first year. After some deliberation, they decided it was not worth it, and bid John and Gerrid farewell as they set off in a different direction.


    Gerrid watched them leave, before he nced at John who was still seated on top of the hill.


    "Let''s continue onwards. We''re almost to the forest, and the ce of opportunities lies just beyond."


    John nodded his head as he stood up and followed Gerrid, as the two of them set off further into the mysterious Thunder Realm. After speeding forward for some time, the forest Gerrid spoke of came into view.


    The forest started quite abruptly, and the trees were incredibly impressive. Trees with trunks dozens of yards wide pierced all the way into the clouds above, as if forming a wall of wood to thwart all entry.


    "How long will it take for us to get through this forest?" John asked as he stared at it.


    "About three days. It''s incredibly dense, and many beasts live inside. We''ll have to be careful traversing it," Gerrid replied.


    John frowned as he heard this, and his gaze shifted up towards the clouds above. Lightning continued to flicker within the clouds, asionally illuminating the forest below. An idea popped up into his mind as he thought of the way forward.


    "That''s too long," John replied. "I have another idea."


    "What idea do you ha-"


    Lightning nodes suddenly appeared in the area around John and Gerrid as John suddenly activated his lightning cage. It wrapped closely around him and Gerrid, forming a powerful cocoon of defensive lighting around them.


    "What are you doing?" Gerrid asked in shock as John suddenly grabbed him by the arm.


    "Taking the fast route," John replied as his body suddenly shot up into the sky, taking Gerrid along with him as they disappeared into the clouds above.

 Chapter 492 - Labyrinth

    Lightning crashed all around as John flew through the sky while forcefully pulling Gerrid along. Before Gerrid could even react, he found himself dragged forward by John. He tried to pry his arm free, but found John''s grip to be like a steel vice, unable to be budged at all.


    Bang!


    A powerful lightning bolt mmed onto the lightning cage, causing Gerrid to activate his full power to resist the st. However, the bolt mmed onto the lightning cage, and after a brief struggle faded away.


    A look of slight surprise appeared on Gerrid''s face as he observed this happening. The power of John''s lightning cage was impressive, but it was not that much stronger than what he himself could muster up. However, he could tell that the quality of the lightning itself was the highest he had ever seen from another cultivator, which allowed it to resist the lightning bolt.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Lightning bolts continuously mmed onto John''s lightning cage, which he ignored as he flew forward at great speed. Some of the trees below pierced up into the clouds, which caused him to weave between the canopies as he sped forward.


    While using such a method was very taxing on his essence Qi, it was definitely worth it. The journey continued for over an hour as John started to feel the burdens of keeping his lightning cage activated for so long. Thanks to his incredible dantian, he had been able to keep the cage up for over an hour. However, it was starting to be draining.


    A short whileter, the trees that pierced into the clouds became less numerous, until they disappearedpletely. Taking this as a sign that the forest had ended, John started his descent.


    He broke through the bottom of the clouds, and an extensive clearing came into view, over a dozen miles wide. The circr clearing was made right in the center of the forest, and the tree line could be seen in the far distance. An expansive grasnd lined the surface, while grazing animals could be seen asionally.


    At the very center off the clearing was a dark blue object, barely noticeable as it was only a few dozen yards tall. However, a massive crowd of disciples were gathered around it, making it much more obvious to see.


    John deactivated the lightning cage as they had left the clouds, and allowed Gerrid to fly on his own once again.


    "Sorry for the rough ride," John said to Gerrid, "but it was the fastest way forward. I''m sure you understand."


    "It''s fine," Gerrid replied. "You saved us over a day of travel time, so I can''tin...but I canin about that," Gerrid said as he gazed at the distant object.


    "Why? What is it?" John asked.


    "The Labyrinth," Gerrid replied. "Every year the opportunity at this location changes. Sometimes it''s a pce, or a pagoda, or ake, or a multitude of other things. Those things I just mentioned all have great opportunities, and they are much easier to obtain. However, this year seems to be the Labyrinth, which is agreed upon as the hardest and most dangerous one of all."


    "Is that so?" John replied as he gazed at the Labyrinth entrance. "What makes it so hard and dangerous?"


    Gerrid sighed deeply, as if seeing the Labyrinth entrance made him depressed.


    "I haven''t personally entered it, but there are ounts from previous disciples who had. The other locations I mentioned all could be solved with brute force. If you were strong enough, you could obtain treasures and rewards. However the Labyrinth is different. Brute strength can''t solve everything inside, and it''s incredibly easy to get lost and trapped until the realm closes. Not only that, but there have been quite a few disciples that have gone missing in the past, and are assumed to have perished inside. So not only is it the hardest to traverse, it is also the most deadly."


    John frowned upon hearing this, as it was not exactly good for him. His specialty was brute force, and it seemed as though that would only get him so far in the Labyrinth.


    "Let''s go, we''ve wasted enough time getting here," John said as he speed forward. Gerrid followed behind, and the two of them arrived at the Labyrinth entrance shortly after.


    Arge crowd of several thousand disciples had already gathered outside the Labyrinth entrance. John and Gerridnded at the edge of the group and began to move forward through the scattered crowd, causing many to nce at the new arrivals. Many of them had gathered in small groups, and heated discussions could be heard from each group.


    "Come on, let''s try again!," a voice boomed out from one of the groups.


    "No way," another replied. "We almost died to those guardians yesterday, and you want to try again? We''ll die for sure this time."


    "I''ve got a better n this time," the first youth replied as he started exining his n. His voice faded away as John moved through the crowd, although many simr discussions were audible.


    "Goddamnit. Those fucking guardians are a pain in the ass," a exasperated voice cursed out, catching John''s attention. He knew that voice.


    "That''s because you''re too slow," a female voice replied mockingly. "Maybe you should work on your speed and not your cursing in the future."


    "You-" the first voice replied angrily but was cut off by a different voice.


    "There''s nothing we can do about it," a calmer voice replied. "At least not until he arri-"


    Pat!


    John''s hand rested on the shoulder of the one who was speaking, cutting off his words as he turned around.


    "John!" Chase eximed, which caused the two others to look over as well.


    "Hey guys," John replied with a smile on his face as he stared at his friends. Chase and Adam were gathered together, and surprisingly even Iris was there.


    "What took you so long to arrive?" Adam replied with a grumpy tone. "We''ve been waiting here for two days already- Ow!"


    Adam''sining was cut off as John flicked a finger onto his forehead, knocking him back and leaving a red mark on his forehead.


    "Stopining," John chided Adam. "I was transported to the very edge of this realm. Since you''re all here already, I''m guessing you had a much better starting point."


    "Mhm," Chase replied. "In fact, Iris was transported right into this field apparently."


    John nced over to Iris with a dry expression, who stared back at him with arge smile on her face.


    "How the hell did you get so lucky?" John asked.


    "No idea. Just luck I guess," Iris replied with a shoulder shrug.


    John shook his head in self-pity at the different treatment the realm had shown between him and his friends. If he had not had Gerrid with him, who knew if he would have found this location in time before the realms closing.


    "Who''s your friend by the way?" Adam asked as he spotted Gerrid standing behind John. They were surprised that an Early Heaven Tribtion disciple, one that was a third year as well, was following John.


    "This is Gerrid," John introduced. "He helped me arrive at this location, so he''ll be tagging along with us inside the Labyrinth."


    The group greeted Gerrid, who greeted them back warmly despite the fact that they were first years and much weaker than him.


    "Anyways, why are you, as well as all these other disciples gathered around the entrance?" John asked.


    "We were waiting for you," Adam replied, his chest puffed out as if such a thing was something to be proud of.


    "Ow!" Adam cried out again as Iris had flicked him on the head this time.


    "You say that, yet you tried to enter the Labyrinth as soon as you arrived. Only Chase and I waited without trying to enter. How shameless can you be?" Iris scolded Adam.


    Adam wanted to curse back but remained silent as he realized she was only telling the truth.


    "So why couldn''t you enter?" John asked, although he was sure he had an inkling as to what the reason was based on the earlier conversations he had heard. "Does it have to do with these ''guardians'' you were speaking of?"


    "Yes," Chase replied as his gaze shifted to the Labyrinth entrance behind them. John''s gaze followed, and he soon spotted what Chase was looking at.


    The Labyrinth entrance was like an open maw, a few dozen yards tall and wide. It was dark blue, and descended down until it became darkness. Before the Labyrinth stood four stone statues, each ten yards tall.


    The statues all held different weapons and seemed to be humanoid golems. John felt a strange sensation as he stared at the statues, as if they were alive. They emitted the power


    "Those four statues are the guardians of this ce," Chase exined. "If you try to enter, you have to get past the guardians. Also, there''s a strange restriction around the entrance, so that only six people can approach at a time, so we cannot all rush past with sheer numbers."


    "Is that so?" John mused. "How strong are they?"


    "Early Heaven Tribtion," Chase replied, "which is why we waited for you. Although we would have waited for you regardless of if we could enter or not," he continued as he nced sideways at Adam, which caused Adam to smile wryly.


    John nodded his head at Chase''s words as he began to move forward, and beckoned the rest to follow him.


    "Let''s go.. We''re entering the Labyrinth."

 Chapter 493 - Stone Guardians

    Therge group of disciples gathered outside thebyrinth entrance were mostly first and second years, or the weaker third and fourth year disciples. The guardians at the entrance of thebyrinth were far too great a task for the weaker disciples to handle. With the restriction of six disciples taking on the guardians at one time, strength was the only thing that mattered.


    Some of the groups had attempted to try their luck regardless, to devastating consequences. Many disciples were injured to some extent, while some had lost limbs, or almost died. The guardians did not pull their punches, and watching some of the disciples nearly lose their lives discouraged most watching.


    asionally a group of stronger disciples, mainly from the third and fourth year ss would take on the guardians and pass by. Envious gazes would stare at those groups, as all they could do was gaze.


    "Gah!"


    "Retreat!"


    Frenzied cries rang out from the entrance of thebyrinth as a group of disciples was attempting to enter. They were second and third years, and had cultivations at the very initial stage of Early the Heaven Tribtion realm. However, even that wasn''t enough, and they were overwhelmed by the guardians.


    John arrived before thebyrinth entrance, which was arge bridge that led directly into the heart of thebyrinth. The bridge was twenty yards wide and one hundred yards long. He arrived at the entrance of the bridge, but found his body stopped by an invisible formation.


    "That''s the restriction I was talking about," Chase said to John from behind. "We will only be able to enter when the group in front of us retreats, or enters thebyrinth."


    "I guess we wait then," John replied casually while the rest of the group stood behind him.


    Their arrival caught the interested gazes of the other groups behind them. Some of the expressions were that of intrigue, while others were amused or mocking.


    "Rayen and his group are on the bridge right now, are all at the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, and still can''t get by¡­yet this group wants to enter?" one of the second years mocked while staring at John''s group.


    This youth had attempted to enter but was forced back by the guardians, causing his mood to be incredibly sour.


    "They''re just first years who know nothing," another replied before his gaze locked onto Gerrid. "Wait¡­isn''t that Gerrid? Why the hell is he helping those weak first years?"


    "Gerrid? You''re right. What the hell is he doing with them?"


    "Who knows. Maybe one of them is from a rich family and paid him to help them enter," another in the group spoke up.


    Bang!


    A disciple from the bridge flew out of the restriction zone as he was attacked by one of the stone guardians. His body tumbled over several times beforeing to a stop, and the five other disciples quickly retreated as well.


    The stone guardians returned to their locations directly in front of thebyrinth, awaiting the next challengers.


    "Goddamnit," a disciple from the group that had just failed, cursed out angrily. "We were so close, but still failed. Damn it all."


    John''s group nced at the group that had just failed, before John started walking forward.


    "Let''s go. Stay close to me and just walk behind me," John instructed as he moved forward.


    The others nodded their heads and followed behind John. They all felt themselves cross over the formation boundary, and the stone guardians quickly took note of the new arrivals. Their lifeless eyes lit up with a green light as they started moving towards the group.


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    John activated his domain as hundreds of lightning nodes sprung up in the sky. He focused his mind on the task at hand, and continuous beams of lightning started snaking from one node the next, lighting up the entire area around him.


    Before long, hundreds of continuous lightning beams linked together to form a fiveyered cage around the group. The lightning cage caught the attention of all those outside, as they stared at it in slight awe.


    "The Heavenly Lightning Domain," several disciples called out, as most of them knew how to use this domain. However, the amount of power as well as profundity of the lightning was shocking to them.


    Not only that, but the Heavenly Lightning Domain was used to attack at random from many different locations, which could be used to surprise opponents and overwhelm them. Using it like this, where each node was being continuously used to form a cage would be incredibly taxing on one''s essence reserves. Not only did it drain a lot of Qi, but it also required an immense amount of Qi throughput to do as well. It was something many the other disciples knew they were unable to do, and those that could do it would only be able to maintain it for less than a minute.


    "Is it Gerrid''s lightning domain?" a disciple asked as they all inspected it closer.


    "No¡­it''s not his¡­it''s the first year boy at the front of the group¡­how is this possible?" many called out in shock, unable to believe that a Meridian Forging disciple could have such powerful Qi.


    Adam, Chase, and Iris looked around in all directions as they stared in awe at the lightning cage. Gerrid''s expression was mostly neutral, as he had already seen the cage before.


    "So this is how we''re getting by?" Adam asked with a valiant look on his face and his chest puffed out. "I figured we would fight the guardians!"


    "You''re more than wee to try," John replied as he opened a small hole in the lightning cage and gestured for Adam to leave.


    Adam''s prideful expression quickly turned into one of panic as he took a step back and waved his hands.


    "No. No. No. This is your moment to shine. I won''t take it away from you," Adam replied.


    "Shameless," Iris spat out at Adam, causing him to look at her with a frown.


    "What? If you wanna fight then let''s fight!" Iris said to Adam, displeased by the look on his face.


    Adam opened his mouth as if to say something, but decided against it as he fell into silence.


    John continued to steadily move forward, and soon they arrived before the four stone guardians. The guardians each held a different stone weapon, and they all shed down on the lightning cage at the same time with incredibly powerful attacks.


    Bang!

 Chapter 494 - Entering The Labyrinth

    John red his essence power to the maximum as the attacks collided against the lightning cage. The first threeyers were shattered by the powerful guardian attacks, and the fourthyer was tested.


    However, the fourth and fifthyer held up as the guardians withdrew their weapons for their next attacks. John instantly red his essence power again, relinking the broken lightning nodes andpletely reforming his lighting cage.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang


    The disciples outside the entrance watched with awestruck expressions as John''s group, protected by the lightning cage, strolled right past the four guardians. Constant attacks rained down from the guardians, which would destroy severalyers of the cage. However, the protective cage was instantly reformed, making it so that the attacks continued to be repelled.


    As if they were sentient, the guardians started staggering their attacks in an attempt to give John no time to fix the cage. Slowly but surely the continuous barrage of incredibly powerful attacks whittled away at the cage, before the fifthyer was finally broken by an incredibly strong attack.


    "It broke!" the stunned disciples called out as they waited for what happened next.


    They did not know if the group could directly withstand the attacks of the guardians.


    "Ahhh, the cage is broken¡­John, do something!" a panicked cry of a male echoed out from within the lightning cage.


    Bang!


    A massive golden battle axe image suddenly shed upwards from within the lightning cage and collided against the weapons of the guardians that were mming down onto the group. The weapons of the stone guardians were knocked back, revealing the attack to be powerful enough to repel all four attacks at once.


    As the attacks were repelled, the lightning cage reformed in full. The group of first years disappeared from sight as they finally stepped into thebyrinth, shocking all those that witnessed it happen.


    "They made it¡­how is this possible?" many disciples called out in a stunned daze.


    ¡­


    "We made it," an excited cry erupted from Adam as they stepped into thebyrinth. "I never doubted you for a second!"


    John''s lightning cage faded away as his gaze focused on the darkness of thebyrinth ahead. Thebyrinth was pitch ck, with not a single source of light within, as an endless darkness stretched out before them.


    "Shameless," Iris spat out at Adam again. "Who was the one shouting in panic when the cage broke? You could have done something, but all you did was cry out in fear. Are you good at anything, or is all you do is run your mouth nonstop?"


    "Why the hell did we invite this wench," Adam spat out in equal disgust, as Iris kept rebuking him. "Just kick her from our group already," he pleaded John.


    "Wench? Who the hell are you calling a wench!" Iris yelled out as she suddenly appeared before Adam. Her foot swept out and collided against Adam''s waist, sending him flying against the nearby wall.


    The force of the kick shook the entrance of thebyrinth, and Adam slowly and shakily mored back on his feet as he pointed at Iris.


    "You¡­just you wait. I''ll have my revenge," he yelled out, his pointed finger shaking from the recent pain.


    While the two of them were fighting, lightning red above John''s hand, illuminating the nearby area.


    Before them were two passageways, one leading to the left while the other led to the right. There were no markings of any sort to signify which was the direction to travel. The sight caused everyone to fall into silence, as both ways looked quite ominous. Based on what Gerrid had told him of thebyrinth, one wrong move could lead to failure, danger, and even death.


    Even John couldn''t tell any difference between the two directions. His gaze shifted to Adam and Iris. "I''ve already done my part. One of you better figure out which way we''re supposed to go."


    Adam and Iris nced at each other for a moment, before they both immediately went to work on figuring out which way was the best way to travel. Neither wanted to lose out to the other, and both wanted to prove their value to the group.


    After a brief inspection of the passageways, Adam took out a small formation disk and sat on the ground. He closed his eyes as he channeled his Qi into the disk, which started to glow.


    At the same time, Iris walked slightly forward and stared at both passageways. Her blue eyes changed slightly, bing a brighter shade of blue as she stared forward for a short moment.


    "This way," Iris called out while pointing to the left passageway.


    "What?" Adam called out in surprise as his eyes opened. "There''s no way you''ve figured out which direction to go already. You''re just guessing!"


    "Please¡­I''m not as pathetic as you to do such a thing," Iris spat back in disgust.


    "How do you know it''s that way?" John asked calmly. Iris had seemingly found the way almost immediately, which seemed almost too good to be true.


    "Because, I see nothing to the left, only an endless expanse of passageway, while the right side is far more¡­dangerous. It''s almost at the edge of what I can see, but there''s a dead end at the right side hallway over a mile away, and there seems to be hundreds of disciples trapped by an invisible formation there," she exined.


    "You can see all that from here?" John asked, slightly surprised. He knew Iris had special eyes, but her vision was beyond what he had expected. Even when he used his maximum eyesight, or spread his divine sense to the farthest he could go, he was unable to see anything down the right passageway.


    "I can," Iris replied.


    "Should we try to help those disciples?" Chase suddenly spoke up.


    "No," John replied. "The realm will expel them in ten days, so their lives aren''t at risk. They can only me it on their own bad luck. Let''s go. We proceed to the left."


    John immediately set off down the left passageway, and the group followed closely behind as they began their journey within the Labyrinth.

 Chapter 495 - Deceptive ’Disciples’

    Lightning crackled atop John''s outstretched palm, illuminating the nearby area of the passageway. The hallway was several dozen yards wide and tall, and the walls were made ofrge stone bs. After the illuminated area around them, darkness was all the group could see as they slowly but surely ventured deeper into the dark, mysteriousbyrinth.


    "How long is this damn passageway," Adam grumbled as the group had been walking forward for quite some time already. However, all that greeted them was more darkness as they ventured forward.


    "Who knows," John replied calmly as he kept his eyes forward.


    "There''s something ahead," Iris suddenly spoke up, causing all to look at her.


    "What is it?" John asked.


    Iris narrowed her eyes as she peered forward, before they widened slightly.


    "It''s the other disciples," she replied. "Or at least that''s what thisbyrinth wants us to think."


    "Hmmm, what do you mean by that?" John asked for rification.


    "A few hundred yards ahead, there are about a dozen ''disciples'' dressed in our sect''s robes. They lookpletely human on the outside, but they''re not human at all. It must be a trap of thebyrinth."


    John raised an eyebrow upon hearing this but kept silent as the group continued to move forward. After a short moment longer, they heard a voice call out for help.


    "Help us!" a panicked female voice rang out from deeper within the hallway. The voice was shrill and fearful, and sounded incredibly real.


    "Please, help us!" another voice called out, equally as convincing.


    Before long, a group of roughly a dozen cultivators became illuminated by John''s lightning. It was a mix of half males and half females, and each wore the robes of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Their robes were all torn in many ces, and blood stained their skin, making them look quite miserable.


    "Do you recognize them?" John asked as he turned to Gerrid.


    "I do," Gerrid replied as he stared at the group. "These are disciples from my third year ss."


    A frown appeared on his face as he turned to look at Iris. "Are you sure about what you told us? They look like the disciples I know," he asked.


    "I''m sure," Iris replied, not a single hint of doubt on her face.


    The group slowly approached John and the rest, and relief appeared on their faces upon spotting the group.


    "Thank god, we found hel" one of the female disciples cried out in relief, before her expression turned into one of fear and confusion. "What are you doing!" she cried out in panic.


    John''s scythe was already shing outwards towards the group as a powerful scythe image pierced towards them. Before the disciples could react, the scythe image shed right though them, cleaving them all in half.


    Looks of fear and hopelessness appeared on their faces, but were quickly reced with rage as they all nced at John.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The bodies of the ''disciples'' suddenly all exploded, unleashing incredibly powerful sts where they died. The sts traveled through the passageway instantly, and exploded over the location where John and the rest were standing.


    Lightning Cage!


    John instantly activated his Heavenly Lightning Domain and formed a protective cage around the group. The explosion was incredibly powerful, and while he would be able to resist it, the weaker bodies of Adam, Chase, and Iris would not. While it would most likely not kill them, it would definitely do great harm to them and render them useless for the rest of the realm''s duration.


    The explosion washed over the lightning cage, shaking it with its power and copsing several of theyers of the cage. It continued for a short while before the explosion faded away, returning the passageway to normal once more.


    John retracted his lightning cage after confirming the danger was over, and stared at the spot where the ''disciples'' had been.


    "What the hell was that!" Adam eximed with a stunned expression on his face.


    "It was clearly some kind of trap," John replied calmly as he surveyed the area. "Those ''disciples'' wanted to get close to us, at which point they would blow up. How devious."


    "Devious? That was downright lethal!" Adam eximed. "I thought this realm was supposed to be rtively safe?"


    "It is, normally," Gerrid suddenly spoke up, causing the others to look at him. "However, the Labyrinth is different. The other opportunities in this realm are rtively safe and easy to obtain, but when the Labyrinth shows up, itspletely different. Many in the past have gone missing within the Labyrinth, never to return. We can only presume they died within, so while most years are safe, this year''s realm is not."


    "Great, just our luck!" Adam spat out in disgust and disappointment upon hearing Gerrid''s exnation.


    "I wonder why that is?" Chase spoke up. "This realm seems to aid the entrants most years, but the Labyrinth seems to punish instead. It''s quite odd."


    "It is," Gerrid replied. "However, no one has ever made it to the end of the Labyrinth, so we can''t say for sure what the reason for its brutality is. The best thing we can hope for is to stay alive and find some opportunities within before we are transported out of the realm."


    "Is there any more danger ahead?" John turned to Iris and asked.


    Iris and her eyes were already beginning to show their value to John, which caused him to get a slightly better impression of her.


    "Not that I see. I just see another fork up ahead," she replied.


    John nodded his head and moved forward, followed by the rest of the group. As Iris had stated, there was no more danger, and soon the group arrived at another fork in the passageway. However, this time there were three forks, eachpletely pitch ck as well.


    "Which way?" John turned to Iris and asked.


    Iris''s eyes shifted color as she nced down all three passageways, before a frown appeared on her face.


    "I don''t know¡­the passageways twist and turn quite early on, so I cannot see deeply into them. Also, the material the walls are made of is incredibly unique, and my gaze cannot pierce through them."


    John frowned upon hearing this, but said nothing as Iris had already done her best so far. He was just about to guess at random when Adam walked forward. His chest was puffed out and an incredibly proud smile appeared on his face as he passed by Iris, which he made sure she saw.


    Iris frowned upon seeing his prideful expression, and couldn''t help but curse out at him.


    "What the hell are you looking so prideful for?" she asked with a displeased tone.


    "Stay back and watch a real master in action," Adam replied with a prideful tone as he sat down on the ground in front of the group. Before he sat down, he took out arge formation disk several yards across and sat down on it.


    Many fantastical runes were carved into the surface, and soon another smaller formation disk appeared in his hands. He furled his sleeves up to the shoulder, revealing two small formation disks embedded into his skin. The sight made Iris''s skin crawl, as it looked quite brutal.


    Three objects, appearing like arrowheads, suddenly appeared in the air before him and floated before his face. Adam closed his eyes and focused his mind, as the formation runes on all the objects he had taken out started to glow.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    The arrowheads suddenly shot forward, one going into each of the passageways quickly disappeared from everyone''s sight as they blended into the darkness.


    Everyone remained silent as they allowed Adam to do whatever he was doing, whichsted for over fifteen minutes. Adam''s face started to be pale as whatever he was doing was clearly straining his Qi reserves, and his breathing started to be heavier as well.


    After thirty minutes, his eyes suddenly snapped open as one of the arrowheads suddenly shot out of one of the dark passageways. It stopped directly before his head, and Adam grabbed the arrowhead and put it away, along with the disk in his hands and the tform below him.


    He stood up and turned around to face the group, and his expression became even more prideful than before. He made sure to nce at Iris in particr as arge smile appeared on his face.


    "This way," Adam gestured to the passageway that the arrowhead hade out of. "The other ways both lead to traps, and my formation arrows can no longer return to me. Simr to what Iris saw in the first passageway, there are trapped disciples in both of those passageways, unable to return at all."


    "Good job," John said to Adam as he patted him on the shoulder.. Without missing a beat, John set off down the passageway Adam had identified, as their journey deeper into thebyrinth continued.

 Chapter 496 - Mist-Filled Room

    Much like the first passageway, the passageway the group was walking through at the moment was dark and dreary, with not a single source of light. Lightning flickered over John''s outstretched palm, illuminating the way as the group descended deeper into thebyrinth.


    "I wonder if there is going to be another trap in this passageway?" Adam spoke out, breaking the silence other than the faint sound of footsteps.


    "If there is, I''m sure we''ll be able to handle it," Iris replied. "We''re a rather talented group after all."


    The passageway twisted and turned on their way forward, making it quite odd to traverse. At times it would seem to spiral, which made them walk up at a sloped angle, only to descend a short while after.


    The passageway was well over a mile long, and took some time to traverse as the group carefully made their way forward. While they could speed forward without care, the trap from thest passageway cautioned them against such actions.


    "There''s light up ahead!" Iris called out, her eyes locked forward. The rest of the group looked forward, but were unable to see any sort of light.


    "I don''t see anything," Adam replied with doubt. "It''s just endless darkness before us. Are you sure you''re seeing things correctly?"


    Iris rolled her eyes at Adams disparagingment. "You have your formations, I have my eyes. Should I start saying you know nothing about formations?"


    "You wouldn''t dare," Adam replied quickly.


    "Then shut up about things outside your area of expertise," Iris replied with a huff.


    Adam opened his mouth to reply, but closed it after a moment of thought.


    Soon after however, an incredibly faint light appeared in their vision. Iris sent a smug nce at Adam, who did his best to ignore her while the group moved forward. After several more twists and turns in the hallway, the group arrived before the source of the light.


    "Its a room¡­arge empty room," Adam eximed, his initial enthusiasm turning sour as the room waspletely empty.


    The room was roughly one hundred yards on each side, and waspletely empty. On the far side of the room seemed to be a pit that spanned the width of the room, although the group couldn''t see what was inside the pit.


    "It''s notpletely empty," Chase replied. "There appears to be a faint mist hanging in the air."


    "Is there anything strange with this mist?" John asked, as Chase was the most likely to be able to identify such things.


    Chase inspected the mist for a moment before he shook his head. "I can''t detect anything wrong with the mist, other than the fact that it blocks divine sense. However, to be safe, we should hold our breath and form a protective barrier of Qi over our bodies."


    John sent out his divine sense, and found it was only able to prate several yards into the mist beforeing to a halt. He raised his eyebrows at the sight before his gaze swept across the rest of the room.


    "Maybe it''s a trial of some sort, that we''ll be forced to use our eyes or reflexes to pass instead of relying on our divine sense," John mused out loud before turning to Iris.


    "Do you see anything strange with this room?" he asked.


    Iris''s gaze swept across the room for a moment before she shook her head.


    "No. The only thing of note is that pit on the other side of the room, although it''s covered with a formation of some sort. That''s all I can tell," Iris replied.


    John mused over everything for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders.


    "I guess we can only move forwar-"


    Boom!


    A loud sound boomed out behind them, which caused all five members in the group to jump as they turned around to look at the sound. Behind them where the passageway had been was now a solid wall. The sound had been from a falling door that had closed off the passageway, sealing their retreat.


    "I guess we really can only go forward now," Johnmented wryly as he observed the sturdy door blocking their way.


    The material that made up thebyrinth walls was incredibly durable, and they would not be able to brute force their way through it.


    The group turned around to look back at the room before them, and followed after John as he took the first steps into the mist. As a precaution, John held his breath as the mist was quite mysterious, and formed a thinyer of protective Qi over his body. The others in the group did the same as they carefully ventured through the mist, keeping their heads on a swivel as they looked for any potential danger to appear.


    After traversing several dozen yards into the mist, a soft thud sounded out behind John. John, as well as the others, turned around to look at the sound.


    "Adam? What are you doing?" John asked in a confused manner as Adam was kneeling on the ground. His legs were shaking, and he was struggling to stand up.


    "I¡­I don''t know. I suddenly can''t move," Adam replied.


    Thud!


    Thud!


    Another two soft thuds sounded out as Iris and Gerrid fell to their knees, finding it hard to move.


    "What''s going on!" Adam eximed as he struggled to stand up but couldn''t.


    "I was wrong," Chase suddenly spoke up. "This is not regr mist¡­it''s poisonous mist!"


    "Poisonous mist?" Adam replied. "We''ve been holding our breath. How is it affecting us?"


    Chase inspected the mist for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on.


    "It must be absorbed through our skin, and must be able to somehow ignore the protective Qiyers we formed," Chase replied through gritted teeth. "Quick, take whatever poison neutralizing pills you have."


    The group quickly followed Chase''s instructions and took out many different poison neutralizing pills they had on hand. They downed them one after the other, hoping for it to neutralize the poison. However, nothing seemed to work.


    By now, even John started to feel his body start to grow weak and weary. He found his movements grow sluggish, and found it hard to even take a step.


    ''Using my Asura Transformation would solve this issue, as it empowers my body and rids any negative effects within. However, I promised Thunderzen I wouldn''t use it unless my life was at risk. How else do I get us out of this mess?'' John mused internally as he tried to figure out a way out of this mess.


    He nced over to Chase, who was surprisingly still standing, although he seemed to be struggling as well.


    "You''re still fine?" John asked Chase.


    "I''m from the Bloodfiend Sect, and also a Pill Dao expert¡­I grew up around poisons and other nasty things, so my body is much more resistant than normal cultivators," Chase replied.


    "Do you have any way to get us out of this mess?" John asked Chase, as he was the expert on such a subject.


    Chase nced at the other''s, who were all still under the poison''s effects.


    "I guess none of the pills any of you took helped at all," Chase mused out loud, before his gaze locked back onto John.


    "I might," Chase replied, causing the eyes of the others to widen in hopeful anticipation. "I have over ten thousand different poison neutralizing pills, each specialized for neutralizing a different type of poison. However, we don''t have enough time to try each one before this poisonpletely overwhelms us. The only solution I have is to study this mist and figure out what poison it is, and hopefully I have the corresponding pill to give to you all."


    John nodded his head in approval at Chase''s n, and Chase quickly sat down and took out many different vials, pots, and potions. He started going to work doing alchemical things that John had no idea of, as he tried to figure out what the poison was.


    The process continued for several minutes, before a clunking sound echoed out behind them. John and the group turned their heads to look at the sound, and grit their teeth at what they saw. The wall behind them had started to slowly move towards them. Their heads all turned to look forward as they remembered something, and their gazes locked onto the pit at the other side of the room.


    The seemingly harmless pit now looked like a death trap that was slowly encroaching on them.

 Chapter 497 - Poison Mist

    "We''re gonna be trapped in that pit!" Adam screeched out in panic. "Chase, work faster!"


    Chase grit his teeth as he heard Adams cries of panic, which were quickly cut off as John sent Adam a stern re of warning to be silent. Adam''s panicked expression remained, but he remained quiet as he allowed Chase to work in silence.


    ''If Chase can''t resolve this issue in time, I''ll use my Asura Transformation to get us out of it. But this is a rare chance for Chase to shine and show his talents, as well as hone them in a high-pressure situation.''


    The group all watched Chase in silence as he went about his work at his fastest rate possible. Using several sks and other various alchemy items, Chase trapped some of the mist within several sks and started doing some experiments on it.


    Drops of various types of liquid were asionally dripped into the sks before him, while other sks were boiling atop some small heat-based formation disks that he had taken out. Chemical reactions were taking ce nonstop, causing several of the sks to bubble violently, change colors, and almost freeze.


    The wall behind them slowly encroached upon the group, filling them with a sense of slowly approaching death. Although they didn''t know if falling into the pit was dangerous or not, none of them wanted to find out.


    The scraping of stone on stone continued to screech out behind as the time passed by. Chase''s expression grew more and more frantic as he worked as fast as possible, and John could tell that he was getting flustered at the pressure put upon him at the moment.


    ''A frantic mind will be filled with thoughts of failure and other distracting things. He won''t be able to get us out of this in his current state.''


    "Chase," John called out, which caused Chase to look up from his work. "There''s no need to panic. We trust you to get us through this, so trust your skills and focus on the task at hand calmly."


    Chase''s eyes widened slightly upon hearing John''s words of encouragement, as such things were incredibly rare throughout his brutal life. A warm smile appeared on his face as he nodded his head and focused his mind and calmed himself down. He wanted to take a deep breath to focus himself even more but doing so within the poison mist would not be wise.


    After fifteen seconds of calming down, a resolved look appeared on Chase''s face as the previous panic waspletely erased. John nodded his head in approval as he watched Chase get back to work.


    His hands had be steadier and his movements moremitted. While his actions before were filled with doubt and unsteadiness, his current actions were steady and resolved. The speed at which he worked increased, and even John stared in awe at the alchemical prowess he was seeing from Chase.


    ''I guess he truly is a Pill Dao genius. Poisons are not even his specialty and he''s able to work at such a speed. Adam with his formations, Iris with her eye talents, and Chase with his alchemical talents. It seems as though I''ve put quite the impressive group together.''


    The scraping of stone on stone slowly encroaching from behind continued ceaselessly, although this time Chasepletely ignored it as he went about his work. John stared at the stone wall approaching, as he mused over it.


    ''Why is the wall moving so slowly? If the purpose was to make us fail this trial, then the wall could move instantly. Which means there''s two reasons for its slow speed. The first is to give those within an opportunity to pass the trial through wits or other methods, while the second is...to screw with those within and instill them with dread and panic. I would normally think its the first, but based on what Gerrid has said about his Labyrinth, the second option is bing more and more likely.''


    "I got it," an excited cry from Chase stirred John from his thoughts as he nced over. "This poison is derived from the Nethermist Vine. No wonder I took so long to identify it. It''s an incredibly rare nt."


    After his short burst of excited exmation, Chase began rummaging through his spatial ring and searched amongst the thousands and thousands of pill jars before he finally found what he needed. A jar suddenly appeared in his hand, roughly a foot tall and wide. Over a dozen pure white pills with blue dots on it were contained within.


    He quickly took one of the pills and popped it into his mouth. The group stared at Chase with hopeful anticipation as he continued to sit there for a few seconds while the wall slowly approached from behind. It was almost upon them.


    Their hopeful expressions turned into ones of tion as Chase stood up,pletely unhindered by the poisonous mist.


    "Well done, Chase," John called out cheerily.


    "Ahahaha, we''re saved," Adam eximed happily as well.


    Chase smiled as he walked over to each of them and popped a pill in their mouth. Each person thanked him gracefully as he did so, and as soon as the pill hit their stomachs, it began to do its work of neutralizing the paralyzing toxin within their body.


    John felt his body be back under his control at the same time as the others, who all walked over and patted Chase on the back. After thanking him once again, they all walked over towards the pit, as it was the only direction they could walk in.


    They stopped at the very edge of the pit and gazed over, their eyes going wide as they saw what was within.


    "There must be over two hundred disciples down there!" Iris eximed in shock as she and the rest observed a massive pile of disciples at the bottom of the pit.


    They were all standing and walking about, seemingly no longer affected by the poisonous mist.


    "Why don''t they just leave?" Chase asked.


    "There''s an incredibly strong one-way defensive formation directly above this pit," Adam replied as he threw a stone over the edge. A brief sh of subtle light flickered out when the stone fell into the pit, before it returned back to normal as if the defensive formation didn''t exist.


    "One can enter this formation but cannot leave. Even I wouldn''t be able to break this formation. It''s far above my level," Adam continued.


    "What should we do then?" Chase asked, slightly concerned for his fellow disciples. Despite the fact that he grew up in the Bloodfiend Sect, his heart was gentle and kind.


    "What can we do for them?" John replied. "We are unable to help them, and they should be safe down there until they''re expelled from the realm. The only thing we can do is move forward."


    After saying this, John jumped over the massive pit andnded on the other side. He gestured for the others to follow, who quickly jumped over as well.. John sent one final nce at the pit and those trapped within, before he turned around and walked into the next passageway to head deeper into the Labyrinth.

 Chapter 498 - Third Trial

    Simr to what happened after clearing the first hurdle of the Labyrinth, another three way branch in the passageway appeared before the group. The group stopped to stare down the dark and damp passageways, but couldn''t discern anything from them.


    After doing so, they all simultaneously nced at Adam, who already had his chest puffed out and a prideful smile on his face. However, he had not moved yet, as if he were expecting them to say something.


    John rolled his eyes and decided to humor Adam, which was a rare urrence.


    "Sir Grandmaster Formations Expert of the Heavens, please grace us with the direction to go," he said in an exaggerated manner while bowing in a formal manner.


    "Haha, that''s more like it. I see you''ve finally learned how to address me," Adam replied with a heartyugh, which was quickly cut off by a punch from John onto his shoulder.


    "Ow, what the hell was that for?" Adam eximed in shock and pain.


    "I already humored your ego once, do not push it further," John replied. "Besides, the path you took us downst time led us to that poison trap. Are you sure you''re taking us in the right direction? How can you even tell which way to go just by sending those objects down the passageway?" John asked.


    "Of course I am," Adam replied quickly while rubbing his still sore shoulder. "Those two other pathways led to dead ends and inescapable traps, while the pathway we went down was dangerous but was able to be escaped. It''s not my fault thisbyrinth is dangerous no matter where we go! As for how I can tell which way to go¡­these formations link my mind to the objects I send down the passageway, and I can see through each of them. That''s how I know the other passageways were traps!"


    "Fine, fine," John replied while waving his hand in front of his face. "Just find us the next route."


    Adam quickly sat down after another small exchange of words and went to work. He took out the same formation disks as before, and three more arrowhead like objects appeared before him. They each sped down the three passageways as Adam sought the next route to take.


    While waiting for him to figure out which way to go, the rest grouped together to discuss the Labyrinth.


    "Don''t you think its a bit strange so far?" John asked the rest of the group. "This is supposed to be a realm of opportunities and rewards, but all the Labyrinth has given us is dangerous traps. What''s going on?"


    The group all nced at Gerrid, who was the most knowledgeable of the group. Gerrid shrugged his shoulders in response.


    "I have no idea. The Labyrinth is always the most mysterious ce to pop up in this realm, and no one knows its true purpose. I have heard there are rewards, only they are very few and far between. However, the rewards that do appear within usually are higher grade, so its not all bad."


    "Is that so?" John replied.


    "Well let''s hope there''s something within. Going through all this just to get nothing would feel awful," Iris added.


    He hade here to find lightning opportunities, but had only found the lightning in the sky to raise his Lightning Attribute Body. However, it was not enough, and he needed more opportunities before he ascended to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, or his life would be in grave danger.


    ''This realm better have something to raise my lightning talents, or I''ll need to go somewhere else to find it.''


    "This way," Adam suddenly eximed with pride on his face once again. However, his face was red and sweat covered, revealing that doing such a thing put a great strain on his body and cultivation.


    "See anything at the end of this passageway?" John asked.


    "This way ends in arge room, and I see other disciples gathered within. It seems as though there''s a bottleneck in progressing forward of some sort. I''m sure we''ll find out soon enough," Adam replied.


    "Other disciples? That''ll be the first time we see them within this Labyrinth and not be trapped by something. Let''s go," John replied.


    The group quickly set off down the passageway, which was uneventful like the previous one. After walking for quite some time, light once again appeared in their visions, and they soon came to the room Adam had mentioned.


    The room was circr, with the ceiling high above their head and lit with formation runes. It was several hundred yards across, and had a raised tform in the very center of it. On that tform was a disciple fighting against a stone golem quite simr to the ones that guarded the Labyrinth entrance.


    Below the tform was arge group of around one hundred disciples who had gathered together. They appeared to exclusively third and fourth years, as they were the only ones strong enough to progress forward this far. They were all watching the disciple who was currently fighting against the golem while discussing something amongst themselves.


    The arrival of John''s group caught their attention, and their faces all had surprise appear on them as they noticed that the group consisted of four first years, who were all in the Meridian Forging Realm.


    "Gerrid. How the hell did you manage to drag four first years with you this far?" one of the male disciples called out with a friendly tone, who was seemingly a friend of Gerrid''s.


    "I didn''t do anything to get us here I''m afraid," Gerrid shook his head in self-pity as he replied to that youth.


    His reply caused another wave of surprise to appear on their faces, as they all nced at John and the rest.


    "Surely you''re just joking," the youth replied, but Gerrid affirmed the truth once more.


    They all stared at John and the rest, before they finally realized that with luck such a thing was possible.


    "I guess it''s not impossible. Both the deceptive disciples and poison room didn''t really rely on cultivation level. Man, you guys sure must be lucky to be able to get this far," another youth replied.


    "I suppose," John replied with a shoulder shrug, as he didn''t really care about such things. His eyes nced over to the youth fighting the golem, who seemed to be struggling against it.


    "Why are you all gathered here?" Gerrid spoke up again. "What''s this trial?"


    "It''s abat trial," the boy who had spoken up first replied. "And one that is hard as hell to get by. We''re all grouped here to figure out a way forward."


    "Abat trial huh?" John mused out loud as a smile appeared on his face.


    ''Finally, something for me to do!''

 Chapter 499 - Passing With Ease

    Bang!


    A loud sound boomed out from atop therge tform, followed by a pained cry as the disciple who was fighting against the golem flew off the tform and collided against the wall of the room. He tumbled to the ground and remained motionless, while other disciples rushed up to give him aid.


    "Like I said,'''' the disciples who had revealed the nature of the trial to John and his group spoke up again. "This trial is hard as hell to pass. Most end up like him."


    "Most huh?" John mused. "Does that mean some have passed this trial?"


    "Sure, some have, but not many. The only ones who have been able to pass are the most talented youths of our sect. This trial testsbat prowess more than it does absolute power," the disciple replied.


    "Can we only take it solo?" Adam suddenly spoke up, as he had noticed the youth on the tform was alone. If he had to take abat trial alone, he was most likely destined to stop here.


    "No, you can take it as a group," the youth replied. "But most choose not to. The difficulty of the test scales up based on how many people are in the group, as well as their overall cultivations, but the golem will at minimum be at the same cultivation as the strongest member of the group. Adding members will only raise its cultivation, and some groups have had to fight golems higher in cultivation than their own. So adding more bodies just makes the fight harder. Only those with incredible teamwork have passed this trial as a group."


    "Is that so?" John replied while thinking about the trial and how to proceed forward.


    Based on what the disciple had said, the opponent was based on the highest cultivation in the group. Gerrid was in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, and so the golem would be at that realm, if not higher.


    ''I can still handle an Early Heaven Tribtion Gole, but if the golem ends up being Middle Heaven Tribtion, fighting against it without my asura body will be quite challenging, especially while having to protect Adam and Chase. Iris is quite fast, so she should be able to handle herself, but still¡­this may be challenging.''


    While thinking about the trial, another group went up on the stage and began their fight with the golem. The group consisted of five members, and as expected, the cultivation of the golem was a minor realm higher than the highest member in the group.


    The battle was hard fought, but the incredible durability of the golem won out as the group was slowly defeated by its incredibly powerful blows. The durability of the golem also scaled with its cultivation, making it incredibly hard for those with lower cultivation levels to leave any significant levels of damage on it.


    Lastly, lightning attacks seemed to be quite useless on the golem, which further stifled the groups that fought against it, almost all of their most powerful attacks were lightning based attacks.


    ''Lightning attacks don''t work¡­in a lightning realm. Why do I get the feeling that whoever set up this Labyrinth is screwing with us.''


    The group watched patiently as several other groups went up and tested their luck, but all failed spectacrly. Each group would be whittled away one by one until all were defeated, and their defeats were all quite miserable.


    After thest group was knocked off the tform, no other group stepped forward.


    "Guess it''s our turn," John said as he stood up and started walking over to the tform. He was quickly followed by Adam, Chase, and Iris, but John stopped to turn at Gerrid, who was standing there without moving.


    "Youing?" John asked.


    Gerrid remained silent for a moment before shaking his head.


    "No, you go on without me," Gerrid replied.


    "You sure? I said I would take you through this realm if you helped me out earlier. I intend to honor those words," John replied calmly. Although the fight would be quite brutal if Gerrid joined, John was still confident in being able to win.


    "I''m sure. Based on how this trial works, me being in the group would only cause headaches¡­besides, some of my friends are in this crowd, so I''ll just join up with them and hopefully proceed that way. Good luck," Gerrid replied with a smile on his face.


    John stared at Gerrid for a moment before he nodded his head. "Good luck to you as well."


    Although Gerrid had never admitted it, he had done nothing to get the group this far. He was being carried forward by a bunch of first years, and as a third year, he felt incredibly awkward, as well as useless. John understood this, and so he did not argue against Gerrid''s wishes.


    He too would find it quite hard to swallow if someone younger than him all of a sudden showed up with greater talent and power and started carrying him through the trials.


    After wishing Gerrid good luck, the group all walked up to the stage and hopped on. Gerrid''s friend, who was standing besides him, smiled as he poked him in the ribs with his elbow.


    "Just admit it. You didn''t continue forward with them because they were dead weight to you," his friend jested with a smile. "You were quite kind to carry them this far forward already. I would have dropped them behind long ago."


    "Quite the opposite," Gerrid replied with a wry look on his face. "It was my who was the dead weight through this Labyrinth."


    "What? Surely you''re joking," his friend replied.


    "Just watch," Gerrid said as his eyes gazed forward. "These four will most likely breeze through this trial."


    Gerrid''s friend knew he was not one to lie, and so his face too became serious as he looked on at the group Gerrid praised so highly.


    ¡­


    John jumped onto the raised tform, which was around one hundred yards wide. He was followed by Iris, Adam, and Chase, who all stared at the motionless golem on the other side of the tform.


    A strange energy suddenly washed over them as it scanned their bodies and cultivation levels. In the group, Iris had the highest cultivation at the Late Meridian Forging Realm, followed by John at the Middle Meridian Forging for his essence cultivation. Chase and Adam trailed behind at the Early Meridian Forging Realm.


    After a brief inspection, the energy faded away, and the motionless golem started to power up and move. A casual smile appeared on John''s face as the Golem began to re its power for them to feel.


    "Half-Step Heaven Tribtion? That''s a bit disappointing. Maybe I should have forced Gerrid to join us after all so I could have had a better fight.''


    John shook his head at himself before he slowly started to walk forward towards the golem. The group of disciples outside the tform watched on, curious as to how the group of first years would make it past this trial.


    "What? He''s going to fight the golem alone?" one of the disciples questioned as they saw only John move forward.


    "He had a Middle Meridian Forging cultivation, and he wants to fight a Half-Step Heaven Tribtion golem? Are the new batch of disciples this year all this stupid?" another replied with a slightly mocking tone.


    They had been impressed that the group had made it this far, as no other first years had done so. However, they assumed it was Gerrid who had dragged them forward this far. Their curiosity as to how John and the rest would pass the trial turned into surprise and even light mockery, as what they were seeing was beyond what they had expected.


    They all watched as John took out a battle axe while casually walking towards the golem. After fully powering up, the golems body suddenly shed forward with incredible speed and appeared before John in an instant. Its first punched towards John with incredible power.


    "He''s done for," a disciplemented, but their eyes quickly widened as they watched the scene y out before them.


    Bang!


    The golems stone fist collided against John''s outstretched hand, shaking the entire arena from the powerful collision. The brutal crushing of bone and flesh that was expected did not ur, and the golems fist was insteadpletely stopped by John''s hand as he stood there casually. Johns robe and long hair fluttered behind him wildly from the power of the attack, while his calm gaze stared at the golem before him.


    "What?"


    "How is this possible?"


    Several disciples eximed in shock. They had expected John to be violently crushed and knocked off the stage, but he had instead blocked the attack barehanded withplete ease.


    His other free hand which was holding the axe began to re with incredible power and profundity as he raised it above his head and shed it down onto the golems body.


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    An incredibly axe battle art mmed onto the golems chest, pausing for a brief moment before it cleavedpletely through its body. The golem exploded into pieces of rubble, while the stunned faces of the disciples outside the tform looked on. Only one face remained calm as he had expected this to ur.


    sh!


    John and the rest of the group felt their bodies wrapped up in spatial powers, and their bodies suddenly disappeared from the sight of the rest of the disciples watching on.


    After a long silence, a disciple couldn''t help but speak out and break the silence.


    "What the hell just happened? And who the hell is that kid?"

 Chapter 500 - Land Of Fog

    In a different part of the Labyrinth, tranquil waters of argeke shined brilliantly under an artificial light source from above. While it was noticeable that this ce was enclosed, it almost looked as if it were outdoors. Clouds seemed to move above overhead, while a gentle breeze flitted through the grass and trees.


    Next to the tranquilke was a luxurious pagoda. At the base of the pagoda was a pier and patio that overlooked theke, d with fine furniture. There were many reclined seats, lined with the softest of materials, and a table between the seats filled with heavenly fruits and other marvelous treats.


    On many of the luxurious seats rested beautiful women, the beauty of each enough to topple nations. They were dressed in thin and mesmerizing dresses, showing off the curves of their elegant bodies.


    In the very front of therge patio, the most luxurious seat was surrounded by many of these beautiful women. On the seatid a man, who appeared to be around seventy years old. He had silver hair, which was disheveled in every direction, and was dressed in a luxurious robe.


    The women were feeding him all sorts of heavenly fruits and other marvels, as the manid there with a rxed, satisfied, and slightly lecherous look on his face.


    "Ahh, this truly is the life," the man eximed with arge, satisfied smile on his face as he bit into one of the fruits. "My turn onlyes once every ten years, and I don''t intend to waste it on testing some snot-nosed brats who invade my realm. I still don''t know why my others waste their time doing such a thing."


    "You know exactly why we do such a thing," the same man suddenly said, although it was as if it were spoken by a different voice.


    "Ah, screw finding a sessor," the man replied to himself, his voice simr to when he first spoke. "I''m content with just living here until we fade away eventually."


    "Couldn''t you have made the trials a bit easier though? How is anyone supposed to find their way through the fog trial?"? another voice, different from the first two, spoke up.


    "Why should I care about that? There''s a small exit roughly one yard across to the next area. If they''re lucky enough, they''ll stumble upon it," the man replied to himself again.


    "The fog trial is dozens of miles across¡­no one will find that exit," the second voice spoke up in a disgruntled tone.


    "Hmm, not my problem," the first voice replied while shrugging his shoulders. "This is my year to control this realm. I only agreed to make the trails passable. Their difficulty is for me to decide upon. Now leave me alone."


    A disgruntled snort escaped the man''s mouth, but silence only followed as the other voices seemed to fade away. A satisfied smile once again returned to the man''s face.


    "Ah, peace atst again," the man eximed as he bit into the fruit in his hands once again while admiring the tranquil waters shimmering in the distance.


    ¡­


    John and the rest of the group felt a spatial power wrap around them upon passing the trial, and did not resist against it as they allowed it to take them. The familiar sense of passing through space washed over John, and he quickly arrived at his new destination.


    Dense fog appeared in his vision as he found himself in apletely new area that he had not seen before. His divine sense quickly spread out, but John found that the fog around himpletely restricted his divine sense.


    At the same time, his vision was restricted as well, making it so that he was unable to discern anything around him.


    "Adam? Chase? Iris?" John called out as he looked around for his friends, but received no call back.


    He called out a few more times, but each call was met with silence. John frowned as he flew up into the air, but after going up no more than one hundred yards, he collided against a hard surface.


    "Clearly I''m still underground," John mused as he tested the ceiling above him, but found it made of sturdier material than he could damage.


    His head swiveled around once more, but the thick fog still obscured his vision in every direction, making it so that he could see no more than a few feet in front of himself. Having all his senses restricted like this was a stifling sensation, and one he was not used to.


    His power red outwards in an attempt to push the fog back, but it resisted anything he did, almost as if it existed in the same yet different dimension.


    Johnnded back down on the ground below, and thought about his next steps.


    "It seems as though we were all split up. I wonder if the others were transported to this same area, or somewhere else?" John mused. "Oh well, I can''t wait for them. I should explore this area and see if there is anything of value."


    After deciding on what to do, John picked a random direction and began to walk. The dense fog obscured any sense of direction, and John found himself wandering aimlessly as he tried to figure out what this ce was.


    Fallen trees, dead with rot asionally popped up, while barrennd and foggy swamps popped up asionally. It was clearly some sort of dead forest, although John had no idea howrge it was, or what potentially lurked within.


    "Thankfully I haven''t run into any beasts or dangers so far, but I''m just wandering aimlessly. Surely there must be some way through this trial," John mused out loud as he continued to walk forward.


    Just then, he felt a tremble in his soul, and Kirii suddenly appeared before him.


    "Kirii? What is it?" John asked. Kirri enjoyed resting in John''s soul space, as he considered it his safest, warmest ce to rest. However, he woulde out when he wanted to do something, although John didn''t know what help Kirii could provide in this dense fog.


    Although they still couldn''tmunicate, Kirii was able to convey his feelings to John.


    "Hmm? You feel something calling out to you in this direction?" John asked as he felt Kirii''s thoughts.


    A happy yip of confirmation left Kirii''s mouth, and John mused over it for a second before he nodded his head at Kirii.


    "I have no ideas as to how to get through this ce, so lead the way!"


    Kirii suddenly sped off in a certain direction, and John quickly chased behind him. He kept his guard raised just in case something attacked him.


    ''Thankfully I can tell which direction Kirii is in due to our soul connection, or I would have instantly lost him in this fog.''


    John followed behind Kirii, who would asionally stop to feel something, before continuing on in a certain direction. This continued for over an hour as Kirii seemed to get more and more excited as he ventured forward.


    ''Whatever it is, it definitely has his attention.? I wonder what it is though?''


    Despite using all his senses, John felt absolutely nothing, and so didn''t know what it was that Kirii was sensing.


    ''The only thing I can think of is something lighting based. Being a heavenly lightning creature, Kirii is far more attuned to lightning than I am. Hopefully it''s something good.''


    After speeding forward for many miles in the dense fog, Kirii suddenly came to a stop. Johnnded at the area Kirii stopped at, and a confused look appeared on his face as he inspected the nearby area and found nothing.


    "There''s nothing here Kirii. Why did you lead us here?" John asked in a confused tone.


    Another excited yip escaped Kirii''s mouth as he began to dig downwards into the earth.


    "There''s something under here?" John asked, and another excited yip from Kirii confirmed it.


    Kirii''s digging speed was incredible, and before long Kirii had already dug a vertical hole over one hundred yards deep. The earth was incredibly durable and even John found it quite hard to dig into, but Kirii seemed to have no problem at all. John followed behind and began to help as well, although not with digging as he was much slower than Kirii was at digging, and only got in the way.


    He followed closely behind Kirii and stored the loosened dirt and rock in his spatial realm to clear the hole from loosened debris. The two of them slowly but surely descended deep into the ground.


    "We''re already over five hundred yards deep and we still haven''t reached whatever Kirii is after? Just how deep is this thing he''s afte-" John''s thoughts cut off as a bright blue light suddenly pierced through from below.


    Bang!


    The final piece of earth gave way with a mighty swipe from Kiriis paw as John felt his body dip downward, as there was seemingly nothing beneath them. Both he and Kirii quickly stabilized their bodies to float in the air as John took in his surroundings, which appeared to be a massive hollowed out sphere beneath the earth, roughly one mile in diameter.


    His eyes opened wide in shock and surprise as he spotted a glowing blue orb in the very center of the hollow sphere, floating in the air.. An orb of pure lightning.

 Chapter 501 - Lightning Sphere

    The orb of lightning was several feet across, and it glowed with such brightness that it was hard to look at. It washed the rest of the hollowed-out cavern with its blue glow, making it look quite incredible.


    Nine trails of lightning flowed out of the orb like small rivers. They pierced through the ground in various different parts of the hollowed-out chamber, seemingly flowing to other parts of the Thunder Realm. Although he was standing at the very edge of the hallowed-out chamber, John could feel the incredible potency of the lightning sphere.


    A weaker disciple would have already been overwhelmed by its power, and some may have been gravely injured just by entering this cavern.


    ''This sphere is already so overwhelming just standing here, and I can tell that more than ny percent of its power is being sent elsewhere through those lightning streams. Just how incredible is this lightning orb? Does it power this entire lightning realm?"


    John could only muse on thatst point, but figured it was a fairly good guess as to what this lightning sphere was. It was like a power-core for the entire realm, which allowed for the clouds above the realm to spew out powerful lightning in perpetuity, and also powered the other various parts of the realm.


    An excited yip left Kirii''s mouth, and he quickly dashed forward towards the lightning sphere in glee.


    "Hold on a minute," John called out as he grabbed Kirii by the tail, stopping him from moving forward. He could tell that Kirii was attracted here by the lightning sphere and wanted to obtain it. However, it was far more powerful than anything Kirii could withstand, and John did not want Kirii to get hurt.


    "We''ll have to take this slowly," John said to Kirii, who sulked after hearing that but remained in ce and followed John''s instructions.


    His gaze shifted back onto the lightning sphere, which continued to glow with absolute brilliance. Although most of the power was contained within the sphere and the lightning streams, a small amount leaked out amongst the rest of the cavern, basking it with smaller and less powerful lightning strikes.


    However, this lightning was still incredibly powerful, and was even powerful enough to harm John. A sigh escaped John''s lips as he looked forward, and he shook his head in self-pity of the pain toe. With such an opportunity before him, he knew what he had to do. He had done so within the Elysian Lightning World, and knew he had to do so here again.


    ''Is cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script seriously going to be an endless loop of excruciating painful cultivation after excruciating painful cultivation? Is this the price to pay for forcibly making a Lightning Attribute Body?''


    While he was not looking forward to the incredible pain toe, John knew he had no other choice. It was either cultivate the Celestial Lightning Script to its utmost, or die in his next tribtion.


    A piece of jade suddenly appeared in his hands as he attuned his mind to it. He took a deep breath and steadied his mind before proceeding forward towards the sphere. The flickers of lightning mmed onto his body, as well as Kirii''s as they approached.


    Although fine at first, John''s skin began to char as he got closer to the lightning sphere, and soon the lightning began to rampage wildly within his body. He grit his teeth in silent pain as he allowed the lightning to rampage within, while he started channeling the principles of the Celestial Lightning Script.


    ¡­


    "Why the hell is this fog so fucking thick?" an exasperated cry boomed out from Adam as he kicked a nearby rock. The rock shot off into the fog, disappearing from sight as Adam sat on the ground in an exasperated manner.


    "Where the hell is John anyways? Shouldn''t he have already found us alrea-...ah forget it. He must be even more lost than me within this fog," Adam grumbled. "Oh well, I need to find John and Chase somehow. That bitch Iris can get lost for all time for all I care."


    A few secondster, a rock suddenly pierced through from the fog unexpectedly and mmed into his forehead with great force.


    "Gah!" Adam cried out in pain as he was unable to dodge in time. He flew backwards for a short distance beforeing to a stop. He groggily rubbed his head in pain and slowly stood up as he looked towards the direction the rock hade from.


    "Who''s there!" Adam eximed in panic and fear but received no answer.


    He rubbed his head in frustration as an item suddenly appeared in his hands. It was a box made of some sort of metal, around one foot on each side. There were incredibly rune markings on the outside, and the top of the box was made of four triangles that met in the middle and closed off the top.


    He took out the same tform object from earlier in thebyrinth and sat on it as he calmed his mind. Arge pile of spirit crystals, numbering in the hundreds of thousands suddenly appeared next to him, also on the tform he took out.


    The formation ran on the tform below him and the box in his hands began to glow as he started channeling his Qi into it. At the same time, a faint rune light pierced through the shoulders of his robes, clearly from the formation disks embedded into his shoulders.


    "I didn''t want to use this exhausting and expensive formation, but I guess I have no other choice. Find the way forward for me, as well as where that rock came from. If I can find John and Chase, even better! It''ll be an opportunity for me to once again prove how awesome I am hahaha."


    As soon as he said this, the top of the box opened outwards as hundreds of small orbs no more than a centimeter across shot out.. They hovered before Adam for a moment before each shot off in a different direction, seeking out the truth of the foggy room.

 Chapter 502 - Finding The Exit

    Adam''s face instantly paled, but the tform below him started to glow even more brilliantly as a spirit crystal suddenly disappeared, followed by another. The pile of spirit crystals was turned into pure energy and absorbed by the tform, and Adam''s pale face regained some color as he continued to focus on the task at hand.


    His expectant face soured slightly as he did not spot the source of the rock that had been thrown, but he sighed a breath of relief as at least it wasn''t anything dangerous.


    Like this, he sat in strained silence for hours as the pile of spirit crystals below him vanished. He quickly took out a new pile and continued his work. He asionally spotted other disciples within, who appeared to be third and fourth years, but ignored them as he went about his work.


    "Hmm? What the fuck? Is there a hole in the ground?" Adam mused out loud as his vision, which was linked to the orbs, suddenly noticed a hole.


    He immediately sent an orb down the hole, but after only going half-way down, the orb suddenly shattered.


    "Hmm?" What happened?" Adam mused out loud again and sent another orb down the hole.


    The same asst time, the orb shattered before making it to the bottom, frustrating Adam greatly.


    "Forget it, whatever is down there is more powerful than my orbs can handle. I''ll find another way out."


    The remaining hundreds of small orbs continued to race around the foggy world, looking for an exit. After another half-day of trying, Adam''s eyes suddenly lit up in absolute delight as his orb spotted a small set of stairs. It was nearly hidden in the ground, and was covered by sticks and fallen logs.


    The stairwell was less than four feet wide, making it incredibly easy to miss.


    "Aha, I finally found it. Hahahaha, I truly am a genius! Although it cost me a damn fortune to find the exit," Adam boomed out proudly as he quickly stood up and put his formation items away. "I didn''t find John or Chase though. I wonder where they are? Too bad, this would have been another great opportunity to show them how amazing I truly am. Ah, I''m sure they''re both fine."


    He quickly consumed a Qi recovery pill before his body shot forward towards where he had found the stairs, ready to tackle the next part of the Labyrinth.


    ¡­


    A foggy world entered Iris''s vision as she was transported to the fog trial.


    "Hmm? What is this ce?" Iris mused as she spread out her divine sense, but found it restricted. A confident smile appeared on her face despite this, as her eyes suddenly shifted slightly in color.


    The foggy world before her slowly began to disappear, as Iris took in the world before her with much greater rity. Her eyebrows raised slightly as she looked in all directions. The world before her was dead and barren, with fallen trees stripped of vegetation lying everywhere, and swampy marshes scattered about. There were no animals or beasts within, making the world look even more barren.


    The world before her was not a world, but instead a room. The ceiling several hundred yards above covered the entire room, while the room itself was several dozen miles wide. It was circr, and the walls of the room were smooth and devoid of exits.


    "What is this ce? What is the trial? Is it just to find the exit?" Iris mused as she started walking forward. As she walked forward, several people suddenly came into view in different parts of the massive room.


    Most were older disciples that Iris had never before seen, clearly the disciples who had passed thebat trial before them. However, none of them were of importance to her, and so she continued to move throughout the realm looking for her group.


    A familiar face suddenly entered her vision, and Iris rolled her eyes in slight exasperation at having found him first. A sense of conflict filled her, as she debated on whether to help him. However, after some debate, she decided to do so as John considered him a friend, and so she decided to respect that.


    Upon resolving her internal debate, Iris started walking towards Adam who suddenly kicked a rock in front of him in exasperation.


    "Where the hell is John anyways? Shouldn''t he have already found us alrea-...ah forget it. He must be even more lost than me within this fog," Adam grumbled out loud, loud enough for Iris to clearly hear. "Oh well, I need to find John and Chase somehow. That bitch Iris can get lost for all time for all I care."


    Iris''s face instantly turned red with anger upon hearing Adam''s words. Her blood began to boil and an urge to dash forward and beat Adam up washed through her, but she quickly calmed herself down as much as possible.


    She dashed forward and caught the rock Adam had kicked, and hurled it back at him with great force.


    "Gah!"


    A satisfied smile appeared on her face as she watched Adam be struck by the rock, before she turned without looking back.


    "If you weren''t John''s friend, I would have half-crippled you for those words. Instead, I''ll just leave you to find your own damn way out of this ce," Iris grumbled, still slightly angered by Adam''s words.


    She sped off in the opposite direction, and continued her search for John. Her search continued for quite some time, but despite her best efforts, she was unable to find any trace of him. A frown appeared on her face as she continued her search in vain. She had even spotted Chase wandering aimlessly about, but focused on finding John first.


    However, even after searching the entire room, she had been unable to spot him.


    "Maybe he found the exit almost immediately, and is in the next trial already. It''s the only thing I can think of, so I might as well head there as well," Iris mused.


    She sped off towards Chase and met up with him, to the relief of Chase. He waspletely lost within this world, and had no idea of how to navigate it. With the help of Iris''s unique vision, the two of them found the exit quickly.


    "Wait," Chase called out as Iris began to descend the staircase, who stopped and turned around to look at him. "I know you said you couldn''t find Joh, but shouldn''t we find and help Adam?"


    "Hmph," Iris harrumphed without answering Chase and proceeded down the stairs, leaving a stunned Chase behind.. After a small internal debate, he descended the stairs as well, as he knew he would be unable to find Adam within the thick fog.

 Chapter 503 - Illusion World

    A new world appeared before Iris and Chase,pletely different from thest one they had just been in. Instead of a fog-filled swamp, a paradisiacal view appeared before them. In the distance, an incredibly vibrant and beautiful mountain range spanned the horizon. The mountains were covered in lush vegetation of various colors, making it look like a piece of art. In the sky above flew majestic looking birds and creatures, while directly in front of them was a sprawling city.


    The city appeared ancient in design, but was incredibly clean and luxurious. It rivaled any city they had ever seen, and was filled to the brim with people going about their daily lives. People streamed in and out of the city each minute, walking by Iris and Chase who stood there gazing at the city.


    "What''s going on?" Chase spoke up as he took in the sight before him. "Did we return to the real world?"


    "No," Iris replied, her eyes slightly narrowed. "This city is an illusion, and an incredibly high level one at that."


    "An illusion? All of this is an illusion?" Chase replied, slightly surprised. "It seems incredibly real to me. What a profound illusion."


    "Profound indeed," Iris replied. "It''s enough to almost perfectly fool me, even while using my eye abilities. I can only tell it''s an illusion based on incredibly small discrepancies when using my normal vision and altered vision. This illusion before us must be due to an incredible illusion formation, and it''s already invaded our souls, otherwise it would not be able to fool my eyes."


    Chase frowned upon hearing this, as he could not tell it was an illusion at all, and didn''t know what to do next.


    "What now?" Chase asked, as he defaulted to Iris to lead the way through such a trial.


    "I don''t know. I guess we proceed into the city, and keep our guard up. Illusion formations seep into the soul and slowly alter both perception and mood. Don''t get whisked away by this illusion without even realizing it," Iris replied, her voice slightly heavy. "Also, although there''s are illusions, they have physical form. They are capable of hurting you, so be careful."


    Chase nodded his head at Iris''s words and red his soul power to the maximum to defend against the illusion. "Lead the way."


    After a brief pause, Iris walked towards and into the ancient city, Chase following closely behind.


    ¡­


    In the hallowed out sphere, both John and Kirii floated in the empty space as they cultivated before the lightning sphere. John grit his teeth through the excruciating pain as the lightning from the sphere yed and burnt his body, which he allowed it to do so.


    The burnt flesh, muscle, and bone slowly but surely transformed in nature to do John channeling the Celestial Lightning Script, although each second was hellish torture. At the same time, John focused his mind on the lightning he was feeling, which slowly increased hisprehensions as well.


    Through the excruciating pain, John opened one eye to nce at Kirii who floated next to him. Lightning crashed onto Kirii''s body as well, although Kirii did not disy any signs of pain. In fact, it was as if Kirii was bathing beneath the warm sun,pletely rxed.


    "Must be nice," John grumbled through the pain as he saw this.


    Kirii was a lightning beast, and one that stood at the absolute peak of lightning talents. His body was already the highest grade lightning body possible, and all he had to do was strengthen it by absorbing lightning. As such, such a thing was not painful, and was instead enjoyable.


    John closed his one eye and focused back on the task at hand. After a moment longer, he took a deep breath and rushed forward a dozen yards, once again increasing the lightning burden on his body as he aimed to shatter the shackles of his lightning attribute body and enhance it as much as possible.


    ¡­


    "I''m finally out of that miserable ce," Adam eximed happily as he left the fog world and found himself in a new ce. He quickly took in the sight before him, and arge smile appeared on his face.


    "This ce is much more like it! It''s much better than that damn fog world," Adam cheered as he noticed the ancient city before him. He quickly rushed forward into the city without a care, and started exploring its interior.


    Merchant''s selling various items hawked their wares, while guild halls, trade shops, and taverns lined therge streets, making the city feel incredibly alive. Adam dashed from one ce to the next with arge grin on his face as he enjoyed the upbeat atmosphere of the city.


    "Hehe, this is so much better," Adam once again eximed as he dashed through the city, exploring everything he could.


    The other people in the city seemed to mostly ignore his presence, which Adam didn''t mind. While he took in the various sights of the city, he explored with a purpose, as if looking for a particr thing.


    Music suddenly filled his ears, followed by the sound of softughter. Adam''s ears perked up as he turned to look towards the source of the sound, and his eyes lit up with tion upon seeing what was before him.


    "Hahaha, just what I was looking for!" Adam eximed happily as he dashed forward. "I''ll just rx here until this damn Thunder Realm closes. This will be far more enjoyable than nearly dying over and over."


    As he finished saying this, Adam dashed into a luxurious building before him. The entrance of the building was covered with strips of fabric which he brushed aside as he entered. Before him, a bevy of beautiful women came into his view, allying about therge room before him.


    They all wore revealing outfits, and each was beautiful enough to topple nations with their looks. They all stopped their entrancingughter to look at Adam as he entered, and smiles appeared on their faces as they stood up and walked up to him.


    "Oh? Who''s this strapping young man," one of the women said as she ran her lithe fingers over his arm. Another grabbed his other arm and dragged him deeper into the room, much to the delight of Adam.


    A lecherous look appeared on his face as he allowed himself to be dragged onto one of the soft couches of the room, and he happily fell into the embrace of several of the women lying there.


    "Hehee, this truly is life," Adam eximed with a look of absolute bliss on his face.

 Chapter 504 - Familiar Voice

    In therge hollowed out Chamber, John continued to float before the sphere, some hundred yards away from it. His body waspletely charred ck on the outside as lightning continued to crash onto him and surge through his body.


    A perpetual grimace of pain lingered on his face, but his mind and will remained steadfast as he allowed the lightning to ravage his body. After ravaging his body, John would channel the Celestial Lightning Script while holding the Celestial Lightning Script True Origin Jade Piece. An incredibly unique and profound wave of energy, augmented by his lightningprehensions, surged through his body and washed over the damaged parts.


    The damaged flesh, muscle, and bone would slowly but surely start to heal, and be more and more profound in the process. After healing the lightning damage on a certain part of his body, John allowed the lightning to destroy that part once again, repeating the process anew.


    His entire body had been destroyed and healed over a hundred times by now. Each cycle in the process brought absolutely excruciating pain, but John did his best to ignore it as he focused on maintaining his sanity.


    ''My lightning attribute body had advanced another level of profundity, but I know I can take it even further. While I would like to explore this realm further, the main thing I need right now is to temper my lightning attribute body. Everything else is secondary, as if I fail to temper it enough, I''ll die in a few months when I undergo my tribtion.''


    John wanted to explore the rest of the Labyrinth, but decided against it in the end. His main purpose for entering this realm was to temper his lightning body, and he doubted he would find a better opportunity to do so within this realm.


    Through the pain, John nced over to Kirii, who seemed to be sleeping next to him. It was as if the lightning crashing onto his body was the greatest offorts. John shook his head at himself for being so weak against lightning whenpared to Kirii, but figured it was only natural as Kirii was a heavenly lightning beast.


    ''Only heavenly tribtion lightning seems to be a true lethal threat to Kirii,'' John mused for a moment before he focused on himself again. With the level of pain he felt at every single moment, his entire concentration was needed to ensure he did not pass out and die.


    His body slowly moved forward towards the lightning sphere, starting the process anew with slightly stronger lightning than before.


    ¡­


    Three dayster, Iris and Chase were still walking through the city with absolute caution. They were holding hands at the moment, not due to any intimate feelings, but due to the fact that they had already been separated by the illusions once already, and only managed to find each other again by sheer luck.


    Only by remaining connected could they be sure to not lose track of one another.


    The illusions slowly seeped into their minds, making them forget that they were even within the illusion formation. Only by staying constantly vignt could they fight back against such a thing, but it was incredibly draining on their soul power. They had lost their concentration several times and were sucked in by the illusion formation''s power, but luckily had the other nearby to wake them from it.


    Not only that, but they had been attacked by the ''people'' of the city several times already due to various reasons, such as thugs robbing them. Although they were illusions, the illusion formation gave them physical form, making those attacks quite harmful.


    They had already been injured several times, and couldn''t seem to make their way through the city. The city was incredibly massive, but more than that, it seemed to be ever changing.


    "It''s like we''re going in circles," Chase eximed in frustration as they arrived in a familiar spot. "No matter how long we walk for, we always seem to arrive in the city center. Your eyes truly can''t get us through this city?"


    A massive water fountain spewed water high into the sky before raining back down into therge basin below it. Children were ying at the edges of the water, while adults were watching them with smiles on their faces or going about their business. While it all looked incredibly alive, both Chase and Iris knew this was all an illusion.


    Iris shook her head at Chase''s question as she looked around with a tired expression on her face.


    "My eyes aren''t omnipotent," she replied, equally frustrated. "This illusion formation is incredibly high in quality. It shrouds even my gaze, and stops me from seeing the way out. All I can tell is that the city shifts constantly, so that''s why we''re getting lost. As for how to get out, I have no idea. If only this damn illusion formation didn''t also have a flight restriction built into it, we could just fly over this damn thing and get out of here," Iris eximed with exasperation.


    A deep sigh escaped Chase''s mouth as he shrugged his shoulders at the situation. The two began walking in a random direction once again, searching for the way through the city.


    "I guess all we can do is blindly wander and hope we make it out of th-"


    "Hahaha, you truly do have great vision," a prideful voice suddenly boomed out over Chase and iris. "For you to see how talented and smart I am, you really are quite impressive yourself!"


    Chase and Iris instantly looked at each other with strange expressions, as both could who that voice belonged to. Their gazes shifted to where the sound hade from, as more pridefulughter echoed out from within a building on the side of the wide road.


    The signboard above the building''s entrance depicted several beautiful women on it, and a strange expression appeared on Chase''s face, while Iris suddenly shot forward towards the entrance.


    She brushed aside the threads of fabric at the entrance and nced inside, quickly spotting the one she had heard speak.


    On arge couch, Adam wasying therezily, surrounded by several incredibly beautiful women. A lecherous grin was stered on his face as his hands roamed greedily about, while he kept encouraging the women to speak highly of him.

 Chapter 505 - Lightning Attribute Improvements

    "Sir Adam truly is this era''s genius," one of the women whispered into his ear, causing his grin to widen even further.


    Iris shook her head upon seeing this scene, as she could tell that Adam was already lost to the illusion formation, his mind consumed by the temptations of the city.


    "Pathetic lecher," Iris grumbled as she contemted whether to leave Adam in the formation or not. She was surprised he had managed to get through the fog world, but he had apparently done that somehow.


    However, it was not surprising to her that Adam had been caught up in the illusion formation, as she considered him to be a weak-willed man.


    "Hahah!" another pridefulugh escaped Adam''s mouth as he listened to the women whisper in his ear, before he suddenly spotted who was at the front entrance.


    "Tch, you''re here as well?," Adam called out to Iris with a frustrated tone, as if her very presence annoyed him.


    "You can see me?" Iris eximed with a slightly surprised tone. She figured Adam was lost to the illusion formation, and so his mind would be consumed with sights and visions that did not exist.


    By all ounts, he shouldn''t even be able to see her, as his vision should be warped to what the illusion formation wanted him to see.


    "Of course I can see you," Adam replied. "Why wouldn''t I be able to see you?"


    By this time, Chase walked into the room as well, his face bing reddened by what he saw. Despite the fact that they were illusions, he did his best to ignore the scantily dressed women at Adam''s side as he spoke out to him.


    "You''re not captured by this illusion formation?" Chase asked.


    "Me? Bing ve to a formation? Do you know who you''re speaking to?" Adam eximed, his voice slightly unhappy.


    "If you can see through this formation¡­then why are you¡­they aren''t real, you know?" Chase replied as he nced at the women lying up against Adam.


    "Of course I know they''re not real," Adam replied. "But this illusion formation gives them physical form, so they feel real. Also, this is much better than working my way through those exhausting trials. Compared to the trials before this city, this is paradise. I''m going to stay here until this damned realm closes."


    Chase and Iris fell into silence for a moment after hearing Adam''s exnation. Iris felt a wave of frustration course through her from dealing with Adam, and was about to turn to leave when Adam spoke up once more.


    "Besides, none of us will be able to leave this city anyways."


    "Why do you say that?" Chase asked curiously.


    "Because¡­I already found the exit to this city yesterday," Adam replied. "I took a break from this room for a while to see if I could find the exit, just to sate my curiosity¡­and I did. However, it requires brute force to get through¡­and none of us are strong enough to get through the exit. Only John would be able to, but he''s not here unfortunately."


    Iris''s eyes lit up upon hearing about the exit, but dimmed after hearing Adam''s description of it.


    "You never know. Take us to the exit, and we can try to get through," Iris replied.


    "Why would I ever help you?" Adam replied while staring at Iris as if she were stupid.


    "Ahhh¡­forget it. You are truly worthless," Iris eximed angrily as she stormed out the building, leaving Chase behind. "Are youing with me?" her voice boomed out from outside, causing Chase to feel conflicted.


    "Here, take this," Adam suddenly said to chase as he tossed a formation disk to him. Chase caught it and inspected it, before he nced back up to Adam to ask what it was.


    "I recorded the location of the exit in this disk. It will guide you to it, so you can try your luck¡­but like I said, without John, you''re not getting through," Adam exined.


    An appreciative smile appeared on Chase''s face as he thanked Adam before leaving the building. Using the disk, Iris and Chase set off towards the exit, while a rxed expression once again returned to Adam''s face. He stretched both arms to wrap around a beauty on each side.


    "Ahhh, this truly is the life."


    ¡­


    Two weeks after the realm opened, a powerful energy began to surge within the realm. Everyone, no matter where they were located within, felt the power wash over them and grow stronger.


    In the hollowed out cavern, John''s closed eyes slowly opened while the lightning continued to crash onto his body. His body was stillpletely ckened with lightning damage, and his aura had started to grow weak from resisting the lightning and cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script for over a week straight. His will had been pushed to the very edge of his limits, and John felt as though his sanity would snap from the excruciating pain at any moment.


    "It''s time for the realm to close?" John mused out loud as he suddenly flew backwards to the edge of the hollowed cavern, relieving himself for the first time from the lightning strikes. He donned a new robe as his other one had been destroyedpletely, and consumed a Qi replenishing pill and healing pill to aid his recovery.


    Even with his incredibly strong body and high resistance to pain, John felt as though he was at the very edge of his physical limits.


    "I suppose that''s for the best. I was about to reach my absolute limits soon anyways, and might have fallen into grave danger if I continued any further. I did all I could, and my lightning attribute body seems to have reached its limit for now. I aplished my goal for entering this realm, and at this point, I''ve done all I can to prepare for the next tribtion."


    While he wanted to push himself further, he knew that even he had limits. Kirii suddenly slipped into John''s soul space, as John felt the rejective power grow stronger and stronger. His gaze lingered on the lightning sphere as he began to be rejected from the Thunder Realm.


    A greedy look appeared in his eyes as he felt himself be taken away from the realm.


    "Next year¡­I''ll be taking that sphere with me when I leave."


    sh!


    With one final push of power, the realm expelled all disciples from within, bringing an end to the Thunder Realm.

 Chapter 506 - Leaving The Thunder Realm

    On the patio next to the crystallineke, the frazzled-hair old man continued to lounge about while being fed fruit by beautiful women. His rxed and content expression suddenly changed slightly as he sat upright and focused for a moment.


    The beautiful women next to him vanished into thin air, as they were revealed to be merely constructs of a formation.


    "Hmm, those brats have finally been expelled from the realm? Good, good," the man mused out loud while smiling slightly. "I can finally get back to peaceful rxation without worrying about those brats breaking anything."


    A deep sigh escaped that mans mouth a moment after as a different sounding voice spoke up.


    "Sigh, yet another wasted year of not finding an heir," the voice grumbled. "Are you happy with yourself? Loungingzily about instead while our legacies fade away into dust?"


    "Shut up," the first voice replied with slight agitation. "Just because we all live in the same body does not mean we have the same goals. As we agreed, this is my time to control our body, and it will remain that way for quite some time. You can worry about finding a heir when its your turn," the man grumbled to himself.


    His rant was met with silence, as his agitated face once again turned into one of rxation. Just as he was about toy back down, his expression changed slightly and his body suddenly vanished. It quickly reappeared in a different location, which was the hallowed out cavern with the lightning sphere.


    The man closely inspected the lightning sphere, his expression bing slightly confused as he studied it.


    "Hmmm, it seems as though the Origin Lightning Seed has lost a small portion of its power¡­How bizarre."


    While musing about the problem, the man''s gaze shifted upwards, at which time he spotted a hole dug down directly into the cavern. He arrived before it, and quickly realized it pierced down from the fog world, where some of the disciples had visited.


    "You see!" the angered voice from before bellowed out. "Clearly one of the disciples managed to stumble their way down here to the Origin Lightning Seed, and its slight power loss indicates that they absorbed some of its power without dying, and did so with such a low cultivation. Someone like that would be more than worthy to inherit our legacy, but instead of focusing on the trials, you were focusing on yourself. Not only that, but the Labyrinth trial has almost no rewards for those who worked hard to get through it. The least you could have done was give them some rewards for passing the trials within."


    "Oh, will you shut up already?" the man once again grumbled with an agitated expression on his face. "You can worry about such things when it''s your turn to be in control. Until then, leave me be."


    He briefly inspected the area for a short while longer before his body vanished and he appeared back on the patio before the crystallineke. The beautiful women from before sprung up into existence and once again began to feed him like a king while heid there with a rxed and content expression on his face.


    ¡­


    The visions of all the disciples shed white as they were rejected from the Thunder Realm and transported through space. The top of Thunderrealm Mountain suddenly came into view as they all returned to the real world at the same time.


    Some of the disciples appeared to be unconscious, as they were clearly under the effects of some of thebyrinth traps, while others appeared battered and bruised. A frenziedmotion broke out amongst the disciples as many found their friends to discuss the trials within, treasures obtained, and other things of note.


    Upon arriving at the top of the mountain, John''s gaze shifted about as he tried to find Adam, Chase, and Iris. He quickly noticed many strange gazes staring at him, as if he were a monster.


    ''Haha, I suppose I do look pretty gruesome right now,'' Johnughed at himself as he knew why he was receiving such stares. His body was currently in a miserable looking condition duo to the lightning training he had undergone. Most of his external flesh was charred ck, mkaing it look as though he was on his deathbed.


    If such damage had urred to anyone else, they would be half a foot into the grave. However, thanks to his incredibly resilient Immortal Asura Body, John was able to live through such gruesome wounds without too much trouble.


    ''I really should thank my so-called ''father'' for thisbination of cultivation arts. I would never be able to cultivate the Celestial Lightning Script like this without the Immortal Asura Body, and without the Celestial Lightning Script, my Immortal Asura Body would never be able to survive heaven tribtionis. It seems as though everything was perfectly ounted for in regards to these techniques and their shortfalls.''


    "John!," an loud yell suddenly boomed out from John''s right, and he quickly turned his head to gaze at who it was. Adam was rushing towards him, while Chase and Iris were following closely behind.


    Their excited expressions instantly turned grave as they noticed his condition, and all three rushed up to him in a panic.


    "What happened!" Adam eximed as he arrived before John.


    "Are you alright?" Iris called out as well, a worried expression on her face.


    "Here, take this," Chase spoke up as well as a medicinal pill appeared in his outstretched hand.


    A warm smile appeared on John''s face as he noticed the genuine concern that his three friends were showing, and he graciously epted Chase''s medicinal pill and swallowed it. A warm and fragrant medicinal energy flowed through his body, slightly speeding up his recovery speed.


    "I''m fine, you don''t need to worry about me," John replied casually. "This damage was all by my doing anyways, so I wouldn''t have done anything I couldn''t handle. I should be healed up to normal in a few days'' time," he exined.


    A strange expression appeared on Chase''s and Iris''s faces, as they didn''t know how anyone could voluntarily do such a thing to themselves. Only Adam had a normal look on his face as he knew the crazy lengths John would go to to raise his strength.


    Before they could bring up the subject again, John spoke out to ask about something else.


    "So, after we split up, what did you three end up doing?" John asked the three of them.


    "Nothing. Nothing at all," Iris eximed in a frustrated tone. "The next trial after the fog world was an illusion trial, with the only exit having a stupid requirement for passing, which none of us could achieve. As such, we just remained within that trial doing absolutely nothing until the realm closed. We didn''t even find any treasures or rewards within either¡­the entire realm was just a big waste of time," Iris ranted.


    A thoughtful expression appeared on John''s face as he thought about everything that had happened. The Labyrinth truly had given them almost no rewards to speak of, and if it were not for Kirii''s senses, he would have never found the lightning sphere.


    ording to what Thunderzen had said, the realm should have been filled with opportunities, but the Labyrinth was theplete opposite. However, no matter how much he thought about it, John couldn''te up with an exnation for it, and so he brushed such thoughts aside as Adam suddenly spoke up.


    "They might not have found anything, but my time in the city wasn''t so bad," Adam replied with a smile of reminiscence on his face, which caused Iris to curl her face in disgust at Adam''s expression.


    "Pervert," Iris called out, which broke Adam out of his blissful expression, but before he could reply, a loud voice boomed over the entire mountain, catching the attention of all.


    "Attention all disciples," the Grand Elder''s voice boomed out. "There have been some developments while you were all in the Thunder Realm. You have two days to rest and recover, before all Inner Disciples and above are to gather in the sect''s main gathering auditorium. That is all."


    A thoughtful expression once again returned to John''s face upon hearing the Grand Elder''s words, while a frenzied discussion broke out amongst the other disciples as well.


    "I wonder what this is all about?"

 Chapter 507 - Talent Steps Development

    The Grand Elder''s announcement was swift and concise, and no further boration was given to the disciples who had just left the realm. Almost all the disciples of the sect had been within the Thunder Realm, and so no one knew what was going on.


    "I wonder what it is?" Adam spoke up, breaking the brief silence.


    "Who knows," John replied calmly. "There''s no use specting on it, so we''ll find out in two days what this is all about."


    "I suppose you''re right," Adam replied, his mood not dampered at all. He was still in quite a good mood from his time in the illusion city.


    "Hey, I''m starving¡­you guys want to grab some lunch? None of us have had a good meal in two weeks," Adam eximed after his stomach started growling.


    By absorbing the heavenly Qi of the world, cultivators could go weeks and months without food. Once reaching the Heaven Tribtion Realm and shedding the mortal coil, one could go indefinitely without food. However, all cultivators still ate, as it replenished their energy reserves quicker, and also provided an enjoyable experience of tasting delicious food and drink.


    "I''ll have to pass," John replied quickly. "My body''s damage will take quite some time to heal, and it seems as though I don''t have much time before whatever this announcement is. I need to head back to my house and focus on healing as fast as possible."


    "Ah, I suppose you''re right," Adam replied quickly as he hadpletely forgotten about John''s grave condition when his stomach had grumbled out in protest.


    After some additional brief discussions, the group split up, each agreeing that it was in all their best interests to recover and prepare for whatever was to be announced in two days'' time. John walked down the mountainside and towards his mansion several miles away. Almost every person John passed by couldn''t help but look at him and his condition, which resulted in a mixture of reactions, from shocked, to intrigued.


    John ignored these gazes as he arrived at his home sometimeter and entered immediately. The several attendants of the house were going about their business keeping it as neat and orderly as possible, and the first to notice John couldn''t help but jump in fright as they saw his condition.


    "Good heavens. Are you alright Young Master?" the attendant, a middle-aged woman, cried out. She rushed towards John and quickly inspected his wounds.


    "You need a healer and medical attention. I''ll head to the Healing Ward immediately to get you a healer," the woman eximed, but John waved his hand against the idea.


    "It''s quite alright, you don''t have to do that," John replied calmly.


    "But¡­" the woman replied, a look of worry on her face. It was her job and duty to ensure that John was taken care of, and she didn''t want to neglect that duty the sect had given her.


    "These wounds look worse than they are, and I heal quite quickly. I''ll be fine in a few days, as long as I have a good ce to heal. What''s the best ce to heal in this house?" John asked.


    The woman didn''t seem too convinced, but didn''t argue as she could tell John had his mind set. "The best ce to heal would be the Healing Sauna. It gives off a faint medicinal mist that seeps into the pores and heals from outside, while breathing in the medicinal mist heals you from the inside as well. It''s quite good, but not as effective as employing the help of a healer¡­are you sure you don''t want me to-"


    "The sauna will be fine," John replied with a calm smile. He quickly asked the woman to lead him there, who guided him there without hesitation.


    "Thanks for the help. I''ll be all set in here for the next two days," John said to the attendant as he entered the sauna. The woman nodded and quickly left, while John closed the door to the sauna and disrobed.


    The sauna, which seemed to be active at all times, was indeed filled with a fragrant medicinal mist. The steamy mist soaked onto his skin, and John took a deep breath to test its medicinal effects. The medicinal steam was quickly absorbed by his body both externally and internally and stared to slowly but surely repair his wounds.


    A satisfied smile appeared on his face as he sat down and stretched his burnt and aching muscles. A high-quality healing pill appeared in his hands as he threw it into his mouth and swallowed, helping the healing process even more.


    "Ahhh, this is just what I needed. With the help of this sauna, some medicinal pills, and my natural recovery rate, I should be good to go in two days. Thankfully the damage was all lightning damage, which my body is best at healing due to the Celestial Lightning Script. If it was this badly damaged by something other than lightning, it would most likely take me over a week to recover¡­"


    Kirii suddenly appeared from John''s soul space, slightly surprising him. Kirii quickly found a spot toy down and began to absorb the medicinal steam, appearingpletely rxed as well. Johnughed lightly at the sight before he reached out and picked up one of the buckets of fragrant medicinal water located next to the heated rocks in the center of the sauna, and doused the rocks. The medicinal steam quickly thickened, as John felt himself fall asleep within the sauna,pletely at ease and rxed for the first time in weeks.


    ¡­


    Two dayster, the door to the sauna opened and a thick steam escaped from within. John stepped out quickly after, his body shining with a fresh luster. The charred flesh and muscle from before could no longer be seen, and only fresh lustrous skin was visible. A satisfied smile lingered on John''s face as he walked to his washroom, washed up, and donned a new robe.


    The attendant from two days before managed to spot him leaving the washroom, and couldn''t help but be shocked at his recovery rate. John noticed her presence and smiled and nodded at her, before he decided to waste no time at all and set out.


    After walking through the luxurious lobby of his mansion, he arrived before therge front doors and parted them open. The fresh morning breeze washed over him as John took in a deep rxing breath.


    Before him, the sun was starting to rise over the distant mountains, bathing the sect before him with a warm, soft glow. John took in the sight for a moment before he set out from his mansion and towards the sects gathering auditorium.


    The gathering auditorium was located in the center of the sect, and was a massive building over a mile wide and long, and nearly half a mile tall. It contained nearly a million seats within, as it was used for both internal sect gatherings, as well as hosting the numerous members of other allied sects when they would asionally show up.


    A buzzing atmosphere filled the sect this morning, which John quickly took note of as he listened to the excited discussions of the other disciples walking towards the same destination.


    While walking next to a group of second years, a particr conversation caught his attention.


    "Did you hear?" one of the disciples, a girl with long ck hair and a pretty face, who appeared to be eighteen, asked her nearby friends with an excited tone.


    "Hear what?" another girl of the same age, with shorter brown hair replied.


    "Apparently while we were all in the Thunder Realm, there was another development with the Talent Testing Steps," the girl replied with great enthusiasm.


    "Again? What happened this time?" another in the group asked, their curiosity piqued.


    "A new name appeared on the tablet, and at the very top section!" the girl replied.


    "The top section? You mean¡­?"


    "Yes¡­a new name appeared¡­and they reached neen steps!"


    "Neen Steps! That ties them with the Jade Dragon-God Emperor!" one of the girls eximed.


    John''s eyebrows raised upon hearing this, as he had been there as well. Getting past the eighteen step had been incredibly challenging, and he was not surprised that only one other person in history had been able to step on the neenth step. However, it seemed as though another had joined that elite realm, which was something John was not expecting to hear.


    "Just what is going on these days? First this "Asura" gets twenty steps, now another person gets neen steps? Has the world gone mad?"


    "Seems like it," another replied, before asking another question. "Hey¡­what''s the name of the person who got neen steps?"


    "Hmmm¡­what was it?" the first girl who had spoken thought for a moment, before her face lit up in remembrance. "Ah¡­yes¡­the name was¡­''Soul-Sage''."


    "Soul-Sage? Another mysterious name. I wonder what power this Soul-Sage belongs to?" one of the girls mused.


    Upon hearing this, John''s surprised face turned into a smiling one instead, as he immediately knew who that was.


    "So¡­you''ve arrived on the Divine Martial Continent after all, and seem to have improved your power greatly since west met¡­Miko!"

 Chapter 508 - Shocking New Developments

    John stood there for a moment as he mused about his and Miko''sst time together. It was in the ancient city, where they had fought the Three Emperors, met the mysterious girl, and fought the skeletal creature.


    They were in the Core Formation Realm at the time, and that time seemed like an eon ago to John based on everything that had happened since. John had always wondered how Miko was doing since that time, and how he was dealing with Celestial Soulrend inhabiting his body. At the time, Miko was unaware of Soulrend''s presence.


    ''Based on his score of neen steps, it seems like Miko and Celestial Soulrend have made contact, and Celestial Soulrend has lived up to his word of elevating Miko to incredible heights. I wonder¡­between the two of us, who is stronger now?''


    A smile lingered on John''s face as he thought of thest point. Thest time they had met, they were roughly the same strength, as Miko''s cultivation was slightly higher, while John''s battle prowess was slightly higher.


    However, Miko now had the full aid of Celestial Soulrend, whose existence was far above anything this seemingly held. Celestial Soulrend was of power so great that only his mysterious ''father'' could intimidate him, although John didn''t know how strong his true father was either.


    However, he could tell that both were so strong as to be far above anything he had seen this world of his offer and knew Miko would be able to surge forward in both talent and power at a pace the rest of the geniuses of the world would find impossible to match. However, this was a good thing, as John was always more than happy to have powerful allies he could count on.


    John started walking again after realizing he had stopped in the middle of the busy road for quite some time. Other disciples were pushing past him to get to the gathering auditorium, which caused quite a few to look at him with disapproving nces.


    He quickly followed the rest of the disciples towards the gathering auditorium, which sprung up into view shortly after. The auditorium was one of thergest buildings within the sect, and dominated the nearbyndscape. Only the Heavenly Lightning Pce behind it in the distance overshadowed its presence.


    The auditorium was marble white, with blue ents all around. Thousands of tall pirs over a dozen yards wide lined the entire perimeter of the auditorium, giving it a more ancient look than the other buildings in the area.


    A long line of disciples constantly streamed into the building each minute. Although the assembly only required inner disciples and above to attend, it did not prohibit outer disciples from entering as well. Most outer disciples opted to join the assembly, as they too were curious as to what was going on.


    As such, the gathering auditorium quickly filled up at an incredible pace, and hundreds of thousands of disciples, elders, and other members of the sect quickly found open seats to sit in. After entering the front entrance of the building, John followed the others through the main entrance and lobby and found himself in the auditorium soon after.


    The auditorium was incredibly massive, and had over a million seats. At the very front of the auditorium was arge stage, which was currently empty. John''s gaze shifted over those already seated, and after a short search, he found who he was looking for. He quickly moved towards Adam, Chase, and Iris, who were seated together.


    "John, you finally arrived," Adam called out as he saw John. "I thought you were going to bete at this rate."


    "I''m here in time aren''t I?" John replied as he took a seat next to the three of them.


    The three engaged in idle conversation, discussing what they had all done thest two days while waiting for the assembly to start. Fifteen minutester, a lone figure walked up on stage, which John and? the rest quickly recognized.


    The Grand Elder waved his hand for silence, and the gathered disciples all fell silent. All were eager to hear what was so important as to gather almost the entire sect.


    "I heard the reports from the Thunder Realm," the Grand Elder said. "This year''s trial was the Labyrinth, which is quite unfortunate for all who entered. There are many mysteries to the Thunder Realm, and the Labyrinth is one of them. However, it is known to all that the Labyrinth contains almost no opportunities within, and so I''m assuming most of you left empty handed."


    The Grand Elder''s words resulted in almost all of the disciples nodding their heads in unison. While some had managed to obtain small rewards and treasures here and there, they were mostly of low value. Most had left empty handed, which resulted in a rather downcast atmosphere after the realms closing.


    "The reason you are gathered here today is because of a new opportunity that has arisen¡­one that dwarfs anything the Thunder Realm could ever offer," the Grand Elder continued.


    His words shocked the entire audience of disciples, as the Thunder Realm was the most profound realm under the control of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Many disciples leaned forward in their seats, eager to hear what the Grand Elder had to say next.


    A small smile broke out on the Grand Elder''s face as he saw the enthusiasm of the disciples, but his face quickly returned stoic as he counted his message.


    "I''m sure most of you are aware by now of the new Talent Testing Steps development," the Grand Elder continued. "First, there was "Asura" who reached twenty steps, and a mysterious "Soul-Sage" reached neen steps as well a week ago, although the origins of the Soul-Sage was shrouded in a simr manner to ''Asura''."


    The mention of ''Asura'' and ''Soul-Sage'' sent the crowd into a frenzied discussion, but the Grand Elder waved his hand, calling for silence. Meanwhile, John raised an eyebrow in surprise at this news, as he assumed Miko would have been tested within the honorable alliance, but that didn''t seem to be the case.


    ''The only other testing steps that would make sense...is the Talent Steps controlled by the Faerie Race, which specialize in soul power. Could Miko truly be there? Or was I perhaps wrong about who the Soul-Sage is?'' John mused internally.


    "As if taunted by the performance of ''Asura'' and the ''Soul-Sage,'' many new names have started popping up on the Talent Testing Tablet, all with incredibly impressive scores. It seems as though the other powers were keeping their most talented youths a secret, but have changed their mind with the recent developments," the Grand Elder exined.


    He took a short pause to allow those in the crowd to process what they had heard, before he continued speaking once more.


    "In fact, the "Asuros,'' who had achieved sixteen steps, took the trial again, and has moved up to the seventeenth step. There have been a handful of other names who have reached the fifteenth and sixteenth step, which has sent the continent into a frenzy. Igris, from the Beast Tribe, achieved sixteen steps. Amber Bloodrose, from the Forbidden Alliance, achieved sixteen steps. Vazul goth, from the Monster Race, achieved sixteen steps¡­I can go on but I''m sure you all get the picture," the Grand Elder exined, stunning the crowd silent. Such scores were thought impossible just a few years ago, and were now being achieved by the handful.


    "It seems as though this new generation of youths has exceeded the previous generations by leaps and bounds, although the exact reasons for this are still unclear to us. These developments have sent the Honorable Alliance scrambling, as none of the top five names belong to them. In fact, they have realized that amongst the names on the list, they are currently inst ce," the Grand Elder continued, his words stunning the crowd once more. The Honorable Alliance, which was made up of hundreds of sects and a main headquarters, was the only thing ensuring the safety of those within the alliance.


    While the strengths of the many alliances and races were even at the moment, a disparity in the new generation would destabilize things in the future, which could lead to catastrophic consequences for the Honorable Alliance. Everyone in the crowd was able to figure this out quickly, and so a deafening silence fell over the crowd.


    Only John and the Grand Elder remained calm, as both of them knew that this wasn''t entirely true. However, the Honorable Alliance did not know of John''s identity as ''Asura,'' and so their actions were only logical.


    "With all this in mind, the Honorable Alliance, which includes our sect as well, has agreed that special measures need to be taken in order to ensure the future survival of our alliance," the Grand Elder continued, drawing the disciples'' attention to him once again.


    "There is and¡­a quasi-realm, which is guarded in perpetuity by the Honorable Alliance. This quasi-realm was discovered over a hundred thousand years ago, and has been under the protection of the Honorable Alliance ever since," the Grand Elder said. "This quasi-realm was a training and opportunity realm to raise talents and strengths of the youths of an empire from before the cmity¡­the Jade Dragon Empire."


    The mention of the Jade Dragon Empire sent the disciples into a frenzy, as the name of that empire was legendary. It was the strongest power from before the cmity, which was ruled by one of the strongest cultivators to ever exist in the world. The Grand Elder once again called for silence, which took a moment longer to die down this time as the news had beenpletely shocking.


    "This realm belonging to the Jade Dragon Empire is under the control of the Honorable Alliance, but since the Honorable Alliance is not the true owners of the realm, getting in is incredibly difficult and expensive," the Grand Elder continued once more. "The cost of opening the entrance to this realm is so great, that the realm has only been opened twice in the history of the Honorable Alliance, both at times where the existence of the Alliance was in question¡­"


    The Grand Elder fell silent again for a moment, and the disciples in the auditorium started to put two and two together very quickly. An atmosphere of anxious anticipation washed over the crowd as they all held their breaths, waiting to hear the confirmation from the Grand Elder.


    "As such¡­with the rising threat of the other alliances and races looming, and after much discussion, the Honorable Alliance has decided that it is time to open this realm for the youths of the Alliance once again."

 Chapter 509 - Discussing Plans

    The confirmation from the Grand Elder sent the crowd into a frenzy, as the news was almost too good to believe. All the disciples didn''t even know of the existence of the realm just minutes prior, but the description and tone from the Grand Elder was enough to let them know that this matter was an incredible one.


    Even John felt his blood heat up a bit upon hearing that they would be able to enter the trainingnd of the Jade Dragon Empire. There were obviously many opportunities to be found within, or else the Honorable Alliance wouldn''t bother with the cost of opening it.


    Only if the opportunities were absolutely incredible, and were able to raise the talents of the disciples topletely new levels would the alliance bear the cost of such a thing.


    "However," the Grand Elder spoke up once again, causing the crowd to fall silent after a brief moment. "There are a limited number of spots that each sect from the Alliance can send."


    The boisterous atmosphere instantly turned heavy, as the disciples finally understood why only Inner Disciples and above were summoned. The outer disciples instantly felt dejection, although they were not too surprised by such a thing.


    "Each power within the alliance has been given free reign on how they select their disciples to enter. Our Sect has been given three hundred slots, and we have decided how we will allocate those slots. Firstly, all Direct Disciples will be given entry, regardless of cultivation level. Secondly, all Direct Disciples are allowed to bring along two aides of their choosing, granted they are at the Inner Disciple level or above. There are twenty Direct Disciples within this sect, so that brings the total number to sixty," the Grand Elder exined.


    The preferential treatment for the Direct Disciples put a sour taste in the mouths of many of the weaker disciples, but they couldn''t argue against it. All the Direct Disciples were the pirs of the youths of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and so some preferential treatment was to be expected.


    "The remaining two hundred and forty slots will be allocated to the rest of the disciples via a series of talent andbat prowess tests. The talent tests will test for special nonbat talents deemed worthy of admission, while thebat prowess tests will be strictly based onbat talent."


    The Grand Elder''s words both raised the morale of some in the crowd, while it dampened the hopes of others. There were roughly one hundred thousand disciples in the sect, and they were vying for two hundred and forty spots. Only the most incredible of disciples would be able to enter, and most knew they would not be one of those lucky few.


    While listening to this, John''s face remained rxed and calm, while Adam and Chase breathed out a heavy sigh of relief upon hearing about Direct Disciples being allowed two aides. Arge smirk appeared on Adam''s face as he nced at Iris, as John would clearly choose him and Chase.


    Iris noticed this smirk, and couldn''t help but be irritated. "What''s that smirk for? You don''t think I can qualify by myself? How about I cripple you right now, and then John will have no need to bring you in," she said to Adam.


    "You wouldn''t dare," Adam replied quickly, his smirk vanishing instantly.


    "Hmmph, I''ll enter by myself, so I don''t need any handouts like you," Iris spoke up once more as she looked away from Adam. Her insult didn''t go unnoticed by Adam, who quickly insulted Iris once again.


    Sitting between the two of them was John, who couldn''t help but nce from one to the other as they argued back and forth.


    "When did you two be such a bickering couple? Can''t you just y nice?" John asked.


    "Couple? As if anyone would be interested in such a buffoon," Iris harrumphed, insulted by the suggestion.


    "Buffoon? At least I''m not- '''' Adam''s reply was cut off as the Grand Elder spoke out once more, his voice calling for silence. Iris stuck her tongue out at Adam''s angered nce, as she had gotten thest word in.


    "The Formations Grandmasters employed by the Alliance to open the realm will take three months to construct their formations, and so the realm will open in three months time. We will hold the entrance trials in two weeks, so for those who wish to enter, prepare as much as possible before then. The three hundred who qualify to enter will set out in two months'' time, as the Honorable Alliance Headquarters is a month''s travel by flying ship from our sect. That is all."


    After giving all the information necessary, the Grand Elder left the stage, leaving the stunned crowd behind. The auditorium erupted into a frenzy of discussion shortly after, as everyone within began to discuss everything they had heard, from the Talent Testing Steps developments, to the Jade Dragon Empire realm.


    John and the rest quickly left the building and found themselves standing outside shortly after. They gathered together to discuss their ns before the realm opened.


    "What are you going to do during the next two months?" Chase asked John.


    "I''m not sure yet, but I need to focus on obtaining new battle arts, pills, and raising my cultivation," John replied.


    An excited expression appeared on Chase''s face upon hearing about the pills.


    "Oh, I can focus on making us pills for the realm, from healing pills to poison neutralizing pills," Chase replied, but his offer was quickly refused by John.


    "No, you need to focus on raising your cultivation as much as possible before the realm opens. You''re still only in the Early Meridian Foraging Realm, and you need to raise your strength to protect yourself if I''m not there to protect you," John replied.


    Chase became slightly downcast upon hearing John''s refusal, but eventually nodded his head in agreement at John''s words. He had neglected his cultivation training ever since leaving the Bloodfiend Sect, as he was allowed to explore the Pill Dao freely, unlike before. However, he knew John was right, and so he didn''t argue against his suggestion.


    "I''ll be focusing on creating some defensive and offensive formations for the realm," Adam spoke up shortly afterwards. A stern nce from John caused a wry smile to appear on his face, as he knew what John was going to say. "And¡­I''ll also focus on raising my cultivation."


    "Good. Make sure you do that," John replied with a head nod. "If you''re not solidly in the Middle Meridian Forging Realm by the time we leave, I''ll leave you behind."


    Adam''s expression instantly turned heavy upon hearing this, as he knew John was not joking. A self-defeated sigh escaped his lips shortly afterwards.


    "Ahhh, fine," Adam replied dejectedly.


    "As for you," John said to Iris as his gaze shifted to her. "Good luck in the trials. Make sure you qualify, as I''m sure your eye talents will be incredibly useful within the realm."


    "I have no doubts at all," Iris replied with a confident smile on her face. She was the second most talented youth other than John to enter from the branch sects, and her unique talents and highbat prowess gave her a good chance to qualify.


    "Good," John nodded his head in approval.


    "What are you going to do?" Chase asked John. "Get battle arts from the sect? I already checked out such things, and they all require contribution points to get them. None can be purchased for money for some reason. There isn''t much time between now and the realms opening, so how are you going to go about getting those battle arts and pills?" Chase asked.


    John was slightly surprised to hear about the contribution point issue, but it made sense to him after thinking about it momentarily. The Heavenly Lightning Sect was not in need of money, and requiring the disciples to spend contribution points on such things ensured that they remained active within the sect, and provided a positive service in return for the sect training and nourishing them.


    However, John was not too concerned about this, as money was able to solve almost everything if one had enough.


    "I''ll make something work," John replied. "If I can''t get them here, then I''ll obtain the battle arts elsewhere. Which reminds me of something¡­"


    John quickly remembered the deal he had made with Lilian, who still owed him a sizable amount of spirit crystals.. The time to collect the one hundred and twenty million spirit crystals from her had arrived.

 Chapter 510 - Gaze Of Death

    John finished his discussions with his three friends, before he set out to inquire about Lilians location. He had not seen her since entering the sect, as he had been out on his contribution mission, and then entered the Thunder Realm immediately after.


    After asking around, one of the Elder''s John ran into knew where Lilian was situated. She was located in quite a remote area of the sect, and apparently had an incredibly luxurious pce atop a mountain, with no other buildings in the vicinity at all.


    John thanked the Elder for the directions and headed towards Lilians pce.


    ''I bet she hopes I forgot about the bet,'' John mused with a smirk on his face. Getting his master to cough up one hundred and twenty million spirit crystals would sure put a sour look on her face, and it would be the first time John had ever gotten back at his master for all the pain she put him through.


    After walking through the sect for quite some time, John found himself in a rather remote part of the sect. The area was mostly filled with lush forests and vegetation, and a tranquil pathway, next to a meandering stream and lined with blooming flowers carved its way up the mountain before him. The massive pce was easily visible from the base of the mountain, as it dominated thendscape.


    Even John couldn''t help but be impressed by its scale.


    ''Its at least five timesrger than my house¡­why the hell does a single person need such arge mansion?''


    John shook his head at the over-the-top spending and design of the Heavenly Lightning Sect buildings and started his walk up the pathway. He took his time up the pathway, as it was an incredibly beautiful and rxing walk, and arrived at the mansion half an hourter.


    He stood before a set of massive doors and knocked on the door loudly. Silence met his knocks, and John waited there for quite some time before knocking again.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    His knocks were even more forceful, vibrating the nearby ground and walls of the building, but still he was met with no answer from within.


    ''Is she even home? Or does she know I''m here and is ignoring me?''


    John mused over the question and what to do for a moment, before he set his mind on entering the mansion. He needed that money to buy battle arts, pills, and other things, and did not have much time to obtain those items.


    John steeled his mind and braced for the consequences of his actions, as he pressed against the tworge doors to enter the mansion. The doors slid open, revealing an incredibly luxurious pce within. The walls, floors, and ceilings were covered by incredible designs, and arge hallway cut through the middle of the pce.


    Winding staircases appeared asionally, leading to higher or lower parts of the pce. John took in the sight before him, and sighed as he didn''t even know where to start to look for his master. Spreading one''s divine sense out in the home of another was a taboo subject, and John debated about doing it or not when a faint yet familiar feeling washed over him.


    ''The aura of Death!''


    The aura was incredibly faint, but was unmistakably the Dao of Death that Lilian was capable of using. However, he could hardly make out where it wasing from, despite it being such a powerful Dao. It was like it was being shrouded from him, which caused John to not be able to pinpoint where it wasing from.


    John stared meaning through the pce, trying to find his way to the source of the aura. Sometimes it would grow fainter, while other times it would be stronger. After quite some time of following the aura, John found himself standing before a closed door. There were incredibly formation runes covering the door, as well as the walls next to it.


    However, the formation runes were shrouding formations, and not protective formations. John took a deep breath and opened the door. As soon as he did, a thick aura of death washed over John, and he quickly activated his Qi to form a protective barrier against it.


    ''Just what the hell is she doing down there?''


    A long staircase was revealed before him, which descended deep into the mountain below. John red his power to resist the Qi, closed the door behind him, and started descending deeper down the stairs. Shrouding formation runes lined the entire staircase, making John wonder why they were ced there.


    ''Are these shrouding runes specifically for my master, or were they here beforehand?''


    The aura of death thickened as John continued down the stairs, and even he found it harder and harder to move forward through it. Were it not for his incredibly robust essence Qi, as well as incredibly strong and resilient body, John would not have been able to descend as deep as he had.


    After descending down for over a mile, John finally reached the bottom of the long stairwell. Arge, expansive chamber came into view, which was lit by numerous lighting formatinos overhead. The chamber was several hundred yards wide, and ss was visible before, shrouding formations lined the walls of the chamber, as well as defensive formations.


    The defensive formations continuously lit up with great power to resist the aura of death filling therge chamber, hinting at its power. In the very center of the sat Lilian, wrapped in a thick aura of death.


    The rune on her forehead, the Dao symbol of death, glowed with incredible might as her face was scrunched in concentration and struggle. Sweat dripped down her scrunched face, and John could clearly tell she was pushing herself in some sort of training.


    ''I suppose I should leave. I hate to be interrupted during training, so I''ll leave her alone until shees out of training.''


    Upon thinking this, John turned to leave, but his eyes widened slightly as he spotted Lilians closed eyes open and focused directly on him. The eyes were incredibly cold, and it was as if just her look could kill. It was not that Lilian was directing such a cold stare at him in particr, but it was instead a stare fueled by the Dao of Death itself.. John felt himself take an instinctual step backwards as his heartbeat increased, as it was like he was being stared at by death itself.

 Chapter 511 - Obtaining Spirit Crystals

    Lilian''s aura of death suddenly faded away, and her cold eyes turned back to normal as she noticed John''s arrival. John couldn''t help but sigh in relief as he watched Lilian stand up, her eyes locked onto him.


    He stood there motionlessly, not sure whether his intrusion would be met with swift violence or not. However, he had disturbed her cultivation, and would hate for others to do so, so he braced himself for whatever punishment followed.


    "To think you have the gall to interrupt me during my cultivation sessions¡­it seems as though I have not trained you properly," Lilian said calmly as she walked over to him.


    "I didn''t know you were cultivating¡­sorry, Master," John apologized, as he was truly in the wrong.


    "It makes no difference," Lilian replied. "My cultivation session wasing to a close anyways. You didn''t disturb anything."


    A soft towel appeared in her hands as she began wiping the sweat off her brow, while her blue hair, tied up in a ponytail behind her head and slick with sweat dripped slightly. Clearly whatever she had been doing had been incredibly taxing on her body, and she didn''t even have the concentration to spare to wash away the sweat with her Qi.


    Her clothing was a casual shirt and short pants, which surprised John slightly. He had only ever seen her in expensive and luxurious robes, and so seeing her dressed casually like this waspletely new to him. However, she had expected to be alone the entire time while cultivating, which John had interrupted.


    Not only that, but her clothing was also drenched in sweat as well, which clinged tightly to her body as a result. John''s eyes couldn''t help but look at his master''s body, which was normally clothed in a loose robe. Now however, the slicked clothes readily revealed the curves she possessed. John couldn''t help but look at what he was seeing, as his master''s body was far more enticing than he had been expecting.


    He quickly realized he was openly staring at his master''s body, and quickly averted his gaze. However, his initial gaze did not go unnoticed, and a small smile appeared on Lilian''s face as she approached him.


    "To think my disciple not only interrupts his master during my cultivation, but also openly gazes at my body¡­ I really haven''t trained you properly it seems," she said calmly with a raised eyebrow as she arrived before him.


    "Ah¡­sorry," John apologized without any further words, as he didn''t know what to say. It was one of the few moments of his life thus far that he was at a loss for words.


    Lilian remained silent as she allowed John to remain ufortable for a moment longer, before she finally spoke up once more.


    "What do you want? I know you didn''te all the way down here just to say hi," Lilian asked.


    "Ah¡­I came for the spirit crystals from the agreement we made," John replied quickly.


    Lilian raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and couldn''t help but gaze at John with a look that caused him to avert his gaze.


    "So¡­not only did you interrupt my cultivation, and take a peek at my body¡­you are also asking me for money. I really raised a useless disciple," Lilian replied, trying to make him feel guilty about wanting the money.


    John''s averted gaze locked back onto his master''s face, as his gaze hardened upon hearing herst words.


    "The first two things were my fault, but don''t try to me me foring for the spirit crystals. We both agreed to it, so don''t try to make me feel guilty for that part," John replied, his voice hardened.


    Lilian once again raised an eyebrow at John''s quick attitude change and firm tone, and nodded her head in slight approval.


    "It seems like I didn''t raise apletely useless disciple I suppose," she mused while staring at him. However, one of her greatest joys in life was gathering money, and so she did not wish to easily part from it.


    "Surely there is something else you want," Lilian spoke up again. "Weapons, battle arts, flying ships. How about I give you those instead."


    John remained silent for a moment as he considered his masters offer, but eventually decided against it. While his master was strong and surely possessed powerful battle arts, her cultivation pathway was unique. The Elders from the Yuan Continent branch already said she was not a good lightning cultivator, and those were the skills John needed at the moment.


    Not only that, but despite his master''s power, she had spent most of her time on the Yuan Continent, where the quality of battle arts was lower. Lastly, his master was surely unable to offer the same amount and quality of battle arts as a trade guild dedicated to such things, so John decided in the end that the spirit crystals would still serve him better.


    "I need the spirit crystals¡­as we agreed to," John replied firmly.


    Lilian once again raised an eyebrow and remained silent for a moment at John''s response. John stood there silently as well, and the two stared at each other in a stalemate. Lilian suddenly leaned closer to John, her face resting right next to his.


    John''s face lit up in surprise by such a thing happening, and he felt the hot breath of his master on his ears.


    "How about I give you something else then," Lilian whispered in his ears.


    John''s surprised face turned red, as it was thest thing he ever expected to have heard from his master. Before he could reply, Lilian leaned back and beganughing heartily at the expression she saw on John''s face. Herughter lingered for a short while before it finally died down.


    "To think a newborn like you would consider such an offer. Just seeing this look on your face was worth doing such a thing," Lilian said while chuckling lightly. Clearly her whispers had been done just to tease John.


    "Here," Lilian said as a spatial ring appeared in her hands and she threw it to John. John snapped out of his stunned daze and quickly caught the ring. He inspected it and saw an absolutely massive pile of spirit crystals within, over a hundred million in total.


    "You have the agreed amount of spirit crystals¡­now leave me. I still have some training to do," she said to John as she turned around and began to walk back towards the center of the room.


    John stood there for a moment, gathering his wits after all that had happened, before he turned around to leave.


    "Oh, and one other thing," Lilian said without looking back at him, while John turned around to listen to what his master had to say.


    "I heard about the Jade Dragon Empire training grounds that are to open in three months. The sect will leave for thosends in two months, so whatever you n on doing with the money, you better do it within the next month and return to the sect," she said to John.


    "Within the next month?" John asked. "Why would I need to return in a month if we''re leaving in two months?"


    "Because," Lilian replied as she arrived in the center of the chamber and turned around. Her gaze locked onto John''s, a gaze which made John shiver slightly. "We have not had a training session in quite some time, and so we will use that month to train you once again," she exined. However, her gaze at the moment told John that the training was going to be far more severe than ever, most likely to get back at him for what he had done today.


    John''s gaze hardened as he heard this, and he wanted to argue against it, but decided against arguing at thest moment. He turned around silently to leave, and Lilian''s voice trailed into his ears as he left the chamber.


    "Oh, and make sure to bring plenty of healing pills¡­you''re going to need it."

 Chapter 512 - Mystic City

    John closed the door to Lilian''s cultivation chamber and stood there in silence for a moment. He reyed everything that had just happened and took a second to process it all, before he shivered slightly.


    Based on Lilians words and tone at the end, his training in a month''s time was going to be absolutely hellish. A deep sigh escaped John''s lips as he set out and left Lilian''s pce.


    He stood atop the mountain peering over the beautiful sect below, and contemted what to do next.


    ''I only have a month''s time to get what I need, so I need to be quick about it. I should ask around about the nearest trading hub, and head there immediately.''


    John set out for the sect, and decided to visit the sects Trade Hall. While most of the things that were for purchase were only purchasable with contribution points, John went there for their information instead. It was quite likely that the sects Trade Hall would know the best nearby trading cities, and after asking around for a short while, he got the answer he was looking for.


    "The nearest trade city would be Mystic City," an Elder replied to John''s question. "It''s a few thousand miles north of here. Here, take this map, it will guide you to the city."


    The Elder handed John a map of the local region, and John quickly spotted Mystic City to the north of the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    ''A few thousand miles should take a day or two to traverse, so that''s actually quite close. This is just what I need.''


    "Are there any dangers between here and Mystic City that I should be aware of?" John asked the Elder.


    "Not that I know of," the Elder replied quickly. "The area between us and Mystic City is an incredibly popr trade route, and so both powers ensure it is safe for travel. As long as you stick to the main roads between the cities, you should be fine."


    John thanked the Elder for his aid and map, and set off immediately for Mystic City, wasting no time at all. After leaving the northern exit of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, John followed the massive road extending outwards.


    It was over a hundred yards wide, and allowed for an absolutely incredible amount of travel and trade to take ce between the two powers. The paved road was brimming with activity as traders, disciples, and others streamed in and out of the sect every minute.


    Deciding that walking would be too slow, John took to the skies and flew to the side of the road, but kept it in sight as he rapidly sped forward. Quite a few other cultivators were doing the same, making the sky near the Heavenly Lightning Sect busy as well.


    ¡­


    Two dayster, a massive sprawling city came into John''s view. He had been flying for two days straight without taking a break, and was starting to feel the fatigue of it all. However, the massive city filled him with a burst of renewed energy as he finally arrived at his destination.


    The city was situated at the convergence of two massive rivers, each over a mile wide. The city sprawled for dozens of miles, and contained absolutely incredible buildings within. In fact, the buildings on average seemed to be even more gaudy and luxurious than the Heavenly Lightning Sect''s buildings, surprising John slightly. Most of the buildings were marble white, with gold and silver trim designs all over it.


    ''I guess Mystic City truly does live up to its name as a massive trade city. There seems to be plenty of money here,'' John mused as he flew towards the city''s entrance. Even more surprising was the amount of people trying to enter the city, as well as leave it.


    While the Heavenly Lightning Sect was quite busy, it paled inparison to the amount of traffic entering Mystic City. A line several miles long stretched out from the front gate as the guards inspected those entering the city. The line was also ten rows wide, utterly shocking John with the amount of people trying to enter.


    ''I suppose it makes sense though. A trade city would attract more people than a sect.''


    Johnnded on the ground and quickly fell into line. The line was mostly made up of other traders, who were looking to sell their wares within the massive city. Contrary to what he had expected, the line was moving rather quickly. The city made its money off trade, and so restricting the amount of people who could enter would hinder its ability to make money. With this in mind, the city put great effort into making sure as many people as possible could enter the city, while still filtering out any criminals or illicit activity.


    An hourter, John found himself at the front of the line. The guards briefly inspected him and asked him some questions, and let him in shortly after. After entering through the massive front arched gate, which was over a hundred yards tall and wide, John found himself within the city''s walls.


    Massive buildings lined the sprawling streets, which branched in every direction. The streets were covered with traders and passerby''s, and an incredibly lively atmosphere filled the city as traders hawked their wares, while buyers haggled with prices.


    John meandered around the city for a short while, taking in the boisterous atmosphere, before he finally stopped to ask for directions.


    "Excuse me sir," John said to a trader at his stall. The man looked at John for a moment, clearly inspecting the robe he was wearing. A smile appeared on his face as he instantly recognized the power John was from.


    "What can I do for the young Heavenly Lightning Sect disciple?" the man asked warmly.


    "I''m looking for weapons and pills," John cut to the chase. "Where would I find the highest quality items for those two categories?"


    The man''s smile faded away as he realized John was not looking to do business with him, but remained mostly kind and warm as he didn''t dare offend a Heavenly Lightning Sect member. The Heavenly Lightning Sect was the strongest sect within ten thousand miles, and so mere traders dared not to offend members of the sect.


    "That would be at the city center¡­a grand building, white and ck in color," the man replied.


    John thanked the man and gave him some spirit crystals for his help, making the man smile once more. He quickly made his way to the city center, pushing through the incredibly packed streets, before he arrived in the city center some timeter.


    The massive building, white and ck in color appeared in his vision. It was a pagoda, and it pierced high into the sky. In fact, it was the tallest building in the city, and dwarfed the others in both size and luxuriousness.


    Thousands of cultivators and traders were entering and exiting the building every minute, making it an incredibly boisterous ce as well. The massive signboard, ced above the front entrance, revealed the name of the building, which John quickly recognized.


    "Mystic Trade Hall."

 Chapter 513 - Mystic Trade Hall

    The name ''Mystic Trade Hall'' instantly reminded John of another ce, with the exact same name.


    ''There was a Mystic Trade Hall in the Dreadel Kingdom, which is where I obtained the Divine Reaping Scythe...I never expected such a remote trade hall to be part of a trade hall on the Divine Martial Continent.''


    The Mystic Trade Hall in the Dreadel Kingdom had been such a minor thing that John hadpletely forgotten about them. Even the name "Mystic City" didn''t make him think of that ce. However, with the Mystic Trade Hall being thergest building in the city, as well as located in the very center, it was easy to see who controlled the city.


    Even the name alluded to that fact, which made John realize the origins of the Mystic Trade Hall was far grander that he ever could have predicted. While looking at the entrance, John had just been standing there in the middle of the road, making him stick out like a sore thumb.


    "Get out of the way!" a disgruntled shout boomed out from behind John as a young cultivator pushed his way past John, followed by a few other boys as well. They were all around his age, and seemed to be walking with the confidence of someone who owned the streets they were walking on. Their robes were yellow which became increasingly red at the bottom, forming a unique gradient of colors.


    An image of a zing me was on the pack of the robes, signifying what sect they were from. However, with his inexperience with the region, John had no idea what sect the youths belonged to.


    John calmly stepped to the side, allowing the group past him, as raising an issue about their attitude wasn''t worth the hassle. The other youths in the group, who were seemingly following the first boy, all nced side-eyed at John.


    "Just a lowly bumpkin," one of the boys derided as he walked by, causing John tough lightly at the situation. The boys were all Half-Step Heaven Tribtion youths, who clearly belonged to a rtively powerful sect in the area. However, with their strength, John would be able to crush them in an instant, which made him find the situation quite amusing.


    John was still wearing his War Hall clothing, which the main Heavenly Lightning Sect also had. However, such robes were quite rare, and only the more experienced cultivators in the area recognized such robes. As such, the youths figured he was a no-name cultivator belonging to a no-name sect.


    John watched the youths enter the Mystic Trade Hall, and followed behind shortly after while shaking his head slightly.


    ''Seems like there''s arrogant young masters wherever you go,'' he mused as he walked up to the building. There were some guards outside the front entrance, and one stopped John as he tried to enter.


    "There''s an entry fee of one hundred thousand low grade spirit crystals to enter," the guard instructed.


    John raised an eyebrow at the cost of entry, as it was incredibly steep. One hundred thousand spirit crystals was considered a small fortune back on the Yuan Continent, but here it was just an entry fee. He nced to the side and watched hundreds of cultivators enter every minute, and couldn''t help but be at awe at what he saw.


    ''The amount this trade hall makes in a day just from entry fees alone must be staggering. No wonder they have the power and authority to control an entire city thisrge.''


    John handed over a spatial ring with the specified amount of spirit crystals, and quickly entered the building after the guard let him through. The main lobby of the massive building came into view, which was full of intricate statues on both the floor and walls, incredibly beautiful paintings all throughout, and other luxurious designs all over.


    John couldn''t help but take in the view for a moment before he entered deeper into the main lobby. There were no wares or items being sold on the first floor, which was used exclusively to figure out the needs of those who had entered.


    Thousands of attendants were on the first floor, and their only job was to instruct those within on where to go based on what they wanted, and personally escort those who had more expensive needs.


    John was quickly approached by an attendant, who courteously addressed him.


    "Young sir, how may I help you today?" the male attendant asked warmly, which caused John to nod his head slightly in approval at how the Mystic Trade Hall did things. He didn''t look particrly impressive or rich at the moment, and only those who recognized the War Hall robes would be able to associate him with the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    Even still, the attendant treated him with warm respect, which revealed a small bit of how the Mystic Trade Hall did business.


    "I''m looking for battle arts, pills, and anything else that can quickly boost mybat prowess," John replied to the man.


    The man quickly inspected John''s cultivation, and his respectful gaze continued to linger on his face.


    "The young sir is in the Middle Meridian Forging Realm¡­would you like battle arts suited for only this realm, or ones that can be used in the Heaven Tribtion Realm as well?" the man asked.


    "The longer I can use the battle arts, the better," John replied quickly. "I want to see the most profound battle arts you have for Heaven Tribtion cultivators, specifically battle arts pertaining to lightning, scythes, and battle axes. If they can be used into the Dao Transformation Realm as well, that would be great as well," he borated further.


    The attendant raised one eyebrow upon hearing John''s request. "The cost of such battle arts is quite immense¡­is the young sir sure he is¡­" the man''s voice trailed off, as he was clearly asking about John''s financial status without trying to be rude.


    "How much would such battle arts cost?" John asked.


    "It depends on the quality of the battle art, but most high grade Heaven Tribtion battle arts cost several million low grade spirit crystals," the man borated.


    "Then what I have will more than suffice," John replied quickly with a warm smile. The man once again raised an eyebrow, while his warm smile became evenrger.


    "Then follow me," the man instructed as he gestured to John to follow. "I shall escort you to a private chamber, where you can be personally assisted by one of our Trade Hall managers."


    John nodded his head and quickly followed behind, eager to start looking at the battle arts the Mystic Trade Hall would have to offer.

 Chapter 514 - Young Master Caz

    John followed behind the attendant, and the two quickly made their way deeper into the Mystic Trade Hall pagoda. The pagoda was incrediblyrge, and had dozens of floors, each with a dedicated trade purpose.


    The attendant escorted John to an area with dozens of circr tforms, each glowing with powerful runic energy. A constant stream of cultivators and traders were walking up to the tforms and disappearing, while others appeared on different tforms out of nowhere.


    The attendant walked onto one of therge tforms, quickly followed behind by John. Both of them instantly disappeared and reappeared, now in a new location. John took note of his surroundings, and a quick nce out of one of the far floor to ceiling windows at the end of the hall revealed his new location.


    ''I''m over a dozen floors up now? They have teleportation tforms for traversing the building, instead of stairs? Just how rich is the Mystic Trade Hall?''


    "This floor is for the exclusive use of youths in the Meridian Forging Realm and Heaven Tribtion Realm," the attendant exined. "If you continue to follow me, I shall escort you to your private trade chamber."


    John nodded his head, and continued to follow behind the attendant. His head swiveled in all directions, taking in the sights before him. The floor was crowded with youths his age, and John even managed to spot the youths he had seen outside the trade hall.


    The youths were all being attended by someone, each going about their business with their personal attendant.


    ''The Mystic Trade Hall must also have quite an extensive list of powerful connections. They most likely establish a rapport with the most promising youths around, which only furthers their own power down the line. Impressive.''


    While following behind the attendant, John couldn''t help but notice a lone youth sitting off to the side of the teleportation tform. He wore incredibly luxurious robes, which were ck and white, the same color scheme of the Mystic Trade Hall. He had a bald head and clean shaven face, and he was sitting in a meditative position, although his eyes were open. Instead of cultivating, he appeared to be calmly but carefully watching each and every youth that appeared on the floor.


    The youth seemed quite unique, which John couldn''t help but notice. At the same time, the youth noticed John through the crowd, and gazed at him for a moment. He raised an eyebrow upon seeing John, and his calm gaze continued to linger on John''s face until John rounded the corner.


    "Here we are young sir," the attendant spoke out a short whileter as they arrived at their location. The attendant gestured to a nearby room, which had the door already open. John entered the room and looked around.


    The room was a few dozen yards long and wide, and had several luxurious sofas and seats in the middle of the room. Arge table, made of ck and white marble with detailed designs was situated between the seats, while a table with tea was situated on the side of the room. The room was filled with expensive nts and herbs, making the environment incredibly fragrant and rxing.


    John nodded his head in approval at what he was seeing, as it truly was an incrediblyvish room to be attended in.


    "If you''ll wait here for a moment, one of our Trade Managers will attend to you shortly," the attendant said to John respectfully before he left to go find a Trade Manager.


    John walked around the room for a moment before he took a seat on one of the sofas in the middle of the room. The sofa was incredibly soft, and felt himself fall into an incredibly rxed state, as if he were sitting on a cloud.


    ''Getting me nice and rxed so I''ll be more inclined to spend money? Not a bad idea,'' John mused internally as he saw through the ruse, but respected it nheless.


    He leaned back on the sofa and rxed as he waited for the Trade Manager assigned to him to arrive.


    ¡­


    The attendant who had aided John was walking towards the Trade Manager room, when all of a sudden a lone youth stepped before him. The attendant, quickly taking note of who had stopped him, bowed respectfully for a short moment before straightening himself.


    "Young Master Caz¡­how may I help you," the attendant spoke out, his voice incredibly respectful.


    "No need for the formalities, Attendant Zaho. You know I do not like such ttery," the youth replied with a dismissive hand wave.


    "Ah, of course," Attendant Zaho replied. "What can I help you with? Do you need something from me?" the attendant asked.


    "Indeed you can," the youth replied. "That boy you were just escorting¡­who is he?"


    "Him?" the attendant asked, his voice slightly surprised. He had not been expecting the subject to be about John, as John was a rather unassuming youth. "I''m not sure. He arrived just recently, and wants to acquire some expensive battle arts. As for who he is particrly, I''m not sure."


    "He didn''t say anything of his backing?" the youth replied. "How did he get up here then?"


    "What did he say?" Attendant Zaho repeated. "He just said that he had enough spirit crystals to obtain the high-level battle arts he was seeking. There was no mention of his backing."


    The youth raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "Interesting¡­" he mused out loud while thinking about something.


    Attendant Zaho stood there respectfully for a short moment before the youth spoke up once more.


    "I''ll take it from here, Attendant Zaho. No need to find that youth a Trade Manager," the youth instructed, causing a look of slight surprise to appear on Attendant Zaho''s face.


    "What? While this youth appears to have sufficient money, surely his status is beneath your notice. Are you sure you don''t want¡­"


    Attendant Zaho''s voice trailed off as the youth shook his head. "It seems as though you don''t recognize his robes," the youth replied.


    "His robes?" Attendant Zaho replied. "Indeed I do not recognize them."


    "You must study up on the surrounding region more, Attendant Zaho," the youth scolded lightly.. "The robes that youth is wearing belongs to the Heavenly Lightning Sect''s War Hall."

 Chapter 515 - Drinking And Trading Tea

    "The Heavenly Lightning Sect?" Attendant Zaho eximed in surprise. "Truly, I did not recognize such robes. The Young Master truly is knowledgeable," Attendant Zaho ttered the youth.


    "However, even if he is from the Heavenly Lightning sect, those who join the War Hall are usually less talented disciples. The only disciples from the Heavenly Lightning Sect worth your personal time are the top two direct disciples of the sect, Rael and Lily. I have not heard of any other youths of note from that sect as of recent," Attendant Zaho replied respectfully.


    The youth nodded his head in agreement with Attendant Zaho''s words. "You are correct in both your assumptions. However, I can tell that this one is¡­unique," the youth replied. "As such, I will attend to him today."


    Attendant Zaho remained silent for a moment before he nodded his head at the youths words.


    "As you wish, Young Master Caz. You are one of our most promising talents to arise in our Mystic Trade Hall''s history when ites to trade and profit. If you say it, then it must be so. The youth is located in room one hundred and seventeen," he replied.


    The youth nodded his head and thanked Attendant Zaho, before he strode off towards the room John was in.


    ¡­


    John continued to lounge around casually, as he waited for the Trade Manger to arrive. Their arrival had taken longer than expected, but John didn''t mind as he was in an incredibly rxed state at the moment.


    The door to the room suddenly opened, catching John''s attention. A lone figure entered, and closed the door behind him before turning to face John.


    "Greetings," the youth said to John with a warm smile on his face. "I am Caz¡­May I inquire as to your name?"


    John stared at the youth, who was the bald-headed youth he had seen sitting next to the teleportation formations just a short while before.


    "John," he replied calmly, although he was slightly surprised as he had been expecting someone¡­older.


    The youth walked over to where John was, and sat on the sofa opposite the table from John. The two gazed at each other for a moment, sizing up each other as they could both tell that the other was quite unique. After a moment of silence, Caz spoke up once more.


    "Would you like some tea?" Caz asked.


    "Sure," John replied, and Caz stood up and walked over to the tea table on the edge of the room. He prepared the tea for a short moment before returning to the table and cing a cup before John.


    An intoxicating aroma filled John''s nose, and he couldn''t help but reach out and drink a cup. A smile appeared on his face after sipping once.


    "Mmm, good tea," John eximed.


    Caz calmly took a sip as well and ced his cup down. "Are you also a tea expert?" he asked.


    "No," John replied with a headshake. "I merely have sampled some good tea in the past, and know good tea when I taste it."


    "Oh, speaking of which," John suddenly thought of something and decided to see if he could make some money on the side whileing to the Mystic Trade Hall. "Would you be interested in purchasing some tea leaves that I have?" he asked.


    "Tea leaves?" Caz was slightly surprised to hear John try to sell him tea leaves, as he had been expecting to discuss battle arts.


    "We do indeed purchase anything of value that someone is willing to sell," Caz replied respectfully. "However, our willingness to purchase always depends on the quality of the product."


    John nodded his head at the youths'' words, as it was a kind but subtle way of saying that unless John had high quality things to sell, that he shouldn''t embarrass himself by taking it out just to be rejected.


    A smile formed on John''s face as a singr leaf suddenly appeared in his hand.


    "I''m sure you''ll be interested in this," John replied with a smile on his face as he plucked a singr leaf from the tea bushes in his pce realm, and sent it to his hand in the real world.


    Caz''s eyes instantly locked onto the tea leaf, and quickly leaned forward. He grabbed it gently from John''s hands and inspected it closely, his face bing more and more excited as his inspection continued.


    John sat there calmly sipping tea as the inspection took ce, and after a short moment, Caz looked back at him with a smiling expression. With his ability to create an unlimited amount of such tea leaves in his spatial realm, John knew he would have a spirit crystal generating machine on his hands shortly.


    "Incredible," Caz replied, not even trying to hide his enthusiasm. Normally he was incredibly calm and collected when it came to bartering for goods, as any signs of enthusiasm or interest would only give the opposite party leverage in the trade.


    However, tea was one of his only true passions in life, and he couldn''t help but wear his emotions on his sleeve as he studied the leave. He took in a deep whiff of the leaf''s aroma, and seemingly fell into a trance for a short moment before he collected himself.


    "Incredible, truly incredible," Caz replied, causing John to smile slightly. "How many leaves do you have? Do you have aplete nt? Would you be willing to sell it to us?"


    John''s smile lingered on his face, but he remained silent as he thought about how to answer the question. The tea leaf was seemingly incredibly valuable to this new youth, and John didn''t know its true value.


    Not only that, but it was something that came from his mysterious spatial realm, and its origins were unknown. If the tea nt was truly some heavenly grade nt, then revealing he had an entire bush could cause problems to arise if a greedy party found out about it.


    Caz quickly noted John''s silence, and calmed down as he leaned forward earnestly. He could tell John had reservations about revealing anything more about the tea nt.


    "Ah, excuse my forwardness," Caz said hastily. "I lost myself in my excitement¡­I can tell you have reservations about revealing too much, and such a thing only elevates my opinion of you. It seems as though I was truly correct in my judgment of you. You are both full of surprises, as well as wise in your business dealings."


    John smiled at the youth, but didn''tment on his so-called ''judgment.''


    "How about this," John replied as he took out a small jar full of leaves, the sight causing a wave of excitement to flow through Caz. "I''ll give you these leaves to sell however you choose, and we''ll split the profits seventy percent to me, thirty percent to you. If you can sell these leaves for a high enough amount of money, we can discuss future business dealings regarding these tea leaves," John exined.


    There were two reasons for him saying this. The first was that he did not want to reveal the extent of his tea nt collection at the moment, while he also didn''t want to directly sell it to the Mystic Trade Hall. He had no idea what the tea leaves were worth, and so the youth before him could set any price, and John couldn''t argue against it.


    However, selling it at an open auction would result in aggressive betting between more experienced traders, and would allow the tea leaves to be priced appropriately.


    Arge smile appeared on Caz''s face upon hearing this, and he nodded his head in approval at John''s calctive maneuvering.


    "We have a deal!"

 Chapter 516 - Perusing Battle Arts

    The two shook hands, sealing the terms of the deal. While John did not get anything in writing, this was a sort of test for the Mystic Trade Hall from him as well. He had given them an incredibly small portion of his pce realm tea leaves, which he could grow an infinite amount.


    If Caz honored their verbal agreement and kept his word, the Mystic Trade Hall would prove themselves worthy of John doing his business there, and would get all his future trade dealings. However, if Caz decided to renege on the agreement and keep the proceeds for the Mystic Trade Hall, then John would see right through how they did business, and find a different trade guild to do business with.


    If there was one constant in the martial world, it was that there was always another trade hall looking to do business, as money was everything.


    "John, what is your full name?" Caz asked, causing John to frown slightly at the question. It wasn''t a secret he needed to keep, but he wanted to know the reason for the question. Caz noticed John''s look, and immediately rified his intentions.


    "For when I send you the split of the profits for these leaves, of course. I can''t just have one of our trade messengers send arge sum of money to a "John" in the Heavenly Lightning Sect. There must be a hundred John''s within your sect," Caz rified.


    "Ah, I suppose that makes sense," John replied. "John Fenix."


    "Well then, John Fenix. I''m sure that within a few weeks, you''ll be receiving a significant sum of money, and with that amount, I hope it encourages you to do future business with me," Caz replied with a friendly smile on his face.


    John nodded his head and lifted his teacup to take a sip.


    "Now then," Caz spoke up once again. "I was informed that you arrived here today to discuss battle arts?" which John nodded his head at.


    "What type of battle arts are you looking for?" Caz asked.


    "Three types in particr. Lightning battle arts, scythe battle arts, and battle axe battle arts, suitable for those in the Heaven Tribtion Realm" John replied, focusing on his strong points.


    "Lightning Battle Arts?" Caz mused. "You''re from the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Surely the most promising lightning Battle Arts would be located in your sect, would they not be?" Caz asked.


    "You''re right, but I cannot obtain them at the moment. And I cannot wait idly to obtain them either," John replied.


    A small smile appeared on Caz''s face as he heard this. "I take it then that these arts are to raise yourbat prowess for the Jade Dragon Empire''s realm opening?" Caz asked.


    John raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, as he had not expected Caz to know about it. Caz noticed this look, and chuckled lightly before borating.


    "We''re a Trade Hall, young master Fenix. Information is just as tradeable and profitable as tangible goods, and we are quite good at obtaining information," he exined.


    "Ah, that makes sense," John replied calmly.


    "But if you''re capable of being selected for the realm opening from a sect as powerful as the Heavenly Lightning Sect, you must indeed be quite talented¡­" Caz mused for a moment.


    "Anyways, what grade would you like those Battle Arts to be?" Caz asked, getting back to the subject at hand.


    "The highest grade you have," John replied. Only the most profound battle arts would be able to rece the battle arts he currently used.


    Caz nodded his head at John''s words, and stood up from his seat. "Then I shall return shortly with the items you asked for. Excuse me for a moment."


    With that, Caz left the room, leaving John to wait within. John continued to calmly sip the delicious tea, and fifteen minutester, Caz arrived back at the room. He closed the door behind him again before he sat down.


    Each room was lined with a sound-proof formation, as the Mystic Trade Hall ensured that the privacy of every trader was protected. Such a thing was one of the small features that ensured repeat customers, and allowed the Mystic Trade Hall to grow to its current status.


    "I have returned with that you asked for," Caz said as he sat down once again. He waved his hand, and many items suddenly appeared on the table before John. John quickly inspected the items, and raised an eyebrow.


    "They''re all jade pieces?" John asked.


    He was not unfamiliar with learning cultivation and battle arts from jade pieces. His Celestial Lightning Script was trained through that exact process. However, there was not a single scroll or piece of paper detailing the art before him.


    "Of course. Almost all cultivation and battle arts at the Heaven Tribtion Realm or above are taught through Jade pieces," Caz replied. "Battle arts at this level are incrediblyplicated, and almost all of them contain too much information to be stored in a scroll or a book. Jade pieces can store hundreds of times more information than paper, and so most of the battle arts are stored as such."


    "I see," John replied while staring at the Jade pieces. He had no idea there was such a thing, but the exnation did make sense. He suddenly thought of his Immortal Asura Body, which was taught from a book, and found it peculiar. It was such a powerful cultivation and battle art, and yet it was contained in only a few pages of information.


    The piles of Jade pieces before him were separated into four groups, which Caz quickly exined.


    "This pile is the Lightning Battle Arts, this pile the scythe arts, this pile the battle axe arts, and this pile is a mixture of misceneous battle arts I figured might intrigue you," Caz exined. "Please, peruse them at your leisure."


    John reached out towards the first piece and picked it up. He sent his divine sense into it, and was immediately given the name of the battle art, as well as a brief exnation.


    "Lightning Armor¡­makes a body of armor around the user, greatly increasing defensive capabilities."


    ''Interesting, but not what I''m looking for. My body is tough enough already,'' John mused as he put the piece down and picked up the next one. He read through it, and raised an eyebrow at the name and description.


    "Lightning Disintegration¡­emits a strong beam of lightning, either instantly, or channeled¡­"


    ''Sounds like Lightning Ruin, only much more profound. I''ll set this to the side for now.''


    John set the Jade piece off to the side as he continued to peruse through the battle arts. The next few were quite impressive, but not powerful enough to catch his eye and rece his current lightning based abilities.


    John picked up another piece, and raised another eyebrow in interest at what he read.


    "Thunderbody sh¡­movement technique that requires a lightning user have an Innate Variant Body. Puts immense strain on the body, but results in explosive movement speed."


    ''This is exactly what I need to rece my Thundersh Steps. I''ll definitely be taking this one. It''s almost as if it was created precisely for me.''


    John set the Jade piece aside, and pursued the rest of the lightning battle arts. None of them were of interest, and he set them aside until he picked up thest one, which instantly caught his full attention.


    "Dragontail Decimation."

 Chapter 517 - Exorbitant Prices

    ''Dragontail Decimation? That sure is an impressive sounding name,'' John mused as he read over the name. His thoughts shifted to the Lightning Dragon that he had seen before, and couldn''t help but think back to the incredible power it disyed.


    John''s thoughts shifted back to the Jade piece in his hand, and his divine sense washed over the initial description of the battle art.


    "Channel a heavenly avatar of a Lightning Dragon''s tail, which crashes down upon the desired target."


    The description was incredibly brief, and John sent his divine sense a bit further into the Jade piece to inquire more about it. Upon doing so, he realized that the attack was slightly different than initially expected, but even more desirable now.


    ''Its a channeled attack, meant for War Mages¡­this is exactly what I need at the moment!''


    While John was not a legitimate War Mage in terms of channeling talent, he was able to brute force his way forward due to his incrediblypressed Dantian. With his Dantian being twenty times morepressed, although he was not as good atpressing and storing Qi for an attack at other War Mages, his overall essence Qi quality and quantity brute forced through that deficiency.


    From an outside perspective, there would be no difference between what John did and what other War Mages were capable of. At the moment, John had many powerful quick use skills, but did not have any powerful channeled battle arts.


    Channeled battle arts were the hardest to use as they required a long channel time, but their destructive power was unmatched. It was exactly what he was looking for, and he knew he needed to obtain this battle art.


    John set the Jade piece down and looked towards Caz, who sat there calmly while sipping tea.


    "How much for these three battle arts?" John asked as he took Lightning Disintegration, Thunderbody sh, and Dragontail Decimation.


    Caz nced at the three Jade pieces John had picked, and nodded his head in approval at his choices.


    "Good choices," Caz replied. "Although I''m a bit surprised to see you pick Dragontail Decimation. Are you a War Mage?"


    "Something like that," John replied while scratching his cheek.


    "Regardless, these are all top tier battle arts. You have a good eye for quality it seems," Caz replied. "In regards to price, the price for Lightning Disintegration is three million spirit crystals, Thunderbody sh is three million¡­and Dragontail Destruction is twenty million."


    "So expensive!" John couldn''t help but blurt out in response to the prices he was hearing, especially Dragontail Destruction. Twenty million spirit crystals was an absurd amount of money for a single battle art, which gave John pause for a moment.


    Caz noticed this hesitation, and decided to borate further on the prices.


    "The prices for these battle arts are this expensive for two reasons," he said to John. "First, for battle arts at the Heaven Tribtion or above, most must be stored in Jade pieces due to theirplexity. As I''m sure you noticed, the information is given a bit differently through the Jade pieces as opposed to written battle arts."


    John nodded his head at Caz''s words, as it was indeed the truth. Battle arts written on scrolls and books detailed the flow of Qi, which meridians to utilize, and other easy to exin things. However, Jade pieces included the ''feeling'' of the battle art, its essence, and was much moreplicated than written battle arts. However, it allowed the battle arts to be much more profound and powerful, which was a necessary trade off.


    "Written battle arts can be copied any number of times by anyone, reducing their value. However, battle arts contained within Jade pieces are far moreplex, and can only be copied by the creator of the battle art, or someone who has fully mastered every aspect of the battle art. As such, the amount of copies out in the world are much less than written battle arts, and so Jade piece battle arts are much more expensive," Caz exined.


    John thought about it for a moment before he nodded his head at Caz''s words.


    "That does make sense," he replied. "However, why is Dragontail Decimation almost ten times the cost of the other two battle arts?"


    "That''s because as far as we can tell, there is only this one copy out in the world¡­this one," Caz replied.


    John raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, and couldn''t help but ask for more information.


    "Why is there only one copy?"


    "This Jade Piece was found by someone in an ancient ruin, and the origins are unknown. Many have attempted to fully learn the battle art, but none have ever been able to do so," Caz started to exin. "The battle art has several incredibly strict requirements to utilize, making it incredibly hard to master. First, one needs to be a War Mage, and an incredibly talented one at that. Two, the user needs to have absolute control over the Lightning Dao, as not having full control results in the user injuring themselves instead. Lastly, the battle art ces an incredible burden on the body even when utilized correctly, and while not listed as a requirement by the battle art, most agree that having an Innate Variant Body is required to fully master this battle art."


    Caz paused for a moment to take a sip of tea, before he continued his exnation.


    "With these three incredibly strict requirements, no one has been able to fully master this battle art, and so no one has been able to copy it to other Jade pieces, hence the price."


    John listened to Caz''s exnation, which madeplete sense as to why the cost was so high. He could tell it was an absolutely amazing battle art, and was by far the most profound of the ones presented to him thus far.


    "If that''s the case, then this battle art is useless to almost everyone. Shouldn''t the price be a bit lower, since no one can master it?" John asked before taking a sip of tea.


    Caz smiled upon hearing John''s question, as it was a good one to ask.


    "A good question, and one that would be correct in most cases. However, as you know, cultivators are incredibly proud, and there is no shortage of lightning cultivators who think themselves capable of cultivating this battle art. This battle art has been sold several times in thest one hundred years, but is always sold back to us when the cultivator realizes the endeavor is futile," Caz exined.


    "Ah, I see," John replied after a moment of silence. He had been hoping to get the price down, but it seems as though the Mystic Trade Hall was in no rush to sell this battle art. If he didn''t buy it, someone in the near future would.


    John remained silent for a moment as he thought over everything, before he decided to look at the other battle arts before him before making a final decision. His eyes locked onto the next pile of Jade pieces; the scythe battle arts.


    A particrly ancient looking Jade piece caught his eye, as it was more faded in color and worn down than the others. John reached out and picked it up, and sent his divine sense into the piece. His eyes widened slightly in surprise as an ancient yet familiarnguage filled his mind.


    "Divine Reaping Scythe"

 Chapter 518 - Reappearance Of The Divine Reaping Scythe

    ''The Divine Reaping Scythe! I haven''t been able to use this battle art since I advanced to the Meridian Forging Realm, as the copy I had only detailed up to the Core Formation Realm. However, this Jade Piece details the Divine Reaping Scythe through the Heaven Tribtion Realm! I must acquire this!''


    The Divine Reaping Scythe had been John''s strongest attack for the early portion of his cultivation history, and he always felt quite depressed about the fact that he could no longer use it inbat. Its power, sharpness, and lethality was unmatched within the same realm, and was one of the reasons he was able to reign supreme in the Yuan Continent amongst all the youths.


    As he sent his divine sense into the Jade piece, an incredibly powerful and realistic mental image of a lone cultivator using the Divine Reaping Scythe appeared in his mind. The cultivator had his back turned to John, making it so that he was unable to see his face.


    However, just based on the way the man carried himself, John could instantly tell that he was an incredibly powerful cultivator. The man raised his scythe, and immediately shed it outwards. A scythe image, sharper and deadlier than anything John had seen before pierced out, shing into the void in the distance.


    The image disappeared, and a barrage of words in the ancientnguage flooded his mind, as if telling him a story of how toprehend the next realms of the Divine Reaping Scythe. The Jade piece seemed to be a two part process, one of studying the image of the man attacking, and the other of studying the words and their insights that flooded his mind.


    John could feel his scythe Dao insights rise just by studying the attack, and desired to gaze at it until he could master it. He felt his heartbeat speed up at what he was seeing, but quickly remembered where he was and calmed himself down. He didn''t want to let Caz know of his ability to read the ancientnguage for two reasons, or his desire to obtain the battle art.


    The first was that if Caz knew that John wanted the battle art, he could potentially raise the price. While John didn''t know if Caz would do such a thing, he wanted to avoid testing the theory altogether.


    The second, and more severe reason was that he didn''t want Caz, or anyone at all, to know that he could read the ancientnguage. The ancientnguage was a deadnguage in this world, and no one knew how to read it. However, there were many incredible battle arts, cultivation techniques, pill recipes, and more that existed in thisnguage in the world, but were unable to be utilized.


    If people found out he could read thenguage, it would most likely cause quite a few headaches for himself. Caz raised an eyebrow as he noticed John inspect the Jade piece for some time, but remained silent.


    John set down the Jade piece, and a slightly confused expression appeared on his face as he looked up at Caz.


    "Why did you give me this Jade piece?" John asked in a confused tone. "I can''t read what''s contained within."


    "No one can," Caz replied after a brief pause. "However, I''m sure you noticed that when you sent your divine sense into the Jade piece, images of a scythe battle art appeared in your mind."


    John nodded his head at Caz''s words, as that was indisputable regardless of if one could understand thenguage or not.


    "While no one can read the instructions for the battle art contained within, many have studied the image of the battle art, and have found their insights rise. As such, while it may not be something that you can rely on for obtaining the battle art, it can still help raise your scythe insights. That is the reason I have included it amongst the other battle arts," Caz exined.


    "Oh, I guess that makes sense," John replied, doing his best to hide his excitement.


    He put the Jade piece down and began going through the other scythe attacks. Although the attacks were powerful, none were nearly as potent or profound as the Divine Reaping Scythe. However, as to avoid suspicion, John chose a scythe battle art meant to fight multiple enemies at once, the Myriad Scythe Form, as well as the Divine Reaping Scythe.


    After sorting through the scythe battle arts, John sifted through the battle axe battle arts. However, none of them caught his eye, which caused him to frown from disappointment. Caz noticed John''s expression, and a wry smile appeared on his face.


    "Apologies for thecking wares for battle axe battle arts. Our best attacks were recently purchased by another young cultivator such as yourself, and so we find ourselvescking in this department at the moment."


    "It''s alright," John replied calmly as his gaze shifted to thest pile, which was the misceneous battle arts that didn''t fit the three categories he had initially mentioned. After perusing through the battle arts, John found that he did not desire any in particr, and that his current battle art lineup was quite full already.


    He took a moment to gather the battle arts he was interested in, and presented the pile to Caz. The Jade pile included Lightning Disintegration, Thunderbody sh, Dragontail Decimation, the Myriad Scythe Form, and the Divine Reaping Scythe.


    It was an incredibly powerful lineup of battle arts, and John felt his heartbeat slightly increase upon thinking of using them, before he calmed himself down quickly once again.


    "I''m interested in these¡­Whats the total cost for these five battle arts?" John asked calmly.


    Caz nced at the battle arts, and did a quick mental tally before rying the final sum to John.


    "The total cost is thirty five million spirit crystals," Caz replied.


    John felt his heart nearly seize upon hearing the total sum, as it was nearly a third of his total spirit crystal supply. However, the bulk of the price was because of the costly Dragontail Decimation, which he greatly desired.


    ''Oh well, I suppose it will be worth it in the end. I''m just happy that the Divine Reaping Scythe is written in the ancientnguage, which greatly reduced its price. If this world could read thenguage, this battle art would most likely cost fifty million spirit crystals at the minimum.''


    John remained silent for a moment before he nodded his head in agreement.


    "Deal."


    A small smile appeared on Caz''s face as well as John''s, as both were happy with the transaction''s oue.


    "Before we exchange items for spirit crystals, is there anything else you would like to peruse?" Caz asked.


    John nodded his head at Caz''s words, as the battle arts were the only reason he came to this city. He still required medicinal pills, cultivation pills, and other things such as any formations or talismans that piqued his interest.


    ¡­


    A weekter, John found himself standing outside Mystic Cities bordering walls. He had spent quite a bit of time within the city obtaining everything he needed, and spent another few days enjoying a rare source of free time.


    His gaze shifted to a distant mountain range, which was said to contain a number of powerful beasts within.


    ''I had a nice rxing time obtaining everything I needed within Mystic City, but it''s time to get serious again.. Let''s test out these battle arts that I spent a fortune obtaining.''

 Chapter 519 - Frost Ape

    Roar!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    On an isted strip in a mountain range, a deafening roar boomed out, followed by several loud bangs. The mountainsides lit up brightly in quick session, which was followed quickly after by thunderous booms and the mountainside shaking.


    An incredibly powerful beam of icy Qi sped right by John as he dodged to the side at thest second. The beam carried on behind him and mmed into the side of a mountain, instantly destroying arge portion of it.


    John nced at the destroyed mountain behind him for a second before he focused again on the beast in front of him. A massive Frost Ape stood before him, towering over him. It was over ten yards tall, and its fur was light blue.


    The creature, which lived exclusively at the top of snow capped mountains, radiated a profound ice aura as it stared menacingly at John. He had intruded on its territory, and it was aiming to kill him as punishment for his transgressions.


    The Frost Ape was in the Middle Heaven Tribte Realm, making it quite a strong opponent.


    Its defense is quite strong. Its fur is incredibly tough, and it forms a natural armor of incredibly hard ice around its body when threatened. Not only that, but its attacks are quite strong as well. This is the perfect training opportunity.''


    Bang!


    A fist mmed down where John was standing, fracturing the nearby mountainside, which caused arge avnche to surge down the mountain. John dodged the fist attack at thest moment and took to the sky as he watched the avnche ravage the mountainside.


    Che!


    A powerful beam of ice Qi surged out from the Frost Apes mouth and pierced directly towards him, which he dodged as well.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    Several more beams of ice Qi followed quickly after, which John dodged in quick session.


    ''I''ve seen all I need to see about this Frost Ape''s capabilities. Its attacks are not quick enough for me to need to utilize my Thunderbody sh, although its attacks and defense are incredibly strong. Since I''ve yet to master the Dragontail Decimation battle art or the next stages of the Divine Reaping Scythe, I guess I''ll focus on Lightning Disintegration and get asfortable with it as I was with Lightning Ruin.''


    Lightning Disintegration was a direct upgrade to Lightning Ruin. They both were instant lightning beam attacks, although Lightning Disintegration was a much more profound and powerful battle art. Not only that, but it was a pseudo-channeled technique. While not a true channeled battle art meant for War Mages, it could be held internally for a brief period of time, making the attack much stronger than the instant release attack.


    He had done something simr in the past, when he forcefully withheld his Lightning Ruin internally with his powerful dantian, before he unleashed the powerful attack on his Master. This had been when they had been training, and it had even surprised Lilian herself. However, Lightning Ruin was not meant for such a thing, and the kickback from holding the attack internally while he channeled it nearly backfired, which would have gravely hurt John.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    While dodging in quick session, John unleashed a barrage of Lightning Disintegrations at the Frost Ape. The Frost Ape strengthened its ice shield as the attacksnded on it, and ice shattered in all directions.


    However, the damaged ice quickly reformed, returning its battle armor to normal. He frowned at the sight, as the Middle Heaven Tribtion Frost Ape truly was a tough opponent. While he could beat it while using his body arts and other powerful techniques, the point of this training was to practice his new battle arts. As such, John did not want to rely on them unless absolutely necessary.


    Bang!


    Che!


    Bang!


    Che!


    A barrage of Lightning Disintegrations and ice Qi beams were exchanged as he and the Frost Ape''s battle raged on. Both parties were attacking at the same time, as he dodged the Frost Ape''s attacks, while the Frost Ape withstood the power of John''s Lightning Disintegration.


    Che!


    John dodged to the side, narrowly dodging another Ice Qi beam as he pointed his finger towards the Frost Ape. Instead of releasing his attack instantly, he decided to channel the attack this time to increase its power, hoping to break through the powerful ice defense of the Frost Ape.


    Roar!


    The Frost Ape roared in rage and unleashed another powerful Qi beam at John, which caused him to undo his channeled attack and dodge to the side.


    Tch!


    He had not been expecting such a quick counter attack from the Ape, but steadied his focus once again as he started channeling Lightning Disintegration once again. This time however, he kept back a small portion of his power to focus on his movement, instead of focusing it all on his channeled attack.


    Such a thing was incredibly difficult for a normal cultivator, as a channeled attack required an enormous amount of power and control, but with his twenty timespressed dantian, John was able to do such a thing.


    The beast noticed his attack building power once more, and roared in rage as it unleashed another barrage of Ice Qi beams.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    The attacks pierced towards John, who dodged to the side at thest moment. While his movement speed was far slower than normal, it was still fast enough to dodge the Ape''s attacks, which was readily telegraphed and easy to read.


    Roar!


    The Ape roared in frustration again as it unleashed even more Ice Qi beams. It didn''t even try to take to the sky to fight John there, as its speed was far slower than his. The beams passed by John with the narrowest of margins as he dodged them, his eyes locked onto the beast the entire time.


    After fifteen seconds of channeling, which was an eternity in a battle as powerful as this, an incredibly powerful beam of lightning, far more powerful than anything he had unleashed before pierced out directly towards the Frost Ape.


    The attack was incredibly quick as well, and before the Frost Ape could dodge, the attacknded on its chest.


    Boom!


    A thunderous boom echoed out as the defensive iceyer around the beast shattered, and the lightning continued forward and mmed onto its chest. The chest of the creature was instantly charred, and the lightning pierced slightly into its body and began to rampage within.


    The Frost Apre roared in rage and pain as it fought against the lightnings internal destruction, and John stared on in slight shock at just how tough the Frost Ape was.


    ''That attack was even more powerful than I had expected, and was definitely worth the three million I spend on the battle art. And yet¡­the Frost Ape is still alive. What an impressive beast.''


    John nodded his head in silent approval at the beast''s power, but didn''t want to miss this opportunity he just created for himself. His body blurred as he dashed forward, and his scythe appeared in his hand. He appeared before the beast, which was still struggling against the rampaging lightning, and shed his scythe out with all his might.


    Che!


    A powerful scythe image carved right through the neck of the defenseless Frost Ape, severing it from its body. John quickly grabbed the head and stored it away, while the rest of the body flopped to the ground, dead. The nearby snow was stained red from the Frost Ape''s blood, while John focused on recovering his expended Qi.


    After a moment''s rest, he put away his scythe and stored the Frost Ape''s body, before his gaze shifted to a different mountain range in the distance. Roars could be hearding from those mountains, clearly a reaction to what had just happened.


    A small smile appeared on John''s face as he took to the sky once more and flew towards the sounds of the roar.. The distant mountains, peaceful just moments before, suddenly erupted in a series of powerful explosions and bright shes as John continued to train his new battle arts.

 Chapter 520 - Fire Falcon

    The next several days were spent within the mountain range, fighting powerful beasts and honing the battle arts he had just purchased. The mountain range was filled with powerful creatures, although all were in the Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    None were in the Dao Transformation Realm, as those wild beasts tended to stay far away from any civilization. While these mountains were quite remote and far away from Mystic City, they were notpletely isted like the ces powerful beasts liked to lurk.


    In the few days in the mountains so far, John had already in three Middle Heaven Tribtion beasts. Each had been a unique opponent, presenting him with different challenges while using his new battle arts.


    However, no matter what he had done so far, he had been unable to use Dragontail Decimation. While he had finally learned the incrediblyplicated Qi generation requirements, and intricate meridian pathways, he had been unable to use it in battle due to its slow channel time.


    Unlike his Lightning Disintegration, Dragontail Decimation was a true channeled battle art, and an incredible one at that. It sacrificed any sort of casting speed for ultimate destructive power. Not only that, but the more he studied the art, the more he realized there were two portions to the battle art.


    It could be unleashed as a wide area attack, or unleashed with pinpoint power, focusing on a singr target. This flexibility in uses pleased John quite greatly, but disappointment was all that followed as he was unable to use it in battle.


    Each time he had attempted to use it, the beast opponents would interrupt him and cause him to release the battle art. Unlike Lightning Disintegration, Dragontail Decimation required all of his Qi.


    One of the reasons the battle art was so expensive was that it seemed unlimited in the amount of Qi that could be used to power it. No matter how much Qi John fed the attack, it always seemed to hunger for more. As a result, he could not save a portion of his Qi for movement or defense, making it so that he was a sitting duck.


    Screech!


    On this day, John was fighting an incredibly powerful beast, the Fire Falcon. The beast was a creature of mes, and each p of its wings unleashed a tornado of ming destruction. The beast screeched as it sped towards John with incredible speed, unleashing a wave of destructive mes at him.


    Tch!


    John clicked his tongue and released his Dragontail Decimation and dodged to the side, narrowly dodging the attack. The wave of mes mmed onto a mountain behind him, obliterating almost half of it.


    John couldn''t help but grimace slightly as he saw the power of the attack, before his focus once again locked onto the Fire Falcon.


    ''Unlike the other beasts I fought, this one is in the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm, and seems to almost be at its peak. It must be the king of this area, and is quite a handful¡­how can I beat it?''


    Even if he were using his Asura Transformation and everything at his disposal, beating the Fire Falcon would be an incredibly tall task. John''s essence cultivation was still in the Middle Meridian Forging Realm, making it five minor realms behind the Fire Falcon''s cultivation.


    ''If only the Divine Reaping Scythe wasn''t so fuckingplicated, I would have learned the new steps by now which would help me. But based on what I saw, learning the Meridian Forging steps to that battle art is going to take weeks, and it will be even longer for the Heaven Tribtion portion.''


    Bang!


    Another fiery inferno shed out from the Fire Falcon''s wings and mmed down on John''s location. John shed his battle ax out, sending a Sky Sundering Axe to meet the attack, while he covered himself in the defensive lightning cage using his Lightning Domain.


    Boom!


    The collision between the battle arts exploded outwards, and John found himself thrown backwards with great speed. He mmed into the earth below and burrowed in deeply.


    Cough!


    John coughed out in pain, and a small bit of blood coughed out as well. He grimaced from the pain he felt, as that attack had been quite strong.


    "I guess I bit off more than I can chew here," John mumbled to himself as he stood up. His gaze locked onto the Fire Falcon hovering above, which was surprised he had survived the attack. Its opponent was just a mere Meridian Forging human, and yet it had survived attack after attack.


    This gave the creature some pause, as it didn''t know what was going on. As such, it stared warily at John, waiting for his next move.


    John felt his soul space begin to tremble, and he quickly locked his soul space down, which stopped Kirii from escaping.


    ''Oh no you don''t. You''re absolutely no match for this Fire Falcon,'' John said to Kirri through their soul connection.


    Kirii was still in the Meridian Forging Realm as well, and although it was a heavenly beast, it still had its limitations as well. John frowned as he stared at the beast, and a stifling feeling welled up within him.


    "I would kill you today if I could use my full power, but I''ll let you off for now. Don''t worry, I''ll be returning before long to finish our fight," John said to the creature with a cold voice, before he jumped out of the ditch and sped away.


    It was the first time he had retreated from a fight since the Ancient City, although this retreat was different. It was not out of caution and fear likest time, but out of realizing that without his full strength, he was unable to win today.


    Tch!


    John clicked his tongue again as he sped away, while the Fire Falcon watched him leave. It quickly returned to its massive nest soon after, not wanting to follow the mysterious human.


    ¡­


    "Goddammit. Not being able to use my full strength is such a pain in the ass," John cursed as he stared into the fire he had made. His thoughts lingered on the fight, and how weak he felt without being able to use his Asura Transformation.


    "I really need to raise my Essence cultivation as much as possible, especially for the realm opening soon."


    After eating a hearty meal, John popped into his mouth a few high grade cultivation pills he had bought from the Mystic Trade Hall, and focused his mind on raising his cultivation. It had been many months since he hadst broken through with his Essence Cultivation, and his recent battles had allowed him to breach that barrier.


    Several dayster, a muffled boom echoed out from within John''s body, and his eyes slowly opened as a smile formed on his face.


    "Finally, my Essence Cultivation is in the Late Meridian Forging Realm."


    John quickly inspected his body and the changes he felt with his dantian and meridians. His meridians were even wider than before, allowing for more Qi to pass through, while also much more durable than thest realm. At the same time, his dantian had grown in power as well, making him much more formidable than just a few days ago.


    John''s thoughts shifted to the Fire Falcon, which he was eager to test his luck against again, when he suddenly felt his soul tremble. Kirii quickly appeared before John, and stared at the sky.


    "What is it Kirii?" John couldn''t help but ask. He could tell Kirii was anxiously anticipating something, but couldn''t determine exactly what.


    Boom!


    A thunderous boom echoed out from above, causing John to nce up to the skies. Much to his surprise, cked storm clouds were gathering at unnatural speeds above them, and it was clearly not centered on him. John nced at Kirii with surprise on his face.


    "Kirii¡­you''re ascending to the Heaven Tribtion Realm?"

 Chapter 521 - Kiriis Heavenly Tribulation

    Kirii let out a soft sound of acknowledgement while it stared up at the darkening clouds above. John''s surprised gaze shifted to the clouds above once more, and carefully inspected the power of the clouds.


    ''I suppose Kirii was at the peak of Meridian Forging for a while. I guess it is about time he breaks through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm!''


    The ckened tribtion clouds continued to gather quickly, and soon the entire sky for dozens of miles in each direction was covered. John frowned upon seeing the growing power of the clouds, but didn''t yet panic.


    ''This is far stronger than what I''ve read about beasts going through heaven tribtions, but then again, Kirii is not like other beasts. Perhaps the Heavens take into ount the talent of the beast ascending, and adjust the tribtions power ordingly. Afterall, a heaven tribtion is supposed to be both a test and a blessing. If one can withstand the power of the heavens and prove themselves worthy, they are blessed with gifts from the Heavens, as the tribtion lightning births the body anew, shifting it from a mortal body to something far greater¡­''


    A depressed look appeared on John''s face as he thought about this, and how different it was whenpared to his tribtions. Tribtions were meant to be a test of worthiness, followed by heavenly rewards for those who passed. However, his tribtion was no test, and had no reward that the Heavens wanted to grant him. The Heavens only wanted to kill him when he had his tribtion.


    "Heh, the Heavens didn''t try to reward me for passing my tribtion, but in the end I ended up seizing the reward for myself," John sneered out loud as tribtion lightning suddenly danced upon his upturned hand.


    This lightning was the tribtion lightning he forcefully seized during hisst tribtion, and was now an ultimate trump card he could use in dire times of need. However, the one downside was that he could not yet generate his own tribtion lightning, and so every time he used it, he had less and less to use in the future. Eventually it would run out, and John was already thinking of ways to im even more in his next tribtion.


    Rumble!


    The ckened clouds above churned out lightning bolts in all directions as it noticed the tribtion lightning on John''s hands. Although he was not the target of the tribtion, his actions and words were provoking the Heavens themselves.


    "Ah, sorry Kirii. I''m just making this tribtion harder for you," John said to Kirii with an apologetic look on his face as he put away the tribtion lightning.


    Kirii let out a few short yips, and John raised an eyebrow at what Kirii was telling him through their soul connection.


    "Are you sure Kirii? Thest time things went quite badly for you," John replied.


    Kirii yipped again a few times, and John remained silent for a moment before he sighed and acquiesced to Kirii''s request. Tribtion Lightning once again began to dance on his upturned palm, which again provoked the wrath of the tribtion clouds above.


    ording to what John could understand from Kirii, the tribtion this time would be a breeze for Kirii. Firstly, it was a normal tribtion and not one meant to kill him, as Kirii was a heavenly beast blessed by the Heavens already. Secondly, Kirii had already absorbed many incredible sources of lightning, and its lightning resistance was pushed to levels even beyond John''s at the moment.


    The only thing Kirii was less resistant to was tribtion lightning, which it wanted to change. Kirii had requested John anger the heavens as much as possible, to increase the power of the tribtion. A more powerful tribtion would be harder to pass, but would also yield far greater rewards to Kirii''s body and lightningprehensions if passed.


    Boom!


    The first bolt of lightning suddenly unleashed from the sky above and pierced down towards Kirii.


    Roar!


    For the first time ever, John heard Kirii roar out with absolute power and confidence, and watched Kirii dash up into the sky to meet the tribtion lightning bolt.


    Bang!


    The lightning bolt collided against Kirii''s head, mming onto the glowing crystal on its forehead. After a short moment, the tribtion lightning flowing over Kirii''s body was all absorbed by the crystal on its head, and Kirii''s hardened gaze stared at the sky provokingly.


    John watched as Kirii hovered high above, its regal figure carving asting impression in his mind. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt continued to rain down from above, increasing in power and fury. However, Kirii met each attack head on without pause, as a battle between lightning and lightning beast raged on in the sky above.


    The nearbynd and mountainsides lit up constantly from the lightning shes, making the scene look quite apocalyptic. John calmly watched from below as hispanion battled against everything the Heavens could throw at Kirii, all while he kept his attention at full, ready to act at a moment''s notice to save Kirii should anything go wrong.


    Interfering in Heavenly Tribtions was a taboo thing that almost all sought to avoid, as it would almost guarantee their lives should they do so. However, John had already gone against the Heavens once, and wouldn''t hesitate to do so again to save hispanion.


    The tribtion lightning strikes continued to increase in power, as the battle between beast and Heavens grew in intensity. Lightning continued to smash against Kirii''s body and the crystal on its forehead, while Kirii fought back with its full power as well. The battle was incredible, and John couldn''t help but be impressed by what he was seeing. It was the first true Heaven Tribtion ascension he was witnessing, as his had been a false tribtion in the Meridian Forging Realm.


    The lightning was definitely far gentler than what it had been during his own tribtion, and was not just trying to kill Kirii like it had with him. However, the power it contained was still incredible, and even Kirii started to show signs of damage and fatigue as it fought against the Heavens.


    After over half an hour of withstanding tribtion strikes, John could tell Kirii was nearing the end of the Tribtion.


    So far, it had been manageable for Kirii, as it was a beast of Lightning and had a natural advantage in such things. The clouds suddenly turned still, and John could tell it was preparing to unleash its final attack at Kirii.


    Kirii hovered high in the sky, staring at the clouds above with an unwavering gaze. Kirii''s power began to surge as well as it prepared for the final showdown.


    Roar!


    A roar from the clouds above boomed out across thend, shocking John. He had not expected to hear a roare from the tribtion clouds. As if answering his question as to what was going on, the clouds suddenly parted as something came into view.


    John''s eyes widened at what he was seeing, while Kirii stared at the object before him with a fiery gaze.


    In the clouds above, a beast made of pure lightning from the tribtion clouds stared down at Kirii. Against a beast such as the Heavenly Lightning Kirin, there was only one worthy lightning opponent.. A Tribtion Lightning Kirin.

 Chapter 522 - Battle Of Lightning Kirins

    Roar!


    The Tribtion Lightning Kirin roared out with incredible power, its roar shaking thend below. Even John found a need to stabilize his footing, as trees were uprooted, and boulders shattered from the sound. Although the Tribtion Lightning Kirin was not a living creature and was instead a lightning avatar made by the Heavens, it was imparted with the will of a Heavenly Kirin.


    Kirii starting defiantly at the Tribtion Lightning Kirin ignited its ire, as if there was only room for one Heavenly Kirin.


    Roar!


    Another roar boomed out across thend, almost as powerful as the first roar. John raised his eyebrows in surprise, as the one to roar had been Kirii. It was the first time hearing such a ferocious sound from Kirii.


    With its pride as a Heavenly Lightning Kirin, Kirii would bow its head to no other creature, not even another Kirin. Kirii''s roar shook thend as well, and the two Lightning Kirins gazed at each other for a brief moment before both shot forward with incredible speed.


    Boom!


    The two collided against each other in almost an instant, their collision creating a shockwave that ravaged thend below once again. What was once a lush mountain range filled with blooming trees, tranquil streams, and vibrant life, was now a ravaged wastnd.


    Even the other powerful beasts in the area had already fled, not willing to interfere with another beast''s tribtion.


    Bang!


    A thunderous boom echoed out as Kirii mmed against the earth below, the force of his collision rending the earth and forming arge crater. Without hesitation, Kiriiunched back up in the sky as it unleashed a lightning attack at the Lightning Kirin.


    Bang!


    The lightning beam mmed against the Tribtion Lightning Kirin''s body and fizzled out shortly after. As a being of pure Tribtion Lightning, lightning was unable to affect it.


    Roar!


    Kirii roared out in rage upon seeing its attack be ineffective against his opponent, before he shot forward towards the Tribtion Lightning Kirin. If lightning attacks were not going to work, then physical was the only other option.


    Bang!


    Kirii''s head mmed into the Lightning Kirin, the horn on his head piercing into its body. However, as the creature was not a living thing, it did not do the damage that was normally expected of such an attack.


    The Lightning Kirin unleashed another devastating lightning beam upon Kirii, once again knocking it down to the earth below.


    Boom!


    The earth exploded once again, and Kirii immediately shot up into the sky once more. Unleashing an innate movement art that John wasn''t aware Kirii even knew, Kirii''s speed suddenly increased greatly as it darted around in the sky around the Lightning Kirin.


    Kirii mmed into the Lightning Kirin from all directions, unleashing wave after wave of physical attacks. At the same time, the Lightning Kirin sped around in the sky as well, unleashing devastating lightning attacks upon Kirii.


    Standing quietly below, John watched the almost apocalyptic battle take ce in the sky above him. The sky continuously lit up bright blue from the lightning attacks, while deafening booms from the attacks from both sides nketed the surroundingnd.


    The intense battle raged on for nearly half an hour, neither side able to fully vanquish the other. However, both sides were starting to show the wear of the battle. The Lightning Kirin, once vibrant with powerful Qi, had now faded considerably, clearly having exhausted its Qi supply. Its movements had slowed down considerably, and its attacks had also weakened quite a bit.


    Heaven tribtions, while incredibly hard to pass, were not death sentences, except in John''s case. The Lightning Kirin had a finite supply of Qi at its disposal, and if that ran out, Kirii would be able to pass the heavenly tribtion.


    A look of slight concern appeared on John''s face however, as Kirii''s current state was even worse. Its exterior hide was wounded and charred, and blood flowed freely from several wounds on its body. John had called out to Kirii to see if he wanted aid, but each call was firmly rejected from Kirii.


    Its pride as a Kirin would not allow it to call for aid against another Kirin, even if that Kirin was a Tribtion Lightning Kirin made by the Heavens.


    John spurned his Qi to be ready for a moment''s notice, in case Kirii needed the help. Although Kirii had rejected his aid, he would intervene if it became obvious that Kirii would perish. At the moment, he didn''t see how Kirii would defeat the Lightning Kirin before Kirii himself ran out of energy, or was wounded too much to continue.


    Roar!


    Kirii once again roared out in rage and fury as he charged towards the Lightning Kirin, which unleashed another lightning attack at Kirii. With its current wounded state, John was unsure that Kirii would be able to withstand the attack. He prepared to move to interfere, when he suddenly stopped as Kirii''s speed increased severalfold and appeared behind the Lightning Kirin.


    John''s eyes widened in surprise, as he had not expected Kirii to be able to move that fast. Clearly Kirii was keeping one final reserve of Qi for whatever it was nning, although John didn''t know what Kirii had in mind to be able to overwhelm the Tribtion Lightning Kirin.


    His questions were immediately answered as a threateningly familiar power suddenly exploded from Kirii.


    A beam of incredibly powerful tribtion lightning exploded from the crystal on Kirii''s head and pierced towards the Tribtion Lightning Kirin. However, unlike the tribtion lightning that made up the Lightning Kirin, the tribtion lightning from Kirii was far more lethal. Kirii''s aura immediately dropped after unleashing the attack, as it was clearly overwhelming and was a one time attack.


    It was the same tribtion lightning that had appeared during John''s tribtion, annihtion tribtion lighting. It was lightning meant for only one purpose¡­to destroy whatever was in its path. With the depleted state of the Tribtion Kirin''s Qi reserve, its sluggish movement was unable to dodge the attack in time.


    Bang!


    The annihtion tribtion lightning from Kirii mmed onto the body of the Tribtion Lightning Kirin and pierced right through. A roar of pain boomed out from the Tribtion Kirin as it was unable to resist the far more destructive tribtion lightning.


    ''So that''s why Kirii willingly participated in such a brutal battle¡­it was all to slow down the movements of the Tribtion Kirin and make sure this one-time attack of his wouldnd.


    Using this opportunity, Kirii sped forward and collided against the Tribtion Kirin. The crystal on its head once again red with power, and John watched with wide eyes as the mortally injured Tribtion Kirin was quickly absorbed through the crystal on Kirii''s head.


    The Tribtion Lightning Kirin, once proud and regal, as if it was the Heavens itself, quickly became no more as Kirii absorbed all of its lightning essence. After a brief moment of silence, the ckened clouds churning in the sky above unleashed oncest lightning attack.


    However, unlike the previous attacks, this lightning bolt was a bolt filled with vibrancy and life. It mmed onto Kirii before it could react, and John watched enviously as Kirii''s body was bathed with the most nourishing of heavenly lightning.


    The wounds on Kirii''s body quickly healed, returning his state to perfect health. At the same time, John could tell that the very nature of Kirii''s body was being changed, as Kirii''s bones, muscles, and even cells were blessed by the heavens. Kirii''s mortal body was shed, and a heavenly body had been birthed.


    The processsted for several minutes before the beam of lightning faded away, and the sky returned to normal. The ckened clouds above began to fade, but John felt them lock onto him for a moment as if considering attacking him. However, this was Kirii''s tribtion, and even the Heavens had to follow its own rules. After a moment of hesitation, the tribtion clouds faded away, returning the sky to normal.


    John''s hardened gaze at the tribtion clouds above faded away as arge smile appeared on his face. Kirii rushed forward towards him andnded on the ground in front of him. John reached out and patted the head of hispanion, who now brimmed with the might of the heavens itself.


    "Congrattions on reaching the Heaven Tribtion Realm, Kirii!"

 Chapter 523 - Kiriis Power

    "Thanks!"


    John''s eyes widened in surprise as he heard the word ''thanks'' echo in his mind. It had clearlye through thepanion soul connection between him and Kirii.


    "Kirii¡­you can talk now?" John asked, his voice tinged with surprise.


    Hismunication with Kirii thus far had been done through feelings and general emotions, and each party could only vaguely understand the intentions of the other. However, John had definitely heard the word clearly in his soul.


    "I can now," the voice appeared in his mind once again. "The heavens have blessed me with many gifts, one being the ability to understand human speech."


    The voice sounded a little immature, like that of a young teenager. John stared at Kirii in silent shock for a moment before asking another question.


    "Can you speak out loud? Or only through our soul connection?"


    "I cannot speak physically, only mentally," Kirii replied through their soul connection once more. "The structure of my mouth does not allow me to make human sounds, although I can project my words to others with my soul power if need be."


    John stared at Kirii for a moment longer, before he walked up and patted him warmly on the head.


    "Well, whatever the reason, I''m d I can finally understand you buddy," John replied with a smile on his face. His face quickly turned stern however as he remembered something from Kirii''s ascension.


    "Kirii, when you blocked thatst tribtion attack during my tribtion...did you focus on absorbing the tribtion lightning instead of just blocking it?" John asked.


    Kirii had clearly used a tribtion lightning attack during his fight with the Lightning Kirin, and John was surprised to see such a thing. However, it now made more sense why Kirii had been in such a bad state after blocking that attack all those months ago. Instead of just blocking it, Kirii used the opportunity to absorb the lightning.


    While John had done the exact same thing, he had the Celestial Lightning Script to rely on, while Kirii didn''t.


    "Uhhhh, maybe," Kirii replied sheepishly, clear on the fact that John was interrogating him.


    "Maybe my ass," John replied with a huff. "You clearly used that tribtion lightning."


    "Hey, I just did what you were already doing. Why could you absorb the tribtion lightning but I couldn''t? Also, I saved your life back then, so why aren''t you being grateful instead? Besides¡­that tribtion lightning looked so delicious, I just couldn''t resist," Kirii replied in protest.


    John stared at Kirii for a moment before he rubbed his head in frustration and defeat. Kirii describing pure annihtion tribtion lighting as delicious truly was a shocking thing to hear.


    "Ah, forget it," John replied as he switched topics. "So, what did you obtain with your ascension to Heaven Tribtion? I saw you absorb that Lightning Kirin through the crystal on your forehead. What exactly is that crystal?" John asked.


    "I got plenty of things," Kirii replied as he danced around on his hoofs like an excited child. "Firstly, my body is so much stronger than before, and absorbing that fake Kirin also gave me many ideas about lightning as well."


    ''Ideas about lightning? Kirii must be talking about lightningprehensions. I guess he still is new to speaking like a human.''


    "As for this crystal¡­I''m not sure," Kirii replied. "I just know that I can use it to both unleash and absorb lightning attacks."


    John stared at the bright blue crystal on Kirii''s head, which glowed brilliantly. He had never read about Kirin''s having crystals on their head, and knew it must mean something. However, it was far beyond his scope of expertise, and decided to ignore it for now.


    "Well that''s fine if you don''t know," John replied while patting Kirii once more.


    "Let''s fight!" Kirii suddenly eximed. "I want to test my new strength!"


    John considered Kirii''s request, before his mind suddenly thought of another topic, which was now a potential possibility with Kirii''s newfound strength.


    "How about instead of us fighting, we go fight something else that''s strong instead," John replied.


    "Something else that''s strong?" Kirii asked, before its eyes lit up inprehension. "Do you mean that mey bird? Lets go, lets go!" Kirii replied as he danced on his hoofs once again.


    John stared at Kirii once again, as his childlike antics had started again.


    ''I guess it makes sense, as he is only like a year old¡­but where was this energy before he could speak?'' John mused.


    Kirii had almost exclusively slept in his soul space and rarely showed any emotions, but now was like a child. However, John didn''t mind it at all, and instead found it quite endearing.


    "Yep. If I left you alone to fight the bird for say¡­two minutes, could you prevent it from reaching me in that amount of time if I stood nearby?" John asked.


    "How long is two minutes again?" Kirii asked, as his concept of time was not firm yet.


    "Uhhh, don''t worry about the time. Do you think you can handle fighting against that mey bird for a while without getting harmed or injured?" John asked. Kirii had seen him fight the Fire Falcon through their soul connection, and so he had a decent idea of how strong the Fire Falcon was.


    "That''s easy!" Kirii replied excitedly. "I don''t think I can beat it, but fighting against it without being harmed for a while should be easy."


    "Perfect. That''s all I need from you," John replied with a smile as he suddenly turned around and shot off into the distance. Kirii followed closely behind as the two flew for a while before arriving at a familiar location.


    Screech!


    A shrill screech boomed across the nearbynd as the Fire Falcon noticed the arrival of the two trespassers. It''s nest was located at the top of a nearby mountain, and it instantly took to the sky and dove towards John and Kirii.


    "Have fun!" John said to Kirii, who nodded his head and instantly shot into the sky to meet the Fire Falcon.


    Boom!


    The two creatures collided, sending mes and lightning scattering in all directions. John watched the battle take ce in the sky between Kirii and the Fire Falcon for a while to ensure that Kirii could handle it without risk of injury. Despite battling for a short while, Kirii truly was able to hold his own against the Fire Falcon.


    While his attacks were not quite strong enough to injure the Falcon, Kirii''s speed was even greater than the Fire Falcon, whose speed was famed amongst Heaven Tribtion Beasts. Kirii was able to dodge almost every attack the Fire Falcon unleashed at it, all while counter attacking after dodging those attacks.. It was like Kirii was a bolt of lightning itself, dashing around the battlefield with absolute speed and control.

 Chapter 524 - Rematch Vs. The Fire Falcon

    Seeing this shocked John quite a bit, and he finally realized where Kirii''s confidence wasing from. From what he was seeing, even he would have trouble catching Kirii.


    ''Even I could probably only keep up if I activated my Asura Transformation, Limiter of Speed, and Thunderbody sh. Heavenly Lightning Kirin''s truly are incredible.''


    John watched the battle for a moment longer before he focused his mind on the task at hand. He breathed in deeply as lightning Qi began to gather within his dantian. He focused his entire being on channeling the lightning Qi and keeping it contained within his dantian, as letting it escape after building up could gravely injure him from within.


    The processsted for thirty seconds so far, and John found himself only a quarter of the way through the channeling process. Each second strengthened the amount of lightning Qi within his dantian, while it also increased the burden his body was feeling.


    After a minute, John felt a strong pressure from his dantian, as if it wanted to explode from within. He was not an innate War Mage, who had specialized innate dantians and meridians that were able to handle the burden of channeled attacks.


    Instead, he was brute forcing it by using his incredibly powerful dantian. While this worked just as well as War Mages who had specialized dantians, the pressure John felt from within was far greater. By using his powerful Qi topress the growing mass of lightning within his dantian, John was able to use this channeled attack, although not in the intended way.


    After a minute and a half of channeling, an incredible aura began to emanate from John. It was like he was a bomb made of pure lightning, ready to explode at any moment andpletely devastate the area.


    Screech!


    The Fire Falcon noticed John''s presence finally, and felt grave danger from him for the first time. In theirst battle, John''s essence cultivation had been a minor realm lower, and he had not unleashed this attack.


    However, with his increased cultivation and ability to unleash this attack, the Fire Falcon knew it would be in trouble if it allowed him to attack. The Fire Falcon ignored Kirii and suddenly sped towards John, who was still in strained focus on his channeled attack.


    Bang!


    A lightning beam suddenly smashed onto the back of the Fire Falcon, who turned around to meet another attack from Kirii. Kirii sped forward and put his body between John and the Fire Falcon, before he unleashed another barrage of powerful lightning attacks.


    Screech!


    The Fire Falcon screeched out in frustration once again, and attempted to get past Kirii to get to John. However, Kirri thwarted its every attempt, as the battle once again raged on fiercely in the sky above. mes mmed against lightning as the sky lit up from the incredible battle.


    Standing on the ground below, John felt his dantian start to strain from the power contained from within. Dragontail Decimation was a unique channeled art, in the fact that there was no upper limit to the amount of Qi that could be supplied to it.


    As long as one could continue to contain the channeled mass of Qi, and once meridians could handle the strain, the cultivator using the attack could increase the power as much as they wanted.


    ''My dantian can handle a bit more power, but my meridians will burst if I make this attack any stronger. It''s time to unleash it. Kirii is a lightning beast, so he should be fine taking this attack head on¡­The same cannot be said for the Fire Falcon.''


    John''s teeth were gritted as he struggled to contain the power, and his eyes suddenly snapped open and locked onto the Fire Falcon. The Fire Falcon noticed John''s gaze, and could instantly tell that its life was in danger.


    It turned to flee, as it knew it could no longer stop John in time.


    The lightning ball which had been channeled in his dantian suddenly surged through many different meridian pathways, before eventually converging at his right hand. He felt the might of the lightning Qi threaten to rupture his meridians, but they held on as best they could as the attack was unleashed.


    He also felt his essence Qi reserves half in an instant as he carried out the attack, and his face paled immediately.


    "Toote," John grunted as his right arm stretched upwards, and his pointer finger and middle finger pointed at a location directly above the Fire Falcon.


    A lightning node, simr to the ones of the Heavenly Lightning Domain, but muchrger appeared in the sky above the Fire Falcon. The node was ten yards across, and emanated an incredible energy, far greater than even John had been expecting.


    "Dragontail Decimation!"


    All sound seemed to fade for a brief instant, before a deafening roar of thunder that sounded like the roar of a dragon boomed out from the lightning node. In an instant, a bolt of lightning, shaped like that of a dragon''s tail, pierced out of the node. The tail was scaled, and even had small spikes jutting from it, making it truly appear just like a dragon''s tail, only made of pure lightning. It was as if a Heavenly Lightning Dragon had appeared for a moment, and decided to decimate anything in its path with its tail.


    The lightning attack mmed down onto the Fire Falcon''s location before it could retreat, and the Fire Falcon even felt a restrictive force lock around it, preventing its escape. The Fire Falcon, realizing the futility of running, turned towards the attack and unleashed its strongest me inferno. Kirii utilized this opportunity to retreat as fast as possible, as the attack was incredibly terrifying.


    Bang!


    The two attacks collided, and the hasty attack from the Fire Falcon was smashed into oblivion as the tail struck down onto the Fire Falcon.


    Boom!


    The lightning dragon tail exploded upon contact, and an absolutely horrifying explosion instantly radiated outwards, swallowing everything in its path. John''s breathing was heavy and face was pale as he watched the explosion of the attack swallow everything whole.


    Kirii suddenly appeared before him, and unleashed his strongest attack as the explosion finally reached them.


    Bang!


    Another thunderous boom echoed out as the attacks collided, while Kirii''s attack created a parting in the explosion, protecting John from any harm. The explosion continued to radiate outwards past them for another mile before it finally faded away, and the dust eventually faded revealing the extent of the damage.


    John''s tired and pale face lit up with surprise as he noticed the extent of the damage. Before him, a crater several hundred yards wide and deep had appeared at the center of the attack. The crater andnd around the crater for a mile in every direction had been scorched ck from the explosion, leaving not a single tree or sign of life remaining.


    John''s heavy breathing slowly returned to normal as he walked forward and rested an arm on Kirii''s back. He remained silent for a while as he surveyed the area of the attack. In the very center of the crater below was the Fire Falcon, whose charred body no longer showed any signs of life.


    With his cultivation in the Late Meridian Forging Realm, John had sessfully in a Late Heaven Tribtion Fire Falcon using only his essence cultivation.

 Chapter 525 - Returning To The Sect

    John felt a wave of fatigue wash over him as he stood at the edge of the massive crater he had created.


    ''I guess I need to be more careful in the future when using this battle art. It allows me to make it as powerful as possible, but doing so will leave me quite weakened afterwards. However, using my body dantian and my Supreme Battle Art should be able to get me out of most of the trouble afterwards. Having two dantians sure is helpful.''


    The more he cultivated, the more John came to appreciate his unique dantian situation. Any cultivator in his situation would be weakened and defenseless after using such a battle art, but by relying on his body dantian, John would still have incredible fighting strength.


    "Come on Kirii, let''s go im our prize for this battle," John said out loud as he suddenly hopped into the crater and slid to the bottom. Kirii followed closely behind, and the two arrived before the Fire Falcon, whoid there motionlessly.


    The Fire Falcon was quiterge, and John''s body was about the size of the Falcons head. John inspected the Falcon, and sighed in disappointment as even the blood had been charred by the attack. He had been hoping to harvest its blood essence, but just about everything was damaged beyond salvation.


    "A pity¡­perhaps I should have held back a bit more, but I never expected this battle art to be so impressive," John sighed. John turned to Kirii, and a smile appeared on his face as he patted Kirii on the head several times.


    "You did even better than I expected against the Fire Falcon¡­great Job, Kirii," John said.


    "Haha, praise me more!" Kirii replied through their soul connection, seeking praise like a small child would.


    "Yes yes, you did amazing. In fact, you were the star of the battle," John replied while patting Kirii.


    Chirp!


    Chirp!


    Before Kirii could reply, an incredibly faint series of chirps sounded out, barely audible to John and Kirii. John''s divine sense swept out towards the source of the sound while he moved in that direction as well, and soon he spotted the source of the chirps.


    At the top of the mountain where the Fire Falcon had nested, a massive nest over a dozen yards wide contained three fledgling birds. The birds had clearly just hatched a few days ago, as they were norger than a foot across in size.


    John frowned as he saw this, as he finally realized why the Fire Falcon had been so defensive around this territory. A wave of guilt washed over him for a brief moment, which was a rare feeling for John.


    "Ahhh, shit," John sighed as the hatchlings kept chirping, clearly hungry and calling out for their mother.


    "What should I do? Should I take them with me? Or¡­and where is the father anyways?" John mused as he stared at the hatchlings.


    Screech!


    A loud screech suddenly boomed over thend from above, although its power was diminished so as to not harm the hatchlings. John''s gaze shifted up into the sky, where he noticed another Fire Falcon hovering above them.


    The Fire Falcon was also in the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm, and was clearly the missing father John had just been talking about. Arge insect which had been killed was held in its beak, as the father had clearly gone out on a search for food, leaving the mother behind.


    The male Fire Falcon noticed the dead corpse of its mate, and screeched out once again. Its fire-filled eyes stared at John menacingly, but it didn''t dare take any rash actions as John was right next to the hatchlings. Any attack it made would kill its offspring, and on top of that, John was clearly strong enough to kill his mate.


    "Well, I guess that solves my issue," John said out loud as he patted Kirii on the head and turned to leave. Kirii followed closely behind, and the Fire Falconnded at the nest shortly after, dropping the dead insect for its offspring.


    Its saddened eyes inspected the corpse of the other Fire Falcon for a moment, before it went back to tending to the hatchlings.


    Flying away from the sight of the battle, John didn''t know how to feel about the oue of the battle with the Fire Falcon.


    "If I had been able to harvest the corpse''s blood for refinement, then everything would be worth it. But with my basically destroying the body, I killed the Fire Falcon for no reason other than to test my strength¡­"


    John sighed once again, but wiped away the negative thoughts after feeling regret for a short moment. The cultivation world was a cruel ce, and there was no room for hesitation,passion, or regret.


    "I''ve got everything I wanted to get from this journey. Let''s head back to the sect, Kirii."


    John suddenly increased his speed and shot off into the distance with Kirii following closely behind. It had been over two weeks since he had left, and it was about time to return per his master''s instructions.


    ¡­


    A weekter, John and Kirii arrived back at the Heavenly Lightning Sect. Although the journey would normally only take a day at most, John decided to spend some time visiting some of the smaller cities and viges along the way as he learned more about the Divine Martial Continent.


    He arrived at the sect three weeks after departing, and decided to sneak in as unnoticed as possible, as there was still another week until he had to meet with his master for training. Kirii had returned to John''s soul space, and John was weared a hooded robe, doing his best to shroud his face and features.


    He had already entered the main entrance and showed the guards his badge, and was now working his way back to his home as discreetly as possible.


    ''I really pissed her offst time, so if she finds out I''ve returned, she''ll no doubt increase my training from four weeks to five. I need toy low until a week from no-"


    "So you think you can hide from me?" a familiar voice suddenly boomed out from above John, causing him to groan and look up into the sky above him.


    ''How the fuck did she find me already?'' John grumbled internally. ''Its the guards. She must have told them to alert her when I returned. Damnit.''


    John put such thoughts aside and pushed back the hood of his robe while smiling at his master.


    "Hide from you? I would never," John replied.


    "Hiding¡­and now lying?" Lilian replied calmly while raising an eyebrow. "It seems as though I will need to increase the intensity of our training once again."


    An object suddenly appeared in her hands, which John instantly recognized. His face grimaced as he stared at the familiar wooden stick, which his face had once be ustomed to.


    "Follow me," Lilian instructed as she turned around and sped off into the distance.


    John grumbled begrudgingly as he followed behind his master and prepared for the hellish month toe.

 Chapter 526 - Lilians Hellish Training

    In a remote and secluded part of thend controlled by the Heavenly Lightning Sect, explosive sounds, pained grunts, and angry curses could be heard for several weeks straight. Thend was located in a remote mountain range, and had been a ce of misery and pain for John recently.


    Bang!


    John''s body mmed into the side of one of the mountains, shattering its surface. His body burrowed deep within, and it took him a short while to crawl out from the crater. His body despite being incredibly tough was bloodied and bruised, making him look quite miserable.


    John''s cold gaze locked onto Lilian, who hovered in the air several hundred yards away. The familiar wooden stick was in her hand, and her calm yet amused gaze stared at him, igniting fiery frustration within him.


    "Again!" Lilianmanded, which John followed and sped towards her with his scythe in hand. After a series of exchanged attacks, John once again mmed onto the ground below, repeating the process all over again.


    This training had already been going on for three weeks, and was only a part of the brutality his master was putting him through. However, John grit his teeth and pushed through, as there were two positive oues to enduring the training.


    The first was that he was truly improving at a fast rate once again, and he needed to raise hisbat prowess as much as possible before the Jade Dragon Empire realm opening. The second was that when the training had started, John had gotten his master to agree that if he endured the training withoutint, he was allowed to unleash one attack on her at the end, which she had to take head on without dodging.


    Lilian had found the proposition amusing, and had epted without hesitation.


    John crawled up from his crater once again and wiped the blood off his chin. His heated eyes stared at Lilian once again, as the thought of the end of the training flooded into his mind.


    ''I can''t wait to unleash a Dragontail Decimation on her. Let''s see if she still has that smug look on her face then.''


    Hovering above him in the sky, Lilian suddenly put the stick away. John groaned at the sight, as he knew the even more hellish training was about to begin. Liliannded on the ground near him, and gazed at him in silence for a moment.


    "Are you ready?" she asked calmly.


    John sighed out deeply and took a deep breath shortly after, and nodded his head in confirmation. Lilian''s hand stretched out before him, and an absolutely terrifying power began to emanate from it. The Qi emanating from her hand was pitch ck in color, and seemed as though it could snuff out all life in a second.


    The power left her hand and washed over John, who instantly felt his body wracked in incredible pain. His skin began to rot and wither away while his body resisted the death Qi as best as possible.


    As part of his training thest three weeks, Lilian had bathed John in death Qi every night until his body could no longer handle it. It had been the most brutal and hellish part of his training, and it reminded John of when he had first trained his Celestial Lightning Script. However, unlike that time, he was unable to control Lilian''s death Qi and absorb it. All he could do was take the corrosive power head on, and endure for as long as possible.


    John grit his teeth as he silently endured the agonizing power washing over him. Lilian''s calm eyes gazed at him, although she was clearly not enjoy this part of the training like she did the other parts.


    "I know this pain is unimaginable, but you''ll thank me eventually," Lilian said to John. "When we first started this training a few weeks ago, you could only endure for a few seconds before you were overwhelmed and passed out. However, now you can endure for several minutes¡­the speed at which your body adapts to things is freakish," Lilian continued, her voice slightly trailing off at the end.


    Thanks to cultivating the Immortal Asura Body, John''s normal body had truly been converted to an Innate Variant Body, and an incredibly high level one at that. It''s ability to adapt was beyond terrifying, and was something Lilian had taken quick note of.


    "You might hate me now, but you''ll thank me eventually," Lilian spoke up once again, while John listened through the agonizing pain. "While notmon, death Qi is also not incredibly rare either. It urs naturally in ces of high death, and it will definitely be something you encounter as you be stronger. Cultivating your resistance to death Qi now will save you in the future."


    John listened in silence as he focused on resisting the death Qi as best as possible. He endured for five minutes before his body looked like that of a withered corpse, and he copsed to the ground in fatigue in pain. Lilian quickly withdrew her death Qi and stared at John while he popped a healing pill in his mouth and focused on recovery.


    Her attention quickly shifted as she took out a sound transmission disk and listened to the message being given. After a short moment, Lilian put away the sound transmission disk and gazed at John.


    "It seems as though you have a guest that is waiting for you at your house. Heal up and head over there, but be sure to return tomorrow morning to resume your training," Lilian said to John before flying off.


    John focused on recovery for the next hour before he was able to move properly. He still looked incredibly miserable, but returning to his peak state would take many more hours. He popped another healing pill in his mouth and took off into the distance.


    ¡­


    John pushed open the front doors to his mansion and walked inside. Upon doing so, he was greeted by the guest waiting for him, Caz. Caz''s face turned to one of shock as he noticed John''s condition, and he rushed forward to meet him.


    "Are you alright? What the hell happened to you?" Caz asked, concern in his voice. He knew John would be an incredible source of business for him in the future, and did not want anything happening to him.


    "I''m fine," John replied while waving his hand dismissively. "What brings you here today? Is it about the tea leaves?"


    Caz had agreed to sell the mysterious tea leaves John had given him at an auction and split the profits. Based on what the leaves sold for, John was potentially willing to do future business with Caz.


    Caz''s worried gaze lingered for a moment before he decided to drop his concern and answer John''s question.


    "Indeed, I am here about the tea leaves. They were all sold at auction, and I think you''ll be quite happy with your share of the profits," he replied as he handed John a spatial ring.


    John reached out and grabbed the ring, and sent his divine sense into it. His eyes quickly lit up with surprise as he gazed at the small mountain of spirit crystals within. His gaze shifted back to Caz, who stood there with a beaming smile on his face.


    "How....how much did the leaves sell for?" John asked, shocked at what he was seeing.

 Chapter 527 - Partnership

    "The overall average for the tea leaves was fifty thousand spirit crystals," Caz replied with a smile on his face.


    "Fifty thousand? For a single tea leaf?" John eximed, almost unable to believe what he was hearing.


    "Well, not exactly," Caz continued. "When we first started the auction, the first leaf sold for a few thousand spirit crystals, as its incredibly hard to tell just how valuable a tea leaf is before brewing it. We sold a few like this, and word quickly spread like wildfire regarding your tea leaves. The next auctions brought in tea enthusiasts from all around, and a bidding war quickly broke out. Thest tea leaf sold for over a hundred thousand spirit crystals," Caz exined.


    John sat there in stunned silence as he listened to Caz exin what had happened. He knew the tea leaves were rare and valuable, but didn''t know it was this incredible. A single tea leaf would be able to brew a single cup of tea, and there were cultivators willing to spend a hundred thousand spirit crystals on it.


    John''s thoughts shifted to his collection of those tea nts in his spatial realm, and mountains of spirit crystals started to appear in his vision. He had dozens of those nts that quickly churned out more leaves, making it an almost unlimited source of money.


    "It''s also why I''ve arrived today in person," Caz spoke once more. "I want to establish a more permanent rtionship between you and I, with your tea leaves as our first joint endeavor, assuming you have more. What do you say?"


    John remained silent for a moment as he thought it over, and decided that Caz''s offer was more than worth it. While selling the tea leaves himself would more profit per leaf, there were two issues with that.


    The first was that he would have to focus on the selling aspect, which would take away from his cultivation and training. Such a thing was out of the question.


    The second was that if he sold it directly, others out there would know the source of the leaves. The Mystic Trade Hall provided a shield of anonymity when it came to these leaves, and John didn''t know just how crazy some people would be if they learned of him as the source.


    Tea enthusiasts were one of the most cult-like groups in the martial world, and so John didn''t want to have to deal with them constantly.


    "I do have more leaves," John eventually replied. "How many are you looking to sell?"


    John''s answer was open ended, but Caz could quietly guess that based on John''s words, the limiting factor here was Caz''s ability to sell, not John''s ability to supply. Caz raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, as he did not initially assume John to have such arge supply. Clearly John had a nt or more at his disposal, instead of some leaves he gathered one time only.


    "We need to be careful about the quantity of leaves we sell, as selling more isn''t necessarily the best for our bottom line," Caz replied. "These leaves have never been seen before, and the word on the street is that they provide incredible Dao insights to those with high enough cultivations to perceive them. As such, the excitement and intrigue around these leaves is growing incredibly fast, and is the reason there are bidding wars. Everyone wants to get their hands on a leaf, but only a select few can buy them. If we flood the market, the leaves will still be purchased due to their incredible properties, but the hype around it will die. This will reduce our profits in the long run, so we need to maintain a careful bnce of supply, thus maintaining both market interest and profits," Caz exined.


    "It seems as though you have this all figured out," John replied after a moment of contemtion. "In that case, I''ll leave everything to you. How many leaves do you want?" John asked.


    "How many can you provide? If your batch isrge enough, although we will not sell it all at once like I just exined, it would be good to have a steady supply on hand in case you be hard to find for a while. You will be entering the Jade Dragon Empire realm afterall," Caz replied.


    "Good point," John replied while musing it over.


    ''I doubt Caz would try to scam me. He''s sitting on a gold mine of steady revenue in the future as long as we have an amicable rtionship. A trade hall of their size wouldn''t break rtionships for a deal like this over a few million spirit crystals.''


    "I can provide up to a thousand leaves at the moment," John replied calmly.


    "A thousand!" Caz replied, both surprise and excitement in his voice.


    A thousand leaves at the top value for the leaves yielded one hundred million spirit crystals. With Caz himself getting a portion of the profits, such a sum was not negligible, and was something that could seemingly be renewed constantly by John.


    "Then I''ll take a thousand," Caz replied with great enthusiasm. "A thousand should take several months to sell, as we''ll need to drip feed the market to maintain exclusivity around the product, but you can be assured we will sell it all. I take it the previous split of profits is eptable this time as well?" Caz asked.


    "It is," John replied. "Give me a short moment."


    John immediately sent his divine sense into his spatial realm and his soul form entered the room in the pce that contained the artificial sun above, and the fertile fields below. Dozens of the tea nts were growing beneath the light, the leaves infusing the room with a rich fragrance.


    John quickly collected the one thousand leaves, which was about a fourth of the current leaf supply.


    ''You know what. I never took time to see how long the leaves take to grow. I''ll have toe back here in a few weeks and see the progress.''


    John collected the leaves in arge barrel, at which point his attention returned to the real world once more. The barrel suddenly appeared on the ground before him, instantly catching Caz''s attention. His eyes lit up upon seeing the barrel, and he quickly inspected the contents contained within.


    "Marvelous, truly marvelous," Caz eximed. "Each leaf is pristine, as if made by the heavens themselves. There is no damage or imperfections at all."


    "I''m d to hear it''s of sufficient quality," John replied with a smile.


    Caz stored away the barrel after his inspection, and arge smile appeared on his face as he stared at John.


    "My instincts were truly right the first time I saw you. When I saw you, I had a vision of friendship and profits. It seems as though that vision is proving to be quite true," Caz said to John as he quickly stood up. "I must return to the trade hall to begin preparations for selling these leaves. Until we meet again!"


    John stood up and reached out to shake Caz''s outstretched hand. After a few more words, Caz left John''s house, and John quickly made his way up to his bed and copsed into it, exhausted and battered. He fell into a deep sleep, and before he knew it, the morning sun had already crested over the mountains.


    John''s weary eyes opened slowly, and a tired sigh escaped his lips as he mentally prepared for the training toe.


    "Here we go again¡­."

 Chapter 528 - Last Day Of Training

    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Sounds of collisions, explosions, and pained groans echoed out again for the next few days as John continued his hellish training with Lilian. John had lost count of how many healing pills he had consumed by now, and was starting to feel like a healing pill himself.


    His body was aching in every location, and he felt as though he was on the edge of what he could handle. Even the hellish Celestial Lightning Script training wasn''t so brutal.


    Today was the final day of John''s training, a fact which filled him with joy and tion. However, he still needed to get through the day, and Lilian seemed intent on making it the hardest day of training yet.


    Each blow of hers was done with more force, as if she was trying to beatbat instincts into John forcefully. John''s body cried out in protest with every blow, but he remained silent as he allowed the training to continue. Despite him not wanting to admit it, hisbat prowess and instincts were once again growing at an incredible rate, and he found himself much more formidable than when he had started the training.


    However, he would never admit to such a thing, and instead remained silent as he allowed his master to continue the training.


    The wooden stick in Lilian''s hands shed towards his face, which John instinctively dodged and followed up with a counterattack. Unprepared for such a quick reaction, John''s fist almostnded on Lilians waist, who raised an eyebrow in surprise.


    "Not bad!" Lilian said as her leg kicked out, mming into John''s side before his punch could connect. His body shot off to the ground below and mmed into it with great force, shaking thend and forming a small crater.


    "But not quite good enough yet," Lilian continued as she stared down at John below.


    He crawled out of the crater and stared at his master above. Every inch of his body ached with intense pain, but John ignored it as he prepared to fly back up to his master to continue their battle. If there was one thing he was confident in saying he was the best in his age group at, it was pain tolerance, half due to his own actions, and the other half due to his masters actions.


    "That''s enough," Lilian called out before he could resume their battle. "We''re done with your training."


    John paused as he stared at his master, slightly confused. This was the earliest she had ended their training, and he had also expected it tost for a few more days. However, he wasn''t going to argue against it. The convoy that was to leave for the Honorable Alliance was to leave in a few days time, and he needed a few days to fully recover anyways.


    "Rest up for the next few days. We leave in three days time," Lilian instructed as she turned around to leave.


    "Wait," John called out. "Are you forgetting thest part of our training?"


    "You were serious?" Lilian replied as she recalled the condition John made of unleashing one attack on her. She had agreed to take it head on unguarded, but even such a thing was futile.


    While she couldn''t actively guard against it, she was allowed to wrap herself with Qi, forming a protective shield. With her cultivation two major realms higher than Johns, this type of defense would be more than enough to negate any attack he could unleash on her.


    "Yep," John replied.


    "Fine, fine. Let''s just get this over with," Lilian replied as she descended to the ground andnded a short distance away from John. "I suppose this will be a good training exercise as well. With this, you''ll see just how weak you still are."


    John smirked as he heard thisment from his master. He quickly dashed away from his master, his actions slightly confusing her. She had expected him to close the distance and try tond a surprise physical attack, as that was one of his strong points. However, John retreated and put nearly half a mile of distance between the two of them, surprising her as well as intriguing her.


    "Alright, stop wasting my time and get this over with," Lilian called out to John as a sarcastic smirk appeared on her face. "Let''s see where all this confidencees from."


    "Let''s see you stay this smug in a few minutes," John called out.


    He closed his eyes for a moment and calmed his mind, before his dantian began to surge with power. Lightning Qi began to swell within his dantian, growing denser and denser by the second as John started to channel his Dragontail Decimation.


    Lilians head tilted slightly to the side as she gazed at John in the distance, curious as to what he was doing. However, the lightning Qi that began to leak out from his body eventually gave away what was going on.


    "A channeled attack? Alright, let''s see how strong you can make it."


    Lilian knew John was not a War Mage, and didn''t have innate channeling talents. However, all cultivators were still able to forcefully channel battle arts, just with less efficacy and more danger than a true War Mage.


    Lilian watched patiently as John''s attack continued to grow in power. Her eyebrow raised after thirty seconds, when his channeling still continued to grow.


    "He''s already channeled it for so long. Is this idiot risking his body and cultivation to channel the attack this much, or is he actually capable of controlling such an attack?" Lilian mused out loud as each second that passed by only furthered her surprise.


    After a minute, the power emanating from John had grown to an immense level, and so had Lilian''s surprise. However, this was not the end, as the power from John continued to grow at an incredible rate.


    A minute and a half!


    Two minutes!


    After two and a half minutes, the power emanating from John had grown to an unreal level, vastly exceeding what even someone as experienced as Lilian thought possible. This attack had been channeled even longer than the one he had used on the Fire Falcon, as his experience from that attack furthered his insights into the battle art, and allowed him to use it better.


    After two and a half minutes, John''s eyes snapped open and immediately locked onto Lilian. A smirk appeared on his face for a moment as he could see the surprise on Lilians face, and his finger pointed to the sky directly above her head.


    Dragontail Decimation!


    John''s face instantly paled as he unleashed the attack. Arge lightning node appeared above Lilians head, causing her to look straight up. The lightning dragontail pierced out from the lightning node and mmed down onto her, as if a dragon itself had appeared.


    Lilian''s surprised face hardened slightly as the Qi protecting her body red out with much greater power, greatly increasing the defensive strength surrounding her.


    Boom!


    The lightning tail struck directly onto her, and was immediately followed up by an incredible explosion. John shielded himself from the explosion as it washed over him, before his attention locked onto the location of his master.


    The dust from the explosion faded, revealing Lilian standing at the epicenter of the attack. Her hair was frazzled, and a small amount of blood trickled down her face and her arms. Her cold eyes stared at him, which caused John to seize up for a moment.


    The cold look on Lilian''s face quickly faded away, as an impressed smile reced it instead.


    "Not bad at all," she called out to John.. "It seems as though you aren''t truly useless after all."

 Chapter 529 - Regrouping

    "In fact, if you were in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, I might have had to use some of my power to block the attack," Lilian continued, quite impressed by what she had just seen.


    John raised an eyebrow at her reaction, as it was quite strange for someone who was just injured to congratte the other. However, Lilian was quite a strange person, and John was just happy he was not getting beat up in retaliation at the moment.


    Lilian suddenly stretched out her hand, and an item suddenly floated over towards John. It was a crystal which seemed to glow blue on the outside, but a dark, ominous color was visible on the inside.


    John caught the crystal in his hand, and studied it for a moment before he nced back to his master.


    "What''s this?" John asked.


    It''s a specialized crystal capable of holding death Qi. I''ve infused quite a bit of my death Qi into it, so it''s something that could potentially be of use for you in the Jade Dragon Empirends," Lilian exined. "It takes a bit of force to crush, but if you do so, or throw it at something, it should do quite a bit of damage. Who knows, it could get you out of a serious situation."


    John stared at his master for a moment before putting the crystal away.


    "Thank you," John replied. Such an item truly could be of use in a pinch, and John could tell that his master truly did care about him during such moments.


    "Good luck in the realm," Lilian spoke out again.


    "Good luck? Are you leaving or something?" John asked.


    His master would be able to say something like this when John officially left for the realm, but decided to do so now. Lilian nodded her head at John''s words.


    "I have some matters to attend to in other parts of the continent. I will be leaving tonight," Lilian confirmed.


    "Good luck," John replied, mimicking his master''s words.


    "You brat," Lilian scoffed before her body shed into the distance, disappearing from sight. John watched his master leave and stood there in silence for a moment before he too decided to return to the sect.


    Although unexpected, John was not going toin about having a few days of rest and rxation before setting off for the Honorable Alliance. He returned to his house and cultivated through until the night, at which point he fell into a deep sleep.


    ¡­


    "So, Iris, how did the martialpetition go?" John asked Iris. "Also, you''ve raised your cultivation to the Half-Step Heaven Tribtion Realm. Congrattions."


    The next day, the group of John, Iris, Chase, and Adam had met for lunch, and were currently discussing what each had done over thest two months.


    "Thanks!" Iris replied happily as Johnmented on her cultivation advancement. "As for thepetition, I qualified, naturally," Iris replied with a voice of confidence.


    "Congrattions," John replied with a smile. Having Iris and her eye talents in the realm would be more than beneficial.


    "Most likely lucked her way to qualification," Adam scoffed with an eye roll.


    Bang!


    "Ow! What the hell was that for?" Adam eximed in pain as he rubbed his shin which Iris had just kicked underneath the table.


    "How about we fight if you''re not convinced. I could show you just how I managed to ''luck'' my way through the martialpetition," Iris replied while ring at Adam.


    "You know damn well I don''t specialize inbat," Adam replied without backing down. "I practice the finer and more intelligent arts, unlike you who is only good at barbaric fighting, you ape."


    "APE?!" Iris eximed, her voice raised with growing anger.


    "Are you then calling me an ape as well?" John suddenly asked Adam. "Afterall, I only really specialize in ''barbaric fighting'' as well."


    Adam''s look of smug victory quickly faded away as he looked over to John.


    "Ahh, no of course not," Adam replied hastily, trying to appease John. While the two of them were friends, he knew John would not hesitate to use this moment in the future to push him through a hellish trial when encountered. "You''re much different than Iris."


    "How so?" John asked calmly while taking a sip of tea.


    "What?" Adam replied.


    "How am I different from Iris?" John asked again. "Give me specifics of how she fits the ''Ape'' bill and I don''t."


    "That''s easy," Adam replied confidently. "First off, you''re much more¡­uh¡­umm¡­" Adams'' voice trailed off as he tried to think of something, but couldn''t. A smug smile appeared on Iris''s face as she watched Adam unable to squirm his way out of John''s question.


    "It''s fine," John spoke up after a moment of silence. "I prefer being a capable ape to a useless genius anyways."


    "Hahaha," Iris suddenly burst out intoughter, as John''s words were clear in their meaning. Adam''s face turned red, but he remained silent as he knew he talked himself into a corner this time.


    "At least you did as instructed and reached the Middle Meridian Forgign Realm," John spoke up as he inspected Adam''s cultivation. "You saved yourself quite a bit of pain by doing so."


    "And you too, Chase," John continued as he nced over to Chase, who had been sitting there in silence watching the conversations. "You both managed to reach the Middle Meridian Forging Realm. Good job."


    "Thanks," Chase replied with a warm smile. "You as well, you seem to have advanced to the Late Meridian Forging Realm. It appears as though we''ve all made fruitful gains thesest two months."


    "That we have," John replied. "What about your alchemy? And Adam, what about your formations. Any progress there?" John asked as he tried to gauge where his friends were regarding those subjects.


    "I made quite a bit of progress," Chase replied.


    "Of course I advanced greatly," Adam replied proudly, the embarrassment from the previous situation already erased from his mind. "I''m sure topletely shock you soon with some of my creations. Also¡­"


    A bottle of wine suddenly appeared in Adam''s hands as he held it before John.


    "Chase and I also made some advancements with our wine as well. How about we test those advancements tonight?" Adam continued.


    John inspected the bottle of wine, and nodded his head in agreement. With his hellish training over, this was just the thing he needed to blow off steam and rx.


    "Sounds like a n to me."

 Chapter 530 - Leaving For The Honorable Alliance

    The next few days passed by quickly, and the morning sun shone on John''s eyes, waking him up from his deep sleep. After getting washed up and ready for the day, he set off towards the center of the sect, the gathering ce for today''s event.


    "I can''t believe I''ve been on the Divine Martial Continent for almost half a year now," John mused out loud as he began talking towards the Heavenly Lightning Pce courtyard.


    "Although I''ve been here for half a year, I really haven''t seen much of what''s around. I''ve been to Mystic City and that nearby vige, but that''s about it. Visiting the Honorable Alliance should be quite eye opening."


    Simr thoughts upied John''s mind as he walked through the sect, and some timeter he arrived at the center of the sect. A growing noise filled his ears as he rounded the corner, at which point he spotted arge crowd already gathered in the courtyard before the Heavenly Lightning Pce.


    The crowd already contained tens of thousands of people, and was growing by the minute as more sect members streamed. The crowd was circling around a smaller group gathered in the very center of the courtyard, which only contained a few hundred people.


    The small group consisted of only disciples, and John quickly made his way over to the group, as this was the group that was to leave today for the Honorable Alliance. The sect was able to send over three hundred disciples, and most seemed to have gathered already.


    The group itself was broken up into even smaller groups as the ss years separated themselves. John quickly spotted three familiar faces and made his way over towards them.


    "You''re finally here," Iris called out as she noticed John''s arrival.


    "Always thest to arrive," Adam added.


    "I made it here in time, didn''t I?" John replied casually. His gaze swept over the rest of the group once again, and couldn''t help but spot a small group gathered at the very front, standing separate from the rest.


    The group consisted of about a dozen disciples, and each were quite impressive when it came to cultivation level and aura. The group was all in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and each carried themselves with pride.


    At the very front of this group stood two youths, a girl and a boy. The boy had long silver hair and a handsome face, while the girl had long ck hair and was quite beautiful. Both were being stared at by the other disciples of the sect, as they had attracted quite the interest from the opposite sexes.


    Both appeared to be about neen years of age, and both had cultivation at the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    Their aura''s were incredible, and John could easily tell that they were the two strongest youths of the crowd. The boy stood alone, his aura like an unsheathed sword waiting to strike. The girl on the other hand had a few friends next to her, and was chatting with them with a smile on her face.


    "Are those the other direct disciples?" John asked as he gestured to the group. "The two at the front seem to be attracting quite a few gazes from the other disciples."


    Such information would normally bemon knowledge, but John had spent almost all his time outside of the sect, or upied with his master''s training sessions. He had not explored the sect much yet, or had time to learn about the other disciples.


    "Mhm. The two at the very front are Rael and Lily. They''re the two strongest direct disciples of our sect, and both are incredibly attractive, so it''s only natural that the other disciples have eyes for them," Iris replied as she nced sideways at Adam.


    Adam quickly averted his gaze away from Lily, as he knew he had been caught out staring at her. He coughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject.


    "So, what do you guys think will be in the Jade Dragon Empirends? Treasures? Cultivation opportunities? Heavenly artifacts?" Adam asked with great enthusiasm."


    "Who knows," John replied. "There''s no point in thinking about it now. We''ll deal with whatever the realm has to offer when we enter it."


    "Besides, with what we saw from you in the Thunder Realm, you can forget about obtaining anything of value," Iris added. "You''ll probably just hide in a corner for the entire duration of the realm likest time."


    "What did you say?" Adam eximed, but his yell was drowned out by the booming voice of another.


    "Silence," the voice boomed over the crowd, causing it to fall into a silence. All the eyes in the crowd turned to look towards the Heavenly Lightning Pce, where three figures had appeared at the top of the stairs.


    The Grand Elder, Sect Leader Thunderfist, and Sect Leader Thunderzen stared at the group gathered before them. The Grand Elder''s gaze swept over the group of disciples, and noted that all of the three hundred disciples had gathered.


    He waved his hand, and a flying ship suddenly appeared in the sky above the group, capturing the attention of all. The ship was quiterge, at over two hundred yards long and fifty yards wide. It was ornately detailed with blue and gold designs, and glimmered in the morning sun.


    It was the most luxurious and grand flying ship John had ever seen, and he couldn''t help but be entranced for a moment.


    "Today you set off for the Honorable Alliance," the Grand Elder spoke up once more. "You three hundred disciples are the best our sect has to offer, and we are sure you''ll make our sect proud in your disys to-"


    "Alright alright that''s enough with the formalities. Everyone that''s qualified gets on the ship," Sect Leader Thunderfist suddenly spoke up, cutting off the Grand Elder. However, his unique actions didn''t seem to phase anyone in the sect, as they were seemingly quite used to such antics from their Sect Leader.


    Thunderfist quickly flew into the ship himself, indicating that he would be the one escorting the group to the Honorable Alliance. The group of disciples quickly did as instructed, and entered the flying ship in the sky.


    "Good luck," Thunderzen''s voice suddenly sounded out in John''s mind, causing him to turn to the sect leader for a moment. "And do be sure to remember our agreement," Thunderzen continued as he stared at John.


    John nodded his head towards Thunderzen before he turned around and entered the ship with the rest of the disciples. With almost no fan fare at all, the ship suddenly sped off into the distance, leaving the Heavenly Lightning Sect behind.. John watched as the ground rapidly sped by as his journey towards the Honorable Alliance had begun.

 Chapter 531 - Three Generals

    John gazed around the interior of the flying ship as it sped along. It was incredibly luxurious, far more so than any other ship he had been in thus far. The ship had several floors, while the very middle was an empty atrium all the way to the top. Each floor had dozens of rooms, making it so that each disciple would be able to have their own room.


    The trip was expected tost for nearly a month, and so such a thing was more than appreciated. In the front of the ship was a dining hall, which was attended to by kitchen staff at all times. A crew of Elder''s piloted the ship, ensuring it was always under the control of an expert. There were even other luxuries, such as libraries, spas, and observation decks.


    John couldn''t help but marvel at the ship, his mouth slightly agape.


    "You like my ship?" a voice behind him asked, causing John to turn around. Sect Leader Thunderfist was standing there with a beaming smile on his face, clearly happy that John and the rest were awed by his ship.


    "How could I not?" John replied. "It''s incredible. It''s like a luxurious hotel, but on a flying ship."


    "Hahaha, how right you are," Thunderfist boomed outughing. "This ship is my prized possession. I spent a good portion of the money I umted over thousands of years on this thing some time back, but it was totally worth it."


    "Wait a second¡­if this is your ship¡­why did the Grand Elder take it out in the courtyard?" John asked after the thought came to him.


    An awkward expression quickly appeared on Thunderfists face, who coughed before replying.


    "That''s because I lost it one time, so the Grand Elder safeguards it for me until I need to use it," Thunderfist replied, hiding nothing.


    "You lost¡­a ship? A ship of this size?" John asked,pletely bbergasted.


    "Ahhh, the details are not what''s important, are they?" Thunderfist replied, acting almost like an embarrassed teenager. "Oh, that''s right. I need to address the rest of you disciples about this trip," Thunderfist eximed as he changed the subject and walked away.


    To the side, the rest of the group stood there in silence, stunned that John was talking casually to the Sect Leader. They had never even exchanged a word with the man before, yet John and the Sect Leader almost seemed to be friends.


    "John, do you know the Sect Leader well?" Iris asked after a moment of silence.


    John turned to the group and saw them all staring at him with strange expressions.


    "Ahh, a bit. I met him once before," John replied but didn''t borate further. He couldn''t say it was because he met with them regarding prophecies and other subjects he couldn''t mention


    "Do you think you can put in a good word for us to get the best rooms on this ship?" Adam suddenly chimed in, his face full of hopeful expectation.


    "I''ll see what I can do," John replied, unfazed by such a question from Adam. He too wouldn''t mind a more upscale room, and so decided such a thing was worthwhile to ask about.


    "Gather round," a booming voice suddenly shook the entire ship, catching the attention of all.


    All the disciples looked towards Thunderfist, who had just spoken up. He stood at the front of the ship and gazed at the three hundred disciples before him.


    "Not bad¡­you lot are quite impressive whenpared to the normal batch of disciples that makes their way through our sect," Thunderfist continued.


    John raised an eyebrow at Thunderfists ineloquent words as he listened to the Sect Leader continue his speech.


    "With that in mind, I expect you all to do our sect proud when ites to the Jade Dragon Empire Realm. This will be a great opportunity for you all to raise the prestige and renown of both yourselves as well as my Heavenly Lightning Sect. Who knows, some of you may even be the pinnacle of Honorable Alliance disciples, and obtain glory far beyond your wildest dreams."


    Heated expressions appeared in the eyes of many disciples as they heard Thunderfist talk about raising their status in the world, and bing the foremost geniuses of the alliance. All the disciples strived for such a thing, and many couldn''t help but get caught up in the moment thinking about such glory.


    "Now listen here, I don''t know much about the sealed offnds you will be entering, but I do know a bit," Thunderfist continued. "The Jade Dragon Empire was an incredibly powerful empire at its height of power, and their training grounds were based on that level of talent and strength. There are many dangerous trials within, some with the power to im your lives."


    Thunderfists next words threw ice on the heated gazes of many, however there were still those who were unafraid of death, and only wanted glory and rewards. Thunderfist nodded his head in approval as he noticed such gazes in the crowd.


    "Not only that, you will also be joined by tens of thousands of other Honorable Alliance disciples. Many of them are beyond your imagination in terms of talent and power, and the trials of thends won''t be the only danger within. Be sure to remain on guard at all times."


    Thunderfists words were clear to all. Although they were all from the same Honorable Alliance, the hearts of men were unpredictable, and so keeping one''s guard up at all times was paramount.


    "Not only that, but there are bound to be spies from enemy powers hiding amongst the other disciples that will do what they can to take as many talented disciples down within the realm. Do not be one of those casualties," Thunderfist instructed, his voice stern and cold.


    The disciples all nodded their heads in unison as they listened to their Sect Leader. They had each thought of this realm as and of opportunity to help them rise in power and status, but it seemed as though things would not be as smooth as they had hoped.


    "This trip to the Honorable Alliance will take just shy of a month, so use that time wisely to raise your power as much as possible within that time. If you have a Heaven Tribtion ascension you need to carry out, the top of the ship has a ce at which to do so," Thunderfist further exined.


    John raised his eyebrows in surprise, as the ship was even capable of withstanding Heaven Tribtion sts. However, he knew that was only for normal heaven tribtions, and not his own. If he were to undertake his own tribtion on top of the ship, its oue would most likely not be pretty.


    "Lastly, while you are all free to do what you want inside the realm, I will be assigning several Generals from amongst you all. The Generals will serve as a guiding rod for you lot in times of conflict and confusion, and you must all obey themands of the Generals within the realm, so long as they are reasonable, is that understood?" Thunderfist asked.


    All the disciples nodded their heads upon hearing this. Such a thing made sense, as having a singr voice of guidance was often needed to push a conflicted group forward with cohesion and teamwork. The group already knew who two of the Generals would be; Rael and Lily. No one was unwilling to follow them, as they were the strongest and most respected disciples in the sect.


    The only question was who the third General would be. Many expected it to be either Rylia or Lyeon, who were the third and fourth strongest disciples of the sect, and were respected by all the other disciples.


    "Good, then listen up" Thunderfist chimed up again. "There will be Three Generals. They are, Rael, Lily¡­and John."


    The crowd fell into a silence upon hearing the third name, and after a short moment, one third year disciple couldn''t help but speak up in confusion.


    "Who the hell is John?"

 Chapter 532 - Lyeon

    "That''s right. You can''t be talking about me?" a panicked voice suddenly cried out. All eyes turned to a second year disciple who stood in the middle of the crowd. His name was unfortunately also John, and he thought Thunderfist was throwing him to the wolves for no reason.


    "Oh, there''s another John in this group?" Thunderfist chimed up,pletely shocked. His actions clearly revealed that he had no idea who this youth was, despite him being one of the three hundred most talented youths of the sect. However, the boy''s attitude clearly indicated that he was on the meek side, and so him staying low profile wasn''t unexpected.


    "But no, I don''t mean you boy. I mean him," Thunderfist borated as he pointed to John. John was standing with his group at the very rear of the disciples, and Thunderfists finger was clearly pointing directly at him.


    John sighed as he saw all the other disciples look at him with a mix of anger and confusion.


    ''It seems Thunderfist is making things hard on me. I never asked to be a General, and being a General will only bring me more trouble than it''s worth. I want to be able to move freely within the Jade Dragon Empirends, not be bound to babysit some fellow disciples. I''m of half a mind to just relinquish the title to someone else.''


    John was truly considering just refusing to be a General, as it was more trouble than it was worth.


    "Him?" A confused and slightly angered voice boomed up from the front of the crowd. It was a powerful build and short brown hair. Arge greatsword was strapped to his back, making him look even more intimidating. His Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivation was clear for all to see, as it naturally seeped out with great power. "Sect Leader Thunderfist, why would a first year ever be named a General? And I''ve never seen him before today, is he also from a branch sect? Surely you''re joking?"


    "It''s Lyeon," a disciple whispered to another nearby.


    Lyeon was considered the third or fourth most powerful disciple of the sect, and had a massive following behind him. He was physically the strongest member of the sect, and had amon grade Innate Variant Body to boost his prowess even further. As such, many thought he deserved to be the third General, and so did Lyeon apparently.


    "Seems like he''s pissed. This won''t end well for that first year unfortunately. I wonder why the Sect Leader ced such a target on his head?" another whispered.


    "He must have pissed the Sect Leader off. Everyone knows Sect Leader Thunderfist is quick to anger," a third whispered, his voice barely audible as he was afraid of Thunderfist hearing.


    "Do you take me for a jester?" Thunderfist boomed out, his voice containing a pressure that pressed down on Lyeon and those nearby.


    "No, of course not Sect Leader Thunderfist," Lyeon hastily replied. "I only ask for a reason for assigning this Late Meridian Forging first year as a General."


    "Hmmph," Thunderfist snorted in disdain. "I don''t need to give you a reason for my decisions. If you want to know why I assigned John to be a General, ask him yourself. You can have his title if you get him to relinquish it."


    John narrowed his eyes at Thunderfist upon hearing this, as Thunderfist truly was just making him a target. Thunderfists smiling gaze shifted to John, and John couldn''t help but feel agitated by the whole thing. However, he knew Thunderfist was not doing this out of malice, but for some other reason. As such, he didn''t harbor hatred for the Sect Leader.


    Lyeon''s eyes lit up upon hearing Thunderfists words, and he quickly turned on his heels towards John. The crowd parted immediately as they knew what his intentions were, and a passageway appeared directly towards John.


    John stood there calmly as he watched Lyeon slowly walk over to him. His towering frame was quite impressive, and his powerful aura slowly grew as he approached John. Chase, Iris, and Adam stood calmly at John''s side, expressions of amusement on their faces for the show toe.


    "You''ve beenying too low since you came to the sect, so you can only me yourself for this," Adam chimed up. "You should have beat up some strong disciples when you arrived to establish your name a bit more."


    John rolled his eyes at Adam''s words, but said nothing as he knew Adam was right. He had made absolutely no sshes within the sect since he arrived, mostly due to him being busy the entire time. However, this resulted in him being almost a no-namer, despite being a Direct Disciple.


    However, many assumed his Direct Discipleship was due to his connections with Lilian, who seemed to have been favored by the sect when being directly promoted to a high-status Elder.


    "This should be a good show though," Chase chimed up as well.


    "Let''s see how long that smug look of his willst," Iris said as well while looking directly at Lyeon. Lyeons smug and confident expression pissed her off, and she almost wanted tosh out at him herself. However, she knew she didn''t have the power to do anything against him, not yet at least.


    Lyeon quickly arrived before John, his frame towering over Johns. John was not a small person, and was both quite tall for his age and muscr. However, Lyeon was several years older, and hismon Innate Variant Body seemed to increase his size by quite a bit as well.


    He was at least a head taller than John, and looked down at him with disdain. He stared at John in silence for a while as the other disciples watched from behind, curious as to what was going to happen


    "You heard Sect Leader Thunderfist," Lyeon spoke out after a short moment while his powerful aura began to push down on John, attempting to intimidate him.. "Relinquish your title to me."

 Chapter 533 - Savage Beatdown

    John stared up calmly at Lyeon as he heard his demands. He was almost inclined to give up his spot at first, but Lyeons overbearing attitude rubbed him the wrong way already.


    ''I had thought the main Heavenly Lightning Sect was filled with good disciples only, but there will always be those who desire power and status above all else. A pity.''


    John sighed as he thought about this, although it wasn''t too bad. Lyeon only desired the position of General and thought John unworthy of it. Such an action was reasonable, especially considering Thunderfist had deemed it eptable.


    "I''ll pass," John replied calmly. "Now leave."


    His voice was calm but confident, and his words couldn''t help but shock most of the other disciples. From the front of the group, Rael and Lily watched on with great curiosity as to what was going to happen. They knew Thunderfist wouldn''t have assigned John the position for no reason, and were looking forward to seeing what was going on.


    "What did you say?" Lyeon replied coldly as his aura surged in power and pressed down on John. He had never expected John to not only be unaffected by his initial aura, but also so disrespectful. As such, he had greatly increased his aura to press down on John and intimidate him into relinquishing.


    However, his n did not go ordingly, as John continued to stand there calmly. However, John''s eyes had narrowed and his expression had turned slightly cold as Lyeon was truly starting to piss him off.


    "You heard me," John replied. "Leave."


    Boom!


    Lyeon''s aura suddenly exploded out with full power, rattling the nearby ship and causing the other weaker disciples to back up from its power. John felt the full might of Lyeons aura press down on him, and couldn''t help but be impressed by it. It was quite powerful, and even he had to use a bit of his power to resist it.


    A series of pained cries sounded out from next to John, and he quickly nced over to see Chase, Adam, and Iris on their knees, holding their heads in pain. The aura from Lyeon was clearly not just limited to John, but also to his friends next to him.


    Lyeon was clearly using such tactics to force John to concede his position. John''s face instantly darkened as his rage filled eyes locked onto Lyeon''s. Lyeon couldn''t help but be taken back by the look he was seeing, although he quickly recovered and pressed down even harder with his aura. Adam, Chase and Iris groaned again as they struggled against the aura, but were unable to do so. Blood even began to seep from Adam''s nose as the pressure started to be too much for him to handle, further igniting John''s rage.


    "Give me your General spot, and I''ll release my aura," Lyeon said to John, his voice demandingpliance. "If not, don''t me me for being heavy handed to both you, and your pitiful friends."


    John''s gaze shifted from Lyeon to Thunderfist in the distance, who was watching the entire thing unfold with amusement.


    "Let us out of the ship right now, or don''t me me for destroying it," John said to Thunderfist, his voice cold. Respect for Thunderfist and his ship was the only reason he had not brutally beaten Lyeon already.


    Thunderfist''s amused expression instantly changed, as his ship was his prized possession. He knew of John''s savagery, and did not doubt what he was capable of based on the stories his older brother Thunderzen had told him.


    While the ship would be able to withstand their battle for the most part, he didn''t want a single inch of it scratched. The ship instantly lurched to a halt, floating above a deste strip ofnd.


    Thunderfist waved his hand, and the door on the far end of the ship suddenly opened, allowing for John to exit. Lyeon smiled as he saw this.


    "Trying to run? That won''t save you from handing over your General titl-"


    Boom!


    John''s aura suddenly exploded out with absolute power as he instantly unleashed his full strength. His hand mped onto Lyeon''s face before he could react, while powerful lightning red from his hand and onto Lyeons face and body, paralyzing his movements as well. The crowd of disciples couldn''t help but be stunned as they watched John drag Lyeon out of the ship by his face in an instant.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    A series of powerful sounds boomed from outside, stunning the disciples even further. After a moment of shock, they all raced forward towards the open door and stepped outside.


    At the same time, Adam, Chase, and Iris recovered from Lyeons aura, and couldn''t help but be pissed at what just happened. They all raced outside as well, eager to see the brutal beatdown toe. They knew John''s strength, and what that meant for Lyeon after having pissed him off.


    Thunderfist remained silent for a moment before he grumbled to himself and shook his head. He too stepped forward and appeared outside, making sure that no outside third parties interfered with his disciples.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Each bang was followed by a wince of the disciples, who were almost unable to believe what they were seeing. In arge crater in the ground clearly formed by the two, Lyonid t on his back, his face battered and bruised. On top of him sat John, who repeatedly punched down with incredible force, further worsening the damage on Lyeon''s face.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    A frenzied, powerful, and slightly sinister aura emanated from John as he savagely beat Lyeon, who was barely hanging onto his consciousness by a thread. Due to the surprise lightning attack that John had inflicted on him, he was still struggling to regain control of his movements. However, even if that had not happened, the only difference would have been that his beatdown was dyed by a minute or two.


    John suddenly reached down and grabbed Lyeon by the neck, and threw him into the distance with great force. Lyeon''s body sailed through the air for over a mile before mming into a mountainside, shattering part of the mountain. The mountain exploded into a cloud of debris, while John took to the skies and sped directly towards Lyeon once again.


    A figure suddenly appeared in the sky before him, blocking his pathway forward. John stopped as well, his heated gaze staring defiantly at Thunderfist. Thunderfist inspected John for a moment, before he nodded his head in an approving manner.


    "That''s enough. You''ve sent your message to Lyeon as well as the rest of the disciples watching," Thunderfist said.


    John wanted to push forward past Thunderfist, but he knew it was apletely futile effort. Now that Thunderfist had interfered, he could no longer make any more moves against Lyeon. However, he had shown both Lyeon and the rest of the disciples what happened if they messed with either him or his friends.


    Not only that, but Thunderfist clearly was not going to punish John for being so heavy handed, so that was already quite a courtesy from the Sect Leader.


    With his message sent, John''s aura faded away as he returned to normal. He flew back towards the ship, and the crowd of gathered disciples parted for him as he flew by. They watched him enter the ship once more, followed closely by his three friends. Their stunned gazes shifted back towards the distant mountain, as Thunderfist helped the barely conscious Lyeon make his way back to the ship.


    After a brief moment of silence, a lone disciple couldn''t help but speak out.


    "What the hell just happened?"

 Chapter 534 - Proceeding Onwards

    After making sure his friends were alright, John retired to one of the rooms of the ship to focus on cultivation and training his newly acquired battle arts. His blood was still running hot, and he didn''t know what else he might do if set off by someone else, so retiring to his room for the moment was the smartest option.


    Like this, John stayed in his room for several days to focus on raising his strength as much as possible. He made some progress in the Divine Reaping Scythe, which was proving quite hard to master.


    Meanwhile, the hottest topic of discussion amongst the rest of the disciples was about John, and his origins. His incredible disy ofbat prowess, being able to repress Lyeon without him fighting back was beyond their imagination. In fact, if they had not witnessed such a thing with their own eyes, they would never believe it.


    Although John had sneak attacked Lyeon, making his suppression much easier than a fight when both were ready, it was still beyond what a Late Meridian Forging cultivator should be able to do. In fact, most of the Early Heaven Tribtion disciples didn''t dare to im they could do the same thing if in John''s position.


    Finding out that he was indeed from a branch sect, and the weakest one at that only served to further the mysterious intrigue about him. Other than Adam, Chase, and Iris, no one else really knew much about John at all. They were some of the only first years on the ship, and the other first years only knew of John through the entrance exam.


    Many questions were also lobbied at Thunderfist, but he refused to answer a single one and only replied with "ask John yourself."


    However, none of the disciples wanted to do so, as they had seen how quick he was to anger. As such, the mystery of John continued to grow, while none of the disciples could get a clear picture of him and his powers.


    After regaining full consciousness, Lyeon erupted with fury and anger. His aura exploded out powerfully once more as he recalled what had happened between him and John, and he instantly sought to seek out John for revenge.


    His group of followers and friends held him back as best they could, not wanting to further escte the tense situation.


    "That bastard, I''ll kill him," Lyeon murmured coldly after calming down with the help of his friends. "He dares to sneakily attack me like that? Just wait until we''re in the dragon empire realm. We''ll see if you can act so confidently then."


    His friends, hearing the words from Lyeon couldn''t help but nce at each other with wary gazes, but none of them spoke up, as they didn''t want to attract the wrath of Lyeon at the moment.


    Most disciples eventually decided to retire to their rooms as well to focus on cultivation, as each day spentzing about was a day not raising their power.


    ¡­


    A weekter, John''s eyes slowly opened as he felt the speed of the ship decrease greatly. A questioning look appeared on his face as he stood up and walked over to the door of his room.


    ''The Honorable Alliance is almost a month''s journey. I wonder why we''re slowing down already?''


    John opened the door and stepped outside. He made his way towards the front of the ship, which was where Thunderfist stood at the ship''s controls. Many other disciples were also curious about what was going on, as many streamed out of their rooms and towards the front of the ship.


    The gazes of the disciples changed as many spotted John already standing there. It was the first time anyone had seen him since the fight, and all saw him in a new light now. While before he was an insignificant first year, now he was one of their Three Generals, and someone they did not want to piss off.


    "What''s going on?" John asked as he stood a short distance away from Thunderfist. "Why have we slowed down?"


    "We''re reaching the fracturednds," Thunderfist replied, his attention still focused ahead.


    "Fractured Lands?" John asked.


    "It''s and of spatial fractures, left over from the ancient cataclysm," a voice to the side of John spoke out. John turned his head to look at who it was, and saw one of the two other Generals, Lily, smiling at him. It was his first time hearing her talk, and she had quite a gentle and amiable voice.


    "Spatial fractures from the ancient cataclysm? They still remain to this day?" John asked, slightly surprised to hear about such a thing.


    "They do. The ancient war that brought the cataclysm was beyond our imagination, as were the powers of those fighting in the war. These spatial fractures were caused by their powers, and the world has been unable to fully heal them yet. If our ship is hit by one, there won''t be much of it left afterwards," Lily exined.


    John''s gaze shifted forward once more, and a series of glinting lights came into view. Space seemed to ripple before them, and out of nowhere, a fracture in space appeared before disappearing instantly.


    Thunderfist used his power to detect the spatial fragments and avoid them before they appeared, but such a thing required him to slow down, as well as use his divine sense to detect their appearance as soon as possible.


    "You seem to know quite a bit about thesends," John replied after a moment of silence.


    "I''ve lived on the Divine Martial Continent my entire life. It''s only natural I know a bit about it," Lily replied with a smile. "The Honorable Alliance is located closer towards the center of the continent. the closer you get to the center, the more traces of the ancient war appear."


    After exining the spatial fragments, Lily leaned forward towards John, an action he found surprising as she suddenly whispered in his ear.


    "Unlike Rael and I, Lyeon is far more wild and easy to anger. He will try to take revenge at the first opportunity he gets. While you did beat him before, we both know it won''t be that easy if his guard is raised. He''s quite powerful, so be careful when you''re around him from now on."


    Without waiting for a reply, Lily turned and left, leaving John standing there alone. His gaze remained unconcerned as he stared forward at the spatial fragments, although he did appreciate the warning from Lily.


    ''Seems not all the disciples at the top of this sect are bad.''


    John remained for a short while longer before he retired to his room once more. After clearing the spatial fragments, the ship once again sped forward at full speed, its destination the Honorable Alliance.


    ¡­


    In a hellish castle, filled with raging infernos and screams of agony, a lone shadowed figure sat on a throne. The figure was around five yards tall, and its shadowed body exuded an incredibly sinister and powerful aura. A cage filled with cultivators stood to its right, while a river of blood flowed from behind the figure to other parts of the castle.


    The door to the audience chamber suddenly opened, and another lone figure walked into the room. It was a lone youth, who bowed towards the shadowed figure as soon as he entered the chamber.


    "You called for me, my Lord?" the male youth spoke up respectfully, his head still lowered in respect.


    "An opportunity has arisen, one only you can take part in," the shadowed figure spoke, its guttural voice booming within the chamber.


    The youth remained silent with his head bowed, as he awaited further instructions from his Lord.


    "The Honorable Alliance has decided to open a uniquend they control, one filled with treasures and opportunities. " the shadowed figure exined. "They will send their most gifted geniuses to partake in this event¡­an event that you will participate in as well. There is a particr object within thesends that I need you to retrieve for me. Attend to Rykas, he will have more details of what you are to do."


    A glint appeared in the youths eyes as he heard this, as he knew his Lord''s intentions. im the opportunities for himself and his Lord, and cut down as many geniuses in the process at the same time.


    "I will do as my Lordmands," the youth replied respectfully before turning around. As he reached the door, the shadowed figure spoke out once more, his voice lower and colder.


    "Do not fail me, Asuros."


    The youth turned and bowed once more before exiting the chamber, leaving the shadowed figure behind.


    "With the Dragon-Essence Bone, I will be one step closer to healing my wounds and regaining my full power.. Before long, this world will once againe to kneel before me."

 Chapter 535 - Alliance City

    Over the next two weeks, the flying ship of the Heavenly Lightning Sect shot forward over thend, carving a path directly towards the Honorable Alliance. At one point, John decided to move his cultivation sessions to his room balcony.


    From the balcony, he was able to see the marvelousnd of the Divine Martial Continent fly by. Vastndscapes of sprawling forests or barren wastnds, climbing mountains and frozen tundras. The continent had it all, and each area was filled with cities, sects, and powerful beasts. Each was awe inspiring, and the beasts John saw were beyond his imagination.


    Were it not for the protection of Thunderfist and the flying ship, John knew he would never be able to make such a journey. The amount of Dao Transformation beasts were uncountable.


    As the ship sped forward towards the center of the continent, John couldn''t help but notice the density of the natural Qi in the air rise. While it was not as drastic a change as going from the Yuan Continent to the Divine Martial Continent, it was still a noticeable difference.


    Someone cultivating at the center of the continent would undoubtedly cultivate faster than back at the Heavenly Lightning sect.


    ''No wonder all the strongest powers are located closer to the center of the continent. I wonder why the Qi is the thickest in this part though?''


    While musing over this, John felt the ship start to slow down gradually. He stood up and leaned over his balcony, gazing towards the front of the ship as best he could. As he did so, his eyebrows raised slightly at the sight in the far distance.


    An ancient city, farrger and grander than anything he had seen before came into view. Despite being dozens of miles away, the city was sorge that it was almost unable to be viewed all at once.


    Marble white walls, thousands of feet high lined the perimeter of the city, while a towering translucent formation barrier covered the sky above it. Outside the walls of the city, smaller cities, towns and farnds spread out, making use of the surroundingnd. Not an inch was unupied.


    At the same time, thousands of other merchants, caravans, and flying ships were streaming into the city each hour, making it vibrant with life and activity.


    Within the walls, hundreds of thousands of buildings, from small houses to massive pces were visible, each inspiring its own form of awe and beauty. John couldn''t help but sigh in amazement at the sight before him.


    "Alliance City," John eximed, his gaze shifting to the massive circr building in the very center of the city. The Honorable Alliance building dwarfed all the others, and inspired apletely different kind of awe.


    "We''re finally here."


    ¡­


    After clearing inspection at the front gates, the Heavenly Lightning Sect flying ship was allowed passage into the city, and followed closely behind a guard escort. The guard flew over the city towards the Honorable Alliance headquarters, giving the disciples of the sect who gathered at the front of the ship a perfect view of the city.


    All of them stared in awe at the sight, as it was the first time any of them were seeing it.


    "This ce makes our Heavenly Lightning Sect look rural," a disciple eximed in a self deprecating manner.


    "Tell me about it," another replied.


    The ship took quite a bit of time to arrive at its destination, which was a district rtively close to the Alliance headquarters, but still a few miles away. After instructing all the disciples to leave the ship, Thunderfist stored the ship away.


    The disciples found themselves standing in an incredibly expansive courtyard, which sprawled for a mile in each direction. The courtyard was packed with other groups of disciples who had just arrived from other sects, and more flying ships arrived by the minute.


    John and the rest couldn''t help but gaze around, at both the city as well as the disciples of the other sects. While his gaze was sweeping about, Lyeon suddenly came into view, staring coldly at John. With a huff, John''s gaze continued onwards, as Lyeon was beneath his notice.


    ''It seems like Lily''s advice was correct. I''ll have to keep an eye out for Lyeon and make sure he doesn''t do anything. While he can''t touch me, he could always target Adam, Chase, or Iris.''


    "Attention," a booming call from the front of the group echoed out, causing the disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect to look at who had just spoken. It was a guard dressed in ornate armor, who had been the one who had escorted the ship to this location.


    "Wee to our city, young Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples," the guard called out. "This is the Disciple District, and it is where you will be staying for the next few days before the realm is opened. The district has all the amenities you could think of, so please feel free to explore the district during these next few days. Now if you''ll follow me, I will escort you to your temporary abodes."


    After exining all that, the guard turned on his heels and began walking in a certain direction. The disciples quickly followed behind, and after meandering through some bustling streets, they eventually arrived before a building. The building was several stories tall, and was quite luxurious in quality and design.


    "This building will be your abode for the next few days. There are three hundred rooms, so each disciple gets a room to themselves. They are all the same, so just choose one at random," the guard instructed. "The realm will open in a few days, and an announcement will be made across the district to gather at the Honorable Alliance. So do be mindful to remain in the district to not miss that announcement.. I hope you all enjoy your stay in our illustrious city, and I wish you all luck in the trials toe."

 Chapter 536 - Starforge Clan

    With all that said, the guard turned and left, leaving the disciples behind. They quickly streamed into the building, and each disciple imed a room to themselves. The rooms were quite basic, but were more than enough for the few days they would be staying here.


    After getting settled in, John and the rest of his group gathered outside the building, discussing everything that had happened.


    "This city is incredible," Adam couldn''t help but exim. "Did you see that formation covering the entire city? It was beyond amazing. I wonder howrge and intricate the formation base is. If only I could study it!"


    "While I don''t care for the formations, I agree that this city is quite impressive. How about we explore it for a bit?" Chase chimed up cheerily.


    "Sure. Let''s find a restaurant to eat at. I''m quite hungry," John replied. He had not eaten at all during the trip, and although Meridian Forging experts could go months without food, it was only at the Heaven Tribtion Realm that a cultivator could forgo food entirely.


    "Let''s do it. I''m quite famished myself," Iris replied.


    The group began to meander through the district,ing across many interesting sights, such as trade halls, entertainment districts, and the disciples of the other sects. When passing by each other, the disciples would examine those of the other group, gauging their cultivations and powers as best as they could.


    Most of the other disciples who observed the strength of John''s group scoffed in amusement before walking off. Most of the sects seemed to have sent Heaven Tribtion disciples only, and even amongst the Heavenly Lightning Sect group, John, Adam, Chase, and Iris were the only non-Heaven Tribtion disciples. As such, their cultivations stood out quite a bit.


    At the same time, John and the rest couldn''t help but be impressed at the cultivations they saw and auras they felt. Whenparing the average disciple they saw to their sect, John surmised that the quality of the Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples was above average, but not by much.


    "The disciples from the other sects are quite formidable," Chase chimed up, slightly intimidated by what he saw.


    "You''ll be alright," Iris consoled Chase. "Just trust in your own strengths."


    "Oh? The she-beast can be nice when she wants to?" Adam chimed up.


    Bang!


    "Ow!" Adam cried out in pain as Iris kicked his shin, causing him to fall to the ground.


    "You never learn, do you?" John scolded while shaking his head. Even he knew Iris was easy to anger, and that Adam''s insults always received retaliation, and yet he continued to insult her unprovoked.


    "Just you wait, I''ll have my revenge eventually," Adam grimaced at Iris.


    "I wee your challenge at any time," Iris replied uncaringly.


    "This looks like a good ce to eat," John stopped and called out.


    They had arrived before a five story restaurant, which seemed quite upscale. A rich fragrance wafted from within the restaurant, nearly making the group salivate from its intoxicating aroma.


    "It looks quite expensive. Can we afford it?" Chase asked with his voice lowered. He did not have an incredible amount of money, and so was hesitant to spend it on such a thing. An upscale restaurant in a city like this would surely cost a fortune.


    "Don''t worry about it. It''s on me," John replied with a smile as he began to walk up the steps towards the restaurant. The rest of the group happily followed behind upon hearing the meal was on John.


    The attendant at the front of the restaurant took note of the group''s arrival.


    "Oh, some disciples from the¡­"


    "Heavenly Lightning Sect," John replied.


    "Ah yes, the Heavenly Lightning Sect. We have special seats reserved for such esteemed guests. If you''ll follow me."


    The attendant turned and walked towards the internal stairs of the building, and quickly escorted the group to the fourth floor. Each floor was incredibly luxurious, and the group was able to see all sorts of delicious looking dishes being served. The sights only made them hungrier, and John couldn''t wait to dive into some food.


    Upon arriving at the fourth floor, the attendant began walking over to an empty table. Most of the other tables were already upied by other disciple groups, making the floor quite lively with activity.


    While on the way to be seated, John paused and turned around to look at Adam, who had suddenly stopped in his tracks. Adam''s gaze was locked onto one of the upied tables, and without warning, he quickly turned around on his heels and left.


    "Adam? Where are you going?" John called out, catching the attention of the the others in the room as he quickly followed Adam. The rest of the group did as well, while Iris apologized to the attendant before leaving as well.


    Adam quickly left the building, and John caught up soon after. He raced up to Adam and caught his arm, turning him around.


    "What''s going on? Why did you just leave like that?" John asked, as he could tell something was wrong. Chase and Iris arrived at this time as well, and grouped before Adam.


    "Did you know those disciples?" John asked after being met with silence.


    "Let''s just leave," Adam replied as he tugged his arm free and turned to leave.


    "Of course he knows us," a voice from behind boomed out. The group all turned to look at the one who had spoken. It was one of the disciples from the fourth floor, who was joined with the other four members who had been at the table as well. It was a group of two girls and three boys, each with their cultivation in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    They appeared to be seventeen or eighteen years of age, at the same age as John''s group or just slightly higher. John narrowed his eyes as he stared at the youths, who seemed to have a rather weak aura for the type of arrogance they were emitting at the moment.


    "And who would you be?" John asked as he watched the group approach and stop before them.


    "Oh? Has Adam truly been so cold as to not tell you about his own family?" the boy replied smugly while gazing directly at Adam. "Since Adam won''t introduce us, I''ll do it myself.. My name is Rydan, of the Starforge n¡­the one Adam was exiled from."

 Chapter 537 - Adams Exile

    "Starforge n? What is he talking about?" John asked Adam. He had met Adam back on the Yuan Continent during the Heavenly Lightning Sect entrance exams, and Adam had never once indicated such a background.


    However, Adam remained silent, unable to think of how to reply. He was still shocked after running into the other youths, and his mind was a mess at the moment.


    "Adam was exiled from our Starforge n to a n branch on some backwater continent, instructed never to return. However, it seems like he''s decided to ignore his exile, and has returned regardless."


    "I was exiled from the n, and so I am no longer part of your dogshit Starforge n. As far as I''m concerned, you can''t tell me what to do anymore," Adam finally replied after finding his confidence.


    John nodded his head in approval at Adam''s reply, as he had finally found his backbone.


    "You may be exiled, but Starforge blood still runs through your veins, as much as we would like it not to. As such, you can never truly leave the n. You are a pawn of the n, destined to be forever punished for your heinous crimes," Rydan replied, his attitude arrogant and smug.


    "And what crimes would those be?" John asked.


    "Oh, he didn''t tell you?" Rydan replied as his smug gaze lingered on Adam. "You see, Adam here stole something incredibly important to our n. He was found out, and his punishment was permanent exile from this continent."


    "Liar. I never stole anything," Adam replied angrily.


    "Oh? To this day you still dare to lie about stealing the n heirloom, despite the fact that it was found in your spatial ring for the entire n to see?" Rydan replied, clearly enjoying talking down to Adam.


    "I was framed," Adam raged out again. "Probably by that bastard Kadin, or his fucking father."


    The arrogant faces of the four Starforge youths darkened upon hearing Adam''s words, while the aura of Rydan began to climb.


    "You dare speak about Young Master Kadin and the n Leader that way? It seems like your exile was not punishment enough, and further punishment is needed. We''ll see how the n Leader feels about that when you return with us to the n, and decides on your traitorous fate," Rydan replied menacingly as he stepped forward towards Adam, his arm stretching out to grab Adam. At the same time, a restrictive aura washed over the group, making it so that Adam and Chase were unable to move.


    Iris'', with her half-step Heaven Tribtion cultivation was able to move, although very sluggishly. It was as if a mountain was resting on her, and each and every action required tremendous energy. While Rydan''s aura had clearly risen quite a bit, it was not strong enough to repress the group like this. Clearly he had used some sort of formation to achieve this result.


    Rydan''s arm suddenly stopped, and he nced over to the side to look at John who had grabbed it with great force. Rydan raised an eyebrow at John, impressed he was able to move at all, but scoffed as he sent a surge of power directly towards John with the intention of suppressing him entirely.


    "Ghh"


    A soft grunt of pain sounded out as Rydan grit his teeth in pain from John''s grip as it tightened. Rydan felt like he was being gripped by a ferocious Heaven Tribtion beast, and was unable to shake it off regardless of what he did. At the same time, it felt like his arm was about to break, shocking himpletely.


    John was a Late Meridian Forging youth, and so Rydan had almostpletely ignored him. However, he could now tell that he had greatly underestimated John, and was not someone he could ignorepletely.


    "Adam is a disciple of the Heavenly Lightning Sect now, and is no longer your n''s concern. Release your power, or I''ll break your arm right now," John said coldly, his gaze like a hunter staring at its prey. Rydan''s arrogant gaze softened as he couldn''t help but feel a shiver run up his spine as his instincts red, screaming ''danger''.


    "You dare touch Young Master Rydan?" one of the youths from the Starforge n yelled out angrily while moving towards John.


    "Stop," Rydan suddenly instructed through gritted teeth. His gaze lingered on John for a moment before shifting to Adam, who was pressed to his knees on the ground. After a moment of silence, his restrictive power vanished, allowing Adam, Chase and Iris to move freely once again.


    Rydan''s gaze shifted back to John, and the two locked gazes for a while before Rydan smiled arrogantly.


    "I look forward to running into you when the realm opens. We''ll see how long that arrogance of yourssts then," Rydan said arrogantly before turning around and leaving.


    John''s narrowed gaze watched the group of Starforge youths leave, before he looked at Adam, who stood there meekly, clearly shaken up by the events. He walked up and stood before Adam for a short moment, before patting him on the shoulder.


    "Come on, let''s head back inside, we still need to have our meal," John said with a smile on his face.


    A surprised look appeared on Adam''s face as he gazed up at John. "You don''t want to know the truth of what just happened?" Adam asked. He had figured John would demand for a proper exnation.


    "You can tell me about all that stuff when you want to, but for now let''s forget about it and eat," John replied as he pushed Adam into the restaurant, followed by Iris and Chase.


    ¡­


    Later that night, John was seated in his room, focusing on cultivation. After the run in with the Starforge youths, the group had eaten a hearty and delicious meal at the restaurant, before each decided to retire to their rooms to focus on cultivation. It was clear that the realm opening was not going to be as harmonious and straight forward as initially expected.


    Knock!


    Knock!


    Knocks at John''s door sounded out, breaking him out of his cultivation trance.


    "Come in," John instructed, as he knew who it was. The door quickly opened, and Adam stepped inside. He stood there silently for a moment before walking over to John and sitting on the floor next to him.


    Adam continued to remain silent for a moment as he figured what to say, while John waited patiently for his friend to start talking. After the short silence, Adam''s gaze shifted to John, and a deep sigh escaped his lips.


    "I suppose I owe you an exnation for everything that happened today.. I owe you that much at the very least," Adam sighed. "I guess I''ll start at the very beginning, with me growing up in the Starforge n¡­"

 Chapter 538 - Adams Past

    "The Starforge n is a formation n. My father was the fourth son of the n Leader, while my mother was from another prominent formations n," Adam began to exin.


    John raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, as Adam''s status was far higher than he had expected. In fact, it was the same status that he himself had in the Fenix n; the grandson to the n Leader..


    "Was?" John asked, as Adam was referring to his parents in the past tense.


    "My parents died when I was ten," Adam replied calmly, although it was easy to tell it was still a sore spot.


    "Oh. I''m sorry to hear that," John replied.


    "It''s fine. It''s been seven years since that day, so I''vee to terms with it," Adam replied.


    "Anyways, the Starforge n has a unique selection system for the next n Leader. There is a sealed away ancestral grounds, which tests those qualified to enter. The only qualifications are to be a direct blood descendant of the previous n Leader, as those with that bloodline are the mostpatible with the Starforge n heirloom, as well as being below the age of twenty five," Adam exined.


    "The ancestral grounds only opens up when the previous n Leader dies or is near death. At that point, the ancestral grounds open once more to those qualified to enter. The trials in the ancestral grounds tests all that enter for their formations talents andpatibility with the heirloom, and only one is selected by the heirloom itself at the end to be the next n Leader."


    "The heirloom is sentient?" John asked, surprised to hear such a thing.


    "In a way," Adam replied. "It has a small portion of our n Founders soul and blood sealed away, as well as a small portion of all the previous n leaders as well. Thus, the knowledge in the heirloom, as well as its might, increases with every generation. It''s why those from the direct bloodline have the bestpatibility.


    Anyways, the previous n Leader, my grandfather, was bing sickly. He had been alive for thousands of years already, and his death was fast approaching," Adam continued. "As such, his children all knew that he would die in the next few decades, and began to have children to participate in the next n Leader selection trials."


    "My father, who was considered to be the most talented formations expert in the n other than the n Leader himself, taught me everything he knew. With his blood flowing through my veins and all his knowledge imparted into me, I was fast bing the most talented formations user amongst the qualified youths," Adam exined, his mood growing sullen.


    "But then something happened to your parents," John spoke up.


    "How did you know?" Adam asked, his voice slightly surprised.


    "It''s not hard to guess," John replied. "You said your parents died when you were young, and now you say you were the frontrunner to be the next n Leader. If I''m not mistaken, I''m guessing that your parents did not die of¡­natural causes?" John asked.


    "No, they did not," Adam replied. "On the way back from visiting my mothers n, they were attacked by arge group of powerful beasts, something called a beast tide. I''m not sure of the specifics, but¡­only parts of them were discovered afterwards, just enough to identify them."


    Both John and Adam fell into silence, one in contemtion and the other in grief. Adam''s gaze shifted back up to John, and could tell he was deep in thought.


    "Why? Do you think there''s something strange about it?" Adam asked.


    "Maybe," John replied. "How strong were your parents?"


    "Strong," Adam replied, his grief reced with pride. "Although he was the youngest of the four children of the n Leader, he was the strongest of them all. His cultivation was at the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, and he was amongst the top ten strongest cultivators in the entire n."


    Adam''s chest puffed out with pride as he talked about his father, as if he had momentarily forgotten his previous grief. However, reality quickly came back to him, and his sullen attitude quickly returned.


    ''Half-Step World Expansion is even stronger than my Master. That level of strength is not easily overwhelmed¡­and a beast tide that just happens to overwhelm the path his parents were traversing on?''


    John fell into deep thought once again, while Adam stared at him in silence. After a short while, John gazed back at Adam. He was almost sure that foul-y was involved, but had no proof to back up such ims. As such, he decided to bury the subject for now.


    "So what happened next?" John asked.


    "After my parents died, I was mostly left to fend for myself. However, my father left me a great inheritance, a book of all his knowledge. With that, I was able to self-teach myself further so as to not dy my formations training," Adam continued. "After my parents'' deaths, I was basically treated as an exile at that point, and the only person showing me care was the n Leader. However, he was extremely sickly, and so could not do much for me. Still, I persevered, and raised my formations expertise and talents as much as possible.


    I still remained at the forefront of my generation, equaled by only Kadin, as I wanted to do right by my parents'' memory and legacy."


    "Whose Kadin?'' John asked, as he had heard that name earlier in the day.


    "The son of the n Leader, or interim n Leader I should say," Adam replied. "He''s eighteen years old, only a year older than me."


    "Interim n Leader?" John asked.


    "The previous n Leader, my Grandfather, was deemed unfit to rule as n Leader, due to his continuing health decline. As such, his first son was appointed interim n Leader until my Grandfather dies. However, it seems as though my Grandfather is still alive, something I''m sure is agitating both Kadin and the interim n Leader quite a bit," Adam exined.


    "However, I''m more than certain that if my Grandfather is still alive by the time Kadin reaches his early twenties, they''ll make sure his deathes swiftly. With the requirement to enter the ancestral grounds being below twenty five years of age, the Interim n Leader will ensure the realm opens before Kadin exceeds that age," Adam exined, his voice bing slightly angered at the thought of his Grandfather being murdered.


    John fell into a silence as he took all the information in, before another question popped up into his mind.


    "So how did it end up that you were exiled? If your grandfather is still alive, and seemingly cares about you, how did thate to pass?" John asked.


    "Because I was framed, and my grandfather is sickly, both health wise and mentally," Adam replied, his voice going cold at the thought of what had happened. "All the power was in the interim n Leaders hands at the time."


    "Six years ago, the heirloom, which was in my grandfather''s possession, suddenly went missing. The n was overturned for the heirloom, but it was not found. Eventually the interim n Leader had the idea of searching everyone''s spatial rings, and so everyone was gathered for inspection. I''m sure you can guess the rest," Adam exined, his rage simmering as he thought back to that day.


    "They searched your ring, and just happened to find the heirloom?" John asked.


    "Naturally," Adam replied. "I was framed for the theft of the heirloom, and exiled by the interim n Leader to the Yuan Continent. Theres a derelict branch of the Starforge n there, the Fenks n, which is almost unrted at this point. They raised me after that. Everything happened so fast, and I was only eleven at the time, so I didn''t even know how to make sense of it all¡­"


    Both Adam and John fell into silence again, which lingered for some time as Adam dealt with the feelings he had repressed for so long.


    "After my initial bout of grief, I figured I would just enjoy life as much as possible while I wasted away on that continent. Eventually I decided to join the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and that''s when I met you. You know the rest."


    Silence filled the room again, while John thought over everything he had just heard. It was quite a lot of shocking information to take in. At the same time, the small things he had noticed about Adam suddenly made sense.


    ''Adam always seemed to have enough spirit crystals on hand for everything, and had far more formations knowledge than what he should have had for someone from the Yuan Continent. He also brushed aside the question of his parents and lineage when I asked about it back in the Yuan Continent. I always thought something was off, but now it all makes sense. He must have been ying dumb regarding the Divine Martial Continent in order to seem less suspicious back then.''


    John thought over such things for a while before another question popped up in his mind.


    "I just don''t understand one thing," John chimed up. "You knew about the Starforge n, so why were you so surprised to see the members of the sect today? Shouldn''t you have known they were going to join the realm opening, and expected their presence?"


    "No, because the Starforge n is a neutral power, and is not part of the Honorable Alliance," Adam replied. "Which is why I was so shocked to see them."


    "A neutral power? They don''t need the protection of the Honorable Alliance? Just how strong is your n?" John asked.


    The powers of the Honorable Alliance had joined together to form a united front against the Forbidden Alliance and the other races. A neutral power would quickly be overwhelmed by those other powers, unless they had the strength to protect themselves.


    Adam stared at John, his gaze a mixture of pride and resentment.. "The Starforge n is the strongest formation n on the continent, and one of the strongest powers overall."

 Chapter 539 - Starforge Discussions

    John raised an eyebrow at Adam''s words, as he had not expected the Starforge n to be so powerful.


    "What''s makes them so strong?" John asked. "Is it just the cultivation levels of the strongest members?"


    "No, it''s not quite that simple," Adam replied while shaking his head. "While the n does have the council, which is a council of the six strongest Elders, all in the World Expansion Realm, its strength alsoes from its position in the formations world. The Starforge n is a neutral formations power, and makes some of the best formations throughout this world. As such, almost all other powers, regardless of alliances or races have an amicable rtionship with the Starforge n. Otherwise, if they were enemies, the n would not sell them the incredible formations they make, and no one wants that to happen. A lot of their poweres from being financially strong, as they are one of the richest ns on this continent, as well as their friendly connections to most other powers."


    John fell into silent contemtion after hearing Adam''s words. Adam spoke up after a short moment, breaking the silence.


    "That''s why I didn''t expect to see them here."


    "It seems the Honorable Alliance is getting desperate," John finally spoke up.


    "How so?" Adam asked curiously.


    "You said it yourself. The Starforge n is a neutral power, and yet they''ve been invited to join such an esteemed event reserved only for members of the Honorable Alliance. It seems as though the Honorable Alliance is doing everything they can to raise their power, including trying to cozy up to neutral powers, hoping to change their stances," John exined.


    "That''s never going to happen, at least as far as the Starforge n is concerned," Adam replied dismissively. "The Starforge n values money above all, and it would be too costly to take one side and shun the rest. Trust me, I know them better than most," Adam concluded with a self-mockingugh.


    "Well, if that''s the case, then the Starforge n most likely epted the offer from the Honorable Alliance with the intention of getting as many benefits as possible, all while having no intention of returning any favors. If that''s the case, then that''s a relief," John replied.


    "Why is that a relief?" Adam asked.


    "Because, if Rydan, or Kadin for that matter decide to do something to you, I don''t have to worry about cutting them down," John replied. "If they were intending on joining the Alliance, we would have toy back and not ruin such an opportunity, as it would be a great boon to the Alliance. However, if they are just mooching off the Alliance''s good graces, then I won''t hesitate to eliminate them if they step out of line," John exined.


    "What?" Adam eximed. "If you kill Kadin, and the Starforge n finds out, they''ll demand your execution. Even the Heavenly Lightning Sect wouldn''t be able to protect you then!"


    "Don''t worry about it too much," John replied with a rxed smile. "I wouldn''t be dumb enough to kill the future n Leader of such a powerful sect out in public for all to witness."


    Adam stared dumbfoundedly at John, before a serious look appeared on his face.


    "If it doese to that, just be careful. The Starforge n has incredible formations at their disposal, and Kadin especially should be an incredibly formidable opponent. You cannot let your guard down around him, or the other strong members," Adam warned with a serious tone.


    "I won''t be careless," John replied confidently. "All we can do is hope they keep to themselves, and none of this will be necessary. However, if they do get overzealous, I''m afraid there won''t be a good ending for any of them."


    Adam stared at John for a while, unable to think of what to say next. To him, the Starforge n was an insurmountable mountain, one that would forever press down on him. However, John didn''t seem concerned at all, which made Adam worried for him, but also relieved to have such a friend.


    The two continued to have some conversations for a while before Adam left, leaving John to focus on cultivation once more. A sinister light shed in his eyes as Adam left, as the thought of Rydan''s threats from earlier in the day echoed in his mind.


    "While Kadin may still yet live depending on his actions, I''m afraid your life is already forfeit, Rydan" John uttered softly before closing his eyes and falling into a meditative trance.


    ¡­


    The next few days passed by quickly, as more and more powers arrived each day. The Disciple District was a hub of excited activity, as the disciples prepared as best they could for the realm opening toe. The markets were flooded with disciples buying powerful weapons, pills, and more, while others decided to rx and unwind in restaurants, sauna''s, and with other forms of entertainment.


    At the same time, many of the newly arrived disciples ventured over to the Honorable Alliances talent testing steps, taking it for the first time. The Honorable Alliance weed all who wanted to take it, as they wanted to identify as many future geniuses as possible.


    Tens of thousands of disciples took the tests, and while most floundered, there were still quite a few that made waves with their performances. Many thirteen, fourteen, and even fifteen steps were achieved, shocking the Honorable Alliance world. In fact, there was one disciple who achieved sixteen steps, a fact that nearly sent the other disciples into a frenzy.


    Were it not for the previous performances of the Soul-Sage and Asura, the sixteen steps result would have floored all who heard of it. However, sixteen steps was still an incredible achievement, and that disciple was the talk of the city at the moment.


    "Tch. I can''t believe that bastard Kadin achieved fifteen steps," Adam grumbled as the group walked through a market district.


    "What''s so impressive about fifteen steps?" John asked, unconcerned by such a fact. "There was that one boy that got sixteen steps."


    "You don''t understand," Adam replied, his mood sour. "Us formations experts focus on our formations talents, and shun things likebat prowess. There''s no way he would have gotten fifteen steps without being ridiculously strongbat wise as well. That level ofbat prowessbined with his formation talents¡­he just might be the strongest person to enter the realm. He''s far more terrifying than I initially imagined. I can only imagine how many resources the n dumped into him to get him to this level."


    "Who knows who''s the strongest," John replied with a shrug. "The talent testing steps test talent, but not absolutebat strength. We won''t know who''s the strongest until we enter the realm and find out for ourselves."


    "I wonder who that sixteen step youth is," Chase chimed up. "I heard hees from a rather small power, so his performance was rather unexpected."


    "Who knows," Iris replied. "All we know is his name is Parker."


    John''s steps paused for the briefest of moments before returning to normal. The name reminded him of the traitor of the Fenix n, his cousin Parker. The only information John had of him was that he had been sent to the Divine Martial Continent by the Bloodfiend Sect.


    Parker was part of the Forbidden Alliance, and so John knew this Parker couldn''t be him. However, the name reignited a smoldering fire in his heart, a fire of vengeance. John rxed himself after a moment and calmed his growing rage, as he would deal with that when he found out where Parker was.


    "I just can''t wait to enter," Iris replied with great enthusiasm. "I''m sure there''s countless treasures hidden from the view of others that I''ll be able to unearth."


    "Just be sure to stay close to me, so I can partake in the treasure hunting as well," John joked.


    "Naturally," Iris replied with a smile. "How else will I ensure that-"


    Bong!


    Bong!


    Bong!


    Three loud bongs from arge bell sounded out over the disciple district, stopping all in their tracks. Anxious and excited looks appeared on the faces of all, as they knew exactly what that sound represented. A loud voice, audible to all in the district, sounded out shortly after.


    "The Jade Dragon Empire realm is to be opened in three hours.. All disciples are to gather in the main courtyard to be escorted to the entrance."

 Chapter 540 - Awe Inspiring Formation

    "Its finally arrived!"


    "We''re finally going to enter the fabled Jade Dragon Empire Realm!"


    "Let''s go. We don''t want to bete."


    A flurry of excited cries echoed out throughout the entire disciple district as all the disciples started making their way over to the main courtyard. John and the rest did so as well, and followed as a massive surge of disciples made their way forward.


    After a bit of walking, they arrived at the courtyard, which was already packed with tens of thousands of disciples and Elders, and more were arriving by the minute. The disciples all found their respective sects, and grouped together away from the other powers. Before long, nearly a hundred different groups had formed, one of them being the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    John and the rest made their way to their sect, and before long all of the disciples from the sect had gathered. Thunderfist stood before the group, his muscr stature carving an imposing image in the minds of all who looked at him.


    John gazed around at the other sects, and noticed that they all ranged from one hundred to four hundred disciples. Clearly the amount of disciples allowed to enter was based on sect strength, and the three hundred disciples allotted to the Heavenly Lightning Sect signified its status within the Alliance as a strong power, but not the strongest.


    However, that was only based on the strength of the disciples. John was more than sure that if Thunderfist, Thunderzen, the Grand Elder, that mysterious formations expert, and the Lightning Dragon were factored in, that they would be able to stand tall against almost all the other sects. However, there was no denying that the quality of disciples from the Heavenly Lightning Sect had beencking as ofte, clearly indicated by the Talent Testing Steps scores.


    Other than him, the highest score had been twelve, by Rael, Lily, and Lyeon. While twelve was still a score that only a genius could obtain, it still fell short of the prodigious geniuses of the other sects.


    ''I''m sure if someone like Iris took the test, with her talent, she could score higher than twelve. However, she hasn''t taken the test yet. At the same time, Adam and Chase focus on nonbat specialties, so their scores on the tests wouldn''t be a true representation of their talent. I suppose that is the one downside to the Talent Testing Steps, as it really only focuses on purebat talent.''


    While deep in thought, Thunderfists voice sounded out.


    "Is everyone prepared to enter the realm?" he asked.


    "Yes!" a resounding cry echoed from the group, John included. After spending a month with Thunderfist on the flying ship, they knew he expected enthusiastic and determined replies.


    "Good, that''s what I wanted to hear," Thunderfist boomed out with a head nod. "Just remember, the only ones you can trust within the realm are yourselves and your sect members. While we are all of the same alliance, the hearts of men are fickle, and so do not expect safety just because you''re amongst allies," he instructed.


    The disciples all nodded their heads in unison once more. John did the same, but at the same time disagreed slightly with Thunderfists words as he nced over to Lyeon, whose muscr frame stood tall above the other disciples.


    ''Even within the sect, there are some that cannot be trusted. I guess he can''t say that out loud though.''


    "Good, since you understand that, the only thing left for you all to do is use your fullest effort to grasp all the opportunities within, and raise the name of your Heavenly Lightning Sect as well!"


    Thunderfists words ignited a fire in the hearts of many of the disciples, and John nodded his head at Thunderfists ability to stir the hearts of his disciples. It was something that Thunderzen would most likely not be as good at, due to his calm and gentler nature.


    By now, no more disciples were streaming into the courtyard, signifying that all had already gathered. There were just over one hundred groups gathered, with the total number of disciples ranging in the tens of thousands.


    These tens of thousands of disciples were the best of the best that the Honorable Alliance had to offer, and thepetitive spirit of the disciples were clear for all to see. A heroic and hopeful atmosphere filled the courtyard as the disciples all thought of the potential treasures and glory toe.


    Without warning, the courtyard below everyone''s feet suddenly lit up. Incredible bright blue formation lines sprung up throughout the entire courtyard, and from above one would be able to see arge circr formation with intricate interior formation runes had formed.


    A bright light shed, and all the disciples and Elders felt their bodies suddenly transported through space. The transportation processsted a few seconds, indicating that the distance they had traveled was quite far, at least a few thousand miles.


    After a few seconds, the bright light of the sun above came into view again as all found themselves standing on solid ground. The disciples all looked around at their new environment, and many couldn''t help but open their mouths in awe.


    Before them stood a vast stretch of mountains, jutting high into the sky. Several miles directly in front of them was arge valley carved between the mountains, which was several miles wide and nearly ten miles tall. At the base of the valley as well as the stop of the mountain''s passage were fourrge statues, all depicting a dragon.


    The statues were a mile tall and looked incredibly realistic, almost as if there were four true dragons present. Even the passing of hundreds of thousands of years hardly diminished their grandeur. The dragons stood before the valley passage, as if guarding the entrance.


    In the valley between the mountains, arge formation barrier was easily visible. The formation barrier glowed a jade green color, and its might was awe inspiring as well. It was the strongest formation any of the disciples had ever seen. The formation also stretched overhead as well and covered the entire sky past the mountains, blocking off the entrance from all angles.


    Even John with his unique perspective on things couldn''t help but be awed at what he saw. While he had seenrge pces before, especially the one in his spatial realm, he had never seen a formation quite as intimidating as this one. It was truly a sight to behold, and such a formation had stood for over a hundred thousand years.. Such was the might of the Jade Dragon Empire.

 Chapter 541 - Starforge Elder

    "That formation is incredible!" Adam suddenly eximed withplete tion. For a formations cultivator such as himself, seeing such a formation was beyond his wildest dreams. He had the urge to speed forward and study it, but knew such a thing was impossible given thepany around them.


    John smiled as he saw Adam''s ted expression, as his sullen mood from before seemed to have vanished. Seeing Adam smile and be his normal self was far more enjoyable than seeing his friend worry about the Starforge n.


    John''s gaze shifted back to the powerful formation between therge valley, and he quickly spotted a group of over one hundred cultivators gathered. The cultivators all wore different colored robes, and were clearly formations experts from the gathered powers of the Alliance.


    They were working on a massive formation themselves, carved into the ground before the Jade Dragon Empire formation wall. The formation being created by the formations experts was also beyond anything John had ever seen before other than the Jade Dragon Empire formation.


    The formation on the ground was over a mile wide, and had hundreds of thousands of parts to it. Intricate formation runes linked together to form a singr yet massive rune, although John couldn''t make much sense of it.


    "It''s a nullification formation, only on an absolutely massive scale!" Adam eximed with great enthusiasm.


    "Nullification Formation?" John asked, as it was the first time hearing about it.


    "A nullification formation is used to nullify another formation, typically barrier formations. It interferes with the barrier formation, and creates a passageway through. However, this is only temporary, and if the barrier formation is stronger, it will eventually overwhelm the nullification formation. Based on what I''m seeing, we should have a few months to half a year at most before the nullification formation is overwhelmed and fades away."


    "A few months? I''m guessing the barrier formation returns to normal at that time?" Chase asked.


    "Yep. So whatever we''re going to do inside, we''ll need to do it within half a year at most before we need to return to the entrance here," Adam replied with confidence.


    "Hopefully that''s enough time," Chase replied, slightly anxious at hearing about the formation closing in on them. "Hopefully nothing happens to it during that time and traps us within."


    "Nothing will," John replied with confidence to ease Chase''s nerves.


    "How are you so sure?" Chase asked.


    "Because the Honorable Alliance cannot afford to lose us. They are sending all of their best geniuses in, and losing us all would be tantamount to the alliance being destroyed. Even powerful ns like the Starforge n are sending in their best disciples. It''s in their best interest to ensure everything goes smoothly, and so for the next half year, I''m sure this formation will be the best guarded ce in the entire alliance. Attacking it would be tantamount to suicide," John exined.


    "John''s right," Adam replied with confidence. "Although its not obvious to the naked eye, I can feel the slumbering might of dozens of other formations in the ground beneath us. Defensive formations and offensive formations. This ce is too well guarded to attack and overwhelm without devastating casualties on the attacking side."


    Hearing all that, Chase breathed out a sigh of relief. John patted Chase on the back to reassure him, while his gaze returned to the formation''s experts going about their work. Just as he did so, he noticed one of the experts break apart from the others and begin to walk over towards the gathered disciples. The Elder was a middle aged man, who appeared to be in his forties or fifties. His face was sharp, and he had piercing yet slightly sunken eyes.


    The Elder''s robes had the image of an anvil mming down onto a star, an image which John had already seen once before recently.


    ''The Starforge n.''


    Adam noticed the Elder as well, and his previous joyful attitude vanished as panic took over. John narrowed his eyes as he watched the Elder walk over to the group of Starforge disciples, and discuss something with several of them.


    Amongst those disciples stood a youth at the front. He had long silver hair and a sharp yet handsome face. His body was rather slim, but his aura was beyond anything any of the other disciples in the Starforge n had. His piercing eyes nced over towards the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and locked onto Adam''s, causing Adam to take an instinctive step in retreat.


    ''That must be Kadin,'' John mused internally as he stared at the youth. Kadin noticed John''s gaze, and nced at him for a moment before looking away without a care, as if John was not even worth looking at or taking note of.


    Next to the youth stood Rydan, who was exining something to the Starforge Elder. The Elder listened for a moment before he left the group and started walking in the direction of the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    The Elder''s actions caught the attention of all the other disciples, as it was the only thing of note going on at the moment. They all watched as the Elder walked to the Heavenly Lightning Sect and stopped directly before Sect Leader Thunderfist. The Elder''s aura was undetectable to all the disciples, as he was clearly above the Heaven Tribtion Realm. However, with his experience with standing before World Expansion Elders such as Thunderfist, Thunderzen, and the Grand Elder, John could tell that this Elder was most likely in that realm as well.


    Thunderfist, with arms crossed before his chest, nced at the Starforge Elder who had clearlye here for a reason.


    "What do you want?" Thunderfist asked, his voice not amiable at all.


    The Elder nced at Thunderfist with slightly narrowed eyes, clearly not happy at the way he was being addressed. However, he ignored Thunderfists tone as he nced past him and pointed into the crowd of disciples.


    "You''re harboring an exiled traitor of my Starforge n," the Elder replied as he pointed directly at Adam. The Elder''s words caused everyone to look at Adam, who was visibly recoiling with panic and fear at the moment.


    "Is that so?" Thunderfist replied, his voice still uninterested and dismissive. "So, if he''s been exiled, what does that have to do with you and your n anymore?"


    The Elder nced back at Thunderfist, and his cold gaze locked with Thunderfists dismissive gaze.


    "He was exiled with the instructions to never return to the Divine Martial Continent, or he would suffer further consequences. His traitorous self clearly ignored our generosity, and so he must be taken back to the Starforge n to face judgment," the Elder instructed, his voice cold.


    The disciples all around Adam, as well as the disciples of the other powers all stared at Adam with mixed expressions. Adam felt like the weight of the world was pushing down on him at the moment, and nearly copsed in fear.


    However, an arm suddenly held him up, reassuring and strong. Adam nced over to John, who smiled at him with a confident expression.


    "You don''t have to worry," John consoled Adam. "Thunderfist would never allow you to be taken away."


    "How do you know?" Adam asked, his voice trembling slightly.


    "Just watch," John replied with a smile. From what he knew of Thunderfist and Thunderzen, it was that they did what they wanted, and ignored the opinions of others. Thunderfist was a headstrong man, and he would never allow himself to bemanded by another power.


    "Piss off," Thunderfists voice boomed out with great power, shocking all who heard it. The man before Thunderfist was an esteemed Elder of the Starforge n, who everyone knew about. They were incredibly strong, and almost no one wanted to end up on their bad side, due to both their power and status within the formation world.


    "What did you say to me?" the Starforge Elder asked coldly as he red at Thunderfist. He had never expected to be talked to in such a way, and was used to the greatest amount of respect from all who dealt with him.


    "I said piss off," Thunderfist repeated firmly with his arms still crossed over his chest. "He may have once been a member of your n, but he is now a disciple of my Heavenly Lightning Sect. As such, he is untouchable by the likes of you.. Now piss off, before I cut you down where you stand."

 Chapter 542 - The Barrier Opens

    Thunderfists words sent a wave of shock throughout the gathered members of the Honorable Alliance. While everyone knew of the Heavenly Lightning Sect and their strength, the Starforge n was considered a step above them.


    However, those who knew of Thunderfist and his attitude were not too surprised, namely the Elders and Sect Leaders of the other gathered Sects.


    Adam''s fear and panic was instantly calmed as he heard his Sect Leaders words, while John smiled as well, his confidence in Thunderfist not shaken. John''s gaze shifted back to the Starforge Elder, who was staring at Thunderfist with a displeased expression.


    ''The Honorable Alliance must have asked for assistance from the Starforge n in setting up the Nullification Formation, so that must be why Kadin and the rest are allowed to join the event,'' John mused. ''However, I wonder if it''s truly that simple, or if the Alliance is trying to court the Starforge n to formally join the Alliance?''


    "Do you even know the name of the brat you''re defending?" the Starforge Elder replied angrily. "He''s not someone who''s worth bing enemies of our Starforge n."


    "I don''t know half the names of the disciples behind me," Thunderfist replied immediately without any shame. "But that doesn''t matter. If they''re a disciple of my sect, they have my protection. It''s as simple as that."


    The Starforge Elder''s anger rose as he heard Thunderfist''s reply, but he had to keep his calm as there were others watching, and he had to maintain the prestige and image of the Starforge n.


    "Its best you don''t get on the wrong side of my Starforge n," the Elder warned. "Your Heavenly Lightning Sect may be strong, but it pales inparison to my Starforge n. You would be wise to make this one concession."


    "Oh? Threatening my Sect now?" Thunderfist replied, more amused than angered by the Elder''s antics. "If you make a move on my sect, the entire force of the Honorable Alliance would crush down on you, and that''s not something you can withstand. Your n made the choice to stay neutral and not join the Alliance, and now you''ll learn first hand than an Alliance power is untouchable by the likes of you. But even the Alliance wouldn''t be needed. If you make a move on any of my disciples, my brother and I, along with his little pet, can always visit your n and pay our respects."


    The Starforge Elder narrowed his eyes upon hearing Thunderfists threat. All the powerful yers on the Divine Martial Continent knew of Thunderzens ''pet'', which was the incredibly powerful Lightning Dragon. Thunderzens disappearance from the Divine Martial Continent for thest few thousand years had resulted in him fading away from thought, but one mention from Thunderfist was all it took to remind the Starforge Elder of the Heavenly Lightning Sects true power.


    The Starforge n was incredibly powerful, and even thebined might of Thunderfist, Thunderzen and the Dragon would not be able to fully destroy it. However, if they made enemies of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the war between the two powers would be that of mutual destruction, which is what neither side wanted.


    The Starforge Elder stared coldly at Thunderfist, who stood there calmly with his muscr arms still crossed over his chest. He was a full head taller than the Elder, and made sure to look down on him with amused disdain.


    After a short staredown, the Elder nced over to Adam, who stared back at the Elder now, his confidence and pride restored by Thunderfists defense of him. Adam had truly been afraid for his life now that the Starforge n found out about him, but with the Heavenly Lightning Sect defending him like this, he felt like he had finally found a ce he could call home.


    The Elder scoffed and turned around, and returned to the gathered Starforge disciples. Adam breathed out a deep sigh of relief, finally feeling free of the Starforge''s scourge for once. At the same time, John watched the Elder return to the Starforge disciples, who then uttered a few words to Kadin.


    A small smile appeared on Kadin''s face as he listened to the Elder, who left to return to the Nullification formation quickly after. While Kadin did not turn to look at the Heavenly Lightning Sect afterwards, John could instantly tell what was most likely being discussed.


    ''It seems like they''re going to try to target Adam within the Jade Dragon Empirends. I''ll need to make sure I stay next to him at all times in that case, at least until the situation is taken care of.''


    The spectacle between the Starforge n and Heavenly Lightning Sect was the topic of discussion amongst the other powers, as it was quite unexpected. After the matter was taken care of, John''s gaze began to roam as he inspected the disciples of the other powers. The other hottest topic of discussion amongst the disciples was the Talent Testing Step scores, namely that of Kadin and Parker, who had been the one to achieve sixteen steps.


    After some inquiry, John found out that the mysterious Parker belonged to the Sunmist Sect, which was located towards the back of the group as one of the weaker sects. His gaze shifted over towards the sect, but didn''t see anyone of particr note amongst the group. There was no one amongst them that had the aura of someone who could achieve sixteen steps, something which confused John slightly.


    However, with the person of interest clearly not present in their group, John put the matter in the back of his mind as he began discussing various ns of what to do in the realm with the other three in his group.


    After a few hours of waiting, an Elder wearing white and gold robes, the color of the Honorable Alliance, suddenly appeared before everyone.


    He had a bald head and a long white beard, and his appearance was around that of a sixty year old. However, the wizened look in his eyes clearly indicated that he had lived for an incredibly long time, and had experienced many things.


    The man warmly smiled as he inspected all the youths before him, and nodded his head in approval.


    "Truly a group of talented youths," the man''s warm voice sounded out for all to hear. "Now, I''m sure you have all been told why this realm is opening now of all times? Good. Then hear this. Grasp every opportunity within as if your life depended on it, because eventually it will."


    The man''s words were clearly ones of foreboding, as if something dangerous would ur in the future. However, with the shifting tides of the world as ofte, everyone could see that the peace given to the world over thest few thousand years was most likelying to an end. As such, they all needed to raise their strengths as much as possible.


    The man waved his hand, and tens of thousands of talismans, brimming with powerful formation light, appeared in the sky above him. He waved his hand, and a talisman appeared before each of the disciples, who reached out and grabbed them.


    "These are locational talismans. Keep it on you at all times, as when the realm ising to an end, the Nullification Formation you see before you will wrap all who have this talisman on them with spatial powers and bring them back to this entrance. If you lose your talisman, you muste back to the entrance on foot, otherwise you may be trapped inside forever."


    The man''s words were clear; do not lose your talisman, or you could be doomed. All the disciples put their talismans in their spatial rings, and made a mental note to safeguard them with their lives.


    Suddenly, the Nullification Formation at the valley entrance erupted with great power, and emitted a formation light that slowly ate away at the Jade Dragon Empire barrier. The barrier slowly but surely opened at the bottom, until a hole one hundred yards wide and long appeared.


    "The Jade Dragon Empirends are open.. You may now enter."

 Chapter 543 Entering the Barrier

    The man¡¯s words sent all the disciples into an excited frenzy, but they all kept their calm as best as they could. In the presence of other disciples and powerful Elders, no one wanted to act like a child and be looked down upon.


    One by one, the groups closest to the valley entrance began to walk over in an orderly fashion, soon disappearing from sight as they entered the formation barrier. The groups seemed to have been ordered by strength and status, with the strongest being allowed to enter first.


    John watched with a calm gaze as the ns and sects such as the Starforge n, the direct Honorable Alliance disciples, as well as many other powerful sects entered the barrier.


    ¡®With the number of sects gathered here, my divine sense and direct sight was only able to observe about ten percent of the disciples. I¡¯m sure there are incredibly powerful disciples that I have yet toy eyes on, and many that disdained from taking the Talent Testing Steps. It will be quite interesting to see just how powerful this alliance of ours truly is,¡¯ John mused, but a frown soon appeared on his face as he realized something.


    ¡®The man who just gave his speech did not mention anything about a ¡®no-killing¡¯ policy, which has always been stated before when entering realms. This can¡¯t be an oversight, so the only exnation is that the alliance will not be forbidding such actions. It seems they truly want to raise their tigers by ughtering thembs. In order to be strong enough to resist the Forbidden Alliance, they are bing more like them¡­how ironic.¡¯


    While the no-kill policy was not stated, John was rtively certain that there would not be wanton ughter once everyone entered the realm. There were a few things to consider before killing another member of the alliance, such as the status of the one being killed, as well as the stigma of doing such a thing.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡®The Honorable Alliance would surely kick sects out if their disciples had acted with no regard for the lives of others, and ughtered indiscriminately within. However, they are also saying that if deaths inside happen discreetly, they won¡¯t investigate the matter. They want the tigers and dragons of the sect to flourish, but not at the cost of their reputation. Interesting.¡¯


    John was stirred out of his thoughts as the Heavenly Lightning Sect began to move forward towards the barrier, as their time to enter hade. The group of three hundred disciples was rife with anxious anticipation, and even the powerful disciples like Rael and Lily who were normally calm and collected couldn¡¯t help but feel excited.


    John gazed over to his three friends, and saw simr expressions on their faces. Clearly most of the other disciples had been caught up in the moment, and didn¡¯t realize what John had already realized.


    ¡®I¡¯ll have time to warn them and the rest of the sect once we enter the Jade Dragon Empirends,¡¯ John mused as he looked ahead and the barrier before them.


    Looking at the barrier from miles away was one thing, but standing directly before it was another. The barrier was absolutely massive, and glowed with a profound green light. To the side of the barrier rested the dragon statues, which were even more impressive up close. It was as if they woulde alive at any moment and breathe fire over everything in their path.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Good luck inside, and be sure to fight with all your strength,¡± Thunderfists voice boomed out. ¡°But above all, make sure to keep yourselves safe.¡±


    The disciples all cried out in unison, causing Thunderfist to nod his head in approval at the heated spirits of his disciples.


    ¡°Good, then enter, and make our sect proud,¡± he said before walking away.


    The group nodded once again before turning to enter the barrier. They were led by Rael and Lily, while John decided to hang towards the middle of the group with his friends instead. The barrier suddenly passed overhead as the group entered, and everyone instantly felt a powerful energy wash over them, inspecting them down to their bones.


    ¡®This must be the age-detecting formation, which restricts those above twenty from entering,¡± John mused as he felt the energy wash over him for a moment before disappearing.<sub></sub>


    After walking through the barrier, the group found themselves in the valley between the mountains, which stretched forward for several miles. The disciples of the other sects were visible in front and behind the group, as everyone slowly but surely made their way forward.


    Suddenly, all the disciples felt something strange on their bodies, and some even cried out in surprise as they inspected the strange feelings. John felt something as well just below his right corbone, and lifted his robe to inspect what had happened.


    To his surprise, a brand had suddenly appeared on his flesh, one that glowed with green light like a formation rune. The brand was three inches wide and long, and although it was branded into his flesh, John did not feel any pain at all.


    There were two parts to the brand, a strange symbol on the top, and the number zero below it.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± a startled cry sounded out as one of the disciples inspected their brand. ¡°I¡¯ve been branded below my corbone!¡±


    ¡°Me too!¡± another cried out.


    Soon, the entire group confirmed that they had each been marked at the same spot on their body, just below the right corbone.


    ¡°Let me see your marks,¡± John said to Adam and Chase, who pulled down their robe slightly to reveal their lower corbone. In the same location as his were the marks, although both Chase and Adam had different markings than John¡¯s.


    ¡®What is going on?¡¯ John mused, as the first mysterious thing in the realm had already urred.


    ¡°What marking do you have?¡± John turned to Iris and asked.


    Iris pulled down the neck of her robe slightly as well, revealing the mark just below her corbone for a moment.


    ¡°It¡¯s the same as mine. I wonder why we¡¯re the same, but Adam¡¯s and Chases are different,¡± John mused.


    ¡°Hmm, maybe it has to do with cultivation level?¡± Iris replied, voicing an idea.


    ¡°Maybe. That would make sense,¡± John replied, but was quickly cut off by another voice.


    ¡°All right, stop panicking,¡± the warm and gentle voice from Lily sounded out over the group. ¡°I know what these marks mean, and I¡¯ll exin it once we leave this valley.¡±


    The group breathed out a sigh of relief upon hearing Lily¡¯s words, and quickly resumed their forward progress.


    After walking for several miles, the valley finally came to an end, and the group found themselves standing before an open expanse ofnd, the start of the Jade Dragon Realm grounds.

 Chapter 544 Mysterious Mark

    The mountain range they had just walked through veered off to either side, seemingly a hundred miles in each direction. The mountains were so tall as to be insurmountable, and the powerful green formation glowed overhead, covering the entire sky of thend before them.


    Directly in front of them was an expansive desert, filled with valleys, canyons, and mountains. The desert stretched forward for as far as the eye could see, and was not what most had been expecting when entering thesends. The disciples of the other sects that had already entered were gathered in various locations, seemingly discussing the realm and their ns within.


    Many groups were already missing members, as some had already ventured into the realm before them.


    After taking in the sight for a moment, the Heavenly Lightning Sect group moved half a mile to the side of the valley entrance at themand of Rael and Lily, two of the Three Generals.


    ¡°Listen up,¡± Lily suddenly addressed the group as she stood before it, her voice gentle yet confident. ¡°Before we venture out, I¡¯ve been instructed by Thunderfist to inform you of all I know of this realm. I¡¯ve spent quite some time researching this realm, pursuing through all the ancient scrolls I could find that detailed this realm. Through all the research, I¡¯vee across several important points to keep in mind going forward.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    The group fell into silence as they eagerly awaited information from Lily, as they werepletely blind regarding this realm.


    ¡°First off, this realm marks you with a ¡®Jade Mark¡¯ as you enter. Those are the marks below your corbone. There are four different symbols; the Mark of the Warrior, the Mark of the Alchemist, the Mark of the Formations Expert, and the Mark of the Healer. Part of the energy that washed over us was to detect our proficiencies, and mark us with the appropriate mark,¡± Lily exined, causing the group to finally realize why the marks were different.


    ¡®I suppose that¡¯s why Iris and I are the same. We¡¯re bothbat experts, while Chase and Adam are not,¡¯ John mused as it finally made sense.


    ¡°Secondly, thisnd is filled with official trials, which seem to be randomly strewn about thisnd in. The trials will be clearly marked, and will have opportunities for all of the four marks,¡± Lily continued. ¡°I¡¯m not sure of the specifics, but the better you do in the trials, the better your score will be, which will be recorded on the mark on your chest.¡±<sub></sub>


    The disciples all inspected their marks, and noted the zero below the symbol. Clearly this would change once they began to take part in these trails.


    ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure what the marks are used for, but I know they are used for something located on the very end of thesends,¡± Lily exined. ¡°Thisnd is several hundred miles wide, and ording to rumor, several thousand miles long. The entirend is guarded by these mountains to the side and barrier overhead. The point is to make it to the other side, all while performing as best as you can in the trials you find along the way. Although making it to the other side is easier said than done, as there are many obstacles you¡¯ll have to ovee along the way. That is all I know about this realm,¡± Lily concluded.


    While brief, the information Lily provided was incredibly useful, which made the group appreciate their general even more.


    ¡°Now, I won¡¯t tell you all how to go about making your way through thisnd, but I will give you one warning,¡± Lily spoke up again. ¡°Unlike the other realms we have entered, this one does not have a no-kill policy in ce. Always be on your guard, and do not assume the other disciples are friendly just because we are from the same alliance.¡±<sub></sub>


    The Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples all felt their anxious excitement dulled a bit, as they remembered they were in a foreign and dangerousnd. They all thanked Lily for the reminder, while John nodded his head in approval.


    ¡®Lily is much morepetent than I originally expected. She is truly fit to be a General.¡¯


    After a few more words of wisdom and instruction from Lily, Rael suddenly turned and began to venture into thends before him. With his strength, arge group of disciples decided to follow behind him, while arge group followed Lily who left soon after as well. The rest scattered in random directions of their own choosing, and soon the Heavenly Lightning Sect had departed into thends before them.


    All that remained in the end was John, Adam, Chase and Iris, who stood there patiently waiting for John to make a move. John¡¯s gaze focused on the disciples of the other groups, who were also venturing into the desert before them. Some roamed as onerge sect, while others roamed individually or in fractured groups, simr to what the Heavenly Lightning Sect had done.


    John had waited to observe the other groups, to see if he could notice anything. However, after watching the groups venture outwards, it was truly random in which direction they all picked.


    ¡°I suppose no one really knows which way is the best to go, so we¡¯ll just venture out blindly as well,¡± John finally addressed the group. His gaze shifted to Iris, who stood patiently next to him.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be our navigator for this journey, so pick a direction and we¡¯ll go that way,¡± John said to Iris. With her unique eye talents, she was the best for helping them move forward.


    Iris nodded her head as her gaze swept across the desert before her.


    ¡°I can¡¯t see anything important or of note yet, so we¡¯ll just head out in this direction I guess,¡± Iris replied as she pointed forward.


    ¡°Good enough for me,¡± John nodded in confirmation as he began to walk forward.


    Like this, the group had finally set out into the mysteriousnds of the Jade Dragon Empire trial grounds, towards the dangers and opportunities thatid ahead.

 Chapter 545 New Arrivals

    Outside the barrier formation, the Elders from the various sects that made up the Honorable Alliance continued their work on the formation to ensure it remained stable. Their top geniuses were all sent inside the barrier, and losing them would be tantamount to the end of the Alliance.


    In the sky high above the gathered Elders and formation experts, a lone figure suddenly appeared. He was wearing a sleeveless robe with a hood, which shrouded his facial features. His arms bulged with powerful muscles, as if he could fight a dragon barehanded and survive.


    The man gazed down at the ground, inspecting both the formation outside as well as the ones who had constructed it.


    ¡°Child¡¯s y,¡± the man muttered under his breath, almost as if the formation wasn¡¯t worth looking at. The man remained unnoticed by the powerful cultivators below, as if he didn¡¯t even exist in their eyes.


    After inspecting the formation constructed by the Elder¡¯s, the man¡¯s gaze shifted forward towards the green Jade Dragon Empire barrier. His gaze locked onto a certain location, pausing for a brief moment.


    ¡°So he¡¯s already entered thisnd? I might as well pay it a visit once more and observe what happens,¡± the man muttered once more as his body shed. He reappeared at the very top of the green barrier, and paused for only a moment before his body slipped right past it, as if it didn¡¯t exist.


    ¡­


    Later in the day, a lone figure suddenly appeared again, flying at full speed towards the Jade Dragon Empire barrier entrance. The Elder¡¯s all took notice of the neers¡¯ arrival and put up their guards for any possible defense, but rxed as they noticed who it was.<sub>.</sub>


    The neer walked over towards the gathered Elder¡¯s, and bowed in respect towards them.


    ¡°Apologies, esteemed Elders. I was held up by something earlier in the day and missed the teleportation window. I flew here as fast as I could. I hope it¡¯s not toote to enter?¡± the youth asked, his tone genial and sincere.


    ¡°You should really take note of your status a bit more,¡± one of the Elder¡¯s from the Honorable Alliance chastised. ¡°Your talents have been fully revealed, and you will now be one of the benchmarks of our Alliance. With that statuses responsibility, such as showing up to events on time.¡±


    ¡°Apologies, Elder. I have no excuses,¡± the boy replied sincerely while bowing his head further.


    The Elder¡¯s all nced at each other at seeing the boys sincerity, before one of them sighed deeply before replying.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. Mistakes happen, young man. Just make sure you begin to carry yourself with the prestige of being one of the Honorable Alliance¡¯s foremost geniuses, is that understood?¡± the Elder asked.


    ¡°Yes, Elder. I will not let you all down again,¡± the youth replied, his voice firm and determined.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Then go on in,¡± the Elder said. ¡°The barrier is still open.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Elder,¡± the boy replied happily as he sped forward towards the barrier and disappeared shortly after.


    The Elder¡¯s watched the youth enter, and shook their heads slightly at the youths¡¯ antics.


    ¡°That boy will need to realize he no longer represents his sect, and instead represents the entire Honorable Alliance,¡± one of the Elder¡¯s chastised.


    ¡°It¡¯s only natural. Parkeres from the Sunmist Sect, which is rather weak. His sixteen steps suddenly propelled him to genius status, which I¡¯m sure he¡¯s still getting used to,¡± another replied.


    ¡°We can¡¯t coddle him too much,¡± another Elder chimed in. ¡°Geniuses such as him are paramount in our future fight against the Forbidden Alliance and the other races. If we raise them with soft and gentle hands, they will be soft and gentle themselves. At that point, we might as well offer them up for ughter to the Forbidden Alliance disciples.


    Hopefully this event will create even more geniuses, and propel our Alliance back to the front of the continent where it once rightfully stood.¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡­


    The arid desert stretched in all directions as far as the eye could see, offering nothing but dry sand, rocky valleys, and dead skeletons of fallen youths of trials past. John and the rest walked through the desert, their guard raised as they didn¡¯t know what dangers existed within thesends.


    ¡°Ahhh, this is getting tedious!¡± Adam eximed in frustration after walking through the arid desert for half a day already. ¡°I¡¯m going up to get a better vantage point!¡±


    John shook his head at Adam¡¯s antics, but figured he would let him find out first hand. Adam¡¯s body shot up into the sky, but after only a few dozen yards up, he found his body lurch to a halt, as if he had flown into msses. His body was suddenly rocketed back down to the ground, and mmed into the earth, kicking up sand and dust.


    The dust cloud quickly faded, revealing a grumbling Adam who was dusting off his now dirty robes.


    ¡°What the hell just happened?¡± Adam eximed as he looked up at the sky above him.


    ¡°Do you really think we just decided not to test flying in here for no reason?¡± John asked Adam with a scolding tone.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Adam asked while he brushed the sand out of his hair.


    ¡°Think about it you dunce,¡± Iris chimed up. ¡°When we saw the other disciples leave, none of them tried to fly. Obviously they have information about thisnd, and that information includes flying not working. Otherwise they would have already taken off to the skies at the very start!¡±


    ¡°Hey, who are you calling a dunce!¡± Adam cried out afterwards, missing the entire exnation from Iris. Iris rolled her eyes in frustration, but didn¡¯tment further.


    ¡°Like Iris said, we¡¯re traveling on foot,¡± John chimed in. ¡°There¡¯s some sort of barrier preventing flying, most likely to prevent us from flying to the end of thisnd.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I guess that makes sense,¡± Adam replied.


    The group began to walk forward once more, while Iris walked up next to John and leaned over towards him.


    ¡°Have you noticed them yet?¡± Iris whispered softly in his ear.


    ¡°We¡¯re being followed,¡± John replied while nodding his head.


    ¡°They¡¯ve been following us from a far away distance for quite some time now, but they¡¯ve made the effort to move widely around us to get in front of us,¡± Iris said.


    ¡°They were following us until we arrived in an area where no one else was, and then moved up to set up an ambush,¡± John replied.


    ¡°Do you know who it is?¡± Iris asked, as John¡¯s words indicated that he had been aware of them, but had not taken action yet.


    ¡°Not yet, but there¡¯s only one group that would target us like this from the start,¡± John replied.


    ¡°The Starforge n?¡± Iris asked.


    ¡°The Starforge n,¡± John confirmed as his gaze grew cold. It seemed as though they were making their move on Adam already.

 Chapter 546 Friendship

    The arid desert sand swirled in the wind, making the visibility in the area to be quite low. John and the others ventured forward unhindered, while Iris led the way. The group casually chatted as if nothing was concerning them, while a group of individuals up ahead watched on as John and the rest approached.


    ¡°Are the formations all set?¡± a male youth asked.


    ¡°Yes, Rydan. They¡¯re all set. Once those idiots walk into it, they¡¯re as good as dead,¡± another youth replied, snickering withughter afterwards.


    ¡°Good. They may have been protected if they ventured with their sect members, but these four idiots ventured out alone despite all being in the Meridian Forging Realm. They¡¯re probably relying on that John in their group to protect them, but all he is is a brute with strength and no brains. Once he¡¯s caught in these formations, he¡¯s as good as dead,¡± Rydan replied with cold confidence.


    He still remembered the strength at which John had gripped his arm. He could tell that John¡¯s physical strength was beyond what was normal for a Late Meridian Forging youth, and even he had to admit that John was a talented cultivator. However, that bit of strength he disyed was worth nothing once he got trapped in the formation they had set up.


    As a formations cultivator, Rydan¡¯s strength excelled when he used formations. While he still believed his Early Heaven Tribtion cultivation was enough to overwhelm John in a direct fight, he didn¡¯t want to take any chances. This mission had been assigned to him from higher up, and he wanted it to go wlessly.


    ¡°Here theye,¡± Rydan said to the group of youths around him. ¡°Get into position, and let no one escape.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡­


    Iris¡¯s steps remained steady, while John, Adam and Chase followed directly behind her. The four were chatting calmly, as if nothing was wrong. While they knew there was an ambush ahead, they trusted in John¡¯s strength to protect them, and so none of them were concerned.


    While the Starforge n and its Elder¡¯s were able to pressure and threaten Adam on the outside, inside thisnd waspletely different. As long as they were around John, the three of them knew they were in safe hands.


    There were only a handful of youths in this entirend that were able to threaten John, and only one belonged to the Starforge n. However, with Kadin¡¯s status as the Young Master of the n, he would not do such dirty work himself.


    While the group was discussing something, Iris suddenly stopped, as did the group behind her. Her bright blue eyes were glowing with profound light, as if she could see through the fabric of space and time.


    ¡°Here?¡± John asked calmly.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Mhm. The trap formation is thirty yards ahead, while the youths are hiding behind thoserge boulders up ahead,¡± Iris replied. ¡°There¡¯s four of them, and the leader seems to be that Rydan we ran into a few days ago.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Its him? He seems to be one of Kadin¡¯sckeys, so Kadin must have given themand for this mission,¡± John replied thoughtfully while rubbing his chin.


    ¡°We should just leave here,¡± Adam replied. ¡°I don¡¯t want to make any trouble for you and get you involved with my n¡¯s mess. You¡¯re not involved yet, so you can still avoid their wrath.¡±


    Adam knew what John would do if the Starforge n ambushed them, and did not want his friend to be an enemy of a power as strong as the Starforge n.


    ¡°You insult me,¡± John replied while ncing over his shoulder. ¡°Do you really look down on me this much?¡±


    ¡°What? I would never look down on you,¡± Adam replied hastily.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Then why would you think of me as someone who would abandon a friend in need? Do you really consider me to be that coldhearted of a person?¡± John replied questioningly.


    ¡°Ah,¡± Adam opened his mouth to reply, but fell into silence. He finally realized that by telling John to not get involved, that he was insinuating that John was not someone who would stand up for his friends, even if his life was on the line. He had seen what John had done for him before, and realized that he truly had been insulting John.


    He nced around at Chase, who was smiling at Adam warmly. He could tell from his smile that Chase would also do his best to protect Adam, even if it meant making enemies of powerful ns.


    ¡°You can always count on us,¡± Chase replied warmly. ¡°Even if we can¡¯t protect you, we can all go down together.¡±


    Adam felt warmth in his heart at Chase¡¯s and John¡¯s words, feeling the true weight of friendship for the first time. He nced over to Iris as well, who looked at him sideways.


    ¡°What are you looking at me for?¡± Iris replied dismissively. ¡°I just go where John goes. If he wants to throw his life away for you¡­then I suppose I¡¯ll do the same.¡±


    John and Chase couldn¡¯t help but snicker lightly as they heard Iris¡¯s words, as although she appeared dismissive, they could both tell that she had started to consider Adam a friend as well. However, she would never admit that, and so she made a roundabout excuse for helping Adam.


    Adam gazed at his friends in silence for a moment before a warm smile appeared on his face. He had never expected to find family or friends again after being exiled from the Starforge n, but now knew he had found both once again.


    ¡°Thanks, guys,¡± Adam replied sincerely while wiping his eyes from any signs of tears. It had been a long time since he had felt such friendly and weing warmth from others. ¡°So what are we going to do now?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± John asked. ¡°I¡¯m going to spring their trap, and show them the true meaning of despair before sending them to the afterlife.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to trigger the formation?¡± Iris asked with surprise in her voice. ¡°Its hidden under the sand, but it¡¯s quite powerful from what I can tell.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it is, but at the same time, this is a good trial for me to gauge the Starforge n¡¯s capabilities. If even someone like Rydan can defeat me, then I might as well offer Adam and myself up for ughter when we run into Kadin,¡± John replied confidently.


    The three stared at John as if he were a madman, but sighed in defeat after a moment of silence. They knew only John was someone crazy enough to walk into a trap formation deliberately, especially one made by someone in a higher realm than them.


    However, they also knew there was no convincing him of not doing so, and so the three of them retreated several hundred yards, as they knew a raging battle was about to break out. While the others retreated, John walked forward a few dozen yards and stopped.


    Although it was almost imperceptible, he could feel the power of a formation brimming directly in front of him.


    ¡®If Iris hadn¡¯t told me of this formations exact location, I might not have spotted it in time. It seems as though the Starforge n is quite capable.¡¯


    After a short pause, John stepped forward once more, towards the formation, and the beginning of his enmity with the Starforge n.

 Chapter 547 Starforge Trap

    From a nearby distance behind some boulders, Rydan and the rest of the Starforge youths watched as John and his group approached them.


    ¡°They¡¯re almost here. Be ready to attack on mymand,¡± Rydan instructed the youths near him. They all nodded in unison, ready to move at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Suddenly, John¡¯s group stopped several dozen yards away from the formation, causing Rydan to frown. However, he remained silent as he watched them stand there and discuss something.


    ¡°They couldn¡¯t have detected the formation, right?¡± one of the youths finally asked.


    ¡°Impossible. They¡¯re Meridian Forging scrubs,¡± Rydan replied. ¡°Let¡¯s just wait a bit more.¡±


    After waiting for a short while, Rydan¡¯s eyes narrowed as he watched Adam, Iris and Chase retreat. He was just about to spring up and attack them, as it seemed like they had somehow noticed the trap. However, John remained in ce, and even moved forward, stopping Rydan from making a move.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± one of the youths asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Rydan replied. ¡°Just wait for mymand.¡±


    Rydan watched as John stepped into the formation, and clicked his tongue with frustration.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Damnit, only that idiot brute sprung the trap. We¡¯ve been exposed. Let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¡­


    John stepped forward, and the instant he did, a powerful formation sprung up all around him. A formation barrier appeared all around him, sealing all directions of escape. At the same time, a formidable pressure pushed down on him, trying to force him to his knees.


    John nodded his head in approval, as the formation truly was quite incredible. His power surged to resist the pressure, and John found that he even needed to use the full force of the Supreme Battle Art to maintain his stance.


    ¡®This formation would easily overwhelm any Early Heaven Tribtion youth, despite being set up by an Early Heaven Tribtion formations cultivator. No wonder formation cultivators are so feared. If they get time to prepare, they¡¯re basically unmatched. Just breaking through this barrier is going to take more effort than I originally imagined.¡±


    All of a sudden, four youths appeared in his vision from the front, appearing from behind arge boulder. John¡¯s calm gaze locked with Rydan¡¯s, who quickly nced over towards Adam and the rest, who were not retreating.


    John could see Rydan sigh in relief, before his gaze locked back onto John¡¯s. The three other youths also gathered next to Rydan, clearly not worried about Adam and the others escaping. They were all in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, and even though they were formations cultivators, beating Adam and the rest should be easy enough. The only slight concern was Iris with her Half-Step Heaven Tribtion cultivation, but even then they had numbers on their side.


    ¡°Are Adam and your other two friends truly so stupid?¡± Rydan asked John, as he could instantly tell what was going on. ¡°Do they really think you have the power to break free of this formation and protect them? It seems as though exiling Adam also exiled his brain,¡± Rydan mocked.<sub></sub>


    ¡°I have to admit, this formation is quite a bit better than I thought it would be,¡± John replied calmly from the inside as he resisted it with his powerful body. ¡°However, my Sect Leader made his stance clear on what would happen if your Elder targeted Adam. Are you truly not concerned of the wrath of my sect?¡±


    ¡°Haha, your sect is not worthy of notice,¡± Rydan replied dismissively. ¡°Besides, after we deal with you three and capture Adam, there will be no evidence that we were the ones to kill you,¡± Rydan replied. ¡°There are many dangerous trials in thesends. Your group just happened to sumb to one of them. How tragic¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s like that,¡± John replied. If their bodies were never found, then even the Heavenly Lightning Sect could not pin the me on the Starforge n. ¡°I suppose such a lie is fitting for cowards such as yourselves. I just have to ask, Adam is already exiled and is no longer a threat to Kadin¡¯s future ascension. Why are you so focused on capturing him?¡± John asked.


    ¡°That is not something the likes of you has to know,¡± Rydan replied dismissively. ¡°But¡­since you¡¯re about to die, I suppose I can satisfy your curiosity. He has something the n wants, and we need to interrogate him of its location.¡±


    ¡°You sent him away as a child. Couldn¡¯t you have taken what you wanted then?¡± John asked, confused at the exnation.


    ¡°I¡¯m done answering your questions. It¡¯s impressive that you can even stand inside the formation, but I suppose that freakish strength of yours helps in that regard,¡± Rydan replied, truly impressed by John¡¯s strength. ¡°However, you are far too naive if you think strength alone can break through this barrier of mine.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯repletely right,¡± John replied, agreeing with Rydan¡¯s words. ¡°Even with my strength, I can¡¯t break through this barrier as I am right now with brute force. While I have some other tricks to break through with pure strength, you are not worthy of seeing such methods.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Rydan replied with an amused and mocking tone. ¡°It almost sounds as if you are confident of being able to break out of this formation. Fine, let¡¯s see it then. Let¡¯s see how a Late Meridian Forging peasant can break out of a Starforge n¡¯s formation. You would already be dead if I had used a ughtering formation instead, so count yourself lucky enough to still be breathing.¡±<sub></sub>


    John was clearly the group¡¯s linchpin, and Rydan wanted to crush him fully before moving on to Adam. John had insulted him a few days earlier, and he wanted John to suffer as well. Crushing his ego would be the first step of making him suffer.


    On the Divine Martial Continent, the Starforge n reigned supreme when it came to formations. While Rydan was not a supreme genius of the n, he was still an Early Heaven Tribtion cultivator using the Starforge n¡¯s methods.


    There were only a handful of cultivators on the continent at the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm that could break through this formation once trapped. Such was the power of a formations expert. They had weaker upfrontbat prowess, but if allowed time to set up and n a trap, their might skyrocketed to the forefront.


    As for a Late Meridian Forging cultivator, someone a major realm lower in power, such a thing was impossible. As such, Rydan had no problem allowing John to attempt to break free, before sumbing to despair.


    The other youths all watched on as well, smug expressions stered to their faces. They were looking forward to the failure of John, and the capture of Adam and the rest.


    ¡®If I had to use brute force, I would need my Asura Transformation to break out of this barrier. However, I have the perfect battle art to do the job instead, one meant to sever apart anything in its path.¡¯


    A scythe suddenly appeared in John¡¯s hands, one which brimmed with the might of a Half-Step Heaven Tribtion grade weapon. John had obtained this scythe in the Bloodfiend Sect, and was finally strong enough to use its full might. In fact, he would soon require an even stronger scythe, but this one would do in the meantime.


    ¡°A scythe huh? Let¡¯s see what you can do then?¡± Rydan said mockingly, his arms crossed over his chest.


    John raised the scythe over his head while his eyes locked with Rydans. The scythe began to glow with a sinister red and ck light, while its power climbed higher and higher. An aura of annihtion also began to emanate from the scythe, furthering its fearsome power.


    Rydan¡¯s smug expression, as well as the other Starforge youths faded away as their instincts began to re. However, it was toote to do anything about it.


    John¡¯s scythe shed down with absolute speed, as a ck and red scythe image shot forward towards the barrier of the formation. His scythe shed out again a second time immediately after the first, both targeted at the Starforge youths standing near the barrier.


    Che!


    The first scythe image mmed into the formations wall, which offered only the briefest moment of resistance before it was cleaved apart. The scythe image¡¯s power faded away, revealing that all its might had been used to carve open this path. However, even this was beyond anything the Starforge youths had considered possible.


    A single attack from a Late Meridian Forging youth carving open the barrier? This story would never be believed by anyone, no matter who told it. However, the truth wasid bare before their very eyes, eyes that were opened wide in shock.


    Che!


    Before they could react, the second Divine Reaping Scythe cleaved through the opening made by the first.


    Che!


    Che!


    Two slicing sounds sounded out as the Divine Reaping Scythe sliced onto two of the Starforge youths. Formation barriers popped up over their skin as the ability fought against some sort of protective formation. After a brief struggle, the Divine Reaping Scythe won, and cleaved the two directly in half. These two youths had only recently ascended to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and were barely considered to be in the realm. As such, John had targeted them first.


    Thunderbody sh!


    John¡¯s body flickered like lightning, and he appeared before the third youth, whose body suddenly shed as he sped off into the distance. Clearly the youth had used some sort of formation disk to increase his speed, and his speed was quite impressive. With Rydan still close by, John did not want to chase after the youth and lose Rydan. He needed to eliminate all four without failure.


    ¡°Kirii! Bring him back here,¡± Johnmanded as Kirii suddenly appeared before him. Without hesitation, Kirii¡¯s body shed like lightning as he chased after the youth.


    Bang!


    John spun on his heels as his leg swept out. His powerful kick collided with the weapon of Rydan, who had finally recovered his wits and began to counter attack. However, his hastily mounted counter attack crumbled in face of John¡¯s full Supreme Battle Art might.


    Rydan felt as if a mountain had struck onto his weapon, which forcefully collided with his body. His body shot backwards like a cannonball while his protective formation did its best to shield him from harm. The formation red with incredible power, but even then it was not able to fully dull the attack as Rydan felt his ribs crack from the force of the attack.


    His body tumbled head over heels across the arid desert sand, carving a ditch across thend before finallying to a stop several hundred yards away. Through the excruciating pain, Rydan quickly sat up, and began to struggle to his feet.


    Bang!


    The sand in front of him suddenly exploded outwards as something mmed down onto it with incredible force. The cloud of sand quickly cleared, revealing John standing directly before Rydan. His cold gaze stared at Rydan, who felt as if he was being stared at by death itself.

 Chapter 548 Subduing Rydan

    Despite his fear, Rydan quickly stood up and unleashed a sword art at John. While formations cultivators did not excel in physicalbat, they still carried weapons such as swords and spears in case they were not able to prepare for battle ahead of time.


    John scoffed as he saw the attack. His body shed to the side as the sword light pierced by, easily dodging the attack.


    Immediately after throwing out the sword attack, Rydan threw out a formation disk beneath John¡¯s feet. At the same time, another formation disk was thrown above John¡¯s head, Rydan¡¯s actions smooth and practiced. The two formatted disks immediately linked up by some unknown energy, and quickly formed a cage around John.


    While this cage would be enough to stop a normal Early Heaven Tribtion cultivator, Rydan knew it was not enough to stop John. Without pause, he threw out four more disks, two appearing in front and behind John and two to his left and right.


    In less than a second, six formation disks, each glowing with the might of powerful formation runes, encased John from all directions. It formed a singr barrier which glowed with great power, and the runes on the disks suddenly lit up brightly as they activated with their full power.


    Che!


    Che!<sub>.</sub>


    Che!


    A series of sharp and powerful beams of formation light shot out of all six formation disks, shing directly onto John¡¯s body. The formation disks continued to shoot out sharp attacks, drowning John in a non-stop barrage of attacks. The barrage of attacks became so dense that John¡¯s body was no longer visible from the outside, and all that was visible was the onught of powerful formation Qi attacks.


    The barrage of attacks continued for a short while, while Rydan¡¯s expression slowly turned from one of panic to one of confidence.


    ¡°Idiot,¡± Rydan muttered disdainfully. ¡°You should have finished me off when you had the chance, instead of showboating before me. Now that you¡¯re trapped in this ughter formation, even if you survive, you¡¯ll be half dead.¡±


    Rydan had hastily set up this formation, but it was his most powerful quick-use ughter formation he had. He knew John was strong, but strength and durability were two different things.


    While the ughter formation continued to rain down ceaseless attacks on John, Rydan nced over towards Adam, Iris and Chase. Their calm yet amused gazes stared back, while Adam¡¯s defiant and heated gaze lingered on Rydan.<sub></sub>


    Rydan felt a bad feeling creep up as he noticed none of their gazes were panicked or fearful for John¡¯s life at all, as if they didn¡¯t even consider the possibility of him losing. Rydan quickly looked back towards the ughter formation, his eyes growing wide as the formation disks finally ran out of Qi.


    John¡¯s figure, still standing tall and firm, appeared in Rydan¡¯s view. The fading formation barrier revealed his state, which shocked Rydan beyond all belief. John¡¯s body was riddled with small cuts all over, causing blood to flow down his face, arms, and legs. He looked quite miserable, as if he was gravely injured, but a quick inspection revealed all his wounds to be superficial surface wounds.


    None of them were more than half an inch deep, something that was easily ignorable by cultivators, let alone body cultivators.


    ¡°Impossible,¡± Rydan muttered in disbelief as he took a step backwards. He had at least expected the formation to injure John to a state where he could fight him directly, but even that had not urred.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a bad formation you have there,¡± John replied calmly as he slowly started walking towards Rydan. ¡°I had allowed you to trap me with it, as the more you reveal, the better I¡¯ll be prepared when I fight Kadin. Thank you for showing me that even when cornered and unprepared, formation cultivators can still be quite powerful.¡±


    Rydan¡¯s face was filled with panic and fear as he continued to take steps away from John. At this point, he knew that fighting back was a futile effort. He instantly turned to flee, but a sh of lighting appeared in his vision as John suddenly appeared before him.<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    John¡¯s leg swept out and mmed against Rydan¡¯s left leg, but was once again hindered by the mysterious protective formation lining Rydan¡¯s body. However, the power of the attack buckled Rydan¡¯s leg, forcing him to the ground. John frowned at the resistance, and instead decided to take a more forceful approach.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang


    John quickly rained down a barrage of punches onto Rydan¡¯s chest, who at this point was no longer able to fight back. The protective formation worked its hardest to defend Rydan, but eventually ran out of energy.


    Bang!


    A punch directlynded onto Rydan¡¯s ribs, shattering several of them and causing Rydan to howl out in pain.


    Bang!


    John¡¯s leg stomped down on Rydan¡¯s left leg, instantly shattering it at the knee. Rydan once again howled out in agonized pain as he clutched his leg. John¡¯s gaze shifted towards his three friends, and he beckoned them to approach.


    The three did so, and quickly arrived next to John and Rydan. Their calm gazes stared disdainfully at Rydan, as if this oue had been ensured from the start.


    ¡°What should we do with him?¡± Adam asked after a brief moment of silence.


    ¡°We¡¯ll get as much information out of him to start with,¡± John replied calmly as his gaze returned to Rydan.


    Through the excruciating pain, Rydan gazed up definitely at John.


    ¡°You can¡¯t kill me,¡± Rydan muttered through the pain.


    ¡°Oh? Why not?¡± John asked, amusement in his voice.


    ¡°Gideon has already escaped,¡± Rydan replied confidently, although his voice was shaky with the pain he was feeling. ¡°He will inform Kadin of what you have done. You may be strong, but before Kadin, you are nothing.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± John replied calmly. ¡°Let¡¯s say your friend does escape and informs Kadin, won¡¯t he seek revenge regardless? I already killed your two friends, surely killing you won¡¯t make much of a difference.¡±


    ¡°The two you killed are low level members of the sect, from a fringe lineage and barely worth notice,¡± Rydan replied, as if the two friends who had just died were less than trash. ¡°Kadin won¡¯t care about their deaths. But I am of a much more prestigious lineage and am someone Kadin values. If you let me live, Kadin should forgive you. But if you kill me, he will hunt you four down and ughter you like animals.¡±

 Chapter 549 Rydans Demise

    John stared at Rydan for a moment, before he nced over towards Adam. ¡°Is what he says true?¡± John asked, as if he was entertaining Rydan¡¯s idea.


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s not lying. Rydan doese from one of the higher status families in the n, and his lineage is quite impressive,¡± Adam confirmed. His words caused a ray of hope to appear in Rydan¡¯s eyes, as it seemed like Adam was agreeing with his words.


    ¡°However, Kadin won¡¯t care if we ughter the lowest dreg of the n or his own father. In his eyes, any move on the Starforge n is an insult to Kadin directly, as if he¡¯s an untouchable god. He¡¯s incredibly arrogant and haughty, and would seek revenge even for the slightest insult, let alone us killing some n members,¡± Adam replied, his words instantly dashing the growing hope Rydan felt.


    ¡°Well, you heard it from Adam himself. It seems like Kadin would try to kill us regardless, so we might as well carry on as nned,¡± John said to Rydan. ¡°Besides, that friend of yours that escaped won¡¯t be gone for long.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? He¡¯s already fled away, your pet has no hope of catching him,¡± Rydan replied. ¡°Gideon is fast, even faster than me. He¡¯s long gone.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Haha,¡± John broke out into a slightughter. ¡°And Kirii is even faster than me, by quite a bit. In fact.¡±


    John¡¯s gaze shifted to the horizon from which the sun was starting to set behind. After a moment of silence, a figure appeared over a distant hill, illuminated by the setting red sun.


    In less than a few seconds, the figure darted from the distant hill to where John and the rest were standing and stopped right next to John. Kirii dropped the dead corpse of the Starforge youth that had fled, his body mangled and torn. Afterwards, he nudged his head against John¡¯s chest, who patted him in return.


    Even John couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow at what he saw, as he didn¡¯t know Kirii was capable of such brutality. However, such a thing didn¡¯t concern him, as any enemy of his deserved such a fate.<sub></sub>


    Rydan¡¯s expression of slight defiance instantly shattered as he saw the body of the Starforge youth, as hisst thing to threaten John with had been crushed.


    ¡°Now then, you chose a rather good ce to ambush us,¡± John said as he gazed around. ¡°It truly is quite a deste area, and even after all this time we haven¡¯t seen other disciples walk through it. That should give us plenty of freedom to take our time with you.¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait!¡± Rydan cried out in panic. His gaze shifted to Adam, a pleading look in his eyes. ¡°Adam, wee from the same n. We¡¯re of the same blood. Please spare me. Spare me and I¡¯ll convince Kadin and the Elders to drop their pursuit of you!¡±


    John, Iris, and Chase all remained silent as they allowed Adam to handle this however he pleased. Adam stared at Rydan, his gaze growing angrier by the second.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Despicable bastard,¡± Adam replied as he kicked Rydan in the ribs, causing him to cry out in pain. ¡°I still remember you and the other youths, your snickering expressions as the judgement of my exile was passed down. You all felt pretty great at having the greatest threat to Kadin¡¯s ascension removed, huh? And now, instead of letting me live my life in peace, you hunt me down? Fuck you!¡±


    Adam¡¯s breathing had be heavy, his chest heaving up and down as he focused on calming himself down. The rest of the group raised an eyebrow in surprise, as they had never seen Adam act like this before. Clearly the events of the past were still a sore spot for him, and rightfully so.


    ¡°Oh, and a bit of news for you. I¡¯ve seen what John does to extract information from others before,¡± Adam whispered softly into Rydan¡¯s ear, his voice more frightening than if he had been yelling. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that your next few hours alive will make you wish you were never born.¡±


    Rydan¡¯s body turned stiff upon hearing this, and he felt a chill of pure fear crawl up his spine as John¡¯s hand pierced forward towards his stomach. For the next few hours, agonized cries drifted amongst the desert wind before silence finally settled over thend.


    ¡­


    ¡°So even after all that time with Rydan, he wasn¡¯t sure exactly what the Starforge n wants from you, only that they want something,¡± John said to Adam as they sat around the campfire they had made. Night had already settled in, and instead of venturing through the unknown desert at night, the group had decided to rest instead.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure either,¡± Adam replied with a shrug. ¡°However, Kadin definitely knows.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he does,¡± John replied as he bit into some meat the group had cooked. ¡°We¡¯ll no doubt eventually run into him in thesends. In the meantime, we should rest up whenever we can to keep our energy reserves at maximum. Unlike the other youths who are all in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, our bodies are still mortal and require food and rest. We¡¯re at a disadvantage in that regard, so we should take every opportunity like this we can.¡±


    After some more conversation amongst the group, Adam set up a perimeter formation to give them warning of any potential invaders before the group went to sleep. At sunrise the next morning, the group ventured out into the arid desert once again. Wanting to stretch his legs and get some sunlight, Kirii had opted to join the group on foot as he walked alongside John.


    They had already walked for dozens of miles at this point, and ventured another fifty at this time. Nothing but the arid desert had greeted them thus far, causing them to question if this training realm of the Jade Dragon Empire was still functional, or had fallen into ruin after all these years.


    Disciples of other sects were asionally spotted in the far distance moving forward as well, but the groups stayed away from each other as they progressed deeper into thend.


    ¡°There¡¯s something in the far distance,¡± Iris suddenly chimed up, her face brimming with hopeful excitement.


    The group all gazed forward across the arid desert, but were unable to spot anything yet. However, they trusted Iris¡¯s eyes, and so the group ventured towards the object she had spoken of. After walking several dozen more miles, an object finally came into view, as did a number of other disciples groups. All of them were streaming towards the object before them, which was a massive coliseum. A small town filled with various buildings existed outside the coliseum, while arge archway stood at the front entrance of the town. Dozens of disciples were streaming past the arch every minute, with more arriving by the minute.


    It was the object of any note the group had seen since entering the Jade Dragon Empire trainingnds.


    The four different symbols of warrior, alchemist, formations expert, and healer were carved into the top of the archway, causing excitement to appear on the faces of John and the others. They all sped forward towards the arch, as did the other disciples who had spotted it from a distance. The symbols on top of the arch indicated one unmistakable thing; the first trial!

 Chapter 550 Passing Through The Arch

    Like a beacon of light in the darkness, disciples from all over flooded towards the arch and the town behind it. John and the rest followed suit as well, and the four quickly approached the arch, which seemed to be brimming with power.


    The arch was forty feet tall and forty feet wide, and spanned the length of the town entrance. Dozens of disciples flooded through the arch every minute, each pausing for a short while for some reason before continuing onwards.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± John said as he stepped below the arch, as did the rest of the group.


    Immediately, an incredibly strong and profound, yet surprisingly gentle energy invaded their bodies. It was clearly stemming from the arch above.


    John allowed the energy to invade his body, as he was powerless to resist it. It was simr to the energy that had scanned him when he and the rest had entered the realm, only it scanned even more of his body.


    The energy invaded his muscles, bones, meridians, soul and even his dantian. Such an invasion was normally something that a cultivator would struggle with all their might against, but this energy was clearly not dangerous.


    After a brief ten seconds, the energy faded away, and allowed John and the others to move forward past the arch. They moved to the side of the road, out of the way of the other disciples entering through the arch, who were all experiencing the same thing.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Adam asked curiously as the group huddled together.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± John replied.


    ¡°Ah, the mark,¡± Chase suddenly eximed as he felt a sensation below his corbone. He pulled down the neck of his robe, and quickly inspected the mark on his upper chest.


    The number, which had been zero when they all entered, had now changed. Its new value was eleven. Adam and Iris quickly inspected their mark as well, revealing their scores for the others.


    ¡°I got ten,¡± Adam eximed.


    ¡°Fifteen for me!¡± Iris said, a look of satisfaction on her face as she had scored higher than Adam.<sub></sub>


    ¡°This stupid test must be broken if you scored higher than me,¡± Adam grumbled in protest.


    ¡°Or¡­I¡¯m just more talented than you all,¡± Iris replied with a tinge of satisfied amusement.


    ¡°We have no idea what that arch just tested,¡± Adam eximed. ¡°For all we know, it could be testing how much of a pain in the ass everyone is, which would perfectly exin your score.¡±


    ¡°You¡­are such an asshole,¡± Iris harrumphed with displeasure. A look of satisfaction appeared on Adam¡¯s face, and he was about to say something else when Chase cut him off.


    ¡°We have no idea what that arch tested, but it was most likely something to do withbat talent. It scanned our bodies, our meridians, and even our dantians. These aspects mostly affect cultivation proficiency andbat prowess, while it ignores things like alchemy and formations knowledge, and specialized talents,¡± Chase said to the group as his gaze shifted to John. ¡°If my guess is right, then John should have a score even higher than us and Iris.¡±


    Adam and Iris stopped their petty squabble as they too nced over to John. In the heat of the moment, they hadpletely forgotten about hearing what his score was. John¡¯s gaze shifted to his chest as he lowered the neck of his robe for all to see his score.<sub></sub>


    Their eyes widened for a moment, before they eachughed lightly in knowing expectation.


    ¡°I should have known you would have achieved such a freakish score,¡± Adam replied. ¡°First the dantianpressions, and now this. Do you have any limits at all?


    John shrugged at Adam¡¯s question, as he couldn¡¯t be bothered to answer something like that.


    ¡°Still, John¡¯s score of thirty two all but confirms my suspicions,¡± Chase chimed up once again. ¡°The arch most likely tested natural talent, with the criteria I listed before.¡±


    ¡°Unfair,¡± Adam chimed up once again in protest. ¡°When will the formation favored trials start appearing?¡±


    ¡°When you stop whining like a child,¡± Iris replied as she rolled her eyes.


    John groaned as he heard the two begin to argue again, as he realized he would be hearing them bicker the entire time they roamed thisnd.


    ¡°What did you get?¡± a voice boomed out from behind them, causing John and the rest to look at the source of the voice. It was another group of eight disciples from another sect, who had huddled together to discuss their scores. They each wore a dark blue robe, with a crescent moon embroidered on the back of it.


    ¡°I got nine,¡± one of the disciples replied. ¡°What did you get?¡±


    ¡°Eleven!¡±


    ¡°Thirteen!¡±


    ¡°Ten!¡±


    ¡°Eleven!¡±


    ¡°Eight,¡±


    ¡°Twelve!¡±


    ¡°Fifteen!¡±


    The group listed off their scores for the others to hear, with the highest being fifteen, the same as Iris. The one who had mentioned fifteen seemed to be the leader of the group, who was a male of around eighteen or neen years of age. He had a Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivation, and his aura was quite powerful.


    In fact, John was sure that this youth would give Rael and Lily a good fight, making it all the more impressive that Iris scored the same as him. John¡¯s gaze shifted away from the group after a moment and back to his friends. His gaze was met with strange looks from Iris, Adam, and Chase, as if they were looking at a monster disguised as a human.


    ¡°The more I spend time with you, the less I understand about you,¡± Iris chimed up. She had begun to follow John based on her visions, and knew he was incredibly powerful and talented. However, each feat he disyed, even casual ones like this, continued to shatter the realm of what she thought was possible.


    Even Adam and Chase couldn¡¯t help but look at John strangely once again, which caused him to shrug his shoulders in response.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point in dwelling on my score,¡± John said as he began to walk into the town as the others followed behind quickly.

 Chapter 551 Warrior Coliseum

    The main street was lined with small houses and market buildings, as if this used to be a town mortals lived in.


    However, the markets had been long abandoned, while the small houses served as temporary shelter for the disciples that entered the town. Disciples from other sects were exploring the town, while others were making their way towards its center.


    In the very center of the town was the massive coliseum, which stood on a raised patch ofnd. The coliseum itself wasrger than the rest of the townbined, which encircled it on the outside.


    The group eventually came to a pathway that meandered up to the elevated coliseum, while three other pathways came into view as well, each branching to the side of the raised coliseum. At the end of each pathway were intricate pagodas, five stories tall. The pathway entrances were all lined with small arches no more than a dozen feet tall and wide, each marked with a different symbol.


    ¡°The four symbols again,¡± Chase said. ¡°It seems as though the coliseum is the pathway of warriors, while the three other marks lead to one of the pagodas.¡±


    ¡°Finally, a trial for formation cultivators,¡± Adam eximed happily.


    ¡°Agreed,¡± Chase replied, clearly happy as well as both of them could finally disy their strengths.


    ¡°Alright, well there¡¯s no need to waste any time then,¡± John spoke up. ¡°We¡¯ll each go down our pathway, and meet back here at this spot when we¡¯re all done.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    The others nodded their heads in agreement, and soon Adam and Chase each ventured down the pathway towards their respective trials.


    ¡°Shall we?¡± John said to Iris, who was standing next to him.


    Iris nodded her head, and the two quickly walked up the pathway of the warrior towards the coliseum. The warrior pathway was by far the most popr, as the majority of disciples were cultivators that focused on strength.


    As they approached the coliseum, the roaring of an excited crowd could be heard. John and Iris nced at each other, before they entered the main entrance of the coliseum. An expansivebat arena immediately came into view, one that was half a mile long and wide. The arena was surrounded by the coliseum, which allowed for tens of thousands of disciples to watch from above.


    Although the coliseum was only filled with several thousand disciples at the moment, it was still an incredibly lively atmosphere, something that almost reminded John of the battles back in the Bloodfiend Sect.


    In the arena below, a heated battle was taking ce between over one hundred disciples, which made the rather small arena appear packed with chaos. At the very center of the arena was a pedestal, raised several feet from the ground.


    The disciples all seemed to be battling their way towards the pedestal, on which a lone figure sat upon. It was a disciple with a cultivation in the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, although his power seemed to be restricted to a weaker level.<sub></sub>


    John¡¯s gaze swept over the coliseum stands, and he eventually found what he was looking for. He began to move towards that spot with Iris in tow, when suddenly someone stepped in front of him.


    It was a youth from another sect, the insignia depicting a raging inferno. His cultivation was at the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm. John nced at the youth with a questioning expression, as he had never seen this youth before. However, the youth ignored him, and instead was gazing at Iris.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Iris asked, her voice full of displeasure at having been blocked like this.


    ¡°My group is right over there,¡± the youth said as he pointed into the stands towards a group of five males and two females, all in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm. ¡°We¡¯d love to have you join our group as well.¡±


    ¡°Huh? Why would I do that?¡± Iris asked, her voice tinged with confusion.


    ¡°Seeing that you and your¡­friend¡­are only in the Meridian Forging Realm, someone as beautiful as you will quickly be preyed upon in thesends unless you have proper protection,¡± the youth replied valiantly as he nced sideways at John, clearly indicating that her currentpany was too weak to keep her safe. ¡°You¡¯ll get much farther in these trials with us. You should join us instead.¡±


    John raised an eyebrow at the youths¡¯ straightforward words, although he understood where the youth wasing from. Iris truly was a beautiful girl, and so many youths would try to get on her good graces. Clearly this was one youth attempting to court Iris to his group with the promise of protection and rewards.<sub></sub>


    Iris¡¯s stoic expression quickly broke as she burst into heartyughter. Herughter was incredibly boisterous, as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.


    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± the youth asked with growing agitation. He could tell that Iris was mocking him with herughter.


    ¡°Come on John, let¡¯s go. This idiot clearly doesn¡¯t know what he¡¯s saying,¡± Iris said to John as she wiped tears ofughter from her eyes.


    ¡°Tch, useless bitch. I offer you a great deal and you spit on it,¡± the youth replied angrily, instantly showing his true colors. ¡°You or your friend better not join this trial, or I¡¯ll show you just what you passed up on.¡±


    Iris¡¯ face instantly darkened, but she pulled on John¡¯s hand before he could do anything and escorted him away from the other disciple. She knew John¡¯s quick temperament when it came to his friends, and dragged him away before he could do anything.


    John allowed himself to be brought away by Iris, but couldn¡¯t help questioning her.


    ¡°Why¡¯d you just let that man talk to you like that?¡± John asked. ¡°I could have had him groveling before you in an instant.¡±


    ¡°I know you would have,¡± Iris replied, her gaze bing heated. ¡°Which is why I dragged you away. When we enter this trial¡­that piece of shit is mine. I want to make him grovel before me personally.¡±


    John raised an eyebrow in surprise at what he was hearing, as it was the first time he had seen such anger from Iris, or heard such words from her. However, he had only been friends with her for a short while, and didn¡¯t really know her all too well yet.


    ¡®It seems Iris has just as short a temper as me when ites to certain things,¡¯ John mused. He nodded his head after a short moment of silence, agreeing to her words.


    ¡°Are you confident in beating him though?¡± John asked, as the youth had a higher cultivation than her.


    ¡°I have my ways. Just you watch,¡± Iris replied confidently. It reminded John of the absolute confidence he had seen from Iris back in the entrance exam¡¯s when she had been fighting Aaron. She had toyed with him at the time, despite Aaron being the most aggressive and powerful youth in the exam. Clearly she was incredibly strong herself, but had never been able to show her strengths to John since that time.


    ¡°Just make sure he suffers thoroughly,¡± John replied.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I will,¡± Iris replied confidently.


    ¡°Good. Then I look forward to it,¡± John replied with a smile before he began walking over to a certain spot in the crowd.


    ¡°Do situations like that happen often to you?¡± John asked Iris as they ventured into the stands.


    ¡°It happens far too often,¡± Iris replied with a harumph of displeasure. ¡°I¡¯ve grown somewhat used to it though.¡±


    ¡°I suppose beauty does attract all sorts of troublesome people,¡± John replied as they arrived before a group of youths, who all had cultivations in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm. They nced at the new arrivals, and quickly sprung to their feet to greet John.


    ¡°John! Ah, I mean General¡± one of them eximed hastily. It was a young male who had short brown hair, a round face, and earsrger than expected for his head size.


    ¡°No need for such useless titles,¡± John replied dismissively as he sat next to the group, which was a group of five Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples. They had clearly been here for a while already, and John wanted to get some information from them regarding this trial.


    ¡°So, it seems as though you¡¯ve all been here for a while. What exactly is this trial?¡± John asked curiously as he watched the battle rage on below. A protective formation barrier constantly flickered with power as it blocked attacks from reaching the stands.


    ¡°It¡¯s a free for all fight, with the only goal being to sit upon that pedestal at the end of the trial,¡± the disciple exined. ¡°Each roundsts two hours, and the one sitting upon the pedestal at the end of the hour is awarded Jade Mark Points.¡±

 Chapter 552 Hareu

    ¡°Jade Mark Points?¡± John asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s what everyone has started calling the scores branded on us,¡± the youth replied.


    ¡°Ah, that makes sense,¡± John replied while nodding his head. It was the Jade Dragon Empire after all, and the symbols branded into them were jade green as well. His gaze lingered on the arena below, in which the battles were quite heated, but no one was making any significant moves yet.


    ¡°I¡¯m Hareu, by the way,¡± the youth introduced himself, as he had never done so with John formally before. Since John was a first year and Hareu was a second year, such formality was not expected. However, John had disyed his freakish strength when fighting Lyeon, and strength was all that truly mattered when it came to respect in the cultivation world.


    ¡°This is Haily, Belmont, and Gale,¡± Hareu said as he introduced the other members of his group. John nodded his head at the others, while Iris introduced herself to them afterwards. After the introductions, the group continued to converse while watching the trials below.


    ¡®It seems as though the first true Warrior Mark trial is a trial amongst the participants of this trial. I figured it would be against enemies or obstacles created by the trials, but I suppose fighting against the other disciples is the truest test of talent after all.¡¯


    ¡°Why are they mostly staring at each other?¡± John asked after a moment of watching the fights carry on below. While some of the battles were heated, most of the one hundred participants were keeping to themselves and being defensive.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°That¡¯s because the only goal is to sit on the pedestal at the end of the two hour mark,¡± the youth replied. ¡°Fighting and draining your energy early on will all but guarantee you¡¯re not the one to sit on the pedestal, so everyone is conserving their energy. While a few of them are confident enough to fight until the end, not all are so bold.¡±


    John once again nodded his head, as the exnation made sense. His gaze shifted back to the one sitting on the pedestal in the very center of the arena, who had a calm expression on his face, as if the hundred other trial participants were of no concern to him.


    ¡°Who is he?¡± John asked as he gazed at the youth on the pedestal. ¡°He seems quite confident.¡±


    ¡°Oh, him. That¡¯s Alderen of the Cinderme n,¡± Hareu replied.


    ¡°The Cinderme n? Never heard of them. Are they strong?¡± John asked. He had not heard of most of the sects and ns of the alliance, so not hearing of the Cinderme n was not unexpected.


    ¡°Indeed they are,¡± Hareu replied. ¡°When ites to their disciples, they¡¯re just as strong as our sect, maybe even stronger. From what I¡¯ve gathered from the others around here, Alderen is in the top five of his n, and his power is strong enough to give Rael and Lily a good fight.¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°That strong, huh?¡± John replied as he gazed at Alderen. As if he could tell he was being stared at by a strong opponent, Alderen opened his eyes and gazed into the stands. His gaze locked onto John¡¯s, and a slight look of surprise appeared in his eyes before he closed his eyes once more.


    ¡°He¡¯s definitely quite strong,¡± John replied after exchanging gazes with Alderen. He could truly tell that he was indeed as strong as Rael and Lily, or at least in the same ballpark of strength.


    ¡°From how you describe Alderen, it seems as though he¡¯s established his name and strength already,¡± John said to Hareu.


    ¡°You would be correct,¡± Hareu replied. ¡°I arrived here about ten hours ago, and Alderen was sitting on the center tform at that time. He¡¯s been up there ever since, and had not once been dethroned.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s been up there for so long? Can he indefinitely earn points by sitting there?¡± John asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s some kind of limit, but at the moment the points he¡¯s obtaining seems to be enough to entice someone as powerful as him to stay,¡± Hareu replied.<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The sounds of fighting continued to wash over the arena as the time limit started approaching the two-hour mark, and the fighting became more frantic. An hourss hovering above the arena dictated the time limit, which was visible for all to see.


    In the heated frenzy of battle, a lone disciple suddenlyunched an attack at Alderen, who calmly raised his arm and unleashed an incredibly powerful me battle art. The two arts collided, and the attacking disciple was instantly overwhelmed by Alderens power. His bodyunched across the arena,ing to a smoldering stop on the other side.


    ¡°Why are they not working together to knock that Alderen off the center tform?¡± Iris chimed in while watching the battle.


    ¡°Because they¡¯re all from different sects and ns, and no one trusts each other. Also, these are the top geniuses from each power, and doing an underhanded thing such as ganging up on their opponent is beneath them and their pride,¡± John exined.


    ¡°So have you tried fighting in the arena yet?¡± John asked Hareu after a short pause in their conversation.


    ¡°Once, when I initially arrived ten hours ago,¡± Hareu replied, his mood bing a bit downcast. ¡°But I wasn¡¯t even able to cause Alderen to move even slightly, so I¡¯m just waiting until he leaves, and then I¡¯ll try my luck again. The third and fourth years are quite lucky to have the true advantage in thesends, while the rest of us first and second years pick up the scraps.¡±


    ¡°I have just one question though. I can tell his cultivation is at the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, yet he seems a bit weaker than that. What¡¯s going on?¡± John asked Hareu.


    ¡°Ah, that. That¡¯s because the arena normalizes all cultivations to the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, making it an even fight for all the disciples,¡± Hareu exined, before his gaze shifted to John and became quite awkward. Both John and Iris were in the Meridian Forging Realm, and were amongst the only few disciples in these entirends who had cultivations that low.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is,¡± John mused out loud, ignoring the awkward look from Hareu. ¡°The Jade Dragon Empirend was far more powerful than we are now, so Early Heaven Tribtion must have been the absolute minimum requirement to enter thesends, and so it normalizes to that level.¡±


    John remained silent as he watched the battles belowe to a frenzied end. The disciples all battled amongst themselves, and thest remaining victors tried their luck against Alderen. However, his strength was beyond what any of them could manage, and his powerful mes reigned supreme once more.


    Thest grain of sand in therge hourss above the arena dropped down, and a resounding gong sound bellowed out over the arena, signifying the round¡¯s end. The battered and bruised participants all made their way out of the arena, looking to tend to their wounds and lowered energy reserves.


    On the central pedestal sat Alderen, who seemed rxed and unbothered, as if the fighting he had just been a part of was of no trouble at all. With the previous round ended, the new round was open until one hundred participants entered the arena.


    ¡°Well, time to start umting points,¡± John said out loud as he stood up. His gaze shifted to Iris, who stood up alongside him as well.


    ¡°After I gather the points I need, I¡¯ll clear the way for you to do the same,¡± John said to her. Iris smiled back at John, truly appreciative at hearing such words.


    ¡°Just remember, that bastard from before is mine,¡± Iris replied with disdain as she recalled the young man from before.


    ¡°He¡¯s all yours,¡± John replied with a smile as he jumped from his seat in the stands andnded powerfully on the arena below. The first true Warrior Mark trial of the Jade Dragon Realm Empirends was about to begin.

 Chapter 553 Round Start

    The start of the next round caused the atmosphere in the crowd to get heated once again, as new participants sought to join the fight.


    However, with Alderens disy, many others became hesitant to do so. Alderen had remained undefeated for almost a full day now, with no one able to knock him from his spot. However, they assumed that he would eventually leave, at which point they would join the fight and unleash their full strength.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    However, Alderens might thus far did not dash the hopes of all, as dozens on neers took up the task to dethrone him. These were all geniuses from their respective sects and ns, and most of them carried themselves with pride and self-confidence. They would never cower before even undertaking the challenge.


    Amongst the neers thatnded on the arena was an eye-catching pair of youths, mainly due to their cultivations. The eyes of the others in the arena, as well as those in the stands widened slightly as they saw the cultivations of the neers, before snickers ofughter echoed out throughout the arena.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Hahaha, there¡¯s actually someone in the Meridian Forging Realm that entered thesends,¡± a taunting jeer came from the stands above.


    ¡°Not just one, but two idiots at the Meridian Forging Realm showed up. What power are they from, that they¡¯re desperate to use Meridian Forging cultivators?¡± another jeered.


    ¡°They¡¯re from the Heavenly Lightning Sect,¡± another chimed in loudly for all to hear. ¡°I thought that sect was quite powerful, but from the looks of it they¡¯ve fallen on hard times.¡±


    As if he had expected such taunts, Johnpletely ignored the insults being hurled at him. He had be used to such reactions already, as he had been fighting an uphill cultivation battle his entire life. However, Iris, who was not used to such treatment, couldn¡¯t help but clench her fist as she felt her blood boil with rage.


    ¡°What a bunch of assholes,¡± Iris uttered coldly. ¡°They sit up therefortably instead of joining the fight, and have the gall to insult us?¡±


    ¡°Just ignore them,¡± John replied calmly. ¡°They¡¯re not even worth getting angry over. Lions do not concern themselves with the opinions of the sheep.¡±<sub></sub>


    Iris felt herself calm down slightly after seeing how undisturbed John was. His words did make sense, and she quickly regained her calm and focus.


    ¡°Haha, did I just hear that correctly? Did you just call yourself a lion?¡± a mocking voice sounded out from behind John and Iris, which they turned to look at. Iris¡¯s expression instantly darkened as they stared at the unscrupulous youth from before, who had insulted both her and John.


    ¡°If anything, you¡¯re not even worthy of being sheep,¡± the youth continued. ¡°You¡¯re more like shit made to fertilize thends so that others may grow.¡±


    The youths¡¯ words were quite clear in their meaning. John and Iris were mere stepping stones, meant to be stepped on and cut down by those stronger than them, acting as fertilizer to help the true geniuses grow.


    ¡°I thought I made myself clear,¡± the youth said as he slowly approached John and Iris. His actions caused the others to look over as well, curious as to what was going on. ¡°But since you didn¡¯t listen, you only have yourself to me for what happens next. You really should have taken me up on my offer.¡±


    ¡°You sure you¡¯ll be fine against him?¡± John asked Iris again.<sub></sub>


    Although Iris was strong, and had specialized eye talents, she was still only a Half-Step Heaven Tribtion cultivator. Her opponent was a full fledged Early Heaven Tribtion cultivator, and jumping realms was an incredibly difficult thing to do. Her opponent was a genius from his own power and not a pushover, making the task even more difficult.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Iris replied calmly, doing her best to maintain her wits and control her anger. ¡°This idiot will look down on me. That should give me the opening I need.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then let me see a good show,¡± John replied, looking forward to watching Iris¡¯s battle. Each roundsted two hours, and so he was in no rush to start his fight against Alderen. The youths from the stands continued to slowly pour into the arena as the number slowly approached one hundred participants.


    After a few minutes, the one hundredth participant entered the arena, at which point the formation barrier around the arena lit up once more. Another gong sounded out, indicating the start of the next round.


    A bizarre energy washed over the arena in an instant, which forcefully lowered the cultivations of all those in the arena to the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm. It was clearly to normalize the fights, and reward those who were the most talented.


    ¡®This must be the energy Hareu was talking about earlier. I can sense all the other cultivators are now in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, but unfortunately it did not raise my or Iris¡¯s cultivation to that realm. We¡¯re still stuck in the Meridian Forging Realm, which confirms my suspicions I had earlier regarding the talent level of the Jade Dragon Empire.¡¯


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The start of the round resulted in a flurry of attacks being unleashed, as some attempted to make moves right away. Others focused no defending themselves, doing their best to conserve their energy for thest push at the end of the round.


    ¡°You still had time to leave before, but now you¡¯re trapped here with me. You can only me yourself for what¡¯s toe,¡± the boy before Iris said as his aura suddenly red with power.


    Anticipating the good show toe, John stepped off to the side as he watched Iris prepare to battle. Without warning, a disciple from another sect appeared behind John and mmed his weapon down onto him. The youth was using a great hammer, and the power contained in the weapon was monstrous.


    Without turning around, John raised one arm above his head as he channeled his Supreme Battle Art and Limiter of Power.


    Bang!


    The hammer mmed down onto John¡¯s outstretched hand and came to aplete stop. The shockwave from the attack knocked the youth backwards, while the rest of the nearby youths, as well as those in the stands looked on with shock and awe.


    Bang!


    John suddenly raised his hand and pointed at the great hammer youth.


    Lightning Disintegration!


    An incredibly powerful and potent lightning beam exploded out of John¡¯s finger and mmed towards the youth, who was still recovering from his previous shock. His great hammer swept out powerfully to meet the attack, but was swept aside in an instant by the lightning beam.


    ¡°Gah!¡±


    The youth cried out in pain as his body was tossed across the arena, finallying to a halt as he mmed into the formation barrier surrounding the arena. A slight trail of smoke rose up from his body as he struggled to stand up, while those in the entire arena and stands above looked on with mouths agape.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be watching my friend fight,¡± John said out loud for all to hear. ¡°Do not disturb her, and do not disturb me. Or the same fate awaits you.¡±

 Chapter 554 Iriss Fight

    Silence descended over the arena as they all stopped to look at John. He was a Late Meridian Forging cultivator, yet he had just easily defeated an Early Heaven Tribtion cultivator. They had never seen such a thing before, and didn¡¯t know if trickery was at hand to make such a thing possible.


    However, when they thought back to how he had effortlessly blocked a full powered attack from that youths great hammer, they couldn¡¯t help but shiver at the thought of them blocking the attack in such a way. If they had attempted to do such a thing, their arms would have most likely shattered, despite being in a higher realm.


    Alderen opened his eyes as he gazed at John for a moment, looking at him in a new light. After a short while, he closed his eyes once again, resuming his calm meditation.


    Meanwhile, the youth who had threatened Iris and John couldn¡¯t help but pause as well, his wary eyes looking at John with both fear and confusion. As a genius of his sect, he almost always got what he wanted when he asked.


    Iris¡¯s refusal to join his group was an insult to his pride, and he hade into the arena to make her regret her decision. He had expected this to be an easy thing, but had clearly underestimated his opponents.


    However, John¡¯s words clearly indicated that he was not going to interfere with their battle, causing the youth to sigh in slight relief.


    A satisfied smirk appeared on Iris¡¯s face as she saw the youth before her be knocked down a peg.


    ¡°What are you smirking at?¡± the youth barked out, his agitation climbing. He did not like the way Iris was looking at him, as if the fight had already been concluded. She still had a lower cultivation than him, and the youth did not expect her to also have freakishbat prowess.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°I¡¯m smirking at you,¡± Iris replied. ¡°Or more, the thought of you begging me for mercy in a short while.¡±


    ¡°You bitch! Die!¡± the youth yelled out angrily, his anger instantly ignited by Iris¡¯s words. He instantly shot towards her, his aura climbing powerfully as he prepared to unleash his first attack.


    An amused smile lingered on Iris¡¯s face as she too began to move, while her eyes began to glow with a profound glimmer. The youth arrived before her and instantly shed his sword down towards her. He was holding nothing back, and it was clear that in his rage he did not care if he killed Iris or not.


    Che!


    The sword sliced forward, narrowly missing Iris by the smallest of margins. In fact, some in the crowd winced as they watched the attack, as they had assumed it hadnded on her. Watching from nearby to prevent any interference, John smirked in knowing at what was toe. Iris had done the same to Aaron, who found fighting her to be the most frustrating thing in his life.


    Bang!


    The sword sliced down and hit the arena below, as the contact on Iris¡¯s body that was expected did not happen. The youth¡¯s eyes widened slightly, as he had expected this attack of his tond. However, his opponent has been able to mysteriously dodge in the perfect manner at the perfect time, almost as if she had seen through the attack.<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    Iris¡¯s right foot swung out, mming into the waist of the youth. The youth shot backwards a few dozen yards beforeing to a stop. His heated gaze stared back at Iris, while his anger continued to climb.


    ¡°Huh? You took no damage at all from that kick?¡± Iris said to the youth with slight surprise. ¡°Ah, you are the Heaven Tribtion Realm afterall. I guess I can¡¯t treat this like a game.¡±


    A pair of straight daggers suddenly appeared in her hands, each about a foot long. They were ck in color, and gave off a slightly menacing aura, as if they had imed many lives before.


    John raised an eyebrow as he stared at the daggers in Iris¡¯s hands.


    ¡®Dagger¡¯s are normally bad weapons, as their short range is a great disadvantage. However, with Iris¡¯s speed, as well as her eye talents, she can easily read an opponent and break through their openings better than anyone else could. Getting close enough to use daggers on an opponent may be hard for others, but for Iris it should be the best thing. Not only that, but the light weight of the daggers ensures she can maintain her top speed, further emphasizing her strengths. Truly a good fit.¡¯


    Meanwhile, the youth¡¯s anger exploded even further, as Iris¡¯s words clearly indicated she had been looking down on him.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You dare look down on me?¡± the youth cried out, his reasoning and rationalepletely thrown aside in his rage. ¡°Die!¡±


    The smirk on Iris¡¯s face appeared once again as she watched her opponent quickly approach.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t die too quickly and disappoint me,¡± Iris replied with self-confidence as she too dashed forward, fully disying herbat prowess for the first time.


    The two cultivators appeared before each other, their weapons arcing out towards each other.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    The youth unleashed a flurry of sharp and quick attacks, each with the power to im Iris¡¯s life. However, her body moved with perfect timing and grace, while her daggers did the same. Each blow from the youth was met with the perfect counter of her daggers, allowing her to block them with the least amount of effort.


    Those in the crowd and arena couldn¡¯t help but feel slight shock once again as they watched Iris hold her own against someone in a higher cultivation realm than her. Unlike John, her power and aura was clearly weaker than her opponent, but she made up for that difference with incredible speed and perfect movements.


    ¡°How is she doing that?¡± a female youth in the crowd asked her nearby friends. ¡°Her movements are absolutely perfect.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± one of her friends replied. ¡°I can¡¯t see a single w in any of her movements. It¡¯s as if she can see the fight take ce before it even happens, and reacts in the perfect manner.¡±


    ¡°Incredible,¡± another youth in the group replied. ¡°Just who are these two? One of them can easily overwhelm an opponent in a higher major realm than him, while the other can hold her own as well. Where did these twoe from?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re from the Heavenly Lightning Sect,¡± another youth replied, clearly recognizing the embroidered insignia on John and Iris¡¯s robes.


    ¡°The Heavenly Lightning Sect? I¡¯ve never heard of such level of geniusesing from that sect.¡±


    ¡°They must have just arrived at the sect recently. Afterall, their ages and cultivations mean they¡¯re still first years, unlike the rest of us.¡±


    ¡°True. I was wondering why any sect would send first years who are still in the Meridian Forging Realm, and figured the Heavenly Lightning Sect was incredibly short on geniuses and sent whoever they could. It seems as though I was wrong.¡±


    Simr conversations broke out amongst those in the crowd as they watched the battle between Iris and her opponent rage on. The youth continued to unleash strong attacks with the intent to im Iris¡¯s life. However, he didn¡¯t dare userge area of attack battle arts, as that would impact the others in the arena. If he did that, he would draw the collective ire of everyone he had attacked, and even in his rage he knew that was suicide.


    However, his single target attacks were unable to even scratch Iris, as her movements continued to be wless, as if she saw through every single attack of his. Meanwhile, an asional counter attack from Iris¡¯s daggers would fly out, shing the skin of the youth. Small beads of blood began to trickle down his arms and legs from the wounds, but they were all superficial.


    ¡°Stop running you bitch,¡± he barked out angrily. ¡°These measly attacks of yours couldn¡¯t defeat me even if you sliced me up another thousand times. You have no hope of beating me by just running.¡±


    While saying all this, he sliced out with another attack, which was wlessly dodged by Iris. Her smiling face gazed back at the him, as if she was anticipating something. A bad feeling washed over the youth, who suddenly felt his strength slowly but surely begin to sap from his body.


    ¡°I know my attacks can¡¯t defeat you,¡± Iris said smugly while watching her opponent begin to stumble slightly. ¡°But the poison on my daggers sure can.¡±

 Chapter 555 Poison Blades

    ¡°Poison?¡± the youth muttered lightly, his face turning slightly white at the thought. ¡°Impossible, how could I have missed such a thing? You¡¯re lying,¡± the youth cried out in slight panic.


    ¡°You¡¯ll find out if I¡¯m lying or not soon enough,¡± Iris replied calmly, as if her opponent was already in her clutches.


    Normally when a cultivator used poison on their weapons, it was readily apparent to the opponent. Poison users would normally only be able to get one or two good attacks in during a fight, as their use of poison indicated they were most likely weakerbat prowess wise. As such, they would need to use arge enough amount of poison on their des to overwhelm their opponent with just a strike or two.


    From the side, John raised an eyebrow at Iris¡¯s words, as even he did not notice the poison at first. However, he was not fighting Iris, and so had no reason to carefully inspect her des at the time.


    ¡®With her incredible speed and remarkable eye talents, Iris was able tond dozens of attacks. Although each attack was light and only barely broke skin, it was enough for the small amount of poison on her de to work its way into her opponent¡¯s system. After each attack, she would retreat for a moment and stealthily reapply her poison, starting the process all over again. Most opponents would take notice when she reapplied the poison, but her movements and ability to dodge all attacks has frustrated her opponent to the point that his anger shrouded his judgment and vision in this fight. Iris truly is an annoying opponent to fight, and one could almost be frustrated to death by her.¡¯


    The youth continued to feel his strength slowly drain from his body, and quickly realized that Iris was telling the truth. He jumped backwards away from her and took out a bottle, which contained dozens of pills. The pills were all different sizes and colors, and the youth quickly swallowed them all without regard.


    ¡°Trying to neutralize the poison with antidote pills?¡± Iris asked the youth with a smirk on her face. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that won¡¯t be possible.¡±


    ¡°I have hundreds of different poison neutralizing pills,¡± the youth replied as he continued to swallow more and more pills. ¡°One of them can surely work against your pitiable poison.¡¯<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Good luck,¡± Iris replied while chuckling lightly, as if she knew none of his pills would work.


    Instead of pressing her advantage while the youth swallowed pills, Iris stood there patiently as she watched him frantically down the pills. If the youth was not a cultivator that was able to instantly convert pills into medicinal Qi within his stomach, his stomach would have already exploded from the inside from the amount of pills he had consumed.


    While Iris waited patiently, John casually walked over to her and stood beside her. His gaze focused on the youth as well.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you press the advantage now?¡± John asked questioningly. ¡°What if he finds the antidote to the poison you have.¡±


    Iris nced at John as a smile appeared on her face. ¡°He won¡¯t,¡± she replied.


    ¡°How can you be so sure,¡± John asked.


    ¡°Because this poison was made specially for me,¡± Iris replied as she nced back at the youth. ¡°And ording to that person, this poison can only be neutralized by the most expensive of antidote pills, or by cultivation alone. However, you need to be in the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm to neutralize it by cultivation alone, so this youth cannot do that.¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°Made specially for you?¡± John asked. ¡°And its that high quality of a poison? Who do you know that can make such poisons?¡±


    ¡°You already know them,¡± Iris replied as she smirked at John.


    ¡°I know them?¡± John asked in confusion, before knowing realization hit him. ¡°Chase?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Chase,¡± Iris replied.


    ¡°Chase can make such poison pills?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Apparently he can. He told me that when he was in the Bloodfiend Sect, the only reason the sect allowed him to continue his pill studies was because he had a heavenly talent for making poison pills, which the sect valued highly. It has something to do with his Wood Constitution, which allows him to breed specific poison nts, whichbined with his alchemy talents allows him to make incredible never before seen poisons,¡± Iris replied, exining the whole thing.


    ¡°What? Chase never told me any of that about himself,¡± John replied, fully surprised at what he had heard. ¡°Why didn¡¯t he tell me that?¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°No idea,¡± Iris replied. ¡°Maybe he didn¡¯t want you to look down on him, knowing that his greatest talent is making poisons to kill people.¡±


    John fell into silence upon hearing Iris¡¯s reply, as it did make sense when it came to Chase. He detested the Bloodfiend Sect, what they did to him, and also hurting people. Naturally he didn¡¯t want to reveal such a cruel talent to John at the time. However, it seemed as though he was finallyfortable enough to reveal the truth to the group, or Iris at least.


    ¡°Wait, why did he only tell you about his talents?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Because I asked him if he could make poison for me,¡± Iris replied.


    ¡°I had expected to get some decent poisons from him, but never expected his talent in the poison making art to be so great. All the better for me though,¡± Iris replied cheerfully as she watched the youth frantically down pills, but to no avail. ¡°However, with how little I apply to avoid detection on my des, I need to hit my opponent dozens of times which is quite the hassle.¡±


    Her gaze shifted back towards John, her vision lingering on his arm next to her.


    ¡°Forget about it,¡± John replied calmly as he instantly saw through her actions. ¡°I don¡¯t care what kind of poison you have. It won¡¯t work on me.¡±


    Iris¡¯s face turned slightly red upon having been exposed, as it was just a fleeting thought as she considered if the poison would be enough for her to ovee John¡¯s freakish strength.


    ¡°Haha, I would never think to do such a thing,¡± Iris replied with nervousughter. ¡°After all, I¡¯ve already sworn to follow you for life. Why would I try to do anything to you.¡±


    ¡°Mhm, sure,¡± John replied dismissively. While he knew Iris had no intentions to harm him, he also knew of her mischievous nature. Just as she did with Adam, a time would surelye when she tried to knock John down a peg or two. However, such a thing was virtually impossible when it came tobat.


    ¡°Will the poison kill him?¡± John asked as he watched the youth continue to grow weaker.


    ¡°No, its mostly a paralysis pill ording to Chase,¡± Iris replied.


    ¡°Good,¡± John replied with a head nod. ¡°We don¡¯t want to ignite the anger of the entire Alliance by openly killing a fellow member. Now go and finish him off, he seems like he¡¯s about to copse at any moment.¡±


    ¡°Aye, captain,¡± Iris replied as she dashed forward towards the youth.


    ¡°You bitch! Give me the antidote,¡± the youth yelled out as he watched Iris approach. He remained on his feet and stood tall, trying his best to look strong. However, Iris knew he was only feigning, and was on hisst legs.


    A smug smile appeared on her face as she stopped before the youth, just a few feet from him. However, despite her close distance, the youth did not make a single move.


    ¡°You know, I could kill you right now for those words you said earlier,¡± Iris replied coldly, her narrowed gaze sending a shiver down the defenseless youths spine. ¡°However, since I can¡¯t openly do that, I¡¯ll do the next best thing.¡±


    Without waiting for the youths reply, Iris wound her right foot back behind her body, as if she was preparing to kick something with her greatest strength. The youth¡¯s eyes opened wide as he realized what was about to happen, and his face filled with frightened panic.


    ¡°No, no, no, wait, wait, wait,¡± the youth cried out hastily, but his pleas were met with silence as Iris¡¯s foot flung forward.


    Bang!


    A muffled bang resounded over the arena, causing all those watching to wince, especially the men. Although they were not the one kicked, they couldn¡¯t help but sympathize for the youth. A shriek of pain left the youths mouth, before his face turned white and he copsed, unconscious from the pain he had felt.


    The battle between Iris and the youth hade to an end, with the result shocking those watching once again. John smiled at Iris as she returned to his side, before his gaze shifted to the center of the tform, locking onto Alderen.


    As if noticing his gaze, Alderen¡¯s eyes opened and stared back at John. A heated expression appeared in Alderen¡¯s eyes as he watched John slowly approach.

 Chapter 556 Shall We Get Started?

    Throughout the arena, dozens of fights were taking ce amongst the participants who had joined the trial. By now, over twenty fighters had been eliminated, either by knocking out of the arena, or by incapacitation.


    After eliminating her opponent, Iris did the opposite of what was expected of her. After exchanging some words with John, she jumped out of the arena to return to her seat. Her actions surprised all, as they had expected her to fight for the central pedestal.


    However, Iris knew better than to attempt such a thing for several reasons. The first was that she was not strong enough to im the tform in the center and win the round. While she was incredibly quick and had poison daggers, that would not be enough to overwhelm someone like Alderen. In the face of someone as strong as Alderen, all she would be able to do is run.


    Secondly, she had only joined the fight to defeat the crass youth that had insulted both her and John. With that sessfully aplished, she retired from the arena, as she knew that as long as John was in the trial, any hope of victory was impossible.


    As she returned to her seat next to the other Heavenly Lightning Sect youths, Iris was greeted with warm smiles, while the youths looked at her in a new light.


    ¡°Good job in there,¡± Hareu said to Iris.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Iris replied with a cheerful smile.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Why did you leave though? Don¡¯t you have any interest in trying to win the round? Although such a thing is impossible with Alderen sitting there, it¡¯s still a good opportunity to gainbat experience,¡± Hareu asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point in trying to win with him in the arena,¡± Iris replied calmly as her eyes locked onto John¡¯s back.


    ¡°I understand,¡± Hareu replied with a defeated tone. ¡°I too thought I was strong until I entered thesends and encountered someone like Alderen. All we can do is wait until he leaves, and hope someone else as freakish as him doesn¡¯t show up.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong. That Alderen is incredibly strong. I could tell that much just by being close to him,¡± Iris replied, her eyes remaining on the arena below. ¡°But I wasn¡¯t talking about Alderen.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not talking about Alderen?¡± Hareu asked with slight confusion in his voice. ¡°Then who are you talking about? Did you see someone else that¡¯s as strong as Alderen while you were down there?¡±


    ¡°Just be quiet and watch,¡± Iris replied as a small smile appeared on her face. ¡°A good show is about to start.¡±<sub></sub>


    On the arena below, John calmly began to approach Alderen, whose calm gaze stared back. Alderen was the only opponent worthy of John¡¯s attention, and also sat on the central pedestal that John desired to im.


    John¡¯s calm gaze turned into a frown as he felt someone appear behind them. They had appeared silently, and seemed to be skilled in stealth and assassination arts. If not for his incredible senses, he would have not noticed their presence in time. A sharp de appeared in the stealthy assant¡¯s hands as it thrust towards John¡¯s back. While the attack would not be lethal for him if itnded, it would most definitely take him out of this fight and take some time to heal.


    ¡°It seems as though my previous disy was not deterrent enough,¡± John sighed as lightning nodes suddenly appeared in the air around him.


    ¡°Shit!¡±


    A cry from behind him echoed out at the appearance of the lightning nodes, which unleashed a barrage of lightning attacks at the assant.


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The barrage of lightning beams mmed into the arena tform as they were narrowly dodged by the stealthy assant, who seemed to specialize in both stealth and speed. John frowned as he noticed his opponent dodge the attacks, as he had been hoping to eliminate them in one fell swoop. He turned around to look at his opponent, who had put some distance between themselves.


    It was a young female youth, who had long brown hair and hazel eyes. Her face was quite attractive, but her sharp features made her look icy and cold. She wore pitch ck clothes, which would blend into the night unseen.


    ¡®She¡¯s clearly from some sort of power that specializes in stealth arts. Now that she¡¯s been exposed, she¡¯s as good as useless though,¡¯ John mused before a frown once again appeared on his face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look down on me, asshole!¡± a cry of anger from behind John boomed out, while a great hammer mmed down onto John, its might augmented by a powerful battle art.


    ¡°Tch!¡± John clicked his tongue as he dodged to the side, narrowly dodging the hammer that mmed against the arena with great force. After dodging the attack, John¡¯s gaze shifted to the youth who had attacked him who was a familiar opponent.


    The youth¡¯s robes were charred from lightning damage, while his body was bloodied and charred slightly as well. It was the youth he had beaten before, who had seemingly regained consciousness and sought revenge against John.


    ¡°I already beat you before, why would you try your luck against me again?¡± John asked.


    ¡°I was holding back due to your low cultivation, as I didn¡¯t want to kill you,¡± the youth replied with agitation and anger in his voice. Clearly he felt embarrassed from losing to someone as weak cultivation wise as John. ¡°I won¡¯t be making the same mistake twice. You¡¯re going to pay for embarrassing me like that.¡±


    John¡¯s calm gaze lingered on the youth for a moment, before it shifted to the side to observe the girl who specialized in stealth. She had been moving to get into his blind spot, hoping to take advantage of his distraction.


    After observing the situation, John sighed once more and shook his head in disapproval.


    ¡°You know, I was only going to fight with Alderen and leave the rest of the fight¡¯s to take ce amongst yourselves, but it seems as though many of you will be a hindrance to such a n,¡± John spoke up, his voice loud enough for all in the arena to hear. ¡°I¡¯ve changed my mind. I¡¯ll be eliminating each and every one of you, so that I may fight Alderen without any disturbances.¡±


    Silence descended upon the arena and the stands above as everyone fell into a stunned silence upon hearing John¡¯s words. After a few seconds of silence, a cacophony ofughter erupted amongst the other youths, as if they had heard the funniest joke in the world.


    ¡°Hahaha, did you hear that? The boy thinks he¡¯s strong enough to fight against all of us,¡± one of the fighters boomed out inughter.


    ¡°Haha, that disy of his earlier must have gone to his head, and now he thinks he can handle us all with that meager cultivation of his,¡± another replied with great amusement.


    Simr conversations broke out amongst those in the arena and stands with great amusement. However, the amusing conversations quickly ceased as they all felt an incredible aura explode upon the arena, stunning them all into shocked silence.


    Their eyes locked onto John, who stood there with a calm expression on his face. The aura of his body radiated absolute might, as if he could crush a mountain with a single fist, while a hundred lightning nodes danced around him in the air. Lightning of incredible power cackled in the air around him, making him look like a lightning god. Those who felt the might of the lightning shivered in fright, as they could tell each strike had the power to cause them great harm.


    They had no idea how a Meridian Forging youth could erupt with such power, but there was no denying what they were feeling at the moment. In the stands, the Heavenly Lightning Sect group looked on with mouths agape, while the small smile on Iris¡¯s face returned.


    ¡°Finally, the show¡¯s about to start,¡± Iris said with expectant enthusiasm.


    John¡¯s calm yet cold gaze stared at the other fighters in the arena, pausing on those who had just insulted him.


    ¡°Shall we get started then?¡±

 Chapter 557 Overwhelming Dominance

    John¡¯s aura emanated with incredible power, while his attitude radiated absolute confidence. The other fighters in the arena narrowed their eyes as they stared at John, both guarded by his disy of power, while also insulted by his previous words.


    ¡°Listen here boy,¡± one of the stronger fighters spoke up, clearly agitated by John¡¯s provocative words. ¡°You may be strong, but no matter how strong you think you are, you are far from being able to dominate this arena. You¡¯re about to learn a lesson in humility.¡±


    John¡¯s aura was doubtlessly strong, but each of the youths in the arena were geniuses of their sects and ns, and carried themselves with pride. They would never bow their head against a Meridian Forging youth just because of a strong aura.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted to the youth who had just spoken, who wore a purple robe with the image of a snake on it. The youth had a chiseled face, short blonde hair, and was ruggedly handsome. John could instantly tell that this youth was a Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivator, and was most likely one of the more talented geniuses from his power.


    ¡°A pity,¡± John replied calmly. ¡°If your cultivation was not restricted to the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, you may have been a good opponent to fight. However, as you are now, you are not worth wasting my breath over.¡±


    The youth¡¯s eyes narrowed as he heard John¡¯s words. He opened his mouth to reply again, but his narrowed eyes instantly widened as John suddenly appeared before him, his speed far greater than anything the youth had thought possible.


    John¡¯s fist, augmented by both the Supreme Battle Art and Limiter of Power, smashed forward towards the youths chest, who hastily raised his spear in front of his chest.


    Peng!<sub>.</sub>


    John¡¯s fist smashed against the shaft of the spear, causing a piercing metallic ring to echo out. The youth, unable to resist the might of John¡¯s punchunched backwards, his feet scraping across the surface of the arena until he came to a stop over a hundred yards away. The youth who had blocked the attack lowered his spear as he stared at John with a new look. Instead of the haughty arrogance of before, only guarded caution could be seen now.


    His spear trembled in his hands as his arms still struggled to recover from the force of the blow he had just blocked. Before anyone could process what had just happened, John shot forward once more towards the youth.


    Lightning from his lighting domain crashed violently between nodes, forming a powerful lightning cage around his body, nearly fifty yards wide.


    ¡°Attack him! Eliminate this bastard,¡± the spear wielding youth shouted out in panic as he watched John quickly approach him. In that singr exchange, he could tell he was outmatched.


    ¡°Tch, this fucking cultivation restricting formation is ruining everything,¡± the youth cursed as he steadied his spear and unleashed a powerful battle art towards John. A purple spear battle art pierced towards John, its power capable of overwhelming most of the other fighters in the arena.


    Bang!


    The spear battle art mmed onto the lightning cage, its power attempting to pierce within. After a brief struggle between the two battle arts, the purple spear image faded away while the lightning cage remained, shocking all that saw it.<sub></sub>


    Following the words of the spear wielding youth, the other fighters all unleashed their battle arts towards John, intending on eliminating him once and for all. Unlike all the other participants, John was attempting to swallow up the entire arena with his battles, something that was looked down upon. Doing so would only draw the ire from all the fighters as was currently happening.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    A barrage of battle arts mmed against John¡¯s defensive lightning cage, as a battle between battle arts raged out. John¡¯s twenty timespressed dantian churned with absolute power as it spewed out as much Qi as it could handle, strengthening the lightning cage to its peak.


    ¡®While my body could most likely handle all these attacks at once, it¡¯s best that I don¡¯t try my luck against so many attacks. Even for me, fighting against this many opponents will be overwhelming if I don¡¯t start whittling their numbers down right away. In that case, I¡¯ll start with the weakest and work my way up.¡¯


    John¡¯s gaze swept across the arena as his lightning domain continued to resist the flurry of battle arts mming against it. The arena lit up like a battlefield as dozens of battle arts exploded each second, drowning most of the arena in the explosions. The fighters all utilized their Qi to form protective barriers around their bodies as they continued to unleash battle arts, hoping to overwhelm John¡¯s lightning barrier.<sub></sub>


    From the center of the tform, Alderen watched the fight with great interest. At first his expression was calm, but it slowly became graver as he watched John¡¯s disy of power. The battle arts between the two sides exploded over him constantly, but a ming inferno suddenly sprung up around him, shielding him from the explosive attacks.


    ¡°How the fuck is his lightning barrier still standing,¡± one of the youths in the arena cursed out angrily. They had alreadynded dozens of attacks on it, and any other person in the arena facing such a barrage would have already been overwhelmed.


    ¡°He must be using some sort of defensive formation or artifact. Keep assaulting him, and it will eventually run out of energy,¡± the spear wielding youth yelled out, unable to believe this was John¡¯s true power.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted back towards the spear wielding youth, their eyes locking onto each other through the small gaps in John¡¯s lightning cage. John narrowed his eyes as he stared at the youth, who felt a shiver of fear crawl up his spine.


    ¡®I was going to start with the weakest, but I¡¯ll start with him first. He¡¯s acting as theirmander of sorts, so taking him out should scatter the rest a bit. In that case, there¡¯s no need to dy any further¡­¡¯


    Without any warning, John shot forward towards the spear wielding youth, while the barrage of attacks continued to powerfully explode against his lightning cage. A few of the battle arts managed to pierce the lighting cage, although their power had been greatly reduced by the cage. The remaining power exploded against John¡¯s body, which took little to no damage at all.


    John appeared before the spear wielding youth, whose expression turned grave as he unleashed his strongest battle art. A purple and red spear shot out, its power shaking the nearby arena. The spear mmed against the lightning cage, and after a brief moment of struggle pierced through the cage.


    The youths eyes lit up in tion as he watched the spear m onto John, who was not holding a weapon at the moment. John¡¯s fist punched out with his full power to meet the spear, the two attacks resulting in an incredible explosion within the lightning cage.


    The attacks from the outside quickly ceased as the youths all looked on with shocked expressions. They had been attacking John fruitlessly, and were bing hopeless in the fight against him. However, the spear-wielding youth had clearlynded a direct attack against a weaponless John, and his spear attack was not something many in the arena could resist with a weapon, let alone directly.


    With the thick density of the lightning cage around John, visibility was reduced, and not much could be seen within. Even their divine senses were restricted by the lightning cage, which made them unable to determine the truth.


    ¡°Is it over?¡± a female youth asked as she stared at the lightning cage.


    ¡°It should be,¡± a nearby male youth replied, both from the same power.


    ¡°Just who is that boy?¡± another youth asked. ¡°How does a Late Meridian Forging cultivator have this much power?¡±


    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± the female who had first spoken up chimed up again, interrupting the youths¡¯ question. ¡°If he¡¯s been beaten, his lightning cage should have faded away when he became unconscious.¡±


    The girls words were like a spark in the minds of the others, who instantly realized their assumptions had been incorrect. Just as they realized this, the lightning cage moved forward once more, indicating that their fears were correct.


    The spear wielding youth¡¯s smiling confidence instantly evaporated as he watched John dash forward once more, appearing before him in an instant. The other youths all watched in growing horror as the lightning cage swallowed up the spear wielding youth, trapping him within.


    Shrieks of pain and fear cried out from within the lightning cage for a moment, each shriek of pain sending another shiver up each fighter¡¯s spine. A few momentster, silence descended on the arena as the cries from within the lightning cage ceased.


    The other fighters all watched on in silence as the spear wielding youth was spat out from within the lightning cage. His body, clearly bloodied and bruised, flopped to the ground in an unconscious mess. Were it not for the fact that their divine senses could tell the boy was alive, some of them would have believed the youth to be dead.


    The spear-wielding youth, one of the strongest amongst them, had been eliminated in less than a few seconds ofbat.


    ¡°How¡­how is this possible,¡± one of the weaker youths muttered out softly, almost unable to muster their voice.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give all of you one opportunity,¡± a calm yetmanding voice from within the lightning cage boomed out, the voice clearly belonging to John. ¡°Leave the arena now, healthy and in one piece. Or remain and end up like this youth here. The choice is yours.¡±

 Chapter 558 Brave Defiance and Hopeless Struggles

    A mixture of looks stared back at John. Some were filled with trepidation, some indecisiveness, and some agitation.


    ¡°Fuck off.¡± a youth donning a fiery red robe barked back at John. He had crimson red hair, while his eyebrows looked like flickers of me, giving him a wild and untamed look. Just like the spear wielding youth, he was one of the strongest fighters in the arena.


    ¡°Just because you¡¯re strong, you expect us to run off in fear?¡± the youth chimed up again, clearly agitated by John¡¯s words. ¡°I¡¯d rather lose brutally than give up before even fighting. My pride is not so easily shattered.¡±


    The youths¡¯ words were shocking to hear based on what had just been witnessed, but it seemed to stir those who were indecisive back into their former selves. However, a few of the more timid and scared cultivators used this opportunity to slip out of the arena. After all was said and done, thirty cultivators remained, all of them staring defiantly at John.


    A look of slight surprise appeared on John¡¯s face at the actions he witnessed, before a wave of realization struck him. John ced his hand on his face and shook his head at himself, before he lowered his hand and gazed back at the other youths.


    ¡°My apologies,¡± John called out to the remaining youths. ¡°It seems as though I underestimated the fighting spirit of some of you.¡±


    His gaze shifted across the arena, staring at the fiery gazes of defiance that stared back at him.


    ¡°Come then,¡± John called out, his voice loud andmanding. ¡°Show me if your strength matches your pride!¡±<sub>.</sub>


    Bang!


    Without hesitation, John shot forward towards the closest opponent, his feet pressing off the arena so hard as to cause a boom to echo out. His opponents eyes became hardened as he steadied his halberd, before unleashing an incredible battle art towards John.


    A light blue halberd image appeared above the youth, held by an ethereal figure made of the youths Qi, dozens of yards tall. The figure depicted a human, although it was shrouded in a robe. It held the shaft of the halberd, while the de hovered over the youths body, almost as if a guillotine rested above him.


    ¡®What kind of battle art is that?¡¯ John thought as he sped forward. He had never seen anything like it before, and could tell the battle art was quite powerful.


    As soon as he appeared before the youth, the ethereal figure mmed the halberd image down onto the lightning cage. The youths face paled slightly in the process, revealing this battle art to be quite taxing.


    Boom!


    Battle arts collided, and John felt the halberd battle art pierce partially into his lightning cage before finally fading away. Slight surprise appeared on his face, before a smile quickly reced it.<sub></sub>


    ¡®My essence Qi is strong enough to contest against a Late Heaven Tribtion genius, and yet this opponent, whose Qi has been suppressed to the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm is able to unleash such a strong attack. That boy¡¯s speech seems to truly have roused the remaining beasts of this arena. This should be fun.¡¯


    ¡°What?¡± the youth cried out as he saw his strongest battle art still blocked by the lightning cage. While he knew John¡¯s lightning cage was strong, he never expected it to be able to fully negate his strongest battle art.


    John¡¯s lightning cage suddenly wrapped around the youth in the same manner it had done to the spear-wielding youth. The youths expression turned grim as he found himself trapped with no where to run, while John stood directly in front of him. John¡¯s calm gaze stared back, almost as if wondering what the youth would do in such a situation.


    ¡°Fuck off with that smug gaze,¡± the youth cried out in anger as his body shot forward. His halberd shed out from above with his greatest power while the youth infused all of his remaining Qi into the halberd de for this one final attack.


    ¡°Good! That¡¯s the spirit a true warrior should have!¡± John boomed out loudly as he saw the youth attack instead of cower in fear. He had been disappointed by what he had seen of the Alliance¡¯s geniuses so far, but this batch of opponents was revealing to him that there were still true warriors yet amongst their ranks.


    John¡¯s fist punched out to meet the halberd, which caused the youth¡¯s eyes to widen in shock. He never expected John to be a madman enough to try to take on a Heaven Tribtion Grade weapon with his bare hands.


    Thunderbody sh!<sub></sub>


    At thest moment, John¡¯s body shed slightly to the side, his speed almost imperceptible to the youth before him. His first, augmented by his innate body strength, the Limiter of Pain, as well as the Supreme Battle Art smashed against the t of the halberd de.


    Peng!


    Fist and halberd collided, causing a sharp metallic sound to ring over the arena. The youths¡¯ halberd swept out to the side out of his grasp, while John¡¯s other fist punched out towards the youths chest.


    ¡°Tch!¡±


    The youth had not been expecting his weapon to be freed from his hand so quickly, but he didn¡¯t panic as he saw John¡¯s fist approach. A green object suddenly appeared before his chest, which appeared to be a green turtle shell. It was clearly some sort of protective formation object, which the youth had conjured from his spatial ring at the veryst moment.


    Bang!


    Fist and shield collided, creating a shockwave that knocked the youth back. John paused for a moment as he had not expected such a counter attack, but he couldn¡¯t help but be impressed at the youths¡¯ reactions. His quick reactions and refusal to panic were truly signs of a warrior who had experienced many battles.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    A barrage of explosive sounds boomed out from within the lightning cage, while battle arts continued to rain down on it from the youths outside of it. After a short while of explosiveness, a lone figure was tossed from within the lightning cage.


    The other opponents all stared at the figure, which was the halberd-wielding youth. The youthnded on the ground and remained motionless, clearly knocked unconscious by their battle within the cage. However, the youth hadnded outside the arena, shielding him from any further harm in the battles toe.


    The other youths all exchanged nces at one another, when suddenly the lightning cage shot forward once again, appearing next to the closest remaining opponent.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    ¡°Gah!¡±


    Peng!


    Boom!


    A mixture of explosions, weapons colliding and pained cries echoed out across the arena for the next half an hour as those in the stands watched in disbelieving shock as John, wrapped in his lightning cage, slowly dismantled his opponents one by one.


    The opponents could only watch on as they were swallowed into the cage one at a time, and spat out as an unconscious mess moments after. However, none of the youths fled from the battle, something that pulled on the hearts of all those watching.


    ¡°Gah!¡¯


    A final grunt of pain echoed over the arena as thest remaining youth was flung off of it, leaving only John remaining, as well as the seated Alderen. After booming with explosions and pained cries for some time, the arena fell into an eerie silence.


    Those in the stands could only look on with eyes wide and mouths agape as they did their best to process what they had just witnessed. Only one face in the stands smiled with satisfaction. Iris¡¯s smiling gaze shifted from looking down at John towards the other Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples that sat next to her.


    ¡°See. I told you we were about to be treated to a good show!¡±

 Chapter 559 False Accusations

    Despite having seen a glimmer of John¡¯s freakishbat prowess during their trip to the Honorable Alliance, Hareu and the other Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples were still stunned into silence. The same was true for the rest of the crowd, as they did the best to process what they had just witnessed.


    The cultivation world was always changing, but it had several rules and assumptions that were set in stone, and were never broken. One of these rules was jumping realms.


    Jumping realms, while not impossible, was quite a rare aplishment. It was something reserved for only the most talented of geniuses, and being able to jump a single realm was something that would spread a cultivators name far and wide. Jumping two realms was even more rare, and in the annals of history, there were only a few cases of such a thing ever urring.


    There was a myth about a singr person aplishing three minor realm increases inbat prowess, and that tale was about the Jade Dragon Emperor, the strongest cultivator to ever exist in the world. The youth before them had seemingly aplished the same feat as the Jade Dragon Emperor, shocking everyone present.


    He had jumped a major realm, and his Late Meridian Forging cultivation against Early Heavenly Tribtion cultivators was more akin to three minor realms, as a major realm increase was equivalent to two minor realm increases in power.


    Many of the youths present had their thoughts drift towards the talent testing steps, and the recent scores that shocked the world. The word ¡®Asura¡¯ entered their minds as they considered the possibility, but after some careful deliberation, they erased the thought from their minds.


    While John was incredibly strong, nothing from him felt like it came from an Asura. The word ¡®Asura¡¯ had a very brutal, sinister, and evil meaning across the Divine Martial Continent, something they did not associate with the youth before them.<sub>.</sub>


    Ignoring the collective stares at him, John¡¯s gaze shifted over to Alderen, who still sat in the middle of the arena on the central pedestal. Alderen¡¯s gaze had been calm and collected throughout his entire time dominating the arena, but currently a heavy gaze stared back at John.


    ¡°You¡¯re quite strong,¡± Aldren spoke up for the first time, his voice drifting over the arena. ¡°In fact, you¡¯re so strong as to make me think that your lightning cage was because of some sort of lightning artifact.¡±


    John¡¯s gaze remained calm as he stared silently at Alderen. Alderen took John¡¯s silence as silent confirmation, and a small smirk appeared on his face as he slowly stood up.


    ¡°I would imagine my guess to be correct. Afterall, if what you just disyed was your truebat talent, you would stand amongst the greatest geniuses of all time,¡± Alderen continued. HIs words seemed to echo like a bell in the minds of the other youths, while their eyes all lit up in realization.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what it was!¡± one of the youths in the stands eximed.


    ¡°It all makes sense now. There¡¯s no way someone could have that level of strength. He was using an incredibly powerful artifact all along and was passing it off as his own strength,¡± another chimed up loudly.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Shameless, absolutely shameless,¡± another youth yelled out.


    Quickly, a cacophony of yells and usations boomed across the arena, as the stunned crowd hurled insults against John. Using artifacts was not against the rules in the cultivation world, as anything that gave an advantage should be utilized. However, passing it off as your own strength was seen as shameless.


    Normally, the crowd would consider both sides more carefully, but after what they just witnessed, none of them wanted to believe John¡¯s strength was real. They took the first opportunity given to convince themselves that his strength was a falsity.


    ¡°Is that true?¡± Harue asked Iris, who was visibly bing angry at the crowd hurling insults at John.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s not true,¡± Iris replied with a cold tone, before she suddenly stood up from her seat.


    ¡°You morons are so pathetic,¡± Iris yelled loudly over the other voices, silencing them immediately.<sub></sub>


    ¡°What did you say?¡± a nearby youth asked, his cold gaze staring back at Iris. He had long brown hair which was tied in a singr ponytail behind his head, and a rtively attractive face. He stood a head taller than Iris, and carried a curved sword on the side of his waist. He wore regal robes with ornate designs, indicating that he came from a rtively wealthy power.


    ¡°You heard what I said,¡± Iris replied back without any fear. ¡°You lot of idiots simply cannot ept the fact that John¡¯s strength is real, so you stick to the first bullshit im you hear against him. Truly like a bunch of flies clinging to shit.¡±


    ¡°You dare speak to us that way?¡± the youth replied angrily as his aura began to climb powerfully. He had a cultivation at the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, and outside the arena, his cultivation was not suppressed.


    His aura washed over Iris with the intent of forcing her to the ground. Hareu and the other Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples quickly stood up as they moved to defend Iris. Despite only being the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, they would not stand idly as a fellow disciple was bullied.


    However, before they could react, a voice from inside the arena boomed out, silencing the other voices.


    ¡°If youy a hand on Iris, I¡¯ll make sure that hand is removed from your arm,¡± John¡¯s cold voice sounded out.


    The youth looked over towards John, his gaze defiant and haughty.


    ¡°Haha, why would I listen to the likes of you. We all know your strength is now fake. Besides, outside of the arena my cultivation is not suppressed. Your artifact may be able to beat Early Heaven Tribtion cultivators who have their cultivations suppressed, but outside of the arena you are nothing,¡± the youth replied haughtily. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure you learn your ce when you leave that arena. But in the meantime, I think I¡¯ll y around with your girl for a moment.¡±


    The youths¡¯ aura climbed once again, pressing Iris to the ground without a hope to resist.


    ¡°Piss off,¡± Hareu and the others eximed as their own auras red out against the youths, but their struggle was a losing one as their cultivations were lower than the youth before them.


    John¡¯s eyes narrowed and face turned cold as he watched Iris be forced to the ground. While she may be strong, that was due to her speed and eye talents. However, against an overwhelming force like a powerful aura, those talents were useless. Only an equally powerful aura would be able to resist against it.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted back to Alderen, who stared at him with a smug expression.


    ¡°Wait here for me. I¡¯ll be back for the next round, at which point I¡¯ll make you regret the words you have just said,¡± John said coldly to Alderen. He ignored him before he heard any response, and locked onto the youth in the stands.


    The youth stood directly before Iris, his smug face staring down at her on the ground below him.


    ¡°Not so smug now, are you?¡± the youth replied with arrogance. ¡°First I¡¯ll make you pay for those words you just said, and then I¡¯ll do the same for your lover once he leaves the are-¡°


    Boom!


    A hand suddenly sped onto the youth¡¯s face, so fast as to catch him off guard. Before he could even react, the youth felt his body be forcefully dragged up and over the coliseum. He suddenly felt himself beingunched towards the earth below, the force of his momentum too great to stop in time.


    Boom!


    The youth mmed into the desert sand just outside the town, causing a massive plume of sand and dust to appear. The massive explosion attracted the attention of all those in the town, while those within the coliseum streamed out of it to get a glimpse at the events toe.


    The plume of sand and dust quickly faded, revealing the youth standing within a massive crater in the desert sand. His gaze shifted upwards as he felt a chilling gaze fall on his skin. Above him hovered John, whose cold gaze was as if he were staring at a dead man.


    ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll use you as an example for others. My friends are off limits, and you¡¯ll be learning the price thates with touching them quite soon.¡±

 Chapter 560 Fighting Vildren

    The town surrounding the massive coliseum was filled with other cultivators, mostly those who had already participated in the arena battles and were resting, or were the alchemists and formations experts that had finished their trials.


    The disciples of the various powers were either resting and waiting for their warrior friends to finish their arena battles, or were merely exploring the ancient city and learning about its history. The architecture was quite unique, and the buildings were made from incredible materials, intriguing those who were interested in such things.


    However, these disciples were all stirred into action as they were attracted to what had just transpired outside of the town.


    The youths all raced to the town¡¯s edge to get a good view of what was going on, at which point they noticed two youths staring at each other several hundred yards outside the town limits. One of the youths was hovering a dozen yards off the sky staring down at the other.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± one of the disciples asked as they joined the already gathered group of youths.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I just got here as well,¡± another replied. ¡°It seems as though there¡¯s a fight going on between those two.¡±


    ¡°Who are they? Does anyone recognize them?¡± another in the crowd asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s Vildren,¡± one of the youths said as they pointed to the youth standing on the ground.


    ¡°Vildren? The crown prince from the Valyren Empire?¡± one asked.


    ¡°It seems so. His robes are unmistakable, and he has a Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivation,¡± another replied. ¡°Who has the gall to fight someone like him? I hear he¡¯s quite powerful, and most likely ranks in the top one hundred youths in this entire realm.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    Considering there were tens of thousands of disciples within the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds, being in the top one hundred in power was quite an achievement. It was a realm reserved only for the greatest of geniuses, who had both high cultivations and high battle prowess¡¯s.


    After identifying Vildren, the youths all nced over towards John, who hovered in the sky above Vildren.


    ¡°Who is he?¡± one disciple asked. ¡°I can¡¯t say I recognize him.¡±


    ¡°His robes are from the Heavenly Lightning Sect,¡± another replied. ¡°The only males from that sect strong enough to challenge Vildren are Rael or Lyeon, but he doesn¡¯t match eithers appearance.¡±


    ¡°His cultivation! Look at his cultivation!¡± a youth eximed, finally noticing his cultivation. The others all sent out their divine senses to inspect, and were stunned into silence at what they saw.


    ¡°A Late Meridian Forging cultivation? Does he have a death wish?¡± a young female eximed.


    At this time, the youths from the arena arrived at the town¡¯s edge to get a good view of the fight. Their arrival drew the attention of the other youths already gathered, who couldn¡¯t help but ask what was going on.


    ¡°No way that happened,¡± a stunned youth replied after hearing a rough summary of what happened.


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    A loud sound suddenly boomed out, silencing all discussion and catching the attention of all those watching once again.


    The sound hade from Vildren¡¯s aura exploding outwards, sending a shockwave across thend. His expression was that ofplete anger as he stared up at John, who looked down on him from above.


    ¡°You darey your hands on me?¡± Vildren asked with anger in his voice. ¡°Do you know who I am?¡±


    ¡°No idea, and I couldn¡¯t care less,¡± John replied calmly. ¡°As I said, your hand that touched Iris now belongs to me.¡±


    ¡°Common peasant, you shall pay for your insolence¡± Vildren cursed. ¡°I will make you kneel before me in agony before I break you and turn you into my dog. Now BOW BEFORE ME!¡±


    Vildren yelled out thest of his words with absolute anger as he shot forward, appearing directly before John. His aura red out with incredible power, even more powerful than Lyeon who John had fought before. As far as cultivators went, it was the strongest cultivator he had ever fought.


    An ornate sword with a silver de and a gold handle appeared in Vildren¡¯s hands. It emanated an incredible aura as it was clearly a high grade Heaven Tribtion weapon. John frowned as he saw his opponents weapon quality, but remained calm as he took out his Half-Step Heaven Tribtion scythe.


    ¡®I suppose I should have shopped for a better weapon,¡¯ John mused internally, not much concerned for the battle toe.


    Vildren¡¯s eyes locked onto John¡¯s weapon, and a smug expression appeared on his face.<sub></sub>


    ¡°As I though, nothing but amon peasant,¡± Vildren mocked as he arrived before John. His sword shed out towards John, carrying the power of a Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivator. Outside the arena, his cultivation was not suppressed, giving him the confidence to beat John with ease.


    John¡¯s grip tightened around his scythe as he shed it out to meet the sword attack. His body power red once more with the might of the Supreme Battle Art, while he also activated his Limiter of Pain and Limiter of Power to augment his body to its peak. At the same time, his essence dantian red with absolute power, further augmenting his aura and essence arts.


    Disregarding using this Asura Transformation Art, this was John¡¯s strongest battle form. His aura red out powerfully and shed against Vildren¡¯s, while the crowd watched on with shock as the two aura¡¯s were evenly matched.


    ¡°How is this possible?¡± a disciple eximed in shock. ¡°I thought you said he was using a lightning artifact to overpower everyone?¡±


    ¡°He was,¡± a youth who had watched the arena battles replied, his voice heard by all gathered.


    ¡°Then how is his aura so strong?¡± another asked. ¡°You can fake battle arts with formations, but you cannot fake aura¡¯s. His aura is clearly as strong as Vildrens.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± the youth became speechless, and so did all the other youths from within the arena. They had smugly insulted John for his use of formations while acting as if it was his strength, but clearly his strength was not a lie.


    Peng!


    Sword and scythe collided, and the crowd watched in stunned silence as Vildren was the one who was knocked back in the exchange.


    Vildren¡¯s eyes opened wide for a brief moment after the exchange, as he had been expecting to overwhelm John with one casual sword attack to embarrass him as much as possible. However, that did not ur, and instead Vildren was able to quickly tell that John¡¯s physical strength was enormous, and was far greater than his own.


    ¡°A body cultivator as well huh?¡± Vildren asked as he stared at John. ¡°Seeking short term advantages while sacrificing long term potential? You truly are an idiot.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not something to concern yourself with,¡± John replied calmly. ¡°Your main concern should be keeping that left hand of yours attached to your arm.¡±


    ¡°Insolence!¡± Vildren erupted with anger once again. Clearly he was not used to being spoken to this way as a crown prince of an empire. ¡°I¡¯ll admit that your strength is impressive, but that won¡¯t save you now. If this attack takes your life, you can only me yourself for angering those you couldn¡¯t afford to anger.¡±


    Without any further words, Vildren¡¯s powerful aura suddenly skyrocketed once more, towering into the sky. The nearby crowd¡¯s robes all fluttered violently from the force of the aura, while the nearby desert sand was pushed away.


    Vildren raised his sword above his head, holding it with both hands. His gathered Qi slowly umted above his head, as a massive sword of Qi over a hundred yards long appeared in the sky above him. At the same time, John felt a pressure envelope his body, seeking to keep him in ce.


    The sword continued to be more corporeal, eventually bing as clear and detailed as Vildren¡¯s own sword. It was as if a real sword a hundred yards long had manifested in the sky, its power great enough to cleave thends for dozens of miles.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s one of the Valyren Empires signature battle arts!¡± a youth eximed as they recognized it.


    ¡°Is it powerful?¡± a less knowledgeable youth asked.


    ¡°Of course it is,¡± a smug voice sounded out, causing the gathered crowd to look at the source. Gathered together was a group of five youths, who all wore the same style robes as Vildren, only less regal. Clearly the youths were also from the Valyren Empire as well, and were followers of Vildren.


    ¡°That¡¯s the Prismatic Saint Sword,¡± the Valyren Empire youth exined. ¡°The strongest sword battle art our Empire has. It was made by the Valyren Sword Saint himself, and can only be learned by Valyren Royalty. Now that Vildren¡¯s brought it out, this battle is over.¡±


    The youth¡¯s words clearly emphasized the strength of the battle art, and his confidence towards its power was apparent for all to see.


    ¡°I thought of dragging this battle out to embarrass you, but I¡¯d rather conserve my strength for the battle against Alderen,¡± Vildren said to John with disdain, as his sword suddenly shed down.


    The heavenly sword above glowed with a lustrous white light, as if it was blessed by the Heavens themselves. The sword cleaved down on John with absolute power, while the restrictive force locked him in ce.


    ¡®I could break out of this force and dodge the attack, but this is a good chance to see the true power of the geniuses of thisnd.¡¯


    John¡¯s scythe gripped tightly in his hands once more as his aura began to climb rapidly. His scythe began to glow with a red and ck light, while his confident eyes locked onto the falling sword above him.


    Almost instantly, his aura rose to a level even beyond Vildren¡¯s, shocking the crowd once more, while his scythe shed out with absolute speed and sharpness.


    Divine Reaping Scythe: Fourth Form!

 Chapter 561 Divine Reaping Scythe: Fourth Form

    After finding the Divine Reaping Scythe jade piece in Mystic City, John now had ess to the Meridian Forging and Heaven Tribtion forms of the Divine Reaping Scythe. After perusing through the jade piece, John found that the creator called each stage a form, with the technique starting in the Qi Condensation Realm.


    The fourth form of the Divine Reaping Scythe was the Heaven Tribtion stage. The transformation from the Third Form to the Fourth Form was much greater than the previous stage increases. In a simr fashion to how a Heaven Tribtion ascension transformed one¡¯s body from a mortal body to a higher state of being, so too did the Divine Reaping Scythe.


    Because John was not in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, he had a hard timeprehending the nature of the Forth Form, and took much longer to learn the stage than the three previous stages. The technique was intended to use one¡¯s Heavenly Tribtionprehensions and Qi to utilize the attack, something which John did not have.


    However, his incredibly powerful dantian, coupled with his monstrousprehension talents allowed him to brute force his way into learning the technique, something that was impossible for any other cultivator.


    His previous uses of the Divine Reaping Scythe¡¯s Fourth Form had been iplete, and this was his first time using the fourth form attack as it was intended.


    Che!


    John¡¯s scythe shed out with absolute speed and power as it unleashed the fully realized Divine Reaping Scythe. A ck and red scythe image left his scythe de, and shed up towards the sword that was cleaving down onto his position.


    The spectators watching the fight all felt a chill crawl up their spine and their souls ache from just looking at the Divine Reaping Scythe. Its sharpness was something that cut into their very souls, just from a single nce.


    All the youths watching felt themselves shiver at the sight of the attack, as they knew they would be powerless to stop such an attack. The only hope they had of surviving such an attack was to dodge, but the speed of the attack was also something that they would not be able to handle.


    The scythe attack shed up towards the massive heavenly sword, appearing almost like an ant in front of a titan. The attack was dozens of times smaller than the sword, making it look almost insignificant.


    The youths all held their breaths as they watched the attacks collide in an instant, as the world seemed to go silent for a brief moment.


    Che!<sub>.</sub>


    The two attacks collided in the air, and the youths all braced themselves for a cmitous explosion. However, the expected explosion of battle art collisions did not ur, as the Divine Reaping Scythe instead passed through the sword, almost as if it didn¡¯t exist. The ck and red scythe image sailed up high into the sky, until it eventually mmed against the formation barrier covering the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds, finallying to an end.


    At the same time, the Prismatic Saint Sword continued its trajectory down towards John, as if the attack from the Divine Reaping Scythe had done nothing at all. The crowd also assumed the same, until their eyes widened as the massive Prismatic Saint Sword split apart. It had been cleanly bisected into two parts right where the scythe attack hadnded, and the crowd watched in stunned silence as the two halves of the sword fell to the earth, both parts missing John¡¯s location.


    The Prismatic Saint Sword, the crowned battle art of the Valyren Empire, had beenpletely neutralized by a single sh of John¡¯s scythe.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Vildren muttered in disbelief as he saw his attack fail. ¡°Impossible,¡± he muttered again, still unable to believe that his strongest battle art had been defeated by a youth in the Meridian Forging Realm.


    Thunderbody sh!


    Limiter of Speed!


    Vildren¡¯s eyes suddenly widened as John rapidly dashed forward after breaking free from the attack. John didn¡¯t want to give him a second to rest, as he could tell the attack had been somewhat draining on Vildren. Vildren raised his sword before shing it out towards John, as scythe and sword collided. John¡¯s muscles bulged with absolute power as he pushed his Supreme Battle Art and Limiter of Power to the peak.


    Peng!


    ¡°Ghh!¡±


    Vildren cried out in muffled pain as his body flew backwards hundreds of yards, his feet skidding through the desert sand and carving a long ditch into the earth.


    ¡°Gaaaah!¡±<sub></sub>


    A cry of frustration boomed out from him as his aura red once more, clearly angered from his battle with John. John arrived before Vildren once more, his scythe shing out with absolute speed and sharpness. Vildren countered with a melee sword battle art, now ready for John¡¯s assault.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    The crowd watched in rapt attention as John and Vildren exchanged hundreds of attacks, while their bodies shed throughout the desert so fast as to be almost imperceptible by the weaker disciples. The two of them appeared like blurs as they darted through the desert, exchanging attacks all the while.


    The desert continuously shook as the attacks unleashed by the two fighters rocked thend, upheaving sand everywhere. Lightning continuously red, lighting up the sky, while pearly white sword arts cleaved out to meet each lightning attack.


    ¡°How are they so strong?¡± a female youth finally found the strength to ask while watching the fight continue.


    ¡°Who cares about Vildren at this point,¡± a nearby male youth replied. ¡°The better question is how the hell is that Heavenly Lightning Sect boy so powerful? His strength defies all logic.¡±


    ¡°Do¡­do you think he could be the Soul-Sage¡­or Asura?¡± a meek voice asked, almost as if afraid to ask the question that everyone was thinking at the moment.


    The crowds eyes lit up with the thought of it being true, before a more experienced youth shook their head against the idea.


    ¡°No, I highly doubt he¡¯s either of those monsters,¡± the youth replied.<sub></sub>


    ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± someone asked.


    ¡°Look at his battle arts. If he was the Soul-Sage, he would be using soul arts, which he has used none. And if he was Asura, you would expect his aura to be more evil and battle arts to be more bloodthirsty, neither of which are true,¡± the youth exined. ¡°While he technically could be hiding such abilites, that is even more impossible to believe. There¡¯s no way he¡¯s holding any strength back, as his power right now already defies logic.¡±


    The youths¡¯ exnation caused the other disciples to nod their heads in agreement after a moment of thought, as their eyes continued to stay glued to the battle ahead of them.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The desert continued to explode ceaselessly as John and Vildren continued to exchange battle arts. John¡¯s power red out fully as he unleashed battle art after battle art, doing his best to overwhelm Vildren.


    ¡®I have to admit that Vildren is beyond monstrous. His speed is just as fast as mine right now, and without using my Asura Transformation Art, I am unable to overwhelm him in an instant. I could use my Divine Reaping Scythe against him directly, but that would more than likely kill him if itnded. Although I have no concern for his life, I cannot drag the Heavenly Lightning Sect into a potential war with the Valyren Empire.¡±


    Hundreds of lightning nodes appeared in the air as John decided to go all out, and activated his Heavenly Lightning Domain. The lightning nodes appeared before Vildren could react, and the lightning cage activated in an instant.


    In less than a second, Vildren found himself trapped within the lightning cage, with nowhere to run. His power was great enough to cleave through the lightning cage in a few seconds, but doing so would leave him vulnerable to John¡¯s attack. Doing such a thing would be suicide, and so Vildren made no such effort as he instead unleashed another sword art towards John.


    The sword shed out instantly, while it radiated incredible might. It was as if Vildren was using a condensed version of the Prismatic Saint Sword; smaller and less powerful, but much faster and sharper.


    Peng!


    John shed his scythe out, mming it into the sword art. The sword art exploded within the lightning cage, drawing both in its energy. John¡¯s might red to resist it, while his eyes locked onto his scythe¡¯s de. A number of small chips had appeared on the scythe de, clearly blocking attacks from Vildren¡¯s higher grade weapon.


    ¡°Tch!¡± John clicked his tongue while putting away his scythe. He needed the scythe for future battles, and so he decided to cause no more harm to it at the moment.


    His body shed forward, appearing before Vildren once more.


    ¡°Idiot!¡± Vildren spat out as his sword shed forward towards John. He had been feeling more and more unease as the battle dragged out, as he could tell he was slowly losing. However, John putting his weapon away was tantamount to suicide, although Vildren would notin. Clearly the frenzy of battle had muddled his opponents mind.


    Vildren¡¯s Heaven Tribtion Grade sword cleaved towards John¡¯s waist, the de glowing white with a powerful battle art. A smirk appeared on his face as John ignored the attack and instead decided to punch towards Vildren¡¯s face.


    ¡°Perish!¡± Vildren cursed as the de reached John¡¯s waist.


    Peng!


    A metallic sound rang out, surprising Vildren as his eyes opened wide. A sword had suddenly appeared directly next to John¡¯s waist at thest moment, blocking the attack. It was the Meridian Forging Grade greatsword John had found in the Ancient Wastnds on the Yuan Continent, one he had never had use for since.


    He had taken it out of his spatial realm at the veryst moment, as his unique soul connection with the spatial realm allowed him to take items out faster than others could from a spatial ring. Vildren¡¯s sword mmed onto the ancient greatsword and cleaved halfway into the greatsword¡¯s de. With one sh, the greatsword had beenpletely ruined, showcasing the power of Vildren, as well as the quality of his de.


    John felt an incredibly powerful force collide against his waist, causing him to grimace in pain as his ribs creaked in protest. However, his durable body resisted the attack in the end, as he had hoped.


    Vildren quickly tried to pull his sword back, but the de had be stuck in the greatsword, making a quick retrieval impossible. His eyes opened wide as a fist suddenly filled his vision.


    Bang!


    John¡¯s fist, augmented by the full power of his Supreme Battle Art and Limiter of Power mmed against Vildren¡¯s face. His cheekbone shattered from the impact, while his body suddenly flew off and mmed into the lightning cage.


    Bang!


    Vildren rebounded off the lightning cage, his mind fuzzy and head aching with pain.


    Bang!


    Another fist mmed against his stomach, causing him to fall to his knees as he vomited from the force of the blow.


    Che!


    A shing sound suddenly sounded out as steel met flesh. Vildren¡¯s hazy eyes cleared up instantly as he looked down at his left hand, which now rested on the desert sand, separated from his arm. John stared down with indifference as he watched Vildren realize what had happened.


    ¡°As I told you, that hand is no longer yours to keep.¡±

 Chapter 562 Forceful Apology

    ¡°Ghahhhhhhh! I¡¯ll fucking kill you!¡± Vildren cursed in blind rage as he looked at the stump of his arm.


    John¡¯s foot mmed onto his chest, forcing him onto his back. His finger reached out and tapped Vildren on his chest, as a very slight sliver of lightning pierced into it. Vildren¡¯s eyes opened wide as a wave of excruciating pain wracked his body, something he was almost unable to handle.


    John had unleashed a small sliver of Tribtion Lightning into Vildren¡¯s body and had decided to do so only when he had him trapped. His Tribtion Lightning was limited, as he could not generate it himself. Every time he used it, he would have less to use in the future.


    The amount of Tribtion Lightning required to be effective from this range was much less than during a ranged battle, which is why John had saved it for this moment. Vildren¡¯s face twisted in pained agony as he red his own essence Qi to resist the tribtion lightning rampaging within his body.


    However, as much as he struggled against it, he found it to be a futile effort. The tribtion lightning in his body was pure destructive tribtion lightning, and was nothing like the tribtion lightning he had experienced during his ascension.


    ¡°What the fuck have¡­you done to me,¡± Vildren cursed through gritted teeth.


    ¡°I¡¯ve done what I said I would do,¡± John replied calmly as he popped a Qi recovery pill into his mouth. While the battle against Vildren had gone his way, it had taken quite a bit of Qi to overwhelm Vildren, who had been an incredibly powerful opponent. His status as crowned prince of an empire was not ill earned.


    ¡°Release this lightning¡­ from my body,¡± Vildrenmanded through the pain, as if John was his subject.


    ¡°You don¡¯t givemands here,¡± John replied with slightly narrowed eyes. It seemed as though Vildren still didn¡¯t realize the situation he was in. ¡°Besides, the lightning will naturally fade away once you¡¯ve struggled against it enough.¡±


    ¡°Do you realize¡­what you¡¯ve done?¡± Vildren asked, still fighting against the lightning. ¡°You¡¯re as good as¡­dead once my father¡­finds out what you¡¯ve¡­done.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Hahaha,¡± Johnughed heartily as he heard Vildren¡¯s threats. ¡°I¡¯m sure those threats work on your empire¡¯s subjects, as well as weaker powers in the Alliance. However, my Heavenly Lightning Sect is not something you can intimidate with threats.¡±


    John had no doubt Vildren¡¯s father was powerful, and was most likely a World Expansion cultivator of great prestige and power. However, the Heavenly Lightning Sect was not short of such experts themselves, and also had the Lightning Dragon as a trump card.


    If John had killed Vildren, the crowned prince of an Empire, the Valyren Emperor might take action against the Heavenly Lightning Sect despite the consequences, but cutting off Vildren¡¯s hand wouldn¡¯t elicit such a reaction.


    ¡°You should thank me instead,¡± John said to Vildren.


    ¡°Why the fuck¡­would I thank a peasant like¡­you,¡± Vildren replied through ragged breaths.


    ¡°Because, I¡¯ve only cut off your hand, and not your head,¡± John replied with a slightly cold tone, as if the threat was still on the table for him to do. ¡°Were it not for the Honorable Alliance, I would have cut off your head without hesitation.¡±


    John¡¯s gaze sent a shiver down Vildren¡¯s spine, who for the first time realized his life was in John¡¯s hands, and that John was a madman enough to kill a crowned prince.


    ¡°Also, I took your off-hand, which hardly affects yourbat prowess,¡± John continued. ¡°I really am kind, are I not? Besides, with a skilled enough team of alchemists and healers, your father should be able to grow back that hand of yours. It might cost your empire a small fortune to do such a thing, but that¡¯s none of my concern.¡±


    Vildren¡¯s rage filled gaze stared back at John, but he decided to say nothing in response.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Good, you finally realized the situation you¡¯re in,¡± John replied with a satisfied head nod. He slowly felt his Qi return to his body from consuming the pill, as strength once again filled his body.


    Without warning, John grabbed Vildren by the nape of his robe and dashed forward. Vildren struggled as he tried to free himself from John¡¯s grip, but the rampaging Tribtion Lightning still coursed through his body. It took all he had to struggle against the tribtion lightning to ensure it did nosting damage internally, and so Vildren was powerless to struggle against John.


    At the same time, the Lightning Cage around John faded away, revealing him and Vildren to the crowd once more. The gathered crowd of youths opened their eyes and mouths wide in shock as they noticed the oue of the battle.


    Bang!


    Johnnded before the crowd of youths with a thud, while he dragged Vildren in tow.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± one of Vildren¡¯s followers muttered as they saw the state their prince was in. However, none of them made a move towards John, as they were far weaker than Vildren. If even Vildren ended up like this, then there was no hope for them to make a difference.


    John¡¯s gaze locked onto the girl he hadnded directly in front of. Iris¡¯s smiling gaze looked back at John, not surprised at all by the oue of the battle.


    ¡°Now apologize to her,¡± Johnmanded as his gaze shifted towards Vildren.


    Upon hearing John¡¯s words, the strongest follower of Vildren erupted in rage as he shot forward towards John, while John casually raised his hand and pointed towards the youth without looking at him.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You daremand the crown prin-¡°


    Bang!


    Lightning exploded out of John¡¯s finger as he unleashed a Lightning Decimation attack. The attacknded squarely on the youths chest before he could react, and the youth was flung across the desert sand before finallying to an unconscious halt.


    The group of gathered youths all looked on in continued shock at the singr attack John had just done. He had casually defeated a Early Heaven Tribtion youth in a single attack.


    ¡°Apologize,¡± John once againmanded Vildren, his tone growing colder.


    ¡°I don¡¯t takemands from peasan-¡°


    Bang!


    John¡¯s foot mmed down on the stump of Vildren¡¯s arm, directly onto the exposed flesh.


    ¡°Gahhhhh!¡±


    Vildren cried out in agonized pain, while John rubbed his foot on the open wound, making the pain even worse.


    ¡°John, I¡¯m fine,¡± Iris finally spoke out. ¡°You don¡¯t have to-¡°


    ¡°Its fine,¡± John replied to Iris. ¡°He, as well as everyone else gathered needs to learn a lesson of what happens when you, or any of my friends are touched.¡±


    Iris felt a wave of deep emotions wash through her body, as she fell into silence once more.


    ¡°Apologize,¡± Johnmanded again as his gaze shifted back towards Vildren.


    Vildren struggled against John and the tribtion lightning within his body, but no matter what he did, he was unable to do anything. His pride as a crown prince made him resist as much as possible, but that pride was slowly worn away as the pain steadily grew.


    Meanwhile, the crowd of youths all remained silent, unable to believe what they were seeing. One of the strongest youths in thesends, the crown prince of the Valyren Empire, was being made into a ything by a Late Meridian Forging cultivator.


    Unless they were seeing it with their own eyes, they would never believe such a thing was possible. Vildren¡¯s ragged breaths and grunt of pain was the only thing audible as everyone else remained dead silent.


    Slowly Vildren¡¯s pride wore away, as the futile situation became clear to him.


    ¡°I apologize,¡± Vildren muttered softly through the pain.


    ¡°What? I couldn¡¯t hear you?¡± John asked as his foot continued to rub on Vildren¡¯s stump arm.


    ¡°I apologize,¡± Vildren cried out loudly in pain. ¡°I never should have touched you.¡±


    Bang!


    John¡¯s foot collided with Vildren¡¯s waist, kicking him off to the side as if he was done ying with a toy.


    ¡°Next time you target me or my friends, I¡¯ll kill you,¡± John said to Vildren while ncing sideways at him before ignoring him.


    ¡°Now then, I still have one more person to pay a visit,¡± John said to Iris, who nodded her head and followed behind John as he made his way towards the coliseum once more. While Vildren was the one to make a move on Iris, the one who had started this wholemotion still sat in the arena, unconcerned for what happened outside. While Vildren had insulted Iris, Alderen had insulted John directly with his fabricated lies.


    Such transgressions would not be forgiven.

 Chapter 563 Claiming The Arena

    John made his way into the town and up the pathway leading to the coliseum, while Iris followed closely behind. After standing there in stunned silence for some time, the other youths all rushed forward towards the coliseum as well, not wanting to miss a single moment of what was toe.


    John quickly arrived before the coliseum and entered it. The arena came into view, as well as Alderen who still sat calmly on the central tform on the arena. Sensing the neers, Alderen¡¯s eyes opened slowly, locking onto Johns.


    His eyes opened wide in surprise, as he had not been expecting to see John again.


    ¡°How¡­how are you here?¡± Alderen asked, unable toprehend how John was the first to return. After turning everyone against John, Alderen had calmly watched as John attacked Vildren and took him to fight outside the coliseum.


    Being a genius from his sect, Alderen had a list of the geniuses to look out for, ones that were potentially his equal. On this list was Vildren, who was easily recognizable as the crowned prince of the Valyren Empire.<sub>.</sub>


    When he had watched John attack Vildren, he knew it was over for John. Vildren¡¯s power was equal to his own, and was not suppressed outside the arena. While John¡¯s strength, fake or not, was quite strong within the arena, it was not strong enough to fight against a Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivator like Vildren.


    Alderen had calmly stayed within the arena, ensuring that he did not miss out on any Jade Mark points. He figured Vildren would handle John and get rid of that nuisance once and for all. However, against his best guesses, the opposite appeared to have happened.


    ¡°What? Expecting Vildren instead?¡± John asked calmly as he stared at Alderen.


    Alderen¡¯s face darkened as he heard John¡¯s calm yet mocking tone.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Its impossible for you to have beaten Vildren,¡± Alderen replied confidently. ¡°What did you do for him to let you go? Did you pay him off? Did you beg for forgiveness?¡±


    ¡°I merely cut off his hand and made him grovel before me,¡± John replied, his voice still calm. ¡°Of which I¡¯ll do the same to you.¡±


    Alderen¡¯s face darkened upon hearing John¡¯s insults, and he opened his mouth to speak when suddenly the rest of the youths who had watched the fight entered the coliseum.


    In the group were several disciples belonging to the same sect as Alderen, all in the Heaven Tribtion Realm. Alderen¡¯s gaze shifted to one of the disciples, and after a short moment his face suddenly changed from confidence to surprise, and then shock.<sub></sub>


    Once one reached the Heaven Tribtion Realm, they would be able to send mental sound transmissions to those nearby. Clearly the youth from Alderen¡¯s sect had informed him of the battle¡¯s oue.


    Gong!


    The sound of a bell resounded across the arena, signifying the end of the previous round, and the start of the next round. John¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as he began to walk forward towards the arena, his gaze never leaving Alderen.


    A series of conflicting emotions appeared on Alderen¡¯s face in quick session as he watched John jump from the stands andnd in the arena before him.


    ¡°Tch, the Jade Marks receive from this arena are no longer worth my time,¡± Alderen said to John as he stood up. ¡°Pray we don¡¯t meet again.¡±


    Without waiting for any reply, Alderen suddenly shot up into the sky and over the arena, before disappearing from sight. He had left without a fight, stunning those who hade to see a good fight. While his words indicated that he was leaving on his own volition, everyone present could tell that it was just an excuse for him to leave without fighting John.


    While Alderen may be confident fighting against John outside the arena, he more than anyone else knew he had no chance with his cultivation suppressed. As such, he had decided to flee before embarrassing himself, all while making it look like he had left for other reasons.


    ¡°Pathetic,¡± John mocked as he walked forward,pletely ignoring Alderen¡¯s retreat. While he could chase after him, doing so would have no value. Instead, John walked directly towards the central pedestal and hopped onto it.


    The central pedestal was five feet wide and raised a few feet off the arena. As soon as he hopped onto it, John could feel a strange energy lock onto the brand on his chest, forming a connection.


    ¡®This must be how the Jade Marks are distributed,¡¯ John mused. ¡®As soon as the round ends, the one who had a connection to this pedestal is granted the Jade Marks.


    After inspecting the tform, John calmly took out a luxurious sofa from his spatial realm and ced it on the tform. He quickly fell onto the sofa, making himself as rxed as possible.


    ¡°Ahhh, that¡¯s the good stuff,¡± John muttered contently as he fell into the sofas¡¯ soft embrace. After the arduous battle against Vildren, such afort was quite weed.


    All those gathered in the coliseum watched on as John made himselffortable on the tform. Such a thing was quite preposterous, but none of them dared to mock him for his actions. The minutes passed by as the entrance period to the next round ticked away, but none of the other youths dared to enter the arena.


    Gong!


    The arena bell sounded again, and a formation light enveloped the arena, signifying the end of the entrance period. No one had entered the arena at all, as none of them were willing to fight John after what they had just seen recently.


    The thought of teaming up against him entered the minds of many, but the images of him fighting against everyone in the arena previously quickly squashed such thoughts. With the time to enter the arena expired, John fell even deeper into the embrace of his sofa, falling asleep for the next two hours as the protective formation light enveloped the arena, preventing anyone from entering.

 Chapter 564 First Arena Win

    As the time passed by, the youths that had already been present scattered in several directions. Many left the coliseum, as they knew that as long as John stayed within, no one else would be able to im the central tform in the arena and gain Jade Marks. The youths that left the coliseum spread word far and wide about what had transpired, although their stories were received as pure fabrication and embellishment by those who heard it.


    The other youths stayed inside the coliseum, finding seats in the stands surrounding the arena. Although none of them had any ideas of joining the battles in the arena, they all stayed to see if anyone else was crazy enough to enter. Not only that, but John could leave at any time, giving them an opportunity to be the next king of the arena.


    Two hours quickly passed by, all while more and more youths stumbled upon the ancient town and ventured into it. Word of John¡¯s feats quickly spread amongst the neers, most of whom dismissed the tales as pure fiction.


    The stronger arrivals quickly made their way to the coliseum perched above the town, making their arrival known to all. As they arrived in the coliseum, the neers couldn¡¯t help but scoff at the arrogance they were witnessing. In the very center of the arena lounged a singr youth, asleep on afortable looking chair.


    ¡°Are you kidding me? This is who you fear?¡± one of the neers, a youth in the very peak of the Early Heaven Tribtion realm asked as heid his eyes on John. He did not have a top on, and instead had his chest and arms bared for all to see. Powerful muscles bulged all across his upper body, while a set of wild red hair flowed from his head, making him look quite fierce. ¡°All of you are truly pathetic weaklings,¡± the youth continued. ¡°As soon as the next round starts, I¡¯ll im the arena for myself.¡±


    He had heard the stories of John¡¯s feats, but like all the others dismissed them as fabrication, as his feats werepletely unbelievable. Not only that, but the youth wanted to make a statement early on in thesends, marking himself as one of the strongest. While he was still in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, he was just a hair away from breaking through. Once he did that, he would establish himself as a top contender within thesends, or so he thought.


    The other youths who had seen John¡¯s fight before nced at each other with strange looks on their faces. They wanted to advise the neer against such actions, but decided against it. The neer belonged to none of the other sects or ns gathered, and so his fate was none of their concern. Not only that, but his words were clearly looking down on everyone, and so all those gathered actually looked forward to seeing him taken down a peg.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Hahaha,¡± a fit of melodicughter sounded out, as if someone had just heard the funniest joke. All eyes turned towards the sound of theughter, at which point they spotted a familiar beautiful blonde haired girlughing with her hand over her mouth. She was clearly trying to stifle her fit ofughter, but was unable to do so in time.


    The other youths in the arena instantly recognized the girl, while the wild looking youth narrowed his eyes as he frowned at Iris.


    ¡°What are youughing at?¡± the youth bellowed out.


    ¡°Nothing¡­nothing,¡± Iris replied while waving her hand dismissively. She didn¡¯t want to agitate this youth and cause him to take action, as her doing such a thingst time had caused John to get into a fight outside the arena with Vildren. However, the words from the youth truly had been too funny for her to contain herughter, although she managed to stifle it in the end.


    The youth¡¯s gaze stayed locked onto Iris for a moment, before a loud sound boomed out, turning his attention away from her.


    Gong!<sub></sub>


    The gong of a bell sounded out over the coliseum, indicating the end of the round and the start of the next one. The barrier formation instantly faded away, once again allowing the first one hundred participants to enter the arena before it closed once more.


    ¡°You see,¡± the neer bellowed out loudly for all to hear. ¡°The round starts right as I arrive, almost as if it was fated by the heavens. Now watch as I show you pathetic trash what true strength is!¡±


    Bang!


    The youthnded on the arena, his heavy body shaking it as hended on its surface. His eyes locked onto John who was still casually lounging about in his chair, although he didn¡¯t make a move yet. The round would only truly start once the gong sounded again, something that he had learned from the others when arriving.


    Hushed discussions filled the arena as the spectators began to discuss the events toe. However, most of them kept their voices down so as to not attract the attention of the fiery youth.


    ¡°How long do you think he¡¯llst?¡± a youth in the stands asked his nearby friends.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Who knows? Maybe that freak of nature expended all his energy in his fight with Vildren, and is running on fumes. It¡¯s only been two hours, which isn¡¯t enough time to replenish his Qi reserves,¡± another replied.


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡±


    John¡¯s eyes slowly opened as he felt the strange sensation on his chest once again. He calmly inspected his brand, and noticed the score had risen.


    ¡®Forty seven huh?¡¯ John mused. ¡®That means I received fifteen points. I thought it would be more based on the talent testing arch, but maybe this is the Jade Dragon Empires way of telling their youths that talent is secondary, while strength and actions are what¡¯s most important. Afterall, a heavenly genius can end up worthless if he doesn¡¯t work hard enough.¡¯


    Time passed by quickly, and the bell sounded out loudly once again. No one else had entered the arena during this time, leaving only John and the wild looking neer in the arena together.


    ¡°Hahaha, times up for you,¡± the red headed youth bellowed out loudly with absolute confidence. ¡°I¡¯m a merciful man, so I¡¯ll give you this one chance to leave the arena peacefully. Otherwise don¡¯t me me for being heavy handed.¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡± a groggy sound drifted over the arena as Johnzily raised his head. His weary looking eyes locked onto the wild looking youth, before he lowered his head back onto thefortable headrest of the chair once again.


    ¡°Leave me alone,¡± John muttered while waving his one hand dismissively, as if rising from his slumber was not worth the effort.


    The wild looking youth¡¯s gaze narrowed at John¡¯s actions, while his aura suddenly exploded out powerfully.


    ¡°You dare look down on me like this?¡± the youth barked out loudly, clearly agitated that John didn¡¯t even ce him in his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll make you regret your actions!¡±


    The youth suddenly jumped up into the air and quickly appeared directly above John. His fist began to glow brightly, while it also radiated an incredible might. Clearly the youth was a body cultivator, as he was attacking with his bare fists.


    ¡°Almighty Smash!¡± the youth yelled loudly as his fist punched down towards John.


    John¡¯s eyes opened once again as he stared directly up towards the youth above him. A look of agitation appeared on his face as he quickly raised his hand and pointed at the youths chest.


    ¡°Tch, I was having a good dream,¡± John muttered out in agitation as lightning flickered on his finger.


    ¡°Toote!¡± the youth yelled out with confidence. Any attack John mustered in such a fashion was sure to be a hasty one, and a weak one as well. The youth was confident in the strength of his body protecting him from harm, and so decided to continue his assault on John.


    Lightning Disintegration!


    Bang!


    The lightning disintegration mmed against the youths chest before he could react to its incredible power. A powerful explosion radiated outwards, while the youth found himselfunched across the arena, unable to fight against the lightning beam. A loud cry of pain sounded out as the youthunched upwards for quite some time, before it came plummeting back towards the earth. He mmed viciously into the arena below, not stopping his fall at all.


    His body remained motionless, while smoke rose from the charred flesh on his body. Hundreds of divine senses quickly scanned out to see if the youth was dead, but their scans revealed that he was merely unconscious.


    ¡°Take him away from here,¡± Johnmanded as his Qi enveloped the youth and flung him out of the arena and into the stands. ¡°I can¡¯t sleep with his stench filling up the arena.¡±

 Chapter 565 Heaven Scrying Sect List

    Over the course of the next half day, a simr scene repeated itself without exception. The city was being discovered continuously by those who roamed through the desert, and each arrival always had someone in the group who thought themselves the strongest around.


    By now, John¡¯s feats had spread quite wide already. Youths who had witnessed John¡¯s feats had made their ways to other trials spread across the Jade Dragon Empirends, and couldn¡¯t help but tell what they had seen. However, just as before, the feats were all regarded as fairy tales, something utterly impossible.


    Most ignored the tales, but some found issue with such a rumor being spread. Clearly such a thing was impossible, and some found offense with being told such an egregious lie, mostly the geniuses of their own sects and ns. Many of these geniuses found their way to the coliseum city, eager to defeat John and prove the rumor a lie once and for all, all while raising their own status.


    ¡­


    ¡°I, Taran Zeral, of the Zeral n, have arrived to this meager city,¡± a booming voice echoed out from the front of the town as a group of youths entered through the arch. The youth had a Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivation, which he did nothing to conceal. His aura leaked out powerfully, almost as if he was dering his power publicly for all to witness. His light blue clothes danced lightly in the wind, as if it was part of the wind itself.


    Gong!


    The sound of a bell bellowed out over the town, signifying the end of the current round.


    ¡°Haha, I made it just in time for this round,¡± Taran bellowed out with great satisfaction. ¡°Time to im what is mine.¡±


    The youths at the town entrance all nced over towards Taran and his group, their eyes going slightly wide.


    ¡°Its Taran, from the Zeral n,¡± a startled youth eximed.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°The Zeral n,¡± his friend replied. ¡°Aren¡¯t they quite strong?¡±


    ¡°They sure are,¡± another friend in the group replied. He had a head of short golden hair, and an average looking face. ¡°Out of the nearly one thousand sects and ns within the alliance, the Zeral n is in the top one hundred. Taran Zeral is their most prodigious young master, who is set to take the reins from the Zeral n Leader when he grows older.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s that talented?¡± a youth in the group who was less knowledgeable about things asked. He had just left his alchemy trial after spending the entire day there, and was not knowledgeable about the outside happenings.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± the youth who had spoken previously asked.


    The youth shook his head, indicating that he had no idea about it.


    ¡°Here, read over this,¡± the golden haired youth said as he handed over a jade piece to the youth.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± the youth asked as he took the jade piece and sent his divine sense into it. There were four sections; Warrior, Alchemist, Formations Expert, Healer. The youth focused on the warrior section, and immediately a list of five hundred names popped into his head, with a number next to each one. The numbers went from five hundred down to twenty, at which point thest twenty names did not have numbers next to them.


    ¡°This is a list that¡¯s started to be distributed by the Heaven Scrying Sect,¡± the golden haired youth replied.


    ¡°The Heaven Scrying Sect? The sect that scries into the heavens to predict the future?¡± the youth asked.<sub></sub>


    ¡°That¡¯s the one,¡± the golden haired youth replied. ¡°The Heaven Scrying Sect does indeed focus on attempting to scry into the future, and their predictions are sought after by all. But they¡¯re also the premier information gathering sect,¡± the golden hair youth exined. ¡°If you want information about anything on the Divine Martial Continent, they¡¯re the ones to go to. And it seems as though they gathered plenty of information before they entered this realm along with the rest of us, and have started to sell these jade pieces to anyone who has enough money.¡±


    The alchemist youth nced at the jade piece in his hands, and studied the list once again.


    ¡°So what¡¯s this list?¡± the youth asked, although he had an idea of what it was.


    ¡°It¡¯s the list of the five hundred strongest disciples in thesends, ording to the Heaven Scrying Sect,¡± the golden-haired youth replied. ¡°Apparently each jade piece has a smallmunication formation etched into it, which links it to a main piece controlled by the Heaven Scrying Sect disciples. This allows them to update all the jade pieces in real time when any big event happens in thesends. Naturally, everyone is fighting for the top spots, Taran included,¡± the youth said as he gestured over towards Taran.


    ¡°What about the top twenty?¡± the youth asked. ¡°There are no numbers next to their names.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that. Apparently the top twenty have yet to be ranked, as their strengths are all monstrous. The Heaven Scrying Sect needs more information on their feats and strengths before they will rank them,¡± the golden haired youth exined.


    The alchemist youth inspected the jade piece once more, and he quickly found Taran Zeral on the list. His number was listed, and as soon as the youth focused on the name, a flood of information entered his mind, which the youth read out loud.


    ¡°Taran Zeral.


    -Power: Zeral n<sub></sub>


    -Cultivation Level: Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    -Rank: Two Hundred and Sixty Eight


    -Fighting Style: Specializes in Wind Battle Arts


    -Feats: None yet¡±


    After reading all of this, the youth went back to the start and decided to take a look at the other sections. However, the sections were nk, with only the words ¡°to be updated in the future¡± contained there.


    After his inspection, the alchemist youth handed back the jade piece over to the golden haired youth.


    ¡°Wow. With the information contained in these jade pieces, I¡¯m sure everyone will be wanting to buy them,¡± the alchemy youth said. ¡°The Heaven Scrying Sect must be making a killing on these.¡±


    ¡°That they are,¡± the golden haired youth said as he nced at Taran, who was loudly making his way deeper into the city towards the coliseum.


    ¡°As you can see, everyone is trying to get on the top five hundred list, as the prestige and honor thates with it is second to none. Being listed means you¡¯re one of the top five hundred youths in the entire Honorable Alliance, which is something everyone is striving for, as the rewards for such a thing will be beyond counting,¡± the golden-haired youth exined while gesturing to Taran. ¡°Taran is clearly looking to make a ssh and propel his name forward up this list, starting with this coliseum.¡±


    ¡°Top five hundred,¡± the alchemist muttered in awe as he watched Taran make his way up to the coliseum and quickly enter it. ¡°His strength must be incredible. Surely he¡¯ll control the coliseum for quite some time, right?¡±


    A strange look appeared on the golden-haired youth¡¯s face, as he was unsure of how to reply.


    ¡°What¡¯s that look for?¡± the alchemist youth asked.


    ¡°I suppose you wouldn¡¯t know since you just left your trial, but there¡¯s an even bigger monster than Taran waiting inside the arena,¡± the golden-haired youth replied.


    ¡°An even bigger monster?¡± the alchemist youth eximed in surprise. ¡°Who is it? What rank is he on the list?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­he¡¯s not on the ranking, yet,¡± the golden-haired youth replied after a moment of hesitation.


    Gong!


    The second gong of a bell sounded out, indicating the start of the next round.


    ¡°How is someone that strong not on the list?¡± the alchemist youth asked.


    ¡°Ah¡­he¡¯s kind of what you would call¡­an anomaly,¡± the golden-haired youth replied. ¡°I¡¯m sure the Heaven Scrying Sect didn¡¯t know about him, which is why he¡¯s not on the list. But there¡¯s no doubt that he¡¯ll be on the list before long.¡±


    ¡°How can you be so sure though?¡± the alchemist youth asked. ¡°Maybe Taran is stronger than him . Afterall, he¡¯s ranked top three hundre-¡°


    ¡°Gahhhhh!¡±


    A loud cry of pain boomed over the town, interrupting the youth and catching the attention of all. Everyone looked towards the source of the cry of pain, and quickly spotted a youth flying out of the coliseum and out into the desert beyond the town.


    Blood trailed behind the youth, as well as a trail of smoke, as his body crashed into the desert sands, kicking up a cloud of dust and dirt.


    ¡°Light blue robes¡­that wasn¡¯t Taran¡­was it?¡± the alchemist youth asked in shock. Clearly those robes matched what Taran had been wearing.


    A strange look appeared on the golden-haired youths face as he patted the alchemist youth on the shoulders. ¡°I¡¯m afraid it was,¡± the youth replied. ¡°Just be happy that you¡¯re an alchemist, and not a warrior like me who has to contend against such monsters. Now let¡¯s leave this town and find some other trail to participate in. As long as that freak is in the arena, there¡¯s no hope for anyone else.¡±


    The alchemist youth remained mouth agape in continued surprise for some time before he nodded his head. The group of youths all ventured out of the town and deeper into the desert, leaving the town behind.


    At the same time the group left, another lone youth arrived at the entrance of the town. He wore dark purple robes, which had many stars etched onto it, making him look quite mystical. He carried a staff in his hands, making him look even more mysterious.


    ¡°This should be the town from the rumors,¡± the youth muttered as heid his eyes on the coliseum and started to walk towards it.. ¡°Those rumors, if true, would be a blow to our reputation for not including someone as monstrous as the rumored youth on our list. I best verify the information quickly, and if found to be true, add him to the list.¡±

 Chapter 566 Verifying Rumors

    John¡¯s finger lowered as he watched Taran sail out of the arena. Their battle hadsted a short while, as Taran had been quite impressive. His wind powers had granted him incredible speed despite his restricted cultivation, and so John was forced to hop off hisfy hair and fight Taran for real. However, despite Taran¡¯s speed, he was quickly felled by a series of attacks from John.


    Even with his cultivation unrestricted, Taran would not be a match for John. However, he had rested quite a bit over thest twenty hours as he umted points for ten rounds in a row, and finally felt like stretching his legs for a bit.


    ¡°He was quite strong,¡± Iris said as she walked up to John with a smile on her face.


    ¡°That he was,¡± John replied calmly. ¡°If his cultivation was unrestricted, he would be roughly as strong as Vildren. There¡¯s quite a number of monstrous cultivators in thesends it seems.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha,¡± Irisughed as if she had heard the funniest joke, her melodicughter lightening the mood.


    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± John asked.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°The biggest monster of all is saying there are monsters. It¡¯s just a bit funny to hear something like that from you is all,¡± Iris replied as she arrived before John. Her gaze shifted to the small tform in the center of the arena, upon which thefortable chair still rested.


    ¡°So why did you call me into the arena for this round?¡± Iris asked.


    When the round had started, John had gestured for Iris to enter. Taran had also entered the arena, although he was soon forcefully ejected by John.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s time for you to start umting some Jade Marks,¡± John replied as he guestered for Iris to im the central tform.


    ¡°Already?¡± Iris asked. ¡°Are you no longer getting points from this trial?¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°Not really,¡± John replied while shaking his head. ¡°The first victory is worth fifteen points, but each subsequent victory is with one less point. I would only get four points for this round, which isn¡¯t worth wasting two hours of my time over. There are more opportunities in this realm ahead of us, and I¡¯m sure wasting another ten hours for a mere ten points is not worth the time,¡± John exined.


    ¡°So it¡¯s like that,¡± Iris replied as she understood why John called her into the arena. ¡°Well, I won¡¯t stand on courtesy,¡± Iris said as she hopped onto the tform.


    ¡°Good,¡± John replied as he walked over to the tform but stopped just short of it. ¡°You¡¯ll stay here for twenty hours as well to get the points that are worthwhile, at which point hopefully Adam and Chase have arrived. We can give them the points as well, before we head out deeper into thesends,¡± John exined his n.


    Iris nodded her head as she sat down on the couch John had ced on the tform. It was incrediblyfortable, and she felt herself fall into a rxed state.


    ¡°What are you going to do then?¡± Iris asked as she saw John sit down on the ground before the tform.<sub></sub>


    ¡°I¡¯m going to cultivate,¡± John replied. ¡°I achieved quite a few insights in my recent battles, which should help me advance a bit closer to the peak of the Meridian Forging Realm.¡±


    Iris nodded her head in acknowledgement, as she allowed John to cultivate without disturbance. Outside the arena, the crowd remained silent, only discussing the recent events in hushed whispers. They did not want to be the one to disturb John¡¯s cultivation and attract his wrath.


    They had hoped that John would leave once he was done with the arena, but much to their disappointment he had allowed Iris to take over. However, John had only imed the arena for twenty hours before rescinding it, so they would only have to wait for another twenty hours before he and Iris would leave.


    At this time, a lone youth entered the coliseum, his arrival attracting the attention of those in the stands. He had a Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivation, and seemed quite powerful. Their eyes perked up slightly when they saw the youth, and recognized the robes. Discussions instantly broke out amongst themselves regarding the neer.


    ¡°The Heaven Scrying Sect?¡±


    ¡°I thought they disdained fighting, and instead focused on the arcane arts? Why is someone from the Heaven Scrying Sect here?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard? Apparently they have released a list detailing the top geniuses in thesends. This one must be here on business regarding that list.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s like that. I suppose that makes sense.¡±


    The Heaven Scrying Sect youth ignored the discussions as his gaze shifted to the arena below. His gaze locked onto Iris who was sitting atop the central tform, and his eyes seemed to shift colors, bing much more profound. At the same time, Iris felt a gaze fall upon her and gazed back at the youth.


    Her eyes widened slightly as she could tell the youth had special eye talents. She activated her own eye abilities, hoping to see through what the youth was doing.


    ¡°This!¡± the Heaven Scrying Sect youth eximed softly as he noticed Iris¡¯s eyes. ¡°My eye¡¯s are inferior to hers? And I cannot tell what type of eyes they are. Just who is this girl?¡± the youth muttered softly.


    After inspecting Iris for some time, the youths gaze shifted to John, who was seated in a meditative position with his eyes closed. The youths¡¯ eyes shifted color once more as he closely inspected John. John felt the gaze fall upon him, but ignored it as he continued on with his cultivation.


    ¡°Can the rumors truly be true?¡± the youth mused as he inspected John closely. John¡¯s cultivation was clearly in the Late Meridian Forging Realm, and his eyes were able to tell that there was no trickery at y. If John had a cultivation shrouding or altering formation, the youth would be able to detect that.


    His cultivation was clearly in the Late Meridian Forging Realm. Not only that, but he was the only other one in the arena besides Iris, indicating that he had sessfully imed control of the arena.


    However, no battle was taking ce currently, making it so that the youth could not verify the veracity of the rumors. After inspecting John for some time, the youth walked over to a nearby group seated in the stands, and asked about what they had seen.

 Chapter 567 Setting Out Once More

    Simr to the previous rumors he had heard, they exined tales of John¡¯s feats, from fighting Vildren to iming the arena from Alderen. The Heaven Scrying Sect youth thanked the group, before making his way through many different groups.


    Each group told simr tales of what had happened, adding further veracity to the ims.


    ¡°Could the rumors truly be true? Everything seems to verify the rumors, but I cannot make such an unprecedented adjustment to the list before seeing his strength with my own eyes. If I make such a change on rumors and they end up false, the reputation of the entire Heaven Scrying Sect would be tarnished. I cannot be careful enough with this matter.¡±


    After thinking through the issue, the youth found a seat in the stands and waited like everyone else. He was hoping that someone would challenge John, allowing him to verify the ims. However, much to his and the others disappointment, no new challengers arrived over the next twenty hours.


    With the Jade Dragon Empire realm being incredibly vast, this town was only one of dozens of initial trial points that the youths of the Alliance could stumble upon. As such, only a very small portion of the overall participants made their way through this town. The number of neers stumbling on this town had already died down to near zero numbers, as everyone had made their way this far into the desert thus far, or even further.


    Everyone knew the trials deeper in the realm would most likely be more rewarding, and so very few youths made an effort to find the other trials at the start of the realm.


    Gong!


    Twenty hourster, the sound of the arena bell sounded out once more, signaling the end of the round and start of the next one. John¡¯s eyes opened as the formation barrier faded away.


    Bang!<sub>.</sub>


    Bang!


    Two youthsnded on the arena tform, having arrived quite recently. They both ran up to John, their faces full of excitement and enthusiasm.


    ¡°You two finally arrived huh?¡± John said as he watched Adam and Chase approach. ¡°What took you two so long?¡±


    It had been forty hours since the group had entered the town, and only now did Chase and Adam reveal themselves after entering their respective trials.


    ¡°We both just left our trials,¡± Chase exined to John, his voice slightly apologetic as if he had done something wrong. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°What are you apologizing for?¡± John asked, before changing the subject. ¡°What were your trials like anyways, for them to take both of you that long?¡±


    ¡°My trial was incredible,¡± Adam eximed, his hands waving in all directions as if he could not contain his excitement. ¡°My trial had multiple levels, and I was given six hours on each level to construct a formation that solved a certain task. Passing each level gave me Jade Marks, with more being granted for higher levels. The first level was a healing formation that healed to a certain level. The second was a sealing formation, capable of sealing a beast at my cultivation level. The thir-¡°


    ¡°Alright I get it,¡± John replied, cutting Adam off. If he allowed it, Adam would talk for hours on end when it came to formations. ¡°And what about you?¡± John asked as his gaze shifted to Chase.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Mine was the same,¡± Chase replied, clearly excited to talk about the trials, but keeping his calm much better than Adam. ¡°I also had multiple levels and six hours each per trial, with the task of creating a pill that met certain conditions.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± John replied as he understood why they had taken too long to leave. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that with both of you taking so long within your trials, you made it to the final levels?¡±


    ¡°Of course I did,¡± Adam replied proudly as he puffed out his chest. ¡°Those meager formation trials could not stop a genius such as myself.¡±


    John, as well as Iris rolled their eyes at Adam¡¯s prideful boasting, but neither said anything to disparage him. Adam was clearly happy for the first time in a while after dealing with the Starforge n, and so neither wanted to knock him down from his happy state.


    ¡°Same here,¡± Chase confirmed. ¡°Although the final levels were quite challenging. What about you? We just got here recently, although we heard some rumors about what had happened.¡±


    Gong!


    The sound of the arena bell sounded out once more, signaling the start of the next round.


    ¡°What¡¯s that bell?¡± Adam asked as he noticed the formation barrier pop up around the arena.<sub></sub>


    At this point, Iris chimed in and quickly exined what had happened, as well as the point system for the arena. Adam and Chase couldn¡¯t contain theirughter at certain points of her story, especially when she detailed her battle with that uncouth youth, as well as John¡¯s disys against Vildren and Alderen.


    ¡°Haha, the idiots,¡± Adam replied after stifling hisughter. ¡°They¡¯re both lucky we¡¯re all part of the same Alliance, or their fates would have been much worse for targeting John like that.¡±


    He had seen many times what John was capable of when it came to dealing with enemies, and knew the two of them had gotten off lightly.


    ¡°So you want us to get Jade Marks from this arena as well?¡± Chase asked as Iris finished exining everything.


    ¡°That¡¯s the n,¡± John replied. ¡°After you both get your points, we¡¯ll venture deeper into thesends in search of more opportunities. Chase, you¡¯ll go first, then Adam afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Hey, why Chase first?¡± Adam cried out in protest.


    ¡°Who cares who goes first,¡± Iris harrumphed in displeasure at Adam. ¡°You¡¯ll both get the same amount of points in the end.¡±


    ¡°Fine,¡± Adam replied, although clearly grumpy.


    His antics were ignored by the group, while Chase hopped on the central tform. Two hours quickly passed by, and the sound of the bell once again boomed over the arena.


    Chase felt the strange sensation on his chest once again, and quickly lowered the cor of his robe to inspect the new number, while John and the rest gathered around.


    ¡°Huh? Why¡¯d it do that?¡± Adam asked as he saw the brand on Chase¡¯s chest had split into two different sections, one with his Alchemy symbol, and one with the Warrior symbol.


    ¡°I wondered if it would work like this, and it seems like my guess was right,¡± John said as he stared at the brand. ¡°The different trials all test one of the four pathways, and the points do not mix.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s disappointing,¡± Chase chimed up, ¡°I have no interest in the warrior marks, as participating in future warrior trials will only take time away from alchemy trials. Not only that, but my fighting talents are quite meager, and so I won¡¯t umte much warrior points anyways.¡±


    ¡°I could always assist you like I did here,¡± John chimed up after a moment of contemtion.


    ¡°That won¡¯t do,¡± Chase quickly shook his head in protest at the idea. ¡°That will waste your time from proceeding further into the realm, which I will not ept. Not only that, but I¡¯m sure there will be trials that you cannot assist in, which I will be forced to give up on. My only passion in life is alchemy, and so with what we now know of these trails, it will be all I focus on.¡±


    John remained silent for some time as he stared at Chase, who had clearly made up his mind. Part of his reasoning was that he wanted to only focus on alchemy, but he could tell that Chase did not want to be a burden to his progress through thesends.


    ¡°I¡¯m the same,¡± Adam replied after a while, breaking the silence. ¡°You know I hate fighting, so formations will be all I focus on in thesends as well.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s how you both feel, then I won¡¯t argue against it,¡± John said as he stood up from his seated position. ¡°In that case, I think we¡¯re just about done with this town. Our adventure further into thesends continues.¡±


    Iris, Chase, and Adam all nodded their heads in agreement, and the three left the arena. John made his way to Hareu in the stands, who smiled as he watched him approach.


    ¡°Finally done with this trial?¡± Hareu asked.


    ¡°Yep, its all yours,¡± John replied. ¡°I can act as protector so you can get some points as well if you want,¡± he continued. He had seen how Hareu had attempted to protect Iris against Vildren, and felt the need to repay him for that.


    ¡°No need,¡± Hareu said while shaking his head. ¡°Your disy of power has made me realize that I have been taking it too easy. Only with steadfast cultivation, and continuous battles will my strength improve. I¡¯ll fight in the battles toe, and earn my position atop that tform with strength.¡±


    A look of approval appeared on John¡¯s face as he reached out and patted Hareu on the shoulder.


    ¡°Good, that¡¯s the attitude a cultivator should have. I wish you good luck,¡± John said to Hareu before turning around and leaving the arena with his friends in tow. Those in the stands all watched him leave, while their faces lit up with various emotions.


    ¡°He¡¯s gone¡­he¡¯s finally gone!¡± a youth eximed, tears nearly streaming down his face from tion.


    ¡°Haha, finally! We can finally enter the arena! Lets go!¡±


    Many simr cries of excitement drifted over the arena, as one hundred youths quickly made their way into the arena. The sound of a bell boomed once more, while the sound of heated battle broke out within the coliseum for the first time in many days.

 Chapter 568 Desert Ambush

    The youth from the Heaven Scrying Sect watched as John and the rest left the coliseum, ignoring the youth he had been talking to.


    ¡°Hey, are you going to sell me the Jade Dragon List?¡± the youth asked, slightly agitated at being ignored. The list of geniuses sold by the Heaven Scrying Sect had been named the Jade Dragon List, in homage to the Jade Dragon Empirends they were exploring. A genius capable of making the list was like a dragon amongst men, at least in the eyes of the youths of the Honorable Alliance.


    ¡°Ah, yes,¡± the Heaven Scrying Sect youth replied as he turned to face the youth before him once more. ¡°The cost is one million spirit crystals.¡±


    ¡°One million spirit crystals? That¡¯s daylight robbery,¡± the youth eximed in shock upon hearing the price. One million spirit crystals was a sum most of the youths in thesends could easily afford, but it was still a shockingly high number. There were over fifty thousand youths in thesends, and if just half bought the Jade Dragon List, the Heaven Scrying Sect would make twenty five billion spirit crystals. Such a sum was beyond shocking.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving, so purchase it now or don¡¯t, it makes no difference to me,¡± the Heaven Scrying Sect youth said as he began to walk away.


    ¡°Alright alright, here you go,¡± the youth hurriedly replied as he handed over a spatial ring containing the spirit crystals. The Heaven Scrying Sect youth inspected the sum before handing over a jade piece to the youth, who happily took it.


    ¡°Oh yeah,¡± the youth chimed up once more. ¡°I heard your sect is also selling a map of thesends. How much is that going for?¡±


    ¡°The map is ten million spirit crystals,¡± the Heaven Scrying Sect youth replied.


    ¡°Ten million? For a map? How can you possibly charge such a sum,¡± the youth cried out in shock once again.


    ¡°Do you want the map or not?¡± the Heaven Scrying youth asked impatiently.


    ¡°Ah¡­no. I don¡¯t have that many spirit crystals,¡± the youth replied sheepishly, slightly embarrassed by such a thing.<sub>.</sub>


    Upon hearing that, the Heaven Scrying Sect youth turned and left, leaving the coliseum behind. He had already sold many Jade Dragon lists to the youths of this town, and had more pressing matters to attend to.


    ¡­


    The arid desert stretched out before John and the others as they once again ventured out into it. The scorching sun hung high in the sky, baking the sands below. They had been walking through the desert for a day already, but had yet to see anything of note yet.


    ¡°Sheesh, it¡¯s a good thing we cultivators have sturdy bodies. Otherwise this heat would have cooked us alive,¡± Adam chimed up as he wiped the sweat from his brow.


    ¡°Just use your Qi to form a protective shield around yourself,¡± Iris replied dismissively as a protective shield of Qi surrounded her body. Chase had done the same, while John had no need to do such a thing, as his durable body was easily capable of withstanding the scorching heat.


    ¡°Using my Qi nonstop is even more tiresome than withstanding this heat,¡± Adam replied with equal dismissiveness.


    ¡°Here, take this then,¡± Chase chimed up as he outstretched his hand. To the surprise of the others, a flower suddenly grew out of the center of his hand, blooming in almost no time at all. The flower was blue in color, and gave off a fresh icy aura, making the surrounding area quitefortable.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± Adam eximed in surprise, shocked to see Chase do such a thing. ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°I have a Wood Constitution, which gives me control over nts, trees, and flowers,¡± Chase exined. ¡°As long as I have a seed of the particr nt, and I have enough Qi to germinate the nt to maturity, I can quickly grow the nt as you just saw. This particr flower is the Frost-Mist Flower, its name given for the natural frosty mist it exudes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­amazing!¡± Adam bellowed out with great excitement as he grabbed the flower from Chase.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Wood constitutions truly are quite remarkable,¡± Iris chimed up as well.


    ¡°Do you two want a flower?¡± Chase asked, his mood quite happy to be receiving suchpliments.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine,¡± John replied, unbothered by the heat.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright as well,¡± Iris politely rejected the offer as well before her gaze shifted towards John.


    ¡°Have you noticed him?¡± Iris asked softly.


    ¡°Mhm,¡± John replied while nodding his head. ¡°He¡¯s been following us since we left the town.¡±


    ¡°What, someone¡¯s following us?¡± Adam eximed, as he had beenpletely unaware of such a thing. He nced behind them, but didn¡¯t see anyone. Clearly whoever was following them was following from beyond visible range.


    Iris rolled her eyes and ignored Adam¡¯s outburst. ¡°What do you think he wants?¡± she asked John.


    ¡°No idea, but he hasn¡¯t made any sort of move on us yet,¡± John replied, ¡°and I detect no hostility from him, so we can ignore him for now.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Iris replied as the group continued onwards, ignoring the lone youth that followed them from a distance. They continued on through the desert, blindly making their way deeper into thends.<sub></sub>


    ¡­


    The Heaven Scrying Sect Youth walked through the desert, keeping his distance from John and the rest. A unique looking artifact, a crystal ball with mesmerizing lights emanating from him rested in his hands, while the youth continued to inspect it.


    Within the mesmerizing lights was an image of John and the rest walking through the desert. Clearly this youth was using this artifact to follow John and the rest. A frown appeared on the youths face as he followed behind.


    ¡°They¡¯re just aimlessly wandering through this desert, blind and lost. It will take them days to find the next set of trials at this rate,¡± the youth muttered with slight frustration. He had been following John to confirm hisbat prowess, but had yet to see him fight.


    ¡°Should I approach them and guide them to the next trial?¡± the youth mused once again, before his eyes opened slightly.


    ¡°An ambush?¡± the youth mused as his scrying artifact suddenly showed a fresh set of faces, hiding behind some ancient boulders that littered the desert sands. The boulders were directly in the path of John and the rest, guaranteeing that they would walk into the ambush.


    ¡°I might be able to see his strength finally,¡± the youth mused as he slipped forward, closer towards John and the rest.


    ¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you already noticed,¡± Iris said to John, her eyes narrowing while shifting in color slightly as she stared forward.


    ¡°Mhm,¡± John replied calmly as he stared ahead. ¡°They¡¯re doing nothing to conceal their presence, so they¡¯re quite noticeable.¡±


    ¡°They must be looking down on us after noticing our cultivations. We probably look like easy targets,¡± Iris replied calmly as well.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Chase asked as he listened to Iris and John talk. ¡°Is it another ambush?¡±


    ¡°Seems like it,¡± John replied without slowing his steps.


    ¡°Why would they ambush us?¡± Adam asked, ¡°is it the Starforge n again?¡±


    ¡°No, their aura¡¯s are different,¡± John replied, ¡°they¡¯re probably just looking to rob us of our valuables. We¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Tch, despicable,¡± Iris sneered.


    The group continued forward without care, arriving before the desert area littered with ancient boulders. Without any surprise at all, a group of four male youths jumped out from behind the boulders, each emanating an Early Heaven Tribtion aura.


    ¡°Stop right there,¡± one of the youths yelled out loudly, his aura ring out powerfully.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± another one of the youths yelled out, ¡°hand us your spatial rings, and we¡¯ll let you go on your way. Otherwise, don¡¯t me us for forcibly taking it from you.¡±


    Adam, Chase and Iris nced at each other with strange looks on their faces, before the three burst out intoughter. Theirughter boomed out without care, startling the four ambushers. The faces of the ambushers twisted up in growing anger, as they were clearly being mocked by their weaker prey.


    ¡°You dareug-¡°


    Boom!


    The ground beneath John¡¯s feet exploded, interrupting the youths words as he appeared before the four ambushers. The faces of the ambushers lit up with shock at the speed John had unleashed, as it was far faster than what they were capable of.


    Lightning nodes suddenly sprung up in the sky around John, as a lightning cage instantly appeared, trapping all five within. The sounds of weapons colliding, battle arts exploding and cries of pain rang out from within the lightning cage, before it faded away a short whileter. The ground beneath John¡¯s feet had shattered away into arge crater from the force of the attacks, while the four ambushersid unconscious on the ground before John, strippedpletely naked. The sight surprised Iris, Chase, and Adam, as they had been unable to see what had happened within the lightning cage.


    Strange looks appeared on their faces as they saw the naked youths piled up atop each other.


    ¡°They tried to rob us, so I merely robbed them back. With how this ended up, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll think twice before robbing anyone else,¡± John said as he noticed the strange looks on their faces. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± Iris suddenly said, her gaze lingering at the bottom of the crater John had created.


    ¡°What is it?¡± John asked as he turned to look at Iris once more.


    ¡°There¡¯s something underneath this ground.¡±

 Chapter 569 Digging In The Desert

    The crystal ball in the Heaven Scrying Sect youth¡¯s hands shed with various colors of light, as the brief battle between John and the ambushers appeared in the ball. The youth¡¯s face remained focused as he studied every detail of the battle that was unfolding, not wanting to miss a second of it.


    However, much to the youth¡¯s disappointment, the entire battle had taken ce within John¡¯s lightning cage. While glimmers of the battle within appeared between the web of lightning, it was quite difficult to make out what was happening within. The lightning cage was almost like a solid wall in all directions as hundreds of beams pierced from one lightning node to the other.


    Soon after the battle started, the lightning cage faded away. A frown appeared on the youths face as the cage faded away so early.


    ¡°The cage is fading away already?¡± the youth muttered, slight disappointment evident in his voice. ¡°It seems as though the Heavenly Lightning Sect youth was not as strong as the rumors im, and has already been defea-¡°


    Before the youth could finish his sentence, the lightning cage faded away fully, revealing the truth of what had urred inside. The unconscious bodies of the four Early Heaven Tribtion ambushers were stacked one atop the other, while John stood there with a look of indifference on his face.<sub>.</sub>


    The Heaven Scrying Sect youth stared closely at the scene before him, his mind racing from what he had just witnessed. Despite his vast experience regarding both heaven scrying and information collection on the other geniuses of the Divine Martial Continent, both from the Honorable Alliance and outside of it, it was the first time he had seen something like this.


    However, after remaining silent for some time, a frown appeared on the youths face.


    ¡°I was unable to see what urred within that cage of lightning, which is quite troublesome. There were some unverified rumors that this youths strengthes from artifact and external sources, which would exclude him from the list. While the cage of lightning seemed naturally formed, I am unable to fully verify that. Not only that, but I was unable to see what exactly urred within the cage of lightning. For all I know, he could have used a one time artifact of great power to overwhelm his opponents. I must continue my observations of him before I can make any alterations¡­hmmm? What are they doing?¡±


    The youth noticed John and the rest stop, and soon they began digging into the ground. A thoughtful look appeared on his face, as an idea of what was going on entered his mind. After some further consideration, the youth started walking forward, proceeding towards John and the rest.<sub></sub>


    ¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s down here that we¡¯re digging like this for?¡± Adam asked Iris, slightly disgruntled by the physical work he had to do.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet, but I can tell there¡¯s something emanating a small amount of Qi down below us,¡± Iris replied, ignoring Adam¡¯s grouchiness.


    ¡°Why do we have to dig manually like this though? Adam harumphed once again. ¡°Can¡¯t John just unleash strong attacks to blow the ground away?¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t be a wise thing to do,¡± Iris replied as she used her Qi to move aside a lump of sand and dirt, before doing so again. Her and the rest were all doing such a thing, carefully extracting the sand with their Qi. The process was quite slow whenpared to forcefully breaking through to whatever was beneath them, but Iris had cautioned against such a thing.


    ¡°I have no idea what¡¯s beneath us, or how fragile it is,¡± Iris replied. ¡°If we blow the ground up with force, we could potentially destroy what¡¯s down there. Only when I¡¯m closer will I be able to see exactly what it is.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea?¡± Adam asked, ¡°aren¡¯t your eyes able to see through everything or something like that?¡±


    ¡°My eye powers don¡¯t work like that,¡± Iris replied, and decided to take this time to exin to the group how her talents worked, as she had never done such a thing. ¡°While I can see through objects, my vision bes obscured after a bit, making me unable to see what exactly it is in situations like these. However, my eyes can detect sources of Qi with much greater rity, almost like I can see flickers of light through the ground. Not only that, but I¡¯m also able to determine the rtive value of the source of Qi, based on the profundity of the Qi that is exuded.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it works,¡± John chimed in. He had been curious as to how Iris¡¯s eye talents worked, and now it all made sense. ¡°So with how your eye talents work, I¡¯m guessing you can not only see the micro-muscle movements of your opponents, but also the flow of Qi through their body. Am I correct?¡±


    ¡°You are exactly right,¡± Iris replied with a smile at John¡¯s guess.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite impressive,¡± John replied, truly in awe of Iris¡¯s talents. Qi flow through another cultivator¡¯s body was almost impossible to detect, as the cultivator¡¯s external,. aura would interfere with such internal detections. It was one of the reasons cultivators red their auras, despite it being slightly wasteful when it came to Qi.


    However, Iris¡¯s eyes were able to pierce right through her opponents auras and see the flow of Qi within their bodies, giving her an amazing advantage of predicting what type of battle arts would be used, and when. This allowed her to dance around the battlefield with absolute precision, which made it seem like she was able to predict the future.


    ¡°No wonder everyone struggles against you so much,¡± John replied with an understanding nod of his head. ¡°Your speed coupled with your vision makes it almost impossible to catch you. The only way someone would be able to beat you is with overwhelming power to suppress your movements.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s an alright talent I guess,¡± Adam felt the need to chime in, causing Iris to look at him with displeasure on her face. However, she ignored him after a short moment, as she was happy that John had sincerely praised her abilities.


    ¡°You also said your eyes give you visions asionally, correct?¡± John asked as he moved another pile of sand away. He had remembered his conversation with Iris, and something about her having a vision regarding him. However, at the time he had dismissed talking about it, as he was sick of hearing of prophecies and visions. Not only that, but Iris had briefly passed her vision to him during the entrance exam for the Heavenly Lightning Sect, although that vision was chaotic, making him unable to understand exactly what it was about.


    ¡°You¡¯re correct,¡± Iris replied, her gaze bing slightly hardened as she stopped digging. Her actions caught the attention of the others, who stopped digging as well, as they could tell that something was on her mind.


    ¡°What is it?¡± John asked Iris.


    A conflicted look appeared on Iris¡¯s face, before she replied to John¡¯s question. ¡°I have something incredibly important to tell you. Something regarding the visions I¡¯ve had. Visions that I showed you before, but I have not shown you everything.¡±

 Chapter 570 Calamitous Visions

    ¡°Is that so?¡¯ John replied calmly, notpletely caught off guard by what Iris had just said. ¡°Just what kind of eye¡¯s do you have? You can see Qi, you can see through walls, you can see visions of the future. It sounds beyond impressive.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what eyes I have exactly,¡± Iris replied with an unsure tone. ¡°I asked the Grand Elder about it, but even he didn¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°That unique huh?¡± John mused as he fell into silence once more.


    Just like Innate Variant Bodies and Essence Attribute Bodies, there were many types of eyes in the world. Some could scry into the future, some could peer into the past, some could see with rity far beyond what a normal cultivator could achieve, some could see things unseen by the naked eye. These eye types had been documented throughout history, just like variant bodies and attribute bodies. For Iris¡¯s eyes to still be a mystery indicated that they were an incredibly rare variant, something not consideredmon knowledge.


    Iris nced at Chase and Adam for a moment, which John picked up on what she was thinking.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°I trust both of them with my life,¡± John said to Iris. ¡°Anything that you can tell me, you can tell them.¡±


    Adam and Chase felt a warm feeling seep into their bodies, as John expressed the brotherly friendship the three of them had.


    Iris remained silent for a moment again, before she turned to Adam.


    ¡°As much as I hate to admit it, I need your help right now. Can you erect a sound negating formation, as well as a formation that stops any spying on us?¡± Iris asked, not wanting to ask Adam for help, but not having another choice.<sub></sub>


    A pride look quickly reced the look of surprise on Adam¡¯s face, as his hand rested on his waist and his chest puffed up. ¡°Hahaha, of course I can do something as trivial as that. Do you know who you¡¯re speaking to?¡±


    Clearly he was happy to disy his formation talents, as well be called on for assistance, especially from Iris. Adam quickly set about setting up his formation, which took around thirty minutes. He etched aplicated series of formation runes in the sand beneath their feat, and then ced formation disks and crystal power sources at many nodes in the formation. After setting everything up, Adam injected his Qi into the formation, which lit up with brilliant light.


    A white barrier surrounded the four of them, blocking all Qi and sound from exiting or entering. John nodded his head in approval at the barrier, as he could tell it was quite impressive. Although Adam was useless for the most part, even John had to admit that Adam¡¯s talent in formations was beyond impressive.


    Iris inspected the barrier as well, and nodded her head in approval, despite not wanting to praise Adam. Her gaze shifted to Adam, who stared back in unconcealed pride.<sub></sub>


    ¡°How good is this barrier? Could someone spy on us without us knowing?¡± Iris asked. Clearly what she had to say was incredibly important.


    ¡°It would take someone in the Dao Transformation Realm to be able to spy without me knowing,¡± Adam replied confidently. ¡°Af for someone in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, I would be able to detect their intrusion. The same could not be said for a physical barrier, but spying barriers are much harder to breach unnoticed.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Iris replied while nodding her head. Her gaze shifted back to John, as a serious look appeared on her face.


    ¡°Do these visions involve what you showed me during the entrance exam?¡± John asked calmly.


    ¡°They do,¡± Iris replied without hesitation.


    ¡°Visions? What visions?¡± Adam chimed in, unable to contain his curiosity.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­kind of hard to exin,¡± Iris replied, unsure of where to start.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just show them, like you showed me?¡± John suggested. ¡°Although I would like to see the vision again if possible.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Iris replied as she stepped forward and reached out towards John. Her finger tapped his forehead, and once again John saw the visions he had seenst time.


    The visions depicted humans, demons, bizarre creatures far more terrifying than demons, a golden-armored god, destruction, death, ruin, and¡­John. Each visionsted for only an instant before moving onto the next, but itsted long enough to see that John was included in most of the visions, and was clearly fighting against the others depicted.


    The visions containing John depicted him from behind, however, his aura was unmistakable. His body was taller, stronger, and slicked with blood in each vision. Long ck hair flowed behind his head, while a scythe with a blood red de and ck handle rested in his firm grip.


    In the visions that did not contain John, all that could be seen was cmitous destruction on an unprecedented scale, a world so scarred from battle, ruin, and savagery that it was on the verge of copse. Rivers of blood flowed as freely as water, while corpses littered the earth as far as the eye could see.


    Just as fast as the visions came, they left, leaving John feeling quite strange. It was as if he had just lived another life briefly, before being brought back. Iris walked over to Adam and Chase as well, and tapped their foreheads as well. The same visions flooded their minds, and Adam and Chase couldn¡¯t help but copse to their knees, panting raggedly from what they had just seen.


    Fear was clearly etched on their faces, as the sinister creatures and scenes of destruction were almost too much for them to handle. Only after a long while did the two of them calm down and stand back on their feet. However, both seemed slightly pale, not fully recovered from what they had seen.


    ¡°Just¡­what was that?¡± Adam spoke up after a long while, breaking the silence.


    ¡°They¡¯re visions¡­of the future¡­my future,¡± John replied before Iris could, his face calm and voice steady.

 Chapter 571 Fears and Reassurances

    Iris nced at John, slightly surprised at how calm he was. Despite having seen the visions before, it was the first time Iris had shown him the visions without him in them. She had withheld themst time, but decided to reveal all today. However, his reaction was almost as if he had been expecting it, surprising her.


    ¡°Visions of your future?¡± Adam replied in shock. ¡°How can you be so calm after what you just saw? Everything was destroyed, the world was destroyed. And those creatures¡­just what the hell were those things? Especially that one with four arms¡­it¡¯s cold red eyes¡­it was¡­it was¡­as if I was staring at death itself¡­¡±


    Adam¡¯s voice trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. He was still far too shaken up by what he had seen, and almost seemed more terrified by the creatures he had seen, than the ruin of the world that had been shown. The visions were so real, as if he had been the one standing there himself.


    John thought about the creature Adam was describing, the one that had stood out the most in his vision. Although it was just a vision, the auras of those depicted could be felt to a certain extent.


    In the vision it towered over him, like a god of deathing to im his life. The creature stared directly at John, its blood red eyes filled with cold disregard. Sharp, straight horns, six in total, jutted from the top of its head like a spiked crown.


    Wearing only the lower half of a ck robe, its skin, dark red like the color of dried blood was bared for all to see. Sharp sabers, several timesrger than John¡¯s body rested in each of its its four arms. Each arm bulged with muscles that looked like they could shatter mountains from casual movements.


    Most notable of all was its aura. The aura of the creature was terrifying beyond measure, as if it was evil from the pits of hell itself. Were it not for his previous experiences with sinister auras and terrifying creatures, John would have been just like Adam and Chase after seeing the visions.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Are you certain those visions were of the future?¡± Chase asked Iris after recovering from his shock.


    ¡°I am,¡± Iris replied. ¡°The visions starteding to me when I was just a child, and were almost too much for me to bear. However, I was eventually able to deal with them after many years, and decided to set out in search of the one depicted in them. Fate seems to have favored me quite highly, as I ran into John quite early on in my search. The moment Iid eyes on him, I was certain he was the one depicted in the visions, and you can all clearly tell that I was right.¡±


    ¡°Ok, but how do you know it¡¯s in the future?¡± Adam asked, finally calming down slightly. ¡°Couldn¡¯t they just be nightmares, or false visions, or something else?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not,¡± John replied, his voice still calm and steady.


    ¡°How can you be so sure?¡± Adam asked.


    ¡°Because the visions align with something else that was revealed to me previously, and the two match up quite urately,¡± John exined.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Match? Match with what?¡± Iris asked, as this was the first time she was hearing about something else that dealt with the same things as her visions.


    ¡°A prophecy,¡± John replied, not hiding the truth.


    ¡°A prophecy? A prophecy of what?¡± Adam asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll most likely be fighting those things you saw in the vision. The details aren¡¯t worth getting caught up on, just know that there¡¯s nothing to worry about,¡± John replied as he walked up and patted Adam on the shoulder.


    ¡°Nothing to worry about? How the hell can you say something like that?¡± Adam yelled, but quickly lowered his voice as he realized he was taking his fear out on John, and was in the wrong.


    ¡°Sorry,¡± Adam muttered, while John patted him on the shoulder once again.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to apologize,¡± John replied with a smile.


    ¡°Still¡­how can you be so calm? If everything we saw is going to happen?¡± Adam asked.


    ¡°Because, did you see me cower in those visions? Did you see me on my knees?¡± John replied with confidence in his voice. ¡°I may have been bloodied and bruised, but my back was still straight, and my aura towering to the sky. If I had no hope of victory in these situations toe, do you think I would exude such confidence?¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­I suppose that makes sense,¡± Adam replied after thinking it over, calming down a little bit.


    ¡°Besides, have you ever seen me lose a battle before?¡± John asked with a cheery smile on his face.


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t,¡± Adam replied, gaining back some confidence in the situation. However, his breathing was still slightly uneven from his previous panic.


    ¡°Exactly, so there¡¯s nothing to worry about,¡± John reassured, before he draped an arm around Adam¡¯ shoulder in a brotherly manner.


    ¡°However, if you¡¯re still so worried about the future, why don¡¯t you focus on bing as strong as possible yourself. Be so strong that even that creature you so fear is nothing more than an ant to you. And if that¡¯s not possible, then at least be strong enough to help me in those battles. With you and I working together, who can stop us?¡± John asked Adam.


    A look of contemtion appeared on Adam¡¯s face, before a look of determination reced it as his arm draped around John¡¯s shoulder as well.


    ¡°Right!¡± Adam eximed loudly. ¡°With your might, and my genius formations, no one can stop the two of us when we work together! Hahaha¡± Adam bellowed out, his prideful attitude back. However, there was still some nervousness in theughter, as oveing what he had just seen would take more time than this.


    ¡°Good, then let¡¯s talk no more of this situation. If those visions evere to pass, we¡¯ll deal with it at that time¡± John said to Adam, but his words were clearly intended for the entire group. Iris opened her mouth to speak up, but closed it after a moment of hesitation.


    She had wanted to bring the visions up to clearly discuss them, and make sure John was aware of what could potentiallye to pass. However, she could tell that such a thing was not necessary after all.


    ¡°You made Iris show us those visions on purpose, didn¡¯t you?¡± Chase asked John after regaining his calm as well. ¡°You wanted us to see the visions, and use it as motivation for getting stronger, right?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± John asked with feigned confusion. ¡°I merely didn¡¯t want to leave you two in the dark about such an important topic is all.¡±


    ¡°Liar, you did this on purpose,¡± Adam bellowed out as he finally saw through John¡¯s actions. John had always attempted to push Adam forward regarding cultivation, but Adam always protested, as he hated such things. It would take something beyond monumental to change his attitude regarding cultivation¡­something monumental like they had just seen.


    John shrugged at Adam¡¯sment before ignoring him, which caused both Iris and Chase tough. It instantly lightened the incredibly dark mood, as the four began to dig into the earth once more. The others followed suit, and the gloomy atmosphere slowly faded away as the four returned to their normal selves.


    Digging into the earth while faced away from the others, John¡¯s eyes became narrowed and cold as he thought back to the visions. He had maintained his calm demeanor for two reasons. One was that he had already expected such a thing, as the prophecy told to him by Thunderzen detailed as much. The other was that he had already experienced truly terrible things, like the menacing illusion creature shown to him in the Elysian Lightning World, or the sinister aura within his pce realm, and was not taken by surprise by such things anymore.


    However, the vision that Iris showed him today contained additional details to the one she had previously shown him, one that shook even someone as sturdy as himself.


    ¡®That creature¡­with four arms and piercing red eyes¡­the prophecy alluded to it already, but I was unable to be certain until now. But that creature is most definitely the Asura of Anguish¡­and his aura is incredibly simr to the sinister aura within my pce realm.¡¯

 Chapter 572 Ancient Treasures

    ¡®Asura of Anguish¡­a simr aura to the sinister aura within my pce realm¡­an aura somewhat simr to my Immortal Asura Body and Asura Transformation Art¡­the simrities are too many to ignore as mere coincidence.


    A thousand thoughts swirled through John¡¯s mind as he thought about everything from the Asura of Anguish to his body dantian.


    After calming his mind a bit, his thoughts shifted back to the Asura of Anguish, which he had seen in the vision.


    There were two exnations to what John had seen in the vision regarding the Asura of Anguish. He knew something was sealed within his pce realm, as he had heard its menacing growl once before. It was something that his mysterious yet overwhelmingly powerful father had thought worthwhile to seal away, alluding to how powerful or important whatever within was.


    Each time John touched a chain on the door, the chain shattered, and more of the aura from whatever was sealed within leaked out. The aura had only ever reminded him of one other thing before; the creature he had seen in the illusion trial in the Elysian Lightning World.


    ¡®My father wouldn¡¯t just¡­unleash a creature like that on the world, would he?¡¯ John mused while he kept digging. However, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn¡¯t figure out the truth of what was toe.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡®I¡¯m sure it¡¯s all connected somehow, but I don¡¯t have enough pieces to say for sure. While I have my guesses, that¡¯s all they are at the moment¡­guesses. Guessing won¡¯t solve this issue.


    Besides, it doesn¡¯t matter anyways. In the world of cultivation, death is always one step away for those who tread the path to the pinnacle of the martial world. All I can do is focus on bing as strong as possible, and these visions, if theye to pass, will just be another step I take over the corpses of countless enemies towards that peak.¡¯


    ¡­


    ¡°What are they doing?¡± the Heaven Scrying Sect youth mused as he stood at the very top of the deep hole John and the rest had dug and peered within. ¡°First they start digging for no reason, and then they erect a sound and Qi nullification formation? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    No matter how he thought about it, the youth couldn¡¯t make sense of it. If the group had found incredibly rare valuables while digging and erected a barrier to prevent spying, they would have also made the barrier block all vision from the outside. The youth could clearly see into the barrier, but not hear anything from within.<sub></sub>


    While peering into the deep hole, the youths eyes suddenly widened slightly as something came into his vision. His eyes shifted colors ever so slightly, as they became more profound and mesmerizing. He stared straight into the dirt below the group¡¯s feet, as if he was looking through the earth.


    ¡°There¡¯s something down there! Something exuding a faint aura¡­just how did they know to dig here? Even I just noticed it, and they¡¯ve already dug down hundreds of yards,¡± the youth muttered in surprise upon finally noticing the goal of the digging project. ¡°It must be that girl. She has unique eyes as well¡­but for her to notice something this deep, just how profound are her talents?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there,¡± Iris eximed, her excitement clearly rising.


    ¡°What¡¯s down here? Even with meager eye talents like yours, you must know by now,¡± Adam asked, both curious and disgruntled for having to dig so long. They had already been at it for several hours.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Just wait, you impatient oaf. You¡¯ll find out soon enough,¡± Iris harrumphed at Adam¡¯s insult.


    By now, John had also noticed whatever was buried beneath the sands. While he could not see it yet, he was able to feel the faint aura of whatever was beneath them.


    ¡°It¡¯s only a few more yards. Stand aside,¡± John instructed, which the othersplied with. They stood aside, while John¡¯s powerful essence Qi surged out, sweeping aside thest remaining patch of earth. Using his powerful divine sense and great Qi control, John swept aside all remaining obstructions without moving whatever was buried beneath the earth.


    Before the group, a sight they had not been expecting came into view.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­corpses,¡± Adam said, not expecting to see dead bodies down here.


    ¡°Five of them, to be exact,¡± John replied as he moved towards the dead bodies. The dead bodies, just skeletons at this point, were still draped in their clothes. They wore impressive jade green robes, with a powerful looking dragon breathing fire embroidered on the back and sleeves. Even with the wear and tear of time, the robes were still intact without ws, indicating the high quality they were made from.


    Other than the robes they wore, each skeleton held a weapon in one of their hands, each weapon exuding an incredible aura. Clearly this had been what Iris had spotted through the earth.


    ¡°Heaven Tribtion Grade Weapons!¡± Adam eximed, his demeanor of exhaustion reced with excitement. The group carefully inspected the weapons, which all emanated an incredible aura. Chases eyes lit up as well, as he clearly spotted something that was of great interest to him. Even Iris couldn¡¯t help but be excited, as she toocked a Heaven Tribtion Grade Weapon.


    ¡°Why are you so excited to see weapons?¡± John asked. ¡°You don¡¯t fight, and when you¡¯re forced to fight you use formation disks.¡±


    ¡°Because, these are clearly ancient Jade Dragon Empire youths, and these weapons belonged to them. By studying these ancient weapons, I might be able to peer into the techniques used to create them, as well as gain insights from the intricate formations embedded in the weapons. These weapons are a treasure trove of ancient knowledge,¡± Adam eximed, unable to contain his excitement.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted from Adam back to the weapons, which had been sitting beneath the desert sands for over a hundred thousand years.


    ¡°What do you think happened to them?¡± Chase asked.


    ¡°Who knows?¡± John replied, his gaze still lingering on the corpses. ¡°They might have been ambushed, the same as we just encountered, or were killed by something else. The Jade Dragon Empire reigned more than one hundred thousand years ago. There¡¯s no way we¡¯ll be able to tell exactly what happened after all this time. All I know is that their weapons remained behind, which is a boon for us.¡±


    ¡°Such extraordinary weapons, left here to fade away forever. Good thing we stumbled upon them,¡± Iris chimed up, arge smile appearing on her face.


    ¡®That¡¯s right. Good thing we have you, otherwise we never would have found these weapons,¡± John replied as he patted Iris on the shoulder before moving over towards the weapons. ¡°None of us have a Heaven Tribtion Grade weapon yet, so these will more thane in handy in the trials toe. Finding these weapons so early on in thesends is beyond fortunate.¡±


    He had already been given a lesson on the importance of weapon quality just days ago, when his battle with Vildren had damaged his scythe. While it was still fine for the most part, eventually it would be overwhelmed by all the Heaven Tribtion Grade weapons his opponents would use. John once again regretted the decision of not buying a Heaven Tribtion Grade weapon from the Mystic Trade Hall when he had a chance, but this encounter made up for thatck of judgment.


    ¡°Which one are you going to take?¡± Adam asked as John reached out towards the weapons, his selection made.

 Chapter 573 Dragon-Like Artifact Spirit

    The four weapons in front of them were a straight sword, a magical staff, a spear, and a great axe.


    ¡°The great axe, of course,¡± John replied as he reached out and grabbed the handle of the battle axe. The great axe had a golden single sided de, with a jade green shaft; the colors of the Jade Dragon Empire. The shaft had gold trimmings on it as well, making the entire great axe look quite impressive. The de was two feet long, while the shaft was four feet long, making it possible to use both hands for attacks.


    While not his primary weapon of choice, an axe had been John¡¯s secondary weapon up to this point. His axe battle arts were not as impressive as his Divine Reaping Scythe, but scythes were much rarer weapons toe across, while axes were much moremon.


    John pulled up on the great axe, but the skeletal hand still sped to the weapon held tight. He reached out and pried the hand off the weapon, iming it as his own. The weapon swayed down slightly as he picked up it, not ready for its heavy weight. His arm muscles bulged with power as he steadied the weapon before him, using quite a bit of strength to do so. The weapon weighed over ten thousand pounds, and wielding it freely required immense strength.


    ¡®The battle axe I obtained in the Divine Trial is made from incredible materials, but this one is just as durable and sturdy. However, the difference in power is immense, as the Divine Trial did not undergo its own Heavenly Tribtion, while this one did. Its aura contains a tinge of the heavens, and only that but the ancient Divine weapon does not have an artifact spirit, while this one shoul-¡°


    As if reading his thoughts, a roar suddenly appeared in John¡¯s mind, like that of a dragon¡¯s roar. It shook his soul space, trying to overwhelm his mind and shatter his soul.<sub>.</sub>


    Expecting such a thing from his previous experience with his scythe, John¡¯s Qi and soul power red out against the power of the artifact spirit, while his indomitable will surged forward like waves. His powers mmed against the energy from the artifact spirit, as the battle within his body began.


    ¡®Hmph, I subdued a Half-Step Heaven Tribtion artifact spirit back when I was in the Core Formation Realm. While you may be far more impressive than that pseudo-artifact spirit, you¡¯re still far from powerful enough to make me submit,¡¯ Johnmunicated to the artifact spirit with his soul power, his voice and willmanding without question.


    Roar!


    The artifact spirit roared within his mind once again, as if it was a beast struggling for its life. For Heaven Tribtion Grade weapons and above, the higher grade ones were imbued with artifact spirits. Artifact Spirits were somewhat sentient, and treated the weapon as its body. Only those capable of subduing it would be worthy to wield it to its full extent.


    While one could wield an artifact spirit weapon without subduing the artifact spirit, such a thing was not desired by the cultivator. Artifact spirits were the true owners of the weapons, and controlled the formations within.<sub></sub>


    Having the blessing of an artifact spirit would allow one to wield the weapon to its full might, while the artifact spirit aided with guiding the cultivators Qi through the weapon in the most optimal manner, resulting in the strongest attacks being unleashed. On the other hand, wielding a weapon without subduing the artifact spirit would result in the spirit resisting its use instead, struggling against the cultivator and lowering the overall power and efficacy of the weapon.


    ¡®Submit!¡¯ John¡¯s soul power red, while his essence Qi overwhelmed the artifact spirit in an instant. His message was clear. Submit, or be destroyed. The artifact spirit roared out onest time, before its power faded away and returned into the weapon. Clearly it had been subdued, and recognized John as worthy of wielding the weapon.


    His aura faded away as he returned to normal, the artifact spirit sessfully suppressed. He inspected the weapon carefully, his head nodding in satisfaction after a moment.


    ¡°This weapon is quite incredible,¡± John eximed, his gaze shifting to Adam who stood nearby. ¡°Not only is it made from extraordinary materials, it¡¯s artifact spirit is also quite amazing. It was as if the soul of a dragon was slumbering within this weapon. Do you know how artifact spirits are made?¡±


    While John knew of artifact spirits, he had no idea about the creation process behind them, or how they obtained their sentience.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Sure I do,¡± Adam replied, happy to show off his formations and artificing knowledge once again. ¡°When a weapon¡¯s quality and craftsmanship reaches a certain level, it invokes a heavenly tribtion. Artifact Spirits are created during the weapons tribtion, as the heavens blesses it with sentience. That¡¯s why only Heaven Tribtion grade weapons and above have true artifact spirits. As for you exining it was like a dragon spirit, thats easy to exin as well.


    Each Heaven Tribuluation grade weapon requires a core to act as the body for the artifact spirit. The core is embedded in the very center of the weapon, and can be anything you want. It can be a rock, a flower, or even some piece from a dragon. The artifact spirit will take on a personality simr to the core that was used. That¡¯s most likely what was used to create this weapon, something like a dragon scale,¡± Adam exined. ¡°The higher quality the core, and the more skilled the weapon artificer, the stronger the artifact spirit will be.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± John replied as he nodded his head in understanding as his gaze shifted back to the weapon in his hand. After a moment, he waved it around, the mere weight and force of the weapon causing the surrounding sand to be kicked up.


    ¡°Hey, test your weaponter,¡± Adam eximed, ¡°we still need to get the other weapons. Don¡¯t rebury them.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine,¡± John obliged as he put the battle axe away. He reached out and picked up the straight sword, followed by the spear and the staff. The three other weapons all had simr gold and green designs like the battle axe, clearly all created by the Jade Dragon Empire. Since he didn¡¯t inject any Qi into the weapons, the artifact spirits within were not roused into action.


    After picking up the three weapons, John walked over to the others and stopped before them. He already knew which weapon would be best suited for each of them.


    ¡°Be careful when using these weapons,¡± John instructed before he handed them over. ¡°If their artifact spirits are anything like the one within my weapon, you¡¯ll be overwhelmed by them in your current realm. Wait until you reach the Heaven Tribtion realm before trying to suppress them.¡±


    The three nodded their heads in understanding, although they already had such thoughts themselves. They had felt the artifact spirits power from John¡¯s battle axe, and knew it was not something they could contest with yet.


    ¡°Good, then each of you are now proud owners of Heaven Tribtion grade weapons,¡± John said as he handed out the weapons. He handed the straight sword to Iris, the magical staff to Chase, and the spear to Adam.


    While Iris specialized in daggers, the straight sword was the quickest weapon of the bunch, and the most like daggers. She waved the sword in her hands, getting used to the weight, before putting it away in her spatial ring.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Iris said with a smile on her face, clearly happy with the weapon she had received.


    ¡°Thanks to you as well,¡± John replied. ¡°Without you, we never would have found such amazing weapons.¡±


    For Chase, his powers were summoning powers, able to summon nts and other vegetation with his Wood Constitution. A magical staff allowed once to amplify their summoning powers, which was perfect for Chase.


    Chase grabbed the weapon, which was lighter than he had been expecting. However, magical staffs were not meant for directbat, and so such a thing made sense. He inspected the weapon carefully, arge smile appearing on his face.


    ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted a staff, but was never able to get one¡­this is beyond perfect!¡± Chase eximed happily.


    Lastly, John handed the spear to Adam, who instantly began to inspect the craftsmanship of the weapon. He had no care for the weapon itself to be used inbat, but studying the weapons formations and craftsmanship would no doubt unlock new insights into his profession.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted back towards the corpses once more, seeing if he had missed anything. His gaze settled on their hands to see if any spatial rings were left behind, but all that remained were clothes and bones.


    ¡°We¡¯re done here,¡± John said to the group, ¡°lets head out. With the time we spent in the first town, as well as here, we¡¯re most likely quite far behind most of the pack at this point.¡±


    The others nodded their heads and put their weapons away, while Adam undid the formation he had set up. The group quickly flew to the top of the massive crater, their gazes locking with someone standing at the top, waiting for them.

 Chapter 574 Ainsel

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


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


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


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


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


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


    The neer raised an eyebrow at John¡¯s words, but didn¡¯t detect any falsity from it.<sub>.</sub>


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


    ¡°Someone capable of taking my weapon by force does not exist within thesends,¡± John replied calmly, as if such a statement waspletely natural to make. With only the other Honorable Alliance youths below the age of twenty in the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds, John was confident to make such a im.


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


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


    ¡°Who knows,¡± John replied with a casual shoulder shrug, ¡°and I¡¯ll ask again. What do you want? I know you didn¡¯t follow us all the way out here for no reason.¡±


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


    ¡°My name is Ainsel, from the Heaven Scrying Sect,¡± Ainsel introduced himself to the group.


    ¡°The Heaven Scrying Sect?¡± Adam said, clearly recognizing the name.


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


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


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


    John¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as he heard Ainsel bring up the Starforge n, as well as Adam¡¯s exile.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Are you allies of the Starforge n?¡± John asked, his tone cold and no longer cordial.


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


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


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


    ¡°Provide and request information?¡± John asked. ¡°What information can you provide us?¡±


    ¡°A map, as well as a list that may interest you,¡± Ainsel replied.


    ¡°A map? A map of thesends?¡± John asked, his curiosity piqued. Such a thing would be more than beneficial, as his progress would instantly quicken without any wasted trips.


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


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


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


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


    ¡°How do you have this all mapped?¡± John asked.


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


    ¡°Impressive,¡± John replied as he handed the jade piece over to Adam, who had requested to study how it worked. ¡°I¡¯m guessing this map isn¡¯t free though?¡±


    ¡°It is not,¡± Ainsel replied, ¡°the map¡¯s price is currently ten million spirit crystals.¡±


    ¡°Ten million spirit crystals!¡± Iris and Chase eximed, shocked at such a high price. ¡°That¡¯s daylight robbery!¡±


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


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

 Chapter 575 Give and Request Information

    ¡°Provide information, and request information, huh?¡± John replied, repeating the words Ainsel had spoken earlier.


    ¡°Exactly right,¡± Ainsel replied.


    ¡°And what information could I possibly provide that¡¯s worth ten million spirit crystals?¡± John asked, skeptical of Ainsel¡¯s words.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple,¡± Ainsel replied. ¡°All that interests me if you¡¯re full strength, bared for me to witness.¡±


    ¡°My strength?¡± John asked. ¡°What interest is my strength to you?¡±


    Without answering his question, Ainsel threw another jade piece to John, who caught it and inspected it. His divine sense flooded into the jade piece, taking in all the information within. Slight intrigue appeared on his face as he read through the contents of the jade piece, before his divine sense faded away.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°What is it?¡± Adam asked, curious as to what John had just seen.


    John handed the jade piece over to Adam instead of exining it, who quickly read through its contents as well. Iris and Chase were also curious as to what was contained inside, and perused through it after Adam was finished with it.


    ¡°You¡¯re making a list of the most talented disciples within thesends?¡± John asked, although he already knew the answer.


    ¡°That is correct,¡± Ainsel replied, his head nodding slightly. ¡°This list, named the Jade Dragon List, contains the strongest warrior disciples in thesends, and will soon also contain the best alchemists, formations experts, and healers once our information on those fields have expanded.¡±


    John quickly put two and two together, and realized the true reason for Ainsel¡¯s presence.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You want to gauge my strength, to see if I¡¯m worthy of being included on this list, I¡¯m assuming?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Correct,¡± Ainsel confirmed, ¡°rumors of your strength have already begun to drift through our ears, and the ears of the other disciples in thesends. My Sect and I assumed such rumors to beplete fabrication, but s, we must still confirm any rumors, no matter how imusible, in order to have the most urate list possible.¡±


    The Heaven Scrying Sect was the premier information gathering sect, and the Jade Dragon List was something they put their reputation on the line for. If an omission as egregious as John was excluded from the list, such a thing would eventually stain their reputation as the all-knowing sect.


    ¡°Well, that sounds like a problem that¡¯s not my concern,¡± John replied, showingplete indifference to being ced on the list or not. Being on the list would only serve to attract the attention of those looking to make a name for themselves, as they would notice his low cultivation and seek him out. John knew how stubborn geniuses were. No matter how much information they had at their disposal to point to the fact that John was stronger, all they would see is his low cultivation and seek him out, thinking of him as an easy target.


    Such a thing would only slow his progress in thesends, as well as put his friends in danger. While getting the map for free would be nice, it was not a sum of money that concerned him too greatly.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You don¡¯t care to make yourself famous? Establish yourself as one of the premier geniuses of the Alliance?¡± Ainsel asked, slight surprise in his voice. The other geniuses did everything they could to appear on the list, while John didn¡¯t show the slightest care for such a thing.


    ¡°Not really,¡± John replied, his indifference clear to see.


    Ainsel fell silent as he stared at John, not expecting such a reply. After a moment of contemtion, he spoke up again.


    ¡°You might as well reveal your strength to me,¡± Ainsel said, ¡°as it will save both you and I a lot of time and headaches.¡±


    ¡°How would revealing my strength be beneficial for me?¡± John asked, growing tired of the conversation.


    ¡°Because, if I don¡¯t receive an answer here, I¡¯ll have to charge you ten milion spirit crystals for that jade map. Not only that, but I must confirm the rumors one way or another, so I¡¯ll simply have to follow you around everywhere you go. Sooner orter, I¡¯ll confirm your strength.¡±


    John¡¯s face remained calm as he stared at Ainsel, before he turned around without a word, and was quickly followed by his friends who ignored Ainsel as well. Ainsel frowned as he saw John leave without a word, while keeping the Jade Map as well.


    ¡°I already told you the level of my strength,¡± John said without looking back. ¡°I¡¯ve given you the information you need. Whether or not you believe it is not my concern. As for this map, since I gave you the information you requested, I¡¯ll be keeping it free of charge. Oh, and following me around would not end up well for you, so I would advise against it.¡±


    John did not want to be followed by someone like Ainsel, who would study his every move and ry it to others. The more information the world had about him, the more likely it was to figure out his true identity as Asura.


    Ainsel frowned as he saw John depart, not expecting their conversation to have gone in such a way. John¡¯s words echoed in his mind, as Ainsel thought about what he had just said.


    ¡°He already told me his level of strength?¡± Ainsel mused as he thought back to their conversion. His eyes widened slightly as he remembered a statement John had made, one Ainsel had dismissed as exaggeration or ignorance at the time. John had imed that no one within thesends was capable of taking his weapon from him, something that only the strongest within thesends could im to achieve.


    ¡°Tch, I can¡¯t list his name based on that alone,¡± Ainsel muttered, his frustration building. His eyes locked onto John¡¯s back, and after a moment of hesitation, he proceeded to follow the group once more.


    However, just as fast as his movements started, they stopped. Ainsel felt his heartbeat speed up, while his instincts red wildly. John had looked back over his shoulder at Ainsel, who had ignored his warning and decided to follow regardless. Despite the gaze appearing calm, Ainsel couldn¡¯t help but lock up in fear.


    It was as if he was being stared at by an ancient beast, one who didn¡¯t even ce Ainsel in his eyes. In that moment, Ainsel could tell that if he ignored John¡¯s warning¡¯s and followed him, things would end up terribly for him. After a moment, John once again ignored Ainsel as he began to converse with the others.


    Ainsel¡¯s breathing remained heavy for a moment, and he only calmed down after a long while. Being from the Heaven Scrying Sect, his specialty was not battle, and his will and resolve was not as honed as truebat experts. He had never been in a true life and death battle, and had never teetered on the edge of permanent defeat.


    However, he was still in the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, and was confident in his own strength being in the top five hundred of the Jade Dragon List.


    ¡°Althoughbat is not my specialty, I can confidently im myself to be strong enough to sit around position five hundred on the Jade Dragon List, and yet¡­if I had ignored his warnings and followed, my instincts are telling me that I would have been destroyed, with no hope of fighting back.,¡± Ainsel muttered, his voice still shaky from what he had experienced.


    His gaze remained locked onto John¡¯s back, who eventually disappeared far into the distance, and after a long while of standing there in silence, a jade piece appeared in his hands.

 Chapter 576 Starforge Discussions

    Further into the depths of the Jade Dragon Empirends, an ancient city rested at the base of a massive sheer face cliff that was several miles tall. The cliffs carved their way from both sides of the trialnds all the way to the ancient city, which rested in the very middle of thends. Those progressing through thends would eventually run into these cliffs, and be funneled towards the ancient city.


    Within the city was the only way through the cliffs, a tunnel that led to thends beyond. Due to this, all the disciples that ventured through thesends eventually made their way to the city, which was now buzzing with activity.


    The ancient city sprawled for several miles in each direction, and contained thousands of buildings, from residential buildings, to trial pagoda¡¯s, to ancient castles. The buildings were colored vibrant gold, with jade green ents and roofs. If ced in the Divine Marital Continent, this city would no doubt be considered one of the more luxurious cities, despite the fact that it was a mere resting ce for the Jade Dragon Empire youths that used to participate in these trials.


    Thanks to the map provided by the Heaven Scrying Sect, many disciples had already found their way to this city. Before long, it began to thrive with activity, until it looked no different than a regr city. The youths from the various powers ventured through the streets, exploring every nook and cranny within. Others made their way to the many trials located within the city, doing their best to get as many Jade Marks as possible, while others decided to make this city their home for the time being, at least until they improved their strength further.


    While hopeful in the beginning, many youths had discovered their strengths were miniscule in the faces of the real geniuses of thesends, and thus decided to focus on cultivation, hoping to raise their cultivation realms and increase in power before venturing forward again.


    Over twenty thousand disciples had already made their way to the city, with more arriving by the second, further adding to the atmosphere of excitement, anxiousness, and hopefulness that flowed within the streets.


    Within this city, many of the ancient taverns had been taken over by some disciples, mainly those who specialized in alchemy and cooking. Many saw this as an opportunity to make some extra money while living within the city, and so the ancient taverns which had been in slumber for tens of thousands of years once again came to life.


    Within one of these taverns, a group of five youths sat around a table, eating a hearty meal while discussing the things they had witnessed within the realm thus far. If John was here, he would recognize one of the youths; Kadin from the Star Forge n.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°What do you n on doing next?¡± one of the Starforge youths asked Kadin, who sat there in contemtive silence. ¡°Do you n on heading through the Warrior Tunnel? Or the Formations Tunnel?¡±


    Kadin nced over towards the youth, his face calm. ¡°The Warrior Tunnel,¡± Kadin replied without hesitation, providing no further boration. It was as if his mind was preupied with something.


    ¡°Have we heard back from Rydan yet?¡± one of the youths asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Kadin replied sinctly.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± another youth chimed in. ¡°He was supposed to take care of Adam and the others, and regroup with us. Do you think he got lost, or decided to participate in the trials within the desert?¡±


    ¡°No, Rydan is loyal to me,¡± Kadin replied. ¡°I gave him themand to return immediately after, so he would have found us after taking care of Adam. The only exnation is that he¡¯s dead, or too injured to move.¡±


    ¡°Dead? How is that possible?¡± one of the youths asked, surprised by Kadin¡¯s words. ¡°No one in Adam¡¯s group was strong enough to fight against Rydan and the others.¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°It may not have been Adam and his friends,¡± another Starforge youth. ¡°Maybe he ran into someone else who was strong, someone who decided to take care of him.¡±


    ¡°Impossible,¡± Kadin said, his voice slightly cold as he stared icily at the other Starforge youth, as if the mere suggestion was an insult to the n. ¡°Do you really think someone has the gall to pick a fight with our Starforge n? Everyone knows our strength, and the consequences of doing such a thing. The youths of the Honorable Alliance are weak and timid. Almost none of them would do such a thing.¡±


    ¡°Hey, take a look at this!¡± one of the youths eximed as he handed something to Kadin.


    Kadin grabbed the item and inspected it for a moment, before ncing back at the youth.


    ¡°The Jade Dragon List? What of it?¡± Kadin asked.


    ¡°Look closely, there¡¯s a new name,¡± the youth replied.


    ¡°A new name?¡± Kadin mused as he sent his divine sense into the jade piece. He scanned over the list, and his attention immediately locked onto a name that had not been there before.<sub></sub>


    John Fenix


    -From the Heavenly Lightning Sect


    -Late Meridian Forging Realm


    -Rank: Two Hundred and Forty Two


    -Fighting Style: Specializes in Lightning Battle Arts


    -Feats:


    -Rumored (Unconfirmed): Beat Vildren Valyren: Ranked Two Hundred Forty Three


    -Rumored (Unconfirmed): Beat Taran Zeral: Ranked Two Hundred Sixty Eight


    His eyes narrowed as he read over the information, as he clearly recognized the name. A cold smile appeared on his face as his hand clenched tightly, shattering the jade piece.


    ¡°Ah, the Jade Dragon List!¡± the youth eximed, but quickly fell into silence as Kadin¡¯s cold stare shifted to him.


    ¡°It appears that Rydan is dead,¡± Kadin spoke after a moment, his voice slightly icy.


    ¡°Dead? How!¡±


    ¡°It appears that John Fenix, the friend of Adam, has strength far beyond what I had been expecting,¡± Kadin replied. ¡°If the information on the list is true, and it most likely is, Rydan would have been no match for Adam¡¯s friend.¡±


    ¡°No match? But aren¡¯t all his friends in the Meridian Forging Realm?¡± one of the Starforge youths asked, a tinge of shock in their voice.


    Kadin ignored the youths¡¯ question as he fell into a silent contemtion. The other youths fell silent as well, as they knew Rydan was a good friend of Kadin¡¯s.


    ¡°What are you going to do? Are we going to look for Adam and his friend? Or proceed forward?¡± one youth asked after a while, breaking the silence.


    ¡°No,¡± Kadin replied as a cold smile once again crept up on his face. ¡°Searching for Adam and his friend could take weeks. The trials and rewards within thesendse first, after which we¡¯ll deal with Adam. Besides, I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll run into them sooner orter, at which point I¡¯ll take care of both of them myself.¡±


    The group discussed the matter for a short while longer, before they finished up their food and left the tavern. Sitting at a table nearby them, a lone youth, hooded and shrouded in a heavy white robe sat. The youths¡¯ features werepletely obscured, making it impossible to identify who it was.


    A cup of tea sat on the table before the youth, which remained full as the youthpletely ignored it. Their gaze shifted to the leaving Starforge group, before a jade piece appeared in their hands. Their divine sense flooded into the jade piece, taking note of the new information inside.


    A small smile appeared on the youths¡¯ slightly surprised face, although no one could see it.


    ¡°I figured you would arrive in thesends sooner orter,¡± the youth whispered, the voice gentle and soft. ¡°I wonder, just how strong have you be?¡±

 Chapter 577 Black-Haired Youth

    In a different area of the Jade Dragon Empirends, beyond the sheer cliffs guarding the ancient city,kes ofva dotted thendscape, bathing the area in an intense heat. On a small rocky ind in the middle of the sea ofva, a battle between two youths was taking ce. The ones who could make it past the ancient city this early on were some of the most powerful youths within the Honorable Alliance, and the incredible battle arts being used in the battle was one indicator of their talent.


    Both cultivators were in the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, making the battle all the fiercer. One of the youths had a head of long silver hair and a handsome face, while the other had short ck hair, and a look of pure arrogance on his face. A powerful blue aura surged around the silver-haired youth, while a crimson red aura surged from the other.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Battle arts flew in all directions, shaking the nearbynd with their immense power. Beams of powerful lighting surged towards the ck-haired youth, mming onto the ind with great power, while crimson sword lights cleaved out to meet the lightning strikes. The battle raged on for a short while, before the battle arts eventually ceased, and the sound of flowingva all that was audible.


    The dust and debris kicked up from the battle faded away, revealing one of the youths gripped by the neck, raised off the ground. The youth gripped by the neck was covered in blood, his long silver hair turned crimson, and handsome face battered and scarred. The ck-haired youth had some wounds as well, but he ignored them as they were mostly superficial.


    The youth with the short ck hair looked at his opponent in his grip, cold arrogance in his eyes as if he were looking at defeated prey.


    ¡°Let me go!¡± a hoarse and pained cry sounded out from the one gripped by their neck as he struggled to free himself but was unable to do so. He had been badly injured in the battle, and his remaining strength was not able to make his opponent budge, whose grip was unlike anything he had felt before. It was as if he was being gripped by a primal beast, whose strength had no match.


    ¡°And why would I do that?¡± the short, ck-haired youth replied smugly, his arrogant smile widening as he watched his defeated opponent struggle.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°We¡¯re¡­from the same¡­alliance,¡± the silver-haired youth choked out the words. ¡°Why¡­are¡­you doing this?¡±


    ¡°Why? Because I want to, that¡¯s why,¡± the ck haired youth replied, before a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.


    ¡°How about this. Tell me your name, and I¡¯ll let you go,¡± the ck-haired youth said.


    ¡°Why¡­do you care¡­about my name?¡± the silver-haired youth asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s simple,¡± the ck-haired youth replied. ¡°I want to climb the Jade Dragon List, and be listed on the very top. You seemed quite strong, so I picked a fight with you, figuring you¡¯re on the list yourself. Only by defeating those on the list can one climb to the top,¡± the youth exined.


    The silver-haired youth stared at his opponent with narrowed eyes, not sure whether to believe his opponent or not. However, he had no choice in the matter, as he was firmly at the mercy of his opponent. In the end, he decided toply, as it was his only hope out of this situation.


    ¡°Rael¡­my name is Rael,¡± the silver-haired youth finally replied.


    ¡°Rael¡­Rael,¡± the ck-haired youth repeated as he took out a jade piece in his free hand and sent his divine sense into it. His eyes quickly lit up as he found what he wanted.


    ¡°Rael Nierre<sub></sub>


    -From the Heavenly Lightning Sect


    -Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm


    -Rank: Sixty Two


    -Fighting Style: Specializes in Lightning Battle Arts¡±


    The ck-haired youth stopped reading half-way through, not even bothering to check the feats listed in the details of Rael.


    ¡°I was right,¡± the ck-haired youth said after reading Rael¡¯s details. ¡°You are quite strong. This hunt seems like it was quite bountiful.¡±


    A smile appeared on the youths face once again, the wickedness sending a shiver down Rael¡¯s spine. It was as if he were being stared at by a demon who desired to kill and devour him.


    Crack!


    Before Rael could react, a loud cracking sound boomed out, as the ck-haired youths hand gripped with all his might, shattering Rael¡¯s neck in an instant. Rael¡¯s limbs dropped down limply, life no longer contained within his body. The ck-haired youths other hand quickly swiped past Rael¡¯s neck, severing his head from his body.<sub></sub>


    Rael¡¯s head suddenly vanished, along with the spatial ring contained on his finger. The ck-haired youth inspected the contents of Rael¡¯s spatial ring, while he tossed the remainder of Rael¡¯s body into the nearbyva. Rael¡¯s headless body quickly sunk beneath the surface of theva, as thest remaining trace of his existence was destroyed.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± the ck-haired youth muttered as he finished inspecting the contents of Rael¡¯s spatial ring. After cleaning up the battlefield, the youths¡¯ gaze shifted in all directions, seeing if there were any witnesses. However, the area was barren and empty of any other cultivators, as those capable of making it this far so quickly were few and far between.


    The ck-haired youth quickly left the area and proceeded forward through theva-fillednd. He eventually came across another person, a blue haired girl draped in blue robes. The robes had the symbol of an icy moon on the back.


    ¡°The Ice-Moon Sect Huh?¡± the ck-haired youth mused as he took out the Jade Dragon List and sent his divine sense back into it once more. Starting from the top of the list, he scanned upwards to find the identity of the one he was looking at.


    -Brielle Elseen


    -From the Ice-Moon Sect


    -Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm


    -Rank: Eighty Six


    ¡°Brielle huh? And eighty-six? Another good target. It seems as though my luck has been quite good today,¡± the youth said to himself, identifying the girl in the distance.


    The youth¡¯s divine sense casually nced through the rest of the list, seeing if there was anything else of note. His divine sense suddenly stopped in its tracks, as it locked onto a certain name that he had not noticed before. He remained silent for quite some time as his divine sense locked onto the name.


    ¡°Now this is interesting,¡± the youth muttered as his eyes narrowed as he read over the details contained within. ¡°I never expected to see this name again. And the Heavenly Lightning Sect? Tch, I should have asked Rael about this before I killed him. Oh well, it¡¯s most likely a coincidence anyways, as the alternative is impossible.¡±


    Boom!


    A boom sounded in the distance, catching the attention of the ck-haired youth. The Ice-Moon Sect girl had begun a battle with something, causing the ck-haired youth to frown.


    ¡°It would be a shame if she were to perish before I get to her,¡± the youth muttered with slight displeasure, his body shing forward towards her as he put the previous thought in the back of his mind.


    ¡­


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re on the list!¡± Adam eximed loudly.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± John replied, not finding it too surprising. ¡°What rank did they give me?¡± he asked, slightly curious about the Heaven Scrying Sect¡¯s judgment of him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­Rank two hundred and forty two. What the hell? Why is it so low?¡± Adam eximed, unhappy at the low ranking.


    ¡°That¡¯s higher than I had been expecting,¡± John replied, although he was fine with the rank he was given. He hade to the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds to get stronger, not be on some vanity list.


    ¡°Still, you brutally savaged Vildren, and he¡¯s ranked one rank below you. That alone should have put you higher on the list,¡± Adam replied, still unhappy about the situation.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± John replied, his gaze shifting towards Iris who had suddenly stopped walking.


    ¡°What is it?¡± John asked, as he could tell something was on her mind.


    Iris¡¯s concentration seemed to be internal, as John could tell she was carefully inspecting her body from within with her divine sense. After a moment of inspection, Iris¡¯s gaze shifted to John, a serious look appearing on her face.


    ¡°It seems like my recent battles have given me the final bit ofprehensions I need to push forward once more,¡± Iris said to John.


    John raised an eyebrow as he heard this, as he could tell what Iris was hinting at.


    ¡°You mean?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m about ready to break through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm.¡±

 Chapter 578 Iriss Heavenly Tribulation

    ¡°What? You¡¯re about to undergo heavenly tribtion?¡± Adam asked, surprised to hear such a thing. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just reach Half-Step Heaven Tribtion a few weeks ago, and now you¡¯re ready to break through? How does that make sense?¡±


    ¡°Not everyone cultivates as slow as you,¡± Iris replied dismissively, ¡°besides, some people don¡¯t even stop at the Half-Step Realm. They just break through in one shot, sopared to them, I¡¯m not even that impressive.¡±


    The group all nced at John upon Iris¡¯s words, as they all thought the same thing. If there was someone in the group capable of such a thing, it could only be John.


    ¡°What are you staring at me for?¡± John asked, but was only met with strange stares.


    ¡®How the hell does Iris¡¯s Heaven Tribtion end up with me being the focus?¡¯


    John could only shake his head at the attention his talent brought.


    ¡°Forget about me,¡± John said to the three of them, ¡°this is time for us to focus on Iris. Iris, how close are you to breaking through?¡±<sub>.</sub>


    A thoughtful expression appeared on Iris¡¯s face for a moment, before her gaze shifted to Chase.


    ¡°I¡¯m quite close, maybe a few days to a week before I can push over the edge and start my tribtion¡­unless you can concoct a pill for me that could help speed up the process?¡± Iris asked Chase.


    While waiting was normally the way to go, in order to break through naturally, time was of the essence in thesends. Waiting a full week to start her tribtion would stop the group¡¯s progress for a full week, which was something she was not willing to do.


    ¡°I could help,¡± Chase happily replied, always eager to help when it came to his alchemy. ¡°In fact, I recently started making some Heaven Ascension Pills, mostly to prepare for my own eventual breakthrough. Here, take as many as you need,¡± he continued as a pill jar appeared in his hands.


    Five glowing pills were contained within, which flickered blue light asionally, like lightning was striking from within. The pills gave off an incredibly profound aura, and John felt his Qi start to circte faster just from being around the pills.


    ¡°Heaven Ascension Pills? Why are these pills so much more profound than the other Heaven Ascension Pills I¡¯ve seen before?¡± John asked. Whenpared to the Heaven Ascension Pill Elder Ragur took, these pills were far more profound.<sub></sub>


    ¡°That¡¯s because even with the same type of pill, there are different grades. There¡¯s the Common Grade pill, which has over thirty percent impurities, up to the Divine Grade Pill, which has zero percent impurities. Although such a grade is purely myth, as it¡¯s impossible to have zero impurities,¡± Chase exined.


    ¡°So what grade are these pills? And what are the pill grades? I¡¯ve never looked into such a thing¡± Adam asked, his curiosity clearly piqued.


    ¡°First off, the pill grades are Common, Earth, Pristine, Heaven, Sublime, and finally Divine. The impurity thresholds for these grades are thirty percent, twenty percent, fifteen percent, ten percent, five percent, andstly zero percent,¡± Chase exined as if he were a teacher lecturing students. ¡°As for this pill, it¡¯s a Earth Grade Heaven Ascension Pill, while the ones you saw before, as well as most of the pills you¡¯ve encountered so far, have been in the Common Grade.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is,¡± John replied as he understood the difference between the two pills. ¡°The difference in impurities seems quite small though. Does it really make that big of a difference?¡±


    ¡°Of course it does,¡± Chare replied quickly. ¡°Not only do impurities take the ce of the ingredients you want in the pills, they also are akin to poison within the body. While impurities won¡¯t kill you, they will actively work against the properties of the pills you consume, lowering their effect. Just a few percent difference can make all the difference.¡±


    John wanted to ask a bit more about the pill grades, but figured such a thing was best suited for some other time.<sub></sub>


    ¡°If you take this pill, should it be enough for you to start your ascension soon?¡± John asked Iris, getting to the main topic once again.


    A thoughtful expression appeared on her face once more, and after a moment of contemtion she nodded her head.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need about half a day to focus my body and mind for the tribtion ahead, but taking this pill should cut down the time to no more than half a day needed,¡± Iris replied.


    ¡°Good, then start your preparations,¡± John said to Iris.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to do the tribtion here?¡± Iris asked


    ¡°Why not. Its not as if we know of some better ce to move towards for you to take your tribtion,¡± John replied. ¡°And don¡¯t worry about anyone else interfering. Kirri and I will act as your Dao Protector during your tribtion, so you can be at ease that no one will interfere.¡±


    While others interfering was not likely, as no one wanted to invoke the wrath of the heavens, it was still best to prepare for such a thing.


    A smile appeared on Iris¡¯s face,forted by John¡¯s words, before it was reced with a look of seriousness as she started to take in the weight of the situation. With her talent, ascending past her tribtion was more than likely. However, heavenly tribtions had also resulted in the deaths of countless geniuses, as one¡¯s greater talent would invoke a stronger tribtion. If she was not careful enough, it was possible that she could perish in her tribtion.


    John walked over and ced his hand reassuringly on her shoulder.


    ¡°Take your time, and ascend whenever you¡¯re ready,¡± John said to her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about anything else.¡±


    Iris nodded her head, and walked a few dozen yards away. She sat down on the desert stand, assuming a meditative position. After calming herself for quite some time, Iris consumed one Heaven Ascension pill, and began to work towards the very peak of the realm, requiring only thest step to break through.


    sh!


    Kirii suddenly appeared, his presence like a flicker of lightning as he left John¡¯s soul space.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be guarding Iris for some time,¡± John said to Kirii, ¡°make sure you let no one interfere!¡±


    ¡°Got it!¡± Kirii replied through their soul connection, eager to take part in something exciting like a Heaven Tribtion.


    ¡°You guys might want to move some distance away,¡± John instructed Adam and Chase, who quickly obliged.


    ck clouds started to slowly gather overhead over the next half-day, as if they were seeking out a target, but could not yet find it. The clouds continued to thicken, while John could feel Iris¡¯s cultivation rising to the very peak of her realm. Despite the gathering of clouds, no one had decided to interfere yet, although John kept his guard raised to the maximum.


    Bang!


    A deafening boom suddenly echoed out as lightning flickered within the ckened clouds above, appearing like the start of an apocalyptic storm.


    John¡¯s eyes shifted upwards as he stared at the raging storm within the clouds. A familiar aura began to descend from the clouds from above, one that filled him with anger and disgust.


    ¡°The tribtion has started!¡±

 Chapter 579 Tribulation Battle

    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    A deafening series of thunderous sts boomed out, bathing thend for dozens of miles in its audible power. John felt his bones vibrate from the force of the sts, despite being contained within the clouds. A frown appeared on John¡¯s face, as he summoned Kirii over with his soul connection.


    ¡°Kirii, this tribtion might be stronger than I had originally intended. Adam and Chase will need to be very far away so as to not get caught up in this, so instead of helping me guard Iris, go and guard them,¡± John instructed.


    He was confident in being able to guard Iris, but could not protect both groups at the same time.


    ¡°Aye!¡± Kirii replied through their soul connection, his voice still immature and youthful. Kirii turned and sped off towards Adam and Chase, and ryed John¡¯smands to leave the area to them. Unlike his soul connection with John, Kirii could onlymunicate to others by being near them. However, as long as he was close and was able to project his soul power over those nearby, he couldmunicate with them.


    Both Adam and Chase¡¯s faces lit up in shock as they heard Kirii¡¯s voice appear in their mind for the first time.


    ¡°Kirii, you can speak?¡± Adam asked,pletely stupefied.


    ¡°I sure can!¡± Kirii replied happily, before nudging Adam¡¯s chest with his head gently. ¡°Now we need to leave this area!¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Why?¡± Adam asked, as Kirii had not exined yet.


    ¡°Big brother said that you are not safe here,¡± Kirii replied, rying John¡¯s reasoning.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Adam mused as his gaze shifted back up to the clouds above.


    ¡°If John says it¡¯s so, then he probably has a reason,¡± Chase spoke up to Adam. ¡°We should trust his judgment.¡±


    ¡°Tch, fine,¡± Adam relented after a moment of hesitation. He wanted to watch Iris¡¯s ascension close up, as it was his first time seeing a Heaven Tribtion ascension. However, he trusted John¡¯s judgment, and the three of them quickly made their way dozens of more miles away beforeing to a halt. In the distance, the ckened clouds churned overhead, an omen of things toe.


    The clouds also attracted the gazes of many others in the desert, who were surprised to see such a thing. Almost all of the youths in thesends were already in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and only those who had encountered John¡¯s group knew there were some exceptions. However, none of them approached, as interfering with a heavenly tribtion was not something anyone wanted to be a part of.


    ¡­


    John¡¯s gaze shifted from Kirii and the others as they sped away, and returned to Iris who stood a few hundred yards away. Her eyes slowly opened as she calmly gazed at the ckened clouds above, her resolve firm. There was not an ounce of hesitation on her face, as she was truly prepared toy out everything on the line.


    ¡°Good!¡± John muttered softly as he nodded his head in approval. ¡°She has fullymitted her resolve to this tribtion. Only by being prepared to put your life fully on the line can one be ready to undertake such a task.¡±<sub></sub>


    Boom!


    The deafening booms continued to intensify as the clouds thickened, and Iris finally stood up from her seated position. The Heaven Tribtion grade weapon appeared in her hands, as she prepared for the encounter toe. Although she had not fully subdued the weapon, and could not use it to its fullest extent, it was still a better weapon to undergo tribtion with than her daggers. The sword was more durable and powerful, making it a better weapon to fight against the heavens with.


    ¡°It¡¯s time,¡± John muttered, his eyes slightly narrowing. The ckened clouds stopped churning, and everything fell into a deafening silence as if time itself had frozen. Almost immediately after, the nearly world turned white, as the first beam of lightning pierced down from above.


    Bang!


    The first lightning bolt pierced down towards Iris, its power awe-inspiring. Even from over fifty miles away, Adam and Chase couldn¡¯t help but shiver as they saw the beam, no more than a tiny sliver in their eyes, pierce down. Even from this distance, they could feel its incredible might.


    Iris¡¯s calm eyes gazed up at the lighting strike as her sword shed out towards it. A bright blue sword image shed outwards, its power imbued with small flickers on lightning itself. Coming from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, Iris¡¯s talents also naturally included using lightning based battle arts.


    Bang!


    The two attacks collided in the air above Iris, the power of the collision shaking thend for dozens of miles. The nearby desert sand sted away in all directions, while a deafening st sounded over thends.


    In her first attack, Iris had sessfully blocked the tribtion strike.<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    Without hesitation, another lightning strike sted from out of the ckened clouds, striking down onto Iris¡¯s position. Another sword image shed out to meet the attack, as a battle broke out between the awe-inspiring heavens, and Iris, who appeared norger than an ant whenpared to her opponent.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The battle continued for over fifteen minutes, as Iris and the heavens battled it out. Each tribtion lightning attack was stronger than thest, as the intensity of the attacks slowly but steadily increased. While managing to easily subdue the attacks at first, Iris was starting to meet her match.


    The attacks had grown to a level that she was unable to neutralize all of it, and portions of the tribtion attacks mmed against her body, bathing her in tribtion lightning. Blood began to flow down her arms and legs, while portions of charred flesh were visible as well.


    A short distance away, John watched the battle unfold with arms crossed over his chest. His narrowed gaze studied each and every detail of the battle between Iris and the Heaven¡¯s, his guard not rxed for a singr moment.


    ¡®From what I¡¯ve read, and also what I saw with Kirii¡¯s tribtion, Iris¡¯s tribtion should soone to an end, at which point she will be bathed with nourishing lightning, molding her body anew into a higher tier of existence. I had a bad feeling when I originally saw the lightning clouds gather, but maybe I was overthinking it.¡¯


    While Iris was struggling at the moment, she still had ample Qi reserves. At her current pace, she would be able to pass the test of the heavens, and be a Heaven Tribtion cultivator.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    More attacks were exchanged between Iris and the Heavens, as Iris became more and more damaged by her tribtion. Her body was bloodied, bruised, and charred, but her resolve and will remained firm. Her eyes locked onto the clouds above, her gaze narrowing as she could tell the tribtion had finally reached its climax.


    ¡°This should be the final attack,¡± John mused as he felt the clouds gather its strength for thest attack.


    Iris¡¯s hands clenched tightly around her sword, her breathing heavy and ragged. However, her gaze remained firm as she awaited the final attack.


    Bang!


    After a brief hesitation, the final attack sted down on her, much more powerful than the previous attacks. Iris¡¯s aura red out with her greatest power, as the sword in her hands shed out with all her might. A beautiful and powerful blue sword image shed out, flickers of lightning dancing within the sword image.


    Boom!


    The two attacks collided, inundating thend with its violent explosion. The battlested for a brief moment, before the lightning strike won out and mmed down on Iris below. As if expecting such a thing, her sword shed out once again, the real weapon meeting the attack as the two opponents fought onest time.


    John watched as Iris was violently thrown into the desert sand from the force of the collision, her body creating a massive crater. Sand and dust exploded out in all directions, while the lightning strike faded away.


    John quickly rushed over towards Iris, but came to a halt as he saw her figure appear once more as she flew out of the crater. Her face was bloodied and slightly charred, but a radiant smile appeared on her face as she looked over towards John.


    The battle had been incredibly difficult, but at the very end, she had managed to burst through the barrier that was heavenly tribtion, and step into the cultivation realms beyond.


    ¡°Congrat-¡°


    John¡¯s words of congrattions quickly stopped as he felt an ominous feeling creep up within his body. His instincts red fully, and his vision quickly snapped back up to the ckened clouds above. The clouds, which should start to be more gentle and begin to shower Iris with nourishing lightning were nowhere to be found, and instead the ckened clouds quickly grew with power far greater than before.


    John¡¯s gaze narrowed as he stared at the clouds above, his eyes widening at what he saw.


    Within the clouds, a pair of heavenly eyes made of pure lightning slowly formed, as if the heavens themselves decided to peer down. John¡¯s instincts red as his power began to surge, but it quickly faded away as he noticed something critical


    ¡®These clouds¡­those eyes¡­they¡¯re not focused on me. I thought my presence had angered the clouds into action once more, but that¡¯s not the case¡­they¡¯re still focused on Iris. Her tribtion is not over.¡¯

 Chapter 580 Eyes of Heavenly Truth

    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± John couldn¡¯t help but ask as he rushed over towards Iris, who was gazing up uneasily at the clouds above.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Iris replied, his voice slightly hoarse and unsteady from her battle. Her eyes shifted color as she gazed into the clouds above, her actions only serving to stir the clouds into an even greater frenzy. An astral eye formed behind her, as Iris used the full extent of her visual talents to peer into the clouds. Her eyes widened as she gazed within the clouds.


    ¡°Leave¡­you need to leave,¡± Iris hastily instructed John.


    ¡°Why? What¡¯s going on?¡± John asked, as he could tell Iris had seen something.


    ¡°My¡­my tribtion isn¡¯t over, and it¡¯s only going to get much much worse,¡± Iris replied after a moment of silence. Her voice had be unsteady, and John could see fear contained within her eyes, although she did her best to hide that fear. ¡°You need to leave, before you¡¯re caught up in this.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°I¡¯m not just going to leav-¡°


    ¡°Leave! Now!¡± Iris firmly instructed, interrupting John. ¡°You can¡¯t do anything to help me, and for some reason I can tell that you being next to me is making the heavens even angrier.¡±


    John stared at Iris in silence, unsure of what to do. While he knew her words were most likely correct in that his presence was making things worse, he could tell that the clouds had gathered in strength once more for Iris alone. The fear he could see hidden deeply within her eyes told him one thing; that she was not confident in being able to pass this next round of tribtion.


    Iris¡¯s words seemed quite harsh, but John could tell that she was saying such things out of concern for him, as she did not want him to get caught up in what was about to ur. His concerned gaze lingered on Iris, who smiled after noticing his concern.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me,¡± Iris replied, doing her best to smile and seem confident. ¡°It¡¯s just another round of tribtion. I¡¯ll be fine. Now go!¡±


    After a moment of hesitation, John ced a hand on Iris¡¯s shoulder. Although he wanted to help her at the moment, doing so might not be the best thing for her. A heavenly tribtion was a challenge with one¡¯s life on the line, but also a blessing if one could withstand the tribtion. The heavens would bless the tribtor based on the difficulty of the tribtion, with those withstanding the most difficult of tribtions getting the best rewards.


    If Iris could pass this next round of tribtion, the heavenly blessings received would be beyond imagining, transforming herpletely. John did not want to take away such an opportunity from her.


    ¡°Good luck. I¡¯ll be close by, so just go all out and leave the rest to me,¡± John said to Iris before quickly moving away. Iris watched John leave, before her gaze shifted back to the clouds high above. The pair of lightning eyes that had formed stared down at her, before the clouds began to churn once more, its power growing by the second. Before long, its power was beyond anything Iris had felt before, and the world turned white as the first st of lightning pierced down directly towards her.<sub></sub>


    ¡­


    High in the sky above the Jade Dragon Empirends, a figure hovered, gazing down at thends below. The figure wore a hooded robe, the arms of the robe seemingly torn off. Two powerful arms crossed over his chest as his gaze lingered on the tribtion that was urring before him.


    He hovered near the ckened clouds, clearly not restricted by the flight restrictions within the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds. Although the clouds were only a short distance away from him, he acted as if they didn¡¯t exist.


    Like this, the mysterious figure watched Iris¡¯s heavenly tribtion unfold, his expression calm the entire time as if he had seen such a thing a million times before. The tribtion continued for some time, before he watched Iris sessfully pass her tribtion.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± the man said, his voice deep andmanding. ¡°She would have made for a fine warrior,¡± the man continued, his gaze shifting to John who was running over to Iris. The man¡¯s gaze suddenly shifted once more, peering into the tribtion clouds that he hovered next to.


    His eyebrows raised slightly, an action that would have stunned anyone who knew of this man. A look of surprise was a reaction rarely if ever seen on his face.


    ¡°Hmm? What¡¯s this?¡± the man mused as he watched the clouds begin to shift once more. The lightning eyes quickly appeared in the sky, catching his attention and once more etching a small amount of surprise on his face.


    ¡°Heaven¡¯s eyes?¡± the man said, before his gaze shifted back down to Iris below. He noticed the change in her eyes as they shifted colors, and slight surprise appeared on his face once more as he noticed the pair of astral eyes appear behind Iris.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what it is,¡± the man said, finally understanding the reason for the change in the tribtion. ¡°The Eyes of Heavenly Truth! How long has it been since theyst appeared?¡±


    The man carefully studied Iris, before a sigh escaped his mouth.


    ¡°A pity. The Heavens bestow this girl with a portion of its sight, only to take it and her life away during her ascension. If this girl had been born before the cmity, or on another world, she may have raised her strength to a level to be able to withstand this tribtion. Upon passing their tribtion, ones carrying the Eyes of Heavenly Truth are destined to soar to incredible heights, but with her current level of strength, she has no such hope. The Heavens truly can be the pinnacle of cruelty at times,¡± the man mused out loud.


    The clouds next to him rumbled, as the man felt a portion of its power lock onto him, warning him to not interfere. He scoffed at the action,pletely ignored the warning the heavens were giving him due to his words.


    ¡°Hmph, there¡¯s no need to threaten me,¡± the man said out loud, not concerned at all by attracting the heaven¡¯s attention. ¡°You may be a bastard at times, but your actions are a necessary evil.¡±


    The heavens churned for a moment longer, before it ignored the man once more. The man¡¯s calm gaze shifted back down to Iris and John, as he watched the first lightning beam strike down to the ground below.

 Chapter 581 Iriss Last Stand

    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Adam asked loudly, unsure of what was going on.


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Chase replied, equally confused. ¡°Iris¡¯s tribtion appeared to be over, and now it¡¯s starting again? I have a bad feeling about this.¡±


    Both Adam and Chase could feel the might contained within the clouds, which was now far greater than before. They could also see the lightning eyes that had formed, although neither could stare directly at them, as the eyes were far too dreadful.


    In the nearbynds, other youths had also noticed the increasedmotion. The appearance of the Heavenly Eyes sparked a frenzy of discussion, as wave after wave of youths began to gather to discuss what they were seeing in the far distance. None of them had ever seen such a thing before, or even heard about such a thing.


    At the same time, the might of the clouds made it so that none approached too closely, as they could tell that something catastrophic was about to happen.


    ¡­


    Bang!


    The lightning beam pierced from the clouds above, its might stronger than the final strike of the first tribtion wave. Iris¡¯s eyes narrowed as she watched the attack approach, while her sword gripped tightly in her blood-slicked hand.


    Her astral eyes appeared behind her, as she utilized everything she had in her arsenal. The lightning beam¡¯s trajectory, power, and speed became beyond clear to her, giving her a slight sliver of hope.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Tch, I will not go down willingly!¡± raged as her sword shed out with her full power.


    Bang!


    The two attacks collided, while Iris¡¯s body instantly shed to the side immediately after attacking. The lightning strike paused for the briefest moments as it fought against her attack, before it shattered itpletely and pierced towards Iris once more.


    Bang!


    The lightning beam struck against the desert sand below, sting the sand and earth in all directions for many miles. Molten sand flowed about in the crater, as the power and heat lightning beam had turned the ground molten. Hovering a short distance off the ground, Iris gazed at the destruction caused by the attack that she had just barely dodged. The carnage below her revealed the true might of the tribtion attacks.


    Her eyes trembled slightly as she gazed at the destruction, as she could tell that attack would have half-killed her if it hadnded.


    Her eye talents had allowed her to dodge the attack, which was normally impossible during a tribtion. However, she had only just barely managed to do such a thing, and the attacks would only continue to get stronger and faster.


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    After a brief pause, another tribtion lightning beam sted out from the ckened clouds above, piercing directly towards Iris once more. Her sword shed out twice in quick session, sending two powerful sword images to meet the attack. At the same time, her body shed to the side, as the tribtion lightning sted through her attack and pierced towards her, once again narrowly missing her.


    Standing a short distance away, John stared coldly at the events taking ce before him, as he watched Iris narrowly avoid catastrophe over and over. He felt his blood begin to heat up, while his hatred and anger began to steadily climb.


    ¡®The fucking heavens. First they try to kill me, and now they¡¯re trying to kill Iris.¡¯


    John could understand why the heavens targeted him so fiercely, as he could tell that his body cultivation art was somehow taboo in the eyes of the heavens. Although he didn¡¯t understand theplete picture, he knew there was some sort of reasoning.


    However, Iris had no such taboo cultivation technique, and yet the heavens were targeting her much the same. The lightning he experienced during his tribtion was pure destructive lightning, as if the heaven¡¯s wanted nothing more than to snuff out his existence. While the lightning Iris was facing against was not the same type of destructive lightning, and was more akin to normal tribtion lightning, its power was far beyond anything John had heard about a cultivator having to face off against.


    ¡®This tribtion is on the same level of power as Kirii¡¯s tribtion, and Kirii is a heavenly beast of the highest existence. I can understand such a tribtion for him, but why the hell are the heavens targeting Iris in the same fashion? This isn¡¯t a trial for her, this is an execution.¡¯


    Bang!


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    The tribtion lightning continued to st down on Iris with growing power, speed, and lethality, while Iris fought back with all her might. Her sword arts shed out, not holding a scrap of power back, while her speed was pushed to the limits, narrowly dodging the lightning beams.


    However, as the tribtion continued, the tribtion strikes became faster, making it harder and harder for her to dodge. At the same time, her Qi reserves were rapidly fading away, and were now almost empty.


    The battle was bing more and more hopeless, and Iris slowly began to realize that her fate had been sealed. She wasn¡¯t sure why, but she knew the heaven¡¯s had deemed her death to be necessary. She was at the end of her power, while the tribtion¡¯s might was still growing, revealing the futility of it all.


    Bang!


    Another beam pierced down towards her, its might great enough to im her life if itnded.


    Iris shed out her sword once more, unleashing thest of her Qi reserves. While she had realized her fate had been sealed, she refused to die without fighting.


    Boom!


    The attacks collided, and the lightning beam instantly shattered it as it pierced towards Iris once more. Her body shed to the side again, narrowly dodging the attack with the slimmest of margins. However, its might, even ncing, was enough to overwhelm her, as she found herself flung across the desert sand before eventuallying to a halt.


    Blood soaked into the sand, dying it red as Iris¡¯s injured bodyid there for a moment. The clouds above churned once again, preparing to unleash another attack on Iris.


    ¡°Pff¡± Iris coughed blood as she struggled to stand up once more. After an incredibly difficult struggle, she managed to climb to her feet. Her body swayed unsteadily as she gazed to the clouds above, her face turning calm as she watched the next lightning bolt be unleashed.


    A sad smile appeared on her face as she shifted her gaze to the side, towards where John was standing. However, John was nowhere to be found, sending a wave of both disappointment and happiness through her. She had wanted to see John onest time, but was not disappointed that he had already left.


    She knew he was incredibly powerful, but in the face of this tribtion, there was no hope. Even someone as strong as John would be wiped out without a trace, as interfering in tribtions was the ultimate taboo that would ignite the full wrath of the heavens. It would not only increase the power of the tribtion, but also result in the heavens cursing the one who had interfered. Those who interfered in tribtions were destined to die miserable deaths.


    Iris figured John was no different, as she had never seen the true extent of his lightning resistance and body strength. In the face of such a tribtion, there was no hope for anyone. Only the old codgers of the cultivation world, the ones who stood at the peak of the world, would be able to help her without risk. However, doing so would draw the ire of the heavens, which every sane person avoided at all costs.


    Based on what she knew of John, she fully expected him to try to interfere and help her, which was something she did not want as it would only result in his death.


    ¡°Good,¡± Iris whispered softly, ¡°at least he won¡¯t be caught up in this as well¡­Goodbye¡­John!¡±


    Bang!


    A deafening boom erupted as the tribtion lightning strike exploded on Iris¡¯s location, shattering the nearbynd with its power. Iris felt herself be swallowed up by an incredible power as her vision was drowned in brightness.


    After what seemed like an eternity, her eyes slowly opened, unsure of what was going on. Her gaze shifted upwards, spotting a familiar figure before her, while a lightning cage enveloped the two of them. A wave of emotions too powerful to process at the moment washed over her as she spotted John nce back at her over his shoulder.


    ¡°You really didn¡¯t think I would abandon you like that, did you?¡± John asked, his voice calm and gentle.


    His familiar back, which she had seen countless times before, now appeared to be strong enough to shelter her from the heaven¡¯s itself, and Iris couldn¡¯t help but feel tears forming in the corner of her eyes.


    ¡°No,¡± Iris replied softly, her tears starting to stream down her face. ¡°You dummy, now we both die! You really are¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± John replied as he smiled back at Iris, his gaze filled with unwavering self-confidence, ¡°the heavens have tried to kill me before and failed, and today will be no different.¡±

 Chapter 582 Body Limiter Activations

    Iris stared at John, surprise etched on her face as she heard his words. With her eye talents, she could see right through a person, and even tell if they were lying, but John¡¯s words carried the weight of absolute truth. He wasn¡¯t even in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and yet he imed to have been targeted by the heavens. What would one have to do for that to happen?


    An item suddenly appeared in John¡¯s hands as he ced it before Iris, which was the highest quality healing pill he had on him. Iris hesitated for a moment before she took the pill and swallowed it. A rich medicinal warmth filled her stomach immediately as her body started transporting the medicinal properties to the rest of her body.


    Rumble!


    The tribtion clouds above rumbled in angered protest, both at John¡¯s interference, as well as the pill Iris had just swallowed. Cultivators were supposed to undertake their tribtions with no outside help at all, pills included. Such an action only served to anger the tribtion clouds above, making the tribtion even harder.


    ¡°Oh just shut up already,¡± John yelled as he stared at the clouds above, his words angering it further. ¡°You tried to kill me before and failed, and you can grumble all you want, but today will be no different.¡±


    Iris¡¯s eyes opened wide as she heard John curse the heavens, as no one was crazy enough to do such a thing lest they attract its wrath.


    Bang!


    A bolt of tribtion lightning sted out from the clouds above, piercing with absolute fury at John and Iris below. Its might was far greater than anything it had disyed before, its anger on full disy.<sub>.</sub>


    John raised a finger towards the oing lightning bolt, as his essence Qi surged at maximum power.


    Lightning Disintegration!


    A beam of incredibly powerful lightning sted out, mming into the tribtion lightning bolt.


    Boom!


    A thunderous explosion radiated outwards, bathing thend for miles in each direction in its might. Iris shielded herself to brace for the impact, but was once again protected by John, who blocked any harm from reaching her. Her eyes lingered on his back, which seemed far wider and stronger than normal.


    The explosion faded away, revealing a massive crater miles across in the desert sand. Moltenva filled the bottom, a testament to the might of the explosion. John¡¯s calm gaze returned to look at Iris, who couldn¡¯t even process what was going on at the moment.


    ¡°Focus on healing up. In the meantime, Kirii will protect you,¡± John said.<sub></sub>


    Kirii suddenly arrived next to the two of them, having been summoned a bit earlier by John through their soul connection. While protecting Adam and Chase was important, Iris was in the most danger at the moment.


    Iris opened her mouth to reply, but John suddenly took off to the sky, piercing towards the tribtion clouds above. He wanted to put a bit of distance between him and Iris, as the explosions toe could overwhelm her. Even with Kirii protecting her, some could still leak through Kirii¡¯s defense.


    He couldn¡¯t have her leave the area either, as the tribtion lightning was focused only on her. The only way to put distance between her and himself was up, towards the tribtion clouds above.


    ¡­


    Hovering in the sky above, the shrouded figure watched as Iris struggled against the second wave of her heavenly tribtion. His face remained stoic as he watched her struggle, which was fasting to an end.


    A soft sigh once again escaped his mouth, as the beam that would im her pierced from the clouds.


    ¡°Truly a pity. She fought well, but fate was not on her side,¡± the man sighed as his gaze shifted towards John, and his eyes narrowed slightly.<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    A lightning cage suddenly appeared above Iris, blocking the tribtion lightning strike that would surely im her life.


    ¡°Oh just shut up already,¡± John¡¯s angry yell sounded out, causing the man to raise an eyebrow in surprise. He had seen many things in his life, but had never seen someone so young be so dismissive towards the heavens.


    The man watched in silence as John unleashed an attack at the tribtion lightning, and eventually shot up into the sky. A look of contemtion appeared on his face, and after a moment, he raised his right hand, as a surge of his Qi red out. After this singr action, the man lowered his hand, and fell into silence as he watched the events unfold.


    ¡­


    John shot up into the sky like a bolt of lightning, his cold gaze locked onto the clouds above. His Heaven Tribtion battle axe was tight in his grip as he prepared for the fight toe. However, just as soon as he took to the sky, a frown appeared on his face as he felt his body slow down, and eventuallye to a halt.


    ¡°Tch, the flight restriction barrier,¡± John cursed as he felt his bodye to a halt while the restriction forced him to the ground. However, just as soon as the restriction appeared, it vanished.


    He felt his body be unhindered by the flight-restricting formation, as if it no longer existed. His eyes widened slightly in surprise as he had not been expecting such a thing, but he immediately took advantage of the situation and shot up higher into the sky. Regardless of the reason for such a thing to happen, it made no difference at the moment.


    Bang!


    Another beam of tribtion lightning sted out from the ckened clouds above, piercing down towards Iris.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    Limiter of Speed!


    Limiter of Power!


    Limiter of Pain!


    Thunderbody sh!


    ¡°Your opponent is me,¡± John yelled angrily as he activated his strongestbat state without his Immortal Asura Transformation. In fact, it was the first time he had activated all three body limiters at the same time, which ced a substantial strain on his body. The normally dormant muscles, meridian pathways, and acupoints located at these limiters throughout his body sprung to life as John activated everything he could.


    In his previous battles, he had been able to rely on his Immortal Asura Transformation to deal with his opponents. However, as he could not reveal that at the moment, he relied on the other tools he had at his disposal.


    Body limiters were normally used one at a time, as the strain each limiter put on one¡¯s body was immense. It was activating parts of the body that were normally dormant to protect one¡¯s body and pushing them to their limits.


    John had regrly used two before, but never three at the same time. He would deactivate one before using the other to lessen the strain on his body, but at the current moment he couldn¡¯t afford to do so.


    Essence Qi and body Qi surged through his body, meandering through his meridians like raging rivers. His opponent was the heavens itself, and such an opponent was not one he could hold back against.

 Chapter 583 Lightning Warrior

    With his opponent being tribtion lightning, he needed to be fast, durable, and powerful, all at the same time. Only by activating all three limiters, and augmenting it further with his Supreme Battle Art could he ensure that no attacks broke past his guard. While Kirii was below to protect Iris, John wanted to take no chances.


    At the same time, he refused to lose against the heavens, and so he left nothing behind that he could afford to reveal. His body flickered with lightning as he shed forward like a lightning beam, so fast that even Iris struggled to keep up with visually. His battle axe cleaved outwards, the full might of his essence and body contained within the attack!


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    Boom!


    Battle axe and lightning beam collided, and an apocalyptic explosion radiated outwards high in the sky. Even those watching from over a hundred miles away stared in awe as the explosion filled the sky beneath the tribtion clouds. They were too far away to tell what was happening, and none dared to approach with how terrifying the tribtion clouds were at the moment.


    John felt his body rocked with an incredible force, which he fought back against with his full might. Tribtion lightning snaked over his body as lightning runes appeared, as a battle between the tribtion lightning and the Celestial Lightning Script broke out within his body.<sub>.</sub>


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    A non-stop series of explosions continued to radiate outwards as John and the tribtion clouds did battle. The ever darkening tribtion clouds continued to attack Iris, the might of each attack growing steadily. John¡¯s body shed about, appearing before each and every attack while his battle axe cleaved out with absolute power to meet the attack.


    From the ground below, Iris couldn¡¯t help but watch in stunned awe as John battled against the tribtion clouds above. This tribtion, which had seemed like a death sentence to her, was now being thwarted by John. She could tell that his interference had angered the heavens even further, making it far more powerful than what she would have had to deal with.<sub></sub>


    However, he still fought back without hesitation, his lightning covered body flickering through the sky. It was as two lightning gods had decided to fight, bathing everything in the area with their incredible power.


    Bang!


    His battle axe mmed against another tribtion lightning bolt, thwarting its progress. The remainder of the lightning snaked over his body, which he greedily consumed using his Celestial Lightning Script.


    His body was charred in many ces, a testament to the power of the tribtion lightning. Even with his durable body and lightning resistance, it still managed to injure him and make him look quite miserable. However, he weed the damage with open arms, as each exchange was a chance to absorb more tribtion lightning, and further his progress with the Celestial Lightning Script.


    The lightning continued to grow in power, until the point where even John felt himself start to be overwhelmed. What had previously required only one Sky Sundering Axe now required two, or even three to counter, while the damage to his body continued to grow. However, his gaze remained cold yet confident, something that continued to enrage the heavens even further.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Grumble all you want. You won¡¯t get what you desire today,¡± John said loudly, his words further angering the tribtion clouds.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The battle between him and the tribtion strikes continued, with the tribtion strikes continuing to advance its advantage over him. However, no matter how much power it unleashed, it was never enough to fully overwhelm him. It was as if the edge of his victory was just ahead, but that edge continued to move just outside of its reach.


    The tribtion lightning suddenly ceased, slightly surprising John. He could tell that it had not used all of its power yet, and had expected the assault to continue for a bit more. He suddenly realized that he had been seen through, and a smug smile appeared on his face as he stared at the clouds above.


    ¡°So you finally saw through my actions?¡± John asked sarcastically.


    He had been feigning defeat for a while now, all while greedily absorbing the tribtion lightning for himself. Each tribtion strike would further his insights into the Dao of Lightning, while also progressing his progress with the Celestial Lightning Script Jade Piece. He felt himself draw near to breaking through to the nextyer and needed only a little bit more to achieve such a thing.


    While he truly was taking damage from the attacks, and felt quite miserable at the moment, his life was not yet threatened. The tribtion clouds still had to deal with Iris afterwards, and so it did not want to use all its power on John. This had allowed him to draw out the fight as long as possible, all while using it to his advantage. However, it seemed as though the tribtion had finally seen through his ns.


    ¡®Thankfully this is Iris¡¯s heaven tribtion and not my own, otherwise I would already be dead without my Asura Transformation.¡¯


    In the distance, the shrouded man looked on, unable to believe what he was seeing.


    ¡°Toying with the very Heavens¡­this boy is quite amusing¡± the man muttered, a pleased smirk appearing on his face.


    Rumble!


    The tribtion clouds rumbled as lightning snaked all throughout the clouds, as if the heavens had truly been enraged to the fullest extent. Tribtion lightning no longer snaked pierced downwards, and a strange silence descended on thend as John stared at the clouds above.


    The power within the clouds seemed to gather into a singr point, as a source of light suddenly appeared beneath the clouds. The source of light was a lightning seed, which suddenly started to grow, as if sprouting something. Slowly but surely a figure became apparent, as the lightning seed sprouted into a human shaped figure. The figure was incredibly detailed, and almost appeared lifelike.


    It held an eight foot lightningnce in its hands, like it was holding a bolt of tribtion lightning. All the power within the tribtion clouds gathered within thence-wielding figure, who stood above John, its posture tall and heroic.


    John¡¯s eyes narrowed as he stared at the figure, as he truly felt danger for the first time from the tribtion. Meanwhile, the shrouded figure in the distance stared at the lightning warrior, not expecting such an incredible situation to unfold.


    ¡°The Divine Tribtion Guardian!¡±

 Chapter 584 Divine Tribulation Guardians Might

    John stared at the lightning warrior, his guard raised to the maximum. He felt lethal danger from the lightning warrior at the moment, and could not let his guard down for a second.


    The lightning warriors gaze lingered on Iris down below, before its gaze shifted slowly towards John. It studied him for a moment, which made John¡¯s instincts re further.


    ¡®This lightning warrior clearly has some sentience, simr to the lightning Kirin Kirii fought against.¡¯


    While it was not full sentience, it was enough that the lighting warrior would be a tricky opponent. Fighting against the tribtion lightning bolts were far easier, as the attacks were incredibly straightforward. However, an opponent that could think and react was far different, and judging by the lightningnce in its hands, each attack would be as strong as a tribtion lightning strike.


    John¡¯s narrowed eyes suddenly widened as his battle axe cleaved out with his full power. The lightning warrior had appeared before him in an instant, his movement as fast as a sh of lightning. It pierced forward with its lightningnce, intending on iming John¡¯s life with a single thrust.


    Boom!


    John barely managed to raise his battle axe in time, as the de of his battle axe violently collided with the tip of the lightningnce. A thunderous explosion instantly radiated outwards, while John shot backward like a cannonball. The casual thrust of the lightningnce was like a battle art being used by a Late Heaven Tribtion opponent, far exceeding John¡¯s expectations.<sub>.</sub>


    In this exchange with the Divine Tribtion Guardian, he had been on the losing end.


    ¡°John!¡± Iris called out from below as she watched John flung violently through the air. The aura and power of the Divine Tribtion Guardian was beyond terrifying, filling Iris with a wave of fear and doubt.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡± a childlike voice appeared in Iris¡¯s mind. Iris nced over to Kirii, who stood protectively in front of her while watching John fighting high above. ¡°Big brother is far too strong to lose to something like this!¡±


    ¡°Kirii!¡± Iris mumbled, surprised to hear Kirii was able tomunicate. She stared at Kirii for a moment, before her gaze shifted back towards John. ¡°Besides, if he starts losing, he can always rely on me to protect him!¡±


    ¡°Hehe,¡± a lightugh escaped Iris¡¯s lips, her mood lightened for the first time in quite some time. Her emotions and nerves calmed slightly, as she once again decided to trust in John and his strength.


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    Lightningnce and battle axe collided, flinging John through the sky once more like a ragdoll. The lightning warrior took the opportunity to rush down towards the ground, his vision locked onto Iris. Despite the fact that John was his opponent, Iris was his true target. If the lightning warrior could kill her, the tribtion would be over, and all would end.


    ¡°Tch, to think I¡¯m being looked down on like this,¡± a disgruntled voice sounded out from behind the guardian, who instantly turned and thrusted his lightningnce forward.


    Bang!


    Battle axe and lightningnce once again collided, as John had managed to stabilize himself and appear behind the warrior in time. However, the lightning warrior¡¯s speed was beyond incredible, and was something John could just barely keep up with when using both his Limiter of Speed and Thunderbody sh. Prepared for the monstrous strength of his opponent, John activated his full might in his attack, finally managing to trade equal blows. His battle axe cleaved out once more, coated with the full might of his Sky Sundering Axe.


    A brilliant gold axe cleaved into the lightningnce, severing it with a single blow. The lightningnce split apart, while John¡¯s battle axe cleaved towards the lightning warriors chest.


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    A monstrous explosion once again rocked the sky as John¡¯s battle axe cleaved partially into the lightning warrior¡¯s body, injuring it greatly. The attack had been the strongest battle axe attack he had ever performed, as he left nothing in reserve.


    John¡¯s cold gaze stared directly at his opponent, which was now cleaved in two. His eyes suddenly widened as his head leaned to the side, as the lightningnce¡¯s thrust had just missed his head by inches. He dashed backwards a few yards, and watched with a cold gaze as his opponent¡¯s body and weapon reconnected, as if it had never been severed.


    The aura of the lightning warrior had diminished ever so slightly, but the diminishment was so miniscule as to be ignored.


    ¡°So you can regenerate?¡± John grumbled, his expression turning sour as he stared at his opponent. He had thought the battle to be over with that attack, but chastised himself for such thinking. His opponent was not a living thing, and so it was not able to be killed in the same fashion as a living creature.


    Each lethal attack would clearly diminish his opponents power, but based on his previous attack, it would take at least an hour to whittle down his opponent to nothing. At the same time, his Qi reserves would be strained to their limits by then, making such an endeavor a risky one.


    The warriors lightingnce once again thrusted towards John, who just barely managed to dodge to the side in time. His body spun around, while his battle axe used his full momentum to unleash another devastating attack on his opponent. The lightning warrior quickly retracted his weapon, and shed it out to meet John¡¯s attack head on.


    Boom!


    Another thunderous explosion radiated outwards, as the two found themselves in a deadlock. The lightning warriors calm gaze shifted from John to Iris below, his free hand suddenly pointing at her.


    Bang!


    A lightning beam as powerful as a tribtion lightning strike sted outwards, piercing directly towards Iris.


    ¡°Kirii!¡± John yelled as he watched the beam reach Iris in an instant. He had no idea that the warrior was capable of such an attack.


    Roar!


    Kirii¡¯s mouth opened wide as a deafening roar boomed out. Being challenged by a creature of lightning was the biggest insult to Kirii, as a lightning beam exploded out from within his opened mouth.


    The lightning beam pierced through the sky, colliding with the tribtion lightning bolt. The sky turned white as the two attacks collided, bathing thend and sky in all directions in an apocalyptic explosion. The explosion quickly faded away, revealing Kirii and Iris to be unharmed, as Kirii had used his body to shield her afterwards.


    John breathed out a sigh of relief, as he silently thanked himself for having Kirii guard her.


    The lightning warriors¡¯ calm gaze stared at Kirii, before its gaze quickly shifted forwards once more.


    Bang!


    Lightningnce and battle axe collided once more, followed by dozens of simr exchanges in the blink of an eye. The sky above the desert turned white, as apocalyptic lightning sts filled the entire sky.


    Tribtion lightning mmed into John¡¯s body, opening wounds and charring his flesh. Without the use of his Asura Transformation, John found himself in a stalemate with his opponent. However, his opponent did not take damage and instead only lost some energy to regenerate, making him slowly but surely start to lose out in the battle. If the battle were to go on forever, John would no doubt lose. However, he just needed to hold on until his opponent ran out of energy and faded away, which was something he was confident of doing.


    Blue lightning runes red on his body, as John utilized his Celestial Lightning Script to absorb the lightning and reduce the damage. The True Jade Origin Piece appeared in his free hand, further augmenting his ability to absorb the tribtion lightning.


    At the same time, his golden battle axe cleaved outwards ceaselessly, assaulting his lightning opponent with a non-stop barrage of earth-shattering attacks. Like this, the two fighters reached a stalemate, as the battle raged on in the sky for several minutes, as a battle for the ages raged on within the Jade Dragon Empirends.

 Chapter 585 Surprising Discovery

    ¡°What the hell is going on over there?¡± a youth eximed, speaking to those gathered nearby.


    Large groups of youths had gathered within the desert, observing the tribtion from a distance. The distance they were at was too far to see exactly what was going on, but no one dared to venture any closer. The aura of the tribtion was beyond terrifying, and no one wanted to be a target of that tribtion.


    Standing silently within the group was a purple robed youth, whose narrowed eyes stared at the tribtion clouds in the distance. His mind raced with the possibilities of what was going on.


    ¡°There are only a handful of youths in thesends still in the Meridian Forging Realm,¡± Ainsel mused to himself as his thoughts naturally shifted towards John and his group. ¡°And from that group, the only one close to breaking through was the female¡­¡±


    Ideas rushed through Ainsel¡¯s mind as he tried to figure out what was going on. He knew Iris had special eyes, but did not know the exact type she had. The tribtion clouds gathered were thergest he had ever seen, further mystifying what was happening.


    ¡°If that girl truly had heaven defying eyes, then it¡¯s possible that her tribtion would be strong¡­but this level of tribtion is beyond anything ever recorded. Not only that, but that battle in the sky is even more terrifying¡­¡±<sub>.</sub>


    From this distance, the monstrous lighting explosions in the sky below the tribtion clouds were visible, revealing the shocking level of whatever battle was urring. However, no one could tell who was taking part in the battle, as it was too far away.


    ¡°If it is her tribtion¡­she is not capable of that level of power though,¡± Ainsel continued his thoughts as his mind shifted towards another. An idea popped into his head, although he almost immediately dismissed it.


    ¡°No¡­even he is not crazy enough to interfere with a heavenly tribtion¡­but its the only way I can even remotely make sense of it at the moment.¡±


    Ainsel¡¯s gaze continued to linger on the battle in the distance, his thoughts running rampant.


    ¡­<sub></sub>


    Boom!


    Another thunderous explosion filled the sky as John and the lightning warrior continued their battle. The lightning warrior would asionally ignore John as it attempted to make its way down to Iris below, but John blocked every attempt.


    Its previous tribtion beam attack had also failed due to Kirii¡¯s presence, and so it no longer tried such an attack. The battle between John and his opponent raged up in the sky, while thend below was decimated by the monstrous explosions.


    John¡¯s battle axe once again cleaved forward towards his opponents head, but hit nothing but air. His eyes widened slightly as the lightning warriorpletely ignored him for the first time, and rushed down towards Iris below.


    ¡°Fuck off!¡± John cursed as his body shed forward, appearing before the warrior once more. His axe cleaved out again, but was once again dodged by the warrior, and the axe only managed tond on the warrior¡¯s one arm. The defenseless arm was cleaved in half, but instantly regenerated as the warrior ignored John to rush down once again.<sub></sub>


    ¡®Shit, the warrior ispletely ignoring me. It¡¯s trying to rush to Iris, taking any damage from me without regard. Its healing makes any damage I do to it worthless. It¡¯s finally realized that it can reach Iris before I can damage it enough to expend its energy.¡¯


    Panic rose within John as he shed forward once more, pushing his speed to his absolute limit. However, he was only as fast as his opponent, which was not something he could afford to happen at the moment. After a moment of contemtion, John put away his battle axe as a scythe appeared instead. The battle axe weighed over ten thousand pounds, while the scythe was under half that weight.


    The battle axe¡¯s incredible weight was slowing him down, which he could not afford to happen against such a fast opponent. While his scythe was a weaker weapon, it was his only option at this moment.


    John¡¯s body shed forward once more as he pushed his Thunderbody sh and Limiter of Speed to his maximum, appearing behind his opponent once more. His scythe cleaved towards the warrior head, who ignored his attack and took it head on. The de of the scythe carved into the warrior¡¯s head, splitting it apart after brief resistance.


    However, the lightning warrior instantly regenerated once again, its body shing forward once more.


    ¡°Piss off!¡± John yelled out in absolute frustration and anger as his body appeared in between Iris and his opponent, blocking the lightning warriors path down to Iris. His scythe shed out in quick session, cleaving parts of the warrior in half; damage that was quickly healed.


    ¡°Motherfucker! Just die already!¡± John cursed, his rage growing by the second. His scythe suddenly emanated an ominous ck and red aura for a moment before it shed forward, unleashing an incredibly sharp and quick scythe image


    Divine Reaping Scythe: Fourth Form!


    The scythe image reached the lightning warrior in an instant, while John¡¯s surprise rose as he watched the warrior attempt to dodge the attack at the veryst moment. It had been ignoring all his attacks, but decided the Divine Reaping Scythe attack needed to be dodged.


    The warrior flickered to the side, narrowly dodging the attack. However, itste reaction resulted in the attacknding on its arm, as the scythe image cleaved right through it. The arm separated from the body, while John¡¯s eyes narrowed as he gazed at the warrior before him.


    ¡®Why did it decide to dodge that attack?¡¯ John wondered. His gaze shifted to the severed arm, which was slowly re-attaching to the warrior¡¯s body. After a moment of observation, his eyes widened slightly as he noticed something for the first time.


    ¡®The arm¡­it¡¯s not healing instantly like before!¡¯


    John watched as the warrior¡¯s arm slowly re-attached to its body, taking over ten seconds to fully reattach. All his previous attacks had been instantly healed by the warrior, but this time had been different. His divine sense red out as he inspected the warrior¡¯s arm, and his face lit up in both shock and tion as he noticed what was going on.


    ¡®Spatial energy!¡¯

 Chapter 586 Spatial Energy

    The fourth form of the Divine Reaping Scythe was intended to be used by Heaven Tribtion cultivators, although John had forcefully managed toprehend its initial stages due to his monstrousprehension talent, as well as freakish essence dantian. However, this had resulted in him learning the attack slowly, all while not fully understanding the underlying fundamentals behind the attack.


    He had only unleashed a handful of fourth form Divine Reaping Scythe¡¯s thus far, and had never stopped to inspect the attack. However, the lightning warrior¡¯s reaction had changed that, as John closely inspected the oue of his attack for the first time. Much to his surprise, a spatial energy lingered at the site of the attack, blocking the healing abilities of the lightning warrior. The spatial energy separated the two halves of the arm, making it so that the warrior needed to erase its power before healing fully.


    John¡¯s mind raced as he observed the wound, while his thoughts shifted back to the first time he had started to train the technique, and had read the description of the Divine Reaping Scythe that the creator of the attack had left behind. .


    ¡®Severing All Creation. Reaping All Divines¡¯


    The words had echoed in his mind like a drum at the time, its profundity far too high a level for him toprehend. He could tell there was a meaning behind the bold words, but could not tell what the meaning was exactly. However, now he could start to get an idea, at least in regards to the first part.


    ¡®I had figured the creator of this attack had made a im too bold to be true, but maybe there is some truth to it after all. ¡®Severing All Creation¡¯¡­¡¯


    John reyed those words, a thousand thoughts flooding his mind.


    ¡®What¡¯s the point of iming to sever all creation, if it can just be healed instantly. Only a permanent severing could boast such words with such arrogance¡­and confidence.¡¯<sub>.</sub>


    John¡¯s eyes lit up as an idea of how to defeat the lightning warrior had finally appeared. To heal the severed arm, the warrior had expended far more energy than before to slowly erase the lingering spatial energy. In fact, the energy used to heal that singr wound had been simr to the energy used to heal all the previous wounds.


    John¡¯s scythe raised once more before shing forward, as he wasted no time at all to unleash another attack. While the essence Qi requirement of this attack was beyond monstrous, John had decided the cost was worth it. It was the only way to stop the warrior, who could no longer fully ignore John.


    Another Divine Reaping Scythe shed forward towards the warrior, whose lightningnce thrusted out to meet the attack head on. It no longer took his attack¡¯s head on, asnce and scythe image collided.


    The scythe image cleaved into the lightningnce, and severed it after a moment of struggle. However, the monstrous energy of the lightningnce exhausted the entire scythe attack, as the attack failed to reach the lightning warrior.


    The lightningnce in the warriors hand disappeared, and was instantly reced by another. Unlike the warriors body, thence was actually a condensed bolt of tribtion lightning, which could be discarded while another was made instantly. While this too used up energy, it was less energy than what it had used to heal its severed arm.


    ¡°Tch!¡± John clicked his tongue in frustration as he prepared to unleash another attack. However, aware of his monstrous attack now, the lightning warrior ignored John again as it rushed towards Iris, with even more urgency in its movements.


    Divine Reaping Scythe!<sub></sub>


    John unleashed a third Divine Reaping Scythe, his face paling slightly as the Qi expenditure started to add up, even for him. The ck and red scythe image reached the warrior in an instant, who turned and blocked the attack with its lightningnce once again. John watched in frustration as thence withstood most of the attack, while the remaining portion was not enough to damage the warrior further.


    ¡°Shit¡­what do I do?¡± John cursed as he shed forward, appearing before the lightning warrior once more. His scythe shed out, as the warrior moved to block the attack again. While John was not using the Divine Reaping Scythe for this attack, the lightning warrior seemingly took no risks anymore.


    Scythe andnce collided, creating another explosion of lightning as both fighters were knocked backwards. John quickly stabilized his footing, his frowning gaze lingering on his scythe de. Arge chip had been formed on the de, as his Pseudo-Heaven Tribtion grade scythe was not able to withstand the force of the lightningnce.


    ¡®Shit¡­just a few more attacks like that and my scythe will be destroyed¡­then I can¡¯t unleash any more Divine Reaping Scythes.¡¯


    John¡¯s mind raced as he tried to think of what to do. At the same time, his battle continued with the lightning warrior in the sky, his scythe taking more and more damage. In the middle of his battle, his eyes lit up with an idea.


    ¡®Kirii! Take over the battle for me!¡¯ John instantlymunicated to Kirii through their soul-connection.


    Roar!<sub></sub>


    A deafening roar boomed out as Kirii heard John¡¯s words, its fighting spirit instantly ignited. IT had watched John battle the lightning warrior from below, and had been eager to join against his natural opponent. However, he had obeyed John¡¯s instructions to protect Iris, but now had the chance to prove its lightning supremacy. Even the heavens were not worthy in Kirii¡¯s eyes when it came to lightning.


    Without hesitation, Kirii shed up into the sky, appearing before the lightning warrior in an instant.


    Bang!


    Kirii¡¯s head mmed into the chest of the lightning warrior before it could react, its horn piercing into its chest. The horn exploded with a lightning attack, as the lightning warrior was overwhelmed from within by Kirii¡¯s lightning attack.


    Boom!


    An apocalyptic lightning explosion radiated outwards in the sky, while John rushed down towards Iris, who was still focusing on healing.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Thunderous explosions continued to st overhead as Kirii and the lightning warrior battled against one another. Johnnded next to Iris, who couldn¡¯t help but look at him with apletely dazed expression. The battle between John and the lightning warrior had been beyond anything she had witnessed, and his bloodied yet heroic aura washed over her, filling her with both wonder and a sense of safety.


    John¡¯s fierce gaze shifted to Iris, which softened a little bit. He had appeared next to her to ensure no attacks from the lightning warrior reached Iris, but knew she was about to feel pain, and by his own hands. However, his next actions were needed to have a chance to end this battle.


    ¡°John!¡± Iris called out softly, unable to think of what to say.


    ¡°How much Qi have you restored?¡± John asked, getting straight to the point.


    ¡°I¡­about twenty percent,¡± Iris replied.


    ¡°That should be enough,¡± John said as he inspected Iris¡¯s body. It had healed somewhat as well, which should allow her to withstand what was toe. ¡°I¡¯m about to use something that will overwhelm you, and kill you in your current state unless you use all your power to protect yourself. I can¡¯t afford to have you leave and be attacked, so staying behind me is the only way through this. Are you ready?¡±


    Iris stared at John for a moment, before her face hardened, and she nodded her head.


    ¡°Do what you need to do¡­I trust you,¡± Iris replied, a smile forming on her weary face.


    ¡°Good,¡± John replied as he nodded his head. ¡°Now use all your Qi to wrap around your body, and don¡¯t leave anything back. If you do, you¡¯ll die.¡±


    Iris once again nodded her head, as her Qi red out, wrapping around her body. She held nothing back as she focused everything on defense. John nodded his head at her, before his gaze shifted upwards towards Kirii and the lightning warrior. The battle between the two raged on in the sky, with neither party winning out. However, the lightning warrior was slowly but surely making its way towards John and Iris, at which point it would no doubt explode with absolute power, killing Iris in the process.


    John¡¯s rage-filled gaze locked onto the lightning warrior, while his aura steadily began to climb.


    ¡®Tch, I didn¡¯t want to have to use this already, but I have no choice. I need to unleash a Divine Reaping Scythe so powerful that even this asshole can¡¯t heal¡­and there¡¯s only one way to do that¡­.¡¯


    John took a deep breath and prepared himself for what was toe, before his aura suddenly exploded out with power far greater than anything he had used in the battle thus far. Iris felt herself nearly overwhelmed by the explosive aura, as she struggled against it with all her might. Shock filled her body as she realized that she truly would have died from John¡¯s aura alone if she had not been prepared for it.


    John¡¯s aura continued to climb as it towered into the sky, like a raging bonfire that stretched into the heavens. His grip tightened on the shaft of his scythe as his eyes locked onto the lightning warrior above.


    ¡®Bloodline Ability¡­activate!¡¯

 Chapter 587 Activating the Bloodline Ability Once More

    John¡¯s aura exploded outwards like a bomb, pushing away the nearby desert sand. A craterrger than before appeared, while Iris grit her teeth and struggled with all her might to resist John¡¯s power. If her body was in top shape, she would be alright, but in her weakened and damaged condition, it took her all to resist and survive.


    Hovering high above, the mysterious man¡¯s gaze locked onto John, his blood pumping faster within his body as he watched John unleash his full power. The man¡¯s gaze heated up, as if he were staring at something beyond his wildest imaginations.


    John¡¯s hand tightened around the shaft of his scythe, as an ominous, sharp, and overwhelming aura began to radiate from its de. While his Asura Transformation was his strongest battle state, it augmented his body and body Qi.


    His bloodline ability however was theplete opposite, as it flooded his body with an overwhelming amount of essence Qi, almost equal to the level of the Asura Transformation. With the Divine Reaping Scythe empowered by essence Qi, using his bloodline ability was the only way to unleash his strongest essence attack.


    John felt his body begin to creak in protest as a nearly overwhelming amount of Qi began to surge through his body. Each blood cell of his began to unleash essence Qi, as his blood cells acted like billions of tiny dantians. The essence Qi surged through his meridians, stretching them to their limits, and threatening to shatter thempletely.


    John¡¯s powerful body fought back with all its might, as it did its best to contain the rampage essence Qi. The ck and red aura on his scythe de continued to grow, and soon had reached a level far beyond anything he had ever unleashed before.<sub>.</sub>


    His arm stretched out to his side and above his head, as his pained and cold eyes stared at the lightning warrior, who had managed to make its way quite close to John and Iris. Kirii still fought fiercely against his opponent, managing to slow its progress by quite a bit.


    Suddenly, John¡¯s cold eyes widened, as his aura reached an absolute peak. His scythe shed forward, as an apocalyptic scythe image appeared in the sky before him, as he unleashed his strongest ever Divine Reaping Scythe. His face turned white while his body cried out in protest, nearly forcing him to his knees in pain and exhaustion.


    ¡°Ahh!¡± Iris cried out in pain as her body was flown into the distance, unable to resist the might of the aura any longer.


    ¡®Kirii! Dodge, now!¡¯ Johnmunicated through their soul connection.


    Kirii¡¯s body shed to the side without hesitation, its actions causing the lighting warrior to pause for a brief instant. The warrior¡¯s gaze shifted back down, at which point its vision waspletely taken up by a ck and red scythe image that had appeared before it. The lightning warrior raised its lightningnce in front of its body at thest moment to block the attack.<sub></sub>


    Che!


    The scythe image seemed to cleave through space itself, as it reached the warrior and collided against its lightningnce. The lightningnce put up the briefest of struggle before it cleaved in half, unable to resist the might of the attack. The attack continued forward without pause, its sharpness and speed unmatched. The red and ck scythe image shed through the lightning warrior vertically, severing it from head to toe without any resistance at all.


    John watched as the scythe image continued upwards, eventually reaching the tribtion clouds high above. It pierced into the clouds, its might and power severing the clouds of the heavens as well. A thin and long opening appeared within the clouds, the light from the sun above shining through. The beam of sunlightnded on the lightning warrior, who stood there motionlessly as its body parted into two halves.


    Spatial energy lingered powerfully between the two halves, stopping the lightning warrior from regenerating. The lightning warriors¡¯ aura began to rapidly fade as it struggled against the spatial energy, which was slowly eroded away.


    ¡°Kirii! Now!¡± John yelled out as his remaining body Qi surged through his weary body, filling him with energy once more. His figure shed up into the sky as he and Kirii appeared before the lightning warrior, which was struggling mightily against the spatial energy. Its aura was rapidly fading, but so was the spatial energy from the Divine Reaping Scythe. Although the Divine Reaping Scythe was beyond powerful and profound, so too was the heavenly lightning warrior. John had also not fully mastered the fourth form of the Divine Reaping Scythe, lowering its severing efficacy, which allowed the lighting warrior to fight back against it.<sub></sub>


    It was clear that eventually the lightning warrior would win out and erase all the energy, although its aura would rapidly fade by that time. However, it would still be strong enough to kill Iris, which John would not allow to happen.


    His hand stretched out andnded on the head of one of the lightning warriors half, while his remaining power red out once more. At the same time, Kirii¡¯s mouth opened wide and chomped down on the head of the other half, as John and Kirii¡¯s power red out.


    High above, the mysterious man¡¯s eyes opened wide as he watched what John and Kirii were attempting to do. The battle thus far had been beyond his wildest imaginations, and yet the two were surpassing his expectations of what was possible once again.


    ¡°They¡¯re attempting to absorb the Divine Tribtion Guardian? Just how crazy is this brat?¡± the man muttered, almost unable to believe his eyes.


    ¡°Gahhhh!¡± John cried out in pain as his power red while he began to absorb his half of the Divine Tribtion Guardian. A jade piece appeared in his hands as he activated his Celestial Lightning Script, while glowing blue runes appeared all over his charred and bloody skin.


    If he allowed the lightning warrior to recover, he would have nothing left in reserve to stop it. This was the only way he could think of to once and for all eliminate the lightning warrior. With the lightning warrior focusing all its energy on eliminating the spatial energy, it was unable to resist John¡¯s power.


    Tribtion lightning surged into his body, rampaging wildly within. It threatened to destroy everything, as his bones, muscles, meridians, and even blood began to char and be destroyed. John grit his teeth through the immense and nearly overwhelming pain as he revolved his Celestial Lightning Script to his utmost. Smoke and ash drifted out of John¡¯s gritted mouth as his body was destroyed from within.


    The energy produced by activating the script surged through his body as well, washing over wherever the lightning had rampaged, doing its best to heal the wounds as well as neutralize the tribtion lightning. A battlefield formed within his body, as John felt himself nearly overwhelmed by the power of the Divine Tribtion Guardian. Its energy had been halved from its peak state, and John was only absorbing half of it.


    Even with its power a quarter of its peak, John was almost unable to withstand the lightning rampaging within. Were it not for his incredible lightning resistance due to the Celestial Lightning Script, as well as monstrous body due to the Immortal Asura Body, John would have turned to ash in an instant for attempting such a thing. With the state of his body, John was unable to activate his Asura Transformation to protect himself. His body was already on the verge of copse due to his battle before and using his bloodline ability, and using the Asura Transformation now would destroy his body with absolute certainty.


    At the same time, lightning ramped through Kirii¡¯s body, as the Divine Tribtion Guardian was absorbed by him. The blue crystal on Kirii¡¯s forehead lit up brightly as Kirii activated its full power to absorb the guardian, and resist its might.


    The tribtion guardians might red to resist John and Kirii, as a stationary battle between the three took ce in the sky above the arid desert. Both halves of the tribtion guardians¡¯ aura rapidly began to fade, while John¡¯s aura also grew weaker and weaker.


    With onest yell of anger and rage, John¡¯s aura red out onest time, as he pushed himself to the very limit. The remaining lightning energy of the tribtion guardian vanished as both Kirii and John absorbed it all, finally bringing an end to its existence.


    John¡¯s breathing was heavy and raspy as he struggled to maintain his consciousness. His body was damaged almost beyond recognition, as blood covered every inch of his charred body. He gazed down to the ground below, his eyes locking onto Iris who was standing on the desert floor, safe and sound. The tribtion clouds above rumbled with absolute rage at what had urred, and after a moment of pause, unleashed another lightning beam towards Iris below.


    However, unlike the other tribtion beams, this tribtion lightning beam was filled with a vibrant life energy. It mmed into Iris, filling her body with vibrant energy, both healing her and transforming her body. Despite the fact that it wanted to kill her, Iris had survived her tribtion, and the heavens were forced to proceed with thest part of her tribtion.


    John watched as Iris¡¯s body began to transform, being molded by the very heavens itself into a higher state of existence. The process continued for a short while before the lightning beam faded away, and the clouds above vanished in an instant. It was as if the heavens were beyond disgusted with what had urred, and could not wait to leave this ce.


    Iris inspected her newly transformed body, her power far greater than anything she had felt before. An ted expression appeared on her face as she gazed up towards John, which was quickly reced with panic and worry.


    ¡°John!¡± Iris cried out as she dashed forward, while John¡¯s unconscious body copsed down to the ground below.

 Chapter 588 Fleeing The Scene

    After ensuring that Iris¡¯s safety was clear, John¡¯s consciousness quickly faded. His body had been damaged almost beyond recognition, and his soul had nearby been destroyed as well. He fell from the sky like a meteor, crashing towards the earth below.


    ¡°John,¡± Iris called out once more as she appeared below John and caught him in her arms. Worry and panic overwhelmed her as she inspected John, and found his lifeforce to be like a candle in the wind. Only with her divine sense closely inspecting him could she detect his life, as his breathing was incredible shallow.


    Her expression turned grave as she noticed the damage to his body, as both his exterior and internals were charred and damaged beyondpare. If it were anyone else with this level of body damage, they would have died a thousand deaths already.


    ¡°Kirii!¡± Iris called out as Kirii appeared next to John as well. ¡°Go get Adam and Chase, adn return immediately.¡± Iris knew they did not have a lot of time before the area would be flooded with other youths.


    Kirii sped off without hesitation, his body like a blur of lightning. Iris¡¯s worried gaze returned to John once more, not sure of what to do.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Hold on John,¡± Iris said, her voice unsteady and meek. ¡°Chase will be able to heal you.¡±


    Less than a minuteter, Kirii returned, with Adam and Chase riding on his back. Kirii wasrge enough to carry people on his back now, and thanks to his shapeshifting ability, could grow evenrger if need be.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Irismanded as she sped off into the distance, picking a direction towards the distant mountains, and the edge of the Jade Dragon Empirends. The edges of these trialnds would no doubt have the least amount of youths, as going there would make the journey deeper into thends longer, and most did not want to waste time like that.


    Kirii followed behind, as the group sped forward like a blur. The desert sand exploded behind them, leaving a trail of their furiously carved path.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Adam, hide the trail!¡± Iris instructed after noticing it.


    Adam nodded his head, and his power red out as he sat backwards on Kirii. His Qi washed over the area behind them, smoothing out the sand as they traveled, leaving no trace of their existence. In less than two minutes, the group had left the area, as it was no longer safe to be there.


    A few minutester, arge crowd of youths flooded the area, their shocked eyes taking in the scene of destruction. The desert floor was charred for miles and miles, with molten sand filling the manyrge craters that had been formed.


    ¡°Just what happened here?¡± many of the youths couldn¡¯t help but ask, as they found no signs of anyone remaining behind.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Someone obviously ascended here, but they must have already died!¡± someone chimed up with their thoughts.


    The youths contemted these words, and the idea became more and more likely by the second. The tribtion had been beyond anything any of them had ever seen, and surviving such a tribtion would be a miracle. With no signs of life being found in the area either, the most likely exnation was that the tribtor had died.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite likely,¡± anothermented, slightly disappointed, while also relieved. If the youth who had such a tribtion survived, they would no doubt be a prodigious monster, and a threat to all in thesends should they so choose.


    Arriving in the area as well was Ainsel, whose eyes shifted colors as he closely inspected the area. His gaze eventually lingered in the direction towards the mountains as he spotted something. His body shed as he appeared in a different area, and closely inspected the desert sand.


    ¡°There¡¯s the slightest sign of disturbance, but the desert winds have already started to erase the pathway,¡± he mused out loud. While his voice was not loud, it was heard by the other youths, who could not help but widen their eyes in shock.


    ¡°Do you mean¡­that the tribtor lived, and already fled the area?¡± a startled youth asked, almost unable to believe it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Ainsel replied. ¡°It could have been some allies, who fled after their friend died¡­or it could be as you said.¡±


    Ainsels words shocked therge group once more, as the thought of someone surviving such a tribtion entered their minds.


    ¡°What kind of monster could live through such a tribtion?¡± a youth asked while thinking about the tribtion they had gone through themselves. Compared to their tribtion, the two were as different as night and day. Their tribtion could hardly be called that in the face of what they had seen.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but it¡¯s useless to seek them out at this point,¡± Ainselmented as his thoughts shifted to one youth who he did not want to offend again, and who was most likely within the group that was part of this tribtion. ¡°The trail has already been erased. All we can do is move forward.¡±


    Ainsels words disappointed the youths, as they wanted to see who had undertaken such a tribtion. However, they too could not identify the trail anymore, and so after some more exploration of the area, the youths all scattered, venturing deeper into the trialnds.


    Ainsel¡¯s gaze continued to linger on the distant mountains hundreds of miles away, his gaze calm but narrowed.


    ¡°The only exnation I can think of is that the girl with the eyes ascended, and her eye talents attracted such a tribtion. She¡¯s one of the handful of Meridian Forging youths in thesends, and the only one ready to break through who could attract something like this.


    This means that her talents are beyond terrifying, but that still doesn¡¯t exin how such a battle took ce in the sky. Either she gave it her all, and died in the tribtion¡­or that John Fenix interfered, and battled on her behalf. It¡¯s beyond unbelievable¡­but it¡¯s the only way I can make sense of it.


    I¡¯m sure the truth will be revealed before this realm closes, at which point I can confirm my suspicions or not.¡±


    With those thoughts put away, Ainsel left the area, as the desert sands began to sweep over and erase the destruction that had urred in the desert.

 Chapter 589 Unexpected Voice

    ¡°In here!¡± Iris¡¯s voice sounded out as she dashed into a cave that they had stumbled upon. They had already fled for over one hundred miles, and Iris finally found a suitable ce to hide. Her eyes scanned deep into the cave, confirming that it was empty of any other life forms.


    The group quickly followed her as they all entered the cave. The cave was roughly one hundred yards long, and quite spacious at the end. A rtivelyrge chamber opened up at the end of the cave, providing them a ce to rest.


    ¡°Adam, can you use your formations to cover and hide the entrance?¡± Iris asked.


    ¡°On it,¡± Adam replied quickly as he nodded his head. He would normally scoff at amand from Iris, but the situation was far too dire for him to joke around. Adam appeared at the cave entrance and immediately set down many formation disks. He carved intricate formation runes into the cave floor, while he also scattered spirit crystals at various formation nodes to power the formation.


    After working for several minutes, Adam¡¯s formation red with power. The open entrance of the cave shimmered for a moment, before it faded away to look like the rest of the desert sand in the area.


    He inspected the formation for any ws, and added some warning formations as well to detect any intruders early on. After confirming everything was working, Adam returned to the end of the cave, where he saw Iris and Chase kneeling before John, whoid on the ground.


    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± Adam said to Iris, who smiled and thanked him for his help. Her gaze shifted to Chase, who was closely inspecting John¡¯s body, his expression turning more grave by the moment.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°How is he?¡± Iris asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how he¡¯s still alive,¡± Chase replied, his voice grave.


    ¡°Its that bad?¡± Iris asked, her worry growing.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Chase replied without hiding anything. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like this. Most of his body is charred and torn, both externally and internally. I really don¡¯t know how he¡¯s still alive.¡±


    ¡°Can you save him?¡± Iris asked, as her feeling of guilt began to rise by the second, as this situation was caused by her heavenly tribtion.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but I¡¯ll try,¡± Chase replied as a pill appeared in his hands. He moved the pill to John¡¯s mouth, and attempted to push it in his mouth to swallow. However, much to his surprise, he was unable to do so. He tried again, but once more found resistance.<sub></sub>


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Iris asked, confused by Chase¡¯s actions.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. There¡¯s some sort of energy in his mouth, blocking me from feeding him this pill,¡± Chase replied.


    ¡°Let me try,¡± Iris said as she grabbed the pill and tried to give it to John, but she too found the energy blocking such actions.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Iris asked, confused by such a thing happening.


    Chase¡¯s hands hovered over John, as his Wood Qi surged outwards. While Wood Qi was not as good as pure healing Qi for healing bodies, it was still quite good at injecting the body with vibrancy, helping it heal.


    His expression turned into one of confusion again as he found his energy blocked, unable to enter John¡¯s body.<sub></sub>


    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Chase grumbled, as his every effort was stifled.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure¡­maybe it¡¯s some sort of natural defense of his,¡± Iris replied after a moment, while her dagger appeared in her hand. ¡°Here, I¡¯ll open up his chest, and then you can directly enter your Qi into his body. Maybe that will work¡±


    While furthering John¡¯s wounds was not something Iris wanted to do, it was all she could think of in the moment. There was something blocking them from helping John, and she needed to get through that barrier.


    Chase thought about it for a moment, before he nodded his head in approval.


    ¡°Do it,¡± Chase said to Iris.


    Her dagger reached John¡¯s chest, but stopped as shock appeared on the faces of everyone in the room, while Iris¡¯s dagger stopped in ce.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for such actions,¡± a voice suddenly filled the room. The voice was ethereal, yetmanding. Calm, yet holy. Just hearing the voice made the three of them want to kneel in reverence to whoever had spoken, as if it belonged to the highest and most regal person in existence.


    ¡°Who?¡± Iris asked after regaining her senses. Her gaze swept all throughout the cave, but she was unable to see anyone within. ¡°Who are you?¡± she asked once again, ¡°are you the one stopping us from helping John?¡±


    Speaking to this voice in such a way almost felt like a sin to Iris, but she did not care at the moment. She only cared for John¡¯s safety, and was willing to do whatever it took.


    ¡°Indeed I am,¡± the voice replied once again,ing from all directions.


    ¡°Who are you? Why are you doing this?¡± Iris asked, her frustration growing. At this time, both Adam and Chase also regained their wits, taking a bit longer due to their lower soul power and cultivation.


    ¡°That does not matter,¡± the voice replied calmly after a moment of silence, ¡°but I cannot allow you to heal this boy.¡±


    Iris felt a wave of pure anger and rage flood within her body, as she pushed her eye powers to her absolute limit. They had transformed due to her recent tribtion, as the heavens had no choice but to bless her based on the level of tribtion she had survived. Her eye talents were beyondpare to before, and her gaze swept around the room again before resting on John¡¯s body.


    She studied it closely, as she could tell that something was strange about it. She had noticed this strangeness before, but couldn¡¯t tell if it was her imagination or not. Now with her raised eye talents, the picture within John¡¯s body changed slightly.


    Her gaze rested on his stomach, where his dantian was located. She could see his essence, which was beyond anything she had seen before. Its power was beyondpare, but that was not what she focused on.


    Her gaze lingered next to his essence, dantian, as she gazed at an empty spot in John¡¯s body. Nothing special was there, but for some reason, Iris could tell that there was more than meets the eye. She pushed her eye abilities to her absolute limit, at which point a hazy cloud suddenly appeared in her vision.


    She could not see through the hazy cloud, as despite her immense talent, the cloud was too profound to see through. However, she could tell that something incredible was there, and could also detect the faintest hints of light emanating from the cloud. It was so faint as to almost not be visible, but Iris could just barely detect it.


    One of the lights was white, holy, and magnificent. It made her want to kneel, like a subject before a heavenly king. The other light was ck, with the faintest hints of red. It made her feel as though she were plunged into the depths of hell, despite only experiencing the tiniest portion of whatever it was.


    Iris¡¯s breathing turned heavy as she gazed at the ominous and sinister light, but ignored it after a short while as she gazed back at the holy light. Her gaze lingered on the light, studying it closely as she could just barely detect its existence. After studying it for quite some time, she was finally able to piece together the truth of what was happening.


    ¡°It¡¯s you! You¡¯re inside John!¡± Iris eximed, as she could just barely connect the feeling of the voice with the feeling of the light.

 Chapter 590 Waking Up

    ¡°What?¡± Adam and Chase eximed, not expecting to hear such words.


    ¡°As expected of the Eyes of Heavenly Truth,¡± the voice replied, ¡°Only such eyes could see through everything, my own creations included.¡±


    Shock appeared on Iris¡¯s face as she heard the voice speak of her eyes, which had finally been named to her for the first time. Her shock rose once more as the hazy cloud within John¡¯s body slowly vanished, as if it never existed. Iris closely inspected the area where it used to be, and could no longer detect it.


    Clearly the entity that was speaking had shrouded the thing within John¡¯s body further, hiding it even from Iris¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°What¡­what do you want? Why won¡¯t you let us heal him?¡± Iris asked, ignoring the urge to ask about the Eyes of Heavenly Truth, and instead decided to focus on John once more.


    ¡°By doing so, you are only hurting him more than you are helping him,¡± the mysterious voice replied once more.


    ¡°What? How does that make sense?¡± Chase asked, his anger ignited. John was on the edge of life and death, and this mysterious entity was stopping them from administering aid, while iming it to be to help John.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine!¡± a child-like voice appeared in their minds. They all turned to look at Kirii, whoid on the ground next to John.


    ¡°Kirii¡­what do you mean it¡¯s fine?¡± Iris asked for rification. ¡°Do you know this person?¡±


    ¡°Kind of,¡± Kirii replied, unable to exin it clearly.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°How do you know him?¡± Iris asked, once again asking for rification.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­I¡¯m not sure,¡± Kirii replied through soulmunication. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­I know John doesn¡¯t consider him an enemy.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t?¡± Iris asked. ¡°How do you know?¡±


    ¡°Hmmmm¡­I don¡¯t know¡­I just know,¡± Kirii replied.


    Iris stared at Kirii for a moment, as she thought over his words. Kirii was John¡¯s soulpanion, and the two essentially shared their souls to one another. They could feel the emotions of one another, and so Kirii was more clear than anyone on this matter.


    All three youths could tell that this entity was far beyond their imagination, both in terms of power and experience. While they didn¡¯t know the reason for his actions, they trusted Kirii¡¯s judgment, as he knew John the best.


    ¡°Tch,¡± Iris clicked her tongue in frustration, as she feltpletely helpless in the moment. However, she no longer caused a fuss about the entity¡¯s actions. The group quickly set up camp within therge cavern, while they made a bed for John to rest on.


    ¡­


    John¡¯s eyes slowly opened as he found himself floating in the expansive void of space. Distant stars shimmered brightly, illuminating two figures that hovered in the void thousands of miles away. Despite being so far away, John was able to see them, although he could not make out any features. However, he could tell that one of the figures was quiterge, easily towering over the other by several times.<sub></sub>


    Suddenly, the void of space exploded with apocalyptic light as the space between the two distant figures erupted with power far greater than anything John thought possible. The explosion quickly radiated outwards, shattering the very fabric of space, as if nothing could withstand its onught.


    The explosion reached John almost instantly, as he felt himself drown in the power that could not possibly exist.


    ¡­


    ¡°How long do you think we¡¯ll be here for?¡± a voice sounded out, drifting into John¡¯s ears.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It depends on when John wakes up,¡± another replied.


    John¡¯s dreary eyes opened once more, as a rocky ceiling came into his view. He knew the voices, but couldn¡¯t identify who they belonged to at the moment as confusion flooded his mind, as the scenes of the explosion in space lingered in his mind.


    ¡°It was that same dream, huh?¡± John mumbled to himself, as he recalled he had dreamed that scene once before, many years ago. While deep in thought, John felt wetness on his cheek, and he groggily looked over to his side.


    Kirii¡¯s face appeared right next to his, as Kirii licked his face with glee that he had woken up.


    ¡°Big brother! You¡¯re awake!¡± Kirii¡¯s voice boomed in his mind, Kirii¡¯s excitement and tion evident in his childlike voice.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Big brother¡­when have you called me that?¡± John groggily asked, as it was the first time he had heard Kirii call him by that name.


    ¡°John!¡± Adam, Chase, and Iris eximed as they heard his voice. The three had gathered around a fire they had built in the center of the cavern, roasting some meat they had brought along on this expedition.


    ¡°You woke up¡± Iris happily eximed as tears began to form in the corner of her eyes. She had felt nothing but guilt after John¡¯s injuries, and feltpletely helpless while heid there unconscious. Seeing him wake up was a flood of both tion and relief, which she could no longer contain.


    ¡°Of course he woke up,¡± Adam eximed loudly, as if he never had a doubt about the oue of John¡¯s injuries. ¡°This is John we¡¯re talking about afterall.¡±


    ¡°Wha..what¡¯s going on?¡± John asked, his mind still clearing up from just waking up. He moved to sit up, but instantly grimaced as a wave of pain assaulted his body.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get up,¡± Chase instructed, ¡°you¡¯re still very injured.¡±


    ¡°Injured?¡± John asked, as the events of the tribtion flooded back in his mind. ¡°The tribtion!¡± John eximed, his gaze shifting to Iris.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, thanks to you,¡± Iris replied with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± John sighed as he fell back onto his makeshift bed. His body groaned with aches and pains, but John ignored them as he recalled everything that had happened. After inspecting his body with his divine sense, John¡¯s gaze shifted back to his friends once again.


    ¡°How long have I been out for?¡± he asked curiously.


    ¡°A week,¡± Adam replied.


    ¡°A week already?¡± John asked, shocked he had been out for so long. However, when he thought about the extensive damage he had received, including soul damage, such a timeframe made sense. He inspected his body once more, and his eyebrows raised slightly as he noticed something.


    ¡°Hey, did none of you give me any healing pills or anything?¡± John asked, as he noticed his body waspletely bereft of any medicinal remnants.


    The group looked at eachother, strange expressions appearing on their faces as they were caught off guard by John¡¯s question.


    ¡°No, we didn¡¯t,¡± Iris replied after a moment of hesitation.


    ¡°Good, that¡¯s good,¡± John replied in relief.


    ¡°Why is that good?¡± Chase asked.


    ¡°Because, the damage I sustained is an opportunity to raise my strength,¡± John replied. His Celestial Lightning Script was able to heal lightning damage, and slowly turn his body into an even stronger lightning attribute body. If the damage had been healed by medicines instead, that opportunity to improve on his lightning attribute body would be lost. The Celestial Lightning Script was an incredible cultivation art, but it required an incredibly brutal method of cultivating.


    John¡¯s reply caused the three to look at eachother, odd expressions appearing on their faces. John picked up on their expressions, and quickly realized something strange about the situation.


    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± John chimed up, ¡°you three would never know about this. So either you decided to watch me die by not giving me healing pills¡­or you found out some other way,¡± John said to the group.


    The group continued to stare at each other, unsure of how to reply to John. After a moment of hesitation, Iris decided to be straightforward with everything that had happened. She mentioned the mysterious voice, as well as his instructions. John¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he heard her exin what had happened, before a look of annoyance appeared on his face.


    Iris noticed this expression, and couldn¡¯t help but ask about it, thinking the group had done something wrong.


    ¡°What is it? Should we not have listened to him?¡± Iris asked.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that,¡± John replied as he shook his head, ¡°it¡¯s just that he refuses to speak to me, yet he talks to you three¡­my father sure is an asshole.¡±


    Stunned expressions appeared on the faces of Adam, Iris, and Chase as they heard John¡¯s words.


    ¡°Your¡­your father?!?!?¡±

 Chapter 591 Firming Recent Comprehensions

    John¡¯s face scrunched up, as he realized he had let a big secret slip out. He was still quite drowsy and scatterbrained from just waking up after so long that he didn¡¯t even think about what he was saying.


    ¡°What do you mean your father?¡± Adam asked, ¡°isn¡¯t your father back on the Yuan Continent?¡±


    He knew about John¡¯s Fenix n lineage and wasn¡¯t able to make sense of what John had just said.


    ¡°Ahhh¡­it¡¯s hard to exin,¡± John said after a moment of silence, not wanting to borate further.


    The group realized he wanted to avoid the subject, and their gazes locked onto one another as they shared silent thoughts. They could tell that John¡¯s secrets were far more shocking than they had ever imagined, but didn¡¯t want to pry if he didn¡¯t want to speak about it.


    ¡°Take this,¡± Chase said to John as he changed the subject. A pill appeared in his hands, which he wanted John to take.<sub>.</sub>


    John inspected the pill, and realized it was a pill meant to fill him with vibrant medicinal energy, meant to temporarily boost his own Qi.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a healing pill,¡± Chase said as he noticed John¡¯s close inspection, ¡°it¡¯s just meant to augment your own Qi and life force temporarily, so you can better recover from your wounds through your own means.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Chase,¡± John said as he took the pill and popped it into his mouth. A rich and vibrant energy flooded into his body, which he absorbed into his dantian. His dantian surged with vibrancy, which flooded the rest of his body with energy as he utilized the Celestial Lightning Script to heal his body slowly but surely.


    John closed his eyes as he started guiding his Qi around his body, but opened them as he felt a sudden embrace. He looked down at Iris, who was lightly hugging his chest.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said to him, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She still felt guilty about what had happened, but was now overwhelmed with relief that John was fine and would recover. A smile appeared on John¡¯s face as he reached out and patted her head in a warm manner.<sub></sub>


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me,¡± John said to Iris, ¡°I made the decision to interfere on my own, and I also received some personal gains from your tribtion. If anything, I should be thanking you.¡±


    Slight surprise at such a response appeared on Iris¡¯s face as she gazed up at John, who smiled back at her. A smile appeared on her face as well as she stood up once more and wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes.


    ¡°That¡¯s good then,¡± Iris said as she sighed deeply in relief, finally at ease with everything that had happened.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± Adam suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had filled the cave.


    ¡°First, I need focus on fully healing, as well as firming myprehensions from the tribtion,¡± John said to the group. ¡°Once that¡¯s done, we can set out once more.¡±<sub></sub>


    The group nodded their heads at John¡¯s words, and also read between the lines of what he was saying. They wanted to speak more and ask him more questions, but John wanted peace and quiet at the moment to focus on his recentprehensions received from the tribtion. The longer one went without firming sudden enlightenment, the more they would fade away until eventually forgotten.


    ¡°Take this,¡± Chase said to John as he handed him a bottle of the same type of vitality pills he had just given John. John thanked Chase, at which point the three of his friends moved away to other parts of therge cavern, leaving John to himself.


    He breathed in and out deeply several times, clearing his mind from the fogginess of just having woken up from his deep slumber, before his divine sense linked with his pce realm, instantly sending him into an enlightened meditative state. The jade piece of the Celestial Lightning Script appeared in his right hand as his mind attuned with it.


    Like this, John slowly focused on firming his lightningprehensions, while slowly healing his damaged body with the Celestial Lightning Script.


    ¡­


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    In a rocky and barren mountain range, explosive sts shattered thend, as a battle between three youths was raging on with great power. Two of the youths were fighting bare handed, their powerful upper bodies bare and exposed. They looked strong enough to lift mountains, and clearly came from the same body art sect. Blood and deep wounds covered their sturdy bodies, as they fought with everything on the line.


    They were teaming up against a lone youth, who¡¯s arrogant smile mocked the two as he unleashed crimson sword images at his opponents.


    All three cultivators were in the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, although all three seemed as though they were ready to break through to the next realm at a moment¡¯s notice. The battle continued to rage on for a while before the area suddenly went silent.


    The lone youth stared at the two bare chested youths before him, who were both lying dead on the ground, several limbs already removed, andrge gaping holes in their chests. His sword shed out, severing their heads from their bodies, before both their heads and bodies disappeared from sight.


    A satisfied look appeared on the youths face, as a jade piece suddenly appeared in his hands, while his divine sense entered it.


    ¡°Those two said they were the Abson brothers¡­ah here we go. Rank ny two and rank ny one¡­not a bad haul,¡± the youth mused while he continued to scan the list. His divine sense stopped on a particr name, one that had only dropped in ranking over the past month as others surpassed it.


    However, the name had only gone down over three weeks, showing that the person had done nothing of note in that time. The youth clicked his tongue in disappointment before putting the jade piece away, while he sped forward into the distance once more.

 Chapter 592 The Plan Forward

    In a different part of the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds, a lone youth stood before a battlefield full of death and carnage. The youth wore a robe with a hood that shrouded their features, as if there was a formation built into the robe blocking any from peering within.


    Before the youth, the ughter and carnage continued on the battlefield. It pitted man against beasts, as the two sides fought for survival. The carnage and death flooded the battlefield with blood, dying it red.


    The youth watched on calmly for some time, before their right hand raised up and hovered outstretched towards the battlefield. A brilliant white and green light red from their outstretched hand, and also seemed to re from within the hood of the robe, as a vibrant energy flooded the battlefield.


    The vibrant energy washed over all the humans on the battlefield, at which point their wounds began to rapidly close, and those on the verge of death were healed back into a battle-ready state. The vibrant energy instantly turned the tides of the battle, as the wounded humans returned tobat, while those who were felled afterwards rose again to battle once more.


    Before long, the humans surged with might, washing over the beast tide and erasing them from existence. As thest beast fell, the humans instantly stopped fighting, and stood in ce as if awaitingmands. The carnage filled battlefield slowly faded away, revealing a flower filled field, with a singr tower in the middle of the field. The carnage and destruction that was just visible was no more, as if it had all been a dream.


    The tower suddenly lit up, as a beam of lightnded on the shrouded youth¡¯s body. The beam of light quickly faded, as it had given the appropriate Jade Marks to the one who had just taken the trial.<sub>.</sub>


    The shrouded person ignored the change in score, as if such a thing had no interest to them. They began walking forward once more through the field, deeper into the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds before they stopped, and a jade piece appeared in their hands.


    They quickly inspected the list, while a slightly disappointed frown appeared on their face as they studied one name. After a moment of inspection, the lone youth put the jade piece away and continued onwards, deeper into the mysteriousnds.


    ¡­


    John¡¯s eyes slowly opened, his gaze unfocused as if he were deep in thought.


    ¡®Thanks to the Celestial Lightning Script, my body is almost fully healed of any lightning damage. While I still have some lingering damage due to using my Bloodline Ability, the Celestial Lightning Script can¡¯t help with that. However, I can now start taking healing pills to heal the lingering bloodline ability damage, while also ensuring that I don¡¯t identally erase any lightning damage.¡¯<sub></sub>


    John clenched his fight, feeling the power that once again returned to his body. His muscles still ached with pain from using his Bloodline Ability, but there was nothing he could do about that other than slowly heal it.


    ¡®After a week or two, the remaining surface level damage should be healed, and I¡¯ll be back at fullbat strength. However, I can tell that each time I use my Bloodline Ability, it creates injuries that bury deep within my body, and are incredibly difficult to heal. While those injuries won¡¯t affect mybat power much, if I use my Bloodline Ability too soon again, it will exacerbate those injuries more, making them much more severe and harder to heal. I guess my mother was right, that I can only use this Bloodline Ability sparingly.¡¯


    John thought back to the first time he had used his Bloodline Ability, on the Talent Testing Steps. That had been almost half a year ago, which was why he was able to use his ability again recently and not suffer severe consequences. However, he would have to wait another six months to use it again without consequence, which slightly irked him.


    ¡®It alles down to my body strength. If I can raise the quality of my body to unprecedented levels, I¡¯m sure I can use my Bloodline Ability more often.¡¯


    John¡¯s mind shifted back to his conversation with his mysterious mother, who had revealed that she had unlocked his Bloodline Ability, but was only able to partially do so as she did not have ess to the true way to unlock his Bloodline Ability. This made his ability less potent, and also did more damage to his body when used.<sub></sub>


    ¡®I¡¯m guessing using this Bloodline Ability without the proper way to unlock it would normally be impossible, but the freakishly powerful Immortal Asura Body allows me to brute force it. As such, the only way forward is to improve my body strength, at least until I manage to unlock my Bloodline Ability properly.¡¯


    John put such negative thoughts aside after a while, as his focus shifted to the positives of his recent battles.


    ¡®My Lightning Daoprehensions have risen tremendously, thanks to cultivating before the mysterious lightning sphere, as well as absorbing that lightning warrior. I can feel that I¡¯m just about ready to break through to the next level of the Celestial Lightning Script, which should vastly improve my Lightning Attribute Body and lightning battle arts once more. However¡­.¡¯


    His thoughts shifted to Iris¡¯s tribtion, and his near death.


    ¡®When I had absorbed the lightning warrior, it had a soul aspect to its power, which nearly destroyed my soul and resulted in me copsing into unconsciousness for so long. My own tribtion will be far stronger, and I¡¯m sure something like that warrior will appear again¡­I¡¯m confident in being able to brute force my way through my tribtion, but that isn¡¯t good enough.¡¯


    A cold smirk appeared on John¡¯s face as he thought about his eventual tribtion, and his battle with the heavens once more.


    ¡®No, when my tribtiones, I don¡¯t just want to survive it, I want to dominate it. If that lightning warrior or something even stronger shows up, I want to absorb it just like before, and turn heaven¡¯s strength into my own¡­¡¯


    If anyone heard John¡¯s thoughts at the moment, they would think he was an absolute madman wishing for death. However, John knew his cultivation pathway in the future would be filled with dangers and tribtions, and that he needed to grasp every opportunity to raise his strength to the fullest.


    ¡®However, to do that, I¡¯ll need to greatly improve the strength of my soul, as well as make it more resistant to lightning. I don¡¯t know how I¡¯ll do that, but I need to make sure it happens¡­¡¯


    A sound filled John¡¯s ears, and his gaze shifted over to the source. Adam, Iris, and Chase were huddled around a campfire some distance away, roasting some food for dinner. The aroma wafted into John¡¯s nose, as his stomach growled in hungered protest.


    He stood up and walked over to the group, his actions surprising them, as it had been the first time in over a week that he had moved from his mediation.


    ¡°John! Come eat with us!¡± Adam eximed happily.


    John nodded his head as he sat next to his friends, who handed over a leg of meat. He bit into it as a wave of satisfaction washed over him. For the first time in weeks, he felt joy instead of pain.


    ¡°So what are the ns now?¡± Iris asked, as she could tell that John was just about ready to set out once more.


    John thought about it for a moment before replying.


    ¡°I wanted to take it slow and work our way through every trial in thesends, but we¡¯ve already wasted a month of time with everything that¡¯s happened,¡± John replied before taking another bite of his food and swallowing. ¡°We¡¯re probably already behind everyone else, so we no longer have that luxury.¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s the n then?¡± Adam asked, as he could tell John had made up his mind.


    ¡°The n is to move forward without hesitation, ignoring the initial trials as we focus only on what lies at the end of this realm. We will reach the ends of thisnd without question, and cut down anyone who stands in our way,¡± John replied as a smile of confidence appeared on his face. ¡°That¡­is our n.¡±

 Chapter 593 New Jade Dragon List Developments

    After over two weeks of recovery, John and the others left the cave, feeling the scorching sun above for the first time in a while. The desert sand swirled before them, reminding the group of theirck of progress through the first month of being in the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds.


    ¡°It¡¯s damn hot,¡± Adam once againined as he felt the scorching sun bake his skin. He took out one of the frost nts that Chase had given him, and instantly felt relief as a cool breeze washed over him.


    A jade piece appeared in John¡¯s hands as he stared out at the expansive desert before them, while his divine sense entered the jade piece. A map of the Jade Dragon Empirends appeared in his mind, and John couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow at what he saw.


    ¡°It seems we have fallen even further behind than I thought,¡± John said to the group.


    ¡°Let me see,¡± Adam asked to see the map, which John handed over to him. The rest of the group inspected the map, and all couldn¡¯t help but feel slight surprise.


    ¡°The map reveals over halfway through thesends,¡± Adam eximed, ¡°and that¡¯s just the Heaven Scrying Sect that¡¯s made it that far. Who knows how far some have made it already?¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°The good news is that we can move forward without a care now,¡± John chimed up once again. ¡°We moved slowly before so as to not run into anything unexpected, but now that the map has revealed the way forward, we can move much faster.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± Adam replied as another jade piece appeared in his hands. He had forgotten about it with everything that had happened recently, but John pulling out the jade piece reminded him of it.


    ¡°You¡¯ve fallen down the list,¡± Adam said, his voice filled with slight displeasure. ¡°How dare they move you down the list like that? Are the Heaven Scrying Sect members all blind?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to be expected,¡± John replied calmly, ¡°the list will be constantly shifting, with those revealing their strength climbing the list, while those who don¡¯t will fall down. I¡¯ve done nothing in over three weeks, so the decline is only natural.¡±


    ¡°Still, I don¡¯t like it,¡± Adam replied, still disgruntled. His divine sense inspected the rest of the list, and Adam¡¯s eyes lit up as he discovered the other sections listing Alchemists, Formations Experts and Healers were filled up with five hundred names as well. However, his disappointment returned as he didn¡¯t find his name, or Chase¡¯s either.<sub></sub>


    ¡°They truly are blind!¡± Adam grunted, ¡°I¡¯m not listed on the Formations Expert list, and Chase isn¡¯t listed on the Alchemist list.¡±


    ¡°Have you done anything to reveal your talents to the Heaven Scrying Sect?¡± Iris asked.


    ¡°Well¡­no, but still!¡± Adam replied, as he realized what Iris made sense, but didn¡¯t want to admit it.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s simple. Just reveal your formations¡¯ talents at the trials toe, and you¡¯ll be listed in no time,¡± Iris replied, providing a solution to Adam¡¯sints.


    Adam stared sideways at Iris, unsure of what was going on. She would normally mock him in such situations, but such mockery was absent, and was instead reced with helpful suggestions.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Are you feeling alright?¡± Adam asked, his suspicious gaze locked onto Iris.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Iris asked, not sure what he meant.


    John could tell that Iris was still slightly shaken from everything that had happened during the tribtion, and as such was not concerned with arguing with and disparaging Adam like normal. He could also tell that Adam was about to poke a slumbering bear, as his people skills were beyond subpar.


    ¡°Well, you are normally nice- ¡°


    ¡°Hey, can you pass me the jade list?¡± John asked, interrupting Adam before he could say anything further.


    ¡°Ah, sure,¡± Adam replied, forgetting his previous thoughts as he handed the list over to John. John took it and quickly inspected it, searching for several names. His name was at rank three hundred, while Lily was at number fifty.


    John nodded his head in approval, as that was quite an impressive ranking. He spotted Rael at rank one hundred and twenty, and couldn¡¯t help but wonder what was going on. He had spotted Rael much higher on the list when he had first expected it, and Rael¡¯s strength was equal to Lilies.


    Their ranks should have been simr, but that was not the case. John found the situation odd, but figured that Rael wasying lower than Lily, as he was quite a loner by nature, who preferred to be on his own.


    John¡¯s focus shifted to the top of the list, which had previously been unranked as there was not enough to separate those that stood at the top. The top twenty names now had ranks, as the Heaven Scrying Sect started to collect enough information to rank them. John quickly read through the list, as these would be the youths that posed him the most threat in thesends.


    ¡®Rank 1: Ignis¡­it says here that he¡¯s from the Beast Race. I wonder what someone from the Beast Race is doing in these trials, as the Honorable Alliance is just for humans¡­whatever the reason, he seems quite formidable. Late Heaven Tribtion cultivation, specializes in fire arts, the most talented youth from the Beast Race¡­


    Rank 2: Luth Chaster¡­I remember his name from when I took the Talent Testing Steps. He was the number one Honorable Alliance youth at the time, and it seems he¡¯s kept his rank since. Specializes in pure sword arts¡­ignoring everything else¡­interesting¡­¡¯


    John continued to read the list, when a name he wanted to know about popped up. His gaze narrowed as he read the name.


    ¡®Rank Four: Kadin Starforge¡­.¡¯


    John had been expecting to see Kadin¡¯s name, but did not expect to see it so high up the warrior list. As the number one young master of the Starforge n, Kadin was a formations expert first and foremost. Yet hisbat strength was strong enough to rank fourth on the Jade Dragon List, a number which shocked even John.


    ¡®It seems as though he made a breakthrough to the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm recently¡­iof his strength is this high up and does not even include his formation talents, he just might be the strongest youth on this list. It seems as though things won¡¯t be as easy as I first assumed.¡¯


    John¡¯s frown continued to linger as he pondered the name. He had been confident due to having his Bloodline Ability to fall back on, but now no longer had the means to do so. The only thing that could separate him from someone as strong as Kadin was his Asura Transformation, which he was forbidden from using. He was destined to run into Kadin again, and was sure Kadin would make a move on Adam and himself.


    ¡®Oh well, if all else fails, I¡¯ll use the Asura Transformation and kill everyst witness in the area if it means protecting myself and my friends.¡¯


    John put such thoughts aside for the moment as he continued to study the list, as another name quickly appeared that caught his attention.

 Chapter 594 Entering The Ancient City

    ¡°Rank Eight: Parker Noren¡­member of the Sunmist Sect, achieved sixteen steps on the Talent Testing Steps¡­.¡¯


    ¡°Hey, can I see the list?¡± Chase chimed up, breaking John from his thoughts.


    ¡°Oh, yeah, here you go,¡± John said as he handed the list over to Chase, who inspected it for himself. Iris inspected the list afterwards, at which point it was handed back over to Adam to keep.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± John said to the group as he sped forward. The group followed quickly behind as they sped through the desert, no longer concerned about getting lost or running into obstacles. The group sped through the desert for nearly a day, as the sun set and rose on their journey.


    As the sun began to rise and illuminate the arid desert once more, a mesmerizing scene came into the view of the group, who stopped for a moment to appreciate its beauty.


    Before them in the distance, a massive sheer face cliff stretched to both sides of the Jade Dragon Lands as far as the eye could see. At the base of the cliff rested an ancient looking city, one that sprawled for miles. Its jade green walls and golden spires glowed in the morning sun, making it look all the more magnificent.


    The group stood there in silence for a short moment as they appreciated the spectacr view, before John once again began to move. The rest followed behind, and they arrived at the front entrance of the city before long, which was arge arched entrance hundreds of yards high at the base of the massive wall that guarded the city.


    Arge crowd of youths were gathered at the entrance, and raised voices could be heard by John and the rest as they approached the group.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°You can¡¯t do this!¡± an angry voice yelled out.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! We¡¯re all from the same alliance!¡± another yelled.


    ¡°Who cares,¡± a self-satisfied voice boomed out, drowning out the rest of the disgruntled voices. ¡°If you want to pass through this entrance, you need to pay the entry fee. So pay up, or leave. It¡¯s your choice.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to be joking,¡± Iris eximed as the group finally realized what was going on. ¡°Is this Alliance of ours filled with nothing but assholes?¡±


    ¡°There will always be scum who prey on those weaker than themselves, while they cower before the strong,¡± John said calmly, although he was starting to get tired of seeing such things ur within the alliance.


    The Alliance was facing unprecedented pressure from the other powers, and needed to be unified now more than ever. However, even such a situation didn¡¯t change the true nature of some of the youths in the alliance.


    As they approached the group, John spotted several youths wearing the robes of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. He recognized them as some of the weakest members of the sect that had joined for this realm excursion, and so John was not too surprised that they were amongst the group trapped outside the city.<sub></sub>


    Their arrival was noticed by the sect members, who lit up with happiness as they spotted John amongst those approaching. John¡¯s strength had been revealed to them during the trip to the Honorable Alliance, and they knew he would be able to help them in this matter.


    ¡°General!¡± one of the Heavenly Lightning Sect youths called out, their voice attracting the attention of the others in the group. The youth was a girl in the early Heaven Tribtion realm, who had long ck hair which was tied up into a bun at the top, and a rtively pretty face. She was a second year of the sect, and one of the few second years to join the trip.


    The others inspected the neers, and couldn¡¯t help but be confused at why they were being referred to as Generals, as their cultivations were incredibly low. Only Iris had a Heaven Tribtion cultivation, and so they assumed they were referring to her.


    The youths guarding the entrance also noticed the arrival, and couldn¡¯t help but break out into boisterousughter as they heard the cry of tion.


    ¡°General? Pfft?¡± one of the youths mocked.


    ¡°The Heavenly Lightning Sect used to be quite powerful, but now someone as weak as that girl can be a ¡®General¡¯? Truly pathetic,¡± another mocked after containing hisughter. They could tell that Iris was a recently ascended cultivator, due to her still shaky Heaven Tribtion aura.


    John ignored the mockingments as he walked over to the other members of the sect.<sub></sub>


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± John asked, although he already knew what was going on.


    ¡°These six have blocked our way forward unless we pay them one million spirit crystals each,¡± the one who had called out to him exined.


    ¡°A million spirit crystals? That¡¯splete robbery!¡± Adam eximed, shocked to hear such a price.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted to the six youths guarding the entrance, who looked back at him withplete disregard. They wore ck robes with no markings on them, other than one small blue symbol of a veiled and hooded face.


    John had seen this group towards the front when everyone had entered, signifying their lofty status and power within the Alliance, but didn¡¯t know what sect they were. However, he didn¡¯t care at all.


    ¡°Can I borrow one of your daggers?¡± John asked Iris.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Iris replied as she handed over a dagger to John.


    He began to move towards the youths guarding the entrance, but was stopped by the one who he had just spoken to.


    ¡°Be careful,¡± the girl said to John, slightly worry in her voice. ¡°Those six are from the Nightveil Assassin Guild. They¡¯re incredibly dangerous, and if you push them the wrong way they might seek to take revenge on youter. They also have someone who is in the top twenty on the Jade Dragon List, so you don¡¯t want to push them too far!¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the warning,¡± John thanked the girl with a calm smile on his face. His gaze returned to the six youths guarding the entrance.


    ¡®All six are in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, but are just about ready to break through to the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm. Thatbined with their assassin arts make them quite dangerous, which none of these weaker youths want to anger.¡¯


    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± one of the youths, the apparent leader of the bunch said with arms crossed over his chest as he watched John approach them.


    John ignored his question, as he continued to calmly walk towards the group.


    ¡°Hold it right there,¡± anothermanded, ¡°if you want to pass through here, you need to cough up one million spirit crystals. Otherwise, don¡¯t even dream of getting into the ci-¡°


    The youths¡¯ words halted as John suddenly vanished from his sight. Lightning appeared in the vision of the six, although it was like a blur to them as all they saw was a streak of lightning, and then nothing.


    The six youths were stunned for a moment, before they all quickly turned around as they realized something. Behind them stood John, who had his back to them as he continued walking into the city. A dagger that was in his hand disappeared, while the youths suddenly felt a searing pain on one of their arms.


    ¡°Gahhhh!¡±


    The six youths cried out in unison as each one had an arm severed at the elbow. Their severed arms dropped to the ground, while blood began to spurt out furiously. John paused his steps to look over his shoulder, as he watched the six use their Qi to stem the bleeding. The six gazed back at John, fear crawling up their spines as they stared at his cold and icy gaze.


    ¡°The Honorable Alliance has no ce for scum like you,¡± John said to the group, his voice calm yet cold. ¡°Let this be a lesson for the six of you to change your ways. If I see any of you doing something like this again, I¡¯ll kill you.¡±


    The six youths were feeling fear and rage, but mostly confusion. They had no idea how John had moved so fast as to catch assassins like them off guard, but he had done so without their notice. They could tell that he could have killed them if he truly wanted to, and so the six stood up and fled after a moment of hesitation.


    John calmly watched the six leave, before his footsteps started once more as he finally entered the ancient city.

 Chapter 595 Seeking Out Information

    Adam, Iris and Chase quickly followed behind John, their calm expressions revealing they had been expecting such an oue.


    The stunned group of youths watched the four enter the city and eventually vanish from sight. They stood there for a moment, unable to believe what had just happened. Only the Heavenly Lightning Sect youths were notpletely stunned. They had seen John¡¯s brutality against Lyeon, who was his own sect member, so his actions against those from other sects were not unexpected.


    However, the speed at which he had dispatched his opponents was unexpected, even to those who knew a bit of his strength.


    ¡°Who the hell was that?¡± one of the youths turned to ask one of the Heavenly Lightning Sect youths.


    ¡°That¡¯s one of our three Generals, John Fenix!¡± the girl who had spoken with John before replied proudly.


    ¡°John Fenix? The one on the Jade Dragon List?¡± one of the other youths eximed in shock. While not all of them had a Jade Dragon List jade piece, discussions of the list had been spread far and wide.<sub>.</sub>


    Cultivators had incredible memories, and so everyone was easily able to memorize all five hundred names quite quickly. John¡¯s name had especially made a ssh, as his ranking was subject to much debate due to his cultivation. Many thought the Heaven Scrying Sect had gone mad, while those who had seen John¡¯s strength testified to his ranking.


    There were well over fifty thousand youths within the Jade Dragon Empire Lands, while the Jade Dragon List only included the strongest five hundred youths. These youths were within the top one percent of all those within the realm, and just being ced on the list was enough to awe most of the other disciples.


    John had been ranked in the two hundreds at one time, further testifying to his strength. They hardly ever saw such strong geniuses, and John¡¯s situation was even more unique due to his low cultivation.


    ¡°It¡¯s actually him?¡± another eximed, but after a moment couldn¡¯t help but ept it as truth.


    ¡°I guess his ranking on the Jade Dragon List was not mistaken. How terrifying was that?¡± another blurted out, both shock and reverence audible in their voice.<sub></sub>


    Heated discussions broke out amongst the group, while many excited questions were asked of the several Heavenly Lightning Sect youths. The girl who had spoken to John felt like a celebrity, and could not help but beam in happiness, as her sect and member of her sect was being spoken of in such high regard at the moment.


    ¡°That was quite brutal,¡± Iris said to John as she caught up, ¡°but I one hundred percent agree with your actions. Those bastards deserved such a fate for cheating their own alliance members.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you concerned about what that girl said though?¡± Adam asked as he walked beside John.


    ¡°About the top twenty ranked assassin of that guild?¡± John asked.


    Adam nodded his head at John¡¯s words, causing John to giggle slightly. Adam knew John was strong, but strength did not do much when it came to surviving assassinations. Only incredible instincts were able to save one from such attacks, which made assassins highly feared.<sub></sub>


    ¡°If they scurry to their leader and he takes action, he¡¯ll suffer a worse fate than them. They were only extorting money, not trying to kill anyone. If that youth tries anything against me, it¡¯ll be thest time he does anything,¡± John replied calmly yet confidently.


    He had supreme trust in his instincts, as his soul power was very strong, which strengthened his divine sense to detect minute details. Not only that, but his Immortal Asura Body also seemed to heighten his instincts, as it had warned him in the past of surprise attacks.


    ¡°We¡¯re in the city now,¡± Chase chimed up, ¡°so what should we do now?¡±


    ¡°We need to gather some information first,¡± John replied as he continued to walk deeper into the ancient city. A main road dozens of yards wide carved straight through the heart of the city, while side roads branched out every so often.


    The roads were lined with various buildings, some tall and some short. It gave the city a unique look, but the most surprising thing to the group was the pristine nature of the buildings. Despite the passage of over one hundred thousand years, the buildings still appeared fresh and new. It was a testament to the quality of the building materials, and craftsmanship skill of those who had constructed them.


    As they ventured deeper into the city, the buildings becamerger and grander, while the amount of youths venturing about grew as well. Before long, the city became quite boisterous, as if it were no different than a normal city. Youths tried to sell their wares on the streets, while the group spotted several taverns upied and selling food and drinks.


    Pills halls, formation halls, and other various professions had been established by various groups trying to make some money. John found the entire situation quite interesting, as he could tell that these youths were not focused on progressing forward at the fastest pace they could.


    ¡®I wonder why some have decided to set up camp here,¡¯ John mused as he searched for something. Eventually, he decided to stop someone on the streets to ask for directions.


    ¡°Do you know if I can find anyone from the Heaven Scrying Sect in the city?¡± John asked the youth, who was an amiable looking girl with long brown hair. She wore a light green dress, making her look quite cute and friendly. She gave off a natural air of vibrancy and life, making it clear that she specialized in healing arts.


    John needed information regarding the realm, and the ones who knew the realm the best at the moment were those belonging to the Heaven Scrying Sect.


    ¡°Sure,¡± the girl replied with a cheery smile, more than happy to help someone out. She turned and pointed down the main road, deeper into the city. ¡°They¡¯re about half a mile down this road, on the right. They¡¯ve established a headquarters in a building and put their sect sigil outside. You can¡¯t miss it.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± John replied warmly, appreciative of the help.


    The group followed the girl¡¯s directions, and soon arrived where she had mentioned. John spotted the Heaven Scrying Sect¡¯s sigil ced outside the building, which was several stories tall and one of the more luxurious buildings in the city. The walls were pure pristine shades of jade, while gold ornaments lined the outside.


    The entrance of the building had youths entering and leaving constantly, most likely to acquire information or the jade maps and lists the sect sold. John and the rest entered the building as well, and arrived in an expansive lobby. Ornate furniture wasid about, while many groups of youths were discussing various matters with members of the Heaven Scrying Sect.


    A member of the Heaven Scrying Sect noted their arrival, and John could tell that the youths eyes shimmered for a moment, as if he recognized who John was. The youth had a bald head, and wore a rosary ne, making him look quite holy and monk-like.


    ¡°How may I help you?¡± the youth asked as he arrived before the group.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to gather some information about this realm, and potentially buy a map or two,¡± John replied, clearly stating his business.


    ¡°It would be my pleasure to help one on the Jade Dragon List,¡± the youth replied warmly, causing John to raise an eyebrow at his response. It seemed as though his identity was already fully known to all those within the Heaven Scrying Sect.

 Chapter 596 Shocking Change To The Jade Dragon List

    The bald youth led John and the group to a corner of the room, in which manyfortable looking sofas had been ced in a circle, with a table ced in the middle.


    ¡°Tea?¡± the youth asked as he sat down, which John and the rest politely declined.


    ¡°Then how may I help you?¡± the youth asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get some information first,¡± John replied as he too sat down, followed by the others.


    ¡°What information would you like to know?¡± the youth asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to know everything you know about this realm,¡± John replied, getting straight to the point. ¡°I see the map has revealed thend quite far into this realm. I¡¯d like to know about that, what¡¯s required to move forward, and anything else of importance.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite valuable information you¡¯re asking for,¡± the youth replied, the warm smile remaining on his face. ¡°What are you prepared to give in exchange?¡±


    ¡°Since you didn¡¯t name a price, I¡¯m sure that you¡¯re not requesting money?¡± John asked, reading between the lines.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°You would be correct in that assumption,¡± a voice to John¡¯s side sounded out. He nced over to the source of the voice, although he already knew who it was.


    ¡°Ainsel, we meet again,¡± John said, not fully surprised to see him here.


    Ainsel sat down on one of the avable sofas, while his gaze shifted from John to Iris. He inspected Iris for a moment, and a very slight yet knowing smile appeared on his face for an instant before vanishing.


    ¡°So what information do you want from me?¡± John asked Ainsel.


    ¡°Oh, we don¡¯t want information from you,¡± Ainsel replied, ¡°because you¡¯ve already provided it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve provided it?¡± John asked, not sure what Ainsel was talking about.


    Ainsel¡¯s gaze once again shifted towards Iris, which lingered for a brief moment before ncing back at John. John instantly saw through Ainsel¡¯s meaning, as Iris was now in the Heaven Tribtion Realm.<sub></sub>


    ¡°I have to ask though, who was it that fought at the end?¡± Ainsel asked, getting straight to the point. ¡°Logic would say that the tribtor would be the only one fighting against the tribtion, as no one is crazy enough to interfere with a tribtion and draw the wrath of the heavens¡­but,¡±


    Ainsel¡¯s gaze shifted back to Iris as he closely inspected her once again, while John¡¯s gaze narrowed slightly. Iris¡¯s cultivation would have been discovered before long anyways, so there was no way he could hide it other than having her use a shrouding artifact he had on him. However, that would draw just as much suspicion, making hiding her recent ascension impossible. The Heaven Scrying Sect knowledgework was beyond expansive, and it was almost impossible to hide such a thing from them.


    Clearly Ainsel had put two and two together, and figured out that Iris had been the one to invoke that recent tribtion. Iris stared back with a displeased frown on her face, not appreciative of Ainsel¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°If you keep staring at me like that, I¡¯ll cut out your eyes,¡± Iris said, her voice tinged with cold displeasure. She could tell Ainsel was using his unique eye talents to inspect her closely, something that was quite rude if not agreed to by the one being inspected.


    ¡°Apologies,¡± Ainsel replied quickly, his gaze shifting from Iris¡¯s body to her eyes. ¡°I just couldn¡¯t help but inspect the changes to someone who survived such a tribtion. Tell me, what happened? I¡¯m dying to know.¡±


    Ainsel¡¯s words caused the group to know that he had witnessed the tribtion, although he was not sure exactly what had happened. However, he was more than sure that it was Iris who had ascended, as there were no other likely candidates.


    ¡°It was just a normal tribtion, so I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Iris replied calmly, her voice steady.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Is that so,¡± Ainsel mused out loud, a slight smile appearing on his face. He could tell that none of them would admit to what had happened, although upon seeing Iris, he knew his suspicions were correct. It was no doubt her tribtion.


    ¡°I must say, you are beyond impressive, and your eye talents far exceed mine,¡± Ainsel said to Iris, his voice tinged with respect, ¡°and while yourbat prowess is equally impressive, it¡¯s not enough to exin that apocalyptic battle that had appeared in the sky.¡±


    Ainsel¡¯s gaze shifted back to John, who sat there calmly.


    ¡°As for you, you¡¯ve be even more impressive since west spoke,¡± Ainsel said to John. ¡°Not only have you grown stronger, but your body seems to have be more profound as well. Congrattions to the both of you.¡±


    Ainsel¡¯s words seemed friendly, but it was a way of him telling the group that he knew for certain, and that there was no point in hiding anything.


    ¡°So what do you want for information?¡± John asked, not wanting to y Ainsel¡¯s game. Who cares if they knew Iris had such a heaven defying tribtion. It was not something that would make her a target by the other enemy powers, as the details behind her tribtion were still murky and unclear. All it revealed was that her talent was incredible, and that something strange had happened with the tribtion.


    ¡°Like I said, you won¡¯t need to provide anything,¡± Ainsel said with a cheery warmth in his voice. ¡°Think of this as a gift from me and my sect, as a gesture of good faith and friendship. Our sect likes to establish friendships with figures who we think will be important in the future, and this is the first step in forming such a rtionship.¡±


    John stared at Ainsel carefully, but didn¡¯t see any signs of falsehood in his expressions.


    ¡°As for the information about the realm you requested, it¡¯s her,¡± Ainsel said as he tossed over a jade piece to John. John caught it, and inspected the contents within. Arge quantity of information was presented to him, from the types of trials within thend, to requirements for progressing forward. A frown appeared on his face as he read over certain parts, and after reading through it all, he handed the jade piece over to the others to read. They all read through it, at which point John gazed back at Ainsel.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have the details on everything in this realm, as even we have been unable to explore every area, but that information should be what you are seeking, correct?¡± Ainsel asked.


    John nodded his head, as it did contain what he wanted. Six jade pieces suddenly appeared in the air before Ainsel, which he moved to float before John with his Qi. John raised an eyebrow at Ainsel¡¯s actions, as he could tell that the jade pieces were three maps and three Jade Dragon Lists. With these six pieces, it was enough for everyone in the group to have a map and a list to themselves.


    ¡°As I said, I¡¯m looking to establish a friendly rtionship between you and myself. This is just another gesture of my sincerity in such matters,¡± Ainsel noticed John¡¯s questioning expression and said to assuage his suspicions.


    John grabbed the jade pieces after a moment of careful inspection, as he did not find anything suspicious or awry with the jade pieces. He handed it over to the rest of the group ordingly, resulting in each member having a map and a list.


    With this, everything he hade to get from the Heaven Scrying Sect had been achieved, and so John stood up to leave. He nodded towards Ainsel in a friendly manner, as regardless of his intentions, Ainsel had helped him and his group out quite a bit for no charge at all.


    John turned to leave, and was followed by the others, but Ainsel¡¯s words sounded out once more, halting John¡¯s footsteps.


    ¡°I have received some intel that there is a particr person targeting you and your friends, and ns to do so before this realm closes,¡± Ainsel said to John.


    ¡°Kadin?¡± John asked without looking back.


    Ainsel remained silent, but his silence was all the confirmation John needed.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± John said, his footsteps continuing nicely as he and his group left the building, while Ainsel and the other youth watched them leave.


    ¡°You really ce him in such high regard?¡± the bald youth asked Ainsel. Ainsel¡¯s actions had been beyond generous, showing his great interest in establishing a friendly ord with John.


    ¡°If you had seen the tribtion, you would have the same opinion as myself right now,¡± Ainsel replied. ¡°He was no doubt the one fighting at the end, and the fact that he survived shows that his strength is far greater than anything he has revealed thus far. Such a person is someone who is worthy of establishing a friendship with.¡±


    A jade piece suddenly appeared in his hands, and Ainsel sent his divine sense into it for a moment before retracting it.


    Shortly after this, a frenziedmotion broke out throughout the ancient city and beyond, as a shocking and unbelievable change happened to the Jade Dragon List.


    Rank 20: John Fenix

 Chapter 597 Next Steps

    ¡°So what are we going to do now?¡± Iris asked as the group stepped onto the main road and ventured deeper into the ancient city.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet,¡± John replied, processing the information that had been given to him by Ainsel. The information contained many useful things, like what trials existed where, and what was required to pass it. While it did not include everything one would encounter in the realm, it was very useful information to confidently navigate one¡¯s way forward.


    However, the information provided also had one thing that was slightly troublesome.


    ¡°ording to the information we received, the only way forward past the cliffs behind this city are the tunnels,¡± Iris said to the group, ¡°tunnels which are separated by the four Jade Mark types.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go in here,¡± John said to the group as he spotted a tavern on the side of the road that was currently upied by some sect serving others meals and drinks. The group entered and ordered some food and drinks, before they started to discuss the next steps in their journey.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°You know, I found it quite odd that some of the other sects established taverns, the trade halls, pill halls and other ces like this, but now it makes sense,¡± Adam said before taking a bite of his food.


    ¡°Based on the information we received, the only way through this city to the other side of the cliffs are through tunnels, which have certain Jade Mark score requirements to enter,¡± Chase chimed up. ¡°This city has many trials for one to receive Jade Marks, but the trials are time locked, with one only being able to take the trial once a day. It¡¯s natural that the weaker disciples who could not amass the required points right away would take shelter in this city while they slowly work their way to the required points.¡±


    ¡°True, or in the case of the Heaven Scrying Sect, set up a base to sell their maps and list and make a lot of money,¡± Iris chimed up, her voice tinged with slight displeasure as she thought abc to Ainsel¡¯s actions.


    ¡°Regardless of the reasons, this city has be the main hub of the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds right now, but that does not really concern us in the end,¡± John spoke up after downing a piece of meat from his dish.<sub></sub>


    ¡°True,¡± Iris replied, ¡°the score requirement to pass through the tunnels is fifty points, which all four of us have. We don¡¯t need to concern ourselves with staying in this city for long.¡±


    Thanks to his feats in the martial arena as well as his score when walking through the arch, John had one hundred and forty two points. Iris also had over a hundred points thanks to John, while both Adam and Chase just barely managed to scrape by with fifty points and fifty two points respectively. Both were absolute masters of their crafts, and had received perfect points in the trials they had taken.


    The city was meant to be a checkpoint for filtering the worthy from the weak, which none of the four were when it came to their main professions.


    John fell silent as he thought over the matter, while the other three noticed his silence, as well as his expression of concentration. Clearly he was thinking for a solution to the main issue regarding the next steps.<sub></sub>


    ¡°John, you don¡¯t have to worry about us,¡± Adam said, his voice stirring John from his thoughts.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Iris replied. ¡°You¡¯ve already done more than enough for us. You can¡¯t hinder your own progress just to ensure our safety.¡±


    John¡¯s gaze shifted from Adam to Iris, and then eventually to Chase, who nodded his head in agreement with the others¡¯ words. A deep sigh escaped his mouth, as he could tell his friends had already seen through his thoughts.


    ¡°That¡¯s easy to say, but it¡¯s not that simple,¡± John replied, not fully convinced. ¡°The tunnels leading to the other side of this cliff are separated by the four Jade Mark types, meaning that we¡¯ll have to split up. You and Chase might be fine, but¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re worried about me?¡± Adam said.


    After a moment of silence, John nodded his head. Normally he would just let his friends roam about and fend for themselves innds like these, but this time it was different for one of them. Adam had the Starforge n targeting him, and he was weaker than all of them.


    ¡°The Starforge n is still targeting you, and they¡¯ll no doubt go through the Formations Expert tunnel. You¡¯ll be as good as dead if even one of them finds you,¡± John replied.


    He wanted to have Kirii guard Adam, but knew that wouldn¡¯t work. The tunnel¡¯s supposedly had a formation that one could only pass through if they had the appropriate Jade Mark scores. Kirii could only enter this realm thanks to being in John¡¯s soul space when he entered, and would only be able to proceed through further checkpoints like this in the same manner.


    ¡®If only I had the mask from back in the Bloodfiend Sect. Too bad that bastard Allfiend ripped it off my face and destroyed it,¡¯ John cursed internally.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Adam said, his face full of confidence. John raised an eyebrow in confusion at Adam¡¯s words, as he knew Adam was a cowardly man who avoided fights he could not win.


    ¡°How is it fine?¡± John asked curiously, as he also knew Adam was not stupid, and would not throw his life away.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think a genius such as myself would just sit about this entire time and not work on a solution to the Starforge problem?¡± Adam asked, his normal prideful mannerisms showing.


    John¡¯s questioning gaze continued to linger on Adam, who answered his gaze with an action. Three small and very thin formation disks suddenly appeared in his hands, each carved with hundreds of intricate formation runes.


    The group watched in stunned horror as Adam cut open two incisions, one on each cheek, and then one incision on his forehead. To their further horror, he inserted the small formation disks into those incisions, firming them in ce. Afterwards, he consumed a healing pill to heal the open wounds, which covered over the formation disks, making them disappear from sight.


    Adam¡¯s proud gaze stared back triumphantly at his stunned friends as he activated the disks. John, Iris, and Chase couldn¡¯t help but be both equally disgusted and impressed as Adam¡¯s face slowly began to shift, and before long, he appeared like apletely different person.

 Chapter 598 Formidable Disguise

    ¡°Tadaaa!¡± Adam eximed, his chest puffing out in pride as he noticed the gazes of the others.


    ¡°What..l.what the hell was that?¡± Iris asked after a moment of silence.


    ¡°It¡¯s a disguising formation I came up with on my own,¡± Adam replied proudly. ¡°My dad taught me how to embed formation disks into my body and assimte them without causing internal damage, which helps control the formation disks better. Not only that, but having it embedded into my skin allows me to use it at all times without having to hold only a formation or set one up. With the two, I was able toe up with a wless disguising method.¡±


    John¡¯s expression turned from surprise to nodding approval as he inspected Adam¡¯s disguise. It was quite remarkable, and he truly did look like another person. Even his aura had shifted slightly, as the formations released their own aura, obscuring his natural aura.


    ¡°This is actually impressive,¡± John replied as he continued to inspect Adam¡¯s face. While it was not as wless as the mask he had used before, it was almost as good. Even he could only tell something was wrong after very close and careful inspection.


    Others would not inspect Adam¡¯s face as closely as there was no need to, and so the disguise was more than sufficient.


    ¡°You really are weird,¡± Iris couldn¡¯t help but exim, her words causing Adam¡¯s prideful demeanor to turn to agitation. ¡°But even I have to admit that your formation talents are formidable. This is truly impressive.¡±


    Iris¡¯s rareplement of Adam stopped his words of disparagement that were about toe out, as his chest puffed out with pride once more.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°I knew you would see my true genius eventually,¡± Adam replied. Iris rolled her eyes at his words, but said nothing.


    ¡°Adam,¡± John said, getting Adam¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Adam asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone else imbed formations into their skin before¡­why is that?¡± John asked, as a thought popped up in his mind.


    ¡°Of course you haven¡¯t,¡± Adam chimed up, ¡°because it¡¯s something that¡¯s incredibly dangerous to do. A formation embedded into one¡¯s body is incredibly hard to control, and even the slightest mistake can result in it going out of control. If that happens, even death is not impossible.¡±


    ¡°Then how are you able to use such a method so freely?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Hmm? That¡­.I don¡¯t actually know,¡± Adam replied, his pride dimming for a moment before returning. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m just the greatest formation genius to ever live hahaha.¡±<sub></sub>


    His pridefulughter continued for a short moment, while John¡¯s thoughts continued to swirl.


    ¡®The Starforge n is looking for something that they think Adam has. It could be this technique, or the method to use this technique without harm. I think there¡¯s more to this than even Adam knows.¡¯


    John thought about it for a moment before he put such thoughts aside. Regardless of the reasons, Adam was able to make a believable disguise, which solved the problem John had.


    ¡°This should solve the issue at hand then?¡± Iris asked John, who nodded his head. With Adam being able to disguise himself, he should be able to slip past the Starforge n undetected. However, there was onest matter that John had to address.


    A robe suddenly appeared in his hands, one that was ck and red. It was his War Hall robes, which had no identifying marks that it belonged to the Heavenly Lightning Sect other than the color scheme.


    ¡°Wear this,¡± John said as he tossed it over to Adam.


    ¡°Hmm, why?¡± Adam asked as he caught it.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Because even with your disguise, if a Starforge member runs into a middle Meridian Forging youth wearing the Heavenly Lightning Sect robes, the only two who can fit the bill are you and Chase,¡± John replied. ¡°The War Hall robes are much less recognizable, and a n like the Starforge n most likely doesn¡¯t know such insignificant information.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­that makes sense,¡± Adam replied as he donned the War Hall Robe. Due to John¡¯srger body, the robe was definitely oversized, making Adam look quite funny while wearing it. The group stifled theirughter as best they could, while Adam scowled at their amusement.


    John informed Adam to deactivate his disguise while they were traveling together, and only activate it once he entered his tunnel alone, so no one could put two and two together.


    ¡°That settles it then,¡± John said as the matter at hand was resolved. ¡°Let¡¯s head out to the tunnels, and proceed deeper into thesends.¡±


    The group nodded their heads in unison, and left the tavern. They proceeded deeper into the ancient city, their destination the tunnels at the very opposite end. While walking through the city, John and the group received many odd gazes. The gazes were mixed, some staring with awe, some with fear, some with intrigue, and some with doubt.


    ¡°What the hell are they staring at?¡± Adam grumbled, as the stares were starting to be annoying.


    ¡°Who knows, just ignore them,¡± John replied, not concerned about such things.


    Eventually two youths approached the group and stood in front of them. It was a pair of boys, who both had bald heads and had their chests bared. Their upper bodies were tattooed, making them look quite wild, and both exuded a powerful body aura, signifying that they were body cultivators. They both had Early Heaven Tribtion cultivations, and they stared at John with gazes ofpetition, as well as doubt.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± John asked as the group blocked their way.


    ¡°Are you John Fenix?¡± one of the youths asked.


    ¡°So what if I am,¡± John replied nonchntly.


    ¡°Hmph, you don¡¯t deserve your ranking,¡± the other youth replied, his aura exploding outwards like he was preparing for battle. ¡°So I¡¯ll be defeating you and taking your ce.¡±


    Both youths dashed forward, their fists punching out towards John. John frowned as he saw this, while his leg suddenly swept outwards with his full bodily might. His right leg crashed into the youth on the right first, who was unable to dodge in time due to John¡¯s lightning quick actions.


    His sweeping leg mmed against the youth, violently knocking him into the other youth as well. The two youths wereunched to the side, their bodies mming into the sturdy walls of one of the ancient city buildings.


    Their bodies violently rebounded off the wall, crashing to the ground. A small amount of blood seeped from their mouths as the two struggled to stand up, while their gazes shifted from arrogance to caution and even slight fear. They stared at John for a moment before speeding away, realizing in that single exchange that they were not John¡¯s match.


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Chase eximed.


    ¡°They must have been looking to establish themselves on the Jade Dragon List, and a Late Meridian Forging youth in the bottom half of the list is the perfect target in their eyes,¡± John replied.


    ¡°Uhhh¡­its not that simple anymore,¡± Iris chimed up. John looked over, and saw a jade piece in her hands.


    He realized it was the Jade Dragon List, and he quickly took out his own to inspect his current position. His eyes narrowed slightly as he spotted his name and rank.


    Rank 20: John Fenix


    A frown appeared on his face as he realized that Ainsel had changed his rank after they left the building.


    ¡°Establishing a friendship my ass,¡± John grumbled.

 Chapter 599 Entering The Tunnel

    ¡°Hahaha,¡± Adam startedughing loudly. ¡°Those Heaven Scrying bastards finally opened their eyes for once, although if they truly had eyes they¡¯d put you at number one.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± John replied, ignoring the situation as he knew he was powerless to change it. He could go back to the Heaven Scrying Sect and demand them to change it, but did not do so. He did not fear any battles due to his rank. It would slow his progress down, but each and every battle was an opportunity to improve his strength, and John was not one to avoid a battle if it was presented before him.


    The group continued through the city, receiving simr gazes the entire time, but John was not challenged again as the group arrived before the cliff face at the end of the city. The cliff stretched miles overhead, while four massive tunnes hundreds of yards tall and wide appeared before them. The four tunnels had the four Jade Mark symbols above them, indicating which one to enter. A powerful formation barrier blocked the entrance of the tunnel, while arge crowd had gathered before the entrances.


    The tunnels were being entered by youths each minute, as those youths eventually umted enough points to proceed forwards. John and the others looked at each other, while John gazed at Adam and Chase specifically, as Iris would be joining him.


    ¡°Good luck,¡± John said to them, while they said the same back. After the parting words, the four ventured forward, and John and Iris arrived before the Warrior tunnel. The powerful formation red with great power, and John knew there was no way anyone could break through this with force.


    He watched Adam and Chase enter, at which point his eyes narrowed and his body suddenly shed forward. He appeared before the Formations Expert tunnel in an instant, while his aura red out powerfully.


    His actions startled all those nearby, while two youths who were knocked backwards from his power. The youths were wearing inconspicuous robes, but John¡¯s instincts red when he felt the murderous intent from them lock onto Adam as he entered the tunnel.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°What the hell was that for?¡± one of the youths eximed, his anger fully ignited.


    ¡°Move you bastard,¡± the other yelled out as well as he tried to dash past John. However, John appeared before him in an instant, blocking his way and knocking him backwards.


    ¡°You Starforge shits really are shameless,¡± John replied, his cold gaze staring at the two youths before him. They had disguised themselves and waited for Adam to enter the tunnel, all to most likely assassinate or capture him at that point. John thought the pride of such an esteemed n was above such tactics, but it seemed as though he underestimated their shamelessness.


    ¡°Do you really think you can stop us?¡± one of the youths yelled as his Middle Heaven Tribtion aura red out with great power. He knew his opponent was John, who had most likely killed Rydan and the others. However, they were both stronger than Rydan, and were confident in their power.


    ¡°Heavenly Lightning Sect robes? Late Meridian Forging cultivation? Is that him?¡± a loud voice from the nearby gathered crowd eximed.


    ¡°It is! It¡¯s him,¡± another voice eximed, unable to contain their excitement.<sub></sub>


    ¡°His power¡­it seems like the Heaven Scrying Sect wasn¡¯t lying after all,¡± another chimed up as they witnessed John easily thwart the two youths.


    The two Starforge youths nced at each other, confused as to what was going on. They had been stationed here in disguise for a month already, but neither had checked the Jade Dragon List today. They had heard some discussions here and there over the past month, mostly that John had been ranked and was around the middle of the pack.


    ¡°Hmph, so what if you¡¯re on the list,¡± one of the youths replied coldly. ¡°So are we.¡±


    ¡°You are ranked¡­what? Two hundred? Three hundred?¡± the other youth asked with a mocking tone. ¡°Well the both of us are ranked in the top two hundred, so your power means nothing before us.¡±


    John raised an eyebrow in surprise as he checked the Jade Dragon List. As the two had said, there were many Starforge member names on the list, with two around the one hundred and eighty mark.


    ¡°The Starforge n truly is impressive to have so many names on this list,¡± John said.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Our n¡¯s power is beyond your imagination. Now move, or we¡¯ll deal with you first,¡± one of the youths replied. They did not want to openly kill or injure John here, as such actions could potentially strain the rtionship between the Honorable Alliance and the Starforge n. However, their orders were to focus on Adam, and those orders triumphed over all else.


    John¡¯s gaze remained calm despite them revealing their ranks, causing the two youths to pause for a moment.


    Meanwhile, heated discussions broke out in the nearby group, and the two youths heard the number twenty thrown out quite a bit. A bad feeling crept up within their bodies as they took out a jade piece and inspected it. Their faces turned white as they noticed John¡¯s name, and his rank on the list.


    ¡°Impossible,¡± one of the youths muttered in shock, although he knew it was not wrong. The Heaven Scrying Sect would never make such a im if they didn¡¯t have the evidence to prove it. While some still tried their luck as they assumed the Heaven Scrying Sect was wrong, these youths were wiser than that.


    The two youths looked at each other for a brief instant before a unique aura suddenly red as they took out a formation disk. Their bodies were wrapped in spatial energy, and they suddenly disappeared from the courtyard.


    ¡°Tch!¡± John clicked his tongue in frustration, as the two had been incredibly quick with their retreat. They had used short range teleportation formations, which transported them most likely to another part of the city.


    John would have been able to stop them and battle it out with them, but that would have left the entrance to the tunnel vulnerable for other Starforge members to enter if they happened to be nearby. He now realized he should have had Adam disguise himself before entering the tunnel and enter separately from the group, but it was toote to change anything.


    John¡¯s gaze remained calm as he shifted it towards the nearby group, who were disappointed that a battle had not taken ce. It would have been a rare opportunity to see three youths on the Jade Dragon List battle it out.


    ¡°This tunnel is closed for the next twelve hours,¡± John said out loud. His words caused many to frown, although no one dared to voice their disapproval at someone so high up on the list. A top twenty Jade Dragon List genius was practically a mythical existence in thesends, hardly ever seen by the others.


    As such, the next twelve hours passed by, with neers arriving all the time. Some argued with John to enter the tunnel, but he took no risks as he thwarted any from entering. Those disgruntled youths could only back down and wait, as twelve hours was not that long of a time.


    After the twelve hour mark passed by, arge group of Formations Experts had gathered, eager to enter the tunnel.


    ¡®Adam should by now be far into the next area, and his disguise already activated. At this point, even if the Starforge n knows he¡¯s entered, they won¡¯t be able to track him down.¡¯


    John walked away from the tunnel entrance, his actions causing a wave of cheer to erupt as the Formations Experts flooded into the tunnel. He returned to the entrance of the Warrior tunnel, and looked around for Iris. However, to his surprise, she was nowhere to be found.


    ¡°Are you looking for your friend?¡± a voice sounded out from behind John, causing him to turn around. He nodded his head as he looked at the girl who had just spoken, who stood there nervously, clearly intimidated by John¡¯s presence.


    ¡°She gave me this and said to hand it to you when you returned here,¡± the girl instructed as she handed over a scroll to John.


    John took the scroll and unfurled it, and read its contents. It was a message from Iris, telling him that she went ahead in the next area, as her recent tribtion revealed to herself that she was not strong enough, and could not always exist under John¡¯s protection. By traveling with him, her life would not truly be in danger at all, and so her chances to improve would be diminished.


    ¡°I suppose I have been protecting them a bit too much, resulting in them stagnating a bit,¡± John sighed as he realized his actions were not necessarily the best thing. He knew Iris was right in her reasoning, and so he did not disagree with her at all.


    ¡®She¡¯s strong enough now to be able to take care of herself.¡¯


    He thanked the girl for her help, and turned around to enter the tunnel. He passed through the formation, and felt a powerful energy lock onto his Jade Mark score, at which point the restrictive energy faded away.


    He stepped into the tunnel, as a powerful pressure instantly descended on him.

 Chapter 600 Hellish Landscape

    The powerful pressure pressed down on John, seeking to push him out of the tunnel. However, John was able to resist the pressure with rtive ease, as he didn¡¯t even have to use anything other than his natural body strength to push forward.


    The tunnel before him was hundreds of yards high and wide, while the walls were smooth and polished. Nothing other than the endless expanse of tunnel before him was visible, and so John¡¯s footsteps remained steady as he progressed forward.


    ¡°The pressure is increasing the further I go into this tunnel,¡± John mused as he continued to walk. ¡°It must be another filter, meant to let through only those who are worthy in the eyes of the Jade Dragon Empire. Afterall, only fifty points were required to enter this tunnel, so anyone doing trials every day could eventually enter it, regardless of their strength.¡±


    Although the tunnel seemed to be another filter, the pressure was not anything worth noting. John¡¯s progress remained unhindered as he steadily moved forward, and eventually he spotted other youths in the tunnel before him. He quickly caught up to them and passed by them with ease, shocking the youths who were struggling. These youths were all in the Heaven Tribtion realm, and John could tell the pressure on them was greater than it was on himself.


    ¡®This pressure seems to be scaled based on cultivation level, as were many of the previous trials. I imagine the Jade Dragon Empire let a wide range of ages enter this trialnd whenever it opened, so scaling it based on cultivation is the most logical thing to do.¡¯


    While it was logical, John was slightly disappointed as he came to this realization.


    ¡®This means that the trials won¡¯t be challenging for me at all, at least not until the very end of this realm. My greatest challenges will be the other geniuses of thisnd, particrly those in the top twenty on the Jade Dragon List.¡¯


    John¡¯s progress remained steady as he moved forward, while he passed dozens of other youths that were struggling to progress forward. The youths all had their auras red to the maximum as they exerted all their power, while John only used his natural body strength to move forward. His ease through the tunnels shocked the other youths, who could only watch on enviously as he raced past them.<sub>.</sub>


    The tunnel stretched for over a dozen miles, and John finally saw light appear on the other side after an hour of walking through it. He quickly reached the end, and a zing redndscape came into his view. Before him, and filled with roiling magma stretched as far as the eye could see. A scorching heat washed over him, although his durable body was easily able to resist the heat.


    Mountainous terrain, barren earth, and sharp rocks filled thend as well, making it look quite troublesome to navigate for the average youth. Visible one hundred miles to each side was a mountain range that stretched high into the sky and into the distance.


    ¡®Those mountains must be the border of this next area, which also separates the warriors from the other groups. That means this next area is just over two hundred miles wide, although with this hard to navigate terrain, it probably seems even wider.¡¯


    A small group of youths came into John¡¯s view as well. There were roughly a dozen of them recovering at the exit from their arduous journey through the tunnel.


    John ignored these youths as he took out his jade map and inspected it for a moment. The map revealed some of the magma fillednd before him, but not all of it. There were areas that were still undiscovered, or at least not recorded in the map.


    ¡®These unrecorded areas could be due to two reasons. Either they¡¯re too hard to traverse, and no one has been able to do so, or they¡¯re not worth exploring. I¡¯d guess it¡¯s the former, so I¡¯ll set off down one of these unrecorded areas and see if there¡¯s anything worth discovering.¡¯


    With no further hesitation, John sped forward, his actions surprising the other youths. Everyone who left the tunnel felt fatigue, and needed to rest for some time to recuperate their Qi.<sub></sub>


    John¡¯s body shed forward, his powerful legs propelling him from one ind to the next. The flight restrictions from the previous area were present here, although much more restrictive. John could not take flight at all anymore, which slightly surprised him.


    ¡®The previous area at least allowed me to fly a few dozen yards off the ground, but here I can¡¯t fly at all. I suppose that¡¯s part of the difficulty of this particr warrior trial area. Thendscape itself if a trial, as flying over it would invalidate itpletely.¡¯


    The barren inds dotted the ocean ofva, making a navigable pathway forward for youths who could not resist theva itself.


    His speed was incredibly quick as he jumped from one ind to the next without caution, as even if he fell into theva he was confident in being able to resist its incredible heat. Many of the inds were several hundred yards to a mile wide, and were separated by simr distances from one another.


    The other youths watched as John¡¯s body shed forward, and before long disappeared behind a nearby mountain, his progress shocking to them.


    John sped forward for fifteen minutes, not encountering anything of note other thanva, scorched inds, and mountainous terrain. Lava flooded down from the tops of many of the mountains, making thend look like a brutal hellscape.


    Boom!<sub></sub>


    Theva to John¡¯s right suddenly exploded outwards, while a thick column ofva shot towards him. Reacting in an instant, he pointed his finger towards the column ofva.


    Lightning Disintegration!


    A powerful beam of lightning sted against theva, causing it to explode and shower the nearby area withva. John stopped his forward progress as he gazed at the mass ofva that continued to growrger, until a figure appeared before him.


    It towered over him at thirty yards tall, and was made of pureva. Two ming eyes stared at him, while a gaping maw in theva below the eyes appeared like a mouth. Two arms stretched out to each side as well, while John raised an eyebrow at the sight before him.


    ¡°A me elemental? No, a Lava Elemental.¡±


    He had not been expecting to see such an opponent here, but there was no doubt that the creature that stood before him wasva elemental.


    ¡°Elementals are natural born entities, formed when enough of one type of elemental Qi is gathered in one spot for a long enough period of time. With thisva existing here undisturbed for over one hundred thousand years, I suppose it¡¯s only natural that ava elemental would appear.¡±


    Theva elemental mmed down its right arm at John again, while his body shed to the side, dodging the attack. His finger pointed towards the creature once more, as he unleashed a barrage of Lightning Disintegrations.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Several explosions nketed the nearby area as theva elemental was sted again and again by John¡¯s lightning attacks. Its body made ofva was pierced through and scattered all throughout the area, but it¡¯s injuries were quickly healed as it absorbed moreva through from the nearby area, restoring itself once more.


    ¡°Tch, how troublesome,¡± John scoffed as he sped away, no longer interested in fighting this opponent. Theva elemental was not strong enough to provide him any challenge, but was also not able to be defeated easily due to its regenerative nature.


    ¡°Elementals typically have a central core, or an elemental seed I believe it¡¯s called, which acts as the heart and brains of the elemental. It¡¯s the first thing to form when an elemental takes form, at which point the rest is built around it as it grows in power. I could fight it and find the seed to defeat it, but it¡¯s not worth the hassle. Some elemental seeds are quite valuable if obtained and sold, but this elemental is quite a low level one¡­a pity.¡±


    Theva elemental roared as it tried to unleash another attack on John, but his speed was too quick as he disappeared from sight in an instant. After a moment of hesitation, theva elemental returned to theva below once more, ready to attack the next unsuspecting victim.


    John sped through thend for quite some time, seeing nothing but scorched earth, jagged terrain, and seas ofva.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The sound of several explosions appeared off in the distance, catching his attention. He veered his direction slightly as he sped towards themotion, at which point he spotted what the source of the explosions were.


    Several hundred yards away were two groups of disciples, who were battling it out against each other. One of the groups wore red robes that danced in the air like mes, while a ming sun was embroidered on their clothes. They numbered at six youths, with their cultivations all in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    The other sect was none other than the Heavenly Lightning Sect, consisting of a group of five disciples of the sect, also all in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm. The two groups were battling it out with great intensity, surprising John slightly.


    His gaze scanned over the nearby area, at which point he spotted something that made his eyes widen and excitement rise. Sitting in the middle of theke ofva half a mile away, a blooming red lotus floated atop theva, its body two feet wide. A strong yang aura radiated off of it, while strong golden mes billowed up from the flower petals, scorching the nearby area.


    ¡°A Golden-me Magma Lotus!¡±

 Chapter 601 Slap

    Thanks to both his interest in reading books, as well as having Chase as a friend, John had rather extensive knowledge on valuable vegetation and medicinal ingredients. The Golden-me Magma Lotus was one of these valuable flowers.


    The flower was quite rare, as it could only grow in ces of intense heat and yang energy. A sea ofva was one such ce, and so its appearance here was not too shocking. However, it also required hundreds or even thousands of years to grow, resulting in finding one to be quite a rare experience.


    ¡°The Golden-me Magma Lotus can be used for many things, one of those uses being to upgrade one¡¯s body to be more Yang aligned. If I directly ingest some of those lotus petals and absorb their yang essence, my body should not only be strengthened, but it will also heighten my Yang insights, which includes lightning!¡±


    John¡¯s desired to obtain the flower, as one of his current goals was to strengthen his body was much as possible to be able to use his Bloodline Ability and Asura Transformation as much as possible with the least amount of side effects. While the Golden-me Magma Lotus would not be a massive increase in body strength, every little bit helped towards this goal. Augmenting his lightning powers was another bonus, making the flower all the more enticing.


    His gaze shifted from the lotus back to the battlefield. He could tell his fellow sect members were slowly losing the battle, as they were outnumbered slightly. John decided to deal with the battlefield first, as he didn¡¯t want any further disturbances to potentially harm the lotus.


    His body shed forward, and a small explosion of lightning sted out between the two groups, halting their battle. The gazes of both groups locked onto John who had just appeared between them.<sub>.</sub>


    The Heavenly Lightning Sect youths lit up in excitement as they saw who it was, while the other group frowned or scoffed at his arrival. Seeing his Late Meridian Forging cultivation, their natural reaction was to look down on him.


    ¡°General!¡± one of the youths, a girl who was in her second year eximed. She had long brown hair, and a dazzling blue hair clip on the side of her head. Her aura was quite weak at the moment, as the battle had clearly exhausted her. However, she didn¡¯t have any injuries, as her opponents were clearly not looking to injure or kill any of the Heavenly Lightning Sect members.


    ¡°General? Pfft,¡± one of the red robed youths startedughing, as the title for someone so low in cultivation was quite pitiable.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted towards the youth, as well as the others, and saw no fear or hesitation in their gazes.


    ¡®It seems as though not everyone has a Jade Dragon List, or has kept up with it. I suppose that¡¯s only natural. The list is quite expensive, and these youths might not havee across a Heaven Scrying Sect member or others discussing the list.¡¯<sub></sub>


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± John asked as he turned to the girl who had spoken up.


    The girl breathed in and out a few times, catching her breath before replying.


    ¡°We were exploring thisnd a few hours ago, when we spotted the Golden-me Magma Lotus,¡± the girl started exining. ¡°We tried to retrieve it, but the golden mes it emits are far too strong to just walk up and take it. While we were thinking of a way to retrieve it, this other group showed up and tried to im the flower for themselves, and this battle is them trying to force us away,¡± the girl exined the situation fully.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± John replied as his gaze shifted to the other group.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right,¡± one of the youths, the strongest of the group, replied without hiding anything. ¡°What are you, a Late Meridian Forging weakling, going to do about it?¡±<sub></sub>


    The youths¡¯ words sent a wave ofughter through his group, while the Heavenly Lightning Sect youths looked at him with a look of pity. They knew John¡¯s strength, and that such words would only invite misery upon themselves.


    John¡¯s gaze scanned the five Heavenly Lightning Sect members, noticing that none were injured, just fatigued. His gaze shifted back to the red robed youths, his gaze calm.


    ¡°I can tell that you six were not trying to injure my fellow sect members, and were just trying to force them away from this area. I suppose I should thank you for your act of kindness, and so I will return the favor. If you leave now, I¡¯ll take no further action,¡± John said to the six youths.


    His words caused the six to instantly erupt into a fit ofughter, as if it were the funniest thing they had ever heard. John¡¯s gaze remained calm as he had been expecting such a reaction, but at least wanted to give the youths a chance to retreat.


    ¡°I suppose the Jade Dragon List does have its uses afterall,¡± John mumbled out loud as he began to walk towards the six youths. ¡°It¡¯s just a shame that not everyone has it, or it would resolve situations like this instantly.¡±


    The youths all heard John¡¯s words, and broke out intoughter once more.


    ¡°The Jade Dragon List? You¡¯re right we don¡¯t have it, but what use would that do you? Are you trying to im you¡¯re on the lis-¡°


    Bang!


    John appeared before the youth in an instant, his body appearing like a blur to the other youths. His open hand smacked against the cheek of the youth who had been speaking, who was propelled through the air, unprepared for the attack and unable to resist its power. A small trail of blood followed behind the youth as he sailed through the air.


    Boom!


    The youth mmed into the side of a nearby rocky hill, his body disappearing from sight as it tunneled into the hill. The other youths stared with eyes wide and mouths agape, unable to process what had happened. John¡¯s calm gaze shifted from the hill to the other youths as he lowered his hand.


    ¡°Your friend is fine, just a bit dazed is all. I made sure not to kill him with that p,¡± John said, his voice calm and genial as if he had not just pped the soul out of one of their friends. They stared at him with frightful expressions, not sure of what to do.


    John guestered towards the nearby hill, his gaze still lingering on the five youths before him.


    ¡°Go get your friend, and leave,¡± he said to the group, who quickly came to their senses and dashed towards the nearby hill. Just from John¡¯s speed and powerful p alone, they could tell that they were no match for him. One of them went into the tunnel, and quickly retrieved their friend, who had arge red handprint on his cheek, and a small amount of blood on his lips.


    ¡°Whe..where am I?¡± the youth mumbled groggily, his mind in a daze. The five others breathed a sigh of relief at seeing their friend still alive from taking such a monstrous p head on, before they sped off without looking back, not wanting to be next on the list to be pped.


    John watched the group leave, before his gaze shifted towards the distant Golden-me Magma Lotus.

 Chapter 602 Retrieving the Golden-Flame Magma Lotus

    Its golden mes raged with great power, scorching thend and heating up the nearbyva. John¡¯s excitement rose as he prepared to retrieve the lotus, when the other Heavenly Lightning Sect youths suddenly rushed up to him.


    ¡°That was awesome!¡± one of the youths, a boy also in his second year eximed. Despite being older than John by a year, he and the others acted like children swarming around an adult.


    ¡°Thank you for the help, General!¡± the girl said, a smile of gratitude on her weary face. The others expressed their gratitude as well, while John raised his hand dismissively at their words.


    ¡°It¡¯s only natural that I help out my fellow sect members,¡± John said to them, not feeling like he deserved any particr praise for his actions. He hade mostly for the Golden-me Lotus anyways, and so his actions were notpletely selfless.


    The others noticed John¡¯s gaze, their expressions turning more serious.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°As I said before, we tried to retrieve the lotus, but its heat is unbearable for us. We were not able to get close enough to retrieve it,¡± the girl said to John. She noticed his calm gaze and perked up slightly at the sight.


    ¡°Do you have an idea of how to retrieve it?¡± the girl asked, slight hopefulness in her voice.


    ¡°I do,¡± John replied as he suddenly sped toward. His actions surprised the others, as they were standing on an ind of rocky earth at the moment, but the lotus was in the middle of a sea ofva. They had grouped up together andbined their protective Qi¡¯s to resist theva, but still just barely managed to do so. When they approached the flower, they were unable to get within one hundred yards, as it¡¯s heat was just too unbearable.


    As such, the five youths felt shock as they saw John speed directly into theva, his protective Qi not felt at all. The five of them gasped in fright as they half-expected John to die right then and there.<sub></sub>


    John entered the sea ofva, his feetnding on theva, while his body toughness fully resisted the heat. While it felt like he was standing in the middle of a hellish furnace, John was able to ignore the heat for the most part. His body was not only incredibly durable, but also very resistant to yang energies thanks to his lightning attribute body. While it was most effective against lightning, it also provided him resistance to other yang elements such as fire andva.


    Thanks to his fast footsteps, John sped across the surface of theva thanks to its thick viscosity. While he could use his essence Qi to form a pseudo-floor to stand on theva as well, such a thing was not needed at the moment.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted down as he noticed smoke rising from below. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed the bottom of his robes had caught fire, as they had been dragged through theva.


    ¡°Ooops,¡± John muttered as his essence Qi suddenly red, protecting his body. ¡°I suppose I¡¯ve got to get more durable clothing in the future,¡± John muttered as he sped forward. With his protective Qi coating his body, he no longer felt the heat of theva below at all.<sub></sub>


    His speed was incredibly quick, and he quickly arrived one hundred yards away from the lotus, which was where the others had to stop. The scorching heat of the lotus washed over him, and John couldn¡¯t help but be impressed by its power.


    ¡®No wonder they stopped here. This lotus is fully mature, and must have been growing here for thousands and thousands of years!¡¯


    His excitement rose as he realized the lotus was even better than he imagined, and he sped forward once more without hesitation. The heat of the lotus grew with every step he took, although it still was not enough to pierce through his protective Qiyer. With his twenty timespressed dantian, John¡¯s essence Qi was as powerful as a Late Heaven Tribtion cultivator, making him far more resistant than the other youths who had attempted to retrieve the lotus.


    When he was within five yards however of the flower, John raised an eyebrow in surprise as he felt the heat seep through his protective Qiyer and attempt to burn his body. He activated his Limiter of Pain and Supreme Battle Art to resist the heat, allowing him to progress thest five yards.


    John stood directly before the flower, its golden mes directly washing over him. The heat was incredible, as it was almost enough to overwhelm him despite his protective measures being taken. However, this only made John¡¯s excitement rise again, as the stronger the flower was, the more beneficial it would be to his body.


    With no further hesitation, John reached out and ced his hand on the Golden-me Magma Lotus. His hand began to turn red from the scorching heat, but John ignored the pain as he wrapped it with his Qi and Divine Sense. His mind and soul felt like they were set ame as he did so, but John resisted the pain, pain which he had be quite used to over thest few years. Compared to the pain he felt during his lightning cultivations and tribtions, this was almost nothing.


    The magma lotus instantly disappeared, as John transported it to his spatial realm, as his spatial ring could not store anything living, and would be destroyed from within by the lotuses power anyways.


    The magma lotus appeared within the garden area of the spatial realm, much to John¡¯s surprise. He had wanted to transport it to one of the empty rooms, so its raging mes did not destroy anything nearby. However, it seemed as though his spatial realm had a mind of its own, as it transported the flower to the garden containing his mystical tea nts.


    ¡°Shit!¡± John cursed as he noticed this. The tea leaves were worth a fortune, and if they were destroyed by the mes he would no doubt cry from the loss. However, his panic quickly abated as he noticed the artificial sun hanging high above in the room unleash a beam of mysterious energy which mmed onto the lotus.


    A protective barrier formed around the me lotus, containing its heat to one area and protecting the rest of therge garden. John had not been expecting such a thing to happen, but he breathed a sigh of relief as he realized the situation had turned out quite well.


    ¡®I suppose it¡¯s only natural that a garden in a ce as profound as this would have some measures to protect the garden in case something like this happens,¡¯ John mused.


    His consciousness left the pce realm and returned to the real world, which was now far less hot than before. With the lotus gone, all John had to do was resist theva beneath him, which was simple.


    Having aplished his goal, John turned to leave.


    Boom!


    Theva beneath his feet exploded outwards, while a massive figure slowly emerged from beneath the sea ofva. John¡¯s eyes widened as a creature appeared before him, one whose power was not something he could contend with.


    ¡°A Peak Heaven Tribtion Lava Elemental!¡±

 Chapter 603 True Warrior Trial

    The Peak Heaven Tribtion Lava Elemental exploded from beneath theva, its power rainingva all over the surrounding area. John dodged to the side rapidly to avoid theva, while his cautioned gaze stayed focused on the foe before him. Theva elemental inspected the area, and its rage was instantly ignited. It noticed John who appeared like an ant before him, and it exploded with a fiery aura of rage and anger.


    ¡°Shit¡­I didn¡¯t notice this elemental due to it being made ofva, and blending in with theva beneath my feet¡­but more importantly, how the hell is something so strong just slumbering here?¡±


    John thought over the issue, and came to a quick realization as to what was happening. The Jade Dragon Empire Realm had been unupied for over one hundred thousand years, allowing things like the Golden-me Magma Lotus to appear.


    The lotus was a flower of yang energy, and it would naturally attract the attention of anyva elementals as well.


    ¡°This one must have been sleeping beneath the lotus for who knows how long, absorbing some of its power and growing non-stop. I¡¯m sure the Jade Dragon Empire would have cleared out something like this when it existed, but that¡¯s no longer the case.¡±


    Theva elemental roared with rage as one of its arms mmed down towards John below. Its power was beyond terrifying, and John knew he would only be able to block such an attack if he was utilizing his Asura Transformation. While he could contest with the elemental at his full power, he would not be able to defeat it due to its regenerative nature. Such a battle was not worth the cost, and so John had no choice but to retreat.


    With no hesitation at all, John activated his Limiter of Speed and Thunderbody sh. He sped away from theva elemental, whose hand mmed into theva where John had been, causing a massive explosion ofva and earth to erupt.


    A massive wave ofva spread outwards, traveling towards John and the other youths, who stood there, frightened stiff by theva elemental¡¯s power.


    ¡°Run!¡± John yelled angrily, rousing them from their frightened state. The youths all realized the stupidity of their actions, and each activated their fastest movement techniques as they sped into the distance.


    At the same time, he turned towards the oing explosion ofva and took out his battle axe.<sub>.</sub>


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    A brilliant gold axe image shed forward, mming against the wave ofva. The axe attack cleaved a pathway through theva, although it looked quite insignificant inparison to the massive wave. However, this was all John needed, as the wave ofva passed by him, while he slipped through the path he had created.


    ¡®How frightening. Just the remnant explosion from this creatures attack was enough to injure me if I had not acted in time.¡¯


    Roar!


    Theva elemental roared in frustration as it saw John live through its attack. Its other arm stretched forward towards him, the speed of its attack too fast to dodge. John¡¯s eyes narrowed as he activated his peak body state.


    Limiter of Pain!


    Limiter of Power!


    Supreme Battle Art!


    His battle axe cleaved forward once more, mming against the massive hand ofva that appeared before him. His axe turned golden as he once again utilized the Sky Sundering Axe, although he used the melee version of the attack this time.<sub></sub>


    Boom!


    The monstrous power of theva elemental mmed against John¡¯s battle axe. He felt a horrifying force course through his arms and into his body, as his arms creaked in protest, barely able to withstand the force of the attack.


    John¡¯s body shot backwards like a blur, his speed causing the nearby air to ripple and boom. His body felt like a mountain had justnded on top of him, but he resisted the pain as he focused on the task at hand; retreating.


    Using the backwards momentum of blocking the attack, John stabilized his body and sped forward once more, his speed even faster than what he was capable of on his own. He was like a sh of lightning as he sped forward, appearing miles away in almost an instant.


    John sped off in a different direction than the youths, as he knew that only he was fast enough to escape theva elemental. If he fled in their direction, they were as good as dead.


    Roar!


    Theva elemental roared once again as it saw John had used its own attack against him, and sped forward towards him. Despite its gargantuan body, in the sea ofva, its speed was just as fast as John¡¯s.


    John reached a massive stretch ofnd andnded upon it, at which point he activated his Thunderbody sh. He continued his momentum as he shed over thend. Theva elemental roared in rage as it watched John arrive at therge stretch ofnd and disappear into the distance. However, its massive body was a detriment as it could only move freely within theva itself. It eventually came to a rage-filled stop as it watched John speed out of sight into the distance, unable to contend with his incredible speed.


    The enragedva elemental mmed its fist onto the patch of rocky earth, easily breaking it apart before it eventually returned to the area where it had been slumbering, its massive body disappearing beneath theva once more.<sub></sub>


    ¡­


    ¡°Whew! That was a close one,¡± John breathed out a sigh of relief as he noticed theva elemental had finally stopped chasing him.


    Were he able to use his Asura Transformation or Bloodline Ability, he would have loved to contest against the monster and test his might. However, without being able to use either, he had almost no chance of defeating theva elemental. Not only that, but if he took grave damage in his battle, he would be susceptible to other youths, as well as hinder his progress through thesends. Despite the fact that he yearned for such a battle, John knew he was not able to take part in it this time.


    He remained in ce for a moment to recover his energy, and after doing so checked his surroundings.


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    Before him in the distance, a medium sized cave in a distant mountain appeared in his vision. His body sped forward towards the cave, and he stopped before it. His eyes locked onto the words that were etched above the cave.


    ¡°True Warrior Trial!¡±


    ¡°True Warrior Trial?¡± John mused. ¡°The other trials were just called Warrior Trials, while this one is a ¡®True Warrior Trial¡¯. I wonder what the difference is?¡±


    He thought about it for a moment, but couldn¡¯t conclusively determine anything based on the words alone.


    ¡°Well, it seems like the only way to find out the truth is to enter the trial, so that¡¯s just what I¡¯ll do.¡±


    Without further hesitation, John entered the cave. The cave had a thin stretch ofnd to walk on, whileva flowed on both sides of the strip ofnd. Lava waterfalls from above would asionally fall down on the strip ofnd, forcing him to resist it. However, it was nothing to concern him, and before long John arrived at the end of the cave.


    He stopped for a moment as his eyes locked onto a glowing green formation entrance before him. It was a formation barrier simr to the previous ones he had entered in thesends, although he didn¡¯t know if this one had any score requirements.


    John studied the formation for a moment, but didn¡¯t find anything suspicious about it. He felt no danger from the formation barrier itself, and so after a moment of studying the barrier, he stepped forward and into it.


    His body passed through the formation without trouble, and he soon found himself on the other side. He turned and ced his hand back on the barrier, while his eyebrows rose slightly in realization.


    ¡°This barrier is a one way barrier. I can enter, but cannot leave. I suppose that¡¯s the meaning of the ¡®True¡¯ portion. I can only progress forward, and retreat is not possible. That means if I can¡¯t progress forward, death is most likely the only alternative¡­¡±


    After thinking through this, a confident smile appeared on John¡¯s face as he felt his blood begin to boil.


    ¡°Now this is more like it! Victory or death! I just hope this trial doesn¡¯t disappoint me.¡±


    Roar!


    A booming roar bellowed out behind John, causing him to turn towards the source. A sprawling cavern appeared before him, several hundred yards tall and almost a mile wide. The walls and floor were covered by reinforcing formation runes, while in the middle of the arena stood a hulking figure.


    ¡°An Ice Troll huh?¡± John said as he spotted his opponent, although a slight frown appeared on his face as he noticed his opponent¡¯s cultivation.


    ¡°Late Meridian Forging? How disappointing,¡± John muttered, once again disappointed by the trial before him.


    As if listening to his words, a few of the formation runes on the ground before him lit up, while floating text suddenly appeared in the air before him. John¡¯s eyes lit up in both surprise and excitement as a list appeared before him.


    Opponent: Ice Troll


    Pick the difficulty:


    Late Meridian Forging


    Early Heaven Tribtion


    Middle Heaven Tribtion


    ¡°Now this is more like it!¡± John said with excitement as his hand stretched out, tapping the Middle Heaven Tribtion Prompt.

 Chapter 604 Almost Timely Arrival

    After tapping the prompt before him, John¡¯s gaze shifted back to the Ice Troll. Its aura began to climb, and soon it exuded the aura of a Middle Heaven Tribtion Beast. John¡¯s eyes lit up in excitement, while his appreciation of the Jade Dragon Empire grew even further.


    ¡°I wonder why I¡¯m allowed to select the difficulty of the trial?¡± John mused out loud.


    Although he was able to fight above his cultivation level, he was aplete anomaly in the cultivation world. While there were some gifted geniuses who could fight one realm above their rank, going two or even three realms above their cultivation level was unheard of. However, the prompt had allowed him to go to the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, which was effectively three minor realms above his cultivation level.


    ¡°I doubt that even the geniuses of the Jade Dragon Empire were so gifted. I wonder what the reason for this option is,¡± John mused as he closely studied the beast.


    ¡°This Ice Troll is clearly a fake beast made up by the formations surrounding this arena, but even I can¡¯t tell the difference between it being fake and real. The formation experts of the Jade Dragon Empire must have been beyond impressive.¡¯


    John took out his battle axe as he slowly began to walk towards the Ice Troll. The Ice Troll roared loudly as it watched John approach, before it suddenly charged towards him. Each step shook the massive cavernous arena with its weight and power, as it arrived before him in an instant.


    After a moment of thought, John smiled as he put away his battle axe. The Ice Troll mmed its closed fist down on John, the force of his attack equivalent to a small mountain mming down onto the ground. John¡¯s body aura skyrocketed as he punched out to meet the attack, his battle lusted smile growing by the second.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡­


    Bang!


    The Ice Troll¡¯s body fell to the ground as the arena shook from its weight. Its body was riddled with wounds, as blood flowed all over its white fur. However, none of the wounds were made from sharp des, and instead looked to be done by brute force. One of the arms of the Ice Troll had been ripped off at the elbow, while one ankle was shattered with the foot facing the wrong direction.


    Both of its eyes had been gouged out, while several circr holes were visible on its stomach and chest. Lastly, arge, gaping hole was visible in the left center of its chest. The Ice Troll slowly faded away, while John¡¯s gaze shifted to the beating heart he held in his right hand. The heart faded away as well, as the room became empty aside from himself.


    John¡¯s body was covered in blood from head to toe, the blood both his and the Ice Trolls. His breathing was heavy, but the satisfied smile on his face continued to linger as he watched the Ice Troll vanish. His body also cleaned up a bit as the Ice Trolls blood vanished as well.


    ¡°That might have been the most fun I¡¯ve ever had in a fight,¡± John couldn¡¯t help but say out loud. He had been able to fight purely with his body against a strong beast, undisturbed by anyone else.<sub></sub>


    John felt a tingling sensation on his upper chest, and knew it was his Jade Marks being updated. A quick inspection revealed he had received two hundred points, a figure that caused slight surprise to appear on his face.


    ¡°Two hundred Jade Marks? That¡¯s more than I¡¯ve received up to this point,¡± John mumbled, although after quick consideration it made sense. He had single handedly defeated an opponent three minor cultivation realms higher than him, which was most likely factored into the score.


    sh!


    On the other side of the arena, John saw a sh of green light as another formation barrier appeared. Without hesitation, he walked over towards the formation barrier and entered it.


    ¡­


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    An earthen fist mmed into the ground, while the force of its attack sent out a powerful shockwave.


    ¡°Ahhh!¡±


    A cry of pain and panic rang out as a young girl was flung across the arena, while her body eventually mmed into the far wall of the cavern. Shended on the ground, her footing unsteady as she struggled to push through the battered state of her body. Blood flowed down her face and arms, while her aura seemed shaky and fragile. The girl wore a blue dress, which looked quite pretty. She had long green hair, and bright green eyes, eyes which suddenly widened in panic.


    ¡°Grayson!¡± she yelled in a panic, but it was toote to do anything. The girl helplessly watched as a massive earthen fist mmed onto her friend, who was lying on the ground and was struggling to get up. The boy¡¯s fearful eyes gazed back at his friend as the fist mmed into his back, shattering his spine and crushing his body.


    ¡°Grayson!¡± the girl called out, her voice hoarse and shill. Tears formed in her eyes as she watched the earthen first lift up from Grayson¡¯s body, which was now no more than a smear on the floor. Grayson no longer contained any aura of life.


    The girl¡¯s gaze lingered on her friend while the earthen creature approached her. The girl shifted her gaze towards the earthen creature as it arrived before her, fear and agony entrenched within her. She watched as the earthen fist punched out towards her with incredible might, and knew she did not have the power to resist it. Her regretful eyes slowly closed as she embraced her soon to arrive death.


    Bang!


    A loud sound boomed out within therge cavernous arena, as the earthen first collided with a solid object. The girl¡¯s tearful and confused eyes slowly opened as she gazed forward, not expecting to ever open her eyes again.


    Two figures immediately came into her view, one towering, while the other seemed no more than an antpared to the lumbering earthen creature. However, the figure before her held back the earthen creatures punch with a single arm, as if such a thing was no more than a trivial matter to him.


    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t just give up on life like that,¡± John said to the girl, who was clearly on the edge of copse. ¡°You only have one life to live, so you should fight until yourst breath!¡±


    The girl¡¯s confused expression turned into one of shock, before tears once again began to stream down her face.


    ¡°But¡­Grayson!¡± the girl muttered as her tearful gaze shifted to her dead friend in the distance.


    John followed her gaze, and quickly saw her friend dead on the floor. He sighed in pity, as it seemed as though he had arrived just a fractionte to assist the dead youth.


    ¡°That¡¯s all the more reason to fight to yourst breath,¡± John said to the girl. ¡°Your friend died fighting alongside you, and so your survival is all the more important. Otherwise, who will carry on his memory?¡±


    John¡¯s words caused the girls tearful eyes to widen slightly, before more tears began to fall. She quickly wiped the tears away, as her fearful expression slowly firmed up.


    ¡°You¡­you¡¯re right!¡± the girl replied, realizing the truth of John¡¯s words. If both of them died down here, no one would have ever known what happened to them, or the bravest stand they had against the monstrous creature.


    Roar!


    The earthen creature roared as it saw John had blocked its attack, and it withdrew its fist for a moment before unleashing another devastating attack.


    ¡°Motherfucker, do you mind?¡± John cursed at the creature, ¡°we¡¯re having a conversation here, so piss off!¡±


    Bang!


    His fist punched out to meet the earthen creature¡¯s first attack, the collisions of fists creating a thunderous force that shook therge, cavernous arena. The girl watched in stunned surprise as the massive earthen creature wasunched backwards into the distance, its body mming violently into the far wall of the cavern.

 Chapter 605 Impressive Sword Attack

    Her eyes shifted from John to the creature, and then back to John. Her shocked expression increased as she finally noticed his cultivation, and she was almost unable to believe her eyes.


    ¡°Who¡­who are you?¡±


    ¡°You can call me John,¡± John replied, before his gaze shifted back towards the massive earthen golem that was making its way over to him again.


    ¡°So what happened here?¡± John asked, trying to get a picture of how the two had killed the Ice Troll, but fell against the earthen golem. He could tell that the earthen golem was stronger than the Ice Troll, but not by a massive margin.


    ¡°We¡­Grayson and I defeated the Ice Troll, but we were both quite injured in the battle. We wanted to rest up, but after just a few minutes we were forced to enter this next arena. We fought against the golem, but were overwhelmed in the end,¡± the girl exined, her words getting hastier as she noticed the earth golem almost upon them again.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is,¡± John replied, his gaze focusing on the girl before him. Her cultivation was in the Early Heaven Tribtion realm, and based on her age and aura, she was one of the less talented youths in thesends. She most likely entered the Warrior Tunnel in the ancient city just a day or two before John did, meaning that her talent was quite poor whenpared to the true geniuses of the Honorable Alliance.


    ¡°Her and her friend falling to this earth golem after fighting the Ice Troll makes sense, as neither of them are particrly strong. But the Jade Dragon Empire sure is brutal. They¡¯d send their youths into trials like these, with either victory or death as the result. No wonder they stood at the forefront of the ancient world.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    John¡¯s respect for both the Jade Dragon Empire and these trialnds grew as he came to this conclusion. The cultivation world was a brutal ce, and only the strong could ensure their lives were theirs to control. At the same time, his expectations for the trialnds grew, as the dangerous fights were sure to continue, and also grow in power as he progressed deeper into thends.


    ¡®I guess I figured out why there are difficulty settings for these trials though,¡¯ John mused internally. ¡®There doesn¡¯t seem to be a limit to how many youths can participate in the fight, so a group of youths could challenge a stronger creature, most likely to get more Jade Marks.¡¯


    ¡°Watch out!¡± the girl eximed as the golem punched out towards John again, its fist carrying tremendous power. The earth golem had a cultivation level in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, causing John to frown slightly at his opponents power.


    He shed his axe out to meet the attack, the collision once again knocking back the earth golem.


    ¡°Can we change the difficulty?¡± John suddenly said out loud, his words causing the girl to be confused.


    ¡°Who are you talking to?¡± the girl asked, but her eyes quickly focused on a prompt of hovering text that suddenly appeared before John. Her eyes widened in panic as she noticed him select the Middle Heaven Tribtion option, while the aura of the golem suddenly climbed to the next realm.<sub></sub>


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± the girl asked, her voice filled with confusion and panic.


    ¡°Just wait in this corner. I¡¯ll be done soon,¡± John said as he looked over his shoulder at the girl. Lightning coated his body and his aura climbed massively as his body shed forward, appearing before the earth golem.


    For the next ten minutes, the girl watched on in a stunned stupor as John fought head to head against the golem. Golden battle axe battle arts were constantly unleashed, mming against the golem with incredible power, while the physical force of his battle axe attacks were equally as monstrous.


    Boom!


    The earthen golems body fell to the ground in a crumbled pile, its body shattered from the battle between itself and John. John¡¯s heavy breathing slowly calmed down as he once again watched his opponent vanish into nothingness, while the tingling sensation on his chest appeared again.


    ¡°Two hundred points?¡± John said as he noticed the Jade Marks provided were the same asst time. He walked over to her, while the girl stared at John, her gaze appearing like she was staring at a monster.<sub></sub>


    ¡°How many Jade Marks did you get,¡± John asked, getting straight to the point.


    ¡°Ah¡­!¡± the girl snapped out of her stunned stupor, and inspected her marks.


    ¡°Twenty five! Wow, the Ice Troll only gave fifteen!¡± the girl eximed.


    ¡®Twenty five? It seems like the points are awarded based on participation in the battle, as well as how much damage each person does, andstly the difference in cultivations. I suppose that is the best way to do it.¡¯


    John was happy to see that the girl¡¯s presence didn¡¯t lower the score he received, and his gaze shifted towards the end of therge cavern as another sh of green light appeared. He popped a healing pill as well as a Qi recovery pill in his mouth just in case, and turned to the girl once more.


    ¡°Gather your friends¡¯ remains, and then we¡¯re moving to the next stage,¡± John said to her.


    The girl nodded her head, fully following John¡¯smands from here on out, as she knew he was her only hope of getting out of here alive. She collected her friend¡¯s remains as her face once again turned sad and teary, but followed John¡¯s instructions and returned to him quickly.


    ¡°There will be time for mourningter. First, we focus on this trial,¡± John said to the girl, who nodded her head as a serious expression appeared on her face. She followed behind him and the two quickly stepped through the formation barrier, as another cavernous arena appeared before them.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    A battle between man and beast once again appeared in John¡¯s vision as he saw a lone youth battling against a fiery creature.


    ¡°Astral Sword!¡± the youth yelled out loudly as a purple sword image which seemed to glimmer in spots like stars in the void shed out. Itnded on the already injured creature, which was a Hellme Wyrm.


    The sword cleaved onto an already created injury, piercing deeper into the wyrm which bisected it in two. The wyrm copsed onto the ground, before it slowly vanished from sight. John raised an eyebrow as he saw the youth sessfully kill his opponent single handedly. The youth was a Early Heaven Tribtion youth, but John could tell that he was almost ready to break through to the next minor realm. Not only that, but the ¡®Astral Sword¡¯ that he had just unleashed was quite an impressive battle art, and John could easily tell that its origins were not simple.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± John said out loud, his words catching the attention of the youth. The youth inspected the two of them for a moment, pausing on John for a moment as he clearly did not expect someone with such a low cultivation to make it this far. However, since the trial was scaled to cultivation, his appearance wasn¡¯t impossible.


    ¡°Not bad? It sounds like my attacks don¡¯t impress you much,¡± the youth replied.


    ¡°Not at all,¡± John replied calmly. ¡°If you were at the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, I would have to take my battle with you quite seriously.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, you¡¯re quite an amusing one,¡± the youth replied, not mad at John¡¯s words.


    The youth stared at John for a moment longer before he turned and left through the formation barrier that had appeared, which vanished after he entered. John watched him leave, before his gaze shifted to the Hellme Wyrm which again materialized in the center of the arena.


    ¡°Let¡¯s kick it up a notch again,¡± John said as the prompt once again appeared before him. His body shed forward towards the Hellme Wrym as his battle axe cleaved down towards it, as he started the next battle in the gauntlet of the True Warrior Trial.

 Chapter 606 Hellflame Wyrm

    John¡¯s battle axe shed outwards, mming against the tail attack of the Hellme Wyrm, which was like a fire whip from hell. The power and heat from its attacks were monstrous, and even John had to be careful to not be hit directly lest he suffer serious wounds.


    His battle had been raging for over fifteen minutes, a testament to the Hellme Wyrm¡¯s power. Each whip of its tail was equivalent to a battle art unleashed by a Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivator, while it also spat out beams of concentrated fire at John. The beams were even hotter than theva that he had encountered before, and so John had to be careful to not take them directly head on. At the same time, the Hellme Wyrm had tough scales on its exterior, making its defense quite formidable and hard to pierce.


    Despite controlling the battle, he didn¡¯t know how many more stages there were to this True Warrior Trial. He could no longer afford to trade blows with his beastly opponents, and only focused on victory. However, without his Bloodline Ability or Asura Transformation, a Middle Heaven Tribtion beast was as strong as he could fight against.


    Sky Sundering Axe!


    A massive gold axe image shed out from John¡¯s battle axe and mmed down onto the Hellme Wyrm, who met the attack with its powerful fire breath. John¡¯s body shed down and to the side of the Hellme Wyrm, as a tail attack mmed onto his position. His body shed again, narrowly dodging the attack as he unleashed a Lightning Disintegration.


    Bang!


    The lightning beam mmed onto the side of the Hellme Wyrm, where an injury had already been created. The lightning beam burrowed deeper into its body, causing it to seize up as it struggled against the rampaging lighting.<sub>.</sub>


    John shed out with his battle axe again, unleashing another Sky Sundering Axe while his opponent was recovering. The massive golden axe image mmed against the side of the wyrm, knocking it backwards and into the distant wall of the cavernous arena.


    It quickly recovered, but a shallow wound was opened up on its side where the battle art hadnded. Blood seeped out, but the wyrm ignored its injuries as it was not a true, living creature, which made it much harder to fight. Only by truly defeating the wyrm would it finally stop attacking without regard for its injuries or ¡®life¡¯.


    John sped towards the wyrm, who opened its mouth to unleash another devastating fire attack. A small smirk appeared on John¡¯s face as he studied the wyrm¡¯s attacks long enough, and was waiting for this opportunity.


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    Hundreds of lightning nodes sprung up in the air all around John, surrounding both him and the wyrm. They were spaced in varying distances from John, some close to his body, all the way to a hundred yards away. Three of the nodes appeared in the open maw of the massive wyrm, which John focused all his Qi on. He ignored the other nodes as he only activated the nodes within the wyrms mouth, as powerful lightning suddenly sprung out between the nodes.


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    The wyrm unleashed a powerful me attack, which John narrowly dodged. The lightning nodes were damaged from the attack, but John¡¯s essence Qi red out as he quickly rebuilt them, forming the lightning connections between the three nodes once more.


    The wyrms mouth attempted to close, but it mped down connected lightning nodes instead, which forced its mouth to remain open. It bit down harder to destroy the nodes, but was unable to fully do so, as John quickly reformed a node when it was broken.


    A fiery light began to form from within the wyrm¡¯s mouth, while John¡¯s smile only grewrger as he pointed his finger towards the wyrm.


    ¡°Toote!¡±


    Lightning Disintegration!


    John unleashed his most powerful Lightning Disintegration, which pierced directly into the open maw of the wyrm before it could unleash its fire breath to destroy the lightning nodes. With its flesh mouth the weakest part of its body, the lightning beam pierced right into the internals of the wyrm unhindered. A cry of pain bellowed out from the wyrm as if it were a real creature, while smoke and blood flowed out of its mouth.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Quick, hit it with an attack,¡± John called out to the girl, who had been standing in the distance watching the battle take ce. The girl quickly did as John said, as a blue staff appeared in her hands, and she unleashed a powerful water battle art at the creature. The water battle art looked like a bird made of water, which mmed against the creature, although it didn¡¯t do much damage.


    The wyrm struggled for a moment before it copsed on its stomach. The internal injury coupled with all the previous ones had be too much to bear, and the wyrm finally ceased its movement. After a moment of pause, it slowly vanished into thin air, signaling the end of the battle.


    ¡°Whew!¡± John sighed as he popped another Qi recovery pill in his mouth. Three sessive battles between Middle Heaven Tribtion beasts had started to add up, as he felt his essence Qi reserves halved. Although he still had a lot of fighting strength due to his remaining essence Qi as well as massive reservoir of beast blood essence for his body Qi, the battles had still been grueling and strenuous.


    John felt the strange sensation on his chest once again, and confirmed that he had received another two hundred Jade Marks. The girl, still stunned despite seeing John¡¯s power before, walked over to him, her staff in her hands.


    ¡°Why did you ask me to attack it?¡± the girl asked. ¡°You had already defeated the creature.¡±


    ¡°Do you not want Jade Marks?¡± John asked as he nced at her. She had to have some contributions, no matter how tiny, in order to receive marks.


    ¡°Ah¡­,¡± the girl made a noise, before a bashful expression appeared on her face. ¡°Thank you,¡± she said to John, feeling guilty at him doing all the hard work.


    ¡°No need to thank me,¡± John replied, as her getting a score did not lower his own. His gaze shifted towards the girl¡¯s staff, as he thought of something.


    ¡°A staff¡­are you¡­a War Mage?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°I am,¡± the girl replied.


    ¡°Ahhh, so that¡¯s how it is,¡± John said to her. Thest War Mage he had met was Ryan, who was still living on the Yuan Continent. War Mages were rtively rare, as one needed to have the natural born talent to be one. While they could unleash devastating attacks, they also had a massive weakness.


    ¡°No wonder you struggled so much against the earth golem,¡± John continued. ¡°War Mages can unleash powerful attacks after channeling them for some time, but require both time and distance to be able to do so safely. With the confined space of these cavernous arenas, you were unable to unleash your most powerful attacks.¡±


    The girl stared at John for a moment as he came to the correct conclusion, and nodded her head silently after a moment, confirming his words. John could tell she still felt guilty about surviving while her friend died, and so he decided to change the subject.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, you know my name, but I do not know yours,¡± John said to the girl.


    ¡°Ah¡­I¡¯m Ziora,¡± the girl replied, ¡°from the Mistfall Academy.¡±


    ¡°Academy?¡± John mused, but quickly recalled the term from one of the books he had read.


    ¡®Academies are like sects, but focused on channeled Mage Arts, instead of battle arts like normal sects. They¡¯re also more astute and schrly, as they focus on more than just battles and cultivation. I believe they even offer to be advisors to powerful nations, ns, and sects, and also study the more arcane mysteries of the universe.¡¯


    ¡°Well Ziora, I think its about time we pay advance to the next trial, what do you say?¡± John said to her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Ziora replied, her confidence in John¡¯s power firm after seeing hisbat prowess on full disy.


    John nodded his head, and turned towards the green formation barrier that had appeared after the Hellme Wyrm had fallen. The two of them quickly entered, and found themselves transported into near darkness, unable to see anything at all. John could tell that something was not right, as his instincts were ring with warning.

 Chapter 607 Abyss-Shadow Spider

    His eyes strained to see before him, but couldn¡¯t see much. He instead spread out his divine sense as far as it could go, and the faintest of warnings red in his mind as he shed towards Ziora, his battle axe shing outwards.


    Peng!


    Sparks flew off the de of his battle axe, as a sharp object had pierced directly towards the back of Ziora¡¯s head. The sparks illuminated the nearby area for a brief instant, and John¡¯s eyes locked onto the creature that had been revealed.


    A spider, ten yards across and as ck as the darkest night stared back at him with dozens of ck, beady eyes, while it quickly retracted its stinger. Its body suddenly vanished, blending back into the darkness of the area around them. John¡¯s eyes narrowed and guard heightened as he knew the vanishing was not due to the spider¡¯s defeat, but its ability to blend into the shadows.


    ¡°An Abyss-Shadow Spider!¡±


    ¡°An Abyss-Shadow Spider?¡± Ziora eximed in shock as she reacted to what had happened. She had not even noticed the spider¡¯s presence or attack, and had only seen it after the sparks illuminated its body. Were it not for John, she would have no doubt been killed.


    However, her true shock was not due to the attack, but the creature that she had seen. Abyss-Shadow spiders were practically legends in terms of lethality. They were nature¡¯s perfect assassins, as their speed was incredibly fast, and they had the ability to meld into shadows and blend into darkness, bing almost undetectable.


    ¡°The Jade Dragon Empire sure was cruel,¡± John muttered as he red his divine sense to his maximum. His eyes narrowed as his divine sense washed over the arena, noticing what was contained within. Hundreds of skeletal human corpses were strewn about, some almost to the point of disintegration. Clearly these were youths from the Jade Dragon Empire, who had died in the hundreds going through this deadly trial.<sub>.</sub>


    John also spotted five fresh corpses, clearly belonging to some of the youths that had gone through this trial recently. His face turned serious as he grabbed Ziora¡¯s hand, while his body sped forward through the darkness. He guided himself using his Divine Sense, and arrived before one of the fresh bodies on the floor.


    The youth he had seen previously leaned against the wall of the arena, blood oozing out of his stomach, while the aura of life around the youth was feeble and weak.. The wound smelled foul, as John could clearly tell that the youth had been stung by the spider¡¯s stinger, and afflicted by its venom.


    The venom itself was not lethal if treated, but it instantly paralyzed the victim, allowing the spider to consume them at their leisure. While the spider was a formation construct, such formations used the beast cores of animals to emte both the actions and instincts of the creature. Beast cores were like dantians for beasts, which allowed them to raise their cultivations and grow stronger.


    As such, the spider acted as if it were a true living Abyss-Shadow Spider.


    Cough!


    The youth sprawled against the wall coughed, and his eyes locked onto John¡¯s face that he could hardly make out, despite only being two feet away.


    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± the youth said, before his eyes widened with rity. ¡°Be careful, there¡¯s an Abyss-Shadow Spider!¡±<sub></sub>


    John stared at the youth, his opinion of the youth rising. Despite his grievous state, he still warned John of the dangers within.


    ¡°I know,¡± John replied as a pill suddenly appeared in his hands. It was one of the antidote pills Chase had personally created for the group, and was one that was most effective against spider venoms. While it would fully neutralize the paralyzing venom, it was better than nothing, and would allow the youth to focus on healing himself.


    While doing all this, John¡¯s divine sense continued to scan for the spider at full power, although he was unable to lock onto it. He could detect faint movements here and there, but the spider¡¯s ability to blend into the darkness included obscuring not only vision, but divine senses as well. However, thanks to his incredibly powerful soul, he was able to lock onto the spider¡¯s movements much better than most other cultivators.


    Its body appeared in his divine sense at varying locations, like it teleported from one ce to another in an instant. Such was the ability of the Abyss-Shadow Spider, which made it all the more lethal.


    Despite the fact that the spider was at the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, it was still incredibly lethal. While John did think of raising its strength, he decided against it. He would not be able to ensure the safety of the two other youths if he did so.


    John¡¯s instincts red in warning once again, and his finger raised upwards.


    Lightning Disintegration!<sub></sub>


    Lightning instantly sted out of his finger, illuminating the nearby area. His gaze locked onto the spider that had appeared above him, ready to attack with its stinger. The spider¡¯s quick reactions dodged the lightning at thest moment, and blended back into the shadows, disappearing from sight and divine sense once more.


    ¡°Hmph, you can hide from others, but in front of me, such actions are futile,¡± John said out loud as his body shed forward, appearing like a blur of lightning as he activated his Thundersh Body and Limiter of Speed.


    Ziora and the youth watched as John¡¯s figure shed all throughout the darkness, appearing like a streak of lightning. His lightning attacks pierced out with incredible swiftness, each attack illuminating the spider and revealing a small hint of their battle.


    Shrieks from the spider filled the cavernous arena, while thunderous explosions from John¡¯s lightning attacks did the same. The battle continued for several minutes, before¡­


    Shriek!


    An incredibly loud shriek bellowed out, followed by deafening silence. Ziora and the injured youth stared into the darkness in silence, unsure of what the oue of the battle was. After what felt like an eternity, a figure appeared before them, startling them. However, they both breathed out a sigh of relief as their divine senses revealed the figure to be John.


    ¡°The spider?¡± the injured youth asked.


    ¡°Dead!¡± John replied, his words indicating the lethal threat had finally ended. Both youths breathed out a sigh of relief, when Ziora¡¯s eyes opened wide in panic as she stared at a wound on John¡¯s body.


    ¡°You¡¯re been stung by the spider!¡±


    Ziora¡¯s eyes instantly widened in panic as her divine sense revealed a wound on John¡¯s stomach, with the same foul-smelling venom lingering on the wound.


    ¡°You¡¯re hurt!¡± Ziora eximed as she appeared before John. John smiled as he spotted the worry on Ziora¡¯s face but assuaged her concern.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± John replied calmly, ¡°I got stung on purpose.¡±


    ¡°You got stung on purpose? Why would you do such a thing?¡± Ziora asked, her tone still tinged with concern.


    John had done so for two reasons. One was to lock down the spider¡¯s movements, as it was quite a troublesome opponent. While he would no doubt defeat it after a while through normal means, he didn¡¯t want to leave the injured youth untended for too long. As the spider struck him, he grabbed the stinger, stopping it from retreating, which allowed him tond the finishing blow.


    The other was that he wanted to test out his body¡¯s resistance to venom. He already knew he was resistant to poison to some extent thanks to the poison room in the Lightning Realm, but didn¡¯t know the extent of it. This spider was the perfect opportunity to test that.


    While John did feel his body be a bit weaker due to the paralyzing poison, his Immortal Asura Body was able to resist its effects. At the same time, John could tell that his blood was also naturally resistant to poison, perhaps due to his bloodline ability or unique lineage. Regardless of the reason, John was content with the oue, although he couldn¡¯t tell Ziora the real reason for his actions.


    John ignored Ziora¡¯s question and instead kneeled before the injured youth.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± the youth said to John, as he had truly saved his life.


    ¡°What happened?¡± John asked the youth. ¡°Surely you could have managed against this spider?¡±


    While John did not know much about the youth, he could tell from that one sword attack that he was very talented. Although the Abyss-Shadow Spider was incredibly dangerous, the youth should have been able to manage in the end. The youth was no more than a year older than John, and were he the same age as the top geniuses in thesends, he would no doubt be ranked amongst the top fifty. The only disadvantage he had against them was time, as he was younger than most in the realm at age eighteen.


    ¡°I did manage to kill the spider,¡± the youth replied while smiling through the pain, ¡°but that¡¯s when the second spider appeared, which I was not expecting.¡±


    ¡°A second spider?¡± John eximed, while his divine sense re out again to check if there was a third spider lingering in the shadows.

 Chapter 608 Trial Rewards

    However, after inspecting the dark arena for some time, he detected no movement at all. With his strong instincts, he was sure the threat was over.


    ¡°The Jade Dragon Empire sure is ruthless, having two Abyss-Shadow Spiders for this trial. Almost no one would be able to pass this trial on their own.¡±


    Even he would have had a tough time fighting against two Early Heaven Tribtion Abyss-Shadow Spiders. While he still would win in the end, the battle would be incredibly hard fought. However, when he thought about the fact that the Jade Dragon Empire youths would have been stronger and more talented than the Honorable Alliance youths, it made some sense as to the difficulty of the trial.


    ¡°Still, being able to kill one of them. I knew I wasn¡¯t wrong in my judgment about you,¡± John praised the youth.


    sh!


    A sh of green light appeared in the distance, revealing the end of the current trial. A wry smile appeared on the youths face as he gazed at the distant barrier.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°At least we know there isn¡¯t a third spider,¡± the youth said in a self-deprecating manner.


    ¡°Haha, I suppose you¡¯re right,¡± John replied with a smallugh. He reached out to help the youth to his feet, who took his helping hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    The youth popped a healing pill into his mouth, while the group made their way towards the formation barrier.


    ¡°Should we wait?¡± Ziora asked as she nced at the injured youth, ¡°you know, for him to heal up?¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°No need,¡± John replied, as he stepped through the barrier without hesitation.


    He was more than confident in his ability to protect the two of them if need be. The two youths stared at each other for a moment before they both stepped through the barrier.


    John appeared in their vision once more, and they quickly gazed around the room, expecting to see another opponent. However, before them was not a battle arena, and instead the found themselves in the middle of a massive, well-illuminated room. The jade green walls were ornately detailed with gold designs, while hundreds of translucent floating orbs hovered in the air above their heads. Many of the orbs were empty, but several dozen of them contained items, ranging from weapons, to scrolls, to other fantastic things. The auras each of the items gave off was beyondpare, making all three youths desire nothing else than to race into the air and grab the items.


    To the side of each item was a number, ranging from five for the lowest items and rising as the items got higher up off the ground.


    A voice suddenly filled the room, sounding artificial and lifeless.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Using the Jade Marks received from this True Warrior Trial, you may pick your rewards! Use your divine sense to interface with the item, and it will be retrieved.¡±


    The youths were surprised to hear the voice, but quickly realized it was most likely some sort of ancient artifact spirit in charge of this trial. Their gazes heated up as they realized they would be able to im some of the items above them, as all three gazes started scanning for what they wanted.


    Ziora had sixty five points, as she had not helped with the Abyss-Shadow Spider. However, this number was still quite high, and she quickly found something she desired. Arge smile appeared on her face as she sent her divine sense out, locking onto one of the translucent orbs.


    The orb had the number sixty next to it, signifying the Jade Mark price. After touching the orb with her divine sense, it began to lower, and arrived in front of her after a short moment. Her eyes lit up as she reached out and grabbed the item, which was a brilliant jade green and gold staff.


    The staff was perfect for use by War Mages, and exuded the aura of a Peak Heaven Tribtion grade weapon, if not better.


    The injured youth also spotted what he wanted, and sent out his divine sense towards an orb around the same area as Ziora. As he had not battled anything higher than his own cultivation but had battled in all the trials, most alone, he had received seventy points.


    The orb he wanted lowered and arrived before him, and the youths face lit up with excitement as a profound sword appeared in his hand. It was also jade green and gold, and too exuded the aura of a Peak Heaven Tribtion grade weapon. It was much better than his own sword, and would allow him to unleash much stronger battle arts in the trials toe.


    The youth inspected his weapon, before he gazed at John with sincerity and thankfulness.


    ¡°I must thank you,¡± the youth said to John. ¡°Were it not for you, not only would I not have this sword, but I would most likely be dead by now.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it,¡± John replied to the youth, ¡°you would have done the same were the roles reversed.¡±


    The youth smiled at John once again, as he was impressed by John¡¯sck of arrogance despite his awe-inspiringbat prowess and talent. Most geniuses werepletely arrogant and looked down on all weaker and less talented than them, but John was not like this.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted back towards the items above his head, and his eyes locked onto the item at the very top. It floated at the top alone, as if the other orbs were not worthy of approaching it. He inspected it, and quickly made up his mind. The item within the orb cost four hundred Jade Marks, which was a terrifying number. While John had received seven hundred Jade Marks from this trial, that was from jumping three minor realms three times and two minor realms once with the Abyss-Shadow Spider. One would need to jump two minor realms four times to achieve this score, which was a testament to its high requirement.


    While there was an element of teamy which could factor into being able to aplish such feats, it was still no easy task to defeat an opponent two minor realms above one¡¯s cultivation, regardless of how many teammates there were.


    He sent out his divine sense, which approached the orb at the top. A thunderous roar appear in his mind as if warning him to stay away, like the roar of a dragon but within his mind and soul. It¡¯s power was awe-inspiring, but John ignored the roar of warning as he interfaced with the orb, which now slowly descended towards him.

 Chapter 609 Perfect Innate Variant Body

    The orb slowly lowered and appeared before him, while an awe-inspiring aura flooded the entire room as he grabbed the item and withdrew it from the protective orb. All three youths felt their souls tremble as they heard a powerful roar in their minds. Ziora and the injured youth clutched their heads in pain, as the roar had inflicted pain on their souls, while John firmly ignored it.


    A smile appeared on his face as he held the object in his hand, which struggled against his grip as if it were sentient. His own power red out, as he focused on subduing the object in his hands. After a brief battle between the two, the object quieted down, seemingly epting of John.


    The pain in Ziora¡¯s mind disappeared, and she gazed at John as if he truly were a monstrous monster.


    ¡°You¡­that¡¯s a dragon scale¡­and not just a regr dragon scale. That¡¯s a reverse scale, the first scale a dragon is born with, which is imbued with not only a portion of the dragon¡¯s power, but also its pride and some of sentience,¡± Ziora eximed in shock.


    She paused for a while, trying to figure out what had happened, before she spoke up once more.


    ¡°Did¡­did you get the dragon¡¯s reverse scale to ept you? Such a thing is almost never heard of,¡± Ziora eximed. ¡°Dragons are incredibly prideful creatures, and I can tell this one belonged to a very powerful dragon.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°No, it didn¡¯t ept me,¡± John said, his words causing Ziora to breathe out in relief, as the shock would be too great to ept, even after everything she had seen him do before. However, his next words nearly caused her to copse in shock.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t realize the scale was so¡­special,¡± John replied, his voice a bit bashful after what Ziora had revealed to him, ¡°and it gave me a lot of sass when I held it, so I just forcibly subdued it instead.¡±


    Ziora almost couldn¡¯t believe her ears. She stared at John with a look of stunned disbelief, but the now calm scale that rested in his hands was a testament to the veracity of his words.


    ¡°How¡­forget it,¡± Ziora said after a long silence,ing to terms that John was a monstrous genius beyond anything she thought possible, ¡°with you, cultivation norms don¡¯t apply it seems.¡±


    The injured youth also stared at John with a strange expression, both at subduing the reverse dragon scale, as well as having enough points to buy it in the first ce.<sub></sub>


    ¡°How many Jade Marks did you obtain in this trial?¡± the youth asked curiously.


    ¡°Seven hundred,¡± John replied without hiding anything.


    ¡°Seven hundred!¡± the injured youth eximed, almost unable to believe his ears. He had gone solo through all but thest trial, and had only managed to get seventy points. He didn¡¯t know about the difficulty adjustments, but even if he did, he would not have done what John had done and fought above his level.


    ¡°I¡¯m Oliver,¡± the youth introduced himself after a moment of silence, as he realized he still hadn¡¯t done so. ¡°From the Astral Sword Sect.¡±


    ¡°Astral Sword Sect?¡± John repeated the name, ¡°the strongest sect in the Honorable Alliance?¡±<sub></sub>


    Although he had limited information about the Divine Martial Continent and Honorable Alliance, he did know that the Astral Sword Sect was the supposed strongest sect in the alliance. Not only that, but they boasted the strongest Alliance disciple, as Luth Chaster was a disciple of the sect.


    ¡°That¡¯s the one,¡± the youth replied.


    ¡°No wonder your sword attack was so profound,¡± John said as he recalled the sword attack he had seen the youth unleash before. He could tell it was not simple in origins, and most likely had some ancient lineage.


    ¡°Thanks, but my attack is still nothingpared to what Luth can unleash,¡± the youth replied, downying himself and his power. John found himself approving of the youth¡¯s attitude, as most geniuses from the number one sect like that would be haughty and prideful, but Oliver was quite the opposite.


    ¡°Well Oliver, I¡¯m-¡°


    ¡°I know who you are,¡± Oliver said before John could finish his sentence.


    John raised an eyebrow, but then realized that Oliver most likely had a Jade Dragon List, and pieced together who he was that way.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one youth on the Jade Dragon List with your cultivation. I thought the Heaven Scrying Sect had gone mad, but it seems as though I was the one who was mistaken. There¡¯s no doubting your power, as unbelievable as it may seem,¡± Oliver said.


    ¡°You still have three hundred points remaining!¡± the temple spirit voice spoke up once again. ¡°Choose your rewards!¡±


    ¡°An impatient artifact spirit? That¡¯s a first,¡± John mumbled as his focus shifted back towards the items above his head. He was disappointed there was no scythe amongst the items, and so he inspected the other¡¯s with his divine sense, seeing if any were of interest to him.


    After searching for a while, he found two that interested him. The first was called ¡®Roar of the Jade Dragon,¡¯ which was a body battle art, and cost one hundred Jade Marks. It was a body battle art not because it strengthened the body, but because it required one be a body cultivator to use it. The battle art concentrated a massive amount of Qi and air within one¡¯s lungs, before unleashing an incredibly powerful and devastating roar, akin to a dragon. Only a body cultivator could have lungs strong enough to withstand the pressure that built up inside the body.


    The other was called ¡®Advent of Annihtion,¡¯ which was a battle axe battle art, and cost two hundred Jade Marks.


    ¡®I¡¯ve been using the Sky Sundering Axe to this point, but it¡¯s be quite weak whenpared to my opponent¡¯s level. It¡¯s a Meridian Forging battle art, and so I think it¡¯s about time I upgrade to something more powerful. The timing couldn¡¯t be more perfect.¡¯


    His brief review of the Advent of Annihtion battle art revealed it to be a devastatingly powerful battle art, which focused on power above all else. With his initial grasp of the Dao of Power, this was a perfect battle art for him.


    His divine sense linked with two objects, both jade pieces. After linking with the jade pieces, they slowly began to lower towards him, eventually arriving before him.


    ¡°Roar of the Jade Dragon and Advent of Annihtion,¡± the artifact spirit spoke out again. ¡°You have chosen two powerful battle arts. In fact, Advent of Annihtion is a battle art created by the Jade Dragon Emperor himself.¡±


    ¡°The Jade Dragon Emperor!¡± John eximed, as that name was beyond legendary. ¡°The Jade Dragon Emperor used a battle axe?¡±


    ¡°That he did,¡± the temple spirit replied. ¡°The Jade Dragon Emperor was born with a Perfect Innate Variant Body, which allowed him to wield his heavy battle axe with awe-inspiring power.¡±

 Chapter 610 Peak Meridian Forging

    ¡°Perfect Innate Variant Body!¡± Ziora eximed in shock, while Oliver was also stunned to hear this. Even John was surprised, as he had only ever run into Common Innate Variant Bodies in his life. After Common was the King Variant, and after the King Variant was the Sovereign Variant. The Perfect Innate Variant Body was after the Sovereign body, and was so rare as to almost be considered a myth. In fact, there were no confirmed rumors of anyone having been born with such a body since the Jade Dragon Emperor.


    ¡®No wonder the Jade Dragon Empire was so terrifying. The Jade Dragon Emperor was practically a mythical existence from the moment he was born,¡¯ John mused internally.


    However, he also realized that he had made a fantastic choice in items, as a battle art created by the Jade Dragon Emperor himself would no doubt be beyond powerful. John quickly stored the items away, as he would have to study them at ater time.


    sh!


    Green light shed within the room as another green formation barrier appeared.


    ¡°Your True Warrior Trial has ended. You may now leave,¡± the artifact spirit said to the group.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Wait,¡± John said, as he had onest thing to ask. ¡°What¡¯s the significance of the dragon scale?¡±


    The artifact spirit remained silent for a short moment before replying.


    ¡°Prove yourself worthy in the trials toe and you will discover the truth,¡± the artifact spirit replied.


    John frowned, but knew he would get no more information. However, his gains had been beyond rewarding for this trial, and so he did notin. The three youths stepped through the formation barrier, and ava-filled world once again came into their view as they found themselves transported outside.


    Oliver and Ziora couldn¡¯t help but sigh in relief, as their harrowing journey through the True Warrior Trial was finally over.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Ziora said to John, and Oliver did the same. Without him, both would no doubt already be dead.


    ¡°No need to thank me,¡± John said to the two of them, ¡°just repay the favor by helping any other Heavenly Lightning Sect youths youe across that need help, and I¡¯ll consider ourselves even.¡±


    ¡°Deal,¡± Oliver said firmly with a smile on his face, while Ziora nodded her head as well. John wished the two of them luck in their trials toe, before his body shed forward, disappearing into the distance. The two watched him leave, before they too parted, each continuing their adventure through the dangerousnds.


    ¡­


    Two weekster, John¡¯s body shed across the stillva-fillednd, his aura stronger than ever as it was firmly in the Peak Meridian Forging realm. After leaving the True Warrior Trial, he had found a cave to cultivate in while he learned the Roar of the Jade Dragon and Advent of Annihtion. A smile lingered on his face as he raced through thend once more, more than content with his recent cultivation progress.<sub></sub>


    ¡®The Roar of the Jade Dragon and Advent of Annihtion are even more powerful than I thought they would be. Although I¡¯ve only grasped the initial concepts of Advent of Annihtion, it¡¯s already more powerful than my Sky Sundering Axe. Not only that, but I managed to push my cultivation to the peak of the Meridian Forging Realm in both Essence and Body cultivation. I could break through at any time, but I first need to improve my body durability and soul defense a bit more before I make that leap.¡¯


    Despite not breaking through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, his strength had grown by quite a bit. Coupled with his new battle arts, John felt even more confidence in dealing with future trials and other geniuses.


    ¡®My cultivation speed is still shockingly fast. I reached the Late Meridian Forging Realm just over three months ago, and I¡¯m already able to proceed to the next realm if I wanted. Most youths take over six months to go from Late Meridian Forging to Early Heaven Tribtion, which just further reveals the profundity of my Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique.¡¯


    After leaving the cave, John spent another week traversing theva-fillednd. He hade across two more warrior trials, although neither were True Warrior Trials. He had passed them with full scores, bringing his Jade Mark total to fifteen hundred marks.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± something came into John¡¯s view in the distance. He sped towards it, and soon came about another trial to partake in. A group of thirty youths were gathered at the base of the trial, which seemed to be a sheer face wall, several hundred yards tall.


    A lone youth was climbing the wall, his progress slow as he seemed to be struggling, while the thirty or so youths watched him climb from below. John arrived amongst the youths at the base of the wall, his arrival catching the attention of the others.


    They all noticed his cultivation level, and many curious gazes inspected him as they couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he was the one the rumors were about.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± John asked a nearby youth as he ignored the stares.


    ¡°It¡¯s another warrior trial,¡± the youth replied, his tone and expression unsure about how to reply. One would not reply in an overly respectful manner to those weaker than them, but the Jade Dragon List had revealed that there was one youth in the Meridian Forging Realm that could not be looked down on, although the youth was not sure as John¡¯s aura was hidden at the moment.


    ¡°A warrior trial? To climb the wall?¡± John asked, as the trial didn¡¯t seem very warrior-like.


    ¡°It¡¯s not as simple as it appears,¡± the youth replied. ¡°As you climb, a strange energy washes over you. While it gets physically harder to climb the higher you get, that¡¯s not the hard part. The wall invades your mind and soul, making you feel excruciating pain, amongst other terrifying things. It¡¯s a dreadful test of willpower, and you get more Jade Marks the higher you climb.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s how it is,¡± John replied. Having a firm willpower and ability to withstand pain was something very important to climbing through the cultivation world, and one that John was very familiar with.


    ¡°Why is only one climbing?¡± John asked, as he noticed the others just waiting around.


    ¡°Only one can climb at a time,¡± the youth replied, ¡°most likely to stop any teamwork.¡±


    John¡¯s gaze lingered on the climbing youth, who seemed to be on hisst legs. He was around sixty percent of the way up, and was most likely going to fall soon.


    ¡°Has anyone managed to climb to the top?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°Two, apparently,¡± the youth replied. ¡°I didn¡¯t see it personally, but others did. One was Luth Chaster, who climbed the wall in fifteen minutes. The other was Parker Noren, who climbed in nine minutes.¡±

 Chapter 611 Sinister Aura

    John frowned as he heard that name again, as the name left a foul taste in his mouth whenever he heard it.


    ¡°Can you believe it?¡± the youth continued, ¡°Parker managed to beat Luth in this trial. While it doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s stronger or more talented, it does mean that his willpower and pain tolerance is higher. How impressive is that?¡±


    ¡°Quite impressive indeed,¡± John replied, his gaze shifting to the youth on the wall that suddenly cried out in pain as his arms and legs gave out, and he fell from the wall to the ground below.


    ¡°So I¡¯m assuming the order we arrived in is the order to take this trial?¡± John asked the youth, who nodded his head in confirmation.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to wait,¡± a voice from the front of the crowd spoke up, catching John¡¯s attention. The crowd parted for the youth, who walked over towards John. Hushed whispers from the other youths sounded out, and the number one hundred and twelve was mentioned several times, giving John some information of who this was.


    The youth walked up to John and stood before him, his arrogant gaze inspecting him with doubt on his face. The youth was the same height as John, and carried arge greatsword on his back, which glowed orange on the de¡¯s edge. He had short red hair, and had a powerful looking body, clearly belonging to a body cultivator.


    Unlike the robes that most youths wore, the youth was wearing a set of impressive looking ck and orange armor, making him look quite fearsome. His gaze inspected John for a moment, before he scoffed lightly.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Are you John Fenix?¡± the youth asked, his words causing the hushed discussions to begin once again.


    ¡°I am,¡± John replied, hiding nothing. His confirmation sent the other youths into a hushed frenzy, as they were in the presence of two Jade Dragon List geniuses.


    ¡°What, do you want to fight?¡± John asked, as he had been challenged quite a few times by other youths over thest two weeks and had be used to such a thing.


    A confident smirk appeared on the youths face, as he scoffed once more.


    ¡°If your rank is justified, fighting you would be worthwhile, but I just don¡¯t believe it,¡± the youth replied. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how you did it, but you clearly either tricked the Heaven Scrying Sect, or paid them a ridiculous amount of money. Either way, you¡¯re not worthy of fighting against me. But how about this, I¡¯ll let you take my ce to climb the wall next. If your performance is good enough, I¡¯ll entertain the idea of fighting you.¡±


    John stared calmly at the youth before him, before a small smile appeared on his face.<sub></sub>


    ¡°I ept,¡± John replied, wasting no time at all as he walked over towards the wall. The heated gazes of the other youths locked onto his back, eager to see if the rumors were true or not.


    ¡®Idiot. I don¡¯t care at all about fighting such a weakling. But if he wants to let me cut to the front of the line, I¡¯m more than happy to oblige,¡¯ Johnughed internally at the muscle-headed youth.


    He appeared before the wall and gazed towards the top. The wall was riddled with holes and cracks, giving him ces to ce his hands and feet. He wasted no time at all as he ced his hand on the wall, and began to climb.


    The pressure the youth mentioned instantly washed over him, as John felt a growing pain begin to form within his body.


    ¡®Strange. I can tell this pain is not real, and is only mental, but it feels indistinguishable from real pain. How bizarre, but that¡¯s a good thing I suppose. The pain from this trial won¡¯t cause any body damage, so I won¡¯t have to worry about healing afterwards.¡¯


    John¡¯s movements remained steady as he began to climb, his speed much faster than the youths were used to seeing. He quickly reached fifty yards up, as the pain grew several times over. However, John scoffed at the pain he was feeling, as it was almost nothing to him.<sub></sub>


    ¡®Compared to the pain of my tribtions and cultivating with the Celestial Lightning Script, this is almost nothing so far.¡¯


    John continued to race up the wall with a rapid pace, his speed shocking the youths below him as he did not slow down at all. Meanwhile, the muscled youth gazed at John with narrowed eyes, as his performance was starting to lend aid to the truth of his ranking.


    Two minutes into the trial, John reached the half-way point. The youths were all eagerly discussing his performance, while the muscled youth scoffed once more.


    ¡°Hmph, his speed has been impressive, but he¡¯s only now reaching the challenging part. We¡¯ll see if he can keep up such bravado in the face of what he¡¯s about to experience,¡± the youth said with his arms crossed over his chest.


    John¡¯s movements suddenly stopped as he reached the half-way mark, and he didn¡¯t move for fifteen seconds. The muscled youth scoffed again, while a smile appeared on his face.


    ¡°See. Just as I predicted,¡± the youth continued.


    Meanwhile, John had paused for a moment, as he had not been expecting to feel this aura here.


    ¡®This aura! It¡¯s just like the sinister aura within my pce realm!¡¯


    John almost couldn¡¯t believe it, and had paused as he studied the aura closely. While the aura was not the exact same as the aura in his pce realm, it definitely belonged to something simr.


    ¡®Why would this aura show up here?¡¯ John mused, trying to figure out what was going on. After fifteen seconds of contemtion, John wiped the question from his mind, as he knew he would not figure out the true answer himself.


    ¡®Well, whatever the reason, I can tell why the youths struggle when they reach this spot. The sinister aura is unlike anything they¡¯ve ever felt, and it has the power to drive someone intoplete madness if not guarded against. Not only that, but the level of pain I¡¯m feeling has also grown tremendously whenpared to the start of the trial. However¡­¡¯


    A smirk appeared on John¡¯s face as he once again began to climb the wall. He had been cultivating in front of the sinister gate for years now, and his willpower had been firmed to an incredible level. Compared to the sinister gate aura, this sinister aura was quitecking, as was the pain he was feeling whenpared to his other experiences in the past.


    The youths began to discuss John¡¯s ascension as he once again began to move, but the discussions quickly died down as stunned silence reced them. They all stared in silence as John raced up the wall, his speed almost too fast to be believed. Less than three minutes after starting his climb, John reached the top of the wall.


    His smiling gaze shifted back towards the muscled youth, and he gestured to the youth toe up to him.


    ¡°Come on up,¡± John said to the youth, his tone slightly mocking, ¡°we can have our battle up here.¡±


    The muscled youth stared at John, his mouth quivering slightly as he thought of what to say. He had already attempted the wall once, and had failed to reach the top. John scoffed in a simr manner as the youth had done previously, almost in a mocking manner as his gaze seemed to pierce into the muscled youths soul.


    ¡°Well, you now know what I look like, so feel free to seek me out for a battle anytime,¡± John called out to the youth before he sped off the wall into the distance, disappearing from the sight of the others. Silence filled the area for quite some time, before frenzied discussions broke out once more.


    ¡°Three minutes! Three minutes!¡± a youth eximed, almost unable to believe it.


    ¡°I know! That¡¯s three times faster than Parker, and five times faster than Luth! Unbelievable,¡± another eximed. John¡¯s performance sent a wave of desire through the youths, who now wished to emte a bit of what they had witnessed. The next youth hopped onto the wall with eager anticipation, while the others waited on impatiently.


    Afterwards, tales of John¡¯s performance spread throughout thend, further adding to his growing legend.

 Chapter 612 Number One

    John¡¯s journey through theva-fillednd continued for another week, as more trials appeared which he participated in. However, none were True Warrior Trials as well, a fact that disappointed him.


    ¡®It seems like the True Warrior Trials are quite rare, but I suppose that makes sense. If every trial was a True Warrior Trial, the death count of the Jade Dragon Empire youths would have been incalcble. I¡¯m sure thisva-fillednd was quite dangerous to most of the youths that entered, it¡¯s just that I¡¯m a bit of an exception when ites to difficulty scaling.¡¯


    The journey through theva-riddlednd had been quite adventurous, but nothing that really pushed John to the edge other than the True Warrior Trial. However, he was not too disappointed, as this much was expected. There was still a good portion of the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds to explore, and he was sure that the danger level as well as rewards of the trials would continue to grow.


    A crescent moon rose high in the sky as the sun set over the horizon, barely illuminating thend before John. Only the glow of the surroundingva gave any light to thend, but that glow slowly faded away as John found himself finally leaving thend ofva.


    An expansive grasnd filled with flowers and long grass stretched out before him, and in the very far distance, another mountain range was visible. At the same time, the mountain ranges to either side of him that lined the warrior trialnd started to lessen, revealing that the division between the trials was soon toe to an end.<sub>.</sub>


    A small amount of light glowed in the far distance towards the mountains, which John peered towards to identify.


    ¡°It looks like it could be another city. I guess that¡¯s the way to go then,¡± John said as he started proceeding towards the lights in the distance roughly forty miles away.


    The darkness of night slowly thickened as all light from the sun finally faded away; the only source of light remaining being the thin crescent moon high above. However, even in this dim light, John was able to see most of his surroundings, with his divine sense also aiding his vision.


    John¡¯s instincts suddenly red in warning as the slightest hint of killing intent washed over him. It was so faint as to be easily overlooked as a mistaken feeling, but John trusted his instincts. He suddenly dodged to the side, and the glimmer of a dagger piercing by and catching the moonlight from above appeared in his vision for the briefest of moments before disappearing. He could tell that the dagger was held by a shadowed and ck clothed youth, whose body also seemed to vanish into thin air after the attack missed.<sub></sub>


    His divine sense red out with maximum power as he raised his guard to his limits. A faint shimmer was detected by his divine sense, as if something was there and not there at the same time. It was a strange feeling, and the shimmer popped in and out of existence, as if traveling through space itself.


    John¡¯s eyes narrowed as he tried to lock onto the shimmering existence, which also seemed to meld into the darkness in a simr fashion to the Abyss-Shadow Spider. His body suddenly shed to the side again as another dagger narrowly passed by, its speed and sharpness shocking even John. Clearly whoever was trying to attack him was incredibly talented, and an idea of who it was popped into John¡¯s mind.


    ¡°You must be the genius from the Nightveil Assassin Guild I¡¯ve heard about,¡± John said out loud, his voice cold but calm. When he had attacked the six Nightveil Assassin Guild youths in front of the ancient city, he had been warned by a member of his sect about the powerful youth from the guild.


    John had inspected the Jade Dragon List earlier in the day, and had noticed the youth on the list. His ranking was eleven, a testament to his terrifying talent and lethality. John had scoffed at the warning, as he did not consider the assassin a threat when he heard about him, but he couldn¡¯t help but be impressed at what he was encountering at the moment.<sub></sub>


    His statement was met with silence, as another dagger pierced from the shadows, appearing from out of nowhere. John once again narrowly dodged the dagger, which cut a small portion of his sleeve.


    ¡°There¡¯s no use in denying it,¡± John said out loud again. ¡°There¡¯s only one youth in our Honorable Alliance that can do what¡¯s being done right now, so I know it¡¯s you, Number One.¡±


    The Nightveil Assassin Guild youths did not have names, and instead went by their rankings within the sect as their name. This helped them remain anonymous, making it much harder for anyone to find out about their past and use any information against them. Naturally, the strongest disciple of the Guild was named Number One.


    ¡°Hmph, not bad,¡± a cold voice sounded out from within the darkness. John¡¯s divine sense tried to lock onto the location of the voice to find the youth, but couldn¡¯t lock onto his location. ¡°I had doubts about your ranking, and considered such a job beneath myself, but you are the first person to ever dodge my assassination arts. It seems as though your ranking is well deserved.¡±


    Che!


    Another dagger shed from within the darkness, followed by several more. John¡¯s body dodged to the side quickly, narrowly avoiding each attack as he relied on his powerful divine sense and instincts to warn him and guide his moments. However, his eyes narrowed slightly as he could tell these attacks were different from the first one.


    The first had been an attack with the intent on taking his life in a single blow, and would have seeded were it not for his freakish instincts and reaction time. However, these attacks were now different, as the daggers were being thrown at him from the shadows, while the first attack had been personally carried out by Number One.


    However, despite the fact that the attacks were different, they were no less lethal. Each dagger had a sharpness that shocked even John, and he knew his body would be injured by such sharp and powerful weapons. Not only that, but there were more attacks now, as multiple daggers were thrown from all directions in quick session.


    John¡¯s body blurred as he continued to dodge the attacks, and after a brief assault, the attacks ceased. His divine sense continued to try to lock onto the youth, whose figure shimmered in and out of existence, making it hard to lock onto.


    ¡°These attacks of yours are clearly being done with the intent to im my life,¡± John said, his voice drifting into the darkness. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a bit overboard for me just taking a single hand from your guildmates?¡±


    ¡°Normally you would be correct, and I would only be here to take your hand in rpense, the same you did to my fellow guildmates¡± the youths voice drifted out from amongst the shadows, ¡°but your case is special. Your talent is monstrous, and if I just take your hand and leave you alive, you¡¯ll no doubt seek revenge in the future. That is a risk I¡¯m not willing to take, and so I will be taking your life today.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha,¡± Johnughed confidently, ¡°your attacks have failed to reach me a single time. How are you nning to aplish such a thing?¡±


    ¡°Because you¡¯ve already fallen for my trap,¡± the youth¡¯s voice drifted out, as light suddenly red out from beneath John¡¯s feet.

 Chapter 613 Overconfidence Defeated Us Both Today

    Light suddenly red out from beneath John¡¯s feet, catching his attention. He gazed at the ground around him, which was now littered with glowing daggers. The daggers formed aplex formation diagram, something that John had not noticed as he was too busy trying to lock onto the youth¡¯s location. Each dagger was also carved with intricate formation runes, which also began to glow.


    The daggers lit up in unison, linking up and forming a formation diagram, which red with gray light, barely noticeable within the darkness. John felt a pressure press down on his body, while ropes of gray light shot out from within the diagram, instantly locking onto his arms and legs. The ropes of light dragged him onto his knees, its power shockingly high.


    As the ropes of Qtched onto his body, John felt the energy from the ropes of light burrow into several of his acupoints and into his meridians. He red his essence Qi to resist the invasive energy, but quickly stopped as he noticed his actions were only hurting his situation.


    ¡°You noticed it that quickly?¡± the youth said from the shadows, ¡°your instincts and reactions truly are monstrous.¡±


    John frowned as he heard the youths¡¯ words, which were spoken as if he were congratting a dead man. As he red his essence Qi, he could tell that the ropes of light and invasive energy were siphoning that Qi, reinforcing the formation even further. A self-defeated smile appeared on his face as he realized that he had been bested by the youth in their encounter.<sub>.</sub>


    He could tell that the ropes of light could be destroyed if a strong enough surge of Qi was used to overwhelm it, but that would also potentially harm his meridians and acupoints, which would be quite dangerous. The trap the youth had set up was beyond profound, and John had never encountered anything like it before.


    ¡°Heh, I must admit your ranking is well deserved as well,¡± John said out loud, as the methods being used by the youth were truly shocking. Normally he would have noticed the details of the daggers, but the youths¡¯ incredibly dangerous attacksbined with his uncanny ability to blend into the darkness made it so that John focused entirely on the youth, and ignored the rest. It was a grave mistake, and John found himself on the losing end of a battle for the first time in quite a while.


    ¡®I could have ended the battle quickly if I used my full power from the start, but it seems my confidence has grown into arrogance as ofte¡­this lesson is well appreciated.¡¯


    ¡°You seem quite calm given the situation,¡± the youth¡¯s voice sounded out directly in front of John, as his body finally came into view. The youth was wearing ck clothes from head to toe, and only his eyes were exposed. His cultivation was in the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, and seemed just about ready to break through to the next minor realm at any moment.<sub></sub>


    ¡°It¡¯s not often I¡¯m bested in such an overwhelming fashion,¡± John said in a self-deprecating manner. ¡°This trap of yours is quite deadly, and I¡¯m sure there¡¯s only a handful of youths in the Alliance who would be able to get out of it. You¡¯re quite the assassin. When your initial attack failed, you instantly set in motion your backup n without hesitation, and without me noticing. I must say I¡¯m impressed.¡±


    Number One¡¯s emotionless eyes stared at John, no hate or anger contained within them. John could tell that this assassination mission was just job for the youth, a testament to his assassination experience.


    ¡°You would be correct in that assumption,¡± Number One replied as he took out a sharp sword, ¡°there are a few youths in thesends that even I must be cautious around, but unfortunately you are not one of them. Rest assured, your death will be quick and painless.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a relief,¡± John sighed as he heard Number One¡¯s words, who prepared to unleash the severing blow to John¡¯s neck. ¡°Before you finish the job, I have two questions I would like to ask,¡± John asked.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Hmm? Trying to stall for time?¡± Number One asked, ¡°there¡¯s no one in the surrounding area, so no one wille to save you.¡±


    ¡°No, not stalling, just asking,¡± John replied calmly. His calmness sent a slight tingle of caution through Number One, but he fully had John in his trap, which had never been broken by a youth in the same realm as him, let alone one three minor realms lower.


    ¡°Alright, I suppose I can oblige your final wish. What questions do you have of me?¡± Number One asked.


    ¡°Firstly, how did you manage to evade my divine sense so well?¡± John asked, as he was curious about that. It was truly an impressive ability, as Number One was even more evasive than the Abyss-Shadow Spider.


    ¡°That I cannot say, even to a dead man,¡± Number One replied.


    ¡°Oh well, I suppose it¡¯s some Guild Secret you cannot utter,¡± John replied, slightly disappointed. ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll ask my second question. Just how much information do you have on me?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Information?¡± Number One asked, wondering why a dead man would care about such a thing.


    ¡°I suppose you only know about me from the Jade Dragon List, correct?¡± John asked before taking in a very deep breath, as if he was tasting the fresh air onest time before his death.


    Number One remained silent, but his silence was confirmation enough for John. Arge smile suddenly appeared on John¡¯s face, one that sent a chill up Number One¡¯s spine, as it was not the smile of a man about to die.


    Snap!


    The sound of four objects snapping sounded out, as John¡¯s arms and legs were instantly freed from the bindings that restricted him. He could tell that John had managed to physically break his bindings without any Qi augmentation, something that should not be physically possible. Number One¡¯s eyes opened wide in shock, as he had never expected such a thing was possible, or that it could happen in an instant like that.


    He mustered his full power to retreat, but John appeared before him in an instant, his hands reaching out and mping onto his skull, making retreat impossible. The sword in Number One¡¯s hand shed out, but before it could reach his opponent¡¯s body, John¡¯srge smile turned into an open maw as a deafening roar suddenly exploded out directly before Number One.


    The roar sounded like that of a Dragon¡¯s, its power beyond anything Number One had heard before. His mind and soul felt like they were being crushed by the sound and pressure of the roar, while both his eardrums burst from the explosive sound. His brain seemed like it would explode at any moment, and Number One fell into a state of paralysis, unable to move a single muscle. His mind went nk for a while, and he only came back into consciousness a short whileter.


    His dazed gaze darted around as his blurry vision cleared up, and his eyes widened as he noticed his situation. His skull was still mped onto by John¡¯s hand, and based on what he had seen before from his physical power, he knew John could crush his skull like a watermelon in an instant. His life was no longer in his own control, as he found himselfpletely at John¡¯s mercy.


    ¡°Had you done a bit more research, you would have known about my body strength as well. Unfortunately for you, the Jade Dragon List makes no mention of my bodily strength anywhere,¡± John said to Number One with a cold smile on his face. ¡°It seems like overconfidence defeated both of us today.¡±

 Chapter 614 Offer

    John had never revealed his body strength to Ainsel or the other Heaven Scrying Sect members, and so they had not added that to his battle style section. While there were rumors of his body strength, nothing was confirmed, and so the information was omitted.


    Right as he was trapped, John realized that the formation was something that neutralized essence cultivators. His body waspletely unaffected, and so he knew he could break free at any moment. His discussion afterwards was an attempt to glean more information from Number One, but he had received nothing useful from him.


    ¡°You¡¯re quite lucky I decided to hold back on that roar,¡± John said as he looked Number One in the eyes. ¡°Were I to use the full power of that battle art at that close a distance, your brain might have be mush.¡±


    The Roar of the Jade Dragon was very powerful, but its power fell off quite fast as the target became more distant. However, John had yelled directly in Number One¡¯s face. With his high body strength and body Qi, a full powered roar from that distance just might have killed Number One, or at least inflicted grave injuries.


    ¡°What do you want from me?¡± Number One asked. His mind was still hazy, but his voice was calm as he came to terms with his situation. John raised an eyebrow in surprise at Number One¡¯s words and demeanor, as he could tell he waspletely calm in the moment. It was not like when John was calm, as he knew he could break free from the trap.<sub>.</sub>


    Number One had no escapes, and waspletely at John¡¯s mercy at the moment. However, he remained calm, as if he didn¡¯t fear death at all.


    ¡°You don¡¯t fear death?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°We all die eventually,¡± Number One replied. ¡°Do what you must.¡±


    John stared at Number One for a short moment, as he was hoping he would fear death. What he wanted to offer would be more readily epted if Number One wished to live more than anything, but he still decided to offer it anyways.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You tried to kill me, and normally that would lead to your death without question,¡± John said, ¡°but I am willing to make an exception this time, if you agree to one thing.¡±


    ¡°And what would that be?¡± Number One asked calmly.


    ¡°Allow me to ce a ve seal on your soul.¡±


    Number One scoffed upon hearing John¡¯s offer. ¡°I¡¯d rather die than suffer such indignation. Assassins live on the edge of life and death. A single mistake leads to death. I have epted this fact my entire life. Kill me, and be done with it.¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so hasty to refuse,¡± John replied. ¡°My conditions won¡¯t be what you¡¯re expecting, and given the only alternative is I kill you now, I think you¡¯ll actually prefer my offer. I could use someone with your talents, so I¡¯d rather you not refuse my offer.¡±


    Number One stared at John in silence for a short while, his calm eyes never wavering or showing a hint of fear. ¡°What is your offer?¡± he asked, willing to at least hear John out.


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it,¡± John said, a small smile appearing on his face for a moment. ¡°My offer is this. Allow me to ce a ve seal on your soul. I won¡¯t use it to control you, but only use it to ensure you follow certain instructions. These instructions are simple. First, you cannot harm any other Heavenly Lightning Sect member or anyone close to me, and you cannot instruct others to harm them for you. Second, you will listen to anymand I give you regarding an assassination target, and while we¡¯re in these trialnds, you¡¯lle to me if I summon you. Those are the only conditions I¡¯ll impose on you through this ve seal. Other than that, I¡¯ll allow you to go about your life freely, and when we leave thesends, I¡¯ll let you go on about your life¡­ah, but I¡¯ll keep the seal in ce, just to ensure you never seek revenge on those close to me. How¡¯s that deal sound?¡±


    Number One stared at John in silence, his eyes studying his face to see if there were any hints of a lie in John¡¯s words. As John had said, the deal truly was not a bad one. Most cultivators refused a ve seal even in the face of death, as they would be at the whims of the other cultivator, and most were made to live lives even worse than death. However, John¡¯s conditions were incredibly reasonable, and other than following some of his orders, his life would go on as normal.


    ¡°How can I trust you to keep to your words,¡± Number One asked.


    ¡°I guess you can¡¯t, but I wouldn¡¯t really care to lie about things like this. It¡¯s either that, or I kill you right now. While I do have use for someone with your talents, it¡¯s not like I can¡¯t manage on my own,¡± John replied calmly, not too concerned with Number One¡¯s answer.


    Number One fell silent for a while again, before his voice sounded out once more.


    ¡°I have just one question regarding your conditions,¡± he said to John. ¡°You said I could not harm a Heavenly Lightning Sect member or anyone you consider close, but never mentioned yourself.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I don¡¯t need such protections,¡± John replied confidently. ¡°I may have been overconfident earlier, but overconfidence or not, I¡¯m confident in my ability to keep myself alive. If you want to try another assassination on me, go ahead. But just know that the next time you try it, I won¡¯t hesitate to kill you.¡±


    John¡¯s voice got slightly colder towards the end of his response, indicating his sincerity in fulfilling his threat. A small smile eventually appeared on Number One¡¯s face as he heard John¡¯s reply.


    ¡°You would have made for a good Nightveil Assassin,¡± Number One replied. ¡°Fine. I ept your offer.¡±

 Chapter 615 Gruesome Discovery

    ¡°Good, you¡¯ve made the correct choice,¡± John replied with a satisfied head nod. Someone as talented and lethal as Number One coulde in handy, and was much better than just outright killing.


    ¡°Open your soul to me,¡± John instructed.


    Number One did as instructed without hesitation, his mind already made up. His natural soul defense was lowered, leaving his soulpletely vulnerable. John¡¯s soul red with power and washed over Number One, instantly invading his soul space. Number One¡¯s soul sea, the core of his soul appeared before him.


    John formed a soul seal, one imbued with the conditions he had mentioned to Number One, and ced it firmly within Number One¡¯s soul. The soul sealtched on, and Number One shuddered slightly from the slightly painful sensation. After cing the soul seal, John retracted his soul power, while Number One¡¯s soul defenses red up once more


    His divine sense inspected the soul seal, and a slightly surprised look appeared on his face. He could tell that the soul seal John had ced did not prohibit him tomit suicide, which was something that he had not expected. Almost all soul seals had the condition that the ve could notmit suicide, as the owner of that cultivator did not want them to get out the easy way. However, John had ced no such condition, meaning that if Number One found their agreement to becking, he could always end his life to get out of it. It was a mercy that John did not need to provide, but also hinted at John¡¯s sincerity of keeping to his words.


    ¡°You are quite strange,¡± Number One said to John.


    ¡°As I said, epting this soul contract won¡¯t be such a bad situation for you, and would be much more preferential than the alternative,¡± John replied before asking another question.


    ¡°Now, I want to know again, how were you able to be so elusive in our battle, even evading my divine sense?¡± John asked. Number One had refused to answer before, but now the situation was different.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°The Nightveil Stealth Art uses both the Dao of Darkness and the Dao of Space, allowing me to shroud myself in both Dao¡¯s,¡± Number One replied, not hiding the truth further.


    ¡°The Dao of Darkness, and Space?¡± John replied, slightly shocked to hear those Dao¡¯s mentioned.


    Both Dao¡¯s were on the same level as his Dao¡¯s of Power, Annihtion, and Destruction. For Number One to have a grasp of the Dao¡¯s, even the initial stages, was a testament to his talent, as well as the frightening power of the Divine Martial Continent. Both their battle arts and geniuses were at a level far above the Yuan Continent.


    ¡®No wonder it was so hard to detect him during our battle. The Divine Martial Continent sure is different from the Yuan Continent. The other top geniuses no doubt use something just as profound, so they won¡¯t be easy opponents. I guess I¡¯ll have to be a bit more cautious proceeding forward.¡¯


    Now that he had his answers, John had no more immediate use for Number One. He spent the next few minutes instructing Number One of what to do, before the two parted ways as silence returned to the barely illuminated flowered grasnds.


    ¡­


    John arrived before the source of the lights, his gaze shifting over the ancient city that appeared before him. Other youths were asionally entering the city from various directions, and John could tell that not all of them were warriors.<sub></sub>


    ¡®As expected, it¡¯s another city, and also the trials seemed to have merged once again. I wonder if the others have made it this far already? They most likely have, as I took my time with learning the two battle arts I obtained.¡¯


    John¡¯s footsteps continued once more as he entered the ancient city. The dimly lit streets of the ancient city gave off an eerie vibe, as the boisterous atmosphere of the first city was nowhere to be found, in part due to the time of day, as well as less youths living in this city than the first one.


    John explored the dim and quiet streets for some time, and asionally came across formation barriers guarding the entrance to various trials. Several youths were standing outside each of the trials, their curious gazes shifting to John as he walked by. Due to his high Jade Mark score, John had no immediate interest in participating in any of those trials.


    A series of bright lights towered high into the sky on the other side of the city, most likely from a trial formation or something simr. John thought of inspecting that area, but a small wave of fatigue washed over him, the umted trials from theva-fillednd finally adding up.


    ¡°I suppose I should find a ce to rest, and set out again tomorrow,¡± John mused as he walked through the quiet streets of the ancient city. The buildings of the city were abandoned, but once served a purpose. Many of them were made for lodging, and so he decided to find afortable ce to rest for the night.


    John looked over his shoulder as he felt the gaze of someone lock onto his back. He spotted a shadowed figure standing a short distance away, gazing at him. The figure quickly vanished, while John frowned slightly. Within the darkness, he barely made out the robes of the shadowed figure.


    ¡®The Starforge n huh? I wonder what they have in store for me?¡¯<sub></sub>


    John ignored the youth and continued with his search. He eventually found a luxurious building in which no one was residing, and entered it. He entered one of the rooms, which still contained afortable bed despite the passage of time.


    Plop!


    John fell onto the bed, and his thoughts drifted into nothingness as he slowly fell asleep.


    ¡­


    His eyes slowly opened, his previously dim lit room now illuminated by the light of the sun that was cascading through a nearby window. John got out of bed and stretched deeply, feeling the state of his body.


    ¡°That¡¯s much better,¡± John sighed in rxation. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to reach the Heaven Tribtion Realm though. Once I shed my mortal body, things like sleep and eating won¡¯t be required anymore.¡±


    After donning a fresh new robe, John set out into the ancient city once more. The atmosphere within the streets was far more lively than when he entered, as the morning had drawn many more cultivators into the streets. While it was not as lively as the first city, it was still quite lively.


    John stopped a youth as they passed by and asked about the city. The youth exined theyout, which was almost exactly the same as the previous city. The city was dotted with various trials that youths could participate in, but there was one big difference between the cities.


    ¡°Portals huh? And no Jade Mark requirement?¡± John replied.


    ¡°Yep,¡± the youth nodded his head respectfully, as he hade to the realization as to who John was. ¡°Many of the strongest geniuses have already entered the Heaven Tribtion Portal, including Ignis, Luth, and Parker.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the information,¡± John thanked the youth before moving on once again.


    ¡®So this city has trials as well, but none of them interest me really. The thing that interests me are the portals on the other side of the city¡­that must have been the bright glow I sawst night. ording to that youth, there are twelve portals, each divided by Jade Mark types again. Three portals for each Jade Mark type, one listed as Meridian Forging, one as Heaven Tribtion, and one as Dao Transformation. I wonder why there¡¯s no Jade Mark requirement though? Maybe its amon sense check, weeding those stupid enough to proceed forward without the required might?¡¯


    John thought over the information as he proceeded towards the location of the portals, as they seemed to lead to the next area of interest simr to theva trial. His eyes narrowed for a moment as he noticed someone following from a distance, the figure shrouded in a ck robe and a hood that concealed their features. John felt no malice or killing intent from the shrouded figure, and so he ignored them as he proceeded towards the portals.


    ¡®This trialnd of the Jade Dragon Empire limits youths to twenty or below in age, and has a Dao Transformation difficultnd? Just how strong was the ancient world?¡¯ John mused internally. The thought of entering that portal crossed his mind, but he eventually ced it aside, as even his full strength was not enough to contest against Dao Transformation opponents.


    After a while of walking, John arrived on the other side of the ancient city. A massive mountain range sprawled to either side as far as the eye could see, guarding the way forward simr to the cliff that had appeared behind the first ancient city.


    Before the mountains were twelve massive portals, each swirling with green energy. Above the portals was simple text made of formation lights, signifying the type of trial as well as the difficulty. As the youth had mentioned, there were three trials for each Jade mark type, with the cultivation levels listed as well.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted towards the Dao Transformation Warrior trial, which attracted his gaze due to arge crowd being gathered before it.


    ¡®Strange. No one should be entering that portal. I wonder why such arge crowd is gathered there?¡¯


    John walked towards the crowd, while he noticed the shrouded figure still following him from a distance. He ignored the figure as he arrived before the crowd, hushed whispers entering his ears.


    ¡°Who would do such a thing?¡± a youth whispered.


    ¡°It¡¯s beyond gruesome. It¡¯s like an animal did this,¡± another replied.


    Shocked and horrified expressions were apparent on many faces, causing John to wonder what was so shocking. The nearby youths noticed his arrival, and the gazes they gave him after noticing his clothing sent an ominous feeling through his body. It was as if they were looking at him with gazes of pity.


    John quickly pushed his way through the crowd and arrived at the front. His gaze immediately locked onto a lone youth who was directly before the Dao Transformation portal. The youth was nailed to arge wooden stake by his hands and feet, while his blood-soaked robes were ripped and ruined, exposing the ghastly wounds to his body. Entrails hung out of his stomach, while his face was mangled almost beyond recognition, but through the ghastly wounds John could recognize his longtime friend.


    ¡°Adam!¡±

 Chapter 616 Familiar Aura

    John¡¯s rage instantly ignited as he felt himself about to slip over the edge, but he controlled his rising rage as he sped towards Adam. He arrived before his friend in an instant, his face bing further twisted and enraged as he inspected Adam¡¯s wounds closely. The wounds on his body were beyond ghastly, and John could only imagine the pain his friend had felt during his gruesome ordeal.


    John inspected Adam for any sign of life, but there were no visible signs at all. His divine sense red out and inspected Adam closely, his face bing even more enraged as his divine sense revealed the extent of the internal injuries his friend had sustained.


    Thrum!


    The faintest thrum was detected by John¡¯s divine sense, the thrum of a barely beating heart.


    ¡°Adam!¡± John called out. Against all odds, Adam still hung onto the veryst vestiges of life. However, his life force was so small as to be almost non-existent, and John knew his friend would die at any moment.


    ¡°Hang on!¡± John called out to Adam, who was unconscious and unable to respond at all. A healing pill appeared in John¡¯s hand, and he guided it into Adam¡¯s mouth and into his stomach. However, his face scrunched up in rage and panic as the pill fell right out of Adam¡¯s exposed entrails and onto the ground before him.


    ¡°Shit! What do I do?¡± John yelled out in frustrated panic.<sub>.</sub>


    Adam¡¯s internal damage was so severe that his stomach was beyond damaged and was basically no more. Without his organs to digest and process the healing pill, it waspletely useless to feed him such a thing. It was a miracle that Adam was still alive, and he was only alive due to him being a Meridian Forging cultivator. However, that life was about to be snuffed out, and John had no way of helping his friend.


    Thrum!


    Thrum!


    Silence!


    Thest thrums of Adam¡¯s faint heartbeat finally ceased, and a soft whisper of hisst breath leaving his lungs sounded out. John felt a cold wave of numbness wash over him as he watched his close friend die, while his mind went nk as well.


    The silence seemed to linger on for an eternity, as John stared into nothingness. In the sea of numbness he felt, an ember ignited within John¡¯s soul, the ember of rage and fury. The ember quickly grew into a raging fire, and John felt his sanity begin to slip from his grasp. However, he did nothing to stop it, as he allowed it to consume him.<sub></sub>


    His aura began to climb as he prepared to let himself be consumed. Suddenly, a hand rested on his shoulder, while a soft whisper entered his ears.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lose control, or you¡¯ll kill your friend.¡±


    John instantly snapped out of his state of fury, and his emotionless gaze shifted to look at the figure that had appeared next to him. The figure was shrouded in a ck robe, and had a hood as well that seemed to block all light from escaping, further hiding their features. John¡¯s eyes narrowed as he recalled the words just whispered, and he felt his anger rise once more.


    ¡°Kill my friend? My friend is already dead,¡± John replied, his anger rising once more.


    ¡°I won¡¯t allow that to happen,¡± the shrouded figure replied, the voice gentle and soft. John¡¯s anger instantly subsided as the words entered his ears, and at the same time, an incredible aura began to radiate from the shrouded figure. Thebination of voice and aura shocked John, as he had experienced it once before in his life.


    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡± John eximed, although the figure ignored his words and instead focused on Adam.<sub></sub>


    The incredible aura was guided into Adam¡¯s body, and John watched with eyes wide open as the gruesome wounds on Adam¡¯s body slowly began to heal. The shrouded figure shuddered for a moment, but continued to infuse their power into Adam¡¯s body.


    ¡°It¡¯s not enough,¡± the figure said softly in frustration, and after a moment of hesitation, the aura from the figure skyrocketed outwards, gold and light green in color, and brimming with absolute healing energy. A green light escaped from the dark hood of the figure, as if there was a bright light source glowing from within.


    The healing energy instantly climbed in both power and profundity, which the figure once again guided into Adam¡¯s body. The gruesome wounds continued to slowly heal, but at the same pace as before the figure¡¯s aura exploded. However, John could tell that most of the healing energy was not being used to heal the wounds, and was instead focused on Adam¡¯s soul, heart, and life force.


    The crowd watched on in stunned silence as the aura from the shrouded figure shocked them, as it was beyond anything they had felt before. John stared nervously at Adam, whose wounds had been healed by a considerable margin. His entrails which hung out of his body had returned back into the correct ce, and the wounds on his stomach and face had begun to close as well.


    However, there was still no sign of life, as all John heard was silence. After what felt like an eternity.


    Thrum!


    The faintest thrum sounded out, so soft that it was barely audible. John¡¯s eyes widened, and his divine sense red out once more as hopefulness appeared on his face. After what felt like another eternity¡­


    Thrum!


    Another thrum sounded out, as Adam¡¯s heart once again began to beat, and the faintest signs of life appeared. John¡¯s expression instantly turned from hopefulness to absolute tion as Adam seemed to be raised from the dead, and returned to the world of the living. The healing energy from the figure next to him continued to flood into Adam¡¯s body, but John could tell that they were already reaching their wits end.


    The figure¡¯s aura had rapidly declined as soon as life returned to Adam¡¯s body, and they began to sway slightly. John gazed at the figure next to him, unsure of what to say, when his face suddenly twisted up in rage once again.


    He turned on his heels, and watched as an incredibly powerful battle art sailed directly towards him from within the crowd, its power beyond anything he had experienced in thesends thus far.


    The battle art contained no sharpness at all, and was instead an incredibly concentrated and powerful st of Qi. It contained traces of Dao¡¯s John had never experienced before, but he could tell it was beyond dangerous.


    His aura exploded out in absolute rage once again, as he felt the desire to tear to shreds whoever dared to attack him in this moment.


    ¡°Stop!¡± the figure next to him eximed in a panic. ¡°Your friend is beyond weak. Your aura alone will kill him, and I cannot save him a second time!¡±


    John¡¯s aura instantly died down as he listened to the figures¡¯ words. His rage exploded even further as the thought of losing Adam again entered his mind, but he didn¡¯t dare to unleash that rage any further.


    In an instant, he sent amand through his soul as he sensed the presence of someone near him, while he bounded forward towards the oing attack. Space seemed to shimmer as something arrived next to Adam, whose body was instantly wrapped up in the same shimmer of space. John¡¯s battle axe appeared in his hands as he arrived before the attack and guarded against it with pure physicality. He could not unleash a counter attack, or the explosion between battle arts would overwhelm Adam.


    The blood within his body tumbled and his bones creaked as his body skidded backward, his feet carving a deep trench into the earth. The power of the attack was incredible, and his physical only defense was not able to resist it. However, his actions slowed down the attack for long enough, and John felt the shimmering figure finally leave the area with Adam in tow.


    As soon as the shimmer was out of range, his power climbed once again as he unleashed his full rage and fury. However, his hastily mounted defense resulted in him only being able to use a fraction of his power. His backwards momentum had already reached a shocking speed, and his power was not able to reach a zenith in time to resist the attack.


    His body shot backwards like a bullet, and the crowd gasped in shock as they saw his body vanish into the portal behind him. Their gazes all shifted upwards to the top of the portal as they re-read the words they knew existed there.


    Dao Transformation!

 Chapter 617 Promise of Death

    An almost imperceptible shimmer in space sped forward at a rapid speed, unnoticed by anyone it passed by. The shimmer paused for a moment as John was knocked into the Dao Transformation portal, before it sped forward once more. It disappeared into the Heaven Tribtion warrior portal, unnoticed by anyone.


    The shimmer instantly appeared before an expansive forest. Trees that stretched miles into the sky with trunks hundreds of yards wide appeared, as an ancient aura emanated from the awe-inspiring forest. Calls of various beasts sounded out asionally, revealing the forest to be inhabited by more than just the trial participants.


    The shimmer ignored the awe-inspiring forest as it sped forward once more, its direction purposeful as if it knew where it was going. The shimmer traversed the forest with ease, bypassing any dangerous beast that asionally appeared. It continued like this for half a day before it suddenly stopped, just a hundred yards from a lone youth.


    The lone youth stopped as well, as if it had noticed the shimmer¡¯s arrival. The youth turned towards the shimmer, while her eyes shifted and slightly changed colors, bing bluer and more vibrant.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Iris asked coldly, her guard raised. She had noticed the arrival of the shimmer, and her Eyes of Heavenly Truth instantly saw through the youths¡¯ spatial disguise. Her eyes narrowed even further as she noticed what the youth was carrying, and rage quickly coursed throughout her body.


    ¡°Impressive,¡± the youth replied as he revealed himself. ¡°For you to be able to detect me so easily, even my master was not able to do such a thing. I¡¯m assuming you spotted Number Three trailing you from a distance all this time then?¡±


    ¡°I noticed, and who is your master?¡± Iris asked, her gaze shifting towards the figure the youth was carrying. ¡°And what are you doing with him? Did you do this to him?¡± she asked.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Yes, my master¡­your friend John,¡± Number One replied as he began to walk towards Iris. ¡°And I did not do this to your friend.¡±


    ¡°John?¡± Iris eximed, not sure what was going on. ¡°Why would an assassin like you call John your master?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a rather long story,¡± Number One sighed, ¡°but to summarize, your friend beat me in battle and gave me two options, die, or be his servant. I chose thetter option, and now here I am.¡±


    Slight surprise appeared on Iris¡¯s face as she heard that, but she ignored further questions as she gazed at Adam. Despite his wounds mostly being healed, he still looked quite gruesome, as the girl had not had time to fully heal him. Iris¡¯s expression turned even more grave as her gaze noticed the incredibly weak aura from Adam, as if his life-force was hardly there.


    Number One quickly exined everything that had happened, including how Number Three had informed him of her location through theirmunication method. Iris¡¯s body turned numb as she heard John be knocked into the Dao Transformation portal, while Number One walked up and ced the barely alive Adam at her feet.


    ¡°Hisst instruction was for me to take your injured friend to you. My ve contract is still intact, so he still lives, but for how long is the true question,¡± Number One exined as he nced down to Adam. ¡°You might want to find some ce to hide and help him recover. He may be alive, but he¡¯ll die again soon if you don¡¯t help him.¡±<sub></sub>


    His body suddenly disappeared again as he slipped into the folds of space and quickly disappeared from Iris¡¯s view. Iris quickly recovered from herplete numbness, and scooped up Adam in her arms, while her body sped off in a certain direction.


    ¡­


    The crowd stared at the portal in stunned silence, unable to believe what they had seen. They all recognized John as the Jade Dragon List prodigy, and just like that he had been sent into the Dao Transformation portal. No matter how powerful he was, that was a surefire death sentence for him.


    The ck-clothed figure¡¯s gaze shifted towards the crowd, and the crowd too looked towards the source of the attack that had just been unleashed. Their gazes rested on a lone figure, who looked on with a haughty and unapologetic expression.


    The youth had long silver hair, and a sharp yet handsome face. The crowd instantly recognized who it was, as it was one of the most famed geniuses within thesends.


    ¡°Kadin! That¡¯s Kadin!¡± a youth eximed.<sub></sub>


    ¡°From the Starforge n? Why would he attack the Heavenly Lightning Sect kid like that?¡± another asked.


    Discussions immediately broke out within the crowd, as they tried to process what had happened. Kadin¡¯s gaze ignored the crowd, and instead was locked onto the ck-clothed figure who stared straight at him. A thought appeared in his mind as to the identity of the figure as he recalled their aura, but he brushed aside the thought as it was not likely that they would be here.


    ¡°What the hell did you do that for?¡± the shrouded figure eximed, anger clearly contained within her feminine voice. It sounded quite odd, as if the figure was not used to expressing her rage.


    Kadin frowned as he heard the figure speak to him.


    ¡°You dare speak to me that way?¡± Kadin replied, not apologetic at all. ¡°I have no reason to answer to the likes of you.¡±


    The figure stepped forward, while their hand reached up to their hood and lowered it. The crowd gasped at the sight, as a veiled face appeared before them. The figure had longvender hair and her face was veiled, revealing only her mesmerizing blue eyes.


    While the crowd was stunned by the girl¡¯s face, Kadin¡¯s face scrunched up, a mixture of surprise and slight panic appearing on his face.


    ¡°My apologies, I didn¡¯t realize it was you,¡± Kadin replied, his voice going from haughty to respectul in an instant. The girl ignored his apologetic reply, and gazed at him with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°I ask you again, why did you attack him?¡± the girl asked.


    ¡°I¡­that boy killed one of my friends in this realm,¡± Kadin replied. ¡°I just arrived here, and when I saw him, I attacked in rage. I didn¡¯t mean to knock him into the portal.¡±


    Everyone could tell that what Kadin had said was a lie, but they had no proof against his im.


    ¡°And the boy that was mutted beyondpare¡­was that you as well?¡± the girl asked, her voice icy and cold.


    ¡°That¡­that was not me, I swear it,¡± Kadin replied. ¡°Me and Adam may have a bad history, but I would never stoop to do such a thing.¡±


    Yet again, the crowd did not believe his words, but no one had any proof to the contrary. Not only that, but Kadin¡¯s strength was far beyond anyone¡¯s here, and so no one in the crowd could do anything even if they wanted to. Lastly, no one would dare touch the heir of the Starforge n to avenge someone from a different sect, alliance or not.


    The veiled girl stared at Kadin with narrowed eyes, not moved at all by his lies.


    Kadin¡¯s stunned expression slowly changed, as a thought formed in his mind. His fear was reced with bravado, as he gestured out a hand towards the girl.


    ¡°I must say, I never expected someone as esteemed as yourself to appear in thesends,¡± Kadin said to her with a charming and warm smile on his face. ¡°There are also many dangers in thesends. How about the two of us venture forward together. While I¡¯m sure you can protect yourself, I believe this cooperation would benefit the both of us, how about it, Miss La-.¡±


    The crowd was quite surprised at Kadin¡¯s audacity, as they could tell by the girl¡¯s reaction that she was not pleased with Kadin¡¯s actions. However, he had still suggested such a thing, revealing the shamelessness he had, as well as the self-confidence. While none of them knew who the mysterious girl was, they could tell she was incredibly important just by witnessing Kadin¡¯s reaction.


    However, the girl had interrupted Kadin before he could finish talking, her icy eyes revealing what she thought of him in the moment.


    ¡°You better pray we don¡¯t make it out of that portal, because if there¡¯s one thing I know about him, it¡¯s that he¡¯ll kill you without hesitation if you two ever meet again,¡± the girl replied, ignoring Kadin¡¯s offer of cooperation.


    ¡°We?¡± Kadin replied with confusion, as he had heard her say that. However, his confusion was quickly answered as he watched in stunned surprise as the girl turned and dashed forward without hesitation, her figure disappearing into the Dao Transformation portal.

 Chapter 618 Astral Empire

    Kadin¡¯s normally calm and cool face lit up with surprise as he watched the girl enter the portal. He had not expected such an action by her, and had been hoping to court her to join him. He was used to getting everything he wanted in life, but knew the girl was something that he could not obtain easily. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the portal, and after a moment of silence, his figure shed as he left the area.


    The crowd looked at Kadin who fled, before they gazed back at the Dao Transformation portal. Everything had happened so fast, and they could tell that the situation was not as simple as it appeared.


    ¡°Did you see that? Did that girl actually revive that boy?¡± one of the disciples asked as the conversations started up.


    ¡°I think so. We could all tell that his life ended, but then she used her power and brought him back. Just what was that power of hers? It was unlike anything I¡¯ve ever felt before,¡± another replied.


    ¡°Whoever she is, Kadin seems to know of her identity. If someone like him turned so respectful after seeing her identity, she must be far more important than any of us know,¡± another said.


    Simr discussions broke out, including discussions of both John and the girl entering the Dao Transformation portal. The general consensus was that both of them would die, as the Jade Dragon Empirends had already revealed themselves to be incredibly brutal. A ce meant for only Dao Transformation cultivators was not a ce Heaven Tribtion and Meridian Forging youths could survive.


    The crowd dispersed after a while, spreading the tale of what happened before the portal throughout the entire Jade Dragon Empire trialnds.


    ¡­<sub>.</sub>


    Kadin appeared in an alleyway in the ancient city as he arrived before several other youths wearing the same clothes as him. A serious look lingered on his face as he thought over everything that happened, before arge sigh escaped his mouth.


    ¡°Who was that girl?¡± one of the Starforge youths asked. None of them recognized her, only Kadin.


    ¡°Yeah, why did you act so shocked to see her? And why did you act so respectful to her after she insulted you like that?¡± another asked.


    Kadin¡¯s gaze shifted to those two youths, his gaze as if he were staring at two idiots. That gaze faded away as he quickly remembered that only very few youths knew of the girls identity.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to see any of you act haughty before someone from the Astral Empire,¡± Kadin replied.


    ¡°The Astral Empire!¡± all the other youths eximed in shock.


    ¡°She¡¯s from the Astral Empire? Why is she here?¡± one youth asked, his voice tinged with shock.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Why are we here?¡± Kadin replied. ¡°We were invited by the Honorable Alliance, and it¡¯s a good opportunity to obtain benefits for ourselves. I¡¯m sure her reason is the same.¡±


    ¡°So who is she? Is she someone important from the empire?¡± another youth asked.


    ¡°Do you think I would act so respectfully in front of someone with lesser status?¡± Kadin barked back. ¡°The Astral Empire may be strong, but our Starforge n is not much worse¡±


    After listening to Kadin¡¯s words, a thought appeared in the minds of the youths, and their faces paled with shock and fright as they remembered the girl had entered the Dao Transformation portal.


    ¡°Are¡­are we screwed? She entered the Dao Transformation portal? What if she dies, surely the empire will me us¡­surely the Astral Emp-¡°


    ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± Kadin interrupted. ¡°She entered the portal on her own, and everyone saw it. Even if the empirees asking questions, it cannot be med on us. And like I said, the Astral Empire may stand at the top, but so do we. At least our trap for Adam¡¯s friend worked, so we solved one headache at least.¡±


    ¡°Was that trap necessary?¡± one of the youths asked. ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have just killed Adam¡¯s friend secretly?¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯m stupid, or that the Heaven Scrying Sect is stupid?¡± Kadin barked at the youth, displeased with his questioning tone.


    ¡°No, of course not,¡± the youth hastily replied.


    ¡°Then do not ask such stupid questions,¡± Kadin replied. ¡°As much as I hate to admit it, that boy is a freakish monster. Even when I unleashed my nearly full powered battle art, he was able to resist its might and only be knocked back. He didn¡¯t even take any visible damage. If I were to battle him with my full power, I would no doubt overpower him, but killing him is another thing entirely. It would be easy for him to run away, and a monstrous genius like that is not someone I want as a future enemy.¡±


    The youths nced at each other, as they could tell that Kadin¡¯s words were suggesting that John¡¯sbat talent was greater than his own. However, Kadin was not stupid, and did nto believe himself to be the strongest youth in the world. He knew his strengths and weaknesses, which is why he was such a formidable and fearsome enemy.


    ¡°Tch, I wanted Adam to be taken care of as well, but it seems like something helped him escape,¡± Kadin clicked his tongue as he changed the subject. ¡°If only she didn¡¯t interfere, the n would have been perfect.¡±


    A look of displeasure once again appeared on Kadin¡¯s face, while his body shed as he left the area. The other youths all nced at each other with mixed expressions, and deep sighs escaped their lips before they followed after Kadin, leaving the ancient city for good.


    ¡­


    Bang!


    John¡¯s body mmed into hard earth, carving a long trench before he finally came to rest a few hundred yardster. A groan of pain escaped his mouth as he sluggishly stood up and resisted the urge to throw up blood. His body protested in pain, and he could tell he had taken considerable damage by blocking that powerful attack in such a manner.


    A healing pill appeared in his hands as he quickly popped it into his mouth, while his head swiveled around in all directions. A grave look appeared on his face as he noticed the area was nowpletely different. In all directions was and of dead trees, while fog hung in the air, obscuring his vision. A thick aura of death lingered in the air, and John couldn¡¯t help but frown again as he realized where he was.


    ¡°Motherfu-¡­I was knocked through the portal,¡± John cursed as his mind remembered the face of the one that had unleashed the attack at him.


    ¡°Kadin!¡± John growled, his voice tinged with hate and rage. ¡°What happened to Adam was no doubt his doing, and he used him as bait for me once he was done with Adam. I¡¯ll rip him to fucking shreds the next time I see him.¡±


    Roar!


    A terrifying roar erupted in the distance, its power beyond shocking. John felt his body groan in pain from the power of the roar, despite it being dozens of miles away. Were it not for his physical durability, he would have taken severe damage just from the roar. A grave look once again appeared on his face as he realized that getting out of this area would not be a guarantee.


    ¡°What should I do?¡± John grumbled. ¡°I need to reach Heaven Tribtion to have any chance at getting through this area, but if I undergo my tribtion, even if I survive, I¡¯ll be too injured to move for weeks. Whatever just roared would surely finish me at that time.¡±


    John¡¯s mind raced for solutions, but he couldn¡¯te up with anything. The thought of trying to sneak through thesends crossed his mind, but he eventually decided against it. He did not have any strong stealth arts, and and meant for Dao Transformation cultivators would not be so simple to traverse.


    John realized that he was in a situation far over his head, one that he could not think or battle his way out of. The sound of muffled footsteps sounded out behind John, his eyes narrowing as he realized he was not alone. His battle axe once again appeared in his hands as he turned around and prepared to unleash his strongest battle art against whatever was approaching him from behind.


    ¡®Now!¡¯


    John turned and raised his battle axe, which came to an immediate halt as he spotted the source of the footsteps standing a few dozen yards away from him. A veiled face appeared before him, one that he had seen once before in his life.


    ¡°You!¡±

 Chapter 619 We Meet Again

    ¡°We meet again!¡± the girl replied to John, her voice soft and gentle. Although she was wearing her veil, John could tell that the girl was smiling, although he didn¡¯t why. The situation they found themselves in was no smiling matter.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± John asked, getting straight to the point. Just the same as the first time he had met her, John felt his breath catch in his chest for a moment, as if he were being bewitched by looking at her veiled face. He quickly raised his guard and wiped away the feeling, as he hated losing control of himself like that.


    He had realized the girl¡¯s identity when she healed Adam, but never expected her to venture through the portal as well. ¡°Did Kadin push you in as well?¡± he asked.


    ¡°No,¡± the girl replied while lightly shaking her head to the side, ¡°I came in on my own volition.¡±


    A frown appeared on John¡¯s face as he heard her reply, as it made no sense to him. ¡°Why would youe in here by choice?¡± John asked.


    No one in their right mind would do such a thing. While the girl¡¯s aura was powerful, and he could tell she was in the Peak Heaven Tribtion realm, it was still not enough to get them through thisnd. He could tell from their previous interaction that she specialized in healing and notbat.


    ¡°If I said it was to repay for my interference back in the Yuan Continent ancient city, would you believe me?¡± the girl asked.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°No,¡± John replied sinctly, not believing it for a second. ¡°You already paid your debts when you helped Miko and I with that dead skeletal creature. No, you came here for another reason, and I want to know what that reason is.¡±


    The current situation made no sense to John, and so he wanted to understand it fully. As far as he was concerned, the girl was throwing her life away by entering this trial, and something that inexplicable could only mean one thing; there was far more to the situation than the girl was revealing.


    ¡°Either you¡¯re suicidal¡­or you came here for me specifically,¡± John continued his questioning of the girl. ¡°I refuse to believe you entered this trial with the expectation of passing it on your own. I must admit, your Dao of Life healing is beyond anything I¡¯ve ever seen before, but I feel no threat from youbat wise.¡±


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s for both those reasons,¡± the girl replied, her voice gentle but tinged with a trace of sadness that John could barely make out. ¡°But you¡¯re right, mybat prowess is quite average, so I¡¯ll be relying on you to get us through this trial,¡± she continued, her voice gentle and eyes smiling at him.


    John frowned again as he heard her reply, as he couldn¡¯t make sense of what was going on. However, she had saved Adam¡¯s life with no need to do so, and so John¡¯s guard rxed slightly as he realized she was not his enemy.


    Roar!<sub></sub>


    The deafening and terrifying roar from before bellowed out once more, shaking the ground with its power. Both John and the girl gazed in the direction of the roar, and John suddenly sped forward, while the girl quickly followed after him. John¡¯s divine sense red out to his maximum as he cautiously made his way forward through the fog-fillednd.


    The two of them sped forward for a mile before they suddenly came to the edge of a cliff and stopped. The cliff was several miles high and overlooked thend for as far as the eye could see through the swirling fog.


    And of towering withered trees, dead swamps, and thick fog came into view. In the distance a dozen miles away through the fog, John was barely able to make out movement. A towering silhouette lumbered through the fog, its features obscured. However, each footstep it took shook thend, a testament to its size, weight, and power.


    Another roar boomed out from the creature, the power of the roar directly sting onto John and the girl. Both were knocked back a few feet from the powerful roar, and after it subsided, they both nced at each other.


    ¡°A Dao Transformation beast,¡± the girl said, while John nodded his head in agreement. Whatever was out there within the fog, its power was beyond both of them.


    ¡°Thankfully this cliff is here,¡± John said as he studied the nearbynd. ¡°I¡¯m sure the flight restriction of thisnd is still in ce, even for the beasts. This cliff must be a safe haven for when one first enters the trial, but as soon as we step off it, we can¡¯t return.¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°That appears to be the case,¡± the girl replied as she shifted her gaze towards John once more. John noticed her gaze and stared back, and felt his heartbeat speed up again. A frown appeared on his face as he forcefully washed the feeling from his body again, not enjoying the fact that it happened every time they locked eyes.


    The girl noticed his expression, and giggled slightly as if she found it quite amusing.


    ¡°What are youughing at?¡± John grumbled.


    ¡°Nothing,¡± the girl replied, ¡°it¡¯s just that your reaction whenever I look at you is quite¡­unique. It¡¯s as if you despise my gaze. It¡¯s not something I¡¯ve encountered before,¡± the girl exined.


    John ignored her words and didn¡¯t exin himself as his gaze shifted back to the massive creature that lumbered through the fog in the distance. After studying it for a while, he retreated and returned to the area where they had first arrived.


    ¡°We¡¯re safe up here, but the only way out of this trial is forward,¡± the girl said to John as she stood next to him. ¡°Do you have any way to get out of this?¡± she asked curiously, although there was no fear or urgency in her voice, as if she didn¡¯t care one way or another.


    To John, it seemed as though she found this whole situation more amusing than frightening, something that he once again couldn¡¯t make sense of. John¡¯s focus shifted to the girl¡¯s question, as he thought of a way to get out of it.


    ¡®The only way I even have a chance of making it out alive is to raise my cultivation to the Heaven Tribtion realm¡­but I don¡¯t know if I can make it through it. I should be fine bodily wise, but I still haven¡¯t strengthened my soul to a level that I¡¯m sure I can withstand the tribtion¡­but I don¡¯t think I have any choice at this moment.¡¯


    John¡¯s gaze shifted back to the girl, and he stared at her for a moment before he nodded his head at her question.


    ¡°I just might¡­but I need to ask you something first,¡± John said to her.


    ¡°Hmmm?¡± the girl hummed lightly, her curiosity piqued at his request for help.


    ¡°Your healing powers¡­can they heal someone¡¯s soul?¡± John asked her directly. Asking about someone¡¯s powers was usually taboo, but this situation didn¡¯t allow for courtesy.


    ¡°It can,¡± the girl replied quickly without hiding anything and began to exin further. ¡°My true power is the Dao of Life. One¡¯s soul is part of one¡¯s life, and so that is under my ability to heal. As long as it is something living, it can be healed.¡±


    ¡°And Adam?¡± John asked, ¡°he was¡­no longer living. How exactly did you manage to bring him back to life? I can tell that it took quite the toll on you when you brought him back¡­what exactly did you do?¡±


    John had noticed that the girl had easily healed most of Adam¡¯s wounds, but struggled the most with his life-force. When she brought him back to life after he had clearly died and his soul began to fade, she shuddered and swayed slightly.


    ¡°That¡­,¡± the girl said but stopped her words, as a light suddenly began to glow from within her robes. Her robes suddenly faded away, revealing a dazzling blue and white dress that she wore underneath. The girl¡¯s beauty magnified tenfold, as John once again felt his breath pause for a moment.


    The girl¡¯s dress revealed a portion of her upper chest, and in the very center of her chest just below her cor bone, a profound rune which glowed light blue was lit up. John¡¯s eyes widened as he recognized the auraing from the rune, as he had experienced it once in his life, when he had met his ethereal mother and felt the aura around her.


    ¡°The Dao of Time!¡±

 Chapter 620 Heavenly Curse

    The glowing rune on the girl¡¯s chest faded away, and soon her skin returned to normal as if the rune never existed. A slightly surprised expression appeared on her face as John had correctly identified her power.


    ¡°How do you know about the Dao of Time?¡± the girl asked curiously. ¡°It¡¯s a power almost no one has experienced in this world.¡±


    ¡°Ahhh¡­.it¡¯s a long story,¡± John replied sheepishly as his finger scratched his cheek. He couldn¡¯t exin the source of his knowledge.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how you stopped that creature!¡± John chimed up in realization. Back when they fought the skeletal creature, the girl had yelled ¡°stop!¡± and the creature seemed to be frozen in ce for the briefest moments.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the girl replied, hiding nothing. ¡°But using my Dao of Time is very taxing on my body, and it¡¯s even more so when I use both my Dao of Life and Dao of Time at the same time, like I did when I revived your friend. Its lucky that I made it in time, as if I was even thirty secondste I would not have been able to save him then.¡±


    Her words exined it clearly, but John could tell that there was more to what she was telling. His questioning gaze continued to linger on the girl, a silent way of telling her he knew there was more. The girl stared at him for a short while in silence, before a sigh escaped her lips.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°My father exined something to me when I was young, after he realized the extent of my powers and what they could do,¡± the girl said as she started to answer John¡¯s question. ¡°While I was learning to control my powers, a close friend of mine¡­¡±


    The girl stopped speaking for a moment, as if the situation was a hard topic for her to speak about. However, she quickly regained herposure and started once more.


    ¡°One of my close friends got gravely injured, and died before anyone could help them. I arrived just a moment toote to heal her, but the thought of using my Dao of Time coupled with my Dao of Life to revive her appeared in my mind. However¡­just as I started, my father appeared, and stopped me from doing so. He exined to me that to reverse death was to go against the natural order of the heavens, and that doing so would incur the wrath of the heavens, resulting in me being cursed by the heavens itself,¡± the girl exined.


    John raised an eyebrow upon hearing her words, but remained silent as he allowed her to continue.


    ¡°I never believed him, but I followed his words and never attempted such a thing again. Your friend was the first time I tried it, and even I didn¡¯t know if it would work, but thankfully it did, but at the same time, I confirmed my fathers words were right. When I brought your friend back to life, I felt an incredible pain, as if the world itself had rejected me, and the love it once felt for me was reced with a curse¡± the girl said, her gaze locked onto John¡¯s, whose eyes widened slightly in surprise at her words.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You¡­why would you do such a thing for someone you don¡¯t even know?¡± John asked, not understanding her actions at all.


    ¡°What good is remaining in the good graces of something that refuses to allow me to save lives, and instead consider me cursed if I do so? If the heavens are like this, are the heavens worth respecting?¡± the girl replied, her gentle voice turned slightly icy.


    ¡°Is that truly the real reason?¡± John asked as he raised an eyebrow. He could tell the girl didn¡¯t like the heavens, but also could tell that she was revealing the full truth.


    The girl remained silent for quite some time as she sat on the ground, while John sat opposite her. Her gaze lingered on the ground before her before eventually returning to John¡¯s eyes once more.


    ¡°So¡­now that you know all this, do you have a way out of this trial? Or perhaps you would choose to venture out alone, knowing that I¡¯ve be cursed by the heavens?¡± the girl asked. She would not be surprised if John left immediately after hearing what she just said.<sub></sub>


    Almost no one associated with one cursed by the heavens, as it would only bring bad luck and deathly life-threatening tribtions to them non-stop. Even if the tribtion was not a lightning tribtion every time, the heavens would throw dangers as the one cursed over and over until they eventually sumbed. Those nearby would also eventually be swallowed up by death, and so being cursed by the heavens was a taboo of the cultivation world.


    John¡¯s serious gaze lingered on the girl¡¯s face, as he truly couldn¡¯t make out any of the reasons for her actions. Her talent was beyond heaven defying, and she surely would have been able to live a life beyond anyone¡¯s wildest dreams. However, she threw that away for Adam, and didn¡¯t even exin her reasoning afterwards.


    His serious expression faded away as a smile appeared on his face. Surprise appeared on the girl¡¯s face as she saw John smile, that smile soon turning to boisterousughter. It was as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world, and couldn¡¯t contain himself.


    John¡¯s boisterousughter continued for quite some time, as he struggled to contain it. The girl stared at him in a daze, unable to understand what was going on. After quite some time, John¡¯sughter finally died down. He wiped the tears ofughter that had formed in his eyes, and his gaze shifted back towards the girl who stared at him in confusion.


    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± the girl couldn¡¯t help but ask, as his reaction waspletely unexpected. ¡°Are youughing at me bing cursed?¡±


    ¡°No¡­not at all,¡± John replied, still recovering from his recent bout ofughter. ¡°It¡¯s just that you mentioned me avoiding you due to you being cursed by the heavens. That¡¯s like a stream warning an ocean that it could get wet if it stays close.¡±


    A questioning look appeared on the girl¡¯s face, as his analogy seemed to indicate that her curse from the heavens was like a streampared to his ocean.


    ¡°Are you not afraid of being cursed by the heavens?¡± the girl asked.


    ¡°Fuck the heavens,¡± John replied immediately, not concerned at all. Surprise appeared on the girl¡¯s face as she heard John¡¯s words, as no one would dare say such a thing unless they were mad.


    Boom!


    A thunderous sound exploded overheard, causing the girl to shift her gaze upwards. Her eyes widened as she noticed clouds start to form high in the sky, bing cker and more terrifying by the moment. The aura emanating from the clouds was as if the heavens had personally arrived, with the only intention being pure destruction and annihtion.


    The clouds lingered for a moment before they slowly faded away. John had pushed his cultivation to the very edge of breaking through for a brief moment, attracting the wrath of the heavens. However, he stopped at thest moment before breaking through, returning his cultivation to the Peak of the Meridian Forging Realm.


    ¡°Was that¡­your heavenly tribtion?¡± the girl asked, almost too stunned to speak. She had experienced only the initial formation of the clouds, and it was already more than anything she had felt before in her life. She could tell the heavens despised John more than anything, andpared to him, her curse was nothing more than a triviality.


    ¡°Now you should understand why I wasughing,¡± John said as he stood up. ¡°Now, my answer for getting out of this trial is to undergo my heavenly tribtion, but I¡¯m not fully confident in being able to survive it. With your help though, it just may be enough to ensure my survival. So what do you say, do you want to face the full wrath of the heavens together? Or do you want to venture out alone, knowing that I¡¯m cursed by the heavens?¡± John asked in the same manner that she had asked him.


    The surprise on the girl¡¯s face slowly washed away as a look of determination appeared on her face. She stood up and stared at John for a moment, before a smile appeared on her veiled face.


    ¡°Mhmmm¡­I¡¯ll join you. Let us face the heavens¡¯ wrath together!¡±

 Chapter 621 Who Are You?

    A dim campfire lit the interior of a small cave, illuminating two figures within. One was lying on a makeshift bed on the ground, motionless as if dead. The other sat on a log, their concerned face dimly lit by the nearby fire.


    ¡°Just what did those bastards do to you,¡± Iris mumbled softly. Anger continued to build up within her body as she saw Adams condition and recalled Number Ones description of what had happened, but she suppressed her growing rage as best she could. She was Adams only lifeline at the moment, and needed to stay calm and alert at all times.


    After Number One left, Iris found a well hidden cave within the expansive forest. She covered up the entrance as best she could before she started to tend to Adam. His exterior wounds were still visible as they had not been fully healed, but were no longer life threatening.


    However, Adam had still not woken up, as his life force was beyond weak. It was as if a single breeze could snuff out his life at a moments notice.


    Iris¡¯ gaze shifted towards the fire as she stoked it, her thoughts shifting to John and his current predicament. If she was not already within the Heavenly Tribtion trial, she would not hesitate to enter the Dao Transformatiom trial to help John. While herbat prowess would not be of use, her eyes were always a valuable asset.


    Soft yet rapid breathing entered her ears as Iris shifted her gaze back to Adam, who was still unconscious but breathing fast and shallow, while sweat dripped down his brow.


    She quickly arrived at his side, and ced another medicinal healing pill in his mouth and guided it into his stomach.


    ¡°You must survive,¡± Iris whispered to Adam softly, ¡°when I meet John again on the other side of this trial, I won¡¯t be able to look at him in the eyes if I¡¯m alone. You better be alongside me when that happens, alive and well, acting smug and prideful like always.¡±


    ¡­<sub>.</sub>


    The firelight of a campfire illuminated the nearby area, making the dark and foggynd of the Dao Transformation trial slightly less gloomy.


    Roar!


    A distant and powerful roar boomed, creating a tempest that nketed the nearbynd on its power. The campfire flickered in the wind, almost being snuffed out but hanging on as the roar died down.


    ¡°Tch, how many times is that thing going to roar,¡± John grumbled, clearly growing tired of the mysterious beasts roars.


    A softughter from the other side of the fire drifted out, as John shifted his gaze to the girl who he knew little about.


    ¡°Maybe it has a splinter in its foot, and is crying out in pain,¡± the girl jested, finding the situation and John¡¯s reaction amusing.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll happily cut off its foot for it, followed


    by its head. Then it won¡¯t have a reason to keep roaring,¡± John replied, his response eliciting another bout of softughter from the girl.<sub></sub>


    John stared across the campfire at the girl, who stared back at him. After revealing a hint of his tribtion to the girl, the two had made a temporary camp to rest. The girl was still quite fatigued from reviving and healing Adam, and John needed her at full strength for the tribtion toe.


    His gaze continued to linger on her as he studied her features; her eyes, her hair, her figure. He had never been one to be obsessed with girls, as his one true passion and focus in life was cultivation, but even John couldn¡¯t help but admit that the girl before him was beautiful. She still wore her veil, but even then he knew she was beautiful, and far more interesting than other girls he had met in his life.


    Only his master was more interesting in his opinion, but when he looked at his master, he felt fear and trepidation, not intrigue. The girl smiled at John, her eyes narrowing slightly from her smile. John¡¯s mind quickly cleared up as he realized he was staring at her for quite some time, but didn¡¯t avert his gaze as he stared directly and intently at her.


    The girl felt slight surprise at his gaze, as most averted it when they realized they were staring. However, John¡¯s actions always seemed to be the opposite of what she expected.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± John asked, his voice firm as if he demanded an answer. ¡°You know who I am, but I have no idea who you are. If we¡¯re going to trust each other in this trial of death, I should at least know who I¡¯m working with.¡±


    The girl stared at John, her eyes studying his features as well. She remained silent for a while, the crackles of the campfire filling the silence.


    ¡°Before I answer that, I have one question to ask you¡±, the girl replied, ¡°if you answer it, I¡¯ll answer your question.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your question?¡± John asked after a few seconds of remaining silent.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You¡¯re Asura, right?¡±


    John¡¯s face remained calm as he heard the question, but he couldn¡¯t help but be surprised upon hearing it.


    ¡°What makes you say that?¡± He asked, although he most likely knew the answer already.


    ¡°Even when asked such a shocking question, you remained calm and didn¡¯t give any hint of the answer with your expression,¡± the girl said to him, seemingly impressed.


    John ignored herpliments as he continued to calmly stare at her. She studied his face for a moment before speaking up again.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s you,¡± the girl said, her gentle voice filled with certainty. ¡°I saw you fight in the ancient city against the Bloodfiend Sect youths¡­I saw your¡­transformation.¡±


    The girl paused for a moment as she studied him a bit more, before she continued to exin.


    ¡°I may not know what an Asura is or what they look like, but if I were to guess, I¡¯d imagine it¡¯s something simr to what you looked like,¡± she said. ¡°Even without that, I saw the extent of yourbat talent that day. I have no doubt in my mind that you are ¡®Asura¡¯.¡±


    John remained silent for a while before he nodded his head at her words.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I am ¡®Asura¡¯,¡± John replied as it was futile to hide it.


    In his tribtion toe, he would need to use his Asura Transformation form again. The girl would no doubt be certain it was him upon seeing that, and so John realized it was futile to hide it from her.


    The girls expression remained calm, as if John¡¯s confirmation was of no surprise to her.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± she said¡¯ thanking John for revealing the truth. She knew it was a big secret, and was something the entire contingent desired to figure out. His confirmation was a sign of trust, one that she truly appreciated.


    ¡°Now for my question,¡± John said to her, reminding her of their agreement.


    ¡°Right, my identity,¡± the girl said to John before taking a deep breath. Her hands slowly reached up towards her face, at which point she slowly lowered her veil.


    ¡°My name is Laia, eighth princess of the Astral Empire, and Daughter of the Astral Emperor,¡± she said as her veil revealed her face.


    John¡¯s eyes widened in a absolute shock. He knew the girl was powerful, and most likely from a strong power as well. However, he never expected her to be the daughter of the Astral Emperor, one of the strongest cultivators in the world and the only living cultivator who had achieved seventeen steps, at least before John had exceeded that feat.


    That alone would have been enough to stun him senseless, but it was only the secondary cause of his shock at the moment.


    The girls veil lowered, revealing her face. Her skin was wless, like it was carved from the most wless white marble, and was more beautiful than any face he had ever seen before. Her small nose was cute and pretty at the same time, while her lips were the perfect shade of pink.


    He could tell why she would wear a veil, as her beauty would only attract unwanted attention nonstop. However, even that was not what shocked him the most.


    He eventually recovered from his shock and stood up, his guard raised once again. Laia stared at John with confusion, as his reaction was not the one she had been expecting.


    ¡°Who are you? Really?¡± John asked, his voice firmer.


    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t understand your question,¡± Laia replied, her brow scrunched in confusion.


    John¡¯s gaze remained on her face as he studied it closely. No matter how he looked at her, her face was almost the exact same as someone he already knew. While the face he recalled was also incredibly beautiful, it was colder and sharper. Laia¡¯s face was gentler and brimming with youthfulness and vibrancy, but it was undeniably almost identical, only with Laia appearing younger.


    ¡°Then why the hell do you look like my Master?¡±

 Chapter 622 Seventh Princess

    ¡°I¡­look like your master?¡± Laia replied, her voice still heavy with confusion. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯re talking about. Are you sure we look the same?¡±


    ¡°Almost the exact same,¡± John replied without hesitation. ¡°You may be younger than her, and your aura¡¯s couldn¡¯t be more opposite from one another, but in terms of facial appearance, you¡¯re the same.¡±


    ¡°I¡­I still don¡¯t know how to answer,¡± Laia replied, ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. Who is your master?¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t know her,¡± John replied, as Lilian had grown up on the Yuan Continent, far removed from Laia and her Astral Empire. ¡°But she goes by the name Lilian.¡±


    The name seemed to strike Laia like it was a battle art that was hitting her, as her face lit up in surprise and shock. John¡¯s eyes narrowed as he saw Laia¡¯s expression, as he could tell that the name had meant something to Laia.


    Laia fell silent as her face scrunched up in deep contemtion.


    ¡°What is it?¡± John asked, as Laia clearly seemed to know something. Laia continued to remain silent for some time before her gaze shifted back to John, a strange look on her face. She sighed deeply and took a deep breath.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°As I said earlier, I¡¯m the eighth princess of the Astral Empire,¡± Laia said to John, who fell silent as he waited to hear what Laia had to say. ¡°I know all my sisters, except for the seventh princess.¡±


    John¡¯s serious face changed slightly as the thought of where Laia was going with her exnation struck him, but he remained silent as he allowed her to continue her exnation.


    ¡°While I¡¯ve never met my older sister, the seventh princess, I¡¯ve heard many stories of her,¡± Laia continued. ¡°She was supposedly the most talented princess, and was the crown jewel of the Empire, and my father. However, when she was fifteen, my father took her to a secretive location to continue her training, and that was thest I ever heard of her. She¡¯s supposedly still training in secret, although I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    ¡°What was the name of your sister?¡± John asked, although he could already guess the answer.


    Laia¡¯s gaze lingered on John¡¯s face for some time, before she finally answered his question.


    ¡°Lilian,¡± she replied, confirming John¡¯s suspicions. He felt like a mountain hadnded on top of him, as the weight of the truth came to light. John¡¯s mind raced at a million miles an hour as he struggled to focus his thoughts.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Wait¡­does that mean my sister is your master?¡± Laia asked,ing to the same conclusion John hade to. Her confused expression was reced with curious excitement, as she realized she may have finally heard some news about her mysterious sister.


    ¡°How is she? Is he alright? Where is she?¡± Laia asked, spewing off a barrage of questions at John.


    John remained silent as he ignored the questions and instead thought over the entire situation, which didn¡¯t make sense to him.


    ¡®If Laia¡¯s story is true, then the Astral Emperor took my master to the Yuan Continent to learn under Thunderzen? But something doesn¡¯t feel right about all of this. ording to Laia, my master would have been fifteen at the time, and while Thunderzen is strong, it doesn¡¯t make sense that the Astral Emperor, one of the strongest beings in this world, would have him train her. Something seems off, but I can say one thing that¡¯s almost certain to be true¡­.my master truly is the seventh princess of the Astral Empire.¡¯


    The story had too many coincidences to be wrong. Lilian looked almost exactly like Laia, as if they were twins, only different ages. While Laia¡¯s face was softer and more vibrant, like the most beautiful spring flower in full bloom, and while his master¡¯s face was colder and sharper, like a beautiful ice-lotus, they were still beyond simr.


    ¡°You¡¯re from the Heavenly Lightning Sect! Does that mean my sister is living there?¡± Laia asked, excitement and hopefulness still in her voice.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Your other sisters¡­what do they say when you ask them about your seventh sister?¡± John asked, ignoring Laia¡¯s questions and asking his own.


    Laia was caught off guard by the question, but quickly answered nheless.


    ¡°That¡¯s the odd part,¡± Laia replied, her mood calming down slightly, ¡°when I ask them about her, they give short, vague answers, almost like they¡¯re avoiding the questions entirely. I always found that quite strange, but never pressed any of them further. I¡¯m sure they have their reasons¡±


    John fell into a deep contemtion once more, something that Laia noticed immediately.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Laia asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± John dismissed as he snapped out of his deep thought. ¡°When we leave this realm, I can ask my master about this directly. In the meantime, we should focus on my tribtion.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right!¡± Laia said as John reminded her of the most important thing. Figuring out the truth would have no meaning if they didn¡¯t leave the Dao Transformation Trial alive. ¡°I¡¯m almost fully recovered, and should be ready in half a day.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± John replied with a firm head nod, ¡°then my Heavenly Tribtion will start in half a day.¡±


    ¡­


    sh!


    A sh of light appeared for a moment as a figure stepped out of a glowing green barrier. The person¡¯s gaze shifted sideways as they gazed about the surrounding area, while a smug smile appeared on their face.


    ¡°As expected, I¡¯m the first to make it through the Heavenly Tribtion trial,¡± the youth said out loud to himself, his voice filled with prideful arrogance. ¡°This should be thest area of this realm, which means¡­.¡±


    The figure¡¯s gaze shifted sideways towards the distant mountains that rose up hundreds of miles away. The mountain range lined the edge of the trial realm, while a massive glowing green barrier pierced up from them and surrounded thend overhead, protecting the trialnd from any outside influence.


    ¡°That spot should do nicely,¡± the youth said as they sped forward. They arrived before the mountain range some timeter and inspected the spot. It was well hidden within a forested valley, which was out of the sight of others should they arrive.


    The youth waved his hand, and over one hundred items suddenly appeared on the ground before him. The items were varied, containing formation disks, high grade spirit crystals, and other fantastic objects. The runes on the formation disks were beyond intricate and profound, something that rivaled the most profound runes John had ever seen.


    A jade piece appeared in the youths hands as he sent in his divine sense to study it. Various instructions flooded into his mind, and the youth put it away after studying it for quite some time. The youth then began walking about to various locations in the nearby area, cing the formation runes in a seemingly organized fashion, as well aspleting other tasks.


    ¡°Once this is done, the true fun should finally begin,¡± the youth said out loud as arge, menacing smile appeared on his face.

 Chapter 623 Anguish and Despair

    The ttering of footsteps echoed out as a group a few thousand strong walked through arge tunnel. The tunnel was obviously carved by hand and was wide enough for the massive group to walk through without it being crowded. The ceiling of the tunnel was dozens of yards high, although some of the members of the group nearly touched the top with their heads, a testament to their size.


    The group eventually arrived at a massive chamber, hundreds of yards wide, long, and tall. The chamber was empty except for an intricate teleportation circle in the very center, which was guarded by several monstrous looking creatures.


    ¡°Wee,¡± one of the creatures spoke out, his voice like the hiss of a snake. ¡°Our master is waiting for you.¡± The creature was a humanoid serpent, clearly from the monster race.


    ¡°It¡¯s best to not keep him waiting,¡± another creature spoke out, his voice deep and guttural like that of a beast. It was also a humanoid creature, although it looked more like a chimera of beasts. However, it too was from the monster race.


    ¡°Hmph, we received this mysterious summons from your mysterious ¡®master,¡¯ out of the blue, which instructed us not only to arrive here, but to also bring our most talented youths,¡± one of the members of therge group spoke out, his voice tinged with displeasure. ¡°If this is some sort of trap, your master will soone to regret his actions as I snuff out his life.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± another spoke up, her voice feminine and seductive. She was a human who appeared to be in her thirties, and oozed feminine sensuality. She wore incredibly revealing clothing, which covered up only the parts that needed to be covered up. Her zing red hair cascaded down her shoulders, while her face was the epitome of sexiness.


    However, none of the other members of the group looked at her lecherously, as the Early World Expansion cultivation the woman exuded made none of them daring enough to gaze in such a manner.


    ¡°I would advise you not to speak in such a manner in front of our master,¡± one of the creatures replied, his voice cold and threatening, ¡°or your life will be quite miserable.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Haha, I would like to see your ¡®master¡¯ try such a thing,¡± the woman replied mockingly, ¡°now take us wherever you want to take us. I want to see for myself exactly what your ¡®master¡¯ is nning,¡± the woman continued.


    ¡°I would like to see who your master is,¡± another figure from the crowd chimed up, his vertical pupils fixed on the creatures before him. The figure had tworge wings like that of a bat, while his body looked quite human otherwise. His teeth were incredibly sharp, and sharp ws extended from each of his hands. ¡°To think that creatures from our monster race would serve so subserviently, your master must be quite impressive.¡±


    The figure¡¯s words indicated that he was from the monster race, as were the creatures guarding the teleportation formation. The monster race was a race of varying types of creatures that were human-beast hybrids. They ranged from serpentine creatures, to beastial creatures, to everything in between. The group also had humans, such as the seductress woman, as well as another humanoid race which stood five yards tall and had incredibly powerful looking bodies which exuded a savage and brutal aura, revealing it to be a mix of different races.


    ¡°Their master better be,¡± the woman spoke up again, her tone slightly dismissive. ¡°To think their master has the gall to summon our Forbidden Alliance, the Barbarian Race and your Monster Race like this, if he¡¯s not up to my standards, I¡¯ll kill him myself for wasting my time.¡±


    The creatures stared at the woman with narrowed eyes, but said nothing as a small smirk appeared on their faces. They gestured towards the teleportation portal, which the group of youths and veteran cultivators alike stepped onto.


    The formation red with power, and the group vanished from sight, leaving the guarding creatures behind.


    ¡­<sub></sub>


    sh!


    Formation light shed, as the group arrived at another location. Their gazes swept all about as they inspected the new area, and the youths of the group couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill crawl up their spine as they saw their surroundings. Even the powerful elders of the group, such as the seductive woman, couldn¡¯t help but narrow her eyes as she saw the surrounding area.


    The area was underground, with brutal looking buildings erected all about. Rivers of blood flowed through the underground area, while screams of agony sounded out constantly. Some of the sources of the screams were visible to the group, who watched as the most heinous forms of torture were being carried out.


    It was like they were plunged into the depths of hell, and even powers as sinister and brutal as the Forbidden Alliance, Monster Race and Barbarian Race couldn¡¯t help but be almost overwhelmed.


    ¡°This way,¡± a creature said as it arrived before the group. The group followed behind the creature as they made their way through the undergroundir of hell, and they eventually arrived before a massive castle, its walls ck and ominous. A sinister aura emanated from within the castle, one that nearly overwhelmed the youths of the group. The elders of the group red their power to help the youths resist as they continued to follow the creature into the castle.


    They made their way through the massive castle, as more sources of pain, blood, and death popped up non-stop. The group arrived before a massive set of doors, which the creature parted and gestured for them to enter.


    As soon as the doors opened, the sinister aura exploded severalfold, as the youths found it almost unbearable. It was like they were plunged into the depths of hell itself, as malevolent energies seemed to invade their mind and souls, nearly driving them mad.<sub></sub>


    The elders of the group, the woman included, narrowed their eyes as they red their power further to protect the youths, before they entered the massive chamber.


    nk!


    The massive doors closed behind them, although the members of the group ignored the sound as they gazed intently at the opposite end of the chamber. Shrouded in shadows sat a massive figure, its body five yards tall. Next to the figure was a cage of cultivators, who were naked and seemed as though they had given up on life.


    The bloody carcasses of humans and other creaturesid strewn about outside the cage, a glimpse of what would happen to those still living.


    ¡°You must be the ¡®master¡¯ who summoned us,¡± the woman spoke up, her voice steady and calm.


    Two blood red eyes glowed from within the shadows, staring back at the woman as the shrouded figure sat there in silence. The woman felt an instinctual fear crawl up her spine as she felt the figure¡¯s gaze, but she firmed her mind and soul as she resisted the urge to take a step backwards.


    ¡°Am I up to your standards?¡± the figure¡¯s deep and guttural voice eventually sounded out.


    The woman narrowed her eyes as she realized her words had been heard by this creature, ones that had been quite insulting to say. However, she remained calm as she stared back into the shadows.


    ¡°I must admit that you are,¡± the woman replied, her voice tinged with pure charm and allure, as if she couldn¡¯t help but speak in such a manner. The creature sat there in silence for a short moment before he raised his right hand, and a sinister red and ck light emanated from it.


    ¡°But you are not up to mine,¡± the creature replied, his voice menacing beyond allparison.


    The woman felt an overwhelming power wrap around her, something far stronger than she had ever felt in her life. Her power erupted with absolute strength to resist the figure¡¯s power, but her eyes widened in absolute horror as her ring power was instantly wrapped up and suppressed.


    ¡°Noooo!¡± the woman¡¯s scream of pure fear screeched out as her body shot forward towards the creature against her will. She shot into the shadows, and horrific sounds of agonized wails, snapping bones, and ripping flesh filled the chamber for a short moment before going silent.


    The group of cultivators all raised their guard, while the powers of the strongest members red out, ready to battle against the creature at a moment¡¯s notice. The woman was one of the strongest in the group, and was handled with absolute ease, something that sent a wave of fear down everyone¡¯s spine.


    Their gazes shifted upwards as the creature stood up from its throne, towering over all but thergest of the Barbarians.


    It walked forward, finally leaving the dark shadows and stepping into the light of the chamber. The eyes of every member in the group went wide in instinctual fear as the creature was revealed to them.


    Its skin was dark red, like the color of dried blood, while six straight and sharp ck horns jutted from atop its skull, like a natural crown. Fresh blood streamed down its chin, while its menacing grin revealed a maw of razor sharp teeth.


    Its upper half waspletely exposed revealing muscles that bulged over every inch of the figure¡¯s body, as if a singr wave of its hand could shatter mountains and rend the earth apart. Even the members of the barbarian race that prided itself on bodily strength couldn¡¯t help but feel overwhelmed by the figures¡¯ natural power and presence.


    Each step of the creature shook the castle, as well as the hearts of all those in the group as they watched the terrifying creature approach. It was as if a God of Death and Despair was approaching them, and for the first time they realized they were not in control of the situation. Fear flooded their bodies, as if something instinctual in their very core told them to flee as fast as possible.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± one of the strongest members asked, ready to attack at a moment¡¯s notice. Despite the creature¡¯s overwhelming strength, if they fought with theirbined power, the man was sure they could win in the end.


    ¡°I want what you want,¡± the creature said as it gazed down at therge group before it with menacing indifference. ¡°I want to drown this world in anguish and despair, starting with the Honorable Alliance.¡±

 Chapter 624 Agreement

    The group of cultivators, both young and old, stared at the creature with a mixture of doubt and caution. They had never seen anything like the creature before, and didn¡¯t even know such a sinister thing could exist in this world.


    ¡°Why should we believe you?¡± the man asked, his guard still raised to the maximum. He was stronger than the female who had died earlier, and was confident that he could keep himself alive, especially with the numbers they had.


    As the group behind him contained some but not all of the most talented youths of all three subgroups, they had been escorted by some of the most powerful members of each group. They could also call for reinforcements if need be, which gave the man more confidence in dealing with the nightmarish creature before him.


    The creature ignored the man¡¯s question, and turned around and sat down on his throne, his features once again obscured by the dark shadows in the back of the chamber.


    ¡°Sooner orter, this world will kneel under my rule,¡± the creature said with absolute confidence. ¡°You can choose to ally your pitiable selves with me right now, or you can choose to oppose me. It makes no difference.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    The creature¡¯s words contained no doubt at all as to the veracity of them, something that the others could feel from the weight of his words.


    ¡°If you¡¯re so powerful, why haven¡¯t you made this world yours already?¡± the man asked warily.


    ¡°There are some¡­obstacles that stand in the way of that,¡± the creature replied in obvious displeasure and disgust, its deep voice shaking the walls and floor beneath their feet. ¡°Soon those obstacles will be removed, at which point this world will crumble beneath my heel. Your assistance will aid remove those obstacles sooner, but they will be aplished eventually regardless of your actions.¡±


    Silence filled the chamber, with the only sounds being the wails of the captives in the cage, and the hushed whispers from those within the crowd of cultivators. The most powerful cultivators of the group got together to discuss the matter at hand, their raised voices indicating some disagreement.<sub></sub>


    The creature waited in silence, as if the oue didn¡¯t concern him at all. The group of powerful elders eventually parted, with the man taking the forefront once more.


    ¡°Me might help you, if it is in our best interest,¡± the man said, ¡°but answer me this first. Why are you targeting the Honorable Alliance? While we do wish to eliminate them, we do not have the power to do such a thing at this time.¡±


    While the Honorable Alliance was weaker than thebined might of the Monster Race, Forbidden Alliance, and Barbarian Race, they still had things they could lean on. The Faerie Race was friendly with the Honorable Alliance, as were some individual powers of notable strength. This was enough to form a unified front strong enough to resist their enemies, and ensured that a war would be pyrrhic at best for their enemies.


    They were making ns to enact this war eventually, but those ns were still in motion and would take a long time to implement. Part of those ns was to raise the current generation of youths to a level beyond what existed at the moment, and have their future might crush all enemies.<sub></sub>


    The creature before them was an unexpected variable in their ns, as none of them knew of his existence before today. They had received a mysterious summons, and decided to oblige based on the information provided in the summons. While the events that followed were far beyond their wildest expectations, it seemed as though their ultimate goals were truly aligned.


    ¡°¡®Asura¡¯ is a youth from the Honorable Alliance,¡± the creature eventually replied, his words shocking therge group. The identity of ¡®Asura¡¯ was a mystery as soon as they reached twenty steps, and all the powers had been searching to find out the true identity. However, no one had been able to, something that frustrated them all to no end.


    If someone as talented as that was allowed to fully grow, they would sweep across the world unchallenged.


    ¡°How do you know this?¡± the man asked, skeptical of the creature¡¯s ims. ¡°The Honorable Alliance is a fading power, not capable of producing such a monstrous talent.¡±


    ¡°You doubt my words?¡± the creature growled as it narrowed its eyes. The temperature of the room seemed to chill in an instant, while the sinister aura radiating from it thickened. The man couldn¡¯t help but take a step back in instinctual fear before he stopped himself from retreating further. Clearly he had enraged the creature by constantly doubting it.


    ¡°No,¡± the man replied eventually afterposing himself, ¡°I do not doubt your words. Since ¡®Asura¡¯ is part of the Honorable Alliance, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve summoned us here today to deal with that mess?¡± the man asked.


    ¡°I have,¡± the creature confirmed as its eyes swept around the room, studying the youths in the group. ¡°I told you to bring your most talented youths,¡± the creature growled in displeasure, clearly seeing through the trickery of the group. They had brought talented youths, but not their top geniuses.


    ¡°Surely you can understand why we would not bring our best into an unknown situation,¡± the man replied, exining his rational stance. ¡°If you would exin your n to us, perhaps we can send word to bring the geniuses you desire. The Honorable Alliance¡¯s youth¡¯s are currently in the Jade Dragon Empire training realm, which is heavily fortified to the point that even we could not get through. If ¡®Asura¡¯ is a part of that group, then surely he is within as well. What can we possibly do to ¡®Asura¡¯ at the moment?¡±


    A guttural growl sounded out from the creature, as if he despised being haggled with. Hisrge finger strummed the armrest of his chair as he sat in silence for some time, while the group waited in silence as well, unsure of what was going to happen.


    The strumming continued for a short while before the creature spoke out once more and exined the n to the group before him. The leading man¡¯s face changed expression several times, from doubt, to surprise, and then menacing glee.


    After listening to the n, the man took out a formation disk and sent his divine sense into it. The disk was a long range sound transmission disk, one that was incredibly profound and expensive. The leaders of the Monster Race and Barbarian Race did the same, and all three soon received replies from the leaders of their powers.


    ¡°My Forbidden Alliance has agreed to this n,¡± the man said.


    ¡°As has my Monster Race,¡± the monster race leader said.


    ¡°Us too,¡± the Barbarian leader said, his voice almost as deep and guttural as the creature before them.


    ¡°Good!¡± the creature¡¯s guttural voice sounded out, as a makeshift pact between the four powers was formed. A menacing smile appeared on its face, barely visible through the dark shadows he sat within.

 Chapter 625 Terrifying Youths

    In a dark, cavernous area barely illuminated by flickering torches, a lone figure stood with a slender blood red sword sped in her hand. Her blood red hair flowed down her back, while her piercing gray eyes flickered about, peering through the darkness.


    Her sword suddenly shed forward, creating a brief red blur before it was instantly sheathed in the scabbard on her waist.


    Creak!


    A creaking sound filled the cavernous area as a door opened and light flooded in from the other side. The light illuminated the expansive cavern, revealing a scene of pure carnage all around the girl. Dozens of cultivators, all in the Peak Heaven Tribtion Realm were strewn about, none of them in one piece.


    ¡°What is it?¡± the girl asked coldly as she stared at the one that had opened the door and entered.


    ¡°You have been summoned by the Three Ancient Elders,¡± the timid female who had entered replied sheepishly. She clearly feared the girl before her, despite being one of her aides.


    ¡°The Three Ancient Elder¡¯s?¡± the red-haired girl mused before a smile appeared on her face. ¡°If it¡¯s them summoning me, it must be something important. Maybe I¡¯ll finally get to have a bit of fun again, whatever it is. Take me to them.¡±


    ¡°Right away, Miss Bloodrose.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡­


    Graaahhh!


    A pained cry flooded a dreary swamnd, as the sound of shattering bones filled the air.


    ¡°Hehehehe!¡± a malevolentugh followed afterwards, clearly belonging to someone enjoying themselves. ¡°You only have yourself to me,¡± a voice followed afterwards, ¡°thinking you could sneak through ournds like this. It seems as though you pathetic humans have started to look down on us monsters.¡±


    ¡°No¡­pleas-¡± the sound of begging was cut off as their head was crunched beneath a ck foot. Despite the fact that the figure was a Peak Heaven Tribtion cultivator, it stood no chance against the one who had killed it.


    The one who had crushed the victims head looked down with disdain, as if the blood staining his foot was sullying it. However, he reached down and ced his finger in the blood before touching it to his tongue, an expression of delight appearing on his face.


    ¡°Humans are a pathetic bunch, but their blood is by far the best tasting,¡± the figure said out loud, a look of ecstasy on his face.<sub></sub>


    The creature¡¯s skin was pitch ck, and it had a humanoid body. Tworge wings jutted out from its back, although they were folded closed at the moment. The creature had two forwards pointing curved horns on its head, and sharp fangs for teeth. Its fingers ended with sharp ws on each finger, making it look incredibly fearsome. However, while it looked incredibly fearsome, it also looked regal and handsome, making whoever looked at the creature feel an odd and conflicting sensation.


    Another nearby cultivator, injured to near death, was crawling through the muddy swamp. The creature walked with a menacing smile towards the injured human, before it¡¯s yellow eyes with vertical pupils shone through the low light of the swamp as it noticed the arrival of new parties.


    ¡°What is it?¡± the creature asked with displeasure, ¡°a party of humans have ventured into thesends, and I¡¯m quite enjoying the hunt at the moment.¡±


    The figures arrived before the creature, revealing themselves to be simr in appearance, only older, less regal and fearsome.


    ¡°Your Royal Highness, your father the king has summoned you,¡± one of the creatures said respectfully.


    ¡°My father huh?¡± the youthful creature replied, a smile appearing on his face. ¡°Alright then, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s for a good reason.¡±


    He turned towards the injured human underneath him and lifted his foot above their head. The human, a man who appeared to be in his twenties, cried out in fear as he pleaded for his life. The smile on the creature¡¯s face widened as he heard the begging, as if it was music to his ears.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t y around with you, but when you go to the underworld, remember the name of the one who sent you there¡­Vargul agoth!¡±


    Crunch!


    ¡­


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    One cmitous shockwave after another sted over a rocky wastnd, destroying the spare vegetation that barely covered thend. Thend as far as the eye could see was a barren wastnd, hardly suitable for life. However, within this barren wastnd lived a feared race of powerful warriors, who excelled and enjoyed living in such an inhospitable ce.


    The shockwaves continued to nket thend, uprooting boulders and cracking the earth. Closer to the source of the explosions, the earth was riddled with massive craters and fractured earth. It was like the apocalypse had arrived.


    Dust nketed thend for miles in each direction, obscuring what was going on in the heart of the dust clouds. The thunderous explosions eventually died down, returning silence to the deste wastnd once more.


    The dust cloud eventually faded away, revealing two figures at the very heart of it all. One of the figures was a massive scaled creature, appearing like a four armed dragon without wings. It was an Ancient Dragon-Lizard, a lizard-like creature that had a small trace of dragon blood in its lineage. Its body was over a hundred yards long and thirty yards tall, and it was famed for its incredible power, as a singr strike from its ws or swipe of its tail could shatter mountains.


    The creature was nearing the Dao Transformation Realm, although it had yet to break through and instead lingered at the half-step Dao Transformation Realm. Before it was a humanoid figure, five yards tall.


    The figure was bare chested, with a robe-like loincloth covering the bottom half of its body. Powerful muscles bulged over each inch of the figure¡¯s body, like it was physical power perfected. The figure stared at the creature before it, which no longer moved.


    Massive holes marked the sides of the creature, while a gaping blunt force wound had caved in its skull. Blood flowed down the figure¡¯s mostly naked body, although almost all of the blood belonged to the creature and not himself. His knuckles were slightly red, indicating that he had not used a weapon in the battle with the terrifying creature.


    Bang!


    Bang


    Bang!


    Three muffled bangs rang out next to the figure, and his head turned to inspect the three figures that had arrived before him. They were all around the same size as him, and each had simrly powerful looking bodies.


    ¡°Zulos Stonefist,¡± one of the new arrivals said to him, his voice deep and guttural. ¡°The Council of Warlords have summoned you. Follow us.¡±


    Zulos Stonefist turned to look back at the massive dead lizard before him. He walked around towards its tail and reached out, clenching his one hand onto the end of its tail. He started walking back towards the three figures, while the massive lizard whose weight was beyondprehension was dragged slowly behind. The four figures walked into the distance, while the lizard¡¯s corpse carved a massive trench into the barren earth.


    ¡­


    In a faraway ce, a series of majestic looking pces rested at the top of a beautiful and picturesque mountain range. The pces were dark blue and purple, while stars and other celestial objects were painted on the surface, giving the area a mystical and ethereal air.


    The pces seemed to stretch as high as possible into the sky above, as if wanting to be as close to the stars high above as possible. High up within one of these pces, a lone figure sat cross legged in a dimly lit room, his eyes closed as he held a crystal object in his hand. He wore the same robes as Ainsel, only far more profound and intricate in design and quality, indicating that he was a member of the Heaven Scrying Sect.


    An intricately designed contraption rested behind him, moving and circling about in a mesmerizing fashion, like the celestial objects in the sky moving about. The man¡¯s face was furrowed in deep contemtion, as if something was troubling him. The crystal object in his hand was illuminated brightly, as blurry images seemed to appear and fade away into obscurity.


    The man¡¯s eyes opened, and a gloomy look quickly appeared on his face.


    ¡°A grave cmity will soon befall the youths of our Honorable Alliance,¡± the man muttered, his voice grave. ¡°I must warn the Alliance.¡±

 Chapter 626 Call For Aid

    ¡°Are you certain your scrying is urate?¡± a concerned voice asked, the question lightly echoing within the chamber a group of cultivators, men and women, young and old, sat within. A massive round table rested in the middle of the chamber, with dozens of seats surrounding it. Upon each seat sat a powerful Elder of the Honorable Alliance, their robes and armor the different colors of the various sects and ns that made up the alliance.


    ¡°Do you think I would give such a grave warning if I was not certain,¡± the Heaven Scrying Sect elder who had brought the warning replied.


    ¡°Daoist Clearview¡¯s scrying¡¯s have never led us astray before,¡± another member of the group spoke up, her voice feminine but firm. ¡°This matter is too important to ignore. We must do something about it.¡±


    ¡°But even if Daoist Clearview is right, what can we do about it?¡± another member of the alliance spoke up. ¡°Our youths are within the trialnds, which we ourselves cannot enter. And the entrance is fortified with our strongest formations and most formidable warriors. I refuse to believe any power, even all of thembined, would risk such a suicidal assault!¡±


    ¡°Daoist Ashme is right,¡± another agreed, ¡°I doubt the source of the danger wille from outside. It must be something lurking within. We cannot do anything to help them.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    Many of the members spoke up at the same time as a boisterous discourse broke out within the chamber. The heated discussions died down as one of the older and most respected members of the alliance tapped the table before him, asking for silence. He had a long gray beard that pointed down to the ground, and wrinkles around his eyes that revealed his long years.


    ¡°Daoist Clearview,¡± the man addressed the Heaven Scrying Sect Elder, ¡°if we call for youthful reinforcements, would the situation be more favorable?¡±


    ¡°You know, scrying into the heavens and the future is not so simple,¡± Daoist Clearview replied, ¡°I cannot just take out a crystal ball and predict all that will happen.¡±


    ¡°Naturally all of us know that,¡± the elderly man replied, ¡°but surely its worth an attempt to see if the heavens will grant you this information or not?¡±<sub></sub>


    The chamber fell silent as Daoist Clearview thought over the situation at hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s worth trying,¡± Daoist Clearview replied after a moment of thinking it over, and stood up from the chamber. He left the room, while the other members broke out in grouped discussion of what they could potentially do about the ill omen regarding their youths.


    An hourter, Daoist Clearview returned to the room. All eyes focused on him as he sat down, as they eagerly awaited his answer.


    ¡°My scrying attempts were not fully fruitful,¡± Daoist Clearview said, his words creating many frowns within the room, ¡°but I was able to discern one thing. Sending reinforcements into the realm will help. As for how much, I cannot say, but I can say that it will not worsen the situation.¡±<sub></sub>


    All eyes shifted back to the elderly man who had asked the question in the first ce. The man mused over the situation for a while, thinking of the best course of action. After a while, his eyes raised to look at the group before him, his decision seemingly made.


    ¡°Send word to all our allies,¡± the elderly man instructed, ¡°be clear and honest about the situation, and offer passage into the trial realm for any youths they wish to send.¡±


    The man¡¯s words caused many faces to light up in slight surprise, as this was an unprecedented move. Only several exceptions had ever been made for allowing outsiders to enter the realm, namely the Starforge n, Igris from the beast n, and Laia from the Astral Empire. These were done with the intention of courting those powers into the alliance, or at least into a friendly agreement.


    Other than that, no other outsiders had ever entered. However, the elderly mans words intended to allow as many outsiders as possible, defeating the original purpose of only sending their own members in to take advantage of the benefits within. However, the situation was no longer simple, and so such a drastic measure needed to be taken.


    ¡°It will be done,¡± several members within the chamber replied before leaving the room.


    ¡°Let us hope that this is enough, and that we¡¯re not only sending our youths into death, but the youths of our allies as well,¡± the elderly man mumbled softly.


    ¡­


    In and of ice and snow, a sprawling ice castle rested atop a massive mountain. The castle sprawled for miles, and was beyond breathtaking in both size and beauty. This was thend of the Faeries, a female dominated race of incredible talent and beauty. They specialized in essence cultivation and soul arts, but their true talent was soul arts. Among the races of the Divine Martial Continent, they were the most gifted in aspects of the soul.


    Within arge courtyard of this castle, a battle between two cultivators was taking ce, while a group watched on from a short distance away. One of the fighters was a female of the Faerie race, who wore an icy blue dress, one that swayed lightly in the cold breeze. Her beauty was incredible, and she had an ethereal glow to her, as if she was almost not part of the world. Her skin was white as snow, and she had several dazzling light blue markings on her forehead, which seemed to be natural. She looked incredibly simr to a human, but two translucent wings, like butterfly wings beautiful beyondpare, alluded to the race she belonged to.


    The group watching from the distance also consisted entirely of Faerie¡¯s, simr in beauty and appearance to the one standing within the courtyard. The group of Faerie¡¯s discussed the battle with great interest, although the battle could hardly be called that.


    The two participants stoodpletely still, staring at each other from a dozen yards away. It seemed as though they were just standing there, but everyone knew a terrifying battle was taking ce, not within the courtyard, but within their souls.

 Chapter 627 Seraphic Soul Palace

    ¡°Do you think he can defeat Ishea?¡± one of the Faerie¡¯s asked her nearby friends, her voice ethereal and charming.


    ¡°Surely that¡¯s not possible,¡± one of her friends replied, her voice equally soft and ethereal.


    ¡°He already bested Hialeah,¡± another chimed in, ¡°so his talent and power cannot be looked down on.¡±


    ¡°We all know the level of his talent,¡± the first one who spoke chimed in again, ¡°but surely there are limits, even for him.¡±


    As if answering their questions, one of the fighters fell to their knees and clutched their head, seemingly in pain. The eyes of the Faerie¡¯s widened in shock, as the one that had fallen to their knees waas Ishea.


    ¡°Even Ishea lost?¡± one of them couldn¡¯t help but exim.


    ¡°We Faerie¡¯s are known for our soul talent, and yet we cannotpare to a single human boy,¡± another sighed while shaking her head in disappointment. ¡°Has our Seraphic Soul Pce fallen so much?¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°There¡¯s still Iseria,¡± one of them said to cheer up the other, ¡°surely she¡¯ll-¡°


    ¡°Hahaha! That was a good fight!¡±


    The girl¡¯s words were interrupted by a boisterous eruption by the other fighter, who rushed over to the kneeled Faerie and helped her stand up. The girl took his hand and stood up with his help, and bowed her head slightly to him in a gesture of good faith before she returned to the other Faerie¡¯s.


    ¡°Who¡¯s next?¡± the youth said with great excitement, ¡°this is beyond fun.¡±


    ¡°I was skeptical when Pce Master brought in this boy the other month to train alongside us, but it seems as though she knew what she was doing, as always,¡± one of them said.


    ¡°It¡¯s true his talent may be monstrous, but his personality is quite¡­brazen,¡± another replied as they recalled all the things the youth had done and said over thest few months.<sub></sub>


    Another Faerie stepped out from within the crowd, her movement causing the others to feel a swell of hope within their bodies. The Faerie¡¯s beauty was beyond breathtaking, even more so than the others nearby. The ethereal aura around her was also beyondpare, as if she was a holy spirit.


    ¡°Iseria is finally making her move,¡± one of them whispered to her nearby friends.


    The boy¡¯s eyes lit up as he watched who approached him, while arge smile appeared on his face.


    ¡°Hahaha¡­.Iseria, are you finally going to ept my challenge?¡± the boy asked boisterously.


    ¡°I am,¡± Iseria replied, her voice like that of an angel, ¡°you have proven yourself worthy of my challenge.¡±


    ¡°Good, good, this will be fun,¡± the boy replied as a slightly lewd expression appeared on his face. ¡°Seeing as your cultivation is a minor realm above mine, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s fair if there¡¯s no reward for this battle if I win.¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°You won¡¯t win,¡± Iseria replied calmly, ¡°but what is the reward you desire?¡± she asked, entertaining the boy¡¯s suggestion.


    ¡°Hmmm,¡± the boy pondered the question for a moment, before his smiling gaze returned to her face. ¡°If I win¡­how about you give me a kiss?¡± he said without any shame at all.


    The cheeks of all the Faeries, Iseria included, became tinged with rosy embarrassment at the suggestion. The boy¡¯s actions, mannerisms, and words werepletely opposite of how the Faerie race conducted themselves, and none of them knew how to deal with him, as he seemed to have no shame at all.


    Before Iseria could reply, another figure suddenly appeared within the courtyard, attracting the attention of everyone present. The figure was a Faerie who appeared to be in her thirties, but was clearly much older. Her beauty was enough to topple nations, although the icy aura she radiated would give pause to any lecherous thoughts.


    ¡°Pce Master,¡± the Faeries said in respectful unison.


    ¡°The Honorable Alliance has contacted us,¡± the Pce Master said, getting straight to the point. ¡°They have mentioned that a great omen has befallen their youths, who are currently in an ancient realm, and have requested our aid. They did not hide the dangers that may lurk within, and entering may cost you your lives¡­however, the opportunities within that ancient realm are beyondpare, some that could elevate one¡¯s cultivation and talent to the forefront forever. Ie to you with the choice to enter that realm¡­or remain here. Either answer is eptable, but the choice is yours to make.¡±


    The Faeries fell silent after listening to their Pce Master, as they had not expected such a serious thing to be brought up all of a sudden. The Faerie Race was allied with the Honorable Alliance, the Seraphic Soul Pce included, but most Faeries enjoyed peace, and removed themselves from the troubles of the world.


    ¡°The Honorable Alliance?¡± the boy spoke up, his words causing all to gaze at him. ¡°That includes the Heavenly Lightning Sect, right?¡±


    ¡°That it does,¡± the Pce Master replied.


    ¡°Hahaha, count me in then,¡± the boy said boisterously, his excitement clear for all to see.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± the Pce Master asked. ¡°Entering could mean your death!¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m sure,¡± the boy replied, his excitement not dimmed even a bit, ¡°if anyone or anything tries to kill me, I¡¯ll just kill them first!¡±


    The outward enthusiasm andck of fear from the boy seemed to stir the Faerie¡¯s, who didn¡¯t want to lose out to the human boy. While the Faeries did remove themselves from the world for the most part, they were a prideful race that didn¡¯t like to lose out to anyone.


    ¡°I¡¯ll join!¡± one Faerie spoke out.


    ¡°Me too,¡± another said firmly. Simr voices sounded out, as almost all the Faeries ended up voicing their willingness to join. The Pce Master¡¯s face remained calm, but a tinge of pride shed by on her face, as she clearly was in support of their decisions.


    ¡°Good, then we leave immediately for the Honorable Alliance,¡± the Pce Master instructed, her gaze shifting back to the lone boy, her gaze bing a bit icier. ¡°And Miko¡­try to keep your hands to yourself and away from my Seraphic Soul Pce disciples on the trip over¡­or don¡¯t me me for punishing you.¡±


    ¡°Yes mam,¡± Miko replied as a chill crawled up his spine from the Pce Master¡¯s icy gaze.

 Chapter 628 Start Of The Heavenly Tribulation

    Two figures stood in an open area filled with thick fog, the expressions on both of their faces serious and stern.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to do this?¡± John asked Laia as she stood next to him.


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Laia replied without hesitation while nodding her head.


    ¡°You may be cursed by the Heavens right now, but your curse is nothingpared to what it will be if you help me,¡± John reiterated, ¡°are you sure you want to help me? Once you do, there¡¯s no going back.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Laia replied without a trace of doubt in her voice or on her face. ¡°I¡¯ll no doubt encounter future situations where I need to choose to remain in the good graces of the Heavens, or save the life of someone, perhaps even those I hold dear. I¡¯ll choose thetter everytime, and so I¡¯m already destined to walk opposite of Heaven¡¯s blessing.¡±


    John stared at Laia in silence as he studied her face. He could tell her mind was one hundred percent made up, and so he did not ask her of her choice any further.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Good, because when my tribtion starts, it¡¯ll be unlike anything you¡¯ve ever seen,¡± John replied firmly, ¡°and if I¡¯m to trust you to help me, I¡¯ll need your unwavering support.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll get all the help I can throw at you, I promise,¡± Laia replied as a small smile appeared on her face.


    Normally John would find that smile mesmerizing to look at, but his current focus was elsewhere. The toughest fight of his life was about to start, and he had no mood for anything other than focusing on that fight.


    ¡°Good, then you¡¯re going to need protection as well,¡± John said to Laia. Laia was about to ask what protection John could provide, but her eyes went wide as a creature suddenly appeared before her.


    ¡°Kirii, guard Laia at all costs,¡± John instructed.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Aye!¡± Kirii replied through their soul connection, his eager tone indicating he was ready to face the lightning from the heavens once more.


    ¡°Is that¡­is that a Lightning Kirin?¡± Laia asked, almost unable to believe her eyes.


    Kirii had revealed his true form, as that was his most powerful state. While he could remain in disguise, that would lower hisbat prowess, and he would need his fullbat state in the battle toe.


    ¡°Yep,¡± John replied sinctly, not hiding the fact. Laia already knew his most important secret, so what was one more.


    ¡°A Heavenly Lightning Kirin,¡± Laia muttered in astonishment as she walked up to Kirii. Her hand reached out towards Kirii¡¯s head as if to touch it, but she stopped just short of it. Kirii nudged his head forward onto her hand, while his eyes closed in content as he enjoyed the soft strokes of Laia¡¯s hand on his head.<sub></sub>


    ¡°I never thought Kirin¡¯s actually existed, and only assumed them to be one of the many creatures of legend,¡± Laia said as she continued to rub Kirii¡¯s head. Her gaze shifted towards John and she stared at him as if he were a true anomaly.


    ¡°Just how many secrets do you have?¡± Laia asked. First John¡¯sbat prowess was beyondpare, then he revealed himself to be ¡®Asura,¡¯ and now he revealed he had a mythical Lightning Kirin as a beastpanion.


    ¡°I have a few more,¡± John replied, a small smirk lingering on his face. If Laia knew the true extent of his secrets, he was sure she would not know how to process it all.


    Laia stared at John in silence for quite some time, as she could tell his slightly sarcastic reply held some truth to the words. She could only imagine how someone from such a backwater ce such as the Yuan Continent could have so many secrets, but didn¡¯t press any further.


    ¡°Are you ready?¡± John asked, his yful expression reced with one of seriousness.


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Laia hummed in confirmation, her face bing serious as well.


    ¡°Good, then here¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen,¡± John started to exin his tribtion to her. ¡°The tribtion will be far beyond anything you¡¯ve ever seen, and you will instinctively want to flee as far as possible when that starts. Trust in me, and trust in Kirii. We¡¯ll keep you safe, ok?¡±


    Laia stared at John for a moment, before she nodded in confirmation.


    ¡°Ok,¡± she replied, trusting John¡¯s words.


    ¡°Good, then when the tribtion starts, it might seem like I need help at the start based on the power of the tribtion strikes, but that¡¯s part of the n. I need to take a bit of damage, so only start healing me when I tell you to.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± Laia replied.


    ¡°Good, then here we go,¡± John said to her with a confident smile on his face as he stepped a few feet away from her. His mind, Qi, and divine sense focused inward towards his dantians as he prepared to push them past the limit.


    His Essence Qi began to surge as it mmed against the barrier to the next realm, and John could feel his Essence Qi step over the edge as it tried to transform into a higher state. A frown appeared on his face as he felt his Body Dantian be active as well, as if stirred into action by his Essence Dantians starting transformation.


    ¡®Tch, I was hoping that I could push my Essence Dantian to the Heaven Tribtion Realm first, and then my Body Dantian at ater time, but it seems as though the two have be intricately linked to one another for this ascension process,¡¯ John mused internally.


    ¡®Oh well, that¡¯s fine. Even if I only pushed my Essence Dantian to the next realm, the Heaven¡¯s would probably still target me with everything it has. I might as well go all out right from the start.¡¯


    With this in mind, John no longer held back at all. Both his Essence and Body Qi began to surge into his dantians, while hisprehensions of the next realm started to transform both his Qi and Dantians into a higher state of being.


    A dark and ominous aura enveloped thend as it started to be darker. Clouds started to gather from all directions, the color of the clouds bing darker by the second. Within seconds, the somewhat calm and quiet area had turned into a tempest, the wind picking up to incredible speeds while rain started to fall.


    Boom!


    The first flicker of lightning raced within the clouds, followed by another, and another. Soon the ckened clouds above turned bright as the lightning raced through non-stop. It was like an apocalypse had descended on thend, as the wind and rain ravaged everything in the area, while the lightning strikes within the clouds gave insight into the power toe.

 Chapter 629 Rid Us Of Your Stupidity

    Laia couldn¡¯t help but take a deep breath in both shock and awe at the sight before her, as this tribtion was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The aura descending from the clouds was already beyond terrifying, and her gaze shifted towards John, whose back was facing her.


    She studied his features and aura, and detected absolutely no fear at all from him. His back was straight and tall, while his aura was as calm as a spring morning. Her growing trepidation was quickly rxed as she found sce in John¡¯s confidence, while determination once again reced her anxiousness.


    The clouds continued to gather until they reached a point of absolute might and darkness, at which point two points of light started to appear. The points of light were made of pure lightning, and quickly grew in size, eventually forming two celestial eyes that stared down at John below.


    A confident smirk appeared on John¡¯s face as he saw the heavenly eyes, the eyes of his greatest foe.


    ¡°We meet again, old friend,¡± John said to the heaven¡¯s above, his tone calm yet arrogant, ¡°let¡¯s see if you can do better thanst time, because if I count it correctly, I¡¯m currently winning two to zero.¡±


    Boom!<sub>.</sub>


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The clouds above exploded with thunderous might, as the heaven¡¯s became enraged by John¡¯s arrogance.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, throw your temper tantrum all you want. It won¡¯t change anything,¡± John replied, not withdrawing his arrogance at all. The Heaven¡¯s would already throw everything it could possibly have at him, regardless of his actions or words. As such, he decided to have a bit of fun with the heavens, as he found it quite amusing to taunt it in such a manner.


    Laia¡¯s eyes widened as she heard John¡¯s words, as she had never heard anyone speak so directly and confrontationally towards the Heavens. Such actions would only enrage the heavens and increase its tribtion might, which everyone avoided.<sub></sub>


    However, she knew John was not a stupid person, and so she remained silent as she was sure he had his reasons.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The explosive sts within the clouds grew in might as the Heaven¡¯s became further enraged, while John waited calmly below. The power within the clouds above began to condense into a singr point, and time seemed to freeze for the briefest of moments before¡­<sub></sub>


    BOOM!


    A lightning st struck down from the Heavens above, its power beyond frightening. Unlike normal tribtion lightning, this lightning bolt was made of the most destructive type of lightning, one that only sought to eradicate anything in its path.


    ¡°Finally! Let¡¯s do this!¡± John yelled loudly, his arrogance reced with battle intent.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    His aura suddenly exploded outwards while his body shot towards the sky. As his body shot upwards, he felt the same thing asst time, as the flight restriction vanished. John knew things were not as simple as they appeared regarding this small detail, but he ignored the reason¡¯s as he shot up towards the bolt of lightning raining down from above.


    An expression of worry appeared on Laia¡¯s face, as the lightning beam was beyond anything she had ever seen or felt. The first strike of his tribtion was almost as strong as the veryst one of her own tribtion, but its destructive nature made it far more dangerous. She had never felt anything like it before, and if she were to be struck by this beam, even in her current state, she would most likely perish.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about him,¡± a childlike voice appeared within her mind. Laia looked over towards Kirii, who had spoken to her for the first time.


    ¡°But¡­how can a Meridian Forging human survive such a thing?¡± she asked.


    She was prepared for the tribtion, but couldn¡¯t help but admit that it was already beyond her wildest imaginations, and it had only just started. As a princess of the Astral Empire, she had experienced more than most cultivators would in a lifetime. However, none of those experiences could have prepared her for this tribtion, as it was beyond anything the universe had ever seen before.


    ¡°Just watch,¡± Kirii replied, his voice containing no trace of worry at all. ¡°Big Brother will let you know when he needs your help, but that won¡¯t be for a while. Now give me more head pats!¡±


    As the conversation had taken ce between their souls, it had happened in an instant. A soft giggle escaped Laia¡¯s lips as she heard Kirii¡¯s request, and she obliged as she began to pat his head, while her gaze shifted back towards John who had arrived before the lightning beam.


    Her eyes widened slightly again as she noticed he had yet to take out a weapon, but she remained silent as she trusted Kirii¡¯s words.


    John¡¯s fist punched out, the power of his punch causing the air to explode as it collided with the lightning beam.


    BANG!


    A cmitous explosion of lightning radiated outwards, bathing thend for miles in its power. Kirii¡¯s might red as well as he appeared before Laia, his body blocking the explosion from reaching her. The ground cracked and broke from the might of the explosion despite being hit by only a fraction of the attacks true power.


    The cmitous explosion of lightning faded away, revealing John¡¯s figure, unharmed and unflinching. A small amount of smoke wafted off his lightly charred knuckles, but other than that, there was no harm at all to his body. Laia¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief as she saw his state after directly taking on the tribtion bolt, while John¡¯s tall figure, staring with pure defiance at the very Heavens above, carved an image into her heart that she would never forget.


    His smug smile returned to his face as he nced at the Heavenly eyes above.


    ¡°Just likest time¡­you want to kill me, but have to follow the rules of the Heavens¡­oh wait, aren¡¯t those the rules you made?¡± John mocked; his tone full of sarcasm. ¡°Imagine creating thews of the universe, and then being unable to break them yourself. If I did something so stupid, I would just kill myself out of shame. Why don¡¯t you do the same, and rid the universe of your stupidity!¡±

 Chapter 630 Roars of Anger

    An absolutely horrifying and awe inspiring aura flooded all throughout the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds, from the Lava-filled world to the end of the realm. All the youths within felt the aura, and couldn¡¯t help but shudder in fright. It was as if an apocalypse of death had arrived in thends, with the sole intention of wiping out all life.


    No one knew where this aura wasing from, until a spawning mass of ckened clouds appeared high in the sky above the trialnds. Despite being hundreds or even thousands of miles from the center of the tribtion clouds, all the youths within couldn¡¯t help but stare at them in shock and awe.


    Outside the portals that John had been knocked through, the gathered youths couldn¡¯t help but stare straight up at the clouds that had appeared overhead.


    ¡°Tribtion clouds!¡± a youth eximed, ¡°but why is this tribtion so frightening?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s as if the Heavens have arrived to destroy everything!¡± another replied with a face full of awe, as well as fear.


    ¡°Where is the source of the tribtion?¡± another asked.


    ¡°We can¡¯t say for sure exactly, as we don¡¯t know how the portals to the next area work, but it¡¯s definitely beyond these portals,¡± another eximed.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°I wonder who the tribtion is for? Is it for some beast? Surely it can¡¯t be for one of us,¡± another chimed up. Heated discussion quickly broke out throughout the entire realm as to the source of the tribtion, but no one could say for sure. All they could do is stare at the clouds above, and wonder who was so unlucky as to be the target of such a terrifying tribtion.


    ¡­


    Rumble!


    The clouds above rumbled with fury, while the heavenly lightning eyes stared down at John as if he were its most hated enemy.


    Bang!


    Another tribtion lightning bolt mmed down towards John, its power greater than the previous attack. John¡¯s fist punched out once again as the two powerful attacks collided. A simr explosion radiated outwards, the oue of the sh the same as before.<sub></sub>


    A smirk appeared on John¡¯s face as his Celestial Lightning Script started to revolve. He had allowed a small portion of thatst attack to rampage wildly within his body, and used the Celestial Lightning Script to heal the lightning wounds to increase the quality of his lightning attribute body.


    ¡°As I said, you¡¯re a ve to your own power,¡± John mocked the Heavens above again. ¡°You know I¡¯m absorbing your power, and yet you can¡¯t do anything about it. What a miserable existence,¡± he chastised as he shook his head, as if he were pitying the Heavens.


    The Heaven¡¯s knew John was able to absorb its power and turn it into his strength, and would love for nothing more than to throw its full might in a singr attack, shattering his body and turning it into dust. However, as John had mocked many times already, the Heaven¡¯s were bound to the rules of the universe, despite being the ones that enforced those rules.


    ¡°You know, in a certain way, you are quite pitiable,¡± John said as if he cared about the Heavens, who responded with another tribtion bolt piercing down towards him, its power greater than the previous two strikes.


    The next several minutes was a battle between John and the tribtion lightning bolts, which mmed against his body without a care from John. The lightning of pure destruction coursed through his body, attempting to destroy every cell within. However, the energy from the Celestial Lightning Script opposed the heavenly tribtion lightning, as a battlefield urred within John¡¯s body.


    His flesh began to char and light wounds were opened up on his skin, causing Laia to frown in worry. However, John acted as if he didn¡¯t notice the wounds at all, and so she remained on standby, ready to help at a moment¡¯s notice. Her right hand continued to rub Kirii¡¯s head, who seemed to be more interested in the head pats than the apocalyptic battle above. His rxed mood caused Laia to smile at his child-like antics, while her anxiousness lessened.<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The battle between John and the Heaven¡¯s continued. The might of each attack was greater than thest, and John eventually reached a point where his body could no longer resist the power of the lightning.


    ¡®I¡¯ve reached my limit without using the Asura Transformation Art, but I need to save that forst, as the burden it puts on my body is beyond immense. I¡¯ve increased the quality of my lightning attribute body as much as I can without causing harm to mybat prowess, but I¡¯ve reached my limit in that regard now. I suppose it¡¯s time I start taking this seriously.¡¯


    A golden battle axe suddenly appeared in John¡¯s hands, appearing like a golden sun within the ckness below the tribtion clouds.


    Bang!


    Another tribtion lightning bolt mmed down, its power beyond horrifying. John steadied his battle axe and prepared to unleash an attack, when a crazy thought popped up in his mind.


    ¡°I suppose each tribtion bolt is like a roar of anger from you,¡± John said as he looked at the approaching beam of lightning. ¡°Allow me to reply in kind.¡±


    John¡¯s chest suddenly expanded as he breathed in as deep as possible, the surrounding air bing turbulent from his forceful breath. The tribtion lightning beam arrived before him, while John¡¯s mouth suddenly opened wide. A thunderous roar, like that of a mighty dragon boomed out, the power of the roar beyond anything Laia had heard a human unleash


    The shockwaves from the roar boomed out in all directions, while the main power of the roar mmed against the lightning bolt above. The lightning bolt seemed to stop in space, as if it wanted to travel further but something invisible was blocking its way forward. The strugglested for a short while before the tribtion beam faded away, its power unable to reach John¡¯s body.


    Bang!


    Another tribtion beam was unleashed without hesitation, while John¡¯s chest puffed out before he unleashed another thunderous roar.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The overwhelming sounds of the tribtion beams and dragon-like roars flooded the sky and thend below, the soundwaves alone causing the ground to shake and crack apart, as the battle between man and the Heavens continued to rage on.

 Chapter 631 Divine Tribulation Guardian Appears Once More

    Roar!


    Another explosive roar bellowed out from John¡¯s mouth as it resisted the might of the tribtion bolt above. However, after a brief instant of a stalemate, the tribtion bolt broke through the power of the roar and mmed into his body.


    John shot down from the sky like a shooting star and mmed into the ground below. The force of his body caused the ground to explode outwards, while he burrowed deeply into the earth.


    Bang!


    Without hesitation, another tribtion bolt surged out from the clouds above, targeting John below.


    ¡°Tch, I guess my shouting match with the Heaven¡¯s is over,¡± John muttered to himself as he stood up within the massive crater.


    Che!<sub>.</sub>


    A beam of lightning pierced up from the ground as well, revealing itself to be John himself. Small wounds had opened up on his body and some charred blood slicked his robes and skin, but he ignored the wounds as he raced upwards into the sky once more.


    His battle axe cleaved out with incredible power and collided against the tribtion strike, the power of both attacks beyondpare. A cmitous explosion rocked thend for miles in each direction, while Kirii¡¯s might once again red out, protecting Laia from any harm.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The battle between John and the Heaven¡¯s above continued for quite some time. Each tribtion attack unleashed was stronger than thest, while each battle axe attack unleashed by John matched that increase in power.<sub></sub>


    The ck clouds above continued to grow in might, as if consolidating its power to unleash something far greater than before. A knowing smile of expectation appeared on John¡¯s face, as he knew what was toe.


    ¡°Are you done warming up?¡± John said as he unleashed another battle axe attack outwards, meeting another tribtion strike. He felt his muscles strain and bones creak in protest, but other than that, no extra damage was taken.


    ¡°Warming up? What is he talking about?¡± Laia asked Kirii, as the tribtion had already been beyond anything she had expected. Her own tribtion had been quite powerful due to her talents, but the Heaven¡¯s at the time seemed to favor her greatly as a child of fortune, and did not push her too far. With her Dao of Healing talents, she was easily able to breeze through her tribtion.


    A sudden idea appeared in her mind, one that she had read about during her studies in some ancient documents her empire had recovered. It mentioned another possible phase to one¡¯s Heavenly Tribtion, but no one could confirm whether it was true or not. Even her father, the Astral Emperor who achieved seventeen steps on the Talent Testing Steps, had not induced that mythical phase.


    ¡°This is only the beginning,¡± Kirii¡¯s childlike voice appeared within Laia¡¯s mind. ¡°Get ready, he¡¯ll probably start asking for help soon.¡±


    Laia¡¯s gaze shifted from Kirii to John above, before it shifted upwards as the tribtion seemed to stop for a moment. The power within the clouds above gathered into a singr point and quickly grew. Laia¡¯s eyes widened slightly as the point of lightning turned into a human shaped figure. Its right hand held ance made of pure lightning, while its aura radiated a might far greater than any of the tribtion strikes unleashed prior.<sub></sub>


    ¡°The Divine Tribtion Guardian!¡± Laia breathed lightly, her voice no more than a whisper. Before her eyes, an ancient myth had appeared. John¡¯s words were indicating as if he was expecting it to appear, something that surprised her just as much as the lightning warrior itself.


    ¡°We meet again,¡± John said while smirking at the lightning warrior. ¡°I thought absorbing you the first time would be enough for you to learn your lesson, but I guess not.¡±


    The lightning warrior¡¯s body shed and appeared before John in an instant. His eyes widened slightly as his battle axe cleaved out, as the speed of the lightning warrior was far greater than during Iris¡¯s tribtion. The lightningnce pierced out towards John, the power contained within thence far greater than any of the lightning strikes prior.


    Bang!


    Axe and lightningnce collided, and John¡¯s hasty defense was not enough to counter the might of the lightning warrior. His body shot backwards through the sky like a bullet, while the lightning warriors body shed forward once again and appeared before him.


    It¡¯snce thrust out once more as it attempted to end John¡¯s life. John¡¯s battle axe cleaved outwards to meet the attack, and he once again found himself on the losing end of the battle. Unlike in Iris¡¯s tribtion, where the lightning guardian had been reserving its power as it attempted to ignore John and reach Iris, it had gone all out from the start. It¡¯s power was beyond John¡¯s expectations, and he found himself repeatedly lose out in the exchanges.


    Boom!


    His body mmed into the ground below, forming another massive crater as the earth exploded outwards in all directions. The lightning warrior shed into the crater, as another cmitous explosion radiated outwards from within.


    ¡°John!¡± Laia called out in worry, while Kirii appeared before her to block the explosion that washed over them.


    A figure shot out from the massive crater, followed immediately by another. John¡¯s expression had finally turned from confident arrogance to hardened seriousness, as the battle was now at a level that could im his life if he was not fully focused.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The two figures exchanged dozens of attacks in an instant, with John losing out on all of them. However, he had managed to gather his power and maintain a more sturdy defense now that he knew the true might of the lightning warrior. His battle axe cleaved out with monstrous power, while the lightningnce pierced out with even more power.


    Wounds had opened up on most of his skin, leaving little unharmed. Even his internals had started to protest in pain, as each thrust from the lightningnce sent a terrifying force through his body.


    At the same time, each attack also contained a soul aspect to it, as lightning invaded soul with the intention of destroying it from within. John¡¯s soul defense resisted the assault, but his head started to pound in pain as the battle raged on both externally and internally.


    The attacks between the two created apocalyptic explosions in the sky, and each explosion resulted in John¡¯s body bing more and more damaged. If this were to go on for a while, he would no doubt be overwhelmed and killed in the end.


    ¡°Laia, now!¡± John¡¯s voice boomed out. The time for her to join the fight against the Heaven¡¯s had finally arrived.

 Chapter 632 Shes My Concern Now

    Laia had been watching John¡¯s battle with increasing worry, as his figure had started to look incredibly miserable. However, she followed hismand and didn¡¯t aid until he asked for it. Now that hismand hade, Laia¡¯s expression of worry was reced with one of calm and determination, as if she had instantly be a different person.


    She closed her eyes for a singr moment, while her aura began to climb. Her eyes snapped open, and her two hands sped together before her chest, as if she were praying. A vibrant green energy radiated from her body and flowed towards John, reaching him in an instant. The two became linked by her power despite the distance between them.


    John felt a strong vibrant energy flood into his body, attempting to heal the damage within. The vibrant energy washed over his open wounds and charred flesh, but even after a short while nothing seemed to change. The damage was not being healed at all, which was something both John and quickly Laia noticed.


    Her eyes widened slightly as she realized this, as she had not been expecting such a muted reaction to her powers. She quickly realized that John¡¯s body was more profound than anything she had encountered before, and required far more healing energy to heal a single wound than she thought possible. At the same time, the damage from the tribtion lightning was also beyond anything she had encountered before, as the lingering destructive properties resisted her healing.


    However, instead of worry appearing on her face, Laia¡¯s face became even more rxed as she no longer held back. She closed her eyes once more as she focused her full power inwards.<sub>.</sub>


    A brief momentter, a green light slowly illuminated on her forehead, the light quickly forming the rune for the Dao of Life. Her body began to glow a vibrant green, while her figure seemed to be almost ethereal, as if she had turned into an angelic spirit of life, her beauty beyondpare.


    Her aura climbed to incredible levels, while the healing energy radiating from her and into John increased exponentially in both profundity and quantity. John couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes in surprise as he felt the extraordinary energy course through his body.


    The wounds on his exterior started to heal at a visible rate, while his damaged internals as well as soul also healed beyond anything he had experienced before. He felt hisbat state increase greatly as his wounds healed, and he once more returned to his peakbat state as if he had not battled at all yet.


    Laia¡¯s vibrant energy flooding into his soul seemed to link their souls together, almost like the link he had with Kirii. While it was clearly only temporary, it still allowed John to get a glimpse of her thoughts and feelings, as well as her feeling his own thoughts and emotions.<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The battle continued between John and the lightning warrior, the intensity far greater than before as John put up an even greater fight against it thanks to his healed state. Each attack from the lightning warrior would open another wound, but that wound would be healed almost immediately as if it never existed.<sub></sub>


    ¡®Were I on my own, I would have to use my Asura Transformation already or I would no doubt be defeated. But thanks to Laia, I¡¯m able to conserve my strength until the end, all while whittling away this lightning warrior. Even my soul is bing refreshed and at ease as her powers wipe away the lingering soul damage¡­amazing.¡¯


    John had expected Laia¡¯s power to be helpful, but never expected it to be this amazing. His body felt as if he had unlimited vibrancy, which was something he had never felt before. His wounds were healed down to the cellr level as each and every injury was washed away from his body. His eyes widened as he felt something beyond amazing happen within, but his distracted thoughts quickly shifted back to his opponent as it unleashed another attack at him.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The battle between the two continued, with the lightning warrior winning out on each exchange despite John¡¯s improved condition.


    Advent of Annihtion!


    John started to unleash his most powerful axe battle art, as his opponent was beyond monstrous, and by far the most powerful opponent he had ever fought. Golden axe images shed through the sky, colliding against beams of lighting unleashed by the lightning warrior.


    Without his Asura Transformation, he was no doubt weaker than the lightning warrior, but each attack from the lightning warrior used up a portion of its limited reserves, while John state was constantly replenished by Laia. If this were to go on forever, the lightning warrior would run out of energy before it could defeat John.


    The tribtion lightning warrior paused for the briefest of moments, as if stunned by what was happening. The clouds above boomed and rumbled in rage as it observed what was going on, and the lightning warrior suddenly turned towards Laia and thrust out itsnce towards her below.


    A beam of incredibly powerful lightning pierced towards her, as the Heaven¡¯s sought to eliminate the one interfering with its battle. John¡¯s figure shed and appeared before the lightning beam, and he instantly unleashed another Advent of Annihtion.


    Battle art and lightning beam collided once more, bathing the sky above andnd below in their cmitous power. The explosion eventually faded away, revealing John standing firmly between Laia and the lightning warrior.


    His gaze shifted from the lightning warrior to the heavenly eyes above, which stared down at him while the clouds rumbled with obvious rage. A cold and murderous look appeared on John¡¯s face as he pointed his battle axe towards the heavenly eyes above.


    ¡°Fuck off!¡± John yelled, his rage ignited.


    ¡°In your infinite stupidity, you have already shunned Laia and branded her as a traitor,¡± John said to the Heavens above, his voice tinged with murderous iciness. ¡°Since you threw her aside so carelessly, she¡¯s my concern now. You can forget about your powers ever reaching her again.¡±

 Chapter 633 Defeating The Divine Tribulation Guardian

    ¡°She¡¯s my concern now. You can forget about your power ever reaching her again.¡±


    John¡¯s defiant words seemed to echo within Laia¡¯s mind as she heard them, and her cheeks couldn¡¯t help but turn rosy-pink as she stared at John above.


    Bang!


    Another Advent of Annihtion cleaved out, mming into the lightning warrior and knocking it backwards. With his rage ignited, John¡¯s power grew as well, and his attack had finally managed to win against the lightning warrior.


    His body shed forward like a bolt of lightning, and he appeared before the lightning warrior once more. His golden axe cleaved outwards again, its might like a mountain mming down on his opponent. The lightning warrior stabilized itself and thrust out its lightningnce in response, and the collision between attacks once again nketed thend in their apocalyptic power.


    With the rain and wind raging about, and battle arts destroying all in its path, it truly appeared as if the end of the world had arrived for this small piece ofnd.<sub>.</sub>


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Thousands of attacks were exchanged over the next fifteen minutes as the two fighters fought to aplete stalemate. Each of John¡¯s attacks would cause the lightning warrior to block or parry, stripping away a bit of its power one attack at a time. The lightning warriors attacks would also injure John as well, but thanks to Laia¡¯s heavenly talent in healing, those injuries were washed away in an instant.


    While John did feel his essence Qi reserves start to lessen, he still had ample reserves thanks to his twenty timespressed dantian being able to hold a heaven defying amount of essence Qi. At the same time, his blood reserves within his pce realm were almost immeasurable, as he had spent an incredible amount of time and money collecting beast blood essence, either by himself or through purchase. With his blood essence pool as well, consisting of Heaven Tribtion and Dao Transformation blood essence, he could rely on that as well.<sub></sub>


    While using blood essence instead of beast blood was a waste in terms of making body Qi, it was still something he could rely on in a pinch. Their battle raged on, illuminating the dark clouds above and ravaging the earth below. Each explosion was guarded by Kirii, as he allowed not a single scrap of Qi tond on her.


    The lightning warrior would asionally attempt to attack Laia, but it stopped after a while as it realized the futility of it all. Even if the attack was not blocked by John, Kirii still stood guard. As a heavenly lightning creature, and one that had stepped into the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm thanks to the lightning it had absorbed from Iris¡¯s tribtion, Kirii was more than strong enough to thwart any attack from the lightning warrior.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!<sub></sub>


    The explosions continued to bathe the sky in gold and blue explosions, as if the battle arts were paint and the sky the canvas. Through the terrifying explosions, the scene was almost one of beauty.


    Bang!


    An Advent of Annihtion mmed against the lightning warrior, whose body shot backwards like a cannonball. Another, and then another shed out, piercing through the sky and violently exploding against the lightning warrior.


    Boom!


    A full powered Advent of Annihtionnded on the lightning warrior¡¯s unguarded body, and the body shattered into a mist of lightning. The lightning warrior had healed through each and every attack John hadnded on it, but its energy finally ran out due to the prolonged battle.


    John¡¯s gaze lingered on the spot where the lightning warrior had dispersed, his heavy breathing taking a while to calm down. Despite Laia¡¯s healing, his essence Qi had been drained by half, and his body was wracked with fatigue and pain. However, he had managed to beat the lightning warrior in the end, and had done so without using his Asura Transformation.


    He had never expected such an oue before starting his tribtion, and was more than content with the oue.


    A look of glee appeared on Laia¡¯s face, which had paled considerably since the start of John¡¯s battle. Sweat dripped down her brow and slicked her face and dress, making her dress cling to her body tightly, revealing a mesmerizing figure beneath.


    Were it any other time, John would not have taken in the entrancing view with no hesitation, but he did not even gaze at Laia for an instant.


    ¡°It is over?¡± Laia asked Kirii between heavy breaths. The Divine Tribtion Guardian had been beyond anything she had ever expected, but John had not let any of them down, and had managed to defeat it after an arduous and grueling battle.


    However, Kirii did not reply to her question, and his gaze was focused on the clouds above, the same as John.


    The ckened tribtion clouds above rumbled in rage for a moment, before they went calm and silent. John¡¯s gaze narrowed as he stared at the clouds, as the calm silence sent a wave of warning down his spine. It was as if the Heavens had decided something, and they had be calm after that decision, as if John¡¯s fate had been decided the instant it decided to do so. The rage within the heavenly clouds was no more, and John¡¯s gaze focused on the two heavenly eyes above, who stared at him much the same.


    The gaze from the eyes had also changed from rage, to one as if it were looking at a worthy opponent, but one whose fate was already sealed.


    ¡°There¡¯s more?¡± Laia mumbled, almost unable to believe what was going on. Her ragged breaths slowed down as she stabilized herself, as her temporary soul link with John gave her a vague idea of what he was feeling at the moment. That feeling was one of the gravest warnings, as if John knew his life would truly be on the verge of death in the moments toe.


    As if answering her question, the clouds gathered their power into a singr point, the same as the lightning warrior. The auraing from this singr point was far above that when the lightning warrior had been formed, and a blood red glow suddenly appeared just below the ckened clouds, staining them red as if they had been bathed with blood.


    The red light slowly started to grow in size, and soon it took a humanoid shape, the same as the lightning warrior. The blood red glow of the red lightning illuminated the clouds, thend, and everything in between, as if an omen for the blood that was about to be spilled. The figure continued to condense and be more clear, and distinguishable features soon appeared on the figure. A blood red robe of incredible design was formed, one that John had seen once in his life before.


    At the same time, a face that he had seen once in his life before also appeared on the lightning figure. The face was so detailed that it lookedpletely lifelike, only that it was blood red.


    John¡¯s eyes narrowed as a cold-blooded look appeared on his face, but beneath that cold-blooded look existed a small tinge of confusion, as he had not been expecting to see that face here. It was the same face as the youth he had fought in the ancient cities Divine Trial, only a few years older.


    The youthful face of his mysterious father!

 Chapter 634 Lightning Avatar

    Hovering high in the sky several hundred miles away from the center of the tribtion, a lone hooded figure stared at the incredible battles that had unfolded. His gaze had remained calm as if everything that had happened had been to his expectations, and throughout the fight he couldn¡¯t help but nod in approval at Laia as well, while a look of reminiscence appeared in his eyes.


    ¡°She¡¯s just like her¡­and he¡¯s just like me¡­¡± the man said quietly to himself as he watched the lighting warrior be defeated thanks to the help of Laia. The man¡¯s gaze shifted to the clouds above as the red-light source appeared, and his eyes narrowed as if he couldn¡¯t believe what was going on.


    ¡°There¡¯s more?¡± the man muttered, not sure what was going on. Despite his vast experience and knowledge, he had never heard of any tribtion going past the Divine Tribtion Guardian, as it was thest gatekeeper of the most profound tribtions.


    His narrowed eyes widened as the blood red lightning figure appeared, and the hooded man couldn¡¯t help but draw in a deep breath as the figure¡¯s features became apparent.


    ¡°It¡¯s him?¡± the man eximed, feeling true shock for the first time in a very long time. He recognized the face of the youth, and couldn¡¯t help but wonder what was going on. Thoughts swirled in his mind, and the man eventually came to a single conclusion.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°The Heaven¡¯s want this boy dead, without a singr doubt, as he¡¯s cultivated the ultimate taboo somehow. They¡¯ve sent the most perfect form they could create, one that has now be a messenger of death for this boy¡­even for someone as heaven defying as him, I can¡¯t see him getting through this alive¡­¡±


    The man fell silent as he stared at the blood red lightning avatar, his thoughts still swirling.


    ¡°I have ns for this boy¡­should I save him if need be?¡± the man muttered questioningly, but eventually decided against it. He didn¡¯t know what consequences interfering would bring, not to himself, but to John.


    The man sighed deeply as his gaze shifted back to John.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope he has more surprises, and that he is able to make it out of this tribtion alive.¡±


    ¡­


    The lightning figure, depicting the youthful appearance of his mysterious father continued to be more detailed, until it was a spitting image of him, only blood red and flickering with red lightning. A blood red sword appeared in the figures hands, one that appeared profound beyondparison. Its aura was also at the Half-Step Heaven Tribtion Realm, exactly matching John¡¯s current cultivation level.


    The avatar of his father stared down at John with an expression of indifference, as if it had decided that his fate was sealed, and that there was no question about it. John¡¯s narrowed eyes stared back at the avatar of his father as he felt a lethal danger from it. In fact, it was the most danger he had felt in his life, and he knew he would be walking on the edge of death in the battle toe.<sub></sub>


    On the ground below, Laia felt her heart chill as she stared at the blood red lightning figure above. Its aura was beyond terrifying, and she felt as if it could kill her with just a nce.


    ¡°You piece of shit¡­why are you here?¡± John called out.


    Laia¡¯s eyes widened slightly as she heard John¡¯s crass question, but also felt confusion as John¡¯s question didn¡¯t seem to be directed at the figure in the sky above him. She didn¡¯t know who he was asking, and at the moment it seemed as though he had gone mad and be insane.


    ¡°Not going to answer me?¡± John said again as he received no reply from his father within his pce realm. ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised. You¡¯ve been a useless sack of shit since the day I met you,¡± John continued his angered tirade.


    His cold yet angered gaze shifted back up to the lightning avatar of his father, while his guard was raised to his maximum.


    ¡°If I found out you had anything to do with the Heavens, or this avatar of you before me, I won¡¯t hesitate to stuff out your soul the first chance I get, regardless of our rtionship,¡± John raged. He felt a wave of betrayal at the moment, as his mysterious father had seemingly appeared to kill him for good. However, at the same time, he knew there was most likely more to the situation than was apparent, and his words were mostly ones of passion, and not his true feelings.


    Laia¡¯s head tilted to the side as she heard his words, as she couldn¡¯t make sense of them. However, now was not the time for questions, and so she remained silent as the lightning avatar finished its formation.


    ¡°Whatever, I¡¯ll deal with this first, and then you have some exining to do,¡± John grumbled in displeasure. He no longer held back, as he knew the battle toe would be his toughest ever. His body Qi surged and rushed through his body, his transformation into something elsemencing.


    Two straight ck horns pierced from out of his skull, pointing upwards and slightly forward, while blood red runes formed over his entire body. His muscles bulged with absolute power beneath his skin, erging his figure and making him look like he could shatter the world with a single punch. His teeth sharpened, bing like fangs, and his eyes became blood red, almost the same shade as the lightning avatar above, but darker and more ominous.


    An overwhelmingly sinister and malevolent aura, like that belonging to the most hellish creature imaginable, radiated off his body, the power of his aura alone requiring Kirii to protect Laia so she could focus on her task at hand.


    John¡¯s power instantly skyrocketed to incredible heights, and Laia couldn¡¯t help but stare with both awe and slight trepidation at John. Although she had seen this transformation of his before, it was now much stronger, and also much more sinister feeling than before. While she knew he was not an enemy of hers, it was as if her instincts were telling her he was her most deadly enemy.


    For the first time since the Talent Testing Steps, John had unleashed his most fearsome as well as most secretive form.


    His Asura Transformation Art!

 Chapter 635 Unleashing The Asura Transformation Art

    John¡¯s power exploded to heaven defying heights as he felt the might of his transformation art surge through his body and meridians once more. However, his gaze remained cold and grave as the lethal danger he felt from his fathers avatar above did not lessen at all.


    His right hand gripped tightly around the shaft of his battle axe as he awaited his opponent¡¯s move. At the same time, the might of his three profound Daos, the Dao of Annihtion, Destruction, and Power began to emanate from his battle axe, increasing his might to another level again.


    His eyes suddenly widened as his battle axe cleaved out, unleashing his most powerful Advent of Annihtion. The lightning avatar of his father has shed out its sword towards John, its actions so fast that it almost appeared like it had never happened at all.


    However, the absolute terrifying sword image, like the overwhelming sword art the youth had unleashed on him in the Divine Trial, shed towards him, its speed incredible as the sword art reached him in an instant. The youth had needed to take a second or two to unleash this art in the Divine Trial, but that was not the case now.


    His Advent of Annihtion shed out and met the sword art, and the collision of the two battle arts created an explosion of apocalyptic might which seemed to shatter the very sky from its might. The ravaged earth below fractured as it was blown apart by the explosion, its power far greater than anything that had appeared before.<sub>.</sub>


    Kirii¡¯s might red out to the maximum for the first time as he unleashed a lightning beam attack against the explosion to resist it, while his aura enveloped Laia to protect her from harm. Laia¡¯s mouth opened in shock at the might of the two attacks, but she remained focused on the task at hand as she kept the link between her and John intact.


    John¡¯s body shot out from the explosion like a cannonball, as the might of his Advent of Annihtion had not been enough to fight against that overwhelming sword art. His Advent of Annihtion was an ancient battle art used by the Jade Dragon Emperor himself, and yet its power and profundity paled inparison to the sword art unleashed by the avatar of his father. As a result, his attack had lost out against the lightning avatars sword attack, which had mmed against his body with incredible might.


    ¡°John!¡± Laia called out as she saw John¡¯s body m into the earth a distance away, the force of the impact shattering the already ravaged earth once more for a mile in all directions.


    Roar!<sub></sub>


    A roar from within the crater boomed out, further ravaging thend. It did not sound like it belonged to a human at all, nor a dragon, but instead as if a primal demon was roaring in absolute rage. John¡¯s body shot out of the crater an instantter, his speed creating ripples in the air as he arrived before the lightning avatar once more.


    Limiter of Pain!


    Limiter of Power!


    Limiter of Speed!<sub></sub>


    John unlocked the three limiters within his body as his explosive might skyrocketed once more. Unleashing these three limiters alongside the Asura Transformation Art created monumental strain on his body, and John could feel his tendons nearly rupture, muscles rup, and bones crack. However, the divine healing powers from Laia immediately washed over these injuries, washing them away, allowing John to maintain this form without concern for himself.


    He appeared before the lightning avatar in an instant, his arm muscles bulging like they would break through his skin at any moment. His battle axe cleaved out towards the lightning avatar, who shed out his blood red sword in response. The sword attack seemed like a simple sh, but it contained a profundity beyond what John could recognize, like the casual attack was the most heavenly of sword arts.


    Bang!


    A cmitous force exploded out as the two attacks collided, which had resulted in a stalemate. Despite his overwhelming physical power and might being above the lightning avatars, the profundity of the lighting avatars sword arts more than bridged the gap.


    John¡¯s eyes widened once more as a thousand blood red swords instantly appeared in the sky around the lightning avatar, as it unleashed the sword domain he had seen the youth use in the Divine Trial. The swords shot towards John, each sword sharp and powerful enough to injure him.


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    John instantly activated his lightning domain, as nearly five hundred lightning nodes appeared in the sky around him. The lightning nodes activated immediately, unleashing destructive bolts of lightning out towards the swords.


    Blue and red explosions littered the sky as the battle between domains erupted. Each lightning bolt would destroy a sword, but another sword would quickly form to rece it. Lightning covered the sky like a defensive as John did his best to counteract the sword domain. However, as his lightning nodes were outnumbers two to one, he was not able to block each and every sword with his lightning domain alone.


    Blood red swords asionally broke through his lightning domain, piercing towards his stomach, his chest, his head. His battle axe shed out with his fastest speed to defend against the swords, although there were just too many to defend against. John¡¯s face turned even more grave as he decided to trust in Laia¡¯s abilities, and only focused on protecting his absolute vitals; his head, and his heart.


    Blood red swords shed through his domain defenses, shing against his powerful body. Despite the lightning avatars beyond profound sword arts, his body¡¯s heaven defying toughness resisted taking severe damage. The swords thatnded on his arms and legs shed into his skin, but stopped momentarily afterwards before dissipating under John¡¯s extraordinary aura.


    However, the non-stop assault from the swords was like a death by a thousand cuts, and he couldn¡¯t help but grimace in pain. However, that pain lessened after each attack, as Laia¡¯s divine healing power washed over the injury, wiping it away as fast as it could be created.


    Advent of Annihtion!


    Ignoring the sword assault on his body, John arrived before the lightning avatar once more and unleashed another axe battle art. The lightning avatar unleashed his divine sword art in response, as another apocalyptic explosion filled the sky, followed by another, and another.


    The lightning avatar shed to the side, his main sword cleaving towards John¡¯s waist. John¡¯s battle axe shaft appeared next to his waist, defending against the attack. However, an overwhelming force from the attack mmed against him, propelling his body through the sky for over a mile.


    Che!


    The lightning avatar suddenly unleashed an attack downwards during this opening, its target no longer John. Laia watched with wide eyes as the massive divine sword image, powerful and profound beyondpare, arrived before her.

 Chapter 636 Battle Of Attrition

    ROAR!


    A roar of unbridled rage and anger erupted from Kirii, whose might skyrocketed while his aura climbed high into the sky above. The lightning crystal on his forehead lit up brightly, a gleaming blue light illuminating thend.


    Boom!


    A beam of lightning erupted out from the crystal on Kirii¡¯s head, instantly arriving before the overwhelming sword art. The two attacks collided, while Kirii¡¯s body suddenly shed as he disappeared from the sight of the erupting explosion. The explosion destroyed everything for miles in each direction, forming a massive crater in the earth hundreds of yards deep, while molten earth flowed within.


    The lightning avatar¡¯s gaze shifted to the side as it locked onto Kirii once more, who had appeared over a mile away from the explosion, his speed beyondpare. Wrapped within Kirii¡¯s protective aura was Laia, whose face had be pale as snow, both from fright and fatigue.


    The lightning avatar raised its sword to sh out another attack, when it suddenly unleashed it sideways.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Fuck off! Your opponent is me!¡± John raged as he unleashed another Advent of Annihtion.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The battle between John and the blood red lightning avatar continued to rage on, the might of each attack capable of shattering mountains. John pushed his Asura Transformation Art to the limit as he battled his fathers youthful avatar, who attacked with the profundity of a heavenly god.<sub></sub>


    The avatar shed backwards and unleashed another divine sword art straight at John. His battle axe suddenly shifted to his left hand, as his scythe appeared in his right. Blood red swords continued to sh against his body as they pierced through his lightning domain, but John ignored as his battle axe shed outwards, protecting his heart and head.


    At the same time, his scythe raised above his head for a brief moment before shing forward. An incredible ck and red scythe image of overwhelming sharpness and speed shed outwards, instantly meeting the divine sword image.


    The two attacks collided, but unlike before, an explosion did not ur. Instead, the sharpness of both attacks cleaved into each other as both attacks sliced apart the other. The two halves of each weapon image were rent apart, fading into nothingness.


    A small smirk appeared on John¡¯s face as he stared at the lightning avatar, who paused for the briefest of moments.


    ¡°You¡¯re not the only one with a strong battle art!¡± John mocked, although underneath that mocking was surprise. He could tell that despite the battle arts canceling out, the divine sword image was still slightly more profound than his Divine Reaping Scythe. The profundity of his Divine Reaping Scythe had always been beyondpare, yet for the first time John had discovered something even beyond it.<sub></sub>


    However, the profundities were almost the same, allowing him to thwart the attack of the lightning avatar.


    ¡®Each divine sword attack the lightning avatar unleashed drains its power by a bit. While the strength of the attacks do not lessen, I can tell that the energy reserves of the avatar are starting to wane. Its sword domain also uses an incredible amount of energy as well. In a battle of attrition, I would lose out ten out of ten times, but this time is different. This time I have Laia on my side.¡¯


    Che!


    Another divine sword image shed out, which was met by another Divine Reaping Scythe. John felt his essence Qi reserve drop with each attack, but was confident in holding out Qi wise until the end of the battle. Without Laia, his injuries would have already added up to a crippling degree, greatly affecting hisbat prowess, and making a battle of attrition impossible. Even his soul screamed out with pain from the attacks, but her power would soothe that soul damage, erasing it from existence. Her awe-inspiring healing powers made that battle of attrition impossibility possible, which filled John with growing confidence.


    An Advent of Annihtion cleaved outwards, mming against the lightning avatar after John had created an opening in their battle. The powerful battle art cleaved deeply into the lightning avatars body, nearly severing it in half. However, the lightning avatar instantly healed its wounds, restoring itsbat state to maximum at the cost of a small amount of its Qi reserves.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The battle continued to rage out in the sky, the might of both fighters beyond heaven defying. Thanks to his Divine Reaping Scythe, John was able to neutralize most of the divine sword images and finally gain firm footing in his battle. Hended several unguarded Advent of Annihtions, which caused the avatar to expend more energy to heal.


    Learning from its past mistake, the Heavens above allowed such attacks tond, and only focused on the Divine Reaping Scythes. Its spatial power was able to inflict grave damage, and resulted in much more energy to heal. As a result, John had been unable tond any scythe attacks on his opponent, much to his dismay.


    John clicked his tongue in frustration, but continued his assault, as he could tell the Qi reserves of the avatar were lessening by the second. His own Qi reserves were starting to near its end as well, but wouldst just long enough for the battle to end.


    Shudder!


    John felt a slight tremble in his soul, and his body felt an increasing wave of pain as the wounds caused by the blood red sword¡¯s that shed against him lingered longer. John felt the healing energy within his body waver slightly, and his gaze instantly shifted to the ground below.


    He spotted Laia kneeling on the shattered ground, her face as pale as snow. Sweat dripped down her face and had soaked her dress, while her breathing was heavy and ragged. Her aura was starting to fade and be unsteady, as John could tell that she was at the end of her ropes.


    ¡®Shit¡­I failed to notice Laia¡¯s state. At this rate, she¡¯ll run out of Qi before the lightning avatar!¡¯


    His battle of attrition would no longer work, as once Laia¡¯s healing energy fully faded away, hisbat prowess would fade away afterwards as well. If that happened, his death would soon follow.

 Chapter 637 Conjoining of Souls

    ¡°Laia!¡± John yelled out loudly in worry, as Laia¡¯s aura was like a candle in the wind, ready to be snuffed out at any moment.


    Laia¡¯s pale and fatigued face shifted upwards to John, while an exhausted smile appeared on her face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­don¡¯t worry about me. I¡¯ll hold on as long as I can!¡± she said, her voice almost like a whisper.


    Che!


    John unleashed another Divine Reaping Scythe towards the lightning avatar that was fast approaching, who unleashed its own battle art to counter.


    ¡°You won¡¯tst long enough!¡± John called out, as he could tell she did not have the Qi reserves tost long enough. As he was the opponent of the lightning avatar and not Laia, only he could tell exactly how long the battle was going tost.


    A grave look appeared on Laia¡¯s pale and exhausted face as she heard John¡¯s words. John¡¯s mind raced for answers, as his original n would no longer work. At the same time, his battle arts continued to fly towards his opponent, their battle not pausing for a moment.<sub>.</sub>


    An idea suddenly popped into John¡¯s mind, one that he had realized was possible once Laia had started healing him. However, it was beyond dangerous to use, and even he didn¡¯t know if he would ever be able to recover if he used it. However, it was all he could think of at the moment, and knew it was this or death.


    ¡°Kirii, can you handle this fucker for a minute?¡± John asked Kirii through their soul connection.


    ¡°Ahhhhh¡­¡± Kirii mumbled, unsure if he could manage that.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to damage it, just stop it from reaching me and Laia,¡± John exined further.


    ¡°Aye¡­I should be able to manage that,¡± Kirii replied, ¡°although a minute is all I can promise!¡±


    While Kirii was beyond strong, and almost equal to John in might, he was still a bit weaker. He was a natural enemy of the lightning avatar, but even still would not be able to hold out for as long as John had managed to do. At the same time, Kirii wouldn¡¯t have Laia¡¯s healing powers to help him, making the battle even more difficult.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Good, trade with me!¡± John said as he shot down towards Kirii and Laia.


    ROAR!


    Kirii roared out loudly, as if hyping himself up for the brief but terrifying battle toe and shot up into the sky towards the lightning avatar. A tempest of lightning formed in the sky around Kirii, quite simr to John¡¯s lightning domain.


    He arrived before the lightning avatar immediately and began to fight against it, who seemed to have no interest in Kirii and still focused on John. However, Kirii¡¯s might was strong enough to stop any forward progress, and a fight between the two broke out in the sky above John and Laia.


    Johnnded before Laia as a wave of weakness washed through his body, but he shook aside that weakness as he kneeled before Laia, who was still kneeling on the ground. He undid his Asura Transformation Art and unlocked Limiters, as his sinister and powerful aura was beyond something Laia could withstand in her current state.


    ¡°Laia¡­are you okay?¡± John asked with deep concern. He could tell she had already pushed past her limits, and was on the verge of copse.<sub></sub>


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m fine,¡± Laia replied through ragged breaths while looking down at the ground beneath her, as if raising her head was beyond her ability to do at the moment.


    John¡¯s hand reached out towards Laia, and he gently nudged her chin upwards, forcing her to look into his eyes. He needed to see her gaze for his question toe, to see the truth behind her words. A lie would mean his death.


    Laia¡¯s eyes widened slightly at his actions, but she didn¡¯t move her head as they peered into each other¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I have a way to defeat the lightning avatar,¡± John said to her, his gaze firm, ¡°but to do so, I¡¯ll have to push my body to the absolute limit. When I do that, I¡¯ll need at least as much healing energy as you were able to give me at the start, if not more, or I¡¯ll perish without question. Do you have enough energy reserves to do that?¡±


    Laia gazed into John¡¯s eyes as well, her eyes not averting from his gaze. She remained silent for a brief moment, the sounds of the apocalyptic battle drowning out that silence.


    ¡°I do have a way,¡± Laia replied after her brief silence, ¡°but for that way to work, you¡¯ll have to trust me with your life! And a future cmity may befall you as a result¡­Are you prepared to make that choice?¡±


    John¡¯s gaze stayed focused on Laia¡¯s eyes, as he weighed the truth of her words. He could detect no lie at all, and even felt the weight of herst statement, as if his life would be in her hands, and future dangers would arise as well.


    ¡°I trust you,¡± John replied without a single moment of hesitation. Not only had Laia earned his trust with all her actions, from saving Adam to helping him with his tribtion, it was also the only way he saw both of them surviving this tribtion of death.


    Laia was slightly surprised to hear John¡¯s reply so quickly and so resolved. She nodded her head at his words,mitting herself as well for what¡¯s toe, although a heavy expression filled with hidden worry appeared on her face.


    ¡°Good, then open your soul to me,¡± Laia instructed. Her instructions were something that no cultivator would ever do unless forced, as opening one¡¯s soul to another left them at theplete mercy of the other person.


    John¡¯s soul defenses faded away in an instant, his resolved actions once again surprising Laia. He now knew she he had said he needed to trust her, as lowering his soul defenses was akin to letting her decide his fate at the moment.


    She ignored that surprise as her head leaned forward towards John, her forehead resting against his. He felt her heat of her brow and her sweat slick his forehead, but he ignored any distracting thoughts, although it was beyond difficult, even in this situation.


    The Dao of Life rune on her forehead lit up once again, and John felt an incredibly vibrant energy instantly invade his soul from his forehead¡¯s direct contact with the rune. However, unlike the energy she had used on him before, this energy contained a soul aura as well. John¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he realized she fractured off a small portion of her own soul, which firmly rooted itself in the core of his own soul.


    He didn¡¯t know how this was possible, but didn¡¯t ask any questions as he allowed her to do what she needed to do.


    Their thoughts, hearts, and feelings seemed to link together for the briefest moments as her soul seed rooted into ce. The sensation was incredibly odd to him, but also profoundly intimate. Both John and Laia shivered at the sensation, but both ignored the sensation as best they could.


    Laia¡¯s invading energy faded away, while John¡¯s soul defense surged once again. Both breathed out a deep breath, their gazes locking once more.


    John¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he felt Laia¡¯s healing energy flood through his body, the source being the soul-seed within his own soul. The energy flooding into his body was much more profound than before, while it was also more abundant as well. A look ofprehension appeared on his face as he realized why Laia had done what she did.


    The soul-seed within his own soul allowed her to infuse his body directly with her Dao of Life powers, ignoring the distance between them as well as increase thepatibility between the two of them. Both factors allowed her to provide him with much greater healing energy, without having to expend any more Qi than before to do so.


    A small smile appeared on John¡¯s face as he stared at Laia, as he could tell that this decision was not made by her lightly. She had definitely made some sort of sacrifice to do this, but at the moment he could not concern himself with that.


    ¡°How long can you hold out for?¡± John asked as horrific explosions sted overhead.


    ¡°I¡¯m almost out of Qi,¡± Laia replied softly, her voice even more ethereal and enhancing than normal, ¡°but with our soul connection. I should be able tost for five more minutes.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± John replied firmly as he stood up. ¡°Then it¡¯s time to end this tribtion once and for all.¡±

 Chapter 638 Power Beyond Compare

    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Powerful explosions radiated overhead as Kirii fought against the lightning avatar. Blood slicked Kirii¡¯s body as he darted around the battlefield, restricting his opponent from reaching John and Laia.


    Bang!


    A horrifying sword image pierced towards Kirii, who unleashed another beam of lightning from his forehead. The two attacks collided, creating another explosion in the sky. The explosion mmed against Kirii, who was thrown through the sky.


    Kirii stabilized his momentum eventually, and turned to see a blood red sword image, its might and profundity beyondpare, arrive before him. The attack was before him already, and was not something he could block in time. However, Kirii¡¯s grave expression disappeared as a figure appeared before him.


    ¡°Fuck off!¡± John yelled out in a rage as he arrived before Kirii. His battle axe cleaved outwards, smashing against the sword and knocking back the lightning avatar.


    ¡°Retreat for now,¡± John instructed Kirii, ¡°but I¡¯ll need your help again soon.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Aye big brother!¡± Kirii replied, relieved to no longer have to battle the horrifyingly powerful lightning avatar. He turned and sped down towards Laia below, resuming his protection of her, while John¡¯s battle resumed once more.


    The healing energy coursed within his body at a much greater level than before,ing directly from his soul this time. John¡¯s hardened gaze locked onto the avatar before him, while a small smile of confidence appeared on his face.


    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to die,¡± John said as his aura skyrocketed once more. He had reactivated his three Limiters when helping Kirii, but it was time to go far beyond that, and test the true limits of his full potential.


    Asura Transformation Art!


    John¡¯s physical transformation urred once more, his appearance and aura bing much more sinister, terrifying, and powerful than before. His might reached the peak state from before once again, but after the briefest of pauses, it shattered right past the previous level, reaching a level that no one would ever believe possible for a Half-Step Heaven Tribtion cultivator.


    Bloodline Ability: Activate!


    John felt his blood heat up and an incredible energy course through his veins, meridians, muscles and bones as he activated his bloodline ability. His aura continued to climb and climb as each and every blood cell acted like a small dantian and released Qi into his body. It had only been a month since hest used his bloodline ability, and based on his mothers words and previous experiences, he knew he would not be able to use it again within six months, or his body would withstand irreparable damage, with death a possibility as well.


    However, when Laia had started healing John, he had been shocked to notice that the remnant traces of damage, to his meridians, muscles, bones, and even blood cells, had begun to wash away. The injuries were rooted deep within his body, and could not be repaired by any normal means, or even extraordinary means. Laia¡¯s Dao of Life healing seemed to be the one exception as it defied the limits of his bloodline ability, which had shocked John to his core.<sub></sub>


    ¡®I can tell the bloodline injuries were not fully healed by Laia yet¡­but they¡¯ve been healed enough to the point that I won¡¯t die if I use my bloodline ability now. But that¡¯s without me using my Asura Transformation Art on top of it¡­I just hope she can keep me alive, but I have no other choice.¡¯


    He had used thebination of powers once before in his life, and it had nearly killed him. This time he added his three limiters as well, and his current state was far more severe than at that time. John didn¡¯t know if his body would withstand what was toe, but it was the only solution he had.


    Thebined power of his Asura Transformation and Bloodline Ability filled his body with power beyondpare. The space around him seemed to ripple and twist from his aura alone, which continued to climb as if it had no limit. John¡¯s body began to break down from within, his muscles tearing, bones cracking, and meridians fracturing. Laia¡¯s healing power surged over that damage, wiping them away as soon as it arrived, but more internal wounds appeared by the second.


    Laia¡¯s pale face scrunched in exhausted strain as she poured all she could into John¡¯s body. His current state of power was far beyond anything she thought possible, and that power was far beyond what his body could handle. Without her healing, John knew his body would have already be crippled.


    sh!


    John shed forward, his speed beyond anything he had revealed before. He appeared before the lightning avatar in an instant, who seemed shocked by his speed as well. His battle axe cleaved outwards, small ripples appearing in space wherever it traveled, while the air boomed out loudly as it could not part fast enough.


    The axe mmed onto the lightning avatar before it could react, cleaving itpletely in half. The lightning avatar¡¯s body offered no resistance at all, as if it were made of paper, but its body instantly healed and it shed out its sword towards John.


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    John¡¯s fist punched out, mming against the t of the sword and breaking it in half. The power of his fist created a shockwave that mmed into the earth below, rending thend apart. Fractured earth flew out in all directions, some piecesnding as far as a dozen miles away.


    Che!


    His other hand holding his battle axe cleaved forward once more, severing the lightning avatar in half.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    The lightning avatar healed from each attack, but was met with another apocalyptic axe attack from John, severing it in half once again. The lightning avatar dashed around the sky at incredible speeds while it shed out its sword towards John, who matched its speed and met each attack with another punch, the speed of his fist too fast for the lightning avatar to react to.


    The ground below continued to explode from his heaven-defying power, while Kirii continued to guard Laia with his life.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Thend quaked ceaselessly, as if an earthquake that was about to rip apart the world was urring. At the same time, space rippled in the sky non-stop as axe attack after axe attack shed outwards, the power of it beyond anything the lightning avatar could withstand. Its body split in half over and over, while its power rapidly faded as it healed from each wound.


    Even with Laia¡¯s healing energy, John felt his body start to fall apart from within. However, he ignored any pain and damage he felt as he continued his ceaseless assault on the lightning avatar. Laia¡¯s lips trembled as she closed her eyes and focused on providing John with all the healing energy she could muster. She felt as if her vitality and life-force was drying up, but she ignored everything she felt as she focused only on healing John.


    ¡°Just die already!¡± John raged as another attack cleaved the lightning avatar in half. He had half a mind to just absorb the lightning avatar likest time and be done with it, but he knew his body would not be able to withstand such a thing, even with Laia¡¯s healing. However, that did not mean that there wasn¡¯t another who could aplish such a thing.


    The lightning avatar healed from John¡¯s attack once more, while blood red swords continued to rain down on John from all directions. However, none of the swords could damage John¡¯s body, as his current state of power was far beyond anything from before.


    Che!


    Another Advent of Annihtion cleaved into the lightning avatar, separating it in half. It healed as expected, but John had finally be ustomed to its timings. His scythe appeared in his hands, while his aura seemed to surge with absolute power for onest attack. A ck and red aura exploded off his scythe, its power fracturing the de and shaft.


    Divine Reaping Scythe!


    John unleashed his ultimate Divine Reaping Scythe, the power so incredible that it shattered the scythe into pieces after unleashing the attack. Space seemed to almost tear wherever the attack passed by, as if it was on the verge of copse. The attack arrived before the newly healed lightning avatar, who attempted to break through the restrictive power it felt from the battle art. However, its newly healed state could not muster its strength in time, and the scythe image cleaved directly through the lightning avatar, dividing it in half.


    The terrifying spatial energy of the Divine Reaping Scythe lingered between the severed half, not allowing the lightning avatar to heal at all. The lightning avatars energy rapidly drained as it did its best to erase the lingering spatial energy and heal its wounds, which it eventually managed after several seconds of throwing an iprehensible amount of energy towards the task.


    ¡°Now!¡± John yelled out, his voice beyond hoarse, as if his through was about to copse.


    At hismand, Kirii appeared right next to the lightning avatar, whose aura was now weak beyondpare. However, even in this state, the lightning avatar could fight for several more minutes at peak strength before dissipating, but John would not give it that chance.


    Kirii roared as he opened his mouth wide, before he mped down on the head of the newly healed lightning avatar. Kirii¡¯s aura red to his maximum power while his control over the Dao of Lightning surged. The lightning avatar attempted to resist Kirii¡¯s power, but its state had been weakened too much.


    The heavenly eyes above could only watch on helplessly as the lightning avatar was absorbed by Kirii, disappearing from sight before long. Red lighting ramped over Kirii¡¯s body and within, which he did his best to suppress. Blood leaked from Kirii¡¯s mouth as his aura dropped rapidly, while thest remaining traces of the lightning avatar finally faded away.


    The horrifying lightning avatar had finally been defeated.

 Chapter 639 Ascending to Heaven Tribulation

    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    Thunderous booms, louder than anything that had been unleashed before sted from out of the clouds above as the Heaven¡¯s raged beyond allpare. The wind kicked up and the rain continued to fall, as if the Heavens were about to unleash one final onught on the victims below.


    John¡¯s defiant gaze stared up at the heavenly eyes above, whose gaze was locked onto him with fiery fury. However, there was no more caution or wariness in his gaze, as he could tell that the Heaven¡¯s had already thrown everything it could at him.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°You¡¯ve lost. Now give me what is mine,¡± John said firmly as he pointed his finger at the eyes above. His Asura Transformation Art and Bloodline Ability faded away as his body was on the verge of copse. A wave of pain and exhaustion beyond anything he had ever felt before washed over him, but he ignored it as best he could as he struggled to stay awake.


    Boom!


    A thunderous boom answered his statement, but no attack followed, confirming John¡¯s suspicions. The clouds above churned once more, but more sluggish than usual, as if it were trying to resist the process with all its might, but was unable to change the course of what was toe.


    A point of light gathered below the clouds once more, illuminating the dark world below the clouds with a bright and warm light. The point of light continued to grow in power, but there was no lethal threat behind its might.<sub></sub>


    John¡¯s gaze continued to linger on the Heavenly eyes above, as the point of light exploded outwards, unleashing a beam of lightning down onto his body. He did not move or attempt to dodge the beam, as it was unlike any of the others that had been thrown at him yet. The beam of lightning contained the most vibrant of heavenly energy, which mmed onto his body in an instant and continued to channel from the clouds above down onto his body.


    The energy from the beam of lightning invaded his body, which John allowed to roam freely and unhindered. The energy washed over his muscles, bones, sinew, and each and every single cell of his body. His body greedily absorbed the energy as fast as it could, as if it were the most nourishing thing in the world. His body was like desert sand in a rainstorm, parched beyond allpare and wanting to drink as much as possible.


    As his cells absorbed the energy, they transformed at a visible rate. John¡¯s divine sense inspected the changes within his body, and even he couldn¡¯t help but be shocked at the level of the changes. With the energy from the heaven¡¯s above, each and every cell was transformed, bing stronger, more vibrant, more durable, and more profound. It was as if his entire body was transcending to a higher state of being; from a man to something more.


    At the same time, he could feel his soul be nourished as well, growing in size and profundity in a simr manner. His soul core rapidly expanded, as if it were floodwaters being unleashed upon the world. His soul continued to greedily drink the heavenly energy and transform it into more soul essence, further adding to the flood. Before long, his soul core hadpletely transformed, bing something more akin to an ocean. His liquid soul essence stretched for miles in each direction as the spatial realm that harbored his soul also grew as well. Before long, it was truly as if it had be the most beautiful and tranquil of oceans. His soul essence emanated a soft blue hue, while some soul-mists above drifted about like clouds; the scene beyond picturesque.<sub></sub>


    Both his soul power and soul defenses grew at an equally shocking rate, far eclipsing what he was capable of before. With his enhanced soul, John felt like hisprehensions had skyrocketed at an unbelievable rate, as if he were looking at apletely different world before him for the first time.


    His soul finally reached a maximum after expanding for miles, and the heavenly energy began to flood into his dantian afterwards. His twenty timespressed dantian greedily absorbed the heavenly energy, as if it had no limits. It drank and drank and drank, as if it were the most parched being in existence, and the heavenly energy the most quenching of nectars.


    As the energy flooded into his dantian, it too began to transform in a simr manner to his body and his soul. Each and every aspect of his dantian grew in power and profundity, while his dantian itself expanded in a simr manner to his soul as a spatial realm within his dantian was formed.


    Up to this point, the dantian would physically store the essence Qi within the dantian itself, but thanks to the heavenly energy¡¯s unique properties, a spatial realm had formed within the dantian. The dantian¡¯s spatial realm¡¯s size was equivalent to the level of the dantian, with morepressions resulting in arger spatial realm.


    His dantian spatial realm continued to stretch and grow, as it had no limits. The heavenly Qi continued to surge within the spatial realm, stretching it outwards and forcing it to grow. The spatial growth continued for quite some time before it finally stopped, forming a spatial realm many miles wide. With the transformationplete, he had finally stepped into the Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    With the spatial realm formed, John felt as if his dantian had never been emptier. It had grown in size and profundity but was nowpletely empty. However, he ignored that feeling of emptiness and hunger as he focused on the rest of the process.


    The Heavenly energy washed over his body dantian, but seemed to not notice its existence at all. It ignored itpletely as it surged through the rest of his body, not missing a single cell. The process continued for fifteen minutes, far longer than the normal few minutes of other tribtions.


    The clouds above continued to be thinner and weaker as John drained its heavenly energy, while Laia¡¯s exhausted yet relieved eyes stared at John the entire time. His absorption of the heavenly tribtion energy was far beyond anything she thought possible, but at this point she was no longer surprised with anything John was able to do.


    Thest of the ckened clouds above faded away, and the heavenly eyes also began to dissipate. At the same time, John¡¯s body finally reached its full, no longer able to absorb any more heavenly energy. His eyes opened and gazed up at the Heaven¡¯s above as they finally faded away for good.


    A deep breath filled his lungs as if he were breathing the most refreshing air, before his eyes closed once more and his consciousness started to fade away.


    ¡®My tribtion¡­is finally over!¡¯

 Chapter 640 Waking Up

    John¡¯s face pointed upwards, as if he were bathing his face in the sun¡¯s light for the first time in his life. His body swayed in the sky as his consciousness faded away, and his body plummeted to the ground below.


    Boom!


    John¡¯s body mmed into the ground. A plume of dust kicked up from his fall, followed by another as Kirii fell to the earth as well. The damage he had sustained from absorbing the lightning avatar had been immense.


    ¡°John!¡¯ Kirii!¡± Laia called out as she took a step towards them, but her strength failed her as she too copsed to the ground, while her consciousness faded as well.


    ¡­


    Crackle!


    The crackle of a fire sounded out, seeming to echo lightly off the small cave it was ignited within. A pair of eyes slowly opened, groggy and unfocused, as if opening for the first time in a very long time. The eyes slowly shifted around the room, confusion contained deep within. They fell onto a nearby figure, who sat on a log near the campfire, staring intently at it as if deep in thought.


    Groan!<sub>.</sub>


    A light groan of pain drifted out, causing the one at the campfire to look over quickly. Surprise and tion appeared in her eyes as she quickly walked over.


    ¡°Adam, you¡¯re awake!¡± Iris eximed softly, her voice containing unmasked joy.


    She kneeled beside Adam and grabbed his hand softly, as if to provide him somefort and warmth.


    ¡°Uuuugggg¡­Iris?¡± Adam groaned out, as if just speaking was painful for him. His eyes darted around the small cave, taking in everything in view. ¡°Where am I?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve hidden us in an out of sight cave,¡± Iris replied.


    ¡°Hidden¡­why are we hidd-¡± Adam¡¯s question cut off as his eyes widened, as if a horrifying wave of memories flooded back into his mind. His body recoiled in recollection of what had happened, fear clearly etched on his face.


    A scream of pain and agony escaped his lips, although his screams were incredibly hoarse. His body shivered as he recalled everything that had happened to him, the flood of memories making him feel as if everything was happening to him all over again.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Adam, you¡¯re alright. You¡¯re safe,¡± Iris said as she tried to cate his fear and panic. Her Qi flooded from her hand and into Adam¡¯s hand she was holding, a wave of the most gentle and calming Qi she could muster.


    Adam¡¯s panicked state slowly calmed down over a short while, but the fear on his face did not lessen. Iris sighed deeply as she witnessed Adam¡¯s state, which was the opposite of what she was used to. He was always prideful and carefree, but now he was fearful and full of emotional scars. Clearly what had happened to him had been beyond horrifying, and would be something that would take quite some time to get over, if he ever managed to get over it.


    ¡­


    Iris and Adam sat on logs opposite each other, the campfire in between them. A warm cup of tea rested in his hands, although he ignored the cup as he stared deeply into the fire, his gaze unfocused. Iris had eventually calmed him down and gotten him seated, but no words had been exchanged despite the passage of quite some time.


    Adam¡¯s unfocused eyes gained rity again as they shifted around the room as if looking for something.


    ¡°Where¡¯s John¡­where¡¯s Chase?¡± he asked Iris. His body began to sway as he sat on the log, as if he would fall over at a moment¡¯s notice.


    A brief look of gloom appeared on Iris¡¯s face, but she washed that look away before Adam could notice.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Chase is fine, you don¡¯t have to worry,¡± she replied and quickly changed the topic. ¡°You seem like you¡¯re going to pass out at any moment. Go back to sleep and rest up. We¡¯ll talk once you¡¯re fully rested.¡±


    She stood up and guided Adam to his bed, whoid down and fell asleep almost immediately. Iris sighed as she stared at him, unsure of what to do, or how to exin things to Adam.


    ¡­


    Sip!


    Adam took a sip of his tea, finally feeling like he had enough energy to stomach anything. His gaze lingered on the warm fire before him, before he gazed up at Iris, who stared back at him with a soft look. Usually the two werepletely antagonistic, but neither was in the mood for such a thing.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± Iris asked, her voice gentle and soft.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m fine,¡± Adam replied as he took another sip of warm tea. He stared into the cup of steaming tea, lost deeply in thought.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how they found out,¡± Adam suddenly said, as if he needed to vent. The fire crackled through the silence as Iris sat there and listened to whatever Adam had to say. She was curious as to what had happened, but was not going to force him to speak about it. However, it seemed as though he wanted to bring it up himself.


    ¡°My technique¡­my embedded formation technique. I should be the only one who knows about it¡­¡± Adam said as he nced back at Iris. ¡°as well as you, John and Chase,¡± he said and took another sip of tea to collect his thoughts. His gaze at Iris did not contain any malice at all, as he knew none of them would ever betray him.


    ¡°But somehow they found out I knew how to use the technique. They knew I could disguise myself. That bastard Kad-,¡± Adam¡¯s voice cut off suddenly, as if merely mentioning the name brought his mouth to a fearful halt. He remained silent for quite some time as he recovered his wits, before he began to speak once more.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to exin what happened to me if you don¡¯t want to,¡± Iris replied softly.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Adam replied after a while. ¡°They set up an ambush at the end of the Formations Trialnd, and closely inspected each and every person. They forced me into a nullification formation¡­at which point my disguise quickly faded away¡­¡±


    Adam stopped after mentioning what had happened, as if what urred next was too much to bring up. His body shivered once more as if the memories were enough to haunt him for a lifetime.


    ¡°After¡­after they were done with me, all I remember is pain¡­excruciating pain, and then I heard John¡¯s voice,¡± Adam said as his gaze shifted from the fire towards Iris. ¡°His voice faded away, and I remember the pain vanishing as nothingness embraced me.¡±


    Adam stopped talking as he recollected his thoughts, while Iris continued to sit there in silence.


    ¡°But the nothingness faded away as well as a light reced it, and warmth flooded into me¡­and the pain returned.¡±


    Adam¡¯s unfocused gaze drifted to the fire once again as he thought about that warm light, like a gentle fire that had been lit within his fading existence.


    ¡°I died,¡± Adam said as his gaze cleared up and focused back on Iris. ¡°I died Iris, but somehow I was brought back. I don¡¯t¡­I don¡¯t understand anything¡­what happened? And where is John? He was there when this all happened! He should be here with us, right?¡±


    ¡°John is fine,¡± Iris said after a long while of thinking what to say. She thought about telling the truth, but in Adam¡¯s current condition, she didn¡¯t know if that was for the best. ¡°He ensured your safety, and then went to hunt down Kadin. You don¡¯t need to worry about him.¡±


    ¡°Good¡­that¡¯s good that he¡¯s safe,¡± Adam sighed in relief, his gaze shifting back towards the warm fire before him.

 Chapter 641 Astral Nirvana Pill

    Crackle!


    The crackling of a fire echoed in John¡¯s mind, rousing him from his deep slumber. His groggy eyes slowly opened up, taking in the view around him. The ceiling of a cave came into view, its dark walls softly illuminated by the campfire in the middle of the cave.


    His body felt excruciating pain, as well as a vibrant warmth as well; the sensation quite odd. His head shifted to the right, taking in the sight of crystal blue eyes and a beautiful face smiling at him.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally awake,¡± Laia said to John with a warm smile on her face. Her hands, glowing with a soft green light were ced on his bare chest, clearly the source of the warmth he felt. Soft yet vibrant healing energy flooded into his body, making his pained existence feel much more at ease.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Thanks to you,¡± John replied with much appreciation. His gaze shifted to the left and spotted Kirii sleeping peacefully on the ground next to him.


    ¡°Kirii is fine,¡± Laia said as she noticed his gaze. ¡°He¡¯s just sleeping.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°I know,¡± John replied, as he could feel through his soul connection with Kirii that he was alright. He was also clearly healed by Laia, and his recovery had been quicker due to the lesser amount of damage he had taken.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted back to her hands on his bare chest and lingered there for a moment. Laia¡¯s cheeks turned slightly rosy, but her hands remained in ce as she continued to infuse her healing energy into him.


    ¡°How long have I been out for?¡± John asked, as he had lost all sense of time.


    ¡°A week,¡± Laia replied. ¡°All three of us copsed after the battle, but I woke up a few hourster and brought us here,¡± she exined. ¡°Thankfully we¡¯re up on the cliff, or the beasts would have gotten to us.¡±


    John made a grunt of pain as he sat up from his lying down position, while Laia removed her hands from his chest. His arms stretched out to the side to feel his body¡¯s condition, which was much more powerful than before, but also in quite a bit of pain.


    ¡°Your body is quite unlike anything I¡¯ve seen,¡± Laia said as she watched John stand up and test his condition. ¡°Normally the heavenly nourishment is enough topletely heal someone after their tribtion, but for you it only transformed your body and dantian. It was as if there was not enough remaining nourishing energy to heal your wounds before it was sucked dry.¡±<sub></sub>


    John tested his body out for a bit before he sat down on a log that Laia had brought in and ced before the fire.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± John replied to her. ¡°I received what I needed from the Heavens.¡±


    John¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he felt Laia¡¯s hands touch his back, but he said nothing as he allowed her to continue her healing. Warmth and vibrancy continued to flood into his body, slowly healing the deep rooted damage within. The healing process continued for quite some time before Laia withdrew her hands and sat on the log next to John.


    ¡°I need to recover my Qi for a bit, and then I¡¯ll continue the healing,¡± she said to him.


    John nodded his head, as he could tell she was quite low on Qi reserves at the moment. Clearly she had been going all out while healing him, and despite doing so for a week already, he could still feel lingering damage in his body.


    ¡®My body must have been in quite the brutal state after my tribtion for me to still be injured after all her healing,¡¯ John mused internally as he inspected his body closely.<sub></sub>


    Therge wounds to his muscles, bones, tendons had all been healed. However, there was still faint damage to his meridians, which were far harder to heal than the rest of his body. Damage to one¡¯s meridians usually required heavenly treasures and a long time to be able to recover from, but Laia¡¯s divine healing talents had been able to heal most of the damage that had urred.


    ¡°Your meridians are still a bit damaged,¡± Laia said, as if reading his thoughts, ¡°although I¡¯m mostly done healing them. Your meridians should be fully healed in a day or two.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± John replied warmly, as she had clearly pushed herself quite hard to get him to this state of recovery.


    ¡°Your blood cells however¡­those are still quite damaged,¡± Laia said to him, confusion in her voice as if she was not sure what the reason for the damage was. ¡°Your blood cells seemed as though they would all disintegrate when I started healing you¡­I¡¯ve never seen anything like it. I healed them as best I could, but the damage to your blood is far more troublesome than your other injuries. I was only able to partially heal it,¡± she exined. Her voice was a bit strange, almost as if she was frustrated with herself at not being able to heal him fully.


    ¡°The fact that you can heal it at all is beyond incredible,¡± John replied, trying to alleviate her frustration. Based on what his mother had told him, the only thing that should have been able to heal his bloodline wounds was time. However, Laia had been able to greatly reduce the damage to his cells, which meant he would be able to use it sooner than expected once more.


    Roar!


    A powerful roar shook thend as both Laia and John looked towards the entrance of the cave. The roar was familiar, and clearly belonged to the creature they had seen before. The roar was a reminder that although the tribtion was over, there was still a trial of death for the two of them to undertake.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to silence that thing once and for all,¡± John said as he found the roaring grating on his mind and soul. With his cultivation in the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm, the roar felt less threatening than before.


    ¡°Are you confident in being able to beat that thing?¡± Laia asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± John replied, ¡°but I think I should be able to manage. But from what I can tell, that creature is most likely only in the Early Dao Transformation Realm. If we run into something stronger¡­I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d be able to beat it.¡±


    His blood cells were still damaged, and while he would be able to use his Asura Transformation, using his bloodline ability anytime soon was not possible, even with Laia¡¯s help. His bloodline abilities resistance to her healing was a testament to its power and profundity, but also its danger to his body. If he overdid it, death from within was more than possible. Without his fusion of powers, he was unsure of fighting anything stronger than that.


    John was roused from his deep thought as a rich aroma and vibrant energy washed over him. He gazed over towards Laia, who held a round object in her hand. His eyes locked onto the object, which was a pill far more profound than anything he had seen in his life.


    ¡°This is the Astral Nirvana Pill,¡± Laia said to John. ¡°It¡¯s meant to emte the heavenly nourishment process, and is used to help cultivators in my empire break through to the Dao Transformation Realm,¡± she exined as she handed over the pill to John, who took the pill and inspected it closely.


    ¡°Your body and dantian are unlike anything I¡¯ve ever seen before, but this pill is of the highest quality, so it should be more than enough to help you ascend to the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm,¡± she exined. ¡°But first you¡¯ll need to have the necessaryprehensions for breaking through, so we can stay here for as long as it takes until you are ready to break thro-¡°


    Laia¡¯s words cut off and eyes widened as John swallowed the pill without hesitation. His eyes closed as he focused on absorbing the incredible properties of the pill. Laia watched in silence as John¡¯s aura slowly grew in power and quickly reached the peak of the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    However, to break through to the next realm, one needed toprehend the Qi of their current realm, as well as the nature of the Qi in the next realm. This process took a long time, which is why Laia suggested he wait until he had done such a thing. Otherwise, if he failed to break through, the pill would go to waste.


    Boom!


    Her eyes widened in shock as a muffled boom escaped John¡¯s body a whileter, and his aura rose to the next level. His eyes slowly opened, his gaze calm and content. He inspected the changes within his body, before his calm gaze shifted over to Laia once more.


    ¡°That pill really is beyond incredible,¡± John said to Laia, who stared at John as if he were an iprehensible monster. Not only was hisbat prowess monstrous, but he also revealed hisprehension talent to be equally as monstrous.


    ¡°Now that I¡¯m in the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, our odds are quite a bit better at getting out of here alive.¡±

 Chapter 642 We All Have Our Secrets

    Laia stared at John in silence for quite some time, as he was the first person in her life she was truly unable to figure out. Every time she thought she knew his limits, he broke through those limits and revealed even more monstrous things.


    ¡°How is your foundation?¡± Laia asked after her long silence. ¡°Breaking through two realms that quickly can form instabilities in your dantian that could have severe impacts on your future cultivation if not ironed out,¡± she continued.


    ¡°I know,¡± John replied as he continued to inspect his body. ¡°My foundation is fine, and there are no instabilities or ws. I¡¯ll need to take my time to firm my cultivation foundation, so I won¡¯t be able to break through to the next realm for at least a few months, but other than that I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Laia fell silent again as she heard his response, although his reply was notpletely unexpected. Her eyes unfocused for a moment as if deep in though, before she focused back on his face.


    ¡°Who was that lightning avatar?¡± she asked curiously.


    John¡¯s face remained calm, as he had expected this question from her eventually. He had said things during this tribtion that hinted at an already established rtionship of some sort with the true identity of the lightning avatar, so her question was only natural.


    ¡°It¡¯splicated,¡± John said as his gaze shifted to meet her own. ¡°You know many of my secrets, but not all of them. There are some secrets that I cannot tell anyone. I¡¯m sure you understand.¡±


    ¡°Mhm, I understand. We all have our secrets,¡± Laia replied, expecting such an answer. They had only just recently be truly acquainted with one another, and even she had secrets she could not reveal to him. Such was the way of the cultivation world, especially when dealing with geniuses.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Let¡¯s get back to your healing,¡± Laia said as she changed the subject and stood up, while John nodded in agreement. She walked behind John and ced her hands on his back, infusing his body with her healing energy once more.


    ¡­


    A weekter, John and Laia arrived at the front of the cave entrance they had been living in, both of their faces fresh and Qi reserves full. It had taken two week to almost fully heal from John¡¯s tribtion, but both parties had finally reached a level where they were able to progress forward once more.


    They walked to the edge of the cliff they had lived on, which was partially ravaged thanks to John¡¯s tribtion. The sprawling swampnd of fog spread out as far as the eye could see beneath them, although the fog restricted their view to a few miles.


    Roar!


    In the distance, a powerful roar boomed out once again as a titanic silhouette shifted through the fog. John¡¯s gaze turned to meet Laia¡¯s, the two of them smiling at the same time.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s time we greet this beast. What do you say?¡± John said to her.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Mhm, let¡¯s,¡± Laia replied warmly.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted back to the expansivend before him, and he stepped over the edge of the cliff as his body shot down towards the ground miles below.


    ¡­


    An airship sailed through the sky at an incredible pace, its speed even faster than the ship the Heavenly Lightning Sect had traveled on. The flying ship was incredibly grand and luxurious, and had an elegant and sleek design to its exterior and interior.


    Within the ship, a group of girls with beauty beyondpare were gathered in discussion. Beautiful, almost translucent butterfly-like wings stretched out from their back, adding to their mesmerizing mystique.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there,¡± one of the girls said to her friends, her voice soft and kind.


    ¡°Mhm, it should be another day or so, and then we¡¯ll arrive,¡± another said.<sub></sub>


    ¡°I wonder what it¡¯s like, inside the ancient Jade Dragon Empire realm?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s amazing, and also deadly. We need to be careful inside, as Pce Master has warned us. The Honorable Alliance would not make such an offer for us to enter without good reason, so the dangers we encounter inside might be beyond our imaginations,¡± one of them warned sternly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± a voice boomed out behind the group, the tone much deeper than the girls who were speaking. The girls looked over to the source of the voice, and few couldn¡¯t help but roll their eyes. ¡°If you stick around me, I¡¯ll make sure no harm befalls any of you.¡±


    ¡°So shameless,¡± one of the girls chastised.


    ¡°We¡¯d rather stick with Iseria,¡± another said. ¡°Who knows what you¡¯ll try if we¡¯re alone with you.¡±


    ¡°How did I get such a bad reputation?¡± Miko protested. ¡°I¡¯ve never touched a single one of you.¡±


    ¡°Maybe not, but we¡¯ve seen the way you look at us,¡± one of them rebuked.


    ¡°What? Am I not allowed to look at beautiful girls? Beautiful things should be admired, not ignored,¡± Miko said without a hint of embarrassment or shame.


    His direct words caused rosy-redplexions to form on many of their faces, and they prepared to rebuke him once more when their gazes shifted towards someone approaching them.


    ¡°Pce Master!¡± the Faerie¡¯s all called out in respectful unison.


    ¡°Mmm, are you all prepared?¡± the Pce Master asked them, her gaze shifting to Miko for a slight moment.


    ¡°Yes, Pce Master,¡± many of them replied.


    ¡°Good, because your lives might very well be in danger once you enter the realm, and I will not be able to help you¡­but such is the way of the cultivation world. Where there are opportunities, there is also danger.¡±


    Her gaze shifted to Miko again, before shifting to a girl that stood within the group of Faeries. Her cultivation was at the Peak of the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and her beauty beyondpare.


    ¡°For this trip, I want you all to roam in two groups,¡± the Pce Master instructed as she listed the names in group one and two. ¡°The first group will follow Iseria, while the second group will follow Miko.¡±


    The faces of the Faerie¡¯s in group two scrunched up at their Pce Master¡¯s words, and several wanted to protest but didn¡¯t dare disrespect their Pce Master. The Pce Master smirked as she noticed their unwilling gazes, and her smirk was reced with a stern look.


    ¡°You may not like it, but Iseria and Miko are the strongest of all of you,¡± the Pce Master said to group two. ¡°This realm is not going to be one one of leisurely exploration and enjoyment, but one with great rewards but greater danger. Unless absolutely necessary, you are not to leave the protection of your group leader, or trust anyone else within, is that understood?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Pce Master,¡± the Faerie¡¯s replied as they noticed her serious mood.


    ¡°Good. We will arrive in a day, so be prepared to enter the realm the moment we exit the ship,¡± she instructed and turned around.


    ¡°Ah, Pce Master,¡± Miko suddenly spoke up, causing her to turn around and look at him questioningly.


    ¡°There is one person they can trust,¡± Miko said as his chest puffed out in pride. ¡°My best friend, John Fenix. He should be inside as well, and he¡¯s just as powerful as me, if not stronger by now. If anyone runs into him, just say you know me, and John will protect you without fail.¡±


    Miko¡¯s words caused the Pce Master¡¯s eyes to widen slightly, as she could tell he was sincere in the truth of his words. After a moment of silence, she nodded her head at his words and gazed back at her disciples.


    ¡°Very well,¡± she said. She had not known Miko for a very long time, but Miko wore his heart on his sleeve, and was very easy to read. If he said such a thing with full sincerity, then it was beyond a doubt to be true. ¡°You heard Miko. If you run across his friend, you may seek his aid as well if truly needed.¡±

 Chapter 643 Two Formations

    In a secluded valley near the very edge of the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds, a lone youth was standing amidst a sprawling formation that had been etched into the ground. The ground had been smoothed away, leaving a t and smooth surface of bare rock.


    On that surface, thousands of intricate formation runes had been carved, forming arge circle of mesmerizing patterns. At dozens of nodes within the formation circle, even more intricate and profound formation disks had been ced. The disks were clearly on a level far beyond therge formation circle, and was something only the most skilled of formation experts would be capable of creating.


    Surrounding those formation disks were piles of spirit crystals. Each pile not only numbered in the hundreds of thousands of crystals, but each crystal was a high grade spirit crystal, far more valuable than a normal spirit crystal. If the value was to be converted to normal grade spirit crystals, it would be in the tens of billions of spirit crystals, if not more.


    The lone youth inspected a jade piece in his hand, andpared it to the formation sprawled out before him. After checking it for hours to make sure not a single rune was out of ce, a satisfied look appeared on his face as he put the jade piece away.


    ¡°After three fucking weeks of this troublesome work, it¡¯s finally done,¡± the youth said to himself with great satisfaction while his gaze shifting to the piles of spirit crystals. ¡°It¡¯s such a waste though. Myself alone is more than enough to ensure the item is retrieved, but I¡¯m sure my Master has something else in mind. If nothing else, the entertaining carnage toe should slightly make up for this luxurious waste. I suppose the chaos that¡¯s toe will make it easier for me to obtain the item. Still, it better be worth it.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    Wasting no more time, the youth walked to the very center of the formation circle, where a central node and formation disk was visible. A star shaped crystal appeared in his hands, one that emanated an incredible aura far beyondprehension. It was as if the star shaped crystal contained the power of a world within.


    He ced the star-shaped crystal into the formation disk, which had a slot that perfectly fit the crystal. As soon as the crystal entered the disk, it red with incredible power, and the entire formation circle came to life. One by one the formation runes were lit, and the formation disks red to life as they quickly absorbed the piles of spirit crystals nearby. The entire circle lit up in unison, followed by an awe inspiring power that emanated from the central formation disk; one that seemed to bend the very fabric of space itself.


    ¡­


    Gahhhh!<sub></sub>


    Agonized cries of pain boomed out within a dark chamber that glowed dimly, while rivers of blood could be seen coursing through the edges of the chamber.


    The four-armed figure, the one that had summoned the elites of the Forbidden Alliance, Monster Race, and Barbarian Race, sat on his throne. His gaze lingered on three figures seated before him, who also ignored the agonized cries of pain in the distance as if they were no more than birdsong.


    Unlike the previous cultivators that had spoken with the four-armed figure, the three cultivators before him were much less fearful. While all could tell they were guarded and ready to pounce at a moment¡¯s notice, they did not fear the creature as the others had. Clearly their strength was something they could rely on, even in the face of the hellish creature.


    In fact, it seemed as though the three seated before the nightmarish creature were having a casual conversation, a sight far removed from what had previously happened in these chambers.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Thest of my youths have arrived,¡± a feminine voice echoed lightly within the chamber. The one who had spoken was a woman who appeared to be in her fifties, but was clearly far older than her age indicated. She had blood red hair that stopped at her shoulders, and a face so sharp and cold that it seemed like it could freeze hell itself. She wore an elegant red and ck robe that was like a hybrid between a dress and a robe, making her look beautiful but reserved.


    ¡°With the Ancient Elder¡¯s Forbidden Alliance finally arriving at full, that should put our numbers at five hundred,¡± a figure seated to her right said afterwards, his voice tinged with slight displeasure. The figure had pitch ck skin and vertical yellow pupils. His teeth were like sharp fangs, and bat-like wings were folded behind his back.


    ¡°You act as if thete arrival of my youths are putting our n in jeopardy, Monster King,¡± the Ancient Elder replied with equal iciness. ¡°Unlike your Monster Race that does nothing more than feed and fuck, our human race has other things to take care of asionally¡­some of these matters take time handling.¡±


    Clearly there was slight animosity between the two powerful cultivators. They did not treat each other like true enemies, but neither friends. The rtionship between the Forbidden Alliance and Monster Race was one of mutual benefit, and neither would hesitate to turn on the other if it was in their best interests, as they put the importance of their own powers over all else.


    ¡°Tch, why argue like children,¡± a deep voice boomed out, its power shaking the chamber, ¡°if you have issues with each other, just fight it out to the death. Why use words when you have fists?¡±


    The Ancient Elder and Monster Race King nced to their left and gazed at a massive hulking figure that was three timesrger than them. The figure appeared like a human, only it was slightly hairier and farrger than a normal human. Its muscr body emanated incredible might, and the figure¡¯s gaze lingered on the shadowed creature before the three of them as if it wanted to take its own advice and start fighting the creature at a moment¡¯s notice.


    ¡°Hah,¡± the Ancient Elderughed and scoffed lightly. ¡°You call us children, and yet you gaze at our host as if you want to rip his heart out, for no other reason than his body is clearly stronger than yours. Who¡¯s the true child? If anything, your Barbarian Race is nothing but brute headed children who only seek to fight and feed¡­although I suppose that¡¯s slightly better than the Monster Race.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± both the Barbarian Warchief and the Monster Race King boomed out loudly, their gazes of fire staring at the Ancient Elder as if they would kill her on the spot. The Ancient Elder scoffed dismissively, as if she were speaking to mere children who were quick to temper.


    Her gaze shifted to the shadowed creature before them, who had sat in silence as his blood red eyes stared at them. Clearly he was not one for making small talk.


    ¡°You said your temporary teleportation formation can transport five hundred youths into the Jade Dragon Realmnds,¡± the Ancient Elder addressed the creature. ¡°I still don¡¯t see how that¡¯s possible. The formation barriers surrounding that trialnd are beyond powerful and profound. Even we would not be capable of breaking through in such a manner, at least not without spending a fortune sorge that it would no longer be worth it at all. Are you sure you are capable of doing what you said you can do?¡±


    As if answering the woman¡¯s question, a light suddenly appeared in the middle of the chamber behind the four figures. The creature¡¯s gaze locked onto the light, while the three other powerful cultivators turned to look at it. The light quickly spread to all sides, and soon a sprawling teleportation formation had appeared on the ground, its profundity beyondpare.


    The Ancient Elder¡¯s eyes widened slightly, as she could tell the mechanisms powering this formation were not only incredibly profound, but would also eat through spirit crystals like they were nothing at all. Clearly the creature was sparing no expense at all in regards to entering the realm, for reasons they had inquired about but received no answer.


    ¡°All this just to kill that ¡®Asura¡¯?¡± the Ancient Elder spoke up again, her tone questioning.


    ¡°Summon your youths,¡± the creature¡¯s voice boomed out, ¡°it is time for them to enter the realm.¡±

 Chapter 644 ASURAAAAAA!!!!!

    The lone youth within the hidden valley watched as the teleportation formation red to life. Despite being the one who had set it up, he couldn¡¯t help but be impressed at the profundity of the formation before him. He had only followed the instructions in the jade piece, and set up therge formation linking the intricate formation disks and central formation disk.


    Those disks did almost all the work, their power linking to twist space itself. A rip in space suddenly appeared, almost imperceivable to the naked eye. However, that small rip started to grow, spreading outwards as if it was consuming space itself. At the same time, a powerful shrouding barrier spread over the formation, masking its glow and aura from all to avoid detection.


    The youth watched as the portal grew, and his eyes locked onto a group of youths that were revealed on the other side of the portal, all of them standing within a hellish looking chamber. The processsted only a few seconds, and soon the portal had spread to be dozens of yards wide, allowing for the youths on the other side to enter immediately.


    ¡°Go, and spread anguish and despair,¡± a guttural voice bellowed out from within the portal, and the youths all nodded their heads before they sped forward through the portal. All five hundred appeared on the other side in almost an instant and appeared in the hidden valley.


    Their gazes shifted about the surroundingnd before settling on the lone youth standing before them. Several of the youths standing in the front of the pack eyed him curiously, their powerful auras indicating them to be the strongest of the bunch. However, the other five hundred youths behind them were not weak by any means, and if ced within the Honorable Alliance, they would almostpletely rece the Jade Dragon List, a testament to their overwhelming might, and also the fading power of the Honorable Alliance.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°So you¡¯re Asuros?¡± Amber Bloodrose said to the youth as she eyed him up and down, slight surprise in her tone. ¡°I never expected you to be a human¡­I thought you¡¯d look like your Master¡­how interesting.¡±


    Her hand suddenly shed out, unsheathing the sword from her scabbard. It shed towards Asuros¡¯ head, reaching it in an instant. Despite being a casual attack, the speed of her sh was beyond shocking, and its sharpness was almost withoutpare. There was virtually no time to react to the sh at all, and its sharpness and power was enough to cleave a Late Heaven Tribtion beast in half.


    Che!


    The sword shed through the air uninhibited, reaching the end of its quick arc. Amber Bloodrose quickly sheathed her sword again and raised an eyebrow at Asuros before her. Despite giving no warning at all, he had casually dodged the attack with ease by shifting his head to the side, as if her attack was nothing more than a triviality.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Interesting,¡± she said with a smile on her face.


    ¡°Try that again, and I¡¯ll rip your heart out and feed it to you,¡± Asuros replied. His voice was calm, but everyone could tell a coldblooded and murderous intent emanated from him, as if he would kill her if she made one more mistake.


    ¡°Good, you¡¯re at least slightly interesting,¡± Amber Bloodrose replied with a cheery yet murderous smile on her face. ¡°It would have been quite disappointing if you had turned out to be boring¡­and weak.¡±


    The others, including Vargul agoth and Zulos Stonefist also eyed Asuros, both with heated gazes as if they wanted to fight this instant and test who was the strongest. Both barely resisted the urge, as their main goal was to exterminate the Honorable Alliance youths. Their personal battles could happen afterwards.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You have three months,¡± a voice said from the other side of the portal, belonging to the Ancient Elder. ¡°When that time is up, return to this formation here to leave the realm.¡±


    The only way out of the formation was the main gate, which was not a possible solution for them. If that were to happen, the Honorable Alliance, with all its powerful formations and defenses at the entrance, would no doubt kill each and every youth.


    ¡°Now go, and settle your battles amongst each other afterwards,¡± the Ancient Elder continued. The youths all nodded their heads, and prepared to leave the area. Asuros raised his hand towards the portal and activated a mechanism, and the portal slowly started to shrink. Just as it was about to close, an overwhelming aura descended over the youths, its power so high as to be iprehensible.


    ¡­


    In the sky above the Dao Transformation trial, the hooded man watched as John and Laia stepped off the cliff towards the dangers below. He had taken great interest in John¡¯s endeavors, and so had been silently shadowing and observing him.


    The man¡¯s gaze suddenly shifted from John and Laia and into the distance, as if his attention was being drawn by something else. A frown appeared on his face as his body suddenly vanished and appeared hundreds of miles away in almost an instant. A powerful barrier, the one separating the Dao Transformation trial from the other areas of the trial appeared before him, but he tore through the barrier like it was paper and appeared on the other side.


    His gaze shifted into the distance, hundreds of miles away towards the distant mountains. His body shed once more, and he appeared high in the sky above a picturesque valley. Directly beneath him, five hundred youths were gathered, while a portal was starting to close behind them.


    The man frowned as he saw the youths, and his divine sense red out as he inspected the youths, and the portal they had seemingly came from. His frowning face instantly turned red with rage, as if he had just seen the thing he hated the most with his entire being. His aura exploded out with absolute might, his power so high as to almost be iprehensible.


    ¡°ASURAAAAAAAA!!!!!¡±


    A warcry of pure rage and anger bellowed out from the man, the power of his voice crumbling nearby mountains and fracturing thend beneath him. The five hundred youths all felt their bodies nearly explode from the warcry alone, and each red their defensive power to the maximum to avoid dying on the spot.


    Several coughed up blood from the power of the roar of anger, and all five hundred youths couldn¡¯t help but be stunned stiff as they saw a man suddenly appear before them like a ghost, standing directly in front of the closing portal. His hands reached out and grabbed opposite sides of the almost closed portal, and ripped them in opposite directions.


    The portal suddenly tore open once more, as if space itself was unable to withstand the might of the man. The man ignored the youths behind him as he stepped through the portal, his sole focus on what existed on the other side.


    The portal quickly closed as the man stepped through, returning the now fractured valley to silence once more. The youths all slowly recovered from their shock, as they had unexpectedly nearly died from the man who had just appeared.

 Chapter 645 You Will Die Here Today

    ¡°Who the hell was that?¡± Vargul agoth couldn¡¯t help but ask as he slowly recovered from his internal wounds, as the event has been beyond their wildest expectations. As soon as they arrived in the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds, they had almost all died. The others also slowly recovered, each sustaining some amount of damage from the man¡¯s terrifying cry and aura.


    ¡°Whoever he is, he¡¯s dead now that he¡¯s arrived before my Master,¡± Asuros replied calmly, fully confident in his master¡¯s overwhelming powers. ¡°The true issue is the formation,¡± he continued as he nced down at his feat, and the fractured earth that now reced the former location of the formation.


    It had been their way to leave the realm safely, but now it waspletely broken.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have enough resources to rebuild the formation, so the only thing we can do now is focus on the task at hand, and eliminate the Honorable Alliance. We¡¯ll let our Master¡¯s and Elder¡¯s take care of us when the timees,¡± he informed the others, who didn¡¯t seem to be worried either.


    They were the absolute pinnacle geniuses of their powers, and the most powerful of their respective powers would ensure one way or another that they left the realm alive. The cost of losing them would be too great to bear, and so the youths knew no costs would be spared to make such a thing happen.


    With no further discussion, the youths all sped forward, sinister smiles etched on their faces as they excitedly thought about the carnage toe. It was time to hunt!<sub>.</sub>


    ¡­


    The portal in the hellish chamber finally copsed as a singr figure stepped through. His aura once again exploded with absolute power as he saw the four-armed creature seated on the throne before him, its red eyes narrowed as it gazed at him.


    Boom!


    His aura alone shattered the hellish chamber, pce, and everything else in the massive cavern, destroying everything that was not capable of withstanding his might. The rocky ceiling high above copsed, raining massive boulders and debris on the sprawling abyssal city below, destroying it for good.


    Five figures shot out of the destroyed earth and into the sky above, four on one side and one standing alone. Without any words or hesitation at all, the hooded man took out a massive battle axe and unleashed an attack at the creature. The battle axe was pure gold in color, although it was stained and rusted in several ces, as if it had been ravaged by the sands of time.<sub></sub>


    However, the might of the weapon was not to be underestimated, and its weight was beyondpare, weighing more than a mountain. Space tore apart as the man unleashed his attack towards the creature, revealing the chaos of the void on the other side, and only reformed to normal several secondster.


    ¡°DIE!¡± the man bellowed out, his murderous bloodlust so strong that it seemed to congeal in the air.


    The man unleashed a terrifying battle art that shattered space itself, as his battle axe image turned into the form of a dragon and mmed against the hellish creature.


    BOOM!


    The battle art exploded against the creature, and radiated outwards for hundreds of miles, destroying absolutely everything in its path. Rivers andkes instantly evaporated, and crater so deep that the bottom could not be seen within the dark ckness was formed, while all life other than the five figures were eradicated in an instant.<sub></sub>


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    The man unleashed a barrage of simr attacks on the same spot, as if his rage would only be satiated with the death of the creature before him. His body suddenly shed to the side as a blood red sword image shed by him, its power and sharpness also tearing space apart wherever it traveled.


    The man¡¯s body shed against as a ck beam of QI, emanating decay and death pierced by as well, its power also tearing the fabric of space. After dodging the attack, the man suddenly turned around as a hulking figure appeared behind him, the fist of the hulking figure punching forward with apocalyptic might.


    ROAR!


    A roar like that of the most terrifying dragon escaped the man¡¯s mouth as his body instantly changed. His arms, legs, chest and forehead became covered with small green scales, while his pupils became vertical and eyes turned green.


    The man punched out with his full might, and the two fists collided with horrifying power. Space splintered once more, while the shockwave from the meeting fists ravaged thend again for hundreds of miles.


    The Barbarian Warchief was knocked backwards over ten miles in the exchange, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he stared at the enemy before him. The Barbarian race was famed for having the strongest bodies on the, and yet he had just lost out in pure strength to the enemy before him.


    The Forbidden Alliance Ancient Elder, Monster Race King, and Barbarian Warchief all returned to their initial locations, arriving next to the hellish creature that was revealed after the explosions and dust faded away.


    Their gazes of caution stared at the lone figure before them, who removed his sleeveless robe, revealing his bare-chested body as if it were his preferred fighting state.


    Long and wild green hair flowed down to his shoulders, framing a chiseled and handsome face of a man who appeared to be in his forties. His perfectly proportioned muscr body brimmed with power, as if he was the perfect fighting form. On his back was a sprawling tattoo of a green dragon, its tail running down the back of his right arm.


    Most noticeable of all was the wound on his chest, which ran across his body from his right shoulder to his left hip. The wound seemed to have been inflicted by something like a w, as it consisted of three separate wounds running parallel to each other, each wound an inch wide.


    ¡°Who is this man?¡± the Ancient Elder asked the hellish creature, as the man¡¯s words and actions clearly indicated past enmity. Not only that, they could tell his power was at the very least on their own level, if not a bit higher, shocking them once more. These three stood at the pinnacle of the world, and hardly ever ran into one that could challenge them so. The hellish creature was the first exception to this in a very long time, and now the mysterious man before them as well.


    ¡°You vile Asura spawn! You will die here today! And I will avenge what I failed to avenge back then!¡± the man growled as he pointed his battle axe at the hellish creature, his body trembling with unconcealed rage and fury.


    ¡°I thought you had died,¡± the hellish creature scoffed with narrowed eyes, his guttural voice like that of a beast. Four curved sabers suddenly appeared in each of his hands, the size of each saberrger than his opponent.


    He held the sabers out to his side, as if weing the challenge from the man before him, while his aura suddenly exploded with horrifying might, drowning the world in pure malevolence.


    ¡°But this is much better,¡± the creature said as he gazed at the man with predator-like eyes and a sinister smile, ¡°We can finish our battle once and for all, and after I¡¯m done breaking you, I¡¯ll consume your flesh and blood while you¡¯re alive, piece by piece. Just like I did to your wife and child, Jade Dragon Emperor!¡±

 Chapter 646 Shocking Identities

    ¡°The Jade Dragon Emperor!?!?¡± the Ancient Elder, Monster King, and Barbarian Warchief cried out in unison, almost unable to believe what they were hearing.


    The Jade Dragon Emperor was a legend of the ancient world, and his power and prestige had reached a mythical level. He was said to be the strongest cultivator the world had ever known, but had perished in the ancient cmity that had nearly destroyed the world.


    However, the Asura¡¯s words indicated quite the opposite, that he was still alive and standing before them.


    ¡°DIE!¡± the Jade Dragon Emperor roared as his body shed forward once more, appearing before the four figures in an instant. His battle axe cleaved out towards them, its power beyond anything the world had seen for over one hundred thousand years.


    It was as if the world was truly ending.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡­


    ¡°Amazing!¡± a youth cried out in pure excitement as he plucked a fruit from a tree before him. The fruit¡¯s lustrous sheen glowed brightly, while it gave off an incredibly refreshing and sweet aroma.


    ¡°Congrattions, William!¡± several nearby youths eximed, somewhat envious but still excited for their fellow sect member. The group of five youths all belonged to the same sect, and the leader of the group, William, was a member of the Jade Dragon List. He was ranked two hundred and sixty eight, and had guided his fellow members safely through the Heaven Tribtion trialnds.


    After getting through alive, they had arrived in the final area of the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds, which appeared to be something akin to a sprawling paradise. Verdurous valleys, awe-inspiring waterfalls, picturesque mountain ranges, sprawling prairies, and vibrant forests covered thend, making it truly look like paradise. It was one of the most beautifulnds the youths had ever seen, and it had been untouched for millennia, and some parts even hundreds of thousands of years.<sub></sub>


    In and as vibrant as this, a plethora of heavenly treasures such as fruits, medicinal herbs, elemental veins, and other natural marvels had appeared, and had yet to be imed by anyone. It was as if the finalnd of the realm was and of pure treasures, rewards given for getting this far.


    There were even trials simr to the ones that had appeared before, and the rewards from the trials were beyond imagining. More heavenly treasures, ancient weapons, battle arts, and more were avable, making everyone explore thend with the greatest level of excitement and passion.


    Thend was also free of any beasts, as if it were saying that the youths within would be the final tests, each youth needing to im the rewards over the others. However, with the rtively harmonious nature of the Honorable Alliance, bloodshed was very minimal, as the opportunities were aplenty.


    The final area stretched one thousand miles wide and over a thousand miles deep, and so the opportunities were truly beyond counting. The group of youths had stumbled upon this fruit almost immediately after leaving the previous realm, and so they could only imagine whatid ahead of them.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Thanks!¡± William replied as he inspected the fruit in his hand, the smile on his face stretching from ear to ear. He could tell the fruit was truly incredible, and would help bolster his cultivation base to a new level once consumed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll find a heavenly opportunity for all of you,¡± William said as his gaze shifted to his fellow sect members. ¡°I won¡¯t be stingy.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡± they all replied happily, as with his help, that was basically a guarantee.


    ¡°You may not be stingy, but I am,¡± a calm voice sounded out behind the youths. Despite the voice sounding calm, the youths all felt a shiver crawl up their spine, as they could instinctively feel the murderous bloodlust naturally emanating from the person behind them.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± William said as his gaze locked onto a lone female who was walking towards them. He did not recognize her at all, and he should, given that her cultivation was in the Half-Step Dao Transformation Realm. Her blood red hair flowed down over her shoulders, lining her sharp yet beautiful face, and her blood red dress only added to that terrifying beauty. Her eyes locked onto the fruit in William¡¯s hand, a look of greed appearing within.


    ¡°Amber Bloodrose,¡± she replied without hiding anything. William¡¯s face, as well as the other youths all opened their mouths wide, while pure fear appeared in their eyes. They didn¡¯t know how it was possible, but they could tell that she was truly who she was iming to be.


    A look of pure ecstasy appeared in Amber¡¯s eyes as she gazed at the expression of pure fear before her, as if it gave her the greatest pleasure in the world.


    Her sword suddenly shed out without any warning at all, too fast for any of them to react, William included. In a single stroke, the heads of all the youths tumbled off their necks, while blood spurted out with incredible force.


    Amber caught William¡¯s head, her gaze of ecstasy staring closely at the look of fear frozen on his now severed head.


    A groan of pleasure escaped her mouth, and her tongue moved forward and licked a small drop of blood that lingered on Williams¡¯ cheek. Her eyes rolled back slightly and her malicious smile widened as if his blood was the sweetest nectar.


    ¡°Such a beautiful shade of red!¡± she eximed as she gazed at the blood of the youths staining the ground beneath her feet. She marveled at the sight of the blood for some time, before she reached over to William¡¯s felled corpse and plucked the fruit from his hand.


    Crunch!


    Her pearly-white teeth bit deeply into the fruit as she started to casually consume it. Her eyes lit up once more as the fruit was truly marvelous, and her malicious smile widened as she started to walk away from the scene of carnage; the bottom of her blood stained dress painting the ground behind her with a trail of blood.

 Chapter 647 Rot-Breath Drake

    ¡°Gahhhhhhh!¡±


    An agonized cry of pain boomed out loudly, followed by the crunching of bone and tearing of flesh. More agonized cries of pain sounded out for quite some time, before silence returned to a beautiful valley. The valley was vibrant with colorful flowers and verdant trees, while waterfalls in the distance coated the valley with a refreshing mist.


    However, that beauty was contrasted by a scene of carnage, as blood, guts, and dismembered humans covered a portion of the valley. Standing within the valley was a lone figure, his skin ck as night. His yellow eyes stared at the scene of carnage before him, while blood dribbled off his chin as if he had just eaten something raw and bloody.


    ¡°Delicious!¡± Vargul agoth said as he licked his fingers clean. ¡°Young geniuses truly do taste the best! Especially the females. Their blood is so pure and sweet¡­To think, this feast is only the beginning. Marvelous¡­truly marvelous!¡±


    His maniacalughter filled the valley, but it suddenly stopped.


    Snap!<sub>.</sub>


    The snapping of a twig filled the otherwise silent valley, causing Vargul agoth to gaze towards the sound. His eyes caught thest glimpse of a human head before it ducked behind a distant boulder, and a wide smile appeared on his face as he sped forward towards the boulder.


    ¡°Gahhhh!¡±


    Another cry of pain, higher in pitch than the one before and clearly belonging to a female filled the valley, which was soon after followed by silence once more.


    ¡­


    Thick fog surrounded John and Laia as they made their way through thend of death. John¡¯s guard was raised, but his eyes were slightly unfocused, as if he were deep in thought.<sub></sub>


    He was recalling his time in the cave after his tribtion, as he entered the pce realm once more. As he had done with all his previous breakthroughs, he absorbed the blood drop from the translucent sphere, and had also touched the chains on the holy gate and sinister gate, increasing the power being released from both.


    ¡°Why did you appear during my tribtion?¡± John called out as he stood before the holy gate, but as expected, had received no answer at all.


    ¡°Tch, useless,¡± he clicked his tongue in frustration as he walked away. He studied the next page of the Immortal Asura Body tome after the page had been unlocked, and also the next steps to his Asura Transformation Art which was suitable for his Heaven Tribtion cultivation. The Immortal Asura Body tome also contained information for his next limiter, the Limiter of Healing.


    The Limiter of Healing unlocked meridians in his chest and stomach, and used the lingering nourishment of the heavens to infuse his heart with a thick healing energy and change its very constitution, which he was able to replenish by absorbing Qi. This healing energy could be released at a moment¡¯s notice, greatly increasing his recovery rate in battle. While it was not on the level of Laia¡¯s healing, it was still quite impressive, and would be a great boon to hisbat prowess should Laia not be around.


    After recalling all that, his mind shifted to other aspects of his cultivation.<sub></sub>


    ¡®I studied the Celestial Lightning True Jade Origin Piece once more, and I feel like I¡¯m almost ready to break through to the next level. If my guess is correct, the levels correspond with the Dao Comprehension levels, which means I¡¯m almost at the Dao Expert stage when ites to the Lightning Dao!¡¯


    Lilian had exined the Daoprehension stages to him, and had revealed that the Dao Expert stage was roughly around twenty to twenty five percentprehension. When one broke through to that realm, theirprehensions would reach a new level in that Dao, almost akin to a dantian breakthrough.


    ¡®When that happens, the level of my lightning should raise once again, increasing mybat prowess. That wille soon enough, so in the meantime, my real focus needs to be on strengthening my body.¡¯


    His tribtion had revealed that his body had greatly fallen behind what it needed to be.


    ¡®My Immortal Asura Body is incredibly strong, and is capable of withstanding my Asura Transformation for quite some time, but it cannot withstand both that and my bloodline ability at the same time. If I am to be able to ensure my safety, I need to be able to use both at the same time without the risk of death. Thest time I received any heavenly body nourishment was back in the Ancient Yuan Continent realm, when I consumed that blood red fruit. I¡¯ve increased it here and there since then, but it¡¯s not enough. I need to find more heavenly opportunities to increase my body durability!¡¯


    His body had been like a prodigious genius, who started off with heaven defying talent, and then had been starved of nourishment. It had stagnated without constant nourishment, making him fall behind where he needed to be. His bloodline ability and Asura Transformation Art were only getting stronger as his cultivation rose, and so he needed to constantly strengthen his body to withstand the strain they put on him.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Laia asked as she noticed John¡¯s unfocused demeanor.


    ¡°Oh¡­I¡¯m fine, just thinking about some things,¡± John replied as his mind snapped back into focus. ¡°We should be getting close,¡± he said, changing the subject.


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Laia hummed in agreement, as the roars of the mysterious creature were growing louder and louder. John¡¯s gaze shifted to Laia, who he inspected for a moment, curious about something. Her cultivation was clearly in the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm, but had started to be hazy and shrouded when he inspected her.


    ¡°I can tell your cultivation has reached the Half-Step Dao Transformation Realm,¡± John said to her. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you take the Astral Nirvana Pill instead, and break through to the Dao Transformation Realm?¡± he asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple,¡± Laia replied with a light shake of her head. ¡°My two main Dao¡¯s, the Dao of Life and Dao of Time, are incredibly hard to gain insight to, even for me. With my innate link to these two Dao¡¯s, they must reach a certainprehension level before I¡¯m able to break through. Myprehensions into these two Dao¡¯s are stillcking, and so I cannot break through yet, even with the Astral Nirvana Pills help.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± John replied after a moment of silence. ¡°I suppose your Dao of Life and Time are both a blessing and a curse,¡± he said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Laia replied, mimicking his sentiment of her two Daos.


    Roar!


    A powerful roar boomed out, shaking thend like an earthquake. John and Laia gazed at each other for a moment, and nodded their heads in unison. They sped forward through the fog, and a hulking silhouette emerged from within, finally bing clear to them.


    ¡°A Rot-Breath Drake!

 Chapter 648 Splinter

    The hulking figure had finally been revealed to them, which Laia identified as a Rot-Breath Drake. Its body was over fifty yards tall, and over one hundred yards long. It had grayish brown scales covering its entire body, which appeared simr to that of a dragons, only it had no wings. It had a tinge of dragon blood in its lineage, giving it incredible strength.


    A thick aura of rot and death surrounded the drake, who¡¯s cultivation was in the Early Dao Transformation Realm. Before the drake was the corpse of another creature, one that had mostly been consumed. The remaining flesh on the massive corpse had started to rot from being near the drake, whose gaping maw crunched down on the flesh of the corpse once more.


    ¡°Can you handle it? Or should we go around it?¡± Laia asked softly.


    The Rot-Breath Drake¡¯s head rose from the corpse before it, and its gaze shifted towards Laia and John. Its mouth opened wide as it unleashed another thunderous roar, as it had noticed their presence.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think going around it is an option anymore,¡± John replied calmly. A battle axe appeared in his hands, while Kirii suddenly appeared beside him after leaving his soul space.


    ¡°Can you keep yourself safe?¡± John asked Laia.


    ¡°I can,¡± she replied. ¡°I might not be as strong as you, but I can still take care of myself.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Good,¡± John replied with a head nod. ¡°In this battle, don¡¯t heal me. I need to test mybat prowess!¡±


    Laia stared at John for a moment before nodding her head. John¡¯s gaze shifted towards the hulking drake, and his body shed forward as he sped towards it, with Kirii following closely behind. John¡¯s body aura skyrocketed as he unleashed his Supreme Battle Art, using the Heaven Tribtion form to its full extent for the first time. He also unleashed his Limiter of Speed and Power, pushing hisbat state to the next level.


    He appeared before the drake, appearing like no more than an ant before it. The Rot-Breath Drake opened its mouth wide, unleashing a powerful beam of rot and death that destroyed anything in its path. A confident smile appeared on John¡¯s face as he sped towards the beam, while his battle axe shed out with incredible power.


    Advent of Annihtion!


    ¡­


    ¡°Haha, we¡¯re finally here!¡± A boisterousughter sounded out, causing many to gaze towards the source of theughter. Arge group of youths had gathered before the entrance barrier of the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds, several thousand in total.<sub></sub>


    The youths belonged to the human racer, Faerie Race, and a few from the Beast Race, and all exuded strong and powerful aura¡¯s.


    Miko¡¯sughter was heard by all the youths, who could only look at him with mixed gazes. Some looked at him with curiosity, as he seemed quite a bit younger than anyone else gathered. Others looked at him with dismissive expressions, as thend they were about to enter was filled with danger, and yet the human youth wasughing as if he were about to enter a yground.


    ¡°Miko, stop making a scene,¡± the Faerie Pce Master chastised him, causing him to quiet down.


    The Seraphic Soul Pce was just one of the Faerie powers that had responded to the call for aid, and the Pce Master did not want Miko to cause a scene.


    An elderly man appeared before the gathered youths and Elder¡¯s, and his gaze scanned over all them before a nod of approval and appreciation appeared on his face.


    ¡°Thank you all for heeding our call for aid,¡± the man said. ¡°As we ryed previously, we do not know what dangers will ur within this realm, only that a terrifying danger will ur. With your help, that danger just might be prevented, and so I express my deepest thanks to all you brave youths who charge in fearlessly.<sub></sub>


    In the interest of time, I will provide what we know of the realm, to hasten your progress through the realm,¡± the man continued. He quickly exined the divisions of the realm, from the starting area, to the ancient cities, andnds between. As the youths summoned were all skilled inbat, they would be marked with the warrior mark.


    ¡°The trials at the start may be tempting, but do not do any more than is necessary to proceed forward,¡± the man exined. ¡°The rewards at the end of the realm are beyond your imaginations, and also where the danger is most likely to ur. Feel free to take any and all treasures you can find there, as a payment of our thanks!¡±


    The man exined a few more things about the realm to the youths, before he signaled for them to enter. The youths quickly filed into the formation barrier, entering the mythical Jade Dragon Empire trialnds.


    ¡°Hahahaha! I, Miko Varis, have arrived!¡± Miko¡¯s boisterous voice boomed out once more, as he could no longer be chastised by the Pce Master. The nearby Faeries rolled their eyes, but said nothing as they were used to his antics by now. ¡°Wait for me John. Soon we will be reunited, and I¡¯m sure your power will not disappoint me!¡±


    ¡­


    Boom!


    The ground shook violently as the Rot-Breath Drake¡¯s body copsed to the ground. A torrent of blood gushed out of many wounds that had been created on its body, as its life finally faded away. Its back was charred ck, as if it had withstood the strongest tribtion attack.


    John¡¯s aura faded away as he undid his Supreme Battle Art and Limiters, while his axe disappeared as he stored it as well. His body was bloodied and wounded, but he ignored the wounds as he studied the dead drake before him. Its body was like a small mountain, and their battle had been beyond intense.


    Him and Kirii had unleashed their full arsenal at the beast as the might of their battle ravaged the nearbynd. Thend had rotted away from the drakes¡¯ breath, and had been fractured from the powerful attacks of all three fighters. As expected, using his Supreme Battle Art alone was not enough to overwhelm an Early Dao Transformation Drake.


    However, in the end, John and Kirii had managed to kill the beast eventually thanks to their teamwork. Without using his Asura Transformation or Bloodline Ability, the battle had been incredibly dangerous and arduous. John had nearly lost his life several times in the process, but his sharp instincts and quick reaction had managed to get him through it.


    After inflicting enough wounds and slowing the drake down enough, Kirii had managed to stall it long enough for John to unleash his ultimate attack¡­one that he had not used in quite some time. The attack had dealt the finishing blow to the wounded beast, killing it once and for all.


    ¡°What battle art was that?¡± Laia asked as she walked up to John, and ced her hands on his back. A thick healing energy flooded into his body, healing the many wounds on his body at a visible pace.


    ¡°Dragontail Decimation!¡± John replied, revealing the name of the channeled battle art he had acquired in Mystic City. The battle art was incredibly powerful, but also took a long time to use. With Kirii acting as a vanguard though, it was the perfect time to test its might with his new cultivation level.


    It did not let him down, as it had done significant damage to the durable drake, and had been able to finish it off with one blow.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite an incredible battle art, even for my Astral Empire,¡± Laia replied, praising the battle art. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were also a War Mage,¡± she continued after a short pause.


    ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± John replied as he felt the wondrous healing energy revitalize his injured and fatigued body.


    ¡°Then how¡­forget it,¡± Laia replied, giving up on finding out the truth. It was one surprising secret after another with John, and she hade to expect the unexpected from him by now.


    After being fully healed, John walked over to the felled drake. He inspected the body, and an amused smile appeared on his face as he walked over towards its back left. Embedded into the leg was an ancient sword. The flesh around the sword was still tender, as if it did not allow the creature to heal at all.


    ¡°You were right!¡± John called out to Laia as he pulled out the sword, which took quite a bit of strength to do so. ¡°It did have a splinter!¡±

 Chapter 649 Apocalyptic Battle

    Che!


    John made a sharp incision into the drakes forehead, causing its blood essence to pour out like a waterfall. The blood essence vanished from sight as he stored it in his pce realm to use as fuel for his future Asura Transformations.


    After collecting the blood essence, John turned to Laia and asked if she wanted anything from the drake.


    ¡°No, I have no need for anything from its body,¡± Laia replied.


    ¡°Okay,¡± John replied sinctly as he pressed his hand against its body. The entire drake suddenly vanished from sight as John stored it in his massive pce realm. Laia¡¯s eyes widened slightly as she watched the entire drake disappear in an instant.


    To transport something to a spatial realm, one needed the strength to be able to move the object. That strength could be physical or through the use of Qi, but either way, the strength required to move such a body was beyond what she could manage.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± John said after storing the body away. ¡°I¡¯m sure there are many more creatures like this drake, so we¡¯ll need to be on guard the entire time we venture through this trial.¡±


    Laia nodded her head, and the three walked off deeper into the swirling fog, leaving the fracturednd from their battle behind.


    ¡­<sub>.</sub>


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    Thend for tens of thousands of miles in each direction quaked violently, as if an earthquake that was about to rip the world in half was urring. Cmitous explosions rendered thend asunder, destroying anything that managed to withstand the initial damage.


    A roar of a dragon boomed out, followed by a fist punch that sent an image of a dragon forward. The dragon-image mmed against the Barbarian Warchief, rocketing his body into the fractured earth below and destroying it further. The Warchiefs body burrowed dozens of miles into the earth before finallying to a stop.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!<sub></sub>


    A torrent of crimson red sword images shed through the sky, each attack sharp and powerful enough to tear space for a brief moment before it healed back to normal. The attacks reached the Jade Dragon Emperor in an instant, who shed his battle axe out towards them.


    Boom!


    The attacks collided, creating another apocalyptic explosion that ravaged thend for hundreds of miles. Thend had already turned into a barren hellscape of fractured earth, moltenva, and abyssal craters.


    ROAR!


    The Jade Dragon Emperor roared out like a dragon, his voice shaking all of creation. The Monster King that had appeared next to him was knocked backwards dozens of miles from the roar, unable to resist its might. The Jade Dragon Emperor ignored the three formidable cultivators as he sped forward once more, appearing before the hellish creature which towered over him.


    Even when fighting four on one, the Jade Dragon Emperor only had the creature in his eyes, and did not hesitate for a moment. The creature viciously smiled at the Jade Dragon Emperor, as if their battle was the most enjoyable thing it could experience.


    The Jade Dragon Emperor¡¯s glowing axe shed out once more, its might capable of shattering continents. The hellish creature shed out his sabers towards the axe, using nothing but brute strength to counterattack.


    BOOM!<sub></sub>


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    The Jade Dragon Emperor and the hellish creature exchanged thousands of attacks in the briefest of moments. Each attack had the power to destroy entire nations, while space itself became ravaged and chaotic, as if it could no longer resist the might of the battle.


    The two continued to battle, while the three other powerful cultivators threw in their attacks as well, as the Jade Dragon Emperor¡¯s might was truly overwhelming. Despite their collective effort, they were unable to subdue him.


    BOOM!


    Saber and axe collided, sending both the Jade Dragon Emperor and the hellish creature in opposite directions for dozens of miles. The Ancient Elder, Monster Race King, and Barbarian Warchief all appeared beside the hellish creature and faced their distant opponent.


    ¡°How troublesome,¡± the Ancient Elder grumbled, her icy eyes locked onto the Jade Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°Even the four of us are only an even match with him. No wonder he dominated the ancient world,¡± the Monster Race King added in as well. Despite it being a blow to his prestige, he couldn¡¯t help but admit it as fact.


    ¡°Hahahaha,¡± a guttural and malevolentughter boomed out from behind them, clearly belonging to the creature the Jade Dragon Emperor had referred to as ¡®Asura¡¯. ¡°You three are mere antspared to the Jade Dragon Emperor,¡± he said, his voice causing the three to frown. Despite being sworn enemies, the creature respected strength above all, and the Jade Dragon Emperor was one worthy of respect.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± the Barbarian Warchief replied with narrowed eyes. The two others also stared at the creature with displeasure. They were definitely weaker than the Jade Dragon Emperor, but not by much. To call them ants was nothing else than an insult.


    ¡°His strength has fallen by more than half since our battle back then,¡± the hellish creature continued, his words causing the others to feel absolute shock.


    ¡°What!¡±


    ¡°Impossible!¡±


    They truly couldn¡¯t believe it.


    ¡°And so has mine!¡± the creature¡¯s voice boomed out.


    Che!


    Without warning, the creature¡¯s sabers shed out, each saber carrying unstoppable might. The sabers cleaved into the nearby Ancient Elder, Monster Race King, and Barbarian Warchief without warning, severing the Ancient Elder and Monster Race King in half. The Barbarian Warchief managed to resist being cleaved in half, but his body was almost cleaved through in a single stroke.


    Another quick strike from the Asuraic creature finished the job. All three cultivators, who were powerful enough to stand at the pinnacle of the cultivation world, could only look on in horror and shock, unable to believe what had happened, even as their heads entered the Asura¡¯s mouth.


    Crunch!


    Crunch!


    Crunch!


    The creature quickly consumed the head¡¯s of the three cultivators, followed by the rest of their bodies. The speed at which he consumed the three was almost instant, as if the creature had an innate talent for consuming flesh and bone. Even the Barbarian Warchiefs incredibly strong body was crushed with ease within the creature¡¯s jaws. The distant Jade Dragon Emperor watched on coldly, feeling no pity for the three, as they had been evil to their core.


    However, his eyes narrowed slightly as he felt the aura of creature rise, clearly nourished by the consumption of the three cultivators. The malevolent smile returned to the creature¡¯s face as it gazed at the distant Jade Dragon Emperor.


    ¡°Those three finally let down their guards, thanks to you,¡± the creature said, his smile baring his bloodstained teeth. ¡°And once I consume you, this world will drown in anguish!¡±

 Chapter 650 What Is There To Fear?

    ¡°These rumors are quite worrying if true,¡± a youth d in a purple robe with celestial designs mentioned to the youths around him, who also wore the same type of robe. They were all seated in a dense forest, sitting on makeshift logs as they discussed recent discussions that had been brewing within the Jade Dragon Empirends.


    ¡°We have no confirmation of the rumors,¡± another replied, slightly dismissive of the so-called rumors. ¡°All we know is that some bodies have been found, most of them mutted beyond recognition. It¡¯s most likely different sects fighting for the treasures in this final area, and trying to cover their tracks by making it look like their victims were mauled by beasts.¡±


    ¡°But there are no beasts in this final area,¡± another replied, dismissive of the second¡¯s opinion.


    ¡°Then how do you exin the deaths?¡± the second youth barked back. ¡°The rumor that foreign powers have invaded is unfounded, and to be frank, quite impossible. Do you think our Alliance Elder¡¯s would just let enemy youths waltz into thend without stopping them?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t,¡± the third youth replied.


    ¡°Then do you think they just magically appeared here?¡± the second youth asked.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Then there¡¯s no other exnation,¡± the second youth concluded, as if his word was final.


    ¡°I¡¯ll set out and discover the truth,¡± a youth who had yet to speak spoke up. He had a bald head, and a rosary bead ne around his neck.


    ¡°Brother Ainsel? What do you mean?¡± the second youth asked. In the Heaven Scrying Sect, the members referred to each other as ¡®Brother¡¯.


    Anisel¡¯s calm gaze shifted amongst his fellow Heaven Scrying Sect members, and settled on the second youth who had been quite adamant about his theory.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You¡¯re most likely right, brother Dumao,¡± Ainsel replied to the second youth, ¡°it is most likely fighting amongst Honorable Alliance members, but this rumor is too dangerous to be left unconfirmed. If it is as the rumors say, no matter how unlikely, we need to spread word to the rest of the Honorable Alliance youths as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°And if the rumors are true,¡± the second youth asked, his tone of caution clear with warning.


    ¡°Then I will most likely perish in search of the truth,¡± Ainsel replied calmly, ¡°but as a brother of the Heaven Scrying Sect, it is our duty to verify the truth of things, no matter how dangerous.¡±


    The group fell silent, before the second youth nodded his head at Ainsel.


    ¡°Good luck, and let us hope that I am right,¡± he said to Ainsel.<sub></sub>


    Ainsel nodded his head, and shared gazes with his fellow brothers for a moment before leaving the area in search of the truth. The others shared silent gazes with each other, hoping that their second brother was right.


    ¡­


    Ainsel held a crystal ball in his hand, which red with a profound light as he peered deeply into it. After staring into the crystal for some time, his gaze and direction shifted, as if he was being guided by something. He repeated this process over a dozen times during the next two days, wandering around the final Jade Dragon Empire trialnds in search of the truth. His journey carried him over mountains, through valleys and rivers, and eventually to a secluded valley surrounded by a small circling of mountains.


    The valley was quite picturesque, with waterfalls cascading down several of the nearby mountains, sshing the valley with a refreshing mist and slicking the verdurous trees with a dewy sheen. However, instead of bing rxed within the valley of paradise, Ainsel¡¯s gaze narrowed as he stared down at a scene of carnage several miles away.


    Near the bank of the crystal blue river that meandered through the valley, a spot was stained red with blood. Several human corpsesid strewn about, most of them no longer intact. Standing amidst the pile of mutted corpses was a creature, whose skin was grayish ck, like charcoal.


    A row of spiked bones jutted out from the creature¡¯s spine, while two bat-like wings were folded behind its back. In its right hand was an arm of one of the dead corpses, several bite marks taken out of it.


    ¡®The Monster Race!¡¯ Ainsel eximed internally, confirming the rumors once and for all. The monster race consisted of many different types of bizarre looking creatures, but the most powerful type amongst them all was the King-Variant. The King-Variant of the monster race had bat-like wings, colorful eyes, and skin ranging from gray to ck. The more dense the bloodline, the cker the skin.


    The creature in the valley was a dark gray, indicating that it had rtively pure blood, and was a genius amongst the race. Its cultivation was in the Late Heaven Tribtion realm, and the natural aura it was emanating definitely belonged to a genius of the Monster Race.


    A jade object appeared in Ainsel¡¯s hand, and he immediately ryed his findings to the other jade pieces controlled by his sect brothers. After rying the information, Anisel put away the jade piece, and his eyes narrowed as the creature in the valley below suddenly vanished from sight.


    Che!


    A sharp sound pierced from behind Ainsel, whose aura red out powerfully as he dashed to the side. A ckened hand with razor sharp ws pierced by with the narrowest of margins, almost taking his life with a single swipe.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t spy on others. Didn¡¯t you know that¡¯s considered rude?¡± a chilling voice sounded out before Ainsel as he gazed at the creature. It had somehow managed to spot him despite his caution and distance, indicating that its senses were beyond sharp.


    ¡°It¡¯s also rude to kill others, but that doesn¡¯t seem to be stopping you,¡± Ainsel replied calmly.


    ¡°Oh? Are you not going to run in fear?¡± the monster asked curiously, as it was the first time someone stood their ground before it. However, Ainsel was also the most powerful youth it had fought since arriving, as his cultivation was now in the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm, the same as the creatures.


    ¡°What is there to fear?¡± Ainsel replied calmly, as if death itself meant nothing to him.

 Chapter 651 You Will Not Live To See That Day

    ¡°Do you not fear death?¡± the monster asked curiously, taking interest in this peculiar human. At the same time, hisck of action right away disyed his confidence in the situation, as if the human before it could not escape its fate.


    Ainsel¡¯s eyes seemed to be unfocused for a brief instant, as if he were thinking of something, before rity quickly returned to them.


    ¡°I already knew I would die when I set foot into thesends,¡± Ainsel replied, his words causing slight surprise to appear on the monster¡¯s face. The monster inspected Ainsel¡¯s clothes, and a knowing expression appeared on his face.


    ¡°Ah¡­the Heaven Scrying Sect¡­I suppose your mystical arts are capable of scrying your own deaths,¡± the monster said, ¡°but if you knew you would die, why would you enter? Why not stay away?¡±


    It was truly something the monster didn¡¯t understand, as it would never throw its life away like this. Life was far too fun and thrilling to just throw it away, at least in the monsters eyes.


    ¡°Because, I also scryed that my death would have meaning¡­meaning enough to justify walking blindly into certain death,¡± Ainsel replied, his voice still calm. ¡°I wondered how my life could have meaning in such a secluded realm, but I now know the answer.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Oh? And what is the meaning your life is going to give? Are you going to kill me and the others before dying?¡± the monster asked mockingly.


    ¡°Others? It¡¯s as I suspected,¡± Ainsel sighed as a jade item appeared in his hand for the briefest of moments before vanishing once more. The monster¡¯s eyes narrowed as it noticed his actions, and a malicious smile formed on its face quickly after, revealing its sharp bloodstained fangs.


    ¡°Sending word to your friends?¡± the monster asked mockingly, seeing through Ainsel¡¯s actions. ¡°If that is the meaning to your death you are searching for, then your death will have no meaning at all. No amount of warning will stop what is toe.¡±


    ¡°That is not for you to decide,¡± Ainsel replied calmly, as if there was no terrifying monster standing before him. ¡°And I¡¯m afraid that the only deaths with no true meaning will belong to you and your allies, for you have made the gravest of mistakes.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm? The gravest of mistakes?¡± the monster asked, his mocking tone still clear. ¡°What mistake have we made?¡±<sub></sub>


    Ainsel¡¯s calm gaze hardened slightly as he stared straight into the creature¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°You have stepped into and that you cannot freely escape from. And containing someone you cannot possibly hope to defeat. All you and your kind have done is throw their lives away, as you will not escape thesends alive once he emerges.¡±


    ¡°He?¡± the monster asked, and a knowing smile soon returned to its face. ¡°Ahhhh, you must mean ¡®Asura¡¯. I heard he¡¯s from your Alliance, and is within thesends. I can¡¯t believe someone like ¡®Asura¡¯es from your patiable Alliance, but if he does, I¡¯ll take great pleasure in cutting him down myself, or watching him ripped to shreds by the others.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately for you, you will not live to see that day,¡± Ainsel replied as his aura erupted, ring out with a mystical might as if the stars had descended on thend. A sword appeared in his hand as he dashed forward towards the creature, his face determined and eyes calm.


    A sinister smile appeared on the monster¡¯s face as it shed out towards Ainsel with its sharp ws. The peaceful valley soon fractured as a battle between the two broke out.<sub></sub>


    ¡­


    ¡°There is no reply from him, despite it being several hours since hisst message,¡± a depressed voice said, causing the other Heaven Scrying Sect members to sigh deeply.


    Ainsel¡¯s message had been sent a while back, and had confirmed the worst for them. The monster race had somehow invaded the trialnds, and they were not alone either. They had tried to reach back out to Ainsel through the jademunication pieces, but had received no reply at all. They all knew what that meant, and could only sigh deeply at the loss of losing a brother.


    ¡°We must not let his death go to waste,¡± one of the members spoke up after the long silence amongst them. ¡°Spread this warning to the jade maps, and rece the Jade Dragon List with words of warning.¡±


    ¡°Rece the Jade Dragon List?¡± one of them asked curiously.


    ¡°The enemy will no doubt obtain a list themselves from killing an Alliance member. If they have the list, they can target our strongest geniuses first, and eliminate them in a coordinated effort. Once that happens, we will have no chance of fighting back.¡±


    The others nodded their heads in agreement, and one of them took out a jace piece and gazed at their leader, who used to be Ainsel, but was now the one who had spoken out.


    ¡°What do you want it to say?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Hmph, it seems as though they¡¯ve noticed our arrival already,¡± a chilling voice sounded out, while a creature held a jade object in its gray hands. Beneath them were the in corpses of several humans, most of them no longer in one piece.


    ¡°So what?¡± a nearby creature replied. ¡°That only makes things more exciting, as these hunts were starting to be a bit too easy.¡±


    ¡°I finally found some of you,¡± a cold voice of hatred sounded out behind the monster race youths, shocking them as they had not noticed the arrival of the other. They turned around to see a lone human standing behind them, holding an awe-inspiring sword in his hand.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± the two monsters asked coldly. They could tell the human before them was strong enough to threaten them, and there were a few youths within the Honorable Alliance they needed to avoid, as only the strongest of their group could challenge them.


    ¡°Remember this name when you arrive in the underworld, as it will be the one who sent you there¡± the youth said as he pointed his sword at them. ¡°I am Luth Chaster of the Honorable Alliance, and your miserable deaths will satiate the ghosts of those you have in.¡±


    ¡­


    Several hours after their battle had started, the monster race creature stood before Ainsel as it stood amongst fracturednd.


    ¡°Miserable human,¡± the creature scoffed in angered displeasure as it stared at Ainsel, whose eyes and face remained calm and at peace, but those eyes were zed over, as life no longer lingered within. Blood stained his purple robes, and an arm had been torn off, exposing torn muscles and broken bones, revealing that their battle had been incredibly brutal.


    The monster withdrew his hand, which had pierced directly through Ainsel¡¯s heart and had been the blow that had killed him. The monsters gaze of hatred lingered on Ainsel¡¯s lifeless face for a short moment before he copsed to his knees. Blood trickled down from the monster¡¯s mouth, and he fell onto his side soon after. Blood seeped out of his chest, as a sword had been plunged directly into his heart, ending his life as well.

 Chapter 652 Discussion of Feelings

    Before long, word spread throughout the entire final trial area that foreign enemies had invaded thends. The details were sparse as most who encountered an enemy perished, but though Ainsels sacrifice, their invasion had been revealed.


    The warnings kept some youths who had yet to reach the final trial area from entering, as the enemy could not move backwards through the realm. Sadly, the youths entering the final trial area thiste were the weakest of the bunch, and most did not have a Jade Dragon List on them to warn them of the dangers toe.


    For those already in the final area, the information was only a warning before their inevitable deaths. Even with the knowledge of the enemies arrival, most were unable to do anything if they were discovered. The enemy consisted of the strongest youths under twenty years of age that the enemy powers could muster, and were simply too strong for most from the Honorable Alliance to handle.


    Only those on the Jade Dragon List had any chance of fighting back, but even then they were still weaker than the enemy, save for those at the very top of the list. However, even those at the top of the list were no match for the true geniuses of the enemy powers, who were ughtering their way through the realm unmatched.


    War between the two sides quickly broke out, staining the realm with the blood of battle and ughter.


    ¡­


    Roar!


    The roar of a Middle Heaven Tribtion beast bellowed out, shaking the nearbynd and forest it stood within. Before the best were two youths, one male and one female.


    The male youth instantly turned in fear at the sight of the beast, as if it were the most frightening thing in the world.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Adam!¡± Iris called out as she watched Adam flee, and could only sigh deeply as she sped forward forwards the beasts. After a long battle, the beast copsed to the ground, dead from being poisoned. Although the beast was a minor realm higher than Iris, her profound eyes, immense speed, and poison arts allowed her to battle it.


    It was the seventh Middle Heaven tribtion beast she had killed in the Heaven Tribtion trial. With her eye talents, she was able to avoid any powerful beasts before they noticed her, allowing for her and Adam to progress through the trial steadily and unharmed. Each beast killed gave her Jade Marks based on its cultivation, and so Iris decided to kill some along the way and harvest their bodies for sale as well.


    Iris had already proven herself capable of handling such beasts, but each time conflict arose, Adam would run in fear, as if he knew nothing else but that fear. This had been happening for several weeks now, and Iris didn¡¯t know how to help him.


    ¡°It seems as though his physical wounds have healed, but his mental scars are still fresh,¡± Iris sighed again.


    Adam was never brave, but he wasn¡¯t a true coward either. That had changed though, as he was unable to muster any amount of courage anymore.


    Iris sped through the forest and quickly found Adam cowering beneath a fallen tree.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Iris asked gently as she arrived next to him.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m fine,¡± Adam sighed in relief as he realized the danger was gone.<sub></sub>


    ¡°We just have a bit more to go, then we¡¯ll arrive in the next area and join back up with John,¡± Iris said, her mentioning of John cashing Adam to gain a bit of confidence again.


    Although she had a Jade Dragon List, Iris had not checked it since Adam was given to her. She did not have the heart to check the list and see if John was removed from it, confirming his death. She knew that would show on her face and break Adam for good, and so she avoided it altogether.


    ¡°We¡¯ll set up camp and set out tomorrow again,¡± Iris said as the light began to fade.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Adam replied as he stood up and breathed out deeply.


    The two quickly found a cave and set up camp, and sat around a warm fire between them.


    ¡­


    Crackle!


    The light crackling of their campfire filled the silence as Iris and Adam stared into it.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Sorry about today¡­again,¡± Adam said to Iris, slight shame on his normally prideful face.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, your still in the Meridian Forging Realm, so your fear was natural,¡± Iris replied.


    The two fell silent for some time before Adam spoke up once more.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve always wanted to ask you this,¡± Adam said to Iris as she gazed at him.


    ¡°Ask me what?¡±


    ¡°¡­why haven¡¯t you told John how you feel about him?¡± Adam replied after a brief hesitation, as if he didn¡¯t know if he should ask the question or not.


    Surprise appeared on Iris¡¯s face as it turned slightly red, but that surprise faded as a more sullen look appeared on her face.


    ¡°Was it that obvious?¡± Iris asked.


    ¡°If someone as clueless in such things as me could notice, then yes it was quite obvious,¡± Adam replied.


    Whenever the four of them had been together, he could tell Iris¡¯s gaze towards John was different than how she looked at him or Chase.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Iris said and paused, shifting her gaze to the fire and then back to Adam. ¡°You know my talents. I can see many things others can¡¯t, including the most minute facial expressions. I can tell quite clearly how someone feels about me just by looking at them, and John¡­¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t look at you the same way,¡± Adam finished her sentence, his voice heavy as of feeling her sullen mood.


    ¡°I can tell he cares for me deeply, but like a sister,¡± Iris eventually replied. The two felt silent once more for some time as the fire continued to crackle.


    After a while, Adam¡¯s expression suddenly changed as he recalled her previous words, and he cast a sideways nce at Iris, as if too scared to look her in the eyes. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed Iris¡¯s narrowed and judgmental gaze staring directly at him, as if knowing what he was currently thinking.


    ¡°And yes, that does include your gazes,¡± she chastised him, ¡°and what you are thinking.¡±


    ¡°Ahhhh¡­.sorry,¡± Adam replied,pletely embarrassed. Iris was truly a beauty, and one of the most beautiful girls Adam had ever seen. During their interactions, especially their early ones that had been quite antagonistic, he couldn¡¯t help but throw some lecherous gazes her way as he inspected her and her body. He thought he had covered it up well, but knew he had been seen through from the start.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Iris replied, ¡°but I better not catch you doing it again.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t¡­I promise,¡± Adam hastily replied with erratic hand movements.


    ¡°Good,¡± Iris replied as a small smile appeared on her face. It seemed that Adam was slowly but surely recovering from his mental scars, and changing back into his mischievous and prideful self¡­the Adam that she had once hated, but had nowe to prefer.


    ¡­


    The next day, the two of them made their way through the trial once more, avoiding the beasts as they made their way towards the end of the trial. After another half day of traveling, Iris and Adam arrived before another massive cliff that surrounded the trial.


    At the base of the trial was a green portal, leading to the next realm area. The two exchanged nces for a moment before walking forward and stepping through. They felt their bodies travel a short distance through space before arriving at the next location.


    A vast, sprawlingndscape came into view. The horizon was lined with towering mountains and refreshing waterfalls, while lush forests, crystal blue rivers, peaceful valleys and flowery prairies covered everything in between.


    The two would have normally stopped for a while to take in the beautiful view, except for the fact that many ces had be fractured and destroyed, and blood and corpses could be seen all about, some no more than a few dozen yards in front of them.


    ¡°Watch out,¡± Iris cried out at Adam as she shoved him to the side.


    A sharp sword light shed by, cleaving apart the ground where he had been standing, one that had been intent on iming his life.

 Chapter 653 Forbidden Alliance Youths

    Adam tumbled over the ground from Iris¡¯s violent push,ing to a stop only a few dozen yardster. The ground where he had been standing now was cleaved apart, and a sharp trench was carved for hundreds of yards. Adam stood up as quickly as possible and returned to Iris¡¯s side, unsure of what was going on. His wary gaze shifted in all directions, although he was unable to see ayone.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Iris asked warily with a grim expression on her face. She could tell that the attack had meant to take Adam¡¯s life, with no mercy at all. Her gaze lingered on two youths who were standing a short distance away, who stepped out from behind arge boulder and made themselves visible. It was two human cultivators, one male and one female.


    They both wore blood red robes with white designs, the designs depicting human skeletons drowing in blood. Malicious smiles lingered on both their faces, as if they were staring at prey to be ughtered at their whim. She did not recognize the designs, and Iris¡¯s gaze became even more grim as she noticed both of their cultivations; Late Heaven Tribtion.


    ¡°Hehehehe, your attack actually failed to hit a Meridian Forging youth,¡± the female sneered at the male, who had apparently been the one to attack.


    ¡°Tch, he got lucky is all,¡± the male replied with great displeasure, his gaze locking onto Iris. ¡°It was her who helped him dodge it. She somehow managed to notice my attack immediately¡­not bad,¡± he continued as he eyed her up and down.


    ¡°And she¡¯s quite beautiful as well. It would be a pity to kill her right away,¡± he said while staring directly at Iris and licking his lips, his actionspletely perverse and unashamed.


    ¡°If you won¡¯t kill her, I will,¡± the girl harrumphed, ¡°but first I¡¯ll scar that pretty little face of hers,¡± she continued, clearly displeased that Iris¡¯s beauty eclipsed her own.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask again, who are you?¡± Iris asked, her tone cold and grim.


    The two youths ignored Iris as their gaze shifted towards Adam, who stood next to her. Their malicious smiles turned into amused one¡¯s as they noticed his demeanor of trembling fear.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Look at him. He¡¯s trembling so hard that I¡¯m surprised he¡¯s still able to stand,¡± the girl mocked.


    ¡°The Honorable Alliance sure is beyond pathetic,¡± the boy scoffed, ¡°not only do they send a Meridian Forging weakling into thesends, but this one trembles in fear at the mere sight of us. How pathetic.¡±


    Iris¡¯s eyes narrowed as she nced sideways at Adam, who had pure fear on his face. Clearly he knew something.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Iris asked.


    ¡°For¡­Forbidden Alliance,¡± Adam barely managed to mumble out. He was well studied about the Divine Martial Continent due to his time in the Starforge n, and recognized the robe insignia¡¯s as one of the sects that belonged to the Forbidden Alliance.


    ¡°What?¡± Iris eximed in shock. She knew the two before her were enemies, but did not expect such a frightening origin. Two daggers suddenly appeared in her hands as she stared at the two Forbidden Alliance youths.


    ¡°Run,¡± she whispered gravely to Adam without looking at him. ¡°I¡¯ll hold them off for as long as I can.¡±


    Adam stood there in ce, as if he didn¡¯t hear hermands. His body continued to quiver and tremble in pure fear, as if just standing was all he was capable of. Iris¡¯s expression turned grim as she noticed him not leave.<sub></sub>


    ¡°I know you¡¯re afraid, but you need to gather some courage and ru-¡± her voice cut off as she gazed at Adam, and her eyes widened slightly. A formation disk had appeared in his trembling hands, almost as if he was preparing to fight alongside her.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Iris asked with great agitation.


    ¡°I¡­won¡¯t¡­leave you to fight these two alone,¡± Adam managed to reply through chattering teeth.


    Iris¡¯s eyes went wide, as despite his obvious fear, Adam was willing to stay behind with her despite the sure-death odds. It was a far cry from what he had been doing previously, and his actions shocked Iris to her core. Normally she would be happy to see him regain some of his courage like this, but all she felt was sorrow, as Adam would be throwing his life away. She could tell why the change had happened within Adam, but still wanted him to run. With him running, there was at least a chance she could buy enough time for him to escape.


    She was about to chastise Adam, when her eyes shifted slightly as she stared off into the distance for a brief moment as an almost imperceivable shimmer appeared behind the two Forbidden Alliance youths.


    Che!


    Che!


    Without warning, two shes of light seemed to pierce out from nowhere. The two attacks happened almost simultaneously, and carried an incredible sharpness, as if it could cleave through anything. The eyes of the two Forbidden Alliance youths went wide for a moment, but lost focus as their head¡¯s tumbled from their bodies and fell to the ground below.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Ahhh!¡± Adam cried out in shock at the sudden sight of the two being decapitated, as he had no idea what was going on.


    Iris¡¯s gaze lingered on the imperceptible shimmer of space behind the now dead youths.


    ¡°You!¡± she eximed.


    The shimmer slowly coalesced into the figure of a ck robed youth, who made his presence visible to the two of them.


    Number One¡¯s calm eyes stared at the two dead Forbidden Alliance youths at his feet for a moment, before they shifted towards Adam and Iris. His gaze lingered on Adam for a moment, and he shook his head as if he couldn¡¯t understand his actions.


    ¡°Moronic,¡± he chastised, as if speaking to a child, ¡°you could do nothing in that fight, and all your presence did was hold back your friend. You should have left when she told you to.¡±


    ¡°What are you going to do here?¡± Iris interjected before Adam could reply, as while Number One was right, they were now safe. Adam had finally regained some courage, and she didn¡¯t want it to shatter once more after hearing Number One¡¯s words.


    ¡°And thank you for the help,¡± she quickly followed up after realizing her words had been confrontational after Number One had saved their lives.


    ¡°Why did you enter this final area?¡± Number One asked, ignoring Iris¡¯s question and asking his own.


    ¡°What? Why wouldn¡¯t we?¡± Iris asked in confusion, but her gaze shifted towards the two dead Forbidden Alliance youths, and she quickly realized something terrible was going on.


    ¡°The top geniuses from the Forbidden Alliance, Monster Race, and Barbarian Race have invaded this final realm area,¡± Number One replied, getting straight to the point.


    His words caused both Iris and Adam to cry out in shocked unison.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡±


    ¡°No one knows how it happened,¡± Number One replied, his voice quite monotone as if the dangerous invasion did not concern him greatly, ¡°only that it did. Thankfully these two were some of the weakest of that bunch, or their deaths would not have been so easy to ensure.¡±


    His gaze shifted to the corpses for a moment and then quickly stored them away, before he looked at Adam and Iris once more.


    ¡°The Heaven Scrying Sect reced the Jade Dragon List with warnings of their invasion, and for those who have yet to enter this final area to stay away. Why did you not heed the warning?¡± he asked.


    Iris quickly took out her Jade Dragon List jade piece, and inspected it. As Number One mentioned, it now contained only a warning of the dangers, and to stay away if at all possible. Those who had yet to enter the final trial area were the weakest of the bunch, and no amount of their numbers would be able to help. They would only be throwing their lives away.


    ¡°You never read the warning,¡± Number One said as he realized what was going on.


    ¡°I¡­.¡± Iris muttered, almost too ashamed to reply.


    ¡°You were afraid that if you read the list, you would find out your friend has died,¡± Number One quickly put two and two together.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Iris replied, her voice and face downcast after realizing the situation, as well as bringing up John.


    ¡°Wait¡­why are you still protecting us?¡± Iris asked as she thought of something. She knew John had nted a soul-ve contract on Number One, and had most likely instructed him to protect them at all costs, but soul-ve contracts would vanish if the one who had nted it had perished.


    ¡°Does that mean¡­?¡± Iris asked, unable to finish her sentence.


    ¡°Yes, your friend still lives,¡± Number One replied, ¡°and the soul-contract has be even stronger. I can tell he¡¯s broken through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm as well.¡±


    Iris felt pure relief flood throughout her body after hearing that not only was John still alive, but had also be much stronger. Her relief washed away as she heard a confused voice sound out.


    ¡°Still alive? Are you talking about John? I thought John was safe?¡± Adam asked withplete confusion. He could immediately tell that things were not how Iris had described them.

 Chapter 654 Rage Washes Away Fear

    ¡°Ah¡­.¡± Iris realized she had slipped up with her question towards Number One, as it had revealed that her story about John was not truthful. Her apologetic gaze shifted towards Adam, who stared at her intently, as if he would have no more lies regarding John.


    Iris¡¯s lips opened and closed several times as if she was thinking about how to word her next statement. A sigh escaped those lips as she resigned herself to telling the truth. Her gaze hardened as she stared at Adam and hoped he could withstand the truth. If he were to me himself for John¡¯s current predicament and regress mentally, she would feel only remorse and sorrow.


    ¡°I lied about John¡¯s whereabouts after he rescued you,¡± Iris said. Adam¡¯s eyes narrowed as he heard this, but he remained silent as he allowed her to continue.


    ¡°John didn¡¯t go to find Kadin after rescuing you¡­Instead, he was surprise attacked by Kadin¡­and knocked into the Dao Transformation trial,¡± Iris finally revealed the truth, and sighed once more afterwards; a sigh of relief at telling the truth finally, and also anxiousness at how Adam would take it.


    Her eyes widened slightly as she noticed Adam start trembling again, as he had done many times recently. However, this trembling was different.


    ¡°Motherfuckers,¡± Adam cursed loudly as he clenched his fists as tight as possible, his face fully enraged. ¡°KADIN! I¡¯ll fucking cut you down, if its thest thing I do!¡±<sub>.</sub>


    Iris almost couldn¡¯t believe her eyes at the moment, as the Adam who had known nothing but fear recently was no more. Whenever the name Kadin or the Starforge n was brought up, he would recoil in fear, as if the mere mention of them would summon them.


    That fear was nowhere to be seen now, and only unbridled rage remained. It was aplete shift from his recent self, and Iris was beyond words at the moment.


    ¡°Where is Kadin¡­where is he?¡± Adam¡¯s gaze shifted towards Number One, who stood nearby watching the proceedings in silence.


    ¡°Adam¡­Adam,¡± Iris called out as she sped towards him and grabbed him by his shoulders. ¡°Calm down a bit,¡± she said to him.


    Adam¡¯s heated gaze snapped towards Iris, and his heaving chest finally calmed after a while.<sub></sub>


    ¡°First off, you aren¡¯t nearly strong enough to fight Kadin, and you¡¯d only throw your life away. Do you think John would want that?¡± she asked him, as he had clearly lost himself in rage. Apparently John was the one subject that would set Adam over the edge, no matter how fearful he was.


    Her words were like a bucket of ice on his head, and Adam¡¯s heated rage quickly calmed down as he realized the truth of her words.


    ¡°Also, Number One said John is still alive, and is now in the Heaven Tribtion Realm¡­if anything, we should be feeling sorry for whatever gets in his way in the Dao Transformation trial,¡± iris continued.


    Adam¡¯s gaze shifted towards Number One, who stared back calmly.


    ¡°Are you sure he¡¯s still alive?¡± Adam asked seriously.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Would I be protecting you like this if he wasn¡¯t?¡± Number One replied, causing Adam to finally sigh in relief at John¡¯s survival thus far.


    ¡°You two should get out of here,¡± Number One spoke up. ¡°Those two were camping at the entrance of the Heaven Tribtion trial, which is why I knew you would appear here if you actually arrived. But I can¡¯t keep protecting you going forward, nor do I want to. I only did as I did because of the soul-ve contract, but that doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m required to shadow you permanently.¡±


    ¡°We understand,¡± Iris replied after listening to his words. The Honorable Alliance was in the middle of a war, and someone like Number One, an assassin in the top ten of the Jade Dragon List, was more than invaluable for the war effort. They couldn¡¯t have someone like him shadowing them, as it would just mean many more lives lost elsewhere.


    ¡°Good, then find shelter, and stay until this is all over,¡± Number One said as his body faded away, leaving the area for good.


    Iris watched Number One leave, thinking of what to do next.


    ¡°I want to break through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm,¡± Adam said, his words shocking Iris as her gaze snapped to him.


    ¡°What? Why would you do that now?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m useless as I am now,¡± Adam replied, his voice cold as if he hated his current cultivation level. ¡°I¡¯ll never be able to help John, Chase¡­or you as I am now.¡±


    Iris stared at Adam for quite some time, thinking of what to say. His cultivation had finally reached the peak of the Late Meridian Forging Realm, so it was possible.


    ¡°Your tribtion will attract unwanted eyes,¡± she warned.


    ¡°I know, and I don¡¯t care,¡± Adam replied firmly, his gaze shifting towards the horizon. ¡°Let¡¯s travel to the most remote part of this realm, and I¡¯ll have my tribtion there. It should buy us enough time, and once its done, we¡¯ll flee before danger arrives.¡±


    Iris continued to stare at Adam in silence as she thought over his words. His n wasn¡¯t impossible to pull off, but would no doubt be dangerous nheless. However, she could tell that his mind was already made up.


    ¡°Okay,¡± she replied, ¡°let¡¯s do it.¡±


    Her words caused a smile to appear on Adam¡¯s face for the first time in a long time, and he nodded his head at her words.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it!¡±


    After figuring out their next move, the two silently left the area, and traveled through the final trialnds to the most remote corner they could find, over a thousand miles away from the arrival point. Thanks to Iris¡¯s innate eye talents, they had been able to avoid any danger on their several day journey, and they finally arrived in a secluded valley surrounded by mountains on all directions.


    ¡°There¡¯s no one around for hundreds of miles as far as I can tell,¡± Iris said to Adam. While her eyes could not see that far, they had not encountered anyone for thest several hundred miles of their journey.


    ¡°Good,¡± Adam said as he gazed up towards the sky with a heated expression, which started to darken as clouds began to swirl overhead.

 Chapter 655 Sanguine Devil Crystal

    In a remote and deste corner of the Divine Martial Continent, a growing number of powerful cultivators were gathering in the sky, peering down at the scene below them. Thend in all directions for thousands of miles was destroyed, as if a star had fallen down from the sky above and rendered thend asunder.


    The terrifying shockwaves and explosions had attracted the attention of the most powerful cultivators of the world, who were the first to notice them in such a remote corner of the massive continent.


    ¡°What the hell happened here?¡± a sect leader from a powerful sect couldn¡¯t help but muse out loud, his words not answered by anyone nearby. Honorable Alliance members, Forbidden Alliance members, and cultivators from all the different races had appeared, but they ignored each other for the moment, as all-out war was not their intention.


    Another figure suddenly arrived, his appearance causing a wave of discussion amongst the might cultivators. He had long ck hair, piercing blue eyes, and an incredibly handsome face.


    ¡°The Astral Emperor,¡± one of the other cultivators couldn¡¯t help but whisper out to those nearby. Even amongst the most powerful of the world, the Astral Emperor was respected, both due to his talent, and might. Despite being thousands or tens of thousands of years younger than some of the older cultivators gathered, his power was at their level or above, making him one of the most famous cultivators on the.


    The Astral Emperor¡¯s gaze lingered on the fracturednd beneath him, before it shifted towards the horizon. His eyes narrowed as if he were looking at something, and after a moment, his body shed as he vanished from the scene.


    ¡°Set out for the Heaven Scrying Sect,¡± one of the Honorable Alliance members spoke up after the Astral Emperor left. ¡°See if they can scry what happened here.¡±


    ¡­<sub>.</sub>


    The ocean¡¯s surrounding the Divine Martial Continent stretched for hundreds of thousands of miles, containing vast and unfathomable mysterious within its expanse. In some ces the ocean¡¯s stormed for centuries, making the area almost impossible to navigate through except for the strongest of cultivators, while other areas were tranquil as the crystal blue waters reflected the sunlight overhead.


    In one of these locations within the vast expansive oceans, the blue waters gently stirred about, as birds flew overhead. Suddenly, a loud shockwave sted overhead.


    BOOM!


    The peaceful waters suddenly exploded as something shot into them like a shooting star, creating a tidal wave a mile high that ravaged anything in its path for thousands of miles. Another figure shot into the ocean soon afterwards, creating even more chaos as the calm ocean turned into a hellscape.


    The Jade Dragon Emperor and Asura¡¯s battle had ravaged arge part of the Divine Martial Continent and had now made its way over the nearby ocean. After blocking a powerful attack from his opponent, The Jade Dragon Emperor¡¯s body shot deep into the ocean waters, dozens of miles down.


    Roar!


    A muffled roar sounded out within the ocean depths as a leviathan-like creature lurking within noticed the Jade Dragon Emperors arrival. The creature¡¯s might was awe-inspiring, and its cultivation could rival some of the strongest within the world.<sub></sub>


    Che!


    Before the creature could react, the Jade Dragon Emperor¡¯s body pierced directly through it, causing it to explode from within as the force of his momentum as unstoppable. The ocean turned red from the creature¡¯s blood, which had once been a king of the ocean, but was no no more.


    After being knocked dozens of miles below the ocean¡¯s surface, the Jade Dragon Emperor finally halted his backwards momentum. An enraged dragon-like roar boomed out from him, while his battle axe cleaved outwards once more, the power of the attack boiling the water around him and destroying life for miles in each direction.


    Bang!


    Battle axe and sabers collided, ravaging the ocean depths as the battlefield had shifted there.


    Bang!


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    The two fighters exchanged hundreds of attacks in an instant once more,pletely ignoring the crushing pressures this deep within the ocean, as if it meant nothing to them. The darkness of the deep depths did not hinder either as well, as they battled with their divine senses instead.


    Bang!


    A horrifying battle axe art exploded outwards, appearing like the head of a dragon that would end all of creation. The battle art mmed into the hellish creature, knocking him backwards for a hundred miles before his body mmed onto the ocean floor, shattering it as far as the eye could see.


    The hellish creature quickly shot back up from the fractured ocean floor, and its gaping maw filled with sharp fangs turned into a wide smile as it watched the Jade Dragon Emperor approach and unleash another apocalyptic attack.


    ¡°GOOD!¡± the creature boomed out while grinning from ear to ear. ¡°It¡¯s been over a hundred thousand years since Ist experienced such a glorious battle! Satiate my battle-lust to your utmost until your dying breath, Jade Dragon Emperor!¡±


    ¡­


    On a rocky cliff covered in thick fog, two figures were lying down, their heads barely peeking out towards the other side.


    ¡°Do you think we should go for it?¡± Laia whispered softly, her voice almost inaudible.


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re right about what that crystal is?¡± John whispered back.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Laia replied while nodding her head with confidence. ¡°That is a Sanguine Devil Crystal, I¡¯m sure of it.¡±


    John had never heard of the crystal before, but just by looking at it he could tell it was amazing. It was a very dark shade of red, and emanated a strong aura of madness, as if looking at could drive someone to the brink of insanity. With her amazing lineage, Laia was much more knowledgeable about the cultivation world, and had easily identified the rare crystal.


    ¡°And it will strengthen my body if I consume it?¡± John asked once again.


    ¡°Yes, although it¡¯s a crystal, it can be consumed¡­but it will also drive you mad to the point that you lose your mind, hence the name ¡®Devil¡¯,¡± she cautioned.


    ¡°Then I want it,¡± John replied without hesitation. He needed to strengthen his body more than anything right now, and an opportunity had presented itself to him.


    After hearing John¡¯s desire to obtain the crystal, Laia did not caution him again. Their gazes shifted back towards the distant crystal as they studied it closely.


    ¡°There¡¯s just one problem with getting the crystal,¡± John whispered. The crystal swayed slightly, as it was located on the end of a beast¡¯s tail.


    ¡°The Sanguine Devil Crystal grows on the end of the tail of a Sanguine Devil Beasts,¡± Laia said, ¡°which is far faster than either of us. While you are most likely stronger than the beast, you are definitely not faster. If it notices us, it will vanish in an instant.¡±


    John frowned as he stared at the sleeping creature, who was in the Early Dao Transformation Realm. It was quite bizarre looking, something like a hybrid between a wyrm and a devil. It had scales like a dragon, and a body like a wyrm with a long slender tail, but it¡¯s head and face were like that of the demon race; a human-like appearance with sharp fangs and dark red skin. He had never seen anything like it before.


    Despite it being asleep, he could tell that its guard was raised, and would notice them as soon as they approached.


    ¡°I have an idea,¡± Laia whispered.


    ¡°What is it?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°Just follow my lead,¡± she instructed. ¡°When I move, do not hesitate to strike. Target its tail, as you won¡¯t have enough time to kill it.¡±


    John stared at Laia for a moment before he nodded his head in understanding.


    ¡°Lead the way,¡± he replied with a smile of anticipation, curious to see what she had nned.

 Chapter 656 Obtaining The Sanguine Devil Crystal

    John and Laia carefully approached the Sanguine Devil Beast, making sure to withdraw their aura¡¯s as much as possible, and mask their presence as well. The two slipped forward like ghosts through the foggy terrain, slowly approaching the beast who slumbered deeply. Its twitching ears gave away the fact that even in its slumber, it was listening for the slightest disturbance, at which point it would flee.


    The two arrived fifty yards from the beast, at which point Laia stopped.


    ¡°This is as close as we can get without waking it,¡± Laia¡¯s voice appeared in John¡¯s mind. Once one reached the Heaven Tribtion realm, it was possible to send mental sound transmissions to someone else who was nearby.


    ¡°So what¡¯s the n?¡± John asked through sound transmission as well, as the beast would definitely hear them whisper from this close.


    ¡°As soon as I take action, do not hesitate to attack its tail,¡± Laia instructed, ¡°but remember, only its tail. You won¡¯t have enough time tond a killing blow before it flees, so focus on the tail only.¡±


    John silently nodded his head, agreeing to the n. While he would like to kill the beast and harvest its blood, he trusted Laia¡¯s judgment on this one.


    Laia¡¯s eyes closed for a brief moment, but suddenly snapped open again as a light began to emanate from her chest. The light also carried a profound aura, which instantly roused the beast from its slumber as it felt the nearby aura.


    John shed forward as soon as this happened, appearing before the beast in an instant, battle axe in hand.


    Roar!<sub>.</sub>


    The beast noticed his arrival, and its body shifted as it prepared to speed away. Its body sped forward like a blur, shifting dozens of yards like teleportation. Its speed was far faster than John¡¯s, which made him realize Laia was correct.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Amanding voice sounded out from Laia, while her hand was raised towards the distant beast. The beast suddenly came to an instant halt, like its body was frozen in time.


    Roar!


    The Sanguine Devil Beast roared out in anger once more as its aura red with incredible power, pushing against the profound restriction that hindrederd its movements.


    Laia¡¯s face turned red with strain and she gritted her teeth as she struggled against the beast¡¯s power, but managed to hold it in ce long enough for John to arrive by its tail.


    Che!


    His battle axe cleaved down with full power on the thinnest part of the tail, just before the crystal. The axe met resistance against the tough scales for a moment, but was able to carve through in one clean stroke after a brief pause.


    Roar!<sub></sub>


    The Sanguine Devil Beast roared out in pain and rage once more, and its aura exploded out with even more power.


    ¡°Ahh!¡± a muffled moan of strain escaped Laia¡¯s lips as she lowered her hands. Free from the restriction, the beast shot off into the distance, its speed so fast that John could hardly believe it. Even if he were to use his fastestbat state, he would still not be able to catch it.


    The beast slipped into the thick fog and disappeared from sight in almost an instant, returning thend of brief chaos to calm once more. John¡¯s gaze lingered for a moment in the direction the beast fled, before it shifted towards the blood tail at his feet, and the crystal that grew on the end of it.


    The dark red crystal was made of a central core, and had several crystalline spikes jutting out of it. It was about the size of his head, and it emanated a wild yet powerful aura. John felt his mind be slightly erratic just by staring at the crystal, but thanks to his cultivation before the sinister gate, he was able to resist its influences. However, a weaker willed cultivator would definitely go insane just by looking at the crystal, let alone consume it as he nned to do.


    John reached down and picked up the crystal, which weighed more than he expected it to. The devil-like temptations increased as he touched it, but he still resisted it, although with a bit more effort.


    Crunch!


    The sound of a crunching twig next to him stirred John from his thoughts, and his gaze shifted to Laia who had arrived next to him. Her face was slightly pale, indicating she had strained herself a bit, but other than that she appeared fine. Her cheeks were rosy red from the strain as well, and John wouldn¡¯t help but stare at her for a short moment, appreciating her incredible beauty.


    ¡°That was your Dao of Time, right?¡± John asked eventually.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Laia hummed in confirmation.


    ¡°What are the limits to that ability?¡± John asked curiously. ¡°Can¡¯t you just use it on a cultivator and kill them while they are frozen in time? Isn¡¯t that a little too strong?¡±


    ¡°There are limits, naturally,¡± Laia replied, hiding nothing from him. ¡°The stronger the target, the less time I can freeze them for. I could only stop that Sanguine Devil Beast for a second due to its higher cultivation, which is why I said to go directly for the tail.¡±


    ¡°Still, a second is a lifetime in a battle between cultivators,¡± John replied. A second opening was all a cultivator needed tond a fatal blow in many battles.


    ¡°It¡¯s harder to stop cultivators,¡± Laia replied with a slight shake of her head. ¡°My Dao of Time freezes time around the target, but can be fought back against. A powerful aura that interferes with my Dao of Time can hinder its influence, and cultivators can also use their own Dao¡¯s to muddy my Dao, making it less effective, which is something that most beasts cannot do,¡± Laia exined.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is,¡± John replied as he finally understood. ¡°Still, your Dao of Time is beyond incredible,¡± John praised her.


    Laia smiled at hispliment, while her gaze shifted to the crystal in his hand. She raised an eyebrow at the ease at which he was holding it, as it was enough to drive most Heaven Tribtion, and even some Dao Transformation cultivators insane.


    ¡°Do you not feel its effects at all?¡± Laia asked curiously.


    ¡°No, I do. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve felt much worse before, so this isn¡¯t much,¡± John replied nonchntly.


    Laia gazed curiously at John for a short while, before her gaze shifted back to the crystal.


    ¡°So how do I do this?¡± John asked. ¡°Do I just eat the crystal, or do we need to prepare it to make it effective?¡±


    ¡°Well, the crystal itself is what will increase your body strength, so you don¡¯t need to augment it in that way,¡± Laia replied, ¡°but it¡¯s incredibly hard, and also the devilish nature is very potent, so we will need to grind¡­it¡­down¡­into¡­a¡­..powder¡­..and¡­dilute¡­it¡­.¡±


    Laia¡¯s voice had trailed off and be softer as she mumbled out thest of her sentence, as she was yet again almost unable to believe her eyes. As she was speaking, John had directly bitten into a part of the crystal, shattering it with his teeth and directly consuming it. His actions paused for a singr moment as if he was struggling internally with the devilish influence of the crystal, but took another bite almost immediately after.


    Chomp!


    Chomp!


    Chomp!


    Laia watched in stunned silence as John devoured the crystal bite by bite, as if it were a sulent meal, and not an incredibly durable and devilish crystal.


    Chomp!


    He bit down on thest of the crystal and swallowed, fully consuming it in less than a minute. A devilish aura radiated from his body for a short time, but the aura was eventually repressed as John closed his eyes and focused internally on his body.


    The crystal began to dissolve in his stomach, and John guided the potent energy from it all throughout his body, while at the same time he resisted the devilish influence that sought to drive him mad. A smile appeared on his face as he felt his body grow in strength and power wherever the devilish energy washed over, quite simr to the blood fruit he had eaten in the ancient Yuan Continent realm.


    While the increase in power and durability was not monumental, it was still enough to fill him with glee. The absorption processsted for several minutes before the energy was fully absorbed, and Johns¡¯ eyes opened with uncontained glee as he started to inspect the state of his body.


    ¡°Incredible!¡± he eximed. ¡°You were right, this crystal sure was worth the effor¡­wait, why are you staring at me like that?¡± John asked as he noticed Laia staring at him with an odd expression, as if she didn¡¯t even know what to think about John anymore.


    ¡°Are you a human, or are you a beast?¡± she eventually asked in disbelief, still unable to believe he had directly consumed the crystal like that.


    ¡°Uhhhhh¡­.both?¡±

 Chapter 657 Blacksteel Tiger

    When he thought about it carefully, John truly did almost consider himself to be half-beast at this point. His Immortal Asura Body had transformed every inch of his body, making it something far more than human. Even other body cultivators couldn¡¯te close to his level. Him being able to bite through and chew through hardened crystal was just one attribute that made him more beast-like.


    Laia stared at John in silence for quite some time, unable to process what she thought of him. He stood there as if the devilish properties of the crystal were as of no note at all, something she didn¡¯t think possible. Only the most steeled of wills and minds could do such a thing. That¡­or he was already insane, and the devilish insanity couldn¡¯t do anything to drive him more so.


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep moving,¡± John said after he processed the crystal, eager to test out his new strength.


    ¡­.


    Laia¡¯s eyes were wide open once again as she watched the battle unfold before her. Before her, two beasts were fighting to the death, their battle incredibly brutal. Fists, ws, teeth, and everything in between was being used to rend flesh and break bone of their opponent, making the battle incredibly gruesome to witness.<sub>.</sub>


    Such a thing was quitemon in the beast world and would not surprise Laia¡­only one of those beasts at the moment was John, who was fighting an Early Dao Transformation beast barehanded, as if he were nothing more than a creature of instinct himself.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!<sub></sub>


    The battle between John and his opponent, an cksteel Tiger had been raging on for quite some time as the two battled to the death. The cksteel Tiger got its name from its smooth lustrous skin that appeared to be like steel, but was pure ck in color. Not only that, the cksteel Tiger was a physically powerful creature, and had a very strong defense thanks to its tough exterior. It stood five yards tall and ten yards long, and was farrger than John.


    After exining the nature of the creature to John, Laia had watched in stunned silence as he shot forward without warning, and had begun to fight the creature with nothing but his bare hands and his Supreme Battle Art. Not even his battle axe was used, something that she couldn¡¯t understand. Both fighters were bloodied and bruised by now, with gruesome wounds covering both their bodies. However, they fought as if those wounds didn¡¯t exist.


    Bang!


    John¡¯s fist punched out with incredible power, creating a shockwave as it travelled. His fist mmed against the side of the tigers head, the force like that of a falling mountain. The cksteel Tiger roared out in pain as its body shot across the foggynd, carving a deep trench into the earth for half a mile beforeing to a halt.<sub></sub>


    The tiger immediately got back on its feet and shot towards John and bit at him, its mouthrge enough to swallow him whole. John¡¯s body shed to the side to unleash another barrage of fist attacks, but the tiger¡¯s quick reactions beat him to the punch as its paw swiped out, mming against his body with incredible power.


    Boom!


    John¡¯s body carved a simr trench as he skirted across the earth for hundreds of yards, while the ground around the trench fractured with ease. Aftering to a halt, he stood up immediately and shot forward towards his opponent with no hesitation,ughter echoing out behind his figure as it blurred forward, while arge smile was stered on his face.


    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t understand him at all,¡± Laia couldn¡¯t help but mumble as she watched John fight the gruesome battle, butugh and smile as if it were the most pleasurable thing in the world.


    ¡°Does¡­does he need something from this cksteel Tiger?¡± Laia asked as she nced sideways at Kirii, who was standing next to her demanding head pats. Kirii¡¯s eyes were closed and a soft purr-like sound was escaping him as he enjoyed the head pats, but his eyes opened as he nced at Laia, and then the battle before him.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s just fighting it for fun,¡± Kirii¡¯s voice sounded out within Laia¡¯s mind, ¡°but he can use its blood, so he¡¯ll get something out of it I guess.¡±


    ¡°Fighting for fun?¡± Laia replied as her gaze shifted back towards John. She remained silent for a while as she watched the battle, before she asked another question.


    ¡°Is he fighting this crazily because he knows I¡¯ll heal him after the battle is done?¡± Laia asked. The wounds John had umted in this battle were quite gruesome, and she couldn¡¯t believe someone would willingly take such painful injuries on purpose.


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Kirii replied immediately, ¡°he¡¯s always been like this. If you think this is bad, you should have seen some of the things he did before¡­there was this one time, where his entire body was charred ck because of this lightning sphere¡­and this other time, he destroyed an entire sect¡­and this other time¡­¡±


    Kirii started listing off the crazy things John had done in the past, many of them voluntarily despite the risk to his life. Laia¡¯s mind went numb as she listened to Kirii ramble on non-stop, as if all John ever did was seek out life and death situations. His rambling went on for quite some time, and only stopped around the same time that the brutal battle before them also stopped.


    A scraping sound stirred Laia from her thoughts, and she gazed up to see John covered head to toe in blood, dragging the corpse of the cksteel Tiger behind him while arge, satisfied smile lingered on his face. Gruesome injuries covered his body, but he ignored them as if they didn¡¯t exist. His body began to slowly heal on its own thanks to his Limiter of Healing he had unlocked after his tribtion, but it would take days for these wounds to fully heal.


    ¡°You were right,¡± John said to Laia with a carefree attitude, ¡°that Sanguine Devil Crystal really did raise my body strength by quite a bit. We should find more opportunities like that.¡±


    ¡°¡­.¡±

 Chapter 658 Encroaching Darkness

    A crackling fire illuminated the cave John and Laia were within, while Kirii slept peacefully next to it, enjoying the warmth.


    Laia¡¯s hands were ced on John¡¯s bare back, a bright green glow emanating from them as she healed his gruesome wounds. Some of the wounds were deep enough to see bone, but John acted as if the wounds didn¡¯t exist, and that there was no pain either. Laia couldn¡¯t help but wonder how much he had gone through in his short life to treat such injuries with such disregard, and be able to ignore that much pain.


    Kirii¡¯s rambling had revealed some of what he had gone through, and each event was enough to cause Laia to shiver slightly as the pain that John must have felt.


    ¡°All done,¡± Laia said as she withdrew her hands and her healing power faded.


    John rolled his shoulders and stretched his limbs as she inspected his body, and a content smile appeared on his face as he watched Laia sit down next to him.


    ¡°Thanks as always,¡± John replied. Laia¡¯s healing truly was a blessing, as it allowed him to fight each day to his heart¡¯s content, knowing that he would be healed by the start of the next day. He had already in six Early Dao Transformation beasts thus far, replenishing his beast blood essence reserves by quite a bit, ensuring he would be able to use his Body Qi and Asura Transformation going forward.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Laia nodded her head as she gazed at the fire before her in silence as if something were on her mind.


    John could clearly tell something was weighing on her, and he couldn¡¯t help but ask about it.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? You seem like there¡¯s something on your mind,¡± John asked curiously.


    Laia stared into the fire for a bit longer, before her gaze shifted towards John and studied him for a bit.


    ¡°I¡­I heard that you destroyed an entire sect,¡± Laia said to him, her words causing John to gaze at Kirii who acted as if he were asleep. ¡°Is that true?¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°Yes, it is,¡± John replied without hesitation.


    ¡°How many did you kill?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Tens of thousands,¡± John replied, hiding nothing yet again. ¡°And I¡¯d do it again without hesitation if I had the chance.¡±


    Laia fell silent as she processed her thoughts.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing Kirii didn¡¯t exin the details of what happened?¡± John asked. Laia shook her head to the side lightly, as if wanting to hear the details.<sub></sub>


    ¡°The Sect I destroyed was the Bloodfiend Sect, a sect of the Forbidden Alliance¡± John started to exin as his eyes narrowed slightly, as if recalling the events angered him once again. ¡°I was on there for a stealth mission, and discovered things that would make your stomach turn. Human sacrifice by the tens of thousands to summon a demon to destroy the continent. Disciples killing each other for sport, ves being ughtered to practice blood cultivation arts¡­they were all despicable, and they eventually found out my true identity, so I summoned my tribtion, and destroyed them all.¡±


    ¡°You summoned your tribtion?¡± Laia asked, as if his statement didn¡¯t make sense.


    ¡°I had a tribtion when I ascended to the Meridian Forging realm,¡± John exined, his words once again shocking Laia who at this point felt numb from shock. She had never heard of such a thing, but didn¡¯t doubt his words at all.


    A weight seemed to lift off her shoulders as she heard John exin what had happened.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then it sounds like the Bloodfiend Sect deserved their annihtion,¡± Laia replied.


    ¡°They did,¡± John confirmed before his gaze shifted to the ¡®sleeping¡¯ Kirii.


    ¡°If you¡¯re going to tell someone such things, be sure to rify the details, or I¡¯ll beat you up the next time this happens,¡± John said with warning to Kirii, although it was obviously a yful warning.


    Kirii¡¯s one eye opened for the briefest of instants to gaze at John, before it closed once again as he pretended to still be asleep, as if they didn¡¯t notice. Laia couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the two and their child-like antics, fully relieved that John¡¯s ughter of an entire sect was not an act of evil. She did not think it would be, but it was still reassuring to hear that there had been a good reason for annihting an entire sect.


    ¡­


    John and Laia made their way through a valley that seemed to darken as they progressed through it. It was as if the light was being unnaturally drawn out of the air, making the valley feelpletely eerie and ominous.


    They came to a halt in almost pure darkness, but thanks to their high cultivations, they were still able to see for some distance.


    Crack!


    A cracking sound echoed from within the dark valley before them, and Laia¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t help but open wide as she held her breath. Both her and John noticed a creature within the dark shadows, one that was quite terrifying in appearance. It was hunched over, and was feasting on the corpse of another beast which it had recently ughtered.


    It was five yards tall, and was humanoid in shape with two legs and two arms that were muscr and rippling with power. Its skin was maroonish red, and was covered with small armored spikes on the shoulders and chest. Sharp spikes jutted out of the back of its elbows and spine like des, while two curved horns like goat horns pierced out from its skull, pitch ck in color.


    Laia carefully grabbed John¡¯s hand and started to walk backwards, bringing him with her.


    The two of them retreated for several hundred yards before Laia breathed out deeply, as if they had just escaped death.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± John asked curiously. The creatures cultivation was quite bizarre, and was difficult to identify, but he could tell its power was somewhere in the Middle Dao Transformation Realm, which was the strongest they had run into yet. It would be an incredibly difficult opponent, but John was confident in being able to keep them all alive if he used his Asura Transformation.


    ¡°We need to go around this valley,¡± Laia replied with grave caution. ¡°That creature is something that should not exist in this world¡­a Demon.¡±

 Chapter 659 Darkfiend Demon

    ¡°A demon? Are you sure?¡± John asked questioningly. He had run into a demon once in the Bloodfiend Sect, and this one was quite different in appearance. If anything, he would say it was closer in appearance to the nightmarish creature he had seen in Iris¡¯s visions, although it was far less terrifying. ¡°This looks nothing like the demon I saw in the Bloodfiend Sect.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am sure,¡± Laia replied with confidence. ¡°Demonse in many shapes and sizes, but they are all equally terrifying. If I¡¯m not mistaken, that Demon is a Darkfiend Demon, its nameing from the fact that its body naturally absorbs the surrounding light, plunging thend around it into darkness.¡±


    ¡°I thought Demons are summoned from another world¡­so why is a Demon here?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°That I do not know. You are right. Demons exist elsewhere, not another world, but another¡­ce,¡± she replied, as if unable to find the right word. ¡°They need to be summoned through a meticulous process, and that summoning process severely weakens them. They appeared in great numbers during the ancient cmity, and afterwards were hunted to extinction, as all they do is ughter. If they ughter and feed enough, they can return to full strength eventually and cause mayhem to the world,¡± Laia fully exined the situation.


    Her gaze shifted back into the darkness of the valley before them, unable to see the horrifying danger that lurked within anymore.


    ¡°This Demon must have survived the ughter because it was protected by this realm. It still seems to not have recovered its full strength, something I¡¯m sure this Dao Transformation trial has something to do with,¡± Laia continued.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Maybe it was put here by the Jade Dragon Empire to serve as a trial for the youths that enter the realm, and its recovery was restricted by the powerful formations surrounding thisnd,¡± John mused out loud.


    ¡°Do demons have different cultivations than us?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°Yes. The ce theye from has different rules than our world, including cultivation,¡± Laia confirmed.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why it was hard to pinpoint its cultivation level,¡± John mused once again. After thinking about the situation, a heated expression appeared on John¡¯s face as he peered into the darkness before them. Laia instantly noticed his gaze, and quickly stepped before him.


    ¡°I know that gaze of yours,¡± she said with stern warning, ¡°but do not be crazy just this once. Demons are not something to trifle with, and¡­¡±<sub></sub>


    Her eyes narrowed slightly as her gaze shifted to the side, studying the area around her. Those narrowed eyes widened as she realized the light was starting to slowly fade around them, and her gaze quickly snapped back into the depths of the darkness behind them.


    ¡°We need to run!¡± Laia said to John, whose eyes narrowed as she stepped forward, putting himself between her and the encroaching darkness.


    ¡°It¡¯s toote,¡± John replied, ¡°it¡¯s already noticed us.¡±


    Gutturalughter and powerful footsteps boomed out from within the thickening darkness, and soon the group found themselves standing within almost pitch ckness. Their divine senses spread out to their strongest state, washing over the Demon that now stood only several dozen yards away from them. Its terrifying aura flooded over them, like an omen of inevitable death.


    ¡°What do we have here?¡± the demon¡¯s deep voice boomed out, clearly amused by the developing situation. ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since a human has entered thesends.¡±<sub></sub>


    It sniffed the air deeply several times, like a dog smelling enticing, and itsrge mouth widened into a sinister smile, baring its razor sharp teeth.


    ¡°Both young¡­and with vibrant blood, especially you. You will make a fine meal,¡± the demon said as it gazed at John, who could barely make out its features within the darkness. However, his divine sense revealed all, and his cold yet calm gaze stared back at the demon, surprising it slightly.


    ¡°I smell fear from the little girl behind you,¡± the demon spoke up once more, ¡°but from you I smell no fear at all. Interesting.¡±


    John reached backwards without looking and grabbed Laia¡¯s hand as he could feel her hastened breathing on the back of his neck. He gave her hand a light squeeze of reassurance, one that helped Laia seemingly calm down.


    ¡°Oh?¡± The Demon¡¯s deep voice boomed out once more as it sniffed the air several more times. ¡°Her fear is now¡­gone. How interesting.¡±


    The Demon¡¯s words were clearly ones of amusement, as it did not consider either to be a threat to it. Its power was far beyond either of theirs, and knew both were at its mercy at this point.


    sh!


    A sh of light appeared for a brief moment as Kirii materialized from John¡¯s soul space. The Demon¡¯s eyes lit up once more as it took note of Kirii, as if another enjoyable ything had appeared.


    ¡°A Lightning Kirin?¡± the Demon said as its smile grewrger. ¡°Today¡¯s feast will be the best I¡¯ve had in a hundred thousand years.¡±


    Kirii stood before Laia per John¡¯s instructions, and the two started to shuffle backwards steadily. The Demon noticed their actions immediately, and its sinister smile grew once more as if it were watching prey attempting to flee from inevitable death.


    ¡°Futile!¡± the demon rumbled as it suddenly sped towards Laia and Kirii,pletely ignoring John as if he didn¡¯t exist.


    Roar!


    A dragon-like roar of rage boomed out as John¡¯s aura exploded outwards and he arrived before the Demon in an instant. The Demon seemed to hesitate for the briefest of moments as its gaze shifted towards John, as if locked in fear.


    Bang!


    His clenched fist mmed against the Demon¡¯s face, whose body shot backwards like a meteor and mmed into the valley floor half a mile away. The valley splintered and nearby mountains crumbled from the force of the impact, shaking thend for dozens of miles in each direction.


    The Demon quickly reappeared once more, and its wary gaze stared at John, as it were truly afraid. John¡¯s blood red eyes stared back with murderous intent, as he had unleashed his Asura Transformation.


    ¡°An Asura?¡± the Demon¡¯s shaky voice sounded out as it carefully inspected John. Its wary gaze slowly faded away as it studied John more and more.


    ¡°No¡­you¡¯re not an Asura, but you¡¯ve somehow borrowed their power,¡± the Demon said as its murderous aura exploded outwards with terrifying power.


    ¡°No wonder you smelled so delicious,¡± the Demon said menacingly, its eyes greedy with desire. ¡°Consuming you should restore me to my former power, at which point I can escape this fucking prison. Now die!¡±

 Chapter 660 Battling A Demon

    The Demon arrived before John with incredible speed and attacked him without hesitation. Its massive hand, which was half the size of John wed out, each sharp nail at the end of his fingers like a lethal dagger.


    Che!


    The swipe pierced narrowly by John as he dodged at thest moment. The very air seemed to be cut apart by the sharpness of the ws, and lines in space could be seen from the attack, as if space was almost cut open. Those lines faded away quickly, while the demon appeared before him again and unleashed another attack.


    Bang!


    John¡¯s battle axe cleaved outwards and collided against the Demon¡¯s hand. The force of the collision fractured the ground beneath their feet, and both fighters were knocked backwards, both equally surprised.


    ¡®Its just as strong as me! Even in my Asura Transformation form!¡¯ John couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. Not only was the Demon as physically strong as him, it had taken almost no damage from that attack, despite his battle axe mming directly against its hands. John hated to admit it, but the Demon¡¯s body durability was even higher than his at the moment, something that shocked him greatly.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Interesting,¡± the Demon rumbled as it inspected its hand for a moment, ¡°your ability to borrow the power of the Asura¡¯s seems wless¡­Just how did you manage to aplish such a thing?¡± he asked.


    John stared back at the Demon in silence, his guard raised to the maximum.


    ¡°No matter, I¡¯ll dissect you once this battle is over, and find out for myself,¡± the Demon said as it shot forward once more.


    Bang!


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    The battle between John and the Demon intensified in an instant as dozens of attacks were exchanged, each with the power to kill an Early Dao Transformation beast. Thend rumbled for dozens of miles in each direction, causing many weaker beasts to flee in fear.


    Despite not using a weapon, the Demon fought evenly against John, who was using his Asura Transformation. The Demon¡¯s weapon seemed to be its body, which was as hard as a Dao Transformation weapon. Not even John¡¯s battle axe was able to do much damage, even as he unleashed Advents of Annihtion.


    Lightning Disintegration!


    John unleashed a barrage of lightning attacks to test the Demon¡¯s weakness, but it withstood the attacks with ease as well. It followed up every attack from John with one of its own, which he barely managed to dodge time and time again.<sub></sub>


    John shed to the side of another w attack and appeared behind the Demon. His battle axe cleaved outwards, but he stopped it immediately and shed backwards before he could finish the attack.


    Che!


    One of the scythe-like des jutting out from the back of the Demon¡¯s elbow shed by, its sharpness and lethality even greater than that of its normal attacks. John had truly felt death approaching as that attack was unleashed on him, and had managed to dodge it at the veryst moment.


    ¡®Shit, I can¡¯t even attack it from behind without those spikes nearly taking my life¡­does this demon have no weakness?¡¯


    His mind raced as he thought of ways to defeat the Demon, but he couldn¡¯te up with anything at the moment.


    ¡®I can¡¯t use my bloodline ability, as I haven¡¯t fully healed from using itst time, and using it again this early could permanently cripple me¡­and my scythe broke during my tribtion, so I can¡¯t even unleash any Divine Reaping Scythes¡­.shit!¡¯


    In a battle like this, his Divine Reaping Scythe battle art was his greatest hope of defeating the Demon, as its sharpness could pierce through even the toughest of defenses. However, without a scythe, he was unable to unleash his most powerful attack.


    The Demon¡¯s aura exploded outwards once more, drowning thend for miles in each direction with a sinister aura. John felt his minde under assault from the aura, but he easily withstood the mental assault and fought back with unhindered efficiency.


    ¡°Interesting,¡± the Demon rumbled once more as it appeared before John again and unleashed a barrage of attacks. Each attack was strong enough to shatter an entire mountain, and required John¡¯s full power to resist.


    Che!


    Another w attack narrowly missed John as he dodged and unleashed a counter attack. His battle axe mmed against the demon¡¯s body, but despite his overwhelming power, the battle axe was only able to pierce a few inches beforeing to a halt. For a creature over three timesrger than John, such a wound was able to be fully ignored.


    ¡°What a pathetic weapon,¡± the Demon insulted, as the weapon John was using was a Peak Heaven Tribtion grade weapon, and not even a Dao Transformation weapon. Its massive hand swiped out once more, managing to catch John before he could dodge.


    It mmed against his body with unstoppable force, shooting him backwards into the earth like a meteor. His bones creaked in protest and blood rose up in his throat as his body fractured thend once more and burrowed deep into the earth, only managing to stop his momentum after burrowing down for hundreds of yards.


    John grit his teeth and shook off the pain his body felt, as that attack had been the strongest attack he had ever withstood directly. He felt like he nearly burst apart from the inside, but had managed to resist it in the end. He shot upwards, appearing above ground a momentter.


    Deep wounds covered his body from withstanding that attack, and blood flowed over his skin freely. The Demon couldn¡¯t help but pause for a moment, surprised that John was even able to move after withstanding a direct attack from it, which was powerful enough to kill an Early Dao Transformation beast. John was a full major realm lower than it in power, and yet had managed to withstand a direct attack from it. Although he had taken damage, it was not enough to hinder hisbat prowess by much.


    ¡°Truly the body of an Asura,¡± the Demon said, its greed to devour him growing by the second.

 Chapter 661 The Demons Overwhelming Power

    The Demon¡¯s greedy gaze widened slightly as it noticed the deep wounds on John¡¯s body heal at a visible pace, and within seconds the wounds had disappeared, as if they never existed. Only the blood coating his arms and chest gave any proof that the now vanished injures had ever been real.


    The Demon¡¯s gaze shifted to the side, towards Laia and Kirii in the distance. A vibrant aura emanated from Laia as she flooded John with her healing powers.


    ¡°Tch! Die!¡± the Demon cursed in anger as it figured out what was going on. Its body blurred as it shot towards Laia, but was halted as John appeared before it in an instant, expecting such an action from the Demon.


    ¡°Miserable little ant,¡± the Demon cursed at John as it unleashed another attack at him, which was met with another Advent of Annihtion. The two attacks collided with incredible ferocity, sundering thend apart once again, and halting the Demon¡¯s forward progress towards Laia.


    Raaaahhhh!


    The Demon roared out in angered frustration, its roar shaking thend like an earthquake. It¡¯s power shot up once more as it unleashed its full strength, and appeared before John in an instant once again. Its fist mmed out with unstoppable power, while space seemed to constrict around John, forcing him to take the attack head on.<sub>.</sub>


    His battle axe cleaved out with full power, mming against the massive fist that seemed to carry the weight of stars.


    Bang!


    The two attacks collided with horrifying power, while John¡¯s body shot backwards like a broken kite, unable to resist the Demon¡¯s full might. His eyes widened further as his Heaven Tribtion grade battle axe fractured in half, unable to withstand the singr punch from the demon.


    The Demon appeared before him like a ghost, its fist aiming straight for his head. An ancient Dao Transformation grade sword appeared in his hands and shed out, his hasty defense not nearly enough to withstand the full might of the Demon¡¯s attack.


    Just as the Demon¡¯s attack was about tond on John¡¯s sword, it felt a restrictive force wrap around it, halting its movements.<sub></sub>


    Rahhh!


    The Demon roared in rage as its power red out, shattering the restrictions in fractions of a second. However, this incredibly brief pause was enough for John toplete his counter attack, and his sword collided against the Demon¡¯s fist with his full physical power. As he did not know any sword arts, all he could use was the weapon itself at the moment.


    Boom!


    The two attacks collided, and John found himself knocked backwards once again by the Demons unstoppable might. However, the fraction of a second had allowed him to counter attack with enough power to maintain his posture and not be injured too much, although the attack still made John feel as though a mountain had mmed into his body, almost destroying him. The angered Demon shifted its gaze back towards Laia once again, bing more and more furious with her continuous interference. He could tell the restrictive power hade from her, and that coupled with her healing powers enraged the Demon to no end.


    It unleashed a punch towards the distant Laia, the attack unleashing an overwhelming physical might that reached her in an instant.<sub></sub>


    Roar!


    Kirii roared out in rage as he unleashed a lightning attack, which barely managed to resist the Demon¡¯s power. However, it had been enough, and Laia had been protected from its attack.


    ¡°Annoying little runts-¡°


    Boom!


    John¡¯s sword mmed against the Demon¡¯s head, knocking it backwards like a meteor. The Demon mmed into the earth, burrowing in deeply as it had not blocked John¡¯s attack at all.


    A frown appeared on John¡¯s face as he watched the Demon appear once again, this time with a long wound on the side of its face, and an enraged expression as well. However, that was all it had, despite taking a full blown attack unguarded from John.


    ¡°Just how fucking strong is its body,¡± John gravely grumbled, as that had been his best opportunity to kill the Demon so far. He had held nothing back, and yet it had still not been enough.


    ¡®Should I use my limited store of tribtion lightning?¡¯


    It was one of the only things John had left in his arsenal that could potentially do anything, but John was hesitant to use it. Each time he used it would reduce his limited reserves, as he could not replenish it himself. However, it was meant to be used in situations like these, and this was no time to be stingy.


    ¡®Even if Ind a tribtion lightning attack, it will only stun the Demon. I still need a sharp or strong enough attack to kill it, and this sword is not capable of that.¡¯


    Despite the fact that the sword was a Dao Transformation grade sword, it was the lowest grade Dao Transformation weapon. Coupled with him knowing no sword battle arts, and John knew his power was not enough tond a fatal blow on the demon.


    ¡®The only attack I have that could injure it or potentially kill it is Dragontail Decimation, but even with Kirii¡¯s help I won¡¯t have enough time to use it.¡¯


    The Demon appeared before John again, unleashing another unstoppable punch towards his head. John shed to the side, fully prepared to resist the restrictive pressure around his body this time. The fist narrowly missed his body, something that felt like the fist of death as each punch was capable of taking his life ifnded on his head.


    John appeared next to the Demon¡¯s massive body once again, and prepared to unleash another sword attack. The Demon quickly turned around, the scythe-like des on the back of its elbows shing at John, who moved his head backwards at thest moment to avoid decapitation. The sharpness of the scythe-like cks on the Demon¡¯s elbow was unlike anything he had ever seen, and he knew he would be sliced in half if itnded on his body.


    John¡¯s eyes widened as he felt the embrace of death nearly take him, but also because of something he had now noticed for the first time in their battle.


    At the base of the Demon¡¯s right elbow de, a small fracture ran through from one side to the other, and an insane idea suddenly popped into John¡¯s mind.

 Chapter 662 A Worthy Death

    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The battle between John and the Demon raged on with apocalyptic power, shattering thend beneath their feet as it was hopeless to withstand the intensity of the battle. Mountains crumbled, valleys caved in, and rivers andkes evaporated as their battle ravaged thend.


    John felt his body pushed to the very edge in the battle, as just blocking an attack from the Demon took his full power, while his body just barely managed to hold on and not fall apart. Laia¡¯s healing energy continued to pour into his body unhindered, which was the only thing keeping him alive this long. Were it not for her healing powers, he would have not been able to hold on this long.


    Even so, the damage to his body was bing unsustainable even for Laia, and John could also feel his essence Qi reserves start to run low.


    After narrowly avoiding another attack from the Demon, John appeared beside it and pointed his finger towards it.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Futile!¡± the Demon roared as it knew what attack wasing.


    Bang!


    A powerful st of lightning shot out of John¡¯s finger, mming against the demon in an instant, while John¡¯s face paled slightly, as such an attack drained his essence Qi considerably. The Demon¡¯s eyes widened as it felt a destructive energy rampage through its body, something strong enough to damage its awe-inspiring body.


    Roar!


    The Demon roared in rage as its power red outwards to resist the destructive tribtion lightning, while John appeared next to it and unleashed an attack towards its side. At thest moment, the demon flushed out all the destructive lightning, much faster than John had been anticipating. Even destructive heaven tribtion lightning could not contain it for long¡­


    The Demon¡¯s elbow shot backwards towards John, the scythe-like de piercing towards him. John¡¯s sword mmed against the base of the arm de and was knocked backwards, unable to resist its might.<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    The Demon unleashed another attack at Laia in the distance with this opening, which was met with a full powered counterattack from Kirii.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    John appeared next to the Demon once more and unleashed a barrage on it, including additional tribtion lightning attacks. The demon roared in pain and anger, as the destructive tribtion lightning was the first thing to cause true pain in the battle. Its power red out each time to flush the lightning away, and would then counterattack John who appeared behind it after each exchange.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Futile!¡± the Demon roared as it blocked another attack from John, ¡°Just how much tribtion lightning can you unleash? You must have your limits,¡± the Demon mocked. It could tell the tribtion lightning was a trump card, and yet it had done almost nothing for John.


    John ignored the Demon¡¯s mockery as he continued his battle, unleashing more destructive sts of lightning. Each attack sapped him of strength, and John knew the end of the battle was fast approaching, but that he just needed to hold on until the opportune moment. Laia¡¯s constant interferences with her Dao of Time bought him fractions of a second of openings, which was just enough to help him keep his life in the battle.


    The fracture at the base of the Demon¡¯s de-like spike continued to expand, although it was something that the Demon had failed to notice.


    Crack!


    Another collision between attacks caused the fracture to expand into arge crack, and John¡¯s gaze hardened as the time had finallye.


    A crystal suddenly appeared in his hand, which he threw at the Demon with his full might. The crystal shot through the air like a shooting star and mmed against the Demon¡¯s chest, who had ignored the crystal as the power of the attack was beneath its notice.


    Boom!


    The crystal suddenly exploded, and the Demon¡¯s eyes went wide in shock as a thick death energy washed over him in an instant. The death energy started to slowly corrode the Demon¡¯s exterior, as well as drain him of strength. If the death energy was ignored, it would be able to do grave damage to the demon, which it could not allow.


    Grahhhhh!


    The Demon roared in pained anger, its aura exploding outwards once more to flush the deathly energy away from its body. At this time, John appeared next to it like a ghost, and his sword shed towards the Demon¡¯s right arm. The attack was ignored as the Demon focused on the death energy, as it knew John¡¯s weapon was not capable of injuring him significantly.


    Crack!


    A resounding crack boomed out as John¡¯s sword mmed against the Demon¡¯s elbow de, separating it from its body. The demon roared in pained anger again, and turned towards John with unbridled fury and unleashed another attack towards him. With the death energy still lingering on its body, its movements were slowed whenpared to normal, allowing John this one final opening. With the scythe-like de in hand, John pierced it forward with the greatest might he could muster as he pushed his body strength to the absolute limit.


    Che!


    Che!


    The sound of parting flesh and shattering bone rang out as two attacks connected with their target. One of the Demon¡¯s massive fingers pierced directly through John¡¯s right chest, its sharp w emerging out of his back. However, the Demon did not smile at its sessful attack, and instead its gaze shifted down towards its chest.


    Its scythe-like de was pierced directly into its heart, and an explosive wave of Qi from John surged through the de and into the Demon¡¯s heart.


    Boom!


    Blood erupted from the Demon¡¯s chest and mouth as its heart exploded. The Demon dropped to its knees as life drained from its body, and its surprised gaze shifted towards John, changing to a gaze of dying pleasure. Its sinister looking maw grinned widely as it stared the gaping wound on John¡¯s chest, one that was sure to be fatal.


    ¡°With this death¡­I was able to kill an Asura¡­.a worthy trade indee-¡°


    Bang!


    The Demon¡¯s dead body fell to the side, shaking the ground with its weight. John stared at the now dead Demon, his hardened gaze bing unfocused as he felt his life slowly fade away as well. His body fell on the ground next to the Demon, and thest thing his blurry gaze saw before going ck were hurried footsteps racing towards him.

 Chapter 663 The Truth of the Past

    A group of monster race youths suddenly appeared at a remote corner of the final trial area, their hawkish gazes shifting between the sky and surroundingnd.


    Above their heads, grey clouds were drifting apart, thest remnants of the Heavenly Tribtion they had seen from afar.


    ¡°Someone definitely broke through here,¡± one of the monster race youths snarled.


    ¡°The Honorable Alliance sent Meridian Forging youths into thesends? How pathetic,¡± another mocked.


    ¡°Spread out and search for them,¡± the firstmanded.


    ¡°Is it even worth it? They just broke through. They¡¯re not even worth hunting,¡± another replied. ¡°Also it seems like they have already fled. They must be well hidden by now.¡±


    The leader of the group narrowed his eyes as he gazed across thend for a while. After some time, he turned around and left without a word; the others following closely behind.


    ¡­


    ¡°This cave is well hidden and deep under the earth¡­we should be safe here,¡± Iris said as she inspected the depths of the cave they had entered.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°I ced a shrouding formation at the entrance, so we should be fine,¡± Adam agreed.


    The two made sure the deep, sprawling cave system was clear before they made camp. A gentle fire for light and warmth was started, and both took out a chair from their spatial rings to sit on.


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± Iris asked with a curious smile as she watched Adam inspect his new cultivation realm and transformed body.


    ¡°Amazing,¡± Adam replied without hesitation. ¡°All the impurities within my body was flushed out, and each cell was rejuvenated and transformed into something stronger¡­more profound¡­it¡¯s like I¡¯ve been reborn.¡±


    Adam had sessfully survived his heavenly tribtion, with much thanks to the brutal training John put him through in the past.


    ¡°Good, then your tribtion was fully sessful,¡± Iris congratted him. Adam continued to inspect his body for some time, before a strange expression appeared on his face.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Iris asked curiously, as Adam had been sitting there in silence for some time.


    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t really know,¡± Adam replied, equally confused. ¡°When inspecting my body, I just noticed a¡­spatial ring¡­that was hidden right next to my dantian.¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°What? How is that possible?¡± Iris asked. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you have noticed such a thing by now?¡±


    Adam suddenly raised his palm upwards, and then gazed to Iris.


    ¡°Can you see the ring on my palm?¡± He asked.


    Iris shook her head, as she saw nothing. Her eyes shifted as she activated her Eyes of Heavenly Truth, and a surprised look appeared on her face. A spatial ring had appeared in her view. Even her divine sense could not detect it, and only her Heaven defying eyes could see through its invisible illusion.


    The spatial ring was very impressive looking, with intricate formation runes carved all over its surface. It was easy to tell it was a very high level spatial ring.


    ¡°I see it now,¡± she replied. ¡°Whats in it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Adam replied. ¡°Let me check.¡±


    The second Adam sent his divine sense into the ring, a sh of light appeared above it, surprising both of them. The sh of light quickly took shape, and formed a projection of light that depicted a human male.<sub></sub>


    The male appeared to be in his thirties, and was quite handsome. He had short ck hair, and an average frame, but Iris could tell whoever this man was¡­he was powerful. There was a calm confidence contained in his gaze. One that only those with strength had.


    ¡°Who¡­who is this?¡± Iris asked as she noticed the stunned expression on Adams face.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s my father,¡± he mumbled out in a stunned daze.


    ¡°Your fath-¡°


    ¡°Son,¡± the projection suddenly spike, cutting off Iris and stunning them both once again. ¡°If you¡¯re seeing this message¡­then I must already be dead.¡±


    Iris¡¯s eyes widened as she heard that, and her gaze shifted back to Adam, who sat there in silence as tears formed in the corner of his eyes.


    ¡°If you¡¯re seeing this, then that means you have reached the Heaven Tribtion realm before your eighteenth birthday, and have decided to walk the path of a cultivator. Since you have chosen to walk this path, then it is time i reveal the truth to you.¡±


    Other than the formation image speaking, the only sound within the cave was the soft crackling of the fire as both Adam and Iris remained dead silent.


    ¡°Five years before making this message, I discovered an ancient ruin, one from before the cmity. Within that ruin was the corpse of a being more powerful than what exists today, holding an ancient jade artifact.


    Within that artifact was a formations art that allowed one to fuse formations with ones body; something that has long been thought impossible. I studied that art and learned it¡¯s secrets, and imparted those secrets onto your body, which should allow you to aplish such a feat.


    I knew this art could change everything, and so I told three people of it. Your mother, my father¡­and my eldest brother, who I trusted the most in this life.¡±


    The man paused for a moment, filling the room with silence before eventually continuing.


    ¡°My brothers reaction was not what I had been expecting. He sought to use this art for the entire n, grow its power tremendously, and then dominate the entire world and be its one true overlord. My love for my brother blinded me from his true nature, but I had already revealed the existence of the art by the time I discovered it.


    I refused to hand over the technique to him, which enraged him. My father has now mysteriously fallen ill, and I have heard whispers drift throughout the n¡­whispers that fill me with worry.


    I fear my brother will do whatever it takes to obtain this ancient art, but I do not have the heart to cut him down before he does anything. Perhaps he will see the light of reason before it¡¯s toote¡­but if you are seeing this message, then it appears he did not.


    I am no doubt dead by the time you¡¯re seeing this, or I would have removed this ring from you by now. I¡¯m sure my brother will have made it look like an ident, but be assured that my death will be anything but.


    My brother will not have killed you. The n would not allow such a thing to happen..but exile will most likely have been your fate.


    This spatial ring I have left for you contains the sum of my life. All my valuable belongings are within, including the formations art that caused all this.


    I have already used that art on you, making you capable of performing such feats. However, the art can take that talent to new heights, elevating your ability to control it to incredible levels. It is up to you now with how you will deal with this powerful knowledge.


    I do not ask you to seek revenge, only that you follow your heart, and do what you think is best¡­


    I wish I could have seen you grow up, and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve turned into a fine young man. Whatever you do with your life, I¡¯m sure it would have made both your mother and I proud¡­


    Goodbye son¡­¡±


    The projection of the man disappeared, returning silence to the room. Only the crackling of the fire drifted out, casting flickers of light on Adams enraged yet tearful face.

 Chapter 664 Bloodgod Brand

    The dim light of the campfire continued to illuminate Adam¡¯s face; a face that shifted constantly between anger and sorrow. Iris stared at Adam in silence, unsure of what to say at the moment, or if she could say anything at all tofort him.


    He had just found out that his father had been murdered, by his own brother no less. Adam hade to terms with his parents death already, but this new information brought all his emotions flooding back, reopening the wound and making itrger than ever.


    The anger on Adam¡¯s face eventually gave way to sorrow, and he broke down in tears. His chest heaved in silence as he tried to control his emotions, but was unable to. Iris looked on with saddened eyes, still not sure what to say.


    Without saying a word, she moved over towards Adam and embraced him in aforting hug, while the sounds of the crackling fire and stifled tears drifted within the cave.


    ¡­


    sh!


    A sh of light appeared, followed by the arrival of a singr youth. The youth¡¯s cultivation was in the Early Heaven Tribtion realm, and had just arrived to the final trialnds from the previous trial area.<sub>.</sub>


    His gaze shifted in several directions, before he picked one direction and sped forward. His body suddenly became enrolled in tangled roots from below, and disappeared as the roots dragged him down into the earth.


    Some timeter, and over a hundred miles away, the youth suddenly emerged from the ground once more as the embrace of tangled roots faded away and returned to the ground below. The youth stared into the distance, his gaze locked onto two Late Heaven Tribtion youths who stood near several corpses, both of them male and wearing blood red robes.


    Two delicious looking fruits appeared in his hand as he moved forward towards those youths, as if he didn¡¯t see them. The youths quickly noticed his arrival, and instantly appeared before him. Their malicious smiles stared at the neer as if he were their ything, ready to be killed at their whim.


    ¡°What do we have here?¡± one of the youths said with a wide, evil grin on his face.


    ¡°An Early Heaven Tribtion weakling? The Honorable Alliance truly is pathetic,¡± the other replied with a mocking tone.


    The Early Heaven Tribtion youth stared at the two with an unconcerned gaze, slightly surprising the two of them. The reaction they were receiving was a far cry from the fearful reactions most disyed upon seeing them.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Are you two blind?¡± the lone youth asked, his words causing both of them to frown.


    ¡°What did you say to us?¡± one of the red robed youths asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s blind,¡± the other red robe youth replied with displeasure. ¡°We¡¯re about to kill you, and yet you act like this. Either you¡¯re blind, or you¡¯re an idiot,¡± he mocked.


    The nemer stared at the two before him in silence, before he slowly lowered the top half of his robe, baring his chest and back. The two youths stared at him in amused silence, wondering what reason he had for such bizarre actions.


    Their eyes widened slightly as they saw the youth turn his back to them, while his smooth back slowly changed before their eyes. On his back appeared arge brand, as if someone had stuck a massive searing metallic object to his back some time ago.


    The brand depicted the head of a demon, snarling in rage.<sub></sub>


    ¡°The Bloodgod Brand?¡± one of the red-robed youths said, shock evident in his voice.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± the other asked with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°My name is Chase,¡± Chase replied while he reclothed his body.


    ¡°Why do you have the brand of the Bloodgod on your back, Chase?¡± the first youth asked questioningly.


    ¡°Because Ie from the Bloodfiend Sect, of the Yuan Continent,¡± Chase replied without hiding anything.


    The two youths fell into silence, as if trying to recall the name. Their eyes lit up after a moment of thinking.


    ¡°The Bloodfiend Sect? Isn¡¯t that the weakling sect that was destroyed a few years ago on some bumpkin backwater continent?¡± one youth asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s the one,¡± Chase confirmed.


    ¡°Then what are you doing here, mingling with the Honorable Alliance? Have you turned traitor?¡± the other youth asked questioningly, his tone slightly cold.


    ¡°No,¡± Chase shook his head, ¡°My father was Allfiend, the Sect Leader of the Bloodfiend Sect. When it was destroyed, I infiltrated the Honorable Alliance, with the intention of ughtering as many Honorable Alliance members as possible. My only goal in life is to give blood to the Bloodgod!¡±


    The two youths looked at Chase with questioning gazes for a while, before they eased up slightly, apparently buying his story.


    ¡°You Bloodgod fanatics are fucking weird,¡± the one youth said while shaking his head.


    ¡°Seriously, why the fuck would you worship a demon?¡± the other asked, ¡°I never understood that. Just cultivate, fight, and fuck. Why bother with worshiping something like that?¡±


    Apparently, even within the Forbidden Alliance, the Bloodgod faction was quite bizarre.


    Chase¡¯s gaze narrowed as he heard the words of the two youths, and a dagger appeared in his hands as he stared at them with menacing eyes.


    ¡°You dare mock the Bloodgod?¡± he asked with a cold tone.


    The two stared at him with nk expressions, surprised to see such a strong reaction despite his much weaker cultivation. However, his reaction revealed his words were true, as the Bloodgod worshiping branch were fanatics beyond reason.


    ¡°No, just saying you guys are weird,¡± the one youth replied with a dismissive hand wave, as if the threat of Chase attacking was beneath their notice. However, both lightened up quite a bit, as they considered him to be an ally.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you travel with us, Chase? You¡¯ll be able to spill as much blood for your god that way,¡± one of them suggested.


    Chase thought about it for a moment, and then nodded his head in confirmation.


    ¡°Sure!¡±

 Chapter 665 Predictable Greed

    The two youths nodded their heads in approval at Chase¡¯s words, but their greedy eyes shifted down towards the two delicious looking fruits in his hand. Both fruits emanated a profound aura, and it was easy to tell that they were wondrous treasures that would greatly aid one¡¯s cultivation if consumed.


    ¡°Since we¡¯re going to be helping you, it¡¯s only natural that you pay us back,¡± one of the youths said to Chase. ¡°It seems like you found those two fruits in this final area, so I¡¯m sure they¡¯re quite amazing. Why don¡¯t you give them to us, and we¡¯ll be even.¡±


    ¡°What a great Idea Roben,¡± the other youth chimed up, ¡°give us your fruits!¡± he said to Chase, his words more of amand than a request.


    Chase frowned at the two youths, as if contemting whether he should do such a thing. He eventually sighed and handed them over, as if he knew he was powerless to stop them. It wasn¡¯t umon in the Forbidden Alliance for them to kill each other over treasures, and knew if he refused the same would happen to him.


    ¡°You sure are wise!¡± the one youth praised as he took one of the fruits, although his praise contained slight mockery.


    The other youth chuckled as he took the other fruit, and both inspected them for a moment before biting into them. Their eyes lit up with glee as they greedily devoured the fruits, as if it were the most delicious thing in the world.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Truly amazing!¡± one of them eximed as they felt their cultivations rise a bit and bodies strengthen slightly.


    ¡°Good stuff!¡± the other praised as well.


    Chase stood there in silence, his gaze as if he were still regretting handing over the fruits.


    ¡°Come on, its not that bad of a deal!¡± Roben said as he patted Chase on the back in a friendly manner. ¡°Now we¡¯ll find some Honorable Alliance youths, and with our help, you¡¯ll be able to spill far more blood than you thought possible.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right,¡± Chase replied as if he had resigned himself to the situation.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Good, then let¡¯s head out and hunt us some Honorable Alliance trash,¡± Roben said as his gaze became sinister, as if he were already bathing in the blood of his enemies.


    Chase nodded his head, and the three of them sped forward across thend with no regard for being spotted, as if they were the true apex predators. They traveled for quite some time beforeing to a halt.


    In the distance miles away was another group of youths, six in total. They were climbing a forested mountain, using the treetops as cover. However, their silhouettes became visible asionally, revealing them through the thick of the forest.


    ¡°Time to hunt!¡±


    Tworge smiles appeared on the youths faces as they sped forward once more. Chase followed quickly behind, while his gaze hardened and a dagger appeared in his hand. The three sped forward and arrived at the base of the mountain shortly after.<sub></sub>


    The other group of youths quickly noticed the arrival of the terrifying enemies, and panic appeared on their faces as they began to flee.


    ¡°Toote!¡± Roben mocked as he sped forward and activated a domain art. The Honorable Alliance youths bounced off the edges of his domain, which had created invisible walls at the edges of it. Only one with enough power to break through could escape, but none of these youths had the required power.


    Panic appeared on their faces as they realized they were trapped, and they huddled together as they watched the three Forbidden Alliance youths approach them. The strongest of the six had a Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivation, and so there was no way they would be able to fight back.


    ¡°Six huh? You¡¯ll be able to spill quite a bit of blood Chase. You see, our deal wasn¡¯t so bad,¡± Roben said to Chase, although his gaze never left the six standing before him.


    ¡°You Forbidden Alliance scum! You might kill us, but we¡¯ll take you down with us!¡± one of the Honorable Alliance youths raged.


    ¡°Hahahaha!¡± Roben and the other Forbidden Alliance youth broke out into a fit ofughter, as if they had heard the funniest joke in the world. Swords appeared in both their hands as they prepared to ughter, but those swords suddenly fell out of their grasp andnded on the ground below.


    Confused expressions appeared on the Honorable Alliance youths faces, as well as the two Forbidden Alliance youths faces. The two Forbidden Alliance youths started to sway slightly, as if they were struggling to stand. Roben slowly turned around towards Chase, who stared back at the two of them with cold, murderous eyes.


    ¡°You!¡± Roben said, his voice slightly slurred as if he was struggling to speak as well.


    ¡°I see the poison finally kicked in,¡± Chase replied coldly as he stared at the two before him. ¡°Good, then you can die now!¡±


    Chase shed forward, appearing before the two Forbidden Alliance youths. Both attempted to attack Chase, but their movements were incredibly sluggish, and they even found their dantians to be impacted by the poison, hindering the use of their Qi.


    Their eyes went wide as Chase¡¯s dagger sliced into their necks in quick session, severing their heads from their bodies in an instant. Without their Qi to protect themselves due to the poison, they were as weak as mortals before Chase.


    ¡°Your greed is so easy to predict!¡± Chase said coldly as he stared at the two corpses at his feet. His trap with the fruits had worked wlessly, as he knew Forbidden Alliance youths coveted treasures more than anyone else, and would obtain them one way or another if possible.


    Both bodies vanished as Chase stored them away, before his cold gaze shifted to the nearby Honorable Alliance youths who stared at him with shock. Roots suddenly erupted from the ground and wrapped around Chase¡¯s body once again, dragging him into the earth and away from the group of Honorable Alliance youths.


    Some timeter, he emerged from the ground once again as his gaze locked onto a lone Forbidden Alliance youth in the distance, while a blood red fruit appeared in his hands.

 Chapter 666 Whitepeak Formations Temple

    Crackle!


    The soft crackling of a fire stirred John from his deep slumber. His eyes opened, revealing the low ceiling of a cave just overhead, a sight that had be all too familiar to him thest few months.


    ¡°Again?¡± John grumbled, his mind foggy from just waking up. His body ached with incredibly pain, and the thoughts of the battle against the Demon flooded back into his mind.


    John¡¯s hand quickly moved to his right chest, feeling where the Demon¡¯s massive finger had pierced through. The wound had been six inches wide, and had shattered many internal organs of his. Thankfully it had just missed his heart though, or John was sure he would not have woken from such an injury.


    The spot where he had been gravely wounded was still fresh and tender, like it had just healed and was still firming up. His entire body ached with pain as well, as his bones felt like they had been fractured, and his muscles torn. The attacks he had withstood from the Demon had been overwhelming, and even he had been on the verge of bodily copse.


    Not only that, but he had used his Asura Transformation for the entire fight as well, putting even more burden on his body. Were it not for Laia¡¯s healing powers, John was sure he would have died from that wound, and even if he hadn¡¯t his other wounds would have taken much much longer to heal from.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°I guess I should thank you-¡± John turned towards Laia, but his voice cut off as he noticed her sound asleep on the floor next to him. Her face was pale as if she had expended all her energy, and her breathing soft, as if just breathing was taxing on her current state. Her sweat slickedvender hair was disheveled and stuck to her face, revealing the extent she had pushed herself.


    ¡°She healed you for five days straight,¡± Kirii¡¯s voice sounded in John¡¯s mind. John gazed at Kirii, who was lying on the floor next to Laia, acting like a guard dog. ¡°She copsed a bit ago after ensuring that you would survive.¡±


    ¡°Five days? It took that long to heal me?¡± John asked, surprised he had been out that long.


    ¡°Yep¡­she grumbled in protest several times. Something about the Demons lingering energy that was hard to remove, and also your body requiring a stupid amount of energy to heal as well. You really pushed her hard this time.¡±


    Kirii¡¯s voice was stern, like he was scolding John for pushing Laia so hard.<sub></sub>


    ¡°It seems like you¡¯ve taken quite a liking to her,¡± John replied back, surprised to see Kirii so defensive of her.


    ¡°She gives me the best head pats, so of course I like her,¡± Kirii replied back without hesitation.


    ¡°Fine, the next time we fight a Dao Transformation Demon, I¡¯ll let you fight it while I guard Laia. Then I won¡¯t get injured again,¡± John replied, his voice containing a light tone of jesting.


    ¡°Uhhh¡­.no, that¡¯s okay, Big Brother is the strongest, so I¡¯ll let you handle the battles,¡± Kirii replied back instantly, his tone changed quickly.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought,¡± John scoffed as his gaze shifted down to Laia again. He could tell that she had pushed herself greatly this time to heal him, most likely due to his body being an incredibly high level one, and requiring an equally incredible amount of energy to heal. She had most likely just been able to keep him alive this time, revealing even someone as powerful as her had her limits, and those limits were being pushed time and time again by John.<sub></sub>


    Laia¡¯s soft breathing continued to drift out within the cave, and John couldn¡¯t help but stare at her for a long time, his mind and thoughts ensnared by her incredible beauty.


    ¡­


    The war between the Honorable Alliance and enemy powers had continued to rage on and grow in intensity, their battles fracturing thend and dying it red with blood. While the Honorable Alliance was able to kill some of the geniuses from the enemy powers, they were dying at a frightening speed.


    For every enemy genius that was killed, one hundred Honorable Alliance youths would perish. There were roughly thirty thousand Honorable Alliance youths in the final area of the Jade Dragon Empire trialnds, and over five thousand had already perished in brutal and miserable ways, while less than fifty had died on the enemy side. It was truly as if hundreds of tigers had been released into a hen house.


    Those that had died on the enemy side were also the weakest of the bunch, and so their deaths did not impact the overallbat prowess of the enemy significantly.


    The only ones capable of killing the enemy geniuses were the few that stood at the very top of the Honorable Alliance, but even they had to be careful of the truly strong enemy geniuses, who had strength equal to or greater than their own.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    A massive fist collided against a formation barrier; the power of the fist strong enough to shatter a mountain. The fist was veryrge, muchrger than a human¡¯s fist, and contained unstoppable power. It mmed over and over against a formation barrier, which had started to fracture from the powerful assault.


    ¡°What should we do?¡± a panicked voice sounded out from within the barrier.


    The barrier was separating two groups, one from the Honorable Alliance, and the other from the Barbarian Race. The Honorable Alliance was a group of ten youths from the same sect, the Whitepeak Formations Temple, named after the snow-capped mountain their temple was built on.


    The Whitepeak Formations Temple was a formation focused power, and this particr group was led by a Late Heaven Tribtion youth. The youth was ranked on the Jade Dragon List despite being a formations expert, but his ranking had been in the three hundreds, a far cry from what was needed to fight against the three Barbarian Race geniuses before them, who all had Peak Heaven Tribtion cultivations.


    He had hastily enacted a formations barrier using his full power when the Barbarian youths had spotted them, but that barrier was quickly crumbling under their powerful assault. This group of youths would no doubt join the ever-increasing list of Honorable Alliance youths that were cut down without mercy.

 Chapter 667 Three Battle Gods

    The Late Heaven Tribtion youths mind raced wildly as he thought of a way to free himself and his fellow sect members from this perilous situation, but could not think of anything in the face of the enemies overwhelming might.


    Bang!


    Another fist mmed down, shattering the formation¡¯s barrier for good. The youth coughed up blood from the attack, as he had clearly used his all to defend against it.


    ¡°Run! I¡¯ll hold them off as long as possible,¡± the youth cried out, instructing his fellow sect members to flee for their lives.


    ¡°So fucking boring,¡± one of the Barbarians boomed out with apparent displeasure as he looked at the fearful youths before him. His gargantuan figure hulked over the Honorable Alliance youths, making them look quite insignificant before him.


    ¡°We were promised glorious battles if we came here, but all we¡¯ve run into are weaklings and cowards,¡± he scoffed in displeasure as he eyed the group before him. The Barbarian Race enjoyed brutalbat and fights to the death over anything else in life, and had been promised such a thing for entering this realm. However, most of the Honorable Alliance youths fled with fear or crumbled before their might, filling the Barbarians with constant disappointment.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Let¡¯s kill them and move on,¡± one of the other Barbarians replied.


    The first barbarian nodded his head, and unleashed another awe-inspiring attack towards the group of youths, who watched it approach with widened eyes. A grave look appeared on the Late Heaven Tribtion youth¡¯s face as he prepared to unleash a final attack of desperation as the fist arrived before him.


    Boom!


    An earth shattering power exploded outwards, not with fire and me from colliding Qi attacks, but with pure physical power. A shockwave sted against thend, fracturing it and knocking over anything in its path.


    The Honorable Alliance youths were sted backwards by the force of the attack, with the only one barely standing being the Late Heaven Tribtion youth. The youths eyes widened in shock as he stared forward, while the eyes of the three Barbarian Race geniuses narrowed as they stared forward.<sub></sub>


    The leading Barbarian¡¯s gaze was locked onto a figure who had appeared before him, whose fist was pressed against his own. The neer had appeared at thest moment and blocked the Barbarians attack with a punch of his own, shocking the Barbarian as their physical mights were apparently equal, despite the fact the figure before him was less than half his size.


    Two more youths arrived immediately after and stood to either side of the youth who had blocked the Barbarians fist with his own.


    The three youths were all bare-chested males, who all had Peak Heaven Tribtion cultivations, and wore only yellowish brown robes on their lower half. Their upper bodies werepletely exposed, revealing incredibly muscr bodies that brimmed with power. All of them had shaved heads, and each had a sprawling tattoo on their back, depicting something like a raging war-god.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± the leading Barbarian youth asked with narrowed eyes as he stared at the three neers, who stared back with heated gazes.


    ¡°Hahahaha, brothers, we finally found ourselves something good to fight,¡± one of the neers said with intense passion, ignoring the Barbarians questionpletely.<sub></sub>


    ¡°That we did!¡± another replied with great excitement, like a child who was just gifted a present. ¡°Who thought when we entered this realm, we woulde face to face with the Barbarian Race! It seems that the God of Battle has blessed us this day!¡±


    The three Barbarians stared at the three human youths before them, their gazes narrowed but unconcerned. They could tell the three youths who had arrived were much stronger than anyone they had run into yet, but were still confident in their own strength.


    ¡°Let me have the one in the middle! He looks like he¡¯s the strongest,¡± one of the youths said to the one who had blocked the Barbarians attack.


    ¡°No fucking way!¡± the one who had blocked the attack replied in protest. ¡°I got here first, so he¡¯s mine. You can only me yourself for being slow!¡±


    The youth who made the proposition sighed in disappointment, but didn¡¯t argue and instead gazed at one of the other Barbarians.


    ¡°Fine, then I¡¯ll take him! He looks strong enough!¡± he said with uncontained excitement.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll take the one on the right!¡± the third youth said, each having picked out their opponent. They were face to face with geniuses from the Barbarian Race, whose physical might was almost mythical on the Divine Martial Continent, and yet were acting like excited children with zero fear at all.


    ¡°You dare look down at us like this?¡± the lead Barbarian youth said while ring coldly at the three youths before him, greatly displeased by theirments. ¡°I¡¯ll break each of your bones one by one, and when I¡¯m done with you three-¡°


    ¡°Oh shut up and let¡¯s fight!¡± the lead youth shouted as he arrived before the Barbarian¡¯s head. His fist punched out with earth shaking might, and mmed against the Barbarians head before it could react.


    Boom!


    The Barbarian¡¯s body shot backwards like a cannonball as it carved a massive trench into the earth.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The other two youths arrived before their selected opponents at the same time and punched out as well, their attacks causing simr destruction. Their maniacalughter boomed out as they shot forward towards their now distant opponents, and an incredible battle of awe-inspiring physical might quickly broke out, like six gods of war battling each other. Mountains shattered and the earth rumbled as their physical might ravaged thend beneath their feet.


    The Honorable Alliance youths stared in stunned shock at what they had just witnessed, and they slowly made their way back to their leader as they watched the distant battle unfold.


    ¡°Who¡­. who are those three?¡± one of the youths couldn¡¯t help but ask, hoping that their leader would know the truth.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m not sure why they¡¯re here, as they¡¯re not part of our Alliance¡­but I¡¯ve seen those tattoo¡¯s once before in my life. If my guess is correct, those three are Three Battle Gods; the three strongest geniuses of the Supreme Battle Sect!¡±

 Chapter 668 Battle of Body Cultivators

    ¡°The Supreme Battle Sect¡¯s Three Battle Gods?¡± one of the Whitepeak Formations Temple youths eximed, ¡°what are they doing here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± the leader of the group replied while shaking his head lightly, ¡°the Supreme Battle Sect can be considered an ally of the Honorable Alliance but are not officially in the Alliance. Their stance on Alliances is that it makes the alliance members weak individually, as they start to rely on the collective strength of the alliance instead of their own strength. They¡¯re a bunch of battle maniacs who crave nothing other than battle, and would rather see the destruction of their own sect than formally join an Alliance, as they view death inbat to be something glorious.


    I always thought their viewpoint was a bit naive¡­but maybe it¡¯s our viewpoints that are the naive ones,¡± the youth sighed as his gaze locked onto the distant battle.


    ¡°Maybe the Alliance leaders noticed the enemy invasion and called for help!¡± another youth suggested.


    ¡°It¡¯s possible,¡± the leader replied, feeling hope for the first time, ¡°let us hope that enough aid was sent if that¡¯s the case.¡±


    ¡­


    Bang!<sub>.</sub>


    Fists collided, creating a shockwave that ravaged thend between the feet of the two fighters. The fist of the Supreme Battle Sect youth was less than half the size of the Barbarians but was no less in strength and durability. The aura of the Supreme Battle Art radiated off his body with incredible might while his bulging muscles rippled with power, making him appear like a war god that had descended from the heavens.


    ¡°Hahahaha! This is what cultivation is all about!¡± the Supreme Battle Sect youth cried out in unbridled excitement; his heated gaze locked onto the Barbarian before him. ¡°I always heard of you Barbarians and the strength of your bodies. You¡¯re imed to be the strongest body cultivators on the Divine Marital Continent. Today, I get to put that theory to the test!¡±


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Nearby, the two other Supreme Battle Sect youths fought their Barbarian opponents, their battles equally as brutal and savage. The Supreme Battle Art surged from their bodies as well, making them look equally as fearsome. It was flesh on flesh, bone on bone, and physical strength vs physical strength. Maniacalughter drifted out from the Supreme Battle Sect youths, who wereughing as if their life and death battles were pure ecstasy.


    Neither side used Qi powered attacks, and instead attacked only with fists and feet. Despite not using external Qi attacks, each punch and kick contained awe-inspiring power, capable of shattering mountains with a single blow. Each punch and kick contained the same power as a battle art, which was something that made body cultivators incredibly feared by essence cultivators, who almost always did their best to keep a far distance in battle against such opponents.<sub></sub>


    The ground trembled for miles on end as mountains shattered, and rivers disappeared. Lush forests that had existed for millennia disappeared in an instant as the battle ravaged thend as far as the eye could see.


    With their fists still locked against each other, the Barbarian youth stared at the small human before him with a narrowed gaze, which quickly turned into arge smile.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard about your Supreme Battle Sect,¡± the Barbarian¡¯s deep voice boomed out. ¡°It¡¯s been imed that your Supreme Battle Art is so profound as to put your pitiable human bodies on the same level as ours. I¡¯ve always thought that to be nothing more than delusional fantasies, and today I get to prove that. It was truly worth it to enter this realm!¡±


    ¡°Good! Then let¡¯s fight to the death, and let our bodies do the talking!¡± the Supreme Battle Sect youth bellowed out as his fist punched out again, carrying the weight of a mountain behind it.


    ¡­


    Puh!<sub></sub>


    A torrent of blood was coughed up, dyeing the ground red as the Barbarian youth fell to his knees. On his knees, he was eye to eye with the Supreme Battle Sect youth who stood before him.


    Both fighters had miserable looking wounds on their bodies, wounds that would take any essence cultivator out of fighting form. Blood slicked the entirety of their bodies, but both youths ignored their wounds as if they didn¡¯t exist, although the Barbarian youth was clearly on hisst legs. One of his arms had been shattered and was hanging by a thread of flesh, and there were several deep wounds in his chest, revealing the organs within.


    His defiant gaze stared at the Supreme Battle Sect youth before him, who prepared to unleash the final blow. The Barbarian youths gaze shifted to the side, locking onto the now dead figures of his fellow nsmen, before it shifted back to the youth before him.


    ¡°Your Supreme Battle Sect is truly worthy of the praise,¡± the Barbarian youth said as arge smile appeared on his face. ¡°Our fight to the death was glorious, and I have no regrets with this death!¡±


    ¡°And your Barbarian Race is worthy of your status as well,¡± the Supreme Battle Sect youth replied with respect, as his opponent had truly pushed him to the very edge.


    ¡°Heh, do not be so smug just yet. Us three are amongst the weakest Barbarians that entered this realm. I¡¯ll look for you in the underworld, where you three will be joining us shortly after Zulos Stonefist breaks all three of you!¡± the Barbarian youth said as arge smile appeared on his face, as if his words were an undeniable fact.


    ¡°If this Zulos is strong enough to kill us, then we will eagerly find you in the underworld to continue our battle for eternity!¡± the Supreme Battle Sect youth said as he unleashed a powerful fist attack, shattering the skull of the Barbarian and ending his life for good.


    The two other Supreme Battle Sect youths walked over and inspected the dead Barbarian youth for a bit before their gazes shifted to the one who had just killed him.


    ¡°Zulos? The strongest genius of the Barbarian Race is here?¡± one of the Three Battle Gods eximed, an excited expression appearing on his face.


    ¡°Good, then let¡¯s seek him out, and test if he truly is as strong as the rumors im!¡±


    ¡°I get to fight him first if we find him!¡±


    ¡°No fucking way! Its firste first serve!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re only saying that because you¡¯re the fastest of us three! Let¡¯s decide right here right now! Last one standing gets to fight Zulos first!¡±


    ¡°Fine with me! Let¡¯s do this! Taste my fist!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The ground began to shake once again as another intense battlemenced, while the stunned Whitepeak Formations Temple youths watched on from a distance.

 Chapter 669 Lightning Essence Scorches All

    Boom!


    An explosion of lightning and fire sted out in all directions, ravaging the already destroyednd on which hundreds of fresh corpses rested, blood still flowing from their bodies. The corpses were all human except one, which was a in genius of the monster race. The others all belonged to the Honorable Alliance, a testament to the brutal ughter that had recently urred.


    Bang!


    Another explosion of lightning and fire sted out as two powerful battle arts collided, the power of the explosion turning many of the weaker corpses to ash, erasing the physical proof of their existence forever.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!<sub>.</sub>


    Sword and spear collided hundreds of times in quick session as the battle between the fire cultivator and lightning cultivator raged on. The fire cultivator was a Monster Race youth, who unleashed devastating fire attacks with each thrust of his spear, while the lightning cultivator was Lily of the Heavenly Lightning, who was the strongest remaining cultivator of the sect other than John.


    Lightning nodes filled the sky as Lily unleashed her Heavenly Lightning Domain, doing her best to contain the Monster Race genius. At the same time, dozens of attacks from all directions sted towards the Monster Race genius from other Honorable Alliance youths who were fighting for their lives as well.


    The battle had started out when two Monster Race geniuses had ambushed a group of hundreds of Honorable Alliance youths, and through the course of the battle, ny percent of the Honorable Alliance youths had perished, while only one of the two Monster Race geniuses had perished. Such was the difference inbat prowess between the two groups.


    Were it not for Lily, all the Honorable Alliance race youths would have already perished, as her ranking of top one hundred on the Jade Dragon List was well earned. Sadly, herbat prowess was only equal to one of the enemy youths, and not both at the same time. With the other hundreds of Honorable Alliance youths being much weaker than her, the other Monster Race youth had been free to ughter wantonly, as the others were helpless against such power.


    Lily, with the help of several others, had in the end managed to kill one of the youths, but by that time the carnage had already been done. The remaining Honorable Alliance force fought bravely against the remaining monster youth, resulting in a stalemate between the two sides.


    The monster race youth scoffed as the dozens of attacks from the other youths collided against his domain which was spread out to its maximum range. His domain was an inferno of hellish temperatures; an inferno that incinerated all the weaker battle arts that entered it. With such a domain art, the Monster youth was free to fight Lily one on one, as the others were too weak to enter it.<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The battle between the two raged on for quite some time, with both youths fighting for their lives. A resolved look appeared on Lily¡¯s face as she seemed to make up her mind on something, and suddenly pointed a finger at the Monster youth before her.


    ¡°Lightning Essence Scorches All!¡±


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    A horrifying blood-red lightning beam pierced out from her finger containing unimaginable power. Her face instantly paled and Lily fell from the sky, as the final area of the Jade Dragon Empire Realm did not have any flight restrictions as the other areas had previously had.


    The Monster youths eyes widened as he felt the horrifying power of the lightning battle art, and unleashed his own attack to counter it will his full might.


    Bang!


    A horrifying explosion sted out in the sky and ravaged thend below. The explosion eventually faded, revealing the monster youth falling from the sky, leaving a smoky trail behind him. Arge, charred hole was clear to see on his chest, as Lily¡¯s battle art had done fatal damage to the monster youth.


    The youth¡¯s body mmed onto the earth and did not move anymore, as his life was finally imed. The Honorable Alliance youths breathed out a sigh of relief before they rushed over towards Lily, who was lying on the ground. Of the thirty remaining Honorable Alliance youths, ten were of the Heavenly Lightning sect, and the other twenty were of other alliance powers.


    ¡°Lily!¡± one of the youths cried out in panic. The youth was a girl wearing the Heavenly Lightning Sect robes, and was clearly someone close to Lily.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­.I¡¯m fine,¡± Lily barely managed to mumble out as she sluggishly moved to her knees. Her breathing was heavy and her face incredibly pale as she struggled to maintain consciousness.


    ¡°Why¡¯d you burn your blood essence!¡± the girl asked with great concern.


    A fatigued smile appeared on Lily¡¯s face as she gazed at her nearby friend.


    ¡°To keep us all alive,¡± she replied while doing her best to maintain herposure. She had burned her blood essence, and quite a lot of it in that attack. Unless she found a heaven defying treasure in thesends, herbat prowess would be crippled, and she would no longer be able to fight with nearly as much power as she had previously been capable of. However, such a sacrifice was the only way to ensure their safety in this battle.


    ¡°You!¡± the girl replied, sad tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Even if they survived this perilous ordeal, Lily would most likely never fully recover her spent blood essence, and her talent would permanently be a level lower. Such a sacrifice was beyond immense for a cultivator.


    p!


    p!


    p!


    The sound of pping drifted out from the distance, causing all the Honorable Alliance youths to look over towards it. Grave expressions instantly appeared on their faces as they noticed who was pping.


    ¡°That was quite the show you put on,¡± the pping Monster Race youth said with an impressed look on his face. ¡°I thought Zerax and Huxen would be enough to handle the lot of you, but it seems as though the Honorable Alliance has some fangs afterall.¡±


    ¡°Run!¡± Lily whispered to the nearby youths, as the situation was no longer in her control. Even if she had her full strength, she would not be able to do anything against the three Monster Race youths approaching them, all radiating aura¡¯s more powerful than the two Monster youths they had in.

 Chapter 670 What Do We Have Here?

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s nowhere for you or your friends to run to anymore,¡± the monster youth replied with a mocking tone, clearly having heard Lily¡¯s whispers.


    A grave expression lingered on her face as she knew they were helpless to do anything anymore. Even if they ran, the Monster Race youths would most likely be able to round them all up in a short manner, and ughter them without mercy soon after.


    The Monster Race youths stopped when they were a dozen yards away from the group, who stared at them with a mix of grave caution and fear. All three Monster Race youths had a Peak Heaven Tribtion cultivation, and the leading Monster Race youth¡¯s skin was quite dark, a testament to his power.


    All the Honorable Alliance youths knew by now that the most powerful Monster Race species was the King Race. The King Race had sharp ws and fangs, vertical yellow pupils, bat like wings on their backs, and most important of all, dark skin. The color of their skin dictated how pure their bloodline was, with the most impure having gray skin while the purest were pitch ck.


    The two nking monster youths had grayish-charcoal skin, while the leading youth had much darker skin. While it was not quite pitch ck, it was quite close, revealing that his talent was towards the very top of the King Race.


    The leading Monster Race youth looked at Lily for a while, his expression souring slightly while he clicked his tongue in displeasure.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Tch, you went and burned your blood essence,¡± the monster youth grumbled. ¡°Blood essence is the best tasting, as well as the best for improving cultivation, and yet you went ahead and burnt something so valuable¡­what a waste.¡±


    ¡°If you wont have her, then I will,¡± the monster youth to the left spoke up shortly afterwards while his greedy yellow eyes locked onto Lily.


    ¡°Even with her blood essence burned, her talent is still far above the others, and so is the quality of her blood. She¡¯s mine,¡± the lead Monster youth replied dismissively. A slightly disappointed expression appeared on the other monster¡¯s face, but he didn¡¯t argue, a clear indication of their statuses and power differences.


    ¡°You two can have the others,¡± the lead monster youth said as he inspected the other living Honorable Alliance youths.


    ¡°Fuck you!¡± one of the Honorable Alliance youths raged as they heard the monsters talking about them like cattle. He shed out his sword, unleashing a powerful ice-based battle art that sted against the three monster race youths with incredible power. He was the most powerful youth remaining now that Lily had been weakened, and needed to do something to keep themselves alive.<sub></sub>


    Boom!


    Ice exploded everywhere, freezing the monsters and the surroundingnd as far as the eye could see. A hopeful expression appeared on the youths faces for a brief moment before dread reced it as the thick ice covering the monster youths shattered, revealing them to bepletely unharmed.


    Bang!


    A thin beam of red Qi sted out from the lead monster¡¯s finger as he pointed it towards the youth, which pierced through the youths skull before he could even react. The youth instantly copsed to the ground, dead without any chance of fighting back.


    ¡°You can start your feast with him,¡± the lead monster said, clear displeasure in his voice at having been attacked by someone he considered far beneath him.<sub></sub>


    Malicious smiles appeared on the faces of the two other monster youths, who started walking towards the Honorable Alliance youths. The Honorable Alliance youths grouped together for one final stand, although their shaking knees and fearful faces indicated that they knew this stand would be theirst.


    ¡°Well, well, well¡­what do we have here?¡± a youthful, almost childish voice drifted out from behind the monsters, who quickly turned around with caution gazes. They had not detected the arrival of the ones behind them, shocking them slightly. The monster race had incredible instincts, and so sneaking behind them undetected was not easy to aplish.


    Their cautioned gazes lightened up as they noticed who had appeared, and those gazes quickly became incredibly bloodthirsty, as if they had just spotted the tastiest meal imaginable.


    ¡°Faeries?¡± the lead monster youth eximed, almost unable to contain his excitement. For the Monster Race, the blood of Faeries was the absolute best tasting, incredibly pure and fresh. They rarely had the opportunity to obtain Faerie blood, and so they nearly burst with excitement upon seeing them. They didn¡¯t even question why they were here in the first ce, as they almost seemed to have lost their minds with hunger and greed.


    Standing before the group of Faeries was a lone human youth, whose gaze swept across the nearbynd, taking in all the death and destruction. His gaze narrowed and became colder as he noticed how many dead youths there were, while visible anger appeared on his face as well.


    ¡°Brothers! Today we feast greater than we ever have before!¡± one of the monster race youths eximed.


    ¡°Hahaha, entering this realm was truly the greatest thing we could have done!¡± the leader bellowed out with unbridled tion as well.


    ¡°You Monster Race fucks! Did I ever give you permission to kill any of my fellow humans?¡± the lone human youth in front of the Faeries eximed in anger, his furious words quickly stirring the monsters from their bloodlusted thoughts.


    ¡°Who are you to dare speak to us like that?¡± the monster leader eximed in furious anger. ¡°You humans are but mere cattle to be ughtered and consumed at the whim of our superior Monster Race!¡±


    ¡°Superior race? The only thing you¡¯re superior at is being ugly as shit! And you smell even worse than you look!¡± the youth replied with furious mockery.


    ¡°Kill him!¡± the monster youth barked orders at the two other monster youths next to him, clearly incensed by the humans¡¯ brash words.


    The two monsters shot forward towards the lone youth, appearing before him in an instant. Their speed was beyond shocking, a testament to their incredible power. Their sharp ws pointed forward as they pierced towards the youth, intending on taking his life with a single blow.


    ¡°Pathetic!¡± the human mocked as his gaze shifted towards the two monsters before him and his two hands stretched outwards, one index finger pointing towards each of the monsters. An ethereal white light shot out of his fingers at incredible speeds, far faster than the monster race youths could react to.


    The lights mmed onto the heads of each of the monsters and vanished from sight. The two monsters halted their forward progress andnded on their feet before the youth, while the distant monster race youth looked on with narrowed eyes after seeing what had just happened.


    The attack from the youth had been instantaneous, but the monster race youth¡¯s narrowed gaze became one of mockery as he noticed absolutely no damage to either of his two friends. There wasn¡¯t even a scratch on their skin. He could tell there had been a soul-attackponent to the attack, but monster race youths had quite formidable soul defenses. Soul attacks would not work on them unless the differences in soul powers were beyondpare.


    ¡°Hahaha, that was your attack?¡± the monster youth mocked whileughing loudly. His loudughter instantly ceased as his two friends suddenly copsed to the ground, their bodies as stiff as a nk of wood. His eyes widened greatly as his divine sense scanned over his friends, and he noticed they were no longer alive. Their souls had been shatteredpletely, ending their lives in an instant.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± the monster race youth asked with cautious fear as his gaze shifted back towards the human youth, who stared back at him like he was mere cattle to be ughtered. However, a single name suddenly popped into his mind, someone that could possibly be capable of such an attack, but whose identity was still a mystery.


    ¡°The Soul-Sage?¡± the monster race youth asked, his voice soft as if he didn¡¯t want his opponent to hear and reply with confirmation.


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re not as stupid as the rest of your pathetic race,¡± Miko replied, his words confirming the monster race youths¡¯ suspicions while he shot forward towards the youth with a pearly-white sword in hand. ¡°Now die and join your two pathetic friends in the afterlife, if there is one for scum such as yourselves!¡±

 Chapter 671 Soul-Render

    Miko appeared before the monster race genius and shed out with his sword. A gleaming white light shed out from the sword, containing both a physical attack and soul attack.


    The monster youth quickly recovered his wits, and realized he had been too easy to frighten. He was one of the monster race¡¯s most talented youths, and was stronger than either of his friends who had just been in. Not only that, but Miko¡¯s cultivation was only in the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm, while he was at the Peak of the Heaven Tribtion Realm. While both were technically in the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm, the difference in power between Late Heaven Tribtion and Peak Heaven Tribtion was vast


    ¡°Hmph, my friends were not expecting a soul attack, and did not have their soul defenses raised to their maximum,¡± the monster youth scoffed as he took out his weapon, which was a long and thin sword, with a ck handle with sharp spikes on the guard.


    The edges of the sword were ck, while a thin strip of glowing purple lined the inside of the de, making it look quite impressive. Clearly it was a high-level sword, and it emanated the aura of a Pseudo-Dao Transformation weapon.


    The monster race youth raced forward and shed out his own sword, which collided against Miko¡¯s. Soul cultivators were fearful opponents, but their weakness was always their bodies, while the King Race of the Monster Race had innately strong bodies.


    The two swords collided, resulting in Miko being knocked backwards a few hundred yards, while his opponent stayed in ce. In that physical confrontation he had clearly lost. Miko skidded to a halt in the sky, and a smug smirk appeared on his face as he stared at his distant opponent, who stood still and did not follow up his previous attack with another.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Your instincts aren¡¯t bad,¡± Miko said to the youth, his voice both congrattory and mocking at the same time. ¡°My body is definitely the weakest aspect of my cultivation, but how will you take advantage of that fact when you can hardly control your own body while we¡¯re fighting?¡±


    The monster youth stared at Miko with hate-filled eyes, although those eyes were squinted in pain as he clutched his head. In their previous exchange, the soul aspect of Miko¡¯s attack has mmed into the monster youth¡¯s soul defenses. The monster youth had been able to guard against the attack and keep his soul from shattering, but soul attacks were not so simple to withstand.


    The mind and soul were connected, and the attack the monster youth withstood felt like it had nearly shattered his mind. The monster youth¡¯s soul and head cried out in excruciating pain, making him unable to fully focus on the battle at hand. Such was the terrifying nature of soul cultivators. Even if you defended against their attacks, there would always be lingering effects. Only those with the most formidable soul defenses would be able to fully guard against such attacks.


    ¡°Hmph, this is nothing I can¡¯t handle,¡± the monster race youth scoffed as he wiped away thest remnants of his soul pain, and steadied himself once more. His cautious gaze stared at Miko, thinking of how to best proceed in the battle.


    The monster youth suddenly pointed his sword towards the sky, while his narrowed eyes remained fixed on Miko. His sword traveled in a circr path around his body, and wherever it traveled, a new sword appeared, one made of Qi but appearing just as strong as the original. Before long, one hundred swords appeared around the youth, revolving around him in perfect unison.<sub></sub>


    ¡°One Hundred Swords of ughter!¡± the Monster Race bellowed out as the swords shot out in all directions.


    ¡°A domain art huh?¡± Miko mused as he watched the monster youth activate a domain art. ¡°That¡¯s not a bad idea. If you can¡¯t approach me without taking soul damage, you might as well fight from afar using such a domain. It¡¯s quite a good strategy, and I can tell this sword domain is incredibly powerful. Even I would perish if hit by such an attack¡± Mikoplimented as he nodded his head in approval, as if he were a teacherplimenting a pupil.


    The monster youth¡¯s anger continued to rise as he listened to Miko¡¯s nonchnt words, as if this life and death battle was of no concern to him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how long you can remain this calm in the face of my sword domain,¡± the monster youth replied coldly as he pointed towards Miko. Dozens of the swords moved towards Miko with lethal speed and power, each with the power to im his life if itnded on his body.


    ¡°However,¡± Miko spoke up once more as a smug smile appeared on his face and his pupils turned pure white, making him look quite terrifying. He tapped his forehead with two fingers on his right hand, as if activating something from within.<sub></sub>


    The Faerie¡¯s behind Miko instantly realized what was about to happen and sped off into the distance. They appeared next to the Honorable Alliance youths and quickly whisked them away as well. They only stopped when they were nearly a mile away from him, as if they didn¡¯t want to be in what was toe.


    His aura began to spike once more as an awe-inspiring power erupted from him, and an ethereal white light spread out from him in all directions, painting the world around them white. ¡°Your power is still not enough! Soul-Render!¡±


    The monster youth felt the power wash over him, containing a powerful soul aspect. He braced for an intense pain to assault his mind and soul, but was surprised to find that there was no pain. The world around him had turned pure white, as if he were floating in an endless white void.


    The monster youth gazed all around, and his gaze eventually settled on Miko, who was still standing in his original position a few hundred yards away. His white pupils stared back, as nk as the white void all around them.


    ¡°Die!¡± the monster youth raged out as he pointed towards Miko, unleashing his sword domain towards him. His expression quickly changed as he realized the sword domain no longer existed, and no swords were visible at all. In fact, the weapon in his hand had disappeared as well, surprising him even more. It was just him and Miko within the void, staring at each other.


    ¡°What the hell is this? What have you done?¡± the monster youth asked cautiously, his guard raised to the maximum.


    Miko started slowly walking towards the youth without saying anything, his actions sending a shiver of fear down the monster youths¡¯ spine. He tried to dash backwards, but realized he was rooted in ce, unable to move at all. His gaze locked back onto Miko, who appeared as if he were an angel of death that was slowly approaching to pass judgment on the youth.


    Miko arrived before the youth and stared at him in silence; his white pupils emotionless like the void itself. The monster youths chattering teeth was the only sound that filled the void, as uncontroble fear washed over him. He had no idea what was going on, or how to break free of his restrictions.


    Miko slowly reached out and tapped the forehead of the youth, whose eyes went wide for a brief moment, before ckness started to rece the white void that had surrounded them; a ckness that never faded for all eternity.


    ¡­


    The Honorable Alliance youths watched on in a stunned stupor as Miko¡¯s aura erupted, washing over him and the monster youth. However, to the Honorable Alliance members, it appeared as if nothing had happened at all.


    Suddenly, the monster youth¡¯s sword domain vanished, and he stood there motionlessly. Miko slowly approached the youth, who remained rooted and emotionless despite his enemies¡¯ arrival before him. Miko reached out with his right hand and tapped the monster youth¡¯s forehead, and an awe-inspiring sh of soul power red out for the briefest moment before fading away. The monster youth¡¯s eyes went wide for a moment, before he copsed to his knees and fell on his side; his lifepletely exterminated. The eyes of the Honorable Alliance youths went wide once again, unable to believe what had just happened. The monster race youth had allowed Miko to walk up and end his life without even fighting back.


    ¡°What¡­.what just happened?¡± Lily couldn¡¯t help but ask the nearby Faeries after recovering from her shock.


    One of the nearby Faeries nced at Lily for a moment before her gaze shifted back to the distant Miko.


    ¡°That was Miko¡¯s Soul-Render,¡± the Faerie replied gently.


    ¡°Soul-Render? What exactly is it?¡± Lily asked, still unsure of what had happened.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± the Faerie replied after a moment of silence, ¡°in fact, no one, not even our Pce Master knows exactly what is happening. Miko has only used the art once before in order to win our Pce Master¡¯s approval. Afterwards, some of us asked the Pce Master about it, and she only had one thing to say about the soul-art¡­that the soul art is not something that should exist in this world, and that within the same realm as Miko, no one is able to withstand this soul attack.¡±

 Chapter 672 Mikos Bizzare Behavior

    ¡°How is such a thing possible?¡± Lily couldn¡¯t help but ask, her voice brimming with shock. If no one in the same realm was able to withstand such an attack, then that would make Miko invincible against any opponent in the same realm.


    ¡°ording to our Pce Master, only someone with a soul stronger than Miko¡¯s can resist the attack. If your soul is on the same level or weaker than his, you cannot resist its effects. Miko has a unique and very powerful soul variant, so it¡¯s almost guaranteed that his soul is stronger than someone in the same realm as him, but that¡¯s all I know.¡± the Faerie exined a bit more before falling silent.


    For almost all most soul arts, even if the defending soul was weaker, they would still be able to resist its affects. It took a much stronger soul to overwhelm a weaker one, as defending was much easier than attacking when it came to soul battles. This wasmon knowledge, and Lily had never heard of such a strong soul art which seemed to defy allmon knowledge regarding soul arts.


    Lily was going to ask something else, but fell silent as she noticed Miko approaching them. His white pupils sent a shiver down her spine, and coupled with the incredibly lethal soul art he just revealed, Lily could not help but be intimidated by his presence.


    Miko arrived before the group of Faeries and Honorable Alliance youths, thetter who stared back warily at him. His white pupils returned to his normal brown color once again, and his stoic expression was quickly reced by a nonchnt smile. He had just looked like a soul-deity that could smite all of creation, but now looked like a simple kid, making the Honorable Alliance youths feel quite odd at the moment.


    ¡°You¡¯re from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, right?¡± Miko asked, his voice full of boisterous excitement.<sub>.</sub>


    Lily couldn¡¯t help but stare in silence for a moment, stilling to terms with everything that had happened, and the sudden shift in attitude from Miko. It was like she was dealing with apletely different person whenpared to himself just a few minutes ago.


    ¡°Uhmmmm, before that, could you answer one of my questions?¡± Lily replied, her voice steady but weak from her fatigue.


    ¡°Sure, what is it?¡± Miko asked as he ced his hands on his hips.


    ¡°Who are¡­all of you?¡± Lily asked as she gazed at Miko and the Faeries. She knew they were Faeries from their appearance, but did not know why they were in this ancient realm. She had to make sure of who they were before she answered any questions of theirs.


    ¡°My name is Ishea, and these are my sisters from the Seraphic Soul Pce,¡± one of the Faeries stepped up and answered before Miko could reply. He had a knack of ranting for longer than needed, and so she decided to make things quick.<sub></sub>


    ¡°The Seraphic Soul Pce?¡± some of the Honorable Alliance youths eximed. It was a well renowned Faerie power, and one of the most powerful soul sects on the Divine Martial Continent.


    ¡°And this is Miko Varis, a human who had been permitted to train with us in the Faerie Frosnds,¡± Ishea introduced Miko, who waved at the group before him with a wide grin on his face.


    ¡°Nice to meet ya,¡± Miko eximed.


    ¡°Uhhhh, you too,¡± Lily replied, still slightly confused at what was going on. ¡°And why is your Seraphic Soul Pce here?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Your Alliance said there was some kind of danger, and asked us to enter this realm and help you all out,¡± Miko replied before Ishea could start to exin. She sent a frosty re at him, but he ignored it as he approached Lily and stood before her. ¡°It seems like they were right, and you guys do need some help, but that¡¯s not the important thing right now. You¡¯re from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, right?¡± he asked again.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Mmm, we are,¡± Lily replied after a moment¡¯s hesitation. She finally knew they were not enemies of theirs and was able to freely answer his question.


    ¡°I knew it,¡± Miko eximed, his eyes lighting up with excitement. ¡°So where¡¯s John?¡± he asked as his head swiveled around, as if looking for him in the nearby area.


    ¡°John? John Fenix?¡± Lily asked, surprised to hear the name brought up.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, yeah, where is he? He should be in this realm as well, right?¡± Miko nodded his head in excited confirmation.


    ¡°He¡­.¡± Lily¡¯s voice trailed off, unsure of how to answer. She could tell Miko was close to John based on his questions and reactions, and had heard rumors of his fate.


    ¡°You must have noticed the trials that lead to this final area, as I¡¯m assuming you went through them? The Meridian Forging, Heaven Tribtion, and Dao Transformation trials?¡± Lily asked.


    ¡°Mhm, we went through the Heaven Tribtion trial, although it was so easy it was boring,¡± Miko replied.


    ¡°Well¡­John was apparently ambushed in front of those trials, and¡­.knocked into the Dao Transformation trial,¡± Lily exined the truth.


    The Faeries near Miko gazed towards him with concerned expressions upon hearing the truth, as they knew how much Miko cared for the one he called John. A nk expression appeared on Miko¡¯s face before he turned around and faced the direction where they hade from, the direction towards the Heaven Tribtion and Dao Transformation trials.


    ¡°Hey old geezer, tell me if John is alive,¡± Miko suddenly said, talking to no one. His words surprised and confused the others, although the Faeries seemed to be used to Miko talking to himself.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t care how much effort it takes, tell me if he¡¯s alive, or don¡¯t me me for not calling you master anymore,¡± Miko eximed out loud, his words yet again directed to no one.


    ¡°What do you mean I don¡¯t call you Master? Geezer is close enough¡­.fine, if you tell me if he¡¯s alive, I¡¯ll start calling you Master.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no, don¡¯t try to haggle with me further. You¡¯re the one who¡¯s at my mercy, remember? You need a sessor, not me. How about I dump you off right here right now and we¡¯ll see if you can find someone else like me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. Now tell me¡­is he alive? Oh he¡¯s alive. I figured as much. A mere Dao Transformation trial isn¡¯t strong enough to kill John. Thanks old geezer¡­¡±


    The Honorable Alliance youths stared at Miko with stunned confusion as he had an entire conversation with himself, although half of the conversation was missing as if he were truly talking to someone. Miko suddenly turned around and walked back to the confused group, his expression free of any worry.


    ¡°John¡¯s fine, so you don¡¯t have to worry about him,¡± Miko said to Lily, ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be joining us before long. In the meantime, you should exin what exactly is going on here. Why were you fighting against the Monster Race?¡± Miko asked, changing the subjectpletely.


    Lily stared at Miko in a stupor, unable to keep up with him and his constant changing questions and personas. It was as if she were truly dealing with a crazy person, only this crazy person was four years younger than her, yet somehow stronger than her. It was truly a conflicting feeling, one that she almost didn¡¯t know how to process.


    Lily shook aside the feelings and began to exin what had urred to the best of her knowledge, while the Faeries and Miko listened closely. Concerned expressions appeared on the Faeries faces, while an excited expression appeared on Mikos.


    ¡°Hahaha, the Monster Race, Forbidden Alliance and Barbarian Race geniuses have invaded? Sweet, now I¡¯ll finally be able to test the true limits of my new powers!¡± Miko eximed andughed maniacally, confirming everyone¡¯s suspicions that he truly was insane.

 Chapter 673 Ancient Temple

    ¡°So, what do we do now?¡± Miko asked Lily who was clearly the leader of the Honorable Alliance group. ¡°Do we just go hunting for the enemy, or do you have something in mind?¡±


    Miko¡¯s voice was full of eager excitement, as if the brutal war was of no concern to him. Clearly he was confident in his power, and Lily could see why that was. Some of the nearby Honorable Alliance youths stared at the Faeries with gazes of passion, clearly entranced by their beauty. The Faeries ignored such gazes with practiced indifference, clearly used to being gawked at by men.


    A thoughtful expression appeared on Lily¡¯s face as she thought of what to do next, and a determined look appeared shortly after.


    ¡°There is one thing we can do,¡± Lily said, attracting both Miko¡¯s and the Faeries attention. ¡°It was initially impossible for us to make it there without being ambushed and killed, but with you joining us, we might be strong enough to get there.¡±


    ¡°Where? What ce are you talking about?¡± Miko asked curiously.


    A jade piece appeared in Lily¡¯s hands, and she tossed it over to Miko. Miko caught it and inspected it, while Lily started talking once again.


    ¡°These jade pieces are being used by our Honorable Alliance tomunicate across this realm, and thetest information is that an ancient temple has been discovered at the very end of this ancient realm,¡± she started exining.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Many are guessing that the temple is the true final area of this realm, and what they¡¯re seeing within mostly confirms those suspicions. Within the temple are trials beyond counting, and rewards beyond anyone¡¯s imaginations. Powerful weapons and battle arts, ancient cultivation techniques, heaven defying pills and treasures and more are apparently within, obtained bypleting those trials and spending the Jade Marks umted throughout this realm. Many have already entered the temple, as it¡¯s our best chance to increase our power to fight back against the invading enemies. Getting there alive was an almost impossible task, but with your help it should be possible. If we can enter the temple and obtain the treasures within, perhaps we can win this war after all.¡±


    Lily took a deep breath after saying all that, while the others fell into contemtive silence.


    ¡°What¡¯s there to think about?¡± Miko said, his boisterous voice filled with excited confidence. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the temple. With me and my soul-sisters, your safety is assured.¡±


    The Faeries rolled their eyes upon hearing Miko call them his soul-sisters, as he continually had unique yet exasperating names to call them. However, slight smiles also appeared on some of their faces, as they were bing more and more used to his antics, and some were starting to find it almost¡­endearing.


    Lily and the others gazed at Miko, and after a moment of hesitation, Lily nodded her head.


    ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s go!¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡­


    A group of three youths stood at the top of a tall mountain, their gazes lingering on whatid before them. A sprawlingnd of verdurous mountains stretched out as far as the eye could see, with crystal blue rivers meandering throughout the deep valleys in between. Waterfalls crashed down to the valleys below, covering much of thend in a fine, refreshing mist.


    It was truly like they had stepped into a lush paradise, but the youths ignored the vibrantnd before them, and instead gazed towards a distant mountain that stood high above the others. The mountain was ten miles tall, and hundreds of miles wide. It was more apt to call it a teau; a teau that held a grand temple far beyond what any of them had ever seen.


    The temple was almost as wide as the teau, making it nearly a hundred miles wide and several miles tall. It was the most massive building the trio had ever seen, and they couldn¡¯t help but study its exterior in awed wonder.


    A massive miles wide staircase led up the mountain to the front of the temple, which had arge arch at its center providing entrance within. Therge arched entrance was guarded by two dragon statues, both a mile tall and incredibly lifelike. It was as if two actual dragons were guarding the entrance, both Jade green in color.


    The temple was pure gold, with Jade green designs covering its exterior, making it look grandiose beyondpare. Pearly white clouds drifted around the temple, making it look like an otherworldly temple for immortal gods.<sub></sub>


    ¡°That must be the temple everyone is talking about,¡± one of the youths said, breaking the silence.


    ¡°Obviously,¡± the youth with long silver hair standing at the front said, before his gaze shifted slightly to the side. ¡°But before we enter, it seems as though we have a bit ofpany.¡±


    ¡°Honorable Alliance, or the others?¡± the first youth asked curiously.


    ¡°Forbidden Alliance it seems,¡± the lead youth replied, with no concern or fear at all in his voice.


    The trio stood there for a short moment before three youths appeared on the mountaintop next to them, all three wearing blood red robes with malevolent designs on it. The group consisted of two males and one female, all of which stared at the trio with predator-like gazes. All three Forbidden Alliance youths had Peak Heaven Tribtion cultivations, the same as the lead youth who had noticed their arrival.


    ¡°What do we have here?¡± one of the Forbidden Alliance youths asked as arge smile appeared on his face. His smile quickly vanished as he took in the trio¡¯s robe designs, and the same happened with the others.


    ¡°You¡­what is your n doing in thesends?¡± the Forbidden Alliance youth asked, clearly unsure of how to proceed.


    ¡°You can save the questions forter,¡± the lead youth said as he shot forward towards the Forbidden Alliance trio, ¡°but first, this is the perfect time to test my new strength. Try not to die on me too quickly.¡±


    ¡­


    Bang!


    A loud explosion sted against the mountaintop, while a red-robed youth mmed onto the mountainside. Hended near his other twopanions, all who were sprawled on the ground, wounded and unable to fight back. Their wary yet hate-filled gazes stared back at the youth who had bested them three versus one, whonded softly on the ground next to them.


    ¡°Has your n sided with the Honorable Alliance?¡± one of the Forbidden Alliance youths asked while struggling to stand. ¡°I thought you were supposed to be a neutral power?¡±


    ¡°We are,¡± the silver-haired youth replied, ¡°but we were also invited here by the Honorable Alliance in their pathetic attempt to court us. We had no reason to decline, as thisnd truly is a ce of marvelous opportunities.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re not allied with them, then¡­¡±


    ¡°Why am I killing you three?¡± the silver-haired youth asked with a mischievous smile on his face. ¡°I¡¯m not. As I said, you three were the perfect opportunity to test my new strength. You can get up now, I have no intentions of killing you.¡±


    The three Forbidden Alliance youths looked at each other with surprised yet confused gazes, and slowly made their way to their feet. They stared at the silver-haired youth before them, whose power was so strong as to overwhelm all three at the same time.


    ¡°The winds of fate are changing for the Divine Martial Continent, and a war will surely break out soon,¡± the silver-haired youth said to the three of them. ¡°Your Forbidden Alliance and your other allies are most definitely stronger than the Honorable Alliance, so perhaps it is time that my Starforge n picks a side.¡±


    ¡°You mean to join us?¡± one of the Forbidden Alliance youths asked.


    ¡°I do. As soon to be leader of the Starforge n, I have the authority to make such a decision,¡± Kadin replied calmly yet confidently. ¡°And I choose to align with who I think will win the war, and make us the most money. Since that will most likely be your lot, why don¡¯t we cement our cooperation with the blood of the Honorable Alliance youths of thisnd?¡± Kadin proposed.


    The surprised expressions of the three Forbidden Alliance youths quickly turned into malicious smiles as they nodded their heads in agreement.


    ¡°Our Forbidden Alliance is more than happy to wee your Starforge n as an ally,¡± one of the youths replied.


    ¡°Good, then let us set off for the temple in the distance,¡± Kadin replied as a dark smile appeared on his face, ¡°and bind our alliance in the blood of our enemies!¡±

 Chapter 674 Ancient Corpse

    Soft and steady footsteps drifted out as alone figure walked up the massive staircase leading to the temple. She stopped at the top of the stairs and took in the view before her, which was awe-inspiring even for someone as cold hearted as her.


    ¡°So, this is where everyone is hiding?¡± She muttered softly.


    Twin dragon statues, a mile tall and incredibly lifelike in detail guarded each side of the front entrance. It was truly as if they would spring to life at any moment. Massive pirs dozens of yards wide lined the outside of the temple, supporting the overarching roof that hung high above. Despite the passage of time, not a single mark of damage or spot of dirt could be seen on the temple, as if it stood removed from time itself.


    Beyond the archway ahead was hazy, as if a soft mist filled the entrance. The girls gaze shifted from the awe-inspiring temple and statues to the ground between her and the temple entrance.


    The marble-like floor of the temple base was pristine as well, but was currently marred by puddles of dried blood. Hundreds of human corpsestes strewn about the temple floor, most of them mutted beyond recognition.<sub>.</sub>


    Many had limbs torn off and chunks bit out of their bodies, as if a ravenous pack of beasts had killed and feasted on the corpses.


    ¡°Fucking Monster Race,¡± Amber Bloodrose clicked her tongue in displeasure as she identified who had caused such a scene. ¡°They feast on their victims yet waste so much of their blood. Blood that would be more than useful for cultivation. They truly are moronic savages,¡± she chastised, her words indicating that she was not displeased with the carnage before her, but the wasted blood that had already dried and be useless.


    As a Forbidden pathway cultivator, cultivator blood, both normal and essence was useful in improving her cultivation or some other aspect of her power. The sight of so much dried blood before her made herment such waste.


    Her gaze continued to linger on the corpses as she inspected them. There were a few corpses that belonged to powerful youths of the Honorable Alliance, four in total.<sub></sub>


    ¡°For such powerful Honorable Alliance members to have died, that Vargul must have already entered. It seems I took too much time getting here. I suppose I¡¯ll speed up a bit, or else there will be nothing left for me before long,¡± she mused as she shot forward and entered the misty temple entrance.


    The mist offered no resistance at all as Amber sped through it, although it did slick her skin with a refreshing dew. She quickly sped through the entrance and appeared on the other side of the mist, stopping in her tracks as she took in the sight before her.


    A sprawling world came into view, muchrger than what she thought she would run into. She seemed to have arrived at the top of a tall cliff, giving her a clear view of thend down below.


    The temple was about one hundred miles wide and twenty miles deep, and yet the world before her was muchrger than that. Clearly the interior of the temple was some kind of spatial realm that expanded space to berger than the temple¡¯s interior dimensions.<sub></sub>


    The world before her appeared to be several hundred miles wide and deep. The temple roof above was not visible, and instead it appeared as though the natural sky rested high above. Clouds drifted in the sky, and the sun shone down onnd before her, illuminating it with a warm, golden glow. At the very edges of thend were the temple walls, which were visible unlike the roof above, and lined the entirend before her. The walls stretched up into the sky at which point they gradually vanished, as if bing the sky itself.


    Her gaze shifted from the sky above to thend before her again, taking in the extreme scenery. Vertical cliffs miles high popped up at random locations, while sprawling chasms so deep that only darkness could be seen meandered next to them. Lush forests and flowered ins sprung up in various locations, as well as barren deserts and icy snowfields. It was incredibly odd to see so many different ecosystems existing next to each other, which was clearly aplished through unnatural means.


    Within all these different ecosystems were man-made structures. Temples, pagodas, monoliths, staircases descending into the depths beneath the earth, and other various structures were visible as well, making the view before her all the more unique.


    However, Amber¡¯s gaze lingered on these things only briefly, and instead focused on something at the very opposite end of thend before her. The opposite end was hundreds of miles away, and resting there was a singr thing that made all the other objects within seem trivial.


    A massive dragon corpse rested at the end of the temple realm, dozens of miles long. All that remained of the corpse was its bones, but even then it still contained a regal presence, as if any living creature was not worthy of appearing before its dead body.


    A powerful aura emanated from the ancient dragon corpse despite the passage of time, a testament to its once formidable might when it was alive.


    ¡°A pure-blooded dragon!¡± Amber eximed, shocked to see something like this. The dragons of the world were not pure-blooded anymore, and as a result were much smaller than the dragons of ancient legend. However, the dragon corpse before her was massive beyondpare, and clearly belonged to a pure-blooded dragon, who were said to be some of the most powerful creatures in existence.


    When it came to physical body might, no other beast couldpare, making dragons the king of physical might. It was said that a single swipe from a pure-blooded dragon could destroy a world. Amber had obviously dismissed such a thing as an exaggerated myth, but the corpse before her made her reconsider the ancient myths.


    After inspecting the corpse for some time from the vast distance she stood from it, a desire to obtain the ancient dragon corpse washed through her. If she could obtain even just a part of it, it could be sold for incalcble wealth.


    Amber¡¯s Qi red as she took flight, but her body was quickly pressed down to the earth. A frown appeared on her face as she realized there was a flight restriction in the temple realm, which would force her to proceed on foot going forward. She quickly identified the source of the flight restricting power, which was the dragon¡¯s aura. It was as if even in death, the dragon was too proud to allow others to fly in its presence.


    ¡°Tch, how annoying,¡± she grumbled as she realized her journey would have to be on foot.


    Her gaze shifted back towards thend below her, and a distant explosion suddenly came into view, followed by several more explosions. A battle between Honorable Alliance youths and some Forbidden Alliance youths seemed to be raging on.


    Amber¡¯s eyes locked onto the battlefield like that of a hawk while she licked her lips as if savoring a tasty meal. Her footsteps continued once again as she slowly made her way towards the battlefield, her bloodthirsty smile growingrger by the second.

 Chapter 675 Oasis

    Ssh!


    Water exploded outwards, falling down shortly after in a fine-refreshing mist as boisterousughter drifted about a ce that looked like paradise.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give that ssh a seven,¡± Laia¡¯s gentle voice drifted out.


    ¡°That¡¯s the best you can do?¡± John asked, his voice slightly mocking.


    ¡°Hey, if you can do any better, then let¡¯s see it!¡± Kirii¡¯s voice sounded out within his mind.


    ¡°That¡¯s easy. Watch this!¡± John called out as he jumped off a high cliff towards the crystal blue waters below. He curled up into a ball and mmed into the water¡¯s surface, causing an explosion of water to st up into the sky.


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll give that an eight and a half,¡± Laia spoke up again, acting as the judge of the apparentpetition between John and Kiriii.


    ¡°Tch, I guess that¡¯s a bit better than my ssh,¡± Kirii couldn¡¯t help but admit as he floated within the crystal blue waters, although he was clearly not happy about it. ¡°But I¡¯ll easily win with my next dive!¡±


    ¡°Hehehe,¡± melodicalughter, like that from an angel drifted out shortly after as Laia watched the sshpetition between John and Kirii continue.<sub>.</sub>


    It had been several weeks since they entered the Dao Transformation trial realm, and their journey through the realm had been dangerous and harrowing. They had nearly lost their lives several times, but thanks to their immense talents, they had managed to survive up to this point.


    Earlier in the day they had stumbled upon this ce, which was unlike anything they had seen before in the realm. The realm was and of fog, decay, and death, and the beasts within were those that thrived in such environments, such as the Rot-Breath Drake.


    For the first time since entering the realm, they had felt a vibrant and refreshing aura within the realm. They followed the aura to its source, and found an area that looked like a paradise to them. A mile wideke with crystal blue waters rested in the center of the oasis, the source of the vibrant aura. Surrounding theke was a verdurous forest, filled with exotic fruits beyond counting, each more delicious than thest.


    The best part of thiske was that its natural vibrant aura seemed to keep the beasts of thend at bay, who clearly detected its vibrancy. It was as if this natural oasis had been ced here as a temporary reward for making it half-way through the Dao Transformation realm.


    Realizing all this, John, Kirii, and Laia had decided to stop here for a while and rest up, as it was the perfect opportunity to do so. They were incredibly weary from their journey thus far, and this was the perfect ce to recover their full strength. It was a true paradise for them at the moment.


    Next to theke was a small cliff several hundred yards tall, which John and Kirii were using in their ssh-making contest, while Laiaid down on a nearby sandy beach and judged theirpetition.


    Kirii quickly raced up to the top of the cliff and gazed down defiantly at John who waded in the waters below.


    ¡°Heh, you should be happy that you¡¯ve managed to push me this far,¡± Kirii¡¯s voice sounded out within John and Laia¡¯s mind, while he did his best to sound like an ancient elder praising a youth, ¡°but now that you¡¯ve forced me to go all out, this is where your defeat is imminent!¡±<sub></sub>


    After making his rousing little speech, Kirii jumped off the cliff once more. His body suddenly grew in size, bing several dozen yards long and tall. It was as if he had suddenly be a giant.


    SPLASH!


    His massive body mmed into the crystal-blue water, creating a massive ssh and also a wave that washed out in all directions. The wave quickly crashed out over the edges of theke, Laia included, before eventually receding back to theke.


    ¡°Hahahah, you see how awesome I am?¡± Kirii said boisterously as he surfaced from the waters depths.


    ¡°Hey, no fair. You¡¯re not allowed to change size like that!¡± John eximed in protest. One of the Kirins natural abilities was to shapeshift, both in appearance and size. Kirii had just used that to his advantage, and John would not be able to match such a ssh without using his cultivation which they had agreed to not use.


    ¡°Heh, too bad. This ability of mine ispletely natural and doesn¡¯t require using my cultivation or Qi, so it¡¯s allowed,¡± Kirii mocked John, clearly satisfied with his score. He looked over to the beach towards Laia to receive a score, and his face scrunched up slightly as he saw he had soaked her with his ssh.


    ¡°Ah¡­sorry!¡± Kirii¡¯s voice reverted to a child-like one as he quickly apologized. Her pearly white dress had be soaked and clung tightly to her skin, revealing her alluring curves¡­a view which John couldn¡¯t help but stare at.


    ¡°No need to apologize,¡± Laia replied with a smile as she stood up, ¡°and that ssh was definitely a ten. I think you win this one.¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°Hahahaha! The Great Kirii has once again proven his might!¡± Kiriiughed maniacally. John couldn¡¯t help but roll his eyes at Kirii¡¯s antics, which locked onto Laia as she quickly made her way to the top of the cliff they had been jumping off.


    ¡°Since I¡¯m already wet, I might as well join you two!¡± Laia said with a smile on her face as she jumped off the cliff and to the waters below, while John watched on with mesmerized focus as she fell down towards them. The golden sun above illuminated her beautiful and wet figure, making her appear like anvender-haired angel descending from the heavens above.


    Ssh!


    ¡­


    Crackle!


    The soft crackling of a campfire drifted out as the three sat around it to dry off. They could dry off instantly using their cultivation, but all three had decided to rx as much as possible while staying here, including drying off naturally.


    ¡°That was really fun!¡± Laia said whileughing lightly, her melodicughter lightening the mood even further. She squeezed her hair to dry it, while the warm fire took care of her water-soaked dress.


    John stared at Laia in silence for some time, as he could tell this was a rare asion for her. Clearly she was not used to doing somethingid-back like this, although he supposed such a thing was natural as the princess of one of the strongest empires on the Divine Martial Continent.


    ¡°This ce truly is amazing¡± she said as she gazed all about.


    ¡°It really is,¡± John replied with a head nod before biting into a fruit in his hands. ¡°Not only are we safe here, but the fruits and herbs around here are beyond wondrous, untouched for tens of thousands of years. Just staying here for a few days will help both our cultivations tremendously.¡±


    Laia nodded her head in agreement as she watched John eat. Her eyes roamed over his shirtless body for a brief moment, taking in the sight. His body was like a perfectly sculpted statue, with perfect proportioned muscles covering every inch of his body. Her eyes lingered for a moment on the various scars that covered his body, scars that were so faint as to be almost invisible.


    With his powerful cultivation, the scars would eventually vanish, but the deeper the wound, the longer such a thing would take. Laia could clearly tell that with the number of scars on his body, his journey to get to this point must have been beyond agonizing. She fell into deep thoughts as she stared at some of his faded scars, but quickly snapped out of her thoughts as John¡¯s voice sounded out.


    ¡°Enjoying the view?¡± John asked as he stared at Laia, whose face quickly turned red as she realized she had been caught starting. Her eyes averted to the side as she harrumphed slightly like a scolded child.


    ¡°Hmph, don¡¯t think I haven¡¯t caught you staring at me as well,¡± she harrumphed.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I stare?¡± John replied without any shame or hesitation as he stared directly at her, ¡°isn¡¯t it natural to stare at beautiful things?¡±


    ¡°You¡­I¡­.you¡­¡± Laia stumbled over her words while her cheeks turned bright red, not expecting to hear such direct words from John.


    A mischievous smile appeared on John¡¯s face as he watched her stumble over her words. Laia averted her gaze once again as a Jade piece appeared in her hands, as if she were trying to take her mind off what had just happened.


    ¡°The Jade Dragon List?¡± John said as he noticed what she had taken out. ¡°I hadpletely forgotten about that thing while we were here. So have any interesting changes happened to the list?¡± he asked curiously.


    Laia¡¯s divine sense flooded into the jade piece, and her rosy-red face quickly faded away as a serious look appeared on her face. John could instantly tell something was wrong, and his own Jade Dragon List jade piece appeared in his hands for the first time since entering the Dao Transformation realm.


    He quickly inspected the jade piece, and a cold, murderous look appeared on his previously rxed face. He stood up from the log he was sitting on and red his Qi, drying his body in an instant. A ck and red robe appeared on his body as his cold gaze stared at Laia.


    ¡°Dry off and get dressed. We¡¯re leaving right now!¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Laia hummed in acknowledgement and quickly dried off and put on a fresh dress.


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± she asked as she arrived next to him, slight worry in her voice.


    ¡°What am I going to do? Isn¡¯t that obvious?¡± He replied with a cold tone. ¡°I¡¯m going to leave this trial, and then I¡¯m going to drown this realm with the blood of everyst invader. Now let¡¯s go!¡±

 Chapter 676 Preparations

    Lightning crashed over a throne-like chair, basking the one who sat on it in powerful lightning. However, the figure ignored the lightning and instead focused on the words of those standing before him.


    ¡°Why did they not send us this news earlier?¡± the Grand Elder said angrily as they watched the Honorable Alliance messenger leave the Heavenly Lightning Sect chamber. Thunderzen watched the messenger leave as well, at which point his gaze shifted down to the two standing before him, which were the Grand Elder and his daughter Lilian.


    ¡°Even now they refuse to use the long-range transmission disks, and instead send a messenger. The Honorable Alliance is cheap beyondparison, and it¡¯s no wonder we¡¯re losing to the other powers,¡± Lilian scoffed, equally displeased.


    ¡°Long range transmission disks cost a fortune, and break after just several uses due to the tremendous energy needed to send a distance that far,¡± Thunderzen exined calmly, ¡°its only natural that with the war fast approaching, the Alliance is saving its money wherever it can.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, you don¡¯t need to exin to me how long-range transmission disks work,¡± Lilian scoffed, shifting her displeasure towards Thunderzen. ¡°I know how they work. That¡¯s not the point. The point is that something this important is worth the cost to get the message out as fast as possible, no matter the cost.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°You are right, but there¡¯s nothing we can do about it now,¡± Thunderzen sighed. ¡°What we must now do is figure out our next moves.¡±


    ¡°Our next moves?¡± the Grand Elder inquired, as Thunderzen clearly had something in mind.


    ¡°Yes, our next moves,¡± Thunderzen replied.


    The enemy geniuses had invaded the Jade Dragon Empire Trialnds, and in this particr case, the weakness of the Honorable Alliance turned out to be a benefit. There were a handful of youths who were too weak to even get past the first ancient city, and were therefore trapped in the starting realm.<sub></sub>


    One of those youths happened to have a Jade Dragon List on them, and noticed the message of warning. They immediately retreated to the entrance of the realm, which was still being held open by the powerful formation up front.


    Only those who had yet to venture past the first ancient city could leave before the realm closing, and thankfully there were a few remaining to do so. After leaving, they informed the Elder¡¯s outside of what had happened, who quickly spread the message to the rest of the Alliance about the true nature of the threat they had predicted.


    This message was passed out to the various sects of the Honorable Alliance afterwards, most by physical messenger, as the Heavenly Lightning Sect had just received.


    ¡°With the invasion of the enemy power geniuses, John will no doubt be forced to use his full power,¡± Thunderzen started to exin. ¡°His cultivation is lower than those who have entered, and he will not be able to manage without using his transformation. I¡¯m sure he¡¯s able to keep himself safe, but if even one enemy youth escapes, his identity will be revealed. If that were to ur, he would not be able to survive a week, even with all of us protecting him.¡±<sub></sub>


    Lilian and the Grand Elder fell silent upon hearing Thunderzen¡¯s grave words of warning. They were also concerned for the other youths of the sect, but had to prioritize John above all. His role was too important as the prophecy had revealed to them, and they had to ensure his safety and survival above all.


    ¡°The enemy would not send their geniuses into the realm without having a way to get them out,¡± Lilian spoke up, ¡°which means what you said will most likely happen.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid so,¡± Thunderzen sighed as he rubbed his temples. His eyes shifted in thought, before looking back onto Lilian.


    ¡°How did your inspection go?¡± he asked curiously. ¡°Did you find the ancient formation John mentioned to you?¡±


    ¡°I did, and it¡¯s exactly as he said,¡± Lilian replied quickly, ¡°its broken right now, but with a bit of fixing, I think I can get it operational again. But the formation is beyond incredible, and the amount of spirit crystals needed to activate it just once will be astronomical. And we don¡¯t even know what¡¯s on the other side. Why¡­you don¡¯t mean to?¡± she asked as she realized where Thunderzen was going with his line of questioning.


    ¡°I do mean to,¡± he replied truthfully, ¡°I¡¯ve scoured all the ancient documents retrieved from that city, and have a guess what¡¯s on the other side. While I cannot confirm its fully safe, it¡¯s safer than anywhere on the Divine Martial Continent. And if ites to that, you¡¯ll be the one to guide him.¡±


    ¡°I refuse,¡± Lilian replied defiantly. ¡°The war is fast approaching, and my powers are too valuable to not be used in war. You know this yourself,¡± she protested loudly.


    ¡°I do know that,¡± Thunderzen replied calmly, smiling at his adopted daughter in a loving manner. ¡°But you took John as your disciple, and it¡¯s now your responsibility to ensure his safety, no matter the cost.¡±


    ¡°Tch, whose fault is it that he¡¯s my disciple,¡± Lilian clicked her tongue in frustration. It had been Thunderzen who had assigned her as John¡¯s Master, something she had protested against initially.


    ¡°Good, then it¡¯s settled,¡± Thunderzen said after hearing no more protest from Lilian. ¡°The Grand Elder and I will head towards the Honorable Alliance, while you will venture back towards the ancient city and restore the formation. If you need any help restoring it, ask Grandmaster Selona for aid. Spare no expense at all. Our treasure vaults are avable for you to use, no matter the cost.¡±


    Lilian sighed deeply before nodding her head, no longer protesting her fathers ns.


    ¡°Good,¡± Thunderzen said as he stood up from his lightning throne, ¡°let¡¯s just hope our preparations are not needed in the end. Although with the rumors I¡¯ve heard recently, I believe the time of the prophecy is fast approaching. We must be prepared!¡±

 Chapter 677 Cinderflame Drake

    Roar!


    A massive beast roared before John as the earth rumbled violently. The beast was simr in size to the Rot-Breath Drake he had previously killed, but was far more powerful. The cultivation of this Cinderme Drake was in the Middle Dao Transformation Realm, and was towards the top of the realm almost ready to break through.


    The opponent was not something John could take lightly, and would require his full strength to fight against, and even then his victory would be pyrrhic at best. However, he stood before this colossal and monstrously powerful beast with his aura withdrawn, as if he were a normal mortal.


    His cold gaze locked onto the drake before him, who stared back after his initial roar, slightly confused. Something far weaker than it should be running in fear, but John stood there as if the drake was of no concern to him. Normally John would relish an opportunity to fight such a strong opponent, but right now he had no time for such things.


    ¡°I know you can understand me,¡± John said to the drake. As beasts progressed in cultivation, so did their intelligence. While the drake could not speak back to him or fully understand him fluently, it could more or less understand what John was saying.


    The drake stared back at John in silence, its eyes shifting as it tried to figure out what was going on. This was beyond anything it had ever encountered before, and it didn¡¯t know how to react. It wanted to kill the human before it, but for some reason held back at the moment, as if its instincts warned it against such an action.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a trap,¡± John said out loud, reading through the creature¡¯s thoughts. ¡°I have no need for a trap to kill you if I wanted.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    Roar!


    The drake roared out once again, angered by John¡¯s dismissive words. John ignored the powerful roar as he gazed at the drake before him, which hulked over him and made him look like no more than an ant before it.


    ¡°I¡¯m in a bit of a rush, so while normally I would just kill you, I¡¯ll give you an opportunity to keep your life,¡± he said, his words causing the drake to roar angrily once again.


    Not wanting to hear his insults any further, the drake¡¯s right w swiped down towards John, intending to crush him like a bug.


    Boom!


    The ground exploded as the drakes w mmed down onto John with incredible power. The drake¡¯s eyes shifted towards Laia and Kirii in the distance, but quickly shifted back towards its w as it felt it moving against its well.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Motherfucker! I said I don¡¯t have time for this!¡± an angered cry from beneath its w erupted outward, and the drake suddenly felt its w gripped by a powerful force while a powerful aura exploded out as well. Before it could react, its entire body was lifted off the ground, upended before being mmed onto its back.


    Bang!


    The ground shattered from the impact, while the drake roared out in pained anger as it quickly realigned itself and stared down at John, who had mmed the drake onto its back. While the attack had done virtually no damage, it was John¡¯s way of showing the drake a bit of his strength. The drake¡¯s body was massive, and the strength required to do such a thing was beyond monstrous.


    The drake opened its mouth as a glowing me built up within. It clearly intended to unleash an attack on John once again, but it stopped suddenly, as if unsure of what to do next. It stared at John with heightened caution, while its instincts red widely.


    Two blood red eyes stared back at the drake, while the power erupting from John finally reached a level enough to give the drake pause. However, John¡¯s power was not yet at a level that made the drake feel lethal danger, and so mes once again built up within its mouth.


    The mes within the drakes mouth slowly faded away as it stared at John, whose cold, murderous gaze stared back. As a Dao Transformation beast, the drake had incredible instincts, far greater than humans had.<sub></sub>


    With these heightened instincts, it could tell that the puny human opponent before it could threaten its life. It didn¡¯t know how such a thing was possible, but it could tell that if it unleashed an attack, its life would most likely end soon after. While it was confident in taking the human down with it, it did not desire to throw its life away for no reason.


    ¡°Good, I see you¡¯ve seen reason,¡± John said coldly to the drake. ¡°Now, my offer is this. Let us ride on your back, and you will guide us through this realm as far as you can take us.¡±


    Roar!


    The drake roared in anger once again, incensed at the suggestion of being ridden. As a proud Dao Transformation drake, a beast with a tinge of dragon blood in its lineage, such a thing was beneath it. It would rather die than be ridden by someone unworthy.


    The drakes eyes widened slightly as it shifted towards an object that had appeared in John¡¯s hands. It felt a familiar aura with the object, as if it were an ancient calling.


    ¡°This is a true dragon¡¯s reverse scale,¡± John said to the drake. ¡°I¡¯m sure you recognize the aura, being part dragon yourself.¡±


    The drake stared at the reverse scale, and could clearly tell what it was. It could also tell that the scale had been fully subdued by John, something that shocked it to its core. Such a feat was virtually impossible, and only the most heavenly of geniuses were capable of doing such a thing. It could tell what John was saying by bringing out the scale.


    It was as if he were saying, ¡°If I can subdue a true-dragons reverse scale, then I can subdue you.¡±


    ¡­


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Powerful footsteps mmed onto the earth in quick session, trembling thend while a massive creature crashed through a foggy forest of decay and death. The other creatures in the nearby area quickly moved away, not willing to fight against a creature as powerful as a Cinderme Drake.


    Atop the Cinderme Drake¡¯s head stood John, Laia and Kirii, who watched from atop the creature as it made its way rapidly through the Dao Transformation trial.


    ¡°You know, I thought your n was beyond crazy and wouldn¡¯t work, but it seems I was the one who was wrong,¡± Laia said to John, who had sessfully bargained with the drake.


    He had agreed to not kill the drake, if it took him through the Dao Transformation Realm. If he had to travel normally, each creature he ran into would attempt to fight him, seeing him as an easy meal. This would greatly slow his progress down, which was something he could not afford at the moment. The drake was one of the more powerful creatures in the trial, and its mere presence caused many of the other beasts to flee, allowing for a swift journey forward.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just hope that we make it through in time,¡± John replied, his cold, murderous expression permanently etched on his face.

 Chapter 678 Miststream Demise

    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Numerous explosions sted out in quick session as a battle between dozens of youths raged on. On one side of the battle was the Forbidden Alliance, who had four youths, while the other side Honorable Alliance, who had nine and were all females. Normally such numbers would heavily favor the Forbidden Alliance, as their individualbat prowess was far beyond the Honorable Alliances.


    However, within the group of nine Honorable Alliance youths was Elise Wisp, of the Miststream Sect. If John saw Elise, he would recognize her as the girl who had appeared in the Yuan Continent Heavenly Lightning Pce when they had inquired about the truth of the Bloodfiend Sect.


    Elise was the strongest disciple of the Miststream Sect, an all-female sect, and had earned a ranking of number six on the Jade Dragon List before it was erased. Her cultivation was in the Peak Heaven Tribtion Realm, and her incredible strength was able to dominate this battlefield, as the Forbidden Alliance youths were not the best of the best they had sent.


    On her own, Elise was able to fight against two of the Forbidden Alliance youths, while the other eight Honorable Alliance youths fought against the remaining two Forbidden Alliance youths.<sub>.</sub>


    A thick mist surrounded Elise¡¯s body, shrouding his figure and obscuring anyone from seeing her clearly. Numerous copies of her appeared within the mist, nearing twenty in total. To the naked eye, each copy was as real as the next, making it impossible to pick out which was the real body.


    The Forbidden Alliance youths sent out their divine senses to get a clear view of her, but her profound mist obscured their divine senses as well, making them unable to discern the truth.


    Elise shed between the two youths while unleashing a barrage of water-based battle arts, each containing an illusory nature to it, making it incredibly hard to dodge. At the same time, each attack was beyond sharp, capable of severing her opponents in half if they were not careful. She used a sharp and thin sword which was transparent, as if made out of ss. The aura of the sword was incredible, and was an early Dao Transformation grade weapon; clearly something she had obtained from within the Jade Dragon realm.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    The battle continued to rage on for quite some time, before it finally fell silent. Seven corpsesid strewn about on the ground, blood soaking the earth beneath them. Elise breathed heavily as she stared at the four dead Forbidden Alliance youths, before her apologetic gaze shifted towards the three dead youths belonging to her sect.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she sighed with grief, ¡°I couldn¡¯t protect you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t me yourself Elise,¡± one of the other girls said as they ced aforting hand on her shoulder, ¡°without you, we would all be dead. You cannot me yourself for this.¡±


    Elise shifted her gaze to the remaining five girls, who were all bloodied and wounded, but alive. A sad smile appeared on her face as she nodded her head at the five of them. She had to remain strong for them, as without her, the rest of her fellow sect members would all soon after.


    ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t she me herself?¡± a feminine voice sounded out behind the group, causing all of them to turn in fright towards the source of the sound. None of them had noticed the new arrivals¡¯ presence, not even Elise herself.


    ¡°Your friends died because she was not strong enough to protect them, and neither were any of you,¡± the new arrival continued, ¡°if you¡¯re all not to me for your weakness, then who is?¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Elise asked with narrowed eyes as she raised her guard to the maximum, but she most likely already knew the truth. There was only one girl with blood red hair that could have this much power. She could tell that the new arrival was beyond terrifying, far stronger than the youths she had just fought.


    The new arrival ignored her question and looked at the corpses on the ground, and clicked her tongue in displeasure.


    ¡°Tch, so much wasted blood again,¡± Amber Bloodrose grumbled before her gaze shifted back towards Elise and the others, while a viinous smile appeared on her face. ¡°But there¡¯s plenty of blood still left in you six,¡± she said as she licked her lips.


    Boom!


    Elise¡¯s aura exploded outwards, while a thick mist surrounded her body. Her figure quickly multiplied, and soon there were twenty other figures within the mist that looked just like her. The other girls of the Miststream Sect quickly exploded with power as well, prepared for another battle to the death.


    ¡°Amusing power you have here,¡± Amber said mockingly, as if she were talking to a group of children. A blood-red sword appeared in her hands, and her body suddenly shed forward, so fast that none of the other youths could keep up with her speed, not even Elise.


    Che!


    Blood spurted out from Elise¡¯s chest as a sword pierced through her back. Her eyes widened with horrified shock as she turned her head to the side, taking in Amber¡¯s sinister smile as she stood behind Elise.


    ¡°But sadly, this little trick of yours is useless against me,¡± Amber said as she withdrew the sword.


    ¡°Elise!¡± the other girls cried out before unleashing a barrage of attacks towards Amber.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    A red sword shed out in quick session, each stroke severing a head or piercing a heart. In less than a second, all the Miststream Sect youths were ughtered, not able to fight back for an instant.


    Amber¡¯s eyes lit up in delight as her hand waved out, and the blood within the bodies of the victims swirled up into the air before her. The blood quickly formed into a sphere two feet wide, which then flooded down towards Amber¡¯s chest and disappeared within.


    Amber shuddered as she closed her eyes, as if she were feeling pure ecstasy at the moment. The blood quickly vanished into her, and a soft moan of pleasure escaped her lips, as if she had just experienced the greatest pleasure in the world.


    Her eyes opened once again, and after standing there in silence for a short moment, the sound of a distant explosion caught her attention once more. A sinister smile appeared on her face as her calm footsteps moved towards the source of the explosion.

 Chapter 679 Dragonfist Sect

    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Deafening sonic booms sted out over and over as two opponents exchanged a barrage of physical attacks. One of the fighters was a human youth, who was clearly a body cultivator, while the other fighter was a Barbarian genius. Each of their punches contained the same power as an essence cultivator battle art, and the collisions between their fists and feet shook and fractured thend beneath their feet.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!<sub>.</sub>


    Nearby, two other battles were taking ce, also between a human body cultivator and a Barbarian genius. The fights were equally ferocious as all six fighters fought with the intent of iming their opponent¡¯s life.


    All three human youths wore bright green sets of scaled armor which made them look quite impressive. They were from the Dragonfist Sect, a body cultivation sect of the Honorable Alliance, which was also the strongest body cultivator sect within the alliance.


    They all had bodies bulging with powerful muscles, and each had a set of long ck hair which flowed wildly behind their heads, making them look a bit savage. The two distant youths had Late Heaven Tribtion cultivations, while the strongest youth had a Peak Heaven Tribtion cultivation, equal to his opponent.


    ¡°Thousand Dragonfist Destruction!¡± the strongest youth yelled out in rage as he punched out towards his Barbarian opponent. His aura red out with absolute power as he clearly utilized his ultimate battle art.


    His fists became a blur as an endless barrage of sessive punches sted out upon his opponent, who crossed his arms before his body to defend against the blow.


    Each fist seemed to take the form of a dragons head as it mmed onto the Barbarian, not giving him a second to collect himself and counterattack. The barbarian copsed to his knees under the awe-inspiring barrage of fist attacks, and his body was quickly burrowed deep into the earth as the Dragonfist Sect youth did not relent at all.<sub></sub>


    The ground continued to fracture, creating deep chasms that stretched for hundreds of yards in each direction. The two fighters disappeared from sight, leaving the four others to continue their battle. The four other fighters fought with equal intensity, although the human youths were having a much worse time.


    They were both losing their battles, and quite brutally, with both doing their absolute best just to keep their lives intact. Each punch from their Barbarian opponent was like a mountain falling onto them, almost too much to bear even for their tremendously powerful bodies.


    Explosive sts continued to sound out from deep within the earth before eventually stopping a whileter. A figure suddenly shot out from within the earth andnded heavily on the ground. In his hand was the severed head of his Barbarian opponent; a head that was asrge as half his body.


    The two distant Barbarian youths looked on with cold shock at the sight of their dead friend, and erupted with furious rage as they increased the might of their attacks. The strongest human youth scoffed as he dashed towards his nearest ally to help them win their fight.


    Boom!


    The ground before the youth exploded, causing him toe to a sudden stop as he stared forward with his guard raised while the dust settled and faded away. Another Barbarian youth had appeared before him, who looked at the human youth with a look of intrigue as well as disappointment.<sub></sub>


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± the Barbarian genius asked respectfully.


    ¡°Gorran,¡± the human youth replied with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Gorran? I¡¯ve heard of you,¡± the Barbarian replied, his voice deep and rumbling. ¡°You¡¯re rumored to be the strongest body cultivator within the Honorable Alliance.¡±


    ¡°And how do you know that?¡± Gorran replied coldly.


    ¡°Because I killed one of your sect members earlier, and he threatened me with death by your hand as he died,¡± the Barbarian genius replied, ¡°he said something about you being number seven on some list. Clearly that position of yours was well earned.¡±


    ¡°Die!¡± Gorran erupted with fury as he heard the Barbarian genius speak of killing his fellow sect members. He appeared before his opponent and unleashed a fist attack with all his might.


    Bang!


    Gorran¡¯s fist mmed against the outstretched hand of the Barbarian genius, the collision creating a defeating sonic boom that fractured the already ravagednd. Gorran¡¯s eyes widened as he noticed his opponent had not been injured at all, and had not even been knocked back a single inch.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Gorran muttered with shock. While the attack had not been his ultimate attack, it was still backed by his full physical strength.


    ¡°You¡¯re quite strong,¡± the Barbarian genius praised before shaking his head in disappointment, ¡°but you dishonor yourself and the path of a body cultivator. You intended to interfere with a death battle of the other warriors. You are not worthy to tread this path.¡±


    ¡°And who are you to decide such a thing?¡± Gorran erupted with further fury, once again appearing before his opponent.


    Thousand Dragonfist Decimation!


    His fists sted out without reserve, each fist taking the form of a dragons head and exploding with absolute power onto the Barbarian youth. Just as before, the overwhelming battle art sted the Barbarian opponent deep into the earth as both fighters disappeared from sight.


    The ground continued to tremble from deep within, and eventually returned to calm silence just as before as well. A lone figure soon emerged from the ground, carrying a severed head just as had happened before. His body was riddled with several deep wounds, indicating the furious intensity of the battle that had urred deep within, but the figure still had vibrant vigor, as if the wounds did not affect him at all.


    The two other Barbarians quickly made their way over to the figure, as both had sessfully defeated and in their opponents. They stared at the severed head for a moment, before looking at the lone figure.


    ¡°Zulos Stonefist,¡± both of them greeted Zulos, who stood there with Gorran¡¯s severed head in his hand.


    ¡°You both fought well,¡± Zulos praised them, before a disappointed expression appeared on his face as he stared at Gorran¡¯s severed head. ¡°Sadly, this is the best challenge the Honorable Alliance can offer us. He put up a good fight, but was not able to push me to the edge of defeat that I desire.¡±


    Disappointed looks also appeared on the faces of the two other Barbarians, who looked at Zulos for what to do next. As the strongest genius of their Barbarian Race, his words reigned supreme.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Zulos¡¯s deep voice boomed out once again as he started to walk deeper into the temple realm, ¡°perhaps there are others within this realm that can give us a good fight.¡±

 Chapter 680 Supreme Moron Sect

    A ck blur sped within a hectic battlefield in the temple realm, spilling blood wherever it went. The battlefield consisted of dozens of Honorable Alliance youths, who were doing their best to team up against the ck blur that was almost too fast for them to see.


    However, the dozen mutted corpses on the ground next to them revealed the sess they were having in dealing with the blur; a blur whoughed maniacally as it savagely ripped apart the youths once by one.


    ¡°Gahhhh!¡±


    An agonized cry of pain sounded out and was quickly silenced shortly after. The Honorable Alliance youths all turned towards the cry of pain, and saw another mutted corpse on the ground beneath the feet of a ck-skinned Monster Race youth.


    The corpse belonged to a girl who wore a green dress, and had been a healer for the group. One of her arms had been ripped off, and arge chunk of flesh had been bitten out of her neck. Blood soaked the ground beneath her dead body, and also flowed down the smiling maw of Vargul agoth, who was reveling in the feast he was currently having.


    ¡°So fresh¡­so delicious,¡± he said out loud, his voice beyond chilling. A look of ecstasy lingered on his face for a moment, before he shed to the side, dodging a battle art that had arrived at his location.


    Boom!


    The ground exploded, while the one who had unleashed the battle art turned around with utmost haste, his eyes wide as he noticed the lethal danger behind him. However, it was toote, as Vargul¡¯s speed was far too fast for him to react to. Vargul¡¯s hand swiped sideways, his razor-sharp ws severing the head of the youth without resistance.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Crowley!¡± an agonized cry boomed out from one of the other Honorable Alliance youths, who unleashed an attack towards Vargul, as did several others within the group.


    ¡°Die, you fucking monster!¡± the youth cried out as he watched the battle art explode on Vargul¡¯s location, but his eyes widened as Vargul appeared directly before him in an instant, his yellow eyes staring directly into his own, as if peering into his soul.


    Vargul¡¯s mouth widened into a sinister smile, revealing his blood-soaked teeth, a sight that sent a wave of horrified fear down the youths spine. He knew he was as good as dead as Vargul¡¯s hand reached him before he could react.


    Peng!


    A metallic sound rang out and sparks flew, not at all the sound of severing flesh the horrified youth had been expecting. A sword had appeared right next to his neck, which had blocked Vargul¡¯s w attack at the veryst moment, and had knocked Vargul back as well.


    The youth looked to the side, and saw that another human youth had appeared next to him, holding the sword that had saved his life. The youth had short brown hair, piercing gray eyes, and a handsome face that carried confidence that only peak geniuses had.


    ¡°Luth! It¡¯s Luth Chaster!¡± one of the Honorable Alliance youths eximed, feeling a wave of pure tion wash through them. The strongest youth of the Honorable Alliance had arrived to help them.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Leave,¡± Luth said without looking at the youths behind him. ¡°The battle toe is not something any of you can help with.¡±


    The youths opened their mouths to protest, as they wanted to avenge their fallen friends, but closed them quickly after. Luth was right, and they knew it. They were not strong enough to help him, and would only slow him down as he would have to protect them. The youths all nodded their heads and quickly left, retreating to a safe distance to watch the fight.


    ¡°So you¡¯re Luth?¡± Vargul said as he eyed him up and down. Luth Chaster was the undisputed strongest youth of the Honorable Alliance, and was on a very short list of youths that even the geniuses of the enemy powers had to be wary of.


    ¡°I am, and I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re Vargul agoth?¡± Luth replied, his eyes narrowed and expression cold. He had just arrived due to the sound of battle, and had seen the carnage strewn about the ground, igniting his fury.


    ¡°Hehehe, it seems like my name has spread far and wide throughout this realm¡­good,¡± Vargul replied, his wicked smile indicating that he was not fearful of Luth at all.


    ¡°And that name will cease to exist after today,¡± Luth replied coldly as his body shed forward and his sword cleaved out towards Vargul. He was in no mood for discussion with such a loathsome creature, and only wished to y it immediately.


    Vargul¡¯s smile widened as Luth arrived before him, and a ck sword with a glowing purple strip on the interior appeared in his hand. He shed his sword out to meet Luth¡¯s sword, as a battle between two of the strongest youths in the entire realm broke out.<sub></sub>


    ¡­


    At the outside entrance of the ancient temple, a group consisting of around a dozen youths arrived at the top of the stairs leading to the temple. They heard heated discussions and loud hangs up ahead, as if there was a fight between enemies going on.


    ¡°I told you, the strongest one was mine!¡± a rage-filled voice boomed out.


    ¡°Hahaha, be faster next time then,¡± a mocking voice followed afterwards.


    ¡°How about I kick your ass right now, and we¡¯ll see if you can still act so tough before me!¡± the first voice boomed out again.


    ¡°Hahaha, bring it on,¡± the other voice replied.


    The group finally reached the top, and three figures came into view, who turned around to look at the new arrivals. Below the three figures were the corpses of three Monster Race youths, with fresh blood flowing out of their gruesome wounds, clearly indicating they had just recently died.


    The aura¡¯s of the three figures exploded with power as they stared at the new arrivals, ready to do battle at a moments notice.


    ¡°Who are you? Are you with the enemy powers? If so, prepare to get beaten to death!¡± one of the boisterous youths eximed.


    ¡°Are you stupid? They¡¯re clearly not enemies!¡± one of the other youths chastised as if the first who had spoken was stupid.


    ¡°How the hell do you know that?¡± the first youth protested.


    ¡°Because they¡¯re too beautiful to be enemies, you idiot,¡± the second youth replied, mocking the first once again. ¡°Well, all but the short one up front.¡±


    ¡°Who are you calling an idiot?¡± the first eximed with anger.


    ¡°I¡¯m calling you an idiot, you idiot,¡± the second youth mocked once again.


    Standing a short distance away, Miko and the Faeries looked on with stunned expressions as the three youths continued to argue amongst one another, their arguments getting heated to the point that a fight was clearly about to break out amongst themselves.


    ¡°I knew the Supreme Battle Sect was filled with nothing but brawn-brained idiots, but this is even beyond my expectations,¡± Miko¡¯s voice drifted out. ¡°It seems as though the braindead reputation of the Three Battle Gods is well deserved. Your sect should be called the Supreme Moron Sect instead.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± all three eximed at the same time, their anger shifted towards Miko.


    ¡°Brat, do you want to get a beating?¡± one of the Battle Gods asked angrily.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point in asking him? Let¡¯s kick his ass, and see if he¡¯s still so smug afterwards,¡± one of the other Battle Gods eximed.


    ¡°Sure, we can fight if that¡¯s what you want,¡± Miko nodded his head in agreement, before turning to look at one of the Faeries next to him. ¡°Can you please start digging three ditches. Oh, and we¡¯ll need three gravestones as well, to honor these three soon-to-be dead morons.¡±

 Chapter 681 Bob

    ¡°That¡¯s it. I¡¯m going to kick your ass!¡± one of the Three Battle Gods erupted in anger and dashed towards Miko, who stood there calmly while raising his finger towards the youth.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough!¡± an angered cry of protest erupted out as a figure appeared between Miko and the youths.


    The rushing Battle God quickly slid to a stop as Ishea had appeared between him and Miko. Ishea was the second most talented and also beautiful Faerie from the Sanguine Soul Pce, and so her beauty alone was enough to stop the angered youth.


    Miko calmly gazed at Ishea for a moment before shrugging his shoulders casually.


    ¡°I was just joking,¡± he replied as she red at him. ¡°I wasn¡¯t actually going to kill them. I was just going to toy with them for a bit.¡±


    ¡°This is not the time or ce to be joking around,¡± she chastised him before turning towards the Three Battle Gods.


    ¡°Toy with us? You look as if a light breeze would shatter your bones,¡± one of the Battle Gods replied with a heated voice.<sub>.</sub>


    Before Miko could reply, Ishea spoke up once more.


    ¡°We entered this realm to help the Honorable Alliance, the same as you,¡± she started to exin before a strange expression appeared on her face. ¡°You were there as well when we all entered together¡­how do you not remember that?¡± she asked.


    ¡°Wait¡­we¡¯re here to help the Honorable Alliance?¡± one of the Three Battle Gods asked, confused at her words.


    ¡°Uhhhh¡­yes?¡± Ishea replied, equally confused, ¡°That was exined to all of us. That there was an unknown danger within, and that we were being sent in as reinforcements. Were you not given the reason for entering this realm?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the same youth replied while shaking his head, ¡°we were just told by our sect that if we entered this realm, we would have opportunities to fight strong opponents! That¡¯s why we entered¡­and look, there are strong opponents. Clearly our sect was right!¡±


    Strange expressions appeared on the Faerie¡¯s faces, almost as if they were unable to believe how simple-minded these three youths were.<sub></sub>


    ¡°One of the Honorable Alliance Elders exined what was going on at the entrance of the realm, and you were there as well. Do you not remember that?¡± Ishea asked.


    ¡°The Honorable Alliance Elder? Oh, you mean that old fart that wouldn¡¯t stop talking before we entered the realm?¡± the third Battle God chimed up for the first time, ¡°I just ignored him. His speech was too boring to pay attention to, so I tuned him out and started eating a sandwich!¡± he exined.


    ¡°I did the same.¡±


    ¡°Me too.¡±


    The two other Battle Gods nodded their heads in agreement, while smug smiles lingered on their burly faces, as if that was something to be prideful of.


    ¡°Like I said before, they areplete morons,¡± Miko muttered, his words causing the Three Battle Gods to nce at him coldly, almost as if about to erupt once more. Clearly they were easy to anger, and quick to battle.<sub></sub>


    Ishea quickly spoke up once again to get their attention away from Miko, before they could erupt with rage.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with introductions then, as getting along will help all of us get through this realm safely. There are many strong opponents within this realm, and working together should help all of us survive,¡± she said before gesturing to the other Faeries. ¡°I¡¯m Ishea, and these are my fellow sisters of the Seraphic Soul Pce.¡±


    ¡°Sisters? You¡¯re all rted?¡± one of the Battle Gods eximed, his voice tinged with shock.


    ¡°Uhhh¡­no. We¡¯re not rted, but we call each other sisters regardless,¡± Ishea exined.


    ¡°Oh, that makes sense,¡± the youth replied.


    ¡°And this human with us is Miko, who is training with our Seraphic Soul Pce at the moment,¡± she said, introducing Miko. Miko¡¯s mouth opened to say something, but Ishea quickly spoke up to interrupt.


    ¡°What are your names? We can¡¯t just call you the Three Battle Gods,¡± she asked, as they needed a way to differentiate between the three when speaking to them.


    ¡°Oh, my name is Bob,¡± one of the Battle Gods replied. Odd looks appeared on the faces of Faeries upon hearing the name, as it was quite a simple and unexpected name for someone called a Battle God, while Miko ced his hand on his mouth to stifle hisughter, his shoulders trembling slightly from the containedughter.


    ¡°And you two?¡± Ishea asked the other two Battle Gods.


    ¡°Oh, my name is Bob as well,¡± one of the youths replied with a proud head nod, as if the name was something to be impressed by.


    ¡°Me too,¡± thest Battle God replied, his words causing the strange expressions on the Faeries faces to be even more strange.


    ¡°Pffft, hahahaha,¡± Miko burst outughing, unable to contain hisughter anymore.


    ¡°Bob, Bob, and Bob. Who the hell named you three?¡± he asked while tears ofughter started to form in his eyes.


    ¡°The Sect Leader of the Supreme Battle Sect, our Father,¡± one of them replied. Ishea and the others gazed at the three youths before them, which truly did look quite simr in appearance. They were the same height, same size, and had very simr faces. Clearly they were triplets, just not identical triplets.


    ¡°The Supreme Battle Sect Leader¡­your father¡­named you all Bob? What? Is he named Bob as well?¡± Miko burst outughing again.


    ¡°Yes, our father is named Bob,¡± one of the Bobs confirmed, his voice and face once again prideful as if that was something to be proud about.


    ¡°Hahahahaha,¡± Miko fell to the ground and started rolling whileughing, finally losing thest bit of self-restraint he had.


    ¡°Just ignore him,¡± Ishea said to the three as she noticed them start to be agitated again. Miko eventually reigned in hisughter and returned to his feet, his eyes red from the tears ofughter.


    ¡°Bob, Bob, and Bob. I suppose we should start calling you the Three Battle Bobs!¡±

 Chapter 682 Dragon-Essence Bone

    Ishea held her breath, as she was prepared for the worst after Miko¡¯s insult. She had tried to cate the three unpredictable Bob¡¯s, but knew if they truly erupted with anger, she would have to sit back and watch the battle unfold.


    The Bob closest to Miko stared at him with narrowed eyes, as if contemting what to do. He started to walk over towards Miko, and arrived before him shortly after. He hulked over Miko, who was a full two feet shorter than the massive Supreme Battle Sect youths. However, Miko stared back with indifference, as if the gargantuan youth before him was of no concern.


    Bob¡¯s hand stretched out before moving towards Miko, while the Faeries all held their breaths.


    ¡°Hahahaha, the Three Battle Bobs! I like it!¡± Bob eximed boisterously as he heavily patted Miko on the shoulder in a brotherly gesture. The two other Bobs also nodded their heads with satisfied expressions, clearly pleased with the nicknames as well.


    ¡°It seems you three have brains after all,¡± Miko replied with a smug and proud smile on his face, while he puffed his chest out as well. Clearly, he was happy to beplimented for his nicknaming abilities.<sub>.</sub>


    Nearby, the Faeries stared at the four idiots before them with nk expressions, unable to keep up with the level of muscle headed stupidity they were witnessing.


    Bob put his arm around Miko in a friendly manner, while the two started a boisterous discussion as they walked towards the temple entrance with the two other Bobs as well, as if the four had been lifelong friends all along. Miko gazed over his shoulder and gestured for the Faeries to follow, and the two groups quickly disappeared from sight as they stepped into the temple realm towards the danger within.


    Thirty minutester, another trio arrived at the top of the step, their awe-struck gazes inspecting the temple before them for a moment before bing serious once more.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s not stand out here in the open,¡± Iris said to Adam and Chase, thetter who joined their group just a day ago after running into them.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You¡¯re right, we don¡¯t have any time to waste,¡± Adam replied while nodding his head. ¡°I won¡¯t rest until Kadin ceases to exist. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    The trio quickly entered the temple realm as well, disappearing in the guarding mist within the front entrance.


    ¡­


    At the very far end of the temple realm, the ancient dragon corpse rested in eternal slumber. All that remained of the dragon was its bones, which were a brilliant shade of Jade, but even so the dragon was beyond awe-inspiring.<sub></sub>


    Getting to the end of the temple realm was quite an arduous task, requiring one to traverse dangerousnds and surpass perilous trials. Most of the youths that had entered the temple realm were still in the initial parts of the realm, and even the most talented of youths were still just barely halfway through.


    As one got closer to the ancient dragon corpse, it became harder and harder to move as its mighty aura pressed down on all. The dragon corpse rested atop a massive tform dozens of miles wide; a tform that had a massive staircase leading up to it. The staircase itself was several miles wide, and made of golden material, making the tform look incredibly grand, as if it had been created for the sole purpose of being the dragon¡¯s eternal resting area.


    At the base of the stairs stood a lone figure, a human youth with short ck hair. His narrowed eyes stared up at the massive dragon corpse before him, a corpse which made him look even smaller than an ant.


    His eyes ran up and down as he inspected the corpse, and eventually lingered on a bone that rested at the convergence point of the dragon¡¯s neck bones and ribs. Whenpared to the rest of the massive dragon, the bone was almost imperceptible. It was only two feet wide and one foot long, making it appear like a speck of dust on the dragon¡¯s corpse.


    However, the bone was the deepest shade of Jade, and emanated the strongest aura of all.


    ¡°The Dragon-Essence Bone,¡± Asuros muttered as he spotted what he hade for. He had been tasked by his master to obtain this bone at all costs, and this bone was the sole reason why the Asura creature had spent such an exorbitant number of resources to transport the other youths into the realm.


    With the chaos they sowed within the realm, obtaining this bone would be easier for his disciple. He desired this bone above all else, and spared no cost to obtain it.


    After inspecting the corpse for some time, Asuros stepped onto the first step leading up to the Dragon¡¯s corpse. The moment his foot touched the first step, he felt an invasive energy wash through his body. His movements paused for a moment while he inspected the energy within him, before a look of realization appeared on his face.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what this is all about,¡± Asuros mused as he felt the energy focus on his muscles, bones, and specifically blood. ¡°It¡¯s like the Talent Testing Steps, only these stairs test the power and purity of one¡¯s bloodline, and since this belonged to the ancient Jade Dragon Empire, I¡¯m sure it tested the quality and purity of one¡¯s dragon blood.¡±


    A smug expression appeared on Asuros¡¯s face as he came to this realization.


    ¡°Hmph, I may not have any dragon blood in my veins, but what flows within is something even greater,¡± he scoffed as he stepped forward once more, while the restrictive energy increased in power and profundity once more.


    Asuros quickly made his way up the stairs, his initial progress incredibly swift but slowing as he progressed. Halfway up the stairs, his movement came to a halt as his face was red with strain. He continued to push forward, but was unable to do so.


    ¡°Tch,¡± Asuros clicked his tongue in frustration as he moved backwards and returned to the base of the steps.


    ¡°While my blood is of a higher quality than even that of dragons, this test specifically tests for dragon blood talent. Those without dragon blood will find the test much harder to progress through it seems,¡± Asuros mused as he thought over the issue.


    ¡°Fine, if I cannot ascend normally, then I¡¯ll just smash through it with overwhelming might!¡± Asuros scoffed as he sat down in a meditated position at the base of the steps. A massive sphere of human blood essence appeared in the air before him and hovered in ce, held up by his QI. A smirk appeared on his face as he gazed at the sphere of blood, while it started to stream towards his lower stomach and disappear within his body.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ascend to the Dao Transformation Realm, obtain the Dragon-Essence Bone, and then ughter all within, both friend and foe alike, absorbing each drop of blood along the way.¡± Asuros mused to himself with a smug, expectant smile on his face. ¡°This realm is turning out to be far better than I could ever have hoped for!¡±

 Chapter 683 Blood, Bone, and Rebirth

    Rumble!


    Asuros¡¯ meditation was instantly interrupted as the realm began to tremble violently. He stood up from his seated position and gazed up at the dragon corpse before him, as the source of the rumbling came from the dragon itself. The aura from the dragon corpse had suddenly erupted with a different power, as if it were still alive.


    However, it was clearly dead, and so Asuros mused it to be the work of some hidden formation close to the dragon. Regardless of the true reason, the aura seemed to awaken something within the temple realm, which continued to violently tremble.


    As thend trembled, three objects suddenly appeared on the stairs leading up to the dragons corpse, ascending from the ground below. The objects continued to grow in size as they climbed higher, until they eventually appeared in full. Asuros¡¯ eyebrows raised slightly as he gazed at the three structures before him.


    ¡°Pagodas?¡± he mused with interest, as the objects that had emerged from beneath the stairs were three pagodas.


    Two of the pagodas had appeared halfway up the staircase, coincidentally at the same step Asuros stopped at. They appeared on either side of the massive mile wide staircase, and pierced hundreds of yards into the sky.


    Each pagoda was pure gold in color, with nine jade eaves appearing on the outside. There were ancient dragon statues and carvings all over the exterior of the pagodas, making them look both imposing and regal at the same time.


    An entrance appeared at the base of the pagodas, an archway about a dozen yards tall. The archways were guarded by two jade dragon statues, each appearing incredibly lifelike. Above each archway were a series of words carved into the building itself. The words emanated an ancient and regal aura as well, as if still containing the Dao¡¯s of the master calligrapher that had carved them.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Blood of the Jade Dragon? And Bone of the Jade Dragon?¡± Asuros mumbled out loud as he read the carved words above the two pagoda archways.


    His gaze then shifted to the very top of the steps, where a third pagoda had appeared, just before the ancient dragon corpse. The pagoda was simr in design to the other two, onlyrger and much more regal.


    The front entrance, an archway also a dozen yards tall, glowed with a bright golden light, as if weing all to enter. Asuros gazed at the pagoda, and read the words carved above its entrance.


    ¡°Rebirth of the Jade Dragon? How interesting,¡± he mused with interest as a smile appeared on his face. Whatever had just urred was no doubt a grandiose thing, and most likely contained treasures beyond imagining within.


    His gaze lingered on the three pagodas for some time before he ignored them and sat down in his original position, resuming his cultivation session with the hopes of breaking through to the Dao Transformation Realm.


    ¡­


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Hundreds of swords swirled through the air, each appearing as if they contained stars and constetions within. The swords dashed all about, chasing a ck blur that fought back against them. A thick kingly aura surrounded the ck blur, slowing down the swords and eventually dissipating them into thin air.


    ¡°Die!¡± Luth yelled as he appeared before Vargul, his Dao Transformation sword in hand which glowed brightly as if it were a star itself.


    With the help of his Astral Sword Domain, he had fought against Vargul with lethal ferocity. However, Varguls own domain, one that almost seemed to make him the king of the domain he stood within, fought back against the sword domain, locking the two in a fierce and direct battle.


    Bang!


    The two collided once again, their exchange destroying the already ravagednd all around them. The verdurousnd had turned into a fiery hellscape, with only the two of them battling within.<sub></sub>


    ¡°I never expected the Honorable Alliance to actually have fangs,¡± Vargul replied after steadying himself, his yellow pupils staring at Luth. He had not expected Luth to be as strong as he was, fighting someone as strong as himself to a perfect standstill.


    He had tried to kill Luth in this battle, but was not able to find an opening at all. Despite the faded glory of the Honorable Alliance, it appeared as though they were not a lost cause just yet.


    ¡°This ¡®fang¡¯ will cut you down today, before doing the same to the rest of your friends,¡± Luth replied coldly as he prepared to unleash another monstrous attack.


    A weing smile appeared on Varguls face as he bared his sharp fangs, but his gaze suddenly shifted to the side as if noticing something. His eyes narrowed slightly before his gaze shifted back towards Luth.


    ¡°It appears we¡¯ll have to resume this battle at ater time, as an annoyance is about to interrupt our battle¡± Vargul said as he suddenly sped into the distance, his speed beyond even Luths.


    Luth wanted to give chase, but realized he was not able to catch his speedy opponent. His cold gaze shifted towards the direction that Vargul had stared, and a figure quickly appeared.


    ¡°Where did he go?¡± the neer asked Luth, his gaze filled with murderous frost.


    ¡°What business do you have with Vargul, Igris?¡± Luth asked Igris, the genius beast race youth that had epted the Honorable Alliance¡¯s invite to join at the start of the realm opening. The invitation was the Honorable Alliance¡¯s attempt to court favor with the beast race. Igris had quickly revealed his overwhelming power within, and had early on obtained the number one Jade Dragon List spot.


    ¡°Does that matter to you?¡± Igris asked Luth.


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Luth replied while he put away his sword. ¡°Follow me. Perhaps we can catch up to him eventually, and snuff out his life together.¡±


    Igris nodded his head, and prepared to follow Luth in their pursuit of Vargul.


    Rumble!


    The realm suddenly started to rumble violently, while the dragon aura exploded out with mesmerizing allure. The startling change urred for some time before fading away, at which point Luth and Igris gazed at each other.


    ¡°Vargul will no doubt move towards the source of that aura, as his greed will overwhelm any sense of self-preservation,¡± Igris said to Luth.


    ¡°Then that is where we will go as well.¡±


    ¡­


    Rumble!


    The appearance of the three pagodas sent a powerful tremor all throughout the temple realm, which was felt by all within. At the same time, the aura emanating from the dragon corpse flooded the entire temple realm as well, attracting all eyes within towards it.


    No one knew exactly what was going on, but everyone could tell that something amazing had most likely just happened, and the location was the ancient dragon corpse. With the various treasures, trials, rewards, and life and death battles scattered about, most of the youths within had not been rushing towards the ancient dragon corpse in the distance.


    However, that had now changed, as almost all the youths within sped towards the source of the aura. For the enemy geniuses, it was another treasure to seek out, and reward to im. For the Honorable Alliance, they moved towards it with the hope of obtaining something to turn the tides of the war. Regardless of the reason, the change within the temple realm had ignited the interest of all within, and steadily pushed them towards a final confrontation.

 Chapter 684 Final Obstacle

    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Deafening footsteps echoed through a foggy swamp of rot and death as the Cinderme Drake dashed forward without care, carving a quick path through the Dao Transformation trial. On its back rested John and the others, who hade to appreciate the speed at which they were progressing.


    ¡°We¡¯ve saved at least a few weeks of traveling,¡± Laia said as she watched the dark and foggy scenery pass them by. Distant roars of other beasts sted out asionally, but none had dared to confront the Cinderme Drake. Within this realm, its power was almost unmatched.


    ¡°Good, because we have no time to waste,¡± John replied. He had calmed down a bit since his initial discovery of the enemy¡¯s invasion, but his raging me of anger had turned into a hot cinder, smoldering in silence, waiting to burst into mes once more.<sub>.</sub>


    A small frown appeared on Laia¡¯s face as she saw John¡¯s dark, brooding mood. She wanted to say that everything will be alright and that they¡¯d arrive in time, but she knew she would only be lying if she said that. They had gathered some information of what was going on based on the updates to the Jade Dragon List, but news was sparse at best.


    The list made mention of a temple at the end of the final realm, which was to be the ce of theirst stand.


    The Cinderme Drake suddenly came to a sudden halt, stirring John and Laia from their deep thoughts. A frown appeared on John¡¯s face as he stood up and moved towards the drakes head. He wanted to ask why it had stopped, but the drakes gaze told him everything he needed to know; a gaze of caution¡­and fear.


    ¡°Tch!¡± John clicked his tongue as he realized what was going on.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Laia asked as she arrived next to John. ¡°Why did the drake suddenly stop?¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°There¡¯s something ahead that even this drake fears, and it won¡¯t move any closer,¡± John replied.


    ¡°Something even the drake fears?¡± Laia repeated as she gazed into the dimly lit fog with heightened caution.


    ¡°This is as far as our quick journey goes,¡± John said to Laia as he hopped off the drakes head and to the ground below. Laia did the same, andnded beside him while the drake turned around and sped off into the distance from where it hade.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have forced the drake to help us with whatever is in front of us?¡± Laia asked curiously.


    ¡°No,¡± John replied sinctly as he shook his head sideways. ¡°The drake fears what¡¯s in front of us more than it does me. If I forced it to help, it would rather fight me than fight¡­whatever lurks ahead.¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s another Demon?¡± Laia asked softly.


    ¡°I doubt it,¡± John dismissed her idea. ¡°If there were two Demons in this realm, they would most likely work together to attempt to break out, or at least fully dominate this realm. But that doesn¡¯t change that whatever is in front is beyond dangerous, and is most likely not something either of us can handle.¡±


    ¡°What should we do then?¡± Laia asked, deferring to John¡¯s judgment.


    ¡°What else can we do? We move forward,¡± he replied without hesitation as he started to walk forward. Laia stared at his back for a brief second before following along closely, prepared to follow his lead. He had led them through the realm thus far, and she was sure he would be able to do something about what lurked ahead as well.


    Kirii suddenly appeared next to the two, while John instructed him to guard Laia should anything happen.


    ¡°Aye!¡± Kirii replied, before nuzzling his head against Laia for more head pats, who couldn¡¯t help but smile as she obliged his request.


    The three continued to slowly and cautiously make their way forward through the dark and dampnd, their auras withdrawn as much as possible, and guards heightened. As they proceeded forward, an ominous silence descended upon the area, like it was and of death. All three felt their instincts re with warning as they ventured forward.


    An aura familiar to John slowly but surely increased in intensity, giving warning of the danger toe. Laia too felt the aura, even more strongly than John, as it was theplete opposite of her being; the aura of death.


    A bright green glow slowly became apparent through the thick fog, a sight that brought joy to John and Laia.


    ¡°The portal to leave this trial!¡± John said, his voice no more than a soft whisper. A sheer cliff face miles high guarded the way forward, and at the very base was the formation portal, its green light a warm andforting contrast to the dark and damnnd they had traversed over thest several weeks.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Laia¡¯s voice sounded out in John¡¯s mind as she used mental sound transmissions tomunicate. Both John and Kirii immediately stopped, sensing the urgent danger in Laia¡¯s warning.


    Their eyes peered forward through the roiling fog, and a silhouette floating high above in the distance directly above the portal just barely came into view. The silhouette, which was over fifty yards in size, was dark and shrouded in shadows, but its bulbous body and eight long legs gave insight into what exactly it was.


    ¡°A spider?¡± John said through sound transmissions.


    The creature seemed to hover in the sky, but John was just barely able to make out a massive web on which the creature sat, a web nearly half a mile wide. Dozens of dried up corpses of Dao Transformation beasts clung to the web as well, not a drop of blood remaining within any of them.


    ¡°Not just any spider¡­a Deathshroud Spider!¡± Laia replied, her voice full of grave warning. ¡°The most lethal of all Dao Transformation spiders! And its cultivation is in the Late Dao Transformation Realm¡­this creature is beyond our capability to handle!¡±

 Chapter 685 Veil of Time

    ¡°A Deathshroud Spider?¡± John replied as he scoured his memories for knowledge of the beast. However, he did not contain any information of this beast, which was something that made him frown in displeasure. ¡°I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve heard of it before.¡±


    ¡®It seems my knowledge of the cultivation world has fallen far behind, as I haven¡¯t had much time to read up on things sinceing to the Divine Martial Continent. Thankfully Laia is here for now, but it appears as though I¡¯ll need to do some reading again once this is all over.¡¯


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised that you¡¯ve never heard of it,¡± Laia replied mentally through their sound transmission. ¡°This is a very rare spider, and even the entire Divine Martial Continent most likely only contains a handful. It seems as though the ancient Jade Dragon Empire loved to collect rare and dangerous beasts to put in this trial.¡±


    ¡°So what makes it so dangerous?¡± John asked, but could already guess the reason.


    ¡°Its aura,¡± Laia replied as she gazed towards the spider, its silhouette just barely visible through the dark fog. ¡°As its name implies, the spider naturally emanated the Dao of Death, shrouding it within, hence the name. Just getting close to it will require you to step into its shroud of death, which is strong enough to kill most equal cultivation opponents. Even if you can handle the aura of death, it¡¯s still shockingly powerful when ites to its attacks, and it contains a lethal venom even more potent than its aura. It truly is a creature of pure lethality.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    John frowned as he heard all this, as their final opponent seemed to be more than they could realistically handle. His gaze lingered on the spider for a bit, and then the portal behind it. The massive half-mile wide web covered the way forward to the portal as well, causing him to frown once more. He could tell from a nce that the web was made from incredible materials, and was not something easy to break through.


    If they tried to make a mad dash for the portal, the webs would no doubt slow them down enough for the spider to catch them. His mind raced for ideas, as they needed to move forward past the spider no matter what. He couldn¡¯t go all out again this spider by using his Asura Transformation and bloodline ability, as he needed to preserve his strength for whatid on the other side of the portal. Only one feasible idea came to mind, but it had a ring problem.


    ¡°I have an idea, but it has one massive problem,¡± John said to Laia.


    ¡°What¡¯s the idea?¡± she asked.<sub></sub>


    ¡°This spider is definitely beyond my ability to battle head on, but I can tell its strength lies in its shroud of death, its speed, and its venom. Its body is most likely average durability whenpared to other Dao Transformation beasts, so if I was able tond a Dragontail Decimation on it, it should not only stun the spider for long enough for us to dash forward, but also break the webs as well.¡±


    Laia thought over his idea, and recalled when he had used that attack once before. Its power was beyond overwhelming, and was potentially capable of doing what he just described.


    ¡°That could work,¡± Laia replied after musing it over.


    ¡°The ring problem is that the attack takes a full minute to charge, and my aura will be ring with power as I do so. The spider will notice instantly, and neither you nor Kirii is strong enough to stall it for a full minute,¡± John exined the downside to the idea.<sub></sub>


    A thoughtful expression appeared on Laia¡¯s face, before her crystal blue eyes shifted to gaze at John once more.


    ¡°I might be able to help with that issue,¡± she replied, her words causing a glimmer of hope to the situation.


    ¡°How?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°By using my Dao of Time powers!¡±


    ¡°Your Dao of Time powers? How will that help? There¡¯s no way you can control the spider for that long,¡± John rebuked.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, but I won¡¯t be freezing the spider in time¡­instead, I¡¯ll wrap us up in a bubble of time, separating us from the rest of the world!¡±


    ¡°You can do that?¡± John asked.


    ¡°I think so,¡± Laia replied with a thoughtful expression. ¡°I¡¯ve never tried it before, but I don¡¯t see why it can¡¯t work. I¡¯ll create ayer of frozen time around us, so that your aura will be frozen once it reaches theyer of frozen time. Unless the spider spots us visually, it won¡¯t notice us at all while you charge your attack,¡± she exined.


    ¡°When you¡¯re ready to unleash your attack, I¡¯ll lower the veil of time, and you can unleash your attack. To us, it will appear normal, but to the spider, it will appear as if you attacked instantly!¡±


    ¡°Thats¡­that¡¯s incredible,¡± John eximed as he realized the idea could work, before his face twisted slightly. ¡°Hey, why didn¡¯t you think of this earlier. We could have used this tandem ability to handle all the previous dangers!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not as amazing as it sounds,¡± Laia rebuked his idea. ¡°This idea only works if we¡¯re not spotted visually, and if we are, we would have no warning at all while we¡¯re attacked. If the spider were to notice us while we¡¯re in the bubble of time and attack us, it would appear instantaneous to us as well. It¡¯s very risky, and should only be used as ast resort. Also, my Dao of Time is quite exhausting to use, and is a bit like your bloodline ability. I can¡¯t use it very often, and so I should only use it when necessary.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that makes sense,¡± John replied, slightly dejected by her exnation. If the ability had no downsides, they would basically be invincible in battle. However, the ability had two ring ws, and could only be used in fringe situations, such as this one.


    Even in this situation, if they were to be noticed by the spider before unleashing the attack, it would appear before them instantaneously from their perspective, and they would die in an instant without a doubt. It was a risky gamble, but one they were required to make.

 Chapter 686 Aura of Death

    ¡°Let¡¯s do it then,¡± John said after thinking it all over as the two started to discuss the details of the n.


    Some timeter, Laia, Kirri, and John stood together, just out of the notice of the Deathshroud Spider.


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯ll be able to make it after us?¡± Laia asked, her voice tinged with slight concern.


    ¡°I am,¡± John replied confidently. ¡°Just focus on getting through the portal. Kirii will take you there safetly. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Laia stared at John for a moment, her lips pursed slightly, but nodded her head in agreement after a brief hesitation.


    ¡°Mhm¡­are you ready?¡± she asked.


    ¡°I am,¡± John replied firmly, prepared for the battle toe.


    Laia breathed in deeply and closed her eyes, while her right hand moved towards her chest. Her fingers touched her chest just below her corbone, at which point an incredibly profound aura began to emanate from her.<sub>.</sub>


    Her face scrunched up in strained concentration as she activated her innate Dao of Time rune as slowly as she could, freezing a thinyer of space around them in a bubble of time. She slowly expanded the bubble as calmly as she could, doing her best to avoid any slip up that would alert the spider. John stood there in silence as he felt the profound aura of time all around them.


    As the bubble of frozen time appeared, the world seemed to freeze as well. The slightly swaying of leaves stopped, and the ambient sound of the dark forest ceased. It was as if the world around them had be frozen, a feeling that was quite stifling for John. To them, time was moving normally, and to the outside it was the same, but the two were separated by the bubble, as if existing in different realities.


    The spider could have noticed them at this moment and begun its attack, but neither of them would notice at all, making John feel as though he had gone blind in a way.


    He stretched out his hand towards the barrier of time and felt it unable to move forward once it came into contact with it. He could tell that if he wanted to shatter the barrier with his full power he could do so, but the inability to move forward at all through the barrier was quite bizarre.


    The invisible bubble of time continued to expand for a short while, eventually forming a cocoon several dozen yards wide. Laia¡¯s face had started to be red with strain, and she muttered words through strained breath.


    ¡°You can start,¡± she said. John nodded his head as a serious look appeared on his face, while Kirii appeared before Laia. The powerful aura that was about to explode from John would no doubt overwhelm her while she was focused on the time barrier if Kirii did not help her.


    Boom!<sub></sub>


    John¡¯s aura suddenly exploded as he wasted no time at all to begin his channeling process. The bubble of time instantly flooded with a monstrous aura, while Kirii¡¯s own power red to wrap up Laia with a proactiveyer of Qi.


    The monstrously powerful aura within the barrier continued to climb as John fed essence Qi from his dantian into the core of the battle art, which quickly began to condense with power. The Dragontail Decimation continued to greedily absorb whatever essence Qi could throw at it, as if the battle art had no limits.


    John felt his meridians begin to strain from the building power, while his dantian fought with full power to contain the mass of condensed energy. Within the time barrier, the monstrous aura grew ceaselessly, while Kirii¡¯s own power fought back to protect Laia.


    This process continued for a full minute, but to the three inside the barrier, it seemed as if it had taken a lifetime. Laia¡¯s face was flushed red, while her lips trembled as if she were about to copse from fatigue. The barrier started to waver ever so slightly as she neared the end of her ability to separate them from the rest of the world, but she remained silent as she pushed herself to the limit.


    John¡¯s eyes finally snapped open, his gaze flickering with uncontained lightning as if his two eyes were cores of lightning. Lightning flickered over his skin, as if ready to burst with absolute power at any moment.


    ¡°Now!¡± John eximed, his voice strained as his body and dantian were pushed to the limit.


    The profound Dao emanating from Laia instantly vanished, and the strain from using the ability for so long finally overwhelmed her as she copsed to her knees. However, Kirii grabbed her before she could fall down, wrapping her with his Qi and cing her on his back. Kirii shed forward towards the portal without hesitation, entrusting the rest of the process to John.<sub></sub>


    Schreeech!


    A horrifying screech boomed out from the spider as John¡¯s monstrous aura suddenly appeared from out of nowhere. Its numerous eyes locked onto him who stood in the distance, gazing at the spider with cold indifference. The spider¡¯s gaze quickly shifted onto Kirii and Laia, who were fast approaching its domain. A horrifying screech boomed out once more as it moved to capture them.


    ¡°Dragontail Decimation!¡±


    A lighting node of unimaginable power appeared directly above the Deathshroud Spider, while the world suddenly seemed to be pure light for the briefest of moments.


    A lightning beam in the form of a dragon¡¯s tail mmed out from the lightning node, directly onto the spider¡¯s back. At the same time, John recovered from the strenuous attack as fast as possible, and sped forward towards the distant portal as well.


    Boom!


    A horrifying explosion of lighting instantly destroyed everything in its path, swallowing thend for miles in each direction with its cmitous power. The massive spider web disintegrated from the explosion, unable to resist its overwhelming might, while the spider fought back against the monstrous attack that had appeared from nowhere.


    Che!


    A beam of lightning pierced directly through the explosion and into the spiders shroud of death. A brilliant golden light erupted as Laia activated her Dao of Life to resist the death energy, shielding both herself and Kirii from its lethal touch.


    The golden beam of lightning pierced forward at incredible speed and darted past the Deathshroud Spider before it could recover from the decimating attack. John watched with relief as Kirii and Laia disappeared into the portal, safely making their way past the Deathshroud Spider.


    His relief vanished as another horrifying screech erupted from the spider, who began to move once more as it recovered from his attack. Its back was charred with a massive wound carved deep within, but the spider was not lethally injured by John¡¯s ultimate attack.


    ¡°Tch, even something like that was not able to kill you,¡± John clicked his tongue in frustration as he sped forward at his fastest possible speed. Based on the spider¡¯s rate of recovery, he was confident in making it to the portal before it could react.


    His eyes suddenly widened as a horrifying aura of death erupted from the spider, far greater than it had disyed before. The spider seemed to realize it would not physically be able to stop John in time, and so had erupted with its strongest aura to kill him that way instead.


    John felt the aura of death wash over his body, rotting his flesh and sapping his body of any source of vitality. This ability was the reason the Cinderme Drake had avoided the spider at all costs, as it was something that consumed all life without regard, and was not something it was able to resist. It was truly a terrifying ability, and would have killed John incredibly quickly were it not for a singr thing; his master¡¯s training.


    John¡¯s body, which had been bathed in Lilian¡¯s Dao of Death aura daily for months on end, had be resistant to the aura of death, enough to keep himself alive at the moment. Were it not for that training, he would have no doubt already been overwhelmed by the monstrous aura of deathing from the spider.


    However, even with his master¡¯s gruesome training, John still felt himself nearly overwhelmed by the aura.


    Che!


    His body shot forward like a bolt of lightning, piercing right past the Deathshroud Spider which had finally recovered from the Dragontail Decimation. One of its legs mmed down towards John with overwhelming might, so powerful that it would crush him in an instant in his current state.


    Boom!


    The spider¡¯s leg mmed down onto the earth at John¡¯s location, shattering the already ruinednd for miles in each direction. Another terrifying screech erupted from the spider, a screech which contained furious anger as it had watched John enter the portal just before its attack hadnded.


    After six long weeks filled with danger and death, John and Laia had finally made it out of the Dao Transformation trial.

 Chapter 687 Daughter of Jade

    sh!


    Laia¡¯s vision shed white as she entered the portal, quickly appearing on the other side. Her fatigued eyes took in the scenery before her, which was a massive golden room several hundred yards long and wide, with a roof even higher above.


    The golden room was empty save for hundreds of objects that floated in the air above her, each wrapped up in a semi-translucent bubble. Each item hovering above was grand and marvelous, but she ignored them as she turned to gaze at the portal she had juste from.


    Her worried eyes stared at the portal with great intensity, while her uncertainty rose by the second. Each second seemed tost a lifetime, as silence flooded the room.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he¡¯ll be fine,¡± Kirii consoled Laia, as he could tell she was worried for John¡¯s safety.


    ¡°Mmm,¡± Laia hummed in agreement as she smiled and patted Kirii¡¯s head, but her worried gaze betrayed her true feelings.<sub>.</sub>


    After what seemed like an eternity to her¡­


    sh!


    Another sh of light flooded the room as John appeared within. Laia breathed out a heavy sigh of relief as her eyes lit up with happiness, but that happiness quickly faded away as she took in the state of his body. His skin had be desated and ckened in many ces, like it was about to fall off from rot, while his vitality seemed sapped as well.


    ¡°You¡¯re hurt!¡± Laia eximed as she rushed towards John and instantly started healing him.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± John replied, ¡°these injuries appear worse than they actually are. I¡¯ll heal from them before long.¡±<sub></sub>


    Even without Laia¡¯s help, his unlocked Limiter of Healing would help him quickly recover from these aura of death inflicted wounds. However, the situation would have been much worse if not for his masters training, something that John was sure to never reveal to her. If he admitted to her training saving his life, he was sure she would never let him hear the end of it. He could already imagine her smug smile staring at him as he told her what had happened, quickly followed by another hellish death aura training session. He was resolved to never give her that satisfaction of being right.


    Laia ignored John¡¯s words and continued to heal him, something he did not protest against. His gaze shifted about the massive empty room before him, and took in the various items hovering high above.


    ¡®This is exactly like the other True Warrior Trial,¡¯ John mused internally as the two rooms were almost identical. The only difference was that this room wasrger, and the items within more impressive based on their appearances and auras.


    Both John and Laia suddenly felt an almost ticklish sensation on their upper chest, something that they had felt quite a few times before. John pulled down the cor of his robe to inspect his Jade Marks, and couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes as he saw his score, which had increased by ten thousand marks.


    ¡®Wow¡­my Jade Mark count was just over two thousand, but I¡¯ve catapulted up to twelve thousand in an instant.¡¯<sub></sub>


    John couldn¡¯t help but be surprised at the amount he received, but after thinking it over, he thought of it as almost too low.


    ¡°Ten thousand Jade Marks!¡± Laia couldn¡¯t help but exim, surprised as well.


    ¡°Tch, I doubt anyone has ever gone through the Dao Transformation Trial while in the Heaven Tribtion realm,¡± he said to Laia, ¡°I feel as though this amount is too low.¡±


    ¡°Actually, one person did achieve that feat in the past,¡± another voice sounded out within the empty room, catching both John and Laia off guard.


    ¡°You!¡± John replied as he recognized the sound of the voice, as it was the same voice as the previous temple spirit he had encountered after the True Warrior Trial.


    ¡°We meet again,¡± the temple spirit replied indifferently, as if unable to feel any emotions.


    ¡°You¡¯ve met before?¡± Laia asked curiously, her guard rxed after realizing the source of the voice was a temple spirit.


    ¡°Once before, after a trial I hadpleted earlier in this realm,¡± John exined, before a small frown appeared on his face. ¡°You said one hadpleted this trial in the Heaven Tribtion realm before? Who was it?¡± John asked the temple spirit, curious to hear the answer.


    ¡°The daughter of the Jade Dragon Emperor,¡± the temple spirit replied.


    ¡°The Jade Dragon Emperor¡¯s daughter?¡± John repeated. He had no idea the Jade Dragon Emperor had such a talented daughter, but then again, he knew almost nothing of the warrior from the ancient past.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± the temple spirit replied. ¡°She was by far the most talented youth to arise within the Jade Dragon Empire after it was established by the Jade Dragon Emperor, and she managed to survive this realm while having a cultivation in the Peak Heaven Tribtion Realm.¡±


    John¡¯s eyebrows raised once more as he heard this, as he had expected her cultivation to be at the Half-Step Dao Transformation realm instead. Were it not for Laia, he would most likely have had to get his cultivation to the Late Heaven Tribtion realm to pass the trial safely, something that gave an insight into how powerful the Jade Dragon Emperor¡¯s daughter had been.


    ¡°The Jade Dragon Empire surely was and of tigers and dragons,¡± John replied, impressed at just how far above the current world they were in all aspects of cultivation.


    ¡°Whatever happened to the Jade Dragon Emperor¡¯s daughter?¡± John asked, as he had never heard of her before. Surely someone as talented as her carved a name for herself in the ancient past, and should still be remembered.


    The temple spirit remained silent for a short while, before its voice sounded out once again.


    ¡°You have sessfully passed the Dao Transformation trial, and have received your Jade Marks. As you did before, you may choose from the items above. You have ten thousand Jade Marks to spend.¡±


    John frowned as he realized the temple spirit had changed the subject, but did not push the issue and instead gazed up at the item above. He gazed at the very top, and a familiar looking object came into view.


    Another reverse scale of an ancient dragon!

 Chapter 688 Obtaining Treasures

    Laia also gazed at the reverse dragon scale, her eyes slightly wide with wonder. Reverse dragon scales from true dragons were incredibly rare, and even she had never seen one before in her life despite her esteemed lineage. True dragons were almost non-existent on the Divine Marital Continent after the ancient war, and any corpse and reverse scales would have been plundered long ago.


    John¡¯s divine sense stretched up to the reverse dragon scale, and paused for a moment as he thought it over for a second.


    ¡°You know, you still haven¡¯t told me what these scales are for,¡± John said out loud to the temple spirit, ¡°and while the first reverse dragon scale helped me out once, it¡¯s not very useful. Are you sure it¡¯s worth spending all these Jade Marks on?¡±


    ¡°This realm was designed by the esteemed Emperor himself,¡± the temple spirit replied, his voice normally monotone voice filled with slight displeasure, ¡°each of his actions are perfect and beyond yourprehension. Do not doubt his design again!¡±


    John raised an eyebrow, as he could tell he had managed to piss off a temple spirit, which was a feat in and of itself.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°Fine, fine, I¡¯ll y along,¡± John sighed as he linked his divine sense to the translucent orb containing the ancient dragon reverse scale.


    ¡°Five thousand points!¡± John eximed as the price came into his mind, shocked by the high number. ¡°This is almost ten times the amount of the previous scale,¡± he grumbled, but received no reply from the temple spirit.


    ¡°Fine, fine, I don¡¯t have time to waste on petty conversation,¡± he grumbled once more as he linked his divine sense to the scale to obtain it. The moment he did, the ancient and prideful aura from the scale erupted, filling the room with its splendor.


    John scoffed as he pulled the scale down towards him and grabbed it unceremoniously.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Like I said, I don¡¯t have time for games,¡± John muttered as his own power red, fighting against the ancient scale. A battle between the two broke out for a brief moment before both auras faded away. The reverse scale no longer protested his grasp, while Laia sighed at John¡¯s monstrous disy as if expecting nothing else.


    Things such as instantly subduing a true dragon¡¯s reverse scale was a tall task even for the most esteemed of geniuses, and yet John had aplished it in a mere instant. She was considered one of the most talented geniuses on the continent, and yet she couldn¡¯t help but admit defeat in regards to talent whenpared to John.


    ¡°You still have five thousand points¡­what else are you going to get?¡± Laia asked curiously as she stood besides him.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted back up to the items above, and scanned them before locking onto a particr item. His eyes lit up slightly, and his divine sense instantly locked onto the item, which cost five thousand Jade Marks as well.<sub></sub>


    ¡°This costs as much as the reverse scale!¡± John eximed as he paused his actions.


    ¡°This is the weapon the Jade Dragon Emperor himself used all the way up to the Peak of the Dao Transformation Realm. If you ask me, the cost is too low,¡± the temple spirit scoffed at John¡¯s ignorance.


    ¡°The Jade Dragon Emperor used this battle axe?¡± John eximed, shocked to hear this piece of news. The battle axe had a golden shaft, four feet long with intricate yet subtle carvings of dragons on the shaft, light enough to not affect one¡¯s grip, but deep enough to carve an imposing look into the axe. The de at the top was double sided and three feet wide, with the center on either side containing a carving of a dragon¡¯s head, pure gold in color. Each de on either side was jade green in color which gradually faded into gold as it moved towards the center of the de, making it look like a battle axe truly fit for an emperor.


    After hearing it was the Jade Dragon Emperor¡¯s battle axe he had used during his youth, John hesitated no more and locked onto the item. The translucent orb faded away, and a dragon¡¯s roar boomed out as the weapon shot down towards John, almost as if to attack him.


    ¡°You dare?¡± John asked with a raised voice of displeasure as he realized the weapon was truly attacking him.


    Boom!


    The weapon mmed onto John¡¯s fist as he punched out towards the weapon, while the powerful collision shook therge room violently. John¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he noticed blood coursing down his closed fist, as the battle axe had carved into the top of his fist down to the bone.


    ¡®This battle axe alone was able to injure my powerful body without being held by a cultivator or empowered with a battle art. Incredible!¡¯


    John was shocked by the sharpness and quality of the weapon, as well as the ferocity of the artifact spirit within. A look of greed appeared on his face as he stretched out his other hand towards the shaft of the battle axe.


    ¡°You¡¯re mine!¡±


    His power red, flooding through the battle axe, while a dragon¡¯s roar appeared within his mind, attempting to shatter it from within. A furious battle between the two raged on for a short moment, as the proud artifact spirit within the weapon refused to be subdued by anyone other than the Jade Dragon Emperor.


    The powerful sh of auras slowly faded away, and just like the battle with the reverse scale, the battle between John and the battle axe artifact spirit came to an end. The battle axe no longer resisted his grasp, a sign that it had been fully subdued.


    ¡°The core of this weapon¡¯s artifact spirit is the reverse scale of another ancient dragon. Over a hundred have tried to subdue this weapon after it was ced here, but none have ever seeded,¡± the temple spirit¡¯s voice sounded out once more. ¡°Congrattions. You are the first since the Jade Dragon Emperor himself to sessfully wield this marvelous weapon!¡±

 Chapter 689 Matching Looks

    John carefully inspected the battle axe in his grasp, turning it over several times to inspect each inch of it. The weapon¡¯s weight was well over thirty thousand pounds, and was almost too much for him to wield in his base state. It was definitely not a weapon meant for Heaven Tribtion cultivators, but thankfully John¡¯s body was beyond freakish and able to manage its weight.


    ¡®Only by using this weapon in my augmented battle forms will I be able to unleash its true power. This weapon could not be more perfect!¡¯


    ¡°Congrattions,¡± Laia said cheerily while smiling, her melodic voice snapping John out of his thoughts. He turned to her, and couldn¡¯t help but smile as well.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± John replied, before his gaze shifted back up towards the items above. ¡°You also have ten thousand Jade Marks to spend. What are you going to get?¡± he asked curiously.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already picked what I want,¡± Laia replied, revealing that she had inspected the items during John¡¯s selection period and made up her mind already. Her divine sense red upwards as it locked onto the first object she wanted, which was a beautiful light green dress.<sub>.</sub>


    The dress was incredibly beautiful in color and design, and most importantly of all, was lined with dragon scales. Intricate formation runes were carved into the dress material and scales as well, making it look all the more mesmerizing.


    The dress floated down towards Laia, who happily grasped it with a cheerful smile on her face. She held it up before her while she closely inspected it, and nodded with happy satisfaction as her movements seemed to freeze before John¡¯s eyes. Her figure instantly changed as she once again started moving, while the dress appeared on her body, making John realize she had frozen time around her for a brief moment to change her dress.


    The formation runes on the dress lit up ever so slightly, making the dress even more beautiful and also formidable. John could tell that the formation was a defensive formation, and that thebination of the dragon scales and defensive formation would make for a formidable toughness. Even he would have trouble damaging the dress, a testament to its incredible quality.


    ¡°How do I look?¡± Laia asked cheerfully as she spun around, her beauty further exemplified by the stunning dress.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Beautiful, of course,¡± John replied without any shame, his words causing Laia to blush, but also smile happily.


    ¡°Good, then it was a good choice,¡± she replied before gazing back up at the items overhead. Her divine sense red out several more times as she chose a scroll containing a ancient healing art and a mysterious bead containing vibrant life energy.


    ¡°You still have two thousand points¡­what are you going to spend it on?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°Mmmm,¡± Laia mused out loud, inspecting all the items above before locking onto a particr one. A small smile returned to her face as she sent her divine sense out to the item, which lowered towards her while a slightly confused look appeared on John¡¯s face.<sub></sub>


    ¡°What are you going to do with this?¡± John asked curiously, as thest item Laia purchased had been a set of armor.


    The armor was jade green and gold in color, and consisted of two arm bracers, both made of dragon scales, two shoulder spaulders, also lined with green dragon scales and dragon fangs on the edges, making them look quite fearsome and heroic at the same time, and a lower half robe, green in color and lined with dragon scales as well.


    The fact that the armor had no chest piece made John realize it was more for show than actual protection, but the arm bracers, shoulder spaulders and dragonscale robe no doubt provided formidable protection to those areas.


    Laia inspected the loose set of armor for a moment before she turned to John and held it up towards him, her smile still lingering on her face. John¡¯s eyes widened as he realized why she had purchased the male set of armor.


    ¡°Uhhhh¡­thanks, but I think I¡¯ll pass,¡± John replied as he declined the armor. Not only was it not his preferred color scheme, but he also found it a bit gaudy, especially with the fact that he would be walking around bare chested by wearing this. While he didn¡¯t care that much about such a thing, he still preferred his subtle yet effective War Hall robes.


    Laia¡¯s smile widened as she moved the armor closer to his face, saying no words but her actions speaking loud and clear. John took a step backwards, but each step he took was matched by Laia, who held the armor up before him in silence, her smile never leaving her face as if John had no choice in the matter.


    ¡­


    sh!


    A sh of light illuminated a vast, open field before quickly fading away. From the sh of light appeared John and Laia, who had just left the treasure room after spending all their Jade Marks. Laia¡¯s brilliant green dress flowed lightly in the gentle breeze, her face filled with satisfaction as she eyed John up and down.


    ¡°We match perfectly now,¡± Laia said with a happy smile on her face.


    John had no idea why such a thing was so important to Laia, but he no longer argued against it. The armor conformed perfectly to his body, and John couldn¡¯t help but admit that he looked quite heroic and fearsome at the moment, like a dragonscaled war emperor.


    His bared chest and biceps added to the image, as his body bulged with perfectly sized muscles. For some reason, John felt this armor to be more befitting of him and his battle style, and was quickly bing to like it.


    ¡°It would be better if the colors were a bit darker, but I am starting to like it a bit¡± John replied to Laia, who smiled happily, but that smile quickly vanished as both her and John felt two powerful auras suddenly pressing down on them.


    ¡°Well, well, well. I was wondering what that sh of light was, but it ended up being two Honorable Alliance weaklings,¡± an arrogant voice sounded out as two figuresnded before John and Laia, revealing themselves to be two Forbidden Alliance youths.


    Both youths were male, and wore blood red robes with various white skull designs on them. They had Peak Heaven Tribtion cultivations, and arrogant faces to match their arrogant voices. John¡¯s nonchnt attitude quickly vanished as the arrival of the two youths instantly reminded him of his purpose for rushing to this final trial area; to destroy all the enemy geniuses without mercy.

 Chapter 690 Swift Interrogation

    ¡°Now, what will we be doing with you two-¡± the Forbidden Alliance youth said, his voice cutting off as his gaze locked onto Laia. The other youth stared at her as well, both seemingly stunned in ce. The two recovered from their stunned daze after a moment, at which point two evil smiles appeared on their faces.


    John frowned as he saw the gazes of the two youths, who were clearly entranced by Laia¡¯s angelic beauty for a moment. While he could not me them for their initial reactions, John felt a wave of rising displeasure boil within as the two stared at Laia withscivious expressions.


    Sigh!


    A deep sigh escaped Laia¡¯s lips as an item suddenly appeared in her hands. She moved her hands towards her face, and ced the veil she used to wear back on her face, hiding all but her eyes. John had almost forgotten about the veil she used to wear, as she had not worn it around him since they met up in the Dao Transformation trial.


    ¡°Hehehe,¡± one of the youths startedughing sinisterly, his eyes greedily scanning Laia up and down, ¡°we sure found a beautiful one this time. That veil of yours will be removed shortly, along with-¡°<sub>.</sub>


    Boom!


    A beam of lightning pierced forward without warning, arriving before the speaking youth in an instant. The youths eyes went wide, but that was all he could do before the lightning mmed onto his face, its speed and power beyond anything he thought possible. His head immediately exploded into a fine mist, while the bits of blood and brain instantly charred from the lightnings lingering power.


    The other youth¡¯s eyes went wide at the unexpected attack, but he quickly recovered his wits as his cultivation began to re.


    Bang!<sub></sub>


    John¡¯s fist mmed against the youths chest as he arrived before the youth like a blur. The sound of broken bones rang out as the youth shot backwards like a bullet, his body tumbling head over heels for over a mile, carving a mile long trench into the earth. He eventually came to a stop, while a wave of excruciating pain wracked his entire body.


    Boom!


    Another thunderous boom sted out as Johnnded violently before the youth, gazing down at him with cold indifference. The youth couldn¡¯t help but stare at John with rising fear, as he had no idea how his opponent was erupting with such monstrous power. They had not even raised their guards due to his Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivation, which had made them unable to react in time to his monstrous attacks.


    John walked over to the youth and crouched down before him, staring coldly into the youths eyes.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Here¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen,¡± John said to the youth, his voice filled with cold malice. ¡°You¡¯re going to tell me what I want to know, and then you¡¯re going to die. If you do not cooperate with my questions, I¡¯ll make you suffer a fate worse than death.¡±


    Che!


    A sharp dagger suddenly pierced towards John¡¯s temple as the youth unleashed a surprise attack. Despite the fact that his opponent was beyond hisprehension at the moment, he was still a heavenly genius of the Forbidden Alliance, and had faced many life and death situations before. All it would take was one sessful attack to kill his opponent.


    Bang!


    The youths arm exploded into a mist as John¡¯s fist mmed into it with unstoppable power. The dagger flew off into the distance, while the youths eyes widened in absolute fear once more, as he found himself in a situation where death was fully assured.


    ?[0)??? ¡°You¡¯ve chosen the hard way I see,¡± John said coldly as he reached out towards the youth, whose cries of pained anguish echoed out loudly for the next ten minutes beforeing to a halt.


    John watched the life finally leave the now mangled body before him, and he stood up from his crouched position and turned around to gaze at Laia. Her eyes trembled slightly as she looked at John, almost as if she were seeing a different person for the first time.


    John¡¯s cold eyes stared back at Laia, who seemed to not know what to say at the moment.


    ¡°This is just the beginning of what¡¯s toe,¡± John said to Laia, his voice cold and almost emotionless. ¡°My cultivation path forward will be littered with more corpses than you could possibly imagine. If you don¡¯t want to climb that mountain of corpses alongside me, then it¡¯s best you go your own way from now on.¡±


    His words were cold, and his message even colder. Laia felt her heartbeat speed up as she gazed at John, who truly seemed like a different person at the moment. She had grown up with a pampered and sheltered life, and was a child of light and life due to her innate talents. The gruesome things John had just done shocked her to her core, as it was her first time seeing something like that.


    She remained silent for quite some time, before she closed her eyes and breathed out deeply. She opened them once more, and her previously trembling gaze was no more.


    She said no words, but instead walked up to John and stood next to him, her gaze firmer than before. A gaze that John could tell was saying she would follow him no matter what. John stared back at Laia for a moment before a small smile appeared on his otherwise cold face, happy to have her apany him for what was toe.


    ¡°These two were the weakest of the bunch, too scared topete with the strongest of their powers. Instead they stayed on the outskirts of this realm and preyed on the weak. Our target is a temple at the end of the realm, where the strongest have gathered. That is where our war shall take ce. Let¡¯s go,¡± John exined to Laia, as his interrogation had revealed quite a few things. Laia stared at John for a moment before nodding her head, and quickly followed closely behind John as the two sped forward towards the Temple Realm.

 Chapter 691 Commencing The Final Battle

    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    A battle in a deste strip of the final realm area raged on, quaking thend violently as four fighters took part in a life and death battle, while the ground beneath their feet was littered with corpses, most belonging to the Honorable Alliance.


    Three of the fighters were from the Honorable Alliance, while the other was a Barbarian Race genius whose power nearly overwhelmed the three despite theirbined effort. Each of the barbarian youths¡¯ punches was equivalent to a Late Heaven Tribtion essence battle art, and its body durability was beyond anything the three could pierce through easily.


    Behind them was a group of weaker Honorable Alliance youths, who watched on with fearful expressions, too weak to help the three in their battle.


    Lightning exploded, fire sted, and sword arts rained down on the barbarian genius as the three did their best to keep their lives. However, it was clearly a losing battle, as each exchange resulted in the three Honorable Alliance youths taking more and more damage.


    ¡°Heavenly Lightning Domain!¡±


    A domain of lightning sprung up, doing its best to contain the barbarian genius within, while a domain of majestic swords swirled about as well, adding to the containment effort. With the barbarian trapped within, the third youth shed down with his sword, as a fiery inferno mmed towards the barbarian.


    Boom!<sub>.</sub>


    The powerful fire battle art exploded directly onto the barbarian youth, drowning it in a sea of fire and lightning. The Heavenly Lightning Domain and sword domain sted away from the force, while the three youths gathered together as they warily eyed the location of the barbarian.


    ¡°Is he dea-¡°


    Roar!


    As if answering their question, a powerful roar boomed out, sting away the smoke and dust, revealing the almost uninjured barbarian youth within. Its skin was ever so slightly charred, and some minimal amount of blood flowed over its skin, but other than that, it was almost unharmed.


    Grave looks appeared on the youths¡¯ faces as they realized that their ultimate battle arts inbination with each other were not enough to kill their fearsome foe. If that didn¡¯t work, then there was only one fate left for the three of them; death.


    ¡°Run! We¡¯ll hold him off as long as possible!¡± one of the three youths shouted to the group of Honorable Alliance youth behind him, clearly realizing the futility of the battle. The other two red with power once again as well, prepared for their final stand.


    Boom!


    The ground suddenly exploded at the barbarians feet as the three youths watched a blurred figure m into it. The ground exploded with incredible power once more and continued to tremble violently for half a minute as a battle between the barbarian youth and whatever had arrived took the pce.


    The three youths watched with dumbfounded expressions, as they had not been expecting any help. Now, their only hope rested in the power of the mysterious neer. After half a minute, the ground ceased its trembling, revealing an end to the battle.<sub></sub>


    The three youths all grimaced, as they knew almost no one in the Honorable Alliance was strong enough to kill the barbarian so quickly. The only ones capable of doing such a thing were the top ten of the Jade Dragon List, and they were all already within the temple realm. With this in mind, that only meant one thing¡­the battle had ended the other way around. Their one hope that had appeared for the briefest of moments had faded away, returning them to the world of despair.


    Bang!


    The ground exploded once more as a figure sted out from within, andnded directly before the three youths, who stared with dumbfounded expressions, almost unable to believe their eyes.


    The barbarians¡¯ massive severed head hung from John¡¯s hand, gripped by its hair, while John¡¯s cold eyes stared at the three youths before him. Were it not for the invasion of the enemy powers, he would most likely have taught these three a very painful lesson in this encounter, but things had changed since hest saw the three of them, who had somehow joined up together.


    Plop!


    The severed head of the barbarian youthnded before the feet of the three youths, who looked at it with mouths still agape.


    ¡°I see war has the ability to change even the most despicable of men into something better,¡± John said to the three as he nodded his head in slight approval, as he had noticed their willingness to sacrifice their lives to ensure that therger group of Honorable Alliance youths could escape. After staring at the three for a short moment, his body blurred once more, disappearing into the distance as if he had no time to waste at all.


    Lyeon, Vildren, and Alderen all stared in the direction that John had left, still too stunned to speak. They had all considered him to be their biggest enemy in the realm, at least until the enemy geniuses had invaded. Now their lives were saved by the very person they detested the most. War truly changed things.


    ¡­<sub></sub>


    ¡°We¡¯re getting close,¡± John said to Laia as the two of them continued to speed through the final realm after their quick detour.


    A sprawling mountainous terrain came into view, stretching out as far as the eye could see, like an endless sea of snow-capped mountains. The two sped over the mountains with utmost haste, asionally stopping for a brief moment to interfere with an ongoing battle. After hundreds of miles and dozens of battles finished, a massive temple more grand than either could imagine came into view.


    ?[0)??? ¡°Finally!¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°There he is!¡± Luth said to Igris as he spotted Vargul standing before the massive staircase leading up to the dragon corpse. Him and Igris had been chasing Vargul through the temple realm for several hours, and had finally caught up to him.


    ¡°As expected, his greed brought him here,¡± Igris grumbled coldly, baring his beastly teeth as if staring at his most hated nemesis.


    Vargul¡¯s back was to them as he stared at the staircase, and the figure that sat halfway up. He slowly turned around as he noticed the arrival of Luth and Igris, while a smug smile appeared on his face.


    ¡°I figured you two would chase me here,¡± Vargul said to the two of them, his gaze shifting from them to the background, as more Honorable Alliance youths started to arrive. Everyone was attracted by the mysterious energy emanating from this area, as if they were fish drawn to a lure.


    Before long, hundreds of Honorable Alliance youths had gathered behind Luth and Igris, their cold gazes staring at Vargul as if they wanted to devour him alive.


    ¡°You¡¯re alone, and outnumbered,¡± Luth said to Vargul with cold malice, ¡°prepare to die!¡±


    Vargul¡¯s smile widened upon hearing this, while his eyes scanned over the gathered youths. A strange feeling welled up within Luth as he noticed Vargul¡¯s rxed expression, as someone so helplessly outnumbered would never appear so calm and collected, especially one like Vargul who valued his life more than anything else.


    ¡°I suppose this is the best of the best when ites to your miserable Alliance,¡± Vargul replied, ¡°which is exactly what we¡¯ve been waiting for.¡±


    ¡°We?¡± Luth asked, his eyes shifting to the side as his ominous feelings were confirmed.


    The area behind Vargul suddenly shimmered and changed as an exquisite concealment formation faded away. The formation was so profound as to fool the eyes of all the Honorable Alliance youths gathered, and was clearly the work of a formation genius.


    The fading formation revealed arge gathering of youths standing within, containing humans, the Monster race, and the Barbarian race. The Honorable Alliance youths paled as they realized this group contained the peak of the enemy powers, several hundred strong.


    ¡°How?¡± one of the Honorable Alliance youths couldn¡¯t help but exim, shocked by the sudden change of events.


    ¡°Kadin!¡± Luth erupted in anger as his gaze locked onto Kadin, who stood amongst the enemy youths. ¡°You betrayed us?¡±


    Clearly the only one amongst the enemy group capable of such a concealment formation was Kadin, who smiled back with smug arrogance.


    ¡°I was never ¡®with you¡¯, so how could I betray you?¡± Kadin replied with smug indifference. ¡°Your miserable Alliance invited me along to try to court my n into its fold, but I¡¯ve made other arrangements. I¡¯m sure you understand.¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Luth turned red in the face with anger, while his gaze shifted towards a red-headed youth who slowly started to walk towards them.


    ¡°Enough of this squabbling,¡± Amber Bloodrose said with uninterested indifference as she walked forwards with steady footsteps, her body suddenly blurring and vanishing from sight.


    Luth¡¯s face suddenly scrunched up with grave warning as he turned around and shed his sword out behind him.


    Peng!


    Swords collided as Luth barely managed to block Amber¡¯s lethal attack, while a malicious smile appeared on Ambers face as she stared closely at Luth.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± she said as she licked her lips, ¡°it seems like I¡¯ll finally be able to have some fun!¡±


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    As if their instant exchange had signaled the start of battle, hundreds of auras red out on both sides with absolute power as battle arts began to be unleashed, as the final battle between both sides finally started.

 Chapter 692 Calamitous Battles

    In the temple realm of the Jade Dragon Empire trial realm, a vast mountain range, filled with lush valleys and snowcapped mountains guarded the way forward towards the ancient dragon corpse. All who wanted to reach the dragon corpse had to proceed through the mountain range, at which point an expansive prairie nearly a hundred miles wide and dozens of miles long came into view, leading all the way up to the stairs before the dragon corpse.


    The prairie had been filled with thick vegetation and blooming flowers, but that beauty was no more. Explosive battle arts mmed against the once beautiful prairie, ravaging thend beyondpare.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Hundreds of battle arts flew about without care or caution as the final battle between the Honorable Alliance and enemy powers had started. More and more youths from the Honorable Alliance were arriving every minute, adding to the destructive chaos that was urring.


    Weapon arts and wonderous battle arts cleaved through the sky, exploding against another or thend below, bathing the entire battlefield with ruinous explosions. Weapons mmed against weapons, fire mmed against ice, wind against earth, light against dark, and every otherbination in between. Domains expanded and ovepped, batting for supremacy amongst each other, drowning everything within.


    Almost instantly, the battles had separated themselves based on cultivator strength. The strongest youths raged their battles directly before the massive stairs, where the ambush had urred, while the weaker youths on both sides were pushed to the edges of the battlefield, unable to withstand the cmitous exchanges between the top geniuses.


    Peng!


    Peng!<sub>.</sub>


    Peng!


    ?[0)??? Luth and Amber¡¯s swords shed out like mirages as they exchanged hundreds of attacks in quick session. Each attack contained enough power to fully vanquish a normal Late Heaven Tribtion youth, and yet both sides increased the intensity and power of their attacks after every exchange, as if they had no limit to their power. At the same time, both had their domains active as well. Luths¡¯ domain of powerful astral swords mmed against Amber¡¯s domain of blood red swords as swords filled the sky with ruinous power.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom


    Nearby, Vargul and Igris fought with ferocious intensity as both put their lives on the line. Vargul¡¯s normally mocking smile was nowhere to be seen as Igris¡¯s power was not to be looked down upon.


    ¡°Igniting the Heavens!¡± Igris called out loudly, as a fiery inferno capable of burning all to ruin sprung up around him.


    ¡°Domain of Kings!¡± Vargul cried out at the same time as he activated his domain to counter Igris¡¯ domain of fire. A kingly aura sprung up around Vargul as his domain ovepped with the fire domain, almost as if subjugating it to be suppressed.


    With the two domains locked in heated battle, the battle arts of the two fighters sted out once more. Fire mmed against ckened Qi attacks, drowning the sky above andnd below in a torrent of cmitous power.<sub></sub>


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    In the nearby distant, the battle between the other Honorable Alliance youths and enemy powers raged on as well. Despite being outnumbered three to one, the enemy geniuses still held the advantage in their battle, even with the constant reinforcements of the Honorable Alliance.


    Only the very top geniuses of the Honorable Alliance were able to evenly fight against the enemy youths, and that disparity was no more apparent than it was now. Honorable Alliance youths fell from the sky each minute, their bodies mangled beyondpare from the unstoppable power of the enemy youths.


    The Forbidden Alliance youths attacked with battle arts of unmatched lethality and sharpness, while the Monster Race youths danced around the battlefield with unmatched speed, each swipe of their ws taking down another Honorable Alliance youth.


    Worst of all were the Barbarian geniuses, who rampaged through the battlefield without a match. Their incredibly durable defenses resisted almost all of the attacks thrown at them, allowing them to rampage without a care of injury. As the Honorable Alliance did not have many body cultivators, and also did not train in battle arts that were effective against body cultivators, they were at a massive disadvantage.


    Che!


    A sharp slicing sound, almost unnoticeable within the cmitous battle drifted out as a head fell from a body. An indistinguishable blur shed away, shortly after, appearing somewhere else unnoticed.<sub></sub>


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    Heads began to fall in quick session, and not from the Honorable Alliance. Before long, over a dozen Forbidden Alliance and Monster Race geniuses had been killed without notice, alerting the others in the area.


    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± one of the Forbidden Alliance youths cried out.


    Che!


    Just as they spoke, a sword pierced out from seemingly nowhere, materializing from thin air and piercing towards the neck of the youth who had spoken.


    Peng!


    Another sword pierced out from nowhere as well, narrowly blocking the surprise attack.


    ¡°Heh,¡± a smug scoff drifted out as a figure suddenly appeared, as if he had stepped out from space itself. The figure wore a tight ck outfit, covering all but his eyes. On his back and shoulders were the insignias of a Forbidden Alliance assassin guild, with the number three next to it. ¡°I always wondered how good the assassins from the Nightveil Guild are¡­today I get to find out for myself.¡±


    Another figure materialized shortly after, revealing his figure to the one who had just spoken. He was also wearing a ck outfit, revealing only his eyes as well.


    ¡°And I¡¯ve heard many things about the Forbidden Alliance¡¯s Swift ughter Sect,¡± Number One replied coldly, revealing himself to have been the one who had killed so many enemy geniuses in swift session. ¡°You must be ughter Three,¡± he said as he eyed the number on the enemy youths¡¯ clothing, whose sect had a simr naming system as his own.


    ¡°Heh, you must be Number One,¡± the Forbidden Alliance assassin replied with smug arrogance, ¡°I¡¯ve heard quite a lot about you, and today I¡¯ll prove our sect¡¯s superiority when ites to assassination arts!¡±


    Che!


    A sword suddenly pierced through ughter Two¡¯s chest directly through his heart, while his eyes widened with horrified shock. A figure materialized behind ughter Two holding the sword, dressed in the same manner as Number One.


    ¡°You!¡± ughter Three grounded out through the deathly pain as he gazed at Number One, who looked on with cold indifference.


    Boom!


    A st of Qi erupted from the sword, exploding ughter Three¡¯s heart and killing him instantly.


    ¡°Kill as many as you can, Number Two,¡± Number One said to the youth who had used the opportunity to kill ughter Three. Number Two nodded his head before vanishing, using his assassin arts to slip into the shadows once more.


    Number One¡¯s body began to blur as well, when his eyes opened wide and he shed to the side. A sword pierced directly by his head, clipping it slightly and carving a narrow wound into his temple.


    Number One quickly turned around and gazed at the source of the attack, who was a ck clothed figure with the number one next to his sect insignia.


    ¡°ughter Three deserved to die for letting his guard down like that,¡± ughter One said with indifference, as if his fellow sect members death was of no concern to him. His body shed forward as he appeared before Number One with no further words, while an incredibly sharp sword attack pierced towards Number One.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    The two exchanged hundreds of lethal attacks in an instant, while their bodies blurred back into the shadows once more. The only evidence of their battle was the asional blur of space or sparks of their weapons colliding, as the battle between the top assassins of both alliancesmenced.

 Chapter 693 Kadin Makes His Move

    With Number One upied, the battlefield once again shifted back to a stalemate. Thousands of battle arts exploded in the sky above and on thend below, drowning the entire area in a sea of non-stop explosions. It was truly as if the apocalypse had arrived.


    Deaths began to amass on both sides of the war, although the Honorable Alliance was dying at a much higher rate than the enemy powers. Unfortunately for the enemy powers, they were vastly outnumbered within this realm, and the cmitous battle was attracting more and more Honorable Alliance youths to it by the second.


    While the youths were not the strongest or most talented, they had been bathed in battle and death for thest few weeks due to the enemy¡¯s invasion, and the remaining survivors had be battle hardened. They threw themselves at the enemy without caution or care, wanting nothing more than to avenge their fallen friends or dead sect members.


    This battle was the perfect opportunity to do so, and so the ferocity at which the Honorable Alliance youths fought was beyond anything they had disyed before, shocking the enemy geniuses slightly.


    ¡°Heh, it seems as though your Honorable Alliance has finally grown a spine,¡± Amber Bloodrose mocked as the casually nced at the distant battles.


    ¡°And its all thanks to you¡­now fuck off and die already,¡± Luth cursed as he unleashed a powerful battle art. A glowing white and purple sword appeared over his head and rapidly grew in size before shing down at Amber with incredibly power.


    ¡°Heh,¡± Amber scoffed as she saw the attack reach her in an instant. Her sword shed out towards the battle art and unleashed a thin beam of blood red Qi, appearing like an incredibly slender sword.


    Che!


    The blood red sword, dozens of times smaller than the astral sword, shed into the astral sword and cleaved it in half. The astral sword parted instantly as it shed down at Amber, which missed her as both halves of the sword shed to either side of her.<sub>.</sub>


    Luth clicked his tongue in frustration as he shed forward once more, resuming his battle with Amber, who smiled with amused interest as she unleashed another blood red de as well.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The battles between all parties raged on, with deaths umting on both sides. However, neither side had a distinct advantage as the battlefield was mostly even. While more Honorable Alliance youths died than the enemy side, the enemy side was stronger individually.


    Watching from the sidelines as if the battle was of no concern to him was Kadin, along with several other members of the Starforge n. Despite joining the enemy geniuses, he had not taken part in the battle yet, and had not been targeted by the Honorable Alliance either, who were more than content to let him watch and not join in.


    ¡°Tch, I thought they would do a bit better than this,¡± Kadin scoffed, slight mockery in his voice, ¡°but I suppose this war over thest month has hardened the Honorable Alliance, and made them stronger.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s quite unexpected that they¡¯ve improved this much in such a short amount of time,¡± one of the other Starforge n youths agreed as they watched the battle rage on.<sub></sub>


    ¡°If these Honorable Alliance youths are allowed to escape, especially the top ones like Luth and Number One, they will no doubt be formidable enemies in the future,¡± Kadin said as a small smile appeared on his face. ¡°I suppose it¡¯s time that we help out, and end this battle for once.¡±


    The three other youths nodded their heads, and quickly spread out, appearing on the three corners of the massive battlefield, dozens of miles away from each other. Kadin stood at the fourth corner, his confident gaze inspecting the battles before him.


    Massive formation runes suddenly lit up beneath their feet, having been created before the battle even started. The formation runes red with incredible power, as a translucent barrier surged up from each of the four formation nodes and red up into the sky above.


    They eventually linked up high above as a semi-translucent formation barrier appeared over the entire battlefield, over fifty miles wide and many miles tall.


    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± many of the Honorable Alliance youths eximed, slight panic in their voices. They could tell that this was most likely not something good for them.


    Luth¡¯s cold gaze stared at the barrier around them, but his gaze quickly shifted as Amber appeared before him once more, diverting his attention.


    Peng!


    Their swords collided, while a disappointed smile appeared on Amber¡¯s face.<sub></sub>


    ¡°It seems as though Kadin has finally made his move,¡± she said to Luth, who frowned at her words. ¡°It¡¯s disappointing that it came to this, but I suppose it¡¯s best to wrap this little battlefield up quickly. There¡¯s still other things to explore in this realm afterall.¡±


    Luth¡¯s eyes narrowed even further as he gazed coldly at Amber. He could tell that based on ehr words, the formation barrier around them was most likely beyond terrible for them. As if answering his thoughts, a powerful energy suddenly erupted from all directions, washing over the battlefield.


    The energy mmed down on the battlefield, pressing down on all within. It was like a mountain had suddenly pressed down on each youth within, making their movements beyond sluggish as they struggled against the formidable pressure. Their speeds were now less than half of what it was before, and arge amount of energy was required just to move about.


    Luth¡¯s cold gaze shifted towards Amber, who had taken out a formation disk and held it in her hand. The formation disk red with power, wrapping her up with a strange energy. The energy was the perfect opposite of the energy pressing down on them, and seemed to counteract the effectspletely.


    At the same time, all the other youths from the enemy powers took out a simr formation disk, bing immune to the restrictive pressure. A grim look appeared on Luth¡¯s face and all the other Honorable Alliance youths¡¯ faces as they realized they had walked directly into a trap.


    ¡°It¡¯s a trap!¡± many of the Honorable Alliance youths cried out in panic, but were helpless to do anything about it.


    Such was the formidable nature of Formations masters. Their greatest weakness was needing plenty of time to set up their formations, which could not be done in the heat of battle. However, with enough time beforehand, if one was to step into their traps, their might was almost unmatchable.


    The battlefield was already rtively even before, but with the sudden shift in events, the Honorable Alliance would no doubt be ughtered within minutes. Many of the youths nearby the four formation nodes unleashed their most powerful battle arts at the Starforge n youths, but those battle arts mmed against the formation and fizzled out.


    ¡°Hahaha, try as you might, but none of you are able to break these barriers in time,¡± one of the Starforge youths mocked, as he was also protected by another formation, guarding him from outside attacks. Even if someone from the outside showed up, it would take several minutes to break through the barrier, at which point the battle would already be over.


    The formation was both a restrictive formation, as well as a barrier formation. With the restrictive energy within, the battle arts unleashed by the youths were weakened. If they gathered their power and unleashed a collective attack against the barrier they would be able to break it, but the enemy youths would not give them such a chance.


    Gahh!


    Ahhh!


    Cries of pain flooded the battlefield once more as the enemy geniuses resumed their assault, giving the Honorable Alliance youths no chance to break out. The Honorable Alliance youths were unable to resist the ughter of the enemy geniuses with their powers restricted, and began to die in great numbers.


    ¡°As I said, this is where our battle ends. How disappointing,¡± Amber said to Luth, who stared back with a grave expression. They were mostly evenly matched before, but now Luth was at a great disadvantage. He would not be able to keep up with Amber anymore, and his only fate within this formation was death.


    Amber¡¯s body blurred as she appeared before Luth, while her sword pierced out with lethal sharpness. He shed out his sword to meet the attack, but knew it would not be fast enough to block in time. Hopelessness flooded Luth¡¯s body, but suddenly his eyes widened as his sword picked up speed in an instant.


    Peng!


    Swords collided, knocking Amber back as her eyes widened with unexpected shock.


    ¡°What?¡± she mumbled as her eyes shifted to the barrier above, which was fading away. The barrier quickly faded away, restoring the full strength to the Honorable Alliance, who exploded with ferocious might once more.


    Kadin¡¯s eyes narrowed as he noticed the barrier suddenly fail.


    ¡°Impossible, how could someone break through so fast,¡± he raged as his gaze shifted towards one of the distant nodes many miles away. The Starforge youth standing within the node had copsed to the ground, and the formation beneath his feet had been destroyed.


    Kadin¡¯s eyes narrowed as he spotted three youths standing above the now-dead Starforge n youth, who were all staring back at Kadin as well. They had clearly been the ones to breach the barrier, and ruin the formation node. With just one of the nodes destroyed, the entire formation had copsed.


    The three youths stared back at Kadin, with the youth standing at the front staring at him with murderous malice.


    ¡°Adam,¡± Kadin raged as he locked eyes with Adam, who had been the one to breach the formation node and destroy it from within, saving the entire Honorable Alliance from sure death.

 Chapter 694 Fighting Kadin

    A groan of pain muffled out from beneath Adam¡¯s feet, as the Starforge youth they had overwhelmed lifted his head to stare at Adam. He had relied on his defensive formation to protect him, but Adam¡¯s formation mastery had allowed him and the others to break through with ease and overwhelm this youth.


    His body was injured and he was not in a fighting state, but his arrogance had not been diminished at all.


    ¡°Heh¡­so you still yet live,¡± the Starforge youth muttered through pained gasps of air. ¡°No matter, now that you¡¯ve shown yourself, Kadin will finish you off once and for a-¡°


    Bang!


    Adam¡¯s foot, augmented by some internal formation of his, mmed down with fury, directly onto the Starforge youths head. The youths head instantly cracked open like an egg, spilling blood and brains onto the dirt beneath him.


    His gaze never left Kadin, whose eyes narrowed as he watched Adam kill his friend and fellow n member without hesitation. He could instantly tell that this Adam was different than before¡­resolved, and much more ruthless.


    At the same time, Chase¡¯s hands flicked outwards as several small objects shot out of them and into the ground beneath their feet, disappearing from sight.


    ¡°Hahahaha, it seems as though I went too easy on youst time, and you were somehow saved from the brink of death by her¡­but she or anyone else won¡¯t save you now,¡± Kadin boomed out as he shot forward towards Adam, his speed shockingly fast.<sub>.</sub>


    Adam watched with narrowed eyes as Kadin rapidly approached, while Iris and Chase stood next to him with cold and murderous gazes as well.


    ¡°Are you ready for this?¡± Iris asked Adam, making sure he was up for the task. Kadin had left a massive mental scar in Adam recently, and she was worried he would break down when confronted by his fatal enemy.


    ¡°Kadin¡¯s father killed my father, and Kadin killed me. It¡¯s time for me to return the favor,¡± Adam replied coldly, his voice firm and steady. Iris nodded her head at his words and steadied herself as well, preparing for the dangerous battle toe.


    Thanks to Chase¡¯s marvelous alchemy skills, all three of them had managed to step into the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, greatly increasing their strength once more. However, Kadin was at the Peak of the Heaven Tribtion realm, and was one of the strongest cultivators amongst both sides of the war.


    ¡°No matter what happens, we¡¯re here for you, even to the death,¡± Chase said to Adam as he patted him on the shoulder. Iris nodded her head as well, while her right hand reached out and squeezed one of Adam¡¯s hands, reassuring him further. A small smile of appreciation appeared on Adam¡¯s face before fading away, as Kadin had arrived before them.


    Boom!


    The ground quaked and a small crater formed as Kadinnded violently before the trio. His smug and arrogant gaze stared at Adam and Adam alone,pletely ignoring the other two.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Middle Heaven Tribtion huh? Not bad,¡± Kadin praised, but in an obviously mocking fashion. His gaze shifted down to the dead youth beneath Adam¡¯s feet before shifting back to Adam¡¯s face.


    ¡°I¡¯ll admit, you did manage to ruin our ns. We had wanted to finish this battle quickly and further explore this realm, but your actions have ruined that n,¡± Kadin said, but his tone was rxed as if he were not worried at all. ¡°No matter though, while my side will take more casualties this way, the result of this battle is already set in stone.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be so sure of that,¡± Iris replied coldly, causing Kadin to shift his gaze towards her. A small mocking smile appeared on his face as he eyed her up and down, doing nothing to hide his vulgar thoughts, before his gaze shifted back to Adam.


    ¡°Is this why you¡¯ve decided to act tough all of a sudden?¡± he asked mockingly. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, when this is all done, I¡¯ll be sure to take good care of your girlfr-¡°


    Bang!


    Adam¡¯s fist mmed against Kadin¡¯s face before he could react, knocking him backwards like a broken kite. His body mmed onto the earth several times, before he eventually managed to recover his bnce. Kadin¡¯s slightly surprised gaze stared at Adam, whose entire body was now coated with a profound formation energy.


    The formation energy clearly had augmented his speed and power in that fist attack, or Adam would have never been able tond a blow on Kadin. Kadin¡¯s thumb wiped the corner of his mouth before he looked at it, surprised to see a slight trace of blood on his thumb.<sub></sub>


    A murderous smile appeared on Kadin¡¯s face as he stared at Adam, as if things had finally gotten interesting. His footsteps started once more as he began to walk towards the trio, while his aura began to climb rapidly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to finish the job this time, and that fucking girl won¡¯t be around to revive you this time,¡± Kadin growled as his body shed forward, his speed beyond shocking.


    He appeared before Adam in an instant, sword in hand. The sword shed down with incredible power, intent on killing Adam with a single blow. A profound aura erupted from within Adam¡¯s body once more as several points on his body lit up with light,ing from the embedded formation disks within. A powerful screen of energy formed before his body to block the powerful attack.


    At the same time, dozens of thick vines pierced up from the ground below, each containing formidable strength and durability. Clearly these were not ordinary vines. The vines snaked up towards the sword and mmed against it.


    Each vine was cleaved apart in an instant, but the power of the sword attack diminished with every vine destroyed.


    Bang!


    Kadin¡¯s sword mmed against the barrier before Adam¡¯s body, which fractured instantly. However, despite being fractured, it held up against the attack, something that caused slight surprise to appear on Kadin¡¯s face, whose eyes widened even more as he felt lethal danger from behind. Several parts of his body lit up as well from imbedded formation runes, as a formation barrier formed behind his neck.


    Peng!


    A pair of Dao Transformation grade daggers mmed onto a hastily created formation barrier, while Kadin¡¯s body shed to the side to counterattack. His sword cleaved out with great power once more, which Iris narrowly dodged and counterattacked once more.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    The two quickly exchanged dozens of attacks in a second, before Iris dashed backwards and returned to where Adam and Chase were standing. Small wounds had appeared on her left cheek and right arm, as even with her profound vision and incredible speed, she was still not able to contest evenly against Kadin.


    However, with her cultivation at the Middle Heaven Tribtion realm, just surviving an exchange with someone as powerful as Kadin was beyond impressive.


    ¡°Tch, how fucking annoying,¡± Kadin cursed with displeasure as his attack had been thwarted by cultivators with much weaker cultivations than his own. Such a thing was not eptable, and his pride as a genius had been wounded with this one exchange.


    Boom!


    His aura exploded out once more and with even more power, revealing that he had yet to be going all out. His murderous gaze locked onto Adam, and then the glowing sources of light from within his robes. Clearly those were the embedded formation disks that he himself was using.


    ¡°You may have studied my body and the runes within when you tortured me and opened me up, but you only have half the equation when ites to using this embedded formation art,¡± Adam said mockingly, as he could tell Kadin had managed to figure out how to use the formation art his father had left behind, but only partially.


    The embedded formation art had two parts; the formation runes that needed to be carved into one¡¯s bones and dantian, and the formation art itself. Adam¡¯s father had already carved the formation runes into his body when he was younger, and with the formation art he had recently obtained, he had started to master the art.


    While he was still in the very initial stages of mastery, it was still far beyond Kadin in terms of efficacy and profundity, who only had half of the technique.


    ¡°Tch, it seems as though there¡¯s more to this art than I thought,¡± Kadin growled angrily. ¡°I had thought our torture of you got all the information out of you, but it seems as though you managed to keep your secrets somehow. I must say I¡¯m impressed, but now that I know there¡¯s more to the art, I¡¯ll just have to torture you once more to get everything out of you.¡±


    ¡°Die!¡± Iris roared with rage as her body shed forward with daggers in hand. Vines once again erupted from the ground below towards Kadin, while a powerful formation energy red out from Adam¡¯s body as well. Kadin¡¯s murderous smile widened as he shed forward again, as the final showdown between Adam and Kadin intensified.

 Chapter 695 New Arrivals Turn The Tides of Battle

    Bang!


    Kadin¡¯s sword mmed against Iris¡¯s daggers, who had crossed them before her chest at thest moment to block the attack. Despite her profound eyes and fast speed, Kadin¡¯s power was still far to overwhelming to contest evenly against. Were it not for the teamwork of all three, any one of them would have already died ten times over. Iris flew backwards like a bullet, while Kadin appeared before her once again, his sword shing down with lethal might.


    Despite being a formations cultivator first and foremost, he was also a heavenly genius when it came tobat talent. Thisbination was one of the reasons he was so feared within the realm.


    Vines suddenly erupted from the ground and wrapped around Kadin¡¯s body, who¡¯s explosive aura shattered them with ease. However, this pause was enough to give Iris enough time to dodge as she narrowly avoided the sword attack.


    Boom!


    The sword mmed against the ground, sending fractures through the durablend for hundreds of yards.


    Kadin¡¯s gaze quickly shifted as he locked onto a powerful st of Qiing his way. He shed his sword outwards, unleashing a powerful sword image battle art that mmed against the beam attack.<sub>.</sub>


    Boom!


    The beam attack which had been unleashed from one of Adam¡¯s quickly formed formation arts exploded from the might of the battle art, unable to keep up with it. Kadin¡¯s body shed to the side as a pair of daggers narrowly missed his head, while vines erupted from all around as the battle between the four youths raged on.


    Kadin grit his teeth in frustration as he was unable tond a finishing blow on any of the three, despite their lower cultivation. Their teamwork was impable, and each was a talented genius in their own right, making it so that the fight was almost even in power. Worst off was Adam, who was able to neutralize Kadin¡¯s formation powers whenever he used it.


    Formation energy was unique and difficult to deal with except by another formations expert. Kadin had used several quick use formation arts already, but each one was instantly neutralized as Adam activated a formation neutralizing art. As such, the battle had reached stalemate, with both sides living on the very edge of death.


    At the same time, the battle between the other thousand youths raged on as well, as the two sides found themselves in an even battle. The Honorable Alliance outnumbered the enemy youths four to one at this time, but thanks to their much greater talent and power, the enemy youths fought back without losing out.


    If things continued at this rate, it was unclear which side would reign supreme at the end.<sub></sub>


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Starting soft at first, a wave of distant footsteps slowly became audible, although they were mostly drowned out by the cmitous explosions between battle arts. Each step shook the ground beneath, a testament to the weight and power of the ones walking towards the battlefield.


    ¡°There you are! Where the fuck have you been?¡± a loud yell boomed from Vargul, who was locked in heated battle with Igris. He had spotted the arrival of the neers out of the corner of his eyes, and felt growing frustration at theirte arrival. Igris¡¯s power was beyond overwhelming, and Vargul found himself on the defensive the longer the battle continued.


    ¡°They probably got lost on the way here, the braindead barbarian idiots,¡± Amber Bloodrose chimed in before unleashing another attack at Luth, who unleashed his own sword art to counter it.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Well, what are you waiting for? Join the fucking battle,¡± Vargul yelled out once again as he noticed the neers watch from the sidelines, as if they were uninterested in the battles.


    ¡°Fighting weaklings does not interest me,¡± Zulos replied dismissively as he watched the battles unfold, nked by several other barbarian youths of almost equal power.


    Vargul almost erupted with uncontained rage as he heard this, but kept his cool as his battle against Igris was not something he could be distracted from.


    ¡°If you join, I¡¯ll tell you who killed your Bloodbrothers!¡± Vargul yelled out, his words causing Zulos¡¯s gaze to narrow. He knew of the deaths of several of his nsmen from his tribe, but not who killed them. It seemed as though Vargul knew however, which was something Zulos was very interested in.


    ¡°Fine! But if you¡¯re lying, I¡¯ll kill you myself once this is over,¡± Zulos¡¯s deep voice boomed out as he jumped high into the sky, followed by the several other barbarian youths.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Zulos and the othersnded in the middle of the battlefield, unconcerned at all about the ruinous explosions sting all around them. Several of the battle arts mmed directly onto their bodies unguarded, but did almost no damage to them, shocking the Honorable Alliance youths greatly.


    ¡°Shit!¡± Luth couldn¡¯t help but curse as he watched Zulos and the others start a rampage. Each of their attacks wounded or killed an Honorable Alliance youth, while their powerful bodies allowed them to resist almost everything that was thrown at them.


    In an instant, the arrival of Zulos and the others had shattered the bnce of the battle. Several of the stronger Honorable Alliance youths attempted to stop them, but were unable to. Only someone on the level of Luth was able to contest against Zulos, and Luth and Number One were currently upied by their own formidable foes.


    In less than five minutes, over fifty Honorable Alliance youths had fallen, unable to withstand the increased might of the enemy geniuses. Luth fought against Amber with his full power, each of his battle art attacks capable of shattering mountains, but Amber¡¯s power was even greater than his own, making it so that he had to use his own just to survive.


    Zulos and the other barbarians dashed through the battlefield, each attack of theirs shattering another Honorable Alliance youth. Zulos stood above the corpse of a freshly killed Honorable Alliance youth, before his gaze shifted towards another nearby youth, a girl from a healing sect that was providing support to her nearby allies.


    The girl¡¯s eyes widened with fear as she saw Zulos appear before her, his body towering over her like a mountain. Zulos fist mmed down towards the girl, who knew she would perish the instant it made contact with her.


    Bang!


    A cmitous collision of physical power erupted, shattering thend beneath Zulos feet as his fist came to aplete halt. His eyes narrowed as he stared at three muscr human youths who had appeared before them. They were less than half the size of Zulos, but each emanated a physical might practically equal to his.


    Each had bald heads and their chests bared, and had arrived at the exact same time to stop Zulos¡¯s attack. All three of their fists were pressed against Zulos¡¯s fist, while their heated gazes stared at him with fiery interest.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zulos asked with narrowed eyes, surprised that he had encountered humans capable of matching his might, even if it were three of them. Most peculiar of all was another human youth draped in pure white robes who sat on the shoulders of the middle muscr human, almost as if he were riding the human as a mount.


    ¡°Hahaha, you face the might of the Three Battle Bobs!¡± Miko¡¯s voice boomed out maniacally as he sat atop one of the Bob¡¯s shoulders and announced their arrival. ¡°Now tremble and despair!¡±

 Chapter 696 Battle Bob Assault

    Zulos¡¯s brow furrowed as he heard Miko¡¯s words, as if the very concept of him trembling in fear or despairing in a fight was the very greatest insult he could receive. Not only that, but the youth before him appeared beyond frail, and Zulos could tell he would be able to erase the youth with a single casual attack should itnd.


    Lastly, the youth before him was sitting on top of the shoulders of one of the three youths who had blocked his fist, as if this was all a game to him. Zulos couldn¡¯t help but feel his anger rising, unable to stomach the mockery he was receiving at the moment. It was one thing to be insulted by another powerful body cultivator, but to be insulted by someone so obviously weak as Miko was beyond eptable.


    ¡°It¡¯s you who shall despair, now die!¡± Zulos¡¯s deep voice boomed out as he disyed a rare outburst of anger. His fist was still pressed against the three fists of the Battle Gods, and so his other arm shot forward with his massive fist aiming directly for Miko¡¯s head.


    Zulos¡¯s fist contained incredible might, and was something that wouldpletely destroy Miko without question should itnd. Miko¡¯s eyes narrowed and a frown appeared on his face as he quickly raised his hand and pointed his right index finger directly at Zulos¡¯s head.


    Zulos scoffed at the action, as there was nothing Miko could do at this point to change what was about to happen. His body was too weak to withstand the st, and with his cultivation being in the Late Heaven Tribtion realm and not even the Peak Heaven Tribtion Realm, Zulos knew he could easily withstand any essence battle art his opponent threw at him.


    Miko¡¯s eyes suddenly shifted white, while Zulos¡¯s eyes widened with instinctual warning. He didn¡¯t know how it was possible, but the weak and tiny human before him posed lethal danger to him.


    Roar!<sub>.</sub>


    Zulos roared with weing anger as he put even more power into his fist, intending on finishing this exchange with a single blow.


    ¡°You motherfucker! You think you can touch our little brother Miko? Piss off!¡± an equally loud roar of anger boomed out from one of the Bobs, who appeared before Zulos¡¯s fist attack in an instant and roared out once more.


    ¡°Supreme Battle Art!¡±


    Boom!


    Bob¡¯s aura exploded outwards as he activated the full might of his Supreme Battle Art, which was even more profound than what John was able to do. One needed the Supreme Battle Body Cultivation technique to utilize the Supreme Battle Art to the fullest extent. John had learned of the Supreme Battle Body cultivation technique early on, but had ignored it to focus on the more profound Immortal Asura Body.


    While his body was stronger than those who cultivated the Supreme Battle Body, his affinity for the Supreme Battle Art was lesser than someone like the Three Battle Gods, who had absolute perfect affinity.<sub></sub>


    As his aura rose to incredible heights of power, so too did his body. The aura around him turned reddish gold, and made him look as if he were covered in brilliant golden mes. His muscles bulged to a point that they seemed about to rip through his skin, making him look like a ming Battle God!


    Boom!


    The two fists collided, and Zulos¡¯s eyes widened as his fist once again came to aplete halt. The ground fractured beneath their feet, while a massive st of air mmed onto the nearby cultivators, throwing them into the distance from the force of the sonic boom.


    After regaining their bnce, all those nearby from both sides of the war couldn¡¯t help but stop for a moment and stare in shock at the oue of the exchange. Zulos, the undisputed number one body cultivator genius, had been equaled in a physical exchange. While it was obvious Zulos was not going all out yet, such a thing was still beyond shocking.


    Zulos¡¯s eyes narrowed once more as he stared at the youth who had blocked his attack, while recollection of who these youths might be came to mind.


    ¡°You three must be the Three Battle Gods of the Supr-¡°<sub></sub>


    ¡°Shut your motherfucking mouth!¡±


    Bang!


    A fist suddenly mmed onto Zulos¡¯s torso mid-sentence, catching himpletely off guard. Zulos¡¯s shot to the side like a bullet, and burrowed into the earth as the ground was unable to withstand his momentum and massive frame.


    Roar!


    Another roar of anger boomed out from Zulos as he quickly righted himself and steadied his bnce. A small wave of pain lingered on his torso, but it was minuscule enough to not care about. His aura exploded outwards with full intensity as he found himself enraged to the fullest extent. Not only had he been insulted twice now, he had also been sneak attacked by one of the other Battle Gods as he was speaking to them.


    His gaze shifted back towards the three Bobs, and his eyes widened as a fist was directly in his face by the time he turned around. His head swayed to the side, narrowly dodging the attack which was powerful enough to give him caution.


    ¡°Tch, pathetic!¡± Zulos scoffed as his fist shot outwards towards the Battle God who had just missed his attack and was passing by.


    Bang!


    A sharp pain shot up Zulos¡¯s leg as his right knee buckled, causing his fist to sway and miss his target. Zulos¡¯s enraged gaze shifted downwards, and spotted another Bob standing next to his knee.


    ¡°Miserable Ant! Die-¡°


    Bang!


    Another fist mmed into his right cheek, catching him off guard once more. His body shot sideways once again, but before it could travel far, another supremely powerful fist attack mmed onto his back.


    Bang!


    ¡°You think you can attack our little bro?¡±


    Bang!


    ¡°Eat this fist! Supreme Battle Bob attack!¡±


    Bang!


    The nearby youths watched in stunned shock as Zulos Stonefist, the most feared body cultivator genius on the entire continent was jumped by three bald headed humans. The three unleashed attack after attack at him, making it so that he was unable to even stand properly. His body shot back and forwards at unimaginable speeds between the three youths, as if they were punching and kicking a ball between themselves.


    Worst of all was the childishughter of Miko, who was still sitting on the shoulders of one of the Bobs while mocking Zulos at the same time, making the scene even more unbelievable.


    ¡°Hahaha, I thought you were going to kill me? Why are you lying on the ground? Are you groveling before me? Well no matter how much you beg, I, your Father, will not forgive you!¡± Miko boomed out boisterously, fully enjoying the view of battle from atop one of Bob¡¯s shoulders.

 Chapter 697 There Is No Honor In War, Only Death

    Miko had stayed near them in case they needed help against Zulos, as Zulos¡¯s strength was renowned to be almost unbeatable, but he could tell that they were more than capable of handling themselves. While he could tell Zulos had yet to go all out, he was confident in thebined might of the three Bobs.


    After watching Zulos get jumped by the three Bob¡¯s for a short while, Miko¡¯s gaze shifted towards the distance and locked onto someone as he hopped off Bob¡¯s shoulder. While it was amusing, he assistance was required elsewhere.


    ROAR!


    A furious roar of rage boomed out along with an overwhelming aura, causing Miko to pause his footsteps and turn around. The three Bobs were knocked back slightly by the aura beforeing to a halt and staring back at Zulos who had erupted with furious anger, pushing his power to another level.


    Zulos¡¯s muscles rippled all over his now slightly bloodied and bruised body, while a unique aura of a battle art red out powerfully. Tattoo like symbols appeared all over his body, making him look quite exotic. Up to this point, he had yet to use a body battle art, and had finally been pushed to the point of needing to use it.


    ¡°You three disgrace the Body Cultivator Way!¡± Zulos boomed out angrily as he stared furiously at his three opponents.


    ¡°And what way would that be?¡± one of the Bobs asked questioningly.<sub>.</sub>


    ¡°You three fight with no honor! Fight me one at a time!¡± he boomed out again, his teeth bared with anger.


    ¡°Hahaha, are you serious?¡± Mikoughed, almost unable to believe what he was hearing. ¡°You and the others invaded thisnd and ughtered thousands, and yet you speak of honor. This is war, there is no such thing as honor in wa-¡°


    ¡°Oh yeah¡­whoops!¡± one of the Bobs suddenly eximed sheepishly as if they had just realized something.


    ¡°I guess we got caught up in the heat of the moment after our little bro was attacked,¡± another Bob said to the two others, also slightly sheepish.


    ¡°Right! We¡¯ll fight him one at a time now, and since I attacked him first, I get to fight him first!¡± the third Bob chimed up, making sure to make his im of first to fight.


    ¡°No way! I¡¯m fighting him!¡± the other two Bobs boomed out simultaneously while they stared at each other withbative gazes.<sub></sub>


    ¡°What¡­what the hell are you guys talking about?¡± Miko couldn¡¯t help but blurt out after recovering from his shock at how stupid the Bobs were.


    ¡°Body cultivators always fight one at a time¡­we just got caught up in the heat of the moment,¡± one of the Bob¡¯s exined. ¡°I don¡¯t really care about honor or whatever the hell this guy is talking about, but I refuse to win in any way other than my strength alone!¡±


    Miko pped his forehead in shocked disbelief, unable toprehend the stupidity of his three new friends. He had no time for this, and also needed them to finish Zulos quickly so they could help elsewhere on the battlefield. Two of them sitting off to the side was not eptable.


    Miko sighed deeply as he wracked his brain for a moment, at which point an idea popped into his mind.


    ¡°They¡¯re so braindead it just might work,¡± Miko whispered under his breath before walking over towards the Bobs.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just fight Zulos at the same time?¡± Miko inquired seriously, as if he were confused about the matter.<sub></sub>


    ¡°What? I just told you I want to win by fighting Zulos myself. Teaming up is beneath me and out of the question!¡± one of the Bobs chimed up in protest.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I¡¯m suggesting!¡± Miko replied while shaking his head, almost appearing as if he were an Elder about to teach three youths a lesson of wisdom. He crossed his arms behind his back and stared at the Bob who had just protested his idea with a serious gaze. ¡°Since you got to the battle first, just fight against Zulos. If your brothers join in, just ignore them and keep fighting. Its them dishonoring themselves in the battle by trying to interfere, while you¡¯re just trying to fight your opponent one on one! It¡¯s technically not teamwork if you¡¯re not working together!¡±


    A confused expression appeared on that Bob¡¯s face for a moment before his eyes lit up, as if he had contemted Miko¡¯s words and found them to be truthful and profound.


    ¡°That makes sense! You¡¯re so smart as always little bro!¡± the Bob replied enthusiastically, as if all his problems were solved. He turned around and shot towards Zulos while his aura exploded out once more, unleashing a powerful fist attack at him. His fist turned a fiery red color as it mmed against Zulos¡¯s fist,mencing their battle once more.


    ¡°Wait a minute, I was here first!¡± another Bob chimed up as he chased after his brother towards the battlefield. The third quickly followed as well, as the three resumed their battle against Zulos.


    ¡°Stop disgracing yourself and leave my battle!¡± one of the Bobs yelled out before unleashing another attack at Zulos.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one disgracing yourself. This guy is my opponent. You¡¯re the ones interfering!¡± another Bob replied angrily as he unleashed a powerful kick at his brother, knocking him aside. That Bob crashed into the earth, burrowing deeply before appearing once more as he dashed back towards the battlefield, unleashing an attack at his brother before attacking Zulos again.


    Miko watched on as the three Bob¡¯s resumed their battle, all while arguing with the others about interfering. The Bobs would asionally attack each other to push them away, but never attacked with dangerous strength at one another.


    Miko shook his head in exasperation, unable to believe his ruse had worked. The Bobs were now fighting Zulos as well as each other, but their attacks against each other were obviously much weaker than their attacks on Zulos.


    ¡°It¡¯s not as good as before, but it¡¯s still much better than them fighting one by one,¡± Miko sighed and shook his head one more time. ¡°Even with Zulos¡¯s increased strength, they should eventually manage to defeat him. Now for what I need to d-¡°


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Three barbarian youths suddenlynded next to Miko, their massive bodies shaking thend as theynded. They gazed at the distant battlefield that their bloodbrother Zulos was in, before looking at Miko before them.


    ¡°You have no honor! Onecking such honor does not deserve to live!¡± one of the barbarians boomed out angrily, as if Miko¡¯s actions were beyond appalling while the three encircled him, making sure he was unable to escape.


    Miko gazed at the three Barbarians as a curious expression appeared on his face.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it honorless to team up on me?¡± he asked. ¡°Don¡¯t I get to fight you one at a time?¡±


    ¡°Since you have no honor and are not a body cultivator, you do not deserve such treatment. Now die!¡± the barbarian youth boomed out as he prepared to unleash an attack on Miko.


    Miko sighed and shook his head as he stared at the barbarian youth. They had invaded thesends without care, ughtered thousands, and yet had the audacity to talk about honor.


    ¡°There is no honor in war. There is only life and death. And it seems you three have chosen death!¡± Miko replied calmly yet coldly as his eyes turnedpletely white.

 Chapter 698 Overwhelming Soul-Domain

    The three barbarians were just about to unleash their attacks onto Miko, when the world around them suddenly turned pure white. No matter where they looked, all they saw was a world of white,pletely confusing them.


    They could tell something had gone wrong, but could not figure out how to get out of it. With their incredible strength and control over their physical bodies, the barbarians could faintly feel the presence of their physical bodies. They could tell that they were standing still, but no matter how much they tried, they could not move their bodies. It was as if their souls and their bodies had been disconnected. The mind and soul were intricately connected, and without control of their souls, they could not control their bodies.


    Being body cultivating barbarians, they solved all their problems through physical force. The existence of soul cultivators was something that the barbarians despised, but at the same time respected. They knew that soul cultivators were able to bypass their physical strength if their souls were too weak, and so despite hating the process, barbarians did train their souls to improve to a certain level of defense.


    This protected them from virtually all but the strongest soul-cultivators in their realm, and even the strongest would still find it difficult to overwhelm them instantly before they could react. However, right now, that exact thing had happened.


    The barbarians red their divine senses for the first time in a long time, as they despised using anything but pure physical strength in battle. The divine sense was linked directly with ones soul, and so even with their bodies and souls disconnected somehow, they could still use their divine sense.<sub>.</sub>


    Their eyes widened in shock as their divine sense washed over Miko, who appeared in their divine sense vision. Miko was standing directly before one of the barbarians, casually staring at him without a care in the world.


    Roar!


    That barbarian roared in rage as he attempted to smash his fist down on Miko, but his body remained motionless as his roar drifted into the nothingness of the white world around him.


    ¡°Nothing but braindead brutes,¡± Miko muttered as he slowly floated up towards the barbarian youths head. The barbarian continued to struggle with all his might, but nothing he did changed anything at all.<sub></sub>


    His eyes widened in horror as Miko arrived before his forehead and reached out with his finger. The barbarian race did not fear death, but they did fear a bad death. A death by the hand of a powerful warrior was eptable, but dying to a soul cultivator was the most dishonorable death they could imagine.


    ¡°Noooooo!¡± the barbarians deep voice boomed out in the soul world, but in the real world, he stood there motionlessly as if not even conscious. Miko reached out and touched his forehead, while an incredibly powerful burst of soul power red out for the briefest instant.


    The ring soul power was so overwhelmingly powerful that all the cultivators on the battlefield, no matter where they were, felt their souls be pained for a brief instant. They all looked over towards the source of the power, and couldn¡¯t help but stare in disbelief as the first barbarian crumpled to the ground before Miko,pletely dead.


    Their eyes and mouths widened even further in shock as he floated over towards the second barbarian and did the same thing, killing him with overwhelming ease. After finishing the second barbarian, Miko started to float over towards the third to finish his battle.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Fuck off!¡± a monster race youth cried out as he noticed what was going on. He didn¡¯t particrly care for the barbarians, but each one who died was a tremendous loss to their battle power, and they could not afford loses at the moment.


    The monster youth dashed towards Miko with a pitch ck saber in hand, ready to unleash an ultimate battle art on him. However, as he reached a few hundred yards from Miko, he suddenly crashed to the ground, as if he had suddenly lost consciousness.


    sh!


    Another sh of soul power sted out as Miko finished off the third barbarian youth, before his calm gaze shifted towards the monster race genius who had invaded his soul domain. The already stunned youths watched as he shed over towards the monster race youth, whoid on the ground as if unconscious.


    sh!


    Another sh of soul power sted out as Miko touched the monster race youths¡¯ forehead, while everyone else felt that monster youths¡¯ souls shatter without mercy.


    In less than a minute, four heavenly geniuses from the barbarian n and monster race had been in without fighting back at all.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± one of the monster race youths roared through gritted teeth, unable to believe what he had just seen. What had just happened had defied all logic. After the monster race youth had crashed, they had all figured out what was happening.


    Miko was using some sort of soul domain, which somehow made those who entered be unconscious, or even worse. However, such a soul domain was beyond anything any of them had ever heard of, and was almost impossible to believe it could exist at all.


    ¡°Attach him from outside the domain!¡± one of the Forbidden Alliance youths cried out, quickly identifying the weakness of the soul art. However, with the recent additions to the battlefield, the war had be rtively even, and there were not many youths without an opponent.


    Only a few enemy youths were opponentless, and were currently teaming up on some other Honorable Alliance youths. Those enemy youths branched off immediately and dashed towards Miko, making sure to stop outside the soul domain they could tell would overwhelm them.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Several battle arts, from raging infernos to sharp sword images sted towards Miko, who calmly gazed at the approaching attacks. A slender white sword appeared in his hand, one that radiated the might of a powerful Dao Transformation weapon.


    ¡°Sword Sovereign Severs The Heavens!¡± Miko whispered as his sword shed forward.

 Chapter 699 Soul-Domain Shifts The Battle

    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    His sword blurred several times as he unleashed three quick attacks, each attack unleashing a pure white sword image towards the oing attacks. The sky seemed to cry out in pain wherever the sword image traveled, as it could sever space itself.


    The other youths all gasped slightly, as if it were a purely instinctual reaction to the sword images. They were far too sharp and profound to exist in this world as well.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!<sub>.</sub>


    The sword images shed into several of the battle arts in an instant, slicing directly through them. Although no one knew how it was possible, the sword art seemed to sever the Dao and power of the battle arts themselves, making them dissipate into nothingness instead of exploding with power.


    Several more battle arts reached Miko, whose body blurred as he shed to the side with incredible speed, dodging the attacks as they sted into the ground and caused massive explosions. The youths quickly shifted their shocked gazes to the side, as they spotted Miko standing therepletely unharmed.


    ¡°Who the fuck is this kid?¡± one of the Forbidden Alliance youths couldn¡¯t help but roar in rage after recovering from his shock. They couldn¡¯t enter his mysterious yet overwhelmingly powerful domain, and their attacks from afar were also unable to reach him. They had never heard of a soul cultivator youth from the Divine Martial Continent this powerful, yet alone one that also had overwhelming essence power.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± a nearby monster race youth asked while looking on with a cold yet cautious gaze at the distant Miko.


    ¡°What can we do?¡± the Forbidden Alliance youth replied,pletely out of ideas.


    Taking advantage of the brief respite, Miko¡¯s gaze shifted towards the other parts of the battlefield, gauging the status of how things were going. He spotted the three Bobs battling against Zulos, whose use of his body battle art had increased his power to a level that he was holding his own against the three Bobs.


    If the three Bobs were using perfect teamwork they would have already overwhelmed him, but their pride prevented them from doing so, resulting in a rtively stalemated battlefield. The other battles were much the same, as a rtive stalemate was achieved in the war. Both sides fought with fearsome ferocity, while youths on both sides fell dead by the minute. An almost invisible battle entered his vision, as Miko spotted Number one and ughter One battle it out, both using incredibly sharp and lethal battle arts, but neither being able to beat the other just yet.<sub></sub>


    Elsewhere, Igris was slowly but surely overwhelming Vargul, and if he was able to beat him, his assistance elsewhere would be of great help. Miko¡¯s gaze shifted to the final powerful battle he had witnessed when entering the warzone, but his gaze narrowed as he noticed it was no longer happening.


    ¡°Tch, so pathetic!¡± a cold and mocking voice sounded out next to the two youths, who couldn¡¯t help but shiver in fear as they noticed who it was. They watched as she moved towards towards Miko without a care, as if she didn¡¯t fear his soul domain at all.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± they both cried out in a panic, but felt shock once again as she entered the domain and continued on, pausing only for a brief moment at its borders.


    Miko watched with calm eyes as Amber Bloodrose entered his domain, as if she was not concerned about it at all. His eyes narrowed slightly as she fully maintained her consciousness upon entering the domain, before his gaze shifted into the distance.


    Lying on the ground was Luth, who had a massive sword wound over his chest, while blood poured out profusely. Another Honorable Alliance girl raced towards Luth and started to heal him with her healing powers, but the state of his wound made his recovery questionable at best.


    Miko¡¯s gaze shifted back towards Amber, whonded before him and looked at him curiously.


    ¡°I was having fun with Luth, but you seem far more fun to y with, so I finished him off quickly beforeing here,¡± Amber exined as she noticed Miko¡¯s gaze. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken¡­you must be the Soul-Sage I¡¯ve been hearing so much about!¡±<sub></sub>


    ¡°What?


    ¡°The Soul-Sage?¡±


    ¡°No wonder he¡¯s so powerful!¡±


    Several cries of shock echoed out from the distance as the other youths heard Amber¡¯s words.


    ¡°And you must be Amber Bloodrose,¡± Miko replied calmly yet emotionlessly, almost as if the battle art had changed his personality from his normal cheery and smug self.


    ¡°This soul domain of yours is quite incredible,¡± Amber replied, an intrigued yet bloodthirsty smile lingering on her face. ¡°I need to use my full powered soul defense just to maintain myself. It¡¯s almost as if your domain is trying to rip my soul from my body¡­interesting.¡±


    ¡°And yet you¡¯re able to resist its effects. Your soul is incredibly powerful,¡± Miko replied calmly, as if he was not concerned about her ability to resist his domain. ¡°You¡¯re the first to resist it¡­but let¡¯s see how long you can manage to do so!¡±


    Che!


    Miko¡¯s sword shed as he unleashed a sword art, while Amber did the same. A white and blood red sword image collided before them as the twomenced their battle. Both Miko and Amber shed around the battlefield, their speed so fast as to be almost invisible to the other youths, while each of their sword arts were profound enough to drive the others mad with fear and envy.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    The two continued to trade blows nonstop for quite some time, with neither winning out in their exchanges. As the fight dragged on, Amber couldn¡¯t help but narrow her eyes at Miko, almost unable to believe his strength. Miko¡¯s cultivation was at the Late Heaven Tribtion realm, while Amber was at the Peak Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    In fact, her cultivation was almost at the point of stepping into the Half-Step Dao Transformation Realm, putting it firmly above Miko¡¯s. And yet, she was not able to get any advantage at all, the first time she had ever lost out to someone weaker than her. It was the first time in her life that she started to feel inferior to another, and a wave of jealousy and anger started to grow within her.


    However, at the same time, a growing sense of frenzied ecstasy flooded her body, as she fantasized about killing Miko and absorbing his blood. Her wicked smile continued to grow as her battle raged on, almost as if she were on the edge of losing herself in the expected ecstasy toe.


    ¡°Amber, kill him already!¡±


    A panicked cry boomed out from nearby, snapping Amber out of her focus in battle. Her cold, angered, and murderous gaze shifted towards the youth who had yelled at her, almost as if she were about to dash towards him and kill him for interrupting her battle. However, her face trembled slightly as she finally noticed the state of the battlefield around her.


    Dozens of Forbidden Alliance, monster race and barbarian youthsid dead on the ground that were not dead before her battle had started. Slight confusion appeared on her face for the briefest of moments, until she saw a nearby Forbidden Alliance youth turn stiff as their battle approached them.


    That youth was locked in a heated battle without a Honorable Alliance youth, who used the opening tond a lethal blow on his opponent. Realization dawned on Amber, whose gaze snapped back to Miko, whose soul domain was still active. As their battle dashed around the warzone, his domain would overwhelm the enemy youths, allowing their opponents to kill them swiftly.


    If this were allowed to continue for just a little while longer, the battle would be lost. Amber gritted her teeth in frustration and anger as she realized what Miko was doing, while her blood began to boil from rage. Her sword began to glow an incredibly dark red color as her power red once more, unleashing her full strength for the very first time.


    ¡°Die!¡±

 Chapter 700 Sword Sovereign vs. Goddess of Slaughter

    Che!


    Amber shed her sword forward, unleashing a blood red sword image far stronger than she had unleashed before. Those nearby felt their instincts re as they gazed at the art, almost unable to do so. Its sharpness and speed were beyondpare, and it was obvious that the attack contained many profound and powerful Dao¡¯s within.


    Miko¡¯s calm gaze stared at the oing sword art, as if it didn¡¯t concern him.


    ¡°The Dao of Speed and Sharpness huh?¡± Miko mused as he casually shed his pearly white sword forward.


    Che!


    A brilliant, almost blindingly white sword image shed out towards Amber¡¯s attack, its profoundness no less than hers. It was as if a sword god had unleashed the attack himself; an attack that was able to cleave through anything.


    The two attacks collided in mid air, and both attacks severed right through the other as both attacks were instantly neutralized. Amber¡¯s gaze narrowed as she saw her attack perfectly countered.<sub>.</sub>


    Miko shed to the side once more, appearing in another location filled with both ally and enemy youths. Many of the enemy youths were instantly overwhelmed by his soul domain and came to aplete halt, at which point their opponents used the opening tond the finishing blow.


    Some were able to resist its power, but their movements became sluggish as they fought back against the overwhelming soul domain. Their sluggish movements were all the help the Honorable Alliance youths needed, as many used the opportunity tond finishing blows as well.


    In less than a few minutes, over thirty enemy youths were in, a number that was beyond shocking. Given that they only numbered around two hundred at the moment, arge portion of their fighting force had been eliminated. If this were to go on, the battle would no doubt be lost.


    With their opponents dead, the Honorable Alliance youths were free to help their allies elsewhere, further turning the tides of battle. The battle had been hopeless at first, but for the first time, the Honorable Alliance was seeing victory on the horizon. Their fighting spirits were ignited even further as they pressed forward with everything, hoping to end the battle once and for all.


    ¡°Stop running away you fucking brat!¡± Amber cursed, disying a rare outburst of rage. She was almost always in control of every situation she was in, but now was different. Miko dashed throughout the battlefield while focusing on defense, clearly disying his goals. He wanted to stall against Amber as long as possible while helping out the others, eventually finishing the war almost all by himself.


    Amber¡¯s grit her teeth so hard that they nearly shattered while she stared at Miko with hate filled eyes.<sub></sub>


    ¡°You¡¯re going to pay for what¡¯s toe,¡± Amber cursed him angrily, ¡°after I kill you, I¡¯ll absorb everyst drop of your blood!¡±


    Miko stared back with his calm and indifferent expression as he watched Amber turn her sword around. Her sword plunged forward into her chest, shocking everyone on the battlefield. Amber grimaced in pain as her sword pierced directly through her chest, while a small stream of blood dribbled down the corner of her mouth.


    With the sword firmly in her chest, Amber made a hand seal before the hilt of the sword, while her essence Qi red with an overwhelmingly profound aura.


    ¡°Descent of the Goddess of ughter!¡± Amber said through gritted teeth, although there was clearly a tinge of reverence in her voice.


    The world seemed to go silent for the briefest moments as a figure began to materialize behind Amber, greedily absorbing Amber¡¯s Qi, as well as the blood that began to flow from her chest wound. The figure continued to solidify as it absorbed both, while those on the battlefield couldn¡¯t help but hold their breaths. It was as if a god had truly descended on the battlefield, one that filled their minds with images of blood and ughter.


    The figure was quiterge, at over thirty yards tall, and hovered in the sky behind Amber. It had blood red hair, while its face was blurry, as if no one here was worthy of seeing it. The figure held a blood red sword in her hand, almost identical to the one Amber held in hers.<sub></sub>


    Everyone could tell that the figure was not something real, and was instead an avatar made of Qi and blood, but it felt real to most seeing it.


    Boom!


    Amber¡¯s aura exploded out once more as the figure finally seemed to beplete, and her bloodstained teeth turned from a pained grit to a maddened smile as she stared at Miko below her.


    ¡°Die, you fucking brat!¡± she cursed as she shed her sword down at him, while the figure behind her matched her movements perfectly.


    Che!


    The world seemed to tremble for the briefest moments as the avatar behind Amber unleashed a sword art from their sword. The sword art was another blood red sword image thirty yards long, but it appeared so real as to fool the eyes of most nearby.


    An overwhelmingly profound aura of Speed, Sharpness, and something else radiated from the sword image as it shed down at Miko with lethal intent.


    Miko breathed in lightly as he gazed at the sword image above him, while his own pearly white sword steadied by his side. He breathed out lightly shortly after, while his sword casually shed upwards towards the blood red sword image approaching.


    ¡°¡±Sword Sovereign Severs The Heavens: Form Two!¡± Miko said calmly, while his face paled slightly.


    Che!


    An incredibly thin and almost unnoticeable beam of sword Qi shed out from his sword towards the attack above. It was far smaller and thinner than the overwhelmingly powerful blood red battle art above, and seemed as though it would be swallowed up by the attack without question.


    Che!


    The two attacks collided with frightening speed, and everyone nearby held their breath as they braced for an incredibly powerful explosion of battle arts. However, that explosion did not happen, and instead the youths watched with stunned expressions as Amber¡¯s blood red sword was cleaved directly in half, losing a great deal of its power as the two halves of the real looking blood red sword mmed down on Miko below.


    However, with its power somehow reduced, as if Miko¡¯s sword art had severed the Dao of the attack itself, the sword art fell on Miko¡¯s location with much less power.


    Boom!


    The attack exploded outwards, bathing Miko in blood red Qi while destroying thend nearby. The youths nearby braced themselves as they felt themselves nearly overwhelmed by the explosion, and also overwhelmed with shock. The battle art had been reduced in power greatly, and yet it was still so powerful. If they had been struck by the reduced power attack they would have still died, let alone the original full powered attack.


    The explosive battle art faded away, revealing a fracturednd and a massive crater at the center. Within the crater stood Miko, whose robes were slightly damaged, and some small wounds were visible on his cheeks and arms, but other than that appearedpletely unharmed. His cold gaze stared back at Amber above, who looked on with stunned disbelief.


    ¡°Impossible!¡±

 Chapter 701 Arrival of an Omen

    ¡°H-how is that possible!¡± one of the Forbidden Alliance youths muttered in disbelief. They knew how strong Amber was, and knew the attack she had just unleashed as the ultimate battle art she knew¡­and yet her opponent was perfectly unharmed.


    ¡°Impossible! Amber just used the Descent of the Goddess of ughter! It¡¯s the most secretive battle art in the entire Forbidden Alliance, as well as the most powerful. Its might is unmatched. It¡¯s impossible that someone weaker than her was able to resist it!¡± the youth eximed once more, still unable to believe his eyes.


    ¡°Apparently your Forbidden Alliance isn¡¯t as powerful as you thought,¡± his nearby opponent mocked as he unleashed a battle art at him, resuming their battle once more.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Amber muttered as she slowly regained herposure. She had sacrificed a great deal to utilize this battle art, and had used it to finish her opponent once and for all. Its might was unquestionable, and he should have died without question.


    Amber¡¯s thoughts shifted back to the sword art Miko had used, and couldn¡¯t figure out how it had severed her attack so much. It was truly as if it had severed her Dao¡¯s, which was impossible.


    ¡°What the fuck was that sword art?¡± Amber couldn¡¯t help but yell with confused rage, as if she was starting to lose her sanity.


    Miko ignored Amber as he stared at the massive avatar behind her that was starting to fade away. Its face was blurry, but he could somehow tell that it was staring straight at him. He felt an overwhelmingly profound feeling from the gaze, something he had only felt once before in his life.


    ¡°The Sword Sovereign¡¯s inheritor¡­interesting,¡± the Avatar mused out loud, shocking everyone on the battlefield. ¡°And something else as well¡­something even I cannot discern¡­How very interesting.¡±<sub>.</sub>


    The avatar could speak, and it spoke as if it were sentient. The avatar continued to fade away, while a smile broke out on the avatar¡¯s blurry face.


    ¡°I do hope we can meet in the future,¡± her almost amused sounding voice faded away as did her avatar, disappearing as if it never existed.


    Miko¡¯s gaze narrowed as she stared at the now empty spot behind Amber, before his gaze shifted towards Amber herself. While unleashing his sword attack had drained him a bit, Amber was now much worse off, as it was easy to tell that her battle art had been extremely costly to use.


    His soul domain faded away as the burden his soul had be quite taxing with his current state, although he had done enough to help the other battles already. Miko shed forward once more as he unleashed a sword art at Amber, who started tough wildly as if she had lost her mind.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to torture you to death!¡± she cursed as she unleashed her own sword art, which was now weaker than before.


    Peng!


    Peng!<sub></sub>


    Peng!


    The two traded both ranged attacks and physical ones as their battle continued once more. However, Miko held a distinct advantage this time, as Amber found herself on the defensive, unable to muster enough power to turn the tide of her battle.


    Amber¡¯s gaze shifted towards the massive steps before the dragon corpse, and her lips trembled for a moment as if wanting to say something. However, she decided against it in the end, almost as if whatever was there was not worth disturbing. She had learned her lesson several weeks ago regarding¡­him.


    In the distance, the Bobs were still battling against Zulos, who was fighting with overwhelming power as he defended against their onught. The other Honorable Alliance youths noticed the changed battlefield, and many cried out with renewed vigor and passion as they continued their battles as well.


    They could tell they were winning, and that the battle was almost over. Against all odds, they would win, and they would survive.


    In a particr battle near the base of the massive steps leading to the ancient dragon corpse, three youths fought it out, two from the Honorable Alliance, and one from the Forbidden Alliance. Their battle raged on, and the Forbidden Alliance youth found himself on the defensive from thebined assault of the two youths.


    Che!<sub></sub>


    A sharp saber image pierced towards the Forbidden Alliance youth, who dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. The attack carried on towards the stairs, mming onto them about half-way up.


    The three fighters continued their battle as normal, ignorant of the omen they had just unleashed on the battlefield.


    The battlefield suddenly stopped as each and every single youth came to a halt, as if their instincts had warned them to do so. They all gazed towards the massive stairs before the ancient dragon corpse, and for the first time noticed an almost insignificantly small youth sitting on them half-way up.


    The stairs were miles long and wide, and the youth was no more than spec on them. His aura was also withdrawn, making it so that none of them had noticed him during the entire battle process. However, that youth¡¯s aura was no longer withdrawn, as if he had woken from a long slumber.


    The youth had yet to disy any power or re his aura, but just his presence alone was enough to draw everyone¡¯s attention. In the distance, Miko also couldn¡¯t help but notice the youth, who he had failed to notice before. His eyes narrowed on his otherwise calm gaze as he stared at the youth, who had his back turned to the battlefield.


    The youth slowly stood up and gazed at the dragon corpse at the end of the stairs high above, before he slowly turned around to face the battlefield covering the ins at the base of the stairs. Thend before him was ravaged and destroyed, with hundreds of corpses strewn about. However, the youth ignored them as he stared at the one who had unleashed the battle art that had struck him. Despite the battle arts overwhelming power, it had done absolutely no damage at all, shocking that Honorable Alliance youth.


    . However, when he saw the face of the youth, he sighed in relief as he recognized him as an ally.


    ¡°It¡¯s Parker!¡± the other Honorable Alliance youth eximed happily, as did many others on the battlefield. They instantly recognized Parker Noren, as he had quickly be one of the foremost geniuses in this realm early on, and disyed his immense power equal to Luth himself. Many started cheering for his arrival, as if they had been blessed


    With him joining the battle, their Honorable Alliance was guaranteed to survive through this ordeal.


    ¡°Parker?¡± the Forbidden Alliance youth they had been fighting scoffed, staring at the youths as if they were dead men. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ve been swindled. That¡¯s not Parker.¡±


    ¡°What the hell do you mean? Your lies won¡¯t save you now,¡± the Honorable Alliance youth eximed angrily.


    ¡°I mean, the youth standing there is not Parker¡­but Asuros!¡±


    ¡°What are you talk-¡± the Honorable Alliance youth who had unleashed the attack cried out, but instantly felt silent as something appeared behind him. It felt as if death itself had appeared, filling the youth with absolute dread.


    ¡°You fucking vermin dared to interrupt my cultivation when I was about to break through¡­¡± Asuros said as his hand suddenly swiped sideways, so fast as to be invisible to most.


    Che!


    The youth, who had yet to turn around, saw his vision start to shift and tumble downwards. Darkness soon embraced his vision as his head fell to the ground, shocking every Honorable Alliance member on the battlefield.


    ¡°Parker! What are you doing?¡± one of the more talented Honorable Alliance youths cried out in shock, unable to believe one of their own would do such a thing.


    In the distance, a smug smirk appeared on Amber¡¯s face as her gaze shifted towards Miko.


    ¡°Your death is now cert-¡± she said to him, but her words were cut off as Miko suddenly erupted with an unexpected roar of rage.


    ¡°PARKER!¡± he erupted with anger, as if he had seen his most hated enemy.


    Asuros¡¯s gaze shifted towards Miko in the distance, and an amused smile quickly appeared on his face.


    ¡°Miko¡­I never expected to see you here,¡± Asuros replied with obvious amusement in his voice, while a confident yet sinister smile appeared on his face. ¡°Thest time I saw you was¡­oh that was right. It was in the ancient pocket realm back on the Yuan Continent!¡±

 Chapter 702 Asuross Identity

    The battlefield fell into silence save for the battles between the strongest youths as they listened to the discussion between Miko and Asuros. Clearly the two knew each other.


    Asuros, or Parker Fenix¡¯s amused smile grew on his face as he eyed Miko up and down.


    ¡°Not bad. It seems as though you¡¯ve grown quite a lot in power since west met,¡± Asuros praised as he noticed Miko¡¯s powerful soul and aura. ¡°You must be the Soul-Sage I¡¯ve been hearing about. I see you didn¡¯t bother to change your name from your time on the Yuan Continent.¡±


    ¡°And I see you¡¯ve changed yourspletely, Parker¡± Miko replied coldly, clearly recalling that some of the enemy youths had mentioned that Parker was Asuros, one of the most mysterious youths on the Divine Martial Continent.


    ¡°It¡¯s Asuros now,¡± he replied dismissively. ¡°Parker is no more.¡±


    ¡°Changing your name or identity won¡¯t save you now. I¡¯ll kill you for what you did to John,¡± Miko barked back coldly.<sub></sub>


    ¡°What I did to John?¡± Asuros asked, almost as if John was such an insignificant thing that he hadpletely forgotten about him. His eyes lit up as he recalled what Miko was talking about. ¡°Ahhh, yes. That almost seems like a lifetime ago,¡± Asuros mused as if he were caught up in memories of a distant past.


    His gaze drifted for a bit before lighting up and locking onto Miko once more.


    ¡°What I did to John? How do you know I was the one to cause his death?¡± Asuros asked curiously. When he and the other Bloodfiend Sect youths had forced John off the cliff in the ancient realm, no one had been around to see it. They had left the round free of suspicion, yet Miko was clearly telling him he knew the truth.


    ¡°I know it was you, because he was the one who told me the truth of what happened!¡± Miko replied, his words stunning Asuros for the first time in a long time.


    ¡°John is still alive?¡± Asuros replied, slight shock in his voice.<sub></sub>


    ¡°Yes, but that doesn¡¯t concern you anymore,¡± Miko replied, fullymitted to cutting down Asuros here and now.


    Asuros¡¯s expression of shock gradually shifted to one of pleasant surprise, and then hopeful expectation. His gaze heated up as he stared at Miko in the distance.


    ¡¢ ¡°That¡¯s the best news you could have told me,¡± Asuros said to Miko as a massive saber suddenly appeared in his hand.


    The saber was almost asrge as his body and appeared toorge for him to wield. Its de was pitch ck in color, as if it greedily absorbed all the light around it, while its hilt was grayish, clearly made from the bone of an ancient and powerful creature. The peak Dao Transformation grade saber radiated a bloodthirsty aura, as if it had in a million lives and absorbed the blood, regret, and agony of those who had been in.


    As the weapon appeared in his hand, Asuros himself seemed to transform into a different person. He was calm and confident before, but a look of pure frenzied bloodthirst appeared on his face now as he gazed at Miko.<sub></sub>


    ¡°He must be the John Fenix I saw on the Jade Dragon List¡­which means he¡¯s in this realm with us right now. I¡¯ve always wanted to confirm my suspicions about his body, butmented the fact that he was dead in a realm I could no longer enter. Since he is alive, then after I¡¯m done with you, I¡¯ll find him and kill him myself. If his body is what I think it is¡­then-¡°


    Asuros¡¯s words cut off as his gaze shifted to the side, as if something had caught his attention. He turned sideways while his hand shot forward with shocking speed.


    Peng!


    A metallic sound rang out as Asuros¡¯s hand came to a sudden stop in midair. Confused gazes appeared on the faces of the other youths on the battlefield, as they couldn¡¯t tell what was going on. A dagger suddenly appeared in Asuros¡¯s hand, which he had caught by the de.


    ¡°You think you can leave after that?¡± Asuros said out loud as his body shed forward, appearing like a blur from his speed. His saber shed out at nothing before him. The sh itself was casual and contained no Qi augmentation at all, but the power behind the sh was beyond overwhelming.


    The youths seeing Asuros¡¯s casual attack felt as if death hade for them, despite being nowhere near the attack.


    Che!


    Asuros¡¯s saber shed onto nothing, but a clear sound boomed out as if it had struck something. The expressions of all on the battlefield changed as they saw a figure materialize out of thin air. The figure was covered head to toe in ck clothing, and only his eyes were visible to see. Eyes that were wide with shock.


    ¡°Your blood is quite decent,¡± Asuros praised with a wide, bloodthirsty grin on his face as Number One materialized before him. Number One¡¯s body suddenly parted in half from his right shoulder to his left waist, revealing the attack from Asuros had cleaved him in half without mercy. Blood poured out from his lethal wound, but changed directions as it funneled towards Asuros.


    Asuros opened his mouth wide as the blood flowed into it, consuming the stream of blood all while Number One¡¯s body became more and more desated. Before long the two halves of Number One looked like a mummy, while his life finally faded away. The number one assassin of the Honorable Alliance had been killed in a single blow without being able to fight back, shocking everyone on the battlefield.


    Asuros greedily consumed the stream of blood, before his saber suddenly shed out to the side.


    Peng!


    A loud, sharp sound rang out and sparks flew as his saber mmed against another weapon. Miko shot backwards from the force of the attack,ing to a halt several hundred yards away.


    ¡°It¡¯s not polite to interrupt someone¡¯s meal,¡± Asuros said to Miko as his mouth widened into a smile once more, revealing his bloodstained teeth. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ll begin my feast again shortly,¡± he continued as his aura suddenly exploded out for the first time, causing Miko to narrow his eyes with cautioned wariness.


    His opponent, Asuros, was in the Half-Step Dao Transformation Realm.

 Chapter 703 Terrifying Might

    The aura from Asuros exploded out, bathing every inch of the battlefield with his power. Many of the other cultivators, both friend and foe alike, copsed to their knees, unable to resist the aura washing over them. The power of the aura was incredible, but its nature was beyond overwhelming. Each and every cultivator felt like they had just been dropped into the depths of hell itself.


    Death, destruction, despair, agony, anguish, torment, suffering, blood, murder! These were the thoughts all within the aura felt, as the aura itself threatened to drive them to the edge of madness and force them off that edge.


    ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡± Cries of agony and pain boomed out across the battlefield as many of the weaker youths started crying out in pain and wing at their faces, ripping their own skin apart as they were seemingly driven mad from the sinister aura.


    The stronger youths were able to resist the sinister aura, but they felt their minds be pained with these thoughts as they resisted against it. Only the top geniuses like Miko, Amber, and the others were able to resist the mental effects of Asuros¡¯s aura, but the physical power of the aura still lingered.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t even a domain! How is his aura alone so sinister¡­and powerful?¡± Iseria, the strongest of the Faeries muttered as she arrived next to Miko. She had been battling elsewhere on the battlefield, but Asuros¡¯s arrival had changed things.


    Miko¡¯s eyes narrowed as he felt the aura of Asuros wash over him. Thanks to his strong soul, he was able to fully resist the mental effects of Asuros¡¯s aura, but the power itself was still pushing down on him. Miko¡¯s thoughts ran wild as the aura emanating from Asuros reminded him of someone else, although it was just different enough for him to not be certain.


    ¡°Get ready,¡± Miko said softly to Iseria, ignoring her questionpletely. ¡°And hold nothing back, or we¡¯ll both die! I can tell he has yet to reveal his full power!¡±


    Iseria nodded her head as a grave look appeared on her face. Asuros was already so powerful, and yet Miko had insinuated that there was more toe.<sub></sub>


    Miko¡¯s gaze shifted sideways as he saw Amber slowly move away from him. He nced at her face, and saw a look of mockery and glee on it.


    ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate that I won¡¯t be able to kill you myself, but watching you die isn¡¯t bad either,¡± Amber mocked as her figure shed and appeared at another part of the battlefield. Her red sword shed out as she unleashed a powerful battle art, which instantly sliced a Honorable Alliance youth in half. Despite her power being diminished from her battle with Miko, she was still too much for anyone else to handle.


    Miko¡¯s frown deepened as he saw Amber resume her rampage, but knew he could not afford to help out. The rest of the battlefield would have to fend for themselves while he handled Parker¡­or Asuros.


    ¡°Miko!¡± Iseria cried out.


    Miko¡¯s gaze shifted from Amber back to Asuros, and his eyes widened as his dantian red with maximum power, as did Iseria¡¯s.


    Bang!


    Three weapons collided as Asuros appeared before the two of them in a sh, his speed beyond shocking. His saber mmed down on Mikos thin white sword and Iseria¡¯s thin translucent sword, both which were Dao Transformation grade weapons. Both Miko and Iseria felt an overwhelming physical force course through their bodies, a force neither was able to resist.<sub></sub>


    Boom!


    ¡¢ Boom!


    Two plumes of dust and debris sted outwards as both of them mmed into the earth below, shattering it with the force their bodies had contained.


    Asuros raised his saber above his head as he stared at Miko below, who had quickly rebounded to his feet. Asuros raised an eyebrow as he saw Miko unharmed from his attack.


    ¡°I must say I¡¯m impressed. You¡¯re a soul cultivator and yet you managed to resist that attack. You truly are talented,¡± Asuros praised before his sinister smile widened once again. ¡°But I have things to wrap up here, so just die already!¡±


    sh!


    His saber shed downwards as it erupted with apocalyptic power. A ckish red aura red from his saber as it unleashed a massive saber image down towards Miko below. The saber image was thirty yards long and appeared like a realistic ck saber, one that contained overwhelming might.<sub></sub>


    After unleashing the attack, Asuros turned without looking at itnd on Miko below, an indication of his confidence in the attack. His gaze shifted back towards the distant stairs before the ancient dragon, and locked onto its Dragon-Essence Bone which he hade for.


    Che!


    A sharp, piercing sound rang out, catching his attention. He turned around to see a pure white sword image sh directly through his saber battle art, cleaving it in half and reducing its power by a considerable amount. Slight surprise appeared on Asuros¡¯s face as he noticed this, before his saber shed out to his right side as Miko appeared there like a blur.


    At the same time, Miko¡¯s soul power red out with overwhelming might, causing Asuros to feel a slight soul pain which slowed his thoughts and movements.


    Bang!


    Saber and sword collided, causing Miko to fly backwards through the air for some time beforeing to a stop. His body shed again as he appeared before Asuros and unleashed a barrage of incredibly quick sword attacks. Each one contained lethal sharpness, and also a soul-attack which mmed against Asuros¡¯s soul over and over.


    Asuros¡¯s saber shed out with equal speed, shocking all as its massive size and weight indicated that his physical strength was beyond abnormal. After parrying an attack, his other hand punched outwards towards Miko¡¯s chest, who raised his sword at thest moment to block it.


    Bang!


    Asuros¡¯s fist mmed against the t of the sword, knocking Miko backwards hundreds of yards as he tumbled through the air. Miko felt as if a mountain had mmed against his chest, but managed to block it without taking much damage thanks to his essence Qi protecting him.


    Che!


    At the exact same time, Iseria appeared on Asuros¡¯s other side, shing directly towards his waist. Her power and speed was nearly on par with Miko¡¯s, and her sword reached Asuros before he could parry with his massive saber. Her sword shed against Asuros¡¯s unguarded waist, causing blood to spray out and force Asuros to the ground below.


    Boom!


    The ground exploded as Asuros mmed into the earth, while everyone held their breath at what had just happened. Iseria and Miko had perfect teamwork with their counter attack, and hadnded a critical blow on Asuros.


    Iseria stared down at the ground below, which hid Asuros within, while Miko suddenly red with power once more as he sped forward towards Iseria.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Miko cried out as he raced towards her, hoping that he would make it in time.


    Boom!


    The ground erupted from within as a figure sped out from within, while an overwhelming power even greater than before washed over the battlefield. Almost everyone on the battlefield copsed to their knees as they felt the sinister mental assaults increase several times, while the power of the aura itself did the same. It was as if a demon god had arrived on the battlefield, and began to drown everyone with its aura alone.


    Iseria felt the power the most intently, as the source of the aura arrived directly before her like a ghost. Her breath caught in her chest as she stared at Asuros, who seemed like apletely different creature at the moment.


    Five curved and ck horns pierced out from his skull, appearing almost like a crown of horns. Red runic lines covered his body, which was now far more muscr than before. His body brimmed with absolute physical might, as if a wave of his hand could shatter mountains. Sharp spikes jutted out from his shoulders and spine, making him look even more frightening.


    Most terrifying of all were his blood red eyes, which stared at Iseria with a bloodthirst that sent a wave of fear throughout her body. It was as if she were being stared at by the most savage of predators, which desired to consume her immediately. She had never seen anything like this before, but could tell that the figure before her was the most dangerous creature she had ever encountered.

 Chapter 704 Roar!

    Her gaze shifted down to Asuros¡¯s waist where her sword attack hadnded, and her eyes widened as she saw almost no lingering wound and all. Her attack hadnded directly without question, and yet she had only managed to break the skin of her opponent.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± several youths muttered through gritted teeth as they struggled against the aura that nearly overwhelmed them. They had seen Iseria¡¯s attacknd directly, and yet there was no damage at all.


    ¡°What kind of monster¡­is he?¡± another cursed hopelessly through gritted teeth.


    Iseria instantly snapped out of her fear, gripping her sword tightly as she watched a massive saber sh towards her. Her essence Qi and soul power red with her full power as her translucent sword started to glow brightly. At the same time, translucent wings appeared behind her, making her look like a true angel.


    ¡°Soul of the Seraph!¡± she cried out as her sword shed forward, creating a thin line in space that seemed to split the very fabric of space itself.


    The thin line created by her attack suddenly spread, instantly transforming into aplicated looking runic object. The runic object red with mesmerizing soul power, at which point it shot forward towards Asuros, who ignored itpletely.


    The runic soul-diagram mmed onto Asuros, causing his movements to pause for a brief moment, as if he were fighting an internal battle at the moment.


    Iseria¡¯s sword raised once more as she prepared to sh it forward, but her eyes widened as a shout of warning entered her ears, and Asuros continued his movements once more.


    ¡°Retreat!¡± Miko cried out in a panic.


    ¡°Toote!¡± Asuros mocked as his saber shed towards Iseria, who sped backwards with her greatest speed possible, but her speed was just a hair too slow to dodge the attack in time.


    Che!


    Blood sshed out as the angelic looking Iseria fell from the sky, blood trailing behind her body. A massive and ghastly looking wound had appeared on her chest, revealing her innards within. She had managed to dodge just in time to avoid a fatal blow, but Asuros appeared before her once more, his saber shing out tond the finishing blow. Asuros¡¯s eyes narrowed as he felt someone appear directly behind him.


    ¡°Fuck off!¡± A roar of pure anger boomed out from behind Asuros, who turned at thest moment to see Miko directly behind him with his sword shing out towards him. Miko¡¯s eyes had turnedpletely white, while an incredibly powerful soul domain had expanded around him.


    Asuros felt as if he were staring at apletely different person, someone who had enough power for him to take seriously.


    Sword Sovereign Severs The Heavens: Form Two!


    Che!


    Miko¡¯s sword shed outwards once more, while his face paled slightly while his aura dropped a bit as well. An overwhelmingly powerful sword art pierced towards Asuros as Miko unleashed another one of his strongest sword battle arts, one that was profound enough for Asuros to take seriously.


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll deal with you first then!¡± Asuros said as his saber shed outwards to meet the oing attack. The sword art mmed against the saber, causing Asuros to widen his eyes slightly in shock as a small thin chip appeared on the de of his saber. His saber was given to him by his master, and its quality was beyondpare.


    For the sword art to damage it at all was nearly impossible to believe.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    The two shed their weapons out with overwhelming speed, exchanging hundreds of attacks in quick session before parting once again. Asuros noticed that Miko¡¯s barrage had pushed him away from the wounded Iseria, but he didn¡¯t care about such a thing at the moment.


    His maw widened into a sinister smile, revealing sharp, fang-like teeth as he smiled at Miko.


    ¡°Your battle arts are clearly above what this world of ours has to offer¡­I wonder how you came to obtain them?¡± Asuros asked with much interest, but received no reply as Miko stared back with silence before unleashing another attack.


    ¡°It¡¯s no matter. I¡¯ll get the information out of you once I break you!¡± Asuros said as his saber shed out once more to meet the attack.


    The two continued their battle above the rest of the youths, each attack containing power beyond the imaginations of those watching below. It was a battle of soul versus pure physical power, with neither side obtaining an obvious advantage. Their bodies appeared like blurs to those watching as they raced around the battlefield, exchanging attacks beyondprehension.


    The battle raged on for what seemed like an eternity to those watching with bated breath, as the victor of the battle would determine the oue of the rest of the war.


    Boom!


    The ground exploded outwards as one of the fighters mmed into it, unable to resist the might of the others attack. The dust quickly faded away Asuros hovering in the sky above Miko, who stared back with heated defiance as he wiped the corner of his blood-stained mouth.


    Hopelessness surged through the Honorable Alliance camp as they noticed that despite his defiant gaze, Miko¡¯s aura was like a candle in the wind. Not only that, but several deep wounds covered his body, making him appear quite miserable. On the other hand, Asuros still surged with nearly full power.


    They could tell that his aura had be slightly shaky, as if his soul were still recovering from Miko¡¯s overwhelming soul attacks, but other than that, he appeared in top form.


    ¡°Tch, it¡¯s a shame,¡± Asuros said with a click of his tongue, disying obvious disappointment. ¡°If you were in top shape when we started our battle, our battle would have been quite interesting. But you had to go and waste your energy on someone like Amber. How disappointing.¡±


    The hopelessness of the Honorable Alliance youths grew as they heard these words which confirmed their bleak thoughts. Miko had battled Amber and then Asuros, which were the two strongest geniuses of the enemy powers. While his power was beyond overwhelming, fighting them back-to-back was not possible. At this point, there was only one possible oue remaining: the destruction of the Honorable Alliance.


    Miko¡¯s defiant gaze trembled for a brief instant, something that Asuros did not miss. His sinister smile widened as he took his trembling as confirmation of his words.


    ¡°Hmph, this battle is not over yet,¡± Miko replied defiantly, not cowed for a single second. Despite his weakened aura, his battle spirit had not diminished even slightly.


    ¡°Hmph, and how do you n on beating me in your current state?¡± Asuros asked mockingly, as if savoring the final struggles of his soon to be dead opponent.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask him yourself?¡± Miko replied smugly as he crossed his arms over his chest.


    ¡°Him?¡± Asuros mumbled in confusion, before his gaze suddenly snapped upwards as he felt something overwhelmingly powerful approaching from above, while a dragon-like roar of anger boomed out over the entire battlefield.

 Chapter 705 Devastating Arrival

    On the outskirts of the battlefield, a battle between four youths continued to rage on. The three on one battle had been in a deadlock since the beginning, as Adam, Iris, and Chase fought against the powerful Kadin.


    They had been put on the backfoot as Kadin¡¯s overwhelming power continued to st against them, and each had almost lost their lives several times. However, with their incredible teamwork andbat talent, the three were able to keep their lives thus far in their battle.


    Roar!


    The roar from above startled all, Kadin included as he couldn¡¯t help but pause and nce upwards towards the sky. Just like Asuros, Kadin could feel an overwhelmingly powerful presence rapidly approaching the battlefield.


    ¡°Who?¡± Kadin couldn¡¯t help but mumble in shock.


    Iris¡¯s eyes shifted colors as she gazed above, and her expression turned from shocked disbelief to tearful tion as she learned the identity of the roaring figure above. Her expression instantly told the two others who the neer was, as all three of them lit up with delighted surprise, and then hopeful expectation.


    ¡°We should retreat!¡± Iris whispered in Adam¡¯s ear afterposing herself, voicing her caution as she had a premonition of what was toe. Adam paused for a singr moment, but then nodded his head in agreement as the three began to retreat from Kadin.


    Kadin¡¯s gaze snapped back to Adam with heated anger as he prepared to unleash another battle art towards the retreating trio.


    ¡°It¡¯s not me you should be worrying about anymore,¡± Adam replied with a mocking smile as another deafening roar boomed out once again, much closer and much more powerful this time. Its power was too great for Kadin to ignore, and he stopped his attack before turning to face the mysterious power approaching from above.


    Boom!


    The deafening dragon-like mmed onto Asuros at its center, the roar itself containing enough power that even Asuros was forced to brace against it. After mming into Asuros, the remaining power of the roar mmed onto the battlefield, drowning all the youths on both sides with its power, Kadin included.


    The youths felt as if a dragon had roared within their mind, threatening to shatter it from within. The weaker youths were stunned stiff, while the stronger braced their minds as they resisted the powerful roar. Many of the youths were knocked off their feet and sted away from the battlefield, unable to resist the might of the roar.


    Every youth looked up towards the sky as they spotted a singr figure shooting down towards the battlefield like a meteor.


    Bang!


    Deafening booms sted out as the sky suddenly lit up brightly, blinding many of the youths for a moment as hundreds of glowing nodes that had appeared unleashed hundreds of lightning beams down towards them. The beams had appeared in an instant, and each raced down to the ground below with apocalyptic power.


    The eyes of the enemy youths widened as they noticed the beams were heading directly for them, with not a single youth left untargeted. The enemy youths erupted with power as they unleashed their own battle arts towards the lightning beams above.


    ¡°Retreat!¡± a loud cry of warning erupted from Miko towards the remaining Honorable Alliance members. They didn¡¯t know what was happening, but they could tell they were not being targeted by the overwhelmingly powerful lightning attacks. The remaining Honorable Alliance members used the opportunity without hesitation, retreating together to avoid the cmitous explosions toe.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The battlefield exploded into chaos as the hundreds of lightning beams mmed into hundreds of battle arts. Not a single inch ofnd was left untouched as the explosions between the attacks drowned everything in their power.


    The attacks from the weaker enemy youths were unable to fully resist the lightning beams, resulting in dozens of them being struck directly. Agonized screams boomed out before being silenced by the developing explosions, as dozens of enemy youths were cut down in an instant, while a few dozen more were injured to varying degrees. The remaining youths resisted the attack, but only a few of the strongest youths remained unscathed. Only Zulos had taken the attack head on without defending, as he ignored it while continuing his battle against the onught of the three Bobs. However, he had underestimated the might of the attack, and was injured by refusing to defend against it.


    The eyes of the Honorable Alliance youths went wide as they saw the cmitous lighting attacks and explosions im dozens of lives in an instant. The youths who had died were the best of the best, and had killed hundreds or even thousands of Honorable Alliance youths. Only the strongest of the Honorable Alliance youths were able to keep their lives in a direct battle with these enemy youths, and yet those youths had died without being able to resist at all.


    The Honorable Alliance youths gazed upwards once more towards the figure above, who plummeted down like a meteor towards Asuros, his speed too fast for even someone like Asuros to react to. Asuros had defended against the direct st of the draconic roar, and then had also resisted the strongest lightning attack as well.


    ¡°Graahhhhh!¡± A roar of rage boomed out from Asuros as his aura red out with overwhelming power as the mysterious figure finally appeared before him. The two figures shed out their weapons towards one another, as a saber and golden battle axe collided with iprehensible might!


    BOOM!


    The collision between the two weapons seemed to shake space itself as a sonic boom sted out immediately. The boom mmed onto the battlefield below, drowning it with devastating power once more. Asuros suddenly sted downwards like a meteor and mmed onto thend below in an instant.


    Thend exploded outwards, creating a ruinous tsunami of earth that washed over the battlefield, while Asuros himself burrowed so deep into the earth that none could detect him anymore with their divine sense. The nearby enemy youths were knocked backwards by the st, some traveling several miles before being able to halt their backwards momentum. Aftering to a halt, the enemy youths all retreated to the same location, standing together as they nced towards the mysterious figure that had appeared without warning.


    Large debris rained down on the ruined battlefield, shaking it further as thend continued to tremble nonstop. The mouths of the Honorable Alliance youths opened wide with iprehensible shock as they watched this all take ce from the edges of the battlefield.


    They had retreated many miles away from the battlefield upon Miko¡¯s warning, and yet they were still forced to defend against the ruinous power that sted outwards in all directions. Were they still at their original locations, many of them knew they would have died without being able to defend at all.


    The dust and debris faded away, revealing a lone figure that floated in the air above the massive crater that had just formed. The figure had long ck hair which billowed lightly in the breeze, framing his handsome face, and wore a regal set of draconic-like armor, making him look like a heroic dragon-armored war god.


    Several gasps of pure shock sounded out from the Honorable Alliance group as many instantly recognized the one floating in the air, while a wide smile appeared on Miko¡¯s pale and tired face as he stared at his life-long friend.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time you showed up, John!¡±

 Chapter 706 Impossible!

    ¡°Impossible!¡± a mutter of pure disbelief drifted through the group of enemy youths, sounding more stunned each time the word was mumbled.


    The enemy youths gazed over to the one mumbling, and raised an eyebrow in surprise as they saw Kadin mumbling the word over and over. His eyes were wide and lips were trembling, revealing him to be incredibly shocked at something.


    While John¡¯s arrival had been incredibly powerful and shy, it was not enough to cause someone like Kadin to be like this.


    ¡°What the hell are you mumbling about?¡± Amber Bloodrose couldn¡¯t help but ask with great displeasure. John¡¯s arrival had already ruined the advantage in battle they had, and had stopped the battles entirely for a moment. She was incredibly displeased at his interruption, and was just about to make a move when Kadin started mumbling.


    After staring at John with wide eyes for a short while, Kadin¡¯s shock slowly faded away as he finally regained his senses. He gazed all about, noticing that everyone was staring at him.


    ¡°What the hell are you so scared of?¡± Amber asked once again, her displeasure growing by the second.


    Kadin cleared his throat as he recovered from his embarrassing state, before his gaze shifted back towards John hovering in the distance.


    ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be here,¡± Kadin said out loud, ¡°it¡¯s impossible!¡±


    ¡°Who is he? And why is his arrival here impossible?¡± another youth asked with arms crossed over his chest. ¡°And why are you so fucking scared of him? He¡¯s only in the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm!¡± the youth scoffed with slight mockery.


    Kadin¡¯s gaze shifted back to the youth who had insulted him, debating whether to attack the youth for his veiled mockery or not. He eventually calmed himself down once more and took a deep breath before starting his exnation.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for him to be here¡­because I knocked him into the Dao Transformation Trial myself!¡± Kadin started to exin.


    The eyes of the nearby youths widened for a second as they heard this, not expecting to hear such a thing had happened. While they had not gone through the trials themselves, they had heard about them from the others. They knew everyone took the Heaven Tribtion Trial, and even then it had been slightly challenging.


    Entering the Dao Transformation Trial was practically a death sentence for anyone below the Dao Transformation Realm, making his statement incredibly shocking.


    ¡°He should be dead! There¡¯s no way he made it through that trial!¡± Kadin continued, his voice bing slightly heated as if he didn¡¯t want to believe his eyes.


    ¡°Hmph, so what?¡± Amber scoffed with disinterest, ¡°from what I heard of the Heaven Tribtion trial, I would have been able to get through to when I was at the Late Meridian Forging Realm. Him getting through the trial at the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm is impressive, but not something that should make you be so pathetic,¡± she said, adding an insult at the end.


    Kadin¡¯s gaze narrowed with displeasure, but he remained calm as he continued to exin the situation.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand¡­when I knocked him into the trial¡­he was still in the Late Meridian Forging Realm!¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Impossible!¡±


    Several voices of disbelief sounded out as several of the youths refused to believe Kadin¡¯s words. A youth entering the Dao Transformation trial in the Meridian Forging Realm would perish without question.


    ¡°You¡¯re clearly lying,¡± Amber scoffed as she looked down on Kadin with obvious disdain. Such a thing was impossible. Her disheveled hair and bizarre expressions made her look quite crazy at the moment, as if her recent defeats had driven her mad. Clearly she was starting to lose her grip on reality.


    ¡°Why would I lie about an enemy youth in a way that praises him?¡± Kadin replied angrily.


    Amber and the others gazed at Kadin for a moment, studying his face. His steady and grave expression eventually convinced them of his words, causing them to be stunned once again.


    ¡°Just who is this kid then?¡± one of the youths asked.


    ¡°His name is John Fenix, from the Heavenly Lightning Sect,¡± Kadin replied.


    ¡°John Fenix? I¡¯ve never heard of him,¡± Amber scoffed once more. ¡°A nobody like him could never have made it through the Dao Transformation trial with his power alone. There¡¯s obviously something else going on here,¡± she said as she dismissed Kadin¡¯s theory of how John got through the trial.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Kadin asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± Amber said as she gazed at John, who continued to hover over the ruined crater he had made. ¡°No one else entered the Dao Transformation Trial, so for all we know, it could have been destroyed over the eons of time. It¡¯s most likely that the trial itself is less dangerous than the Heaven Tribtion Trial.¡±


    ¡°But-¡± Kadin replied, but was instantly cut off by Amber once more.


    ¡°Even if the trial still is intact, there¡¯s zero chance he made it through with his own power. He obviously managed to sneak his way through the realm somehow, avoiding the dangers of the trial. That does not make him strong.¡±


    ¡°Then how do you exin his attacks when he arrived?¡± Kadin refuted angrily.


    ¡°Simple¡­that was most likely a one-time use artifact reward he got for passing the trial. Both that Roar and the lightning attack is far beyond what Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivator can unleash, and so it was clearly a borrowed power and not his own. If my guess is correct, he no longer has anything like that to use,¡± Amber exined her opinions of what had happened.


    ¡°Do not underestimate him,¡± Kadin warned gravely.


    ¡°Who do you think I am,¡± Amber growled in anger as she unleashed a sword attack towards Kadin, who hastily raised his sword to block it.


    Peng!


    Weapons collided, and Kadin was thrown violently across thend,ing to a halt several hundred yardster. He stood up slowly, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, clearly having lost out in that exchange.


    ¡°Hehehehehe. Fine. While you cowards grovel here in fear, I¡¯ll show you what a true genius looks like,¡± Amberughed maniacally before saying to the others.


    ¡°First that fucking soul art pipsqueak, and now this brat. I refuse to lose to this useless scum,¡± Amber continued, ranting to herself more than speaking to the others. Her mouth widened into a manically sinister smile as she gazed at John with heated bloodthirst.


    The other youths gazed at each other with odd expressions as they could tell Amber had finally snapped and lost her mind.


    Amber was the number one genius of the Forbidden Alliance, and before Asuros, the number one genius of the enemy powers. She had been cowed by Asuros, and then Miko, injuring her arrogant pride twice. Now with John¡¯s arrival, she had snapped from the consecutive blows to her pride, and had seemingly finally lost her mind.


    Bang!


    The ground erupted beneath her feet as her body pressed off with incredible power and shot forwards. Her speed was incredible, and everyone watched as Amber raced towards John who was hovering in the very center of the ruined battlefield.


    Fwoosh!


    The air parted violently as Amber came to an immediate halt to John¡¯s side, just a few dozen yards away from him. John casually nced to the side towards Amber and raised an eyebrow as he noticed her disheveled and crazy appearance.


    He nced at her with unconcerned disinterest, eyeing her up and down for a moment as he took in her wounded and clearly exhausted condition.


    Amber¡¯s maniacal smile widened as she noticed his indifferent expression, as if she were not even worth her time. Her desire to cut down John and y him alive before everyone grew by the second as her unhingedughter returned.


    ¡°Hehehehe! Some of the others seem to think that you¡¯re quite the hotshot, but I am not stupid enough to think that you¡¯re-¡°


    ¡°Piss off,¡± John replied with dismissive disinterest, not even sparing Amber a second nce as his gaze shifted back down towards the ground beneath him. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with you after I¡¯m done with Parker!¡±


    Amber¡¯s maniacal expression instantly turned into one of pure rage and anger as she heard John¡¯s dismissive reply. She dashed forward with her slender red sword in hand, which shed out towards John with incredible speed and sharpness. Even in her wounded and fatigued state, she was still one of the strongest youths on the battlefield, and in her mind the foremost genius as well.


    This attack of hers was strong enough to kill almost anyone here as she held nothing back. Even with her attack, John did not look at her, and continued to stare at the ground below, infuriating her further.


    ¡°You fucking brat! I¡¯ll cripple you and y you alive while you beg for mercy! Even then, that will only be the start to your miser-¡°


    Peng!


    A loud ringing sound boomed out over the battlefield as two hard objects collided. The eyes of almost everyone else on the battlefield widened with absolutely stunned disbelief, while Amber¡¯s eyes and mouth widened the most of all, feeling nothing but pure shock as she stared at the de of her sword, which had been casually yet firmly caught by John¡¯s outstretched hand.


    His calm and indifferent gaze shifted from the ground below his feet towards her, his gaze as if he were staring at an already dead person.

 Chapter 707 Ambers Swift Demise

    Boom!


    The sword had stopped suddenly in John¡¯s hand, as if it were nothing more than a ything. An incredibly powerful st of crimson Qi mmed onto his body, doing almost no damage at all as if it were a weak attack. However, the st of Qi mmed onto the earth behind John shortly after, devastating it with explosive power as it revealed the true might of the attack John had just withstood directly.


    ¡°Let go you fucking brat!¡± Amber yelled in rage as she recovered her wits and tried to pull her sword from his grip, but was unable to make the sword budge even an inch. It was as if a mountain was resting on top of the sword, making it impossible to move at all.


    ¡°If you want to die so bad, then die!¡± John replied calmly as he shoved his hand holding her sword forward. The motion seemed casual, butbined with her full power pulling on the sword, Amber¡¯s sword flew back towards her body with overwhelming force. If she had her full power, she would have been able to react in time, but with her exhausted state, her reactions were slowed and power reduced.


    Boom!


    The t of the de mmed against her chest powerfully, knocking her backwards violently before she could react. Her body tumbled head over heels through the air as a small trail of blood followed behind, indicating that she had taken damage from that attack.


    ¡°You piece of shit!¡± Amber cursed as she regained her bnce and prepared to unleash a counterattack towards John. Her eyes widened as she spotted him directly before her, just an arm¡¯s reach away.


    Roar of the Jade Dragon!


    Roar!


    A deafening dragonic roar boomed out from John¡¯s mouth in an instant, mming onto Amber with its full might. Amber felt as if she had been roared at by a true dragon as her organs trembled violently and ears burst from the might of the roar. Even her soul rattled in protest as it felt on the verge of copse, stunning her briefly as she fought against the attack she had failed to defend against.


    Her vision became blurred and her Qi within her body slowed as she struggled against the roar, which had nearly outright killed her in her weakened state. She had not expected the roar to be so overwhelmingly powerful, nor John to be so physically strong. Her underestimation of John¡¯s strength resulted in her taking the full might of his attack.


    Her vision quickly returned as she washed away the effects of the roar, at which point her eyes widened once more, pure fear contained within for the first time in her life.


    Che!


    Blood and flesh exploded out from Amber¡¯s chest as John¡¯s straightened hand pierced directly into her unguarded chest and out the other side. The eyes of everyone one the battlefield went wide once more as they locked onto the blood red object held in John¡¯s hand.


    Crunch!


    John squeezed his hand closed, destroying Amber¡¯s heart that he held within his hand. His face was no more than a foot away from hers, and he watched with cold indifference as Amber¡¯s wide eyes and opened mouth trembled with the fear of encroaching death.


    Che!


    John¡¯s other hand sliced sideways like a de, shing straight into Amber¡¯s neck, killing her for good. Everyone watched in absolute stunned disbelief as one of the strongest and most terrifying geniuses in the realm died without being able to fight back. Even in her weakened state, she was still strong enough to kill everyone other than Asuros, Miko, and a few others, and yet she had died without putting up any resistance at all.


    After severing her head, John put away Amber¡¯s head in his spatial realm. He swiftly withdrew his bloodstained arm, removing it from her chest. Amber¡¯s headless body fell down from the sky, mming onto the shattered earth below, the sound of her fallen body filling the absolutely silent battlefield.


    The battlefield remained silent with stunned disbelief for a short while before another figure suddenly appeared next to John who continued to hover in the sky above the massive crater he had formed.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted towards the arrival, and a warm smile quickly reced his cold indifference.


    ¡°Miko!¡± John greeted his lifelong friend with a head nod, while Miko did the same. Usually, they would exchange a friendly embrace and excitedly discuss recent events, but the situation was far too serious for such joyful banter.


    Before they could exchange any further words, another person arrived next to John, catching the attention of all as her appearance was far too eye-catching. Even Miko couldn¡¯t help but stare intently at the veiled person before him, ensnared by her hidden beauty.


    ¡°Did we make it in time?¡± Laia asked John softly as she surveyed the surrounding destruction. Hundreds of dead corpsesid strewn about, filling her gentle heart with grief.


    ¡°Not in time for most, but not toote for the ones remaining,¡± John replied with a cold calmness.


    ¡°John¡­.who is this?¡± Miko asked curiously, as he could tell the two were somehow close, and yet he had never seen Laia before in his life.


    ¡°This is Laia,¡± John said as he gestured towards her, ¡°the eighth princess of the Astral Empire.¡±


    ¡°Astral Empire!¡± Miko couldn¡¯t help but blurt out in surprise. Even someone like him who had just arrived to the Divine Martial Continent knew of the Astral Empire, as it was one of the strongest powers in the world.


    Laia smiled as she greeted Miko, before her gaze shifted down towards the group of Honorable Alliance youths in the distance. She frowned as she noticed many youths gravely injured, with some just hanging on by a thread.


    ¡°Will you need my help?¡± she asked John.


    ¡°No¡­go tend to them. I¡¯ll be just fine,¡± John replied as he noticed her worried gaze.


    ¡°Ok¡­I¡¯ll be close if you do need me,¡± she replied gently as she stared at him for a moment before speeding towards the Honorable Alliance group. Shended amongst them and instantly erupted with healing powers, shocking everyone around her. Her powers were beyond profound, and were mending even those beyond what the other healers in the group were capable of healing.


    Miko¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he noticed Iseria¡¯s wounds start to mend as well, before he sighed deeply in relief. He had been hopeless to help her, but was now able to rest easier knowing that she would be healed. After staring at the distant group, Miko¡¯s gaze shifted towards Amber¡¯s headless corpse below them and gazed at her for a moment.


    ¡°She would have been quite a fearsome opponent to fight at her full strength,¡± John said as he noticed Miko¡¯s gaze, ¡°but she was wounded and incredibly exhausted. I¡¯m guessing that it was you who pushed her to that state?¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Miko hummed in confirmation, ¡°and I would have finished her off myself, but I was interrupted by someone else,¡± he continued as his gaze shifted towards the fractured crater beneath their feet.

 Chapter 708 Ill Show You A True Asura Transformation

    John¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as he heard Miko bring up the one buried in the earth directly beneath them. When he had arrived, he had instantly noticed a familiar aura, and despite the person looking almostpletely different due to the transformation, he knew for certain that the person he had attacked was Parker. Not only that, but Parker¡¯s transformation was very simr to his own, something that shocked him further.


    ¡°What the hell is Parker doing here?¡± John asked Miko, ¡± and why did he look like that?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea,¡± Miko replied with equal confusion at the entire situation. ¡°We started battling here, and when I was about to kill Amber, Parker showed up and interfered. We battled it out, and then you arrived¡­that¡¯s everything I know. I was hoping you would be able to rify the situation.¡±


    John remained silent for a moment as his gaze continued to linger on thend below them. His thoughts drifted back to the Yuan Continent, where he had received the only information regarding Parker he had.


    ¡°The only thing I know for certain is that the Bloodfiend Sect sent Parker away from the sect for some reason¡­I guess that ce was the Divine Martial Continent, but that¡¯s all I know.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­.his transformation¡­was that?¡± Miko asked curiously.


    ¡°It is¡­I don¡¯t know exactly what¡¯s going on, but its definitely the same as mine with only slight differences,¡± John replied, confirming that Parker¡¯s transformation was the same Asura-like transformation as his own.


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± Miko asked. ¡°Is it blood rted?¡± he asked curiously, as both Parker and John were of the Fenix n, and were able to transform in the same manner.


    ¡°No¡­we¡¯re not blood rted,¡± John replied dismissively.


    ¡°What? What do you mean you¡¯re not blood rted?¡± Miko asked with confusion, as he didn¡¯t know John¡¯s true lineage.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell youter¡­but for now, we have more important things to focus on,¡± he replied as the ground started to tremble violently from within as an overwhelmingly powerful aura started to emerge from the depths within.


    ¡°Are you going to need help?¡± Miko asked John as he felt the overwhelming power swiftly approaching.


    ¡°No,¡± John shook his head while rejecting Miko¡¯s offer. ¡°You¡¯re already exhausted, and more importantly¡­Parker¡¯s life is mine to im, and mine alone. Retreat to the others and ensure their safety, as no one else can.¡±


    Miko stared at John for a short moment before nodding his head and speeding off towards the distant group of Honorable Alliance members.


    Boom!


    The ground exploded outwards as Asuros shot out of the earth with incredible speed. His powerful aura washed over the battlefield once more, bathing the battlefield in its sinister nature once more. The Honorable Alliance felt the sinister aura m against them, but its effects were greatly neutralized by Laia¡¯s profound aura of vitality and life, making the effects much less burdensome.


    Asuros stopped directly before John, standing just a mere dozen yards away as he stared at John with a heated gaze of excited bloodlust.


    ¡°John¡­.so you truly are still alive,¡± Asuros said, his voice containing excited malice within.


    John gazed at Parker before him with cold eyes, eyeing his transformation up and down for a moment. His gaze snapped to Parker¡¯s blood red eyes, not averting for a single second where others would never dare to look.


    ¡°Parker¡­ I told you back in the ancient pocket realm that I would one day return for revenge¡­and today is the day I obtain your life as payment for your betrayal.¡±


    ¡°Hehehe,¡± Asuros¡¯s maniacalughter echoed out as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. John¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed Parker had truly changed, bing much more bloodthirsty and unhinged than the Parker he previously knew.


    ¡°I must say I¡¯m impressed that you managed to live after being forced off that cliff, but you surviving to this day fills me with more joy than if you had died that day,¡± Asuros replied as a wide smile appeared on his face.


    ¡°And why would you be joyous to find that death hase for you?¡± John asked calmly.


    ¡°Death? Nononono, you¡¯re not death, you¡¯re just more food to fuel my progress, and you are the greatest delicacy I will ever enjoy,¡± Asuros replied with sinister glee. ¡°Consuming you will push my body to a new level, vaulting me to the forefront of the cultivation world. With my Master leading the way, this world will have no choice but to crumble beneath our power!¡±


    ¡°Your master?¡± John asked, while an idea of who that could be popped into his mind. Only one other¡­thing¡­had ever had a simr aura to theirs right now. ¡°You mean that four-armed freak?¡±


    Asuros¡¯s eyes widened in slight surprise, before narrowing as he stared at John with murderous bloodlust.


    ¡°I should kill you right now for speaking about my Master that way,¡± Asuros growled coldly.


    ¡°So I was right,¡± John replied as he confirmed his suspicions. Parker¡¯s master was the creature he had seen in his vision¡­the creature that he was prophesied to battle to the death. Parker had clearly obtained his transformation art from that creature, which would exin how he was able to do it in the first ce. His battle axe suddenly appeared in his hand once more as his aura began to slowly climb.


    ¡°Since that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll start with you first, and then eventually your master,¡± John said calmly as his hand tightened around the shaft of his battle axe.


    ¡°Hahahaha, your cultivation is in the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, while mine is in the Half-Step Dao Transformation Realm. But even if you were in the same realm as me, my master has given me the body and power of a true Asura,¡± Asuros replied with maniacalughter as his aura began to re once more, ¡°You have no choice but to die here today.¡±


    ¡°Your Asura body is nothing but a low-grade imitation,¡± John replied as his aura suddenly red with absolute power. His body immediately transformed, as two horns pierced out from his skull, red runes covered his body, and his eyes turned blood red.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you what a true Asura Transformation is like!¡± John roared as his glowing battle axe suddenly cleaved outwards towards Asuros, carrying with the unstoppable power of Asuras and Dragons.

 Chapter 709 "Asura"

    Boom!


    An explosive soundwave sted over the battlefield as battle axe and saber collided, signifying the start of the battle between John and Asuros.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Saber and battle axe collided hundreds of times in quick session as both fighters tested out the other¡¯s power. Each attack was a purely physical attack, and yet those watching from afar couldn¡¯t help but be shocked at the power they were seeing and feeling. Despite the attacks being purely physical, they could tell that they would not be able to block even a single one of those attacks even with their full power.


    While this would have normally shocked them the most, something else was currently echoing in everyone¡¯s minds like a resounding bell.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you what a true Asura Transformation is like!¡±


    Those words that had just been uttered by John kept repeating itself within their minds, as everyone couldn¡¯t help but associate it with something else that had shocked the Divine Martial Continent to its core.


    ¡°Asura? Did he just say ¡°Asura¡± transformation?¡± one of the Honorable Alliance youths asked those nearby after recovering his wits. The other soon snapped out of their stupor, and nodded their head in agreement.


    ¡°He did. Do you think¡­.could he be the ¡°Asura¡± from the Talent Testing Steps?¡± another youth asked, his voice containing both doubt and hopefulness. If John was truly ¡°Asura¡±, then just maybe, they would be able to live through this harrowing ordeal.


    ¡°Asura¡± had achieved twenty steps on the Talent Testing Steps, achieving something that had never been done in the history of the world, and surpassed even the most talented cultivator the world had ever seen; the Jade Dragon Emperor.


    The identity of ¡°Asura¡± had been aplete mystery to the world, but now there was potentially a person who could truly be the legendary figure.


    The entire group of Honorable Alliance youths stared at the battle in the sky, while they also thought about John¡¯s entrance and how he had managed to easily kill Amber. Even though she was injured, herbat prowess was still high enough to ughter almost anyone on the battlefield, and yet she had been killed with swift ease, and by someone in the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm no less.


    Now on top of that, John was battling someone in the Half-Step Dao Transformation Realm who dominated the entire battlefield without question, and didn¡¯t seem to be losing out at all.


    Everyone¡¯s gaze shifted towards Miko, who stood at the front of the group with his arms crossed as he watched the distant battle with a focused gaze. He felt the gazes of everyone behind him lock onto his back.


    ¡°You¡­.you seem to know that youth quite well,¡± one of the stronger Honorable Alliance youths said to Miko. ¡°Could he truly be?¡±


    ¡°Stop asking useless questions, and just watch the battle,¡± Miko cut the youth off, not entertaining the question for a second. ¡°Maybe you all can learn a thing or two from the battle toe, and be more useful in the future instead of needing to be saved.¡±


    His words cut through the youths like a sharp de, who couldn¡¯t help but feel embarrassed as well. It was true that they had required saving multiple times, and would already be dead without Miko¡¯s and the others¡¯ help. Things such as learning the identity of ¡°Asura¡± was not important at the moment, and Miko was right that watching the battles of strong cultivators could help one obtain insights and further their own growth.


    With such a profound battle taking ce before their eyes, everything else could wait.


    At the same time, a simr discussion was taking ce in the camp of enemy youths. They had obviously heard John¡¯s words, and grave expressions appeared on many of their faces as a foreboding feeling washed through them.


    ¡°Could he truly be Asura?¡± one of the enemy youths asked, hoping that someone else would deny it and set his mind at ease.


    ¡°He very well may be,¡± Kadin replied coldly, staring at John with both hatred and jealousy. His words caused the others to be even more gloomy, but his next words lightened their grave feelings slightly.


    ¡°But even if he is, he¡¯s battling against Asuros, who is in the Half-Step Dao Transformation realm. Not even someone like ¡°Asura¡± could win with such arge cultivation disadvantage, so even if John is Asura, his story ends here,¡± Kadin continued as a small smile of expectation appeared on his face, as he desired nothing more than to see John cut down before his very eyes.


    Kadin¡¯s gaze shifted towards the distant Honorable Alliance group, and his eyes narrowed once more as he saw Laia healing them all. His jealousy grew once more as he was able to tell John and her had be close within the trial, and not only that, she was healing the wounded youths.


    Even if Asuros was guaranteed to win, it was not clear how injured he would be at the end of the fight. Every Honorable Alliance youth healed and brought back to fullbat strength was something that they could not afford, and so Kadin quickly sent some instructions through the group.


    They could tell that Miko was guarding the group, but he was fatigued and injured from his battles with Amber and Asuros. He alone would not be able to stop them all.


    The group of enemy youtsh started to make their way around John and Asuros¡¯s battle towards the distant group, causing Miko and the others to frown as they noticed the enemy youths approaching.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The ground trembled before the Honorable Alliance group as three burly figuresnded powerfully. Dust and dirt kicked up but quickly faded away, revealing a sight that instantly stopped the enemy group in their tracks as their gazes turned grave once more.


    Miko gazed at the three figures who hadnded directly before him, and smiled as he noticed something.


    ¡°You finally finished your battle,¡± Miko said to the three Bobs as his gaze lingered on a massive severed head being held by one of them.


    The Bob holding Zulos¡¯s severed head turned around towards Miko, a look of slight disappointment on his face.


    ¡°Aye, but it was cut short due to the lightning attack that the kid in the distance unleashed. It didn¡¯t kill Zulos, but it did enough damage for him to no longer be an interesting opponent,¡± Bob said while the two others nodded their heads in agreement, revealing their disgruntled attitudes, as it was incredibly rare to find an opponent like Zulos.


    Their gaze shifted towards John, and Miko scoffed as he could instantly tell what they were thinking.


    ¡°John is an ally, so don¡¯t even think about it,¡± Miko dismissed their growing battle lust, causing the three to be a bit disappointed, but their heated gazes shifted towards the distant group of youths, hoping they would approach.


    ¡°Just watch the battle,¡± Miko instructed the three of them as his gaze shifted back to John, whose battle continued to heat up against the terrifying Asuros. ¡°You three might learn a thing or two of what it means to be truly strong!¡±

 Chapter 710 Clash of Asuras

    Peng!


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Saber and battle axe continued to m against each other as John and Asuros released a barrage of attacks at each other. Each attack was powerful enough to shatter mountains and destroy valleys, and yet neither side had achieved an obvious advantage over the other.


    The shockwaves from their exchanges nketed the distant youths with their remnant powers, giving them a small glimpse of the true power they were using. Both appeared like demonic wargods, soaring through the sky like red blurs, unleashing devastating attacks with a single swipe of their des.


    Bang!


    Saber and battle axe collided once more, knocking both weapons away from each other. John immediately recovered from the exchange and sped forward once more, preparing to unleash another sh of his battle axe.


    Asuros shed his saber out to meet it, but his eyes trembled for a brief moment as if realizing something. John¡¯s sh quickly turned into a feint as he dashed to the side with incredible speed, appearing to the right side of Asuros in an instant. His fist mmed forward towards Asuros¡¯s ribs, attempting tond the first critical blow of their battle.


    ¡°Heh, naive!¡± Asuros scoffed, seeing directly through John¡¯s feints. His saber appeared next to his body thanks to pulling his attack earlier, blocking the powerful fist attack with the t of his saber.


    Bang!


    Asuros shot backwards for several hundred yards from the force of the fist attack, but other than being knocked back waspletely unharmed. John¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as his attack waspletely blocked, and realized his movements had been seen through entirely. Not only was Asuros¡¯sbat prowess beyond terrifying, his battle instincts and reaction were even more so.


    Che!


    Asuros appeared before John like a ghost, shing down with his saber while a wide and bloodthirsty smile lingered on his face, not vanishing for even a second throughout their fight as if he were truly a bloodthirsty demon. His saber contained overwhelming might, and John could even detect several Daos contained within. He recognized the Dao of Destruction, as well as something else, something more sinister.


    While he could not recognize the Dao¡¯s as he had never encountered them before, he could tell that they were of equal profunditypared to his three Daos. While Asuros had less control over his Dao¡¯s whenpared to John, his higher cultivation more than made up for the difference in power.


    Dao of Power!


    Dao of Destruction!


    Dao of Annihtion!


    John held nothing back as he unleashed the might of his three Daos, infusing the concepts he had learned about thesews of the universe into the des of his double-sided battle axe. The power emanating from his battle axe instantly magnified as his weapon shed out to meet the oing attack.


    Bang!


    Weapons collided once more, and again, and again, as the two unleashed hundreds of more attacks in quick session. The sky boomed and ground trembled violently as their battle washed over everything, shocking those watching from below even more than they had already been.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Kadin, as well as a few other enemy geniuses couldn¡¯t help but mutter in disbelief, anger, and jealousy as he watched the battle take ce. They had been considered the absolute peak of their respective powers, and yet if they were to join the battle before them, they would most likely onlyst seconds before perishing.


    At the same time, the Honorable Alliance camp stared at the battle with awe, disbelief, and also slight shame. They too were the geniuses of their alliance, and yet they were not even fit to be mentioned in the same breath as the two battling before them. But while the battle filled them with shame, it also filled them with fiery passion; a passion to one day reach the same levels of talent andbat prowess as the two they were witnessing at the moment.


    Even the three Battle Bobs couldn¡¯t help but watch the battle take ce with surprise, shocked at just how strong the physical attacks of both fighters were. As body cultivators, they could tell they were not a match for either of them when it came to physical power.


    ¡°Grahhhhhh!¡± one of the Bobs roared in anger as his aura red for a brief moment, ¡°I thought we were strong, but my eyes have been opened today! We¡¯re nothingpared to those two!¡±


    ¡°Right? When we get home, I¡¯m going to train on the Body-Crushing Mountain for three hundred days straight, strengthening my body to their level, or dying in the process!¡± one of the other Bobs roared.


    ¡°If you¡¯re doing three hundred days, then I¡¯ll stay on the Body-Crushing Mountain for four hundred days!¡± the third Bob roared withpetitive battle lust. ¡°I¡¯m already losing to those two. I refuse to lose to either of you two farts!¡±


    ¡°What did you just call me?¡± the first Bob roared, ready to pounce on his brother.


    ¡°I called you a fart, you fart!¡± the third Bob replied with heated battlelust, trying to goad his brother into battle to vent his frustrations.


    ¡°Oh just shut up and watch the battle,¡± Miko interrupted the three. The three instantly piped down as if Miko¡¯s word wasw, and became silent as they resumed spectating the distant battle.


    Bang!


    Weapons collided with apocalyptic might once more, the force of their exchange forcing both Asuros and John backwards. John prepared to dash forward once more, but stopped as he noticed Asuros was standing there in the sky, his saber floating in the air next to him, while his two free hands were¡­pping.


    p!


    p!


    p!


    ¡°You are far more impressive than I ever thought possible,¡± Asuros said while pping, both praise and mockery evident in his voice. John remained silent as he stared at Asuros, who clearly had something to say.


    ¡°You¡¯re at the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm, and yet you are able to keep up with me to this degree. Clearly your body is a true Asura body like mine if you can disy so much power, and yet¡­I don¡¯t know where you managed to obtain such a body in the first ce,¡± he continued.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you¡¯ve stopped fighting,¡± John replied with calm indifference. ¡°You want to know where I learned this Asura transformation before killing me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Asuros replied as his smile widened for a brief instant. ¡°My master is the only Asura on this¡­.and yet you somehow managed to obtain an Asura transformation art. Not only that, but if I¡¯m not mistaken, you obtained your transformation art back on the Yuan Continent, which is why you were able to unleash so much power back then?¡± Asuros mused out loud.


    John remained silent, confirming Asuros¡¯s suspicions, not that he cared one way or another.


    ¡°I knew it,¡± Asuros replied, his smile widening into a menacing grin once more. ¡°Tell me where you learned your transformation from, and I¡¯ll give you a swift death.¡±


    ¡°Even if I told you, you wouldn¡¯t believe me,¡± John replied dismissively, while a slight smile crept up on his face for the first time; a smile containing pride and arrogance, causing Asuros¡¯s eyes to narrowed with coldness and his mouth curl with displeasure.


    ¡°What are you smiling at?¡± Asuros asked coldly, obviously irked by John¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°I¡¯m smiling because our battle so far has confirmed one important thing¡­a suspicion I had since the start,¡± John replied.


    ¡°And what would that be?¡± Asuros asked.


    ¡°The fact that your Asura transformation¡­is nothing but a farce whenpared to mine,¡± John replied.


    ¡°Farce?¡± Asuros replied as a murderous yet confident expression appeared on his face. ¡°Fine, then show me how long you canst against the full might of this ¡®farce¡¯ transformation,¡± he boomed as his aura exploded out once more, far more powerful than anything he had disyed yet.


    His body, which was already transformed, started to change once more as his body grewrger, muscles bulged with more power, and the sinister aura around him increased several fold.


    John¡¯s eyes narrowed as he stared at Asuros, who was now far stronger and far more terrifying, and had erupted with power than even he could no longer look down upon.

 Chapter 711 One Sided Exchange

    ¡°How is this possible?¡± one of the Honorable Alliance youths, a girl from the Miststream Sect, couldn¡¯t help but ask while shuddering slightly.


    ¡°He was holding back the entire time?¡± another youth mumbled, equally stunned, as was most of the Honorable Alliance group. John¡¯s battle with Asuros had already been beyond theirprehension power wise, and yet Asuros had just seemingly transformed even further and erupted with even more power, revealing he had yet to use his full strength.


    His strength now was at least twice as strong as before, putting it at a level that should not be possible for a Half-Step Dao Transformation cultivator.


    Grave expressions appeared on many of the Honorable Alliance youths¡¯ faces, as the possibility of total annihtion became a reality once more. Only a few remained rtively calm, such as Miko, who had full faith in John, as well as himself.


    On the opposite end of the battlefield, the enemy youths felt their hope return as many had malicious and sinister smiles return to their faces. With Asuros¡¯ revealed power, John¡¯s defeat was imminent, at which point they would finally wipe out the Honorable Alliance youths once and for all.


    The space around Asuros seemed to almost shudder and tremble under the might of his aura as well as physical power. Just a casual movement from him seemed to cause this effect, let alone his actual attacks.


    The sinister smile on Asuros¡¯ face widened as he suddenly shed forward, appearing before John in an instant. His speed was far faster than before, and was at a level that even John had trouble keeping up with at the moment.


    John¡¯s grip tightened around the shaft of his weapon as he shed it out with his full physical might towards the oing saber. The saber contained awe-inspiring power, as if it could sever the entire temple realm with a single sh.


    Bang!


    Battle axe and saber collided, causing the space around their weapons to visible tremble and shudder for a moment. As the weapons collided, John felt an overwhelming force flow through his axe, into his arms, and then his body. The physical power was Asuros¡¯s attack was even greater than his own at the moment, and John couldn¡¯t resist its power as he was violently knocked backwards.


    His body flew through the sky at incredible speeds, eventually mming into a distant mountain several miles away.


    Boom!


    The center of the mountain exploded outwards as John pierced right through it, and it crumbled down soon after from the destruction John¡¯s body had caused. John mmed against the earth behind the mountain, bouncing off it several times as his body carved several deep trenches into thend.


    The Honorable Alliance youths gasped in panic and shock as they saw this happen, and realized the overwhelming might of Asuros. Not even John had been able to resist the attack at all, confirming their deepest worries.


    John finally managed to recover, stopping his backwards momentum and stabilizing himself. His muscles and organs screamed in pained protest, while the blood in his body tumbled, making him feel quite miserable at the moment. Blood dripped down from several wounds on his arms and chest, as well as the corner of his mouth, revealing he had truly taken damage from that singr attack.


    Just as John recovered, Asuros appeared before him once more like a ghost, his smile wide and saber shing down once more. His eyes were shining with obvious ecstasy, enjoying the feeling of breaking John one attack at a time, as well as establishing his body superiority.


    Bang!


    Weapons collided once more as the two stood near the ground, which instantly shattered and cratered as their physical exchange created a st of power that destroyed everything nearby. John¡¯s body shot out from the st of outwards exploding earth, once again unable to resist Asuros¡¯ might.


    His body flew upwards from the attack, piercing high into the sky as he struggled to stop his backwards momentum.


    sh!


    Asuros appeared behind John in a sh, his speed so shocking as to be impossible for his cultivation level. He appeared above John and shed down with his saber once more, while John grit his teeth in pained struggle as he raised the shaft of his battle axe before his body.


    Bang!


    Asuros¡¯ saber mmed against the shaft of his axe, which strained in protest as it struggled to block the attack. The saber made a small indent on the shaft, which managed to resist the direct on attack.


    Che!


    A sharp sound rang out as John¡¯s body pierced downwards through the sky like a bullet towards the ground below.


    BOOM!


    The ground erupted once more as he mmed into it at full speed, sending thend outwards like a tsunami whilerge debris rained down on the entire battlefield. A mile wide crater formed where his body had mmed into, while John himself burrowed deep into the earth, out of the sight and divine sense range of all watching.


    The battlefield fell silent once more as the only audible sound was the asional piece of debris falling down to the ground. The Honorable Alliance was like a camp of death, not a single peep being made as everyone felt a wave of dread wash over them.


    The opposite was true for the enemy camp, who¡¯s smiles continued to widen as they saw thest hope of the Honorable Alliance be crushed before their very eyes.


    Asuros stopped and hovered above the massive crater, his actions mimicking John¡¯s when he had arrived on the battlefield. His smug and arrogant gaze stared down at the earth below, not pressing his advantage as he had full confidence in his ability to finish off John whenever he pleased.


    The Honorable Alliance group held their breath as they stared at the massive crater, which remained silent for quite some time. Each second that passed filled them with more dread, as they didn¡¯t even know if John was alive or dead. Only Miko gazed on with rtive calmness, while the Bobs gazed at Asuros with obvious battle lust, not caring about their lives but only the thrill of a good battle before death.


    After a short while of pure silence, the ground started to tremble, the source clearlying from beneath the crater. Slight hope returned to the Honorable Alliance youths as they felt a power surging up from below, and their gazes locked onto John as he sted out from beneath the earth, appearing directly before Asuros once more.


    His body was covered with wounds and blood, making him look incredibly miserable. Most with his level of wounds would already be out of the battle, but thanks to John¡¯s Immortal Asura Body, he was able to ignore the wounds for the most part. At the same time, his Limiter of Healing was slowly going to work, ensuring that his wounds did not be too grave.


    Asuros¡¯ smug gaze locked onto John, but did not attack as he instead decided to mock him once more.


    ¡°Come now? I thought you said my Asura Body was nothing but a farce? Where is that smugness of yours now?¡± Asuros mocked, his voice deeper and more sinister due to his demonic-like transformation.


    John¡¯s bloodstained face remained calm as he gazed at Asuros for a moment, before a slight smile appeared on it once more. Asuros frowned as he saw this smile, as it was not the smile of someone who had no hope of victory.


    ¡°As I said, your ¡°transformation¡± is nothing but a farce,¡± John replied with calm confidence. ¡°If I¡¯m not mistaken, your ¡°transformation¡± is nothing more than an impressive body battle art disguised as a transformation, instead of a true transformation itself.¡±


    Asuros¡¯ gaze narrowed while a frown reced his smile, clearly revealing both his doubt at John¡¯s words, as well as displeasure.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand?¡± John continued, the small smile continuing to linger on his face. ¡°Then I¡¯ll exin it to you in a way you can understand. Your transformation is a body battle art, which uses your Qi to forcefully transform your body in an unnatural way. While this should be impossible, I¡¯m sure your ¡®Master¡¯ had something to do with making your body able to ept this change. Your battle art is beyond the limits of this world, but it still has its limitations,¡± John started to exin.


    Asuros remained silent as he stared coldly at John, his silence an indirect confirmation of John¡¯s words.


    ¡°So I was right,¡± John scoffed, his confidence growing by the second. ¡°As I said, your transformation is nothing but a farce. A pseudo-transformation at best, but not the real thing.¡±


    ¡°And how is that any different from your transformation?¡± Asuros growled in anger.


    ¡°The difference is simple,¡± John replied with calm confidence. ¡°A cultivator can only use one body battle art at a time, and must undo that art to use another. Since your transformation is due to a battle art, you cannot use any essence attacks or other body battle arts, which our battle so far has confirmed.¡±


    This battle had confirmed two things for John. One was that Asuros¡¯ transformation was not a true transformation, as he had yet to use any other battle art in their battle. The second was that his mysterious father was truly beyond hisprehension, as he was able to gift John with an Asura body even beyond the level of Asuros¡¯ ¡®Master¡¯.


    His only downfall in this battle was his far lower cultivation. If he had the same cultivation as Asuros, he was more than confident in being able to defeat him in his current form. However, since his cultivation was far lower, he had to employ his full power to win.


    ¡°So what? Are you saying you¡¯re somehow able to do that? Impossible!¡± Asuros raged, enraged at the mere suggestion that his transformation was lesser than Johns.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I¡¯m saying,¡± John replied with proud confidence, his widened smile sending another wave of rage though Asuros. ¡°Even I am limited to using one body battle art at a time, but a true transformation is not a battle art¡­ only an evolution of the body to a different state! That¡¯s the difference between us. Like I said, your transformation is a farce whenpared to mine.¡±


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Asuros growled dismissively, unable to contain his anger and about to unleash his assault on John to finish him once and for all.


    ¡°Find out for yourself how ¡®impossible¡¯ it is,¡± John suddenly roared as his aura began to rapidly climb, soaring far beyond what he had disyed before.


    His muscles rapidly grew and began to bulge with absolute power, while his gaze of confidence locked onto Asuros as he roared once more, sending his body power to entirely new heights. A billowing golden aura mixed with his previous red aura, making him look like a glowing sun of absolute power hovering over the battlefield. John roared out loud once more, his voice alone shaking thend for miles in each direction.


    ¡°Supreme Battle Art!¡±

 Chapter 712 Supreme Battle Art!

    John roared as his body power exploded to entirely new heights, augmented by thebination of both his Asura Transformation Art and Supreme Battle Art. Asuros¡¯ eyes widened in surprise, and then jealous rage as he watched John unleash the Supreme Battle Art while his transformation remained, proving his words to be true.


    With thebination of his transformation and battle art, John¡¯s power surged to the same level as Asuros¡¯, despite the fact that his cultivation was much lower than his opponents. This fact further enraged Asuros, who roared in return as he pushed his body to his absolute limits. His muscles strained with power even more than before as he sent all his Qi into his transformation battle art, leaving nothing behind anymore.


    He shed forward and appeared before John in an instant, shing his sword down with his full might as if wanting to cleave John in half with a single blow. Everyone watching the attack felt as if they were being drowned in pure physical power, making it hard to even move, despite the fact that they were far from the battle.


    John¡¯s grip tightened powerfully as he shed his battle axe out towards Asuros¡¯ saber, resuming their battle of impossible physical power once more. The natural aura emanating from Asuros was like a domain itself, assaulting John¡¯s mind and soul in a simr manner to the sinister room within his pce realm. However, thanks to his strenuous training before that gate, hepletely ignored the effects of Asuros¡¯ aura as their battle resumed.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Both groups watched in stunned silence from below as the distant battle reached another level, further shattering their beliefs of what they thought was possible. Only three youths were making any noise as they watched the battle unfold.


    ¡°Raaaaaah! How the fuck does he know our Supreme Battle Art?¡± one of the Bob¡¯s roared in stunned surprise.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I refuse to lose to anyone when ites to our Supreme Battle Art. Fuck this, I¡¯m going to join the fight,¡± another Bob roared as he found himself no longer able to contain his battle lust.


    The two other Bobs yelled loudly as well as they all prepared to charge towards the distant battle. However, before they could do so, their visions suddenly all changed. A world of white enveloped everything, as if they had been transported into a void of white.


    At first they felt surprise, but quickly figured out what was going on as they roared within the void.


    ¡°Miko! Let us out! I want to join the fight!¡± one of the Bob¡¯s roared as he realized he was in Miko¡¯s soul trap. Their souls were no longer under their control, and as such, they were not able to move their physical bodies anymore.


    ¡°No,¡± Miko¡¯s voice drifted through the void of white, ¡°you¡¯ll only get in John¡¯s way. I¡¯ll undo this soul art when the battle is over.¡±


    ¡°Miko! Undo this now!¡± another Bob roared, but their cries within the void of white went unheard as Miko¡¯s attention focused back on the distant battle. To his side were the three Bobs, who stood there withplete stillness as if they had finally calmed down.


    Soft footsteps shuffled next to Miko, causing him to nce to the side as Laia arrived next to him, her gaze locked onto the distant battle. Miko could see slight worry in her face, but her face was mostly rxed, revealing to him that she had quite the confidence in John despite the power that Asuros had revealed.


    While he had just met her, his innate attunement with souls could discern what people were thinking with great uracy. He could tell that Laia¡¯s feelings towards John wereplicated, but he did not pry or bring it up as his gaze shifted back towards the battle.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    John and Asuros shed around the battlefield like two blurs, their speed almost impossible to keep up with visually. Their weapons collided thousands of times since resuming their battle, causing most of the temple realm to tremble non-stop from their power.


    Bang!


    Their weapons collided once more, shaking both earth and sky as thend behind each of them fractured from the other¡¯s power. John was knocked back slightly but still managed to maintain his bnce, revealing his physical power to be nearly the same as Asuros¡¯ despite their overwhelming cultivation difference.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Asuros roared once more as his mouth opened widely. A roar of rage boomed out of his mouth, sting towards John with incredible power, not from any battle art, but from pure physical force itself.


    The attack mmed onto John before he could react, as he had been within arm¡¯s reach of Asuros and had not expected such a thing. He skidded backwards through the sky for several hundred yards beforeing to a stop, as his arms trembled slightly from taking that roar head on.


    The two stared at each other once more, with John¡¯s gaze containing calm confidence, while Asuros¡¯ gritted teeth trembled with barely contained rage. He had been gifted the ultimate fighting form from his master, had gone through countless trials of pain and death to get to this stage, and yet was being nearly equally challenged by someone of lower cultivation.


    ¡°I enhance my Asura Transformation by consuming the blood essence of others, with each feeding making my transformation be closer and closer to a true transformation,¡± Asuros raged out loud as he stared at John with both hate, and greed. ¡°Once I consume you, I¡¯m all but guaranteed to be a true Asura, at which point my evolution will beplete. Now die!¡±


    Without waiting for John to reply, Asuros sped forward once more towards John to resume their battle. His cold and murderous eyes locked onto John as he prepared to unleash another sh of his saber, but an action of John¡¯s caused his rage to be reced with mockery as he saw John point to him from several hundred yards away, as if he were about to unleash an essence battle art.


    With John¡¯s Asura Transformation and Supreme Battle Art already activated, it was impossible for John to unleash an essence attack of any sort of power without undoing his Supreme Battle Art, as the Qi consumption from the art was far too great. Even then, John had disyed overwhelming body cultivation powers, and thus his essence powers were no doubt so weak as to not be a threat.


    Even for someone like him, this rule could not be broken. When Parker became Asuros, he no longer focused on essence cultivation as he poured everything into his body cultivation. While his essence attacks were still rtively powerful, they paled inparison to his body power, making them worthless in this battle.


    The lightning attack when John had arrived to the battlefield flickered in Asuros¡¯ mind for a moment, but like Amber, he dismissed it as the result of a powerful one-time use artifact. John continued to point at Asuros without undoing his Supreme Battle Art, making him truly look like a madman.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gone mad!¡± Asuros roared mockingly as he sped towards John, but his eyes suddenly widened with absolute shock as the sky lit up all around him.


    Boom!


    An overwhelmingly powerful beam of lighting sted out of John¡¯s fingers, mming directly onto Asuros¡¯ chest before he could react. Asuros was sted out of the sky towards the ground below, mming into several still-standing mountains and piercing directly through them.


    His body bounced on the hard earth several times before Asuros regained control of his body and surged back up into the sky. A small amount of smoke drifted up from his slightly charred chest as he stared at John now over a mile away, who slowly lowered his finger while staring calmly at Asuros.


    ¡°IMPOSSIBLE!¡±

 Chapter 713 Weaknesses and Strengths

    ¡°IMPOSSIBLE! IMPOSSIBLE! IMPOSSIBLE!¡± Asuros roared several times like someone who had finally snapped and gone insane. His body trembled due to both overwhelming shock, and absolute jealousy, as John continued to defy the establishedws of the cultivation world over and over again.


    Alongside Asuros, all the other youths save for Miko and Laia stared at John with absolute shock on their faces. The battle so far had been nothing but mind-shattering in how impossibly strong both fighters were, but John¡¯s disy had finally shattered the reality of what should be possible when it came to cultivation.


    It was impossible to use both essence and body attacks with equal power, and thatw had never been broken. Even cultivators with incredibly powerful innate variant bodies could only bridge the gap, but not close itpletely. John¡¯s essence attack was equal in power to his physical attacks, despite not lowering either his transformation art or Supreme Battle Art.


    ¡°IMPOSSIBLEEEE!¡± Asuros roared, his roar so furious that it shook the nearbynd as he shot towards John once more.


    Instead of waiting for Asuros to arrive before him, John¡¯s battle axe glowed with golden brilliance as he shed it outwards.


    Advent of Annihtion!


    A golden battle axe image shed out from John¡¯s battle axe, surging towards Asuros with incredible speed and power. Asuros roared with furious rage again as he shed out his massive saber against John¡¯s battle art.


    Boom!


    An apocalyptic explosion of Qi sted out as the two attacks collided, after which Asuros shot out of the explosion towards John once more. Slight wounds covered his body after being caught in the very middle of it, but his wounds healed at a visible rate thanks to his Asura Transformation as he appeared before John once more.


    Lightning once again red as John unleashed another Lightning Disintegration towards Asuros¡¯, who shed out with his saber to meet the attack once again.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The sky and earth trembled non-stop as the battle between the two juggernauts reached its climax. John unleashed both overwhelmingly powerful essence arts and physical attacks, which were met with unstoppable physical might from Asuros.


    Both fighters no longer held anything back as they fought to the death with everything they had. They soared through the battlefield like demonic war gods, almost as if they were capable of shattering continents and emptying oceans.


    The sky lit up, the ground shattered, and everything in their path was destroyed as their battle soared high into the sky, and then below the earth as both fighters exchanged overwhelming attacks and suffered gruesome wounds.


    The Honorable Alliance and enemy youths were forced to retreat even further away as the battle intensified, as being caught up in any one of their attacks would without a doubt be instant death.


    Draconic roars boomed out, lightning surged, mountains crumbled, and space trembled as the fight to the death raged on. Their speed was almost impossible for the others to keep up with visually, but each exchange of attacks paused their movements just enough for all the youths to see a glimpse of what was going on.


    Each exchange revealed more and more wounds on both youths¡¯ bodies, as their battle seemed to havee to a perfect stalemate. Both disyed equal levels of power, a fact which sent numb shock through all the youths as if they could be surprised no further.


    Asuros was disying power that should be impossible for a Half-Step Dao Transformation cultivator, and yet his power was being matched by a Middle Heaven Tribtion cultivator; a feat far more impossible. If they weren¡¯t seeing it with their own eyes, they would never believe it, and even now many didn¡¯t know if they were dreaming or not.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The battle continued to rage on for over half an hour as the two sides fought with gruesome intensity. Gaping wounds appeared on their arms, legs, chest, and faces, while the blood of both themselves and their enemy slicked their bodies.


    Advent of Annihtion!


    John unleashed another Advent of Annihtion, which mmed onto Asuros¡¯ saber. The force of the attack sted against Asuros, who was not able to fully guard against it.


    He mmed onto the earth below, burrowing deeply within while John shot down towards him, pressing the attack as much as he could.


    Boom!


    The ground erupted outwards with a furious roar as Asuros surged out from within, appearing towards John instantly. Both youths were moving at full speed, and the exchange of battle axe and saber shes once again shattered everything around them as both youths were violently knocked back from the overwhelmingly powerful collision.


    Puh!


    Both John and Asuros coughed out blood from the exchange, but ignored itpletely as they instantly resumed their battle. Asuros appeared next to John like a ghost, shing sideways towards his waist. John¡¯s battle axe shed outwards to meet the attack, but he pulled back its power as he noticed the attack was a feint from Asuros, who instantly appeared to his side with his sharp w-like fingers piercing towards his waist.


    John pulled back his battle axe, but knew he could not move it in time to block Asuros¡¯ attack. His head swiveled to the side as his mouth opened wide with power.


    Roar of the Jade Dragon!


    The powerful draconic roar mmed onto Asuros before his attack couldnd, sting him backwards while causing his mind and soul to be pained for a short moment. He quickly washed away the soul pain as John appeared before him, unleashing another Advent of Annihtion.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The battle continued to rage onwards in a simr fashion, while the youths below could tell that both fighters were starting to reach their limits. Gruesome wounds covered almost their entire body, and were it anyone else with such wounds, they would have most likely already perished.


    Bang!


    Weapons collided once more, sending John and Asuros in opposite directions several hundred yards away. Asuros did not follow up the attack, and instead inspected John with a scrutinous gaze before arge, sinister smile appeared on his face. Both John and Asuros were feeling overwhelming pain, and were drawing deep, agonized breaths in an attempt to absorb as much surrounding Qi as possible.


    ¡°I see you¡¯ve unlocked your Limiter of Healing,¡± Asuros mused through heavy breaths of pain as he studied John, ¡°but thanks to your low cultivation, you have yet to unlock your Limiter of Life.¡±


    His words caused John to frown slightly, but John remained silent as he let Asuros speak. John had yet to hear about the Limiter of Life, but based on Asuros¡¯ words, it was most likely the Limiter he would encounter once he stepped into the Dao Transformation Realm.


    ¡°I have yet to fully unlock it myself, but have managed to partially do so,¡± Asuros continued with proud arrogance. He noticed John¡¯sck of a reaction, and smiled wider as he knew the truth of his words. ¡°Let me tell you one thing then. The Limiter of Life is simr to the Limiter of Healing, but instead of healing wounds, it increases life energy greatly, allowing one to maintain fullbat prowess closer to the edge of death.


    While you may be impressive, this is your fatal weakness. Your only route forward is to sumb to my assault, at which point I will rip off your head and consume youpletely, perfecting my transformation once and for all,¡± Asuros concluded, smiling menacingly at John as if he were nothing but prey to be ughtered.


    John¡¯s deep breaths finally calmed as he stared at Asuros with a calm gaze¡­a calmness that was not the gaze of someone about to die. Asuros frowned as he saw a small smile appear on John¡¯s face, as if he were looking at someonepletely idiotic.


    ¡°And you know what your weakness is?¡± John replied, but received no answer from Asuros.


    ¡°Your weakness is your arrogance¡­and your solitude,¡± John said, his words growing louder and more confident. ¡°In the cultivation world, one must use everything at their disposal to tread forward. Only a fool thinks he can do everything alone.¡±


    ¡°HAHAHA,¡± Asuros startedughing maniacally upon hearing John¡¯s words before eventually containing hisughter. ¡°What? Do you think that soul friend of yours can save you now? He¡¯s already a spent candle. He has no ability to help you anymore,¡± Asuros dismissed John¡¯s words.


    John¡¯s smile widened as he stared at Asuros as if he were truly a fool.


    ¡°Laia!¡± John suddenly roared, his actions slightly surprising Asuros as he had no idea who that was. Asuros¡¯ surprise quickly turned into shock, thenplete disbelief as an incredibly vibrant energy started to surge out from within John, healing his wounds at an impossible speed. Before Asuros could even react, John¡¯s body had beenpletely healed, returning hisbat state to the height of his power.


    ¡°IMPOSSIBLE!¡± Asuros couldn¡¯t help but roar once more, as for the first time in this battle, he was no longer in control.


    ¡°Repeating that word over and over won¡¯t make it true,¡± John replied as his aura surged out with full power once more, and his battle axe shed out with apocalyptic power.

 Chapter 714 Spatial Disk

    Advent of Annihtion!


    The monstrously powerful battle art coated John¡¯s battle axe, magnifying the attack power as John once again unleashed a full-strength attack. Asuros roared in rage as he shed his saber out to meet the attack, as their two attacks collided once again.


    However, with one badly damaged and the other freshly healed as if reborn anew, the rtively equal attacks were no more. Asuros¡¯ arms trembled violently as he struggled against John for a brief instant, before his body shot backwards like a bullet, unable to resist the attack.


    Boom!


    His body mmed into thend below, burrowing deep within once more while thend around that stop erupted from the power. After this singr exchange, hope filled the hearts of all the Honorable Alliance members, who felt like they had been on the verge of absolute despair, while absolute despair entered the hearts of the enemy youth as they watched their final hope begin to lose.


    John gazed down at the ground below, his long hair billowing lightly behind him, while his golden aura framed his dragonscale armored body, making him look beyond heroic at the moment.


    Kirii suddenly appeared next to John, and with a mental instruction, sped off towards Laia and the Honorable Alliance group. John prepared to speed towards Asuros below, when his gaze shifted towards the Honorable Alliance group in the distance.


    ¡°Hmph, so predictable,¡± John scoffed as he sped towards the group.


    Boom!


    The ground erupted near the Honorable Alliance group as Asuros surged out from within, his gaze of enraged hatred staring directly at Laia. He wanted to kill her first to make sure she could not heal John again, but his eyes widened as five figures instantly appeared before Asuros at the same time, each unleashing their own attack.


    A beam of lightning pierced out of Kirii¡¯s mouth, while a powerful sword art left Miko¡¯s de. The three battle Bob¡¯s had instantly joined in as well, venting their frustrations for the first time as they unleashed their most powerful fist attack at Asuros.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The five attacks mmed against Asuros at the same time, who crossed his arms before his chest to brace against them. Thebined might of the five attacks instantly overwhelmed the wounded and exhausted Asuros, who flew back violently across the shatterednd.


    His body bounced off the hard ground several times before mming into a mountain several miles away. Asuros burrowed deep within the mountain, which came crashing down on him marily after, unable to withstand the might of the collision.


    Rumble!


    Thend rumbled violently as the mountain copsed down on him, while John gazed on from above. He had full confidence in Miko and Kirii defending Laia and the others, and the three battle Bobs were extra assistance.


    Roar!


    A roar of enraged anger boomed out, the power of the roar shattering the crumbled mountain atop him, which sted out in all directions. Asuros surged out from within and appeared in the sky near John, staring at him with absolute hatred.


    Blood covered most of his body, and a fresh stream of blood dripped down his chin, as he had clearly taken damage from the two previous exchanges. With a sh, John once again appeared before Asuros, his battle axe cleaving out with full might.


    At the same time, dozens of lightning nodes appeared in the sky around the two of them, sting towards Asuros from all directions and cutting off his path of retreat. Asuros roared in rage once more as his muscles strained with full power and his aura red with absolute might. His aura alone mmed against the lightning attacks, greatly reducing their power while his saber shed out towards John¡¯s axe.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The lightning beams mmed against Asuros from all directions, who ignored them and took them head on as he focused on John. Saber and battle axe collided once more, and thebined attacks of weapons and lightning drowned the sky in apocalyptic power once more.


    A trail of smoke pierced out from the explosion with terrifying speed as Asuros clearly lost out on the exchange once more, and mmed into the ground below. The ground shattered once more, while John sped down towards Asuros, who surged up from within, his fighting spirit not lessened for a moment.


    Small wounds appeared on John¡¯s body after that exchange once again, but they werepletely ignored as he resumed his assault against Asuros. Their battle raged on once more as the two exchanged hundreds of attacks, with both sidesnding critical blows on the other. Flesh tore, muscles ripped, and blood flowed as both fighters continued to be more and more injured.


    However, with John¡¯s renewed healing, and the possibility of Laia healing him again at any moment, the mood of the battle had instantly changed, as the one on the losing end was clearly Asuros, who looked absolutely miserable at the moment.


    After another exchange, Asuros used the momentum of John¡¯s attack to speed backwards several miles at an incredibly shocking speed. He paused and stared at John for a brief moment, before shifting his gaze towards the distant dragon corpse, locking onto a certain location for a moment again.


    John noticed this gaze and looked there as well, as Asuros had done so once before. He didn¡¯t know what was there, but clearly Asuros wanted something from the dragon, and was now debating about how to get it, or if he could even get it.


    A conflicting expression appeared on Asuros¡¯ face for a moment, before he gazed back at John, trembling with anger and hatred. Not waiting for him to recover, John sped towards Asuros once more, battle axe shing out with apocalyptic might.


    ¡°With your death, my Fenix n and those whose deaths you caused will finally be avenged,¡± John roared as he prepared to finish off Asuros once and for all.


    His actions instantly made Asuros¡¯ change expressions once moree, as his confliction instantly vanished and was reced with furious confidence.


    ¡°You think my Master didn¡¯t send me in with a contingency n?¡± Asuros scoffed, his words causing John to frown as he instantly increased his speed towards Asuros. A small circr object suddenly appeared in Asuros¡¯ hand, clearly some sort of formation disk.


    The disk was covered with thousands of tiny yet intricate runes, some brimming with incredible power and profundity.


    ¡°A spatial formation disk? As if I would allow you to leave!¡± John roared as his aura and power erupted to the absolute peak, surging around Asuros as he appeared before him. If he was able to restrict the spatial energy with his own power, he could prevent Asuros from leaving.


    ¡°Hmph, both you and this world know not of just how small and insignificant it is,¡± Asuros scoffed as the spatial power wrapped around him, shielding him from John¡¯s assault. John¡¯s face became red with strain as he struggled to contain the spatial power, which seemed topletely ignore his might.


    ¡°Let this spatial disk be a small glimpse of what my master is capable of, and how little this world knows of what is truly possible,¡± Asuros scoffed as his figure faded from John¡¯s vision, who continued his futile struggle against the spatial power with his full might.


    ¡°When we meet again, our battle will not be the same as today. I will soon perfect my Asura body, and when we meet again, I will break you with the full might of a true Asura,¡± Asuros scoffed as his voice and figure faded away. With a final sh of energy, Asuros¡¯ figure instantly vanished as the spatial energy disappeared.


    John¡¯s aura slowly died down as he stared at the now empty sky before him, his rage soaring as Parker had slipped through his grasp at the veryst moment. His shoulders began to tremble with rage, but a wild roar in the distance suddenly caught his attention, snapping him out of his mood of ever-growing rage.


    ¡°He won! John actually won!¡±


    ¡°The war is finally over!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re saved. We¡¯re saved!¡±


    Roars of pure tion erupted out from the Honorable Alliance group, as the end to the war had finally arrived. Against all odds, they had managed to survive, and hold out long enough for a pure miracle to arrive and save them. Tears streamed down the faces of many of the youths as they cried and hugged each other, while others roared with wild tion, crying out John¡¯s name with exalted praise.


    ¡°John! John! John! John!¡±

 Chapter 715 Hes Yours to Do With What You Wish

    John¡¯s resolute and heroic figure hovered above the battlefield as the roars of praise and tion basked over him. His anger died down slightly as he realized that despite not killing Parker or Asuros as he was now known, he had still saved the lives of hundreds of Honorable Alliance youths.


    ¡°John! John! John!¡± the roars of ecstasy continued ceaselessly as the Honorable Alliance youths seemed to have lost their minds.


    They cheered, cried, hugged each other, and erupted with roars of victory, as thest month had been nothing but a nightmare for them. While all the cultivators knew they treaded the path of a cultivator, which was a path rife with danger and death, they still felt nothing but relief and tion at the moment, as John¡¯s overwhelming might had allowed them to live another day.


    Adam, Iris, and Chase, who were standing within the Honorable Alliance camp couldn¡¯t help but feel themselves overwhelmed with emotions as well. They had gone this far on the assumption that John might very well perish within the Dao Transformation realm trial, and yet he had arrived here with awe-inspiring might, saving them all from sure destruction.


    Most relieved of all was Adam, who was finally able to slightly rx, knowing that his capture by the hands of Kadin had not resulted in John¡¯s death.


    Staring at John¡¯s heroic figure, Laia also couldn¡¯t help but find herself moved by the events urring around her. She had grown ustomed to John¡¯s freakish might during their plights during the Dao Transformation trials, but the exuberant celebrations of the youths around her reminded her of just how abnormal John was.


    She felt her heart flutter with conflicting emotions, her gaze locked onto the one she had spent thest six weeks traveling with.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± a congrattions of praise drifted from Miko¡¯s mouth as he stared at his friend, although it was heard by nobody other than himself.


    ¡°GRUAAAAHHHHH!¡± the three battle Bobs erupted with a roar of battle lust, almost unable to contain the urge to speed towards John and fight him just to vent their frustrations. However, they resisted the urge at the moment, as even they knew the war was not yet fully finished.


    The cries of celebration flooded through John like a tidal wave, who couldn¡¯t help but almost be wrapped up in the jubtions. However, his mind became clear as he reminded himself that the war was not truly over yet¡­.not until every enemy youth perished underneath his heel.


    John¡¯s gaze snapped towards the distant group of enemy youths, who stared at him with expressions of absolute dread, as if they were staring at the bringer of death himself. If someone like Asuros was not able to kill John, then none of them could.


    The group of enemy youths all shuddered in fear as John gazed at them, and without any form ofmunication, they all scattered like roaches in all directions. Any semnce of cooperation was thrown out the window as every youth focused on nothing but their own survival.


    A frown appeared on John¡¯s face as he watched the youths scatter, as even someone as powerful as him could not contain that many youths at once. With the futility of killing them all determined, his gaze locked onto a singr youth as his figure blurred from sight, speeding off into the distance.


    Boom!


    The ground exploded before Kadin as Johnnded before him, causing Kadin to jump with fright as the dust faded away. His trembling vision locked onto John as he became clear through the fading dust, while his mind raced with thoughts of what to do.


    After a second of fear, Kadin¡¯s gaze shifted as it became cold and resolved.


    ¡°I refuse to believe you still have Qi to spare after your battle!¡± Kadin roared, confident that John¡¯s demeanor was fake at the moment. Although he wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure of it, fighting back was his only potential option of getting out of this alive. He had sentenced John to death when he knocked him into the Dao Transformation trial, and had tortured Adam to death as well. There would be no talking or begging his way out of this one.


    Normally Kadin would resort to his family name as a shield, as most dared not to offend the Starforge n. However, he knew John was a madman who cared not for such things, and so that option was worthless as well.


    With his mind made up, Kadin¡¯s aura red with his peak power while his high grade sword appeared in his hand. While he was slightly fatigued from his battle with Adam, Iris, and Chase, he still had quite a bit of Qi reserves remaining. A formation disk appeared in his other hand, which Kadin infused with his Qi, activating it in an instant.


    A powerful formation pressure mmed onto John, pressing down on him with incredible power. John raised an eyebrow as he felt the pressure attempt to restrict his movements, and watched as another formation disk appeared in Kadin¡¯s hand once more as he activated that one as well.


    Kadin did this several times, ovepping powerful formations with different effects. He would normally not have enough time to activate so many formations in a battle, but John made no moves at the moment, allowing Kadin to activate one after the other.


    A barrier formed around John, several dozen yards wide in each direction, adding anotheryer of restriction on top of him. A glowing andplicated formation circle made of Qi from one of the formation disks suddenly appeared overhead and beneath his feet, spinning in opposite directions.


    The formation circles picked up speed until they suddenly came to an abrupt halt. Both circles unleashed a devastating attack of ruinous energy towards John, bathing him in an explosion of destruction. The explosion sted off the formation barrier around him, containing the explosion within and amplifying its power once more.


    If Kadin unleashed this attack as he had just done, even Amber would not be able to walk out of it without gruesome wounds, or even death. Such was the ferocity of formations experts. They took quite a bit of time to set up their attacks, but once they did, their potency was unrivaled.


    ¡°Your blind arrogance will be your downfall!¡± Kadin shouted with malicious exuberance, while a smirk of confidence and joy appeared on his face as he watched John be drowned in his incrediblebination attack.


    His sword suddenly glowed with might as he shed it out towards the explosion, unleashing a profound purple sword image into the explosion for good measure. His face paled a bit as the Qi expenditure of thebined attacks was frightening, making him be quite fatigued.


    The sword image mmed onto something within, adding to the explosion once more. The ground trembled for miles in each direction, and many of the retreating youths stopped to see the oue of the attack, while some felt hope appeared once more that Kadin had managed to kill or at least gravely injure John.


    Kadin¡¯s smirking gaze lingered on the explosion before him as it faded, and his smirk quickly vanished as disbelief appeared on it once more.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± he muttered in disbelief as his eyes and lips began to tremble.


    ¡­


    The Honorable Alliance watched from a distance as Kadin unleashed his attacks on John, while heated discussion broke out amongst them.


    ¡°Should we help him?¡± one of the youths asked Miko, who they saw as the leader of the group at the moment.


    Miko remained silent as he gazed at the fleeing enemy youths, but did not chase as he guarded the Honorable Alliance youths instead.


    Boom!


    The ground trembled before the youths as Johnnded violently before them, with a battered and bruised Kadin dragged along by the cor of his robe. The youths all held their breaths as John arrived, as if they were in the presence of a god, or a demon, as his Asura Transformation was still activated, sending a shiver of instinctual fear down all their spines despite knowing he was an ally.


    John¡¯s calm yet piercing red gaze shifted towards a certain individual, and he tossed Kadin forward towards that youth. Kadin¡¯s body rolled over the ground several times beforeing to the feet of Adam, who stared at him with cold and simmering rage.


    ¡°He¡¯s yours to do with what you wish!¡±

 Chapter 716 The End of the War

    John¡¯s asura transformation finally faded away as the war was over, flooding him with a wave of fatigue and exhaustion. He swayed slightly for a moment before collecting himself, while those nearby gazed at him with wondrous awe, as if staring at a god.


    With great struggle, Kadin gazed up at Adam before him, who looked at him with simmering rage. Kadin had been beaten nearly to death by John, and was unable to put up any form of resistance, even against Adam. At this point, he waspletely at the mercy of the one he had tortured to death, and Kadin couldn¡¯t help but tremble in pleading fear.


    ¡°Please¡­.spare me,¡± Kadin said in a pleading and groveling manner, casting aside the proud arrogance he had disyed up to this point.


    ¡°I¡­I was wrong,¡± Kadin spoke up once more as Adam remained silent, his icy gaze not changing at all. ¡°I¡­I¡¯ll help you be¡­the leader of our Starforge n! We¡­we¡¯re family after all¡­and I¡¯ll serve you going forward¡­I¡¯ll help you-¡°


    Adam seemed to have heard enough, his icy gaze intensifying as the thoughts of his fathers murder flickered in his mind. No doubt Kadin knew the truth of what had happened, and Adam wanted to get to the core of the truth.


    Adam¡¯s body red with power for a brief moment as he activated several of the embedded formation disks within his body. Formational energy red as a barrier suddenly sprung up into existence, trapping only Adam and Kadin within. The barrier waspletely opaque, making it impossible to see through it.


    His actions surprised the other youths who had been watching Kadin¡¯s groveling, as they didn¡¯t know exactly what was going on between the two of them. John¡¯s gaze remained calm as he realized Adam did not want the others to hear his interrogation of Kadin¡­or see what he was about to do.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted to the side as someone rapidly approached him, smashing into him and embracing him deeply. John smiled as he embraced Iris back, who cried deeply into his chest. After a short embrace, Iris collected herself and took a step backwards while wiping the tears from her eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m so d you¡¯re safe,¡± Iris said to John, her smiling face stained with tears.


    ¡°And I¡¯m happy to see all three of you safe as well,¡± John replied, as he gazed at Chase and exchanged a head nod before his gaze shifted back to Iris. ¡°Thank you for keeping everyone alive while I was gone,¡± John thanked her.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t just me,¡± Iris replied with a wide grin as she briefly exined what had happened, including the incredible improvements from both Adam and Chase. John raised an eyebrow as he heard about Adam¡¯s story and his personality shift, but felt relief that everything seemed to have turned out for the better regarding Adam.


    As Iris finished her story, John heard someone approach from behind, and felt a gentle pair of hands press against his back. A warm and vibrant energy started coursing through his body, eliminating the wounds on his body and filling his body with energy once more.


    Iris nced at Laia, slightly surprised to see her so close to John. She had never seen Laia before today, and did not know who she was or how she hade to be so close to him. Before she could ask for introductions, a boisterous voice boomed out from the side, catching their attention.


    ¡°Hahahaha, it¡¯s surprising to see you so close to someone¡­I heard you were knocked into the Dao Transformation realm with someone else¡­seems like you two got quite close while in there!¡± Miko teased as he approached the group.


    John had briefly introduced Laia to Miko when they had arrived to the battlefield, but the introductions had only been very brief.


    Laia¡¯s cheeks reddened slightly as she heard Miko¡¯s words, while John stared at his friend with a piercing look.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be a little more respectful to the one who saved your girlfriend?¡± John said as he gestured towards Iseria, who stood nearby and had been fully healed by Laia after being on the brink of death.


    ¡°Haha you hear that Iseria. John says we¡¯re dating, so I guess that¡¯s how it is now!¡± Miko said mischievously as he nced at Iseria, who rolled her eyes at his words, but did not scold him like usual, and instead had a small yet subtle smile appear on her face which vanished almost instantly after.


    John rolled his eyes as well at Miko¡¯s antics, as his attempt to get back at his friend had failed spectacrly.


    ¡°I forgot. You don¡¯t know how to feel shame,¡± John scoffed at Miko.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of feeling shame? It¡¯s too tiresome,¡± he replied as he finally arrived before John with arge smile. The two stared at each other for a brief moment before bursting out withughter and embracing each other with a warm hug, parting soon after.


    Miko¡¯s gaze shifted towards Laia, and his smiling face turned serious as he looked at her.


    ¡°Thank you¡­for saving my friend,¡± Miko said sincerely, while Laia returned his gaze with a warm smile.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me,¡± Laia replied warmly as she lowered her hands from John¡¯s back, her healing of him finallyplete.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m going to thank you!¡± Miko said vigorously while performing an exaggerated bow, ¡°How could I not thank the eighth princess of the Astral Empire for helping me and my friends?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°A princess of the Astral Empire?¡±


    ¡°Why is she here?¡±


    ¡°No wonder she¡¯s so amazing!¡±


    Whispers of surprise drifted out from the nearby youths, shocked to hear Laia¡¯s true identity. Laia smiled at Miko¡¯s strange antics, finding it to be quite amusing. Afterwards, Laia¡¯s gaze shifted towards Iris, who was standing nearby in silence.


    ¡°You must be Iris,¡± Laia said to Iris while smiling with warm kindness. ¡°It¡¯s nice to finally meet you.¡±


    ¡°You know me?¡± Iris replied with slight surprise on her face.


    ¡°Of course. John told me all about you,as well as Adam and Chase. You four seem to be very good friends,¡± Laia replied kindly.


    ¡°Oh he did now?¡± Iris asked as she nced at John with a questioning gaze, wondering what sort of things he had said about her. After ncing at John, she walked up to Laia and linked her arm around one of Laia¡¯s arm, moving her away from the group.


    ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s get away from these brutish boys and talk about things,¡± Iris said as she smiled at Laia, as if she had found a new friend, and one that was a girl for once. Laia smiled back and allowed herself to be moved away by Iris, leaving John, Miko, and Chase behind. They moved towards where Iseria was, and the three girls quickly began their discussions,ughing and smiling as they moved away from the others.


    After the girls left, Miko¡¯s gaze turned serious once more as he shifted his gaze towards where the enemy youths had been. They hadpletely scattered by now, with no trace of them remaining.


    ¡°Should we hunt down the remaining enemies?¡± Miko asked John.


    ¡°No, there¡¯s no point,¡± John dismissed the idea. ¡°Now that Asuros has left, none of them will dare to make another peep at all, as they¡¯ll be too scared to run into either of us. They¡¯ll go into hiding until this realm closes. Even if they managed to steal some of the teleportation talismans from the youths they had in, they¡¯ll be teleported to the entrance of this realm when it closes¡­right into the middle of all the Honorable Alliance Elders. So, either they die here¡­or they die out there¡­but their deaths are assured, and so they are of no concern anymore,¡± John exined his thoughts.


    Miko thought about it for a moment and then nodded his head in agreement. After his and John¡¯s disy of power, the remaining youths would certainly hide until the realm closed, and were therefore no longer a threat.


    He was just about to ask John another question, when an emotional voice sounded out from behind the two of them, causing them to turn around. John gazed at the girl who stood before him, her head slightly bowed and not looking him in the eyes as if she were not worthy of such a thing.


    ¡°Thank you¡­for saving us,¡± the girl said to John and Miko, her voice trembling with emotion.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± most of the other youths behind her boomed out as well shortly after, bowing their heads slightly in respect towards both John and Miko.


    John remained quiet for a moment as he allowed them toplete their thanks, before he addressed therge group of several hundred youths before him.


    ¡°Only by getting strong can you ensure your safety and the safety of those around you.


    If you really want to thank me, then do that by getting stronger, and bing someone the Honorable Alliance can rely on,¡± John replied to them, his words igniting a fire within their hearts.


    The group of youths all nodded their heads in acknowledgement, and would never for the rest of their lives forget this day, the one that saved them, and the one that steeled their hearts and minds to tread on the cultivation path with absolute conviction.

 Chapter 717 Blood of the Jade Dragon

    John stared at the group of youths before him, who finally raised their heads to look at him once more, awe and wonder in their gazes. Despite his heaven defying talent and power, John didn¡¯t carry the arrogance that typical geniuses did.


    His words and persona inspired all of them, particrly the aloof geniuses who once considered themselves to be above all. The war had already humbled them a great deal, and then John¡¯s persona was the final blow, shattering their aloof pride.


    He thought for a moment about forcing them to swear Dao Oaths to not reveal his identity as Asura, but realized that with Asuros escaping, his identity was going to be revealed eventually. As such, he put the idea in the back of his mind as his gaze shifted from the group of youths to the distant stairwell before the ancient dragon. His gaze lingered on the three temples, which he could tell contained secrets beyondpare. Clearly these were the final temples of the realm¡­and most likely contained the ultimate rewards.


    ¡°RUAAAAHHH!¡±


    ¡°Who are you! Why do you know the Supreme Battle Art!¡±


    ¡°Come on! Fight me! I want to test my strength!¡±


    Loud battle lusted roars boomed out near John, causing him and the others to gaze towards the sound. They spotted the three battle Bob¡¯s quickly approaching John, their fighting spirits clearly ignited.


    ¡°Oh goddamnit. I let you three out for one second and you¡¯re already causing such a ruckus¡­go to sleep!¡± Miko chastised the three as he had released their soul bindings, just for them to instantly try to fight John.


    ¡°Miko! Don¡¯t you dar-¡± the Bob¡¯s roared out, but suddenly stopped speaking and became as stiff as a board. John nced curiously at the Bobs before looking towards Miko, as he could tell that with just a nce Miko was able to bind their souls somehow, making them no longer in control of their bodies.


    ¡°You¡¯ve be quite strong since west met,¡± John praised Miko, who puffed out his chest with obvious pride.


    ¡°Of course I have,¡± Miko said proudly, ¡°after all, you¡¯re not the only one with heaven defying talents or secrets!¡±


    ¡°Secrets?¡± John mused. When he hadst seen Miko, he was obviously not aware of Celestial Soulrend¡¯s presence within him, but now had most likely learned the truth.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Secrets beyond your wildest imagination. Just you wait, before long, I¡¯ll reim the spot as the stronger one between us two!¡± Miko replied with haughty smugness, as if he knew mentioning the word ¡®secret¡¯ would pique John¡¯s interest, but he wouldn¡¯t tell John what that secret was.


    ¡°Do you mean Celestial Soulrend?¡± John asked, his words causing a stunned look to appear on Miko¡¯s face.


    ¡°How¡­how do you know about that old fart?¡± Miko asked with his mouth slightly agape.


    ¡°I was the one who allowed Celestial Soulrend to find you in the first ce, so of course I know about him,¡± John replied, clearly realizing that Soulrend had never told Miko of how he had discovered him.


    Miko¡¯s stunned expression quickly changed to one of anger as he started yelling, seemingly at himself.


    ¡°Why the hell didn¡¯t you tell me about this, you old fart?¡± Miko boomed, speaking to no one in particr and making himself look like a madman.


    ¡°I¡¯m calling you an old fart, you old fart!¡± Miko boomed out after a short pause, before his face huffed up. ¡°Don¡¯t bother speaking to me for now¡­I¡¯m ignoring you, old fart!¡±


    Miko gazed back at John, his dismissive attitude vanishing and excitement recing it once more. John could tell he wanted to talk about a great many things, but unfortunately had more important things to take care of at the moment. He knew Miko, and knew that he would talk for days on end if he let him.


    ¡°I know we have a lot to talk about, but we can discuss everything after we leave this realm,¡± John said, stopping Miko before he could start. ¡°The realm closes in a few weeks, and I want to make sure I get what I need to get done before then.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­fine,¡± Miko harrumphed with feigned disappointment as he and John both nced at the distant temples and dragon corpse.


    ¡°You have something to do there?¡± Miko asked.


    John nodded his head, as he could tell something was calling him towards the stairs and temples. John¡¯s gaze shifted from the temple to Iris and Laia, his gaze not unnoticed by Miko.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t really have anything else to do in this realm, so I¡¯ll make sure they stay safe,¡± Miko assuaged John¡¯s worry.


    A thankful smile appeared on John¡¯s face as he nodded at Miko.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± he replied, and gazed at the barrier surrounding Adam for a moment which still remained, before he sped off into the distance. His actions caught the attention of all, including Laia and Iris, who gazed at John for a moment before gazing at each other, resuming hushed discussions between themselves.


    The youths watched with curious interest as John arrived before the massive mile and several miles long stairs. John gazed up with curious interest at the massive dragon corpse ahead, which loomed over the entire area like a watchful guardian.


    As he approached the stairs, the mysterious calling he felt grew stronger, and without any hesitation, John stepped onto the first massive step. A powerful energy immediately descended down on him, as if wanting to force him off the steps.


    ¡°Hmm, this is quite simr to the Talent Testing Steps¡­only it seems to be focused more on my body and blood¡­how interesting,¡± John mused for a moment before speeding up the steps, his progress unhindered.


    He could tell that cultivating on these steps would be incredibly beneficial, but decided against it as he had more important things to take care of at the moment.


    As he progressed up the steps, the powerful energy continued to grow, invading his body, muscles, bones, and even blood. It tried to force him back down the stairs, but John ignored it as if it didn¡¯t exist, and quickly appeared halfway up the stairs, the same ce that Asuros had arrived. This particr step was several hundred yards deep, making it muchrger than any of the steps up to this point.


    As he arrived there, he felt an overwhelmingly powerful pressure descend on him, one that even he couldn¡¯t ignore. The pressure stopped his forward progress, causing John to frown for a moment.


    ¡°I feel as though I can force my way through if I activate my bloodline ability, but I think that there¡¯s something else at y here,¡± John mused as he nced to his left. Half a mile away on each side were two of the three temples, both at opposite ends of that particr step.


    The temples were several hundred yards wide and long, and almost a mile tall. They were jade and gold in color, with exquisite exterior designs and exuded an ancient and powerful aura. The strange feeling seemed to be pointing to both the temples on either side, which John decided to follow.


    ¡°I¡¯ll start with the left one I suppose,¡± John mused as he walked over towards the leftmost temple, arriving before it a short whileter. Two intricate jade green dragon statues lined both sides of the front entrance, making the temple feel even more profound.


    A golden door several dozen yards tall and carved with intricate details guarded the way into the entrance, which John stood directly before. Above the door were carved words, which John read over.


    ¡°Blood of the Jade Dragon!¡± John read the words out loud, feeling a deep profundity just by uttering them.


    He pressed on the door to part it open, but even with his full strength, the door didn¡¯t budge. At the same time, the strange feeling strengthened, as if he had arrived where it was pointing towards.


    A frown appeared on John¡¯s face for a moment as he inspected the door, and his eyes quickly locked onto a particr part of the door at eye height. There was a small indent in the door, seemingly carved with purpose as its shape was quite unique.


    His eyes suddenly lit up in realization, and his divine sense flooded into his pce realm as he retrieved a particr object. As soon as the object appeared in his hand, it shook with energetic purpose, shooting out of his hand and into the door, fitting perfectly within the carved-out part.


    The ancient dragon reverse scale hummed with power, as the entire door lit up with profound formation runes. Hidden mechanisms seemed to activate within, and the door slowly began to part open from the center shortly after.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what the reverse scales are for,¡± John mused, finally realizing why the temple spirit told him it would be useful for him in the future. The door finally fully parted, and John walked into the dimly lit room before him without hesitation, disappearing from sight. The door closed behind him soon after, guarding the entrance once more.

 Chapter 718 Dragons Blood

    ¡°He went inside the temple!¡± some of the youths eximed as they watched from a distance as John climbed the steps and entered the temple. They couldn¡¯t tell what exactly the steps and temples were for, but realized that it was most likely a ce of great rewards.


    ¡°I wonder if we can enter it as well?¡± some other youths asked, eager to follow in John¡¯s footsteps.


    ¡°Who knows, the only way we can find out is by trying ourselves!¡±


    With the war finally over and the danger settled, the youths once again regained their explorative enthusiasm they had when they first entered the realm. On top of that, Johns disys and words had raised their fighting spirits even further, and many of the youths couldn¡¯t help it as they sped forward towards the massive steps, hoping to follow in John¡¯s path.


    Hundreds of them arrived before the steps, and gazed up with wondrous awe at the ancient dragon corpse ahead. After a short pause, they hopped onto the first step.


    ¡°Ahh!¡±


    ¡°What the hell?¡±


    Several cries of surprise boomed out as the youths felt themselves nearly knocked off the steps. John had surmounted the steps so easily and swiftly that many didn¡¯t think there would be a restrictive energy, but were quickly shocked as they found out there was.


    After recovering from their surprise, the youths began to press forward with their full strength as they climbed the steps, but became shocked to discover that they were not even able to get close to the halfway point where John was.


    The difference between John and them became apparent once more, but instead of despair, the youths pushed themselves to their limits as they climbed as high as possible, and then sat down on the stairs to cultivate, as they could tell cultivating under the strange yet powerful energy would be greatly beneficial to them.


    Miko watched the youths climb the steps futilely, and eventually nced towards the three motionless Bobs nearby. He could tell the steps would be a boon for them as well, and would not stop them from attempting them as well. His eyes shed, and the Bobs sprung to life once more.


    ¡°Ruahhhhh! Fight me! Wait, where did he go?¡± the one Bob roared as they realized John was no longer around.


    ¡°He¡¯s at that leftmost temple,¡± Miko replied as he pointed towards the temple John had entered.


    ¡°Raaaah! Finally I can fight him!¡± one of the Bob¡¯s roared, while the others roared with battle lust as well.


    The Bobs instantly sped towards the steps without hesitation and started to climb them, but much to Miko¡¯s expectation, their progress was much slower than John¡¯s, and none of them made it to the step where John was at. Like the others, they eventually sat down to cultivate, hoping to push past their limits and ascend further along the cultivation pathway.


    ¡­


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Apocalyptic explosions sted over a barren wastnd, destroying each and every inch of thend hundreds of miles in each direction. The explosions were not caused by any battle art, but the physical power of the collisions between battle axe and sabers as the Jade Dragon Emperor battled against the Asuraic creature.


    Their battle had raged on for weeks already, destroyingnd, ocean, and everything in between. They had quickly left the confines of the Divine Martial Continent as their battle raged on, battling over the oceans, deep within them, and atop barren continents long abandoned and forgotten.


    Their battles had long ago attracted the eyes of the other powerful cultivators of the world, but those cultivators could only watch from afar, too afraid to get caught up in the apocalyptic might they were witnessing. Their speeds were too slow to keep up with the moving battle, and only the destroyed remnants of the battle remained behind as proof of the apocalyptic battle that was taking ce.


    Boom!


    Saber and battle axe collided once more, destroying everything while the Jade Dragon Emperor and Asuraic creature shot backwards from each other, both of them mming into the ocean beneath them and causing tidal waves of horrifying power to st out in all directions.


    The Asuraic creature shot out from the depth of the ocean, followed by the Jade Dragon Emperor soon after. Both fighters were ruined beyond recognition, as flesh was torn, bones were broken, and blood coated both their bodies. It was a miracle that either of them was alive, although the Asura seemed to be faring a bit better off than the Jade Dragon Emperor, who looked as if he would perish from wounds and exhaustion at any moment.


    ¡°This has gone on long enough!¡± the Jade Dragon Emperor managed to growl out through ragged breaths, each word causing him immense pain as his body was truly on the edge of copse.


    The Asuraic creature stared at the Jade Dragon Emperor, his eyes narrowing slightly as he felt his most fearsome opponent begin to rise with a surprising amount of power once more.


    ¡°Burning your blood essence to ensure both of our deaths?¡± the Asura replied, realizing what the Jade Dragon Emperor was doing. The Asura had the advantage in their battle since it started, but the Jade Dragon Emperors might was not something that could be looked down on, and he had managed to keep himself alive despite their prolonged and harrowing battle.


    However, due to his previous injuries from the ancient war that had yet to be fully healed, he was still not able to finish off the Jade Dragon Emperor once and for all, not without paying too great a cost. That cost was something the Jade Dragon Emperor was apparently willing to pay; the destruction of his enemy at the cost of his own life as well.


    Roar!


    The Jade Dragon Emperor roared with fiery passion as he prepared to unleash the final attack of his life, while the Asura¡¯s face trembled for a moment at that exact time as if he had felt something, and he watched the Jade Dragon Emperor approach onest time.


    Boom!


    ¡­


    John stepped into the dark temple before him and felt an incredibly ancient yet profound aura wash over him. His presence activated formations on the walls and ceiling high above as torches lit by the Dao of Fire lit up, illuminating the dark temple within.


    A warm glow filled the massive temple, illuminating the interior of the temple which waspletely hollow. The temple waspletely empty except for two things, which immediately caught John¡¯s attention.


    At the very center of the massive, hollow temple was a dragon statue, nearly thirty yards tall and so intricately carved that it appearedpletely real. The dragon statue stood with a regal posture, while its head gazed down at the ground before it.


    John¡¯s gaze followed the dragon statues gaze, and his eyes widened slightly as a massive pool of blood came into view. The blood was bright red, and despite the passage of eons, had yet to congeal at all, while a profound and powerful aura emted from the pool of blood.


    ¡°Ancient Dragons Blood!¡±

 Chapter 719 Baptism in Blood

    The pool of ancient dragon blood waspletely still, as if it had remained undisturbed for tens of thousands of years. Yet it remained pure and untainted, as if nothing, not even time, could change it at all.


    John stared in awe at the pool of dragon blood, which continued to emit a continuous aura of power, as if just stepping into it would spell death for those not strong enough. After staring at the pool of blood for quite some time, John gazed throughout the rest of the temple, but found nothing else of note.


    There was nothing else other than the pool of blood, and dragon statue behind it.


    ¡°Should I try to absorb this blood for my Immortal Asura Body?¡± John mused softly, thinking of whether such a thing was possible or not. His Immortal Asura Body was only able to be strengthened through blood essence, not regr blood.


    Not only that, but not all essence blood worked equally. Essence blood from humans seemed to be the best, while blood from typical beasts was almost useless for cultivation. While a dragon was anything but a typical beast, John was not sure if such a thing would work.


    Silence filled the temple as John thought it all over. He eventually moved forward once more, stopping directly before the pool of blood. He gazed at the pool of blood before his feet, which seemed to almost push him away, as if no human was worthy of stepping within.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what this is all about,¡± John said out loud as he stepped forward and floated above the pool, eventually arriving in the center. With no further hesitation, John descended downwards, disappearing within the pool of blood.


    As soon as he entered the pool of blood, the dragon statue red with power, while its eyes began to glow. A beam of mysterious power emanated from the head of the dragon statue down towards the pool of blood, infusing it with a bizarre power.


    As soon as this happened, John felt the pool of blood stir into action. The blood began to rapidly revolve, forming a whirlpool with him at the very center. The whirlpool of blood intensified in power, focusing on him at the center.


    John remained calm as this all happened, and his eyes widened slightly as he felt the dragon blood begin to flow into his body all of a sudden. The blood flowed through his pores into his body, which caused John to raise his guard for a brief moment as he prepared to fight back against the blood if need be. However, his aura faded as he noticed the blood begin to infuse within his body, as if assimting with him and bing his own.


    The dragon blood flowed into his skin, muscles, sinew, merging with it and transforming it into something stronger, something more profound. Wherever the blood passed, it infused with his body, strengthening it to incredible heights. It attempted to do the same with his own blood, but was unable to, as if his blood would not allow it to be sullied at all, not even by dragon¡¯s blood. After a brief struggle, the dragon¡¯s blood seemed to give up on merging with his own, and instead flowed freely within his veins next to his original blood.


    Roar!


    John couldn¡¯t help but roar with overwhelming power as he felt the strength of his body rapidly rise, soaring to entirely new heights.


    ¡­


    Boom!


    In a far offnd, the ground suddenly exploded outwards as a bloodied and wounded figure shout out from within. Asuros soared into the sky and gazed down at the ruinednd beneath his feet, surprise and confusion evident on his face.


    ¡°What the hell happened here?¡± Asuros mused coldly as he stared at the ruinednd that once housed the hiddenir of him and his master. When he had crushed his spatial talisman, he had been transported deep underground, buried amongst the rubble and ruin of his oldir.


    His thoughts shifted back to the day when that mysterious figure had appeared at their portal, and had stepped through towards his master. He had assumed that that mysterious person would have perished without any ability to fight back at all, but things had not happened as he thought they would.


    ¡°Just who was that man?¡± Asuros mumbled, recalling the overwhelming power and furious rage that the man had disyed. Just a roar from that man had nearly killed him, and it had not even been directed at him.


    ¡°He even roared the word ¡®Asura¡¯¡­does he know who my master is? Impossible. How can someone like that still exist after all this time? ording to master, the lifespan of a World Expansion cultivator is one hundred thousand years¡­yet the war happened far before that. Everyone from that war should already be dead by now¡­unless¡­.that man was somehow in the Holy Manifestation Realm?¡± Is that even possible?¡±


    Asuros¡¯ thoughts swirled with confusion and disbelief as he tried to piece everything together. He had assumed that he would be greeted by his master once he left the Jade Dragon Empire realm, and yet his master was nowhere to be seen.


    After debating his next course of action, Asuros drifted down to the shattered ground and sat down.


    ¡°No matter who that man was, my master will surely return. I will wait here until then,¡± Asuros said as his eyes closed and he entered deep meditation. The rage-inducing thoughts of his battle with John flooded into his mind, but he pushed them aside as best he could to focus on cultivation. However, his gritted teeth and trembling lips betrayed his otherwise calm demeanor.


    ¡­


    Some timeter, Asuros¡¯ eyes suddenly snapped open as a powerful energy appeared before him. Space twisted and swirled for a moment before tearing open, revealing the chaos of the turbulent space on the other side. A massive figure stepped out from within the opened gash in space, which quickly closed behind him.


    ¡°Master!¡± Asuros greeted as he quickly stood up and bowed with great deference, respect, and fear. He quickly noticed his master¡¯s wounded and bloodied body, but dared not toment on it despite the shock he was feeling at seeing his overwhelmingly powerful master wounded for the first time.


    Not only that, but he could tell that his master¡¯s wounds were even worse than they looked, and that his power was far beneath what he was normally able to disy. Shock once again flooded through Asuros¡¯ body as he thought about how powerful one would need to be to push his master to this state.


    The Asuraic creature gazed down on Parker with an indifferent expression, inspecting him for a short while.


    ¡°Do you have the dragon-essence bone?¡± the creature asked Asuros, its voice deep and menacing.


    Asuros trembled for a short moment out of instinctual fear as he heard his masters question, and shook his head after a moment.


    ¡°I did not manage to obtain the dragon-essence bone. I have failed you, master,¡± Asuros replied with deep regret in his voice.


    ¡°All those resources for you to return empty handed,¡± the Asuraic creature growled as he heard Asuros¡¯ words. The Asuraic creature narrowed its eyes in angered disappointment, and one of his arms reached out, pressing one of his massive ws directly against Asuros¡¯ forehead.


    Asuros¡¯ eyes widened for a moment as he could tell his master was debating whether or not to kill him for his failure, and his survival depended on his next words.


    ¡°But I did manage to find something just as good,¡± Asuros quickly muttered, his words causing the creature to pause for a moment, and it waited in silence for Asuros to exin.


    Asuros took a deep breath of relief as his gaze hardened, while his rage soared as he thought


    about the one who had made him fail his mission and put him in this situation.


    ¡°I discovered the identity of the one called ¡®Asura¡¯,¡± Asuros said, his words causing the creatures eyes to light up slightly.


    ¡°Oh? And?¡± the creature mused, his voice deep and guttural.


    ¡°And its as you guessed,¡± Asuros replied, his gaze bing cold with rage, ¡°The one called ¡®Asura¡¯ has a body of a true Asura.¡±


    The creature¡¯s eyes lit up with surprise, and then menacing delight as he stared at his disciple before him. A sinister smile appeared on its face as


    ¡°Good. If your words are true, then I just may excuse you for your abject failure,¡± the creature growled. ¡°What is the identity of the one called ¡®Asura¡¯?¡±


    An equally sinister smile appeared on Asuros¡¯ face as he heard his master ask this question, and he replied without any hesitation at all.


    ¡°John Fenix!¡±

 Chapter 720 Devil-Yang Body

    Boom!


    The Asuraic creature¡¯s aura exploded after hearing what had happened from Asuros. Asuros had exined everything, from finding the ancient dragon corpse, the war thereafter, the battle with John, and his eventual retreat.


    The creature listened in silence as Asuros exined it all, but couldn¡¯t help but erupt with fury after hearing that John¡¯s cultivation was lower than Asuros¡¯. It had expected Asuros¡¯ defeat toe at the hands of someone with a much higher cultivation, but the truth was the exact opposite. Furious rage coursed through the creature as one of its hands suddenly mmed down towards Asuros with unstoppable might, but its hand stopped just before mming down on Asuros and killing him instantly.


    Asuros¡¯ eyes went wide and he felt an involuntary tremble of dread course through his body, but he didn¡¯t dare to move or make a noise, as he didn¡¯t want to further enrage his master.


    After a short pause, the creature withdrew its hand from above Asuros.


    ¡°I should kill you right now for such an abject failure,¡± the creature growled menacingly, its sharp teeth bared for a brief moment as if it were truly considering doing so. Its red eyes stared with a piercing malevolence at Asuros for a moment before it scoffed in disgust.


    ¡°You should consider yourself lucky that you¡¯re the only human that I was able to find in this miserable world that has the Devil-Yang Body. Otherwise I would could you right now and find a recement,¡± the creature growled, his words sending both fear and relief through Asuros. Relief that he would not die right now, but fear that he could at any moment should his master find another recement.


    Asuros sighed internally, thanking his lucky stars for his innate variant body. While he was in the Bloodfiend Sect, he along with every other new youth was tested for hidden talents such as body types or attribute affinities.


    The Bloodfiend Sect had discovered that he had the incredibly rare Devil-Yang Body type. The body typeid dormant unless it was discovered and specifically activated, which is why it had gone unnoticed for so long.


    After discovering this body type, the Bloodfiend Sect excitedly escorted him to the Divine Martial Continent, and sold him off to a mysterious buyer for an exorbitant sum of money that was seeking such a person. While furious at first that he had been solved off like cattle, Asuros eventually discovered that the one seeking someone like him was none other than the Asuraic creature before him, who took him on as a disciple and transformed him into an Asura himself, which was possible thanks to his unique body.


    The creatures gaze locked back onto Asuros and scoffed once more, almost as if seeing through his thoughts.


    ¡°I waited thousands of years for someone with a Devil-Yang Body to appear, but do not mistake my mercy for forgiveness,¡± the creature growled, washing away the relief Asuros felt and recing it with dread once more. ¡°I will wait another thousand years if need be to find another Devil-Yang Body, hopefully with someone far more capable,¡± the creature continued, its eyes seeming to glow like fiery embers within.


    ¡°Or perhaps I¡¯ll seek out that John Fenix you mentioned, and have him take the seat at my side,¡± the creature said. ¡°Based on what you said, his Asura body is even more profound than yours. Such a thing should not be possible, but perhaps I could learn something about his body by taking him to serve by my side instead.¡±


    ¡°Master, I will not disappoint you again,¡± Asuros said in a groveling manner as he kneeled before the creature. His trembling gaze hardened as he stared at the ground, as he knew disying fear was the thing his master hated more than anything. His hardened gaze snapped up towards his master, as he did his best to hold the gaze of the menacing creature.


    ¡°As for John, I know him far better than most. He would rather die a miserable death one thousand times over than serve at the hands of¡­anyone else,¡± Asuros said, catching himself at thest moment, as he had almost indirectly insulted his master.


    The creature scoffed once more as its gaze shifted to the side, as if staring through the very fabric of space itself.


    ¡°Hmph, we will see. Either he will serve me, or he will be consumed by me. There is no other fate for one such as him who has stolen the power of an Asura,¡± the creature scoffed as it reached out and grabbed a surprised Asuros, while one of its other hands reached out to the side and grabbed the empty space before it.


    Space tore apart like fabric before the creature as it violently ripped its hand downwards, and the creature¡¯s aura wrapped around Asuros as it stepped through the torn hole in space, which closed behind it almost immediately after.


    Less than ten secondster, another void in space was torn open, and a bloodstained and gravely wounded figure that seemed to be on the very edge of copse stepped out of it, inspecting the area with furious anger for a moment before roaring in a furious rage.


    The Jade Dragon Emperor copsed to the ground, consciousness quickly fading as he found himself on the very edge of death after his battle with the Asura.


    ¡­


    Roar!


    A draconic roar boomed through the dimly lit temple as John felt the uncontroble urge to roar out as the whirlpool of blood continued to infuse with his body. The process hadsted for several hours already, and each passing minute made him feel more powerful than thest. The blood infused with his flesh and muscles, strengthening them and making them more durable, while also changing the very nature of his body as well.


    As the process continued, John was shocked to find that his body now not only produced his original blood naturally, but also started to slowly produce blood very simr in nature to the blood he was absorbing now. Such a thing was beyond shocking to him, but he allowed it to continue as the blood in the pool lowered inch by inch, infusing with his body.


    The pool of blood continued to lessen as he greedily absorbed it like desert sand absorbing water, and after six hours, the final drop of blood entered his body, leaving not a single drop remaining. John¡¯s body trembled with nearly uncontroble power, as if it were just about to burst apart from within. Were it not for his heaven defying Asura body, he would have already burst from within already.


    His muscles strained and began to tera, while his flesh began to crack and split from the energy surging out from within. John¡¯s head suddenly snapped upwards as his mouth opened wide.


    ROARRRRR!


    A draconic roar louder than anything he had unleashed before boomed from out of his mouth, mming against the temple walls and shaking it violently. The roar reverberated within the hollow temple, amplifying it and making it sound like the roar of a true dragon, which even the shocked youths outside the temple could hear.


    After unleashing the long and powerful roar, John felt the pressure within his body lessen. He roared out several more times, unable to control his urge to do so as if instinct guided him, and after several more roars, he had unleashed enough energy from within that his body was no longer on the verge of copse.


    Bang!


    John fell to his knees at the bottom of the now empty pool, and panted heavily as he fought to regain control of his body. After a brief struggle, his trembling body calmed and he stood up. He lifted his hand before his face and clenched it tightly, feeling the new power of his body, after which he inspected every other inch of his now more powerful self.


    After a long while of self-inspection, a satisfied smile appeared on John¡¯s face, while his gaze shifted towards the dragon statue overhead that seemed to stare down on him with a gaze of judgment.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± John said with much gratitude as he bowed his head slightly in thanks and respect. As he said his sincere thanks, the eyes of the dragon statue flickered for a brief moment, which went unnoticed by John.

 Chapter 721 Bone of the Jade Dragon

    ¡°Did that dragon corpse just move?¡± one of the youths asked with a strained voice as she struggled against the powerful energy on the steps. Just like many of the other Honorable Alliance youths, she was cultivating on the steps, which was very beneficial.


    The strange yet powerful energy seemed to target their blood mostly, purifying it and enhancing it slightly. At the same time, the powerful energy allowed them to push their dantians to a further level, strengthening them and improving their talent. While most of the dantian talent was determined during the Core Formation advancement, one could still improve slowly when running into opportunities like these.


    Lastly, the energy required a constant struggle to resist, which helped improve theirprehensions and let them get closer to breaking through to the next realm. While struggling against the energy, the girl had opened her eyes for a brief moment, and couldn¡¯t help but gaze at the dragon, which she had thought changed for a brief moment.


    However, the dragon corpseid dormant like before, making her realize it was most likely just her imagination.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible, right?¡± a nearby friend of the girl replied.


    ¡°You¡¯re right¡­it must have been my imagination,¡± the girl replied, before her gaze shifted up and to the left as she noticed movement one more.


    ¡°The temple door¡­it opened again!¡± the girl eximed as the leftmost temple opened up once more. Her words caused the others to open their struggling eyes and look over, at which point they noticed John leave the temple.


    ¡°He¡¯s out!¡± one of them eximed as John left the temple, which instantly closed behind him. As soon as he left, the temple began to rumble, and to everyone¡¯s shock, the temple began to lower down into the ground, and disappeared within after a short while, making it appear as if it never had existed.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± several of the youths couldn¡¯t help but exim, but quickly realized that whatever opportunity was within, John had most likely imed it and ended the trial. Disappointment washed through many, but none dared to voice their displeasure.


    It wasn¡¯t a guarantee that they would even be able to make it to that half-way step, and even if they did, none couldin that John had been the one to get whatever was within. Were it not for him, they wouldn¡¯t even be alive at the moment.


    Everyone gazed at John with curiosity and awe, while almost all the females gazed at him with reddened cheeks, feeling their bodies be flushed just by looking at him. John was already very handsome, and with his dragonscale armor revealing his muscled chest and arms, many of them couldn¡¯t help but be enraptured by him.


    Not only that, but his heroic aura and powerful persona carved a deep image in their hearts, making many of them even more enamored. After leaving the temple, his aura seemed to have changed even more, bing more powerful, heroic, and also primal, like that of the king of all beasts.


    It was quite bizarre, but many of them couldn¡¯t help but be dazed when they looked at him. At the same time, most of the males and even some of the females looked on with fiery gazes, some wanting to be like John, and others wanting to surpass him and be the foremost heavenly genius of the Alliance. Whatever the feelings being felt, his appearance alone stirred all the youths into a different type of frenzy.


    John ignored the gazes as he looked at the temple on the other side of the mile-wide steps. He made his way over towards that temple and arrived shortly after before a simr looking entrance as the previous.


    ¡°Bone of the Jade Dragon!¡± he repeated as he stared at the words carved above the entrance.


    Like the other entrance, there was a small indent in which his other reverse dragon scale fit perfectly.


    The dragon scale appeared in his hand, and immediately shot out towards the indentation, fitting perfectly within. The door hummed with formation runes and quickly parted open, which John entered without hesitation. The massive door closed behind him, shutting the entrance once more, leaving those outside to wonder what could possibly exist within.


    The doors closed behind John, and after walking forward a bit, he found himself standing in a simr looking temple as the previous. It was hollow and dimly lit like the previous, with only a dragon statue and a singr thing before it in the center.


    Before the dragon statue was a massive ribcage, a dozen yards tall and long. It exuded a youthful yet ancient aura, as if it had belonged to a young dragon that had died before it could mature into a powerful dragon.


    Learning from the previous temple, John walked up to the ribcage and reached out after a brief inspection. As soon as his hand came into contact with the ribcage, the dragon statue¡¯s eyes lit up briefly, and one of the ribs instantly disintegrated into a fine white mist. The white mist swirled around John like a sandstorm with him at the center, and began to flood into his body just like the blood had previously.


    An overwhelming sensation of pain flooded through his body as he felt the white mist break into his bones and shatter them, turning them into dust themselves. His teeth grit in absolute pain as he thought of resisting against it, but decided against it after a short moment, as he could tell that while beyond gruesome and painful, this process would eventually help him just like thest.


    After steeling his mind, John withdrew his Qi and allowed the white mist of ancient dragon bone to continue whatever it was doing. His bones shattered in many ces, and John crumpled to the ground in pain, like a gtinous blob of flesh.


    A roar of pain boomed out as the white mist eventually faded away after what felt like a lifetime to him, fully infused into his bones after a painfully arduous process. John gasped deeply as he recovered himself, and inspected his body within. His bones ached with pain, but were now much harder than before, making him far more durable.


    After inspecting the changes within his body, his gaze shifted to the ribcage once more, which had over a dozen more rib-bones remaining. His eyes narrowed with steeled resolve as he walked over and reached out, disintegrating the second bone.


    ¡­


    ¡°It¡¯s opening!¡± one of the youths outsidemented with excitement as the door to the second temple opened. It had been closed for nearly three days, far longer than the first temple, but had finally opened once more.


    Everyone watched with bated breath as John finally left the temple, which closed behind him and descended down into the ground just like the first. They all inspected him closely, and couldn¡¯t help but feel an even more powerful and primal aura emanating from him, like he was bing a dragon himself. It was incredibly bizarre, as well as shocking, as they could tell that within just a few days, John had somehow increased his strength massively once more.


    The heated and jealous gazes of many of the youths lit up with fiery passion even more, as they realized they were falling farther and farther behind John.


    ¡°Ahhhh! I need to push myself harder!¡± a cry of passion boomed out from one of the youths as he mustered his full strength and surged up the steps, climbing several steps beforeing to a halt.


    His breathing was heavy but an excited expression appeared on his face, as he had managed to further his progress up the steps beyond his expectations, thanks to his newfound resolve to catch the one standing above them.


    Many others followed suit and roared with passion as they pushed themselves to the limits, climbing the stairs once more. Many of the more talented disciples came close to where John was standing, and he couldn¡¯t help but look down on those below him with approval and praise.


    After nodding at those beneath him, his gaze shifted upwards towards the ancient dragon corpse, and the temple at the very top of the stairs just before it. He stepped out and ced his one foot firmly on the next step, feeling an overwhelming energy m into him once again.


    ¡°Rebirth of the Jade Dragon huh? Time to see what this is all about!¡±

 Chapter 722 Bargain

    Close to the heart of the Divine Martial Continent, a massive city that stretched farther than the eye could see rested at the base of a picturesque mountain range, which housed several majestic valleys in between.


    On top of these mountains and within these valleys was another sprawling city, much smaller but far more grand than the empire around it. Floating inds hovered above the lush valleys, each housing multiple grand buildings.


    The highest andrgest floatingndmass housed a massive pce, far grander and more luxurious than even those around it. The pce was colored white, light blue, and gold, and was surrounded by luxurious fountains, statues, and other ornate decorations.


    Deep within this luxurious temple was a massive chamber with a kingly throne on the far end, which was currently empty except for one person on the throne. On this throne sat a singr figure, who had long ck hair, piercing eyes, and a handsome, clean shaven face. The man appeared to be in his thirties or early forties, but it was clear that he was far older than that.


    The man sat in silence with a scroll in his hand, reading over something of importance. His actions were calm and simple, and yet he still carried a regal and kingly aura around him, like it was as natural as breathing. Just looking at the man would make weaker cultivators feel the urge to bend the knee before him and serve.


    While reading the scroll, the man¡¯s gaze suddenly shifted upwards as he stared at the ceiling above him.


    At that moment, two figures appeared high above the floating pce, hovering as they stared down at it. A powerful yet translucent barrier blocked their way towards the pce, as it was guarded by a profoundly powerful formation barrier. A scoff of disdain boomed out of one of the figures¡¯ mouths, who curled back an arm as if about to unleash a devastating punch.


    Inside the pce, the man¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly, and after a brief pause, he waved his hand to the side. Above the pce, the formation barrier silently parted just as the figure was about to unleash his attack, which would have devastated the surrounding area and alerted all to his presence.


    ¡°Hmph,¡± the figure scoffed once more as he shed forward, followed by the one standing beside him. They both quickly appeared within the throne room, standing directly before the man seated on the throne. The two parties stared at each other in silence for a moment, as the ck-haired man closely inspected the two before him.


    His gaze was calm and collected, but it was easy to tell that he was quite interested in what had happened to the two.


    ¡°I recently arrived at the outskirts of a battle,¡± the ck-haired man started to speak and tilted his head slightly to the side as he rested his right cheek on his closed fist. ¡°A battle which seemed to exceed the limits of this world. It¡¯s caused quite the morous discussion, as everyone is trying to figure out the truth of what had urred, and who had taken part in that battle,¡± the man said, as a small yet calm smile appeared on his face.


    ¡°I had my suspicions as well, and it appears that my suspicions were true,¡± the man continued as he eyed the one before him up and down. ¡°What I didn¡¯t expect is that the oue of that battle would leave you in such a sorry state. Just who could have pushed you, an Asura, to such lengths?¡±


    Boom!


    The Asura stepped towards the man, his angered step shaking the entire pce. Clearly he had been enraged by the man¡¯s words, andck of fear or respect.


    ¡°Your cultivation rises a bit with the gifts I showered you with, and you think you are worthy of speaking as an equal to me?¡± the Asura growled menacingly as he stood directly before the man. Despite the man being seated on the elevated throne, the two were eye to eye, only several feet apart. The Asura stared at the man as if he were contemting on whether or not to kill him for his insulting words, his actions causing the man to scoff in amusement.


    ¡°Do not try to scare me with these petty threats,¡± the man replied dismissively, as if the devil-like Asura before him was of no concern to him. ¡°Your strength may still be beyond mine, but your recent¡­battle¡­has lowered yourbat prowess to a level that even I dare to wonder what would happen should we fight to the death right now,¡± the man continued, amusement and curiosity clear in his tone, while his gaze narrowed as if he were truly considering it at the moment.


    The Asura narrowed its eyes and growled with rising displeasure, but did not make a move on the man before him. The man before him was of no concern before, but after his battle with the Jade Dragon Emperor, his strength had fallen considerably. Until he recovered from the battle, the man before him was potentially strong enough to cause him trouble.


    The two stared at each other with testing gazes for a moment before the ck-haired man¡¯s testing gaze was reced with a slightly amused one once again.


    ¡°Naturally we both need each other to fulfill our goals, so killing each other would not be in the best interest of either of us,¡± the ck-haired man said. ¡°And as for you, you needed my help to recover your full strength before your battle¡­and it now appears that you need that help more than ever, so do not try to scare me into doing your bidding. You need me far more than I need you right now.¡±


    The Asura growled once again in displeasure, like a beast staring at prey it wanted to devour but could not reach. However, it made no actions towards the man, proving his words to be right.


    ¡°Fulfill your end of the bargain,¡± the Asura growled. ¡°You have yet to provide what you promised, and you best provide it quickly. Should I find another method of recovering my strength, I¡¯ll make sure that you are among the first to perish when I bring this world to ruin!¡±


    The ck-haired man gazed calmly at the Asura as if its threats were of no concern at all.


    ¡°You will receive my assistance, when the time is right,¡± the man replied calmly. ¡°You can only me your own nature for the time this is taking. Your aura alone would kill my daughter should she try to heal you right now, let alone what she will have to endure while actually healing you. She will need to be at least in the peak of the Dao Transformation Realm to withstand your malevolent energy, or perhaps even higher. Once she has reached the required realm, I will uphold my end of the bargain, and even then, she will most likely perish in the process, which is a monumental loss for my Empire. Until then, all you can do is wait, for if there was another option to regain your former strength, you would have done it already.¡±

 Chapter 723 Final Temple

    The Asura creature couldn¡¯t help but growl and gaze sideways at Asuros, who recoiled in instinctual fear. The eyes of the ck-haired man lit up slightly as he noticed this interaction.


    ¡°Ahhhh, so it seems as though there may have been one other option, but that option is now no longer possible. How amusing¡­and lucky for me,¡± the ck-haired man mused.


    The Asura scoffed and stared at the man in silence for a moment before turning on his heel to leave.


    ¡°You speak of bargains, and yet yourst payment was quite some time ago,¡± the ck-haired man said before the creature could leave.


    The Asuraic creature stopped for a moment, and after a short pause, waved its hand. A spatial ring appeared in the air before it, which was flung violently towards the ck-haired man.


    Boom!


    The man caught the ring, the power of the ring¡¯s momentum causing the massive pce to shake violently once more. Without another word, the Asura and well as Asuros shed forward, disappearing from the temple chamber.


    ¡°I will return within five years,¡± the creature¡¯s voice lingered within the chamber. ¡°Your daughter best be ready before then, Astral Emperor!¡±


    The Astral Emperor stared at their leaving figures for a moment before his attention focused on the ring in his hand. He sent his divine sense within, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face shortly after as he inspected the massive pile of cultivation resources, as well as cultivation methods and battle arts far beyond the scope of what the world had to offer.


    One of the items suddenly appeared in his hand, which was a jade piece of ancient quality and profundity. The jade piece was around the size of his hand, and on the top had several words carved into it.


    ¡°Blood-Dao Transference!¡± he whispered the words, his gaze widening after inspecting it for a moment.


    ¡°I wonder. Who will aplish their goals first¡­me, or him?¡± the Astral Emperor mused softly, finding the situation exciting more than anything. ¡°The winner gets the world, and the loser, a miserable death. How amusing!¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Master, I don¡¯t understand why we don¡¯t just kill him and take his daughter? Force her to heal you? Then we wouldn¡¯t need the Astral Emperor¡¯s help¡± Asuros asked his master after they left the pce.


    ¡°If you cannot figure that out yourself, then you are even more worthless than I previously thought,¡± the Asura scoffed with disdain, as if finding Asuros even more and more of a failure as time went on. His ws swiped down before him, opening a hole in space in which he stepped through, and Asuros hastily followed behind, returning the Astral Empire behind.


    ¡­


    All eyes were on John as he steadily climbed the second half of the massive set of stairs. Only just now had the three Battle Bobs managed to reach the half-way point, and other than them, no one else had.


    The three Bobs roared with rage as they realized John had already moved on, and began to furiously cultivate once more in an attempt to eventually catch up.


    They could only imagine the pressure and strain John was feeling on the second half, although his steady progress made it appear as though he was not struggling at all.


    ¡°Is¡­is he truly going to make it to the top?¡± on of the youths asked as they watched John closely.


    ¡°If he can¡¯t, then no one can. Even for the ancient Jade Dragon Empire, I refuse to believe someone as talented as him cannot make it to the top¡­right?¡± another replied.


    If even someone like John was unable to match the ancient youths of the Jade Dragon Empire, then the state of the current world would truly be beyond pathetic.


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll find out shortly,¡± a third youth replied, while everyone¡¯s eyes remained fixed on John¡¯s back.


    Boom!


    John¡¯s foot mmed down onto another step, shaking the steps with his power. The energy not only invaded his body and tested his bloodline and bones, most likely to check on his assimtion with the dragonic inheritances he had just received, it also tried to force him off the stairs.


    ¡°Hmph, with my Immortal Asura Body, family bloodline, and now draconic inheritance, this trial is no longer burdensome,¡± John mused as he continued to climb steadily, although he felt a strong amount of strain as he did so. ¡°But for anyone else, this trial alone would be almost impossible. I wonder what is in the top temple for such an impossible trial to be ced before it?¡±


    Step by step, John pushed through the profoundly powerful energy, using his heaven defying body and talents to surge through the trial. His steady footsteps shocked all, as they had expected even someone like him to slow down a bit. However, after climbing for an hour, his foot mmed down on thest step, cing himself at the top of the stairs directly before the temple.


    ¡°He did it! He actually did it!¡± one for the youths eximed, equally in excitement and shock.


    ¡°Is¡­is the second half not that hard?¡± another youth asked, confused at how easily John had managed to climb it.


    ¡°RUAHHHH! I refuse to fall so far behind!¡± one of the battle Bob¡¯s suddenly yelled loudly as he saw John reach the top. That Bob stood up and stepped on the next step, and after a brief struggle, was violently thrown back onto the step he had previously been on.


    Everyone widened their eyes as they saw this, as someone as strong as one of the Three Battle Gods failing so quickly was a testament to just how powerful the steps were. They all gazed back up at the top of the stairs towards John as a result, but saw him no more as he had already crested over the edge towards the temple at the top.


    John ignored the ruckus behind him as he arrived before the temple, which was identical to the others save for the door. Above the door were carved words, reading ¡®Rebirth of the Jade Dragon.¡¯ The door was slightly different, which different indentations on the front. There were the same indentations for reverse dragon scales as before, but John had already used both of the dragon-scales in his possession for the previous trial.


    A frown appeared on his face as he inspected the other indentations, and his eyes lit up slightly as he recognized the shape of one of the indentations.


    ¡°Could it be?¡± John mused as he took out his battle axe, which had belonged to the Jade Dragon Emperor. The battle axe¡¯s core was a reverse dragon scale, and the indentation in the door before him perfectly matched the battle axe.


    After taking it out, the battle axe instantly shot into the indentation on the door, and as expected formation runes lit up all around, causing the door to slowly open. John¡¯s eyes lit up with glee as the door opened, but his frown returned as he realized his battle axe was still in the door.


    He wanted to retrieve it, but didn¡¯t know if doing so would lock him inside forever. After giving it a bit of thought, he decided to proceed forward for now, but collect the weapon again once he left the temple.


    ¡°You better not go anywhere,¡± John grumbled before walking forward and entering the temple.


    ¡°As expected, it¡¯s the same as the other temples,¡± John mused as he arrived within, finding the interiors to be the exact same as the two other temples. His eyes shifted towards the center where the objects of interest should be, and his face lit up with shock as he saw what was before him.


    ¡°Is that¡­?!?!¡±

 Chapter 724 Submit! Perish!

    John¡¯s slightly widened eyes focused on the objects before him, with one in particr catching his attention more than the rest.


    Like the other temples, everything within was hollow, with the only things of interest at the very center of the massive room. At the very center of the room were dozens of dragon statues, each around fifty yards tall. The statues were so incredibly lifelike that they appeared to be true dragons frozen in time, and they formed a circle fifty yards wide with each statue facing inwards.


    Just looking at the statues made John want to bow his head in reverence, but he defied that instinctual urge and shifted his gaze elsewhere. In the middle of all the dragon statues was a circr tform, raised a few feet off the ground. A simple staircase led up to the tform, which had so many tiny formation runes carved into it that John estimated they numbered in the millions.


    It was the mostplicated formation circle he had ever seen in his life, and despite it being deactivated and unused for who knows how long, it still gave off a profoundly powerful aura, as if the masters who had created it had infused all their Dao¡¯s into the formation.


    However, despite both these things being eye-catching, there was still one thing even more shocking resting at the far end of the raised tform. It rested on a pedestal several feet tall, and instantly reminded John of something simr he had encountered once in his life before.


    ¡°A dragon egg?¡± John mumbled, just recovering from his shock.


    The dragon egg remainedpletely motionless, as if it had already be petrified, but John could tell that it was not as simple as it appeared. Although it was well contained, he could detect a profound and monstrous auraing from within the dragon egg, but at the same time, that monstrous aura was also rather weak.


    It was as if the aura belonged to an ancient deity, but the deity had fallen and all that remained was a lingering remnant of its power.


    John stared at the egg for some time before moving towards the dragon statues and raised tform between them. His footsteps remained steady as he stepped onto the stairs, and eventually onto the tform itself. He studied the formation runes beneath his feet for a brief moment before his gaze shifted back towards the dragon egg on the opposite site of the tform.


    ¡°Is the reward of this trial the dragon egg? Or something else?¡± John mused, as he could tell that the formation before the dragon egg seemed to be something unrted to it. After inspecting the formation, John walked over towards the center of it.


    Boom!


    A muffled boom rumbled through the temple as it seemed to suddenlye alive. The formation circle beneath John¡¯s feet lit up with power and began to glow with a green brilliance. Green light surged up all around John, while he found himself be locked into ce by a powerful restrictive force. However, the force did not try to harm him yet, and so John remained calm but wary as the ancient formation beneath his feet continued to grow in power.


    Outside the temple, all the youths ascending the stairs opened their eyes in shock as the ancient dragon corpse suddenly red with power, as if it had somehowe alive. The eyes of the dragon began to glow brightly, and after a brief moment, they all saw a white beam of energy m down onto the temple below the dragon¡¯s head.


    ¡°What is happening?¡±


    ¡°Did the dragone alive?¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡±


    The startled cries of the Honorable Alliance youths echoed out amongst one another as they saw the subtle changes to the long dead dragon happen before their very eyes.


    Boom!


    The temple shook once more and trembled violently within, while John suddenly felt an aura beyondpare m down onto him. His knees buckled from the pressure, but he remained standing as he struggled against it.


    After mming onto him, the energy invaded his body, something that shocked John greatly as he was unable to resist its might at all. It coursed all throughout his body, surging from his skin, to his muscles, to his blood, and then his bones.


    No inch of his body was left untouched, as if it were inspecting him with utmost thoroughness. At the same time, a part of the energy surged towards his soul and wrapped around it as if trying to crush it.


    ¡°Submit!¡±


    The word suddenly echoed in his mind, like war drums booming from within. The voice was deep and ancient, profound and powerful. His mind ached with pain as the word reverberated through it, and his soul power red with absolute power to resist against it.


    ¡°Submit!¡±


    The word boomed again as the power crashing against his soul amplified, trying to force him to open his soul and submit to the power. John grit his teeth against the pain as his anger began to steadily rise. If there was one thing in this world that he hated more than anything, it was others trying to force their will on him.


    Supreme Battle Art!¡±


    John activated the Supreme Battle Art, increasing his strength to fight back against the powerful energy.


    ¡°Submit!¡±


    The word boomed out again, further enraging John to the point that he finally snapped.


    ¡°YOU fucking submit!¡± John roared as his aura suddenly exploded outwards with incredible intensity, mming into the energy descending from above. His body instantly changed forms as he activated his Immortal Asura Body to fight against whatever power was pressing down on him.


    The energy descending from above trembled for a moment as if the source of it had be shocked, and then immediately afterwards the energy pressing down intensified with power. A power that now contained obvious malice and hostility.


    A new word boomed in his mind as the energy mming down onto John intensified by a horrifying degree, as if the source of it had truly decided to kill him.


    ¡°Perish!¡±

 Chapter 725 Mark of the Divine!

    John could instantly tell that activating his Asura Transformation had somehow enraged the source of energy, but he had no time to worry about such things as he felt himself being pushed down onto his knees despite his overwhelming physical power.


    John¡¯s teeth nearly shattered from both strain and anger as he decided to no longer hold anything back. He hade here with the intention of earning treasures or rewards, but if need be, he would destroy whatever was attempting to make him submit, and then perish.


    Bloodline Ability!


    ¡°Fuck off!¡± John roared with furious anger as his aura exploded outwards once more with far greater power. Overwhelming power surged out from his blood as every single blood cell activated, unleashing a monstrous amount of Qi collectively. This Qi surged through John¡¯s body and further fueled his Supreme Battle Art, and also augmented his essence strength to a monstrous degree.


    His body began to tremble violently from the power outside and power within, both lethal threats to his life at the moment. However, John knew he only had one opportunity to get out of this situation, and unleashed everything at his disposal.


    With the increased might surging through his body, he managed to raise his arm towards the energy source above. His finger began to glow as his draconic aura began to emanate from it, while a horrifyingly powerful energy began to emit from all around him, as he began preparations to unleash a full powered Dragontail Decimation. While he didn¡¯t know if it would be enough, it was his best shot of destroying the temple around him and freeing himself from the restrictions.


    Just as his essence power began to build to unleash his Dragontail Decimation, the energy descending down on him from above vanished. John¡¯s gaze widened for a brief instant as the energy vanished, and he shed to the side in an instant, leaving the confines of the formation tform.


    His wary gaze stared up towards the top of the temple, which was where the source of energy hade from. After what felt like an eternity of silence, the same voice from before spoke out again.


    ¡°Why do you have the power of an Asura?¡± the ancient sounding voice asked, obvious animosity in its voice when it mentioned the word ¡®Asura¡¯.¡±


    John remained silent as he heard this question, as he didn¡¯t know to respond. He couldn¡¯t exin the origin of his Asura Transformation, as it was his greatest secret.


    As if realizing he wouldn¡¯t answer the question, the voice asked another one instead.


    ¡°Who are you? Why do you have that bloodline?¡± the voice asked, asking about John instead. Its voice contained no malice when asking this question as it had when it mentioned ¡®Asura.''¡±


    John¡¯s eyes lit up with surprise as he heard his bloodline ability mentioned, as no one else had ever recognized it. His mind raced with how to answer the question, when he suddenly remembered something that he had nearly forgotten about.


    ¡®Should I reveal it? The voice seemed to have no malice when it mentioned my bloodline, so it may be the only way out of this situation.¡¯


    After thinking it through, John decided his course of action. His soul power surged towards his forehead, and a mysterious rune suddenly appeared on his forehead, glowing with profound power.


    This rune was the symbol that his mysterious father had long ago marked him with, and told him to reveal it as a symbol of his authority and identity. For those old enough and powerful enough to recognize it, it may just save his life in times like these.


    ¡°The Mark of the Divine!¡± the voice uttered with obvious surprise and also reverence.


    John breathed out a sigh of relief at the voice¡¯s tone, but remained guarded for any possible change to the situation. Silence filled the temple for some time before the voice boomed within once again.


    ¡°You contain the power of an Asura, and yet are graced with the Mark of the Divine! How peculiar¡­¡± the voice mused, clearly thinking things over. The temple fell silent once more, as if the voice was unable toe to a decision about what to do.


    ¡°What is your rtion to the Asuras?¡± the voice asked, seemingly wanting some rification on the situation.


    ¡°I have no rtion to the Asura¡¯s,¡± John replied dismissively, ¡°other than to cut down each one Ie across,¡± he continued, his voice tinged with obvious disdain.


    Not only was he prophesied to fight to the death against an Asura, he also had a life and death feud with Asuros, who had decided to serve that Asura. The only thing he felt towards them was hateful disdain.


    ¡°Hmmm¡­¡± the voice mused for a while, while John remained guarded, his body bing strained from using both his Asura Transformation and Bloodline Ability.


    ¡°You can lower your guard,¡± the voice said, obviously noticing John¡¯s internal plight.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not,¡± John scoffed, dismissing the suggestion until he knew what was going on.


    ¡°You have been marked by the Divine! Even with the taint of the Asuras running through your veins, I would not dare to make a move on you,¡± the voice replied, making its stance clear.


    John felt no falsehoods contained within the voice, and could tell that it had decided to take no further action against him. With his body beginning to break apart from the cmitous power from within, John decided to trust in his mysterious fathers ¡®mark¡¯ and finally lowered his guard.


    As his transformation and bloodline ability deactivated, John felt an overwhelming wave of fatigue wash through his entire body, while pain wracked every inch as well. Just standing was starting to be a struggle, but John remained calm and stood tall, projecting strength as best he could.


    ¡°Impressive resolve,¡± the voicemented, obviously seeing through John¡¯s charade.


    ¡°What now?¡± John scoffed in response.


    ¡°Step onto the tform once more,¡± the voice instructed, causing John¡¯s gaze to tremble for a moment.


    ¡°And why would I do that?¡± John asked, as thest time he stepped onto it, he had nearly died.


    ¡°Because, I have made up my mind. You will be the one I choose,¡± the voice boomed out. ¡°You will be the one to carry the burden of the Jade Dragon legacy, and as payment for carrying this burden, you will obtain the power of a True Dragon!¡±

 Chapter 726 The Might of the Jade Dragons

    ¡°The power of a true dragon?¡± John repeated, shocked to hear such a thing. Even for someone as powerful as him, obtaining the might of a true dragon was irresistible. While he didn¡¯t know exactly how that was possible, his mind swirled with the pros and cons of epting such an offer.


    ¡®The power of a true dragon? That could mean many things, as dragons vary greatly, from ice and fire dragons, to lightning and earth dragons, and I¡¯m sure there¡¯s even more. If its not lightning, I doubt I have much affinity with it, and it might not be worth the burden this voice is talking about,¡¯ John mused internally, debating on whether or not to ept the offer.


    For a voice as powerful as this, the burden must be something monumentally challenging to aplish, if not impossible. He didn¡¯t want to recklessly ept something that would lead him to death, at least not if the rewards were not worth it in the first ce.


    After thinking it over, John spoke out again to the voice.


    ¡°Before I ept your offer, I want to know what this ¡®Power of a True Dragon¡¯ is? While I have affinity with lightning, I don¡¯t have affinity with the other elemental dragon types. If its not lightning, then I¡¯m not sure its worth epting,¡± John voiced his opinion truthfully. With the protection of the ¡®Mark of the Divine¡¯, he no longer worried too much about the voice taking action against him.


    A guttural snorting sound rang out throughout the temple, containing overwhelming disdain for what John had just said.


    ¡°Do not dare mention the Fire and Ice Dragons before me ever again¡± the voice boomed disdainfully, as if the mere mention of those dragons was the voice¡¯s most hated thing. John raised an eyebrow in surprise upon hearing the disdainful tone, as he had been expecting the voice to be allied with dragons, based on everything it had said so far, and the inheritances up to this point.


    The temples were lined with dragon statues, the inheritances were dragon blood and bone thus far, and the ancient dragon corpse lingered behind the final temple, and yet this voice had such disdain for the Ice and Fire Dragons.


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered my question,¡± John replied, shifting the topic away from the Ice and Fire Dragons, and towards what type of inheritance he would receive should he ept the burden of the Jade Dragon legacy.


    ¡°Power!¡± the voice boomed loudly.


    ¡°Power?¡± John asked, but was interrupted immediately.


    ¡°Strength!¡± it boomed out again, the words causing John to frown as that still didn¡¯t answer his question.


    ¡°Since you are so dense, I¡¯ll exin it clearly,¡± the voice said after noticing John¡¯s frown, its insulting words causing John to frown even more.


    ¡°The power you will receive is the power of a Jade Dragon. Jade Dragon¡¯s have no need for Ice, or Fire, or Lightning, because our very bodies are the source of our power. Just a casual swipe of our ws can shatter worlds and snuff out stars!¡± the voice boomed triumphantly.


    ¡°We Jade Dragons¡­are the Dragons of pure physical might¡­the strongest of all Dragons!¡±


    John¡¯s eyes widened upon hearing this, as he had not known that such a type of dragon existed.


    ¡®I thought all Dragons specialized in some elemental Dao, but I guess I was wrong. The Dragons of physical might! This is exactly what I¡¯ve been looking for all this time. The durability of my body has fallen behind where it needs to be to utilize my Asura Transformation and Bloodline Ability, so this may just be what I need!¡¯


    John thought over the offer for a moment, before his eyes went wide as he realized something about what the voice had said.


    ¡°We?¡± John repeated out loud. ¡°You just said ¡®We Dragons¡¯!¡­Are you?¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± the voice replied calmly, while a white mist began to materialize before John. It took a second to form a shape roughly the same size as him, a shape which turned into that of a dragon. John¡¯s face remained surprised as the soulform of a dragon appeared directly before him; a soulform that was exactly the same as the ancient dragon corpse resting nearby.


    ¡°You¡­are you?¡± John asked, his question clear without even asking it.


    ¡°I am the dragon you saw before you entered this temple,¡± the soulform replied.


    ¡®No wonder the energy was so strong! It came from a True Dragon!¡¯ John mused internally.


    ¡°But¡­how? Haven¡¯t you been dead for thousands of years?¡± John asked, as it was easy to tell that the dragon corpse behind the temple, while still regal and projecting a mighty aura, had been dead for a long time.


    ¡°Hundreds of thousands of years,¡± the dragon spirit corrected.


    ¡°Hundreds of thousands of years! Then how are you here?¡± John asked. He could tell that the spirit form before him was made of remnant soul power, but soul power faded over time. For it tost for hundreds of thousands of years without a formation protecting it or enhancing it¡­just how strong had this dragon been?


    ¡°The how is not important,¡± the dragon-spirit dismissed his question, ¡°the only important question is will you ept the burden of the Jade Dragon legacy? I will be upfront with you, as we Jade Dragons do not partake in trickery and lies. The burden is something that is almost nigh-impossible to aplish, but the power you will be bestowed will be greater than any bestowed by the Jade Dragons before. With this power, the burden just may be possible for you!¡±


    John¡¯s approval of the dragon-spirit climbed as he appreciated its straightforwardness and honesty. It would have been easy to lie to him to trick him into epting it, but instead the dragon made the dangers of such an opportunity apparent upfront.


    ¡®There may be great downsides to epting this offer, and the ¡®burden¡¯ this dragon-spirit mentions could be more than I can handle, but¡­my journey requires me to climb to the very peak of the martial path, or perish. An offer like this is not something I can afford to refuse,¡¯ John thought it over internally,ing to an eventual conclusion.


    His gaze refocused on the dragon-spirit while his face hardened with resolve, and he nodded his head with firm eptance.


    ¡°I ept!¡±

 Chapter 727 Draconic Assimilation

    ¡°Good!¡± the dragon-spirit boomed, obviously happy to hear his eptance. ¡°If you have earned the approval of the Divine, then I could also ask for no better inheritor of the Jade Dragon legacy.¡±


    John heard that name again, ¡®The Divine¡¯, and wanted to ask a bit more about it, but he decided against it as he recalled the karmic consequences of knowing too much revealed to him previously.


    ¡®My strength has grown tremendously since then, butpared to my ¡®father¡¯ or this dragon, I¡¯m still so far beneath them I can¡¯t even imagine the limits of their power. I¡¯m still too weak to handle the karmic consequences, and I have enough to deal with right now without adding further fuel to the fire.¡¯


    ¡°Step onto the formation tform!¡± the dragon-spirit instructed John, who obliged and walked forward towards the center of the formation circle. When he arrived, he felt the dragon-spirit personally inspect him, much closer than he had done previously.


    The energy invaded his body, but John did not resist despite the awkward feeling. It surged through his muscles, veins, and bones unhindered, inspecting every inch thoroughly.


    ¡°You¡­blinded by my anger before, I failed to notice your draconicpatibility¡­Just how much of the blood and bone did you absorb?¡± the dragon-spirit mused as its power red outwards for a brief moment.


    ¡°All of it!¡± the dragon-spirit eximed, indicating that it had checked the results of the previous two temples. ¡°You absorbed all the blood, and all the bones?¡± the dragon-spirit asked John for confirmation, surprise and slight anger in its voice.


    ¡°Uhhhh, yeah. Were you not aware of this?¡± John asked, finding it peculiar that the overseer of this temple¡¯s legacy wouldn¡¯t be aware of something urring so closely.


    ¡°I was not,¡± the dragon-spirit replied. ¡°In an effort to keep my soul power usage as minimal as possible, I only awaken from my slumber when this temple¡¯s formation is activated,¡± it replied.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is,¡± John mused, before confirming the truth. ¡°It¡¯s as you say. I absorbed all of the dragon blood and dragon bones. If only there was a bit more, that would have been even better, but oh well, it still improved my body greatly!¡±


    ¡°A bit more¡­¡± the dragon-spirit mumbled, as if stunned by the words it had just heard. ¡°That amount of dragonblood and dragonbone was enough for a dozen more inheritances!¡± the dragon eximed, his words causing John to smile wryly in return. He had not thought his absorption of the blood and bone to be out of the ordinary, but apparently it was beyond extraordinary.


    ¡°I never thought a Heaven Tribtion human could absorb so much dragon blood and bone without perishing,¡± the dragon-spirit mused out loud.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy, let me tell you that. I nearly died by exploding from within,¡± John replied.


    ¡°Nearly died? You should have exploded ten times over!¡± the dragon replied, still shocked at the truth of the matter, and fell into a deep silence for a bit.


    ¡°Hmmm, a human¡­.one with the bloodline of the Divine¡­and an Asura-like body¡­there may be no better match for this burden in existence,¡± the dragon-spirit continued musing, while John listened on in silence.


    After a long silence, the dragon sighed deeply, as if its mind had been reluctantly made up. Its gaze locked back onto John, who felt as if he were being stared at by a godlike presence.


    ¡°The blood and bones should havested for many more inheritance trials, but the purpose of the inheritance trials is to find the one most suitable to carry the burden of the Jade Dragon legacy. However, with your ancestry, and draconic bloodlinepatibility, I could think of no better inheritor to ask for. Prepare yourself, for this may hurt!¡± the dragon said to John firmly as a powerful energy suddenly red from the formation beneath his feet, wrapping around him with absolute power.


    The energy invaded his body with overwhelming power, racing through every inch of blood and flesh like a warhorse. John grit his teeth in pain and steadied his mind as he felt the energy run rampant throughout his body.


    As the energy coursed through his body, John was shocked to discover that changes to his body were being made at a noticeable rate. When he had absorbed the dragon blood and dragon bones, the blood and bone had been absorbed by his body and his body had been strengthened greatly as a result, but that was all.


    The dragonblood and dragonbone still existed separately from his natural body, although the two parts existed in harmony. It was as if two allies upied the same body, augmenting each other but existing separately.


    Now however, the strange energy was joining these two separate ¡®allies¡¯ into one, something that John didn¡¯t even know was possible. The dragonblood he had absorbed earlier began to fully assimte with his flesh, sinew, and muscles, bing as if he had been born in such a aste. At the same time, the dragonbones that he had absorbed fused with his bones as well, as if they had always been one in the same. The process was beyond shocking, and also beyond painful.


    John roared in pain as he felt as if a million knives were stabbing each and every inch of his body from within, while searing it at the same time. Steam flowed off his body as it heated up to a great degree, while John¡¯s flesh turned red from the scorching heat from within. His flesh ripped violently, like he was about to explode from within.


    His muscles tore apart, bones shattered, and flesh ripped, but as this happened, it almost immediately healed, as dragon and human assimted into one. The dragon-spirit oversaw the entire process, and couldn¡¯t help but be shocked at the level of assimtion and symbiosis.


    ¡°As expected from one of such esteemed lineage,¡± the dragon mused, but frowned as it noticed something was not going to n. While everything else within John¡¯s body was fusing to perfecting, John¡¯s blood refused to do the same, as if the Jade Dragon blood was not worthy of defiling it.


    The dragon¡¯s remaining might red as it tried to force the assimtion, but no matter how much it tried, John¡¯s blood refused to be changed in the slightest.


    ¡°So prideful,¡± the dragon scoffed, but no longer attempted to force the process.


    Roars of pain and agony continued to boom out from John¡¯s mouth as the process continued for quite some time. After what felt like an eternity for John, the energy finally faded away, and the process stopped. John instantly fell to his knees in exhausted agony, breathing deeply as he struggled to maintain his consciousness, as the process had been almost more than he could have handled.


    ¡°You only have yourself to me for the process being this painful,¡± the dragon-spirit said to him. ¡°The more dragonblood and dragonbone absorbed, the moreplete the fusion process¡­and the more painful. With how much of both you absorbed, even death was not an impossibility, but as one who carries the Mark of the Divine, I had expected nothing less.¡±


    As the dragon-sprit said all this, it hovered over to John, who stillid down on the formation tform, breathing heavily and trembling in pain. However, through the pain, a small smile of satisfaction appeared on John¡¯s face as he felt the changes to his body.


    ¡°Congrattions. You now have the powers of a True Jade Dragon!¡±

 Chapter 728 Dragon-God Shift

    After lying there for a moment, John finally recovered and slowly stood up. His body still trembled with pain, as the transformation that had taken ce within had been excruciating.


    ¡°The powers of a True Dragon?¡± John mused as he inspected his body. He could tell that it was now vastly stronger than before, to an incredible degree no less, but couldn¡¯t detect the power of a True Dragon anywhere. However, he was still beyond ted with the changes to his body, which were beyond his wildest imaginations. Even utilizing his Bloodline Ability and Asura Transformation at the same time should no longer be as much of a burden as it was before.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I feel much different then?¡± John asked curiously, his voice still slightly shaky from the painful process. ¡°While I do feel much stronger than before, that¡¯s it. I..¡±


    ¡°You expected more?¡± the dragon-spirit asked, seeing through his thoughts. ¡°To feel like a dragon somehow?¡±


    John nodded at the dragon¡¯s words.


    ¡°If you expected something simr to your Asura transformation to happen, then you¡¯ll be disappointed,¡± the dragon-spirit replied. ¡°With how profoundly impossible that Asura Transformation is, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s the work of the Divine. Expecting a simr transformation for this is nothing but a dream,¡± the dragon-spirit exined.


    ¡°Then¡­¡±


    ¡°Then why did I say you have the power of a True Dragon?¡± the dragon-spirit finished John¡¯s words for him, to which John nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s because you now have the ability to temporarily borrow the might of a True Dragon¡­by using this!¡± the dragon-spirit exined as a jade piece suddenly appeared in the air before John.


    John stared at the jade piece, inspecting it carefully before reaching out and grabbing it. An exquisite dragon-etching was on the surface of the profound piece of jade, which he traced with his fingers for a moment before sending his divine sense inwards.


    His mind was instantly flooded with information, and his face lit up with gleeful shock as he realized what it was.


    ¡°Dragon-God Shift! This is a Body Battle Art!¡± John eximed.


    ¡°That it is,¡± the dragon-spirit replied. ¡°By mastering this Body Battle Art, Dragon-God Shift, which activates the assimted dragonblood and dragonbone you absorbed, you can temporarily borrow the might of a True Jade Dragon! Your recent internal assimtion has made such a thing possible! Should you manage to achieve the absolute peak of this battle art, it will be as though you have truly be a Dragon-God yourself.¡±


    John¡¯s face lit up with tion upon hearing this, as this inheritance could not be more perfect for him. His Asura Transformation was already a transformation so profound that it could most likely never be topped, and so if the Jade Dragon inheritance was another transformation, he would most likely never use it. However, since it was a Body Battle Art, much like the Supreme Battle Art, he could use it in tandem with his Asura Transformation.


    Not only that, but the transformation process itself had vastly strengthened his body to an incredible degree, making his base body at least twice as strong and durable whenpared to before, and then he still had the Dragon-God Shift to use once he learned it.


    ¡®If I faced Asuros as I am right now, he wouldn¡¯t evenst a minute against me. This change is beyond anything I could have imagined!¡¯


    ¡°Just how strong is a Dragon-God?¡± John asked after recalling what the dragon-spirit had just said. ¡°Were you a Dragon-God?¡±


    ¡°A Dragon-God is a Dragon that stands among the top of all creation. Your journey, now that you have epted the power of a Jade Dragon, and also the burden of the Jade Dragon legacy, will eventually lead you face to face with a Dragon-God. You will learn of a Dragon-God¡¯s might when you are more powerful,¡± the dragon-spirit replied, not directly answering John¡¯s question.


    John didn¡¯t press any further regarding Dragon-Gods, as it appeared as though that was something to worry about far down the line. He continued to inspect his body with much excitement, savoring the new strength of his body.


    After inspecting it for a while, he focused back on the jace piece in his hand, and read quickly through the introductory parts of the body battle art. The technique was beyondplicated, far moreplicated than the Supreme Battle Art, but also far more powerful.


    ¡®Learning this Dragon-God Shift will take quite some time, even just to learn the first form¡­I¡¯ll go over this in much more detailter on, but for now, let¡¯s give it a shot!¡¯


    After reading the introductory part to the first form of the Dragon-God Shift, John put the jade piece away and began to focus his mind.


    ¡®It says to link my mind with the dragonblood and dragonbone I have absorbed, and then move it through the three chest meridians here, then the four arm and four leg meridians here, then back to the chest, then¡­.¡¯


    John read over the technique, which was not only incrediblyplicated from a Qi cirction perspective, but also aprehension perspective. He needed to understand andprehend the will and might of a jade dragon in order to use the technique, which coincidentally focused on a Dao he already hadprehensions in; the Dao of Power!


    The Dragon-Spirit stared at John with a peculiar expression, and then amusement when he realized what he was attempting to do.


    ¡°Child, the Dragon-God Shift is one of the most profound body battle arts you will ever encounter. Even learning the most initial part of the very first form will take you several days. Attempting to use it already is nothing but misced arrogan-¡°


    Roar!


    A roar boomed out within the temple, instantly silencing the Dragon-Spirit, who looked at John with surprise on its face; an emotion it rarely ever felt throughout its long life.


    The roar that had boomed out had note from John¡¯s mouth, but instead his body, as if his body had roared and be a dragon itself. Green scales appeared on his body for the briefest of instants before disappearing, while John fell to his knees in exhaustion immediately afterwards.


    ¡°Ha-,¡± he breathed in and out deeply, as the battle art had drawn much more Qi from his dantian than expected.


    ¡°How fearsome,¡± John mused out loud, not expecting the requirements of this battle art to be so taxing. In his current state of pain and exhaustion, using the battle art for more than a few seconds was not possible. However, just tasting the initial part of the battle art made John realize how truly powerful it was, filling him with excitement to eventually fully use it.


    After undoing the battle art, John realized he had been ignoring the Dragon-Spirit, and looked towards him, who looked back at him with a still stunned expression. After a short moment of silence, the Dragon-Spirit shook its head and spoke out once more.


    ¡°You managed to touch upon the initial form within minutes,¡± the Dragon-Spirit muttered to him. ¡°As expected of a Human, and one chosen by the Divine himself.¡±


    John scratched his cheek and smiled wryly at the Dragon-Spirits words, and couldn¡¯t help but ask a question he had on his mind.


    ¡°You mentioned the fact that I was a Human before, and now again, both times seemingly with approval. Why is me being a human so important for this inheritance?¡± John asked curiously. It would make sense that someone like a Barbarian, whose body strength was almost unrivaled, would be a better match for such an inheritance.


    ¡°The answer to that is simple,¡± the Dragon-Spirit answered. ¡°Because Humans are the race with the greatest ability for change. There is no other race in the universe that can assimte the powers of others better than the Human race can!¡±

 Chapter 729 A Human’s Weakness Is Its Strength

    ¡°The greatest ability for change?¡± John repeated, not expecting to hear the dragon say such a thing.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± the dragon replied, but realized more rification was needed.


    ¡°Do you know why humans are at the same time so weak yet so powerful, and considered by some to be the perfect lifeform, while others consider them the most pathetic life form?¡± the dragon-spirit suddenly asked, his question not what John had been expecting. He thought over the question for a bit, but shrugged his shoulders in reply.


    ¡°No idea,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Humans are born weak. So weak as to be considered beyond pathetic,¡± the dragon started to exin. ¡°When you humans are born, you cannot even raise your head, and it takes you decades to obtain even a bit of strength. Compared that to most other races, such as us dragons, who are born with incredible might, but even the less powerful races are born strong and achieve strength at a pace that humans can only envy!¡±


    John remained silent but couldn¡¯t help but agree with the dragon.


    ¡®When kirii had been born, he was basically born in the Core Formation realm. Not only that, but his strength is keeping up with mine, despite the fact that he¡¯s only a few years old. It really isn¡¯t fair when you think about it!¡¯


    ¡°Are you thinking this is unfair? Unjust?¡± The dragon asked, almost as of seeing through John¡¯s thoughts. John smiled wryly at having been seen through so easily, and nodded his head in agreement.


    ¡°It¡¯s kind of sad when I think about it,¡± John agreed.


    ¡°We¡¯ll do notment your weakness, because it is also your greatest strength,¡± the dragon replied.


    ¡°When beasts and other powerful races are born, they are born with great strength and even greater cultivation speed, but the universe has bnce in all things. Such a strong starting point also means less ability to change. Humans, who start out with no power at all can shape their cultivation pathway in the way they wish, with no taint of power from birth.


    At the same time, humans have some of the highestprehension abilities of all races, further emphasizing the advantage of starting from the very start of the cultivation pathway.


    Furthermore, humans are among the best of all races when ites to assimting the powers of others, and some would even say the best. Comprehending soul arts, essence arts, body arts, formations, alchemy¡­all of this is possible as a Human.


    And another talent you all have to varying degrees, bloodline assimtions. Amongst all the races, humans are without a doubt the most adaptable to absorbing and using the bloodline powers of others, as you have done with the Jade Dragon legacy¡­and also the Asura bloodline. No other race can absorb the powers of others and use it to such efficacy as the human race can.


    Andstly, and most importantly, you humans are very¡­fertile. Us dragons and other powerful races find it very hard to breed, and in ten thousand years we might have one or two offspring. You humans however breed and spread like wildfire, at numbers unimaginable in this universe. So while almost all humans end uppletely worthless on the cultivation pathway, the sheer number of humans being born ensures that heavenly geniuses arise consistently.


    So you see, while humans have the lowest starting point out of all creatures, they also have the most advantages. Advantages that allow them to bridge the gap between them and the other races of the universe should they be allowed to cultivate for long enough.


    You humans have so many advantages that it almost makes me, a True Dragon, feel envious. So as I was saying, there is no better race to inherit the legacy of us Jade Dragons,¡± the dragon-spirit said, finishing its long exnation.


    John stood there in silence for a short while, thinking over everything the dragon had just said.


    ¡°I guess that all makes sense. I always assumed that humans were rtively average in the cultivation world, but I guess we¡¯re quite impressive after all ,¡± John replied eventually, but couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly again as he recalled the dragon mentioning human reproduction as an advantage.


    ¡°As one marked by the Divine, and with your bloodline, there could be no better human inheritor for this legacy,¡± the dragon concluded, clearly satisfied with the oue.


    ¡°Now that you have inherited the power of a Jade Dragon, you shall as well inherit the burden as well,¡± the dragon spirit said.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s right,¡± John replied, having nearly forgotten about that. ¡°What exactly is the burden of the Jade Dragon?¡± he asked curiously.


    ¡°It¡¯s this,¡± the dragon-spirit said as it turned to the side and gestured towards the nearby dragon egg.


    ¡°The dragon egg is the burden? What, do I have to raise and protect your child or something?¡± John asked, half serious and half in jest.


    ¡°That is partially right, but not exactly what the burden is,¡± the dragon-spirit replied as it hovered over towards the egg and gazed at it in a loving yet mncholy fashion.


    ¡°This egg does contain my child, but also thest living Jade Dragon in existence.¡±


    ¡°Thest Jade Dragon? You¡¯re all dead?¡± John asked, to which the dragon slowly nodded.


    ¡°I thought you said Jade Dragons are the strongest of all dragons? How did you all die if you¡¯re so strong?¡± John asked.


    ¡°The truth of what happened rtes to the burden you will carry going forward,¡± the dragon-spirit replied, it¡¯s tone growing slightly colder as if it had recalled a bad memory.


    It suddenly waved its hand, and three dimensional image made of Qi sprung up in the air before John, depicting a moving image of an awe inspiring scene of a group of dragons of all colors grouped together on a high mountain, with a Jade Dragon sitting on a massive throne at its peak overlooking all.


    The Jade Dragon was beyond awe-inspiring, and John felt as if he could feel a portion of its heavenly might despite it being an image of the past.


    The dragon spirit waved its hand again, and the scene changed, again and again, depicting new events while the dragon narrated the events of the past.


    ¡°Long ago, we Jade Dragons, the mightiest of all Dragons ruled as the Dragonlords of the Dragon Race,¡± the dragon spirit started to exin.


    ¡°With us Jade Dragons leading the way, we carved out a massive portion of the universe as ours, and lorded over it as kings. Dragons of all kinds enjoyed the splendors and rewards of this effort as we all banded together, and formed one of the mightiest factions this universe has known.


    Our rule led to us having many enemies of all kinds, but we stood firm against the waves of enemy hordes, and firmed our rule together. Despite the passage of millions of years, no enemy that challenged us ever managed to threaten our rule¡­.until the enemy that could arrived,¡± the dragon-spirit exined, and nced sideways at John as he said thest part.


    ¡°The Asuras?¡± John asked, as the dragon-spirits anger and hatred when he used his Asura Transformation was still fresh in his mind.


    With the fact that his greatest inheritance was his Immortal Asura Body, his second dantian was seemingly rted to it, the fact that every powerful being, from Celestial Soulrend to this dragon despised them fully, and even powerful Demons feared them, John was sure that the Asura menace was much grander than the singr Asura he was prophesized to battle for the fate of the world.


    The dragon spirit remained silent for a moment before nodding its head in conformation.


    ¡°The Asuras,¡± it confirmed.

 Chapter 730 Wellspring of Jade Origin

    As the dragon-spirit confirmed his suspicions, John felt his heart tighten for a brief instant. It was as if something had struck it for a moment before disappearing, and John instantly knew what it was, as he had felt something like this before.


    ¡®Karma!¡¯


    Another thread of Karma had been attached to him once he learned the truth, linking him even closer to the truth of the past, and the events of the future. The dragon-spirit noticed John¡¯s reaction, and couldn¡¯t help but speak up.


    ¡°You noticed the thread of Karma? Impressive,¡± the dragon-spirit said.


    ¡°I did, but I¡¯m still not sure what exactly Karma does,¡± John replied. His mysterious father had revealed to him the existence of Karma, but not much else.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite simple,¡± the dragon-spirit replied. ¡°Everything is linked by Karma to varying degrees. The more you know about something, or the more involved you are in something, the greater your Karmic link to that something. Karma is like an invisible attractor, silently drawing you into its clutches. As your Karmic link grows, so does your involvement in whatever that link is, and as a result, your Karmic link increases once more. Once you have established a Karmic link, it is very hard to sever it,¡± the dragon-spirit exined.


    ¡°I think I understand,¡± John said after musing over the dragon¡¯s words, slightly understanding what it was saying. ¡°So, you¡¯re saying, the more I learn about the Asura¡¯s, the more I¡¯ll be drawn into events involving them, and with that, my Karma with the Asura¡¯s will increase¡­and this cycle will continue until¡­¡±


    ¡°It is exactly so,¡± the dragon-spirit replied before changing the subject, going back to the events of the past.


    ¡°As I was saying, the appearance of the Asura¡¯s changed everything. I will keep the details sparse as to limit your Karmic linking, but after the Asura scourge was dealt with, all dragons suffered immense casualties, with us Jade Dragon¡¯s suffering the worst, as we were the vanguard in the fight against the Asuras,¡± the dragon-spirit said.


    Its face began to curl in anger and disgust, as if recalling a terrible memory. It did its best to suppress its anger, and began to speak once again, but with a cold undertone in its voice.


    ¡°It was at this time that the Ice and Fire Dragon¡¯s betrayed us Jade Dragons, fueled by the lust for greed and power. Their strength was still mostly intact due to their lesser involvement against the Asuras, and they took advantage of our weakness by ughtering us Jade Dragons without impunity,¡± the dragon-spirit roared, its anger and hatred returning once more to its booming voice.


    It took a while to calm its rage once again, before exining further.


    ¡°The Ice and Fire Dragons ughtered any and all Jade Dragons they encountered, as they knew that with enough time, the Jade Dragons would return to power once more. With us Jade Dragon¡¯s ughtered, they took the ce of the Lords of all Dragons¡­


    I was the only one able to escape their clutches, but my injuries from both the Asuras and the Ice and Fire Dragons were too severe. I fled to this remote world, and with the final remnants of my powers, I created this trial realm, in the slim hopes of finding an inheritor for the burden of us Jade Dragons,¡± the dragon-spirit exined, staring intently at John the entire time.


    ¡°The burden¡­of reviving the Jade Dragon race,¡± it concluded.


    John remained silent for some time as he took in the shocking events the dragon-spirit had just described, and breathed out deeply, his deep sigh filling the silence of the room. His gaze locked onto the dragon egg for a moment and he frowned before gazing back at the dragon-spirit.


    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m not sure how it works with dragons, but with most species¡­it requires two to revive a race,¡± John said as he looked back at the egg. ¡°And since you mentioned you were thest living Jade Dragon, and there¡¯s only one egg¡­.I¡¯m not sure how I¡¯d be able to revive the dragon race?¡± John exined with a wry look on his face.


    As if expecting his question, the dragon floated back over to the egg and beckoned John to approach. John did as instructed, and stood directly before the egg.


    ¡°What do you notice about this egg?¡± the dragon-spirit asked.


    John inspected the egg for a moment, which was truly unique.


    ¡°I can sense the dragon fetus within¡­but can also feel something else¡­alot of something else¡­souls¡­hundreds of them!¡± John said as he inspected the egg.


    ¡°Indeed. This egg contains not only thest living dragon, but also the souls of hundreds of fallen Jade Dragons, infused within,¡± the dragon-spirit exined.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­.amazing,¡± John replied as he could feel the incredible draconic essence within, ¡°but that still doesn¡¯t exin how I can revive the Jade Dragon race.¡±


    ¡°The way is simple. You must take this egg to the Wellspring of Jade Origin, and ce it within. If you do that, the Jade Dragon race will return to the world in full once more,¡± the dragon replied.


    ¡°The Wellspring of Jade Origin? What is that? And also where?¡± John asked, having never heard of such a thing before.


    ¡°The what doesn¡¯t concern you, only the where,¡± the dragon-spirit replied. ¡°The Wellspring of Jade Origin is our Jade Dragon¡¯s most profound treasure, and is capable of reviving the Jade Dragon race should you do as instructed. As for its location, you are not ready to learn that yet,¡± the dragon-spirit exined.


    ¡°Once you have achieved the necessary power to reach the Wellspring is when you will naturally learn of it. Until then, you are far too weak.¡±


    John fell silent upon hearing this, but nodded his head, confirming his understanding of his task, or his burden.


    ¡°Good, then with the inheritance and burden epted, that concludes our transaction,¡± the dragon-spirit said, its words bing fainter and weaker, as its soul-form began to fade away. ¡°Do take care¡­of Caelris¡­for¡­me.¡±


    The formpletely faded away as it uttered itsst word, and a sharp beam of white soul power from above the temple raced down onto the egg below, infusing into it before fading away.


    John stared at the egg in silence, taking in everything that had just happened as it had almost been too much toe to terms with. The temple had fallenpletely silent, while John stared at the egg for quite some time before reaching out and picking it up.


    It felt as if he had just picked up the lives of hundreds, and he inspected the egg for some time before storing it away in his spatial realm.


    ¡°You received the full inheritance. I can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised,¡± a weak-sounding voice drifted out from a dark corner of the temple, shocking John greatly as he had detected no one else within the temple.


    He quickly turned around to the source of the voice, great axe in hand.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± he asked warily as a figure slowly emerged from the shadows.


    John¡¯s face changed from guarded caution, to stunned surprise, as a figure he had seen once before in his life came into view. While he had never seen the figure¡¯s face, the build and presence was unmistakable.


    ¡°You¡­you¡¯re that man from the small cottage on the Yuan Continent!¡± John eximed.


    Back then, the man¡¯s power and presence was like that of a God to John, so high that he couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine how powerful he was. The man was still much the same, with a power so high that John still couldn¡¯t see through it.


    However, as this God-like being stepped into the light, John felt shock once more as he gazed at the miserable condition of the man, who seemed as though he could die at any moment. His body was torn, some bones and organs were visible under the thick coat of blood on his flesh, and he was teetering on the edge of copse. Worst of all was the malevolent aura clinging to the man¡¯s wounds, an aura that was somewhat familiar to John. However even in this state, John could tell he was no match for the man.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± John asked again, as clearly this man was not so simple. He had run into him on the Yuan Continent, and now here. It was too unlikely to be a coincidence.


    ¡°My name is Kalen,¡± the man replied, his voice deep yet tired, ¡°but you might know me by another name. The Jade Dragon Emperor.¡±

 Chapter 731 Brief Meeting With The Jade Dragon Emperor

    ¡°The Jade Dragon Emperor!¡± John eximed,pletely shocked to hear the man¡¯s true identity. ording to history, the Jade Dragon Emperor died long ago in the ancient cmity. Not only that, but that cmity was so long ago that even if he survived, he should still have died from old age.


    John stared at the man who slowly approached him, gauging the veracity of his words.


    ¡®Its almost impossible to believe him, but there is no reason for him to lie to me. Not only is his power so high that it even eclipses Thunderzen, he gains nothing from lying to me. The Jade Dragon Emperor is still alive!¡¯


    The Jade Dragon Emperor walked over to John and stood directly before him, towering over John. He was a head taller than John, and far bulkier and more muscr. He was by far the most imposing man John had ever seen, as just his presence alone was enough to inspire awe, or fear, in almost anyone.


    The Jade Dragon Emperor stared at John for a moment before speaking up once more.


    ¡°You obtained the true inheritance of the Jade Dragons. An inheritance that even I was unable to obtain,¡± the Jade Dragon Emperor said, revealing that he had been there the whole time, watching it take ce. ¡°I had always wanted the inheritance for myself, but now that I have learned of the burden thates with it, I can only pity you.¡±


    Based on the Jade Dragon Emperors words, the burden he now carried was a task so difficult that even he pitied John, revealing a small bit of just how hard it would be to aplish. John¡¯s gaze shifted from the man¡¯s face to his body, which contained countless wounds, each more gruesome than thest.


    He could tell the Jade Dragon Emperors body was beyond incredible, and was at a level far beyond even his own. In factparing his body to the Jade Dragon Emperors was likeparing an infant to an adult, and yet the Jade Dragon Emperor was wounded to such an extent.


    John gazed at the wounds, which all contained a sinister and malevolent aura within which refused to vanish. The aura was clearly affecting the healing factor of the Jade Dragon Emperor, making it so that he was unable to heal the wounds at all. The aura was familiar to John, as he had felt it once in his life before, during the prophetic vision.


    ¡°This aura¡­did you fight that four-armed creature?¡± John asked, his words causing slight surprise to appear on the Jade Dragon Emperors exhausted face.


    ¡°You know of the Asura? How?¡± the Jade Dragon Emperor asked.


    ¡°I saw him in a vision once,¡± John replied, telling a half-truth as he didn¡¯t want to reveal too much, not even to the Jade Dragon Emperor, who he knew nothing about. ¡°And I just fought his disciple as well several days ago, so I know a bit about him,¡± John replied.


    The Jade Dragon Emperor stared at John for a moment but said nothing, and after a short silence, he walked by John as if he was no longer of interest to him.


    ¡°Wait,¡± John called out as he turned around, and the Jade Dragon Emperor paused his steps to listen to what John had to say.


    ¡°This realm¡­was it truly created by that Jade Dragon?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°It was,¡± the Jade Dragon Emperor replied. ¡°I was the first to discover the Jade Dragon long ago, and with its help was able to be the Jade Dragon Emperor. But this realm was not created by me, only repurposed.¡±


    After answering the question, the Jade Dragon Emperor began to walk once more, causing John to call out again to him.


    ¡°The four-armed creature, the Asura¡­is it dead?¡± John asked. While he most likely already knew the answer, he still had to ask.


    ¡°No,¡± the Jade Dragon Emperor growled coldly, his footsteps unpausing.


    ¡°Onest thing,¡± John called out, as he could tell he was beginning to annoy the Jade Dragon Emperor, who most likely was on the verge of copse.


    ¡°How strong is that Asura?¡± John asked, as this was his best opportunity to gauge its strength.


    The Jade Dragon Emperor remained silent as he walked to the opposite end of the temple and touched a part of the wall. The wall lit up with runes, and a door appeared, leading to ces unseen. The Jade Dragon Emperor stepped within, and the door began to close, but his voice drifted out onest time.


    ¡°Stronger than me,¡± his voice drifted out as the door closed, leaving John alone in the temple once more.


    John stood there in stunned silence for quite some time, as everything that had happened since he entered this temple was almost too much to digest. First, he had spoken to a true dragon, received an amazing inheritance and impossible burden, and then met the Jade Dragon Emperor himself.


    After standing in silence for quite some time, John shook his head in disbelief at everything that had happened, and headed for the temple exit. He wanted to follow the Jade Dragon Emperor and ask hundreds of more questions, but it was easy to tell that the Jade Dragon Emperor was on the verge of copse.


    His wounds were beyond gruesome, and the malevolent aura made things much, much worse. It was unsure if he would even survive those wounds, and so John decided to leave instead.


    He walked over towards the entrance of the temple, which parted open for him as he approached. After walking through the parted doors, John reached out towards the front of the door and yanked his battle axe out of the indent, retrieving his weapon.


    As soon as he left the temple, the temple began to retreat into the earth like the others had, and disappeared quickly after. John¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he gazed behind him, and the ancient Jade Dragon that he had spoken to was no more, as if its body hadpletely disappeared.


    The final trial of the Jade Dragon Empire realm had been sessfullypleted, and even the ancient dragon corpse was no more. As if triggered by the temples disappearance, or perhaps the dragons, a bizarre energy washed through the entire Jade Dragon Empire realm, as if it was trying to flush everyone out.


    John¡¯s face twitched for an instant as he took out the spatial talisman that had been given to him by the Honorable Alliance at the start, which began to vibrate and hum with power, resonating with the energy washing through the realm at the moment.


    Although it was two weeks earlier than expected, the closing of the realm had finally arrived.


    ¡°It¡¯s finally over,¡± John sighed deeply, as the journey through the Jade Dragon Empire realm was finallyplete.

 Chapter 732 The Realm Closes

    Shortly before John left the temple, all the youths within the massive temple realm felt a disturbance, as the aura within the temple realm began to change.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know? Is something happening?¡±


    ¡°Look! The Dragon corpse!¡±


    Boisterous discussion broke out amongst the youths, who finally noticed that the source of the change was the ancient dragon corpse itself. Against their wildest imaginations, the ancient dragon corpse that had existed for hundreds of thousands of years was beginning to fade away, as if it were turning to dust.


    The dragon corpse continued to fade from sight, and just as it fully disappeared, the youths all saw a bright white light pierce directly down into the temple beneath it. After the white light disappeared, the dragon corpse faded away for good, shocking everyone who had seen it senseless.


    The dragon corpse was dozens of miles long and tall, and yet it had vanished just like that. None of them knew how such a thing was possible, or what had caused it to disappear.


    Shortly after, the youths saw the final temple begin to fall back into the earth like the others had, and as it did, another strange energy began to wash through the realm.


    ¡°This energy!¡±


    ¡°The realm is closing?¡±


    ¡°I thought we had two more weeks!¡±


    Heated discussion broke out once more as the youths recognized that the realm was beginning to close. When the realm began to close, it lifted some of the internal spatial restrictions between the different regions. This was the only time the spatial talismans given to them by the Honorable Alliance could work, and the talismans would begin to resonate with this energy, signifying the realm was about to close.


    Each youth would have a short amount of time to activate the talisman, or be left within the realm forever. Shocked by the sudden turn of events but not wanting to be stuck in the realm, the youths begrudgingly took out their spatial talismans. Many of them wanted to explore for longer, as there were still dozens and even hundreds of unexplored trials within, and even more natural treasures that had yet to be discovered.


    The entire realm was still rife with life changing opportunities, but those opportunities would have to be left to the next generation for now. Almost all of them had already obtained life changing opportunities already, and while disappointed the realm was closing early, they had still obtained things they could only have dreamed of before entering the realm.


    The memories of their journeys through the realm flooded back for all of them, from their hopeful optimism when first entering the realm, their joyous discoveries of profound opportunities and valuable treasures, the realm of hope bing a realm of nightmares when the enemy youths invaded, and then their nightmares bing salvation when the enemy youths were soundly defeated against all odds, saving them from the brink of annihtion.


    Most of the youths felt themselves nearly overwhelmed with these memories; memories they knew they would never forget for the rest of their lives.


    Carved most deeply in their memories was the overwhelming power disyed by both Miko and John, the two who had saved them from sure death. Both of them had strength beyond what was considered possible, and both carved deep memories into all the youths, serving as a goal to strive for in the future.


    The youths gazed up at the top of the stairs, and saw the one who had carved those memories standing at the top, gazing down at thend before him. They could tell that he somehow had be even more powerful after entering the final temple, as if he had been reborn anew somehow. They could tell that they were falling farther and farther behind at each and every moment, which only further ignited their fiery passion for obtaining strength and bing like John.


    John too felt a wave of emotions flood through him as he stared at the youths below him. He took in onest look at the temple realm before him, as he knew he would most likely never see this ce again. The battlefield before the steps had been cleaned up and corpses removed, most likely from fellow sect members gathering their deadpatriots to bury back home.


    After savoring the moment, John sent Qi into his spatial talisman, which immediately red with power and wrapped him up with strong spatial energy. The others youth also did the same, and the temple realm which had been host to a cmitous and ruinous battle fell silent once more, the only evidence of what had urred being washed away by time and grown over by nature, returning the realm to what it was once more.


    ¡­


    Outside the Jade Dragon Empire realm, the elders from the various Honorable Alliance sects stationed outside noticed the disturbance happening within the realm.


    ¡°The realm! It¡¯s closing!¡±


    ¡°What? That¡¯s impossible? It¡¯s supposed to close in two week- You¡¯re right. It is closing!¡±


    ¡°Alert the council of Elders!¡±


    They all quickly sprang into action, preparing for whatever the oue was. They had received grave omens from the Heaven Scrying Sect, and had sent youthful reinforcements as a result. However, they didn¡¯t know what dangers were urring within, or what the oue would be.


    Shortly after realizing that the realm was closing, the Elders watched as the first youth appeared in the area before them, summoned by the massive formation circle they had built outside the realm. A very small sigh of relief washed through the Elders as the first youths showed up, and soon more and more youths were appearing by the second.


    One became two, became ten, became a hundred¡­a thousand. After a few minutes, twenty five thousand youths appeared, John amongst them. After appearing outside the Jade Dragon realm, John¡¯s gaze shifted about as he took in the state of what had happened.


    Over fifty thousand youths had entered the realm at the start, and twenty five thousand had left. The number of youths appearing slowed down and eventually stopped, putting the final count at twenty six thousand youths.


    John sighed deeply as he saw this, as more than twenty five thousand youths had been ughtered within the realm. Most of those surviving had been the ones who never entered the final realm area, and never encountered the enemy youths.


    Those who did enter that final area were the best of the best, and their numbers were barely over one thousand remaining. The Honorable Alliance had taken a massive blow with the deaths of its youths, but at the same time, so had the enemy powers, who had sent their absolute best in, with only one of them managing to escape with his life.


    John¡¯s gaze swept about the group of youths, and locked onto Miko who stood a short distance away. The two of them exchanged hardened nces and nodded their heads in knowing unison, as there was still onest thing to do.


    ¡°So few!¡± one of the Elders sighed as they noticed that over half had died, and most that had died had been the best of the best.


    ¡°We seem to have taken a cmitous loss,¡± another Elder sighed and stepped forward, about to address the group when all of a sudden a ring soul power and loud booms caught everyone¡¯s attention.


    A strong soul power red out from Miko as he inspected each and every youth carefully, marking them for John. John shed about the thousands of youths, causing chaos wherever he appeared.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The booms continued for a short moment, surprising the elders as they had no idea what was going on. The chaos quickly faded away as John and Miko appeared before the tens of thousands of youths, with around thirty beaten up youths sprawled on the ground before them.


    ¡°These are all the enemies who came out with us, and thought they would be able to escape somehow¡± John¡¯s voice boomed out for all to hear. ¡°I¡¯m sure some of you recognize them, and have lost friends and family to them. Feel free to do as you wish to them!¡±

 Chapter 733 Explanation of Events

    ¡°What is going on here?¡± a voice boomed out from behind John. He turned around towards the voice, which was one of the many Elders present.


    The Elder was a man who appeared to be in his fifties, with graying hair and a thin beard. He was rather frail looking, but it was easy to tell that he was quite powerful. While John was unable to identify what cultivation he was exactly due to the nature of one being in the Dao Transformation Realm or above, he could tell the man was quite powerful.


    ¡°Young man, exin what is going on here!¡± another Elder chimed in, equally perplexed at the situation, and also slightly disgruntled that a youth had dared to make such a scene before them without exining his actions. They had wanted to ask about what exactly had happened in the realm to cause such a disastrous loss of life, and yet before they could, John had already caused a scene.


    John stared calmly at the Elders who demanded an exnation, but before he could, another voice sounded out behind him again. John nced over his shoulder to see a young man walking towards him, who stopped next to John and faced the Elders.


    ¡°Luth! What is the meaning of this?¡± the lead Elder asked Luth, who had been the one to approach them. At the same time they sighed in relief that their number one genius had survived, as his death would have been too great a loss for the alliance to bear.


    Luth had been on the verge of death after his battle with Amber, but had just barely managed to survive thanks to Laia¡¯s timely intervention. As such, he felt a debt not only to Laia, but also to John, who had saved them all.


    With his status in the eyes of the Elders as the top genius of the Honorable Alliance, the Elders put quite a bit of weight into Luth¡¯s opinion on matters.


    ¡°Why have you rounded up these youths? What exactly happened within the realm?¡± another Elder asked, wanting to get to the bottom of it all. As the Honorable Alliance was made up of hundreds of different sects, the Elders did not immediately recognize the rounded up youths as belonging to an enemy power.


    ¡°Elders, allow me to exin everything that happened within the realm, as it will clear up everything that is happening,¡± Luth said to the group of Elders, and began to immediately exin everything that had urred.


    He started with the invasion of the enemy youths, to them being hunted down, and eventually finished with the cmitous war that had happened at the very end.


    As the Elders heard of the enemy youth invasion, rage flooded through their bodies that this was the work of the enemy powers, and not some danger urring from within the realm. Their rage turned to shock as they listened to the events that had urred within, which eventually became disbelief as the events of the final battle were described.


    As Luth described the war, both the Elders and the youths that had not participated in the war nced over at Miko and John, some looking at them with awe and wonder, while others looked at them with skeptical disbelief.


    Most of the Elders inspected John and Miko with skepticism, unable to believe what Luth was telling them, as it waspletely out of the realm of what was considered possible in the cultivation world. They mostly ignored Miko as he was not part of the Honorable Alliance, and focused most of their attention on John, who stood there calmly as he allowed Luth to describe the events that had unfolded.


    With Parker escaping, his identity as Asura was alreadypromised, and would without a doubt spread through the world before long. As such, he did not care about the details being discussed, as there was nothing he could do to stop it regardless.


    As Luth was discussing the events that had unfolded, John received a sound transmission from a voice that he had not heard for quite some time.


    ¡°I see you managed to cause quite a disturbance within the realm, as expected. And you¡¯ve even managed to cause another scene as soon as you left the realm,¡± the voice sounded out with slight exasperation as if his actions were expected, while a wry smile appeared on John¡¯s face as he shrugged his shoulders in response.


    ¡°Forget it. Just do what you wish to do, and I¡¯ll clean up the mess you are surely about to create¡± the voice sighed again.


    As Luth continued his exnation, John¡¯s gaze shifted in all directions as if looking for something, and he eventually sighed in relief.


    ¡®I¡¯m sure Asuros has already revealed my identity to his master, so the fact that he is not here right now means that he is unable to do so, otherwise, this would be the best opportunity to capture me. If I had to guess, the battle between the Asura and the Jade Dragon Emperor was one of mutual destruction, as the Jade Dragon Emperor was able to live through the battle. If he were truly weaker than the Asura creature, he would have died in their battle, so I¡¯m sure the Asura isn¡¯t faring much better than the Jade Dragon Emperor right now.


    If that¡¯s the case, then I should have some time before the Asura starts to search for me. The only question is how long? I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll have other powersing after me before long as well, but the only one that is of any true concern is the Asura itself.¡¯


    With the protection of the Honorable Alliance and Heavenly Lightning Sect, John wasn¡¯t too concerned about the other powers. While they would surely try to kill him should his identity be revealed, he was much more confident in dealing with them than the Asura at the moment.


    ¡°And that Elders, is what happened within the realm,¡± Luth said as he finished his lengthy exnation, which had taken several minutes. Luth had kept the details of John¡¯s battle rtively sparse as he didn¡¯t want to reveal too much, but just the fact that John was able to fight against and beat Asuros was impossible to believe, as John¡¯s cultivation was still in the Middle Heaven Transformation Realm.


    He also didn¡¯t mention the fact that John was ¡®Asura¡¯, as he knew that was not his secret to reveal. While the others would most likely leak that information, he refused to be the one to reveal that secret without John¡¯s permission.


    Everyone fell silent after hearing Luth describe what had happened, as it had almost been too much to believe. Tens of thousands of eyes locked onto John, inspecting him closely as they discerned whether Luth was telling the truth or not. Even from someone like Luth, the story was too much to believe.


    Even the Elder¡¯s fell silent as they processed everything they had heard. The story exined the reasoning for rounding up these youths, which were now revealed to them to belong to the enemy powers, but everything else was just too much to believe.


    After a short silence, the lead Elder spoke out once more.


    ¡°Luth, these events you have described are troubling. The enemy powers were somehow able to send their youths into this secure realm, and did so with viinous intentions. We must get to the bottom of this,¡± the Elder replied, before gazing at John and inspecting him closely.


    Just by ncing at John he could tell he was incredibly powerful for his cultivation level, but the tales of his final battle were still too much to believe.


    ¡°As for the other parts of your story¡­we¡¯ll get to the bottom of it eventually,¡± the Elder replied before turning to some of the Elders next to him.


    ¡°Round up the enemy youths and bring them back to the Honorable Alliance for questioning,¡± he instructed. The other Elders nodded their heads in unison and moved forwards towards the youths, but suddenly stopped in their tracks, their gazes narrowing slightly.


    ¡°Young man! What is the meaning of this?¡± the lead Elder asked, as John had stepped in between the Elders and the rounded up enemy youths.


    ¡°These murderous fucks are not your concern, but are the concerns of those behind me,¡± John replied calmly yet firmly, intending on keeping his words from before. He had rounded the enemy youths up to answer to the Honorable Alliance youths behind him who they had wronged, and he would not allow the Elders to deny them that.


    The lead Elder¡¯s face turned red as he heard John¡¯s words, infuriated by the fact that he was being questioned and defied in such a manner. His cold gaze locked onto John for a moment and he opened his mouth to speak, but another voice suddenly boomed out from afar, causing all to look over with surprise as several dozen cultivators of various races appeared in the sky several miles away, just outside the range of the defensive formation guarding the realm entrance.


    ¡°Hand over our youths!¡± the booming voice said,ing from a man who stood at the forefront of the several dozen cultivators, who wore foreign yet recognizable clothing. John¡¯s gaze narrowed as he stared at the new arrivals, although he was not surprised by their appearance.


    ¡°Humans, Monsters and Barbarians? It seems like the enemy powers havee to collect their youths and not me, so the news hasn¡¯t spread yet it seems,¡± John mused as he assessed the situation; a situation that he had been expecting.

 Chapter 734 Youthful Vengeance

    When the enemy youths had entered the final trial area, no one had figured out how they had done so. John assumed they most likely had a way out of it, but once they entered the temple realm, there was no leaving it.


    While he didn¡¯t know of the teleportation formation or the fact that it was destroyed, he correctly assumed that the enemy youths only entered the final temple realm because they had no other choice.


    ¡®If their means of escape was located where they entered the realm, they would have never entered the final temple. Since they did, it means that either this was their nned way of leaving the realm, or something went wrong with their original n.


    In regards to entering the realm in the first ce, such a thing was thought impossible by the Honorable Alliance. As such, the only one I can think of who is above the alliances realm of knowledge is the Asura. He most likely nned this whole thing, but for some reason it went awry. If I had to guess, I¡¯d say the Jade Dragon Emperor had a part in it, as the timing would make sense.


    The Asura and these enemy powers were most likely allied somehow, but I doubt that will be the case anymore. Almost all of their most talented youths are already dead, which is something that they will not ept. I imagine their alliance was already quite flimsy from the start as there¡¯s no way people like them can trust another, so this oue will probably fracture that alliance.


    The Jade Dragon Emperor dominated the old world, and the Asura is supposedly even stronger than him. Based on the legends of the Jade Dragon Emperor had his full might, he could sweep over this world unmatched, and so the Asura should have been able to do the same already. The fact that the Asura has not done so before now means it was already greatly weakened to a point that it was not ensured of victory, and the recent battle with the Jade Dragon Emperor should have made that situation even worse for it.


    I¡¯m sure Asuros¡¯ mission into the realm was rted to the Asuras recovery. In our battle, he kept staring at the ancient dragon corpse, and did so again right before he fled. If I had to guess, there was something on the dragon that the Asura needed, most likely to do with recovering its power.


    With the Asura most likely injured and in recovery due to the Jade Dragon Emperor, he would need to employ the help of others to find and capture me before he recovers. The three enemy powers would have been the most natural choice, but that won¡¯t be the case anymore.


    With all this in mind, I should have a bit of time until the Asura starts to look for me. The only question is how long. I could have months or years, but I have no way of knowing for sure. It¡¯s probably on the longer side due to its previous injuries.¡¯


    While his guess was not entirely urate, John was able to figure out much of what had happened based on the information he already knew. While he couldn¡¯t be one hundred percent sure, he was rtively certain of his guesses.


    ¡°And who are you to order us?¡± The leading Elder asked coldly, his words snapping John out of his thoughts. ¡°Oh I see, you are the ones who sent these youths into the realm to ughter ours,¡± he growled angrily.


    The man leading the unknown group frowned at the Elders words, and gazed at the group of thirty youths with disappointed anger. He could tell that the best had not escaped.


    ¡°If you know who we are, you know it would be wise to oblige,¡± the man barked back coldly.


    ¡°This defensive formation ensures our safety within,¡± the alliance elder replied, ¡°you have no power to make demands here.¡±


    While the group outside the formation was stronger, the formidable formations set up before the realm had opened had been done for situations like this. Even the powerful group of enemy leaders had to stay cautious around it.


    The unknown man grit his teeth in frustration, and gazed at the thirty youths for a moment before gazing back at the alliance elders.


    ¡°I am willing to negotiate for their release,¡± the man replied, indicating that he was willing to pay a price. The elders expressions lit up slightly, and they gathered together for a moment to discuss.


    ¡°Fine, a bargain then,¡± the leading elder replied after his discussion with the other elders. ¡°What will you offer for these youths of yours?¡±


    ¡°I am willing to offer-¡°


    ¡°Gahhhh!¡±


    A pained cry boomed out, interrupting the man. Everyone looked over towards the sound, and their eyes widened as they spotted John holding the severed arm of one of the youths, who had been the one to scream out in pain.


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± both the alliance elder and enemy elder asked angrily. John gazed at the enemy elder for a moment before his gaze shifted towards the nearby alliance elder.


    ¡°I already told you what¡¯s going to happen to these youths,¡± John replied calmly. ¡°These youths are not your concern. Besides, every single person in the Forbidden Alliance only cares about themselves. They would never be willing to ept a losing trade, and so whatever deal you agree to, our Alliance will be on the losing end.¡±


    ¡°You¡­.who do you think you are!¡± The alliance elder boomed out angrily, incensed at such disrespect from an alliance disciple.


    Ignoring the elder, John gazed to the side and spotted Adam, and gestured for him to approach. Adam did so, and John raised an eyebrow in surprise as he watched Kadin follow closely behind with his head down, like that of a servant.


    John stared at Kadin for a moment as the two arrived, and could clearly tell that Adam had ced some sort of ve-contact on Kadins soul. He nodded in approval at Adams actions.


    ¡°So much for a genius¡¯s pride,¡± John mocked Kadin, who didn¡¯t say anything back as if he could only speak when instructed to, before he gazed back at Adam.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask for details about thister, but for now, would you be able to make a formation that blocks sight and divine sense around this area¡­namely from the eyes of that man and those behind him?¡± John asked as he nced at the distant man.


    ¡°Normally no. That man is very powerful¡­but this formation around us already in ce and with Kadins help, I should be able to. Why?¡± Adam replied.


    ¡°Because I want those who were wronged to take their revenge, but they won¡¯t do so with the enemy elders watching, as they¡¯ll be scared of retaliation,¡± John exined his thoughts.


    ¡°Ah. Sure, I¡¯ll get to work right away,¡± Adam replied.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary,¡± a nearby alliance youth replied after listening to their conversation. John nced over to the youth, and raised an eyebrow in surprise as he saw the angered yet resolved faces of many of the youths in the crowd.


    ¡°You showed me what true strength is, and hiding in fear will never allow me to follow in your footsteps,¡± the youth replied firmly as his gaze shifted towards one of the enemy youths.


    ¡°That bastard killed my sister, and if I didn¡¯t take this opportunity for revenge, then she died for nothing. I¡¯m done being scared, and I¡¯m done being intimidated. Only by following your ways will I be able to obtain the strength to protect those around me. I may die this way, but you¡¯ve shown me that this is the only true way forward in the cultivation world¡± the youth continued as he began to walk over towards the enemy youth.


    John was surprised to hear such words from the youth, but nodded his head in approval.


    ¡°This is the way a cultivator should act,¡± he replied with approval.


    As if stirred by the words of the youth, many other youths started to walk over to the enemy youths, their intentions clear. The enemy youths began to beg for mercy, but those pleas fell on deaf ears.


    ¡°Stop this instant,¡± the alliance Elder boomed out, his rage fully ignited, ¡°or I¡¯ll make you all stop!¡±


    The youths paused for a moment, but noticed John slowly approach the Elder and stand firmly between them and the elder


    ¡°You can all continue. I¡¯ll ensure your safety,¡± John said loudly as he gazed defiantly at the elder before him.


    ¡°You¡¯ve clearly gone mad. As if they would believe such a preposterous thing,¡± the elder replied with cold anger, but that anger was reced with surprise as the youths confined to approach the enemy youths, almost as if they believed John¡¯s words.


    Cried pains flooded the area as the youths began to vent their frustrations, and avenge their fallen friend and family.


    ¡°Impudence!¡± The elder roared. His face scrunched up as his anger set him over the edge, and he shed towards John to end this matter swiftly.


    A small smirk appeared on John¡¯s face as his Qi began to circte, but he stopped as an old man suddenly appeared before him and the elder, and stopped the elders fist with a single finger.


    The elderly man had a long gray beard, and many wrinkles around his eyes, revealing his long age.


    ¡°Now, now. Surely you weren¡¯t about to attack one of our disciples, Elder Wenge,¡± the old man chastised the elder, who quickly retreated in fear and bowed his head in respect.


    ¡°Alliance Head!¡± The elder called out respectfully, before gesturing towards John. ¡°This child was about to-¡°


    ¡°I know what he was doing,¡± the elderly man replied before shifting his gaze towards John. He inspected him for a moment before a small smile appeared on his face.


    ¡°The young truly are bold,¡± the elderly man said to John. ¡°But perhaps boldness is what our alliance needs most at the moment. You may continue.¡±

 Chapter 735 Alliance Head

    ¡°But¡­.Alliance Head. Surely this isn¡¯t the wisest path forward,¡± the nearby elder spoke up, expressing his disapproval of what was happening.


    ¡°Then what would the wisest path forward be?¡± the Alliance Head asked curiously.


    ¡°Perhaps¡­perhaps it would be best to ept the offer from Daoist Bloodme,¡± the elder suggested. ¡°Allowing this to happen could lead to grave consequences.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? And what do you think, Daoist Bloodme?¡± the Alliance Head asked loudly towards the distant man, who¡¯s name was Daoist Bloodme, a high-ranking member of the Forbidden Alliance.


    ¡°Your subordinate is correct,¡± Daoist Bloodme replied coldly, incensed at everything that had happened so far. ¡°If you do not hand over our youths, the consequences will be too great for your Alliance to bear,¡± he threatened.


    ¡°Consequences? You clearly intended on wiping out all our disciples within the realm, which is nothing less than a deration of war. Had your n seeded, our Alliance would have been crippled for thousands of years toe, but it seems as though fate is quite unpredictable, and the opposite seems to have urred,¡± the Alliance Head replied calmly, yet with a slight undertone of amusement in his voice as he smiled lightly at Daoist Bloodme.


    ¡°Are you dering war then?¡± Daoist Bloodme replied coldly, his eyes narrowed with murderous intent.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard some rumors as ofte,¡± the Alliance Head said as he stared at Daoist Bloodme and the other powerful cultivators behind him, which contained Humans, Monsters, and Barbarians. ¡°It seems as though some unfortunate losses urred for all three of your powers recently.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Daoist Bloodme replied calmly, however the miniscule facial twitches on some of the cultivators behind him did not go unnoticed by the Alliance Head.


    ¡°Is that so? Then I suppose the news I¡¯ve received of one of your Ancient Elders perishing is not true. Some of the rumors even included the Monster King and one of the Barbarian Warchiefs meeting an untimely demise. A pity that the rumors are apparently false though. That would have been very good news for us,¡± the Alliance Head mused out loud, his words clearly mocking Daoist Bloodmes lie.


    Daoist Bloodmes mouth twitched slightly upon hearing the Alliance Head¡¯s mocking words


    ¡°As you said, nothing but rumors,¡± Daoist Bloodme replied, although internally he was incensed. The news of those three dying had been kept quite secretive, as it was a massive blow to thebat prowess of all three powers. However, it had been leaked, revealing that the Honorable Alliance had quite an impressive ability to obtain secretive information, through spies or some other method.


    ¡°You can leave now. I have matters to take care of,¡± the Alliance Head said dismissively, as if the conversation had been concluded. Daoist Bloodmes face darkened upon hearing this.


    ¡°I already told you the consequences will be too much for your Alliance to bear if you do not-¡± Daoist Bloodme said, but his words cut off as the Alliance Head¡¯s gaze narrowed, as if he were done dealing with pleasantries.


    ¡°It seems as though our Alliance has been too peaceful and amodating over thest few thousand years,¡± the Alliance Head said coldly as he began to slowly walk in the direction of the enemy cultivators. ¡°It¡¯s been quite some time since Ist fought, but perhaps it¡¯s time to shake off the rust and let this old body of mine taste battle once more!¡±


    Daoist Bloodmes expression quickly changed from cold anger to slight fear, as if fighting the Alliance Head was not something he was willing to entertain. He grit his teeth in frustration and eventually scoffed as he began to retreat.


    ¡°Tch, you wille to regret this decision,¡± he growled before speeding off into the distance, followed by the other cultivators behind him. Everyone gathered watched in shock as the enemy force left just like that, unwilling to fight the Alliance Head at all.


    Even John raised an eyebrow in surprise at how the events had unfolded, and his opinion of the elderly Alliance head rose quite a bit, as he was much more to John¡¯s liking than the elder he had dealt with before.


    As the enemy force left, the enemy youths cried out with desperate pleas for help, which fell on deaf ears. The vengeful youths continued on with their acts of retaliation, and soon none of the enemy youths remained in this world.


    As that happened, the Alliance Head watched the enemy force leave, and then turned around to face the thousands of youths who stared at him with varying expressions. His cold expression instantly softened, and he now appeared like a genial old man who waspletely harmless.


    ¡°Now that that¡¯s dealt with, we can proceed with the closing of the realm ranking event,¡± he said.


    ¡°Closing of the realm rankings? What¡¯s that?¡± several of the youths asked, having never heard of it before. Even John was curious about this, as he had never heard of such a thing being mentioned before.


    The elderly Alliance Head smiled slightly at their question, and pointed towards the two massive dragon statues guarding the entrance of the realm. Two beams of Qi pierced out from his fingers onto the statues, which began to tremble as if activated by his Qi.


    Two beams of bright light then shot out of each statue towards the other, colliding in the air between them. The beams of light quickly expanded, forming a massive screen of light a hundred yards tall and wide.


    The screen of light quickly began to change as one hundred names quickly appeared on there, with numbers next to each one.


    ¡°These are the top one hundred names when ites to the amount of Jade Marks received within the realm,¡± the Alliance Head exined. ¡°While the Jade Dragon Empire might have used this list for something else, we use this list to rank our disciples.¡±


    Upon hearing this, an excited buzz instantly spread through the crowd of youths. Being a high ranked genius of the Honorable Alliance would bring many benefits and rewards, and each youth began to scour the list for their name.


    However, their scouring stopped as they all stared at the top of the list, almost unable to believe their eyes.


    Rank Three : Igris Proun : Six Thousand Jade Marks


    .


    .


    .


    Rank Two : Luth Chaster : Seven Thousand Jade Marks


    .


    .


    .


    Rank One : John Fenix : One Hundred and Seventeen Thousand Jade Marks!

 Chapter 736 Council of Elders

    Wide eyes stared the screen of light, locked onto John¡¯s name and the score next to it. Luth Chaster, the number one genius of the Honorable Alliance before John had received seven thousand Jade Marks, and yet somehow John had managed topletely overshadow that with over one hundred thousand Jade Marks.


    Even John¡¯s eyes widened slightly as he saw that score, as he had no idea it had been that high.


    ¡®When I left the Dao Transformation Realm trial my score was around twelve thousand marks, and yet I finished with over one hundred thousand¡­I guess the three dragon temples I entered gave incredible amounts of Jade Marks, but I was too distracted to even notice at the time¡­¡¯


    It was the only thing John could think of that made sense, and when thinking about it, the scores received forpleting those draconic inheritances made sense. Just reaching the first two temples half way up the stairs was almost impossible for anyone else, andpletely inheriting the dragon blood, dragon bones, and Dragon-God Shift was another thing entirely.


    The youths and Elders shifted their gazes from the distant list of youths to John, who continued to defy all logic and reasoning. Even the Honorable Alliance Head gazed closely at John with curious interest, realizing that they had a true gem on their hands.


    An idea suddenly popped into the Alliance Head¡¯s mind, but he chose not to ask it with so many around.


    ¡°It seems as though this realm entrance has brought surprise after surprise,¡± the Alliance Head spoke out once more, his gaze sweeping from John to the rest of the youths. He inspected them for a short while before he nodded his head in approval.


    ¡°The losses due to the enemy¡¯s schemes were devastating, but I can tell a transformation has urred in many of you; a transformation of willpower and talent. Many of you have improved to levels you most likely thought impossible before entering the realm, and despite the grievous losses, this realm opening has been a monumental sess for the future strength of our Alliance, of which many of you will be pirs that support it,¡± the elderly Alliance Head continued, his words causing pride to well up in those who had survived the perilous dangers from before.


    The man paused for a moment and gazed at the Jade Dragon Empire realm entrance, and waved his hand towards outwards which red with Qi for a short moment. The powerful formation that had been built by the Honorable Alliance began to fade away, closing the entrance of the Jade Dragon Empire Realm for good.


    It had been five thousand years since its previous opening, and it would most likely stay closed for a simr length of time going forward due to the immense cost of opening it. The youths felt various emotions as they watched the realm be sealed off once again, as memories of what had urred flooded back into their minds. Even John couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit emotional, as the memories of the dangers he had faced and people he had met came back to him.


    ¡°With the Jade Dragon Realm finally closed, this great step in your lives hase to an end. We will now return to Alliance City,¡± the Alliance Head said as his power red for a short moment, which activated the powerful formation beneath their feet. The formation lit up with strong spatial power which wrapped around all those standing within his domain, and after a short dy, everyone vanished from sight as the formation carried them away.


    ¡­


    In a room deep within the main building of the Honorable Alliance stood John, surrounded by a dozen powerful Elder¡¯s who inspected him quietly. After the youths had returned to Alliance City, the Alliance Head said more words and gave some instructions to the youths, before letting them venture free within the city once more.


    The Alliance Head had then requested John join him for a quick trip, which led them into the Council chambers of the Honorable Alliance. The Council chambers consisted of twelve of the most important and powerful Elders of the Alliance, of which the Alliance Head was one.


    As they had arrived, the other eleven Elders were already waiting, seated on their throne-like seats facing inwards in a circle. The other Elders nodded their heads in respect towards the Alliance Head as he had arrived, but did nothing more, indicating a bit of the power structure to John. While the Alliance Head was most likely the most respected leader of the group, he was not the sole decision maker when it came to the Honorable Alliance, which was instead the role of the council to decide on important decisions.


    ¡°I had doubts regarding the intel we had just received,¡± one of the Elders spoke up as she eyed John up and down; a middle aged woman with long brown hair and mature yet alluring face. She wore an elegant and tight fitting purple robe, which only served to further entuate her alluring charm, ¡°but it appears as though there is some credibility to it after all. This boy is rather remarkable.¡±


    ¡°And also arrogant,¡± another Elder scoffed, clearly displeased with John already. The Elder was a man who appeared to be in his sixties, with a bushy gray beard and a bald head. John gazed at the Elder with a curious expression, as he didn¡¯t know why he was already antagonistic with him, as he had never met this Elder before.


    ¡°Stop pouting just because he defied your son¡¯s instructions,¡± the alluring woman chastised the Elder, who shot her an angry re.


    ¡®His son¡¯s instructions? Ah, so that Elder who tried to stop me from before is this man¡¯s son. No wonder he¡¯s so¡­upset,¡¯ John mused internally.


    ¡°We¡¯re not here to argue or fight,¡± the Alliance Head spoke out, his voice calm and genial. The two other Elders held their words they were about to say, and let the respected Alliance Head speak. ¡°We¡¯re here to learn the truth about what happened, and about this child,¡± he continued as he smiled at John.


    ¡°Come now, entertain this old man with the story of what happened inside the realm,¡± he said to John.


    ¡°Luth already exined everything clearly,¡± John replied calmly, ¡°I have nothing more to add.¡±


    ¡°Impudence,¡± the angry Elder from before chimed up, but held his tongue again as the Alliance Head raised his hand for silence. The bald-headed Elder leaned back on his throne-like chair, staring at John with displeasure.


    ¡°In that case, I won¡¯t press for more details,¡± the Alliance Head replied. ¡°Instead, I have just one question. Do you wish to be the Prime Disciple of our Honorable Alliance?¡± he asked.

 Chapter 737 Prime Disciple

    ¡°Prime Disciple?¡± What exactly is it?¡± John asked before epting anything.


    The expressions of the rest of the Elder¡¯s flickered, while the bald-headed man leaned forward and mmed his fist down on his armchair in protest, which shook the chamber for a short moment.


    ¡°Alliance Head! Surely not! How can we elevate such a disrespectful disciple to Prime Disciple!¡± he protested angrily. ¡°We have not had a Prime Disciple in over ten thousand years, and I do not see how this boy is worthy of such a position! Not only that, but we hardly know anything about this boy. Surely we cannot grant him the position!¡±


    ¡°Elder Bluestar, we all read the report. Not only did this boy save thousands of lives within the realm by defeating Asuros, but he also received the highest Jade Mark total in history by arge amount. That alone is worthy of such a position, but you¡¯re letting your anger interfere with your judgment,¡± the female Elder spoke up, clearly on John¡¯s side.


    ¡°Elder Clearheart, I¡¯m not doubting the boy¡¯s abilities, but his character,¡± Elder Bluestar replied as he stared coldly at John. ¡°A Prime Disciple carries the entire reputation of the Honorable Alliance on his back. Such responsibility cannot be granted to one so disrespectful. Perhaps if he apologies to my son, then-¡°


    ¡°Disrespectful?¡± John chimed up before Elder Bluestar could finish his words. ¡°I made a promise to my fellow Alliance members. Members I fought and bled with. Members who lost family and friends within to those invaders. Their vengeance was something they deserved, and your son tried to deny them of that. That was not something I would allow and is not something I will apologize for.¡±


    ¡°Impudence!¡± Elder Bluestar boomed out as he stood up from his seat.


    ¡°I see that word is a favorite of your family,¡± John replied calmly, as Elder Bluestars son had said the same thing earlier.


    ¡°You dare to mock me, boy?¡± Elder Bluestar boomed as his aura pressed down on John, attempting to force him to his knees.


    John felt an incredibly powerful pressure press down on him, and his own power began to re as he resisted it. Compared to the pressure he felt on the ancient dragon steps, this was nothing. In fact, John felt his own anger begin to grow at Elder Bluestar¡¯s actions, and was about to erupt with his own power in response, while Elder Bluestar¡¯s face trembled slightly, surprised that John was able to resist at all.


    ¡°Sit down!¡± a calm yet powerful voice boomed out,ing from the Alliance Head. Elder Bluestar¡¯s mouth trembled for a moment, but he obliged and sat down without saying another word, while his aura retracted.


    The Alliance Head stared at Elder Bluestar for a moment, clear displeasure on his face.


    ¡°This matter is a council matter to decide upon,¡± the Alliance Head said with great displeasure in his voice. ¡°Do not disgrace yourself by taking action against a junior of our alliance again, or don¡¯t me me for stripping you of your position on this council.¡±


    Elder Bluestar¡¯s face twitched as he heard the Alliance Heads warnings, and he fell silent to not press the issue further.


    ¡°Pshh, you can¡¯t even force a disciple in the Heaven Tribtion Realm to his knees, and yet you have the face to stay on this council? Quite embarrassing, if you ask me,¡± Elder Clearheart chimed up, clear mockery in her voice. ¡°Your family has managed to hold a position on this council for generations, but perhaps it¡¯s time we change that.¡±


    Elder Bluestar grit his teeth in furthered anger, but said nothing in reply, not wanting to make his situation any worse.


    The Alliance Head shot her a warning nce, causing her to pipe down as well. However, an amused smile lingered on her face, clearly pleased with taking Elder Bluestar down a few notches.


    ¡°You asked what a Prime Disciple is?¡± the Alliance Head said to John now that the two boisterous Elder had been silenced. ¡°The Prime Disciple is a paramount position, given to only the most promising of heavenly talents. As Elder Bluestar mentioned previously, there has not been a Prime Disciple for quite some time. In fact¡­there have only been a handful of Prime Disciples in the history of the Honorable Alliance¡­and you should be quite familiar with one of them,¡± the Alliance Head said.


    ¡°I¡¯m familiar with a Prime Disciple?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Oh but of course,¡± the Alliance Head said with a smile, ¡°As he was none other than your Sect Leader, Daoist Thunderzen!¡±


    ¡°What? Sect Leader Thunderzen was a Prime Disciple?¡± John asked with much surprise, not expecting to hear that at all.


    ¡°He was indeed, many years ago when he was a young man just like yourself,¡± the Alliance Head replied. ¡°However, for some reason he gave up his Prime Disciple position, and never exined the reasoning to the Alliance, and instead ventured out to make his own sect, which you are now a part of.¡±


    John fell silent as he heard this, as he could think of the most likely reason. The discovery of the prophecy of Asura¡¯s, which made Sect Leader Thunderzen move to the Yuan Continent in search of eventually finding John.


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t exined what a Prime Disciple is,¡± John said to the Alliance Head.


    ¡°Ah, I suppose I haven¡¯t,¡± the Alliance Head replied. ¡°The Prime Disciple is just as the name indicates, the top disciple of the Honorable Alliance. Just like the top disciple of any power, you will be showered with rewards and treasure beyond your imagination-¡°


    ¡°Why are you dragging this out?¡± Elder Clearheart chimed in, slightly annoyed.


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to entice him with all the rewards that will be bestowed to him,¡± the Alliance Head replied with a calm smile, not displeased at her interruption at all.


    ¡°I know you¡­we¡¯ll be waiting here all day if we allow you to ramble on about the position,¡± Elder Clearheart replied before looking at John.


    ¡°The Prime Disciple position gives you power equal to one of us council members, and also makes you the next in line to be Head of our Honorable Alliance when the timees. As you can see, it¡¯s not a position given out lightly,¡± she exined clearly and sinctly.


    John raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, as he could finally understand why the Elders had been so surprised to hear the Alliance Head bring up the position, and why Elder Bluestar had protested against it so vehemently.


    ¡°It¡¯s as Elder Clearheart has exined,¡± the Alliance Head spoke up again. ¡°What do you say?¡±


    John fell silent as he thought it all over, and eventually made up his mind.


    ¡°No thanks! I¡¯ll pass!¡±

 Chapter 738 Reasons for Refusal

    The council chamber fell silent as all the Elder¡¯s stared at John with great surprise, not ever expecting him to decline such a life-changing offer. The Elders all stared at John with various expressions, from confusion, to scrutiny, and even amusement.


    ¡°Hahaha,¡± boisterousughter boomed out, recing the silence within the room. John nced sideways at Elder Bluestar, while the other Elder¡¯s also nced at him, mostly with expressions of disapproval.


    ¡°You see, this child is not worthy of bing the Prime Disciple,¡± Elder Bluestar said, clearly pleased with John¡¯s answer. ¡°Any sane disciple would jump at this opportunity and beg for the chance to prove themselves worthy of the Prime Disciple position, and yet he outright declines. Not only is he full of disrespect, he¡¯s also quite stupid. Truly not worthy!¡± he rambled on with a pleased smile on his face.


    ¡°Daoist Bluestar, if you speak a single time more, I¡¯ll remove you from this chamber myself,¡± the Alliance Head boomed out with great displeasure, his words instantly silencing Elder Bluestar¡¯sughter. However, an amused smirk remained on his face as he stared at John as if he were staring at a fool.


    The Alliance Head red at Daoist Bluestar for a short moment before looking at John.


    ¡°Child¡­are you sure of your answer?¡± he asked sincerely. ¡°While the Prime Disciple position has many responsibilities, it also has rewards to match. You will be passing up on a monumental opportunity.¡±


    ¡°I understand, Alliance Head,¡± John replied respectfully, as he truly did respect the Alliance Head, who had shown him nothing but kindness and courtesy thus far, and even entrusted him with the Prime Disciple position. ¡°But my answer remains the same!¡±


    ¡°A pity,¡± the Alliance Head sighed with obvious disappointment. ¡°I won¡¯t try to change your mind, but could you at least provide this old man some reason for your answer?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± John replied, as he nced at the Alliance Head and then several of the other Elders in the room. ¡°While I truly appreciate the offer, I must decline due to one main reason. This Prime Disciple position will require me to devote my life to this Alliance, which is something that I cannot do. While I am part of the Alliance and would assist it when needed, my goals and cultivation pathway will eventually lead me away from it. As such, I would only tread the same path as Sect Leader Thunderzen, and eventually give up the position.¡±


    Many of the Elder¡¯s raised an eyebrow at John¡¯s words, as his words were quite presumptuous, despite his respectful tone. The Honorable Alliance was one of the strongest powers in the entire world, and for someone who tread the Honorable cultivation pathway, it was the obvious choice for climbing the cultivationdder.


    However, his words seemed to indicate that his goalsid above and beyond the Honorable Alliance, which many of the Elders did not think possible.


    A soft scoff drifted out from Elder Bluestar as he heard this, but he knew better than to say anything. The Alliance Head stared at John for quite some time in silence before sighing once more.


    ¡°If this is your choice, I will respect that,¡± the Alliance Head finally conceded. ¡°It is enough that you have pledged your support for the Alliance moving forward. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be counting on you in the future,¡± he said with a small smile on his face.


    ¡°And I will help the Alliance however I can when called upon,¡± John replied respectfully, and after a short moment of contemtion, spoke up once more.


    ¡°Before I leave, I would like to make one request, although I understand if it is not epted,¡± John said to the Alliance Head.


    ¡°Speak,¡± The Alliance Head nodded his head at John¡¯s words, willing to hear the request.


    ¡­


    Later that night, John sat in an empty room located within the Honorable Alliance headquarters. The Honorable Alliance headquarters was a massive spherical building, which housed tens of thousands of rooms within, all serving different purposes.


    After his meeting with the Council of Elders had concluded, the Alliance Head offered him one of the best rooms for as long as he wanted. John had naturally epted the offer, as he had not managed to rest a single time since leaving the Dao Transformation trial realm.


    Not only that, but he had not had a singr moment to consolidate anyprehensions from his various trials and battles, which he needed to address urgently. Battleprehensions and insights into Daos were fleeting things, and if not grasped quickly after urring, would fade into obscurity and be wastedpletely.


    As such, John needed to urgently meditate on recent events, and the finest cultivation room the Honorable Alliance had to offer was a very suitable location for that. The Alliance Head had escorted John to this room himself, another sign of the great respect and kindness he had shown towards John.


    Their discussions as they walked through the Alliance Headquarters ranged from the Jade Dragon Realm to Elder Bluestar, and eventually ceased as they arrived at John¡¯s temporary room. The Alliance Head said a few more words to John before leaving, at which point he had entered the luxurious room.


    The room had a soft-white interior design, with ornate furnishings and luxurious amenities, and was also quiterge. Like his abodes back in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, it also had a meditation room dedicated solely for cultivation. The room was surrounded by powerful formation barriers which blocked all sound interferences, making it perfectly secluded for meditation.


    Not only that, but there were powerful formations surrounding the room that converted spirit crystals into misty Qi, making the Qi within the room much thicker than normal. Such formations were incredibly hard to make and also cost a fortune to operate, but such an expense was something the Honorable Alliance could afford.


    John sat in the very center of the room in a meditative position, and calmed his mind as he breathed in and out deeply several times while he nned his meditation session.


    ¡°I have several things to focus on tonight,¡± John mused softly. ¡°First, I will address my cultivation, then my Daoprehensions, and finally, my Dragon-God Shift inheritance. After tonight, my strength should skyrocket to another level once more!¡±

 Chapter 739 Successive Breakthroughs

    After figuring out the order of what to focus on, John fully calmed his mind as he linked his divine sense to his spatial realm and the massive pce within. He had figured very early on that doing so would put him in a perfect meditative trance, enhancing his meditation sessions greatly.


    A perfect meditative trance was something cultivators could only dream of, and most only experienced it a handful of times in their lives. However, John was able to call upon such a state whenever he wanted, which was just another testament to the heaven-defying nature of his Dantian-Artifact inheritance.


    His mind fell into a perfectly calm and focused state as he did so, and the memories of his journey through the Jade Dragon Realm flooded back into his mind. His battles through the realm and against heavenly tribtion opponents, powerful beasts and even demons, his harrowing journey through the Dao Transformation Realm, battle against Asuros¡­


    All of these memories flooded into his mind as each and every single battle was reyed repeatedly. As he focused on these battles, it felt as if he were truly back in time, participating in those battles once more.


    The feeling of his Qi rushing through his meridians, his body and weapons unleashing devastating attacks, the Dao¡¯s infused in his battle arts, his breakthroughs of insight as his instincts were pushed to their very limits.


    All these memories, feelings, and insights flooded back into his mind, while his mind and soul worked arduously to digest andprehend. These increasing insights andprehensions allowed John to increasingly alter the very nature of his Qi bit by bit, bing more and more profound as the insights to the next realm were slowly revealed to him.


    His Qi began to circte within his dantian and meridians with ever increasing intensity, bing more and more enhanced with each cirction. His body began to thrum with increasing power as his Qi began to gradually shift and umte back into his dantian, attempting to push it over the edge to the next realm.


    This process increased for quite some time as John also drew on the excess Qi he had absorbed from the Jade Dragon Blood, which was one of the reasons he was able to attempt this process at the time. Breaking through to the next realm required not onlyprehensions to alter the very nature of one¡¯s Qi, but also a vast energy source to push the dantian to the next level.


    The Jade Dragon blood that he had absorbed had a monstrous amount of Qi that he was unable to process yet, and a breakthrough was the perfect time to put it to use.


    He had just broken through to the Early Heaven Tribtion Realm roughly two months ago, and had immediately stepped into the Mid Heaven Tribtion Realm right after. Such quick sessive breakthroughs was beyond risky as it could create foundational instability and ws, and even John had expected to have to wait at least half a year to attempt to break through to the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm.


    However, he had constantly battled on the edge of death multiple times afterwards, with the powerful beasts and Demon in the Dao Transformation Realm, and Asuros shortly afterwards. These battles had firmed hisprehensions to a level far beyond what was required to break through, which minimized the risks of foundational ws already. While normal cultivators might not be able to absorb all theprehensions effectively, John¡¯s monstrous talent and soul allowed him to fully grasp andprehend everything that was avable to him.


    Secondly, the Jade Dragon inheritance of blood and bone had also transformed his body to another level entirely, enhancing it greatly and washing away any source of foundational ws from breaking through too quickly once again.


    Lastly, his Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique was profound beyondpare, which allowed him to cultivate at a very rapid pace while also minimizing the risk of ws.


    With all three of these thingsbined, breaking through once again was something that was possible, but only to someone as monstrous as John. Both essence Qi and body Qi surged through his meridians and dantian, as John pressed both over the edge.


    Ever since ascending to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, his essence cultivation and body cultivation seemed to be much more intricately linked, making it much harder for him to push his body cultivation forward alone like he had done previously.


    Thrum!


    Thrum!


    Thurm!


    Thrumming sounds continued to boom from his body like a purring beast, and sometimeter, a muffled boom exploded from within, at which point the thrumming died down and silence returned to the room once more.


    John¡¯s eyes calmly opened and his divine sense red as he methodically inspected his body, and a small yet satisfied smile appeared on his face shortly after as his cultivation for both essence and body had been sessfully pushed to the Late Heaven Tribtion realm with zero foundational ws whatsoever.


    Each breakthrough was normally a moment for jubnt celebration, but John¡¯s eyes closed once more as his mind returned to its meditative state, as his work was not yet done.


    His thoughts shifted to the final temples of the realm, and the inheritances he had received within.


    ¡°Dragon Blood¡­Dragon Bones¡­A Draconic Transformation¡­¡± he mused.


    The conversation with the ancient Jade Dragon spirit also flooded into his mind, being reyed over and over.


    ¡°Power!¡±


    ¡°Strength!¡±


    ¡°We Jade Dragons¡­are the Dragons of pure physical might¡­the strongest of all Dragons!¡±


    These words echoed like a drum in his mind, while the feelings of absorbing the dragon blood and dragon bone returned again as well. John had already stepped into the Dao Adept stage for Power, Destruction, and Annihtion, which was the second stage in terms of Daoprehensions. His Lightning Daoprehensions at this point had been the furthest along, seemingly almost ready to break through to the next level, but needed just a bit more insight. Now however, his Dao of Power had surged to the sameprehension level, as if ready to transform once again.


    Lilian had exined that the Dao Adept stage was when one roughlyprehended five percent of the Dao, and at that level hisprehensions had transformed to a higher level¡­the Dao Adept stage.


    However, even though he had been at the Dao Adept stage at the time for the Dao of Power, the Dao of Power within the dragon blood and bones had almost been too much to bear.


    The overwhelming Dao of Power had been prevalent and almost overwhelming when he had absorbed both, and when he had activated the Dragon-God Shift for the first time, that Dao of Power had surged through his body again.


    All these events had been like a hammer mming down on a Dao of Power nail, driving theprehensions of the Dao deeper and deeper into his mind, etching it on his soul. The Dao of Power in his mind seemed hazy, as if he were looking through a thick fog to see the truth on the other side.


    Like his Qi revolutions shortly before, these Dao of Powerprehensions surged through his mind like an ever revolving cycle, each passing further reinforcing theprehensions of the previous stage and building on top of it.


    Each passing seemed to push hisprehensions deeper into the fog, closer and closer to the truth lingering just beyond. This loop continued over and over an unknown amount of times, when all of a sudden the buildingprehensions seemed to finally be clear as the fog was brushed aside, revealing the truth of the Dao of Power to John.


    At the same time, a heavenly aura red from his body for a moment, as if the heavens itself had opened up for a brief instant before fading away, while a monstrously powerful aura of the Dao of Power red from his body for an instant before being withdrawn within once more.


    John¡¯s eyes calmly opened once more as he inspected his breakthrough, which flooded his body with incredible power.


    ¡°I have stepped over the threshold and into the next Daoprehension stage for the Dao of Power,¡± he mused softly.¡­¡±the Dao Expert stage.¡±

 Chapter 740 Incredible Gains

    The discussion he had with his returned to his mind, when they had discussed Dao stages.


    ¡°ording to master, the Dao Expert stage is when oneprehends roughly twenty percent of the Dao,¡± John mused as he inspected his gains.


    The Daos were thews of the Heavens, andprehending the Daos was a way to utilize thatw. The Dao of power was a high level Dao, as it was far more abstract than the elements or simr Daos.


    The Dao of power was obscure and intangible, but was also present within everything in existence. By learning more about the Dao of power, John was able to tap into thatw to augment nearly everything to a higher level.


    ¡°My body, battle arts, even my weapons themselves¡­everything I use can be augmented by the Dao of power to be more potent¡­more powerful. It¡¯s all epassing, and therefore incredibly useful forbat specifically,¡± he mused.


    ¡°Just by infusing the Dao of power into my attacks, they should be far more powerful than before.Speaking of which¡­¡±


    Thinking about the Dao of power shifted his thoughts to the Dragon-God Shift, which he had briefly used one time before.


    ¡°When I used it the first time, I could tell that I was missing someprehensions when it came to the Dao of power, which is one of the reasons I could not use it effectively. The dragon said Jade Dragons are the dragons of physical might and strength, and so the Dao of power is most likely extremely important for this body battle art.¡±


    A Jade piece suddenly appeared in his hands, which was the Jade piece gifted by the dragon spirit that contained the secrets of the Dragon-God Shift.


    John¡¯s divine sense entered the Jade piece and read over the contents within, while information regarding the pseudo-transformation body battle art flooded his mind.


    John could tell that there were parts not yet revealed to him, and so he focused on what he could ess within the Jade piece at the moment.


    ¡°Power is the mind, the body, and all of creation. Power is everything, and power is nothing. Power is real, and power is false. Creation bes Qi, bes power, bes everything, or nothing. Power bes the Dragon, and the Dragon bes¡­-¡°


    The words within had seemed hazy and unintelligible the first time he had read it, like they were the ramblings of a madman. Now however, those rambling words made much more sense to him, and John¡¯s eyes lit up as he understood more of what the Dragon-God Shift was trying to say.


    The first part of what was avable for him to read were the ramblings, while the second part was a veryplicated series of instructions on how to activate the battle art.


    John had ignored the first part before as he couldn¡¯t make sense of it, but now it made more sense to him.


    ¡°The first part teaches me the feeling of the Dragon-God Shift, and the second part the instructions of how to use it. Only by having both mastered can one use this battle art effectively. Let¡¯s give it another try.¡±


    As he began to follow the instructions on how to activate the Dragon-God Shift, his mind reyed the rambling words regarding power, and he fell into another trance as the two seemed to resonate and build on one another.


    A growing sound began to boom from within his body, like a heartbeat growing ever louder, while a draconian aura of power and might began to radiate from his body as his body suddenly shifted and changed.


    The sound and aura grew stronger, and John roared loudly, almost as if he were unable to control the instinct to do so. The loud roar was like that of a dragons, which violently shook the meditation chamber he was within.


    A glowing greenish gold aura surrounded him, while green scales had appeared on his cheeks, shoulders, arms, chest, and legs. Even his eyes had changed, bing bright gold like a glowing sun.


    At the same time, a power he felt only when using his Asura Transformation flooded through his body, filling it to the brim with overwhelming physical might.


    John closely inspected his current state for a moment, and smiled wide, fully content with its power.


    ¡°The might of this battle art is almost on par with the Asura Transformation, and is only a small bit weaker! But the best part is the burden on my body is less than when I use the Asura Transformation Incredible!¡± He eximed excitedly.


    John basked in the power of dragons for a short moment, feeling the battle art and bing ustomed to it. After bing used to using it, his aura faded away, and his body returned to normal as the scales on his body disappeared.


    ¡°Incredible. Absolutely incredible!¡± John eximed, beyond ted with his progress in just one night.


    ¡°The most important part of the Dragon-God shift is not its strength, but is the fact that I can use it at the same time as my Asura Transformation. Using both at the same time would have been impossible before, but after the changes to my body thanks to the dragon blood and dragon bones I absorbed and fused with, I should be able to handle using both at the same time without dying!¡±


    John¡¯s thoughts shifted to his bloodline ability, and the thought ofbining all three appeared in his mind.


    ¡°If I used all three at the same time, just how strong would I be?¡± John mused before wising up a bit. ¡°But would my body even be able to handle such a burden?¡±


    The strain of using all three at the same time sent a shiver down his spine, as he could imagine himself exploding like a balloon from the power surging within his body. He shook his head several times, shaking the image from his mind.


    ¡°I should only ever do such a thing unless there is no other option, but regardless, tonight has been fruitful beyond my wildest dreams. If I were to face myself from just a month ago, I would win in less than ten seconds, and Asuros would not be able to withstand a single attack of mine. My strength has soared to levels even I don¡¯t know where it¡¯s at right now¡­and there¡¯s only one way to find out where my strength lies.¡±


    The image of a certain person appeared in his mind, as well as thoughts of revenge for the hellish training she had put him through while a small smile appeared on his face as well.


    ¡°I wonder¡­would I be able to handle her in battle as I am right now? Only one way to find out.¡±

 Chapter 741 Message From Young Master Caz

    John stayed in his room for the night, consolidating his gains and improving on them slightly. His gains had been immense and would take time to fully digest, but John was more than happy with his progress.


    After finishing his cultivation session, John walked out into the main area of his lodging, which was quite spacious and luxurious. A massive window overlooked the sprawling city, which looked more like an empire than a city. Towering buildings, shimmeringkes, bustling market districts, and flying beasts filled his view, which made the city feel alive and vibrant, like an empire in its prime.


    After taking in the picturesque view, John cleaned himself off, taking the rare opportunity to do so properly. While cultivators could use their Qi to clean their bodies at any time, nothing substituted for or rxed as much as taking a warm bath. The draconic armor that had been worn for thest few weeks was put away, while John soaked himself in the massive bathtub.


    ¡°Ahhhh,¡± John sighed out deeply, falling into apletely rxed state. ¡°Even the water is more refreshing than normal, as if it has been infused with the Dao of Rxation. I¡¯m not sure what they did, but I could definitely get used to this,¡± he joked as he rxed and then washed up thoroughly.


    Steam flowed from the washroom as John left it, when all of a sudden knocking came from his door. His Qi red as he dried himself off and put his on his Heavenly Lightning Sect War Hall robes, while favored him color wise, but had be too weak to withstand his battle levels.


    ¡°I suppose I¡¯ll have to get some stronger clothes,¡± John mused as he walked to the door and opened it.


    ¡°Greetings, Young Master John,¡± a middle-aged man greeted with a small bow on the other side. The man had two long sideburns, a thin mustache, and wore a butler like outfit, making him look quite unique in the cultivation world.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± John asked, as he had never seen this man in his life before.


    ¡°Young Master Caz from our Mystic Trade Hall has instructed me to inform you that he is in Five-River Freeport, and has business to discuss with you once you can make your way there,¡± the middle-aged man replied.


    ¡®Caz? Ah, I suppose I did make that tea leaf deal with him some time back. It must be about the profits regarding that. If he sent someone like this with this much urgency, it must have sold pretty well,¡¯ John mused internally.


    ¡°Five-River Freeport? What..or where is that?¡± John asked, as he had never heard of the ce before.


    ¡°Five-River Freeport is a neutral city located roughly forty thousand miles away from here, where traders all over the continent gather¡± the middle-aged man replied as a scroll appeared in his hand.


    John took the scroll and unfurled it, which contained a detailed map of thend surrounding Alliance City, and how to navigate towards the city. John inspected it for a moment before putting it away.


    ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll be sure to visit soon,¡± John replied, at which the man bowed his head slightly again before leaving. John watched the man leave down the hallway before he closed the door once more. For the man to get ess to a building such as the Alliance headquarters, he, or Caz, must have a few connections.


    ¡°I suppose I can go there after I finish up here,¡± John mused as he prepared to leave the room. ¡°Getting the spirit crystals from the tea leaf sale should help me obtain more cultivation resources and battle arts, which are always needed. Not only that, but I need to get a new scythe, and a city specialized in trade sounds like a good ce to get a high-quality one.¡±


    While getting ready to leave, another knock at his door appeared, and a familiar set of auras lingered on the other side, telling him immediately who it was.


    ¡°John! So this is where you¡¯ve been hiding thest day!¡± Miko boomed out as he quickly entered the room once the door was opened. Chase and Adam followed behind as well as they entered the room, inspecting it as well.


    ¡°Not fair! We had to sleep in shitholes, while you stayed in this luxurious oasis? The Honorable Alliance really isn¡¯t fair!¡± Miko eximed with great displeasure, making sure to huff once or twice.


    ¡°Miko¡­you¡¯re not even part of the Honorable Alliance,¡± John replied, as Miko had clearly forgotten this fact.


    ¡°Ah¡­you¡¯re right!¡± Miko replied as he remembered this, but frowned once more as he continued his ramblings. ¡°Still, we¡¯re honored guests of the Alliance, guests that saved the lives of your weak disciples. Surely we deserve better treatment!¡±


    John rolled his eyes at Miko¡¯s familiar antics, as he was clearly over exaggerating. There was no way the Alliance would house honored guests who had helped out so greatly in ¡®shitholes,¡¯ as Miko had put it.


    ¡°So¡­what brings you guys here?¡± John asked curiously, as he could tell the three hade for him for a specific reason.


    ¡°Oh yeah,e with us. We¡¯ve reserved the finest restaurant in the city to eat and celebrate!¡± Miko exined, clearly excited to taste fine foods and drinks. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    John was not expecting that to be the reason they hade for him, but didn¡¯t see a reason to decline. After going through such perilous dangers with his friends, a celebration seemed natural.


    ¡°Sure, lead the way,¡± John replied as he followed them out of the room. The three walked through the massive Alliance headquarter building, winding through hallways and massive chambers, finally arriving at the front entrance.


    As they were leaving, he received a mental sound transmission from a familiar source.


    ¡°Feel free to return here whenever you wish. As the number one youth of the Honorable Alliance, you are always weed here. And as for the Prime Disciple position, it is yours for the taking should you ever wish to take it,¡± the Alliance Head¡¯s voice sounded in his mind.


    John couldn¡¯t see the Alliance Head anywhere, and so he was unable to reply in kind, but he turned around and bowed his head ever so slightly, showing his respect and appreciation towards the Honorable Alliance and the Alliance Head.


    The group stopped as they saw John do this, but didn¡¯t ask questions as he quickly rejoined them and left the building.


    Hovering far above the building, two figures floated in the air, watching as John and the rest left.


    ¡°Should we have someone follow him, just to be sure of his safety?¡± Elder Clearheart asked.


    ¡°No, the child is more than capable of taking care of himself. Besides, he has someone quite capable already watching over him closely,¡± the Alliance Head replied as he watched John leave the Alliance Headquarter grounds.

 Chapter 742 Divine Dragon Restaurant

    As John and the others left through the main gates of the Alliance Headquarters, he couldn¡¯t help but stare at someone standing directly outside the gates with his head bowed. John raised an eyebrow as he inspected Kadin, the Starforge n genius, who stood there as if he were nothing but a servant.


    ¡°Follow us,¡± Adam instructed, which Kadin immediately did as he was told and followed behind, his head still bowed down to the ground.


    ¡°I have to admit, I never thought someone like Kadin would allow a ve-contract to be nted on his soul,¡± John said, although he felt no sympathy for Kadin, as this oue was the consequence of his own actions.


    ¡°What did you do to make him ept the ve-contract?¡± John asked Adam curiously.


    He could tell that Adam had matured greatly since his ¡®death¡¯ in the Jade Dragon Empire Realm. He carried himself with much more self-confidence, and no longer seemed like a miscreant childlike before.


    ¡°Nothing really,¡± Adam replied as he nced sideways at Kadin. ¡°After I was done¡­. questioning him, I was just about to kill him when he pleaded for mercy. He was the one who suggested having a ve-contract nted on him. Can you believe it? The genius of the Starforge n, willingly epting a ve-contract. How pathetic,¡± Adam spat out with disdain.


    John stared at Adam and then Kadin for a moment, not epting it to have gone like that. He would have assumed that Adam tortured him into epting it, but the truth was quite different.


    ¡°Does the Starforge n have a way to undo ve-contracts?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°Not that I¡¯m aware of,¡± Adam replied. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anything like that before. Besides, if they try to mess with the ve-contract, I¡¯ll immediately feel it and just snuff out his soul instead.¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s your n for him?¡± John asked another question.


    ¡°I¡¯ll send him back to the Starforge n, to act as a spy for me. I want to know everything about what happened to my parents, and I can think of no better way to obtain that information. In the eyes of Kadin¡¯s father and the rest of the n, he¡¯ll still be their Young Master and future n leader¡­for now,¡± Adam replied.


    ¡°That¡¯s actually not a bad n,¡± John mused, ¡°but what if they detect the soul-contract? Won¡¯t it all be for nothing then?¡±


    ¡°I doubt they¡¯d ever even think that Kadin would ept a soul-contract, so they shouldn¡¯t even look for it. Unless once looks very closely into another¡¯s soul, detecting a ve-contract is near impossible, even for someone as powerful as his father. And since I control his every action, he won¡¯t be allowed to even breathe a word of all this, so them finding out shouldn¡¯t happen,¡± Adam exined as he nced at Kadin again.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that right? You¡¯re to be my perfect dog, spying on your own family for me! How pathetic,¡± Adam asked Kadin.


    ¡°Yes, Master Adam,¡± Kadin replied quickly, as if he didn¡¯t dare upset Adam.


    The group continued to walk through the sprawling city, passing by grandiose buildings, bustling marketces, quietkes surrounded by lush parks, and more as they discussed various things, including the fact that the reservation was booked by Laia and that her, Iseria, and Iris were waiting for them there. After walking nearly a dozen miles through the city, the group stopped before a pagoda, ten stories tall.


    The pagoda had gold walls, ck and red eaves, and had ornate carvings and designs all over it, making it look very elegant and luxurious. John gazed at the building for a moment, and read the signboard above the entrance which seemed to have been hand-written by a calligraphy master.


    ¡°Divine Dragon Restaurant!¡± it read, while John nodded his head in approval at the name.


    The group walked up the smooth stairs to the top, where two well-dressed attendants stood before the front entrance.


    ¡°Do you have a reservation?¡± one of the attendants asked.


    ¡°Ah, yes. It¡¯s under Laia Celestria,¡± Miko replied.


    ¡°Ah, right this way,¡± the attendant replied hastily as she opened the door and led the group inside.


    ¡°You stay here,¡± Adam instructed Kadin, who nodded his head and stood to the side of the building silently.


    The group entered the restaurant and followed the attendant up the stairs located on the side of the sprawling restaurant floor. The restaurant interior was even more luxurious than the interior, and John started to see why it was considered the number one restaurant in the massive city. It had a darkish-candlelight ambiance within, adding to the charm.


    A rich and fragrant aroma entered his nose, making him hungry despite the fact that Heaven Tribtion cultivators did not need to eat to survive.


    ¡°Celestria? Is that Laia¡¯sst name?¡± John asked Miko curiously as they continued to talk up the stairs.


    ¡°You¡­you spent who knows how long with her, and you never knew that?¡± Miko asked in a bbergasted manner.


    ¡°I guess. I mean I just called her Laia,¡± John said as he shrugged his shoulders, while Miko stared at him as if he were stupid. ¡°I just figured herst name would be¡­Astral or something, I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°John has always been quite¡­dense,¡± Adam chimed in, not missing the opportunity to poke fun at his friend.


    ¡°You can say that again,¡± Miko agreed, at which point the two broke out intoughter. The attendant led them to the very top of the restaurant, the tenth food, which contained only several well-decorated tables.


    All the tables were empty except for one, indicating that the entire floor had been reserved by Laia. John could only wonder how expensive reserving an entire floor of the number one restaurant in Alliance City could be, but if there was anyone who could do such a thing, it was most definitely the princess of a powerful empire.


    Laia, Iris, and Iseria sat at the table, giggling andughing as they were clearly discussing something. On Laia¡¯sp was Kirii, who had changed his shape into a small-wolf like cub, and was purring contently as Laia pet him gently.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally here!¡± Iris smiled and eximed as she noticed their arrival, while Iris and Iseria smiled as well as they watched the group approach.


    ¡°Sorry it took so long, but it took forever to find this buffoon,¡± Miko stated as he nced sideways at John.


    The group quickly seated themselves, and boisterous discussions broke out as the group began to discuss various things. Everything that had happened within the realm was discussed, bringingughter, tears, sorrow, and joy into the room. At the same time, exquisite and delicious food was constantly served, which John could only admit was the best food he had ever tasted in his life.


    Drink was also served, infused with alchemy skills that even Chase had to admit was impressive, as the group merrily celebrated.


    After discussing these things for several hours, the mood was starting to quiet down, and Adam couldn¡¯t help but ask John a question.


    ¡°So, what did that elderly man bring you into the Alliance Headquarters for? Is he really the Head of the Honorable Alliance as others were saying?¡± he asked curiously, a question that had been on everyone¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Oh, that. He just wanted to get my side of the events sorted out,¡± John replied casually as he took another sip of wine, ¡°and he also offered me the Prime Disciple position.¡±


    ¡°What!!!¡±

 Chapter 743 Surprising Relationship!

    ¡°You were offered the Prime Disciple position?¡± Laia asked, clearly surprised to hear such a thing had happened. However, after thinking about it for a second and who John was, it made sense after all. If there ever was a disciple worthy of the position, it would him.


    ¡°What? Is the Prime Disciple position impressive or something?¡± Miko asked curiously, while the others looked at Laia with curious gazes as well, indicating that they didn¡¯t know anything about it either.


    ¡°I guess it makes sense that none of you know about it,¡± Laia sighed, ¡°as thest Prime Disciple of the Honorable Alliance was over ten thousand years ago,¡± she exined.


    ¡°What? That long? Wait, why do you know about it then?¡± Adam asked curiously, as Laia wasn¡¯t even part of the Honorable Alliance.


    ¡°Being a princess of the Astral Empire requires me to know a bit about the continent we live on,¡± she replied.


    ¡°Ah¡­I guess that makes sense. Anyways, what is a Prime Disciple?¡± Adam asked.


    Seeing John not speaking up about the position, Laia briefly exined the history of the position, as well as what it meant to be the Prime Disciple. The group¡¯s eyes widened as they heard just how important the position was, and after Laia was done exining, the group turned to John and congratted him with wide smiles.


    ¡°Congrats! If anyone deserved the position, it¡¯s definitely you,¡± Chase said cheerily, while the others nodded their heads in agreement.


    ¡°Ah¡­about that,¡± John replied with a wry smile.


    ¡°I knew it!¡± Miko eximed loudly, while the others looked at him with confused expressions. ¡°You declined it, didn¡¯t you? There¡¯s no way you would allow yourself to be tied down to such a position.¡±


    ¡°What? Did you really decline it?¡± Laia asked for confirmation, to which John nodded his head.


    ¡®I did,¡± he replied.


    ¡°Ah, why am I not surprised,¡± Iris sighed, not too surprised that John had declined the offer. Her, Adam, and Chase also knew John¡¯s personality almost as well as Miko, and were not too shocked to hear his response.


    ¡°Such a shame,¡± Adam sighed, ¡°you would have been showered with treasures and spirit crystals. Such a waste.¡±


    John shrugged his shoulders at Adam¡¯s antics, and decided to change the topic.


    ¡°Ah, right. I might have declined the Prime Disciple position, but I was able to get the Alliance to agree to a few of my requests,¡± John spoke up, while the others listened closely.


    ¡°I asked the Alliance Head about formation masters and alchemy masters, and apparently the best of both arts are part of the Council of Elders. Both Elder Clearheart and Elder Myriad RuneKing have agreed to ept you both as direct disciples,¡± John said as his gaze shifted to Adam and Chase.


    Both Adam and Chase were surprised to hear John had asked for such a great favor from the Alliance, while John gazed at Iris apologetically.


    ¡°Unfortunately there isn¡¯t a good match for your talents in the Alliance, so I wasn¡¯t able to get you a master,¡± John sighed.


    ¡°I already have the Grand Elder as my master, who is perfectly suited for my talents,¡± Iris replied, not disappointed at all. ¡°Besides¡­¡± she mumbled as her gaze shifted to Adam for a split second, causing John to frown for a second as he could tell something was up.


    ¡°Can we still remain part of the Heavenly Lightning Sect as well?¡± Chase chimed up.


    ¡°You can,¡± John confirmed.


    Chase fell into deep contemtion for a short moment before he nodded his head in agreement.


    ¡°Ok, I ept,¡± he replied cheerily, clearly excited to have a powerful alchemy master to study under. ¡°How is Elder Clearheart?¡± he asked curiously.


    ¡°Very¡­interesting,¡± John replied as he thought back to her heated discussions with Elder Bluestar, ¡°but I like her. She defended me before the other Elders despite not knowing me, so I can tell she is a good person. I¡¯m sure you two will get along quite well,¡± John conveyed his thoughts.


    ¡°Good, then I¡¯m looking forward to studying under Elder¡­or Master Clearheart,¡± Chase replied happily.


    John smiled and nodded in approval, and gazed back at Adam, who clearly had a conflicted look on his face. John remained silent as he allowed Adam to process whatever he was thinking about, whichsted for a short while before Adam spoke again.


    ¡°Thanks for looking out for me John, I really appreciate it,¡± Adam said.


    ¡°But¡­¡± John could tell there was more.


    ¡°But¡­my formation arts are quite unique, handed down directly from my father. Its unlike anything on this continent, and so while I¡¯m sure Elder Myriad RuneKing could help, I don¡¯t think staying in here would be the best thing for me,¡± Adam replied. ¡°Exploring the continent and seeking out opportunities is the only thing I can think of to raise my strength to the level it¡¯s needed in time for what I need to do.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± John asked. ¡°Not only is exploring the continent dangerous, finding opportunities that have not been discovered already is next to impossible. It might be all for naught in the end.¡±


    ¡°I am,¡± Adam nodded with firm resolve. ¡°I¡¯ve already made up my mind that the best thing for me is to journey across the Divine Martial Continent, searching for opportunities on my own. Besides, I¡¯ll have something I can count on to find the opportunities with no problem!¡±


    John raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, as the Adam he knew from before would never dare to do such a dangerous thing. However, he could clearly tell Adam had changed after his death, and that he had things to resolve that required power, such as the matter with the Starforge n.


    John¡¯s thoughts shifted back to the start of his cultivation journey, where he had done the exact same thing once he started to cultivate. He had set out on a solo journey into the Dreadel Kingdom and beyond, forcing himself to improve or perish. It had worked out quite well for him, and so he couldn¡¯t fault Adam for wanting to do the same thing.


    ¡°I won¡¯t try to change your mind, but just be careful out there. Journeying alone is very different whenpared to traveling with a group, so don¡¯t get into any situations where you can¡¯t get yourself out,¡± John gave some words of warning.


    ¡°Ah, about that¡­I won¡¯t be alone,¡± Adam replied meekly, causing John to frown for a moment as before his gaze shifted to Iris. The look she had given Adam just moments ago finally made sense to John as he put two and two together.


    ¡°It seems you two have discussed this beforehand and nned this out already,¡± John said as his gaze shifted between Adam and Iris. ¡°So, this is what you meant when you said you¡¯ll have no problem finding unexplored opportunities? I suppose with your formation talents and Iris¡¯s eyes, it¡¯s not impossible for you to find something out there,¡± John replied.


    ¡°Wait? What¡¯s going on? Oh. OH? OHHHH! Are you two¡­together?¡± Miko chimed in loudly with great excitement as he finally figured out what was going on.


    Both Iris and Adam became reddened in the face, and they exchanged a quick nce between each other, bing even more red in the face before looking away from one another.


    ¡°We¡¯re not together,¡± Adam replied sheepishly, ¡°we¡¯re just going to travel together is all,¡± he continued, while Iris remained silent through it all.


    ¡°Hahaha, whatever you say. Did you forget I can read soul fluctuations very easily? Both of your emotions are practically written on your sleeves. Way to go Adam!¡± Miko cheered proudly, while Laia and Iseria giggled lightly, clearly happy for Iris as well.


    A thousand questions flooded into John¡¯s mind as he came to this realization, as it was thest thing he ever expected to happen. Iris and Adam had beenpletely antagonistic for the longest time, with both seemingly hating the other.


    John stared at the two, realizing that something must have happened between the two of them during the Jade Dragon Empire Realm for them to get to this point. However, Adam and Iris had spent many months together in the realm, and had gotten through many perilous and sorrowful situations together, which obviously had an impact on how they felt about each other.


    If there was one thing that forgedsting bonds, it was wading through perilous waters together and getting through by relying on each other, as Iris and Adam had done in the Jade Dragon Empire realm.


    Although it was thest thing John ever expected to happen, he felt happiness for both of them for how things had developed.


    From very early on, he could tell that Iris had feelings for him, but unfortunately for Iris, he did not feel the same about her. It seemed as though Iris hade to this realization, and had buried those feelings that would never be requited.


    At the same time, the thing Adam needed the most at the moment was a person he could truly depend on that was not John, as John knew he would not always be there to protect Adam.


    ¡®Both of them are also probably feeling pressure by falling behind me more and more, and have determined this is the best way to raise their strength. It has the biggest risks, but also the biggest rewards. I can¡¯t fault them for thinking this way,¡¯ John mused as he stared at them, deep in thought.


    ¡°Well, if that¡¯s how it is, then I have full confidence that you two will achieve great things together on your journey through the Divine Martial Continent. I look forward to seeing your progress when we eventually meet again,¡± John said happily as he smiled at the two of them.


    ¡°To Adam and Iris! May their rtionship bear many fruits-OW!¡± Miko stood and toasted with his wine, his words clearly suggestive, at which point Iris flicked a beam of Qi towards him, mming against his head and knocking him backwards onto the ground.


    ¡°Hahaha,¡± the othersughed loudly as merryughter drifted throughout the top floor of the restaurant for quite some time.

 Chapter 744 Parting Ways

    ¡°So what do you all n on doing?¡± Adam asked curiously sometimeter, shifting the discussion away from him and Iris.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be returning to the Faerie Frosnds for a while to continue my training. And who knows, maybe I¡¯ll be as lucky as you, Adam,¡± Miko replied as he nced at Iseria, who rolled her eyes at his antics.


    ¡°And what about you?¡± Adam asked Laia as he stared at her with the utmost respect. Laia had literally brought him back from the dead, and Adam felt nothing but vaunted respect and awe towards her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to return home. I¡¯ve been away for quite a bit and I¡¯m sure my father is expecting my return,¡± Laia replied, with some reluctance in her voice to do so. The group could tell that she was not thrilled about the prospect of returning home, but Laia quickly cheered up and turned to look at John, and quickly changed the subject.


    ¡°And what about you?¡± Laia asked curiously, as John had not yet revealed his ns.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet, but I¡¯ll probably roam the continent for a bit as well,¡± John replied after thinking it over. He had to visit Five-River Freeport to meet with Caz regarding their recent business, and then afterwards he had no specific ns in mind.


    ¡°My main goal is to raise my strength as fast as possible, so I¡¯ll go wherever the best ce to do that is,¡± John continued.


    ¡°What¡¯s the rush? You¡¯re already freakish enough as is,¡± Miko chimed in on John¡¯s ns.


    ¡°You¡¯re one to talk!¡± Adam scoffed, as Miko was practically just as monstrous as John.


    ¡°I have my reasons,¡± John replied with a wry smile, but didn¡¯t exin further. Miko could tell there was more to it than just the desire for John to raise his strength, but didn¡¯t ask further, as he knew if John didn¡¯t exin things, then there was a reason for the vagueness.


    ¡°Ah, well if you¡¯re so focused on raising your strength, then I guess I can¡¯t ck off either. Afterall, you¡¯ve already somehow caught up to me cultivation wise, so my main advantage over you is already gone,¡± Miko replied, slightly displeased that he had allowed John to catch up to him, as hispetitive spirit didn¡¯t allow anything but victory.


    ¡°And soon I¡¯ll pass you up, so you better not ck off,¡± John replied smugly, his words setting off Miko¡¯spetitive spirit even further.


    ¡°As if! I¡¯ve been taking it easy up until now, but let¡¯s see if you can keep up with me when I actually start trying!¡± he boomed out loudly, while the rest of the group couldn¡¯t help butugh at his boisterous antics.


    After discussing their ns, the group continued discussing various matters until the sun set and night set in. They eventually left the building, stuffed with delicious food and drink, and content that they were able to spend a full day of celebration with their close friends, which was a rare thing for them.


    ¡°The ship is here Miko, we are returning home,¡± Iseria said to Miko as the group stood outside the restaurant.


    ¡°Already? Ah¡­fine,¡± Miko replied with some disappointment that he had to leave already. He turned to John and the others and bid farewell, with several cheeky parting words towards John before leaving with Iseria.


    ¡°When we meet again, you better not disappoint me,¡± Miko yelled out towards John as he rounded the corner of a nearby street, disappearing for good.


    ¡°I¡­I suppose we will set off as well then,¡± Adam chimed up, his tone slightly downcast. He had spent most of hisst few years around John and Chase, and was now leaving them for who knew how long.


    ¡°Mmmm,¡± Iris mumbled in agreement and stood next to Adam.


    ¡°Good luck,¡± John said as he embraced both of them briefly before parting. ¡°Make sure he doesn¡¯t ck off,¡± John jested as he nced at Iris, whoughed lightly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure of it,¡± she replied with a smile, and after a few more words, Adam and Iris set off down the road, leaving for the main gate of Alliance City. John, Chase, and Laia watched them leave with different emotions, and Chase sighed after a while as he turned to look at John.


    ¡°I suppose I should return to the Alliance headquarters and meet this new master of mine,¡± Chase said to John.


    ¡°That you should,¡± John replied while nodding his head firmly and patting Chase¡¯s shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m sure you and Elder Clearheart are going to get along well.¡±


    ¡°I hope so,¡± Chase replied, slight uneasiness in his voice.


    This was the first time since John had liberated Chase from the Bloodfiend Sect that he would be on his own again, which filled Chase with some dread. However, it was a very good opportunity for him, and so he didn¡¯t voice his objection towards it.


    ¡°With your love for alchemy, I¡¯m sure the next time we meet will shock me,¡± John said with a warm smile.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure I have some impressive pills cooked up just for you when we meet again,¡± Chase replied with a matching smile, and the two exchanged a look of firm resolve before Chase turned around and left, setting off towards the distant Alliance headquarters.


    John watched Chase leave and couldn¡¯t help but feel emotional at the moment. The friends he had spent almost all his time with for the past two years had now all gone their separate ways, and he sighed after a moment of silence before ncing towards Laia.


    ¡°Follow me,¡± Laia said to John as she began to walk down the wide and busy road. John raised an eyebrow but followed behind closely as the two meandered their way through the city that was bustling with activity despite thete hour.


    Laia navigated the streets with practiced confidence, and after walking through the streets for several miles, the two left the bustling streets and entered a tree lined park, one of the many that existed within the city.


    A fresh and clean breeze drifted through John¡¯s hair as the tree¡¯s gave way, revealing argeke before him. Theke shimmered brightly from the moonlight overhead, making the view quite beautiful. Boats drifted atop theke, each glowing with soft light.


    Laia walked for a while and found a small grassy hill next to theke, and sat down on the hill and gestured for John to do the same. John sat down next to her and gazed at the shimmeringke before him, before shifting his gaze towards Laia.


    ¡°Why are we here?¡± he asked curiously.


    ¡°I wanted to give you something,¡± Laia replied after remaining silent for a short while, ¡°and this ce is away from any prying eyes,¡± she exined as a glowing orb suddenly appeared in her hands, one that brimmed with pure vitality and life.

 Chapter 745 Orb of Life

    The capital city of the Honorable Alliance, Alliance City, sprawled for nearly one hundred miles in each direction, appearing more like an empire than a city. As the bastion of the Honorable faction of humanity, it was one of the most powerful locations on the Divine Martial Continent.


    Surrounding the city was a powerful formation, which covered everything from the ground below to the sky above, making it so that the only way into the city was through the main gates unless oneunched an all out assault on the formation unless one powerful enough expended a great amount of energy to get through it.


    In the sky at the outskirts of the city, a man suddenly appeared before this very barrier formation. His gaze shifted down towards the ground miles below, and gazed at the main gate of the city, which currently had thousands of people lined up for inspection to enter.


    The man scoffed at the sight and reached out with his right hand, which red with incredible power for a brief instant. His power mmed against the barrier, sending a shockwave through it as it fought back against his power, while a hole opened up within the barrier for the briefest of instants before closing.


    After doing this, the man lowered his hand and hovered in ce, as if patiently waiting for someone¡¯s arrival.


    sh!


    Another figure instantly appeared before the man, the Alliance Head, who hovered on the other side of the barrier, obviously altered to the neer¡¯s presence when he had attacked the barrier.


    The Alliance Head sighed as he saw who had arrived.


    ¡°Astral Emperor, is there a reason for you attacking my city¡¯s formation barrier?¡± the Alliance Head asked curiously.


    ¡°To alert you, naturally,¡± the Astral Emperor replied calmly as he gazed down towards the city¡¯s busy entrance far below their feet. ¡°Surely you don¡¯t expect me to enter your city in such a lowly way.¡±


    ¡°Had you given me forewarning that you would be arriving here today, I would have naturally weed you personally,¡± the Alliance Head replied.


    ¡°Then I must apologize for my unannounced intrusion,¡± the Astral Emperor apologized, but his tone contained no remorse at all as if his words were mere formality. ¡°I had nned to arrive here in two weeks when your trial realm was supposed to close, but it appears that the realm closed much sooner than expected?¡± he continued, his words clearly trying to pry into what had happened to cause the realm to close two weeks early.


    The Alliance Head saw through this, and didn¡¯t bother to entertain exining things to the Astral Emperor. While he was not antagonistic with the Astral Emperor, he was also not friendly either. The Astral Emperor was a powerful cultivator of the human race, and would be a very strong ally for the Alliance, but despite repeated efforts of forming an alliance, the Astral Emperor always refused.


    As such, the Alliance Head didn¡¯t feel much warmth towards the Astral Emperor, despite them both being human cultivators of the honorable cultivation pathway.


    ¡°The realm did close early, although we are not sure of the reason. Now, will you entertain this old man with the reason for your arrival?¡± the Alliance Head deflected the question and asked his own.


    ¡°You should already know the reason for my arrival,¡± the Astral Emperor replied calmly. ¡°Nothing happens in this city without your knowledge, and even something as trivial as my runaway daughter entering your trial realm should have not escaped your eyes,¡± he said, his voice still calm but containing a slight bit of frost to it.


    ¡°Your daughter? I had no idea she had entered our realm,¡± the Alliance Head replied, feigning shock at the matter. However, his acting was quite bad, as if he were teasing the Astral Emperor on purpose by feigning obviously faked ignorance.


    The Astral Emperor narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared at the Alliance Head, and remained silent for a short moment as the Alliance Head smiled back at him as if nothing was wrong.


    ¡°Regardless, my daughter managed to run away and sneak herself into your ancient trial realm,¡± the Astral Emperor eventually replied. ¡°I can tell she is in your city now, and I havee to retrieve her. Hopefully nothing happened to her inside the ancient realm, or else¡­¡± he said as his voice trailed off, obviously as a thinly veiled threat against the Alliance.


    ¡°Or else?¡± the Alliance Head repeated, his smile never leaving his face for a second. The Astral Emperor stared at the Alliance Head for a short moment again before smiling back, as if his words just uttered never happened.


    ¡°Ah, well all that matters is that my daughter is safe, and I havee to retrieve her. Surely you will allow me to enter your city to get her, will you not?¡± the Astral Emperor asked.


    ¡°Naturally,¡± the Alliance Head replied as he waved his hand, and arge hole opened up in the formation barrier. The Astral Emperor quickly slipped through the opening, at which point the barrier closed behind him once more.


    ¡°Since you seem to be in a rush, I won¡¯t keep you upied,¡± the Alliance Head said, his words indicating that he wanted the Astral Emperor to fetch his daughter and then leave.


    The Astral Emperor gazed at the Alliance Head for a moment before nodding inpliance.


    ¡°Naturally,¡± he replied and prepared to move.


    ¡°Oh, and do be sure to not cause a ruckus in my city,¡± the Alliance Head said warmly, his smile never leaving his face. The Astral Emperor scoffed but didn¡¯t reply as his body shed, disappearing from sight.


    ¡­


    ¡°What is this?¡± John asked curiously, although he had a decent idea of what was held by Laia at the moment.


    The object was a golden orb, which flowed like it was made of liquid. It was held together in an orb by a thinyer of Laia¡¯s Qi, and it gave off an aura of incredibly potent vitality.


    ¡°It¡¯s an orb of the condensed essence of my Dao of Life, as well as some of my vitality,¡± Laia replied, revealing the shocking truth of the orb she held in her hand.

 Chapter 746 Discussion By The Lake

    John raised an eyebrow as he heard this, as her exnation was what he expected, but it didn¡¯t diminish the immense value of what she was giving him. John¡¯s gaze shifted to Laia¡¯s face for a moment, which was a bit paler than normal, while her aura was clearly weaker as well.


    Clearly this orb she had taken out had been incredibly taxing for her to make, and weakened her in the process.


    ¡°Your vitality? Are you sure you want to give me this?¡± John asked, slightly concerned as recing spent vitality was an incredibly hard thing to do.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Laia replied and smiled gently at him, appreciating his concern. ¡°While others find recing their vitality incredibly hard to do, it¡¯s much easier for me with my Dao of Life. I just need to rest for a few weeks, and I¡¯ll be back to normal eventually,¡± she exined.


    ¡°I started on this a few weeks ago, but this orb is all I could make by today. If you absorb it, it will act as if I have healed you personally. Unfortunately, it is a single-use thing, but it¡¯s better than nothing. Take it,¡± she exined what it did and handed it over to John.


    She had already stated that she would have to return to the Astral Empire soon, and her giving this orb to John was the only way she could help him from afar. John felt warmth at her concern for him, and reached out to take the orb.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± John replied as he took the orb of condensed vitality and life, as he could tell Laia had spent a lot of time and effort on creating it.


    Laia smiled with relief as he took it, and gazed at theke for a while in silence, as if something was weighing on her mind. John remained silent as he stored the orb away in his spatial realm, saving it for a time when he would truly need it.


    After sitting in silence for some time, Laia¡¯s gaze shifted back towards John, the soft warm reced with guilty remorse.


    ¡°What is it?¡± John asked, as he could tell that something was weighing on her mind. With their unique soul-connection that they formed in the Dao Transformation Realm, John could feel some of her emotions, and was able to tell that something heavy was weighing on her conscience at the moment.


    ¡°I¡­I haven¡¯t been fully honest with you,¡± she said after a long silence, as if saying these words had taken incredible effort. She fell silent after saying this, as if she were figuring out how to pick her next words.


    ¡°I already have an idea about what you¡¯re trying to tell me,¡± John spoke up, causing Laia¡¯s expression to change to surprise.


    ¡°You do? She asked.


    ¡°Let me guess, it has to do with a danger that will befall me now that you and I are linked by our souls,¡± John replied, while Laia¡¯s reaction clearly indicated that he was right.


    ¡°How¡­how did you know?¡± she asked, lips trembling.


    ¡°Did you forget already? The words you told me back in the Dao Transformation Realm when I needed more healing during my Heaven Tribtion and opened up my soul to you?¡± John asked, while Laia thought back to that time.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t remember, then I¡¯ll repeat it,¡± John said.


    ¡°When you said you could heal me by establishing a direct soul-connection, you also said a future cmity might befall me as a result,¡± John exined, repeating what she had told him at that time.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure this future cmity for me is also a cmity for you, and that the reason you followed me into the Dao Transformation Realm in the first ce was to intertwine our fates so that I could eventually help you through it¡­as you noticed my talent andbat prowess back in the Ancient Yuan Continent Realm, am I wrong?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Ah¡­I¡­¡± Laia mumbled, unsure of how to reply, but her silence was silent confirmation of his words.


    ¡°I figured this out quite early on when you joined me in the Dao Transformation Realm, but I¡¯m not judging you for it. I already knew epting your help back then had risks, but at the time it was the only time to get through the tribtion. Without your help, I would have died during that Heaven Tribtion, against the Demon, against so many things in that realm. You saved me, and so it¡¯s only natural that I do the same when the timees,¡± John replied, his words causing Laia¡¯s lips to tremble harder, as if she were unable to contain her emotions.


    ¡°Can you at least tell me a bit about this ¡®cmity¡¯?¡± John asked, while Laia calmed herself down to exin a bit of the truth.


    Boom!


    A loud boom sted over the entirety of Alliance City, while everyone looked up to see a powerful attack m against the formation barrier in the far distance, causing a shockwave to ripple through it.


    Laia¡¯s face scrunched up as she stared at the distant attack, while John looked on curiously as well, as an attack on Alliance City was practically a suicide mission. The attack faded away and calm returned to the city once more, and after some silence, John nced at Laia, who seemed to have an odd expression on her face.


    ¡°What is it?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°You need to leave, now,¡± Laia said to him hastily, causing John to frown slightly, confused at what was going on. However, he could tell that Laia was sincere in her words, and prepared to leave when¡­


    sh!


    As if answering his questions, a figure suddenly appeared before the two of them, hovering above them a short distance away.


    Surprise appeared on John¡¯s face as he gazed at the figure who had appeared like a ghost without any warning at all. The figure wore an immacte robe as if it was spun from the most heavenly materials, and appeared to be in his thirties, with long ck hair, a handsome face, and piercing eyes as if they could see through everything.


    John had never seen the man before, but he could tell with the briefest of nces that the man¡¯s power was beyond his imagination, at the level that only someone like Thunderzen couldpare to.


    John frowned as the man gazed at the two of them without saying a word, like a hawk staring at prey.


    ¡°Who the hell are you?¡± John asked, displeased at the manner in which the man was staring at him and Laia. While the man was beyond powerful, John did not back down when treated with such disrespect, especially in a ce like Alliance City where his safety was ensured.


    The man nced at John for a brief moment before looking away, as if looking at John was nothing more than an eyesore. His gaze locked onto Laia and a frown appeared on his face as he inspected her closely.


    ¡°Tch, you appear to have been cursed by the Heavens. It seems you went ahead and did what I forbid you to ever do, daughter!¡± the Astral Emperor said with displeasure, revealing his identity to John.

 Chapter 747 Meeting The Astral Emperor

    ¡°You arrived here quite quickly, father,¡± Laia replied calmly and respectfully, ignoring the Astral Emperorsments about her. ¡°Much quicker than I had anticipated.¡±


    When she had revived Adam, she had be cursed by the Heavens, which is something the Astral Emperor warned her never to do. Bing cursed by the Heaven¡¯s wasn¡¯t a death sentence, but it was something no one wanted either.


    When going through heavenly tribtion, one cursed by the Heavens would face an execution rather than a test and an opportunity. Thankfully Laia was already in the Heaven Tribtion realm when she became cursed, but there were other negatives when bing cursed by the Heavens.


    Not only would it be harder to stumble upon wondrous opportunities, one would also find themselves running into dangerous situations far more often, as John was more than aware of. Were it not for his heaven defying strength, he would have already died a dozen deaths by now.


    Lastly, one would find it harder to cultivate and ascend the cultivationdder, as the connection with the Heavenly Dao was far weaker than one not cursed. Thankfully for John, he had monstrousprehensions to a level that even the Heavens couldn¡¯t suppress it, and had help from things such as the pce realm meditation ability, but others would not find themselves so lucky.


    The Astral Emperor frowned as Laia ignored his originalments, but decided to overlook it for now.


    ¡°Your little adventure is over,¡± he said to her with an even tone, ¡°you are returning with me to the Astral Empire immediately.¡±


    John frowned as he saw the interaction between the two, as it was theplete opposite of how a father and daughter should interact. The Astral Emperor spoke to Laia with no warmth in his voice or love in his eyes, while Laia replied as if she were talking to an Emperor, full of respect but without any emotions at all.


    His frown deepened and his jaw clenched tightly as he focused on his soul-connection with Laia, and was able to feel a small hint of the emotions she was feeling at the moment.


    Loathing!


    Trepidation!


    Resentment!


    While Laia remained calm on the outside, John was able to clearly feel these emotions stemming from deep within her; emotions that she hid well. If she did not have this soul-connection, he would have never guessed she was feeling this way at the moment.


    As if noticing something, the Astral Emperors gaze suddenly snapped onto John, his eyes staring at him like a hawk. An extremely powerful divine sense suddenly mmed onto him, like a tsunami that nearly took his breath away. The divine sense immediately invaded his body, as the Astral Emperor held nothing back when inspecting him. The Astral Emperor raised an eyebrow when noticing the quality of John¡¯s body and dantian while he continued to scan as if looking for something.


    John¡¯s anger instantly ignited as the divine sense invaded his body, as if the Astral Emperor considered him and his property to inspect at his leisure. John¡¯s own soul power and divine sense red as he attempted to drive out the invasive energy, but it was brushed aside like a leaf in a storm. The divine sense mmed against his soul and inspected it closely, driving it nearly to the edge of copse.


    John¡¯s anger continued to rise, as he feltpletely powerless at the moment, and his Qi began to surge within like a powerful beast waking from a slumber. If he was unable to flush out the Astral Emperors inspection with his soul and divine sense, then he would resort to what he did best; using pure power to solve the situation.


    However, just as John was about to explode with his full strength, the divine sense scan vanished. John hastily rescinded his surging power, but raised his guard to the maximum, ready to explode with his full strength at a moment¡¯s notice. Even if it was not enough to affect the Astral Emperor at all, he wouldn¡¯t allow anyone to do such a thing to him like that without taking action. His pride would not allow it!


    John¡¯s gaze snapped to the Astral Emperor who continued to hover in the sky above them and he was about to yell at him, but he noticed the Astral Emperors gaze had shifted back to Laia, heated fury contained within.


    ¡°You gave this worthless brat your soul-seed?¡± the Astral Emperor boomed, his voice trembling the nearbynd while waves formed on theke behind them.


    ¡°I¡­I did it of my own volition. Do not me him,¡± a worried look appeared on Laia¡¯s face, one which John could tell was not for herself but for him. Clearly she was worried that her father would do something to John in his current angered state.


    ¡°So what if she gave me her soul-seed,¡± John replied angrily, speaking for Laia as well as himself, as he was still enraged by the Astral Emperors invasive scan. ¡°It¡¯s hers to give as she pleases, what makes you think you can decide who she gives it to,¡± he growled.


    ¡°Besides, we would both be dead by now if she hadn¡¯t done so, so we had no choice in the matter regardless,¡± he continued.


    ¡°Who are you to speak to me in such a manner, boy?¡± the Astral Emperor replied coldly as his gaze snapped back to John, and he raised an eyebrow as if realizing something.


    ¡°Ahhhh, I thought you looked familiar,¡± he mused with realization, ¡°you¡¯re one of the brats I saw on that lowly continent several years ago,¡± he said, recognizing John from the time he had forcefully extracted Laia from the Yuan Continent ancient realm.


    ¡°It seems as though you are like a fly, buzzing around my daughter wherever she goes,¡± the Astral Emperor continued, his voice growing colder by the second. ¡°No matter, her soul-seed can be forcefully returned to her once I scoop it from your soul,¡± he said to John with menacing intent as his power began to surge towards John, clearly not caring at all about the fact that it would kill John in the process.


    ¡°Father! Don¡¯t you dare touch him, or I¡¯ll-¡± Laia yelled angrily, but her angered cries were cut off as two figures suddenly appeared in the air between John and her father, blocking his approaching power instantly.


    Surprise appeared on the Astral Emperors face at the arrival of the two figures, which was reced with cold menace as he stared at the two of them. At the same time, surprise appeared on John¡¯s face as well, which was quickly reced with warm reassurance, as he had full confidence in the two who had appeared before him.


    The Alliance Head!


    Sect Leader Thunderfist!

 Chapter 748 Discussions Amongst Titans

    ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing, Astral Emperor?¡± the Alliance Head asked coldly, not pleased at his hostility towards John.


    ¡°What am I doing? This brat here tricked my daughter into giving him her soul-seed, which I will be taking back,¡± the Astral Emperor replied coldly, ¡°surely the life of this one brat is not worth drawing my ire, or the ire of my Empire,¡± he said, clear warning in his words which also hinted at the value he put on Laia¡¯s soul seed.


    ¡°If you dare make a single move towards this boy, I¡¯ll raze your Empire to the ground,¡± Thunderfist warned coldly, his words surprising the Astral Emperor as how sincere they were. He could tell that Thunderfist wouldn¡¯t hesitate to do that, although he scoffed at the threat.


    ¡°Tch, you are biting off more than you can chew, Daoist Thunderfist,¡± the Astral Emperor replied coldly. ¡°You and your little sect are no match for me, or the might of my Empire, and neither is this boy worth the cost of making me your enemy.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then I¡¯ll be sure to visit your Astral Empire shortly, with my brother and his pet in tow, to test the truth of your words¡± he replied with a heated tone, as if he were itching to start a fight with the Astral Emperor at this very moment. ¡°I¡¯ve been itching to bathe my fists inbat once more, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to do so.¡±


    The Astral Emperor frowned, as Thunderfists warnings had even included Thunderzen and his Dragon. Thunderzen¡¯s lightning dragon was famed throughout the Divine Martial Continent, and no one, not even the Astral Emperor dared to look down on such a foe.


    Even if he were able to defeat the lightning dragon and the two thunder brothers, his victory would be pyrrhic at best, which he could not afford while other threats loomed in the background, waiting to pounce at a moment¡¯s notice. Not only that, but no one knew the true strength of the thunder brothers or the lightning dragon, as they had not shown their might for thousands of years.


    The Astral Emperor¡¯s cold gaze locked with Thunderfists unflinching gaze, and he clicked his tongue in frustration as he turned his attention to the Alliance Head.


    ¡°Honorable Alliance Head, are you willing to stand by and do nothing as one of your underlings fractures the rtionship between our two powers?¡± the Astral Empire asked, as he could tell he would get nowhere speaking to the hot-headed Thunderfist.


    ¡°Daoist Thunderfist and his sect are allies of the Alliance, not underlings, and so he is not mine tomand, and you have also made the ¡®rtionship¡¯ between our powers clear throughout throughout the years,¡± the Alliance Head replied calmly yet dismissively. ¡°Regardless, his words are also my words. Or do you truly think so little of my Alliance that you would dare to take action against our Prime Disciple?¡± he asked.


    ¡°What? This brat is your Prime Disciple?¡± the Astral Emperor asked, shocked to hear such a thing. ¡°You must be joking,¡± he scoffed.


    Even Thunderfist nced curiously at John, not expecting to hear that such a thing had happened.


    ¡°We both know I would never joke about such a matter,¡± the Alliance Head replied, some frost in his voice for the first time as his patience was clearly running thin dealing with the haughty Astral Emperor.


    ¡°Since you know this boy is our Prime Disciple, you also know of his value to my Alliance,¡± the Alliance Head continued. ¡°Taking action against him is the same as taking action against my entire Alliance, and I will not hesitate to mobilize my entire Alliance should harm befall this child at your hands,¡± he warned.


    A scowl appeared on the Astral Emperors face as he heard this, and his cold gaze shifted towards John once more, who gazed back with equal iciness, not intimidated by the Astral Emperors powerful gaze.


    ¡°The position of Prime Disciple can be reced, but Laia¡¯s soul-seed cannot,¡± the Astral Emperor replied, ¡°they are not equal in value.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid your assessment of their values couldn¡¯t be further from the truth,¡± the Honorable Alliance Head refuted, ¡°but I¡¯m done dealing with pleasantries. Take your daughter, and leave my city.¡±


    The Alliance Head¡¯s words were firm, indicating that there was no more room for discussion on the matter. The Astral Emperor gazed at both Thunderfist and the Alliance Head, and then John shortly afterwards.


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯te to regret this decision in the future,¡± the Astral Emperor said before gazing at his daughter. ¡°We¡¯re leaving!¡±


    Laia nodded her head and nced at John onest time before she was wrapped up in the Astral Emperors power, and the two vanished from sight.


    John stared at the now empty space where Laia had been standing, and sighed as the situation had finally been dealt with.


    ¡®Well¡­at least now I know what the ¡®cmity¡¯ she mentioned before is about,¡¯ John sighed internally. Just based on Laia¡¯s feelings towards her father, John could tell there was something going on there. Now that the Astral Emperor knew he had Laia¡¯s soul-seed within his own soul, he was involved with this ¡®cmity¡¯ whether he wanted to be part of it or not.


    ¡°Motherfucker, I¡¯m going to beat that asshole to death one day,¡± John cursed, as his anger towards what had happened was ignited once again. However, he quickly remembered the two standing near him, and turned to them hastily, bowing his head slightly with the utmost respect.


    ¡°Thank you for helping me,¡± he thanked both the Alliance Head and Thunderfist.


    ¡°Haha, don¡¯t worry about it! You did well, keeping yourposure under the power of someone as strong as the Astral Emperor. Not bad! Not bad at all,¡± Thunderfist boomed while patting John on the back with obvious approval several times.


    ¡°My Alliance will always defend its own, no matter who the enemy may be,¡± the Alliance Head replied while smiling at John.


    ¡°Ah¡­about the Prime Disciple thing,¡± John couldn¡¯t help but mention.


    ¡°Oh, that. I fully ept your refusal of the position, but the Astral Emperor doesn¡¯t need to know that. As far as he is concerned, you are the Prime Disciple of my Alliance, which should shield you from harm for the foreseeable future,¡± the Alliance Head replied warmly.


    ¡°What? That was true, and not a lie to protect you? And you actually declined the Prime Disciple position? Are you an idiot!¡± Thunderfist boomed with disbelief.


    ¡°I have my reasons,¡± John replied with a wry smile while shrugging his shoulders, while Thunderfist shook his head as if he were staring at a true idiot.


    ¡°Do you know what kinds of rewards the Alliance would shower our sect with had you epted the position! Ahhh, whatever, it¡¯s in the past,¡± Thunderfist sighed.


    ¡°I will take my leave. You will be safe as long as you are within this city,¡± the Honorable Alliance Head said to John, ¡°but be warned. The Astral Emperor is an unpredictable man with endless ambition. He will most likely not take any action against you, but you can never be sure when ites to someone like him. Be careful from now on.¡±


    ¡°I will be. Thank you,¡± John replied respectfully, truly appreciative of the Alliance Head¡¯s help, who nodded his head and vanished from sight, leaving John and Thunderfist behind.


    ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s go to a bar and grab some drinks while you tell me everything that happened! My treat!¡± Thunderfist said as he whisked John away to the nearest tavern.

 Chapter 749 Astral Emperors Offer

    A luxurious flying ship shot through the skies, hastily leaving the vicinity of Alliance City. Within was Laia and her father, the Astral Emperor, who sat opposite each other in one of the many rooms contained within the ship.


    The Astral Emperor stared at Laia with cold, simmering anger, while Laia stared at the floor before her, not saying a word.


    ¡°To think my own daughter would betray me so,¡± he growled, clearly still enraged by everything that had happened. ¡°Speak. Tell me what exactly happened within that realm, and tell me everything about that boy.¡±


    However, Laia remained silent as she stared at her feet, not willing to say anything. The Astral Emperor felt another wave of anger surge through him, but he quickly suppressed that anger and calmed down as best he could.


    Silence filled the room for quite some time while the Astral Emperor thought things over, while Laia continued to remain silent. A light flickered in the Astral Emperor¡¯s eyes, as if an idea hade to him, and his demeanor quickly changed as he addressed his daughter once more.


    ¡°This boy, what is his name?¡± he asked.


    ¡°John,¡± Laia replied softly, as she knew her father would easily be able to obtain this information with or without her.


    ¡°John huh¡­the fact that you¡¯ve given him your soul-seed¡­I take it that you have strong feelings for that boy then?¡± he asked, while Laia shrugged her shoulders dismissively, refusing to answer one way or another.


    Her panic from before had been because she was worried for John¡¯s safety, but now that she knew he was safe from her fathers hands for the time being, her cold indifference towards her father had returned.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point in lying to me, your father,¡± the Astral Emperor sighed, his voice much softer and calmer than before. ¡°I can tell you have feelings for that boy, and he¡¯s really not bad. His body contained secrets that even I couldn¡¯t see through, and I can tell his power is far greater than he gives off. Perhaps his position as Prime Disciple was truly well earned,¡± he mused out loud, as if wanting his daughter to hear his thoughts.


    Laia¡¯s gaze shifted from her feet to her father, who stared at her with a rare warmth, something she was not used to seeing.


    ¡°Perhaps I was too quick to anger,¡± the Astral Emperor said, as if he almost regretted his actions. Laia stared at her father with a dubious expression, not able to tell if he was true with his feelings or not, although she favored them being false.


    The Astral Emperor fell silent again for another short moment as if deep in thought before he addressed his daughter once more.


    ¡°I was only angered because I did not want you to throw away your biggest gift on someone unworthy of your talents. You and I both know your soul-seed was to go to the man you eventually married, but now¡­¡± he sighed, as if truly concerned for the situation and his daughter.


    ¡°However, perhaps this is a good thing after all,¡± he said, causing Laia to stare at him with a peculiar expression. ¡°Perhaps this John truly is worthy of receiving your soul-seed, at which point marriage would not be out of the question. With you as my daughter and him as the Honorable Alliance Prime Disciple, it¡¯s not an unfavorable match for either power,¡± he said.


    Laia¡¯s eyes widened slightly upon hearing this, but she remained silent as her father continued to ruminate over the situation.


    ¡°Ah, but I forgot to ask you about this,¡± he said, as if realizing his honest mistake. ¡°Would such an arrangement be to your liking?¡± he asked Laia, who frowned at his question.


    ¡°Since when has my opinion, especially when ites to my future marriage, been any of your concern?¡± she asked questioningly. ¡°You¡¯ve always decided these things on your own.¡±


    ¡°And I have realized my mistakes now,¡± he replied sincerely.


    ¡°I strongly doubt that,¡± Laia replied, slight iciness in her tone as if she truly didn¡¯t believe him at all. She had never heard her father admit fault or wrongdoing for anything, and didn¡¯t believe him now either.


    ¡°It¡¯s only natural that you doubt my sincerity, but only time will reveal the truth of my words,¡± the Astral Emperor replied, and his face suddenly lit up as if an idea had popped into his mind, an idea he was excited to share with her.


    ¡°How about we make a deal then. I will allow you to choose your marriage partner, and even let it be this John if you so wish, if you manage to achieve the peak of the Dao Transformation Realm within the next three years,¡± he said, to which Laia frowned once more.


    ¡°Why do you care about my cultivation so much?¡± she asked. ¡°You¡¯ve always pushed me hard before, even using the threat of harming those close to me to force me to cultivate, and now you¡¯re dangling this offer over my head. What are you ying at?¡± she asked, skeptical of her fathers intent.


    ¡°I have yet to reveal this to anyone, but I have decided to name you as my heir, and be next in line for the throne of my Astral Empire,¡± he said as he smiled at her proudly. ¡°However, such a position also requires great strength, and I can only name you my heir if you manage to achieve your full potential, and be someone worthy of such a position¡± he exined.


    ¡°What? Why would you name me as your heir? What about Alexander?¡± she asked, mentioning her older brother and first born son of the Astral Emperor.


    ¡°Tch, you think I would name my heir based on birth order?¡± the Astral Emperor scoffed. ¡°Such a position can only be earned through talent and power alone, and you, my precious daughter, are by far my most talented child,¡± he said while smiling warmly at her.


    Laia continued to stare at her father with skepticism, not really believing her father who she knew only cared about himself. However, if there was a remote chance this was all true, it would be the absolute best thing for her.


    ¡°How about this? When you reach the Peak of the Dao Transformation Realm, I will personally escort you to whomever you wish to marry, and propose the marriage myself to whomever that may be. If that man is John, then you will have my blessing at the time,¡± he said, before his demeanor darkened slightly, returning to an expression that Laia was used to seeing on his face.


    ¡°But, I will only agree to such a thing if you do as I requested, and reach the Peak of the Dao Transformation Realm within the next three years. Otherwise, I have no use for coddling a child that has no use for my empire,¡± he said, once more sounding like the father she knew.


    ¡°That¡¯s the first thing you¡¯ve said that I believe,¡± Laia replied coldly, as her father spoke of conditional love. However, the Astral Emperor didn¡¯t refute her words, and instead leaned back in his seat and stared at her as if awaiting an answer.


    Laia¡¯s mouth twisted in disdain for her father, but his proposal was the first sliver of hope he had ever given her before. While she was sure there was more to her fathers offer than what he was letting on, there was nothing she could do about it. Not only that, but this agreement sounded as if it would provide John a few extra years to raise his strength without interference or harm from her father, which was more than she could hope for now that his existence was revealed to him.


    ¡°Fine,¡± she said with an even tone, agreeing to his proposition. Even if her father was nning something, Laia knew that raising her strength for the future was the only thing she could do at the moment. She knew John and her father would confront each other one day, and when that day came, she would be ready to help John as well as best she could.


    ¡°Excellent!¡± the Astral Emperor eximed with a merry smile as he stood up and walked over to Laia, resting his hand on her shoulder. ¡°A wise decision, my precious daughter,¡± he said before removing his hand and walking away, leaving Laia alone in the room as their ship sailed rapidly towards the Astral Empire.

 Chapter 750 Whispers of Asura

    ¡°Hahaha, so you managed to beat the shit out of the traitor of your n. Not bad. I¡¯ve heard rumors of Asuros, and for you to jump realms and still kick the shit out of him so bad that he flees with his tail tucked between his leg¡­I just wish I could have been there to see it,¡± Sect Leader Thunderfist boomed merrily before downing another cup of wine before refilling it again.


    ¡°I never would have guessed that you and Asuros were rted like that though¡­what a small world it is,¡± he continued after finishing his drink. ¡°It¡¯s just a pity that so many perished within, including shining stars like Rael. Truly a pity,¡± he sighed as he poured himself more wine from a pitcher and downed another cup.


    ¡°I just wish I had arrived sooner, and had managed to finish off Asuros once and for all,¡± John grumbled, still not pleased that Asuros had managed to escape.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. You¡¯ll run into him sooner orter, and then you¡¯ll be able to finish the job once and for all. The only thing you need to worry about is his Master, but based on the fact that he still hasn¡¯t made a move on you, I¡¯m sure your guess of the situation is mostly correct,¡± Thunderfist replied.


    John had told Thunderfist mostly everything that had happened in the realm, and left out only a few details that he wanted to keep to himself.


    ¡°And what about that Astral Empire girl? Are you two a thing?¡± Thunderfist asked John while winking at him, while John shrugged in response.


    ¡°It¡¯splicated, but our fates have definitely be interlinked,¡± he replied, his thoughts shifting towards his master. Based on everything Laia had revealed to him, he had many questions to ask his master, about her past, and her identity.


    ¡°Where is my master?¡± John asked, changing the subject. ¡°I figured she¡¯d pounce at the first opportunity to drag me back into her hellish training regiments,¡± John grumbled as he thought back to those hellish training sessions.


    ¡°Lilian is currently handling some business of her own, but I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll seek you out before long,¡± Thunderfist replied, keeping things vague. However, John didn¡¯t pry further, and took a sip of the wine in front of him.


    ¡°I have some things to take care of in this city before we all return for the sect tomorrow, so make sure you¡¯re ready to leave by tomorrow morning,¡± Thunderfist said as he stood up from his seat.


    ¡°About that,¡± John replied, causing Thunderfist to pause. ¡°I n to explore the continent for a bit, instead of going back to the sect right away. I have some business to take care of in a nearby city first,¡± John exined.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Thunderfist mused while staring at John. ¡°Well, I won¡¯t try to change your mind, but just be careful alright? There are already whispers in this city about the emergence of ¡®Asura¡¯ and I¡¯m sure those whispers will soon spread through the continent. You¡¯ll be targeted quite often once the enemy learns of your identity,¡± Thunderfist warned.


    ¡°I know, and I¡¯ll be ready for them. Unless a World Expansion expert shows up personally, I should be able to protect myself, and even then I have some assurances of at least escaping,¡± John replied confidently, while Thunderfist raised an eyebrow at his confidence.


    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s the confidence a man should have,¡± Thunderfist boomed loudly and patted John on the back several times, and an item suddenly appeared in his hands which he handed over to John.


    John took the item and inspected it, which was quite simr to a long-range transmission disk, but slightly different.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°It¡¯s a one-time use object, which will alert both my brother and I with your location should you crush it. If you run into a situation you can¡¯t handle, crush it immediately and do your best to buy time for yourself. Depending on your location, we could arrive in minutes, hours, or even days, so keep that in mind,¡± Thunderfist exined, to which John nodded his head in understanding.


    ¡°I understand¡­Thank you, Sect Leader Thunderfist,¡± John thanked with an appreciative smile.


    ¡°Well, as I mentioned, I have matters to take care of, so I¡¯ll be leaving now. I look forward to hearing about your journey when you return to the sect,¡± Thunderfist said as he walked away, while John waved at him goodbye.


    ¡­


    While the hour waste, a city asrge and populous as Alliance City never slept. After finishing his discussions with Sect Leader Thunderfist, John visited a nearby trade market, as he had some things to take care of before venturing out towards Five-River Freeport.


    Several hourster, John walked out of the bustling marketce, the desired items acquired.


    ¡°I now have a map of the nearby continent, as well as the most rudimentary of flying ships, which despite being basically the lowest model I can get, still cost nearly everything I own,¡± John sighed, as his money had been stretched quite thin.


    Flying to Five-River Freeport would take several days, and flying there with his own power would be time not spent on cultivation, which he could not afford. With all the dangers he faced lurking ever present, John needed to utilize each and every moment to raise his strength.


    ¡°However, once I get to Five-River Freeport, I¡¯ll be able to not only acquire more spirit crystals, but I can also sell this ship and perhaps upgrade to a better one, as well as other things such as weapons and pills¡± John mused as he walked through the streets of Alliance City towards the distant exit gate dozens of miles away.


    The streets continued to bustle with activity as he walked though as just another face in the crowd, but whispers and conversations entered his ears that caused him to pay attention to them. Discussions about ¡®Asura¡¯.


    ¡°Did you hear? Apparently the famed ¡®Asura¡¯ is part of the Honorable Alliance!¡±


    ¡°Is that really true? Are you certain?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard rumors, but apparently he¡¯s one of the youths that recently entered that secretive realm. His identity was revealed then!¡±


    ¡°Wow! To think that our very own Alliance could give rise to such a talent. Who is the person? What¡¯s their name?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, as the rumors have been vague thus far. But apparently hisbat prowess is heaven defying!¡±


    ¡°Amazing! I hope we can learn more about him soon! I wonder what his name is?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find out soon!¡±


    John continued to walk through the streets as he heard many simr hushed discussions, and couldn¡¯t help but sigh lightly. His identity being partially revealed would only cause headaches and dangers to sprout like weeds in the future, but such a thing was unavoidable.


    The only way he could have stopped such a thing was to kill everyone who knew of his identity, but such a cowardly act was far beneath him, and he would much rather brave dangers head on than kill allies, as each and every one of those dangers came with an opportunity to raise his strength.

 Chapter 751 You Have A Human Form?

    ¡°Ahhh, oh well. I suppose the headaches toe will also serve as opportunities to raise my strength, and I have no doubt that those whoe for me will contain vast sums of wealth. At least I¡¯ll be able to quickly increase my wealth when I pige their mangled corpses,¡± John sighed.


    The sun began to rise as John finally reached the edge of the city, and after a quick inspection, left through the massive arched gates at the city¡¯s exit. Thousands of people streamed in and out of the city each minute, and John was just another face in the crowd as he left unnoticed.


    Sprawling fields, farms, and mountains stretched off into the distance, and he walked a short while away from the city walls before stopping. He waved his right hand before him and his crude flying ship appeared before him, no more than a dozen yards long and half as tall.


    Compared to the luxurious flying ships he had flown on in the past, his current ship looked incredibly scrappy, but it was all he needed at the moment to get him towards Five-River Freeport.


    ¡°ording to this map, Five-River Freeport should take about a week to get to by flying ship. If I were to go as fast as possible it could be much faster, but it¡¯s advised that one sticks to the official travel roads, as branching off them could result in running into powerful beasts or bandits. While I¡¯m not too concerned about that, I would rather spend my time focusing on cultivation, so I¡¯ll just stick to the roads for now,¡± John said to himself as he walked forward and entered his ship.


    The interior of the ship was rather in, with not many furnishings or decorations. There was a single bedroom, a small meditation room, a room dedicated for storing spirit crystals to power the ship, and amand console of various formations up front, used for steering the ship.


    After cing a hefty amount of spirit crystals on the formations in the power room, John walked to the console and injected his Qi into it. The ship quickly took to the sky and shot forward, piercing through the sky like a hawk towards the distant Five-River Freeport.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± John mumbled with approval, ¡°it¡¯s a bit faster than I had expected.¡±


    sh!


    Kirii suddenly appeared next to John as the ship shot forward, his eyes darting around the flying ship.


    ¡°Kirii? What¡¯s up?¡± John asked, as it was rare for Kirii to leave his soul-space without reason, as Kirii found it the mostfortable ce to rest and sleep. While asking his question, John casually inspected Kirii and noticed that his cultivation had already soared to the Peak of the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and couldn¡¯t help but shake his head in frustration at how unfair Kirii¡¯s cultivation speed was.


    ¡°Ohhhh! What¡¯s this?¡± Kirii¡¯s child-like voice sounded out in John¡¯s mind, clearly excited.


    ¡°A flying ship I just bought,¡± John exined.


    ¡°Oh! Oh! Can I fly it?¡± Kirii asked enthusiastically, causing John to raise an eyebrow.


    ¡°I had no idea you found such things so exciting, but I don¡¯t see why not,¡± John replied.


    He would have had to interrupt his meditation sessions to asionally adjust the direction of the ship to follow the route towards Five-River Freeport, and so Kirii steering the ship would allow him to focus fully on cultivation.


    Upon hearing John¡¯s approval, Kirii hastily rushed forward towards themand console and started to probe its mechanisms.


    ¡°Woah!¡± John cried out as the ship suddenly lurched to a stop, then sped up again, then went up and down rapidly like a roller coaster.


    ¡°Kirii, stop!¡± John cried out, afraid he would break the ship, and rushed forward to stop Kirii from doing anything else.


    ¡°Ah, sorry, I got carried away,¡± Kirii replied, while John grumbled and rubbed his head that had violently mmed into the ship during one of the rapid directional changes.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, just take it easy,¡± John replied, and began to exin the various mechanisms of how to control the ship to Kirii, who listened closely with rapt attention. After exining how to properly control the ship, John took out the scroll that contained the map of the nearby region, and highlighted the route that they would need to take to get there.


    ¡°Remember, follow this route that I¡¯ve shown you, and don¡¯t let us stray off course,¡± John instructed.


    ¡°Aye, aye!¡± Kirii acknowledged, clearly excited to get back to controlling the ship. John gave Kirii a skeptical look, but only shook his head and hoped Kirii would listen.


    ¡°These control formations are so awkward to use,¡± Kirii grumbled as he started to fly the ship ording to John¡¯s instructions.


    ¡°That¡¯s because it¡¯s designed for human use, and not for a Kirin,¡± John exined.


    ¡°Ah, is that so? Well I guess I¡¯ll just change then,¡± Kirii eximed as his Qi red for a moment, and his appearance instantly changed before John, who couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes in shock as Kirii assumed a human form.


    His form had changed into a teenage boy, simr in age and appearance as John. His hair flowed down to his shoulders, and was blue with green highlights at the bottom, like wisps of lightning, while his face was incredibly handsome, almost perfect in appearance. The crystal jewel on Kirii¡¯s forehead remained as well, making him look quite exotic yet elegant, like a rich noble of unknown origin. Lastly, Kirii wore a luxurious looking robe of blue and green, no doubt taken from one of the corpses from the Jade Dragon Empire realm.


    ¡°Kirii¡­you can change into a human form?¡± John asked after recovering from his shock.


    ¡°Of course I can. You already know I can shapeshift, so why couldn¡¯t I assume human form?¡± he replied, while he spoke physically for the first time instead of through their soul connection. However, the words were rough and awkward, like he was just learning to speak for the first time.


    ¡°If you could shapeshift into a human, why didn¡¯t you do so before?¡± John asked. ¡°And you can actually speak in this form?¡±


    ¡°Why would I have done so? I¡¯ve never needed to do that, and this form feels incredibly awkward. Seriously, how do you find walking on two feetfortable?¡± Kirii grumbled.


    John stared at Kirii for quite some time, unable to think of what to say. In the end, he just shook his head in disbelief and grumbled to himself as he walked towards the meditation room.


    ¡°Ahhh, whatever. Just make sure to follow the route I showed you, okay?¡± John said without turning around, entered the meditation room, and closed the door behind him.


    ¡°Aye!¡± Kirii replied excitedly as he turned back towards the control formations, a wide smile on his face as he began to steer the ship forward, which pierced through the sky once more.

 Chapter 752 Black-Snake Mercenary Company

    Chapter 752 ck-Snake Mercenary Company


    Lightning flickered and crackled over John¡¯s body as he sat within the meditation room with his eyes closed. He ignored the lightning as if it didn¡¯t exist, and instead focused his attention on the jade object in his hand, the True Jade Origin Piece of the Celestial Lightning Script.


    It had been quite a long time since he hadst studied the Celestial Lightning Script, as hisprehensions had hit a roadblock, and he was unable to pierce through to the nextyer of the script. He had been stuck on the thirdyer of the Celestial Lightning Script for over a year now, but thanks to his battle against heavenly lightning during this tribtion, as well as his battles afterwards against beasts, demons, and Asuros, John was finally trying to push hisprehensions of the Lightning Dao to the next stage.


    The lightning on his body continued to flicker and crackle with ever increasing intensity, as if resonating with his very existence. At the same time, John¡¯s soul linked with the jade piece and the Dao of Lightning, attempting to reconcile the two and push through to the next stage together.


    Images of lightning flickered in his mind as the True Jade Origin Piece gave him some insights into the Lightning Dao, which he greedily absorbed into his soul, working toprehend the truths contained within.


    As he studied the jade piece in his hand, he felt as if he were pushing through the hazy fog of Daolyprehensions before him, just as he had done with the Dao of Power not long ago. Clearly he was almost ready to break through to the Dao Expert stage for the Lightning Dao as well.


    The fog continued to this as the lightning insights flooding into him made more and more sense, as if the truth of the Lightning Dao was finally starting to make sense to him. The mental fog continued to be thinner and thinner, as if about to part and reveal more of the truth of the Lightning Dao to him when¡­


    Bang!


    A loud st sounded out while the ship shook violently, instantly stirring John from his deep meditation. Anger coursed through him as his insights faded away right as they were about to be revealed to him.


    ¡°Motherfucker¡­I was this close to breaking through,¡± John grumbled as he hastily stood up and left the room.


    ¡°John,¡± Kirii called out as he saw him leave the room, and John couldn¡¯t help but groan as he saw a slightly guilty look appear on Kirii¡¯s face.


    ¡°Ugh, what is it now?¡± he asked, doing his best to remain calm. He walked to the front of the ship where Kirii was and gazed out through the transparent window, his eyes narrowing as he stared at a group of cultivators hovering before the ship, six in total, who all wore the same brown colored robes. There were four men and two females, who all had mischievous smiles on their faces as they stared at the ship before them.


    ¡°Dao Transformation huh? All six of them,¡± he mumbled.


    The ship and the cultivators hovered about a mile up in the sky, while a sprawlingnd of verdurous mountain ranges and meandering rivers stretched out as far as the eye could see, with not a single sign of civilization in sight.


    ¡°I¡­may have strayed off the path slightly,¡± Kirii spoke up with a guilty tone as he scratched his head in an awkward manner. ¡°Sorry, I got too excited about flying around and lost track of where we were.¡±


    ¡°Ugh,¡± John grumbled again, still irked that his mediation session had been interrupted on the verge of a massive breakthrough. However, he didn¡¯t be angry at Kirii, but instead directed his rage towards the cultivators outside, who had clearly been the ones to stop the ship and wake him from his meditation.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go see what these fuckers want,¡± John grumbled as he opened the side-door on the ship and stepped out, while Kirii followed closely behind. He waved his hand as they left the ship, returning it to his spatial realm, and gazed with cold indifference at the group before him.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± John addressed the group coldly.


    ¡°What do we want?¡± the man standing at the front of the group replied while smirking. He had short blonde hair and a rugged yet somewhat attractive face, and appeared to be in his mid thirties. For him to be in the Dao Transformation Realm and yet look in his thirties, his talent was not bad, indicating that he had broken into the Dao Transformation Realm before he turned one hundred.


    While such a cultivation speed was nothingpared to the geniuses of the continent, it was far better than the average cultivation most had.


    ¡°You¡¯ve entered our territory, unannounced and uninvited, and you have the audacity to ask us what we want?¡± the man said mockingly.


    ¡°Your¡­territory?¡± John asked as he gazed around in all directions, seeing nothing but mountains, trees, and rivers, but not a single building or city in sight.


    ¡°Yes, the territory of the ck-Snake Mercenary Company,¡± the man replied proudly, as if that name should mean something to John.


    ¡°Oh, I see, so you¡¯re just a group of bandits then,¡± John replied calmly, finally understanding the situation. At the same time he rubbed his head in frustration at the situation, but realized why he was insured to follow the proper roads guarded by sects and cities, lest he run into situations like this.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± the man asked coldly upon hearing John¡¯s reply. ¡°Kid, do you have any idea who you¡¯re talking to?¡±


    ¡°Nope, no idea,¡± John said as he shook his head, ¡°but I¡¯m guessing you stopped me to take the opportunity to rob me, thinking of me as an easy target? Am I wrong?¡±


    ¡°Why are we wasting time speaking to this disrespectful brat? Let¡¯s just finish him and be done with it,¡± one of the women spoke up, staring at John as if he were a piece of meat about to be carved up.


    ¡°Tough luck kid,¡± the leading man spoke up again. ¡°Had you shown some respect to me and my ck-Snake Mercenary Company, I might have let you off the hook, but my woman has spoken. You can only me yourself for being stupid enough to stray into my territory, and with a flying ship as well. You must be from some decent off family to have a flying ship, but if you were from a true power, you would no doubt be flying with something better.¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha,¡± John startedughing wildly, as if he had lost his mind.


    ¡°Look at this brat. He¡¯s already gone mad with fear. How pathetic,¡± one of the men in the group mocked John, thinking, while the othersughed at hisment.


    John¡¯sughter simmered down eventually, and he exhaled deeply while staring up at the sky overhead.


    ¡°I was starting to run low on human blood essence, but you¡¯ve all gratefully decided to offer yourselves up to me,¡± John said as his gaze slowly lowered towards the group before him. ¡°But you should rejoice. Once I absorb your blood essence, you¡¯ll all can finally be part of something notpletely worthless. And the best part is¡­I can finally test how strong my Dragon-God Shift is, with your lives being used as the measuring stick. It¡¯s just unfortunate that the strongest of you is in the Middle Dao Transformation Realm. Try not to die too quickly,¡± he said while smiling at them like a predator staring at prey, while his eyes started to glow with a golden brilliance and his body rapidly changed, parts bing covered in green scales.


    ¡°He¡¯s fucking crazy! Let¡¯s kill him,¡± the woman yelled, while the others took out their weapons as well. While they didn¡¯t know why, their instincts were ring at the moment to kill the youth before them as fast as possible.


    ¡°Brat! Die!¡± the man roared as he moved towards John, while a ck saber appeared in his hand. The saber had a white etching of a snake on both sides of the de, which lit up with formational might, further augmenting the weapons power.


    ¡°ck-Snake ughter!¡± he roared as he shed his sword out, unleashing a powerful Qi attack that quickly formed the image of a massive snake, its gaping maw striking out towards John.


    Boom!

 Chapter 753 Five-River Freeport

    Chapter 753 Five-River Freeport


    ¡°Please, let me go,¡± the leader of the ck Snake Mercenary Company pleaded as his neck was gripped by John¡¯s green-scaled right hand. ¡°I¡¯ll give you whatever you want. I have a hidden stash nearby that I can lead you to, just let me live!¡±


    ¡°Is this truly the limit of a normal Dao Transformation cultivator?¡± John scoffed, his golden eyes glowing brilliantly as he stared at the man. ¡°Unfortunately for you, your blood essence is more valuable than any treasures you could give me,¡± he said as he tightened his grip and snapped his neck, killing the man instantly.


    His battle with the six Dao Transformation cultivators had ended almost as fast as it had started, which John felt nothing but disappointment towards. Only the man in his grip had managed to put up a sliver of resistance, although that resistance had onlysted for less than a minute.


    Not only was the man¡¯sbat prowess disappointingpared to his cultivation level, but his battle arts were also quite pathetic and weak, at least whenpared to the heavenly battle arts he had faced in the Jade Dragon Empire realm.


    ¡°I suppose normal people like you cannot bepared to true geniuses after all,¡± John mused as he thought over the battle. ¡°Even an early Dao Transformation genius would havested much longer than this group had managed tost.¡±


    If it were someone like Asuros or Amber, they would have managed to make the battle at least somewhat interesting even if their cultivation was in the early Dao Transformation realm. In fact, if he used only his Dragon-God Shift, Amber or Asuros at the Early Dao Transformation Realm would have been quite a good fight, as that was three minor realms higher than his current cultivation. However, the man he had just killed was a minor realm above that, and yet he had put up such a meager resistance.


    ¡®I suppose I¡¯ve reached the realm where battle prowess cannot be easily measured. Ate Dao Transformation cultivator might be blown away by a single attack of mine, while an Early Dao Transformation genius could very well put up a decent fight. It all depends on the talent of the cultivator and the quality of their battle arts, so at least this battle has taught me that much,¡± John mused out loud as he quickly severed the man¡¯s head and stored it in his spatial realm.


    His divine sense linked with the pce in his spatial realm, transporting his soul-form into it. He appeared before the massive pool of blood essence and stood at the edge, staring down into it.


    Sigh!


    John sighed deeply as he stared at the pool, which was now mostly empty. It had been filled to a high level about a year ago, when he had stored the blood essence of all the cultivators killed in the Bloodfiend Sect assault, as well as Allfiends blood essence.


    ¡°Allfiend had a Late Dao Transformation cultivation, so his blood essence was able to increase the quality of the blood essence mixture by quite a bit, but now that my cultivation is at the Late Heaven Tribtion Realm, I require much more of it to break through. I exhausted almost all the avable blood essence when I broke through, so I¡¯ll need to acquire more in the near future if I want to break through again.


    The blood essence of these six mercenaries is not great, but it¡¯s better than nothing,¡± he mused as he extracted the man¡¯s blood essence and infused it into the pool of blood, and did the same with the five other corpses, raising the level of the pool ever so slightly.


    After doing so, John appeared in another room of simr design to the previous. He had discovered it muchter than the first pool room, as more and more rooms seemed to open up each time he raised his cultivation level.


    This room also contained a massive pool, evenrger than the previous. In fact, it was several timesrger, and contained the beast blood essence he used for fueling his body dantian. The blood essence from the Dao Transformation beasts he had in in the trial realm was collected here, but was also beginning to be sparse.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to purchase quite a bit of beast blood essence, or go on a hunting trip soon. Otherwise, I won¡¯t be able to use my body dantian after a few more uses until I get more blood,¡± he mused as his soul-form left the pce realm and returned to his body in the real world.


    After cleaning up the battlefield, John waved his hand once more to summon the flying ship from one of his spatial rings, in which the ship was stored. The ship appeared before them and John and Kirii quickly entered, to which John nced at Kirii with a serious expression.


    ¡°So now you know why its so important to stay on the proper path,¡± he scolded Kirii as he guided the ship through the air, back in the direction of the proper travel routes which meandered through areas of dense civilization.


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s something we can handle, being interrupted like this only slows down our progress, and it also stirred me from my meditations right when I was about to make arge breakthrough, which has set me back several days, possibly weeks,¡± John exined his frustrations to Kirii.


    ¡°Sorry. I just got distracted chasing a flying beast before. I¡¯ll be sure to stay on the proper route this time,¡± Kirii replied sincerely.


    ¡°Good. Then just follow this direction until you see the massive sprawling roads and cities below us, and that¡¯s when we¡¯ll have returned to the proper route. Then follow the route I showed you earlier until we reach Five-River Freeport,¡± John instructed before returning to his meditation chambers.


    ¡°Aye!¡± Kirii replied with arge smile as he returned to themand console, happy to steer the ship once more as if it was the most entertaining thing to do.


    ¡­


    The flying ship continued to soar through the air for days, while John stayed in his meditation chamber the entire time, trying to reignite the spark of insight towards the Lightning Dao he had before. However, the spark of insight had left him already, causing him to be frustrated at his setback.


    Realizing that forcing the issue would not be the best thing to do, John put aside the Lightning Dao and meditated on the Dao of Annihtion and Dao of Destruction, which had fallen behind hisprehension of the Dao of Power.


    The Dao of Power was an all-purpose Dao, increasing the power of whatever attack was being utilized. However, the Dao of Annihtion and Dao of Destruction were different, with more specialized purposes.


    The Dao of Annihtion focused on living things, and increased attack potency and lethality of attacks against living targets, while the Dao of Destruction focused more on pure destruction with a wider range of carnage, not caring whether the target was living or inanimate.


    The Dao of Annihtion was suitable for use with his scythe arts, while the Dao of Destruction was better suited for his battle axe arts.


    John ruminated on his insights into these Daos as the ship sailed towards their destination, and made significant progress with both as he thought back to his battle that had utilized both of these Daos.


    Whileprehending these Dao¡¯s, the ship started to slow and eventually came to a halt, stirring John from his meditative ruminations once again. However, the stopping was much less jarring thanst time, which made John realize they had most likely arrived at their destination.


    ¡°We¡¯ve arrived,¡± Kirii said as he saw John leave the meditation room, to which John nodded his head and walked to the front of the ship next to Kirii. He gazed out of the front window and his eyes widened in surprise as a city far more unique and grand than any he had seen came into view.


    ¡°Five-River Freeport!¡±

 Chapter 754 The Five Powers of Five-River Freeport

    Chapter 754 The Five Powers of Five-River Freeport


    Five-River Freeport was located rtively close to the center of the Divine Martial Continent, and was nestled in the middle of a sprawling set of mountain ranges. Five massive rivers, each miles wide, meandered from over the horizon towards each other, eventually meeting at a massive centralke, which itself was dozens of miles wide. Three of the rivers flowed into the centralke, while two seemed to flow away from it.


    Hundreds of massive boats, some nearly a mile long, meandered up and down all five rivers, transporting goods to and from the city. Several roads led towards the city as well, each almost a mile wide, as thousands upon thousands of cultivators, caravans, and transportation beasts roamed to and from the city.


    A wall nearly a mile high surrounded the outmost outskirts of the city, and one more wall was visible further on in the city, directly around theke itself. A gargantuan city stretched from theke outwards as far as the eye could see, containing an uncountable number of buildings of differing levels of style and quality, of which both increased as it got closer to the centralke.


    At the connection of each of the rivers to theke was a massive singr building, which had been built directly over the river, allowing the river to pass by underneath. Massive bridges from either riverbank connected to the buildings that stood directly over the river, about two hundred yards above it.


    These five buildings each had different styles and colors, and each of the five buildings were by far the most eye-catching part of the city. Two looked like towering pagodas, one looked like a pce, one like a temple, and one like a gothic styled castle. Each building was several miles tall and towered over every other building in the massive city., which itself sprawled out in all directions for dozens of miles.


    Clearly the main powers of the city belonged to whoever controlled these five buildings, and the differing styles indicated that they were all differing powers. The buildings were like river guards, only allowing approved ships to pass underneath towards the centralke, which contained another marvel.


    Arge and seemingly man-made ind was built over theke itself, hovering in the air above theke through unknown means. The circr ind was several miles wide, and contained thousands of buildings on top of it, far more grand and luxurious than those found in the rest of the city.


    Water crashed down from the edges of the floating ind, creating an endless waterfall that stretched the entire perimeter of the ind, adding to its majestic beauty.


    Finally, at the very center of that floating ind was a massive spherical building, which was over a mile wide and tall. It was deep blue in color, and even from the distance John was at, was very eye-catching. As the building in the very center of the entire city, it was no doubt very important for the city.


    John and Kirii left the flying ship, and after putting it away, John couldn¡¯t help but marvel at the distant city once more. Although it was not asrge as Alliance City, it was most definitely far more luxurious, as if the city was the center of all wealth.


    ¡°What now?¡± Kirii asked as they hovered in the air far above the ground below, gazing at the distant city. While they hovered in the sky, dozens of other flying ships and cultivators passed by each minute, each eventuallynding on the road below. Clearly none dared to fly directly into the city.


    ¡°Wend, and enter through one of the gates,¡± John replied as his gaze shifted down to the road far beneath their feet, which led to one of the manyrge gates leading into the city. Each gate was over half a mile high, and nearly as wide, allowing for even thergest of caravans and beasts to make their way through.


    John and Kirii proceeded downwards to the road below them, andnded roughly a mile away from the city gate, which was where the line to enter the city was backed up to. Thousands of other cultivators, traveling by foot, caravan, or beast, stood in line, waiting to enter the city.


    ¡°Pfffff,¡± John sighed through pursed lips, as he could tell it would take quite some time to get to the front of the line and into the city. However, just as he arrived in line, a man appeared next to John, appearing like a blur.


    ¡°Greetings, Young Master Fenix. I am pleased to see you have arrived here safely,¡± the attendant John had met back in Alliance City said as he bowed his head slightly.


    ¡°Oh, its you,¡± John said, not expecting to be greeted outside the city walls like this. ¡°Were you waiting here for me?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°Indeed. Young Master Caz has ced paramount importance on attending to you with timely haste,¡± he replied.


    ¡®They had no idea when I would arrive, and yet Caz stationed this man to look out for my arrival. It seems as though the tea leaves did even better than I expected,¡¯ John mused internally.


    ¡°If you will follow me, I shall escort you to the Mystic Trade Hall,¡± the attendant said, to which John nodded his head in acknowledgement.


    ¡°Lead the way,¡± he replied, happy to skip the long line, which would have taken hours to get through.


    The attendant started walking near the side of the road towards the distant gate, while carts and caravans passed by in both directions. John and Kirii followed closely behind, to which the attendant gazed at Kirii with a peculiar expression.


    ¡°This is?¡± he asked curiously, as he had not been expecting anyone else with John.


    ¡°A close friend of mine,¡± John replied.


    ¡°Ah, very well then,¡± the attendant nodded his head as he continued to lead them towards the gate. Envious eyes from those in line nced at John and Kirii as they passed by without waiting in line, but none dared to say anything as they recognized the attendants clothing as belonging to the Mystic Trade Hall.


    Upon arriving at therge front gate, the attendant walked by the guards stationed out front, who let him and John through without any trouble. As they walked through the gate, the sprawling streets of Five-River Freeport came into view.


    A vibrant and lively atmosphere filled the streets, as vendors hawked their wares, and shop merchants tried to entice passersby to enter their shops. The group made their way through the busy streets, which was filled with boisterous trade wherever they went.


    As they walked deeper into the city, the attendant exined a bit about it to John.


    The city was one of thergest trade cities in the entire continent, where merchants from all over the continent came to sell or buy things. Anything from the most menial cultivation supplies up to the most heavenly treasures were ever present in Five-River Freeport, which attracted buyers from all over.


    The city was not controlled by any singr power, and was not affiliated with any power or alliance, which is why it was aptly named a freeport.


    ¡°There are very few rules in this city,¡± the attendant continued to exin the city to John and Kirii, ¡°but the only ones you should pay attention to are this. There is no fighting whatsoever within the city limits, and fighting is punishable by permanent expulsion from the city, while killing is punishable by death.


    These rules are strictly enforced by the five main powers of Five-River Freeport, who overseew and order within the city together,¡± he exined.


    ¡°Five main powers? I¡¯m assuming those five massive buildings belong to the five main powers then,¡± John mused.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± the attendant nodded his head.


    ¡°Well, that shouldn¡¯t be so hard to follow those rules,¡± John replied casually, as he saw no reason to start a fight with anyone here, as he knew no one.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it might be a bit tougher than you would expect,¡± the attendant replied.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°Because¡­the five main powers of this city are our Mystic Trade Hall, the Divine Merchant Pce, the Eternal Weapons Temple, the Forbidden Merchant Guild, and the ck-Vault Monster Faction,¡± the attendant exined.


    ¡°What? Two of the powers controlling this city are from enemy factions?¡± John asked, as the Forbidden Merchant Guild and ck-Vault Monster Faction were the tworgest trade factions from the Forbidden Alliance and Monster Race respectively.


    ¡°Indeed,¡± the attendant replied with a swift head nod. ¡°Five-River Freeport is a free city, with no restrictions at all when ites to allegiances. As such, you will most definitely run into members from both those factions,¡± he replied as the group arrived before one of the five massive buildings that was built over one of the rivers.


    The building was a pagoda in design, exactly the same as the Mystic Trade Hall in Mystic City, onlyrger and grander. Stunningly designed bridges stretched up to the building, upon which hundreds of cultivators were walking in both directions, while massive ships traveling by river sailed by underneath.


    ¡°Wee, to the Mystic Trade Hall Headquarters in Five-River Freeport,¡± a familiar voice sounded out before John, and he nodded his head in greeting as Caz arrived before them.

 Chapter 755 Tea Discussions

    Chapter 755 Tea Discussions


    ¡°Wee, wee,¡± Caz said excitedly to John as he arrived before John, who greeted him back in return with a slight head nod.


    ¡°You seem quite happy to see me. I take it the tea leaves sold well,¡± John replied with a small smile on his face.


    ¡°Haha, straight to business. I like that,¡± Cazughed as he patted John on the shoulder, ¡°and it seems you¡¯ve seen right through me.¡±


    ¡°What other reason could you have so called for me so enthusiastically, if not for the tea leaves?¡± John replied.


    ¡°What? Can I not be happy to see a friend again?¡± Caz asked, his expression as if he were taken aback by John¡¯s words.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can call ourselves friends just yet,¡± John replied, ¡°but if you can make me a lot of money, that just might change.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, spoken like a true businessman. I knew I was right about you. You and I will get along very well,¡± Caz replied, hisrge smile returning to his face.


    ¡°Come,e, follow me. I have an exclusive room for us to discuss further business. Come,¡± Caz said as he guestured for John to follow.


    ¡°Lead the way,¡± John nodded, and followed Caz up therge bridge leading to one of the buildings entrances.


    His gaze shifted upwards as the building towered overhead, seeming to stretch up into the clouds high above. The exterior of the pagoda-like building was covered with ornate statues and decorations, each more impressive than thest.


    The eaves of the building stretched out quite far, with many balconies overlooking thend located beneath each eave.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted down over the nearby bridge edge, and gazed at the many boats traveling beneath in both directions. A glowing formation existed beneath the bridges and building, acting as some sort of barrier that only allowed approved ships to pass through.


    As they reached the top of the bridge, a host of Peak Dao Transformation guards protected the entrance.


    The guards nodded at Caz as he passed by, who returned the casual greeting before leading John through the entrance and into the building.


    The inside of the building was even more impressive, and was enough for someone as experienced as John to nod his head in approval. Statues, ornate furnishing trimmed with gold and gems, beautiful fountains and more sprawled throughout the open first floor, while thousand of people roamed about as well.


    Caz confidently strode through the main lobby, and after walking for several hundred yards, arrived before a glowing formation etched into the ground. He stepped onto the formation, and beckoned for John to follow.


    ¡°Floor one hundred and two,¡± Caz said to a person stationed next to the tform, who nodded and activated the formation.


    sh!


    John felt his body move through space for an instant, and appeared in a different ce almost immediately after.


    ¡°You have transportation formations for moving between floors?¡± John asked


    ¡°This building has over two hundred floors. It would be a waste of time and efficiency to traverse them physically,¡± he exined as he stepped off the formation and started striding down the hall to their right.


    ¡°I guess that makes sense,¡± John replied, but couldn¡¯t help but think of how many spirit crystals the Mystic Trade Hall spent each day just on such a trivial thing.


    ¡®Must be nice¡­being this wealthy,¡¯ John mused as he followed behind Caz, who strode through severalrge hallways with practiced efficiency.


    Other cultivators and members of the Mystic Trade Hall strode by asionally, butpared to the main floor, the hundred and second floor was much quieter.


    ¡°Young Master Caz,¡± a middle aged woman standing outside a closed door, wearing simr styled ck and white clothes as the male attendant before greeted as she spotted him. ¡°Everything has been prepared ordingly,¡± she continued.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± Caz replied as the woman opened the gold-trimmed door, through which Caz and John entered. The woman closed the door behind them as they entered, while John gazed about the room.


    The room was quiterge, roughly fifty yards in both directions. Like the first floor it was covered with beautiful statues, furnishings, paintings, and even had a private water fountain, which formed images of majestic beasts soaring through the air. Most impressive of all was the view, as the far wall was covered from floor to ceiling with windows, granting a beautiful view of the sprawling city.


    ¡°Impressive,¡± John said in approval.


    ¡°I¡¯m d you like it,¡± Caz smiled as he walked towards a lounge at the center of the room. ¡°This is my private business room. Please, have a seat,¡± he said to John as he sat down on one of the couches, while John sat on a couch opposite him.


    A pot of tea was on the table between them, with steaming out of it, indicating that it was freshly brewed. John took a whiff of the tea, and smiled knowingly.


    ¡°You prepared this using my leaves?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Naturally, as you deserve the best for bringing me such a marvelous business opportunity,¡± Caz replied as he lifted the tea pot and poured John some tea, and then himself.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± John said as he took his cup, savored the aroma, and then took a small sip. A delicious, refreshing, and profound vor touched his pte, which John silently savored.


    However, the taste was not the best part, which was instead the profound insights that filled his mind with each sip. Each sip was as if he were tasting the Daos themselves, increasing hisprehensions towards the Daos and the Heavens slightly.


    ¡°Truly marvelous,¡± Caz said after taking a sip. ¡°No matter how many times I enjoy this tea, it always provides more insights with each sip,¡± he said as he ced his cup on the table.


    ¡°Tell me. What insights came to you just now?¡± Caz asked John.


    ¡°Some insights on the lightning Dao, and some on the essence Qi Dao,¡± John replied. ¡°And you?¡±


    ¡°The Dao of Business, and the Dao of Art,¡± Caz replied.


    ¡°The Dao of Business? Is there actually a Dao for something like that?¡± John questioned.


    ¡°Of course. The Dao is endless,¡± Caz replied. ¡°If it exists, there is a Dao for it. If there is a word for it, there is a Dao for it. If there is a concept, there is a Dao for it. The Dao is the universe, and so for it to exist, there must be a Dao for it,¡± Caz exined.


    ¡°I never thought about it that way, but that makes sense,¡± John replied after thinking it over.


    ¡°And that is why I am excited to discuss further business with you regarding these tea leaves,¡± Caz said. ¡°These leaves seem to contain the infinite Dao, and each person who tastes it gets different insights into the Daos based on their naturalprehensions and affinities.


    I held several auctions for these leaves, with the news of the leaves spreading like wildfire between each auction, as those who purchased it spread the wonders of the leaves. Each auction attracted skeptics and hopefuls alike, but soon the legitimacy of the leaves were confirmed by too many to be false.


    Your leaves have quickly be one of the most desired products on the continent,¡± Caz said before taking a sip from his tea cup.


    ¡°While I can see enthusiasm for the tea leaves, it seems the excitement and demand hase a bit too quickly, as it¡¯s been just half a year since I gave them to you. It seems like there¡¯s more to it,¡± John replied.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. No matter how marvelous an item, it would normally take years to gain this level of desirability,¡± Caz confirmed.


    ¡°Thest push that propelled these leaves to mythical status was this. One cultivator had been stuck at the Peak of the Dao Transformation realm for thousands of years, unable to break through. He tried everything under the sun, but could not ascend to the next realm. Due to his old age, his life was soon to end unless he broke through to extend his lifespan.


    He heard of the leaves through trade discussions, and sought out one for himself. He acquired a single leaf, and after just one pot of tea, he managed to gain thatst sliver of needed insight, and stepped into the World Expansion Realm. I¡¯m sure you can understand the hysterical demand that would create,¡± Caz said with a smile on his face.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what happened. If that¡¯s the case, then it makes sense,¡± John replied calmy, although internally he was shocked.


    ¡®I knew the leaves were amazing, but didn¡¯t think them to be this amazing.¡¯


    Ping!


    A soft metallic sound rang out as Caz ced a spatial ring on the table and slid it over towards John.


    ¡°As we agreed, seventy percent of the profits are yours,¡± he said, and his smile widened as he saw Johns eyes widen as inspect the ring.


    ¡°This! I only gave you a single jar of leaves. Just how much is here?¡± John asked, almost unable to believe his eyes.


    ¡°Indeed it was only a singr jar, and yet that alone fetched five hundred million low grade spirit crystals!¡±

 Chapter 756 Five-River Freeport Auction

    Chapter 756 Five-River Freeport Auction


    John sat there in stunned silence for quite some time, unable to believe that a singr jar of leaves could fetch such a sum. His flying ship had cost a fraction of that, and flying ships were not something everyone could buy.


    ¡®That was just a single jar of leaves, whivh was harvested from a single tea nt. The tea garden in my spatial realm contains hundreds of those nts, which regrow quite quickly as well. I¡¯m rich!!!!!!¡¯


    Money had always been a source of contention for John, as it was needed to buy things from pills and weapons, to battle arts and flying ships. Every time he acquired a significant sum of money, his costs also increased as he went up in cultivation realms, which required more expensive materials.


    However, this sum of money was beyond what he could quickly spend, and he practically had an unlimited amount of leaves to sell.


    ¡°I take it you are satisfied with this oue?¡± Caz asked, snapping John out of his thoughts.


    ¡°More than satisfied,¡± John replied happily.


    ¡°I¡¯m d you¡¯re pleased with the oue, and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be pleased to know that future sales will be even more lucrative,¡± Caz said.


    ¡°More lucrative? Are you sure?¡± John asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Caz said before taking another sip of tea. ¡°The first few auctions fetched meager prices as word of the leaves were yet to spread. Most of the proceeds were received through thest few sales, and thest leaves sold fetched an an average price of fifty million spirit crystals per leaf,¡± Caz exined.


    ¡°News of the leaves has only continued to spread, and so future priceswill most likely be even higher. Tell me, how much would you spend to step into a higher cultivation realm, if you were stuck in your current realm for thousands of years?¡± Caz asked John.


    ¡°Any amount. As much as I had on me,¡± John replied. In the cultivation world, strength was everything. If the tea leaves could help someone raise their cultivation realm, their new strength could help them reacquire what they spent on the leaves quite quickly.


    ¡°Exactly. Your leaves provide something very few things on this world can do, so it will have no shortage of desperate cultivators willing to throw their life savings on the chance to break through,¡± Caz agreed.


    ¡°Not only that, but the tea is also sought after by the young geniuses of the great powers of the continent. While one with a higher cultivation gets more benefit from these tea leaves, it still has the chance to help geniuses gain rare insights and push ahead of their peers.


    So you see, in my opinion, the price will only continue to rise,¡± Caz concluded while smiling at the thought of the future profits toe.


    ¡°I see,¡± John mused before taking another sip of his tea.


    ¡°And that brings me to my next point, and the most important one. How many leaves do you have to sell?¡± Caz inquired, as everything depended on that.


    ¡°How many leaves could you sell, had you the option to pick any amount?¡± John asked in response.


    A thoughtful expression appears on Caz¡¯s face as he thought about the question.


    ¡°If I had to pick a number, I suppose around one hundred leaves a month,¡± Caz answered, which was about five times more than the jar he had been given at first.


    ¡°The leaves are amazing beyondpare, and so there will be no shortage of buyers. Selling more wouldn¡¯t be a problem, but part of the hysterical demand for these leaves are their scarcity. If the market is flooded with them, the hysterical frenzy to obtain them will also subside. I think one hundred a month is a good bnce between supply and demand, so we can maximize profits while maintaining excitement around the leaves,¡± Caz mused.


    ¡°Ah, but that is of course if you can provide that amount of leaves,¡± Caz hastily added. ¡°I understand if your supply of such Heaven defying tea leaves is not thatrge.¡±


    ¡°One hundred a month won¡¯t be a problem at all,¡± John replied calmly, agreeing to Caz¡¯s proposition. A shocked expression appeared on Caz¡¯s face, which was quickly reced by ted glee.


    ¡°Fantastic!¡± He eximed with great excitement. ¡°It¡¯s been several months since west sold any leaves, and buyers have been inquiring incessantly about future sales. It just so happens that the annual Five-River Freeport Auction is happening next week, which will be the perfect opportunity to sell the next batch of leaves!¡±


    ¡°Annual auction? Is it arge event?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°It is one of thergest auctions on the continent, perhaps thergest, and attracts the wealthiest cultivators from around the world. More money is exchanged at the auction than the entirety of Five-River Freeport deals with in a year,¡± he exined.


    ¡°Perfect. Then I¡¯ll leave everything to you,¡± John said as he slid a spatial ring over to Caz, who inspected it with an expression of absolute shock.


    ¡°This!¡±


    ¡°There are twelve hundred leaves, enough for a year of sales,¡± John exined, as he couldn¡¯t be bothered to provide Caz a new batch every month. ¡°I trust you¡¯ll be able to this.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely, you won¡¯t be disappointed with how I handle this¡± Caz replied with fiery passion, ¡°and to show you that, I¡¯d like to officially invite you as my guest of honor for the uing Five-River Freeport Auction, where you can personally see your leaves be sold.¡±


    ¡°Sure, why not,¡± John epted the offer, as he too was curious to see such arge auction for the very first time


    ¡°Excellent. I will begin preparations for this, and will need to start so now,¡± Caz replied eagerly while standing up. ¡°Do excuse my hastiness, but this matter requires extensive preparation, and the auction is in one week. In the meantime, please feel free to explore


    the city, and inquire with Attendant Sasha outside for housing arrangements. I will seek you out again before the auction.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± John replied and watched as Caz hastily strode out of the room, his eagerness more than apparent.


    ¡°Coming to this city seems to have been the correct thing to do,¡± John mused happily as he walked outside the room and discussed housing with the attendant outside.

 Chapter 757 Exploring The City

    Chapter 757 Exploring The City


    The next week passed by quickly, as John spent half his time cultivating, and the other half exploring the city. Five-River Freeport was evenrger than he had expected it to be, as each and every inch ofnd was covered with something regarding trade. Hundreds of thousands of buildings lined the streets, with even more stalls located outside the buildings by those not fortunate enough to own a building outright.


    Five-River Freeport was divided into five districts, with each specializing in a certain aspect. The district controlled by the Mystic Trade Hall was a general purpose district, where trade of all kind could take ce, and where one could find almost anything their heart desired.


    Even the parks andkes located at various parts of the cities had some sort of attraction, whether it was romantic boat rides, illusion formations that could satisfy any desire, or a thousand other things.


    The district controlled by the Divine Merchant Pce was mostly the same, and John quickly came to understand that the Divine Merchant Pce was the Mystic Trade Hall¡¯s biggest rival, as they dealt in simr trades, although their main trade was in formations.


    Impressed by this rivalry at first, John¡¯s mood towards the Divine Merchant Pce soured when he learned that it was partially owned by the Starforge n. Through discussions with other merchants, he learned that the Divine Merchant Pce was jointly owned by several formation ns, with the Starforge n being one of the most prominent.


    The Eternal Weapon Temple controlled the third district, which as its name suggested, specialized in weapon forging. The best weapons one could obtain in the city, and in the continent as well, came from the Eternal Weapon Temple and the other crafting guilds in its district. The Eternal Weapon Temple also specialized in other things such as armor, alchemy forges, flying ships, and anything else that required high level forging knowledge.


    The fourth district was controlled by the Forbidden Merchant Guild, which was the premier trading guild for the Forbidden Alliance. It was a joint collective of the most powerful sects and ns in the Forbidden Alliance, and arge portion of the Forbidden Alliances funds came through the Forbidden Merchant Guild.


    John had inquired why the city allowed such a power to exist within, but his questions were met with curious gazes, almost as if he were stupid to ask such a question. To the merchants of the world, things like alliances and cultivation pathways didn¡¯t matter at all. The only thing that mattered to them was making money, regardless of the source of that money.


    Finally was the ck-Vault Trade Faction, which was controlled by the Monster Race. The headquarters of the ck-Vault Trade Faction was a gothic style castle, pitch ck in color. Its district dealt in many forms of trade, but it primarily focused on things the monster race specialized in, such as the sale of exotic beasts and nts only found in the monster race controlled region of the continent.


    John had explored the Mystic Trade Hall district already, and partially the Eternal Weapon Temple district, but had not had a chance to explore anything else. The city was beyond massive, and it would no doubt take several decades to visit every street and building.


    It was as if the entire city was filled with the most enthusiastic merchants, who thought of nothing other than trading and making money.


    ¡°I guess the Dao of Business really is a thing,¡± John mused as he walked through the streets of the city. He could tell just how fervently passionate the merchants were about their profession, an all consuming obsession that he only ever saw in cultivators.


    The passion of the merchants coursed through him, making even someone as calm as him be enamored at their zeal. Their overwhelming emotions reminded him of the various joys cultivating gave him, from increasing his insights to the heart-pounding battles that he took part in.


    As he strode through the streets over the week, he noticed the boisterous and lively atmosphere be even more so by the day. The streets, buildings, parks, and restaurants became more and more crowded, while heated discussions boomed everywhere.


    The discussions were almost exclusively about one thing, as if it had ensnared the mind of the entire city.


    The Five-River Freeport Auction.


    Just based on the frenzied atmosphere, John could tell just how important the auction was to the city. It was the only thing anyone could think of it seemed.


    ¡°Young man. Young man!¡± an enthusiastic voice called out to John. John stopped and turned towards the voice, which was a smiling middle aged man standing at the entrance of a building.


    ¡°Blue-Eye Ind Entry?¡± John mused as he read the signboard above the two story building.


    ¡°Young man, you look like someone who wants to make it to Blue-Eye Ind, eh?¡± the man said as he walked over to John and draped his arm around his shoulder as if the two were best of friends. ¡°With the auctioning up, it¡¯s the only thing anyone can think of, am I right?¡±


    ¡°Blue-Eye Ind?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°Ah, I see you¡¯re new to the city,¡± the man replied. ¡°Blue-Eye Ind is the ind in the center of theke, you see.¡±


    ¡°Oh, its that floating ind? But why is it called Blue-Eye Ind?¡± John asked.


    ¡°When you look down on the ind from above, the massive dome in the middle kinda looks like a blue eye, don¡¯t ya think?¡± he replied.


    ¡°I¡­I guess that makes sense,¡± John replied, as it truly had looked like a massive eye when he had arrived outside the city at first.


    ¡°So, what do you say? Do you want a ticket to the ind? You¡¯ll be able to attend the auction if you buy it!¡± he asked John.


    ¡°A ticket to the ind? You sell things like that?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Of course. Each of the Five-Powers controls the teleportation formations to the ind, which is the only way to get there. And to get to the formation, you need to buy a ticket, which I have three remaining. So what do you say? Surely you want to participate in the auction?¡± the man asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± John replied, as he did not need such a thing.


    ¡°Tch, snot-nosed brat,¡± the man sneered and took his arm off John¡¯s shoulder as if he were disgusted. ¡°


    ¡°Heh, everything is about money here, and nothing else matters,¡± John mused, his words causing the man to twitch with anger.


    ¡°Move aside, you lowly brat. You¡¯re blocking the entrance to my building,¡± the man grumbled angrily, causing John to frown at his unkind words. ¡°I should have you thrown out of this city for interfering with my business. Do you know who I am? I¡¯m not someone you want to mess with, boy!¡± the man said threateningly as he noticed John¡¯s displeased re.


    Despite the fact that the man¡¯s cultivation was below John¡¯s, he didn¡¯t feel any danger, as there was absolutely no violence allowed within the city.


    The man¡¯s eyes suddenly shifted onto someone behind John, and an excited expression reced his anger.


    ¡°Ah, Mystic Trade Hall Young Master! Wee! Wee! What brings you to my humble shop?¡± the man asked as he recognized the robes worn by the neer. Everyone in the city recognized the clothing of the Five Powers, and respected them with utmost sincerity.


    John smiled as he noticed the neer, who smiled back at John before a displeased expression appeared on his face.


    ¡°To speak to my friend with such vitriol, I should have you thrown out of the city,¡± Caz said to the merchant, displeased at how he had treated John. The mans face lit up with horrified shock as his gaze shifted to John, who stood there calmly watching the entire thing.


    ¡°I¡­I apologize! My eyes were blind to see you were such an esteemed friend of the Young Master here!¡± the man said pleadingly as he fell to his knees before John. ¡°Please, forgive this blind man!¡±


    John stared at the man for a singr moment before averting his gaze, as something like this was far beneath him. He turned to Caz andpletely ignored the old man, as if he didn¡¯t exist.


    ¡°How did you manage to find me in such a busy city?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°I have my ways,¡± Caz replied with an amused smile, ¡°but more importantly. The day of the auction is tomorrow, and the preparations areplete. Come, let us proceed to Blue-Eye Ind!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s finally arrived huh? Sure, lead the way,¡± John replied with an excited smile as he began to follow Caz, while a mountain of spirit crystals appeared in his mind, as if he could already imagine the wealth that was soon toe.

 Chapter 758 Arriving At The Auction House

    ¡°So, how have you enjoyed your stay in the city thus far?¡± Caz asked as the two walked through the busy streets, back towards the Mystic Trade Hall building.


    ¡°It¡¯s been¡­interesting,¡± John replied after thinking it over. ¡°I can see why you say the Dao of Business is a thing. This city seems to think of business and nothing else, as if making money is all that matters in life.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just about money, at least not for me¡± Caz replied calmly, his gaze staring forward.


    ¡°Then what is it about for you?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°My goal is the same as yours,¡± Caz replied as a glint of resolve flickered in his eyes, and his demeanor seemed to change, bing much more serious.


    ¡°The same as mine? How can we share the same goal, when our paths are so different?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°What is your goal? Your ultimate goal?¡± Caz asked John.


    ¡°My goal? The only thing that matters to me right now is getting stronger,¡± John replied. He had many things that he needed to aplish, and the only way to aplish those things was strength. Only with overwhelming strength could he protect those around him, and control his own fate.


    ¡°To stand at the peak of the martial world. That is my goal,¡± John replied, his answer full of confident resolve.


    Caz smiled as he heard this, and nodded his head in approval.


    ¡°Most wouldugh at someone saying such a thing, but when it¡¯s you, I truly believe you can aplish it. As for me, my goal is the same as yours! To stand at the true peak. For you its cultivation, for me, its business,¡± Caz replied.


    ¡°The peak of business?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Yes. I want to be the best merchant this world has ever seen, and perhaps even beyond that. When anyone thinks of trade and business, I want them to think of me first, as if I am trade and business itself, an incarnation of the very Daos of Trade and Business¡± Caz said with a firm expression on his face, his gaze locked onto Johns. ¡°And with your help, I truly believe I can make this dream a reality.¡±


    John stared at Caz in silence for quite some time, and a smile of approval appeared on his face as he patted Caz on the back several times.


    ¡°I like that answer! I think you and I are going to get along quite well,¡± John said whileughing lightly.


    ¡°And I think the same,¡± Caz smiled back while the two made their way through the busy streets.


    ¡­


    After arriving at the Mystic Trade Hall Building, John was surprised to see the traffic into the building had increased many times whenpared to his first arrival. Caz had exined it as arrivals for the auction, as the only way to the central ind which housed the auction house was through the official transportation formations found in each of the five main buildings of the city.


    John followed Caz through the first floor of the building, and appeared at a massive formation upon which hundreds of people stood. He and John stepped onto it as well, and while they waited for it to activate, John noticed many of the other cultivators presenting their entry tickets to the Mystic Trade Hall attendants stationed outside the formation.


    ¡°You guys really manage to mize everything,¡± John said to Caz.


    ¡°If we can make money from something, we¡¯ll make money from it. It¡¯s as simple as that,¡± Caz replied, while the formation was activated.


    John¡¯s vision blurred for an instant before appearing in a different ce, along with all the other people who had stood on the formation. After leaving the building which housed the other end of the transportation formation, a massive city came into view once more.


    However, whenpared to the districts he had explored before, the difference was night and day. Each building before his eyes was far more pristine, luxurious, and breathtaking, as it each and every inch was made from only the finest materials on the continent.


    It was as if everything was trimmed with gold and other precious metals, and infused with gems and crystals. Even the streets were made from the highest quality materials, with each brick trimmed with gold, adding to the gaudy yet impressive luxury of the city.


    Caz escorted John through the ind city, which only continued to get more and more luxurious as they ventured towards its center. There were heavenly restaurants serving the finest food and drinks, hotels of iparable luxury, trade shops selling only the most rare of treasures, and more.


    John¡¯s gaze shifted about in wonder as they ventured deeper into the small-ind city, and not long after, they arrived before the most impressive building of all.


    ¡°The blue eye!¡± John eximed, as the building was the massive, spherical building, sparkling with the most eye-catching of blue colors. His eyes widened as he realized the entire building, which was over a mile high and wide, was made of blue gemstones, carved and polished into the smoothest of surfaces.


    Such arge building made of such precious materials could only have cost a fortunerger than he could possibly imagine.


    ¡°Wee, to the Five-River Freeport Auction House,¡± Caz said with a smile, amused at John¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°Well, well, well, I thought I recognized that voice,¡± a voice sounded out from the distance, causing Caz to turn around with a frown on his face as he stared at several people who were approaching him.


    ¡°What do you want, Xander?¡± Caz asked with an icy voice, which caused John to raise an eyebrow as he had never seen Caz like this before.


    John gazed at this ¡®Xander,¡¯ who was a youth around the same age as them. He also wore the clothes of the Mystic Trade Hall, which made John curious as to why they were so obviously antagonistic. However, his gaze hardened as well as he noticed what one of Xanders friends, a young and rather beautiful female, was wearing.


    ¡°What do I want? Can¡¯t I just greet my fellow brethren before the auction?¡± Xander asked.


    ¡°With you, nothing is so simple,¡± Caz replied as his gaze shifted to the two other people next to Caz, who both wore different outfits of equally high quality.


    ¡°And to think you¡¯ve even sided with the Divine Merchant Pce. Have you no shame at all?¡± Caz asked coldly.


    ¡°Sided with? You seem to be mistaken,¡± Xander replied while shaking his head in a disappointed manner. ¡°These two are my friends, Griffin, from the Divine Merchant Pce, and Vivian, from the Starforge n. Our friendship goes way back, and we¡¯ve merely decided toe to this auction together,¡± Xander introduced his friends with a smirk on his face, and nced at John for a second before ignoring him.


    John¡¯s gaze lingered on Vivian for a second, who was wearing the signature robes of the Starforge n. She appeared to be around his age, and had a cultivation in the Middle Heaven Tribtion Realm. Even someone like John had to admit that she was quite beautiful, with a near perfect face and long purple hair.However, she carried herself with a haughty expression, as if she were a princess that lorded over the world, which in John¡¯s eyes made her look quite ugly.


    ¡°You see, this is why you¡¯ll never beat me,¡± Xander continued with that smirking smile lingering on his face. ¡°You have always been trash at making the right friends. Having the right friends is just as important as making money in our profession, and I see you¡¯ve yet to learn that lesson. That is why I¡¯ve always bested you, and that is why I¡¯ll best you this auction once again.¡±


    Caz grit his teeth as he heard Xanders insults, while the memories of the past also came back into his mind like a hammer. John raised an eyebrow as he saw Caz¡¯s expression, as there was clearly more to this situation that met the eye.


    ¡°Friendship? With the Starforge n? What a joke,¡± John scoffed, instantly snapping Caz from his dark thoughts as he heard John¡¯s voice. Caz and the others shifted their gazes to John, while Xander eyed him up and down before scoffing, as his clothes were quite average in quality, which Xander clearly looked down upon.


    ¡°And who is this rabble? Some bodyguard thug you hired to follow you around?¡± Xander sneered, while Vivian stared at him with angered displeasure.


    ¡°Who are you to speak about my Starforge n in such a manner?¡± Vivian interjected in the conversation, her voice and expression haughty beyondpare. ¡°You¡¯re just a rat who doesn¡¯t know his ce in this world,¡± she spat in disgust, clearly looking down on John.


    ¡°Tell me, what is your rtionship with Kadin?¡± John asked calmly, his question surprising Vivian and the others, as they clearly did not expect John to be familiar with their young master.


    ¡°You dare to use my cousin¡¯s name in such a disrespectful manner? I¡¯ll have you-¡°


    ¡°Cousin, huh? I guess I can see the resemnce after all,¡± John mused out loud, cutting off Vivian. ¡°The next time you see Kadin, be sure to mention the name John Fenix to him, and ask him what I did to him inside the Jade Dragon Empire Realm. I¡¯m sure his expression of fear and despair will be quite amusing for you to see.¡±


    After saying this, John nudged Caz on the shoulder to lead the way forward, as if wasting his time here was not worth it. Caz nodded and led the way past the group, while John followed behind calmly.


    ¡°You fucking peasant! You dare speak about my Starforge n, and Kadin that way? I¡¯ll have you dragged back to my n to live out a life more miserable than you could ever imagine,¡± Vivian erupted in rage, incensed to be spoken to in such a manner.


    While walking away, John calmly gazed over his shoulder, his icy-cold eyes locking to Vivian, who felt her heart nearly stop from instinctual fear as if she were staring at death itself for a moment.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be visiting your Starforge n before long, and when that dayes¡­it¡¯s going to be a day the continent will surely remember,¡± John replied emotionlessly before shifting his gaze away from the group, who watched him and Caz disappear into the auction house.


    Crack!


    A cracking sound rang out as Vivian clenched her teeth with furious rage while her face turned red.


    ¡°That fucking brat! I want him dead!¡± she grumbled angrily through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Now, now! You know we can¡¯t do that in the city,¡± Xander said, trying to calm her down from doing anything rash.


    ¡°Tch, fine,¡± Vivian sneered, ¡°but I¡¯m going to make his life a living nightmare while he¡¯s in this city. He¡¯s entering this auction with that fellow member of yours? Fine, I¡¯ll make sure they don¡¯t get a single fucking item. I¡¯ll embarrass them to death with their meager wealth!¡±


    ¡°Now that¡­is something you and I can agree on, my friend,¡± Xander said as arge smirk appeared on his face.

 Chapter 759 Cazs Dao of Business

    ¡°What was that all about?¡± John asked Caz as they strode through the halls of the auction house, which buzzed with boisterous activity from the thousands of other cultivators that strode by each minute.


    As they entered, John couldn¡¯t help but be even more impressed by the auction house, as its quality was somehow even higher than the majestic city outside.


    It was as if this auction house was the center of all wealth in the world, and that no expense was spared to make it. The floors, walls, statues, fountains, paintings, and everything in between was of the highest quality, making it feel like a pce for a heavenly king.


    ¡°Its¡­its nothing,¡± Caz replied, his face red and flustered from his encounter with Xander.


    ¡°It¡¯s obviously not nothing,¡± John replied, ¡°how is one person able to get you so worked up?¡±


    ¡°Its¡­.much like your sects which has disciple rankings, my Mystic Trade Hall also has the same system. For your sects, you are ranked by power and strength, while in mine, we are ranked by how much money we make. Xander has always been number one, and I was never able to beat him, alwaysing in at number two,¡± Caz exined.


    ¡°Number two in the entire Mystic Trade Hall? That¡¯s very impressive and nothing to be angry about,¡± John replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s not good enough. Just like you, I aim to be the best,¡± Caz grumbled, ¡°but that¡¯s not why I hate Xander.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Then what¡¯s the reason?¡± John asked curiously.


    Caz fell silent for some time as they walked through the halls, and took a deep breath before speaking again.


    ¡°As the number one disciple of my Hall, he¡¯s done everything in his power to make my life a living nightmare. Every business opportunity I came up with was either poached or ruined by him, and every time I made an ounce of progress, he would do everything in his power to ruin it.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that just part of the business world? Making money through any means, even if it means ruining the opportunities of others?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°It may be a part of business, but its not part of my Dao of Business,¡± Caz replied firmly, before gazing at John with a heated expression.


    ¡°Let me ask you this. Would you be happy being the number one cultivator in your sect by only bringing down those around you? From what I know about you, I don¡¯t believe you would be happy with that,¡± Caz asked John, who thought about it for a moment before agreeing.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I want to be the strongest because of my own strength, not by lowering thepetition,¡± John confirmed.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, and that is my Dao when ites to business. I want to be the best because I achieved the pinnacle, not because I lowered the level of those around me. That sort of oue does not satisfy me at all,¡± Caz replied.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you hate Xander? Due to your conflicting Dao¡¯s?¡± John asked.


    ¡°No, if that was all, I would be fine with that. Dealing with people like him is part of business, and getting past him is part of expanding the understanding of my Dao. But Xander pushed things so far that I dropped all the way to the back of the pack, as if he was targeting me and only me. It got so bad that I was forced to move to Mystic City, away from the Mystic Trade Hall¡¯s headquarters here. Only then was I able to start anew, but my progress and growth in my Dao has stalled greatly because of him,¡± Caz exined his reasoning for hating Xander.


    ¡°So why did you return to this city now then? How are you going to deal with Xander when you weren¡¯t able to before?¡± John asked curiously, while Caz¡¯s frustrated expression was reced with a small smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s because I have you as an ally and friend now,¡± Caz replied sincerely, causing John to raise an eyebrow at his words.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think I¡¯d side with Xander if I knew it would make me more money?¡± John asked curiously, surprised that Caz ced so much trust in him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯re that type of person,¡± Caz replied without a hint of doubt, while a small smile appeared on John¡¯s face, as he too knew that Caz was someone he could trust, as his personality was very much to John¡¯s liking.


    ¡­


    A short whileter, John and Caz stepped through one of the hallway entrances into the auction house proper, revealing a sprawling sea of people already seated awaiting the auction. John¡¯s eyes widened as he took in the sight, and was shocked at how many seats the auction theater had, and how many were already seated.


    ¡°Wow,¡± John eximed softly as he looked at the hundreds of thousands of cultivators already seated, eagerly awaiting the auction. Boisterous discussion boomed throughout the auction theater as all within were almost unable to contain their excitement.


    The seats wrapped around the theater, while arge auction stage was located in the very center of the theater, allowing everyone to have a viewing angle of the stage.


    After taking in the sight, John followed Caz through the maze of seats and people, eventually arriving at their destination.


    ¡°Wow! We get a private booth?¡± John asked Caz.


    Almost all the seating in the auction house was general purpose seating, with only several thousand booths scattered in various locations that had a more private atmosphere. The booths as well varied in quality, from just barely being a bit more luxurious and spacious than the general seating, to closed off booths that blocked off all sight and sound from outside, protectin the identity of those inside.


    The booth Caz led them two was somewhere in the middle in terms of luxury, having a private lounge separated from the general seats around them, with attendants waiting by to serve their needs. However, they were not in a fully closed off booth like some of the higher quality booths.


    However, whenpared to the general seating, it was far more pleasant, as it was very spacious and luxurious.


    ¡°It¡¯s one of the perks of being a disciple of one of the Five City Powers,¡± Caz said with a smile as he walked into the private booth and sat down on one of thefortable chairs. John sat down on a nearby chair, which had a table in front of them, covered in fruits and eats of all kinds, and also expensive drinks.


    ¡°If you need anything, just ask one of the attendants,¡± Caz instructed John, ¡°the auction willst a few days, so make yourselffortable.¡±


    ¡°Not bad. I think I can get used to this,¡± John replied as he lounged back in his chair, which felt like being embraced by a soft cloud.


    After getting settled in, John and Caz continued their discussions regarding various things, while more and more people flooded into the auction house. Half a dayter, the lights in the auction house began to dim, while the frenzied discussion quickly died down.


    A figure suddenly appeared on the stage in the center of the auction house, a woman who appeared to be in her twenties. She wore a slightly revealing dress and had a very alluring figure, and stood on the stage with calmposure as she addressed the eager crowd.


    ¡°Five-River Freeport thanks each and every one of you for attending our annual auction,¡± the woman addressed the crowd, her voice soft and alluring.


    ¡°Before we begin, I must go over the rules of the auction,¡± she said, while the crowd eagerly listened.


    ¡°First, bids will be ced by using the bidding formation on your armrest. Any verbal or physical disturbances will not be tolerated.


    Second, each bid will end after three counts.


    Third, the winner of the bid will present proof of funds at purchase. If funds are not readily avable at purchase, the item bidding will start anew, and the previous auctioneer will be escorted out of the building.¡±


    The woman quickly exined the rules, which were rtively straight forward. An alluring smile appeared on her face as she turned to the side and waved her arm, at which point a false floor in the stage opened up, and an item on a pedestal rose up from beneath the stage, catching the eyes of all.


    ¡°With no further dy, we will now begin the auction,¡± she said, which brought thunderous apuse throughout the theater.

 Chapter 760 The Auction Starts

    760 The Auction Starts


    As the false floor in the center of the stage gave way, a tform raised up from beneath the stage, revealing the first item. The item rested on top of an exquisite looking pedestal, trimmed with precious metals and lined with eye-catching gems.


    Thunderous apuse boomed out within the auction theater, resonating and shaking it from within. Even John was surprised at how loud it got within, as just the volume would be enough to shatter the ear drums of a non-cultivator.


    ¡°Its tradition that thunderous apuse wees the start of the auction,¡± Caz exined to John as he noticed his expression.


    ¡°Thunderous indeed,¡± John nodded as he felt his blood heat up from the mood, which was a rare asion. Onlybat was normally able to stir his blood, but the atmosphere in the auction theater was quite intense, and he couldn¡¯t help but be caught up in it as well.


    ¡°The first item of the Annual Five-River Freeport Auction is a pot of Three-Vein Spirit Grass,¡± the auctioneer called out to the crowd as she stood next to the first auctioned item.


    It was a pot roughly six inches in height and width, and the top was unsealed, revealing the sparkling grass within. Even from the distance John was seated at, he could feel the refreshing aura emanating from the grass, indicating it was quite a spectacr item. However, as he was not an expert on nts and herbs, he didn¡¯t know exactly what it did.


    ¡°Three-Vein Spirit Grass is used to concoct soul-enhancing pills,¡± Caz exined, ¡°its quite a rare nt, but not extremely rare, hence it being the first item auctioned off.¡±


    ¡°Soul-enhancing treasures are few and far between. No wonder it¡¯s being auctioned here,¡± John nodded, thankful for Caz¡¯s exnation. However, he had no need for soul-enhancing items thanks to his pce realm holy gate, and so he felt no need to bid on it.


    Beep!


    A soft beeping sound rang out, catching the attention of John. He nced over towards the sound, and saw a hologram formation hovering above one of the auction participants, in the general seating area.


    The formation hologram, which was visible from all directions, merely disyed a number above the man¡¯s head.


    ¡°Three hundred thousand.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the bid amount,¡± Caz exined to John. ¡°As soon as another higher bides in, it will be disyed elsewh-¡°


    Beep!


    Another soft beep sounded out, and a hologram formation appeared above someone else a short distance away.


    ¡°Four Hundred Thousand.¡¯


    Beep!


    Beep!


    Beep!


    Shortly afterwards, dozens of beeps sounded out as many additional bids were ced, each higher in value than the previous. The auction theater became a buzz of beeps and excited discussions, as a frenzy of bidding quickly broke out.


    Hundreds and hundreds of bids were quickly ced, and hundreds of beeps sounded out, while a thoughtful expression appeared on John¡¯s face as he focused on the bidding. A small smile appeared on Caz¡¯s face as he noticed John¡¯s expression, as if he could see through his thoughts.


    ¡°The beeps caught your attention, huh?¡± Caz asked John.


    ¡°How did you know?¡± John replied as he turned to look at Caz.


    ¡°Everyone has the same reaction every time they see this auction for the first time,¡± Caz replied. ¡°Hearing the same sound over and over in quick session would normally be irritating and annoy all those hearing it, but you¡¯re surprised to discover you don¡¯t mind the constant beeping, right?¡± Caz asked, while John nodded his head.


    ¡°That¡¯s because the beeping sounds were designed by some of the most gifted musicians on this continent, who study the Dao of Sound and Dao of Music. They spent quite some time researching, and came to this sound as the most pleasurable short duration sound they could find. That¡¯s why you¡¯re not annoyed by it, nor will you be even after hearing it a million times by the end of this auction,¡± Caz exined.


    ¡°This auction even has such a thing? It seems like no expense was spared at all,¡± John replied, shocked to hear that even such a trivial thing had been given so much thought.


    Beep!


    Beep!


    Beep


    The beeps continued to ring out, seeming to resonate and form a melodious harmony, which was incredibly pleasurable for John to listen to. His attention focused on the betting, which was mostly focused on the seats lower in the theater, in the general admission area.


    ¡°Make yourselffortable for now,¡± Caz said to John as he reclined back in his seat. ¡°This auction starts with the lowest grade items, and works its way up to the heavenly treasures. The first day or two will be bids that the lower area of the theater bids for. The items will continue to grow in value and rarity until it will be us and those above us bidding on the items exclusively, but that won¡¯t happen for a few days,¡± Caz exined the auction process to John, who nodded his head in acknowledgement.


    ¡®Seems like it¡¯s going to be a while until something that interests me shows up,¡¯ John mused while the bidding continued to increase in intensity.


    However, he remained focused on the bidding taking ce, as learning more about what was for sale on the Divine Martial Continent was quite interesting to him.


    ¡°Sold! To seat number 45038, for one million three hundred thousand spirit crystals!¡± the auctioneer eximed as the bidding for the first item has concluded.


    An excited smile appeared on the middle-aged man who had purchased the item, who quickly presented a spatial ring to an attendant that appeared behind him. The attendant inspected the ring for a moment and nodded his head at the auctioneer, verifying the proof of funds.


    The alluring auctioneer nodded and waved her hand, at which point the pedestal lowered, returning the item just sold beneath the stage, while a new item was raised up on the stage shortly afterwards.


    ¡°The next item we have is an exotic weapon, forged by Daoist Myriad Illusions himself! It¡¯s the Myriad Illusion Battle Disc!¡± the auctioneer exined as a bizarre looking formation disk appeared on the stage, while melodious beeps once again drifted through the auction theater.

 Chapter 761 Eternal Spirit Forge

    761 Eternal Spirit Forge


    For the next several hours, John watched as the auction proceeded without pause, as dozens of items were bid on and sold. The items included a wide variety of things, from medicinal herbs, formation disks, weapons, pills, battle arts, and everything in between.


    As long as it was an item of high rarity, it was being sold at this auction, which didn¡¯t bother to sell anything that could be obtained through everyday trade. As the auction progressed, Caz exined each item to John while he lounged on hisfortable seat, as if he had the details of each and every item memorized.


    His exnations were of great help for John, who used them to decide if he wanted to bid on them or not. However, thanks to his time in the Jade Dragon Empire Realm, John had acquired many treasures beyondpare, and didn¡¯t want for many things at the moment. As such, he had yet to bid on an item.


    While they waited, the attendants stationed in their private booth brought them a constant stream of delicious food and drink, which John happily epted.


    ¡°Sold!¡± the auctioneer eximed with ir, her energy remaining constant despite leading the auction for half a day already.


    Shortly after, a new item rose up from beneath the stage, while the auctioneer exined the item to the crowd once more.


    ¡°The next item we have is the Eternal Spirit Furnace! Crafted by none other than Pill Sovereign Eternal Spirit! It¡¯s an alchemy forge of incredible quality, and you would be hard pressed to find a better forge avable for sale anywhere. It contains an Ethereal Wood Spirit Root as its core, which makes it highlypatible with wood constitution alchemists! The bidding starts at five million!¡± the auctioneer exined, kicking off the next round of bidding.


    As he heard this exnation, John raised an eyebrow in interest and leaned forward, which Caz noticed.


    ¡°Are you interested in this alchemy forge?¡± Caz asked curiously.


    ¡°Kinda. I have a friend that could use this forge, so I might as well ce a bet on it,¡± John replied, as this forge would be something Chase could most definitely use.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a bad forge,¡± Caz replied as he studied it. ¡°While it¡¯s not super amazing either, it¡¯s a perfect forge for someone in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and even the Dao Transformation Realm.¡±


    Beep!


    Beep!


    Beep!


    The melodious sound of the bidding beeps started ringing out again, and the bid amounts quickly reached forty million spirit crystals. If this was before he obtained his proceeds from his tea leaves, John would never bet this amount on a forge. However, with his proceeds and future tea proceeds, he had more than enough to bet on something like this.


    Beep!


    A beep rang out directly over John¡¯s head as the bidding started to die down, as he ced his hand on the bidding formation on his chair armrest and entered his bid.


    Forty-Five Million!


    All eyes turned towards John¡¯s private booth, as it was one of the first times in the auction that a private booth had bidded on an item.


    ¡°Whose that?¡±


    ¡°It seems like two kids, one being from the Mystic Trade Hall.¡±


    ¡°Seems like the items are starting to attract the attention of people like them. We need to hurry with our bidsing up, as it seems like the big yers will start bidding soon!¡±


    Many discussions broke out amongst the general attendance crowd, who gazed even higher up in the auction theater as another bid was quickly ced right afterwards.


    Beep!


    Fifty Million!


    The bid was ced almost instantly after John¡¯s had been ced, and surprisingly had been ced by one of the private booths that hid the identity of those within.


    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Who knows. They¡¯re in a private booth. We¡¯ll be unable to tell who just bid on this forge.¡±


    ¡°Sigh! As soon as these people start bidding, it¡¯s over for small fry like us!¡±


    Many more discussions broke out within the crowd, who were surprised that the big yers had ced multiple bids this early.


    As his bid was quickly outbid, John nced over towards the private booth, which was several hundred yards away, and was fully enclosed which hid the identities of those within. He stared at the booth for a moment before cing his hand on the bidding formation once more, raising his bid.


    Fifty Five Million!


    Beep!


    Sixty Million!


    The same private booth instantly bid again, besting his bid by five million. A small frown appeared on John¡¯s face as this happened, as the two higher bids were done so quickly as if they were watching John directly, waiting for him to bid.


    ¡°Motherfucker. Someone is targeting you,¡± Caz said as he started to rise from his seat, while his eyes went wide in realization. ¡°It¡¯s them! Isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Who else would it be?¡± John replied calmly as he stared at the private booth who had outbid him once again.


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Caz asked curiously. ¡°Want me to help out so we outbid them?¡± he asked John, who appreciated the offer of help, but declined.


    ¡°Hmm, I guess I could use your help, but not directly,¡± John said as he turned to Caz.


    ¡°What help do you need?¡± he asked curiously.


    ¡°To the best of your knowledge, how much money would the trio of Xander, Vivian, and the other one have between them? John asked curiously.


    ¡°Hmmm, that¡¯s hard to say exactly, but Xander should have several billion at his disposal, while Vivian should have even more, being one of the most important youths of the Starforge n. I would guess she has around ten billion spirit crystals on her, but that¡¯s just my guess. As for the other, it should be around what Xander has,¡± Caz mused thoughtfully.


    ¡°That much?¡± John eximed, but wasn¡¯t too shocked. The Starforge n was one of the most prominent formations ns in the world, and their young masters were sure to be loaded.


    ¡®I have about one and a half billion spirit crystals, thanks to the proceeds from the tea leaves, as well as the spirit crystals I obtained from the enemies in the Jade Dragon Realm. However, even that seems like it¡¯s not nearly enough topete with Vivian¡­it seems like I¡¯ll need to drain a bit of her funds for now,¡¯ John mused as a thought appeared in his mind, and a small, mischievous smile on his face.


    ¡®If she wants to bid on what I bid on, then bring it. Let¡¯s see how long this petty tantrum of yours canst before you be destitute, princess Starforge!¡¯

 Chapter 762 Bidding War

    762 Bidding War


    ¡°Tch, this brat still hasn¡¯t bid on anything yet,¡± Vivian grumbled with great displeasure as John had yet to ce a bid on an item. ¡°Maybe he¡¯s so poor that he can¡¯t even afford the most basic of items here. Tch, how am I supposed to have fun crushing him then?¡±


    ¡°Now, now, you¡¯ll definitely have your fun soon. While that brat you¡¯re targeting might be poor whenpared to you, he most definitely isn¡¯t a nobody,¡± Xander assuaged her displeasure.


    ¡°Oh? Do you know who that brat is?¡± Vivian asked curiously.


    ¡°I know Caz, and he wouldn¡¯t team up with a nobody, so I did some digging into who he is. It turns out that John Fenix is the number one disciple of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, so he has some skill after all,¡± Xander said to Vivian.


    ¡°The Heavenly Lightning Sect? That¡¯s just some second rate sect. Being the number one disciple of such a sect doesn¡¯t mean anything,¡± Vivian replied dismissively,pletely looking down on the Heavenly Lightning Sect.


    As one of the premier youths of the Starforge n, there were very few powers on the Divine Martial Continent that she treated with the respect of an equal, and the Heavenly Lightning Sect was not an equal in her eyes.


    ¡°True, which is why I¡¯m also curious as to why Caz chose to bring him along,¡± Xander mused as he stared across the auction theater, his gaze locked onto John.


    ¡°Oh! He¡¯s finally bidding on an item,¡± Xander chimed up as he saw John bid on the Eternal Spirit Forge.


    ¡°Finally! Time to make this brat regret that he ever spoke to me that way,¡± Vivian scoffed as she instantly ced her bid, while a satisfied smile appeared on her face as she noticed John looking at her booth.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, you peasant. Try to fight against me and know despair at how poor you are!¡± she mocked him, although John couldn¡¯t hear it due to the booth being soundproof.


    ¡°Oh, he bid again! As if I¡¯ll let you!¡± Vivian mocked again as she instantly ced another bid, and smiled as she noticed John¡¯s frown.


    ¡°Ah¡­maybe you should go a bit slower on your counter-bids, otherwise they¡¯ll quickly figure out it¡¯s you targeting them,¡± Xander offered some words of warning.


    ¡°Of course I want them to know it¡¯s me targeting them! I want them to know it¡¯s me that will make them unable to obtain a single item!¡± Vivian replied with displeasure at hearing Xander¡¯s words.


    Xander wanted to offer words of warning, but decided against it and let Vivian be, who smiled with mocking pleasure as she stared at John.


    ¡°What now, brat? How long will you keep bidding until I break you?¡± she said with a mocking smile on her face.


    ¡­


    Sixty Five Million!


    John ced another bet, five million higher than Vivians, and as expected, another bet was ced by her instantly, five million higher.


    ¡°Are you going to try to fight her for this item?¡± Caz asked, a slightly concerned look on his face. If John was being targeted by Vivian, then there wasn¡¯t much he could do about obtaining the items he wanted.


    ¡°Do you want me to ce a bidder in the crowd to do our bidding instead? That way you wont be targeted by Vivian,¡± Caz suggested to John, who shook his head against the idea.


    ¡°No, that won¡¯t be needed,¡± John replied calmly as he ced another bet.


    One hundred million!


    The crowd became surprised at such a sudden increase, as this item was now the highest bidded on item thus far. Not only that, but there was a drastic increase in price, indicating that it was a much desired item from one of the bidding parties.


    One hundred and thirty five million!


    Vivian instantly ced her bid, increasing it by arger amount than John had increased, as if to further emphasize that he couldn¡¯tpete money wise. A deep frown appeared on John¡¯s face as he saw this bid, and his gaze shifted back to the private booth that Vivian was within. He stared at the booth for some time before cing another bid.


    One hundred and seventy million!


    Beep!


    Two hundred million!


    ¡°Two hundred million! For a pill forge? Isn¡¯t that a bit too much?¡± many in the crowd mused, as the price had now far exceeded the items value.


    While the crowd discussed the bidding, John¡¯s frown turned into a grimace, and his hand trembled above the bidding formation on his arm rest. After a brief moment of pause, he clicked his tongue and withdrew his hand, ceasing his bidding on the item.


    ¡°Going once, going twice¡­.Sold! To private booth thirty five!¡± the auctioneer eximed, excited that the price had skyrocketed so high for the forge.


    ¡°Heh, this is just the beginning, you peasant scum,¡± Vivian mocked as she stared intensely at John, ¡°you best get used to this taste of defeat!¡±


    Meanwhile in John¡¯s private booth, Caz stared at John with a mixed expression, unsure of what was going on. Based on John¡¯s facial expressions, it seemed as though he was quite upset to have been outbid on the item. Just as he was about to say something, John turned to look at Caz, which now all Vivian could see was the back of his head.


    ¡°Haha, what a fucking idiot,¡± John said as a smile reced his previous grimace, while a look of surprise appeared on Caz¡¯s face as he realized what John was doing.


    ¡°Ah¡­you baited her into that bet?¡± Caz asked John, who nodded his head in confirmation.


    ¡°And she fell right for it,¡± John replied.


    ¡°What¡­what if she stopped bidding? You would have spent over a hundred million for a forge valued at a fraction of that!¡± Caz asked curiously.


    ¡°That was the price I was willing to pay to see how far that Starforge princess would push things. If I had bet any higher, the price would have reached a level that even someone like her found suspicious, and she would have most likely seen right through my ns. But now that I know she¡¯ll try to outbid me as long as the price is somewhat reasonable, I think this auction is going to be much more entertaining than I initially thought it would be,¡± John replied with an amused smile on his face.

 Chapter 763 Mountains of Wealth

    763 Mountains of Wealth


    ¡°Ah¡­you sly devil. That¡¯s quite devious,¡± Caz praised John¡¯s actions. ¡°But what if she figures you out and you lose out on arge bid?¡± he asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s simple then. I only n to bid on things I truly want, and I¡¯ll bid up to my absolute maximum I¡¯m willing to spend on the item. If Vivian outbids me, then I get to drain her funds by overspending on item after item, and if she eventually figures me out, it¡¯s just me overspending on a single item I want, which at that point she¡¯ll be much more wary to bid against me. This should make the future prices on items I want more reasonable, as she won¡¯t want to get into a bidding war against me once she knows my intentions of draining her funds. Either way, I win,¡± John exined his thoughts to Caz.


    ¡°That¡¯s actually quite genius,¡± Caz replied after thinking it over, while his eyes lit up as if he had just had a spark of insight. ¡°I would never be able toe up with a n like that, as I¡¯ve been trained for years to think only of obtaining things at the most optimal of values while also maximizing profits. Something like swallowing shit upfront to make the end result much better never urred to me before. Thank you, I think you¡¯ve just expanded my insights into the Dao of Business,¡± Caz replied thankfully.


    ¡°It¡¯s really quite simple actually, but you¡¯re wee regardless,¡± John replied, not thinking his n was anything masterful.


    After Vivian won the bid on the Eternal Spirit Forge, the auction continued, with item after iteming out and being bid on. As the auction progressed, the items continued to be more rare, while the bids on the items slowly but surely climbed in value.


    The next two days continued with bids flowing out ceaselessly, many ced by John himself. Several items caught his eye, namely a Netherdeath Lotus, which would have been useful for his master, a Heaven-Dao Seizing Pill, which was useful for breaking through to the Dao Transformation Realm faster, a flying ship, the ¡®Sovereign of the Sky¡¯, which was incredibly luxurious and also very fast, an Ocean-Soul Pearl, which nurtured ones soul and even caught John¡¯s eye, and a Nine-Convergence Lightning Core, which was used to nurture one¡¯s lightning insights.


    John had bid on all these items, which naturally attracted the gaze of Vivian, who counter bid everything instantly. While he would have liked to obtain these items, they weren¡¯t so eye-catching as to be a must-have for John. As such, a bidding war between the two broke out every time, which the others in the crowd quickly realized.


    ¡°Something seems to be going on between those two private booths!¡±


    ¡°It seems like that boy pissed off the wrong people! He¡¯s been outbid every time by that booth!¡±


    ¡°That closed off booth doesn¡¯t seem to care about money at all! They¡¯ve already bid over four billion spirit crystals just to outbid that boy. I wonder what¡¯s going on between them?¡±


    Various discussions broke out within the crowd as they discussed the most interesting thing of the auction so far. Every time he was outbid, a greatly displeased look appeared on John¡¯s face, which only further enticed Vivian to outbid him. It was as if the greatest joy in life for her at the moment was to see the look of anger and despair on John¡¯s face, which she didn¡¯t know was nothing more than a show put on by John to goad her into further bids.


    While watching the bidding take ce, a thought came to John, who turned to Caz to ask him a question.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s the typical bid amounts for the items at the very end of the auction?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°Hmm? The items at the end of the auction? It depends on the year I guess,¡± Caz mused it over, ¡°but the final item prices have ranged anywhere from one billion spirit crystals to fifty billion spirit crystals, depending on what was auctioned that year,¡± Caz replied.


    ¡°Fifty billion!¡± John eximed, shocked to hear that a single item had received such a high bid. ¡°What could possibly be worth fifty billion spirit crystals?¡± he asked curiously.


    ¡°The location of an ancient unexplored pocket realm, and the means to get inside,¡± Caz replied.


    ¡°What? Even things like that are offered in this auction?¡± John eximed.


    ¡°Yep, anything can be auctioned here, as long as its value is high enough. That year, someone in the Dao Transformation Realm stumbled upon a very well-hidden entrance to an ancient pocket realm, but was unable to get more than a few hundred yards into it, as the danger was beyond what he could handle. As such, he decided to auction it off instead. As I¡¯m sure you know, ancient realms can hold an unimaginable wealth within, and so the price is actually quite reasonable when you think about it. The price would have been even higher if the ancient realm was confirmed to have treasures inside, so it was a fifty billion spirit crystal gamble, which lowered its price.¡±


    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right,¡± John replied as he thought it over, but a frown appeared on his face.


    ¡®It seems my current funds are insufficient to bid on the final items if they follow previous trends. While I gave Caz tea leaves to sell, since he only wants to auction in batches of one hundred, and based on their previous price, I¡¯ll only get several billion during this auction, but I need more. Even if I drain Vivian¡¯s funds, I still have topete with all the other bidders out there, who surely have even more money than Vivian¡­¡¯


    After thinking over this issue, John turned to Caz, who was the only one who could help him out.


    ¡°Caz, do you-¡°


    ¡°Apologies for the interruption, Young Master Caz,¡± the middle-aged male attendant who had greeted John outside the city entered the private lounge and called out to Caz.


    A joyous expression appeared on Caz¡¯s face as he quickly stood up and walked over to the attendant, who handed over two spatial rings to him. Caz quickly inspected the rings, and a look of overwhelming joy appeared on his face for a moment.


    ¡°Thank you, that is all,¡± Caz thanked the attendant, who bowed his head slightly before removing himself from the private booth.


    Caz quickly walked back over to his seat, an excited smile lingering on his face the entire time.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± John asked curiously as Caz sat down next to him. However, Caz seemed to ignore him, as if he were entranced by the spatial rings in his hands.


    ¡°Caz!¡± John called out again, snapping Caz from his thoughts.


    ¡°Ah, sorry!¡± Caz apologized quickly.


    ¡°What¡¯s gotten you so worked up?¡± John asked curiously, while a smile returned to Caz¡¯s face as he heard John¡¯s question.


    ¡°Take a look for yourself,¡± Caz replied as he handed John one of the spatial rings. John cast a dubious gaze at Caz before taking the ring, and sent his divine sense inside to inspect its contents.


    His eyes nearly popped out of his skull as he saw what was contained within¡­mountains of spirit crystals sorge that he could never imagine it was made from nothing but spirit crystals.


    ¡°This! What is this?¡± John asked, his voice full of shock.


    ¡°That¡¯s the down payment for the¡­items¡­you gave mest week,¡± Caz replied cheerily, ¡°As agreed upon, seventy percent of what we expect to make as a minimum off your items is there, based on the price they sold for previously.¡±


    ¡°What? I never expected to get paid upfront for the¡­items,¡± John replied, keeping the nature of the tea leaves vague in case of prying ears.


    ¡°Normally you wouldn¡¯t get anything until the items are sold, but I jumped through many, many, many hoops to get you these funds in time for the auction,¡± Caz replied as arge smile appeared on his face.


    John stared at Caz for quite some time, shocked and unable to think of what to say. For a mere disciple to get this amount of spirit crystals, the hoops he had to jump through must have been tremendous, even for someone like Caz. John felt the warmth of friendship between him and Caz grow from this action, which was both incredibly helpful and sincere.


    ¡°Just how much is this?¡± John asked, unable to count the mountain of spirit crystals quickly himself.


    Caz¡¯srge smile widened as he paused dramatically for a moment, and leaned forward to whisper the number in John¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Thirty Billion!¡±

 Chapter 764 Nine-Convergence Lightning Essence Core

    ¡°What! Thirty Billion!¡± John wanted to almost yell as he heard this, but managed to hush his voice at thest second.


    ¡°Are you surprised?¡± Caz asked with a sly smile on his face.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m surprised! How did you manage to get this many spirit crystals so fast?¡± John asked, as it was impossible for even someone like Caz to get this much money.


    Caz had earlier estimated that Xanders spirit crystal worth was several billion, and based on their rivalry, Caz was most likely worth even less than Xander. For him to obtain thirty billion spirit crystals was a staggering sum.


    ¡°Like I said, I stepped through many, many hoops,¡± Caz replied, the sly smile continuing to linger on his face. ¡°But let¡¯s just say that I bet my entire life to obtain this, with your ¡®item¡¯ as the cornerstone for the gamble.¡±


    John stared at Caz for a short while, unsure of what to say. He could tell that this gamble of Caz was a make-or-break moment in his life, and if it failed, his life was most likely basically over. While his twelve hundred tea leaves were expected to sell for an amount that easily covered this, nothing was assured in life, especially when it came to something like trade.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± John thanked Caz in the end, as it was the only thing he could say.


    ¡°I should be the one thanking you. Without you, my ascension to the top of my Mystic Trade Hall would never be possible, but now it¡¯s very much within my grasp,¡± Caz replied sincerely.


    ¡°Well then, to you climbing to the top of your sect, and to me making mountains of spirit crystals,¡± John toasted a cup of wine to Caz, who returned the toast with an equallyrge smile on his face.


    ¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s got those two in such good spirits?¡± Vivian grumbled coldly as she saw John and Cazughing and drinking merrily.


    She had managed to mercilessly outbid him on every single item John had bid on thus far, and had been hoping to see his mood sink into the depths of despair. However, that had not yet happened yet, and the only one feeling negative emotions at the moment was Vivian herself.


    ¡°Maybe he¡¯spletely given up on bidding against you, and has decided to get drunk to the point of stupidity,¡± Xander mused, although he didn¡¯t really believe his words which were mostly meant tofort his VIP guest.


    ¡°Tch, that¡¯s not good enough. I want to see his expression be one of misery, not drunken joy,¡± Vivian clicked her tongue in frustration. ¡°Can¡¯t you use your status as the top disciple of your trade hall to kick them out or something? I don¡¯t want to see his face anymore,¡± Vivian asked Xander.


    ¡°Unfortunately not,¡± Xander shook his head as if he wanted to, but was disappointed in his powerlessness to do so. ¡°The auction house is a free entity jointly owned by the Five Powers, and no one person has the power to make anyone else leave unless they break the rules of the auction.¡±


    ¡°Tch, a pity,¡± Vivian clicked her tongue in frustration. ¡°Then I guess I¡¯ll just continue to do what I¡¯ve been doing, and crush him financially until he leaves himself with nothing obtained.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°So how does it feel to be richer than I have ever been in my life?¡± Caz asked John while shaking his head at himself in joking jest. ¡°I¡¯m the one who focuses on trade, and yet you¡¯ve blown me away. Life truly isn¡¯t fair,¡± he said, obviously joking with John.


    ¡°It feels pretty good,¡± John said while elbowing Caz lightly, ying along with the joke.


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t be too displeased either. Your ¡®item¡¯ is beyond anything this continent has ever seen, and just by being a part of it, I¡¯ll make more spirit crystals than I ever could have imagined. So in the end, we both benefit from this transaction,¡± Caz said before taking another sip of wine.


    ¡°At this rate, within ten years years, you¡¯ll be one of the richest cultivators in the world,¡± Caz continued after finishing his wine, ¡°and I¡¯ll be right behind you. The future looks quite bright,¡± he smiled.


    John smiled back at Caz¡¯s hopeful outlook on the future, although he knew it wouldn¡¯t be so bright and cheery for long. A thought came to him as he took a sip of wine and ced his cup on the table before him.


    ¡°I have a question though, about our transactions. How likely is it that someone finds out about me as the source?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°You won¡¯t have to worry about that,¡± Caz eased John¡¯s concerns. ¡°We have a system in ce that if one obtains a trading opportunity of high enough value, they can seek an audience with the Trade Master himself, who you can think of as a sect leader. If he finds the trade interesting enough, he will personally assist with it. He also sends a trade hall wide message to every member that the item is now protected under his guidance, and so no one will try to do anything funny when ites to your item.


    It was actually thanks to you and your item that I was able to meet the Trade Master for the very first time, and he was just as excited about this opportunity as I was. Since he took interest in it, the only ones who know about it are you, me, and him. In fact, he didn¡¯t even inquire into who my source was, so I¡¯m the only one who one hundred percent knows that you¡¯re the source,¡± Caz exined to John, who nodded his head in satisfaction at Caz¡¯s exnation.


    ¡°However, the same can¡¯t be said for different powers, so be careful not to leak yourself as the source. If another sect or trade hall targets you, there¡¯s not much I can do about that,¡± Caz warned John, who nodded his head in understanding.


    ¡°So what are you going to do now? Are you still going to y your game with Vivian?¡± Caz asked curiously. ¡°You¡¯re probably richer than her now, so you don¡¯t need to do that anymore.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll y with her for a bit longer,¡± John said with a sly smile on his face, ¡°otherwise she¡¯ll just jack up the prices on the things I want to bid on ceaselessly. I¡¯ll let her win and win until I find an item I absolutely must have, at which point I¡¯ll crush her without mercy. At that time she¡¯ll realize that I¡¯ve just been toying with her up to that point, and either she¡¯ll go mad and waste all her money trying to beat me in future bids, or she¡¯ll be more wary and stay away. Either way, by the time the good items start appearing, she should no longer be a nuisance,¡± John exined to Caz, who nodded his head in approval.


    ¡°Great n,¡± Caz replied beforeughing, as he was looking forward to the spectacle toe.


    ¡­


    The auction continued ceaselessly, selling rare item after rare item, each more valuable than thest. At the same time, more and more big spenders started to get into the action, making the auction much more lively and exciting.


    As he said he would do, John continued to bid on items that interested him, which were all snatched away by Vivian.


    ¡°You¡¯ve already spent six billion spirit crystals. Are you sure you want to keep this up? What if you don¡¯t have enough to buy something you wantter on?¡± Xander spoke up, giving words of warning to Vivian.


    ¡°Tch, you worry too much,¡± Vivian replied dismissively. ¡°There¡¯s very little I want in this world that I don¡¯t already have, and at the moment, I want to crush that brat. Nothing else matters.¡±


    ¡°What if he¡¯s ying you?¡± Xander asked. ¡°He could just be cing bids on things he doesn¡¯t really want, just to force you to spend all your spirit crystals.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, you think too highly of him. His bids have reached several hundred million already, which should be arge portion of what he¡¯s worth. If I happened to let a single bid go his way, he would most likely run out of spirit crystals. I highly doubt he¡¯s bidding on things he doesn¡¯t want,¡± she once again dismissed Xanders words of warning.


    Xander remained silent, but his gaze locked onto John and Caz, who seemed to still be in good spirits,pletely the opposite of what one would expect having been thoroughly trashed thus far in the bids.


    ¡°Maybe you¡¯re right,¡± Xander eventually agreed, and a scowl appeared on his face as he stared at Caz, ¡°Caz is far too honest for him to do something like that, and his friend is most likely the same. It makes me sick that he thinks he can climb the trading world with such a naive outlook on things.¡±


    ¡­


    John and Caz continued to eat, drink, and asionally bid as the auction continued. While talking andughing with Caz, John suddenly felt something, and sat upright, staring straight at the stage. The previous item had been bid on and taken away, while a new item was rising up from beneath the stage.


    The stage started to glow brightly as the item appeared, flickering brightly. A powerful aura emanated from the item, which would have destroyed the entire auction theater if not for the powerful formation barrier wrapped around the item, containing its power.


    ¡°For our next item, we have a Nine-Convergence Lightning Essence Core, found at the convergence of nine different lightning essence veins. I¡¯m sure everyone is familiar with one, two and even three convergence essence cores, but never have we seen a nine-convergence essence core of any element before. Bidding will start at one hundred million spirit crystals!¡± the auctioneer eximed, while excited eyes were glued to the item with eager desire.


    ¡°I want that,¡± John said softly, his gaze glued to the item.


    His Lightning Dao had stalled as ofte, partially due to his meditation being interrupted, but also because he didn¡¯t have any powerful lightning sources to draw inspiration from. His Lightning Dao had been his most profound Dao by far for the longest time, but had fallen behind his Dao of Power due to stagnation.


    ¡®With this lightning core, I could reach the Dao Expert stage for the Lightning Dao in no time, and expand further on it, increasing my power even further. I must have this item!¡¯<!--


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 Chapter 765 Bidding War Intensifies

    ¡°One Hundred Million!¡±


    ¡°Two Hundred Million!¡±


    ¡°Three Hundred Million!¡±


    .


    .


    .


    .


    Bids were ced in quick session for the Nine-Convergence Lightning Essence Core, as many in the auction theater desired to obtain the item at all costs. Bidding quickly reached one billion spirit crystals, which was the highest value for a single item yet.


    ¡°You want the lightning core?¡± Caz asked John after hearing his soft words.


    ¡°Yes, but I¡¯d like to know its true value,¡± John asked Caz.


    ¡°Hmmm, it¡¯s hard to say. Essence cores form naturally from the convergence of elemental essence veins. The more converging veins, the more valuable the core. I¡¯ve hardly ever heard of a nine-convergence essence core, so its value is definitely a few billion spirit crystals, but probably not worth more than two or three billion, even for the most crazed lightning cultivator, as such a high convergence count core will be incredibly difficult to get insights from. The higher the convergence count, the higher theprehension level needed to peer into the truths within, so that will naturally lower its value a bit,¡± Caz exined to John, who nodded his head in satisfaction at the answer.


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s time to start the true bidding war with princess Starforge,¡± John mused as he nced over to the distant private booth. ¡°I wonder how long she¡¯s willing to keep up.¡±


    ¡°One Billion Five-Hundred Million!¡± John ced a bid, leaping five-hundred million spirit crystals in a single bid.


    The crowd gasped slightly at the increase of five hundred million, and nced over towards John who had ced the bid. However, when they saw it was him who ced it, they naturally looked over to the other private booth, which as expected instantly ced a counter bid.


    ¡°One Billion Six Hundred Million!¡±


    ¡°That poor kid. He really seems to have pissed off the wrong people,¡± many in the crowd mused with condolences.


    ¡°Thats the nature of this auction house. You have to tread lightly, or you¡¯ll find yourself in a bad situation, and he most likely didn¡¯t heed thatmon advice.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, but this bid is far higher than any of the previous bids from those two. I wonder how high they¡¯re willing to push it.¡±


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll find out soon enough!¡±


    As the bidding quickly rose, almost all the previous bidders had been priced out, causing disappointed looks to appear on their faces. Most of the crowd had less than one billion spirit crystals to their name, and only the truly rich had more than that.


    ¡°Two Billion!¡± John instantly increased his bid, his expression calm and collected while he shifted his gaze to the distant booth once more.


    ¡®I don¡¯t care how high this bid goes. With this one bid, I¡¯ll obtain something I desperately need, and I¡¯ll also let you know just how meager your challenge is. After this, Vivian should learn her ce, and be less of a nuisance for future bids.¡¯


    ¡°Two Billion One Hundred Million!¡± Vivian¡¯s private booth instantly ced a counter bid as expected, while she stared at John with a growing look of displeasure.


    ¡°This brat! Just how does he have this many spirit crystals? He¡¯s just a disciple from a second rate sect, there¡¯s no possible way he has this many spirit crystals,¡± she grumbled angrily.


    Due to her previous bids against John, she had already spent over five billion spirit crystals on items she didn¡¯t really need. She didn¡¯t mind it however, as she was able to crush John repeatedly while not really incurring a loss at all. After the auction, she nned to sell the purchased items to Xander, who would in turn sell it again to recoup most of her spending during the auction.


    However, that was only to be done after the fact, and her current situation was growing more and more dire, as she needed proof of funds to bid on items. Her spirit crystal sum had already halved, and this bid was cing further strain on her ability to bid for future items she may want in the future.


    ¡°Two Billion Five Hundred Million!¡± John ced an instant counter bid, his bid causing amotion through the theater, while the grimace of anger on Vivian¡¯s face deepened.


    ¡°This fucking brat! I refuse to believe he has this many spirit crystals,¡± she raged. She didn¡¯t instantly counter bid, as the amount was truly starting to eat into her remaining spirit crystal count. While she was a highly valued member of the Starforge n, she was still quite young and had not had time to build her wealth to high levels. At the same time, she was not a true talent of the n, and so their financial support for her was also quitecking whenpared to someone like Kadin.


    A grinding sound drifted out within the private booth as she grit her teeth angrily, and eventually ced her hand on the bidding formation, cing another bid.


    ¡°This fucking brat. See if you can match this!¡± she eximed as she ced another bid, causing the eyes of the crowd to widen once more. However, the angered grimace remained on her face, as she started to realize that John¡¯s previous bids had been as Xander had suggested; a farce to force her to waste money.


    ¡°Three Billion!¡±


    ¡°So high! Those two have gone crazy!¡±


    ¡°I know, but who knew that youth had so many spirit crystals at his disposal? It seems like he was truly ying around with the private booth, slowly draining their funds while acting like he only had less than a billion spirit crystals to his name.¡±


    ¡°So devious. I wonder who the private booth is. They have to feel like they¡¯ve swallowed a pile of shit right now.¡±


    The crowd excitedly discussed the bidding war taking ce, while John stared calmly at Vivian¡¯s private booth, and a small smirk appeared on his face after her bid was ced.


    ¡°That¡¯s the first time you¡¯ve hesitated, Princess Starforge. I guess this is the limit of what you¡¯re willing to bid. Good, then in one fell swoop I¡¯ll obtain this lightning essence core, and at the same time let you know the meagerness of your wealth,¡± John said as he ced his hand on the bidding formation, causing the crowd to gasp at the bid.


    ¡°Four Billion Spirit Crystals!¡±<!--


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 Chapter 766 Surprising Event

    ¡°What? He increased the bid by a full billion!¡±


    ¡°Either he¡¯s gone crazy in his bidding war with that private booth, or he really wants the lightning core! That¡¯s almost double the value it¡¯s truly worth!¡±


    ¡°Who knew he had so many spirit crystals though. This definitely confirms that he was toying with whoever is in that private booth!¡±


    ¡°I wonder who¡¯s in there? They can¡¯t be feeling good about this auction right now.¡±


    The crowd continued to discuss the bidding war, which had surprisingly increased by a full billion for thest bid.


    John¡¯s calm gaze continued to stare at Vivian¡¯s private booth, as if taunting her to bid once more. Meanwhile, Vivian¡¯s face had turnedpletely red with anger, as she finally realized the truth of the situation.


    ¡°That fucking brat! I¡¯ll kill him!¡± she yelled angrily as she threw her wine cup away, smashing it against the booth wall.


    The nearby Xander wanted to tell Vivian to calm down, but decided against it, as he knew it would only make the situation worse. After a short while of anger, Vivian sat back down in her chair while she gazed at John like a hawk. However, she didn¡¯t ce another bid, as the amount was truly too much for even her to waste on something she didn¡¯t need at all.


    ¡°Tch, fine you fucking brat. You win this round, but this is not over. I¡¯ll have my revenge before long,¡± she grumbled coldly with a murderous glint in her eyes.


    ¡°Going once!¡±


    ¡°Going twice!¡±


    ¡°Sold!¡± the female auctioneer eximed, putting an end to the exciting bidding war.


    The end of the bidding war naturally ignited further heated discussions, while a satisfied smile appeared on John¡¯s face, as his assumption of Vivian had been correct.


    ¡°Congrattions on winning the lightning core,¡± Caz congratted John.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± John nodded, and turned around as a person suddenly entered the semi-private booth. It was a young man dressed in the clothing the other auction house staff wore, and he walked up to John.


    ¡°Congrattions on your bid,¡± the young man said sincerely before stretching his hand out before John. ¡°May I please have proof of funds for this item.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right. Here you go,¡± John replied as he handed the young man a spatial ring with four billion spirit crystals within. The young man took the ring and quickly inspected it, and then nodded his head towards the distant auctioneer on the stage, verifying the funds.


    The auctioneer quickly proceeded with the next item, while the young attendant handed back the spatial ring to John.


    ¡°Thank you for verification, and congrattions once again,¡± he said before turning and leaving the booth.


    ¡°So when do I get the item?¡± John asked Caz curiously.


    ¡°After the auction,¡± Caz exined to John. ¡°All winning bidders are recorded, and you can collect your own items afterwards. When the auction is done, I¡¯ll show you where to collect your winning bids.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± John thanked Caz for his assistance, while his gaze turned back to the stage as the next item appeared on it. With this victorious blow to Vivian, he no longer had to worry about future bidding interference from her.


    ¡­


    The auction continued to pass by, as hundreds of items were bid on and sold during the next day. John ced several bids on some of the items of interest, but didn¡¯t find anything that truly caught his eye. As such, he had not obtained any additional items yet, but his bidding amounts revealed that he still had at least several billion spirit crystals remaining, which served as further deterrent for Vivian to interfere.


    As expected, she did not ce any more counter bids, and instead had yet to make a move at all since losing her bidding war to John.


    Some timeter, another item was being revealed, and as before, John felt a familiar auraing out from beneath the stage, causing his interest to pique up once more. The crowd also felt the aura emerge as the item appeared on the stage, and many couldn¡¯t help but feel suffocated by the regal and powerful aura emanating from the item. However, the aura was scattered and diffused, as if the item were currently slumbering, revealing only a portion of its power.


    ¡°Thats!¡±


    ¡°Is it really?¡±


    ¡°I thought those had all been imed, or had vanished from the world! Where did someone find such a thing?¡±


    ¡°Should we bid on it? Even if you obtain it, its use is quite limited. But just having the item is a status symbol that only a rare few on this world can im to have!¡±


    Many in the crowd gasped, finding it hard to believe that such an item would be up for auction. Even John raised an eyebrow in surprise as he stared at the distant item, which suddenly started to tremble as if stirred by something.


    ¡°The next item is-¡± the auctioneer started the bidding process on the next item, but her words cut off suddenly as the auraing from the item suddenly increased several times over, bing nearly suffocating for many within.


    Che!


    The item suddenly pierced through the air, leaving the bidding podium on its own ord and shooting out into the crowd above. Gasps of surprise filled the auction theater as all eyes locked onto the item, which had clearly been inactive before, but suddenly took action on its own.


    Meanwhile, John raised an eyebrow in slight surprise as the item shot directly towards him, and stopped just two feet away from him, hovering in the air before him. The powerful aura pressed down on John as if testing him, and after a brief test, the item fell into hisp, as if it had found its rightful owner, and its aura retracted inwards once more as if falling back into a slumber.


    Looks of absolute shock filled the crowd as all eyes focused on John, who didn¡¯t know what to say at the moment. He knew why the item hade to him, but couldn¡¯t exin it to anyone in the crowd.


    ¡°Ah¡­sir!¡± The auctioneer eventually recovered from her shock and called out to John. ¡°Could you please return that Ancient Dragon Reverse Scale?¡±<!--


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 Chapter 767 Returning The Scale

    The crowd stared in stunned silence as John held the ancient dragon reverse scale, which had been thrumming with power just moments ago, but now sat in hisp like a content puppy. Everyone knew that ancient dragon reverse scales contained a small portion of sentience, with the same pride that the dragon it came from had.


    With dragons being one of the most powerful races in existence, taming a reverse dragon scale was next to impossible for most. And yet, the scale had been tamed in merely an instant, without John having to do anything.


    Were it not for the fact that everyone could tell the reverse scale had moved on its own ord, dozens of auction house employees would have surrounded John in a second, as theft of an item was harshly punished.


    Even Caz stared at John with wide eyes, not expecting such a bizarre situation to happen. John picked up the dragon scale on hisp and inspected it for a moment, before he tossed it back towards the center auction tform several hundred yards away.


    Reverse dragon scales contained the true essence of a dragon¡¯s power, as well as a small part of its pride and sentience. If one studied the scale, they could unlock secrets behind a dragon¡¯s power, such as the Dao of Power and many other things. However, John already had two such scales which came from dragons much stronger than this reverse dragon scale hade from, and so he had no need to keep it or desire to obtain it.


    After flying halfway through the air towards the stage, the reverse dragon scale stopped in mid-air and instantly shot back towards John, resting in hisp once more. The crowd once more stared in stunned silence at the bizarre events unfolding before him.


    ¡°Is that reverse dragon scale¡­actually seeking him out?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like it wants to be with him, like a pet returning to their master!¡±


    ¡°Just what is going on? And just who is that kid?¡±


    Various discussions broke out throughout the auction theater, while John frowned as the dragon scale returned to hisp.


    ¡°Sir¡­¡± the auctioneer spoke up again, causing John to shrug his shoulders in defeat.


    ¡°It keepsing to me, and I can¡¯t do anything about that,¡± John replied calmly, ¡°you¡¯ll have to have someonee and forcibly retrieve it.¡±


    Almost immediately after saying that, several attendants appeared around John¡¯s private booth like a sh of lightning. Each attendant had a Late Dao Transformation cultivation, with one existing at the peak of the realm. The strongest of the bunch walked into John¡¯s private booth and gazed at him intently for a moment, before his gaze shifted to the reverse scale.


    John reached out and handed it to the man, who grabbed it. A strained looked suddenly appeared on his face as his hand started trembling violently as the scale tried its best to pry itself from his grasp and return to John.


    The man¡¯s power red, and several of the other attendants appeared around the scale as well, using their Qi to form a powerful formation barrier that trapped the scale within. The scale crashed violently against the barrier ceaselessly, shaking it but was unable to break through in the end.


    The attendants gaze John onest gaze of curiosity before speeding towards the stage and cing the now-contained scale on the pedestal once more. Silence descended on the auction theater as everyone processed what they had just witnessed. They had never seen or heard of an ancient dragons reverse scale being subdued before, let alone doing so willingly of its own volition.


    ¡°Ah¡­.Now that we¡¯ve sorted this matter out, we¡¯ll resume the bidding process,¡± the auctioneer spoke out, trying to regain control of the auction. All eyes remained on John a little while longer as curiosity filled each person¡¯s thoughts, but the auction eventually resumed, returning the theater to normal. However, after the bidding war and now this, John was now most definitely the most eye-catching person in the auction theater, with curious gazes being cast his way non-stop by various members of the auction.


    ¡°What was that about?¡± Caz asked curiously after themotion died down.


    ¡°No idea,¡± John shrugged, not feeling the need to exin his connection with dragons, as it was one of his biggest secrets.


    ¡°Fair enough, but you don¡¯t feel like bidding on the scale? It seems to have affinity with you?¡± Caz asked.


    ¡°No, I have no need for this scale,¡± John shook his head as he watched the auction for the scale unfold. With themotion the scale had caused, and its ability to be tamed instantly, a thought urred in the minds of many that this scale was easier to tame than normal reverse scales. As such, a bidding war broke out for the scale, shattering any previous record for an ancient reverse dragon scale.


    ¡°Sold! For Eight Billion Spirit Crystals!¡± the auctioneer eximed, pointing to a private booth that had purchased the scale.


    Meanwhile, in Xander¡¯s and Vivians private booth, both of them stared at John with differing expressions. Displeased anger lingered on Vivian¡¯s face, as John was once again the highlight of the auction.


    ¡°Why the hell did the reverse scale fly to him like that huh? What the hell about him is so special? He must have used some secret art to coax it to him,¡± she grumbled in displeasure.


    Meanwhile, a thoughtful frown appeared on Xander¡¯s face, and he raised his hand after a moment, beckoning to a man standing behind him, who stepped forward.


    ¡°I know you already found out what you could, but dig deeper into this John Fenix. I think there may be more to him that you initially found. If we¡¯re to do anything to him, I want to know exactly who I¡¯m dealing with,¡± Xander said to the man, who nodded his head.


    ¡°It will be done,¡± the man replied before vanishing from sight.


    ¡°Just who are you¡­¡± Xander mused as he stared at John.


    ¡­


    The auction continued for the next half day, but nothing as exciting as the scale incident happened again. John and Caz continued to chat and asionally bid on items, but neither had obtained anything as nothing truly caught their eyes.


    ¡°This next item is something that I¡¯m sure will cause quite a frenzy,¡± the auctioneer said as the false floor rose up once more, revealing a pedestal containing a small item. The item was not eye-catching at all, and had no aura around it as well.


    It appeared like a small metal seal, intricate in design, like what someone would wear on the outside of their clothing to indicate who they were. It was a circr bronze seal, with an intricate design of various weapons contained within the circle. John cast a curious gaze at the normal looking item, but cast his gaze to the side as he saw Caz lean forward.


    ¡°Is that¡­?¡± Caz mused, his words echoing simr sentiment as many others in the crowd.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! This seal is none other than that belonging to Daoist Eternal Weapon,¡± the auctioneer boomed. ¡°He has recentlye out of his hundred-year long meditation session, and has reportedly gained even more insights into the Dao of Smithing and Forging, elevating his already mythical weapon forging status to entirely new heights. To test his new forgingprehensions, and to disy his talents to the world once more, Daoist Eternal Weapon is once again selling the rights to a singr item, personally crafted by him for the one who purchases this seal!¡±

 Chapter 768 Daoist Eternal Weapon

    ¡°Woaaah!¡±


    Roars of excitement erupted throughout the theater, something that had not happened often during the several days auction, which surprised John.


    ¡°Before we start bidding on this item, the auction will go on break for one hour. Please use this time to rest and recoup, at which point the bidding on this seal willmence,¡± the auctioneer said, her actions clearly used to hype up the fervor for the seal even further.


    However, the auction asionally took breaks several times a day for an hour, and so this was not an unprecedented move. Many auction participants quickly flooded out of the theater for various purposes, while others remained behind to discuss the auction and the uing bidding war toe.


    John¡¯s gaze scanned the excited auction theater, before he turned to ask Caz a question.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why is everyone so excited for this Daoist Eternal Weapon?¡± John asked curiously.


    Caz cast John a look of disbelief, before he remembered that John was not from Five-River Freeport, and had not lived on the Divine Marital Continent for long.


    ¡°I guess it makes sense that you don¡¯t know why everyone is so excited,¡± Caz replied before exining it to John.


    ¡°As you know, there are five great powers of Five-River Freeport. My Mystic Trade Hall, the Divine Merchant Pce, the Forbidden Merchant Guild, and the ck-Vault Trade Faction, and¡­¡±


    ¡°The Eternal Weapon Temple,¡± John replied as he recalled the name of one of the five powers of the city. ¡°Does that mean?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Daoist Eternal Weapon is the leader of the Eternal Weapon Temple,¡± Caz confirmed, but saw John¡¯s gaze was still questioning, so he borated further.


    ¡°The Eternal Weapons Temple is famed across the Divine Martial Continent as the undisputed number one power when ites to weapons forging. Every Dao Transformation and World Expansion expert worth their salt get their weapon from the Eternal Weapon Temple, with the only exceptions being those who found even stronger ancient weapons. However, those are so rare as to be no more than legend, and so the most powerful weapons in this world are crafted there.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon created the Eternal Weapons Temple tens of thousands of years ago, and is by far the number one undisputed weaponsmith in this world. Just getting an audience with him is next to impossible, let alone getting a weapon personally crafted by him. And he¡¯s been in isted mediation for over one hundred years, and just now came out.


    It¡¯s said that he has made less than ten weapons for other cultivators in his entire life, so you can see how rare such a thing is, and why everyone would be excited to obtain this opportunity,¡± Caz exined to John, who felt his blood rise in excitement as well as he finally understood the gravity of the situation.


    ¡®I need to obtain this! I don¡¯t have a scythe, and finding a scythe that suits mybat style is next to impossible. This is the perfect opportunity to do so!¡¯ John mused, almost unable to control his excitement.


    ¡°How much do you think this auction will go for?¡± John asked Caz.


    ¡°You can forget about obtaining it,¡± Caz replied dismissively as he leaned back in his seat as if ready to watch the event unfold.


    ¡°What? Why is that?¡± John asked, unable to believe that was true. He had nearly thirty billion spirit crystals to his name, which was an absolutely horrifying sum of money. Surely a weapon would not go for that much.


    ¡°Think about it! The strongest cultivators of this world are all rtively equal in strength, with the quality of their weapons making arge difference in theirbat prowess. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for them, and so you¡¯ll have ancient World Expansion monsters bidding on this seal.


    While the most monstrous of those World Expansion experts all likely have ancient weapons already, some of the experts just below them do not. They¡¯ll be the ones bidding on this seal. Can youpete with monsters such as them?¡± Caz asked John after exining the situation to him.


    ¡°If you¡¯re lucky, the bidding will be around thirty to forty billion, which is just out of your reach,¡± Caz finished before taking another sip of wine.


    A frown appeared on John¡¯s face as he stared at the seal on the auction podium. This was a chance to obtain a scythe personally crafted by him, with the quality at the World Expansion Realm. His battle against the Demon in the Dao Transformation Trail realm flooded back into this thoughts, and he had remembered just how impossible it was to damage the Demon. He was only able tond a finishing blow thanks to using the Demons own arm-de, as nothing else was sharp enough to injure it greatly.


    While his battle axe, which was the weapon the Jade Dragon Emperor had used himself during his youth was strong, it was not suitable against such a defensively strong opponent. Only unparalleled sharpness could prate such defenses, of which the Asura was sure to have even stronger defenses than that Demon.


    With his eventual battle with the Asuraing up in the near future, obtaining this weapon was a must to ensure hisbat prowess was at maximum when the time came.


    ¡°Is there any way for me to obtain more spirit crystals in the next hour?¡± John asked Caz with a serious expression on his face, indicating the severity of the situation for John. Caz felt slight surprise that John was so interested in the weapon, as such a weapon would only be beneficial for World Expansion experts, which John was very far away from.


    However, due to John¡¯s serious demeanor, Caz gave it serious thought, and a strange expression appeared on his face as he gazed back at John.


    ¡°What is it? Do you have a way?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°Maybe, but I don¡¯t know if it will work, but I guess we can try¡­follow me,¡± Caz said as he stood up and walked out of the private booth. John quickly followed Caz, trusting him with this situation. The two entered the auction halls that wrapped around the outside of the circr auction house, and eventually arrived before a set of stairs that were guarded by two Peak Dao Transformation guards.


    ¡°No permittance allowed,¡± one of the guards stopped them, raising his hand outwards.


    ¡°Let them up,¡± a voice suddenly sounded out in the guards¡¯ minds, as well as Caz and John. John was surprised to have a voice appear in his mind through sound transmission, but remained silent as the guards swiftly moved aside, allowing Caz and him to walk up the stairs.


    The stairs circled up to the very top of the auction house, where the most exclusive of private booths were. There were exactly twelve private booths at the top floor of the auction house, each massive in size. They overlooked the entire auction theater beneath them, giving those within the private booths a great view of the entire spectacle.


    Two more guards were stationed outside the gold-trimmed door, and both moved aside as well to allow Caz and John to enter. The door opened on its own, and John and Caz entered the private booth, which was several hundred yards wide and fifty yards deep. The booth contained all sorts of luxurious lounges, bars, and other amenities, but despite its massive size, only one person sat within the longue.


    It was a man facing away from them, who was seated at the opposite end of the lounge, overlooking the auction theater through the one-way windows. Only the man¡¯s head was visible, as the rest of his body was hidden by the luxurious seat he was sitting on. The man had long ck hair, with wisps of silver, indicating a bit of his age.


    A reserved yet powerful aura naturally emanated off the man, and while John couldn¡¯t feel his aura clearly, he could tell the man was far more powerful than he was.


    John cast a sideways nce towards Caz, and raised an eyebrow as he saw Caz be a bundle of pure nervousness. His face was scrunched up, and he was clearly shaking, almost unable to contain his nerves.


    ¡°Come, have a seat,¡± the man said without looking back, his voice deep yet smooth.


    ¡°Yes, Trade Master,¡± Caz replied with overwhelming respect, while John felt surprise wash through him as he recalled what Caz had said earlier regarding the ¡®Trade Master¡¯.


    ¡®The Trade Master? The Master of the entire Mystic Trade Hall?¡¯

 Chapter 769 The Trade Master

    Caz was the first to move forward towards the Trade Master, but John couldn¡¯t help but notice his movements were stiff, like he was finding it hard to move at all. It wasn¡¯t an aura thing or a pressure thing, but was purely Caz¡¯s nerves that had him moving so awkwardly.


    ¡°The hell are you so nervous for?¡± John asked as he stepped forward and patted Caz on the shoulder, and quickly stepped past him towards the seats near the Trade Master.


    While the Trade Master was most definitely a World Expansion expert and someone who ran the entire Mystic Trade Hall, John¡¯s life experiences had brought him many harrowing ordeals, and something like meeting the Trade Master was not enough to shake his nerves.


    John reached the lounge where the Trade Master was sitting, which was right before the window overlooking the auction theater. There were several nearbyfortable chairs to sit on, and he picked one to the right of the Trade Master.


    ¡°Trade Master,¡± John greeted with a slight head bow before sitting. While he wasn¡¯t nervous at all, he still treated the Trade Master with the respect that a youth should show a powerful senior.


    As he sat down on the chair, John was able to get a look at the Trade Masters face. The Trade Master appeared to be in his fifties, although his true age was much older. He had a neatly trimmed beard on his face, ck in color with speckles of gray here and there.


    The Trade Master nced to the side as John sat down, and raised an eyebrow as he took in John¡¯s demeanor.


    ¡°Not a hint of nervousness at all. Not bad,¡± the Trade Master said approvingly.


    ¡°Why would I be nervous to meet a respected senior?¡± John asked respectfully.


    ¡°John! You can¡¯t talk to the Trade Master so informal-¡°


    ¡°It¡¯s quite alright, Caz. Take a seat as well,¡± the Trade Master cut off Caz and instructed him to sit, which Caz did after a deep and respectful bow towards the Trade Master.


    The Trade Master¡¯s gaze shifted back towards overlooking the auction theater, and he remained silent for quite some time, as if he hadpletely forgotten about John and Caz.


    ¡°Tell me, why did that ancient dragon reverse scale take such a liking to you?¡± the Trade Master asked eventually, breaking the stifling silence.


    ¡°You don¡¯t really expect me to reveal such secrets, do you?¡± John asked, although his tone remained respectful. He could have lied and said he had no idea, but he had a feeling that the Trade Master would easily be able to see through his lies, and so he decided to be direct about it.


    ¡°John!¡± Caz eximed in surprise upon hearing John¡¯s direct tone.


    ¡°Hmmm, you¡¯re quite direct,¡± the Trade Master mused as he nced at John, ¡°but I suppose the Prime Disciple of the Honorable Alliance should be like this.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± Caz eximed, not expecting to hear such a thing, as John had never told him about being named the Prime Disciple of the Honorable Alliance.


    ¡°It¡¯s just my nature to be direct. I hope you don¡¯t find offense,¡± John replied respectfully, to which the Trade Master nodded his head in approval. John didn¡¯t bother to rify the Prime Disciple position, as it wasn¡¯t worth the time exining.


    ¡°Very well. I find your directness quite refreshing actually,¡± the Trade Master replied, ¡°what is your reasoning for seeking me out personally?¡± he asked John.


    John shifted his gaze to Caz for a moment, as Caz had brought him here to obtain more spirit crystals. While he was surprised to find out that the potential solution to his issue was to speak directly with the Trade Master himself, he had to seize this opportunity at all costs. With that in mind, John decided to be as direct as possible, as time was of the essence. If he couldn¡¯t get help here, he had to quickly find help elsewhere.


    ¡°I want that seal,¡± John said firmly, referring to Daoist Eternal Weapons seal that was for sale. ¡°No, it¡¯s not that I want that seal, it¡¯s that I need that seal. I asked Caz to help me acquire more spirit crystals to guarantee obtaining it, and thus he brought me here.¡±


    The Trade Master gazed at John in silence for quite some time, his face stoic the entire time. A small smile eventually curled up on the side of his mouth, and heughed lightly shortly afterwards.


    ¡°Hahaha, you truly are direct with your words,¡± the Trade Master said, ¡°but such straightforward business truly is refreshing. Very well, I am willing to hear you out. What business do you propose?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to sell you as many Heaven-Dao Tea Leaves as you want,¡± John replied without hesitation.


    ¡°Hmmm? Even after giving Caz a batch of twelve hundred leaves in one go, you still have more to trade? How interesting,¡± the Trade Master mused, his hand stroking his chin in a thoughtful manner.


    John had already given Caz a year¡¯s supply, but he knew a ce like the Mystic Trade Hall would want as many as possible. The cultivation world was one of rapid changes and grave danger, and cultivators died each day for various reasons. If John was to suddenly perish or vanish, the supply of the Heaven-Dao Tea Leaves would cease as well, which was not something the Mystic Trade Hall would want. The leaves had no production cost and almost no transportation cost, while they sold at staggering amounts, meaning it was almost one hundred percent profit.


    Additionally, it was a product that would have endless demand, as there were millions of cultivators stuck at bottlenecks, who would pay whatever the cost was to obtain a leaf for the opportunity to break through to the next realm. As more cultivators used the leaves to break through to the next realm, its mythical status would continue to rise, and so would its value, making it even more desirable to be the one who was selling the leaves. There was nothing else like the leaves on the continent either, ensuring that its demand would stay constant in perpetuity.


    Such an overwhelmingly favorable trading opportunity would never be turned down by someone like the Trade Master. As such, he knew the Trade Master would be eager to obtain as many tea leaves as possible for such an expensive item that had unlimited demand. The only question was how many spirit crystals the Trade Master had on hand, and how many he was willing to offer upfront at once.


    ¡°Very well. Your Heaven-Dao Tea Leaves truly are a unique opportunity one rarely encounters in their entire life, and there will be no shortage of cultivators dying to obtain even just one,¡± the Trade Master said, his gaze still slightly unfocused as if deep in thought.


    His eyes eventually cleared up as if he hade to a decision, and his gaze locked back onto John.


    ¡°Very well, with one change to our existing contract,¡± the Trade Master said.


    ¡°What change?¡± John asked.


    ¡°The current split of seventy thirty will be changed to you getting a t rate per leaf, with any profits above the t rate going to my Trade Hall,¡± the Trade Master exined.


    John thought over it for a moment and found it within the grounds of eptable. He had initially traded with Caz with no upfront payment, and the profits were split after the sale ordingly. However, he required spirit crystals upfront right now, and so the split they previously used was no longer valid. While there was the potential for him to lose out on quite a lot of extra spirit crystals should the price of the leaves continue to rise, it was something he was willing to ept to obtain the seal of Daoist Eternal Weapon.


    ¡°Deal,¡± John nodded his head in agreement.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± the Trade Master replied happily, ¡°then I am willing to purchase whatever leaves you have at the rate of fifty million low grade spirit crystals per leaf, up to five hundred billion low grade spirit crystals. Do we have a deal?¡±

 Chapter 770 Trade of a Lifetime

    The Trade Masters words hit John like a soul attack, almost stunning him senseless. Even with hisposure, he felt it hard to maintain calm upon hearing such a staggering number.


    ¡°Fi-fi-five hundred billion!¡± Caz stuttered in a dazed shock, almost unable to believe his ears as well. Even for someone like the Trade Master, this was an absolutely staggering sum of spirit crystals.


    Spending this many spirit crystals on a singr purchase would no doubt hamper the Mystic Trade Halls ability to purchase other heavenly items in the near future, which was why Caz was so shocked by the number.


    It was a sum of spirit crystals only the richest in the world were able to muster, and even then it would make them feel pain upon spending that much. As the Trade Master of the Mystic Trade Hall, he was no doubt one of the richest cultivators on the continent, and yet even he most likely found this number to be painful to part with.


    However, the reward of the tea leaves was worth the short term impact to purchasing power, and so the Trade Master was willing to make such a deal.


    ¡°So?¡± The Trade Master asked John again, who snapped out of his shock.


    ¡°Deal!¡± John eximed with great excitement, almost unable to control himself. With this one deal, money would no longer be an issue for him.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± the Trade Master replied with a small smile on his face, and stood up from his chair.


    ¡°Such a sum of spirit crystals can only be obtained by myself from the Mystic Vault. Wait here. I shall return before the bidding resumes,¡± he exined before walking out of the room, leaving John and Caz alone.


    The two of them remained silent for some time, trying to gather their thoughts, before Caz eventually spoke once more.


    ¡°Congrattions! With this one deal, you are no doubt amongst the richest cultivators on the entire!¡±


    ¡°Haha, thanks. Even now I still find it hard to believe my tea leaves could be worth so much,¡± John replied while rubbing his cheek. ¡°And you¡¯ll be right up there with me. While you won¡¯t get as much from this deal as me, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get a good portion of the profits from selling the leaves.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, I suppose you¡¯re right!¡± Caz eximed cheerily while patting John on the back several times. ¡°Bing friends with you was no doubt the best decision I¡¯ve ever made!¡±


    ¡­.


    The hour quickly passed by, and just several minutes before bidding resumed, the Trade Master strolled back into his luxurious private booth.


    ¡°Trade Master!¡± Caz hastily rose from his seat and respectfully greeted his trade hall leader.


    The Trade Master walked up to John, at which point John handed him a ring, fully prepared for the trade already.


    ¡°Ten thousand tea leaves, as requested,¡± John said.


    While the growing room in his pce realm was vast and held many tea nts, he had plucked nearly all the leaves avable to get to this sum. However, thanks to the special nature of the room, the leaves grew back within a year or two, so his stock would be replenished before long.


    The Trade Master took the ring and inspected it for a moment, and nodded his head in obvious satisfaction.


    ¡°All in pristine quality. You continue to surprise me!¡± He said as he handed John a spatial ring. ¡°Five hundred billion low grade spirit crystals, as agreed upon!¡±


    John eagerly epted the ring, and cast his divine sense into it. Mountains of spirit crystals, of both varying size and crystal quality came into view, nearly shocking him senseless at the amount.


    However, he raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner as he noticed something. Some of the spirit crystals were much higher quality, with far greater Qi density than the crystals he was used to.


    In the middle of the mountains of spirit crystals was a pile of eye-catching crystals. Compared to the Qi density of the low grade spirit crystals, the crystals in that pile were like mini-suns, brimming with incredible energy.


    ¡°A sum of five hundred billion spirit crystals would be a pain to deal with, so I substituted medium grade and high grade spirit crystals into the mix as well,¡± the Trade Master exined, as those wuality spirit crystals were quite rare and only the wealthiest dealt with them.


    ¡°Medium grade spirit crystals are worth one thousand low grade spirit crystals, while high grade spirit crystals are worth one million low grade spirit crystals. When you factor that in, the total sum is five hundred billion spirit crystals,¡± the Trade Master finished exining, to which John nodded his head in satisfaction.


    His hand trembled in excitement at holding that many spirit crystals, but he quickly calmed his nerves as he moved them to his pce realm.


    ¡°The bidding is about to resume,¡± the Trade Master spoke up, to which Caz hastily bowed to his master.


    ¡°We will take our leave then. Trade Master,¡± Caz said.


    ¡°Nonsense. After a deal like this one, celebration is necessary. You two stay here for the remainder of the auction,¡± the Trade Master replied as he gazed at John. ¡°I have quite a few questions I¡¯d like to ask you. I hope you¡¯ll entertain this old mans request?¡±


    ¡°I would be a fool to refuse,¡± John replied as he sat back down on his chair, his thoughts swirling with many emotions.


    ¡°Excellent!¡± The Trade Master replied, and an attendant walked into the room as if summoned. The Trade Master ryed some orders to the attendant, who left shortly afterwards.


    ¡°Look like it¡¯s starting again,¡± the Trade Master said as he sat down once more, while John nodded his head in eager expectation.


    ¡°The one hour break is now over,¡± the auctioneer came back on stage and spoke out, reigniting the crowds excitement once more.


    ¡°We will now begin bidding on the Seal of Daoist Eternal Weapon,¡± the auctioneer boomed, sparking a frenzied bidding war immediately.

 Chapter 771 Bidding Against Friend And Foe

    One Billion!


    Two Billion!


    Five Billion!


    Ten Billion!


    Formation holograms red all over the auction theater as the bidding frenzy started, although the bidders were mostly those seated in the upper part of the theater, as well as the private booths. Within seconds the price had already surged past ten billion spirit crystals, and so only the wealthiest of auction members could participate in the bidding.


    In the private booth of the Trade Master, John watched calmly as the bidding war continued to intensify. The Trade Master gave John a sideways nce, watching him during the bidding process.


    Shortly after sending the attendant away, the same attendant returned to the room with several others, each carrying fine wine and delicious food. They ced the tters of food and jars of wine on the table before John and the rest, and left the room quickly after.


    ¡°Are you not going to bid? I thought you wanted to obtain this Seal?¡± the Trade Master asked John as he poured himself a cup of wine.


    ¡°Oh, I intend to get the Seal, but the bidding right now is being done by the desperate who hope that the price won¡¯t get too high. Only once the old monsters join in to bid will I join as well, which is still tens of billions away,¡± John replied calmly.


    ¡°Oh? And how did youe to this conclusion?¡± the Trade Master asked curiously, as it waspletely spot on.


    ¡°Caz told me,¡± John exined, while the Trade Master nced at Caz for a moment before nodding his head in approval.


    ¡°And your analysis of the situation ispletely correct, Caz,¡± the Trade Master praised in approval, which caused Caz to blush at beingplemented by the Trade Master himself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t deserve your praise,¡± Caz replied sheepishly, although he felt ecstatic at the moment.


    ¡°Nonsense. Your growth has been tremendous thisst year, and you were the one to find the perfect trading partner. If anything, you deserve more praise than I have given you thus far,¡± the Trade Master replied, revealing that he had been keeping tabs on Caz for at least a year.


    His words caused Caz to feelplete shock, as well as tion.


    ¡°Thank you, Trade Master,¡± Caz replied respectfully.


    ¡°However, you were wrong with one assumption,¡± the Trade Master spoke up, causing both John and Caz to look at him with curious expressions.


    ¡°What was I wrong with? Please instruct me,¡± Caz asked sincerely.


    ¡°Your analysis of the bidding war on this Seal would have been good for most years, but this year is different,¡± the Trade Master replied.


    ¡°Not only is a war between the top powers of this world brewing on the near horizon, there are three ancient monsters in attendance today that are part of the powers that will be involved in that war. Each of them has broken through to the Middle World Expansion Realm in thest few decades, and each has outgrown their weapon¡¯s use. Only by finding an ancient weapon, or getting one crafted by someone like Daoist Eternal Weapon will they be able to obtain a new weapon that raises theirbat prowess to a new level. With these three in attendance, the price will most likely be at least twice the amount you predicted,¡± the Trade Master exined.


    ¡°So that¡¯s what it was. Thank you for the enlightenment,¡± Caz replied respectfully, while John frowned at the Trade Masters words.


    ¡°Three ancient monsters? Who are they?¡± John asked curiously.


    ¡°One is from the Forbidden Alliance, part of the Council of Nine. Her name is Daoist Ashenblood. The next is from the Monster Race, Monster Prince Xalgul agoth. He¡¯s the younger brother of the recently in Monster King, and is one of the potential candidates for taking over the Monster Race in their Ascension Tournament next month,¡± the Trade Master exined, and paused for a moment before continuing.


    ¡°And thest one¡­you should already be familiar with them,¡± the Trade Master smirked.


    ¡°I am? Who is it?¡± John asked.


    ¡°It is none other than your Sect Leader¡­Daoist Thunderfist!¡±


    ¡°What? Sect Leader Thunderfist is here?¡± John eximed,pletely shocked to hear that. He had not expected his very own sect leader to be in attendance.


    ¡°That he is. He¡¯s in that private booth opposite us,¡± the Trade Master said as he pointed to a booth on the opposite side of the auction theater, one of equal quality to the one they were in.


    ¡°Tch,¡± John clicked his tongue, disappointed to hear that one of the three powerful cultivators that required a new weapon was none other than his sect leader. However, he needed that scythe at all costs, and could only bet against his sect leader.


    ¡°Are you going to give up on the weapon?¡± the Trade Master asked curiously.


    ¡°As if. I¡¯ll apologize to Sect Leader Thunderzenter, but that Seal is mine,¡± John replied firmly, to which the Trade Master nodded in approval.


    ¡°Good. Steadfast and firm in your path. That is how a cultivator should be. It¡¯s no wonder why you were named as Prime Disciple,¡± the Trade Masterplimented John and took a sip of wine from his cup, and spoke out once more, ¡°Although I¡¯m sure your status as ¡®Asura¡¯ also came into the equation,¡± the Trade Master said as he ced his cup back on the table before him and nced at John with an amused smile.


    His words caused John to calmly raise his guard, although he appeared as if he was unconcerned.


    ¡°Rx. I have no interest in your identity,¡± the Trade Master assuaged, ¡°I only care for trade, and making money. Anything else matters not.¡±


    ¡°What? John is ¡®Asura¡¯!¡± Caz eximed, shocked once again by news he was not expecting to hear.


    The identity of ¡®Asura¡¯ was the number one mystery on the continent, and everyone was eager to know who it was. While Caz knew John¡¯sbat prowess was beyond freakish, he never expected John to actually be the mythical ¡®Asura¡¯ who had achieved twenty steps on the Talent Testing Steps.


    ¡°It seems news of my identity has spread faster than I had expected,¡± John sighed as he lowered his guard once more, as against someone as strong as the Trade Master, he wasn¡¯t able to do much, guard raised or not.


    ¡°The identity of ¡®Asura¡¯ is far too interesting for it not to spread like wildfire. Very soon the entire continent will know, so it¡¯s best you move forward carefully with this in mind,¡± the Trade Master replied.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you¡¯ve purchased so many tea leaves,¡± John mused as he finally figured out why the Trade Master would purchase so many at once. ¡°You expect me to fall in the near future, at which point obtaining more leaves might not be possible.¡±


    ¡°No, I have no expectations or hopes for your demise, but as Trade Master, I must still tread carefully when ites to trade. With the danger enclosing on you in the near future, this is just my way of ensuring maximum profits for my Trade Hall,¡± the Trade Master replied.


    ¡°That makes sense,¡± John replied, not annoyed at all by the Trade Masters actions or words, and his eyes shifted to the opposite side of the auction theater as a formation hologram red,ing from Sect Leader Thunderfists booth.


    Thirty Billion Spirit Crystals!


    ¡°It appears the big spenders have started to bid,¡± the Trade Master said, an expectant smile on his face at the entertainment toe.


    ¡°Sorry Sect Leader, but this weapon is mine,¡± John said as he ced his hand on the bidding formation, entering the bid as well.


    Forty Billion Spirit Crystals!

 Chapter 772 Bidding War For The Seal

    ¡°Forty Billion Spirit Crystals!¡± the auctioneer eximed as the bidding frenzy stirred her and the crowd into an excited frenzy. Even if those in the crowd were unable to bid on the item themselves, it was always entertaining to watch just how high bidding wars would go.


    ¡°Tch, the fucking Trade Master has entered this bid,¡± Sect Leader Thunderfist clicked his tongue in frustration as he watched the Trade Masters private booth light up with a bid, exceeding his bid by ten billion in one swoop.


    ¡°Forget it. If he wants this Seal, then I won¡¯t even bother fighting against him,¡± Thunderfist grumbled and ced no more bids. While Thunderfist was a World Expansion expert with great wealth, he could notpete against the Trade Master when it came to wealth.


    The thirty billion spirit crystal bid was already a very sizable portion of his total wealth, and he was unable to go much higher. As such, he gave up on bidding for the Seal, as he knew he would not be able to obtain it.


    ¡°Tch, so he¡¯s entered the fray!¡±


    ¡°How annoying!¡±


    The two other powerful cultivators that the Trade Master discussed also grumbled within their private booths as they saw the Trade Master enter the fray. While it was actually John bidding on the item, they were unable to discern that due to the sight and sound blocking features of the private booths.


    However, they had more wealth than Thunderfist, and were not so easily quelled.


    ¡°Your wealth may be more than mine, but lets see how much you desire this weapon,¡± Daoist Ashenblood said as she ced her hand on the bidding formation.


    ¡°Forty Five Billion!¡± the auctioneer eximed as another bid was ced.


    ¡°Tch, that weapon is mine!¡± Xalgul agoth scoffed within his own private booth and ced his bid as well.


    ¡°Fifty Billion Spirit Crystals!¡± the auctioneer eximed once more, as the price of the seal soared to unreal heights, showing just how much the World Expansion cultivators wanted it. To obtain a weapon that would improve theirbat prowess and put them amongst those at the top of the world, they would spend almost everything they owned on it.


    They had opportunities to reacquire spirit crystals in the future, but an opportunity like this would most likely nevere again.


    ¡°It seems like you were correct, Trade Master,¡± John frowned as the bidding war continued, soaring into the price range that the Trade Master said it would. However, with his current wealth, this amount was still not concerning for him.


    John calmly ced his hand on the bidding formation once more, while his private booth lit up with the bid amount once more.


    ¡°Sixty Billion Spirit Crystals! Another ten billion spirit crystal increase!¡± the auctioneer eximed excitedly, while the crowd erupted with heated discussions.


    ¡°Tch, fuck off you trading fart. What do you even need a weapon for?¡± Daoist Ashenblood grumbled angrily as she ced her hand on the bidding formation once more.


    ¡°Sixty One Billion Spirit Crystals!¡±


    ¡°You fucking ants. I already said this weapon is mine,¡± Xalgul agoth scoffed again, cing his own bid once more.


    ¡°Sixty Five Billion Spirit Crystals! Daoist Eternal Weapons name has shattered yet another record, as the highest price ever bid on a weapon. Just how high will it continue to go?¡± the auctioneer boomed.


    ¡°Seventy Billion!¡± she eximed once more, as John ced his bid immediately after.


    ¡°It seems like Daoist Ashenme is reaching the end, as her bid increase was only one billion. Xalgul agoth increased by four billion, so it will most likely be between you and him,¡± the Trade Master said calmly, giving his thoughts of the situation.


    ¡°How much do you think Xalgul is willing to bid on this Seal?¡± John asked the Trade Master.


    ¡°Hmm, he has yet to assume the mantle of Monster Race King yet, so his wealth has not had time to umte properly yet. His total wealth is probably under one hundred billion, so he¡¯s already reaching his limits. They currently think it¡¯s me bidding, and are curious as to just how much I want this weapon. If you ce a bid of eighty five billion, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll silence them all for good,¡± the Trade Master exined.


    John grimaced at the price, as eight-five billion for a single weapon was an astronomical sum that even he felt hard to spend. However, with his battle with the Asuraing up in the near future, there was no other choice, as money would be useless for him if he died in that battle.


    ¡°Seventy One Billion!¡±


    The bid came from the Xalgul agoths booth, while no more bids came from Doaist Ashenme, revealing that the Trade Master had been right on his assessment of her. Also, Xalgul had decreased his bid increase to one billion, revealing that he too was starting to be money conscientious.


    Seeing this, John ced his hand on the bidding formation once more, hoping to end the bidding war once and for all. His private booth lit up with the bid amount, which sent a shockwave of awe and discussion through the crowd.


    ¡°Eighty Five Billion! An astronomical increase!¡± the auctioneer boomed, almost unable to believe her eyes.


    ¡°Tch, that bastard!¡± Xalgul roared with bared teeth as he crushed his wine cup in his hand, almost unable to contain his rage. However, violence of all kinds was forbidden in the city, even for someone as powerful as him, and so no action was taken at all.


    The bidding formations died down after John¡¯s bid, and the crowd held their breath as the auctioneer began her countdown.


    ¡°Eighty five billion spirit crystals for Daoist Eternal Weapon¡¯s seal. Going once, going twice¡­..SOLD, for eighty five billion spirit crystals!¡±


    Woahhhhh!


    The crowd erupted in frenzied excitement, as they had be witnesses to one of the most shocking bids in the auction house¡¯s history. While other items had sold for more in the past, it was extremely rare for even the final item of the auction to be sold for this much, and was something hardly ever seen.


    A deep sigh of relief escaped John¡¯s mouth as he slouched back into his seat, feeling as though he had just gone through an arduous battle.


    ¡°Congrattions!¡± the Trade Master said to John, while Caz also congratted John after recovering from his shock at the bidding amount.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± John sighed, just happy that he had sessfully obtained the seal.


    ¡°I¡¯m curious though. What would make you so eager to obtain a weapon of this level, that you would spend this amount on it? You¡¯re yet to reach the Dao Transformation Realm, let alone the World Expansion realm,¡± the Trade Master asked curiously.


    ¡°Heh, you¡¯ll find out the answer to that question in the near future, but until then, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t tell you,¡± John replied with a vague response.


    ¡°I look forward to seeing that moment,¡± the Trade Master replied before shifting the question. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve obtained the Seal, what materials are you going to use for the weapon?¡±


    ¡°Materials? What do you mean?¡± John asked questioningly.


    ¡°Ah, I thought you already knew,¡± the Trade Master replied with a slightly wry tone, feeling guilty for not exining the situation fully for John. ¡°Daoist Eternal Weapon will make the weapon for you, but everyone knows you must provide the materials for the weapon yourself. It is the only way he operates.¡±


    ¡°What?!?!?!?¡±

 Chapter 773 Heaven-Dao Tea Leaves Auction

    "Apologies, I should have mentioned that before you bid on the seal, but yes, Daoist Eternal Weapon will only craft with what you give him to craft with," the Trade Master confirmed. "At a minimum, you must provide the material for the de of the weapon. For a sword, this would be almost the entire weapon, while something like an axe would only require you to provide the de, while the shaft materials will be provided by Daoist Eternal Weapon. The higher quality materials you give him, the higher quality materials he will use for the otherponents of the weapon, depending on what weapon you want him to make."


    John fell silent upon hearing this, as his thoughts swirled with how to obtain the parts needed for his scythe. After thinking about it for some time, his eyes lit up for a moment as he thought of something, something that the Trade Master noticed.


    "It seems you have some ideas for the weapon''s materials. That''s good. I''ll just give you this one piece of advice. Daoist Eternal Weapon is a weapon forging maniac, and will only deal with the most heavenly of materials. If you give himckluster materials, he''ll most likely refuse to craft your weapon, seal or not," the Trade Master said to John.


    "Noted, but I don''t think that will be a problem," John replied confidently, his confidence causing some curiosity within the Trade Master.


    With an idea for how to proceed regarding the weapon, John''s attention shifted back towards the auction, as new items were brought forth and bid on. Another half-day passed by before an item rose up from beneath the stage that caught everyone''s attention, including John''s. An intrigued look appeared on his face as he looked forward to seeing how the item would be bid on.


    "For the next item, I don''t think I need to give any exnations," the auctioneer eximed to the excited crowd, who were hoping for an opportunity to obtain the most discussed item in recent items.


    "It''s here," the Trade Master stated before ncing at Caz, who appeared both excited and nervous at the same time. "I do look forward to seeing how you structured this auction," he mused, his words causing Caz''s nervousness to further increase.


    "That''s right! The next item for auction is none other than the Heaven-Dao Tea Leaves that have been taking the continent by storm!" the auctioneer eximed, causing further excited frenzy to erupt through the crowd.


    The tea leaves had obtained legendary status incredibly quickly due to the fact that they could help one break through a cultivation bottleneck with efficiency that no other material in the world could match. Its effects interested everyone from the Heaven Tribtion Realm all the way up to the World Expansion realm, of which there were millions and tens of millions of cultivators, all eager to obtain even a single leaf to advance their cultivation.


    As the false floor rose up from beneath the stage, it revealed a singr closed jar sitting atop a pedestal. The ornately-detailed jar was two feet tall, and the heavenly aura radiating outwards from within was unmistakable.


    "For this auction, this jar of Heaven-Dao Leaves contains exactly one hundred leaves!" the auctioneer eximed, her words causing some excitement to fade as the number of leaves was much lower than the crowd had hoped.


    "However, by purchasing this jar, the winning bidder will also acquire a guaranteed annual supply of one hundred leaves for the next decade, sold at the rate established with this bid!" the auctioneer exined, her words sending a jolt of excitement through the crowd once more.


    "What? A guaranteed annual supply of one hundred leaves?"


    "How enticing. Just think of the breakthroughs one could have with that many leaves! And even if the leaves lose their efficacy after multiple uses, the winning bidder could just sell any excess leaves, making a profit themselves each year!"


    "Not only that, but with more and more tales of cultivation bottlenecks being broken through with the help of these leaves, their value will most likely only continue to go up. And yet the winning bidder will be able to acquire them at the cost established today! What a deal!"


    "Whoever came up with this n is quite cunning. This way the overall price would be something many could afford, and with the added annual sale bonus, it will only increase the desire to obtain this bid. That will raise the price per leaf even more, which will serve as a benchmark going forward for future tea leaf prices!"


    The crowd eagerly discussed the uing bid, while the Trade Master nodded his head in approval.


    "Nicely done, Caz. This method you''re using will raise the price per leaf far more than if you had just sold arge batch all at once with no other caveats. Very well done," the Trade Master praised Caz, as Caz had over a thousand leaves at his disposal to sell, but opted to only sell one hundred at this time.


    "Thank you for your praise, Trade Master!" Caz hastily thanked his trade hall master, feeling both relief and overwhelming joy at having his n approved by the Trade Master himself.


    "I wonder how much the leaves will sell for," John mused as the auctioneer started the bidding process, at which point hundreds of formation lights red all across the auction theater as a frenzied bidding war broke out.


    sh!<sub> </sub>


    sh!


    sh!


    New bids continued to be ced as the price of the one hundred leaves quickly rose. Based on the previously established price of the leaves, the price for the jar of one hundred leaves should have been valued at thirty-five million spirit crystals per leaf, putting the total value of the jar at three and a half billion spirit crystals. However, the bids for the jar of Heaven-Dao Tea Leaves quickly shattered right through this number as the bidding frenzy amplified.


    Four Billion!


    Five Billion!


    Six Billion!


    sh!


    sh


    sh!


    The auction theater lit up like a lightning storm as bidding hologram after bidding hologram red, some evening from the private booths controlled by the World Expansion experts that had joined the auction. For them, such a sum of spirit crystals was miniscule whenpared to the hopes of using the leaves to break through their cultivation bottlenecks and step onto the next stage of the cultivation world.


    sh!


    sh!


    sh!


    The bids continued to amplify, but eventually the shes began to die down as the number rose to a level that most couldn''t hope to match. The number had quickly approached a number even the wealthiest felt was no longer reasonable, and so the number of bids died down.


    Based on the fact that the guaranteed annual supply was a bonus to this purchase, it was also revealed that the seller most likely had more in supply than what was being sold currently. With this in mind, future auctions would no doubt have leaves to be sold, and would most likely be able to be acquired at a more reasonable rate.


    sh!


    sh!


    sh!


    The shes came in slowly at the end, and after ten seconds, no further bids were ced cementing the sale of the bids to one of the private booths at the top of the auction theater.


    "Sold! To Private Booth twenty two, for Ten Billion Spirit Crystals!" the auctioneer eximed excitedly, bringing an end to the Heaven-Dao Tea Leaf bidding war.

 Chapter 774 Divine Source Monastary

    In their private booth, John looked down on the auction stage with a small grimace on his face.


    "It seems as though I just ate a pile of shit," John mumbled, as the price per leaf was established at one hundred million per leaf, double what he sold it for to the Trade Master.


    "Now, now, the rate you sold it at is still fifty percent of the profits," the Trade Master replied calmly as if he had seen this all happening before it happened.


    "I suppose you''re right," John sighed, as it was still a good percentage of the profits. While it was not as good as the seventy percent deal he had initially, fifty percent was still a healthy number.


    "Besides, there is naturally a discount when purchasing in bulk," the Trade Master continued before taking a sip of tea with a small smile on his face, clearly content at how everything had yed out.


    After taking his sip of tea, he ced the cup down before him and nced over towards Caz, who was staring at the stage below with uncontained excitement.


    "Congrattions, Caz. With this deal, you have achieved the highest value deal of any disciple this year. You have now officially been promoted to the Premier Trade Disciple position," the Trade Master said, his words stunning Caz senseless.


    After a few seconds of stunned silence, Caz hastily stood up and browed respectfully towards the Trade Master.


    "Thank you, Trade Master! I am honored!" he mumbled through his nervousness.


    "Congrattions!" John chimed in as well, while Caz returned a thankful smile.


    "I should be thanking you. This is all due to you!" Caz returned the thanks.


    "Nonsense. Now let''s celebrate with some wine!" John replied cheerily as he picked up a bottle of wine before him, while Caz did the same while the Trade Master watched on with an amused expression.


    ...


    The auction continued onwards after the Heaven-Dao Tea Leaves were sold, and quickly neared its end. Only a few more items were left after the leaves were sold, which John, Caz, and the Trade Master bid on but did not win, as none of the items interested them fully.


    After the second tost item was purchased, the crowd held its bated breath as they eagerly waited for thest item to be revealed. It was tradition that thest item was either the most expensive, or the most mysterious item, and it was always something that ignited a frenzied bidding war.


    John too felt himself be wrapped up in the excited atmosphere, eagerly waiting for the final item to be revealed.


    The auctioneer took her time in revealing the next item, doing her best to raise the anticipation towards the reveal.


    "And now for the moment everyone has been waiting for! The final item of this year''s auction!" the auctioneer boomed, causing an excited wave of cheer to erupt throughout the crowd.


    The false floor gave way and the tform began to rise from below, revealing a pedestal containing exactly five objects, looking quite simr to the seal that Daoist Eternal Weapon had auctioned.


    The five objects were metallic seals, each six inches wide and circr in design. An incredibly detailed design of a golden temple floating in the clouds was etched on each seal, which seemed to almost be alive and moving. An incredibly profound aura of the spatial Dao emanated from each seal, making it so that faking the seals was impossible.


    When John felt the aura of the seals, his mind trembled as he realized something, and his divine sense flowed within for a moment to his spatial realm to confirm. His eyes widened as hepared the aura of the seals to an object within his spatial realm, which were emanating the same type of spatial aura, only his was even more profound. However, the connection was unmistakable; the items were somehow connected.<sub> </sub>


    At the same time, a frenzied excitement buzzed through the crowd, as many recognized the design of the seals and what they indicated.


    "That''s right! These seals are none other than those belonging to the Divine Source Monastery!" the auctioneer eximed, her words stunning the crowd once more.


    "What exactly does this seal do?" John asked the Trade Master as he returned his focus from his spatial realm to the real world.


    "These five seals belong to the Divine Source Monastery," The Trade Master nced at John and began to exin. "Do you have a map of the Divine Martial Continent?" he asked.


    "I do," John nodded his head, as he had obtained one recently from Caz which detailed the entire continent, and all the notable powers and sects within.


    "Then, did you notice something interesting in the very center of our continent?" the Trade Master asked.


    "The very center? My map has that part cked out, with no details whatsoever," John replied as he took out the jade piece containing his map to inspect. The very center of his map had no information whatsoever, and covered a circr area roughly fifty thousand miles across.


    "That''s to be expected, because that central area is not essible at all by anyone. It might as well be considered to not exist, as nothing can enter that area at all...not even myself or the most powerful World Expansion expert can enter that area," the Trade Master exined to John.


    "Not essible? What lies within there then?" John asked curiously.


    "No person alive today knows the truth of what lies within, but rumors have lingered since before ancient times," the Trade Master replied. "The rumors reveal and of wondrous opportunity, and also perilous hazards."


    "The ancient times?" John asked.


    "Before the cmity," the Trade Master confirmed, his words shocking John.


    "The Divine Source Monastery is an order that survived the very cmity itself, existing on both sides of that event," the Trade Master exined. "If one were to name the most ancient and also mysterious power on this world, it would be none other than the Divine Source Monastery!"


    "What? They survived the cmity? I thought only the Jade Dragon Empire managed to do so?" John replied, to which the Trade Master shook his head.


    "There are several powers that managed to do so, but none were as prolific as the Jade Dragon Empire. The Divine Source Monastery is one of those powers that survived, but unlike the others that died out after the cmity, they managed to survive and persist to this very day," the Trade Master exined further.


    "Howe I''ve never heard of such a ce then? If they''re so amazing?" John asked curiously.


    ? "That''s because they are by far the most mysterious power on this continent, and even this world," the Trade Master exined. "They are a secretive order, which does not allow any outsiders to enter their monastery grounds which are located around that voided area on your map. All they care about is guarding the ''Divine Wall'' in the center of the continent, and nothing else matters to them. They care for nothing else. And only the monastery knows the means to get through the Divine Wall. Without their help, none can pass.


    Some in the past have tried to control them or conquer them, but all who attempted to do so perished, and their respective sects or ns were eradicated from the world. As such, no one dares to attempt such a thing again, and so the Divine Source Monastery is left alone."


    "Then how do the sealse into y here?" John asked curiously.


    "Because when the seals are presented to the world, it only means one thing. A thing that has not happened since before the cmity ording to rumors..." the Trade Master replied with a serious expression on his face. "It means the Divine Source Monastery is preparing to open the Divine Wall, and allow those who have obtained a Divine Source Seal to enter within!"

 Chapter 775 Final Auction

    "So that''s what the seals are for, and why it''s thest item of this auction. Something that hasn''t happened since before the cmity, and something shrouded in so much mystery surely deserves thest spot," John replied before frowning slightly.


    "Another hidden realm to explore¡­how tedious," he grumbled softly. Having juste out from the Jade Dragon Empire Realm, John had started to grow a bit tired of entering realm after realm. However, wondrous opportunities existed within these realms, and so there was no choice but to enter.


    "Hmhmhm," the Trade Master chuckled lightly at John''s sigh. "I agree with you that hidden realms are quite troublesome to deal with. You''re more likely to perish within them than obtain heavenly treasures, but there''s a reason why cultivators throw themselves at these realms without caution, as they''re the only ces left to explore on this world, and the only ces that have unimed treasures. Only within such ces can cultivators truly find world shattering opportunities," the Trade Master said to John, who nodded his head in reluctant agreement.


    "I know," John sighed as he stared at the seals on the stage.


    "Are you going to bid on the seals?" the Trade Master asked curiously.


    "I have no choice but to do so," John replied vaguely, as he was unable to exin that there was some sort of connection between these seals and the item in his possession; a connection that he had to get to the bottom of.


    "You''re going to enter such a dangerous ce?" Caz chimed in with surprise in his voice. "Even if thend beyond the Divine Wall isn''t dangerous, the other people entering surely will be. Such a ce will attract the attention of even World Expansion cultivators, and so you''ll have to deal with powerful World Expansion cultivators within. With your status as ''Asura'' being revealed, such a ce is dangerous to go into alone."


    "I know, but I have no choice," John replied calmly, "besides, a cultivator that gives up such opportunities just because they''re cautious or scared will never climb to the top of the cultivation world, and my goals require me to do so."


    Caz stared at John in silence for some moment before sighing. With John''s current wealth, obtaining a seal was all but guaranteed, and so he would clearly enter within.


    "Fine, just don''t die in there, okay? You still have to make me more spirit crystals," Caz jested, causing John to chuckle lightly.


    "I won''t," John replied confidently, his eyes returning to the Divine Source Monastery seals below. A thought popped into his mind, which he decided to ask the Trade Master who seemed to be knowledgeable on all subjects.


    "Trade Master. If the Divine Source Monastery is such a reclusive power, why are they auctioning these seals off?" John asked curiously.


    "Who knows. No one knows what triggers them to open the Divine Wall, as it hasn''t happened for so long. But as for auctioning the seals, even a ce like the Divine Source Monastery needs spirit crystals and other resources to continue their guarding of the Divine Wall, and so this would naturally be a great way to gather some spirit crystals," the Trade Master exined.


    "I see," John replied before falling silent, as the auction was about to begin.


    "There are five seals that the Divine Source Monastery has given our auction house to sell. They have instructed that each seal is to be obtained by a different person, so the top five bids will win a seal each. Additionally, the Divine Wall will be opened in three months time!" the auctioneer exined, which caused excitement to surge through the crowd once more.


    With no one being able to obtain all five seals at once, everyone had an increased chance of getting one of the seals.<sub> </sub>


    "Lastly, the Divine Source Monastery has ced one condition on those who will use a seal to enter the Divine Wall. That condition is that anyone enteringnd beyond the Divine Wall must have an age of one hundred years or below!"


    "Hwaaa!"


    Thest condition caused surprised mors to echo through the auction theater, as no one had been expecting such a thing to happen. Even John raised an eyebrow in surprise at the condition, although he was not unhappy to hear it. Such a condition would prohibit the truly ancient monsters of the world to enter with him, and make it much less dangerous within.


    "This condition is quite beneficial for you," the Trade Master said while scratching his bearded chin, "but do not think that you''ll be safe just because of this condition. There are some frightening geniuses in this world that are under that age, some who are even in the World Expansion realm already. And if I had to guess, these are not the only seals being sold, so the number of cultivators entering is unknown at this moment"


    "Good. It would be boring otherwise," John replied with a heated expression as the bidding officiallymenced. At the same time, the image of a certain person drifted into his mind, causing his heated expression to harden for a brief moment.


    ''With such a monumental thing happening, that bastard is sure to obtain a seal somehow and enter. If he does, and I happen to run into him, I''ll make sure he dies this time for good,'' John mused coldly as the image of Asuros drifted into his mind.


    He was still agitated that Asuros had managed to escapest time, and would make sure that such a thing didn''t happen this time around. Normally he would be able to use his own power to repress a spatial talisman used by another cultivator, but the one used by Asuros had been too profound to do so. As such, he needed assurances for the next time he ran into him.


    "Trade Master. I''ll need to ask you a favor. I need to acquire a specific formational item," John said to the Trade Master.


    "Hmmm? And what would that item be?" the Trade Master asked curiously, noting the serious expression on John''s face.


    "The strongest spatial repressing formation disk you have. Something that will prohibit even the strongest of spatial transportation talismans or formations disks to fail," John said coldly. "Is that something I could purchase from you, if you were able to obtain it?"


    The Trade Master looked at John in silence for a moment, studying his face, before nodding his head.


    "I will obtain it for you," he nodded.


    "Thank you," John replied sincerely before turning his attention back to the auction stage.


    "The bidding will now begin! As exined, bidding will continue until there are no more bids, at which point the top five bidders will each win a seal. With that said, let the biddingmence!" the auctioneer boomed with passionate excitement, kicking off the final bidding war of the annual Five-River Freeport Auction.

 Chapter 776 End Of The Auction

    sh!


    sh!


    sh!


    As expected by everyone, a frenzied bidding war instantly erupted, filling the auction theater with shing lights as bidding hologram after bidding hologram popped up, revealing each bidder''s price.


    The number instantly surged past one billion, and after just a minute, soared past the ten billion mark. This price made it so that most of the cultivators in the crowd could no longer bid on it, causing sour expressions to appear on their faces, although the oue was expected for such an item.


    Most of the bids were now made by those on the upper parts of the auction theater, where the most influential and wealthy cultivators were. Even the monstrously powerful World Expansion cultivators bid on the item, despite the fact that they could not enter themselves.


    If they won a seal, they would either be able to give it to someone they personally knew to enter, or could most likely sell it off for an even higher price after the auction. As such, almost everyone on the upper floors of the auction theater ced bids, including the Yalgul agoth Daoist Ashenblood, and even Sect Leader Thunderfist.


    John noticed Thunderfists booth light up, and felt a warmth in his heart as he clearly knew why Thunderfist was bidding on the item. Neither he nor his brother could enter, and the only people they knew who could enter was either him, or John''s master, Lilian. John thought of sending a message to Thunderfist that he was also bidding on it, but decided against it.


    If both him and Thunderfist managed to get a seal, then either his master could enter with one of the seals, or Thunderfist could sell it off for a higher priceter on, depending on if Lilian even wanted to enter thend beyond the Divine Wall.


    sh!


    sh!


    sh!


    Twenty billion!


    Thirty billion!


    Forty billion!


    Fifty billion!


    The price surged without pause, shattering through the fifty billion spirit crystal mark that only the seal for Daoist Eternal Weapon had managed to do, indicating the frenzied excitement for obtaining such an item. However, despite the frenzied excitement, even the wealthiest had their limits.


    As such, the bidding naturally started to slow down once it reached this phase. It was at this time that John decided to join the fray, as it appeared that the bidding would reach its conclusion before long. With the way the bidding was structured, the top five bidders would each win a seal.


    Naturally, everyone wanted to be the fifth bidder, winning a seal at the lowest price. If one was knocked off the fifth spot by another bid, they would need to rebid at the highest price, and so a game of sorts was formed as each of the top bidders tried to guess at which price the bidding would end.


    Fifty-five billion!<sub> </sub>


    John ced his bid, while the formation hologram just outside his private booth lit up, revealing his bid amount. Frowns appeared on the faces of many, including the one who had been ousted from the fifth spot.


    "The fucking Trade Master again," Doaist Ashenblood grumbled as she ced another bid, as she had been the one to be knocked off the fifth spot.


    sh!


    Fifty six billion!


    .


    .


    .


    sh!


    Two more shes of light from the bidding holograms appeared as two more bids were ced, with the total price reaching sixty billion spirit crystals. Silence filled the auction theater as everyone held their breath, waiting to see if another bid would be ced. However, those able to afford such a bid amount were few and far between, and the nature of this particr auction lowered the bid amounts whenpared to if only one was able to obtain the item.


    If only one person was able to obtain the item, the bidding amount would surely reach over one hundred billion spirit crystals. However, since one only needed to be in the top five to obtain an item, the overall price lowered naturally. At the same time though, the total amount of spirit crystals going to the Divine Source Monastery was higher than if they had just auctioned it off to a singr person, revealing that this bidding method was quite ingenious.


    The second passed by as no more bids were ced, and after ten seconds, a resounding gong rang out, signaling the end of the bidding war and the conclusion of the annual Five-River Freeport auction.


    "Sold! The five Divine Source Monastery seals have been sold for a mind-blowing total value of two hundred and ten billion spirit crystals! Congrattions to the five bidders who each won a seal!" the auctioneer eximed with overwhelming excitement, as the auction house took a small percentage of the sale amount, and so they were to be flushed with spirit crystals in the near future.


    John sighed out in relief as his bid stalled at the third-ce spot, which was good enough for him. His gaze shifted to the opposite side of the venue, where Sect Leader Thunderfist was located. Against all odds, Thunderfist had managed to win a seal at the fifth spot, obtaining a seal for forty billion spirit crystals; a steal whenpared to the price the top two had paid.


    "Congrattions," the Trade Master said to John with a small smile on his face. "This auction has been quite expensive, yet quite lucrative for you. You obtained a Nine-Convergence Lightning Core, Daoist Eternal Weapon''s seal, and now the seal from the Divine Source Monastery, and also sold five hundred billion spirit crystals worth of Heaven-Dao Tea Leaves. If I had to say who won this auction, it would most definitely be you," the Trade Master praised.


    "I never knew an auction could be this exciting. It''s got my blood boiling almost as much as a life-or-death battle would," John replied to the Trade Master, feeling excitement surging through his body.


    "And now you know why some of us pursue the Dao of Trade and Business so fervently. If there is risk, there is passion, and if there is passion, then that is something worth pursuing with your every fiber," the Trade Master replied.


    "I can see that now," John replied while falling back into hisfortable seat and taking a deep breath.


    "What are you going to do now?" Caz asked John curiously, as the auction was officially over.


    "Hmm, well first I need to collect my items, and then I suppose I''ll pay a visit to Daoist Eternal Weapon. With the Divine Source Monastery opening the Divine Wall in three months, obtaining that weapon has be even more important!"

 Chapter 777 Eternal Weapon Temple

    "There''s no need to collect the items," the Trade Master said to John with a small smile as the door suddenly opened to their room and several attendants of the auction house walked in. Each held a singr spatial ring in their hands as they approached the Trade Master.


    "Congrattions on your winnings," the attendants said to the Trade Master as they handed over the spatial rings to him, and bowed before leaving the private booth.


    "There are some perks to being the Trade Master of the Mystic Trade Hall," the Trade Master winked as he handed the spatial rings over to John. John reached out and epted the rings, and sent his divine sense into each one.


    Each ring held a different item he had bid on, and even his Nine-Convergence Lightning Core was there, which he had purchased outside of this private booth. Clearly the Trade Master had sent word to the auction theater to send the item here instead, which John truly appreciated.


    The items he had bid on, namely two seals, were incredibly valuable, and would no doubt draw envious gazes towards him, with some even trying to steal the items from him. However, everyone thought the Trade Master himself had obtained those items, and no one was crazy enough to try to steal from such a person.


    "Thank you," John said graciously upon realizing this. "You''ve truly been nothing but helpful."


    Not only had the Trade Master exined many things to him during the auction, he had also allowed John to stay in his private booth, shielding his purchases from prying eyes, as well as making a five hundred billion spirit crystal deal with him. While that deal also benefited the Trade Master, it was still a massive boon to John, and so his approval of the Trade Master only continued to climb.


    "There''s no need for such pleasantries. I helped you, and you helped me. We both came out winners from this year''s auction," the Trade Master replied, "besides, I have a feeling that more wondrous opportunities may arise from the partnership between you and my Trade Hall, so feel free to stop by at any time. You will be received as an honored guest each time."


    "Thanks. I''ll be sure to do that," John thanked the Trade Master once more, as well as Caz, truly appreciative of all the help he had received from the both of them.


    ¡­


    John spent a short while after talking to Caz and the Trade Master about various things, before the three parted ways. After receiving instruction on where to find Daoist Eternal Weapon, John made his way off the central ind and into the Eternal Weapon Temple district.


    As he made his way into the Eternal Weapon Temple district, he was able to feel several gazes locked onto him, clearly following him. The following had started from when he was on the central auction house ind, shortly after he had left the auction house.


    "Tch, what a bunch of amateurs. If you''re going to follow someone, at least learn how to mask your presence, idiots," John sighed softly as he ignored them, as they would not dare to do anything to him inside the city. If they tried to make a move on him once he left the city, John was more than willing to take on that challenge.


    John meandered through the streets of the district, which was far different that the Mystic Trade Hall district. Most of the shops and buildings lining the streets light brightly with the heat of forges and furnaces, as weaponsmiths, armor smiths, and other crafting professionals produced their metallic wares.


    The clinking of metal on metal filled the streets, while a metallic odor hung in the air, which John felt quite enjoyable, and not at all unpleasant. After walking through the streets of the district, he arrived before the front gates of the Eternal Weapon Temple. The gates were crafted off some sort of sturdy metal, ck in color, while metallic walls wrapped all around the temple grounds. Just the gates alone were incredibly well crafted, as it was easy to tell that a master craftsman had produced them. There were no visible ws at all, and the aura from the gates indicated that it was made of an incredibly durable metal, which would have been very hard to work into shape.


    The Eternal Weapon Temple was as the name suggested a massive temple, stone colored with dark metallic furnishings all about.


    The temple was almost a mile wide, and just as tall, with towering spires releasing plumes of smoke, clearly acting as smokestacks for the forges contained within. The temple itself gave off a strong and robust presence, as if it could survive the shattering of the world itself.


    As John approached the front gates which were open with guards inspecting travelers entering and leaving, he was approached by one guard.<sub> </sub>


    "What is your business here? Are you here to see a specific forgemaster?" the guard asked John, who nodded his head in confirmation.


    "I''m here to see Daoist Eternal Weapon," John confirmed, to which the guard scoffed dismissively.


    "This is no ce to make Jokes. Move along, child," the guard scoffed and told him to leave.


    John took no offense to the guards actions, as they were reasonable given the nature of his request. Instead he handed the guard a spatial ring, which the guard eyed suspiciously before taking it.


    "Bribing me won''t work," the guard scoffed as he inspected the ring, and his eyes widened as he noticed what was within.


    "Follow me," the guard said as he handed John the ring back and walked through the gates into the Eternal Weapon Temple grounds.


    ¡­


    nk!


    nk!


    nk!


    The sound of metal on metal rang out all throughout the Eternal Weapon Temple as the guard led John through its massive hallways. The central hallway was lined on both sides with rooms, some opened and some closed, but all ringing with the sound of metalworking.


    Hallways branched off from the main hallway as they walked through it, each branching hallway much the same, with metallic ringing drifting within and the res of mes illuminating it brightly. It was as if John had stepped into a forge itself, one that he found incredibly interesting.


    The guard led John deep into the temple, and eventually to a massive set of stairs that led deep into the earth below. The stairs stretched down for thousands of yards, each side of the staircase illuminated by ming torches.


    Just before the staircase was a massive stone table, behind which a singr person sat. The person was an older man, with a long white beard who appeared to be in his sixties. However, his body was quite muscr, as his clothing revealed his bare arms. His head was down as he wrote something on a scroll before him, ignoring both John and the guard. John gazed curiously at the man, who was clearly a powerful cultivator, most likely in the World Expansion Realm.


    However, the thing that shocked John the most was the man''s body, which naturally gave off an incredibly powerful aura. Such an aura was unmistakable¡­the aura of a body cultivator.


    ''A World Expansion body cultivator!''

 Chapter 778 Chamber Of Magma

    "Excuse me, Daoist Forge-me," the guard spoke out, to which the man finally raised his head and nced at the two. His gaze locked onto John for a short while as he inspected him closely, and he nodded his head in approval.


    "Young man. Your body is something else. With that strength, you would make a fine forgemaster. Have youe here today to join our Eternal Weapon Temple?" the man asked John.


    John raised an eyebrow, not expecting to hear an offer of joining the temple, but shook his head lightly at the man''s words.


    "I am here to see Daoist Eternal Weapon," he said as he took out the Eternal Weapon seal he had obtained in the auction.


    The man raised a single eyebrow as he looked at the seal, and stood up shortly afterwards.


    "Temple-Master Eternal Weapon is not here. Follow me," Daoist Forge-me said as he turned around and began to descend the stairs behind him.


    John quickly followed behind, while the guard left, returning to the front gates to resume his guarding duty. John followed behind the man in silence as they descended deep into the earth below the temple.


    After walking for quite some time, they finally reached the bottom, at which point a massive chamber came into view. The chamber red brightly with the fires of different forges and furnaces, each emanating a scorching heat. Whenpared to the forges he had seen before, these were of much higher quality, made from the finest materials.


    If one was not in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, just standing here would scorch that person alive. However, while the massive chamber red with the heat of the ming forges and furnaces, no one was visible within.


    As if expecting this, the man continued to walk forward towards the opposite side of the chamber, while John followed closely behind. They eventually reached a formation tform, which the man beckoned for John to step onto.


    "Since you''vee here, I''m assuming you have the materials required for the weapon?" the man asked.


    "I do," John nodded his head.


    "Good, then you may proceed," the man nodded before pressing his hand against a nearby formation pedestal, at which point the teleportation formation red with power.


    "Be sure to raise your defenses," the man said in clear warning, "though I think with your body, you should be able to handle it."


    John frowned at the man''s words of warning, and immediately felt his body transport through space for an instant. He appeared in another ce, and his eyes widened as he felt as if he had stepped into a scorching inferno, one hot enough to make even him feel the sting of heat. Were it not for his incredibly sturdy body, just the heat alone would no doubt have killed him instantly.


    His gaze shifted about, taking in his surroundings, which glowed brightly as magma flowed all about.<sub> </sub>


    "Im¡­I''m inside a volcano?" John eximed, not expecting to have been transported into an active volcano.


    The formation tform where he had appeared was only a few feet above the flowing rivers of molten magma on both sides of him, while a small strip of solid ground stretched out before him into the distance, the only salvation from the scorching magma.


    "This magma is far hotter than the magma I experienced inside the Jade Dragon Empire trial grounds. If I were to fall into this magma, I would have to use my full power to defend against its scorching heat, and I would still no doubt take grave damage¡­where exactly is this?" John mumbled as he braced against the heat, and began to walk down the strip of ground before him.


    The strip of solid ground meandered through a winding cave for over a mile, while the scorching magma flowed by on both sides the entire time. Eventually an opening at the end of the cave came into view, and John quickly reached that opening.


    His eyes widened once more as a massive chamber came into view, over a mile wide and high. The chamber was filled to the edges with ake of magma, making the heat inside the chamber even more frightening than the cave he was in.


    The thin strip of solid ground continued to stretch into the middle of the magmake, where a singr building was visible. The building was a hundred yards wide and two hundred yards tall, appeared like a stone temple of sorts, and withstood the scorching magma which flowed against it. The magma seemed to flow towards the building and into it from hidden channels unseen, while a smoke trail drifted out of the top of the stone building.


    Most shocking of all was the sound of powerful metallic ngs booming out from within the temple. The ngs echoed every other second, and were so strong and loud that it shook the entire chamber, while the magmake roiled with each ng.


    After taking in the shocking sight, John continued walking forward towards the temple, making sure to not fall into the magma on both sides of him. Each ng shook the ground he was standing on, while he did his best to stand firm as he proceeded forward. With the increased heat of theke of magma, if he were to fall into his, his survival was not guaranteed, even if he used his full power, a testament to the frightening heat of the magma.


    For some reason, he chose not to fly towards the building, as if walking on the strip ofnd was a challenge of its own. The creator of this ce could have easily chosen to not include a thin bridge to the building in the middle, which would have required flight. However, they had not done so, and so John felt it was appropriate to follow their design.


    After making his way forward, he finally arrived before the building, of which the front entrance was already open, revealing a singr man inside, hammering away with a hammer, while each hammer stroke shook him from within, powerful beyondpare.


    The man was shirtless, wearing only brown colored pants. He appeared to be in his fifties, and had a bushy rust colored beard and bald head. His muscles bulged from his body, rippling with overwhelming power, as if the man was strong enough to tear the world apart with his bare hands. Other than the Jade Dragon Emperor, this man was no doubt the strongest body cultivator John had ever seen.


    ? His hammer mmed down on a heated ingot of unknown metal, slowly forming it into whatever the desired shape was. The hammering process was a simple action, but John could see that there were many profound Dao''s contained within each swing, some too profound for even someone like him to see through.


    There was no mistaking who this man was.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon!

 Chapter 779 Entranced Meditation

    ng!


    ng!


    ng!


    The rhythmic metallic ngs continued ceaselessly as Daoist Eternal Weapon continued his work, almost as if he were oblivious to John''s presence. However, a cultivator of such incredible power would not fail to notice John''s presence, meaning he had chosen to ignore him for the time being.


    John stood just outside the entrance of the building watching Daoist Eternal Weapon work the metal with his hammer. Each stroke of his hammer was mesmerizing, like it epassed multiple Daos seamlessly. The only Dao John could recognize was the Dao of Power, which he himself was familiar with.


    He could tell that Daoist Eternal Weapon''s Dao of Power was at a higherprehension level than his own, but as for how much, he could not tell. However, that was to be expected, as Daoist Eternal Weapon was tens of thousands of years old, while John was only eighteen, and still needed time to grow his grasp of the Dao''s.


    If it were just the Dao of Power being used, John would be interested in studying it, but would not bepletely engrossed in watching the hammer strike down repeatedly. However, John found it impossible to remove his eyes from the hammer, as his mind itched with growingprehension of something he did not yet understand, but yearned to.


    ng!


    ng!


    ng!


    The hammer fell down on the ingot of unknown metal, slowly but surely working into shape. The Dao of Power emanated from each stroke, washing over John with a familiar feeling. Small insights into the Dao of Power trickled into his mind as he experienced the aura and studied Daoist Eternal Weapons movements, slowly growing his already formidable grasp of the Dao.


    However, those insights were secondary, as John tried to peer deeper into what he was seeing, as if there was something happening before his very eyes that he could not yet understand.


    ''The Dao of Power is emanating off his hammer with each strike, but it''spletely different to mine. When I use the Dao of Power, my attacks be more brutal, more explosive, more powerful. It decimates everything with pure power as it augments my attacks, but this Dao of Power is different.


    It''s not that it''s less powerful, in fact it''s even more powerful than when I use the Dao, but when looking at it with the naked eye, it appears less powerful. If someone who is inexperienced with the Dao of Power watched both Daoist Eternal Weapon and myself use the Dao of Power, they would most likely think I have a better understanding of it, but that''s not true at all. Just what is going on here?''


    As the hammer struck the ingot over and over again, John decided to sit down and study the hammer strikes. As his eyes locked onto the hammer, his mind drifted into a semi-conscious state as he entered a meditative trance. However, unlike the meditative trances that he entered with the help of his pce realm, John entered this trance all on his own.


    It was the once in a lifetime opportunity that many cultivators yearned for, which some managed to achieve several times, while others failed to do so a single time in their entire lives. Entering such a trance was a mixture of the cultivators talent as well as pure luck, and thanks to his monstrous talent, John was able to enter this trance on his own ord.


    While the meditative trances he entered with the help of his pce realm were almost perfect, nothing substituted for the real thing. As such, the effects of such a trance were even better.


    John''s mind drifted off into nothingness as the scene of the hammer striking the metal yed over and over. There were no thoughts in his mind at all, as his entire existence naturally focused on the hammer.


    ng!


    ng!


    ng!


    The ng of the hammer rang out powerfully, filling the building, the chamber, and John''s mind and soul with its profundities.


    The hammer rose and fell, over and over, striking into the unknown metal. Just from the aura the metal was giving off, the sound it made when the hammer struck, and the other tiny details he could see, John could tell the metal was harder than any he had seen before on this world.


    Working such a metal with physical power alone would be next to impossible, and yet Daoist Eternal Weapon was doing just that. The hammer fell onto the metal ingot, sending sparks in all directions as metal mmed against metal. However, as the hammer struck down onto the metal piece, it did not violently shake the building as much as it should have.


    Such a powerful strike was strong enough to kill John outright even if he defended with his full power, and yet all it did was shake the building slightly. There was no massive explosion, no earth-quaking might, almost as if the Dao of Power was being absorbed by the metal ingot itself, instead of radiating outwards.


    ng!


    ng!


    ng!


    Doaist Eternal Weapon continued his hammering for two full days, while John sat there in silent meditation. Each strike of the hammer seemed to get him closer to the truth, but there was still a fog before him, as if he could almost see through it but needed to move forward just a little bit more.<sub> </sub>


    After studying the hammer strike, John subconsciously started mimicking Daoist Eternal Weapons movement, striking down with an invisible hammer over and over. His actions became closer and closer to what he was seeing, while the Dao of Power red in a simr manner as John subconsciously tried to get it to match Daoist Eternal Weapons Dao of Power.


    However, the effort was futile, as there was something missing that he could notprehend. John focused his mind on that missing piece, which remainedpletely hazy and unknown to him. However, after watching the hammer fall thousands of times more, an idea popped into his mind, almost as if nted there by the heavens himself.


    Dao of Power!


    Dao of ...!


    Dao of Power!


    Dao of ...!


    Dao of ¡­... Power!


    It was as if the fog had parted from before him, revealing an entirely new world of the Daos to him. While he still didn''t understand exactly Daoist Eternal Weapon was doing, an idea popped into his mind, one that even he didn''tpletely understand. In his meditative trance, it was as if he was doing things without being able to control his body, almost as if someone else was controlling his body.


    ng!


    ng!


    ng!


    As Daoist Eternal Weapons hammer struck down over and over, John mimicked the action at the same time as close as he could, using his hand as the hammer instead. His Dao of Power red as he struck forward with his closed fist, stopping in the air several feet above the ground so as to not m into the floor and disturb both himself and Doaist Eternal Weapon.


    Fwoosh!


    Fwoosh!


    Fwoosh!


    The power contained in his closed fist caused the air to part loudly as his mind raced to piece together thest piece of information he was missing. He had an understanding of what was going on, but didn''t know how to achieve it himself.


    ng!


    Fwoosh!


    ng!


    Fwoosh!


    ng!


    Fwoosh!


    The sound of metallic ringing and parting air filled the chamber for another five days, as John''s mind raced at his natural limit to understand what was going on, and how to put it to use. Each strike got him closer and closer to the truth, and after a full week of his entranced meditation, his mind suddenly lit up like the sun as if the brightest light ofprehension had flooded into his mind.


    Without conscious thought, his fist mmed down once more, stopping the same ce in the air as before. However¡­


    Boom!


    A loud boom sted out, flooding into the building''s entrance and throughout the rest of the chamber as the power of John''s fist sted the air outwards with horrifying power. The power of the sting air knocked John backwards and stirred him from his trance immediately, and he quickly stabilized himself before being thrown into theke of magma behind him.


    John''s feet rested at the very edge before the magma, and he breathed out in a sigh of relief before taking a step forward to safety. After recovering his bnce, John''s eyes widened slightly as he realized he had made a loud disturbance, and he nced in the direction of Daoist Eternal Weapon, who had for the first time stopped hammering and instead was staring intently at John, who felt like he was being stared at by a powerful beast.


    "Comprehending the fusion of Daos just by watching me work my hammer¡­what is your name, boy?"

 Chapter 780 Challenge Accepted!

    John nced from Daoist Eternal Weapon to his right hand, which had exploded with that unexpected level of power. He stared at his hand for a moment before looking back at the man before him.


    "John Fenix," John mumbled, still in a daze aftering out of a week-long meditative trance, and in such an explosive way as well.


    "John Fenix? What power are you from?" Daoist Eternal Weapon asked with an even tone, making it hard to gauge his thoughts. His voice was deep and imposing, adding to his fearsome persona.


    "The Heavenly Lightning Sect...and Honorable Alliance," John answered, still slightly dazed as his mind tried to catch up with everything that had happened. After another short silence, his mind lit up with a burning question.


    "Wait...did you just say fusion of Dao''s?" John asked, almost as if he had misheard. He had never heard of such a thing before, and even though Daoist Eternal Weapon said he hadprehended a fusion of Daos, he was still unsure of what was going on.


    It was as if the truth that had been perceived during this trance had been hidden behind the fog once more. However, that fog was much thinner than before, as if breaking through again would be much easier the second time.


    Instead of answering John''s question, Daoist Eternal Weapon stared at him in silence, closely inspecting him from head to toe. Daoist Eternal Weapon had a hulking figure, and stood a full head taller than John. His body was built like a mountain, making him much wider and more muscr as well.


    It was as if a man had been carved out of a massive boulder, giving him a fiercely imposing figure and aura. After inspecting John in silence, Daoist Eternal Weapon reached out and ced his massive hand on John''s upper arm, giving it a squeeze. He did so on his forearm, and shoulder as well before removing his hand from the confused John.


    "What a formidable body you have there, boy. How would you like to be my apprentice?" Daoist Eternal Weapon asked, his voice steady yet serious.


    John was not expecting to hear such an offer, but could only decline, as his journey was not to be a weaponsmith.


    "I''ll have to decline the generous offer," John replied respectfully. He had be appreciative towards Daoist Eternal Weapon, as he had shown John an entirely new pathway to bing stronger. While he had not done so intentionally, that did not matter much to John.


    "A pity," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied before he turned around and walked back to his forging table. He picked up his hammer once more, and began his hammering process anew, filling therge building with the metallic ngs once more.


    John was taken aback by the sudden shift in Daoist Eternal Weapon''s attitude, from curiosity, toplete ignoring of him. He walked over to Daoist Eternal Weapon, and studied his hammering process closely for a short while.


    Being this close to the hammering made his body ache with the power sting against him, but he braced himself as he studied the hammer strikes closely. After studying it for a while, he felt as though he was not improving at all, and so he decided to ask Daoist Eternal Weapon again.


    "You said fusion of Daos? Is that what you''re doing right now...and is that what I did a short while ago?" John asked, as his understanding of the situation was still a bit vague. While he was sure he had somehowbined two Daos...and the lingering aura in the air revealed the Dao''s he had used; the Dao of Power and the Dao of Destruction.


    ng!


    ng!


    ng!


    Doaist Eternal Weapon ignored John and instead continued his work, which caused John to frown slightly. Doaist Eternal Weapon was like a forging maniac, caring of absolutely nothing else.


    "I can sense the Dao of Power, but I can''t really tell what the other Dao you''re using is, or even feel it at all," John said to Daoist Eternal Weapon. He even started to second guess himself regarding the fusion aspect, as he could no longer detect Daoist Eternal Weapon using a second Dao.


    He had managed to do so when he was in the meditative trance due to his heightened senses in that state, but could no longer detect the second Dao in his current state.


    "What do you want, boy?" Daoist Eternal Weapon eventually spoke up with slight agitation, as if John''s presence was ruining his forging process.


    Clink!<sub> </sub>


    A soft metallic sound rang out as John ced the metallic seal he had purchased on the forging table, which caught the attention of Daoist Eternal Weapon. He paused his hammer strike midway through, and ced his hammer on the forging table.


    "I had forgotten about this," Daoist Eternal Weapon grumbled, almost as if he had be annoyed by himself for offering the seal for purchase in the first ce. After ncing at the seal for a moment, Daoist Eternal Weapon picked up his hammer once more and resumed his work.


    "The one who purchased this seal should have the decency to show up in person to request their weapon''s creation," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied dismissively. "Go back to whoever sent you and tell them toe in person, or don''te at all. It makes no difference to me either way."


    John raised a single eyebrow at Daoist Eternal Weapons words and attitude, which was quite entric. However, he could rte to him, as much like he himself was a cultivation and battle maniac, he could tell Daoist Eternal Weapon had the same fervent passion for weapon smithing.


    "About that....I purchased this seal myself," John replied, his words causing Daoist Eternal Weapon to pause his hammer strikes once again. He gazed at John with a questioning gaze, as if trying to see right through him and discern the truth of the matter.


    After a second, he seemed to have realized that John was telling the truth, but ignored him again as he resumed hammering the metal chunk on the table before him.


    "I have no interest in creating a Heaven Tribtion grade weapon. It''s best if you sell that seal to a World Expansion expert and find yourself someone else to craft your weapon," Daoist Eternal Weapon said to John.


    ng!


    ng!


    ng!


    "I don''t want a Heaven Tribtion grade weapon," John said back. "I want a World Expansion grade weapon, and I was told you were the best weaponsmith for one, or was that a lie?" John asked.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon nced sideways at John for a moment as if stirred by his words, but ignored him once more as he continued hammering.


    "Even if you want such a weapon, you would not be able to wield it, and even if you eventually reach the World Expansion realm, that won''t be for many years. That would only be a waste of my talents, and a waste of the weapon," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied, his tone still dismissive of John.


    ? John frowned at Daoist Eternal Weapons dismissive attitude, as he had not been expecting it to be so troublesome to get his weapon crafted. After a moment of silence, he felt as though there was only one way to talk to someone like Daoist Eternal Weapon, who was quite simr to himself when it came to his obsessive personality, and that was through action alone.


    Dragon-God Shift!


    Roar!


    A draconic roar boomed thunderously within the building, shaking the walls and even the entire chamber with its might. At the same time, a powerful aura exploded from within the building, as if a dragon itself had just appeared within.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon stopped his hammering and looked at John, obvious surprise on his face. That looksted for just a moment before being reced by an almost approving look.


    "Impressive," he said while nodding his head. "First the fusion of Daos, and now this. You truly are a monstrous freak," he praised as he stepped away from the table and stepped towards John. He stood before him and lifted his arm outwards, cing the hammer just before John.


    "If you can swing this hammer, I will craft your weapon for you, provided you have materials of a quality that interests me," Daoist Eternal Weapon said with a deep yet calm voice.


    John''s draconic gaze turned heated as a confident smile appeared on his face.


    "Challenge epted! But when I win, you better craft the best weapon you''ve ever crafted, no exceptions!" John replied with heated passion as he pushed his Dragon-God Shift to the limit, and reached out towards the hammer before him.

 Chapter 781 Lessons In Humility

    Daoist Eternal Weapon looked at John with an intense gaze, studying his extraordinary body transformation. Even for someone as experienced as him, he had never seen such a high-quality body transformation. Each and every action John made only surprised him further, making him be intrigued with something other than weapon-smithing for the first time in millennia.


    John''s body surged with incredible physical power as his extraordinarily strong body was further augmented by his Dragon-God Shift. Green dragon scales appeared on his body, covering some parts of his cheeks, his shoulders, arms, chest and legs. His golden eyes burned brightly, adding further to his fearsome appearance.


    The air seemed to ripple around him just from him standing there, as if his physical might was too much for the surrounding space to handle. After pushing his Dragon-God Shift to the maximum, John reached out towards the hammer held by Daoist Eternal Weapon, and his hands grasped around the handle.


    The shaft of the hammer was just over a foot long, and was made of some unknown metal, dark blue in color and of incredible quality. There were no intricate designs or ornate details on the shaft, which was instead smooth and in. The shaft flowed seamlessly into the head of the hammer, as if the hammer had been made from a singr block of the mysterious metal.


    The head of the hammer was six inches long, and four inches wide and tall, and of simr design as the shaft, smooth and in. The hammer had seemed non-descript when John had watched Daoist Eternal Weapon use it before, but being this close to it now was something else. It was as if he was staring at a mountain that had been condensed into a hammer.


    He could tell that it was an incredible hammer, capable of standing tall against even World Expansion grade weapons. John couldn''t even imagine how strong of a blow could be unleashed if used as a weapon by Daoist Eternal Weapon.


    However, when he saw that Daoist Eternal Weapon was holding the weapon out before himself with rtive ease, he figured that it''s weight was not as high as he felt it would be. With that in mind, John''s grip tightened on the shaft of the hammer, and he pulled it backwards towards himself.


    At the same time, Daoist Eternal Weapon let go of the part of the shaft he was holding, putting the full weight of the hammer in John''s grasp. In an instant, shock appeared on John''s face as he pushed his Dragon-God Shift to the absolute maximum.


    Boom!


    The ground quaked violently as the hammer struck onto it, like a meteor falling from the sky. The floor of the building, which was made from material that could resist the scorching magma outside, cracked from the fall of the hammer, spreading like a spiderweb outwards for a few feet.


    "How is this so heavy?" John grumbled after recovering from his shock. His right hand was still grasped around the hammer''s shaft, but no matter how much he pulled up on the hammer, it only budged an inch before he was unable to move it any more. The weight of the hammer had pulled him to his knees, unable to bear the burden for a second. Even pulling it off the ground was next to impossible, and all he could muster was an inch before it crashed back down to the ground, shaking the building once more.


    "Hmhm," a muffledugh drifted into John''s ears, and his gaze shifted upwards to Daoist Eternal Weapon, who had a small smirk on his face as if he had just yed a prank on John.


    "You knew this would happen!" John said with a frown on his face, knowing that someone as powerful as Daoist Eternal Weapon would be able to gauge his rtive strength after he had transformed, and knew it would still not be enough.


    He had instructed John to swing the weapon, not just lift it. Daoist Eternal Weapon knew such a feat was absolutely impossible for a Late Heaven Tribtion cultivator, no matter how heaven defying their talent was, or how earth-shattering their techniques were.


    With this in mind, it was clear that he never intended to make John a weapon, as he considered passing the challenge to be utterly impossible.


    "Use this failure as a lesson in humility. You may be a genius, perhaps even a genius that stands above geniuses, but talent only takes you so far. Your strength is still far from being worthy of wielding a weapon of mine. Leave, ande back in a hundred years when your strength can be considered worthy," Daoist Eternal Weapon said to John, his voice calm yet stern as if he had instructed a child on a simple matter. After telling John this, Daoist Eternal Weapon bent down towards the hammer to pick it up, as if the matter between him and John had been concluded.


    "Humility, huh?" John scoffed lightly, still kneeling on the ground. His actions caused Daoist Eternal Weapon to pause for a brief moment, as John had turned his face upwards to stare directly into his eyes, as if he were staring at an idiot.


    "Then I''ll teach you a lesson in humility as well," John said as a sinister aura exploded from his rapidly changing body, transforming his image into something like a draconic demon god.


    Asura Transformation Art!


    John stacked his Asura Transformation Art onto his Dragon-God Shift, changing his appearance into something thatbined the two techniques. His muscles bulged all over his body, brimming with power while turning his physique into something truly imposing.


    Two sharp and straight horns pierced out from his head, ck at the base and gradually changing to a blood red color at the tips. Blood-red runic patterns that appeared on his skin during this Asura Transformation Art ran over his body and under his green dragon scales, which seemed to have darkened slightly with the new transformation.


    Lastly, his eyes glowed brilliantly, red with the slightest tinge of gold in the background, appearing like a blood-red sun. It was the first time he had used these two transformation arts together with such efficiency, and while they had not been perfectlybined, both augmented his body''s physical might to an unbelievable level.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon felt surprise and even awe surge through him as he saw this almost instantaneous transformation, emotions that he rarely ever felt. Both the visual transformation and the might emanating off John was something that was impossible toprehend instantly, as itpletely shattered allmon sense on what a Heaven Tribtion cultivator was capable of.


    "The lesson is that when you''re dealing with a true genius like myself, judging me by the standards of this world is nothing but a joke," John roared as he raised his physical might to the absolute maximum, gripped the hammer tightly and swung it upwards towards Daoist Eternal Weapons chin before he could react to what was happening.


    Boom!

 Chapter 782 Surprise Attack

    The hammer mmed into Daoist Eternal Weapons chin, who was still half-hunched over from trying to pick up his hammer. Due to John''s sudden burst of power exceeding the absolute limits of what Daoist Eternal Weapon thought possible, he had not even thought to raise his guard for a surprise attack.


    The hammer sted into his chin from below like a meteor, as John held nothing back at all. The collision between chin and hammer shook the entire building and even the chamber outside, as if an explosion had gone off inside. Daoist Eternal Weapon shot upwards like a bullet, instantly mming against the stone ceiling of the building.


    The building trembled violently once more, as if it was about to crumble from the collision but managed to stay intact. After mming against the ceiling hundreds of yards up, Daoist Eternal Weapon ricocheted back down to the floor below, crashing violently and once more causing the entire chamber to tremble.


    The entire event, from Asura Transformation to Daoist Eternal Weapon hitting the floor hadsted only a second, and was over almost as fast as it had begun.


    Boom!


    The ground shook again as John dropped the hammer to the floor, as its weight was truly overwhelming. Even with hisbined Dragon-God Shift and Asura Transformation Art, he had barely managed to swing the hammer fully.


    After swinging the hammer just once, his arms felt like they were going to fall off, while his spine felt like it was going to crumble and copse. While his strength had managed to handle the hammer, his body''s durability was near its limits from just one swing, a testament to the weight of the hammer. Even if a mountain was condensed into a weapon, he was not sure it would weigh more than this tiny hammer.


    As the hammer fell to the ground, John undid his Dragon-God Shift and Asura Transformation Art. Thebined power of the two put immense strain on his body, and also drained his precious blood reserves which fueled his body dantian, which was not worth it.


    John breathed out and in deeply, recovering his strength before his gaze shifted to Daoist Eternal Weapon, who was sprawled out on the floor on the other side of the building. His face scrunched up with realization at what he had just done, as even he had to admit that he had gotten carried away a bit.


    That attack had been the strongest attack he could possibly muster with the twobined body arts, and hadnded onto Daoist Eternal Weapon''s chinpletely unguarded. While Daoist Eternal Weapon was a World Expansion body cultivator, John was sure that attack had caused grave damage.


    Body cultivators had immensely strong bodies, but their peak state was always when they used a body battle art or transformation art. Even John''s body became several times more durable when he used his body transformation arts, and Daoist Eternal Weapon had beenpletely unguarded when taking that attack, which was his weakest possible defensive state.


    "Shit¡­.did I go overboard?" John mumbled softly while staring at Daoist Eternal Weapon, whoid there motionlessly as if he were dead.


    "A lesson in humility, huh?" Daoist Eternal Weapon suddenly spoke up, while John raised his guard, unsure what the man would do after such a thing had happened.


    "Hahahahaha," a boisterousughter boomed out within the building, so loud that it shook the building walls. John continued to stare at Daoist Eternal Weapon with a wary gaze, as he couldn''t tell if theughter was humorous or enragedughter.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon suddenly appeared on his feet, his movements so fast that John didn''t even see him get up from hisid down position.


    John''s eyes widened as he stared at the man, getting a clear picture of his face and chin for the first time.


    ''Not a single fucking scratch! Are you kidding me?'' John cursed internally as he stared at Daoist Eternal Weapons unblemished chin. ''Just how strong is his body? That attack just now was strong enough to shatter a mountain, and would have killed Asuros in a single blow if it hit his chin. This is insane!''


    John''s thoughts quickly stopped as Daoist Eternal Weapon appeared before him like a blur. The two stood just a few feet apart, and the man stared down on John like a hulking bear. John had no idea what the man was about to do, and both his dantians began to slowly churn, while his bloodline ability began to boil, ready to activate all of his strongest trump cards at once should ite to that.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon stared at John closely, and raised an eyebrow as he noticed no fear in John''s eyes.


    "It seems that you have even more trump cards in reserve than you''ve already shown," Daoist Eternal Weapon said, his words clear that he could see right through John''s thoughts.


    "Like I said, judging me by the standards of this world is nothing but a joke," John replied with a narrowed gaze, ready to pull the trigger at a moment''s notice.


    The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity before arge smile suddenly appeared on Daoist Eternal Weapons face.


    "Hahaha, how long has it been since I ran into someone so interesting," he said as he reached out and patted John on the shoulder in a friendly manner. Each pat felt like a mountain was falling onto his shoulders, shocking John further as it was clearly just a casual motion from Daoist Eternal Weapon.


    "To think, a cub like you was actually able to teach me a lesson in humility," Daoist Eternal Weapon shook his head sideways, as if chastising himself. After saying this, he turned around and walked away towards the edge of the building, to where a simple stone table and stone chairs were located.


    He sat down on one of the stone chairs and then beckoned with his hand for John to sit on the other.


    "Come, have a seat, and tell me what weapon you would like me to make for you!"

 Chapter 783 Blade Of The Scythe

    A relieved and joyful smile appeared on John''s face as he heard those words, confirming that Daoist Eternal Weapon would finally create his weapon for him. He had been unsure if that surprise attack of his hurt or helped his chances, but it appeared that it had the desired effect of convincing Daoist Eternal Weapon to make his weapon of choice.


    John walked over to the stone table and sat down on the seat opposite Daoist Eternal Weapon. The building they were in was mostly empty, save for this table, some forging tables, and some smelting furnaces. John could tell that Daoist Eternal Weapon was a rather simple man based off just this alone, and so he decided to skip the small talk and get straight to the point.


    "I want you to make me a scythe," John said.


    "A scythe? That''s an interesting weapon choice," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied with some surprise, not expecting John to request such an obscure weapon. "Are you sure you wouldn''t want something else? Something that fits you better as a body cultivator. Maybe a great sword? A hammer? A great axe?"


    A small smirk appeared on John''s face as he took out a weapon from his spatial storage, which nked onto the stone table between them.


    "I already have a great axe," John replied as he ced the great axe he had obtained in the Jade Dragon Empire Realm. This weapon had been used by the Jade Dragon Emperor himself during his youth, and so its quality was without question.


    Daoist Eternal Weapons eyes widened slightly as he quickly picked up the weapon and studied it closely, from the shaft to the des. He seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit, as a small smile of intrigue lingered on his face the entire time.


    After studying the weapon carefully, he ced it back on the stone table and nodded his head in approval.


    "This weapon is truly a magnificent creation. While it''s only a Dao Transformation grade weapon, even I would be hard pressed to create something of equal quality," Daoist Eternal Weapon praised the craftsmanship of the battle axe. "This battle axe will even be useful in the World Expansion realm as well, despite being crafted for a Dao Transformation cultivator. Absolutely impressive!"


    The grade of weapons wasn''t rted to their quality, but to the cultivation realm they were intended to be used at. Things like weight, material quality, and the core used were things that factored into what grade a weapon was.


    "That''s good to hear that this axe willst me through the World Expansion realm," John replied, relieved to hear that.


    "That it will," Daoist Eternal Weapon reconfirmed before frowning slightly. "So if you already have such an impressive weapon, why spend so many spirit crystals for my services? Surely the winning bid wasn''t cheap."


    "It wasn''t. It cost me over eighty billion spirit crystals," John mumbled with a frown as he recalled the amount he had spent, while Daoist Eternal Weapon raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting the sum to have gone that high.


    "So why spend over eighty billion spirit crystals for a weapon that is less suitable for you than what you already have? Scythes are not good weapons for body cultivators, and are instead more suitable for essence cultivators. Are you purchasing this weapon for someone else? If so, I''ll let you know right now that I won''t make a weapon for anyone else other than the winning bidder."


    "The weapon is for me," John confirmed. Daoist Eternal Weapon was right that scythes were not great body cultivator weapons, as they focused on speed and nimbleness instead of the things that body cultivators specialized in such as strength and brute force. To emphasize the speedy aspect of the weapon, they were also much lighter than normal weapons, while heavier was better for body cultivator weapons. Finding a heavy scythe was next to impossible, as no one could properly wield such a weapon. John was the one exception, and this was the absolutely perfect opportunity to obtain a scythe that utilized both his essence and body cultivation talents.


    Instead of exining it, which he knew Daoist Eternal Weapon wouldn''t believe, John raised his left arm and pointed it sideways.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon raised an eyebrow at John''s actions, and his eyes widened as the building suddenly lit up brightly.


    Boom!


    A powerful beam of lightning sted across the room as John unleashed a Lightning Disintegration, mming into the opposite wall of the hollow building. The beam exploded outwards with ruinous power, shaking the entire chamber with its might. Based on the durability of the stone, he knew the wall would be able to take the attack without shattering.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    However, the wall was charred ck where the lightning had sted onto, a small remnant of the essence power he had unleashed. Daoist Eternal Weapon stared at the charred spot for a short while before his gaze shifted back to John, clearly surprised at what he had just witnessed.


    "Like you said, scythes are better for essence cultivators, which I am as well," John smirked as the power and profundity of his attack had clearly indicated he was a powerful essence cultivator as well. That casual attack from John had been at a level above what a Late Heaven Tribtion cultivator was capable of, indicating that he had somehow not sacrificed the power of either his essence or body cultivation to cultivate both.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon stared at John for a short while before he sighed deeply and shook his head lightly.


    "You are more of a monstrous freak than I could have ever imagined existed. The new generation surpasses the old, huh?" Daoist Eternal Weapon mused, and eventually nodded his head in firm approval, as if he was truly happy at how things had turned out.


    "I recently came out of my hundred years long secluded meditation, where I gained profound insights beyond my wildest imagination. I wanted to put these insights to use to create the finest weapon this world has ever known, and so I put my seal up for auction, for a World Expansion cultivator to obtain, so I could create the ultimate weapon and have it disyed at the pinnacle of this worlds stage.


    I had thought you to be unworthy of such a creation when you first appeared, but it appears that the weapon I create for you is the only thing that shall be tested on its worthiness. I could not have asked for a better inheritor for my pinnacle creation," Daoist Eternal Weapon said, his voice firm as if he was prepared for the challenge of making a weapon worthy of John''s talents.


    "Very well. I shall make you the finest scythe this world has ever known," Daoist Eternal Weapon boomed, as if the prospect of such a task was boiling his blood with anticipation. "Tell me, what materials have you brought for me to create this weapon? Surely you will not disappoint me."


    "I think you''ll be quite happy with the materials I brought for you to use," John replied, "but I must forewarn that I only brought the materials for the de and the core. I have nothing for the shaft," John exined.


    "Do not worry about that," Daoist Eternal Weapon dismissed John''s concerns, "for if you provide me with a de and core worthy of my finest creation, I shall use the finest material for the shaft that exists in this world. So, sate this old man''s curiosity. What have you brought me to work with?"


    "I brought this," John said as an object appeared between them and fell onto the stone table. Daoist Eternal Weapons stood up in shock and his eyes wentpletely wide as he watched the objectnd sharp side down and slice partly into the durable table, just from falling onto it.


    If force was used instead of it just being a casual fall, the table would most likely have been sliced in half. The stone table was made from the same material as the rest of the building, which had easily resisted John''s powerful lightning attack, giving insight to just how frighteningly sharp the object was.


    The object was roughly five feet long, and pitch ck in color, like it came from the darkest of abysses. It was shaped like the de of a scythe, although it didn''t appear to be forged from metal, and was instead of some other unknown material.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon stared at the object in shock for quite some time before carefully reaching out and picking it up, making sure to avoid its sharp side. He ran his finger over the sharp side of the object, and pulled his finger back as a small cut appeared on his finger.


    "How sharp!" he eximed, as something that was able to cut his freakishly durable body so easily was beyond his wildest expectations. After inspecting the object for some time, he turned his gaze to John, who sat there with a small smile on his face, as he could tell Daoist Eternal Weapon found it more than sufficient.


    "What is the origin of this de?" he asked, as he could not identify its origins.


    John''s small smirk grew in satisfaction as he exined the origins of the de.


    "It might appear like a de, but it''s technically not a true scythe de. Instead, it''s a natural protrusion of a demon I killed, a Darkfiend Demon to be exact," John exined, as the object was none other than the scythe-like protrusion from the back of the Darkfiend Demon''s elbows, which he had used to kill that terrifying demon.

 Chapter 784 Weapon Core

    "A Darkfiend Demon? I''ve heard of them before, but never seen one. And you said you killed one?" Daoist Eternal Weapon looked at John with a skeptical look, as it was truly hard to believe such a story.


    Not only were Darkfiend Demons not supposed to exist in the world anymore, but they were also famed for their terrifyingbat prowess, and killing one was no easy feat.


    "It was in the Jade Dragon Empire trial realm we entered recently," John exined where he had encountered the demon.


    "The Jade Dragon Empire trial realm? I suppose a Darkfiend Demon could have hidden in such a secluded area without being detected by the rest of the world," Daoist Eternal Weapon mused. "But what was it doing there?"


    "It was trapped in the Dao Transformation trial area of the realm, unable to break out of it," John exined.


    "Dao Transformation trial realm?" Daoist Eternal Weapon repeated with skepticism, but then thought back to John''s freakish transformations, and how hisbat prowess was far above that of a Heaven Tribtion cultivator.


    "So, will this work for the scythe de?" John asked, getting back to the main point.


    "Absolutely" Daoist Eternal Weapon confirmed eagerly, as if he wanted to get to work on the weapon already. There were only a few things that could excite him, and using incredibly rare and profound materials to make a weapon was just such a thing.


    After studying the terrifyingly sharp scythe de, Daoist Eternal Weapon carefully set it down sideways on the stone table as to not damage it further.


    "What about the weapon core? What do you n to use as the core?" he asked John.


    "I was thinking about using this!" John said as he took out a hand sized object, which filled the building with a profound aura as soon as it was taken out.


    Once again, Daoist Eternal Weapon felt surprise as John continued to take out one shocking object after the other.


    "A reverse dragon scale?" Daoist Eternal Weapon asked.


    "Yes, and one from a very powerful ancient jade dragon," John confirmed, as he had taken out one of the reverse dragon scales he had obtained in the Jade Dragon Empire realm. He had only managed to leave with one, as the two others he had obtained remained behind in the temple doors when he had used the scales to open the doors.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon reached out and took the reverse scale, which instantly started to fight against his grip with great power, as if only John was worthy of holding it. His grip tightened around the scale to confine it, and he turned his gaze to John once more.


    "You managed to force this scale to submit to you?" he asked, noticing the difference from when John had held it, to when he had held it.


    "It wasn''t too difficult," John shrugged, as it really hadn''t been a difficult thing to aplish.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon shook his head lightly in feigned disbelief, before he turned his focus back to the scale. He inspected it for a bit more before he shook his head sideways and handed the scale back to John.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "What''s wrong?" John asked.


    "This ancient reverse scale is no doubt impressive, but it is not a suitable core for your scythe," he replied.


    "What? Why not?"


    "Because, its nature does not match that of a scythe," Daoist Eternal Weapon exined, to which John frowned as he had not heard of such a requirement before. Daoist Eternal Weapon noticed this, and exined the situation to John.


    "Such a requirement doesn''t exist for lower grade weapons, but the higher the grade of the weapon, the more it bes a requirement to have a suitable core for the nature of the weapon. Think of your battle axe. A battle axe is powerful, a battle axe is brutal, a battle axe is destructive. Nowf for its core, it has a reverse dragon scale as its core, and dragons most definitely entuate those aspects.


    When you use your battle axe and attune to the dragon scale core, it amplifies the power and destructiveness of your battle axe, does it not?" Daoist Eternal Weapon asked John.


    "It does," John confirmed.


    "That''s because those are the innate aspects that a dragon embodies, and naturally the dragon scale does as well. But for a scythe, those are not the aspects you want it to provide to the weapon. A scythe is fast, a scythe is sharp, a scythe is nimble; all aspects that a dragon is not.


    If I use this dragon scale as the core for your scythe, it will try to embody power, strength and destruction when you use the scythe, which is not a scythes nature, and this conflict of aspects will only serve to hurt its potential," Daoist Eternal Weapon exined.


    "I get it now," John replied, and leaned back in his chair as he had not expected this oue. He had nned on using the dragon scale as the core of the scythe, but now needed something else, something of equal quality as the demon''s scythe-like de.


    "Do you have something else to use for the core? Otherwise, you may need to request a different weapon that better utilizes the aspects of the reverse dragon scale," Daoist Eternal Weapon asked.


    John sat there in silence for a moment, and eventually thought of something that just might work. However, he was not sure if it would, and instead decided to let Daoist Eternal Weapon decide.


    Boom!


    A massive object crashed onto the floor next to the stone table, as John had taken it out of his spatial realm. The room seemed to dim as the object appeared, as if it naturally sucked in all the surrounding light. Daoist Eternal Weapon immediately stood up from his chair and walked over to the object, studying it with great interest.


    "Is this?" he asked John, who nodded his head in confirmation.


    "It''s the body of the Darkfiend Demon I slew."

 Chapter 785 Obtaining The Core

    The Darkfiend Demon''s corpse was massive, making even someone asrge as Daoist Eternal Weapon look small. Its body was pitch ck in color, as if it had been born from darkness itself. One of its arms still had the scythe-like protrusion on the back of its elbow, and its sharp teeth were bared as if it were eternally snarling. Lastly, its eyes were open yet lifeless, revealing a faded red set of eyes.


    Its chest had arge wound at his heart, where John had plunged the scythe-like protrusion into, killing the demon. Its elbow-de had been the only thing capable of prating its defenses, which had luckily been cracked by some previous battle, making it so that John was able to break it off. Otherwise, he would have most likely perished in that battle, unable to wound the demon at all.


    "Is there something from this demon''s body that you can use as the core?" John asked, revealing why he had taken out the demon''s corpse. John figured that since the scythe-like protrusion came from the demon itself, maybe there was something that could be used as the core as well.


    In his battle with the demon, while it had been overwhelmingly powerful and strong, it had also been swift and deadly, two aspects that suited a scythe very well.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon studied the demon corpse for quite some time, taking great interest in it. As he studied it further, more and more surprise appeared on his face, making John curious as to what could cause that much shock on such an experienced cultivator.


    "You said you slew this demon?" Daoist Eternal Weapon eventually turned to John and asked.


    "Yes. How else would I have obtained its corpse?" John replied.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon sighed deeply and shook his head in disbelief.


    "You were incredibly lucky when you fought this demon," he said to John.


    "Lucky? I almost died against this thing. How was I lucky?" John rebuked.


    "Because¡­from what I can tell of its corpse¡­this demon was weakened considerably, probably on the verge of copse. If you had fought this demon at its peak strength, you would have died before even knowing what happened," Daoist Eternal Weapon exined.


    "Ah, that''s right. The demon did say that consuming me would restore its strength so it could break out of the realm," John confirmed as he thought back to that battle. "Was it really that strong at its peak?" John asked, as he himself was unable to tell just how strong the demon had been at the height of its power.


    "Strong is an understatement," Daoist Eternal Weapon shook his head. "From what I can tell from its corpse, this demon was very young when it had its cultivation suppressed, no more than a few hundred years old at most. It was probably considered a youth of its kind, and yet I can tell that its peak power was above even my own."


    "It was even stronger than you? That means?" John asked.


    "Yes. This demon was no doubt in the Holy Manifestation realm at the peak of its power!"


    "That strong?" John eximed, feeling incredibly lucky to have run into the weakened demon instead of it at its full power.


    ''Whoever weakened that demon and put it in that trial must have been beyond freakishly strong. I wonder if it was the Jade Dragon Emperor himself?'' John mused internally.


    "Yes, it was that strong," Daoist Eternal Weapon confirmed. "It was clearly weakened by some means, keeping it on the brink of copse at a fraction of its full power. Think of it like your own dantian having barely enough Qi to sustain your power at a Core Formation level," Daoist Eternal Weapon exined to John.


    "So can we use something from it for the core?" John asked, getting back to the main point.


    "We can!" Daoist Eternal Weapon confirmed with arge smile on his face as his hammer suddenly appeared in his hand. Without warning, his hammer came crashing down on the demon''srge chest, which was practically shoulder level for Daoist Eternal Weapon despite the fact that the demon was t on his back.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    Boom!


    The hammer fell onto the demon''s chest with incredible power, sending a shockwave outward that mmed into John and sted him against the building wall. Before he could recover, another ruinous st mmed against him as Daoist Eternal Weapon struck down on the demon''s chest with incredible power once more.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The hammer fell continuously, with each powerful st mming John against the wall, over and over. Every time he tried to raise his voice to cry out in protest, another st mmed against him, cutting off his words.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The hammer continued to fall for nearly a minute before Daoist Eternal Weapon finally stopped. Silence returned to the room as John fell to the floor, slightly bloodied and bruised.


    "What the fuck? At least give me a warning next time!" John cried out in angered protest.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon shifted his gaze to John, and an apologetic look appeared on his face as he saw John''s condition.


    "Oh¡­sorry. Ipletely forgot you were here," he replied, his words causing John to feel disbelief. It was as if Daoist Eternal Weapon becamepletely one-minded when it came to his weapon smithing, and forgot everything else once his interest was piqued.


    "How do you forget something like that? Ahh, nevermind, it doesn''t matter," John grumbled as he stood up from the floor and brushed himself off. He walked over to Daoist Eternal Weapon and gazed at the demon, who now had a massive hole in the center of its chest, created by the hammer strikes from before.


    "We got lucky this demon had been starved of energy for who knows how long. If its body was in its peak state, who knows how long it would have taken me to break through its defenses," Daoist Eternal Weapon eximed as he reached forward and stuck his hand into therge hole in the demon''s chest.


    After ruffling through the demon''s internals for a short moment, his muscles bulged with power as he pulled his hand out of the hole. John stared at his hand, which grasped a blood red object, perfectly circr in design and two inches across.


    An incredibly powerful and sinister aura emanated off the object, which made John feel as though he was back in the presence of that Darkfiend Demon, still alive and at the height of its power.


    "This is?" John asked.


    "The Darkfiend Demon''s core. The source of its ruinous power! I will use this as the core for your scythe!"

 Chapter 786 All Materials Obtained

    John felt his blood rush with excitement as the core for his weapon was obtained, and it came from the demon as well. Based on what Daoist Eternal Weapon had said before, the demon was an incredibly powerful and talented one, and so the core being used was sure to be an exceptional one.


    John could almost feel the scythe in his grip, as it was so close to being created. However, there was still onest portion to obtain; the material for the shaft of the scythe.


    After obtaining the demon''s core, Daoist Eternal Weapon turned to John once more, who shrugged as he already knew the question toe.


    "That''s all I have for the weapon," John shrugged. "I was told I only needed the de and core materials, and if they were of high enough quality, you would provide the materials for the shaft. Unfortunately, I don''t have anything of simr quality that could be used for the shaft," John exined.


    After hearing John''s words, Daoist Eternal Weapon fell silent as he sunk deep into thought. His mind perused over the multitude of materials he had at his disposal, searching for the most optimal match for the scythe de and demon core. Eventually his eyes flickered for a moment, something that John noticed.


    "Did you think of something to use for the shaft?" John asked curiously.


    "Perhaps," Daoist Eternal Weapon mumbled, almost as if he were still deep in thought. His gaze cleared up and focused back on John after a short while, and a serious look appeared on his face.


    "I might have something that would make your weapon even more terrifying, but it''s a double-edged sword. To be safe, utilize your transformation, at the very least, the draconic one for now, and be prepared to use the other one as well," Daoist Eternal Weapon instructed John, who was surprised to hear the request, but nodded and did as instructed.


    A powerful aura exploded off John''s body as he unleashed his Dragon-God Shift, pushing his power and durability to the next level. At the same time, his guard was raised, prepared to unleash his Asura Transformation if needed.


    Upon John''s transformation, Daoist Eternal Weapon hand stretched outwards, and he tapped into one of the many spatial rings on his hand, taking out an object from within. As soon as the object appeared, a thick deathly aura flooded the room, as if it were trying to eradicate all life within. It was a familiar aura to John; one he had experienced countless times before.


    The Dao of Death!


    The aura washed over both John and Daoist Eternal Weapon, making them feel as if they had been plunged into a pit of death. However, with his incredibly durable body, Daoist Eternal Weapon was able to resist the effects of the aura, and was more concerned about John''s ability to withstand it.


    John stared at the object, which rested on the ground between him and Daoist Eternal Weapon. It was arge block of some unknown ore, pitch ck in color as if it absorbed all light. The aura radiating off the ore washed over his body, attempting to decay his body into nothingness. Had John never done his training with his master, he would have no doubt found it hard to withstand this aura.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    However, thanks to that hellish death-infused training Lilian had put him through, along with his freakishly durable body, John was able to resist the effects of the deathly aura. While it constantly ate away at his body and made him feel quite miserable, he was able to withstand the aura without perishing, or taking too much damage. His flesh rotted but was instantly regenerated by his Limiter of Healing, making it so that the only thing the aura really did was drain his Qi reserves.


    "How is it? Are you able to withstand this aura?" Daoist Eternal Weapon asked John, who nodded his head in confirmation.


    "Yes. I might have a bit of trouble withstanding it without my transformation, but it won''t outright kill me," John confirmed, causing Daoist Eternal Weapon some surprise, as this aura was strong enough to kill Dao Transformation experts if they weren''t careful.


    Seeing Daoist Eternal Weapons surprised look, a wry smile appeared on John''s face as he recalled his master''s hellish training.


    "My master specializes in the Dao of Death, and has bathed me in that dreadful aura more times than I can count. With that training, I''ve be quite resistant to the Dao of Death," John exined.


    "Haha, your master sounds like quite the character," Daoist Eternal Weaponughed upon hearing such a thing, as a master who would subject their disciple to such a hellish training was quite unorthodox, and was to his liking.


    "You can say that again," John grumbled, before shifting the subject. "What exactly is this ore? I''ve never seen or felt anything like it before?"


    "This ore is called Ster Void Ore, and it is beyond rare. The source of the ore is from beyond this, and it can only be found when a piece of ore falls down from space. Not only is it rare, it is also incredibly profound. Its durability is unmatched, and it has a unique property to absorb whatever is in the surrounding and infuse it into the ore," Daoist Eternal Weapon exined as he reached out and touched the ore, storing it in his spatial ring once more.


    "This particr ore was found deep within and of death, and had been sitting there for countless millennia, absorbing the deathly aura surrounding it. I had yet to find a suitable weapon to utilize this ore, but I think yours might be the perfect match. With this ore as your shaft, each attack you unleash will be naturally infused with the Dao of Death, making it even more formidable. The only drawback is the constant aura of death you need to withstand when wielding the weapon, but it appears that won''t be much of a concern. So how about it? Would you like me to use this ore as the material for your shaft?" Daoist Eternal Weapon asked John.


    "Yes, please do!" John agreed, as the material was far beyond what he could have hoped for.


    "Perfect, then I will start crafting your weapon within the day," Daoist Eternal Weapon confirmed, equally excited to get started on such a unique and profound weapon. "This weapon will no doubt be the finest weapon I have ever created, and perhaps the finest weapon this world has ever seen!"

 Chapter 787 FrostFire Tiger

    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The walls around John shook, while the magma to either side of him churned as distant booms shook the tunnel he was in. After obtaining the materials for creating the scythe, Daoist Eternal Weapon dismissed John from the building, and instructed him to retreat to the tunnel where the transportation formation was located, as the weapon creating process would not be something John could withstand from that close.


    John had doubted such ims, but listened to the instructions and retreated to the distant tunnel. After Daoist Eternal Weapon had started his work, John sighed in relief, as the distant booms indicated that Daoist Eternal Weapon was not lying. Each boom was incredibly strong, and would have no doubt caused him great harm had he been standing within the building.


    After getting used to the violent trembling of the tunnel around him, John connected his mind with this pce realm and fell into a meditative trance. The Nine-Convergence Lightning Core appeared in one hand, brimming with wild and powerful lightning essence, while the True Origin Jade Piece of the Celestial Lightning Script appeared in his other hand. Flickers of lightning flew off the core, mming onto the magma, the tunnel walls, and John''s body ceaselessly.


    Each flicker seemed to contain a different teaching for the Dao of Lightning, dealing with the various aspects of lightning. Speed, power, unpredictability, range, nurturing lightning, destructive lightning...


    Various aspects of lightning flooded his mind as he studied the Nine-Convergence Lightning Core, which seemed to have more secrets to teach than he could imagine. With the True Origin Jade Piece raising his affinity andprehensions towards the Dao of Lightning, John peered through the fog hiding many of the profundities, with each realizedprehension furthering his grasp of the Dao of Lightning.


    After studying the Nine-Convergence Lightning Core in his left hand, and the True Jade Origin Piece in his right hand, John finally felt hisprehensions reach the stage that he had achieved on the journey to Five-River Freeport, just before he was interrupted. That interruption had set him back over a month, but he had finally managed to w his way back to that point.


    ''I can almost see through the fog shrouding this Dao¡­just a bit more!''


    John''s soul power red as he pushed his concentration andprehension to his peak state, studying each and every detail revealed to him. After an unknown amount of time in this state, the various aspects of the Dao of Lightning that seemed hazy and unclear connected, forming a clear image of the Dao, and the way to tap further into its secrets.


    At this moment, a heavenly aura descended around John, as if the heavens itself had appeared. Such an event was the phenomena when a cultivator broke through to a higher Dao Comprehension stage.


    A small smile appeared on the corner of John''s mouth as he slowly opened his eyes, revealing lightning flickering within. His gaze had be more profound as well, as if he could see through the truths of the heavens.


    "Myprehension has advanced to the Dao Expert stage for the Lightning Dao, standing firmly alongside my Dao of Power!"


    After breaking through to the next Daoprehension stage, John sat there unmoving for some time, digesting the breakthrough he had just aplished. After firming hisprehensions, his mind shifted to something else; something that he had aplished only once before, and yearned to aplish again.


    "While I wait for my weapon to be created, I need to meditate on the fusion of Daos. I managed to partially fuse the Dao of Power and Dao of Destruction once before, but haven''t been able to do so again. Not only that, but I can tell that when I did fuse those two Dao''s, something was missing¡­iplete. That fusion was more an explosion of an unstablebination than an unleashing of a powerful attack. Even if I were able to utilize the same fusion again, it wouldn''t be a helpful thing, as it was far too unstable to control at the time," John mused as he thought back to that moment.


    He had achieved that partial, initial stage fusion between those two Daos during his natural meditative trance, but was not able to recreate that fusion again. Clearly that had been a fluke, and fusing Daos again would require hisprehension into the fusion process of Daos to rise greatly before such a thing was possible.


    With all that in mind, John closed his eyes once more, as his mind and soul focused on the fusion of Daos.


    Time became an abstract concept to John as he remained in his meditative state, unaware of the passage of time. His mind raced with thoughts, ideas, and possibilities, as he tried to peer deeper into the fusion process between Daos.


    During this meditation process, the distant booms eventually stopped, although John was too focused to notice that. After the booms stopped, another few weeks passed by, as both John and Daoist Eternal Weapon pushed themselves to their limits.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    ¡­


    John''s eyes slowly opened for the first time in quite some time, as his instincts detected the approach of someone, stirring him from his meditative trance.


    A sigh escaped his lips as he stood up from his seated position, awaiting the approach of the person before him.


    "The fusion process is tooplicated. I wasn''t able to recreate that moment despite meditating on it for so long," John grumbled softly, displeased with his progress. However, his displeasure quickly vanished as he spotted Daoist Eternal Weapone into view, with arge smile on his face.


    "With thatrge smile on your face, I take it the weapon creation was a sess?" John asked hopefully. "Also, how long was I meditating for? I lost track of time."


    "Hahaha, you can say that," Daoist Eternal Weaponughed boisterously, clearly in a good mood. "And it''s been two months."


    ''Two months? That''s good. That still leaves me with a month to get to the Divine Source Monastery.''


    "So, where is it?" John asked, as Daoist Eternal Weapon was not holding the weapon.


    "You''ll get to use it soon enough," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied as he walked past John and to the transportation formation behind him. He made several adjustments to the control formation, and then instructed John to step on it with him.


    After doing so, the formation was activated, transporting the two of them to a new location.


    sh!


    Light entered John''s vision as his gaze swept all about him, taking in the new location. They were still underground, located in a massive chamber several miles tall and across. His eyes widened with unexpected shock as he noticed what was located before him, something that stared directly back at him.


    "Where the hell are we?" John asked with a raised voice, unsure of what was going on.


    "This is one of the transportation formations I created quite a long time ago," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied. "As for where exactly this ce is¡­it''s in the heart of the FrostFire Tiger''s Den."


    In the very center of the chamber was a tiger, its fur half blue and half red, split right down the middle. It stood ten yards tall at the shoulders, and was staring directly at the unexpected intruders, snarling at them with warning.


    "Okay¡­and? What are we doing here?" John asked with a confused tone, although he had an inkling of what was going on.


    "Your talent may be beyond impressive, but in order to wield this weapon of mine effectively without ruining my reputation, your strength must at least be at a certain levelbat wise¡­and the minimum threshold for that level just happens to be at the cultivation of this FrostFire Tiger," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied.


    "You''re fucking kidding me, right?" John replied with a bbergasted tone as he stared at Daoist Eternal Weapon.


    "Nope¡­good luck," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied as his figure suddenly vanished, leaving John alone with the FrostFire Tiger. The Half-Step World Transformation FrostFire Tiger.

 Chapter 788 Battling The FrostFire Tiger

    Roar!


    The second Daoist Eternal Weapon disappeared, the FrostFire Tiger roared loudly, unhappy with the sudden intrusion into itsir.


    "Are you fucking kidding me? At least give me my scythe!" John roared loudly, unsure if Daoist Eternal Weapon was still around.


    "You can give up if you want, and this test ends immediately, but you won''t receive the scythe until you do manage to pass this test, whenever that may be," Daoist Eternal Weapons voice drifted out within the cavern, although John couldn''t see him at all.


    "That''s bullshit! I already passed your other test!" John roared in protest.


    However, all that met his roar of anger was silence, and the snarls of the distant beast. A look of furious anger appeared on John''s face, as this was not what was agreed on by the two of them.


    "When I''m done with this Tiger, you''re next!" John roared angrily once more before turning his attention towards the FrostFire Tiger. It was a beast at the Half-Step World Expansion realm, and was not something he could afford to look down on or ignore.


    He couldn''t see an exit to the chamber anywhere, so the only solution was fighting the powerful beast.


    "Motherfucker. If I''m forced to use my bloodline ability, I''ll make sure that bastard pays the price," John cursed angrily.


    With the Divine Source Monastery opening the divine wall in roughly a month, he couldn''t afford to use his bloodline ability before then, as its recovery period was too long. While the Jade Dragon absorption had vastly improved his body''s constitution, allowing him to use his bloodline ability more often, it was still a recovery period of roughly three months before he could use it again with no negativesting effects on his body.


    Roar!


    Another roar boomed from the tiger, which was slowly approaching John. Any distracting thoughts faded from John''s mind as he focused solely on his enemy.


    "Daoist Eternal Weapon said my strength needs to be on the same level as this FrostFire Tiger in order to wield the scythe¡­which means I don''t have to defeat the Tiger outright, only battle evenly against it!"


    Boom!


    Without further hesitation, John unleashed his Dragon-God Shift, explosively increasing his physicalbat prowess and also his body''s defenses. A dense golden draconic aura emanated off him, shaking the ground all around him with his might, but he wasn''t done just yet.


    Boom!<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    His aura exploded out once again with even more power as he activated his Asura Transformation Art without hesitation, changing his appearance once more. While John normally increased his power gradually to test the limits of his opponent, this particr opponent was not one he could hold back against at all. His regal and golden aura instantly changed to a blood red color, while his regal aura and physical appearance became much more sinister.


    It was as if he were a draconic demon in both aura and appearance.


    After his transformation, his mind linked with his spatial ring, changing his outfit immediately. His ck and red robe was reced with the draconic armor set Laia had purchased for him. The armor set was incredibly durable, and was much more suitable for battle than a robe that offered much less protection.


    After utilizing both of his transformations, John''s essence dantian surged with Qi as hundreds of lightning nodes popped up in the air around John, each brimming with a powerful lightning essence. After activating both body transformations as well as utilizing his essence Qi, John felt as if his body were about to explode at any moment from within.


    Both essence and body Qi surged through his meridians like a rampaging stampede of beasts, making it feel as if he were about to break apart. Thanks to his Immortal Asura Body and Jade Dragon inheritance however, he was able to withstand the torrential energy surging through his body each second, albeit he would not be able tost in this state forever, as the damage internally was umting by the second.


    As if provoked by his sudden surge in power, the FrostFire Tiger roared again, while its power also increased explosively. On the red-furred side of its body, powerful mes surged outwards, hot enough to melt the ground all around it. At the same time, a bone-chilling aura emanated on the other half, freezing the ground all around it.


    Right down the middle of the tiger, from head to tail, the two sides converged, almost as if the conflicting elements were in harmony with one another.


    It was quite the conflicting thing to witness, both ice and fire existing in such close proximity to each other without canceling each other out. John felt it quite perplexing to witness, as if something that was not supposed to exist was happening before his eyes, but he put such thoughts aside as he focused on the suddenly sped forward like a blur, appearing before John almost too fast to react to.


    John''s eyes widened as he instantly utilized his Limiter of Speed and Thunderbody sh, pushing his speed to the absolute limits.


    Boom!


    The tiger swiped down on his position,nding explosively on the durable ground, which still fractured from its mighty attack. The entire cavern trembled violently, and the Tigers gaze shifted to the side, staring at John who stood just a short distance away.


    A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead as he stared at his fearsome enemy, as he had truly felt the winds of death brush past his face on thatst attack.


    ''If I''m careless, a single attack from this tiger is enough to gravely injure me if itnds, or even outright kill me depending on where I am struck.''


    The single attack from the Tiger made John realize just how serious of a predicament he was in, as this was truly a life and death battle. As he thought about this, a smile appeared on his face, as the thrill of battle that he had not felt since the Jade Dragon Realm returned to him once more.

 Chapter 789 Narrowly Surviving

    Somewhere in the chamber, shrouded in a formation and unnoticed by John, Daoist Eternal Weapon satfortably on a reclined seat, watching the battle unfold before him. He watched John unleash his transformations, which impressed and stunned him no matter how many times he saw it.


    "Truly a genius of geniuses, and even that may be an insult to his talent," Daoist Eternal Weapon mused as he watched John unleash his Heavenly Lightning Domain as well, something that should not be possible with him already using two transformation arts.


    He watched John narrowly dodge the Tigers attack, and nodded his head in approval.


    "Impressive reflexes. However, that casual attack should have made him realize the difference in strength. A pity he wasn''t just a bit stronger, or he could have potentially learned a thing or two from this battle that would greatly benefit him. However, his strength is still too low. He should be giving up soon, if not now. He cane collect the weapon in a few years once his strength has risen a bit," Daoist Eternal Weapon continued, but suddenly stopped as he noticed the smile appear on John''s face. The smile was clearly one of excitement, and had not been what he had been expecting to see.


    "He''s going to keep fighting! This boy is insane!"


    ¡­


    Boom!


    Another powerful attack mmed down on John''s position, who unleashed his fastest speed to dodge the attack once more. After dodging the attack, John quickly raised his right arm and pointed towards the beast, and instantly unleashed a powerful Lightning Disintegration!


    Boom!


    Therge cavern lit up brightly as the lightning exploded outwards towards the tiger, who roared loudly while increasing its power even further, revealing it had barely used any of its power thus far.


    The mes surging off its back grew in both size and intensity, while the frosty aura grewrger and colder as well, as if it were capable of freezing everything in existence. Half the chamber was heated to the extreme, as if it were the middle of a volcano, while the other half was as if it had been bathed in an ice storm for a thousand years, freezing everything solid and covering the chamber with a thickyer of ice.


    These two conflicting elemental powers changed locations as the tiger moved around, with the inferno appearing to its right, and the freezing frost appearing to its left, leaving not a single inch of the chamber untouched.


    Boom!


    Another beam of lightning exploded out from John''s finger, piercing towards the FrostFire Tiger. The surging mes surrounding the tigers one half red out and mmed against the lightning beam, neutralizing itpletely. When attacking from the frost side of the tiger, the beam became frozen in the air by the frigid aura, something John did not even know was possible.


    "Shit. My attacks are not strong enough to even reach it, let alone damage it!"


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The tiger sped towards John with ceaseless confidence, unleashing attack after attack on him, which he managed to avoid with the narrowest of margins every time. His battle axe had not been used yet, as his speed would drop slightly from wielding such a heavy weapon. With how narrowly he was avoiding the dangerous attacks, he could not afford to lower his speed by even a step.


    As John dashed around, barely dodging the tiger''s attacks, he was constantly moving from inferno to bitter cold frost, over and over, making the effects of either feel even more severe on him.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    The heat was strong enough to make him feel as though he were burning alive, and his flesh was constantly charring from its power. Whenever he stepped into the frost-covered half, he felt as if he was freezing alive. His movements became stiff and rigid, making it harder to move efficiently while he barely avoided being frozen solid.


    However, thanks to both his incredibly durable body and Limiter of Healing, John was able to hang on without being burned to a crisp, or frozen solid. With both his body transformations active, his durability was on the same level as a Late Dao Transformation body cultivator, making it so that he could withstand the frightful power of the FrostFire Tiger.


    Boom!


    After dodging another attack and unleashing a counterattack without any effect, John''s mind raced with ideas as he thought about how tond an attack on the beast. None of his range attacks had enough power to reach the tiger''s body, and for some reason, John felt that approaching the tiger for a physical attack was not a smart idea.


    A strange aura shrouded the tiger''s body, something that he could not identify. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, but despite not knowing what it was, he could tell that the most dangerous area in the entire cavern was directly next to the tiger.


    ''Should I unleash my bloodline ability? Doing so would put me on the same level as this Tiger, which would allow me tond an attack most likely, but can I afford to use my bloodline ability right now? Shit, if only I had my scythe, I could unleash a Divine Reaping Scythe which could most likely carve through its powerful aura thanks to the spatial aspects of the attack. That bastard really screwed me over!''


    Boom!


    The ground trembled violently as John dodged another attack, which had been a hellish beam of mes that the tiger had shot out of its mouth, like that of a dragon. The ground melted where the attacknded, unable to withstand the heat of the tigers breath.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom


    More attacks were unleashed by the Tiger, either a hellish beam of fire, or a frigid beam of ice, both strong enough to injure him if itnded directly on him. John unleashed lightning beam after lightning beam, countering the attacks that he could not dodge in time.


    At the same time, his Heavenly Lightning Domain unleashed beams of lightning as well, some which were used to counterattack, and some used to slow down the Tigers movements as it raced after him.


    Like this, a stalemate broke out, as John continuously dodged the Tigers attacks by the narrowest of margins. His mind raced with endless thoughts and possibilities to change the tide of battle, but could think of nothing in his arsenal to use at the moment.


    ''Shit. If only I could unleash a fused attack of the Dao of Destruction and Power, I could maybend a critical attack on the Tiger, but I can''t fuse the Dao''s yet, let alone use it in battle¡­''


    John felt frustration well up inside him, as he knew of a potential solution to his predicament, but was not able to utilize it. Having touched upon the fusion process briefly for a moment once before made it even more frustrating, even if the fusion hadn''t been a sessful one suitable for use as an attack.


    As he thought of this, John dodged another attack and stared at the FrostFire Tiger in frustration. As he stared at the tiger and the mysterious aura around its body, his eyes widened slightly as a thought popped into his mind.


    ''Wait a minute! Could it be¡­?"

 Chapter 790 Comprehensions Gained Through Battle

    "It''s beyond incredible that he''s been able tost this long," Daoist Eternal Weapon mused as he watched the battle between John and the FrostFire Tiger unfold.


    "I had expected him to give up far before this point, and yet he still battles fiercely. While his attacks are not strong enough to change the oue of this battle, juststing this long is something that would push a Late Dao Transformation cultivator to their absolute limits, let alone a Heaven Tribtion kid. How monstrous."


    Even though he had seen John''s transformations before, he had not expected hisbat prowess to be this high. Not only was his body cultivation at a transcendental level of talent, so was his essence cultivation. Each attack that John unleashed might have been countered by the FrostFire Tiger with ease, but such a thing was to be expected.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon was shocked to see that John''s essence power was at the same level as his body power, which was something he would have never believed possible, as it defied all rules of cultivation.


    "Not only are his essence and body talents transcendent, but he also has no weaknesses at all. His reactions and instincts are at a monstrously prodigious level as well, and I can tell that his soul is also beyond incredible. How the heavens thought it fair to create someone like him, I''ll never know," Daoist Eternal Weapon mused while shaking his head lightly, as if he could still not believe what his eyes were showing him at the moment.


    "Hmm? Has he started to realize the futility of the battle?" Daoist Eternal Weapon spected as he noticed John had changed hisbat tactics. He had been fighting against the Tiger with the hope of winning before, unleashing counter attacks whenever possible.


    Now however, there was no inkling of that, as all John did was dodge attack after attack with no attempt tond his own counterattacks whatsoever.


    "Has he realized he''s not strong enough to win, and is hoping that bysting long enough I''ll give him the scythe? While I''ll admit I greatly underestimated him, he''s still not at the level of doing my weapon justice. Giving him such a weapon will only put a target of envy on his head, and he''s bound to lose it unless he has the strength to protect himself. He''d lose the weapon at best, and perish at worst, which I refuse to be the cause of," Daoist Eternal Weapon said, not knowing that John already had a muchrger target on his head, as the world was starting to learn that he was ''Asura''.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The cavern continued to tremble ceaselessly as attack after attack was unleashed by the Tiger, which John dodged with the narrowest of margins. He made no attempt to counterattack at all, and continued this process for over an hour. Daoist Eternal Weapon had no idea what John was trying to do, but sat by idly as he watched the battle unfold.


    ¡­


    sh!


    John sped all around the chamber, narrowly dodging the attacks of the FrostFire Tiger without fail. He had given up on attacking the beast, and focused purely on speed at the moment. At the same time, his Divine Sense was spread out towards the beast, while his soul surged at the absolute maximum, pushing hisprehensions to his limit.


    His eyes remained fixated on the beast, specifically the mysterious aura shrouding it. The aura was not something that should exist, and he had been unable to see through the mysteries of the aura when he had first seen it. As he studied the aura, he slowly but surely came to learn its true nature.


    ''I was right! The mysterious aura surrounding the FrostFire Tiger is an aura made from the fusion of the Dao of Fire and the Dao of Ice!'' John eximed internally as he finally saw through the mysteries of the strange aura. ''No wonder it feels so dangerous. If I stepped into that aura, I would be attacked by both the Dao of Fire and Dao of Ice at the same time, which I would most likely not be able to resist at all!''


    After realizing this, John''s mind was flooded with new ideas regarding the fusion of Daos. With death being the oue should he fail to seed in this battle, hisprehension was pushed to an even higher level than normal. With his normalprehension level being monstrous already, his understanding of the fusion process magnified severalfold.


    ''This beast isbining Fire and Ice, twopletely diametrically opposite Daos which should not be able to co-exist. I had thought my fusion of Power and Destruction failed because they weren''tpatible with one another, but this fusion before my eyes proves that anything can be fused, no matter how pr opposite. So what am I missing? Why does my fusion between Power and Destruction fail?''


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The cavern continued to tremble as John put all thoughts of counterattacking aside, focusing only on dodging and understanding. Such a thing was incredibly dangerous, as it only took one mistake for him to be hit by an attack, which would at best gravely injure him and at worst outright kill him.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    However, such distracting thoughts didn''t cross his mind as the only thing racing through his mind was studying and understanding the fusion of Daos before his very eyes. After using both his Dragon-God Shift and Asura Transformation for an hour, John felt as if his body was on the verge of copse.


    Even with his increased durability thanks to the Jade Dragon inheritance, he still had limits, and both transformations put immense strain on his entire body. He knew he would only be able tost several more minutes at this rate, but yet again, John didn''t care for such distracting thoughts, and only focused on the fused Dao''s before him.


    Thousands of ideas and possibilities to the riddle of the fused Dao''s flooded through his mind. Some made sense to him and were tested on the spot, while others were discarded. Each and every idea brought him closer and closer to the truth, which seemed to be just before him, and all he needed to do was reach out and grasp it.


    ¡­


    Sigh!


    Daoist Eternal Weapon sighed as he watched John retreat without fighting back. He could tell John was trying toe up with something, but knew no matter what he did, it would not work.


    "It seems he noticed the fusion, and is desperately trying to study it. Impressive, truly impressive. It took me months to see through the truth of the aura, and yet he has managed to figure out what to do in an hour. This boy sure knows how to make someone feelpletely worthless," Daoist Eternal Weapon mumbled to himself in self-pity.


    "However, learning and implementing are twopletely different things, and it will take him years before he is ready to do such a thing. It took me years to make my first breakthrough. No matter how monstrous of aprehension he has, there is a limit to everything, even for him. It''s time to end this, as I can tell his body is on the verge of copse¡­"


    "Tiha, it''s time to end the battle. Unleash your attack on him, and I will appear at thest second to block it as he concedes!"


    The FrostFire Tiger suddenly stopped as it attacked John, and opened its mouth once more, revealing a terrible aura from within, aimed directly at John. Daoist Eternal Weapon rose from his seat, prepared to move at thest moment to save John, but instead widened his eyes in absolute shock instead.


    "Impossible!"


    ¡­


    Boom!


    Just seconds before, John narrowly dodged another attack as he pushed his speed to the limits, and ignored his rapidly eroding condition. To him, this was a life and death battle, and he refused to concede, as that weapon was needed for his battles toe.


    After dodging the attack, John felt his instincts re with warning as the FrostFire Tiger opened its mouth once more to unleash an attack. Instead of ice or fire surging out from within, John felt the fused aura instead, indicating that the beast was about to unleash a fused attack.


    A ball of Qi formed in the beast''s mouth, starting off as separate balls of Ice and Fire, which merged together in seamless conformity. As he watched this process unfold before his eyes, John felt thest missing piece of the puzzle fall into ce, and his eyes widened as the truth was finally revealed to him.


    ''That''s it! That''s what I''ve been missing!''


    John felt as though the truths of the universe had been revealed to him, and his gaze narrowed as he pointed towards the beast with his index finger stretched out. With his bodies condition, he only had one attack to unleash, and he needed to ensure it victory.


    "I''m sorry, you''ve helped me immensely, but unfortunately you must die for me. I''ll be sure to remember you," John said as his aura suddenly exploded as he unleashed his bloodline ability, pushing his essence powers to the absolute limit. The very space around him seemed to tremble, as if it was on the verge of copse from his aura alone. John grit his teeth as the increased energy surging from within felt as though it would rip him apart in an instant, but an instant was all he needed to unleash his attack.


    Boom!


    Lightning exploded out from John''s finger, bathing the cavern with blinding light as he unleashed his monstrous attack, formed from the fusion of the Dao''s of Lightning and Power!

 Chapter 791 Spreading Rumors And Bounties

    John''s bloodline ability pushed the rtive power of cultivation level a step higher, putting on par with the FrostFire Tiger. With thebination of using his bloodline ability and his Dao fusion attack, the power of the attack was several times stronger than anything he had unleashed before.


    The power that surged through his body and out of his fingertip was unlike anything that he had ever felt before. Instantly after unleashing the attack, John felt his essence Qi reserves be almostpletely drained, as the attack had used far more Qi than he had expected. However, he remained on his feet to watch the attacknd on his target.


    At the same time, the FrostFire Tiger unleashed its attack, sending a beam attack towards John, containing the fusion of fire and ice. The attacks collided in midair, directly between the two of them.


    Boom!


    A cmitous explosion instantly radiated outwards, threatening to drown the entire cavern in its power. Expecting such a thing, John pushed his body''s power to the limit, preparing to brace for the monstrously powerful explosion that would engulf him. The entire time, his eyes remained locked on his attack, studying the true power he had just unleashed.


    The cmitous explosion of Qi was a mixture of both his attack and the FrostFire Tiger''s attack, but a core remnant of his attack still remained intact. That core beam burrowed directly through the FrostFire Tigers beam of Qi, like a drill burrowing through the earth. It pierced through the beam of his enemy without pause, as if nothing in the world was capable of stopping it.


    It was a fusion of his destruction-aspected lightning, and the Dao of Power. Both of these Dao''s were on a higher profundity level than the Dao''s of Fire and Ice, and so even though the FrostFire Tiger''s grasp over its Dao''s was a bit higher, the potency and power of John''s attack didn''t lose out at all.


    "I win," John dered confidently as his attack was about tond directly on the FrostFire Tiger, who would at the very least be gravely injured by his attack. The explosion was just about to engulf him, which John turned his attention to at thest moment, finally averting his eyes from his attack.


    "That''s enough!" a deep voice suddenly boomed loudly, the instant before the attacknded and the explosion engulfed him.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Two massive objects instantly appeared within the cavern, one directly before John, and one directly before the FrostFire Tiger. John''s eyes widened as he saw what was directly before him, which was dozens of times taller than he was.


    A hand!


    BOOM!


    BOOM!


    John''s lightning attack sted against the massive hand directly before the FrostFire Tiger, while the cmitous explosion that was about to engulf him and the tiger mmed into both hands as well.


    Rumble!


    The two hands pressed forward and cupped together, forming a sphere of flesh that surrounded the ruinous explosion. The explosion mmed against the cupped hands with violent power, rumbling the entire cavern as if it were about to copse.


    After containing the explosion, the two hands pressed together, tighter and tighter until the palms of both hands pressed together. The powerful rumbling intensified as the space containing the explosion lessened, and only after several seconds did the rumbling eventually stop.


    Silence returned to the once deafeningly loud cave, while John''s wide eyes, full of stunned shock, stared at the absolutely massive and hulking figure standing before him. The figure was well over two hundred feet tall, and appeared like a giant standing before ants.


    John''s hand slowly stretched out as he pointed towards the hulking figure, which started to shake as a wave of incredible pain and fatigue beyondpare washed over him.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "How did you..." John mumbled out loud, before he copsed to the ground, unconsciousness taking a hold of him.


    ...


    "Why the hell hasn''t hee out yet? Its been over two months already. Has he somehow left without you noticing?" a voice asked with great displeasure?


    The voice belonged to Vivian of the Starforge n, who sat inside an empty restaurant which had been bought out by her for use. Next to her sat a Xander of the Mystic Trade Hall, who silently sipped his tea.


    "No, Young Misses Vivian. We have eyes on every exit, so unless he uses a formation to leave, we will spot him," the hooded figure before Vivian replied respectfully.


    "Good, and remember to immediately send word to me when he leaves, but do not confront him. I want him to leave the city first before we deal with him," Vivian replied with a haughty attitude.


    "As you wish," the hooded figure replied before his figure shed away, leaving Vivian and Xander alone within the rented out restaurant.


    "Are you sure this is a wise thing to do?" Xander asked, his tone filled with concern.


    "Why wouldn''t this be wise?" Vivian replied dismissively. "He insulted me, Kadin, and the entire Starforge n before, and that alone is punishable by death in my eyes. And then there''s the other matter as well. While I still refuse the rumors to be true, if they are...then we can make a fortune on the side as well."


    "That''s what I''m concerned about," Xander replied, still cautious of the situation. "If Caz''s friend truly is the ''Asura'' as the recent rumors are saying, then hisbat prowess must be beyondpare. You don''t know what he''s capable of, and if you make a mistake, there could very well be dire consequences...for both you and your n."


    "Are you saying my Starforge n isn''t capable of handling one Heaven Tribtion brat?" Vivian asked, greatly displeased at Xander''s words.


    "Not at all. All I''m saying is that capturing ''Asura'' might not be as simple as you think it to be. And should he escape your grasp and grow up to be even stronger, who knows what he''ll be capable of. His talent is unparalleled if we are to believe the Talent Testing Steps score, and there are also the rumors of what happened within the Jade Dragon Empire trial realm. I just want you to know the risks of what you''re about to do," Xander warned.


    "Hmph, you worry too much," Vivian huffed dismissively. "The anonymous bounties that have been offered for his capture, dead or alive, are quite enticing, even for someone as wealthy as me. Why shouldn''t I take advantage of the situation?"


    "Those bounties are anonymous for good reason," Xander replied. "Everyone knows that the bounties have been issued by the Forbidden Alliance, but they have not done so officially. Even the Forbidden Alliance is wary of openly targeting the Prime Disciple of the Honorable Alliance, and have instead employed the help of mercenaries and other cultivators that hide in the shadows. If the entire Forbidden Alliance is taking such a cautious method of targeting ''Asura'', perhaps it is wise that you do the same."


    "Hmph, the Forbidden Alliance is nothing but spineless cowards. Do they really think the Honorable Alliance will go to war for a single brat? Besides, my Starforge n stands independent of their petty feud, and even if we target that boy, the Honorable Alliance wont do anything to us, as losing ess to our formations is far more costly than losing a singr disciple," Vivian replied, still haughty and sure of herself.


    "Besides, someone like him is sure to have incredible secrets on his body. After we capture him, we can obtain whatever secrets he possesses before handing him over for the bounty reward. The gains will surely be worth the risk," the said, her voice firm as if the matter was already concluded.


    Sigh!


    A deep sigh escaped Xanders mouth, and he stood up after finishing his cup of tea.


    "Well, I won''t get in your way, but I won''t aid you either. I wish you the best of luck, and hope you know what you''re doing," Xander said to Vivian before leaving the restaurant.


    "Such a child, still scared of a little risk," she chastised Xander after he left and took a sip of her tea. "Besides, what risk is there in targeting a single Heaven Tribtion brat. He''se here alone and without protection, and I''m the only one who knows his current location. I won''t get such an opportunity again, and so I must take action while I can. I''ll make that brat pay for what he said about me and my n...Oh how I can''t wait to see the look on his face when he realizes his fate is sealed," she said to herself, while arge smile of anticipation appeared on her face.

 Chapter 792 Dao Fusion Breakthrough

    A stone ceiling high above came into John''s view as he opened his eyes. His eyelids were heavy and slow to open, as if he had slept for a thousand years.


    He groaned softly as he sat up, pain wracking his entire body. After sitting up, the memories of the battle against the FrostFire Tiger returned to him, reminding him of the reason his body was in such a sorry condition.


    "I guess I overdid it a bit," John mumbled to himself before looking around to take in his surroundings.


    His eyes widened as a familiar figure came into view, and he quickly stood up through the pain as his aura began to surge, ready to pounce with power. Just ten feet away from him was therge FrostFire Tiger, lying on the floor, staring directly at him.


    "Calm down, you''re not in danger," Daoist Eternal Weapon''s voice sounded out, to which John turned towards. He spotted Daoist Eternal Weapon standing before his forging table, working on some sort of item.


    A confused expression appeared on John''s face as he tried to figure out what was going on. One moment he was fighting the tiger, about to finish it off, and the next he was waking up within the forging building, face to face with that same tiger who no longer showed him any animosity.


    "Is this tiger your pet?" John asked, finally realizing what was potentially going on.


    "Companion," Daoist Eternal Weapon corrected John while still continuing his work.


    A sigh of relief left John''s lips as he realized he didn''t need to fight the powerful tiger again, but that relief was quickly washed away with rising rage. His face scrunched up in displeasure, and John quickly walked over towards Daoist Eternal Weapon, each step filling him with pain.


    He arrived before the hulking man, who ignored him and instead continued his work.


    "Fuck you and your tests!" John yelled at the man, his frustration reaching his limits.


    "I purchased your weapon fairly, and yet you made me take a test before even making it. I passed the test, and you agreed to make my weapon. Then all of a sudden, you surprise me with a test no one in this world could possibly pass but me. In fact, you sprung that test on me with the intention of me failing, because you didn''t think it possible for me to beat this fucking pet of yours.


    Do you have any idea what it cost me to unleash that final attack? The Divine Source Monastery is opening the Divine Wall in less than a month, and now I have to enter without having one of my greatest trump cards avable to me. If I die inside that ce, it''ll be your fucking fault!" John erupted in a furious tirade, unable to contain his anger.


    His gaze shifted to the side towards the FrostFire Tiger, who continued to lie on the ground, watching the two of them.


    "Your pet is lucky you showed up when you did, or else it would have suffered because of your stupid ego being unwilling to give me my rightfully purchased weapon!"


    After unleashing his tirade, John took a deep breath to calm himself down. Daoist Eternal Weapon continued to work on whatever item was before him, as if he was ignoring Johnpletely. Hisck of a response angered John once again, who finally had it with the man.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Forget it. Just give me my damn scythe, and then I''m leaving," John demanded his weapon.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon remained silent, staring at the item in his hands that he was tinkering with. John was about to erupt in impatient rage once more, when the hulking man finally turned to him, and outstretched his hand towards John. The item was in his hand, indicating that he was giving it to John.


    "You''re right, I should have given you your scythe, but the battle was not only a test of your power, but also an opportunity for you to grow," Daoist Eternal Weapon said as he dumped the item in John''s hands.


    "I learned the process of Dao fusion from mypanion over there, and I gave you the same opportunity to learn from her as well. It seems like you managed to grasp the initial concept of fusion at the very end, so while you made a sacrifice, you also received a great reward. Let''s call it even," Daoist Eternal Weapon said to John before walking to the nearby table, and sat down.


    "I¡­I guess you''re right," John replied, his anger fading as he realized he had gained immensely from that fight.


    ''Fighting against the FrostFire Tiger did teach me how to sessfully fuse Dao''s. Who knows how long it would have taken me to aplish that without directly seeing the fusion process before my very eyes. My bloodline ability sacrifice is temporary, while what I gained from that battle is permanent. I guess the tradeoff is fair.''


    John walked over to the table and sat opposite the hulking man, and the two stared at each other for a short while.


    "So, what did you learn from your battle? Giving voice to yourprehensions can help firm them even further," Daoist Eternal Weapon asked John.


    "Ah¡­I learned hundreds of different things regarding the fusion of Dao''s during that battle, but I guess there were two main things that I failed to grasp until that battle. The first was that the Dao''s being fused must be even inprehension level, as the fusion process must be bnced on both sides.


    When I tried tobine my Dao of Power and Dao of Destruction, it failed because myprehension of the Dao of Destruction is far below my Dao of Power. However, my Dao of Lightning Comprehension is at the same level as my Dao of Power, and so the fusion process was able to seed because of that," John exined his thoughts, to which Daoist Eternal Weapon nodded at his words.


    "Correct, and the second?" Daoist Eternal Weapon asked.


    "The second was that the fusion process needs to be fluid, one motion, with both Dao''s being fused at the same time. When I first tried to fuse two Dao''s, I tried to start with one of the Dao''s as the base, and then take the other Dao to fuse into it. If I had to exin it in a more simplistic way, I guess I would use your smithing process as an example.


    The first Dao I used was the metal, the material used to make the weapon, while the second Dao was the hammer, used to forge the first Dao into what shape I wanted. Thebination of the metal and hammer would fuse together to form the final shape I wanted, but while the shape is what I wanted, the base would only be formed from the first Dao, and not both. That formation process created an imbnce, and made the fusion fail, since for a stable fusion to be created, both Dao''s must act as both base material and hammer.


    Watching yourpanion fuse its Ice and Fire attack made me realize this, as itbined them at the same time, meeting in the middle instead of starting from one side and working its way to the other. It was as the two Dao''s were both the base material and the hammer, both being worked at the same time to form a fusion of the two Dao''s.


    I don''t know if that exnation makes sense, but it''s the best way I can describe it at the moment," John said, finishing his exnation. While he spoke those words, he felt hisprehensions of the fusion process firm, just as Daoist Eternal Weapon had said it would.

 Chapter 793 Unrivaled Scythe Of Death

    "Not a bad description at all. I quite like it," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied, obviously content to hear the exnation using his smithing process to describe the fusion of Daos. "And you''re exactly right. The fusion process must be done at the same time, which means utilizing both Dao''s at the same time, which is not only harder to control, but is also far more draining on your soul power than moving one at a time."


    "Congrattions, you have now mastered the most initial stage of the fusion of Dao''s¡­which took me over a hundred years to aplish" Daoist Eternal Weapon congratted John while shaking his head in self pity and the difference inprehension speeds.


    A wry smile appeared on John''s face as he heard Daoist Eternal Weapon''s words of self pity, not sure of how to reply.


    "Don''t look at me that way," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied dismissively. "While I may be slow whenpared to a freak like you, I''m only slow whenpared to someone like you. There are less than twenty people on this continent who have grasped the fusion process, and my speed did not lose out to any of them."


    "Knowing how to fuse Dao''s is that rare?" John asked, not expecting to hear that.


    "Of course it is. Fusing Doa''s requires one to have grasped at least two Daos to the Dao Expert stage, which is already quite rare, and then on top of that, it requires monstrousprehensions to learn the correct fusion process. And finally, it requires immense talent to properly control both Dao''s for the fusion process. When you add all three of these things up, there are not many people who are talented enough to aplish such a thing."


    "I see," John mumbled, deep in thought. "So¡­what''s the next step in the fusion process? You said I only mastered the very initial stage, which means there are more stages."


    "Hahahaha," Daoist Eternal Weaponughed loudly, as if he had heard the funniest joke. "Telling someone how to fuse Dao''s will not help them, and will instead hurt their progress, so its in your best interest if I do not tell you."


    A skeptical frown appeared on John''s face as he heard this.


    "Fine, don''t believe me? Then think back to when you had breakthroughs regarding Dao fusion. You first learned the fusion of Dao''s existed when you studied my smithing. If I told you I was fusing Daos, would that have helped you at all?"


    "I¡­I guess not. I only fell into that trance because my mind was itching to find out the truth of what was going on. If you had told me, I would have gone about things differently," John mumbled in agreement.


    "Exactly, and again in your battle, you learning the process yourself allowed you to grasp the next steps with utmost rity. You yourself admitted that you learned hundreds of things regarding the fusion of Daos, while the two steps you exined were only the most important. If instead I told you about those two steps beforehand, your vision would have been narrowed, and you would have missed the hundreds of other parts which are all required to make the fusion process work.


    Andstly, each person is different, and each Dao is different. The steps for fusing your Dao''s are not the exact same as the steps for fusing my Dao''s, and so exining my fusion process would only harm you, not help you," Daoist Eternal Weapon finished exining.


    "That makes sense. Thank you," John replied sincerely for the helpful exnation. With his questions about the fusion process settled, John gazed down to the object in his hand. It was a formation disk, six inches across and two inches thick. It was gray in color, with tens of thousands of tiny and intricate formation runes carved into its surface.


    Lastly, a metallic frame wrapped around the edges of the disk, as if containing it within.


    "What is this object you gave me?" John asked curiously.


    "Ah, that. The Trade Master of the Mystic Trade Hall stopped by while you were unconscious, and told me to give you this formation disk," Daoist Eternal Weapon exined.


    "Ah¡­the spatial repression formation!" John eximed in excitement, as he had asked the Trade Master to get him the strongest spatial repression disk he could find.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Yes, and to add to my apology of testing you previously, I added my own touch to the disk, which should make it even stronger," Daoist Eternal Weapon exined, revealing why there was the metallic frame wrapped around the disk.


    The frame itself had runes carved into it, making the disk even more impressive.


    "The frame I made will double the length the disk can be used for," Daoist Eternal Weapon exined.


    "Thanks," John thanked the man, as it was a very useful addition to the formation. After studying the object for a short while, John put it away.


    "Andst but not least¡­" Daoist Eternal Weapon spoke up, and a deathly aura suddenly flooded the room as the scythe appeared on the table between the two of them.


    John''s eyes instantly lit up in excitement as he stood up and inspected the scythe which he had arduously fought for to obtain.


    The shaft of the scythe was six feet long, and about an inch in diameter. It was made of the Ster Void Ore, and was pitch ck in color, as if it absorbed all the light around it. The shaft was straight and smooth, with small notches asionally for grip support. Closer inspection revealed those notches to be formation runes, carved directly into the shaft.


    His gaze shifted upwards towards the top of the weapon, where the shaft met the de. The de was the scythe-like protrusion from the Darkfiend Demon, and was so perfectly suitable for the de that John wondered if it was possible to obtain a better material for the de.


    As if enhanced by Daoist Eternal Weapon, the de seemed even shaper and more formidable than before. Just staring at the de made John''s soul ache, as if it were being sliced in half.


    Lastly, where the de met the shaft was the blood red demon core, which sat perfectly between two as if no better core could exist. A sinister and bloodthirsty aura emanated from the core, whichbined with the death aura from the shaft and the sharp aura from the de to make a fearsome weapon unrivaled by anything John had seen before.


    It was as if the weapon had been created by a demon god, fit for nothing else but taking lives and snuffing out souls. John stared in wondrous awe at the weapon for so long that he lost track of time, bingpletely enamored by it.


    "What do you think?" Daoist Eternal Weapon asked, snapping John from his entranced thoughts.


    "What do I think? You already know what I think," John replied with great excitement as he reached out and grasped the shaft of the scythe, which was far heavier than he had been expecting. However, as it was designed for use in the World Expansion Realm, the weight was absolutely perfect.


    His muscles strained with power as he was barely able to lift the weapon, which would no doubt require his full strength to wield with any proficiency. The air seemed to scream in pain as the de moved through it, as if it were cutting the fabric of space itself. He held the heavy weapon in both hands, and wanted to unleash an attack to test the weapon, but his body''s condition was not good, and he needed to heal for a few days before he could properly test the weapon.


    However, even without testing it, he could tell that the weapon was no doubt an absolute masterpiece, far better than anything he had ever seen before. It was truly an unrivaled scythe, one whose only purpose was to spread death across thends.


    "It''s absolutely perfect!"

 Chapter 794 Bounty

    The scythe felt as if it there were no better weapon in existence for him, despite it being so heavy that he was unable to wield it at the moment. As his strength grew, so would his ability to wield the scythe, which would increase that affinity even more. John couldn''t wait for the day that he was able to wield the scythe with absolute mastery, and could only imagine the devastation him and the scythe would be able to unleash together.


    His battle with the Asura in the future was a heavy thing constantly weighing on his mind, as he didn''t know how he was supposed to beat and kill such a fearsome creature. His battle with the Darkfiend Demon showcased how it was impossible to jump realms and kill something with a sturdy defense, unless one had a weapon sharp enough to cut through anything.


    Based on his body, Asuros''s body, and also the fact that the Darkfiend Demon feared Asuras, it was obvious that the Asura would have a body beyondparison. John had no idea how he was going to injure such a fearsome opponent, but his confidence rose greatly upon obtaining the scythe.


    After marveling at the scythe for quite some time, John stored it in his spatial realm, as the weight and also the death aura was bing too much to bear in his base state.


    "This scythe is no doubt my finest work, so be sure to disy its might to the world before long," Daoist Eternal Weapon said to John, who smirked upon hearing this.


    "You don''t have to worry about that. This scythe will eventually take part in a battle that will shake the very foundations of this world, and all the world will see the might of your creation," John replied confidently.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon gave John a curious nce, as he could tell that John was alluding to something he had no idea of. However, he didn''t ask for an exnation, and instead returned John''s smile.


    "Good. Then I look forward to that day, and seeing you wield this scythe with unrivaled power."


    "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, but¡­how long was I asleep for?" John asked, shifting the subject.


    "Seven days," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied.


    "Seven days? It was that long?" John eximed in surprise.


    "Its not surprising, and in fact I figured you would be unconscious for longer," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied. "Your body was pushed to the absolute limit, to a level just before copse, which would normally take months to recover from. Your recovery ability is just as monstrous as the rest of your talents it seems. And then there''s your soul. Unleashing your first sessful fusion attack naturally depletes your soul power, so that needed to recover as well."


    "So its like that¡­then that leaves me just three weeks to get to the Divine Source Monastery," John grumbled.


    "The Divine Source Monastery? Oh that''s right, you mentioned that during that little tirade of yours," Daoist Eternal Weapon chimed in. "That journey will normally take you over a month by flying ship."


    "A month? Then I''ll miss the opening of the wall?" John grumbled again.


    "Not exactly," Daoist Eternal Weapon replied as a spatial ring appeared in his hand, and he handed it over to John.


    "What''s this?" John asked curiously as he took the ring and inspected its contents. His eyes widened slightly as he saw what was within.


    "It''s a flying ship¡­my flying ship to be exact," Daoist Eternal Weapon exined. "It''s one of the fastest ships around, so you''ll be able to reach the Divine Source Monastery in about two weeks with this."


    "Are you sure you want to give this to me? Isn''t something like this incredibly expensive?" John asked.


    "Haha, money is no issue for me. Afterall, you just gave me eighty billion spirit crystals," Daoist Eternal Weapon winked at John with a smug smile on his face. "Besides, think of it as another apology for forcing your hand during the test."


    John stared at the man for a short moment before he smiled and nodded his head. His impression of Daoist Eternal Weapon climbed and fell constantly, but at the moment, he found the man to be quite likable.


    "In that case, I ept."


    ¡­


    Outside the Eternal Weapon Temple, several shrouded figures were stationed all around it, observing each and every exit. At the main entrance, one of the figures suddenly stood up, and took out a transmission disk shortly afterwards.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "He''se out," the man sent through the disk before putting it away, and slipped into the shadows out of sight.


    ¡­


    After obtaining the scythe and ship from Daoist Eternal Weapon, John discussed various other things with the man before parting ways. While he wanted to discuss a variety of things with the man, including body cultivation and Dao fusions, he didn''t have much time to waste with the Divine Wall being opened in several weeks time.


    John stepped out of the Eternal Weapon Temple, and breathed in the fresh outdoor air, something he had not experienced for nearly three months of being cooped up in that hot and humid volcanic cavern.


    After taking in the deep, refreshing breath, his gaze shifted slightly as he felt a gazend on him. However, he didn''t spot anyone, as if it had been his imagination, although he knew his instincts were correct.


    "Waiting for me this entire time?" John scoffed as he walked out of the grounds of the Eternal Weapon Temple.


    ''I need to obtain some beast blood essence before I leave, as I''ve drained quite a bittely without replenishing. Once I do that, I''ll set out for the Divine Source Monastery, and maybe I''ll get to test out my scythe on whoever is following me. I can''t wait.''


    ¡­


    For the next half day, John made his way through Five-River Freeport, and eventually arrived in the district controlled by the forbidden faction. Obtaining beast blood essence would be easiest in this district. To avoid further detection, John donned a hood to shroud his face, and stepped into the forbidden faction district.


    The atmosphere of the district was far different than the others he had walked through. It was cold, silent, and filled with shifty gazes and sinister auras, much like had experienced within the Bloodfiend Sect.


    "Hmm, what''s this?" John suddenly stopped at arge poster board, which had many posters pinned to it. He had stopped because he had noticed a picture of his face on the board, something that he had not been expecting.


    His gaze shifted to the top of the board, and he raised one eyebrow as he read the words at the top.


    "Bounty Board huh?"


    His gaze shifted to the poster regarding him, and he ripped it off the board to inspect. A small smirk appeared on his face as he read the words on the sheet.


    Wanted: John Fenix:


    Affiliation: Honorable Alliance


    Rank: Prime Disciple


    Cultivation: Heaven Tribtion Realm


    Threat Level: Unknown


    Aliases: Rumored to be ''Asura''


    Reward: Five Billion Spirit Crystals Dead. Ten Billion Spirit Crystals Alive.


    Inquire with the Neutral Mission Guild for more information.


    "It seems like the rumors have finally spread, huh? Well, things should start to be interesting once again!" John mused as a bloodthirsty and battle hungry expression appeared on his face.

 Chapter 795 Leaving Five-River Freeport

    "Good luck, and make sure not to die on me in there. I still expect you to make me more spirit crystals than I could possibly imagine," Caz said to John as the two stood up from their chairs and shook hands in a friendly manner.


    After seeing the wanted posters in the Forbidden Alliance District, John realized he needed to boost his power further. He obtained the beast blood essence he had set out for, which was avable in overwhelming abundance in such a district, and then returned briefly to the Mystic Trade Hall.


    It had been a year since hest obtained any new battle arts, and now that he was flush with more spirit crystals than he could possibly spend, John decided to purchase the absolute best battle arts money could buy. As such, he returned to the Mystic Trade Hall, and discussed the prospect with Caz, who was more than happy to oblige.


    With his battle axe having the Advent of Annihtion and his scythe having his Divine Reaping Scythe battle arts, John was not wanting for battle arts for either of those weapons. However, he only had the Divine Reaping Scythe manual through the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and the instructions to the next stages were not in his possession. While the Divine Reaping Scythe was an absolutely heavenly battle art that defied battle art norms, even it had its limits. It would be useful against Dao Transformation and possibly even World Expansion opponents, but would surely be less effective as he grew in strength.


    However, despite looking at all the avable scythe battle arts, John was unable to find one more potent for single target lethality. Even the World Expansion grade scythe arts were less profound than the Heaven Tribtion stage of the Divine Reaping Scythe, which only made him further question the profound origin of the wondrous battle art.


    As such, John decided to purchase several new battle arts, mostly consisting of lightning battle arts, but also one scythe battle art. All the battle arts were meant for World Expansion cultivators, but thanks to his monstrous talent, John was confident in being able to use them as soon as he stepped into the Dao Transformation Realm.


    Lastly, John purchased a variety of medicinal pills, cultivation aids, formation disks, and more, nning for every situation he could think of.


    "How could I possibly die now that I''ve purchased all these great battle arts and other things from you?" John replied back with a smile on his face as he thought about the wondrous battle arts now in his possession.


    ''For movement, I''ve obtained Lightning Pierces The Void, which is much more profound than my Thundersh Steps, and evenbines the Dao of Space into the battle art. While my grasp of the Dao of Space is weak at the moment, the Divine Reaping Scythe helped me grasp the initial stages at least. The more I learn of the Dao of Space, the faster I will be with this movement technique.


    Then I obtained the World Expansion tier for Lightning Disintegration, which will keep it useful all the way through that realm, andstly, I''ve obtained the World Expansion portion for Dragontail Decimation as well.


    As for the Scythe Art, I''ve obtained the Ceaseless Scythe-Storm battle art, which is perfect for fighting against multiple enemies at the same time. With this, mybat prowess has once again increased greatly.''


    While he would be able to obtain simr lightning-based battle arts in the Heavenly Lightning Sect for free, he did not have the time to travel to his sect before the Divine Source Monastery opened the Divine Wall.


    "Haha that''s true. Those battle arts are the best I could get for you, regardless of price. If you want anything better in the future, it might be hard to aplish," Caz replied with a wry smile on his face.


    "Oh, there is one thing I want you to keep an eye out for," John chimed up as he took out both the scroll and the jade piece containing the multiple steps to the Divine Reaping Scythe. He had kept the fact that he could read the ancientnguage of these battle arts a secret, as to not bring attention to himself.


    However, with his identity as Asura already leaked, any other attention would only be second inparison. Combined with the fact that he trusted Caz as well, John had no more reservations about bringing the subject up.


    "This is!" Caz said as he noticed the auraing from the jade piece, which had been the very same one he sold John when they first met.


    "That''s right. It''s the same jade piece you sold me over a year ago. Let''s just say if I want you to do your best to see if anything simr exists in this world, hopefully more profound. If you manage to find something like that, I''ll make it more than worth your time," John said to Caz as a small smile of hopeful optimism lingered on his face.


    "Hahaha, I thought your reaction when you first saw this jade piece was quite peculiar, and it seems my suspicions were correct," Caz replied with a light chuckle, while his words clearly revealed that he knew John could read thenguage.


    John only shrugged his shoulders in response, and put away the jade piece and scroll once more.<novelnext>  </novelnext>


    "Sure, I''ll do my best to inquire into this matter," Caz said with a firm tone, while John nodded in appreciation.


    "Thanks. And it''s best I get going now. As it is, I''ll probably arrivete to the Divine Wall opening," John replied.


    "Good luck," Caz said as the two exchanged goodbyes.


    ¡­


    John sat within his flying ship that sped through the air at incredible speed, graciously given to him by Daoist Eternal Weapon. After leaving the Mystic Trade Hall, he had wasted no time at all in leaving Five-River Freeport, as time was of the essence.


    The flying ship was muchrger than the one he had originally purchased, and much grander as well. It was nearly one hundred yards long and forty yards wide, and was sleek and elegant in design.


    The exterior color was gold and white, which was not to John''s liking, was still quite appealing to look at. The interior of the ship was just as immacte, with the same white and gold designs. High quality furnishings of all types were within, and the ship contained many rooms serving different purposes, from a lounge to a bedroom, a cultivation room, a battle-training room, a pool, a kitchen, and more. It was as if his house from the Heavenly Lightning Sect had turned into a flying ship itself, only even more magnificent and profound.


    Most importantly of all was the navigation aspect of the ship, which had tens of thousands of pre-programmed routes to choose from, which traveled all over the continent and even further beyond. As such, John did not need to employ Kirii''s navigational help, despite Kirii''s adamant protest.


    The ship had already surged forward thousands of miles, leaving Five-River Freeport far behind. John currently sat on one of the seats in the lounge, not doing anything particr as if waiting for something.


    His unfocused gaze suddenly cleared up as he slowly raised his head, while his eyes narrowed slightly.


    "I tried to disguise myself to not get spotted, as I''m in quite the rush, but I guess that didn''t work in the end," John sighed as he stood up from his seat and walked over towards the rear of the ship, where one of the exits were located.


    His hand pressed against a formation on the wall, upon which therge door opened, and he stepped outside. His hand then pressed against the ship''s exterior, which disappeared as he stored it away.


    His gaze shifted to the side and underneath him, which was an expansive forestnd that seemed to be uninhabited by anything but beasts. Mountains swept out in all directions, while meandering rivers rushed in the valleys between them, making it quite a beautiful location.


    ''This ce seems quite remote, which is perfect for me not needing to hold back at all.''


    sh!


    A flying ship traveling at immense speeds quickly appeared in his view and arrived before him in an instant, its speed no less than his own ship. It lurched to a halt instantly, and shortly after six people stepped out of the ship.


    Leading the group was a familiar face, which John was not surprised to see at all.


    "I figured you would be the one behind the spies who followed me, and it seems I was right," John said calmly as he gazed at the group, led by none other than Vivian of the Starforge n, who was surrounded by five Late-Stage Dao Transformation cultivators.

 Chapter 796 Vivian Reappears

    A satisfied and smug smirk appeared on Vivians face as she stared directly at John.


    "You knew you were being followed, and yet you still left the city alone? You could have stayed inside the city safe and sound, or at least had someone strong escort you. You''re either aplete idiot, or overconfident in your abilities to the point that you are still aplete idiot," Vivian replied with undisguised mockery.


    "If I was either of those things, I would have died one hundred times already," John replied calmly as he shifted his gaze to the five guards next to Vivian.


    The guards wore robes simr to that of Vivian, but darker and sleeker in design. Clearly they belonged to the Starforge n as well, but were most likely protectors assigned to the young masters of the n. All five were men, who appeared to be in their thirties, although their true age was most likely in the hundreds.


    While Dao Transformation experts were not the peak power of the continent, they were still near the top. Only the most talented and elite of cultivators were able to break through to the World Expansion Realm, making them few and far between. For almost all situations Vivian would run into, five Late Stage Dao Transformation cultivators would be more than enough.


    As he stared at the guards and sized up their strengths and weaknesses, a small smirk appeared on his face.


    ''Each of these cultivators have the same cultivation level as my master. While her talent puts her far above the likes of them, they''re stillparable to her. When I first met her, her cultivation level seemed so distant and profound that I couldn''t evenprehend it, and yet now, just three yearster, I''m at the level where facing down five of them at once seems manageable. I never really thought about it before, but my cultivation speed truly is monstrous. Maybe I should thank Celestial Soulrend when I see him again.''


    Thanks to the incredibly profound Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique gifted to him by Celestial Soulrend, as well as his monstrous talent, John had managed to catch up to the most talented of yours cultivation wise already, despite starting a decade behind them and also living in a much less cultivation friendly ce.


    Coupled with his monstrous battle prowess, John''s progress shocked even himself when he stopped to think about it.


    "And yet, you not only left the city alone, but also stopped and waited for us to catch up. Your ship is quite fast, so catching up wasn''t a guarantee, but now you''re firmly in my grasp. So if you''re not an idiot, then what are you? A super idiot?" Vivian continued her smug mockery.


    "So before we start this, I have one question to ask. Is this about the bounty, or is this about your own personal vendetta?" John asked, ignoring her insults.


    "You know of the bounty? Well that makes things easier then. I don''t know why they think you''re this ''Asura'', but clearly they''re mistaken. But that''s not my concern. As for your question, it''s both. Once I capture you and have my way with you, I''ll hand you over to collect the bounty. The bounty only mentioned you need to be alive to collect therger reward, but not what condition you need to be in," Vivian replied with a viscous smile on her face, as if she were already thinking about the things she would do to John to make him suffer.


    "You Starforge fucks really are sick in the head. I guess it''s a good thing that I n to wipe your n off the face of this world before long, as this vile nature seems to run quite deep in your n" John replied as he shook his head slightly, almost unable to believe how a young maiden of such an esteemed n could be so viscious already.


    Viviana smug gaze narrowed into a cold stare as she heard John''s reply. "You dare to insult my Starforge n? When I''m done with you-"


    "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I''ve heard something simr muttered by other people a dozen times already, and each of them fell beneath my might, including that pathetic cousin of yours. You''ll be no different, so why don''t we skip the bullshit and get straight to the fighting. I''m in quite a hurry after all,''" John replied back with casual indifference, which stunned not only Vivian, but the five guards next to her.


    Vivians stunned expression quickly shifted to anger, and then furious rage as she heard John''s reply. She had expected him to beg for mercy as she arrived, but had instead been greeted with indifferent mockery. As a pampered young master of the Starforge n, she had never suffered such insults.


    Her face turned red as she pointed out towards John. "Get him, and bring him to me alive!" She barked out furiously to her guards, who nodded and began to move towards John, encircling him within.<novelnext></novelnext>


    None of them drew their weapons, as if they considered such an action unnecessary. Even one of them would be enough to dominate even the most talented of Heaven Tribtion geniuses, and the only reason all five took action was to ensure no escape was possible


    "Finally," John said as he rolled his head to the side, as if their conversation had been nothing but an annoyance, while a smirk of anticipation appeared on his face.


    "I just reached the Peak of the Heaven Tribtion realm recently, so do your best to not disappoint me," John said to the five with calm confidence as he pointed towards one of the cultivators encircling him.


    "Your smug gaze is quite annoying, so you''ll be the first to die," John said with authority, as if the matter had already been concluded.


    "Hahahaha," the five guards broke out into boisterousughter, as if they had heard the funniest joke.


    "Boy, even if you are this ''Asura'', you clearly don''t know how the world works. Allow me to teach you a less-"


    Roar!


    A deafening dragon roar boomed out without warning, containing incredible power, enough to stun the nearby guards for an instant, who had yet to raise their guard or utilize their true power, as they thought the matterpletely unnecessary.


    Immediately after the powerful roar, an aura suddenly exploded outwards as if a true dragon had descended on the world, containing overbearing might. The guard who John had pointed to quickly came back to his senses, only to see a pitch ck scythe emanating a deathly aura slicing towards him.


    Boom!


    The mans aura exploded outwards as he surged with might, while his sword appeared in his hand. However, due to both his shock and the deathly aura, his movements were slowed.


    "Too slow!"


    Che!


    A sharp sound pierced out as John''s scythe descended without pause,nding on the mans head before he could raise his sword and might in time.


    The four other cultivators watched in stunned silence as John turned towards them, while the two halves of their fellow guard parted and plummeted to the earth below, blood and entrails following behind.


    "Now then, let''s get started, shall we?"

 Chapter 797 Starforge Sword Domain

    Due to their bodies being weaker than body cultivators, all essence cultivators naturally protected their bodies with ayer of Qi, to guard against any surprise attacks. The level of protection depended on how much Qi was supplied to this barrier, which constantly drained Qi from the dantian. To cultivators, this felt like running a marathon, as the drain was slow but steady.


    For those who werezy or those who looked down on their opponents, they used the minimum amount of Qi they thought necessary, as anything else was nothing but a waste in their eyes. The man that John had just in in a single attack was such a man, who looked down on John and his power.


    Even if it were an Early Dao Transformation cultivator in front of him, he would have been able to block that blow with thisyer of Qi he had around his body. ording to cultivation norms, a Peak Heaven Tribtion cultivator having the power of an Early Dao Transformation cultivator was almost impossible, but the man gave John a bit of credit due to his status as ''Asura.''


    However, he could have never expected John to have talent andbat prowess that defied even the Heavens itself, and so his Qi barrier wascking when John''s attack hadnded, and he had not had the time to strengthen it before the fatal blow hadnded. Had the man gone all out from the start, he would have been able to block that attack and live to continue the fight, but his hubris andziness had been his downfall, which John was counting on.


    ''Fighting all five at the same time would have been quite the pain in the ass, and maybe even more than I would have been able to manage. Cutting down one instantly makes this a much more manageable fight, although it''s still not going to be easy. I want to use as little as possible in this fight, to ensure I remain healthy and have enough reserves for what lies beyond the Divine Wall. With that in mind¡­''


    As John quickly assessed the battle toe, the four remaining cultivators, as well as Vivian, stared at him with absolute shock. They had no idea how he had exploded with so much power, moved so fast, andnded such a quick and decisive blow. Even now it still felt like a dream to them, but the bisected corpse of their ally falling to the ground below was the evidence that this was no illusion or dream.


    "K-k-k-k-kill him!" Vivian screeched loudly, her voice filled with panic and fear. She had initially wanted them to take him alive so she could extract joy from his misery, as well as collect the higher bounty, but now she had no such delusions.


    Vivian''s screech snapped the four cultivators out of their shock, and all four immediately erupted with their full power, no longer looking down on the dragon-scaled youth before them. They had never seen such a transformation before, and knew they could no longer afford to look down on him.


    As their auras erupted with power, the deathly aura emanating from John''s scythe shed against them, corroding their aura and attempting to invade their flesh. Grimaces appeared on all four of their faces as they fought against the deathly aura, which required them to use a vast amount of Qi for the sole purpose of driving the aura back, as if it touched them, their movements would be slowed and flesh decayed, and potentially even death woulde to them.


    This increase in defensive Qi drew away from each of their offensive capability, making all four feel as though they had stepped into a murky swamp, which was dragging them down.


    On the other hand, John used no essence Qi at all to protect his body. Thanks to his immensely durable body, as well as his resistance to death Qi, he was able to withstand the aura directly without being affectedbat prowess wise. However, the deathly aura was constantly eroding his skin, making it cken and rot, making him look quite miserable on the outside.


    At the same time, his Limiter of Healing and Immortal Asura Body fought back constantly, repairing whatever damage the aura of death did to him.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The weight of the scythe in his hand felt heavy, despite his Dragon-God Shift transformation. It weighed nearly one million pounds, and was meant for a World Expansion body cultivator to wield. As such, it was still cumbersome to wield without using his full power, but John wanted to test his limits of what he was capable of with this weapon in this battle.


    Five zing aura''s burned brightly in the sky, as four auras shed against a brilliant golden ze in the center. The four cultivators took out their weapons, all swords of the exact same design.


    "Hmph, so boring. As expected of the Starforge n," John harrumphed as he shed forward to initiate the fight. His scythe shed out towards one of the cultivators, who was coated in a sword aura, as were the other three cultivators. Clearly all four were straightforward sword cultivators, with no other focus.


    "Hmph, you will pay for that!" the cultivator being targeted said as he shed his sword towards John, containing the full might of a Late Dao Transformation cultivator. Arge blue sword image shed outwards, appearing before John in an instant, who swiped his scythe out to meet the attack.


    Che!


    Scythe and sword image shed, and his scythe shed right through the powerful sword image, as if it could cleave all of creation. The man''s face twitched as he saw this, and sh backwards, narrowly dodging John''s follow up attack.


    "Fall back, and form the Starforge Sword Domain!" the man barked out orders, which the other three instantly followed.


    Before John could react, all four had fallen back several hundred yards, and instantly red with a unique aura. Thousands of bright blue swords quickly appeared in the air around each of them, dancing with sharp lethality. The four domain''s quickly linked together, ovepping and forming onerge domain, brimming with sharp sword Qi, and containing a might far greater than he had expected them to be able to unleash.


    John raised an eyebrow as he felt this domain envelop him, leaving no inch for escape.


    ''This might be a bit tricky to handle,'' John mused as his smile widened, and he stared defiantly at the four cultivators.


    "Come on! Let''s see what you''ve got!"

 Chapter 798 Ceaseless Scythe Storm

    "Hmph, still so arrogant. Let''s see how long that arrogancests when faced with our overwhelming sword domain!" one of the cultivators mocked back.


    They had felt overwhelming pressure before when John had in theirrade, but now that he was firmly within theirbined domain, their confidence immediately returned to them.


    Without hesitation, the four instantly activated their domains, as the nearly ten thousand swords started to encircle John with incredible speed, encircling him in all directions. The swords traveled so fast that they nearly seemed to form a solid wall, as if he had been trapped within a solid blue sphere.


    A smirk of satisfaction appeared on Vivian''s face as she saw John be trapped within, as her fear and shock finally faded away.


    "The idiot. He could have ran after that surprise attack, but now that he''s trapped, there''s no escape. His strength might be amazing, but it was clearly only even to the four of them. He''s outnumbered four to one! He''s finished!" Vivian sneered.


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    Instantly, and without warning, hundreds of swords raced out from the sword sphere, piercing directly towards John with lethal intent. The swords all contained incredible sharpness and speed, as if each were a real sword sh from a Dao Transformation cultivator.


    "Impressive!" John roared as he felt danger for the first time in the battle. He would need to fight against the hundreds of swords piercing towards him each second and get through the sword sphere before he was able to reach any one of the men he was fighting. This was no doubt an incredibly difficult thing to do, and John couldn''t help but be impressed with what he was going against. If he wasn''t careful, it wasn''t impossible for him to lose his life in this battle.


    However, this was the perfect time to practice his new battle art, which he had only just begun to study.


    Ceaseless Scythe Storm!


    ng!


    ng!


    ng!


    Sharp sounds rang out in quick session as John''s scythe moved like a blur in his hand, twirling so fast that it appeared to be a solid shield. His scythe moved from left hand to right hand, passed behind his back, over his head, and towards his feet.


    The Ceaseless Scythe Storm was a defensive scythe art, which utilized the sharp and swift nature of the scythe to quickly move it around in a circr fashion, fast enough that it formed a scythe wall before him. It sounded simple, but was actually quiteplicated and demanding.


    Thousands of pulses of Qi surged through John''s arms each second, moving them with pinpoint precision at speeds that he would not be able to move with his own muscles. Each pulse of Qi sted out of a particr meridian on his arms and hands, moving them just a bit more in the direction he wanted. It was as if he had thousands of thrusters on his arms, pushing them to reach speeds he was incapable of reaching through his own physical power.


    These micro-adjustments of Qi needed to happen in ordance to what direction the next attack wasing from, and so unlike many battle arts that were fixed in how they were activated and used, it was not a set-in-stone step by step utilization of Qi, and was more reactionary. Due to its unique andplex nature, John had not yet grasped the battle art fully.


    Blood sttered around John as swords pierced through his defense, slicing against his body and drawing blood. With his inability to block all of the swords, John focused on blocking the ones pointing for his vitals, and allowed the non-lethal attacks to pass through, shing against his arms and legs.


    Smirks of satisfaction appeared on the faces of the four cultivators as they saw their attacks draw blood, and they continued to press the advantage.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Che!


    Che!


    Che!


    Thousands of swords pierced down from all directions each second towards John, each sword capable of taking the life of an Early Dao Transformation cultivator with ease. The swords mmed against the scythe wall surrounding John, which continued to speed up and grow in visible density. His body was slowly starting to disappear behind the scythe wall, as if he were truly being encased in a solid dome of scythes.


    It became clear to the cultivators that as the battle drew on, John''s proficiency with the defensive art he was employing was growing, and at a terrifying speed as well. His progress was heaven defying, which caused the smirks of satisfaction on the four men''s faces to fade away and be reced with frowns.


    "What a fucking monster. We need to kill him before he masters that ability, or we''ll never be able to break through!" one of the four men yelled out loud.


    "Hmph, let him learn it. While he might be monstrous, he''s still only in the Heaven Tribtion Realm. His power might be equal to ours, but his Qi reserves will naturally be less than ours due to him yet to transform his Dao''s and dantian. He''ll no doubt run out of Qi before us, at which point he is finished!" one of the other men replied, to which the other three nodded and continued theirbined assault on John.


    Boom!


    The sky started to rumble with ruinous power as the collisions between swords and scythe grew in intensity, both of which seemed to have no end. John''s scythe continued to grow faster and faster as he began to grasp the nuances of the Ceasless Scythe Storm, making his defense even more formiddable.


    "I had doubts about this battle art when I obtained it, but I no longer have those doubts! This battle art is incredible for fighting against multiple enemies at once!" John mumbled to himself with satisfaction. "Being able to rely on this to defend against multiple attacks instead of my body keeps my fighting condition in much better shape, allowing me to fight with more power for a longer period of time. Its exactly what I need for situations like this."


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The battle continued for quite some time, with both sides reaching a stalemate. The calm and collected expressions on the four cultivators slowly turned sour as John continued to persist, far longer than they had thought was possible.


    "How the hell can a Heaven Tribtion cultivator have this much Qi? Even if he had a ten timespressed dantian, he would have run out of Qi long ago!" one of them roared.


    "Who knows! Just keep the domain intact. We cannot let up for a single moment!" the leader of the four roared, keeping his squad focused on the task at hand.


    While the four were shocked at John''ssting Qi reserves, John''s face was starting to turn a shade more pale, while his soul power was starting to waver as well. At the same time, over a million swords had mmed into his scythe wall, each containing incredible power. The vibrations of the collision shook his body non-stop, making it so that even he was starting to umte damage to the point that he could not ignore.


    ''This battle art might be incredible, but it''s also incredibly taking. It takes incredible concentration to control so many micro-movements of Qi, which is making me feel as though my soul power and essence Qi are reaching their end. I suppose I''ve learned enough about this battle art for now, so it''s time to end this battle¡­Kirii. Do your thing!''


    ''Finally!'' Kirii''s voice sounded out in John''s head, while a powerful aura suddenly appeared in the sky above John and the four cultivators.


    "What?" The four men cried out in unison as they stared upwards, and spotted a lone creature hovering in the sky above them, brimming with an incredibly potent amount of lightning Qi. It was as if a heavenly tribtion had appeared above them, ready to smite them down together. The lightning instantly mmed downwards, like the heavens had opened up and unleashed heavenly judgment.


    Boom!

 Chapter 799 Kiriis New Might

    The skies above the battle seemed to open up, like the heavens appearing to pass judgment on all beneath it. A storm of lightning surged downwards, powerful enough to cause all four Late Dao Transformation cultivators to feel a surge of fear rush through them.


    The attack was not strong enough to im their lives outright should they turn to block it, but blocking it would mean undoing the Starforge Storm Domain, which was the only thing containing John at the moment.


    "Shit! Block the attack, and kill whoever dares to interfere with our Starforge business!" the leader of the group yelled out, giving instructions to undo the domain and protect themselves.


    All four cultivators immediately turned their attention to the attack racing down from above, and each unleashed a powerful sword art towards the lightning beams crashing towards them.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Five thunderous explosions rang out as four sword images shed against the lightning beams, while the fifth lightning beam struck elsewhere. A powerful shockwave from the collision caught the attention of the four cultivators, who turned in a panic towards the explosion.


    "Young Misses!" the leader bellowed out as he took in the sight of the lightning beam crashing against their flying ship, sting it downwards towards the ground below. The ship crashed against a mountain, destroying itpletely before finallying to a destructive rest at the bottom of a gorge.


    However, the ship was still intact and rtively undamaged, thanks to the formidable craftsmanship as well as defensive formations surrounding it. Instead, the man bellowed in a panic as he watched the ruinous explosion wash over Vivian, drowning her within.


    The explosion faded quickly, revealing her figure, which was incredibly miserable looking. Her clothes were charred, and despite the fact that her dress was lined with protective formations, it was not unable topletely protect her. Blood flowed from several parts of her body, and she fell to the ground a mile below like a lifeless corpse, clearly unconscious from the explosion that had enveloped her.


    A grimace appeared on the man''s face, who raced down towards his falling young misses.


    "Where do you think you''re going?" a cold voice sounded out behind him, causing the mans grimace to turn to rage as he quickly turned around and shed out his sword.


    "I''ll kill you, you fucking brat!" the man bellowed out in rage as he unleashed a powerful sword battle art. This sword art was even more powerful than the one he had unleashed against Kirii''s attack, and was more than powerful enough to kill any Late Dao Transformation cultivator should itnd on them, body cultivator or not. The man''sbat prowess was undeniable, and it became evident why he was tasked with guarding such an important figure of the Starforge n.


    "Unfortunately for you, that will not be possible," John replied with cold arrogance as he decided it was time to test the true limits of what his body was capable of. His scythe disappeared as he stored it away, something that shocked the man he was fighting. The man''s shock turned into a sinister smile as he stared at John with expectant mockery, as if John''s demise was now ensured. His attack had a spatial aspect to it, which locked down the nearby area, making it impossible to escape from quickly.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The only way for John to proceed was to take the attack head on, which was impossible without his weapon. As far as the man was concerned, John was now as good as dead.


    In the split second before the attacknded, John noticed the man''s smug smile, and returned the smile in favor. His smile caused the smug smile to instantly vanish from the mans face, who knew that was not the smile of someone about to die.


    As if answering his question of what was about to happen, a horrific blood red aura instantly exploded outwards, enveloping everything in the surrounding area. The man felt as if he had been plunged into the depths of hell, and felt his blood get colder, Qi slowed down, and even his soul be under attack by the absolutely sinister aura enveloping him.


    But what horrified the man the most was not the nature of the aura, but its power, and the one who it belonged to. The man''s eyes widened as he saw John''s body instantly change, bing something of nightmares. His eyes trembled as he fell under John''s blood red gaze, as if he were being stared at by a creature of pure evil.


    After unleashing his Asura Transformation Art on top of his Dragon-God Shift, John felt an iparable power surge through his body. At the same time, the normally dormant Limiter of Power activated, unleashing the true potential of his physical body. Unleashing all three aspects made John feel immense strain, as if he were about to break apart, but he ignored the pain and trusted in his body''s durability as he surged forward with absolute might.


    The sharp sword image arrived before him, roughly double the size of his body. It contained incredible power, enough to shatter an entire mountain range with ease, and eradicate any Late Dao Transformation cultivator who took the attack head on.


    His fist surged forward as the sword image was now just two feet away from his body, about to cleave him in half. His right fist exploded forward, and at thest possible moment, John coated his fist with his most potent Daoprehension.


    Dao of Power!


    The power of the heavens seemed to coalesce, with the focal point being his fist. The might emanating from John''s fist climbed even higher, further stunning the already stunned senseless man.


    BOOM!


    Fist and sword image collided in the air, each containing absolutely overwhelming power. After the briefest instant of a stalemate between the two, the sword image carved into John''s knuckles, drawing blood and mming against bone.


    Immediately afterwards, the sword image exploded in a shower of explosive Qi, unable to withstand the apocalyptic might of John''s fist, augmented by both his body transformations, as well as his Limiter of Power and Dao of Power!


    The broken sword image, which contained an incredible amount of Qi, caused a horrific explosion to st outwards, enveloping both John and the horrified man, who quickly reacted to the iprehensible events and wrapped his body with protective Qi to defend against the explosion.


    BOOM!


    The explosion radiated outwards for miles, as if it would never end. It did eventually fade away a few secondster, revealing two figures still hovering in the sky right next to each other.


    The trembling eyes and blood-soaked face of the man stared at John, who was directly before him, hand plunged directly through the mans heart.

 Chapter 800 Conflicting Kill

    While John was able to resist the effects of the explosion and surge through it towards the man, the man was not able to, and after defending against the attack, was unable to react to John''s incredible speed and power.


    Puh!


    The man coughed out a thick stream of blood as he reached out and grabbed onto John''s outstretched arm to remove it, his actionspletely instinctual. He quickly realized he was done for, and instead dropped his hands to his side as he stared at John with a conflicted expression.


    "You truly¡­.are¡­an Asura¡­" the man said heavily while coughing out blood constantly.


    John''s cold and unflinching gaze stared at the man in silence, letting him say his final words before his inevitable demise. The mans pained and dazed expression eventually turned into a small smile, something that surprised John slightly, and he tilted his head sideways in questioning confusion.


    "I¡­had found your¡­.words to be¡­amusing¡­.but it seems¡­you truly have the power¡­to destroy the¡­.Starforge n¡­in the near future¡­." the man coughed out, reaching the end of his life.


    "Good¡­the Starforge n I loved¡­.became something else¡­something evil¡­when n Leader Kaidel took over¡­but I did not have the power¡­to do anything¡­about it¡­" the man continued, his breaths bing ragged and sparse.


    John''s gaze narrowed slightly as he heard these words, as it seemed the new n leader of the Starforge n, Kadins father, was up to no good, enough to make a man like this disgusted.


    "Does the name Adam Starforge mean anything to you?" John asked the man curiously. Adam''s true name was Adam Starforge, although he had cast that name out long ago.


    "The exiled¡­young¡­master!" the man eximed as his eyes widened, not expecting to hear that name brought up. John could see respect and sad hopefulness in the man''s eyes as he heard the name, and could tell his opinion of Adam.


    "Rest easy. When I destroy the Starforge n, it will be to build it anew, with my friend, your exiled young master Adam, as the new ruler of the n," John said to the man, hoping to give him somefort in his final moments.


    The man''s eyes trembled as he heard this, as if he had heard a fairy talee to life. A small smile returned to the corner of his mouth as he stared at John, and ced a weak hand onto his shoulder.


    "Good¡­then I can die¡­in peace¡­knowing that my¡­Starforge n¡­is in good hands! The old rule¡­can truly be¡­restored¡­" the man said, his breaths light and fading.


    John felt conflicting emotions as he heard this man''s reply, and sighed deeply before asking one more question. He pointed his left thumb over his shoulder, towards the three men battling Kirii currently.


    "And what about them? Do they feel the same as you?" John asked, as he wanted to avoid killing potential allies if possible.


    The man''s weak gaze shifted to the distant battle, and his tired eyes narrowed slightly as he shook his head, while a sinister smile appeared on his face.


    "They¡­fully support¡­the new n leader¡­and his evil ways¡­," the man''s hoarse voice sounded out, although it contained cold malice. "Kill them¡­kill all who support that vicious man¡­kill¡­.them¡­all¡­." the man''s voice trailed off, and his head drooped down as his life finally faded away.


    Sigh!


    Another deep sigh escaped John''s lips as he gazed at the now lifeless man, who had once been his enemy, but could have been his ally, and even friend. However, such was the way of the cultivation world, with deathing quickly, and oftening to those who did not deserve it.


    He reached out and brushed the man''s eyelids, closing them in respect, and then stored the man''s body away. Such a man was worthy of a proper burial, and John would be sure to make that happen within the Starforge n grounds when the time came.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    While John dealt with his conflicted emotions, the battle in the distant continued, as Kirii battled alone against three Late Dao Transformation cultivators. The man John had killed had been the strongest of the group, and so their totalbat prowess had fallen considerably. However, it was still an absolutely heaven defying feat from Kirii, who once again proved the unparalleled talent and power of the Kirin race.


    After wrestling with his emotions and containing them, John''s gaze turned cold again as he gazed downwards, and pointed his finger outwards. A powerful beam of lightning Qi sted outwards towards the ground, at which point he ignored that direction and sped back towards Kirii, his sinister yet regal aura surging out with iparable might once more.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Cmitous explosions nketed the sky for a short while as the battle raged on, before it finally faded away. John''s chest heaved heavily as he panted for breaths, drawing in Qi from the surrounding area to replenish his lost reserves. Despite the fact that he and Kirii had won, the battle had been arduous, with all three men fighting defiantly until theirst breaths.


    Blood slicked both John''s and Kirii''s body, but they ignored it as the wounds were not life threatening. After drawing in many deep breaths and recovering slightly, John felt a wave of fatigue and pain wash through him as he undid his transformations and limiters, and returned to normal. He fought against the urge to pass out, and instead patted Kirri on the head.


    "Good Job Kirii!"


    "Aye! I was amazing? Wasn''t I?" Kirii replied, his voice still somewhat high pitched and child-like.


    "Yes you were. Thanks to you breaking through to the Dao Transformation Realm while I was with Daoist Eternal Weapon, yourbat prowess has risen considerably," John praised Kirii again. While John had been upied with his weapon smithing, he had given Kirii the Nine-Convergence Lightning Core to study. Thanks to Kirii''s incredible lightning aptitude, he was able to grasp many of the concepts contained within the core, and elevate his cultivation to the next realm, once again greatly surpassing John''s cultivation speed.


    "Hehehe, I''m just amazing after all. The most talented and amazing Kirin to ever exist," Kirii praised himself.


    "Yes you are," John indulged Kirii and praised him once more, before his gaze hardened and he shifted it towards the ground below. He quickly shed forward, with Kirii following close behind, andnded on the ground before Vivian, who was crying out in pain from the beam of lightning John had unleashed a while ago, which hadpletely severed her left leg, leaving her crippled and in excruciating pain.


    While a normal cultivator would have been able to ignore the pain and flee, the pampered young misses of the Starforge n was not used to pain, and was not able to fight against it.


    "You!!!" Vivian cried out in fear as she spotted John, and tried to flee but to no avail.


    "Pathetic," John mocked as he ced a foot on her chest, pinning her to the ground.


    "You¡­you''re finished¡­you-" Vivian began her typical tirade of threats, but John was not in the mood, and instead pointed towards her chest.


    Boom!


    A lightning beam sted out of his finger, mming against Vivian''s chest. Her eyes went wide in panic, but not pain, causing John to frown as he noticed there was a powerful formation protecting her vital areas.


    As the beamnded, a powerful aura suddenly surged out from Vivian, and a wispy figure quickly materialized in the air before John, the same size as him. It was clearly a formation hologram, simr to the ones used in the auction house of Five-River Freeport, and was a human male who appeared to be in forties. He had long ck hair tied into a neat bun, a thin yet elegant mustache, and wore the signature robes of the Starforge n, only more intricate and ornate than John had seen on any other member before.


    The man''s gaze shifted from John, to the ground, where his eyes widened, and then turned into furious rage as he stared back at John.


    "Who dares to attack my daughter! A young master of the Starforge n!" the man bellowed out in furious rage.


    John raised an eyebrow as this happened, as he could tell that the man was able to see what was going on, despite him most likely being hundreds of thousands of miles away, or even further. He inspected the hologram of the man for a moment, and could tell that the man was a powerful cultivator, even without being able to feel his aura.


    "Release your foot, or you will face my wrath!" the man boomed once more, almost unable to contain his rage.


    John smirked and sneered once, unimpressed by the man''s threats.


    "And who the fuck are you?"

 Chapter 801 Mysterious Blood Formation

    "Who the fuck are you?" John asked, his tone containing no respect at all.


    The man before him turned red in the face with anger, seemingly unable to contain his emotions from John''sck of respect.


    "You little bastard. Not only do you gravely injure my daughter, but you also dare to address me, the Vice-n Leader of the Starforge n in such a manner? Men have died for less," the man roared while revealing his true identity.


    "Vice-n Leader?" John chimed in surprise while raising an eyebrow. He had no idea that Vivian''s father had such an elevated position in the Starforge n, and only assumed her father to be a high status elder.


    The man''s enraged expression was quickly reced with a smug and haughty one, as if John''s expression was what he was expecting from the start.


    "Yes, and now that you know my status, as well as the status of my daughter, I''m sure you realize the situation you''re in. Let her go, and I''ll forget this whole ordeal, as I''m sure it was a misunderstanding. But if you dare to harm her further¡­" the man''s voice trailed off, leaving the silent threat more than apparent.


    Johnughed lightly as he heard the man''s promise.'' He knew the nature of the Starforge n, and knew he would never be forgiven for this. The promise was only made so that Vivian could live, and once she escaped, the Vice-n Leader would no doubt hunt John to the end of the earth.


    "Unfortunately, I cannot ept that offer. You see, your precious daughter here just tried to have me killed, and quite brutally I might add, so I cannot just let that slide," John replied with an exasperated tone, as if his hands were tied and he had no choice in the matter.


    The man''s smug expression faded away as a frown appeared on his face, and his eyes lit up shortly afterwards.


    "Now I remember where I saw your face," the Vice-n Leader eximed. "You''re the Prime Disciple of the Honorable Alliance!"


    "So, what of it?" John replied, not surprised that he would be recognized. His bounty, which contained a very detailed image of his face, was most likely posted over the entire continent by now.


    "Young man, your Honorable Alliance and my Starforge n have a very close rtionship. One that would be gravely harmed should you take any bold action here. You better think twice about your next move, or you could irreparably harm that rtionship," the man warned gravely.


    "Why should I care about that? From the rumors I''ve recently heard, your n has allied yourself with the Forbidden Alliance, so the rtionship is already worth shit," John rebuked the man.


    The man''s expression changed for a brief instant, as if he were not expecting to hear that. John smiled slightly as he spotted this, which was silent confirmation of what Kadin had told him in the Jade Dragon Empire Realm.


    "That''s not true at all. Our n has always been a neutral power," the man denied the usation, to which John shrugged his shoulders in an uncaring manner, as if he didn''t care one way or another for the truth.


    The man''s expression darkened again, but he did his best to calm his rage as he spoke out once more.


    "What do you want for my daughter''s safety? Even if she tried to target you, I''m sure there was a misunderstanding in that as well. I''m sure we cane to some sort of agreement?" the man asked John, as if he were truly sincere with the offer.


    A thoughtful expression appeared on John''s face as he fell silent for a moment, but he shook his head sideways after a short pause.


    "No thanks. I''m sure this formation on your daughter has some sort of tracking mechanism, and you''re just stalling for time. You''ve probably already sent people my way, who should be arriving before long," John replied, to which the man''s expression darkened greatly.


    "Seems like I hit the nail on the head," John smiled as he saw the man''s expression.


    "Young man, if you dare harm my daughter further, I will destroy you, your friends, your family, and every single thing that''s even remotely linked to you. By the time I''m done, the world won''t even remember your existence!" the man roared, finally giving up his facade as he could tell it was useless.


    "Good luck with that," John scoffed mockingly as he pointed towards Vivian''s chest with his finger, and sent out a thin yet powerful beam of lightning.


    "Father!" Vivian eximed in fear as the beam mmed into her chest.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "You brat! You are dead!" the man roared, but was silenced as his hologram disappeared, as the lightning beam had struck the formation disk on Vivian''s chest beneath her robe, destroying it.


    After the figure of her father faded away, Vivian''s face turnedpletely white, as she finally realized the gravity of the situation she was in.


    "Please¡­spare me. I''ll do anything!" Vivian cried out in panicked fear, while tears streamed down her face.


    A thoughtful expression appeared on John''s face as if he was considering the request, and he nodded his head after a short pause.


    "Fine. I''ll let you go if you answer one question!" John said, to which Vivian nodded her head vigorously.


    "Anything!" she eximed.


    "That guard of yours mentioned your n is working on something¡­Something that disgusted him to his core. What was he talking about?" John asked, trying to uncover the truth.


    Hesitation appeared on Vivian''s fearful face as she heard this, as if she couldn''t reveal the secrets of what John was asking about.


    "Tch, then die!" John said exasperation as he pointed at her once again.


    "Wait, wait, wait! I''ll tell you. I''ll tell you everything I know!" Vivian cried out in deathly fear.


    "Speak. I''m in a rush," John said with a cold expression on his face.


    "I¡­I don''t know much, but I know my n is working on some sort of formation. A formation that requires blood," the eximed.


    "A demon summoning formation?" John asked with a frown on his face as he thought back to the Bloodfiend Sect, and how they had summoned that frightful demon.


    "No no no. Its something different. I''m not sure exactly what it does, but it''s not a summoning formation!" Vivian eximed quickly. "Please¡­that''s truly all I know. Now let me go, as you promised!"


    A frown lingered on John''s face as he gauged the truth of her words, and figured she was most likely telling the truth. With time being of the essence, he didn''t have time to carefully interrogate her. As for taking her with them, he was sure the Starforge n could track her location somehow, so that was out of the question as well.


    "Fine, I believe you," John said as he removed his foot from her chest, and turned around.


    A deep sigh of relief escaped Vivian''s lips as she felt the embrace of death leave her, but her eyes widened with absolute fear as she spotted Kirii, now in his human form, pointing towards her head, lightning crackling on his finger tip.


    "Wait! You said you would let me go!" Vivian cried out.


    "I did, and I''m letting you go. As for what my friend does, that''s none of my concern!" John said as he nced over his shoulder at her, his eyes cold and emotionless, as if her death meant nothing to him.


    "Ahhhh!'' a fearful wail boomed out from Vivian as she tried to get up to flee.


    Boom!


    Lightning sted out for a short moment, illuminating the area briefly before silence returned to thend. John stared at Vivian''s location, which was now nothing but charred ash, her bodypletely gone. He waved his hand, scattering her ashes in all directions, leaving no trace of her demise.

 Chapter 802 Recompense

    "Let''s go," John said to Kirii as he took out his flying ship, which the two quickly boarded. The ship took to the sky and shot forward, disappearing from the area with haste.


    As the ship sped forward, John took out a jade piece he had and inspected it closely, at which point a map appeared in his mind. The jade piece was gifted to him by Caz, and was a very detailed map of most of the Divine Martial Continent, which was very expensive and very hard toe by.


    The Divine Martial Continent was absolutely staggering in size, and it was impossible to include all the details contained within. As such, the map detailed the most important locations, particrly thends controlled by the various factions and races, the most powerful ns and sects, and any natural ces of note.


    The map was divided into seven sections, each colored slightly different than the other. The sections marked the areas controlled by the different factions and races, with the Barbarians, Faeries, Beasts, and Monster races all controlling a different section of the Divine Martial Continent.


    The Faeries controlled the northernmost section of the continent, most of which was perpetually covered in ice and snow. To the south and east the Faeries were the Beasts, which were located on the other side of a continent dividing mountain range. Thend upied by the beast race was mostly forested and wild.


    The farthest east reaches of the continent was controlled the Monster Race, which was a deathly area covered mostly in swamps, barren mountains, and dark forests. The south east portion of the continent was controlled by the Barbarian race, which was arge swath of in-likend, which was mostly t and also barren.


    The southern most part of the continent was controlled by the Forbidden Alliance, which was collectively controlled by the various powers of the Alliance. Next to the Forbidden Alliance was the only neutralnd of the Divine Martial Continent, which was upied by powers such as the Starforge n and Astral Empire.


    Finally, thend controlled by the Honorable Alliance and all the allied powers bordered the neutralnd. They controlled most of the western reaches of the continent. These seven sections were divided rtively equally, and most except for the Faeries and Barbarians spanned from the oceans at the edge of the continent, towards the center, stopping just short of the Divine Source Monastery and the Divine Wall.


    John inspected this map for a moment before putting it away.


    "With how far the Starforge n is from this location, they should take at least an hour to arrive. We''ll be long gone by then," John said to Kirii, and then walked over towards one of the rooms within the ship and opened the door. "Oh, and make sure to not touch anything. This ship is set on the fastest route for the Divine Source Monastery!" John instructed Kirii before entering the room and closing the door behind him.


    "Aye!" Kirii confirmed, although he was slightly bummed about not being able to fly the ship.


    The room John entered was a bedroom, luxurious beyondpare. While Heaven Tribtion cultivators did not need to eat or sleep to survive, John felt fatigue wash over him from the battle, and fell onto thefortable bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.


    ¡­


    Silence returned to the valley in which John had battled, which remained that way for an hour before a flying ship suddenly appeared, in line with John''s guess.


    Three powerful World Expansion cultivators quickly stepped out of the ship and flew about. They inspected the area closely for some time, their frowns deepening as they found nothing. After a short while, one of the cultivators took out a long range transmission disk, and sent a message through it.


    Shortly after, they boarded the ship and left, returning peace and quiet to the valley once more.


    ¡­


    In a location far away from where John was, there was a majestic and picturesque mountain range. The mountains climbed dozens of miles tall, with snow capped peaks gradually shifting to verdurous forests as the elevation dropped, with waterfalls crashing down, eventually leading to crystal blue rivers meandering through the mountain valleys. A light mist lingered in the valleys, giving the ce an ethereal glow.


    Within this mountain range were thousands of grand buildings, some located in the valleys, some on the mountainsides, and some resting on the very tips of the tall mountains.


    Each of the buildings were more grand and ornate than thest, most which used a regal purple as the primary color, which was the signature color of the Starforge n. Powerful formations were visible everywhere, ranging from short and long range transportation formations, barrier formations, and everything in between.


    The Starforge n seemed to be an immortal paradise, living up to its reputation as one of the most powerful and important ns on the Divine Martial Continent.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Raaaaahhh!" A roar of anger suddenly erupted, breaking the paradisiacal feeling of the ce. The roar hade from one of the regal pces located on the top of one of the tallest mountains, and had attracted the attention of all the members within the n grounds.


    A man suddenly appeared in the air before the temple, and immediately summoned a massive and grand flying ship. He entered the ship with utmost haste, which sped off immediately.


    "That was the Vice-n Leader?" one of the Starforge n members chimed up.


    "I wonder what''s got him in such an angered rush?" another nearby member chimed in, as discussions of what had happened quickly spread throughout the n.


    ¡­


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    A formation barrier lit up, stopping a powerful barrage of attacks that sted against it. While the attacks were stopped, the whole of Alliance City was alerted, as the attacks trembled everything within.


    "Whats going on?"


    "Is someone trying to attack our Alliance City?"


    "No way? Who is powerful enough to do that?"


    "Then what''s going on exactly?"


    Discussions quickly broke out within Alliance City as to what was going on, while a lone figure quickly appeared at the location on the attacks, standing within the safety of the formation barrier surrounding the city. Upon the figures arrival, the attacks ceased, as if they were made to draw forth this particr individual.


    "To attack the capital of my Alliance with such disregard. Either you have lost your mind, or you were desperate to get my attention? Which is it, Daoist Starde?" the Alliance Leader of the Honorable Alliance asked curiously.


    "Its Vice-n Leader now," the Vice-n Leader of the Starforge n corrected the Alliance Leader, his expression gloomy and angered.


    "Is that so? Then congrattions on your promotion," the Alliance Leader said with a warm smile on his face, ignoring the man''s gloomy expression.


    "I did note here to exchange pleasantries," the Vice-n Leader replied angrily.


    "Then what have youe here for? And in such a brash manner?" the Alliance Head asked.


    "I''vee here for your Prime Disciple! He''s attacked my daughter, and has either captured her, or murdered her! I demand his head in rpense!"

 Chapter 803 Blood Demands Blood

    The warm smile on the Alliance Head''s face faded away into a frown, his eyes turning cold at the same time. It was a look rarely seen on the Alliance Head''s face, who was known to be very friendly almost all the time.


    The Vice-n Leader felt a shiver crawl up his spine for a brief moment as he saw the expression, but ignored it and remained firm in his words and stance.


    "To think someone like you has the gall toe to my Alliance and demand such a thing. Either you''ve gone mad with age, or the Starforge n is getting bolder these days," the Alliance Head replied, no warmth or friendliness in his voice at all.


    "Blood demands blood. Your Prime Disciple moved against my daughter, and so retaliation is only natural," the Vice-n Leader replied firmly, standing his ground.


    "Blood demands blood?" the Alliance Head repeated. "In that case¡­why don''t we talk about the actions of your young master within the Jade Dragon Empire realm. Kadin, if I recall his name correctly."


    The Alliance Head had received a full briefing from many who had entered the realm, and knew about Kadin''s siding with the enemy powers. They knew Adam had let him go, but did not know the true reason, and most assumed it was that he was too timid to outright kill the future leader of the Starforge n.


    While the Alliance Head did not know the truth, he was smart enough to figure out what John and Adam were up to, and had as such not demanded justice from the Starforge n, and instead had left it to John and Adam to clean up as they saw fit.


    Naturally, the Starforge n itself sent Kadin to the Jade Dragon Empire realm to leech opportunities, but also make alliances with the young masters of the enemy powers as well. They saw the shifting winds approaching, and had silently decided to ally themselves with those powers, although they had not outright dered it.


    The Vice-n Leader''s face scrunched up as he heard this, and he became lost for words as he tried to think of how to reply.


    "I believe your young master killed dozens, if not more of my Honorable Alliance Disciples. If blood demands blood, then it''s only reasonable that your young master pays his blood debt in full as well," the Alliance Head replied.


    A grimace appeared on the Vice-n Leaders face for a moment as he heard this. Kadin was the future of the Starforge n, and no harm could be allowed to fall on him, even at the cost of his own daughter.


    "Alliance Head¡­there arerger matters at hand here. While our Starforge n has many options to align ourselves with, can the same be said for the Honorable Alliance? Your list of allies grows thin, and in the department of trade and formations¡­can you truly afford to lose us?" the Vice-n Leader said, threatening ceasing trade with them as a consequence.


    Just as he threatened with ceasing trade, another figure materialized next to the Alliance Head. The Vice-n Leader inspected the neer, and frowned as he saw who it was.


    "Daoist Starde.." the neer greeted, although there was no friendliness in their greeting. "You''ve be quite bold to threaten the Honorable Alliance Head himself."


    "Trade Master¡­what are you doing here?" the Vice-n Leader spat out, his animosity with the Trade Master of the Mystic Trade Hall clear.


    The Mystic Trade Hall dabbled in many more areas of trade than the Starforge n, but also dealt in formation crafting and trade. While they were not as good as the Starforge n, they were stillparable in quality. Combined with the fact that the Mystic Trade Hall also dealt in other trade ventures, they were both more powerful and wealthy than the Starforge n when it came to influence on the continent.


    As such, the two powers saw each other as rivals, and staunch ones at that.


    "What am I doing here?" the Trade Master repeated with amusement, as if he found it funny that the Vice-Sect Leader felt himself of equal status, and worthy of asking of his intentions.


    "Normally I wouldn''t reveal such things, but since you just mentioned ceasing trade with the Honorable Alliance, I might as well tell you," the Trade Master replied as he nced at the Alliance Head, who nodded in approval to reveal their dealings. His gaze shifted back to the Vice-Sect Leader.


    "To be honest, I was just leaving when you arrived," the Trade Master continued. "You see, I''ve recentlye to find the Honorable Alliance quite pleasing to deal with, and as such, have struck up an exclusive trade agreement with them. From this day on, the Honorable Alliance shall be our foremost trade partner in all ventures, formations and otherwise."<novelnext></novelnext>


    "What?" the Vice-Sect Leader of the Starforge n eximed in both shock and anger. The Mystic Trade Hall had been a neutral trading power for tens of thousands of years, and had never brokered such an agreement, or alliance, with another power.


    "Have you gone mad?" the Vice-Sect Leader spat out angrily.


    "It seems you are the one who has gone mad, Daoist Starde," the Trade Master replied calmly. "You came here to the Honorable Alliance demanding the head of their Prime Disciple, even after the recent actions of your n''s young master. The boldness of the Starforge n had grown out of control as ofte it appears."


    The Vice-Sect Leader grit his teeth, frustrated at the unexpected turn of events. His gaze shifted back to the Alliance Head, who had remained silent for a short while.


    "Our Prime Disciple is quite a reasonable young man, and would never harm someone without being targeted first. So if he did indeed take action against your daughter, I have no doubt that whatever happened, your daughter deserved it without question," the Alliance Head said, his words causing the Vice-Sect Leader to open his mouth to protest.


    However, a chilling aura softly emanated from the Alliance Head as he narrowed his eyes at the man.


    "I''ll hear no more of this issue. John is our Prime Disciple, and is untouchable by the likes of your n. Think of your daughter''s fate as payment for your young master''s actions. Now leave, before my hospitality runs out," the Alliance Head concluded, his threat firm and sincere.


    The Vice-n Leader gritted his teeth in anger and frustration, and stared at the two for a moment before summoning his flying ship once more. He turned and boarded it, and nced over his shoulder onest time.


    "I hope you two don''t regret this decision of yours," he growled threateningly, entered his ship, and sped off into the distance.


    The two powerful cultivators watched the ship leave, and then nced at each other with conflicted expressions.


    Sigh! The Alliance Head sighed.


    "If even the Starforge n is getting so bold, then it seems that they have already made their secret alliances," he mused.


    "Indeed. It appears the shifting winds will soon lead to all out war, much sooner than anticipated," the Trade Master agreed. "No power will remain neutral in such arge conflict."


    "And so you''ve decided to align yourself with us?" the Alliance Head asked with a curious smile. "ording tomon knowledge, the Forbidden Alliance, Monster Race, and Barbarian Race are seen as the most powerful force in the war toe, and will most likely reign supreme at the end."


    "Heh, we both know that may have been true previously, but the shifting winds have brought in an unknown variable¡­one with the potential to change the course of the uing war single-handedly," the Trade Master replied, while the Alliance Head smiled, as it was clear who they were talking about, and was also the single reason the Trade Master chose to ally with the Honorable Alliance despite the apparent odds.


    "You said you met him recently. What was your opinion of him?" the Alliance Head asked curiously.


    The Trade Master remained quiet for some time as he thought back to the auction.


    "Monstrous! The oue of the war will be determined by one thing alone. His cultivation level when the warmences!"

 Chapter 804 Aura Of The Seal

    "Are you sure you want to do this?" Thunderzen asked his adopted daughter Lilian, his face tinged with concern which he tried to hide.


    ? They were in the throne room of the Heavenly Lightning Sect. The throne flickered with lightning, filling the otherwise silent room with soft crackles.


    "I am," Lilian nodded firmly, her eyes narrowed and determined. "I have been hiding away for so long, that I nearly forgot the goal I set for myself the day I fled. And that goal can only be achieved through power¡­and it will be my power that achieves it, no one else''s. And I must also raise my strength for the day you have been nning for all these years, as I will not abandon my disciple, and make him fight that battle alone. I will hide no longer."


    Thunderzen studied his daughter''s face in silence, and sighed deeply as he ced aforting hand on her shoulder.


    "Then I will not stop you. Let''s go!" he said warmly as he strode out of the pce chamber.


    Lilian followed closely behind, her narrowed eyes unfocused, as if she were deep in thought, while a glimmer of hatred flickered through her eyes for a brief moment.


    ¡­


    In another location, a dimly illuminated room revealed a council of seven elders, each seated on a chair in a circr fashion. The circle of elders surrounded two cultivators, each who appeared to be in their twenties. Both wore crimson clothes, the male a robe and the female an alluring and revealing dress, although the insignias on the robes were different, indicating them to be from two different powers.


    "The Divine Wall has not opened since before the cmity. I''m sure both of you know the importance of such an asion. While we do not know what exists within, we cannot allow any opportunities to fall into the hands of our enemies. Now go! ughter to your heart''s desire, and im any treasures within for your own!" one of the elders instructed, to which the two in the middle nodded with expectant smiles.


    ¡­


    Simr scenes yed out with many of the foremost powers on the Divine Martial Continent, as the opening of the Divine Wall was a monumental asion, so rare that none alive had ever experienced it.


    The opening of the wall attracted the attention of all on the continent, as both those who nned to enter, as well as those who nned to spectate whatever they could flooded towards the Divine Source Monastery. There was not a soul on the continent who had not heard of the event, and everyone who could afford to travel there did so with utmost haste, refusing to miss the event that would surely be talked about for generations toe.


    ¡­


    John''s flying ship pierced through the air like an arrow, its speed beyond shocking. The ground whizzed by in spectacr fashion, revealing sprawling chasms, towering mountains, verdant forests, barren deserts, sprawling cities, grand sects, and more. The Divine Martial Continent was overwhelmingly massive, filled with more biomes than could possibly be counted.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Powerful beasts watched as the ship sailed by in the air above them, but none dared to attack the ship. Over the years they hade to learn which ships to attack and which ones to avoid, based solely on the quality and aura of the ships. Too many had perished when attacking high quality ships, as those were always upied by powerful cultivators.


    As such, John''s ship surged forward unimpeded, something that he was quite satisfied with. He had spent most of the time cultivating and meditating, focusing primarily on raising his cultivation level, and studying the Dao''s of Annihtion and Destruction.


    He had not managed to push his cultivation to the Dao Transformation Realm yet, but could tell he was getting close to breaking through. As for his Dao''s, he had made decent gains there, and managed to push both of the mentioned Daos to the limits of the Dao Adept stage, just short of breaking through to the Dao Expert Stage.


    Once he achieved that, he would be able to fuse his Dao''s in a variety of ways, so long as he was able to grasp the concepts and profundities behind those fusions.


    John''s eyes slowly opened as he left his meditative trance, as he could tell he had reached the limits of pushing those Dao''s forward for now. He either needed to battle more while using those Dao''s to increase hisprehension towards them, or find a heavenly treasure dealing with either Dao to assist him.


    "It''s not as far as I would have liked, but it will do for now," John mumbled to himself, mostly content with his progress over the past week.


    After leaving his meditative trance, John curiously took out the seal he had obtained from the Divine Trial in the ancient city, given to him by the bizarre beast he had encountered in the trial; the one that had a simr aura to the seals being sold by the Divine Source Monastery.


    The seal appeared in his hand, and his eyes widened as it suddenly started to tremble and buzz with energy, as if it were being summoned by something. The energy was incredibly profound and unique, almost like a signal re being lit. He could tell it was drawing him forward, towards the direction he was already heading.


    The Divine Source Monastery!


    Startled by the sudden and unexpected events, John quickly put away the seal and stored it in his pce realm once more, where it had been all this time.


    "What the hell was that?" John mumbled to himself. "It was as if the seal was guiding me towards the Divine Source Monastery. It''s never done this before. Is it rted to the Divine Wall being opened soon?" John mused,ing to the most likely conclusion.


    Whatever the reason, the aura emanating from the seal was far too eye-catching and also unknown, and so he kept it in his spatial realm for safe measure. His eyes closed once more as he sent his divine sense inwards into his spatial realm, appearing before the sinister gate to temper his mind and will, as he had done thousands of times before.

 Chapter 805 Divine City

    In the very center of the Divine Martial Continent, a brilliant golden wall of light shimmered brightly, illuminating the surroundingnd with a golden hue. The wall stretched out as far as the eye could see in all directions, making passage to the other side impossible. The wall had a diameter of over ten thousand miles, making it thergest singr object on the entire Divine Martial Continent.


    Attempts to breach the Divine Wall had happened in the past, but all had ended in failure. The construction techniques of the Divine Wall were a mystery, but there was one thing that was certain; It was impossible to break through.


    Additionally, such attempts were met with the swift fury of the Divine Source Monastery, which was as powerful as it was mysterious. As such, no more attempts had happened for tens of thousands of years.


    Surrounding the Divine Wall were dozens of massive monasteries, ancient in design. Each monastery was as if it had been carved out of a mountain, in stone in color and appearing more like a powerful fortress than a monastery. Sshes of yellow coloring was the only sort of decoration that could be found throughout the monastery, which appeared to be their signature color. It was otherwise incredibly in and simple, as if the Divine Source Monastery wanted to fade into obscurity.


    A towering stone wall, hundreds of yards high encircled the Divine Wall, linking all the monasteries together. At the southeast of the Divine Wall was thergest monastery, where the only entrance through the stone wall was. While cultivators could fly over the wall, none dared to do so anymore.


    Within thergest monastery, which almost none but the members of the Divine Source Monastery had ever set foot in, a pair of men were walking through the simple halls. Both men had bald heads,rge, trimmed beards, and wore simple looking robes of yellow.


    As they walked through the halls, they passed by other simr looking men, who all had the same style of bald heads and yellow robes. The only difference was the beards, which some had, while others were clean shaven.


    A calm and Zen-like atmosphere permeated the monastery as the men went about their daily tasks. Some were cleaning the monastery halls, using their hands to scrub down the floors and walls likemon mortals would. Others were tending to the rock gardens, adjusting them ording to mysterious rules known only to them.


    Others were seated on mats, mediating in silence, their presences so faded that it was almost impossible to notice them unless once stared directly at them.


    As the two men walked through the halls, the other men would stop what they were doing and bow their heads slightly, while they pressed their palms together in front of their chest, as if in prayer.


    The two men returned the gesture and continued their silent trip through the halls. All of a sudden, one of the men stopped, and then turned around. His eyes became focused, as if he were staring through the walls into distantnds beyond.


    The other man stopped and turned his gaze to the same distant location. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed a faint yet familiar aura, one that they had been around their entire lives.


    "The First Divine Seal!" the man muttered softly.


    "It has finally revealed itself, and the holder is approaching our location swiftly," the man who had noticed it first confirmed.


    Just as fast as the aura hade, it vanished, leaving no trace of its existence. Both men raised their eyebrows in surprise once more, not expecting such a thing to happen.


    "A method to obscure the aura of the seal. Who is holding it, and what possible methods could sever our detection of the seal? Even a spatial ring cannot obscure the seal from us, and yet it has vanished once again," the second man muttered.


    The first man remained silent for a while, and then turned around to continue walking through the halls once more.


    "No matter. We have confirmed that the holder of the Divine Seal is on the continent, and is approaching, no doubt to enter the Divine Wall. This is all we can ask for," the man said calmly before falling silent as he ventured deeper into the monastery.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ¡­


    Weeks passed by swiftly, while the buzz surrounding the opening of the Divine Wall reached a fever point. Millions of people, from powerful cultivators, esteemed schrs, and everything in between made their way towards the Divine Source Monastery, eager to glimpse a part of history in the making.


    A massive city, asrge as the Honorable Alliance capital city, existed near the Divine Source Monastery, just outside of its domain. It was located on top of a tall teau, as if there had been a massive mountain which was sheared t by a sword stroke. The city sprawled for dozens of miles in each direction, and was aptly named Divine City.


    Divine City was a neutral city, much like Five-River Freeport, and dealt in all manners ofmerce. Various powerful neutral sects and ns were also located within Divine City, each capable of standing tall against the sects of the Honorable Alliance and Forbidden Alliance.


    Divine City was normally a hub of buzzing activity, but had surged in recent days to be so full that it was nearly bursting at the brim, unable to contain the flood of those eager to see the opening of the Divine Wall.


    Makeshift camps, eachrge enough to be small cities themselves, were built outside Divine City to shelter and service those temporary visitors, much to the enthusiasm of Divine City. The city and those who ran it were making more money than they could have ever imagined from the surge of people, and were more than happy to entertain however they could.


    On this particr day, a crowd millions strong had gathered outside of the city, between Divine City and the Divine Source Monastery. There was arge river that divided the two, delineating the borders between the two.


    The crowd buzzed with eager anticipation, ready for an event that had not happened for hundreds of thousands of years.


    "I can''t wait to step onto thends of the Monastery! Its something I will be able to brag about to the end of my days!" a man eximed with passionate enthusiasm.


    ? "Not only that, but we will be able to see the true geniuses of this continent all gathered, something that never happens!" another said.


    "I wonder who obtained the seals to enter! I can''t wait to find out!" a third eximed.


    "We won''t have to wait for long. The day that the Monastery allows entry into theirnds has finallye!" another said.


    Bong!


    Bong!


    Bong!


    A loud bell suddenly chimed out three times, silencing the crowd for a brief moment, which then erupted with uncontained enthusiasm as the millions strong crowd flew over the river to the other side, stepping foot on thends of the Divine Source Monastery for the first time in their lives.


    The crowd eagerly surged forwards on the mile wide road leading towards the distant monastery, which was where the chosen few would enter within. The day had finally arrived for the opening of the Divine Wall; a day that would be remembered by all as long as they lived.

 Chapter 806 Grand Abbot

    Therge crowd had gathered at the base of the Divine Source Monastery, looking all about at thend that was forbidden to enter except for today. Each had purchased a medallion of admittance from the Divine Source Monastery, which allowed them to proceed unhindered into theirnds. While the medallion was far less expensive than the Seals needed to enter the Divine Realm, the amount of people that had purchased the medallion was staggering, as was the sum of spirit crystals the monastery received.


    The crowd contained humans, as well as those from the Monster Race, Beast Race, Faerie Race, and even a few Barbarians, whose hulking figures stood out as they dwarfed those all around them. While such a gathering was normally fuel for a battle to break out, none present dared to create havoc. Not on the Divine Source Monastery grounds.


    The different groups had mostly formed factions apart from one another, keeping to their own as best they could. Within each group numbering in the millions, there were further subdivisions, as ns, sects, and other powers formed their own groups.


    Regal caravans and ships dotted thendscape sporadically, each containing Kings, Monarchs, n and Sect Leaders, and the young geniuses that had been brought with to spectate or even enter the realm. The insignias of the various powers were proudly disyed on the ships, caravans, and gs, proudly unting their status and power. These esteemed groups were lined with powerful guards, who kept a watchful eye on all nearby.


    Between the cold nces each group threw at each other, they gazed at the monastery, the walls to either side, the divine wall behind it, and the men in yellow robes in the distance.


    A row of Divine Source Monastery cultivators stood at the top of arge and wide stone staircase leading up to the monastery itself. The row had a dozen cultivators, all who had their cultivations withdrawn as much as possible, almost appearing like mortal men.


    However, those of the more powerful cultivators in the crowd were able to glimpse into the mens cultivation level. Each one was in the World Expansion Realm, and they were not ordinary World Expansion experts.


    At the very center of the row of men was a particrly normal looking man, as if he were someone''s grandfather. He had a bald head, long white beard that was neatly trimmed, and a rather frail looking body.


    However, when those powerful cultivators looked at this man, they were shocked to find that they couldn''t see through his cultivation level. There was only one exnation for this.


    The man had stepped at least partway into the Holy Manifestation Realm, perhaps even fully into the realm. The powerful cultivators in the crowd all sucked in a deep breath as they realized this. They had never seen someone with such a high cultivation level, and the Peak of the World Expansion realm was generally considered to be the peak power of the world.


    As one approached the Peak of the World Expansion realm, the amount and profundity of Qi became insufficient to proceed forward. The thinner the Qi in the air, the less profound it was as well, and the less insights one could gleam into the Daos from absorbing that Qi. While one could use spirit crystals to make up for theck of Qi to advance, the absence of the Heavenly Dao''s made it next to impossible to ascend further.


    As such, getting to the World Expansion realm was possible for talented cultivators, even at a youngish age, but ascending beyond it was nearly impossible for all who entered that realm. One''s cultivation speed would greatly slow down once entering the World Expansion realm, regardless of talent.


    However, the man before them had seemingly managed to aplish that feat. The powerful cultivators all wondered how such a thing was possible, and even had the idea to approach the man to ask questions. But when they thought about the history of the Divine Source Monastery, and its bluntness towards outsiders, they put the thought aside.


    There were powerful men and women,


    "No wonder the Divine Source Monastery has been untouched this entire time, despite guarding such a secret," one powerful cultivator whispered to his nearby friend, who nodded his head in agreement.


    "If someone as powerful as him guards the Divine Wall, one can only imagine what lies within," the other replied.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Who knows. We''re too old to enter, so learning the truth of what''s within won''t be up to us," the man replied.


    Simr discussions amongst other powerful cultivators drifted out, with some bystanders catching the words in passing. Soon, the news of the elderly man''s cultivation spread through the crowd like wildfire, further adding to the excited frenzy the crowd felt. They all gazed at the man in awe, who was no doubt one of the most powerful cultivators in the world, perhaps even the strongest.


    As the crowd discussed the men of the Divine Source Monastery, the men looked down on the crowd, their expressions neutral, as if worldly matters could not ever affect them.


    "Was permitting such arge, unruly crowd to enter ournd truly necessary," one of the twelve men asked calmly. He too had a bald head andrge, trimmed beard, but his age was much younger. Of the twelve, he was the youngest by far, appearing to be in histe twenties.


    The age of a cultivator was misleading based on their appearance, but the faster one cultivated in their youth, the younger they would appear through the rest of their life. A talented World Expansion cultivator of ten thousand years of age could appear to be in his twenties, while a middling Heavenly Tribtion cultivator less than a thousand years of age could appear to be so old as to be near his death.


    With the man appearing in his twenties despite being in the World Expansion realm, his talent was unquestionable.


    "You should mind your words when speaking to the Grand Abbot," one of the other men replied calmly, his face expressionless.


    "It''s quite alright, Prior Hishen" the man in the middle replied, who was revealed to be the Grand Abbot of the Divine Source Monastery. "Shin is still only thirty-five years old, so such forwardness is to be expected."


    "You pamper him too much," Prior Hishen replied.


    The Grand Abbot only smiled in reply, and shifted his gaze to Shin, who stood at the right end of the row of men.


    "Shin, you were taught the Divine Lessons, as well as their purpose. You should know the reason for us allowing this crowd to gather," the Grand Abbot said.


    "I know the teachings, but I still do not understand," Shin replied questioningly. "Allowing these¡­unkempt people to tarnish the beauty of our Monastery is quite agitating. And allowing them to witness the progress within will only draw attention to the one we seek, should one appear this time. Isn''t our purpose to raise, not destroy?"


    As the men heard this, several of them shook their heads lightly, as if disapproving his words. Part of their teachings were to remove themselves from their emotions, although Shin had yet to aplish this due to his young age.


    "Our life''s purpose is not something easily aplished," the Grand Abbot exined calmly. "A diamond cannot form without pressure, nor can the one we seek rise without pressure of their own. Afortable life leads toziness, slothfulness, and weakness. A life full of tribtions leads to resolve, determination, andmitment.


    Only by walking through a thousand fields of death can one hope to glimpse the light of the Divine Source. If a million fall for one to rise, that is the unfortunate yet necessary sacrifice of our mission."

 Chapter 807 Gathering Of Geniuses

    "I understand," Shin replied, but his conflicted expression revealed that he did not fully understand the Grand Abbot''s words. It was too dangerous a n. Divine talents were so rare as to be mythical, and yet they were subjecting them to extra danger should one appear during this time.


    It was as if they were throwing a beautiful flower, budding but not yet bloomed, into a foggy swamp, and expecting it to flourish. Surely carefully cultivating the flower would be better, but that was not their teachings, nor their methods.


    "In due time you will learn. The Divine Seal was recently obtained from the first Divine Trial, and thus it is now our time to do our part. Besides, each of these people gathered before us paid us good money to appear here today, and as much as we im to be free of worldly desires, we still need spirit crystals to aplish our goals" the Grand Abbot winked yfully at Shin before nodding his head at Prior Hishen. Prior Hishen stepped forward twice, his actions drawing the eyes of all in the crowd to him as if he had summoned their gazes. The boisterous crowd fell silent, eagerly awaiting the words of the men of the monastery.


    "Those who have obtained a seal, step forward!"


    Prior Hishen''s words offered no friendly remarks or introductions, and instead got straight to business. His voice was calm yet carried an authority that no one dared to question, like the firm words of a parent to a child.


    Heads in the crowd swiveled all about, looking to see who would step forward and present a seal to the monastery. Those who would present a seal had to be under one hundred years of age, which could still be considered very young in the cultivation world. The ones stepping forward would no doubt be the most heavenly of geniuses to rise up in thest one hundred years, which was a sight to see regardless of circumstance.


    Most of the people in the crowd came from middling backgrounds, and so seeing the esteemed leaders of the respective powers and the young geniuses from those powers was an opportunity of a lifetime, and one they could brag about to their friends and family.


    Additionally, there was no cultivation limit, so the ones entering would most likely be in the Late Dao Transformation Realm, or even the Early World Expansion realm.


    The eager eyes quickly locked onto about a dozen people who stepped forward through the crowd, appearing at the base of therge staircase. Gasps, whispers, and heated discussions broke out amongst the crowd as some recognized those who had stepped forward.


    "Rahze and Lua of the Forbidden Alliance!" a shocked gasp sounded out, pointing to two red clothed cultivators. The male wore a blood red robe, while the female a red dress. Both appeared to be in theirte twenties, and both exuded frightful auras; the male a bloodthirsty one, and the female a dangerous one, like a concealed spider waiting to strike from the dark.


    The male had short ck hair, piercing gray eyes, and a sharp yet handsome face, while the female had long crimson hair, beautiful green eyes, an alluring face that caused some men to go weak in the knees, and a mesmerizing body. Her scant dress added to her mesmerizing allure, which entuated herrge chest and curving figure, and left little to the imagination.


    "They''re both in the early World Expansion Realm! Are they really under one hundred years old?" someone asked, shocked to see a World Expansion cultivator so young, let alone two.


    "They''re both around eighty or ny, well below the age limit. You might know them by their Dao names. Daoist Bloodbane and Daoist Crimson Dream," a knowledgeable person nearby replied.


    "That''s them?!" someone replied, recognizing the Dao names, but expecting them to belong to cultivators much older than the two youthful people before them.


    "That''s Yufie! Of the Honorable Alliance!" another eximed, pointing to a female who had appeared as well.


    She appeared to be in herte twenties or early thirties, and wore a bright green dress which billowed softly in the wind. She had light blue hair that brushed her shoulders, soft blue eyes, and a warm and pretty face. An icy aura seemed to flow around her, making her even more unique looking.


    "Daoist Frostmist? That''s her?" another eximed, recalling her Dao name. "I had no idea she had stepped into the World Expansion realm as well!"<novelnext></novelnext>


    Simr discussions broke out amongst all the groups in the crowd as they gazed with curiosity and excitement at the eleven cultivators who had stepped forward. Amongst the eleven were representatives of all the races, as each had made it a priority to obtain a seal.


    There was an ethereal looking Faerie, whose beauty was nearly beyondpare. Her name was Serilia, and was also known as Daoist Heart Reverie. She too was in the Early World Expansion Realm, as was the Monster Race cultivator next to her, Zasgoth guul, a genius World Expansion youth of the Monster Race royal bloodline, third in line for the throne.


    He had ckened skin, like the dark of night, and yellow eyes with vertical pupils. Sharp nails jutted out from each finger, and his mouth was filled with small yet razor sharp teeth. His eyes gazed lecherously at the Faerie next to him, who ignored himpletely.


    Next to Zasgoth was a hulking Barbarian, whose massive figure attracted many gazes. He was also in the Early World Expansion Realm, and it was hard to judge his age due to his unique stature and race. However, most assumed he was like the others, just a few years shy of the age limit.


    Next to the barbarian was another human, a male who appeared to be in histe twenties. He had long blue hair, and looked like a regal prince more than a brutish fighter. His body was rather normal, but none dared to doubt hisbat prowess, as all knew who this man was. His cultivation was withdrawn, but all could tell he was no less dangerous than any of the others, and he even seemed to be slightly stronger. It was the confidence he carried himself with, as if the others were of absolutely no concern to him.


    "That''s Zeras Celestria!"


    "What? The fifth prince of the Astral Empire!?"


    "That''s him! I heard he''s the most talented of all the Astral Emperor''s sons!"


    "Wow, he''s only sixty, and yet his cultivation is in the World Expansion Realm! He might just be the most talented of the bunch!"


    More excited discussions broke out when the crowd recognized Zeras, who was staring curiously at a cultivator who had stepped forward as well, one who wore an inconspicuous robe and a hood that covered their head. Unlike the others, this hooded person was in the Peak Dao Transformation Realm.


    The hood they wore had formations on it, obscuring those from gazing within. While a powerful divine sense could prate the formation eventually, none did so. One thing for certain was that the person was a female, as their slender yet curvy body betrayed their gender.


    The hooded figure turned their head to gaze at the others, and eventually paused on Zeras. The two exchanged a brief nce, and a peculiar expression appeared on Zeras'' face. The hooded figure broke the gaze and stared forward once more, ignoring Zeras and the others.


    "Interesting," Zeras mumbled to himself with a small smirk on his face, and then inspected one more person who he had never seen before.


    ? It was a young man who had short brown hair, and a rather sinister looking face. His aura was cold and ruthless, as if he would have no problems killing millions with no remorse at all.


    He appeared to be in histe teens or early twenties, much younger than everyone else gathered. Lastly, his cultivation was in the Middle Dao Transformation Realm, the lowest of all gathered. However, Zeras could tell that this individual was more powerful than his cultivation level suggested.


    "Quite a few interesting characters," Zeras mused to himself with a smirk on his face, realizing that the event toe would be quite interesting indeed.

 Chapter 808 A Late Arrival

    Of the eleven gathered at the base of the steps, nine had cultivations in the Early World Expansion Realm, much to be expected. The Divine Source Monastery allowed anyone under one hundred years of age to enter, and each power would no doubt send their most powerful cultivator under that age in order to maximize the potential of victory within.


    Only two were in the Dao Transformation Realm, a fact that sparked much conversation.


    "Dao Transformation Realm? What can they hope to do against the others?" one person said.


    "Not only that, but one is in the Middle of the Dao Transformation Realm! Unless the realm within normalizes cultivation, he won''t be able to do anything! Just keeping his life might be more than he can handle!" anothermented.


    Thousands of simr opinions drifted through the crowd, who eagerly waited for the Divine Wall to be opened. The men of the monastery stood in silence for a short while, gazing down upon the crowd and seal holders with expressionless faces.


    "Eleven? We sold twelve seals," one of the monks chimed up.


    "It seems as though thest is still on their way," the Grand Abbot mused, thinking back to the Divine Seal aura that he had detected. Its location was still quite far away at the time, and it was most likely that the holder of the seal was still on their way¡­hopefully.


    "Could one of these eleven be the holder of the first Divine Seal?" one of the other monks asked curiously.


    The Grand Abbot calmly inspected the eleven, and his gaze lingered on two. First was the Middle Dao Transformation youth, who stood there with a perpetual frown on his face. The Grand frowned slightly as he inspected the youth, who seemed to notice his gaze. The youth raised his head to stare at the Grand Abbot, and his cold eyes narrowed, as if he found the Grand Abbot''s gaze annoying.


    The two locked gazes for a short while, before the Grand Abbot shifted his gaze to the side and stared at the hooded figure. He inspected the figure for a short while, and raised an eyebrow.


    "This one is quite talented, perhaps even talented enough to be the one we seek," the Grand Abbot mused, but then shook his head lightly.


    Such praise was rare from the Grand Abbot, which caused the other monks to inspect the hooded person closely as well. They nodded their heads in approval as well, as just a casual nce was able to tell them that the hooded person was indeed very talented.


    "I suppose it''s time tomence. You may continue, Prior Hishen," the Grand Abbot said.


    "Present your seals!" Prior Hishenmanded, speaking to the eleven who had gathered at the base of the stairs. The eleven did as instructed, and presented their seals, holding it out before them.


    Prior Hishen waved his hand, sending out a wave of Qi that wrapped up the seals and brought them to him. He confirmed the authenticity of each one, and then gestured for the eleven to climb the stairs.


    The eleven did as instructed, and calmly made their way up the stairs. They reached the top of the stairs where the monks stood, and waited for further instruction. The Grand Abbot nodded again, and ten of the monks moved about to either side of the group, five on either side. They started to perform a series ofplicated hand seals, each movement infused with a profound surge of Qi.


    It was almost like a slow dance, although the profundities behind the movements eluded all who spectated. It was quite mesmerizing to look at though, and all couldn''t help but be enraptured by the movements, as if the Heavenly Dao''s themselves were contained within each movement.<novelnext></novelnext>


    A unique aura began to grow at the top of the stairs, almost like something was being summoned and approaching. The crowd watched as a point of light appeared in the air before the eleven who were to enter the realm. The point of light slowly but surely grew, expanding outwards in all directions until it formed a circle of light twenty yards wide.


    The circle was hazy, but revealed a foggy glimpse of something on the other side. It was glowing golden, and appeared like an ethereal paradise. And of verdurous ins blooming with flowers and snow capped mountains in the distance.


    "Thend beyond the Divine Wall!" many eximed, beyond excited to catch a glimpse of thend within.


    The movements of the monks eventually ceased, and the screen of light seemed to finally stabilize.


    "Only the truly worthy can reach the center of thisnd," Prior Hishen spoke, his words giving a small yet specific hint of what was the ultimate goal of entering thend. Each participant narrowed their eyes as they heard this, steeling their hearts for the trials, and potentially tribtions toe.


    "The realm will close when one manages to achieve this, or all have failed in this endeavor. You may enter!"


    The eleven participants all moved towards the circle of light, some with hastened steps, and others with a moreid back approach. The Monster Race cultivator, Barbarian cultivator, and two Forbidden Alliance cultivators entered first, their steps quick and sure.


    After them was the Beast Race cultivator and Faerie, who entered calmly at their own pace several secondster. Three more humans of neutral powers and a Monster Race cultivator entered. They were not as famous as the others, but were foremost geniuses in their own right, each having reached the World Expansion Realm before their one hundredth birthday.


    The sinister looking youth, the youngest of the bunch, entered afterwards, his expression perpetually dark as if it was the only expression he knew.


    Zeras Celestria calmly watched them enter, and then nced sideways to thest remaining participant; the hooded person.


    "After you!" Zeras gestured in a formal manner to the mysterious person with a smile on his face, as if he were trying to be as courteous as possible to the mysterious female. The hooded figure only stared at him in silence, not saying a word. She didn''t move a step, causing Zeras to raise an eyebrow.


    "As you wish. Good luck within, mydy," he said in a friendly tone as he stepped forward, his body vanishing within the screen of light. The hooded figure watched him enter and waited for a brief moment, and then stepped forward herself, entering within and disappearing from sight.


    With that, all eleven cultivators had entered, leaving the excited crowd to specte of what was happening within.


    "Should we close the entrance and summon the stele?" one of the monks asked the Grand Abbot, who turned his head and gazed into the far distance, a thoughtful expression on his face.


    All of a sudden, a flying ship burst into the Divine Source Monasterynds and came to an immediate halt above the crowd, the sudden stop sending a shockwave of air that sted over the crowd, kicking up dust and dirt over all of them.

 Chapter 809 Grand Abbots Might

    The appearance of the ship stunned the crowd, as flying in the presence of the monastery was most definitely seen as an act of disrespect. Not only that, but flying over the heads of those gathered, which included the leaders of some of the strongest powers on the continent was also incredibly disrespectful, causing many to chastise the arrival of the ship.


    "Who the hell is this? Who do they think they are?" someone grunted.


    "Flying into the Divine Source Monasterynds, as well as over our heads? Uneptable!" another chastised.


    Were it not for the fact that they were in thends of the Divine Source Monastery, many of the stronger powers would have taken action already, seizing the ship and the individuals within for their pure disrespect. It had been tens of thousands of years since Daoist Eternal Weapon hadst used this ship, and so it was not recognized by any in the crowd.


    The ship suddenly disappeared, revealing only one person standing in the air where it had been. The crowd had been expecting arge group to exit the ship, not a single individual. Their surprised expressions turned sour, and then angered, as they noticed the cultivation of the individual.


    "Heaven Tribtion? Who the hell does this boy think he is?" someone chastised angrily.


    "If not for the Divine Source Monastery, he would no doubt be captured and harshly punished for such a disrespectful act!" another said.


    "I''m sure the Divine Source Monastery will discipline him somehow!" another grunted with displeasure.


    The crowd eagerly anticipated the swift actions from the Divine Source Monastery, but were surprised to see them take no action. Instead, the youth above them gazed down at the ground for a moment, and then shifted his gaze towards the monks, as if the crowd didn''t concern him at all.


    "This fucking brat!" many in the crowd grunted, a few itching to take action.


    Again to their surprise, the youth flew forward towards the monastery and the monks, andnded at the base of the steps, where the other geniuses had gathered.


    "Who the hell does this punk think he is?" many eximed.


    "Does he even know what he''s doing? He''s dead for sure," others said mockingly.


    However, not all in the crowd were of simr thought, as many of the stronger powers had an extensive informationwork, and many immediately recognized John''s face from the bounty posters.


    Cold gazes from those in the Forbidden Alliance, Monster Race, and even some neutral powers locked onto him, itching to make a move. In fact, some quickly formted a n of how to take action, while still respecting the monastery.


    A powerful World Expansion cultivator suddenly stepped forward from the massive crowd,ing from the Forbidden Alliance group. His cold gaze locked onto John''s back, who turned as he noticed the man''s approach.


    "Esteemed Monks of the Divine Source Monastery! This uncouth youth has tarnished the prestige of yournds, and has disrespected not only everyone in the crowd, but you as well. Allow me to remove him from yournds for you," the man said, as if he were trying to do a favor for the Monastery.


    John scoffed as he heard the man''s words, as it was beyond clear what his motivations were. He knew he would not be able to hide his identity from the powerful cultivators gathered, and so did not bother to hide his features. Unlike the other mysterious figure, he did not have an item to obscure his features.


    The Grand Abbot stared calmly at John, his gaze profound, as if he could see through everything. John''s gaze shifted to the Grand Abbot as he felt his gazend on him, and stared back with equal calm, although he was quite surprised to find the man''s gaze even more potent than someone like Sect Leader Thunderzen.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Young man, do you mind exining your actions," Prior Hishen spoke up, his face slightly displeased at John''s actions.


    "I apologize for my brashness. I got here as fast as I could," John apologized sincerely as he took out his seal, which gave off the same profound aura as the others who had presented them.


    "A Seal? This brat actually has a seal?"


    "How the hell was he able to obtain it? Didn''t they cost tens of billions of spirit crystals?"


    "Maybe hees from a powerful n or sect, who gave it to him!"


    "Are you serious? His robes are incredibly in, and not something someone from an esteemed n or sect would wear. He''s obviously a nobody!"


    Heated discussions broke out in the crowd as they were stunned by the unexpected turn of events. The Forbidden Alliance man frowned as he saw John take out the seal, as it most definitelyplicated matters. However, this was an amazing chance to capture ''Asura''; a chance he was not willing to pass up.


    "Esteemed Monks of the Divine Source Monastery! This boy has clearly stolen this seal somehow, as its impossible for him to obtain such a treasure otherwise. Please allow me to capture him and return the seal to you, and remove him from yournds at once," the man spoke up, yet again disguising his words as being helpful and friendly to the monastery.


    The Grand Abbot''s calm gaze shifted to the Forbidden Alliance man.


    "Please remove yourself from the Monasterynds," the Grand Abbot said, the first time he had spoken to anyone in the crowd.


    A surprised expression appeared on the face of the man, while the crowd was also not expecting to hear the Grand Abbot''s request.


    The man grimaced, and then addressed the Grand Abbot once more. None knew the title of the Grand Abbot, and so they only addressed them as esteemed monks.


    "Esteemed Monk. I was only trying to help-"


    "Even the most flowery of words cannot mask evil intentions," The Grand Abbot said calmly as he suddenly flicked his hand at the wrist as if he were dismissing the man. A surging power appeared out of nowhere, its strength beyondpare. It was like a god had appeared before the man, its power unable to be resisted.


    The surging power mmed into the World Expansion cultivator, whose body was immediately tossed into the air, and pierced like an arrow into the distance. He mmed into a mountain nearly one hundred miles away on the other side of the river, near Divine City, the force of the collision copsing part of the mountain.


    The crowd gasped in stunned shock, almost unable to believe the events that had urred before their eyes. The man who had stepped forward was a World Expansion cultivator, and yet he had been casually swatted into the far distance by the Grand Abbot, as if the Grand Abbot was merely swatting a fly.


    None had ever seen such a level of power before, and even the foremost leaders gathered narrowed their eyes at the power disyed before them. There was no doubt in their minds anymore. The Grand Abbot was in the Holy Manifestation Realm.

 Chapter 810 Stele Names Surprise All

    Wide eyes shifted from the distant mountain that had just crumbled, and back to the Grand Abbot, who stood there as if nothing interesting had happened. His face was neutral, if not with a slight warm smile, one that seemed to perpetually linger to his face.


    The Grand Abbots gaze shifted towards the group where the Forbidden Alliance cultivator hade from, and then shifted over the nearby crowds as well. He could tell that the man was targeting John, but had no idea why. The Divine Source Monastery cared not for the squabbles of the outside world, and thus received little news of what was going on at any particr time.


    "I care not for your reasons, but no action shall be taken against another while on thends of my monastery," the Grand Abbot''s calm voice drifted out, targeting those aforementioned groups specifically.


    The Forbidden Alliance members breathed a sigh of relief, as they could tell that the Grand Abbot was not going to kick them all out, so long as they took no more action. While all of them wanted to capture John, they realized it would need to be done after they left thesends.


    "It''s fine. Leave him be for now. He''ll most likely be kicked out of thisnd soon for causing such amotion. Even if the monastery allows him to stay until the realm closes, we''ll be able to track him and capture him after we leave thesends. Knowing his location is already more than enough for now," one of the foremost leaders in the Forbidden Alliance group instructed.


    The Grand Abbot''s gaze washed over the crowd with silent warning, and then fell onto John once more. He inspected him for a brief moment again.


    "Young man. You have a seal, at such a young age? How did youe to obtain it?" Prior Hishen asked. Like all the others, he could tell that John was not from a powerful n or sect, or at least was not pampered like a young master would be. He did not wear ornate robes, nore with an entourage of guards, both things young masters would have.


    Only someone like that would be able to afford a seal due to its staggering cost, and so they wanted to ensure that John''s seal was obtained through proper means.


    "I bought it myself," John said, a slight frown on his face as he didn''t appreciate the obvious doubting from the monk.


    Prior Hishen''s eyebrow twitched at John''s bluntness, as there was no courtesy in his voice. Instead he was direct and blunt, something the monk was not particrly used to.


    "I see," Prior Hishen mused before falling silent. The Grand Abbot said some inaudible words to Prior Hishen, who then nodded.


    "Young man, you may enter," Prior Hishen said to John, gesturing to the portal. The monk''s words surprised the crowd, who thought he would forbid John from entering, either due to his rude arrival, or his low cultivation. Afterall, what would he be able to do against World Expansion experts?


    John nodded in thanks and quickly climbed therge staircase, arriving at the top before the monks and the portal. His gaze naturally shifted towards the Grand Abbot, who he inspected as well. The man''s cultivation was beyond amazing, and he was curious as to the secrets behind such a powerful figure.


    The Grand Abbot stared back warmly, and his small smile seemed to ever so slightly widen for a brief instant, although John was not sure if he had actually seen this happen.


    "Young man. Seek the center of the realm, and nothing else," the Grand Abbot said to him.


    "Thanks," John nodded his head in thanks for the hint, and then stepped forward through the portal. He had wanted to inspect the monks a bit longer, but was already behind the others who had entered, and had no time to lose if he were to find out the secrets of the realm for himself.


    He felt no ill will from the monks, and as such ruled out thend beyond the divine wall being something akin to a trap. It was most likely and of opportunity, although the nature of the opportunity had yet to be discerned.


    The monks watched John enter, and after a slight nod from the Grand Abbot, they performed a sequence of moves again, at which point the portal began to recede, and eventually disappeared.


    "What an idiot!" someone in the crowd mocked.


    "Right? He has no chance inside against the World Expansion geniuses. Just what does a no-name Heaven Tribtion brat think he can do?" another chimed up.


    "It seems like the Forbidden Alliance was targeting him for some reason? I wonder why?" another asked.


    "Who cares. If he''s lucky he''ll die inside. If not, he''ll fall into their grasp when he leaves. Either way, that brat is as good as dead!" another said.


    "Good, after that entrance of his, I have no sympathy for him. His fate is his own making," another chimed in.


    The crowd eagerly discussed both John and the others who had entered, and began to make predictions, wagers, and other things of events that might ur. Within the Honorable Alliance crowd, some of the more powerful cultivators had recognized John, and breathed a sigh of relief to see him enter safely.


    In the back of the crowd, two men were standing, their eyes locked onto the position where the portal was. Both their auras were withdrawn, making them quite forgettable within the massive crowd.


    "They have entered safely. Let''s go," Sect Leader Thunderzen said.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Aye. Let''s go grab a drink in Divine City," Thunderfist replied, and the two quickly left, returning to Divine City.


    "Grand Abbot. Why did you allow him to enter so quickly? If we pressed for information, we could have discerned if he is the one in possession of the first seal," Prior Hishen said, to which the Grand Abbot smiled.


    "Ah, but I have already confirmed the truth myself," the Grand Abbot said. "A tiny trace of the divine aura still lingers on his body, from when he had taken out the seal. I have already confirmed that he is the one in possession of the seal."


    "Truly?" Prior Hishen asked, taken aback. He fell silent for a moment, and then turned to gaze towards the divine wall, as if he could see through the monastery blocking his view, as well as the divine wall on the other side.


    "Then our mission is one step closer topletion. Could this time truly be the one?" he asked, to which the Grand Abbot ced a hand on his shoulder in a friendly manner.


    "Who can tell what the future holds," the Grand Abbot said before walking away, receding back into the monastery. "Raise the stele," he said as his figure disappeared within.


    Prior Hishen performed a series of hand gestures, and the ground began to tremble, surprising the crowd. It was as if an earthquake was shaking thend, and their gazes soon fell on a massive stone steel that rose from the ground right next to the base of the staircase, standing twenty yards wide and one hundred yards tall.


    "What''s this?" many in the crowd asked curiously, and their question was quickly answered.


    Words quickly sprung up on the stone stele, rying a variety of information. The crowd quickly scanned the stele, and realized what it was.


    "These are the names of all the geniuses who entered!" one eximed.


    "It even has their Dao Names, ages, and other information!" another said.


    "And there are even more numbers next to their name. I wonder what they mean?" another asked curiously.


    "The list seems to be ordered by cultivation level," another mused as they read the list, as did the rest of the crowd. Their eyes widened as they reached the bottom of the list, which revealed two absolutely shocking things almost none of them had been expecting.


    The two names were shocking for different reasons. One for the true name, and one for the Dao Name, neither of which the crowd had been expecting.


    -Name: John Fenix


    -Cultivation: Peak Heaven Tribtion


    -Age: Eighteen


    -Dao Name: ''Immortal Asura!''


    .


    .


    .


    -Cultivation: Peak Dao Transformation


    -Age: Twenty-Six


    -Dao Name: ''Goddess of Death!''


    -Name: Lilian Celestria

 Chapter 811 Lilian Celestria

    John Fenix: ''''Immortal Asura''


    The Dao Name was seen by all on the massive stone stele, shocking those who did not know his identity, and causing those who did to either smirk with smugness as he was part of their alliance, or frown with displeasure, as he was a powerful enemy.


    "What? Is he the ''Asura'' everyone had been talking about?" many in the crowd asked, as the name was not exactly the same as the mythical ''Asura'' that had recently taken the continent by storm. Despite the status of ''Asura'' only existing for two years, the name had already be mythical, on par with the Jade Dragon Emperor.


    Their questions were soon confirmed by those who knew John was ''Asura'', and those confirmations swept through the entire millions strong crowd, which all learned the truth.


    The youth they had looked down upon, mocked and ridiculed for his shy entrance and stupidity to enter a realm with World Expansion experts was none other than ''Asura'', the most talented youth to ever arise, at least ording to the Talent Testing Steps.


    The Talent Testing Steps had been in use throughout the world for hundreds of thousands of years, and were relics from even before the cmity. As such, none dared to doubt the veracity of those steps, which were now considered to be the best gauge of talent possible.


    Those who had looked down on John and insulted him felt their faces turn red with embarrassment, and many hoped that John had not seen them insult him. Others felt excitement surge through them, as the gathering of geniuses was bing far more exciting than they thought it would be.


    "The only person to ever reach twenty steps! I actually saw the legendary ''Asura''!" many eximed, their faces turning red with excitement.


    "To think we actually looked down on him! How blind we are!" another eximed, shing a nce over to the Honorable Alliance group, which was hundreds of thousands of members strong.


    Satisfied expressions lingered on the faces of many in the Honorable Alliance crowd, who felt pride from being from the same power as the legendary ''Asura''.


    "I just hope he doesn''t remember me shouting at him to leave!'' another said with embarrassment.


    "Still, despite him being ''Asura'', he''s still in the Heaven Tribtion realm, going against World Expansion experts. Will he really be alright in there?" a concerned Honorable Alliance member asked a nearby Elder.


    "Only John himself knows," the Elder replied, gazing at the stone stele. "I''m sure someone who was able to obtain that level of talent is not stupid, and has some level of confidence in keeping himself safe."


    "That''s good," the nearby Honorable Alliance disciples breathed out in relief. Some of them had been part of the Jade Dragon Empire trial, and had been saved by John in that final battle. At this point he was a legendary figure in their lives, and none wished harm toe to him.


    "Tch, lets hope he dies inside," a hateful sneer drifted out from an Elder in the Forbidden Alliance crowd.


    "Rahze and Lua are within. Perhaps they can handle this matter directly. That would be the best oue," another Elder said, to which many of the other elders nodded in agreement.


    After the crowd discussed John, the discussion naturally shifted towards the other notable name.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Lilian Celestria: Goddess of Death


    The Dao Name Goddess of Death was shocking enough, as Dao Names were directly bestowed by the Heavens itself. For someone to receive such a terrifying sounding name, it was as if the heavens were confirming she was worthy of such a name.


    "And Lilian Celestria? Is she from the Astral Empire?" someone asked curiously.


    "Celestria is thest name of the Astral Emperor. And with her talent level, age twenty-six and already at the Peak of the Dao Transformation Realm, she is most likely from the Astral Empire," another guessed.


    "Howe I haven''t heard of her name?" a youth from a nearby power to the Astral Empire asked their Elder.


    "There was mention of such a name around ten years ago, but I have not heard that name in nearly a decade," the Elder mused. "Perhaps the Astral Emperor hid her away for a time, and has decided to reveal her to the world once more."


    "Oh, I see," the youth nodded in understanding.


    Tens of thousands of simr discussions drifted amongst the crowd, while a certain group stationed within the neutral powers section stared at the stone stele with narrowed gazes. The group controlled a sectioned off piece ofnd closest to the stele, indicating their level of power and respect given by the other nearby powers.


    "Send word to the Emperor," a man within the group summoned a nearby group of guards and instructed. "The princess has returned."


    The group of guards nodded, and quickly left the Divine Source Monasterynds. They boarded a ship and sped off into the distance.


    ¡­


    In the distance, at the mile-wide river that separated the Divine City and thends of the Divine Source Monastery, Thunderzen and Thunderfist floated in the air. They had decided to return to Divine City after Lilian and John had safely entered within, but stopped as the emergence of the stone stele attracted their attention.


    A ship sped right by them, piercing through the air like an arrow towards distantnds. They gazed at the ship and then back at the stone stele. Their narrowed gazes stared at the information on the stele, and Thunderzen sighed after a short moment of thought.


    "It seems the truth is out now," Thunderzen said, his gaze narrowed. "The Astral Emperor will no doubt appear to reim Lilian."


    "I''d like to see him try," Thunderfist growled as he smashed his fists together, the power shaking thend and rocking the water beneath them. "My fists have been itching for a good battle. Perhaps I can finally wet them with blood once more."


    "Stay here and watch over the Monastery. I will go retrieve Raijen and make some preparations. We may need him for what''s toe," Thunderzen said to his brother, who nodded with a fiery gaze and watched his brother shoot off into the distance, disappearing from sight.

 Chapter 812 Receiving A Dao Name

    At the top of the monastery steps, the remaining monks stared at the stone stele, a few of them with wide eyes. The stone stele was mirrored, with the same information appearing on both sides, allowing them to see what the crowd was seeing on the other side from their position.


    Expressions of surprise were rarely seen on the normally stoic monks, but a few of the most experienced of them had rare expressions of surprise as they stared at a particr name.


    "Prior Hishen!" one of the other monks addressed the Prior, who nodded his head in acknowledgement of the unsaid words.


    "Goddess of Death! It is no doubt an Empyrean Dao Name!" Prior Hishen mused, his surprise taking quite some time to fade away.


    ¡­


    The Divine Wall stood firm throughout the ages, surviving even the cmity itself. No one other than the monks of the monastery knew what was on the other side of the Divine Wall, and none could enter without their approval.


    The first stretch ofnd beyond the Divine Wall was a vast in, one that seemed to have been untouched by man for untold ages. The in was quite beautiful, filled with tall grasses, blooming flowers, and chirping insects. A calm breeze drifted through the ins, shifting the grass ever so slightly.


    The in appeared to be slightly golden, its color derived from the massive golden wall of light nearby.


    sh!


    A sh of light suddenly appeared within the in, and a singr figure appeared, standing in the waist tall grass. Rahze''s stoic gaze and narrowed eyes scanned the nearby area immediately, taking note of what was all around him.


    A slight look of disgust appeared on his face as he took in the scenic ins before him, as if something so beautiful was instead an eyesore.


    "Alone huh?" Rahze mused, noting that he had appeared here without his ally Lua. Although he didn''t care about traveling with her, and instead found it more appealing to travel alone, he still noted that the portal seemed to have split him up from her, as well as the others who most likely entered just after him.


    As his eyes scanned the ins, his gaze suddenly narrowed as he felt a pressure descend upon him just a few seconds after entering the formation.


    "Hmm?" Rahze mused as he felt the pressure peirce through his body without pause, despite his best efforts to stop it. It was as if the pressure existed in a different dimension, and was not something he could interact with. The pressure fell onto his dantian, and began to restrict it, limiting the amount of Qi he could unleash from his dantian.


    Rahze fell as if a wave of weakness was surging through him, something all cultivators felt when their cultivations were forcibly restricted. A displeased look lingered on his face as he felt his cultivation drop to the Middle Dao Transformation Realm before stopping.


    "Tch, how annoying," Rahze mumbled in displeasure, as the feeling of not having full ess to his dantians power was like he was stuck in mud, unable to move. He cast the feeling aside and set his gaze on the only thing of note he could see; arge mountain range in the far distance.


    Making up his mind, he urged Qi through his body to take flight, and took off the ground. His face scrunched up in displeasure once more as hended on the ground shortly after, and cast his gaze up to the sky, although there was nothing there to see.


    "Flight restriction? Tch, this realm is bing more and more annoying by the second," Rahze spat out in disgust as he cast aside the thought of flying to the mountains, and began to move by foot instead. His body shed forward with incredible speed as he raced towards his destination.


    ¡­


    John stepped into the portal before him, and felt himself enter a different space entirely. All around him was a golden light, as if he had entered a realm of nothing but that. A strange energy suddenly washed over him, invading each and every inch of his body.<novelnext></novelnext>


    John knew this energy was far stronger and more profound than he could deal with, and so he didn''t bother to fight back against it. After scanning him for a short while, a monotone voice sounded out within the golden void, surprising John slightly.


    "True Name : John Fenix


    Cultivation : Peak Heaven Tribtion


    Age : ¡­"


    The voice paused upon mentioning his age, as if it was stuck. Silence returned to the void for a moment before the voice spoke up once more.


    "Bone Age : Eighteen


    Dao Name : Not Found¡­"


    "Yeah, no shit. I''m not in the Dao Transformation realm yet," John mumbled to himself. Once one ascended to the Dao Transformation Realm, they could acquire their heaven bestowed Dao Name by interfacing with a special artifact. Until then, one could typically not acquire a Dao Name.


    "Hmm? What''s this? It seems as though the Heavens have already taken note of you," the monotone voice sounded out, revealing that it had some intelligence.


    ''An artifact spirit?'' John mused, and concluded that it was the most likely answer.


    "Scanning!" the monotone voice sounded out again, and remained silent for a moment as John felt a strange energy wash over him. As the energy washed over him, John felt the gaze of the Heavens fall upon him, almost like when he had experienced his tribtions. The gazested only for a brief moment, before both the strange energy and Heavenly gaze vanished.


    "A Dao Name in the Heaven Tribtion Realm? It seems you have truly caught the attention of the Heavens already!" the voice mumbled again.


    "Dao Name : Immortal Asura!"


    ''Immortal Asura huh? I guess that is the name of the cultivation technique I possess afterall,'' John mused as he thought about his Immortal Asura Body cultivation technique. The strange energy scanned him for a brief bit longer before fully fading away.


    "You have met the required conditions. You may proceed," the monotone voice sounded out again, as another portal of light appeared before John. John nodded and stepped within without hesitation, disappearing from the golden void he was in moments before.


    ¡­.


    Several minutes after entering, Rahze stopped once more, and his face scrunched up again with displeasure, and even disgust. His forehead twitched with anger as he felt the pressure descend on his dantian once more, restricting it again.


    The restriction continued to force his cultivation down until he was able to unleash the same amount of Qi as when he was in the Peak Heaven Tribtion realm, making him feel incredibly weak.


    "Tch!" Rahze clicked his tongue in frustration again before moving on once more, doing his best to ignore the unpleasant feeling.

 Chapter 813 Entering The Divine Realm

    The other geniuses who entered the realm appeared within a vast in as well, and surveyed their surroundings as Rahze had done. Each noted that they had arrived at their location alone, and also made quick notes of the restrictions, such as flying and cultivation suppression.


    Each felt their cultivation fall twice, eventually stopping at the Peak Heaven Tribtion realm. Being restricted like this was as if a normal adult was reduced to having the strength of a toddler, which made each of them feel weakened considerably, like a wave of exhaustion they couldn''t shake off.


    After arriving in the empty ins, the hooded person pushed their hood back, revealing their features. Long blue hair cascaded down Lilian''s face, revealing her sharp yet incredibly beautiful face, as if she were a goddess carved from ice.


    She took in a deep breath, and then red her Qi for a moment. Her featureless robe vanished, and was reced by her beautiful Heavenly Lightning Sect dress, which billowed lightly in the breeze. Her white and blue dress clung tightly to her upper body, entuating her alluring curves, while it tapered out at the bottom loosely, adding to her already beautiful appearance.


    Her expressionless face studied the surrounding area, and she quickly took note of the restrictions as had the others. Her cultivation had instantly been reduced to the Middle Dao Transformation realm upon entering, which she found odd.


    "Tch, did that brat really not arrive in time?" Lilian clicked her tongue, revealing that she knew John had obtained a seal, most likely from the Trade Master and Thunderzen conversing, or perhaps the information was obtained from the Honorable Alliance Head.


    Casting the thought aside, Lilian began moving forward, following the one hint that had been given to the group; reach the center of the realm. Her movements were swift as she raced through the massive stretch of ins like a blur, closing the distance towards the mountains.


    After racing forward for a bit, she stopped as she felt something.


    "It''s bing harder to move the closer I get to the mountains. Interesting" she mused and prepared to move but stopped suddenly again as the pressure on her dantian increased once again, weakening her Qi output to the level of Peak Heaven Tribtion.


    A thoughtful expression appeared on her face, which was reced by an amused smile as she realized the most likely reason for the change. She had been restricted to the Middle Dao Transformation Realm when she entered, and noted that the only one weaker than her, who had entered before her, was in the Middle Dao Transformation Realm.


    "So the realm adjusts all cultivations to the weakest participant? Then the brat has finally arrived? I''ll be sure to teach him a lesson on arrivingte to an event! Who does he think he is, making me look like I''m a bad master teaching him bad habits?" she mumbled to herself before a smile returned to her face once more. "Peak Heaven Tribtion though? It seems he''s improving faster than I thought he would," she said to herself, amusement in her voice as she sped forward once more towards the distant mountains.


    ¡­


    sh!


    A sh of light appeared and faded away once more, as John found himself standing in a flowery field that seemed to stretch forward for hundreds of miles. His divine sense spread out as his head swiveled in all directions, taking note of his surroundings.


    "No one''s nearby? I figured I''d have to do some fighting as soon as I entered the realm," John said to himself as he shifted his gaze forward to the massive mountains in the far distance.


    "Reach the center of the realm huh? Then that''s just what I''ll do," John said as he pressed off the ground to take flight, but felt a strange energy wrap around his dantian, restricting it as he did so. He quickly fell back down to the ground as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.


    "A flight restriction huh?" John mused. "But this one''s different than the one in the Jade Dragon Empire Realm. The flight restriction there was a pressure that constantly pushed down, forcing anyone who attempted to fly to the ground, while this restriction targets the dantian itself whenever one attempts to fly, and cuts off the flow of Qi."


    John pondered the interesting differences between the two restriction methods, and came up with several ideas for the reasons both employed different methods.


    "The Jade Dragon Empire is a much smaller realm than this Divine Wall realm, so the energy needed to create a constant downward pressure should be less intensive. Not only that, but the participants were also weaker, and so the pressure required was also lessened than if it were scaled to restrict a World Expansion expert.


    However, this restriction only targets the dantian when trying to fly, as if it only activates then. It''s most likely a much more intricate and profound restriction formation, which allows the formation to conserve energy while still being able to restrict all that enter¡­"


    As he thought about this, an idea popped into his mind.


    "I wonder¡­" John mused as he mustered his Qi once more.


    Boom!


    The ground shattered beneath his feet as John pressed off it and took to the sky. His body pierced upwards and continued to do so until he eventually stopped and hovered in the sky above the ins below him. A satisfied smile appeared on his face as he scanned the surrounding area with a better vantage point.


    "Heh, the formation can restrict dantians, but it cannot restrict a dantian it cannot detect. My body dantian is something not even Celestial Souldrend could fully detect, so this formation should be the same. It seems like I''ll have quite an advantage within this realm," John mused to himself with great satisfaction.


    For flying, he exclusively used his essence dantian, as it was not only better suited for flying, but he was also able to constantly replenish his essence Qi by absorbing it from the air. He was unable to do that with his body dantian, and could only replenish his body Qi reserves through the absorption of blood essence.


    Since his beast blood essence reserves were finite, using his body dantian to fly was nothing but wasteful. However, in a situation like this, it was more than sufficient.


    After figuring out how to beat the formation''s restriction, John fell back down to the ground andnded firmly.


    "Knowing I can fly if need be is great, but it''s still too wasteful for now. I don''t know how many battles I''ll fight, or how much beast blood essence I''ll burn through, so unless I absolutely need to fly, I''ll conserve my blood essence reserves for now," John mused, and began to speed forward on foot through the stretch of ins, racing towards the distant mountains as the others had already done.

 Chapter 814 Distant Light

    The picturesque meadow blurred by as John sped forward with great haste. He had entered the trial well after the other participants, and knew he was already behind.


    "I don''t know what exists inside thisnd, but if there are opportunities to be had, I''d rather get them myself than let them fall into the hands of others," John said to himself as his feet took him forward towards the distant mountains.


    As he sped forward, he remembered the seal given to him during the first Divine Talent trial, and took it out once more from his pce realm.


    Buzz!


    The seal started to buzz with intense energy, as if it had woken up from a deep slumber and was full of energy.


    "Woah," John called out in slight surprise as he tightened his grip on the seal, which nearly raced out of his hand and into the distance. It was as if the seal was being called by something, something that existed¡­


    "In the center of the realm," John mumbled to himself, recalling the hint given to him by the monastery monk. He tightened his hand on the seal as he gazed towards the distant mountains, which stood in the way of whatever the seal wanted to reach.


    The seal vanished as John put it back in his pce realm, having confirmed what he wanted to know.


    The seal and thisnd guarded by the Divine Wall were most definitely linked.


    His mind thought of other simr events that had happened in the past, such as when he had obtained the ancient dragon reverse scales in the Jade Dragon Empire realm. Those too had wanted to fly out of his hand towards unknown areas, and the scales had eventually revealed themselves to be keys to ess wondrous treasures.


    "If my guess is right, this seal is something simr, a key of some sorts. If thats the case, then whatever exists at the center of this ce might need this key to be essed," John mused. His words ignited another thought, which caused his eyes to widen in understanding.


    "Is that why this realm which has been guarded by the Divine Source Monastery for untold millenia finally opened?" John mumbled to himself, piecing together his thoughts. "This realm had not been opened since before the cmity, but just several years after obtaining this seal, the monastery opens thisnd to the public? It''s too much to be a coincidence!"


    As he thought about this, John''s anticipation increased for whatever this seal was leading towards. The first Divine Talent trial had been harrowing and beyond dangerous, but by walking through it and surviving, he was able to obtain insights into the Dao of Power, Annihtion, and Destruction, increase the sturdiness of his cultivation foundation, and even fight against the youthful avatar of his mysterious father.


    His gains had been immense during that trial, increasing his hopes that thisnd was something simr.


    "There''s too many simrities for it not to be rted. Let''s just hope this realm can be as fruitful for me as the previous Divine Talent trail," John said with a smirk of anticipation as he hastened his speed. His figure became a blur as it carved a path through the field, leaving a trail of ruin behind him.


    ¡­


    "Hmm? It''s getting harder to move forward," Rahze mused to himself as his steps halted, and he came to a stop in the field. He had progressed a great deal towards the mountains, closing over half the distance thus far. "Not physical¡­but on my dantain? Tch."


    It had been a fleeting thought before, but as he got closer to the mountains, the thought became more and more certain. The way towards the mountains was not as simple as it appeared to be.


    The others noticed this as well, as moving forward had be more difficult. It wasn''t a physical resistance halting their progress forward, but was instead a pressure that pressed on their dantian, making it harder to utilize Qi.<novelnext></novelnext>


    It was as if the bizarre pressure was trying to lock their dantian and prevent it from moving forward through space. The only way to resist this was to utilize Qi to press against the pressure, which was bing more and more arduous as the cultivators moved forward.


    However, each felt this pressure appear at a different time in their journey, as if this pressure did not activate the same for all of them.


    "A test? Or a natural energy trying to protect something ahead?" Serilia of the Faerie race mused, her mind racing with possibilities. The other cultivators came up with their own ideas as well, but ideas did not solve the issue.


    The only way was forward, and so all continued to move with hastened steps, fighting back against the ever increasing pressure on their dantian. Their speed naturally slowed down as the pressure increased, a frustrating thing to some, while an amusing test to others.


    sh!


    A light suddenly shed in the distance, catching the attention of all the cultivators. It appeared at the very top of the mountains in the far distance before them, and glowed with an ethereal light. It gave off a wondrous aura, like the most heavenly of treasures had just appeared.


    The light caused all the cultivators to surge forward with their greatest speed, as if the ethereal light was irresistible.


    ¡­


    sh!


    "Hmm? What''s that?" John said as he noticed a sh in the far distance. It was still nearly a thousand miles away and very faint, but it glowed like the halo of an angel, and gave off a wondrous aura.


    "A treasure?" John mused as he stared at it. "Only one way to find out."


    Boom!


    The ground exploded at his feet as he suddenly shot to the sky and then surged forwards, piercing through the sky like a bullet. His body dantian surged with might as it propelled him forwards, and after several hundred miles, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face as he focused on his essence dantian.


    "Hmm? Is my dantian being restricted?" John mumbled to himself, although the feeling was incredibly faint and almost imperceptible. It was as if soft hands were grasping his dantian, holding it with the lightest amount of pressure.


    He took note of the feeling and then ignored it, as he surged forward through the sky with incredible speed. As he did so, he noticed that the pressure on his essence dantian did indeed exist, and was increasing as he progressed forward.


    "A dantian talent test, huh?" John mused with a confident smile as he recognized the pressure. It was very simr to the other tests in the Divine Trial realm on the Yuan Continent that had focused his dantian, testing it for its talent.


    "Not even my mysterious father has a twenty timespressed dantian. So let''s just see what this realm can do to stop me," John said to himself with absolute confidence as he increased his speed even further, carving through the sky like a hawk.

 Chapter 815 The Lights Source

    Outside the Divine Wall, several monks sat at the top of the massive staircase, watching over the stone stele, as well as the crowd. The monks were seated in meditation positions, each with their eyes closed and hands in front of their chest, one hand curled into a fist, while the other rested on top, t and pointing upwards.


    The stone stele rumbled lightly, as new words were suddenly carved into its surface, as if there was an invisible giant carving the words. The rumbling attracted the gaze of the crowd as well as the monks, who opened their eyes to look at the stone stele.


    "The first trial has started," one of the monks said monotonously.


    "Indeed it has," another nodded, his face expressionless.


    "This will be the first insight into the quality of the candidates," another monk chimed up. "Despite the passage of untold millennia, the seed has yet to be imed."


    "Do not get your hopes up, brother Alrine," another monk said to the previous. "Countless of our predecessors lived and died not seeing the seed be imed. It is a near impossible feat, and for a world this regressed, even more so. Our bones will most likely turn to dust before one capable of obtaining the seed arises, and our burden will pass on to the next generation."


    "What you say is true, brother Pairen," monk Alrine nodded. "But the longer the burden, the more important it bes. The seed grows, and this world''s seed has been growing for a long time, waiting to be plucked."


    "Indeed. But it will still be some time before the first trial is passed. Until then, we wait for the truth to reveal itself," monk Pairen nodded before closing his eyes once more.


    ¡­


    Che!


    John carved through the sky, his speed sting the ins below him with a sonic boom. The ground trembled and cracked as he sped overhead. The ethereal light in the distance became brighter, while the pressure on his essence dantian increased.


    "Hmph, still not enough to slow me down," John scoffed as he felt the pressure attempt to restrict him, but was unable to do so. He had yet to even use his essence Qi to fight against it, as the pressure was unable to fully subdue his dantian just yet.


    A long trail of ruin stretched for over a thousand miles as John sped forward with his quickest speed.


    "Not bad. I guess this realm is going to be a bit challenging like the Divine Trial on the Yuan Continent," John smirked as the pressure on his dantian finally reached a level that required him to fight back with Qi.


    His dantian red and Qi surged out, mming against the pressure wrapped around it. The pressure was pushed back with ease, making it so that he was able to move forward without pause.


    As the distance to the light shrunk, the pressure continued to increase, but never reached a level that concerned John at all. The details of the mountains finally came into view, revealing lush forests with towering trees at the base, which thinned out as it climbed up the mountain. The forest faded away to sparse shrubbery, and then barren rock, before leading to snow at the very top.


    The mountain''s stretched out sideways in all directions, with no inch left untouched. The only way forward was over the mountains, which stood several dozen miles tall. John arrived at the base of the mountain, and gazed at the ethereal light, which rested at the highest peak of the mountain before him.


    It glowed brightly, as if enticing all toe for it.


    "Alright. Let''s see what you are," John said as his body shifted upwards, climbing in the air parallel to the steep mountain slope. The trees in the forest beneath him swayed violently, as if a hurricane had swept through the forest.


    As he climbed, the pressure continued to increase on his dantian, causing John to use more and more Qi to resist it.


    "Still not nearly enough to slow me down," John scoffed with confidence, his speed not slowing for a second. He hastily sped up the mountainside, reaching the top almost as fast as he had arrived. The pressure had indeed reached a decent level for him at the very top, but John merely increased his Qi output to fight against it, still not too bothered by its restriction.


    Boom!


    The mountain trembled as Johnnded at the peak, directly before the source of light. Avnches of snow cascaded down the mountainside, crashing into the forests far below.<novelnext></novelnext>


    John walked forward towards the light, and stopped directly in front of it. He studied the nearly blindingly bright object for a moment, inspecting for any danger, and then reached out to touch it. He grabbed the object, which dimmed the moment he touched it, revealing its form.


    "Another seal, huh?"


    ¡­


    Rumble!


    The stone stele rumbled, stirring the monks from their meditation. Their eyes widened with startled surprise, as if they had not expected it to rumble.


    "What''s going on?" a monk said.


    "What? So soon? Impossible" another monk chimed up.


    "Has the stele be broken after all these years? It''s far too early for¡­" the monk''s voice drifted out as he watched the words carved onto the stone stele underneath one of the names.


    -Name: John Fenix


    -Cultivation: Peak Heaven Tribtion


    -Age: Eighteen


    -Dao Name: ''Immortal Asura!''


    -Trial One: One hour. Fifteen Minutes. Eight Seconds.


    -Trial One Score: Twelve


    The monks stared at the recently carved words with stunned expressions, something rarely seen on their stoic faces. Monk Pairen eventually recovered from his shock and hastily stood up.


    "I must inform Prior Hishen and the Grand Abbot," he said before retreating into the monastery behind them.


    ¡­


    Prior Hishen and the Grand Abbot listened to monk Pairen''s words, and thanked him before dismissing him to return to his position. Silence filled the room for some time before Prior Hishen turned to the Grand Abbot.


    "Grand Abbot¡­could the stele truly be faulty as brother Pairen suggested?" Prior Hishen asked.


    "You truly don''t believe such a thing is possible?" the Grand Abbot replied calmly.


    "No¡­I do not," Prior Hishen replied. "Then¡­"


    "There''s no reason to get antsy," the Grand Abbot said with a small smile on his face. "We''ve waited all this time. We can wait a bit more for the trials to reveal the truth of what''s toe."

 Chapter 816 Changes To The Stele

    Outside the monastery, the changing of the information under John''s name caught the attention of everyone outside, as it was the first change that had happened since the geniuses had entered.


    The crowd watched as the information was inscribed beneath John''s name, and began to discuss the changes immediately.


    "Look, the stele is changing!" many in the crowd eximed.


    "Its changing under that ''Asura'' boy¡­" others said.


    "Trial One? So there are trials within that each of them needs to pass," another mused, as they had received the first hint of what was inside the mysterious realm.


    "Trials huh? Well it looks like the brazen ''Asura'' is already done with his trial, which seems to have been a time rted trial. Did he pass first, or fail first?" another said.


    "He received a score of twelve? Aren''t there twelve participants in there? Wouldn''t that mean that he camest?" others mused.


    "That would make sense. After all, even if he is a ''genius'', he is by far the weakest of those who entered. Perhaps the boy bit off more than he can chew."


    "Hahaha," boisterousughter drifted out from amongst the crowds that were enemies with John, namely the Forbidden Alliance and enemy races. They felt quite content that John had already embarrassed himself byingst in whatever trial there was, and were gloating in that embarrassment.


    The inscription beneath John''s name finally finished, and his name and information suddenly moved. It was as if the words that were carved into the stone were fish, able to swim freely across the stone surface. It was bizarre to look at.


    John''s name swam up the stone stele, going from the position at the very bottom to the very top, something that confused the crowd as to its meaning. There were no other changes to the stele under any of the other names, and so the crowd did not know if being at the top was an indication of sess, or failure.


    Many thought about asking the monks who sat atop therge staircase, but decided against disturbing them. If the monks wanted the crowd to know the truth of the stele, they would have exined it to them already. As such, many heated discussions broke out amongst the crowd as to the truth of what the changes truly meant.


    ¡­


    The now lightless seal was held in John''s hand, who inspected it closely for a brief moment. There was nothing special about the seal other than the ethereal glow it had given off earlier, which now no longer existed.


    "What''s the purpose of this seal? Does it have use, or was it merely a tool for measuring my sess through the dantian restricting ins?" John mused to himself.


    Unlike the others, he had a hint as to what this realm was, as it was most definitely rted to the seal he had obtained in the other Divine Talent realm. This realm was most likely the same, and so John had already been expecting trials. Reaching the seal to determine time it took to cross the ins was the most likely answer, but John collected the seal regardless and put it away in his spatial ring.


    With the seal stored away, his gaze turned forward as did his footsteps. John walked to the other side of the mountain peak, and gazed over the other side to thend beyond. His eyes widened ever so slightly as he gazed at thend beyond, which was an amalgamation of differentndscapes, like they were haphazardly thrown together.


    Thend on the other side stretched as far as the eye could see, and was filled with raging inferno''s, moltenva, icy tundras, deathly swamps, and other dangerous looking biomes. Each of the biomes were a few miles long and wide before changing to the other, appearing almost like a chessboard, only one that stretched as far as the eye could see.


    It was incredibly bizarre, and was not at all what John was expecting. He inspected the hellish lookingndscape for a while, and then proceeded to move forward towards it. He suddenly stopped once more as he felt something, and raised his hand forward before his face.


    A screen of light appeared before him, created by an unseen formation. It barred his path forward, making him unable to move towards.


    "Hmm? I can''t proceed?" John mused to himself.


    "Please wait for the other participants to finish the first trial," the monotone voice that had appeared in the realm of golden light when John had first entered sounded out from all directions around him.


    John had not been expecting to hear the voice, and quickly scanned the surrounding area, but felt nothing whatsoever. It was as if the artifact spirit was talking to him through the void itself.


    "Wait for them huh? Then this is a trial realm as expected," John mused again and sat down. His eyes closed as he used the downtime to meditate on his cultivation andprehensions once more.


    ¡­


    Rumble!


    Rumble!<novelnext></novelnext>


    Rumble!


    Outside the divine wall, the stone stele eventually started to rumble again as new information was inscribed under the other participants'' names. Each change caught the attention of the crowd, who watched in apt attention, trying to figure out what was going on.


    The first name after John that had its information inscribed was another unexpected name.


    -Name: Lilian Celestria


    -Cultivation: Peak Dao Transformation


    -Age: Twenty-Six


    -Dao Name: Goddess of Death


    -Trial One: Eight Hours. Nine Minutes. Thirty-Six Seconds.


    -Trial One Score: Eleven


    "Lilian Celestria, huh?" the crowd mused, and watched as her name swam upwards on the stele, resting in the position directly below Johns.


    "First John, and then her. It must be a duration based trial, and they were the first to fail!" many guessed, as John and Lilian were two of the weakest participants cultivation wise who had entered.


    "Must be. Otherwise, if it was a trial where passing first matters, wouldn''t it mean that these two were the first to pass? No way I believe that," another chimed in.


    "Right? How can they pass before the others, like Zeras or Lua. Those monsters are the absolute pinnacle geniuses of thest century, and are also much stronger than John and Lilian," another said.


    Thousands of simr discussions broke out, with the enemy camps mostly having the same opinion, while allied camps such as the Honorable Alliance were of the opposite opinion. Those who knew John, and what he was capable of, refused to believe he camest in any sort of trial, even with his low cultivation whenpared to the others. He was a man that defied all cultivation norms many times over, and the rumors of his feats in the Jade Dragon Empire Realm had already spread through the Honorable Alliance like wildfire, further adding to his legendary mythos.


    Rumble!


    Rumble!


    Rumble!


    The stone stele rumbled once more shortly after Lilian''s information had changed, revealing that another had finished their trial. The crowd watched closely as the information updated, yet again for one of the weakest participants, further reinforcing the opinion of many that the first to appear on this list had been the first to fail whatever the trial was.


    It was a name that had garnered much attention a few years ago, but had fallen off slightly in conversation due to the rise of other names such as Asura. However, all knew this name, as it belonged to one of the most impressive talents to ever score on the Talent Testing Steps.


    -Name: Parker Fenix


    -Cultivation: Middle Dao Transformation


    -Age: Twenty


    -Dao Name: Asuros


    -Trial One: Eight Hours. Thirteen Minutes. Thirty-Four Seconds.


    -Trial One Score: Ten

 Chapter 817 Clarification Of The Stele Scores

    Another wave of discussion broke out amongst the millions gathered as the third name, Parker Fenix, popped up on the list. Almost all were very much aware of the existence of Asuros, who had been the most famous cultivator in recent times to take on the Talent Testing Steps, at least until John scored higher than him.


    Still, Asuros had achieved sixteen steps the first time, and had somehow increased his talent to eighteen steps the second time around. It was a score that ranked amongst the most talented to ever exist in the world, going back since before the cmity.


    As such, the name Asuros was very well known, and was just a step below John in terms of mythos surrounding the name. The crowd discussed his score, as well as the matchingst name John and Parker had.


    The crowd couldn''te to a conclusion as to whether the two were rted or not, but the consensus in the end was that they were not rted, as an unknown n producing two such talents was just too far-fetched to believe.


    "The three weakest were the first to show up on this list. It must be a trial in which a longer time is better," someone in the crowd said, garnering agreeing nods all around him. The crowd then discussed who would show up next, based on what they knew about the cultivators who had entered.


    A short whileter, the stele rumbled again, and the crowd watched as the fourth name received a time and a score. Surprise appeared on their faces, as the name had not been one they had been expecting to appear so soon.


    -Name: Zeras Celestria


    -Cultivation: Early World Expansion


    -Age: Sixty


    -Dao Name: Star Storm


    -Trial One: Nine Hours. Twenty Minutes. Fifty-Four Seconds.


    -Trial One Score: Nine


    "What? Zeras is the next to receive a score?" many eximed in surprise.


    "Isn''t he one of the most talented, if not the most talented of the World Expansion experts in there?" others asked.


    Zeras'' talent was known throughout the continent. He was known as a foremost genius, perhaps even the strongest genius below the age of one hundred. He was the prized son of the Astral Emperor, and his strength was undoubtable.


    They had expected him to appear towards the end based on their guesses, but the truth had beenpletely different. Heated discussions broke out amongst the millions strong crowd, until one youth had enough, and stepped forward to the front of the massive crowd.


    "Esteemed monks of the Divine Source Monastery," the youth, who belonged to a neutral n of decent renown called out. His voice was drowned out initially due to the loud crowd behind him, but his presence and words were noted by the monks. One of them stood up and walked forward to the top step to stare down at the youth.


    The monk''s actions caused others to quickly take note, and the crowd quickly died down as they realized something was happening.


    "What is it, child?" the monk asked calmly, his face expressionless.


    The youth, who appeared to be around twenty, gulped in nervousness as a million gazes fell on him, but he mustered his courage to speak once more. The monk before him seemed nice, and did not seem angry that he had called out to them, so he proceeded with his question.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Esteemed monk. Could you please provide some rity regarding the names on the stele, and what the scores mean?" the youth asked. His words caused gazes of anticipation to flick to the monk, as the question was on the minds of the other several million cultivators gathered.


    The monk flicked his gaze to the stele, and then back to the youth.


    "The first line of information rys the nature of the trial, in this particr case, a time trial," the monk replied. The crowd obviously knew this, and wanted rity of the second line, the ''Trial One Score'' line.


    "As for the second line," the monk continued. "The second line indicates the order in which the participants ranked in the trial. There are twelve participants, and thus the maximum score one can receive is twelve."


    "Maximum?" the crowd murmured, while the youth asked for further rity, voicing his own guess for confirmation.


    "Maximum? Does that mean a score of twelve is the best score, and not the worst score?" the youth asked, to which the monk calmly nodded.


    "It does," the monk confirmed. The confirmation sent a surge of heated discussion through the crowd once more, as the truth was theplete opposite of what they had guessed. The higher score was better, and the trial was not an endurance trial, but a form of race in which the lowest time won.


    Their eyes went wide as they gazed back at the stele, and at the name that had received a score first. John''s name was carved into everyone''s minds, as his time had been astronomically faster than anyone else.


    In fact, now that the nature of the trial had been revealed, the crowd almost couldn''t believe how monstrous John truly was, as his score eclipsed even the likes of Zeras Celestria.


    "Is there anything else?" the monk asked the youth calmly, who shook his head sideways. The monk nodded and retreated to his former position, while the buzz of mourous discussion drifted out in all directions.


    The subject? John Fenix, the ''Immortal Asura''


    ¡­


    Contentious discussion continued over the next day as the crowd discussed the unexpected turn of events, as well as the names that had already received scores. A sour mood was prevalent in the Forbidden Alliance and Monster Race groups, as not only had John decimated everyone else''s score, the highest they had ced thus far was fifth, sixth, and eight, for Lua, Rahze, and Zasgoth respectively.


    Theories popped up regarding John''s freakish time, with many specting different things. Some said he somehow cheated, while others said the trial was most likely just a good match for him and nothing more. These opinions were mostly of the Forbidden Alliance and Monster Race, who didn''t want to acknowledge their grave defeat in the first trial.


    Others realized that the score of twenty steps on the Talent Testing Steps was no fluke after all, and that John was truly a cut above all other geniuses. Fights nearly broke out amongst the differing groups as these opinions shed, and were only stopped by the looming threat of the nearby monastery monks.


    Wagers broke out within groups and between different factions, betting on the trials toe, with some betting for John''s continued sess, while others figured it was a one-time fluke that would not repeat itself.


    All the while, the stone stele continued to rumble for the next day as new information popped up, indicating a participant hadpleted their trial. After thirty hours, the stele suddenly changed once more, as two names were immediately dropped to the bottom of the stele, and then vanished, as if they had never been on the stele at all.


    A mixed wave of emotions buzzed through the crowd. Confusion. Curiosity. Anger. tion. Differing people felt differing emotions based on their rtionship with the two names that had been removed, but all knew there were only two exnations for the sudden removals.


    Either those two had failed the trial before its conclusion¡­or they had died.

 Chapter 818 The First Trial Ends

    "What''s going on?" many in the crowd eximed, shocked by the sudden turn of events. Without warning, one of the cultivators who had belonged to a neutral power, as well as the lone Barbarian cultivator vanished from the listpletely.


    The members of the neutral n felt their stomach sink, while the few Barbarians that had shown up to the event felt their rage grow. The Barbarian race was quick to anger, and regardless of the Monasteries might and prestige, one of the stronger Barbarian elders raced forward towards the staircase and called out loudly.


    "Monks! What happened to my son!" the Barbarian roared loudly, demanding an answer from the monastery monks. The crowd was stunned by the Barbarians actions, but eagerly listened on, as they too were curious as to the reason for the removal of the names.


    "Quiet yourself in the presence of the monastery," Prior Hishen said as he appeared from within the depths of the monastery and walked to the top of the staircase. He stared down at the hulking barbarian with a frown of disapproval on his face.


    The Barbarian elder stared back with defiance in his gaze, not quelled for a second by Prior Hishen. The Barbarian had a cultivation in the Middle World Expansion Realm, and was one of the foremost members of the race. As such, he carried himself with confidence, as well as arrogance.


    "Answer me!" the Barbarian roared again. He seemed as if he were about to run up the stairs directly to the Prior if he was not answered.


    "Your son merely failed the first trial," Prior Hishen replied with a calm yet exasperated tone. "The first trial of the realm beyond this wall poses no harm, and only eliminates if one does not seed in the allotted time."


    Prior Hishen''s exnation answered many questions the crowd had, much to their satisfaction.


    "Impossible! My son is a paragon of geniuses! How can he fail when the other weaklings seeded!" the Barbarian roared again. His voice was deep and slow, making him sound quite stupid, a trait all Barbarians shared.


    Prior Hishen sighed and turned around, speaking with his back to the crowd.


    "I have said all I need to say. Please retreat back into the crowd," Prior Hishen instructed. His words caused anger to rise up in the Barbarian elder, who roared and then charged up the stairs.


    Prior Hishen turned towards the approaching Barbarian, whose figure shook the ground and temple with each step. His face calm, he stretched his hand forward towards the Barbarian with his palm facing outwards.


    Without warning, a massive palm, golden in color like the Divine Wall behind them appeared, and pressed out towards the Barbarian. It reached the Barbarian in an instant, who felt surprise at the surprise attack, and then roared in rage as his cultivation red and his fist mmed outwards.


    The fist mmed against the golden palm, and the crowd grimaced as they braced for an apocalyptic explosion. Many of the powerful elders in the crowd moved forward and prepared to protect their youths from the imminent st.


    However, instead of an explosion, there was hardly a sound at all. The Barbarians fist mmed against the golden palm, and then nothing. It was as if the entire attack had been absorbed within the massive palm, which dwarfed the hulking Barbarian. Shock and confusion appeared on the Barbarian''s face, who was then surrounded by the palm as the massive fingers sped around it, grasping him firmly.


    The stunned crowd then watched as the palm quickly retreated back into the monastery temple, disappearing into the depths of the main entrance. The entire process was almost silent, with only the screams of rage from the Barbarian sounding out.


    Prior Hishen''s calm gaze shifted towards the other Barbarians in the crowd, who had expressions as if they too were about to charge forward and fight, although they were slightly less certain after what they had just witnessed.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "He will be held until the end of the realm, as to ensure no further disturbances. As long as the rest of you behave, he will be returned unharmed," Prior Hishen said to them calmly. His words dispelled their heated gazes, and they fell into line like the rest of the stunned crowd.


    Just like that, Prior Hishen had overwhelmed a Middle World Expansion Barbarian, without any effort at all. With the Grand Abbots disy earlier, and now this, there was only one question on the crowd''s mind.


    "Just how strong is the Divine Source Monastery?"


    ¡­


    On the snow-capped mountain peak over a dozen miles high, John sat in a meditative position with his eyes closed. The cold mountain air whirled by, making his long ck hair flutter in the wind. He had been in this seated position for many hours now, as his way forward was blocked.


    A soft buzzing sound entered his ears all of a sudden, and his eyes opened as he stared at a screen of light that had appeared before him, with many words appearing on the screen. He quickly read the screen of light, his right eyebrow raising slightly at what he read.


    "This is a list of those who entered?" John mused as he read the list, which contained the same information as the stone stele outside. He started with his own name, which was at the top of the list.


    "Immortal Asura huh? That''s my Dao Name? I suppose that''s fitting," John mused as he read his own Dao Name for the first time. He found it quite fitting.


    "I wonder though. Is it my Dao Name because it''s the name of my cultivation technique, or is it the fact that the Heavens have tried to kill me twice to no avail, and consider me an immortal pest? Perhaps it''s abination of both?" he mused with a small smirk on his face as his eyes scanned the next name.


    "Master!" John said, feeling a warmth rise within him. It had been over a year since hest saw her, and now she was in the same realm. He could finally see her again, and show her the gains he had made since theyst were together.


    His smirk faded slightly as he read on.


    "Celestria," John frowned. So, his master truly was of the Astral Empire. A princess of the Astral Emperor. His one question was now answered, but many more arose. Why did his master leave the Astral Empire? Why did she retreat to the Yuan Continent? Why does she call Thunderzen her father instead? The questions were endless, and John felt that the answers would not be pleasant.


    "Goddess of Death huh?" John mumbled and smiled again as he read her Dao Name. It was very impressive sounding. As expected of someone worthy of calling themself his master.


    His eyes then drifted down again, and his smile faded instantly, and was reced by a menacing re of hatred. His aura instinctively red, sting aside the nearby snow and rumbling the mountain he was on.


    "So you''vee, Asuros. Good, then I will be sure to finish your life for good this time. There will be no escaping a second time."

 Chapter 819 The Second Trial Begins

    As John inspected the screen of information before him, so did the other cultivators who had passed the first trial.


    On a different snow-capped mountain peak far away from John, a slight smirk appeared on Lilian''s face as she read the screen.


    "So the brat did enter after all, and managed to embarass me thoroughly in the first trial as well," Lilian said to herself. She knew how hard the first trial had been, and despite managing toe second ce, her time waspletely shattered by John''s time. She knew of his freakish talent, and yet she couldn''t imagine how such a time was possible.


    "Unless I pick it up, he''ll surpass me before long," Lilian said, and her smirk changed into a heated gaze of defiance. "I refuse to allow that brat to surpass me. It seems my days of cking off are over."


    As she continued to read, her smile faded into a frown as a name she knew all too well entered her gaze.


    "Zeras¡­"


    ¡­


    On a different mountain peak, a sinister aura washed over the surrounding area, even more chilling than the surrounding air. Eyes filled with hatred and anger stared at the screen of light before him. Parker, or Asuros'' face trembled with rage as he saw John''s name on the list. His face had changed slightly since thest time they met, bing more scarred, and more menacing. It was almost as if he were a different person, and the look in his eyes was as if he were a primal beast staring at its most hated enemy.


    His body was alsorger than before, and more muscr. His skin was slightly discolored, more reddish than before, as if it had been stained by blood-colored paint. His lips curled back, revealing his gritted teeth, which ground together tightly.


    "So, you did appear here after all," Asuros said, his voice cold. "You have no idea the pain and suffering you put me through after that realm¡­but that pain and suffering has made me far stronger than before. This time, I''ll be sure to kill you for good. And I''ll make sure you suffer miserably the entire time."


    ¡­


    At the same time, the others who had passed also studied the information. Some felt shock and surprise at John''s score, as it was utterly impossible toprehend. Others were angry at theirckluster performance, namely those who had ced at the bottom. The information had revealed one key piece of information to them; that thisnd was a trial realm of sorts, and theirpetition was the other participants. As such, they no longer dared to hold back any of their strength, and would push forward with everything.


    A piercing set of blue eyes stared at the list before him, studying the two names at the top. He noted the time that John had achieved, and raised an eyebrow. His gaze then rested on Lilian, thest name ''Celestria'' reflecting on his eyes.


    "So, my precious little sister truly does still live. Her¡­change was truly not as we had originally thought then. And she''se to this realm of all ces," Zeras said thoughtfully.


    "Apparently father was not wrong when he said he felt her presence again, although I thought that impossible at the time. Curious¡­how did she manage to aplish such a thing," Zeras mused to himself, and then saw her Dao Name.


    "Goddess of Death," he said the Dao Name, and his eyes lit up slightly. "So, she stillmands that half of herself then, and it was not truly lost," he said as a smile appeared on his face.


    "I look forward to our reunion, little sister."


    ¡­


    The screen of light disappeared before John, and he felt the invisible formation blocking his path forward vanish as well. His eyes lit up as he realized the way forward had been cleared.


    Without hesitation, he, as well as the others, all shed forward. They raced down the mountainside towards thend beyond, which was the checkerboardednd of fire, ice, death, and more.


    The side of the mountain was not forested like the other half, and was instead barren, as if vegetation could not exist near such inhospitable biomes. John arrived before the first checkered biome, which was and of fire. A wall of mes roared up before him, but did not spread outwards, as if it were contained by a formation.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Do I enter this?" John mused as he looked around, but saw no other way forward. "I guess so."


    After making up his mind, he stepped forward and into the wall of me. A scorching heat instantly assaulted him, making him feel as if he were being cooked alive. However, he had experienced much worse pain before in his life, and thus was able to stabilize his mind against the pain.


    Shortly after entering, a voice sounded out again, as ifing from all directions. It was the artifact spirit voice he had heard twice before.


    "Stay standing and endure. Kneel and ept defeat."


    The two sentences were concise but clear in their purpose. This trial was theplete opposite of thest one. Instead of a race, it was a trial of endurance.


    "But enduring what? The fire?" John mused to himself.


    As if answering his question, the realm around him started to tremble violently. While none of the cultivators could see it from their vantage point on the ground, the checkerboarded biomes began to shift, and merge. The biomes merged in ten different directions, stacking over each other until only ten spots remained, while the rest of thend was barren and filled with nothing.


    John''s eyes widened as he felt the change all around him. He had felt fiery pain before, but now felt iciness, as if his bones were being chilled themselves. His mouth suddenly felt parched, as if he had never had a drop of water in his life and needed to drink or death would take him. An aura of death enveloped him afterwards, making him feel as if he had been dropped into a pit of death and despair.


    Dozens of other miserable feelings, both internal and external, assaulted his mind and body. Both became wracked with those dozens of types of pain, making him feel as if he had been dropped into hell itself.


    "So that''s what this is. It''s a pain endurance trial," John groaned to himself as he steeled his mind and body against the pain that was assaulting him. Through the terrible pain, a small smirk of self-confidence appeared. Scenes of his short but brutal life shed in his mind.


    Enduring the terrible pain of absorbing the mysterious sinister drops of blood.


    Enduring the mental anguish of the sinister gate within his pce realm assaulting his mind thousands of times.


    Enduring the hellish training his master had put him through, soaking his body with an aura of death for months on end.


    Enduring the lightning that scorched his body ck as he trained the Celestial Lightning Script.


    Enduring the painful absorption process of his Jade Dragon inheritance.


    Enduring the agony of his body nearly bursting apart as he utilized his Asura Transformation and Bloodline Ability together.


    Enduring the pain of his horrifying battles that had pushed his body to the breaking point over and over again.


    Enduring the pain of his apocalyptic battles against the Heavens itself!


    If there was one thing he could im that he was unrivaled within his realm¡­it was enduring pain, as that had been the one constant in his life since he started his cultivation journey.


    "Was this realm crafted to fit my strengths perfectly? I''d like to see who in this realm can match me when ites to enduring pain."

 Chapter 820 Trial Of Pain

    The crowd outside the Divine Source Monastery had be like a semi-permanent city, as most of the sects, ns, and factions had set up quickly constructed tents and buildings. No one knew how long the geniuses would be in the realm for, and so most decided to make themselvesfortable.


    Thanks to their awesome power, cultivators were able to build structures very quickly and efficiently. Formations experts helped speed up the process even more, as within a day, the city had already formed.


    It was almost as if a true city had been formed, as there were many different types of buildings built. Many in the crowd realized that a gathering like this was rare, and was a perfect opportunity to make extra spirit crystals by selling their wares and services. There were restaurants, trade shops, pill halls and more. There were even gambling halls set up, with the primary focus being bets on the oues of the dozen geniuses within the divine realm.


    The monks of Divine Source Monastery watched on as the city was built, but did not voice their protest. They had invited the crowd onto theirnds, and as long as the millions strong crowd did not cause a great disturbance or permanently damage theirnd, they were fine with their actions.


    The various factions and races all had different styles, resulting in a city that varied greatly throughout. A somewhat tense atmosphere filled the city as many enemy powers were in close proximity towards one another, and harsh words and insults would be thrown out whenever enemies passed by each other. However, none dared to fight in the presence of the Divine Source Monastery, as they had all seen how swift the monastery was to dole out punishments for causing a disturbance.


    The sun hung high in the sky, illumination the city below, as well as the stone stele, which had remained dormant for over a day since the previous trial was updated.


    Rumble!


    Thend started to lightly rumble again, and an excited buzz surged through the entire city. Everyone knew what the rumbling meant, and millions poured out of the buildings they were in and into the streets. With the stone stele being hundreds of yards tall, and most of the buildings in the city being one or two stories at most, almost everyone was able to see the stele as long as they stood out in the open, regardless of what part of the city they located.


    "It''s changing!" excited voices eximed out loud as information began to form on the stele under one of the names.


    The information appeared under the Faeries name, who was located in the bottom half of the list. She had ced seventh in the first trial, and had six points after trial one. A new time appeared beneath her name, listed under "Trial Two."


    -Name: Serilia Frostmoon


    -Cultivation: Early World Expansion


    -Age: Seventy Eight


    -Dao Name: Heart Reverie


    -Trial One: Fourteen Hours. Eight Minutes. Nine Seconds.


    -Trial One Score: Nine


    -Trial Two: Twenty-Eight Hours. Sixteen Minutes. Four Seconds.


    -Trial Two Score: One


    -Total Score: Ten


    The crowd quickly read the updates, and boisterous discussions quickly broke out once more. The score of ''one'' revealed the nature of the trial to them. It was a duration based trial, with those appearing first to be the first to fail.


    None had been expecting Serilia to fail first, as her score in the first trial had ced her in the middle of the pack. But with none of them knowing what exactly the trials were, they could only guess based on the information given to them on the stele. In a secluded part of the city, there was


    "The Faerie cultivator failed first huh? That''s unexpected."


    "True. And since she finished her trial, the others should as well very soon. I wonder what the order is going to be."


    While many discussed the new information, others flooded to the gambling buildings, updating their bets with the information they had just been given. Others retreated back to the restaurants they were in to finish their food, their discussions naturally about the recent update.


    ¡­


    Sweat perspired down long blue hair that appeared like it was made of ice, framing a beautiful and ethereal face. The dazzling dress that Serilia wore clung to her body, drenched in sweat as well. At her realm, cultivators did not perspire, but the pain she had endured made her sweat for the first time for a very long time.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The trial had been excrutiating, both in body and mind. It was as if her body were being subjected to the worst forms of physical torture, while her mind and soul were tormented as well. Being a Faerie with a formidable soul, Serilia was able to resist the effects of the mental torture quite well. She would have been able to keep enduring for quite some time more, but her body had failed her instead.


    Her breaths were ragged, while her one knee was anchored to the ground. A look of disappointment appeared on her face as she recovered, and she stood up afterposing herself.


    Faeries were a delicate race, and as such had weaker bodies than most. They made up for that weakness with their powerful souls, but that weakness cost her dearly here. She did not know how she performedpared to the others, and could only hope that her performance was notcking. After standing up, she tried to move, but felt herself trapped into ce, as if restricted by a spatial formation.


    Had her strength still been in the World Expansion Realm, she might have been able to break free of her bonds. However, with her dantian restricted to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, she was at the mercy of the formation.


    She felt no danger from the formation, and realized that it most likely was due to the other participants still being within their own pain trial. Realizing this, she closed her eyes and focused her mind to meditate, making the best use of her free time.


    ¡­


    Rumble!


    Rumble!


    Rumble!


    The stone stele rumbled many times over the next day, with each rumble attracting the eager eyes of all. The crowd discussed each update with excitement or disappointment as the list of those still within their trial grew thinner and thinner.


    Rumble!


    Another rumble caught the attention of the crowd, which eagerly read the update. Eyes widened slightly as the name entered their eyes.


    -Name: Zeras Celestria


    -Cultivation: Early World Expansion


    -Age: Sixty


    -Dao Name: Star Storm


    -Trial One: Nine Hours. Twenty Minutes. Fifty-Four Seconds.


    -Trial One Score: Nine


    -Trial Two: Fifty Two Hours. Sixteen Minutes. Fifty Eight Seconds.


    -Trial Two Score: Seven


    -Total Score: Sixteen


    Since two contestants were eliminated in the first trial, despiteing in the same ce overall of 4th, the total points avable had been reduced to ten for first ce, and thus Zeras received seven for fourth. With Zeras'' trial ending, there were only three cultivators remaining. The same individuals that had ced in the top three for the first trial.


    Parker, or Asuros.


    Lilian.


    And John.

 Chapter 821 Endure!

    "The same three have ced at the top again!" many eximed,ing to a quick realization that the results of the first trial did not seem to be a fluke for the three still taking part in the second trial.


    Many had scoffed and dismissed the results of the first trial, namely the Forbidden Alliance, Monsters, Barbarians, and many of the neutral powers. They eagerly anticipated the results of the second trial to prove their guesses right, but the truth was theplete opposite. The best performers for both the first and second trial were the same.


    "Just what type of trials are they taking?" a Forbidden Alliance elder grumbled.


    "It''s probably something dumb like who can cook the best or who can be the best servant, otherwise how could Lua and Rahze lose like this twice in a row," someone nearby replied in equal disappointment.


    However, they all knew a realm so mysterious, as well as guarded by the powerful Divine Source Monastery, could not be something so simple.


    Many hours passed by after Zeras received his score before the stele rumbled once more. Everyone rushed into the streets to get a glimpse of the gargantuan stone stele, which was once more updating its numbers.


    Their eyes raced across the stele as the information appeared.


    -Name: Lilian Celestria


    -Cultivation: Peak Dao Transformation


    -Age: Twenty-Six


    -Dao Name: Goddess of Death


    -Trial One: Eight Hours. Nine Minutes. Thirty-Six Seconds


    -Trial One Score: Eleven


    -Trial Two: Fifty-Eight Hours. Twenty-Two Minutes. One Second


    -Trial Two Score: Eight


    -Total Score: Neen


    "The Astral Empire girl huh?"


    "She came second in the first trial, and third here! As expected of someone from the Astral Empire!"


    "Both her and Zeras are doing great in this trial. I''m sure the Astral Emperor is quite pleased with the talent his children are disying to everyone!"


    The crowd discussed the new result, which eventually turned to who they thought woulde first in the second trial. After his stunning performance in the first trial, the overwhelming guess was John, who the crowd had finallye to realize that he was truly a monstrous genius to the level that even the enemy factions could no longer deny it.


    ¡­


    Sweat dripped off John''s face and onto the ground, freezing in mid air before instantly melting, freezing once again, and then vanishing into a mist. The space around him continued to assault his body with a thousand different sensations, each excruciatingly agonizing to his body and mind.<novelnext></novelnext>


    He had lost track of time, as the only thought that consumed his mind was the pain he felt. His skin felt like it was being yed off, while a million knives stabbed at each inch of his internals. It was like he was being roasted alive, as well as frozen to death. Dropped into a pit of pure death, eaten alive bit by bit. If there was a form of torture that existed that he wasn''t feeling at the moment, John would be surprised.


    Not only that, but his mind and soul felt as if they were about to burst apart. It was the most excruciating pain he had ever felt in his soul, which wavered like candle in the wind, ready to be snuffed out at any moment.


    Despite the fact that he had endured countless painful trials and tribtions, this one was no doubt the most painful he had ever endured. Even someone as strong in body and mind as him was on the edge of copse.


    He had no idea if he was thest participant remaining, or if others still yet lingered on. His mind was too consumed with pain to think of anything else than the pain, and a singr word that kept repeating in his mind, keeping his sanity in check.


    Endure!


    Endure!


    Endure!


    The word echoed like a drum, constantly reminding him of his sole objective; endure as long as possible. He wanted to give up countless times already, but each time the word repeated again, firming his resolve against the tormenting pain once more.


    Pain was part of the cultivation pathway, and one who was not able to endure until their body was falling apart and mind was copsing was not someone who would be able to walk to the pinnacle of the cultivation pathway, which was his singr goal in life.


    All other goals he had would be aplished if he achieved his primary one, and thus this trial of tormenting pain was just another building block on that pathway to the pinnacle.


    The seconds ticked by, each second feeling like an hour, and an hour like a year. Time lost all meaning for John, who finally felt himself nearing his breaking point. It wasn''t that he didn''t want to continue enduring, but it was that he couldn''t. Everyone, even someone as monstrously talented as him had his limits, and those limits were quickly being reached.


    His mind and soul wavered, feeling as though he was about to lose consciousness, or even his life. His body trembled and knees wobbled as he tried to stay standing upright, doing his best to not drop to his knees.


    Endure!


    His teeth were barred and chattering violently, an uncontroble reaction to what he was feeling at the moment. His body and robe were fully drenched in sweat, as if he had stepped into a pool with his clothes on.


    Endure!


    That one word kept him going, although it almost seemed to have lost meaning to him at this point. It was as if he know longer recognized what the word meant, and only his instincts were keeping him standing at this point.


    Endure!


    His eyes opened for the first time in a long time. A red tinge seemed to coat his vision, as if blood were coating his eyes. His body began to sway more and more, while his mind truly felt as if it had reached the limit. At this rate, he would only be able to endure for minutes more. He didn''t know if that was enough, but it was all he had left.


    As if a heavenly gift had been suddenly bestowed upon him, the pain suddenly vanished. It was such a sudden end to the pain that he didn''t even realize it had stopped for a short while. His hazy and near copsed mind finally started to clear up, and he finally realized that the pain had truly stopped.


    He felt absolutely nothing anymore, but that nothingness was the most glorious sensation he had ever felt in his life, as if he were being bathed in the most heavenly and vibrant of waters. A euphoric feeling that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

 Chapter 822 Second Trial Ends

    A deep breath entered John''s lungs as he slowly started topose himself, taking in the euphoric feeling of nothingness. It was only until it was taken away that one realized how blissful feeling nothing was. The trial he had just endured was a stark reminder of that, a lesson that he appreciated despite how traumatic it was.


    His mind cleared up and he came back to his senses. Thoughts other than the word ''endure'' formed in his mind for the first time in who knew how long, as he had truly lost track of time. It could have been minutes, or it could have been years. It would all be the same to him.


    John''s clear gaze shifted out across thend before him, which was the same barrennd he had entered before, but now contained none of the horrifyingly painful auras and formations anymore. Thend was still, as if he were the only one within the realm.


    "I wonder why the trial suddenly ended," John muttered to himself, but quickly came to the most likely exnation. "The only thing I can think of is that I was thend one standing," John mumbled, feeling true surprise.


    He prided himself on his tolerance to pain, his formidable mental will, and his willingness to push through anything to aplish his goals. Despite all that, he had nearly been pushed to the very edge of his limits, and had been just minutes off failure. If it truly had been that the trial ended when he was thest one standing, then there must have been someone who was capable of withstanding just as much pain and strife as him. This shocked him greatly.


    "Master?" John mused, his mind thinking of Lilian. As a user of the Dao of Death, she was constantly shrouded in a deathly aura. He had experienced first hand how painful this aura was, and thought perhaps her constant use of the death aura increased her tolerances and will to his level.


    Another person popped into his mind after thinking about his master, and his gaze narrowed.


    "Asuros," John spat out in disgust. He refused to call him Parker anymore. Parker was dead to him. He had died when he had betrayed the Fenix n, and John no longer saw him as a rtive. He was now only a mortal enemy.


    While John hated Asuros, he knew how painful cultivating the Immortal Asura Body was. He was sure Asuros'' technique was somewhat simr, and thus his tolerance to pain must be quite formidable. On top of that, he had that grotesque Asura as his master, who most likely put Asuros through other hellish trainings and tortures, especially after his failure in the Jade Dragon Empire Realm.


    As if answering his thoughts, the same screen of light as before appeared before John, hovering a few feet in front of his face. He quickly read over the updates, and confirmed suspicions.


    -Lilian Celestria


    -Trial Two: Fifty-Eight Hours. Twenty-Two Minutes. One Second


    -Trial Two Score: Eight


    ¡­


    - Parker Fenix


    -Trial Two: Seventy-One Hours. Eight Minutes. Thirty-Eight Seconds.


    -Trial Two Score: Nine


    ¡­


    -John Fenix<novelnext></novelnext>


    -Trial Two: Last Standing


    -Trial Two Score: Ten


    His eyes studied Asuros'' time, and his gaze narrowed with cold hatred.


    "So, it was you¡­Asuros. It seems you truly have improved sincest we met. I''m sure our battle will be quite interesting the next time we meet," John said coldly, his anger as well as anticipation rising as he thought of the battle toe.


    ¡­


    "Heh¡­." a humming sound tinged with amusement drifted out, harmonious to the ears. Lilian carefully studied the updates, and once again saw her student cing in the first spot. His score yet again defeated her soundly, which she found it hard to ept.


    The first trial had been one testing talent, and while she knew she was a monstrous genius, she also knew no one in the entire world could dare to im to have as much talent as John. She knew this well, and thus epted the first defeat, although begrudgingly.


    However, this trial of pain was different. It wasn''t a trial of talent, orbat prowess, or soul power. It was a test of endurance, mental fortitude, determination, and will. She prided herself in these fields and would have put herself against John in such a test any day. However, it seems she had underestimated her student once more, and realized she didn''t know nearly as much about him as she thought she did.


    "My training with him was quite brutal, but nothing to the level that could exin his performance here. It seems John had been through much more gruesome endeavors than I realized. Just how little do I know about my own student?" she mused to herself, finding herselfcking as a teacher and master for the very first time.


    A small smile appeared on her normally stoic face however, as she was truly happy with John''s performance thus far.


    ..


    "Motherfucker! I''ll fucking kill you!" a rage-filled yell of anger burst out of Asuros before he gritted his teeth and mmed his fist down on the earth in rage.


    Boom!


    The barren ground shattered all around him, sending cracks in the hard ground for miles in each direction. A strong and sinister aura drowned the area as he unleashed his aura without realizing, his rage overwhelming his other senses.


    "I endured so much pain, so much suffering, so much fucking misery at the hands of my master, and yet I''ve still fallen short of that piece of shit. I refuse to ept this!" he roared again, and after some time, eventually calmed his simmering rage.


    His angered look cooled down into a cold re, and he stared at the screen before him again.


    "It doesn''t matter in the end. These are mere fanciful trials. They mean nothing," he spat out in cold disgust. "The only trial that matters is the trial ofbat, and when I snuff out your life permanently, all these scores will mean nothing at all. Just you wait, John Fenix."

 Chapter 823 The Rising Fame Of Asura

    The makeshift city that sprung up before the Divine Source Monastary and stone stele continued to grow by the second as more and more people arrived.


    Word had quickly spread across the continent of what was happening, causing more and more curious people to flock to the city. Many had note initially as they didn''t think there would be much fanfare to see outside the realm, but the existence of the stele changed that.


    What was initially a crowd just over a million strong, had now surged to five million, and was still growing rapidly. Cultivators from all factions and races arrived, keeping the diversity of the city as it had initially been.


    The monks watched the surge of people arrive regrly, but made no actions against it as no disturbances wereing from the makeshift city. The people had learned that as long as they did not fight or make a ruckus, they would be left to do what they pleased.


    The regr rumbling that shook the makeshift city died down, leaving the stunned onlookers to gaze at the final update on the stone stele.


    They had already somewhat braces themselves for the oue when they saw who the two final participants were, but were still speechless as they gazed the words beneath John''s name.


    -John Fenix


    -Trial Two: Last Standing


    -Trial Two Score: Ten


    "He did it. He came first again!" A stunned voice in the Honorable Alliance camp drifted out.


    "Amazing! To think our Honorable Alliance has such a genius!" Others eximed.


    "Tch, he must be cheating somehow," many in the areas opposed to the Honorable Alliance spat out in displeasure at the results, although none of them believed their own words. How could someone cheat the Divine Source Monastary unnoticed? It was too absurd to be possible.


    Regardless of the feelings one had for John, there was one thing for certain. His name, already linked with ''Asura'', had be the hottest topic of discussion continent wise.


    All those who had entered the realm were pinnacle geniuses, the best the world had produced over thest century. And yet, the newly arrived John or ''Asura'' had bested them twice already, and by staggering margins. Many who were sensible knew they were seeing the meteoric rise of a genius amongst geniuses, one at a level never before seen.


    ''Asura'' had already carved his name in legends due to his Talent Testing Steps score, and appeared to be adding to that legend even more within the mysterious realm. That alone attracted more people towards the makeshift city, as none wanted to miss out in the rising of a future legend.


    ¡­


    Zeras'' piercingeyes calmly gazed at the screen of light before him, although his one raised eyebrow betrayed his otherwise emotionless face.


    "First twice in a row, huh?" Zeras mused to himself as he stared at John''s name. He had been through both trials himself, and knew the difficulty of both.


    John''s performance in the first trial had been stunning enough, but his second trial surprised Zeras even more. As a pampered prince of a lofty empire, Zeras had not had to struggle much in his life. This made him softer to pain and difort than he would have liked, but he still managed to make it to fourth ce again thanks to his immense talent, and special upbringing. His father had made sure he was a proper cultivator through and through.<novelnext></novelnext>


    However, John''s time hadpletely shattered how long Zeras hadsted, and technically he didn''t even have a time. It just said st standing."


    A talented genius was one thing, but talented genius capable of withstanding that much pain and agony was a whole different beast. Lasting that long proved one thing for certain; John had most definitely had a grueling and miserable life thus far, filled with dangers and death at every corner.


    "And yet¡­he has managed to keep his life, and thrive. He may be harder to deal with than father initially guessed," Zeras mused with a frown on his face.


    He sighed and looked upwards to the sky, his frown reced with a nk expression.


    "And yet¡­Laia has firmly attached herself to him, so there''s no choice in the matter.Either he submits to father, or he dies. There is no third option. I hope it''s the former. I''d hate to see sadness on my little sister''s vibrant face," Zeras sighed softly and started walking forward as the way before him opened up.


    ¡­


    The next trial opened up for the participants, allowing them to move forward. While none of them knew this, they had all initially appeared at various locations on the perimeter of the realm, equidistant from each other. It was as if they were the nothings on a clock, each cultivator being an hour notch.


    They all moved forward per the monks suggestion, towards the center of the realm. As they did so, the distance between them lessened as they all moved


    closer to the same location.


    ...


    The screen of light disappeared before John, while the way forward seemed to open up for him. He could tell that the formation blocking his progress had vanished.


    He did not hesitate as he moved forward, all while doing his best to recover. The pain thay he had felt left no damage, but had drained him mentally. He felt his mind was spent, and needed to recover as best as possible before the next trial.


    While walking and focusing on recovery, thendscape around him slowly changed, although he hardly noticed this. After some time, John stopped and gazed all around him, shocked that he had failed to notice the changes.


    All around him was a thick mist, too thick to see through. The mist also restricted his divine sense, making it mostly useless. He tried to make sense of where he was, but could see nothing at all.


    "What''s going on?" John said, surprised that he had failed to notice such an obvious change to the environment. The air waspletely still and no sound could be heard other than his own breathing, which made the mist around him all the more disorienting.


    Within the silence, the familiar monotonous voice sounded out once more.


    "Find the true path forward, and do not be led astray!"

 Chapter 824 Consecutive Victories

    Rumble!


    Rumble!


    Rumble!


    For the next few weeks, frequent rumblings shook the makeshift city built before the Divine Source Monastery. The city had continued to grow in size until it almost matched Divine City itself, although it was not as grand in design or quality.


    The city had be harmonious with the stele, as if the city had a rhythmic pulse aligned with the stele itself. Whenever the stele rumbled, the city seemed toe to life for a short moment, like a momentary heartbeat before dying down to a regr atmosphere again.


    At this time, more than seven different trials within the mysterious realm had beenpleted by the geniuses within. While the natures of the trials were a mystery to all, the scores were clear. By now, none dared to look down on John anymore, who had ced first in every single trial thus far, shattering even the wildest expectations of anyone in the city.


    The gamblers who had initially been eager to bet against John in the hopes of making it big no longer dared to do so, as all who did had lost too much money already. By this point, it was expected that John would ce first, and thus the only bets made were on the other contestants, of which eight remained at this point.


    With eight straight first ce finishes, the fame around John grew even faster than before. By this time, almost none on the continent did not know of his name, with the only exceptions being those in remote areas.


    His performance had brought immense glory to the Honorable Alliance, which saw more neutral powers trying to enter the alliance for the first time than ever before, perhaps thinking the alliance could help them replicate some of that talent for their own youths. The Honorable Alliance naturally weed those powers with open arms into the alliance, which bolstered its strength considerably.


    This shift was quick and sudden, making the Forbidden Alliance and enemy races uneasy. The bnce of power was quickly shifting. Their advantage was slipping away, and all because of a singr youth. As such, the winds of war continued to surge forward, hastening its pace more than before.


    Rumble!


    The stone stele rumbled once more, and the city sprung to life like a heartbeat once more.


    ¡­


    John stepped forward out of and of darkness, emerging into the normal day of light once more. The light level was a normal sunny day, but it felt as if he were being blinded by the light, as he had been shrouded in darkness for so long. He nced behind him, and saw nothing but darkness. The darkness was like a wall before him, somehow contained within the previous trial, and suddenly stopped where he had stepped out. It was quite peculiar to look at.


    The previous trial had been done inplete darkness, while creatures of unknown origin assaulted him as he tried to move forward.


    In thisnd of darkness, his divine sense and sight were restricted, leaving him to rely on sound and touch to avoid the creatures and fight back. It had been a long and arduous journey through the trial, but he had eventually emerged rtively unscathed.


    "That makes nine trials," John mumbled to himself, thinking back to the previous trials he had ventured through.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Thend of mist after the pain trial was a soul based trial, which tested one''s soul-instincts on choosing the best path forward without being led astray by distracting illusions and other tricks that were within the trial. After that there trials ofbat, trials of will power, trials ofprehension, and so on.


    Each trial tested a different aspect of cultivation, and it seems that no aspect was going to be left untested.


    "What other aspects are there to test?" he muttered to himself thoughtfully, as he couldn''t really think of anything else to test.


    Thus far, the trials had been easierparatively than the trials he had faced within the first Divine Trial realm, disappointing him slightly. He had never faced any true danger yet, unlike when he ventured through the first one.


    "I have be much stronger than when I first went through that previous trial, but it seems like this realm has yet to truly test what it means to be a divine talent. Maybe the trials ahead will be a bit harder, and these are meant to weed out the unworthy of even taking the divine trials," John mused, although he wasn''t sure if his guess was right or wrong.


    While thinking about this, John stared at a massive structure before him in the distance. It had only be visible after stepping out of the darkness trial.


    It was a man made building, shaped like a circle. This circr building was hundreds of miles wide, the walls rose up vertically for dozens of miles as well, making the interior of the building quite massive. In fact, it was evenrger than the temple in the Jade Dragon Empire trial realm, which up to this point had been thergest building he had ever seen.


    The outside of the building was rather in, simr to the Divine Source Monastery in design.


    "It seems like purpose is more important than looks for whoever made this realm," John mumbled to himself and took a few steps forward. He stopped, since as expected, a formation blocking his path forward appeared before him. It had appeared after every trial, and had stopped him until thest participant finished their trial.


    He sat down as he had done before, using the down time to cultivate. His eyes lingered on the building before he started his cultivation, while his soul focused on a unique aura that seemed to flow out from within. It was an aura so profound that he couldn''t help but want to find its source, and learn the truth of what was making such an aura. Perhaps it was the reward forpleting the trials, or perhaps it was something else.


    This aura had be noticeable after the fourth trial, and only grew stronger as he ventured further and further into the realm. Uponying his eyes on the building, he could finally tell that the source of the mysterious and overwhelmingly profound aura came from within.


    Whatever it was, he needed to find it, and if possible, obtain it. He felt just standing in the aura was giving him insights into things he never before thought about. The insights were mainly cultivation based, and he felt his cultivation speed up considerably just by existing within the aura.


    "I guess I''m finally reaching the end of the realm. Whatever the source is, I must have it," John said softly before closing his eyes, falling into meditation once more.


    ¡­


    Some timeter, his eyes opened as the familiar screen of light appeared before him, revealing the results of the trial. His interest in the information was secondary to his wanting to move forward towards the massive building in the distance, and after the screen of light vanished, so did the formation restricting his path forward.


    With a st, John pressed off the ground and surged towards the building, and the truth of the mysterious aura.

 Chapter 825 Entering The Massive Struture

    The massive building, grand in aura yet minimalist in design, grewrger in his vision as he quickly approached it. It had looked quite close at first, but that was only due to its overwhelmingly immense size. It took him a short while to arrive before it, and stopped before one of the entrances he had spotted.


    The massive building dominated his view, leaving nothing else in sight. It stretched out to either side as far as he could see, and towered into the sky higher than most mountains. The exterior was made of stone, with the only decorations being massive pirs that stretched miles up to an overhanging roof.


    A massive arched opening stood before him, the entrance swirling with mystical energy.


    "Another portal, huh?" John mused as he saw the obvious portal before him, which was simr to the one that had been used to enter this realm. He inspected it for a brief moment and then stepped into it, as it was the only way forward that he could see.


    While he could fly over the building if need be, he knew the realm wasn''t designed with flight in mind, and so that would most likely be useless. The mysterious yet profound aura was emanating from within, seeping through the very walls of the massive structure as if nothing could contain its presence.


    Whatever it was, it was firmly within the structure, and thus he would enter.


    John stepped into the portal, and as expected, felt his body move a short distance through space before nearly instantly appearing in another location. As he had done dozens of times before with each portal he had stepped through, his head quickly swiveled about while his divine sense spread out in all directions, ensuring that he understood his new location and any possible dangers lurking about.


    His divine sense quickly retracted as he realized there was no danger, and instead he had found himself standing in the very middle of a massive arena. The arena was circr and one hundred miles across, sorge that it could hardly be called an arena.


    Only the stone tform stretching out to the edges of the walls, which were then lined by a small row of stands gave a hint to the fact that it was an arena. However, it was quite unlike other arenas he had seen.


    Most arenas had seating for hundreds of thousands, or even millions, but this arena only had three rows of seats. While the number of potential viewers was staggering solely due to the arena''s circumference, it was still quite an odd setup.


    As John gazed about, his eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed figures start to apparate in the stands, as if appearing out of thin air. The figures were misty and ethereal at first, but quickly solidified to form detailed figures.


    Humans, beasts, monsters¡­men¡­women¡­races of all kinds, each appearing incredibly lifelike. The figures lined the entire arena, causing John to turn all about as he took in the sudden and unexpected change. Each figure appeared quite young, as young as him to a bit older, although their ages were hard to truly tell, as cultivation skewed the ability to guess one''s age quite a bit.


    However, one thing was certain that was true for all the figures. They were geniuses. Paramount geniuses.


    Their auras were all disyed. They were not ring their auras, but enough was leaked to gauge the talent level and power of the figures. And each was without a doubt a monstrous genius.


    "Holograms?" John mused to himself as he studied the figures, which reminded him of one other figure he had seen before.


    The youthful avatar of his mysterious father that he had fought in the final trial of the Divine Talent trial years ago. That avatar and these figures were almost identical in how they formed and how they now appeared, making him realize that these were most likely geniuses who had participated in this trial in the past, much like his father had done.


    sh!<novelnext></novelnext>


    sh!


    sh


    John wanted to study the figures a bit more, but three brief shes caught his attention. He turned around to face the sudden appearances of three new figures, each standing within the arena proper much like himself.


    Unlike the holograms that had just appeared, these figures were no doubt alive.


    ''The other trial participants!'' John thought to himself, studying them closely. The three that had appeared were two females and one male.


    The first female was ethereally beautiful, like an angel. She had long light blue hair, which framed her angelic face. She wore a dress that seemed more like mist than real fabric, and her aura gave off a strong soul aura, icy in nature.


    ''A Faerie!'' John mumbled, as the figure looked simr to the Faeries he had seen in the Jade Dragon Empire Realm.


    The two other people that had appeared looked theplete opposite. Both wore blood red clothes, one a sensual dress, and the other a tight-fitting robe. Both gave off a sinister aura, and were obviously part of the Forbidden Alliance.


    ''Rahze and Lua,'' John thought, recalling that there were two Forbidden Alliance experts who had joined the realm. Their results had been quite good, indicating that both were formidable talents. As they arrived, both instantly noticed John, and their expressions narrowed slightly, cold yet a tinge of amusement in them.


    John remained calm as he saw these two, as he could tell that their cultivations were suppressed to the Heaven Tribtion Realm. While he had not known this was being done, he breathed a slight sigh of relief upon detecting it. If he had to face against two World Expansion enemies at once, his odds were not good.


    But against two World Expansion experts who had their cultivations suppressed to his realm¡­that was more than manageable for him.


    He stood still as he watched the two approach him, while a sh of light appeared behind them again, indicating another had arrived. It was a young man with a sinister looking face, d in ck clothing.


    Boom!


    A powerful aura sted out from the new arrival, as well as John as the two locked gazes, and rushed towards each other, murderous hatred stered over both their faces.


    "Die!" they both roared as they arrived before each other, fists surging forward with awe-inspiring might.

 Chapter 826 Artifact Spirits Interference

    The explosion of power, anger, and rage was sudden and unexpected, startling the other cultivators who had arrived. Without warning, both John and Asuros had unleashed their might and dashed towards each other, roaring with furious rage.


    Their auras ovepped as they arrived before each other, fists about to collide.


    sh!


    Two shes of light suddenly appeared, enveloping both John and Asuros just before they were about to collide. The expected explosion of power from the collision did not ur, as both suddenly froze in ce.


    "What?" both John and Asuros were stupefied, as they had instantly been locked into ce, unable to move an inch. At the same time, their power had been restricted, making them unable to fight back against the unexpected restriction.


    "Release me!" Asuros roared furiously, his hateful eyes ring at John who was mere feet away. John red back with equal hatred in his eyes as he too wanted nothing more than to cut Asuros down right now.


    "Any unsanctioned fighting will result in disqualification from this realm," the monotonous voice from the artifact spirit sounded out, revealing it to be the one that had restricted them.


    John had been initially surprised that he was restricted so easily, but when he realized it was the artifact spirit, it made sense. The artifact spirit seemed to have full control over the entire realm, which was beyond mysterious, as well as powerful.


    "Fuck off! Let me kill him, or I''ll destroy you after I kill him!" Asuros roared, his eyes bloodshot with rage. He squirmed, trying to break free of his restrictions, but found himself bound tightly, unable to break free even a tiny bit.


    John''s rage and anger still stirred, but it simmered down as he realized he would not be able to touch Asuros right now. He could not afford to get removed from the realm, as he knew finding out the secret of the realm was more important right now than killing Asuros. He would have plenty of time to kill Asuros, but would only have one opportunity in this realm. He could not afford to be removed.


    With a click of his tongue, John withdrew his aura and power, indicating that he would oblige by the artifact spiritsmand.


    "Fine. I''llply¡­for now," John said begrudgingly.


    He felt the restrictions binding him vanish, and the urge to pounce forward and y Asuros rose within him once more. He was mere feet away. But John knew the artifact spirit would be able to react before hended a blow, and so he could only breathe out an angered breath instead.


    He fought the urge to unleash an attack on Asuros, and instead turned around. He couldn''t guarantee his self control as long as he looked at the traitor who had killed so many of his nsmen, friends, and family.


    "Let me go!" Asuros roared, still unable to control his rage.


    "You will be released when you have agreed to my conditions," the artifact spirit said, to which Asuros replied with a furious roar, like that of a beast. It took him quite some time to calm down, but Asuros eventually managed to withdraw his aura and rage, and was eventually released from his restrictions.


    Boom!


    He dashed forward towards John instantly, massive saber in hand, and swung out towards John with his full power. John watched him approach with unconcerned eyes, as he knew the attack would never reach him.


    sh!<novelnext></novelnext>


    The formation of light restricted him once more, instantly halting his movements, causing Asuros to roar with a belly full of rage.


    "Fuck off! I''ll kill you both!" he boomed.


    "If you cannotply, then you will be restricted until the next trial starts," the artifact spirit said.


    John watched Asuros struggle against the restrictions like a raging beast, and realized he had be much more feral than when they had met months ago. A frown appeared on his face as he thought back to that war, and he couldn''t help but ask the artifact spirit a question that lingered on his mind.


    "Artifact spirit. I willply with your rules, but answer me one question," John said.


    "I will answer if I can," the artifact spirit replied, voice still monotonous and without emotion.


    "Will I be able to fight this bastard in this realm or not?" John asked while staring at Asuros.


    "You might," the artifact spirit replied after a short silence. "For the next trial will be abat trial against the others who have entered this realm."


    "Oh? Is that so?" John''s eyes lit up as he heard this. "Can you provide the details?" he asked.


    "Not until the trial starts," the artifact spirit replied.


    "Well, that''s good enough for now. The hope of killing this bastard is enough for me to calm my rage for now," John muttered, and his gaze shifted about, noticing that new people had arrived. His drifting eyes suddenly stopped as he spotted a familiar figure standing a few hundred yards away, one he had not seen for years. His heart warmed up and his rage faded away as a small smile appeared on his face.


    ''Master!''


    She looked exactly the same as when he hadst seen her. Her long blue hair lined her beautiful yet icy face. Instead of the white and gold dress she normally wore, she wore a much less grand dress that looked almost more like a robe. It was ck with blue trimmings on the edges.


    A frown lingered on her face as she stared directly at a man who stood before her. John had never seen this man before, but could instantly tell that Lilian did not like this man. He quickly moved towards her, their voices growing louder as he approached.


    "What do you want?" he heard Lilian ask, her voice cold and unweing.


    "What do I want?" the man replied with an amused tone. "To think my own sister would treat me with such cold disdain. It makes my heart ache."


    ''Sister?'' John frowned, and instantly realized who the mysterious man was. It was the man who shared the samest name as her. It was Zeras Celestria, the foremost genius of the Astral Empire.


    And his words had confirmed one thing for John. A thing that he had guessed since he met Laia, but had yet to confirm. Lilian truly was a child of the Astral Emperor!

 Chapter 827 Shes My Master

    John approached the two, who seemed to not notice him at all as their focus was on each other. An amused smile clung to Zeras'' face as he stared at Lilian, who he had just called his sister.


    "Why do you give me such a cold look?" Zeras asked, his voice sad as if he was hurt by her words. "For over a decade I thought you were dead, but I see you here before me. I feel nothing but joy for our reunion, and yet you treat me so coldly."


    "Spare your theatrics for someone else, Zeras," Lilian replied coldly, her eyes narrowed. "You are now as you were then. A snake hiding behind a mask of niceties."


    A grimace appeared on Zeras'' face as if he had truly been hurt by Lilians words, and he took a step backwards.


    "To think my little sister would treat me so harshly," he shook his head in self-pity, but Lilians sour re did not soften for even a moment.


    "Save your false tears for someone else," Lilian spat out at Zeras. "We both know who betrayed my intentions to your father. I told no one else, so don''t try to lie like the pathetic man you are."


    The betrayed look on his face slowly vanished as he heard this, and a small smile appeared instead.


    "Ah, to think you trusted me so much back then," Zeras said, his voice nowpletely different, as if the warmth had vanished and nothing but cold amusement was left. "I figured you would have told at least a few others. Alexander perhaps. Or even Lazlia," he said while shaking his head at himself, as if he were a fool to not have realized this.


    "And to think you don''t even consider our father to be your father anymore. You truly have changed," Zeras continued, noting the fact that Lilian mentioned ''your father'' and not ''our father.''


    "That miserable bastard is not my father, not anymore," Lilian replied.


    "Is that so?" Zeras mused, the smile still lingering on his face as he stared at Lilian closely. "It seems like getting you to return to our Astral Empire is not going to be easy. A pity," he shook his head again.


    "You intend to make me return?" Lilian scoffed, amusement in her voice. "I would like to see you try," she said as her fighting spirit ignited, as if she were ready for battle at a moments notice. However, neither took action, as they knew fighting was forbidden at the moment.


    The soft sounds of footsteps entered both their ears, and they turned to look at the one approaching. Lilians cold expression softened as she saw John approach, as if his presence had melted the icy hatred she was feeling at the moment.


    Meanwhile, Zeras frowned as he inspected John closely. He could immediately tell who this was, just based on his presence alone. John naturally carried himself with the confidence of a true genius, and Zeras'' instincts were ring at the moment, warning him ofbat when their cultivations were normalized. It was quite bizarre, as he had never felt this way before when dealing with someone younger than him, let alone someone fifty years younger.


    "The famous ''Asura'' pays us a visit," Zeras said to John, but there was no warmth in his voice. "I do wish to speak with you eventually, but I am busy with family matters at the moment. Leave us," he said and flicked his wrist outwards, as if dismissing a servant.


    John ignored the disrespectful words and tone, and instead smiled slightly as he stared at Zeras. He couldn''t help but be impressed by what he saw and felt. Zeras was truly a genius, and even with his cultivation normalized to John''s realm, John felt danger from Zeras. It was quite impressive for him to feel this way, and he could tell that Zeras'' status as the number one genius under one hundred years of age was well deserved.


    Zeras frowned as he saw John ignore his words and continue approaching. He was a high prince of the Astral Empire, and was used to hismands being followed at all times, even when given to people not of his empire. Most would grovel at his feet for an opportunity to serve him, yet John looked at him as if he were an idiot.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Did you not hear me?" Zeras asked, his tone cold.


    John nced at Lilian, and saw a conflicted expression on her face. He was surprised when he saw this, as he had never seen such an unsure expression on her face before. It was always icy yet powerful, yet this was the first time he had ever seen any vulnerability on her face. It was as if she was telling him to not get involved, yet knew he would do so regardless of her instructions.


    John smiled at Lilian, feeling warmth at her concern for him, even if she didn''t voice that concern out loud. Zeras'' frowned as he saw this smile, and nced at Lilian for a moment before turning his gaze back to John, who stretched his arms out to the side as if weing the conversation toe.


    "If this is a family matter then that''s perfect," John said cheerily as he arrived beside Lilian and stood next to her, facing Zeras. "Any matter important to my master is important to me as well, after all."


    Zeras'' eyes went wide as he heard John''s words, and he remained silent as if he wereprehending them for some time. Meanwhile, Lilian sighed as she heard John say this, as there was no more protecting him from the eyes of the Astral Empire. With their connection known, he had been thrown into the mess she found herself in as well. However, she did not be angry, as she knew John would say this even before he said it. In fact, it made her proud in a way, that her disciple would face the powerful Astral Empire alongside her without hesitation.


    "Hahaha!"


    Zeras'' suddenly broke out into a fit ofughter, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. Heughed for some time before eventually quieting down, all the while John and Lilian waited in silence.


    The amused expression returned to Zeras'' face as he stared at John, and then Lilian.


    "It seems the heavens have entwined his and your fate together, even across lives. Even I didn''t expect such a thing," Zeras said, his tone full of amusement as if the most interesting thing were happening. "Master, and lover. How exciting." A frown appeared on Lilians face, as she didn''t understand what he was getting at. John looked on with curious confusion as well, and Zeras'' could tell that neither knew what he was talking about.


    "You don''t know?" Zeras'' said, staring at Lilian. He studied her expression, and realized she was truly confused at his words. His smile widened as he realized this.


    "Then why don''t you have your little disciple here tell you about it," Zeras said as he shifted his gaze to John. "About her," Zeras continued.


    "Her?" John asked, not understanding. However, the image of someone appeared in his mind, as it was the only other person from the Astral Empire he knew. Zeras noticed the look of realization on John''s face, and nodded vigorously as if this was the most thrilling of games they were ying.


    "Yes, you finally get it! Her!"


    "Laia?"

 Chapter 828 A Stunning Truth

    "Laia?" John asked, to which Zeras'' vigorously nodded again!.


    "Yes! Laia!" Zeras boomed boisterously, as if he were truly having fun at the moment. He studied Lilian''s face as John mentioned Laia, but found only confusion on her face. A bewildered expression appeared on Zeras'' face as he turned his attention back to John.


    "Have you not told your master about Laia?" Zeras asked questioningly.


    His father, the Astral Emperor, had seen John and Laia together many months ago in Alliance City. They had been seated next to the picturesqueke together when he arrived, and he had immediately noticed that Laia had given John her soul seed, connecting the two of them and their fates permanently.


    She had done so for them to survive the hellish tribtion John had gone through, and had warned him that epting the soul seed would bring perilous danger in the future. John epted the danger, and from that moment on, the two had be linked.


    The Astral Emperor was beyond furious when he discovered this fact, and tried to forcibly remove it from John at the time. The only way to do this was to kill John, and his actions were only stopped because the Alliance Head and Thunderfist had arrived to thwart the Astral Emperors actions.


    After a brief standoff, the Astral Emperor left, but his knowledge of John''s existence was then known. He had spread that information to his closest confidants, which naturally included his most talented son. After that, the Astral Empire had gathered much information on John, and Zeras knew John and his feats quite well by now.


    While Laia refused to borate further regarding anything rted to John, Zeras was able to tell much from her words and expressions when he had discussed John with her. He knew John and Laia were close, and due to her connection with Lilian, had naturally expected John to have brought the subject up with her already, hence his surprise at Lilians continued confusion.


    "I just now reunited with my master," John said to Zeras. "It has quite some time since I saw herst."


    "So that''s how it is," Zeras said with realization. His bewilderment faded away as the usual smirk appeared on his face, and he looked back at Lilian with that amused smirk on his face.


    "Then allow me to tell you a story, dear little sister, to clear your confusion," Zeras said to Lilian, who remained silent. Based on John''s reaction, she could tell that there was quite a bit to this story that she was yet to understand.


    "Let''s see. I guess I''ll begin when your disciple entered the Jade Dragon Empire trial realm," Zeras said as he began to pace back and forth, like a teacher pacing before students while teaching them.


    Lilian nced at John as he was mentioned to be the subject of the story, and then nced back to Zeras.


    "When he entered that realm, someone of our Astral Empire also entered."


    "Laia," Lilian said, realizing the name that she did not recognize was the subject of the story as well. She knew ''Laia'' was of the Astral Empire, but it had been over a decade since she left the empire. She kept her distance, and thus received no news of the empire in this time either.


    "Yes...Laia," Zeras said amusingly, and then nced at John.


    "You see. At some point during the trial, your disciple ran into Laia, and the two seemed to have be quite close. In fact, she even gave John her soul-seed, which I''m sure you know the value of," Zeras said, to which Lilian widened her eyes slightly, as if an idea had popped into her head.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Father was naturally incensed when he discovered his precious daughter did something so drastic, and tried to take it back from your disciple," Zeras continued, his pacing back and forth constant.


    "He was thwarted, as your disciple would naturally not be alive had he seeded, but because Laia''s soul-seed remains within your disciple, they are now permanently linked," Zeras said, shifting his gaze to John. "And it seems that link, at least for Laia, is more than just the soul-seed."


    "In fact," Zeras continued. "She has agreed to fathers demands so long as she gets to marry you in the future. You truly managed to capture my little sister''s heart it seems."


    John''s eyebrows raised slightly as he heard this, as he had not expected to hear these words. While he knew both him and Laia felt things for one another, it appeared that Laia''s feelings were much stronger for him than he had expected.


    "Where are you going with this?" Lilian spoke up, her voice still icy. "Are you here to waste my time telling me about my disciples'' love interests?"


    "Not quite," Zeras replied, his smirk ever present. "I just wanted to give you a little backstory on the past, and your disciples rtionship with...Laia," Zeras said before turning his attention back to John.


    John had remained silent, as this subject being brought up was one he was truly curious about as well. In fact, he was going to ask Lilian about her rtionship with Laia due to their near identical faces, but Zeras had done so instead. John wanted to know the truth, and so he entertained this rambling of Zeras for the moment.


    "If you were to describe Laia, how would you describe her? Her appearance. The aura she gives off," Zeras said to John, who frowned but decided to y along with Zeras'' game, as he would have asked Lilian about these things regardless.


    John''s gaze shifted to his master to his side, who stared back with slightly wide eyes. Her breathing was also slightly heavier than normal, as if she were bracing herself for a truth that she did not want to hear. He had never seen such a look on his master''s face before.


    "She looks just like you," John said, his words causing her lips to quiver slightly. "In fact, the resemnce is nearly identical, to the point of you being twins. There are a few differences, like hair color and demeanor, but one would not be faulted for saying you two are twins" John continued.


    "And the aura! Get to the aura," Zeras interrupted, causing John to frown, but he ignored him and continued his detailing of Laia.


    "However, while you two are nearly identical in appearance, you differ greatly in aura," John said. "In fact, you two areplete opposites," John said, to which Lilian''s breathing got heavier, as if the truth she did not want to hear was about to be heard.


    "You control the Dao of Death, while she controls the Dao of Life," John said, and his words seemed to hit Lilian like a mountain falling on her, nearly taking the wind from her lungs. John was beyond shocked to see such a strong reaction from his normally stoic master, and could tell that she had realized something that he was yet to understand fully.


    "That''s right!" Zeras boomed, his voice full of excited amusement as if their game had finally gotten to the big reveal. "I''m sure you''ve realized it by now, little sister," he said as he slowly walked towards Lilian, smiling at her with smug amusement, stopping a few feet away.


    "Laia is your Dao of Life half! The half of yourself and your soul that you shed all those years ago when you disappeared!" Zeras said as he reached out and tapped his index finger against Lilians chest three times, each tap lining up with a singr word.


    "Laia...is...you!"

 Chapter 829 Zeras Schemes

    "Laia¡­is¡­you!"


    Those three words seemed to echo in the air, stunning both Lilian and John stiff. John turned his wide gaze to his master, whose eyes were even wider than his. Her face was white as snow, and her lips quivered with a thousand emotions. He had never seen his master this vulnerable emotionally.


    He wanted to rebuke Zeras'' ims as nothing but lies, as what he had described was too far-fetched. He had his ideas on Laia''s rtionship with Lilian, as they had identical faces. He had figured they were just sisters, but the truth was far more unbelievable than that. In fact, it was too unbelievable, and he would never have believed Zeras'' words if not for one thing; Lilians reaction.


    If Zeras'' words were false, she would have quickly rebuked Zeras as a lying idiot, but her stunned expression andck of a reply was more than enough evidence for John to realize the unbelievable im was true.


    The smirk on Zeras'' face widened as he saw Lilian''s reaction, and he spoke out once more.


    "Now that you know the truth, you have no choice but to return to the Astral Empire with me after this realm closes," Zeras said, taking advantage of Lilian''s emotionally distressed state.


    ? "I¡­" Lilian mumbled, her blood racing and her thoughts still chaotic.


    "Surely you wouldn''t abandon Laia, now that you know the truth," Zeras spoke out once more. "When you somehow managed to split yourself, you left all your vibrancy and innocence behind with her, although I''m sure you know this more than anyone else. Laia is nothing more than an innocentmb, too kind and naive for this world."


    "I¡­she..." Lilian mumbled again, still collecting her thoughts.


    Zeras smiled wider, and continued to press the situation, taking advantage of it as much as possible.


    "Without your help, I''m sure you know the fate that awaits her," Zeras said, his voice turning slightly colder as if reminding her of something terrible. "A fate that you somehow managed to learn of, and as a result fled. But you see dear little sister, your talent back then was immense, and even if what father had nned was carried out, you would still most likely survive the ordeal," Zeras continued his ramblings, and snaked an arm around Lilian''s shoulder, speaking closely into her ear.


    Lilian seemed to shudder as Zeras mentioned the fate that she had escaped, but was now awaiting Laia.


    "But perhaps if you return, and help Laia, then that fate would not be so miserable after all. Only you can save Laia¡­only you, can save yourself," Zeras said, his voice like that of a whispering snake, his smile stretching across his entire face.


    That snake-like smile suddenly vanished as Zeras suddenly felt something strike his side, forcibly separating him from Lilian. He was knocked back hundreds of yards, and felt like a mountain had just struck his ribcage, sending a wave of pain through him. Zeras'' narrowed gaze snapped onto John, who lowered his fist slowly after unleashing a blow onto Zeras.


    "No fighting!" the artifact spirit suddenly boomed.


    "I wasn''t fighting! I was just separating this creep from my master is all," John said wryly, as if he were truly innocent after all. "See, he''s not hurt at all."


    "I suppose you are right, but do not do that again," the artifact spirit warned, to which John quicklyplied. After talking to the artifact spirit, John''s gaze narrowed as it locked back onto Zeras, who stared at him coldly, his eyes like icy daggers.


    He had truly been stunned upon hearing the truth regarding Laia, but had managed to recover quickly, at least quicker than Lilian. He could tell that Zeras'' intentions were sinister just based on his words and expression, and quickly made sure to take action to remove the snake from his close proximity to his master.


    "To think you would dare toy a hand on me?" Zeras said with a low voice, as if the mere thought of John touching him was inconceivable, let alone actually punching him. As a high-prince of one of the most powerful empires in the world, the only thing that matched his talent was his arrogance and sense of self-importance.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "So what? Are you going to do something about it?" John replied flippantly.


    Zeras'' gaze narrowed further, as he knew he couldn''t touch John without being removed from the realm, which was something he was not willing to do. The secrets of the realm were too important to give up on.


    "This matter is between me and Lilian. You have no business interrupting us," Zeras replied coldly.


    "I already told you, Lilian is my master, so her business is my business. And if what you said is true, then that goes double, because Laia''s business is also my business," John replied defiantly. "Besides, I can tell you have no good intentions at all, so even if it wasn''t my business, I would make it my business. Now fuck off, and leave me and my master alone."


    "Thank you," John heard a soft whisper behind him. It was incredibly soft, almost inaudible, but the warmth and sincerity behind the words were beyond clear.


    "Heh, you say that," Zeras scoffed as he seemed to reign in his anger and becameposed once more.


    His gaze shifted to Lilian who moved forward and now stood beside John. "But this matter is only for Lilian to decide upon. Dear sister, surely you will not abandon Laia to the fate-"


    "Shut up!" Lilian''s cold voice drifted out, her tone so cold as if it might freeze the air around them.


    Zeras'' face pulled back as hisposure faded, as he had not been expecting Lilian to reply in such a frigid manner.


    "Little sister¡­" Zeras said after clearing his throat, trying to salvage the situation.


    "One more word, and I''ll kill you right now, this realm be damned," Lilian said while glowering at Zeras with simmering rage. Her wide eyes and quivering lips were no more, something that John sighed with relief when he instead saw her cold yet confident gaze instead; the gaze he was used to seeing on Lilian''s face.


    "My fate was only sealed when you betrayed the trust I ced in you back then. I was unable to do anything to you back then, but now...I''ll kill you without a moment''s hesitation."


    While such a threat would most likely not be possible normally, their cultivations were all normalized at the moment. Lilian''sbat prowess was beyond immense, and even Zeras was not one hundred percent confident that he was stronger with normalized cultivations.


    A scowl appeared on Zeras'' face, and he snorted after exchanging heated gazes for a short while. It seemed he realized he had lost his one opportunity to get Lilian toe back to the Empire willingly, and his helping facade faded away as a result.


    "Hmph, one way or another, you will return to the Empire. Your existence is now known to us, and hiding is no longer possible. I tried to make it easy for you, but it seems you will have to be brought back the hard way," Zeras spat out, unable to hold his tongue. "You have always belonged to father, and the Empire."


    Boom!


    A powerful aura, pure ck in color and thick with the Dao of Death exploded out, filling the arena with a dreadful aura. Lilian''s hair and the skirt of her dress fluttered violently about, an outward manifestation of her inner rage. The thick and deathly aura swirled violently around her like a tempest as she dashed towards Zeras, her doubt and vulnerability gone. Instead, she appeared as though she had be a true goddess of death, dashing towards Zeras to im his life.

 Chapter 830 Dao Of Space

    The thick aura of death permeated the entire one-hundred-mile arena, drawing the attention of all the realm participants. They looked over with equal shock and interest as they watched Lilian flicker towards Zeras like a blur, a trail of dark death trailing behind her. The ck aura swirled like a tempest around her, as if a storm of death had arrived.


    Despite each being a genius amongst geniuses, they couldn''t help but be impressed, and even fearful, of the aura they were feeling. Each had experienced the aura of death before, but never so profound. Never so deadly.


    Zeras'' gaze narrowed into a cold glower as he watched his sister approach, and his aura began to quickly climb in reply to the swiftly approaching threat.


    sh!


    sh!


    Two shes appeared within the arena, and the shes of light congealed into a formation barrier that wrapped around Lilian and Zeras. Both were firmly contained within, rooting them in ce before their battle couldmence.


    As expected, the artifact spirit had once again taken action, restricting fighting with no exceptions. The geniuses watching the battle to be felt a bit disappointed that they were not going to see a good fight, and some even hoped that the two would take each other out before the next trial. Both had established themselves as fearsome opponents in the previous trials, and none of them dared to look down on either.


    "Huh?!"


    "What!"


    Surprise gasps escaped the lips of several of the other participants as they saw Lilian''s forehead re with a profound light. A bright rune appeared on her forehead, its color chaotic and indiscernible, as if it always changed when one looked at it. It was incredibly bizarre, and also incredibly profound, as the auraing from that rune was awe-inspiring. The rune''s aura wrapped her with the same bizarre looking colors, ever shifting. With the new and sudden change, Lillian became even more mystical and awe-inspiring than before, as if she were truly a god descended upon the world.


    As the rune lit up, her body seemed to vanish for the briefest of moments, and then instantly reappeared on the other side of the formation restricting her. Somehow, she had managed to escape the bindings of the artifact spirit, and once again resumed her swift dash towards Zeras.


    sh!


    Another sh of light appeared around her immediately after, binding her in ce. The rune on Lilians'' forehead shed with power again, and her body vanished for a brief instant once more. However, unlike before, she reappeared within the formation, unable to break free of it a second time.


    She tried several more times, but was unsessful, and after a brief struggle, ceased trying to escape. Her aura died down, as did Zeras'', the two of them staring at each other with cold and narrowed gazes.


    ''The Dao of Space!'' John thought, stunned senseless.<novelnext></novelnext>


    When the rune appeared on Lilian''s head, the aura that had emerged had undoubtedly been the Dao of Space. John had managed to gain a small bit of insight into the Dao when training his Divine Reaping Scythe, and would not mistake it for any other Dao.


    However, the difference between his grasp of the Dao of Space and his masters was night and day. He was but a child, while she was a true master of the Dao, able to make her body shift through the very fabrics of space in an instant to pierce through the restricting barrier.


    Afterposing himself, John studied the barrier around his master from a distance. The barrier was different than the previous ones, and it too was wrapped in a strong binding of space. Clearly the artifact spirit had adjusted the nature of the formation to restrict her ability to move through it, even through space itself.


    ''Just how strong are the formations of this ce, and who could have built such a thing?'' John wondered to himself. It was truly an awe-inspiring ce, from the massive barrier guarding the realm, the trials themselves, and the powerful formations the artifact spiritmanded with ease.


    All eyes lingered on Lilian, each studying her carefully. Some had been shocked by her disy of both the Dao of Death and Space, while others were intrigued. They now realized that with these two powers at hermand, it was only natural that her performance thus far had been incredible.


    Upon thinking this, the gazes of everyone else shifted to John, as well as Asuros. Despite Lilian showing such incredible talent and power, they both had managed to score higher than her through the trials thus far.


    ''Just how powerful are these two?'' the others thought. Some found themselves despising the cultivation normalization even more now, as they realized that any trials against these three would be beyond challenging, and perhaps even impossible.


    "If you cannot behave, then you will be restricted until the next trial begins," the artifact spirit said, to which Lilian huffed lightly.


    "I am calm now. Release me," she said with an even tone, her aura and rage withdrawn.


    Silence filled the air for a moment before the artifact spirit seemed to agree, and the formations binding both Lilian and Zeras disappeared. Lilian immediately felt the urge to resume her attack on her brother, but resisted the urge and turned away sharply. Her gaze snapped onto John, who was standing several hundred yards away, and she beckoned to him with one finger.


    "Come, we have things to discuss," she said as she walked away into the distance towards the edges of the arena fifty miles away. John took a deep breath before following, as he knew the discussion toe would be quite eventful to say the least.


    The two of them walked for dozens of miles, but did so swiftly, and appeared at the edges of the arena a short whileter, far removed from the other cultivators. Lilian waved her hand before her and her flying ship suddenly appeared before them, which she quickly boarded.


    "Come," she instructed John, who quickly followed her into the ship. The door of the ship closed as he entered, and he found his master sitting on a nearby chair, her calm yet serious eyes glued to his face.


    "Sit," she said as she gestured to the chair next to her, "and tell me everything you know about Laia."

 Chapter 831 The Truth Of The Past

    Silence filled the interior of the ship as John finished his story, detailing his encounters with Laia, starting in the Yuan Continent Ancient City, and ending in Alliance City when the Astral Emperor had taken her away once more.


    Lilian had sat there listening without saying a single word, her face stoic most of the time. However, small expressions asionally appeared on her face. Sometimes it was a tinge of sadness, such as when she heard of Adam''s miserable and gruesome fate, or surprise when she learned that Laia had miraculously revived him, or worry when they had faced the apocalyptic tribtion together and waster taken back to the Astral Empire by her father. These expressions were almost imperceptible, but caught by John, nheless. If he had not known his master so well, he would have never noticed such minute changes in her expression.


    ''It seems the troubled emotions she felt when she found out the truth have been mostly controlled, and she''s back to her usual self. Or it appears that way on the outside at least,'' John thought to himself as he sat there in silence as well, allowing Lilian to gather her thoughts.


    The deafening silence remained for quite some time, but John dared not speak before his master did. He would allow her to take as much time as was needed to process the whole thing.


    A million questions swirled in his mind, all regarding Lilian and Laia, but he kept them unvoiced for now. His thoughts shifted to other things, such as the talent both Lilian and Laia had disyed.


    Lilianmanded the Daos of Death and Space, while Laiamanded the Dao''s of Life and Time. John shuddered when he thought that thisbination used to exist in a singr person, his master''s true identity, before she had somehow managed to do the impossible, and divide her soul in half.


    Just how frighteningly powerful would his master have been had she remained as one, inmand of all four of those terrifyingly powerful Daos. It was inconceivable to think someone had been born with the natural control andmand of those four Dao''s, but the proof was right before him.


    It reminded John that despite the fact that he was a heavenly genius amongst geniuses, that there might always be someone more powerful or talented than him. If Lilian had her full power under her control, and trained her entire life in the Astral Empire, John had no doubt she would be a threat to him, even with their cultivations in the same realm.


    "Thank you for telling me everything," Lilian said, her voice breaking the silence. John raised his eyes to meet hers. She slumped back slightly in her chair and sighed deeply. "And also thank you for before," she added.


    John nodded, as he could tell she truly meant it. She had been bombarded by Zeras and the shocking truth, and it had been John to help her snap out of her fragile mental state. She felt a warmth when she thought of that moment not long ago, that her disciple would take action for her like that, cing himself in the middle of her harrowing ordeal with the Astral Empire.


    Her gaze lingered on John for a while, and she couldn''t help but think he looked older than she remembered him. While it had been about a year since they hadst met, he seemed to have aged more than that in her eyes. He appeared like a boy to her back then, one that required her constant scoldings. But now he appeared more like a young man to her, stronger and more reliable.


    Silence filled the room for a short time again before Lilian breathed in deeply, and focused her gaze back on John.


    "I''m sure you also have many questions you want to ask?" she asked him, to which John nodded his head.


    "I do," John replied firmly. "I want to understand you, I want to understand Laia, and I want to understand what happened that caused you to do what you did."


    Lilian exhaled the deep breath she had taken, and nodded her head slowly. Her eyes closed for several seconds before re-opening, and she began to exin the truth of what had happened all those years ago.


    ¡­


    Thirteen Years Ago¡­


    ¡­


    Bang!


    Bang!<novelnext></novelnext>


    Bang!


    Steel swords collided in quick session, filing the air with sharp metallic rings. Two figures dashed about an arena, exchanging attacks.One of the fighters was a man who appeared to be in his twenties, while the other was a small girl, no older than thirteen years old.


    The baby fat still clung to her cheeks, making her look quite adorable as expected for her age. Her face was vibrant and stunningly pretty, and it was beyond obvious that she would one day be a heavenly beauty.


    The girl''s blue hair danced in the air as she dashed around the arena quickly, trying tond a decisive blow on her opponent. Despite her young age, her speed and power were beyond shocking, with each blow shaking the arena beneath their feet. Her sword shed and pierced forward, each at a different angle and speed, making her attack pattern quite unpredictable and difficult to defend against.


    At the end of the unpredictable barrage, she hastened her speed and appeared to the man''s side. Her sword pierced forward at an upward angle towards his ribs, making it quite hard to block.


    "Good!" the man shouted out before unleashing a counterattack. His sword struck against hers, sessfully parrying the attack. The girl''s face scrunched up in a disappointed frown as her barrage of attacks failed, and then her eyes widened as the man appeared to her side and unleashed a kick towards her.


    The heel of his foot struck against her shoulder before she could react, and she sailed through the air for dozens of yards before colliding with the arena wall.


    Boom!


    The arena trembled from the impact, which was strong enough to greatly injure a Core Formation expert if they had been struck like that. She fell to the arena floor afterwards, t on her face, remaining motionless for a moment.


    The man ced the tip of his sword on the ground and rested his hands against its hilt as he watched the girl lying on the arena floor.


    "Aw! I was so close!" the girl said with a pouting tone, her voice slightly muffled as her face was against the arena floor. She quickly stood up, revealing herself to bepletely unharmed despite taking such a powerful attack, and brushed off the dirt from her dress.


    "Yes, you were, but youck focus. If you had continued your barrage instead of pouting like a distracted baby, you might have been able tond an attack on me," the man said with a smile on his face as he walked over to the girl.


    The girl pouted again.


    "I am not a baby!" she protested with puffed cheeks and fists clenched in front of her chest, to which the manughed and agreed.


    "Alright, alright. You''re not a baby. I take that back," the manughed.


    Her pout quickly vanished and was reced by a cheerful smile, and she ran up to the man and hugged him, fully endeared with the man despite the attack he had justnded on her.


    She was half his height and her arms wrapped around his lower waist, and she quickly parted and took a few steps back to look up at the man with equal parts awe and enamor. The man smiled and reached out his hand, ruffling her hair, making it even messier than it already was.


    "You''re improving quickly, Lilian. Much quicker than I did, at your age. Thirteen and already in the Meridian Forging Realm, and quickly approaching the Heaven Tribtion Realm. You really are incredible," the man said, smiling. "It won''t be long before you''re stronger than me."


    "Just you wait," Lilian said, her voice childlike, yet determined, as was her gaze. "I''ll keep training, and before long, I''ll even be stronger than you, big brother Zeras!"

 Chapter 832 Mischevious Plan

    "Yes, I believe it," Zeras said, smiling at his younger sister. His gaze shifted upwards towards the sun setting behind the distant mountain, which illuminated the valley they were in with a brilliant golden glow. Their arena was built at the edge of a cliff, giving them a magnificent view of the verdant valley below.


    The golden light shimmered in the mist of the crashing waterfalls and reflected off the tranquil rivers that meandered through the valley, making it appear as if thend was truly an immortal paradise for the gods. Zeras took a deep breath and then shifted his gaze back to Lilian, and ruffled her hair once more.


    "I still don''t get why I''m not allowed to use my Dao''s in our fights," she said with another pout on her face. "Won''t I learn to fight best if I go all out? Fighting while holding back so much doesn''t make sense to me. How is that supposed to help me get stronger?" she asked curiously.


    "It''s not that simple," Zeras said while shaking his head. "The Dao''s you control are incredible, but if you rely on them too much, you will be mediocre. A true cultivator must hone all the aspects of cultivation, including basic sword forms. Forming a solid foundation is the key to bing a powerful cultivator, and things like these help with building that foundation. Understand?"


    "I guess¡­" Lilians voice drifted out as she stared at the golden valley as well.


    "Alright, that''s enough training for today. Go clean up and prepare for dinner, and then off to bed after that," he instructed.


    "Aw¡­" Lilian moaned, disappointed that her sparring session was already over, as it was her favorite part of her day. Combat made her feel alive more than anything else, and she loved to train with her brother, the most talented genius of the empire.


    "No as," Zeras scolded lightly. "We''ll resume your training tomorrow at midday."


    "Midday? Why sote?" Lilian asked curiously. They usually started training in the morning, took a break at midday, and then resumed sparring until evening. That was of course when she was not being tutored by schrs on the fine arts or instructed by master cultivators in the way of cultivation and battle arts.


    And then there was the healing arts, which her father had her focus on the most. Lilian did not find studying healing and honing her control of the Dao of Life fun, but she did so regardless.


    This week was a sparring week, which she enjoyed the most.


    "I have to meet with father in his throne room tomorrow morning to discuss certain matters," Zeras exined. "When that meeting is done, I''lle find you, and we''ll resume your training. Alright?"


    "Okayyyyy¡­" Lilian said with another pout, to which Zeras ruffled her hair again. Lilian giggled gleefully and dashed away, but not before waving goodbye to Zeras. Zeras watched her leave with a smile, which faded away as she disappeared around the corner.


    A sigh escaped his lips as his gaze shifted to the picturesque valley once more, his eyes unfocused and mind deep in thought.


    ¡­<novelnext></novelnext>


    Lilian''s legs kicked out rhythmically over the boulders edge that she sat on, while a steaming te of food sat on herps. Her eyes roamed about the beautiful valley below, while she asionally brought her fork to her face to take a bite of food.


    Her fork suddenly stopped as she saw what she had on it, and her face scrunched up in disgust.


    "Bleck! Not this again," as she pulled her face away from the vegetable on her fork. Her eyes quickly shifted to either side of her to take in her surrounding, and once she made sure the coast was clear, she flicked her fork forward, sending the food tumbling over the cliff edge into the valley below.


    ¡­


    "Did you finish all your food? The Astral Emperor will be very displeased with both you and I if he finds out you didn''t finish your meal again," a scolding voice sounded out,ing from a woman dressed in a maid outfit that stood before Lilian. She had her hands on her hips, and stared with a skeptical gaze.


    Lilian had just returned to her mansion, which was exclusively for her own use. She had left to eat her meal on a nearby boulder which looked over the valley, which was her favorite spot to eat dinner.


    Her mansion wasrger than most pces of smaller empires and sects, a small indication of the prosperity of the Astral Empire. There were dozens of maids within that exclusively tended to Lilian''s mansion, and ensured she received proper care and nurturing within.


    "I did. I promise!" Lilian replied, herrge blue eyes round with sincerity as if she would never lie.


    The maid inspected Lilians face for a moment and then nodded. Proper nutrition was important for Lilian, as she had yet to reach the Heaven Tribtion realm and shed her mortal body. Until then, the Astral Emperor had instructed them to make sure she ate healthily and consistently.


    Satisfied with the answer, the maid patted Lilian on the back and ushered her down the hallway.


    "Alright, then go wash up and then it''s off to bed for you," the maid instructed.


    "Fineee," Lilians voice trailed off as she walked down therge and finely decorated hall towards the washroom and entered it. She left it a short whileter, wearing fresh robes, her face and body cleaned of the sweat and grime of training.


    She entered her nearby room, and fell onto the bed. The exhaustion of the full day of training finally hit her. Her eyes stared up at the ceiling as she fell deep into thought, and a short whileter, a mischievous smile appeared on her face.


    "Hehehe, neither Zeras nor father know of the improvements I made in the Dao''s of Space and Time recently," she mumbled to herself, the mischievous smile on her face gettingrger. "I''ll sneak into the throne room tomorrow before they arrive and hide using my Daos, and when they least expect it, I''llnd a surprise attack on the both of them! I can''t wait to see the looks of surprise on their faces. Its'' going to be amazing!" she said with great excitement, and thenughed herself to sleep shortly after,pletely exhausted from the long day of training.

 Chapter 833 Sneaking Into The Throne Room

    "Princess Lilian, it''s time to wake up," a muffled voice from one of the house maids drifted through the closed doors of Lilian''s bedroom.


    Lilian''s groggy eyes slowly opened, and a scowl appeared on her face as she rolled over to fall back asleep. Just as she did so, Lilian quickly sat upright, remembering her n from the previous night.


    "I need to hurry and get there before father and brother do," she said hastily, and quickly strode out of the room and entered the nearby washroom.


    The maid waking Lilian up was startled by her energy, as it was normally quite the hassle to get Lilian towake up and leave her bed.


    "What''s got you so excited?" The maid asked as she stepped into the washroom to help Lilian clean up and prepare for the day.


    "Hehe, I''m going to prank father and Zeras today," Lilian said mischievously while scrubbing herself clean.


    "Dear heavens," the maid eximed. "Are you sure that''s a good idea?"


    "It''s an amazing idea!" Lilian eximed with passionate excitement. "Just you wait. When I get back, I''ll tell you all about it."


    The maid didn''t know what to say, and instead remained silent as she helped Lilian clean up and get dressed. A short whileter, Lilian sped out of her mansion, wearing a stunning green dress which fluttered behind her as she raced forward down the mountain and into the valley below, which was starting to be illuminated by the early morning sun.


    She quickly made her way through several valleys and past several mountains, and eventually arrived at the center of the Astral Empire capital.


    While the Astral Empire was beyond massive, the capital itself was only several dozen miles across, and was nestled within a private mountain range in the very center of the empire. The capital was exclusively used by the empire royalty, as well as other high ranking members of the empire.


    Beyond the secluded mountain range was Astral City, which stretched out for a hundred miles in each direction.


    Lilian arrived at the central valley of the the capital, where most of themon use buildings were located. Her gaze shifted upward and locked onto a floatingndmass a mile up in the sky, hovering over the valley.


    On thatndmass was a pce beyondpare; the pce of the Astral Emperor. Lilian moved swiftly once again, and arrived before a well guarded teleportation formation.


    The guards noticed her arrival, and all nodded respectfully.


    "Princess," they greeted in unison.


    "I''m going up the the pce," Lilian said, and the guards nodded and stepped aside, allowing her onto the tform.


    "Has father arrived yet?" She asked one of the guards curiously, who shook his head sideways to indicate that the emperor had not arrived.


    "Hehe, perfect," Lilian cheered softly.


    The tform then lit up, she vanished, and then immediately appeared on the floatingndmass hovering in the sky. The other end of the teleportation formation was located at the edge of the mile widendmass, with the pce located in the very middle.


    Lilian hopped off the tform and made her way forward, walking through colorful gardens which contained beautiful fountains and incredibly rare flowers, each more stunning than thest.


    Since it was quite early, the gardens were quite empty, and only became more activeter in the morning.


    ''Perfect,'' Lilian thought to herself. The less eyes that saw her, the more likely for her n to seed.


    She reached the end of the gardens, and gazed down the long pathway to the front of the pce entrance.


    "Curses," Lilian grimaced, as the pce doors were being guarded as well.


    Her father only used guards on the floating ind itself when something important was happening, and would always ask the pce guards for a list of who had entered before him.


    She continued to peek around a shrub, eyeing the guards cautiously. If they saw her, they would no doubt inform her father. A new n formted in her head, and Lilian crept around the garden and to the side of the pce, away from the guards. She walked for several hundred yards and then stopped facing the pce


    wall.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "The throne room should be just on the other side of this wall. I wonder if I can¡­" she mused, gazing in both directions to make sure the coast was clear.


    When she confirmed it was, a faint power emanated from her, thick with the Dao of Space. Her face scrunched up with stern focus, and after a short dy, her figure vanished.


    The scenery before her eyes changed, and her face lit up with excitement.


    "I''m in the throne room!" She cheered, filled with self pride regarding her improvingmand of the Dao of Space.


    "Now¡­where to hide," she mused as she gazed about. She was currently standing in the corner farthest away from the throne, which was on the opposite end of the room nearly a hundred yards away. The throne wasrge, golden in color and regal looking, as if only the most heavenly of emperors were worthy of sitting on it.


    "I''ll need to hide closer to the throne-" Lilian whispered to herself, and stepped forward. Her step halted immediately, and panic appeared on her face as she heard soft footsteps approaching the closed throne room door.


    "Curses. Father is here already!" Lilian cursed as two runes lit up on her forehead, each a different color and emanating a different aura.


    The two runes, which were her innate connections to the Daos of Time and Space red for a moment, wrapping her in the powers of the two Daos. Lilian suddenly vanished from sight, as if she had never been there in the first ce.


    Fifteen secondster, the set of doors to the pce room parted, and a man who appeared to be in his thirties strode in. He had long ck hair, a charmingly handsome face, and wore regal robes, adding to his already inspiring persona.


    "Stange," the man muttered as he inspected the room for a moment. "I thought I detected Lilian for a moment. Did the guards lie to me?" The man frowned, but after his brief inspection of the room, found it to be empty.


    "I must have imagined it," he muttered to himself before walking across the throne room and seating himself on the throne.


    He sat there i silence and stared at the doors he had just entered, as if waiting for someone''s arrival.


    In the corner of the throne room, Lilian breathed a sigh of relief as she stared out of the cocoon of time and space around her, which had hidden herself from her father.


    She had no doubt a full inspection from her father would have found her, but he had only briefly nced about the room, and did not scan it with his powerful divine sense.


    "Lucky," she whispered to herself, her face slightly strained. "Using both Daos takes quite a lot out of me, so hopefully big brother shows up soon so I can attack."


    A few minutester, new footsteps became audible, causing Lilian to grow excited with anticipation.


    "Finally," she whispered, getting ready to pounce.


    Boom!


    The footsteps grew louder and louder, and Lilian quickly realized something was wrong.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The footsteps were loud, and powerful. Each step shook the floor slightly, as if a massive beast were approaching. Lilian''s face scrunched up in confusion, as beasts were forbidden within the pce.


    "Who would be so brazen as to bring a beast into fathers pc-"


    Her voice cut off instantly, as if she was too scared to utter another word.


    Her eyes went wide, her lips trembled, her breathing became heavy, and a wave of instinctual fear surged within her as a massive four-armed creature stepped through the doors and into the throne room, so monstrous and terrifying, it was as if it hade from the depths of hell itself.

 Chapter 834 Astral Emperor And The Asura

    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The hellish creature entered the throne room and made its way towards the Astral Emperor. Lilian watched with wide eyes, still shrouded within her spatial cocoon, as it made its way towards her father.


    ''F¡­.father is going to be attacked by this¡­demon,'' Lilian thought frantically, her mind a chaotic mess. "I¡­I need to find help! There''s no way father can fight this demon alon-"


    "I hope you weren''t spotted by anyone when you entered my pce," the Astral Emperor''s calm voice filled the throne room, stopping Lilian in her tracks.


    The Astral Emperor sat calmly on this throne, his chin resting on his propped up right arm. Lilian stared at him with wide eyes filled with confusion.


    Her fathers even tone and calm demeanor were not that of a man about to fight for his life. In fact, based on his words, he had been expecting the nightmarish creatures arrival.


    A guttural scoff was the only reply the creature gave, as if answering the question was beneath it. The Astral Emperor slightly frowned, but did ask the question again.


    The creature arrived before her father. It was so tall that it looked him at an even level, despite the fact that her fathers throne had him sitting more than a dozen feet off the ground.


    The two stared at each other for a moment, before the creature broke the silence.


    "When will you fulfill your part of the agreement?" The creature asked, its voice guttural and unnaturally loud. The walls trembled lightly from its voice alone.


    The Astral Emperor frowned, as if the question annoyed him.


    "I told youst year, she must first reach a certain cultivation level before she is ready," the Astral Emperor replied calmly.


    Rumble!


    The pce rumbled violently as the creature scoffed, y pleased with the answer it was provided.


    "And when will that be, exactly?" The creature growled.


    "It depends, but it will most likely be at least fifteen years before she is ready," the Astral Emperor replied, to which the creature narrowed its hellish gaze, fiery red eyes asrge as the Astral Emperors head staring at him with displeasure.


    ''She? Who is father talking about?'' Lilian thought, still hidden. Holding the spatial cocoon intact, especially in the presence of such a nightmarish creature was taxing her to her limits, but she dared not to release it, no matter how exhausted she became. She knew that would be a mistake.


    "You dare lie to me?" The creature growled menacingly.


    "I wouldn''t dare, as that does me no good," the Astral Emperor waved his hand dismissively.


    The creature studied him with scrutiny, to which the Astral Emperor sighed.


    "You maye from some other ce where cultivation is faster, but on this world, reaching the World Expansion realm takes time. Fifteen years is already faster than anyone else in recent history, so all you can do is wait," the Astral Emperor said as his eyes moved downwards, gazing at the massive wound on the creature chest; a gruesome wound that seemed to refuse to heal.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The wound was no doubt worse than it looked, as it was obvious that the creature was greatly weakened in its current state. And yet, it''s power was still unfathomable to Lilian.


    The creature''s expression was still filled with malevolent displeasure, as if it would unleash a fatal attack on the Astral Emperor at any moment.


    "The ancient war was what? Three hundred thousand years ago? Maybe more?" The Astral Emperor spoke up once more. "And despite that passage of time, your wound has yet to heal. If it was able to be healed by conventional methods, you would have done so by now."


    The pce trembled again as the creature scoffed, but it did not argue against the Astral Emperors ims.


    "It seems that only the most miraculous of methods can help you now, and that method just happens to be under mymand. And I am telling you that it will be fifteen years before she is ready."


    "You best make sure that it happens within fifteen years, or I''ll raze your empire to the ground," the creature threatened.


    "You would definitely be capable of doing so, but then your existence would be revealed to the world," the Astral Emperor replied calmly at the grave threat. "While you may be stronger than anyone in this world, do you have the confidence to fight the whole world at once¡­especially in your condition," he said as he eyed the wound again.


    The creatures sinister gaze narrowed again, but it did not rebuke the Astral Emperors ims. Fighting the entire world in its current state was not possible.


    "So, it seems you require my help, as I require yours, which is why we entered into this agreement in the first ce," the Astral Emperor said. "So do believe me when I say fifteen years is the time frame we need to follow."


    "Hmph, fine," the creature scoffed, believing the words spoken. "But I''m adding a new condition to our agreement."


    The Astral Emperors gaze narrowed as he heard this, but he remained silent to hear what the condition was.


    "You were right when you mentioned how hard it is for me to heal this wound," the nightmarish creature said as he stared at the wound on his chest. "And so, as part of our agreement, when the time for me to be healedes, I''ll be taking the girl with me. Her...healing skills should prove very useful for me in the future."


    The Astral Emperors gaze narrowed, and his aura grew cold, as of the mere mention of such a thing was unforgivable.


    sh!


    An item shed into existence, grasped within the creature''s massive hand. He tossed it over to the Astral Emperor, who caught the spatial ring and cautiously inspected it.


    His eyes went wide at what he saw within, and his cold gaze faded away, reced by a conflicted expression instead. The creature smiled when he saw this; his sharp teeth barred like a monstrous beast.


    "Our annual agreed upon transaction, tripled going forward, as long as I get to keep the girl," the creature proposed, it''s menacing smile widening as it could tell the offer was being considered.


    "What do you intend on doing to her? Do you intend to only have her heal you?" The Astral Emperor asked, sounding unsure of the matter.


    "That does not concern you," the creature snorted, his tone and expression indicating he wanted an answer, not discussion.


    A deep sigh escaped the emperor''s mouth as he slumped slightly on his throne. After a short moment of silence, he breathed in deeply and sat upright, his mind clearly made up.


    "Agreed!"

 Chapter 835 Few Minutes Of Terror

    "Good," the creature replied, its guttural voice reverberating in the air like a deep hiss. It turned around without a word and walked out of the throne room, while the Astral Emperor watched in silence as it left.


    Within her spatial cocoon, Lilian''s pale and exhausted face trembled with fear as the creature walked by, no more than thirty yards from her. She felt as if the aura of the creature alone would kill her, and was sure the only reason it didn''t was because of her spatial cocoon separating her from the real world.


    She felt like she was nearing her limits, and exhaustion was taking a hold of her. She fought with everything she had to maintain her power, and the creature finally left. When she could no longer feel it''s aura, she breathed out then in deeply, and almost undid her powers to race towards her father forfort.


    These few minutes had been the most scared she ever felt.


    However, just as she was about to do so, she hesitated. She stared at her father as the conversation she had heard reyed in her mind.


    The subject of discussion had been a girl, one who could heal the hellish creature. Lilian naturally thought of herself, as she perfectly fit these two conditions.


    ''It''s impossible, right? There''s no way father would betray me. Sell me. To a demon like that,'' she thought to herself, trying to shake the terrible feeling she had at the moment.


    She wanted to rush to her father and ask him about it. She knew as long as she asked him, he would tell her the truth, and she would learn she was right, and that it was not about her.


    But she hesitated, paralyzed by fear, and uncertainty. Her essence Qi was draining fast, and she felt her limits fast approaching.


    Sigh!


    Another deep sigh left the emperors mouth, catching her attention. The emperor slumped in his throne, a conflicted look on his face.


    "To think I would agree to such a thing. Have I truly fallen so low?" the Astral Emperor muttered to himself. He then inspected the contents of the spatial ring in his hand, and the conflicted expression faded away, and was reced with a satisfied smile instead.


    "s, the cultivation world is a cruel ce, and I must grasp every opportunity to climb to the top, or I will fall to the pile of dead bodies at the bottom, as all who remain weak do," he said to himself, as if steeling his mind, firming his decision.


    "It''s just a shame," he continued after a small pause. "Lilian is a child with talent a father can only pray to the heavens for, and yet the heavens blessed me with her."


    He paused again and then stood up from his throne, his gaze narrowing with conviction.


    "Perhaps the heavens bestowed me with her for this very moment," he mused, as if his actions were following some grand, heavenly design. "And in the end, I can always have more children. If I created someone like her, surely, I could do so again. I am blessed by the heavens after all," he said with a small, arrogant smirk on the corner of his mouth.


    Pft!


    A soft sound, like a fading cloud of smoke sounded out, so soft as to almost not exist. The Astral Emperors gaze snapped towards the sound; one of the empty corners of his throne room.


    His gaze narrowed and his body shed, instantly appearing in that corner.


    Boom!


    The throne room trembled as he released his might on the area.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "A rat dares to spy on me?" He boomed as he inspected the area with his divine sense, but frowned immediately after.


    He detected nothing. His narrowed gaze scanned the area, and he remained there for a short moment before another set of footsteps approaching could be heard.


    "Father? Is everything alright?" Zeras'' concerned voice drifted into the throne room as he entered. A perplexed look appeared on his face as he saw his father standing in the corner.


    "Yes, everything is fine," the Astral Emperor said, and slowly peeled his scrutinizing gaze away from the corner and towards his son.


    "You asked to see me today?" Zeras asked respectfully. While he was talking to his father, he was also talking to the Astral Emperor. Respect and deference were a given.


    "Yes," the Astral Emperor confirmed, ignoring the corner as if it no longer concerned him. "How is Lilian''s training going? Is her cultivation steadily progressing?"


    "It is. She should reach the Heaven Tribtion realm within the year," Zeras confirmed.


    "Good. Then continue as you''ve been doing, and make sure she does not stray from her cultivation and studies," the Astral Emperor nodded. "And be sure she pays extra attention to her healing lessons."


    "It will be done," Zeras replied respectfully, bowed his head and left the room as the Astral Emperor dismissed him. The Astral Emperor gazed onest time at the corner of the room, and then left the room as well.


    ¡­


    Chirping of birds and sounds of other animals drifted through a tranquil forest, which was suddenly disturbed as a figure appeared in the air and crashed through many tree branches before colliding with the ground.


    Huff!


    Huff!


    Huff!


    Deep breaths, ragged and pained filled the silence as Lilian struggled to sit up. She eventually managed to w herself into a seating position, and sat on the ground, her back leaning against a tree.


    Her ragged breaths slowed over time as she slowly caught her breath and regained some of her energy. While her breaths grew steady, her mind was still filled with chaos.


    "I¡­I must have heard wrong¡­right?" Lilian muttered to herself, trying to convince herself that she had misheard. As much as she wanted that to be true, she knew she had heard correctly.


    When she heard her name, and saw her father''s expression, she knew he had made up his mind. Her father was going to sell her to that hellish demon, to do with her as she pleased. Only a lifetime of hell awaited her if that ever came to pass.


    When she had heard her name, she mustered thest ounce of her power, and had managed to push her spatial Dao to the limit, which had teleported her several miles away in an instant. She had no idea she was capable of such a thing, but being pushed to the edge had allowed her to exceed her limits.


    Lilian now feltpletely drained, and found it hard to muster any strength at all; her vision grew dark as her consciousness faded away, and she passed out within the forest.

 Chapter 836 Zeras Help

    Darkness enveloped Lilian, and she drifted within that darkness for an unknown amount of time.


    "So this is where you''ve been? Sleeping in this forest when you should be training?" a voice sounded out within the darkness, stirring her awake.


    Lilian''s heavy eyes slowly opened, and she was almost too tired to open them. Her body ached terribly, her previous actions of pushing her powers to the limits finally catching up with her. There wasn''t an inch of her body that was not crying out in pain.


    Through the pain, she opened her eyes and looked towards the source of the voice. Her heavy eyes widened as she saw who it was, and then tears began to fall. At first it was just a few, but in almost no time at all, a waterfall seemed to crash from both eyes as tears streamed down ceaselessly.


    "Big brother Zeras!" Lilian said hoarsely as she mustered herst bit of power to lean forward and fall towards him.


    "Woah there," Zeras eximed as he bent down and caught Lilian before she crashed into his knees. His arms braced her shoulders, and he frowned when he saw her condition. She looked miserable, and a quick inspection of her revealed even more internal damage, to her meridians, muscles, and bones.


    "What happened to you?" Zeras asked with great concern as he lifted Lilian up from the dirty ground and held her in his arms, cradling her like a baby. He could tell she was too exhausted to stand on her own. Lilian''s tears continued to fall, and her lips quivered as she tried to speak, but was unable to control herself to say a few words.


    "Who did this to you? I''ll have them yed alive!" Zeras asked coldly, but received no reply. Lilian buried her head in her brother''s chest, as if trying to find sce and safety in his embrace. Aplicated look appeared on his face, and he ceased asking questions. He slowly took to the sky and flew into the distance, saving the questions forter.


    ¡­


    Lilian''s eyes opened slowly again, and found herself to be in her bedroom. She had fallen asleep in her brothers embrace, too tired, exhausted, and drained from her harrowing ordeal. She blinked a few times, collecting her thoughts, and then sat up in her bed, resting her back against the headrest behind her.


    "You''re awake? How are you feeling?" Zeras'' soft voice sounded out next to her.


    Lilian gazed to the side, and saw him sitting on a chair nearby, staring at her. A wave of emotions flooded into her once more, but she forced that wave back as best she could. After a brief struggle, she finally managed topose herself.


    "Big brother Zeras¡­" Lilian said and then stopped, unsure of what to say next.


    "What happened to you?" Zeras asked, concern in his voice. "Your body was in apletely miserable state. If you did not have your Dao of Life aspect naturally healing your body, it would have been weeks before you were healed," he added, indicating the gravity of her injuries.


    She truly had pushed herself to the limits by holding her spatial cocoon for so long, as well as teleporting to safety at thest moment.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I¡­" Lilian said, still trying to collect her thoughts through the chaos that swirled in her mind. Her life had been so simple recently, but had crashed and burned in a fiery explosion before her eyes. She stared at her brother for some time, debating if she should exin what had happened or not.


    She thought her father had been on her side, and had loved him dearly all her life. While he had been hard on her many times, she never doubted his intentions for her. Her harsh training was for her benefit after all, to make her a great cultivator like her father. But that had all been a lie.


    Her life had been a lie!


    Who could she even trust anymore, if even her father was willing to sell her off to a demon like that? Only her brother Zeras! If there was one person in her life she could trust, it was her big brother, who had been there for her since she was a little girl. He had been more of a father to her than her real father had been, and was the closest person to her. If she could trust anyone, it was him.


    But she wasn''t dumb. She knew that if even someone like her father could betray her, then there was no certainty that her brother wouldn''t as well.


    ''I must believe in him. I must believe my big brother will help me,'' she thought, making up her mind.


    This harrowing ordeal she found herself in was not something she could solve alone, and she needed someone powerful like her brother to help her. Even leaving the empire on her own was impossible, and so there was only onest option for survival.


    Making up her mind, beads of tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she thought back to the pce, but she steeled her mind as best she could and wiped them away. Zeras'' raised an eyebrow as he noticed the changed demeanor on his sister''s face, as if she had just made a big decision. He remained silent, waiting for her to speak.


    "Big brother¡­" Lilian said, trying to think of how to exin her chaotic thoughts. She breathed out and then deeply, and calmed her mind as best as she could. Her hardened gaze locked onto her brother''s eyes, and she resolved herself.


    "Father has betrayed me," she said.


    "What?" Zeras eximed, surprise in his voice and face. "What do you mean?"


    Lilian saw true surprise in her brother''s expression, and breathed a sigh of relief. If he had remained calm, then he had already known about the truth.


    "I¡­earlier. Earlier I saw father¡­speaking to a demon¡­or something even more sinister. It was the most terrifying monster I have ever seen in my life!"

 Chapter 837 Fleeing The Empire

    "A demon?" Zeras asked. "Are you sure you didn''t get hit on the head in the forest? Are you really alright? Should I call a healer to help you?"


    "No. I saw it. I know what I saw," Lilian rebuked firmly. "I saw father, and I saw that demon. They were talking in his throne room, and they were speaking of an agreement. An agreement to sell me to that demon!"


    Her breathing became heavier as she gave voice to what had happened, as if she were in that throne room again. Zeras slowly stood up and walked over to her, and ced a soft hand on her shoulder, calming her down. She felt warmth andfort in that hand.


    "Are you sure you saw these things? Heard these things?" He asked, gaze narrowed.


    "Yes," Lilian said while nodding her head.


    Zeras studied her gaze, and then sighed. He pulled the chair to the edge of the bed and sat down, and leaned forward, staring at his sister.


    "Tell me everything you saw. Leave nothing out," he instructed her. "Tell me everything that happened."


    Lilian nodded, and felt warmth and love from her brother as she told him everything, from hiding in the pce, to teleporting away. Her brother''s expression grew darker the more she revealed, and she felt growing hope. Her brother was just as enraged with her fathers actions as she was. Her brother would help her!


    Lilian told the entire story, and then fell silent. Her brother leaned back on his chair and sighed out deeply, as if the weight of the story was almost too much to bear. He remained silent, staring up at the ceiling above.


    "Big brother Zeras," Lilian eventually asked. "What do I do? How do I¡­I can''t be sold to that demon! I¡­can''t¡­" she asked, and started to break down into tears again, thinking of such a fate.


    She was just a child, and had the whole world ahead of her. Finding out that vibrant world ahead was aplete lie nearly shattered her, and if not for her big brother, she might have already lost all hope.


    "You''ve been keeping secrets from me, huh?" Zeras said, his voice slightly teasing as he stared back at Lilian. "When did you improve your time and spatial Dao''s this much?"


    "I¡­recently," she replied, not sure why it mattered, but answered nheless.


    "You really are a monstrous talent," Zeras said, a sad smile on his face. He suddenly stood up, and gestured for her to do the same. "Come, if what you said is true, then you can''t stay here. We need to leave the empire immediately."


    "Okay," Lilian nodded, feeling hope for the first time. Her brother would help her! She had hope!


    "Clean up, and then put this one," Zeras instructed, handing her some clothing. It was a simple robe with a full face hood, hiding her facepletely should she put it on. It even had some formations on it, formations meant to stop divine sense both ways.


    Lilian frowned.


    "It''s to hide your features," Zeras exined. "You''re far too recognizable. This robe will stop prying eyes from detecting who you are as I take you away from the empire."


    "Okay," Lilian said, and then raced forward to her brother and embraced him, as if she never wanted to let go. It was an embrace filled with love.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Off now," Zeras said, and Lilian nodded and scurried into the washroom. She cleaned herself up, removing the dirt, grime, and blood on her body, and then put on the in robe. Her head was contained within, blocking her sightpletely. She couldn''t see out at all, which made her feel restricted. But that also meant no one could see her either, and so she feltfort in that fact.


    She walked back into her room, not needing to see where she was going, as she had taken that route a thousand times before.


    "Good. Let''s get out of here first, and then figure out what to do afterwards," Zeras said, and took her hand.


    Lilian nodded, and followed her brother as he guided her out of the house. He then took her in his embrace, and took to the sky. She felt the wind race by as her brother flew through the air. She felt her hope grow with each passing second, as each second was a second farther away from her father.


    Each time she thought of that conversation, she nearly broke down in tears. But she remained strong, as strong as she could. Her brother zipped in several directions, weaving through the mountains and valleys of the Astral Empire. She felt her body go through a short teleportation, clearly from a transportation formation.


    ''Good! If we can teleport out of the empire, it will make it harder to track me and big brother,'' Lilian thought, clutching tightly to her brother. Her brothernded and began to walk, the soft steps bouncing her up and down lightly.


    Lilian remained silent as her brother walked. He paused asionally, a few seconds here and there, as if waiting for the path to clear¡­or doors to open. A frown appeared on Lilian''s face as the pauses continued; pauses with a familiar cadence.


    One hundred yards, then pause.


    Seventy-five yards, then pause.


    Sixty yards, then pause.


    And so on.


    She knew these pauses. She had experienced them herself hundreds of times before. When she had walked through the pce towards her fathers throne room! A creeping pit of despair appeared within her, and she struggled to break free of her brother''s grasp.


    ''No. It can''t be. Not big brother Zera-'' Lilian''s thoughts stopped as she felt Zeras put her down, and the hood of her robe was ripped off by him, revealing the scene around her.


    "You really are too innocent and naive," her brother said, his voice like a sigh.


    Her eyes went wide with terror as she locked gazes with her father, seated on his throne.


    "So, you were the rat I felt earlier?" the Astral Emperor said musingly. "A pity you had to find out this way," he said, and then nodded, staring to her side.


    Bang!


    A strong blownded on the back of her head, and darkness enveloped Lilian once more.

 Chapter 838 Bound And Chained

    Consciousness returned to Lilian, suddenly and swiftly, as if she had been stirred awake. As she woke up, a painful sensation from the back of her neck red up, reminder her quickly of what had happened to her. Her panic began to rise as the events within the throne room flooded back, but she winced in pain before she could fully gather her thoughts.


    Her soul felt like it was on fire, on the verge of copse. It was as if her soul had been branded by a ming hot metal prong, filling her mind with constant pain. She grimaced against the pain, and opened her eyes to take in her surroundings.


    A dark and dank cell came into view; appearing like a prisoner''s cell. Dark-stone walls surrounded her in all directions except for in front, where there was a gate made of unknown metal.


    nk!


    Lilian tried to stand up and step forward, but her arms and legs suddenly stopped. She shifted her gaze, and saw that she was chained by her arms and ankles, making it so that she was unable to move much at all.


    Fear and panic once again washed through her as her thoughts finally stabilized, and she realized the situation she was in. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes as she tried to forcefully yanks her arms free of the chains, but they didn''t not budge an inch. Clearly they were made from formidable materials too durable for her to break.


    "Calm down," a calm voice sounded out from the corner of her cell, behind her right shoulder.


    Startled, Lilian quickly turned to face that corner, and was just barely able to do so before the chains snapped tight, limiting any further movement. Lilian''s eyes went wide as she saw who was sitting there in the dimly lit corner, and those wide eyes began to fill with tears, which soon flowed freely down her face.


    "Why?" she whispered, her voice hoarse, choked with emotions. "Why did you take me back to father?" she asked, staring directly at the one who had betrayed her when she needed help the most. She had trusted him with all her heart, and that trust had been shattered into a million pieces.


    Zeras sat in the corner of the cer nearby, his calm eyes studying Lilian. Aplicated expression appeared on his face for a brief moment, at which point he sighed and stood up. He walked past her to the front of the cer, while Lilian turned to face him the entire time, her guard raised at the brother she once trusted with her life.


    "It wasn''t supposed to be like this, you know," Zeras said, standing directly before her. "You weren''t supposed to find out about the deal father had made, at least not until the time had arrived."


    "So you knew the whole time?" Lilian asked, feeling the betrayal of her brother refresh anew.


    "I did," Zeras said, sighing deeply as if he was truly conflicted by the matter.


    "How could you agree to it? How could you allow¡­father to sell me to that demon?" Lilian asked through choked tears, her words barely audible. She felt as if her whole life had shattered, and no hope was left.


    "That wasn''t the initial n," Zeras replied. "The initial n was just for you to heal him, once you became strong enough. You would have most likely lived through that ordeal, at which point you would have resumed life as normal. The demon changed the n the other day, much to our disappointment."


    "So you''re just going to ept his deal? Sell me to him? Just like that?" she asked, still unable to believe her family would so easily sell her like this.


    Zeras sighed deeply again, and shrugged his shoulders as if it was out of his hands.


    "It''s father''s call in the end," Zeras replied. "I tried to convince him otherwise, but the offer the Asura gave is just too much to decline."


    "Asura?" Lilian mumbled, repeating the name Zeras had used. She had never heard the word before.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "It''s what he calls himself," Zeras replied, "or at least what he tells us to call him."


    She didn''t know why, but Lilian shuddered when she heard the word, as if the name were death itself.


    "If you don''t agree with father, why didn''t you help me escape? Why not help me now?" Lilian asked, her voice growing louder and angrier. Her eyes, filled with fearful tears, were quickly bing colder and angrier.


    "Ha, go against father? Do you think I have a death wish?" Zeras replied dismissively, as if his sister had made a funny joke. "Besides, why do you think father and my rise in power thisst decade has been so extraordinary?" he asked Lilian.


    Lilian quickly realized what Zeras was saying; the treasures the demon, the ''Asura'', gave them, were supposedly amazing, and had helped their cultivations and battle prowess soar.


    "Decade? So you''ve known for that long?" Lilian growled, as the betrayal continued to thicken.


    "I have," Zeras said, pacing back and forth before her. "Like I said, it was supposed to be a much better deal for you, but things have now changed. Unfortunately the deal is too great to pass up on, so you¡­" he paused, as if conflicted to say the next part.


    "You will just need to learn to thrive in the Asura''s presence, and hope that he treats you well. If you prove your worth when you are sold to him, I''m sure he won''t mistreat you too much," Zeras said to her.


    Lilian felt her fear and panic reced by anger at her brothers calloused words. He would not fight for even a second to defend her, and instead hadpletely gone along with her fathers will. Thest shred of love towards her brother and hope for escape faded away, and a feeling of resignation rose up.


    She had given up. There was nothing left to live for. Her bright and hopeful life had shattered in an instant, and death was now a sweet release from her torment toe. She would rather die, than serve that Asura for a single second.


    Her gaze, filled with anger and growing hatred, locked onto her brother, and her face seemed determined, her mind made up. Her power suddenly red, and Zeras raised an eyebrow, watching what was happening with intrigued amusement.


    Lilian''s soul power red to its full power, and at this moment, she attempted to unleash that power inwards on herself. She wanted to use her soul power to destroy her soul. She wanted to kill herself.


    Her soul power peaked, and then faded away. A nk look appeared in her eyes, which had be almost lifeless. However, it wasn''t lifeless as if she were dead, but lifeless as if the absolutest shred of hope to escape the situation had failed.


    She had been unable to kill herself.


    "Father knew you would try such a thing," Zeras said. "And so he ced a soul-seal on your soul while you were unconscious. It''s not as powerful as a ve-contract, which you would never willingly ept, but it''s still good enough. It can''t control you like a ve contract, but it can forbid you from doing certain things; including attempting to kill yourself."


    Zeras'' words struck Lilian like a bolt of lightning. She no longer even controlled her own fate.


    "I''m sorry little sister, but the sooner you get used to the situation, the better it will be for everyone," Zeras said as he ced a hand on her shoulder for a moment, and then left the cell, leaving her chained in the darkness.


    Silence filled the darkness, which was soon filled with the sound of muffled cries and pattering tears.

 Chapter 839 No Hope Left

    nk!


    The sound of the metallic gate opening filled Lilian''s cell, and two figures stepped into it. They stood before Lilian, who was sprawled out on the cer floor, lying in the dirt with a vacant expression.


    "She still refuses to ept the matter and hand and resume her cultivation?" her father''s voice sounded out.


    Her father had visited her a few times since her capture, and had attempted to converse with her. At first she had replied with nothing but hate and vitriol, but now she couldn''t even be asked to give him attention. She just wanted to waste away into nothing.


    Her father wanted her to cultivate to a level that she could heal the Asura, all for his own gain. Well, as ast act of defiance, she refused, and would sooner see their empire destroyed than help the man who was supposed to defend her, but had sold her instead.


    "Yes, she had not cultivated a single time since we put her here a few weeks ago," Zeras confirmed.


    The Astral Emperor frowned, and then crouched down, putting his face close towards his daughters.


    "Lilian, you will resume your cultivation. You will dearly regret what happens if you do not," he said. His tone was calm, but his words threatening.


    Lilian remained silent, staring into the void as if her father didn''t exist. The Astral Emperor stared at her for a while, and then sighed. He stood back up, and then nodded to Zeras. Zeras left the cell, disappearing around the corner.


    "Just remember, not only did you cause this, but this will only be the first of many if you do notply," the Astral Emperor said in warning.


    Lilian continued to ignore him. Nothing he could do could hurt her further. She would rather die than help her father.


    "Prince Zeras, that hurts," a young, feminine voice drifted through the cer from around the corner. Lilian''s eyes twitched for the first time in a long time. She knew that voice.


    "Prince Zeras, you''re hurting my wrist. Please ease up," the voice sounded out again, clearly in pain.


    Lilian''s eyes shifted towards the cell entrance. She was still lying down on the dirty floor, but the voice had caught her attention. Her dull eyes widened as she saw her brother round the corner, dragging a young female by her wrist. The female appeared to be around Lilian''s age, and was dressed in a maid''s outfit. She had a cheerful and adorable face, which was currently scrunched up in pain.


    "Alise," Lilian mumbled, recognizing the neer.


    Zeras stepped into the cell and threw his arm forward, causing the girl to stumble forward and fall to her knees in front of Lilian. The girl noticed Lilian, and her eyes went wide with fear and panic.


    "Princess Lilian! You''re here! I thought¡­.why are you here?" the girl cried out, panicked and afraid. However, most of that panic was for Lilian, and not for herself.


    Lilian felt warmth return to her heart for the first time in weeks.


    "Alise," Lilian mumbled again, raising her hand towards her friend''s face. Despite the fact that Lilian was a princess and Alise a maid, they were the best of friends. They often yed together, gossiped together, and did everything in between over the years.


    A sad smile appeared on Lilian''s face as she saw the concern her friend had for her, and she opened her mouth to reply.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Ow!" Alise cried out as the Astral Emperor yanked her to her feet by her hair. Her face was scrunched up with pain.


    "Stop it! Leave her alone!" Lilian cried out, getting to her feet for the first time in a while.


    The Astral Emperor remained silent, and lifted Alise off the ground by her hair, making her cries of pain even louder.


    "Let her go!" Lilian cried out and tried to lunge towards her father, but was stopped by the chains binding her. She tried to break free of her bondage, but was unable to do so.


    Her fathers calm yet cold eyes stared at Lilian, making sure she was watching fully.


    "This is what happens if you do not cultivate," the Astral Emperor said as his hand slowly raised up towards Alise''s head, "and this will only be the beginning. There will be more and more until youply."


    "Stop it!" Lilian cried out. Her cries cut off sharply as she watched a beam of Qi from the Astral Emperors finger slice against Alise''s neck, cutting it open. Alise''s eyes went wide with shock.


    "Noooo!" Lilian cried out as blood began to pour from Alise''s neck, and she tried to break free again but was still helpless to do so.


    The Astral Emperor dropped Alise onto the ground. She was still alive due to being a cultivator. As a maid of the Astral Empire, she needed to have a certain level of strength, and was in the early Core Formation Realm. Such a wound wouldn''t be immediately fatal, but she would quickly die of blood loss before long.


    Alise tried to open her mouth to speak to Lilian, but blood gargled out instead, making her words inaudible. Fear filled Alise''s face, as she didn''t want to die.


    "Let me go!" Lilian cried out pleadingly. "I''ll agree to cultivate again! Just unbind me!" she pleaded.


    She knew this n of her fathers was to get her toply, but she didn''t care. If she didn''t ept it now, her father would kill more and more of her close friends. She had lost hope for her life, but would not do nothing as her actions caused the deaths of those she still held dear.


    The Astral Emperor stared at his daughter with a calm gaze as she pleaded to be released, and after confirming her sincerity, waved his hand outwards.


    Clink!


    The metal bindings shattered, freeing Lilian from her bondage. Lilian quickly moved forward towards Alise, and her Dao of Life red out as she began to heal the gruesome wound on Alise''s neck. The wound quickly began to close, and the blood loss stopped. Alise would live. Lilian breathed out a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground.


    "Just remember today," the Astral Emperor said calmly, as if he had not just sliced the neck of a child. "Stop cultivating, and next time, I won''t release you in time to heal her."


    Lilian''s face trembled with anger as she watched her father and brother leave her cell. She was unbound and the cell door was open, as if they were saying to her; you may be free to move, but you are forever a ve to us.


    Lilian felt her shoulders grow heavy with hopelessness. This was to be her fate.

 Chapter 840 Soul-Seed

    Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, although to Lilian it was all the same. Time had lost all meaning for her ever since her fate changed that day.


    "And that is what your soul-seed does," a voice entered Lilian''s ears, but her lifeless gaze was staring elsewhere. She was in a ornately decorated room, sitting on a chair near a window. The window overlooked the valley she had seen all her life.


    It had been a valley of beauty and excitement before, but she could no longer see it the same anymore. The mountains surrounding her were now like prison walls, reminding her of her inescapable fate.


    Sunlight crashed through the window and onto her, bathing her in an ethereal glow, making her look like an angel, and conflicting greatly with her outward demeanor.


    "Princess Lilian," the same voice said loudly, causing Lilian to gaze at her with indifference. She looked at the woman before her, who was part of the Astral Empire.


    She was not of royal blood, but was from one of the highborn families of the empire. The woman appeared to be in her thirties, with golden hair and a beautiful face. A radiant glow seemed to emanate naturally off her, amon thing for those gifted in the healing arts.


    She had been tutoring Lilian on all things healing rted, as she too was talented with the Dao of Life and other simr Daos. While she wasn''t nearly as naturally talented as Lilian, she was still one of the most talented and powerful healers in the Astral Empire.


    Lilian gazed at the woman, Hilea, who she felt no I''ll will towards, but no warmth either. Hilea did not know of the designs the Astral Emperor had for Lilian, but she was also not doing this out of the kindness of her heart. She was trying to elevate her own status by teaching a Princess of the Astral Empire.


    Lilian didn''t think Hilea evil or mean, but she had grown indifferent and cold towards those who sought to use her for their own personal gain, regardless of the severity of their actions.


    Hilea was slightly taken aback by Lilian''s lifeless gaze, butposed herself, cleared her throat, and spoke again.


    "Did you pay attention at all to today''s lesson?"she asked, her voice slightly scolding. She had been given full permission from the Astral Emperor to tutor Lilian in the healing arts at all costs.


    "Yes," Lilian repliedzily, shifting her dull gaze out the window again.


    "Then repeat the main points of todays lesson," Hilea requested.


    Lilian sighed, and started to speak, her gaze never leaving the window next to her.


    "All cultivators born with an innate Dao of Life talent have a soul-seed," Lilian began to summarize the lesson, her voice monotone and empty of emotions.


    "A soul-seed can be used for many things, but the greatest use is that it can be given to another. By doing this, the soul-seed acts as a bridge between the two, linking their souls. This link provides a conduit in which healing Qi can be directly sent to the other as long as they are nearby, and also greatly amplifies the quality and speed of healing that can be provided," she said, her voice trailing off in indifference.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Good, but you''re missing the final part," Hilea said.


    "My soul-seed can only be given to one individual, and that connection is permanent. Only the death of that person will free my soul-seed, at which point I can gift it once more," Lilian continued, sighing again.


    "Good," Hilea nodded her head, satisfied with Lilian''s answers. "So you must remember, do not treat your soul-seed lightly, and only give it to the one you are absolutely sure you want to bind yourself to forever. Take me for example, my soul-seed was given to my husband," Hilea said smilingly, and stood up to leave as the lesson was over.


    She strode towards the door and paused, giving Lilian one more nce.


    "As a Princess of the Astral Empire, and also of iparable beauty, I''m sure you''ll have no shortage of suitors soon. Just be sure to take your time, and choose the right one. I''m certain your perfect match will reveal themself before long," she said, and then left the room.


    Lilian''s dull eyes flickered for a moment, and then darkened with gloom. Talk of marriage had brought her memories of her past before the incident, when she would merrily gossip with her friends about such a future.


    That future was no more, and only an abyssal chasm of torment awaited her. A chasm she could not climb out of.


    "The recipient of my soul-seed had already been chosen for me," she scoffed.


    The thought of the soul-seed going to that horrifying Asura made her want to vomit, as she would forever be connected to it on a soul level. That sinister and vile aura would be a part of her, like a parasite worming it''s way through her body and mind.


    She had thought of escape, but was unable to do so. The soul-seal her father had nted on her soul did many things, including revealing her location to him at all times. Escape was utterly impossible, and each attempt would no doubt lead to her father killing one of her friends before her eyes.


    Still, she reviled the thought of ever giving that evil demon her soul seed, which was the same as giving it her life and soul; her everything. It would be a permanent nightmare, until the day she died.


    "I''d sooner throw my Dao of Life soul-seed to the wind than give it to that creature, but I have no choic-"


    Her voice cut off, and she paused for many minutes, remaining silent. Her body straightened in her chair, and the gloomy aura around her seems to slightly fade away, returning a glimmer of the radiant aura she once had.


    A small tinge of life and hope returned to her eyes for the first time in months, and she strode out of the room shortly after, footsteps quick and determined.

 Chapter 841 Preparing A Plan

    "How is Lilian''s training proceeding," the Astral Emperor asked, his eyes glued to the scroll in his hand.


    "Very well," Zeras replied to his father. "She is almost ready to break through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and her advancements in her four innate Dao''s have improved considerably as well, especially her grasp of the Dao of Space. She seems to be favoring that one as ofte."


    "The Dao of Space?" The Astral Emperor mused. "Is she thinking of running away? A foolish notion," he scoffed.


    Even if she could flee, there was nowhere she could hide from his gaze. The soul-seal revealed her location to him at all times.


    "She has requested leave for a few days, to explore our empire beyond the royal capital limits," Zeras chimed up.


    "Leave?" the Astral Emperor repeated, and raised his gaze to meet Zeras''. He nodded his head after a moment''s thought. "Approved. She might know of her fate awaiting her, but she is still a child. Pushing her too hard will only break her before she is ready to be used. Perhaps this exploration of hers will calm her heart and mind. But make sure it is no more than a few days, and make sure she is guarded at all times."


    "It will be done, father," Zeras said.


    "That is all. You may leave," the Astral Emperor dismissed Zeras, who bowed and left the pce throne room.


    ¡­


    After her training lesson with Hilea, Lilian spent the next few months proceeding with her life as usual, at least to the outside eye. A n had hatched in her mind at the end of that lesson, one she was working towards ever since.


    Lilian was currently outside the royal capital limits, in the massive city that surrounded the royal capital. The city sprawled for hundreds of miles, appearing like a never-ending sea of buildings, fields, stadiums, and other facilities.


    The buildings closest to the mountains surrounding the royal capital wererge, grand, and ornate. They belonged to the highborn families of the Astral Empire, who were not royalty, but were very powerful and highly respected. The city lessened in grandness as one traveled farther away from the royal capital, until it was no more than farm fields and small buildings several hundred miles away.


    Lilian was currently in the middle of this city, in a densely popted trade district. It was the first time she had stepped foot in such a ce, and would have normally found it interesting to explore, but she had no such interests at the moment.


    She wore a in dress and a face veil, masking her identity. She strode through the trade district, going from building to building, purchasing various things. As a princess of the Astral Empire, money was not an issue for her.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Two powerful guards, both in the World Expansion Realm followed her from a distance, which she was fully aware of. She had instructed them to follow her from a distance, as she did not wish to be disturbed. The guards had agreed, but made sure to keep her within their range of detection.


    Like this, Lilian spent the next few days in the city, visiting various trade halls and acquiring many different things. The sun eventually set on the city, bringing night to thend. Lilian found a hotel to lodge in for the evening, and settled into a room for the night. She had made sure to find a hotel that had rooms with meditation chambers; chambers that were effective for shielding against disturbances.


    Her guards purchased a room next to hers, making sure she never left their presence.


    "I will be meditating in my room for the next two days," Lilian said to the two guards before she entered her room. "Do not disturb me during that time, and do not let anyone else disturb me. I am about to make a breakthrough in the Dao of Life."


    The mention of her making a Dao of Life breakthrough brought a serious expression to the guards faces, who nodded sternly. They did not know why, but the Astral Emperor had put great emphasis on Lilian''s Dao of Life training. They knew if they allowed anyone to disturb her and break her meditation session, they would not hear the end of the matter, and would most likely face severe punishment.


    "It will be done, Princess Lilian," the guards said, and watched as she entered the room and closed the door. They stationed themselves outside her door, making sure she was not disturbed.


    Lilian inspected the room, but had no interest in it, and strode across therge room to the other side, where the meditation chamber was. She pressed her hand against the formation on the wall, which opened a thick door to the chamber. The chamber was twenty feet long and wide, and was lined with rtively powerful formations.


    The formations served to limit disturbances traveling both ways through the walls, making it so that others would not affect her meditation, and she would not affect others in the hotel. Lilian nodded her head with satisfaction, and entered the chamber. She ced her hand against a formation within the chamber, and the door closed, enclosing her within.


    She sat down and remained silent for quite some time, calming her mind and building her resolve. After an unknown amount of time, she opened her eyes, her gaze brimming with determination.


    "Father might think himself smart, but he''s a fool to think his soul-seal is all epassing," Lilian scoffed. She had found a loophole to the condition that restricted her from killing herself. She intended to live with what she was about to do, but if she failed, death would most likely im her. That small difference was enough to not activate the soul-seal''s restrictions.


    At this time, she was quite happy with her father''s arrogance. It had made him toofortable. That arrogance would lead to his failure to hold her hostage.


    "At worst, I die, which is better than what the future currently has nned for me," Lilian said, and steeled her mind for the pain toe as her power began to climb.

 Chapter 842 Severing Of Soul And Fate

    The meditation chamber began to vibrate as Lilian''s aura climbed, but it easily contained her power within. The chamber was designed to service up to Dao Transformation cultivators, and so her Meridian Forging power was not strong enough to break through the defensive formations.


    Her aura continued to steady climb, and a strong spatial aspect began to emanate as well. It was as if space was beginning to twist around her, bing under her control. Her power finally reached a peak, her face scrunched red with effort.


    The spatial aura began to slowly but surely condense, going from an intangible aura to a visible thing. It was as if a de of pure spatial energy had formed above Lilian''s head, its color ever changing like the chaos of space. The de seemed as though it could cut through anything, and it took almost all of her power to keep corporeal.


    Sweat dripped down her face and her breathing became heavy, but Lilian ignored her growing exhaustion as she locked the spatial de in space, and prepared for the final step. She didn''t know if this would work, but it was her only hope of escaping from her father.


    After the conversation with Hilea, this idea had formed in her mind. Unlike almost all other cultivators, Lilian''s soul was quite unique. Most cultivators had a uniform soul, of one energy and aspect, but she was different.


    She had been born with the innate control of four powerful Dao''s, and this innate aspect stemmed all the way down to her very soul. Her soul was separated into five quadrants, four of them aspected to one of her unique Dao''s, and thest her soul core, which was of the same that other cultivators had.


    She had never told anyone else this, and all others could tell from her was that there were many unique properties to her soul. Even her father had failed to notice this distinct difference between her and others.


    When her father had ced his soul-seal on her, he had ced it on her Dao of Life soul portion, which also contained her soul-seed. Her Dao of Life control and soul-seed were the only things the Astral Emperor cared about, and so whether intentional or unintentional, he had ced the soul-seal there.


    This distinction would normally not matter, as a cultivator''s soul was one, and could not be split. Doing so would result in the death of the cultivator, but Lilian was not so sure this would be her fate. She was different, and she had a n to take advantage of this innate difference of hers.


    However, she only considered sess a possibility, not a guarantee. It was just as likely that she would perish, but that was a risk she was willing to take. Even if she seeded, it would be as though she had lost half of herself, which was a miserable existence regardless. However, anything was better than serving that hellish creature.


    The spatial de hovered directly over Lilian''s head, as if ready to carve directly into her skull. While maintaining her control of the de, Lilian focused her divine sense inward, towards her soul. She took exact note of her soul''s location, as well as the location of the four aspected parts.


    If there was any error at all, she would perish. Her focus was at her absolute peak.


    Time seemed to stand still for her. She didn''t know if she had paused for a second, or an hour, but she took a deep breath and held it in as if it were thest breath she would ever take, and the de suddenly fell.


    It pierced her head, disappearing within. It pierced through the spatial boundaries of the real world and the soulspace, and carved through without pause.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Pain.


    That was all Lilian felt at the moment. Excruciating pain. It was as if her soul had been set aze, as well as stabbed by a million des. The pain was almost unimaginable, and it felt as if she were truly about to die.


    Pain was her entire existence, and Lilian nearly copsed from the shock of it all. However, she knew that would be death, and so through the horrifying pain, she remained focused. The spatial de continued through her soulspace, on the path she had previously determined.


    Her control of the de had nearly ceased when the pain almost overwhelmed her, which would have resulted in the de exploding, destroying her soul without question. It veered slightly as her control waned, and then set back on the correct path as she regained fleeting control of it. The pain was almost too much to bear. In fact it was too much to bear, but she mustered strength she didn''t know she had and fought; for her freedom, for her life.


    Once again, Lilian lost meaning of time. She didn''t know if the process had taken a split second or an hour, but to her, it had felt like an eternity.


    The spatial de appeared once again, on the other side of her head, opposite where it had entered. As soon as it reappeared, it faded away, as her control finally vanished. Spatial fragments exploded in all directions, hitting her in her arms and chest, drawing blood.


    She ignored the pain and blood, although it was almost impossible to do so. Her mind felt as though it were on fire. Even a single thought was almost too much to muster, but against all odds, she maintained her strength and will and pushed through.


    Her Qi, divine sense, and soul power red once more, and a vibrant ball of spiritual power drifted out of her head. It floated before her, emanating a vibrant and ethereal glow, as well as a profound aura of time itself.


    Lilian''s weary eyes stared at the ball of light floating before her, a ball which contained her Dao of Life and Dao of Time soul portions, as well as the soul-seal her father had nted on her. It was like a rune, carved directly into her soul, which was now visible for her to see for the first time.


    Her connection was quickly fading with her removed soul half, as if it were no longer a part of herself. The severance wasplete.


    Lilian felt the creeping embrace of death take a hold of her. The process had been too damaging, too destructive. She would most surely die if nothing was done. Using thest tenuous connection to her Dao of Life soul, she activated it with herst bits of power.


    Vibrant energy, brimming with life flowed out of the ball of light, and flooded into her body, mind, and soul, although the quantity and quality was decreasing by the second as the connection faded away. As if a knife had cut a thread, the connection finally severed, permanently removing her connection with half of herself.


    Darkness enveloped her vision while her consciousness rapidly faded away. With thest remaining scrap of Qi she had, a formation disk appeared in her hand, and she crushed it. Spatial energy enveloped her body and whisked her away, leaving a ball of pure soul power, brimming with the Dao''s of Life and Time, as well as the mark of the malicious soul-seal, floating in the room.

 Chapter 843 Zeras Is Mine

    A deafening silence filled Lilian''s flying ship, as neither John nor she said anything for quite some time. A sinister aura filled the ship, as John unconsciously let his aura leak out.


    He had been surprised to hear that Lilian had encountered the Asura before, but that surprise turned to furious rage as he heard the rest of her story. She had only been a little girl, and had to endure so much pain and betrayal.


    Not only that, but her story also hinted towards another thing; Laia''s fate. Lilian had not exined how Laia hade into existence, as even she herself did not know how it was possible. She had removed half of her soul, the vibrant Dao of Life portion which had the soul-seal on it, and the Dao of Time portion.


    The Dao of Time portion had been given up as well, as Lilian needed its time-warping properties to keep the removed soul alive for as long as possible, to fool her father for as long as possible. Souls would naturally fade away quickly when removed from the body, and so such a sacrifice was needed.


    However, it seemed to have worked too well, and allowed the removed soul to linger on long enough for Laia toe into existence. How was such a thing even possible? Regardless of the details, one thing was for sure.


    Laia had inherited Lilian''s horrifying fate; the fate of being bound to the Asura permanently.


    John''s rage reignited as he thought of this,and his desire to eradicate Zeras, the Astral Emperor, and the Asura creature magnified a million fold. He had no real issues with the Astral Emperor before, but that had now changed. The Astral Emperor would die, and die by his hands.


    "After I managed to escape, I used a flying ship I purchased from within the city to flee. With myst remaining scraps of consciousness, I entered the ship and set a random course, directly away from the Astral Empire," Lilian spoke once more, her voice soft and meek, as if telling the story had taken a lot out of her. Telling the story had also reminded her of her fate that had once been; the fate that Laia had inherited. "By the time the Astral Emperor noticed my absence, I was long gone. I woke up several monthster, after my ship crashed on the Yuan Continent, and Thunderzen found me shortly afterwards," Lilian said and fell silent once more, her story fully finished.


    The sinister aura continued to fill the ship, as John sat there in silence. He was leaning forward in his seat, his chin resting on his sped hands. His murderous gaze lingered on the floor between them, so fiery as if it would burn a hole in the floor of the ship.


    The silence was suddenly broken as John quickly stood up, and briskly walked towards the ship''s exit.


    "Where are you going?" Lilian asked, surprised to see him suddenly take action.


    "I''m going to kill your fucking brother," John growled angrily, "and I''m going to make him suffer the entire time."


    sh!


    Lilian suddenly appeared before him, blocking his path towards the ship''s exit. John''s cold gaze locked onto hers, and a frown appeared in the corner of his mouth.


    "Even now, after everything you''ve learned, after everything you told me¡­you''re still going to protect Zeras?" John asked menacingly.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "I''m not protecting him," Lilian replied while shaking her head, "but Zeras is not your concern. He is mine, and mine alone."


    "Fuck that," John yelled at his master, causing her to be taken aback slightly. She had not expected such an outburst from him. "If it were just you, I would leave you to deal with him, but this doesn''t just concern you anymore."


    Surprise appeared on Lilian''s face as she heard his words, which was then followed by a conflicted expression. She knew what John meant. Laia was now also revealed to be involved, and John''s words were clear.


    If it involved Laia, he would do whatever it took to ensure her safety, even if it meant killing Zeras, and even the all-powerful Astral Emperor.


    The two stared at each other for some time, neither budging an inch.


    "Can you even bring yourself to fight Zeras to the death?" John asked, breaking the silence. Based on the story, it was easy to tell that Lilian had cared for Zeras more than anyone in her life. Despite the fact that Zeras betrayed her, suppressing those long held feelings was easier said than done.


    "Zeras is mine," Lilian said, her face and voice bing resolved after a moment of uncertainty. "I will do what it takes to ensure he does not leave this realm."


    John''s gaze narrowed as he heard this, as if he were not sufficiently satisfied with her answer. Lilian could tell that his furious rage was burning a hole within him, and she feltfort in that. She could tell that rage was not just for Laia, but for herself as well. Her disciple wanted nothing more than to painfully kill those who had betrayed her, and had put her through so much pain and suffering.


    Lilian exhaled deeply.


    "Zeras is mine," she repeated, "but when the timees, I''ll leave the Astral Emperor to you."


    John''s gaze flickered for a moment, and then he nodded his head in agreement. He was surprised to hear Lilian say those words, but was not too surprised at the same time. The Astral Emperor was one of the most powerful cultivators in the entire world, and their sh to the death was fast approaching.


    While Lilian was a monstrous talent almost withoutparison, she was still not nearly strong enough to fight against her father. If she had her previous talent before splitting herself in half, or had more time to cultivate, she would no doubt surpass him. But time was not on their side, and even Lilian knew the only hope in the battle toe was John, who even to someone as monstrously talented as Lilian, was still a few steps above. Only someone who continued to defy even the heavens itself would be able to rise up in time to face off against her father.


    John''s expression darkened as he thought of the battle toe. When that time came, he would ensure that the Astral Emperor regretted his decisions a thousand times over. His death would be slow and excruciating.

 Chapter 844 The Final Trial Approaches

    The door to the flying ship opened, and John hopped out without hesitation. His eyes locked onto Zeras in the far distance, and his rage instantly boiled up once more. He felt the overwhelming desire to rush over and brutally beat Zeras to death. Without John realizing, his hatred for Zeras had already reached the level of his hatred for Asuros.


    Having his two most hated enemies in the world standing in the same arena as him was almost too much for him to bear without taking action, but he barely managed to maintain his calm. He knew that even if he rushed over, he would be stopped by the artifact spirit.


    Chime!


    A soft chime sounded out within the arena, followed by the artifact spirit speaking.


    "The allocated resting period is now over. Please gather by me for the exnation of the next trial," it said as a figure suddenly materialized in the center of the arena. It was a golem, made of silver-colored stone, without any features at all.


    For such a powerful artifact spirit, it was very in and unassuming. The eight cultivators all did as instructed, and quickly made their way towards the artifact spirit. John felt his rage grow as he neared both Asuros and Zeras, both who exchanged gazes with him.


    As expected, Asuros'' gaze was of equal hatred, while Zeras looked at John with an amused expression.


    On their way towards the artifact spirit, Zeras veered towards them, and cut them off before they could reach the golem.


    "It seems like you two exchanged some stories," Zeras said as John and Lilian stared at him. Based on John''s gaze, it was easy for Zeras to discern that Lilian had told him about the events of the past.


    Lilian frowned with disgusted displeasure as she stared at the one who had betrayed her, while John once more felt the urge to rush over and kill the man.


    "Since you two shared a story, allow me to do so as well," Zeras said, the amused expression on his face persisting, as if he were thoroughly enjoying everything.


    Both John and Lilian didn''t wish to hear him speak, but could do nothing to stop him from doing so. Smiling at their silence, Zeras started speaking again.


    "You see, my story is about a miraculous event that happened many years ago. A story of a miserable little ball of soul and life, that somehow clung to existence against all odds," Zeras said, causing the expressions on their faces to darken again. His story was no doubt about what happened after Lilian separated her soul in two halves.


    "That miserable ball of life managed to defy heavenlyw, and did not fade away," he continued. "Instead, it fought and fought and fought to survive. It fought long enough for father and I to take it back to the capital city, and fought long enough for us to learn how to make it¡­make her, grow anew."


    Zeras paused for a moment, as if expecting an outburst from either John or Lilian, but raised an eyebrow when both remained silent. However, their murderous gazes were more than enough information for what they were feeling about Zeras at the moment. His smile widened for a moment again, and he continued.


    "It took a small fortune to construct the formations needed to sustain the soul and help it grow, but grow it did," Zeras continued. "Of course, this was only possible in the first ce due to the unique nature of that soul, but that''s besides the point. The process took years, but eventually the soul was able to turn the nourishment we provided it into a new body¡­and you should know the rest," Zeras said, finishing his story.


    "We thought you had killed yourself in a botched attempt to free yourself from your bindings, but to think you actually managed to seed. You''ll have to tell me how you did it someday," Zeras said before walking towards the artifact spirit again, as if John and Lilian no longer interested him.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Both of them stared at Zeras with gazes that could kill, and both did their best to control their urge to attack him.


    "You better kill him in the most painful way imaginable," John growled softly, to which Lilian huffed and began walking towards the golem as well.


    "I don''t need you to tell me that," she said without looking back.


    "Good," John said, and followed his master towards the golem as well.


    They arrived by artifact spirit, who started speaking again now that all eight cultivators were gathered around it.


    "The next trial shall begin shortly, and only one of you shall be allowed to proceed onwards once it is concluded," the artifact spirit said. The expressions of the eight cultivators changed, as this truly was thest trial. Of the eight of them, only one would be able to move onwards towards the real treasure contained within the realm.


    ¡­


    In another ce, far away from the Divine Source Monastery, two figures were standing next to each other within a regal throne room.


    "To think you would request such a thing," the Astral Emperor said, his voice tinged with amusement. "I figured the happenings within the realm would be beneath you."


    "Do not test my patience," the Asuraic creature growled, his deep voice shaking the throne room.


    "Fine, fine," the Astral Emperor waved his hand flippantly, as if the Asura''s presence did not scare him at all.


    "I suppose I have taken an interest in the realm as well. After all, my precious daughter who I have not seen for over a decade is within," the Astral Emperor added, as his power began to climb and his hands began to move in a strange way in the air before him.


    A thick aura of the spatial Dao, as well as other profound Dao''s began to emanate from the Astral Emperor, and after some time, a circr void of spatial energy appeared before him and the Asura. The void grewrger andrger, and after a short while, grew to be five feet across.


    The circr void shifted and changed, and then suddenly cleared up, revealing something on the other side; the martial arena within the Divine Source Monastery realm, and the eight cultivators within. A satisfied smile appeared on the Astral Emperor''s face as he stared at the spatial screen before him, his eyes locked onto Lilian.


    "That was harder than I thought it would be. The Divine Source Monastery truly deserves its reputation," the Astral Emperor said, shifting his gaze to the Asura next to him. "But this is as much as I can do. All we can do is peer into the realm. Entering physically is not possible."


    A snort of acknowledgement boomed out of the Asuraic creature, whose narrowed and murderous gaze never left the screen for a second. A gaze that was firmly locked onto John.

 Chapter 845 Rules Of The Final Trial

    In the Divine Source Monastery, the Grand Abbot was sitting in a room, conversing with Prior Hishen. Mid-conversation, his gaze shifted towards the center of the divine realm, as if he could see all the way to the center of the realm thousands of miles away.


    "What is it?" Prior Hishen asked curiously.


    "There appears to be scrying eyes peering into the realm," the Grand Abbot replied calmly.


    Prior Hishen frowned as he heard this. Someone dared to vite the sanctity of the Divine Source Monastery.


    "Should we take action?" Prior Hishen asked.


    "No need," the Grand Abbot shook his head lightly. "Our mission is to ensure the safety of the World Seed until it is imed by someone worthy. Those peering within will not dare to step foot within the monastery itself, so they are of no concern."


    "I see," Prior Hishen replied.


    "However, i doesn''t seem fair that some are viewing the happenings of the trials while the rest are left in the dark," the Grand Abbot said, and then red his power for a brief moment, activating unseen formations and mechanisms.


    Prior Hishen raised an eyebrow, as he knew which formations were just activated.


    "It seems the crowd outside is going to be quite rowdy for a time," Prior Hishen sighed, already growing tired of the massive crowds presence.


    The Grand Abbot smiled but said nothing. It would definitely be a event to remember.


    ¡­


    The makeshift city outside the divine source monastery continued to thrive and grow, reaching a staggering size and poption. It was as if a small nation had decided to establish itself there.


    The bustling city continued as usual, although it had been rtively quiet for a while, as no updates to the stele had happened for some time.


    Rumble!


    The familiar rumbling urred, stirring the crowd into frenzied excitement once more. The streets flooded with those leaving their establishments toy their eyes on the massive stele.


    However, the expected change to the stele did not happen, and insisted somethingpletely unexpected urred instead. The eyes of everyone went wide with surprise, and then uncontained excitement as a screen of light appeared on the stele instead; a screen of light that depicted eight of the participants standing within a massive arena.


    "They''re showing us what''s happening within!"


    "There''s even sound! We can hear what''s being said!"


    Exited uproars spread through the city from this change, as watching what was happening within would be far more entertaining than waiting for textual updates on the trial results.


    Those excited uproars heightened as they heard the words uttered by the stone golem standing before the cultivators.


    "The final trial will be abat trial, where only one of you will be allowed to progress onwards to the one true treasure of this realm."


    ¡­


    "Abat trial? Finally something interesting,"


    Zasgoth said, his voice like a snakes hiss.


    Many of the other cultivators also felt their excitement grow, asbat was their true speciality. Only Serilia of the Faerie race frowned upon hearing the nature of the trial, but did not voice her protest.


    John felt his blood boil with murderous anticipation, and he instinctively shifted his gaze towards Asuros, who had done the exact same. A confident smirk appeared on Asuros'' face.


    "Finally, I''ll have my chance to end your pathetic life once and for all," he said with a sinister smile.


    John''s eyes narrowed and his face darkened, but he did not bother with a reply. He would let his fighting do the talking for him.<novelnext></novelnext>


    At the same time, Lilian exchanged her cold gaze with Zeras, who was staring back with amusement.


    "I guess I''ll finally be able to see the progress you''ve made over thest decade. Just don''t disappoint me too much," he said, and the pointed above their heads, causing Lilian to stare at the spot he pointed at.


    Her gaze narrowed as she felt something high above their heads, but could not see anything. It was as if space was slightly unstable at a certain spot in the air.


    "And don''t disappoint father either. It seems he''s quite interested with your progress as well," Zeras added, to which Lilian frowned coldly.


    Zeras had confirmed her suspicions. Her father was peering into this final trial. Her frown turned into a smile as she shifted her gaze back to him.


    "Good, then he will see how pathetic of son you are when I crush you beneath my heels," Lilian replied before averting her gaze from Zeras, who frowned with displeasure at her words.


    The artifact spirit golem spoke up again before he could reply, and so he kept those words to himself.


    "I will now exin the rules of the final trial," the golem said. "The rules are simple. You are ranked ording to your trial results. The rankings are as follows.


    8) Zasgoth


    7) Rahze


    6) Serilia


    5) Lua


    4) Zeras


    3) Lilian


    2) Parker


    John


    The rankings caused mixed expressions to appear on their faces. Some were fine, others displeased, and some incensed. All eyes naturally fell onto John, who remained straight faced as he waited for the rules to be exined.


    "The trial will work as such," the golem continued. "Eighth ce will fight seventh ce, and the winner shall then fight sixth ce, and then fifth, and so on, until only one remains."


    "Uneptable!"


    "What type of dogshit rules are these?" Zasgoth and Rahze said loudly, displeased with such a format. They would need do fight many battles to climb their way to the top, while those at the top would only have to fight one or two. It waspletely unfair.


    "You will be fully healed at the end of each round," the golem said, trying to calm them down.


    "Still uneptable," Rahze said. "The others will watch us battle and learn our techniques, while we learn nothing of theirs. How is this fair?"


    "This realm is not about being fair, but is about finding the most suitable candidate for the final reward," the golem replied. "If you wanted an advantage, you should have done better in the previous trials."


    Those words caused Rahze to grimace, but heined no more.


    "I have one question," Asuros spoke up.


    "What is the question?" The golem asked.


    "We are allowed to kill our opponents, right?" He asked while casting a menacing gaze towards John.


    "If you so wish," the golem replied. "At the start of battle, if both fighters agree to it, then it shall be a battle to the death, otherwise, it shall be a battle until one side gives up or loses consciousness."

 Chapter 846 The Final Trial Begins

    "Good," Asuros smiled as he cast his gaze back to John. It was smug and confident, as if John''s fate was already sealed. John calmly gazed back, as he had finally managed to reign in his murderous anger. He would unleash all his pent-up rage and hate in their battle. Doing so here was a waste of energy.


    "What about our cultivations?" Zasgoth asked.


    "What about it?" the golem replied.


    "Are we really going to battle with restricted cultivations? What kind of bullshit is that?" Zasgothined, while the others shook their heads lightly at his stupidity.


    The Monster race was not stupid, but was incredibly straightforward. Power was everything for them, and things like talent were only secondary. In their society, if one had a lower cultivation than the other in battle, then they could only me their dogshit luck for being bornter. Things like ounting for age was not something they considered.


    "This entire realm has tested our talent, and your shit-filled brain still hasn''t understood that its the only thing being tested? Your Monster race is a fucking joke," Asuros said mockingly. Even if he had no qualms with a person, he loved conflict, as if the Asura influence on him had taken a full hold of his mind.


    "What did you say to me?" Zasgoth growled and took a step forward, as if ready to attack Asuros on the spot.


    "Save that energy for your fights toe, youst-ced peasant," Asuros continued his mockery. "Or should I say¡­fight¡­toe," Asuros corrected himself, implying that Zasgoth would lose his very first battle.


    "Enough," the golem spoke up, stopping the two before they caused more of a scene. Once he confirmed that neither made anothermotion, he addressed the others once more.


    "Are there any more questions before we begin?" the golem asked.


    "I have a question," Serilia asked, her soft voice soothing to listen to. She cast her gaze to the edge of the massive arena, to the stands where the countless holograms were still standing, watching them.


    "What are those holograms?" she asked curiously, while the others listened on as well. They were all curious about them. Even though they were holograms, they still reflected rtive age, cultivation level, talent, andbat prowess. At the very least, the others were able to tell where they stood inparison.


    Most of the holograms were geniuses of geniuses, their talent nearly withoutparison. In fact, some of the cultivators in the group felt as though many of the holograms had greater talent than their own, although none dared to admit it.


    "Those are trial participants of the past," the golem said, his words confirming their suspicions. "All of you who made it this far have been recorded as well, and your holograms will appear in future trials should you all fail to im the treasure of this realm."


    "And what is their purpose?" Serilia asked.


    "Typically, the final trial included battles against some of the holograms, including the most talented of them," the golem said and shifted his gaze to John, "but one of you has managed to achieve the best overall score in the history of this realm, and has disyed talent andbat prowess even greater than the most talented of the past. And thus, he will be the final opponent of the realm for you all, and not the holograms. Should one of you manage to defeat him, that will be proof enough of having sufficient talent."


    Everyone''s eyes fell onto John. Their faces were mixed, with some surprised, some jealous, and some hateful. They knew John had done exceptionally well in the previous trials, but never would have guessed he would have done the best in the history of the realm.<novelnext></novelnext>


    The realm had been in existence since before the cmity, when society was much stronger and more talented, and yet he still managed to outperform those geniuses of the past. That waspletely shocking to hear.


    The crowd outside the realm wall was alsopletely shocked upon hearing this. John''s performance had been stunning considering he had bested the top geniuses of the world, but to hear he had also bested the top geniuses through all of history was not something they would ever have thought they would hear.


    Those in the Honorable Alliance felt pride to have such a genius amongst their ranks, while enemy powers felt anger, as well as a creeping threat from John. They already knew he was talented and thus had ced bounties on his head, but to hear such a thing from the golem, their desire to kill him had amplified tenfold. They could not allow him to grow.


    "Are there any other questions?" the golem asked, but received only silence.


    "Good, then we shall begin the first round. Zasgoth and Rahze are to stay in the arena. As for the others, please find a ce in the stands to wait until it is your turn to fight," the golem instructed.


    "Prepare yourself. Thest moments of your life are fast approaching," Asuros said to John, who scoffed in reply.


    "This time, there will be no escaping. You sealed your fate by entering the same realm as me," John replied and then left without looking back.


    The others quickly left the massive hundred-mile wide arena as well, and sat in the stands at differing locations. John and Lilian took seats next to each other, and watched on as the final round began.


    "Begin," the golem instructed, officiallymencing the final round.


    Two powerful auras exploded outwards followed by cmitous explosions, as Zasgoth and Rahze began their fight. John watched on calmly as the battle continued, but felt his heartbeat quicken as he realized something from watching the battle. Each of their attacks werecking in Qi density and potency whenpared to his, but were still nearly as powerful as his own attacks, which he had not expected.


    There was only one exnation.


    ''Their cultivations may be suppressed to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, but the artifact spirit is unable to suppress theirprehensions. Each of them has lived for nearly a hundred years, and each of them have incredibleprehensions to increase the lethality of their battle arts.''


    When it came to battle art lethality,prehensions were just as important as dantian talent, meridian talent, and battle instincts. Comprehensions alone could double or triple the power of a battle art, such as when John advanced hisprehensions in the Dao''s of Power and Lightning to the Dao Expert Stage. By stepping into that stage, he was able to greatly increase the lethality of his attacks through hisprehension improvements alone.


    His opponents all hadprehensions at least at his level, and some most likely were far surpassing him in that aspect. John frowned as he realized this, and cast a side eye towards his master. He was not worried about himself, but was worried about his master. She would have to fight Zeras, and who knew what level hisprehensions were at.


    ''This final trial might be more challenging than I had originally imagined.''

 Chapter 847 Asuros Master

    Thunderous cheering boomed through the massive city as everyone watched the battle between Zasgoth and Rahze take ce. Many had originally been disappointed that the battle would be limited to the Heaven Tribtion realm, but quickly changed their minds as they watched the first battle unfold.


    Even with restricted cultivations, the two geniuses disyed awe-inspiring might and overwhelming talent, making even those who stood in the World Expansion realm find the fight more than entertaining, and even enlightening.


    Those in the Honorable Alliance cheered for the mutual destruction of the fighters, while the Forbidden Alliance and Monster race cheered for their own fighters. Despite having an alliance, the two powers were incrediblypetitive, and neither wanted to see their own genius lose.


    At the same time, bets flooded the betting markets, as tens of thousands bet on this fight, as well as the fights toe. A particr individual smiled as he ced his wager, putting an absolutely staggering amount on John to win the whole thing. While the bet was the most popr one, others still figured that the experience andprehensions of cultivators like Zeras would be too much to ovee, and so the bets were rtively spread between John, Zeras, and Asuros.


    After cing the bet, Caz''s gaze shifted back to the stone stele.


    "No matter where you are, you manage to make me a fortune. I look forward to your battle, where you will show the world your full might," Caz smirked and then blended into the crowd.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The battle between Zasgoth and Rahze intensified, with both cultivators showing why they were pinnacle geniuses. Even with their cultivations suppressed, their attacks were capable of making Dao Transformation cultivators shiver with fear as they watched the battle unfold.


    Zasgoth sped around the arena like a blur, unleashing a devastatingbination of physical attacks and battle arts. Meanwhile, Rahze shed out with his sword with wless precision, and unleashed an endless barrage of awe-inspiring battle arts.


    Crimson sword images shed out ceaselessly, each more powerful than thest, and each capable of obliterating mountains with ease. The arena trembled violently as the attacks sted outwards, and the defensive formations surrounding the massive arena red constantly, stopping the attacks from destroying everything.


    As he watched the battle, John sighed with relief that the cultivations of this realm were normalized. This battle alone showed him that he was still far too weak to challenge the likes of Zasgoth, Rahze, and Zeras if they were at their full power. He was able to jump a full major realm, but jumping to the World Expansion Realm was still far off for him.


    "Getting nervous?" Lilian asked with a smirk as she eyes John''s serious expression.


    John snapped out of his trance of watching the battles, and gave his master a side-eyed nce.


    "No," he scoffed, "at least not for me," he added.


    "You''re nervous for me?" Lilian smiled mischievously. "Do you really think so little of me?"


    "Normally I wouldn''t be, but this is different," John frowned. "Zeras is no doubt the strongest one here when ites to absolute power, and most likelyprehensions as well, and so¡­"


    "You don''t think I can beat him, even if our cultivations are the same?" Lilian asked.


    "Are you fully confident in being able to beat him?" John asked, asking for her opinion instead.


    Lilian fell silent, and then shook her head lightly.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Not at all. In fact, I would give myself a fifty percent chance of victory at best," she said, her tone serious. "Zeras deserves his status as the foremost genius of the world. But there''s nothing to be worried about when ites to my safety. Instead, you should worry about yourself."


    "Myself? Why would I need to worry about myself?" John asked skeptically.


    "Because, Zeras wouldn''t dare kill me, and instead wants to bring me back to the Astral Empire instead, and so Zeras will never agree to a battle to the death here," Lilian sighed with disappointment.


    "But should I lose to him, he won''t have the same reservations when ites to you. Both him and my father will desire nothing more than to kill you."


    "To reim Laia''s soul-seed?" John asked, to which Lilian nodded.


    "Zeras will challenge you to a battle to the death should he beat me, and so you must worry about yourself today, and not about me," Lilian said.


    "Hah," John scoffed as if he had heard a joke, "you''re right. I will have a battle to the death today," he agreed, and shifted his gaze in a certain direction, locking onto Asuros who was seated on the opposite side of the arena, "but it will not be against Zeras."


    Lilian followed his gaze, and stared at Asuros for some time.


    "You think Asuros is capable of defeating Zeras?" she asked curiously. She had heard of Asuros before, but this realm was the first time she had seen him. It was also the first time she had seen John disy such an overwhelming murderous bloodlust towards someone, and was curious for the reason.


    "The final battle of this trial will be between me and Asuros," John said, no doubt in his voice at all. His words indicated that even if Lilian managed to beat Zeras, he had no confidence in his master beating Asuros. Lilian frowned lightly, but did not voice her disagreement. She could tell John was serious.


    "What is the history between you and Asuros?" Lilian eventually asked.


    "Do you remember my ns'' war? The war you helped end?" John asked, to which Lilian nodded. She had not expected the war to be brought up.


    "Well, the one who instigated it all, the one who betrayed my n, the one who caused countless deaths is sitting right there," John said as he stared at the distant Asuros.


    Surprise and then realization appeared on Lilian''s face.


    "Asuros is Parker. So that''s why the name on the ranking list felt so familiar," she said.


    "Yes," John replied sinctly.


    "How¡­how is that possible?" Lilian couldn''t help but ask. Parker was just a boy from a backwater n, while Asuros was a pinnacle genius on the same level as her and Zeras. In fact, he had managed to ce second ce in this realm, higher than both her and Zeras. She couldn''t understand how someone like that could rise so fast.


    "How did he get so strong?" she asked.


    "Because¡­Asuros'' master is none other than the Asura from your past."

 Chapter 848 Rahze Vs. Zasgoth

    Lilian''s gaze shifted from surprise to cold as she heard the Asura mentioned. The Asura was the root cause of all her past betrayals, and so she wanted it and everything associated with it to perish.


    "You better make his death a miserable one," Lilian said while staring at Asuros across the hundred-mile-wide arena. Asuros noticed her gaze and smiled back smugly, knowing they were talking about him.


    "You don''t have to tell me that," John said, repeating the words Lilian gave him when he said she better make Zeras suffer.


    "Good," Lilian said, and then fell silent as she and John watched the battle unfold.


    The battlested over an hour, as Zasgoth and Rahze unleashed mystical battle arts and devastating attacks. Due to their dantian being restricted to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, neither was able to tap into the true potential of their World Expansion cultivation.


    However, their terrifyingprehension levels still allowed them to unleash attacks far greater than what a Heaven Tribtion cultivator would be capable of.


    ''Their attacks are at least on the level of a middle Dao Transformation cultivator, maybe even higher. Comprehensions truly are just as important as cultivation level, maybe even more,'' John mused internally as he watched the battle unfold.


    His gaze naturally shifted to Zeras, who sat far away from them dozens of miles away. Zeras hardly looked at the battle, as if it were of no interest to him, and was instead reading something contained with a jade piece he held.


    ''I wonder how much stronger he is than the others,'' John mused. Zeras was no doubt the strongest cultivator here when it came to unrestricted power, and John didn''t know what his limits were.


    Was he capable of beating Lilian, and if so, was he capable of beating Asuros? The pinnacle genius of the Astral Empire was not to be looked down upon, cultivation normalized or not. John was already preparing himself for that situation, although he hoped it was not what was toe.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The battle reached its climax, as both Rahze and Zasgoth no longer held back. Zasgoth''s body changed as he transformed into a monstrous looking form; an innate trait of the monster race. His body grewrger, his nails grew longer, acting like sharp knives on his hand, and his power multiplied.


    Even John couldn''t help but be impressed at the transformation, and the level of physical strength Zasgoth was disying. On the other side, Rahze utilized his superior essence Qi talent to unleash a torrent of crimson des that nearly filled the arena, making it so that there was no safe space for Zasgoth to run to.


    Zasgoth''s ws mmed against the tempest of des, with neither side getting a fatal blow on the other. The tempest of des suddenly vanished, causing a moment of confusion for Zasgoth. He recovered and sped towards Rahze like a blur, intending onnding the final blow.


    ? "Haha. Out of Qi already? Die then," Zasgoth roared as arrived before Rahze to unleash the finishing blow.


    Rahze smirked, and Zasgoth''s eyes widened, and instincts red, urging him to retreat.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Toote," Rahze said as his body paled, as if all the blood had been drained from his body. An instantter, a blood red spike, clearly made from Rahze''s blood, pierced out of his chest, its speed faster than any of the sword attacks he had unleashed earlier.


    Zasgoth was too close, and he was unable to dodge in time.


    Che!


    The blood red spike pierced into Zasgoth''s chest, and prated his formidable body with ease. It pierced out his back, drilling through his entire body.


    "Puh!" Zasgoth spat out some blood, and then smiled sinisterly at Rahze, his teeth stained red with blood.


    "Not bad, but this isn''t nearly enough to kill me," Zasgoth sneered and ced his two hands on the blood spike. "And now you have no strength left after this attack," he added, as Razhe had almost no blood left in his body.


    Zasgoth''s arms flexed with might as he tried to pull out the spike of blood from his chest. His eyes widened as he realized he was unable to make it budge, and then fear crept onto his face as he realized his own strength was weakening.


    His eyes locked with Rahze''s, who was sneering back at him. The color was returning to his face slowly but surely, as if blood was being restored to his body. However, the blood spike remained the same size and power, which made Zasgoth realize something.


    Rahze was absorbing his own blood!


    "You fucker! You think you can steal my blood? Keep dreaming!" Zasgoth roared angrily as his power red to resist. Surprise returned to his face as he realized his struggles were in vain. No matter what he did, he could not stop the absorption process. It was as if Rahze had full dominion over all blood.


    John stared on with surprise, as he had not expected Rahze to have such a battle art. He studied Rahze''s aura, and raised an eyebrow as he detected something.


    ''The Dao of Blood! And Rahze''sprehension into Dao of Blood is no doubt in the Dao Expert Stage, or maybe even higher. No wonder he had control over Zasgoths blood once he was able tond that final blow.''


    John watched on as Zasgoth''s aura slowly faded away, while Rahze''s climbed. Zasgoth finally abandoned trying to escape and instead unleashed his strongest ranged attack on Rahze, who sneered and shed his sword to easily parry it.


    "Toote," Rahze smirked. "You might have been able to escape if you had attacked me right away, but your strength is gone, as is your blood."


    Zasgoth''s eyes widened with fear, as he realized he had not only lost, but his life was now in Rahze''s hands. They had not agreed to a life and death battle, but that didn''t mean Rahze couldn''t kill him.


    "I concede!" Zasgoth eximed, and then gritted his teeth with frustration and shame. The pinnacle genius of the monster race had lost without winning a single fight.


    "Smart choice," Rahze said as he unleashed his battle art. The blood spike disappeared and Zasgoth slumped to the ground as the first battle of the final trial came to a shocking end.

 Chapter 849 Successive Rounds

    "The first battle has concluded," the artifact spirit said as it materialized in the center of the arena next to Rahze. "The next battle between Rahze and Serilia shall start in one hour."


    The artifact spirit golem then raised its hand and touched Rahze''s shoulder. A strong healing energy flooded out from the golem and into Rahze, healing his wounds and restoring most of his Qi. The other cultivators raised an eyebrow when they saw this. The golem said fighters would be fully healed after a battle, but it was still hard to believe it would be so quick.


    The healing formations the golem had control over must be beyond profound, and was yet another testament to the profundity andplexity of the divine realm they were in. Just how strong and knowledgeable were the Divine Source Monastery to create a ce like this?


    Putting these thoughts aside, John stared at Rahze and digested the battle he had seen.


    ''No wonder Rahze and the others were so against this format. That final attack of his is quite terrifying, and would most likely work on most others in here if he managed tond the attack. But now that it''s been revealed, he cannot use it as a surprise attack anymore. It seems like this format does benefit me quite a bit,'' John mused.


    John was confident he would be able to resist the ability, and he was sure Lilian could do so as well due to her control over the Dao of Death, which Rahze would not want to absorb at all, but as for the others, he wasn''t so sure.


    The hour quickly passed as Rahze fully recovered his Qi fully, and then the golem started the next round.


    Serilia shed into the arena, appearing before Rahze. The two stared at each other, waiting for the official announcement, and then began their battle.


    As expected, Serilia kept her distance from Rahze, making sure she was not hit by that attack of his. Rahze chased after her while unleashing his sword arts, which filled the massive arena with a tempest of crimson swords. Each sword was capable of shattering a mountain, and there were tens of thousands of them cleaving towards Serilia at every moment.


    However, the swords seemed to narrowly miss her, as if Rahze was unable to urately target her. Serilia specialized in soul arts, and emanated a strong soul-aura the entire battle. Based on the strength of the soul-aura, John could tell there was a simr restriction to how their dantians were restricted, as the power was much less potent than expected from a World Expansion soul cultivator.


    As the battle raged on, Rahze''s attacks became less urate and sharp, eventually bing on threat at all to her.


    Rahze finally stopped and stood in the arena, as if in a daze. His face was nk, and Serilia calmly walked up to Rahze without fear, as if she were in full control of the battle. She tapped Rahze''s head, and he fell backwards onto the floor unconscious.


    The second battle was over, and it was hardly a battle at all. Serilia had just fled until her soul-power was able to invade Rahze''s soul, although that was the method in which most soul cultivators fought. It was a much less shy battle style than Miko''s, who also specialized in soul arts, but unleashed much more powerful and eye-catching one shot soul-arts, instead of slowly working his way into the opponent''s soul.


    "The second battle has concluded," the golem said as it appeared next to Serilia, and like before, healed her to her near perfect state. "The next battle shall be between Serilia and Lua, and willmence in an hour."


    The next battle started, and both Lua and Serilia remained motionless, surprising all those watching. Both were emanating a strong soul-aura, although the two werepletely different in nature. Serilia''s soul aura was vibrant and ethereal, while Lua''s was dark and mystical.


    The two stood in ce for quite some time, staring at each other, battling not in the arena but in their minds. As the soul-battle raged on, a smirk appeared on Lua''s face as she stared at her opponent.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "My soul-arts might not be quite as strong as yours, but my soul is more than strong enough to resist your soul-arts," Lua said, her tone filled with confident arrogance. "So why don''t we mix it up a bit," she added and then dashed forward towards Serilia, two daggers appearing in her hands.


    Her speed was incredibly fast, and she appeared before Serilia in an instant. Her body vanished from sight, as if she hadpletely disappeared from the arena. Only the faintest shimmers of light revealed her location, but it was difficult to pin down exactly where she was.


    John raised an eyebrow as he watched, as Lua gave off a very familiar feeling. It was the feeling that ughter One had given off. A feeling of silent lethality.


    Lua was no doubt an assassin; one that used her strong soul arts to lul victims into a daze before swiftly and silently killing them with her equally strong assassination arts. He shivered at the thought of Lua''s full power. Just how strong would a World Expansion assassin be? If she had her full power, would he even be able to detect her before shended a lethal blow on him?


    "I concede," Serilia suddenly said, her voice and face calm.


    "What? She conceded already?" both John, and those watching from outside the realm eximed with great surprise.


    "Serilia is a soul cultivator. She had no skill or interest in physicalbat," Lilian exined, "once Lua proved that Serilia''s soul arts were useless on her, the battle was over. Such is the life of a soul cultivator. It''s all or nothing."


    ''I suppose Miko is just a step above other soul cultivators," John mused, realizing that Miko''s formidablebat prowess was not usual for a soul cultivator.


    "The third battle has concluded," the golem said as it appeared next to Lua, but didn''t heal her as there were no wounds suffered in their battle. As for the expended soul power, that would naturally replenish before the next battle.


    As the golem appeared, John leaned forward slightly, unknowingly preparing himself for the next announcement.


    "The next battle shall be between Lua and Zeras, and willmence in an hour."


    Both John and Lilian''s eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing the announcement. Zeras'' battle was about to start, where both John and Lilian would get a glimpse of his power. The hour quickie passed by, and the golem announced the start of the next round.


    Zeras calmly shifted his gaze towards the two and smirked, and then shed into the arena like a blur. Lua''s smug confidence from the previous battle was no more, and a serious look was on her face instead as she stared at her formidable foe; the number one World Expansion genius on the Divine Martial Continent.


    The golem checked that both fighters were ready, and then vanished from the arena.


    "Begin!"

 Chapter 850 Zeras Vs. Lua

    The city outside the divine realm held their breath with excitement and anticipation, as they were finally going to see Zeras, the most famous World Expansion genius on the continent, fight. No one had seen Zeras fight, and no one knew what he specialized in.


    His Dao Name, ''Star Storm'', gave a hint into what he specialized in, but no one knew for certain.


    Many were also curious about Lua, as she was almost equally famous as Zeras.


    There were stories told of her feats, which were mostly assassinations of high and powerful individuals. When it came to pure lethality, almost no one in the worldpared to Lua.


    Such a battle would no doubt be one for the ages; a battle that the spectators could boast about witnessing until their deathbed.


    Inside the realm, John and Lilian watched with serious expressions, especially Lilian. She didn''t know much about her brother''s fighting style and battle arts either, and would need to study him as much as possible before their battle toe. She knew some of what he specialized in, but much time had passed since she hadst seen him, and she had also never seen Zeras fight with his full power. She was sure there would be many things she had never witnessed before.


    In the arena, Zeras and Lua stared at each other, neither side moving. Despite being one of the most talented geniuses in the world, as well as one of the most lethal assassins alive, Lua stared at Zeras with a wary gaze. She knew her opponent did not receive his acim without merit, and knew she could not afford to make a single mistake.


    Opposite Lua, Zeras stood patiently with a rxed yet confident smile stered to his face. It was as if he was not taking his opponent seriously at all.


    "Are you not going to make the first move?" Zeras asked calmly. He put his hands behind his back, as if weing her to attack him. His gaze was if he were an adult looking at a child who wanted to fight.


    Lua''s gaze narrowed, and she frowned with displeasure as she was clearly being looked down on. Without any further hesitation, she took action. She was one of the most lethal assassins in the world despite her rtively young age, and she would remind Zeras that he was not the only genius within the Divine Martial Continent.


    Her body shed forward, her speed even faster than what she had disyed against Serilia. Two daggers appeared in her hands, one pitch ck, and the other blood red. The ck dagger emanated a dark and deathly aura, while the red dagger emanated a sinister and murderous one. Both daggers were curved and serrated, as if meant to inflict the most physical damage possible.


    ''Those daggers are almost on the same level of quality and profundity as my scythe!'' John thought, surprised to see such high-quality weapons used by Lua. However, when he thought about it, it made sense. Lua was not only a terrifying genius, but also a World Expansion cultivator. She would no doubt have spared no expense to obtain such powerful weapons.


    Both daggers emanated the aura of a World Expansion grade weapon, adding to the lethality Lua was giving off. Even if it was someone like Zeras, being struck with those daggers would be dangerous, if not fatal.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Zeras stood idly as he watched Lua sh towards him, her figure nearly instantly appearing before him. Her body suddenly vanished as she used her stealth art she had revealed before. Only the faintest of shimmers revealed her location, but those shimmers were all over the ce, and almost impossible to detect.


    John was sure that if Lua had her full power at her disposal, it would be impossible for him to detect her location at all. It reminded him of the dangers out there, dangers that were pointed at him from all directions. If Lua attempted to assassinate him outside this realm, he wasn''t sure he would even be able to detect her before shended a fatal blow.


    Zeras'' smile never faded as a weapon appeared in his hand; a weapon unlike anything John had ever seen before.


    The weapon had a bright blue shaft, ornately designed, lined with powerful formation runes, and was roughly four feet long. At the end of the shaft was a crystal orb four inches wide which glowed brightly with a swirling mix of colors, as if chaos itself was held within.


    On opposite sides of the crystal orb were two de-like protrusions that started from the end of the shaft, curved around the crystal orb. The des were each three feet long, terrifyingly sharp, and ended with a sharp point, like two spears pointing forward.


    "What type of weapon is that?" John asked with much confusion, but received no answer as Lilian was fully focused on the battle about to unfold.


    "A pointless trick," Zeras scoffed, and pointed his weapon outwards to his side. A beam of incredible power shot out of his weapon, its speed so fast that it was almost impossible to react to.


    Peng!


    A metallic sound rang out as the beam struck onto nothing, but then that nothing turned into Lua, who was revealed to all as she undid the stealth art and focused on defending against the attack. Her daggers were crossed in front of her, shielding her against the beam that continuously shot out at her.


    Deflected parts of the beam shot out all around her, mming into distant parts of the arena and the formation guarding it. The entire arena trembled violently as the scattered remnants of Zeras'' attacknded on it, revealing the shocking power of his attack.


    The beam continued to st against Lua for a short while, while Lua struggled with gritted teeth to defend against it. After the brief struggle, she regained herposure and pushed her daggers outwards, giving her body some room. She stopped guarding and flittered to the side, and the beam struck the floor of the arena many miles away, mming against it and shaking the arena once more.


    Silence filled the arena for a moment, as neither Lua or the other fighters made a noise. They were too stunned to speak, as the first attack from Zeras, one that he had done withplete ease, had beenpletely overwhelming.

 Chapter 851 Zeras Terrifying Might

    John''s gaze narrowed as he stared at Zeras.


    That attack was nearly on the same level as his lightning sts that fused the Dao''s of Lightning and Power, and it had been unleashed withplete ease. Not only that, but John could tell that the attack was not the result of a Dao fusion, but wasprised of a single source of unknown energy.


    While his Qi quantity and quality was higher than Zeras'', the difference was bridged by Zeras'' staggeringprehension, as well as the profound nature of the energy he had unleashed.


    "What was that energy?" John couldn''t help but ask, although he didn''t expect a reply from his master.


    In the arena, Lua grimaced and then bit her lip, drawing blood from it. She reached out and touched the blood, which flowed onto her hand and formed a small ball of blood. The ball of blood then exploded, shooting out a thousand different drops of blood in all directions.


    The drops stopped at random intervals in the arena and hovered in the air. Zeras watched on with amusement as Lua took action, and did not interrupt her battle art. Lua once again frowned at Zeras'' disrespect, and then activated both her essence Qi and soul-power at the same time.


    The essence Qi flooded into the drops of blood and was greedily absorbed. The blood drops then quickly grew in size, and to everyone''s surprise, quickly formed the identical image of Lua herself. In the blink of an eye, a thousand Lua''s had filled the arena, indistinguishable from one another. The Lua''s then began to move around the arena, making the original one impossible to track.


    At the same time, Lua''s powerful soul-aura flooded the arena as well and enveloped Zeras within. John felt a remnant of the soul-aura seep through the protective formations and assault his mind, and felt as if he were trying to be lulled into a sleep-like state, where illusions were indistinguishable from what was real. While he was easily able to resist the soul effects, he was sure what Zeras was feeling was many, many times stronger than what he was feeling.


    Zeras smiled as he watched Lua''s preparation bepleted, his gaze shifting in all directions as he studied the thousand different Lua''s. He then nodded his head, his expression clearly one of being impressed by the art.


    "Not bad Lua," Zeras praised her. "Even I cannot tell which one is the real you."


    "Just you wait. This battle won''t be as easy as you think it will be," the thousand Lua''s sneered in unison, each emanating a frightening lethality. It was unknown if the other Lua''s posed any grave danger to Zeras or not, but that didn''t matter. As long as her art allowed her main body to get close to him, she would be able tond the finishing blow. "


    Upon saying that, Lua''s power activated further, and the thousand Lua''s all vanished from sight, simr to how she had done before.


    "What? She can use that stealth art on all her clones?" John eximed, truly surprised, as well impressed by Lua''s battle arts. She had instantly revealed that she was truly worthy of being one of the most talented World Expansion geniuses in the world, and this was just using her power as a Heaven Tribtion cultivator. Just what was her full power like, John wondered.


    Zeras once again nodded his head, impressed with Lua''s arts. The smile grew slightly on his face and he raised his weapon outwards before him as he finally took his opponent seriously.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Your power truly deserves my full attention," Zeras said as he felt the stealthed Lua''s race towards him.


    And then he activated his power; a power that John couldn''t help but shiver as he felt it. For one of the few times in his life, his instincts red with grave warning. Zeras was an opponent on his level, despite the fact that his cultivation was restricted to the Heaven Tribtion realm.


    Boom!


    Zeras'' aura boomed out, flooding the arena like a tempest of destruction, mming against Lua and forcing her weaker clones to shield themselves against the tempest, interrupting their assault. The tempest appeared for a short while and then withdrew into his body and vanished, as if it had never existed at all. The crystal orb on his weapon began to glow, its brightness intensifying to a staggering degree.


    At the same time, a shocking power began to emanate from within Zeras, far stronger than the tempest from before. It was as if a bomb was being formed within Zeras himself, about to explode from within.


    ''A War Mage!'' John eximed internally, instantly recognizing what Zeras was doing. He was no doubt about to unleash a channeled art, one that he had channeled while holding Lua back with the tempest he had unleashed before.


    Zeras waved his weapon out before him, and dozens of small points of light appeared all around the arena. The points of light quickly grew into massive balls of pure energy, as if a dozen suns had suddenly materialized.


    Feeling the lethal danger of the battle art, Lua had attempted to rush towards Zeras before he activated it, but the scorching heat surrounding Zeras made her unable to approach. While she would be able to, her clones would not be able to resist the terrifying heat, and thus would render her battle art useless. The balls of energy quickly grew and moved outwards away from Zeras,pletely engulfing the arena with a horrifying heat.


    "Astral energy," Lilian finally spoke, answering John''s question from a while back. John shifted his gaze from the horrifyingly powerful balls of energy to his master, whose gaze had be grave itself.


    "The Dao Zeras specializes the most in is the Astral Dao," she said softly.


    "Storm of Stars," Zeras said calmly, his voice seeming to reverberate through the arena, as profound as the stars themselves. The dozen miniature stars suddenly exploded outwards without warning, engulfing the entire hundred-mile wide arena with apocalyptic power.


    Boom!

 Chapter 852 Zeras’ Talents

    It was as if a supernova had exploded within the arena. The arena and everything around it turned white, blinded by the intensity of the explosion.


    The arena and surrounding stands trembled violently, as if an earthquake was about to tear the world apart. The formation barrier surrounding the arena lit up, shielding against the cmitous explosion.


    John had instinctively braced himself for the impact, and only a momentter remembered the formation barrier before him. The explosion had triggered his natural survival instincts instantly. It was even stronger than his dragontail decimation fully charged, which was one of his strongest attacks.


    The formation barrier held up against the explosion, but John couldn''t help but wonder if the same would happen if Zeras had his unrestricted power. If this explosion was so powerful, then his full might was terrifying to even think about.


    After several seconds, the explosion began to fade away, and the arena was once again revealed to all.


    Zeras stood tall in the middle of the arena, his bodypletely unharmed. Despite being in the very center of the explosion, he had managed to avoid taking any visible damage.


    A smirk lingered on his face as he stared forward. John and the others traced his gaze, and saw Lua on the other side of the arena against the far wall.


    She was kneeling on one knee, panting heavily, and was covered in wounds and blood. Some of the wounds had charred, revealing she had been gravely injured by the attack.


    Surprise appeared on most faces, as they had never expected Lua to still be conscious, or even alive after such an attack.


    "Not bad. As expected of someone of your caliber," Zeras praised calmly, "at thest moment, you managed to gather all your clones before yourself to act as a shield. Quite smart."


    Lua''s gaze narrowed with displeasure despite her pain and fatigue. She was finding Zeras to be incredibly annoying and arrogant.


    "But based on your current state, you cannot use that clone technique again," Zeras added.


    "And I doubt you can unleash such an attack again," Lua sneered back, blood trickling from her mouth. The attack Zeras had unleashed had no doubt consumed a great deal of Qi, even for someone as talented as him. Unleashing another attack like that was most likely not possible.


    "I could, but where''s the fun in that?" Zeras said smiling.


    "Liar," Lua spat, but her wavering gaze indicated she was not confident. She would not be able to withstand another attack like that.


    Zeras sighed as if growing bored of their conversation, and then put his weapon away, surprising everyone.


    "What is he nning? How is a war mage going to fight unarmed?" John asked his master. Even hurt, Lua was still a threat when it came to closebat. Lilian''s gaze narrowed as she stared at her brother.


    "Let us finish our battle," Zeras said, and guestered with his one hand for Lua toe. Lua growled with frustration and stood up. She braced against the pain and readied her daggers, and then shed towards Zeras like a blur.


    "Zeras isn''t my fathers favorite for no reason," Lilian finally spoke as she watched Lua appear before Zeras. "Not only is Zeras a War Mage¡­"


    Luas body vanished as she stealthed herself once more. Zeras smirked and turned to the side, punching at an angle with his fist. His fists were imbued with astral energy, making them all the more dangerous.


    Peng!<novelnext></novelnext>


    A metallic sound rang out as his fist struck against the side of one of Luas daggers, who was revealed again by the shockwave of the collision. All eyes widened again, unable to believe what they were seeing.


    "Zeras also had an innate variant body. An emperor grade innate variant body," Lilian''s voice trailed off.


    "What?" John couldn''t help but exim,pletely stunned by what he had heard.


    Zeras was both a war mage, and also had an emperor grade innate variant body. Having just one of those talents was already shocking, but to have both was almost unbelievable.


    "That means¡­"


    "Zeras has no weaknesses," Lilian nodded in confirmation.


    War Mages were powerful in battle, but had one ring weakness; they see vulnerable when they used channeling battle arts. A war mage with an innate variant body could rely on their physical strength to protect themselves while channeling their battle arts, making them nearly impossible to deal with.


    John''s shocked gaze returned to Zeras, who was fighting against Lua unarmed. His physicalbat instincts were incredibly refined, like that of a genius body cultivator.


    Luas daggers shed and sliced, but Zeras was able to parry or dodge all the attacks with seeming ease. While Lua was gravely injured and slower than before, her attacks were still potent and deadly. Only one incredibly skilled in closebat would even have a chance at doing what Zeras was doing.


    John''s expression grew grim as he realized one thing.


    When it came to both essence and body talentbined, Zeras was the closest cultivator in regards to his own talent and fighting style he had ever met. While someone like the Jade Dragon Emperor might have simr talents, in regards to seeing one fight, Zeras was no doubt the closest to him.


    Even Asuros couldn''tpare, as while his body was stronger than Zeras'', his essence talent was nowhere near the same level.


    Peng!


    Peng!


    Bang!


    After a series of quick parries of Lua''s daggers, Zeras managed to break her guard and dashed forward. His palm, glowing with thr bright purplish glow of astral energy struck out, smashing against her unguarded chest.His other hand struck out immediately after, mming into the side of her head.


    The sounds of fracturing bones rang out as Lua shot backwards like a bullet, and mmed into the arena wall dozens of miles away.


    Boom!


    The arena trembled as she mmed into the wall, and then she fell to the floor. Lua remained motionless, and the golem appeared in the arena next to Zeras. It''sappearance meant one thing; Lua had been knocked unconscious.


    "The winner of the fourth round; Zeras."

 Chapter 853 Your Weapon Is A Bit Lacking

    The city outside the divine realm was dead silent, and then there was thunderous apuse, excitement, and discussions. They had finally seen the pinnacle genius of the Divine Martial Continent fight, and it was beyond what they had expected.


    "Did you see that? He just defeated Lua without breaking a sweat!"


    "Hemands the power of the stars? How do you even beat that?"


    "Not only that, but what we saw is what he''s limited to using at the Heaven Tribtion Realm. Imagine his full power!"


    "No wonder he''s the Astral Emperor''s favorite son. Truly worthy of his status as the number one young World Expansion genius!"


    Many of the powerful cultivators, sect and n leaders, and other high ranking people walked up to the Astral Empire camp, which was located at the front of the city, closest to the stone stele. This location was a prime location reserved for only the most prestigious powers; the Astral Empire being one of them.


    While the Astral Emperor himself was not amongst them, there were princes, princesses, and other high ranking members present. They smiled warmly and greeted those who offered praise for Zeras and their empire. Many wanted to ask about Lilian, and her rtionship with the empire, but none did, as the topic had been constantly avoided by those belonging to the empire.


    Inside the arena, the atmosphere waspletely different. There was no thunderous apuse or excited discussions; there was only silence as all eyes lingered on Zeras. His disy had been beyond what any of them had expected, John included.


    He had originally figured that the final fight would be between him and Asuros guaranteed, but now was not so certain. While he was still rtively sure that Asuros would be his opponent, Zeras'' power was not to be looked down on, and John was sure he had not shown his full strength.


    His gaze shifted to his master, who sat there calmly inspecting her brother.


    ? John opened his mouth, but then closed it, unsure of what to say. Lilian noticed this, and turned towards him. A small smile appeared on the corner of her mouth as she could tell what John was thinking.


    "What? Are you concerned for me or my safety?" she asked, almost amused by his expression. "Do you think I won''t be able to deal with Zeras?"


    "I¡­It''s not that, it''s just that he''s far stronger than I thought he would be," John replied, trying to hide his doubt.


    "It''s about what I expected," Lilian replied, causing John to raise an eyebrow.


    She expected this level of power? A level of power that made even John feel instinctual danger.


    "I already knew my brothermanded the Astral Dao, and also had an innate variant body, so what he''s shown so far is within my expectations," she exined.


    "So, you''re confident in beating him?" John asked, perking up at her apparent confidence.


    "No. Nothing is ever certain" she shook her head, and then a smiling expression, almost one of excited anticipation appeared on her face as she locked eyes with John. "But that''s what makes fighting fun, isn''t it?"


    John was taken aback by her words, and thenughed at himself for being so concerned. Zeras might be a heavenly talent rarely seen, but his master was a step even beyond that. While Zeras had five decades of additional experience, John was sure Lilian had tricks up her sleeves as well.


    "You''re right," John replied firmly, his concern for her gone, and an expression of calm confidence in his master appeared instead.


    "Good," Lilian nodded with satisfaction. "That look of concern doesn''t suit you."


    John scoffed in reply and shrugged, feeling more at ease with the battle toe.


    "So if I defeat Zeras, what about Asuros?" Lilian asked, already looking past her battle with her brother.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Should that happen, you''re going to admit defeat immediately," John said calmly yet firmly, as if the matter was already settled.


    "Oh?" Lilian hummed while raising an eyebrow. "You don''t think I can defeat Asuros?"


    "It''s not that," John shook his head lightly. "Now that I''ve seen Zeras'' power and the level thatprehensions ys in battle, I''m sure you would be able to give Asuros a good fight."


    "Then¡­?" Lilian asked.


    "Like I said, Asuros is mine, and I don''t know if I''ll have another chance like this to kill him," John said firmly, his gaze narrowed as he stared across the arena at Asuros. His gaze softened as he shifted it back to Lilian. "''Besides, even if you managed to beat Asuros, you wouldn''t stand a chance against me, so there''s no real point in you beating Asuros. Only one of us can advance after all, and that one is me."


    Lilian''s expression changed into slight surprise as she studied John''s face, followed by an amused smile.


    "It seems you''ve grown quite a bit since Ist saw you," she said. "Your confidence sure had grown to say the least."


    John shrugged, as what he said was the truth.


    "I doubt I''d be able to beat you if our cultivations were not at the same level," John said with another shrug, "but when ites to fighting at the same cultivation level, there''s not a person in this world that can beat me," John added with utmost confidence.


    Lilian remained silent for a while as she stared at John. He truly had changed since theyst met.


    "But our focus should be on Zeras right now," John said, changing the subject. He didn''t want to go too far on this subject, or Lilian might beat him to death outside the realm as punishment for saying such a thing to her. Her temper was always unpredictable.


    "What''s the n? How do you intend to beat him?" John asked curiously.


    "Well, it''s rather simple," Lilian replied. "I''m going to beat him into the ground, and then I''m going to use my scythe to slice his head from his neck."


    ''Scythe? Ah, that''s right. She uses a scythe,'' John eximed internally as he recalled her battle with Allfiend. She had used a scythe in that battle, and hadmanded it with incredible expertise.


    "Can I see your scythe?" John asked.


    Lilian was curious as to his reason, but obliged and took out her scythe. It feel onto herp and rested there, while John inspected it closely.


    Much like his own, the scythe was pitch ck, and also naturally emanated a deathly aura. The weapon was sleek and sharp, and was no doubt a high-grade weapon worthy of being wielded by someone like Lilian. However, whenpared to his own, it was stillcking.


    "Not bad," John nodded in approval.


    "Not bad?" Lilian asked, as if John was stupid. "This is one of the finest scythes on the continent. How can you assess such a weapon as ''not bad''," she asked, almost insulted by his assessment of the weapon.


    It was to be expected. If someone called his weapons ''not bad'', John would have a simr reaction.


    "I mean, it''s not bad," John shrugged, and then his scythe appeared, falling onto hisp as well. He grunted in pain as it crashed onto his legs, its weight nearly overwhelming. Lilian''s eyes opened wide as she stared at the weapon.


    "How about it? Would you be able to use this weapon in your fight?" John asked with satisfaction at her reaction. "Your weapon might be amazing, butpared to mine, it''s a bitcking."

 Chapter 854 Lilians Request

    Lilian''s eyes remained glued to John''s scythe, as if she were unable to peel her gaze away from it. John smiled knowingly, as he had the same reaction the first time he had seen the weapon.


    The scythe was made from the most profound materials possible, and was Daoist Eternal Weapon''s finest creation. Its demonic-origin de was beyond sharp, seemingly able to cut through anything. Its shaft, made of the mythically rare Ster Void Ore, emanated a dense aura of death, far greater than the aura emanating from Lilian''s weapon.


    It was Daoist Eternal Weapon''s finest creation, and was most likely one of the most profound and powerful weapons in the world. For a scythe-wielder like Lilian, it was as if she had just seen the most amazing treasure appear before her; a treasure she would desire above all else.


    After staring at the weapon for quite some time, she finally snapped out of her dazed stupor and looked up to John for a moment with a questioning gaze. John smiled, as he knew what she was thinking.


    "I had this made by Daoist Eternal Weapon," John exined.


    "What?" Lilian eximed in shock. Everyone knew who Daoist Eternal Weapon was, and how hard it was to get him to make a weapon. "How?" she couldn''t help but ask.


    "It''s a long sto¡­actually it''s not that long," John replied, "I won his seal at an auction, and then had him make this for me. That''s pretty much it."


    Lilian raised a scrutinous eyebrow at John''s story, as she was sure there was much that was left out, but didn''t ask for more information. That was not important at the moment. Her gaze returned to the scythe, and she finally reached her hand out slowly towards it.


    Her hand wrapped around the shaft of the scythe, and it felt perfect. It was as if the weapon was made for her, and her alone. She felt entranced by it, and her hand tightened around the shaft to pick it up.


    "Huh?" she mumbled in surprise. She had tried to lift the weapon, but it had not moved an inch. She gripped tightly again and used more power this time, but the weapon didn''t move at all. Her other hand reached out to assist, but despite using both hands, the weapon wasn''t moved at all.


    After a brief struggle, she stopped trying to lift the weapon and gave up.


    "How much does this damned scythe weigh?" Lilian asked John with slight displeasure at not being able to wield it. John''s face was slightly apologetic, as he realized he had just set her up for failure. He had been so caught up inparing scythes, that he had forgotten to ount for its weight and her restricted cultivation.


    "Over a million pounds," John shrugged, not knowing the exact weight, but knew it weighed at least that.


    "A million pounds?" Lilian repeated. "You brat, did you do this to watch your master fail?" she huffed.


    "No, I didn''t," John shook his head. "I just forgot about your restricted cultivation for a second is all."


    Lilian scoffed at his words.


    "I might not be able to wield this weapon even with my unrestricted cultivation," she scoffed. "Why the hell did you get yourself such a weapon made? Can you even use it?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "It was Daoist Eternal Weapons condition for making the weapon," John shrugged helplessly. "He said he only makes World Expansion grade weapons, and refused to budge."


    Lilian scoffed again, but didn''t say anything further. While she wanted to use the scythe, she was unable to pick it up, let alone wield it.


    "My scythe will be more than sufficient for this battle," she said, averting her eyes from John''s scythe. John returned his scythe to his spatial ring, and then quickly changed the subject again, asking his master about what she had been up to over thest few years.


    Lilian answered his questions vaguely, her voice and expression bing more and more distracted, as if her thoughts were elsewhere. She eventually stood up, her expression serious.


    "The time has almost arrived. I need to prepare myself for the battle toe," she said, her voice and expressionpletely serious, and then walked away from John.


    John nodded and remained silent as he saw her move a distance away, and then sit down once more. Her eyes closed, and her aura was withdrawn within. She was clearly preparing herself mentally for her battle with Zeras, making sure she was in the optimal state of mind and body. John could feel a dense and profound aura slowly building within Lilian, as if she were a primordial beast slowly awakening from a deep slumber.


    On the other hand, Zeras was seated in a slouched position, casually inspecting his sister from afar, as if the battle toe was nothing more than a game to him. He smiled as he watched her serious preparation, although the smile was not one of good intentions.


    The minutes passed by quickly, and without being a secondte, the artifact spirit golem appeared in the center of the arena.


    "The next battle shall now begin," the golem eximed. "Zeras. Lilian, please make your way into the aren-" Its voice cut off as it noticed both of them had arrived in a sh, before it could even finish its sentence.


    They stood a dozen feet apart, silently inspecting the other. Lilian''s expression was calm yet cold, as if she were about to partake in the most important battle of her life. Zeras smirked in reply, as if he found his little sister''s reaction amusing, and also as if he did not consider her a threat worth taking seriously.


    "Why are you looking at me with such a cold gaze, my dear little sister?" Zeras asked, his voice almost as if he were hurt by her expression. However, the small smirk in the corner of his mouth betrayed his words.


    Lilian offered no reply. This brother of hers was now dead to her, and she just had to make it so in real life as well. Wasting words on him was not worth it. Zeras smirked at her silence, as if that was more amusing than any reply she could have given him.


    "You both know the rules by now," the golem said. "The first one to be knocked unconscious, or give up, shall be dered the loser and be eliminated from the trial. Begi-"


    "Wait," Lilian said, interrupting the golem''s promation of the start of battle. It paused and stared at her.


    "Yes?" it asked monotonously.


    "For this fight, I request that it be a fight to the death."

 Chapter 855 Zeras Vs. Lilian

    "So she is rted to Zeras and the Astral Emperor!"


    "And not only rted, but is another child of the Astral Emperor!"


    "And she just requested a battle to the death? What is going on? What history urred between these two to get to such a level of hatred?"


    Amotion was caused outside the divine realm, as those watching the stone stele heard the brief conversation between Zeras and Lilian. The conversation had answered a lingering question, but also created many more.


    Curious eyes darted towards the Astral Empire camp, but none dared to directly ask about it. This issue was clearly more of a sore spot for the empire than anyone could have initially guessed.


    "I refuse," Zeras replied calmly yet sinctly, clearly expecting Lilian to request this at the start of their battle.


    "Oh? Are you scared you''ll lose to me? It seems you''ve grown quite pathetic over thest decade," Lilian replied mockingly, as if trying to goad Zeras into epting.


    "You can''t provoke me into epting," Zeras replied calmly, yet with a tinge of amusement. "If I ept and you win, I die. If I ept and kill you, father kills me when I leave this realm. It''s a lose-lose for me no matter how you cut it."


    "Tch," Lilian clicked her tongue in slight disappointment, but hadn''t really been expecting another oue.


    "It was worth a shot," she said and then shrugged. "I''ll have opportunities after we leave this realm to kill you, so today, I''ll embarrass you thoroughly instead, until you know just how weak and pathetic you are."


    "So much hate," Zeras chimed, "it''s not good for you to hold all that hate in. You should really learn to let go sometimes."


    Lilian remained silent, as she had said what she needed to say. Her expression was calm, cold, and confident. She was clearly prepared for the battle toe, mentally and physically.


    "Do you know," Zeras said in a drawn out fashion, "that although you kept all your memories when you split, Laia inherited your instincts, your feelings, your fears."


    Lilian''s gaze narrowed even more, as if she wanted nothing more than to cut Zeras down immediately. However, the battle hadn''t yet started.


    "And so she lives in fear of me and father, every single day, living in dread, but not knowing the exact reason why," Zeras continued, his words causing Lilian''s gaze to waver for an instant. Zeras'' smile widened.


    "You''ve created a nightmare for Laia, one she has no hope of escaping. Quite cruel if you ask me."


    "Begin" the golem suddenly said, and then disappeared from the arena.


    Boom!


    The arena shook as an aura erupted outwards with furious intensity, as if it wanted to rip the world apart. The aura was thick with the Dao of Death, which spread and instantly covered the entire hundred-mile wide arena in its power.


    Lilian''s scythe appeared in her hand and her body changed, bing lined with a unique energy that shimmered and constantly shifted colors.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''The Dao of Space. She''s going strong from the very start,'' John mused as he furrowed his brow with concern as Lilian''s fight had finally begun.


    Zeras felt the deathly aura crash against his body, which began to slowly wither and rot. He smiled.


    "Not bad," he said as his own aura exploded outwards, brimming with the profound astral energy he had shown in his previous battle. The astral aura pushed the deathly aura backwards, stopping it from directly assaulting his body. The deathly aura ate away at the astral aura, which constantly replenished itself, resulting in a stalemate of the two auras.


    Zeras'' smile suddenly disappeared, and his eyes widened slightly as he watched the deathly aura prate his astral aura, as if it didn''t exist. The deathly aura quickly spread forward andnded on his body, once again resuming its assault on him.


    "The Dao of Death and Space huh?" Zeras mused out loud, indicating that Lilian had used her Dao of Space to prate Zeras'' aura. "Not bad, not bad," he added, as if truly impressed with his little sister.


    "I have to admit, I don''t have much of an answer to stopping this technique of yours," he said, his words causing some hope to rise within John and the others rooting for Lilian. "But then again, I don''t really need to stop such a technique either. Instead, I''ll just withstand it," he added, causing that hope to fade as fast as it came.


    "There''s few things in this universe that can alter and affect the spatial Dao," Zeras said smilingly, "and the astral Dao just happens to be one of those things. Even space must bend when confronting the might of the stars!"


    Upon saying this, Zeras'' body began to glow brightly, as if he were bing a star himself. The energy emanating from him climbed rapidly, until it reached a level that even John found impressive. The energy stopped climbing, but had already reached a horrifying level of power, as every single inch of Zeras'' body was covered in that powerful energy.


    It was as if Zeras had be a star himself. And that ster energy stopped the Dao of Death in its tracks, even with the help of the Dao of Space.


    ''Withstanding this much energy within his body is only possible due to him having an Innate Variant Body. Even I would need to use my Supreme Battle Art to withstand this level of energy. This Zeras'' is truly a frightening individual."


    "Hmph, I figured as much," Lilian scoffed, not deterred by her initial failure. "Since aura''s wont'' work, then let''s make this personal, shall we?" she said as she shot forward.


    She appeared before Zeras in an instant, and her scythe cleaved towards him, infused with terrifying Dao''s of Death and Space. Zeras'' smile widened with battle lust, as the fight was finally starting to get to a point that could entertain him.


    His bizarre looking weapon appeared in his hand, which he shed out against Lilian''s scythe. One of the two curved des on his weapon collided against her scythe.


    Bang!


    The collision of weapons shook the entire arena, as if two titans had exchanged attacks. John''s gaze narrowed as he watched his master be knocked backwards hundreds of yards, while Zeras stood firmly in ce. Liliannded on the arena and skidded backwards even further beforeing to a halt, and stared at her distant opponent.


    In the battle of strength, Zeras was unsurprisingly the victor.


    ''How are you going to win this battle, master?''


    As if answering John''s question, Lilian''s Dao of Death rune began to glow brightly, and a dozen swirling portals of pitch-ck energy appeared on the floor of the arena around her. John''s eyes widened with shock as he watched twelve skeletal figures emerge from within the portals, human and towering beast alike.

 Chapter 856 The Battle Intensifies

    The skeletal figures rose out from within the swirling portals of darkness, each different in size and shape. There were six humans, as well as six beasts of differing species. The beasts were all hulking in size, ranging from a few dozen yards tall to nearly one hundred yards tall.


    It was hard to tell what each beast was based on its skeleton, but all appeared to be terrifying in their own right. Spiked spines, massive, fanged teeth, and sharp razor ws was a prevalent theme.


    Not only that, but each skeleton emanated a powerful aura, equal to a Peak Dao Transformation cultivator. As they emerged, the auras of the skeleton figures quickly diminished, clearly restricted by the formation mechanisms of the arena. Even with their power restricted, each figure was still formidable, sitting just a tier lower than Lilian herself.


    ''She''s a summoner?'' John mused, seeing this art for the first time. He had not been expecting such a battle art to be used by Lilian. But this art was different. Summoners summoned things that were alive, yet these things were skeletons, and had no life in them.


    ''Wait¡­no¡­I detect the slightest hint of life in each skeleton¡­a soul, like a candle in the wind, just barely hanging on,'' John noticed as he inspected closer.


    While the art was impressive, he still didn''t know how this was supposed to help against Zeras. If Lilian herself could not injure him just yet, how would twelve weaker beings help with that. Zeras seemed to be of the same opinion, as his amused gaze swept across the small army Lilian had summoned.


    "You''ve be a skeleton babysitter now?" he mocked, not threatened at all by what he felt.


    Lilian''s expression remained calm yet cold, as shepletely ignored his words. The summoningpleted, and Lilian swiftly altered her focus. The Dao of Space began to emanate from her body once more, as her spatial rune on her body lit up, simr to the rune of death that had lit up previously.


    As the glowing rune lit up on her upper chest, a gale of spatial energy began to swirl around her. It started out small, but quickly grew into a storming tempest, brimming with spatial might, which spread out around her body in all directions. The air shifted and changed constantly within the tempest, as the spatial energy distorted sight and sound.


    John''s eyes narrowed as he focused on the spatial storm, and then widened his eyes as he realized what was going on.


    The spatial storm was made up entirely from spatial fragments, each narrower than a de, as well as shaper. It was as if a million des of iparable sharpness were surrounding her, making it impossible to approach. Even John felt some danger when he looked at the storm, as it''s lethality was without question.


    Even in his strongest body state, he would take damage if he were to enter that storm. While it might not be lethal for someone like him, for Zeras, who had a powerful yet lesser body whenpared to John, it made approaching Lilian almost impossible without dealing with the storm first.


    Zeras'' amused gaze vanished for the first time as he stared at the tempest surrounding Lilian. His haughty andx demeanor vanished, and his grip tightened around his weapon.


    "Good. At least you didn''t waste thest decade of your life," Zeras said, and then pointed his weapon towards her. "Let''s see if I can st away this little storm of yours."


    A beam of pure astral energy sted straight towards her, its might beyond terrifying. It was even more powerful than the beam Zeras had unleashed on Lua, revealing that he had clearly held back in his previous fight.


    The beam arrived before Lilian in an instant, threatening to pierce directly through her spatial storm andnd onto her body. At thest moment, a figure appeared before her.


    Boom!


    The astral beam mmed onto one of the beast-like skeletons'' skulls, which was wide and t, as if its skull was designed with the purpose of only defense. The astral energy sted off the skull and scattered in all directions, falling onto the arena and the formation barrier, shaking the arena violently with its power.


    The skeletal beast was knocked backwards, but its ws dug into the arena as best it could to resist. It was pushed back several dozen yards before the beam stopped and the beast came to a halt. A small crack appeared on the beast''s skull after taking the attack head on, something that even Zeras raised an eyebrow at.


    ''What a formidable defense!'' John thought, seeing the use of the figures for the first time. His eyes shifted to his master, and they widened in shock.


    ''She''s gone! When did she move?'' John couldn''t help but be surprised. He had focused on the beast, as had everyone else, and in that moment, his master had somehowpletely disappeared.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Zeras'' gaze narrowed as he noticed Lilian''s disappearance as well, and he quickly pivoted on his feet, turning around in an instant.


    "A petty trick," he sneered as Lilian materialized behind him, as if stepping out from a different dimension. She was less than ten feet away from him, and her scythe was already cleaving out towards Zeras with lethal intent. While he had not agreed to a life and death battle, it didn''t stop her from trying to kill him before he conceded.


    Zeras'' weapon shed out to meet her attack, and then his gaze narrowed as he felt danger approaching from behind. Two of Lilian''s human skeletons appeared behind Zeras in an instant, each shing out with their own weapon. One held a sword, and the other a spear, and both weapons brimmed with spatial and death Qi.


    While the attacks were normally beneath Zeras'' notice, he was focused on Lilian at the moment.


    "Pathetic," Zeras sneered as his free hand stretched out to the side, pointing towards the skeletal opponents.


    Boom!


    Another powerful beam of Astral Qi cleaved out towards the skeletal humans, while his weapon shed towards Lilian''s scythe. Even when surrounded, Zeras maintained his calm and control of the battle, impressing even John. Zeras was definitely battle-hardened, and not a pampered prince of an empire that never saw battle.


    Peng!


    Weapons collided, violently shaking the arena once more as both fighters utilized their full strength in the attack. Zeras sneered as he stared at Lilian who was a few feet away, but unable tond a decisive blow.


    "Is this all you have? Sneak attacks and puppets?" Zeras sneered as he casually held Lilian at bay. The spatial storm surrounding Lilian mmed onto his Astral Armor, chipping away at it and slicing into his skin, but Zeras was able to resist any harmful damage thanks to his armor and innate variant body. His eyes suddenly widened as he felt danger from his side.


    "Impossible!" he thought. The two skeletons had been knocked away, and the others were still too far away to assist.


    Boom!


    A powerful beam of Qi mmed onto Zeras'' back before he could react, violentlyunching him into the air like a broken kite. His astral armor strained against the powerful beam, and managed to resist, although he had taken a bit of internal damage from the force of the attack.


    Lilian appeared above Zeras in an instant and unleashed a scythe art, sending a sharp scythe image, brimming with death and spatial Qi towards him, as if it was an attack unleashed by the grim reaper himself.


    "Fuck off!" Zeras roared in frustration, and unleashed another beam of astral Qi towards the scythe image.


    His eyes widened as a swirling circle of spatial energy appeared between his Qi beam and the scythe image for just an instant, long enough for the Qi beam to m into it. However, no explosion happened as expected, and the Qi beam disappeared into the portal of spatial energy.


    Zeras'' gaze wavered, and then he felt danger once moreing from behind. He finally understood what happened as his gaze shifted, and he spotted another swirling circle of the same spatial energy appear, from which a powerful beam of Astral Qi came out of.


    The beam reached him in an instant, while the scythe image from abovended on him at the exact same time.


    Boom!

 Chapter 857 Zeras True Might

    The entire arena shook with violent energy, as the two powerful attacksnded directly onto Zeras at the same time. An explosion of astral energy, spatial energy, and death energy surged out in all directions, filling most of the arena with its power before eventually fading away.


    Watching intently from the stands, John leaned forward with bated breath, waiting to see the oue of such abined attacknding directly onto Zeras. It had been perfectly executed by Lilian, and her ability to use her spatial powers to redirect attacks surprised even John himself, as he had never seen or heard of such an ability. Clearly such a battle art was only usable by one as skilled in the spatial Dao as his master.


    While John waited to see what the oue was, Lilian was not of the same opinion. She sped forward and swung her scythe down towards Zeras''st known location, unleashing another powerful scythe image towards him.


    A guttural roar boomed out from within the explosion, louder and more powerful than the remnant explosion itself. The roar sted away the explosive cloud of energy, and unleashed a shockwave that boomed outwards in all directions.


    The shockwave sted against Lilian, who braced herself as she was knocked backwards some distance. While she was not injured from the attack, it had interrupted her follow up attack. She hovered in the air above the arena, staring down at Zeras'', whose figure was now revealed for all to see.


    His body still glowed brightly, like the shimmering of stars, from his astral armor, although cracks had appeared in the armor. Trickles of blood seeped out of the cracks, revealing he had taken some damage from thest attack. However, the extent of the damage was unknown, as the armor shrouded the condition of his body.


    The cracks quickly healed, reforming the armor anew. Zeras'' gaze, now frustrated and even angered slightly instead of calm and amused, stared up towards Lilian hovering above him.


    "Congrattions sister," Zeras said, his voice cold and unamused. "This is the first time in half a century that someone has managed tond such an attack on me, an attack that made me feel pain. Since you''ve grown to this level, then I should treat you with the respect of a proper opponent. You''ve earned that much at least."


    Lilian remained silent as she inspected Zeras'' condition, but wasn''t able to gather much information either. However, she could feel his aura and fighting spirit, both of which had grown since the attacknded. Clearly her attack from before had not impacted hisbat prowess to any measurable degree.


    After praising Lilian, Zeras'' aura skyrocketed once more, and his body began to glow even brighter than before. His body suddenly started to grow, bing taller, wider, and more muscr. In less than a second, his body exploded to over twenty feet in height, covered from head to toe with powerful astral energy.


    It was as if an astral giant had appeared in the arena, one of iparable power. The heat and energy radiating off his body skyrocketed as well, making it almost impossible to approach him. It was as if he had be a star.


    The odd-looking weapon in his hand also grew in size, matching his new form. A sh of light appeared, and another weapon materialized in his other hand. It was a long, curved saber, seemingly made entirely of astral energy. It was fifteen feet long, and glowed brightly. John couldn''t help but draw a deep breath as he saw this form.


    Zeras'' power had skyrocketed in this form, and he was now apletely different person. Even Lilian studied Zeras with a wary gaze, as his new power was something that heeded caution.


    "Let''s see how long you canst," Zeras said, his voice now sounding different. It was deeper yet more ethereal, as if someone was speaking from the other side of a void.


    With no further hesitation, he dashed forward. Despite his hulking figure, his speed was even faster than before.


    "What?" John couldn''t help but exim as Zeras appeared before Lilian in a sh, as if he had been a beam of light. Zeras'' hulking figure dwarfed Lilian, who was even smaller than the weapon''s in his hand.


    The astral de cleaved down on her without pause. The power of the de seemed to make space around it tremble, which was something only John had himself had seen done in the Heaven Tribtion Realm.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Not phased by the sudden attack, Lilian shed her scythe out towards the ster de, unleashing another powerful scythe image. The hastily made scythe image shed up onto the de and then exploded, resisting for only a second before being overwhelmed by the ster de.


    The de exploded down on her location, like a falling star.


    Boom!


    The arena trembled, and astral energy exploded outwards as the ster de mmed onto the arena''s surface. Zeras'' gaze snapped to the side, locking onto Lilian who had suddenly appeared several miles away, like a ghost once again stepping out of another dimension.


    "I already told you, little sister, that even space must respect the power of the stars!" Zeras boomed, shing towards her location once more. He appeared before her almost immediately again, and unleashed another attack on her location. At the same time, a new astral aura, different yet just as powerful, emanated from Zeras, enveloping both him and Lilian.


    Lilian''s body shifted and faded away as she stepped into space to avoid the attack. Her eyes suddenly widened as she realized something was wrong. Her spatial teleportation was taking too long, as if it was being affected by something; by Zeras'' astral aura. It was clearly making it harder for her to use her spatial powers, which was all the time he needed tond an attack.


    Lilian''s power spiked as she unleashed another scythe attack, more powerful than the ones she had unleashed previously. Her pitch-ck scythe image mmed into the ster de, and resisted it for a time before exploding again. The ster de mmed down, with Lilian barely dodging the attack in time, as she was unable to teleport away.


    Boom!


    The explosion of astral energy crashed into the spatial tempest around her, and then her body. She shot backwards like a bullet, flying through the air for dozens of miles before managing to collect and steady herself in the air once more.


    As she did so, she noticed Zeras'' pointing towards her with his bizarre weapon from their previous location; an astral beam already unleashed. The beam was almost upon her.


    The t-headed skeletal beast appeared before her just in time, blocking the attack which exploded against its head. More cracks formed on the t skull as it stood its ground as best it could to block the attack, which gave Lilian enough time to dodge.


    The skeletal beast was flung into the distance, and the beam crashed past Lilian and onto the arena wall in the distance.


    Boom!


    An apocalyptic explosion sted through the arena as the formation barrier red with power to block the astral beam. The explosion faded away as fast as it had appeared, revealing the arena once more. Zeras was once again in front of Lilian, his hulking figure mming down with his ster de already, leaving Lilian no time to react.


    She shed her scythe out with her full power, which mmed against the ster de that dwarfed her body. Another cmitous explosion sted outwards, and a figure shot out of the explosion like a meteor.


    Blood trailed behind Lilian''s figure, which tumbled violently through the air.

 Chapter 858 Zeras Domination

    "Master!" John called out loudly, standing. That attack had no doubt injured her greatly, evident by the blood trail as well as the fact that she had taken on such a powerful attack head on. He felt like rushing into the arena to deal with Zeras himself, but knew he was unable to do so. The formation barrier blocked him from doing so.


    "Watch out!" John called once more as Zeras rushed towards the tumbling Lilian, giving her no time to recover from that grievous blow. He would no doubt catch up before she could somehow recover her bnce and power, and the next attack would be even more severe.


    "Time to go to sleep!" Zeras'' deep yet ethereal voice sounded out as he appeared before Lilian, his glowing figure hulking over her. His astral de vanished and instead his massive fist came crashing down towards her, intent on ending the fight. He did not want to kill Lilian, only cause her defeat, and this fist attack of his was more than powerful enough to do the job if itnded on Lilian in her current state.


    Just as the fist was about tond on her unguarded body, Lilian suddenly twirled in the air, and righted herself to face the oing attack, her scythe cleaving outwards.


    "How?" Zeras roared angrily. Lilian should not have been able to react so quickly after taking that much damage from the previous attack.


    Boom!


    The massive fist mmed against her scythe, which emanated a powerful spatial and deathly aura.


    Che!


    The scythe cut into the massive fist, cutting through the defense of the astral armor and into the fist. Astral light leaked out of the massive gash that had been carved into the fist, which cut all the way up to Zeras'' wrist.


    The cleaved open fist revealed no flesh within, revealing that Zeras'' massive body was not his own transformed to that size, but was instead made almost entirely out of astral Qi. His main body was most likely within the core of this hulking figure instead, controlling it from within.


    The massive wound on Zeras'' fist quickly closed up, forming his fist anew as astral Qi flooded into the wound and repaired it. Lilian used this brief moment to retreat, giving her room to respond to Zeras'' next attack. However, it didn''te as expected, as Zeras studied Lilian with cold yet wary eyes, inspecting her figure.


    ''She''s not wounded at all'' John noticed, surprised. His master showed no wounds on her body at all, despite previously being struck by that powerful attack, and visibly taking damage.


    ''How was she able to heal so fast? Master doesn''t cultivate any healing arts, and she lost her control over the Dao of Life¡­so how?'' John couldn''t help but wonder.


    The same question was burning through the minds of the others, especially Zeras.


    Bang!


    A cracking sound, and then a soft explosion filled the arena, catching everyone''s attention. One of the human skeletons suddenly cracked and exploded, and the wispy soul-aura within faded away. The skeleton crumbled to the ground in bits and pieces, finally dead for good.


    ''What just happened? Is master starting to lose control over her summoning art?'' John wondered, his nerves on the edge. He never felt this nervous when battling himself, but couldn''t help but feel it right now, as he was helpless to help Lilian.


    "How did you heal the damage I gave you?" Zeras asked coldly, his gaze returning to Lilian. She remained silent, not entertaining his question for a moment. Her gaze was seemingly unfocused, as if her focus was almost elsewhere, and this battle was of secondary importance to her.


    Zeras scowled as he saw her distracted expression, and dashed towards her with overwhelming power once more.


    "You think you can be distracted when battling me?" he boomed, appearing before her and cleaving down with his astral de once more. Lilians power red in response, and she cleaved out with her scythe, unleashing a scythe art.


    However, such an attack had already been shown to be weaker than Zeras'', and she would no doubt lose out on the exchange. Zeras'' smile quickly faded into a frown as he felt danger from behind.


    "Another one of your pets?" he roared, diverting half his attention away from his attack towards her. He turned mid-swing, and swung his other arm holding his bizarre weapon towards the hulking beast-like skeleton that had arrived behind him.


    This beast appeared like a giant wolf, or at least that''s what John assumed it had been when it had been truly alive. It had sharp fangs and ws, and was evenrger than Zeras himself. Its sharp ws swung down on Zeras'' head, unleashing an attack that even he couldn''t ignore.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Zeras'' weapon''s collided against both attacks, and sessfully repelled both. Even fighting outnumbered, hisbat prowess allowed him to keep the advantage. His power was without question.


    Zeras turned towards Lilian, and unleashed another attack of his de towards her. He didn''t dare unleash a ranged attack, as she had revealed she was able to redirect those quite easily.


    The wolf-like skeletal beast had been knocked away in the previous exchange, but two more giant beast skeletons had taken its ce. One looked like a massive snake, and the other a six-armed beast that John had never seen before. It walked on all six arms, and had a head simr to a bear.


    Both skeletons unleashed physical attacks on Zeras, who parried both of their attacks with practiced efficiency, all while unleashing his attack on Lilian herself. His massive body spun and twisted with perfect fluidity and timing as he fought like a hurricane, spinning to parry each attack and unleash his own on Lillian constantly.


    It was like he was a one-man army, fighting against Lilian and her army of beasts without losing out at all. John frowned with worry as he saw this. Even outnumbered, Zeras was still controlling the battle with ease, and was putting Lilian on the defensive.


    Their battle raged on for quite some time like this, with Zeras controlling the flow of battle, pushing Lilian harder and harder to defend herself. After perfectly blocking abined attack from two beasts, Zeras deflected a scythe battle art from Lilian, and managed to break through her defenses.


    His giant astral de cleaved down on her, with Lilian being unable to guard it in time, or move away. His de cleaved into her right shoulder, and passed right through it as if it were a hot knife carving through butter.


    "Master!" John called out, panicked. The battle was no doubt over.


    Such a wound would no doubt end the battle for good, and even put her life in danger if she did not concede right away.


    "Losing your arm is a small price to pay for challenging me," Zeras sneered with content. The battle was no doubt over. His satisfied expression instantly changed to confusion as Lilian ignored the wound as if it never existed, because to all eyes, it didn''t.


    Her arm did not fall from her body. It was perfectly attached to her body as if the attack had nevernded. That arm was the one that held her scythe, which cleaved out towards Zeras before he could recover from his shock.


    Bang!


    Her scythe attacknded on his chest, carving deeply into his massive astral figure, knocking him back hundreds of yards. He crashed to the arena floor, shaking it violently.


    Crack!


    Another cracking echo sounded out within the arena, soft yet loud enough to catch everyone''s attention. Their eyes locked onto another human skeleton, cracks forming on its right shoulder. The cracks grewrger, and then the right shoulder exploded, followed by the rest of the body. The skeleton crumbled to the floor, as did the one before it.


    John''s eyes, as well as everyone else''s eyes widened with sudden realization.


    ''Just how is such a thing possible?'' John couldn''t help but wonder with awe.


    Lilian was somehow able to transfer the damage she had sustained to the human skeletons she controlled. Zeras'' eyes widened with realization as well, and then his cold gaze snapped onto Lilian as he stood up once more.


    Lilian stared at Zeras with a calm expression, the spatial storm still surrounding her, her focus still slightly distracted. She gestured at him with her outstretched right arm, beckoning him toe for her, mocking him with the arm he was supposed to have severed.

 Chapter 859 Awe-Inspiring Transformation

    "Come," she said to Zeras as she beckoned with her outstretched hand, like a parent calling for their child. It was as if she was saying, despite everything you''ve done, it had all been for naught. It was as if she were saying she didn''t even see him as a threat.


    Zeras'' cold gaze turned angry, and a deep roar of anger boomed out from him, his frustrations voiced aloud.


    "So, you can transfer your wounds to your skeletons? Impressive, but I only see four more human skeletons remaining. How about I just destroy them first, and then deal with you?" he said as he turned around and charged towards one of the skeletons standing a distance away from both of them.


    As if expecting such a thing, Lilian''s figure shed towards Zeras, renewing their battle. She unleashed another powerful scythe image towards him, powerful enough that he could not ignore it. Zeras turned and shed his astral de outwards towards her, parrying the attack which exploded in the air. He used the explosion to propel himself towards the skeleton, and sneered as he shed towards it with his full power.


    "Die!" Zeras roared as his astral de crashed down on it.


    A swirling portal of ckened spatial energy appeared below its feet, and the skeleton sunk into the portal as the attacknded on its location.


    Boom!


    The arena trembled with violent energy as the astral de mmed down onto it. Zeras'' angry gaze snapped to the side, locking onto Lilian who stood calmly a few hundred yards away. The skeletal figure rose up from another swirling portal of spatial energy, reappearing next to her.


    Zeras'' n to destroy the skeletons first had been shown to be impossible, since Lilian could summon and unsummon them before he could destroy them. Another roar of frustration boomed out of Zeras.


    "Fine! Since I can''t destroy them, I''ll just destroy you four more times, and then you won''t have any more skeletons to protect you," Zeras roared, and rushed towards Lilian with frustrated rage.


    He arrived before her in an instant, and resumed their awe-inspiring battle. Zeras'' hulking figure once again moved through the battle with perfect efficiency, fighting both Lilian and her army of skeletons without losing out at all. In fact, he was in control of the battle, and was constantly pushing Lilian to her limits.


    Boom!


    An attack pierced through Lilian''s defenses, mming onto her body andunching her into the air. She recovered in an instant, while the sound of distant cracking appeared, and one of the four remaining human skeletons crumbled.


    The battle continued, Zeras like an unstoppable astral god of war.


    Boom!


    Crack!


    His astral de cleaved out with murderous desire, precise and unstoppable. His bizarre weapon unleashed attacks as well, sometimes ranged and sometimes physical, ounting for Lilian''s redirecting ability and using it to his advantage on asions. He had even managed to destroy two of the six beast skeletons, turning the battle even more in his favor.


    Boom!


    Crack!


    ? Another attacknded on Lilian, and another skeleton crashed to the floor. Only one remained.


    "I wonder, can you summon more skeletons? Or is this your limit?" Zeras asked mockingly, confident of his victory. "You only have one left. You might as well summon the others now, or you''ll be down to yourst life!" he roared, resuming his assault.


    Lilian remained silent as she fought against Zeras, and did not summon any more human skeletons, silently confirming his guess. The fight between the two intensified, with Zeras unleashing more frenzied and powerful attacks on Lilian and her skeletal army, his battle lust fully ignited. Arge smile was stered on his astral face as he fought with unmatched ferocity.


    "I wonder, if I cut off your head, would you be able to transfer that damage?" Zeras mocked, although he would not dare to try such a thing. He wanted to beat Lilian, not kill her, and such a wound would most likely be beyond her ability to transfer.


    Lilian fought back with her full power, her gaze still seemingly distracted. John watched on with growing worry.<novelnext></novelnext>


    ''Why does she still appear distracted? How can she afford to not fully focus on this battle?'' John couldn''t help but wonder. He knew his master wasn''t stupid, and knew she wouldn''t do something like this without good reason, but he still couldn''t understand. She was losing, and she needed to fully focus on the battle or her defeat would be certain.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The arena trembled violently as the battle raged on, and after another barrage of attacks, another ster dended on Lilian, piercing through her right shoulder. Zeras flung his astral de outwards,unching Lilian into the air. She tumbled through the air for dozens of miles beforeing to a stop in the air, her figure unhurt.


    Crack!


    The final human skeleton cracked and then crumbled.


    Zeras'' smile widened. John''s worry grew. Lilian''s expression remained calm. Her distracted gaze cleared up, and her focus finally returned fully to the battle. Zeras'' smile faded. John''s hope grew. He could instantly tell that something had changed within Lilian. He could feel a lethal threat growing from her, his instincts red fully.


    "It''s finally ready," Lilian whispered softly, almost inaudible for the others to hear.


    "Finally ready? Are you finally ready to conced-" Zeras mocked, and then froze mid sentence.


    Boom!


    Lilian''s aura exploded outwards, filling the entire arena with a storm of spatial and death energy. The tempest swirled through the arena, with Lilian the eye of the storm. The storm circled faster and faster around her, growing more powerful by the second. It began to recede towards her, bing smaller, but more concentrated, more powerful.


    It was as if she was re-absorbing the energy she had unleashed, and then using it to do¡­something. The storm around her heightened in power, until it was like a cocoon of pure spatial and death energy, ten feet in diameter. It swirled with apocalyptic power, making even John and Zeras'' feel instinctual fear. Something was happening within the cocoon. Something was changing within. It was as if Lilian was a chrysalis, about to be a butterfly.


    Zeras'' snapped out of his stupor, and rushed towards the spatial cocoon, astral de in hand.


    "As if I would let youplet-"


    Boom!


    The cocoon exploded outwards, its apocalyptic power mming against Zeras, throwing him through the air through the arena. He mmed against the formation barrier over fifty miles away, shaking the surrounding area from the collision.


    Zeras quickly recovered, and stood up. His gaze locked onto Lilian, who had emerged from the terrifying cocoon. His, as well as everyone else''s eyes widened as they stared at her.


    Lilian hovered in the air, her appearancepletely different from before. Her icy-blue hair had turnedpletely ck, as did the dress she wore. No longer was she wearing her white and gold dress, but instead wore a long, shoulderless ck dress. The dress started at her upper chest, and flowed down below her feet, and hugged her figure tightly. The ck dress seemed to shimmer, as if space itself was woven into it as well.


    The skirt of the dress flowed freely like ckened mist, a mist made entirely of death Qi, but as was the rest of the dress that she wore. The same misty death Qi flowed off the pitch-ck scythe in her hand, which shimmered as well, as if it were both real and fake.


    John''s eyes widened with absolute shock as he stared at his master, which now lookedpletely different. She had clearly transformed into something else, and it was as if she had turned into a goddess of death.


    A goddess of death, which had managed to fuse the Dao''s of Death¡­and Space.

 Chapter 860 Lilians Overwhelming Might

    Lilian floated in the air several dozen yards off the ground, the skirt of her dress flowing down into wispy ck mist that danced lightly in the still air. The same wispy ck energy flowed over her scythe''s de, making it far more fearsome than it had previously appeared.


    Her ck hair brushed down past her shoulders, matching the color of the ck Qi flowing around her. She was a stunningly beautiful avatar of death.


    John was awe-struck, his mouth agape as he stared at his master, who he almost didn''t recognize now. It was one of the few times in his life that he had been truly shocked to his core. He felt her aura, and his mind naturally drifted back to the only other time he had felt anything like it.


    When he had been back in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, he had interrupted her training in her underground training room one time. He had opened a door that had been tightly sealed by strong formations, and upon opening it, had felt an overwhelming aura flood out of it, far stronger than anything he had felt from his master up to that time.


    By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs andid eyes on her, Lilian had already withdrawn most of that aura and had reverted to normal. Now he knew, back then she was training this form.


    Lilian''s gaze was calm, yetpletely different than before when she had been fighting Zeras. Her expression previously was one of calmposure, but now it was calm confidence.


    It was as if she were truly a god looking down on Zeras'', about to pass judgment on him. There was not an ounce of doubt on her face. That calm gaze shifted towards John, who felt his heart jump for a moment and his breath catch in his chest as her crystalline-blue eyes locked onto him.. Not even demons and Asura''s could make him jump the way he just did.


    The two locked eyes, and it was as if John was seeing his master''s true self for the first time. She studied his face for a brief moment, and then the smallest of smirks appeared on her otherwise neutral face. John almost thought he had imagined that smirk.


    Was she smirking at his reaction? His surprise? He didn''t know, and currently, he didn''t care. He just wanted to watch his master fight in this form, and see what she was truly capable of.


    Her gaze shifted back to Zeras'', who was staring at Lilian with almost equal shock. He quickly recovered, as expected of one so talented and battle-hardened, and readied both weapons in his hand. However, he did not immediately charge over towards her as he had done for almost the entire battle.


    Instead, he studied her, his gaze wary for the very first time. It was an expression that indicated he considered Lilian in her current form a worthy opponent, and not just his little sister. His instincts red wildly with caution. Lilian was a real threat, to his life even, if he did not take her seriously.


    Zeras'' wary gaze locked with Lilian''s calm and confident gaze, and his expression slowly but surely changed as he realized it was the same gaze he had been giving her the entire battle. A gaze of looking down on one''s opponent, as if the oue of the battle had already been concluded.


    Zeras'' felt his anger ignite from receiving such a gaze. He was Zeras, the pinnacle World Expansion genius. He gave such gazes. He did not receive them. His pride and anger ignited, and he roared furiously, like a primal beast cornered by a strong foe.


    "You dare to look down on me?" Zeras roared, and dashed forward towards Lilian, his wariness gone. "The stars look down on all creation. Not the other way around," he boomed as he arrived before her, his astral de glowing brightly with profound energy as he shed it down towards her.


    Lilian watched calmly as he approached and unleashed his attack, and held her scythe out to her side. The massive astral de was almost upon her. Her scythe shed out with iparable speed.


    Che!


    Zeras'' astral de mmed downwards past Lilian, not halted at all by her attack. His eyes wavered with shock as he watched half of the astral de fall to the ground beside Lilian, cleaved directly in half by her attack. The half de that he held had fallen short of hitting Lilian, who had not moved an inch during the entire exchange.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Bang!


    The broken astral de fell to the ground, shaking it violently with its weight, and then dissipated away as it was made from Astral Qi. Zeras'' instinctively leaped backwards to put distance between himself and Lilian, and his half-broken astral de quickly reformed as he infused it with Astral Qi.


    ''Her attack is at least twice as strong as before!'' John thought, shocked once again. This transformation Lilian had unleashed had multiplied her power greatly. The only thing that he feltparable was his Asura Transformation and Dragon-God Shift, both which had simr effects. However, those effects were on his body, while Lilian''s effects was on her essence Qi and potency of essence battle arts.


    Zeras'' expression wavered immediately after he had retreated, and he realized what he had done. He, the pinnacle genius of the world, had retreated in battle for the first time in his life.


    "Uneptable!" Zeras roared wildly, as if he were losing his mind. Most would have been cowed into fear by such an attack, but Zeras'' had be enraged, like a wounded beast. There was no fear in him, only anger, frustration, fury.


    His aura began to climb once more, his figure growing a bitrger in the process. Zeras had finally unleashed his full power, holding nothing back at all. John couldn''t help but feel surprised again that Zeras had more to reveal than had been shown thus far. The Celestria family was truly one of pinnacle geniuses withoutpare.


    "Stars are the pinnacle force of the universe! You will submit!" Zeras roared as he waved his bizarre looking weapon out before him, a trail of astral Qi flowing behind the crystalline center of the weapon.


    As he waved the weapon outwards, orbs of light began to form in the arena, most of them concentrated around Lilian. The orbs of light instantly ignited into burning spheres of Astral Qi, like miniature stars, each brimming with apocalyptic energy. In fact, the energy of each star was far greater than when he had used it against Lua.


    "Let''s see you withstand this!" he roared, igniting the dozen stars to explode with his full power.


    Lilian calmly stepped forward, appearing in the very center of all the miniature stars. They surrounded her like a cage; a cage that was about to explode with apocalyptic fury.


    Her scythe suddenly shed out many times, so fast that it was hard to see the weapon move at all. A scythe image brimming with iparable spatial and death Qi shed out towards each star, slicing right through each one before they could explode.


    "You think you can cut a star in half? A useless effort!" Zeras said mockingly, still empowering the stars to explode.


    "What did you say before?" Lilian spoke for the first time since unleashing her transformation. Her voice was soft and ethereal, yet cold and devoid of any emotions, like an unfeeling angel of death. "Even space bends before the might of stars?"


    Her words caused Zeras to frown for a moment, and then he smiled. His battle art was finallyplete, and ready to overwhelm Lilian with unstoppable power. He sped his right hand, triggering the battle art.


    The explosion never happened, and Zeras'' eyes widened with shock as he watched his stars fade away into obscurity, consumed from within by a misty ckness that grew in power as it consumed the stars.


    "While stars may bend space, not even stars can stay the hand of death!"

 Chapter 861 The Daos Of Space And Death

    "Im¡­impossible!" Zeras roared after recovering from his absolute shock.


    His astral stars, one of his strongest and most profound battle arts, had beenpletely neutralized by Lilian in almost an instant. He refused to believe such a thing was possible, but the truth wasid out before his very eyes.


    Stars were the pinnacle source of power! It''s what his father had always taught him, and what he had truly believed. That truth had been eroded before his very eyes. Zeras suddenly felt his sanity snap, like his entire life had been a lie.


    "Impossible!" He roared with unbridled fury, and as if gone mad, dashed towards Lilian without a care for his own safety, undoing his astral de since it was proven to be ineffective against Lilian. He appeared before her in an instant, and shed out with his bizarre weapon, which he now held in both hands, unleashing his strongest physical attack possible.


    His aura red out without holding back, enveloping Lilian with his strongest astral energy. Lilian watched as the weapon fell onto her, and then she vanished. Despite Zeras'' enveloping her with the energy that had restricted her spatial powers before, she had still managed to utilize her spatial powers in an instant, as if his astral Dao meant nothing at all.


    The massive weapon mmed onto the arena floor, shaking it violently. Lilian appeared behind Zeras in an instant as if materializing from another dimension. She shed her scythe out before he could turn, unleashing another profound scythe image towards his back.


    Che!


    The scythe image mmed onto Zeras'' back, carving deeply into his astral body. A massive wound was opened up before the scythe image eventually lost its power and faded away. The wound leaked bright astral light, and also revealed the interior of Zeras'' astral form.


    His true body was revealed to all, normal in size, with a gaping wound in his chest where the de hadnded. Death Qi permeated the wound, making it unable to heal. Zeras'' face was scrunched up in pain and anger as he locked eyes with Lilian, who floated before him.


    "Die!" He roared, instantly healing the massive astral wound, forming his astral armor anew. His hulking figure shed out again, unleashing another attack towards Lilian. At the same time, a hundred giant ster des formed in the air around him, each nearly as strong in power as the one he had been using previously. Lilian''s body vanished as she dodged the attack, and quickly re-appeared behind Zeras.


    As if expecting the tactic again, one of the massive ster des suddenly shot towards Lilian before she could attack his main body, forcing her to turn to block it. Her scythe cleaved outwards and destroyed the attack with seeming ease, but the time she had spent doing so was all the time Zeras needed to recover and unleash another attack on her.


    Lilian''s scythe swept outwards, mming against the massive weapon in Zeras'' hand. Despite the weapon beingrger than her body, neither of them budged as their weapons collided, revealing their strength in straight forward attacks to be equal. Zeras'' expression wavered with anger and frustration again, but he ignored his frustrations and continued his assault.


    His bizarre weapon shed out with practiced efficiency, not a single wasted movement in his attacks. The ster des pierced out towards Lilian constantly, making it as if she were battling an entire army encircling her.


    Lilian''s scythe shed out with equal proficiency, smooth and graceful, yet fast and precise. Each movement meant something, as she parried the barrage of attacks while also unleashing her own towards Zeras.


    The two found themselves locked into heated battle once more, each revealing themselves to not only be pinnacle geniuses when it came to cultivation andprehensions, but also pinnacle geniuses when it came to battle.


    Their battle raged on as battle arts flew out ceaselessly, the dao of stars mming against the dao''s of death and space. Unlike before, Zeras found himself on the defensive, almost unable to withstand Lilian''s incredible might. It was taking all he had just to keep himself alive, and he hade close to receiving a fatal blow several times before narrowly avoiding them.


    John watched in a daze, his eyes never leaving Lilian for a second. It was the first time in his life that he had seen someone other than himself fight with such power, such dominance, such perfection. His heartbeat quickened as he watched her fight, his worry for her gone. He now only felt awe.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The battle between the two shook the arena, as if threatening to destroy itpletely. However, thanks to the formidable formations made by those of the ancient world, the arena and the formations withstood the apocalyptic battle arts and explosions, although at times it seemed like nothing could withstand such power.


    Zeras found himself pushed further and further towards the edge of defeat, doing everything he could to keep himself alive. He could concede, but he would never do that!<novelnext></novelnext>


    "This form of yours is consuming far too much energy, even for you!" Zeras roared furiously. "Even someone like you will run out of Qi far before I do!" he said, his words like a ssh of cold water on John''s face.


    ''Zeras is right. Even if it was me, the rate at which she is using Qi is horrifying. She won''t be able tost much longer, at which point¡­'' John''s thoughts trailed off.


    Zeras had no doubt used an incredible amount of his Qi reserves already, and was nearing his end as well, but that end would definitelye after Lilian had run out of Qi.


    "You''re right," Lilian''s calm yet cold voice drifted through the arena, as ifing from all directions. "But you won''tst long enough to see that timee to pass."


    Upon saying this, Lilian''s figure shed, and she appeared above Zeras like a ghost. Zeras'' gaze snapped upwards, locking onto her figure. He roared and unleashed a beam of astral Qi towards her, not caring at all about her ability to redirect it. If she did, he would use a ster de to deflect the astral beam when it reappeared.


    The beam reached Lilian in an instant, and she did not redirect it as expected, or even block it. The beam mmed onto her body, and then against all expectations, pierced right through as if she didn''t exist.


    The beam vanished after piercing through her, revealing her figure to be intact andpletely unharmed.


    "Impossible!" Zeras roared, and pointed his weapon at her again, prepared to unleash another attack.


    An otherworldly energy suddenly exploded out of Lilian''s body, surging out in all directions. Her face paled and aura dropped dramatically, as if she had just unleashed the final vestiges of her remaining power.


    A ripple in space formed, visible to the naked eye, which washed over Zeras. Inexplicably, the ripple stopped after traveling just past Zeras, and remained stationary in space. It was the most bizarre of things to see, once again shocking even John to his core.


    ''What is going on?'' he couldn''t help but wonder in shock, as well as awe. His gaze shifted towards Zeras, who didn''t move an inch. It was as if he were stunned stiff by what Lilian had just unleashed.


    "Wait, not stunned!" John eximed, standing up as he realized what was going on. "But frozen. Zeras is literally frozen in space!"


    The spherical ripple of space, like a bubble made of space itself, enveloped both Zeras and Lilian within. The ster des shimmered with might all around her, but remainedpletely stationary. Zeras'' might continued to re, but he didn''t move an inch. Even his eyes remained locked in ce, his wide gaze staring at Lilian''s figure that slowly floated down towards him. Nothing moved a single millimeter except Lilian herself, the space around them frozen solid, forbidding any movement at all.


    She appeared before the hulking Zeras'' chest, directly where his true body was encased within. Her calm and cold eyes softened for a brief instant, as if she had returned to being a little girl all those years ago.


    "You were the one I loved most in life," she said, her voice soft, pained.


    "Goodbye, brother!"


    The giant Zeras'' lips quivered, as if he were trying to speak. However, he said nothing, as if moving his lips was impossible at the moment.


    Lilian''s scythe shed outwards, unleashing her most powerful scythe image battle art towards Zeras'' astral-formed chest. It carved into his astral figure''s chest without pause, and cleaved out the back immediately after.


    Silence filled the arena, and then the astral figure slowly faded away. Two halves of Zeras'' true body, cleaved at the waist, dropped to the arena floor. His trembling eyes stared up at Lilian with pain, confusion, and fear.


    Lilian''s pained eyes stared at her brother, and then the pain vanished, reced by firm resolve. Her gaze shifted upwards to the barely noticeable spatial energy her father had created, and she stared firmly at it as her foot mmed down on Zeras'' head. Her foot struggled for a moment against his innate variant body durability, and then broke through, shattering Zeras'' skull. Zeras, the pinnacle genius of the Divine Martial Continent, was dead.

 Chapter 862 Zeras Death Stuns All

    In the throne room of the distant Astral Empire, the Astral Emperor watched Zeras'' fate unfold as he peered into the divine realm through the spatial portal he had created.


    Crunch!


    Lilian''s foot mmed down onto Zeras'' skull, shattering it, ending his life abruptly. The Astral Emperor''s face remained calm and stoic, as if Zeras'' death meant nothing to him. However, his fists were clenched tightly, trembling ever so slightly, betraying his true emotions.


    "Hmph," the Asura snorted. "All those resources I showered you with, and this is all your son could amount to. Aplete waste," he scoffed, mocking Zeras in front of the Astral Emperor.


    The Astral Emperor''s expression remained calm, although his trembling hands tightened a bit more.


    "That girl, however, is not bad at all," the Asura said, bestowing rare praise onto Lilian.


    The Astral Emperor''s gaze narrowed ever so slightly, his eyes locked onto Lilian, who stared defiantly into the spatial portal separating the two of them.


    "Enjoy your freedom, daughter," he said coldly, "for it is sooning to an end."


    ¡­


    Gasps of shock echoed all throughout the Divine City, which had fallen silent in an instant as Lilian unleashed her fatal blow. There had been expressions of wonder, excitement, envy, and surprise as all watched battle between the two pinnacle geniuses of the Astral Empire, but now only shock remained on their faces.


    They were all stunned to their cores. Zeras, the most famous young genius in the world, had been ughtered, and by his sister no less. The crowd had assumed Lilian''s request for a battle to the death had been nothing but a joke, but her actions proved her desires to end Zeras'' life.


    Some recovered from their shock and then grinned, happy that a genius of a different power was felled. Others felt pity that a genius of Zeras'' caliber was no longer part of the world. There were a million different emotions being felt at the moment.


    A million gazes were cast towards the Astral Empire camp, which was stunned silent as well. After a few moments, those belonging to the Astral Empire quickly left the city, leaving in the direction of the distant Astral Empire.


    "Did¡­did that really just happen?" a stunned voice asked.


    "It did. Zeras was just killed before our very eyes," another replied, almost unable to believe their own words.


    "And that girl, Lilian, the Goddess of Death. Her talent andbat prowess is beyond anything I thought possible. Is she even from this world?" another stunned spectator asked.


    No one had an answer, but they would not have been surprised if Lilian was a god descended onto their world from higher ne, if such a thing existed.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Surely she''s going to win, right?" another asked curiously. "Afterall, how can anyone be stronger than her in the same realm? That''s impossible, right?"


    The question remained unanswered, as shocked retaliation surged through all those nearby. They thought of Lilian and her impossiblebat prowess, and then realized she was only ranked third of all the participants based on the trials they hadpleted.


    And at the very top was John, who ced first in each and every single trial. How was such an aplishment possible when he had topete against someone like Lilian. At this moment, the crowd realized that their understandings of what was possible in the cultivation world might be shattered again.


    "As expected of one possessing an Empyrean Dao Name," the Grand Abbot said calmly. He lifted a cup of tea that was ced before him and took a sip, and then ced it back down on the tray before him.


    The cup of tea emanated a profound and heavenly aura, and his eyes lit up with delight with each sip, a rare sign of emotion on the Grand Abbot''s face.


    "I always wondered just how strong a possessor of an Empyrean Dao Name could get, and now that question had been answered," Prior Hishen replied, and then took a sip of tea as well. "The Empyrean reputation is well deserved."


    "That it is," the Grand Abbot agreed. "That it is."


    ¡­


    Lilian''s gaze shifted away from the portal high above her head as the artifact spirit golem suddenly appeared in the arena before her. Her transformation faded away, returning her to her regr state. Her white and gold dress appeared on her once again.


    The golem studied Zeras'' mutted body for a moment, and then looked at Lilian.


    "You made it so that he was unable to voice his surrender," the golem said to her. His monotone voice made it so that it was impossible to guess what he was thinking, or feeling, if an artifact spirit was capable of emotions in the first ce.


    "So? Is that against the rules?" Lilian asked indifferently. While her voice was indifferent, it was also raspy and soft. She felt beyond fatigued and exhausted, and was on the brink of copse.


    "It is not," the golem replied after a short pause. "You have an hour to rest before the next battle," it said to her as it enveloped her with the powers of the healing formation. Lilian felt vibrant life energy flood into her body, slowly restoring her spent Qi reserves as well as healing the damage she had sustained.


    Even she felt impressed by the profundity of the formation. She had been about to copse from her fatigue and injuries, but the formation had made it possible for her to remain conscious. While it healed her injuries and restored her Qi as best it could, it didn''t do much for her aching soul, which had been pushed to the limit as she had utilized her transformation. Healing a soul was much harder than healing a body.


    Lilian nodded towards the golem, and then shed out of the arena. She appeared next to John in the stands the next instant. The two stared at each other silently. John studied his master closely, and then smiled warmly at her, happy that his master had not only won, but had emerged without any serious injury.


    "Congrattions!"

 Chapter 863 Youll See My True Strength

    Lilian stared at John with an indifferent expression, as if she were still within the arena, battling fiercely against Zeras. That indifference slowly faded away as her battle-lust faded away, which had taken some time to happen.


    A small smile appeared on her face as she felt the weight of the previous battle, as well as her death-feud with Zeras, finally fade away.


    "Thanks," she said, her voice slightly tired. It was clear she was not yet close to fully recovered from such an arduous battle.


    She sat down next to John, who sat down as well immediately after. The two remained silent for a moment, as if John was giving her time to gather her thoughts.


    "How do you feel?" he eventually asked.


    "Fine," Lilian replied with a single word, and then nced sideways at John. She saw him staring at her with a piercing expression, as if he didn''t buy such indifference from her at all. She had just killed her brother after all, one she had previously loved, but now hated more than anyone else, except perhaps for her father.


    "Tired. Pained," she added truthfully, "but also relieved. My hate for Zeras faded away with his death, and I think I''ll be able to remember him fondly, if only a little bit."


    John raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He did not expect for Lilian to seemingly forgive Zeras'' betrayal. The master he knew was cold, callous, and unfeeling, but perhaps there was more to her than he knew at the moment. Perhaps that was just an outer-shell to protect herself from future betrayals as Zeras'' had done. If she trusted no one, no one could betray her.


    "Well, you definitely do look tired," John replied, lightening the mood a little bit.


    "Do I now?" Lilian asked questioningly, her face stern, as if John''s reply had been an insult. John was caught off guard for a second, but then realized Lilian was joking as her stern face faded away into a small smile again.


    "Tch," John clicked his tongue in self-frustration for not seeing through his master''s words and actions. She was always hard to judge on what she was truly feeling and thinking.


    "So what did you think? Was the performance of your lowly master befitting of heaven''s greatest disciple?" Lilian asked, her voice tinged with sarcasm.


    John scoffed at her words, as she was clearly bringing this up because John had mentioned his victory of this trial was guaranteed, and nothing could change that. It was indirectly yet directly saying that he was the most talented genius here, as well as the strongest when it came to normalized cultivations.


    For someone like Lilian, who had been a pinnacle genius her entire life, hearing someone say a thing like that to her was a bit hard to believe. She had full confidence in her talent andbat prowess, and although she had seen John fight before, she had not seen him fight in thest few years, and had also never seen him truly go all out.


    As had been shown in her battle with Zeras'',prehension level yed just asrge a role in battle as other aspects of cultivation, and herprehension level was no doubt higher than John''s due to her higher age and cultivation.<novelnext></novelnext>


    With those things in y, she was curious if he was still of the same opinion as before.


    John scoffed again, not wanting to y along with her jests.


    "I''ll admit you were very amazing," he said truthfully, "beyond amazing even. I''ve never seen anything like it before."


    "Wow, what prestigious words of praise from the heaven''s number one genius," Lilian replied, her voice still slightly yful. "I will wear such praise like a badge of honor."


    "All right, all right, you don''t have to be such an ass about it," John grumbled. "You are much stronger than I thought you would be. In fact, unless he''s done something heaven-defying, you might even be able to beat Asuros if you unleash that final attack again."


    "Oh? I ''might'' be able to beat Asuros?" Lilian raised an eyebrow.


    John shrugged. It had been a year since he had fought Asuros. Who knew what the Asura bestowed on Asuros during that time. Asuros had lost to John in the past when he had a higher cultivation in their fight, and yet now with normalized cultivations, he still stared at John with absolute confidence. There was no doubt a reason for that confidence, which made John unsure of just how strong Asuros had grown in thest year.


    "So if I ''might'' beat Asuros, and you ''will'' beat Asuros, that means you still don''t think I have a chance against you, despite what you just witnessed?" Lilian asked curiously.


    "Was that final spatial art the strongest you can unleash it, or can you make it stronger?" John asked after remaining silent for a short while. When he had felt that spatial freezing art, he had felt his heart stop for a moment. It was the most profound art he had ever seen, and even he felt it would have been nearly-impossible to break free from.


    But his instincts were sharp, and he knew that everything had its limits. Lilian might have frozen space there, but pure power was able to shatter anything if it was strong enough, even space itself. With his full might, he felt as though he would be able to break free of that spatial prison.


    "That was the strongest version I can release," Lilian replied after a moment''s silence. "And even then, it nearly destroyed me. My meridians are fractured to the point that it will take months to fully heal, so I wouldn''t be able to use it against you today."


    "So it''s like that," John mumbled, his mind going to his bloodline ability. Lilian''s spatial art was practically on the same level of profundity, or at least very near to his bloodline ability, and both were so powerful their bodies could hardly handle it.


    "Then if that''s the case..." John''s voice trailed off, deep in his thoughts. His mind cleared up, and his firm gaze locked onto Lilians. "As you did today, I''ll let my actions prove my words. When I battle Asuros, you''ll see for yourself just how strong I really am."

 Chapter 864 The Dao Of Space

    "I''m looking forward to it," Lilian said, "Show me where this unwavering confidence ising from."


    John nodded firmly. After Lilian''s disy, how could he afford to let her down? He needed to show that the disciple of a heavenly genius was also a heavenly genius themself, otherwise it would look bad on Lilian.


    "Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you something," John said, switching the subjects up.


    "What is it?" Lilian asked curiously.


    "Can you teach me the Dao of Space?" John asked, eager anticipation in his voice.


    "The Dao of Space?" Lilian asked curiously, a single eyebrow raised. The Dao of Space was a very rare Dao to have any insights into, and also was a very hard Dao to grasp. Only a true genius could even peer into the starting stages of the Dao, let alone grasp its true profundity.


    Lilian paused for a moment, and then remembered that John was an absolute monster when it came toprehension. In fact, he had managed to reach the Dao Adept stage in his Lightning Dao even before she reached the Dao Adept stage in either of her specialized Dao''s, despite having a natural advantage for it.


    It was most likely that hisprehension was at a level even higher than hers, which once again reminded Lilian of the monster she called her disciple.


    "What do you need the Dao of Space for?" she asked curiously, revealing she was open to the idea.


    "I have a battle art, the Divine Reaping Scythe, that utilizes the Dao of Space," John replied. "It''s amazingly profound, even more profound than the scythe battle arts you were unleashing."


    Lilian raised an eyebrow in skeptical curiosity. Where did he possibly manage to find and learn such an amazing scythe art. Her scythe arts were top of the line, and yet he imed to have something far better.


    "It''s true," John said firmly. "In fact, I was thinking of letting you learn it as well, but unfortunately I only have the stages up to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, so it would be quite useless for you outside of this realm," John added, exining why he had not yet imparted the amazing battle art on his master yet.


    ? He would also have to go through the process of teaching her to read the ancientnguage the scythe art was written in, but that was another matter.


    "How much do you know of the spatial Dao?" Lilian asked.


    "Not much to be honest," John replied, somewhat disappointed in himself. "I haven''t run into any other battle arts that used the spatial Dao, and I never ran into any natural treasures or phenomena on which I could study the spatial Dao either, so everything I learned was from unleashing the Divine Reaping Scythe," John exined his situation.


    "My grasp of the spatial Dao isn''t even in the Dao Adept stage yet, so anything will help."


    "Show me," Lilian instructed.


    "Show you?" John replied, confused.


    "Convert your essence Qi into the strongest spatial Dao ball you can manage. Show me your level," Lilian exined.


    "Oh," John mumbled. "I guess I can do that."<novelnext></novelnext>


    He had never used the spatial Dao in anything other than his Divine Reaping Scythe.


    ''It shouldn''t be too hard to just form a spatial Dao ball though,'' he thought as he focused on the task.


    Essence Qi surged from his dantian, and using his soul andprehensions into the spatial Dao, John converted that pure essence Qi into the strongest spatial Qi he could. The Qi flooded through his meridians to his hands, and then left his hands to form a ball of spatial Qi.


    The ball of spatial Qi was three inches across, and shimmered and waved like rippling space. It wasn''trge, but the size didn''t matter; only the quality of the spatial Qi did. Lilian studied the ball of Qi for a moment and then instructed him to undo it.


    The ball of spatial Qi faded away.


    "Not bad at all for never truly practicing the spatial Dao," Lilian praised, and then a sh of green light appeared in her hands. John looked at the green object, a jade piece, and eyed it curiously.


    "This jade piece contains myprehensions into the spatial Dao," Lilian exined.


    "Yourprehensions?" John asked, not expecting to hear that. He had thought it would be some spatial battle art, or an ancient thing Lilian had found somewhere.


    "I like to record myprehensions and then study themter. It helps reinforce and grow my grasp of the Dao''s I study," Lilian exined.


    "Oh, that makes sense," John said, eyeing the jade piece enviously. Comprehensions from a spatial Dao expert like Lilian would no doubt be amazing. Lilian smiled at his expression, and then handed the piece over to him.


    "Return that before we leave the realm," she instructed, to which John nodded.


    His divine sense pierced into the jade piece without hesitation, and information flooded into his mind instantly. The information was exclusively about the Dao of Space, and contained both easy to understand as well as nearly impossible to understand portions.


    The easy-to-understand parts were clear messages about Lilian''s insights into the spatial Dao, her thoughts about how to best use it, and other simr straightforward topics. The nearly impossible to understand parts were slivers of spatial Qi that Lilian had imparted into the jade piece, like recordings of all herprehensions into the spatial Dao at certain parts of her life. Each sliver was more profound than thest, showing the growth of her spatial Dao insights as she progressed cultivation wise.


    John was able to get insights immediately when studying the least profound slivers of Qi, but he only saw a jumbled mess of indiscernible Qi when he studied the spatial Qi slivers Lilian had created recently. It was as if he was looking at the Qi she had just used in her previous battle.


    ''Wow, this is quite amazing,'' John mused internally, studying those slivers of spatial Qi. With the written parts exining her thoughts of the Dao, as well as the slivers of Qi increasing in profundity, John knew this jade piece was a goldmine of information into the spatial Dao. His eyes lit up with joy as he hungrily absorbed all the information he could, like a man dying of thirst finding a spring of refreshing water.


    Lilian smiled lightly as she watched John''s eyes light up with joy, and she remained silent as he hungrily devoured the information contained within. The minutes quickly passed by, and the golem appeared in the middle of the arena once more.


    "The time for the next battle has arrived," it said, snapping John out of his entranced studying of the jade piece. His gaze snapped to the golem, and then Lilian next to him, who had an expression of unconcerned calm on her face.


    "Don''t worry," she said to John as she stood up. "Asuros is yours. I''m merely going to have some fun with him for a bit."

 Chapter 865 Having Some Fun

    Lilian vanished before John could reply, and arrived in the arena before the artifact spirit golem in the next instant. John''s gaze lingered on Lilian for a moment, and then shifted upwards, across the massive arena, locking onto the still seated Asuros.


    Asuros was smiling widely at John, his smile beyond sinister. He knew John and Lilian were close based on their interactions throughout the battle tournament.


    "Your master is quite strong," a sound transmission from Asuros appeared in John''s mind. "But not strong enough. I hope you enjoy what I''m about to do to her," his malicious sounding voice continued.


    "Try not to lose as pathetically to my master as you did to me previously," John sent his own sound transmission. He knew there would be no grand fight between Lilian and Asuros, but took the opportunity to get under Asuros'' skin anytime he could.


    His words caused Asuros'' smile to instantly vanish, reced by a menacing scowl. Asuros stood up and shed forward, appearing in the arena before the golem as well as Lilian. His eyes lecherously looked Lilian up and down, not doing anything to hide his intentions.


    Lilian was a kingdom-toppling beauty, and men like Asuros were unable to contain their emotions around such a beauty. With the fact that she was also a heavenly genius, Asuros wanted nothing more than to obtain her in this moment.


    "Why are you bothering with that brat? You should follow me instead. I could show you¡­many things," Asuros said lecherously, smiling the entire time.


    Lilian stared at Asuros with an uncaring expression, as if his presence was beneath her notice. She scoffed in amusement, almost as if she were dealing with a child. Asuros'' expression darkened by herplete dismissal of him. She had not even bothered to give him a reply.


    "Fine," Asuros said, his lecherous gaze reced by one of menacing expectation. "I''ll just beat you to death before John''s eyes, or at least until you give up pathetically."


    Lilianpletely ignored Asuros, and instead brought her hand near her face. She curled it and began to inspect her nails closely, and frowned.


    "Tch, I chipped this nail during my battle with Zeras. How annoying," she grumbled.


    Asuros'' expression darkened even further, and his quick to trigger rage appeared on his face.


    "Pftt. Hahahaha," an explosiveughter boomed out, causing all eyes to shift towards John, who was holding his stomach while roaring loudly withughter. His master was truly a heavenly genius, and was able to piss off Asuros even faster than he was. There was no more refreshing sight for him to see at the moment.


    Asuros'' dark gaze shifted from John back to Lilian, and then to the golem between them.


    "We know the rules," he said coldly, "so start the fucking battle."


    The golem nced at Lilian, who nodded in agreement.


    "Let the battle begin," it said, vanishing immediately after.


    Boom!


    Asuros'' sinister aura exploded out without hesitation, instantly flooding the arena with his power. His beast-like smile widened as he stared at Lilian, who stood a dozen yards away from him. Her eyes were wide, as if she had not expected such an explosive outburst of power from Asuros. Not only that, the aura itself waspletely evil, as if it was hell itself.


    His aura was undeniably powerful, nearly at the level Zeras had unleashed in his peak state, and it was clear that he was just getting started. Lilian now understood why John was so confident in Asuros'' victory before he had seen her own disy of power.


    Asuros truly was a pinnacle genius, at the same level as Zeras and herself.


    "Surprised already?" Asuros sneered with satisfaction. "This is only the beginning. You will only find despair in my presence. Before true power, there is only submission, or death. There is no third option."


    "I¡­" Lilian''s lips quivered, as if her confidence had shattered. She took a step backwards, as if her instincts were warning her to run. Asuros'' smile widened.


    "It''s not toote to submit to me," he said with menacing confidence. "If you submit, not only will I allow you to concede without pain, I will also shower you with gifts and treasures beyond your imagination."


    Lilian hesitated, her lips still quivering lightly. Asuros'' sinister smile widened as he stretched out his hand towards her, beckoning her to take it.


    "Take my hand, submit to me, and together we shall dominate this world and beyond," he said, his sinister smile shifting towards John as if the matter had been concluded. He wanted to see John''s expression as his master submitted to him.


    Lilian''s expression firmed up slightly, as if she had made up her mind. She bit her lip and started to walk towards Asuros hesitantly. Each step pushed through his massive aura, as if she were stepping through a storm. Asuros'' smile widened, his absolute confidence lowering his guard slightly.<novelnext></novelnext>


    Lilian smirked, her fearful expression vanishing instantly.


    sh!


    She vanished, and then appeared before Asuros in an instant like a ghost.


    Her opened hand mmed against his right cheek, unleashing the strongest p John had ever seen in his life.


    Bang!


    Asuros'' instantly took flight, his body flying through the air like a meteor.


    Bang!


    Asuros flew dozens of miles through the air and mmed into the formation barrier at the edge of the arena, bouncing off violently. The whole arena trembled from the collision.


    sh!


    Lilian appeared above Asuros instantly once more, the heel of her foot mming down on his nose.


    Boom!


    Asuros fell down like a shooting star, and mmed into the arena surface. The arena trembled even more violently than before, as if it was about to break apart. Silence filled the arena as all eyes stared with wide eyes, unable to believe how the battle had started.


    "Graaaaaaaaah!"


    A roar of pure anger boomed all throughout the arena, like a primordial beast that had just roared with its full power. Asuros instantly stood up, and then shot up towards Lilian who hovered high in the arena sky.


    "Die you bitch!" He roared with shamed anger.


    A smirk of satisfaction lingered on Lilian''s face as she watched Asuros approach with iparable power, clearly intending on taking her life with a single attack.


    "I concede," she said lightly, as if it didn''t matter to her at all.


    "You will die!" Asuros roared, blinded by rage.


    sh!


    A sh of powerful formation energy appeared around Asuros, stopping him only a few feet away from Lilian, who had remained still and calm the entire time. She eyed him amusingly as he struggled against the formation energy that had bound him.


    "She has conceded," the artifact spirit golem appeared in the air next to the two of them. "This battle is now over."


    Lilian smiled as she studied the furious Asuros'' face. A light-red handmark was stered on his right cheek, like a permanent reminder of him being pped, while his nose was blood red, with some blood trickling out.


    "This look suits you quite well," she said amusingly.


    "I''ll fucking kill you," Asuros roared, still struggling against the formation barrier that bound him.


    Lilian shrugged, and then shed away, appearing next to John the next moment.


    "Pftt¡­.Hahahaha," an outburst ofughter boomed out from John once more, who felt tears form in the corner of his eyes. The battle had been more entertaining than he could have ever hoped for.

 Chapter 866 The Final Battle

    "Hahaha, how embarrassing," boisterousughter boomed throughout the makeshift city as the spectators watched Asuros'' humiliating victory.


    Some had been disappointed at not seeing another heavenly battle between two peak geniuses, but most couldn''t help butugh at what had urred.


    Grumbles from bettors who had lost their bets on Lilian drifted out amidst theughter, while more rushed towards the betting houses to make their bets.


    The final battle was about to arrive, and it would no doubt be a spectacle they would never forget.


    ¡­


    "All those resources you bestowed on your disciple, and this is all he''s capable of? Aplete waste of resources," the Astral Emperor said to the Asura next to him, his voice tinged with amusement.


    He had felt frustrated when the Asura said those words about Zeras, and so saying it back was quite refreshing.


    The Asuras gaze shifted to the Astral Emperor, piercing with sinister malevolence. The Astral Emperor felt a chill crawl up his spine, as if he had stared at death itself. The Asura shifted its gaze back to the spatial portal, as if replying to the Astral Emperor was not worth it.


    The Astral Emperor shivered with relief. He had felt the Asuras power surging earlier, as if he had truly intended to kill the Astral Emperor. It was a stark reminder of their power bnce.


    "I may yetplete my ns without you," the Asura snarled. "You would be wise to remember your ce."


    The Astral Emperor gazed coldly into the spatial portal before him, and an almost imperceptible smirk appeared on his face for an instant before vanishing.


    ¡­.


    The other four geniuses watching couldn''t help but snicker as well, amused by Asuros'' humiliating victory. They might have all lost, but at least they had not been toyed with in such an embarrassing manner.


    Asuros'' face turned blood red with rage, his teeth bared in a snarl. He wanted nothing more than to tear Lilian apart at the moment, but knew he would not be allowed to do so.


    "Enjoy this pathetic disy of yours for now," he growled at her, "soon I''ll be tearing apart your precious disciple limb by limb, while all you will be able to do is watch. Let''s see how long that smugnesssts then."


    Lilian raised an eyebrow, and then shrugged uncaringly.


    "Good luck with that," she replied without a care, as if the threat meant nothing at all. Asuros red at her, and then turned around and returned to his original seat opposite John and Lilian.


    "That was better than anything I imagined would happen," John said, feeling refreshed by watching that sequence of events.


    "I''m d you enjoyed it," Lilian replied with a small smile. "How was my acting?"


    "Quite convincing," John praised. "I''m sure you had everyone else fooled."


    Lilian nodded with satisfaction as she sat down, followed by John.


    "Thank you for leaving Asuros to me," John said thankfully. Lilian could have chosen to fight, but she had epted defeat despite John knowing her personality despised giving up.


    "There''s no need to thank me," Lilian shook her head lightly. "I''m still quite injured from my battle with Zeras despite this formations healing. Fighting against Asuros in such a state would have been more trouble than it was worth."


    "Regardless, thank you," John reiterated.


    "You''re wee," Lilian smiled.


    "Now all that''s left is for you to show me a battle worthy of your arrogant confidence," she said.


    "Don''t worry, I''m sure you''ll find the battle more than entertaining," John replied, took out the Jade piece Lilian had given him, and started studying it once more. He wanted to absorb as much information from her spatial insights before they left the realm, at which point he would have to return it to her.


    Lilian fell select, allowing John to focus on hisprehensions. Time quickly passed by, and John instinctively snapped out of his entranced studies. His expression hardened, and he put the jade piece away.


    John stood up, and his power red for a moment. His robe vanished, and was instantly reced by his draconic battle armor. While it was quite eye-catching, it''s quality was without question, and it would be very effective against an opponent like Asuros, which John was confident in beating, but would not look down upon.


    Lilian raised an eyebrow as she inspected John''s armor. The draconic shoulders and waist piece didn''t cover much of his body, leaving his muscr arms and chest exposed. His handsome face only served to further enhance the fearsome and heroic look.


    However, it was easy to tell that the armor provided a full body protection, like a formation barrier had formed around him, reinforcing even the exposed parts of his body.


    "You look quite heroic. When did you get such a taste in good looking armor?" she said, her tone clearly one of approval.


    "I would expect you to like it," John said, smiling at her. "You chose it for me, after all."


    "I chose it for you?" Lilian repeated with confusion, and then realized what John meant. Laia had chosen it for him, and her and Laia were one in the same.


    The artifact spirit golem appeared in the middle of the arena, prepared to announce the start of the final trial. It stopped as it noticed both John and Asuros standing on either side of it already.


    They red at each other with murderous expressions.


    "I request a life and death battle," their voices sounded out in unison. The golem looked at both for a moment and then nodded its head.


    "So be it. The final battle of the final trial shall be a battle to the death!"


    Asuros smiled maliciously, eyeing John as like a beast about to devour its prey. John''s gaze remained cold yet calm, his mental and physical state at its peak.


    "I am going to enjoy breaking you slowly, painfully, brutally," Asuros said malevolently.


    "You lost to me when your cultivation was higher than mine, and now they are the same. Your death today will allow my fallen n and alliance members to finally rest in peace, and unlikest time, there will be no escape today," John replied firmly.


    "Hahaha, I''m far from being the same person you previously fought. Today you will understand the difference between us," Asuros sneered.


    John nodded in agreement.


    "The difference between us will be clear for all to see today," he agreed.


    "You may begin!" The artifact spirit instructed.


    Boom!


    Two apocalyptic auras surged out without hesitation, flooding the arena with sinister red and ck Qi. The final battle had finally begun.

 Chapter 867 The Fated Fight Begins

    John and Asuros appeared before each other like ghosts, their speed beyond shocking. Both of them punched out with their fists towards each other, the first test of their might against one another.


    Boom!


    Two fists collided, and the world seemed to shake. The arena shook with violent energy, as if it were about to fall apart. A leg swept out, met by the others leg as well.


    Boom!


    The arena shook with violent energy once more, even more powerful than the first exchange.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    In a few seconds, hundreds of attacks were exchanged between the two, both using only their physical body in the exchanges.


    The other geniuses watching, as well as everyone in the divine city watching the stone stele had their eyes wide and mouths agape. In just the first few seconds of the final battle, they were already shocked to their core, and for multiple reasons.


    They were shocked that the two pinnacle geniuses of the realm, and perhaps the entire world, had requested a life and death battle without hesitation. Clearly the two had history with each other, and that history was one filled with irreconcble hatred.


    They were shocked by the brutal power of the attacks being unleashed. Despite the attacks being pure physical attacks without weapons, each punch and kick was powerful enough to shatter mountains and destroy kingdoms. It was like watching two primordial beasts fight, their physical might iparable to anything else in existence. Despite watching the battle through the stone stele, they could almost feel the impacts course through them. They could understand the apocalyptic power of the battle.


    They were shocked by the brutality of the battle, which had just begun moments ago. Both John and Asuros had expressions of menace and hatred on their face; their teeth were gritted tight and eyes were wide with rage. But despite this obvious hatred both felt, neither had opted to use a weapon yet.


    Fists mmed against flesh and bone as the two fought with brutal barbarity. It was as if both John and Asuros did not want the battle to end too quickly, and wanted the other to suffer as much as possible. A weapon could take a life in an instant, but a fist would brutalize an opponent for some time before their life would fade away.


    It was also as if both were trying to establish their superiority from the start, proving to the other that they did not even need a weapon to dominate the other.


    Lastly, they were shocked to their cores by what had appeared before their very eyes. John and Asuros were no more, or at least they did not appear as they had just moments ago. Both had undergone hellish physical transformations, appearing more like demons than humans.


    Their bodies had turned ck and red, their muscles had grownrger, their eyes had turned blood red, and horns pierced out of their heads. Asuros had many horns on his head, like a crown made of horns, while John had two, both slightly curved and piercing out of the upper part of his forehead.


    Not a single word was uttered as the makeshift city fell dead silent, too stunned to speak, or even make a noise. And most importantly of all, everyone knew that this was just the start. What was toe would no doubt shock them further, although they were almost unable to believe that was possible.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The arena trembled ceaselessly as John and Asuros shed about the arena, appearing in different ces like ghosts as they exchanged dozens of attacks each and every second. Fist crunched against flesh and bone as bothnded attacks on the other.


    It was as if neither was concerned about defending, and only wanted to brutalize the other with utmost haste. Blood flew about the arena as both created wounds on the other, although the wounds were hardly worth noticing.


    Thanks to both John and Asuros having unlocked the Limiter of Healing, they both healed those small wounds in nearly an instant, although Asuros seemingly healed faster thanks to him having unlocked the Limiter of Life while John had yet to do so.


    It was a barbaric fight devoid of any tactics or thought, as if it were truly two mindless beasts fighting for supremacy.


    Boom!


    Another exchange urred, both John and Asurosnding a cmitous punch on the other''s face at the same time, neither concerned about blocking the other''s attack. Both of them flew backwards through the sky like meteors, and mmed into the opposite sides of the arena''s formation barrier.


    The formation barrier lit up brightly as both collided into it, and then fell to the arena floor below. The crowd held their breath as they watched with bated breath, unable to peel their eyes away for a second.


    They could tell that the force at which both had collided into the formation barrier would kill even a Dao Transformation expert, and yet both John and Asuros stood up without hesitation, and if the damage they had sustained meant nothing; if they even sustained damage at all.


    For the first time since the battle started, there was silence in the arena. John and Asuros stood on opposite sides of the hundred-mile wide arena, staring at each other with menace. Asuros smirked.


    "Not bad," he praised mockingly. "You seem to have improved since west fought. It appears I won''t be able to kill you with my fists alone," he said as his massive saber suddenly appeared in his right hand.


    John remained silent as his scythe appeared in his right hand, and his body dipped slightly as he strained to hold it steady. Asuros did not miss this fact, and a smile appeared on his face.


    "You''re using a scythe so heavy that even you cannot wield it properly? Are you stupid?" he asked mockingly.


    "Why don''t youe over here and fight out for yourself," John replied, speeding forward the next instant. Asuros'' smile widened into a menacing grin as he sped forward with equal speed and power.


    The two met in the very center of the arena, both weapons shing out towards the other, both using only their pure physical might in the exchange.


    Boom!

 Chapter 868 Asuros True Power

    Weapons collided, and even space sumbed to the power of the exchange as it rippled to the naked eye, spreading the spatial ripples throughout the arena. The crowd was once more stunned beyond allpare.


    Not even the battle between Zeras and Lilian had created spatial ripples, and the only visible spatial distortion had been Lilian''s spatial art, which was somethingpletely different from pure physical power distorting space.


    It was known that spatial ripples could only appear on the Divine Martial Continent when one unleashed an attack with the power of a Late Dao Transformation cultivator. And yet, these two had managed to aplish such a feat with both being in the Late Heaven Tribtion realm.


    It was at this point that everyone realized the two they were watching battle wereplete monsters unable to be judged by cultivation norms they had known their entire lives.


    They were able to jump a full major cultivation realm. They were watching two geniuses capable of transcending the cultivationws of the world, and step into a tier of genius thought impossible.


    The weight of John''s scythe shocked Asuros, as he felt himself lose out on the exchange ever so slightly. It wasn''t a loss in physical power, but a loss in weapon weight, which he had to endure the entire brunt of.


    His arms buckled slightly with pain, but he easily ignored it as the slight surprise turned into a malevolent smirk. He recovered instantly, and he sped towards John''s side like a ghost, saber cleaving outwards.


    John withdrew his scythe and turned to meet the attack, but was only able to raise the shaft of the scythe in time to block the powerful saber shing down on him.


    Bang!


    John felt the weight of a mountain crush against him, and his feet skidded across the arena floor as he was knocked backward for a dozen miles. He had maintained his bnce andposure, but that had all he had been able to do. Asuros appeared next to him once more, not giving John a single breath to recover.


    Asuros'' malicious smile widened, spreading from cheek to cheek like a demon''s maw as his saber came crashing down on John once more with apocalyptic might.


    Bang!


    As had happened in the previous exchange, John was only able to raise his scythe shaft in time to block the attack, as the weight of the weapon was too much for him to quickly swing out towards Asuros.


    John was knocked backwards again, with Asuros appearing before him like a ghost once more.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The flurry of apocalyptic saber shes rained down on John, each powerful enough to shatter thend for dozens of miles in each direction. Only the durability of the arena and the formations lining it kept things intact, and unruined.


    "Are you just going to guard this entire fight? Pathetic!" Asuros roared mockingly as he unleashed another saber sh onto John.


    John''s aura suddenly exploded outwards with heightened power, eclipsing his previous disy of strength.


    Supreme Battle Art!


    His strength surged, and his scythe shed out with equal haste, its de mming against Asuros'' saber.


    Boom!


    Asuros'' eyes widened for a brief instant as he felt himself knocked backwards, but quickly recovered his bnce andnded on the arena floor. He skidded backwards for several hundred yards beforeing to a stop.


    "Ahhhh....there it is," Asuros said smilingly, "the battle art you used in conjunction with your Asura transformation has finallye out," he added, recognizing the Supreme Battle Art in an instant. John using the Supreme Battle Art in conjunction with his Asura Transformation had been the thing that allowed him to overwhelm Asuros in their previous battle.


    "I was wondering how long you were going to hold that battle art back," Asuros said as he slowly started to walk towards John, each step trembling the arena around him with his brutal power.


    "So you''ve finally decided to go all out? Good, then allow me to show you just how much I''ve changed since ourst battle," Asuros said, his voice growing louder into a roar by the end of his words. "It''s time you see the might of a true Asura! It''s time you die!"


    As he said this, a blood red sphere appeared in the air before Asuros. John''s eyes instantly narrowed as he stared at the orb; an orb of blood. It was three inches across, and was something he instantly recognized, as he had seen it before.


    It was the same as the blood drops he had absorbed in his pce realm each time he advanced in cultivation. He had always had lingering questions about the blood''s origins, but with everything he had learned over thest year, he had full certainty of what it was.


    It was Asura blood.


    Asuros noticed John''s narrowed gaze, and his smile widened to the point that it seemed it would tear his face in half.


    "You seem to recognize this blood," Asuros said, "Good. Then watch as your fate is sealed," he added as the sphere of blood sped into his opened mouth. Asuros swallowed the blood without hesitation, his eyes never leaving John for a second.


    "My body was not strong enough to endure this previously," Asuros said, his voice growing deeper. "But now it is. Watch as I be a true Asura!" he roared as his body began to change once more.


    While Asuros looked like a hellish demon before he had swallowed the blood, his transformation became even more terrifying. His muscles wriggled all over his body, like worms underneath his skin, and then everything grew in size. Asuros became taller, more muscr, more terrifying.


    His horns grew, his nails grew into ws, his teeth became fangs. In just a second, Asuros had gone from a demonic human, to appearing like a true Asura, over ten feet in height. It was as if he had be the Asura John had seen in the visions shown to him by Iris, the Asura of Anguish.


    Asuros'' horrifying aura skyrocketed, flooding the arena with a sinister malevolence that almost none aside from John would be able to bear.


    This was Asuros'' true power.

 Chapter 869 Asuros Dominance

    Wide eyes, most filled with fear, stared at the stone stele, which revealed Asuros'' transformation. He had appeared like a hellish demon before, but now appeared even more fearsome, more brutal, more terrifying. It was a fear at the instinctual level, as if every cell in their bodies was warning them to flee.


    Even the stronger cultivators in the crowd, Dao Transformation and World Expansion experts alike, felt this instinctual warning, although they were better able to control their emotions than the weaker cultivators witnessing Asuros'' true form.


    There were some gazes in the crowd belonging to the ancient experts of the world that narrowed. They had read ancient scriptures and passages about an ancient foe, terrifying beyond all measure. Those descriptions matched Asuros'' appearance almost perfectly.


    The Grand Abbot narrowed his gaze as well, staring through the thousands of miles ofnd, mountains, and formation barriers to peer within the arena.


    "Grand Abbot," Prior Hishen said.


    The Grand Abbot nodded. "That is no doubt an Asura transformation, as is the other childs. However, where one maintains his humanity, the other haspletely shed it."


    "How did theye to obtain such transformations?" Prior Hishen asked with surprised curiosity.


    "We can only specte at this moment about the one child, but as for the one who has shed his humanity, I have some ideas," the Grand Abbot said, borating no further.


    Prior Hishen wanted to ask more about it, but knew the Grand Abbot would not speak further of this matter.


    "This is the true form of an Asura!" Asuros roared, his voice demonic, deep, and guttural. A sharp-fanged smile appeared on his face as he stared at John like he was his prey. "You imed in our previous battle that my transformation was a false Asura transformation, while your''s was true. Let''s see if you can still say those words!"


    Asuros roared once more like a beast, and then pressed off the arena ground. Thend shook violently with his step, while Asuros sped forward like a blur, his speed far greater than before despite hisrger size.


    He appeared before John in an instant, and shed out at him with cmitous power. It was as if an entire world was falling onto John. John gripped his scythe shaft tight and shed it out towards Asuros, using every ounce of strength he had.


    Bang!


    Weapons collided, and the arena seemed as though it was about to fall apart. It shook with cmitous ruin, making those seated in the stands feel as though they were experiencing a world-ending earthquake.


    John felt an overwhelming force surge into his arms and then through the rest of his body, making his muscles and bones ache with pain. Despite his overwhelming strength as well as weapon weight, John felt himself lose out in the exchange, much to his surprise.


    Unable to contest against Asuros, John was knocked backwards, violently tumbling through the air. He quickly righted himself midair and came to a halt, as he had lost in strength, but had not taken much damage in that exchange.


    ''So strong!'' John couldn''t help but mutter to himself.


    He knew Asuros would be terrifyingly strong in this new form of his, but didn''t know it would be to this level. He now knew where Asuros'' confidence came from, as his new transformation put him on the same level as John''s Asura Transformation in conjunction with his Supreme Battle Art.


    John grumbled internally at his lower cultivation, which always seemed to be the case when he fought against his opponents. Despite the realm normalizing their cultivations, Asuros still had a great advantage whenpared to John. Much like theprehension advantages Lilian and Zeras had, Asuros had a body advantage.


    His higher cultivation had made his body a level higher than John''s at the physical level, and despite the formation restricting it to the same cultivation realm, the formation was only able to do so much. It could notpletely erase the advantage Asuros had, much to John''s displeasure.


    Lastly, he could tell that Asuros'' had incredibleprehension as well, as each and every sh of his saber was infused with multiple Dao''s. John recognized the Dao of Destruction, which not at John''sprehension level, was still formidable. There were other Dao''s as well, such as the Dao of Saber''s and some John didn''t recognize, which all together made Asuros truly dangerous, worthy of his status as a pinnacle genius.


    Thatst sh alone was more powerful than anything Zeras had unleashed in his battle with Lilian. Lilian watched John''s battle unfold with a neutral expression, although internally she was not as calm as she appeared. Many things had already happened in the battle that were outside of her expectations, including the sheer power Asuros possessed. She now understood where John''s confidence in Asuros'' strength came from.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The arena trembled violently as Asuros and John exchanged more attacks, with Asuros on the offensive the entire time. Each sh of his saber sent John flying backwards, at which point he would just be able to stabilize before Asuros would appear before him and unleash another apocalyptic saber sh, forcing John to defend once more.


    Lilian frowned as she saw this battle-flow unfold. She knew this was not all her disciple was capable of, as his confidence from earlier would have been a joke if this was his limits.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Asuros'' overwhelming assault continued ceaselessly, making everyone watching feel as though this was the end of the battle. Despite the fact that John had been the number one trial participant up to this point, it appears as though his talents andbat prowess were not at the same level.


    Many felt pity, as well as disappointment. Despite the fact that Asuros'' power was beyond stunning, as was John''s at the moment, they expected more from the man who had achieved a perfect score in the divine realm, as well as twenty steps on the Talent Testing Steps.


    Lilian''s gaze narrowed as she watched John be beaten back time and time again, each time only managing to block Asuros'' attack by a thin margin, just keeping himself alive. His gaze seemed almost distracted, and his actions seemed instinctual, as if he were reserving the least possible amount of focus on the battle to keep himself alive, while the rest of his mind and soul was elsewhere.


    Suddenly, she leaned forward unconsciously as she studied John closely, and her eyes went wide with realization.


    "That idiot! Is he actually trying to do something so¡­stupid?" she grumbled with calm anger.


    Bang!


    Another collision of scythe and saber caused John to go flying backwards like a broken kite. His arms were trembling from the repeated collisions, as if they were on the brink of copse, and blood began to trickle down from the corners of his mouth.


    However, despite being pushed to the edge, John''s expression remained calm, confusing most who were watching the battle unfold. That was not the expression of someone on the edge of defeat. It was not the expression of someone with no hope of victory.


    While others noticed this, Asuros seemed to be oblivious, as he was drowning in the pleasure of dominating John. While he had not managed to gravely injure or kill John, that was only a matter of time.


    "Is this all you''re capable of?" Asuros roared with smug satisfaction. "Pathetic!"


    Bang!


    Asuros shed out, his saber sending John flying once more.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    John was knocked throughout the arena like a pinball, going from edge to edge of the arena ceaselessly. However, with each attack blocked, a bizarre and profound energy wrapped around him, which Lilian was the first to notice.


    With each attack, the energy grew stronger and stronger, until even Asuros finally noticed its existence.


    "The spatial Dao? What can you hope to do with your measly grasp of the spatial Dao?" Asuros said mockingly as he unleashed another saber sh.


    Lilian suddenly stood up, her mouth agape and eyes wide, as if she had been stunned to her core.


    "Impossible! He was just¡­"


    A heavenly aura descended from the sky around John, as if he were being blessed by the heavens. Asuros'', as well as everyone watching, became stunned as they instantly recognized what that heavenly aura was.


    It was the heavenly blessing, the heavenly acknowledgement, when someone broke through from oneprehension realm to the next. The aura descended down on John, making it clear who had broken through.


    John smiled as he watched Asuros'' saber sh down towards his skull, but he didn''t raise his scythe to block it.


    "Thanks for pushing me to the edge," he said calmly, "it helped me advance much faster than normal," John finished, and then the energy and profundity of spatial Dao he had been using before magnified severalfold, stepping into an entirely new realm.


    The saber fell onto John, and passed right through him. Millions winced as they thought they had watched a heavenly genius be cleaved in half, but those winced became expressions of shock as they watched Asuros'' saber m down onto the arena floor, with John nowhere in sight.


    Bang!


    Asuros'' gaze snapped to the side, his eyes red with rage. He spotted John standing a hundred yards away,pletely unharmed, frowning.


    "Huh, spatial teleportation is much harder to control than master makes it look," John mumbled to himself, "I meant to appear right behind Asuros, and yet here I am all this distance away. What a shame."

 Chapter 870 Comprehending The Spatial Dao

    John shook his head at himself in a self-pitying manner, as he had intended to appear directly behind Asuros for a perfect sneak-attack, but had failed to do so due to hisck of control over the newlyprehended technique.


    "Still, master''sprehensions and techniques are beyond amazing. She truly is a genius," John mumbled to himself, still content that he was able to learn her spatial movement technique so quickly.


    ''Treat space like the surface of a body of water. To someone above the water who cannot see within, it would appear as if you had mysteriously appeared in another location, despite swimming normally beneath the depths of the water''s surface. Absolutely genius,'' John said internally, still enthralled by the feeling of moving through space.


    He had always considered space to be something abstract, invisible, and hard to perceive or grasp. His master''s notes had suggested that he should look at it like a pool of water he was diving into, swimming beneath the surface, and then reappearing elsewhere. The only other addition to it was using the spatial Dao to contract the space in front of him, allowing him to move through space much faster than he would be able to physically move in the real world.


    He had never been able to see that surface of the spatial dimension, but that surface had appeared to him when his Spatial Daoprehensions advanced to the next level. It was like he was seeing an entire new world appear before him, one that existed just beyond a thin pane of ss. His newprehensions allowed him to not only see this new reality, but open it, although with much effort.


    When he had managed to step into the spatial dimension beyond this reality, he had seen swirling colors of light, like a million different paint brushes coloring everything around him. It had been incredibly beautiful, one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.


    The dimension almost seemed as though it was between his reality and something else, sandwiched in between. That was just his intuition though, as he couldn''t see or feel anything other than the spatial void and his physical dimension.


    Through the swirling colors of light, he could still see his physical reality, although it was like looking through a fogged-up window. He could see into his real world, but it was hard to make out exactly what was going on.


    The swirling energy all around him was the chaotic energy of the void, as his masters notes had mentioned, which was quite powerful. He had expected its power, but it was still stronger than he had expected. Like a leaf in a strong gust of wind, the energy had blown him off his initial intended path, causing him to appear farther away from Asuros as he had hoped for.


    Learning to deal with that chaotic energy would be quite troublesome, as it took more than just brute force to swim though. It took spatialprehensions to part open or avoid, and so he would only be able to use this amazing technique proficiently once his spatial Daoprehensions had improved.


    But for now, it was far more than enough. While it took quite a great deal of Qi to utilize, just being able to instantly disappear like he had just done was more than enough forbat. Even if he couldn''t use it offensively, it was a perfect defensive tool as long as Asuros didn''t have a way to suppress the space around them.


    While John marveled in his new-found powers, everyone else stared at him with wide eyes, including Asuros, and even Lilian. They had all felt his spatial Dao level earlier when he had initially tried to use this technique. They had also felt his new level of spatial Daoprehension when he advanced in one fell swoop, andparing the two was likeparing a candle to the sun.


    It was utterly impossible to improve one''sprehensions so much instantly. Completely impossible!


    And the one who knew this the most was Lilian herself, who had created those notes and cultivated the spatial Dao herself. Even she, born with the rune of space carved into her body, had never improved so quickly in the spatial Dao. While John had the luxury of studying her notes while she had to discover mostly everything herself, she was still certain that such a rate of improvement would have been impossible for her, even if her younger self had those notes.


    "It should have taken him months to go from where he was to where he is now, if not longer," Lilian mumbled to herself, still in a daze. She quickly snapped out of her daze, and stared at John with a new viewpoint, as if she were truly seeing him for the first time.


    "Absolutely monstrous," she shook her head lightly, a smile appearing on her face. She really had her work cut out for herself, being the master of such a monstrous freak.


    While John was still basking in the joy of such a monumental breakthrough, Asuros appeared before John like a ghost again, enraged beyond all measure. He was dominating the battle, and yet John waspletely at ease, as if Asuros posed no threat at all.


    "Who cares if you can teleport," he roared like a wild beast, "you''re still going to fucking die!"


    Boom!


    His saber mmed down onto the arena floor where John had been standing just a moment prior.


    "How are you going to kill me if you can''t even hit me?" John said mockingly, appearing several hundred yards away from Asuros again, stepping out of the spatial void like a ghost.


    Asuros'' teeth grit so hard that it became audible as his gaze snapped towards John.


    Roar!


    A guttural, beast-like roar boomed from him as his aura exploded out even more, flooding the entire arena with his sinister malice. His blood-red eyes, wide with unbridled fury, locked onto John with hate and malice.


    "Let''s see if you can still flee in the face of absolute power!" he roared as another sphere of Asura blood appeared in his grasp, and he immediately popped it into his mouth and swallowed.


    John''s smug gaze narrowed as he watched Asuros'' figure transform into an even more terrifying and hideous monstrosity. His muscles wriggled like worms and grewrger and more powerful. His body expanded, bing taller and wider, and his aura grew even more, surging in the sky high above the arena.


    Grunts of pain boomed out from Asuros as he seemingly struggled to withstand this even stronger form of his, which seemed to be finally aplished with great struggle.


    "Die!" Asuros roared, his voice like a primordial beast. His roar alone shook the entire arena as he pressed off it, his one step shaking everything as if he had unleashed an ultimate battle art.


    He appeared before John like a hulking beast, blood red and brimming with unstoppable apocalyptic power. His aura surged out in all directions, so powerful that it made everyone else, even Lilian, hold their breaths.


    The central focus of Asuros'' power was none other than John, who felt as if the weight of a mountain was pressing down on him at all times, just from Asuros'' aura alone. He frowned as he tried to part space open before him, but that spatial ability was interfered with by Asuros'' overwhelming Aura.


    He would no longer be able to utilize that spatial movement technique.


    Asuros'' saber shed down towards John, who had not yet disappeared from his location. Eyes went wide and breaths were bated as everyone noticed no spatial Dao had appeared around John. He was obviously no longer able to use it, and the power behind Asuros'' saber sh was beyondpare, nearly equal to a World Expansion experts battle art.


    Was this his end? Was this how an absolute pinnacle genius would die?


    John''s yful expression faded away instantly as he watched the saber fall down towards him, and was reced by one of absolute battle and blood lust. The time for ying around was over. The time for Asuros'' death had arrived.


    "Your death will be one of no glory, no honor," John said, his voice growing stronger through the surging aura. "You will die the death of a nobody, because that is all you deserve!"


    Without warning, a primordial power surged out from within the arena, like the appearance of an ancient being who ruled above all of creation. A power that made everyone be stunned to their cores, Lilian included, who felt as though she were standing in the presence of a god.


    Dragon-God Shift!

 Chapter 871 The Power Of A God!

    Just when everyone thought they had seen it all, when everyone thought the limits of what was possible had been reached, and even exceeded, just when everyone thought a pinnacle genius would finally reach his demise, another power appeared thatpletely shattered everything they believed in.


    The power erupted instantly, furiously, cmitously. It was as if a god had truly appeared within the arena, its power capable of staring down on all of creation. While its true level of power was not at that level yet, that was what everyone instinctively thought when they felt its might.


    This was the power of the Gods!


    Roar!


    A draconic roar boomed out within the arena, formed by the aura alone that had suddenly appeared. The roar was instantly followed by another, as John opened his mouth widely and roared as he felt the power of the Dragon-God Shift surge through his Asura transformed body, filling him with iprehensible strength.


    Roar!


    The first roar had just been a roar, one done when filled to the brim with energy, but the second had been far more than that. It was the roar of a true dragon!


    Roar of the Jade Dragon!


    A devastating roar boomed out, its might equal to the most devastating of battle arts.


    Boom!


    The roar sted out instantly, mming against a surprised and stunned Asuros'' right as his saber was about to cleave onto John''s head. As if struck by a tsunami, Asuros'' flew backwards through the sky without being able to resist at all as he had not prepared for such an attack, tumbling head over heels like a broken kite.


    Bang!


    He mmed into the formation barrier on the other side of the arena a momentter, his speed so fast that he had traversed dozens of miles in a second. Asuros rebounded off the barrier formation violently, the impact akin to taking a powerful battle art head on. He started falling down towards the arena floor, but managed to right himself before that.


    Asuros stopped falling and hovered in the sky, his blood red eyes staring at John in the distance; eyes that were wide with confusion, surprise, and even fear. John''s aura surged through the arena like a hurricane; a tempest of energy that brushed aside everything, including Asuros'' own aura.


    Asuros'' wide eyes, trembling with disbelief, stared at John, who lookedpletely different now. He still had his Asura form, but now appeared like a draconic asura instead. Dragon scales covered parts of his arms, chest, and cheeks, and his aura was now tinged with a golden glow, like the glow of stars.


    Without warning, John suddenly vanished from sight.


    "Teleportation? No!" Asuros shockingly said as his gaze snapped to the side, barely following along as John arrived before him, not by spatial teleportation, but by physical movement, so fast that even Asuros thought it teleportation for a second.


    Bang!


    John''s fist containing unstoppable power mmed against Asuros'' massive head, who felt as if he had just been struck by an entire. His vision went ck for a second, and he came back to consciousness dozens of miles away from his previous position, head pounding with terrible pain.


    Bang!


    He mmed against the formation barrier again, and felt another surge of pain course through his already taxed body. Asuros'' ignored the pain and roared with absolute fury.


    "Impossible! IMPOSSIBLE!" he roared, speeding towards John after recovering from the attack he had just taken head on. His saber shed down with his full power, not a single ounce of QI held back.


    "The Asura form, my Asura form, is the pinnacle of power! Die!" he roared, saber reaching John instantly.


    John watched with a hardened gaze as the saber reached him in an instant, its might beyond overwhelming. Even he would be gravely injured if itnded on him unguarded, despite his current power. But instead of fear, John scoffed.


    "Still not enough!" John roared back, and against all expectations, shed to the side instantly and punched out sideways with his fist. Against such an overwhelming opponent, he was choosing to fight unarmed.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>


    Bang!


    A flicker of light and loud boom sted out as John''s fists lit up brightly, coated entirely with lightning, like a gauntlet of lightning. The lightning instantly magnified in power several fold, as if it had transcended lightning itself and be something even more profound. Eyes of the stronger cultivators watching the battle went wide once more as they recognized what was happening; a Dao fusion of lightning and power, and one of absolute understanding and perfection.


    His lightning-coated left fist mmed against the t of Asuros'' de before it couldnd on him, knocking it aside and almost out of Asuros'' stunned grasp. The collision of fist and saber sent a cmitous boom outward in all directions, as if a battle art from a World Expansion cultivator had just exploded.


    Before Asuros could recover the control of his massive saber, John''s right fist mmed forward, sting against Asuros'' unguarded chest.


    Boom!


    Asuros flew backwards like a meteor, and mmed against the nearby formation barrier with a sickening crunch.


    Bang!


    Another lightning coated fist mmed against Asuros before he could recover, sting him back into the formation barrier once more.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    A barrage of apocalyptically powerful punches sted out without pause onto Asuros, who found himself pinned between the formation barrier and John''s fists. It was as if an endless storm of lightning had appeared, one with the sole intention of eradicating Asuros from existence. His fists moved so fast that almost no one except the most powerful in the world could see them move. To everyone else, it was as one continuous beam of lightning was mming into Asuros without pause.


    The formation barrier started to crack and then reformed anew, for the first time showing signs of weakness as it felt the full wrath of John''s cmitous barrage of power. Each blow of John''s fist was as powerful as Half-Step World Expansion cultivators strongest battle art, and each was growing more powerful than thest.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The fists never stopped, the brutality never ended. A sickening crunch of fist on flesh and bone filled the arena, as the once overwhelmingly powerful Asuros fell under this barrage, unable to stop it for a single second. Millions watched with iparable shock as the battle between two pinnacle geniuses had instantly turned into a one sided assault of pure brutality.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The storm of lightning grew in power, intensity, and lethality, as John''s punches blurred together as both his speed and power continued to grow, as if his power had no limits.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The very world seemed to tremble under this barrage of godly power, whichsted less than a minute before a final st of John''s fist, stronger than all the rest as ifing from a true dragon itself, mmed onto Asuros, whose figure was drowned in a storm of lightning, not allowing anyone to see what had be of him.


    The barrage finally stopped, and John''s transformation faded away as his figure returned to normal, his fists bloodied with both his and Asuros'' blood. His face was pale and his body swayed lightly, his Qi reserves nearlypletely spent. His body ached with excruciating pain, but he ignored that pain.


    The crowd gasped in shock as the lightning storm faded away, and revealed the oue of the iprehensibly powerful barrage of attacks from John.


    Wide eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing, lingered on the now deformed clumps of flesh and bone that had once been Asuros, but was now nothing more than an unrecognizable smatter of blood and bone stered to the arena''s formation barrier.


    Asuros, the pinnacle genius whose strength had shattered all concepts of what was possible, was now dead beyond all recognition, in by someone who defied those concepts to an even higher, iprehensible level.


    The world stared in shock, unable to peel their eyes from the undoubtable pinnacle genius of the world, and perhaps all of creation.


    The world stared at an Immortal Asura. The world stared at a Dragon-God.


    The world stared at John.

 Chapter 872 The Final Trial Ends

    Shock. Disbelief. Silence.


    These words described each and every person who had witnessed the battle, from the most lowly nobody''s to some of the most powerful cultivators in the world.


    There wasn''t a single person who maintained theirposure. It was impossible to do so. John''s battle had shattered every fabric of the reality they through they knew. That reality had already been shattered by Asuros just prior, and then had beenpletely torn to shreds by John, much like he had done to Asuros himself.


    Wide eyes turned to the side, locking gazes with those nearby, who were equally as stunned. The battle between Lilian and Zeras had been a beautiful battle of heavenly essence battle arts and genius levelprehensions.


    While John also disyed genius levelprehensions, his battle was theplete opposite. It was physical, it was overwhelming, it was savage.


    How could a body be that powerful? How could someone unleash a physical transformation, a body battle art, and an essence battle art, all at the same time, all powerful and profound beyondpare. It was utterly impossible! It defied the fundamental ts of cultivation.


    And yet, it had happened before their very eyes. It may be impossible for the world, but was apparently not impossible for John.


    "Wooo! I never doubted you for a second!" A loud cry of tion suddenly broke the silence,ing from Caz, who felt unable to control his emotions. While John''s power was far beyond anything he could have imagined, His friend had won as he had as he had expected, and had made an absolute fortune from betting on him. He had been so confident in John''s victory that he had put almost all his money on him in the beginning, and had multiplied his wealth several fold as a result.


    Caz'' shout of joy seemed to break everyone out of their daze. A cmitous uproar of frenzied shoutin, heated discussions, and joyous cheering boomed out throughout the city, which shook from the sound alone.


    The Honorable Alliance camp cheered with pride and joy, beyond ted that their representative had won in front of everyone, and in such an overwhelming fashion. Those in the Forbidden Alliance had looks of displeasure, disgust, and even anger, and they slinked away from the city as fast as they could.


    Hovering in the sky behind the city, two men smiled lightly at the scene before them.


    "Asura of Annihtion¡­no wonder he''s called that," Thunderfist said with a satisfied smile on his face.


    "It is indeed an apt name," Thunderzen replied, his gaze less satisfied. The whole world now knew of John''s talents, and that would no doubt cause a headache in the very near future.


    ¡­


    John hovered in the sky before the smattering of blood, flesh and bone that had once been Asura. The force of his attacks and the heat of his lightning had practically fused the charred pile of Asuros to the formation barrier.


    Ptew!


    John spat on Asuros mangled corpse, and his hatred and anger seemed to leave with that spit. Asuros was dead, his fallen family and alliance members were avenged. His death feud was over.


    Weakness developed him, and he fell to the arena floor below, no longer able to support himself in the sky. Hended on his feet with a thud, but managed to stay upright.


    His body ached and his head pounded with pain. He had utilized both the Asura Transformation and the Dragon-God Shift for about a minute, which had pushed his body to its limits.


    He swayed with weakness, and fell down onto his knees. A soft hand caught him before he kneeled, ced on his chest, supporting him. John looked at the one who had appeared, and a smile appeared on his face.


    "I hope the battle was to your satisfaction," John said to Lilian, who had appeared before the artifact spirit to support him.


    After a battle like that, a disy like that, kneeling was not something she would allow John to do, she thought. A genius of his level was not allowed to kneel, regardless of the reason.


    Lilian studied John''s face with a stern expression, as if she were trying to see into his very soul. A small smile appeared on her face a momentter.


    "It was very much to my satisfaction," she said warmly.


    John smiled widely, his teeth bared in a rare full smile. He felt lite, like a massive weight had fallen off his shoulders.


    sh!


    The artifact spirit golem appeared beside him, both shifting their attention towards it.<novelsnext>please visit </novelsnext>


    "Congrattions," it said monotonously. "You have passed the final trial, and will be permitted to enter the true final area of this divine realm," it said, while John suddenly felt warm and vibrant energy flood into his body, healing his wounds, mending his slightly fractured meridians, and restoring his spent qi. It was an amazing feeling, although John still much preferred the feeling of Laia''s healing more, which was far more pleasant and euphoric.


    His body dantian was not replenished, as if the golem couldn''t detect it. John was not surprised. It nced at John and Lilian.


    "Once you are fully healed and restored, you will be sent to the final area," it instructed.


    "What''s to happen to Lilian?" John asked before the golem left.


    "They will remain here until you are done, and then all will be expelled to the realm entrance," the artifact spirit replied.


    John nodded his head, satisfied. The golem vanished, and John and Lilian shared a nce again.


    "Come. We have much to discuss," she said, waving her hand, her flying ship appearing within the arena. The two entered within, and the door closed.


    The final trial was finally done. Zeras and Asuros were finally dead. It was time to rest, if for only a brief moment before the next storm arrived.


    ¡­


    Silence filled the Astral Emperors throne room. He had wanted to crack a joke about Asuros'' shorings, but had held his tongue. His instincts told him that if he did so, he would perish.


    The Asura beside him remained silent, but his emotions were more than clear. Itsrge fanged teeth were gritted and bared, scraping loudly against each other as it grit its jaw with anger. Its sinister aura flooded the chamber, feeling suffocating to even the Astral Emperor himself.


    The Astral Emperor frowned. He could tell that the Asura was about to explode with rage, and if that happened, his pce, and perhaps even his empire would be destroyed.


    "Why did you care to raise a disciple?" He asked, trying to distract the Asura from his rage. "What could the boy have possibly done for you that you yourself could not have done.


    The Asuras blood red eyes shifted to the Astral Emperor.


    "Done for me?" The Asura snorted deeply. "He was cattle, meant to be fattened up for ughter. His only purpose was to grow, and then be devoured by me!" It boomed, and then mmed its massive fist in rage towards the chamber floor.


    The Astral Emperor''s eyes went wide. He could not allow this attack tond. It would destroy everything. His power red, and a strong astral and spatial energy appeared before the Asuras fist, and softened the blow, like a hand hitting a pillow.


    The chamber shook, but it remained intact. The Astral Emperor breathed out in relief. The Asuras angry eyes snapped to him, as if he would attack him next.


    "Destroying my pce does no good," the Astral Emperor said.


    The Asura growled, ring as if still deciding whether to kill the Astral Emperor or not.


    "You lost your disciple, but why not take the one who had killed him," the Astral Emperor said. The Asura narrowed its eyes thoughtfully.


    The Astral Emperor smiled.


    "The boy clearly has Asura blood in him, and at an even higher level than your disciple. He also had dragon-blood in him it seems, which should nourish you as well. He also has Laia''s soul-seed, and so killing him will return it to my daughter."


    The Asuras gaze narrowed questioningly, causing the Astral Emperor tough wryly.


    "I was going to inform you eventually," the Astral Emperor said dryly. "Regardless, killing the boy solves many problems, wouldn''t you say?"


    The Asura remained silent, and then he smiled. A malicious, evil smile that shook even the Astral Emperor.


    "It does!" It growled, it''s demonic smile widening, it''s eyes burning with sinister anticipation. "It does!"

 Chapter 873 Sharing Secrets

    "So that''s where you found such a heavenly battle art," Lilian said thoughtfully.


    Her and John had discussed a great many things, mostly pertaining to him. His battle, hisbat prowess, his inheritances had all been too profound to not ask about. Each thing he revealed in that battle had been more shocking than thest, each thing more impossible than thest.


    Even for someone like Lilian, who was blessed by the heavens and had natural born inheritances others could only dream of, she was filled with burning curiosity and questions.


    "And the Jade Dragon Emperor himself!" Lilian eximed, digesting the entire story John had told her. When he had first told her about thest few years, he had left out some details, like the Dragon-God Shift, the Jade Dragons, and the Jade Dragon Emperor.


    He no longer hid the truth, as he felt there was no need to. Lilian was one of the people he could trust fully, even with his life.


    Lilian slumped back in her chair, as if listening to the story had drained her of energy. Each thing John had revealed had been so shocking that even she felt exhausted from being surprised. A thoughtful look appeared on her face, and she nced at her disciple once more.


    "And what of that¡­Asura Transformation?" she asked curiously, "where did you receive that?"


    John shook his head lightly, a wry smile appearing on his face.


    "That, I cannot tell you," he replied and shrugged as if his hands were tied in the matter. "There are some secrets that I cannot tell anyone, not even you. At least not now," he added.


    Lilian stared at John in silence for a moment and then nodded her head.


    "Alright," she nodded. She was not upset or even disappointed. All cultivators had secrets, and keeping them that way was to be expected.


    "Still, to think someone as powerful as the Jade Dragon Emperor fought against that Asura and lost," Lilian said thoughtfully, her hand on her chin. "That Asura is even more frighteningly powerful than we could have ever imagined."


    John nodded his head, a serious look on his face. The Asura was no doubt one of, if not the strongest existence in the world, and was so far above John in power he couldn''t even see its limits. He was still in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and while he was about to break through to the next realm any day now, he was still far too weak to even think of fighting against such a powerful opponent.


    And yet, he felt as though his time to increase his strength was running out, and quickly. The Asura had already fought against the Jade Dragon Emperor and won, so what was stopping him from targeting John next.


    Lilian had told him of her father''s scrying into the arena, and based on her father''s connection with the Asura, it was either watching as well, or would soon find out, as the Asura''s disciple, Asuros, had been in by him.


    John had no idea about the stone stele revealing his every move, as the entire world knew of him and his talent, not just the Astral Emperor.


    "Since your father knows of the events, its safe to assume that the Asura already knows, or will know soon enough," John said, his mind deep in thought.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Lilian nodded in agreement.


    "And for something as strong as the Asura, he won''t sit idly as I grow. Even the dumbest of cultivators would be able to tell my potential based on this battle, and I imagine the Asura is thinking the same thing; I cannot be allowed to grow," John said, pausing for a moment.


    "Even if he doesn''t think that way, I killed his disciple," he continued. "He''ll no doubte after me, and more likely sooner rather thanter."


    John frowned. If the Asura came after him anytime in the next few years, he was powerless. He could have to be able to fight someone above the World Expansion Realm to even have a chance, and who knew how long that would take.


    Lilian frowned as well.


    "My father, Thunderzen," Lilian felt the need to rify," and I havee up with a n should you be targeted before you have time to grow."


    "You do?" John asked, feeling hopeful.


    "Yes, but this n is most likely just as dangerous as facing the Asura himself," Lilian replied grimly. "It''s filled with more unknowns than I would like to ever gamble on, but should ite to that, I am confident we will at least be able to escape the Asura. As for what happens afterwards, we''ll have to wait and see."


    John fell silent. For Lilian to make such a grim statement, the solution was definitely one she did not consider lightly. Still, it was better than just dying to the Asura should hee knocking in the near future.


    "You want to know a secret," John said smiling, trying to wipe away the grim atmosphere.


    "What?" Lilian asked curiously.


    "In my battle against Asuros, that wasn''t even my strongest state," John said, his smile stretching wide as if he were truly proud of himself. Lilian raised an eyebrow questioningly.


    "I promise," John replied, noticing her skepticism. "I can''t use it all the time, but if I were to use it on top of both my Asura Transformation and Dragon-God Shift, my power would increase several times again. I truly am a genius aren''t I?" John said proudly, having no shame at all.


    Lilian felt shocked to her core once more. She could tell John was not lying at all. She quickly recovered and shook her head in disbelief.


    "You really are a freak," she said, then smiled. "Then I hope to one day see this power you im to have. It should be quite interesting to witness if you are telling the truth."


    "I am telling the truth," John smiled lightly, "and when you see it, I''m sure you''ll be so shocked you''ll be knocked off your feet, amazed at how amazing your disciple is!"

 Chapter 874 Boisterous Celebration

    While all was calm within the divine realm, the outside world was a buzz of mor and chaos. The makeshift city was alive with activity, as most of its inhabitants celebrated the oue of the trials, feasting and drinking to their hearts content.


    Most of the inhabitants that were unhappy with the oue of the final trial had already left, leaving only the happy celebrants remaining. The Honorable Alliance was a buzz of joy and tion, and many neutral powers were joining in as well. The Honorable Alliance was swarmed with offers of alliances with these neutral powers, or requests to join it outright.


    Many of these powers had been neutral for tens of thousands of years, and had remained powerful beacons of might on the Divine Martial Continent, but they had changed their minds without second guessing themselves at all.


    Many of these neutral powers knew that cozying up and even joining before that happened would bring more benefits than it cost them to join, and so the Honorable Alliance was flooded with requests to join or ally, from lowly powers, to pinnacle ones that stood at the top of the world.


    The events of the final battles were too shocking to ignore. The two strongest remaining were John and Lilian. Both had shown levels of genius andbat prowess that shocked everyone to their core, their talent at a level that no one could ignore. If both were able to grow to their limits, both would no doubt be paragons of the world, standing above all else.


    And both belonged to the Honorable Alliance, and even more shockingly, a single sect within the alliance, the Heavenly Lightning Sect. The members of the Heavenly Lighting Sect that had gathered felt happier than anyone else in the city, ted by both John and Lilians performance, and the attention they were currently receiving.


    While Sect Leader Thunderzen and Thunderfist were not present, almost everyone else from the sect was. Two of their disciples had joined the realm, and none of them dared miss such a historic event. Many were gathered in zas that had established makeshift food booths or restaurants, enjoying their fill. Most had crowded around disciples of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, or other powerful members of the Honorable Alliance.


    "You fought alongside John in the Jade Dragon Realm? How amazing was that? Seeing him fight there?" an excited disciple of a neutral power asked one of the Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples that had been there during the final battle between Asuros and John in the Jade Dragon Realm.


    "It was amazing! John even fought Asuros back then, and kicked his ass just as hard! Asuros only managed to survive because he fled away like a scared child!" the disciple replied, boisterous and drunk.


    Almost everyone was drunk right now, drinking the finest of cultivator wines.


    "Amazing!" many surrounding that disciple eximed, fully caught up in the stories of John''s past ordeals.


    While most of the boys asked about John, many of the young female cultivators asked about Lilian. They were awed and inspired by her battle, and looked up to her like a guiding light on their cultivation pathway.


    "Really? She''s so young, and yet she''s a Vice-Sect Leader? Amazing" a female appearing around eighteen eximed, enthralled by the tales some of the female Heavenly Lightning Sect members were telling.


    "What about John? Is he single?" a bold female disciple of a powerful sect that wanted to join the Alliance asked. Her face turned red upon asking it, but she needed to know.


    The other females aroundughed at such a straightforward question being asked, but were obviously listening to the answer, eager to know as well.


    "No one knows," one of the Heavenly Lightning Sect disciples replied with a shrug, "but he was seen together in the Jade Dragon Realm with a heavenly beauty that was beautiful beyondpare."


    Disappointed looks appeared on many faces.


    "But apparently that heavenly beauty is a princess of the Astral Empire," a nearby youth, with short blonde hair and an angled face added. He was not part of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, but was part of the Honorable Alliance, and had been there during the final battle in the Jade Dragon Realm.


    "The Astral Empire?" many eximed in surprise. They thought about the battles, and their eyes went wide.


    "But isn''t Lilian originally from the Astral Empire," one female youth asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "And she killed her brother, Zeras, the genius of the Astral Empire," another added.


    "What a confusing situation that all is," another shook their head. They couldn''t make heads or tails of just what was going on with the Astral Empire.


    "Still, there could be a chance," the first girl who had brought up John''s rtionship status said eagerly. She had been absolutely enthralled by him. She had also been terrified of his transformation and power, but her captured heart overruled her fear of him, as it did for thousands of other young female cultivators who had watched John battle.


    Not only was he incredibly handsome, but he was a genius withoutpare. What girl wouldn''t have their heart captured by such a young man?


    "As if you have a chance," another girl from the same sect as the bold female quipped, rolling her eyes.


    "Hey, you never know unless you try," the bold female replied, blushing. The others felt the same, and the boisterous and merry atmosphere continued for a long time as the celebrations continued.


    Outside the city, the news of what had happened spread like wildfire through the Divine Martial Continent. John had been famous before as his status of Asura and his twenty steps had been revealed through his bounty, but now his fame was iparable to before. Overnight, he went from famous to the single most talked about person on the continent.


    Before long, there was not a single soul that did not know of the Immortal Asura. Of the Draconic Warrior. Of John.


    ¡­


    sh!


    John and Lilian were midway through a conversation when the artifact spirit golem materialized like a ghost within Lilian''s flying ship. Both paused and looked at it.


    "Are you healed?" the golem asked.


    "For the most part," John nodded his head. Thanks to the formations healing, as well as his limiter of healing and natural healing rate of his Immortal Asura Body, John had practically been healed to full.


    His body dantian, and thus his blood reserves could not be replenished by the formation, but thankfully he had prepared thoroughly, and had purchased a fortune worth of beast blood essence in Five-River Freeport. His beast blood reserves shouldst him quite some time.


    The golem nodded its blocky head.


    "Then it is time for you to enter the final area of this realm," it said. "Are you ready?"


    John''s gaze became firm and serious. The time to uncover the truth of what existed at the very center of this divine realm, of what was so important that the Divine Source Monastery found it worthwhile to guard for hundreds of thousands of years had finally arrived.


    John nced at Lilian, who nodded her head firmly, silently encouraging him.


    "I''m ready," John replied, his voice and face firm. "Let''s go."

 Chapter 875 World Tree

    Outside the Divine Realm of the Divine Source Monastery, the stone stele started to rumble, and then slowly retreated into the ground. The crowd watched, feeling a mix of emotions, as the stele disappeared from sight.


    The final trial had ended, and the purpose of the stele was exhausted. There was only one thing left to do in the realm, which was John potentially obtaining the treasure within. Many felt disappointment that they would not be able to see that happen, or if it even happened, but they were not surprised.


    The boisterous atmosphere resumed as the divine city continued its celebrations. It would continue until John left the realm himself, as all wanted toy eyes on the genius that had stunned the world.


    ¡­


    John felt a strong energy envelop him, and white filled his vision. He quickly reappeared in a different location, the golem having transported him away from the arena. He blinked as he took in the new location, and his eyes went wide in awe.


    A tree, tens of thousands of yards tall, rose up before him,rger than any tree he had ever seen in his life. The tree was thousands of yards thick, its bark a light green color, glowing slightly with vibrant energy. The branches of the tree spread out as far as he could see, overhead and into the distance beyond. The branches were covered with vibrant gold leaves, each leaf a dozen yards wide.


    John''s mouth went agape. He had never thought such arge living thing could exist. It was beyond his wildest imaginations.


    "Is this the reward?" John asked the golem questioningly, confused at how a tree was supposed to be imed by him.


    "No," the golem said tly, and walked forward towards the tree in the distance.


    John followed behind silently, his eyes taking in the wondrous scene. He could tell that even the artifact spirit golem treated this ce with reverence, as they could have easily flown or teleported towards the tree once more, but instead walked towards it on their feet.


    The tree seemed close, but was actually dozens of miles away from where they had initially appeared. Its size made it hard to judge just how close they were. Their pace was slow, and they arrived some timeter, at the base of the massive tree. Its roots, each hundreds of yards thick, dug deeply into the earth.


    John stared with wondrous awe. He felt as if he were in the presence of a god. It was as if the tree was a world tree of life, nourishing every being in the world. He had never seen such a concentration of energy before, never seen such a miracle of the world.


    "Follow me," the golem instructed, continuing to move towards the tree. John did as instructed, following closely behind. John spotted an opening at the base of the tree, its size hard to determine. They arrived before it a whileter, and the opening was a gaping hole between two of the tree''s roots, as if a doorway into the base of the tree.


    The opening arched high above, itself hundreds of yards tall and wide. John followed closely, and the two stepped onto stairs, clearly man made, that descended down into the hole beneath the tree. John peered down the stairs that led into dimly lit darkness, but couldn''t see anything down there.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Spirit crystals lined the edges of the wide staircase, illuminating it a bit, but did not illuminate enough to see the bottom just yet.


    John walked for what felt like miles before he felt them arrive on t ground once more. His eyes swept about as a massive chamber came into view, nearly a thousand yards wide, deep, and tall. The walls and roof were covered with spirit crystals, which illuminated therge chamber.


    Amidst the spirit crystals were detailed carvings, etched deeply into the walls, detailed beyondpare, each more awe-inspiring than thest. There were hundreds of different carvings, some depicting the tree they were beneath, some of humans and other races he had never seen, and other bizarre things he didn''t recognize. Strange symbols, strange creatures, strange ces.


    The carvings were so detailed that John felt as through the depictions woulde to life and step right of the walls. John''s eyes swept over the carvings, and noticed a simrity between all of them. At the center of each carving was a circle, so small as to almost be ignored amidst the massive carvings. But the circle seemed to attract his gaze more than it should, as if it was the most important thing in each of the carvings.


    His eyes became glued to the circle, almost unable to peel them away.


    "Follow me," the golem instructed, somewhat ahead of John who had stopped to look all around. John snapped out of his daze, his eyes peeling away from the carvings, and he quickly caught up to the golem.


    They arrived in the center of the chamber, and John noticed another carving beneath their feet; a formation carving. The formation was incrediblyplex, depicting thousands of detailed runes he didn''t recognize, all linking together in a mesmerizing manner. It was one of the most profound formations he had ever seen in his life.


    The formation suddenly lit up with vibrant green light, and John felt himself wrapped up in an overwhelmingly strong energy before he could react. He felt a constriction of his body, his mind, his soul, as if every inch of him was being squeezed together. Before he could react to the pain, it vanished, and he appeared in another location. His vision was blurry, and he blinked several times to clear the blurriness away.


    That usually didn''t happen during spatial teleportations. This one was different somehow. His blurry vision cleared up, and his eyes widened with shock as he took his surroundings.


    He had just been awed by the massive tree, but this was even more awe-inspiring. In fact, it was one of the most awe-inducing things he had ever seen in his life, if not the most.


    The artifact spirit golem appeared next to him once more, staring at the same thing John was looking at. It paused for a moment, as if even a non-feeling artifact spirit like itself was awed by what existed before it.


    It finally nced at John and spoke.


    "Wee¡­to the core of the world."

 Chapter 876 World Dimension Seed

    John was too stunned to listen to the golem as he instead continued to stare at the scenery before him. He had expected to arrive in a somewhat familiar looking location, a field, a building, an underground cavern.


    Instead, he found himself floating within a void. Not standing, but floating. He wasn''t using his Qi to fly, was not standing on anything physical, nor was he falling down through this void. It was as if gravity didn''t exist here, filling him with a bizarre feeling he had never felt before.


    The void all around him swirled with a millions streams of colors, its radiance so beautiful that he was nearly brought to tears. All the colors of the universe seemed to exist within this ce, this void, and the streams of colors flew outwards in all directions, some brushing past him swiftly, yet gently.


    He stretched his hand out to feel one of the streams of colors, and felt a soft energy brush against his hand. The stream was a dark blue color, and it felt icy to the touch. A bright red stream flew past him, and he touched that one, which was hot to the touch.


    He almost seemed to recognize these streams. They reminded him of the Dao''s of Ice and Fire. And he seemed to recognize other streams as well, which reminded him of the thousands of Dao''s he had seen throughout his cultivation journey.


    But there were millions of different streams. Tens of millions of streams. Countless streams.


    If the streams were somehow representations of the Dao''s, then just how many Dao''s were there. And how was something able to create so many Dao''s in one ce. John felt his mind go numb with the thought.


    Millions of streams of colors spread outwards, many John had never seen before, or never imagined could exist. He turned around within the void, to look where the streams of colorful light were going.


    He saw the streams of light spread out for a while longer, before stretching upwards, downwards, or to the side. The streams then looped back and returned to the center of the void, the source as far as John could tell.


    The change in directions seemed to form a cocoon several thousand yards wide, made of the myriad of colors he could see. The cocoon doubled back towards the center of the void, where the cocoon stretched down towards the very center, which was glowing brightly, as if it contained the energy of the stars themselves. The shape of the cocoon reminded John of a donut, but one that was more spherical than t.


    In fact, other than the ridges at the top and bottom of the cocoon that were formed by the energy returning to the source at the center, the cocoon he was in was truly almost a perfect sphere.


    John took in the sight with wondrous awe, and he stared firmly at the center of the world he was in. The center was too bright to make out, blindingly bright in fact, which made him squint to avoid the pain he felt in his eyes and soul.


    His divine sense spread out towards the bright center, but it was instantly rebuffed, unable to move forward at all. The streaming lights of energy pushed back against his divine sense, gently, but firmly, making him unable to observe what was at the very center of this beautiful yet bizarre world.


    "What is this ce?" John asked, finally remembering the artifact spirit golem was next to him.


    "The core of the world," the golem said.


    John recalled the golem saying that while he had been stunned, and so he asked a different question.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Then what is that at the center?" he asked, pointing to the bright core of the world. He could tell that whatever it was, it was the source of this realm. It was most likely the treasure that had been mentioned time and time again by the Divine Source Monastery and the golem, but he still had no idea what it was.


    "That is this world''s seed," the golem replied evenly, "the World Dimension Seed."


    The name was incredibly lofty, but it felt right to John for some reason.


    "What is a World Dimension Seed?" John asked, digging for answers. "And what is this ce? It''s the core of the world, but what does that mean? Are we really at the very center of the world?"


    "Yes. And no," the golem replied. "If you were to try and find the physical location of this ce, it would be found in the very center of the world. But you would not be able to ess this ce from there. The only method to ess this ce is through the transportation formation at the base of the World Tree. The World Tree formation is the only way to reach this dimension, which exists physically at the center of the world, but is its own dimension, the world dimension," the golem exined to John.


    He had not been expecting such a thorough exnation from the artifact spirit. Whenever he asked an expert for information regarding something profound, they always replied vaguely. This was a breath of fresh air for John, as he realized that his reaching this ce most likely allowed the golem to exin all these things to him.


    "And the World Dimension Seed?" John asked, repeating the other half of his question.


    "The source of the world," the golem replied. John tilted his head to the side questioningly, wanting more concrete answers.


    The golem continued as if noting his confusion.


    "The bright center you see before you is the World Dimension Seed. It is the core of the world, the lifeblood of the world. The origin of the world," it started exining. "Every world that has ever existed or will exist starts with a seed; the World Dimension Seed. This seed urs naturally, formed by the heavens itself, and from the seed sprouts the world around it. It is the source of every single thing you see in this world, from the start of its past, to the end of its future."


    John opened his mouth, stunned to his core. He had never expected such a thing existed, or that the object before him was the very source of the world he lived on.


    "How can such a thing exist?" John mumbled in disbelief, squinting at the bright World Dimension Seed in the distance. His eyes went wide with realization. He had already assumed the bright source to be the reward of the trial, but after hearing what it really was, he couldn''t possibly believe that to be true.


    "The reward of this realm¡­is it¡­?" John''s voice trailed off.


    "Should you be deemed worthy, and should you be capable of obtaining it, then this realm''s reward, the World Dimension Seed, shall be yours."

 Chapter 877 The Rarest Of Heavenly Treasures

    ''The World Dimension Seed can be taken?'' John thought, stunned by the very concept that something that had been the source of a world could be taken.


    "Beautiful, isn''t it?" a voice filled with emotion sounded out next to John,pletely different from the monotonous tone of the artifact spirit.


    John snapped out of his thoughts instantly,pletely caught off guard by the new voice.


    ''How could someone make their way into this dimension?'' he thought, ncing to the side. Slight surprise appeared on his face as he saw a familiar figure hovering in the void right next to him; the Grand Abbot.


    The Grand Abbot stared forward, his eyes lingering on the World Dimension Seed, his face filled with wonder.


    "No matter how many times I see it, I''m still filled with wondrous awe every time Ie here," the Grand Abbot said. He finally shifted his gaze from the World Dimension Seed, and towards John. A small smile appeared on his face as he inspected John for a moment.


    "You''ve done well to get here, child," the Grand Abbot said, his voice warm like an elderly grandfather. John didn''t know how to reply to that praise, and so he just nodded his head, acknowledging the praise.


    "That battle of yours was quite inspiring," the Grand Abbot said, "the whole world is talking about it already."


    "The whole world?" John asked, confused. How could the world know about the battle already.


    ''Surely the Astral Emperor didn''t spread the news of what had happened to others,'' he thought.


    The Grand Abbot smiled again, noticing John''s confusion.


    "Yes, the whole world," he repeated. "All the battles during the final trial were shown to those gathered outside. Several million watched as you defeated Asuros."


    John grumbled, his mouth pulling to the side slightly.


    "That''s going to be a headache to deal with," John grumbled out loud. The whole world now knew about him, his talent, and even his most secretive battle arts. Instead of feeling happy about the attention, he felt it was just going to cause more trouble for him in the future.


    "You''re not happy about this?" the Grand Abbot asked curiously. "Your fame is being spread throughout thend like wildfire. You are already the most famous person on the continent."


    "What''s there to be happy about?" John said tly. "Fame just brings more headaches, and I have enough headaches to deal with already."


    The Grand Abbot studied John curiously, and then nodded his head in approval.


    "Your attitude befits a true genius," he said. "Most geniuses seek glory and fame above all, but a true genius seeks strength above all else."


    John nodded his head in agreement, although he remained silent. His thoughts were chaotic at the moment. There was the Asura, the World Dimension Seed, and now the rest of the world knowing about him. Too many headaches, not enough time to deal with them.


    "So what do you think?" the Grand Abbot suddenly asked.


    John looked at him confused, and then noticed the Grand Abbot was staring at the World Dimension Seed.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It''s beyond amazing," John said, feeling awe every time, he stared at it, "but how can such an amazing thing be taken by someone like me? And how can it even be used? And if I manage to take it, what will happen to the world? Surely something that acts as the source of the world is too important to remove?" John asked a flurry of questions, his mind seeking answers.


    "So many questions," the Grand Abbot said, still staring at the World Dimension Seed. He remained silent for a moment, as if thinking of how best to answer the questions John asked.


    "World Dimension Seeds are the source of all worlds," the Grand Abbot said. John nodded his head. The artifact spirit had already told him as much.


    "Each World Dimension Seed is different. Some are chaotic. Some are calm. Some are dormant. Some are dead. Each World Dimension Seed has its own personality so to speak, which also shapes the way the world forms around it," the Grand Abbot said.


    "The most rare of all World Dimension Seeds, is the one you are staring at right now. The sentient World Dimension Seed."


    "Sentient?" John eximed. "The Seed is alive? Can it think, speak?"


    "Yes, and no," the Grand Abbot replied. "This World Seed is alive, but not in the way you and I are alive. It would be more apt to say it has motivations or goals that it instinctively strives to fulfill."


    "Goals? What goals?" John asked curiously, shifting his gaze back to the world seed for a moment.


    "To grow. To create new worlds. To create the ultimate world, the perfect world," the Grand Abbot said, his gaze profound.


    "It wants to create a perfect world? How does it go about doing that?" John asked curiously.


    "Indeed," the Grand Abbot said. "Such World Dimension Seeds are the most rare, and also the most valuable."


    "Valuable? How?" John asked, wanting answers.


    "Because, only this type of World Dimension Seed will allow itself to be imed by one it deems worthy. Only this type of World Dimension Seed can be used by a cultivator to aid their cultivation journey. It is perhaps the singr most valuable treasure in existence for cultivators below the World Expansion Realm," the Grand Abbot said.


    "It''s that valuable?" John asked. While the im was an incredibly lofty one, he didn''t doubt the Grand Abbots words. The Grand Abbot nodded, confirming his question.


    "As for taking this World Seed," the Grand Abbot continued. "That will not adversely affect the world. Removing a World Dimension Seed before the world has fully formed will halt its growth, resulting in its death, but this world has beenplete for quite some time. It''s be self-sustaining, and thus removing the World Seed will not throw it into ruin. Quite the opposite, in fact. When a World Dimension Seed is removed from a fully formed world, the world will naturally create a new World Seed."


    John felt relief when he heard this. While he did want to obtain the World Dimension Seed, he didn''t want to doom an entire for a singr treasure. Since that was not the case, he felt at ease.


    "If the World Dimension Seed is so amazing, and since the world can reform one anew now, why isn''t the seed imed more often?" John asked curiously.


    The Grand Abbot smiled.


    "It is not I, nor the Divine Source Monastery that decides who obtains the seed, but the World Seed itself," the Grand Abbot answered. "Hundreds have taken the Divine Realm trials since this World Seed formed, and dozens managed to make it this far, but none were deemed worthy by the World Seed. Each was cast out from this realm without the opportunity to im it. The same might very well happen to you, should you not be worthy in the eyes of the World Seed."

 Chapter 878 The Seeds Goal

    Despite the Grand Abbots words, John remained calm. If he was not worthy of the World Dimension Seed, then no one was. If that was the case, then the World Dimension Seed was impossible to obtain, and there was nothing he could do about it.


    The Grand Abbot studied John, noticing his calmness, and nodded to himself in approval. His gaze shifted back to the World Seed as he continued answering John''s questions.


    "While this type of World Seed is the rarest, in the vast expanse of the cosmos, there are many of these types of seeds," the Grand Abbot continued. "Such worlds are the most coveted, and many terrifyingly strong powers have established themselves on such worlds. They harvest these world seeds regrly, helping their young geniuses who manage to obtain it thrive."


    "Wait," John spoke up. He was surprised to hear the Grand Abbot speak about other worlds so casually, as if he had been to such worlds before, but that didn''t surprise John too much. He had already known about the existence of other worlds from his true mother, and could also tell there was much more to the Grand Abbot than he revealed.


    "If there are other worlds that regrly harvest such World Dimension Seeds, then why is this one still unimed? Surely it can''t be that hard?" John asked.


    The Grand Abbot smiled, like the smile of a parent when asked a basic question from their child.


    "The powers that do so are some of the pinnacle powers of the universe," the Grand Abbot replied. "And thus their geniuses are at the pinnacle as well. Their geniuses cannot bepared to the geniuses of a backwater world like this."


    John frowned, his suspicions confirmed.


    ''So this world truly is weak whenpared to what''s out there,'' he thought. And yet, he was struggling against the powers of this world, some of them strong enough to make him see almost no hope forward at all.


    "But that is only half of the reason," the Grand Abbot continued. "As a World Dimension Seed grows, it bes stronger, and thus its requirements grow as well. The World Dimension Seeds obtained by those powers are periodically harvested, before the seeds grow to a level that even their geniuses cannot obtain."


    The Grand Abbot shifted his gaze from John to the seed.


    "This World Seed, however, has been growing for over half a million years, unimed by anyone that entire time."


    John''s eyes went wide.


    Half a million years! He could hardly fathom such a timeframe.


    "And thus, it has grown to a level that it may be impossible for anyone to obtain," the Grand Abbot said, his gaze narrowing slightly, as if he were troubled by this fact. "If outside powers were to learn of this unimed World Seed, it would bring a cmity to this world without a doubt, as all would seek to obtain it."


    "How would that bring a cmity?" John asked. "The seed can be taken without a problem, so wouldn''t they juste, take it if they could, and then leave?"


    "No," the Grand Abbot shook his head lightly. "For one to be recognized by a World Dimension Seed, they must also be born of it. And so the powers that would descend on this world would establish themselves permanently here, raising geniuses with the hopes of iming the World Seed. It would be a boon to them, but a cmity to everyone else."


    John frowned. So many potential headaches, and now he had another one. The Grand Abbot said only those born of the World Dimension Seed could obtain it, and that was a big problem. He was not born from this World Dimension Seed, but was instead born on another world entirely.


    ''Is this going to stop me from obtaining it before I can even try?'' John thought, his worry growing. That would be disastrous.


    "What does a World Dimension Seed even do for a cultivator?" John asked. The Grand Abbot said it was an iparable heavenly treasure, but it if''s purpose was useless to John, then he would not concern himself with not being able to obtain it.


    "That you will find out once you ascend to the World Expansion Realm," the Grand Abbot answered vaguely. John frowned. That didn''t help at all.


    "And what if I''m not born of this world? Is there any chance to still obtain the World Dimension Seed?" John asked, unsure if he should say such a thing. Reveal such a secret.


    But he had no choice. If the World Seed denied him for this reason, the Grand Abbot would no doubt figure it out at that time. He needed to know if there was a way to obtain the seed despite his situation.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Grand Abbot''s eyes widened with surprise. He had not expected this at all.


    "Not of this world?" the Grand Abbot said. "Then what world are you from?"


    "I don''t know," John shook his head, "but I know that I was not born of this world. That is as much as I can tell you."


    The Grand Abbot fell silent, staring at John for a while. He sighed, as if disappointed by what John had told him.


    "Then it is most likely futile for you to even try to obtain the seed," the Grand Abbot said with much disappointment. John felt his heart sink.


    "The only other way to receive its eptance is to be part of this world for a long time, nurtured by the energy it releases into the world," the Grand Abbot said, sighing. "But by the time one had been epted by the World Seed, they have either advanced beyond the World Expansion Realm, or are too untalented to be epted by the Seed. Either way, it is futile."


    The Grand Abbot sighed again and shook his head to himself.


    "We best be leaving then," he said to John. "The World Dimension Seed does not like the presence of outsiders, and it will not tolerate your presence for much longer. If you move any closer to it, it will smite you instantly."


    He ced his hand on John''s shoulder, as if about to teleport them both out of the realm.


    "Wait," John eximed, his heart racing with hopeful anxiousness.


    The Grand Abbot paused, staring at him.


    "How long would I need to live on this world to be epted by the World Seed?" John asked firmly.


    "At least ten thousand years, if not more," the Grand Abbot said, not sure why John would even ask such a thing.


    John''s smile widened, surprising the Grand Abbot. Why would he smile when he had just learned he could not even try to obtain one of the most heavenly treasures in existence.


    "Then there''s no need to leave," John said, his tone firm yet joyful. The Grand Elder narrowed his gaze, skeptical.


    "Child, you will be killed by the World Dimension Seed if you attempt to obtain it as an outsider," he warned.


    "But I''m not an outsider anymore," John said, a wide smile on his face. "After all, I''ve lived here for hundreds of thousands of years already."


    The Grand Abbot scowled at John, a rare sign of disapproval on his usually calm face. This was not the time to joke around, nor was this the ce to desecrate with such crash jokes either.


    He was about to chastise John and forcefully remove him from the world, but John moved forward towards the World Dimension Seed without warning. The Grand Abbot''s eyes went wide.


    "Child! Stop!" he said, his words cutting off before he could finish. John moved towards the seed, quickly passing the area of sure death for outsiders, and moving within.


    There was no rejection from the World Dimension Seed. It weed John as one of its own.


    "How is this possible?"

 Chapter 879 Endless Daos

    The Grand Abbot was stunned to his core, which was something that hardly ever happened, if ever. He was a man of knowledge. A man of intellect. A man of experience. Everything told him that John was telling the truth, that he was not of this world. A youth like John would not joke about things like that, at least not to a level that would fool the Grand Abbot.


    And yet, John had moved towards the World Dimension Seed without being ughtered as an intruder, an outside parasite. The World Seed could not be fooled. It was far too profound to fall victim to trickery of any sorts.


    Yet despite what should have happened, John moved towards the World Dimension Seed. The Grand Abbot''s mind shook, trying to figure out what was going on. John, a youth who was definitely not of this world, was epted by the World Seed. It baffled him. It was something he could not figure out.


    Ignorant of the Grand Abbots shock, John floated slowly towards the World Dimension Seed. Movement in this dimensional realm was strange. He couldn''t utilize his Qi effectively, and so all he could do was lean in the direction he wanted to move, at which point he would slowly start to move in that direction. No matter how much he urged his Qi to propel himself forward, it did nothing at all.


    ''Strange,'' he thought. It was as if thews in this realm were different from the outside realm he lived in. It was as if the World Dimension Seed was the god of this realm, and everyone else had to bend to its rules.


    As he approached, he could feel the natural pressure emanating from the beautiful world seed increase, but despite the increase, it did not push him away.


    John paused, no longer leaning forward. He came to a halt within the void, staring at the seed in the distance. It was still hundreds of yards away, which was a distance easily traversed in normal situations, but would take some time within this strange, beautifully colored void.


    He floated there for some time, unmoving. The endless streams of radiant colors raced by him, while the Grand Abbot watched in rapt attention. He was a man who was rarely surprised, and yet he felt excitement at the moment, an even rarer experience for him. He had no idea what was going on, what would happen, and that filled him with excited anticipation.


    John hovered in ce, studying the streams of colorful energy that raced past him every second. Blue, yellow, red, gold, orange, ck, white, and everything in between. Every color he knew of existed here, and many colors he had never imagined could exist raced by as well. It was as if he was experiencing a new reality at the moment, one of a higher level that he had lived in all his life.


    It was as if he was experiencing the truth of the world. His heart rate increased, sending blood coursing through his veins. It was rare for him to feel this excited outside of battle. He turned around towards the distant Grand Abbot once more.


    "How long can I stay here?" John asked, his questions surprising the Grand Abbot.


    "Technically there is no limit," the Grand Abbot replied, "but the longer you stay, the more overwhelmed you will be by the Dao''s streaming off the World Dimension Seed. You will be driven mad if you stay too long. But for a true genius, a few weeks should be no problem."


    ''So those are Dao''s,'' John thought, his guesses confirmed. He nodded towards the Grand Elder thankfully. This information was truly useful.


    He turned around once more, and faced the World Dimension Seed, glowing brightly in the near distance. It was a beautiful sight to behold, and nearly snared John into a daze once more. He shook his head to shake the ensnared daze, and then closed his eyes.


    He could move towards the World Seed, but decided against it. His instincts told him that he had an incredibly rare opportunity before him, one that was worth dying his retrieval of the World Seed.


    His legs crossed underneath him, as if he were sitting on something within the void. It was the position he assumed whenever he fell into a true meditative trance. His legs crossed, his eyes closed, his mind focused.


    His soul attuned with his pce realm, falling instantly into a meditative trance. The trance felt so right, so perfect at the moment, as the streams of colorful Dao''s raced by him with haste. The Grand Abbot eyes widened, instantly realizing what John was about to do.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "He''s going to break through to the Dao Transformation Realm!" he mumbled. He regarded John for a short while, and then smiled, nodding in utmost approval.


    "Despite the heavenly treasure existing just before him, he still prioritizes his cultivation above all else. In all my years, I have never seen such a steadfast genius, one so focused on increasing his strength," the Grand Abbot said softly. "If he cannot obtain this World Dimension Seed, then I''m afraid it will remain unimed for all time. I eagerly await the oue of what''s toe."


    The Grand Abbot then fell silent. He knew how important this advancement was for a cultivator, and did not dare disturb John for a singr moment. His eyes fixated on John, eagerly awaiting the oue of his ascension.


    John''s eyes were closed, his mind was empty, his soul was rxed. He felt as if he were floating in a void, not only physically, but within his soul as well. It was as if he had been returned to a nascent state, onepletely in tune with the universe.


    He felt the streams of energy brush against him, flooding his mind and soul withprehensions he never had before. His face shuddered as he felt his mind flooded with new information. Even with Daos'' he had never known existed, he found himself grasping their initial concepts, bing familiar with their existences.


    There were too many Dao''s to study, too many Dao''s to focus on. His mind and soul became nearly overwhelmed by the countless Dao''s flooding his mind, and so he focused only on grasping the very initial states of each Dao.


    When it came toprehending Dao''s, the hardest part wasprehending the initial state of the Dao. Dao''s were almost always ethereal and abstract concepts, and thus getting that initial insight required a lucky opportunity, such as finding a heavenly treasure that emanated that Dao, oring from a powerful n or sect that had such treasures to study. Here, however, the abstract Dao''s had be real, real to the point that grasping them couldn''t have been easier. This ce was an absolute marvel. A pinnacle treasure of iparable value.


    Some cultivators spent their entire lives studying a particr Dao, only for them to never grasp even the most basic of initial states. It all came down toprehension ability, naturalpatibility with the Dao, and a multitude of other factors that were hardly understood.


    Grasping that initial part of the Dao was not guaranteed, but once it was understood, it was like opening floodgates into that particr Dao. As long as the cultivator studied that Dao in earnest, he would have improvements in the future. The rate of improvement varied from cultivator to cultivator, but improvements woulde nheless.


    As such, John focused only on the most basic parts of each Dao he felt. As soon as it entered his mind, he focused on it, studied it,prehended it if he could, and then discarded it, moving on to the next. It was unlike any meditation session he had ever done before. Other sessions had a singr focus on which he would put all his effort into focusing on, but here, it was like he was flipping through a book of the heavenly Dao''s, scanning a page briefly, and then turning to the next page.


    Time lost all meaning as he did this. The Dao''s came and went, each like a tick of the clock, continuing endlessly. The pain he felt in his mind and soul increased with each new tick. It was an overwhelming amount of information toprehend, but thanks to his heaven defying soul and will power, he was able to resist the pain and focus on the task at hand. The information kept flooding into him, like an encyclopedia of the Dao''s being etched into his mind.


    Fire. Ice. Death. Life. Space. Time. Gravity. Wood. Metal. Lightning. Illusions. Scythe. Sword. Saber. Spear. Wind. Earth. Water. Blood. Darkness. Light. Nature. Alchemy. Chaos.


    The endless Dao''s continued to flood his mind without pause. Some he studied and grasped, others he discarded with disinterest, and others he gave up on, unable to grasp them despite how much he focused on them. The ones he failed to grasp filled his calm mind with slight disappointment, but that feel faded away instantly as another Dao appeared for him toprehend.


    Time continued without meaning. Dao''s wereprehended without pause. Pain continued to grow in his soul, reaching a point that he felt as if his mind was about to split apart, or soul was about to burst from within. The pain eventually reached a level that even he was unable to continue, as the pain was an indicator that he could not continue; his soul was at its limits. It was unable to proceed forward.


    His eyes snapped open, firm, determined, profound. It was as if the multitude of Dao''s he hadprehended were contained within his gaze. His dantian suddenly surged with power. His blood began to race through his veins.


    It was time to break through to the Dao Transformation Realm!

 Chapter 880 Qi Transformation

    The Grand Abbot leaned forward slightly, his eyes glowing with eager anticipation.


    "It is time," he said softly to himself, "How many cycles will he achieve? How many Dao''s will he Transform?"


    John''s eyes seemed to glow with a myriad of colors, like the profundity of the universe was contained within. His dantian shook violently within him, like a creature about to burst out of an egg.


    The Dao Transformation breakthrough process was only partially known to him. He knew of some vague details of what was to happen, but did not know exactly what would happen, or how to go about it in the best way possible.


    He had inquired into the matter, both with Thunderzen, as well as his master during their recent discussions, but both had given him the same answer.


    That he must figure out the process himself.


    The answer disappointed him, and he had asked why he was unable to learn. He could seek out books regarding the process, but was cautioned against such a thing by Thunderzen.


    "Why?" John had asked, seeking answers.


    Both Thunderzen and Lilian had given the same answer.


    That it was best to figure out the breakthrough process for oneself. Thunderzen had been vague on his borations, but thankfully Lilian had recently provided some clearer answers.


    "The path to the Heaven Tribtion Realm is set in its rules, as the heavens lord over all before they break through to the Heaven Tribtion Realm and shed their mortal coil," she had said to him, "but once one has shed their mortal coil, they step beyond the formal rules established by the heavens.


    While the overall process forward is the same, Dao Transformation, then World Expansion, and so on, the ascension process, the journey between these realms and into the next realms, are different for everyone," she continued, pausing for a moment to notice John was understanding her words before continuing.


    "The journeys are different, and thus the breakthroughs are different," she continued thoughtfully. "Most parts of the journey and breakthroughs are the same, but the tiny differences affect more than you could imagine. Take for example, my breakthrough.


    I study the Dao of Death and the Dao of Space primarily. I dabble in many other Dao''s as well, but those are my two foremost Dao''s," she exined, stern like a schrly tutor. "The Dao Transformation breakthrough deals with more than just pushing the dantian to the next level. As the name suggests, there is a transformation, one in which the Dao''s youprehend y a vital part. And thus, my breakthrough insights are mostly worthless to you, and could even be harmful to you. They could lead you astray, they could cause far more harm than good."


    She paused, studying his face. She nodded lightly as she noticed his stern focus, and then continued.


    "And thus, I''ll leave you with this final piece of insight," she said. "Going forward, your cultivation journey, and especially your cultivation breakthroughs, will be entirely up to you. Each will be like walking through an unknownnd, trying to find the way to the other side.


    Eachnd is different for everyone, and thus you can only trust yourself, and your instincts, to guide you on the correct path."


    She smiled at him, a warm, gentle smile, which was incredibly rare from her.


    "And I am fully confident that you will be able to tread your correct path, all the way to the pinnacle of the cultivation world."


    That conversion boomed within his mind, the echoes reminding him of his master''s words. Now that he was on the cusp of breaking through, he could instinctively tell that his master''s words werepletely correct. He smiled thankfully, and then whispered softly.


    "It is time."


    Thest sliver of Qi needed to step over the edge surged into his dantian, sending it tumbling over the edge.


    Boom!


    His dantian exploded with a thunderous roar of energy, as if the surging energy within was no longer able to be contained by the dantian. John felt a sharp pain rise within his stomach, where his dantian was. It was as if he was about to explode from within.


    There was no panic however, only calm, as he felt he knew what to do next. The steps were as natural to him as drawing in breath. His mind stilled with calm focus, and his soul power surged over his dantian and then pierced within.


    The invading soul-power was hungrily absorbed by the dantian, as if it were the sweetest of nectars. The soul unleashed an endless flood of soul power, and the dantian epted every drop without pause. It was as if the dantian and soul had be one for a moment, perfect in unison.


    As his soul power flooded into the dantian, it began to mix with his Qi within,bining into something new. A new form of energy, something separate from the Qi given by the universe, and yet still the same.


    The pain in his dantian had vanished, although John had not even noticed this. He was too engrossed in the process of Qi and Soul mixing to give it a moment''s thought. It was as if he were bing whole at the moment,plete for the very first time, and the experience was intoxicating.


    His soul fed his dantian ceaselessly, like a torrential storm soaking a barren earth. His dantian was like a ck hole, epting every drop and then wanting more. The process continued for a long time, long enough that John had lost all meaning of time once more.


    He felt his dantian strengthen by this infusion of soul power, growing stronger by the second. He felt his body course with energy greater than he had ever felt before. But at the same time, he felt his mind grow weak.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His soul drained itself, turning from an ocean of soul power into ake, then a puddle, then a drop. He felt rmed far before it reached this point. If that drop was to disappear, his soul would vanish, and he would die. But he did not stop the process. He would not stop the process.


    His instincts red with a strong message. This was right. This was the way forward. Had he heard from his master that he was to drain his soul to a single drop of soul power, he would never have believed that to be correct. But his instincts, his mind, his very soul, was telling him that this was the way forward, and there was no one that he trusted more than himself.


    John felt his mind and soul on the verge of erasure, as if it were about to puff into a stream of smoke and disappear into the void. His memories grew hazy, his mind unclear, his very self was vanishing. Darkness enveloped him.


    And then there was light.


    A bright light. An explosive light. The light was within his mind, within his soul, but he felt blinded by it. It was as if he were staring directly at the sun.


    Boom!


    The light exploded into a torrent of energy that flooded into his soul, like a tsunami of energy flooding over a barrennd. There was nothing in the way to stop this torrent of energy, which ceaselessly poured into his soul, turning the barrennd into a storm of energy.


    A storm of life.


    The energy was both soul power, and something else. It was not his soul power, but it felt as if it belonged there as naturally as his soul power. His hazy mind cleared up as the energy poured into his soul, and he recognized the source.


    It was his essence Qi, although it was not as it had been before. It was now transformed, like it had changed from belonging to someone else, belonging to the heavens, to belonging only to himself. This changed Qi flowed within his soul, a ce normally only reserved for his soul power. Anything else within the soul other than soul power would usually cause pain, damage, or even death, but here it felt perfect. His essence Qi belonged here just as much as his soul power did.


    The torrent of soul-infused essence flooded ceaselessly into his mind, invigorating it, nourishing it, expanding it. He felt his soul space growrger, stronger, more profound. The growth intoxicated him. It was the most pleasurable thing he had ever felt. He wanted more. He wanted his soul to grow forever.


    That feeling of growth was perfect. And then it stopped.


    His mind shook with the unexpected end of the process, as if he had suddenly snapped out of a daze.


    ''No,'' John thought. ''More. I want more!''


    He urged his dantian to send more Qi, but shook once more. His dantian was empty, as empty as his soul had been just moments ago. There was a singr scrap of Qi remaining, like an evaporating dew drop in the early morning, about to disappear. There was no more energy to give.


    ''No! This is not the end. I won''t allow it to end!'' John roared within his mind. He wanted more.


    Boom!


    His mind shook, feeling as if his mind nearly exploded from within. John ignored that intense pain, gritting his teeth with focused intensity. The soul-infused Qi exploded out of his mind once more, surging through his body back into his empty dantian, filling it anew.


    He didn''t know why he did this. He just did it. It felt right. It was what he should do. What he must do.


    His dantian surged with power, drinking the energy as greedily as his soul had just done moments ago. It too grew as his soul had done, bingrger, stronger, more profound. As his dantian drank, his soul became emptier and emptier, until just a drop remained once more.


    Boom!


    His body shuddered as the energy reversed once more, surging back into his soul. It flooded back without pause, making him bask in the sensation of its invigoration. His dantian was steadily drained of Qi until it was nearly empty, and at that moment, John''s mind shook once more as a revtion struck him.


    He had been doing this process entirely instinctively, not knowing why, but knowing it was right. Now that both his soul and dantian had absorbed the soul-Qi energy twice, he had noticed something incredible.


    Each time both had greedily absorbed the energy, they had grown. That should have been impossible, as he was draining the energy each time he sent it back and forth, the same energy as had been there at the start.


    But with each cycle, soul and dantian grew. He finally understood.


    The energy within was growing as well, as if it were a wellspring, endlessly providing more water from parts unseen. He didn''t know how this was possible, but he didn''t care. He embraced the euphoric sensation, and steeled his mind.


    He was going to push this process until his mind was about to break, or his dantian was about to shatter. He would push himself to the edge and step beyond, as he had done once before, during his ascension to the Core Formation Realm. He would not leave an ounce of power out of his grasp, no matter how much it hurt.


    He would be perfect.

 Chapter 881 Thrum!

    The Grand Abbot stared at John, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape. It was an expression never before seen on the man''s face, at least not by anyone during thest several hundred thousand years he had roamed this world.


    He was a man of iparable experience, a man ofplete control over his emotions. And yet, he felt only disbelief at the moment.


    Thrum!


    A thrumming sound echoed out within the void, soft, yetpletely noticeable. It was like the pulse of a heartbeat, slow, but steady.


    Thrum!


    The sound echoed again, slightly louder than before. It came thirty seconds after the prior, and was followed by another slightly louder thrum thirty secondster.


    Thrum!


    Thrum!


    Thrum!


    The thrums continued, each following the previous in perfect timing, like the ticking of a clock. Only the ticking was growing slightly louder with each thrum, as if the clock were bing more and more powerful with each passing tick.


    Thrum!


    The thrumming did not surprise the Grand Abbot. It was an expected thing when one was breaking through to the Dao Transformation Realm.


    The transformation of one''s Qi!


    The transformation of one''s soul!


    The unison between the two, both elevating the other to a new form of existence,pletely unique within the universe.


    This was how it was with every human who cultivated to this level. It was an instinctual thing to do when breaking through, as it was the only way to transform one to the next realm. The only way to break through.


    That was not what stunned the Grand Abbot.


    It was not the thrums emanating from John, but the number of thrums that had boomed out within the void they were in. The Grand Abbot''s mind was a blur, and he thought back to the cultivation principles, trying to see if he had missed something. Misremembered something.


    He knew that was impossible, but he did so, nheless.


    And the process was futile. His knowledge was perfect. There was no mistake.


    He thought back to his own breakthroughs from a time that seemed so long ago as to be ten lifetimes ago.


    "Ten Dantian Compressions," he mumbled softly, recalling the number of dantianpressions he had achieved as a child when breaking through to the Core Formation Realm. Even from the ce he came from, that was an awe-inspiring number. He had been heralded as a genius of geniuses.


    Only freaks from ancient powerhouses and ancient inheritances could surpass the heavenly limit of ten, and thus it was a number that all strove for. His talent had set him on a life of wondrous adventure and growth, until he eventually came face to face with his Dao Transformation ascension.


    He could still clearly recall that day, another day of triumph.


    Everyone knew thews of the Dao Transformation Realm. They were as certain and resolute as thews dictating the Core Formation Realm breakthrough.


    The soul infuses the dantian, the dantian nourishes the soul. The two grow together in unison, two thrumspleting a cycle of growth. And the amount of thrums was known by all. The limit was certain.


    The number of cycles was limited to the number of dantianpressions one obtained at the Core Formation Realm.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    For him, that limit had been ten dantianpressions!


    For him, that limit had been twenty potential thrums, or tenplete cycles.


    But that was only a limit. Not a guarantee. The only ones capable of reaching that limit were the geniuses who had managed to grow to perfection, not squandering a single aspect of their cultivation in the time between the Core Formation Realm and the Dao Transformation realm.


    Even the greatest of geniuses lost a step or two between these realms, as he had done as well.


    His tenpressions had be sixteen thrums, or eight cycles. He had failed to reach his limit of ten thrums, but that was expected.


    That number had ted all those around him at the time, his friends, his family, his loved ones.


    "A true genius," he recalled them saying as they learned of his feats.


    He knew of many others with better numbers than he had achieved, but he was still able to hold his head proudly. He might not have been a pinnacle genius, but he was a genius nheless. He had recalled a story from his youth of a certain cultivator who had achieved twenty-eight thrums. Fourteen cycles.


    That cultivator had been a pinnacle of everything. A god of the cultivation world. His fame was known throughout all of existence. He had neverpared himself to that existence. No one did. It was a benchmark, a goal, but a hopeless one as everyone knew.


    There were even rumors that despite that individual''s strength, the fourteen cycles were nothing more than a rumor. A myth perpetuated in the individual''s younger years, which eventually stuck and became a truth.


    The Grand Abbot didn''t care if it was the truth or not. It didn''t change a thing. Twenty-eight thrums, fourteenplete cycles, was a mythical limit reserved for the gods. It was impossible to achieve, or even get close to. He knew it. The world knew it. It was a cultivation rule as firm as any in existence.


    Thrum!


    And yet, he was wrong. The world was wrong. That rule was shattered, decimated, by the entity before him. He couldn''t even consider the figure before him to be a person at the moment. Was a human even capable of such a thing? It was a feat reserved for only the gods, if they existed, and the figure before him was certainly not a god.


    Entity felt like the right word.


    Thrum!


    Each thrum shook the Grand Abbot further to his core. He held his breath, not willing to breath out for a singr moment. He didn''t dare make a single sound.


    Thrum!


    Each thrum was more unexpected than thest. It was utterly impossible! It couldn''t continue! It had to stop!


    Thrum!


    And yet the next one came, ever rhythmic in its timing. The Grand Abbot felt himself go numb. He couldn''t feel more shock. He was at his limits. He just watched, eyes wide, body numb.


    Thrum!


    The thrums, like heartbeats of the world, continued as if they would never end. They had started off soft, but now sounded like the poundings of war drums, booming with explosive power.


    And then they stopped. The Grand Abbot''s mind shook, snapped out of his dazed stupor. His cleared mind counted the thrums instinctively, recalling how many he had heard. The number was impossible, but he knew he was not wrong. He couldn''t be wrong about something so simple. Someone as powerful as him couldn''t mistake what had happened.


    He breathed out with exhaustion.


    "Twenty full cycles! Forty thrums!" he whispered softly, his eyes resting on John''s back. "What have I witnessed? What¡­is this child?"

 Chapter 882 Dao Seeds

    The Grand Abbot knew he had just witnessed something inconceivable. Something that should not be possible. Something that no one in the universe would believe had happened, or was even possible. It defied everything he knew, and yet it had happened. That was an irrefutable fact.


    He was old, but not old enough to be senile. His cultivation was strong and thus his mind was strong. He knew what he had seen had happened.


    And it was just getting started.


    The Grand Abbot breathed out lightly, realizing he had been holding his breath the entire time. One as strong as him didn''t need to breathe, but it still felt stifling to hold it in as long as he had done.


    His eyes were glued to John''s back. He dared not miss a single moment of this historic event.


    John grit his teeth tightly, mind aching with excruciating pain. He had truly pushed himself to the very edge of copse just moments ago, and even had one foot stepping off the edge. The feeling of strengthening both his dantian and soul had been euphoric, and he had pushed himself hard; harder than perhaps he should have.


    Each cycle of Qi strengthened him, but also pained him. Both his dantian and his soul were pushed closer and closer to their limits; limits that were firm. Limits that would mean his death if he pushed past them. Even someone as talented as him had limits, and he had nearly pushed himself past them.


    On thest cycle of Qi, his dantian nearly fractured and burst, and his mind nearly shattered apart. He breathed in and out deeply, pushing down the pain. A chill crawled up his spine as he realized just how close he hade to his death.


    If one more sliver of Qi had entered his dantian, if one more ounce of soul power had entered his soul, both would have burst apart. If that happened, he would have died without question. That chilling sensation turned into tion, and John smiled to himself with satisfaction.


    He had pushed himself to his absolute limits. He had done all he could have done, and has seized every possible sliver of strength he could grasp from this ascension. This satisfactionsted for a mere instant, as John could tell there was more to be done.


    His instincts screamed at him loudly, just as it had done with the Qi cycles, urging him forward once more. His mind calmed, and he fell into a focused trance once more. John''s divine sense washed over his dantian, which felt as firm and hard as any material he knew. In fact, he was sure it was denser and harder than anything he had seen before, including the material used to make his scythe.


    His dantian was as if it were an entire world, condensed into a small ball no wider than a finger. It brimmed violently with cmitous energy, trembling as if it were about to burst apart. It could grow no more in this realm. His dantian was ready to ascend.


    As if his instincts were a set of instructions engraved into his mind, John continued his breakthrough. He knew he was not yet done. He had transformed his Qi, but had not yet done anything to transform his Dao''s. That part came next.


    The thought of rampaging lightning, violent with ruinous energy entered his mind, as if it had appeared on its own volition. John did not brush this thought aside, and instead focused on the lightning.


    It was the first Dao he had ever truly focused on. The Dao that had helped him through his cultivation journey, fighting alongside him against the heavens. It was only natural that this was the first Dao to appear in his mind.


    His mind focused on the Dao, on hisprehensions into the wondrousw of the universe. Of everything he knew about lightning. The thought seemed to almost be corporeal within his soul, something real, like a rain drop forming in the air above the ocean of soul-power within his soul.


    That drop shed brightly from within, as if it contained a storm of lighting. His thoughts focused on the Dao of Lightning, the drop growing everrger, ever brighter, ever more profound. At longst his mind sorted through all hisprehension, and he felt as though he had forgotten the Dao of Lightning for a moment. It was as if all hisprehensions had been taken from him, and infused into the drop within his soul space.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The drop then disappeared, as if vanishing from existence. John didn''t panic. He knew where it had gone. His divine sense flooded over his dantian once more, noticing the drop of lightning hovering just next to his dantian, as if wanting to enter within.


    At his urging, the drop moved ever so slightly, barely nudging against his dantian.


    Boom!


    It was as if he had finally exploded from within, his dantian no longer able to contain the explosive amount of Qi within. Once again, John did not panic. This was supposed to happen.


    The explosion did indeed happen within his body, centered on his dantian. Normally such a thing would spell death for a cultivator, but he was still perfectly unharmed.


    John''s divine sense flooded into his dantian once more, which was not a ckened orb of physical mass, but a colorful orb of profundity, ever changing colors. His eyes lit up with realization.


    Space! This was spatial energy.


    There had indeed been an explosion within him, but instead of his dantian exploding, space had exploded instead. An entirely new spatial realm, one housing his dantian within, had exploded into existence. His divine sense flooded into this spatial cocoon, which was the exact same size as his physical dantian had been.


    An entirely new realm opened up before him, one reminding him of whenever he stepped into his body dantian and entered his pce realm. However, instead of a pce at the center of the realm, it was his dantian.


    It floated in the very center of this newly established spatial realm, like a singr tiny world floating within a void. It almost reminded him of the World Dimension Seed, floating within the void it had created around himself. The two were very alike.


    John inspected the tiny world, his dantian, and noticed a tiny little protrusion, almost imperceptible unless he looked closely. Compared to the dantian itself, it was like an ant standing on a mountain. And yet it was the only thing sticking out of the dantian, which was marble smooth everywhere else.


    John focused on this protrusion, and his eyes lit up with wonder. The protrusion shed brightly on asion, and he instantly knew what it was.


    The droplet of lightning! A droplet of lightning slightly stained with his own Qi, as if it had been altered ever so slightly, so small that it would be unnoticeable to anyone but himself.


    It appeared like a small sapling springing up from the ground. A sappling of the lightning Dao! Like a seed of the Daoe to life.


    His eyes lit up with realization of what he had to do next.


    It was time to nt the rest of the Dao Seeds! It was time to sow the fields of his dantian with all of his Daoprehensions.

 Chapter 883 Dao Transformation Realm!

    Another bead of profound energy brimming with a singr Dao appeared in John''s soul space as he focused on his next Dao. The bead was brimming with might, as if the tiny bead was a pinnacle source of power.


    The Dao of Power!


    John''s mind raced with all hisprehensions regarding the Dao of Power, which was his second most proficient Dao he knew. It had served him well during all his battles thus far, and would no doubt continue to be a pir of strength for him going forward.


    ''Strength'' John thought, the word echoing in his mind. He had always wondered why that divine realm trial had shown him the Dao of Power, instead of other simr Dao''s, like strength or might.


    ''Power. Strength. Might. There are many simr words to describe what power is,'' his thoughts continued. ''But power is different than them as well. Strength primarily focuses on the physical, might mostly as well. All the other words that are simr have a primary focus, whether it be material or immaterial. But power¡­It could mean increasing one''s physical strength. It could mean increasing one''s essence strength. It could mean increasing one''s soul-power. It could mean increasing one''s political status in the world.''


    ''Power is fluid. Power is all-epassing. Power is supreme!''


    John felt his mind push through another barrier in regards to the Dao of Power, advancing hisprehensions once more. The bead brimming with the Dao of Power grew again within his soul space, and then it vanished.


    John didn''t bother to check where it had gone. He knew where it had vanished too. And he knew he would be able to inspect the Dao sapling at ater time. Right now, it was time to focus on the rest of his Dao''s.


    One after another, his mind focused on the Dao''s he knew, going from most proficient to least proficient.


    Lightning. Power. Destruction. Annihtion. Death. Space. Scythe.


    One after another, a bead formed in his soul space, and then vanished. The process continued ceaselessly, one after another, time losing all meaning. Each drop forming raised hisprehension into that particr Dao slightly, for it was like he was able to peer at the Dao at a physical level, something that was almost never possible otherwise.


    Each drop was like a natural treasure forming, emanating the Dao he was focusing on, allowing him to see it in its entirety. This opportunity was beyond marvelous, and John did not squander a single moment of it.


    sh!


    The void John and the Grand Abbot were in shed with a bright light, tinged slightly yellow in color. The void fell silent for some time again, before another sh of light appeared, blue this time.


    sh!


    sh!<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    sh!


    The shes had started out blinding, and had gradually grown lesser in intensity as time went on. Each sh represented a Dao seed forming in John''s mind, and then infusing with his dantian. It was the natural manifestation of the Dao''s gaining physical form for the first time.


    The Grand Abbot naturally expected this, and yet he had not expected what was urring at the same time. There were so many shes of light. So many Dao''sprehended. Too many to be possible for one so young. And yet, he felt as if this was only natural after seeing what John had done prior.


    John''s mind was bing numb, overworked from the amount of Dao''s he had learned, and infused into his dantian. And yet he pushed through the numbness, focusing on the next. The Dao bead formed, and then vanished.


    John paused for a moment, gathering his mental strength, and then focused on the next Dao. He paused again.


    There were no more Dao''s. He had exhausted all of the Dao''s he knew, and had infused them into his dantian. Theck of another Dao filled him with a feeling of emptiness. He had grown so ustomed to forming a Dao bead, studying that Dao bead, infusing that Dao bead, that it felt like the process would never end.


    His mind stilled for a moment, and then it was as if the sun had exploded within his body, dantian, and soul, filling every inch with a blinding white light. There was no heat, no pain, only light. A lighting from his dantian. John''s divine sense entered his soul space containing his dantian, and stared at it with wondrous awe.


    It glowed like a star for a moment, nearly as brilliant as the World Dimension Seed itself. It was not pure white like the World Dimension Seed, but was an off white color, as if it was missing some of the pureness that the World Dimension seed had. But it was awe-inspiring and brilliant nheless, as each and every Dao seed was glowing brilliantly, giving off its natural Dao color, forming together to form that blinding white light.


    The sh was so bright that it erupted outwards, leaving John''s spatial realm as if it was impossible to contain. It erupted within the World Dimension Seed void, sending a sh of radiance bursting outwards. For a moment, John glowed nearly as brightly as the world seed itself, making it appear as if two suns were orbiting each other, their light illuminating the other, making it glow even brighter than before.


    The Grand Abbot raised his hand before his stunned face, shielding his eyes from the ring light. It was blinding, even to someone as powerful as him.


    The World Seed glowed a brilliant white light, pure as the untouched snow. It contained the multitude of Dao''s within, all epassing, perfect. Johns was nearly the same, brilliant, awe-inspiring, mesmerizing.


    The brilliant light faded away, John''s seated figure reappearing. The light had been swallowed within John once more, returning to its source. John slowly opened his eyes within the void, his gaze seeming to contain all the truths of the universe.


    His body surged with iparable power, heavenly Qi but slightly different, as if the Qi had been branded by John, forming something slightly different than what he had been using before. Slightly different than what anyone else used.


    He smiled, satisfied.


    He had sessfully broken through to the Dao Transformation Realm!

 Chapter 884 Moving Towards The World Seed

    John sat still within the void, feeling his new power coursing through his meridian and surging through his body. The increase in power felt wonderful, but he dared not waste too much time while within the World Dimension Seeds domain. There were many things yet to aplish, and he would have time to study his new power at ater time.


    His attention shifted to his body dantian, and his face lit up with slight surprise.


    ''My body dantian advanced on its own, and has already formed its own spatial realm!'' John thought, shocked by this discovery. He hadpletely failed to notice this transformation.


    Since the start of his cultivation journey, John always had to raise the level of his body dantian manually, just as he did his essence dantian. Once he had ascended to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, something seemed to have changed. His body dantian had be much more in tune with his essence dantian, as if the two were almost intertwined.


    He had been able to raise his body dantian cultivation a minor realm higher than his essence dantian in the past, but now was not able to do so. Each time he attempted to push it above his essence dantian, his mind was nearly overwhelmed with the sinister murmursing from within the dantian.


    He could tell that if he did so, there was arge chance that he would be overwhelmed, and lose his sanity, or even worse. As such, he had not attempted to do so, and had raised it equally alongside his essence dantian.


    He had wanted to do the same here and now, but had discovered that his body dantian had advanced to the Dao Transformation Realm on its own.


    ''How did I not notice such a thing happening?'' John wondered, and then shook his head, unable to answer his own question. His body dantian was the most profound thing he had ever encountered, and sometimes it was as if it had a mind of its own. His mysterious father still dwelled within the holy gate, and John was sure he most likely had something to do with this.


    John shook his head helplessly, and then sent his divine sense into his body dantians spatial realm. His soul washed over it, and his eyes widened slightly.


    ''There''s no Dao seeds!'' he noticed, slightly surprised once more. His essence dantian was covered with them, yet this one was as smooth as ss.


    ''Did I screw up somehow? Or is my body dantian unable to form Dao seeds? Or is it something else entirely?''


    Many questions entered his mind, but he had answers to none of them. John thought about asking his mysterious father the questions, but then shook his head against the idea.


    ''The bastard never answers any of my questions. It would just be a waste of time,'' John grumbled internally, and then pushed the entire issue aside for the moment.


    Whatever the reason his body dantian had advanced on its own was, whatever the reason it didn''t have any Dao seeds, it didn''t matter right now. He didn''t have answers, and didn''t have anyone who would answer those questions either. In fact, he didn''t really care either, as despite the fact that there were no Dao seeds, John was sure that this was intended. It was only a feeling he had, but his feelings were normally correct.


    As such, John put the thoughts aside, and sent his divine sense into the body dantian, and the pce realm within. He entered the pce, and went about his usual routine when breaking through to the next major realm.


    He painfully absorbed the drop of sinister and holy blood, and felt his affinity towards the Immortal Asura Tome increase. He then touched the chains on both the holy and sinister gate, causing one on each gate to crumble, increasing the intensity of both the holy and sinister aura''sing out from within.


    As he touched the sinister gate chain and made it disappear, the pce shook violently for a brief moment, as if a slumbering giant was awakening. A deep rumble boomed out from within the sinister gate, as he had heard before.


    John stared at the gate curiously for a moment, watching to see if anything would happen. Nothing changed, and the gate fell silent once more.


    ''There''s definitely something inside, but what exactly is in there?'' John asked himself. He had a few guesses, but that''s all they were; guesses. He had no way of knowing if his guesses were correct, and knew his mysterious father would not answer him.


    Completing his business within his pce realm, John''s divine sense left, and his consciousness returned to the real world. He felt his body surge with even more power than before now that he had fully pushed his body dantian to the next level, and marveled in that feeling for a brief moment before pushing the feeling aside.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His eyes opened, and he stared at the bright World Dimension Seed hovering in the very center of the void. His eyes glimmered with anticipation.


    It was time to im the seed for himself!


    Firming his mind, John leaned forward once more, and he slowly started to float towards the seed. The Grand Abbot''s face perked up slightly, as John had started to move once more. He had finally recovered from the shock of what he had seen John do previously, and was eager to see if he would be able to obtain the seed that so many others had failed to im.


    His heartbeat quickened with anticipation. If there was someone capable of iming such an ancient World Dimension Seed, then it would surely be the youth who had defied all thews of the cultivation world just moments ago. Even so, the Grand Abbot held his breath.


    The World Dimension Seed was ancient, and its power and sentience, and thus its requirements, were astronomically high. He feared it may already have grown to a level that no one, not even John, could im, but he hoped that was not the case. If that truly was the case, then his life''s purpose, the reason for him living on this world for so long, would all have been a colossal waste.


    As he watched John approach the seed, the Grand Abbot held his breath. John was just about to enter the area where the resistance would start, and the trial to prove himself worthy began.


    The Grand Abbot''s face twitched slightly. Something was wrong! There was no resistance. No test of worthiness. When all those before had crossed that threshold, they had been bombarded with the Daoly energying from the World Dimension Seed, and had needed to pass a variety of tests in order to advance.


    Tests of dantian talent. Tests ofprehension talent. Tests of cultivation talent, and so much more. All who hade had faced those tests, and all had failed miserably. But now, that Daoly energy was nowhere to be found. Those tests were non-existent.


    The Grand Abbot felt his heart sink for a moment as he tried to figure out what was going on.


    "Is the World Dimension Seed dying? Has it been weakened to a point that it can no longer test worthiness?" he mumbled, but shook his head firmly a momentter.


    "No. The World Seed is stronger than ever!" he said firmly. "So why? Why has the test not begun-"


    His words cut off as he noticed something happen to the World Dimension Seed, and his eyes widened to the point where they could not widen anymore. A new level of disbelief washed over the Grand Abbot, who thought he had finally gone mad, and was seeing things that were not happening.


    The World Dimension Seed, which had existed unmoving in the center of this pocket realm since its birth, was moving.


    It was moving towards John, as if it were the one being tested for its worthiness.


    The Grand Abbot''s mind shook as he watched the seed approach John, and John approach it. The two finally arrived before each other, and John inspected the blindingly bright seed up close for a moment before nodding his head in a satisfied manner.


    "You really are an amazing treasure," the Grand Abbot heard John say with an approving tone, almost as if he were speaking of a weapon or a pill, and not one of the most heavenly objects in existence. "Together, we should be able to do some amazing things."


    Upon saying this, John reached out and touched the bright seed, and then it vanished. The brightness of the void faded away, and the profound Daoly energy disappeared as well, filing the space they were in with empty silence.


    Wide eyed, the Grand Abbot breathed out, whispering soft words audible only to him. Words he thought he might never say.


    "The World Dimension Seed has finally been imed!"

 Chapter 885 Leaving The Realm

    Within the now-still void, the Grand Abbot stared at John, his gaze wavering with confusion.


    The World Dimension Seed, one that had existed for half a million years and had grown to an unprecedented level, had actually moved towards John. Not only that, but it had not tested him at all, not even a tiny bit.


    In all his years of experience, the Grand Abbot had never heard of such a thing happening. A World Dimension Seeds pride was nearly unparalleled, and it was always a massive undertaking to prove one''s worth.


    And yet none of that had happened. The Worle Dimension Seed weed John without any hostility at all, as if it''s choice had already been made long ago.


    The thought shook the Grand Abbot once more.


    "That...is that even possible?" He wondered.


    The World Dimension Seed was the very core of a world, and thus it knew everything that was happening on its world at all times. However, for it to take notice of a singr youth, and choose it before the youth had even proven himself worthy, then what exactly had John done to receive such a treatment.


    After a moment of thought, the Grand Abbot shook his head and recovered his wits and emotions. Thinking about such things no longer mattered. What mattered was that his mission had finally been achieved.


    After obtaining the World Dimension Seed, John quickly inspected his body, trying to find it. He had been able to tell that the Seed had chosen him, and so he willingly allowed it to enter his body freely, as he knew it would do him no harm.


    But now that he had obtained it, he could no longer find it. John''s divine sense washed over his body, trying to locate the seed. After finding nothing, his divine sense entered his newly formed essence dantian spatial realm.


    "Still nothing," he muttered softly, not detecting it.


    He withdrew his divine sense, and then stopped at thest moment. He could feel it. The feeling was incredibly faint, but he could detect the world seed in his dantian spatial realm. Still, he couldn''t see it anywhere.


    "Trying to find the world seed?" The Grand Abbots voice sounded out behind John, his question as if he could read Johns thoughts.


    John turned around and inspected the old man for a moment. There was no hostility, no envy,ing from the man. Instead, he seemed to be in a very good mood, which confused John slightly.


    ''Why is he so happy that a stranger obtained the world seed?'' John thought, but didn''t ask the question. He instead nodded his head in confirmation the the Grand Abbots question.


    The Grand Abbot smiled lightly, and then pointed towards John''s stomach, where the spatial cocoon holding his essence dantian existed.


    "It has burrowed into your dantian, and has gone into a deep slumber," the Grand Abbot said.


    "It can do that?" John asked, slightly surprised.


    "Yes," the Grand Abbot nodded. "And there it will remain, dormant, maintaining its power, until the time to blossom has arrived."


    "Time to blossom? You mean when I break into the World Expansion Realm?" John asked.


    The Grand Abbot nodded his head.


    "At that time, the seed will awaken, and you will discover the true purpose of the seed, and why it is considered a treasure of the heavens," the Grand Abbot replied.


    John fell silent. He had so many questions, and wanted answers. But if he asked questions, would the Grand Abbot even bother replying? Most of the powerful cultivators he dealt with were always vague in their answers, hardly answering his questions at all.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I take it you have many questions you wish to ask of me?" The Grand Abbot said smiling, once again reading Johns thoughts with ease.


    John nodded his head, to which the Grand Abbot did the same.


    "Very well," he said. "Now that the world seed has been obtained, the time to close the realm hase. Let us depart."


    The Grand Abbot ced his hand on John''s shoulder, and the two vanished from sight. Only the still void remained, which remained still for some time.


    Suddenly, an almost indistinguishable light appeared within the very center of the void, where the world seed had previously been. Energy slowly started to seep from the edges of the void towards the light source, as if feeding it.


    The birth of the new world dimension seed had started.


    ...


    sh!


    A sh of light appeared within the martial arena, catching the attention of those who had been left behind. John and the Grand Abbot appeared from out of the light, causing a few eyebrows to be raised.


    Thest time anyone had seen this man was at the entrance of the divine realm. Lilian was a short distance away, and nced at John curiously. A small smile appeared a momentter, as John''s gaze was not the one of a person who had failed. She nodded her head at him in an approving manner, while John smiled happily in silent reply.


    "The time to close the realm has arrived," the Grand Abbot said to everyone, and without warning, waved his hand outwards.


    All of the participants were wrapped up in a soft yet inescapable bubble of his power, shocking most of them. None of them could resist, and after wrapping all of them up, the Grand Abbots power red once more.


    Brightness enveloped their visions for a brief moment, and then it faded. Their feetnded on solid ground again, and a sprawling scene of a massive city, a raging river, and distant mountains came into their view.


    They all instantly recognized where they were. Atop the stairs they had climbed at the entrance of the Divine Source Monastery.


    John and the others took in the sudden change of scenery, and then heard a deafening wave of apuse and cheering boom out from the city below them.


    Thousands, tens of thousands, and then millions flooded out of the city and towards the stairs, their voices booming loudly in excited cheers.


    Amidst the jubnt cheers were clear chants and words, easy for John and the others to hear.


    Honorable Alliance!


    Goddess of Death!


    Immortal Asura!


    The cheers boomed these words with enthusiasm and wonder, their hearts and souls behind each booming cheer.


    John took in the surprising scene calmly, but although his face was calm, his heart fluttered with emotions. Even for someone like him, such a scene stirred his emotions. Millions cheering for the Honorable Alliance. Millions cheering for his master. Millions cheering for the Immortal Asura.

 Chapter 886 Discussions With The Grand Abbot

    "You''ve be quite popr," Lilian said to John, standing next to him as the two looked over the millions gathered before them. It was like an ocean of people, stretching out endlessly.


    While her words were light, her face was scrunched up slightly. John nced at her, and could tell she had not been expecting such a wee from the city.


    "The Grand Abbot told me the fights were broadcast to the people here," John said to her, exining the crowd''s reaction to their arrival.


    "So that''s why," Lilian sighed deeply, and then shrugged. She did not enjoy the attention, but knew she was helpless to do anything about it. Her true father already knew about what had happened, and other than him and the Asura, she did not really care about anyone else knowing about the truth.


    "So, was the treasure you received worth all the fuss we went through?" she asked John curiously.


    John smiled, and then nodded his head.


    "Good," Lilian replied, satisfied. "Then it wasn''t a waste of time. And your cultivation has risen once more. I''ll need to step it up or you''ll pass me before long," she added, staring at him curiously.


    His progress was just too fast. In less than four years, he had gone from no cultivation at all to the Dao Transformation Realm. Even with everything she knew about him, it was still something nearly unbelievable. Although when it came to John, it seemed as though there was nothing he could not aplish, now of the universe he could not bend or break.


    She shook her head lightly at the thought, and then shifted her gaze sideways towards the Grand Abbot who had stepped up to the two of them. The Grand Abbot inspected Lilian for a moment, and then nodded his head approvingly.


    "As frightening a master disciplebination as I''ve ever seen," he said, praising the two of them.


    "You have more business with my disciple?" Lilian asked, one eyebrow raised.


    "I do," the Grand Abbot said smiling. "You won''t mind if I borrow him for a short while, would you?"


    "Not at all," Lilian replied, "just be sure to bring him back in one piece."


    "Why are you two talking about me like I''m not here?" John grumbled, and then sighed helplessly.


    Both Lilian and the Grand Abbot smiled, and then the Grand Abbot gestured for John to follow him. John did so, and the two retreated back into the main building of the Divine Source Monastery. The noise of the cheering crowd behind him faded away as they meandered through a series of hallways, eventually arriving at arge yet inly decorated room.


    There were two sitting mats in the center of the room, and a small table between the mats. On the table was a teapot and two cups. The steam rising from the teapot indicated that it had been freshly brewed. Other than that, there was nothing else of note.


    "Quite a simple life you live," Johnmented as he gazed around the room.


    The Grand Abbot sat on one of the mats and gestured for John to sit on the other. He smiled at John.


    "That is how us monks prefer to live," the Grand Abbot said, smiling warmly as he reached out and poured John some tea, and then himself. John smelled the fragrant aroma of the tea and smiled knowingly.


    "How have you been enjoying my tea?" John asked with a yful smile.


    "It is extraordinary," the Grand Abbot said before taking a sip, not a hint of surprise on his face or in his voice, as if he knew John was the source of the tea all along. John was not too surprised however, as someone as powerful as the Grand Abbot was sure to know many things.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    John picked up his cup and took a sip, savoring the fragrant aroma and delicious taste. As he tasted and swallowed the tea,prehensions of the Dao''s flooded his mind in a strong yet soothing way. His mind was filled with ideas he had never thought of before, slightly raising hisprehensions towards several of his Dao''s, especially the ones he had just recently learned.


    His eyes widened with satisfaction as he stared at the cup of tea. He had tasted it many times before, but had never gotten much value out of it, as the tea was too profound for him to truly utilize. With his cultivation at the Dao Transformation now, it seemed he was finally able to obtain benefits from drinking the tea.


    "No wonder people go so crazy over this tea," John mumbled to himself, taking another sip before setting the cup down.


    His gaze locked with the Grand Abbot, who was sitting there in silence, watching John, waiting for him to speak.


    "I have many questions," John said, getting straight to the point.


    "And I have some answers," the Grand Abbot replied.


    John studied the man for a moment, while his thoughts swirled chaotically. He had so many things he wanted to ask about, but knew not every question would receive a reply. His mind thought back to the World Dimension Seed, and the discussion he had with the Grand Abbot.


    "Regarding the World Dimension Seed. You mentioned that a fully formed world would create a new World Dimension Seed on its own," John said.


    "I did."


    "How long does that process take? How long until a new seed is formed?" John asked curiously. The Grand Abbot smiled, seeing where John was going with this.


    "Nearly instantly," the Grand Abbot replied. "In fact, a nascent seed has already been formed, and is growing as we speak."


    "I see," John said thoughtfully. "And how long would the seed have to form until it is useful to someone else? Say, the next person able to im the seed for its own?"


    The Grand Abbot picked up his tea cup and took a sip, then ced it down.


    "It depends on many factors, such as the condition of the world, the state of the previous seed, and several other things," the Grand Abbot replied vaguely, "but in regards to the new seed that has already formed, it is already a treasure greater in worth than kingdoms and empires."


    "It''s already that valuable?" John asked, surprised to hear that. He figured it would be many years before the seed grew to a level that was worth anything at all.


    "The World Dimension Seed that you obtained became fully self-sufficient a long time ago, and so it did not take from the world, and the world did not take from it," the Grand Abbot exined. "As such, the world itself has been storing up its energy to create a new seed for a long, long time. The new World Dimension Seed is already as strong and profound as some seeds that have been forming for hundreds of years, or even thousands of years."


    John raised an eyebrow. He had not expected it to be that powerful already. If that was the case¡­


    "Then, is it possible that-" John said, but he was cut off by the Grand Abbot quickly.


    "Your master is already being escorted by Prior Hishen to the new World Dimension Seed," the Grand Abbot replied calmly. "If she is worthy, she will inherit the new seed."

 Chapter 887 Knowledge Of The Prophecy

    Surprise appeared on John''s face. That was the question he was going to ask, but didn''t think he was seen through so perfectly. The Grand Abbot always seemed to know what he was thinking. It was a stifling feeling.


    "Are you truly so surprised that we would allow her to attempt obtaining the seed?" the Grand Abbot asked John, noticing the surprise on his face.


    "Well, sort of," John replied truthfully. "I didn''t know if there would be exceptions made for someone who did note first in the realm trials," John rified. The Divine Source Monastery seemed to be quite strict, and so he was almost sure an exception would not be made. But much to surprise, it had already been made before he asked.


    The Grand Abbot took another sip of his tea, savoring the taste for a short moment, then ced the cup down.


    "The Divine Source Monastery has a very specific mission," the Grand Abbot said. "Guard the World Dimension Seed. Ensure only the worthy can attempt to obtain it. That is our true purpose on this world, and is one of the three core missions of the Divine Source Monastery atrge," he added.


    The answer filled John with so many questions, but he remained silent, as he could tell the Grand Abbot had more to say.


    "Ensuring the safety of the World Seed. Ensuring the sanctity of the World Void. That is our purpose here. In any other trial, your master would have no doubt ced first, and would have proven herself worthy to obtain the world seed. Unfortunately for her, you were here as well this time, but perhaps that is also her blessing.


    While I''m not certain, I''m quite confident that even your master would not have been able to obtain the World Seed you obtained. It was as if it was waiting for you and only you, and no one else was worthy," the Grand Abbot said, staring at John questioningly.


    John had revealed himself to be from another world, yet had lived long enough on this world to be recognized by the World Dimension Seed. He had obtained the seed without struggle, as if the Seed wanted to be with him and only him. It defied allmon logic, and filled the Grand Abbot with many questions.


    John chuckled wryly and shrugged. He couldn''t reveal the truth of his past.


    The Grand Abbot stared at him silently for some time, and then continued, putting the questions he had aside.


    "Your master proved herself more than worthy to attempt to im the seed, and although it is quite unorthodox for us to allow her to obtain it, I have decided to make an exception this time. After all, one who holds an Empyrean Dao Name has already been blessed and epted by the heavens. Who am I to judge their worthiness if the heavens have already deemed them worthy?" the Grand Abbot said calmly.


    "An Empyrean Dao Name?" John asked. It was the first time he heard the term.


    The Grand Abbot waved his hand dismissively, as if John''s question was not important.


    "As such, your master will have her chance to obtain the new World Dimension Seed," the Grand Abbot continued. "While it will not be as booneful to her as it was to you, it will still be an absolutely immense source of help in her future should she obtain it."


    The Grand Abbot fell silent and sipped more tea, while John sat there thoughtfully. With the matter of his master resolved, he wanted to ask the other questions he had on his mind.


    "Earlier, you mentioned protecting the seed was the Divine Source Monasteries mission, on this world, specifically. Does that imply that there are other worlds the Divine Source Monastery exists on?" John asked.


    He knew there were other worlds, but didn''t know anything else. It seemed as though the Grand Abbot might have some answers regarding that, and he wanted to know everything he could about the universe outside his own world.


    "Curious about the world outside this world?" the Grand Abbot asked amusingly, to which John nodded his head firmly.


    A thoughtful look appeared on the Grand Abbot''s face.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "There are other worlds," the Grand Abbot confirmed. "More worlds than can be counted."


    The answer stunned John.


    "There''s that many?" he asked. "How do you get to the other worlds? Can you travel to other worlds? Are you from another world as well?"


    A barrage of questions spewed out of his mouth, no longer able to contain the questions burning his mind.


    The Grand Abbot raised his hand, as if to cut John off. John fell silent.


    "Too much information is not always a good thing," the Grand Abbot said calmly. "You still have many things to aplish on this world, do you not?" he asked.


    John was slightly taken aback. Did the Grand Abbot know about the Asura?


    John nodded his head.


    "I do."


    "Then do not concern yourself with distracting thoughts, and only focus on the here and now, until you have dealt with the here and now," the Grand Abbot said.


    John fell silent. It was not what he wanted to hear, but he knew pestering the Grand Abbot about the truth would not work either. His mind raced with other questions, and then he focused on one. His firm gaze locked with the Grand Abbot''s calm gaze.


    "Do you know about the Asura?" John asked, getting straight to the point.


    "I do," the Grand Abbot replied calmly, as if he were expecting the question. John was both surprised and not surprised at the same time.


    "How long have you known about it?" John asked.


    "Since the beginning," the Grand Abbot said, his voice still calm, continuing on. John''s eyes widened as he listened to the Grand Abbot speak. "When the golden tempest fades and the blooddrop''s fall, eight stars shall illuminate the world, announcing his arrival for all: the Asura of Annihtion."


    "How do you know about the prophecy?" John asked, his voice dazed.


    Only him and a few others knew about it. And he was sure Sect Leader Thunderzen did not tell anyone else, as it was too dangerous to spread.


    "How do I know about it?" the Grand Abbot smiled. "My master was the one who wrote it in the first ce."

 Chapter 888 The Monasterys True Mission

    "What? Your master made the prophecy?" John eximed with disbelief.


    It was such an ancient prophecy that the idea of someone writing it almost seemed wrong to John, even though that didn''t make sense. The Grand Abbot smiled softly and nodded his head.


    "Yes. A very long time ago, when I had just arrived to this world to assume my post as his disciple," the Grand Abbot said, his gaze slightly distracted as if he were thinking of the events of the past.


    His normal gaze returned a momentter.


    "If you want to ask more about it, I''m afraid I can''t help you much," the Grand Abbot said, noticing John''s expression. "My master was skilled in the arts of fate and prophecy, while my talents lie elsewhere. I only know of the prophecy, as well as the existence of the Asura. I do not know much else."


    John nodded his head after a moment of silence. He was disappointed, but it couldn''t be helped.


    "Then, do you at least know how strong the Asura is?" John asked curiously. "If I''m destined to fight it, then I''d like to know how strong I need to be before I start that battle," he added.


    "Quite strong I''m afraid," the Grand Abbot said, and thought about John''s question for a moment before shaking his head sideways.


    "As for how strong you would need to be, I cannot answer that question."


    John frowned. The Grand Abbot noticed the smile, and provided further rification.


    "It''s not that I don''t want to help, its that I can''t without potentially effecting the oue in a negative way. Asura''s are formidable, unpredictable foes, and theirbat prowess is unmatched. The Asura was gravely injured a long time ago, and has been recovering from those wounds in hiding ever since. I do not know how much he has healed to this date, or where hisbat prowess lies at the moment. As for you," the Grand Abbot paused for a moment.


    "You are also an enigma," he said, smiling lightly. "Yourbat prowess defies logic, and yet I have the feeling that you still had more to reveal. I cannot judge yourbat prowess urately, nor can I predict how it will change as your cultivation advances. With these two things added together, predicting where your strength would need to be is a wild guess at best."


    John frowned, but nodded his head in agreement after thinking over the Grand Abbot''s words. He decided to change the subject slightly.


    "Just now, you mentioned Asura''s, plural, and also said they are formidable foes. Does that mean you''ve fought Asura''s in the past?" John asked curiously.


    "I have," the Grand Abbot nodded in confirmation, while John''s eyes widened slightly.


    "Then, if you fought them in the past and survived, aren''t you strong enough to fight this Asura then?" John asked curiously.


    The Grand Abbot smiled, as if John''s question was from a child who knew nothing.


    "You''ve fought humans in the past," the Grand Abbot said, his words seeming to stray from John''s question. "And yet, if I asked if you could fight your Sect Leader, Daoist Thunderzen right now, would you be strong enough to beat him?"


    John remained silent for a moment, and then nodded his head in understanding. The Grand Abbot''s words were somewhat vague, and yet very specific at the same time.


    ''So the Grand Abbot is telling me that Asura''s are like humans. Some are strong. Some are weak. They are as varied as humans strength wise,'' John mused internally. Another question entered his mind as he thought about this.


    "So, if you''ve fought Asura''s before, but refer to the Asura on this world as a singr, that means you''re quite certain he''s the only one of his kind remaining, at least on this world. So, was there some kind of battle that happened? Does this rte to the ancient cmity that nearly destroyed the world?" John asked, putting the puzzle pieces together.


    The Grand Abbot remained silent, and took a sip of tea. He ced his cup down, and then shook his head lightly.


    "Some things I can tell you, and other things I cannot."


    John frowned with displeasure.


    "Fucking Karma," he grumbled, not caring about his crassnguage infront of the Grand Abbot. He knew that was the reason the Grand Abbot didn''t want to tell him. It was always Karma.


    The Grand Abbot raised an eyebrow.


    "You know of Karma?" he asked curiously.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I do," John confirmed, and then asked his own question. "So when can I learn things regardless of Karma? I''m starting to get pissed at all this dancing around the important information I need," John grumbled.


    His mysterious father, Celestial Soulrend, the ancient beast in the Divine Trial. They all refused to answer some questions due to the Karma it would invoke on John, which they imed was too dangerous.


    "When one ascends to the Holy Manifestation Realm, they achieve the ability to hide their threads of Karma from scrying eyes, at least from normal scrying means," the Grand Abbot said, providing John with some useful information atst.


    John pursed his lips in a line, but nodded in thanks nheless. At least that information was better than nothing.


    "So, if I can''t ask about things like that, then I''ll ask this at least," John said, changing the subject again. "If the Asura were to attack me, would you be able to help?"


    "I would not," the Grand Abbot sighed, as if he were truly unhappy about his reply.


    "Why not?" John asked. "Your mission was to guard the World Dimension Seed until one can obtain it. Surely allowing the one who obtained it to die isn''t beneficial for your mission, whatever it may be?"


    "I''m afraid my hands are tied by the core ts of my monastery," the Grand Abbot sighed again. "My mission is to provide opportunity. An opportunity for growth. An opportunity for ascension. That is all I can do unfortunately, is provide that opportunity. Everything else is in your hands."


    "Why? That doesn''t make sense at all?" John asked, still not satisfied with that answer. "You spent half a million years guarding the World Seed, and yet you would allow it to be destroyed just after being imed? If that''s the case, then your mission is secondary to some true mission, one important enough to allow a World Dimension Seed holder to be destroyed. What is that mission?" John asked, his voice firm.


    The Grand Abbot remained silent for a moment, as if considering what he could tell John, and what he should keep secret. He sighed again.


    "With your level of talent, I''m certain you''ve gone through many great ordeals, possibly life and death ordeals to get to the level you are at. Am I correct in that assumption?" the Grand Abbot asked.


    John had not been expecting a question to his question, but nodded his head.


    "You are correct," John replied after thinking it over.


    If he had not had his near death experiences in the Yuan Continent ancient realms, in the Bloodfiend Sect, in the Jade Dragon Empire trials, he would not be nearly as strong today as he was. Those events had pushed him past his limits several times already, causing his strength to grow explosively.


    Without those near death events, he would no doubt be several levels weaker at the moment.


    The Grand Abbot nodded, satisfied with John''s honest self-reflection.


    "That is why I cannot help you," the Grand Abbot said. "Life and death events are necessary for one to achieve their true potential. If I were to interfere in one event, if my actions caused you to survive, you would not grow from that event. And if I was wrong in my judgment, and you would have been able to get through that life and death event on your own, I would have starved you of an incredible opportunity for growth. And while saving you from a sure death event appears to be the smartest choice, where can I draw the line between life and death, and sure death?


    With all these questions, my monastery made a decision long ago, far before I was born. The monastery was born of a singr mission, and with that singr mission in mind, the core ts were adopted. And one of the ts is that none from the monastery can actively interfere with any events whatsoever, other than to ensure the safety of the opportunities we guard. That is why I cannot help you, as much as I would like to," the Grand Abbot finishes, sighing as if he were truly sorry.


    John stared at the man in silence for some time, and then nodded his head. He was not disappointed or angry. He knew the Grand Abbot''s words made sense, and he had not expected others to help him up to this point, and would not expect the Grand Abbot, who he had just met, to fight something like the Asura for him.


    However, he did have one remaining question, one that had been on his mind since the beginning. He didn''t know if he would get an answer, but wanted to try nheless.


    "I understand, and I do not hold it against you at all," John said, rying his feelings of the situation. The Grand Abbot smiled warmly, satisfied with John''s reply. "But I do have one more question."


    "Ask away, although I''m sure I already know the question you wish to ask," the Grand Abbot said.


    "What is your monastery''s true mission?" John asked. Everything they did was for that mission, and since it now involved him, he wanted to know as much as he could learn about it.


    The Grand Abbot replied without missing a beat, confirming that he knew this was the question John wanted to ask.


    "Our true mission¡­is to raise a Divine."

 Chapter 889 What Is A Divine?

    John sucked in a deep breath as he heard the Grand Abbot''s reply. He had been expecting something of the sorts, but hearing it said out loud was quite shocking. He didn''t know what a Divine was, but had bits and pieces of information from his previous interactions with the ancient powerhouses he had run into previously.


    His thoughts drifted to his mysterious father, and the mark his father had ced on his head to reveal in times of danger. He had shown the Jade Dragon the mark, who had been stunned, and had called it "the mark of the divine".


    "What exactly is a Divine?" John asked. He needed to know what a Divine was, as it could perhaps answer some questions about his mysterious father, who he knew very little about.


    The Grand Abbot smiled silently, giving John an apologetic look.


    John sighed. Another thing he couldn''t yet learn because of Karma. He grumbled internally, and his motivations for reaching the Holy Manifestation realm magnified tenfold. Once he reached that realm, he could hide his karmic tethers, and learn the truth without harming to him.


    ''That time cannote soon enough,'' John grumbled with a frown, and then sighed.


    "What I can tell you about a Divine is that only those who live on the edge of death their entire lives can even hope to be one, and even then, it is a hopelessly impossible task" the Grand Abbot said to John.


    "So that''s why your monastery cannot help me," John said with understanding.


    The Grand Abbot nodded.


    "Our mission is to raise a Divine, not raise a hundred heavenly geniuses. We would let a billion geniuses fall if that means the birth of a singr Divine," the Grand Abbot said, his voice and face conflicted, as if he knew it was an important mission to follow, but regretted the deaths along the way.


    John raised an eyebrow, not expecting their devotion to their mission to be that¡­resolved.


    A noise sounded out behind him, soft footsteps approaching. John turned his head to see Prior Hishen walk into the room, bowing his head slightly to the Grand Abbot, and inspecting John for a moment. His eyes were filled with aged wisdom, although not as much as the Grand Abbot''s eyes.


    "I must apologize, but I have some important matters I need to take care of," the Grand Abbot said to John, ending their conversation. "You may stay in my monastery until your master has left the World Dimension Seed realm. Your safety will be ensured while you stay here."


    John nodded his head in thanks, and then left the room. He meandered about the sprawling monastery deep in thought. The monastery was quite massive, and he meandered for hours before finding a tranquil rock garden. It was exposed to the blue sky above, and was quite peaceful and rxing.


    John entered the garden and then sat on one of the rocks. He assumed a meditative position and closed his eyes, nearly instantly falling into a trance. He had learned many things regarding his cultivation and the Dao''s recently, and needed time to absorb and consolidate thoseprehensions into his foundation.


    ¡­


    Days passed by quickly, John never moving an inch from his location. Birdsnded on him, perching on him as if he were a tree, but he never moved. He had be one with his thoughts, fully engrossed in his cultivation.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Over thest few days, the blessing of the heavens appeared, a naturally urring event when one broke through Daoprehension realms. Thanks to the trials he hadpleted, his battle with Asuros, and his meditations before the World Dimension Seed, John had managed to push hisprehensions forward to new levels.


    His Dao of Annihtion and Destruction had been pushed into the Dao Expert Stage, joining his Dao of Lightning and Power. His Dao of Space had been pushed into the Dao Adept stage in his battle with Asuros, and he had managed to push his Dao of Death, Dao of Scythes, and Dao of Axe''sprehension to the Dao Adept stage as well.


    On the lower end of things, he pushed many of the Dao''s he had just learned in the World Dimension Seed realm to the Dao Initiate Stage, which was something that usually took cultivators months or even years to do. Those Dao''s were not yet at the level that they could help hisbat prowess, but they reinforced his foundation, providing opportunities for immense growth in the future.


    It would make him incredibly versatile going forward, as he would be able to grasp and utilize opportunities in those Dao''s, such as natural treasures or battle arts.


    It was an absolutely shocking amount ofprehension gains, something that every cultivator could only dream of. And yet to John, it didn''t seem like enough. He was still far too weak, and had challenges before him that seemed insurmountable.


    The Astral Emperor. The Asura. The Jade Dragon Legacy. Finding out the truth behind his mother and father. Each task seemed more impossible than thest. John clenched his fists tightly, his eyes opening for the first time in days.


    He felt a surge of determined motivation flow through him.


    ''The tasks before me might seem impossible, but so far, that''s what I''ve managed to do best. Aplish the impossible. These tasks will be no different,'' he said to himself, his face determined.


    Crunch!


    The soft crunching of feet on sand sounded out behind him, snapping John out of his thoughts. He turned around to see someone approaching him from behind.


    Lilian.


    She wore her usual white and gold dress, which had blue ents on the skirt which matched the color of her hair. The dress hugged her figure tightly, which when added to her mesmerizing beauty, made her look like an immortal goddess.


    John''s eyes widened slightly as he stared at her, not surprised by her beauty, but by her cultivation. He almost didn''t recognize her when he had first seen her. It was as if he were looking at an ancient expert, one who radiated iparable power just by existing. Lilian raised an eyebrow as she stared at John''s stupefied expression, smiling with slight amusement as if this was the expression she was hoping to see on his face.


    John shook his head lightly andposed himself, and then smiled warmly at her.


    "Congrattions on ascending to the World Expansion Realm!"

 Chapter 890 Guest

    Lilian stared at John for a moment before nodding her head approvingly.


    "Good. It seems your victory did not go to your head and you still know how to show your master the proper respect," she said half in jest.


    It would be easy, even expected, for a genius of John''s caliber to get a swollen ego and look down on all others, but John never did that. Lilian found that honest sincerity to be much to her liking.


    "I take it that you managed to absorb the seed?" John asked.


    "I did," Lilian confirmed, "but I''m still a bit confused on how that came to be. You said you imed the treasure, which I can only assume is the World Dimension Seed, and yet I was taken there to do the same. So, did you receive a different treasure, or?" Her question trailed off.


    "I''ll exin it at ater time," John said dismissively. It wasn''t important enough to discuss at the moment.


    Lilian eyed him for a moment and then nodded.


    "Alright," she said, stepping up besides him.


    "So, when you absorbed the seed and broke through to the World Expansion Realm, was it beneficial?" John asked curiously.


    "Its benefit was beyond invaluable, it''s worth to my future growth incalcble," Lilian said, "I would never have believed such a heavenly treasure could exist before today," she added.


    John smiled, satisfied at the answer. If his master praised it so much, it would no doubt be an iparable boon when he ascended to the World Expansion Realm.


    ¡­


    Several hundred miles away from the Divine Source Monastery, a sprawling mountain range stretched out in all directions for as far as the eye could see. Mountain peaks pierced out from the clouds below, like ws reaching out to the heavens above.


    This mountain range was famous for its winds, winds that were fierce and frigid enough to give even World Expansion experts some pause.


    On the tallest mountain peak stood two figures ofdifferent sizes. Both ignored the howling winds mming into them as if the winds didn''t exist at all.


    The two stared in the same direction, towards the very center of the continent.They were unmoving, as if waiting for something to happen.


    The Astral Emperors calm gaze suddenly wavered, and a frown of displeasure appeared on his face.


    "Annoying brat," he muttered under his breath, although it was loud enough for the Asura to hear. It nced at him, blood red eyes narrowing with question.


    The Astral Emperor noticed this gaze, and waved his hand dismissively.


    "It''s nothing to worry about," he said, still staring into the distance. "It''s just that annoying brat of mine defying my orders again and again. It does not change our ns at all."


    The Asura''s blood red eyes stared at the Astral Emperor for some time, a sinister glimmer within, as if judging the veracity of the mans words. His gaze shifted back towards the horizon, eyes narrowing and smile widening with menacing anticipation.


    "Are you sure you want to do this?" The Astral Emperor asked. "Once we reveal ourselves, there''s no going back."


    The Asura snorted, and his mouth curled upwards with confident arrogance.


    "Once I consume the boy and restore my full power, there will be no need to concern myself with anyone on this pathetic little world. This world will fall to ruin beneath my might!"


    ¡­


    John and Lilian continued to converse within the rock garden, discussing their experiences with the World Dimension Seeds. Lilian had been surprised to hear John''s world seed had been so profound, and was surprised to hear he had managed to im it.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She knew how difficult it had been to im her own world seed, and yet based on John''s description, he had obtained it without any effort at all.


    Their discussions were interrupted by an approaching figure, the two of them turning around towards the Grand Abbot. Both nodded slightly in respects to the abbot.


    He inspected Lilian for a moment and then nodded his head approvingly.


    "Both master and disciple managed to acquire a world seed. You two will no doubt cause an upending storm wherever you go in the future," he said, his voice tinged with approving praise.


    "Thanks to the opportunity your monastery gave us," Lilian replied respectfully.


    John gave her a sideways nce, his expression seeming to imply that he found it surprising his master could be respectful and show proper decorum. Lilian noticed this skeptical gaze, and suddenly mmed her heel down on John''s foot as punishment.


    Boom!


    The rock garden shook, and John stared at Lilian curiosity, as if she were stupid.


    "Using a physical attack on a body cultivator of my caliber?" He said calmly, indicating he felt no pain at all from the sudden attack. "That might have worked before, but I''m quickly catching up to you. If it continues at this rate, it won''t be long before the disciple has surpassed the master."


    "Oh?" Lilian said, turning to him. "Then why don''t we test right now just how strong you really are?" She said, her battle lust rising.


    Ahem!


    The Grand Abbot coughed lightly, interrupting the two. Both quickly remembered where they were, and put their childish antics aside.


    The Grand Abbot smiled, and then his gaze wavered for a moment, as if he had just received a sound transmission.


    "It appears you two have a guest who would like to see you," the Grand Abbot said.


    "A guest?" John and Lilian asked at the same time, wondering who it was.


    ''Is it sect leader Thunderzen? Or someone else?'' John wondered.


    "While this guest makes their way here, I wanted to ask you about your ns," the Grand Abbot said,


    his question mostly addressed towards Lilian.


    "ns?" Lilian asked.


    "He knows about the Asura," John said, his words causing Lilian''s face to light up with surprise. "He wants to know if we have a way to deal with it, should it attack us once we leave the monastery."


    Lilian turned her gaze towards the Grand Abbot, staring at him with a questioning gaze.


    "We have a n, should ite to that," she said.


    "Good," the Grand Abbot nodded. "Ah, your guest has arrived," he added, turning around towards the entrance of the rock garden.


    John stared in that direction as well. His eyes lit up with utmost shock as he saw a familiar figure of iparable beauty, one that he didn''t know when he would see again, appear and enter the garden. After recovering from his brief shock, he called out her name, his voice filled with disbelief.


    "Laia!"

 Chapter 891 Revealing The Truth

    John stared at Laia with wide eyes, almost not believing what he was seeing. She had been taken away by the Astral Emperor, and he was sure he would not see her again until the conflict with the Astral Emperor and the Asura was finished.


    Lilians story had revealed Laia''s soul had the soul-mark that the Astral Emperor had nted on her, making it so that he knew her locations at all times. He would no doubt have stopped her from leaving the Astral Empire, let alonee here to him. He had no idea how she had managed to do it, but didn''t really care either.


    A wave of emotions flooded through him, surprising him with how strong those emotions were. Her unexpected arrival, followed by those flooding emotions, made him realize he had suppressed quite a bit of feelings for her, feelings that even he didn''t really understand.


    John pushed down his emotions, and called out to her again. He stopped himself before saying anything, as he noticed Laia was not looking at him. Her gaze was to his side, locked onto Lilian.


    John nced sideways towards Lilian. This was the first time the two had met, and was sure Laia didn''t even know of Lilian''s true identity. How was this all going to y out he wondered.


    As he shifted his gaze to his master, her reaction was mostly as he had expected. Her eyes were wide, lips quivering slightly, and face filled with a look of pure guilt. It was as if she were looking at a youthful girl she had personally condemned to a gruesome death, and couldn''t help but feel overwhelming guilt. The truth of the situation wasn''t far off.


    John nced back to Laia, who still stood there, unmoving, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape. After what felt like an eternity, Laia began to move. Her footsteps were slow and unsteady, as if she didn''t know what she wanted to do, but she moved forward towards Lilian.


    Lilian had by now reigned in her shock, and all that remained was the look of guilt. She stared with a pained expression as Laia approached her, but didn''t move at all. Whatever reaction Laia had to her, she would own up to it. That shred of resolve in Lilian''s face was clear for John to see.


    Laia stopped directly in front of Lilian, and stared at her in silence. She stared at Lilians face as if in a daze, and then finally reached out towards it. Her handnded softly against Lilian''s cheek, and her hand recoiled ever so slightly, as if she were expecting Lilian to be a hallucination.


    Laia''s face began to tremble lightly as she lowered her hand, while Lilian stood there unmoving, waiting for whatever was toe. Laia suddenly lurched forward, her actions surprising both John and Lilian as she fell into Lilian.


    Her arms wrapped around Lilian''s body, and Laia''s head buried in Lilian''s chest. Tears began to flow down Laia''s cheeks, like two small waterfalls. She gripped Lilian tightly, tears continuing to flow, soaking into Lilian''s dress.


    A stunned look lingered on Lilian''s face for a while, which was eventually reced with the pained look from before. Her arms, still resting to her side, lifted and wrapped around Laia, embracing her back. She said no words, but the action caused Laia to start crying even harder.


    The two remained in this silent embrace for a long time, no one uttering a single word, the only sound within the rock garden being that of Laia''s soft cries. Lilian eventually looked over towards John, her gaze filled with an ufortable awkwardness. Lilian was not good with dealing with emotions, both from herself as well as from others, and she clearly had never been in a situation like this. The situation waspletely foreign to her, and she instinctively nced at John for a rare moment of support, her expression as if asking him what to do next.


    John smiled and shrugged, indicating that she was on her own in this situation. It was definitely not for him to interfere. Lilian scowled at John, and then looked away. Her gaze returned to Laia, who was still hugging her tightly. Lilian''s mouth opened as if to say something, but Laia suddenly let go of her and took a few steps back, causing Lilian to remain silent.


    "I''m sorry," Laia said apologetically, her hands wiping the tears from her eyes. "I¡­I don''t know why I did that, or why I''m crying. I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotions, and I¡­"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It''s alright," Lilian said softly, "there''s no need to apologize at all."


    As Lilian added thest part, her face became pained again for a singr moment. John picked up on the expression. It was clear that Lilian thought of herself as the one who needed to apologize for everything that had ever happened to Laia, but did not say that out loud. John sighed, feeling a rare moment of helplessness.


    He was able to solve all his problems with his strength, but this was one problem that strength could not solve.


    Laia continued to wipe her tears away, and after a struggle, managed to reign in her emotional tears. Her eyes were tinged red from the crying. Laia eventually regained full control of her emotions, and nced at John, then back at Lilian. It was obvious she wanted to ask so many questions.


    Who was Lilian? Why did she feel this way when she saw Lilian? Why did she feel a mysterious connection between the two of them? Why did they look like twins, only separated by age? The questions werepletely obvious to both John and Lilian, but neither said anything to Laia. They didn''t even know where to start.


    "I¡­" Laia mumbled, as if gathering her thoughts. Her gaze continued to linger on Lilian''s face, while her face shifted with differing emotions. Confusion. Disbelief. Curiosity. Doubt.


    Laia nced back to John, who stood there silently, a small, warm smile on his face as he stared at her. Laia smiled back at him, her smile as radiant as the stars themselves. The confusion on her face vanished, as if seeing John filled her with resolved confidence.


    She nced back at Lilian, and took a deep breath. Her eyes became firm with resolve.


    "Who are you?" Laia asked, "and who am I?"


    John raised his eyebrows in surprise at the second question. He had been expecting Laia to ask about Lilians true identity, but had never expected the second question. He sighed deeply after a moment, finally understanding the gravity of the question. Laia''s question revealed that she had most likely lived her whole life not knowing who she truly was, always knowing that there was something about herself that seemed to be missing.


    Growing up like that as a child, feeling confused, iplete, must have been an incredibly confusing and lonely experience for Laia. He nced at Lilian, wondering how she was going to answer.


    ''Will she reveal the truth? Or will she skirt around the question?'' John wondered. Either way, this was for Lilian to deal with, and he would remain silent regardless of her answer.


    A thousand emotions washed over Lilian''s face, and then she too took a deep breath, her face bing firm, her eyes resolved.


    "I¡­and Lilian Celestria, Seventh Princess of the Astral Empire," Lilian said, and then paused for a moment, as if the next part was the hardest part to say. She breathed deeply again. "And you, are Laia Celestria, Eight Princess of the Astral Empire. But most importantly, you are also me, born from the soul-half I shed when I fled the Astral Empire."

 Chapter 892 The Asuras Plan

    Silence filled the rock-garden as no one uttered a single sound.


    Laia''s eyes went wide with shock, disbelief, and every other emotion one could feel in such a situation as she finally heard the truth of herself, her true identity. John shifted his gaze back and forth between the two, the helpless feeling he felt growing by the second.


    How would Laia react? Would she refuse to believe she was created by Lilian''s shed soul-half? Would she curse Lilian for leaving her behind in such a situation, a fate of pain and doom? Would she hate Lilian for her actions?


    Lilian''s expression, firm yet wavering, seemed to indicate that she expected such an outburst of hate and anger at any moment. And yet the firm expression revealed she would ept any hate thrown her way, as she no doubt felt she deserved it.


    Laia''s stunned look eventually faded away, and then to both John and Lilian utter surprise, she smiled. Her smile wasn''t just a normal smile, but an absolutely radiant smile, one of iparable joy and relief.


    "Thank you," Laia said to Lilian, her voice trembling with emotions, "Thank you for telling me the truth."


    "You¡­You don''t hate me?" Lilian asked, stunned at Laia''s reaction.


    Laia''s head cocked to the side, as if she was slightly confused.


    "Why would I hate you?" she asked, truly not understanding why Lilian would expect such a reaction.


    Pain returned to Lilian''s face as she took a step towards Laia.


    "Because I left you," Lilian said, her voice growing louder with emotion. "When I fled, I left half of my soul behind. That soul became you, and you inherited the terrible fate I fled from in the first ce. I am the reason you are suffering. I am the reason you will be¡­" Lilian''s voice faded away, not wanting to say thest part.


    Laia didn''t know about the Asura, and she didn''t want to fill Laia with even more fear that she already felt. Laia instinctively felt fear towards her father as she had inherited some of Lilians emotions during the soul-splitting, but shouldn''t know much otherwise.


    "The reason I will be given to that creature?" Laia said, filling in the rest of Lilian''s unfinished sentence.


    Both Johns and Lilians eyes went wide with surprise.


    "You know of the Asura?" John asked, bewildered. When Lilian had split her soul, she kept all her memories. Laia had only inherited emotions and feelings, and so memories of the Asura or her fathers betrayal should have been known by Laia.


    A saddened smile appeared on Laia''s face as she nced at John.


    "I do," she said softly, looking back to Lilian. "And I do not me you for my fate. If you didn''t do what you did, I wouldn''t even exist," Laia said smiling.


    Lilian was taken aback, still not sure how to process it all.


    "Did you know the soul-half you shed would survive and be me?" Laia asked Lilian.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "No," Lilian replied after a short silence.


    "Then I cannot me you for what you did, and I do not feel any hate towards you either," Laia said, the smile returning to her face. A wave of emotions washed over Lilian''s face, who breathed out deeply after a moment, as if a massive weight had fallen off her shoulders.


    "How do you know of the Asura?" John asked after a while.


    "Just before you entered the Divine Realm trials, my brother Zeras revealed the truth to me," Laia said, her words surprising John and Lilian.


    "He did? Why would Zeras reveal the truth?" Lilian asked, almost not believing it. "That doesn''t sound like him at all."


    "I''m not sure," Laia said softly. "Perhaps it was guilt, or perhaps it was for another reason, but he revealed the entire truth to me. Well, other than the truth of my identity," Laia said as she nced at Lilian.


    "He seemed to enjoy my look of despair as he told me the truth, so perhaps it was just for him to satisfy his sick desires of watching others despair. I cannot know for certain what his reasons were," Laia added, and then sighed.


    "Regardless, I learned of the truth, and knew I needed to do something, as Zeras also told me of the creature''s n to capture and kill you," she said to John, her eyes unfocused, recalling the memories of the past. "And so one day when my father was in his chamber, in conference with an important person of unknown origin, I snuck into his pce and strode in. That was when I first saw¡­it," Laia said, shivering slightly as if just the memory of seeing the Asura filled her with iparable fear.


    John and Lilian nced at each other, surprised she had done such a thing, but remained silent for Laia to continue her story.


    Laia eventually regained herposure, and breathed in and out before continuing.


    "Father was absolutely furious that I had entered his chamber, and wanted to remove me, but was instead stopped by that creature," Laia continued, although with some difficulty. "Although I felt like running the very moment I saw that thing, I knew I couldn''t. I needed to learn more about what my father was nning. And so I strode into the chamber, before father and the creature. My confidence seemed to impress the creature, who instructed my father to let me speak."


    She paused for a moment, gathering herself, and then continued.


    "I then revealed to my father what Zeras had told me. It seemed that father would leave the pce and execute Zeras right then, but he managed to control himself. The Asura seemed amused by it all, as if the petty squabbles of our family were nothing more than a game to him," Laia said. "I told father that I know of my purpose in their n, that I would like to make a request in exchange for my help. Father told me I had no ground to negotiate, but I informed father that their entire n revolved around me raising my strength to be able to heal the creature, and if they did not agree to my request, I would sooner die than cooperate."


    Laia shuddered, as if the next memory was almost too much to bear. She took a moment topose herself, and then stared at John, her eyes steeled with resolve, surprising even him.


    "The creature reached out and grabbed me, and lifted me to his face," Laia said, lips trembling. "His eyes, brimming with anger that I would oppose his n, his gaping maw of bloodstained teeth, that sinister aura of pure evil, all of it nearly overwhelmed me. I thought I was about to die, and perhaps I was, but father interjected before the creature did anything, asking for it to put me down and for them to hear my request.


    The Asura did so, but its gaze made me realize that anything that interfered with its n would result in my death right there, regardless of my purpose for him in the future. With that in mind, I said I would fullyply with their ns and focus on my cultivation with utmost haste, as long as they were willing to spare my life when it was all said and done. I knew if I pleaded for your safety, they would refuse, and so I made a request that would seem true to selfish bastards like them. They only think of themselves, and so a plea to save my own life would resonate with them, and make them believe me. And they believed me, the arrogant, selfish bastards."


    Laia paused again for a moment,posing herself, and then continued.


    "And thus, once I gained their trust, they started speaking of their ns before me as if even if I knew of them and wanted to stop them, I was far too powerless to do anything about it," Laia said, staring directly at John. "And it was during the time when you were in the Divine Trial Realm that I learned of their next n. A n to capture you as soon as you leave the monastery."

 Chapter 893 Lilians Plan

    John felt an icy chill crawl up his spine, while the rock garden fell deafeningly silent. No one uttered a single sound, not even the Grand Abbot, who had a heavy look on his face.


    John grit his teeth with hopeless frustration. It was too soon. He was not strong enough yet to do anything to the Asura, and yet it had decided to make its move. The day he had known about for a long time had finally arrived, and had arrived long before he would be strong enough to fight back.


    "What do they want with John?" Lilian asked, breaking the silence. Although she already knew the answer, she wanted confirmation.


    Laia nced at Lilian, her face heavy with worry.


    "They both want his life," Laia said gloomily, "my father wants to retrieve the soul-seed I gave him, while the creature...the Asura, wants to consume him. The Asura said that consuming John had a good chance to fully heal his wounds, and so he will stop at nothing to get to John."


    And if that happened, there was no doubt that both Laia and Lilian would be captured as well. The room grew heavy with silence.


    Before anyone said anything, a transmission disk appeared in Lilian''s hands, and she instantly crushed it, sending a message to another transmission disk elsewhere. John noticed her actions, and gave her an expectant nce.


    "The n has been activated," she said heavily.


    "What n? Do you have a way to stop my father and the Asura?" Laia asked hopefully, her hands sped before her chest.


    Lilian''s face remained heavy as she shook her head lightly.


    "I doubt we can stop them," Lilian said, trying her best to maintain herposure. "ording to John, even the Jade Dragon Emperor was unable to defeat the Asura. Even if he was weakened during their recent battle, his strength cannot be underestimated. At best, the n will stall the two of them long enough for John and myself to escape."


    "Escape? Escape where?" John asked curiously. "How can we possibly hide ourselves from the Asura?"


    John was sure that now that he had been seen by the Asura, his aura felt by the Asura, that the creature would be able to find him wherever he went. It was just a guess, but his instincts were telling him that was the truth. There would be no hiding from the Asura.


    Lilian ignored John''s question, as if even she wasn''t sure of the n being a sess. But it was the only route forward. The only sign of survival. He no longer asked about the n, as he knew Lilian and the others would have done their utmost toe up with the best n possible. He would trust in them now, giving the same trust they were giving him.


    The trust that should he continue to grow, he would be able to drive back the Asura and save the world from destruction. Thunderzen had nned his entire life for that to happen, and John knew Thunderzen would do his utmost to ensure John''s survival, no matter the cost.


    John sighed heavily, falling silent. In all his battles thus far, he had been center stage,manding everything with his overwhelming power. For the first time in his life, he would be a side character, helplessly weak, relying on others to keep himself alive. The powerlessness enraged him, but there was nothing he could do.


    "I''ming with you," Laia said, breaking the heavy silence, her worried gaze locked onto John. She was trembling lightly, making it obvious that she was terrified, but remained steadfast, fullymitting to helping John.


    Lilian shook her head to the side.


    "No, you cannot join us," she said.


    "Why?" Laia asked. "I cannot fight, but surely my healing will be useful."


    "It would be more than useful," Lilian said, "but you cannote for a singr reason. The soul-mark."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Laia''s eyes went wide with surprise, reced shortly after by a heavy look.


    "Our bastard father will be able to detect your location at all times, and so if youe with us, he can track us without any problem at all," Lilian said. "I''m sorry."


    "I...I understand," Laia said, her face downcast with hopeless worry. "When are you going to leave?"


    "Now," Lilian said firmly, "the pieces to the n have been in ce for quite some time now. We anticipated something like this eventually happening, and thus have been ready to act at a moment''s notice.


    "What about Laia?" John asked, his voice tinged with obvious worry. "The Astral Emperor no doubt knows of her actions by now. We can''t just leave her behind to suffer his wrath!"


    A conflicted expression appeared on Lilian''s face.


    "It''s fine," Laia said, causing John and Lilian to look at her with conflicted expressions. She smiled, feeling warmth at their obvious concern for her.


    She walked forward a few steps, appearing directly before John. The two were just a foot apart, surprising John. Lilian raised an eyebrow but remained silent.


    From this distance, he could feel Laia''s breath, smell her intoxicatingly sweet scent, see her crystal blue eyes staring deep into his own, as if staring into his soul. His heartbeat sped up rapidly, filling him with emotions he had never felt before.


    "My fate is linked with yours," Laia said, smiling at him radiantly. "Should you be captured, the Asura will have no more use for me, and we both shall meet out end. But when you escape, its need for me will remain, and it won''t dare to harm me until I grow strong enough heal it."


    John''s heart continued to beat loudly in his chest, like thundering war drums.


    ''When you escape,'' he thought, repeating her words. Laia had not said if he escaped, but when he escaped, revealing her full confidence in him. It was as if she was saying, ''you will escape, and I will wait for your return. When that happens, all will be right once more.''


    John was stunned at her confidence in him, and didn''t know what to say in response. He was almost never at a loss for words, but this was one of those rare moments in his life that he did not know what to say. Even life and death battles didn''t make him feel this way, thisck of control over himself and his emotions.


    Laia suddenly leaned forward, causing John''s eyes to go wide. Her forehead rested against his, her soft warmth increasing his heartbeat once more. Without warning, a vibrant energy beyondpare flooded into him where their foreheads met, filling his body and soul with an invigorating vitality.


    The vital energy continued to flood into him, filling him with an energy that made him feel invincible. The process continued for some time before the energy faded away, and Laia leaned back slightly. Her face was slightly pale and breathing slightly heavy, revealing she had expended a great deal of energy to do what she had just done.


    She studied John''s surprised face, and then smiled lightly as if she found it both cute and amusing.


    "The life Qi I just gave you shouldst for the next several days before it fades away, and should allow you to heal from all but the most grievous of wounds," she said softly.


    John felt Laia''s warm and vibrant life Qi coursing through his body, filling him with an iparable sensation. After inspecting the vibrant Qi, his gaze focused on Laia once more. She was so beautiful he thought, unable to controls his swirling thoughts. Hervender hair fell down past her shoulders, lining her wless face. Her eyes were like crystal blue waters, shimming in the sun, her small nose and delicate lips both perfect. Her beauty was truly capable of toppling nations from wars fought over obtaining her hand were it ever offered.


    His mouth opened slightly, about to thank her for everything she had done, from revealing the Asura''s intents, to giving him this wonderous energy.


    Before he could do so, he saw Laia'' cheeks redden slightly, and without warning, she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his.

 Chapter 894 The Ultimate Motivation

    John''s eyes went wide as Laia''s soft lips pressed to his without warning. An ocean of emotions flooded his mind instantly. Shock, disbelief, perplexation, euphoria. He raised his hands to push her back, and then his mind went nk.


    His raised hands wrapped around her tightly, pulling her into his embrace. He didn''t know why he did this, but he didn''t care either. This was what he wanted, as much as he had tried to convince himself otherwise.


    A soft sound escaped Laia''s lips, the sound making John''s knees weak. The feeling of her hot breath, the sweet taste of her lips, all of it nearly overwhelmed him. The soul-seed within him burned with passionate emotions, as Laia''s feelings flooded into him from both her lips as well as the soul-seed, amplifying the sensations he felt tenfold. His mind burned with passionate wanting. He wanted more, so much more. He embraced Laia even tighter, feeling her soft body press against his.


    And then through the passion, John finally regained a shred of awareness. Lilian, his master, as well as the Grand Abbot, were right there, watching. After what felt like only a second as well as an eternity, their lips parted as John pushed Laia away softly.


    She gave a brief resistance as if she did not want to part just yet, but gave in and took a step back. John''s heartbeat raced within his chest, and sped up once more as he saw the rosy-redplexion of Laia''s perfect face stare at him, blushing with embarrassment.


    "I¡­." Laia mumbled, her face red and thoughts swirling chaotically.


    Ahem!


    A light cough sounded out beside them, the two of them turning to look at Lilian. Her expression was nk, unreadable, as she stared at the two of them.


    The red blush on Laia''s cheeks reddened even more as she realized thepany she had kissed John in front of.


    "I''m sorry," she said apologetically to Lilian as well as the Grand Abbot.


    "Youthful passion is nothing to be sorry about," The Grand Abbot said, a wide smile on his face. "You should appreciate such things while you are still young."


    Laia nodded at him thankfully, and then nced sheepishly towards Lilian, whose expression was still nk.


    "Do you need some more time alone before we leave?" Lilian asked, turning to John.


    "No," John shook his head, pushing down the emotions he was feeling as best he could. While he wanted to say yes, now was not the time for that. In fact, it was the absolute worst time for that, which was something he greatly regretted. Lilian nodded her head.


    "The ns are set," she said evenly, "the sooner we leave, the better. I don''t know what those two are nning, but giving them more time to n is not something I want to do."


    John nodded his head, his hazy gaze firming up. He wanted more, but that was impossible for now. He turned back towards Laia, who stared at him with a slightly dazed expression. Clearly she had not been able to push down her emotions yet as John had just done.


    "I''ll be patiently waiting for your return," she said cheerfully, a radiant smile appearing on her face. It was as beautiful a smile as John had ever seen, or perhaps would ever see in his entire lifetime.


    John smiled back at her, and then turned his attention towards the Grand Abbot.


    "I know you cannot help me per your monastery rules," he said firmly, "but¡­"


    The Grand Abbot smiled lightly, knowing what was on John''s mind. He always seemed to know exactly what he was thinking.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "While I cannot help you, the monastery has no rules on providing shelter for those not on the path of the Divine," the Grand Abbot said warmly. "I will shelter this girl for as long as I can, but do know that such a thing will only be a temporary buffer from the Asura''s grasp. There wille a day where he wille for her despite the risks, and I''m afraid I must choose my monastery over her when that dayes. That is all I can do for you, I''m afraid," he said, his voice and face apologetic.


    John nodded his head thankfully. "That is more than enough for now. Thank you," he said, and then turned back to Laia.


    "Wait for me," he said, gaze firm and unwavering. "When I return, the fate that has burdened you will be eradicated from this world for good."


    Laia smiled radiantly once more, her face having zero doubt on it at all.


    "Until we meet again," she said softly, grabbing his hands, leaning forward again, kissing his cheek lightly. John let the moment consume him for an instant, before his mind firmed up once more. Laia took a step back, and smiled at him warmly. It was a smile of love, tinged with sadness.


    Who knew how long it would be until he returned. It would be years at the very least, as he would need to raise his strength to a level that could defeat the Asura. John stared at Laia for a moment, painting a picture of her face in this very moment in his mind. It was a moment he would want to never forget.


    And then he turned around, his gaze firm, his mind steeled with resolve. His gaze locked with Lilian, and he nodded his head.


    "Let''s go," he said.


    Lilian nodded, and her power began to re in the rock garden. Her hands began to move in a mesmerizing motion, while a thick aura of the Dao of Space began to radiate outwards. The aura gradually condensed towards her hands, until it appeared as her hands had turned into spatial chaos itself.


    Her hands then moved in a wide circle before her, carving a line into space wherever they moved. The line in space remained locked in ce, as if she were carving runes into the very fabric of space itself. Her hands formed aplete circle, which then started to glow with a multitude of colors, the colors of spatial chaos. The process had taken a few minutes, but now seemedplete.


    The circle then erged outwards until it was seven feet wide,rge enough for them to step through. A hazy image of and on the other side of the spatial circle came into view, with several figures waiting on the other side.


    "Prepare yourself. Once we step forward, there is no going back, " Lilian said, and then stepped into the portal.


    John stepped up to it, and wanted to turn around once more, but didn''t dare do so. He had finally firmed his mind and resolve, and needed both at a pinnacle state for what was toe.


    His hard gaze stared at the spatial portal before him.


    ''All this time, I pushed away anyone who showed me any form of affection,'' John thought to himself. ''At the time, I figured such things would only be a distraction, one that would lead me astray, and make me weak,'' he thought to himself.


    When it came to the emotions of others, John was not stupid. He had noticed the gazes of the females who had been interested in him, including the likes of Iris as well as many others. He had ignored them all, as he thought of love and affection as nothing but a distraction. He needed full focus on his cultivation until he reached the pinnacle of the martial world, and only then would he allow himself to feel such things.


    He shook his head at himself, and how foolish he had been. Affection, love, was not a distraction. It was a motivation. The ultimate motivation. John had never felt more motivated in his life to raise his strength, to obtain power that no one could defy. Motivation to obtain strength to shelter Laia from the rains, the Asura, and even the heavens itself. Laia had given him a gift more wonderful than she could ever know.


    "Thank you," John said out loud without looking back, and then he stepped toward the spatial portal, disappearing within.

 Chapter 895 The Asuras Arrival

    Tens of thousands of miles away from the Divine Source Monastery, barren mountains, cracked earth, and deep, deste valleys stretched out for as far as the eye could see. This ce had been one of the primary locations of battle during the ancient cmity, and had never recovered from the wounds it had suffered.


    In this deste ce stood five figures, standing in a circle, deep in discussion. All five had their auras withdrawn, but each emanated an air of iparable power.


    "The signal has been sent," Thunderzen sighed, taking out a formation disk that glowed brightly in his hand. He stared at it with aplex expression, and then crushed the disk in his hand, turning it into dust.


    He shifted his gaze to the others, lingering on two individuals in particr.


    "Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Thunderzen asked them.


    "Is there any alternative?" the Honorable Alliance leader asked, smiling.


    "From what we have heard of its strength¡­no," Thunderzen said, his voice heavy.


    "Then what is there to be concerned about?" the Honorable Alliance leader chuckled. "I''ve lived a long, satisfying life. I''ve watched as the Honorable Alliance worked its way up from nothing into a pinnacle power of the world, and I won''t sit idly as ites to ruin. Besides, if I was to pick a way to die, fighting side by side with my friends against the dangers of the world is the best way I can think of."


    Thunderzen nodded his head, and then looked towards another, the Grand Elder. The Grand Elder smiled lightly and nodded his head with firm resolve.


    "I made up my mind a long time ago," he said. "If this is the way it must be, then this is the way it must be."


    Thunderzen smiled at the man and nodded his head, but the smile was one of sadness.


    "And the other preparations?" he asked the Grand Elder.


    "All the formations are in ce," the Grand Elder replied. "The first few should buy John and Lilian some time, at which point the Alliance Head and I will activate the final formations."


    "Then let us pray it is enough," Thunderzen said.


    "What are you so gloomy about, big brother?" A loud, boisterous voice boomed out beside Thunderzen.


    Thunderfist reached out and patted Thunderzen on the back vigorously, the pats causing the ground beneath their feet to crack and loud booms to echo throughout the barren wastnd.


    "This is a wondrous thing we''re about to experience," Thunderfist continued. "I haven''t had a good battle in thousands of years. Today is a day where I can go all out, hold absolutely nothing back, and fight to my heart''s content. Death is a small price to pay for feeling such an invigorating thrill!"


    Thunderfist scoffed at his brother''s antics, and then patted him back on the shoulder.


    His gaze then shifted towards the final figure, who had remained silent thus far. The man had a hulking frame, being a full head taller than even the tallest of them. Large muscles bulged under every inch of skin, making him look more like a primordial beast than a human. His arms were crossed over his chest as he listened to the others.


    "Are you sure you want to take part in this?" Thunderzen asked the man. "The chance of death is high, and you are not rted to any of this. You can still turn back now."


    "Not rted to any of this?" the man scoffed, as if he had just been thoroughly insulted. "The greatest weapon I ever created is sitting in the hands of the greatest genius this world has ever seen. You might as well call John a disciple of mine, as far as I''m concerned. I will not sit idly while someone targets my disciple," Daoist Eternal Weapon said, his voice deep and firm.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Thunderzen nodded appreciatively towards Daoist Eternal Weapon. Having such a powerhouse to aid them would no doubt be invaluable. He had thought of including more in this n, but time had not been on their side. He had started his ns a long time back, but still found time to be the one thing he didn''t have enough of. Too much to do, too little time to do it.


    Besides, finding powerful enough cultivators to fight against an opponent as strong as the Asura was nearly impossible. This small squad of theirs would have to do.


    Time quickly passed by, as some of those gathered conversed, while others, such as the Grand Elder and Daoist Eternal Weapon, inspected the things they had set up beforehand.


    "Prepare yourselves!" Thunderzen suddenly called out, the others stirring to action in an instant. A massive forging table appeared before Daoist Eternal Weapon, and his hammer appeared in his hand, while the others took out their weapons as well. They all gathered together as a spatial rift suddenly appeared before them. The rift quickly grew in size, and before long, Lilian stepped out of it.


    Her eyes swept over those gathered, lingering on her adoptive father, Thunderzen, the longest. Thunderzen gave her a warm smile, noticing her improved cultivation.


    "You have done well, daughter," he said warmly. "Regardless of what happens today, none of us have any regrets. Protect John, but equally important, protect yourself. And above all, you have made me more proud than you could possibly imagine."


    Lilian''s face quivered with emotions which she quickly pushed down, regaining her focus. She nodded her head firmly, and then turned around towards the portal she had opened.


    "You will do as we nned," Thunderzen said. "And we will buy you time to do it. Should the battle be to our favor, you will not need to carry out the n, but I doubt that will be the case. You will know which way the battle is going when you arrive at your destination."


    Lilian nodded her head again, and watched as John stepped out of the portal behind her. John''s eyes went wide as he studied the faces around him.


    He had been expecting Thunderzen and Thunderfist, and even the Grand Elder, but the Honorable Alliance head and Daoist Eternal Weapon surprised him. They all stared at him with unwavering gazes.


    "Take out your flying ship," Lilian suddenly said before John could say anything. He raised an eyebrow, but did asmanded. Clearly Daoist Eternal Weapon had told them of the flying ship he had given John, which was one of the best flying ships in the entire world.


    The ship appeared in the sky above them, and Lilian grabbed John''s arm, shing upwards without a moment''s hesitation. John was dragged into the ship at a speed he could hardlyprehend, the door closing behind them.


    Lilian shed into the formation room of the ship, where one would ce spirit crystals on the powering formation to power the ship. A mountain of high-grade spirit crystals appeared on the formation, a value staggering even to one as rich as John. She then shed towards the helm, and pressed several of the formation runes there.


    The ship, however, did not move just yet, confusing John greatly.


    "Shouldn''t we be fleeing?" he asked, but received no answer from Lilian. Lilian''s face was scrunched up with focus, as if waiting for something.


    There was silence for a moment, and then it was as if hell itself had descended on them. A patch of sky suddenly splintered, sending cracks in the fabric of space in all directions, and then it shatteredpletely. A hellish figure stepped out from within the shattered patch of space, as if the confines of space were no more than a nuisance.


    The Asura stared down from above at the five, his blood red eyes filled with murderous menace. The five felt their hearts tighten instinctively, as every instinct they had was telling them to flee at this very moment. All five stood their ground, pushing down their instinctual cries, and stared back at the creature that seemed like a nightmare incarnate.


    The Asura''s gaze shifted towards the flying ship, still hovering in the air, and its maw widened into a gaping smile, revealing its sharp, bloodstained teeth.


    "Found you!"

 Chapter 896 Forge Of Desolation

    Within the ship, John felt as though he were standing before the sinister gate within his pce realm, only this was even worse. Had his mind and soul not been tempered by the sinister gate, he was sure he would be driven to a state of madness by the aura alone.


    The others present felt the terrifying aura as well, but thanks to their formidable cultivations, they were able to resist the aura somewhat despite having no built-up resistance like John. The five gathered, as well as Lilian, red their own aura''s outwards, pushing against the sinister aura in a desperate attempt to maintain their wits and sanity.


    John felt the gaze of death fall upon him,ing from high above. The Asura had finallye for him, and it was even more terrifying than he imagined. Just its aura alone was nearly enough to overwhelm him in his current state.


    He turned around and looked upwards, directly through the hull of the ship. Thanks to his Dao Transformation cultivation level, peering through something like a ship''s exterior was child''s y. His gaze locked with the Asura, and he couldn''t help but shudder. He had never feared battle, never feared death, but this was different. This was an instinctual warning, telling him to run. He resisted that warning, and kept his eyes locked with the blood red eyes of the hellish Asura.


    It smiled at him, like the smile of a predator about to devour a cornered prey, one that was enjoying the hunt more than anything. It appeared the exact same as the creature he had seen in the vision Iris had shown him. It was undoubtedly the Asura of prophecy.


    ''I''m not even close to being able to fight this thing,'' John thought, feelingpletely useless. He wanted to tell Lilian to flee right now, but trusted in their n. They would not do all this, just to sit here and wait for him to be ughtered.


    A moment after the Asura appeared, another figure stepped out from within the fractured patch of space. The spatial fracture quickly healed itself after the figure stepped out, returning that patch of sky to normal.


    The Astral Emperor stared at the five with a narrowed gaze, then shifted his eyes towards the flying ship. His gaze narrowed as he stared at John for a moment, and then locked onto Lilian. She had not turned around, and had her back facing him, still standing at the ships control center.


    The Astral Emperor smirked.


    "How are you going to get yourselves out of this mess?" he asked them with much amusement.


    sh!


    The ship shed suddenly forward, speeding into the distance, disappearing from sight in an instant. The others watched the ship leave, the five sighing in relief as the first part of the n had beenpleted, while the Asura and the Astral Emperor narrowed their gazes at the fleeing ship. The Asura and Astral Emperor raised their hands towards the distant ship.


    The Grand Elder suddenly red with power, and then the world around them did the same.


    Boom!


    A cmitous explosion of energy suddenly surged to the sky,ing from all directions around them. The ground lit up, shining brightly like the sun itself, as formation runes spread out in all directions, revealing an iparablyrge formation circle beneath their feet. The formation circle glowed bright blue, and had tens of thousands of lines forming theplex diagrams.


    The formation circle exploded with power as it instantlypleted, forming six nodes each a thousand apart that red to the sky with their power. The power coalesced in the sky, forming a solid formation barrier in all directions.


    The Asura eyed the formation for a moment. The formation had activated as soon as both him and the Astral Emperor arrived. Clearly, they had been expecting his arrival, and were waiting to spring this trap.


    It made no difference. The Asura snorted disdainfully and punched outwards. It was a casual movement, and yet the punch seemed to contain the weight of worlds behind it. It was as if everything in creation would be destroyed by this singr punch.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A st of physical might pierced outwards, so powerful that even space sumbed to its power. Space shattered outwards in a line from its punch, forming a beam of fractured space in the trail of the attack. The ruinous power and beam of fractured space pierced forward towards the formation barrier, aimed directly towards the fleeing ship.


    "As if I''d allow you to touch my newly appointed disciple," a powerful roar boomed out from the ground below the Asura. It shifted its gaze downwards and saw Daoist Eternal Weapon standing on the ground, directly in the path of the beam high above, his weapon smithing forging table directly in front of him.


    "Bodyforge Conversion!" Daoist Eternal Weapon roared, and ced his one arm down on the forging table. His other arm gripped his forging hammer, and swung down with apocalyptic power onto the forging table.


    Boom!


    The world seemed to shake from the impact, sending a cmitous shockwave outwards. The shockwave was instantly shattered by the Asura''s ruinous power, still piercing towards the ship in the distance.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon''s arm shattered from the impact, turning into a mess of bone, blood, and sinew. The ruined arm then shed into a bloody mist, and then mmed against his body as if drawn to it, coating every inch of his skin red with blood. The blood instantly seeped into his skin, and lines quickly formed onto his body.


    The lines appeared like the joints between pieces of armor, making Daoist Eternal Weapons body almost look made of te armor itself. An incredible power suddenly surged out of his body, his power skyrocketing into the heavens. Daoist Eternal Weapons aura climbed instantly, piercing through the Peak World Expansion cultivation he was revealing, stepping into the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm.


    Another explosion sted outwards, this time not of energy, but of flesh and metal. Daoist Eternal Weapons body rapidly grew, rising to several hundred yards tall in an instant. His hammer, as well as his forging table grew proportionally as well, making him appear like a one-armed forging god descended on the world. The entire process happened in nearly an instant.


    A fiery heat emanated off his body, hammer, and smithing table, while mes of terrifying heat flowed off his head and face, like hair made of pure fire. His eyes glowed brightly like forging furnaces, staring directly at the distant Asura. He raised his hammer high above his head.


    "Forge of Destion!" Daoist Eternal Weapon said, although with his titanic size, his words were louder than the roar of a beast.


    His hammer swung downwards, like that of a moon crashing down onto the world. It mmed onto his forging table with ruinous power with enough power to shake the world for tens of thousands of miles. The ground should have shattered, the mountains should have crumbled, and the valleys should have ripped apart into chasms wider than the eye could see. But none of that happened. Instead, there was absolute silence, as if his hammer had not struck the metallic forging table at all.


    The forging table lit up brightly as the hammer struck it, revealing formation lines all across the forging table, all glowing bright orange like the mes of a forge. The formation lines fell from the table and onto the side-walls supporting the table, which appeared like massive metal cliffs. Formation lines covered the walls of the formation, with an intricate circr formation at the very center of the wall facing outwards from the table.


    The power of the hammer strike flooded into those formation lines and was greedily absorbed, all flowing directly towards the central formation in the very center of the wall facing outwards.


    Boom!


    An apocalyptic beam of fiery red Qi sted outwards from the forging table, mming into the st of power the Asura had unleashed. The entire process, from the Asura punching, the Daoist Eternal Weapon unleashing his attack had happened in less than a second, but to those watching, it had almost seemed like a lifetime.


    The two unstoppable powers collided, the apocalyptic explosion swallowing everything within.

 Chapter 897 Existence To Rival The Asura

    The ship sailed across thend at monstrous speed, the ground below appearing like a blur. John watched with wide eyes as a giant formed in the far distance, and then a cmitous explosion swallowed everything whole.


    The next instant, he was too far to see the battle, already tens of thousands of miles away. The ship,bined with Lilian''s control over the Dao of Space, slipped into the void of space, and then reappeared thousands of miles away.


    Dozens of the high-grade spirit crystals powering the ship shattered,pletely stripped of their power. The ship entered the void again, and then again, skipping through space like a stone over a pond, the mountain of spirit crystals growing smaller by the second. John watched as the world around him swirled with chaos, then returned to normal, the ship appearing somewhere over the Divine Martial Continent.


    The next moment, the world of spatial chaos surrounded the ship once more, the process repeating more times than John could possibly count.


    ¡­


    The cmitous explosion sted against the formation walls, so strong that it appeared it would shatter the formation in an instant. Against all odds, the formation held, although cracks stretched up the walls in many locations, revealing it had taken damage.


    The formation circle on the ground red once more with incredible power, instantly healing the formation barrier. It was pulling an astronomical amount of Qi from a chamber created beneath the surface, a chamber filled to the brim with all the spirit crystals the five could muster together. It was a sumrge enough to purchase dozens of nations, empires, and sects, and yet was being used to power a defensive formation.


    Boom!


    Daoist Eternal Weapon''s hulking figure mmed against the formation barrier in the direction the Asura''s ruinous st of physical power had been traveling. His massive forging table had been sted to the side, parts of it cracked from also taking the attack head on.


    Blood, like massive waterfalls of red due to hisrge size dripped down many parts of his body,ing from wounds dozens of yards wide and deep.


    "Ugh!" Daoist Eternal Weapon groaned, pain wracking his entire body. He stood up while shaking his head to clear the pain, his massive footsteps shaking the ground all around him.


    "What are you doing?" a figure appeared before him, so tiny inparison that it was like a fly hovering before Daoist Eternal Weapon''s face.


    Thunderzen stated at Daoist Eternal Weapon with concerned eyes, studying his condition. The wounds on his body were massive, although they looked worse than they were due to his incredible size.


    "I wanted to test my might against the Asura, and also show off for my newly appointed disciple" Daoist Eternal Weapon said, smiling wryly. "A foolish endeavor it seems. A casual attack of his was able to brush aside one of my strongest attacks and injure me to this extent. It''s far more formidable than we feared. Still, I managed to block the attack, which would have pierced the barrier and struck the ship. I would say that was a resounding sess."


    "Are you still capable of fighting?" Thunderzen asked, concerned.


    "I am. These injuries are far from being able to stop me," Daoist Eternal Weapon said, his body ring with the power of a body cultivator. The injuries started to heal at a visible rate, slowly closing and stopping the blood flow. Thankfully he was a body cultivator with an incredible durability. If he had been an essence cultivator, taking that attack head on like that would have killed him.


    "Stick to the n," Thunderzen said sternly, "the Asura is too strong for us to defeat. That single attack of it made that more than clear. All we can do is follow the n and stall for long enough."


    Daoist Eternal Weapon nodded his head, and then shifted his gaze towards the distant Asura and Astral Emperor. Neither had moved from their spot, as if the fleeing ship wasn''t even a concern. The Asura had its two upper arms folded across its chest, while the two lower arms were resting on its waist. All four arms bulged with muscles upon muscles, as if the creature was carved from a mountain.


    It stared at Daoist Eternal Weapon with an inspecting gaze, as if surprised he was still alive. It then smiled, a smile so wide and vicious it made the five feel as though they were about to be devoured that very instant.


    "It looks like I''ll be able to feel the thrill of battle today," it said, its voice a guttural growl. "Don''t die on me too quickly, little ants!"


    It then shifted its gaze towards the Astral Emperor at its side.


    "Go grab the boy," it instructed, "and bring him back to me, alive."


    The Astral Emperor nodded, and his power began to re, ready to use his grasp over the spatial Dao to pierce through this formation restricting him. His gaze suddenly shifted to the side, narrowing as an oing storm of lighting approached him.


    The storm stretched out for dozens of miles in each direction, appearing like a massive tornado of lightning. A figure moved in front of the storm of lightning, the lightning cascading off his body and forming the tornado of lightning behind him. It was like a god of lightning was approaching him, and the Astral Emperor scoffed as Thunderfist arrived before him, body coated from head to toe with lightning, like a suit of armor.


    "Hahahah! You''re not going anywhere!" Thunderfist roared loudly, arge smile on his face, hisughter echoing like thunder.


    Boom!<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His fist mmed towards the Astral Emperor, who raised a hand to the side to block it. Powerful spatial energy formed between him and Thunderfist, who mmed his fist onto it with his full power.


    The spatial energy absorbed the thunderous attack, although it was not able to absorb it all. The Astral Emperor''s eyes flickered with surprise as he was knocked backwards dozens of miles before he could right himself in the air.


    When he came to, he was surrounded by three figures, each ced equally apart from each other. He inspected the three and then scoffed with amusement.


    "Thunderfist, the Grand Elder,, and Daoist Eternal Weapon. I feel honored that you three would dedicate yourselves to battling me," he said, his voice tinged with egotistical mockery.


    "You should feel honored," Thunderfist roared loudly. "Today, you get to wet my fists with your blood. That is more than the honor you deserve, vile traitor of humanity!"


    The Astral Emperor narrowed his gaze at the raucous man, and then smiled mockingly.


    "So haughty, and yet this n of yours seems to be forgetting one critical thing," he said smugly. His gaze shifted to the distance, towards the Asura.


    Before the Asura were two figures, both less than half his size, seeming like insignificant creatures in both stature and power. The Asura''s arms were still folded over his chest, but the amused expression on his face was reced with a scowl as the others had stopped the Astral Emperor from retrieving John.


    It was clear he would entertain their battle and his lust for it, but not at the expense of losing John.


    ¡­


    The Asura stated at the two before him, his sinister aura drowning the area with iparable malevolence.


    "I will maim you, devour you, and then I will retrieve your brat of a disciple, and do the same to him," the Asura said to Thunderzen and the Alliance head, as if the matter was already settled. "Now that I''ve experienced his aura firsthand, there''s not a single ce in this world that can hide him from me. His fleeing is only dying the inevitable."


    Thunderzen and the Alliance Head stared with wary yet even expressions on their face, as if they didn''t worry about such a thing. The Asura narrowed its eyes, studying their expressions. They should have felt despair upon hearing that their futile struggle would be useless, but neither disyed any of that.


    It was almost as if they didn''t consider the Asura''s words to be the truth, and that John would be able to hide from it once he escaped. The Asura studied them for a moment, unable to determine if that was the case, or if they were just putting up a brave front.


    He growled, like that of a primordial beast, his growl alone shaking the entire battlefield with ruinous power.


    "No matter," it growled, "you two are far too weak to stop me for more than a moment. Your disciple will be in my hands in a short moment, and then in my stomach a momentter."


    And then it shed, appearing before Sect Leader Thunderzen in an instant. Thunderzen''s eyes went wide, an instinctual fear, like one seeing the grim reaper himself. His wide eyes narrowed, his fear instantly reigned in as he faced the Asura head on. Thunderzen smirked as his eyes shifted upwards.


    ..


    "And what''s that?" Thunderfist asked the Astral Emperor, referring to his question a moment ago.


    "You assigned the three of you to me, and left only Thunderzen and the Alliance head for the Asura?" he said, his voice growing more mocking by the second. "Have you all gone senile in your old ages, or have you resigned yourself to death, and are looking for a decent fight before you die? They won''t be able tost half-a minute before his might."


    "It appears you''re the one who''s gone senile," Thunderfist replied with a smile as if the Astral Emperor were an idiot, his words causing the Astral Emperor to narrow his eyes.


    And then he remembered. How could he have possibly forgotten? Had his arrogance grown to such a level that he dared to forget about such an existence? Had he assumed this was merely a distraction, and they would not attempt to fight for real?


    ROAR!


    A devastating, primordial roar suddenly boomed out from above, its power seeming to shake the very world itself. The existence to rival the Asura had arrived.

 Chapter 898 Raijens Arrival

    The Asura''s eyes narrowed, and his gaze, tinged with the smallest amount of surprise, snapped upwards towards the source of the sound. The Astral Emperor''s gaze snapped upwards as well, instantly spotting a hulking figure shooting down towards them from the heavens above, like a mountain falling down towards them. It was evenrger than Daoist Eternal Weapons giant form, and far more terrifying.


    A storm of lightning spewed outwards in all directions from the figure, like a world-ending storm of lightning crashing down from above. Shadowed darkness descended on thend as the figure''s body cked out the sun.


    The figure had already opened its mouth before its first roar, unleashing a beam of apocalyptic lighting that had already reached the battlefield. It was as if a falling star of lightning was piercing towards them.


    Boom!


    The unstoppable beam of lightning mmed onto the Asura before he could react, sting it down towards the ground below. The lightning beam mmed against the ground, its power so great that it nearly shattered the formation circle powering the formation around them.


    The Grand Elder had already ounted for this, and had made the formation circle to be lightning resistant. Even then, it had nearly been destroyed, and only a massive amount of the spirit crystals in the chamber underneath the formation had been able to heal its wound, greatly reducing the time the barrier would withstand this battle.


    The massive figure pierced past Thunderzen and the Alliance leader, who had dashed backwards before it had even arrived. It mmed into the ground with its full weight, its massive w the size of arge hill mming onto the location the beam hadnded.


    Boom!


    The continent seemed as though it would split in half from the collision. The ground fractured outwards, rending itself apart for thousands of miles in each direction. The mountains shook, split apart, and crumbled, forming massive chasms where mountain ranges had been. The formation circle fractured again, weakening the barrier for a moment, before once more drawing from the spirit crystal reserves, healing it anew.


    The Astral Emperor''s gaze flickered with shock. True shock. He realized he had always underestimated the Thunderzens lightning dragonpanion. Before he could gather his wits, three figures appeared directly before him, giving him no time to rx.


    A massive hammer fell down from above, like a hammer from the gods trying to smite him down. A tempest of lightning crashed towards him from the side, wanting to swallow him whole in its ruinous power. A mystical aura red out from the third side, like a figure of fate and illusions casting a spell on him.


    The Astral Emperor snorted, and then exploded like a star being born. A bright light, like thating from a true star exploded out in all directions, followed by a cmitous power.


    Boom!


    The light faded away, revealing a massive six armed human, glowing brightly like a star itself. Its eyes shined like celestial objects, seeming to contain the profundity of the universe within. The figure was a hundred yards tall, smaller than Daoist Eternal Weapon, but muchrger than the two others.


    If John was here, he would have instantly recognized the form. It was the same form that Zeras had used, only this form was far more powerful and terrifying. Comparing Zeras'' use of the form was likeparing a baby to an adult. And it was not only in the power, which Zeras'' had been restricted by in the Divine Trial, but also the profundity. It was as if a true star had appeared, ready to ruin everything in its wake.


    The two top arms of the Astral Emperor''s hulking form were stretched upwards above his head, Daoist Eternal Weapons hammer caught by those hands andpletely stopped before it could reach him. His two lower arms on his left side and right side all held glowing swords made of pure astral energy, each powerful enough to bepared to a pinnacle World Expansion grade weapon.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Thunderfist, as well as his lightning tempest, had crashed into the two lower-right des and been stopped, while the mystical energy from the Grand Elder had been sted away by two explosive sts of power from the two lower-left des held in the Astral Emperor''s grasp.


    "Pathetic," the Astral Emperor said, his voice ethereal yet deep, like the rumblings of stars.


    He shed outwards with all six arms, pushing all three cultivators backwards. They stopped their backwards momentum dozens of milester, staring at the massive glowing emperor.


    "Good!" Thunderfist roared loudly, his battle lust skyrocketing to the sky. "I would have been disappointed if this battle was over that quickly. Today you shall be my entertainment, Astral Emperor!"


    The storm wreaking havoc behind Thunderfist suddenly shot towards him, as it was being absorbed within him. Thunderfist''s figure started to glow brightly, nearly as brightly as the Astral Emperor himself. Almost instantly, the storm of lightning had vanished, absorbed entirely by Thunderfist.


    Thunderfist hovered in the sky, his body glowing with the bright shes of lightning coursing over his body. Not a single inch of skin was visible, like he was covered by the most formidable armor made of pure lightning. As the armor of lightning appeared, Thunderfist''s power skyrocketed, pushing his power to the Peak of the World Expansion Realm. Two metallic gauntlets, ornately detailed to appear like two lightning dragon heads appeared on his fists, which seemed to absorb the lightning and grow with power, making him even more fearsome.


    His lightning form, like a god of lightning, shed forward, streaking towards the Astral Emperor like a true beam of lightning. He arrived before the Astral Emperor could ready his massive des, his gauntleted fists mming into the Astral Emperors side.


    Boom!


    The Astral Emperor''s hulking astral figure shot sideways through the air, a slight groan of pain leaving his astral mouth.


    "Again!" Thunderfist roared, streaking towards the Astral Emperor like a blur of lighting.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Like John had done against Asuros, a torrential barrage of fist blows rained down on the Astral Emperor. Thunderfist was like an ant before the hulking figure, yet each blow caused the Astral form to ripple violently, as if it was about to burst apart at any moment.

 Chapter 899 Two Fearsome Enemies

    A beam of astral energy suddenly shot out of the exact location Thunderfist was punching, just below the right rib of the figure. Thunderfists eyes widened in surprise as the beam mmed into him, not expecting the Astral Emperor to be able to unleash such an attack.


    Thunderfist streaked backwards through the sky, fighting against the powerful beam of astral energy. A hammer suddenly fell down towards the Astral Emperors head, who turned to face the hulking Daoist Eternal Weapon. He only reached up to Daoist Eternal Weapons waist, making him look quite small inparison.


    The two top arms of the Astral Emperor red with bright astral energy, forming two massive astral swords. Both cleaved up towards the hammer, each unleashing a potent astral based sword art. The image of stars seemed to trail behind the swords, as if the sword form had reached a pinnacle level capable of forming natural phenomena.


    "Let''s see where that arrogancees from," Daoist Eternal Weapon roared, his hammer colliding with the astral des. It was as if two celestial objects had collided, each incapable of being stopped.


    The ground ruptured beneath the Astral Emperor''s feet as he braced against the attack, which quickly forced him to his knees. A powerful formational energy, swirling through the air withplex rune diagrams mmed into the Astral Emperors side, knocking him off bnce.


    A storm of lightning returned to the battle, continuing its barrage on the Astral Emperor. Three against one, he was defending, but sumbing to their collective onught. Especially from Daoist Eternal Weapon. His power was far greater than the Astral Emperor had expected, as after the first probing blow from Daoist Eternal Weapon''s hammer, each attack had been stronger than thest.


    He had started using his forging table, unleashing attacks simr to the one that had been used against the Asura. These attacks were beyond cataclysmic, pushing the Astral Emperor to the very limit.


    The three fighting the Astral Emperor felt a glimmer of hope as the battle continued. If they could defeat him, they could help the others against the Asura. Perhaps then¡­


    Boom!


    As if appearing to shatter their newly formed hopes, the Astral Emperor''s might suddenly exploded outwards, surging to an even higher level. The surging power knocked the three cultivators backwards dozens of miles before they steadied themselves.


    They peered back towards the Astral Emperor, who was now nowhere to be seen. Their gazes snapped upwards as they spotted the Astral Emperor above them. He had appeared like a ghost without them even realizing he had moved.


    His massive figure was no more, and instead he had returned to his normal human size. However, the astral armor still covered his body, only this time it conformed to his natural figure. His hair was flowing behind him, shifting in colors, appearing like shimmering stars. The three narrowed their eyes as they stared at the man above them.


    Both his power, as well as the might emanating from the astral armor was far more powerful than before. The Astral Emperor pointed at them, and the world seemed to stop.


    "Astral Supernova!" his ethereal voice seemed toe from all directions.


    Boom!


    A st of astral Qi, like the supernova from a star, sted down onto the three, its power practically equivalent to the beam of lightning the dragon had unleashed moments ago. The world seemed to end for them as they were swallowed up in its power.


    ¡­


    Boom!


    The dragon''s enormous w mmed down onto the earth once more, destroying everything around it once more. The formation fractured to the point of shattering, and then reformed, drawing anotherrge swath of spirit crystal energy into itself.


    The dragon then raised its head to the sky, its mouth flickering with ruinous lightning. It looked back down to the ground, its mouth widening, unleashing a devastating beam of lightning.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Boom!


    The earth shuddered as the beam of lightning rained down ceaselessly, bathing thend in its power. A storm of lightning radiated outwards in all directions, the flickers of lightning ravaging the earth. The dragon closed its mouth after unleashing the beam for some time, and stared at the ground, gaze narrowed. Its eyes flickered, and it raised its w upwards and then struck down again, a storm of lighting covering the w.


    Boom!


    The Dragon''s w suddenly lurched upwards into the air, followed by its massive body. It was thrown into the sky, tumbling over itself multiple times before righting itself dozens of miles away. Blood dripped down from its w that had been repelled, staining the fracturednd below it red.


    The Asura emerged from the fractured ground, its malevolent aura covering thend once more. Its blood red eyes stared at the lightning dragon, while four massive sabers were now held in each of its muscr arms. The des of the pitch ck sabers were stained red with the blood of the countless victims the Asura had ughtered in its life, adding to his ferocious and terrifying appearance.


    The blow would have easily killed any of the human cultivators, yet it had just injured the dragon''s w. A grunt of approval boomed from the Asura''s mouth.


    Thunderzen and the Alliance head inspected the Asura, and groaned internally as they noticed it had suffered almost no damage at all. Other than a few minor scrapes and cuts on its skin, it was otherwise unharmed. Its durability was far greater than they had imagined it would be.


    Although that had not been Raijen''s strongest attack, it wasn''t far off from it either. With the Asura suffering such little damage, any hope of victory instantly faded away at that moment.


    "The original n it is then," the Alliance head said, to which Thunderzen nodded.


    "I''ll try to hold off for as long as possible before I use it," the Alliance head said, to which Thunderzen nodded again.


    The air around the Honorable Alliance leader started to dance, as ifmanded by him. A tempest started to swirl around him, which then expanded outwards and upwards into the sky, forming a howling storm hundreds of miles in an instant. The winds of the storm moved at speeds dangerous to even World Expansion cultivators, while powerful beams of natural lightning flickered frequently in the storm clouds above.


    The Asura stared at the storm all around him, and then ignored it, shifting his gaze towards the dragon.


    "I heard about you," the Asura growled, a snarling smile appearing on its face. The lightning dragon stared back at the Asura, his head held high, its pride as a dragon unyielding.


    "You have not yet grown to a level that can challenge me, yet you dare raise your head before me as if you are king! Even the mightiest of your draconic races fell under the power of the Asuras, and you will be no different!" the Asura sneered.


    And then it moved towards the one closest to it. It appeared before Thunderzen like a ghost, its physical speed so fast that he could hardly see it move. All he saw was an approaching blur, his instincts screaming out to attack with all his strength, as it was toote to dodge. Thankfully, Thunderzen had not let his guard down for a moment, and had been holding this attack for use at a moment''s notice.


    Thunderzen pushed his cultivation to the absolute limit, holding nothing back at all. His cultivation climbed to the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm, almost as if it would break through at a moment''s notice. His eyes glowed like storms of lightning, while the staff in his hand mmed downwards before him, the world before him became lightning.


    There was no sound. No warning. Just nothing, and then lightning.


    "Thunderfall Judgement!"

 Chapter 900 Heart Of Vibrant Oblivion Pt.1

    Boom!


    An enormous pir of lightning, appearing toe from the heavens above, sted down before Thunderzen, like that of heavenly judgment itself. The lightning had been formed from his own Qi, as well as drawn from the natural lightning generated from the Alliance leaders'' storm, augmenting Thunderzen''s Thunderfall Judgment to levels he was unable to reach alone. The lightning pir engulfed the Asura who had arrived before him, sting him down towards the earth below with its ruinous power.


    The attack sted into the earth, further decimating the ruinednd for thousands of miles. They had chosen this location for its remoteness, as otherwise, millions or even more lives would have already been lost in the brief battle.


    The pir of lightning suddenly parted down the middle, as if it had been carved apart by a massive invisible knife. An overwhelming power sted up through the pir of lightning, directly towards Thunderzen.


    Roar!


    The dragon roared with anger as it appeared before the attack, a beam of ruinous lightning sting out from its mouth. The beam collided against the Asura''s attack, forcing Raijen backwards briefly before both surged forward once more. The two exchanged dozens of attacks in the blink of an eye, the world trembling from their battle. After the brief yet violent exchange, the Asura won out, knocking Raijen backwards through the sky, blood trailing behind Raijen from severalrge wounds on its body.


    The Asura arrived before Raijen again in an instant, his figure dwarfed by the massive creature. Despite taking Thunderzen''s augmented Thunderfall Judgment head on without blocking, as well as Raijens barrage of attacks, the Asura had suffered practically zero physical wounds at all. What was on his body was superficial, scrapes and cuts not impacting its battle prowess in the slightest. Thunderzen frowned once more, as even his augmented Thunderfall Judgment had almost zero effect on the Asura.


    The Asura''s four sabers shed outwards towards Raijen''s w that was mming towards it. Raijen had not had enough time to unleash a st of lightning, and had to resort to a physical attack.


    Boom!


    Space fractured from the collision, forming splinters and rifts in the fabric of space itself. Raijen''s w was knocked backwards by the Asura''s attack, blood falling from a massive wound on its w. It roared in pain and then surged forwards towards the Asura, its pride of a dragon refusing to back down.


    The Asura sneered, a wide snarling smile appearing on its face. It held its saber''s out to the side, weing the dragon''s approach.


    Boom!


    Another pir of lightning rained down on the Asura a moment before Raijen arrived, sting the Asura into the earth below. Raijen paused for a moment, as if it had not expected Thunderzens'' interference. It started once more, surging down to the ground below.


    "Raijen!" Thunderzen called out loudly, his cry causing the Dragon to pause its forward momentum. It quickly turned around faster than one would expect a massive dragon capable of, and moved back to him, appearing next to him nearly as fast as the Asura was able to move.


    "You are not strong enough to fight it alone," Thunderzen said, his voice warm yet concerned. Raijen was his dear friend, like Kirii was to John, and seeing it wounded ached his heart. Raijen''s eyes, like two mountains of blue crystal, stared at Thunderzen, a thousand emoticons contained within.


    Raijen red its nostrils and then puffed out a cloud of smoke, resigning itself to Thunderzen''s words. As much as it did not want to admit it, it truly was not the Asura''s match. While it was the only one capable of fighting the Asura head on without dying, that would onlyst for so long. When it came to Raijen''s age, it was still very young for a dragon, and had yet to reach its full potential. Before an existence like an Asura, he would eventually lose.


    "Perish!" the Asura roared, appearing before Thunderzen and Raijen like a ghost. Its aura surged outwards like a storm and mmed into them with unstoppable power, sending them flying backwards like broken kites.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It sped after them, appearing above Thunderzen an instantter. The Asura''s movement alone left small spatial fractures in its wake, a testament to its horrifying power. Not even space could withstand its presence.


    The Asura arrived above Thunderzen, shing downwards toward him, who had yet to recover, and could not possibly defend against the attack. This attack would be fatal without a doubt.


    "Have you already forgotten about me?" A voice from below sounded out, calm, yet profound. The air seemed to dance to the words, as if the air itself was under themand of the voice.


    The Asura''s gaze shifted downwards, just in time to see a solid wall st up towards it, a wall madepletely of air. The wall of air was as firm as the hardest metal, and mmed onto the Asura from below,unching it up into the air before its de couldnd on Thunderzen.


    The Asura roared with frustration and cleaved downwards, instantly destroying the wall of air, but that alone was enough time for both Thunderzen and Raijen to recover. The Alliance leader appeared next to them, the air swirling around him like a tempest. The storm above and around them continued to wreak havoc on thend, sting it with ruinous power.


    "We cannot take any more chances," Thunderzen said grimly. He had nearly died just there, just off a casual explosion of the Asura''s aura, and then a simple physical assault. It was still clearly toying with them, and the longer they resisted, the more enraged it would be.


    If it used its full power against them as they were now, only Raijen would be able to keep himself alive for a while. Thunderzen and the Alliance head would surely perish without realizing how they died.


    "So it''se to that then?" the Alliance leader asked.


    "I''m afraid it has, my old friend," Thunderzen replied, sighing heavily, his face filled with gloom and regret. "Once the formation fails, if we have not activated it, the Asura will go for John. His speed is far too fast for all but Raijen to keep up with, and Raijen cannot handle the Asura alone. We must activate it now, before the formation fails. We must buy more time for them!"


    "Do not look so sad, my old friend. As I told you before, this is going to be one glorious way to die. Let''s not stall any longer, shall we?" the Alliance leader said, ncing downwards. "Besides, it appears as though the formation is about to copse, so we cannot dy any further."


    Thunderzen stared at his old friend for a moment, and then nodded his head.


    "You''re right," Thunderzen agreed.


    The Alliance leader smiled, and then nced upwards towards the Asura, his smile growing wider.


    "Ruining your evil ns will fill this old one with iparable pleasure," the Alliance leader said to the Asura, who snorted as it sped towards them once more.


    The Alliance leader''s smile faded as he watched the incarnation of death approach, and his mouth parted slightly as he whispered to himself.


    "Heart of Vibrant Oblivion!"

 Chapter 901 Heart Of Vibrant Oblivion Pt.2

    The world turned white for the three cultivators fighting the Astral Emperor, each pushing themselves to their limits to defend against the monstrous attack unleashed on them. Daoist Eternal Weapon swung his hammer upwards, while Thunderfist and the Grand Elder each unleashed a ranged battle art towards the attack.


    The three attacks mmed against the Astral Supernova, and were swallowed within. The three felt absolute shock as theirbined attacks failed to stop the Astral Emperors attack. It had weakened it considerably, but not stopped it. Their hearts shuddered with realization; the Astral Emperor was strong enough to outmatch the three of thembined.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon''s massive body and hammer wereunched backwards dozens of miles, while Thunderfist and the Grand Elder were drowned within the st, their figures disappearing within.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon shook his head, shaking the haze from his mind. He instantly sped back towards the spot of the attack, his forge appearing before him like a ghost as he summoned it. His hammer swung down with his full power, unleashing a Forge of Destion towards the Astral Emperor who hovered high in the sky.


    The Astral Emperor casually nced at the oing attack, as if it meant nothing to him. His finger pointed towards Daoist Eternal Weapon, whose eyes went wide.


    "Astral Supernova!"


    Another st of apocalyptic astral energy sted out, just as strong as the first attack the Astral Emperor had unleashed. Daoist Eternal Weapon raised his hammer once more and mmed it down onto his forge, unleashing a second Forge of Destion.


    Boom!


    The first Forge of Destion mmed against the Astral Supernova, creating an explosion of iparable destruction. The explosion swallowed thend for hundreds of miles. An attack pierced through the explosion cloud, directly towards Daoist Eternal Weapon.


    Boom!


    The second Forge of Destion sted against the Astral Supernova, creating another ruinous explosion. This time, the two attacks canceled each other out, causing Daoist Eternal Weapon to frown. He had required two Forge of Destions to equal one Astral Supernova, and that was assuming the Astral Emperor was going all out.


    Two figures suddenly appeared next to Daoist Eternal Weapon, smoke drifting off both their bodies. Thunderfist and the Grand Elder stared at the Astral Emperor with narrowed gazes, their bodies showing signs of damage from thatst attack.


    "So, this is the Astral Emperor," the Grand Elder said gravely, "his reputation as the pinnacle genius of the world is well earned."


    Thunderfist wanted to scoff and rebuke the im, but he couldn''t. He felt his blood rushing through his body, his battle lust surging with excitement.


    "Good! If he was less than the legends, then it would have been quite disappointing," Thunderfist said, his gaze wary but excited.


    "How many of those attacks do you think he can unleash?" Thunderfist asked the two others.


    "Not sure, but it can''t be too many," Daoist Eternal Weapon said, gaze narrowed at their opponent. "The Qi expenditure for such an attack must be monstrous."


    The two others nodded their heads, agreeing with the assessment.


    The Astral Emperor, hovering patiently in the sky, suddenly raised his hand towards the three once more. Their gazes wavered as they each prepared to unleash their strongest counterattacks.


    The expected Astral Supernova did note.


    Instead, a ball of incredible energy formed in the space between the three, shocking thempletely. It had appeared there without them even detecting its formation. The ball exploded with incredible might, forming a star several feet across. The star was pure white in color, and gave off an incredible heat.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The three moved in an instant, fleeing from the surprise attack. Their eyes widened as they realized they were moving towards the small star, despite their efforts to flee.


    Bang!


    The three mmed into the star, Daoist Eternal Weapon''s massive body dwarfing the other two. They were locked in ce against the terrifying star, as if they had been glued to it. The star seared their flesh, feeling as though it was about to burn each of them to a crisp.


    Each struggled with gritted teeth as they pushed their cultivation to the limit, ring with their full power.


    They finally managed to pry themselves off the star, and their eyes flickered with shocked realization after getting some distance from it. The star had not sucked them in. Gravity had done so!


    The star created by the Astral Emperor had been so dense that it hadpletely warped gravity around it, to the point that even they found it nearly impossible to resist. Their eyes widened as they felt a horrifying energy approach from the Astral Emperors direction.


    Bang!


    Another Astral Supernova sted into them, and this time they were not fully prepared to defend against it. Each of the three were sted backwards through the sky, their flesh searing, bones cracking, and blood tumbling. Only Daoist Eternal Weapon remained mostly unharmed thanks to his body cultivation, while the other two felt themselves nearly overwhelmed by the attack.


    They finally managed to fight back against it, Thunderfist unleashing a massive explosion of lightning, and the Grand Elder unleashing a defensive formation to push the st away. They dashed out of the st, which continued to sail through the sky until it mmed against the distant formation barrier.


    The st exploded with cmitous power, and the formation barrier cracked in a thousand ces, like a spider-web forming on the formation. It was about to break!


    The three gathered once more, and stared at the Astral Emperor. They no longer cracked any jokes, or dared to look down on him at all. Each felt their stomachs drop as they inspected their opponent, and noticed something horrifying.


    "His Qi has hardly dropped at all," the Grand Elder noted, his eyes narrowed with grim realization.


    The two others nodded. The Astral Emperor''s attacks that they needed to use everything to defend against was something that didn''t strain him at all to use. He could most likely unleash dozens of those attacks, or perhaps even more. They would not be able to unleash that many of their full powered attacks. The reality was clear for them to see. They would lose if things continued this way.


    The Grand Elder sighed, and then moved forward, cing himself between the Astral Emperor and his twopanions. Their eyes flickered in realization, a grim expression appearing on both their faces.


    "Has it trulye to this?" Thunderfist asked, his teeth gritted.


    "It has," the Grand Elder said calmly, as if he had epted whatever fate awaited him. "Once I activate it, do not hold yourselves back. There is no changing my fate once it is activated, so use my power to your fullest extent. Draw everyst scrap from me, or my sacrifice will be in vain."


    The two others remained silent, and then nodded in understanding, their faces grim and regretful.


    "Good," the Grand Elder said, and whispered to himself.


    "Heart of Vibrant Oblivion!"


    The world seemed to go silent for a moment, and then it exploded with an awe-inspiring light, the sourceing directly from the Grand Elder. Another light of the same nature exploded in the distance, the two pirs of light bathing the world with their brilliant radiance.

 Chapter 902 The Power Of Vibrant Oblivion

    The two pirs of light stained the world white, while two aura''s within the lights climbed and climbed, as if there was no end to the powering from within. The Astral Emperor and Asura stared at the lights with narrowed gazes, while the four others stared at the lights with grim regret.


    The lights eventually faded away, returning the world to its normal color. The fading light revealed the Honorable Alliance leader and the Grand Elder, both shining brightly with a multitude of colors, as if they had be the multitude of Dao''s themselves.


    Both gave off a powerful aura, far above what they were capable of unleashing before.


    "What''s this?" the Asura scoffed, "another futile gambit to survive?"


    Crack!


    A cracking sound rang out amidst the silence, catching the Asura''s attention.


    Crack!


    Another cracking sound rang out, and then another. Soon, a cacophony of cracks drowned thend, and then¡­


    Bang!


    The defensive formation exploded, sending formational energy sting out in all directions. The formation barrier then disappeared. The Asura grinned at the sight. The formation had finally fallen.


    Its gaze then shifted to the distance, as if it was peering hundreds of thousands of miles away. Its smile widened into a horrifying grin, like that from nightmares. To the side was Thunderzen, now standing on the head of Raijen, the Alliance leader standing on Raijen''s back. It ignored them.


    "Time to feast!" it said, and then shed forward, ignoring the others.


    The world all around them suddenly changed, not visibly, but something had changed. The Asura narrowed its gaze as it felt a strange energy press down on it, as if trying to restrict it from moving. The energy was far from strong enough to do that, but had definitely slowed its movements some, making the Asura feel as though it was moving through water instead of air. It was far from enough to stop the Asura, but was enough to allow Raijen to keep up with its movements.


    Standing atop Raijen''s head, Thunderzen felt an iparable power surging through his body, flooding him a might he had never felt before. But there was no smile on his face from feeling this power, no satisfaction. There was only pain, a pain of knowing what this power he felt meant.


    Thunderzen raised his hand to the sky, towards the swirling storm high above. The storm had greatly strengthened as soon as the pirs of light had appeared, like transforming from a normal storm to that of a hurricane. The winds sted mountains into ruin, washed awaykes asrge as oceans, and devastated everything in its path.


    The lightning flickering within the storm had also intensified and be stronger, as if the heavens itself had descended to join the battle.


    Boom!<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A st of lightning surged down from the clouds, sting against Thunderzen''s outstretched hand. The lightning coursed through him, and he augmented it, intensifying it further. The augmented lightningbined with the new power he felt strengthened it even further, to a level that had transcended anything he was ever capable of before.


    His hand then mmed down onto Raijen''s head, sending the horrifyingly powerful lightning directly into hispanion. Raijen roared loudly as the lightning infused into its body, which began to emanate a might far stronger than it had revealed before. It breathed in, sucking lightning from the air as well, making it appear like a celestial star of lightning had formed in the sky.


    Powerful sts of lightning flickered off its body, mming into the earth below and the sky above. Raijen roared again, its roar proud like that of an indomitable king.


    Raijen then appeared like a ghost before the Asura, its hulking figure blocking the way forward. Thunderzen stood on Raijen''s head, appearing like an antpared to the creature. The Asura sneered at the pathetic attempt to stop him.


    Its saber shed outwards towards Raijen, who had unleashed a w attack towards the Asura. The ruinous lighting coated every inch of Raijen''s w, heightening its power and durability to an entirely new level. The Asura scoffed as its sabernded against the w.


    Boom!


    The world trembled from the collision, the earth shaking violently for tens of thousands of miles. Mountains crumbled, rivers drained, and valleys formed. The power faded away, revealing Raijen''s w pressed against the Asura''s massive sabers, both locked in a struggle. The sabers were dug into the w several feet, although such a wound was small whenpared to the w as a whole.


    The Asura''s gaze narrowed as it stared at the w before it, which was sorge that it dwarfed its massive body. Its sabers had sliced into the w like before, but much shallower. At the same time, Raijen had not been knocked backwards as it had been before, its strength now capable of withstanding the Asura''s casual sword strikes evenly.


    The Asura roared furiously, its roar shaking everything. Thunderzen felt his body be wracked in pain from the roar alone, but firmed himself against the pain, standing firm. He drew in another breath, sucking energy from a source of power behind him, one that seemed to be infinite.


    But he knew it wasn''t.


    The Asura shed out again, its horrifying might sting Raijen''s w back this time, sending the dragon backwards through the sky. But yet again, the damage was minimal, as if Raijen had nearly stepped into the same realm as the Asura. It couldn''t beat the Asura, but it could keep itself alive much longer than before.


    The Asura narrowed its eyes at the beast, and then shifted its gaze to the beast''s back. There he saw it. The Honorable Alliance Leader, glowing brightly like a star, infusing Raijen with an incredible source of Qi. The Qi also flowed into the nearby Thunderzen, filling him with a might he could not disy on his own.


    It was as if Raijen and Thunderzen had be formations, the Alliance Leader the spirit crystals from which they drew their power. At the same time, the movement restriction, like that from a formation, stemmed from the Alliance Leader as well. The Asura finally realized what was happening. The Alliance Leader was the source of this incredible change.


    "Giving your life to strengthen your allies?" it sneered, its deep voice clearly filled with agitation. Being stifled again and again by such puny existences was a blow to the Asura''s pride, although it had yet to go all out, as they had not been worthy of such a thing before. Now that had changed. "Show me then! What your pathetic sacrifice is capable of!"


    And then it shed forward, once more ignoring Raijen, speeding towards the flying ship that was fleeing away from them. Raijen appeared before the Asura once more, blocking its path, unleashing an attack towards the Asura. Lightning sted down from the sky above, mming into Thunderzen, and then into Raijen.


    Like this, a storm moved across thend, carving a path of apocalyptic destruction through the Divine Martial Continent. Mountain ranges were eradicated, oceans emptied, nations, empires, and sects unlucky enough to be in the path of carnagepletely destroyed. Thunderzen felt his heart sink with grief as their battle ruined thend, but the sacrifices were necessary to ensure the salvation of the world. The storm moved onwards towards the continent''s edge, carnage falling upon thend like the beginning of the apocalypse.

 Chapter 903 Approaching Storm

    Standing at the front of the ship were John and Lilian, Lilian at the ship''smand center, John next to her. The ship''s hull was translucent from the inside, allowing them to see out all around them.


    John watched as thend below the ship became an expansive ocean as far as the eye could see. Surprise coursed through him as he realized that they had already arrived at the edge of the Divine Martial Continent, and were now speeding over the ocean that covered most of the. The water shimmered brightly from the sun overhead, filling his chaotic thoughts with a small sense of ease at the beauty of it all.


    "How fast!" he eximed.


    They had been traveling for what seemed like minutes, and yet they had already traveled from the center of the continent to the coast. A trip like that typically took months to make, not minutes.


    Lilian nced sideways at him, her face slightly red from concentration and Qi expenditure. She had been using her power mixed with the ship''s natural ability to transport through space to move the ship forward at incredible speeds.


    "We''re burning enough spirit crystals each minute tost our sect a hundred years," she said tersely, her face scrunched with strained concentration. "Of course we''re moving fast when we''re burning a fortune each second."


    "So much!" John eximed, his eyes shifting to the door of the ship''s power room, where the mountain of spirit crystals existed. The ship''s power room, where the formation to take Qi from spirit crystals and use it as energy to move the ship, was a pseudo-spatial realm of its own. It wasn''t separate from this realm, but was farrger on the inside than the dimensions on the outside, allowing for the mountain of spirit crystals to exist within.


    John''s eyes shifted forward, over the endless expanse of ocean. His mind drifted back to when he had first made this trip all those years ago, Raijen escorting them across the ocean to defend against the strong beasts that dwelled beneath the surface.


    He had traveled to the Divine Martial Continent with wondrous awe, thinking of the journeys that awaited him. Now he fled from the continent, while his Sect Leaders and other allies fought with their lives on the line against an invincible creature, all for the sake of keeping him alive. Regret over his own weakness coursed through him again, his fists clenched tightly from the miserable feeling.


    John pushed down that feeling as best he could. He knew he could not be med for this. He had just not lived long enough yet, and no amount of struggle and effort would have allowed him to be on the Asura''s level already. He would take this sacrifice of the others, and put it to good use.


    ''I will make good on their sacrifice. When I return from wherever we are going, I''ll make sure even the memories of that Asura are erased from history,'' John promised himself.


    He then sighed, and watched as the ship sped over ocean, then entered the chaos of space, and then back over the ocean.


    "Thest time we crossed, we needed Raijen to protect the ship. Do we not need to worry about beasts from below?" John asked curiously.


    "We''re moving far too fast for any beast to catch us," Lilian said, her eyes glued forward, her hands pressed to several of the shipsmand formations. Her spatial power was constantly flowing into those formations, augmenting the ship''s ability to move through space to a higher level than it was capable of on its own.


    As they sped forward, John stared upwards, taking a note of the sun''s position in the sky. Based on the time of day and their orientation towards the sun, he made a note of the direction they were traveling in.


    His eyes widened with sudden realization.


    "We''re going towards the Yuan Continent!" John eximed, staring at Lilian beside him. They were heading directly for his home continent, where most of his family and friends still lived.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She remained silent, her face still scrunched with strained effort, but her silence was all the answer he needed.


    "Why? What could possibly be there for us?" he asked.


    "You''ll find out soon enough," Lilian finally answered him.


    John took a step towards her, his face filled with uneasiness.


    "What about the people on the continent? The Heavenly Lightning Sect? My family n? Leading the Asura there will bring nothing but absolute ruin!" John said, his voice louder than before.


    Even if they managed to escape somehow, if the ce they escaped at was the Yuan Continent, the Asura would no doubt raze it to the ground looking for him, or just out of anger from losing them. The continent was tinypared to the Divine Martial Continent, and the Asura would easily be able to destroy itpletely without much effort at all.


    "Already taken care of," Lilian said, ncing sideways at him. "We evacuated the Yuan Continent months ago, anticipating this day would soone. Your family, as well as everyone else who agreed to leave, is safe, hidden in a distantnd."


    John breathed a sigh of relief. That was one less thing to worry about, and based on the preparations everyone had made, it seemed as though much thought had gone into this n.


    "Good," he said, falling silent with contemtion of everything that was happening.


    ''What could possibly wait for us on the Yuan Continent?'' he thought. There was the ancient city, which was marvelous and unexplored, but was that where they were going? Was there some other unexplored ce that held the key to their survival?


    He remained consumed by these thoughts for some time, his mind losing track of the time going by. While consumed deep in his thoughts, John''s mind suddenly shuddered, an icy sensation of approaching dread creeping up his spine.


    He snapped out of his thoughts, and turned backwards quickly, staring through the back of the ship towards the endless expanse of ocean behind them. Their ship entered the void, recing the expanse of ocean with the chaos of space. Momentster, they returned to the ocean, his eyes narrowing as something shed into existence on the distant horizon.


    A storm of iparable proportions, one that seemed to cover the entire world appeared, stretching as far as the eye could see. shes of lightning flickered ceaselessly from within the storm, as if the storm itself was theing of the apocalypse.


    The flickers of lightning revealed existences within the storm, so distant that they appeared to be no more than specs of dust. And then from within the storm, a familiar, horrifying aura leaked out, growing with power every second as the storm grew closer and closer.


    John took a few steps towards the back of the ship, his narrowed eyes peering forward at that endless storm.


    "The Asura is here!"

 Chapter 904 Leaving The Ship

    "Tch," Lilian clicked her tongue with frustration, her eyes still staring forward. Her power flowing into the ship intensified as she pushed the ship to its fastest speed she could manage.


    "It caught up too quickly," she grumbled, trying her best to resist being affected by that horrible aura enveloping the ship. It shed through the chaos of space once more, and then reappeared over the ocean again soon after, the ship moving tens of thousands of miles in an instant.


    The storm was closer than before when they re-appeared, its size growing in their visions, the aura stronger than before.


    "How much longer until we reach where we need to be?" John asked Lilian, his eyes never leaving the storm that was fast approaching them.


    "I''m not sure," Lilian said, teeth gritted with strained effort. "But not long enough. If that thing attacks this ship, we''re as good as dead. I''m using every scrap of Qi from myself and the spirit crystals to move this ship as fast as possible. I cannot spare anything to power the ships defensive formations, or we''ll be caught. If that thing manages to attack us, we''re finished!"


    John frowned as he stared at the oing storm. The flickers of lightning were growing brighter, the figures revealed within by the shes bingrger as well. The storm was now close enough for him to make out a single figure for certain, Raijen, its massive frame, shadowed within by the storm clouds, standing out amongst the others.


    They entered the chaos of space again, and then reappeared momentster. The storm had closed the gap once more. It would no doubt be on them in less than ten minutes, and within striking distance from the Asura far before.


    "We''re so close! So close!" Lilian said, her voice tinged with regret, as if she no longer considered their escape possible.


    John shifted his gaze from the approaching storm of death, staring at his master''s back. She felt his gaze and turned her head sideways, giving him a sideways nce. Her eyes narrowed at him as if she could read his thoughts.


    "I''ll buy us a few minutes," John said firmly, "or at least try to do that. You just focus on getting us where we need to be."


    "Don''t be an idiot," Lilian chastised him angrily, "even I am not a match for that thing, let alone you. Both of us would perish instantly before a single attack from that thing!"


    John smiled at her.


    "Come now master," he said yfully, as if the storm of death was not right behind them. "Surely by now you should have learned to not underestimate my power."


    Lilian frowned, her eyes studying him closely.


    "I''m not going to fly out and attack the thing of course," John said, "I''m just going to make sure that if it does attack the ship, that the ship doesn''t explode in a ball of fire. We need this ship in one piece to reach where we''re going. You yourself said it."


    Lilian''s narrowed eyes continued to study John, and then she sighed, returning her gaze forward.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Fine," she said, "just don''t get yourself killed, or this is all for nothing."


    John smiled and nodded, and then turned towards the ship''s rear door, his face growing cold. His narrowed eyes stared at that storm, that wall of death approaching them. He shed forward, appearing at the rear door. It opened as he pped the formation at the side of the door.


    The air rushed by, threatening to suck him out the back, but he held firm. He exited the ship before they entered the chaos of space, lest the chaos flood into the ship and do harm to it. John instantly appeared on top of the ship, his feet nted firmly on the ship''s top. Strong threads of Qi bound his feet to the ship, ensuring that he did not go flying off.


    The air rushed by him, the ship moving so fast that the air actually hurt him. His skin began to peel away, blood seeping outwards. The vibrant life energy Laia had infused him with instantly healed the wounds on its own volition, causing John to smile at the thought of her.


    Boom!


    John''s body exploded with power, draconic scales appearing all over his body, his eyes turning golden. The wind mming into him no longer damaged him, although it was still quite painful despite using his Dragon-God Shift.


    Suddenly, the chaos of space appeared all around him, recing the fearsome winds with the damaging storms of spatial chaos. John braced against those storms, enveloping his body with the Dao of Space as best he could. His spatial Dao,bined with his Dragon-God Shift allowed him to remain firm on top of the ship.


    Bright light returned to the world as they appeared above the sunny ocean once more, the storm closer than ever. It was like a massive wave of darkness, one that stretched up for a hundred miles and sideways as far as the eye could see.


    The explosions of lightning intensified within, the shes revealing glimpses of the cmitous battle within. John gazed firmly at the storm, his scythe gripped tightly in his right hand, awaiting the challenge toe.


    ¡­


    The storm howled with cmitous power, the winds and lightning within strong enough to destroy everything that was unfortunate enough to be in its path. Six figures within the storm ignored the winds, their battle within raging with devastating power.


    The Astral Emperor''s figure danced within the storm, his movements so fast that it seemed he was a ghost appearing at different locations at the same time. Each time he appeared, astral energy of iparable power sted outwards, mming against his three opponents who fought with everything they had to keep the man at bay.


    At the same time, Raijen, Thunderzen, and the Alliance leader fought with everything they had as they battled the Asura. Their battle had turned into one of pure defense, focusing their all on stalling the Asura as much as possible. They had long since cast aside any thoughts of attacking it with the intent to injure it.


    The Asura battled its way forward through the world, forcing aside anything thrown at it with absolute power. Its speed had hardly been slowed as it sped across the world, Raijen and the others barely keeping up with it.


    Thunderzen felt relief as their battle raged on, thankful that they had the foresight to use the Heart''s of Vibrant Oblivion before the defensive formation had fallen. Had they not done so, the Asura would have been impossible to stop or catch up to. Even then, they had been fighting a losing battle, one that they focused everything on just to survive, where they hopefully bought enough time for John and Lilian to escape.

 Chapter 905 Defeat?

    The battle raged on within the storm, as attacks of iparable power sted out each second.


    As Thunderzen and the others battled for their lives, not a single one of them was uninjured, with Raijen suffering most of the wounds. Massive wounds covered many parts of its body, and one of its ws was mangled to the point that it could no longer be used. Thunderzen felt his heart pained as he saw hispanion injured to such an extent, but could do nothing about it.


    Raijen still fought with furious intensity, as if the wounds covering its body only strengthened its resolve and power. It unleashed beams of horrifying lightning towards the Asura, forcing it backwards whenever it tried to surge past them.


    After an exchange between the two, Thunderzen drew in lightning from himself as well as the storm above, and infused it into Raijen. After doing so, he nced behind him, towards the Alliance leader, who was still standing on Raijen''s back, his mind focused on the storm and the sacrificial formation art he was using.


    The Alliance leader, once brimming with vitality despite his old age, now looked like a desated husk. His flesh had diminished, his skin sunken down to wrap around his bones. He looked more like a walking skeleton than a living human, but despite all that, the iparable power surging from the Alliance leader continued to flow outwards, powering Thunderzen and Raijen to levels they would have never been capable of on their own, and also continued to restrict the Asura''s movements, making it so that its speed was just barely manageable to keep up with.


    Thunderzen shifted his gaze into the distance through the storm, where the others fought the Astral Emperor to a stalemate. There he saw the Grand Elder, who looked no better off than the Alliance leader, his life force soon running to an end as well.


    Thunderzen''s gaze suddenly trembled, and he turned to peer into the distance. He instantly spotted the ship John and Lilian were fleeing in, and his heart sank.


    ''Not enough! We still haven''t bought enough time!'' he roared within himself. While they could stop the Asura from reaching the ship, if the Asura started to attack the distant ship as well as them, they would not be able to stop every attack that it unleashed towards the ship.


    If that happened, everything was lost!


    With this in mind, Thunderzen fought with furious intensity, no longer worrying about ying the defensive. Raijen did so as well, the battle climbing to new heights. The Asura weed the challenge with a snarling grin, its attacks unrelenting, its might unstoppable.


    Raijen and Thunderzen fought with everything they had, but eventually that was not enough. After two of its sabers sted against Raijen''s w, knocking it backwards, its two other sabers shed outwards, sending an attack piercing into the distance.


    "Raijen!" Thunderzen called out, pointing towards the attack.


    Raijen roared and unleashed a beam of ruinous lighting, which mmed into the side of the saber image piercing towards the distant ship. The attacks collided and exploded with ruinous power, the explosion fading shortly afterwards.


    Thunderzen felt despair flood his body as he watched the attack pierce out from the storm towards the distant ship. Raijen''s attack and the storm itself had weakened the Asura''s attack, but it was still far too strong for either John or Lilian to resist, and with the ship focusing on speed above all else, there was no hope in stopping the attack from destroying it.


    Even if the ship fled into the spatial chaos, the Asura''s attacks would reach it. The ship only skimmed the spatial void to move forward faster, but was still part of this world. An attack as powerful as the Asura''s pierced through the spatial barrier easily. There was no escape from it.


    Had she been free to attack back, Lilian might have been able to defend against the attack, but she could not stop the ship for even a second, or the storm would catch up, and everything would be lost.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "We''ve lost!" Thunderzen mumbled, his mind dazed. After everything they had done, everything they had sacrificed, it had still not been enough.


    The Asura sneered at the ship, and then turned to Thunderzen, its maw widening with the most sickening smile Thunderzen had ever seen.


    "This was fun," it said, its voice deep and rumbling like the storm all around them, "but your futile struggle was not enough to stop me! It''s time to feast!"


    Boom!


    An explosion of power sted out in the distance, causing everyone, the Asura included, to stare at the sudden source of power that had appeared. The power climbed upwards like a raging bonfire piercing towards the heavens, its might growing by the second. The raging bonfire of power continued to climb upwards in strength, eventually stopping just below the level needed to join the battle within the storm.


    "The ship?" Thunderzen mumbled questioningly.


    If Lilian had used the remaining spirit crystals to power the ships offensive and defensive capabilities to the maximum, it would be capable of resisting this one attack. But that was useless, as then the ship would not be able to flee, leaving the Asura to reach them in an instant.


    "No," Thunderzen shook his head, "Lilian wouldn''t do something so stupid. Then what?"


    Thunderzen took a moment to study the aura of the power, his face of grief and regret reced with a smile. He watched as a stunning attack sted out from the ship towards the oing attack, the attack flickering brightly with the ruinous power of lighting.


    Boom!


    The attacks sted into each other a hundred miles behind the ship, enveloping the sky and ocean with a cmitous explosion. Space shattered, and the ocean beneath evaporated for hundreds of miles, sending sts of steam and mist in all directions. The steam parted from the force of the explosion, revealing nothing at all on the other side.


    Thunderzen held his breath as he stared forward, each second seeming to be a lifetime. And then a sh of light appeared, followed by a ship piercing out from the void of space a distance away. Thunderzen smiled and shook his head at himself, his spirits reignited.


    "Just how many surprises can one youth be capable of?" Thunderzen muttered to himself with relief.


    Raijen roared triumphantly and then unleashed another beam of lightning towards the frowning Asura, their cmitous battle resuming within the storm.

 Chapter 906 Unleashing The Ultimate Dragontail Decimation

    Thunderzen nced over his shoulder again, inspecting the Honorable Alliance leader''s condition. The man looked even worse than when he had checked minutes ago, now appearing like a skeleton with ayer of skin draped over the bones. The auraing from the Alliance leader was still potent and profound, but small signs of wavering were appearing, like wind causing a fire to flicker before reappearing.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Raijen and the Asura continued to exchange a flurry of blows, Raijen focusing only on defense and preventing the Asura''s forward movement towards the ship. Distant sts of lightning, fiery explosions, and astral energy illuminated the storm as the other battle continued to rage on.


    Thunderzen nced at the Asura, who had a wide, malicious smile on its face the entire battle. It had been agitated several times as its ns had been thwarted, but otherwise was no doubt enjoying the battle, almost as if it was just a game to him.


    Thunderzen breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing this. The Asura was convinced that no matter what they did, they were only dying the inevitable. There was nowhere on this world that John could run to, and so it was savoring the battle as if it were its favorite thing in life, instead of trying to end it as quickly as possible to get to John.


    Thunderzen had an inkling that if the Asura truly went all out, they would have already perished, and their mission would have failed. He breathed another sigh of relief, thanking the heavens that the Asura''s battle lust and arrogance had blinded it to its true mission.


    After a furious exchange with Raijen, the Asura used the opening to unleash another cmitous attack towards the distant ship, which was now even closer. Raijen once more unleashed a beam of lightning to weaken the attack, and the storm''s power sting into it weakened it as well, but the attack pierced through the storm nheless, even more powerful than before.


    Thunderzen kept his attention towards the battle, praying that John would be able to block these attacks long enough to buy them the time Lilian needed.


    ¡­


    John stood atop the ship, his eyes locked on the distant storm, power coursing though every inch of his body. The explosion behind the ship faded away, and he took a deep breath, confidence coursing through his body.


    "Come," he roared, caught up in the thrill of battle. It might not be a true battle, but for him, it was no doubt a life and death battle. Seed and live, fail and die. The stakes could not be higher, his battle lust fully ignited.


    He had felt useless this entire time, watching the others do all the work, putting their lives on the line. The time for him to do the same and prove his worth had arrived. His golden eyes, narrowed with focus, stared at the approaching storm. His Dragon-God Shift red with absolute power, allowing his body to withstand the ruinous wind and spatial chaos sting against him ceaselessly.


    He had yet to utilize his Asura Transformation, as that was not much help in this battle. He needed to meet the Asura''s attack a distance from the ship, otherwise it would be caught up in the explosions and disintegrate. As such, only ranged essence-based battle arts were of use here, and his Asura Transformation mostly only augmented his physical might.


    The power of lightning coursed through every inch of his body as John prepared for the next attack. When the previous attack had arrived, he had utilized his strongest essence-based battle art to receive it; his Dragontail Decimation.


    The battle art''s weakness was its channeling time, but here, he had all the time he needed to prepare for the attack. Lightning Qi built up within his dantian every second, which was now far more powerful than before thanks to his Dao Transformation breakthrough, of which he had broken through wlessly.


    John felt as if his dantian had turned into a star, brimming with absolute might. He clenched his teeth with strain as he focused on holding it within, growing the power of his Dragontail Decimation every second.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    sh!


    A sh of power burst through the storm again, piercing directly towards the ship. John''s firm gaze locked onto the attack, his fingers twitching with anticipation. His eyes widened as he felt the power of the approaching attack, which was even stronger than before.


    ''I can''t stop this attack as I am right now!'' he thought, assessing the situation instantly. He frowned, and then sent a sound transmission to Lilian.


    "How much longer until we get there?" he asked her.


    "A minute, maybe two," she said, "if you can defend the ship that long, I''ll make sure we get there in that amount of time."


    John nodded his head, and then his focus shifted back towards the attack. He closed his eyes for a singr moment, muttering an internal prayer.


    ''I''m counting on you and this vibrant energy you gave me, Laia. It''s still too soon to use this, but I have no other choice. I''m betting on your healing energy getting me through this,'' he said, and then his eyes snapped open, his gaze widened with intense battle lust.


    "Come!" he roared loudly, like a beast yelling to the heavens, "you want my life! Thene and take it! Bloodline Ability!"


    Boom!


    John''s aura exploded as he activated his bloodline ability, turning each and every blood cell in his body into a miniature dantian. The Qi within the cells exploded out into his veins and meridians, flooding his body with iparable power. John felt his meridians, veins, and bones fracture from the bloodline art, as it had not been six months since hest used it, and the damage fromst time was still present within his body. The fractures expanded, as if his body would break and fall apart at any moment.


    He held his breath, waiting for a feeling he was hoping woulde. A moment of silence, and then he smiled. As if summoned by the damage, the vibrant life energy within his body coursed through his body, moving on its own volition. It washed over the fractured meridians, veins, and bones, mending them with a frightening speed.


    The damage from the Bloodline Ability and the healing from Laia''s vibrant life energy entered a battle, a stalemate of damage and healing. John''s smile widened as he felt the power within his body reach heights he had never felt before, and his gaze locked onto the approaching attack, his fingers twitching with anticipation.


    He pointed outwards towards the attack, and then unleashed the strongest battle art he had ever unleashed in his life. The Dao of Lightning and Power fused together under his control, augmenting the power of the War Mage art to an entirely new level. The world seemed to still for a moment around him, and then as if summoned from the void, a portal of lightning appeared before him, facing outwards towards the attack.


    Dragontail Decimation!


    The dragontail-like beam of lightning sted outwards, as if it had the power to destroy the world. It mmed against the Asura''s attack a hundred miles behind the ship, the collision creating an explosion that engulfed the entirend and sky. The explosion washed over the ship, drowning it in its power, while John''s aura red outwards, fighting against the explosion, keeping it away from the ship as best he could.


    The cmitous explosion faded away, the steamy mist from the evaporated ocean beneath clearing as well. The sky was clear, and then the ship pierced out from the void of space once more, its exterior unscathed, speeding towards the Yuan Continent.


    John stood tall on the ship, appearing like a bastion of unbreakable might, his aura climbing to the heavens above. His firm gaze and strong aura seemed to roar loudly, ''So long as I draw breath, this ship will not fall''.

 Chapter 907 On The Edge Of Collapse

    The battle within the storm raged on, the fury and power of the battle withoutpare. Daoist Eternal Weapon, Thunderfist, and the Grand Elder fought the Astral Emperor with everything they had, while Raijen continued to thwart the Asura''s assault towards John.


    The battle between the two titans shook the skies, even space giving way to their ruinous shes. During their battle, the Asura continued to unleash attacks towards the distant ship, each attack stronger than thest.


    Thunderzen watched from atop Raijen''s head with narrowed eyes as the Asura battled them, arge, viscous smile on its face. To them, this was a brutal battle for survival, with each exchange bringing them closer to the edge of death. To the Asura, this was nothing but a thrilling hunt.


    The fact that the Asura''s attacks towards John grew in power each time revealed that fact to Thunderzen. It was testing John, testing his limits. The Asura had no care in the world about them escaping, as if this entire world was its domain. In a way, it was.


    Thunderzen nced over towards his shoulder, towards the ship. Another cmitous explosion sted through the sky, John having unleashed another attack to block the Asura''s attacks. Thunderzen frowned with worry. While John''s performance had been beyond their wildest imaginations, even someone as heaven-defying as him had his limits.


    Each explosion behind the ship wasrger than thest, and the explosions had started to m against the ship with incredible power, John unable to fully deflect every bit of the attack. Before long, the explosions would reach a level that would destroy the ship, destroying their hope at the same time.


    "Almost there, Raijen," Thunderzen sent to hispanion through their soul connection. "Stall the Asura for a single minute, and then be ready to flee."


    Raijen roared in acknowledgement, although the thought of fleeing hurt its draconic pride. However, there was nothing more it could do. It was flee and survive, or stay and perish. Raijen opened its massive mouth, which glowed brightly from within, a powerful beam of lightning sting towards the Asura a momentter. The Asura smiled and shed his sabers towards the attack, enjoying the thrill of battle, the desperate fleeing of his prey.


    ¡­


    Boom!


    A devastating explosion sted behind the ship, and then mmed into it a momentter. The ship shook violently within the explosive storm, as if it was about to fall apart at any moment. It pierced out of the explosion a momentter, still in one piece, but signs of damage on its hull.


    John breathed heavily atop the ship, his firm yet exhausted gaze still locked on the storm which was almost upon them. His body still brimmed with incredible power, his bloodline ability not nearly exhausted yet. However, the seemingly unlimited power from his bloodline ability had one great downfall; the rate at which it damaged his body.


    Laia''s healing energy had already been exhausted, and damage was starting to umte throughout his body once more. The damage and fatigue made John feel as though he were about to copse at any moment, but he pushed aside the pained exhaustion as best as possible, focusing on his task at hand.


    ''I still have the orb of vital essence Laia gave me long ago,'' he thought through the exhaustion. ''Should I use it? I was nning to save it until I had no other choice but to use it. Has the time for that finallye?''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He debated whether to use the orb to heal his injuries and renew his vitality or not. The orb was something far more profound than the energy Laia had recently given him, and was almost certainly something Laia could not give him often, if ever again. As such, its value was iparable, and was not something he wanted to waste unless absolutely forced to.


    He felt as though he had one more Dragontail Decimation in him before he became spent, unable to fight anymore. If he had to face another attack from the Asura after that, he made up his mind to use the orb at that time.


    As he feared, yet expected, another attack pierced out from the storm, directly towards the ship. John''s body brimmed with power as he had been holding his Dragontail Decimation the moment the previous attack had been blocked, making him feel like an overinted balloon about to pop.


    His finger pointed towards the approaching attack, and his body exploded with strong lightning Qi.


    Dragontail Decimation!


    The sky seemed to be filled with a draconic roar as a massive beam of lighting, shaped like a dragon''s tail, pierced out of the void before him, sting towards the Asura''s attack. The two attacks collided, the resulting explosion sting over the ship. John''s aura red with everything he had to resist the explosion, but he was nearly overwhelmed.


    His body groaned with pained agony as the explosion sted against his skin, nearly knocking him off the ship. Using thest ounce of Qi he had, he braced against the explosion, keeping himself firmly rooted to the ship. The ship pierced out of the explosion, damaged even further as if it were about to fall apart at any moment.


    John''s skin was broken and charred in many ces, blood dripping out from wounds formed on his body. He was not able to utilize his Asura Transformation at the same time as his bloodline ability, as he would not havested long enough had he done so. Without him using his strongest defensive transformation, the explosions were enough to gravely harm him.


    John felt his mind, soul, and body on the verge of copse. His vision grew hazy, dark, as if he was about topse into unconsciousness. He shook his head to remove that feeling, as that would mean sure death. Even still, he felt spent, unable to muster any more strength at all.


    ''I guess its time to use it,'' John thought, the orb appearing in his hand. The Asura had a certain rhythm to his attacks, and the next one would appear in about fifteen seconds. He couldn''t afford to wait any longer.


    He moved the orb to his mouth, the orb glowing brightly, giving off a vibrant life energy beyondpare. His hand paused as a voice entered his mind.


    "You''ve done well," Lilian''s voice sounded in his mind. "We''re here!"

 Chapter 908 The Ancient Formation

    "Here?" John thought, feeling pure confusion. He looked around, seeing nothing of note beneath the ship. They were still over the ocean. The ship entered the void of space and then left it a momentter, the scenery below changing.


    ''Land!'' he thought, tired eyes going wide. It wasnd he recognized, and a familiar Qi washed over him. ''The Yuan Continent.''


    The nostalgic emotion vanished instantly, the present situation too dire to allow him to feel anything else but pain and fatigue.


    John nced at thend that blurred far beneath their feet, the speed of the ship so fast that he was almost unable to make out anything amidst the blur. The ship suddenly shot down towards thend, the first time since they had started fleeing that their altitude had changed at all. Their altitude changebined with their speed made John feel as though they were a falling meteor about to m into the earth at speeds he would not be able to withstand. He suddenly felt a strong spatial energy from Lilian wrap around him pulling him into the void. The next instant, he appeared within the ship, standing beside Lilian, still at the ship''smand center.


    The ship suddenly came to an abrupt halt, hovering several hundred yards above the ground. John breathed a sigh of relief, thanking his master for bringing him into the ship. Within the ship, one was able to resist the inertia of suddenly stopping, as if the ship was a different dimension.


    If he had still been outside the ship, he would have mmed into the earth below, his body no doubt exploding from the force of the impact. John''s tired and bleary eyes nced at thend below him, and his eyes went wide with realization. He had been here before.


    "The ancient city!" he eximed.


    Towering buildings stretched out as far as the eye could see, and directly beneath them was a massive temple, one that John instantly recognized.


    ''The temple at the center of the city! The temple that contained the Divine Trials.''


    "Why are we her-"


    John''s voice cut off as Lilian grabbed his hand and yanked him through a spatial portal she had created. With his exhausted and pained condition, John felt as though Lilian had nearly yanked his arm off as she took him into the spatial void.


    The world around them returned a momentter, John finding himself standing next to Lilian within a massive chamber hundreds of yards tall and miles wide. He blinked, pushing the physical pain and mental anguish aside to focus on the chamber.


    His eyes widened as he turned to look around him. Nine piles of spirit crystals encircled them, appearing like small, shimmering mountains. It was thergest sum of spirit crystals he had ever seen, a wealth eclipsing what he had made by selling his tea leaves.


    His eyes peeled away from the mountains of spirit crystals towards the ground below, and he took a step backwards. Beneath him, formation lines stretched out in all directions, forming an intricate formation of iparableplexity. John finally realized where they were, his gaze snapping up to confirm his suspicion.


    The fractured arch he expected to see stood a short distance away, confirming his suspicion.


    ''Were in the chamber beneath the Divine Trial! The chamber where I met Laia. The chamber where we fought that bizarre skeleton! The chamber with the amazing¡­formation!''


    And then it all clicked, his gaze shifting to Lilian, who dashed around the massive formation, sending her Qi into various nodes, alighting them with power. The nodes lit up one by one, nine nodes, nine mountains of spirit crystals.


    "Where does this formation lead to?" John asked, his mind still dazed by pain and surprise. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "No idea," Lilian said, appearing next to John, grabbing his hand. He stared at her, her intense gaze locked with with his, slight worry and uncertainty contained within her eyes. "All I know is that it''s far from here."


    "You have no idea?" John asked with concern.


    Lilian replied by sending a sliver of Qi towards thest remaining node yet to be activated, which alighted the moment her Qi entered it. The nine nodes intensified, their brightness blinding. John squinted against the bright light, seeing the nine mountains of spirit crystals suddenly vanish, followed by the chamber they were in.


    ¡­


    The Asura grinned as it fought Raijen, the thrill of battle surging through its body as if it were the most pleasurable thing in the world. The two exchanged a barrage of devastating attacks, Raijen losing out with each exchange. However, as expected from a true dragon, Raijen kept itself alive, and kept the Asura''s focus.


    The Asura allowed the battle to continue, allowed his prey to flee. There was nowhere in this world that his prey could run to anymore. There was no escape. The Asura noticed a distantnd-mass appear in the distance, and smiled as he figured out their n.


    "A formation to flee to another part of the world?" it sneered, its smile widening. "A pathetic, futile n," it added.


    Thunderzen ignored the mockery, his focus on John and Lilian instead. He felt them appear over the continent, momentster appearing above the ancient city. Less than several heartbeatster, they vanished. Arge, relieved smile appeared on Thunderzens face.


    They had won!


    "Now!" he then roared, sending amand to the others.


    The tempestuous storm suddenly vanished, and each of the six tore through space, utilizing formation disks that had appeared in their hands, while Raijen used his own strength. The six vanished in an instant, their retreat so quick and sudden that it shocked even the Asura himself.


    It gave thought to chasing them, but ignored them in the end. They were small fry. They were not his prey. The Asura arrived above the Yuan Continent a momentter, appearing directly above the ancient city.


    It peered down at the massive temple below, a frown appearing on its face. This had been the ce where John had vanished, no doubt taking a transportation formation. It sneered again, smiling.


    "Where have you run to?" it said, voice rumbling.


    The Asura red its power, his eyes closing as if he were feeling for something within himself. His eyes snapped open a momentter, a look of anger exploding onto its face.


    "Gone?" It roared, unable to detect John''s presence at all.


    There was only one exnation. John was no longer on this world.

 Chapter 909 The Creature Beneath The City

    Furious anger beyond anything the Asura had felt in tens of thousands of years surged through its body, filling it with a beast-like rage.


    Rahhh!


    The Asura roared like a wild beast, then punched down towards the city beneath him, space shattering where his fist''s moved. Its cmitous power sted against the ancient city, an explosion of apocalyptic proportions propagating outwards in all directions.


    The explosion destroyed thend for tens of thousands of miles, arge portion of the Yuan Continentpletely obliterated in a near instant. The continent that had existed since the ancient cmity had finally been destroyed. However, thanks to Thunderzen''s foresight of such an event happening, he had evacuated almost everyone on the continent, keeping the casualties to a minimum.


    The explosion faded some timeter, revealing the ravagend below. No life whatsoever remained, as mountains were erased, rivers andkes evaporated, chasms wider than the eye could see created, and forests destroyed. The once vibrant Yuan Continent now looked like a barren hellscape, one burning with smoldering ruins.


    The Asura''s menacing gaze lingered downwards, on the still standing ancient city. Surprisingly, despite being at the very center of its attack, it had mostly withstood the cmitous attack. Some buildings on the outside of the city had been razed to the ground, but the temple and the nearby buildings still stood, protected by an ancient defensive formation, somehow still functioning.


    The Asura sneered at the sight. He vaguely remembered this backwater city during the ancient war, which had served as a small stronghold for the defenders of the world. He had not known it housed such a profound transportation formation, otherwise he would have done something about it long ago.


    The Asura''s red angrily for some time, the Astral Emperor arriving beside him, peering down as well. The Astral Emperor studied the formation from the sky, his gaze piercing stone and earth.


    "Do we give chase?" he asked.


    The Asura scoffed with displeasure, turning around to leave. "These formations were designed to work only for native creatures of this world. I am unable to follow."


    The Astral Emperor raised an eyebrow, then made a suggestion.


    "Should I give chase?" he asked.


    "No," the Asura growled, still furious from his failure. His battle lust had blinded him from achieving his goal, one that would have been easy to achieve had he targeted John with his full power from the start. "The formation has been partially destroyed during its use, and restoring it will take decades. We have more pressing matters to attend to."


    The Astral Emperor nodded his head, preparing to leave with the Asura.


    "Release me!" a booming, horrifying voice suddenly sted out from beneath the ancient temple, shaking the world around them.


    The Astral Emperor''s guard instantly raised, preparing for a fight against this unknown entity. The Asura turned around and nced downwards, his blood red eyes staring at something contained within.


    The Asura snorted in disdain.


    "You were captured and bound by such pathetically weak humans during the war, and yet you have the gall to ask for freedom," the Asura scoffed. "Your fate is the only fate you deserve. There is no mercy for the weak. You are a disgrace to our Asura race."


    The Astral Emperor raised an eyebrow at the exchange, staring below, and then to the Asura. To think there was a captured and bound Asura beneath the ancient city, existing here unknown for all this time. A quick nce of the situation revealed that the Asura was being used as some sort of powering device for the cities formations, formations that would take quite some time to destroy, even for them.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I will break you, kill you, devour you, when I escape," the creature from below growled, anger in its voice.


    The Asura scoffed, its figure vanishing a momentter. The Astral Emperor nced downwards for a short moment and then vanished himself, returning the now ruined city to quiet once more.


    ¡­


    In the depths of the endless ocean,rge beasts and other creatures swam about. Nearby on the ocean floor, a formation barrier rose miles up into the ocean''s depths, pressing the ocean water back. The beasts gave this ce a wide berth, wary to approach.


    sh! sh! sh! sh! sh! sh!


    Six shes of light appeared within the formation barrier for a brief moment before fading away. Thunderzen nced downwards at thend contained within the massive formation barrier, and sprawling for dozens of miles, filled with fields, buildings, and cities. Tens of millions of people moved about thend, going about their days as normal.


    Thunderzen sighed with relief, thanking himself for sparing no expense for making this ce. The detection formations he had left on the Yuan Continent had all been destroyed, confirming his belief that the Asura would destroy everything in a fit of rage.


    Thend protected by the formation below consisted of those belonging to the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the Fenix n, and anyone else remotely associated with either of those powers. It was hidden in apletely remote and faraway ce beneath the ocean''s depths, hopefully shielding it from discovery by the Asura.


    The other powers from the Yuan Continent had fled elsewhere, most listening to Thunderzen''s warnings. Thunderzen shifted his gaze from thend below to his side, where five figured floated in the air next to him.


    He inspected Raijen, whose body was covered in massive wounds too numerous to count. Thunderzen winced at the sight of hispanion so ravaged by their recent battle. Even for a dragon, such wounds would be beyond painful, the recovery long and arduous. His gaze shifted to his brother and Daoist Eternal Weapon, both showing signs of injury as well.


    Daoist Eternal Weapon was missing one arm from the battle art he had used, and had numerous other wounds on his bloodstained body. His brother, Thunderfist, was much the same, covered in blood from gruesome looking wounds. However, both of them would eventually recover, something he could not say for thest two.


    His regretful, apologetic gaze shifted to the Honorable Alliance leader and the Grand Elder, who stood next to each other. They appeared like walking skeletons with ayer of skins appearing like leather draped over their bones. There was no sign of flesh or muscle beneath the skin, and their aura was now incredibly weak.


    "Thank you, for your sacrifices," Thunderzen said sincerely. He would not apologize, would not downy the sacrifice these two had made. Both had done so willingly, and because of them, they had managed to achieve their goal.


    "We seeded, so I can die knowing my sacrifice was not in vain," the Honorable Alliance leader said, his voice like a hoarse whisper. The Grand Elder nodded his head in agreement.


    "When this is all over, your legacies will be etched into the histories of this world, stories of your sacrifice spread across the world," Thunderzen said.


    "Not a bad way to go then, is it?" the Honorable Alliance Leader said, smiling.


    Thunderzen nodded his head, his gaze firm as he watched the two before him finally lose all signs of life, their bodies crumbling away like dust in the wind.


    "Rest easy, brothers," he said softly, his eyes closing with pain and loss.

 Chapter 910 Tunnel Of Light

    The four remained silent for some time, heads bowed with pain. Thunderzen breathed in deeply, the others staring at him for guidance of what to do next.


    "Our goal was achieved," Thunderzen said, his words heavy with emotion. "Now we will lie low here, until they return. We have done all we can."


    The others nodded, Thunderzen''s gaze shifting upwards through the ocean and towards the stars above. Somewhere out there, a world was about to experience the arrival of a pinnacle genius, one that would no doubt throw the world into turmoil.


    ¡­


    In the Divine Source Monastery, the Grand Abbot stared forward into nothingness, his gaze grim and tense. His grim gaze finally rxed, a deep sigh escaping his lips, his eyes closing for a moment. He opened them a short whileter and nced to the side.


    To his side was a face scrunched up with nervous worry, beautiful yet concerned. Laia''s hands, sped together tightly, rested on her chest, her gaze locked onto the Grand Abbot. The Grand Abbot smiled softly.


    "He escaped, child," he said to her warmly. "Both of them did. They are safe."


    A sigh of relief escaped Laia''s lips, a mountainous weight on her shoulders vanishing. A radiant smile appeared on her face, her eyes closing a momentter.


    ''Be safe,'' she prayed internally. ''I will wait for you until you return, regardless of how long that takes.''


    ¡­


    A blinding light enveloped John, who then felt his body yanked forward, the force far greater than he had been expecting. He groaned with pain, his body already exhausted and damaged nearly to his limits.


    The blinding light faded away instantly, his eyes going wide as he saw what was all around him. A tunnel of multicolored light enveloped him in all directions, the tunnel several dozen yards wide. The multicolored lights streaked past him in a blur, the speed at which they were traveling iprehensible to him. He was pushed forward through the tunnel not by his own power, but by the power of the tunnel itself.


    His gaze shifted forward and saw the tunnel of light stretch out as far as he could see, bing a pinpoint in the far distance. Next to him, Lilian gripped his arm, her narrowed gaze staring forward as well.


    Whenever he had taken a transportation formation in the past, this tunnel of light had appeared in his vision, but had faded almost instantly every time. Even the formations that had taken him the farthest distancested no more than an instant before he arrived at his destination, his destinations sometimes being tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of miles away.


    And yet, they had been speeding through the tunnel for long enough for him to take note of his surroundings with a rity he had never expected. Seconds turned into minutes, the two of them shot through the tunnel of light at a speed he couldn''t grasp, his mind going numb with the realization of what was going on.


    If they were traveling to another part of the world, they would have arrived in a mere instant. There was only one exnation for what was happening. The formation was not heading to some ce on their world, but to another world entirely. Who knew such a profound formation existed in his world, hiding in the ancient city the entire time.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    John shifted his gaze back to Lilian, the multicolored tunnel lighting her face with an ethereal light. Her narrowed gaze stared forward, wary yet firm. There was no surprise on her face at all.


    ''She knew it would take us to another world!'' John realized.


    He wanted to ask her about this portal to another world, where they were going, what was happening, yet he couldn''t muster the strength to ask at the moment. His body was near copse, his mind near the brink, exhaustion overwhelming him. He felt like a dying candle, almost spend, the smallest breeze capable of snuffing him out.


    He thought of taking the orb of vibrant essence Laia had given him, but decided against it. It was too valuable to waste, and although he was spent and out of power, the tunnel did not pose them any danger as they sped through it.


    ''I also have master to rely on, so using it would be nothing but a waste,'' John thought, pushing the idea aside.


    The minutes dragged on; the flow of time obscured in this bizarre tunnel of light. It could have been a minute or a day, and John was sure he wouldn''t know which was the correct answer.


    Lilian still gripping his arm, John rxed slightly, his mind withdrawing to focus on healing his exhausted body. A high-grade spirit crystal appeared in his hand, the Qi within sucked into his body to start restoring his spent Qi. This was not a fast process, but it was better than nothing.


    Spirit crystal after spirit crystal appeared and then vanished, its Qi sucked dry. John felt his dantian slowly but surely fill with Qi, giving him a sliver of strength once more.


    "Watch out!" Lilian suddenly cried out, his eyes snapping open from the sudden cry.


    Boom!


    A wave of power sted over them unexpectedly, mming into John with such power that he felt as though he would be ripped apart in an instant. Lilian''s power red outwards, her Dao of Space permeating the suddenly chaotic tunnel they were in.


    Boom!


    Another wave of power mmed into them before he could react, and John finally saw what was happening. The tunnel ahead of them, which had been bright and firm, showed signs of weakness. The bright, multicolored light had patches of nothingness, like cracks in the tunnel.


    Some of those cracks gave way, a storm of spatial chaos surging in through the cracks without warning and sting into them. Despite Lilian''s power, the second wave sted onto both of them, a groan of pain escaping her lips, the st instantly knocking the exhausted and gravely injured John unconscious.


    Darkness enveloped him, thest images of consciousness being that of Lilian bursting with power, protecting them from the ruinous storms.

 Chapter 911 Pain And Memories

    The rattling of chains woke John from a deep slumber.


    Pain.


    That was all John felt at the moment. Excruciating pain. He was used to pain, had been bathed and baptized in its all his life, and yet the pain still nearly overwhelmed him. The pain eventually became manageable, a hazy fog lingering in his mind. His thoughts were scattered and chaotic, unable to make sense of anything that was going on.


    He eventually managed to push the hazy confusion aside, at least enough to think, but the pain still remained. Memories of what had happened to him resurfaced, like dreams from long ago finally remembered.


    ''I¡­I remember the Divine Source Monastery¡­fleeing from the Asura¡­the formation and tunnel of light.''


    Piece by piece, his memories returned. John''s eyes snapped open as he finally came to.


    "The tunnel. Master!" he cried out, sitting up quickly.


    Pain wracked his body once more as he did so, a groan of pain leaving his mouth. He pushed aside the pain as best he could, more pressing thoughts on his mind. Hisst memories had been the storms of spatial chaos breaking into the tunnel of light, the power of it knocking his already fractured body into unconsciousness, his master transforming into a being of death, fighting against the storm.


    John looked forward, and then turned his gaze to both sides, feeling confusion at what he was seeing. He blinked several times to make sure what he was seeing was real, and not some illusion from suffering so many head blows during his recent plights.


    No matter how many times he blinked, the scene remained the same. An enclosure, or more aptly, a cage, surrounded him. The cage was quiterge, about thirty yards wide and tall, and consisted of thick bars of some metal on all four walls and the ceiling above, each spaced four inches apart from the next.


    Between the gaps were flickers of formation light, allowing one to see out from within the cage, but not escape it, even if one was small enough to fit through the bars. Looking through the gaps between the bars, John noticed he was in arge, verdant forest. Trees towered high into the sky, easily several miles tall, their branches reaching out in all directions, each wider than a house.


    Thick vegetation covered the forest floor, while a trail through the forest stretched back behind the cage, and forward in the direction they were going.


    John blinked several times again, shifting his gaze from the forest outside to the cage within. There he noticed other people, people who he had overlooked when he had woken up.


    "There''s others here?" he mumbled to himself, still trying to clear the fog of what was going on. He felt like surging with power and breaking free from wherever he was, but his body damaged and his Qi still spent.


    He sent his divine sense inwards, and groaned at what he saw. Torn muscles, fractured and broken bones, meridians on the verge of rupturing. It was one of the worst conditions his body had ever been in, and using any power at the moment would cause his injuries to worsen, perhaps to a level that became permanent, crippling him forever.


    John carefully inspected himself, then withdrew his divine sense. His gaze returned to the others in the cage, taking note of each of them. There were eight others, broken off into seven groups.


    None of them were Lilian, causing him to frown with disappointment.


    Seven of the individuals were sitting alone, six of them appearing to be middle aged cultivators, two men and three women, and thest a male who appeared to be in his twenties.


    They wore rtively simple clothes, the women in dresses, the men in robes. Each of them were bound by their feet, chains tied to each foot, and then to the cage floor.


    The two sitting together were the youngest of the bunch, one boy and one girl, both appearing to be around sixteen or seventeen years of age. The boy had short blonde hair and a rtively handsome face, the girl long blonde hair that drooped down to her shoulders, framing a beautiful yet still immature face. Both had green eyes that shimmered like crystals catching the light, making them stand out from the other rather in looking people in the cage. They too were chained like the others.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    John inspected their auras out of habit, and raised an eyebrow.


    ''Both are in the Heaven Tribtion Realm!'' he mused internally, slightly surprised.


    Based on their age, or what he guessed was their ages, them being in the Heaven Tribtion realm at sixteen made them geniuses, at least where he came from. That level of talent was something only pinnacle geniuses had been capable of on his homeworld, although the memories of what had happened reminded him he was no longer on his homeworld.


    He hade to some foreign, unknown ce, injured, separated from Lilian, caged in some unknown contraption. All of them were staring at him with wide eyes, his actions alerting them that he was awake. They stared at him as if he were a wild beast of some sorts, with only the young boy and girl looking at him with nervous curiosity. They were clearly fearful of him, but also curious, like observing an exotic beast, albeit a dangerous one.


    After inspecting the others and realizing there was no immediate danger, John sent his divine sense inwards towards his soul space. There he found Kirii, sleeping soundly.


    "Kirii!" John called out through their soul connection, startling Kirii awake.


    "Aye!" Kirii came to quickly, like a child found doing something bad, and expecting to be scolded.


    "How are you sleeping? What''s going on?" John asked, demanding some answers.


    While he had suffered grievous wounds during this ordeals, Kirii had been safe and sound within his soul space. Thanks to their soul connection, Kirii was able to see everything happening around John while he was safe within the soul space. Knowing this, John wanted some answers.


    "I¡­" Kirii eximed, unsure what to say.


    John breathed in and out deeply, and then calmed his mind.


    "It''s alright," he said to Kirii, assuaging hispanion. "Just tell me what happened after I fell unconscious. What happened in the tunnel of light? What happened to Lilian? Where are we? What is this ce? Start from the beginning when I lost consciousness, and don''t leave any details out, understood?"


    "Aye," Kirii replied, his voice more cheery as he was no longer being scolded. "But why don''t I just show you instead."


    Before John could ask, images appeared in his mind, Kirii''s memories, sent through their soul connection to John''s mind. John didn''t know Kirii could do this, but remained silent as it was not important. He focused on the images ying in his mind, memories what what Kirii had seen.


    Memories of the tunnel of light fracturing, storms of spatial chaos flooding into it. Memories of Lilian transforming into her ultimatebat state, protecting John and herself from the storms. The battle raged on for some time, Lilian''s aura growing weaker as she spent Qi, and became injured.


    Even after stepping into the World Expansion realm, the power of the spatial storms had nearly overwhelmed her. She had been wounded all over, her injuries appearing no less gruesome than what John had suffered. As they surged through the tunnel of light, the light grew weaker and weaker, the tunnel be more and more transparent.


    The spatial storms intensified as they sped toward, the power of the storms about topletely overwhelm them. Suddenly, the tunnel vanished, John and Lilian appearing high in the sky, thousands of miles up, above a massive world evenrger than their own.


    Multiple continents of unknown size dotted a massive ocean, one that seemed to stretch on forever. They fell down towards this world, speeding towards a continent below, one that seemed evenrger than the Divine Martial Continent.


    The winds around them howled with furious intensity as they fell, small storms of spatial chaos whipping into them due to being so high above the still. John saw the memory as a strong breeze, one containing both winds and spatial chaos, mmed into them, the power of it forcing them apart. It threw Lilian, now gravely wounded and Qipletely spent in one direction, John in another, the two of them heading towards different parts of the world below.

 Chapter 912 Crashing Through Mountains And Forests

    John watched through Kirii''s memories as he plummeted to the world below, streaking through the air like a meteor, picking up speed every second. A trail of fire streaked behind him as he carved his way through the sky, thend growingrger beneath him.


    The continent they had arrived above was massive, filled with more biomes, mountain ranges,kes asrge as oceans, and other natural wonders than could be counted. He also saw sprawling citiesrger than anything he had ever seen, with buildings piercing high into the clouds above, more like mountains than man-made structures.


    Thend he tumbled towards was a lush, forest covered area, the forest spreading for tens of thousands of miles in each direction, maybe more. John watched as he plummeted to thend below, a mountain range growingrger before him as he approached it.


    He winced as he watched himself smash through the peak of the mountain, his body shattering the mountain as if struck by a heavenly body crashing into it. He pierced through the other side, his momentum slowed but not stopped, smashing into the forest lining the mountains, crashing through the titanic trees, carving a long path of destruction through the forest.


    Tree after tree snapped as he smashed into it, the forest trembling violently from the collision. The forest lit aze from the impact, like a meteor ravaging thend. Beasts scattered away from the scene of destruction, wanting nothing to do with the cause of such chaos.


    John finally came to rest after carving a trail of destruction miles long through the forest, his broken body resting against the base of arge tree, its trunk hundreds of yards wide. Smoke wisped off his body, one covered head to toe with blood, dirt, and ash.


    Sometimeter, a group of cultivators approached him, several men and women led by a man in the front with a scar on his face, all wearing in clothes that made them look unimportant, almost as if they were trying to hide their identities. Arge beast followed behind, pulling an evenrger caravan.


    "So, it was this boy that fell from the sky?" one of the women asked curiously, yet skeptically. She turned her gaze back towards the trail of destruction John had carved into thend.


    p¦Ánd¦Á---no¦Í?1,§ão§® "Doubtful," the scar-faced man said. "A fall like that, one that can cause this much destruction, would have destroyed this boy''s body into nothingness. He was probably just unlucky and got caught by whatever crashed down here."


    The others nodded, epting the man''s assessment of the situation.


    "Regardless, he appears to be around eighteen and is at the Dao Transformation realm," the man said, inspecting John''s clothing. "And he''s not wearing the clothing of any of the three Dao Sects or any of the lesser powers either, so no worth caring about should be looking for him at the moment. Whoever he is, he''ll fetch quite a good price on the market. Take him."


    The others nodded, picking John up. Thest scene reyed to him was him being thrown into the caravan, or the cage as he now recognized it, one of the men binding his feet in chains before leaving.


    The memories ended. John opened his eyes, the cage returning to his vision. He frowned at the memory, understanding why his body was in even worse condition than he had expected waking up. That fall had nearly killed him, and he had only lived thanks to his heaven-defying body durability. Even then, the fall had torn skin, ripped muscles, and broken bones.


    "Why didn''t you help me during the fall?" John asked Kirii, grumbling with displeasure.


    "I couldn''t," Kirii replied defensively, "you were unconscious, and that means your soul is instinctively closed off. I can leave your soul-space freely when you''re awake, as you recognize me as friendly, but when you''re unconscious, your soul is in a pure defensive state. I would have needed to break free of your soul to appear in the real world, and that would have done more damage to you than the fall did, if not outright kill you."


    John frowned. This was the first time he was hearing about this, although he supposed he had never been in a situation before when he passed out and Kirii needed to save him. He had been knocked unconscious before, but never in times that Kirii''s help was truly needed.


    "It''s alright," John sighed apologetically, "it wasn''t your fault."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Do you need me toe out now?" Kirii asked, his voice heated. "Those bastards dared to chain you like some ve. I''ll murder them all!"


    John was surprised by the anger in Kirii''s voice, and smiled lightly, but shook his head.


    "No," John said. "We don''t know the full situation of what''s going on right now, but I''m pretty sure I have a decent grasp on the situation. It seems as though I was quite unlucky to run into some sort of vers, who decided to take advantage of my situation and capture me as well. But it doesn''t seem as though there''s any immediate danger, so focusing on healing my body is more important at the moment. That way, if the time to break freees, I won''t be useless."


    "Alright," Kirii obliged, slightly disappointed.


    John smiled and shook his head, but understood where Kirii wasing from. Hispanion spent most of his time sleeping in his soul space, and had not had much excitement in his life recently. He was a Kirin, a heavenly beast, and was definitely not content with sleeping his life away. Not to mention, Kirii was a child, and had childish energy to expend. A battle was perfect for such a thing, but now was not the time for that.


    "Did you manage to feel their cultivation levels?" John asked. "The ones who appeared in the memory you showed me."


    "Aye," Kirii said, some cheer back in his voice. "Most of them were at the Peak Dao Transformation Realm, with one of them at the Half-Step World Expansion Realm. The man with the scar on his face."


    John raised an eyebrow, then nodded his head, assessing the situation.


    ''Half-Step World Expansion realm? That kind of cultivation can make one a powerful sect leader back home, and yet here, they''re nothing more than vers. Interesting.''


    He shifted his gaze to the two youths, realizing that this world might be at a higher-level cultivation wise than his own. He put the thoughts aside after a moment''s consideration, focusing on the next task.


    ''If I regain my full strength, dealing with them shouldn''t be a problem, but that''s only if Kirii saw everyone I would need to fight. If there''s someone stronger lounging about, it could be a problem. The best thing to do right now is to heal my body, and figure out more about this group, as well as this mysterious world I''ve arrived to. I also need to figure out where master went, so taking time to ask the others for information might be helpful.''


    A n decided, John remained still for several hours, slowly absorbing Qi from the air to replenish his dantian, and fuel his Limiter of Healing. Much to his surprise, the Qi in the air was incredibly dense, even denser than the Qi on the Divine Martial Continent. Each breath John took felt incredibly invigorating, a pleasurable sensation John could get used to.


    ''Using spirit crystals to absorb Qi would be faster, but my captors took my spatial ring it seems. Thankfully everything of value is safely in my pce realm, but taking out spirit crystals now would alert them that I have other means to store valuables. That would bring more headaches than it''s worth, so for now I''ll heal using the Qi around me. Once I heal enough, I''ll unlock my Limiter of Life, which should speed up my recovery even more.''


    With the n set, John closed his eyes, slowly but surely healing the damage done to his body. His arrival to this world had been a brutal one, and he had been instantly greeted by terrible people, his opinion of this ce lessening with each passing moment.


    ''When I regain my full strength, I''ll make sure these vers get what they deserve. Each and every one of them.''

 Chapter 913 Luri And Suri

    Day turned to night, thend growing dark around the caravan. John''s eyes opened for the first time in hours, inspecting his surroundings through the gaps in the cages metal bars.


    ''We stopped?'' He mused. It had been the first time they had stopped since he had woken up.


    ''Are we stopping to resupply? Camp for the night? Or did they find something interesting like they did with me?'' He wondered, standing up and walking to the cage bars.


    He was still injured and weak, but standing up was far from a problem. He ced his hands on the bars near him, the chains on his feet scraping against the ground, metallic sounds echoing out.


    "Shhh," a soft whisper sounded out from the other side of the cage. John nced at the young girl, who had her finger to her lips, indicating for him to be quiet.


    John cocked his head to the side, wondering what this was about. His questions were immediately answered by thend trembling, shaking violently like an earthquake.


    He shifted his gaze outwards once more, trying to peer through the thick forest before him. However, the forest was dark, no moonlight light piercing through the thick canopy above.


    ''If they even have moons,'' John muttered to himself, knowing so little of this world.


    He wanted to use his divine sense to see thend before him, where he was sure the rumbling wasing from, but his instincts warned him not to.


    The shaking grew more violent, the cart tipping from side to side, shaking as if it were about to fall apart. He nced to the side, nothing looks of fear on the faces of the others.


    The shaking continued for several minutes before slowly dying down, eventually bing soft rumblings in the distance. The others breathed sighs of relief, as if they had just escaped the jaws of death.


    None of them spoke though, and so John did the same. He sat down and closed his eyes, falling into a meditative trance once more, his focus on healing his body.


    John opened his eyes a long timeter, the sound of movement within the cart stirring him. He nced at the others, who were moving about the cart, no longer concerned with being quiet. He nced to the side, and noticed the sun had started to pour light down on them, although it was still quite dim as the massive trees above blocked most of the light.


    e¦Áglesn?¦Íel ''Twenty hours! Nighttimests quite long here,'' he mused, noting how long the night had taken. Roughly double the time nightsted on his homeworld.


    The scraping of metal chains next to him caused him to turn his head, noticing one of the middle aged ves next to him, ring at him angrily.


    "Were you trying to get us killedst night, boy?" The man asked.


    He had ate Dao Transformation cultivation, and appeared to be in his forties, although his true age was much higher. His appearancebined with his cultivation revealed that he was a man of little cultivation talent.


    John stared calmly at the man.


    "I have no idea what you''re talking about. I did nothing of the sort," John said tly.


    The man narrowed his eyes with displeasure, and moved one step closer as if to make a move on John, punish him somehow, for unknown transgressions.


    John narrowed his eyes, a murderous glint contained within. A gaze that said ''I''ve killed more than you can imagine. Adding one more to that list won''t bother me.''


    The man froze in ce, his eyes going wide with instinctual fear. He was stronger than this injured youth, or at least his cultivation was higher. And yet he felt as though taking one more step towards the youth would be thest step he ever took. He remained that way for a moment before scuttling away, retreating towards the corner of the cage, muttering something under his breath.


    The others looked on with surprise, as if they had expected the opposite to happen. John ignored their gazes and closed his eyes once more. As long as they left him alone, he would do the same.


    ''I have more important things to worry about than petty squabbles,'' he thought.


    The scraping of chains filled the cage again, John opening his eyes with displeasure as the sounds grew closer to him.


    His displeasure vanished as he noticed the two youths standing before him, both staring at him with wide, curious eyes. There was no hostility or malice on their faces.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Yes?" John asked, wanting to know their reason for approaching him.


    "That," the boy said, "was amazing."


    John raised an eyebrow.


    "Amazing? What was?" He asked.


    "You made Garrod leave you alone without saying a word," the boy exined enthusiastically, "how did you do that? Garrod targets every new arrival, making sure they know their ce."


    "He also forces you to pay him or get beat up," the girl said, grumbling with displeasure. Despite her sour words, her voice was soft and sweet, pleasing to the ears.


    "Is that so?" John said evenly.


    "Yup," the boy said, sitting down beside John. The girl hesitated for a moment and then did the same. John raised another eyebrow.


    ''Annoyed by two brats. Great,'' he muttered internally, but didn''t shoo them away. He needed information about this world, and perhaps the two youths could provide him with some.


    "I''m Luri," the boy said, introducing himself.


    "Suri," the girl said.


    John raised another eyebrow. Luri chuckled, reading John''s thoughts.


    "Everyone has the same reaction," Luri said smilingly. "Our father isn''t very good with names."


    John nodded, understanding that. He too was bad with names, as evident with Kirii.


    "John," he introduced himself.


    "Well, John," the boy said, "you''re clearly not from around here, are you?"


    "What makes you say that?" John asked.


    "Isn''t it obvious?" Luri said."Your clothes are strange, you feel different somehow as well, and you didn''t even know of the Serpent of the Immortal Forests. We almost diedst night because of you."


    ''Serpent of the immortal forest?'' John wondered. Is that what the sound wasst night?


    "And," Suri added, her voice soft, "you fell from the sky like a star. So fast that your body should have exploded from the impact, but here you are, still alive. The vers said that wasn''t you, but I know it was," she added, tilting her head to the side as she stared at him. "You''re strange."


    Luri nodded his head in agreement.


    John nced at the two, then sighed. There was no use hiding it if they already knew some of the truth.


    "You''re right," he said. "I''m not from around here."


    "You''re not a Devil, right?" Suri asked, eyeing him skeptically, lips pursed in a line.


    ''A Devil?'' John thought. ''What the hell is a Devil? She''s not talking about Asura''s¡­is she?''

 Chapter 914 Dao-Sovereigns

    "Of course he''s not a Devil," Luri rebuked her. "Where''s his tail, or his horns? Or his demonic aura. Devil''s can''t hide those. You should know that."


    Suri blushed, as if she knew she had asked a stupid question. Face downwards, she looked upwards at John, cheeks red.


    e¦Áglesn?¦Íel "Sorry," she said to John, as if she had just insulted him.


    "It''s fine," John waved his hand, "but what are Devils?" John asked, wanting to know more about the so-called ''Devils''. He knew it would be a stupid question to ask based on how Luri reacted, but he decided to fake memory loss from the fall going forward.


    The two looked at him as if he were stupid, and John exined his reasoning to them.


    "The fall seems to have caused some memory loss for me," John said, his expression saddened as if he were truly troubled by this. "I can only recall bits and pieces of my life thus far, and don''t remember much at all. If I am to survive going forward, I''ll need to relearn everything important about this world."


    "So that''s how it is," Luri said, his expression apologetic. Suri looked at John with an even more apologetic gaze, as if she were sharing this heartbreak with him. Losing your memory was like losing yourself, almost as if you died and were reced by a clone. No one wanted that to happen to them, or anyone else for that matter.


    John studied the two, their reactions real and sincere. He could tell these two youths were good people, based on the emotions they were feeling for aplete stranger.


    "Well then, ask away, and I''ll answer any questions I have the answers to," Luri said, his voice cheery as if to raise John''s spirits. John was sure Luri was using this moment to distract himself from his fate as a ve, indulging in the opportunity to forget about it for even a moment. John smiled and nodded in thanks, and then asked about the Devils again.


    "Ah, yes, the Devils," Luri said, clearing his throat. "Since you don''t remember much at all, I might as well exin things as if you just came to this world. That should exin things clearly while minimizing the number of questions you need to ask."


    ''If only you knew the truth,'' John mumbled internally. He nodded his thanks to Luri, who started to exin the details he knew of the world.


    "This world consists of three major continents," Luri said.


    "Four," Suri corrected him.


    "Yes, I know," Luri replied, "but I''m starting with the¡­ah¡­fine. This world has four major continents," Luri started again, while Suri smiled with satisfaction.


    "These continents are the Human Continent, which you are on now. The Beast Continent. And the Devil Continent. Each of the three continents is dominated by that particr race, with you being on the Human Continent right now," Luri exined.


    John sighed with relief.


    ''Seems like Inded in a pretty good spot. Wonder what sort of trouble I would have ran into if Inded on the others.''


    He then winced, thinking of Lilian. He had no idea where she hadnded, and if shended on the other continents. He pushed away the thought. Based on what Kirii had shown him, Lilian should havended on the other side of this Human continent.


    ''Hopefully.''


    "The Beast Continent is naturally dominated by the beast race, while the Devil continent is dominated by the Devils," Luri continued. "The Beasts are self-exnatory, while the Devils are¡­"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Monsters," Suri mumbled, her voice gloomy and slightly fearful, as if thinking of the Devils was something of a nightmare.


    Luri nodded.


    "They can be described as that. Monsters," he agreed. "Vicious, cruel creatures who indulge in pain, suffering, and death."


    ''Sounds a lot like the Asura,'' John mused, an eyebrow raised.


    Luri looked at John''s t expression and remembered the initial question.


    "Ah yes, as for what Devil''s are," Luri said, brow furrowed. "They are humans, or at least, they were humans, until they merged with Demons to be half-human, half-demon hybrids."


    "Merged with Demons?" John asked curiously. "Did the humans and demons¡­?"


    Luri chuckled at the question, while Suri blushed at the boldness of it.


    "No one knows exactly," Luri said. "Some say the demons found a way to mate with humans, forming the hybrids, while others say some humans found a way to absorb demon blood and make it their own, creating their own hybrid race. Whatever the reason, they seeded, and formed the Devil Race."


    ''Demons. Not Asuras.'' John sighed in relief. Demons and Asura''s were simr, but not the same. Based on his encounter with the Abyssal Demon, Demons feared the Asura''s, and were most likely lesser beings inparison.


    "I see," he said thoughtfully.


    "Naturally," Luri said. "We humans are at war with the Demon Race. A war that hassted since¡­forever, really."


    "At war? For that long? How has one side not won outright already?" John asked.


    "It''s not as simple as it seems," Luri shook his head. "The two sides are rtively evenly matched. Humans have greater numbers, while the Devils have more powerful cultivators, on average. With the powers rtively evenly matched that way, the real bncees from the Dao-Sovereigns. The Dao Sovereigns of the human race and devil race are equal in power, and thus neither can fully overwhelm the other race."


    "Dao-Sovereigns?" John asked curiously. They sounded quite impressive.


    Luri raised an eyebrow at John''s question, his face surprised at John how little John remembered.


    "Dao Sovereigns," Luri nodded. "The leaders of the Dao Sects, or ns. The nine strongest powers in the world. There are three on the Human Continent; The Sword Dao Sect, the Mage Dao Sect, and the Yang Dao Sect. There are three on the Beast Continent; The Serpentbeast n, the Phoenixbeast n, and the Oceanbeast n. Andstly, three on the Devil Continent; The Abyssal-Devil Sect, The Blood-Devil Sect, and the Giant-Devil Sect.


    These nine powers make up the ultimate powers of the world, hence the name of the world itself, the Nine Dao World. And each of these nine powers are led by the nine Dao-Sovereigns, the Holy Manifestation powerhouses of the world."

 Chapter 915 Eternal Serpent

    "Nine Holy-Manifestation cultivators?" John asked, mouth agape.


    Luri looked at him curiously, then nodded.


    John leaned back against the cage bars, exhaling deeply.


    ''Nine Holy Manifestation cultivators. This world has at least nine of them, if not more!''


    He could hardly believe it. On his homeworld, the Holy Manifestation realm was practically mythical. There were only three cultivators on the entire world that were known to him to be at that level. The Jade Dragon Emperor. The Grand Abbot. And the Asura.


    And yet, this world had nine of them at the very least.


    ''It seems my initial guess that this world is at a higher-level cultivation wise seems to be true,'' John mused, ncing at the two youths before him. Their cultivation level at their age would make them pinnacle geniuses back home, but here¡­


    ''I wonder how theypare to the top geniuses of this world,'' he thought, curious about the power structure of this world.


    "Anyways," Luri continued, "the existence of the Dao-Sovereigns makes it quite hard for one side to outright win over the other withoutplete annihtion of everyone weaker than them. Even if one side could win without suffering too many losses, there''s still the beast race. They would no doubt pounce on the weakened victor, defeat them, and im dominion of the entire world. Thus, a stalemate of sorts has formed."


    "If the beast race is a problem, couldn''t the Devil Race and Human race team up to defeat them, then resume the war without care?" John asked.


    Suri giggled softly through her hands, as if John had asked the silliest question.


    "Neither side would dare to do that," Luri said, staring sideways at his sister. "That''s where the fourth continentes into y. It has many names, but most refer to it as the Continent of War."


    "Continent of War?" John asked. "Is that where the wars between the races are fought?"


    "For the most part," Luri nodded his head. "Neither side wants the war to destroy their sects and ns, so they fight most of their battles on the Continent of War, trying to weaken the other side enough to gain an advantage."


    "So how does that continent make it so that neither side would target the beast race?" John asked curiously.


    "Because," Luri said. "While the wars are fought on that continent, that continent belongs to one being. One pinnacle existence. One who allows the wars to be fought on hisnd."


    "The Eternal Serpent," Suri whispered, as if saying the name too loud would bring trouble.


    "The Eternal Serpent?" John asked for more rification.


    "While the Nine Dao Powers rule the world, that is only because the Eternal Serpent allows them to," Luri said as if this was allmon knowledge. "The Eternal Serpent lives on the Continent of War, deep within the ruins of an ancient civilization. It allows the other races to battle on its continent, although the reason is not really known why, and does not interfere with the world at all as long as no one bothers it," Luri said, pausing for a brief moment to gather his thoughts.


    "The Eternal Serpent''s strength is undeniable, even for the Nine Dao-Sovereigns," Luri continued. "And some of the beast race is very faintly rted to the Serpent. It allows the world to do as it pleases, with one exception. The beast race must be left alone on its continent. What happens outside their continent does not concern it, even if beasts die elsewhere, but within their own continent, they are untouchable. That is why neither our race nor the Devil race even thinks of doing such a thing."


    Luri fell silent, allowing John to digest everything he had been told. John fell silent as well, his mind overwhelmed with the details of this world. It was truly a marvelous, and also dangerous world, one filled with powerful beings beyond his imagination.


    He thought of the mysterious Eternal Serpent, and his thoughts drifted to the hellish Asura, both beings of unbelievable might.


    ''I wonder who would win between the two?''


    John pondered the question, and then shook his head knowingly, as if there was no other answer. It was as if considering the other option was sphemy, even with the one gravely injured.


    ''The Asura, no doubt.''


    Still, he thought of such a battle, and what a wonder it would be to see.


    The three continued to converse for a long time, John asking many questions, Luri answering them as best as possible. The long day eventually passed into nighttime, the caravan falling deathly silent. John sat with his back against the cage, thinking over everything he had been told.


    ''So, these vers are opportunists, selling human ves to the Devil race at great risk, but also great reward.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Luri had told him that very was not toomon on the continent, and was limited to those unlucky enough to be caught by vers selling humans to the Devil race. Such a practice was ouwed and punishable by death, but the reward was too great for many to ignore.


    Traveling in the air with a flying ship was too risky, as all flying ships leaving the coasts were inspected ording to Luri. With the risk so great, the vers traveled slowly through very dangerous areas; areas they were less likely to be spotted.


    This Immortal Forest was one of those areas. A forest that stretched nearly from coast to coast, wider than the entire Divine Martial Continent. Within the forest lived many powerful beasts, the most powerful of all being the Serpent of the forest.


    The serpent was somehow distantly rted to the Eternal Serpent ording to legends, and had power equal to a Half-Step Holy Manifestation cultivator. It ruled the Immortal Forest, and any who came across its path were sure to be destroyed. That was why John was rebuked so harshly after the first night, as they were doing their best to hide from the best and avoid detection.


    With the forest so filled with life, the serpent would ignore a petty caravan unless it made too much of amotion. Another important piece of information was the time they had until they could not escape. ording to Luri, it would take another three weeks for them to reach the coast, at which point the vers would use a secret route underneath the ocean to travel to the Devil continent to sell them as ves.


    If that happened, their lives would be horrible nightmares. John still remembered the horrified look on Suris'' face as this was discussed, no doubt thinking of what her life was soon to be like. It would undoubtedly be even worse for someone like her, a young, beautiful, talented female.


    After those discussions, the topics shifted, revealing a bit more about the power structure of the continent, as well as the identity of the two youths.


    ''ording to Luri, the continent consists of powers broken into Tiers. There are the Three Dao Sects, then there are Tier One powers, Tier Two Powers¡­all the way down to Tier Five Powers.''


    Furthermore, ording to Luri, the tiers of a power were determined by two factors. The cultivation of the power''s leader, and the talent of its top genius. Genius levels were also broken down into tiers, a much more structured system than what existed in his homeworld.


    Luri and Suri came from a Tier Three power, the Light Dao Sect, a subsidiary power of the Yang Dao Sect. Most of the lower tier sects pledged their allegiance to one of the three Dao Sects, getting their protection and assistance, while paying taxes and other things to those sects.


    There had been too much to discuss and not enough time before nighttime came, and so there were still many unanswered questions John had. The long night passed by, and when morning came, he regrouped with the two youths.


    "I''ve decided," John said, the two of them raising an eyebrow in confusion.


    "Decided?" Luri asked curiously.


    "Once I''m done healing, I''ll break us out of here, kill these vers, and take you back to the Light Dao Sect," John said calmly, as if it would be no big deal.


    The two others stared at him with mouths agape, as if he had said the most shocking thing ever.


    "How?" Luri asked, recovering from his shock faster than Suri. "The vers are too strong! Not only do they have us chained by chains we cannot break, they even have a Half-Step World Cultivation leader. There''s no way we can escape."


    John smiled confidently, his confidence confusing the two. How could he be so calm, so confident, about such a terrible situation.


    "You don''t have to worry about all that," John said calmly, "just know that once I''m healed, I''ll do what I said, and take you two back to the Light Dao Sect. The only requirement is that you speak to your elders and Sect Leader, and convince them to let me join your sect."


    John fell silent, waiting for their answer. He needed to find out about Lilian as fast as possible, and ording to Luri, only an official tiered power could get ess to the continent''s most powerful informationwork. Joining the Light Dao Sect would allow him to do just that.


    "You two do have enough status to achieve that?" John asked. If they were no-names within the sect, then his request would most likely be impossible.


    The siblings shared a quick nce, Luri nodding his head at his sister.


    "We do," Luri said, turning his now-firm gaze to John. "I don''t know why, but I believe you can do what you said you can do. If you manage to return us home, you will no doubt be able to join our sect."


    "Good," John smiled. "Then it''s settled. In two weeks, your freedom will be returned to you."


    The siblings shared another nce, and then tears formed in the corners of Suri''s eyes, while Luri''s eyes became watery as well. They embraced each other with a warm, loving hug, and then turned to John a momentter, hope returned to their previously hopeless faces. They didn''t know how, but they could tell that John was not lying. This mysterious youth that had fallen from the sky was to be their savior, freeing them from a nightmarish fate they had resigned themselves to.


    John smiled at them, and then closed his eyes, his mind falling into a trance. He appeared in his pce realm, within the massive room that held the Immortal Asura Tome. He flipped the pages, turning a page that had previously been locked to him.


    "Limiter of Life," he whispered, and then got to work.

 Chapter 916 Limiter Of Life

    The Immortal Asura Tome contained three parts. One was the Immortal Asura Body, and how to advance it with each realm increase. The next pertained to his Immortal Asura Transformation Art. And the final pertained to the Limiters of the human body, and how to go about unlocking them.


    John had already studied the Immortal Asura Body portion when he meditated within the Divine Source Monastery and had advanced his Asura Body to the next level. He had also studied the Immortal Asura Transformation section, and after several days of mediation, had grasped the fundamentals of its next stage.


    Thest part, unlocking the next limiter, he had yet to do. Thankfully, the next limiter to unlock was the Limiter of Life, which as its name suggested, dealt with life Qi and healing the body.


    ''Once I unlock this limiter,bining it with my already unlocked Limiter of Healing should allow me to heal my body to full within the next two weeks,'' John thought, studying the details of unlocking the limiter.


    The page he studied contained all the blocked meridian pathway convergences, acupoints, nerve bundles, and clusters of ''potential'' within the body that were naturally locked by the heavens upon birth. Had his limiters been unlocked at birth or even at a younger age, the energy and potency of the limiters would have destroyed his body from within instantly.


    Thankfully, his Immortal Asura Body and Dragon-God Shift made his body far more durable than what was necessary to unlock and withstand the limiters.


    Even those who had be body cultivators were not always able to unlock all their limiters, as the strain on the body required to do so was immense. John had inquired into the limits of his homeworld a while back, and had discovered that most body cultivators reached their limits at the Limiter of Life, regardless of their cultivation level. There were only a few body cultivators, the strongest and most talented in the world, to have unlocked their Limiter of Life.


    As for the Limiter beyond that, John had not heard of anyone unlocking that. From what had been exined to him, not only did the world not know of the Limiter after the Limiter of Life, but no one had a body durable enough to unlock it, even if they knew the method to do so.


    John briefly thought about the next limiter, and what it could pertain to. The Immortal Asura Tome unfortunately would not allow him to ess the next parts containing the information regarding that limiter, at least not until he stepped into the World Expansion realm.


    ''It''s no doubt incredible, but thinking about it is a waste of time. It''s time to focus, and unlock my Limiter of Life.''


    He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, bracing himself for what was toe. Unlocking a limiter was a brutal and painful experience, forcing one to ram their blocked meridians, inactivated nerves, and sealed clusters of ''potential'' with brutal amounts of Qi, forcefully ramming them open or activating them.


    This process was quite painful even when his body was in a good condition, but with his body as damaged as it still was, he was certain it would not only be a dangerous process, but also incredibly painful.


    He sighed, bracing himself for the pain he had felt so often in his life, and then got to work. His dantian surged with power, sending powerful bursts of Qi through his meridians to the incrediblyplex and intricate pathways depicted in the Tome. One mistake could force him to start over from scratch, or in the worst-case scenario, cripple himself.


    Pain wracked his body as his Qi mmed into the first blocked meridian, but he ignored it, pushing it to the back of his mind. This was only the beginning of the process, and he couldn''t allow himself to be distracted by anything at all. Teeth gritted, his dantian surged with power, slowly but surely unlocking his Limiter of Life.


    ¡­<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    John exhaled deeply, his body slumping back against the bars of the cage. He felt exhausted and pained, as if he had just fought a life and death battle. His Qi was spent, and his body was in even worse condition than when he had started the process.


    His fractured meridians had be even more fractured, nearly overwhelmed from the brutal waves of Qi that had surged through his body. His muscles had been torn and bones fractured, both nearly overwhelmed by his self-destructive actions.


    And yet he smiled, satisfied with the oue.


    ''Sess. I have sessfully unlocked my Limiter of Life.''


    As he unlocked the final part of his Limiter, his body had seemed toe to life for the very first time. It was as if his very existence had been sealed all his life, and he had been nothing but a shell of his true potential. Vibrant Life Qi sprung to life within his body as he finished the final part of the unlocking, summoned not by himself, but by his body instinctively.


    The process had shocked him, as he knew next to nothing about the Dao of Life. He had received Life Qi from Laia before, but that was only receiving it, not studying it. And yet, as if it had been instructed by the heavens itself, his body had started converting Qi from his dantian into Life Qi, and then had infused that Qi into every cell within his body.


    It was not dissimr to his bloodline ability, which stored pure essence Qi within his cells, ready to be used for a moment''s notice. In fact, it was almost exactly the same, other than the type of Qi being stored.


    After recovering his focus, John unleashed his unlocked Limiter of Life. As if instructed by an unknown force, his body sprung to life, the vibrant Life Qi contained within his cells flooding out into his body. The Life Qi surged instinctively, rushing towards the damaged parts of his body.


    John smiled wryly in self-pity. Damaged parts of his body? Was there an undamaged part of his body? If there was one, he couldn''t spot it.


    The Life Qi quickly went to work, mending fractured meridians, healing torn muscles and broken bones. The Life Qi from the Limiter was not as potent or miraculous as Laia''s Life Qi, but it was still quite potent, nheless. Combined with his already unlocked Limiter of Healing, which had raised the natural healing rate of his body, the healing potency was quite amazing, surprising even John.


    He smiled with satisfaction.


    ''At this rate, my body will no doubt fully heal before the vers reach the coast.''


    His eyes narrowed with expectant excitement.


    ''My first battle against others from another world. I wonder how exciting the ughter will be?''

 Chapter 917 Leaving The Forest

    The days passed by quickly, the vers moving through the Immortal Forest by day, resting at night to hide from the Serpent of the Forest. Without pause, John focused on healing his body, which slowly but surely recovered from the grievous wounds he had sustained.


    During the day, he used his Life Qi to heal his body, mending parts torn and broken. During the night, he focused on replenishing his dantian, ensuring he could replenish his spent Life Qi before the start of the next day.


    The process continued day by day, his condition improving at a visible rate. The vers had checked up on the ves several times during the trip, ensuring there was no problem with their ''wares''.


    They had eventually noticed John''s rapidly improving condition, and some had even entered the cart to inspect him closely, asking him questions. John shrugged and remained silent, his responses receiving res of displeasure from his captors.


    Several had smiled and said some nasty words to him, mostly about his soon to be miserable fate on the Devil Continent. John ignored thosements, as there was no point in getting upset by those soon to be dead by his own hands.


    The healing process was steady but slow due to just how injured he was, giving him some time to think about things he had not considered initially. The first was the surprising fact that the inhabitants of this world spoke the samenguage as him, despite being an entirely different world separated by an unknown distance.


    It seemed bizarre that this would be the case, and had perplexed him for the reason why. There was surely a reason the two worlds shared anguage. Perhaps the transportation formation he had used had been used far more often in the past, and the two worlds were far more connected than they were now, making them one world essentially.


    Or perhaps there was another reason. He couldn''t know for sure, and so he gave up trying to figure it out after some time. His thoughts then shifted to the Asura, and the injury on his body.


    The wound on the Asura''s body was gruesome looking no doubt, but the fact that it had yet to heal despite the passage of hundreds of thousands of years perplexed John. Asura''s no doubt had something simr to the Limiter of Healing and Life, and most definitely had an extraordinary healing ability.


    And yet, it had remained injured for so long, requiring extraordinary healing means to recover. It perplexed him, as it seemed to not make sense. There was obviously a reason for it, but John could tell he was missing some information, information about the Asura''s. After thinking about this for some time, he cast it aside as well, returning his focus to his healing.


    Time continued to flow by quickly, the ve caravan approaching the coast; the point of no return. John could notice the worry on Luri and Suri''s face grow by the day as John remained silent and chained, and he gave them reassuring smiles each time. They seemed to believe the confidence behind that smile, their worries slightly fading each time.


    The morning sun rose on this day, casting a warm light onto the caravan, a light that had not been seen for weeks. John opened his eyes to look all around him, taking in the bright glow.


    ''We''ve left the forest?'' he thought, studying his new surroundings which no longer obscured the bright light above.


    All around them was an expansivend, filled with ins, hills, streams, and life. It was a beautiful scene, one that made John''s mind feel at peace, despite the fact that today was a day for ughter.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, the air containing the scent of a distant ocean. After two and a half long weeks, his body had finally been fully healed. With the scenery around him and his body fully healed, this was the first time in nearly a month that he had felt any sort of peaceful ease.


    His eyes opened at the sound of the cage''s door opening, a frown appearing on his face as his brief moment of peace and respite was disturbed. He eyed the cultivator who entered the cage, one of the men of the group.


    The man appeared to be in histe thirties, and had a cultivation at the Late Dao Transformation Realm. He had long ck hair, which was disheveled and unkempt, as if he didn''t care about his appearance. He wore in style robes, and had a perpetual scowl on his face.


    He would have been a decent talent back on the Divine Martial Continent, a leader of a third rate sect. Here however, the man was nothing more than a ver.


    His eyes swept over the captured ves within, pausing on John for a brief moment, a tinge of surprise appearing on his face.


    ''No doubt surprised I''m fully healed already,'' John thought, remaining in ce.


    The ver eyed him for a short while, then shifted his gaze to the side, towards Luri and Suri. His scowl turned into a malicious smile as he stared at the two of them.


    "I''m sure you were hoping for your daddy to run here and save you," the man said, his voice nasally and unpleasant to the ears. "But unfortunately for you, that didn''t happen. Today''s the day your fate is sealed. Especially for you," he said, eyeing Suri up and down lecherously.


    "A talented High-Prince of the Devil Continent specifically requested a young and¡­vibrant female youth," the man said, "and I''m more than certain he will be quite pleased with you. A shame I couldn''t taste you first, but the request was for an unspoiled female, so it can''t be helped," the man sighed.


    Luri stared at the man with fury on his face, as if he wanted to kill the man right there. The man noticed the gaze and smiled at Luri, then raised his foot and mmed it into Luri''s face. Luri cried out in pain as he mmed against the bars of the cage, his nose broken, blood trailing down his face.


    "Luri," Suri rushed to her brother''s side, embracing him. She looked at his broken face, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.


    "I''m fine," Luri said through the pain, trying tofort his sister. He looked up as the ver stood over the two of them, a satisfied smile on his face.


    "You Dao-Sect geniuses have no idea how good you have it," he said, another kick mming down onto Luri''s stomach, who groaned again in pain. "This is not nearly what you pompous bastards deserve, but I''ll take what I can get. This is just the beginning, boy. By the time I''m done, you''ll wish you were with the Devil''s already."

 Chapter 918 First Kills On The New World

    The ver raised his foot again to kick, when suddenly Suri ced her body over Luri''s, shielding him. The man paused, frowning. He couldn''t harm Suri at all, the request stated that specifically. He scoffed and bent forward, reaching towards Suri to throw her aside.


    Suri closed her eyes and gripped her brother tight, refusing to let go.


    John watched the events unfold and nodded his head in approval. He had wanted to see the true colors of the youths before he decided to help them, and Suri''s selfless acts revealed her kind heart. These were the kinds of people he could trust for now, the kind of people who could help him navigate this mysterious world.


    Bang!


    The sound of metal shattering rang out loudly within the cage, starling all those within. The ver''s head snapped towards John, his eyes going wide as he noticed the chains binding his feet had been broken into pieces.


    Luri and Suri stared with wide eyes as well, almost unable to believe what they were seeing.


    John ignored the shocked expressions, and eyed the ver before him calmly.


    "I guess I''ll start with you."


    "What?" the man eximed, shocked. "How? Those chains can bind even a Half-Step World Expansion cultivator? Were the chains faulty? They must have been."


    Upon saying this, the man''s shocked expression faded away, an angered look recing it instead.


    "You fucking brat," he growled, walking towards John confidently. "You dared to break our merchandise? Your lucky, little brat," the man said, looking over his shoulder at Luri, "this boy has decided to take your punishment instead."


    John smiled widely, his blood lust instantly ignited.


    Before the man could react, he found his throat in the grasp of the youth before him, the feeling of impending death overwhelming him. His eyes went wide with fear.


    ¡­


    Several miles ahead, the group of ver cultivators surveyed the open area, making sure there was no one else around. They were doing something so illegal being caught was punishable by death, and so made sure to be extra cautious.


    "Thest stretch towards the beach is always the most dangerous," the scar-faced man said, "but thankfully it seems like no one is around."


    He turned around and nodded at one of the other vers, one of the females.


    "Go help Pelero with the caravan. We''ll wait here," the scar-faced man said.


    The woman nodded, and then sped back towards the forest in the distance. The scar-faced man watched her go, then returned his gaze to the ocean that stretched out before them. Arge smile appeared on his face.


    "This haul is going to us quite a profit. It was quite the risk, but it paid off in the end," he said, the others nodding and smiling as well.


    ¡­


    Luri, Suri, and the other ves within the cage stared at John with absolute shock, as if they had just seen the most impossible thing happen. They slowly turned their eyes down, studying the man lying on the floor, his body crumpled in a lifeless heap.


    It had all happened so fast, none of them had yet to grasp what had happened.


    The mysterious youth had broken his chains somehow, and then without the other man being able to react, he had grasped the ver''s neck and snapped it, killing him instantly. Their wide eyes returned to John, unable to grasp what had urred.


    The mysterious youth was only in the Early Dao Transformation Realm, and yet had instantly killed a Late Dao Transformation cultivator. Even if it had been a surprise attack, bridging such a gap was utterly impossible. The ver should have been able to react in time, should have been able to easily resist John''s power, and yet he hadn''t.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He had died instantly, without putting up a single shred of resistance.


    "Do¡­.do you know what you have done?" one of the middle-aged ves eximed, finally reiming their wits.


    John turned his gaze towards the man, who trembled under his gaze.


    "I''ve killed the ver," John said calmly. "Shouldn''t you be happy?"


    "Happy?" the man said through trembling lips. "Now we''re all dead! They''re going to find out what you did, and kill us all!"


    John raised an eyebrow, and then ignored the man. It wasn''t even worth his time talking to a person who had lost all will to resist his captivity. His gaze shifted to Luri and Suri, who stared at him with wide eyes, eyes filled with awe, and also fear.


    John smiled at the two of them, understanding their instinctual fear of him. His blood lust had exploded out for a moment as he killed the man, a blood lust thickened by constant ughter. To innocent youths like those two, such a bloodlust would no doubt cause instinctual fear.


    John''s warm smile seemed to put the two at ease, at least a bit. The two scrambled to their feet, their eyes widening again as John''s figure vanished.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    The shattering of chains filled the cage, which returned to silence a momentter. The eyes of everyone within went wide with shock once more as they stared at their feet, the chains binding thempletely shattered.


    They looked up again, at John who now stood before Luri and Suri. In an instant, he had destroyed the chains binding all of them. Chains that could only be broken by Half-Step World Expansion cultivators, and even then, not easily.


    "Who¡­who are you?" the man who had yelled at John just moments ago asked, eyes wide, lips trembling. John nced at him calmly.


    "No one," he said, "and I suggest you leave right now. This ce is about to get quite rowdy soon."


    The others instantly understood John''s words. He intended to fight against the other vers! Disbelief once again filled their minds, stunning them stiff.


    "Go," John growled at them, stirring them from their shock. They each scrambled to their feet and sped out the cage, giving him onest nce before shooting into the distant forest. Despite the dangers of the forest, it would be a good ce to hide from the vers once they no doubt killed John and came looking for them.


    John ignored them, instead looking at Luri and Suri standing before him. Both stared at him with wide eyes filled with wondrous awe. Luri was the first to snap out of his shock, and then grabbed his sister''s hand.


    "We should get out of here, before the others return!" he eximed, pulling on Suri''s hand. Suri nodded, her stunned gaze still lingering on John''s face. The two quickly left the cart and then called for John to follow.


    "Come on! We need to leave before the other retu-"


    His words cut off suddenly.


    John calmly stepped out of the cage andnded on the ground, eyeing the woman cultivator who had appeared before them. She held Luri by the neck, her face red with confused fury.


    "Where is Pelero?" she asked, shifting her gaze to John as he stepped out of the cart. "Why are you all out of the cart, unbound?"


    John slowly raised his hand and pointed to the side of her, as if indicating where this ''Pelero'' was. John shifted his finger to the woman''s head, her eyes widening as a sh of bright lightning exploded out of John''s finger, mming into her head before she could react.

 Chapter 919 Slavers Destroyed

    "What was that?" the scar-faced man eximed, noticing the sh of bright light in the distance¡­in the direction of their caravan. His eyes narrowed as his figure suddenly vanished, the other cultivators disappearing a momentter.


    ¡­


    "Ah¡­" Luri eximed as his vision went white, blinded by the st of lightning John had unleashed. For a moment he thought he was dead, destroyed by the lightning. He opened his eyes a momentter, feeling no pain at all.


    He felt at his neck, which was now no longer held tightly by that frightful woman. He nced down, eyes going wide again. He took a few steps back, away from the woman''s headless body. Smoke drifted up into the air from her charred neck.


    "Luri," Suri eximed, rushing to him, grasping his right hand. She stared at his still broken face, and then reached up towards it. A bright light enveloped her hand, a vibrant energy flowing into her brother''s face, quickly healing his wound.


    John raised an eyebrow.


    ''Healing arts huh?''


    It wasn''t nearly as amazing as Laia''s healing ability, but was still impressive, nheless. Luri''s broken face quickly mended, returning it to new a momentter. Luri thanked his sister, and then turned to John, his face scrunched up with worry.


    "We need to flee with the others," he said hastily, "the other vers are no doubt about to return, and with their leader. We''ll flee into the forest and then split up, that way at least one of us can escape and bring word to our sect of what happened."


    John nodded his head in approval at the youth''s quick actions, despite the shocking situation. He had recovered quite quickly, and made a decent enough n. John shook his head at Luri, raising his hand to tell the youth to remain in ce.


    "But," Luri eximed in protest.


    "It''s fine," John said calmly, "just wait here and let Kirii protect you."


    "Kirii?" Luri asked.


    sh!


    Kirii shed into existence before the two youths, his appearance startling the two who took a step backwards. They stared at Kirii with wide eyes, his Kirin form on full disy.


    "Kirii," John rebuked him. "Why are you not shapeshifted into something less shy?" he asked.


    "Ah," Kirii eximed, as if he realized he was in the wrong. His figure quickly shifted, appearing like a wolf-horse hybrid instead. John rolled his eyes at Kirii.


    ''Toote to hide yourself from those two I guess,'' he grumbled.


    Luri and Suri remained wide eyed, shifting their gazes from John to Kirii, and then back. Each and every thing that had happened recently was somehow more shocking than thest.


    "I''ll protect them," Kirii said, "but save at least one of them for me! I''ve been itching to fight for a long time."


    John nodded his head.


    "Fine," he said, eyes narrowing as multiple figures suddenly appeared before him,nding violently on the ground, shaking it with their power. Luri and Suri stepped backwards in fear of their arrival, Kirii moving to stand between the neers and the youths.


    The scar-faced man stared at John and the others with surprise, and then shifted his gaze to the now-headless woman. His eyes widened, his face bing red with rage. He quickly shifted his gaze all around, as if looking for someone else.


    "Who did this?" he demanded loudly. "Where have they run to?"


    He obviously didn''t believe John was capable of killing the woman.


    "Who?" John said calmly, a small smile appearing on his face. "It was me."


    "You? Impossible," the scar-face man scowled, his eyes darting around, still looking for the one who had killed hispanion. "Tell me now," the man said threateningly, implying John would suffer a miserable fate if he did notply.


    John''s smile widened, and then he nced over his shoulder at Kirii.


    "Remember, keep them safe. If you do that, I''ll leave thest one for you."


    "Aye!" Kirii eximed happily.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    John nodded, returning his gaze to the four vers before him, gaze heating up with battle lust.


    "Let''s see what the cultivators of this world are capable of," he said, his aura exploding outwards with overwhelming might.


    The four vers stepped backwards, eyes wide with disbelief, not willing to believe an Early Dao Transformation youth could unleash such power. The scar-faced man was the first to recover, a green sword appearing in his hand.


    "Kill him!" hemanded, shing towards John.


    John''s smile widened into something quite sinister, his eyes turning golden in an instant. No weapon appeared in his hand, as he wanted to savor this battle. The world around them trembled as John and the man collided, his first battle on this mysterious worldmenced.


    ¡­


    Luri and Suri both kneeled on the ground, legs syed out behind them, eyes wide with disbelief, shock, and awe.


    Before them, an impossible battle raged on, ravaging thend and breaking the sky. They watched as four against one, John fought against the vers. His cultivation was at the Early Dao Transformation realm, while the vers had three Late Dao Transformation cultivators and one Half-Step World Expansion cultivation.


    And yet, it made no difference.


    One by one, the vers were overwhelmed, brutalized, beaten, and then destroyed by the bare-handed youth who looked more like a dragon than a human at the moment. The brutal beatdown had urred so swiftly that two of the vers tried to flee, realizing the impossible futility of the battle.


    A massive cage of lightning had then sprung into existence around the five, making any sort of retreat all but impossible. The cage of lightning obscured the sight of the battle to the two youths, but the brutal, world shaking explosions leaking out of the lightning cage gave hints towards the ferocity of the battle within.


    A short whileter, the lightning cage vanished. Luri and Suri felt their breaths catch in their throat, eyes inspecting the sky to see why the cage had vanished. They breathed signs of wondrous relief as they stared at the mysterious youth, hovering in the sky, the scar-faced man in his grasp.


    The other vers were nowhere to be seen, their bodies reduced to ash. Eyes filled with wonder stared at John unblinking, the youths still unable to believe what they were seeing.


    "Please¡­." the scar-faced man pleaded, eyes wide with fear. "Spare me! I''ll be your ve. I''ll do anything, just spare me."


    John stared at the man with a calm yet smoldering gaze, his eyes so piercing that the man thought he would die from the look alone. John''s cold gaze eased up, and then he nodded, his actions giving the scar-faced man a glimmer of hope.


    "Fine," John said, releasing his grip from the man. The man didn''t dare to try to flee. He had already realized such a thing was futile.


    "If you can beat mypanion, I''ll let you live," John said.


    "Companion," the man repeated, shifting his gaze towards Kirii below. Hope returned to him as he noticed Kirii''s cultivation; Middle Dao Transformation.


    Surely the youths'' beastpanion couldn''t be as heaven defying as the youth himself.


    "I ept," the man hastily eximed, a whoop of excitementing from below as Kirii surged up into the sky, his figure like a bolt of heavenly lightning. John smiled and stepped to the side, moving to stand before the two youths, who watched with still-widened eyes as the Kirin battled the scar-faced man, destroying him in less than a minute.


    Kiriinded next to John a momentter, a smile of satisfaction on his face.


    "That was fun," Kirii eximed, and then moved towards Suri, cing his head before her stunned face.


    "Come on. I did well, didn''t I?" Kirii said, "pet me for doing such a good job."


    Suri stared at the Kirin, face scrunched with confusion, looking at John.


    John shrugged and then smiled at her.


    "He has a perverted obsession with being petted by beautiful girls," John shrugged again.


    "Hey, it''s not perverted," Kirii said with displeasure. "It''s just that only beautiful people are worthy of touching me. It''s as simple as that."


    Suri shifted her gaze from John to Kirii, and then smiled, her smile radiant beyondpare. Both her and Luri startedughing with joy, bing miserable ves no longer their fate. Suri reached out and pet Kirii, tears of joy streaking down her face.


    John smiled at the sight, the first part of his n a sess. With this, his entry into the Light Dao Sect was no doubt guaranteed. Then, he could start looking for information about Lilian.

 Chapter 920 Seeking Battles Within The Forest

    Luri quickly made his way to the fallen ver, the scar-faced man, whoid face down on the ground some distance away. His body was mutted almost beyond recognition, wounds covering his body, most of them charred by Kirii''s lightning.


    Luri nched as he noticed the man was missing his head. He had not noticed Kirii severing the man''s head, and wondered when that had happened. Luri shook his head and reached down towards the man''s right hand, removing his spatial ring.


    He quickly inspected it, and took out the ring belonging to him and his sister. A momentter, he returned to the group, and tossed the man''s ring to John.


    "Here, you should take the spoils of this battle. I''ll just take our spatial rings and their contents back," Luri said.


    John nodded his head and epted the ring, then inspected its contents. The scar-faced man was decently wealthy, with medium and high-grade spirit crystals aplenty, scrolls and jade pieces of battle arts and cultivation techniques, and more weapons than could be counted.


    While it was a decent sum of wealth, it was rtively minorpared to his own wealth. He still had most of his spirit crystals from selling the tea leaves to the Mystic Trade Hall, and had no real need for the weapons or battle arts contained within. Regardless, it still added to his wealth, and so he had no reason to refuse.


    To his side, Luri took out a formation disk from his spatial ring and infused it with his Qi. John eyed the formation, which was both simr and unfamiliar to the formation disks on the Divine Martial Continent. The size and shape were simr, but the runes were different from what he had seen before.


    ''I''m not an expert in formation runes, so I''m not entirely sure it''s that different,'' John thought.


    "What was that?" John asked Luri, who put the disk away a momentter.


    "A message to our father, detailing our location," Luri said, Suri breathing a sigh of relief to the side. "He should be here within a few days. Our Light Dao sect isn''t too far, rtively speaking, so he shouldn''t take long."


    John nodded his head, and then nced at the nearby forest. He returned his attention to the youths a momentter, and went about setting up a camp for the three of them. They would camp here while they waited for Luri and Suri''s father.


    Once the makeshift camp was made, John''s gaze returned to the nearby Immortal Forest. He had inquired about it during their travels, and had learned that it was a forest teeming with powerful wild beasts, ranging from the Dao Transformation realm to the World Expansion Realm.


    The serpent within was the most powerful, its power at the Half-Step Holy Manifestation level, yet it mostly remained dormant during the day and only prowled the forest during the night.


    ''My beast blood essence is running rather thin, as I didn''t get a chance to replenish it after leaving the Divine Source Monastery. Now would be a great time to both replenish my beast blood reserves, as well as get a firm grasp of my Dao Transformation cultivation.''


    n in mind, John turned to the two youths. He gestured to Kirii, who rested on the ground nearby, eyes closed as he received head pats from Suri.


    "I''m going to explore the forest for the next few days," John said, "Kirii will act as your protector in the meantime."


    "What? You''re going into the Immortal Forest?" Luri eximed.


    "You can''t. It''s dangerous, even for you," Suri added, concerned for his safety.


    John smiled at their concern for him. The two youths really were too kind for their own good, especially in a bloodthirsty cultivation world. No wonder they had been captured.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''Most likely trusted the wrong people, and found themselves in a bad situation,'' he thought, then appeased their fears.


    "I''ll be fine," he reassured them, "I''ll only stay for a few days. A week at most, if something catches my interest. Just wait for me if your father arrives before Ie back, alright?"


    The two youths nodded their heads, acknowledging him, but the concerned look on their faces said they didn''t think it was a good n. John said some words to Kirii, who was more than happy to stay and guard the two youths, no doubt loving the head pats he was receiving.


    A short momentter, John vanished into the nearby forest, one teeming with towering trees and powerful beasts. It was exactly the type of ce he could go wild and let off some steam.


    ¡­


    Boom!


    The ground shattered beneath John''s feet, his arms raised above his head, hands grasped around a sharp spike that had pierce towards his head. A green ooze coated the spike, a nauseating smelling from it. The spiked object struggled to push forward towards him, a sharp hiss following shortly after.


    The spike withdrew away from John, who lowered his hands as he stared at the bizarre beast before him. The beast looked like a scorpion, with many carapace-like legs, a carapace body, and a long-spiked tail with a sharp barb on the end. However, the bizarre part was the creatures face, which was more snake-like than scorpion-like.


    A hissing tongue snaked out and danced in the air as the creature stared at John, slightly more wary after he blocked its blow. Its power was at the Late Dao Transformation Realm, although the barbed spike coated with powerful venom made it a bit more dangerous than a normal beast.


    John smiled, his aura exploding outwards with powerful vigor. This thrill of battle invigorated him, made him feel alive. To him, the thrill of battle was the most wonderful sensation in the world, one that he could not get enough of. It was as if every cell in his body was screaming for more; more battle, more destruction, more ughter.


    ''I''m no doubt being influenced by the Asura and Dragon blood coursing within my body,'' John acknowledged. He had always loved the thrill of battle, but it seemed as though battle lust had grown steadily with his cultivation, bing stronger by the day.


    The creature''s tail pierced towards him again, the speed of the tail so fast that it appeared like a blur, even to John. Thanks to his incredible instincts, he could still react to it, and dashed to the side just in time.


    The tail mmed against the ground, shattering the earth for thousands of yards. The massive trees nearby trembled violently,rge leaves as big as houses shaking free and falling down below. A leaf fell between the creature and John for a singr moment. One of the creature''s massive ws shed through the leaf, towards where John had been.


    It''s w mmed against the ground, destroying itpletely. It withdrew its w, noticing that John''s body was not there. It hissed loudly as a crunching sound filled the air, John''s fist, coated with lightning mming into the creature''s back. Space shimmered behind him as it reformed, his sudden appearance above the creature thanks to his increasingly proficient grasp of the Dao of Space.


    The creature''s carapace cracked from the blow, then shatteredpletely. Blood and guts flowed out to the sides as the creature slumped to the ground, dead from the lightning rampaging within its body.


    John stood atop the creature''s corpse, a satisfied look on his face. His essence Qi sucked out what blood was within the corpse, storing it in his pce realm. A satisfied look appeared on his face as he inspected his surroundings.


    Thend was fractured and destroyed, with massive trees toppled, charred, and ruined. Eleven creatures simr to the one he had just in were syed out amidst the destroyednd, their bodies broken open, blood sucked dry.


    John took in the sight of the victorious battlefield for a moment, at which point a loud roar boomed out in the distance. A smile appeared on his face as he quickly collected the corpses of the creatures he had killed, then sped towards the sound, no doubt a new battle to enjoy.

 Chapter 921 Battling Within The Immortal Forest

    The two siblings sat within a makeshift cabin, one overlooking the nearby ocean. Kiriiid on the ground within, enjoying the warmth of the nearby fire they had started. Five days had already passed since John entered the forest, each passing day increasing the worry of the two youths.


    Only Kirii''s reassurances that John was still alive, him being able to tell due to their soul connection, kept the siblings at rtive ease. Roaming beasts had wandered near the cabin several times, but Kirii made sure each and every one of them scrammed away quickly.


    The powerful beasts lived within the nearby Immortal Forest, while the weaker beasts stayed outside, near the coast where they were. As such, Kirii was more than capable of driving away the curious or hungry beasts that approached them.


    Suddenly, a powerful presence arrived above them, appearing high above the cabin. The arrival was so sudden that even Kirii didn''t notice the arrival of the neer, but he roared with displeasure and shot out of the cabin a momentter, his aura exploding outwards. Lightning flickered over his body, ready to battle whoever had arrived.


    Kirii spotted a flying ship hovering high overhead, directly above the cabin. A side-door on the ship opened a momentter, a man stepping out immediately after. The man appeared to be in his thirties, with long blonde hair and a clean-shaven face. His eyes seemed to glow brightly, like the sun was contained within. He wore a white robe with golden trimmings, giving him a regal aura.


    Kirii roared at the man in warning, but didn''t approach him just yet. The man''s Late World Expansion cultivation was clear, a level of power that Kirii couldn''t hope to fight against. Still, he held his ground, as John had instructed him to protect the two youths.


    "Kirii, it''s fine!" Luri said, speeding out of the cabin a momentter.


    "Father!" Suri yelled with joy, speeding up towards the white-robed man, tears of joy streaking down her face.


    The man''s fierce gaze softened instantly as he spotted the two youths, who both sped up towards him, arms wrapping around his waist in a tight embrace. The man chuckled lightly with happiness, embracing each of the youths with one of his arms.


    The three parted a momentter, the man inspecting the two youths.


    "Why are you two here?" the man asked them, stern confusion in his voice. "One minute you were on your mission, the next I had lost all contact with you two. What happened?"


    "We¡­" Suri started, but paused a momentter.


    "We were captured by vers," Luri exined, his expression grim as he remembered just how close they had been to losing their freedom permanently. "We trusted the wrong people on our mission, and were led into a trap. They had five in the Late Dao Transformation Realm and one in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, so there wasn''t anything we could do. They captured us and took ourmunication devices before we could react."


    "vers!" the man eximed, a furious look on his face. "To think vers have grown so bold as to target those from a Dao Sect. Uneptable!"


    The man''s gaze shifted over the nearbynd, scanning every nook and cranny.


    "Where are they!" he demanded loudly. "Where have they fled to?"


    "It''s alright father," Luri said, "they have been ughtered already, all of them."


    "ughtered? By who?" their father asked.


    "A boy we met, one who was captured as well," Suri said.


    "A boy?" their father asked. "Where is he now? What Dao Sect does he belong to?"


    "He''s¡­he''s in the Immortal Forest," Luri said, pointing in the direction John had gone to. Their father nced in that direction, a frown on his face.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Did he flee for some reason? Leaving you two here to fend on your own?" their father asked, his gaze shifting to the nearby Kirii. He could tell the beast was quite amazing, but didn''t know anything about it, or where it hade from.


    "No," Suri shook her head vigorously. "He saved us, then left hispanion here to protect us. He left five days ago, and should be back any time now."


    "Is that so?" their father mused, his gaze returning to the forest.


    "I''m d that someone was able to help you, but we should not dy any longer," their father said, "we will leave at once. If the boy wants to receive a reward for his help, he can find our sect on his own time. Come, let''s go."


    "But¡­" Suri said.


    "I''ll hear no arguments," he said, "let''s go."


    ¡­


    A satisfied look lingered on John''s face, his back against arge tree, one bearing marks of a recent and brutal battle. Blood covered his body, belonging both to him and his foes, his dantian mostly spent. His body was wracked with the pain of battle, but that only made him feel more alive.


    John rested for some time, his body quickly recovering thanks to his newly unlocked Limiter of Life. After recovering, he cleaned himself off in a nearby stream, then put on a new robe, one ck and red; the colors of the Heavenly Lightning Sect''s War Hall.


    "I''ve managed to gather quite a good amount of beast blood essence," John said to himself, inspecting his blood reserves with much satisfaction.


    He had battled arduously over thest five days, ughtering more beasts than he could count. Their blood was harvested and bodies collected, either to be sold or consumed at ater time. He didn''t like to waste the corpses of the beasts he killed, both out of respect for his fallen foes, as well as respect for his wealth.


    Each of these beasts would no doubt sell for a decent amount, and he would not turn down free spirit crystals. After cleaning himself, John studied the ruins of his recent battlefield.


    "I suppose I should be heading back," he mumbled to himself. "I lost track of time, it seems, consumed by the pleasure of the battles. It''s almost been a week, so I need to return before those two siblings go mad with worry."


    Thanks to his soul-connection with Kirii, John knew the direction he needed to travel. He sped through the forest for the next day, resting for one night as the sun fell. Heid about on a tree branch miles above, the branch wide enough tofortably fit a dozen humans. The forest rumbled in the distance, the serpent of the forest no doubt the cause.


    When the sun rose the next day, he continued his journey, speeding through the forest towards the coast. A half-dayter, he arrived at the forest''s edge, the sight of the distant ocean appearing in his view.


    He sped towards the makeshift camp he had made a week ago, and arrived there a short whileter. He raised an eyebrow as he arrived.


    "See," Luri said excitedly, pointing to John. "I told you he would get back here safely."


    John stared at the man Luri was talking to, a middle-aged man who stared back at him, his gaze bright and intense. The man shared the same hair color as the youths, and had simr facial features, no doubt the father of the two youths.


    ''World Expansion huh? Their father is quite powerful.''

 Chapter 922 Tense Standoff

    John noticed the man frown as he approached, a questioning look appearing on his face. He looked towards Kirii who lounged nearby, unsurprisingly near Suri, no doubt receiving head pats moments before John arrived.


    John shook his head at hispanions'' bizarre fixation on head pats, shifting his gaze back to the father of the two youths. The father still had a frown on his face, his gaze thoroughly inspecting John. It was a gaze simr to the one Thunderzen had given him when they had first met, an ancient, studious gaze.


    "This is the boy you spoke of?" the father asked Luri, who nodded his head eagerly. The man turned his gaze back to John, his frown deepening.


    "What''s the meaning of this ruse you are trying to pull on my children?" the man asked, his deep voice filled with questioning doubt.


    John raised an eyebrow, finally arriving before the group, standing a dozen feet away from the others. He looked at Luri, who had a confused expression on his face, obviously not understanding his fathers words either.


    "Ruse?" John asked with a frown, his gaze returning to meet the man''s eyes.


    "Luri said you broke free of chains made of pure Onyxium, and then fought against several Late Dao Transformation cultivators, and even a Half-Step World Expansion cultivator¡­and slew them," the man said. "Luri didn''t tell me your cultivation, but I assumed it would have been at the Late Dao Transformation realm at the very least. You are only at the Early Dao Transformation realm, and so those feats described by my son are utterly impossible. The only exnation is you and those vers are pulling some kind of ruse. So out with it, what kind of ruse are you ying here. Keeping your life will depend on the answer you give me."


    "Father!" both Luri and Suri eximed, hastily rushing to his side. Suri pulled on his right sleeve, a pleading look in her eye.


    "He''s not pulling a ruse," Suri said, "he really did save us."


    Luri nodded his head. "Right, and he really did fight against those vers, and his strength was not fake. How could I be mistaken about such a simple thing?"


    Their father gave them a quick nce, studying their faces. His eyes darted back towards John as he heard Johnughing softly, a frown returning to his face.


    "If I was ying a ruse with the others as you said," John said calmly, reigning in hisughter. "How would I have gotten them to agree to die for the ruse?"


    "They could have been your ves,manded to do your bidding, even if it meant their death," the man replied without hesitation.


    "True," John said, nodding in agreement, "but doing all this, just to get the trust of your two children seems like quite a bit of work for something so trivial, wouldn''t you agree?"


    The man raised an eyebrow but didn''t refute John''s question. The effort to do all this would not be nearly worth getting the trust of his children, as that really didn''t amount to much at all.


    "I get why you''re skeptical," John said, still calm and unconcerned about the situation. He couldn''t me the man. Based on what his children had told him, John''sbat prowess would have to be impossible, most likely even for the standards of this world. Without seeing it for himself, the only logical exnation was that some sort of trickery was taking ce.


    John studied the man, who continued to look at him with doubt. He sighed, and pointed a finger towards the man''s head. His actions caused Luri and Suri to jump with fright, while the man narrowed his eyes, a stern look appearing on his face.


    "Telling you won''t make you believe me," John said, shrugging his shoulders, "so I''ll just show you instead."


    He had thoughts of just leaving, as this man was quite stubborn, but decided against it. The man had indicated that John''s life was predicated on providing a satisfying answer, and so he decided to give one.


    His finger lit up brightly with lightning, its power awe-inspiring. The man''s gaze narrowed further, his arms pushing his children behind him. His own aura began to climb, ready to destroy John in an instant if need be.


    In one swift motion, John swept his hand out to the side and unleashed a beam of lightning. The beam traveled several miles before arcing downwards, crashing into the ground. The ground instantly became engulfed in a massive explosion, one several miles wide. The explosion sted over their position, enveloping them in the explosion. The man shielded Luri and Suri from its power, which faded away a short whileter.


    A massive crater had been formed where the lightning hadnded, the ground turned molten from the power of the explosion. The two youths stared at the result of the explosion, eyes wide, filled with awe. The man stared at the crater, his frown slightly lessened.


    He turned his gaze back to John.


    "Impressive," the man said, studying John once more, "while that proves you are no doubt a genius, that power was still not nearly enough to kill a Half-Step World Expansion cultivator."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    John sighed, shaking his head.


    ''This man truly is both stubborn and untrusting. Although I suppose I can''t me him. His children were just kidnapped by vers after all.''


    "Then how about you and I fight?" John said firmly, his words shocking the youths, and surprising the father.


    "I''ll agree to a life and death battle right now, so long as you agree to restricting your cultivation to the Early World Expansion Realm," John continued, his words finally causing the man''s frown to fade away, reced by shock instead.


    "What?" Suri eximed, looking at the two back and forth.


    The man reigned in his shock and studied John carefully, his eyes shining brightly as if they contained suns within. He studied John for a short while, his narrowed gaze widening after a short while.


    "You''re serious, aren''t you?" he asked John, his voice tinged with surprise. "You really would be willing to make that bet, and are also confident in your victory."


    John remained silent, his calm expression all the answer he would give the man. The man studied him for a short while longer, then sighed.


    "That calm gaze is filled with so much confidence," the man said, "which means either you''re aplete fool, or you really do have that level of strength. Either way, I''m convinced you did not trick my children. You have my thanks for saving them."


    Luri and Suri breathed sighs of relief that the tense situation had finally been resolved peacefully.


    "What reward do you wish to receive?" the man asked John. "Saving my children from such a miserable fate is worthy of both praise and a handsome reward. Ask, and I shall fulfill your request if it is within my power to do so."


    John''s opinion of the man grew. While he was stubborn and doubtful, he was also sincere and fair. He had been tense due to the situation of his children being captured by vers, but after confirming John had not been part of it, he treated him quite well.


    John thought over his request for a moment, and then decided to stick to his original n. While joining the Light Dao sect may or may not be the most optimal request, it was still the fastest and most assured way for him to join a sect that might contain information regarding his master. Mind made up, he spoke his request.


    "Let me join the Light Dao Sect."


    The man raised an eyebrow at the request, then looked to the side. Suri was pulling on his sleeve, trying to get his attention.


    "Let him join, father," Suri said with pleading eyes.


    Their father shifted his gaze to Luri, who spoke next.


    "Not only did he save us, but I think he''s your best shot at obtaining a Holy Transcendence Pill," Luri said.


    The man''s eyes widened, both from surprise and doubt. He studied his son''s sincere face for a moment, then shifted his gaze to John, studying the youth once more, as if seeing him in a new light.


    He then nodded his head.


    "Wee to my Light Dao Sect," the man said, his gaze no longer skeptical, but filled with weing instead.


    "Your Light Dao Sect?" John asked, the man''s words revealing his surprising status. The Sect Leader of the Light Dao Sect.

 Chapter 923 Figured Out

    "Oh, I guess we forgot to tell you," Luri said apologetically, noticing John''s sideways nce at him. "Our father is the Sect-Leader of our Light Dao Sect."


    John stared at Luri for a moment longer, then sighed, shaking his head. The youths seemed to have a penchant to forget giving important information to others, like letting his father know ahead of time of John''s cultivation level, and now this.


    "Young man," their father said, drawing John''s gaze to him. "I can tell you are quite talented, and if the words of my children are correct, you are a monstrous talent."


    He paused, John noticing his gaze was still a bit skeptical.


    ''He most likely thinks I used some sort of outside help, like a powerful artifact, formation, or something of the sort, instead of using my own power,'' John thought, studying the man''s face.


    Such a thing couldn''t be helped, as it was only natural for the man to think this way. It wasn''t easy to ept abat prowess that defied all known norms, especially from an unknown youth he had never met before.


    "However, regardless of your talent," the man continued, "you will still need to prove your worth in my sect, starting from the bottom. I cannot give anyone special treatment. I''m sure you can understand."


    "That''s fine," John shrugged, indicating his nonconcern for the matter. Surging through the sect and gaining status would not be an issue.


    "Good," the man nodded, his expression approving of John''s eptance of not getting special treatment. Most youths would most definitely try to gain special favor for saving the children of a sect leader.


    Screech!


    A distant screeching hiss suddenly came from the Immortal Forest, its power shaking thend beneath them. The man frowned, looking towards the forest, then cast his gaze towards John.


    "When you were in the forest, did you fight the Serpions?" the man asked John.


    "Serpions?" John repeated, having no idea what that was.


    The man stared at John, surprised he didn''t know what a Serpion was.


    "A creature like a scorpion, but with the face of a serpent," the man borated.


    "Oh those," John said, "Yeah. I killed about a dozen of them."


    The man groaned, and quickly turned to grab his children.


    "We''re leaving, now!" he said loudly, scooping them up and taking them to the flying ship above. John quickly followed behind, startled by the man''s hastiness.


    Is the source of that sound really strong enough to get a Late World Expansion cultivator worked up like this, John wondered silently, entering the ship, Kirii quickly entering his soul-space. He gazed around and marveled at its interior, which was of equal quality to the ship Daoist Eternal Weapon had given him, which was now in the hands of Lilian.


    The man rushed to the control center of the ship, pressing some formations in quick sequence. The ship shot forward, speeding sideways along the coast instead of back towards the forest. Its speed was startling, and John watched as the ground buzzed by in a blur beneath them.


    Boom!


    A powerful boom sted against the ship, shaking it violently. John turned around hastily to see a massive creature emerge from the forest, destroying the ce they had been just a moment ago. His eyes widened with surprise as he stared at the creature, a creature shaped like a scorpion, its face serpent-like. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The creature was over a mile tall, and its power was at the Late World Expansion Realm. The next moment, the ship was far enough away that the creature could no longer be seen, but John still felt a trickle of sweat drip down his forehead.


    A momentter and they would have been caught up in that attack, one strong enough to pulverize him into dust. John felt another chill crawl up his spine as he realized he had been in the forest with such a powerful creature skulking about.


    ''If I had run into that thing in the forest¡­''


    He shook his head, washing away the thought of the oue of that battle. Even with his full power, he had no hope of fighting such a powerful beast. He turned as he noticed the youths father approach him.


    "We''re far enough away, and thankfully Serpions are not too fast," the man said, his frowning gaze studying John once more. "Are you mad? Killing Serpions in the Immortal Forest? Everyone knows the Serpion Broodmother is not to be trifled with, and will seek vengeance for any who target her offspring."


    "I¡­had no idea," John said, a wry smile on his face.


    "John lost his memory recently," Luri said, rushing up to the two,ing to John''s defense.


    "Lost his memory huh?" their father repeated, still studying John with an intense gaze.


    "That''s right," Luri nodded. "He fell from the sky, hurt himself badly, and lost his memory in the fall. That''s why he doesn''t remember any of thismonsense stuff."


    The man continued to stare at John silently, his scrutinous gaze quite piercing. John kept his gaze level with the man''s, not backing down for an instant. The man''s arm suddenly shot out, so fast that John could not react.


    He grabbed John''s wrist with his hand, his Qi and divine sense flooding into John''s arm. John recoiled in surprise, his power surging to break free of the man''s grasp. Before he could tug his arm free, the man let go, his divine sense going no further than through John''s arm.


    "What was that for?" John asked, frowning warily at the man.


    The frown the man seemed to perpetually wear on his face returned, his eyes narrowing as he stared at John.


    "I knew there was something strange about you," the man said, "but I never imagined this to be the reason."


    "The reason? What are you talking about, father?" Luri asked, confused. Suri stood nearby, a look of concern on her face as she stared at the two of them.


    The man continued to study John, eyes narrowed. John felt quite exposed before the man''s gaze, as if he could see through all his secrets. It was the same gaze Thunderzen had given him many times, the gaze of a powerful cultivator with thousands of years of wisdom and experience.


    "You didn''t know about the Serpions, didn''t know about all the things my children told you about this world," the man said, "not because you lost your memory, but because you never had memory of these things in the first ce."


    John''s face scrunched up with confusion, but inside he feltpletely startled.


    ''Did this man somehow figure out the truth?'' he wondered, but didn''t need to wonder for long.


    "And the reason for that," the man continued, gaze hardening, "is because you are not of this world. Are you, child?"

 Chapter 924 Fragments Of The Ancient War

    A wave of shock surged through John, who took a step backwards, raising his guard. He didn''t know how this man figured that out so quickly, and he didn''t know how the man would react to learning such a truth. If he were to be attacked, he would fight back with everything he had, regardless of the odds against him.


    "What? What are you talking about?" Luri asked his father, his face brimming with confusion. Suri nearby had the same expression, her eyes darting between her father and John.


    "You are not going to deny this im?" the man asked John, noticing his guarded demeanor.


    "You seem pretty sure you''re correct, so what''s the point of denying it?" John replied coldly, ready to take action at a moment''s notice.


    "What? It''s true?" Luri eximed, his surprise deepening.


    "Who are you?" their father asked coldly, eyes narrowed. "What world did youe from? Why did youe here? Are you a spy for the Devil race? Hired to infiltrate one of the Human Dao sect''s? Speak! What is your purpose foring here? If you do not give me a satisfying answer, I''ll kill you on the spot, regardless of you saving my children."


    John remained silent, thinking about how best to navigate this situation. He had wanted to keep the fact that he was from another world secret, but that secret had been figured out almost immediately. After thinking over the many ways he could answer the man, he decided that the truth was the most likely way for him to get out of this.


    If he lied and the man detected that, he would most likely have a fight to the death against a Late World Expansion cultivator in his near future.


    "You''re right," John said, his voice firm yet calm. "I am from another world."


    John''s confirmation shocked the youths, while their father''s eyes hardened even further, his jaw tightening.


    "But it''s not what you think," he continued. "I came here from another world after entering a transportation formation that took me from my homeworld to here. I had no idea of your world''s existence beforeing here, and have no motives foring here either."


    The man studied John closely, looking for the slightest signs of lying, but could obviously find none. Still, that was far from enough to satisfy him.


    "You just happened to enter a random formation that took you here?" the man asked, his voice filled with doubt. "And I''m supposed to believe that?"


    John shrugged, as it was the truth.


    "Not good enough," the man said firmly, stepping forward towards John. "I need more information. More answers. Otherwise, I''ll have no choice but to kill you out of caution."


    John studied the man, and noticed his sincerity in his words. He would most definitely carry out his threat if he thought it necessary to protect his sect.


    John shook his head at himself, chastising himself for getting into such a situation. However, he had no way to know this man could figure out his secret.


    "If I mention the word ''Asura'', what does that mean to you?" John asked the man. He was going to tell the man for his reason to flee his homeworld, but wanted to know the man''s stance on the Asuras.


    The man''s gaze hardened, a deep frown appearing on his face as he heard the word. To the side, Luri and Suri gave each other a quick nce, seeing if the other knew what an Asura was, but neither knew the answer.


    "How do you know that word?" the man asked coldly. His aura leaked out and pressed down on John, no doubt trying to force him to answer out of fear.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Father, what''s an ''Asura''," Luri asked curiously.


    His father ignored his question, his eyes glued to John''s face, studying every detail of his expressions.


    "I asked you a question first," John said firmly, not backing down for a single moment. "What is your stance on the Asuras?"


    The man''s eyes flickered for a moment, clearly surprised John held his ground so firmly in the face of the man''s aura. The man remained silent for quite some time, studying John.


    "What stance is there to have?" the man said firmly, "the Asura''s are mortal enemies of humanity."


    The man''s words caused John to sigh with relief.


    ''At least we share the same stance,'' he thought. If this world somehow sided with the Asura''s, that would have been a nightmare. However, he realized he needed to keep his Asura Transformation a secret for now. Who knew how the man would react if he ever revealed it. Until he knew it was safe to do so, he wouldn''t use it unless absolutely forced to.


    "Well, at least we agree on that," John said, considering his next question. "And does this world have any Asura''s?"


    "What? Of course not," the man said firmly, "there hasn''t been a sighting of an Asura since the ancient war ended."


    ''The ancient war!'' John thought, feeling both surprised and yet not surprised at the same time. That sounded a lot like the ancient war from his homeworld, a war that was caused by the Asuras. He had put bits and pieces together from what he had learned of the war that it was most likely a war that dealt with more than just their world, but this was the first confirmation of that.


    ''It seems like the scope of that war was quiterge,'' he thought, realizing just how little he knew about the war, and what had happened in the past. The man''s words gave him some hope that perhaps this world knew a bit more of the ancient war, information that he hoped to obtain. He put the thought aside, focusing on the situation at hand.


    "Since I know your stance, I''ll exin further. On my homeworld, an Asura still exists."


    "What? Impossible!" the man eximed, filled with disbelief, and also doubt.


    "Why is that impossible?" John asked curiously.


    "Because, when the war unexpectedly ended, the Asura''s that didn''t flee were eradicated without exception," the man said firmly, as if this was not for dispute.


    John raised an eyebrow at the man''s words.


    ''Flee? Asura''s fleeing? That seems impossible,'' he thought. From what he had learned of the Asura''s, they were creatures of pure ughter and carnage, wanting nothing more than to fight, kill, and feast. They did not seem like the type of foe who would flee for any reason whatsoever.


    He thought of the Asura on the Divine Martial Continent, the one that had chased them to the ends of the world. He shook his head at the thought of that hellish creature ever fleeing.


    ''No, that would never happen," John thought, realizing the mysteries of the ancient war were far moreplex than he could have ever imagined.

 Chapter 925 Revealing Some Truths

    There was definitely more to what happened during the ancient war than this man knew. He yearned to learn the truth, but knew he would not find it here. He put the thought aside, once again focusing on getting out of this situation.


    "Well, one of them apparently escaped that cleansing," John said firmly, "and that Asura targeted me specifically. I was forced to flee, and only thanks to the help of my master, my sect leader, and several others close to me, I was able to escape the Asura by the skin of my teeth and enter that formation, at which point I came to this world."


    John fell silent, breathing in then out deeply. He had revealed the truth, and now it was up to the man to believe him or not. The man continued to stare at John, his frown lingering on his face, no doubt weighing the truth of John''s words.


    "Even if you are telling the truth, why would an Asura be interested in you?" the man eventually asked, voice tinged with doubt.


    John thought about his answer for a moment, and then decided to tell a half-truth. He couldn''t reveal his nature of being an Asura hybrid himself, but could reveal something else that would be believable.


    "The Asura was injured, I think from the ancient war," John said, "and it was looking for sources to heal. I happen to have a very special mix of bloodlines within me, bloodlines that were enticing to the Asura. He wanted to consume me, no doubt to help restore his injuries."


    Luri and Suri''s eyes went wide with surprise, hardly following along with the conversation, but both realized it dealt with something farrger than they ever expected to be involved with.


    "Bloodlines?" the man asked skeptically. "The Asura''s are a supreme existence. What would an Asura want from a Dao Transformation human?"


    "He wanted this," John said, his power climbing as his body suddenly changed forms. He made sure to contain his power within him as best as possible, as to not overwhelm the nearby youths, and also damage the ships interior.


    Everyone''s eyes went wide as the looked at John, who now lookedpletely different. Parts of body were covered with green draconic scales, his muscles had bulged with power, and his eyes were glowing a golden orange. He had unleashed his Dragon-God Shift, revealing a portion of his secrets to the man, secrets he hoped would be a believable reason for the Asura targeting him.


    The man stared at John with wide eyes, clearly not expecting such a shocking transformation.


    "I inherited an ancient dragon legacy on my homeworld," John said, " part of it being a bloodline inheritance. The Asura learned of this, and wanted to consume me, hoping that the bloodline of the ancient dragons would heal him."


    He withdrew his transformation a momentter, returning to normal. Wide eyes stared at him for quite some time, everyone still shocked by the transformation he had unleashed. It seemed that even for this world, the Dragon-God Shift was a heavenly transformation art.


    John noticed the man still studying him, now with less doubt, and more curiosity. He decided to take advantage of the man''s surprise to get in another word of convincing.


    "The Asura also knew of my talent, and knew I would be a threat to it if I was allowed to grow to my full power. And so it targeted me before that happened, killing two birds with one stone so to speak," John said before falling silent.


    He had said all he could. The rest was on the man before him, and his willingness to believe John''s words. Silence descended inside the ship, a silence thatsted for quite some time. Only the shuffling of Suri''s feet could be heard, the girl shifting in nervousness at the tense situation.


    After what felt like an hour, the man sighed, unleashing his aura that was pressing down on John this entire time. He turned around, putting his back to John, then turned around a short whileter, no doubt thinking over the situation.


    "I believe you," the man said calmly, his edge gone. Luri and Suri sighed with deep relief, seeming even more relieved than John that the tense situation was over. They owed John a deep debt of gratitude, and did not want to see hime to harm, regardless of the reason.


    John raised an eyebrow, not expecting his words to be epted so easily.


    "You do?" John asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Only a fool would concoct a story like that if it were not true," the man said, "and I can tell you are not a fool. Nor is your talent fake, that much is without question."


    He paused for a moment, studying John in a new light.


    "What is your n then, foring to this world?" the man asked.


    "I''m not sure," John said, scratching his head. "I was forcefully taken into the formation by my master, who herself didn''t know where it led to, only that it led away from the Asura. The formation broke down on the way here, resulting in us appearing above this world."


    John nced to the side, towards the two youths.


    "That is why I crashed down onto the world from the sky high above," he added, his words causing a light of realization to spark in their eyes.


    "I was separated from my master, so my first goal is to be reunited with her," John said, shifting his attention back to their father. "Based on what Luri told me, only those part of one of the Dao Sects have ess to the best information on the continent. That is my reason for joining your sect. I wish to learn of my master''s whereabouts, and then regroup with her. After that¡­I''m not sure," John trailed off.


    ''Even if I get strong enough to fight the Asura, how the hell do I get back to my homeworld?'' he thought.


    "I see," the man said, interrupting John''s thought. He nodded his head, as if the entire picture now made sense to him. "If that''s the case, then I understand your actions. You are correct that your best shot for finding your master is by joining my sect. I will do what I can to help you find your master."


    John felt a glimmer of hope arise, the first positive development sinceing to this world.


    "However," the man added, "you must do something for me in return."


    "And what would that be?" John asked, not agreeing to the man''s request right away.


    "From what I saw just now, as well as the stories from my children, yourbat prowess is without question, and I''m sure you have yet to reveal your full strength, am I right?" he asked.


    John remained silent, shrugging in response. The man smiled, seeing through the shrug. There was definitely more to John''s strength.


    "I have given up all hope of obtaining a Holy Transcendence Pill," the man continued, "but your arrival has given my an opportunity I could have never dreamed of."


    "Holy Transcendence Pill?" John asked. He had heard Luri mention it before, but still didn''t know what it did, or how one obtained it. How was he supposed to obtain something the man before him couldn''t?


    "Father¡­you mean?" Luri asked, his voice rising with excitement.


    Luri''s father nodded at his son, shifting his eyes back to John.


    "You will be a Tier One Genius, and obtain me a Holy Transcendence Pill. As long as you agree to aplish this, I will use my resources to find your master."

 Chapter 926 Sect Leader Furi

    John cocked his head to the side, not epting the offer given to him right away. He had no idea what a Tier One Genius meant, and no idea what the requirements to obtain a Holy Transcendence Pill were.


    He was sure the man''s offer was not a terrible one, but wanted to know exactly what he was getting into before epting.


    "You don''t have to ept my offer right away," the man said to John, noticing his hesitation. "Speak to my son about what this offer will entail, and then provide your answer when you are ready. Oh, and so that you can address me properly, my name is Furi, so you can call me Sect Leader Furi, or just Furi, it does not matter to me."


    With that, he turned around, moving towards one of the rooms contained within the luxurious ship. John gave Luri a sideways nce.


    ''Furi!?'' his gaze seemed to say loudly. Furi, Luri, Suri. It seems their fathers creativity was even worse than they had initially stated. Luri shrugged at John''s gaze, his face slightly reddened from obvious embarrassment.


    "Wait," John called out, looking back at Furi.


    "Yes?" Furi stopped, turning around to meet John''s eyes.


    "How did you know I was not from this world?" John asked curiously. Furi had discovered the truth almost immediately, and John needed to know if there was a way around being discovered by others, as it surely would bring nothing but headaches in the future.


    "Theposition of your Qi," Furi replied evenly. "The Qi you used to cultivate with on your homeworld is slightly different from the Qi of this world. That difference is unmistakable if you know what you are looking for."


    John frowned, but quickly understood how he had been detected so quickly. It was like he was naturally giving off a beacon of energy, one screaming that he was from a foreign ce.


    "You don''t have to concern yourself with this issue," Furi said, turning around and walking to his room. "This world''s Qi will fully rece all the Qi in your body before long. Once that happens, no one will be able to tell you are from another world."


    The door closed behind Furi, leaving the three youths in themon area of the ship. John turned his gaze to the youths, no longer concerned about what he had just brought up with Furi, as it would resolve itself before long.


    He noticed Luri and Suri standing next to each other, looks of eagerness on their faces. They rushed up to John after their father closed the door, nearly crashing into him from their excitement.


    "A Tier One Genius!" Luri eximed, "Father also believes you can be one! How amazing!"


    "Our sect has never had a Tier Two Genius, let alone a Tier One Genius," Suri added, her voice soft yet also bubbly with awe and excitement. "For father to request such a thing from you, he must believe there is a chance."


    "Of course, there''s a chance," Luri said confidently. "You saw him fight just as I did. He slew five cultivators two or three minor realms above his own cultivation. Surely that puts him at the level of a Tier One Genius, if not higher!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Higher!" Suri eximed with disbelief, as if the thought never urred to her. "But there''s no tier higher than Tier One."


    "Yes, I know," Luri said, slightly exasperated with his sister''s naivety. "I mean he might be more talented than the Tier One Geniuses."


    "Oh," Suri nodded her head, understanding her brother''s meaning. She cast a sideways nce at John once more, her eyes filled with wondrous awe.


    John scratched the side of his head, standing there silently as the two bubbled over him and his talent.


    "What exactly is a Tier One Genius?" John asked.


    Luri gave him a nce as if John was an idiot, then quickly reddened with embarrassment. Clearly he had forgotten that John was not of this world, and John couldn''t me him really. It was most definitely something that did not happen often, even for a stronger world like this. Otherwise, the idea would have been considered by the youths previously if it were amon urrence.


    "Right, right. We have a lot of exining to do," Luri said, pulling on John''s arm towards an area that contained severalfortable looking sofas. The three each sat on a separate sofa, while Kirii materialized once more, lying on the ground next to Suri.


    Suri giggled with happiness at Kirii''s arrival, and started to pet his head with a smile on his face. John eyed the two for a moment, noticing just how close they had gotten in such a short span. He smiled for a moment, as he could tell Kirii was very happy with this situation as well. With how cramped Kirii had been feeling as ofte, this was no doubt a good thing for his mood and happiness.


    "I already exined some of this world''s power structure to you," Luri said, getting John''s attention. "But now that I know you''re not of this world, I guess I left a lot out that I assumed wasmon sense. So I''ll start from the beginning, and exin in detail."


    John nodded his head thankfully and leaned back on the sofa, ready to listen to a long winded exnation of the details of this world. His gaze flickered for a moment as he felt the material of the sofa, which seemed to embrace him like a loving mother.


    ''Good quality stuff!'' he thought, weing thefortable embrace of the high quality chair.


    Without a moment''s hesitation, Luri started his long detailing of the world, known as the Nine-Dao World due to the nine hegemon powers that dominated the world, three belonging to each of the dominant races of the world; the human race, the devil race, and the beast race.


    "The nine hegemons are known as the Nine Dao Powers, or Tier One Powers," Luri continued his exnation, while John listened intently. "For our human race, the three hegemons are the Sword Dao Sect, the Mage Dao Sect, and the Yang Dao Sect. The Sword Dao Sect is the strongest of the three hegemon sects, while the Mage Dao Sect and Yang Dao Sect upy second and third. Their peak cultivators are rtively even, so the difference is decided byparing the genius of each sect."


    "I see," John nodded, "and the Sword Dao Sect are number one permanently?"


    "Yes," Luri nodded his head. "Not only is their patriarch the strongest human cultivator in this world, but the geniuses they produce always im first ce in the annual Dao Tournaments. They are without question the number one human power in this world."

 Chapter 927 Tier One Genius

    ''Sword Dao,'' John thought, naturally thinking of his mysterious father, who had disyed a monstrousprehension of the Sword Dao when he had fought his fathers youthful avatar in the Divine Talent Trial.


    ''Dao Tournaments?'' John thought next, but refrained from asking about them. He was sure Luri would eventually get to exining what they were.


    "Beneath the Tier One Sects are the Tier Two Sects, which are as the name suggests the second strongest set of powers of the human race," Luri continued. "There are twelve Tier Two powers, and each one is affiliated with one of the Tier One Sects."


    "Affiliated?" John asked, as the word could mean many things.


    "Basically subsects," Luri said before borating further. "Under the protection of a Tier One Dao Sect. In exchange for that protection, the subsects provide taxes, treasures, talented geniuses and more."


    John nodded his head in understanding.


    ''It''s essentially the system the Heavenly Lightning Sect had back home, with the Yuan Continent Sect serving the main sect on the Divine Martial Continent. Or perhaps it''s closer to the Honorable Alliance, as it seems as though the subsects are a variety of sect types and not just of one main sect,'' John thought.


    "There are five Tier Two Sects that are affiliated with the Sword Dao Sect, four affiliated with the Mage Dao Sect, and three affiliated with the Yang Dao Sect," Luri continued. "Below the Tier Two Sects are the Tier Three Sects, of which our Light Dao Sect is one of them."


    ''A Tier Three Sect huh? Lower than I expected,'' John thought, remaining silent.


    "There are dozens of Tier Three Sects, each reporting to a Tier Two Sect, which reports to the Tier One Sects. There are Tier Four and Five Sects below us, but those are not important enough to discuss. The Tier Two Sect we report to is the Fire Dao Sect," Luri said, pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts.


    "Fire Dao Sect? Fire, Light, Yang. Are the subjects all rted Dao-Wise to the Tier One Sect they are affiliated with?" John asked, noticing a connection between the three sects.


    "Yes, but not always," Luri answered. "Some sects chose to align themselves based on Dao familiarity, while others aligned themselves based on the power bnce of the three Tier One Sects. Many allied themselves with the Sword Dao Sect based on their power, not necessarily their Daopatibility."


    John nodded his head, asking another question.


    "So does a Tier One Genius onlye from a Tier One Sect?" he asked curiously.


    "No," Luri shook his head, his face eager as if he wanted to start exining the details of the genius tiers. "Genius Tiers are determined annually, at the Dao Tournament I mentioned earlier."


    John felt his interest pique as the Dao Tournament was mentioned.


    "The three Tier One Sects host a Dao Tournament each year, the location of the tournament changing between them each year," Luri continued, his face lit up with excitement at the mere mention of the tournament.


    "Each Tier One Sect and Tier Two power is allowed to send a certain number of cultivators to participate, while those from a Tier Three power and below must qualify beforehand in order to participate," Luri said, giving John a pointed gaze. Clearly he would need to qualify as Luri just mentioned.


    "After the tournament isplete, a participant is assigned a tier based on their cement. cing between two hundred and fifty sixth and one thousand bes a Tier Three genius," Luri said, and noticed the unimpressed look on John''s face.


    "Top one thousand? That''s not that impressive is it?" John asked curiously. Based on what Suri had said earlier, the Light Dao Sect had never had a Tier Two genius, which meant they never had someone ce higher than two hundred and fifty sixth. Either the tournament was incredibly cutthroat, or the Light Dao Sect was not an impressive sect genius wise.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "There are over ten thousand participants each year," Luri exined, "and only the most talented geniuses can participate in the tournament. cing top one thousand means you can im to be a genius amongst geniuses."


    "I see," John said, nodding his head.


    ''Top one thousand of all geniuses back on the Divine Martial Continent would indeed be impressive based on how many youthful cultivators there are, and this continent seems evenrger than the Divine Martial Continent, so I guess it actually is rather impressive,'' John thought to himself.


    Luri cleared his throat and continued.


    "To be a Tier Two genius, one must ce at least in the top two hundred and fifty six," he said, pausing a moment as if to build up the excitement for the revealing of what it took to be a Tier One Genius.


    "As Suri mentioned, our sect has never produced a Tier Two genius, so that alone should tell you how hard it is to aplish. As for a Tier One Genius, one needs to ce in the top sixteen of all Dao Tournament participants," Luri said with a flourish of grandeur, falling silent a momentter as if to allow John to digest everything he had been told.


    ''Top sixteen? Out of the entire human race? No wonder their father only considered it a possibility that I am able to be one, and not a guarantee,'' John thought. He had already revealed a considerable amount ofbat prowess, and although it was not his full strength, what he had revealed was no doubt heaven defying even to a world like this.


    And yet Furi had still not been sure of John''s sess, only that it was a possibility. John felt his blood heat up at the thought, as it could only mean one thing; the geniuses of this world were impressive monsters themselves, one that would no doubt be thrilling to fight against.


    John pushed down his growing battlelust after a short moment, his eyes shifting back to Luri who looked at him closely. It was as if the youth was studying his face, trying to see if the gravity of the task his father had requested was too much for John to handle. It was as if the youth was holding his breath, waiting for a reaction from John, one that would tell him if the task was achievable or not.


    John smiled and decided to make the youth wait for an answer a bit longer, and asked his own question instead.


    "So how does me bing a Tier One Genius help your father obtain the pill he wants?" John asked.


    A pout of disappointment appeared on Luri''s face as he did not receive the answer he sought, but he hid it quickly as he answered John''s question.


    "As you can tell, bing a Tier One Genius is something that only the pinnacle talents of this world can aplish. To reward such talents, the three Tier One Sects offer a gift to each of the geniuses that ce in the top sixteen," Luri exined. "And one of those gifts happens to be a Holy Transcendence Pill."


    "I see," John said, finally understanding the full picture.


    Furi wanted him to ce top sixteen, be a Tier One Genius, and obtain a Holy Transcendence Pill for him. As long as John agreed to aplish this goal, he would help him look for Lilian.


    John knew he was being taken advantage of in this transaction, and knew he would need to change the deal to be a bit better for him. Furi would no doubt do everything he could to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity, and so John was going to make sure he received the proper price for achieving such an impossible task.


    He looked at Luri again, who still waited with baited breath for an answer. John smiled and nodded his head at the youth.


    "It shouldn''t be too hard to aplish," he said calmly, his words causing a boisterous cheer of excited celebration to boom out from both youths.


    In the nearby room, Furi opened his eyes, leaving his mediation for a moment, obviously overhearing thest bits of the conversation. A small smile appeared on his face, one brimming with hope; a hope that had been buried for far too long.

 Chapter 928 Striking A Deal

    "Come in," Furi said, staring at the closed door to his room. A momentter, the door opened, and John entered within. The door closed a momentter on its own volition, leaving the two alone in the room.


    John scanned the room, which wasrger on the inside than it should have been, clearly having been augmented using the spatial Dao. Based on the room''s dimensions on the outside, it should have been about twenty yards on each side. Inside, the room was over a hundred yards wide and long, and was furnished with luxurious furniture all over.


    He spotted Furi sitting on a sofa nearby. Several other sofa''s surrounded a table in the middle. Steam rose from a teapot on the table, two cups ced on either side of the pot.


    "Please, have a seat," Furi gestured to the seat opposite him, a warm smile on his face. The cold, skeptical expression he had shown John previously was no more. John nodded and took his seat. He took a deep breath of the tea''s aroma, and nodded his head in approval.


    "Not bad," he said with modest approval.


    "Not bad?" Furi asked, an amused look on his face. "This is some of the finest tea one can obtain, and it''s just, ''not bad''?"


    John smiled lightly but didn''t borate. It was too early in his acquaintanceship with this man to show something as heaven defying as his tea leaves, which stirred his entire world into a frenzy, bidding wars started from those desperately trying to obtain a single leaf.


    Furi waved his hand, using his Qi to move the teapot to pour a cup for both of them. John''s cup rose towards him, which he graciously epted. He took another deep breath of its fragrant aroma, and then took a sip. His eyes widened with delight a momentter.


    "I take it back, this is actually quite good," he said, savoring another sip.


    The tea was not as profound as tea made from his tea leaves, and did not give Dao insights to nearly the same level. In fact, it wasn''t even close. However, it still provided him with some inspirations, and also tasted quite good. As far as tea went, it was definitely the best tea he had enjoyed other than tea made from his leaves.


    Furi smiled and took a sip as well, then ced his cup down before him.


    "I''m assuming you''vee to me to discuss my previous proposal?" Furi asked.


    "I did," John nodded, cing his cup down as well.


    "And?" Furi asked, his voice calm, but a tinge of expectancy evident, although it was obvious he was trying to hide it.


    "It should be possible for me to achieve," John said, his words modest. He knew it was possible to achieve, but outward bragging was not a good look on anyone, no matter how true the brag was.


    Furi raised an eyebrow at John''s nonchnt reply.


    "My son no doubt gave you all the details of what it takes to be a Tier One Genius," Furi said. "In the history of my sect, we have never produced a Tier Two Genius, let alone a Tier One Genius. It may sound easy, but I assure you it''s far harder than you could ever imagine. The geniuses reigning supreme are monsters just as heaven defying as you."


    John smiled but said nothing, instead opting for another sip of tea. Furi eyed him carefully, noticing John''s nonchnt attitude.


    "I have a question about that actually," John asked, changing the subject. "Your sect has never created a Tier Two Genius, yet surely a Tier Three sect should asionally be able to produce a genius capable of bing a Tier Two genius? Not often, sure, but never? That seems¡­"


    His voice trailed off as he decided to hold his tongue. His words already vaguely inferred that the man before him, the sect leader of the Light Dao Sect, was unable to produce geniuses of any worth. It was not a very attractive sect to join, at least not for one as talented as John.


    Furi understood John''s indirect question, and sighed softly.


    "You are wise to ask about such a thing, as your words do ring true," Furi said, his voice slightly dejected. "Most Tier Three sects do asionally produce Tier Two geniuses. Although its quite rare, it does happen. My sect, however, is different."


    "Different how?" John asked, taking another sip of tea.


    "My son told you about the power tiers, yes?"


    "He did," John nodded.


    "Well, we are under the the Fire Dao Sect, which is under the Yang Dao Sect. My light Dao Sect is a sect primarily focused on the healing arts, withbat as a distant second. Both the Fire Dao Sect and the Yang Dao Sect require us to produce a certain number of talented healers every few years, which are required to pass healing tests they have created," Furi said, pausing to take a sip of tea.


    "Their requirements are quite strict, and if we miss their quotas, we are indirectly punished."


    "Indirectly punished?" John asked.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "They withhold aid, withhold resources, don''t send reinforcements when a beast wave assaults my sect, etcetera," Furi said, a frown on his face as if recalling a certain event. "As a result of their strict requirements, we are forced to turn our most talented youths into healers first, and fighters a distant third. Against sects that focus onbat prowess alone, we have no chance."


    "So that''s how it is," John nodded, understanding Furi''s dilemma, and his desire to have John join their sect.


    "This fact is known to all who wish to join a sect, and so only those who want to be healers join our sect," Furi continued. "Those who are talented inbat join other sects."


    "And so now that you''ve stumbled across me, you wish for me to join your sect and obtain that pill for you," John said calmly.


    Furi remained silent for a moment then nodded his head. "That is my wish," he confirmed.


    "So now that I know all this, what''s stopping me from going directly to the Yang Dao Sect and joining them? Wouldn''t that be more beneficial for me?" John asked evenly.


    Furi smiled, as if expecting such a question.


    "You could do so, and I will not stop you if you wish to do so, but that would not be the wisest decision."


    "And why is that?" John asked.


    "Because, the Yang Dao Sect, and even the Tier Two sects, only ept disciples on a set schedule each year, with absolutely no exceptions whatsoever. It has been this way for tens of thousands of years as an unbroken tradition, and is one of the things they hold only proudly," Furi exined. "It is a tradition they say proves their unbiased natures, which allows anyone talented enough to join their sects, regardless of status or upbringing. And that entrance test finished a few weeks ago, so you would have to wait another year to join a sect above ours."


    John remained silent, studying the man''s face. He could tell he wasn''t lying.


    "You however, would be promoted to our pinnaclebat disciple instantly, which will allow you to register for the Dao Tournament entrance tests. Besides, if you recall my words from before, I said my sect focuses primarily on healing, whereasbates a distant third."


    John nodded, indicating he recalled Furi saying that.


    "Our secondary focus, equally nearly to our healing focus, is information."


    "Information? What kinds of information?" John asked curiously.


    "Every kind," Furi said smiling. "The information branch of the continent consists of seven sects that focus on gathering all the intel possible over the continent and the world. My Light Dao Sect is part of this information branch. And because we are one of the core information sects, we receive any and all information far before any of the other sects, the Yang Dao Sect included."


    Furi fell silent after exining all this, opting to sip his tea instead as he allowed John to think over everything he had been told. The room remained silent for quite some time before John nodded his head, a small smile on his face.


    "All right," he said with a nod, "I''ll join your sect and obtain you a Holy Transcendence Pill. But based on everything you told me, it seems as though I hold most of the cards here, so our deal will be something more fluid."


    John thought about leaving to join another sect regardless of the troubles presented to him, but decided against it. Not only was it not guaranteed that he would be able to join them anytime soon, he also didn''t want to push Furi too far when the proposal he offered was a reasonable one. If he decided to leave, who knew what actions the man would take. While John was almost certain Furi was a rtively decent person and wouldn''t take action against him, he couldn''t know that for sure. With all that in mind, it was simpler to ept the offer and work with it as best he could.


    "Fluid how?" Furi asked.


    "As long as I work towards obtaining this pill of yours, I will definitely obtain it. As payment for this effort, you will fulfill any requests I make from here on out, as long as they are deemed to be reasonable."


    Furi considered the offer for a moment.


    "And who would be the one to deem the request reasonable or not?" Furi asked.


    "Me," John said with a small smile, "but I''m sure you''ve noticed by now that I''m a rtively decent person. I won''t take advantage of you too much."


    Furi studied John''s face for a moment then nodded, sighing slightly. He knew he was the one who needed John more than John needed him, and so epted the offer, deciding to trust John going forward.


    "Deal."

 Chapter 929 Sudden Explosion

    John left the room, holding an object in his hand. He studied it for a moment, looking at the runes carved into the formation disk he held. It was circr, with glowing blue formation runes, theplexity of the runes beyond his ability to read what they did.


    Furi had given him the formation disk, which he said was a location formation disk. It allowed Furi to know the location of whoever held it, so long as they were within a certain range of him. Furi had mentioned his mistake of not supplying his children with such an object before, and would not make the same mistake again.


    With John''s importance to Furi going forward, he seemed unwilling to risk John''s safety. John studied the disk for a moment and then put it away in his spatial ring, which allowed Furi to detect it. If he had ced it in his pce realm, it would have be undetectable, which defeated the purpose of the object.


    John walked to a separate room that Furi had allowed him to use, and sat on afortable chair within the room, digesting his conversation with the man. A lot of information had been given to him by Furi and Luri, and he needed to n his moves going forward.


    Kirii had shed into his soul space before he entered the room, falling asleep within, apparently content with the number of head pats he had obtained from Suri. After putting his thoughts in order, he stood and walked over to the exterior wall of the room, where arge window allowed him to look outside the ship.


    The ship was speeding over the Immortal Forest, towering trees and soaring mountains flying by each second. Valleys lined thendscape, filled with violent rivers some dozens of miles wide. John''s eyes went wide as he spotted a beast emerge from beneath the waters of one the rivers. The creature looked to be a type of fish, with ck scales and sharp teeth. The shocking part was its size and power.


    The creature was several miles long, and its power was at the Late World Expansion Realm. He watched as the creature leaped forward out of the air, catching the prey it was chasing who had fled the waters as well. Its prey was another fish type creature, about a third its size, and despite being in the Early World Expansion Realm, was swallowed whole in a single gulp.


    The massive creature crashed into the water''s surface and disappeared below a momentter, returning the river to its former calm. John took a deep breath, shaking his head lightly to himself.


    "It seems I took the Immortal Forest too lightly when I was in it," he muttered to himself.


    He had been lucky and managed to not run into the Serpion Broodmother, and now this creature''s appearance showed him just how strong the creatures of the forest were. In just a few moments, this world had shown itself to be a level beyond his own, as creatures like these were few and far between on his homeworld, and yet seemed to be aplenty here.


    The river zoomed by in his vision, the ship moving at incredible speeds. John stood at the window, taking in the sights of this new world, a world filled with wondrous things he had never seen before.


    John''s face twitched as his instincts suddenly screamed out in warning, his sense of danger honed by dozens of life and death encounters, and heightened further by his incredible soul power and divine sense.


    Power surged through his body as he activated his Dragon-God Shift, pushing his bodily defenses to incredible heights.


    Behind him, he heard a loud screame from the interior of the ship, the voice belonging to Furi. It was not a roar of power, but a scream of panic.


    "Noooo!" John heard for a brief instant, before suddenly the ship all around him vanished, reced by a blinding explosion of ruinous power.


    Boom!


    A st of power, seemingly equal to the power of the remnant explosions he had faced off against the Asura mmed against the ship,pletely destroying it and drowning him within. The fiery explosion engulfed him while he did his best to resist its power. His skin tore, his bones creaked and fractured, and his blood tumbled violently within his body as if about to burst out from within. He had not had time to activate his Immortal Asura Transformation, as the moment''s hesitation of considering whether or not to use it had made him a momentte.


    His body tumbled in the air through the sky, flying off in the distance the ship had been traveling. He left the fiery explosion in the sky, a trail of smoke flowing behind him as he fell to the earth dozens of miles away.


    Bang!


    His momentum carried him violently into the forest below, his body breaking through several towering trees, each seemingly sturdier than a mountain. Pain wracked his body as he broke through each tree, the collisions reminding him of the vision Kirii had shown him of him crashing into the world from high above.


    Thankfully he was awake this time, and was able to have his Dragon-God Shift enabled to resist bing as injured as he had been before. A trail of destruction miles long was carved into the forest before he mmed into the base of a sturdy mountain and finally came to a halt.


    A groan of pain escaped his lips as he rested against the ground, a familiar pain wracking his entire body.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    sh!


    Bright light shed for a moment as Kirii appeared beside John. John''s body was covered from head to toe in his own blood, making him look incredibly miserable.


    "Are you okay?" Kirii asked.


    "I¡­I''m fine," John groaned. "I think."


    He sent his divine sense into his body and inspected his condition, and breathed in a sharp breath.


    "Several broken bones and torn muscles, but nothing too serious," he mumbled to himself after assessing the damage. To others, this damage would be quite bad, but to him, especially now that he had unlocked his Limiter of Life, it was nothing more than a nuisance.


    Thankfully his meridians had remained unharmed, which was the hardest part of one''s body to heal. That had been the part that had taken him weeks to heal before. With his meridians unharmed, John''s Qi surged within his body as he activated his Limiter of Healing and Limiter of Life.


    A vibrant life energy emerged within his body, surging over his broken bones and torn muscles. The bones knitted together at a visible speed, while his muscles mended even faster. In less than a minute, John had nearlypletely healed himself, the speed surprising even himself.


    He had failed to notice just how powerful the Limiter of Life had been previously, as he had needed to take the process slow due to his damaged meridians. But without his meridians damaged, it was as if he had a personal healer contained within his body, ready to restore him at a moment''s notice.


    He nodded his head in approval, caught up in the sensation of being healed. However, the process was not without its downsides, as the Qi required to heal these wounds was quite extensive. He felt his Qi reserves be noticeably drained by a fifth of his total.


    "Seems like I can only do this a few times in battle," he muttered, shaking his head to clear the fog away.


    His eyes shifted upwards towards the direction he hade from, scanning the sky for any potential danger. He noticed nothing, and quickly stood up, his face furrowing with a deep frown.


    "We were attacked by something," he said to Kirii, "something strong enough topletely destroy the ship. Let''s head back, but be very careful on the way there."


    Kirii nodded his head, slipping back into John''s soulspace. John debated whether he should flee or return, and opted for thetter. He had been shown much kindness from the youths and their father, and would not abandon them to whatever had attacked them without seeing if he could help first.


    A bad feeling crept up within him as he recalled the power of that explosion, and the horrified scream of Furi a moment before it happened. He thought of Luri and Suri. Would they have been able to survive that explosion without Furi''s help? Was their father able to help them in time?


    He shook his head, erasing the thoughts as best he could, focusing on what he could do right now.


    Body healed, his dantian surged with power, emanating the strongest spatial Qi he could muster. He wrapped himself in the Qi, forming the strongest barrier of space around him. It was a far cry from what Lilian was capable of, but was quite strong, nheless.


    Satisfied with his spatial shroud, John sped forward in the direction he hade from, following the trail of destruction his body had carved into the forest. As he sped forward, thend trembled beneath him, while the sky lit up brightly with the obvious signs of strong battle arts being unleashed.


    He arrived near the location the ship had been destroyed a short whileter, stopping at the edge of a massive clearing in the forest. The clearing had not been there before, but had been made recently by the ruinous battle arts that had been unleashed in the area.


    He surveyed the area, the clearing aze, thick smoke drifting into the sky. He held his breath as he noticed several figures hovering in the sky a dozen miles away, five in total. He recognized one of them, Furi, but did not recognize the other four humans that surrounded Furi.


    His eyes went wide with shock as he noticed the de of a sword rammed directly through Furi''s chest, sticking out his back, the hilt of the sword held by a woman directly before Furi; a woman with a Half-Step Holy Manifestation cultivation.

 Chapter 930 Conspiracy

    John felt a chill crawl up his spine. He had just made ns with Furi, ns that would allow him to navigate this new world with rtive ease, and in the blink of an eye, those ns had beenpletely destroyed. The Half-Step Holy Manifestation cultivator had ensured that by ramming her swordpletely through Furi.


    Furi coughed violently, blood spewing out of his mouth. Despite his grave wounds, he was still alive. Despite his situation, he did not have fear or panic on his face. Instead, he stared daggers at the woman before him, as if he wanted nothing more than to w her eyes out and rip out her innards. The woman smiled at his expression.


    John''s thoughts swirled chaotically, trying to figure out what to do. He was not nearly strong enough to help Furi, as he was surrounded by four Late World Expansion cultivators and one Half-Step Holy Manifestation cultivation. Just being nearby was already a grave risk, as if they searched the nearby area carefully, his spatial shroud would not hide him from them.


    "Don''t move, just listen," a voice sounded out in his mind, surprising John.


    ''Have I been detected?'' he instinctively thought, but quickly realized who the source of the voice was.


    It was Furi, sending him a sound transmission, a message that was undetectable by the others. John wondered for a brief moment if his location had been revealed, but quickly remembered the tracking disk Furi had given him. Through that disk, Furi had been able to pinpoint John''s location while the others had no idea he was standing a dozen miles away, observing them in secret.


    John wanted to send a message back, but decided against it. Furi''s cultivation was strong enough to shroud his sound transmissions from the others, but John could not say the same. His sound transmission would not be able to be intercepted by the others, but its existence would be detected, thus revealing his location.


    His eyes scanned over the surrounding area, looking for signs of the two siblings.


    "Luri and Suri perished in the explosion," Furi sent another message to him. His voice was filled with grief and regret. John''s eyes went wide at the news, and anger started to bubble within him. He had not known the youths for long, but they had left a good impression on him.


    He quickly quashed his growing anger. If he lost control of his emotions, his bloodlust would alert the others to his location. He needed to be as calm and neutral as possible to remain shrouded.


    "You owe me nothing, but if you can, please seek vengeance for my children," Furi said. "If nothing else, ry what you hear today to the Yang Dao Sect."


    After that, no more messages were sent to John. He remained silent, watching from a distance as Furi shifted his attention back to the woman in front of him.


    "Why?" he asked her.


    "Why?" she repeated, an amused look on her face. "Isn''t the answer always the same? This move is to secure more power in the future for myself and those around me."


    "How could killing me and my children secure you more power?" Furi asked, coughing up another mouthful of blood.


    "Your children? No, they werepletely useless to us, other than being bait to lure you out into the middle of nowhere," the woman said smiling.


    ''So the kidnapping of those two was far moreplicated than I had initially thought,'' John thought, stunned by this reveal. It had been assumed that it was just vers taking advantage of a situation to make money, but the truth was entirely different.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Those vers almost messed up our n, the useless bastards," the woman spat out in disgust. "How did you manage to detect your children''s locations before they reached the rendezvous point? They were binded with Onyxium shackles. Their Qi was suppressed, and the cage was lined with an information restriction formation. So how did you do it, hmm?"


    Furi remained silent, staring daggers at the woman.


    The woman stared at him curiously for a moment and then shrugged.


    "Oh well, their failureplicated our ns a bit, but we still managed to make them work out in the end."


    "Why?" Furi asked again, voice bing hoarse. "Why target me? How does my death benefit you? Are you working for the Devils?"


    "The Devils?" the woman smiled. "I''m afraid I cannot say who I am working for, even if you are about to perish. As for your death¡­"


    The woman withdrew her sword, and two of the men moved forward, each grabbing one of Furi''s arms, holding him in ce to prevent escape. She flicked her sword clean of his blood and then sheathed it.


    "As for targeting you, your Light Dao sect might be a pitiable Third Tier sect, but the healers you produce are some of the best the Yang Dao faction produces," she said, moving closer to him. "In fact, your healers are bing quite a nuisance on the Continent of War, to the point that an assassination mission was created specifically for you. Killing you won''t destroy the Light Dao Sect, but it will greatly hinder its ability to produce quality healers for generations until someone of your caliber arises to lead the sect."


    She studied Furi''s face for a moment, then moved away slightly.


    "As for why we took action now? Your cultivation is ready to move into the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm at a moment''s notice, should the right opportunities arise. Assassinating you then would be much harder, and so the choice was made to carry out the assassination now. Does this satisfy your dying curiosity?" she asked, smiling at him.


    Furi stared at her with furious hatred, but was unable to do anything to her. He bowed his head a momentter, indicating he was ready for the final blow. The woman nodded to the men holding Furi down, who quickly finished the job she had started.


    Just like that, a powerful Late World Expansion cultivator had been killed. John watched on with a grave expression, realizing he had gotten himself mixed up in something quite dangerous. He remained perfectly silent, withdrawing his presence as much as possible.


    "What about the other one?" one of the men asked the woman, who was seemingly about to leave.


    "The Dao Transformation boy?" she asked, to which the man nodded. "No Dao Transformation cultivator could have survived that explosion. He''d be lucky if anything remains of his corpse at all. Let''s go."


    The others nodded, their figures vanishing over the horizon a momentter, leaving the smoldering ruins of a battlefield behind; a battlefield that had now turned into a graveyard for the Light Dao Sect.

 Chapter 931 Plans Ruined

    John remained shrouded in his spatial cocoon for nearly an hour after the mysterious killers left. He wanted to make sure the coast was clear, as perhaps they would linger in the area for a while to see if anyone had been witness to the events that had urred.


    After enough time had passed, he slipped away in the opposite direction the others had gone, still shrouded in his spatial cocoon. His Qi reserves had been quite low due to using his Dragon-God Shift and his Limiter of Life, and the spatial cocoon slowly but surely drained the reserves he had left.


    ''I need to improve my control over the spatial Dao,'' he thought, swiftly moving through the forest. His control over the spatial Dao was still quite rough, and was a far cry from what Lilian was capable of.


    The notes and teachings of the jade piece Lilian had given him to study were still fresh in his mind, and those notes still had many things he had yet to fully grasp. By recalling and focusing on those notes alone, his spatial Dao control could improve several fold over the next few months.


    An hourter, John finally came to a rest, his spatial cocoon fading away. He breathed heavily for some time, sucking in the dense Qi from this new world. He felt his Qi reserves slowly replenish with each breath. After recovering a bit of his Qi, John ensured the nearby area was clear of any danger, and then found arge branch on one of the massive trees to sit on.


    The branch was dozens of yards thick, and was over a mile off the ground. Up here, he was like an ant amongst the leaves, invisible unless someone scanned him with their divine sense. A brooding look appeared on his face as he thought over everything that had just happened.


    "Tch," he clicked his tongue in frustration. "I had a good n in ce, and those fuckers ruined everything," he grumbled.


    His n with Furi had been a very good one. All he needed to do was fight in the Dao Tournament, and as a result, he would obtain information from the best informationwork on the continent. If he was going to find Lilian, that would have been the best way to find her.


    "And now that''s all ruined," he grumbled further.


    He thought of that woman who had killed Furi, the Half-Step Holy Manifestation cultivator. The woman appeared to be in her early thirties, with long red hair and a sharp, yet alluring face. She had not worn any distinctive clothes, nor had the others with her, so he had very little information to identify her other than her face.


    Regardless of her identity, John felt murderous bloodlust arise within him as he thought of her. She had ruined his perfect ns, and had also killed Luri and Suri, who he was quite fond of. That alone was enough of a reason for him to kill her once he obtained the power to do so, as well as learned of her identity.


    He brooded over that thought for a while before sighing, withdrawing his bloodlust. That day of vengeance was still far off in the distance, if it even happened at all.


    "My primary goal is to find Lilian, and figure out how to get back home. Everything else is secondary."


    The light within the already dimly lit forest was starting to diminish, a sign of the approaching night. John decided to stay on the branch for the night, as moving during the night was not advised within the Immortal Forest. The night gave him time to think; think of what to do next.


    "The first thing I need to do is get out of this forest. From what I know, it''s a dangerous ce even for World Expansion cultivators. When I had entered to fight beasts, that had been at the very outskirts of the forest, where the weakest creatures dwelled. I''m most likely quite close to the heart of the forest, so I''ll need to be careful moving through it. My first goal is to find civilization. From there, I''lle up with a n to find Lilian."


    As expected, the forest rumbled softly half-way through the night, the sign of the distant Serpent of the Immortal Forest moving about. The long night eventually broke, light of the morning cresting through the tree-canopy above.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    John stood up and inspected the nearby area, and then picked a direction to move; ind away from the coast, away from the direction those killers had gone. He hopped off the branch and fell to the ground below, using his Qi at thest moment to slow his descent andnd softly. And then he moved, hoping the direction he chose was a good one.


    ¡­


    "Tch," John clicked his tongue as he suddenly sped forward at his fastest speed. He sped through the air like blur, scythe appearing in hand. His scythe suddenly swung downwards, unleashing a Divine Reaping Scythe onto the creature he had appeared above.


    The creature had just noticed him a moment ago, its mouth opening to unleash a loud roar. That roar was cut off just as it started, its neck sliced through by the Divine Reaping Scythe, severing its head from the rest of its body.


    John sighed with relief as he inspected the corpse of the Mid Dao Transformation creature before him. The creature looked simr to the Titan Ape''s on his homeworld, only muchrger and stronger. This one appeared to have been quite young, its power still undeveloped.


    John quickly stored the carcass away as he inspected the surroundings.


    "No movement. Good," he muttered, relieved that the brief sound from the creature had not alerted any other creatures nearby. Had the creature caused amotion, his fate would have been quite miserable.


    He had been traveling through the forest for several weeks now, and had learned quite quickly to be as quiet as possible. He had nearly lost his life several times when World Expansion beasts had been alerted of his presence, each time escaping thanks to his quick speed and control over the spatial Dao.


    The forest had proved even more dangerous than he had imagined, with beasts at the Middle World Expansion level and above being quitemon if the area was provoked by loud noises. Flying through the air had also proven to be a mistake, as he had been quickly spotted and chased by a Middle World Expansion flying beast, forcing him to move on the forest floor lest he cause a massivemotion in his battle with such a creature. If he had allowed this creature to unleash a roar, who knew what trouble would appear.


    While the journey had been arduous and nearly lethal, there was at least one upside to it thus far. His beast blood reserves had been replenished and then added to, to a point that he would not need to replenish his beast blood reserves for several months at the very least.


    "My human blood essence reserves are running quite low, though," John mumbled with a frown. As his cultivation grew, so did the Immortal Asura Bodies requirement for human blood essence. The blood essence he had obtained from the vers he had killed had already been used up, as had the reserves he had collected previously. Without replenishing them, he would be unable to advance his body cultivation.


    "And I''ll need blood at the Late-Dao Transformation level at the very least, and preferably World Expansion human blood essence for it to be effective."


    After surveying the area, John moved once more, staying on the forest canopy. After some time, his ears perked up to a new sound. A smile appeared on his face as he rushed forward with care, the sight of a massive river eventuallying into view through the forest thicket.


    "A river!" John eximed. Where there was water, there would eventually be civilization.

 Chapter 932 Following The River

    John slowly made his way forward, careful to not alert any creature in the area. He eventually made his way through the forest near the river, arriving on the riverbank. The river before him was over a dozen miles wide, and almost appeared to be more of ake than a river. Only the surging waters crashing in one direction gave indication that it was indeed a river and not arge body of water.


    He nced to both sides, looking up and down the river. Upstream, the river bent to the right several miles away, obscuring his sight. Downstream, the river did the same. There were no signs of civilization in either direction.


    John sighed and shook his head at himself.


    Surely it wouldn''t be that easy to find civilization. He remembered the massive creatures that had emerged from one of the rivers he had seen from the flying ship. With creatures like that prowling beneath the water''s surface, establishing a town or city on the river''s edge would not be an easy thing to achieve.


    Still, a river like this was most likely too enticing a resource for the cultivators of this world to not use.


    "There''s bound to be a city eventually," John muttered, "the only question is where."


    He surveyed both directions for a while, and then chose the upstream direction. That direction was away from the coast, and he wanted to be as far away from those mysterious killers as possible for the time being. If they found him and recognized his aura, he was doomed for certain.


    Mind made up, John slipped back into the forest and followed the river from a distance. With the powerful creatures lurking beneath the water''s surface, he wanted to follow the river from a safe distance. Who knew what lurked beneath, ready to pounce on him at a moment''s notice. Within the forest, he was at least able to see the dangers around him.


    The next few days came and went without much excitement. Having learned from his past mistakes, John deftly navigated the forest without altering any beasts. The edge of the forest near the river seemed to be devoid of beasts for the most part, which was much to John''s liking.


    "Most likely avoiding the water and whatever lurks beneath as well," he thought while moving through the forest.


    Despite moving for several days and thousands of miles, John had yet to see any signs of civilization. His hope of finding something on the river''s edge lessened with each passing day, but he had no better option at the moment.


    Day turned to night, and John found another high-up branch to rest on, his eyes closed in meditation. The night passed by slowly, the morning sun eventually rising, the soft light crashing through the tree-canopy above.His ears suddenly twitched as he heard a soft, yet distinct sound of something unmistakably familiar.


    "Music?!"


    Startled by the sudden sound of music, John hastily stood up and hopped off the branch, falling to the ground below. He mmed into it and then raced towards the sound of the music, which grew louder as he approached the river.


    He crashed through the treeline and spotted a boat, several miles off the river bank, moving upstream through the river. The boat was over a mile long and half as tall, and looked more like a mountain than a boat with its size. It was ornately painted and decorated, akin to a luxurious flying ship.


    Music came from the distant boat, the sound of lyres and flutes in rhythmic harmony. John started to move towards the boat, and stopped himself at thest moment, his sanity returning to him. He realized just how stupid he had nearly been, and shook his head at himself.


    Caught up by the first sign of civilization, he had nearly flown over the water towards it. If he had done that, who knew what his fate would have been. Perhaps he would have made it safely, or perhaps he would have been swallowed whole by a Late World Expansion beast lurking beneath the surface.


    He didn''t know why the ship was not being attacked, but it was most likely protected by powerful formations, keeping the beasts at bay. He eyed the ship for a short while, thinking of what to do.


    "The ship is going upstream, which is the way I''ve been going. There should be a city it''s going towards, so I''ll keep following the river."


    n in mind, John slipped back into the forest and started to race forward next to the riverbank.


    Roar!


    A powerful roar suddenly boomed out nearby, the power shaking thend and causing John to groan in pain from the unexpected sound. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Shit!" John muttered, his power ring as he suddenly sped forward at his fastest speeds.


    He didn''t know if he had alerted the creature or if the music had done so, and he had just been unlucky enough to be in the creatures path, but it had detected him before he had detected it, and was now chasing him.


    Thend shook beneath his feet as he sped through the forest, utilizing his Dao of Lightning and Dao of Space to move as fast as possible. The massive trees behind him broke and crashed to the ground one at a time, shatteredpletely by the massive creature following him.


    Its aura eventually reached John, a heavy look appearing on his face.


    "Middle World Expansion," he grumbled, pushing his speed to his limits.


    "I would be able to keep myself alive against such a beast if I was able to use everything I have, but since I used my bloodline ability recently¡­"


    Without his bloodline ability, John''s maximum fighting prowess was at the Early World Expansion Realm at the moment, and even then he would find trouble against such an opponent.


    Much like the Core Formation Realm and Heaven Tribtion Realm, the World Expansion Realm was a massive step forward in terms of power. His ability to jump realms was naturally lessened against someone in the World Expansion Realm, and so without his absolute peak strength, the beast behind him was beyond his ability to handle. Even then, it was still most likely too strong for him to defeat.


    John sped forward, holding nothing back. The trees he sped past lurked like nothing more than a blur to him as he dodged left and right, avoiding them. The creature behind seemed unable to do so, and instead crashed through the massive trees, toppling them to the ground one by one, no doubt slowing its speed, allowing John to keep his distance from the creature.


    The chasested for over thirty minutes, with John bing more and more frustrated that he was unable to shake the creature off of his trail, no matter what he did.


    Suddenly, the forest before him vanished. He found himself speeding into a clearing, one that extended out for fifty miles towards a distant mountain. John grumbled with even more frustration, as the only thing keeping the creature from catching him had now vanished. Without the trees slowing the massive creature down, it would no doubt catch him before he reached the distant mountains.


    Roar!


    A loud roar boomed out behind him as the creature crashed through the treeline, toppling the mile high trees to the ground as if they were twigs. John gazed back for a moment, setting his eyes on the creature for the first time.


    It appeared exactly the same as the ape-beast he had killed previously. Only, this creature was over a mile tall,pletely dwarfing the beast he had previously in. It stared at John with furious eyes, as if it wanted to kill him more than anything. He instantly realized why the creature was after him; it was no doubt the parent of the beast he had in before.


    A groan escaped his mouth as he surged towards the distant mountains, the creature gaining on him by the second. John sucked in a deep breath as he realized running was no longer an option, and instead turned around towards the creature.


    His Qi began to churn and blood began to boil as he urged his body to unleash his peak strength.


    Bang!


    John''s eyes widened as a beam of Qi suddenly mmed into the creature''s chest, the power of the beam piercing directly the beast''s chest and into the ground behind it. The ground ruptured from the remnant power of the st, exploding the ground around John''s feet, tossing him into the air.


    He managed to control himself a momentter, and floated in the air, dazed by the sudden turn of events. He quickly turned around to look towards the source of where the sudden attack hade from.


    His eyes widened with shock and delight as he looked at the top of the massive mountain before him, and the sprawling city that rested atop its peak; the light of a powerful formation around it fading away.


    "A City! Finally!"

 Chapter 933 Greatcrest City

    Bang!


    The massive ape-like beast crashed to the ground behind John, its weight violently shaking thend. John nced over his shoulder towards the beast, which had been pierced directly through by the st of energying from the city.


    ''Dead in one attack. How strong.''


    That attack had been at the Late World Expansion level, and had cut down the massive creature instantly. He returned his gaze towards therge city atop the wide mountain, and narrowed his eyes as he noticed several figures speeding towards him.


    The figures arrived quickly, encircling John.


    ''Seven cultivators. All at the Early World Expansion Realm,'' he noted.


    The group consisted of five men and two women, all wearing the same orange robes with yellow trimmings. They each wore a badge on the upper left portion of their chest, some words carved into the golden badges.


    ''Greatcrest City Guard.''


    The guards stared at John for a short moment, then to the massive creature a short distance away. They studied the surroundings afterwards.


    "All clear, sir," one of the women said to one of the men nearby. The man had a bald head and trimmed beard of ck and gray. He appeared to be in his fifties, and had a rather serious look on his face as he studied John.


    The man nodded, then took a step towards John.


    "What is your purpose here?" he asked.


    "Purpose?" John repeated. "I got lost in the forest, and was chased by that beast. I just happened to run into this ce."


    The man studied John with a raised eyebrow, then turned his gaze to the forest behind them. The pathway of broken trees and ruinednd the beast had left behind a short distance away.


    "You were lost in the Immortal Forest¡­" the man said skeptically. "How long were you lost for?"


    "A few weeks," John answered.


    "And how did you manage to get lost in such a dangerous ce?" the man asked.


    "I went in the forest to hunt beasts, and got chased deep into it by a beast I couldn''t handle," John said, making up a believable story. "I then wandered around until I wound up here."


    The man studied his face for a moment and then nodded, seemingly epting his story.


    "Forcing us to use the city''s attack formation would normally cost you quite a bit," he said, his eyes shifting to the felled beast behind them. "But lucky for you, you managed to lure a valuable beast within the formation''s attack range. The beast''s corpse will be your payment."


    He said it as if there was no room for negotiation. John nodded his head, not really wanting to get in an argument with this man.


    "Move along now," the man instructed John, who nodded again and began to move towards the city. The man''smands instructing his group to collect the corpse faded as he moved towards the mountaintop city.


    He arrived at the base of the mountain a short whileter, and spotted a wide road several miles to his right, away from the river. The road contained quite a bit of traffic on it, from people walking to massive carts pulled by beasts traveling along it. The road zigzagged up that side of the mountain towards the city above.


    "I guess that''s the path I need to take," John said as he stared up at the city above him. The mountainside he was at was a sheer face cliff miles high, with high walls lining the city''s edges. The only way into the city was to take that pathway, as the sky was most likely defended by a formation barrier.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He quickly made his way towards the road and joined the others moving along it. They didn''t even notice his presence, and didn''t seem to consider themotion of the beast being attacked to be anything worth looking at, indicating that such an event was most likely amon urrence.


    As he arrived on the road, he stared up at the zig-zagging road leading up to the city. It was several hundred yards wide, allowing for a great deal of traffic to flow in both directions. Thousands of cultivators moved up and down the road, entering the city, or leaving for ces unseen. The side of the road was lined with makeshift stalls and marketces, with traders hawking their wares to passerby''s.


    John ignored those stalls and made his way up the pathway, as any worthwhile information was most likely to be obtained there. He arrived at the top of the mountain a whileter, and after standing in the long line at the city''s gate for several hours, finally made his way to the front of the line.


    There, he was stopped by a guard, one wearing the same clothing as the other guards he had encountered.


    ''Another Early World Expansion guard!'' he noted.


    An Early World Expansion cultivator on the Divine Martial Continent could be the leader of a rtively powerful sect, yet here they were merely guards. However, all the guards he had seen were on the older side, appearing to be in their forties or fifties. They had most likely reached their peak cultivation level they would ever obtain, which gave him a baseline for the power structure of this world, or at least this area.


    ''About a full realm higher than the Divine Martial Continent,'' John mused, as on the Divine Martial Continent, guards like these would usually be in the Dao Transformation Realm.


    "What is your purpose for entering the city?" the guard asked John, eyeing him up and down.


    "I have no specific purpose," John said. "I''m just looking to stay here for a few days and resupply before moving on again."


    The guard studied him and then nodded his head.


    "The entry fee is ten spirit crystals," he said.


    John raised an eyebrow, surprised at how cheap the price was.


    ''Ten spirit crystals? That''s almost nothing at all.''


    He took out ten spirit crystals and handed them over to the guard, who frowned at John with a look of displeasure.


    "Are you trying to be funny? I don''t have time for your jokes," the man said.


    John raised an eyebrow in confusion, and then nced to the side, where another traveler was interacting with a guard. The traveler took out ten spirit crystals and handed them to the guard, and was then allowed to enter within. John''s eyes widened as he realized why the guard was displeased with him.


    ''Ten High-Grade Spirit Crystals! To enter a city?''


    A Medium-Grade Spirit Crystal was worth a thousand Low-Grade Spirit-Crystals, and a High-Grade Spirit Crystal was worth one Medium-Grade Spirit Crystals. Ten High-Grade Spirit Crystals was the equivalent of a million Low-Grade Spirit Crystals, which was a staggering amount to merely enter a city.


    John shifted his gaze back to the guard, who seemed as though he was about to tell John to leave. John sighed and took out the Ten High-Grade Spirit Crystals and handed it over to the man. The man epted the crystals with a pleased look, but then frowned as he studied them.


    John instantly realized why the man was staring at the crystals with such a skeptical expression.


    ''My spirit crystals are all from the Divine Martial Continent, containing the Qi of my homeworld.''


    Just like his cultivation which had been detected by Furi, these crystals were indications that they were not of this world.

 Chapter 934 Entering Greatcrest City

    John remained calm, but couldn''t help but feel some tension. Paying with spirit crystals had never been something he had to be cognizant of, and so it had been a natural reaction to pay with his spirit crystals. Only after handing them over did he realize the problem.


    ''Hopefully this doesn''t cause a problem.''


    The guard stared at the crystals for a moment, then at John. A questioning look appeared on his face.


    "Where did you get these spirit crystals?" the man asked.


    A perplexed look appeared on John''s face, as if he had not been expecting such a question. Answering too quickly would reveal he had already expected such a question.


    "From a merchant near the Light Dao Sect," John shrugged. "Is there something wrong?"


    "These crystals¡­they''re quite strange," the guard replied, still studying them closely. "They feel¡­different than what I''m used to."


    "I thought so as well," John nodded in agreement, "but the merchant assured me that the Qi quality within is exactly the same as the crystals were used to. I thought them quite a novelty, so I agreed to the exchange."


    The man nodded silently, as if John''s story made sense. He put the crystals away a momentter, and gestured for John to enter the city.


    "You may enter," he said.


    John nodded calmly, but felt rushing relief internally. He stepped past the guard and through the city archway, which was several hundred yards wide and tall, allowing forrge carts to enter. Hundreds of other cultivators flowed through in each direction as he stepped through the archway and into the city proper.


    A sprawling city came into view, one half a dozen miles across. It wasn''t arge city whenpared to other cities he had seen, as the mountaintop space was limited. However, the city was still quite impressive, as it was built vertically instead of outwards.


    Thousands of buildings stretched up over a mile high, like a city of massive reeds stretching into the sky. The buildings were styled differently than he was used to, appearing sleeker and more eye-catching. ss covered most of the exteriors, unlike the buildings back home, which were mostly solid stone or other materials, with ss windows being used much less frequently. Not all the buildings had ssy exteriors, but enough did for him to notice.


    Arge street hundreds of yards wide stretched forward into the distance, seeming to go straight until it reached the opposite end of the city. The tallest buildings lined the main road, while the buildings became shorter as they approached the city walls, almost making the city look like a mountain made of buildings.


    Smaller roads stretched off the main road periodically, each then branching again to form a grid like pattern to the city. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    John took in the sight for a moment, unsure of where to begin.


    ''The first thing I need to do is find some ce to stay for a few days. Afterwards, I''ll explore the city, and try to find out if I can gather more information about this world. If I can find an informationwork that might have information on Lilian, that would be perfect.''


    n in mind, John started walking down the main road, exploring deeper into the city. He asked a few merchants for ces he could find lodging, and was directed towards a decently priced hotel close to the main road; Coiling Serpent''s Hotel.


    The hotel was nearly a mile tall, and was made from the same ss-like material as many of the other buildings, giving it a sleek design. Two coiling serpents, carved of some sort of stone, sat on either side of the entrance.


    John entered the hotel and was greeted with a bustling main lobby. He found an attendant to attend to his needs, and was situated with a room a short whileter for the modest price of one High-Grade Spirit Crystal per day.


    ''I figured the prices of this world would bepletely astronomical due to the city entrance fee, but it seems as though the fee is just unreasonably high.''


    A High-Grade Spirit Crystal for a single day of lodging was still a much higher price than any on the Divine Martial Continent, but thankfully John was notcking when it came to Spirit Crystals. The attendant had eyed the strange Spirit Crystals the same way the guard had done, but epted them nheless.


    John entered his room, which was on the one hundred and twelfth floor, and found avishly decorated room greet him. Comfortable and stylish furniture, a perfectly isted meditation room, an indoor pool and sauna, and more. If he was here for rest and rxation, such a room would be very much to his liking.


    He nodded his head in approval and entered the meditation chamber, as night was soon approaching. John focused on his usual routine, consisting of mediating before the holy gate and sinister gate, as well as focusing on his Dao''s closest to a breakthrough, primarily focusing on the Dao of Space, as well as a fusion between the Dao of Lightning and Dao of Destruction.


    While he had managed to fuse the first stages of the Dao of Lightning and Power, John was sure the Dao of Destruction was a better fusion with the Dao of Lightning, as that would make it closer to tribtion lightning, which was terrifyingly destructive.


    After spending many hours on the Dao''s, John ended his night with a long cultivation session, activating his Primordial Extermination Lightning Technique, the amazingly profound cultivation technique gifted to him by Celestial Soulrend. Thousands of small whirlpools of Qi appeared within his body, pulling in the thick Qi of this world into his body, and then his dantian. A satisfied feeling filled his body as he felt his essence cultivation grow at a noticeable speed, much faster than he was capable of on the Divine Martial Continent.


    After a full and satisfying night of cultivation, the morning sun arose, starting a new day. John cleaned up the dirt of being in the Immortal Forest for several weeks, donned a new robe, and stepped back into the streets of Greatcrest City.


    ''Time to find out what I can about this world, and hopefully Lilian as well.''

 Chapter 935 Hall Of Knowledge

    Despite it being quite early in the morning, the streets of Greatcrest City were buzzing with activity. Merchants were standing at the front of their buildings, enticing passerby''se step inside, carts pulled by beasts were moving about, and the scent of food drifted in the air from the nearby restaurants and taverns.


    John decided to start the day with breakfast, which was a rare indulgence for himtely.


    ''How many months has it been since Ist had breakfast?'' he wondered to himself as he entered a nearby restaurant. The scent of spiced meats and other delicacies hung in the air, making his stomach rumble with hunger despite him not needing to eat to survive.


    John was seated and ordered arge breakfast, many of the foods being things he did not recognize. The food arrived a whileter, and he dug into the delicious assortment of meats, vegetables, and fruits. Mouth full of food, John remained silent as a conversation between two men sitting in a nearby booth caught his attention.


    "Did you hear?" one man said, "the Sect Leader of the Light Dao Sect has gone missing!"


    "What? Are you sure?" the other man asked.


    "Sure as anyone can be," the first man nodded his head. "It''s all anyone can talk oftely. The Sect Leader went missing some weeks ago, and no amount of searching has found any trace of him. Such a powerful person wouldn''t just up and abandon their sect, and so everyone is sure he was killed."


    "That''s the second Third Tier Sect Leader that has perished in thest two weeks then," the second man said, shaking his head with disbelief. "Two in less than a month. That''s almost unheard of."


    The first man nodded his head, a serious look on his face as he leaned forward, lowering his voice.


    "There''s talk of some conspiracy brewing, as the death of two powerful sect leader''s that close to each other is far too coincidental to be an ident."


    "A conspiracy? Really? Is it the Devil Race?" the other man asked, face aghast.


    "Who knows," the man shook his head, "but there''s definitely something suspicious happeningtely. We''ll all have to be careful, it seems, as if even powerful sect leaders are being killed, then no one is really safe."


    John munched on his food, frowning the entire time.


    ''It seems Furi''s assassination is only part of something big going on. The woman mentioned the Continent of War, and the influence the Light Dao Sect healers were having there. It seems that whoever is ordering these assassinations is nning something big for that ce.''


    John still felt great anger at the woman who had killed Furi and the two youths, not only because he liked the three of them, but also because she ruined his ns with Furi.


    ''My n was perfect, but now I have to stumble blindly through this world, trying to find Lilian. I can''t just show up at the Light Dao Sect and say, ''hey, I was with your Sect Leader when he was killed by some woman I can''t identify''. Even if they believe me, I don''t think it would be worth the headache of bing involved with what''s going on. If that woman learns of my existence andes to find me¡­well, I''m still far too weak to deal with her. It''s best toy low and undetected for now, at least until I learn more of what''s going on, or I raise my strength to be able to death with any problems this world can throw at me.''


    John finished his meal in silence and then paid for his meal. The serving girl, a youth around his age, epted his money with a smile on her face, thanking him for his patronage.


    "Hey, do you know a ce nearby that deals with information?" John asked her before he left.


    "Information?" the girl asked, "What kind of information?"


    "Information regarding this continent, the sects, ns, and other powers, and, if possible, information regarding any oddities happeningtely," John borated.


    "Hmmm," the girl hummed, considering his question. "There''s a store nearby, the Hall of Knowledge, that sells books and scrolls regarding this continent, but as for the second part, I''m not too sure. You''ll have to ask them. It''s down this road on the right. You can''t miss it."


    John nodded and thanked the girl and left. He walked down the road for nearly a mile before spotting a building on the road, the sign above its entrance reading "Hall of Knowledge".


    John entered and looked around. The main lobby was rather empty, with hardly any furniture at all. There were several people standing around, as if waiting for something. John was quickly approached by an attendant of the Hall, a middle-aged man. He had a neatly trimmed mustache and wore a tight fighting ck and white top and pants, much different than the usual robes John was used to seeing others wear.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "How can I help you today, sir," the man said to John.


    "I''m looking to acquire information regarding this continent," John said, trying not to sound suspicious about the information he was requesting. "Information regarding the notable sects and ns, important locations, dangerous locations, and so on. I n to travel the continent and explore its wonders, so I''ll want as much information beforehand to n ordingly."


    The man nodded his head, buying into John''s reasonings.


    "Also, if you have it, I would like any information regarding oddities or anomalies urring recently."


    "Oddities?" the man asked curiously.


    "Anything out of the norm. Anything at all," John borated.


    "We do have the first part of what you''re looking for," the man said, "but as for recent information regarding oddities, we do not carry such information. Our Hall of Knowledge deals with established history and information, not gossip."


    John nodded his head and said he would take whatever the man could provide, but felt a tinge of disappointment, nheless. The man left him and entered a backroom, most likely where the information was kept. The building was over a dozen stories tall, and so the number of scrolls, jade pieces, books, and more in their collection must have been quite extensive.


    The man reappeared a whileter, carrying a spatial ring in his palm. He handed it to John to inspect.


    "These are the relevant sources you requested," the man said as John inspected them. "Several books, maps, and jade pieces containing as much information regarding this continent as we can provide."


    John casually nced through one of the books, which detailed a portion of the southwest of the Human Continent, including various maps, details regarding the prominent powers, hazard zones including the Immortal Forest he had recently ventured in, and more.


    There were dozens of books, jade pieces, and maps in total, and so theprehensive information given to him was quite extensive. John nodded his head with satisfaction, as this was very much what he needed at the moment.


    "I''ll take it. How much?" he asked.


    "One Thousand Spirit Crystals," the man said, causing John to sputter in reply.


    "On-One Thousand?" he repeated, shocked at such a price.


    That was one billion Low-Grade Spirit Crystals, for just some information.


    "This is the finest collection of information regarding this continent you''ll find in the city, and each piece is highly sought after," the man said calmly. "The price is firm."


    John frowned, studying the man''s face for a moment. One Thousand High-Grade Spirit Crystals was enough to buy a few high-end flying ships on the Divine Martial Continent. Thankfully his sale of tea leaves to the Mystic Trade Hall hadted him hundreds of thousands of High-Grade Spirit Crystals, and so while the amount was staggering, it was something he could afford, and something he desperately needed.


    "Deal," John finally nodded, and handed over a spatial ring containing the spirit crystals. The man epted the ring, an expectant skeptical gaze appearing on his face a momentter. He looked to John, and then put the ring away, apparently satisfied with the spirit crystals despite their odd aura.


    John left the Hall of Knowledge a short whileter and explored the city, asking for other ces of knowledge. He visited several other stores, each having approximately the same information he had already been provided. None seemed to deal with the real information he was hoping to obtain; information regarding oddities and anomalies as ofte, like Lilian crashing to the continent from high above, carrying an odd aura about her.


    John sighed and moved towards another store dealing with information, when he suddenly paused, his instincts ring with warning. His guard instantly raised as he felt the faintest of aura''s, the unmistakable aura of killing intent.

 Chapter 936 Killing Intent

    John wanted to re his divine sense out in all directions to detect the source of the killing intent, but he held back from doing so. Unleashing his Divine Sense would not only be considered incredibly rude in a dense city like this, as it would wash over thousands of other cultivators nearby, but would also alert the source of the killing intent that he could detect it.


    ''Could it be that woman, or one of the others in her group?''


    That was the only thing John could think of. No one else in this world would have killing intent towards him, as no one else knew who he even was. Trying to act as natural as possible, John continued walking forward, appearing calm on the outside, but alert and ready on the inside.


    He scanned for any movement in the shadowy alleyways nearby, any fluctuation in the auras surrounding him. Anything that would alert him to the source of the killing intent.


    Cultivators walked by him in both directions. Meridian Forging. Heaven Tribtion. Dao Transformation. Even World Expansion experts moved about, although thetter was the rarest by far. While each cultivator withheld their auras, the sheer number of people around him made them mix into a mess of aura''s, making it hard to discern which direction any singr aura came from.


    After walking down the street for several minutes, John stopped, feeling the aura of the killing intent. His frown turned into surprised confusion as he felt something he had not expected to happen.


    ''The killing intent. It''s growing weaker and weaker,'' he thought, turning around towards the direction he hade from, peering down the busy street. ''Is the source masking their killing intent better, or¡­?''


    He stopped and felt the aura, which remained faintly discernible but stable, neither growing stronger or weaker. After a moment of consideration, he continued on the way he was going, and the aura slowly became weaker and weaker, until he could hardly feel it at all.


    After walking for another mile down the road, he could no longer feel the killing intent at all. John then moved back in the direction he came, retracing his steps. His suspicion became confirmation as he felt the killing intent appear again, and grow stronger as he moved towards his original location.


    ''The killing intent¡­it''sing from a fixed location,'' John discerned. ''And I don''t think it''s for me. It''s more like general killing intent. Bizarre.''


    After realizing the killing intent was not directed at himself, John looked all around him, studying the cultivators going about their daily lives. None seemed to notice the killing intent, and if they did, they didn''t give any signs that they had detected it.


    ''Could they be used to it? No, I don''t think that''s the case,'' John shook his head lightly. ''This killing intent aura is so faint that even I hardly detected it, and thanks to my heaven-defying soulpower and instincts, my ability to detect killing intent is far beyond anyone else''s. The reason they ignore it is because they cannot detect it.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Unlike other aura''s, killing intent was not an aura that could be detected by brute force of soul-power or divine sense alone. It required heightened instincts honed through countless life and death encounters, as well as a bevy of other factors. John''s ability to detect killing intent was as heaven defying as his other qualities, and so the conclusion was one that made the most sense.


    Now that he knew what was going on, a strange curiosity sparked within him. John wanted to find the source of this killing intent, and figure out what was going on. The killing intent wasn''t at a level that he felt threatened, only that he felt its existence. If the source of the killing intent was from someone beyond him in power, his instincts would have screamed at him to flee, which it did not at the moment.


    John moved through the city, moving from street to street, weaving between alleyways and over bridges. He moved in a circr fashion through the city, as the source of the killing intent was quite hard to pinpoint. By circling it, he was able to detect if he was traveling farther or closer to it, and slowly but surely took a spiraling route towards the source of the killing intent.


    Hourster, John took at the entrance of a darkened alleyway. The alleyway was towards the northwest side of the city, rtively close to the opposite edge of the main entrance of the city. The street the alleyway branched off was smaller than most, and the number of people walking about was low.


    After ncing both ways to ensure no one was paying attention to him, John stepped into the alleyway, blending into the shadows. He moved slowly through the alleyway, guard raised, eyes darting about. The alleyway was quite unmemorable, and seemed to be nothing more than a passageway towards a street a hundred yards away.


    There were side doors to the buildings lining the alleyway, but nothing of note at all. He could see to the other side of the alleyway, where it reached the other street. There was nothing between him and that street, no person or visible source of the killing intent.


    John frowned as he looked both ways down the narrow alleyway, and moved cautiously through it. He eventually stopped roughly half-way through the alleyway and stared at the wall to his right. It was an exterior wall of one of the buildings that lined the alley, but seemed unremarkable. There wasn''t a door or anything of note, causing John to frown as he looked at the wall.


    ''The killing intent is on the opposite side of this wall.''


    Even this close to it, the killing intent was still incredibly faint. Almost no one except another heaven defying genius, or perhaps a Holy Manifestation cultivator would be able to detect its aura if they were in the alleyway.


    ''Even this close to it, I still feel no danger,'' John thought, studying the smooth wall before him. His eyes darted about it, and paused at a location about shoulder height. There, in the wall that was so smooth that it seemed to have no ws, the thinnest of lines could be seen, lines forming a small square.


    John inspected that part of the wall for a moment, and then pressed his hand against it. The wall suddenly moved, shifting to the side, revealing the source of the killing intent, the source illuminating John''s surprised face with a reddened glow.

 Chapter 937 Strange Statue

    John frowned as he stared at the space before him that had been opened up by his actions. Touching the square button on the wall had revealed a false wall, which had moved to reveal a room just behind it. The room was ten feet wide, deep, and tall, and contained only a singr object within.


    In the very center of the room was a pedestal, made of some marble-like stone. On the pedestal sat a bizarre object. It was about two feet tall, made of some unknown metallic material pitch ck in color, and depicted a human, seemingly a woman due to the curves of the body, shrouded in a ck robe, head bowed in shadows. The carving was incredibly intricate, and almost appeared as if the figure was alive due to its details.


    The right arm of the figure was held out to the side, and atop the upturned palm rested a strange object. The object appeared to be some sort of rune, carved or sculpted directly from a block of that lustrous, metallic material. The rune glowed at the edges, giving off a blood-red light, bathing both that figure and the room in the red glow. Most important of all, the rune was no-doubt the source of the killing intent, still nearly undetectable even standing this close to it.


    John had expedited the source to be from a cultivator or some creature, but never from what appeared to be some sort of artifact.


    John almost recognized the rune, but it was different from the one hepared it to. The Dao Rune of Death. It had many simrities, but seemed to diverge in a few sections of the rune, making it almost appear like the Rune for Death, but not quite.


    John nced about the room, seeing if there was anything else of note, but saw nothing. His gaze returned to the statue before him, and after a moment of consideration, he reached out towards it.


    His hand stopped several inches short of the statue, blocked by an invisible formation barrier. John frowned and pressed harder, but his hand was unable to move forward despite the strength he used.


    ''I might be able to break this formation if I used my full strength, but my aura alone would cause amotion.''


    John withdrew his hand and inspected the artifact for a while longer, an uneasy feeling growing stronger by the second.


    ''I feel as though I''m being watched¡­by this statue.''


    The feeling was almost imperceptible, and almost nonsensical, but John felt as though a pair of eyes were set on him, studying him. It made him feel uneasy, feeling the gaze but not seeing anyone nearby to stare at him. He was sure no one was hiding nearby, or else he would have detected their presence.


    ''Only a Holy Manifestation cultivator would be able to hide from my detection this close, and I highly doubt someone that strong is just sitting nearby,'' John assessed the situation.


    He took onest nce at the strange statue, and then shrugged.


    ''Well, I can''t touch it, and I don''t see anything else of note, so I guess I can only leave.''


    He wanted to know more about the strange statue and the reason for its existence, but knew standing around would not only get him no answers, but would only increase the chance of trouble finding him.


    John stepped back into the alleyway and after confirming both sides were clear, pressed the button on the wall again. The building wall reformed, hiding the room once more. John stepped back out into the street he hade from and blended into the crowd, moving back towards his hotel.


    ¡­


    Within a dimly lit room, a man sat cross legged, eyes closed as if in meditation. On the man''sp sat a statue, one exactly the same as the statue John had seen. The man''s right hand was resting on the small head of the statue, a slight aura of his Qi infused into it.


    The man opened his eyes a momentter, a frown appearing on his face. He stood up and carried the statue with him, and then stepped out of the dimly lit room. Arge chamber appeared before him, one lit with glowing red formation lights, basking the chamber in an ominous glow.


    Within the chamber were dozens of other people, many shrouded in pitch-ck robes, their featurespletely obscured. The man moved through the chamber to the other side, and knocked on a closed door.


    He waited patiently until he heard a voice from the other side of the door.


    "What is it?" a feminine voice asked. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Someone just arrived at the entranceway," the man said.


    "Someone? Who is it? Is Asha back? Or is it Shadow Four?" the woman asked.


    "Neither," the man said after a moment of hesitation, as if his answer was absurd to speak.


    "Neither?" the woman asked, slight confusion in her voice. "Only Asha and Shadow Four are out on a mission. Is it someone from another division?"


    "No," the man said, shaking his head. "It is someone I do not recognize."


    Silence answered the man, followed by the door opening a momentter. A woman appeared in the doorway, frowning at the man. She wore the same ck robes as the others, but had the hood down, revealing her features.


    She appeared to be in herte twenties, and had long ck hair, tied in a ponytail, that fell down to the middle of her waist. Her bright-green eyes stared at the man before her, who had his head slightly bowed in respect.


    "Show me," she said.


    The man nodded and moved the statue in his hands towards her. The woman ced her hand on the statue''s head and closed her eyes. Her frown deepened a momentter, her eyes opening once more.


    "Do you recognize him?" the man asked curiously. The woman shook her head.


    "No," she said, falling silent for a moment. She turned her gaze towards a nearby area with sofas and tables, where two people sat, both shrouded in their pitch-ck robes.


    "Shadow Six, Shadow Ten," she said to them. The two suddenly appeared before her like ghosts. She instructed them to touch the statue, to which the two did.


    "Find this boy," she instructed, "and learn what you can about him. Report to me when you have learned something of note."


    The two nodded.


    "Do you want us to take action when we find him?" one of the shrouded figures asked, the voice light yet deep, most likelying from a youthful male.


    "No," the woman shook her head. "Report back to me when you have what I want, at which point I will take action. We do not know what we are dealing with here."


    The two shrouded figures nodded and then vanished.


    "Has our location been leaked?" the man asked. "Could it be the Phantoms of Death?"


    "It''s impossible for one to stumble upon the Mark of Shadowed Death by their own," the woman replied, frowning. "So that is the only usible exnation, but I cannot confirm if the Phantoms are behind it or not. It''s far too sloppy to be the work of the Phantoms. Once I learn what this boy knows, we will dispose of him, and then move our operations to another location. Start the preparations."


    The man nodded and walked away, leaving the woman alone. A thoughtful frown lingered on her face before she walked back into her room, the door closing behind her.

 Chapter 938 Followed

    John spent the next two days in the city, exploring it as thoroughly as he could. There was much to learn about this world, and this city was a perfect opportunity to expand his knowledge about the world.


    He had explored buildings dealing with general information, cultivation methods, pills, battle arts, and more. From what he had learned, Greatcrest City was considered a middling city. It bordered the Immortal Forest, and so it was in quite a dangerous location. As such, expansion was difficult, and only by utilizing the natural defensive formations of the mountain it was on, as well as the formation barriers, was it able to maintain itself without being destroyed by the creatures of the forest.


    Despite it being a middling city, John had been impressed by what he had seen thus far. The pills, cultivation methods, and battle arts were all impressive, and many would be considered top tier arts back home. He had even discovered some battle arts for sale that would have caused a stir back on the Divine Martial Continent, but sadly none of the arts suited him very well.


    The arts for sale that were of high-quality mostly dealt with themon Dao''s, and not the moreplicated and profound Dao''s.


    He had hoped to find some spatial battle arts or movement arts in the city, but even here on this world, arts dealing with the spatial Dao seemed to be quite rare, and those that were provided were low in value.


    ''The high-tier arts regarding the spatial Dao are probably sect secrets, limited to those who join those top tier sects. The quality of arts I find here are going to becking,'' John thought as he perused through the contents of a store that sold battle arts.


    He inspected the jade piece in his hand, a piece that contained a fire-based battle art, and then put it back. He inspected therge showroom for some time, which contained hundreds of jade pieces, each containing a battle art or movement technique.


    While inspecting the arts, an attendant came up to him, inquiring about his needs.


    "Do you have any high-level movement arts that deal with the Spatial Dao?" John asked.


    "I''m afraid not," the middle-aged attendant shook his head. "The Spatial Dao is an incredibly profound Dao, and we only have low quality arts that deal with the Spatial Dao."


    John frowned, expecting the answer, but was disappointed nheless.


    "Do you know where I could obtain high-level spatial Dao arts?" John asked.


    "Most likely only in the Tier One Sects, and perhaps some of the stronger Tier Two Sects," the man replied.


    John nodded and thanked the man, and then left the building. He inquired about spatial Dao arts at several other ces, but received the same answer. John left another battle art building and walked into the busy street, deep in thought.


    ''I''ve obtained quite a bit of high-quality pills of various purposes, as well as some decent battle arts pertaining to the Dao''s I just recently learned, but I still haven''t found anything that can raise mybat prowess.''


    When it came to his primary Dao''s, John already had very high-level battle arts, and in some cases, heaven-defying battle arts. Finding upgrades for those was going to be quite difficult. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    John walked down the busy street in the direction of his hotel, deep in thought. The sun was going down and night would fall soon, and so it was time to retire to his room for a long night of cultivation.


    Halfway to his hotel, a frown appeared on John''s face as he narrowed his eyes.


    ''I''m being watched again.''


    He had felt eyes watching him from the shadows over thest two days, but had not done anything about it. Those watching him had been very careful to keep themselves hidden, and had disyed no killing intent or bloodlust towards him, making it difficult to identify them in such a popted area.


    Those who had been watching him had not taken any action, and so John had ignored the issue. Now however, the feeling of those eyes watching him had returned, and was much stronger than before.


    This time there was the faintest feeling of killing intent, the first time that had happened.


    ''There''s killing intent this time, but more importantly, I can tell the one watching me right now is definitely stronger than those watching me before. I almost didn''t notice their gaze, and most likely wouldn''t have if not for the killing intent.''


    The killing intent was so faint as to almost be non-existent, and was almost fainter than the artifact he had found which had disyed killing intent. If it was anyone else in his position, they would not have noticed it.


    John continued on his way, as if he had not noticed the killing intent. Fighting was prohibited in the city, and he didn''t want to cause amotion by fighting in the streets.


    ''They definitely don''t know I''ve noticed them, so I''ll use that to my advantage. People have been following me for days, no doubt rted to that strange artifact, so I think it''s time I get some answers as well.''


    Half a mile away from his hotel, John took a right down a rtively narrow street, and walked down it for some time. He took several more turns, making his way to less and less popted streets. The road he was currently on was almost deserted, and was no wider than a dozen yards.


    The sun had fallen by now, nketing the city in darkness, illuminated only by the formation lights scattered throughout the city. There were hardly any formation lights here, making the street quite dark.


    He spotted an alleyway to his right, onepletely devoid of any people and almostpletely dark. John walked down the alleyway, his pace steady and face calm, as if he had not noticed there was a perpetual gaze filled with killing intent on him.


    Halfway through the alley, John''s gaze flickered. The killing intent had intensified for the briefest of moments, and his instincts red with warning. A sh of light appeared behind him as a dagger pierced out of the darkness, directly towards his back.

 Chapter 939 Shadowed Woman

    The dagger pierced through John, whose figure suddenly vanished from sight. The dagger pierced into the alleyway floor a short distance away, disappearing beneath its durable floor, carving through it like it was butter.


    John instantly reappeared a short distance away, in the direction he hade from. While his control of the spatial Dao was far from perfect, traveling such a short distance through space was now something he was capable of, and was perfect for this situation.


    He appeared next to a figure, one that he couldn''t see, but could feel. In the dark alleyway, he felt as though a shadowed mass hovered before him, darkening the surrounding area in an even darker ckness. It was a strange thing to look at, and almost made John wonder if he was imagining things.


    His instincts told him otherwise, that the ckness was real, and something was within. His hand stretched out like lightning towards the imperceptible ckness, trying to clutch onto what was within.


    The ckness moved before he could touch it, like a shadow moving in the darkness. It was almost impossible to see, but the slight movements were all the confirmation John needed to know he wasn''t imagining things.


    He shed forward once more, unleashing a palm-strike towards the shadow. Whatever the shadow was, it seemed to avoid direct confrontation, and it slipped away at thest moment again, melding into the darkness once more.


    The nearly imperceptible mass of ckness then exploded outwards, sending off chunks of itself into the nearby area. Instantly, there were nearly a dozen masses of ckness, each simr in aura to the original.


    John stopped and stared into the darkness, feeling the aura of the ck shadows surrounding him. He made no move as the shadows had not moved either. Silence filled the alleyway for a short while before a voice finally spoke out.


    "Impressive," a feminine voice said, sounding like it belonged to a rather young woman. John raised an eyebrow as he stared at the dark shadows surrounding him. "You''re the very first person at a cultivation lower than mine to detect me in my shadowed form. And to think, you''re a full major realm lower, and yet you managed to aplish what others could not."


    Thest sentence seemed to be a little bitter, as if the woman was disappointed with herself for not catching John off guard.


    "Thanks?" John replied, his guard raised but was otherwise calm. The woman''s words had indicated her cultivation level, Early World Expansion Realm. If that was the case, dealing with her would be troublesome, but not impossible.


    "When did the Phantoms obtain such a talent?" the woman asked, her shadowy forms shifting about in the darkness, making it impossible to pinpoint her true location. "And why would they send such a talent on a mission like this. Sending one of their most promising talents to their death is not something I thought the Phantoms would do."


    John sighed, finally realizing, at least a little, why he was being followed and targeted by this woman. He had stumbled upon that artifact, and had no-doubt been detected by this woman, who thought he was part of the ''Phantoms'', which based on her reaction, was an enemy of hers.


    John shook his head at himself, as his curiosity had gotten him into a mess once more.


    "I have no idea what you''re talking about," John said calmly.


    "Feigning ignorance will not save you," the woman replied, her figure still shifting about. "Only one from our guild can detect the Mark. Clearly the Phantom''s found out the location of the Mark somehow, and sent you to inspect. Do you deny this?"


    "Of course I deny it," John replied, "I still have no idea what you''re talking about. I''ve never heard of the Phantoms, nor have I heard about the Mark."


    "Hmmm, is that so?" the woman replied, seemingly amused as the lies John was telling. "Then how did you find the Mark? Did you just manage to stumble upon it?" she asked, her voice slightly mocking, as if she would not ever believe such a story.


    "Well, no," John said, "I didn''t stumble upon it. I felt it."


    "You felt it?" the voice asked, slightly surprised.


    "Yeah," John nodded his head. "I was in the city, and I felt a permanent killing intent. At first I thought it was on me, but then I figured out it wasing from some ce. I followed the killing intent to that wall, and then found that ''Mark'', as you call it. That''s all."


    "Impossible," the woman said. "No one can detect the Mark''s killing intent unless they are attuned to it. Its aura is far too faint for anyone to detect otherwise, especially by one in the Dao Transformation Realm."


    John shrugged, as he knew the woman wouldn''t instantly believe him.


    "I detected your killing intent, did I not?" he asked calmly. "And I''m sure you''re quite talented at what you do, especially based on what you said earlier, so doesn''t that give what I said some credibility?"


    The alleyway fell silent for quite some time. The woman was clearly considering his words, trying to figure out if what he said was the truth or not.


    "What you say does make some sense," the woman finally said, her words slower with contemtion. "You did manage to detect me, although I don''t know how. That alone is proof that your instincts are heaven-defying. But still, to detect the mark on you own¡­impossible."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    John shrugged again. The alleyway fell silent once more.


    "If you are not from the Phantom''s of Death, then which faction or sect do you belong to?"


    "I don''t belong to any power," John said calmly.


    "Impossible," the woman replied again. "How could one as talented as yourself not belong to a power? How else did you obtain this strength?"


    "I have my secrets, as I''m sure you do as well," John said calmly, "but I can guarantee that I do not belong to any faction or sect. I also have no qualms with you or whatever the ce you guard is, so if you''ll let me on my way, I''ll forget I ever saw that artifact, or whatever it was."


    "I cannot let you leave. You have seen the location of the artifact, and we cannot allow that to be leaked," the woman said, her voice growing slightly colder.


    John shrugged nonchntly again, as if her answer didn''t really concern him one way or another.


    "That''s fine I guess," he said calmly. His gaze narrowed a momentter as he snapped his head to the side, locking onto one of the dozen or so masses of ckened shadows. The shadow seemed to freeze for a brief moment as he pointed towards it, powerful lightning buzzing on his fingertip. "But if you want to kill me, I''m afraid it''s going to be a lot harder than you think."


    "I don''t mind burning this city to the ground in our battle," he added.


    Silence filled the alleyway for quite some time before the dozen ck masses of shadows vanished. A woman appeared from within the mass of ckness John was pointing at, and stepped towards him. She wore a pitch-ck robe, which had the hood over her head, obscuring her features.


    John tried to peer within, but there was a shadowy ckness before her face, obscuring her features. The two stared at each other for a short while before the woman spoke.


    "Since you do not belong to any faction," she said, her voice friendlier than before. "How would you like to join my guild?"


    "Join your guild?" John said, eyebrows raised. "And why would I do that?"


    "Because," the woman said, and although John could not see her face, he could feel that she was smiling at him. "If you do, we will be able to provide you with the things you''ve been searching for thest few days. What was it? Information regarding oddities, and some high-level battle arts regarding the Spatial Dao?"


    John frowned at the woman.


    ''Clearly those who were watching me the past two days ryed that information to her.''


    He fell silent, considering her offer. He had no idea who this woman was, or what her guild did, but if she could provide him with the things she just mentioned, it would be worth it to at least check it out.


    "What is the name of your guild? And what does it do?" John asked, although he could already guess it''s true purpose.


    "You should have guessed what we do by now," the woman said, "and as for its name, you can only learn that once you join. With your talent, I''m sure we''ll both benefit quite nicely if you join."


    John remained silent as he considered the offer.


    ''I suppose joining will be beneficial in the short term. And if it turns out to be a trap or against my best interests, I''ll just flee. It''s not like these people know who I am, so they won''t be able to easily track me down. And they don''t know my truebat strength, so any trap they set should they set one will not be strong enough to contain me.''


    After a moment of consideration, John nodded his head.


    "Fine, I''ll consider joining, but only if what you tell me of the guild and what you do is to my liking," he said firmly, as if there was no room for debate.


    The woman considered him in silence for some time, then nodded.


    "Agreed. Then follow me, and wee, if you so wish, to the Shadows of Death Assassination Guild."

 Chapter 940 Dagger From The Shadows

    "I never said I was joining," John said calmly as the two strode down the dark streets, seemingly back towards the mysterious artifact as far as John could tell.


    "Are you an enemy of humanity?" the woman asked.


    "No," John confirmed.


    "And are you good at killing?"


    "You could say that," John shrugged.


    "And do you desire riches, profound battle arts, and secretive information?" the woman asked, emphasizing thest part, as she had information on how hard John had searched for such a thing over the past few days. It was obvious he desired it more than the other things he searched for, and the woman knew what.


    "You already know the answer to that," John replied, not giving the woman the satisfaction of confirming directly.


    The shrouded womanughed lightly.


    "Then there is no reason not for you to join," she said. "I can guarantee you three things should you join. One, you will have the opportunity to ess battle arts and cultivation techniques beyond your wildest imaginations."


    ''I doubt that,'' John thought. He had seen too many heaven-defying battle arts already, and was in possession of a few of them, but kept his remark to himself.


    "Two, you will be able to obtain resources, such as spirit crystals, pills, artifacts, and more that would only be possible to obtain by joining a Tier One Sect."


    John nced sideways at her, slightly surprised to hear such a im. He could tell the woman was not embellishing at all. If in fact her guild had ess to things only the Tier One Sects had, then the guild was not as simple as it currently appeared.


    "And third," the woman said, turing to look at him, her face still shrouded in her shadowed hood. "You will have ess to the number one informationwork on the continent. Not even the Tier One Sects can im to have a better informationwork."


    The third im truly surprised John.


    ''Better than the Tier One Sects? This guild really isn''t simple at all.''


    That third part was what he needed the most. Information to find Lilian. If he was going to find her, learning of her location was the first step. Only by having ess to the most up to date information would he be able to aplish this.


    John remained silent, keeping his desire for information as best he could. The women already knew he wanted ess to an informationwork, but he wouldn''t let her know just how much he desired that ess.


    "How can you be certain that I''m not a spy?" John asked her, changing the subject.


    The woman had been quick to ept his answers, and he wanted to probe her answers, and determine if he was walking into some sort of trap.


    The womanughed lightly, as if his question was quite silly.


    "You are far too naive to be a spy," the woman said, "I''ve met quite a few Phantom spies, and they all are quite convincing, but you beat them by a mile. If you are a spy, then I have failed as an assassin, and deserve to be tricked. Also, I have good reasons to believe your story."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ''Good reasons?'' John raised an eyebrow at her answer, but remained silent.


    The two walked through the city, the streets lit brightly by formation lights of differing colors, bathing the city in a multi-colored glow. It was quite beautiful to look at, and before long, John found himself standing before the wall where he had discovered the artifact.


    "I still find it incredible that you were able to find this on your own," the woman said softly, cing her hand against the wall. The wall parted away, revealing the red room with the statue in the middle. "You are the very first to ever aplish such a thing," she said as she stepped into the room.


    John followed behind and looked around for any traps or dangers, but noticed nothing. The wall closed behind them as they entered, and the woman ced her hand on the artifact in the statue''s hand, the one that looked like an altered rune of death.


    She reached out with her other hand and grabbed John''s wrist. His vision went dark for an instant before returning. John quickly looked around, and found himself standing in an enclosed room, one that was different from the one they had just been in.


    "Wee back," a man to their side said.


    John looked at him, and noticed the man holding a statue in his hands, one that looked the same as the one he had just been near. The woman nodded to the man and then strode forward towards the door on the opposite side of the room.


    John followed, his guard raised, and walked through the door. Arge chamber came into view, one that glowed a soft red. A bar, several lounges, and other furnishings came into view, making it look like afortable tavern.


    There were many doors on the edges of therge chamber, leading to rooms unseen. Within therge chamber were quite a few other cultivators, who instantly took notice of John''s arrival. There were eight cultivators in total, and each wore the exact same robe as the woman who had led him here. About half of the cultivators had their hoods up, obscuring their faces, while the other half had them down.


    Three men and a woman, all appearing to be in theirte twenties or early thirties stared at him with wide eyes, as if his presence waspletely unexpected. The others had their faces shrouded, but John was sure they had simr expressions.


    "What is going on here?" one of the men with his face revealed asked, frowning at John with a cautious gaze. "You said you were going to kill him. Why have you brought him here?"


    The others remained silent, but their expressions revealed they had the same questions as the man.


    The woman stepped forward and gestured to John. She quickly exined the situation, from their encounter, to their conversations afterwards. The expressions of the others changed from shock, to doubt, to skepticism as they listened. Her story finally ended, returning the room to silence.


    "You want us to believe such obvious lies?" one of the shrouded cultivators asked, the voice feminine.


    "Right! There''s no way anyone can detect the Mark without attuning to it first," another said. "He''s obviously lying, and is a spy and this location had been leaked."


    "Are you doubting my judgment?" the woman who had led John here said firmly, her voice growing cold. The room fell silent.


    "Of course not," one said, "it''s just¡­a hard story to believe."


    "An impossible story, more like it," another chimed in, but quickly averted his gaze as he felt a chilling from the woman. Just based on the reactions of the others, John could tell that the woman who had led him here was in charge.


    John remained silent the entire time, allowing them to figure it all out. His gaze suddenly narrowed, and an angered scowl appeared on his face as he felt a lethal threat approaching from behind, a faint killing intent leaking from the source that held the dagger piercing towards his back.

 Chapter 941 Shocking Identity

    "What are you-" the woman beside John yelled out frantically, but her words were toote.


    The mysterious person holding the dagger arrived behind John like a ghost, the dagger piercing forward with lethal intent.


    John spun around instantly, a wave of anger rushing through him. He roared with power as his right hand punched sideways, mming into the outstretched arm of the mysterious assassin before the dagger could reach him. A sickening crunch sounded out as his punch broke the assassin''s arm, blood flying outwards as bone broke through skin.


    A cry of pain filled the chamber, which shook violently a momentter as John rushed forward, grasped the assassin by the neck, and mmed him into the wall of the chamber. The chamber wall cracked, and a pained gasp escaped the assassin''s mouths as John''s hand nearly crushed his neck.


    Had he not held back, it would have no doubt done so.


    John stared at the assassin in his grasp. The assassin was shrouded in the same robes as the others, and had their hood up, obscuring their face. Based on the build and the cries of pain, John determined that it was a male. A quick scan with his divine sense revealed the man''s cultivation to be at the Late Dao Transformation Realm.


    After inspecting the man for a moment, John''s divine sense flooded the chamber, making sure he kept track of each and every cultivator within. None of them had moved an inch since the attack came towards him, and he could see expressions of shock and surprise on each of their faces. Either they were surprised the stealth attack had happened, or that he had managed to detect it and stop it in time.


    Still holding the neck of the assassin, John turned around and held the man by his neck, feet lifted off the ground, so that the struggling man was between him and the others. His fingers dug into the skin of the man, threatening to crush his neck with a single squeeze.


    "What''s the meaning of this?" John asked, his gaze snapping to the woman who had led him here.


    "I did not order him to do this," the woman said, "this was not a trap. He acted on his own volition."


    "Is that so?" John said, looking at the others.


    "Let him go, and we can ask him why he attacked you," the woman said, gesturing to the one in John''s grip. "He will be punished ordingly based on his answer."


    John''s gaze shifted from the woman to the man in his grip, and his arm flung outwards, sending the man crashing towards the woman. The woman''s Qi red to stop the man''s fast approach, allowing him toe to a gentle stop before he crashed into her.


    A gasp of pain escaped the shrouded man''s mouth as he was finally free of John''s grip, falling to his knees. John kept his guard raised as he watched the woman walk up to the man, ready to take action at a moment''s notice if it was needed.


    His narrowed gaze quickly became reced with wide-eyed surprise as he saw the woman unleash a powerful barrage of kicks on the man, toppling him over onto the ground. Each kick was quite powerful, and shook the chamber with each kick. The others looked on with unsurprised expressions, as if they had expected such a reaction from the woman, although their gazes were slightly apologetic for the man being assaulted.


    "Why¡­the¡­fuck¡­did¡­you¡­do¡­that?" the woman said angrily, a kick raining down on the man between each word. Each kick was followed with a cry of pain from the man, who curled up in a ball to protect himself.


    "I''m sorry!" the man yelled out between kicks, which continued for quite some time before the woman eventually stopped, leaving the man in a much worse condition than John had left him in.


    She took a step back from the crumpled man.


    "Exin yourself," she barked at him.


    The man groaned in pain, as if he hadn''t heard her. The woman huffed with displeasure and took a step forward, her foot rising for another kick.


    "I''ll exin myself," the injured man hastily said, climbing to his knees. The speed and shakiness at which he did so revealed his injuries to be quite extensive, and blood was soaked into his ck robes, giving the fabric a glistening sheen in the red light.


    The man kneeled before her, and the woman flung back his hood, revealing his features. The man appeared to be in his early twenties, or perhaps mid-twenties. He had short blonde hair, and a rather average face, or as best as John could tell with the blood and injuries covering it.


    He looked up at the woman with a pleading expression.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "I¡­I just wanted to make sure you weren''t being tricked somehow," the man said.


    "You attacking him aplishes that how?" the woman asked furiously, lurching forward as if to attack him out of anger.


    "I just couldn''t believe he found this ce on his own," the man hastily stammered before he was attacked again. "So I decided to attack him when he was distracted. If he truly has such abilities, he would have detected me in time. If he couldn''t, then he was obviously lying, and is a spy."


    The room fell silent for a short moment before the woman suddenly kicked out, the heel of her foot mming into the man''s face.


    "So, you think you have better judgment than me?" she yelled as the man flew across the room, mming into the far wall with a sickening crunch.


    "No¡­of course not," he stammered through the pain, "I was wrong. Please forgive me."


    "How do you want to deal with him," the woman asked, turning to John.


    "You want me to decide?" John asked, surprised. Based on what had happened, it was clear the man had truly worked alone, and that the woman really was furious at him for his actions.


    "Yes," the woman confirmed. "You may do what you want, although I would ask you to spare him. Shadow seven is an idiot, but a good man. He did this thinking he was helping the guild."


    John shifted his gaze to the beaten and broken man, who trembled in pain on the ground. He shrugged.


    "It seems like you''ve given him punishment already," John said, his voice causing the woman and the others to sigh in relief.


    "But," John added, his gaze narrowing and aura growing cold. "If any of you do something like this again, I''ll kill you without mercy."


    The woman nodded her head.


    "Fair. Now follow me," she said, walking across the chamber. John did so, the eyes of the others glued to him as if he were an exotic beast, or a dangerous predator. John entered another room, the door closing a momentter.


    The room was quiterge, and was furnished with everything a person would need to live in, from a bed, to furniture, to a meditation chamber. The woman sat on one of the couches in the middle of the room, and gestured for John to sit.


    He did so, and his eyes went wide with surprise as the woman pushed her hood back, revealing her face. The woman had long ck hair, tied in a ponytail, that fell down to the middle of her waist. Her ck hair suddenly started shifting colors, and soon became blonde, which appeared to be her natural hair color.


    Shock washed through John as he stared at her face, one that was strikingly familiar to another girl he had recently met.


    Her bright-green eyes stared at John''s surprised expression, her expression growing serious.


    "What happened to my father? What happened to my siblings?"


    John didn''t even need to ask who she was talking about, as the woman before him appeared almost exactly like a slightly older version of Suri.


    ''She¡­she''s Furi''s daughter?!''

 Chapter 942 Zuri

    The woman''s face was nearly identical to Suri, only appearing her twenties instead of teens, with traces of Furi''s characteristics, especially the eyes. They were the same color as Furi''s, and even seemed to shimmer the same way in certain lights. She was incredibly beautiful, John admitted internally.


    And she was without a doubt Furi''s daughter.


    John regained hisposure despite the shocking turn of events.


    ''This woman seems certain I know of Furi''s demise. I need to find out why before I answer.''


    A reply formted in his head, but the woman spoke up again before he could say anything.


    "There''s no use in trying to hide it," the woman said, her gaze narrowed, as if skeptical of John and his involvement with Furi''s disappearance. "I know you were with him before contact was lost. Nothing you say will convince me otherwise."


    John frowned at her strongarmed approach.


    "Why are you so certain that I know your father? Or was there when you lost contact with him?" John asked, trying to dig for answers.


    The woman leaned back in her seat, her guard still raised but eyes distant, as if she were recalling some troubling memories.


    "Several weeks ago, my father sent me a message through a transmission disk. It was brief, but indicated he might have found the solution to his cultivation problem," the woman said, focus returning to her eyes.


    "He didn''t give much information, but indicated he had found a youthful talent that could obtain him what he needed, and in return, he needed to provide the youth information. Information regarding a woman that fell from beyond this world to thisnd. Quite an¡­oddity, wouldn''t you say?"


    The woman emphasized the word oddity, and that was one of the ways John described what kind of information he needed when shopping around the city for it.


    John remained silent, as he could tell there was more.


    ''I guess this is rted to the informationwork Furi mentioned.''


    The woman continued after noticing he was not going to interrupt her.


    "Then a short wholeter, I received just a single word transmission from him. ''Danger''. That was all he sent, and then the connection between our transmission disks was lost."


    The woman stood up and walked to a nearby table which contained wines and another alcoholic drinks. She posed herself a ss of fragrant red wine and downed it, then poured another ss and sat down once more.


    "I have heard nothing from him since, and no one else has heard, seen, or found any trace of him since," she continued, taking another sip of wine. "And then several weekster, I receive news of a Dao Transformation youth stumbling out of the Immortal Forest, a ce where no Dao Transformation cultivator can survive for long. And then that same youth happens to find our hideout by instincts alone, and even has thebat prowess to avoid my attacks and overwhelm one of my Late Dao Transformation assassins. So tell me, are you still going to deny the youth my father mentioned is you after everything I just said?"


    John studied the woman for quite some time, weighting the pros and cons of admitting the truth. The pros eventually won out in the end.


    "I won''t deny it," he said calmly.


    The woman sighed softly, relieved, but also conflicted. Her gaze hardened further, as if she would kill him unless he gave her a reasonable answer, one that did not implicate him in her fathers demise.


    "What happened?" She asked, voice tense. "Is my father¡­. Are my siblings?"


    "They''re dead," John said softly.


    A look of grief and despair appeared on her face for a short moment. Her face returned to normal a short whileter, herposure impressing John.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "What happened?" She asked. "Leave no detail out."


    John nodded and decided to tell her everything that had happened, as the truth best served him in this situation. He kept out the secrets involving himself and Lilian, but detailed everything else, from the ve caravan to the assassination of Furi.


    He fell silent after telling the story, allowing the woman to digest it all. She remained silent for a long while, gaze distant.


    After a long silence, the woman growled out one word, her voice filled with hatred and disgust.


    "Phantoms."


    John had recalled her mentioning that word before, alluding to them being an enemy power. He was curious about who the ''Phantoms'' were, but remained silent as the woman collected herself.


    The woman downed her ss of wine and returned to the bar. She grabbed an entire bottle and returned to her chair, drinking directly from it. It was quite brutish, but Johnpletely understood. Everyone had their own ways of dealing with grief and loss.


    "The Phantoms are our enemy," the woman said, as of reading John''s thoughts. "Their full name is the Phantoms of Death, and they are an assassination guild that targets only humans. They kill important figures of humanity, their sole mission being to weaken the strength of the human race."


    John found that slightly surprising, as the woman who had killed Furi was also human. John''s thoughts shifted to the Astral Emperor, who was doing something simr, so the possibility of the woman being part of the Phantoms of Death wasn''t impossible.


    "The guild I am part of, the Shadows of Death, is the exact opposite," she continued, taking another sip. "We operate in the shadows, assassinating targets whose death strengthens humanity. Those targets include the Phantoms," she said, studying John''s expression.


    She paused to take another sip from the bottle, and then leaned forward towards John.


    "The informationwork my father mentioned is rted to my guild, as I''m sure you''ve figured out by now," the woman said, taking another sip from the bottle. "I had already started inquiring about the matter my father requested, but have learned nothing yet."


    John felt his hope rise and fall in a single sentence.


    "However, if anyone can find this woman you''re looking for, it''s us. So now that you know everything, what is your decision? Will you join us?"


    John had already made his decision earlier, and replied with a firm nod.


    "Good," the woman said, smiling. She handed over the wine bottle to John, who epted it and took a swig. His eyes lit up with delight. It was delicious.


    "I''m Zuri by the way," she said.


    John nearly choked on his wine, but kept his remark regarding her name to himself.


    "John," he returned the greeting.


    "Well, John, you are now officially a Shadow of the Shadows of Death. What do you say to celebrating by going out to hunt some Phantoms?" She asked, a wide smile forming on her face.


    Her cheeks were rosy red from the alcohol, making her even more beautiful than normal. But John could tell that beneath that beauty was a hidden beast, waiting to explode with power. In fact, the woman reminded him of Lilian, beautiful yet incredibly dangerous.


    He smiled and nodded his head.


    "Let''s go hunting."

 Chapter 943 Leaving Greatcrest City

    Zuri led John back into the main chamber of the hideout, where the other assassins of the guild were gathered.. All eyes turned to John and Zuri, curious as to what was discussed, and also still stunned at what John had previously done.


    His ability to detect the stealth attack from someone two minor realms above him, and also easily overpower the man as well, waspletely stunning. If they had not seen it with their own eyes, they would have never believed it.


    John nced at the man who had attacked him, who was being tended to by some of the other members of the guild. He was quite battered and bruised, with a broken nose and several fractured ribs. The man nced at John, his gaze trembling as he quickly averted it.


    "Boss, your hair?" one female asked, noticing Zuri''s changed hair color. She had always had it ck, but had changed it to her natural blonde when she had revealed herself to John.


    John nced at Zuri''s hair.


    ''She most likely changed it to distance herself from Furi, and make it harder to recognize her. I suppose that''s not really necessary anymore.''


    "Listen up," Zuri said out loud, ignoring thement about her hair. "This is John, and as of right now, he is a Shadow" she said, gesturing to John.


    Some of the members nodded at John, weing him, while others looked at him with skepticism, curiosity, and one with agitation; the injured man.


    "How can he be a Shadow already?" the man asked, his voice mumbly due to his yet to be healed facial injuries. "He hasn''t taken the test. He hasn''t earned a ranking."


    Zuri shot a displeased look at the man, who quickly shut up.


    "He will take the test tomorrow," Zuri said, "but I''m sure you''ve all seen enough to know that he will pass with flying colors, and that the test is nothing more than a formality for him."


    Most of the others nodded their heads, agreeing with Zuri. She nodded back, satisfied with their eptance of the unusual situation.


    "Has Shadow Four returned from her mission yet?" Zuri asked.


    "No," one of the hooded members replied, shaking their head. The voice belonged to a woman, who seemed to have some concern in her voice. "And we have not heard anything from her yet either. She should have sent her nightlymunication by now, but¡­"


    The woman pushed her hood back, revealing a rtively pretty face belonging to a woman who appeared to be in her mid twenties. She had long brown hair, tied into a ponytail, which fell down to her shoulders. She had a soft face and gentle features, quite the opposite one would expect from an assassin.


    John raised an eyebrow.


    ''That face has no doubt been used to let guards down around her before she strikes,'' he thought.


    Her gentle face was scrunched up in concern, clearly worried for this Shadow Four that was mentioned.


    A frown appeared on Zuri''s face as she fell silent for a moment, then nced at John next to her.


    "I was going to take us on a rtively easy hunt," she said, "but this development is quite concerning. Are you okay with me bumping up the difficulty a bit?"


    "If you can handle it, I can handle it," John shrugged nonchntly, indicating that she shouldn''t hold herself back for his sake.


    "Watch your tone around the boss," one of the hooded members said, a male voice filled with displeasure. "Who are you topare yourself to her? Learn your ce-"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    His voice cut off as he noticed a sharp stare from Zuri. John nced around the room at the others, many who had a look of disapproval on their faces.


    ''They all clearly have a very high opinion of Zuri,'' he thought, noticing their quick reaction toe to her defense, even if she didn''t need it. Even John''s offhandment was taken as an insult to her by them, which actually made him feel approval towards these guild members.


    They clearly respected Zuri a great deal, and those who respected their leaders were usually rtively good people, so long as the leader was as well. If they were rebellious and callous towards their leaders''mands and reputation, he would have had a lower opinion of the bunch.


    "It''s fine," Zuri said, indicating she did not find John''s words insulting. The others still had frown''s on their faces, but remained silent as Zuri had already voiced her opinion on the matter.


    "Since Shadow Four has yet to send her nightlymunication, I will go myself to assess the situation," she said. The others nodded, and one of the men stood up and began to walk over to Zuri.


    The man was one of the unhooded people in the room, and appeared to be in his mid twenties. He had a rugged yet handsome face, with a trim beard, short ck hair, and piercing gray eyes. He had a cultivation in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, which seemed like he would step into the Early World Expansion Realm at any moment.


    Based on his appearance and cultivation, John figured the man was most likely in his thirties or forties, which was not bad at all for his cultivation.


    He thought of Zeras, who had been the youngest World Expansion cultivator on the Divine Martial Continent in a long time, and Zeras had aplished that in his sixties. This man would most likely beat Zeras'' cultivation time to reach the World Expansion Realm, which was just another reminder to John of the higher level this world was whenpared to his homeworld.


    ''Zuri who is most likely in her thirties or maybe forty and already in the World Expansion Realm, and this man who is almost simr in speed. I wonder how much faster I would have cultivated had I grown up here instead?'' John wondered.


    "I am ready when you are," the man said firmly. From what John could tell, the man was the second strongest in the room.


    Zuri shook her head lightly at the man.


    "I am not taking you with me this time, Shadow Two," she said.


    "What? You cannot go alone on such a dangerous mission," the man rebuked.


    "I won''t be alone," Zuri said, gesturing to John next to her. The man frowned, ncing at John with a scrutinous look. He sighed a momentter.


    "Do not let her down," he said to John, indicating that he would not argue with Zuri. "If you return and she does not, I will hunt you down myself."


    "Noted," John said calmly, silently approving of the man''s attitude. He was protective of his leader, as he should be.


    "I will send notice once I have an update on the situation," Zuri said, walking across the room. "I do not wish to dy any longer. John, with me."


    John nodded and followed behind. The two entered a room which was filled with dozens of pitch-ck robes, and Zuri instructed him to find one that fit. John found one that was a good match, and put it on. He nodded his head in approval, as the robe was made of very high quality material that was both light and durable.


    "Let''s go," Zuri said, returning to the main chamber and then walking to the room they had first entered. John followed and the two found the man holding the statue there, sitting in meditation. Zuri touched the statue while holding John''s arm, returning them instantly to the room above on the city streets.


    They blended into the shadows, slipping out of the city though a hidden tunnel on the end opposite the city entrance, and blended into the darkness of the night unnoticed.

 Chapter 944 History Of The Guild

    The tunnel led to a high ledge, miles above the ground. Greatcrest City was built atop a t mountaintop miles high, and the secret tunnel''s entrance was carved into the cliffside halfway up the mountainside, at which point it zig-zagged up to the city above.


    John nced out into the darkness of the night, which was illuminated by the glowing moon high above. He took in a beautifulndscape of forests, mountains and rivers illuminated by the silver glow of the moon.


    "Follow me," Zuri said, stepping off the ledge.


    John followed, stepping off and plummeting to the ground below. Zuri used her Qi to stall her fall andnd softly just before hitting the ground, and John did the same. Theynded without making noise, at which point Zuri rushed forward, her body turning into a ck mass of dark shadows. Clearly, she did not want to be detected.


    Following suit, John used his Dao of Space to shroud himself in a spatial cocoon, and followed behind Zuri. The two sped into the nearby Immortal Forest, surprising him in the direction. From what he knew of this area of the Human Continent, the Immortal Forest dominated a decent portion of the south-west portion of the continent, with almost no settlements within.


    It ended at the coast, which was also sparsely popted. He remained silent as he followed Zuri''s barely perceptible shadow, venturing deeper into the Immortal Forest. He noticed many slumbering beasts on their way through, none of which were alerted to their presence.


    They eventually came to a stop a dozen miles into the forest, at the base of a massive tree. The tree wasrger than any of the surrounding trees, thicker and taller than any other nearby. Zuri slipped under an arching series of roots at the base of the massive tree, into a small tunnel that pierced into the tree.


    John followed and came to a halt as they arrived at a dead-end. John studied the dead-end, and thought he could just faintly feel some source of Qi in the area, like a formation or something. It was almost impossible to detect, and would have been impossible had he not been this close.


    Zuri''s Qi red for a brief instant, and the dead-end quickly parted to the side, revealing a small tunnel on the other side. She slipped into the tunnel, as did John a momentter. The wall reformed behind them, drowning the tunnel in darkness.


    They moved down the tunnel, which seemed to go on for a mile, beforeing to arge chamber, one clearly carved by hand. It was a hundred yards in each direction, and had arge transportation formation in the very center.


    A small pedestal jutted out of the center of the formation, which Zuri quickly made her way towards. The t top of the pedestal had many formation runes on it, each glowing with a different color. Zuri reached out and started pressing and moving the formations in a practiced sequence, obviously doing something John didn''t yet understand.


    John hopped on the formation as well, studying the formation with slight awe.


    "This formation is connected to dozens of other formations, which allows us to travel throughout our domain of influence in secrecy," Zuri said.


    "Who built such a powerful formation all the way down here?" he asked.


    "The Guild, of course," Zuri said, rematerializing from her mass of dark shadows and into her true form. She nced at John as he stepped out of his spatial cocoon, and nodded firmly.


    "Yourmand of the spatial Dao is quite incredible," she praised him.


    John smiled wryly, as hismand of the Dao was nothingpared to Lilian.


    "It''s alright," he said.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You sell yourself short," Zuri shook her head at his modesty. "The Dao of Space is a pinnacle Dao, and is incredibly hard to learn, let alone utilize. For one as young as yourself, your current level of control can only be praised as heavenly."


    ''I guess I''ve onlypared my control of the spatial Dao to Lilian, who is an absolute monster in the Spatial Dao, so maybe I have been selling myself short,'' he thought.


    "In the entire Shadows of Death Guild, there are only a handful of spatial Dao users, and only three whomand it more efficiently than you," Zuri said, "And each of those three are ancient monsters, so it''s only natural you fall short of their spatial Dao prowess."


    "Entire Guild?" John asked curiously. "Is there more to the Shadows of Death than what you showed me?"


    "Haha, of course," Zuriughed softly, still working on whatever she was going to the pedestal formations. "What you saw was just one branch of the full guild. There are twelve branches, which covers twelve different areas of the Human Contient, and also the main headquarters, which gives out missions to the branches, as well as carries out the highest priority assassinations themselves. When a truly strong target is identified for assassination, it''s normally someone from the headquarters whoes out to assassinate the target."


    "Wow," was all John could say, as he was taken aback by the scope of the guild. He had assumed it was a rogue guild operating out of Greatcrest City, but was instead a continent spanning guild which was far more powerful than he had ever imagined.


    "Our faction covers the south-west corner of the Human Continent," Zuri said, still adjusting the formation on the pedestal. "Which includes Greatcrest City, as well as hundreds of other cities within our domain."


    John nodded his head in thanks for her exnation, now realizing why Zuri was so confident in her guild''s informationwork. It was a continent spanning assassination guild, which would naturally be very interested in obtaining as much information about the continent and people within it as possible.


    "Originally, the Tier One Sects carried out assassination missions themselves, but eventually found them to not only be a distraction for their sects, but also brought too much scrutiny whenever an assassination was revealed, as well as danger to the assassins of the sect whenever their identity was revealed. Too many important sect-members were dying for their liking," Zuri said, seeming to give him a background in the guild''s history.


    "So eventually they agreed to form a standalone assassination guild, one that operated without their influence, and also outside of theirmand, so as to put distance between the assassinations and themselves. Once the Guild was established, it became a self-operating power that never revealed its existence publicly. The three Tier One sects silently support our operation through resource donations and sometimes sending youths talented in assassination arts to us, but other than that, stay hands off," she continued.


    "While rumors of its existence have obviously surfaced, not many on this continent and beyond know for certain of its existence. It''s been like this for centuries now," she said, finally falling silent.


    John thanked her for the background, getting a better grasp of the situation he found himself in. Zuri tapped the formation onest time, and it lit up. John felt his body pulled through space for a brief instant before returning to the real world.


    He looked around, noticing himself in a chamber almost identical to the one he had been in.


    "Our mission starts now," Zuri said, her face bing firm. "And based off the details we have thus far, it could be incredibly dangerous. Stay on guard, and do not stray from me."


    John nodded and followed closely behind, anticipating rising within, a small smile forming on his face.


    Surely an assassination mission would bring him quite a bit of fun.


    ''I think joining this Guild was the correct decision after all,'' he thought to himself, thinking of the wonderful battles it would surely bring.

 Chapter 945 Clearmist City

    ''Zuri hopped off the formation tform and moved towards a nearby tunnel, beckoning him to follow. They eventually came to the end of the tunnel and found a wall, which parted away as expected.


    The two left and the wall reformed behind them, masking the existence of the tunnel and chamber. A breathtaking scene came into view, nearly stopping John in his tracks. It was still nighttime, but the silver moon above bathed thendscape before him in its silvery glow.


    The tunnel they had left was at the top of a mountain, which overlooked a sprawlingndscape before them. Thendscape was lined with thousands of other mountain ranges, appearing like massive waves of earth in the dim light. Thousands of rivers meandered through the valleys between the mountains, valleys which were filled with lush and vibrant forests. More waterfalls than could be counted crashed down to the valleys below, bathing the valley floors in a perpetual mist which glowed ethereally in the silver moonlight.


    It was as beautiful andscape as he had ever seen. In the distance beyond several mountain ranges, John spotted glowing lights shimmering in the mist, stretching for a dozen miles or more up and down the valley the lights were in. Buildings as tall as the surrounding mountains jutted out of the light mist, rising high into the night sky.


    Arge city lined one of the valley rivers, shining brightly with a vibrant pallet of colors. It seemed to be an even grander city than Greatcrest City.


    "That is Clearmist City," Zuri said, pointing to the distant lights. "And is where our mission will take us."


    "Our target is Galvsten, the de-facto leader of Clearmist City," Zuri said, giving John some background on the mission. "He rose to power about a decade ago, after somehow obtaining great wealth and buying his way into power. He''s ruled over the city ever since, and has been praised as a selfless leader, elevating the lives of his citizens through charitable donations and other means. As far as anyone is concerned, he''s the perfect example of what a leader should be."


    "But¡­" John said.


    "But that''s the image he wants people to believe," Zuri said, her eyes narrowing. "He''s used his wealth to buy a mask of virtue for himself, but underneath that mask is a vile, detestable man."


    Zuri turned her gaze from the city and towards John, face filled with disgust.


    "We were given the mission from headquarters about three months ago to investigate a series of disappearances within Clearmist City and the surrounding areas. Many have gone missing, including several prominent figures and young geniuses, which has concerned the primary powers in the region. Shadow Four was in charge of investigating the disappearances, and has been sending us messages every night regarding what she has found. ording to her messages, the source of the disappearances is most likely rted to Galveston. Shadow Four has sent messages containing her best guesses of what Galveston is doing, but has not been able to gather any hard evidence yet. She sent word that she was going to try to get something concrete, but has not sent word since. It''s highly likely that she had been captured, or¡­"


    Zuri breathed out deeply, clearly concerned for the fate of Shadow Four. Sheposed herself quickly as she had done with the message of her fathers and sibling''s deaths.


    "Our mission tonight is to find Shadow Four," Zuri said. "And the most likely location for that is within Galvsten''s estate. We will sneak in, find Shadow Four, and bring her out. That is our primary mission for tonight."


    John nodded his head.


    "Good," Zuri nodded. "Let''s not waste any more time then. Follow me."


    Zuri sped down the mountainside, towards the direction of the distant city. John followed closely behind as the two sped through forests, rivers, and over several mountains before they arrived at the outskirts of Clearmist City.


    They stood atop a mountain bordering the city, their vantage point overlooking the city. Up close it was easy to tell that this city was definitely better off than Greatcrest City. The buildings were more luxurious, the location less dangerous.


    The city stretched up and down a riverbank, the lights from the city illuminating the river with a bright multi-colored glow. Ships sailed to and from the city docks, while flying ships flew in and out of the city''s flying ship port, setting off into the night sky. The city streets bustled with activity despite thete hour, as if the city never knew rest.


    A small wall encircled the city''s borders, not for defense, but for funneling travelers in and out of the main gates as a way to monitor those who entered the city. An invisible formation barrier shrouded the city above the walls, making flying over the walls impossible without alerting the city guards.


    At the very top of the city, built almost at the top of the central mountain lining the city was a massive walled estate. The estate had more mansions than could be counted, and was more luxurious than anything nearby.


    "That''s Galvsten''s estate," Zuri said, pointing to that luxurious estate. "Follow me."


    Zuri moved down the mountainside, her figure bing a mass of indiscernible shadows. John followed suit and shrouded himself in his spatial cocoon, his figure vanishing from sight, an almost imperceptible shimmer of space recing his body.


    The two arrived at the base of the city walls, at which point Zuri turned to the right, moving upwards away from the river. She stopped several hundred yardster, and pressed her hand against a singr brick on the wall.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A secret entrance opened up in the wall, leading into the city. John raised an eyebrow, impressed at how many secret entrances and tunnels the Shadow of Death Guild had made.


    "How many secret entrances has the Guild made?" John asked with a soft whisper.


    "More than can be counted," Zuri whispered back as she slipped into the tunnel. "The Guild has existed for hundreds of years, and has had a lot of time to make its preparations everywhere it operates."


    John nodded his head and followed closely behind, soon arriving on a dark and abandoned street at the city wall. Zuri hastily sped up the street towards Galvsten''s estate, the two slipping past guards and city goers asionally.


    They arrived at the estate a whileter, another wall blocking their way forward.


    "Is there another secret tunnel?" John whispered.


    "Unfortunately not," Zuri replied. "We will have to sneak our way into the estate, and when needed, take care of any guards. Follow me, and do your best to not be detected."


    John nodded his head again and followed closely behind, moving towards the estate''s main entrance. The estate was guarded by a formation, one that would detect any movement not through the main gates. As such, they were required to enter through the main entrance, which they arrived at a short whileter.


    "Tch," a soft click of the tongue escaped Zuri''s mouth as she stared at the guards posted at the front gate.


    "Problem?" John asked softly.


    "Yes," Zuri nodded, looking at the guards, one in the Early World Expansion realm and one in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, posted out front. "It seems Galvsten has increased his security considerably recently. I can take out one of the guards before they notice me, but not both of them at once. We''ll have to retreat and think of another way in."


    "Are you concerned about the lives of the guards?" John asked, wondering if Zuri was hesitant to kill innocent. guards.


    "No," Zuri said softly. "The intel we have says all the guards are aware of what is happening within thepound, and so they areplicit with what''s going on. Their deaths would be a good thing, but we cannot stealthily kill both of them before they alert the others."


    Zuri started to slip back into the shadows, but John stopped her.


    "You handle the one guard, I''ll handle the other," he said softly.


    "What? Are you crazy?" Zuri whispered back. "Look, you may have strong instincts, and have incrediblebat prowess, but that guard is almost an entire major realm above you. We cannot afford to fail and alert the other guards, so its best we think of another n-"


    Her voice cut off as she noticed John moving towards the guards in the distance, his whispers trailing behind.


    "You take the left guard, and I''ll take the right one," he whispered, giving Zuri no chance to stop him or respond. The guard on the right was the one with the Half-Step World Expansion Realm.


    "Idiot," Zuri grumbled, speeding forward to catch up. It was toote to stop John, and any attempt to do so would alert the guards.


    Shrouded in his spatial cocoon, John snuck up towards the guard, who was standing outside the main gate, spear in hand, eyes scanning the road leading up to the estate. The guard was a middle aged man, who appeared to bezily going about his guard duty. He didn''t even have his divine sense expanded outwards, as if the guard thought no one would be stupid enough to infiltrate the estate. If either of the guards'' divine senses had been extended, it would have been a much more difficult task to sneak up on them.


    ''Good,'' John thought, a smile appearing on his face as he neared the man. ''His guard being down will make this all the easier,'' John thought as he appeared next to the guard, hand with extended fingers piercing towards the guard''s neck from behind.

 Chapter 946 Entering The Estate

    The World Expansion guard spun on his heels, turning towards the other guard. His instincts red with warning, and his divine sense began to surge outwards while his Qi began to roil within his body.


    Although it was faint, the slightest spatial disturbance behind the other guard, and knew an ambush was happening. The other guard became startled at the sudden outburst, and began to surge with his own power.


    The World Expansion guard''s eyes went wide as he watched a figure appear from nowhere, hand piercing towards the back of the other guard''s neck before anyone could react. The other guard was not prepared for the ambush, and his defenses were not yet raised. Both guards felt as though they heard the soft cry of a dragon in the area, seeming toe from the figure who had just appeared.


    John''s hand, pushed to his absolute limit of power and durability, pierced directly through the thin veil of defensive Qi around the guard''s body, and then pierced into the guard''s neck. An explosion of blood rained out the opposite side as his hand pierced directly through the man''s neck, and with a quick surge of power, John pulled upwards.


    The man''s neck was ripped clean off his head, a shower of blood spurting into the air above from his open neck.


    "Who dares-" the World Expansion guard shouted out with rage, preparing to unleash a fatal attack towards John.


    John''s actions hadpletely enraged the man, to the point that he had failed to notice the almost imperceptible mass of shadows appear behind him. The glint of a dagger flickered in the night sky for a brief moment before it was plunged into the man''s skull, piercing directly into his brain.


    The man''s eyes went wide with shock, his mouth still open from his cry of anger. Qi surged from Zuri and into the dagger, erupting within the man''s skull. It exploded a momentter, killing the guard instantly. Both guards, now headless, slumped to the ground.


    In an instant, both had been in.


    Zuri waved her hands, using her Qi to move both bodies to her. She touched both and stored them away in her spatial ring, and then used her Qi to sweep away the blood of the deceased, leaving no evidence behind.


    In less than a second, both guards were sessfully ambushed, killed before they could alert anyone else.


    Zuri''s figure reappeared, turning from a mass of shadows into her true form. She looked at John with a stunned expression, one that had most definitely been rage just moments ago. Her gritted teeth rxed into a slightly agape mouth, unable to process what had just happened.


    In an instant, an Early Dao Transformation youth had killed a Half-Step World Expansion cultivator. It was something that should have been nearly impossible, and yet it happened before her eyes. Even with a sneak attack, almost no Early Dao Transformation cultivators would have the power to break the natural defenses of a Half-Step World Expansion cultivator.


    The gap in cultivation was just too great.


    As one progressed in cultivation, so did their natural durability of their body, even for essence cultivators. On top of that, the man had a thin barrier of Qi wrapped around his body, for the purpose of defending against sneak attacks. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    With these two thingsbined, it would take at the very least the power of a Late Dao Transformation cultivator to pierce the man''s defenses. And to outright kill him like that with no possibility to resist, it just wasn''t possible.


    Zuri had been panicked by John''s sudden actions, and had figured he would fail and the other guards would have been alerted. She was prepared for a hellish battle just to escape, but he had killed his targett wlessly, and had even given her a perfect opening to assassinate her target as well.


    "We should move," John said, snapping Zuri out of her stupor.


    Zuri shook her head to clear her jumbled thoughts, and then nodded firmly. She vanished, turning into a mass of shadows that blended into the darkness of the night, and moved through the front gates and into the estate.


    John wrapped himself in his spatial cocoon once more, and followed closely behind, using his sharp instincts to keep track of Zuri''s location. The two moved through a sprawling garden that led up to the main mansion, slipping from shadow to shadow, avoiding the guards that patrolled the gardens.


    They arrived at the mansion''s front doors and slipped inside without anyone noticing. John scanned the mansion''s interior before him, which could only be described as overly gaudy and extravagant. Gold, gems, and other valuable things lined almost every inch of the mansion''s interior, as if Galvsten wanted to disy his obscene wealth to any that entered this ce.


    Servants bustled about the mansion, which was lit but not too brightly. The servants were not cultivators, and so were unable to detect the presence of the intruders. Zuri and John moved deftly from shadow to shadow, avoiding the patrolling''s of guards that moved about the mansion.


    ''This one. Let''s follow him,'' John received a sound transmission from Zuri.


    The guard she had identified was in the Early World Expansion Realm and seemed to be moving with a purpose. He had entered the mansion from outside and was walking towards the back of therge mansion with purpose.


    ''Did they discover the guards out front are missing?'' John wondered, following behind the man. If they had, then there was most likely a battle on their hands shortly.


    The man strode through hallways, turning multiple times with practiced experience. He clearly knew where he was going in the maze-like mansion. He stopped halfway down a hallway, one that had no doors other than the doors at the opposite ends of the hallway.


    He faced the wall and ced his hand against it. A false wall gave way a momentter, revealing a dark tunnel on the other side. The man strode into the tunnel, the wall closing behind him.


    Two shimmers slipped in behind the man before the wall could close, although their fast movements alerted the man''s instincts. He frowned and turned around, and saw two figures emerge from the shadows, dagger and hand piercing directly towards the man''s face.

 Chapter 947 Lightning And Destruction

    The man snarled with anger as his Qi began to re, quickly reacting to the ambush. John was surprised at the man''s sharp instincts and quick reactions, who was no doubt a cultivator with great battle experience.


    In an instant, the man identified the true threat, the dagger held by the Early World Expansion woman. Hepletely ignored John, whose Early Dao Transformation cultivation was nothing more than a joke to him. He noticed that John didn''t even have a weapon in his hand, and would have startedughing loudly were it not for the serious situation he found himself in.


    The man''s right hand shot outwards towards the dagger, and mmed against the bottom of Zuri''s hand, directing the dagger upwards away from his face. The move worked, as Zuri''s dagger narrowly missed the man, shooting over his head.


    John''s hand, fingers stretched forwards like a de was almost upon the man, but he merely scoffed and ignored it. His right hand, outstretched towards Zuri already, shed with light as a sword appeared in it, its tip piercing towards her chest.


    The man''s actions were incredibly fluid, and had been the perfect response to the ambush he found himself in. He was obviously a man of many life and death battles, one''s whose actions would have been perfect had the Early Dao Transformation youth attacking him been anyone other than John.


    John''s Qi surged as he activated his Dragon-God Shift, limiting his transformation to his right arm. The power and durability of his hand skyrocketed, turning his hand into something more akin to a dagger than a hand. At the same time, lightning sprung into existence on his hand, brimming with the fused power of Lightning and Destruction.


    It was the first time he was using this fusionbination; one he had grasped the initial stages only yesterday. However, the Dao''s of Lightning and Destruction were much morepatible than lightning and power, and power was not what he needed right now.


    Power would be too strong, and would shake the whole mansion, altering everyone within the disturbance. Destruction, however, was exactly what was needed. Destruction did not require force or strength to do its work. Instead, the Dao of Destruction was destruction itself. Anything touched by it would be destroyed if it did not have the strength to resist.


    The man''s face, illuminated brightly by the lightning coated hand near his face, turned from confidence to horror, but it was toote to change his actions. John''s fingers pierced into the man''s face, the power of his body plus his fused lightning breaking the man''s formidable Qi and body defenses.


    Skin charred away and cheekbones broke as his fingers pierced into the man''s head. His fingers pierced two inches in beforeing to a stop, just before he could reach the man''s brain. A powerful wave of Qi surged from within the man, pushing back against John''s hand.


    Even ambushed like this, the man was able to resist the attack, and unfortunately John was not able to utilize his full strength, or his power and aura would alert the others. His attack did not kill the man, but it had sealed the man''s fate.


    Distracted and pained by John''s attack, his sword had failed to reach Zuri. The man''s horrified eyes shifted back towards Zuri''s location, as if he finally remembered her existence, but she was gone.


    Che!


    A dagger suddenly pierced out from the man''s forehead, his eyes bulging wide with fear and shock. A muffled boom followed shortly after, as Zuri surged her Qi into the dagger, exploding the man''s skull from within. A shower of blood exploded out in the tunnel, which was quickly wrapped up by Zuri''s Qi, forming a ball of blood in the air as to not coat the tunnel and leave evidence.


    John eyed the ball of blood hungrily, wanting it to use for his cultivation, but did not ask for it. He didn''t know how this world reacted to blood-cultivators, and until he found out, wanted to keep his use of it a secret.


    Zuri put the body and blood away in her spatial ring, and then stared at John for a second, yet again stunned by his disys of power. His assassination of a Half-Step World Expansion cultivator earlier was amazing, but this was something entirely else.


    His target had been a fully alerted Early World Expansion cultivator, who had raised his defenses before they had attacked. And yet John''s attack had managed to prate the man''s defenses, and almost kill him. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    And the most shocking part was that it was clear that he was yet to use his full power, as he was obviously holding back so as to not leak his aura. In just this singr attack, Zuri realized that John''s true strength was likely able to threaten an Early World Expansion cultivator. It was absolutely impossible, and yet the truth wasid out clearly before her.


    Her mouth opened and closed for a brief moment, as if unable to formte her thoughts.


    "How¡­how strong are you?" Zuri finally whispered.


    John remained silent, not sure how he wanted to answer. Zuri noticed his hesitancy, and cleared up the situation.


    "I need to know your strength, so I can n ordingly for whatever is at the end of this tunnel," she said. "If I don''t know how strong you are, I cannot make an effective n."


    John considered it for a moment, and then figured Zuri was right. Besides, he had joined the Shadows of Death, and his strength was going to be revealed sooner orter.


    ''I suppose I can tell her, but I won''t tell her the full truth,'' John decided. He would reveal his strength with the Dragon-God Shift, but his Immortal Asura Transformation and Bloodline Ability would remain a secret for now. He didn''t want to reveal either of those secrets for now unless he absolutely needed to.


    ''Thanks to the tremendous Qi of this world, I''m at the peak of the Early Dao Transformation Realm, and am ready to break through at any moment. With my Dragon-God Shift, all limiters activated, and Dao fusions¡­''


    John ran the calctions in his head, gauging his strength with all the factors he was willing to reveal at the moment.


    A confident smile appeared on his face as he looked at Zuri, still awaiting his answer.


    "Let''s just say that if you and I were to fight right now, I wouldn''t lose."


    Zuri''s eyes went wide for a moment, a look of natural doubt appearing briefly before vanishing away. She studied John''s face and smile, and could tell he was not lying. She breathed in and out deeply, eyes still glued to his face, as if seeing his true self for the first time.


    "I''m d you''re on our side," she said smiling, and then turned to move down the tunnel.


    "So am I," John nodded, following closely behind.


    They moved down the tunnel for several miles, shocked at how deep it went. It pierced into the mountain the mansion was built on, and then went even deeper, as if what was down here was trying to be hidden at all costs.


    A short whileter, they arrived at the base of the tunnel, which flickered with the glow of fires and light. Shrouded in darkness and space, the two reached the end of the tunnel, their faces widening with shock at the scene presented before them.

 Chapter 948 Chamber Of Barbarity

    A massive chamber sprawled out before them, miles wide in each direction. It was clearly carved by man, and was not a natural formation. Nearly every inch of the chamber walls was lined with powerful formations. Some were meant to stop any Qi from leaking through the chamber to the outside world, while other formations were meant to reinforce the chamber, making it impervious from outside and inside attacks.


    The formations alone must have cost a fortune to implement, but that was not what shocked Zuri and John. Instead, it was the grotesque scenes of brutality and savagery taking ce before them.


    Hundreds of people, all cultivators, were bound by chains, their faces covered with bags that glowed with formation runes on the outside. Other than the bags on their heads, nothing else was covered, leaving each personpletely naked from the neck down.


    Each person was bound by their chains to poles, walls, and devices John had never seen before. But each device had a clear purpose; gruesome torture.


    Each of the hundreds of cultivators were bloody and scarred, some wounds fresh, some clearly days old. However, none of them were unscarred, making the ce look like some sort of hell meant to torture the wicked. Dozens of unbound cultivators stood before some of the bound victims, each going about their own ways ofmining brutal acts of torture.


    Some prodded their victims with searing rods of metal, piercing and charring their flesh. Others used des to carve into their victims skin, while others used the bizarre devices to do the work for them. Regardless of the method, the result was the same; brutal and inhuman torture.


    Cries of agony and pain filled the chamber, each cry more haunting than thest.


    Beneath each person were channels carved into the floor of the chamber. The channels ran throughout the chamber towards its center, snaking around almost like formation runes. These channels were not formation runes, but instead small channels for the blood of the bound to flow towards its center, where it collected into four different pools of blood.


    The chamber seemed to be divided into fourrge quadrants, with each quadrant leading to a specific reservoir of blood. The room reminded John of the time he had infiltrated the Bloodfiend Sect, and had discovered the hellish chamber where they collected blood for the demon summoning ritual.


    This ce did not feel the same, in that it was not a summoning ritual, but that did not matter to John at the moment. The sight of those hundreds of people being tortured boiled his blood, nearly causing him to explode with rage and unleash his fury on those within. John reigned in his anger at thest moment, knowing that it would be foolish to reveal himself before assessing the situation.


    He nced to the side where Zuri was. She was still shrouded in her shadowy darkness blending into the dark entrance of the tunnel. Despite her inhuman form, he could feel her rage, anger, and disgust.


    He returned his gaze towards the brutal sights, assessing those within it.


    ''I count eleven unbound cultivators, eight men, three women. Four in the Dao Transformation Realm. Four in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, and three in the Early World Expansion Realm.''


    Eight of the eleven cultivators were taking part in the brutal torture of their victims, smiles of delight and ecstasy on their faces, as if they were enjoying the most pleasurable thing in the world. The other three cultivators stood several hundreds yards away from the tunnel, discussing something.


    Two were men in the Early World Expansion Realm, while one was a woman in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm. One of the men was speaking the most, arge smile on his face as he waved his hands about enthusiastically, as if he were telling a fantastical story. The man wore a gaudy and overly ostentatious golden robe, embroidered with gems and other shy things. Based on the clothing, John instantly knew who that was.


    Galvsten.


    His gaudy clothing matched the decorations of the mansion above. There was no mistaking who he was.


    "We were right," Zuri''s sent John a sound transmission, which was harder to detect than physically speaking. "Based on the information we had gathered, we figured Galvsten was kidnapping people and bringing them here. We had guesses on what was taking ce down here based on unverified rumors¡­but¡­"


    Zuri paused for a long while, as if still processing what she was seeing.


    "But this is far worse than I could have ever imagined. That girl in the far left quadrant, bound to the pir near one of the men. Do you see her?"


    "Yes," John replied, noticing the one Zuri had mentioned.


    The woman''s head was covered by the bag each of the victims wore, but her unclothed figure revealed her gender. Her body waspletely exposed from the head down, and several long wounds covered her body. The wounds still bled lightly, indicating they were quite fresh, most likely done within thest few hours.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "That is Shadow Four," Zuri said, her voice heavy with anger and pain.


    John took a deep breath, calming himself once more. He didn''t know Shadow Four, but he could tell that Zuri cared for her greatly based on the pain in her voice.


    "Should we take action?" he asked, sending a sound transmission to Zuri.


    "No," Zuri replied after a long silence. "There are too many powerful cultivators here. Four in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, and three in the Early World Expansion Realm. My talents lie in assassination techniques, not straight forwardbat. Even if I manage to kill one before altering the others, they will notice immediately afterwards. I cannot fight against such a powerful group, even with your help."


    John remained silent, contemting what to do. He wanted nothing more than to take action and brutally kill these terrible people, but doing so would require him to use and reveal his full strength. With Kirii''s help, was confident in battling against them without using his Bloodline Ability but he would have to use his Asura Transformation to Zuri.


    He had not yet decided if he could trust her with knowing his secrets, and so didn''t take action right away.


    "We will retreat and bring reinforcements immediately," Zuri said.


    "By the time we bring reinforcements, the killing of the guards will be discovered, and they will either bring more guards, or move knowing they have been discovered," John replied, not satisfied with Zuri''s n.


    "I understand, but we are too weak to take action right now."


    John frowned, his anger still raging within like a tempest. As he and Zuri conversed, the group with Galvsten continued to converse, their conversation growing louder and more enthusiastic. John decided to listen to their conversation, to see if he could gather any useful information before they retreated.


    "The auction this year was quite a spectacle," the other man in the group said, his voice nasally and aloof. All three had a perpetually smug look on their face, as if they considered themselves to be naturally superior to others. The look alone annoyed John to the point that he nearly sped forward towards them in anger.


    "Indeed it was," the woman replied.


    "Its a shame though," Galvsten added, a frown recing his smug smile. "The highlight of the auction this year was quite incredible, and yet none of us were able to obtain her. A true shame."


    "Indeed," the man and woman replied in unison.


    "But her price was far too steep for any of us to afford," the man added, a look of disappointment on his face.


    "Tch," Galvsten clicked his tongue. "Even with her steep price, I''m sure the Devil Race would have paid double or triple that bidding price for her. It''s a shame the bid was more than I have to my name, otherwise I would have thrown every spirit crystal I had towards that bid."


    The other two nodded their heads, agreeing to Galvsten''sment.


    "You are absolutely correct," the man replied. "A heaven-defying beauty from a different world, with innate talent beyond anything we''ve ever seen. The Devil Race would have paid an absolute fortune to obtain her. A pity indeed."


    Boom!


    The chamber suddenly shook violently as an aura exploded outwards, filling the chamber with its power. The others jumped in fright at the sudden outburst, feeling as though a furious dragon-god had descended upon them.

 Chapter 949 Unleashing The Asura

    John''s aura exploded outwards without hesitation, his action startling everyone including Zuri, who jumped in fright, her shadowy form being washed away by John''s powerful aura, revealing her true form.


    She stared with mouth agape as John revealed himself to all, stepping out of his spatial cocoon. Green dragon-scales covered several parts of his body, while he wore a bizarre yet heroic looking set of draconic armor that covered his shoulders, waist, and legs.


    "What are you doing? We need to flee!" Zuri cried out in panic, both of them now revealed to the others. They were the closest to the tunnels, and if they used everything to flee, escaping was a possibility.


    "Use your fastest speed to rescue the chained victims, and then shelter them in the tunnels we came from. After that, ensure that no one else escaped through the tunnels, not a single person, until I am done," Johnmanded her, his eyes glued to the stunned cultivators within the chamber.


    "What are you-"


    "Do as Imanded," John roared at Zuri, his gaze snapping towards hers.


    There was no fear or panic in his gaze, only fury, rage, and hate. Zuri felt a shiver crawl up her spine at the cold gaze she saw, and then nodded her head.


    "Fine," she said, speeding into the chamber towards the closest bound victim. She shed at the chains, breaking them instantly, freeing the person who fell to the floor. Her figure shed towards the tunnel, moving the victim there, and then sped back into the chamber, freeing the second one.


    By now, the stunned cultivators had recovered their wits, and were ring at John with a mix or anger at being disturbed, and amusement at the fact that they had revealed themselves. They had initially been stunned by John''s aura disy, but once they noticed it was just a youth at the Early Dao Transformation Realm, theyughed at themselves for being so scared.


    "Who is this boy? Is he one of yours?" one of the cultivators asked Galvsten.


    "I have no idea who this stupid boy is," Galvsten replied calmly, eyeing John up and down. "But his aura alone intrigues me. The Devil Race would pay a fortune for someone like him."


    "Indeed," the two near Galvsten said, their eyes widening with greed, as if they were looking at a treasure to be sold.


    "And the others being taken away?" the woman asked, eying Zuri who was taking the victims to the tunnels with incredible speed.


    "There are multiple guards stronger than them upstairs," Galvsten said calmly. "I don''t know how they got in here, but there is no escape now that they have revealed themselves."


    Despite saying this, one of the Half-Step World Expansion cultivators hastily moved to block Zuri. Her figure shed into a mass of shadows, and in the blink of an eye, a dagger sliced through the man''s neck, severing his head from his body.


    The others gasped with surprise, while Galvsten narrowed his eyes at Zuri.


    "So the Shadows have discovered my actions?" he said, sighing as if it were a great inconvenience. "No matter, once I deal with you two, I''ll move my operations to a different ce. It''s not like I haven''t done so before."


    "You won''t be leaving this chamber alive tonight," John said coldly, his words causing the others to return their gazes to him. None took action against Zuri again, instead opting to leave it to the Early World Expansion cultivators within the chamber. However, none of them took action either, as they knew there was no escape for Zuri even if she freed everyone.


    They were outmatched down here, and outmatched outside. There was no escape. Instead, a wide smile appeared on Galvsten''s face as he stared at John, as if he had found a new ything to enjoy.


    "Oh? And are you going to be the one to kill me?" he asked amusingly.


    "I am," John said, his voice simmering with rage as he slowly walked towards them. He could have taken action right away, but wanted to buy Zuri time to free the others. Once the battle started, everything within the chamber would be destroyed, the victim''s included. He didn''t know any of them, but would not wantonly ughter them in his rage. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Zuri moved with incredible speed, freeing half of the victims before John even reached Galvsten and the others, who still found the whole thing nothing but an amusing distraction.


    "This chamber restricts allmunications," Galvsten said with a smug smile, "something you were definitely not aware of before you came here. Any sound transmissions you sent will not work, and so the reinforcements you are expecting will not arrive either. Not only that, but the reinforcement formations are top of the line. The only way out of this chamber is that tunnel. Not even a Late World Expansion expert could break through these formation defenses."


    "The woman you just spoke of. What do you know of her?" John asked with a furious re.


    "The woman?" Galvsten repeated, a surprised look on his face. He then smiled widely, figuring something out. "You know that woman? There''s no other reason for you to blow your cover and disy such anger if you didn''t."


    "Where is she?" John asked.


    "I''m afraid I can''t answer that," Galvsten said, the smug smile never leaving his face. He felt in full control of the situation. Zuri was not strong enough to fight them, and neither was John in his current form. Thus, he entertained John''s theatrics, instead of taking action right away. He was no doubt a man who indulged in the pain and suffering of others.


    John stopped walking towards the group when he was one hundred yards away. The group of ten cultivators had all gathered around Galvsten, waiting for their host to make a move. They looked at John with equal amusement, while keeping an eye on Zuri, making sure she didn''t try anything against them.


    Zuri made incredible work of the task John had given her, and freed thest victim as he arrived before the group. Galvstenughed heartily as he noticed Zuri reappear at the base of the tunnel, as if acting as a guard.


    "Hahaha, not going to flee? You freed all the ves? Wasn''t that your n? Why are you not running?" he asked with much amusement, the others chuckling as well.


    "Flee?" John asked, as if it was the dumbest thing he had ever heard. "I already told you, I am going to kill you, all of you, tonight. But before that, I need answers."


    "Hahaha," the others burst out with boisterousughter, unable to contain themselves.


    "Before we get started, which one of you knows the most about the woman you just discussed?" John asked calmly, although his barely contained rage was bleeding into his words.


    All eyes instinctively turned to Galvsten, who remained smiling as he stared at John. They nced back to John shortly after, none of them answering the question. However, their actions had been enough of an answer for him.


    When he was done, only Galvsten needed to be breathing. Once he questioned him, then he would let Galvsten join the others in hell.


    "Tonight, I will make you all feel tenfold the agony you inflicted on the others," John roared, his anger and fury finally exploding outwards.


    Laughter filled the chamber again.


    Asura Transformation Art!


    Theughter of the others instantly faded away and looks of shock and horror appeared instead as the youth before them turned into a demon from their worst nightmares.


    The entire chamber trembled as John pressed off the ground, shing towards the group, scythe appearing in hand. He appeared before them in an instant, blood red eyes staring at them with murderous fury, scythe shing towards them.


    The night of blood and ughter had begun!

 Chapter 950 Night of Blood and Slaughter

    Chapter 950 Night of Blood and ughter


    John''s body strained from the storm brewing within his body; a storm he had been channeling since he decided to confront these inhuman monsters. His slow movement towards the group had been to buy Zuri time to rescue the prisoners, but had also been for another reason.


    At the moment he unleashed his Asura Transformation Art, a point of blinding light appeared above the group of enemies. The stunning body transformation distracted the enemy cultivators to the point that it was already toote notice the horrifying attack descending from above.


    Dragontail Decimation!


    John''s dantian unleashed the full might of his heaven-defying essence dantian, creating his absolute strongest Dragontail Decimation. The entire chamber turned blinding white for a brief instant as a draconic roar filled it, followed by a horrifyingly powerful explosion of pure lightning energy.


    The three Early World Expansion cultivators snapped out of their stunned stupor, heads snapping upwards towards the dragontail of lightning mming down towards them. Their dantians surged with power as they prepared their strongest defensive arts, bracing for the surprise attack.


    The Half-Step World Expansion cultivators reacted a momentter, unleashing their defensive arts as the attacknded on them, drowning them in apocalyptic lightning. As for the Late Dao Transformation cultivators, they only had a moment of rity before the lightning storm drowned them, charring their bodies and burning their souls.


    In an instant, four of the inhuman savages perished, their strength far from what was needed to withstand a fully channeled Dragontail Decimation.


    The explosion of lightning filled the entire chamber in an instant, leaving not a single inch untouched. Zuri''s eyes went wide with absolute shock as she watched the attacknd, and the explosion radiate outwards towards her and the tunnel. Her Qi surged a momentter as she defended herself and the tunnel behind her, protecting those within who would be unable to protect themselves.


    Her stunned expression deepened as she struggled with gritted teeth to defend John had counted on.


    against the st of the lightning. She had not even been the target of the attack, and had only defended against the ensuing explosion, and yet had been shocked to find she required her full strength to defend against it.


    The chamber shook violently, as if it were about to fall apart at any moment. With nowhere to go, the explosion lingered in the chamber for a short while, drowning it in apocalyptic lightning. However, as Galvsten had mentioned, the formation runes lining the chamber were absolutely top notch, and had withstood the explosion as John had counted on.


    The explosion eventually faded away, revealing a scene of destruction and carnage.


    Five corpses were syed out on the ground, some intact, others partial charred remnants of what was a person moments ago. In an instant, four Late Dao Transformation and one Half-Step World Expansion cultivators had been killed, leaving nothing but charred and mangled corpses behind.


    Five cultivators still stood, although all of them bore gruesome wounds and charred flesh. Even the Early World Expansion cultivators were miserably injured, as their overconfidence in the situation had led to hastily formed defenses, allowing for the Dragontail Decimation to fall almost unblocked.


    Roar!


    John roared like a demonic demon, speeding towards the five still standing. He arrived before them a momentter, scythe in hand, slicing outwards as if he wanted to cleave all five in half.


    The three Early World Expansion cultivators finally reacted, weapons appearing in their own hands, look of fury and rage appearing on their faces. They no longer looked down on John, and instead wanted to end him as swiftly as possible to reduce the damage to themselves and this hideout.


    "Die!" Galveston roared with furious rage, his face covered with charred blood, some his own, some from those who had perished next to him. He wielded a golden sword with embedded gems on the hilt, the gaudy weapon matching his appearance perfectly.


    The two other Early World Expansion cultivators reacted as well, taking out a saber and a whip. All three unleashed attacks towards John, intending to end the fight quickly.


    Divine Reaping Scythe!


    A beam of deadly scythe Qi shed outwards, mming into Galvstens sword art. It cleaved the sword art in half, stunning Galvsten for a brief moment. At the same time, a massive blood red saber image and snaking whip descended on John, giving him little time to react.


    John looked up and opened his mouth wide, unleashing a roar of power a momentter.


    Roar of the Jade Dragon!


    The roar sted upwards towards the attacks, meeting them in the air above his head. The three attacks battled against each other for a brief moment before the saber and whip pierced through the roar, resuming their arcs towards John. However, that brief respite had bought John the time he needed, allowing his figure to sh through space to a location a short distance away.


    Boom!


    The attacks, both with the power to destroy entire mountains with ease,nded on the chamber ground, shaking it violently, cracking the stone floor. The three turned to John''s new position, shocked again by his incredible movement. They had thought him cornered and defeated, but his control over the spatial Dao left them speechless.


    Blood red eyes stared back at the three, brimming with murderous confidence that chilled them to their cores. Just as the three were about to take action again, a loud sound and cries of pain sounded out behind them, causing them to turn their attention towards it.


    Their eyes widened with horror as they saw their two Half-Step World Expansion allies lying on the ground, bodies charred ck, soulspletely snuffed out. Nearby stood a creature they had never expected to see in their wildest imaginations, one that was supposedly only of legends.


    "A Kirin!" the one remaining woman whispered, eyes wide.


    The others stared at Kirii with simr expressions, although there was a tinge of greed in Galvsten''s eyes stunned eyes. John noticed this expression and scoffed with amusement.


    "Even in this situation, greed still controls you," John said mockingly.


    Galvsten snapped his gaze towards John again, who appeared before him in an instant, giving him and the others no reprieve to collect themselves and form a unified defense. At the same time, a tempest of lightning formed around Kirii, who joined the battle now that his two opponents were dead.


    Nearby, Zuri watched with wide eyes, almost unable to believe the scene before her. Two Dao Transformation cultivators, one man and one beast, fought against three Early World Expansion cultivators, and defying all reason and logic, dominated the battle.


    Within two minutes, a Divine Reaping Scythe carved directly through the saber wielding man, severing his body in two from shoulder to waist.


    "Watch out!" Zuri roared loudly with wide eyes as she watched the woman''s powerful whip m down against John, who had unleashed his Divine Reaping Scythe a moment ago and was left open to a counter attack.


    She wanted to help John, but the battle was far too intense. If she did so, the tunnel behind her would be overwhelmed in the explosions of the battle, and the hundreds of prisoners would perish without question.


    Boom!


    The woman''s whip mmed against John''s back, the collision shaking the entire chamber with its horrifying power. John shot downwards like a meteor towards the ground below, unable to dodge the attack in time.


    "Hahaha, die you fucking brat!" a yell of satisfied rage boomed out from the whip wielding woman''s mouth.


    A gasp escaped Zuri''s mouth as she watched the horrifying attack reach John, one that no doubt crippled him, or even killed him. It was obvious that John had done nothing to defend against that attack, and would not be able to resist it. Even an Early World Expansion body cultivator would find themselves in terrible shape after taking such an attack directly without mounting a defense, and an essence cultivator would have been cleaved in half after taking such an attack directly.


    Rage filled her body as she decided to join the fight, as she would not allow John to perish under her watch.Just as she was about to join the fight, Zuri stopped, eyes going wide with a level of shock she had not expected to feel, despite everything she had witnessed.


    Like an unkible demon rising from the pits of hell, John climbed to his feet, posture straight and defiant as if the attack had not even phased him. Arge wound ran down his back where the whip had struck, blood flowing out of it. The wound closed at a visible speed, and mendedpletely secondster.


    For the first time in her life, Zuri wondered if she had finally seen an immortal being.

 Chapter 951 Night of Blood and Slaughter Pt. 2

    Chapter 951 Night of Blood and ughter Pt. 2


    Shock and horror appeared on the whip-wielding woman''s face as she watched John rise to his feet, demonic red eyes staring unwaveringly at her as if the attack had meant nothing to him. Combined with his Asura-like appearance, the woman felt pure fear run through her body. The woman felt death staring at her.


    "Wh¡­what are you?" the woman asked, mumbling her words through trembling lips. The demonic form staring at her was the most frightening thing she had ever seen.


    Based on the fighting styles and demeanors of his opponents in this chamber, John could tell these people were not talented fighters. They had most likely used their extraordinary wealth and status to purchase the best cultivation aids, and had brute forced their cultivations to their current levels.


    Whenpared to a genius of the same cultivation realm, they were quite a bit weaker, and theirbat prowess was nothing more than a joke.


    John ignored her question, and sent a sound transmission to Kirii to keep Galvsten upied for a moment. Kirii was locked in battle with the man, who was no doubt the strongest one of the bunch. Still, Kirii was able to hold his own, making it so that escape was impossible for the man.


    Their battle filled the chambers with constant explosions of lightning and sword battle arts; explosions that washed over both John and the whip-wielding woman constantly. John merely shrugged off the explosions thanks to his heaven-defying durability, but the woman was much worse off.


    Each explosion required her to expend Qi to defend against it, quickly draining her Qi reserves. At this point in the battle, she was nothing more than a spent candle, one to be snuffed out momentarily.


    Boom!


    The ground beneath John''s feet shook like an earthquake as he pressed off the ground, soaring up towards the woman who hovered a hundred yards in the air. He appeared before her instantly, scythe disappearing from his hands. The womans whip was faster than his scythe due to his scythe''s immense weight, and so he decided to forgo his weapon.


    The woman sped backwards and whipped outwards towards John. The air crackled with immense power as her whip pped down on his location, space trembling wherever it traveled.


    Roar!


    John roared loudly, unleashing a Roar of the Jade Dragon''s towards the whip. The roar shook the whip, veering it off its intended path, making it miss him by a few feet. Spatial power red within him a momentter as John parted the wall between the real world and the realm of spatial chaos beyond, stepping into it.


    The multi-colored glow of spatial chaos surrounded him in all directions, trying to push him in random directions like ocean waves. John surged through the spatial chaos in his intended direction, and upon arrival an instantter, pierced through the spatial wall once more.


    He stepped back into the real world, a dozen yards behind the woman.


    "Close enough," John muttered. He had intended to arrive directly behind her, but his grasp of the spatial Dao was still tenuous at best. Still, this was more than close enough.


    The woman turned around, face aghast at John''s sudden arrival. Had she been morebat experienced, she would have had her divine sense pushed to the absolute maximum, which would have allowed her to feel his movement even through the barrier of space itself. However, the woman was definitely not an experienced fighter, and had only had her divine sense spread out at minimum power, so as to keep track of his movements in this realm.


    sh!


    John appeared before her like a ghost, far quicker than the woman could retract her whip and unleash another attack. Her eyes went wide and mouth opened to scream in fright, but a fist mmed into her face before the scream could leave her mouth.


    A muffled cry of pain echoed out as the woman shot backwards like a bullet, blood and teeth trailing behind her.


    Boom!


    She mmed against the far wall of the chamber, forming a small indent into the durable formation-reinforced wall. She bounced off it with a sickening crunch, falling bloodied fists with ruinous lightning power, adding to the force of the attacks.


    The woman withstood the first wave of punches, using her Qi as best she could to to the ground below.


    Bang!


    A fist mmed into her stomach before she coulde to, mming her against the wall once more.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    A torrent of punches sted onto the woman, each punch as strong as her whip attacks, eaching so fast that it was impossible for her to free herself from the barrage. Lightning sprung into existence as the barrage continued, coating John''s bloodied fists with ruinous lightning power, adding to the force of the attacks.


    The woman withstood the first wave of punches, using her Qi as best she could to defend against it. That Qi ran out quickly, overwhelmed by the sheer power of the ceaseless punches; punches powered by the might of dragons and Asura'', punches so powerful that they would shatter entire mountain ranges with each blow.


    Zuri watched with mouth agape as John unleashed his torrential assault on the Early World Expansion woman. She instinctively put herself in that position and wondered if she would be able to withstand that horrifying barrage. She quickly came to the conclusion that although she would havested longer than the woman, had she found herself pinned under that barrage of attacks, her fate would have eventually been the same as that woman.


    The barrage eventually ended, making the chamber go from shaking like an earthquake was about to destroy everything, to stillness. The lightning faded away as well, revealing the result of the horrifying barrage.


    John hovered in the sky a yard from the wall, which was sttered in all directions with a thick coating of blood, bone, and viscera. All that remained of the body was a mangled head, which while unrecognizable, was still intact. The disfigured yet horrified look still lingered on the woman''s face, her eyes eternally wide with fear, shock, and disbelief.


    The head vanished a momentter.


    Boom!


    John turned around, his demonic-red eyes locking onto Galvsten on the opposite side of the chamber. Kirii was standing before the man, body glowing brightly, lightning flickering over his Kirin form.


    Galvsten looked over towards John, eyes wide, mouth agape, unable to believe the oue of John''s battle. He nced at the smattering of blood and guts on the wall behind John, and then grit his teeth with anger and resolve. A formation disk suddenly appeared in Galvsten''s hand, one brimming with powerful spatial energy.


    ''Trying to escape with a spatial formation disk huh?''


    John suddenly vanished, slipping into the spatial void once more. He reappeared a short distance away from Galvsten almost instantly, just as Galvsten crushed his spatial disk in his hand. His body became wrapped with a powerful spatial energy, about to carry him far away from this location.


    "You''re going to regret what you did today, you fucking brat," Galvsten said, a mix of anger and mockery in his voice.


    His eyes went wide a momentter, shocked at the fact that he had not teleported away. Instead, his spatial energy seemed to be struggling against something, as if trying to break through a formation but unable to.


    Galvsten''s eyes snapped towards John''s hand, watching the crumbling pieces of what was once a formation disk fall to the ground. John smirked at the man with cold confidence. The spatial repression formation disk he had purchased from the Mystic Trade Hall Master, the one he had intended to use on Parker but had not needed to, had finally be useful.


    Che!


    John appeared before the stunned Galvsten, hand piercing forward like a knife, carving directly into the man''s stomach, piercing his dantian spatial realm and destroying it instantly.

 Chapter 952 Shadow Of Agony

    Galvsten cried out in pain, eyes going wide with panic and terror. In mere minutes, his life went from one of power and luxury to the verge of copse, and in the blink of an eye, went from near salvation to sure doom.


    Boom!


    The energy contained within his dantian sted outwards, filling the room with destructive power. Those in the World Expansion Realm and above had incredible amounts of energy stored within their Dantians, and its sudden destruction resulted in that energy being unleashed on the world.


    Thankfully, due to a World Expansion experts dantian existing in their self-created spatial pocket, much of the energy was lost within that spatial realm, which melded into the spatial chaos of the void beyond this world''s reality.


    John braced against the explosion and shielded the now crippled Galvsten from his own destructive power. Near the tunnel, Zuri used her own power to defend the tunnel and those within, shielding them from the powerful st. The explosion sted the chamber onest time with powerful energy, which eventually faded away, finally returning the chamber to true silence.


    John and Kirii reappeared from within the explosion of energy, both standing next to Galvsten. Blood flowed out of a massive wound in the man''s stomach, unable to be healed due to him no longer being a cultivator. John reached out with a lightning coated hand and seared the flesh shut, stopping the blood loss. Galvsten cried out in pain as he felt his flesh sear, eyes wide and mouth agape.


    He no longer bore the regal bearing he had previously had with his gold robes embroidered with gems. Instead, his charred, torn, and blood-soaked robe only made him look like a madman, one fallen far from the grace he once held.


    John said some words to Kirii, and then moved towards Zuri, who shifted on her feet as she watched the demonic form of John''s Asura Transformation approach her. Brief thoughts of if he was even an ally anymore flooded her mind instinctually, as the Asura form and aura was far too horrifying to limate to immediately.


    John''s form faded away as he unleashed his Asura Transformation and Dragon-God Shift, returning to his normal human form. Blood from both him and his enemies covered much of his body, which he could remove with Qi but decided against doing so just yet. There was more blood to spill this night, and cleaning up now would serve him no purpose.


    He stopped a short distance away from Zuri, who had instinctively assumed a defensive stance. John eyed her for a moment, noticing her raised guard.


    "We''re no longer allies, are we?" he asked calmly.


    "Who are you?" Zuri asked, guard still raised. "Or better yet, what are you?"


    John sighed out deeply. This was the reason he wanted to avoid using his Asura Transformation Art around strangers. Unfortunately, if he wanted to defeat tonight''s enemies, he had no choice.


    "I''m just a youth from a faraway ce that you need not concern yourself with," John said calmly, shifting his gaze towards the tunnel behind Zuri. He couldn''t see anyone, meaning they were all gathered higher up in the tunnel away from the horrifying explosions within the chamber. That was good. None had seen his Asura Transformation other than Zuri.


    If they had all seen his transformation, then the night would have be a lot moreplicated.


    "As for what I am, I am just someone who was blessed with some lucky opportunities," John continued, giving Zuri a vague answer. "What I really am is a true born human, and still your ally, at least I consider you as such."


    Zuri eyed John skeptically, studying his face and demeanor for any lies in his words.


    "Are you rted to the Devil Race?" she asked after a long silence.


    "No," John shook his head, giving a firm reply. "I am a pure-born human, through and through, and my goals align with the human race. That I can guarantee."


    Zuri studied him for some time longer, then nodded her head, believing his story. It had taken some time to limate to his previous Asura form, but with it gone, she had been able to do so. Besides, based on what she saw of hisbat prowess, she was not going to try to fight him. She was an expert in stealth and assassination arts, but when it came to straight upbat, was only above average. Compared to someone as monstrous as John, she had little to no hope in an outright battle.


    "I believe you," she said, giving up her defensive stance.


    John nodded his head and then nced at the tunnel again.


    "Did anyone else see my transformation?" he asked.


    "No," Zuri shook her head. "They all retreated to the top of the tunnel, to be as far away from the chamber as possible. The chamber is a ce of nightmares for them, one they wish to be as far away from as possible. They would have already tried to flee the estate if they were able to get through the door at the top of the tunnel."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Good," John nodded his head. "Keep it that way for now. Call in reinforcements to help free them from thepound, and when reinforcements arrive, leave with them as well. I will meet you at the entrance of the transportation formation that took us to this area."


    Zuri nced at John, and then to Galvsten in the distance, guarded by Kirii to ensure he didn''t do anything to end his life. She nced back at John, a curious look on her face.


    "When you suddenly took action, Galvsten and the others were talking about a young woman from a different world. Was that?" she asked, her words trailing off.


    John nodded his head, confirming her suspicions. Zuri took in a deep breath.


    "Then are you also from another world?" she asked.


    John remained silent for a moment before nodding his head. Zuri had already seen his Asura Transformation. Compared to that, knowing he was from another world was much less secretive. Based on the discussion he had with Furi a while back, neers from different worlds were incredibly rare, but not impossible or something that would turn the world on its head.


    "Are you going to interrogate Galvsten for information on this woman?" Zuri asked, to which John nodded his head.


    "You could say that," he mumbled.


    "Let me help," Zuri said, face firm.


    John raised an eyebrow at her proposal.


    "My expertise is assassinations," Zuri said, "and many assassinations require information extraction first. I have be very good at both over the years, so I should be able to help get information better than you can. Besides, I need to question Galvsten on things unrted to this matter, so I need to interrogate him anyways. Also, making him suffer will be quite pleasurable after seeing the things he put the others through."


    John felt a sliver of doubt enter his mind, as he had be quite good at extracting information from those he ''interrogated''. However, the offer was only beneficial to him, so he nodded his head in agreement.


    Zuri smiled and retreated to the tunnel, where the formations of the chamber did not restrict sound transmissions. She sent in calls for reinforcements from the Guild, and then instructed the others to remain in the tunnel until aid arrived.


    She returned to John a short whileter, the two moving back to Galvsten a momentter. Galvsten watched with horrified eyes as Zuri approached him, and removed her hood, revealing her face. His eyes went wide with horror, as if he had seen the most horrifying thing imaginable.


    "Shadow of Agony," he mumbled through trembling lips and chattering teeth. Clearly he recognized Zuri''s face and had associated her with this ''Shadow of Agony.''


    John nced sideways at Zuri, who noticed his gaze.


    "If a member of the Guild achieves great feats in a certain aspect, they are given a specialized name, which is a great honor in the Guild," Zuri exined, gaze bing cold and callous as she loomed above Galvsten, looking him straight in his horrified eyes.


    "And the name bestowed to me years ago was Shadow of Agony," she said, crouching down before the horrified Galvsten, speaking to both him and John. "I earned my name by my uncanny ability to cause pain and agony, which happens to be a very beneficial thing during ''interrogations''. It seems my reputation, as well as my face, has spread as ofte," she added, clearly displeased that her identify had been leaked to the outside world.


    Her hand touched Galvsten, whose eyes suddenly went wide with a look of pain and horror John had never seen before. Cries of absolute agony and misery filled the room as Zuri got to work on the despicable man, while John stood nearby, watching silently.


    The night stretched on for a long time, cries of agony filling the chamber ceaselessly. By the end, Galvsten was nothing more than a desated husk of a man, soul snuffed out after the most brutal torture and pain John had ever seen.


    He nced at Zuri at the end of it and nodded his head approvingly. She had done an even better job than he would have been able to do.


    "A name well earned."

 Chapter 953 Information Regarding Lilian

    Zuri had truly earned her name as Shadow of Agony. John had initially had doubt that she would do better than him interrogating Galvsten, as he had quite an extensive history of ''interrogation,'' but he couldn''t help but admit that when it came to such things, Zuri was practically a heaven-defying genius.


    Her techniques were practiced and mysterious. She worked on Galvsten''s body like a surgeon, poking, prodding, and invading in seemingly random locations, using a mysterious blend of Qi John couldn''t exactly identify. He could detect several Dao''s in the Qi she used, and surprisingly even the Dao of Life, although at a much lower level than what Laia used.


    Still, the result was equally fruitful and terrifying.


    "How did you be so good at this?" John couldn''t help but ask as Zuri stepped back from Galvsten''s dead corpse.


    She nced sideways at John, her face bing downcast for an instant before returning to her normal cold calmness.


    "Before I joined the Guild, I was raised in the Light Dao Sect, and taught the healing arts by my father," she said, bringing up painful memories of her recently killed father. "My father was second to none when it came to knowing human anatomy. Things like nerves, meridian channels, pain clusters¡­all of that was taught to me for the purpose of healing. All that knowledge is very useful when interrogating someone."


    John nodded his head, understand a bit of why she was so frighteningly efficient at torture.


    "And that Qi you used?" John asked curiously.


    "A homemade blend of several types of Qi," Zuri said. "Dao of Pain, Dao of Blood, Dao of Darkness, and to make sure their body doesn''t fall apart too quickly, the Dao of Life to heal the wounds I made."


    John sucked in a breath, thanking he was on Zuri''s side. Even with his high tolerance to pain, he was sure being interrogated by her would bush him to the brink of insanity based on what he had seen.


    The two fell silent, their thoughts drifting back to the things Galvsten had revealed during his torture. He had eagerly given up the information, most likely hoping for a swift end if he waspliant. Still, Zuri made sure he did not have an easy death, as payment for the pain and suffering he had caused to so many others.


    John''s brow furrowed as he recalled the many terrible things Galvsten had mentioned. He had mentioned that this chamber''s true purpose was to collect human cultivator blood. This blood was separated into four different pools in the middle based on the talent and blood quality of the cultivators, and was then to be sold to the Devil Race, who paid a premium for human blood to be used in their cultivation arts.


    As for the barbaric torturing of the victims, that was a side-hustle Galvsten had set up. He had realized that there were quite a few wealthy people out there with sick and twisted desires, but with no means to carry out those desires. By providing them the outlet for those desires, he made money twice on the bloodletting of the victims. This had proven a very wealthy business venture, and had been the sole reason he had amassed so much wealth and political pull to be the leader of Clearmist City.


    This ''business'' of his had been going on for three years already, sickening John to his core. Who knew how many people suffered brutal ends before perishing under Galvsten''s hand. John shook his head, moving on to the other things Galvsten had mentioned.


    Zuri had also asked about the woman Galvsten had mentioned, as she knew how much the information meant to John. What Galvsten had revealed was not much, disappointing John greatly, but it was still better than nothing.


    ''ording to Galvsen, the ce he saw Lilian at was merely called ''The Auction'','' John recalled thoughtfully, looking over to Zuri.


    "Do you know about this ''Auction'' he mentioned?" John asked hopefully.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "Very little I''m afraid," Zuri said with a shake of the head. "I''ve heard about it, but only through rumors and small information briefs from the Guild. The Auction is a mysterious group that reaches out to certain individuals, and allows them to attend their auctions. Those auctions happen in random ces at random intervals, and the only way to attend is to be invited. One cannot ask to join, as no one knows who runs the entire thing. The only way to find out about the Auction is to be invited, at which point the method of essing the auction is revealed."


    John frowned upon hearing this.


    ording to Galvsten, The Auction was a ce where anything and everything was bid on and sold, from treasures to people. The bidding process was entirely anonymous, with each person bidding from an enclosed room, fully shielded from divine sense and other spying methods. Most likely the only people who knew the identities of the participants were the people running The Auction.


    Galvsten had mentioned that a woman matching Lilian''s description had been thest auction of the night, and the most fought over bid. Her beauty was irresistible, and her talent undeniable. Galvsten had mentioned that Lilian looked a bit injured when she was presented to them for bidding.


    ''It''s most likely the only reason she was captured in the first ce,'' John thought angrily, thinking about the fall to this world. Lilian had used her full power to shield John from the horrifying spatial storms, and had most likely been gravely injured in the process.


    She did not have the healing capabilities John had, and so healing would be a much slower process for her. He was sure that if she had her full power at hermand, her capture would never have happened.


    Uneasiness filled John''s body and soul as he thought of Lilian being captured and sold like a ve. He was sure that if she recovered her full power she would be able to protect herself and escape, but who knows when, or even if, that would happen. She was bid on and sold to a mysterious individual, and who knew what her current fate was.


    John had assumed that he would be able to take his time to look for Lilian, but that waspletely incorrect. Every day he didn''t find her and rescue her was another day leaving her to this unknown fate. The thought infuriated him.


    John''s fists tightened so powerfully that the air trembled around him. His murderous aura leaked out instinctively, causing Zuri to feel shock at how thick and bloodlusted it was. The only thing that stopped him from going over the edge was the description of Lilian Galvsten had given. When he described her, he had mentioned that she had a light, mocking smile on her face. That was not the reaction of someone who had no hope in their situation.


    John turned his eyes to Zuri.


    "Find what you can about this Auction, and the fate of mypanion."


    His words weren''t a request, but amand. Zuri''s instincts were to berate him for talking to a superior like that, but the memory of what John had done in the ce filled her mind, the scenes of hisbat prowess still shaking her to her core.


    "As payment for the good deeds you did today, I will dly do my absolute best to find yourpanion," Zuri said sincerely. "I will also reach out to the Guild Headquarters and make this a top priority mission as well."


    "Good," John nodded, his murderous gaze staring off into the distance.


    Once he found the ones who had purchased Lilian, the ughter and destruction of this night would look like a jokepared to what he would unleash on those who held Lilian captive.


    ''I will bathe this entire world in blood and bring it to ruin if that''s what it takes to get her back.''

 Chapter 954 Shadow Four

    John watched silently as Zuri walked over to the tunnel on the other side of the chamber. She returned a short whileter with another person, a small-framed woman wearing a ck robe; the robe of the Shadows of Death.


    The woman had brown hair down to her shoulders, and appeared to be in her early twenties, although her true age was most likely a decade or more older than that. She was quite pretty, but the scars and blood on her face marred that beauty.


    John had not seen her face before, but based on her frame and the robe she wore, he could guess who it was.


    ¡¤?¦Èm Shadow Four.


    He had seen her bound to one of the torture devices, naked, with only her head covered by that vision and divine-sense blocking bad all the prisoners had worn. Shadow Four had a haunted look in her eyes, obviously still recovering from the brutal torture she had experienced, if she would ever recover at all.


    The two walked over to John''s location, stopping a few yards away. Shadow Four looked up from her feet towards John, haunted eyes studying his features. John stared back at her, feeling pity for this small woman who had suffered untold brutalities.


    "This is Shadow Four," Zuri introduced, gesturing to the woman.


    John nodded his head in greeting.


    "John."


    Shadow Four smiled lightly, her haunted eyes lighting up for a brief second, revealing the beautiful and lively woman she had been before this event.


    "Thank you, for saving me from this nightmare," Shadow Four said sincerely, her smile vanishing a momentter, returning the haunted look to her face.


    Shadow Four was an experienced cultivator, and although she had not seen John fight, she could feel the aura of the one who had taken action, and had battled the others. There was only Zuri and John here, so despite his shockingly low cultivation, Shadow Four knew he had been the one to save her from her miserable fate. Who knew how long Galvsten would have tortured her for information about the Guild before he finally did away with her.


    John nodded wordlessly, unable to form the right words to say.


    Zuri ced aforting hand on Shadow Four''s shoulder, her mouth parting several times as if wanting to say something.


    "Galvsten said that my identity was revealed by you, as well as other details regarding the Guild," she eventually said to Shadow Four. During their interrogation, Galvsten had revealed that Shadow Four gave him information regarding the Guild, including Zuri''s facial description and status as Shadow of Agony. She had also revealed quite a bit more about the Guild, including locations of their hideout, and members of their branch.


    "Is what he said true?" Zuri asked, expression pained as if not wanting the answer.


    Shadow Four hesitated for a moment and then nodded, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.


    "It''s true," she said with pain in her voice. "I resisted for as long as I could¡­but¡­eventually, it was just too much to bear," she mumbled through trembling lips, the memories no-doubt haunting her.


    Zuri closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, face scrunched up in pain. She breathed out and opened her eyes, looking as if she wanted nothing more than tofort Shadow Four and tell her everything was going to be alright.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    She eventually did the first part, embracing Shadow Four in a tight hug. Shadow Four melted into her embrace and started crying, her body trembling. The two embraced for quite some time before Shadow Four somewhat regained control over herself, and pushed out of the embrace.


    She wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and nced towards John once more, who stood there silently, arms crossed over his chest. Shadow Four studied his face one more time and then nodded her head, the radiant smile returning again for a brief moment.


    "I can rest easy knowing someone like you has joined the Guild," she said warmly. "You''re strong, and Boss will no doubt be safe with you around."


    John nodded, a slight frown appearing on his face. Shadow Four''s words seemed to be like words of parting more than anything else. He nced sideways to Zuri, who wore a grimace of pain on her face.


    A dagger appeared in her hand a momentter, trembling slightly in her grip. Shadow Four noticed the dagger and smiled lightly, reaching out towards Zuri.


    "I won''t allow you to do it," Shadow Four said, grabbing Zuri''s hands, and then yanking the dagger free. "Tell the others I''ll miss them."


    Che!


    The dagger, held by Shadow Four, pierced towards her chest, ramming deeply into her heart. John''s eyes went wide with surprise as he watched Shadow Four pierce her own heart, and then use her own Qi to explode it from within.


    She slumped to the floor, life quickly fading from her body, the sad smile lingering on her face as she died. The chamber fell silent for a long time.


    "What the hell just happened?" John finally broke the silence, asking for answers.


    Zuri''s sad and pained eyes shifted to him and then back to Shadow Four. She bent down and picked up the lifeless woman, eyes filled with grief.


    "You would have learned tomorrow during your test, but you can learn this part now," Zuri said, staring at her dead friend''s face. "When you join the Guild, there are only a handful of rules, and this is one of them. If you ever reveal ssified information regarding the Guild to someone not in it, your life is forfeit. Shadow Four knew the price of her actions, and killed herself so I did not have to do it myself."


    She shifted her eyes to John once more, then walked towards the distant tunnel.


    "Let''s go," she said softly. "Reinforcements should have already arrived."


    John nodded his head and followed Zuri. They entered the tunnels where the prisoners had sheltered in, hundreds of eyes locking onto Zuri and John. Some eyes were haunted, some appreciative, some dead inside.


    The two made their way to the top of the tunnel and Zuri took out a transmission disk, putting it away a momentter. She tapped her hand on the formation to the side of the tunnel entrance, parting the door leading to the mansion above.


    The door parted, revealing three figures standing at the tunnel exit. Three figures dressed in the ck robes of the Shadows of Death Guild, two in the Middle World Expansion Realm, and one in the Late World Expansion Realm.


    Assassins from the Guild Headquarters!

 Chapter 955 Grandmaster

    The three robed assassins stood tall with their hands sped behind their backs, faces shrouded by the hood, in which darkness seemed to dominate. It was a much higher quality robe than John had been given, and would most likely stop even the most powerful of divine senses from breaking into easily and seeing the face of the one wearing it.


    Based on their figures, it was clear that there were two men and a woman. The woman had a very alluring and curvy figure that even the somewhat loose robe couldn''t hide her prominent features. She had a middle World Expansion cultivation, as did one of the other men.


    In the middle stood a rather short man, a full head shorter than John. However, his aura at the Late World Expansion realm made it so none dared to underestimate him, and there was a natural dangerous aura about him, one that made John''s instincts re with warning.


    ''This man is dangerous.''


    The hundreds of people within the tunnel were escorted out of it by other members of the Guild who arrived, some of which John recognized as members from the hideout he had visited. They quickly filed out, leaving John and Zuri alone with the three mysterious cultivators.


    "Report," the man in the middle said firmly yet calmly, his voice sounding on the older side of life. He was most likely an ancient monster who had lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years.


    Zuri bowed her head lightly to the three mysterious figures.


    "Grandmaster," she said, bowing specifically to the one in the middle. She then took out a jade piece and handed it to the man in the middle.


    "The report is contained within," she said, "I have made sure to leave nothing out."


    She nced at John when saying that, smiling ever so slightly, her gaze as if assuring him that she did in fact leave something out; his Asura transformation.


    The man in the middle, the Grandmaster as Zuri had addressed him, took the jade piece and sent his divine sense into it, inspecting the report Zuri had carved into it before they had arrived. He remained silent for a long while, digesting the contents within.


    "This report is troubling," the Grandmaster said.


    "Grandmaster?" Zuri asked respectfully.


    "Your report of the enemy force far exceeds yourbat prowess," the Grandmaster said. "You even indicated that the youth besides you had a greater part in the battle than you did. I find that both impossible to believe, and disappointing from one of your rank and potential."


    John remained silent, listening to the two speak.


    ''Seems like she downyed my role a bit, as to hide the nature of my Asura transformation. That''s good. I don''t know if I can trust the rest of the Guild with that information just yet.''


    "It may be hard to believe, Grandmaster," Zuri said respectfully, "but everything in there is the truth."


    The Grandmaster handed the jade piece to the woman next to him, who read its contents, scoffed lightly, and then handed it to the man on the other side of the Grandmaster. He read it, reacting in a simr fashion.


    "This is a joke, right?" the woman said, her voice alluring and sensual, like her voice alone could seduce any man. John felt his soul pulled towards her by her words, as if they were a soul art of their own. He raised his soul defenses slightly, resisting the temptation of her words.


    ''Frightening.''


    "I have the same opinion," the man on the right said. "Either you are leaving details out, or the enemy force was not as strong as you detailed in this report."


    "Everything in there is true," Zuri said respectfully, gesturing to John. "The youth besides me has a frighteningbat prowess, one far higher than I have ever seen. His assistance in battle was invaluable."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The three nced at John, who felt thebined weight of their ancient gazes and aura''s fall upon him. A normal youth his age, even a genius his age, would sumb to the pressure, showing signs of nervousness, fear, or evenpletely fall apart mentally.


    John withstood their pressure with ease, raising an eyebrow at the three of them as if he was amused they were trying to y such a game with him. It would take far more than this to make him show signs of cracking.


    "Impressive," the Grandmaster muttered softly, then turned back to Zuri.


    "Who is this youth? I have not seen a report of him from you, nor have I seen his trial results. Exin," he said.


    "This is John," Zuri said. "I met him just this night, and after a long conversation with him, decided to admit him into the Guild. His trial was to take ce tomorrow, but tonight''s events happened to interrupt the official admittance process."


    "Tonight?" the man on the right said, voice aghast. "You took an uninitiated trainee on a mission? One of great importance? That is uneptable."


    "I had already shown him the base of operations, and as such, did not want him to leave my sight until the trials were officiallypleted," Zuri said respectfully.


    "You showed him the base of operations before he was initiated? Another breach of protocol!" the Middle World Expansion man said, growing irate.


    "It was¡­unavoidable," Zuri said, giving John a sideways nce.


    "Unavoidable? How?" the Grandmaster asked calmly.


    "He¡­discovered the location on his own, by following the aura of the Mark" Zuri said, a slight grimace on her face as if she expected her answer to receive stern berating for how ludicrous it was. As expected, those beratements came swiftly.


    "Impossible," the man on the right said sternly. "Only one who has passed the trial and has attuned with the Mark of Shadows can feel its presence. It is far too weak to be felt otherwise, especially by one as low of cultivation as this child."


    "I agree," the woman said, voice still alluring. "It is impossible to believe such an obvious fabrication. First the report, and now this. We had high hopes for you, Shadow of Pain, but tonight has made me question if we should reassess your future in this Guild."


    "Indeed," the man on the right said, nodding.


    John felt his mood go from intrigue to irritation as he listened to the two Guild members berate Zuri for truths.


    "If the Guild finds out about my¡­abilities, what will they do?" John sent a sound transmission to Zuri.


    "I cannot be one hundred percent certain, but I think that would be fine as long as you proved your worth to the Guild," Zuri send a sound transmission back. "The Guild values powerful and loyal members more than anything else, so as long as you prove yourself to be both, they will not hold your¡­abilities against you."


    Hearing this, John could no longer hold his tongue.


    "Hey, you two" he said firmly, pointing to the two Middle World Expansion cultivators. His words caused the three to shift their gazes to him, while Zuri''s eyes went wide as she heard him speak to them in such a brash and callous way.


    "Zuri has done nothing but tell the truth, and yet you two refuse to even consider if she is telling the truth," John said, arms crossed over his chest. "I just joined the Guild and had high opinions of it, but if this is what the Guild has to offer from its seniors, maybe my assessment was wrong after all."

 Chapter 956 Lethal Test

    "John," Zuri eximed, eyes going wide with shock. She hastily turned towards the three senior Guild members, bowing her head quickly. "Apologies for his behavior, he had just joined and does not know the Guild protocol."


    "Insolence," the man on the right said, while the woman hummed softly, as if amused by John''s outburst.


    "To think you admitted such a youth into our guild," the man continued, obviously irate. "You will be-"


    "That''s enough," the Grandmaster said, cutting off the man on the right. The man stopped talking immediately, showing the high opinion he had of this Grandmaster.


    "Young man, Zuri said you found the location of the Mark of Shadows on your own? Is that correct?" the Grandmaster asked.


    "I did," John replied calmly.


    "And did you find it because you could feel the Mark, or did you find it because you were provided with its location beforehand?" the Grandmaster asked, his words indicating the idea of John being a spy of some sorts.


    "If it was the second, I obviously wouldn''t tell you," John said, his words yet again causing Zuri to gasp.


    The man on the right began to speak, but the Grandmaster waved his hand, cutting him off. Meanwhile, the woman on the leftughed lightly, clearly amused by the entire thing.


    "True, true," the Grandmaster said, agreeing to John''s words. "But then we find ourselves in a bit of a difficult situation. You see, its considered impossible to detect the Mark naturally, that is unless you have ascended to the Holy Manifestation realm, which you clearly have not. So, with that being the case-"


    John''s instincts suddenly red with warning, filling him with the dread of death. The feeling was almost imperceptible, but there was something behind him, about to strike with lethal intent. Without thinking, his dantian red with the power of the Spatial Dao, enveloping him and shifting him through the fabric that separated the two dimensions. He entered the void of spatial chaos, his body bing sted with the storms of spatial chaos that dominated the realm.


    As he stepped into the other realm, he felt the shadow of death nearly embrace him, missing him by mere inches. A momentter, he stepped back into the real world, and immediately spotted a dagger pierced into the steps before his feet, embedded halfway into it.


    The dagger was of incredible quality, and a terrifying aura wafted off it, quickly fading away. He felt a chill again, as he was able to tell that if that dagger hadnded on him, he would have been gravely injured, and perhaps killed.


    Boom!


    His aura exploded outwards instinctively, preparing to unleash his full might at the threat. He was sure the attack hade from the Grandmaster, as he was the only one strong enough to threaten John with such overwhelming lethality, and did not know if the man was merely testing him, or trying to permanently silence him.


    He was going to make sure that if it was thetter, there would be a hellish battle on the Grandmasters hands, even if the battle was a futile one for John.


    "Hohoho," wizenedughter drifted out from the Grandmaster, hisughter diffusing the situation, making John realize it had been a test after all. However, the test had been a real one, and had John not possessed the ability to detect the faintest killing intent like he had imed, then the dagger would havended, and he would have been killed.


    He felt a cold bead of sweat form on his forehead.


    ''This Grandmaster is insane!''


    "Not bad, young one," the Grandmaster said, voice tinged with amusement and praise. "Your instincts are terrifyingly sharp for one of your age and cultivation."


    His head turned slightly, looking towards Zuri.


    "Perhaps you have been telling the truth after all," he said," but discussing it here will serve no further purpose. Shadow of Pain, you willplete a detailed report, including everything Shadow Four-Eight gave to the enemy. Even if they are dead, they might have sent word of their findings to others before you arrived."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "It will be done," Zuri said, breathing a heavy breath of relief that the situation seemed to have been sorted out.


    "As for you, young man," the Grandmaster said to John. "Since you have yet to take the initiation trial, I will bring you to the Guild Headquarters to personally test you myself."


    Zuri''s eyes went wide at this news, while the man on the right stiffened as if he wanted to protest but didn''t, while the woman hummed with soft amusement once more. John realized this was some sort of special asion or something worthy of the reactions he was seeing but remained silent. He would soon find out what being tested by this Grandmaster meant.


    "That is all," the Grandmaster said, turning around to leave.


    "Grandmaster," Zuri spoke up.


    "Yes?" the man asked.


    Zuri nced at John, and then spoke up once more.


    "I was going to travel soon to the Guild Headquarters to post a high-importance mission. I figured if you are going to head there now, I would join along for convenience," Zuri said.


    John listened closely, as he was sure this was rted to Zuri posting the mission to find Lilian.


    "High-importance mission?" the Grandmaster mused. "One of your rank can only post a high-importance mission every five years. What mission is so important to you?" he said, his words surprising John.


    He had no idea the cost of posting such a mission, and had no idea Zuri was willing to use such a valuable thing just for him. Clearly she valued him highly after his disy in the chamber, and was willing to eat such a cost to get him loyal to her and the Guild. Regardless of the reason, his opinion of Zuri rose greatly upon hearing this.


    She would have been able to use this credit on something like investigating her fathers death, but instead used it on John.


    "I understand," Zuri said, nodding her head, and gesturing to John. "He lost someone important to him, and I want to post a mission to help find her."


    The Grandmaster stared at her and then John, and then nodded his head.


    "You have quite a high opinion of this youth to be willing to spend such a valuable resource on him," he said.


    "I do," Zuri nodded.


    "Very well," the Grandmaster said. "Both of you, follow me. We shall return to the Guild Headquarters immediately."


    John followed closely behind, moving through the estate that was now under the control of the guild. His curiosity rose as he thought of the things toe, such as this mysterious trial that had everyone so worked up.


    Joining an assassin guild, raiding an estate and finding out a horrifying conspiracy, and now heading to the assassin guilds headquarters to partake in some mysterious trial.


    ''It seems like my life on this world is about to be a lot more interesting.''

 Chapter 957 The Guild Headquarters

    Darkness enveloped John''s vision, his divine sense also restricted, making him truly blind for the first time in his life. Having neither at his disposal made him feel incredibly uneasy, but there was nothing he could do about it at the moment.


    After leaving the estate, he had been blindfolded by Zuri at the Grandmasters instructions. The blindfold was covered by a profoundwork of runes, which was responsible for blinding his sight and his divine sense, making it so that he was unable to tell where he was going.


    "Until one has been formally tested by the Guild and passes their trial, they are not permitted to know the location of the headquarters. Even then, only certain ranks are permitted to know the locations of the transportation formations that lead to the Guild headquarters. Even I was only able to learn the locations of the formations recently, when I was promoted to my current rank within the Guild. Only those at my rank and above know the way forward," Zuri had told him a while back.


    Zuri held a rope in her hand, one bound to John''s waist to lead him along and not get astray. He followed along quietly, trying his best to determine where they were going. He could tell they left the city, then moved through the forests nearby, over and around some mountains, then through some tunnels, eventually arriving at the first formation.


    He had already lost track of his position based on his quick mental image of Clearmist City and the surrounding area, and so he stopped trying to figure out the route they were taking. Such a thing could only potentially be aplished by someone who knew thend intimately, and he was aplete stranger to this world.


    The first transportation portal took the ground an unknown distance away, at which point the group moved through thend towards another transportation formation. Six more formations were taken during their journey, making John realize the futility of even trying to figure out where they were going.


    Some of the transportationssted only an instant, while otherssted almost a second.


    With thebined time spent within the formations, I would guess we''ve traveled several million miles away from Clearmist City at the very least,'' John thought, taking note of just howrge this continent was.


    It was farrger than the Divine Martial Continent, and was only one of four noteworthy continents on this world. Whenparing this world and his homeworld, the two werepletely different.


    John stepped onto another formation and felt himself speed through space for a brief moment before arriving at their destination. The still air and soft footsteps in the distance told him they had arrived at an indoor location.


    "You can take the blindfold off," Zuri said to John, who did so quickly. Theck of sight and divine sense had been suffocating.


    As he took the blindfold off, arge room came into view. The room was several hundred yards wide, with dark walls, almost ck, with gothic style vaulted ceilings high above. Formation lights lined the walls in many locations, giving some light to the room, as there were no windows to the outside world to be seen.


    John turned his head about, taking in the rest of the room. He found himself on a raised transportation formation, Zuri, the Grandmaster and the other two cloaked cultivators he had seen on it too, as well as several other cloaked members of the Guild he had yet to meet.


    The rest of the room held five other transportation formations, six in total including their own. To the side of each formation tform was arge table, at which several individuals were seated. He noticed that unlike the other members of the guild within this room, those seated at the tables wore slightly different looking robes, gray in color instead of ck like the others.


    "I will record our arrival," Zuri said to the Grandmaster, bowing her head slightly.


    The Grandmaster nodded, waiting patiently as Zuri went to therge stone table near their tform. She spoke with one of the seated personnel at the table, and then returned to the group a short whileter. She waved her hand and eight items, appearing like gilded seals made from some unknown metal floated back towards each of the other members in the group, who caught the items and put them away.


    "Let us be off then," the Grandmaster said, and hopped off the raised tform to the floor proper, and then proceeded towards therge double door at the opposite end of the room. The others quickly followed behind, while John fell in step with Zuri.


    A sh of light indicated the arrival of a group on one of the other tforms, catching his attention. He watched them proceed towards the stone table nearest that tform and converse with those seated at it, hand over some items, and then walk away from the tform.


    "Everyone''s arrival to the Headquarters must be logged at those tables," Zuri exined, noticing John''s inquisitive nce. "Even the Grandmaster must log his arrival, by showing their personal Guild Seal to the Archivists, who are the ones wearing the gray robes. I took the liberty of collecting the Seals of the others before we arrived so that the arrival process would be swift and concise."


    John nodded his head thankfully, eyes still scanning the room for any other things of interest. He didn''t find any, and followed the group through therge twenty-yard-tall open double doors, and into a hallway.


    The hallway stretched out to both sides, and was thirty yards wide and fifty yards tall. The style was much the same as the room they hade from, with the walls made from some dark stone carved with some gothic designs, and vaulted ceilings high above.


    ck metallic handles jutted from the wall at even intervals, each holding a formation disk that gave off light to illuminate the hallway. A red rug of some unknown material ran the span of the hallway, giving some color to the otherwise dark hallway.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The group turned left upon arriving in the hallway. As they walked, John saw other members of the guild pass them by. Some wore the same ck robes as Zuri and the others, while others wore the gray robes he had seen in the previous room.


    They robes seemed to all be the same, making it impossible to identify someone unless they had the hood of their robe down. About half of the people he saw wore their hood up, the other half having their hoods down, revealing their faces.


    The faces he saw were a mix of young and old, male and female. The one thing inmon was the respect they showed the Grandmaster, stopping what they were doing and bowing ever so slightly towards him as he passed before going on about their business.


    The Grandmasters face was obscured within his hood, but his aura and cultivation level were unmistakable. The Grandmaster''s aura was incredible, rivaling that of someone like Thunderzen.


    ''If the two of them fought, who would win?'' John couldn''t help but wonder. Both of them gave off the same ancient yet lethal feeling.


    "How high of a status does the Grandmaster have?" John whispered to Zuri, wondering where the old man stood status wise within the Guild. If he had to guess, it was at the top, or at the very least close to the top of the Guild.


    Zuri nced at John and then towards the Grandmaster, who walked in front, hands sped behind his lower back which faced the two of them.


    "You can exin the hierarchy of the Guild," the Grandmaster said, clearly overhearing John''s question. "Even if he was a spy, there''s no escape for him at this point, and sending messages to the outside is also impossible, so divulging the information you are permitted to give initiates is now eptable."


    Zuri nodded her head towards the Grandmaster and then turned to John.


    "The Guild is broken into multiple ranks, based on several criteria, the main two being cultivation level and talent level," Zuri said. "The bottom is made up of the recent initiates, like you, which are called the Shadow Initiates. Above the Shadow Initiates are the Shadows, like the ones you saw in the hideout."


    John nodded his head, recalling the dozen or so members he had seen just a day ago.


    "Above them are the Shadow Captains, which is the rank I currently hold," Zuri continued. "Shadow Captains must have at the very least Elite level talent, and also an Early World Expansion cultivation."


    John wondered about the Elite level talent and what that entailed, but remained silent, as he was sure it would be exined to him before long.


    "Above that are the Shadow Masters," Zuri continued, gesturing to the two cultivators who walked just behind the Grandmaster; the woman and the man John had seen in the tunnel earlier in the day.


    "Shadow Masters must also have Elite level talent at the very least, and have a Middle World Expansion cultivation. Above them are the Grandmasters, who must have both a Genius level talent and a Late World Expansion cultivation at the very least. Currently, the guild has seven Grandmasters, of which two are at the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm," Zuri said, revealing a bit about the Grandmaster.


    John raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear they had that many cultivators at the Grandmasters level. That was like having seven Thunderzen''s, which was a terrifyingly powerfulbat force.


    "Above that is the Guildmaster, the leader of our Shadows of Death Guild," Zuri said, smiling as if proud to be part of a Guild led by this Guildmaster. "The Guildmaster is a terrifyingly powerful cultivator, one that stands on the same level as the Tier One Sect leaders, with a cultivation at the Early Holy Manifestation Realm."


    ''Early Holy Manifestation Realm!'' John eximed internally. Although he was not truly shocked to hear it, it was still surprising, nheless.


    ''Someone on the same level as the Grand Abbot or the Jade Dragon Emperor.''


    A true cultivation powerhouse.

 Chapter 958 Trial Of Shadows

    While still thinking about this mysterious Guildmaster, Zuri leaned in closely and whispered into John''s ears.


    "There''s also rumors that the previous Guildmaster, the one who established the Guild all those years ago never actually died, but instead handed the reigns to the current Guildmaster. ording to these rumors, the first Guildmaster still lives, and operates in the shadows," she whispered and paused for a moment, then continued. "And some of the rumors state that the first Guildmaster is even stronger than the current one."


    John''s eyes widened slightly, the thought of someone stronger than an Early Holy Manifestation cultivator. That was someone even stronger than the Grand Abbot, and most likely strong enough to fight evenly against the Jade Dragon Emperor. Even though the Jade Dragon Emperor was wounded and far from his peak power, that was still a frightening level of power.


    Walking at the front, the Grandmaster smiled lightly, a smile that went unnoticed by the others. He led the group through the maze-like hallways, all of the same design.


    ''Unless someone has been here many times before, it would be incredibly easy to get lost in thesebyrinth-like hallways,'' John thought. ''That''s most likely the intention. If a spy ever gets in, or this ce ever gets invaded, navigating these hallways would be a nightmare.''


    The group took dozens of turns, went up and down stairways, and cut acrossrge rooms of other purposes to get where they were going. John had peered into rooms with open doorways on their trip through the headquarters, and had seen other members going about their business in a variety of different ways.


    He had seen sses where a World Expansion member was teaching newer members assassination techniques, stealth techniques, and more. He had seen something akin to an acting ss, where the members were forced to y roles and act convincing, a skill no doubt useful in the field.


    Other rooms were filled with members battling each other, either by trying to sessfullynd stealth attacks on their opponent, or ying games of cat and mouse, practicing both assassination techniques and evasive techniques.


    The hallway they were walking down eventually led to a massive open chamber, over a mile in each direction. Dozens of other hallways led to this chamber, making it appear like the heart of the headquarters, and the hallways the veins. Hundreds of guildmembers went about their business, a mix of ck and gray robes visible.


    Some of the guildmembers wore their hoods, shrouding their features, while others walked about with their hoods down, faces exposed. Groups of youths, ranging from what appeared to be ten years old tote teens were being escorted by senior members of the guild, most likely teachers and the youths students.


    John was surprised to see how young the guild recruited, but nodded his head in understanding. The younger they were recruited, the more loyal they would be to the guild, and the more the guild could mold them into the perfect assassins.


    Other than the groups moving about, John spotted some tables with gray-robed members sitting at them, near the center of the room. The ten tables formed somewhat of a circle, with arge board located behind each table. The boards were all covered with pieces of paper, which were missions from what John could tell at this distance.


    "Keep up," Zuri said to John, who came to and realized he had stopped to take in the scene. He quickly caught up and followed the group, noticing that almost everyone''s eyes drifted towards them, no doubt because of the Grandmaster''s presence.


    Those expressions changed from curious respect, to surprise, and then excitement as many of the younger guildmembers in the chamber moved towards John''s group, as if knowing what was going on.


    "They''re heading towards the trial halls!" John heard a youth around his age say to a nearbypanion.


    "Who is being trialed? Is it that boy in the back?"


    "Must be. He''s the only one I don''t recognize."<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Hushed conversation filled the chamber, as many curious guildmembers followed behind John''s group. Some of the groups consisting of students in ss tried to follow as well, but were quickly rebuked by their teachers. Groans of disappointment drifted out from those groups as they left therge chamber, unable to witness the neers'' trial.


    "It''s not often a Grandmaster will watch over a Trial of Shadows," Zuri said to John. "It means that the one being trialed is strong enough to have someone like a Grandmaster interested, which no doubt means an interesting trial."


    "Will the others get to watch my trial?" John asked curiously. He thought it would be a bit more¡­secretive, being an assassination guild and all.


    "They will," Zuri nodded her head, and then noticed John''s frown. "Each member who can watch is already sworn to the Guild''s secrecy codes. And even then, one will require a certain clearance level to watch your trial. Only those who can be trusted fully, even under capture and torture, will be able to watch you."


    "How can you be certain they won''t reveal any information they see if they are captured?" John asked curiously. Shadow Four had given up information regarding the Guild, so why couldn''t others.


    "Because," Zuri said, frowning, clearly recalling the bitter memory of Shadow Four. "Unlike Shadow Four, everyone with the proper clearance has gone though countless torture training scenarios, and each has proven themselves to be willing to withstand anything before giving up information. Shadow Four was unable to pass those trials, unlike those stationed here."


    She nced at John, a mixed expression on her face.


    "If you want to obtain a high enough rank, one that can search through the guild archives for information about yourpanion, you will have to endure such training as well," she said with a heavy tone.


    John shrugged, a calm expression on his face.


    "I''m sure I''ve endured worse."


    Zuri raised an eyebrow at his nonchnt attitude towards enduring torture trials, and then sighed.


    "We''ll see," she said, clearly not believing John.


    By now, the group arrived on the opposite side of therge chamber, where arge double-door guarded the way forward. The two guards posted on either side opened each door as the Grandmaster approached, nodding at him respectfully. John followed the group into the room, where arge theater-like room came into view.


    Thousands of seats stretched downwards before him, all looking at arge nk wall of some obsidian-like material. At the base of that wall was arge door, leading to another room.


    The Grandmaster stopped and turned to John, gesturing to that door.


    "Your trial awaits beyond. Good luck."

 Chapter 959 Heavens Shadow

    John nced at the door a short distance away, and then nodded, moving towards it.


    "John," Zuri called out. He turned to look at her.


    "Remember, these dangers of the trials you will face are real," Zuri cautioned him. "In fact, the Genius Trial has a death rate of over forty percent, so do not underestimate what you encounter within the trials."


    John raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear how brutal the trials were, and then nodded his head. While he didn''t voice his opinion, the dangers of the trial were not of a concern to him.


    ''I''ve faced demons and asura''s and lived. What''s an assassination guild trialpared to that?''


    As John walked downwards towards therge door on the opposite side of the room, arge group of guildmembers flooded into the room. Those able to enter the room were cleared by the guards, ensuring they had the appropriate clearance level required to enter. As such, most of the entrants were on the older, more experienced side, although some of the younger geniuses of the guild were able to enter as well.


    Expressions of curiosity, excitement, and doubt were visible as each quickly found a seat, a buzz of conversation filling the theater-like room. The Grandmaster, Zuri and the others watched the guildmembers take a seat. The Grandmaster turned to Zuri.


    "Which trial do you think he will take?" he asked her.


    "The Genius Trial," Zuri said without hesitation.


    "Oh? And how do you think he will do?" the Grandmaster asked.


    "I think his performance will surprise even you, Grandmaster," Zuri said respectfully.


    A scoff of disbelief left the man next to them, the one who had been a pain towards John and Zuri the entire time. The Grandmaster nced at the man, silencing him, then back to Zuri.


    "In that case, I am quite interested to watch his trial. It''s been dozens of years since Ist watched a Trial of Shadows," the Grandmaster said, moving towards a nearby seat and gesturing for Zuri to sit next to him. "Come, sit with me. Let''s watch the trial of the one you initiated together."


    Zuri nodded and took a seat next to the man, heart thumping within her chest. John''s performance would directly impact her status within the guild, due to her epting him before an official trial. If he passed with flying colors, her actions would be forgiven, and her status would rise as a result of finding a promising genius.


    If he failed, she would suffer a stiff punishment, one that might even strip her of her current ranking. The scenes of John''s battle within the chamber entered her thoughts, and her thumping heart calmed down. From what she had seen from John, failure was not a possibility.


    ¡­


    John arrived at the bottom of the theater-like room, and stopped before therge door leading to the trials beyond. He pushed on the double door a momentter, parting it open. A screen of light came into view on the other side of the door, swirling with white and golden brilliance.


    John stepped into the screen of light, disappearing from sight, the doors closing behind him. As he stepped through the door, therge ck wall at the front of the theater lit up brightly, showing an image of an empty location of some unknown ce. John suddenly appeared within that location, followed by a buzz of excitement from the gathered crowd. The trial had finally started.


    ¡­


    Immediately after stepping through the screen of light, John found himself standing in arge, empty room. The walls of the room were unable to be seen as the ck-tiled ground seemed to stretch into infinity. He peered upwards, and saw a void of ckness stretch on forever. Wherever he was, he wasn''t in the Nine-Dao World anymore.


    "This is most likely a spatial realm," John muttered to himself, "one constructed specifically for the trial."


    His head swiveled about, trying to see if there was anything important. The rushing sound of wind filled his ears, and he watched three massive archways of light rushing towards him from the distance, suddenly stopping a hundred yards away from him.


    The archways were each a hundred yards tall, and each swirled with a different color of formation energy.


    ''Portals.''<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    John''s gaze shifted upwards to the top of the archways, where words were carved into the stone archways.


    ''Standard Trial. Elite Trial. Genius Trial. Three different trial difficulties huh?''


    The archways reminded John of his time in the Yuan Continent ancient city, where he had entered the Divine Trial. These archways no doubt worked simrly, leading to the trial proper one he chose which one to enter.


    After inspecting the three trials, John turned his gaze in other directions, his instincts suddenly kicking in.


    ''It''s that same feeling!'' John thought, head swirling about, trying to determine the source of that feeling. He could feel the faintest killing intent, just like that of the Mark of Shadows he had found in Greatcrest City, in this ce, and it wasn''ting from any of the three trial archways before him.


    John''s divine sense red outwards, trying to pinpoint the source of the aura. He couldn''t tell exactly where it wasing from, but his powerful soul and divine sense gave him the general direction, which was away from the three archways.


    He started moving in that direction, towards the aura.


    Outside the trial realm, in the theater area, amotion broke out as the guildmembers watched John walk away from the trial archways.


    "What is he doing?" a younger male guildmember asked, a look of amusement and confusion on his face, as if he were watching an idiot go about his day.


    "He''s walking away from the trials? Is he giving up?" another younger member asked, equally amused.


    Simr discussions broke out, as many were not expecting this to happen. They were debating which trial John would choose, and against all expectations, he started walking away from them. They couldn''t recall such a thing ever happening before.


    While the younger members chatted amongst each other about the amusing situation, the older guildmembers, those part of the Guild for thousands of years or more became silent, stern expressions appearing on their faces.


    Zuri was quick to notice this, and nced sideways at the Grandmaster, eyes widening slightly as she saw the Grandmaster leaning forward slightly, his expression slightly surprised, and also..


    ''Is that excitement on his face?'' Zuri thought. She never thought she would ever see a Grandmaster¡­excited.


    But it wasn''t pure excitement. There was another expression veiled beneath the Grandmasters expression.


    ''Regret? No, that''s not exactly it,'' Zuri thought. It was hard to pinpoint, but it seemed like the Grandmaster was both excited, and somewhat saddened, at what was happening.


    While the theater was abuzz with conversation, John navigated through the area, trying to pinpoint the source of that aura. As he moved, he felt the aura grow stronger, and after moving several hundred yards, he eventually stopped.


    A frown appeared on his face as he looked all about him, but saw nothing before him. Just more empty space.


    ''I can feel the auraing from directly in front of me, but there''s nothing there.''


    Trying something, John reached outwards towards where he felt the auraing from. His eyes widened with surprise as he felt his hand hit something solid, although his eyes couldn''t see what it was.


    The moment his hand hit the solid object, the object sprung into existence before him in an instant. A massive archway appeared before him like a ghost, equal in size to the others, but feelingpletely different.


    He took several steps backwards and peered upwards towards the top of the arch, muttering the words he read there.


    "Heaven''s Shadow Trial."

 Chapter 960 History Of The Heavens Shadow Trial

    A frenziedmotion broke out amongst the spectators at the appearance of the new trial.


    "Heaven''s Shadow Trial? What is that?" a youth around twenty years old asked those nearby.


    "I have no idea. I''ve never heard about this trial?" one replied.


    "Has that trial always been there? Why were we unaware of it this entire time?"


    "How did he find it? It waspletely invisible! Is it a new trial the Guild added recently?"


    The discussions ranged from confusion to excitement, while a select few had serious expressions on their faces. They were all older members of the Guild, and such as the Grandmaster, the two Master ranked guildmembers who had been traveling with him, as well as several other high-ranking members.


    "Grandmaster," Zuri said, wanting to know what was going on. "What exactly is going on? What is this Heaven''s Shadow Trial John somehow found?"


    The Grandmaster''s eyes remained glued to the screen for some time before shifting to Zuri. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he leaned against the backrest of his seat.


    "The Heaven''s Shadow trial is something from long before your time," the Grandmaster said, eyes distant as if deep in thought. "When the first Guildmaster created the Shadows of Death Guild, he also created these trials. The trials were to serve two purposes: test worthiness of bing an assassin, and test talent.


    Initially, there were only the three trials, standard, elite, and genius, but for some reason, the Guildmaster eventually added a fourth, the Heaven''s Shadow Trial. The reason for him creating this trial was unknown at the time, but eventually the truth came out. It was a trial to find someone worthy of bing his sessor."


    Zuri''s eyes widened with surprise as she heard this.


    "The Heaven''s Shadow trial was created to find the first Guildmasters sessor?" she repeated, shifting her gaze to the screen which showed John standing before the archway. "Why was it hidden away? Did the current Guildmaster pass the trial, at which point it was no longer needed?"


    "Yes, and no," the Grandmaster replied, face stoic. "The current Guildmaster did end up passing the trial, but only barely. However, the trial was not closed after his sessfulpletion of it, and was instead left open for other trial participants to take it should they wish, to prove their worthiness to the Guild. After several decades, the trial was eventually closed and hidden, as the losses incurred within the trial were too severe for the Guild to withstand. The most promising geniuses were taking on the trial and failing, perishing within. The amount of talent lost in just those few decades was determined to be too great, and so the trial was hidden. To think this boy would discover it."


    "It''s that dangerous?" Zuri asked. "How many managed to pass the trial in the end?"


    "By the time the trial was closed, the total participants, all geniuses worthy of passing the Genius trial with ease had they taken that trial, was six thousand and seventy two," the Grandmaster said, shifting a heavy gaze to Zuri. "And out of those six thousand, only the current Guildmaster survived. The rest perished within."


    Gasps of surprise echoed within the room, as it had fallen silent as everyone listened to the Grandmasters teachings of the trials history. None of them had expected this unexpected trial to have such a brutal history to it, and hushed discussions once again broke out amongst the guildmembers, about the trial, and about if they thought John would enter it or not, and if he did, what his fate would be.


    "This boy you found seems quite promising, so I was looking forward to his performance," the Grandmaster said, sullen eyes gazing at John''s image on the screen. "Should he prove himself wise and enter the Genius trial, he can still be saved, but¡­should he enter the Heaven''s Shadow trial, then I''m afraid this promising youth you found will lose his life today."


    Zuri''s face scrunched up with aplicated expression. Her thoughts shifted back to John''s battle in the chamber the night before, and she rxed a bit. She had confidence that whatever came his way, he would be able to deal with it. Hisbat prowess was just that heaven-defying.


    The hushed discussions broke out into frenziedmotion as several members cried out in surprise.


    "He went in! He entered the Heaven''s Shadow Trial!"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    A sigh escaped the Grandmaster''s mouth as he slouched back slightly. He watched as John''s figure appeared in a new room, starting the first trial.


    "A pity. He seemed like a goodd."


    ¡­


    John stood before the archway for a short while, inspecting it carefully.


    ''It seems like the other trials, just hidden for some reason,'' he mused. ''The auraing from this trial is much more severe than the others, so I''m assuming it''s the hardest version of the trials I can take. Was finding this hidden trial the first step to be able to take it?''


    After thinking about it for a while, he shrugged and stepped forward.


    ''If I wasn''t supposed to enter it, I''m sure the Guild would have removed it entirely.''


    With no more dy, he stepped into the swirling portal of energy, disappearing within. A momentter, John found himself standing in a dark room. The room suddenly burst alight, a luxurious estate popping up before him.


    Mansions, gardens, fountains, ponds, and more popped up into existence, turning the dark room into avish estate of exquisite luxury. John surveyed the estate before him, trying to spot if there was any danger he could see.


    His eyes eventually fell on a singr figure, sitting several hundred yards away from him at the top of some stairs leading to the entrance of thergest mansion. The human figure was seated in a meditative position, eyes closed as if deep in a trance.


    It was a man who appeared to be in his thirties, with long ck hair, and a luxurious robe.


    John''s head swiveled about, trying to see if there was anything else of importance, but found nothing. He frowned, wondering what the purpose of the trial was.


    As if answering his thoughts, a deep voice boomed out.


    "Assassinate!" it said firmly.


    "Assassinate, huh?" John mused, head still swiveling about. He didn''t want to send out his divine senses to inspect the area, as he didn''t want it to alert the mysterious person sitting at the top of the stairs a short distance away.


    After seeing nothing, his gaze returned to the man, an eyebrow raising with surprise as he felt the aura of the man.


    "Middle Dao Transformation huh?" John thought, frowning with disappointment. "Based on the secrecy of this trial and the aura of the portal, I expected it to be a challenge, even for me. I guess I expected too much."


    Clearly the trial was scaling the enemies based on his cultivation, and for anyone else, assassinating someone a full minor realm above their own cultivation would be a difficult task, but to John, it was nothing more than a joke.


    Without giving it another thought, spatial energy wrapped around him as he dashed towards the man, officiallymencing the first Heaven''s Shadow Trial.

 Chapter 961 First Trials

    John sped towards the target, body cloaked in a veil of spatial Dao. Space shimmered slightly wherever he passed, as his control over the spatial Dao was still tenuous, and his ability to fully cloak himself still a work in progress.


    However, when it came to fooling a Middle Dao Transformation cultivator''s senses, it was more than enough.


    "He disappeared?" a younger member of the gathered guildmembers eximed, surprised to see John vanish from the screen they were watching.


    "No, he''s just using the spatial Dao to conceal his movements," a nearby Early World Expansion guildmember said, using his expertise to see through John''s actions.


    The screen they were watching was quite marvelous, in that it transmitted everything happening in the realm visually, as well as projected the aura''s as well. The stronger guildmembers could feel the faint presence of the spatial Daoing from John''s image, impressing them.


    "His control over the spatial Dao is quite impressive for one his age," the Grandmaster said, nodding his head in approval, "but his methods are too straightforward. He approaches this test with the mind of a fighter, instead of the mind of an assassin."


    Zuri breathed out lightly, trying her best to stifle the instinctual scoff she almost let out. The memories of John''s battle still fresh in her mind, she wanted to tell the Grandmaster he had no idea just how much of a ''fighter'' John really was, but she remained silent. She was sure John''s actions in the trials would speak for themselves.


    As the guildmembers discussed his methods, John rapidly approached the sitting target. The target''s cultivation level was of absolutely no concern to John, and so he approached with the mindset of not caring if he was discovered. The mission said to assassinate, not assassinate without being detected. As long as the target died, it would be considered a sess.


    An instantter, John appeared directly before the target, who still remained seated, eyes closed. The target''s eyes suddenly snapped open, finally feeling John''s presence, but it was already toote.


    Che!


    John''s hand swiped outwards, coated with ayer of lightning. It sliced cleanly through his target''s neck before the target could react, severing head from body. The targets eyes went wide for a moment, as if it was a true person, and then dematerialized, disappearing into nothing. Silence filled the trial area as John stepped out of his spatial shroud, eyebrow raised.


    ''Despite only being in the Middle Dao Transformation realm, it noticed me a moment before Inded my attack. How unexpected.''


    John had expected toplete the taskpletely undetected. His spatial shroud was strong enough to fool most Late Dao Transformation cultivators, and yet had been detected by his target who was a minor realm lower.


    ''It seems the talent level of the target was set to be quite high. I wonder if that will be the case for all the trials going forward,'' John wondered. He had thought the trials would be aplete breeze based on the target''s cultivation level, but perhaps he was wrong. And this was only the first trial, it was no doubt going to get harder as he progressed deeper into this Heaven''s Shadow trial.


    Outside the trial, discussions continued, talking about John''s results, and his methods ofpleting his trial. Some were impressed by hisbat prowess, being able to kill his target who was a minor realm higher without using a weapon, while others criticized his straightforward approach, which was not the way of an assassin.


    "Impressive, and also worrying," the Grandmaster said after a long silence.


    "Worrying? Why?" Zuri asked.


    "Being able to kill such a target unarmed is no doubt impressive, but his approach was far too juvenile. If that is the way he approaches the other trials, he will not be able to seed," the Grandmaster exined. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Zuri remained silent, gaze returning to the screen. John had only just shown the absolute minimum of what he was capable of. She was sure that before the trials were over, the audience, the Grandmaster included, would be shocked to their core.


    sh!


    The scene before John shed, changing from a luxurious estate to a bustling city. People walked about the streets, going about their business. Towering buildings surrounded him, while a thick smell of the markets, restaurants, and forges hung in the air. John took a step back, wondering for a moment if he had been transported to the real world.


    Soul power ring with caution, he realized he was still in the trial, only the illusions around him were incredibly real, to the point that it almost fooled him. He reached out and touched a passerby on the shoulder, who looked at him with a displeased look and said a few words of warning before walking off.


    ¡¤?¦Èm John withdrew his hand and looked at it for a moment.


    ''That person was solid, as if they were truly alive. This illusory formation is incredible,'' he thought.


    Not only did the city and people seem incredibly lifelike, they were also tangible.


    "What a profound formation," he mumbled before focusing up. He was still in the trial, and despite hisbat prowess, would not let his guard down.


    "Assassinate," the voice sounded out again, indicating it was a simr trial.


    John looked about and then frowned.


    "Assassinate? Assassinate who?" he grumbled. There were thousands of people walking about, and no one had been identified as the target.


    As if answering his question, his instincts red with warning, and he dodged to the side.


    Che!


    The ground shuddered slightly as a dagger pierced into the ce where he had been standing a moment prior, deadly poison dripping off the tip. The attack had been so sudden and unexpected that it would have killed most cultivators of his cultivation level, with only the pinnacle geniuses being able to detect it and dodge in time.


    John nced at the dagger and then towards the direction it hade from, and noticed a cloaked person speeding away on a nearby rooftop.


    "Another Middle Dao Transformation, huh?" John mused, smiling. "When does the real challenge start?"

 Chapter 962 Dangerous Second Trial

    Combat instincts triggered, John''s aura erupted outwards as he shot into the sky, not caring at all for the disturbance he created. The illusory people in the area shouted with displeasure at him for creating such a disturbance.


    However, as far as he was concerned, this trial was not real, and all he had to do was kill the target. Who cared if he did it the proper way of an assassin. That was not his way.


    John shot into the sky and appeared above the building where the assassin had been. He caught a glimpse of the figure slipping behind a distant building, and shot off in that direction.


    "Quite fast," John said, and then smirked, "but not fast enough."


    The spatial Dao enveloped him once more, and he stepped through the barrier between his world and the dimension of spatial chaos, where distance was a much different concept. As long as one knew how to read the waves of spatial chaos in this dimension, one could utilize them to not only move faster, but also shorten the distance as well. In this realm, space expanded and contracted like waves, making it possible to move far faster than in the realm world.


    He quickly read the way forward through the chaos, and then moved.


    John slipped past a wave of spatial chaos that approached him, dodging it as it would have pushed him away from his intended destination. As he did so, a storm came from behind him, pushing him towards his intended destination. As it did so, the ever-changing space contracted before him, shortening the physical distance he needed to travel.


    "Here," John said, arriving at the point he wanted to exit and return to his realm. Spatial Qi ring once more, John broke through the barrier once more, appearing back in the illusory city. The cloaked figure was only a dozen yards away, only his eyes not hidden by clothing, eyes that widened in surprise at John''s sudden arrival.


    Che!


    A st of ruinous lightning left John''s outstretched finger, mming into the target, sting him against the nearby building wall. The st had pierced directly through the targets unguarded chest, killing it instantly.


    A momentter, the city vanished, returning the space John was in to the empty void when he had arrived. The building beneath his feet disappeared, and he fell down to the ground,nding with a thud.


    A momentter, another scene appeared, this time a tranquil forest.


    "Assassinate."


    Scene after scene popped up, each with a different setting, target, and challenge. Some were sneak attacks he had to avoid and counterattack, others were in dangerous locations, with dangersing from the assassination target, as well as the surrounding area itself. Each scenario tested a different skill set of the trial participant, although to John it was all the same.


    Find the target, and then eliminate. To him, these assassination trials were nothing more than a joke.


    The guildmembers watched with mixed expressions as John breezed through the trials. Some were shocked at how easily hepleted the assassinations, despite the target cultivations being a full minor realm higher than his own. While jumping a minor realm inbat was not unheard of, it was something that only the peak geniuses of the world could do. And from what they could tell, he was doing it with rtive ease.


    "He''s yet to even use a weapon," one youth around John''s age eximed, awed by the realization.


    "Sure, he''s freakishly strong, but his methods are crass and too straightforward. Eventually he''ll run into a target he can''t beat, at which point he''s as good as dead," another youth said, obviously jealous of what he was seeing. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    While the youths argued amongst themselves, the older members watched with mixed expressions as well. They were obviously impressed by what they were seeing, but some also had looks of concern on their faces, as if they assumed John''s streak of victories would run out.


    The Grandmaster watched as John killed his target, and then sighed deeply. His sigh caught Zuri''s attention.


    "What is it?" she asked curiously.


    "This boy you found is truly a genius," the Grandmaster said, "if he had grown up in the Guild, his assassination techniques would have been amongst the best."


    "But¡­?" Zuri asked.


    "But," the Grandmaster said. "These assassination tasks were only the first trial of many. Most of the trial participants who perished within were also able to pass these trials with rtive ease, although their methods were far more covert."


    "All these assassination tasks only make up the first trial?" Zuri asked, surprised by this fact.


    "Indeed," the Grandmaster nodded, eyes narrowing. "He''s now moving onto the second trial, which had the second highest death rate of all the trials."


    "The second highest death rate? How many of the six-thousand perished in the second trial?" Zuri asked.


    "Over two thousand perished in the second trial," the Grandmaster said, "and from what this youth has shown, his methods are notpatible with the second trial. Unless he changes tactics and uses his head instead of his fists, he will not survive."


    ¡¤?¦Èm Zuri felt her heart tighten, worried eyes returning to the screen which was showing the next trial appear before John. A dark forest had appeared all around him, an ominous air permeating the ce. It was as if death was lurking in every shadow, ready to pounce at him. Even Zuri felt a tinge of dangere from the forest, despite her cultivation level.


    "What is this trial?" Zuri asked softly.


    "The first trials focus on assassinations, testing the ability to sessfully kill dangerous targets," the Grandmaster said, voice heavy. "Trial after trial was about killing, and so most youths would have heavy killing intents built up by now, focusing on killing the next target, instead of assessing each and every situation carefully with a level head."


    He paused and nced at Zuri, then back to the screen.


    "This trial is not about assassination," he continued. "It is about survival. A danger lurks within this forest, one that is impossible for him to fight. If he is discovered, he will perish, as did the two thousand others who were unable to achieve the true purpose of this trial: blending into the shadows, and escaping the forest unnoticed.


    An assassin must not only be able to kill unnoticed, but leave unnoticed should the mission be impossible toplete. This trial will test his ability to remain undetected, and with his straightforward approach in the first trials, I''m afraid he''s not adept in such a thing. His spatial control is impressive, but not good enough if he wants toplete this next trail. But perhaps this old man is wrong, and this boy will surprise us with his ability to remain undetected."


    Zuri listened silently, feeling worried for the first time. She had assumed John would be able to breeze through the trials thanks to hisbat prowess, but had realized she waspletely wrong. Her heart tightened with worry as she watched John start his next trial. A trial which killed a third of some of the most promising geniuses the guild had ever seen.

 Chapter 963 Impossible Trial

    John looked all around him, taking in the dark forest that surrounded himpletely. Only a small amount of light came down from the fake moon above, enough to give light, but not enough to make navigating by sight a safe endeavor.


    His instincts red with warning in this ce, telling him that there was a danger that even he needed to take seriously within.


    "Survive!" the monotone voice sounded out, giving him instructions for this next trial.


    ''Survive? Not assassinate? It seems like this trial is different than before.''


    After surveying the area, John moved carefully through the forest, withdrawing his aura as best he could, making no noise as he moved. He thought about using his spatial Dao to move about, but using it gave off more of an aura than he did moving physically without using any Qi. He had no idea what he had to do to ''survive,'' and so he decided to see if he could make his way out of this forest.


    ''I have no idea what surviving this trial actually means,'' John thought while making his way carefully through the dark, ominous forest. ''Do I just need to escape this forest? Is there something I need to fight and survive against? Is the forest the danger itself? These trials would be a lot easier to take on if I knew what the true task was.''


    After moving through the forest for a short while, John heard a sounding from the brush ahead of him. He tensed up and paused, remainingpletely silent. It sounded as if something was approaching his direction, breaking through trees and bushes, something scraping on the ground as well, like a weapon being dragged through the earth.


    John felt his instincts kick in with warming. Whatever was approaching him, it was something that he needed to take seriously. Whatever it was, it was far stronger than the targets he had assassinated in the previous trials.


    The space in front of him was a clearing in the forest, about one hundred yards wide. John crouched low behind a thick bush, aurapletely withdrawn, peering through gaps in the bushes. If whatever wasing used their divine sense to clear the area, he would be discovered, but that couldn''t be helped for now.


    ''My best method of hiding is my spatial Dao, but I still can''t use it without my aura leaking out.''


    The crashing sounds became louder for a short while, and then a figure broke out from the forest on the other side of the clearing, stepping into the open for John to see. Although it was almost pitch ck in the forest, he was just barely able to make out the shape and features of the figure.


    ¡­


    Zuri stared at the formation screen, watching John crouch low behind some bushes. She nced sideways at the Grandmaster, and noticed his heavy expression. Her heart tensed up as she saw it.


    "What''s wrong?" she asked the Grandmaster. Clearly something weighed heavy on his mind.


    The Grandmaster remained silent for a short while, staring at John''s image, and then sighed.


    "It seems like the heaven''s itself wants this boy dead," the Grandmaster sighed, shaking his head. He turned his gaze to Zuri, who was looking at the Grandmaster for answers.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "During the few decades that the Heaven''s Shadow trial was open, certain pieces of information was allowed to be known to those who entered," the Grandmaster exined. "Every Heaven''s Shadow trial was a massive event, just like this one, and was watched by countless guild members. While the viewers were sworn to secrecy for the most part, some information was allowed to be disseminated to the rest of the guild. This made some of the trials much easier, although easier is a rtive term. Knowing this information beforehand merely changed the trials from impossible to incredibly difficult."


    "And this trial was one where information was known?" Zuri asked, connecting the dots.


    "It was," the Grandmaster nodded, expression heavy. "Each trial starts with a single word instruction. The first was ''assassinate'', and this trial is ''survive''. This trial was proven to be impossible for anyone to pass without more information, and the death rate in this trial was over ny percent before the guild allowed some information about it to be leaked, so that future Heaven''s Shadow entrants could have a better chance at passing it.


    The information that was leaked regarding this trial was that there is a creature within the dark forest, one with senses beyondpare," the Grandmaster sighed, as if he had resigned himself to watch the youth perish before his eyes.


    "Once you are within five hundred yards of the creature, there is no escaping, and there is also no fight back. Every enemy in the Heaven''s Shadow trial is scaled based on the entrant''s cultivation level, and this enemy is designed so that no one can fight back without perishing. The only way to survive is to have sharp enough senses to avoid it entirely, keeping a great distance from it while moving without being detected. The exit of this trial is located at the edge of the forest, and can only be found by those with extremely sharp senses."


    He paused for a moment, then shook his head lightly. He shifted his gaze back to the screen, watching John look at the creature that just appeared in the opening. Gasps of surprise filled the room as everyone saw the creature, and also its cultivation level.


    "A Devil," Zuri said,pletely stunned.


    ¡­


    John watched the creature step into the clearing, and his breath caught in his throat for a moment.


    ''An Asura?'' he thought, then shook his head. ''No, that''s not an Asura, its a demon.''


    Asura''s and demons had simr features, and also simr auras. Both were creatures of nightmares, although the Asura''s were an entire realm above demons when it came to power, ferocity, and terror.


    The creature that stepped into the clearing was most definitely a demon, but was not exactly like the demon John had seen and battled in the past. This demon was far smaller, less muscr, and looked more like a human than the Abyssal Demon he had fought.


    It was about a head taller than him, and had dark-red skin. Its eyes glowed with a soft-red glow, and some horns jutted out of its head, two of them, curving upwards towards the sky. Its face was quite human, only elongated slightly, to look sharper and more menacing.


    A long, red tail shot out of its lower back, and pitch-ck armor covered its chest, legs, and shoulders, revealing only its face and arms. Its arms bulged with powerful muscles, adding to the menacing look. It was truly a creature of nightmares.

 Chapter 964 Devil

    "Not a true Devil, but a near identical replica created by the trial''s formation," the Grandmaster corrected. "To this boy though, it might as well be a real Devil. Now that the boy has been locked onto by the Devil, his fate is sealed."


    "Why isn''t he trying to escape?" a confused guildmember asked those near him.


    "Maybe he''s frozen with fear?" another guildmember replied.


    "That''s obviously the case. Any sane person would have fled by now. Since he''s frozen in fear, against a Devil, he''s as good as dead."


    "A shame," another said, shaking their head. "I wanted to learn a bit more about this mysterious trial, but it seems the experience ends here."


    ¡¤?¦Èm The Grandmaster listened to the others talk, then sighed.


    "Perhaps he can still survive, although the chance is beyond slim. He will need to flee immediately, and hope he travels in the right direction. If he can find the trial''s exit through luck before the Devil reaches him, perhaps he can¡­"


    The Grandmaster instantly fell silent, eyes going wide with utter shock. The same reaction was on the face of every other person in the room, as they watched John do the most unexpected thing imaginable.


    ¡­


    ''A Devil,'' John finally realized, recalling the descriptions he had been given about the Devil race by Luri and Suri.


    John''s blood rushed instinctively, preparing for the battle toe. Ever since he heard of the Devil race, he had wanted to fight against one of them. Just before he started to move, he paused, a surprised frown forming on his face.


    "Early World Expansion Realm!"


    The Devil was in the Early World Expansion Realm, far stronger than the targets he had to assassinate in the previous trials. Its cultivation was so high that it shocked even John.


    ''A full major realm above my cultivation? This Heaven''s Shadow trial is insane? How was anyone supposed to pass this trial?''


    To anyone but John, they would instantly realize upon seeing the cultivation level of the Devil that this was not abat trial. It was utterly impossible to jump four minor realms in battle, and so the only logical conclusion was that ''survive'' meant to flee the Devil, and find some sort of escape. There was not a single person in the history of this world that would have assumed anything else.


    However, when it came to logic, John''s very existence defied all logic itself. Where everyone else thought flee upon seeing the Devil, there was only one thought that entered John''s mind. The Devil took in a deep breath, and then its gaze snapped directly towards the bush John was hiding behind.


    Realizing he had been noticed, the word dominating John''s mind boomed like a drum, filling him with resolved purpose. His blood and Qi surged through his body, filling him with incredible power. John opened his mouth, no longer hiding his presence, and roared with determined fury.


    "KILL!"


    Boom!


    John''s aura exploded outwards as he instantly unleashed his Dragon-God Shift. Draconic scales appeared on his cheeks, chest and arms as a draconic roar filled the dark forest, like an ancient slumber dragon had been stirred awake. His ck robe was instantly reced by the draconic armor Laia had gifted him, matching the scales on his body, making him look like a dragon-god in human form.


    His eyes shifted into a golden color, zing like golden stars. A pitch-ck scythe appeared in his hands, the weight of the scythe causing his feet to crack the sturdy ground below him. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    The Devil let out a loud roar, sounding like a mix between a beast''s roar and a bird''s screech. Its powerful aura erupted out instantly, drowning the dark forest in a murderous, blood lusted aura. It shot over towards John with incredible speed, appearing before him in an instant.


    Razor sharp ws sliced out towards John, intending to end his life in a single attack.


    Boom!


    Lightning exploded from John''s outstretched hand, mming into the Devil''s chest just before it reached him. A screech of surprise and pain boomed from the Devil''s mouth as it shot backwards through the forest, crashing through trees, snapping them like they were twigs. It mmed into the ground and carved a deep trench into the earth, stopping only a mile away.


    Roar!


    The Devil roared furiously, and shot out of the trench it had made. It sped into the sky and spotted John, speeding towards him once more. A long, ck saber appeared in its hand, which shed outwards towards John, unleashing a terrifyingly powerful ck and red saber image.


    The saber image surged with the power of several Dao''s, and seemed like it was capable of cleaving apart anything that stood in its way. A smirk appeared on John''s face as he watched the saber image approach, his scythe shing outwards a momentter to meet the attack.


    Boom!


    Saber image and scythe met, filling the dark forest with a cmitous explosion of power. John shot out of the explosion towards the Devil in the sky, scythe no longer in hand. It''s tremendous weight was a burden for him unless he used his full power, and with all those people watching, he was unwilling to utilize his Asura Transformation unless absolutely forced to do so.


    As he sped towards the Devil, his eyes widened momentarily as he saw the creature put its saber away, returning to use only its physical body.


    "Matching what I use, huh?" John said, realizing what was going on. For whatever reason, the Devil only used a weapon if he held one in his hand. With that realization, the blood-lusted smile on John''s face widened with anticipation.


    "It''s been some time since myst battle with a demon," John said, "So make sure to give me a good battle tonight! I need to let off some steam after all."


    He arrived before the Devil a momentter, fist punching out to meet the devils sharp w swipes. Space rippled where w and fist moved, the two colliding a momentter.


    Boom!


    The dark forest exploded beneath them from the physical power of the collision, sting trees, boulders, and hills away with the shockwave created. Both John and the creature were knocked backwards through the sky, although it was obvious John had lost out in the exchange, flying farther backwards than the Devil.


    He paused and inspected his fist, the skin on it torn, revealing muscle and bone beneath. The torn skin started to heal at a visible rate, mending the wound in less than a second. A satisfied smile appeared on John''s face as he returned his gaze to the approaching Devil.


    "Unlocking the Limiter of Life was truly a blessing," he said, smiling. "Now I can fight like this, pushing my body to the absolute limits, for far longer than I could have before. Time to see what this improved body of mine is truly capable of!"


    His fist shot outwards once more, meeting the Devil''s w that had just arrived.


    Boom!

 Chapter 965 From Trial To Training

    Everyone in the room watching John was stunned silent, filled to the brim with absolute shock. They had been surprised when the Devil had revealed itself, and then stunned senseless when John had decided to reveal himself and fight it instead of run away from it.


    Everyone had assumed they were about to witness him perish, but the truth was theplete opposite of that. Common sense and all knownws of cultivation were thrown out the window as they watched John, an Early Dao Transformation cultivator, fight against an Early World Expansion Devil.


    Just keeping himself alive in such a situation was enough to be considered heaven-defying, but the scene they were seeing couldn''t have been farther from that. Everyone in the room watched with eyes wide and mouths agape as John turned this impossible, horrifying trial, into his own personalized training session.


    ¡­


    The Devil arrived at John''s side, hovering in the sky a few feet below him as well. Its w shot upwards towards John''s waist, intending to pierce through and cause grievous damage. John twisted his body in the opposite direction of the Devil and delivered a powerful backwards sweeping kick towards the w.


    Foot and w collided, creating an explosive shockwave of power, sending John upwards into the air, and the Devil down towards the ground. The Devil suffered almost no damage in the exchange, while arge wound appeared on John''s foot.


    For any other Dao Transformation cultivator, even those in the peak of the realm, taking such an attack directly would have led to death, or at the very best, the loss of that entire leg. But for John, thanks to his heaven-defying Immortal Asura Body and Dragon-God Shift, the wound was merely a gruesome but not serious one.


    He looked at the wound, which started to heal at visible speeds, and then looked down on the Devil, arge smile appearing on his face.


    "Hahaha, so that''s how I can best counter an attack from that angle," John roared with loudughter as he and the Devil exchanged a cmitous barrage of attacks. The Devil had managed to get itself on his right side, and shot a sharp w attack towards his lower waist.


    This was the twelfth time that John had allowed that part of his body to be exposed, which the Devil expectantly attacked. Thanks to its nature as a formation-built creature and not a true, living Devil, its attack patterns were predictable, and could even be exploited.


    The first attack from this angle hade unexpectedly, and John had instinctively decided to dodge it, as he was not able to twist in time to unleash a counter-punch of his own. The angle was too awkward to perform such a maneuver quickly enough.


    His decision to dodge had allowed him to avoid the attack, with the Devil''s sharp, outstretched w just missing behind his back. However, the Devil followed up the attack with a quick and sudden elbow attack, digging its sharp, bony elbow into his back. With the natural physical power the Devil race possessed, the sudden elbow attack had been quite devastating, opening up a wound on his back, and forcing him to the ground below.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ¡¤?¦Èm Had the Devil decided to augment the attack with Dao''s, the result would have been even more devastating. Thankfully, the Devil was a rather straightforward opponent, programmed to be a full major realm higher than the trial taker. The creator of the trial, the first Guildmaster of the Shadows of Death, had not expected one to be able to fight the Devil head on, and so had not expended much effort in fleshing out its attacks to be what a true Devil was capable of.


    John grumbled with pain as he recovered from the elbow attack, and then started to fight the creature once more. Using only his Dragon-God Shift left him at a disadvantage, but his current form was strong enough to keep himself alive while fighting the Devil. After a long period of exchanges, he had figured out the attack patterns of the Devil, and had decided to use it to his advantage.


    By opening up certain parts of his body to attack during their exchanges, the Devil would attack those parts, as it had just done with his lower waist. By trial and error, John had figured out the best way to defend against such attacks, and was slowly but surely bing even more frighteninglypetent in close-quartersbat.


    "Hahaha, this training is perfect!" Johnughed loudly, speeding towards the Devil once more. His body was covered in blood from the numerous wounds he had sustained from his exchanges with the Devil, but thanks to his Limiter of Healing, Limiter of Life, and natural healing rate of his Immortal Asura Body, his healing capability was even more heaven-defying than his strength now, and those wounds had already healed themselves.


    The sky rumbled and the earth trembled as he and the Devil fought a brutal, barehanded battle. The forest below them had all but been destroyed by their cmitous exchanges, and their shockwaves from attacks and bodies colliding into the ground had destroyed everything in their path.


    John focused on blocking the Devil''s furious barrage of sharp w attacks, knocking aside its ws at the perfect moment, while countering with his own quick yet brutally powerful attacks when he managed to create an opening.


    It was an incredibly rare opportunity for him to fight an opponent just barely stronger than he was, which was the case with his current Dragon-God Shift only transformation, and also an opponent that never tired out. Due to his prodigalbat prowess, John had not had to hone hisbat instincts recently, which naturally declined as a result. This battle was the perfect opportunity to hone hisbat instincts back to the peak of perfection.


    After knocking aside another w attack, John raised his arms and twisted his waist, opening the same part of his body to attack. The Devil''s w pierced directly towards it, which was met midair by a twisting leg kick. The kick, powerful enough to shatter mountains with ease, mmed into the w, shaking the very fabric of space from the powerful collision.


    The Devil shot backwards once more while John was knocked upwards, stopping in the air a momentter. His foot ached with pain as arge wound had appeared on it, so deep that bone could be seen. The wound started to knit and heal at visible speeds, and waspletely healed over a few secondster.


    "I now know how to perfectly defend against such an attack," John said, nodding his head in satisfaction. "Now onto the next one!" he yelled, his smile returning as he shot forward once more towards the Devil, resuming his brutal training session.

 Chapter 966 Finding A Loophole

    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The trial realm shook ceaselessly, as if it was about to tear apart and be destroyed at any moment. Two blurs, so fast that they could hardly be seen at all, moved through the sky, mming into each other with brutal ferocity, shaking the sky and warping the very fabric of space itself.


    John flew backwards through the sky, blood trailing behind him from a wound just opened. The wound healed in a few seconds, as if a healing cultivator was standing nearby, focusing on healing him as quickly as possible. The feeling of being able to sustain such damage and heal it almost immediately was euphoric, although it was not without its downsides.


    Each wound took a decent amount of Qi to heal, and therger the wound, the more Qi it required. John''s dantian, as heaven-defying as it was, had limits, and would eventually run out of Qi. His battle with the Devil had been going on for over an hour already, with him sustaining wounds each and every exchange.


    By now, his Qi reserve was running low, and a frown formed on his face as he considered his next steps.


    "I''m running low on Qi, and so I should finish this battle quickly, but its far too good of a training opportunity to just end like this¡­"


    His mind raced with thoughts, and an idea formed in his mind.


    "Kirii, can youe out and stall the Devil long enough for me to replenish my Qi?" John asked Kirii.


    "No," Kirii replied. "Something in this ce is blocking me from entering it."


    "Tch," John clicked his tongue in frustration, but wasn''t too surprised. This trial was meant to test the guildmember taking it, and using outside help like Kirii was obviously cheating.


    Boom!


    The ground shattered as John dodged an attack from the Devil, forming a massive crater that exploded outwards in all directions, sending earth, trees, and boulders raining down onto their dark battlefield.


    John turned to look at the Devil as it reoriented itself to face him, preparing to speed towards him once more.


    "Maybe I can wound it to slow it down, at which point I can focus on dodging while replenishing my Qi. It''s worth a shot."


    With the n in mind, John took out his scythe, ready to unleash an attack towards the Devil to injure it. The Devil paused for a brief moment and took out its saber, which was something John discovered a while back. If he had a weapon, the Devil would use a weapon. If he didn''t have a weapon, the Devil wouldn''t use a weapon. He wasn''t sure why the Devil was made to operate this way, but didn''t care either.


    His eyes flickered with a thought as he noticed the Devil pause to take out its weapon, halting its momentum towards him. He instantly put away his scythe, storing it in his spatial realm once more. The Devil had just started rushing towards him, but paused for a brief moment as it put away its saber as well.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    John''s scythe appeared in his hand once more, and the Devil took out its saber again. A boisterous, rowdyughter boomed out from John as he realized he found a way to stall the Devil for long enough to replenish his Qi.


    His scythe appeared in his hand and then vanished, the process happening over and over ceaselessly. Each time he took out his weapon or put it away, the Devil would do the same, but would pause for a brief moment to do so. John had no idea why it was programmed to do such a thing, but didn''t really care either.


    ''Whoever made the Devil probably never considered the possibility of someone being crazy enough to put away their weapon during the battle with this creature,'' John mused, smiling as he gamed the system of the trial to his advantage. He took out a Qi recovery pill from his spatial ring and popped into his mouth, augmenting his recovery process. Taking such pills during battle was not possible, since the process of recovering Qi through pills required a calm and focused mind and body to guide the Qi to his dantian, but with him standing here motionlessly, it was the perfect time for such pills.


    Like this, the two of them remained in ce, both taking out and then storing their weapons indefinitely, turning the once brutal battlefield into aical farce.


    ¡­


    The guildmembers stared with wide eyes at the screen, none of them uttering a single sound. They had be numb to the shock and surprise they were feeling, as each event they witnessed could be considered crazier than thest.


    They had watched John battle the horrifying Devil, a Devil a full major realm above his cultivation level, for an entire hour without perishing, all while treating this trial, one that was supposed to be impossible to pass if detected by the Devil, as a makeshift training session.


    Then during the session, John''s body had shown a healing factor that should be considered impossible for one of his cultivation level, instantly healing the wounds he suffered in his battle with the Devil. Then they had been stunned by just how much Qi John had at his disposal, as he had battled and healed for over an hour against such an impossible to fight opponent. With how he was battling, as well as the terrifying amount of Qi the Dragon-God Shift used, they figured he would have run out of Qi after a few minutes of fighting.


    And yet, the battle had been going on for ten times that length. And now, they watched as John found a loophole in the trial, keeping the Devil locked in ce, switching weapons ceaselessly. They had no idea why he was doing such a thing, and then some figured he had found a way to run from the Devil without it ever catching up.


    However, those theories were quickly squashed, as John had shown no indications of moving away from the Devil. Instead, he stood there in the sky, scythe appearing and disappearing in hand over and over again, as if he would never stop doing it.


    After a long while, hushed discussions broke out as the guildmembers were trying to figure out what was going on, and what John was trying to do. Their questions were answered a short whileter as John put away his scythe and didn''t take it back out, arge smile forming on his face.


    "Alright!" they heard him roar loudly, and then watched as he sped towards the Devil. "My Qi is mostly recovered. Time to start round two!"


    Everyone''s mouths went agape at hisment, unable to believe he had not used the loophole he found to escape, but to instead recover his Qi to start fighting the Devil again. Despite his impossibly strongbat prowess, he had not once managed to injure the Devil, and was fighting the battle on the losing end nonstop. They figured he would want to get away from such a futile endeavor, not start it once again.


    The Grandmaster''s gaze slowly peeled away from the screen and towards Zuri, who met his gaze.


    "H¡­how did you find this boy?"

 Chapter 967 Three Days Of Battle

    John''s battle with the Devil creaturested several days, as he fought a life and death battle with the horrifying creature, healed, rested, and then started all over again. The shocking sights of him fighting so far above his cultivation level, healing in the blink of an eye, and holding his own against a Devil without a weapon had be a normal thing for the guildmembers watching.


    Despite the long duration of the trial, none of them felt bored or agitated. The older members of the guild watched with great interest, feeling excitement for the first time in a long time for many of them. A potentially heaven-defying recruit was emerging before their eyes, a recruit that could elevate the guild to an even higher level. Guildmembers like the Grandmaster watched with a mixture of excitement and nervousness, excited for what he was seeing, nervous for any mistakes to happen, and for such a talented youth to perish.


    The younger members, in their early teens to early twenties, ranging from the Meridian Forging Realm to the Dao Transformation Realm, watched with eager attention, studying the battle unfolding before their eyes. Although they were not the ones fighting, they were able to learn a tremendous amount from just watching it.


    These youths had been raised as assassins most of their lives, and had been trained inbat with an assassin mentality. It was kill swiftly, or flee. Prolonged battles had been discouraged, as the longer the battle, the more time there was for something to go wrong. While this was the correct approach for an assassin, it left theirbat prowess and battle instinctscking. They were the most lethal group on the continent when operating in the shadows, but once discovered, their advantages faded away, exposing them to danger.


    No amount of simtedbat training could rece the real thing, real life and death battles, like the one they were seeing right now. Despite John''s apparent control over the situation, it was a true life and death battle. A single mistake from him could result in his death, which shocked the youths to their cores. John was doing the exact opposite of their training, and was doing it in such a controlled and practiced manner, that they could only stare at the battle with eyes full of wondrous awe.


    Many of the youths had doubted and even mocked him during the first trials, but none of them did so anymore. John''s battle with the Devil opened their eyes to the world of life and death battle, and how to best go about it. Although John''sbat style was only possible due to his heaven-defying body, the way he moved in battle, the way he reacted to certain attacks, the way he maintained hisposure during potentially lethal exchanges, all these things and more filled the youths with insights andprehensions, increasing theirbat prowess without them having to lift a finger.


    In fact, during thest three days, seven youths had gained insights from watching the battle, and had been able to use those insights to push their cultivation levels to the next realm. The theater-like room sprang to life asionally, flooding with the Dao''s of a breakthrough. Everyone else remained silent during these breakthroughs, making sure nothing disturbed them. Only the sounds of battleing from the screen they were watching filled the room during these times.


    With everything that was happening, in less than three days, John had been transformed in the minds of the youths, going from a new recruit some of them mocked, to a figure they could only look up to, a goal they could strive for, a god they could worship.


    ¡­<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    In a secretive room far beneath the Shadow of Death Guild Headquarters, two figures sat cross legged on simple floor mats, facing each other, a small table with a teapot and two cups between them.


    The room was illuminated by simple formation lights, which flickered and glowed in the same manner as a fire would, bathing the room with a light, orange glow. Simple furnishings lined the exterior of the room, a painting here and there, a chair, a table to hold simple items. It had the same simple style as the rest of the guild above.


    In the air above the small table hovered a glowing three-dimensional formation, one that depicted the entire battlefield, as well as John and the Devil fighting within. The detail of the formation was incredibly lifelike, as if miniature versions of John and the Devil were battling for them personally. The two figures asionally picked up their cups of tea and took a sip, all while watching the battle unfold through the formation in the air between them.


    One of the figures nodded his head approvingly as John performed an impressivebat maneuver, and set his cup down on the table. The man appeared to be in histe thirties or early forties, and had long ck hair that fell to his shoulders, and a clean shaven face. His features were handsome and sharp, giving him a slightly heroic aura.


    The man wore a simple ck robe like the rest of the guild, although its quality was withoutpare. It was made of the finest material the world could offer, and would be able to withstand attacks from Late World Expansion cultivators without being damaged. The only difference in style of this robepared to the others in the guild was the crest on the right chest of the robe, the Mark of Shadows, the insignia of the guild.


    Lastly, the man''s aura was withdrawn, making it hard to tell his cultivation level, but the natural feeling he gave off was an ancient and dangerous one, even above someone like the Grandmaster or Thunderzen.


    As he ced down his teacup, heughed lightly as he watched John start swapping his weapon rapidly, causing the Devil to stop and do the same. He had done so many times already, allowing him to stall this battle out for days.


    "I''ve held my tongue as long as I can, but I have to ask," the man said to the person seated opposite him. "Why does the Devil stop and mimic his actions whenever he changes his weapon? Was it merely an oversight when you created this trial, Prime Shadow?"

 Chapter 968 Prime Shadow

    The man seated opposite him smiled, taking a sip of his tea, then setting the cup down. The man wore a simple ck robe with no details whatsoever, although the quality of the robe was on the same level as the other mans.


    The man appeared to be in his seventies or eighties, and had a warm, elderly face, and wrinkled face. He had long gray hair, and a short gray beard, pointed down below his chin. The man''s cultivation was withdrawn as well, but when looking at him, one would feel as though they were looking at the world itself.


    "You are the Guildmaster of this Guild," the elderly man smiled, "can you not figure the reason out for yourself?"


    "I''m not the one who created this trial," the middle-aged man, revealed to be the Guildmaster of the Shadows of Death Guild, replied. "You are. So, what''s the reason? Did you just never consider the possibility of such a thing happening?"


    The elderly man, the Prime Shadow, smiled at the scene depicting John swapping his weapon back and forth, chuckling lightly at the amusing scene.


    "When I created this trial, I knew it would im the lives of many passionate youths, hoping to be the next Guildmaster," the elderly man said, a slightly downcast expression appearing on his face for an instant before vanishing. "As such, I decided to add a small mercy to it. I designed the Devil to only use a weapon if his enemy was using a weapon. I figured that without the Devil using its weapon, one or two youths would be able to keep their lives just long enough to find the exit. This, however, is not what I expected to happen when I made it like that. This boy is quite amusing to not only find this exploit, but use it in such a unique way."


    The two fell silent, sipping their tea as they waited for the battle to resume. A long whileter, John finally recovered his Qi, and resumed the battle with the Devil.


    The Guildmaster gazed for a moment at the elderly man, noticing an interested expression on the man''s face.


    "I have not seen such an expression from you in thousands of years, perhaps more," the Guildmaster said. "What are you thinking?"


    The elderly man looked at the Guildmaster while pouring himself some more tea, then picked up his cup.


    "Are you nning on challenging me again?" the elderly man asked, smiling lightly.


    The Guildmaster sighed at the question, and shook his head lightly.


    "I cannot beat you," he said, slightly dejected. "I have tried many times, but you are too monstrous to defeat."


    "Oh? The only person to ever pass the Heaven''s Shadow trial has such a defeatist attitude?" the elderly man said in a musing way.


    "Both your and my talent andbat prowess has reached its peak," the Guildmaster said. "While I still have some room to grow, I havee to the conclusion that defeating you in the manner you have requested is impossible. I may be monstrous, but you are a monster amongst monsters," the Guildmaster said, then sighed lightly.


    "Besides, even if I did defeat you, we would need to find someone to take my ce as Guildmaster," the Guildmaster continued while watching John''s battle. "If this boy manages to pass, he would be the first since me to meet the criteria for bing the next Guildmaster, but¡­" his voice drifted off.


    "But¡­," the elderly man chimed in. "You are not yet ready to step down from the Guildmaster position, and step into the shadows as Prime Shadow, are you?" <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "No," the Guildmaster eventually admitted, a slight ashamed look on his face. "I¡­enjoy being the Guildmaster, and think I am quite good at it as well."


    "No need to be so modest," the Prime Shadow said, "you are doing a better job at Guildmaster than I was ever able to. The guild had flourished with you as Guildmaster, while I was always too busy with the assassination part of our guild to focus on its growth and prosperity. That is why I created the Heaven''s Shadow trial in the first ce, to find a suitable sessor so that I may hand over the reins of Guildmaster, and return to doing what I do best."


    The Guildmaster eyed the elderly man for a moment, a sparkle of realization in his gaze. Questions unanswered for thousands of years finally made sense.


    "So that''s why you relinquished the position to me so early," the Guildmaster mused thoughtfully. "Before you handed me the position, I had assumed I would only be Guildmaster¡­" his voice trailed off.


    "Upon my Death?" the Prime Shadow smiled. The Guildmaster nodded his head.


    The Prime Shadow''s gaze returned to the formation hologram depicting John and the Devils'' battle. A smile of anticipation, one almost never seen on the elderly man''s face, appeared and lingered there.


    "No," the elderly man said, "you will remain as Guildmaster until you find a suitable sessor, but that time will onlye in tens of thousands of years, if not more. What I am interested in is finding a sessor for myself as Prime Shadow."


    "What?" the Guildmaster said, taken aback. "You intend to find someone to rece you as Prime Shadow? Is such a thing even possible? Even I was not able to meet your conditions, who could poss-" the Guildmaster cut off, instantly realizing the elderly man''s intentions.


    He stared at John, then back to the elderly man.


    "The position of Prime Shadow has only ever been imed by you, the most deadly and lethal member of the guild. Is handing it over to this boy even possible?" the Guildmaster asked.


    "I created this Guild," the Prime Shadow scoffed in amusement. "I can whatever I please, and what currently pleases me is watching this child, and seeing if he has what it takes to assume the position of Prime Shadow."


    The Prime Shadow nced back to the Guildmaster for a moment.


    "Besides, from what I''ve seen of this boy, I''m sure it wouldn''t be long before he reached my level of lethality. In fact, I think this boy is still hiding his true strength, and still has more to show us."


    "What? How can that be possible?" the Guildmaster eximed, but received only a smile in reply. The two fell silent, returning to watching the battle between John and the Devil unfold.


    "This boy is quite amusing, using this battle as a training exercise," the Prime Shadow said, taking out an object, some sort of formation disk, and sending his Qi into it, "but I''m afraid it wasn''t designed to operate this long, and the formational Qi reserves are running low. It''s time for this trial to end."

 Chapter 969 Mysterious Old Man

    Bang!


    The earth shattered beneath John''s feet as he blocked a kick from the Devil with raised forearms, using his full strength to resist its might. The skin on his forearms exploded into a shower of blood, revealing the muscle beneath as it was unable to fully withstand the Devil''s might.


    Small fractures formed on the bones of his arms as well, creaking loudly as it strained against the powerful attack. Just before blocking the attack, he had shifted his body slightly to the side, facing diagonally towards the Devil''s kick. The blocking angle not only allowed him to deflect the attack instead of taking it directly head on, but also allowed him to use the power of the Devil''s kick to add to his spinning momentum.


    John turned around instantly, his speed far faster than he would be able to do with his own power. As he spun, he raised his elbow, pointing it towards the Devils head.


    Boom!


    His elbownded on the side of the Devil''s head with a sickening crunch. The Devil''s face exploded in a shower of blood, its skull cracking slightly from the power of the blow. The Devil flew off into the distance, piercing through the sky as John''s attack had shot it upwards.


    "Perfect counterattack," John said, wincing slightly. Three days of non-stop life and deathbat had honed hisbat instincts to an entirely new level. While it was not a direct increase in his physical or essence power, hisbat process had advanced considerably with how efficiently and perfectly he was moving and counter attacking. If John fought his former self of three days ago, he would overwhelm that version of himself quite handedly.


    While his attack had been perfect, it wasn''t without its ws. The Devil''s body, simr to that of a Demon, was incredibly strong and durable. John''s elbow had shattered from the force of the blow, causing his arm to go limp for a moment. His Limiter of Healing and Life red with power, sending nourishing healing Qi to his shattered elbow, healing it quickly.


    Boom!


    The ground beneath his feet shattered and flew off in all directions as John pressed off the ground, speeding towards the Devil in the sky like a bullet. A sh of power suddenly surged in the sky between him and the Devil, causing John to stop immediately. He gazed at the patch of emerging power with narrowed eyes, as it waspletely different than anything that had happened in this trial thus far.


    "Is the Devil unleashing a new technique?" he mumbled, prepared to block what wasing. Guard raised, he stared at the spot of energy, which quickly grew in power. John''s eyes widened with caution as he quickly realized the power of this new energy was far beyond what the Devil was capable of.


    A momentter, spacepletely tore apart, and a figure stepped through the hole. The hole quickly closed behind the figure, who floated in the sky above John.


    Rah!


    The Devil roared and shot towards John once more,pletely ignoring the neer.


    Snap!


    The neer snapped his finger, and the Devil suddenly vanishedpletely.


    "What?" John eximed,pletely shocked to see the Devil vanish at the mere snap of the fingers by this mysterious man. Silence returned to the ruined trial as the figure stared silently at John, and John at him.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Although the man''s aura was withdrawnpletely after appearing, making it hard to determine his exact cultivation, John felt as though an entire world was staring him. He had only rarely felt such a sensation before; when he was being stared at by the Jade Dragon Emperor, the Grand Abbot, or the Asura.


    ''Holy Manifestation!''


    "Who are you?" John asked cautiously. He had no idea if this man was part of the trial, or something else. If he was part of the trial, then the trial just went from dangerous to impossible, even for John.


    "You''re quite an interesting fellow, young man," the Prime Shadow said.


    "Who-"


    "Who I am is of no concern to you right now," the Prime Shadow cut John off before he could ask his question again. He shifted his gaze about the trial realm, which was once a dark and ominous forest, but was now just apletely ruined and destroyed battlefield.


    "I took a great deal of care to design this forest," the Prime Shadow said,menting its destruction. "Fixing it won''t be impossible, but to think it would be destroyed in such a fashion."


    "You¡­designed this forest?" John asked, narrowing his eyes at the man. "Who are you?"


    The Prime Shadow ignored John''s question, returning his gaze to meet John''s. John felt his breath catch in his chest instinctively. It was as if he was being stared at by a god.


    "This trial was designed to operate for minutes to an hour at most," the Prime Shadow said. "It consumes mountains of spirit crystals to operate for a single hour, and yet you kept it going for three days. Even for my guild, that is quite the expense for a mere¡­training session, as you put it."


    ''My guild!'' the words rang in John''s mind.


    "Your guild? Are you the Guildmaster?" John asked.


    Yet again, the Prime Shadow ignored his question, looking away in a certain direction.


    "Your battle with the Devil buried the exit to this trial in a mountain of debris, making its discovery next to impossible," the Prime Shadow said, returning his gaze to John. "Escape is the intended way to pass this trial. With the escape hidden, how were you nning on passing this trial? Fighting the Devil in such a way, dancing on the edge of life and death, would eventually lead to a fatal mistake. Were you nning on fighting it until that day came, hoping it would run out of energy?"


    John remained silent, mimicking the mysterious man''s way of ignoring questions. An amused look appeared on the mans face as he studied John''s stoic expression.


    "Or," he chimed up again. "Is what you have revealed today just a fraction of your true power, as impossible to believe as that is?"

 Chapter 970 Soul Trial

    John''s gaze flickered for a moment. He could tell the mysterious man already had the answer to that question. When it came to someone as powerful as this man, it wasn''t surprising that he was able to see through John''s actions, and notice that he was holding back.


    "I see," so that is the case," the Prime Shadow said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I never would have believed such a level ofbat talent to be possible, but I would be an old fool to ignore my eyes and senses just because of past beliefs."


    "What is your reason for appearing here?" John asked. He had no idea who the man was, only a guess, and had no idea of his intentions. He still didn''t know if he could trust the Shadows of Death Guild yet, and was not going to reveal all his cards just yet.


    "My reason?" the Prime Shadow mused with a smile. "Like I said, you were expending far too many spirit crystals to power this formation. You know, I designed this trial so that no one could enter it from the outside, to avoid interference as much as possible. Even for me, getting inside was almost too much of a hassle. You really caused this old man to work quite hard today," he said, sighing as if he was truly tired from the task.


    John titled his head to the side, unable to understand this man at all. The old man smiled, then waved his hand to the side. A burst of power surged from his hand, sweeping aside mountains of debris miles away like it was nothing. John''s gaze flickered again at the old man''s incredible disy of power, done so casually as if it had taken no effort at all.


    "The exit is over there. Take it, and move on to the next trial," the Prime Shadow said. "And do be sure toplete the next trials as expediently as possible. No more of this turning a life and death battle into a training exercise nonsense, am I understood?"


    After a long silence, John nodded his head, acknowledging this frighteningly powerful old man''s request.


    "Good, then off you go," the Prime Shadow said, his body vanishing like a ghost a momentter. John stared at the empty space the man had just been, eyes narrowed again.


    ''I didn''t even feel in which direction he left. It was like he truly disappeared. How scary.''


    John shook his head at the sudden and unexpected disruption of his trial, and then sped towards the exit the old man had pointed out. Hended, and after a bit of searching, found a stairwell, one that waspletely easy to miss, descending into the ground below. He descended down the stairs, at which point he found another formation portal appeared before him, and then entered it.


    ¡­


    Outside the trial realm, mixed expressions appeared on the faces of those watching as they noticed the mysterious old man appear, instantly erasing the Devil with a snap of his fingers. The sound then cut off, leaving the guildmembers with only the visuals of what was happening within


    "Who is that old man?" a youth eximed, asking for rification.


    "Is this supposed to be part of the trial?" another asked, just as confused.


    While the youths and even the older members discussed the unexpected event, only the oldest members of the guild, like the Grandmaster, stared at the screen with a look of surprise and also reverence. Zuri nced at the Grandmaster and could tell that the Grandmaster knew who it was based on his expression.


    "Who is that man?" she asked curiously.


    The Grandmaster''s expression disappeared, returning to his normal calm expression.


    "I''m afraid you do not have clearance to learn of that," he said, shaking his head.


    Zuri looked back at the screen, eyes going wide with realization. Even the Guildmaster of the guild was known to her, what he looked like, who he was. There was only a single person this old man could be; the rumored first Guildmaster of the Shadows of Death, the one who had established the guild tens of thousands of years ago.


    ¡­


    sh!


    A sh of light appeared and then faded as the Prime Shadow returned to his previous location, sitting opposite the Guildmaster. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Was that necessary?" the Guildmaster asked.


    "Someone had to put a stop to his horrifying spirit crystal expenditure," the Prime Shadow shrugged, picking up his teacup and taking a sip.


    "Good tea," he smiled, eyes returning to the screen showing John''s movements through the trial.


    "So, will he pass the trials?" the Guildmaster asked.


    "The physical trials, and even the soul trial should be of no concern to him," the Prime Shadow said.


    "Even the soul trial is of no concern?" the Guildmaster said, clearly surprised. "That''s the trial that was nearly the death of me. Is his soul that strong?"


    The Prime Shadow shrugged, causing an exasperated sigh toe from the Guildmaster.


    "The only trials that he could fail are the verbal trial, and the pain trial" the Prime Shadow said.


    "The verbal trial? That wasn''t too hard of a trial from what I recall," the Guildmaster mused, recalling when he took and barely passed the Heaven''s Shadow trial.


    "Youths these days are filled with notions of being heroes, selflessly sacrificing themselves for the greater good, putting themselves in harm''s way to save a damsel in distress," the Prime Shadow said. "That is not a bad thing per se, but for an assassin, such an attitude will only result in a swift demise. One must have both the power and the will to do what needs to be done."


    "I see," the Guildmaster said, nodding his head. Neither of them knew John''s personality, and so failure in that trial was possible. Just as in the other trials, failure there meant death.


    "As for the pain trial, that was the true and final trial that despite several hundreds making it that far, only you managed to pass it in the end," the Prime Shadow said.


    The Guildmaster shivered lightly, as if recalling that trial was a true nightmare.


    "You really are a monster for creating such a trial," the Guildmaster said with displeasure.


    The Prime Shadow shrugged.


    "Passing the trial meant bing the next Guildmaster," he said, sipping his tea without a care. "Only those who can withstand the most hellish of pains can be trusted with such a position. If the Guildmaster was to be captured and break under torture, with the information known, it would mean the absolute end for everyone in the guild."


    The Guildmaster fell silent, unable to argue against the Prime Shadow''sment.


    "And with the talent this boy has shown, will you interfere if he fails one of the trials?" the Guildmaster asked. "Will you preserve this heaven-defying talent, or will you allow him to perish like all the others?"


    "The others who died within this trial did not receive preferential treatment," the Prime Shadow said, face calm. "Giving him such treatment would be akin to spitting on their graves. The only way he will make it out alive is to sessfully pass all the trials, as you did all those years ago."


    The Guildmaster stared at the Prime Shadow for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the screen as John stepped into the next trial, appearing in an entirely new ce brimming with life and light.


    "The soul trial," the Guildmaster said. "Let''s see if this boy lives up to your expectations."

 Chapter 971 Chaotic Battlefield

    John was quite fatigued from his three day battle with the Devil, but had no choice but to move on. His Qi was mostly replenished, and his power was not impacted, but he still felt quite exhausted, physically and mentally.


    As he stepped through the portal, chaos suddenly enveloped him. An arrow, strong enough to pierce directly through mountains sped right by him, mming into the earth. It pierced deeply into the earth and sent out a massive shockwave, throwing John into the air. His aura erupted as he unleashed his Dragon-God Shift, stabilizing himself a short distance off the ground, preparing for the next attack.


    Screams of pain and anger bellowed out all around him as he found himself in the middle of a chaotic battlefield. Thousands of other cultivators, mostly in the Dao Transformation realm battled all around him, half of them d in ck robes, the other in blood-red robes.


    ''A battlefield trial?'' John mused, guard raised the entire time. ''And no instruction from that voice this time?''


    The battlefield was exploding with powerful battle arts, causing thend to fracture and explode, drowning everything in its chaotic power. John''s instincts red as he spun about, instinctively punching out towards the approaching danger.


    His fist mmed against a massive sword image, one that dwarfed him in size. However, despite its impressive size, the sword image was only at the level of an Early Dao Transformation attack, and was easily blown apart by his physical power. John''s eyes locked onto the one who had unleashed the attack, a red-robed cultivator a short distance away.


    He sped towards that person, appearing before them in an instant. His fist exploded outwards and shattered the skull of the man, killing him instantly. The man''s headless corpse crumpled to the ground, while a frown appeared on John''s face as he stared at his blood covered fist.


    ''Something feels off. This trial seems too easy after thest one,'' he thought, noticing that the strongest cultivators on the battlefield were only in the Middle Dao Transformation realm. Jumping a single minor realm was not too tall a task for a pinnacle genius, which he hade to realize were the intended takers of this Heaven''s Shadow trail.


    Whenpared to the dangers of thest trial, this one seemed incredibly easy.


    ''Maybe it''s testing thebat prowess of the trial taker?'' he mused, eyes scanning the battlefield. ''After all, the previous trial was not supposed to be abat based one.''


    While thinking, another cultivator sped towards him, spear raised, piercing directly towards John. The spear glowed with a bright blue light, brimming with the Dao''s of Ice and Sharpness. Anyone else in the same realm would have a hard time dealing with this spear attack, as its lethality was quite good.


    "Impressive weapon art," John praised, as he punched out towards the spear. While the spear art was impressive to most, it was mere child''s y for John. His Dragon-God Shift augmented fist mmed against the point of the spear.


    Wide eyes in the audience room watched as John''s fist won out against the spear, sting it aside with ease, and without taking any damage at all. They had already noticed his body was heaven-defying from his battle with the Devil, but John had never taken any weapon attacks head on in that battle.


    Dealing with such a powerful spear attack wit a bare fist directly head on was practically suicide for anyone in the Dao Transformation Realm, even body cultivators, as such a spear was even more durable than the bodies of Late Dao Transformation Body cultivators. And yet not even blood was drawn in the collision, directly revealing the durability of John''s body.


    His fist continued forward, mming onto the surprised cultivator, whose body exploded into a shower of gore and blood a momentter, unable to withstand his power. As his attacknded, John''s instincts red again, this time in much more dire warning.


    It wasn''t that the attacking towards him was strong enough to kill him, but that it was hardly detectable at all. In fact, he couldn''t feel it, but his instincts gave warning nheless, and he always trusted his instincts.


    He turned around without hesitation, punching outwards with all his might towards the empty air behind him. A powerful shockwave sted outwards from his fist, which mmed against something invisible. The shockwave and the invisible attack fought briefly before neutralizing each other, returning the space he had attacked to calm once more.


    ''A stealth attack? Or was it an attack hidden with the spatial Dao?'' John wondered, then shook his head. ''No, I''m skilled enough in the spatial Dao that I would have detected its use on an attack of this level. This is something else.''<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Another hopeful cultivator sped towards John, unleashing a powerful blood-based battle art. Tendrils of blood shot towards him from all directions, each one forming a spear-like point, trying to overwhelm him from all sides.


    John scoffed and allowed the attack to m into his body unguarded. The tendrils of blood, strong enough to kill Early Dao Transformation cultivators with ease if not guarded against, shattered like ss, then dropped to the ground, only forming small cuts on his skin, but doing no significant damage. John pointed towards the cultivator and unleashed a beam of lightning, which pierced through his opponents body before they could react, killing them instantly.


    As he did so, another attack came from nowhere, igniting his instinctual warning once more. He punched out towards nothing once more, and again blocked an attack that he could not see or feel. This time, the attack had been a bit stronger than thest one, not at a dangerous level yet, but still stronger.


    The same sequence carried on for some time, with the invisible attacks growing stronger with each attack. A frown appeared on John''s face as the attacks were starting to be a nuisance to him, and would no doubt eventually reach a level that became dangerous.


    Ignoring the invisible attacks for now, John moved about the battlefield like a war god, killing each and every opponent with a single attack. Dozens of attacksnded on him, attacks which he didn''t even care to block. In less than ten minutes, the battlefield became silent, as the entire enemy force had been wiped out by him.


    As thest enemy fell, the allies, the ck-robed cultivators, stood motionless, as if they had no instructions of what to do next. The battlefield fellpletely silent, and yet did not vanish, and the trial did not end.


    A frown appeared on his face again as he considered what to do next.


    "I assumed this trial was to end the battle before the invisible attacks be lethal, but apparently that was wrong. Was I approaching this trial the wrong way again?" he mumbled to himself.


    As he thought about the way forward, another invisible attack approached him from behind, this time with power that he could not withstand with only his body durability. Frustrated by the unclear and annoying trial, John exploded outwards with everything he had, minus his Asura Transformation and Bloodline ability.


    His aura erupted outwards like an exploding volcano, drowning the battlefield in his overwhelming power. His divine sense exploded outwards fully at the same time, trying to find the source of these annoying attacks. His fist punched out towards the attack, unleashing abined attack of physical power and lightning, shattering the invisible attack, which was suddenly no longer invisible to him.


    John''s eyes went wide, and he blinked several times at what he now saw; an entirely differentndscape, one upying the same space as the battlefield. The two were ovepped with one another, and the hidden one was only visible to him through his divine sense. A world hidden to those who did not have the needed soul-power to peer through its illusions.


    John chuckled softly, augh filled with self-depreciation.


    "I''m such an idiot sometimes," he said to himself, shaking his head. "This trial isn''t a battle trial, but a soul-testing trial. If I wasn''t such an overconfident musclehead, I would have noticed that sooner."


    His confidence in his power had made him slow to react to the invisible attacks, as they had not been a danger to him at first. Only once pressed to do so did he carefully inspect the trial with everything he had, soul-power included.


    "I''ve started to be overconfident again, that mybat power can get me through everything," John said, shaking his head again. "This trial is a good reminder for me to not rely on my physical power for everything, and to sometimes use my rock-filled head instead."


    He then sped in a direction, towards a seemingly unimportant part of the battlefield. However, through his Divine Sense, he was able to see the exit of this illusory trial. He arrived there a momentter and stepped through the portal, sessfullypleting the soul trial.

 Chapter 972 Verbal Trial

    The Prime Shadow and Guildmaster stared at the formation projection, both silent for a while. The Guildmaster shook his head in disbelief and then picked up his cup of tea, sighing at what he saw.


    "This boy is something else," the Guildmaster said. "To think he would approach the soul trial in such a¡­direct way. He''s theplete opposite of what it means to be an assassin, and his ability to assess situations and find the optimal solution is quitecking if I''m to be brutally honest."


    "True," the Prime Shadow said, "a true assassin would avoid battle as much as possible, and quickly assess the situation. All those who passed the soul trial did so quite quickly, as its mostly a soul talent test. If you have the required soul talent, you can see through the illusions and find the exit. If you do not, you have no chance of finding it, and can only perish within, fighting against an enemy that you cannot see."


    "His power is beyond impressive, but he''s not an assassin," the Guildmaster said after sipping his tea. "Even if he passes the Heaven''s Shadow trial sessfully, I''m not sure he''s a suitable candidate to be your sessor.


    The Prime Shadow smiled lightly upon hearing this.


    "When you were in the soul trial, did you ever consider doing what he did?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    "Doing what he did? You mean killing everyone on the battlefield while ignoring the hidden attacks?" the Guildmaster asked. The Prime Shadow nodded his head, his light smile still lingering on his face.


    The Guildmaster thought for a moment, and then shook his head.


    "No," the Guildmaster said firmly. "I assessed the situation, and saw through the illusion quite quickly. Much faster than this boy did at least."


    "And why did you not consider the trial to be a battle trial? One that testedbat prowess instead?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    "Because if that trial had truly been a battle trial, it would have been impossible to-" the Guildmaster stopped speaking, instantly catching onto what the Prime Shadow was hinting at.


    "You think this boy is brutish and too straightforward to be an assassin, because to you, there was only one solution to this trial," the Prime Shadow said. "The thought of killing everyone on the battlefield didn''t even cross your mind, or anyone else''s for that matter, as it waspletely insane to consider. While you would have been able to aplish such a feat as well, although with much greater difficulty, you didn''t even consider the possibility of it being abat testing trial. However, for this boy, hisbat prowess makes such a thing not only possible, but frighteningly easy. He sees the world from apletely different perspective than the rest of us, making impossible tasks look like normal ones to him."


    The Prime Shadow took a sip of tea while closing his eyes, enjoying the tea fully.


    "Just be d this boy fell into ourp, and not the enemies," the Prime Shadow said. "Imagine if they had managed to obtain such a talented youth, and raised him to full power. That would have been quite troublesome indeed."


    The Guildmaster shivered at the thought, then fell silent, realizing the Prime Shadow waspletely right. John''s straightforward methods were not because he could not think like an assassin, but was because none of the trials had been dangerous enough to make him tackle them with caution and care.


    The Prime Shadow chuckled lightly as he watched John appear in the fourth trial area, about to start the next trial.


    "I look forward to speaking to this boy afterwards, should he pass all the trials. I would much like to hear the story of this youth, to figure out how it''s possible for someone to possess such an unbelievable level of talent," the Prime Shadow said.


    "You think he''ll just tell you all his secrets?" the Guildmaster asked skeptically.


    "No," the Prime Shadow said, smiling softly. "But even then, talking to this youth should be quite interesting. Even if he does not reveal his secrets, what he is willing to reveal should be quite interesting to hear."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The Prime Shadow''s gaze then narrowed slightly, watching John start the next trial.


    "Now for the verbal trial," he said. One of the two trials the Prime Shadow considered it possible for John to fail.


    ¡­


    John''s vision went white for a moment, and then remained so as he found himself standing in a world of white. The void of white stretched outwards in all directions for infinity, with nothing else visible.


    John frowned, wondering what sort of trial could possibly take ce in such an empty realm.


    Two chairs suddenly appeared before him, and one the farthest one sat a humanoid figure. It was carved from some sort of marble-like stone, and had no features at all, making it quite odd to look at.


    "Sit," the figure said to John, gesturing to the other seat opposite it.


    John frowned and inspected the area, sending his divine sense in all directions. He woudlnt be so careless in the trials again. His divine sense detected nothing suspicious.


    "There are no tricks to this trial," the figure said, voice monotonous. "This trial is a verbal trial."


    "A verbal trial?" John asked. It was the first time he had heard of a verbal trial, whatever that was.


    "Yes," the figure said. "A verbal trial. I will ask you several questions, and you will give me an answer. State the correct answers, and you will pass. State the wrong answers, and you will fail, and be destroyed."


    "What kind of bullshit is that?" John grumbled. "I can die just because I say the wrong thing? Fuck that."


    "If you refuse toply, you will be destroyed immediately," the figure said, its monotonous tone in conflict with the severity of its words.


    An angry scowl appeared on John''s face, as this trialpletely ignored his strong points. However, it appeared as if he had no choice, and so he sat on the chair a momentter. As he did so, he felt the chair ignite with Qi, surging into his body.


    "There is a formation in this chair," the figure said before John took action, "that will determine the truth of your words. Lying is impossible."


    "Is that so," John grumbled, settling back down, still scowling with anger. "Well, get on with this stupid trial then. Ask your questions."


    ''Verbal trial? What a joke,'' John thought to himself while he waited for the first question. ''If they think I''ll ept death for failing such a trial, they''re fucking mistaken. That mysterious man will have toe here himself to finish the job if they think I''m going to ept death so easily.''


    "First question," the marble figure said, "what is the most important thing to you?"

 Chapter 973 Answering Questions

    John raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear this verbal trial, one that could potentially be his doom, asked open ended questions like this. He had expected the questions to be questions with only one correct answer, but this question was an opinion based one.


    ''Maybe the test is to see if you arepatible with bing an assassin,'' John thought, then frowned. ''Even if I figure out the correct answers, this chair''s formation Qi has already fully invaded my body. I''m not sure what it looks for, but the figure before me was quite certain that it would detect truths and lies with absolute certainty, and that lying is akin to failure. If that''s the case, then I can only answer truthfully, and hope it''s eptable. If not, and I fail¡­well then, it seems like I''ll be fighting my way out of here.''


    "Power," John answered without hesitation after making up his mind.


    To him, power was everything. Power was the ability to protect himself, and also those he cared about. With enough power, he could return to his homeworld and kill the Asura, freeing the world from that terrible creature''s grasp. The Asura had more power than him, and thus had forced him to flee to this new world to escape its grasp. Hisck of power had caused this, and had also caused those nearby to sacrifice themselves to keep him alive.


    With power, he could explore this universe, and could find out the truth about his real parents. To him, power was everything.


    "Power?" the figure said. "borate. Power can mean many things."


    "Strength. Might. I want to stand at the pinnacle of the martial world," John said firmly, clearly exining his meanings.


    The featureless figure remained silent for a while.


    "Your answer is truthful, and eptable."


    ¡­


    "Hoh, good answer," the Guildmaster mused after hearing John''s answer. The Prime Shadow nodded his head with satisfaction as well.


    "It is a very good answer indeed," the Prime Shadow agreed. "Only with power can one control their fate, and the fate of those around them. An assassin should always seek power, as power is the only certain way to achieve their goals."


    "I''ve seen the list of eptable answers, and they are quite reasonable," the Guildmaster said, "but found it to be quite narrow at the same time. Of those who made it to this trial, how many perished to this question?"


    "Out of all the trials, this question was the safest statistically," the Prime Shadow said, thinking back to the answers he had heard in the past. "Only three failed to answer this question correctly. If I recall, one coveted world domination, one coveted women to the point of sciousness and ignoring the wills of the women he coveted, and the third coveted murder. That one was the most surprising. The youth only wanted to kill, regardless of if the target deserved it or not. All he wanted to do was wantonly ughter to his heart''s desire."


    The Prime Shadow shook his head while sighing.


    "Thatst one was a pity," he said softly. "That boy was one of the most talented youths I had ever seen, and also had the true killing heart of an assassin. Unfortunately, that killing heart was just a bit too intense, and allowing one like that to grow in this world would have led to a cmity."


    "What was your answer?" the Prime Shadow asked, a curious look on his face. "I can''t recall it."


    The Guildmaster''s face turned slightly red from embarrassment, as if he were recalling an embarrassing memory.


    "You already know the answer, you old fart," the Guildmaster grumbled. "You''re just trying to get me to say it out loud again."


    "No, I really can''t remember," the Prime Shadow shrugged, a thoughtful look on his face. "Remind this old man, your master, of your answer."


    The Guildmaster sighed, face still slightly red.


    "L..love," he said softly, barely audible.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "What was that? I couldn''t hear you?" the Prime Shadow said, a mischievous smile appearing on his elderly face. "You need to speak up for this old man to hear you."


    "Love!" the Guildmaster blurted out loudly, face red with embarrassment. "Now let''s move on. I was a young, impressionable youth back then. I''m not the same man anymore."


    The Prime Shadow smiled with satisfaction, then returned his gaze to the formation hologram.


    "What ever happened to that girl? The one who was your most important thing in the world to the point that you answered love?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    "She rejected me," the Guildmaster said, grumbling.


    "A shame," the Prime Shadow replied, shaking his head. "It''s her loss, I suppose."


    ¡­


    "Next question," the marbled figure said monotonously, clearly a form of artifact spirit. spoke. "Have you ever killed another human?"


    "Yes," John replied, answering instantly. There was no use in trying to hide that truth.


    "How many?" the figure asked.


    "More than I can recall," but thousands, or tens of thousands," John said, answering truthfully. Between his rampages in the Bloodfiend Sect, the Jade Dragon Emperor trial realm, and everything in between, the number of people he had killed was beyond his counting.


    "Did you regret any of those killings?" the figure asked. "Were any undeserving of their death?"


    "No," John replied firmly. "I don''t regret a single one. As for undeserving, some didn''t deserve death per se, but their actions left me no choice but to kill them."


    Those who had been killed by him were either part of the Forbidden Alliance, who cultivated taboo arts which harmed innocents, or targeted him or those around him. As far as he was concerned, each and every single one was deserving of death. Some of them weren''t inherently evil, like the assassins who had targeted him on the Yuan Continent, but they had targeted him nheless. It was either killed or be killed in those situations, and the choice in that situation was easy to make.


    ¡­


    In the room deep beneath the Guild, the Prime Shadow nodded with satisfaction upon hearing John''s answer.


    "That answer is eptable," the Prime Shadow said, nodding his head with satisfaction. "One must be firm andmitted whenever they take a life, and only those who are just in their killings, and have done so with a clear conscience, are worthy of being my sessor."


    ¡­


    The figure remained silent for a short while, as if waiting for something.


    "Your answer is truthful, and eptable," it finally said. "Third question. If you were to find yourself in a situation where you and someone you cared about were in danger, and only one of you could escape alive, would you choose to live, or sacrifice yourself so that the other may live?"

 Chapter 974 Frustrating Questions

    "What type of question is that?" John replied, surprised to hear such a question. How could someone find fault in answering either way? How could someone deserve death by answering this question? In his mind, there was no wrong answer. To save yourself was natural, and to save those you care about was also natural. Neither were wrong answers depending on the individual''s priorities, and neither were worthy of death.


    "Answer the question," the figure said.


    "Who designed this dogshit test?" John grumbled. "Was it that old fart that appeared earlier? He mentioned creating the Devil race trial, so if he also created this trial, then he''s a clown for creating a trial like this."


    "Answer the question," the figure said, monotonous as always.


    John breathed in deeply, a frustrated look on his face. He knew his answer, but didn''t know if his answer would be the one the trial creator was looking for. If this was the question that caused him to fail, he would destroy this entire Guild before epting death in such a manner.


    "I''d save myself," John grunted.


    Although the decision would be an excruciating one, John valued his own life more than anything. If he was dead, he could not obtain the power he desired above everything else. If he was dead, he could not save his homeworld, or find out the truth of his parents. As much as it would pain him to leave someone like Lilian or Laia behind, in the end he would make that decision.


    "And then I''de backter when I''m stronger, and kill the motherfucker who dared to target someone I cared about," John continued, frowning with anger, as if he had really made such a decision. The question reminded him of fleeing from the Asura, of having others sacrifice themselves for him, which only made him simmer with anger at his weakness, and also his friends and mentors deaths.


    While he had not seen any of the elders protecting him die, he knew for certain that the Alliance leader, as well as the Grand Elder, had most certainly perished. Those vitality-siphoning arts they used were too brutal to do anything but kill them in the end.


    Thinking of this, his rage ignited again. He needed to find Lilian, raise his strength as quickly as possible, and return to his homeworld before the Asura destroyed itpletely.


    "Is the answer eptable or not?" John asked impatiently. The more time he spent in useless ces like this, the less time he spent on increasing his strength. And that was uneptable.


    ¡­


    "Hoh," the Prime Shadow hummed, an amused smile on his face.


    "To think this boy dares to speak about you that way," the Guildmaster said, frowning. "If he manages to live through the trial, a stiff punishment ising his way."


    "If he manages toplete the trial, he will be my sessor and disciple," the Prime Shadow said, "he will not be yours to punish at that point."


    The Guildmaster nodded his head, falling silent.


    "Still, this boy is quite amusing," the Prime Shadow said. "He''s much more hot-headed than you were back then. If he does manage to survive all the trials, then my life will most likely be quite interesting for the first time in a long time."


    The Guildmaster raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, returning his gaze to John.


    ¡­<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Your answer is truthful, and eptable," the figure said, while John sighed with agitated relief. If the correct answer had been the opposite, then he would have burned this entire Guild down.


    "Next question," the figure continued without missing a beat. "Have you ever allied yourself with an enemy of humanity? The Devil Race? The Beast Race? Or any race that wishes for humanity''s destruction?"


    "No," John replied calmly, the answer easy. He had allied himself with non-human races and creatures, but none of them were against the interest of humanity. While he did possess the power of an Asura, which could be considered their greatest enemy, he was not allied with them.


    He felt the Qi from the chair''s formation swirl within him, moving with more power through his body than before. It swirled all about him, permeating his body and even touching his soul, which he allowed to do so. He could resist it, but knew that would be a futile effort in the end.


    ''It seems this question''s answer is of extra importance to whoever made this trial,'' John mused, feeling the Qi subside after a while.


    "Your answer is truthful, and eptable," the figure said.


    "Final question," it said, causing John to sit straighter in his seat.


    ''This stupid trial is almost over,'' he cheered internally.


    "Which powers, sects, ns, guilds, etcetera, do you belong to? If you belong to any other powers, are you a spy for them? Lastly, do you have any harmful intentions towards the Shadows of Death Guild?"


    John frowned, and did his best to hide his slight grimace. He had expected the question to be easy based on the previous one, and for the most part it was. He knew he would be able to pass this trial, as he did not have any harmful thoughts or designs towards the Guild. However, he needed to answer truthfully, and doing so would reveal the sects and ns he belonged to; sects and ns not of this world.


    His answer would reveal one of the secrets he hoped to keep.


    ''Let''s hope this guild doesn''t care about my past as long as I don''t have any harmful intentions towards it.''


    John sighed once more, then answered the question.


    "I am part of the Fenix n, the Heavenly Lightning Sect, and the Honorable Alliance," he said, not hiding the truth. He could feel the formation energy swirling through his body and soul, and a lie would be detected immediately. "As for being a spy? I''m nothing like that. As for harmful intentions? As long as this Guild can help me grow stronger, and also help me find someone I''m looking for, then I will have absolutely no harmful intentions towards it."


    Silence filled the white void John was seated in as he waited for the figure to speak. After a long silence, longer than the previous ones, it finally spoke.


    "That answer is truthful, and eptable."


    A portal of formation energy suddenly appeared near John, glowing with white and green energy.


    "You havepleted the verbal trial," the figure said. "You may move on to thest trial."

 Chapter 975 The Final Trial

    "The final trial?" the Guildmaster said, clearly surprised. "The next trial should be thebat trial, and only then should he proceed to the final trial."


    "Do you really think it''s a good use of time to have this boyplete thebat trial?" the Prime Shadow asked. "Thebat trial makes one fight an opponent two minor realms above their own cultivation level and kill it. From what we''ve seen, the boy would easily pass such a trial."


    The Guildmaster thought for a moment, and then nodded his head.


    "I suppose you are right," he said.


    "Besides," the Prime Shadow added. "If we allow the boy to take that trial, he''ll most likely turn it into some sort of training session like he did the other trial. He''s already cost this Guild countless spirit crystals from his previous stunt. I''d rather avoid that happening again."


    The Guildmaster sighed at the thought of John using such a horrifying trial as a training ground once more, his gaze returning to the screen.


    "Thest trial is the pain trial," the Guildmaster mused, eyes narrowed. "This trial pushed me to the brink of insanity, and I almost failed. You really were a bastard when you made thisst trial."


    The Prime Shadow did not refute the Guildmaster''s words, his face growing heavy with emotion for a moment.


    "I knew this trial would be the hardest when I made it," he said with a heavy tone. "Of the two thousand that made it this far, only you were able to pass it in the end. It''s true that this trial is beyond hellish and unfair, but it was an unfortunate yet necessary evil. If I had selected a sessor who was unable to withstand pain, and was weaker in will and temperament, who knows what would have happened to the guild by now. Perhaps it would still be the same as it is today, or perhaps it would have been destroyed. It was a risk I was unwilling to take."


    "And so you damned two thousand youths to death just because they were unable to withstand torturous amounts of pain," the Guildmaster said, voice heavy.


    "I did," the Prime Shadow sighed. "The life of an assassin is a brutal and uncaring one. Hard decisions must be made at times to ensure the sess of the mission. And the mission of this guild is a singr one; ensure the survival and prosperity of humanity, no matter the cost."


    The Guildmaster said nothing, and only sighed as he watched John step through the portal.


    "Good luck, boy," he said softly.


    ¡­


    In the audience room, everyone watched as Johnpleted the verbal trial. Among the youths of the audience, there were excited discussions taking ce; discussions about John''s answer, and also about what their answers would have been.


    "You may move onto thest trial," the artifact spirits voice echoed through the room, causing another wave of discussions to take ce.


    As he heard this, the Grandmasters face turned heavy once more, something Zuri instantly noticed.


    "The final trial," she said. "I''m guessing it''s a difficult one, based on your expression?"


    "There should have been another trial before the final one," the Grandmaster said, "but it seems he''s moving directly to thest trial. I suppose that makes sense."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Zuri raised an eyebrow when hearing that John was skipping a trial, but ignored that and instead asked about the final trial , as that was all that mattered at the moment. If John could pass, he would be elevated to an incredible status, and Zuri''s own status would rise as well.


    The Grandmaster noticed her lingering gaze, and sighed.


    "The final trial is a pain trial, testing ones will."


    "A pain trial?" Zuri said. "Like the ones we have taken before?"


    In order to get into this room, everyone, from the youths to the Grandmaster, had needed to obtain a certain level of clearance within the guild. One of the requirements to obtain that clearance was to pass a pain and torture trial, revealing that they could be trusted with guild secrets even if captured.


    The Grandmaster shook his head.


    "The two trials are nothing alike," the Grandmaster said. "The trial you and everyone else here took is but a rock, while the trial this boy will be taking is an entire mountain. The pain he will feel inside is far, far greater than anything you''ve been forced to endure thus far. The level of pain he will feel will not only drive him mad, but literally break his soul in half should he fail to resist it. Of all the trials in the Heaven''s Shadow trial, this one was the most lethal. Of the two thousand plus that reached this stage, only one endured and survived."


    ¡­


    John stepped through the portal, breathing a sigh of relief that the verbal trial was finally over. It had made him feel powerless, as hisbat strength had no bearing on whether he passed that trial or not.


    ''Thankfully I passed in the end,'' John mused, sighing again. ''At least the trial was not a strenuous one, so it allowed me to recover a bit both physically and mentally.''


    A new room appeared before him an instantter, onepletely devoid of any light, any objects, anything at all. He found himself standing on a stretch of pitch-ck ground, which stretched into eternity. Above him was pure nothingness as well, making him feel as though he was standing in a true void, filled with nothing but himself.


    He frowned as he tried to figure out the next trial.


    "Endure," the monotonous voice sounded out again. "Endure and live, sumb and die. This is the final trial. Good luck."


    John''s frown turned into a grimace as a horrifying energy mmed into him, pressing him down towards the ground. He braced himself against the sudden and unexpected energy, which was strong, but not strong enough to force him to his knees. However, the strength of the energy was the least of his concern.


    A groan of pain escaped his lips as the energy invaded his body and soul, bathing him in a wave of horrifying pain. John felt as though he had been plunged into the depths of hell. Every inch of his body cried out in agonizing pain, like he was being stabbed by a million searing knives. His mind trembled with anguish, as his soul felt like it was being grabbed by an invisible hand, then twisted and crunched.


    The unexpected pain had nearly overwhelmed him, but after a short while, John managed to recover, catching his breath, calming his mind as best he could. Pain was not an unfamiliar acquaintance of his. In fact, with how much he had dealt with pain in the past, it could almost be called a friend by now.


    John''s pained grimace turned into a teeth-baring scowl as he roared loudly, voice reverberating through the endless void.


    "Why the fuck is there always a pain trial!"

 Chapter 976 A Lesson On Pain

    The pain washed over John, leaving not a single inch of his body untouched. Both his body and soul felt as if they were being cooked alive, yed in a million pieces, and burnt to ashes. It reminded him of the time he cultivated in the Elysian Lightning World, practicing the Celestial Lightning Script.


    He had charred his body both inside and out multiple times while cultivating the script, at the time filling him with excruciating pain. The pain he felt at the moment was even worse, filling him with furious anger.


    ''Its always a fucking pain trial,'' John grumbled internally though the excruciating pain, sitting down on the ground.


    While his tolerance to pain could be considered one of his most prodigious talents, and even his most heaven-defying one, the pain was still felt, nheless. Having pain tolerance did not mean he didn''t feel it, it just meant he could endure it better than others. The pain he felt was just as excruciating as everyone else who entered this trial before.


    ''My body feels as though it''s exploding and imploding at the same time, turning to ash and freezingpletely, being chopped apart into a million pieces every second. It''s almost exactly like the Divine Source Monastery''s pain trial, filling me with a different sensation of pain every second, endlessly,'' John thought with difficulty though the pain, his pained frown deepening.


    ''And yet, this trial is even more painful than the Divine Source Monastery''s pain trial, which guarded an entire fucking World Dimension Seed! Whoever created this trial is a fucking sadist!''


    Despite the excruciating pain he was feeling, John endured it without breaking, not even for a moment. From absorbing the blood drops in his pce realm, to enduring the sinister aura, cultivating his celestial lightning script, battling against the most brutal heaven tribtions, absorbing ancient dragon-blood that broke his body and reforged it anew, the Divine Source Monastery pain trial, to being overwhelmed by spatial storms and crashing into a new world unguarded. John had been baptized in more pain thest few years than most cultivators experienced in their entire lives.


    His mental will and soul had been tempered to a prodigal, heaven-defying level, making such a trial troublesome and annoying, but not impossible.


    Time ticked on, with John enduring the ceaseless pain, waiting for it to end. Time lost all meaning here, as there was nothing to see or hear. The only thing that existed in this pitch-ck realm was him, and the pain he felt. He figured a day had passed so far, but couldn''t be exactly sure. Teeth gritted, he endured in silence.


    "How long is this going to take?" John roared out into the void.


    This was aplete waste of his time. While this trial was good for tempering his will and strengthening his soul, he had other methods at his disposal to aplish the same, methods that he used daily. The trial had its benefits, but also its drawbacks.


    ''What I need right now is strength, not a tempered will and soul,'' John thought through the pain. ''Every hour in this trial is an hour I''m not cultivating, not battling, not raising my strength. Pain tolerance will not help me find Lilian. Pain tolerance will not help me kill the Asura. I need to cultivate, now more than ever.''


    John''s thoughts shifted to the Asura, the horrifying creature that had forced him to flee to an entire new world. Memories of his escape, of the Asura''s battle with the others flooded his mind, of the Asura''s unstoppable power, of the Asura''s horrifying aura, one that nearly drove cultivators as strong as Thunderzen to madness, who could only resist with the greatest of efforts, and even then, he could te


    ''Aura¡­.'' John mused, an insight forming in his mind. ''No...the Asura''s aura and my aura should be the same in nature when I unleash my transformation. The only difference should be the sheer power of it. And yet, his aura was far more frightening, far more dangerous. It was an aura, but not just an aura¡­''


    John''s mind raced as he recalled that battle through the pain, his eyes alighting with a sudden insight.


    ''Pain¡­that aura from the Asura was not just an aura¡­it was a tempest of Daos. The Dao of Pain, as well as other Daos, naturally emanated, strengthening each other¡­to form a domain! A domain created not by essence or body Qi, but by one''s very aura!''


    ¡­


    In the audience room, the screen showed John sitting in the endless void, eyes closed, teeth gritted. Although the space John was in was pitch ck, the guildmembers were able to see him in the void, as the screen altered the image.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    They saw him sitting on the ground, a day already passed by. Cultivators were able to maintain focus and calm for durations far longer than a mortal was able to do, and yet, they were starting to get impatient. Compared to the exciting trials from before, this one was quite boring and dull to witness.


    "How long is this trial going to take?" one of the younger members, a woman in her early twenties, asked loudly.


    Others chimed up as well, turning to nearby elders of the guild to ask if they knew. Only several in the audience knew for certain, and they finally acquiesced to the questions.


    "A month! We have to sit here for a whole month, watching this?" many of the youths grumbled after hearing the answer.


    "Also, why an entire month? If he can endure the pain for a day or two, surely he can endure it for a month! Isn''t this just a waste of time?" a riled up guildmember asked, antsy to get back to their lives.


    They were not allowed to leave the room while the trial was taking ce, and could only wait for it to bepleted, or failed.


    A soft sigh suddenly filled the room, barely audible, and yet more powerful than any of the loud voices filling the room. All eyes turned to the Grandmaster, who stood up from his seat and walked down the aisle towards the front of the room. He stood beneath the massive screen showing John''s trial, and faced the audience.


    His eyes turned to the one who had just asked thest question. The youth shrank back in his seat under the Grandmaster''s re, feelingpletely tiny and embarrassed at his previous outburst.


    "Pain has two aspects," the Grandmaster said, voice soft yet powerful. "Intensity, and duration. Most think of intensity when they think of pain, but duration is just as dangerous, if not more so."


    His words received several dubious nces from the youths in the audience, who clearly doubted his words. They would rather experience weak pain for a long time, than strong pain for a short time.


    "Think of an itch," the Grandmaster continued. "Us cultivators don''t get itches anymore, but when we were still young and mortal, we all experienced itches, and all remember them. They were nothing more than a temporary nuisance, giving no pain at all, and only minor difort until scratched. And yet, something as minor as an itch, if left unstretched, can eventually build to a point of driving one insane. Duration is something that can turn something minor, into something significant, just as much as intensity can. His trial is to test his resistance to both kinds of pain. It would do you all well to remember that."


    The Grandmaster sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment.


    "And the pain this boy is feeling right now is unlike anything you could possibly imagine. Just existing in that realm pushes one to the brink of insanity. You are unable to think, unable to move, unable to do anything but feel overwhelming pain, pain so excruciating that you start to consider death a more appealing solution. Surely waiting infort for a month while this boy suffers isn''t so bad when youpare your current situations," he continued. "Fill the time with mediation and cultivation. This month does not have to be a wasted one. You can all-"


    The Grandmaster cut off as he opened his eyes, and saw weird expressions on many faces. He frowned, as his words had not been that unreasonable, but noticed their gazes were focused above his head¡­on the screen.


    He turned around and looked up at the screen.


    "Didn''t you say it''s impossible to move and think?" one of the youths asked. "Then why is he meditating calmly, as if the pain trial does not even exist?"

 Chapter 977 The Dao Of Pain

    John closed his eyes, assuming a seated meditative position, and focused on the mental image of the Asuras aura domain during that hellish battle. The pain of the trial rained down on him ceaselessly, making it nearly impossible to think about anything other than the pain.


    It was all epassing, all consuming.


    John took a deep breath and held it in while he focused on stabilizing his mind and pushing out the pain. He exhaled a whileter, feeling a sliver of thought created in his mind, one that could ignore the pain, and focus on the Asura domain.


    ''The Dao of Pain. That was most certainly one of the Daos I felt from the Asuras aura. It wasn''t that the aura was strong enough to cause pain, but that it emanated the actual Dao instead. Then why did it take me so long to realize that?''


    His experiences with pain, as well as his experience with the World Dimension Seed had raised his Daoprehensions significantly. It wasn''t at the level of actively using the Dao, but he could at the very least detect when pain was caused by the Dao itself, or some other reason.


    ''This trial has a multitude of Daos working together to cause pain. The Dao of illusions. The Dao of heat. The Dao of space. The Dao of blood. All these Daos are being used to torture my body, filling it with pain. But the Dao that is making the pain beyond excruciating is the Dao of Pain, which seems to not only cause pain itself, but heighten the pain caused by other things. And yet, the Asura''s Dao of Pain felt differentpared to the Dao I feel now. It''s not just the strength that''s different, but the very nature itself. How can the same Dao feel so different?''


    It was the first time John had experienced this bizarre truth. Stumped by the answer, his will exploded with resolve, setting his mind to work through the pain.


    ¡­


    A week passed by, which felt quite quick for the spectators, but a lifetime for John. The pain never stopped, never lessened in intensity. It was already present, always piercing deep into his body and soul.


    And yet, he resisted, and even somewhat ignored the pain as he focused on the task he set for himself; figure out the truth of the Asura aura domain. If he could do that, he would potentially have another powerful trump card to use in the future.


    A week in, he had made some progress in solving the riddle, but had not figured it out fully just yet. The pain raining down on him slowed his mind, making it nearly impossible to think. And yet, it also aided him, as the Dao of Pain enveloping him gave him a direct and clear method of studying the Dao.


    A few days into the trial, he had shifted from trying to figure out the truth in one go, and instead started from the base of the issue. The Dao of Pain. Studying the Dao, and bing proficient in it was incredibly hard to do, as one needed to not only subject themselves to horrifying pain to study it, but also needed to meditate andprehend the Dao through the pain as well.


    The Dao of Pain was an incredibly fearsome Dao, one that would cause the hearts of men to shudder if going against it, and yet it was incredibly rare to encounter someone using it. Such a dangerous and useful Dao would only be so rare in one case; it was incredibly difficult to cultivate andprehend.


    This trial used formations to unleash the Dao of Pain, but formations were not the same asprehending the Dao itself. The one creating the formations only needed the formational skill to craft the appropriate runic patterns, as well as knowledge of the correct runic patterns associated with the Dao itself.


    As such, a skilled formation master could create a formation to unleash the Dao of Pain, without havingprehended the Dao themselves. It was one of the reasons formation masters were held in such high esteem.


    The only downside was that whenpared to a true expert thatpheneded the Dao directly, the Dao from the formations would becking. That is unless the formations master alsoprehended the Dao itself, at which point they could infuse their Daoprehensions into the formations, elevating its level to its true potential.


    ''Based on the potency and quality of this Dao of Pain, I''d bet that whoever made this trial has alsoprehended the Dao of Pain to a decent extent,'' John mused for a moment before returning toprehending the Dao himself.


    Another week passed by, at which point a heavenly aura descended down on John for a moment, even piercing through the veils of the trial to reach him. It was a sensation he had felt many times before.


    The sensation of breaking through to the Dao Adept stage. John''s eyes snapped open, a grin appearing despite the pain he felt, which he could ignore a bit better than when he first entered the realm.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    ''After two weeks of torturous meditation, I have finally grasped the fundamentals of the Dao of Pain!''


    After basking in the sensation for a brief time, his eyes closed once more, returning to solving the mystery of the Asura aura domain.


    ¡­


    John spent the next two weeks studying the Dao of Pain from the trial, from himself, and from his memories of the Asuras aura.


    A ball of ck and red Qi swirled above his palm, glowing with a malevolent glint. It was as if red eyes of devils and demons were appearing and fading away, waiting to spring out of the ball of Qi and cause pain to everything around it.


    John studied the ball of Pain Qi, formed by his essence Qi, for a long time. Everything from the aura to the sensation of pain it gave was studied as he tried to mimic the Dao of Pain that permeated the Asuras aura domain.


    ''It''s no good,'' he grimaced, letting the ball of pain fade away. Despite the ball being of his own creation, it still caused him pain when near him, surprising him slightly.


    ''I figured grasping the Dao would make me mostly immune to its effects, but that''s not the case. While I can withstand the pain better, the level of pain I feel from it is no different to what others would feel. Does that mean the Asura is affected by his Dao of Pain as well the entire time? And why does my Dao feel so different?''


    John recalled the battle, of the Asura grinning with malicious glee as he fought Raijen and the others.


    ''If he does, he showed no signs of it,'' John shook his head, and formed a new ball of Pain Qi above his palm. He studied the Dao endlessly, mind focused on one thing alone, until suddenly, the pain suddenly vanished.


    John blinked after a few seconds, slow to react to the unexpected change. He frowned as he felt his focus and insights slip away.


    "What the hell?" John grumbled loudly, although he was greatly relieved that the horrifying pain had stopped. "I was making good progress."


    Despite feeling agitated, he also breathed out loudly in relief. Despite being a prodigy when it came to withstanding pain, and despite his advances in the Dao of Pain, the trial had been an absolutely brutal one. It had pushed him to the edge several times, and he knew it would have eventually driven him mad had it never stopped.


    He felt as though he had gone from being in a hellish inferno to a cool spring breeze, invigorating his exhausted body and strained soul. While basking in the sensation, he felt a strong energy wrap around him, pulling him through space.


    sh!


    The scene before him instantly changed, and John''s guard raised instinctively. His guard rxed slightly as he heard amusedughtere from his left. He turned and quickly spotted the source of theughter


    "You!" John said, staring at the mysterious old man who had appeared during the trials. He also noticed another man sitting nearby, younger in appearancepared to the old man, but also mysteriously powerful.


    "Congrattions," the old man said, smiling as he held a bottle of wine in his hands. "You have passed the Heaven''s Shadow trial. Come, sit down and have a drink of celebration with us. We have much to discuss."

 Chapter 978 Drunken Celebration

    John blinked a few times, his vision steadily growing hazier. Exhaustion quickly embraced him, as the effects of all the trials finally caught up to him. Instead of fighting it, he let it take a hold of him. He didn''t know who these men were, but he could tell he was not in any danger.


    Bang!


    John fell sideways, falling asleep before he even hit the ground. The Prime Shadow and Guildmaster looked at him with raised eyebrows for a moment, at which point the Prime Shadow startedughing.


    "Gahaha,I guess I forgot this child has been in that trial for over a month without any rest."


    "And to think he didn''t recover his strength between any of the rounds, and also cultivated during the final trial. The fact that he couldst thing long going like that is already a miracle," the Guildmaster added.


    "Come, pour the wine. The boy is here, so the celebration canmence." the Prime Shadow said, handing the bottle to the Guildmaster. "And don''t spill a single drop. This wine is worth more than you."


    ¡­


    Rambunctiousughter entered John''s ears, stirring him awake from his deep slumber. Cultivators didn''t need to sleep to live, but when overworked and overstressed like he had been, it was the best way to fully recover one''s mental state. Feeling quite refreshed, he opened his eyes and sat up.


    "Ahhhh, you''re finallyy aake," slightly slurred speech came from his left.


    John turned to see the same two men, faces red, indulging in a very potent smelling wine. He wrinkled his nose at the scent, which wasn''t unpleasant, but was a bit too strong for his liking.


    "Come,e, join us," the elderly man said, patting the ground next to John. The table the two men sat by was low to the ground, and so the two of them were sitting on some mats near the table.


    Eyebrows raised at this strange, elderly man''s antics, John moved to the table and sat on the mat the man had patted. An invigorating sensation flowed through him as he sat on it, calming his mind, trying to lull him into a pseudo-meditative state.


    "Nice mat," John said, pushing the sensation from the mat away. Now was not the time for meditation.


    "Here, have a drink," the elderly man said to John, then gave a pointed nce at the other man seated opposite him. That man sighed and poured wine into a cup, then moved it towards John.


    "Pouring wine for a youth of my guild," the younger man sighed. "This is beneath me."


    "This youth is now my disciple, so if anything, it should be your honor to pour him wine," the elderly man said, while a frown appeared on the others face.


    John looked back and forth between the two, not sure what was going on.


    "Disciple?" John asked. "What are you talking about? And who are you two?"


    "Come now, the elderly man waved his hands in a dismissive manner. "There''s time for questionster. Right now, we celebrate your sessfulpletion of the Heavens Shadow trial. It''s a momentous asion after all, one worthy of jubnt celebration."


    John eyed the bizarre, elderly man with a strange expression on his face, then sighed and picked up the cup of wine. He could tell there was no danger here, and the wine had started to call out to him for some reason.


    He inspected it for a moment, then took a sip. A profound, invigorating, and pleasurable energy surged through his body as the wine hit his stomach, making him feel incredibly rxed, and also made his mind swirl with new insights andprehensions. His eyes lit up with delight, realizing this wine had simr properties to his tea leaves, although not nearly as potent.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    Still, it was incredibly intoxicating, and he quickly finished his cup, embracing the pleasurable state of body and mind he felt.


    "Gahaha, you''re quite the drinker," the elderly man said, flicking a gaze to the other man again. The man sighed and refilled John''s cup, who took another long sip, saving each and every moment. Compared to the hellish pain trial he had just been in, this was like being in heaven.


    ¡­


    Several hourster, the Guildmaster held the wine bottle upside down, showing that it was finally empty. As the elderly man had said, they were only going to drink and celebrate, not talk and ask questions. John had eventually epted this, allowing himself to fall into a rare state of pure rxation. Belly full of wine, his mind and seemingly the room around him spun, but that altered state of mind gave him insights he never would have considered, making the entire process both pleasurable, as well as beneficial.


    The elderly man nodded his head at the sight of the empty bottle, smiling with satisfaction.


    "That was a worthy celebration," he said, still slightly slurring his speech. Suddenly, the old man''s Qi red, then faded away.


    His reddened face returned to normal, and the hazy look in his eyes cleared up.


    "Alrightd," the elderly man said, no longer slurring. "We have celebrated your sess, and so now we can talk.


    The other man''s Qi red as well, wiping away the effects of the alcohol. John felt hesitant to do so, as he was still receiving insights from the wine, but followed along. His Qi red and surged through his body, wiping away the lingering effects of the alcohol, mind bing clear once more.


    "You probably want to know who we are?" The old man said, getting straight to the point.


    John nodded silently.


    "Well, this man here is the current Guildmaster of the guild," the old man said, gesturing to the other man. John nodded respectfully, slightly surprised to have already met the Guildmaster.


    He looked towards the old man, who was even more mysterious than the Guildmaster.


    "As for me," the old man said, "I''m known as the PrimeShadow, the creator and first Guildmaster of the Shadows of Death Guild."


    "So you''re not dead?" John blurted out, recalling his discussion with Zuri about the first Guildmaster, and the rumors around his death.


    He was slightly surprised to find out the man''s identity, and yet at the same time was not surprised at all. The old man was even more powerful than the Guildmaster, and his brief conversation with John during the trial had given a hint into the man''s background.


    "Gahaha, not yet," the Prime Shadowughed loudly.


    "Now then," the Prime Shadow said after reigning in hisughter, face bing ever so slightly serious. "You know who we are, so it''s time we learned who you are."


    "I''m John Fenix," John said, introducing himself. He knew that''s not what the Prime Shadow meant, but decided to only answer questions directly, as to not give up too much unneeded information.


    "You know that''s not what I''m interested in," the Prime Shadow said. "What I really want to know is, what world are you from, and why have youe to this world?"

 Chapter 979 Fringe World?

    John maintained a calm expression, but groaned internally. He had been expecting this question to arise, but had hoped it would not.


    ''Furi said my Qi would fully rece itself after a few weeks, and its been a few months now, so it can''t be that. It can only be my answers during the verbal trial that aroused his suspicion. Do I feign ignorance, or should I be forthright with the truth?''


    "There''s no point in lying, child," the Prime Shadow said calmly. "I have been the Guildmaster and Prime Shadow of this guild for tens of thousands of years. It is my job to know every single power that exists on this world, from the smallest vige, to the strongest individual. I have visited every corner of this world, and have never heard of the Fenix n, or the Heavenly Lighting Sect."


    John pursed his lips, thinking of how to best reply to the question.


    "On top of all that," the Prime Shadow continued. "There is no way a prodigy such as yourself could grow to this point, unnoticed by me or the Guildmaster. With all this taken into ount, there is only one answer to the questions surrounding you, and that is you are not of this world."


    John shifted his gaze between the Prime Shadow and the Guildmaster, who looked at him with curious expressions. It was clear they didn''t really care where he came from, and were only curious, at least he hoped so.


    "So which world are you from?" the Prime Shadow asked curiously. "Are you from one of the Hegemon Worlds? Or perhaps one of the Great Worlds?"


    John frowned in confusion, having never heard of those worlds before. However, he felt a bit surprised, as it seemed like the Prime Shadow was incredibly knowledgeable about the worlds outside his own. John yearned greatly for such information, and with the Prime Shadow potentially able to offer such information, it made him antsy with anticipation. He buried that anticipation for now.


    ''First, I need to figure out how much I can trust these two,'' he thought.


    "I have no idea what a Hegemon World or Great World is," John said, shaking his head.


    The two men shared a look, one of doubt and confusion.


    "Child," the Prime Shadow said firmly, tone a bit heavier than before as if he would not ept any lies. "We know you are from another world. That much is a fact. So there''s no point in lying."


    "I''m not lying," John said firmly. "You''re right, I am from another world, but not from one of these Hegemon or Great Worlds you speak of."


    "Then what world are you from?" the Guildmaster asked.


    "I have no idea," John said, shaking his head. "The world Ie from doesn''t have an official name, and if it does, I do not know what it is."


    "Doesn''t have an official name?" the Prime Shadow mused, slightly surprised to hear that. "Almost all worlds have official names. The only world''s that don''t are the fringe worlds, the ones that everyone ignores these days. Surely your world must have had a name."


    ''Fringe world? Is my world a fringe world?'' John wondered. He didn''t know what a fringe world meant exactly, but he could take a guess based on its name.


    "Like I said, if it had a name, I didn''t know it," John replied firmly, crossing his arms over his chest.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    The two older men shared another nce for a brief moment, before looking back at John.


    "How much stronger is your homeworldpared to our Nine-Dao World?" the Guildmaster asked. "What is the-"


    "Stronger?" John said,ughing lightly. "You''ve got it all wrong. The world Ie from is most definitely weaker than this world, and by a decent margin."


    Based on what he knew of this world, it had Holy Manifestation cultivators by the dozens, and Late World Expansion cultivators by the thousands. On the Divine Martial Continent, thetter was considered the pinnacle of power, with only ancient monsters like the Jade Dragon Emperor and Grand abbot breaking through to the Holy Manifestation Realm. While he couldn''tpare those two monsters to the Holy Manifestation cultivators of this world just yet, as far as everything else was concerned, his homeworld was far, far weaker.


    "Surely you''re lying," the Guildmaster said, "one with your level of talent must havee from a Great World at the very least."


    "It''s alright," the Prime Shadow said, quieting the Guildmaster. "This boy is not lying."


    The Guildmaster gave the Prime Shadow a questioning nce.


    "Then that means¡­"


    "Yes," the Prime Shadow nodded. "As hard as it is to believe, this boyes from a fringe world."


    "What exactly is a fringe world?" John asked, curious about what it meant exactly.


    The two other men fell silent for a short while, clearly thinking things over. Eventually, the Prime Shadow spoke up, an almost relieved look on his face.


    "If you are not from a Hegemon or Great World as I had suspected, then that makes things a lot lessplicated," he said, sighing with relief. The Guildmaster nodded his head, clearly agreeing with the Prime Shadow.


    John nced at the two, so many questions burning in his mind. Before he could ask any, the Prime Shadow spoke again.


    "Child, if you are truly from a fringe world, then you need to tell us how you got here, and what you are doing here. Only then can we decide on how to move forward," the Prime Shadow said, then smiled lightly. "And do not be afraid to reveal the truth. You already passed the trial to be an official member of the Guild. From this point on, you are a true member of the Guild, and are now under my protection."


    John studied the two men for a long while, then sighed. There was no helping it after all. He would need to reveal the truth of his past, as he had done with Furi, to fully gain the trust of the men before him. And at this point in time, with Lilian''s whereabouts unknown, and her potentially in danger, there was no other way.


    ''I guess it''s story time again,'' he sighed internally, then started to exin the events that had led him to this world.

 Chapter 980 The True Extent Of The Ancient War

    The Prime Shadow and Guildmaster sat in curious silence, letting John exin the events of how he arrived at this world. They would asionally ask questions, or ask for rifications, but for the most part just listened.


    Their expressions changed several times, ranging from curiosity, to amusement, to disbelief. Their strongest reaction hade when John had revealed the existence of the Asura, and the reason for his escape.


    "And that''s how I found Zuri''s hideout, which eventually led me here," John said, wrapping up his long, detailed story. He had kept out the most important secrets, but had exined enough that the two men had a good grasp of the events that led him here.


    Silence filled the room for a long time, before the Guildmaster sighed deeply.


    "To think Asura''s still exist in this universe," he said, almost unable to believe it.


    "It''s not unheard of," the Prime Shadow said, "but for one to live this long, this boy can only be from a fringe world. For you to have your level of talent from a fringe world, there seems to be a lot you''re leaving out of your story, but that''s alright. Everyone has their secrets."


    "I''ve answered your questions," John said, mind burning with questions he needed answers. "Now I think it''s time you answer some of mine."


    The Guildmaster raised an eyebrow at John''s overzealous attitude, while the Prime Shadow hummed with amusement.


    "Alright," the Prime Shadow said. "Ask your questions."


    "What is a fringe world?" John asked, getting directly to his first question. He had no idea how to get back to his homeworld, but maybe the answer to this question would help him.


    "Do you know anything about the world structure of this universe?" the Prime Shadow asked, to which John shook his head.


    The Prime Shadow nodded, then waved his hand outwards. Qi flowed from it, swirling in the air above John, coalescing to form a miniature world.


    "This is the Nine-Dao World," the Prime Shadow said, then added more Qi to the three-dimensional image. The Nine-Dao world shrunk in size and other worlds appeared, as if the image was being zoomed out of. More worlds appeared by the dozens, then hundreds, dotting the image like stars above John''s head.


    John''s eyes widened as he watched more and more worlds appear, until they were too small and too many to count. It was like grains of sand flowing above his head, stunning himpletely.


    The image eventually stopped moving, forming a sphere in the air several dozen yards wide, dotted with countless tiny worlds, containing hundreds of thousands, or perhaps, even millions of worlds.


    "This isn''t entirely urate, but its good enough for a brief exnation," the Prime Shadow said, then pointed to the very center of the massive sphere. "This is the universe, or at least what I know of it. In the very center are the Hegemon Worlds, Great Worlds, and other pinnacle worlds that dominate all of creation."


    His words stunned Johnpletely, who felt as if he were nothing but an ant at the moment. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "As one stays from that center, the natural Qi of the universe lessens, and worlds be lower and lower in potential, with some exceptions here and there," the Prime Shadow continued, then pointed to a certain part near the exterior of the massive sphere, only a foot away from its edge.


    "This is approximately where our world, the Nine-Dao World, is," he said, his words stunning John once more. There were thousands, tens of thousands of worlds between those Hegemon Worlds and this one, a gap so vast he couldn''t evenprehend it.


    "Our Nine-Dao World is close to the edge of this sphere, and as a result, the natural Qi of the universe here is rather thin," he said. "Whenpared to the worlds existing at the center, its a night and day difference."


    "How¡­" John muttered, lost in chaotic thought. He had gone from knowing next to nothing about the universe outside his homeworld, to learning thatpared to what was out there, his homeworld was nothing more than a speck of dust. As if wanting to add to the shock, the Prime Shadow changed the image slightly, expanding it even further.


    The massive sphere of worlds grew smaller, and an endless sea of dots appeared around the sphere, as if epassing it.


    "Outside this sphere, which you can consider the known universe, is the void of death," the Prime Shadow said.


    "Void of death?" John asked, still trying to process everything he was told and shown.


    "The name is one inherited from an ancient time, an ancient war," the Prime Shadow said, his expression hardening. "The war with the Asuras!"


    The Prime Shadow paused for a brief moment, as if to let John process it all, before continuing.


    "I don''t know much about the ancient war, as it was before my time, but the war was the most devastating war to ever touch this universe," the Prime Shadow continued. "From what I''ve been told and read, the universe, or the worlds you now see, were far more plentiful. When the Asura''s waged war, they enveloped the outer worlds first, consuming them, destroying them, until nothing of them was left, not even the world themselves. These smaller dots surrounding the sphere of known worlds are fractured remnants of the worlds that fell in that ancient war, now drifting in space around this sphere, an ever-constant reminder of the Asura''s devastation. Devastation thatpletely destroyed more than fifty percent of the worlds that existed in ancient times."


    John breathed in deeply, calming his mind as best he could. He knew about the ancient Asura war, mostly from what it had done to his homeworld. He never knew that war had such a wide reach. His mind raced with chaotic thoughts, making him almost unable to focus at all. After a short while, he breathed in deeply, and calmed his mind as best he could. Chaos still swirled within, but he could maintain hisposure once more.


    The Prime Shadow nodded, impressed at how quickly John took in all this information, then continued. He pointed to the chaos that surrounded the sphere of countless worlds; the fractured remnants of ancient worlds now reduced to stone and dust.


    "The Asura''s expanded their Void of Death until one day, the war ended," the Prime Shadow continued, then gave John a pointed look. "And don''t ask me exactly how or why it ended, as even I don''t know the truth of that matter."


    John forced down the question he was about to blurt out with great disappointment. The Prime Shadow continued, pointing to the Void of Death that encircled all the worlds.


    "When the war ended, so did the destruction, for the most part at least," he continued. "Within this ce of destruction, this Void of Death, exists some worlds that were barely able to escape their utter destruction before the war ended. Worlds that were ruined to the brink of annihtion, and now exist at the edge of what is considered the new universe, where parts of space still remain shattered from the ancient war. This is where your homeworld, no doubt a fringe world, exists."

 Chapter 981 Hegemon Worlds

    John stared at the image, mind nearly nk from the sheer amount of unbelievable information he had just been given. In mere minutes, his grasp on the fundamental makeup of the universe had beenpletely changed. It was like going from swimming in a puddle, to being immediately dropped into the depths of an endless ocean.


    There was too much out there. The universe was far toorge for him toprehend. Countless worlds, some so powerful that they existed at the pinnacle of the universe. His world, which was revealed to exist in a space that most didn''t even bother with, had just escaped utter annihtion in the past, and was considered something so unimportant that it didn''t even have a name. He had assumed that the Nine-Dao World was a powerful work in the grand scope of things when arriving here, but had been informed that it too was rtively unimportant as well.


    "How¡­.do you know all this?" John eventually asked. "How can you be certain this is correct?"


    "This information was given to me by my master, many many years ago," the Prime Shadow said, a slight reminiscent look in his eyes. "My Master was much more of an explorer and schr than myself, and obtaining such information was his life''s goal. It''s something he gave to me with confidence, so there can be no doubt of its veracity."


    John cleared his throat, still staring at the sphere of countless worlds. The sphere was easy toprehend, but it was just a depiction of the universe atrge. Just howrge was it in actuality? Just how many words were there truly? How long would it even take to reach the center of this iprehensible universe?


    "Have¡­have you been to other worlds?" John asked, shifting the topic.


    "I''ve been to a few," the Prime Shadow nodded his head. "Mostly the ones near the Nine-Dao World."


    "How? How do you travel to other worlds? Do you take transportation formations like I did?" John asked.


    The Prime Shadow shook his head lightly.


    "Formations such as the one you took are incredibly rare. Some worlds have them, linking them with other worlds, but most do not. I have to say, I''m surprised to find out this world is linked to yours through that formation. I never knew such a formation existed, and can only wonder if the formation on this world still exists. That could be the reason for your spatial tunnel copsing, or it could have been hit by a spatial storm and shattered. There are too many unknowns to be certain."


    "So how did you travel to other worlds?" John asked, eager to obtain some information on how to potentially get back home.


    "There are two ways, other than using transportation formations," the Prime Shadow said. "The first is to have a ship capable of traversing through space. These ships are incredibly rare, and incredibly expensive. In fact, only a few such ships exist on this world, and their design is quite limited, so it''s only feasible to travel to nearby worlds. The second method is to use your own power to travel to other worlds, but that is even more difficult and dangerous. One can only attempt to consider such a thing upon reaching the Holy Manifestation Realm, and even then, there are dangers out there in the void of space that can cause Holy Manifestation cultivators to lose their lives."


    He paused, ncing at John with a pointed gaze.


    "That''s even more so for traveling to worlds in the Void of Death," he emphasized. "The spatial chaos still lingering from the ancient war is incredibly lethal. Only the highest quality of space-faring ships dare enter such a ce without care, and only those above the Holy Manifestation Realm dare enter using their own power."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    ''Above the Holy Manifestation Realm!'' John eximed internally. It was the first time he had heard the mere concept of the realm above the Holy Manifestation Realm brought up. He kept his question to himself, opting to ask about this mysterious realm at ater time when the important things were already discussed.


    "So, do you have one of these space-faring ships?" John asked with slight anticipation.


    "Not anymore," the Prime Shadow shook his head, his answer disappointing John. "I used to have one capable of reaching the worlds closest to this one, but that was a long time ago. I''m old now, so I decided to settle down on my homeworld permanently, and do what I can in the time I have left to help the Guild, and humanity."


    "Howmon is it for those from other worlds to arrive here?" John asked, trying to get as much information about the topic as possible while it was still being discussed.


    "Not verymon," the Prime Shadow answered. "At least in this part of the universe. I''ve heard its moremon near the Great and Hegemon Worlds, where profound flying ships are more abundant, and cultivators more powerful, but I have not seen that with my own eyes, so I cannot be certain of that."


    "So you haven''t been to the Hegemon Worlds?" John said, slightly disappointed. He was going to ask about that next, but it seemed that the Prime Shadow''s knowledge on that subject was limited.


    "Ha, you make it sound as if its a simple stroll to get to the Hegemon Worlds," the Prime Shadowughed. "Even if I had my flying ship, at the speed it was capable of reaching, it would take thousands of years, if not more, to reach the Hegemon Worlds. As for using my own power, I''m afraid I would die before I ever reached them."


    John''s eyes went wide with surprise, not expecting to hear the Prime Shadow''s answer.


    "That''s¡­disappointing," John sighed, then thought of something else. "Wait a minute, when you asked me about my origins, you asked if I was from a Hegemon World. If it''s so hard to get there, then why did you think someone at my level of power coulde to this world so easily?"


    "Like I said, the Hegemon Worlds have space-faring ships far beyond ourprehension, so what''s impossible for us isn''t impossible for those from those worlds," the Prime Shadow said. "But most importantly, your level of talent is far beyond anything I''ve ever seen. I could only assume you were from a Hegemon World. I''ve heard rumors and fables of geniuses of those worlds being sent to other worlds for training purposes, but I''m not certain how true that is."


    "I see," John said, closing his eyes, trying to process everything he had seen and heard. His mind swirled with questions unanswered, questions that had been burning within him for years. He recalled being in the Great Desert, meeting the soul-form of his true mother beneath the sands of that desert.


    He recalled the vision she had shown him, of sending him off in a cocoon of space and time when he was just a baby, no more than a few days old. After doing so, a group of cultivators, so powerful that he still couldn''t gauge their cultivation level, surrounded her, and her fate after that was unknown. However, he knew she was still alive, somewhere out there, waiting for his arrival.


    ''Great World¡­Hegemon World¡­is that where you are, mother?''

 Chapter 982 Memories Of The Prime Shadows Master

    John remained silent for a long time, digesting everything. He opened his eyes a whileter, looking at the Prime Shadow and Guildmaster, who sat there silently, allowing him to process everything.


    "I have a few more questions," John said, to which the Prime Shadow nodded.


    "I''ll answer them, if I can," he said.


    John smiled a thankful smile, appreciative of how much this mysterious old man was willing to tell him, despite the fact that they had just met.


    "You mentioned the ancient war, and that the war ended suddenly."


    "I did," the Prime Shadow nodded.


    "After the war ended, what happened to the Asuras?"


    John noticed the Guildmaster perk up slightly at the question, as if he too wanted to know the answer.


    ''Based on the Guildmaster''s reaction, it seems that information regarding the ancient war, and the Asura''s, is incredibly rare. If someone as powerful as him doesn''t know, then I''m assuming most of this world is ignorant of the past as well.''


    The Prime Shadow frowned slightly, shaking his head.


    "I''m not one hundred percent certain," he said, "but ording to rumors of ancient times, the war suddenly ended, and the Asura''s just¡­left."


    "They just left?" John eximed with great surprise. "So, they weren''t defeated? Exterminated?"


    "No, not at all," the Prime Shadowughed lightly, as if John''s question waspletely ridiculous. He paused for a moment, a deep, reminiscent look appearing on his face.


    "Everything I know about the ancient war, and the Asura''s,es from my long, deceased master," the Prime Shadow said, "who fought during the ancient war!"


    "Your master was alive during the ancient war? And fought in it?" John eximed with shock.


    "Indeed," the Prime Shadow nodded. "He was a middle-aged man, as far as cultivators are concerned, when the war happened, and through circumstance, he arrived on this world, injured and crippled to near death, unable to return to his real world. I was just a boy when I found him, near his death, alone in a remote area. At that time nearly a hundred thousand years had passed since the ancient war, and he was then an old man near his deathbed when I first met him. He took me in and gave me tutge, epting me as his disciple, so that his techniques might pass on into the future."


    The Prime Shadow paused for a moment, several emotions appearing on his face. John sat down and settled in, as he could tell the story was going to be an interesting, and important one.


    "My master was far more powerful than I am now, but was crippled to the point of barely being a cultivator," the Prime Shadow continued. "During the days he would instruct me in the ways of cultivation and assassination, and at night, he would teach me about the universe, the ancient war, and many other things.


    He left many things vague and unanswered, most likely to shield me from the Karmic ties knowing too much would bring, but exined enough that I have a vague idea of what happened. ording to him, the war was a brutal one, with death and destruction beyond anything you could possibly imagine.


    Before anyone realized, the Asura''s had encircled everything, and started their campaign of devastation from the outside in. The various powers of the universe united and set out to meet them in battle, but most werepletely outssed. They soon learned of the horrors of the Asura''s, and how impossible they were to battle. Their bloodlust was horrifying, their ferocity andbat prowess unmatched.


    For every Asura, dozens, and sometimes hundreds of cultivators in the same realm would be needed to take them down. Only the pinnacle geniuses and sovereign races of the universe were able to stand on even ground against an Asura, but their numbers were too few to turn the tides of battle on the grand scale of the war. For you see, the ancient war contained not only Asura''s, but countless Demons as well."


    "Demons?" John chimed in.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Yes, Demons," the Prime Shadow nodded. "If you consider Asura''s the generals of the war, then Demons were the soldiers. Weaker, but far more numerous. And even then, weaker is a rtive term, because most demons are far more powerful and horrifying than an average cultivator, making them nearly as hard to kill as Asuras."


    John thought back to his battle with the Abyssal Demon, and just how horrifying that creature had been. If those were considered the regr soldiers of the Asura army, then the enemy force as a whole must have been an absolutely horrifying, impossible to resist force.


    ''No wonder that Demon hated me and my Asura blood so much,'' John thought, recalling that Demon''s hatred for his Asura Transformation. ''It was most likely forced into that ancient war by the Asuras, and was then captured. Its hatred was understandable.''


    "Worlds fell one by one, and just before the war ended, over half of the worlds in the universe had been consumed and then annihted by the Asura''s."


    The Prime Shadow paused for a moment, then sighed as he said something that sounded unbelievable.


    "Then, ording to my master, one day, the Asura''s just¡­left."


    "They just left? You mean retreated?" John asked curiously.


    "Hahahaha," the Prime Shadowughed lightly. "Child, you''ve faced an Asura before. Would you ever imagine that such a creature would retreat from battle?"


    John fell silent, thinking back to the time''s he hade face to face with the Asura. The Asura had fought with a smile on his face the entire time against Raijen and the rest, its battle and bloodlust thicker than anything he had ever felt before.


    He shook his head lightly.


    "I can''t imagine it would ever retreat from battle," John said softly.


    "And from what my master told me, you would be correct," the Prime Shadow confirmed. "In the ancient war, he fought against many demons, and one time, a singr Asura. He, alongside three others, fought against that Asura in a battle to the death. Their battle determined the fate of an entire world, and in the end, they were crippled and defeated, unable to withstand the might of a single Asura."


    The Prime Shadow''s gaze hardened as he stared at John.


    "You must remember, my master was considered a genius of his time, and had far greater power than I could ever hope to have¡­and yet, he, alongside three others of simr prodigious skill, were unable to kill the Asura in the same realm as them. My master was an assassin, and against the near-indestructible bodies of the Asura''s, his assassination arts faltered. He recalled that battle with shame in his eyes, as if it was his greatest failure," the Prime Shadow sighed softly.


    "In his defeat, my master epted his death, awaiting the final strike toe," the Prime Shadow continued, "but that final blow never came."


    "It didn''t? The Asura just let him live?" John asked, unable to believe an Asura would show mercy.


    "No, the Asura showed no mercy," the Prime Shadow shook his head. "Instead, it paused, as if it was listening to something, or feeling something, and then¡­just left, flying away from the world and vanishing into the dark of space. It didn''t even spare my master a second nce, as if it was beneath him entirely."


    "The Asura just left like that?" John asked, eyes wide.


    "Not just that Asura, but ording to my master, every Asura, and even most of the Demons. With the war going their way, with the forces of the universe falling one by one to the Asura and Demon horde, the enemy suddenly and without warning¡­left"


    John was stunned silent, almost unable to believe what he was hearing. The Asura''s, the horrifying creatures that lusted for death and destruction more than anything else, just left, while seemingly dominating everything that stood in their path. It was impossible to believe.

 Chapter 983 The Prime Shadows Condition

    The Prime Shadow paused for a moment, letting John digest the information.


    "The world my master was defending was this world, the Nine Dao World," the Prime Shadow said, his words surprising even the Guildmaster, who was clearly also hearing this story for the first time.


    "He received sound transmission from the warmunication channels for some time, detailing that the Asura''s had all seemingly left, and that the war was over. A collective effort was carried out after that, to exterminate all lingering Demons, and some Asura''s who were for some reason unable to leave with the rest of their horde.


    My master settled down on this world shortly after, and with his cultivation mostly crippled from that battle, cut off allmunication with the outside world and settled down. He never did learn why the Asura''s suddenly left, and wanted nothing to do with them anymore either. He lived in seclusion for all those years until I stumbled upon him, and the rest is of little importance."


    Silence filled the room for quite some time, the heaviness of the story weighing down on everyone. John''s mind continued to race with unanswered questions, ones he knew he couldn''t get answered at the moment.


    "Thank you for telling me the truth of the war," John said, truly appreciative of learning the truth. He could feel the weight of Karma bear down on him harder, as if just knowing the truth would lead to dangers in the future, but at this point, he didn''t care. Knowing the truth was far more important to him than avoiding the dangers it would bring.


    The Prime Shadow nodded.


    "With all that said, it''s time to return to the matters that still need to be resolved," the Prime Shadow said.


    "What matters are those?" John asked, although he had a vague idea of what it was.


    "The matter of you bing my sessor," the Prime Shadow said, then sighed. "When I heard that you were not from a Great or Hegemon World, I had intended to make you my sessor as Prime Shadow of the Guild. But now, upon hearing your story, and the future that awaits you, I know your journey will not be limited to just this world."


    John nodded silently, but sighed with relief internally. The Prime Shadow had most likely realized that he would refuse the offer based on what he still needed to do, and not having to actually reject the offer was something he appreciated.


    "However," the Prime Shadow continued with some vigor in his tone. "That does not mean the business between you and myself is concluded."


    "What business is that?" John asked curiously.


    "While you would most certainly reject my offer of discipleship, while you are part of the Guild, you will still enjoy all its benefits," the Prime Shadow said, smiling at John''s surprised reaction. "You will have ess to everything you would have had you epted to be my disciple. The finest battle arts, the pinnacle resources of the Guild¡­all of this will be avable for you to use."


    "What''s the condition?" John asked, knowing there was more to this deal, as it was too good to be true without some kind of condition.


    While he would be able to help the Guildplete some missions while he was still on this world, he would eventually leave, and with it, take the resources the Guild spent on him with him. It seemed like a bad investment to him, and he knew there was more to the deal than the Prime Shadow was revealing.


    "Ah, you saw right through me," the Prime Shadow said, smiling as John rolled his eyes, knowing there was a condition to meet.


    "And the condition is?" John asked.


    "You will have ess to the things I mentioned earlier, on the condition that you agree to learn a single assassination art from me, and master it fully. If you agree to that, the Guild will support you as much as possible."


    "You want to teach me assassination art, which I''m assuming is quite profound, and want to reward me with resources and treasures on top of that? How does that make sense? What''s in it for you?" John asked, tilting his head to the side.


    "The assassination art is one of two assassination arts that my master created," the Prime Shadow said. "You are not suitable for the first one, but the second one¡­I do not think I could find a better suited candidate even if I looked for one my entire life."


    He paused, noticed John''s questioning gaze, then continued.


    "My master had hoped to hone his assassination arts to the pinnacle, and have his arts known and feared throughout the entire universe," the Prime Shadow said, then shook his head ruefully.


    "However, the war stopped his aspirations before he could reach them, and so instead he imparted those assassination arts to me, hoping I could achieve what he could not. Unfortunately, I was not able to live up to his standards, but that does not mean I failed. As long as you agree to learn this art, and in the future, hone it to a level that the entire universees to know and fear, then I shall spare no resource to help you achieve that goal. Ensuring the legacy of my master is everything to me."


    John felt a weight on his shoulders upon hearing the grand aspirations of the Prime Shadow and his master. However,pared to his other tasks, like finding his mother, or returning the dragon egg to the ancestral origin of the Jade Dragons, this task, while difficult, actually seemed quite reasonable for him.


    After a moment of consideration, John nodded his head, agreeing to the terms. With the weight of the Guild behind him, not only would his cultivation speed up, but he would also be able to search for Lilian with much more resources had he not agreed. And to top it all off, he was going to be taught some ultimate assassination technique. It was an obvious decision, one so good that he would be an absolute idiot to refuse.


    "I ept," John said.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "Excellent," the Prime Shadow said, a wide, relieved smile appearing on his face. He turned to the Grandmaster, who had remained silent for a long time, listening to the two discuss various matters.


    "Those who witnessed his trial are still in the viewing room, per the instructions I gave Grandmaster Three," the Prime Shadow said. "Go there and exin personally to everyone who witnessed John that what they saw is of the S-Tier ssification. They are to treat any information regarding John with that ssification going forward as well. Failure toply with these mandates will result in immediate termination."


    The Guildmaster nodded his head, stood, and then vanished in the blink of an eye. John didn''t even see the man move, he just disappeared so fast.


    ''The Holy Manifestation realm is something else,'' he thought, turning his head to the Prime Shadow. The Prime Shadow walked over to him and ced his hand on John''s shoulder.


    "Come, your training starts now."


    "Wait," John said, his words causing the Prime Shadow to pause.


    "My main intention of joining the Guild is to find someone important to me," he exined, wanting to have the Guild start its search for Lilian as soon as possible. "Zuri said that she can post a High-Priority Mission, or something like that, to have the gui-"


    "Zuri huh?" the Prime Shadow mused while scratching his chin thoughtfully. "That girl¡­ah yes, she''s quite impressive. I have high hopes for her."


    The Prime Shadow shifted his gaze to John.


    "Zuri is the one who found you and brought you into the Guild, correct?"


    John nodded silently.


    "And she knows of this person you''re looking for?"


    John nodded again.


    A metallic object suddenly appeared in the Prime Shadow''s hands, which he infused with his Qi. It then vanished in the blink of an eye.


    ¡­


    Zuri sat silently in the audience room, waiting for the word that they were allowed to leave. A sh of light appeared before her without warning, startling her and those around her. The light faded, revealing a metallic object hovering before her; an official seal of the Guild.


    Zuri inspected the seal with a confused expression, then reached out, took it, and inspected the contents contained within the seal. Her eyes went wide, and lips began to tremble with emotion as she saw her new rank.


    "Congrattions," the Grandmaster next to her said, smiling lightly. "It seems the¡­Guildmaster is pleased with your contribution of finding the boy."


    ¡­


    Back in the room far beneath the Guild Headquarters, the Prime Shadow looked back at John.


    "For her contribution of finding you, Zuri''s rank has been increased, from Shadow Captain to Shadow Master. She now holds sufficient authority to mobilize a good portion of the Guild to search for this person you seek, and has also been instructed to take care of this mission personally. Does that take care of that matter?"


    John nodded silently, relieved to hear the importance the Prime Shadow ced on finding Lilian.


    "Good, then off we go."


    The Prime Shadows Qi red briefly. John felt himself wrapped up in the Prime Shadows power, pulled through space without being able to resist. He appeared in a new location a momentter, the bright light of the sun beating down on him.


    "Try not to die during this training," the Prime Shadow said, standing behind him. "That would be awfully anti-climactic. With your talent, you should be fine, I think..."

 Chapter 984 Assassination Theory

    John ignored the Prime Shadow''sment and looked all about, assessing the ce he had been taken to. Surprise appeared on his face as he saw the mountain-sized skeletons dotting thendscape. Some were a few miles away, others seemingly hundreds of miles away, appearing like mountain ranges on the horizon.


    The skeletons were humanoid in shape, with two legs and a long, slender body. However, the four arms and body tail jutting from each skeleton indicated that they were not human at all.


    Although most of the skeletons were shattered and parts destroyed, enough were intact to notice that they were all of the same race. Three holes on the sharp skulls indicated that the creatures had three eyes when they were alive, and two sharp fans protruded from wide, open maws, adding to the ferocious look.


    Some of the skeletons were sliced cleanly in half, as if a sword has cut through them in one stroke. Others were shattered into pieces, like a mountain-sized hammer had mmed down onto them. Thend beneath the skeletons rose and fell unevenly as far as the eye could see, as if thend had been broken apart by an ancient battle.


    A murderous aura lingered in the air, making the ce feel quite dangerous. There was some vegetation visible, but all the vegetation he could see was red in color, as if the murderous aura had stained the color of everything around it. Even thend was an off-red color, like blood had coated every inch of it and then dried, settling in permanently.


    "What is this ce?" John asked with cautioned awe.


    "An ancient battlefield," the Prime Shadow said, "one my master fought on."


    "Your master fought here? Against these creatures?"


    The Prime Shadow nodded.


    "Before that Asura arrived, a horde of Demons were sent to this world as a vanguard," the Prime Shadow said. "The Demons that invaded this world were the Three-Eyed Titan Demons.My master, along with some allies, fought them here, and slew them after a brutal battle. This ce is now a dangerous zone of death that almost none dare to enter, as the corpses of the demons became sustenance for powerful creatures in the years after the battle. Those creatures, or their offspring, dominate thisnd, so none dare to enter."


    The Prime Shadow smiled, shifting his smiling gaze from the skeletons to John.


    "So, this is the perfect ce to practice an ultimate assassination art without any spying eyes watching."


    "Perfect ce, huh?" John rolled his eyes. "Other than the creatures that can most likely kill me without much effort at all."


    "Gahahaha," the Prime Shadowughed heartily, "I hope the creatures doe here. Their corpses are quite valuable afterall, so I can not only teach you the assassination art, but make some good money on the side. It''s a win-win as far as I''m concerned."


    "Is that so," John said slowly, eyes scanning the horizon for these "creatures," but saw nothing moving at all in this graveyard of titans.


    "Now, let''s get to it," the Prime Shadow said after surveying the area and finding no immediate danger. "As I said before, my master created two ultimate assassination arts, each utilizing the opposite theories of assassination."


    "Theories of assassination?" John asked curiously.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "There are many theories and ideas when ites to assassination, but my master only considered two to be important," the Prime Shadow said. "There''s the theory that assassination must be undetectable, stealthy, and precise. It''s what most people think of when they think of assassins. Showing up undetected,nding a precise and silent lethal attack, then leaving undetected."


    John nodded his head, as it was what he thought of as well when he thought of assassins.


    "While this is the true assassin way, that does not mean there are not other ways," the Prime Shadow continued, then gave John a questioning nce. "What is the most important thing of all when ites to assassination?"


    "Killing the target?" John answered after a moment of thought.


    "Exactly," the Prime Shadow nodded, satisfied with John''s answer. "And while the first method of assassination allows one to kill the target and leave undetected, that method is not always suitable."


    "Why''s that?" John asked curiously. Although he could think of a few reasons, he wanted to hear the Prime Shadow''s thoughts on the matter.


    "There could be a hundred reasons why a stealthy assassination is not possible," the Prime Shadow said. "For example, if the target is fully alert, divine sense spread out, and other measures for detection taken as well, stealthily sneaking towards the target can be impossible. Another reason could be location. If one finds themselves in a chaotic, dangerous ce, carefully navigating through that location without being detected may be impossible. If the assassin runs into danger, they would need to use their Qi to defend themselves, at which point their presence would be revealed. Another reason could be if the target is in a group, slipping stealthily past everyone''s guard could be too difficult. There are countless situations where a stealthy and careful assassination cannot be performed. The first assassination art my master created employed this method, which would not be suitable for you given your areas of talent."


    John nodded his head, as the examples the Prime Shadow gave all made sense.


    "So, if stealth cannot work in a situation, what could?" The Prime Shadow asked John.


    "Brute force?" John answered after thinking it over.


    "Exactly," the Prime Shadow eximed, satisfied with John''s answer again.


    "Where calm and precise cannot work, brute force can shine," the Prime Shadow said, then pointed at John, tapping him on the chest with a finger. "And when ites to brute force, you are a heaven-defying prodigy. As I said, I could think of no better sessor for this assassination art. If you manage to master this art, the mere mention of your name will instill crippling fear into all your enemies."


    The Prime Shadow took a step back, then surveyed the area once more briefly.


    "Use that draconic Transformation you used earlier," the Prime Shadow said, to which John frowned.


    "Why?" he asked. "Are we going to fight or something?"


    "Gahaha, fight? No," the Prime Shadow said with much amusement. "But I''m about to demonstrate the assassination art to you. And although I won''t hit you with it, just being close to me when I use it will kill you if you do not protect yourself fully."

 Chapter 985 The Assassination Art Demonstrated

    Chapter 985 The Assassination Art Demonstrated


    John raised his eyebrows at the Prime Shadows ims, although he didn''t doubt the mans words. The Prime Shadow was in the Holy Manifestation Realm, although John didn''t know which minor realm exactly. The Prime Shadow had yet to reveal his aura to John, and so he could only tell the mans general cultivation, but not the exact level.


    However, the natural feeling of danger the Prime Shadow gave off was no less than the Grand Abbot, and John wouldn''t be surprised to find out the Prime Shadow was even stronger. In fact, he gave off the same lethal feeling that the Jade Dragon Emperor gave off, although where the Jade Dragon Emperor was like a zing sun,pletely powerful and unstoppable, the Prime Shadow was like a hidden dagger, so sharp that it could cut through anything.


    "Hmmm, lets see," the Prime Shadow said to himself, walking about a hundred yards away from John. He nodded to himself and stopped walking.


    "This spot will do," he said as an object suddenly appeared before the man.


    "A corpse?" John said, raising his eyebrows once more. The Prime Shadow had taken out the dead body, and upon quick inspection, John realized it was the body of a Devil, one simr to the formation-formed creature he had recently fought. However, this was a true Devil, only dead.


    Vibrant vitality still emanated from the body, revealing that the Devil had been killed recently, most likely less than a few months ago. John felt the trace aura of the corpse, revealing its cultivation when it had been alive.


    "Late World Transformation!" he said with surprise. That was the same level of cultivation as the Grandmaster, or Thunderzen. And the danger he felt from the corpse, although dead, was no less than a powerhouse like Thunderzen.


    John studied the corpse, and noticed a thin, razor sharp wound on its forehead. It was so thin that it was hardly noticeable.


    "Did you kill this Devil?" John asked with awe.


    "Sure did," the Prime Shadow said, nodding as he fiddled with the corpse. "It had snuck onto this continent and was secretly wreaking havoc, no doubt instructions from the Devil higher-ups. Unfortunately, I happened to be passing by the city it was hiding in, and well, let''s just say this fellow had quite a bad day that day."


    John smirked, amused at how nonchnt the Prime Shadow was about killing something so powerful.


    "How powerful are Devils?" John asked curiously while the Prime Shadow fiddled with whatever he was doing. "Are they all the same talent level as the Devil I fought?"


    "Just like us humans, the Devils vary greatly in talent level," the Prime Shadow said. "They are half-human after all. The Devil you fought was of average talent, nothing exceptional, but also not weak either. If you were to fight against a true Early World Expansion genius of the Devil Race, let''s just say that your battle would have resulted in a quick death for you."


    "Is that so?" John replied, musing it over.


    "Devils are half-human half-demon, so their bodies are also naturally stronger than an average cultivator, and are more akin to body cultivators naturally," the Prime Shadow added. "So they can be quite fearsome in battle."


    He thought back to his fight against Asuros, who had only been two minor realms above him, and yet had put up a strong fight. Against true geniuses, his ability to jump realms was cut down drastically.


    ''I guess I need to be a bit more careful in the future,'' he mused. ''If I blindly assume someone is of average talent and fight against them using my normal thinking, and they turn out to be a true genius instead, I could find myself in a bad situation quickly.''


    "There we go," the Prime Shadow said, stepping back with a smile on his face. John inspected the corpse, which stood upright as if alive. Its feet were bound in a powerful energy, pinning it to the ground.


    "If I don''t bind this Devil to the ground, it''s going to go flying off into the distance once I unleash my assassination art on it," the Prime Shadow exined, noticing John''s questioning gaze. "Since you are too weak to withstand this art, I''m going to use the corpse of a Late World Expansion Devil to demonstrate the killing capacity of this art."


    "I see," John nodded his head, then frowned. "If the art is too dangerous for me without me using my Dragon-God Shift, shouldn''t I just move farther away to a safe distance?"


    "Gahaha," the Prime Shadowughed. "How will you feel about the nature of the assassination art if you''re far away? I want you to feel this art personally, so that your body will remember it, down to your very bones. Only by experiencing the true terror of this art will you be able to grasp it yourself."


    John sighed, then nodded his head.


    "I''m ready when you are," John said firmly, ready to unleash his Dragon-God Shift.


    "Good," the Prime Shadow nodded, then disappeared.


    John noticed the man instantly appear several miles away, appearing like a dot on the horizon. He was awed once more by the power of a Holy Manifestation cultivator, able to move so fast instantly, without John being able to detect him at all.


    "I''m going to demonstrate this art first, without exining anything, and I want you to pay careful attention, and spot as much as you can," the Prime Shadow send John a sound transmission. "We will discuss your thoughts on the art afterwards."


    John nodded his head, then unleashed his Dragon-God Shift. His Qi churned within his body like a tsunami, fortifying his bodily defenses, augmenting his physical strength to incredible heights. The surge of power made John want to speed forward and fight something immediately, but he held back that feeling and focused instead on the distant Prime Shadow.


    With John''s body defense pushed to an incredible level, the Prime Shadow began.


    John paid careful attention, studying the Prime Shadow with both his eyes and his divine sense. He spread his divine sense over the entire area as well, using it to study the art he was about to see. His eyes widened with shock as he felt the Prime Shadow vanished within his divine sense, and then against all odds, vanished visually as well.


    In the blink of an eye, the Prime Shadowpletely disappeared, but John could tell the man had not moved. Despite still being in the exact same location, he was unable to see or feel the Prime Shadow at all.


    "I thought this art wasn''t a stealthy assassination a-"


    Boom!


    A beam of something, so fast that he couldn''t even see at all raced by him, faster than the time it took to think a single thought, and zipped off into the horizon like a beam of light.


    A momentter, John''s instincts started screaming, yelling at him that death was approaching, and that it was unavoidable. His eyes went wide with stunned surprise, as for the first time in his life, his instincts had failed him, only warning him after the danger had already arrived.


    The world before him then exploded, erupting into a fiery explosion that radiated outwards from that beam. It enveloped him in an instant, bathing him in its cmitous power, one that he needed his full defensive power to withstand.


    Unable to resist, John was thrown into the air, tumbling head over heels within the fiery explosion. His body ached with pain and skin charred over as the power of the st nearly overwhelmed him. His heart raced furiously in his chest, as he fought back against the explosion.


    However, his heart was not racing from fear or panic, but ofplete awe. In the moment it took for the explosion to appear and then reach him, a time no longer than blink of an eye, he saw something incredible.


    The corpse of the Devil, sliced cleanly in half as if it had been nothing more than paper. The horrifying explosion that enveloped him was not the assassination art, but a byproduct of the assassination arts monstrous power.

 Chapter 986 Discussing The Assassination Art

    Chapter 986 Discussing The Assassination Art


    Mind still awed by the brief glimpse of the assassination arts power, John stabilized himself within the explosion. It faded away after a short moment, returning the now-charred battlefield to its rtive calm. Having been thrown a good distance away from his initial position, he flew back towards the spot of the attack, andnded near the corpse of the Devil that had been used as a target.


    That corpse was now half a corpse, with only its legs and lower waist still visible. The top half had been cleanly sliced in half, and then blown away by the explosion that had followed. John stared at the severed corpse, then reached out and touched it.


    It felt as hard as the most durable metals he had ever touched. Lightning flickered onto his hand as he tried to damage it, but to no avail. It resisted taking any damage at all, and yet had been sliced cleanly in half by the Prime Shadow.


    "The power of a Holy Manifestation cultivator is something else," he mumbled softly.


    "Gahaha, it''s not that impressive," a rambunctiousughter came from the Prime Shadow, who had suddenly appeared nearby. John turned to look at the man, amusement and surprise appearing on his face.


    The Prime Shadows hair was frazzled up in a mess, no longer neat and tidy as it had been before. Even his pointed beard was now a frazzled mess, making the Prime Shadow look more like a homeless beggar than a Holy Manifestation powerhouse. The Prime Shadow noticed John''s peculiar gaze, thenughed again.


    "Gaha, this assassination art is quite unruly," heughed, Qi ring for a moment, instantly fixing his hair and beard into a neat and orderly fashion. John stared at the man for a moment, then returned his gaze to the devil corpse.


    "What was that assassination art?" he asked, still awed by what he had seen. In fact, he hadn''t really seen anything, as it was too fast to see. The Prime Shadow had disappeared, then a short whileter, the devil corpse had been cleaved in two, instantly followed by a powerful explosion.


    "Was that a weapon art that hit the target, or did you move that fast yourself?" John asked.


    "Of course it was me," the Prime Shadow said, "why else would my hair be such a mess."


    John''s eyes flicked to the Prime Shadow''s hair for a moment, which was now neat and orderly.


    "I don''t understand anything that happened," he said, frowning. "All I know is that my instincts kicked in after the art had alreadynded on the corpse, which is the first time it''s ever beente like that."


    The Prime Shadow smiled, inspected the bisected Devil corpse, then turned to John.


    "Let''s break what you saw down piece by piece. Perhaps you can figure out some parts of what happened by talking things over."


    John nodded, then repeated what he had seen, which wasn''t much at all.


    "Let''s ignore the disappearing part for now," the Prime Shadow said, then pointed to his now-neat hair. "You noticed my hair was a mess after I used the assassination art. Why is that?"


    "Your hair? Why is that important," John asked, tilting his head to the side.


    "Then let''s take a step back from that subject, and talk about flying," the Prime Shadow said.


    "What about it?" John asked curiously.


    "How does a cultivator fly?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    John didn''t know why the Prime Shadow was asking such an obvious question, but yed along, as he knew the Prime Shadow had a reason for bringing up the subject.


    "Well, there''s a few ways," John said, thinking the question over. "When I first started to fly, I used my Qi as a propulsion mechanism, pushing me through the sky. However, after reaching the Heaven Tribtion Realm, I started wrapping my body in Qi instead, and then used my control over that Qi to pull myself in whatever direction I wanted to go."


    Wrapping one''s body with Qi to fly was not only more efficient, but also allowed the cultivator to ignore the effects of the air for the most part, parting it much easier, and also reducing the effects of wind resistance. With Qi around one''s body, it was almost as if the air around them didn''t exist.


    "That is the order in which most cultivators learn to fly," the Prime Shadow nodded in agreement. "And when you wrap yourself in your Qi to fly, what happens to your hair?"


    "My hair? I guess nothing really happens to it, as it''s protected by theyer of Qi around my body," John answered.


    "Exactly," the Prime Shadow eximed, while John realized what the Prime Shadow was getting at.


    "So you weren''t covered in Qi at all when you moved? Then how Shadow was incredibly strong, he was obviously not a body cultivator, so moving that fast with his own physical power was not did you move at all?" John asked curiously. Without using Qi, the only way to move was through physical power, and while the Prime Shadow was incredibly strong, he was obviously not a body cultivator, so moving that fast with his own physical power was not possible.


    "That''s one of the secrets of the assassination art," the Prime Shadow said, a wide smile on his face, then asked another question.


    "Onto the second topic of discussion. When you or your instincts detect someone who is targeting you, what do you detect?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    "Hmmm, their aura, or killing intent," John said after thinking it over.


    "Exactly," the Prime Shadow agreed. "Instincts are triggered by the intent of the enemy, usually killing intent, which manifests through the cultivators aura naturally, allowing your instincts to feel it. As for detecting an enemy directly, you normally notice their aura, typically from when they''re using a battle art, or using their Qi to move around."


    John nodded, although that was allmon sense to any cultivator.


    "Now, what would happen if someone approached you with no aura at all, using no Qi at all. If you were not looking at them, and your divine sense was not spread out, would you be able to notice them at all before they reached you?"


    "I guess not," John replied.


    "Exactly, at the speed cultivators move, even sound is slow inparison," the Prime Shadow nodded. "In that case, someone moving with no aura at all would arrive at their target with absolutely nothing giving away their position, other than being spotted visually, or detected by divine sense. My master mused over these things, and came up with a battle art that was able to not only fool one''s sight and divine sense, but was also able to approach a target without releasing any aura at all. If done perfectly, the art is practically unavoidable by the enemy."


    "But how can one move that fast physically without giving away their location?" John asked curiously. "An essence cultivator needs to use Qi to move, which gives off an aura. Even body cultivators use their Qi to augment their speed. So just how did you move that fast, that quickly, without giving off any aura at all?"


    The Prime Shadow grinned, then handed John a jade piece that had appeared in his hands.


    "Take a look and see for yourself."

 Chapter 987 Shadow Of Death: Form Two

    John took the jade piece and sent his divine sense into it, reading the contents within. An incredible amount of information flooded into his mind, tooplicated for him to understand immediately. Descriptions of an assassination art, the fundamentals behind each aspect, and then the methods to aplish each step.


    It started off simple, but quickly reached a level that made his mind spin. John eventually stopped reading the contents within, as it would take quite some time toprehend even the basics of what he had seen. However, while he couldn''t yetprehend or use the art, he could understand the underlying fundamentals of how it worked.


    His eyes went wide as he stared at the smiling man before him.


    "This is insane," John mumbled with disbelief.


    "Gahaha, you can say that again," the Prime Shadowughed loudly, rubbing the back of his head. "I can''t count the number of times practicing this assassination art almost killed me. In fact, if I''m not careful and mess up too much, it could still kill me now."


    The Prime Shadow then patted John on the back forcefully,ughing while doing so.


    "Gaha, don''t worry, this assassination art was practically made just for you," he said exuberantly. "When my master created this assassination art, his greatest regret was that he was not an essence cultivator and body cultivator at the same time. I don''t know how you''ve managed to cultivate both to such an incredible degree, but regardless of the reasons, someone like you is the absolute perfect fit for this assassination art."


    John remained speechless for a short while, then looked at the grinning Prime Shadow.


    "If this assassination art is so self-damaging, then why are you unharmed?" he asked, noticing that the Prime Shadow showed no signs of internal or external damage at all.


    "Oh, that''s because I only used about thirty percent of my power to show off that attack," the Prime Shadow said. "When I''m forced to use this art with my full power, I''m sometimes out ofmission for a few days after that. In fact, one time, I used a bit too much power, and nearly killed myself. I''ve made sure to avoid that mistake ever since that day, that''s for sure," the Prime Shadow said, thenughed at himself again.


    John stared silently at the old man, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape.


    ''Thirty percent power? That was only thirty percent of what he was capable of?''


    He thought back to what he had seen, then shuddered. This old man before him, with the stupid, disarming grin on his face, was far more dangerous than anything he had ever seen, other than the Asura, and perhaps the Jade Dragon Emperor.


    ''I think I''d rather face the Jade Dragon Emperor actually. At least a battle with him would be straightforward.'' He shuddered at the thought of being the target of the Prime Shadow''s full powered assassination art. If he was, he would be dead before he even knew what hit him, and was sure that would be the case even when he reached the Early World Expansion Realm.


    John shook his head, then studied the jade piece for a moment.


    "Shadow of Death: Form Two, huh?" he said out loud, reading the name of the assassination art. "So that''s where the guild namees from?"


    The Prime Shadow nodded.


    "My master was known as the Shadow of Death, and every self-created assassination art of his was named as such, only differentiated by the form," the Prime Shadow said. "He created six assassination forms, but the first two are the most lethal by far. When ites topatibility, the second form suits you the best by far, and that is what we will focus on entirely. Any questions?"


    John shook his head, ready to get started on learning this dangerous yet incredibly lethal assassination art.


    "Good, then let''s get started," the Prime Shadow said.


    "What''s first? Am I going to learn the meridian pathway routes, or perhaps the-"


    The Prime Shadow cut him off with augh.


    "Gaha, the first thing you''re going to learn, is how to avoid bats."


    "....bats?"


    Roar!<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    A powerful roar in the distance shook the entirend, its power making John''s body groan with pain.


    ''Half-Step Holy Manifestation?'' John wondered, trying to gauge the strength of the source of the roar. Whatever realm the beast was in, it was far beyond his ability to fight against. The Prime Shadow looked towards the direction of the roar, thenughed.


    "Gaha, we''ve been discovered already. I don''t feel like killing innocent beasts today, so let''s get moving."


    John was suddenly enveloped by the Prime Shadows power, unable to resist at all. The scenery before his eyes instantly changed, going from a bright, open field of skeletons to a dark, gloomy underground cavern.


    The cavern was quiterge, with glowing spirit crystals naturally embedded in the wall at different parts, giving a soft light to the otherwise dark cavern. John looked all around quickly, but found nothing of note other than the Prime Shadow.


    "What are we doing down here? Avoiding bats?" he asked skeptically. He didn''t know how avoiding these bats the Prime Shadow mentioned was going to help him.


    "Exactly," the Prime Shadow said, then pointed forward. John looked in that direction, and spotted the mouth of a tunnel that led to somewhere unknown. "That tunnel is the only way out of this cave, and is filled to the brim with Toxfoul Bats."


    "Toxfoul Bats?" John repeated, having never heard of such a creature.


    The Prime Shadow nodded.


    "And how is that going to help me learn this assassination art?" John asked again.


    "What was the very first thing I did when I utilized art?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    "You disappeared somehow," John answered, to which the Prime Shadow nodded his head.


    "I didn''t so much as disappear, but instead became invisible to your senses."


    "Is there a difference?" John asked skeptically.


    "A massive difference," the Prime Shadow said. "Not even I canpletely disappear, but to hide myself from someone''s senses? That is something I can do. And this training is part one of two of learning to hide from an enemy''s senses, tricking their brains and souls into thinking you do not exist. In order to use the assassination art to its fullest, you must learn to disappear from an enemy''s senses, and to do that, you must learn how to fully conceal your presence."


    "I can do that already¡­sort of," John replied. He had trained with Lilian a while back to conceal his aura and presence, but had not much practiced it since. Still, he considered himself quite adept at concealing his aura.


    "Good," the Prime Shadow eximed. "Then you should have no problem getting through that cave. The Toxfoul Bats within that cave are blind and deaf, but are quite sensitive to auras. All you need to do is conceal your aura well enough to get through the cave undetected, which means your aura and presence concealment has reached the appropriate level to move on to the next step of training."


    "That''s all I have to do, is get through that cave?" John asked. The nodding smile the Prime Shadow gave him sent a shiver through his body. It was the smile of a man about to watch and enjoy the suffering of another.


    "This isn''t going to be easy, or enjoyable, is it?" John asked gloomily.


    "Not at all," the Prime Shadow smiled, then suddenly vanished.


    "Good luck," his voice sounded out from all directions, while John groaned softly.


    "It''s just bats," he groaned to himself and moved towards the tunnel entrance. "It can''t be that bad, can it?"


    A flurry of loud screeches soon came from the tunnel, followed by yelps of disgust and pain.

 Chapter 988 Toxfoul Bats

    John returned to the cavern he had started in a short whileter, gasping for breath. It wasn''t gasps of fatigue or breathlessness, but gasps of disgust from the foul odor that surrounded him. His body was covered in a horrifyingly foul-smelling slime that nearly caused him to faint from its stench. Pain rose from his body as well as the slime corroded his skin, wracking his body with pain. And worse of all, the slime clung to his skin in spite of his Qi, refusing to budge. It even permeated his Qi when he tried to push the smell away, making it impossible to escape. Only with great effort was he able to get some of it off, although a great deal remained lingering behind.


    The trial was even worse than he could have imagined.


    "What the fuck is this stuff?" John cursed through the gags.


    While the corrosive slime did cause him pain, it was not enough to endanger him. It was the foul-smelling slime that was the worst, which was easily the worst smell he had ever encountered in his life. Before entering the tunnel, he would have never imagined such a smell existed.


    "Gahahaha, I see you didn''t make it through on your first attempt," the Prime Shadow suddenly appeared next to him,ughing loudly. "I warned you, the bats are very sensitive to aura''s, and yet you barged in there with your aura ring that powerfully. What did you expect?"


    "I was hiding my presence, not ring my aura!" John rebuked loudly, stifling some gags in between his words. The Prime Shadow waved his hand in front of his nose and took a few steps back, face scrunched up from the smell.


    "If that''s what you call hiding your presence, then you''re going to be down here for quite some time," the Prime Shadow said, shaking his head.


    John grimaced, then grumbled audibly.


    "Does the aura hiding portion of the assassination art even matter? Just teach me the killing portion. I don''t need to hide my presence," John grumbled.


    His words caused Prime Shadow''sughing face to instantly change to a serious one, one that caused John to hold his tongue before speaking more.


    "If I did that, then it would be no different than a normal battle art," the Prime Shadow said, voice very serious. "My master created this art as an assassination art, and it will only ever be used eitherpletely, or not at all. So pick now, learn the entire thing, or give up entirely."


    John sighed, then stood up, doing his best to ignore the putrid smell.


    "I''ll learn the entire thing," he grumbled.


    "Good," the Prime Shadow said, his cheery attitude returning. He shifted his gaze to the tunnel entrance, where the Toxfoul Bats lived. "Those bats only dwell in that tunnel, and don''te into this cavern, so if you get ambushed, you can always safely retreat here and recover."


    John thanked the Prime Shadow for his obvious advice, as he could already tell the bats had not followed him when he retreated earlier. The Prime Shadow ignored his obviously sarcastic tone, opting to give him more advice.


    "Oh, and don''t try to outrun the bats either," he said warningly. "The Toxfoul Bats aren''t very strong or dangerous, but they''re far quicker than you. And once they lock onto you, they spit their slimy bile all over you as a defense mechanism, as you''ve now found out. Oh, and don''t try to kill them either. They just explode when destroyed, and then their slime gets everywhere anyways. Regardless, I''ll only count this trial as beingpleted when you sessfully sneak past the bats without disturbing them. If you y any tricks, I''ll bring you right back to this point to start all over."


    John grumbled again, then nodded his understanding. He stood up and looked towards the tunnel entrance, then sighed and moved towards it. Withdrawing his aura as best he could, he entered the tunnel again, moving more carefully this time around.


    "Gahhhh!"


    Another cry of retching disgust bellowed out within the tunnel a short whileter. The Prime Shadow shook his head in light disapproval, and waved his hand to the side. Afortable chair suddenly appeared, which he sat on, lounging back on its backrest.


    "That boy didn''t grow up as an assassin, so his ability to hide his presence and aura is quitecking," he said to himself, listening to the cries of disgusting from the tunnel. "We''re going to be here for quite some time it seems. I suppose I''ll make myselffortable."


    ¡­


    Days passed quickly turned to weeks as John spent his life within the dark tunnels, trying to hide his aura enough to sneak past the Toxfoul Bats. Thousands of attemptster, progress had been made, but he had yet to sessfully withdraw his aura enough to sneak past all the bats unnoticed.


    After being covered by the bat bile thousands of times, he had expected to develop some sort of tolerance for the soul smell. However, that had not happened, and it still affected him just as much as it had the very first time he had been discovered by the bats. In some ways, the smell of the slime was more torturous to him than any pain trial he had endured in the past.


    "There''s millions of them in there. How the hell am I supposed to get past all of them?!" John grumbled loudly after another unsessful attempt. <novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "You''re getting better," the Prime Shadow said, still lounging on his chair.


    "Shoudlnt you be doing something else?" John said to the man.


    "Like what?" the Prime Shadow asked, giving him a questioning nce.


    "I don''t know, like running the Guild? Surely you can''t stay away from it this long?"


    "That''s what the Guildmaster is for," the Prime Shadow grinned. "Now get back to it. You''re getting better, despite the thousands of failures."


    John frowned and wanted to make a snarky remark, but held his tongue. The Prime Shadow was right, he was most certainly getting better, and at a much more rapid pace than he had expected.


    John had at first questioned the old man''s methods, and grumbled that he could learn to conceal his aura in other ways that were less disgusting. But after a few weeks of this, he couldn''t help but admit the Prime Shadow had a good reason for having him train here. Without the horrible slime the bats covered him with each failure, his motivation to pass the trial as quickly as possible would have been much less. The foul smell of the bat bile was so putrid that it ignited his instincts much the same as a life and death battle did, pushing hisprehension level to a higher level than normal.


    However, despite improving at an incredible pace over thest few weeks, it was still far from enough. John grumbled once more before returning to the tunnel. He took a deep, depressed breath, and then entered once more.


    The silencested for longer than any other attempt, causing the Prime Shadow to stop hisfortable lounging on the chair and peer into the tunnel, a curious look on his face.


    "Is this the¡­"


    Amotion broke out within the tunnel, indicating another failure. The Prime Shadow shook his head and then leaned back once more,fortably lounging on his sofa.


    ¡­


    Another two weeks passed by, marking over a full month since John had first been taken into the dark tunnels. The Prime Shadow continued to lounge on his sofa, basking in this rare opportunity to truly rx. He suddenly sat up on his seat, then smiled.


    He touched the chair, storing it in his spatial ring, then vanished. He reappeared above ground, hovering in the air a few dozen yards above the ground. John turned his gaze upwards to meet the man, still covered with the foul slime from trials previously failed.


    "Congrattions, you have sessfully passed the first part of your training," the Prime Shadow said approvingly. An object appeared in his hands, which he tossed to John.


    John caught it and gave it a questioning nce.


    "Soap?" he asked.


    "Soap that can take the slime of a Toxfoul Bat off you immediately," the Prime Shadow said, a cheeky grin on his face as he noticed John''s displeased look. A look that screamed, ''you had this soap the whole time and didn''t bother to give it to me earlier? I''ve been covered for a month straight in this horrible stuff!''


    "There''s a very refreshing natural spring over that hill," the Prime Shadow said, gesturing to his right. "Go clean yourself up. Once you''re done, we start the next part of your training."


    John grumbled again at the troublesome old man, then made his way towards the spring.


    "Oh, and when you''re done, I have some information for you," the Prime Shadow said.


    "Information?" John stopped and asked.


    "Information regarding that missingpanion of yours."

 Chapter 989 Rule of the Three Dao Sects

    Chapter 989 Rule of the Three Dao Sects


    "Ahhhhh, that feels great!" John eximed with a rxed, satisfied smile on his face. After learning the Prime Shadow had information regarding Lilian, he raced over the hill to the nearby natural spring.


    The spring was nestled in between hills and cliffs, making it easy to miss unless stumble upon. Crystal-blue water fell down from holes in the cliffside, crashing gently down onto the spring below. The spring itself was also crystal-blue, and the water contained properties that made it far more refreshing and invigorating than normal water.


    John had paused for only a moment to take in the beauty before jumping into the spring, crashing beneath its surface. After enjoying the sensation for a short while, he got to work, using the soap to wash the toxic slime off his body.


    That had been several minutes ago. Now he floated on the water''s surface, staring up at the blue sky above.


    "After the month in the damned cave, I want to just rx and float here for the entire day¡­but I can''t," John said, frowning. The Prime Shadow had information regarding Lilian, which he was desperate to hear. Rxing like this also nagged on his mind, as he couldn''t fully rx while Lilian''s fate was still unknown.


    "Each second not spent training or looking for her is a second wasted," he said, motivating himself to leave thefortable oasis.


    The water exploded a momentter as he mustered his Qi and shot into the sky, appearing high above the oasis. He gave it onest look of yearning, then sped towards the Prime Shadow who stood nearby.


    "All cleaned up?" the Prime Shadow asked, looking John up and down. John only wore a simple pair of pants, while he kept his top half exposed. It was rare for him to be so isted, and took this rare opportunity to bask his body in the warm sunlight as much as possible.


    "Quite a powerful build you have there," the Prime Shadow noted.


    "The information?" John said, shifting the subject to what truly mattered.


    "Ah yes, the information regarding your missingpanion," the Prime Shadow said. "I''ll keep the details brief, but the important parts are that the Guild has established a special, covert group to infiltrate The Auction, led by Zuri herself. She managed to infiltrate them several days ago, and has learned a bit about them, and also about yourpanion.


    ording to her, The Auction is a very new, very mysterious group that popped up recently. Their goals are unclear, but from what Zuri can tell, they are working on acquiring as many resources as possible. Right now, that mean''s spirit crystals, and so they are reaching out to hold their auctions, much like the one yourpanion was a part of. Zuri is working to infiltrate deeper into the workings of The Auction, which may give more insight into who they are, and what the status of yourpanion is.


    However, she did manage to acquire this one piece of information regarding yourpanion. The winning bidder was someone from one of the Three Dao Sects, although she''s not sure which one just yet."


    "The Three Dao Sects!" John repeated, surprised to hear them be part of this conspiracy. The Three Dao Sects were the strongest powers of the human race; the Sword Dao Sect, the Mage Dao Sect, and the Yang Dao Sect.


    "The Three Dao Sects deal in very?" John said, loudly, and with great displeasure. His opinion had been neutral regarding them, but instantly soured as he heard this.


    "I''m not sure how it works on your world," the Prime Shadow said, his expression also clearly disproving of the practice of very, "but on this continent, the Three Dao Sects are essentially thew of thend. They consider themselves to be above everyone else, with their subsidiary sects akin to second ss citizens. As for those that are not a part of either, they are considered third-ss citizens, which the Three Dao Sects consider to be so far beneath them that even very isn''t a big deal for them. Obviously, members of my Guild are considered exceptions, beyond the boundary or rule of the Three Dao Sects, but that''s the only exception.


    As for yourpanion, she is not a part of the Three Dao Sects or any of the subsidiary sects, so her being sold and bought would not be considered a taboo thing in their eyes," the Prime Shadow said, a thoughtful look appearing on his face for a moment. "Especially the Sword Dao Sect. If yourpanion was sold to someone in that sect, then we have a headache on our hands."


    "Why is that?" John asked, frowning.


    "Because, not only is the Sword Dao Sect the strongest of the Three Dao Sects, they also live by the rule of strength," the Prime Shadow said. "That is, that strength is the onlyw that matters. That the strong rule, while the weak are ruled. And that the sword is the ultimate strength, and therefore, the ultimate rule. They are an egotistical bunch of sword-maniacs, who consider anyone not of the Sword Dao to be lesser than them. If yourpanion is there, freeing her from that ce is going to be tricky."


    John frowned, while anger boiled up within him.


    ''Once I found out who has her, I''ll make sure they regret evenying eyes on her,'' John promised himself, doing his best to contain his growing rage. ''But getting angry right now won''t solve anything. What I need, now, and always, is strength. Only when I have the proper strength will I be able to change these circumstances.''


    "After each training portion you sessfullyplete, I will give you thetest information I have about yourpanion," the Prime Shadow said.


    John took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. His eyes and face bing firm with resolve.


    "Let''s continue the training," he said, to which the Prime Shadow nodded approvingly.


    at least fifty percent of your full strength."


    Comment


    "Good, then the second training regimen will now begin," the Prime Shadow said, a mischievous smile appearing on his face as he wrapped John with his Qi. John noticed the smile, a bad feeling creeping within as he felt himself moved through space.


    He reappeared an instantter, finding himself standing in a dark, familiar ce. He frowned, shifting his gaze to the Prime Shadow.


    "Is this a joke?" he asked, noticing he was back in the cavern, standing before the tunnel in which the Toxfoul bats lived.


    "I''m afraid not," the Prime Shadow said. "Your first training was to sessfully hide your aura from the bats. But that much is easy when all you''re focusing on is hiding your aura. The assassination art requires you to be able to hide your aura while activating the art, which is much more difficult. As such, the next trial you need to pass is this; you are to sneak past the Toxfoul bats once more, only this time, you must be channeling your Qi internally, to a level at least fifty percent of your full strength."

 Chapter 990 Strange Fruit

    Chapter 990 Strange Fruit


    "What? That''s impossible!" John eximed with much frustration.


    When using battle arts and moving Qi throughout one''s body, the powerful surge of Qi naturally flowed out of a cultivator''s acupoints, surging into the air as an aura. The more powerful the Qi circting within a cultivator''s body, the more powerful the aura would be as a result.


    While an aura was technically a sign of wasted Qi, there was not much that could be done about it. For all cultivators, the Qi surging through their body was powerful to a point that trying to contain it all was a waste. Not only would it require more attention to ensure no Qi escaped from their acupoints, it would also increase the attention, or soul-power, needed towards bncing their internal Qi.


    Qi leaking through acupoints was akin to a pressure regtor, ensuring that the level of Qi within the cultivators body didn''t grow to a level that was harmful to themselves. It was the natural design of a cultivator, one that ensured powerful battle arts could be used without the internal Qi destroying them from within. Going against that natural design was not only incredibly difficult, but also dangerous.


    When he had withdrawn his presence and aura during the first trial, he had been using almost no Qi at all, making it possible. However, to use fifty percent of his Qi output, all while keeping his aura to a level that the bats couldn''t detect, that was beyond difficult.


    "Is it truly impossible?" The Prime Shadow asked amusingly.


    "No," John sighed eventually, recalling when the Prime Shadow had shown him this assassination art. He had not detected the Prime Shadows aura at all, indicating that it was possible to channel Qi while hiding one''s aura.


    "Good, then you may begin," the Prime Shadow said.


    "Why did you let me wash myself if I''m just going to be covered in that shit again?" John grumbled, mostly to himself. He sat down, not bothering with the tunnel just yet, as his ability to withdraw his aura was not nearly at that level yet.


    His aura began to surge powerfully, which then slowly lessened as he struggled to keep his Qi from leaking out. The pressure within his body quickly grew, making him feel like a balloon that was about to pop. After a long struggle, his Qi vanished, not from hiding it sessfully, but from feeling like he was about to explode from within.


    ''Not only do I need to regte my Qi from escaping, I need to learn to re-integrate it into the Qi I''m currently using. Bncing the Qi from two directions, one from my dantian, and the other from my closed acupoints, is going to be incredibly difficult.''


    ¡­


    Two monthster, the Prime Shadow stood up from hisfortable chair he had taken out once more, looking towards the cave. A smile appeared on his face a momentter, followed by a nod of approval.


    "Two months? It took me six months to pass this trial. This boy is truly something else," he said to himself, then vanished.


    ¡­


    John looked up at the Prime Shadow, who had appeared before him in the same manner when he had passed the first trial. The Prime Shadow nodded, then tossed John another bar of soap to wash the slime off his body.


    John grumbled as he grabbed the soap, then sped towards the natural spring. He returned a short whileter, body cleaned, mind refreshed. He looked at the Prime Shadow pointedly, awaiting the most up to date information regarding Lilian.


    "Ah, yes, the information regarding yourpanion," the Prime Shadow said, frowning. "It seems like The Auction keeps a tight lid on information, but Zuri has managed to learn this. Yourpanion was purchased by someone from the Sword Dao Sect."


    "The Sword Dao Sect," John repeated with narrowed eyes. "Did you find anything else. Who has her? What her condition is?"


    The Prime Shadow shook his head.


    "The Auction''s information regarding yourpanion ended there," the Prime Shadow said. "The team I have already established within the Sword Dao Sect has been instructed to pursue this matter exclusively, and they have found bits and pieces of information, but nothing concrete. They should have something for us soon."


    John nodded his head, thankful for the effort the Prime Shadow and the Guild was putting in to help him find Lilian.


    "Let''s continue," John said firmly, ready toplete this training as soon as possible.


    "Good," the Prime Shadow nodded, then wrapped John up in his power once more. John suddenly found himself standing in an entirely different ce than before, and he sighed with relief that it wasn''t the cave he had lived in thest three months.


    Trees surrounded him in all directions, towering into the skies as far as he could see. Lush vegetation covered the ground all around him, which small animals skittered through asionally.


    "A forest?" John asked curiously.


    "Not just any forest," the Prime Shadow said, then began walking. John followed behind, looking all around. He spotted more small animals, bushes, trees as dozens of yards thick, flowering nts with delicious looking fruits on them.


    "Wait¡­did I actually see any fruits?" John stopped and talked to himself.


    ''I swore I saw¡­wait. What did I see again?''


    The Prime Shadow stopped, smiling as he turned around to face John.


    "What was that?" he asked.


    "I¡­I don''t know," John said, shaking his head at the uncertainty he felt right now. "I thought I had seen something¡­but can''t remember anymore."


    Cultivators had incredible memories, to the point that they practically never forgot anything they saw, heard, read, or experienced in any way. The feeling he felt at the moment was incredibly stifling, like a hole had been created in his memories, insignificant, yet important at the same time.


    "Did I actually forget something, or was I just imagining it?" he mumbled to himself, then looked at the Prime Shadow, who was smiling a knowing smile. He knew what was going on.


    "What is going on?" John asked.


    To answer John''s question, the Prime Shadow waved his hand to the side. A powerful yet gentle wave of Qi enveloped the area, at which point the scene before John''s eyes changed. Dozens, hundreds of colorful nts with bright, fist-sized multicolored fruits came into view, as if an illusion had suddenly been lifted from his eyes.


    "What¡­." John said, eyes wide. "How did I not notice these fruits at all? Wait, that''s what I forgot earlier. Just what is happening here?" he asked the Prime Shadow.


    The Prime Shadow reached out and plucked one of the multi-colored fruits, then took a bite of it.


    "So good," he said to himself, then plucked one and tossed it to John. John caught the fruit and studied it, still unsure of what had happened to him earlier.


    "These fruits are incredible," the Prime Shadow said, taking another bite. "And not just because they are delicious, or that they help with raising one''s cultivation. No, these fruits are incredible because of the defense mechanism they have."


    "Defense mechanism?" John asked with a thoughtful look.


    "These fruits naturally emanate a Dao, one that helps them remain unnoticed, protected from harm."


    "The fruits naturally emanate a Dao? Which one?" John asked, surprised and yet not surprised at the same time. He had encountered non-sentient treasures before that also emanate Dao''s naturally, although none as perplexing as this.


    "Your next trial is this," the Prime Shadow said, taking another bite of the fruit in his hand. "You are to study these fruits, meditate near them, and learn from them. When you have learned to control this Dao to the Dao Adept level, you have passed the trial."


    He began to walk deeper into the forest, out of John''s line of sight, his voice drifting about a short whileter.


    "Oh, and to answer your question, the Dao these fruits emanate is the Dao of Nothingness."

 Chapter 991 The Dao Of Nothingness

    As the Prime Shadow left, so did his Qi that was pushing aside the Dao of Nothingness permeating the area. The fruits slowly started disappearing, as if they were truly vanishing, while even his memory of the fruits started bing hazy again.


    John red his Qi, trying to push aside the Dao as the Prime Shadow had done, but to no avail. The effects of the Dao of Nothingness continued to grow, forcing him to retract his Qi.


    "I don''t want to identally destroy these¡­..fruits, otherwise I''ll have nothing to study. It''s best that I take things slow. The¡­what was I¡­that''s right¡­the fruits¡­I can''t forget about them," John rambled to himself, doing his best to maintain a silver memory regarding the fruits.


    If he lost that sliver, he wouldpletely forget about the fruits, and who knew if he would be able to detect them after that. John''s soul red with its full might, maximizing his divine sense, soul defenses, memory, andprehensions. He burned the memory of the fruits into his mind and soul, and then focused on nothing else.


    ¡­


    Perched on a tree branch high above John, the Prime Shadow peered down, curious at how well John would do in this unique trial. He took a bite of the fruit he had plucked, a satisfied look appearing on his face.


    "For a fruit called the Fruit of Nothingness, it sure is vorful," he said, taking another bite. He quickly finished the fruit, then flicked the core into the air. "It took me a full year toprehend the Dao of Nothingness to the Dao Adept stage. This boy is a true genius when ites tobat and cultivation, but I wonder what level hisprehensions are at. Is it at the same level as his heaven-defyingbat talent, or is itcking? Surely the heaven''s aren''t so unfair as to bless him with prodigious-level talent across the board."


    The Prime Shadow mused it over a for a while, studying John''s struggle to remember the fruits.


    "If hisprehensions are genius-level, it should take him a year. A year to nine months would put hisprehensions at a simr level as the top geniuses of Great Worlds, and six to nine months would put him on the same level as a Hegemon World genius. For this child to be able to master this assassination art to its fullest, and have the potential toplete it as my master had intended, he will need Hegemon levelprehensions. So, which will it be, child?"


    ¡­


    The battle between John and the Dao of Nothingness continued on for a long time, with John struggling just to remember his task at hand. The memory of the fruits ebbed and flowed in his mind, sometimes a strong memory, other times barely a memory at all. Each time the fruits nearly slipped from his mind, he focused everything he had on maintaining that sliver of memory.


    "The Dao of Nothingness may be impressive, but so am I," John said to himself, trying to maintain his confidentposure in such an unusual battle.


    After a full day of struggling to maintain the memory of the fruits, John established that permanent sliver he had fought for. The fruits were hazy in his mind, and translucent, almost invisible in his vision, but they were still there, still remembered.


    "That''s good enough for now," John said to himself, finally sitting down on the ground in a meditative position. His soul ached from using it as he had for a full day, and so he focused on recovering his mental wits for a while before continuing.


    Soul refreshed and recovered several hourster, John resumed his task of studying the fruits, and the Dao they emanated. However, every time he tried to focus on the Dao and not the fruits, his thoughts would slip away, fading into nothingness.


    "Tch," John clicked his tongue in frustration. "Focusing on a Dao that doesn''t want to be felt is beyond frustrating."<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He continued to focus on the Dao of Nothingness from the fruits, but made almost no progress at all despite several days passing by. Every time he started, he forgot about the Dao a short whileter, resetting his progress. Unlike other Dao''s, where studying it was additive, and each second spent studying it added to theprehensions already built up, the Dao of Nothingness seemed to erase all progress, resetting hisprehensions to zero whenever he forgot about it.


    "Will I have toprehend the Dao to the Dao Adept stage all in one go, without forgetting once? Just how long will that take?" John mused, thinking it over instead of trying to brute force the issue.


    Night fell on the forest, bathing it in darkness, followed by a bright rising sun. This process continued several times as the days passed by, with John doing his best to study the fruits, and the Dao of Nothingness. However, his progress was very slow, frustrating him greatly.


    "At this rate, it would take months for me to even have a chance atprehending this Dao, and that means months of not cultivating, not battling, not raising mybat prowess. That is uneptable."


    Frustrated by his slow progress, John decided to take a break, focusing on other things. Forcing himself wouldn''t do him any good, and would only make him frustrated, which was not good for meditation, when a calm mind was needed.


    John spent the next day cultivating instead, slowly but surely raising the Qi in his dantian, edging it closer to the Middle Dao Transformation Realm. His Primordial Lightning Examination technique created thousands of mini-whirlpools within his body, which greedily sucked up the dense Qi around him, then funneled it towards his dantian.


    High above, the Prime Shadow watched with surprise as John cultivated.


    "What cultivation technique does this boy have to disturb the Qi around him so fiercely? It''s as if he''s a World Expansion cultivator with the amount of Qi he''s drawing in, and not an Early Dao Transformation child. The secrets this boy holds are countless it seems," he mused, equally surprised and impressed.


    John felt his essence dantian swell with Qi, and following the principles of his Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique, he used that Qi to not only strengthen his dantian, but also slowly change its very nature, from an unaspected dantian, to one that naturally favored the Lightning Dao. While he was still able to generate Qi in all its forms, when wanting to, his dantian naturally turned his Qi into potent, destructive lightning Qi, allowing him to skip the step of using hisprehension to change his base Qi into lightning Qi.


    This allowed him to unleash more powerful lightning at a much quicker speed than other lightning cultivators, giving him a great advantage inbat. John basked in the feeling of growing his cultivation, which now teetered on the edge of the Middle Dao Transformation Realm.


    "It''s only been five months since I stepped into the Dao Transformation Realm, and I''m ready to break through to the next realm, and I haven''t really focused on cultivating thesest three months either. Had I focused entirely on cultivating, I would already be in the Middle Dao Transformation Realm. At this pace¡­I might be able to reach the World Expansion Realm in less than two years. The natural QI thickness of this world really is amazing."


    John was now neen, and reaching the World Expansion Realm at the age of twenty one would stun his homeworldpletely.


    "It would definitely cause a storm back home, but I wonder how itpares to this world? At what age do the geniuses of this world step into the World Expansion Realm? I suppose I''ll ask the Prime Shadow when I finish this training."


    With his cultivation slow close to breaking through, John decided to focus on that instead for the moment. A few dayster, the world around him erupted with power for a brief moment as his essence dantian broke through the barrier, stepping into the Middle Dao Transformation Realm.


    A short whileter, his body dantian broke through as well, putting him firmly in the Middle Dao Transformation realm. John smiled as he inspected his progress, satisfied with the increase in strength he felt. After savoring the feeling for some time, he calmed his mind once more, returning to the important task;prehending the Dao of Nothingness.

 Chapter 992 Becoming Nothing

    With his cultivation level raised, John set his mind on the task ofprehending the Dao of Nothingness. He continued as he had done before breaking through, and while he was slowly making progress in being able to study the Dao for longer before it slipped his mind, it was still not fast enough as far as he was concerned.


    "It''s been a week, and I''m still nowhere nearprehending this Dao," he grumbled to himself. "At this rate, it will be months, maybe even half a year before I reach the required level. I need to find a way to speed things up."


    His mind raced with possible solutions, and he eventually arrived on one that might help him slightly.


    ''My World Dimension Seed!'' he thought. ''When I cultivated before the World Dimension Seed, Iprehended the initial stages of more Dao''s than I can remember. Maybe one of those Dao''s is simr enough to give me insights into this Dao.''


    John quickly went through his memory, recalling the countless Dao''s he had grasped the initial concepts of. Most of them were low level and easy to grasp, which is why he had been able to learn so many so quickly, but some were higher level Dao''s. A displeased look appeared on his face as he realized none of those Dao''s could help him.


    ''The Dao of Nothingness is just too unique. None of the Dao''s I know can provide any insight into it.''


    Stumped once more, John fell silent, thinking of more solutions to this problem.


    ''I feel as though my current method is working, and that I''ll have a breakthrough in the next few months that will help meprehend this Dao, but that''s so slow. At this pace, it will take half a year toplete this trial¡­is it truly the only way forward though?''


    John felt like he was missing something, something critical in his approach, but he couldn''t pinpoint it exactly. Much like the Dao itself, every time he felt like he was closing in on the solution, it faded and vanished, like smoke in the wind.


    "I can''t think of any other way, so I''ll just have to keep studying it until I grasp the fundamentals, regardless of how long that takes," he grumbled, calming his mind to prepare for the next meditative session.


    His eyes suddenly snapped open, wide with shock, as he heard a voice boom within his mind.


    ''Darkness cannot exist when there is light, just as nothingness cannot exist when there is something. To understand nothing, you must be nothing.''


    John''s mind trembled with shock as he heard the voice, a familiar yetpletely unexpected voice. One he had not heard for many years. The voice of his mysterious father, whose soulform dwelled deep within the pce realm.


    His father had ignored himpletely over the years, even when he stood before the holy gate and asked questions directly, and yet he had decided to speak to John now. He wanted to appear before the holy gate once more and ask why he had been ignored all this time, and why his father had decided to speak to him at this one, seemingly unimportant moment. And yet, his mind raced with suddenprehension, theprehension he knew he had been missing, which had been slipping from his mind whenever he started working towards it.


    ''That''s right! The Dao of Nothingness is the true concept of nothingness. Something cannot be nothing, and when I try to study the Dao, my thoughts are something, the antithesis of nothing. It''s like trying to learn about fire by studying water, it''s just impossible. I must be nothing in order to understand nothing.''


    Spurned by this insight, John felt a wave of excitement wash through him, as this was the insight he needed to make real progress. This was the insight that would havee to him eventually, but months down the road.


    ''Thanks, father,'' John roared within the pce realm, then focused on his task while his mind was still fresh with the sudden insights he needed. He breathed out deeply, then calmed his mind.


    ''While I can''t truly be nothing, as that would mean death, I need to be as close to nothing as possible. Then let''s get started.''


    ''Nothing cannot have an Qi, or an aura. That must be erased.''


    The Qi naturally circting within his body slowed and then ceased, like rivers drying up. He had never truly emptied his meridians as he was doing now, and it made him feel as if he were a man starving and dying of thirst, but he ignored that feeling.


    ''Nothing cannot feel. Nothing cannot desire.''


    Feelings cast aside, he moved to the next thing he could think of.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    ''Nothing cannot move.''


    His chest stopped moving, stopping his breathing. While cultivators did not need to breathe at all to live, it was natural for humans to breathe, regardless of cultivation status.


    After stopping all movement, thest thing he could think of entered his mind. His concentrated face rxed, bing perfectly neutral. His mind which had raced with countless thoughts since bing a cultivator slowed.


    ''Nothing cannot think. To understand nothing, my thoughts must be nothing.''


    And with that, like a switch of a lightbulb, his thoughts ceased. nkness entered his mind, and even his soul seemed to switch off, going from vibrant chaos, to stilled nothingness. Sleeping within his soul, Kirii was stirred awake by the sudden change. John''s soul was so still as if it had suddenly died. Startled, Kirii was about to ask about what was going on, then stopped. He noticed John was still fine, only nk in both body and mind. Confused, yet realizing John was doing something important, he remained quiet, and then fell asleep once more.


    Still lounging on a tree branch high above, the Prime Shadow suddenly sat upright, peering down towards John with widened eyes.


    "He¡­he''s already found the path forward? It''s only been a week! It took me nine months to figure this step out, and then another three months to learn the Dao of Nothingness. Monstrous¡­absolutely monstrous."


    ¡­


    Darkness. Empty darkness. John''s mind, body, and soul was an empty husk, devoid of thought, movement, and energy. It was as if he was a living corpse, unmoving over the days and weeks. As he remained in this state, unaware to even himself, he began to resonate with Dao of Nothingness, as if he were slowly bing one of the fruits himself.


    He remained like this for a full month, an entity of nothingness. An energy suddenly descended on the area, breaking the quiet nothingness of thest month. The energy rained down on John, flooding into his body and soul, filling his husk of nothingness, making it be something once more.


    The energy of the heavens, blessing those who had broken through theprehension realms.


    His thoughts began to stir, slowly at first, then racing as it had always been. His Qi began to circte within his body, filling it with powerful energy. His eyes opened slowly, nk at first, then focusing with a profound light.


    He slowly raised his hand before his face, mind focusing on the nothingness he had be, the nothingness his body had instinctively remembered. The heavenlyws around him began to change, twisting and turning, changing from something, into the Dao of Nothingness. While it was not on the same level as the Prime Shadow, or even the fruits around him that he could now see and remember without trouble, it was still impressive.


    "Once one has be nothingness, one can remember, and even create nothingness, huh?"


    He turned his head to look at the Prime Shadow, who had suddenly appeared before him. The elderly man studied him with a peculiar expression, as if he were looking at something he couldn''tprehend.


    Based on the man''s expression, John realized the speed at which he passed the trial must have been astonishing.


    "I had¡­a lucky break," John shrugged, giving a vague answer into how he passed the trial so fast. What would have taken him up to half a year on his own, had been cut down to five week thanks to the help of his father.


    The Prime Shadow remained silent for a long while, then sighed, shaking his head.


    "You truly are an enigma, child," he said, then touched John on the shoulder, wrapping him with his power.


    "With the Dao of Nothingnessprehended, it''s time to move onto the next part of your training."

 Chapter 993 Training Completed

    John reappeared a momentter, finding himself standing where this training had started; in the graveyard of the demon titans. The sun beat shone brightly from above, baking the arid, crackednd beneath his feet.


    "Before we start the next part, do you have any more information regarding mypanion?" John asked curiously. He was hoping the Prime Shadow would provide him with some good news this time.


    "Ah, yes, I do," the Prime Shadow said, aplicated expression forming on his face. "Yourpanion has been acquired by the Sword-Saint."


    "The Sword-Saint? Impressive sounding name," John said.


    "That''s because the Sword-Saint is an impressive man," the Prime Shadow said. "The Sword-Saint is the second highest ranking member of the Sword Dao Sect, just below the Sword Sovereign. His cultivation is in the Early Holy Manifestation Realm, making him one of the true powerhouses of this world."


    John frowned at this news, which was not good. The more powerful the person who had Lilian was, the more trouble it would be to free her from their clutches.


    "Do not worry too much," the Prime Shadow said, noticing John''s expression.


    "Why is that?" John asked. How could he not worry about Lilian''s situation.


    "Because, my spies have heard rumors of the reason the Sword-Saint obtained yourpanion, and her current situation as well. Let''s just say, you shouldn''t worry about her too much right now."


    "What''s her current situation?" John asked, anxious to hear the answer. It was good news that the Prime Shadow seemed to be unconcerned, but he still wanted to hear about her situation himself.


    The Prime Shadow smirked lightly, then patted John on the shoulder.


    "I''ll tell you when youplete you manage to sessfully unleash the assassination art a single time," the Prime Shadow said, smiling as if he was oblivious to the serious frown John was giving him. "Use it as motivation forpleting this training as fast as possible. I don''t want too many distractions in your head at the moment. All you need to think about right now is sessfully unleashing this assassination art. Just know this, her situation is¡­quite amusing, and is one that you''ll be involved with before long," the elderly man added.


    Still frowning with displeasure, John took a deep breath, then sighed deeply. He had plenty of dealings with these powerful, elderly cultivators, and they were all frustratingly stingy with their information at times. No amount of pestering would change the man''s mind either, so John decided to focus on the task at hand; mastering the Shadow of Death: Form Two assassination art.


    "So what''s next? More concealment training?" John asked.


    "No," the Prime Shadow shook his head. "You''vepleted all the aura and presence concealment training. Now we move on to the fun stuff. That is, mastering the final part of the art, then putting all the pieces together."


    ¡­


    Two monthster, John stood calmly in the graveyard of titans, eyes closed, mind focused on one task; sessfully unleashing the assassination art he had trained in for thest half year. It was the longest any art had ever taken him to sessfully grasp, a testament to its profundity.


    After standing there for some time, John breathed out, stilling his mind, body, and soul. In mere moments, it was as if he had be a lifeless rock. As he did so, thews of the universe around him, the heavenly Dao''s, began to twist and turn, changing into the Dao of Nothingness.


    The Dao of Nothingness permeated outwards, wrapping all around him like a nket. The Prime Shadow stood nearby, watching intently as John started the process. He nodded his head in approval, as although he could still peer through the shroud of nothingness and see John within, those around John''s level, and even slightly higher, would have a hard time doing so.


    Wrapped in theyer of nothingness, John''s eyes suddenly snapped open, flickering with powerful intensity. His essence dantian exploded with power, sending powerful essence Qi surging through his body. The powerful Qi tried to pierce through his acupoints and re into the air around him. His Qi mmed into the acupoints but was unable to pierce through, causing his body to tremble slightly from the growing pressure. While some of the Qi returned to his meridians, much of it remained within his muscles, flesh, and bones, growing every second, making it feel like he was going to pop like a balloon at any moment.


    Ignoring the sensation, John focused his mind on the thing he had been training for thest two months; the meridian cirction pathways of the Shadow of Death: Form Two assassination art.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    When he had first started training them, he had been shocked and awed that some would not only be crazy enough toe up with such a dangerous art, but also figure out how to make it work in the first ce.


    The meridian pathways for this art was the mostplicated he had ever encountered, rivaled only by the Divine Reaping Scythe. However, as his Divine Reaping Scythe only went up to the Heaven Tribtion grade, it had fallen behind this art in profundity.


    The meridian pathways of the assassination art were so intricate andplicated that it had taken days just to memorize the pathways needed for the art. Sessfully navigating his Qi through the correct pathways without error was even harder, taking him over a full month before he finally managed to do it sessfully.


    He had made errors along the way, sometimes with disastrous consequences. The assassination art was akin to a channeled art, only that it used the body''s meridians to store the growing levels of Qi, instead of the dantian itself. When it came to meridians, a single mistake could lead one bing crippled, and the level of Qi within his meridians quickly reached a level that even he would be harmed if he made too great a mistake.


    It was truly an insane assassination art, one that had the user on the edge of catastrophic failure the entire time. However, that danger was not without reward, as the power it unleashed was incredible.


    ''Circte the Qi through my meridian pathways, recircte, recircte, recircte. Then explode!''


    The Qi within his meridians pulsed with a rhythmic beat. The thousands of meridian pathway loops linked up perfectly each pulse, the timing exact, reinforcing one another, growing in strength. The pulsing, circting Qi quickly grew to a level that made his meridians strain, nearing the brink of copse, finally reaching the point of unleashing.


    ''Now!''


    Part of his Qi surged within, forming a thin but sturdy wall of defensive Qi within him just below the skin, stretching from his feet up towards his neck, covering the front of his body. The pulsating Qi that flowed through his meridians exploded towards this wall of Qi, like a thousand tiny battle arts being unleashed within him. The front of his body, his chest, legs, arms, and shoulders felt like that had been mmed into by a mountain, oneing from within. His body groaned from the ruinous power sting within him. His muscles neared tearing, bones neared fracturing, and skin neared tearing as his own power mmed into himself.


    Ignoring the pain as best he could, John gritted his teeth and focused on keeping the exploding power contained entirely within his body, allowing none of it to leak out as aura. This only added to the pressure and pain within, causing muscles to finally start to tear and his skin to crack.


    Boom!


    He pressed off the ground with his full physical power, which exploded behind him like a battle art had struck it. At the exact same time, the st of Qi circting within mmed into his front half, propelling him forward like a beam of light, his speed instantly reaching a level that would take him several seconds to reach when moving normally. He reached his target several miles away in the blink of an eye, thend racing past him like a blur. Using no Qi externally to shield himself to minimize his aura and presence, the air sted into him with its full strength, ripping at his skin with a surprising power.


    Che!


    His arm pierced into the target dummy, carving through it easily with the momentum and power he had. A blinkter, he was already miles away, the speed of the assassination art carrying him forward like an unstoppable meteor.


    Boom!


    The air behind him exploded into a small explosion of fire from the heat ofpression his unshielded body had created, radiating outwards in all directions. The explosion washed over the Prime Shadow, who batted it aside with a flick of his wrist. Arge, pleased smile appeared on his face as he vanished, reappearing a short distance away.


    He stared down at John, who was syed out on the ground. His skin was cracked, looking like bloody spiderwebs, while blood leaked from his mouth. His long hair was frazzled in all directions, making him look like a beggar. John groaned from the pain as he sat up, then looked towards the target that was now cut in half. He shifted his gaze to the Prime Shadow, who reached out to lend a helping hand.


    "I now know why your master wished he was a body cultivator when he came up with this crazy assassination art," John grumbled.


    "Well done, child," the Prime Shadow said, smiling widely. "You have sessfullypleted your training. From now on, any cultivator at or below the World Expansion Realm wille to fear you, with many dying before they even know what hit them. You are now without a doubt the most dangerous youth on this world, a world which will soon learn to fear the power of the new Shadow of Death."

 Chapter 994 Astral King

    A piece of Jade, one high in quality and aura, appeared in the Prime Shadow''s hands. John eyed the piece curiously, eyes drawn by its wondrous aura. It was the highest quality piece of Jade he had ever seen, one that would not onlyst for millions of years, but remainpletely intact that entire time.


    "That looks important," John said.


    "That''s because it is," the Prime Shadow nodded, then handed the piece to John. John took it and sent his divine sense into it, surprise appearing on his face a momentter.


    "This is¡­"


    "That is the true Shadow of Death: Form Two assassination art," the Prime Shadow said. "The original source, created by my master himself. What I showed you earlier was just the basics. This jade piece contains the true art in all its power and beauty. This has been in my possession since my master''s death, and now it shall be in yours."


    Information flooded into his mind as his divine sense scanned the information contained within. His surprise grew as he continued to read, making him realize he had severely underestimated this assassination art. While it was already incredibly profound and lethal, what he had learned was just the tip of the iceberg.


    ''I had assumed the art would just level with my cultivation by using the more powerful Qi each higher realm provides, but that''s not true at all.''


    "There are four stages to the Shadow of Death: Form Two assassination art," the Prime Shadow said. "What you have learned is the first stage, the stage meant for a Dao Transformation cultivator. Each stage requires a certain level of body constitution, meridian toughness and Qi output, and soul power for fine Qi control, so when you advance your cultivation, you be capable of unleashing the next stage. You''re a little different though, so perhaps you can sessfully reach the second stage, the World Expansion stage, already."


    John remained silent, studying the Jade piece in his hand.


    ''Stage Two: World Expansion - ¡­''


    The information within contained the next advancement in the art, including an even moreplicated meridian pathway configuration. Just reading the art made John''s mind swirl, as not only were hundreds of new meridian loops added, but the timing of each loop became moreplex. There were also insights into the Dao of Nothingness, thoughts and notes from the Prime Shadow''s master himself, although those insights were tooplicated for John to immediately understand.


    ''The nature of the art remains the same, but each new stage is much more profound, allowing this art to remain incredibly lethal though multiple cultivation realms. How amazing.''


    Most battle arts fell off after a few major realms, requiring one to learn a higher-level art to rece it. The Prime Shadow''s master clearly intended for this art to be used for a long time, as indicated by the number of stages, which John read, although other than the initial titles, he didn''t understand anything. The forms were tooplex, the meridian pathways too advanced, theprehensions too abstract.


    He ignored the profundity of it all, and focused on the stage titles instead.


    Shadow of Death: Form Two


    Stage One: Dao Transformation


    Stage Two: World Expansion


    Stage Three: Holy Manifestation


    Stage Four: Astral King


    His eyes remained glued to that title, mouth sounding out the cultivation realm he had seen for the first time. The Astral King realm. The name of it sounded grandiose beyondpare, making him not only year to learn more about it, but reach it as quickly as possible.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    He remained silent for a long time, eyes glued to that name. Eventually he peeled his attention away from it, and stored the Jade piece away.


    "Astral King! Have you ever met an Astral King?" John couldn''t help but ask.


    "Only one," the Prime Shadow said, a reminiscent look on his face.


    "Your master?" John asked.


    "My master," the Prime Shadow nodded, "although by the time I met him, his cultivation was crippled from his battle with that Asura. His strength was no longer at the Astral King realm, but his bearing and natural aura was. When looking at him, it felt as though you were looking at an entire world, one beyond yourprehension."


    John felt wondrous awe upon hearing this. His thirst for strength was ever growing with each new bit of information he learned about the world of cultivation. After daydreaming for a short moment, he collected himself.


    "Thank you," John thanked the Prime Shadow, understanding the gravity of receiving this treasure. This was the true form of his master''s assassination art, which he was now entrusting John with to carry on his legacy.


    "As long as you manage to reach the fourth stage eventually, I will be the one in your debt," the Prime Shadow said, smiling with deep emotion. John nodded his head and took a deep breath, calming himself.


    "Now then, onto the next matter at hand," the Prime Shadow said, instantly getting John''s full focus. There was always one thing they discussed after each sessful trainingpletion; information regarding Lilian.


    "Have you found out more regarding mypanion?" John asked eagerly.


    "I have," the Prime Shadow said, an amused smile appearing on his face. "Thispanion of yours, Lilian, is quite an interesting person."


    ''I''ve never told them Lilian''s name, so there''s no doubt he''s found the right person,'' John thought, his hope growing.


    "Interesting, how?" John asked curiously. Based on the Prime Shadow''s amused smile, he guessed the situation Lilian was in was not a dangerous one. Otherwise, the Prime Shadow would most likely have a more serious expression on his face when discussing her whereabouts.


    "Your friend, Lilian, was purchased by the Sword-Saint for a very specific reason," the Prime Shadow said, pausing for a moment as if wanting to be more dramatic.


    John sighed but remained silent, allowing the Prime Shadow to have his fun.


    "Marriage!" the Prime Shadow said with grandiose emphasis, as if he were the one proiming the marriage himself.


    "Marriage?" John eximed with slight anger. "The Sword-Saint wants to force Lilian into marriage with him? How the hell is that an amusing situation?"


    "Now, now, now, let me finish," the Prime Shadow said, smiling. "By the time I''m done exining everything you need to know, you''ll find your friend''s situation as amusing as I do."

 Chapter 995 Lilians Bet

    Chapter 995 Lilian''s Bet


    "Alright," John nodded, still unconvinced, but willing to listen.


    "To rify, the marriage is not to himself, but to his fifth son," the Prime Shadow said.


    "His son? How does that make it any better?" John asked.


    "His fifth son, Ji''Han, is twenty-two years of age, with a cultivation at the Half-Step World Expansion Realm. He is considered the number one human genius of this world below the World Expansion Realm, and is without a doubt the number one prodigy of the Sword Dao Sect," the Prime Shadow exined. "The Sword-Saint must have learned about the talent and beauty of your friend through The Auction, and acquired her at great expense for his son."


    "You still haven''t exined how this is an amusing situation," John said, frowning.


    "Ah, yes. Well, your friend, Lilian, has been nothing but a headache for the Sword-Saint," the Prime Shadow said, the amused smile returning. "At first she was controble, but after healing, her power returned to full. Hermand over the Spatial Dao is prodigious to say the least, and the Sword Dao Sect has been having trouble controlling her. With the Sword-Saint wanting her to be his son''s wife, he has avoided using heavy-handed methods to keep her under control. However, he refuses to set her free, resulting in a stalemate between the two of them."


    "At least the Sword-Saint doesn''t sound like a true asshole," John grumbled, thankful to hear that Lilian hadn''t been treated too poorly.


    "This back and forth, of her escaping, of the Sword-Saint capturing her and returning her to the sect yed out numerous times, until one day, your friend proposed a bet with the Sword-Saint."


    "A bet?" John asked. "What kind of bet?"


    "An amusing kind," the Prime Shadow said, smiling lightly. "You see, the Three Dao Sects hold a tournament, called the Three-Dao Tournament, every three years, for the geniuses of thisnd to unt their strength and bring honor to their sects. The tournament ranges from the Mist Creation Realm all the way to the Dao Transformation Realm, with each cultivation realm being its own bracket.''


    ''Dao Tournament? This must be the same one Furi wanted me to enter, to obtain a Holy Transcendence Pill for him'' John thought.


    The Sword-Saint''s son, Ji''Han, has won every Dao tournament he has taken ce in, being undefeated since he was ten. At ten, he won the Mist Creation bracket, at thirteen, the Core Formation bracket. At sixteen, the Heaven Tribtion Bracket. At neen, the Dao Transformation bracket, and now at twenty-two, he is expected to win this year''s Dao Transformation bracket again."


    "Okay," John sighed. "And all this is rted to the bet, how?"


    "The Sword-Saint is very proud of his son Ji''Han, to the point that everyone on the continent knows of his love for his son. To him, there is no star brighter, no youth more prodigious than his very own son. In fact, he''s raising his son to eventually rece him as Sword-Saint, and hopes that his son will even im the Sword-Sovereign title for himself eventually, proiming himself as the number one sword cultivator of this world."


    "Be the Sword-Sovereign?" John asked, his curiosity getting the best of him. "Isn''t the Sword-Sovereign the leader of the Sword Dao Sect? How can he just take that title?"


    "The Sword Dao Sect believes in the strength of ones sword above all else. Every rank, every position of power, is obtained through strength. If one is strong enough, they are allowed to take that position for themselves by challenging the one holding it, which even includes the position of Sword-Sovereign," the Prime Shadow exined.


    Despite his disgust towards them, John couldn''t help but nod in approval at the way the Sword Dao Sect valued strength.


    ''No wonder they''re the strongest human sect on this world,'' he thought.


    "Anyways," the Prime Shadow continued, getting to the main point. "Your friend smartly used the Sword-Saint''s confidence in his son''s strength to create the bet, and her bet was this; As long as she was showered with cultivation resources and treasures in the meantime, she would agree to marry the winner of this year''s Dao Tournament. With the confidence the Sword-Saint has in his son, that bet to him is the same thing as your friend agreeing to marry his son. The Sword-Saint agreed to the bet instantly as you can guess, as he has no doubt in his mind that his son will win the tournament."


    John remained silent for a short while, then startedughing lightly.


    "And I''m assuming with your status, you can get me into this tournament?" he asked.


    "I can," the Prime Shadow nodded, a wide smile forming on his face as he knew John finally realized the amusing part of Lilian''s situation. "With your friend proposing this bet, she must have no doubt in her mind that not only would you find a way to join the tournament, but would also have a good chance of winning it. And in the meantime, she is being showered with treasures and resources beyond counting by the Sword-Saint, who considers these resources to be an investment in his son''s future wife."


    "Hahahaha," John startedughing loudly, half from amusement in the situation, the other half from relief that Lilian''s situation was far better than he would have guessed it was.


    "I don''t know why I worried about her in the first ce," he said throughughter. "Of course she would not only be able to handle herself, but find a way to turn whatever situation she found herself in to her advantage."


    "Are you not worried that this Ji''Han has the strength to defeat you?" the Prime Shadow asked curiously. "Much like yourself, he is capable of jumping realms. I heard he defeated an Early World Expansion cultivator the moment he stepped into the Late Dao Transformation Realm."


    "He''s that strong?" John asked, shocked to hear such a talent existed in this world. That was akin to jumping two minor realms. The only other cultivators he knew who would be able to do such a thing was Lilian, as well as the now-dead Asuros.


    "He is," the Prime Shadow nodded. "Not only is Ji''Han a prodigious talent with the sword, but he also has two innate advantages that sets him apart from the other genius of this world."


    "And what are those?" John asked curiously.


    "Ji''Han has a me Attribute Body, giving him a terrifyingmand over the me Dao," the Prime Shadow said, "an on top of that, he also has a King Grade Innate Variant Body. He''s most certainly a one in one hundred-thousand-year talent, one worthy of his reputation considerable disadvantage, making him even more of a threat. Even for you, he is a genius that you cannot look down on.


    as the number one young genius of this world. Additionally, with the way the tournament is set up, you will be fighting with a considerable disadvantage, making him even more of a threat. Even for you, he is a genius that you cannot look down on.


    The good news is that word of this bet has already spread across thend, no doubt by your friends design, which not only serves as a way for you to discover her location, but also reveals the bet to the entire world, making it so that if Ji''Han doesn''t win, the Sword-Saint can''t deny or back out of the bet. If you manage to win, your friend escapes the Sword-Saint''s clutches without question, all while collecting countless treasures and resources beforehand. I must say, it''s quite a brilliant move, so long as you manage to win. If both you and her are confident in your strength, then I''m guessing there''s more to you than you have revealed."


    John smiled confidently, his expression unwavering.


    ''Even if I have to use my bloodline ability. Even if I have to reveal my Asura Transformation, I''ll win.''


    "I''ll win."

 Chapter 996 Combat Bottleneck

    Chapter 996 Combat Bottleneck


    "Good," the Prime Shadow nodded his head, approving of John''s confidence. The more confident John was, the more secrets he most likely had, and the more heaven-defying he really was. The Prime Shadow had ced all his bets on John carrying his masters legacy to the pinnacle of the martial universe, and so was pleased to find out there was more to him than he had revealed.


    "Now that I''ve bet everything important to me on you, I will support you as much as I can, to ensure your growth is as optimal as possible," the Prime Shadow said, surprising John slightly.


    ''I knew his master''s legacy was important to him, but I didn''t know it was this important to him. He''s acting as if I''m more important to him than his own Guild,'' John thought.


    "I won''t say no to your help," John said despite his surprise. Strength was everything, and he would seize every opportunity to advance his strength, and this was an opportunity he could not say no to.


    "Good," the Prime Shadow nodded. "Then tell me this, when ites to yourbat prowess, what is the one thing that you would like to improve. Is there something holding you back from reaching your true potential?"


    John thought over his situation, his eyes lighting up a momentter.


    "I suppose the thing holding me back the most are my meridians," "Something holding me back?" John said thoughtfully, thinking over hisbat talents.


    ''My muscles, bones, and flesh are of both Asura and Dragons, so there''s not much room for improvement there, and if there is, I highly doubt it would be on this world. As for my dantian, its as strong as it can possibly be, and the Prime Shadow would not be able to do anything with my body dantian¡­''


    John thought over his situation, his eyes lighting up a momentter.


    "I suppose the thing holding me back the most are my meridians," John said after assessing the situation.


    Both his Asura and Draconic augmentation aided in strengthening his meridians, but the focus was mostly on his muscles, blood, and bones. As such, his meridians had been strengthened the least, and was often a bottleneck, especially with his heaven-defying dantian.


    "Your meridians?" the Prime Shadow said with some surprise, clearly not expecting to hear this answer. For most cultivators, their meridians were the least concerning aspect of their cultivation, as they could note close to generating the amount of Qi needed to damage them.


    John nodded his head. It was a problem that had gued him since the start of his cultivation. Two Dantians, both heaven-defying, and only one set of meridians to handle the Qi from both.


    The Prime Shadow reached out and touched John''s wrist, cing his index finger on the veins of his wrist.


    "Let me inspect your meridians," he said, asking for John to allow his Qi to enter his body.


    John nodded and allowed the Prime Shadow to do so. The man was powerful enough to erase him with a wave of his hand if he really wanted to, so if he secretly wanted to harm John for some reason, he would be able to do nothing to stop the man. With the Prime Shadow''s importance he ced on his masters legacy, John was confident the man valued his safety above all else, most likely even his own life at this moment.


    John felt the Prime Shadow''s Qi enter his body, and start to snake through his meridians, testing their quality and durability. A momentter his Qi was withdrawn. A surprised and also skeptical look appeared on the Prime Shadow''s face.


    "Child, your meridians are the most impressive meridians I''ve ever seen from a Dao Transformation youth. In fact, it''s practically equal to a Middle World Expansion cultivator''s meridians. How are your meridians your bottleneck inbat? You''ve shown incrediblebat prowess, but not to the level that you would need stronger meridians," the Prime Shadow said skeptically.


    A wry look appeared on John''s face, while he debated whether or not to tell the Prime Shadow the truth.


    ''I''ll have to use my Asura Transformation eventually, and the Prime Shadow will learn about it then. It''s most likely best to reveal it now. With the fact that Zuri was alright with my transformation, it shouldn''t be aplete taboo on this world to use the powers of enemies. It''s just¡­his master was crippled by an Asura¡­how would he react to knowing I can use their powers?''


    "I can see you''re debating whether to reveal some of your secrets to me," the Prime Shadow said, a soft smile appearing on his face. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. I have ced my greatest burden, the legacy of my master, on your shoulders, and as I told you, will support you with my fullest power. Your life is now more important than my own. So, tell me what weighs so heavily on your mind."


    John felt true sincerity in the Prime Shadow''s words, as if he was a grandfather speaking to his most cherished grandchild. It was a startling thing, to be so important to the man so quickly, but he understood the reasoning. It wasn''t John the Prime Shadow cared about, but the legacy he now carried.


    "Instead of telling you, it would be easier to show you."


    Boom!


    The ground shook and air trembled as John activated his Dragon-God Shift, unleashing his aura into the sky. Undisturbed by his strong aura, the Prime Shadow watched on silently with a curious expression. John hesitated for only a single moment, then unleashed his true power.


    BOOM!


    The ground exploded beneath their feet, unable to withstand the power of John''s aura. The sky seemed to twist and turn as his golden aura was stained blood-red, infused with the sinister and malevolent powers of an Asura.


    The Prime Shadow stared at John with a stunned expression, eyes wide as he took in the John''s Asura form. Blood red eyes, two pitch ck horns, a dark-red body bulging with muscles and true, physical power. It was as if a true Asura had appeared before him, and although the Prime Shadow had never met an Asura personally, he instantly knew the source of the power.


    The aura suddenly faded away as John undid both of his transformations, returning to his normal form. There was no reason to hold that exhaustingbination of Dragon and Asura powers any longer than what was needed, as even a few minutes of using both took a toll on his body.


    The Prime Shadow stared at John silently, aplicated expression on his face. John remained silent, allowing him to process whatever emotions he was feeling.


    ''Thankfully, I feel no bloodlust, so that''s good,'' John thought with relief.


    "I see," the Prime Shadow eventually said, exhaling a deep breath he had been holding. "No wonder you were so confident against the Devil during that battle. You had this trump card up your sleeve the entire time. No wonder your friend has ced so much faith in you¡­."


    John remained silent, as he could tell the Prime Shadow was still processing everything. It took the man a few minutes to gather his wits, at which point he seemed to have epted John''s powers.


    "I won''t ask you to tell me how you came to obtain this power," the Prime Shadow said, eyes slightly narrowed. "I only want to ask this¡­do you have full control over this power of yours, or does it control you?"


    "I have never lost control of this power, if that''s what you''re asking," John replied truthfully.


    The Prime Shadow fell silent for another short while, then nodded his head, a small smile appearing on his face.


    "I had thought finding you gave my master''s legacy a chance to rise to the top of this universe. Now that I know your full strength, as long as you do not perish on your climb to the top, there is no doubt in my mind that you will spread his legacy to every corner of the universe," the Prime Shadow said, sighing with obvious relief. "It seems I have chosen my sessor well. Still, with that level of power, I think your meridians should be fine. There is one ce on this world that could help meridians of your level, but the risk isn''t really worth it considering what I know. Your meridians should be strong enough to withstand the Qi you use going forward."


    Relief by the Prime Shadow''s eptance of his powers, and also wanting to learn of this opportunity to potentially fortify his meridians, another wry look appeared on John''s face as he scratched the back of his head,ughing lightly.


    "Ha¡­ha¡­actually, that''s not my full strength," John said wryly.


    "....What?!?!?"

 Chapter 997 The Devil Continent

    The wryughter was followed by wide-eyed silence. He had already revealed his Asura Transformation, so anything else was of lesser importance to hide.


    "That''s not your true strength?" the Prime Shadow asked with both disbelief, and skepticism.


    "What I''ve shown you of my essence power is only about half of what I can truly unleash. Just using my full essence power puts my meridians on edge. When using my transformations as well, I need to be careful of how much Qi I use, otherwise I could damage my meridians. And when I truly use my full power, my meridians be so damaged that I cannot use that full power again for half a year," John said, revealing the truth.


    ''As for my bloodline ability, I think it''s fine to keep one secret to myself, just in case.''


    "The essence Qi you''ve revealed is only half of what you can generate?" the Prime Shadow asked, still skeptical.


    John didn''t me the man, as his essence Dantain had reached twentypressions in the Core Formation Realm, and twenty full cycles in the Dao Transformation Realm. It was the most heaven-defying thing about him, and was not something that could be believed unless seen. Realizing this, John sighed, then turned around.


    He pointed outwards with his right hand, then focused as he activated his essence dantian. His essence dantian began to surge with might as he pushed it to its absolute limit. His dantian churned and churned with power, brimming with Qi until it was about to explode from within. The torrent of overwhelmingly powerful lightning Qi burst out of his dantian and into his meridians, snaking through them, pushing against them like an overflowing river, following the pathways of his Dragontail Decimation.


    A mile away, the sky suddenly illuminated with a blinding light as a hole formed in the sky.


    Boom!


    Lightning in the appearance of a massive dragon''s tail mmed down onto the ground, erupting an instantter with an apocalyptic st of power. Thend shattered and broke beneath the might of the battle art, shaking thend for tens of miles. The sky erupted as an explosion of lightning radiated outwards, destroying everything in its path.


    The explosion quickly reached John and the Prime Shadow, its power great enough to swallow both of them in it. It expanded outwards even more before fading away, returning silence to the now charred and ruinednd. John looked at the aftermath of his attack, then shifted his gaze to the Prime Shadow.


    The Prime Shadow stared outwards at the ruinednd, eyes wide with disbelief. It was a look John had seen on many faces before; the look of someone seeing something that they had previously considered impossible. A look of a person who had their knowledge of the cultivation world thrown into chaos. Even for someone as powerful as the Prime Shadow, John''s feats were just too heaven-defying to believe unless seen.


    "How¡­.how many dantianpressions, and dantian cycles did you manage?" the Prime Shadow said, his voice mumbling.


    "Even if I told you, you wouldn''t believe me," John shrugged. There was no way anyone would believe he had achieved twenty in both, even with what he had just shown. It was just that impossible of a thing.


    Silence filled the scorchednd for a short while, at which point the Prime Shadow exhaled heavily once more. He shifted his gaze to John, clearly seeing him in a new light. His nk look quickly faded away, reced by loud, boisterousughter, surprising John.


    "Gahahahaha," the Prime Shadowughed for quite some time, almost like a madman. He stopped a whileter, and ced a hand on John''s shoulder.


    "You are truly full of surprises, child," he said, smiling. "Now that I know the true extent of your talent, I think it''s time for us to take a little trip."


    "A trip? To where?" John asked curiously.<novelsnext>I think you should take a look at </novelsnext>


    "To the only ce in this world that has something that can improve meridians of your level," the Prime Shadow said, a mischievous smile appearing on his face. "The Devil Continent."


    "The Devil Continent?" John repeated,pletely surprised. "Aren''t they mortal enemies with all humans on this world?"


    "They are," the Prime Shadow nodded, his mischievous smile widening. "So why don''t we take this chance to not only improve your strength, but alsond a crippling blow on them."


    "That sounds¡­.a bit dangerous," John said, frowning.


    "Anything worth doing is dangerous," the Prime Shadow said, his power suddenly ring.


    John opened his mouth to say something, but he was wrapped up in the Prime Shadow''s power before he could react. The world around him went ck, as if he was wrapped in a cocoon of pure ckness. He tried to move, but couldn''t move at all, despite struggling with all his might.


    "What the hell? What''s this crazy man doing?" he grumbled, realizing he was fully at the Prime Shadow''s mercy.


    Time moved on, with John wrapped in this cocoon of ck Qi for hours and hours. He had be ustomed to it by now, and had used this downtime to focus on his cultivation. He had just recently broken through to the Middle Dao Transformation Realm, and had not had much time to consolidate his foundation. This was as good a time as any he was going to get.


    sh!


    The world around him suddenly changed again as the cocoon of Qi enveloping him vanished, returning him to the real world. The Prime Shadow appeared before him, smiling with that mischievous smile as the two of them hovered in the sky a mile off the ground.


    "What the hell was all that?" John grumbled while instinctively taking in the new area. His eyes went wide as a hellish world appeared before him, one brimming with blood and fire.


    As far as he could see was an ocean of volcanoes, each miles high, each spewing rivers ofva, bathing thend in an orange-red glow, as well as an oppressive heat. A thick, sulfurous smell hung in the air, while the very Qi of this continent seemed to be different, more malevolent.


    Most eye-catching of all were three volcanoes, located next to each other, eachrger than the others stretching off into the distance. The volcanos towered up into the sky, while rivers of liquid flowed out of their mouths and down the sides of the volcanos, disappearing into chasms at the bottom.


    The liquid flowing from those three volcano''s were as oppressive as theva surrounding him in both temperature and aura, but were clearly notva. One of the volcanos spewed a thick red liquid, another a thick grey liquid, and thest, a thick purplish liquid.


    ''No¡­that''s notva at all,'' John thought, looking at the red liquid. ''It''s blood.''


    "What is this ce?" he asked, eyes wide with confused awe.


    "Wee to the Devil Continent," the Prime Shadow said, leaning forward slightly as if whispering to John. "Specifically, wee to the ancestral grounds of the Titan-Devils, home to the Titan-Devil Sect, the second strongest Devil power in this world."

 Chapter 998 Ancestral Titan Devil Grounds

    ?


    "Ancestral grounds¡­of the second strongest Devil race sect¡­" John repeated slowly while staring at the Prime Shadow.


    The Prime Shadow met his gaze with a smile.


    "Gahaha, you don''t need to be concerned," the Prime Shadowughed. "The Devil Continent has very good perimeter defenses, and this ancestral ground is protected by even greater defenses as well, so they''re confident and don''t believe anything can slip past their guard. Unfortunately for them, I am their worst opponent when ites to slipping past defenses."


    John studied the obviously prideful look on the man''s face, then shook his head at the craziness of it all. If they were caught, that was it. They would not be able to fight their way out of this situation.


    ''The Prime Shadow has ced his master''s legacy in my hands, so he wouldn''t throw me into a sure-death situation. I''m sure he''s in control of this situation¡­I hope.''


    "So what are these ancestral grounds for?" John asked, ignoring the danger of the situation. He would let the Prime Shadow handle any danger that came their way.


    "When the Asura and his horde of demons invaded this world, the horde of demons included the Titan Demon Race," the Prime Shadow said, staring out at the world of fire and gloom before them.


    "Like the ones we saw at the training grounds?" John asked curiously, to which the Prime Shadow nodded his head.


    "The battle for this world imed the lives of countless humans, and quite a few demons as well," the Prime Shadow continued, eyes scanning the horizon. "Thisnd was where the main force of the Titan Demons fought. Titan Demons were famed for their size, as well as physical power. They relied solely on their bodies forbat, unlike many other demon races. After the Asura left, all the remaining Titan Demons were ughtered, with most of them ughtered here, exactly where we''re at."


    John looked all around, and saw nothing but volcanoes and fire. The Titan Demon graveyard he had seen before had shown their skeletons were capable of withstanding the eons of time, but none were to be seen here.


    "You won''t find any of the Titan Demon remains," the Prime Shadow said, seeing through John''s intentions.


    "Where are they then?" John asked curiously.


    The Prime Shadow smiled, then pointed forwards, towards the three towering volcanoes before them.


    "You mean, that blood is?" John asked.


    "Yes," the Prime Shadow nodded. "That fiery blood spewing from that volcano is Titan Demon blood."


    John shifted his gaze to the blood flowing down the volcano. It was so abundant that he was sure it could fill up an entireke, perhaps even a small sea. Countless rivers of Titan Blood flowed down the side of the volcano, pooling at the bottom, seeping into chasms surrounding the volcano.


    "After the war, humanity used most of the demon corpses for various purposes," the Prime Shadow continued, "but the Titan Demons were ignored."


    "Why?" John asked. Demon corpses could contain countless resources. Such as his scythe de and core from the Abyssal Demon.


    "While alive, Titan Demons were perpetually cloaked in infernal fire," the Prime Shadow said, shifting his gaze to John. "The bodies of Titan Demons are like volcanoes themselves. The very blood within their body burns at an incredible temperature, making them like walking volcanoes. When they were felled, most of the humans capable of withstanding those temperatures were either killed or left this world, and so the corpses were left to rot. However, instead of rotting, they ended up transforming thisnd into the hellscape you see before you, like a natural extension of themselves."


    John stared at the endless ocean of fiery volcanoes, awed by the Titan Demon''s very nature being so powerful that it transformed nature itself, even after death.


    "The Titan Demons you saw on the human continent were weaker than the ones that were felled here, so they didn''t alter thend nearly as much," the Prime Shadow continued. "Millenia passed, and eventually new powers arose, powers capable of withstanding the tremendous heat of thisnd. Those powers eventually imed the Titan Demon corpses as their own, and even integrated the Titan Demon blood into themselves, thus bing one of the first types of Devils to appear on this world."


    ''So that''s how they became Devils...absorbing the blood of demons, altering their bodies to be half-human half-demon. It''s not much different than my Immortal Asura Body, other than I can control that transformation, while the Devils are seemingly permanently stuck in that transformed form.''


    "Over time, the Titan Devil race transformed thisnd into their ancestral grounds, and fully converted the corpses of the Titan Demons into ancestral inheritances," the Prime Shadow said, pointing to the three volcanoes before them.


    "All of the Titan Demon blood was infused into this volcano, to perpetually cycle and feed of thend, maintaining its power," he said, then pointed to the volcano spewing the gray liquid. "The bones of the Titan Demons were ground to dust and infused into that volcano," then pointed to the volcano spewing the purplish liquid.


    "Do you know what the Titan Demons are the most famous for?" The Prime Shadow asked John.


    "Their size?" John shrugged.


    "Their meridians," the Prime Shadow said, lightly smiling as he noticed John''s expression be much more attentive. "Due to its size, the infernal environment within, as well the amount of Qi that moves through its body, the Titan Demons were famed to have some of the most formidable meridians in existence. That purplish substance you see are the meridians from the Titan Demons, ground down and infused into that volcano, eternally bing Titan Demon meridian essence."


    John stared at the purple liquid with envious awe, heart beating with desire. He also desired the blood, to see if he could use it for cultivating his Asura body, but the most important thing to him right now was strengthening his meridians.


    "Every five years, the Titan Devil''s open their ancestral grounds, and bring their most promising geniuses to infuse the Titan Demon blood, bone, and meridian essence into themselves, strengthening their bodies and talents to incredible levels," the Prime Shadow exined.


    "How do they go about absorbing the Titan Demon meridian essence?" John asked, wondering if there was a special way to go about it.


    "They have a special process to help their geniuses absorb the three Titan Demon aspects," the Prime Shadow said, "but we do not have ess to that process. For yourself, you will have to do it the direct, and more painful way. Entering the meridian essence, and absorbing it forcefully."


    "I figured," John said, eyes glued to the purplish meridian essence. "And if I enter the meridian essence, will my presence be detected by the Titan Devils?" he asked.


    "The Devil''s do not expect anyone to be able to enter thisnd without their notice, so they do not pay too close attention to this area when it''s closed off," the Prime Shadow said. "You should be able to enter the meridian essence and absorb some of it into your body without their-"


    Che!


    The Prime Shadow stopped speaking as he watched John instantly shoot towards the meridian essence mountain, not even waiting for him to finish his sentence. He watched as John flew to the top of the volcano, then plunged directly into the mouth at the top, disappearing within. An odd look lingered on the Prime Shadow''s face as he watched this unfold.


    "I had assumed I would have had to throw him into that burning meridian essence myself. I guess when ites to raising his strength, this child will do anything," the Prime Shadow said softly, then smiled.


    He moved towards the top of the volcano, then peered within.


    "Three hours would be impressive. Four hours would be incredible. Let''s see how long he willst. I wonder if he''ll defy all expectations once more," he said to himself, then sat in the air cross legged, attention towards the horizons.

 Chapter 999 Absorbing Meridian Essence

    ?


    John appeared above the meridian essence volcano and peered into the mouth from above. A burningke of meridian essence came into view, glowing with a purplish color and aura. He widened his eyes, surprised to see such a great amount of meridian essence, then plunged towards it, not hesitating for a second.


    He shot into the meridian essence, which was much thicker than he had been expecting. Instead of it being like water, it was so thick that it was almost solid, making moving through it a bit troublesome. A world of purple enveloped him as he plunged into theke of meridian essence, as well as a world of heat and pain.


    The temperature of the meridian essence was far greater than he had been expecting, so potent that his flesh began to burn and sear, exposing his muscle beneath.


    Roar!


    Dragon-God Shift!


    John roared with pain, activating his Dragon-God Shift to increase his bodily defenses. The meridian essence around him sted a small distance away from the force of his aura, before crashing back onto him, feeling like mountains mming into him from all directions. His body trembled with pain, but he resisted the weight of the meridian essence from crushing him.


    The heat all around him continued to burn at his flesh, but thanks to his Dragon-God Shift, he was able to resist it a bit better. His skin still burned and charred, but his more durable body was able to withstand for long enough for his natural healing ability to heal the wounds, resulting in a stalemate between destruction and healing.


    After creating this stalemate, Johnposed himself for a brief moment. The pain wracking his body was intense, almost equal to the pain he had felt during his recent trial of pain. In some ways, it was worse, especially the searing portion of the pain.


    ''Should I use this pain to meditate on the Dao of Pain?'' John thought, teeth gritted, then shook his head.'' ''¡­No, I cannot waste this time cultivating. I need to absorb as much meridian essence as possible first. Once that''s done, I can think about doing something else.''


    Mind made up, John braced himself for the pain toe. He wanted to take a deep breath of air to mentally prepare, but couldn''t as he was surrounded by nothing but scorching meridian essence. Face scrunching up for the iing pain, he opened his acupoints, allowing the meridian essence around him to flow into his body.


    Searing, scorching pain flowed through him immediately, making him feel as though a fire had erupted within him. The meridian essence quickly entered his acupoints, flowing directly into his meridians afterwards. John withdrew his Qi from his meridians, allowing the meridian essence to flow unimpeded.


    His meridians ignited with fiery pain, greater than any meridian pain he had ever felt before. The Titan Demon meridian essence snaked throughout his meridian pathways, moving with the slow, slumbering pace ofva. It scorched whatever it touched, changing healthy meridians into scorched ones.


    John''s healing ability kicked in, healing his meridians as best he could. However, as meridians were one of the hardest things, if not the hardest thing to heal in a cultivator''s body, his healing was practically non-existent. Teeth perpetually gritted, John used his divine sense to guide the meridian essence through his meridian pathways, ensuring nothing was missed.


    Despite the fact that his meridians were being burned and injured, he continued as he could feel the meridian essence slowly but surely start to merge with his own meridians. The process was automatic, as if the meridian essence was sentient, and wanted to merge into his own meridians, transforming it into true Titan Demon meridians.


    The excruciating process continued for several hours, with the meridian essence snaking through his meridian channels, burning and damaging them, but also infusing and strengthening them. The process was one of the most painful things he had ever had to endure, but endure he did.


    After four hours, John''s divine sense and Qi red through his body, flooding into his meridians, pushing out the Titan Demon meridian essence. After a brief but excruciating battle, he seeded, then closed off his acupoints. His body trembled with the lingering pain within, and he calmed his mind for a moment before inspecting the results.


    His divine sense scanned over his meridians, inspecting the changes.


    ''My meridians are at least twenty percent stronger, and also seem to have changed in nature, so this twenty percent extra durability should continue to persist for many major cultivation realms,'' John thought as he gauged the changes to his meridians.


    Just like they were next to impossible to heal, meridians were also incredibly difficult to strengthen. It took something as heavenly as the Immortal Asura Body and Dragon-God Shift to strengthen them a bit, but even then, it wasn''t enough. Stacking both arts together gave him problems, and when using his bloodline ability on top,plete destruction of his meridians was possible if he used the art for more than a few dozen seconds.


    As such, a permanent twenty percent increase in durability was beyond amazing, something anyone in the cultivation world would be ted to achieve. With his meridians as his bottleneck at full power, that was twenty percent more Qi throughput, twenty percent stronger battle arts. That was an incredible boost to obtain in just four hours of cultivation. And yet, it wasn''t enough. And yet a frown lingered on John''s face as he studied his meridians.


    ''Twenty percent is great¡­but I had hoped for more,'' he thought, wincing asionally from the pain.


    Despite the process infusing Titan Demon meridian essence, thus strengthening his meridians, the damaging process was far more severe. He had reached a point where if he had continued, his meridians would have been scorched to a point of being half-crippled, and if he wasn''t careful, fully crippled. Compared to the damage the meridian essence did, his healing ability was practically nothing at all.


    And worst of all, John was certain that this was not a ce he would be able to return to anytime soon. Despite the Prime Shadow''s insistence, this was a dangerous, closely guarded ce. The Prime Shadow had been very hesitant toe here before finding out about John''s true talent. The Devils would surely notice the missing meridian essence before long, and at that time, ce a more careful guard around these ancestral grounds. It would be impossible to return after that, and so he needed to take advantage of this moment as much as possible.


    ''Even if I be strong enough to return here without danger, the meridian essence will be a lot less effective at that time, maybe even useless depending on my cultivation realm at that time. Much how World Expansion blood would be useful for by body dantian cultivation right now but useless when I''m at a higher cultivation realm, this meridian essence is the same. The earlier I absorb this meridian essence, the greater the results will be, establishing the most powerful foundation possible. But how... Even with my incredible healing ability, the damage to my meridians will take at least two to three weeks to heal,'' John thought, grumbling internally at just how difficult meridians were to heal.


    ''Once I leave this ce, I''ll most likely not be able to return. I can tell my body would be able to withstand having much stronger meridians, but if I continue any longer, I''ll end up crippling myself. Is this really all I can do¡­''


    A thought entered his mind, one too crazy to consider, but also one he could not ignore. There was only one thing in his possession that could potentially heal meridian damage. A debate formed in his mind as he bnced the pros and cons of what he was contemting, the pros winning out in the end.


    Face scrunched up with pain and uncertainty, John sighed, thenmitted to the crazy n. A ball of powerful Qi was created on top of his right palm, forming a small area shielded by his Qi. That sphere of QI suddenly sprang to life with a brilliant, green glow, as if the most vibrant thing in existence had appeared there.


    "If there''s anyone that can out heal this meridian damage, it''s you. I''m counting on you, Laia."


    His body shuddered as John started to siphon a stream from the orb of vital life essence Laia had gifted him, the most precious and valuable thing he had on him at the moment. He had been nning to save it for a moment of life and death, but this had instead decided to gamble it all, right here, to seize as much of this opportunity as possible.


    The potent healing vitality from the orb flowed into his body, which John directed to focus solely on his meridians. He held his breath as he waited to see the oue, as he did not know exactly how well Laia''s healing energy would heal his meridians. Even he was unable to heal them at any visible speed, despite having his Limiter of Healing and Limiter of Life unlocked, despite having a formidable natural healing ability with his Immortal Asura Body.


    The vital healing essence flowed into his meridians, and to his ted joy, started mending and healing the damage that the meridian essence had caused at a visible rate. With how the orb worked, John was unable to stop the process of using it once it was used. It was an all or nothing item, and after seeing this, he didn''t hesitate to use it all.


    The potent, heaven-defying vibrant life energy flooded into his meridians, infusing within, bing a semi-permanent fixture of them, waiting to be used in the near future.


    "I''ll be sure to return the favor when I return home," John promised in his mind, eternally grateful for everything Laia had done for him, then opened his some of his acupoints once more. Titan Demon meridian essence flooded into his meridians, scorching everything in its path once more. The vibrant healing energy instantly activated, mending the damage as if it had never happened.


    John smiled as he watched his idea prove to be a sess, then opened all his acupoints, allowing the meridian essence to flood into his meridian pathways. The battlefield in his meridians, one of destruction and healing began. The only question was how long the battle wouldst before the healing essence ran out. The longer the healing powersted, the stronger his meridians would be.


    "Show me just how strong you are, Laia!"

 Chapter 1000 Using the Orb of Vitality

    Chapter 1000 Using the Orb of Vitality


    Still hovering above the mouth of the volcano, the Prime Shadow kept a close eye on the horizon, ready to move at a moment''s notice if they were spotted. Despite his strength, this was a very dangerous ce to be, as it was in the heart of the enemynds. If surrounded by the experts of this ce, even he would not be able to escape unscathed, or at all.


    With John here as well, he wanted to take no risks at all. Five hours after John entered the meridian essence, the Prime Shadow frowned, shifting his focus down into theke of fiery essence.


    "It''s been five hours already. He should have reached his limit by now. He isn''t dead¡­is he?" the Prime Shadow said worryingly, then sent his divine sense into theke of meridian essence.


    He instantly spotted John, eyes going wide with surprise.


    "He''s still absorbing the meridian essence! How is that¡­.what is that healing energy," the Prime Shadow said, focusing on the ball of vital essence in John''s hand. He inspected it for a moment, bing more and more awed by the second.


    "I''ve never felt such potent healing energy before," he said softly. "The quantity of Qi isn''t that profound, but the quality is absolutely breathtaking. I''ve never felt such high-quality healing Qi before. It''s as if the heavens itself created it. How did this boye into possession of such an incredible healing source?"


    After inspecting the healing orb, the Prime Shadow inspected John to ensure he was alright. A surprised look appeared on his face as he realized what John was doing, which was reced by a smile shortly after.


    "Crazy boy," the Prime Shadow shook his head,ughing lightly. "Just as a body has its natural limits, so does a cultivator''s meridians. This limit is different within each cultivator, but for the most part scales with constitution andtent body talent. I wonder what will happen first. Will that marvelous healing Qi run out, or will he hit his natural meridian limit."


    The Prime Shadow watched John steadily increase the durability of his meridians, then shook his head, shifting his focus to the horizon once more.


    "Well, whatever the case, absorb as much as you can. The most optimal realm to absorb this meridian essence is the Dao Transformation Realm, so you won''t get another opportunity like this for a long time, if ever."


    ¡­


    As the battle of healing and destruction took ce within his body, John was surprised to find out one thing regarding meridians that he had not been aware of before.


    ''No wonder I couldn''t ever heal my meridians at any decent speed. Unlike the rest of my body, meridians do not care about healing quantity, only quality. While my healing factor from my Immortal Asura Body, Limiter of Healing, and Limiter of Life is amazing, that''s only regarding his quantity. In terms of quality, my healing Qi is a far cry from Laia''s healing Qi quality. Everything makes sense now.''


    After realizing this, arge smile appeared on his face, his confidence in this idea growing.


    ''Meridians care more about quality than quantity of healing Qi. While the quality required to heal is a lot higher than the rest of my body, the quantity required is much less. Since I focused all of Laia''s healing Qi on my meridians, from what I''ve just learned, the healing Qi shouldst for a considerably long time. This is the absolute perfect use for Laia''s healing orb. My decision was the correct one after all.''


    Comforted by his decision being the correct one, John returned his full focus to absorbing the Titan Demon meridian essence. The essence ceaselessly flowed into his meridians through his acupoints, damaging wherever it infused with his own meridians. Laia''s healing Qi worked ceaselessly to eliminate that damage, allowing him to continue the process without stopping.


    Slowly but surely he felt his meridians grow in durability. After a long time, he could tell the rate of improvement was starting to slow down, as if his meridians were starting to approach a physical limit, he would not be able to go beyond. Still, that seemed to be a while away, and Laia''s healing Qi was still quite strong, indicating it would most likelyst longer than what he needed the healing Qi tost.


    John smiled lightly, ignoring the searing pain.


    It seems like you are quite strong after all, Laia. Thank you for this marvelous gift.''


    ¡­


    "Two days," the Prime Shadow mumbled, both in surprise and awe. Even with the healing energy he felt, he had expected John to reach his natural meridian limit in a day or so. It had been two whole days of ceaseless meridian essence absorbance; meridian essence from ancient Titan Demons. That alone was an incredible feat, once again reminding him just how much of a monster John really was.


    "The meridian essenceke itself has lowered by a visible amount already," the Prime Shadow mused, staring at the boilingke of meridian essence beneath him. Theke was absolutely massive, so for it to visibly change and lower, the amount of meridian essence John had absorbed had to have been beyond massive. That level of meridian essence would have caused any Dao Transformation cultivators meridians to explode from the sheer amount of demon meridian essence within, but John wasfortably increasing his meridians without any sign of failure.


    The Prime Shadow watched on with awed curiosity, a small, approving smile on his face.


    "Hmm!" he hummed, gaze snapping towards the horizon.


    An instantter, he rushed into the meridian essenceke, and scooped John up with his full power. Before John could protest, he wrapped him up with his shrouding Qi and sped into the sky, figure disappearing a momentter.


    An instantter, two figures appeared like shes of light from over the horizon, their speed incredible. The figures were quiterge, standing over fifteen feet tall. They had blood red skin, yellow eyes, powerful muscles, and a long, red tail that whipped behind them. Their shoulders and the top of their head were covered in short, sharp spikes, making them look incredibly menacing. Most eye-catching of all was the natural aura of mes surrounding their body, as if they were the incarnation of heat and fire. The very air seemed to burn in their presence, unable to withstand the scorching inferno around them.


    Both of them were in the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm, powerhouses of the Titan-Devil Race. They stopped directly above the meridian essence volcano, eyes wide with surprise and anger.


    "The ancestral grounds have been tampered with," one of them said angrily, and crushed a formation disk that had appeared in his hand.


    Ten secondster, space twisted and turned as a figure stepped out of the void, appearing before the other two. The one who had stepped out of the void was evenrger than the two devils before him, standing twenty feet tall. Not only was his figure much more intimidating, the fiery aura around him was on apletely different level. It was as if the devil was a star himself, capable of reducing everything around him into cinders regardless of what it was.


    His fiery aura was contained to just a few feet around his body, as if willingly withdrawn and contained by the devil. Despite the fiery aura being contained, the two Half-Step Holy Manifestation Devils felt as if they were burning alive, almost unable to withstand being in the presence of the neer.


    Both of them immediately bowed their bodies, prostrating themselves before the horrifying devil.


    "We greet the Titan-Devil Lord!"

 Chapter 1001 Titan-Devil Lord

    Chapter 1001 Titan-Devil Lord


    The neer, the Lord of the Titan-Devils, gazed into the distance as if staring at something neither of the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Devils could see. His yellow eyes narrowed with a menacing, murderous glint, rage clearly contained within.


    A momentter, he gazed down at the meridian essenceke beneath his feet. His contained rage intensified as he noticed theke of Titan Demon meridian essence had been depleted considerably.


    "What happened," he asked, voice deep and gravely, like it wasing from a primordial beast of hell.


    "My Lord," one of the still bowed devils said. "We were guarding the ancestral grounds, when suddenly I noticed the aura of the Titan Demon meridian essence start to weaken. We came here immediately, noticed that it had been tampered with, and then alerted you without pause."


    The Titan-Devil Lord looked at the two Half-Step Holy Manifestation devils before him, eyes still narrowed, face burning with contained rage.


    "And you, what did you do?" the Devil Lord asked the other cultivator who had not yet spoken. "Did you not detect the intrusion as well?"


    "I¡­I did not, my Lord," the bowed devil said, body slightly trembling with instinctual fear.


    "Tch, useless," the Devil Lord said, hand reaching out towards that devil. The devil''s eyes went wide with horror as he tried to back away instinctively. He was far too slow, neck caught instantly by the Titan-Devil Lord''s massive hand.


    He struggled in the Titan-Devil Lord''s grasp, unable to budge the hand even slightly.


    "I apologize for my ipetenc- Ahhhhh!"


    Before he could finish his apology, the mes surrounding the Titan-Devil Lord extended to envelop the devil in his grasp. The devil cried out in agony as his body was charred at a visible rate. The cries of agony ceased momentster at the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Titan Devil was burned to ashes, which drifted away in the wind.


    The Titan-Devil Lord shifted his gaze to the other, still bowed devil, then back to the horizon.


    "So, you''re not dead," it said, narrowing its eyes. "How unexpected."


    "M¡­my Lord, do you know who did this?" the bowed devil asked.


    "There is only one person on this world that could have entered and left these ancestral grounds without being detected by the formations or myself," the Titan-Devil Lord said, voice filled with obvious displeasure. "He was rumored to have reached the end of his life tens of thousands of years ago and perished."


    The Titan-Devil Lord snarled, anger and displeasure on his face.


    "So, you managed to break through to the Late Holy Manifestation Realm and extend your lifespan, Prime Shadow!"


    "Prime Shadow! You mean the fabled assassin of the human race?" the other devil eximed, as if hearing about a terrifying beast told to children to scare them. "He''s still alive? Should we go after him? You are also in the Late Holy Manifestation Realm, so surely-"


    The Titan-Devil Lord scoffed at the suggestion, giving the other devil a sideways nce of disapproval and anger, as if he was about to unleash his fury on this devil as he had done the previous. The other devil bowed his head again, refraining from speaking again.


    "Increase the guard surrounding thesends, and make sure this doesn''t happen again. If it does, your fate will be much worse than the others," the Titan-Devil Lord said, then vanished.


    "It will be done," the other devil said firmly, unsure if his words were even heard. His gaze shifted in the direction the Titan-Devil Lord had been looking, and shuddered lightly, recalling memories of the tales of the famed human assassin, and how he had gued the Devils for countless millennia.


    ¡­


    Before he could react, John had been scooped up by the Prime Shadow, wrapped in the same cocoon of darkness as before.


    "What are you doing! I wasn''t done!" John eximed from within the cocoon of darkness, startled, and also angry, by suddenly being extracted from theke of meridian essence.


    However, as expected, no answer came. John fell silent, his built up anger slowly subsiding.


    ''The Prime Shadow wouldn''t have done this if there wasn''t a good reason, so the most likely answer is that we were detected by the Devils, and needed to leave.''


    If that was the case, John would be understanding of the Prime Shadow''s actions. Still, he was disappointed by not being able to reach his absolute limit of increasing his meridian durability.


    He sighed and then rxed, knowing there was nothing he could do. He basked in the feeling of Laia''s healing energy still healing his meridians, like a soft, pleasurable reminder of her existence.


    ''I could tell I was getting close to reaching my limit anyways, so it''s not that big of a deal. I already gained far more than I could have ever expected from this, so I should be content with what I have.''


    Several hourster, the cocoon of darkness vanished, returning John to the real world. Hended on the ground and looked about, finding himself standing within the room he met the Prime Shadow and Guildmaster in.


    The Guildmaster was nowhere to be seen, but the Prime Shadow was there, standing next to him. He smiled as he noticed John''s questioning gaze.


    "We were detected," the Prime Shadow said, then shrugged. "There was nothing I could do. It was not me that was detected, but you."


    "Me?" John asked.


    "Yes, you. You absorbed far too much meridian essence. It was only natural that the change was detected by the Titan-Devils," the Prime Shadow said, jabbing John lightly in the chest as if to emphasize he was the reason for the sudden departure.


    He then grabbed John''s wrist, and sent his divine sense into John''s meridians. His eyes widened with disbelief, then after a moment, changed to approving joy.


    "You have more than doubled the strength and durability of your meridians!" he said with awe. "I didn''t even know it was possible for a cultivator to achieve such a thing."


    "Is it really that amazing?" John asked. Thanks to the Titan-Demon meridian essence, as well as Laia''s incredible orb of healing vitality, he had managed to increase the durability of his meridians by more than double, hovering between that and nearly triple the strength and durability. Compared to the twenty percent he had achieved on his own before employing Laia''s help, the difference was staggering.


    ''Thank you,'' John said internally, thanking Laia for her help once more. He knew the orb she had given him was not a simple thing, and had cost Laia a great deal to make.


    "With how hard meridians are to improve, it is absolutely heaven-defying," the Prime Shadow nodded. "Even if you give another genius that healing energy you were using, they would be hard pressed to improve their meridians by fifty percent, let alone what you''ve done. Each cultivator possesses a natural limit for improving their meridians, and they cannot break beyond that limit no matter what. Your natural limit is beyond incredible, to the point that I didn''t even know it could go that high."


    John felt surprise at hearing this. He knew what he had done was impressive, but didn''t know just how much.


    ''Natural limit huh? I wonder how much of that limit is due to the Asura Body and Jade Dragon inheritance, and how much is due to my own innate talent,'' John wondered, then figured he would ask the Prime Shadow if he knew the answer.


    "In regards to this natural limit, can incredible treasures or natural wonders improve that limit?" John asked curiously.


    "No," the Prime Shadow shook his head. "Treasures and wonders can allow a cultivator to improve their meridian quality to be closer to their natural limit, but that limit is determined at birth, and cannot be changed. Your heaven-defying meridian talent is yours and yours alone. Well, that, and your parents, as meridian talents are one of the few things a human can inherit from their parent''s cultivation wise."


    John raised his eyebrows slightly, a bit surprised to hear this. If his meridian talent was this heaven-defying naturally, then his origin really wasn''t anything simple. And he hadn''t even actually reached his natural limit yet, only approached it.


    ''Just who are my parents, really,'' he wondered.


    "Congrattions," the Prime Shadows voice snapped him from his thoughts. "You now have meridians equal to that of a typical Half-Step Holy Manifestation cultivator, and this meridian talent will serve as an incredible foundation for you going forward. From now on, the limits of your meridians should no longer be an issue for you at all."

 Chapter 1002 The Continent Of War

    ?


    John sent a strong wave of Qi throughout his meridians, testing their limits for the first time. He smiled as he didn''t feel any strain at all, despite pushing his essence dantian to almost its maximum output. His body thrummed with incredible power, while his aura flooded the small room, drowning it in his power as well. The walls shook and tables rattled, while some weaker objects started to shatter and break.


    Despite all this, his meridians feltpletely at ease, as if the Qi surging within was non-existent.


    "Now, now. You can test your new limits outside, where you won''t be destroying my property," the Prime Shadow grumbled.


    "Ah, sorry," John said, withdrawing his essence Qi back into his dantian, returning the room to its former calm.


    "Now I just need another body inheritance, something to increase the durability of my body to a great extent, and I''ll have no limitations to worry about at all," John said, still smiling with satisfaction from his recent improvements.


    "Don''t get too far ahead of yourself," the Prime Shadow said. "Your meridians were mostly untouched, so the Titan Demon meridian essence was perfect for you at this moment. However, your body is beyond heaven-defying, so finding something to increase its level won''t be easy. Not even the Titan Demon blood or bone essence would have had much of an impact, regardless of how much you could have absorbed. Your body is of Asuras and Dragons, two of the strongest, most physically talented creatures in existence. For something to increase your body strength and durability to any measurable degree, it will have to be equally as heaven-defying, and on this world, I am not aware of any such opportunities."


    John sighed with disappointment, but wasn''t really surprised. He knew everything the Prime Shadow had just said, and was mostly speaking out of hopeful optimism.


    "The only ce that could theoretically have something to improve your body is on the Continent of War," the Prime Shadow said thoughtfully. "But even then, it''s far from a guarantee."


    "The Continent of War? It could have treasures and opportunities of that level?" John asked curiously. He had heard Luri and Suri mention it once, as the home of the Eternal Serpent, the supposed strongest being on this world, but knew nothing else of it.


    "Possibly," the Prime Shadow shrugged. "The Continent of War is home to the Eternal Serpent, which is an existence even I wouldn''t want to fight."


    "It''s that strong?"


    "It''s that strong," the Prime Shadow nodded. "And not only is it stronger than me, but its body is also nearly impervious to damage. There''s a reason it has reigned unchallenged on this world from the ancient war until now.


    John thought about such a powerful creature, wondering where its limits truly were, then thought about the opportunities the Prime Shadow mentioned.


    "What about those potential opportunities you mentioned?" he asked.


    "Ah, yes," the Prime Shadow mumbled. "Well, the Continent of War was the pinnacle continent of this world before the ancient war, where the most powerful and grand sects, ns and guilds existed. The Eternal Serpent was part of the force that helped defend the world from the Asura invasion, and when the war ended, all continents had sustained great damage. The Eternal Serpent imed that continent as his own, as payment for defending this world, and no one had the power to refute his im. It''s lived on that continent ever since, a continent filled with ancient ruins, natural treasures beyondpare, and countless other treasures.


    Every few years, the serpent will allow the youths of this world, typically those under the age of fifty, to enter its grounds, and battle for the treasures and opportunities within. That includes all the races, so humans, beasts, devils. All go there when it is opened to im those opportunities, as those who seize the best opportunities always rise to the top of this world. For example, the Sword Sovereign and Yang Sovereign both seized opportunities on the Continent of War that allowed them to rise to the top of this world eventually. It''s a bloodbath every time the Eternal Serpent opens its borders, hence the name, the Continent of War."


    "Why would it allow others to enter itsnds?" John asked. "How does that benefit the serpent."


    "I''m not exactly sure," the Prime Shadow said after a short silence. "But I have some ideas. Regardless of the reasons, the opportunities are too enticing to ignore, and so despite the dangers, all the confident geniuses of this world will flock there and battle for supremacy."


    "When does it open next?" John asked, his anticipation rising. It sounded like the perfect ce for him to be. Battling to the death against devils and beasts, improving hisbat prowess and instincts, and obtaining incredible treasures as a reward. It was almost like paradise to him, making him want to go there immediately.


    "No one other than the Eternal Serpent knows," the Prime Shadow shrugged. "The intervals between openings have been as short as a year, and as long as a century. It''s seemingly random everytime, with the only consistent factor being how long it''s opened for. Each time the continent is opened, it remains so for a year."


    "A year, huh?" John mused. His face scrunched up as he suddenly thought of somethingpletely unrted that he had not thought of before.


    "I just thought of something odd," John said. "This world speaks the exact samenguage as my homeworld, and from what I can tell of how you determine age, also uses the same passage of time when ites to years. I''m assuming the way we measure years is also different, is it not?"


    "Ah, that," the Prime Shadow nodded. "During the ancient war, a unified response was needed. As a result, a singlenguage was spread to every world to be used, as well as a single system to determine the passage of time. Otherwise, if two worlds with different measures of time tried to coordinate a joint effort, they might have been days, months, or even years off in their efforts, resulting in a fractured resistance.


    As a result, most worlds speak thenguage you and I speak, and also use the same time system. The time system was based on one of the Hegemon Worlds passage of time, which used their system of weeks, months and years to establish how many hours are within each week, month, and year for the rest of the worlds. As a result, age is determined by a certain number of hours, and not by the system most worlds used to use before the war, which was orbits around their primary star.


    So, while one world might have one thousand days in a year and another twenty, and some worlds orbit their primary stars in ten days and other a thousand days, both years are the exact same in terms of actual passage of time.


    The days in a week or a month may be different for each world, but for all worlds, there are twelve months in a true year, and each month means the same passage of time, regardless of which world you''re on. Your world, a nearly destroyed fringe world as it may be, must have still used this time system even after it''s near destruction, as your concept of time and age appears to match this worlds system."


    "That¡­makesplete sense," John said, satisfied with the answer. "I never bothered to check, but how many days make up a month on this world?"


    "Sixteen," the Prime Shadow answered, to which John nodded.


    ''The days and night are almost twice as long as the day-night cycle back home, so that adds up with what he''s been saying,'' John thought, as his homeworld has roughly thirty days per month.


    "Now then," the Prime Shadow said, shifting the topic of discussion. "The Three-Dao Tournament ising up next month, and you have some time to prepare beforehand. From what I''ve seen so far, your battle arts, and especially movement arts seem to becking for the most part."


    John frowned at the truth of the Prime Shadow''s words. His battle arts had been falling behind quite a bit as ofte. His Divine Reaping Scythe only had instructions up to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and so it was mostly useless now. His Heavenly Lightning Domain was still strong, but would soon reach the limits of what it was capable of. As for movement arts, his Thundersh Step had long since be outdated, and although his spatial Dao control allowed him to move quickly, he was doing so through the Dao alone, and not using a spatial movement art, which would be much more effective.


    ''Only my Transformations, as well as my Dragontail Decimation are of any real usetely. As for the Shadow of Death art I just learned, it''s very strong, but only useful in certain situations,'' John thought, realizing just how bad his battle art and movement art situation was.


    "Come, take out all your battle arts and movement arts, and show me what you have," the Prime Shadow said. "Oh, and tell me about all yourprehensions. Afterwards, it will be time to fix you up with a new set of battle arts more suited for your talent level."

 Chapter 1003 The Guild Library

    ?


    A whileter, a pile of scrolls, books, and jade pieces covered the table in the center of the room, while John and the Prime Shadow sat opposite each other. The Prime Shadow ced down the jade piece in his hand, finally perusing through all the arts John had at his disposal.


    Naturally, he left some out, such as the Celestial Lightning Script, Immortal Asura Tome, and Primordial Extermination Lightning Cultivation Art.


    The Prime Shadow looked at the arts thoughtfully, then shifted his gaze to John.


    "There are some true treasures here," he said, pointing to a scroll, and a jade piece. "This scroll, the Divine Reaping Scythe, is one of the most profound battle arts I''ve ever seen. It was no doubt created by a powerhouse near the pinnacle of this martial universe. It''s just a shame its only up to the Heaven Tribtion Realm, and I''m afraid I''ve never heard of this art before, so I won''t be able to help you with it."


    John frowned with disappointment, but wasn''t really surprised. He knew the Divine Reaping Scythe was incredible, and was likely not something widely spread. The thing that did surprise him was the Prime Shadow being able to read it, as it was in an ancientnguage that was lost to his homeworld. However, it wasn''t as rare as he had initially suspected. The Nine-Dao World seemed to have knowledge of it, or at the very least, the Prime Shadow himself.


    "As for this Dragontail Decimation," the Prime Shadow said, pointing to the jade piece containing that battle art. "It is a very impressive mage art. In fact, I believe this world has this art up the Holy Manifestation Realm."


    "Really?" John eximed with excitement.


    "I believe so," the Prime Shadow nodded. "However, if it does exist on this world, it would be in the hands of the Mage Dao Sect. They owe me some favors, so I''ll ask about and see what I can scrounge up."


    "Thanks," John thanked the Prime Shadow, hopeful that he would be able to obtain the next steps to the mage art.


    ''Dragontail Decimation is my strongest all-out attack I have, but I only have it up to the World Expansion Realm, which I''m already following. If I can obtain the Holy Manifestation steps, it shouldst me all the way through the World Expansion Realm, which would greatly aid mybat prowess.''


    "Other than these two, the rest are quite mediocre," the Prime Shadow said. "Your Heavenly Lightning Domain isn''t bad, but at the same time, you''ve reached the limits of what it can do for the most part. The rest of the arts you have are now next to useless, making yourbat prowess suffer quite greatly whenpared to your talent level."


    The Prime Shadow mused over the matter for a bit, then spoke once more.


    "Now then, tell me of yourprehensions. What Dao''s have youprehended, and what level have youprehended them to?" he asked.


    John replied in full, detailing all the Dao''s he hadprehended.


    "I haveprehended the Dao''s of Lightning, Power, Annihtion, and Destruction to the Dao Expert stage. As for the Dao Adept stage, I haveprehended the Dao''s of Space, Death, Scythe, Axe and Nothingness. As for the Dao Initiate Stage¡­.well that list would be too long for you to believe," John said, shrugging despite the boldness of the im.


    He hadprehended thousands of Dao''s to the Dao Initiate stage thanks to the World Dimension Seed. Although he wasn''t using any of them at the moment, they wereprehended, nheless.


    "If I didn''t know you personally, I would think you were lying to impress me," the Prime Shadow said, then sighed. "You really are an anomaly, child."


    After thinking over the matter, the Prime Shadow stood up, to which John did the same.


    Two objects suddenly appeared in the man''s hands, which he handed over to John a momentter. John epted and inspected them.


    ''A Guild Seal, and a jade piece.''


    The Guild Seal was ck in color, made from some unknown metal. It was about four inches across, and one inch thick, and contained a detailed carving in the very center of the Mark of Death statue he had seen in the Guild before. Surrounding the small carving were countless runes, more numerous than he could count, and moreplicated than he could understand.


    "That Seal is the highest Seal of the Guild, which gives you unrestricted ess to everything in the Guild, no matter how secretive. Archives, resource vaults, training rooms, mission halls, and more. All will be avable for you to enter if you present that Seal" the Prime Shadow said, his words surprising John slightly at how great its value was. "It also serves as a long-rangemunication disk, so all you need to do is send your Qi into it, speak words, and I will hear them. I can also speak back to you, so it''s quite nifty.


    As for the jade piece, it contains battle arts and movement arts I think would suit you well. These arts are contained in the Guild Library, some in restricted sections. You can peruse the entirety of the library at your whim, but do find the arts I have listed within first."


    John stored the items away, knowing that both were incredibly valuable.


    "Thanks," he said, smiling with appreciation. The Prime Shadow was truly going all out to ensure his growth was as optimal as possible.


    "Now, I have some things I need to take care of over the next few weeks, so I won''t be avable much before the start of the Dao Tournament," the Prime Shadow said. "So take your time, explore the Guild, and do what you can to improve your strength as much as possible before the tournament starts. If you have any questions, you can reach out to me through that Seal, or you can send your Qi into that jade piece as well. As long as you do so within the Guild Headquarters, it will alert a Grandmaster, who wille to your assistance."


    John fell silent for some time, awed at just how much the Prime Shadow was doing for him. He thanked the Prime Shadow once more, then left the room through the small transportation formation in the corner of the room. The transportation formation had settings for many different parts of the guild, and John selected the Library, then activated the formation.


    sh!


    He appeared a momentter near the Guild Library, hopped off his transportation tform, and walked towards its entrance. The surprised look on the gray-robed Archivists guarding the library entrance hinted that they was not used to someone activating that particr formation.


    The guild members streaming in and out of the library also looked at him with peculiar expressions. John ignored the looks and walked towards one of the Archivists who stood at the entrance of the Library.


    "What floor do you want to ess?" the Archivist, a woman who appeared to be in herte twenties asked.


    "The Saint Grade Archives," John inspected the contents within the jade piece and then answered, noticing that the Prime Shadow had suggested he start there.


    "The Saint-Grade Archives?" the woman nearly belted out with surprise, her words drawing looks of surprise from those nearby who heard her. "That area is restricted to all but the-"


    Her words cut off as John took out the Seal and presented it to her. She took the Seal with wide eyes, inspected its authenticity, then handed it back to him, a stunned look on her face.


    "Follow me," she said a short whileter, clearly trying to figure out who this youth she had never seen before was. The others nearby also looked on with mixed expressions, curious as to who exactly John was.


    John followed behind the woman and entered the library proper. A grand, sprawling library came into view, which he looked at with awe. The library was a massive chamber nearly a thousand yards long and wide, with thousands of tables in the center of the chamber. Rows of shelves stretched up over twenty yards on the perimeter of the chamber, lined with more books, scrolls, tomes and jade pieces than could be counted.


    Thousands of guild members were going about their business, selecting pieces from these shelves to study. Many sat at the tables in the interior portion of the library, studying their tomes with focused concentration.


    As he stepped further into the library, he noticed that the hollow interior stretched up for almost a thousand yards as well. Dozens of balconies appeared above, wrapping around the entire perimeter of the hollowed chamber, each signifying a floor of the library, where more countless books, scrolls and tomes were located.


    A translucent barrier of energy, like that of a formation barrier, appeared at the start of each floor, making it impossible for one to just fly up to the next floor. It was without a doubt the most information in a single ce John had ever seen, and he couldn''t help but want to grab everything and read its contents, as he had done so in his early youth before he could cultivate.


    "This way," the Archivist said, following the edge of the first floor. They eventually arrived before an open door, one that was guarded by a formation barrier. The Archivist took out a seal and pressed it against the shoulder-high formation to the right of the barrier, which deactivated a momentter.


    John followed her into the room, which had dozens of transportation formations. She walked to one in the far-right corner, then told John to hop on as well. The formation red with power a momentter, transporting them to another part of the library.


    John found himself in another room, standing before another barrier guarding the way forward. However, this barrier was much stronger than the previous one, as if it would kill him just by touching it.


    "ce your seal on that formation," the Archivist said, pointing to the formation to the side of the barrier. John pressed his seal against it, at which point a strange energy coated his body, but not the Archivist.


    "You can now enter the barrier safely," she said. "When you leave, do the same."


    With that, she left, disappearing through the same formation they had arrived in. John watched her leave, then entered the barrier. Arge yet cozy room came into view, one that seemed to bepletely unupied. Lavish tables and sofas were spread about, while hundreds of shelves held countless priceless tomes.


    John inspected the room, nodding with satisfaction.


    "Now then, time to find the two arts the Prime Shadow mentioned," he said, inspecting the jade piece again.


    "The Myriad Spatial Array¡­and the Thunder Tyrant Law."

 Chapter 1004 The Thunder Tyrant

    ?


    John entered the Saint-Grade Archives, which was the most restricted section of the guild library. Only those at the Grandmaster level and above were allowed into this archive, where the most important information of the guild was stored. It was the very top floor of the library, and wrapped around the library as the other floors did, while the open center overlooked the hollow interior of the library below.


    Due to this, there was no one else in the luxurious achieve, which gave off an ancient yet grand feeling. Each shelf was made from an ancient tree, dark brown and beyond sturdy. Ornate carvings were visible on the shelves, tables, and chairs, as if no inch of wood was left uncarved.


    The ancient wood emanated a subtle yet rxing aura, almost lulling one into a calm, meditative state. After basking in the feeling for a moment, John felt his mind yearn for information. He walked into therge room and started weaving in and out of the numerous shelves, looking at the information contained within. Above each book, scroll, tome, or jade piece, a metallic que was fixed into the shelf, giving a brief description of the contents contained within.


    Most of the information seemed to be ssified information regarding the guild, the continent, and the world atrge. While this was no doubt important information, John had no desire to read through it. His mind was focused on one thing; obtaining battle arts.


    John quickly found his way to the battle art shelves, and started to nce over those arts. While many of them sounded quite impressive, none of them truly caught his eye.


    "I''m sure these arts are amazing, but almost all of these arts deal with stealth and assassination, which makes sense as this is an assassination guild, but for me, they''re not reallypatible," he mumbled to himself.


    He would asionally pick up an art and quickly skim through it, confirming his opinions on the matter. While the arts were no doubt incredibly profound, they were not suitable for him. He eventually made his way to the works starting with the letter ''T'' and found what he was looking for.


    "Thunder Tyrant Law," he said, picking up the polished jade piece beneath the metallic que. Ayer of dust covered the jade piece, indicating that it had sat here undisturbed for millennia. John blew lightly on the jade piece, pushing the dust aside.


    The jade piece was about the size of his closed fist, and gaze off a soft, lightning-aspected aura. After obtaining the Thunder Tyrant Law, he perused for a bit longer, but didn''t find anything that caught his eye. He then made his way to the movement art section, and found the Myriad Spatial Array.


    While the movement arts were plentiful and most seemed to be quite profound, John trusted the Prime Shadows judgment, as he had selected this art specifically. Both arts obtained, John made his way to one of the reading sections of the Saint-Grade Archive room.


    This section was on one of the balconies overlooking the hollow interior of the grand library. John found a seat with a table, and ced the jade pieces on the table. He looked over the railing and stared down at the open library center below. Dozens of lower floors came into view, with many guild members going about their business on each floor.


    At the very bottom of the open interior was the space with the thousands of tables that John had seen when first entering the library. The numerous guild members looked like ants scurrying about their business, making the library feel quite alive. His gaze shifted upwards, from floor to floor, each which had a simr design.


    On the higher floors, the number of guild members seemed to lessen, with the floor below him only having six guild members from what he could see, all who seemed to be older, more powerful members of the guild.


    "The higher the floor, the more important, and therefore the more ssified the information, huh?" John mused, then shifted his focus towards the jade pieces before him.


    He picked up the closest one, the Thunder Tyrant Law, and sent his divine sense into it. As he did so, he was greeted with a variety of different information. The first thing he saw was a long description of the Thunder Tyrant, detailing his life, and the theories and thoughts regarding the martial world, cultivating, andbat.


    Reading through it, John found that the Thunder Tyrant had a very simr view of the martial world as his own view. That was that strength was everything, and only through strength could one control their destinies.


    After the description, a series of fluid, moving images entered his mind, so lifelike that it was almost as if John was standing there, watching the scene unfold in real time. A person appeared before him, a tall, muscr man dressed in a tight and clean blue robe. The man appeared to be in his forties, and had a chiseled, heroic face, topped with short blue hair. His eyes were sharp and fierce, like those of a true warrior.


    This man stared forward, jaw set, gaze fierce and defiant, as if he would fight the heavens itself if need be.


    ''The Thunder Tyrant.''


    The Thunder Tyrant hovered in the sky, thunderclouds all around him, each flickering with chaotic lightning. At first, John had assumed the Thunder Tyrant had entered a chaotic thunderstorm, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the storm had been created by the Thunder Tyrant himself. While the Thunder Tyrant''s aura was withdrawn within, making it impossible to tell his cultivation level, he could tell the storm was rted to the man, and not something natural.


    "This storm¡­it''s been created by the Thunder Tyrant, but it feels different from a battle art, or something he actively wanted to create," John mused, studying both the man and the powerful storm around him.


    After studying the storm for some time, John''s eyes lit up with realization.


    "This storm¡­it''s not a battle art, or something the Thunder Tyrant actively created. No, it''s as if the Thunder Tyrant''s very existence created the storm, as if he himself is the storm. How is that possible?" John wondered, awed by the scene he was watching and feeling.


    John had never seen something like that before, that a cultivator''s existence naturally summoned a natural phenomenon without them using their own Qi to produce it themselves. It was as if the Thunder Tyrant was an incarnation of a thunderstorm, and just his natural existence was enough for the heavens to create a thunderstorm around him.


    "Is it strength that summons this phenomenon, or a certain level of Daoprehension? Maybe both," John wondered, staring at the awe-inspiring figure. All of a sudden, the Thunder Tyrant''s aura erupted with explosive power, like a world-ending thunderstorm springing into existence.


    Explosive lightning flickered off the man''s body ceaselessly, mming onto the ground or piercing into the sky, making him look like a god of lightning. John''s eyes went wide as he felt this unique aura for the very first time, one that was unmistakable once felt.


    The aura of an Astral King.

 Chapter 1005 Ancient Battle

    ?


    John watched with awe as the Thunder Tyrant, an Astral King, exploded with power. The scene felt so incredibly lifelike, like he was actually standing before the Thunder Tyrant. The auras, the power, everything was recorded into the jade piece perfectly, allowing him to experience what it would have been like to stand before this Astral King.


    Lightning exploded off the Thunder Tyrants body, each flicker followed by a deafening p of Thunder. The sound seemed to be even louder than what lighting was typically capable of, as if it had been augmented and empowered several times over. While he was fine as the scene was just a recording, John was sure that the mere p of Thunder was enough to kill him had he really been this close to this ancient warrior.


    The thunderstorm surrounding the man churned and grew, as if invigorated by the Thunder Tyrants aura. The sky shook and ground broke as thebined might of the aura and thunderstorm broke everything around it.


    John''s eyes, wide with awe, suddenly narrowed as he spotted something. He looked closely at the Thunder Tyrants body. The parts that were not covered by his blue robe, his hands, neck and face began to glow bright blue as intricate symbols appeared on his skin.


    "Attribute runes," John said, instantly recognizing the runes. He had formed something simr uponpleting his cultivation of the Celestial Lightning Script, forming attribute runes on his skin, bones, and even meridians.


    These runes would appear and glow softly on his skin whenever he used his lightning Qi, but other than that, had never really used them for anything else. While they definitely seemed to naturally help his lightningprehension and cultivation, he had not been able to actively use them, if such a thing were even possible.


    John stared intently at the glowing runes. Some were the same as nearby runes, otherspletely unique. Each was intricate andplex, as if they were formation runes carved by the most heavenly of formation masters.


    "Runes are the indication that one has an innate attribute body," John murmured, eyes glued to the man. "While I was able to forcefully change my body into a lightning attribute body, I''ve never heard of anyone else being able to do the same. It''s most likely something unique to the Celestial Lightning Script, so I would guess that the Thunder Tyrants lightning attribute body is truly innate."


    A momentter, the Thunder Tyrants body eruptedwith even more lightning power. Powerful lightningpletely surrounded the Thunder Tyrants body, like a suit of lightning armor. Some of the lightning dove into the man''s skin, disappearing into his body.


    While John was not sure exactly what was going on, he knew one thing for sure; the Thunder Tyrant was using lightning to augment his body.


    "But this level of lightning¡­inside the body, it''s too powerful, even for one with a lightning attribute body. Only a body cultivator would be able to withstand such internal power. That, or¡­someone with a strong innate variant body," John mumbled, awed by the Thunder Tyrants talent and power.


    "He has both an lightning attribute body, as well as an innate variant body," John said, with awe. This was the first time he had met another cultivator so simr to him in nature.


    "No wonder the Prime Shadow rmended this battle art."


    John watched as the Thunder Tyrant, appearing like a warrior born of lightning, hovered in the sky, eyes forward.


    "Hmm? What''s he staring at?" John wondered, shifting his gaze towards the horizon where the Thunder Tyrant was looking.


    He saw nothing for a short while, and was starting to think the Thunder Tyrant was just showing the nature of his powers for this scene, when he finally spotted something appear on the horizon.


    "Hmm? What is that?" John wondered for a moment before a horrifying aura washed over him, drowning thend in malevolent power. A power he had felt before, a power that had hunted and haunted him. The power of an Asura.


    The dot on the horizon quickly grew, while the malevolent aura strengthened, making John feel as if were plunged into the depths of hell itself. He instinctively braced hismind and red his soul power to resist, only easing up a momentter as he realized the Asura aura was not actually assaulting his mind and soul.


    "That''s right. This is just a projection, a recording of events that happened a long time ago," he sighed a breath of relief.


    With the threat of the Asura aura gone, John watched with full focus as the Asura appeared before the man, shooting forward like a meteor of ipressible speed.


    "This must be slowed down for me, otherwise I doubt I''d even be able to see that Asura at all," John realized.


    A sh of light erupted by the Thunder Tyrant as arge halberd appeared in his hands. The shaft of the halberd was marble white, created from an unknown yet obviously precious material. The de of the halberd was blue, and seemed to flicker from within, as if lighting flowers underneath its surface.


    The Thunder Tyrant stood tall, expression defiant as the Asura sped towards him like aet. The Asura was simr to the one he had seen on his homeworld. It''s skin was dark red, like that of dried blood. It had arge, four armed body, with muscles brimming with power, a power that seemed to defy what should be possible. It''s blood red eyes glowed brightly, while its fanged maw widened into a menacing smile, as if it were a predator staring at prey it was about to ughter and devour. Four curved horns jutted out of its skull, two pointing forward, the other two pointing to each side.


    The Thunder Tyrant breathed in deeply, paused for a moment, and then exploded forward, lightning erupting in all directions as if he were the incarnation of the lightning Dao, the storm around him intensifying.


    The halberd in his hands flowed with lightning, which spun and then mmed into the Asuras massive hand, one that nearly dwarfed the Thunder Tyrant himself. The world around the two exploded, unable to withstand their power. John''s eyes wide with disbelief as he realized what was about to be shown to him.


    "I''m about to watch a battle between the Thunder Tyrant¡­ and an Asura!"


    An ancient battle, one that most likely urred during the cmitous ancient war, was about to be shown to him. An ancient battle between an Asura, and an Astral King.

 Chapter 1006 Ancient Battle Of Asura And Tyrant

    ?


    The world around John erupted into a scene of pure, apocalyptic chaos and destruction. Lightning exploded in all directions, surging into the sky, tearing space itself, and mming into the ground below, shattering and breaking itpletely.


    However, this was only the residual portion of the Thunder Tyrants attack, while the majority of his power was directed directly towards the Asura, whose palm had mmed towards the man. It was as if a celestial object was surging forward, its weight iprehensible, its might irresistible. It was as if nothing under the heavens could stop that Asura attack.


    And yet.


    Boom!


    The Asura''s hand came to a halt, while the Thunder Tyrant flew backwards through the sky, his body and movements still under his control. Despite the Asura''s overwhelming physical power, power that could shatter continents with ease, the Thunder Tyrant had remained in control of himself, uninjured by that exchange.


    He stopped his backwards momentum and floated in the sky, eyes glued to the distant Asura. John couldn''t see the man''s eyes beneath his suit of lightning armor, but just from the Thunder Tyrant''s stable aura, he could tell he was calm and collected, fighting spiritpletely ignited.


    The storm around the Thunder Tyrant continued to churn and intensify, as if the heavens itself had decided to join the battle. Ruinous lightning broke from the clouds, mming onto the Asura''s body, bathing him in a sea of lightning.


    A primal roar boomed from within the sea of lightning, the power of the roar sting away the lightning and even parting some of the thunderstorm around it, revealing the smiling Asura. Its blood red eyes were wide with bloodlust and desire.


    "Good!" it roared, its massive maw widening, revealingrge, razor-sharp bloodstained teeth. "I heard this world had a strong defender, who has ughtered every demon horde thrown his way. It seems that was the truth."


    The Thunder Tyrant remained silent, his lightning d figure brimming with a defiant, heroic aura. It was as if his posture alone was saying, ''no matter whates, I will face it head on.'' John couldn''t help but feel awe for the Thunder Tyrant, as this level of defiantposure was something not even he could im to reach yet.


    "Countless of your worlds have been stripped bare and destroyed under my might thus far, none of them giving me any sort of pleasurable battle," the Asura continued, its voice demonically deep, like the rumblings of a hellish volcano given voice. Its aura suddenly exploded, bathing the world in an even stronger malevolence, like the pits of hell had just opened up and swallowed the world.


    Despite not being affected by the aura at all, John couldn''t help but feel his instincts re with warning, as if the most terrifying creature in existence had appeared.


    "Come!" the Asura roared, fourrge double-sided battle axes appearing in each of its hands, each axe asrge as the Thunder Tyrant himself. "Show me what you humans are capable of! Give me a glorious battle! Fight to yourst breath! I can tell you are a true warrior, so you must know that only in battle can one truly feel alive! So, struggle and resist for as long as you can, so that I may drown myself in the ecstasy of a true battle to your death!"


    Boom!


    Space shattered, forming web-like cracks for miles in all directions around the Asura as it moved, unable to withstand the power of its simplest movements. The Asura, now stronger than before, appeared before the Thunder Tyrant like a ghost, its physical movements so fast that it was almost impossible for John to see it move at all.


    John knew this scene was slowed down for him, otherwise he was sure he would not be able to see either of the fighters move at all. And yet, it was still like a blur, almost iprehensible.


    The Thunder Tyrant''s body ignited with an even stronger lightning aura as he clearly pushed his power to the limit. His body seemed to be the very incarnation of lightning, while hisrge halberd spun in his hands, the de mming towards the Asura''s axes. At the same time, hundreds of lightning halberds formed in the sky around the Thunder Tyrant, each brimming with an iprehensible might.


    The halberds shed out towards the Asura as the Thunder Tyrant did with his own halberd, meeting the Asura head on once more.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    John watched withplete awe as the battle between an Asura and an Astral King unfolded before him. The two fought at iprehensible levels of speed and power, destroying everything in their path. The earth broke, space shattered, and the very world seemed to near its limits as the two fought to the death.


    The battle seemed tost for both a lifetime and an instant to John. While it felt like this, the battle had most definitely taken more than several days, perhaps as long as week with neither side faltering or seeming to run out of energy.


    The Thunder Tyrant was the incarnation of lightning, fast, powerful, unpredictable. Each and every attack of his was something beyond John''s level ofprehension in both profundity and power, something that he had never evene close to seeing before. And most amazingly of all, the Thunder Tyrant seemed to draw power from the thunderstorms surrounding him, as if the heaven''s were aiding him in battle.


    As for the Asura, as expected, it was the incarnation of a true battle god. It used no battle arts. No movement arts. No tricks. Its physical strength was its battle art. Its natural speed was its movement art. Its body was its shield. It was the truest form of power John had ever seen, something that he could only look up to with awe, and also horror. It was something that should not exist. It was something that was too strong, too impossible to fight.


    As the battle continued, the awe-inspiring Thunder Tyrant slowly but surely started to lose. Wounds were starting to add up on the Astral King''s body, while the Asura was still rtively unscathed. In a battle of attrition, the Asura was king.

 Chapter 1007 A Tyrant Never Bows

    Chapter 1007 A Tyrant Never Bows


    "Its body defense is just too strong!" John said with disbelief while staring at the Asura.


    Despite the Thunder Tyrant''s attacks being beyond powerful, it had only managed to do superficial damage to the Asura, mostly shallow cuts and some slightly charred skin. Those wounds had been healed almost immediately by the Asura''s body, resulting in the battle going more and more in its favor.


    After a long, brutal, savage battle, it eventually concluded. The Asura finally overwhelmed the Thunder Tyrant''s defenses, its axe severing one of the Thunder Tyrant''s arms. Using this opening, its battle axes disappeared, while one of its massive ws pierced forward, long, sharp nails digging into the Thunder Tyrant''s lightning armor and into his body.


    Blood spurted in all directions as the Thunder Tyrant''s body became skewered by the Asura''s ws, bringing an end to the battle. The Asura''s eyes and maw widened with obvious pleasure, as it drew the Thunder Tyrant towards him, putting them eye to eye. Despite the long battle, despite the grievous damage, the Thunder Tyrant had not uttered a single sound.


    "Are you not going to beg for your life like all the others before you?" the Asura snarled. "Come, beg for your life. If you beg well enough, perhaps I shall spare you and find use for you."


    A grunt came from the Tyrant, the first time he had made a sound. However, it was not a grunt of pain or despair, but a grunt of mockery.


    "A Tyrant never begs. A Tyrant never bows," the Thunder Tyrant said, voice firm and defiant despite his grievous situation. "A Tyrant only does what it desires, and I always get what I desire."


    "If you will not beg, then you will die." the Asura growled. "Your desires do not change anything. Your only fate is to perish by my hand. I will kill you, consume you, strip this world of life and resources, and then turn it to dust. This is to be your fate, Thunder Tyrant."


    "You underestimate the will of a Tyrant," the Thunder Tyrant scoffed, a wide, tyrannical smile appearing on his face. "My desire is to drag you to hell with me, where we can resume our battle for eternity. I have done my part. I will see you soon."


    "Done your part?" The Asura sneered.


    Boom!


    The Thunder Tyrant''s body suddenly exploded, like the destruction of a true star. The world for tens of thousands of miles became enveloped in this apocalyptic storm of lightning, nothing able to withstand its power. John was enveloped by this explosion, feeling as if the universe was truly about to end from its power. It spread and destroyed everything in its path. The nearly world-ending explosion eventually faded away, revealing a chasmous void in the world below, tens of thousands of miles wide. It was as if a celestial giant had taken a massive bite out of the world, forming a crater so deep that its bottom couldn''t be seen.


    "The Thunder Tyrant created an ultimate self-destruction battle art, converting his entire being into a singr attack, all to ensure he took down the one who could kill him...how tyrannical," John thought, filled withplete shock and awe as the explosion began to fade. The Thunder Tyrant had truly lived up to his name.


    As the explosion fully faded away, the world was once again revealed in full. Hovering above the craterous void was the Asura, still living despite being in the very center of that horrifying power.


    Its body trembled and shook, covered with grievous wounds, ones far greater than the Thunder Tyrant had been able to inflict before. Parts of its body were charred, others missing. One of its arms had been blown off to the elbow, clearly used as the primary defense against the center of the explosion. The rest of its body was better off, but still quite badly damaged.


    John stared at the Asura with wide eyes, seeing one damaged for the very first time. After a short moment of disbelief, he collected himself.


    "Even after taking that world-ending attack head on, it''s still alive? How is such a durable body possible?" John mumbled, stunned at the oue. He then shook his head, feeling pity for the Thunder Tyrant''s fate.


    "Even with such an attack, the Thunder Tyrant still failed," he mumbled, waiting for the scene to end. The Asura''s gaze suddenly snapped upwards, startling John, who followed its gaze. The Asura growled as it watched twelve figures appear from the void of space above, descending down towards the and the Asura itself.


    Twelve figures that brimmed with the might almost equal to the Thunder Tyrant. Twelve Astral Kings.


    "You have done this world, and this universe, a massive favor. You stalling the Asura for this long has allowed us to answer your world''s call for assistance, saving it from sure destruction. Your legacy will be preserved for eternity, Thunder Tyrant" one of the Astral Kings said, moving into the chasmous void below and reaching out towards an object. John spotted the object, which was a jade piece surrounded by a powerfulyer of Qi.


    The jade piece was familiar to him.


    "The jade piece of the Thunder Tyrant Law," John mumbled, recognizing its shape and aura. "It seems that the Thunder Tyrant had already recorded everything in the Thunder Tyrant Law jade piece, and this was his final addition."


    The scene then showed the twelve Astral Kings, each brimming with profound might, battle against the wounded Asura. Had the Asura not been wounded, the battle would have been uncertain, but thanks to the Thunder Tyrant''s defiant, heroic battle and final attack, the might of the twelve Astral Kings eventually overwhelmed the Asura, and for the first time ever, John watched an Asura fall.


    John''s divine sense left the jade piece of the Thunder Tyrant Law, overwhelmed with everything he had just seen. The battle he had watched, the powers he had seen, were nearly iprehensible to him, so far above his current level that he could only dream of such a realm.


    "And yet, that battle had only been one small part of the ancient war," John mumbled softly, still collecting his thoughts. The fresh memories of the Thunder Tyrant''s heroic standoff, alone against an Asura upied his thoughts for a long time. Only after several hours was he able to push the memories of that battle aside and calm himself enough to focus again on the task at hand.


    With a newfound respect for the Thunder Tyrant, John sent his divine sense back into the jade piece. He ignored the part of the jade piece containing the scenes of the ancient battle, and focused on the Thunder Tyrant Law itself.


    "Despite the countless Dao''s that exist, the Heaven''s have chosen the Lightning Dao to enact its will," John read, the words alone drawing his mind into a trance-like state, profound beyondpare. "That alone is proof enough that the Lightning Dao reigns supreme."

 Chapter 1008 Contemplating The Nature of Battle Arts

    Chapter 1008 Contemting The Nature of Battle Arts


    John read through the Thunder Tyrant Law, his mind in a natural state of heightenedprehension. The information of the Thunder Tyrant Law flooded into his mind and soul, theprehensions in regards to the Lightning Dao like a brand being seared into him. After basking in his newfoundprehensions, he focused on the Thunder Tyrant Law itself, which was both abat-based art and an essence attack art.


    The Thunder Tyrant Law''sbat art focused on augmenting the body with lightning, using both his attribute body and innate variant body to its limits. While the quality of the Thunder Tyrants body wasn''t mentioned, John was sure it was quite amazing.


    And most surprisingly of all, John was surprised to find out that the Thunder Tyrant actively used his lightning attribute essence runes to augment his power, which was something he had never heard of before, or managed to do himself. While the Thunder Tyrant Law didn''t exin it in detail, from what John could tell, each rune acted as a small amplifying formation, enhancing the quality and potency of the lightning Qi being used.


    John grumbled at theck of information regarding the essence runes. While this information may be more well known in ancient times, and even parts of the current universe, it was unknown to him.


    "I''ll need to find out more regarding how to actively use my essence runes," John mumbled softly.


    As for the essence attack art, it dealt with the creation of the lightning halberd attacks John had seen the Thunder Tyrant unleash in his battle with the Asura. Both arts were incredibly profound as well as powerful, filling him with a yearning desire to learn them both, although learning the halberd art was most likely impossible, as he did not use a halberd at all. That left only the body essence art.


    After reading through and studying the art for over a day, John finally removed his divine sense and fell back onto his chair, breathing out loudly.


    "The Thunder Tyrant was quite amazing," John said, digesting everything he had read. "Not only did he have a lightning attribute body, but he also had an innate variant body, giving him a formidable physicalbat prowess. The Thunder Tyrant Law he created used those advantages perfectly, allowing him to be a true Tyrant of lightning."


    The teachings of the art were clear and concise, and the Thunder Tyrant added his thoughts, motivations, and ideals throughout, increasing John''s impression of the man. In fact, he felt his blood grow hotter as he continued to read, as if the Thunder Tyrant was reaching through time and filling him with wondrous thoughts, ideas, and confidence.


    John ced the jade piece down and breathed out loudly, realizing he had been holding his breath for some time. He leaned back on his seat and looked up towards the ceiling above him, thoughts swirling chaotically from everything he had read and learned.


    The battle of the Thunder Tyrant and the Asura continued to rey in his mind, like a memory he couldn''t get rid of no matter how much he tried to think of something else. The Thunder Tyrant''s tyrannical fighting style still shook him, igniting his own fighting spirit.


    "The Thunder Tyrant lived up to his name in the end," John "He did what he wanted, created an amazing battle art that perfectly suited himself, and battled an Asura alone to the death, mumbled to himself, scattered gaze still looking at the ceiling above. "He did what he wanted, created an amazing battle art that perfectly suited himself, and battled an Asura alone to the death, managing to hold up until his death."


    John rocked his seat back and forth as he thought things over before sitting upright, staring at the jade piece on the table before him.


    "The Thunder Tyrant Law is amazing, and learning the body augmenting part will surely increase my battle prowess. But I do not use a halberd, and both scythe and axe are too different to use the halberd art. Tch, such a shame that I can only learn half of the Thunder Tyrant Law. It seems my weapons of choice were too unique. I should have just chosen a sword at the start." he mumbled to himself, frowning.


    A momentter, his eyes lit up with a realization, his own words sparking realization of something he had been subtly aware of for a long time, but never gave too much thought to.


    "My main weapon, a scythe, is incredibly unique, which makes finding suitable battle arts incredibly hard, and sometimes even impossible," John mumbled out loud, scattered gaze growing clearer by the second. "The same could be said for myself. Unlike others, I cultivate both essence and body. Unlike others, I have inheritances and natural advantages that are beyond heaven-defying, giving me abat prowess that defies what others think possible¡­


    Finding a battle art or movement art that fully utilizes my talents, weapon, cultivations, and everything in between will be absolutely impossible, as no one else had tread the path I walk, at least not that I''m aware of," John said before standing up. He started to pace back and forth as he thought over his unique situation, and how best to go about it.


    "The Thunder Tyrant Law is absolutely amazing, and suits me better than almost any other battle art I''ve learned thus far," John said, still pacing throughout the top floor of the library. "And while I''m sure it will be an amazing boon to mybat prowess for the foreseeable future, what happens when I reach the Astral King Realm? Will I need to discard it like the other battle arts I''ve learned, battle arts that ceased to be useful to me, and then learn a new, stronger art to rece it?"


    Myriad Annihtion Scythe


    Lightning Ruin


    Supreme Battle Body


    Heavenly Lightning Domain


    John recalled these arts and more, arts he had cultivated, and had been amazing for him at the time, but had long since faded away into uselessness.


    "Finding new, more powerful arts to learn that suited me well was easy at first, but has steadily grown harder and harder as my cultivation has increased," John said, hand on chin, his mind swirling with ideas.


    "And that trend will surely continue in the future, as the number of cultivators that have closely followed my path bes less and less. I mean, how many scythe wielding, essence and body cultivating, lightning attributed cultivators reached the Astral King Realm and beyond? My situation is far too unique, and that''s not even considering my otherprehensions, my bloodline ability, and most importantly of all, doesn''t ount for my Dragon-God Shift or Immortal Asura Body.


    All these things make my situation far too unique for me to consistently, if at all, find battle and movement arts that use the full extent of my talents. The arts I''m using right now only use a portion of what I can offer, and that will continue to be the case going forward. Now that I''ve realized all that, there''s only one solution to this problem¡­


    Like the Thunder Tyrant, who created his Thunder Tyrant Law to perfectly use all his talents to the fullest, I must do the same. I must create my own battle arts, battle arts that suit me, and me alone!"

 Chapter 1009 Divine Art Creation Scripture

    Chapter 1009 Divine Art Creation Scripture


    John felt a wave of excitement and determination rush through him, filling him with focused purpose. He rushed back over to his seat and sat down, eager to get started.


    "Now that I know my path forward, I¡­.how does one even make a battle art?" John said hastily, then stammered as he realized the error in his thoughts. A scoffed at his own stupidity and shook his head lightly.


    "While my direction is correct, I do not know nearly enough about battle art creation," John sighed, calming himself while getting a clearer picture and n on how to proceed. "I''ve only ever followed other battle arts, which clearly detail how to go about activating the battle arts. The battle arts started out rtively simple, but have be incredibly intricate andplicated, to the point that just understanding them is a task in and of itself. As for creating suchplicated arts¡­just how much effort would that take? Is this really the correct way forward?" he wondered, doubt entering his mind.


    After a brief internal debate, John shook his head, a resolute look returning to his face.


    "No, I''m sure this is the correct path forward," he said confidently. "Every battle art was created by someone, so if they can do it, so can I. I''m sure the main factor for creating battle arts is one''sprehension level, and when ites toprehension talent, I''m confident I don''t lose out to anyone.


    My self-created battle arts will most likely start out clumsy and weak, but as I progress, so will they. I''m confident I''ll eventually be able to create battle arts that grow at the same rate that I do, and because they were created for me, will be able to grow in power and profundity alongside me. No longer will I waste my time learning battle arts to fill a gap in mybat prowess, only to discard it a yearter. Going forward, my focus will be on creating and growing my own battle arts, with some exceptions here and there."


    While John was confident this direction was the correct one, he wasn''t so stupid as to think he could abandon the wisdom and powers of others entirely. When it came to heaven-defying arts like the Immortal Asura Body, Dragon-God Shift, Primordial Extermination Lightning Cultivation Technique, and Celestial Lightning Script, those were things worth focusing on as well, as they would not be useless to him anytime soon, if ever at all.


    John thought about the Divine Reaping Scythe, which naturally appeared in his mind as he thought about those other heaven-defying arts he had in his possession. He was sure the Divine Reaping Scythe was also a heaven-defying art, one that was capable of standing next to, or at least near, the other arts he had.


    "It''s just a pity I don''t have the next steps to that art," John sighed, pushing the thought aside. He sorted his chaotic thoughts for a short while, then nodded at his newly created cultivation n.


    "Going forward, the only arts that will enter my eyes, mind, and soul are my own, self-created battle arts, as well as true heaven-defying arts. I will not waste my time with anything less," John said with firm resolve, then flinched lightly as he realized he was missing one important art to that list.


    "I can''t forget about the Shadow of Death Assassination Art either. While it may not be as heaven defying as the other arts in my possession, I made an oath to bring it to the peak of the martial universe," John reminded himself of that oath.


    n created and mind resolved, John leaned forward in his chair, elbows on the table before him, chin rested on hands. His mind was resolute, but his face was scrunched up in uncertainty.


    "Now that I know my path forward¡­.how do I actually go about creating battle and movement arts?" John asked himself.


    A deep frown appeared on his face as he thought it over.


    "Do I ask the Prime Shadow if he can help? I''m sure this guild has books on how to go about making arts," he mused, frown still lingering. "But even if they do have information on this subject, will the information they have be enough for me? My path is to climb to the peak of the martial universe, and thus I will need to create arts as heaven-defying as the ones already in my possession. In order to do that, I will need to create the most stable foundation for my arts, and a stable foundation can only be achieved by perfectly cing each piece without error."


    John fell silent for a while, then sighed and stood up.


    "Oh well. Even if the guild doesn''t have the best information regarding battle art creation, anything is better than what I have right now, which is absolutely nothing," he said, taking out hismunication disk to send a request to the Prime Shadow.


    As he prepared to send the message, he suddenly felt his mind and soul slip out of his control, as if it was being sucked away to a different ce. Panic surged through him as he realized he could not resist the pull at all, as if he was being pulled by the heaven''s itself.


    That panic faded away a momentter as he found himself standing in a familiar ce, surrounded by a familiar aura. He looked forward with shocked confusion, staring at the holy aura within his pce realm; the holy aura which housed the soul of his mysterious father.


    "What¡­.did you pull me here?" John asked after recovering his wits. It was the very first time he had ever been forcefully dragged into his pce realm.


    "So, you finally discovered for yourself the true path a cultivator must take," his father''s voice filled the pce, seeminglying from every direction at once.


    The voice was calm yet firm, and was filled with an almost irresistible, God-like aura that made John instinctively want to bow. He resisted the urge, standing firmly on his own two feet, as the shock he felt of hearing his father''s voice triumphed over the urge he felt to bow.


    "It took you far longer to reach this realization of the true path than I expected," his father continued, "but then again, the world you grew up on is primitive, as are the thoughts and ideals of its cultivators. Their ignorance and naivety have stained your mind."


    "I¡­" John stammered, not sure of how to answer. He was still stunned by the fact that his mysterious father had not only pulled him into the pce realm, but was speaking to him. In this minute alone, his father had said more words to him than the previous few yearsbined. It was too sudden.


    However, thanks to the will and resolve he had steeled though trials and tribtions over the years, he quickly calmed his mind, pushing his shock aside. However, his mind still swirled with chaotic thoughts, of his father, of his mother, of everything.


    "Why¡­why did you bring me here?" John asked, firm, yet confused.


    Instead of an answer, an object appeared before John, floating in the air before him. It was a thick book, one wider than his head. It was bound by leather from some unknown beast, although the aura from the leather made it clear that it was from an incredibly powerful beast, one far beyond his scope of knowledge. The pages of the book glowed a soft green color, the same color as most jade pieces, although also more profound in quality and aura.


    John reached out and took the book. He turned it in his hand to read the cover, eyes widening as he did so.


    "Divine Art Creation Scripture," he said, reading the book title out loud.


    "This is?" he couldn''t help but ask aloud for confirmation.


    "This book contains the pinnacle of information regarding what you seek right now," his father answered. "Human anatomy, cultivation theory, dantian theory, art creation theory, essence runes, meridian theory, and more. Everything you need to begin creating your own pinnacle arts is within."


    "I¡­." John stammered with disbelief. It was far more than he could ever have hoped to obtain, and was no doubt going to be as heaven-defying as the other inheritances he had received thus far. While this book wouldn''t directly increase hisbat prowess like his Immortal Asura Body, it would no doubt be one of his most important foundations going forward. The only limiting factor burning on his mind for so long.


    "I know you have many questions," his father said before he could would be how much he could understand,prehend, and put to use.


    "Thank you," John eventually said, holding tightly onto therge book. He looked back at the holy gate, which glowed with an ethereal brilliance. Now that his father had spoken to him like this, he wanted to take the chance to ask the questions that had been burning on his mind for so long.


    "I know you have many questions," his father said before he could speak, to which John silently nodded his head. "I will not give you those answers. Not yet."


    John sighed with disappointment, although he had not been expecting another answer.


    "When you have created a battle art worthy of my attention, we will speak again. Only then will you have reached the level worthy of receiving answers. Until then, we will not speak again."


    John suddenly found himself back in the library, standing where he had been. He looked down at the book held in his hands, its profound aura enveloping him. Everything had happened so fast that he hardly had time to process any of it, and he stood there silently for quite some time, trying to grasp everything.


    After some time, he exhaled deeply, his bewildered expression reced by one of firm resolve. His father''s words of challenge still resounded loudly in his mind, igniting his fighting spirit. This was just another battle for him, and when it came to battles, he did not lose.


    "Fine, if that''s how it is, then I''ll just make a battle art so amazing that even you will be begging me to teach you," John smirked, sat down, and opened the book to the first page. It was time to get to work.

 Chapter 1010 Art Creation Theory

    Chapter 1010 Art Creation Theory


    One - Introduction to Art Creation Theory


    Two - The Fundamentals of the Heavenly Dao''s


    Three - Human Anatomy - Part One


    Four - Innate Body Types - Part One


    Five - Body Limiters & Body Cultivation - Part One


    Six - Innate Attribute Bodies - Part One


    Seven - Essence Runes Theory - Part One


    Eight - Essence Art Theory - Part One


    Nine - Body Art Theory - Part One


    Ten - Soul Art Theory - Part One


    Ten - Domain Art Theory - Part One


    Eleven - Mage Art Theory - Part One


    Twelve - Comprehensions & Comprehension Stages Theory - Part One


    Thirteen - Cultivation Realms - Part One


    Fourteen - Dantian Theory - Part One


    Fifteen - Meridian Theory - Part One


    Sixteen - Acupoint Theory - Part One


    Seventeen - Transformation Art Theory - Part One


    Eighteen - Innate Bloodline Theory - Part One


    Neen - Innate Soul Type Theory - Part One


    Twenty - Innate Eye Type Theory - Part One


    Twenty One - Weapon Art Theory - Part One


    ¡­.


    ¡­


    ..


    .


    John scanned through the pages one by one, reading the profound information within, eagerly digesting the information within. Unlike normal books, the information was not written on the surface of the page, but was contained within the jade pages. John needed to use his divine sense to read the contents within, which was nearly overwhelming in scope and detail.


    Each page of the book was made from a profound jade-like material, simr to the jade pieces most Arts were stored within. While the jade pages acted like paper, each page was able to contain as much information as an entire jade piece. He had never seen such high-quality jade before, and didn''t even know jade could be used in such a way.


    "Innate Body Types - Part One¡­Hmm, so the body types are Common, Emperor, Sovereign, Perfect, Heavenly, and Divine! There''s a Divine Body Type?!?! And a Divine Body is equal to a true body cultivator in strength and durability, without having to cultivate their body! Wow, that''s insane! Still, whenpared to my cultivated Asura and Dragon body, I''m sure an Innate Divine Body still pales inparison."


    "Essence Rune Theory - Part One¡­.so essence runes are natural formation runes created on one''s body to amplify the aspected Qi, acting like a million amplification formations, increasing one''s power of that Qi!


    And there''s multiple levels to formation runes as well, based on the innate quality of the runes! Runes are Common, King, Heavenly, and Origin Runes. While most essence runes are innate, it seems that heaven-defying arts can artificially grant a cultivator essence runes. So that''s what the Celestial Lightning Script did!


    And the limits of these runes one can create depends onprehension levels, body talent, and essence talent. Hmm, didn''t Celestial Soulrend say my lightning essence runes are Origin Runes? So, my essence runes are pretty amazing I guess, huh?


    Hmm, and it seems that there are three stages to Essence Runes. The Creation Stage, where one is either born with, or through a heaven-defying Art creates the runes. The Awakened Stage, where one has partial control over their runes and can use the runes to augment their power. And then the Perfection Stage, where one has full control over their runes."


    Page by page, John read through the Divine Art Creation Scripture, amazed by the new information he was learning. It was as if an entire universe of information had been revealed to him, answering questions burning on his mind, and giving him information regarding things he had never even thought about.


    At first, this information had been amazing to learn about, and he had been eager and excited to start creating his own battle arts, but he quickly realized the foolishness of his thoughts, as the amount of information he needed to process was truly overwhelming.


    "Gahhhhhhhh!" a loud sigh of exasperation escaped his mouth as he slumped back in his chair,pletely overwhelmed. He had been reading for nearly a day straight without pause. His mind raced and soul ached from all the information he had read over so far, and that was only the first few pages of the thick Divine Art Creation Scripture.


    John leaned back in his seat and stared at the ceiling again, letting his thoughts scatter while he recovered his wits. A whileter, focus mostly recovered, he returned his attention to the book once more, flipping to the next section. Each page seemed to be regarding a different subject, with a numerical notation afterwards.


    "Meridian Theory - Part One¡­.Amazing! So meridian pathways are essentially a living formation runework, and formation runes are the naturalnguage of the Heavens. So, by sending Qi through meridians to form these natural, living formation runes, a cultivator essentially ismunicating with the Heaven''s through their body, which allows them to use the power of the Heavens'' to create Arts.


    By altering the Qi patterns and flows within, one changes the rune, making the quantity of potential runes to be nearly infinite! And the more living runes one creates in their body at one time, the more profound and powerful the art. But the runes need to sync up perfectly it seems, otherwise the art falls apart.


    And the location of one''s meridians has a different purpose! The meridians in the neck and head are closest to the soul, and thus is where one can best infuse theirprehensions into their Qi.


    The upper torso meridians focus on strength and power, and is where one can best augment the sheer power of their Qi, and thus their battle art.


    The lower torso meridians focus on Qi stability, as its closest to the dantian, acting as the core anchoring point of the Art being used.


    The meridians in one''s legs focus on speed and movement and serves as the core of movement arts.


    The meridians in one''s feet focus agility, nimbleness, and bnce.


    dexterity, and serve as the main core of most battle arts."


    As he read through this page, John felt his mind be The meridians in one''s arms focus on fluidity, strength, and dexterity, and serve as the main core of most battle arts."


    As he read through this page, John felt his mind be overwhelmed with information again, as not only did the page detail what the meridian sections did, but it also detailed what each and every single meridian was most proficient in doing. With the tens of thousands of meridians running through a cultivator''s body, this was an overwhelming amount of information.


    The section also contained information regarding living rune theory, which was even more epassing and detailed than the section detailing the meridians themselves. It was truly a staggering amount of information to process.


    "And this is only Meridian Theory - Part One, huh?" he mumbled. "This is only the first part regarding meridian theory, and it''s already thisplicated?"


    He sighed again, not from exasperation, but from mental fatigue, and then out of curiosity, flipped through the pages to find the second meridian theory page.


    "Hmm?" John hummed with surprise as he found he could not flip the pages after a short while. The first two dozen pages were avable to him, but after that, he was unable to turn to the next page, no matter how hard he tried.


    After a brief struggle he stopped, realizing what was happening.


    "So, this is just like the Immortal Asura Tome, huh?" John said out loud, knowing his mysterious father could hear his words.


    The Immortal Asura Tome was the exact same, with more pages only unlocking once he advanced his cultivation to the next realm. Only then would it be avable to him.


    "So, is the cultivation requirement based again, or something else?" John mused, flipping to thest page avable to him. He had not yet gotten this far in the book just yet, but sent his divine sense into the page to see what it was about.


    "As a mortal cultivator bes blessed by the heavens and transcends into something greater, so too do Arts," John read the words of the page out loud, which were not art creation instructions, but something else. "Only when one has created a Heavenly Art, an Art that has been approved of and blessed by the heavens, can they proceed further."


    John withdrew his divine sense after reading the page.


    "So, that''s how it is, huh?" he said, smirking at the challenge presented before him. "A Heavenly Art huh? I''ve never heard of such a thing, but it does make sense. Some of the arts I''ve cultivated, like the Divine Reaping Scythe, the Celestial Lightning Script, the Immortal Asura Tome, the Dragon-God Shift. These Arts all have a different feeling, a different aura, than other, more mundane Arts. So that''s the blessing of the heavens, huh?"


    Feeling his fighting spirit ignited by this challenge, he dove into the contents of the book from the start again, making sure he understood everything avable to him. With his goal being to create a Heavenly Art, no detail could be missed.

 Chapter 1011 Comparing Art Creation Texts

    1011 Comparing Art Creation Texts


    "Is he allowed to request all these tomes?" a young, female Archivist asked her mentor. Arge stack of tomes, jade pieces, scrolls, and books was held in her hand as she walked through the Guild library. "Some of these tomes are the most secretive of the guild."


    Her mentor, an older Archivist shook his head lightly, also holding a simr pile in his hands.


    "He has the Seal of Authority, so he can do whatever he wants," the older Archivist said while stepping through a transportation formation. The two appeared in another room an instantter, arriving at the top floor of the Guild library. The older Archivist used his own guild seal to part the formation protecting the doors to the room, then entered. His apprentice followed behind, stepping into the most restricted room of the library.


    The room was one she could enter to deliver tomes, but could not stay in, or read the tomes contained within. Each time she entered the room she felt awe at the level of ancient knowledge contained within, feeling as if the room was a sacred archive. That inspired sanctity was instantly broken as she heard a voice snap her out of her daze.


    "Ah, you''re here, great!" John said, noticing the arrival of the Archivists. He stood up from his seat as they arrived next to hisrge table, which was covered in arge pile of books, jade pieces, and more.


    "Just set it down here," John said, smiling as he watched the pile of books and jade pieces grow once more.


    "Is there anything else you need?" the older Archivist asked tly.


    "No, that should be it for now. Thanks," John said, his focus already on the pile of texts before him.


    The Archivists shared a nce, then turned and left, returning the room to its quiet calm. John picked up one of the new additions to the pile and read its title.


    "Runic Theory: The Language of the Heavens," he read it out loud, smiling while sitting back on his seat. "Let''s see if you have anything new to teach me."


    ¡­


    Several hourster, John ced the book back on the pile before him, then picked up the next book. Several hourster, he set that one down, the picked up a jade piece that had been added to the pile. He quickly made his way through the new additions to the pile of works before him, which were all regarding the theory of Art creation.


    It had taken him a full week to read through the first few dozen pages of the Divine Art Creation Scripture, and then another full week to read through it again to make sure no information was missed or misunderstood. Upon reading through the Divine Art Creation Scripture pieces avable to him, his interest in the subject of Art creation had been fully piqued. After reading through it twice, John had left the room briefly to find some Guild Archivists to request the works they had regarding Art creation.


    Despite him being sure the works the guild had were of lower quality than the Divine Art Creation Scripture, John had requested the works for several reasons. The first was topare what the Guild had to what his father had gifted him, to see just how profound the Divine Art Creation Scripture was.


    The second was to see if there were any ideas or thoughts in the guild texts that were not detailed in the Divine Art Creation Scripture. After all, even if it was the most heaven-defying text regarding Art creation in existence, it was still bound to have different ideas and teachings than other works.


    Lastly, he had requested the texts to see if there were any teachings beyond what the Divine Art Creation Scripture had revealed to him. After all, he was only able to ess a small fraction of what was contained in the book, and thus wanted to see if the guild texts could improve his knowledge beyond what the scripture was willing to reveal to him thus far.


    As such, he had requested any texts regarding the subjects detailed in the Divine Art Creation Scripture. Runic theory, weapon theory, essence theory, body theory, meridian theory, and more. Whatever was avable to be sent to him, he requested and read, hoping to expand his knowledge on the subject of Art creation as much as possible.


    ..


    A weekter, he set down thest tome in his hands and leaned back with a deep sigh.


    "That''s thest piece the guild is willing to let me read," John said to himself, thoughts swirling with everything he had read over thest several weeks. A frown appeared on his face as he thought over the information the guild had been able to provide.


    "Compared to the Divine Art Creation Scripture, the information the guild was able to provide is beyond paltry. It''s likeparing a literary masterpiece to a story written by a child."


    When it came to scope, depth of information, theory, and more, the Divine Art Creation Scripture was far moreplete and profound than all the texts he had received from the guildbined. However, the guild''s texts were not all useless, as the less profound approach was able to give him insights that the Divine Art Creation Scripture was not able to do just yet.


    The Divine Art Creation Scripture was just far too profound in its teachings, and so the texts the guild provided were like stepping blocks for him, allowing him to gradually expand his knowledge and grasp on the subject to eventually reach the level needed to fully grasp the Divine Art Creation Scripture.


    John rocked back and forth in his seat for some time, mind deep in thought. Ideas swirled in his mind like a tempest, making him eager to start trying them out immediately. However, he couldn''t do that in the library, as it was far too dangerous to try to create battle arts in such a delicate area.


    "I''ve learned as much theory as I can for now," John said, standing up. "The next step is to put it all into practice, and start creating some battle arts. I have a few weeks before the Three Dao Tournament starts, so I should be able to piece something together in that time¡­I hope."


    With the next steps nned, John left the library room and returned to the first floor of the library. As before, the first floor buzzed with activity as hundreds of guild members went about their business. Noticing his arrival, many curious eyes locked onto him, staring with equal parts confusion and curiosity.


    As he walked towards the library exit, he noticed everyone staring at him and frowned, confused by this attentive focus on him.


    ''Hmmm? Information regarding me should have been repressed by the Guildmaster. I wonder why¡­''


    "They''re staring at you because rumors of you being able to enter the restricted top floor of the library has spread, which is a floor only Grandmasters and the Guildmaster himself can enter," a voice sounded out to his side, causing him to stop and look at the source.


    A smile appeared on his face as he looked at a familiar face, one smiling back at him.


    "Zuri!"

 Chapter 1012 Running Into Zuri

    1012 Running Into Zuri


    John smiled widely and greeted her, surprised yet pleased to run into her here. It was the first time he had seen here since entering the guild headquarters over half a year ago. She had been the one to take him into the guild, the one to set up the events that led him to meeting the Prime Shadow, who had already given him many incredible rewards and opportunities.


    Without her, none of this would have been possible, and so he felt quite appreciative towards the beautiful woman standing before him.


    "Nice to see you again, John," Zuri smiled while eyeing him up and down. A look of slight surprise appeared on her face. "You seem to have grown quite a bit since Ist saw you. Middle Dao Transformation¡­and there''s also something different about you that I can''t ce my finger on," she said with a thoughtful expression on her face, as if trying to figure out exactly what was different about him.


    John smiled and shrugged lightly.


    "I''ve had some opportunities recently," he said dismissively, as the subject of his dealings with the Prime Shadow was supposed to be secretive.


    "Opportunities huh?" Zuri mused while smiling mischievously. She leaned in close to him to whisper in his ear. "Opportunities like meeting the original Guildmaster?"


    John was surprised that Zuri had figured out the truth, but remained calm and shrugged.


    "I have no idea what you''re talking about," he coughed.


    "Hmmm, is that so?" Zuri mused smilingly while stepping back from him.


    "So, what brings you to the library?" John asked, wanting to change the subject.


    "I came to obtain some new assassination arts," she said. "What were you doing in the top floor of the library? You know, even I cannot go to that floor, despite my new rank as Shadow Master," she added, making sure to emphasize how umon it was for John to be able to enter the top floor.


    "That''s just a rumor," John coughed lightly and refused to borate further. The smile on Zuri''s face widened, and then she nodded as if satisfied with his answer.


    "Alright then. Regardless of where you''ve been thesest few months, what are you doing now?" she asked.


    "I¡­I guess I need to go outside," John said thoughtfully. He needed an open ce to practice his Art creation without fear of destroying anything valuable.


    "Outside? Why?" Zuri asked curiously.


    "I need to practice some new battle arts," John exined.


    "New battle arts?" Zuri mused, then shook her head. "Going outside isn''t really possible, at least not right now."


    "Not possible? Why?" John asked with a frown.


    Zuri looked at him curiously for a moment.


    "Ah, that''s right. You just joined the guild recently, so its natural you don''t know," she said in realization. With everything that had happened to her and John recently, it was easy to forget this fact. "The Guild Headquarters are located deep, deep underground. So deep that the only way to get outside is through the transportation formations you saw when you entered the Guild."


    "Really?" John said, then nodded his head. "I guess that''s why there are no windows whatsoever. I always wondered why that was the case."


    Zuri nodded, then continued.


    "And with the Three Dao Tournamenting up soon, the Guild has been tasked with ensuring the stability and safety of the tournament and its surroundings, at least in regards to the things taking ce in the shadows," Zuri continued. "With such an important task delegated to the guild, it''s quite busy with task assignment and resource allocations. As such, getting permission to leave the guild right now is a bit tricky to obtain."


    "I''m sure I can manage to get permission quickly," John shrugged unconcerned. One message to the Prime Shadow would be able to resolve that issue.


    "There''s no need, follow me" Zuri said smilingly as she reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his robe, then turned and pulled him with her out of the library. John looked at his sleeve which she was holding and pulling him by, then at her, a curious expression on her face.


    He didn''t pull his sleeve back, but he was surprised to see her acting this¡­close¡­to him. Zuri looked over her shoulder and noticed his expression, her smile widening as if she was enjoying it.


    "A while ago I was promoted to Shadow Master out of the blue," Zuri said, studying his face. "In fact, it happened almost immediately after your entrance trial. Did you have something to do with that?"


    "I have no idea what you''re talking about," John shrugged.


    "Hmmm¡­" Zuri hummed, her smile widening. John couldn''t help but admit that she was quite beautiful, especially when she smiled. Her long, golden hair and sculpted body only added to the allure she gave off, like a dangerous yet beautiful viper, reminding him a lot of Lilian. With both of them being roughly the same age and cultivation level, the two were incredibly simr beyond looks alone. He held her gaze, wondering what she was up to.


    "Regardless," Zuri continued, shifting her gaze forward once more while letting go of his robe sleeve. "My new rank has given me quite a few privileges, including having ess to the premium guild training grounds. I''ll take you there, and you can practice your battle arts to your heart''s desire."


    "Training grounds?" John asked, following closely behind.


    He followed her through the guild, navigating through dozens of chambers andrge hallways before eventually arriving before arge door. Zuri ced her Guild Seal on the formation next to the door, which parted for them soon after. John followed her inside and looked around. He felt himself step through a spatial formation as he did so, one that surrounded the entire room he appeared in¡­one that seemed to have no boundaries at all.


    He looked back, and could only see the door they had entered from. Other than that, the room seemed to stretch for eternity, illuminated by stars hovering above them.


    "This training room is surrounded by a powerful spatial formation, making it muchrger on the inside than the outside," Zuri said, turning around to look at him. "It''s not boundless, but as far as you or I are concerned, it might as well be. So, will this work for your training?" she asked, a radiant smile on her face.


    John looked about in all directions, and then nodded, more than satisfied.


    "Good," Zuri nodded. "So, what''s the asion for the training? Are you simply learning battle arts¡­or are you training for the Three Dao Tournamenting up?" she asked with a knowing smirk.


    "You know about that?" John asked. He had figured it would have been kept a secret. "Did someone tell you?"


    "No, but it was easy enough to figure out," Zuri said, smiling at him. "If you''ve already forgotten, I was the one to spearhead the mission to find your missingpanion. After finding her, hearing about her bet with the Sword-Saint, and knowing yourbat prowess, it was easy to figure out her intentions."


    "So that''s how it is," John nodded his head in understanding. "Oh, and thanks for finding Lilian. I haven''t thanked you properly for that yet," he added, truly appreciative of everything Zuri had done for him.


    "You can consider us even now," Zuri said while walking towards him. "You got me my promotion, and I found your friend. We can now move forward with our friendship with neither party owing a debt to the other."


    She stopped a few feet before John and eyed him up and down again, as if inspecting him.


    "That friend of yours is incredibly beautiful, by the way. She''s like an ethereal goddess, one blessed by the Heavens itself. She''s so beautiful in fact that I must say it ignited my fighting spirit, so to speak. I can see why you were so desperate to find her," Zuri said, her words surprising John at the sudden change in topic.


    "Haha," Zuriughed lightly upon seeing John''s bewildered expression, then took several steps back from him. Her aura began to grow, as if preparing for battle.


    "Come, let''s begin. I''ll help you with whatever training you need to prepare for the tournament," she said, adding a subtle wink at the end.


    A bewildered expression appeared on John''s face as he stared at Zuri.


    "Uhhhhhh¡­.."

 Chapter 1013 Zuris Teasing

    Chapter 1013 Zuri''s Teasing


    "Pffft¡­.hahaha," staring at his bewildered expression, Zuri tried to stifle herughter but was unable to do so. Her heartyughter filled the training room for a short while before she was able to reign in herughter, and wiped a tear ofughter from the corner of her eye.


    Her aura faded away as she walked towards John, chest still trembling from stifledughter.


    "Sorry, I couldn''t resist," she said, cing a hand on his shoulder. "Besides, you''re far too rigid and serious all the time. Teasing you was meant to rx you, which it seems to have done."


    John breathed a sigh of relief that Zuri was joking. His life was alreadyplicated enough as is, and her trying to throw herself into his life was only going to make it moreplicated.


    "But your reaction is no good," she said, face bing slightly more serious while shaking her head in a stern manner.


    "¡­What?" John asked, unsure what the hell Zuri was talking about.


    "Your reaction!" Zuri eximed. "I, a stunningly beautiful woman, just showed interest in you, and all you did was stare at me with mouth agape, looking stupid. Yourck of charm and confidence is staggering. You''re a handsome, well-built, heaven-defying genius, and yet you carry yourself as if you''re a nobody. You need to have pride in your status and talent, and carry yourself with a level of confident pride which you utterlyck right now. You''ll never be able to court yourpanion with thisck of self-pride, let alone charm."


    "Court mypanion? You mean Lilian?" John asked, tilting his head to the side with bewilderment.


    "Who else would I be talking about?" Zuri harrumphed while nodding. "I would snap you up for myself if it was possible, but with what I know of you, you''re going to leave this world eventually, and our paths will be separate at that point."


    John raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear Zuri outright admit such a thing.


    "Anyways," Zuri continued. "You''ll never be able to win her love with your currentck of confidence and charm. You need to be more confident, more assertive, more heroic. When you battled in the underground chamber, you disyed all those qualities to a level that I''ve never seen before, but those qualities are nowhere to be seen when you''re not battling. Only being able to bring out those attractive features when you''re locked in battle is no good."


    John stared silently at Zuri, almost unable to believe this was the topic she had decided to bring up.


    "I''m looking for her because Lilian is my master," John eximed. "She''s not my lover, nor is she someone I''m trying to court!"


    "Oh?" Zuri chimed, a surprised look appearing on her face for a moment. She remained silent for a short while, expression changing several times, then sighed lightly. "Still, I don''t believe you."


    "You don''t believe me? What did I say that''s not believable?" John asked, frowning.


    "She might be your master, but she''s also a young woman with both heaven-defying beauty and talent," Zuri said, sighing lightly. "I consider myself to be a beauty, but when I saw her, I couldn''t help but feel inferior. The Heaven''s truly aren''t fair sometimes," she said, pouting lightly.


    John remained silent, staring at her with his bewildered expression. Why was this the topic of conversation, and why was Zuri so entric all of a sudden. Was she always this way, and John just didn''t spend enough time with her to find out this side of her.


    "Anyways," Zuri said, shaking the pouting expression from her face. "Let me ask you this then. Yourpanio¡­your master, is an incredible beauty, and will no doubt have suitors lining up to court her. Even the Sword-Saint has gone to such lengths to obtain her for his son, an even if you win the tournament and stop that forced marriage, there will be nock of suitors lining up to win her heart afterwards¡­and in the end, she will pick someone."


    "What''s your point?" John asked, still frowning.


    "She might be your master, but would be you fine with watching someone else win her love, and obtain her hand in marriage? Surely you would be jealous, no?" Zuri asked, a sly smile on her face.


    "Why would I be jealous?" John grumbled. "Her love interests have nothing to do with me."


    "No?" Zuri said musingly, then leaned forward, whispering softly in his ear. "So, when another man wins her love, you''re fine with the thought of someone else taking her, a beauty that would make the Heavens tremble with envy, to bed and¡­."


    John''s calm thoughts started to swirl with Zuri so close to him, as well as the picture she was painting of Lilian. He had never once thought of her in that way, but with Zuri forcing his thoughts to go there, he couldn''t help but feel his mind swirl with new, chaotic thoughts.


    Zuri pursed her lips and breathed over his ears, adding to the sensation of the picture she was painting in his mind.


    "That''s enough," John said, taking a step back while pushing Zuri lightly away from his ear. Zuri obliged and took a step back, a smile reappearing on her face as she stared at his expression.


    "Your face is quite red," she said in a teasing manner. "Clearly your thoughts on the matter aren''t as cut and dry as you initially considered them to be."


    "Shut up," John grumbled, "I came here to train, not talk, especially not about this subject."


    "Fine, fine," Zuri waved her hand dismissively. "I''ll bury this subject for now. So, let''s get to the training then. What do you need? A sparring partner?"


    John sighed a breath of relief, shaking the chaotic thoughts from his mind and regaining his former calm.


    "I''m trying to create my own Battle Arts and Movement Arts," John exined.


    "You want to create your own Arts?" Zuri asked, slightly surprised. She nodded her head in understanding a momentter. "With your unique talents, I''m sure finding suitable Battle Arts is quite difficult. Making your own Arts is the sensible thing to do."


    "Have you created your own Arts?" John asked curiously.


    "I''ve dabbled in Art creation before, but haven''t made anything was finally getting to do what he hade to the training grounds for.


    special. The Battle Arts avable for me to learn are more than enough for me, and my situation is not unique enough to warrant creating my own Arts," Zuri said, shaking her head. "But I''m sure I can still be of help to you if that''s what you want to do. I happen to be quite knowledgeable in runes and formations, so I can help with that aspect at least.


    John nodded his head, a satisfied smile appearing on his face. He was finally getting to do what he hade to the training grounds for.


    "So do you have anything in mind?" Zuri asked curiously.


    "Not the exacts, but I have an idea of where I want to start," John said. "The first Arts I''d like to create is a Movement Art, as well as a few essence Battle Arts."


    "Well then. Let''s get to work, and create some Arts that make even the Heavens envious," Zuri smiled.


    "Let''s," John nodded.

 Chapter 1014 Leaving The Training Grounds

    Chapter 1014 Leaving The Training Grounds


    As the weeks flew by, the buzz surrounding the Three Dao Tournament grew swiftly, bing the focus on almost every cultivator''s mind. It was a tournament that only happened every three years, and was where the foremost geniuses of the human race were able to disy their talents, and make a world-shaking name for themselves.


    Those who did well received both fame and rewards beyond theirprehensions, while those who did not faded into obscurity. A high cement from a genius could propel its sect into the limelight, raising both its status and power in a single tournament, and it thus received the full attention even from those who were not battling, such as sect leaders and parents.


    It wasn''t an exaggeration to say that the Three Dao Tournament was the most important event to happen on the human continent, one that every single cultivator looked forward to with overwhelming anxiousness and excitement.


    ¡­


    Three weekster, a figure stepped into the training grounds, eyes glued to the scene before him. He watched silently as space twisted and lightning crashed about, nodding his head in approval several times.


    "Ahem," the figure coughed lightly, but the sound seemed to carry the weight of mountains behind it.


    The training grounds fell quiet as John and Zuri stopped what they were doing and looked towards the source of the sound.


    "Grandmaster," Zuri said respectfully, quickly appearing before the Grandmaster and bowing her head in respect. The Grandmaster nodded at her, then shifted his gaze to look at John who was talking over as well.


    "Grandmaster," John nodded respectfully. The Grandmaster had been the one to bring him into the Guild Headquarters, and John had nothing but respect for the elderly man.


    The Grandmaster nodded back.


    "How has your training been?" the Grandmaster asked curiously.


    John shared a nce with Zuri for a moment, then looked back to the Grandmaster.


    "It''s been alright," John shrugged. "Making a battle art is much harder than I thought it would be, but I''ve made some decent progress at the very least."


    "He''s being far too modest," Zuri said, giving John a sideways nce. "The battle arts he''s created in thesest three weeks are good enough to be recorded and submitted to the guild library for use by others."


    "Is that so?" the Grandmaster said, smiling at John.


    "They''re decent, but they''re far from what I''m aiming for," John shrugged. "It''s going to take quite some time for me to create the quality of Art I''m hoping for."


    "No cultivator has ever created a heaven-defying battle art with the snap of their fingers," the Grandmaster said. "Such things take time, even for the most genius of cultivators. Do not rush the process because it''s not going as fast as you would like. That will only lead you to failure."


    John nodded his head in understanding, and thanked the Grandmaster for his wise advice.


    "What have youe here for?" Zuri asked. "Is it time to leave?"


    "It is," the Grandmaster nodded. "The Three-Dao Tournament starts in a week, so it''s time for us to depart."


    "Us?" John asked curiously, looking sideways at Zuri. He knew he was going to enter the Three-Dao Tournament, but ording to the Prime Shadow, the Guild did not usually enter the tournament themselves. He also knew about the security the guild was offering for the tournament, but those assigned to that mission had already long since traveled to the tournament grounds.


    "You thought I wouldn''t tag along?" Zuri asked, eyebrow raised.


    "While I will be the one escorting you and Zuri to the Yang-Dao Sect, Zuri will be your personal security for the duration of the tournament," the Grandmaster exined.


    "Personal security?" John asked, giving Zuri a skeptical look. He was just as strong as Zuri, if not stronger, so the arrangement made no sense to him.


    "What? You don''t think I''m strong enough to protect you?" Zuri asked, eyebrow still raised.


    "It''s not that. It''s just¡­" John replied.


    Her questioning gaze turned into a satisfied smile as she she saw John fumbling for a non-insulting reply.


    "We don''t expect anyone to make a move at the tournament," Zuri said, "but it''s better to be safe than sorry. While I might not be an improvement to your situation when ites tobat prowess, I am much more experienced with operating in the shadows, including finding others in sneaking in the shadows before they attack."


    "I guess that makes sense," John nodded his head, not arguing against the arrangement.


    "Besides," Zuri added, a sly smile appearing on her face. "With me near you at all times, yourpanio¡­I mean your master, is sure to get jealous. So you see, I''m doing you a favor," Zuri winked at him.


    John groaned and rolled his eyes, opting to not reply to her teasingments. He followed the Grandmaster out of the training grounds, eventually arriving in the mission hall at the center of the Guild. The group walked past the mission boards in the center of therge chamber, which John couldn''t help but look at curiously.


    "There''s been more assassinations?" John asked, noticing more information posted regarding Tier Three and even Tier Two sect leaders, vice-sect leaders, and other important figures being assassinated in recent months.


    Zuri''s usual cheery expression faded away, reced by one of brooding anger. She nodded her head, and John noticed her clench her fists tightly, fists trembling with rage. She was no-doubt thinking of her father and siblings, who had been killed in the wave of assassinations.


    "The Phantoms of Death have been making more movestely," Zuri said, grimacing with fury. "We''ve killed many of their members, but more seem to pop up every day."


    "It''s bing quite troublesome," the Grandmaster nodded while walking ahead of the two of them.


    The group fell silent as they navigated through the hallways and chambers of the guild, eventually arriving at the formation room at the entrance of the guild.


    "The Prime Shadow is waiting for you at the Yang-Dao Sect," the Grandmaster sent John a sound transmission as they stepped onto one of the formation tforms, which lit up with formation energy shortly after. "Apparently he has some gifts for you."


    sh!

 Chapter 1015 Yang-Dao City

    Chapter 1015 Yang-Dao City


    John felt himself pulled through space for a short while, longer than he initially expected. The multi-colored chaos of space blurred by them as they traveled through the connected tunnel of space, moving towards the other end of the formation connection.


    ''Thankfully transportation formations shield us from the spatial chaos. Otherwise, moving this fast through spatial chaos would be quite painful, if not fatal,'' John mused, watching the multi-colored chaos fly by.


    Itsted a few seconds before he found himself standing in a different room, indicating they had traveled tens of thousands of miles in that one jump, or perhaps even a hundred thousand miles or more.


    He looked about, finding himself in a mid-sized chamber. The chamber had the same gothic design as the rest of the Shadows of Death Guild, and had no windows to be seen at all. Dozens of other guild members were visible, either guarding the entrance to the room, or controlling the roughly dozen or so transportation formations themselves.


    ''Still underground, huh?'' John guessed.


    With the Guild Headquarters underground, the only way to get into it was through the transportation formations spread throughout the continent such as the room he found himself in. These rooms were also underground, and were no doubt well hidden and guarded. With such a careful arrangement, it was no wonder the guild was able to endure for tens of thousands of years.


    "Here," the Grandmaster said to John, who noticed the Grandmaster and Zuri standing on another nearby tform already. He moved to that formation, which activated after the Grandmaster nodded his head towards the gray-robed Archivist controlling the formation.


    sh!


    After another few seconds, John again found himself standing in an underground room, one almost identical to the one he had been in. As before, he and the others moved to another transportation formation, which then activated.


    sh! sh! sh!


    The group jumped through a half-dozen transportation formations on their journey, with each jump being shorter than thest. Thest jump hadsted about a second before they appeared in another room, indicating they had only traveled about ten thousand miles or so, or so he thought.


    "We''ve arrived," Zuri said, hopping off the tform after the Grandmaster.


    ''Six jumps¡­at least several hundred thousand miles, perhaps more,'' John mused, turning to Zuri as he hopped off as well.


    "How far have we traveled?" he asked her curiously, "and just how expansive is the guilds transportation formationwork?"


    "The Yang-Dao Sect is several million miles away, but I don''t know the exact distance," Zuri said, to which John feltplete awe.


    "Three million, eight hundred thousand miles, approximately," the Grandmaster said without looking back.


    "Almost four million miles!" John eximed,pletely shocked by this.


    He had figured it to be a million at most, but it was nearly four times that amount. His shock was not only because of just howrge the Human Continent on this was, but also because of how far the formations had taken them. He had based the distance traveled based on his homeworld formations, but clearly these formations were of a higher level, able to transport them farther in less time.


    "Just howrge is the Human Continent?" John asked Zuri as they walked towards the exit of the room. He had a map of parts of the continent, but didn''t know the scope of the entire thing.


    "Hmmm¡­.ten million miles across, I think?" she said, a thoughtful look on her face.


    John opened his eyes wide with awe, stunned by the sheer size of this world. He had known it was a farrger world than his own when he had crashed down to it over half a year ago. It''s size had been mind-blowing, but he had not realized just how mindblowinglyrge it was.


    Just the Human Continent alone was over ten timesrger than the Divine Martial Continent, and there was still the Beast Contient, Devil Continent, and Continent of War, all which were of roughly equal size.


    ''This world is toorge,'' John couldn''t help but think as he followed Zuri through the exit.


    They appeared in a wide tunnel, one lit with light formations embedded into the walls. The tunnels were smooth and cleanly carved, and contained countless formations, both visible and invisible. He followed the Grandmaster, snaking through the tunnels for quite some time.


    Based on the formations he could see and feel, an enemy getting through these tunnels was next to impossible, as the defensive and offensive formations would ughter them mercilessly. That wasn''t even considering the formations he couldn''t see or feel, which he was sure existed.


    "This ce is well guarded," John said to Zuri.


    "Of course it is," Zuri replied. "All the critical transportation nodes are well hidden and well guarded, as they have a direct line to the guild headquarters.


    John nodded his head, then silently followed the Grandmaster through the tunnels. Quite some timeter, they arrived at a staircase that led upwards. At the top of the stairs was a simple door, which surprised John at its simplicity. The Grandmaster opened the door and stepped through, followed by Zuri then John.


    John felt himself step through a formation as he did so, and then looked back as the door closed behind him, slightly surprised as he noticed the door vanish from his sight, hidden by an illusion formation.


    He then looked at the room he entered, which was several dozen yards wide and tall, and was made from some sort of stone. The room was rather empty, seeming to be used as simple storage, with only a door on the other side of it. The group walked through that door and entered another simple room, somewhatrger in size. There were several tables, couches, and other furniture in this room, at which several guild members sat. They were talking to several World Expansion cultivators who were wearing fiery orange robes, the image of a zing sun on the back.


    ''They''re clearly not from the guild,'' John mused, studying the powerful cultivators. Each felt like they were stars made human, burning with an intense yet contained energy. ''Yang-Dao Sect cultivators!''

 Chapter 1016 Awe-Inspiring City

    ?


    The three male cultivators in fiery orange robes seemed to burn with power, as if their existence was fire and strength. They all had short orange or red hair and appeared to be in their thirties, although their true age was much higher.


    They were discussing something with the guild members, who paused their conversation to nod respectfully at the Grandmaster who had entered. The orange-robed cultivators nodded as well, to which the Grandmaster returned the greeting.


    The group returned to their discussions, which John overheard some of it. It was pertaining to the security surrounding the Yang-Dao Sect, and the findings the Guild had regarding any movements in the shadows, from the Phantom of Death guild or others.


    John followed the Grandmaster and Zuri through the next set of doors, finding himself standing in arge room. The room had pills, weapons, scrolls, jade pieces, and more on disy, and was bustling with activity. John looked about with a curious expression, not expecting to find himself in what appeared to be a shop of some sorts.


    "This building acts as a front for our Guild, allowing us to enter Yang-Dao City through the formationwork below unnoticed," Zuri whispered to him as they walked through the busy shop towards its front entrance.


    John nodded thankfully as he stepped through the entrance of the shop, stepping onto a wide street several hundred yards wide, a street buzzing with so much chaotic energy that it almost felt like a battlefield. Thousands of cultivators moved in both directions, while a loud cacophony of discussion flowed through the air.


    Hundreds of shops were immediately visible, with most of them having bright, eye-catching formation signs out front, indicating what they were selling. Pills, weapons, battle arts, cultivation arts, herbs, maps, flying ships, and more. Everything one could want was apparently avable to obtain here.


    The street seemed to be tilted, as if it was built on a gradual slope. John looked down the street, noticing it stretched downwards for dozens of miles, as if the city had been built on arge, slightly sloping mountain. More buildings than he could count came into view, each grander than thest. The style of the buildings seemed to be passionate and vibrant, as if they were inspired by fires and mes. Instead of the rigid, angr designs he was used to seeing, the buildings were unique in their design, the exterior bending and flowing like mes.


    Looking at the city, it was as if millions of multi-colored mes dotted thendscape, like an ocean of fire. Even from his limited viewing angle, it was no doubt thergest city he had ever been in, and also one of the grandest.


    He then turned his gaze up the sloping street, towards the top of the massive mountain the city was no doubt built upon. The city stretched gradually upwards for another fifty miles, with the designs of the buildings bing grander and more exotic.


    Most eye-catching of all was what he could barely make out at the very top of the city, seemingly at the peak of the gradually sloping mountain. At the very top was a massive dome that surrounded whatever existed at the top of the mountain; a dome made of powerful pure-yang mes.


    The dome zed with an awe-inspiring power, surprising John that it didn''t incinerate the city from its mere existence.


    Zuri smiled at John''s stupefied expression, then patted him on the shoulder.


    "Wee to Yang-Dao City, the home of the Yang-Dao Sect."


    "Amazing, isn''t it?" Zuri asked.


    John silently nodded his head, still taking in the awe-inspiring views.


    "I reacted the same as you when I first came here," Zuri said. "The city is incredible, perhaps the most eye-catching on the entire continent. Only the Mage-Dao Sect can hold a candle in my opinion."


    John silently nodded again. He couldn''t attest to the Mage Dao Sect, but definitely agreed that the city was incredible.


    "I have matters to attend to, so you can guide him from here," the Grandmaster said to Zuri.


    Zuri nodded, then bowed her head slightly in respect as the Grandmaster stepped into the street and moved with the crowd, disappearing a momentter.


    John watched the Grandmaster leave, then took in a long, deep breath. The Qi in the air seemed to be zing with powerful yang energy, making him feel a fiery, energetic power wash through him with each breath.


    "Don''t absorb too much Qi too quickly," Zuri said. "The Qi here is thick with Yang energy, and absorbing too much directly can cause your body to heat up to a point that it destroys itself. Only those who cultivate Yang energy, like the Yang-Dao Sect can directly absorb the Qi here without caution. The rest of us need to focus on neutralizing the Yang energy in the Qi before absorbing it."


    "I''ll be fine," John said, smiling with satisfaction. His body, a lightning attribute body, was one of the most yang-attributed bodies in existence. Breathing the Qi here felt not only refreshing, but invigorating. It was like each breath instilled him with fiery energy, making him want to battle to expend it.


    "Ah, that''s right. You cultivate the Lightning Dao," Zuri said, remembering John''s talents. "I guess you''ll feel right at home then."


    John nodded his head as he took another deep breath while activating his cultivation technique, pulling the nearby Qi into his body without concern. A small tempest of rushing Qi flowed into him, startling the passersby by the sudden change. They looked at John with confusion, then shock, as they noticed him pull in so much of the Qi at once.


    "You can cultivateter," Zuri said, then grabbed John''s arm to pull him into the crowd. John begrudgingly undid his cultivation technique and let Zuri drag him into the busy street, moving upwards towards the dome of fire in the far distance.


    As they moved through the busy street, John listened to the various conversations of those around him. While the conversations ranged from selling wares to current news, everything was rted to one topic; the uing Three Dao Tournament.

 Chapter 1017 Nine-Petal Yang Lotus

    ?


    John continued to follow Zuri through the busy streets, hopping from street to street until they arrived on the widest one yet. The street was over a half-mile wide, and seemed to carve its way from the outer rings of the city to the fiery dome up top unbroken. The buildings lining the street were also grander, not only in the building size and quality, but also the quality of the items they were selling.


    The shop owners and attendants shouted loudly regarding their wares, shouting about how their powerful weapons and battle arts would help any youthful entrant do well in the tournament. Others promised pills that would instantly raise one''s cultivation, resulting in a better tournament performance.


    While the shop owners hawked their wares, the cultivators in the street, both old and young alike, talked almost exclusively about the tournament as well. Rumors on entrants, youths bragging about how they qualified for the tournament and would make a name for themselves, elders and parents bragging about their children to others, and how they would shock the world with their performance, predictions on who would win each age bracket, and more.


    John listened to the passing discussions curiously, as almost everything regarding the tournament was new information to him. As they made their way up the city towards the dome, the quality of shops and items being sold increased, soon reaching a level that even made John pause with curiosity, and even some desire to obtain.


    He ignored them as Zuri kept dragging him along, not giving the shops a second nce.


    "Are all the buildings in this city merchant shops?" John couldn''t help but ask, as he noticed that despite walking up the street for over twenty miles, he was still surrounded by nothing but shops selling various things.


    "No," Zuri shook her head. "The city is divided into four districts. The Merchant District, the Housing District. The Sub-Sect District, and the Forging and Formations District. Each district upies about a fourth of the city, and stretches unbroken from the edge of the city to the Yang-Dao Sect at the top. We just happen to have our hideout established in the Merchant District, is all."


    "I see," John nodded.


    He followed Zuri silently for the remainder of the journey, opting to listen to the discussions of the passerbys. The conversations were varied and interesting, but there were two topics that were not only the most frequently discussed, but were also directly rted to him.


    "So, do you think Ji''Han will win the Dao Transformation bracket this year?" John heard an excited youth ask his nearby friends.


    The group of youths were around his age, and were walking up the city streets towards the Yang-Dao Sect, allowing him to follow their conversation for some time. They all had Heaven-Tribtion cultivations, indicating they were not the cream of the crop when it came to youthful geniuses.


    "He should win," another youth said, "but there''s also Jaxus of the Yang-Dao Sect. He lost to Ji''Han three years ago in the finals, but the rumors are he''s made incredible gains since, and is iming he''ll win the tournament this year."


    The other youths nodded at this assessment, and added their opinions as well. John heard several names thrown around as potential victors, indicating there were quite a few geniuses to take note of.


    "Of course he''ll win," a girl of around eighteen years of age said, her expression scattered as if daydreaming of Ji''Han. "Not only is the most talented genius of thest tens of thousands of years, but he''s also the most handsome."


    "Stop daydreaming about Ji''Han," a male youth rolled his eyes. "You''re not even close to being on his level. Besides, there''s that marriage that his father, the Sword-Saint announced. Once he wins the tournament, he''ll be married to a heavenly beauty beyondpare."


    "That bet isn''t just for him," another youth added. "Apparently the heavenly beauty agreed to marry however wins the Dao Transformation bracket."


    "Is she really all that?" the girl harrumphed with displeasure. "Surely she''s not that amazing."


    "Are you serious?" one of the male youths said mockingly. "The Sword-Saint himself has gone all out trying to get her to agree to marry Ji''Han. She''s obviously amazing, and from the rumors I''ve heard, not only is her beauty the real deal, but her talent is on the same level as Ji''Han."


    "What? Really? Then howe we haven''t heard of her before?" the girl asked skeptically.


    "Who knows. We''ll find out more when the tournament starts, I guess."


    The group of youths veered off down a side-street, their conversation drowned soon after. John nced at them then back at Zuri, noticing they had finally arrived at the top of the mountain before the dome of fire. The city buildings suddenly stopped, leaving a mile-wide gap between the city and the dome of fire itself.


    John stared at the massive dome of fire before him with awe. Its size was muchrger than he had initially guessed. It was over twenty miles wide, and almost equally as tall. It roiled and zed with an overwhelming power, like it was a true star. Its power was more than enough to destroy John where he was standing, but the zing heat of the dome seemed to be contained by some sort of formation, making it not affect the surrounding area. However, John was sure that if that formation failed, everything would be destroyed for thousands of miles.


    "What could create such an overwhelmingly powerful dome of pure yang mes?" John asked Zuri, voice tinged with awe.


    "In the heart of the Yang-Dao Sect is the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus. It''s one of the most heavenly treasures in this world, and is the source of the fiery dome you see before you. Its existence is the sole reason the Yang-Dao Sect is one of the Three-Dao Sects ruling this continent."


    A fiery desire burned in John''s chest as he heard this, his natural lust for powerful treasures taking over.


    "I want it," John couldn''t help but say.


    Zuri nced at him andughed, shaking her head as if John was an idiot.


    "Don''t even think about it," she said sternly. "Not only would you be killed by the Yang-Dao Sect before reaching the lotus, not even the Yang Sovereign is strong enough to take the lotus without perishing. You? You would be incinerated by its power the moment youid eyes on it."


    Zuri saw John''s expression remain unwavering, and shook her head silently as if she was dealing with a true idiot.


    "Come on, let''s go," she said, moving forwards towards the arched entrance in the distance. "I''m not sure who, but there''s someone waiting for you in the Yang-Dao Sect. I''m guessing it''s the ''long-dead'' first Guildmaster I''m not supposed to know about."


    John stared at the dome of fire raging before him, then followed behind Zuri. He breathed in deeply, drawing in the Qi around him, forming a small tempest of Qi. The Qi burned with yang energy, filling him with a fiery, energetic heat.


    "I could get used to this!" John said, a heated expression appearing on his face as he thought about the battles toe, and the battle with Ji''Han.

 Chapter 1018 Nirvana Gambling Hall

    ?


    The wide roar before them stretched towards the dome of fire in the distance, and ended at its base. Where the road met the dome of fire, an archway in the fire was visible, allowing for passage into the dome withouting into contact with it. A long line of thousands of cultivators stretched out from the entrance, almost to where John was currently standing.


    "Looks like quite a few people are trying to get entry," he said, frowning. A line this long could take days to get through depending on how fast the entry rate was.


    "Don''t worry," Zuri said, giving him a sideways smile. "The Guild has its perks. We won''t have to wait like the others."


    John nodded with relief and stepped forward to follow Zuri.


    "Make way for the Saber-Dao Sect''s Saber King," a voice shouted out behind him.


    John turned his head, spotting arge group of white-robed cultivators walking nearby. The group of cultivators were in the Dao Transformation Realm, with three World Expansion experts at the front leading the way.


    Each cultivator radiated a strong saber Dao aura, with the strongest auraing from the pnquin carried by the center members of therge group. The pnquin was ratherrge, several dozen yards wide and long, and was carved from a marble-like stone, pure white in color. Detailed carvings of saber-wielding cultivators covered the outside of the impressive looking pnquin.


    The group passed near John, uncaring of the people before them. The people in the way hastily scrambled to the side, narrowly dodging the procession. The Saber-Dao Sect group briskly passed by, moving past the long line towards the archway in the distance.


    They arrived a short momentter and were permitted immediate entry, disappearing within the wall of mes.


    John raised a questioning eyebrow as he turned to Zuri, who stood beside him.


    "Saber-Dao Sect?" he asked.


    "A subsect of the Sword-Dao Sect, and one of the strongest Tier Two Sects on the continent," she exined. "As for the Saber King, he''s their most talented Dao Transformation Genius."


    "I see," John nodded, understanding who the source of the aura within the pnquin was. "Quite a shy entrance."


    "The Saber-Dao Sect has always been like this," Zuri said. "shy and overbearing. Come, lets continue."


    John nodded, then followed Zuri towards the Yang-Dao Sect. As he walked, he overheard some conversations from the people in the line. Some were talking about the overbearing nature of the Saber-Dao Sect, some about the Saber King, and one conversation about cing bets on the Saber King.


    "I ced a bet at the Nirvana Gambling Hall for the Saber King to ce top one hundred," he overheard a middle-aged man say.


    "That''s a pretty bold bet," a nearby cultivator replied. "But I''ve heard he''s made great strides since thest tournament, so it''s possible."


    The first man nodded, an expectant smile on his face. "If he does ce top one hundred, I''ll be rich."


    John''s footsteps slowed down as he thought of an idea. Zuri turned to look at him with a questioning expression.


    "Do you want to win a mountain of spirit crystals?" he asked, a sly smile appearing on his face.


    "Hmmm? How?" she asked.


    "Have you heard of the Nirvana Gambling Hall?" he asked curiously.


    Zuri looked at him with a straight expression for a moment, then smiled widely in realization. Her eyes seemed to light up with a brilliant sparkle, as if she had just heard the best news possible.


    "Haha, you''re a genius," she said, turning around and grabbing his arm, pulling him back into the city. "Why didn''t I think of this! I''m going to be rich!" she eximed as she raced back into the city.


    John was dragged along like a kite in the wind, as if Zuri had forgotten he even existed. She raced through the streets of the city, bumping others aside without concern. A momentter she stopped, and John finallynded back on his feet, giving her a frowning look. She ignored it as she stared at the building in front of them.


    John looked at the building, which was one of thergest buildings he had seen in the city thus far. The building stretched up for a thousand yards, glowed with a brilliant multi-colored hue, as if the entire building was a glowing formation. The building looked like a hundred-tiered pagoda made of fire, its walls waving from side to side as it rose to a pointed top.


    The walls were not actually moving, but the shape and the changing multi-colored lights gave the illusion that it was, making it quite eye-catching.


    Arge staircase a hundred yards wide led up to the building''s entrance, which was buzzing with activity. Thousands of cultivators were flowing in and out of the building every minute, while conversations of bets ced, and other simr topics passed him by as the cultivators moved around him.


    Above the entrance was a glowing multi-colored sign more eye-catching than any he had seen before.


    ''Nirvana Gambling Hall.''


    "How trustworthy is this ce?" John asked after studying the building. Zuri''s answer would determine how much he was willing to wager.


    "The Nirvana Gambling Hall is the foremost gambling business on the continent, and one of the wealthiest powers," Zuri said. "Their entire business model depends on them being honest and fair, and I have never heard of them cheating anyone out of their winnings, no matter the size."


    John nodded his head with satisfaction, as his bet was going to be arge one.


    "Come," Zuri said as she pulled John into the building, pushing past the crowds surging both ways.


    After entering the building, a massive, open room hundreds of yards wide, long, and high greeted them. Therge room was intricately detailed, with statues of both humans and beasts carved with so much detail that they appeared to be alive. Fountains were scattered throughout the room, spewing water into the air, forming various shapes from the streams.


    Beasts, items, battle scenes, and more. It was all so luxurious, startling John who had never seen anything close to this. It was as if this room embodied the Daos of Luxury and Wealth. The room was buzzing with the conversations of thousands, each going about their business. Some ced bets at tables scattered about, while others talked to attendants of the Hall. Others lounged at the various bars visible throughout, enjoying drinks as they discussed the uing tournament.


    The entire floor was alive with activity, so much so that even John felt himself get drawn into the excitement of it all.


    "May I help you?" a well-dressed man, appearing to be in histe thirties, approached them. He wore a suit-like outfit, and had an early Dao Transformation cultivation. He addressed Zuri first, as she had the higher cultivation of the two.


    "We''d like to ce some bets on the Three Dao Tournament," Zuri said, getting straight to the point.


    "Very well," the man nodded. "First, how much would you like to wager?"


    "Is there a limit to how much I can wager?" John asked.


    The attendant looked at John, his expression as if he heard the dumbest question. He refrained from speaking his mind, and shook his head lightly.


    "No, there is no bet limit," the attendant said, his tone as if he considered John''s question to be a useless one.


    "Good," John nodded, then handed over a spatial ring to the man. "Then I''d like to wager this amount."


    The attendant took the ring, gave John a skeptical nce, then inspected the contents of the ring. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he saw the mountain of wealth contained within, then handed the ring back to John.


    "Apologies for my rudeness earlier," the attendant said apologetically. "I had no idea you were a man of such wealth. Please, follow me."


    John nodded, satisfied with the treatment, then followed the man through the room. Zuri nced curiously at John, then the ring in his hand.


    "How much are you going to bet?" she asked.


    John handed her the ring to inspect, and after doing so, her eyes bulged in a simr manner to the attendants.


    "How¡­.how did you manage to collect this much wealth?" she asked, mouth agape. "Just this much is more than I''ve earned in my entire lifetime, multiplied many times over."


    John shrugged, a satisfied smirk on his face.


    "I got lucky I guess."

 Chapter 1019 Entering The Yang-Dao Sect

    Chapter 1019 Entering The Yang-Dao Sect


    "How much are you going to wager?" John asked Zuri as they followed the attendant through the busy main floor, moving towards the back of the room.


    "Not nearly as much as you," Zuri sighed, defeat in her voice.


    The attendant led them to a guarded door in the back of the main room. After being let through by the guards, he saw dozens of transportation formation tforms in the room. The attendant stepped onto one, and after John and Zuri did so as well, it activated.


    They instantly appeared in another room and followed the attendant out. An expansive garden, almost closer to a vibrant forest came into view, although they were still definitely in the building, as the walls and ceiling were of the same type as the first floor.


    A pathway led through the forest, which the attendant led them on. They followed behind, moving through the garden. Tranquil rivers flowed by on both sides, while the chirping of birds and other animals added to the serenity of it all.


    A short whileter, they appeared on the other side of the garden. An expansive open area came into view, one filled with luxurious furniture, statues, fountains, and more. At the far end of the room was a massive windowpane, which overlooked the entire Yang-Dao City. The sight was breathtaking.


    John noticed a middle-aged woman sitting on one of the chairs near the window, looking out over the city.


    "Vice-Leader Shai," the attendant said, bowing his head respectfully. "These two havee to ce a wager."


    "Hmmm?" the woman said, standing up and turning to look at John and Zuri. The woman had long brown hair which was tied up in a fashionable bun, and wore a silky red and yellow dress. The dress clung tightly to her curves, which were quite prominent. Her face was attractive and alluring, giving her a mature charm. She had a pipe in her hand, and was smoking something that had a sweet and intoxicating aroma.


    Lastly, her cultivation was in the Late World Expansion Realm, seemingly on the cusp of reaching the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm.


    "How much are you wagering?" the woman asked as the attendant gestured for John and Zuri to give him the spatial rings. He epted them, then walked over to the woman, handing her the rings. She inspected them, raised an eyebrow, then looked back at them.


    "What are your wagers?" she asked, voice silky and smooth.


    "We''d like to bet on the Three-Dao Tournament," Zuri said.


    The woman took a puff of her pipe, eyes glued to the two of them. She breathed out, exhaling the smoke, then sighed ever so softly.


    "How unexpected," she said, as if bored by the topic. "What is your wager then? Ji''Han to win? Or perhaps Jaxus? Or do you want to wager on the other cultivation brackets?"


    "None of those," Zuri said, shaking her head lightly. "We want to bet on someone else."


    ¡­


    John and Zuri left the Nirvana Gambling Hall and continued back towards the Yang-Dao Sect. A calm expression was on John''s face, while Zuri looked slightly uneasy.


    "I know you''re strong, but Ji''Han and the others are also monstrous freaks," Zuri said as they walked. "And there''s also the rules of the tournament. I haven''t exined them to you, but you''re going to be at more of a disadvantage than you realize. You should have made a safer bet. You should have made the bet I wanted to make, and only bet on you cing in the top ten."


    John looked tly at Zuri, then smirked.


    "It doesn''t matter what my disadvantages are," John said, shrugging nonchntly. "I will win regardless of what''s thrown at me. You spoke of pride a few weeks ago, and myck of having it. Isn''t this what you wanted?"


    "That was different," Zuri grumbled. "That was regarding women, notbat."


    John shrugged again.


    "You''ll thank me when I win this tournament," he said, then shook his head. "It''s just a shame I wasn''t able to bet on myself directly. Still, the bet we have in ce should earn us mountains of high-quality spirit crystals nheless."


    "It''s just the way the Nirvana Gambling Hall operates," Zuri said. "No one knows who you are, so if a massive bet was ced on an unknown person, and then that unknown person won, everyone would feel cheated by the Nirvana Gambling Hall, feeling as though they colluded with you, which would be a blow to their reputation. However, with the bet we ced, it''s essentially the same thing without naming you as the victor directly.


    The amount we wagered is so great that the Nirvana Gambling Hall will create a separate betting pool for it, with other gamblers able to take the opposite side of your bet, hoping to win a piece of what we wagered. Countless people will see our bet and think it ispletely stupid, so the amount of people taking the opposite bet will not be small. As long as you win the tournament, we''ll both win a staggering amount of wealth."


    John nodded his head, smiling at the wealth he already considered to be his in the near future. Vice-Leader Shai had not been willing to ept his wager to bet on himself to win the tournament. This had surprised John, as he figured she would think it to be impossible for him, aplete nobody, to win the tournament.


    However, she was apparently more discerning than she let on, and had refused the bet. She had however agreed to establish a new betting pool for a simr bet, of which they would take a small percentage of the total spirit crystals bet on the pool.


    Vice-Leader Shai had agreed to establish a new pool where the bet was that none of the top ten ranked Dao Transformation participants would end up winning the tournament. This included names like Ji''Han and Jaxus, which were the two geniuses almost everyone thought would be the victor in the end.


    As a result, the odds of this pool were greatly in his favor. With the skewed odds, as well as the staggering amount of spirit crystals he crystals at this betting pool to get a share of the spirit crystals he had wagered.


    had ced on his side of this bet, there would be no shortage of gamblers taking the opposite side of his bet. They would consider his wager to be nonsensical and would throw countless spirit crystals at this betting pool to get a share of the spirit crystals he had wagered.


    John inspected the formation disk Vice-Leader Shai had given him, which contained details within that would automatically update. Things such as betting amounts, shifting odds, and so on were recorded within, allowing him to get a real-time update on his bet.


    John put the formation disk away, then followed Zuri back towards the Yang-Dao Sect. Now that his bet was ced, all that remained was to win the most important bet of all; Lilian''s bet with the Sword-Saint.


    The two arrived back where they had been originally and walked past the long line of cultivators trying to enter the Yang-Dao Sect for the tournament. John heard grumbling voices as he passed them by, voices protesting their ability to cut the line, but paid them no heed.


    They quickly arrived at the base of the dome of fire, which was even more overwhelming and awe-inspiring up close. The dome roiled overhead and to both sides, burning with a star-like intensity. However, that intensity was contained by some sort of formation, making both the heat and brightness of the dome manageable.


    Zuri spoke with several of the guards for a moment, then presented a metallic seal. The guards inspected the seal, then nodded, gesturing for them to enter. John followed Zuri through the arched opening in the dome of fire, which was thicker than he imagined, at least one hundred yards thick.


    After walking through the fiery entranceway, the Yang-Dao Sect came into view as they appeared on the other side. John''s eyes went wide with awe as he looked at the view before him.


    "Impressive, huh?" Zuri said, smiling at his expression. "Wee to the Yang-Dao Sect. One of the three strongest sects on the continent, and the ce where you will make your name known throughout the world!"

 Chapter 1020 The Yang-Dao Sect

    Chapter 1020 The Yang-Dao Sect


    As he stepped through the arched entrance, the Yang-Dao Sect finally came into view, no longer obscured by the dome of fire.


    He had been expecting the sect to be above him, continuing up the mountainside as the city outside did. That was not the case. Instead, before him was a massive caldera, like the mouth of a enormous fifty mile wide volcano in which the sect was built in.


    The walls of the caldera stretched upwards several dozen miles, and met perfectly with the dome of fire, making the interior look like a massive sphere, half of fire, half of earth.


    Dozens of rivers of moltenva flowed down from where the dome met the earthen walls, flowing down to the basin below. The rivers collected in ake of scorchingva, atop which the Yang-Dao Sect was built.


    Thousands of pirs of rock and metal pierced into theke of magma, providing anchor points for the sect. Built atop the pirs was the sect itself, which was equally as eye-catching as the magmake itself.


    The sect was made up of twelve enormous buildings, each dominating a portion of the caldera. Each building was unique in designs. One building in the very center of theke was thin and tall, piercing into the sky almost to the top of the dome of fire. Another was several miles wide and spherical in shape, like a massive ball, perfectly polished. Another was half submerged in theke, the top half zigging and zagging in random directions, like a strange geometric pattern.


    The buildings were linked up by an intricatework of bridges that stretched all over theke of magma, like twelve organs connected by aplicated series of veins and arteries. Tens of thousands moved about on the bridges, appearing like ants from this distance. With the pulsating heat of theke below causing the very air to shimmer, the sect almost appeared to be alive.


    In the air above the sect hovered three massive flying ships, each several miles long. They were thergest ships he had ever seen, and also the grandest.


    The ship closest to him, about a dozen miles before him and overhead, was fiery red in color, with yellow and orange trimmings that looked like mes. A fiery heat seemed to naturally emanate from the ship, which was wider at the end and narrower at the tip, and almost appeared to be designed to look like a massive me.


    The ship in the far distance to his right was dark purple in color, with blue and white trimmings designed to look like runes. The runes covered the exterior of the ship, giving it the illusion of being a massive formation itself. It wa rather blocky in its design, appearing like a long, narrow block than a ship.


    He shifted his gaze to the third ship on the opposite end of the sect. The ship was the most eye-catching of all, as it looked exactly like a massive marble-white sword, onerge enough to be wielded by a titan-god. The back end of the ship looked like a sword handle, one back and gold in design.Looking at the ship made his mind feel as though it would be pierced by a sword at any moment.


    ''No mistaking who that ship belongs to.''


    John studied the ships for a while, then peered down at the sect from his vantage point on the edge of the caldera, taking in the tournament," Zuri exined. "While the Yang-Dao Sect doesn''t need to bring out their ship, it''s done as a matter of pride. Can''t let breathtaking view.


    "The ships are used as housing for the Three Dao Sects,


    Everyone else is housed in the sect itself for the duration of the tournament," Zuri exined. "While the Yang-Dao Sect doesn''t need to bring out their ship, it''s done as a matter of pride. Can''t let the other sects show off without showing off yourself, right?"


    John nodded his head, only now realizing that he was standing at the middle of the entrance. Hundreds walked by him each minute, giving him a nce as if he was a bumpkin. These people had no doubt seen the Yang-Dao Sect before, and were used to the sights.


    The youths walking by, some around his age, some younger,ughed softly while looking at him. The group all wore red robes, embroidered with a ming bird symbol. They had to move around him to get by, which had obviously annoyed some of them.


    "Tch, making us move around him while he gawks like that. Must be his first time here," one youth said to their fellow sect members, obviously annoyed by this minor inconvenience.


    "I don''t recognize his robes, so he''s obviously not from a strong Dao Sect. He must be here to watch instead of participate, so entering a sect like this must be a first for him. How sad his life must be," another said, thenughed with the group.


    John looked at the group with a t expression, carefully studying their faces. He had an eyebrow raised, as if surprised by how petty, and also stupid these youths were.


    The two who had spoken seemed to be the oldest, appearing a few years older than him. However, their auras indicated they were mostly likely a few years older than they appeared, closer to twenty three or twenty four years of age. It was always difficult to tell a cultivator''s exact age by appearance alone, as once one reached the Heaven Tribtion Realm, physical aging slowed down considerably, and only got slower as ones cultivating progressed.


    Their aura''s were slightly red, like colorful birds waving their wings to get attention, revealing their Late Dao Transformation cultivations. Their haughty attitudes indicated they were most likely from a Tier Two sect.


    "Huh? What are you looking at me like that for?" The youth who had mocked him said, a look of displeasure on his face. "Do you not know who I am?"


    "Am I supposed to know who you are?" John asked, tilting his head to the side in a questioning manner. "You don''t seem that impressive to me."


    While their cultivations were one minor realm higher, they were most likely four or five years older as well. Compared to someone like Ji''Han, who was a half-step World Expansion cultivator at twenty two years of age, these youths were majorlycking.


    A flustered look appeared in the youths face, who quickly started walking over towards John. John smiled and weed the approach. It had been a while since he embarrassed a haughty ''genius'', which was something he thoroughly enjoyed doing.


    "Come, it''s not worth the trouble," Zuri said, cing a hand in John''s shoulder to pull him down the pathway towards the Yang-Dao Sect.


    The youth stopped as he noticed Zuri, whose cultivation, as well as apparent age gave him pause. A young World Expansion cultivator like her was no doubt a genius, and might not be one he could afford to offend.


    John turned around, ignoring the youth.


    "You better not be entering the Dao Transformation bracket," the youth called out from behind. "Or I''ll make sure you regret those words."


    John simply waved over his shoulder without looking back, his nonplussed attitude further flustering the youth.


    John smiled as he started walking down the long bridge that led to the sect below. He could already see the horrified and pleading face of that youth if they ran into each other during the tournament.


    "Ahhhh," he sighed with satisfaction. "I forgot just how much¡­fun, tournaments can be. I''m thoroughly going to enjoy this."

 Chapter 1021 Yang-Sphere

    Chapter 1021 Yang-Sphere


    John followed behind Zuri, who clearly knew where she was going. A main bridge led towards the sect below, sloping gradually downwards for a dozen miles before reaching the closest building. The bridges were several hundred yards wide, allowing for many cultivators to traverse it in both directions. While most were entering the sect, asionally some walked opposite his direction to leave the sect.


    The bridges were made of a smooth ck stone of unknown origin, in which detailed carvings covered the walkway, forming a ceaseless image of battles, beasts, mountains, valleys, stars, and more across the entire bridge. The rails of the bridge were lined with ornate statues, each statue the same; an exquisite depiction of a nine-petalled lotus. Thousands of them lined each side of the bridge, which John could also spot in other, distant sections of the sect.


    Clearly the Yang-Dao Sect paid homage to the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus in more ways than one. He and Zuri walked leisurely towards the sect below, the bridge leading to arge, open courtyard. The courtyard was half a mile wide on each side, and was filled with thousands of people.


    Within the crowd was nearly a thousand Yang-Dao Sect members, wearing the fiery red, orange, and yellow robes of the sect with the image of a star on embroidered. Looking closer, John noticed the faint image of the nine-petal lotus within the star, something he had missed before. The Yang-Dao Sect members were mostly youths in their teens and early twenties, who were acting as guides for the neers, ushering them to the correct locations.


    A youthful girl around fifteen or sixteen years of age stepped up to John and Zuri, wearing the clothing of the Yang-Dao Sect. She had long ck hair, emerald eyes, and gave off a fiery, energetic aura despite having it withdrawn. She was rather pretty, although still immature in both facial and body features, making her more cute than pretty.


    She had an early Heaven-Tribtion cultivation, and smiled at the two of them, eyeing them up and down for a moment, her eyes lingering on John''s face for a moment, cheeks going rosy red, before nodding her head in a self-satisfied manner.


    "No doubt at all," she said to them. "The descriptions match perfectly. You must be Zuri, and you John," she said, pointing to each of them.


    "Uh huh," John nodded, wondering how the girl knew their names.


    "Alright, I didn''t screw this up," the girl said with passionate excitement, pumping her right fist up and down several times in celebration.


    John and Zuri exchanged a bewildered nce before looking back at the girl, who finally realized she was acting strange. She rubbed the back of her head in an embarrassed manner while smiling wryly at them.


    "Sorry," she apologized, waving her hands all about her. "I''m kinda forgetful all the time, so I tried extra hard to not screw this one up. I was sent here to guide you to your lodgings. Elder Truefire gave me this task personally, so I made sure to not screw it up."


    "I see," John said, while Zuri stifled a smallugh. Clearly she was amused by this girl.


    "No worries," Zuri said, taking the girl''s hand in a friendly manner. "We''re here now, so you can guide us to where we need to be now."


    The girl''s eyes lit up as she stared at Zuri.


    "Wow, you''re so pretty," she said to Zuri, eyes going wide as if bewitched by her beauty. "And also so strong. I had no idea you would be this amazing when I was assigned this task."


    Zuri smiled and nodded her head several times, clearly satisfied by the praise.


    "What''s your name?" Zuri asked as she walked with the Yang-Dao Sect girl.


    "Naelia," the girl replied.


    "Naelia. I like that name," Zuri said with a nod. "Well you can call me big sister Zuri from now on."


    Naelia''s eyes lit up again, then she started rambling about Zuri again. Praising her several times more, before talking about herself, the Yang-Dao Sect, and everything in between. She talked fast and without pause, her words drowning out with the crowd around her and Zuri as John watched them walk into the distance, seemingly forgetting about him.


    He sighed and shook his head, then quickly caught up, following the two through the sect. He stayed several paces behind, doing his best to ignore their endless conversations. Naelia nced over her shoulder at John several times throughout their conversations, then spoke in a hushed whisper into Zuri''s ears.


    "He''s so handsome. Is he your boyfriend?" he heard her ask Zuri.


    John rolled his eyes at the girl''s naivety. Cultivators had excellent hearing, and her whispers were easily audible. Zuri smiled and gave a quick response, which John ignored as he looked at the sect as they walked through it.


    The sect was even more impressive up close, as was the atmosphere permeating through it. They walked over one of the bridges over theke ofva, which he peered over the side down into. Theva roiled with explosive power, asionally shooting up and mming into a formation that red to life.


    "So that''s how they keep theva from burning everything and everyone," he mused. "Makes sense."


    A formation barrier seemed to cover the entireke ofva, which was powerful enough to gravely injure or even kill him should he fall into it. Without the formation barrier keeping theva and its heat down there, no one other than World Expansion and Holy Manifestation cultivators would be able to walk through the sect without being killed by the heat. As he peered into theva, he felt a faint aura of something far beneath theke. The aura was almost imperceptible, but he was able to faintly feel its aura, profound and powerful.


    ''Is the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus down there?'' he wondered for a moment, before turning to catch up with the two girls. He followed as they navigated through the sect, crowds of Yang-Dao Sect members and cultivators of other sects streaming by in both directions.


    They eventually arrived near their destination ording to Naelia, which was the massive obsidian sphere. The sphere was several miles wide, and was perfectly round and smooth. Not a single blemish could be seen, as if it was carved from the most wless of material. It was a lustrous stone, or some unknown metal, although he couldn''t tell which from looking alone.


    The sphere hovered over theke ofva, only connected to the rest of the sect by four bridges, one connecting to each quadrant of the sphere. The bridge before him climbed upwards for several hundred yards, then extended horizontally for several hundred yards more before reaching the massive sphere.


    Thousands streamed over the bridge towards the sphere, their excited discussions drifting in the air. Naelia led them onto the bridge and towards the sphere. Upon arriving at the end of the bridge, an archway several hundred yards tall and wide greeted them. Swirling formation energy covered the arched entrance, obscuring vision into the sphere.


    "The tournament arena is within the Yang-Sphere," Naelia said. "Follow me."

 Chapter 1022 The Arenas Electric Atmosphere

    Chapter 1022 The Arena''s Electric Atmosphere


    Naelia conversed with several Yang-Dao Sect guards out front, then led John and Zuri into the sphere. As he stepped through the barrier, John felt the familiar tinge of the spatial Dao, as if space was bending and twisting. The formation was not a transportation formation, but merely seemed to alter thews of space.


    John found himself in arge hallway of obsidian, which stretched forward for several hundred yards. Small glowing formations hung in the air above, appearing like nine-petalled lotuses giving light to the hallway. He continued to follow Naelia and moved with many other entrants through the hallway.


    Bright light shone from the other side, which he arrived at a short whileter. He stepped out of the hallway and onto arge obsidian colored tform, one that stretched to both sides, clinging to the walls of the sphere, like walkways that wrapped around the entire interior.


    Before him, an expansive scene came into view, onepletely breathtaking. The space before him was not several miles wide, but several hundred miles wide. A world teeming with forests, mountains, rivers,kes, valleys, volcanoes,kes of fire, cities and more appeared before him, as if it was a true world of its own. Only the walls of the obsidian sphere enveloping the entirend revealed that it was a spatial realm, and not another space in the real world that they had been transported to.


    Clouds hung in the sky, thend illuminated by an artificial sun that hovered at the very top of the massive spherical space. In the very center of the vibrantnd was a massive building, easy to spot despite it being over a hundred miles away.


    The building itself was roughly one hundred miles wide, a dozen miles tall, and was circr in design when looked down on from above. Even from this distance, he could faintly hear roars of celebration, as if millions were in that distant building, crying out in unified celebration.


    "Impressive, huh?" Naelia said, appearing next to John with a satisfied smile on his face.


    John nodded his head, still taking in the breathtaking view.


    "This ce is used as training grounds for my sect, and also serves as the tournament area for the Three Dao Tournament," she said, then beckoned him to follow her. "It''s even better once you enter the arena."


    "I bet it is."


    John and Zuri followed Naelia as she walked down the right side of the tform that circled the sphere. The tform was several hundred yards wide, and nearby the entrance was a series of transportation formations, each controlled by a Yang-Dao Sect member.


    Naelia hopped on thergest of the formations, which several hundred other cultivators already stood on. The cultivators ranged from eager youths ready to watch the tournament or even join it, to elders guiding their sect geniuses to the tournament grounds. The designs and colors of the robes the cultivators wore were varied, indicating there were representations of dozens of sects and ns on this formation alone.


    Excited discussions of the youths and elders alike filled the air, joining together to form a chaotic mess of excitement. John and Zuri hopped on as well, while more continued to gather on the formation until it was rather crowded.


    The Yang-Dao Sect member controlling formation then activated it, transporting the ground to another location. John looked about the room he instantly appeared in, which was arge room several hundred yards wide and long. The room contained several other formation tforms, although theirs was still thergest.


    He and the others stepped off the formation, which shed a short whileter as another group was taken to this ce. He followed Naelia into a hallway, one which was several hundred yards wide and tall. The hallway stretched outwards to both sides, the ends unable to be seen. Lotus shaped formations hung in the air, illuminating the hallway which was buzzing with activity.


    Thousands moved through the hallway in both directions, while shops, bars, restaurants, lounges, and more were visible on both sides of the hallway as well. Detailed statues, carpets, and other furnishings lined much of what he could see, giving the ce a grand and luxurious feel.


    Formation screens appeared in many locations. They were visible in the hallway itself, spaced every few hundred feet, as well as in front of the shops and restaurants, as well as within them. The formation screens seemed to be showing a battle of some sorts, which the eyes of many were glued to, their discussions regarding the battle they were watching.


    John followed Naelia down the left side of the hallway, which had more shops, restaurants, and other sources of entertainment. John raised his eyebrows in surprise as he heard moaninging from a nearby entrance, one that was only covered by beads hanging down from the top of the entrance.


    Scantily dressed woman stood outside, beckoning for passersby to follow them inside. It was thest thing he had expected to see at a tournament arena, although everyone else seemed to consider it rather normal, paying it no heed at all.


    "The Yang-Dao Sect is a very¡­.passionate sect," Zuri said, noticing his surprise. "They embrace fiery passion in everything they do, frombat, to¡­.that."


    John peeled his eyes away from that ce, shaking his head with disbelief, and continued to follow Naelia who walked just ahead of them. A short whileter, a cacophony of roaring cheer sounded out from a side-hallway, catching John''s attention.


    He peered down the hallways and spotted an open area on the other side, one filled with cheering people. He branched off from Naelia, moving down that hallway instead.


    "Hey," Naelia called out, startled by his branching off. She quickly rushed to catch up to him. "Your lodging is this way."


    John ignored her, his attention focused on the electric scene before him. The hallway had led to the stadium proper, which was absolutely massive. The circr stadium was around one hundred miles wide and a dozen miles tall. Seats stretched out from the base of the arena all the way to the top, which were upied by millions upon millions of roaring, cheering people.


    It was like a living ocean of humans, shouting out in excited unison. The atmosphere of this ce was absolutely electric and irresistible, causing John''s blood to heat up with excitement as well. This tournament was unlike anything he had experienced before.

 Chapter 1023 Impressive Battle Between Youths

    Chapter 1023 Impressive Battle Between Youths


    John''s location was roughly half-way up the stadium, which continued to stretch out high behind him and down before him. Countless formation screens hovered in the air in the near distance, each depicting the same scene; a battle being fought between two youths.


    Boom!


    A loud boom sted out, causing John to look down towards its source. The stadium surrounded an absolutely massive arena, one a hundred miles in diameter. Unlike normal, t arenas, this arena was filled with small mountains, natural rock formations, valleys, rivers, volcanos, rivers andkes ofva, and more.


    The explosion of fire was around twenty miles in the distance, atop one of the mountains within the arena. The explosion faded, revealing two youths battling it out. One was a young girl with long golden hair, dressed in a pure white robe, holding a thin marble white sword in her hand.


    The other was a boy around her age, who had a zing aura of fire enveloping him. Both of them were in the Late Meridian Forging Realm, and both were currently battling one another. Hundreds of flying swords danced in the air around the girl, while a tempest of me and destruction surrounded the boy.


    John watched as the battle continued, which raced over the mountain out of sight for a moment. He peered up at therge hovering formation screens in the near distance, which continued to show the battle take ce, allowing for a ceaseless viewing experience.


    As he watched the formation screen, he noticed that images of the two youths were depicted on opposite ends of the screen. Above the images of the two youths were their names, their cultivation levels, ages, and the sect they belonged to.


    Unsurprisingly, the girl belonged to the Sword-Dao Sect, and the boy the Yang-Dao Sect. John looked below the images of the two youths, noticing more information on the screen beneath the images.


    The images contained various statistics and details which he had not expected to see. Labels and gauges depicted things such as their Qi values, stamina values, and even their health values.


    Those gauges seemed to show percentage ranging from maximum to empty, and changed as the battle went on, revealing they were giving live updates on the condition of the two youths. The gauges also contained numbers next to them, quantifying those Qi values, stamina values, and health values,


    Comparing the two youths, the girl had higher Qi values, but lower stamina and health values. The boy was more robust, having higher health values, but had a slightly lower absolute Qi value.


    Below that was even more information, which contained a circr talent chart. The chart included Qi quantity, Qi quality, speed, constitution, stamina, battle arts,prehensions and more. The values on each category were filled in from the interior circle to the edge of the talent chart, with values at the edge indicating higher talent in that category. The girl''s talent chart was quite impressive, with her speed, Qi quantity, Qi quality, and battle arts near the maximum, while the rest of the values were still quite high.


    The boy had near maximum constitution, stamina, andprehension values, with the others a bit lower but still impressive. It was the first time John had ever seen something like this, which was basically a quick snapshot of a cultivator''s true talent level andbat prowess.


    ''How are they doing all this?'' he wondered, shifting his gaze downwards to the battle as the two youths appeared in the distance once more.


    The crowd roared with deafening excitement as the battle unfolded, millions of cheers and boos mixing together. The two youths continued to fight, using impressive battle arts and disying genius level talent. John nodded his head approvingly, as these two youths would have been absolute pinnacle geniuses on his homeworld.


    A wave of flying swords shed out towards the youth as the girl took advantage of an opening. The swords pierced into the youth''s flesh, tearing wounds into his body. The crowd gasped and cheered, while John noticed the youth''s health gauge drop dramatically.


    An explosive aura sted outwards as the boy''s power red with incredible intensity, seemingly to prepare an all-out attack as ast, desperate measure. The youths Qi guage dropped to near zero as a ball of fire, like a miniature sun, appeared above him and crashed towards the girl.


    The flying swords in the air turned towards the ball of fire, mming into it, slowing its descent. At the same time, a massive glowing sword appeared behind the girl, formed from her Qi. Once full formed, the sword shed down towards the ball of fire, battling against it for a brief moment before cleaving it in half.


    The cleaved ball of fire exploded with destruction power, some of it sting against the girl, but most of it exploding out to either side of her. Wounds covered her body as she braced against the explosion, but she seemed to still have decentbat prowess despite the wounds. At the same time, the st expended the massive sword image''s energy, which faded away.


    Che!


    The girl''s body shed, instantly appearing before the exhausted Yang-Dao Sect youth. Her sword rested against his neck, their eyes locked together. The boy, exhausted and wounded, gritted his teeth, staring silently at the girl who demanded his surrender.


    No words came from his mouth, and instead he fell backwards, copsing to the ground unconscious. Silence filled the arena for a brief moment before an absolute storm of cheers and boos sted from the crowd, filling the entire hundred-mile-wide arena with an electric, undeniable energy.


    A man suddenly appeared next to the youths, dressed in the Yang-Dao Sect robes. He appeared to be in his fifties, had short ck hair, and had a strong, muscr body. His cultivation was in the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm, and his aura, while withdrawn, made those looking at him feel as though they were looking at a star.


    He looked at the boy on the ground, then to the girl who still stood firm. He nodded his head approvingly, then called out, voice filling the entire arena.


    "The winner of the Three Dao Tournament Meridian Forging Bracket: Terisa of the Sword-Dao Sect!"


    Inspired by everything he had seen, John joined in on the cheering and pping, a smile forming on his face.


    "This is going to be fun!"

 Chapter 1024 Jade Podium

    Chapter 1024 Jade Podium


    A momentter, arge, ck stele appeared in the sky above the Elder. It was dozens of yards long and wide, and emanated an ancient aura. Countless names were etched into the stele, which at the top read ''Three Dao Tournament - Meridian Forging Victors''. The Elder waved his hand, at which point a new name was etched into the stele.


    The Sword-Dao Sect girl looked emotionally at her name appearing, while John narrowed his eyes as the long, countless list of names. Two names prior was a name he recognized.


    Ji''Han.


    The stele hovered over the arena for a moment, while the crowd cheered again. After the wave of apuse, the stele disappeared, vanishing into thin air.


    A short momentter, another cultivator, a middle-aged woman in the Late World Expansion Realm appeared. She wore the Yang-Dao Sect clothing, although instead of a robe, it was a flowing dress of red and orange, the skirt which seemed to dance like real mes.


    She appeared next to the Elder, holding in her two hands an object which she seemed to hold with reverence. She handed the object to the Elder, who nodded his thanks, then turned and waved his hand outwards.


    An object of pure jade appeared before them, glowing with an emerald-green brilliance. It was a ten-staged podium, the highest tform in the very center, the other nine tforms tapering to either side. A number was carved below each of the ten tforms, from one at the top tform, to ten at the lowest. The podium was quiterge to be made out of what appeared to be pure jade, with each of the ten tformsrge enough for a person tofortably stand on.


    As the podium appeared, John noticed eight other youths move towards it, appearing from a tunnel on the side of the arena. The crowd cheered as the youths appeared, roaring with another round of celebration.


    The youths moved towards the podium, while the Sword-Dao Sect Girl and Yang-Dao Sect boy did so as well. Both had received a quick dose of healing energy from a skilled healer, returning them to a rtively healed condition.


    The youths said some words to the Elder and the woman, then each hopped on one of the ten tforms, with the girl and the boy upying the one and two numbered podiums.


    ''Their ranks, no doubt. So, these were the top ten Meridian Forging youths, huh?'' John mused, noticing that only one of the youths did not wear the clothing of the Three Dao Sects.


    There were four Sword-Dao Sect youths, three Yang-Dao Sect youths, and two Mage-Dao Sect youths. Only one of the youths, the tenth-ce youth, wore different clothing, no doubt belonging to a strong tier two sect.


    Each youth was handed a spatial ring, most likely filled with the rewards of the tournament. They graciously epted them, then stood tall, as if waiting for something. After all the rings had been handed out, the Elder ced his hand against a portion of the jade podium, which suddenly red to life with vibrant formation runes.


    glowing. The youths seemed to embrace the energy, some closing their eyes as if a state of enlightenment.


    The runes lit up and covered the entire podium, which began to emte with a marvelous and profound energy a momentter. The energy enveloped the youths, making them appear like they were glowing. The youths seemed to embrace the energy, some closing their eyes as if a state of enlightenment.


    "The Jade Podium," Naelia said, standing to John''s side, eyes filled with envy.


    "What is it doing exactly?" John asked curiously. He figured it was a cultivation aid of sorts, due to the nature of the energy, but figured he''d ask regardless.


    "You don''t know?" Naelia asked, tilting her head to the side, face scrunched with surprised confusion. "Everyone knows about the Jade Podium."


    "I guess not everyone," John said tly, not caring about revealing hisck of knowledge.


    Naelia looked at him oddly. "The Jade Podium is the ultimate reward for the top ten Meridian Forging Youths. It bathes them with an incredible energy, raising their cultivation by one minor realm, guaranteed."


    "It''s that impressive?" John asked with slight surprise. For a formation to do something like that, it was no doubt incredibly impressive, and also incredibly expensive to not only build, but activate.


    "Of course," Naelia said. "It''s the ultimate reward for the best Meridian Forging youths."


    "Is there something like this for the Dao Transformation winners?" John asked curiously.


    Naelia gave him another odd look, as if saying ''how could you not know all this? It''smon knowledge.''


    Instead, she kept thatment to herself, instead opting to exin in detail what awaited the Dao Transformation victors.


    "No, the Dao Transformation cultivators aren''t given such an opportunity," she said. "After all, using a formation to raise the cultivation of a Dao Transformation cultivator is much harder. Instead, the Dao Transformation top rankers are given individual rewards, with the best given to the winner. I''m not exactly sure what''s given, as it seems to change each year. But the only certainty is that the rewards are no doubt amazing."


    John nodded his head, thanking Naelia for her exnation. A distant rumble of thunder nketed the arena, while the familiar feeling of an approaching heaven tribtion appeared as well.


    "That fast, huh?" John said, surprised that some of the youths on the podiums were already starting to break through to their heavenly tribtion. "Do¡­do they undergo tribtion here?"


    "No," Naelia shook her head. "They''ll absorb as much of the podium''s energy as possible, and then will be taken by their elders to other parts of the Yang-Spherends to undergo their tribtion. We won''t be able to watch.


    John nodded again, then told Naelia he was ready to follow her again. She happily led them back into the hallways, through some more formations, up some stairs, and through more hallways until they arrived in a rather empty, yet quite luxurious hallway.


    Compared to the other hallways, this one was quite decorated, with carpets of the highest quality, intricate statues carved from various gemstones, paintings of iparable beauty and more. Only a few other people could be seen moving about the hallway, which was restricted to be used by only certain people with the correct ess.


    Naelia led them down the hallway for a bit more, eventually stopping before a closed doorway. She handed John and Zuri a formation disk, which was shaped like a thin rectangle.


    "You use these to enter this room," she said, then handed both another, different formation. "You can use this formation disk to contact me if you need any help or assistance. I have been assigned to be your guide for this tournament, so reach out as soon as you need something."


    John and Zuri thanked Naelia, who said some parting words, then moved down the hallway, skipping with the excited energy of a child.


    "I like her," Zuri said, watching Naelia as Naelia disappeared from sight.


    John grunted, voicing neither his approval or disapproval of Naelia. Zuri then smiled and nudged him with her arm, as if teasing him.


    "And she thinks you''re quite handsome. Seems like she has a crush on you," Zuri said teasingly.


    John ignored thement and entered his formation disk into the thin slot in the doorway before him, which parted for them a momentter. Arge, luxurious room came into view, one decorated withvish furniture. Arge window on the opposite side of the room overlooked the arena, giving a magnificent vantage point from the top of the stadium.


    Sitting on a couch near the window was the Prime Shadow, who looked over his shoulder to John and Zuri.


    "So, what do you think of the Three Dao Tournament? Impressive, isn''t it?"


    John walked in and nodded his head, looking around the room for a moment. Zuri stepped into the room after him. John turned to her as he instinctively noticed a nervous energy emanate from her, which was something he had never felt from her.


    He looked at her, noticing her wide-eyed expression of nervousness, looking directly at the smiling Prime Shadow. She had never met the Prime Shadow, nor even heard of his confirmed existence. However, the Prime Shadow''s cultivation and demeanor instantly told her who he was.


    "I¡­.I humbly greet the first Guildmaster," Zuri said, bowing her head with reverence.


    "There''s no need for that," the Prime Shadow said, waving his hand dismissively, then gestured for both of them to sit by him. "Come, both of you take a seat. We have much to discuss."

 Chapter 1025 Speaking With The Prime Shadow

    <h4>Chapter 1025 Speaking With The Prime Shadow</h4>


    John sat down on a couch nearby without any fanfare, instantly epting the Prime Shadows offer. He nced at Zuri who was still standing in ce, awkwardly wondering what to do. The man before her was the infamous first Guildmaster, who was rumored to be long dead. Not only that, but he was a Holy Manifestation cultivator, with his aura and presence alone being enough to overwhelm most.


    "Just sit down," John said tly.


    "I won''t bite, I promise," the Prime Shadow said, an amused smile on his face. Zuri nodded and sat down on a couch opposite John and the Prime Shadow. The Prime Shadow nodded, then turned to John.


    "So, how did your battle art training go?" he asked curiously. "The Thunder Tyrant Law is quite amazing, isn''t it?"


    "It''s most certainly one of the most impressive battle art''s I''ve seen," John nodded in agreement. "But I didn''t end up learning it in the end."


    "Hmm? Why not? Were you not able to understand the underlying principles behind the art?"


    "It''s not that," John shook his head. "It''s just that I''ve had a change of perspective in thest few weeks."


    The Prime Shadow silently raised a singr eyebrow, his expression as if waiting for John to borate.


    "With my¡­unique cultivation conditions, as opposed to learning an Art then disposing of it once it''s outlived its usefulness, I''ve decided that creating my own battle arts will be a better use of my time going forward," John exined.


    "Your own battle arts, huh?" the Prime Shadow mused, clearly surprised to hear this answer, but also not against it based on his reaction. He fell silent for a moment, a thoughtful look on his face, then nodded. "While this path is far more difficult to traverse than walking a path already created by others, it will no doubt serve you well in the long run. So, do you need any guidance on Art creation? Perhaps some books in the library to help you-"


    John raised his hand, cutting off the Prime Shadow.


    "I''ve already consulted many of the Art creation books in the guild library, and also have some other¡­books¡­at my disposal. I should be set for now," John said.


    With the Divine Art Creation Scripture, there really wasn''t any need to obtain more Art creation books. The Prime Shadow nodded his head again, not trying to push any further into this matter.


    "So, how has your Art creatione along then?" he asked curiously. "Have you made any progress yet? Come up with any usable Arts?"


    "It''s been less than a month since I started trying to create my own Arts. So while I have some that are usable, none of them are particrly great at the moment," John said.


    "You''re being far too modest," Zuri interjected, giving John a pointed scowl, then turned to the Prime Shadow. "In the month he''s been at it, he''s managed to create a battle art and a movement art worthy of being stored in the guild library. While neither are overwhelmingly amazing, both are amazing for only having been at it for a month. His rate of progress is nothing short of monstrous, and I''m sure he''ll be creating something amazing soon enough."


    "Hmm, is that so?" the Prime Shadow mused, smiling at Zuri thankfully, then shifted his gaze to John. "Well, I''m sure I''ll see what you''vee up with soon enough."


    The Prime Shadow then pointed to the side, towards a closed door on the side of the room. "There''s a spatial training area inside that door, which you can use to practice your arts and whatnot. Feel free to use it whenever you wish."


    He then pointed to the opposite side of the room, towards about a dozen closed doors. "Your lodging for the duration of the tournament. Pick a room. It doesn''t matter which one."


    John and Zuri nodded their thanks, content to be lodged in such a luxurious ce for the tournament duration. It was no doubt one of the most luxurious ces avable, given only to someone like the Prime Shadow.


    "So, what do you think of the tournament so far?" the Prime Shadow asked curiously.


    "It''s incredible," John answered truthfully. "It''s far grander than I thought it would be. Not only is the arena and spectacle amazing, but so are the rewards. I have to admit that I ampletely impressed."


    The Prime Shadow nodded his head in agreement, smiling lightly. "The Three Dao Sects spare no expense to host these tournaments, as it''s both a matter of prestige and pride for them. They''re always trying to one up the other two sects, which ends up benefiting the tournament participants and the spectators the most."


    The Prime Shadow waved his hand to the side, a soft stream of Qi moving towards a table at the edge of the room. The table held some teapots and cups, which floated over towards him,nding softly on the table before him. The Prime Shadow poured himself a cup of hot tea then took a sip.


    "Want any?" he asked, as if remembering John and Zuri were present. Both shook their heads, declining the offer.


    "Speaking of the tournament," the Prime Shadow said after taking another sip of his tea. "Have you had your testing done yet?"


    "Testing?" John asked curiously. "Is that rted to the statistics I saw regarding those two Meridian Forging youths? Stuff like health and stamina?"


    "That is indeed what the testing is about," the Prime Shadow nodded. "Every tournament is required to take the tests to establish their metrics, no exceptions."


    "What''s the point of those metrics?" John asked curiously. "Doesn''t it only matter who wins or loses?"


    "Fanfare," the Prime Shadow answered. "Everything is done for the entertainment of the crowd. Isn''t it more exciting to know that one fighter is on theirst legs, their health and Qi nearly expended, at which point they pull out an ultimate trump card and win against all odds?"


    "I guess," John replied.


    "Also, the metrics serve as a preliminary ranking feature," the Prime Shadow added. "The better your results, the higher your rank will be. This is done to avoid having two strong geniuses fight early in the tournament, eliminating one of them far too soon."


    "That makes more sense to me," John nodded, convinced by that answer.


    The Prime Shadow''s attention suddenly shifted, as if he had received a sound transmission. He stood up, his focus returned a momentter. "I have something I need to attend to. In the meantime, you should reach out to your guide and have them guide you to the testing grounds."


    John nodded his head as he watched the Prime Shadow walk out the room. The Prime Shadow stopped at the door, looking back over his shoulder at John.


    "Make sure to do your best in the testing," he instructed. "I''d like to see the look on the three Dao Sovereign''s faces when none of their genius''s ce first rank. It should be quite amusing."

 Chapter 1026 Illusory Test

    <h4>Chapter 1026 Illusory Test</h4>


    Naelia appeared at the room''s entrance a short whileter, summoned by a message through the transmission disk she had given John. She spotted the two of them waiting for her outside the room, and waved excitedly as she ran towards them. She ran up to Zuri and hugged her, as if she had not seen her for years.


    "Big sis Zuri! I missed you!" Naelia eximed, embracing Zuri tightly.


    John looked at the young girl with a peculiar expression. She was like a pet that rushed up to their master whenever they returned home.


    ''She''s quite entric if nothing else.''


    Naelia released Zuri a momentter, then took a step back.


    "What do you need me for?" she asked curiously.


    "I need to take the participant tests," John said.


    "AH!" Naelia eximed, pping her forehead with her palm. "I knew I forgot something!


    John and Zuri exchanged a nce briefly, while Naelia nodded after pping herself. Her forehead was slightly red, a small handprint left there from her actions.


    "Follow me," she said, turning around, skipping down the hallway with a youthful exuberance. John and Zuri followed, moving through countless hallways and chambers until they eventually arrived at the testing grounds, some thirty miles away from their lodgings.


    The testing room was located on the bottom floor of the arena. Arge crowd of spectators gathered outside the testing rooms entrance, hopeful to see some of the geniuses participating in the tournament. Most of the spectators were youths, either too young to participate, or not talented enough.


    Some cried out with excitement as they saw a youth leave the testing ground, their words indicating that the youth was quite talented, expected to ce in the top one thousand. John ignored the crowds as he followed Naelia into the room after getting clearance from the guards posted out front to keep the ce orderly.


    The testing room was quiterge, nearly a mile wide and deep, with the ceiling several hundred yards overhead. The walls were a fiery red color, while the floor tiles were a darker orange. As he entered, he spotted several long lines of youths stretching from almost where he had entered, to the wall on the opposite side of the room.


    There he spotted arge formation of some sorts in front of each line, in which the youths were stepping into and disappearing within. The youths then appeared a whileter, each with a tired, fatigued look on their faces. However, their auras were still strong and vibrant, giving a conflicting feeling to what he was seeing.


    "So, how does this test work exactly?" John asked curiously. He was quite curious as to how things like ''health'' were established. Was each participant wounded and pushed to near death to obtain that value? Surely that was far too brutal and dangerous for the tournament to consider.


    Naelia hade to expect John''s ignorance of how the tournament operated by now, and answered without giving him a questioning look.


    "Most of the values are obtained within those formations you see," Naelia replied, pointing to the formation the youths were stepping into. "It''s a soul-based formation, which puts each entrance into an illusory world. There, it subjects them to a variety of illusory tests, such as taking ce in a battle,prehending Dao''s and battle arts, taking damage to the point of death, and so on. Those values are then recorded, and the metrics you saw earlier are established.


    "An illusion can do all that?" John asked skeptically. If it wasn''t a real test, how could it be urate at all?


    "It''s not just an illusion," Naelia said, drawing out her words. "It''s one of the most impressive soul-based formations on the continent, which the Three Dao Sects worked for centuries on to perfect. And of course a soul-formation illusion can do all that. Your soul knows yourself better than anything, so if you are put into an illusory situation while not being aware that it''s an illusion, your soul will treat it as the real thing. It will recreate your Qi levels, your powers, your arts, and more within that illusion, allowing the formation to measure your values without actually subjecting you to things like being near death."


    "I see," John eventually nodded. When exined like that, it did make quite a bit of sense, and was a much better solution than nearly killing each youth to find out their values. He frowned a momentter, as such an illusion could potentially reveal his Asura Transformation and other secrets to those administering the test.


    "Isn''t that¡­kind of invasive though?" John asked, frowning. "Won''t those from the Three Dao Sects be able to see what the illusion is showing, and get information on the other youths?"


    "It doesn''t work like that," Naelia shook her head. "These illusion formations have been used for thousands of years, and have been carefully vetted by many powers. The only thing it does is record values. It does not record what Arts you use or how you battle."


    ''I suppose if the Prime Shadow had no concerns, then I shouldn''t as well. If there was something to be concerned about, he would have warned me about it,'' John thought, sighing lightly.


    The line moved slowly but surely, the rate of movement revealing that he would be here for several hours at the very least. There were hundreds of Dao Transformation youths waiting to be tested, each with an eager or nervous expression on their faces as they awaited their turn.


    As he stood in line, John figured it was a good time to get more information regarding the tournament rules. Naelia excitedly exined what she knew of the rules, more than happy to be of help to John and Zuri.


    The most important things she revealed was that the first round was an open style round, in which the participants had to make their way through and of dangers and get safely to the other side. There were over ten thousand participants in each bracket, and this was a way to thin the numbers quickly.


    However, Naelia had revealed that any youth who had ced top one hundred in previous Three Dao Tournaments did not need to take this trial, as it was considered nothing more than a? waste of time. Additionally, some top youths in the distant past had conspired amongst themselves to eliminate the tournament favorites at the time, grouping up on them during this stage. As a result, their participation for this trial was eventually eliminated.


    After the open trial was the tournament proper, which one on one battles taking ce over the course of two weeks until a victor was crowned. The battles were normalized, but using age instead of cultivation. The age of the younger participant would be used, at which point the older participant would have their cultivation restricted to what it was when they were at that age. The Three Dao Sects considered cultivation speed to be as much of an indication of talent asbat prowess, and so they implemented this system to ount for cultivation speed talent.


    Several hourster, John finally arrived at the front of the line. He stood before therge formation, which was shaped like a massive cube, fifty yards on either side. The formation cube was gray in color, with blue and white formation runes covering almost every inch of its exterior. The runes glowed with a brilliant light, and emanated a strong soul aura.


    A screen of white light covered the entrance, obscuring vision into the cube. John waited patiently for the previous entrant to leave, which took about ten minutes. The youth, a girl a year or two older than him, stepped out with a small formation disk in hand. She was quite beautiful, but her face was haggard and eyes fatigued, as if she had just endured a strong, mental battle. Her cultivation aura was still strong, revealing that the fatigue was entirely soul-based.


    She nced at John then moved out of the way, allowing him to step inside.


    "Do not resist the formation, or it will not only not work, but it will also injure your soul. Allow it to put you into a true illusory state. Do you understand?" A Yang-Dao Elder standing next to the entrance asked John. John nodded his understanding, and then at the instruction of the Elder, stepped through the wall of white energy.


    A strong, overwhelming soul-power descended on his mind, trying to invade it. John hesitated for a brief moment out of instinct, then lowered his soul-defenses. His mind was instantly enveloped in an illusory battle, one that he did not know was false.

 Chapter 1027 Illusory Tests Pt. 2

    <h4>Chapter 1027 Illusory Tests Pt. 2</h4>


    Naelia and Zuri waited outside the testing formation, to the side of the line of youths waiting to enter. Each test took around ten to fifteen minutes, depending on how long the youths were able tost during certain trials.


    "Did you ever enter a Three Dao Tournament? With how strong you are, you must have, right?" Naelia asked Zuri, herrge eyes filled with enamored curiosity.


    Zuri smiled at Naelia, then shook her head.


    "What? Why not? Surely you would have been strong enough to join! What sect do you belong to?" Naelia asked.


    "I don''t belong to any of the Three Dao Sects or their sub-sects," Zuri said, giving no more information than that. The Guild''s existence was aplete secret to almost everyone other than the Holy Manifestation powerhouses of the world.


    "You don''t?" Naelia tilted her head to the side, looking back to the formation entrance confused. "Then how did John enter the tournament? You need to be of one of the Three Dao-Sects or the subjects to even try to qualify."


    "There are always exceptions to things," Zuri smiled, her answer vague again. Naelia stared at her with a curious expression, trying to work out what was going on. She gave up a short whileter, and gave an exasperated sigh, frustrated at being unable to figure out the truth.


    "Well, if he''s been allowed to enter through an exception, surely he''s quite strong. How do you think he will do?" Naelia asked.


    "His results will definitely cause quite a stir," Zuri smiled.


    "Hmmm, is that so?" Naelia hummed, staring at the formation entrance.


    ¡­


    John found himself trapped in an empty void, his body confined, unable to move. He struggled but was unable to do anything other than re his Qi outwards, although he couldn''t figure out why. His mind and thoughts were hazy, as if he should be remembering something, but couldn''t.


    A powerful, deathly energy suddenly descended down on him from above, moving towards him with deathly intent. John tried to free himself but was unable to. Only his dantian was unrestricted, only his natural Qi able to move in this bizarre ce.


    With his only option using his Qi to fight against the energy, his dantian surged with power, ring his Qi outwards. His aura surged upwards, mming against the energy, pushing it backwards.


    The energy intensified, pushing harder against his own Qi. John met the energy with even more of his Qi, pushing back. A battle between his Qi and the powerful energy took ce, time indeterminate in this strange void. After both an instant and a lifetime, John''s Qi finally ran out, and the energy overwhelmed him, death about to take him. The energy suddenly vanished, and the scene changed.


    ¡­


    A beam of destructive Qi mmed towards John, who was unable to dodge, his feet and arms bound by chains. He had no idea how he got into this situation, and all he could do was take the attack head on, which sted into him with great power. He groaned in pain, although his body withstood the st.


    Another beam came a momentter, this time slightly more powerful, sting into him. This process continued time and time again until he was forced to unleash his Dragon-God Shift, lest he be gravely injured and even killed. The attacks continued ceaselessly, eventually forcing him to activate his Asura Transformation Art.


    The attacks continued, increasing in power each time, until the final attack was more than he could withstand. It sted into him with a power that he instinctively knew he couldn''t withstand. It mmed onto him, ripping him apart, destroying himpletely.


    ¡­


    John found himself bound, unable to move at all. All sorts of destructive energies sted onto him and invaded his body, tearing it apart inch by inch. The regeneration of his limiters, dragon body and asura body fought back, healing him against the damage. Eventually it overwhelmed, him, killing him.


    ¡­


    An unstoppable force sped after John, who fled as it was truly unable to be met head on. Whispers of fleeing at his maximum speed tickled his mind, although he did not know where those whispers came from. Still, he obeyed them, as there was no other option.


    It was as if the god of the universe was approaching him, trying to kill him. He pushed his speed to the limit, fleeing from the being, who''s speed was slowly increasing. It eventually reached him, his speed no longer faster than the indeterminate being of death.


    ¡­


    A battlefield enveloped John, one exploding with cmity and chaos. He had no idea how he got here, but his instincts urged him to fight for his life. Countless beasts and devils threw themselves at him, their cultivations growing with each wave of enemies. He fought back, unleashing his battle arts, using his transformations, relying on his instincts, until eventually the wave of enemies was too strong, and he sumbed to their onught.


    ¡­


    A tome floated in the air before him, nothing else in view. The words and runes on the tome wereplex beyond understanding, but he knew he needed toprehend them for some reason in order to leave this ce. He studied the words and runes, eventually understanding their message.


    ¡­


    Trial after trial took ce within the illusory worlds presented to John. With his soul defenses fully lowered, he had no memory of entering the formation, and treated each trial as real. His soul recreated his battle arts, cultivation metrics, and more, as it knew his potentials and limits better than anything in the universe.


    ¡­


    Several more illusory scenarios yed out, tricking John''s soul into believing they were real, each scenario testing something different.


    ¡­


    Reality suddenly mmed back into John, his consciousness returning to him like a tidal wave, mming memories and thoughts quickly and violently into his mind. He winced in pain, holding his head from the sudden, unexpected pain in his soul. Hazy memories of what he had experienced flooded his mind, each memory scattered and unclear.


    "That''s right¡­I was taking the illusory tests," John groaned, shaking his head to clear his pain and thoughts. He recovered a short whileter, then looked around him. The wall of the formation cube surrounded him, the illusions generated by them no longer controlling his soul.


    "That was¡­unpleasant," John grumbled, not enjoying the feeling of having his soulpletely at the mercy of this formation. While it had done no actual harm to him, the feeling of not being in control of his mind and actions was unnerving, and the soul-pain the brutal illusions brought was quite taxing.


    While his body felt refreshed, his mind and soul were quite exhausted.


    ''No wonder everyone lookspletely exhausted, some even horrified, when leaving the trial,'' he thought.


    An item suddenly appeared in the air before him, a formation disk around four inches across. It was silver in color, and had three symbols etched onto its surface: a sun, a sword, and a book. The insignias of the Three-Dao Sects.


    John reached out and grabbed the disk, sending his divine sense into it. He read over the information contained within the formation disk, which was unsurprisingly information regarding himself.

 Chapter 1028 Tests Completed, Score Obtained

    <h4>Chapter 1028 Tests Completed, Score Obtained</h4>


    John stepped out of the testing formation, shaking his head several times to clear the mental fog still enveloping him. As he stepped out, he spotted Zuri and Naelia standing to the side, Naelia waving excitedly at him.


    The Elder in charge of the formation gave John an odd look, as if something was amiss.


    "Why did you wait inside the formation after the test wasplete?" the Elder asked him, slightly disgruntled.


    "I didn''t," John replied tly, face scrunching with confusion at this usation.


    The Elder gave him a pointed look, then ignored him. He blinked a few times in confusion, then walked towards Naelia and Zuri. As he left, the Elder in charge of the testing formation instructed the next youth to enter, who did so.


    "And make sure to leave the formation as soon as your test isplete," he heard the Elder say to the youth, clearly raising his voice so that John heard him say that.


    John ignored the quip at him and arrived before the two girls, who looked at him expectantly.


    "You were in there a long time!" Naelia said excitedly. "I''ve never seen anyone take that long to finish their testing. Did you wait inside after you finished instead of leaving?"


    "No," John shook his head, frowning at being asked the same question. "I left as soon as I was done."


    "What? Really?" Naelia hummed with surprise. "I wonder which trial yousted so long on then? Maybe it was theprehension trial. I''ve heard some stupid people take quite some time to finish¡­." her voice trailed off as she realized she was insulting John, face turning red from embarrassment.


    John waved his hand dismissively, telling her not to worry about it. Naelia sighed with relief.


    "So how did you do?" she asked.


    "Not sure," John replied. "I guess I forgot to ask you about what the scores mean. It''s just a bunch of one hundreds, with some lower values added into the mix.


    "WHAT?" Naelia eximed loudly, her yell attracting a few curious gazes from nearby youths and elders. "Are you sure you didn''t read it wrong? Here, give me your disk. Let me check," she said, hand outstretched towards John.


    John handed her the formation disk containing his information, which she immediately sent her divine sense into. Her eyes went wide with absolute shock, mouth falling open with disbelief. It was as if she had seen the most shocking thing she had ever seen.


    Her shocksted for quite some time before she snapped back to reality, and looked at John with a different expression. Instead of the expression of surprise or awe he had been expecting, Naelia stared at him with a horrified expression, facepletely pale as if frightened beyond belief.


    "You¡­what did you....I''m done for," Naelia mumbled softly, falling into a crouching position with her hands over her head. "I escorted a cheater¡­A CHEATER¡­but no one''s been able to cheat these tests before, right? So maybe he didn''t...but those scores are impossible! Oh, I''m so screwed. I''m going to be exiled from the sect. I''ll have to change my name, my identity¡­."


    Naelia continued to mumble nonsense to herself, while John and Zuri exchanged an amused nce. Zuri took the disk from Naelia''s grasp, then inspected it herself. Her eyes went wide with surprise, but less so than Naelia.


    "You really are a freak," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "This will no doubt cause quite a few headaches. Someone''s going toe asking how you did this."


    John shrugged nonchntly, unconcerned about such attention. His talents were going to be revealed sooner orter, and with the Prime Shadow backing him, he was unconcerned about whatever was toe of this.


    ¡­


    In a luxurious room of marble white floors and walls, a middle-aged cultivator sat at an ornate table of white and gold. The table was covered with the finest food and drink, so rare and luxurious that most in the world would not be able to afford what was on the table, even if they used their life savings to purchase it.


    The rest of the room was decorated with fashionable furniture, fine paintings, detailed statues depicting heroic sword-wielding cultivators, and the finest swords mounted to the walls as decorations. The swords were World Expansion grade weapons, and yet were merely being used as decoration.


    The cultivator, a man who appeared to be in his forties, sat at the head of the table. He wore a robe of pure white, which was made from the finest materials avable on the continent. A sword was sheathed on his waist, its quality even higher than the World Expansion grade swords being used as decorations.


    The man had long white hair, not white from old age, but a natural, almost radiant white. It touched his shoulders, his neat hair framing his handsome face, clean shaven face. While his aura was withdrawn, a natural sharpness emanated from the man, as if he himself was a sword.


    The man took a small sip of wine, a satisfied look appearing on his face as he set the cup down. He smiled warmly, shifting his gaze to a woman who sat at one of the seats lining the left side of the table.


    The woman elegantly indulged in the food and drink before her, her heaven-defying beauty giving off an icy, distant feeling to those who looked at her. She wore a beautiful dress of white and blue, matching her dark blue hair.


    "Ji''Han''s testing scores came in this morning," the man said to the woman, voice deep and lined with unabashed pride. "Eleven hundred and forty-four. As expected, his score is the highest in the history of the Dao Transformation tournament. Lilian, what more proof could you need that only Ji''Han is worthy of obtaining your hand in marriage, and you his? The two of you are a heaven-made match, one that would make even gods envious."


    Lilian set down her cup of wine, her expression t as she turned to look at the Sword-Saint.


    "Then he should have no trouble proving his strength, and winning the tournament as our bet entails," Lilian said, smiling lightly.


    The Sword-Saint took her smile as one of agreement, and nodded his head with vigorous agreement.


    "Ji''Han will prove once again to both you and the world that he is the pinnacle genius of this world, one not seen in hundreds of thousands of years," the Sword-Saint said proudly. "Once he wins, we will use this momentous tournament as the announcement venue for your marriage."


    Lilianughed lightly, herughter almost mocking, then took another sip of her wine. The Sword-Saint resumed his delicious meal with a wide smile on his face, knife cutting into a delicious smelling piece of meat. The doors on the far end of the room suddenly flew over, disturbing the Sword-Saint from his moment of tranquility.


    A frown appeared on his face as he watched the neer, a cultivator with a Late World Expansion cultivation, hastily walk towards him. The cultivator was a man who appeared to be in his thirties, who wore the pure white robes of the Sword-Dao Sect, and had a sword of his own sheathed on his waist.


    "Lathus, what is it?" the Sword-Saint asked the man, clearly displeased by having been interrupted.


    "I know you do not like being disturbed," Lathus replied respectfully. "But something hase to my attention. Something that I believe you would like to be notified of immediately."


    "What is it?" the Sword-Saint asked, frowning.


    Instead of answering, an item appeared in Lathus'' hand, who handed it over to the Sword-Saint. The Sword-Saint took the item, gave Lathus a quick nce, then sent his divine sense into it. His face instantly lit up with shock, then anger as he mmed the object on the table. Teeth gritted, the Sword-Saint stood up from his chair and strode out of the room, Lathus following in tow, leaving Lilian alone in the elegant room.


    Lilian watched the unexpected event unfold with a curious expression, then shifted her gaze to the item that had been handed to the Sword-Saint, who in his haste, had left it on the table. She waved her hand, sending a stream of Qi over to the object to fetch it. It floated over to her grasp, her divine sense entering it a momentter.


    A wide, amused, and relieved smile appeared on her face as she read the contents contained within.


    Name: John Fenix


    Dao Name: Immortal Asura


    Age: Neen


    Cultivation: Middle Dao Transformation


    Dao Sect: ??????


    Metrics:


    Qi Quantity: 100


    Qi Quality: 100


    Health: 100


    Durability: 100


    Stamina: 100


    Comprehensions: 100


    Instincts: 100


    Willpower: 100


    Soul Talent: 95


    Speed/Movement Arts: 90


    Battle Arts: 75


    Attack Power: 100


    Total: 1160


    Her smile widened as she read the final score, which was greater than Ji''Han''s score, a score that the Sword-Saint had just been proudly bragging about.


    "So, you finally arrived? You sure took your time."

 Chapter 1029 Gathering of Powerhouses

    Chapter1029 Gathering of Powerhouses


    The Sword-Saint strode through the halls of the Sword-Dao Sects flying ship, his steps long and quick, filled with purpose. Lathus followed silently behind, not wanting to draw any ire from the Sword-Saint. He knew how important it was to the Sword-Saint that Ji''Han ce first, and that had been shattered by this unknown participants score.


    The Sword-Saint arrived at the exit of the ship, which was hovering high above the Yang-Dao Sect. He stepped out and sped towards the Yang-Dao Tower, which was the tall spire in the middle of the sect. The spire looked like a long me surging up to the sky, its tip almost touching the dome of fire high above.


    This was the central building of the sect, and was where the Yang-Dao Sovereign lived. The Sword-Saint appeared before the building a momentter,nding on a tform near the top of the spire. This tform could only be used by someone as important as the Sword-Saint, as it led directly to the Yang-Dao Sects throne room.


    Several others were waiting on the tform already, although the Sword-Saint ignored them as he strode towards the throne room, pushing open therge doorway with purpose, as if it had somehow wronged him. The doors flew open, revealing a sprawling throne room on the other side.


    The throne room was several hundred yards wide and long. Powerful mes danced from floor to ceiling on the edges of the room, bathing the throne room in an orange light. The heat of the fire was suppressed by a formation, making the room quitefortable.


    A long carpet of fire led directly towards the throne on the other side of the room, adding to the charm of the chamber. Like the mes on the edge of the room, the carpet of fire was suppressed by a formation, shielding those inside from harm.


    The throne of the room was also made from pure mes, ones that burned with a scorching heat. On top of the throne sat a middle-aged cultivator, whose red hair flowed like mes behind him. His eyebrows were also red, and danced over his face like mes as well.


    His orange eyes glowed like a sun, while his body gave off a natural heat, as if he was a source of pure yang energy himself. He wore the red and orange robes of the Yang-Dao Sect, although the quality of the robe was far better than the robes the other members wore.


    The Sword-Saint''s loud arrival drew the attention of those already in the room, who turned their heads to watch him approach. The Sword-Saint''s eyebrows raised slightly as he saw them, clearly not expecting such a busy room already. There were six other people standing next to the throne, discussing something.


    "Sword-Saint," a female who appeared to be in herte thirties nodded to him as he arrived. She had long purple hair, emerald, green eyes, a beautiful, mature face, and an alluring body. Her purple and gold robe clung tightly to her body, revealing eye-catching curves in several ces.


    "Mage-Sovereign," the Sword-Saint returned her greeting with respect. The woman before him was one of the few people on the entire that deserved such respect from him.


    After greeting the Mage-Sovereign, the Sword-Saint looked at the others, who greeted him as well. With the Sword-Sovereign deep in a year long meditation session, trying to seek insight into a new sword art he had envisioned, the Sword-Saint was the defacto leader of the Sword-Dao Sect for the tournament duration.


    The other''s gathered were those of simr rank and prestige as him, Vice-Leaders of the Yang-Dao or Mage-Dao Sect.


    "This is quite the crowd," the Sword-Saint said. "What have you gathered to discuss?"


    "There''s been a recent development with the testing formation," the Yang-Sovereign said, sitting atop his throne of mes. His voice was deep and powerful, as if it alone could move mountains and oceans.


    "Very good," the Sword-Saint nodded, "that is why I havee here as well."


    "We figured as much," the Mage-Sovereign said, her tone tinged with amusement, as if she was about to watch an intriguing show take ce. She, along with all the others gathered, knew how important the testing scores were to the Sword-Saint, and had expected him to stir up a fuss once he found out about the new, rmingly high score.


    The Sword-Saint gave the Mage-Sovereign a pointed nce, then looked back to the Yang-Dao Sovereign. As the hosts of the tournament this time around, the Yang-Sovereign had ultimate authority on how to proceed regarding this development.


    "What have you discovered? Who is this boy?" the Sword-Saint asked.


    "Nothing yet," the Yang-Sovereign said, strumming his fingers on the armrest of his fiery throne. "We all just received notice of this score, and have gathered to discuss how to proceed."


    "Discuss how to proceed?" the Sword-Saint frowned. "Isn''t the path forward clear? This boy most certainly cheated, that much is clear. He must be stripped of his scores, exiled from whatever sect hees from, and imprisoned for his egregious insult towards the sanctity of the Three Dao Tournament!"


    "And you have proof of these usations?" the Mage-Sovereign asked, a small smile on her face as she watched the Sword-Saint get worked up. Out of all the Holy Manifestation cultivators, he was always the one quickest to temper.


    "Proof? The proof is his oundish, impossible score!" the Sword-Saint said firmly, doing his best to not yell at someone as powerful and lofty as the Mage-Sovereign. The Three Dao Sovereigns were the pinnacle leaders of humanity, as well as the three strongest cultivators from the Dao Sects. Even him, with his Middle Holy Manifestation cultivation, was still weaker than the Mage-Sovereign, although not by much, and so he had to be treated carefully and respectfully through this situation.


    "While his score is impossible to believe, that alone is not proof enough," the Mage-Sovereign said. "No one has managed to cheat the testing formations in the history of the tournament. Their creation alone took our three sects hundreds of years and countless resources to perfect, and you''re saying this¡­boy¡­managed to trick the formations, and by extension, us?"


    "Do you have any other exnation?" the Sword-Saint frowned. "It''s far easier to believe he cheated somehow, than to believe he actually obtained these scores. He must be working with the Devils, who devised a way to cheat the test."


    "And why would the Devils do such a time consuming yet insignificant thing?" the Mage-Sovereign asked, mouth curled with an amused look.


    "To embarrass us, of course," the Sword-Saint replied. "The world knows of the prestige of this tournament, and them cheating us is simply a p in the face of our prestige. It''s something the Devils would do if given the opportunity. And to add to this theory, his sect isn''t even listed. He does not belong to a Dao Sect, and therefore is an outsider. Where else could hee from?"


    A thoughtful look appeared on the Yang-Sovereigns face, who then sighed.


    "These are lofty and serious usations," the Yang-Sovereign said. "The only solution is to bring the boy here, and discern the truth directly from him."


    "I agree," the Sword-Saint said, eyes narrowing. "Let''s see just how he managed to pull this wool over our eyes."

 Chapter 1030 Detained and Questioned

    Chapter 1030 Detained and Questioned


    "It''s over¡­it''s over¡­it''s over," Naelia continued to mumble to herself, crouched up in a ball on the floor. Her eyes were distant and vacant, lips trembling as she mumbled to herself. "I''m going to be exiled, and no other sect will take me in after that. I''ll need to change my identity to escape this shame. I''ll need to be a mercenary to make a living, or I''ll need to¡­."


    Naelia continued to ramble to herself,pletely forgetting everything and everyone around her. The others nearby stared at her with a curious expression, wondering why she was making such a fool of herself.


    "It''s going to be alright," John said, cing his hand on her shoulder. "You''re not going to get in trouble, and you''re not going to be exiled. Stop worrying so much."


    Naelia stopped mumbling, her head peering upwards towards his rxed face. She stared at him for a moment, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.


    "It''s not going to be alright!" she groaned. "How can you be so calm? They''re going to punish you severely for doing such a thing. You need to flee now!"


    Her eyes then widened in realization, and she curled up once more in her ball. "Why am I helping the cheater who ruined my life? Well, I suppose it''s better to havepany in exile than nopany at all. We need to leave, now, before we are found. Come with-"


    "Are you John Fenix?" a stern, deep voice sounded out, causing Naelia to jump with fright. She peered out of her ball, looking up at the three World Expansion Yang-Dao Sect Elder''s who had appeared before them. "Ah¡­.it''s over!" she sighed, flopping to the ground, sying out in defeat.


    "I am," John said, ignoring Naelia''s antics.


    "You need toe with us," the Elder said sternly, then nced at Zuri, then Naelia on the ground. He frowned upon seeing her lying on the ground, eyes wide and vacant. "Both of you will need to join us as well," he said to Naelia and Zuri.


    Zuri crouched next to Naelia, aforting hand resting on her shoulder. Naelia looked towards her, face still filled with disbelief at the situation. Zuri smiled at Naelia, then helped her stand up.


    "You''re going to bepletely fine," Zuri saidfortingly. Her words seemed to break through Naelia''s shock, who finally calmed down. Naelia nodded, then followed Zuri as the group was led away by the Elders.


    ¡­


    John was escorted out of the Yang-Sphere, and back into the Yang-Dao Sect above theke ofva. The group was led towards the tallest building in the middle, which was grand beyondpare. It pierced upwards like a me, unmoving, and yet seemed to almost dance like a true me.


    The interior was even more impressive, with walls and carpets of fire everywhere, giving a vibrant, energetic atmosphere to the building. After taking a transportation formation on the first floor, the group arrived in arge hallway, standing directly before a double-door made of pure yang mes.


    The door parted open for them, revealing an impressive throne room on the other side. The Elders escorted John andpany into the throne room, ushering them before a group of cultivators at the other end who were clearly waiting for them.


    John''s eyes shifted from cultivator to cultivator, each one more impressive than thest. Each of them had a Holy Manifestation cultivation, and one of them even gave off the same feeling as the Prime Shadow; the Yang-Sovereing.


    ''Late Holy Manifestation!'' John thought, awed by the Yang-Sovereign who sat atop his throne of fire. It was like he was looking at a zing star, one so powerful and bright that his mere aura alone could smite him with ease should the Yang-Sovereign release it.


    He paused for a moment on a beautiful, alluring woman with long, purple hair, who gave off almost the same feeling as the Yang-Sovereign. The woman stared at him with a curious expression, as if trying to peer through all his secrets. Her gaze made him feel naked before her, as if nothing could escape her arcane gaze.


    ''The Mage-Sovereign, no doubt,'' he thought, impressed by this group of powerhouses who had summoned him. As Zuri had guessed, his score had truly stirred up quite amotion. His eyes passed over two other middle-aged cultivators, one from the Yang-Dao Sect and one from the Mage-Dao Sect, and then fell onto the cultivator at the edge of the group.


    He knew instantly who this was. The Sword-Saint.


    The Sword-Saint stared daggers at John, as if he wanted nothing more than to cut him down right here and now. John gave him a simr look, narrowing his eyes with enmity. The others were surprised to see John not only able to give a Holy Manifestation cultivator such a look, but having the gall to do so as well.


    Almost all youths his age, even the geniuses of the world, felt overwhelming anxiety and trepidation standing before one of them, let alone a group of six Holy Manifestation cultivators. To the side, Zuri fidgeted nervously, unable to contain her nerves upon meeting the powerhouses she had heard stories told of her entire life.


    As for Naelia, she was aplete mess, almost unable to stand upright. Only the fear of disrespecting the powerhouses before her kept her on her feet, but she leaned on Zuri as a brace, making sure she didn''t fall.


    "I''m sure you know why you have been summoned here," the Yang-Sovereign said, his voicemanding and firm, to which John nodded.


    "Then, would you mind exining how your score came to be?" the Yang-Sovereign asked. His throne red with power, as if pulsating like a raging star. The fires enveloped the Yang-Sovereign, whopletely ignored them as if they didn''t exist.


    John merely shrugged. "My score came to be the same way everyone else gets their score. I just took the test."


    "Insolence," the Sword-Saint said, unable to hold his tongue. "I told you interrogating this youth would bear no fruit. If one is willing to cheat, then one is willing to lie. We will garner no truth from this boy. He must be interrogated, then punished ordingly."


    "And I''m assuming you are requesting to do this interrogation, as well as administering the punishment?" the Yang-Sovereign asked.


    "If you wish me to carry out this task, then I will dly do so," the Sword-Saint replied, staring daggers at John. "One who besmirches the sanctity of the Three Dao Tournament must be made an example of swiftly. Otherwise, we will be theughingstock for the rest of the world."


    John gave the Sword-Saint an amused look of emnity. His first encounter with the man was exactly as he had been expecting. He hated his guts and wanted nothing more than to personally silence the man himself. John only sighed, as he was far too weak to do so himself.


    The Sword-Saint took a step towards John, mouth curling into a smile. He was no doubt going to enjoy ''interrogating'' the one who had cast a shadow on his son''s score.


    "We have yet to determine the path forward," the Yang-Sovereign said, his words pausing the Sword-Saint''s step.


    "What is there to determine?" the Sword-Saint asked, looking towards the Yang-Sovereign. "He is guilty."


    "And where is your proof?" the Yang-Sovereign asked calmly. "You have yet to present any proof. Until we get to the bottom of this matter, we will hold this boy in custody, but no harm will befall him. After the investigation, if he is determined to be guilty, he will be punished ordingly."


    "A waste of time and effort," the Sword-Saint sneered. "The score alone is proof of guilt!"


    "I agree," John said, his words surprising the others.


    "You agree?" the Sword-Saint asked, clearly taken aback, while the others looked at John with slight surprise. "You admit to cheating the test?"


    John shrugged nonchntly, while Naelia nearly copsed to the ground in shock and disbelief, stopped only by Zuri keeping her upright.


    "No. I only agree that an interrogation is a waste of time," John shrugged again. "If you want proof, then there''s an easy way to prove my innocence," John said calmly.


    "What method would that be?" the Yang-Sovereign asked after a short silence.


    John smiled, then turned his gaze to the Sword-Saint.


    "Just summon Ji''Han here, and I''ll wipe the floor with him right here and now. That alone should prove my innocence," he said, smiling as he watched the Sword-Saint''s expression change. The other''s present looked at John with surprise, while the Sword-Saint red at him furiously.


    "I will have your head for speaking to me, and for speaking of my son, like that," the Sword-Saint growled and stepped towards John.


    Suddenly, and without warning, a dark mass of ck shadows like billowing smoke permeated the room, appearing from everywhere at once. The shadow had appeared so quickly and so unexpectedly that even the Holy Manifestation powerhouses were startled by its appearance. Only the Yang-Sovereign was unsurprised, as if he had been half-expecting this to happen.


    An amusedughter echoed from within the smoke as an elderly man stepped out of it, appearing before the others.


    "If you move against my sessor," the Prime Shadow said, smiling at the Sword-Saint. "The only head that will fall today will be yours."

 Chapter 1031 Sword Vs Shadow

    ?


    The darkness roiling behind the Prime Shadow lingered, twisting and turning ominously, making the Prime Shadow look like a reaper of death. The Sword-Saint narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Prime Shadow. His mouth curled with obvious agitation as he instantly realized this situation was far moreplicated than he had initially guessed.


    "Prime Shadow," the Yang-Sovereign nodded his head. The Mage-Sovereign did the same, her amused smile returning as if she was enjoying what was unfolding before her. She nced sideways at the Sword-Saint, her amused smile widening as she saw his expression.


    The Prime Shadow greeted them in return, then shifted his gaze back to the Sword-Saint once more. The two locked eyes for a short while, silence filling the room. Suddenly, the Prime Shadow''s aura red for an instant, so quick as if it had never happened.


    The Sword-Saint''s hand snapped to the sword on his waist, gripping the hilt tight. The Prime Shadow smiled as he saw the Sword-Saint react as such, while John truly appreciated the guarded, almost uncertain look on the Sword-Saint''s face.


    "I heard from the Yang-Sovereign that you managed to break through recently," the Mage-Sovereign said, eyeing the Prime Shadow curiously. "With your cultivation stepping into the Late Holy Manifestation Realm, you are once again the most dangerous human on this world. Congrattions."


    "You mean to say I lost that title in the first ce?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    "Would you like me to say that you were more dangerous than the Sword-Sovereign, or the Yang-Sovereign, while having a lower cultivation than them? That would be quite insulting from me," the Mage-Sovereign said, her amused smile never leaving her alluring face. She then sighed, as if truly dejected. "With you in the Late Holy Manifestation Realm, that leaves me as the only odd one out. How embarrassing."


    "I''m sure you''ll step into the Late Holy Manifestation Realm eventually. After all, you''re far younger than us old codgers," the Prime Shadow replied.


    "I suppose," the Mage-Dao sighed again, then nced sideways at the Sword-Saint, who was standing, hand on hilt, staring at the Prime Shadow. She smiled once more, returning her eyes to the Prime Shadow, then John. She looked at him with a piercing, curious gaze.


    "So, this boy is your sessor?" she asked, eyeing John up and down. Her alluring, almost bewitching beauty and piercing eyes made it hard for John to hold her gaze, butpared to the other things he had faced directly in his life, this was more manageable. Her smile widened as John met her gaze unflinching, although he did feel as though he was being seen through in body and soul.


    "Impressive," she mumbled, falling into silent contemtion.


    "Since when did you ept a sessor?" the Sword-Saint finally spoke, his voice calm yet cold. His narrowed eyes shifted to John as he spoke. John felt as though his soul was being pierced by swords, and was given the mental image of being yed alive by a thousand swords.


    It wasn''t an active soul art the Sword-Saint was using, but was instead the natural feeling one felt when looking at the powerful sword cultivator. The Sword-Saint was able to control this by withdrawing his aura, but did not do so with John. John held the man''s gaze, withstanding the pain he felt by looking at the man.


    He then smiled through the pain. His smile clearly frustrated the Sword-Saint, who then intensified the pain John was feeling.


    "You can stare daggers all day at him," the Prime Shadow said while walking towards the group. "It won''t do you a single ounce of good. This boy has withstood more pain in thest half-year than you have in your sheltered, pampered life. In fact, I wee it. The more my sessor suffers and endures, the more he will grow in the future. I thank you for your contribution to my sessor''s ascension."


    The Sword-Saint frowned upon hearing this, then averted his gaze from John to the Prime Shadow, who had arrived next to John, Zuri, and Naelia. Zuri looked at the Prime Shadow with awe, getting a glimpse of his power and prestige for the first time, while Naelia looked between the two groups, eyes darting back and forth with anxiety and awe.


    "However," the Prime Shadow said, narrowing his eyes as the Sword-Saint. "As I said before, if you take action against my sessor, not only will you join him in the afterlife, but your entire sect will as well."


    A cold, deathly sensation filled the room, drowning it in silence as the two powerhouses stared at each other. Such a threat from anyone else would have received a scoff from the Sword-Saint, but the Prime Shadow was different. Of all the humans on the continent, only he was able to carry out this threat.


    There was nothing more dangerous, more lethal, than a lifelong assassin with a vendetta to settle. While someone like the Sword-Sovereign was as strong as the Prime Shadow, and perhaps even stronger in direct battle, a direct battle would never happen. The Prime Shadow would be able to eliminate everyone beneath the Sword-Sovereign, the Sword-Saint included, without the Sword-Sovereign being able to stop him.


    The Sword-Saint stared silently at the Prime Shadow for quite some time, eyes narrowed, hand on his sword hilt as if ready to strike at any moment. The room fell into a tense silence, eyes darting back and forth between the two.


    The Sword-Saint''s hand finally left his sword hilt, his aura withdrawing once more. He red at John, mouth twisting with words unspoken.


    "Even if he is your sessor, his scores are impossible to believe," the Sword-Saint said coldly. "You must have helped him cheat the test."


    The Prime Shadow smiled as if expecting this response from the Sword-Saint. With how much the man valued his son''s prestige and status as the number one genius of the world, it was obvious that he was not going to let go of this subject easily.


    "I suppose my sessor''s heaven-defying talent truly is too good to believe without proof," the Prime Shadow sighed, as if he was truly conflicted instead of bragging about John''s talent. The Sword-Saint scowled at this obvious mockery, but remained silent. The Mage-Sovereignughed lightly, herugh drawing an irked nce from the Sword-Saint.


    "If you want proof," the Mage-Sovereign said, ignoring the Sword-Saint''s scowl. "Then why don''t we take up this boy''s offer from before. Bring your son here, and let them have a little spar. If his scores are fraudulent, then he will not only be making a fool of himself, but also the Prime Shadow. What do you say?"


    A slight smirk appeared on both the Yang-Sovereign''s and Prime Shadow''s face, as the Mage-Sovereign had backed the Sword-Saint into a corner. The Sword-Saint let out an exasperated breath, eyes locked to Johns.


    "I look forward to watching your tournament performance, boy," he said, emphasizing the word ''boy'', then turned and stalked out of the room.


    "The Sword-Saint is always so stodgy and intense. He''s far too full of himself, and he''s only gotten worse since the birth of his son," the Mage-Sovereign said, shaking her head lightly in disapproval. "What a bothersome person to be around."


    She then shifted her gaze back to John, then the Prime Shadow.


    "So, his test scores are legitimate then?" she asked for confirmation. She already knew the truth, but wanted to know for certain. If for some reason the Prime Shadow was lying about this situation, it would make the Three Dao Sects look quite idiotic once the tournament started and John was revealed to be a fraud.


    The Prime Shadow only smiled in response, then looked at the Yang-Sovereign.


    "I gave you John''s details when I entered him into this tournament," the Prime Shadow said. "You should have known who he was from the start, and this situation would have never happened."


    "You only told me that you would be entering someone from your guild for this year''s tournament," the Yang-Sovereign said tly. "And you refused to give the description of this boy to anyone other than the one who would be escorting him," he added, shifting his gaze from John to Naelia.


    "If I had to guess," the Yang-Sovereign continued. "I would say you did so intentionally, to create this exact situation."


    "What? I would never do something so¡­devious," the Prime Shadow said, the corner of his mouth curling upwards. John sighed and shook his head as he saw the Prime Shadow''s poorly hidden expression.


    ''He definitely nned this.''

 Chapter 1032 Meaning of the Formation Scores

    Chapter 1032 Meaning of the Formation Scores


    After a bit more discussion regarding this matter, John andpany were dismissed from the Yang Throne Room, as the Prime Shadow indicated he had some secret matters to discuss with the Yang Sovereign and Mage Sovereign.


    John followed the same elder that led them into the Yang Throne Room, who escorted them out of the building. The elder gave John a curious nce as they left, moving back towards the Yang-Sphere. Escorted by Naelia once more, the group swiftly made their way back to their original location.


    Unlike moments ago, when Naelia had been aplete mess on the verge of a mental breakdown, she was like another person altogether. She looked at John withplete and unfettered awe, as if she was staring at some sort of otherworldly deity.


    "That was the first time I''ve ever met the Yang-Sovereign in person," Naelia eximed, with overwhelming excitement on her face and in her voice. "He was like a god, so powerful that I couldn''t even see his limits¡­and yet¡­.and yet¡­.your master showed up with an even more impressive aura, and silenced the Sword-Saint himself. The SWORD-SAINT! One of the five strongest humans in the world, and he was silenced like a child! Just who is your master¡­just who are you?"


    Naelia rambled nonstop, rambling off a million questions throughout her monologue. She kept speaking after each question, leaving John no time to answer, not that he would have in the first ce. She took a deep breath after rambling for so long, then paused for long enough for John to enjoy this rare moment of silence.


    That silence was broken a momentter, causing John to breathe in deeply, then sigh.


    "When I saw your test results, I thought you cheated. I mean, everyone would have thought the same. Even the Sword-Saint thought the same. To think you didn''t cheat. How is that possible? You didn''t cheat, did you? I mean, the scores are impossible after all, but then again, we weren''t punished, so¡­?" Naelia rambled, eyes glued to John with both awe and skepticism the entire time, as if she didn''t know how to feel about him just yet.


    "No, I didn''t cheat," John said tly as they arrived before the Yang-Sphere entrance and stepped inside.


    "So those scores are all legitimate?" Naelia gaped. "Then how strong are you? I mean, you must be impossibly strong for those scores to be valid."


    "I''m pretty strong I guess," John shrugged while rolling his eyes, his vague answer causing Naelia to pout with disappointment.


    Zuri smiled at the sh of opposite personalities between John and Naelia, finding that the real way to beat a heaven-defying genius like John was to bore him to death with rambling conversation.


    "Still, all those one hundreds you received. I didn''t think getting one was possible, let alone that many!" Naelia said a momentter. John gave her a sideways nce, her words piquing his interest.


    "What do the scores mean anyways?" John asked curiously. "I have some guesses, but I don''t know if they''re right or not."


    "You don''t know?" Naelia asked, tiling her head to the side with surprise. She quickly remembered John''sck of knowledge regarding this tournament, which she found more and more strange considering his testing results.


    "Those testing formations have been in use for tens of thousands of years," Naelia said, starting another barrage of excited rambling. "Over the tens of thousands of years, millions, maybe even billions, of geniuses have been tested, and their results recorded by the formation. Using this historical data, the formation assigns a percentile-based score on how one doespared to everyone else who had ever taken the test. The scores range from one to one hundred, with a score of fifty meaning you arepletely average," Naelia said, pausing to make sure John was following along, then gave him a very pointed look as if to emphasize a point.


    "And a score of one hundred means you at the very least equaled the best result ever for that category, and maybe even beat it. Getting a one hundred means you are the absolute pinnacle genius for that category over thest tens of thousands of years," she said, then fell silent as if awaiting John''s reply.


    "That''s what I figured the scores meant," John nodded a momentter, understanding why the Naelia and the Sword-Saint considered cheating the only reasonable answer to his scores. Naelia started rambling excitedly once more, asking a million questions that would never be answered.


    John ignored her ramblings, his mind focused elsewhere.


    ''My worst score by far was the battle art category, where I received a seventy-five out of one hundred. That means out of everyone who has ever taken that test, twenty five percent of them had better battle arts at their disposal. My memory of the trial is a bit hazy, but I know I used the Dragontail Decimation, and yet my score is still so low. With me creating my own battle arts going forward, I''m not too concerned about having a low score right now, but that does mean one thing I''ll need to consider during this tournament, and that''s I''ll be fighting against geniuses who are using battle arts far stronger than my own.''


    A smile appeared on John''s face a momentter, his eyes filled with battle lust.


    ''It seems like this tournament might be more challenging than I had initially expected. Good. It''s been quite some time since I''ve had a good battle!''


    ¡­


    The Sword-Saint flung the door before him open, as if it was an enemy in his way. He stepped into the room with angered haste, a frown of simmering anger lingering on his face. The room he entered was the one he had left in sudden haste upon finding out about John''s score.


    As he strode in, his actions caused Lilian to lift her head and look towards the Sword-Saint. She studied his expression for a moment, then smiled lightly, returning her focus to the tome in her hand a momentter. She was lounging sideways on afortable silken sofa in one corner of therge, luxurious room, her upper body resting at an angle against the end of the sofa. Her long blue and white dress draped off the sofa, making her look like a resting fairy of divine beauty.


    She was studying a high-level battle art provided to her by the Sword-Dao Sect, which was a condition of her bet between her and the Sword-Saint; that she would agree to marry the winner of the tournament, in exchange for being showered with cultivation resources in the meantime.


    On a simr sofa opposite her, another person wearing the appeared to be around twenty. He had long radiant white hair which flowed past his shoulders. His face was sharp and incredibly pure-white robes of the Sword-Dao Sect sat. Unlike Lilian who was lounging sideways on the sofa, indulging in its silkenfort, this figure was sitting upright, his posture firm. It was a young man who appeared to be around twenty. He had long radiant white hair which flowed past his shoulders. His face was sharp and incredibly handsome, as if each and every feature was handcrafted by a master sculptor. His eyebrows were curved and sharp, like twin sabers over his bright green eyes.


    His eyes were closed as if deep in thought, one hand raised before his chest, fingers straight like a sword, adding to his sharp and serious aura. A soft, hymn-like sound came from his mouth as he hummed some sort of mantra. Swords of Qi appeared and disappeared in the air around him, as if summoned by his hymn.


    His eyes remained closed as the Sword-Saint strode loudly into the room, and only opened when directly addressed by the Sword-Saint himself. The youth''s eyes turned calmly to look at the Sword-Saint, studying his face for a moment.


    "What has you so upset, father?" the youth asked calmly.


    "You''re going to enter the preliminary elimination trial, Ji''Han," the Sword-Saint said to his son with a firm tone. "And during that trial, you are going to mercilessly crush someone for the whole world to witness."

 Chapter 1033 JiHan And Lilian

    Chapter 1033 Ji''Han And Lilian


    Ji''Han raised an eyebrow, confused, and curious as to what was going on.


    "Why would I enter the preliminary elimination trial?" Ji''Han asked. "It''s nothing more than a waste of time."


    There were millions of youths in each age bracket that took the annual exams and tests, hoping to receive their ce in the Three Dao Tournament. Of those millions, only a few tens of thousands qualified, putting the sess rate at just joining the tournament far below one percent.


    Even then, tens of thousands of youths was still far too great a number to have a reasonable length tournament. The tens of thousands of youths who sessfully managed to enter the Three Dao Tournament would then need to partake in the preliminary elimination trial, which was meant to cull another ny percent or so of participants, leaving only the cream of the crop remaining. Without the preliminary trial, each age bracket tournament would take months to finish, putting the total tournament duration close to a year.


    Those who had ced top one hundred in any Three Dao Tournament in the past were exempt from the first elimination trial. Naturally, Ji''Han''s cements in the past tournaments put him in this category, as his participation was not only a waste of time, but strong youths like him were able to eliminate other strong youths that would normally ce very well, but had the bad luck of running into someone like Ji''Han.


    "I told you," the Sword-Saint gave Ji''Han a pointed re. "There is someone you need to eliminate personally, and brutally, right at the start of the trial. If you do not do so, you will not have another opportunity to destroy this youth, not unless he makes the grand finals. You must take this opportunity now while its avable, otherwise someone else will seize the glory of eliminating that fraud."


    Ji''Han gave his father a confused look, as his father''s irate rambling made no sense to him. Silently watching the discussion unfold, an amused smirk appeared on Lilian''s face.


    "Who are you even talking about?" Ji''Han asked, head tilted to the side. It couldn''t be Jaxus or any of the other strong geniuses, as they would also be skipping the preliminary elimination trial. "And how are you so certain that I will only be able to meet this person in the finals? Surely there''s a chance I''d run into him sooner."


    "That''s not possible," the Sword-Saint shook his head, his frown deepening as if just thinking of the matter made him unable to contain himself. He nced over to the table where he had been eating, and spotted the formation disk sitting there. He waved his hand, and the disk flew over to Ji''Han.


    Ji''Han took the disk and sent his divine sense into it. His eyes lit up with shock a momentter, as if he was unable to believe what he was seeing. He peeled his gaze away from the disk eventually, looking back at his father.


    "Are these scores legitimate?" he asked curiously. He finally understood why his father wanted him to join the preliminary trial. With the score he read, that youth, John, would no doubt receive the number one seeding for the tournament. Ji''Han, who was expected to receive that seeding based on his record-breaking score, would receive the second seeding.


    As such, the only round the two would run into each other would be the grand finals. With this the case, the Sword-Saint wanted Ji''Han to crush John before the tournament even started, and the only ce to do that was the preliminary elimination trial.


    "Of course not," the Sword-Saint scoffed. "But this boy has a powerful backer, one that even I cannot afford to offend. I tried to invalidate that boy''s score and have him punished appropriately, but the Yang-Sovereign did not agree. With the Yang-Dao Sect hosting the tournament this time around, the Yang-Sovereign has ultimate decision-making authority on such matters. Not even the Sword-Sovereign himself could change this decision."


    Ji''Han raised an eyebrow once more, while a curious expression appeared on Lilian''s face.


    ''A powerful backer that even the Sword-Saint cannot offend? It seems like you''ve been quite busy,'' Lilian mused silently, her smile widening for a moment before vanishing. She had expected John to hear word of her bet and thus find a way to join the tournament, but she had never imagined he would also have the backing of someone so powerful so shortly after arriving to this world.


    The Sword-Saint exchanged a few more words with Ji''Han, then turned and strode out of the room. His quick, forceful steps and frowning expression revealing he had yet to ovee his frustration and anger with this situation.


    Ji''Han watched his father leave, then returned his focus to the disk in his hands. He studied it for a while, his expression changing several times.


    "I would suggest not following your father''s advice, and refraining from joining the elimination trial," Lilian said, her advice surprising Ji''Han.


    He gave her a curious expression, silently awaiting an exnation. Lilian ignored that look, instead sending her focus back to the tome in her hand, resuming her study of the battle art.


    "Why do you say that?" Ji''Han broke the silence, asking directly for an exnation.


    Lilian shrugged, keeping her focus on the tome. "John''s scores are legitimate, and so is his strength. Joining that trial and targeting John will not be beneficial for you."


    Ji''Han studied Lilian silently for quite some time before speaking again.


    "You used his name as if you are familiar with him. Do you know this John?" Ji''Han asked curiously.


    Lilian remained silent, studying the tome instead of answering the question.


    "Why are you so sure of his strength?" Ji''Han asked again, a bit moremanding this time, as if silence was not an eptable answer.


    Lilian nced upwards at him, then returned her focus to the tome. "Your father mentioned he has the backing of someone strong enough that even he cannot afford to offend them. That puts that mysterious person on the same level as the Yang-Sovereign or Sword-Sovereign. Do you truly think someone that powerful would cheat? Their reputation amongst the others would bepletely and irrevocably ruined. I don''t know who this mysterious person is, but I''d like to believe someone that powerful wouldn''t stoop so low as to cheat this tournament."


    Ji''Han remained silent as he contemted Lilian''s words. He nodded a long whileter, agreeing with her.


    "Your words make sense," Ji''Han said thoughtfully. "My father''s actions are fueled by blind anger right now, and he is clearly not thinking straight. While I do not fear this John by any means, I also agree that his scores are more likely legitimate than illegitimate. If that is the case, then I will wait for him in the grand finals, and if his strength is real, he will find me there as well."


    Lilian nced up from her tome, locking eyes with Ji''Han for a moment. She had obviously not expected Ji''Han to so easily agree with her. The only reason she had even given him that advice in the first ce was that he had treated her rather well since her ''captivity,'' giving her no reason to wish for his embarrassing downfall so early in the tournament.


    "Those scores of his suggest he is the most talented tournament participant ever," Lilian said. "Do you not fear his strength if those scores are true?"


    Ji''Han smiled lightly, his smile filled with calm confidence. "Fearing others because they are strong is the mentality of the weak. As a sword cultivator, my true purpose in life is to fight the strongest, thus bing the strongest. I only hope his strength is enough for me to use my full strength, so that I may finally push myself to my absolute limits against someone my age."


    Lilian raised an eyebrow, impressed with Ji''Han''s confidence and attitude. She smiled, then returned her focus to the tome in her doubt, and I have a rather high opinion of you from our conversations so far. So I will give you just this one piece of advice," hand.


    "Your attitude and resolve will take you far in life, of that I have no doubt, and I have a rather high opinion of you from our conversations so far. So I will give you just this one piece of advice," she said.


    Ji''Han looked quietly at her, awaiting this advice she spoke of. "And what advice would that be?"


    "Tread carefully when you fight John in the grand finals. He most likely already holds a grudge against you, and he is not someone you want to fight when there is anger and hate in his heart. If you do manage to anger him to a point beyond reasoning, the only thing that will await you then will be your death, and not even your father will be able to save you."


    Ji''Han studied Lilian for a moment, then closed his eyes, resuming his cultivation. Swords materialized in the air, blinking in and out of existence all around him.


    "So, you do know him."

 Chapter 1034 The Day of the Tournament

    <h4>Chapter 1034 The Day of the Tournament</h4>


    The Heaven Tribtion tournament continued for the next two weeks, with geniuses from the top sects of the world vying for fame, glory, and most importantly, heavenly rewards. The crowd roared and cheered for every fight, as each and every one was a battle between pinnacle geniuses of the world.


    The finals came down to a battle between two Yang-Dao Sect youths, shutting out the Sword-Dao Sect and Mage-Dao Sectpletely. For the Mage-Dao Sect this was fine, as they focused primarily on Mage Arts, which were incredibly potent when used in group battle, but much less efficient when used in one-on-one battle.


    As for the Sword-Dao Sect, this was an utter embarrassment, as it had been decades since they hadst not had a participant in any of the finals. Their youths had won the Core Formation and Meridian Forging tournaments, keeping them from beingpletely embarrassed, but with the Heaven Tribtion and Dao Transformation tournaments considered to be the most prestigious, it was still quite a blow to their pride.


    As such, the weight of the Dao Transformation tournament grew even heavier, as the Sword-Dao Sect was no doubt looking to restore that pride with Ji''Han''s performance. The Dao Transformation bracket was the most prestigious and entertaining by far, and a win there overshadowed all other failures.


    After the Heaven-Tribtion tournament award ceremony was a day of rest, in which the tournament spectators could rx and recover, while the tournament hosts prepared the stages for the next bracket. Many of the existing spectators were ushered out of the arena and Yang-Dao Sect, their tickets valid only for the tournament through the Heaven Tribtion Bracket.


    The Dao Transformation bracket was the most anticipated bracket in recent memory, perhaps ever. It had the absolute pinnacle genius in Ji''Han, who would disy his heaven-defying talent to the world onest time, cementing his ce in history. There was Jaxus, his long-time rival, who sought to prevent Ji''Han''s victory, cementing his legacy instead, as well as many other talented geniuses, each potentially capable of iming the throne of victory for their own.


    As such, the most important and powerful cultivators of the world arrived for this bracket alone, filling much of the crowd with the most important people of the human race. It was an event for the ages, and none dared to miss it.


    ¡­


    The door to the training ground was pushed open, the light from beyond flooding into the Prime Shadow''s temporary room. John stepped out a momentter, with Zuri close behind. Both were breathing heavily, their minds and souls exhausted from two weeks of rigorous training andbat.


    John breathed in deeply, sucking in the thick Qi of thisnd. His body greedily drank the Qi which replenished and invigorated his mind and body. Zuri walked by, her clothes somewhat tattered from the fiercebat and training they had been in over thest two weeks.


    "You have fifteen hours before the first trial starts," she said, walking to a door on the opposite side of the luxurious room. She opened the door, which revealed a small pool filled with wondrously refreshing water within, then peered over her shoulder at John. "Make sure to rest up fully before the tournament starts. I won''t have the Prime Shadow berate and punish me for not having you fresh and ready when the tournament starts."


    She then closed the door, leaving John alone in the room. He continued to breathe in Qi for a short while, then moved to another door next to the one Zuri had entered. The room was the exact same as Zuri''s, containing a small pool filled with a Qi infused water, which was refreshing, healing, and invigorating.


    John removed his clothes and stepped into the pool, feeling a rare, rxing calm for the first time in weeks.


    ¡­


    Hourster, John left the room, cleaned, andpletely refreshed. Both his soul and body were brimming with vigor, making him feel antsy to expend his Qi inbat once more. He resisted the urge to train some more, and instead sat on afortable sofa in the room, overlooking the arena below.


    The massive one-hundred mile arena was filled with Yang-Dao Sect cultivators, who were going about constructing the stage for the first trial. He watched them work for a short while, using formations and other methods to build a sprawlingnd of cliffs, valleys, castles and more. After watching them for a while, he closed eyes, mind returning to his Art creation.


    ¡­


    A formation disk appeared in John''s hands, which he sent his divine sense into to inspect. Information regarding his betting pool entered his mind, including details such as the odds, the total amounts bet on either side, and more. A wide smile appeared on his face as he read the staggeringlyrge number he would receive upon his win.


    "The odds will lock in at the start of the preliminary elimination trial," he read, nodding his head with satisfaction. Once his scores were revealed, the odds would no doubt shift greatly towards his position, which would reduce his winnings.


    "Checking your future winnings, huh?" Zuri asked. She stood next to him, a small smile on her face as she also had recently inspected the expected winnings of the bet. John nodded, satisfied by what he saw. He put the disk away, then opened the door before him.


    Naelia was standing on the other side, patiently waiting for them.


    "Finally!" she eximed, sighing with relief. "You''re cutting it far too close!"


    "We still have an hour until the trial starts. We''ll be fine," John shrugged unconcerned, stepping out of the room.


    Naelia pouted at him, her hands ced firmly on her hips, then smiled as Zuri stepped out a momentter. She hugged Zuri excitedly, like a puppy that hadn''t seen their master for days.


    "Alight, let''s get going," Zuri said, to which Naelia nodded, then led the way forward.


    The group left the restricted hallway a short whileter, stepping back into the main hallways of the arena. A loud, buzzing, almost deafening cacophony met them, as countless people moved through the hallway. Some walked, others ran, and all were talking loudly, their discussions regarding one thing; the Dao Transformation tournament about to start.


    "The first trial is about to start, and the testing scores are about to be released," John heard someone in a group of youths say as they walked by.


    "Who do you think will be first?" another asked.


    "Ji"Han obviously," a different voice replied.


    "No, its going to be Jaxus this year," another argued.


    "Regardless of who wins, do you think we''ll see a record-setting score this year? If anyone can do it, its those two," another chimed in.


    The group walked by John, blending into the thick and boisterous crowd, their discussion drowned out by the other discussions nearby.


    "Heh," Naelia sneered, then smiled, giving John a sideways nce. "They don''t even know how. I can''t wait to see the shock on everyone''s face when they find out."


    "Shouldn''t you be cheering for Jaxus, instead of me?" John asked curiously. "After all, he''s representing your sect."


    "Ah!" Naelia''s face lit up with realization, as if she had forgotten which sect she belonged to. She smiled, giving John one more quick nce, then walked forward to lead the way. "I''ll cheer for both of you," she said softly, her voice drowned out by the loud discussions nearby as the group walked through the hallway, towards the first trial that was about tomence.


    John felt a growing excitement rise up within him as he followed behind. A small smile appeared on his face.


    ''It''s almost time to let loose. It''s been a while since I''vest enjoyed the taste of truebat.''

 Chapter 1035 The Tournament Starts

    Chapter 1035 The Tournament Starts


    Naelia led John and Zuri through the massive arena, which took some time to navigate. The halls were filled with countless people, making it quite hard to move at times. After pushing their way through countless hallways and rooms, the group arrived on the lowest floor of the arena.


    After walking down some steps which were guarded by Yang-Dao Sect cultivators, permitting entry only to tournament participants and those near them, they arrived in a rather empty hallway, at leastpared to the ones they hade from.


    John breathed a sigh of relief, thankful to be removed from the stuffy and boisterous halls above, and followed Naelia as she expertly moved towards the first trial starting point. They arrived half an hourter, moving quite quickly through the hall to ensure they were notte.


    A massive, double-sided door came into view, which was already open. Two World Expansion Yang-Dao Sect elders stood on either side, guarding the way forward. One of the elders blocked their path, asking for the entry formation.


    John handed his formation disk to the Elder, who inspected it, eyes going wide a momentter. He remained speechless for quite some time, then handed the disk back to John, a different, scrutinous look on his face.


    He then handed John another formation disk.


    "Take this, and fill it with your Qi, then do not fight the formation''s energy," the Elder instructed.


    John took the disk, inspected it for a moment, then sent his Qi into it. The disk absorbed his Qi greedily, as iftching onto it. A restrictive energy surged out of the disk, enveloping John who instinctively went to fight against it, but stopped himself from doing so at thest moment.


    The energy enveloped John, then went dormant a momentter. The disk had moved through his robe andtched onto his upper arm, like a bracelet, firmly locked in ce. John gave Naelia a quick, curious nce for an exnation.


    "You''ll find out its purpose soon enough," she said, a teasing look of satisfaction on her face. This was clearly payback for almost making themte, which she would no doubt have been scolded for.


    John rolled his eyes, then entered the room. The guards allowed Naelia and Zuri to enter with him after Naelia exined their purpose. As he stepped into the room, a massive chamber came into view. The room was several miles wide and long, with a ceiling several hundred yards overhead.


    Within the room were around ten thousand other people, all Dao Transformation geniuses of the human race. An eager, anxious, and excited atmosphere filled the room as these geniuses awaited the start of the first trial, where they would prove their talent to the world.


    John moved a short distance into the room, then stopped. Naelia and Zuri stepped up beside him, Naelia looking at all the geniuses with awe, Zuri scanning it for any danger. John looked about as well, noticing a glowing doorway on the opposite side of the room, one several dozen yards wide and tall.


    "We''re all going to enter the trial at once?" John asked Naelia, to which she nodded her head.


    "While the arena is quiterge, it''s not thatrge for a Dao Transformation cultivator. Isn''t it going to not only be quite crowded, but also easy to get through?" John asked her.


    Naelia smiled at his naivety to the tournament rules, then shook her head.


    "It''s not nearly that simple," she said. "The formation on your arm does several things, and one is to restrict flight."


    "Even then, I''d be able to jump most of that distance with ease," John frowned. "Doesn''t seem like much of a challenge."


    Naelia''s smile widened, truly enjoying John''s naivety of the trials. "You can try, but I would advise against it. You''ll find out soon enough," she said. "Oh, and there are a few rules I should let you know about, so you don''t get disqualified. First, there''s no teamwork allowed. You can fight others, but you cannot team up on others, nor can you use teamwork to defeat the challenges of the trial. The trial is meant to weed out the weak, so make sure to remember that."


    John nodded his head, as the rule made sense.


    "You also cannot kill or maim others, but anything less than that is fine," Naelia added. "Oh, andstly, you must be in the first nine hundred and twenty-four to make it to the other side. If you don''t ce in the top nine hundred and twenty-four, you are immediately eliminated. That''s about all the rules you need to be aware of."


    "Thanks," John nodded at Naelia, thankful for the exnations. Naelia smiled with satisfaction, her eyes following John''s as he turned to look at something.


    A group of cultivators approached them, led by someone John recognized.


    "So, you are participating in the tournament after all," the lead person, the young man John had met at the Yang-Dao Sect entrance said, a wide smile on his face as he stared smugly at John.


    "It''s surprising such a bumpkin could even make the top ten thousand," another in the group said.


    "You should have heeded my warning and stayed out of the tournament," the leader said, "but now it''s toote for that. When the trial starts, I''m going to make sure to publicly embarrass you before the entire world. You can only me yourself for this, for insulting those you could not afford to insult!"


    "Now we get to watch Gerid beat you down," another in the group said, a smug smile on his face.


    John scoffed with amusement, almost unable to believe the pettiness of this person. Before he could reply, noise sounded out beside him.


    "Pffft¡­hahahah," the sound of stifledughter drifted out, followed by loud, heartyughter. Everyone turned their eyes to Naelia, who was hunched over, holding her belly whileughing loudly. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes as she fought to contain herughter, which she was only able to do a short whileter.


    Gerid frowned at her, but did not say anything insulting or take any action towards Naelia. She wore the clothes of the Yang-Dao Sect, as thus was someone he could not afford to offend.


    "What are youughing at?" Gerid asked, unable to contain his growing ire.


    "You really don''t know how to pick a good opponent," Naelia said, herughter finally contained. She looked at Gerid, then John, then almost started bursting outughing again. "I almost feel sorry for you. Almost."


    Gerid frowned, his mouth opening to speak. Before he could, a loud voice filled the room, silencing everyone within. Everyone turned to look at a Yang-Dao Sect elder who had appeared in the air above the door of light on the opposite side of the room.


    "Young geniuses of the Human Continent," the elder said, voice booming throughout the entire room. "I congratte you for making it this far. It is a feat reserved only for the true geniuses of this world."


    His words caused many of the youths within to swell with pride, smiles forming on many of their faces.


    "Now is the time for you to prove the extent of your genius to the world," the elder continued, his words adding further passion and excitement to the emotions the youths were feeling. "Now is the time to fight for glory and treasures."


    The elder paused dramatically, eyes scanning the excited crowd. He smiled, then turned in the air, gesturing towards therge door of light.


    "Now¡­is the time of the Dao Transformation tournament. You may now enter the first trial, and good luck to all."


    Loud cheers flooded the room, filling it with an electric atmosphere. Youths rushed towards the door of light, stepping into it and disappearing within.


    "I guess I''m up," John said, giving both Naelia and Zuri a quick nod, then moved towards the door of light on the opposite side of the room. He arrived before it a short whileter, with youths surging on both sides, stepping into it.


    He did so as well, and as he did, he felt several hands press against his back. He ignored the hands and appeared in a different location a momentter. He looked about, findingbyrinth-like walls surrounding him, with a ceiling high overhead. The room he was in was about one hundred yards wide and long, with a single way forward on the other side of the room.


    "No wonder Naelia said I wouldn''t be able to jump to the end of the trial," he muttered, then turned to the side as footsteps approached him. He spotted Gerid and hispanions a short distance away, walking towards him with wide smiles on their faces.


    "You''re such an idiot," Gerid said, pping with glee. "You didn''t even think to stop us from touching you as you stepped through the formation. If you had done so, we would have been transported to a different starting location. You truly are an idiot!"


    "A true idiot," hispanions agreed, stopping a short distance away from John.


    John smiled, shook his head at their stupidity, then stepped towards them.


    "I''m really going to enjoy this."

 Chapter 1036 Who The Hell Is John Fenix?

    Chapter 1036 Who The Hell Is John Fenix?


    Zuri watched as John stepped into the door of light, then shook her head lightly, sighing in the process. All this could so easily have been avoided.


    "Why does John keep his aura so withdrawn?" Naelia asked curiously, tiling her head to the side thoughtfully. "With his talent, if he reveals just a bit of his aura, others like those boys would immediately know he''s an opponent they cannot afford to offend. And earlier, had he revealed his aura to me, I would have had an easier time believing his testing scores to be real. He really should reveal a tiny portion of his aura to avoid these problems."


    What Naelia said was the truth. John always had his aura withdrawn as much as possible at all times, unlike most geniuses, who red a small portion of it at all times, like peacocks ring their colorful feathers around for others to gawk at with awe. Even a tiny portion of one''s aura would reveal Qi quality, which was a major indication of talent. If those boys had felt a sliver of John''s aura, they would have turned around and fled immediately, regretting the day they targeted him.


    Zuri shook her head. "I have no idea," she said. "Either he doesn''t care to reveal his talent, or he enjoys indulging in situations like this, where he allows overbearing opponents to walk into a trap, like a bug being caught in a spider''s web."


    "Maybe it''s both?" Naelia suggested, a thoughtful look on her face.


    "Maybe," Zuri said, then turned around and left the room, Naelia following closely behind.


    ¡­


    John walked towards Gerid and the others, his footsteps steady and confident. Gerid watched his approach with an amused smile on his face, his arms folded across his chest. His friends fanned out to the side, making sure they didn''t interfere in the battle and get disqualified for teaming up.


    "You really should have done your research before showing your face in this trial," Gerid said haughtily. "If you had, you would have found out I''m not someone you can afford to offend."


    John ignored his words, each footstep steady as he closed the distance between them. Gerid frowned at his words not causing John to hesitate, then smiled again.


    "Why don''t you go ahead and check my testing results," Gerid said, head tilted upwards, looking down his nose at John.


    John''s footsteps paused, causing Gerid''s smile to widen.


    "I can do that?" John asked. "How?"


    Laughter broke out amongst Gerid''s friends, and even Gerid had to stifle his mockingughter. He shook his head at John, as if he were truly dealing with an absolute idiot.


    "You don''t even know that much?" Gerid asked. "How is it possible that someone like you was able to qualify for this prestigious tournament?"


    "Because strength is the only thing that matters in a tournament," John replied.


    Gerid nodded his head, agreeing with John''s words. "You are right. Strength is the most important thing that matters in the end. And since this is your first andst tournament you''ll ever enter, I''ll take pity on you and provide you with some short lived information. You use your divine sense to enter my armband formation, where you can see my testing scores."


    "I see," John said, but didn''t check Gerid''s formation armband. Knowing his score changed nothing for John. Gerid frowned, bing irked by John''s refusal to check his score. He wanted John to read his score and tremble with fear, at which point he would break John, savoring the entire thing.


    "Since you are too stupid to check my score, I''ll tell you it instead," Gerid said, aura ring to prepare for the fight, folded arms sying to both sides in the air. "I ced six hundred and twelve. That''s right! Top one thousand! Amongst all the Dao Transformation geniuses on this continent, I reign amongst the top one thousand. My level is something you could never hope topare against, and all you can do is tremble and despair!"


    He looked at John, mouth wide open with haughtyughter. He yearned to see John''s eyes go wide with shock, his footsteps retreating instead of advancing, his body shaking with fear. And yet, he received only a smile on the corner of John''s mouth, as if John thought he was dealing with an absolute idiot.


    Gerid''s short temper ignited, and his aura red fully, drowning this small room they were in with his power. His divine sense flooded outwards, linking to John''s armband. However, it was not to read the armband, but to do something else. As Gerid''s divine sense linked to John''s armband, a formation energy ignited from Gerid''s armband. It enveloped him with formational energy, which infused into Gerid.


    John watched on curiously, wondering what was happening. His curiosity was answered quickly as he noticed Gerid''s cultivation being restricted, limiting his power to the Middle Dao Transformation realm, the same as John''s.


    "Now that we''re linked, I can destroy you," Gerid said, voice filled with battle-lusted anticipation. "I can''t kill you, and I can''t cripple your cultivation but the rules say nothing of breaking each of your limbs slowly, making you cry out in agony."


    During Gerid''s deranged monologue, John felt the divine sense of Gerid''spanions hit his armband, not the way Gerid''s had done, but instead to read the score contained within. Each of their eyes went wide with absolute disbelief, unable toprehend what they were seeing.


    Gerid suddenly rushed forward, hisughter filling the room as he appeared before John. As he reached out towards John to attack, he heard the yells of his friends fill the room, each yell louder than thest.


    In his battle-lusted state of anger and anticipation, the words of hispanions were lost to him. All he could feel was the passion behind those yells¡­yells no doubt cheering him on to break the pathetic opponent before him.


    In the air, high above their heads, small, circr formation orbs floated in the sky, one for each youth in the room.


    ¡­


    A few minutes after John had entered the door of light, thest participant stepped through, officially dering the start of the tournament. The door of light disappeared, sending out a wave of energy throughout the arena.


    That energy triggered mechanisms ced throughout the arena, such as the mechanism that disclosed the results of the illusory tests. The crowd in the arena stands, well over over ten million strong, surrounded the preliminary testing grounds, their faces alight with excitement and anticipation.


    In the arena before them, the preliminary testing grounds stretched out from one end to the other. It started underground, in abyrinth they couldn''t see into, eventually opening up to and of valleys, mountains, fire, ice and more. The wave of energy suddenly passed over them, indicating the start of the trial.


    With the officialmencement of the Dao Transformation tournament, the crowd in the arena erupted with cheers, their loud cheersbining to be something almost like a roaring primordial beast. The collective eruption shook the arena itself, like an earthquake had hit thend.


    Formation disks appeared in the hands of each of the spectators, which acted as ticket and information. Each spector eagerly sent their divine senses into the disk, which had now been filled with the information regarding the illusory testing results.


    The excited expressions on everyone''s face almost immediately turned into wide eyed confusion, and then shock, doubt, and disbelief. A name that no one had ever heard of, a name that meant absolutely nothing to them, sat atop the list, a list that contained illustrious names like Ji''Han and Jaxus.


    After reading the list over and over again, making sure they weren''t reading it wrong, a collective thought dominated the crowd.


    "Who the hell is John Fenix?"

 Chapter 1037 Anger, then Horror

    <h4>Chapter 1037 Anger, then Horror</h4>


    The crowd erupted with noise, the noise even louder than the cheers to announce the start of the tournament. Some were yells of confusion, others shock, and someplete doubt.


    "Who the hell is this John Fenix?" A youth in the Heaven Tribtion Realm, who wore the robes of the Sword-Dao Sect, roared with anger. "There''s no way this is correct! How the hell can a nobody ce higher than Ji''Han?"


    "He not only ced above Ji''Han, but also received the highest score in history! Impossible!" another Sword-Dao Sect youth roared furiously.


    "And look at all those one hundreds! Impossible. His score must be false! He''s a cheat! A cheat!" another yelled angrily.


    "That''s right. He''s a cheater! A fraud! Remove him from the tournament!"


    "He doesn''t even belong to a Dao-Sect! He''s a nobody! He''s a fraud!"


    Simr discussions dominated the arena, as many of the spectators were members of the Sword-Dao Sect or their subsects. Even the Yang-Dao Sect members and the Yang-Dao sub-sect members, from youths to elders, roared with anger and rage, unable to believe the score.


    "Cheater! Cheater! Cheater!" a Sword-Dao Sect youth started chanting angrily. His chant quickly caught on, with much of the crowd, over ten million strong, chanting the same in unison. Their chants reverberated through the entire arena, and even the Yang-Sphere, a testament to their fury and rage.


    In one of the exclusive rooms at the top of the stadium, the Sword-Saint looked down on the crowd, his face filled with a mix of amusement and anger. He was angered that the score had been officially posted, but was amused, even happy, that the crowd had reacted with such vitriol.


    "You see this, Yang-Sovereign?" the Sword-Saint said softly to himself. "This shame, this embarrassment, will now stain you forever. You had the chance to rectify this situation, but refused to do so. When the boy reveals himself to be a fraud, this shame will permanently stain your name."


    ¡­


    In another room at the very top of the stadium, the Prime Shadow sat, smiling at the development. Next to him sat a figure of power, as if he was the embodiment of the sun and the stars. The Yang-Sovereign''s gaze drifted over the crowd, his face emotionless, unmoved by the crowd''s actions.


    A momentter, the door to the room opened. Zuri and Naelia walked in, then moved over towards the window where the Prime Shadow and the Yang Sovereign were. Their faces were twisted with anger, clearly having heard the chants before they entered the room.


    "How can they call John a cheater without even knowing him?!" Naelia grumbled, unhappy by what she heard and saw. Zuri gave her a sideways nce, a small, amused smile appearing on her face.


    "You thought John was a cheater as well," she said, her words causing Naelia''s eyes to widen, her face then turning red.


    "I¡­that was different," she pouted, taking a seat next to Zuri overlooking the arena below.


    "Their chant''s will be silenced soon," Zuri said, then took out a formation disk. It was the same as everyone else had, and sent her divine sense into it, linking it with John''s name. A screen of light appeared before her in the air, revealing a scene within thebyrinth.


    At the same time, the stadium stands began to alight with floating formation screens, revealing the same scene Zuri was seeing. In their shock and rage, most had forgotten they could select a name on the list, which would reveal what they were doing in the trial taking ce. Usually, spectators would select to watch a member of their sect, or those towards the top of the list who still had to take this trial.


    Today however, there was only one name everyone selected. One name they chose to watch.


    "Hehe," the Prime Shadowughed, truly amused by this situation. He gazed down at the massivebyrinth on one side of the arena, his gaze piercing stone and earth, thenughed again.


    The Yang-Sovereign stared in the same direction, one eyebrow raising on his normally emotionless face.


    "Your¡­sessor is quite brutal," the Yang-Sovereign said, then gave the Prime Shadow a sideways nce. "And his Dao Name¡­Immortal Asura¡­"


    "What of it?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    The Yang-Sovereign stared at the Prime Shadow for a short moment, then silently looked back towards thebyrinth.


    As the floating formation screens revealed a scene to everyone in the crowd, their angered face''s immediately changed. Eyes went wide, hands were ced to gaping mouths in shock and disbelief, lips trembled, not with rage, but with horror. In a single moment, the entire crowd had been silenced, their rage forgotten, as if a distant memory. Now, only shock and horror remained.


    ¡­


    In the air above John and the others, the formation orbs floated, each focused on a youth in the room. The one assigned to follow John projected a scene to all the viewers, revealing something none of them had expected.


    Cries of agony and pain dominated the room John was in, which sounded more like a torture chamber than anything else. Three different agonized voices cried out, creating a harmony of anguish.


    Gerid, as well as two of his friends,id motionless on the ground, the only visible movement their trembling bodies. Both their legs and arms were shattered in several ces, bones sticking out of the flesh, blood flowing out of the wounds created by the broken bones.


    Their faces were damaged beyond recognition as well, bing a jumbled mess of blood and exposed flesh. John stood over these three, who had been gathered in a pile of broken bodies before him. They twitched with excruciating agony, their cries of pain bellowing out ceaselessly. As Gerid had promised to do to him, he had done to Gerid and the two others.


    While his actions were barbaric and brutal, they were not against the rules. He could not kill or cripple, which despite the gruesome things he did, did not vite those rules. Dao Transformation cultivators would heal up from these wounds in several weeks with some healing assistance, and thus it was not considered crippling. However, the mental crippling would remain, a permanent scar on the souls of these three.


    John''s gaze shifted from the broken bodies before him, towards the four others in the same room as him. His handling of Gerid had been nearly instant, at which point two of his friendsshed out at John, trying to take advantage of the situation to cut him down. After seeing what he was doing to Gerid, they didn''t care for the rules or disqualification, and tried to team up on him to take him down.


    Theirbined assault had been squashed as soon as it began, and John reduced the state of their bodies to the same condition as Gerid''s.


    The four cultivators'' on the other side of the room, all appearing to be around twenty to twenty two, flinched upon being stared at by John. Their wide eyes stared at him with absolute fear, as if they were staring at a beast about to devour and consume them.


    "We¡­we didn''t take action against you!" one said, a male with long brown hair and silver eyes. He had a Middle Dao Transformation cultivation, as did the four others. The others nodded their heads upon hearing theirpanions'' words.


    "That''s¡­thats'' right. We never targeted you. We only watched. Surely, we can let bygones be bygones?" another asked, voice unsteady.


    "You only watched?" John said thoughtfully, then nodded his head in agreement. "I suppose you''re right."


    His words caused the four to sigh with absolute relief, as if they had just escaped the jaws of death.


    "Since each of you only watched your friend''s attempt to brutalize me, then each of you can watch as I break the four of you one by one," John said, his smile sending shivers of horror down the spines of the remaining four.


    They immediately scattered to both sides of John, trying to rush past him towards the only opening into thebyrinth. John smiled as they rushed by, snapping his fingers without even turning around. At the same time, his divine sense linked with the armband of all four, allowing him to attune to, and fight each one of them.


    Hundreds of nodes appeared in the air directly at the only exit. Beams of lightning sprang into existence a momentter, linking from one node to the next, immediately forming a solid of lightning.


    The four bounced off the lightning as it appeared in an instant, their bodies slightly charred from the brief contact. They recovered a momentter, then unleashed simultaneous attacks towards the wall of lightning, hoping to break it apart.


    Battle arts exploded against the wall of lightning, drowning the rtively small room in abined explosion of their power. The eyes of the four went wide with horror as they were consumed by their own power, which faded a short whileter, revealing the four lying on the ground, injured from the sts of their attacks.


    Their eyes slowly drifted upwards towards the one exit, horror filling their bodies a momentter. The wall of lightning was still intact, unbroken by their assault. The sound of steady footsteps behind them grew louder with each steps, each step filling their hearts with horrified dread.


    They did not sound like the steps of a tournament participant, but instead sounded like the approach of a reaper of death, a harbinger of pain, a creature of nightmares. Each tried to scramble to their feet, but each was toote.


    The sound of shattering bones and agonized screams filled the room for a time, as millions of shocked and horrified eyes looked on.

 Chapter 1038 Stone Sentinels

    <h4>Chapter 1038 Stone Sentinels</h4>


    In the luxurious room overlooking the arena, Naelia nched at what she saw, clearly not having much experience with such brutality. Zuri rested aforting hand on her back, while the Prime Shadow''s heartyughter drifted throughout the room.


    "Your disciple is quite¡­heavy handed in his actions," the Yang-Sovereign said, a slight frown on his face. The youths being brutalized were from a Tier Two subsect of his, the ming Fist Sect. Them being brutalized in such a fashion was not a great look for the Yang-Dao hierarchy, especially not with tens of millions watching it happen live.


    "Hehehe, even I didn''t know that John had such a barbaric side to him," the Prime Shadowughed, clearly enjoying what he was seeing. A soft-hearted cultivator would never go far in the cultivation world, and this disy was another reassurance for the Prime Shadow that he had picked the correct sessor.


    The Prime Shadow nced to the Yang-Sovereign, noticing his almost imperceptible smile.


    "Oh, stop pouting so much," he said, his words causing the Yang-Sovereign to give him a pointed side-eyed nce. "John may be heavy handed, but from what I know of him, he is also fair and reasonable in his actions. For him to be doing this, those youths must have done something to deserve it."


    "They targeted John before the tournament even started, just for him standing in their way," Zuri spoke up, exining what had led to all this. "Then, they found him before the tournament started, and made sure they all arrived in the same ce so that their leader could embarrass and "brutalize" John as he had put it in his own words."


    "See! I told you there would be a reason for all this," the Prime Shadow said, nodding to Zuri, thanking her for the exnation. Zuri beamed a wide smile, her heart beating fast at having been thanked by the Prime Shadow himself.


    The Yang-Sovereign''s frown faded away, while the tournament below continued onward.


    ¡­


    John stood before the pile of seven broken youths, who were stacked one on top of the other like a pile of logs. He dusted his hands, nodding his head with satisfaction at his handiwork. He then turned to leave, as he had done what he wanted to do to this group of idiots.


    "You¡­you''re a fucking dead man¡­" Gerid whispered softly as John was about to step into thebyrinth hallways.


    John stopped then turned, his actions causing Gerid''s heart to beat rapidly with fear. He had not expected John to hear his words, as they were so soft as to almost not exist. John stared directly at Gerid, his eyes emotionless, as if Gerid''s existence made no difference to him.


    "Why is that?" John asked. "Are you from a sect I cannot afford to offend? Or have a father that I cannot afford to offend?"


    Gerid fell silent, his face white with fear. He cursed himself for speaking up, as John had almost left.


    "Noments now?" John asked, shaking his head with disappointment. "It''s always the same with you ''geniuses''," John said, making sure to emphasize the word genius with a sarcastic tone. "You get into a decent sect, then unt your status as if it''s your own power, thinking no one else will dare to offend you, then get surprised when someone retaliates in kind."


    He shook his head, as if trying to emphasize his true disappointment, then looked back to Gerid.


    "I guess you need to be taught a bit more on what humility and respect is," John said, then waved his hand. His Qi surged towards Gerid, wrapping around him and dragging him out of the pile of broken bodies. The other youths groaned at having their broken bodies tossed aside, but uttered noints.


    Gerid floated towards John, unable to resist John''s power in his broken state. Groans of pain escaped his lips, while wide eyes stared at John as if he were the grim reaper.


    "Let go of me!" Gerid struggled to say through the pain.


    "Nah," John said curtly. "You and I are going to go on a little adventure together."


    Gerid started to say something, but John merely flicked his hand. Lightning surged out and wrapped around Gerid like a rope, binding almost his entire body except his eyes. John kept the destructive proportion of the lightning at bay, using it only to restrict Gerid''s movements.


    He then stepped into thebyrinth hallway, Gerid floating in the air beside him, following along like a kite held by a string. His muffled cries of pain and protest were ignored as John strode forward.


    Thebyrinth walls, floor, and ceiling high above were all gray-stone, although the durability of thebyrinth was high enough that even their little battle had not scratched the walls much. Thebyrinth hallway was several dozen yards wide, and stretched forward for several hundred yards beforeing to another room.


    John stopped at the entrance, looking to both sides. He noticed several other entrances to his left and right, with other tournament participants moving out of them as well. Most of them ignored him, although some gave him a curious nce upon noticing Gerid floating behind him, bound by lightning.


    The others then hastily moved to the other side of the open room, which had more than a dozen hallways to enter. John watched the others enter, then moved across the room and picked one.


    He moved down another hallway for a while, then looked over his shoulder towards the ceiling above.


    There, he noticed the floating formation ball following him, although he didn''t know why. He figured it was something to do with the tournament however, and left it alone, as it was not bothering him.


    After walking through thebyrinth a bit more, checking for any traps on the way, he came to another room. The room was a mile wide and tall, and had several other tournament participants already in it.


    Those participants were syed on the ground near the walls, their bodies battered and bruised. John shifted his gaze towards the middle of the room, where a dozen stone sentinels stood. They looked like a statue of a sword-wielding man, some dozen yards tall.


    The aura leaking from the statues revealed they were not as simple as they appeared. He then looked past the sentinels, and saw that there were more hallways on the other side. He went to move, then noticed another cultivator to his left move towards the statues, trying to get by.


    One of the statues moved with incredible speed, appearing before the youth in an instant. The youth gritted his teeth and took out his weapon, starting to fight the statue. The youth, clearly someone from a Sword-Dao Subsect, fought quite well, his movements precise, his battle arts strong, his instincts sharpened.


    After a brief battle, the youth managed to make his way past the statue, and slipped into the halls on the other side. He had sustained some injuries from the battle, but nothing to hamper his power too much.


    John watched the battle, nodded his head, then stepped towards the statue. The statue started to move towards him, itsrge stone sword arcing at him with power. John nced to his right, then smiled.


    "They say teaming up is forbidden," John said, reaching out with his right hand. His hand grasped Gerid''s right foot, who was unable to move at all, as his body was still tightly bound by lightning.


    He then steadied Gerid''s stiff lightning bound body before him, as if he was holding a sword.


    "I wonder if they consider using your body as a weapon to be teamwork? Let''s find out."

 Chapter 1039 Living Weapon

    Chapter 1039 Living Weapon


    "He''s approaching the first trial!"


    "It''s the stone sentinels! I remember this trial from the previous tournament! They''re quite strong, so this should expose him if he''s a fraud."


    "What is he doing? After brutalizing his enemy, he''s now bringing one of them with him into the battle? Is he going to team up on the sentinel? That''s cheating! He should be eliminated."


    Millions of simrments filled the arena as the crowd watched John approach his first true test. They had not seen much of what he had done to Gerid and the others, and so had not seen him reveal his strength yet.


    More chants of John being a cheater flooded the arena as they saw him bring Gerid into the battle with him, but those chants were almost immediately silenced as they watched what Gerid''s role in the battle was.


    Their eyes widened with shock once more, then grimacing horror as the gruesome battle unfolded before them.


    ¡­


    Bang!


    The sentinels stone sword mmed down towards John, its power equal to the talented Middle Dao Transformation''s body cultivators attack. John met the attack, swinging Gerid''s body outwards like a sword, holding him by the right ankle. Sword met body, and there was a sickening crunch of flesh and bone, followed by a muffled howl of pain bleeding through the binding of lightning.


    The room shook from the violent, powerful collision, with the stone sentinel''s sword being knocked backwards. It steadied itself for a moment, then surged forward once more, sword mming down on John.


    Ceaseless cries of muffled pain rang out from John''s weapon, which he shook violently for a moment in annoyance.


    "Shut up," Johnmanded. "You should be thanking me that I''m wrapping you in my lightning to shore up your defensive capability. Otherwise, that sword attack would have cleaved you in half. Being my weapon is an honor any weapon in the world would fight for, yet I''ve picked you, and also turned you into an even finer weapon than you were before. You really should be thanking me, groveling even, for this prestigious opportunity."


    Gerid''s muffled protests were quickly cut off as John swung him outwards towards the massive sword, meeting the sentinels'' powerful attack. The room shook violently as the two darted every which way, their weapons colliding ceaselessly. The battle seemed to be rtively even matched, causing many in the crowd, as sickened at the sight as they were, to resume their cries of protest, yelling that John was a fraud for not being able to beat the first and easiest trial.


    Those protests were once again silenced, as after a nice, enjoyable battle, John finally ignored the sentinel, and with his natural movement speed, sped past it without the sentinel being able to react. He arrived at the other side of the room and slipped into one of the exits before the sentinel could reach him, revealing that he had been toying with it the entire time.


    Toying with it, for the sole purpose of using Gerid as a weapon. The crowd fell silent, their heads turning to the side to look at those nearby. Shocked expressions stared back at them, as if no one could believe what they were seeing. It was definitely the first time in the history of the Three Dao Tournament that someone had used anotherpetitor as a weapon.


    ¡­


    Gerid''s cries of pain eventually turned into softer, less annoying moans and whimpers, much to John''s delight. Gerid''s already broken body had been broken even more during the battle, but with John''s control over his new weapon, he was able to avoid any permanent damage, thus avoiding being eliminated by crippling Gerid.


    John reached out and tapped his finger to the lightning binding Gerid, which faded away instantly. Gerid crumpled to the ground in a mess of broken bone and flesh, cries of pain starting once more.


    "Take out your best healing pill and feed it to yourself," John instructed Gerid.


    He had almost fed Gerid a healing pill himself, but then figured that would most likely count as teamwork. However, Gerid consuming his own healing pill through his own power? That could not be considered as such.


    Gerid''s protests started again, but were quickly cut off by John pressing his heel into his broken flesh. Struggling through the pain, Gerid eventuallyplied, and used what little control he had over his body to take out a healing pill, then consume it. Vibrant healing energy coursed through his body, starting to knit and mend some of the damage he had sustained.


    John nodded his head with satisfaction, then sent out another rope of lightning, binding Gerid''s body despite his continued protests and even threats. The lightning coiled tightly, forcing Gerid tall and straight, like a human polearm. He walked through the hallway for some time, dodging obvious traps that only an idiot would fail to notice, then appeared in another room simr to the one he had fought the sentinel in.


    Another stone enemy, this time a slender beast that looked like a attacking power was a bit less. Clearly it was testing a different aspect ofbat prowess, most likely spread instead of brute mix between a panther and a tiger, was stationed in the middle of the room, it''s aura even stronger than the stone sentinel. John smiled, then sped towards the beast. The beast roared to life, then sped towards him.


    Its speed was far faster than the stone sentinel, although its attacking power was a bit less. Clearly it was testing a different aspect ofbat prowess, most likely spread instead of brute power. John smiled and summoned his living weapon, then shed out towards the stone beast''s ws.


    The orchestra of bangs, breaks, and cries of pain began once more, a true symphony to John''s ears.


    ¡­


    John walked through another hallway of thebyrinth, his human sword resting on his shoulder. He hummed a tune as he made his way forward, then nced over his shoulder at his weapon. A trail of blood drops stretched behind him as far as he could see, dripping from between the bindings of lightning wrapping Gerid.


    "They really do likebat trials to test our worthiness, huh?" John asked. "That''s what? Six battles now? And you''ve held up incredibly well this entire time. You should really consider changing your profession, from cultivator to weapon. I''m sure you''d sell for a fortune."


    The only reply was muffled groans. John smiled, patted his weapon appreciatively, then looked forward as he arrived in another room. He frowned slightly.


    The room before him did not have a visible enemy, but was instead covered from floor to ceiling with an obvious energy of some sorts. The energy had no gaps, and it was easy to tell that this energy tested a cultivator''s ability to resist the energy and push through it. The field seemed to be several hundred yards long, the air shimmering from its power. There were several other participants within the energy field, some struggling to walk forward, others barely making it through, and some retreating back to the start, unable to make it past the trial.


    "No enemy to fight, huh?" He muttered with disappointment, then stepped into the field of energy without pause.


    A powerful pressure descended on him, trying to force him to his knees. At the same time, a sensation of pain wracked his mind and soul, trying to overwhelm him. To John, this pain was rather mundane, as he had experienced pain much worse more times than he could count. To others however, it was a brutal nightmare.


    The cries of muffled paining from his weapon intensified under the painful pressure. John ignored the cries, walking to approximately the center of the field of energy. He stopped, a thoughtful look appearing on his face for a moment. He then lowered his living weapon from his shoulder, dropping it on the ground to his side.


    "I suppose using you as a weapon isn''t teamwork, but taking you through too much of the trial might be considered as such. I''d rather not risk it, so goodbye old friend. You were as good a weapon as any man could hope for," John said emotionally, acting as if he were truly choked up by this sudden parting.


    He waved his hand, unbinding Gerid from his lightning rope. Gerid''s body immediately started twitching under the pain, his eyes rolling back into his head from thebined agony of his wounds and this trial.


    "Please¡­.remove¡­me¡­from¡­this¡­.trial. I''m¡­going¡­to¡­.die¡­" Gerid managed to mutter out through agonized breaths.


    "Nonsense," John shook his head. "I have full faith that you can ovee this hurdle and meet me on the other side. Besides, if you died now, your death would be on the Yang-Dao Sect, not me. They''ll rescue you if you truly are not able to make it through on your own power. Either way, good luck, old friend. May we reunite in the future so that I may use you once more in battle!"


    With that, John turned and strode through the field of energy as if it didn''t exist, disappearing through one of the exits on the other side, continuing on to the rest of the first tournament trial.

 Chapter 1040 Stone Doors

    Chapter 1040 Stone Doors


    Crystal blue eyes stared at the formation screen depicting John''s actions. There was a slight hint of amusement in those eyes, which shifted as someone spoke up.


    "This boy is an absolute disgrace to this tournament," the Sword-Saint said, his teeth bared slightly with anger and disgust. He was staring into thebyrinth directly, the walls and formations unable to stop his Holy Manifestation gaze.


    His narrowed eyes were locked onto John as he moved through thebyrinth. Lilian gave the Sword-Saint a quick nce, then returned her focus to the screen in front of her.


    The two of them were in the Sword-Saint''s luxurious room at the top of the stadium. These rooms were the most exclusive, and were used only by the most powerful and important cultivators of the human race, such as the Sword-Saint or the Prime Shadow. The wide room had arge floor to ceiling window that gave unobstructed viewing of the arena far below.


    The Sword-Saint''s gaze shifted upwards, looking to a room on the opposite side of the hundred-mile wide stadium. The room was on the same level as his, and within it were several people, including someone the Sword-Saint felt nothing but hatred for at the moment.


    The Prime Shadow, conversing with the Yang-Sovereign, paused, then shifted his gaze, locking with the Sword-Saint across the hundred-mile gap between them. The Sword-Saint frowned, then averted his eyes. He was already angered that the Yang-Sovereign had chosen to watch the trial with the Prime Shadow, and would not give the Prime Shadow anything else to feel good about.


    "I find his actions rather amusing," Lilian chimed up, a small smile on the corner of her mouth.


    The Sword-Saint gave her a quick nce, then looked back towards thebyrinth far below.


    "He''s nothing but a fraudulent disgrace," the Sword-Saint said coldly. "Compared to Ji''Han, he''s the exact opposite. Right now, Ji''Han is deep in cultivation, using every single opportunity to raise his strength. On the other hand, this boy is treating this tournament as if it''s nothing but a game. He''s lucky Ji''Han opted to focus on his cultivation instead of joining this trial, or his end would have alreadye."


    The Sword-Saint sighed upon saying that, as he had tried to convince Ji''Han to end this fraudulent disy immediately, but Ji''Han had for some reason refused.


    "This¡­boy¡­is nothing but a crude youth who cares nothing for carrying himself with dignity or grace. He is a beggarpared to a king when ites to how he and Ji''Han carry themselves," the Sword-Saint continued.


    "The only thing that matters in this world is strength," Lilian said, eyes glued to the screen before her. "It doesn''t matter how uncouth someone is, or how dignified they are. In the end, the strong wins, and the weak perishes."


    A ck pill with white and gray lines on the surface suddenly appeared in her hand, one brimming with potent death energy. She popped the pill into her mouth, a satisfied look on her face. Her aura red for a moment, which she contained quickly.


    "Another Netherdeath Cultivation Pill?" the Sword-Saint said. "You are quite fond of those."


    "They suit me quite well," Lilian said, eyes closing for a moment as she focused on absorbing the potent energy of the pill. The pill was a cultivation pill that was best used by those who had a grasp of the Dao of Death, which was perfect for Lilian. Her cultivation had been rapidly rising over thest few months while under the ''care'' of the Sword-Saint, who had showered her with resources.


    "They are quite hard to find, and also quite expensive," the Sword-Saint said, giving her a quick nce. "But for my future daughter-inw, it is a worthwhile expense. The higher your cultivation and talent when you and Ji''Han marry, the more talented the son you give him will be. Ji''Han''s heir will no doubt be a talent as heaven-defying as him, perhaps even greater."


    The Sword-Saint''s anger had faded away, a prideful look on his face as he thought of his future grandson. Lilian''s amused smile from John''s disy faded away, her face going emotionless. She nced at the Sword-Saint, her smile returning a momentter. Her smile this time was not of amusement, but was a colder, more sinister smile instead.


    Her smile vanished before the Sword-Saint noticed it, her gaze returning to the formation screen hovering before her.


    ¡­


    John walked through another long hallway, which was filled with traps capable of injuring someone if they did not have good senses and instincts. asionally he saw some injured participants lying on the ground, wounded from one of these traps. While dangerous to others, to him, the traps were mere trifles, and he made his way through the hallway without issue.


    The hallway led to a massive room, farrger than he had found in thebyrinth thus far. The room was over a dozen miles wide, several miles long, and several miles tall. The room already had hundreds of trial participants in it, revealing to John that his progress had been rather mediocre thus far.


    He scanned the room, taking note of what was going on. The other end of the massive room was covered from edge to edge with double-sided stone doors. The doors were hundreds of yards tall and wide, and were glowing with intricate formation runes.


    Each door segment seemed to be divided by a defensive formation of some sorts, making the space before each door somewhat isted from the other doors. Before each of the doors stood a participant, their robes an array of different colors, indicating they came from a variety of sects. The only simrity was that they were each unleashing attacks at the door, seemingly with their full power.


    Battle arts exploded against the doors, drowning the area before the door with cmitous power. The formation screens on either side of the participants red to life, shielding the nearby participants from the battle arts the others were using.


    John looked on curiously at what was going on, then shifted his eyes to the right side of the room. There, a young woman unleashed a rather impressive battle art, one brimming with profound, arcane energy. The battle art mmed into the door, which shook for a brief moment, then slowly started to part open.


    The girl, teeth gritted, continued to unleash her attack, which seemed to have been a channeled attack. Clearly, she was from a Mage-Dao subsect. The strugglested for a short while before the door parted a few feet open. The girl immediately undid her battle art, then rushed forward, slipping through the gap in the door a moment before it mmed closed.


    "I see," John said to himself. "This is an attack power test. Only those with strong enough attacks can open the doors and proceed onwards. Now this is my kind of trial."


    He started walking over towards the opposite end of the room, not in a rush to im one of the doors. From what he could tell, this was a rather difficult test for most, as he had only seen a few doors open in the minutes he had been in the room. Most failed and had to retreat to recover their Qi before attempting again.


    He stood patiently for a few minutes before a youth walked away from the door, unable to open it. His battle art had been rtively impressive, but his Qi quality and quantity had not been enough to force the door open. The youth gave John a tired nce as he walked by, then sat on the ground a distance away, closing his eyes and focusing on recovering his Qi.


    As he arrived a few hundred yards from the door, John noticed that he had stepped through an invisible formation energy.


    "Most likely marking the area in which I need to attack from," John mused. The defensive formations were in ce to limit the sts of the battle arts, otherwise the entire room would be drowned in the collective power of hundreds of battle arts going off at the same time.


    As he approached, the millions watching John felt different emotions. Some were curious if he would be able to pass this test, which was the hardest one he had faced thus far. Others were angry at him for his actions towards Gerid and the others, and were hoping for his failure. Most hoped for his failure, and were looking forward to him embarrassing himself here.


    While hisbat instincts had been rtively impressive in his previous battles, he had not revealed anything incredible either. Many figured this trial would be his end, where the farce of this number one ranked genius would be revealed.


    John walked up to the door and stopped right before it. He raised his hand and touched the stone surface, fingers trailing over some of the carved formation runes.


    "Seems like a pretty heavy door," he said to himself. "And these formation runes are adding to the difficulty, making it much harder than one would expect. That girl from before was just barely able to get the door open despite that pretty powerful battle art, so I cheater!"


    The crowd erupted with taunts and jabs upon hearing John''s words.


    should need to use a bit of my power it seems."


    John had no idea the crowd was not only watching, but listening to him as well.


    "A bit of your power? Who the hell does this kid think he is?"


    "Even your full power won''t get you through that door, you fraudulent clown!"


    "Stop stalling! Just reveal to the world that you''re nothing but a cheater!"


    The crowd erupted with taunts and jabs upon hearing John''s words.


    Ignorant of their eyes and words, John nodded to himself, then took a step backwards. His face tensed up for a moment as he activated the full might of his body limiters, and even sent a surge of his Dragon-God Shift to his legs for good measure, ensuring he did not fail this trial the first time around and embarrass the Prime Shadow.


    Power coursing through his legs, John raised his right leg, then sent out a t-footed kick on the door with the strongest physical might he could muster in this state of his.


    Boom!


    The door flew open with powerful violence, as if a monstrous storm had blown them open. The entire room shook violently from the collision, as if an earthquake had hit it. Even the defensive formations were not able to neutralize all of the vibrations, which shook the other participants, catching their attention immediately.


    The doors trembled as if they were about to break off at any moment, barely to resist the might of John''s kick.


    John nodded his head with satisfaction, then undid his body limiters and Dragon-God Shift, returning to his normal state.


    "That was much easier than I thought it''d be. I guess I overdid it a little," he said, then walked through the wide-open door into the trial beyond.

 Chapter 1041 Taunted By The Crowd

    Chapter 1041 Taunted By The Crowd


    The doors took a while to move again, but eventually started to close behind John. They mmed closed behind him, rumbling thend around him for a brief moment. John ignored the closing doors, instead looking about in all directions, eyes slightly wide with awe.


    The door had been the exit to thebyrinth, leading to a wide-open expanse of barren earth. The expanse stretched out to the sides as far as he could see, and forward for several miles before reaching some tall cliffs. John ignored that, and instead looked to upwards towards the crowd that encircled the arena he was in.


    Now that he was out of thebyrinth, he was able to see a most of the stadium, which seemed evenrger standing inside the arena. Tens of millions of people covered every seat of the stadium stands, appearing like a multi-colored ocean of people. Blue, white, red, ck, orange, yellow, purple, and every color in between filled that ocean as cultivators from thousands of different sects wore their sect colors.


    John took in the awe-inspiring view for a moment, basking in it. He then frowned lightly, noticing something he had not immediately noticed.


    "I¡­I expected the crowd to be louder when in the arena, but I can barely hear anything at all," John said to himself, wondering if a formation of some sorts was preventing the sound of the crowd from reaching the arena.


    What he didn''t know was that most of the crowd was stunned silent, still reeling in shock from him simply kicking the stone door open as if it had been nothing. Most had expected him to fail that test, and were looking forward to watching him fail, and yet, he had breezed by it with the most casual disy of power many had ever witnessed.


    Many in the crowd snapped back to their senses upon hearing John''s words. The silence vanished almost immediately as a cacophony of noise flooded the arena. John was surprised by the sudden inrush of noise, then nodded his head with a satisfied expression.


    "That''s more like it," he said approvingly, then frowned a momentter.


    Words from the ocean of noise finally reached him, some of them audible.


    "Who the hell are you calling quiet!"


    "You¡­you cheated again somehow, you fraud!"


    "Even if you are strong, you''re still a violent brute! You should be ashamed!"


    "There''s no way you''re stronger than Ji''Han. You must be cheating!"


    John raised an eyebrow as he heard this barrage of insults, taunts, and even boos. While not everyone was screaming insults at him, the loudest and the most audible were the ones throwing these insults ceaselessly.


    There were those in the crowd that had finally realized that John''s strength was the real deal, and were excitedly discussing that fact. Based on his illusory test scores, many had assumed he was a body cultivator. His kick had confirmed that, and also the fact that his body was incredibly powerful.


    "No wonder he was able to fight against those statues using only a person as a weapon, and without using any battle arts" many thought, realizing the situation wasn''t as simple as it first appeared.


    However, thoseing to realize this were still in the minority, as the members of the Sword Dao Sect, Yang Dao Sect, and their subsects were too blinded by anger to stop and consider the facts.


    John was taken aback at suddenly being the center of attention from almost everyone it seemed. He then noticed that before almost everyone in the crowd was a floating formation screen, revealing a scene to the spectators. He studied the scene, then looked upwards.


    There he spotted that floating orb again, staring down at him.


    "So that''s what this orb is doing," John said, instantly realizing what was going on. Everyone had seen him brutalize the others, then use Gerid as a living weapon. And not only that, but his score had been revealed for everyone to see, naturally incurring doubt and anger from those who thought he was nothing but a fraud.


    While he had easily breezed through all the trials, he had done nothing to assuage their doubts. Even his logic-defying kick was without any spectate, making some doubt its difficultly, while others thought he used an external device, like a formation, to augment his strength, which was against the rules.


    It was not the reaction he was expecting to receive, but then again, John had not given thought about what reaction he was expecting in the first ce. He listened to the barrage of ceaseless insults for a while, face expressionless. Then he smiled.


    The crowd seemed to pause for a brief moment, the sound dying down for an instant. They had expected the millions of insults being thrown at John to overwhelm him, but instead he smiled.


    ''I was always the hero back home, but it seems in thisnd, where my name is unknown, have a chance to y the viin,'' John thought, his smile widening as if he were a lunatic or a madman. ''Oh¡­I think I''m going to enjoy this quite a bit.''


    He basked in the cacophony of insults, which started to be less frequent as those insulting him realized John didn''t seem to care at all. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying the insults, confusing those who were trying to get him to copse under the pressure of being detested by so many.


    As the sound died down, John shifted his gaze from the crowd to thend before him. Two cultivators, both young men who were most likely in their early twenties, stood side by side, ring at him.


    One wore a bright red and orange robe, with the insignia of a sun embroidered on the back and shoulder. He had long orange hair that danced wildly like fire, rugged facial features, and a powerful looking build.


    The man next to him had a more slender build, and wore a pure white robe. He had short ck hair, a sharp and handsome face, and wore a scabbard on his waist, revealing the handle of a sword.


    "Yang-Dao Sect and Sword-Dao Sect huh?" John mused, scratching his chin as he stared at the two of them. With the way they were staring at him, it was clear that both of them were here for him, and no doubt with hostile intentions.


    "What do you two want?" John asked curtly, paying no respect to these two who stared at him with such provocation. John felt their divine sense touch his armband, no doubt checking his identity to confirm who he was.


    "So it is you," the Sword-Dao Sect cultivator said, his eyes narrowing slightly.


    "Yes, it is I," John said with an extravagant wave of his hand. "So what of it? Am I supposed to know who you are?"


    "No, you are only meant to be cut down by my de," the Sword-Dao cultivator said as he unsheathed his sword. A sharp and dangerous sword aura filled the air around them as the sword was unsheathed. "Your score is fraudulent, and casts a farcical shadow over the Whiteme Sword King''s score."


    "Whiteme Sword King?" John repeated, tiling his head to the side in confusion. "Is that Ji''Han?"


    "Do not use the Whiteme Sword King''s name so informally," the young man growled. "You are not worthy of speaking his true name."


    "Hmm, I see.; Quite an impressive sounding Dao Name he has," John said, nodding his head as if he understood the young man''s reasonings. He then shifted his gaze to the Yang-Dao Sect cultivator, who had yet to speak.


    "And you? What feud do you have with me?" he asked.


    "Your score is also an insult to Jaxus, the Yang-Dao Sect, and the entire Three Dao Tournament," the Yang-Dao Sect cultivator said, his voice deep and powerful, like a rumbling volcano. "I am here to prove that you are an unworthy fraud."


    "I see, I see," John nodded his head. "Quite a reception I have here. Two dogs havee barking at me, doing their master''s bidding."


    His words caused both men to grit their teeth, angered by the insult. Both took a step towards him, about to attack. John nced between the two of them for a moment, then pointed to the Sword-Dao Sect cultivator.


    "Since you cannot team up on me, I suppose I will need to choose my first opponent, which will be you."


    The Sword-Dao Sect cultivator smiled, thrilled that he would be the one to take down John in front of all these people, both stamping out this fraud before him, as well as making a name for himself. The Yang-Dao Sect cultivator frowned, clearly displeased by John''s choice.


    "Don''t be so unhappy," John said to the man. "I chose this Sword-Dao Sect runt to do you a favor. Well, not you, but the Yang-Sovereign. You see, I have a rather good opinion of the Yang-Sovereign, so I would prefer not to embarrass one of his disciples publicly before everyone here."


    He shifted his gaze to the Sword-Dao Sect cultivator who was steadily walking towards him, sword to the side, eyes ignited with battle lust.


    "You, however? I have quite the grudge to settle with the Sword-Dao Sect, so I''ll dly ept your challenge," John said, then curled his fingers towards him, gesturing for the young man to approach. "I wonder, with you being a Sword cultivator, does that mean your body is more suitable to be used as a weapon? Will you be a fearsome sword when wielded like one? Let''s find out, shall we?"

 Chapter 1042 Swords of a Thousand Sufferings

    Chapter 1042 Swords of a Thousand Sufferings


    The crowd roared with excited anticipation, as the battle they were looking for was about to start. While some were excited to see if John was the real deal, most were cheering for his demise, both taunting John, and sending words of encouragement to his opponent.


    John ignored the taunts, his focus on the Sword-Dao Sect opponent before him. This was the first time he was going to battle a member of one of the Three Dao Sects, the strongest sects in the world. Not only that, but it was a member of the Sword-Dao Sect, the supposedly strongest of the three.


    He sent out his divine sense to inspect his opponent''s armband. Information entered his mind as he linked with it, giving him some insight into his opponent, and also allowing for them to officially battle one another.


    Name: Kaynen


    Dao Name: Swordstrife


    Age: Twenty One


    Cultivation: Middle Dao Transformation


    Sect: Sword Dao Sect


    Metrics:


    Qi Quantity: 85


    Qi Quality: 84


    Health: 68


    Durability: 64


    Stamina: 92


    Comprehensions: 91


    Instincts: 81


    Willpower: 86


    Soul Talent: 89


    Speed/Movement Arts: 91


    Battle Arts: 92


    Attack Power: 90


    Total: 1013


    Rank: 429


    "Not bad," John whistled softly, raising an eyebrow. "Rank four hundred and twenty-nine. Impressive. And your battle arts are rated even higher than mine. It seems like you''re quite strong after all."


    His opponent, Kaynen, was actually quite impressive. The importantbat attributes such as battle arts, speed, power, and stamina were all top notch, even whenpared to the historical participants of the Three Dao Tournament. Amongst all Dao Transformation participants to everpete, Kaynen could consider himself amongst the top ten percent with ease.


    The only thing bringing his scores down, and thus his overall rank, was his weak constitution. His health and durability were quite average, lowering his overall rank. If those had been rtively even to his other scores, he would no doubt have ranked close to the top one hundred, or perhaps even broken into that elite rank.


    "It''s just a shame about your constitution," John sighed, shaking his head as if he were truly sorry for his opponent.


    Kaynen gritted his teeth, obviously upset by John''s words as this was no doubt a topic of frustration for him. He held his sword out to his side as he walked towards John, eyes narrowed with anger and focus.


    "My constitution may be average," Kaynen growled. "But what does my constitution matter when you are unable toy a single finger on me. You will fall beneath my sword arts today, proving that you are nothing but a fraud."


    John smiled, waiting patiently for his opponent to start the battle. "Good luck," he said.


    His rxed attitude and smug smile ignited Kaynen''s fury, whose aura exploded outwards without warning. His aura felt like it consisted of a million invisible swords slicing outwards in all directions. When it washed over John, he felt as though there were countless swords trying to pierce his flesh, and even his soul.


    "Beat him up Kaynen!"


    "Embarrass this fraud!"


    "Show this cheater what it means to insult the Sword-Dao Sect!"


    Roars of passion boomed out as Kaynen''s aura surged, the crowd stirred into a frenzy by the battle toe. Kaynen''s frown turned into a smug smile as he heard the crowd, which was unanimously on his side. He seemed to relish the spotlight.


    "I was going to take it slow, cutting you down piece by piece," Kaynen said, his words sharp like swords themselves. Just listening to him speak made John feel as though a sword was pointed at his neck, and he couldn''t help but be impressed by the Sword-Dao Sect, and Kaynen as well. "But my time is unfortunately limited, as I still need to make sure to qualify in the top nine hundred."


    "Ah, right," John said, as if remembering that important fact. "Before we start, what is our rtive position right now?"


    Kaynen paused for a split second, surprised that John was worried about such a thing when their battle was about to start. "You don''t need to worry about that," Kaynen growled.


    His sword shed to the side, its sharpness cutting through space, creating a thin cut in space to his side. John raised an eyebrow again, impressed by the sharpness of his sword. Space was suppressed and locked down in this trial, so even opening it a bit was impressive.


    Kaynen reached into the spatial crack, his hand gripping on something. He pulled his hand out a momentter, a new sword in his hand.


    ''Ah, so it was just a spatial realm of his, that he opened dramatically,'' John realized, studying the new sword.


    The new sword in Kaynen''s hand was far more impressive than the one he had first used. It was one of the finest swords John had ever fought against, and was of impable quality. This sword would have no doubt caused an absolute bidding frenzy back on his homeworld, although it was in the possession of a middling Sword-Dao Sect member on this world.


    Unlike the first sword Kaynen used, which was marble white, this sword was pitch ck. A sharpness emanated from the sword like the other, but in a darker, more sinister way. John looked curiously at the weapon, Kaynen smiling at his expression.


    "It''s rare for an opponent to force me to use this weapon," Kaynen said, his finger tracing the t of the sword, infusing it with his Qi. "You didn''t force me to use this weapon, but you should still feel honored to have been cut down by it."


    John scoffed with amusement, truly impressed by Kaynen''s misced confidence. The battle had yet to begin, and he was already considering it to be over.


    "Let''s get started then," John said, waiting for Kaynen to unleash his battle art. "I don''t have all day to wait for you to show off to the crowd."


    While he was able to overwhelm Kaynen before he could react, John wanted to see his opponent use his strongest sword arts. He wanted to learn as much as he could about the Sword-Dao Sect, as he would be shing with their strongest members in the future.


    Kaynen smiled, then attacked without words or warning. His sword shed outwards towards John, a ck sword image, which billowed like smoke, slicing towards him. His sword moved to fast that it looked like a blur to almost everyone.


    The sword image was frighteningly fast, fast enough that it almost caught John off guard. He dodged to the side at thest moment, the sword-image mming onto the ground behind him.


    It pierced into the ground, disappearing deep within before fading away. John looked at the hole behind him, then back towards Kaynen. Kaynen was frowning, obviously hoping that his simple attack would be able to defeat John.


    While simple, the attack was quite impressive John had to admit. Against most others in the tournament, it would most likely havended, and at the very least done quite a deal of damage.


    "Fine," Kaynen growled, irked by John''s dodge. He shed his sword above his head in an arc. "You leave me no choice. Swords of a Thousand Sufferings."

 Chapter 1043 Caught In a Net

    Chapter 1043 Caught In a Net


    As Kayden shed his sword outwards, a thousand swords appeared in the air above him. They were all pitch ck and billowed in the wind like they were made of smoke. The swords moved in the air, the tips of each one pointed directly at John.


    "Suffer," Kaynen said with a wide smile, then pointed his true sword directly at John, the thousand sword images piercing forward like blurs of ck light.


    "Now this is more like it," John smiled, his Qi surging within his body.


    The thousand sword images pierced towards him, like a barrage of arrows. John pressed off the ground, which shattered outwards like a spiderweb under his power. A portion of the sword-images pierced into the ground where he had been standing, creating dozens of sword holes in the ground.


    The swords still in the air turned towards John without pause, as if they were somehow locked onto his position. A momentter, the swords that had burrowed underground shot out of the earth, resuming their trajectory towards him.


    John dashed every which way, narrowly avoiding the swords that followed him without pause. The ground trembled and broke as he narrowly avoided the barrage of swords, while the crowd roared excitedly.


    "Look! All he can do is run!"


    "He can''t even fight back! He''s really nothing but a fraud!"


    "Kick his ass, Kaynen! Show him the might of the Sword-Dao Sect!"


    Kaynen smiled, invigorated both by his early dominance of the battle, as well as the crowd''s adtion. He stood in one ce, his sword constantly moving about as if he were aposer, its tip always pointing directly towards John. The thousand sword images, each strong enough to be a great danger to a typical Middle Dao Transformation cultivator, swarmed around John like a storm of swords.


    John continued to dodge, pushing his physical movement speed to his limits. The crowd, thinking John to be a body cultivator only, considered this to be his fastest movement speed, and roared even louder. The swords were slowly but surely catching up to John, encircling around him like a.


    A dozen sword images sliced in from behind John, who twisted his body sideways to dodge. All but one narrowly missed, with one sword image slicing his shoulder. A small cut appeared in his robe, and a trickle of blood flowed out.


    The crowd roared wildly, as if sharks stirred into a frenzy by the smell of blood. John grimaced slightly, not from the physical pain of the attack. The attack had barely cut into his skin, and only drew a drop or two of his blood. What made him grimace was the pain the sword cut sent into his body and soul, as if it were infused with the Dao of Pain.


    ''No, not the Dao of Pain. The Dao of Suffering,'' John thought, dodging another barrage of encircling sword images.


    While the Dao of Pain and the Dao of Suffering were simr, they were still different enough to be considered two separate things. They were like a sword and a saber. They looked simr, but had their visual differences, and were also used slightly differently, with one piercing and shing, while the other focused on shes alone.


    Both Dao''s caused pain, but the type of pain was slightly different.


    ''No wonder his battle art score is so high,'' John thought as he sped throughout the battlefield, narrowly avoiding sword after sword. ''Even one of these swords imbues enough pain that a normal cultivator would be staggered, or even subdued by a cut. Being hit by tens or even hundreds of them would no doubt finish a battle against all but the most formidable of opponents.''


    While John could unleash his own battle arts to fight against the sword barrage, he opted not to for now. He wanted to learn about the Sword-Dao Sect arts as much as he could.


    Kaynen''s wildughter filled the battlefield as he watched John continue to dodge without being able to fight back at all.


    "As a body cultivator, your constitution may be formidable, but who cares about constitution when your body is overwhelmed with so much pain that you can''t even think, can''t even focus," Kaynen roared loudly, enjoying the scene of John dodging, like prey fleeing for its life from a predator. "And if you stop to fight against some of the swords, more will hit you! You have no escape. No options. Your only fate is to suffer under my hands, and then give up with shame!"


    Kaynen''s words stirred the crowd into an even louder frenzy, although John ignored both. He focused on the battle art, studying it as much as he could. As he sped around the battlefield, more and more swords cut into him, forming small lines on his skin. Blood dripped out of these small wounds, which healed almost immediately afterwards.


    However, the pain, the suffering, lingered in his body and soul, slowing his movements ever so slightly despite the fact that he could almost fully ignore the pain. The battle continued for several ''As time goes on, his sword art actually gets faster and sharper. No minutes like this, with John being sliced more and more every passing moment.


    ''As time goes on, his sword art actually gets faster and sharper. No wonder his battle art score was so high,'' John thought, truly impressed by Kaynen''s battle art.


    On the surface it appeared simple, no different than the other sword arts he had fought against that used countless sword images. However, it was far from simple. The speed of the swords were incredible, fast enough that John truly had trouble dodging them in his current form.


    In fact, he was sure that even in his Dragon-God Shift form, a sword or two would asionallynd. Kaynen had focused almost entirely on speed for this art, forsaking power and even sharpness. The entire purpose was for the sword images tond, at which point Kaynen''s control over the Dao of Suffering would take over, eventually overwhelming his opponent.


    ''So simple, and yet so effective.''


    The roar of the crowd drowned the battlefield as John fell in a trance. The nature of the sword art, the suffering he felt. All of it flooded his mind, raising hisprehensions in several aspects.


    New ideas regarding his own battle art creations popped up in his mind, while the Dao of Suffering also helped advance his grasp on the Dao of Pain.


    The world seemed to vanish as he fell into this trance, with only him and the Swords of A Thousand Sufferings existing.


    Suddenly, and without realizing it, the swords encircled himpletely, like a fish caught in a. There was no escape as all the swords pierced directly towards him.

 Chapter 1044 To Me, There Is No Difference

    Chapter 1044 To Me, There Is No Difference


    "Hahaha! You''ve been caught like a rat in a cage! Now suffer!" Kaynen''s wildughter snapped John out of his trance. John''s divine sense spread out in all directions, noticing that the thousand swords had fully encircled him, with not a single inch of escape possible. In his trance-like state, he had failed to notice this encirclement of swords.


    Like a puppeteer, Kaynen had moved John into this inescapable, at which all the swords could be guaranteed tond at once. The swords were upon him so fast that even if the space of this realm wasn''t restricted, his spatial arts would be fast enough to dodge in time.


    When faced with a dangerous attack, his instincts would have red with warning, alerting him to the danger regardless of his state of mind. However, it had not done so this time, and for a single reason; his instincts didn''t consider the attack worth warning against.


    "Hahahah!" Kaynen''s wildughter intensified, as did the roar of the crowd as the thousand swords all pierced down onto John, drowning him in a storm of swords. Thend trembled from the power of the attack, which continued for several seconds before finallying to an end.


    Kaynen''s smile widened as he steadied his sword at his side, the thousand sword images returning to his position. A cloud of dust and smoke had appeared at John''s location, enveloping him within.


    "Hahaha, nothing but a fraud!" Kaynen roared loudly, which the crowd took and ran with.


    "Nothing but a fraud! Nothing but a fraud! Nothing but a fraud!"


    The chant filled every inch of the arena as millions felt tion and relief upon seeing the journey of the fraud end so swiftly and so embarrassingly.


    The cloud of dust and smoke started to fade away, followed shortly after by the crowd''s chant. Both faded into nothingness as John was revealed to all, still standing tall. His robe was cut up in countless ces and blood dripped from his body to the ground below, making him look quite miserable.


    However, despite his rather miserable image, John stood tall and unwavering. Although his aura was still contained within himself, it was easy for everyone to tell that hisbat prowess had not been affected. The thousand swords hadnded directly without guarding against, and yet John still stood tall.


    ''Impossible!''


    That was the word almost everyone was thinking. Even if the swords didn''t damage John that much due to him being a body cultivator, the pain should have overwhelmed him. Everyone knew Kaynen''s sword art, and knew it was one of the most painful arts to withstand from any of the Dao Transformation geniuses. A thousandnding all at once? Even someone like Ji''Han would have trouble ignoring that much pain, and his willpower was famed across thend. John should have been a crumpled mess on the ground writhing in pain. Not standing tall as if the sword art had done nothing to him.


    What they didn''t know was that Kaynen''s sword art was a horrible match-up against John, who had already suffered pain and agony more times than they could possibly imagine.


    "How¡­" Kaynen said, eyes wide with disbelief. "You¡­you can''t be standing."


    "Hahaha," John looked up at the sky and startedughing loudly, arms stretched out to the side. His maniacalughter was the only audible thing for a short while, as almost everyone looked at him in disbelief. He had taken the full force of Kaynen''s attack head on, which was something almost no one could do and still be standing.


    "Wha¡­what''s so funny?" Kaynen asked, teeth gritted with growing embarrassment.


    John''sughter died down as he lowered his gaze, locking onto Kaynen''s eyes.


    "I figured if I''m going to y the viin this tournament, then I might as well lean into it fully," John said, a smile appearing on his face as he started to walk towards Kaynen, his aura finally starting to leak out.


    Kaynen instinctively took a step backwards, his instincts warning him that a dangerous entity was approaching. John''s aura, revealed for the first time to Kaynen, filled him with dread. It wasn''t the quantity or power of the aura that made him feel this way, but the quality and nature of it.


    The quality of John''s Qi was unlike anything Kaynen had felt before, as was it''s innate feeling. A feeling of dormant malevolence, as if a demon was slumbering within John, ready to appear at a moment''s notice. John''s smile widened as he saw Kaynen take a step back.


    "I''ve learned as much as I can from your sword art," John said, his aura slowly but surely climbing. "Oh, before I do what I''m about to do to you, I want to let you know something. The only reason I was caught in that of yours was because it was never a danger to me in the first ce. The full might of your sword art or nothing at all; To me, there is no difference."


    Lightning suddenly erupted in the arena, like a heavenly tribtion had arrived to bring cmity. A solid cage of lightning formed around John and Kaynen, obscuring the crowd''s vision of what was happening within. Explosions, thunderps, dragon-like roars and cries of pain came from the lightning cage, which vanished less than thirty secondster.


    All eyes fell on John, who stood tall, holding a human shaped object wrapped in lightning in his hands, the tip of the ''weapon'' pointed directly towards the Yang-Dao Sect member who had challenged him who still stood to the side.


    "So, are you going to do the smart thing and run, or will I have to add another weapon to my growing collection?" John asked. Since he had a good opinion of the Yang-Sovereign, he wanted to give this opponent onest opportunity to do the smart thing and run.


    The Yang-Dao Sect member gritted his teeth, an uncertain expression on his face as he stared at John. His eyes shifted from John to the crowd, then back to John. Then he pointed his saber at John, his body and saber igniting with powerful mes.


    John sighed, then nodded his head approvingly.


    ''With the crowd watching, him backing down would be a permanent mark of shame,'' John realized, although he had hoped for this opponent to have a bit more brains than the other.


    John took a step towards his opponent as lightning erupted all around him, drowning the battlefield in his power.


    ¡­


    Whistling drifted through the silent arena, apanied only by footsteps crunching on the barren earth beneath John''s feet. He held two human-shaped objects that rested on each of his shoulders, both wrappedpletely in lightning, a look of satisfaction on his smiling face.


    A narrow valley stretched out before him, sheer face cliffs rising high on both sides of him.


    He suddenly stopped as a beast appeared before him, blocking his path forward. The beast, appearing like a hulking bear made of powerful mes snarled at him, teeth bared. John smiled then steadied both ''weapons'' before him.


    "Rejoice," he said loudly for all to hear as the beast surged towards him. "It''s time for both of you to prove your worthiness. Do well, and you might earn the honor of bing my permanent weapon."


    Muffled cries of protest turned to muffled cries of pain as ''weapons'' and beast collided.


    Bang!

 Chapter 1045 Passing The Elimination Trial

    Chapter 1045 Passing The Elimination Trial


    The formation beast fell at John''s feet, shaking the ground lightly. Wounds covered most of its body, which was obviously broken in many ces. Unlike a creature felled by a sharp de, with cuts and blood everywhere, this creature was bashed to death instead.


    A secondter, the formation beast faded away. John nodded, satisfied, then continued onwards. More tests and trials appeared on his journey through the arena. Illusory trials,bat trials, speed trials, power trials and more.


    None of them came close to giving John a hard time, let alone stopping his progress forward. Almost all the way through the trial, he stopped as another formation-based opponent fell, downed by his barrage of attacks from his human shaped weapons.


    ''This trial is far easier than I thought it was going to be,'' John thought. ''Although I suppose its difficulty makes sense. This trial isn''t trying to eliminate everyone, but instead find the worthiest candidates to move onto the actual tournament. If it was so hard it eliminated everyone, it would ruin everything.''


    A tall, barren mountain blocked his path forward. The air around the mountain shimmered ever so slightly, revealing some sort of energy covering it. John stepped onto the base of the mountain, feeling a powerful energy descend on him, trying to block his path forward.


    He sighed with disappointment, then moved forward. The energy intensified as he continued, but even at the top where it was the strongest, it was not strong enough to force him to use his Dragon-God Shift, let alone strong enough to cause him any problem.


    He crested the top of the mountain, peering down on the other side. An open field, one that stretched from one side of the arena to the other came into view. On the other side of the field was the finish line. It was arge stone archway several hundred yards wide and tall, with Elders of the Yang-Dao Sect standing nearby.


    Between him and the finish line was the open field. The field was littered with formation-based enemies, thousands in total. It was closer to a battlefield than anything else, with thousands of human and bestial enemies.


    The battlefield was exploding with activity, as trial participants who had arrived this far tried to make their way through the field. The formation enemies surged towards them ceaselessly, causing each participant to fight their way through hordes of enemies. From what he could tell, this was the hardest trial by far, which made sense as it was also thest one.


    John focused on a girl from a sect he didn''t recognize making her way through the battlefield. She was in the Early Dao Transformation realm, and as each enemy approached her, their cultivation shifted towards the Early Dao Transformation Realm as well. Dozens threw themselves at her, wave after wave.


    The girl, spear in hand, faced the onught head on, slowly but surely making her way forward. She was struggling a bit, but was not on the verge of defeat. John watched her for a short while, then sighed again.


    ''If only the enemies were of a higher cultivation than my own, this could have been fun.''


    Shaking his head with disappointed boredom, John made his way down the other side of the mountain and arrived at the start of the field. He walked onto it without pause, and soon a horde of enemies noticed him, then sped towards him, weapons raised, battle arts flying out.


    John lowered his Sword-Dao Sect weapon, who he had named Sword of A Thousand Morons, and steadied it before him. His Yang-Dao Sect weapon still rested on his other shoulder, its natural yang aura bathing him in a nice,fortable warmth.


    On his way through the trial, John had favored using his Sword-Dao Sect weapon for almost every battle, while the Yang-Dao Sect weapon was merely ornamentation.


    A muffled protest, one barely audible through the coils of lightning, sounded out.


    "Silence, Sword of A Thousand Morons," John said, shaking the weapon violently in his hand. "You are a weapon. You cannot speak."


    Another angered cry sounded out, which turned to frenzied pleading, then pain, as the battle began. Enemy after enemy threw themselves at John, each enemy in the Middle Dao Transformation Realm. John swung his Sword of A Thousand Morons outwards, each swing mming into an enemy with violent power.


    Each swing was strong enough to st his opponent aside, and sometimes sted multiple enemies aside at once. John was like a tempest on the battlefield, moving slowly but surely without pause, a storm of chaos following wherever he went.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The battlefield trembled from each attack, which continued ceaselessly as the horde of enemies seemed to never end. When one was felled, another formed from thin air, then threw itself at John. Some attacked physically, other enemies used battle arts. Each attack was met with his Sword of A Thousand Morons, which held up quite nicely in this battle, much to John''s approval.


    While most of it was due to his powerful lightning wrappedpletely around his weapon, it was still holding up quite well.


    The crowd watched with stunned awe as John made his way through the battlefield with calmposure. By now, they had realized that his strength was the real deal. Every single trial, every single test he had endured had beenpleted withical ease, as if the trials were nothing more than ythings to him.


    Not a single one had given him any difficulty so far, and even his battles with the powerful Sword-Dao Sect and Yang-Dao Sect members had been an easy victory for him.


    A long line of destruction trailed behind John, who finally arrived on the other side of the open field. The enemies stopped moving towards him, and instead focused on other participants that were fighting in the battlefield.


    The finish line was only a dozen yards away. John stepped towards it, then paused before stepping over the line. The crowd looked on with surprised confusion, wondering why he had stopped moving right at the very end.


    John stood there for a second, then turned around. Heughed at himself lightly, shaking his head.


    "I probably almost just got disqualified," he said to himself, a self-deprecating smile on his face.


    He then took both of his weapons off his shoulders, and set them upright on the ground before him, an ankle held in each hand.


    "You two were good weapons," John said. "May we meet again in the future, so that I may use you once more."


    With that, he picked up the Yang-Dao Sect weapon, took a step forward, then heaved his arm powerfully. The Yang-Dao Sect weapon arced into the air like a lightning bolt, surging through the sky. It sailed for dozens of miles back towards thebyrinth on the other side of the arena, eventuallynding just before the stone door where he had obtained it.


    Just as the weapon hit the ground, the lightning unraveled. The Yang-Dao Sect youth''s aura red with furious might as hended on his feet. His head swiveled in all directions, searching for the one who had turned him into a weapon.


    He looked upwards, noticing another object speeding towards his location. The object, a human shape wrapped in lightning, sped towards his location with incredible speed and power. Unlike before, the lightning did not fade away as it arrived.


    "Ahh!" a startled, panicked try rang out from within the lightning coils.


    The Sword-Dao Sect cultivator, still coated in lightning, mmed violently into the ground. The ground shattered in all directions as the youth pierced into the ground, disappearing from sight. A cry of agonized pain drifted out of the human-shaped crater a momentter.


    The Yang-Dao Sect cultivator watched that all happen with wide eyes, then breathed a sigh of relief that his fate had not been the same. His face lit up with embarrassment as he noticed the crowd staring at him. He shook his head topose himself, then made his way forward through the rest of the trial once again, hoping to still qualify for the actual tournament.


    John nodded his head, satisfied with the oue of things, then turned around, and stepped through the finish line of the elimination trial. The first step of this tournament, the first step towards defeating Ji''Han and winning Lilian''s freedom wasplete.

 Chapter 1046 You Know Him, Dont You?

    Chapter 1046 You Know Him, Don''t You?


    "Congrattions young man," a Yang-Dao Sect Elder standing near the finish line said to John. He looked at John with a curious, piercing look, as if trying to see through all his secrets. John merely smiled and thanked the Elder as he was handed an item.


    It was a metallic seal, one bearing the engravings of all three Dao Sect crests.


    "What is this?" John asked curiously.


    "You can use this badge to ess all the rooms and amenities restricted to the true tournament participants," the Elder exined.


    John thanked the Elder, then moved onwards towards the tunnel nearby that led under the arena stands. The roaring of the crowd softened as he entered the tunnel, arriving in arge room a few secondster.


    The room was filled with countless trial participants, elders, and more. John counted at least three hundred participants in the room who had sessfully passed the trial.


    ''This doesn''t even include the ones who passed but have already left the room,'' John mused, realizing he had taken more time to finish the trial than he had realized.


    "You cut it quite close there," Zuri said from a distance as she and Naelia approached. The two of them stopped before him, Zuri smiling lightly, Naelia almost bursting with excitement.


    "How close?" John asked curiously.


    "You finished around six-hundred."


    "I guess I did take my time," John said, scratching the back of his head. While there were still three hundred more open spots to fill before the trial ended, it was closer than he had figured it would be.


    "That¡­.was¡­AMAZING," Naelia suddenly burst out, her voice growing louder with each word as if she couldn''t contain herself any more. John looked at her with an interested expression. He had not expected a Yang-Dao Sect member to get so excited for his performance, even though Naelia was quite boisterous and energetic all the time.


    "Thanks," John said, and then was immediately assaulted by a barrage of endless questions.


    "How¡­how did you get so strong? And that stone door! That door defeats over half of all trial participants, and even then, it takes most using their full strength to open. Did you really just kick it open? Surely you used a battle art, but masked it somehow!"


    "That was just a kick," John shrugged, answering only thest of her questions.


    Naelia considered his answer for a moment, then moved on as if his answer was sufficient.


    "And then you faced Oridan. Oridan! He''s one of the top fifty Dao Transformation cultivators in the entire Yang-Dao Sect! And even then, he''s known to be quite hard to beat even by stronger members! And you beat him in less than a minute, and then turned him into a weapon! I''ve never seen anything like it!" Naelia started weapon as well! I quite enjoyed that. You should do that to all Sword-Dao Sect members whenever you get a chance!" she started rambling again.


    "Oh, and you also turned that Sword-Dao Sect cultivator into a weapon as well! I quite enjoyed that. You should do that to all Sword-Dao Sect members whenever you get a chance!" she started rambling again, her face filled with awe and adoration.


    John looked to Zuri, who merely shrugged while smiling at him.


    "She wouldn''t stop rambling about you when we were watching your performance," Zuri said through a sound transmission. "And it seems she''s bepletely smitten by you. Good luck!"


    John rolled his eyes, then looked back to Naelia who was still rambling excitedly.


    "I defeated one of your sect members and turned him into a weapon. Shouldn''t you be cheering for Oridan and your Yang-Dao Sect, and not for me?" John asked.


    "Screw that!" Naelia eximed quickly. "I''m fully behind you for the rest of this tournament. If you manage to ce well, or even win, I can brag for the rest of my life that I was your guide and escort for the tournament. I can always cheer for my sect in the future, but this year, I''m cheering for you!"


    John looked at Naelia for a moment, then smiled and reached out, ruffling her hair in a brotherly manner. "Thanks then," he simply said, then started walking.


    Naelia pouted at him, her face red with embarrassment and disappointment. Zuri patted Naelia on the shoulder in aforting manner, the two of them following behind John as he made his way out of the room.


    ¡­


    The crowd watched John enter the tunnel, then exploded into a frenzy of discussion, arguments, and even small fights. The Sword-Dao Sect, Yang-Dao Sect, and their powerful sub-sects still viinized John, saying he was strong but still a fraud whenpared to his scores, and was nothingpared to the likes of Ji''Han and Jaxus.


    On the other side, a growing number of independent cultivators, those from tier three sects, or ces like merchant halls, formation guilds, and more, were staring to get behind John, supporting him. It wasn''t that they wanted to support John specifically, but they were thrilled at the opportunity to watch someone not from the Three Dao Sects embarrass the members of those sects.


    The Three Dao Sects had lorded over the continent like kings for so long, it had been eons since they hadst been embarrassed like this. The non-affiliated spectators eagerly embraced this opportunity to watch the insufferable Dao Sects be knocked down a peg. It was truly a breath of fresh air, which they hoped would continue for as long as possible.


    ¡­


    High above the arena stands, in the rooms at the top of the arena overlooking it all, the Sword-Saint stood, eyes glued to John''s back as he stepped into the tunnel. A deep scowl rested on his face as he watched John disappear below the arena.


    "His strength is the real deal."


    The Sword-Saint nced to the side, his eyes falling on his son, Ji''Han.


    "His strength may be more than I had initially expected," the Sword-Saint said, "but he''s still nothing but a fraud. You would not only have ced first for this trial, but would have done so in record time. His cement shows his arrogant attitude andck of strength."


    "I don''t think he took this trial with speed in mind," Ji''Han replied.


    "His opponents were nothing but ants," the Sword-Saint scoffed. "Had you been in his ce, you could have done what he did in a fraction of the time. His performance is nothing to be impressed about."


    Ji''Han remained silent, watching the rest of the trial participants make their way through the trial as fast as they could.


    The Sword-Saint watched for a moment, then turned his gaze to the side, where Lilian wasfortably resting on a couch. She had a jade piece in her hand which she was studying. She felt the Sword-Saint''s eyes fall upon her, and looked up to meet his gaze. She raised an eyebrow as the two locked eyes, as if waiting for him to speak his mind, as something was clearly on it.


    "When I learned of your existence," the Sword-Saint said to her. "I did some digging around for information. After all, the nature of your arrival to this world was quite¡­unique."


    Lilian remained silent, giving the Sword-Saint a leveled gaze as if telling him to get on with his point.


    "During the course of my¡­investigation, I heard an intriguing piece of information. I had dismissed it as unimportant at first, but perhaps I was wrong about that."


    The Sword-Saint turned and walked over to her, stopping just a few feet away. He studied her closely for a moment before speaking again, since Lilian had remained silent, her expression unreadable.


    "You know that boy, don''t you?"

 Chapter 1047 Ji’Han’s Motivations

    <h4>Chapter 1047 Ji''Han''s Motivations</h4>


    Lilian raised an eyebrow upon hearing the Sword-Saint''s impressive guess. She remained silent however, not concerned about him finding out the truth, but instead to seize any opportunity to frustrate the Sword-Saint.


    The Sword-Saint paused for a moment, letting Lilian have time to speak and exin herself. She remained silent, not ying into his games. He narrowed his eyes for a brief moment, then continued.


    "The information was from the person that found you," the Sword-Saint continued. "He said that he saw your arrival, like a fieryet streaking down from the sky. He followed your trail and eventually found you, but mentioned that when you had appeared, you arrived as a tw."


    "Your point?" Lilian finally said something.


    "Someone else clearly arrived with you," he continued. "The second et''. Was thatet this boy? Was he the reason you came up with that little wager of yours? Your confidence in cing that bet always felt misced, but if my guess is correct, it would make much more sense."


    Lilian gave the Sword-Saint a level gaze, then smiled lightly.


    "And if he was? Does it make any difference?"


    The Sword-Saint narrowed his eyes, a deep breath pulled in a momentter. His mouth twitched with a range of conflicting emotions, then he turned and began to walk away.


    "No, there is no difference at all whether you know this boy or not," the Sword-Saint said firmly. "If he runs into Ji''Han, he will be destroyed. And you," he said, turning to look at her over his shoulder. "You will then marry Ji''Han and give him an heir. That is the only oue to this gamble of yours."


    "Do you want to increase the stakes of the wager then?" Lilian asked with a sly smile on her face.


    The Sword-Saint stopped at the room''s exit, then left without uttering a word. She watched him leave, then returned her focus to the jade piece in her hand. A pill appeared in her other hand a momentter, one brimming with profound death Qi, which she then swallowed.


    "You shouldn''t taunt father like that," Ji''Han said, eyes still focused on the trial happening far below. "His temper has gotten worse since the illusory scores were announced, and provoking him won''t serve you any good."


    Lilian shot him a quick nce, then returned her focus to the jade piece, studying its contents within. Silence filled the room for a long time before Ji''Han spoke up once more.


    Lilian looked up from her jade piece, studying Ji''Han for a while.


    "Your father is the one who discovered me, the one who¡­purchased me¡­the one who ''betrothed'' you and I, and yet despite all that, you''ve never told either me or your father your opinion on this matter," Lilian said, her words causing Ji''Han to turn towards her and meet her gaze.


    "From what I can tell, you only care about your way of the sword, and your cultivation" Lilian continued. "So why do you go along with your father''s n so obediently?"


    Ji''Han''s gaze lingered on Lilian for a while, then returned to the trial far below.


    "I will eventually have to marry, so why not ept the hand of a heavenly-beauty," Ji''Han said tly. He paused for a moment, as if considering his next words.


    "Besides," he continued. "You''re right about my Sword Dao being everything to me. It is the pinnacle martial Dao, and I intend to take my Sword Dao to the peak of this universe, dominating all who stand in my way. While I climb to the peak, I will use any and all advantages and opportunities to get there."


    He turned to meet her gaze again, his expression calm yet firm.


    "And your vital yin will be an important aid to my ascension," he said, holding her gaze. "The first exchange of vital yin in a cultivator''s life is the most important, the most potent, the most nourishing. In this regard, I will find no better suitor than you."


    "My vital yin?" she mused, eyebrow raised, then sighed and returned her focus to the jade piece in her hand. "What a disappointing answer."


    "You will also benefit greatly from our exchange of yin and yang," Ji''Han said tly, as if talking about a mundane subject. "It is not only me who is obtaining something valuable from this situation."


    "Hmmm¡­is that so?" Lilian mumbled, not taking her eyes off the jade piece. "Just remember not to upset John? too much, and especially do not mention to him what you just said to me. I''d rather not have your death on his hands. That would cause him quite a bit of trouble which I''d much rather avoid."


    "Your friend is not strong enough to beat me," Ji''Han replied evenly, as if his words were simply fact, and not opinion. "In this endeavor, you have made a grave error in judgment."


    ¡­


    The rest of the preliminary trial carried out without much fanfare, much to the crowds disappointment. After being entertained by John''s antics, the rest of the usually exciting trial had seemed rather boring and mundane.


    In the battlefield before the finish line, dozens of chaotic battles were taking ce as the participants there desperately tried to make their way forward. In the chaos of it all, a girl from the Arcane-Dao Sect, a tier-two subsect of the Mage-Dao Sect, managed to break through and step over the finish line, sealing herself as thest qualifier.


    A ring noise filled the arena a momentter, officially signaling the end of the preliminary trial. The crowd erupted wildly with cheers, excited by what they had seen, and even moreso, excited for what was toe. The end of the preliminary trial meant only one thing; that tomorrow, the tournament proper, the one they had all been looking forward to for three years, was about tomence.


    A tournament filled with heavenly geniuses, grudge-fueled rivalries, and unknown dark horses. It was no doubt going to be a tournament of the ages. A tournament that none of the tens of millions of spectators would ever forget for as long as they lived.

 Chapter 1048 A Familiar Face

    <h4>Chapter 1048 A Familiar Face</h4>


    With the elimination trialpleted, there was one day of rest between it and the start of the true tournament.


    For the approximately ten thousand Dao Transformation geniuses that did not ce top nine hundred in the elimination trial, their tournament journey was officially over. However, just making it this far had already established them as a top one percent genius.


    For those from tier two and tier three sects, this alone was something that would bring pride and honor to both the genius as well as their sect. For the three tier one sects, this was only the beginning.


    While the three Dao Sects had countless youths, more than enough topletely dominate the tournament''s top ten thousand, they each only sent their top one hundred youths, so as to give their subsects an opportunity to prove their worth.


    With both the illusory test scores and the preliminary trial done, the Three Dao Sects released the official seedings going into the official tournament.


    The main consideration for the seedlings was the illusory test scores. Those scores were used first and foremost, with the elimination trial results consideredst. In the case where a top one thousand illusory test scorer did not qualify during the elimination trial, those who had a lower ranking and did qualified were moved up one slot.


    Thus, there was a small difference in the end between illusory test rankings and actual seedings, but to John, it made no difference.


    He ranked first in the illusory tests, and had also qualified sessfully. As such, his official seeding for the tournament was the number one seed, with Ji''Han in second and Jaxus in third.


    ¡­


    The door to the Prime Shadows room opened. John and Zuri stepped inside, followed by Naelia a momentter.


    "Phew!" Naelia eximed with a relieved sigh. "We werepletely surrounded the entire way back. All those shouting people. I thought they were going to attack us at any moment!"


    "They wouldn''t do something so brazen within the Yang-Dao Sect," Zuri said, patting Naelia on the shoulder.


    "Quite a performance you put on for the crowd," the Prime Shadow said as he turned around from his window seat, looking at John.


    Job shrugged, then smiled as he walked over. "I figured if I''m going to be treated like the viin, I might as well y the part."


    The Prime Shadow nodded in understanding. "Just try to be a bit more¡­lenient¡­with the Yang-Dao sect youths. Their yangly cultivations make them quite hot headed, so most won''t back down to you even if they know theyre outmatched."


    John could read between the lines. This had most likely been a request from the Yang-Sovereign, who had left the room earlier to attend to tournament matters.


    John nodded in understanding, then walked towards the training room and opened the door.


    "Training immediately after the trial? You don''t want to rest?" Zuri asked from afar.


    "When I fought Kaynen, his simple yet effective Sword Art gave me some inspirations, so I want to try out some new ideas for my self-created Battle Arts."


    Zuri nodded approvingly, then walked over to John. "Then let me help you create this Art of yours."


    ¡­


    As the day passed by, a storm of frenziedmotion grew both inside and outside the Yang-Dao Sect. The discussions and predictions about the tournament had never been so heated, as John''s appearance had thrown a wrench into everything.


    As for the gambling halls, they were nearly overwhelmed with gamblers trying to take advantage of this developing situation. Some believed in the illusory results and ced massive wagers supporting John, while most still considered Ji''Han and Jaxus to be the favorites, and sought to win easy money from those foolish enough to believe in a nobody like John.


    The rising sun the next day stirred the city and sect into a frenzy once more. It meant that the tournament was starting today. Those who were wealthy enough or lucky enough to have tickets flooded towards the martial stadium with haste, while everyone else flooded the bars, taverns and gambling venues that had formation screens showing the fights.


    Hundreds of millions of eyes fell upon the arena or the formation screens revealing it, while billions both near and afar listened with eager ears and read with eager eyes the most recent news regarding the tournament.


    In the entire Human Continent, it was almost impossible to find someone not focused on the tournament; a testament to its prestige and intrigue amongst the human race.


    ¡­


    The door to John''s training room opened up. A bloody and sweat covered John and Zuri stepped out, both looking worn and wounded. However, the smiles on both their faces betrayed their true emotions.


    "It seems like your training went well?" The Prime Shadow asked. He was sitting at therge window overlooking the arena, sipping a cup of delicious, steaming tea.


    "You could say that," John replied.


    "Oh? No hints at all as to what you aplished?" The Prime Shadow asked.


    "Let''s just say that I was too focused on creatingplicated and shy Arts, as I mistookplexity and shiness for power. Kaynen''s Sword Art showed me that simple looking arts can still be dangerous, which inspired me to try something simr. What I''vee up with is still developing, but it''s quite powerful."


    "That''s an understatement," Zuri said, then walked across the room to one of the washrooms, then closed the door behind her.


    John exchanged a few more words with the Prime Shadow, then washed up himself. After putting on a fresh and durable robe provided by the Prime Shadow, John and Zuri left the room, finding a waiting Naelia outside.


    Her eyes lingered on John for a moment too long, which she realized, blushed, and then averted her gaze. John felt a tinge of pity for her, as he did not share her feelings.


    Naelia recovered her wits and then led John and Zuri through several hallways, then out into the stadium itself. The roaring crowd came into view, not a single seat unupied. It was like an ocean of endless humans, more in once ce than John had ever seen.


    The arena below was cleared of the preliminary trial


    obstacles, with a single, almost perimeter spanning arena there instead.


    "We''re not going to the tunnel below like before?" John asked Naelia, his voice almost drowned out by the roaring crowd.


    She smiled at him and shook her head. "No. Those who have proven themselves and qualified are given a different privilege."


    "What privilege?" John asked curiously.


    "You''ll see," Naelia said with a teasing smile.


    John didn''t press the matter, and instead soaked in the electric atmosphere. Those in the crowd near him finally spotted and recognized him, resulting in taunts, boos, and cheers to be leveled at him.


    Suddenly, about a dozen people appeared in the center of the arena below. Their appearance silenced the crowd, who dared not speak over them.


    The group consisted of the Yang-Sovereign, the Mage-Sovereign, the Sword-Saint, and about ten other powerhouses wearing the colors of those three sects.


    John studied the group curiously, his expression going cold and even slightly murderous a momentter. Zuri noticed his change in expression and looked about for any danger, but found nothing. Before she could ask what was going on, the Yang-Sovereign spoke.


    "Those who have proven themselves worthy may now step forward and enter the arena," he said, his powerful voice filling every corner of the stadium.


    A momentter, a thousand youths took the the sky, appearing over the arena. Many held long banners behind them, proudly waving the gs of their sects. It was quite a beautiful sight. A thousand geniuses soaring through the air towards the arena below, colorful banners waving behind them in the wind.?The crowd roared wildly, cheers and cries of support flooding the arena.


    John followed their lead and took to the sky, slowly moving towards the arena below. The roaring of the crowd and beauty of the scene was lost to him. His focus was on something else¡­someone else.


    There, in the middle of the arena, wearing pure white robes and standing behind the Sword-Saint was a face John would never forget.


    The face of the woman who had ughtered Furi, Suri, and Luri.

 Chapter 1049 Reunited A Year Later

    Chapter 1049 Reunited A Year Later


    The crowd cheered with passion as the thousand youths streamed through the sky, long, colorful banners streaming behind them. Some of the youths red their aura''s as well, adding to the colorful disy as hundreds of different color auras filled the air above the arena.


    Around a third of the banners were white, red, or purple; the colors of the Three Dao Sects, while the others were the colors of the strongest Tier Two Sect geniuses who had managed to make it this far.


    The atmosphere was absolutely electric, as if ten million souls had gathered for a singr purpose of passionate celebration. Normally, John would have reveled in this atmosphere, which made just about everyone present burst with energy and vigor.


    Instead, the cheering of the crowd and beauty of the colors in the sky was almostpletely lost to him. His focus was on the woman standing on the stage behind the Sword-Saint. Right now, there was nothing else in his vision. Nothing else on his mind.


    His mind raced with chaotic thoughts as he stared at her with narrowed eyes. Why was she here? Why was she behind the Sword-Saint? Who was she exactly? Was the Sword-Saint, or the entire Sword-Dao Sect, behind that woman''s actions?


    Countless questions raced in his mind, though he knew none of them would receive answers any time soon. He slowly fell down towards the center of the arena, where everyone was gathering, andnded softly a short distance away from the group of powerhouses.


    The other youthsnded nearby, grouping by their sects. The groups consisting of the Three Dao Sects were thergest by far, with about one hundred cultivators in each group. The rest of the youths gathered in smaller groups, some asrge as fifty, others as small as two. In the sea of colorful groups, only John stood alone.


    Most of the crowd''s focus was on the Yang-Sovereign and the other powerhouses of the human race, who were more like mythical demi-gods than humans to the general popce. The natural presence of the Yang-Sovereign, the Mage-Sovereign, and the Sword-Saint were too brilliant to ignore.


    Their auras were withdrawn, and they almost appeared like normal mortals if one didn''t look close enough. But upon close inspection, one would feel as though they were staring at a world itself, too vast and powerful toprehend.


    The powerhouses, as well as those standing behind them, patiently waited for all the youths tond on the arena.


    The crowd suddenly erupted in a loud cheer as a youthnded amongst the Sword-Dao Sect. Ji''Hannded on the arena with natural grace, his posture straight, his face calm, yet bearing a natural look of confidence.


    Another cheer, even louder than Ji''Han''s, erupted as Jaxusnded on the stage. With the tournament being hosted in the Yang-Dao Sect, thergest fanbase present was undoubtedly the Yang-Dao Sect. They cheered with wild jubnce at Jaxus'' arrival.


    Unlike Ji''Han''s graceful arrival, Jaxusnded like aet on the arena. His Yang Aura red powerfully for a moment to signify his arrival, then withdrew as he turned to look at Ji''Han. His gaze narrowed as he saw Ji''Han not even giving him a single nce. Instead, Ji''Han''s focus was on John, who stood off to the side some distance away.


    Jaxus shifted his gaze to John, eyes igniting with battlelust as he spotted him. Jaxus frowned as Johnpletely ignored him, while Ji''Han raised an eyebrow. Both knew John could definitely feel their gazes on him, and yet John hadpletely ignored them as if they didn''t exist. Jaxus felt his blood go hot with the disrespect, while Ji''Han felt a rare tinge of displeasure at being ignored like this.


    John felt both their gazesnd on him, but he ignored thempletely. Only the woman behind the Sword-Saint existed at the moment. His narrowed gaze simmered ever so softly with murderous bloodlust, as he wanted nothing more than to rush the woman and cut her down immediately.


    Instead, he took a deep breath, and averted his gaze. He knew if he stared at the woman for too long, she would notice his murderous gaze, and be suspicious. Just as he averted his gaze, the woman behind the Sword-Saint looked over in his direction, a curious expression on her face. She scanned the arena around John, which contained him and a few other groups of youths nearby.


    Her eyes narrowed for an instant, then returned to her original direction, towards the Yang-Sovereign who stood before the group of powerhouses.


    Thest Dao Transformation youth finally touched down on the arena, joining their group. The Yang-Sovereign raised his hand, powerful. "We have witnessed countless feats of heroism and genius thus far, and will most certainly witness countless more asking for silence. The crowd silenced instantly.


    "It is always an honor of mine and my sect to host the Tri-Annual Dao Tournament," the Yang-Sovereign said, his voice firm and powerful. "We have witnessed countless feats of heroism and genius thus far, and will most certainly witness countless more during the uing Dao Transformation tournament."


    The crowd cheered loudly, while the Yang-Sovereign waited for the noise to die down.


    "The Dao Transformation tournament is always the most anticipated, and most exciting of the brackets, and this year I believe will be no different," he continued after the crowd became silent. "The Mage-Sovereign, the Sword-Saint, and myself, will watch the fights toe with interest and excitement. Show to us, and the world itself, of your genius. Show to all your talent, your power, your resolve. This arena is your stage to prove yourself, and cement your name in the annals of history. I wish you all good luck in the fights toe."


    The crowd erupted into apuse once more. The Yang-Sovereign, as well as the rest of the group took to the sky, slowly soaring up towards the top of the stadium. They arrived at a viewing tform the very top of the arena, which was separated from the rest of the crowd by several miles. This arrangement allowed for rtive peace and quiet for the powerhouses as they watched the tournament below, and also gave everyone in the arena, both crowd and fighters alike, an unobstructed view of the powerhouses of the world.


    On the viewing tform were countless ornate seats and tables, each luxurious enough to be fit for the wealthiest of kings and sect leaders. It was almost as if each seat was a throne itself, luxurious beyondpare. There were dozens of them, somerger and more luxurious than the others, but each beyond valuable and grand.


    Around one hundred servants and butlers stood on the edge of this viewing tform, patiently waiting for orders from those lofty enough to im a seat here. The various tables on the tform already held exotic and delicious food and drink, most of it so expensive that only someone like the Yang-Sovereign could afford it in such quantities.


    John''s eyes, as well as the rest of the crowd, followed the group of powerhouses as they soared through the sky andnded on the tform. He watched as the powerhouses, the Sword-Dao Sect woman included, mingled for a while with the others, then took a seat to view the fights toe.


    John''s cold, simmering gaze shifted from the woman, then his eyes went wide. His anger and rage instantly melted away, reced by relief and joy instead, as he locked eyes with a familiar person already sitting on one of the throne-like chairs. A face he had not seen for nearly a year.


    He smiled and nodded at Lilian, who smiled and returned the brief nod.


    Her expression then turned into an almost mischievous one, at which point she winked at him. John''s smile widened as he instantly understood her meaning.


    Her expression said, ''I''m fine, so let loose and cause havoc!''


    John nodded his head again in understanding. "dly."

 Chapter 1050 Exchanging Words With JiHan

    Chapter 1050 Exchanging Words With Ji''Han


    Lilian lookedpletely mesmerizing sitting on the throne-like chair, which seemed to be a natural fit for her, as if she had grown up sitting on thrones all her life.


    She was wearing an exquisite white dress with blue and gold trimmings, most likely provided to her by the Sword-Dao Sect. The skirt of the dress shimmered and faded away to mist, adding to her ethereal appearance. The dress clung to her body, revealing her natural curves, while her blue hair fell elegantly over her right shoulder and then behind her back.


    Millions of eyes in the crowd stared at her, some with envy, some with jealousy, and many with curiosity. They had all heard of the wager between the Sword-Saint and the mysterious woman betrothed to Ji''Han. None had ever seen her before, and most had only heard stories of her beauty and talent.


    Most felt those stories had undersold her features, as many in the crowd felt she was the most beautiful woman they had everid their eyes on. While her expressions as calm and even icy usually, there was an allure to that iciness which many couldn''t resist.


    Countless discussions broke out immediately, discussing Lilian, her beauty, the wager, her and Ji''Han''s betrothal, and everything in between. For a moment, neither the Sovereigns, nor John or Ji''Han were the center of attention.


    Lilian ignored the attention, her gaze lingering on John for a moment, then shifting elsewhere.


    "I will now announce the rules for the tournament," a Half-Step Holy Manifestation cultivation Yang-Dao Sect Elder said. The Elder had a bald head, a thick, fiery red beard, and a powerful build. He looked more like a body cultivator than an essence cultivator, and had a natural fiery aura around him.


    All eyes fell onto the Elder, who stood before the group of one thousand youths.


    "The rules are the same as always," the Elder continued. "Each fight willst no more than an hour. Each fight will be concluded when one fighter forces the other to submit, or renders them unable to continue fighting. Killing and crippling is strictly forbidden, and will be punished severely. If at the end of the hour a victor has yet to be determined, a panel of judges will determine the winner. Lastly, each fight will start ten minutes after the previous one had concluded. If a fighter does not show up during that ten-minute window, they will be disqualified. Are there any questions?"


    No one amongst the Dao Transformation fighters asked any question, and so the Elder proceeded.


    "As is tradition, the first fight willmence in a moment, and will be between the first seed and thest seed," the Elder said.


    All eyes fell onto John as the Elder said this, as he was the one who held the first ce seeding. He felt the weight of ten million eyes fall upon him, which was something many his age would crumble under in nervousness and fear.


    John ignored the gazes as if they didn''t exist. Not only had he been stared at and targeted by monsters far more threatening than these ten million people, his mind was upied with a million swirling thoughts at the moment.


    Thoughts about Lilian, thoughts about the mysterious woman who had killed Furi and his children, thoughts about the tournament itself.


    The Elder continued to speak about the tournament for a while, although John mostly ignored his ramblings. While the Elder spoke, John felt someone approach him from his left. He shifted his gaze, eyes narrowing for a brief moment before returning to his normal calm.


    Although he had never personally seen this man before, he instantly knew who it was. There was no mistaking Ji''Han''s aura, his appearance, or his natural feeling of superiority he seemed to give off. Ji''Han''s existence felt as though it was a sword, ready to cut down any obstacle at any moment. It was the first time that John felt any sort of instinctual danger from someone near his age, other than Asuros.


    Ji''Han walked up to John and stopped next to him, turning towards the Elder who continued to speak about the prestige of the tournament, the honor the youths brought to their sects, the fighting schedule, and other unimportant things.


    "I finally get to meet the infamous John Fenix," Ji''Han said, ncing sideways at John, eyeing him up and down for a moment before returning his gaze to the speaking Elder.


    John gave Ji''Han another nce, then ignored him. Usually, he would want nothing more than to exchange words with Ji''Han, and then fists, for his audacity to capture and force Lilian into marriage. However, with the new developments of the woman in white and seeing Lilian for the first time in a year, Ji''Han had fallen down in importance for a moment as far as John was concerned.


    Ji''Han waited for a reply, which never came.


    "I saw your¡­battles yesterday," Ji''Han continued, his voice calm and expression neutral. "I''m hoping what you revealed yesterday is only the tip of what you are capable of. Your friend has spoken quite highly of you, and it would be a shame for her words to be proven false. I''ve been looking for a true challenge for quite some time, one that will push me and my sword arts to the next level."


    He turned towards John, studying him once more.


    "Will your friend''s words be proven true, or are you merely a false genius like everyone else?" Ji''Han asked, and yet again received silence from John.


    Ji''Han frowned ever so slightly, not used to someone ignoring him like this. Although he cared not for the attention and adtion of others, he still felt slight irritation at being treated as if he was not worth talking to.


    Ji''Han shifted his gaze upwards, towards the viewing tform in the distance where Lilian sat.


    "Your friend has ced a great deal of trust in you, wagering her entire future on your strength. I''m afraid for both of you that her faith in you is nothing but false hope," Ji''Han said, then smiled as John finally reacted and turned to look at him.


    "Wagered her future?" John repeated, a slight scowl on his face. "Her future was taken from her forcefully when you and your father forced her into that farcical marriage. You and your father are no better thanmon vers. The only difference is that vers have the dignity to call themselves what they are, while you and your father pomp around like kings, trying to hide the truth of what you two truly are;mon thugs."


    Ji''Han studied John''s face for a moment, then smiled. "Strength is the only truth in this world. Strength is the onlyw. Those who are strong can do what they want. Those who are weak can only follow themands of the strong, or perish underneath their heel. Your friend...my future wife''s situation is the natural oue of her currentck of strength."


    "Lack of strength?" John said mockingly. "How about you fight her right now and see who is the stronger one? No? That''s what I thought. You hide behind the strength of your father and act as if it''s your own strength. Like I said, you are nothing but a delusional thug."


    Ji''Han''s mouth curled up with displeasure, although he remained calm despite John''s insults. John turned to face him directly, a wide smile on his face.


    "You are right in one regard, that strength is the only thing that truly matters in the end. Your father was idiotic enough to ept Lilian''s wager, which will unravel all your ns as I stomp you beneath my heels in the finals, if you make it that far in the first ce," John said with calm confidence.


    Ji''Han''s frown lingered for a moment as he locked eyes with John. His frown faded into a small smile as he turned and walked away from John.


    "I truly do hope your friend is not lying about your strength," Ji''Han said without looking back. "Nothing will give me greater pleasure than to cut you down before her, proving to her and the world that I, with my sword in hand, reign supreme."


    John grit his teeth tightly, calming his growing bloodlust. It wasn''t that he was annoyed by Ji''Han''s taunts. It was merely the fact that the one who Lilian was to be forcefully betrothed to was right in front of him, and he wanted nothing more than to rip Ji''Han''s head off his shoulders for even thinking of such a thing, let alone agreeing to it.


    Before he could do or say anything, the Yang-Dao Sect Elder spoke loudly, his words stirring the crowd into a frenzy.


    "With everything said, the Dao Transformation tournament will officially begin. Everyone but the first andst seed clear the arena, as the fight between Aragas of the Swiftsword Sect, ranked one thousand and twenty-four and John Fenix of the¡­unknown sect¡­


    ranked first, will begin in a moment!"

 Chapter 1051 The Tournament Starts

    Chapter 1051 The Tournament Starts


    The crowd cheered and roared with excitement as the tournament''s official start was about to begin. The other Dao Transformation youths flew up from the arena into the stands once more, leaving only John, his opponent, and the Yang-Dao Sect Elder standing on the arena.


    Formation screens flickered into existence all across the arena, depicting the stats and charts of both John and his opponent. His opponent, Aragas of the Swiftsword Sect, stared at John with uncertain eyes, a slight grimace on his face.


    By now, everyone knew that John''s strength was not to be underestimated. Although most still believed that his illusory test scores were somehow false, either through cheating or some other unknown method, they knew his strength was the real deal. In the elimination trial the previous day, John had easily handled two opponents, both from the Three Dao Sects, with rtive ease.


    Both of those opponents had been ranked around four hundred, cing John''s strength firmly above that. His opponent, ranked one thousand and twenty-four, was a far cry from the strength needed to beat John.


    John''s eyes followed Ji''Han for a moment as he soared through the sky towards the exclusive viewing tform, then sat on a chair between his father and Lilian. He gave Lilian a quick nce, then turned his gaze back towards John, looking down on him from far above like a king looking down on his subject.


    "Are both of you ready?" the Yang-Dao Sect Elder spoke, drawing John''s attention back to the arena.


    Everything had happened so fast, he had almost forgotten he was about to fight in the opening match of the tournament. His opponent nodded, while John took a deep breath to calm himself down, then nodded as well.


    "Link your formation armbands," the Elder said, to which both of them did, sending their divine senses out to link with their opponent.


    As he did so, John was given information regarding his opponent, which he briefly read though with indifference.


    Name: Aragas


    Age: Twenty-One


    Cultivation: Middle Dao Transformation


    Sect: Swiftsword Sect


    Speed & Movement Arts: 95


    That was the only statistic that stood out to John, who raised an eyebrow in slight surprise. The rest of his opponents scores werecklusterpared to his speed, with only his instincts andprehensions of any note. Both of those yed limited roles in battle, and so the only thing to look out for was his speed.


    As they linked their formation armbands, his opponents armbands red with formation energy, enveloping him. A momentter, the youth''s cultivation fell from the Middle Dao Transformation Realm to the Early Dao Transformation Realm, indicating that his opponent had been in the Early Dao Transformation Realm when he was John''s exact age.


    Aragas grimaced once more, while John merely raised an eyebrow again. He had expected the true geniuses of this world to have cultivation speeds that at least kept up with him, but it seems that was limited for the true geniuses like Ji''Han and the others at the top of the rankings.


    John clicked his tongue with displeasure, as this wasn''t even going to be a challenge at all for him. He was hoping to use his opponents to hone his new battle arts and have some fun, but it seems that this opponent was not going to be someone he could do that on.


    The Yang-Dao Sect Elder inspected both fighters, then nodded his head approvingly. He raised his arm, then lowered it with a sh of showmanship.


    "Let the Dao Transformation tournament¡­begin!"


    Roar!


    The crowd roared wildly as the tournament officially started. The crowd was so loud that it was almost impossible to hear one''s thoughts. John ignored the crowd, instead focusing on his nearby opponent.


    "I''m really not in a good mood right now, so just give up and save us both the trouble of what''s toe," John said to Aragas, his voice barely audible over the crowd''s roars and cheers.


    Instead of giving up, his opponent drew his sword, holding it steadily by his side.


    "The Sword Dao is the one truth in the cultivation world," Aragas said, his confidence rising with the sword in his hand. "Only the sword is capable of jumping realms and defying all logic and reason. To give up would be an insult to the Sword Dao."


    John sighed deeply as he lowered his gaze, shaking his head as if he was dealing with a fool.


    Che!


    A sh of light suddenly sped by John, so fast that it appeared like a blur to all but the strongest in the crowd. The crowd gasped as they watched Aragas speed past John before John could even react, sword shing outwards with lethal intent.


    Aragas reappeared on the other side of John, his feet skidding on the ground for a short distance before he halted his momentum.


    "Hahah, you may be strong, but you are nothing but an idiot," Aragas eximed loudly, a smug smile on his face as he stared at John who had yet move. "I may be rankedst, but my speed is amongst the fastest of all tournament geniuses. Even with my cultivation restricted to a minor realm, my speed still ranks in the top fifty."


    He then raised his sword before his face, which glistened under the lights of the stands and the artificial sun high above. The sword was four feet long, and emanated a sharp, profound aura equal to the best weapons that could be found on John''s homeworld.


    Aragas suddenly sped forward once more, shing past John like a blur, his sword slicing across John''s body. He reappeared a momentter to John''s side, his smile even wider.


    "This sword is the treasured sword of my Swiftsword Sect, passed down from Sect Leader to Sect Leader throughout the ages," Aragas said. "Its sharpness is famed across the entire continent, with thousands of Devil and Beast race powerhouses felled by this de. Che!


    Aragas sped forward once more, then again and again. He formed With my speed you can''t even react to, and with my sword you cannot defend against, you will lose without being able to do anything."


    Che!


    Aragas sped forward once more, then again and again. He formed blurred streaks of light throughout the arena, each streak converging on John''s location. Tens, then hundreds of attacksnded on John in less than a second before Aragas finally came to a stop once more.


    His smug smile slowly faded away as his instincts red to life, telling him something was wrong. Normally his opponent, having been cut this many times, would be crying out in pain with bloody wounds all over his body. Instead, John was standing still in the same ce, his head slightly bowed as he stared at his feet.


    Many long cuts had formed on John''s robe, which made it appear as if he had been cut into. However, upon closer inspection, there was no blood at all, as if the sword had only cut through the robe, but had failed to cut through the skin.


    Aragas finally paused his assault, staring with narrowed eyes at his opponent. After a few seconds, John finally raised his head, his eyes scanning the battlefield before falling on Aragas. He locked eyes with his opponent, then turned his gaze to his own body, studying his arms, legs, and torso.


    "Ah, the battle started?" John asked, noticing the cuts on his clothing. His words shocked everyone, especially Aragas, who instinctively took a step backwards as he noticed John was truly unscathed, despite having been ''cut'' by his sword hundreds of times.


    John shifted his gaze to the sword in Aragas'' hand, then nodded lightly.


    "That sword is not bad. Unfortunately, a weapon is still only as strong as the wielder. You may be fast, but your strength is nothing but a joke."


    Aragas'' mouth opened, both from shock, and from wanting to speak. He stammered his words hastily.


    "I conc-"


    John appeared before Aragas like a ghost, his movements even faster than Aragas movements moments ago. His leg kicked outwards, mming into Aragas'' side before he could react.


    Bang!


    A sickening crunch of flesh and bone sounded out as Aragas shot upwards through the sky like aet.


    Bang!


    Aragas mmed into the formation barrier which sprung to life, stopping his body from leaving the arena. The crowd watched with stunned silence as Aragas'' body pressed against the barrier for a moment before sliding down it and crashing to the arena far below.


    A patch of blood lingered on the formation barrier, which on the other side sat Ji''Han and the Sword-Saint. John looked upwards towards Ji''Han for a moment, who returned his gaze with calm amusement, then took to the sky to return to where Naelia and Zuri still waited in the stands.


    As he flew through the sky, the Yang-Dao Sect Elder announced the oue of the first battle.


    "The victor by rendering his opponent unable to fight: John Fenix."

 Chapter 1052 Azurae

    Chapter 1052 Azurae


    John soared through the sky towards the ce where Naelia and Zuri were standing, approximately half-way up the ten-mile-tall arena. As he soared through the sky, the stunned crowd roared back to life as cheers and boos boomed out in unison.


    The number of cheers had increased since yesterday, a sign that more and more people were slowly being won over by John''s strength and status as a dark-horse underdog. He was oblivious to that fact, as his mind was upied with something far more important.


    As he flew through the air, the Yang-Dao Sect Elder''s voice filled the arena.


    "The next fight will begin shortly. Verica of the Illusory Mist Sect and Ji''Han of the Sword-Dao Sect, please enter the arena within the next ten minutes."


    Hended softly on the balcony next to hispanions, and was greeted with a resounding cheer from Naelia.


    "Congrattions!" she eximed with a radiant smile on her face. "That was awe-"


    Her smile vanished as John strode right by her without acknowledging her with a deep scowl on his face, brows furrowed.


    "Ah¡­" Naelia mumbled, stunned by such a cold reception from John. Zuri gave John a curious nce, as she had noticed that something had changed in him even before he entered the arena. She patted Naelia on the shoulder in aforting way.


    "He most likely has a lot on his mind right now," Zuri said, then quickly exined the situation between John, Ji''Han and Lilian through sound transmission. Naelia''s eyes lit up with surprise and then anger upon hearing the summary of what was going on.


    She thanked Zuri and then raced to catch up to John, no longer upset or disappointed by his previous actions. She raced up alongside him, a furious look on her face.


    "That Ji''Han," she grumbled with a frustrated pout. "He always acts so high and mighty, but that was fine since he is strong. But to think he dares to force your friend into marriage! What an overbearing asshole!"


    John shot Naelia a quick nce, surprised to hear her bring up this subject, then looked at Zuri who merely shrugged. He didn''t really care if Naelia knew the truth, so he remained quiet, marching through the tunnel connecting the arena and the interior hallways.


    "What''s going on?" Zuri asked as she walked up beside him. "I know the situation with Ji''Han is frustrating, but shouldn''t that all be resolved once you win the tournament?"


    "It''s not that. I''ll exin in a moment," John said, his voice calm yet slightly cold.


    Zuri raised an eyebrow, surprised that John was so caught up on something else. She remained silent, walking alongside him all the way to the Prime Shadow''s room. With the tournament officially started, the interior hallways were rtively empty, allowing them to quickly make their way to their destination without being surrounded by a curious crowd.


    Bang!


    John mmed the door to the Prime Shadow''s room open, his mind too upied to think about using a delicate touch. The Prime Shadow, sitting at the window overlooking the arena, looked over his shoulder towards the group. Naelia said some parting words with Zuri and stayed behind at the door, while John and Zuri stepped into the room.


    As they did so, the Yang-Dao Elder''s voice sounded out within the room, as ifing from all directions. Clearly, there was some sort of formation that yed the sounds of the arena within the room.


    "The victor by forfeit, Ji''Han!"


    John ignored the announcement and the crowd''s roar as he walked up to the Prime Shadow, brows furrowed. The Prime Shadow raised an eyebrow as he watched John walk up next to him.


    "I was going to congratte you, but it seems as though you''re not in the mood to be congratted," the Prime Shadow said.


    John nced about the room for a moment, then returned his gaze to the elderly powerhouse before him.


    "Can you make it so that we can''t be spied on? I have something important to tell you," John said through a sound transmission.


    Usually, sound transmissions were a safe and secretive method ofmunication, with outsiders being unable to spy on the conversation. However, there were some formations that were able to intercept the sound transmission waves and spy on them. John was unsure how they worked, and had never encountered one, but had learned of their existence during his time in the Shadows of Death Guild.


    The Prime Shadow raised an eyebrow, his eyes meeting John''s. He then waved his hand a movementter, bringing a sphere of darkness to life. The power and profundity of the darkness Qi was awe-inspiring, although John was not in the mood to appreciate such things.


    A sphere a dozen yards wide enveloped the group like a cocoon, startling Zuri as she had no idea what was going on.


    "You can speak now," the Prime Shadow said, his face more serious than before as he could tell what John was going to tell him was quite important. "No one other than us three will hear your words."


    John nodded, then gave Zuri a quick nce. She looked at him with a curious expression, to which he sighed deeply. That curiosity was going to turn into rage in a short moment. He took a deep breath, exhaled lightly, and then spoke.


    "Who is that woman sitting next to the Sword-Saint?" John asked the Prime Shadow.


    The Prime Shadow looked to the side and upwards, his gaze piercing his cocoon of darkness, then looked back to John.


    "That is Azurae, a Swordmaster Elder of the Sword-Dao Sect," the Prime Shadow answered.


    John had no idea what ''Swordmaster'' entailed, but it was probably a rank of Elder, much like the Shadow of Death had captains, Masters, and Grandmasters.


    "What do you know about her?" John asked.


    "Azurae? There''s not much to know there," the Prime Shadow replied. "She''s been a member of the Sword-Dao Sect for thest one hundred years, ever since she joined the sect as a teenager. Since then, she''s made her way up the ranks of the Sect, proving herself as one of the more talented younger members of the Sect, and became one of the youngest Swordmasters in the sect''s history. Other than that, there''s not much else of note. No grand feats, no powerful enemies in. She has lived a rather modest life, focusing only on the sword, and rarely ever shows herself to the world. To see her here is quite the rare urrence," the Prime Shadow said, then titled his head to the side.


    "Why do you ask?"


    John nced again as Zuri, then set his jaw firm.


    "Because¡­she is the one who killed Furi," John said, his voice calm yet tinged with a sliver of hatred.


    Boom!


    The space within the cocoon red to life as Zuri''s aura exploded outwards. Her eyes were wide with shock for a moment, then murderous bloodlust.


    "I''ll fucking kill her!" Zuri screamed out like a banshee, her voice shrill. She turned to leave the cocoon of darkness, but was stopped by its power. She tried to force her way through it but was unable to. She stopped and shot the Prime Shadow, a gaze filled with anger and bloodlust, as if saying she would turn her focus on him if he didn''t let her out.


    The Prime Shadow sighed and flicked his wrist. Coils of darkness enveloped Zuri, binding her body tightly, making her unable to move. She struggled against the power but waspletely helpless against it.


    "I understand your anger," the Prime Shadow sighed, "but you must be calm for now. Anger and bloodlust will get you nowhere at the moment."


    Zuri continued to struggle against the bindings for a short while before calming down, realizing the futility of it all. The Prime Shadow gave her a questioning nce.


    "I''m¡­I''m calmed down," Zuri said through gritted teeth. It was obvious she was barely able to contain herself, but she had calmed down to the point where she was no longer feral with rage. John remained silent the entire time, understanding Zuri''s rage. The murderer of her father and two beloved siblings was nearby. If it was him, he would act the exact same way.


    The Prime Shadow undid the darkness bindings, then studied Zuri for a short moment. Her face was red with hatred, and she fidgeted with rage, but she no longer tried to force her way out of the darkness cocoon. When he was certain she was calm, the Prime Shadow shifted his focus back to John.


    "That is quite a bold im to make. Are you certain of this?" he asked.


    "One hundred percent," John replied with the utmost certainty. "I already exined to both of you the events of what had happened. I managed to survive the st, although they thought I had died. That allowed me to get a glimpse of part of her face and feel her aura as she killed Furi and then left. It''s no doubt her."


    At the time of Furi''s death, Azurae had been facing the opposite direction of John. He was only able to see parts of her face when she turned to look at herpanions, and wasn''t able to use his divine sense to scan her face, otherwise he would have given away his position. As such, he was unable to give the Shadow''s of Death a detailed depiction of the woman''s face, and had only been able to describe parts of it, as well as her aura.


    Her aura was slightly different now, as if she had masked it before, or was masking it now. It had been more passionate and fiery before, but now was sharper like that of a sword. Which aura was the true one was uncertain, but the underlying feeling and nature of her aura was unmistakable.


    The Prime Shadow studied John''s face for a moment, then sighed.


    "It seems there is a lot more happening within the shadows than we know, and I think what you revealed is just the tip of the iceberg."

 Chapter 1053 Discussing Next Steps

    Chapter 1053 Discussing Next Steps


    "I felt something amiss when I first entered the Yang-Dao Sect," the Prime Shadow said, surprising the others. "My instincts warned me ever so slightly that something was amiss, although I couldn''t tell what it was. That feeling grew stronger when I entered this Yang-Sphere, although I still can''t tell what the reason is."


    "The Yang-Dao Sect and the Yang-Sphere?" John repeated. "Could the Yang-Dao Sect be behind whatever''s happening then?"


    "Unlikely," the Prime Shadow shook his head. "However, with the skill and resources at their disposal, it isn''t impossible for the Sword-Dao Sect to tamper with the Yang-Dao Sect without the Yang-Sovereign knowing. After all, he may be strong, but he is not omnipotent. However, until we know for certain what is going on, I won''t make any hasty conclusions."


    The three discussed Azurae and the potential plot that was taking ce for a while longer, with John divulging all the details he could regarding the mysterious woman.


    "Until we know who she''s truly working with, we cannot make any grand usations," the Prime Shadow said, a slight frown on his face. "She could be working with the Sword-Dao Sect, or perhaps could be fooling them as well, and is truly working with the Devils, or the Beast Race. Until we know her true allegiance, we must gather more information."


    "How are we going to do that?" Zuri asked, a deep frown on her face. She had calmed down a bit since the news of Azurae broke, but it was obvious her hatred still simmered deeply within.


    "We aren''t going to do anything," the Prime Shadow replied. His response drew questioning looks from John and Zuri.


    Before they could reply, the sphere of darkness rippled, and a new figure stepped into it from the outside. The Grandmaster, the one who had led John to the headquarters of the Guild, stepped inside.


    "Grandmaster," Zuri said, turning to him quickly and bowing her head slightly in respect. The Grandmaster returned her bow with a smile and a nod, then looked at John for a moment. He nodded approvingly, then looked towards the Prime Shadow.


    "What do you need from me, Prime Shadow?" the Grandmaster asked respectfully. It was the first time John had seen such deference from the elderly Grandmaster.


    "What do you know of Azurae, Grandmaster Darkcloud?" the Prime Shadow asked. His question threw the Grandmaster off guard, but he quickly answered with everything he knew about the woman, which was not much different than what the Prime Shadow had revealed to John and Zuri.


    Silence filled the sphere of darkness for a short while as the Prime Shadow thought over the situation, while the others awaited his instructions. John gave the Grandmaster a quick nce, hearing his Dao Name for the first time. He was sure the number of people who had heard his true Dao Name were few and far between.


    "Grandmaster Darkcloud, you are to investigate Azurae''s origins, leaving no stone unturned regarding her early life," the Prime Shadow instructed.


    "Her early life?" Grandmaster Darkcloud asked. "That was over one hundred years ago. What do you hope to find searching so far back?"


    "I''m not certain," the Prime Shadow replied, a thoughtful look on his face. "But whoever Azurae is now, she is very careful in her movements. As far as I was aware, she was merely an esteemed elder of the Sword-Dao Sect. Perhaps that is her true identity, and her actions have been at themand of the Sword-Dao Sect, but perhaps not. Regardless of the truth, she has been extraordinarily careful in her movements over thest few decades, careful enough to escape our gaze.


    For someone this careful, it''s unlikely we''ll find much about her true identity looking into recent events. Someone like her doesn''t make mistakes, and the only reason we even know of her existence in the first ce is from John, who is most likely the only person in this world who would be able to survive the ship''s explosion in the Dao Transformation Realm.


    No, for someone as careful as her, the only information we might find is before she became who she is today. Only the ignorance and naivety of her youth may have left some clues behind. It''s not likely, but it''s the only thing we can look into at the moment without drawing suspicion."


    The Grandmaster nodded his head in understanding and agreement, then bowed it ever so slightly.


    "It will be done. I will take care of this matter personally, and will report back with any information of note."


    The Prime Shadow nodded his thanks. The Grandmaster gave John and Zuri a quick nce, then turned and left the sphere of darkness.


    "What should we do?" Zuri asked a momentter.


    "Nothing," the Prime Shadow replied, looking at the two of them. "Whoever is behind Azurae is powerful, and will no doubt know your identity as members of the Guild. You two are the most visible members of the guild right now, and any changes in your actions or movements would no doubt create suspicion. We need to move in the shadows, undetected, and with your poprity and roles in this tournament, you two need to y your part and act as if nothing is wrong."


    He turned to look at John specifically. "You especially need to just focus on the tournament. The shier your battles, the more exciting your battles, the more of a distraction you will cause, allowing the rest of us to operate in the shadows more effectively."


    John nodded after a moment of thought, although he had wanted to help out if he could. Uncovering a grand plot to undermine the human powers sounded interesting, but he couldn''t help but agree with the Prime Shadow that the tournament itself was the most important thing for him to focus on at the moment.


    The group discussed the subject a bit more, at which point the Prime Shadow brought the discussion to a close.


    "The Guild is already acting as hidden security for this tournament, so it shouldn''t draw suspicion to increase the number of guild members sweeping the Yang-Dao Sect for any information they can gather. As for me, well, this sphere I''ve created has no doubt been noticed by the others, so I''ll need to mingle with them for some time to assuage any suspicions they have. As for you two, just keep doing what you''re doing, but make sure to let me know if you feel anything amiss, or discover anything worth mentioning."


    "What about Azurae?" Zuri couldn''t help but ask, unable to hold her tongue any longer. "Can''t we capture her and force the information out of her."


    "That is ourst resort," the Prime Shadow said. "Capturing someone as strong as her without making any noise is difficult, and even if done without w, her disappearance will instantly alert the others in her scheme that they have been discovered. Unless we are forced to do so, we will act as if we know nothing of Azurae or this plot, understood?"


    The Prime Shadow gave Zuri a level gaze, as if warning her that any deviations from this n would be met with swift punishment. Zuri bit her lip, then nodded.


    "Good, then I will leave you two to train or do whatever. In the meantime, I have some mingling to do."


    With that, the Prime Shadow vanished without warning, the sphere of darkness fading away a momentter. John and Zuri exchanged a quick nce, at which point he walked over to the training room to continue his Art training. Zuri turned and looked out the window towards the viewing tform holding the powerhouses. Her gaze lingered on Azurae who wasughing as she discussed something with Ji''Han.


    "Before this is over, I''ll watch your life fade from your eyes," Zuri thought, then turned to follow John into the training room to resume their training.

 Chapter 1054 Netherfrost Beasts

    Chapter 1054 Netherfrost Beasts


    The viewing tform was buzzing with thoughtful conversations andughter as the powerhouses of the world watched the tournament unfold far beneath them. Servants brought delicious food and exotic drinks to them, ensuring their patrons were satisfied at all times.


    The Prime Shadow silently appeared on the tform, his arrival unnoticed by all but the top powerhouses.


    "Ah, you''ve finally joined us," the Yang-Sovereign said without turning around, his words causing the others who had failed to notice the Prime Shadow to turn around and look at him. Many of them had no idea who he was, and only knew that the Prime Shadow was a secretive and powerful man.


    The Prime Shadow walked towards the others, then took his seat which was ced between the Yang-Sovereign and Mage Sovereign. The Mage Sovereign eyed the Prime Shadow up and down, a curious glint in her eyes.The Sword-Saint, seated several seats down, didn''t acknowledge the Prime Shadow, instead opting to speak to Ji''Han instead.


    "What was so secretive that you had to create that shrouding barrier?" she asked curiously.


    With how powerful she and the other Sovereign''s were, they were easily able to notice the Prime Shadow''s darkness barrier despite the distance. It was not something that could be hidden easily from powerful eyes like them.


    "If the matter was important enough to shroud it from outside ears, why would I divulge that information now?" the Prime Shadow replied, giving the Mage Sovereign a pointed look.


    "Hmmm, so secretive," she said musingly, her mouth curled into a small smile.


    "What about you? Any secrets you wish to divulge?" the Prime Shadow asked her, shifting the focus of the discussion on her.


    "I have nothing to discuss, but the Yang-Sovereign surely does," she said, her eyes shifting to look at the Yang-Sovereign nearby.


    "Is that so?" the Prime Shadow asked, turning to the other side to look at the Yang-Sovereign.


    "I merely mentioned that I am making progress with the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus, and might be able to absorb it in the near future," the Yang-Sovereign said tly, as if he were describing something mundane.


    The Prime Shadow raised an eyebrow, surprised to hear such a im. The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus was one of the most potent and powerful natural treasures in the world, and had rebuffed any attempt to be absorbed in the past. In fact, several powerhouses had perished in the past trying to assimte the lotus, some even as strong as the Yang-Sovereign.


    "Do you mind divulging how you n to tame and absorb such a powerful object?" the Prime Shadow asked, truly curious about the matter.


    The Yang-Sovereign gave him a quick nce, then looked back to the fight unfolding in the arena.


    "I''m afraid I cannot divulge that information," the Yang-Sovereign answered. The Prime Shadow had not been expecting an answer, as such information, if divulged, could potentially lead to others attempting to tame the lotus in secret, using the Yang-Sovereigns method. While that was highly unlikely as the Yang-Sovereign was not only incredibly powerful, but also controlled the Yang-Dao Sect, it was not impossible.


    The conversation quickly shifted topics, focusing on the tournament and other things. The first round of the tournament was expected to take several days toplete, with five hundred fights taking ce before the next round started.


    Several hourster, after one of the fight''s ended, amotion broke out as arge group of non-human cultivators, some ten thousand strong, entered the arena from one of the tunnels below. They flooded out onto the empty arena, their presence silencing the stunned crowd. Trails of ice followed behind them as they walked, and an icy chill filled the air, as if everything would be frozen solid before long.


    "What''s the meaning of this?" the Mage-Sovereign asked the Yang-Sovereign, who didn''t give her a reply.


    The group gathered in the center of the arena, then looked up towards the viewing tform. A momentter, the crowd erupted with taunts, insults, boos, and more, bing wild with anger and hatred. It appeared as though the crowd was about to rush forward towards the group and tear them apart.


    "Silence," the Yang-Sovereign''s calm yet powerful voice filled the arena, silencing everyone in an instant.


    All eyes shifted to him, who now stood at the front of the viewing tform looking down at the group that had gathered in the arena.


    The group of ten thousand figures looked up at the Yang-Sovereign, meeting his gaze. Each member of the group had arge and powerful frame, standing nearly ten feet tall. They had humanoid figures, with two arms and two legs, although they were built more powerfully than typical humans.


    None of them wore any clothes. Instead, they were covered from head to toe in a thickyer of ice, which was shaped and molded to their body in a way that resembled clothing.


    Some had tight fitting robes of ice, while others had elegant ice-dresses that shimmered with mesmerizing beauty. Their shoulders, arms and backs were covered with spikes of ice, as were their heads, which seemed to be their equivalent of hair.


    Most exotic of all were their faces. Each figure hadrge yellow eyes twice the size of a humans, and arge beast-like mouth filled with sharp teeth.


    Standing in front of the group was a single figure,rger than the rest by a head, who''s cultivation was in the Middle Holy Manifestation Realm. That figure locked eyes with the Yang-Sovereign, then tilted his head forward ever so slightly in a gesture of respect.


    The Yang-Sovereign returned the gesture, surprising everyone who saw it happen. The Yang-Sovereign, one of the leaders of humanity, had just greeted the Netherfrost Beasts, a long-time enemy of humanity, with courtesy and respect.


    After greeting the leader of the Netherfrost Beasts, the Yang-Sovereign shifted his gaze across the stadium before him, then addressed the confused crowd.


    "For too long, humanity has been at war with both devils and beasts, throwing this world into chaos," the Yang-Sovereign said, his powerful voice reaching every inch of the stadium. "While there were good reasons for both humans and beasts to detest each other, that time has long since passed. The enemy, the true enemy of humanity, has always been the devils.


    As such, I have reached out to the beast race, specifically the Netherfrost Beasts, as a gesture of good faith, and have invited them to be my honored guests for the remainder of this tournament. I aim to put the enmity between beast and human in the past, so that our two groups may focus on the real enemy of this world. If my sect, the Sect of Yang, cane to an understanding, and perhaps even a friendship with the Beasts of Ice, of Yin, then so too can the rest of humanitye to an understanding with the beast race as a whole."


    The Yang-Sovereign''s words stunned the crowdpletely. It was one of the most unexpected things they had ever been part of in their lives. Every human had grown up considering both the devil race and beast race to be their mortal enemies. Wars had been fought between humans and beasts in the past, and blood was still shed on the Continent of War between the two groups whenever it opened.


    And yet, the Yang-Sovereign had revealed a newly formed alliance between the two powers, stunning everyone, including the other powerhouses of the human race.


    "Apologies for ourte arrival. We were dyed by a great storm over the ocean between our two continents. As for the matter at hand, my Netherfrost n epts this gesture of goodwill, and we look forward to our future cooperation," the leader of the Netherfrost beasts replied, its voice filling the stadium as well. Its inhuman voice was cold and crackling, almost like the sound of breaking ice.


    The Yang-Sovereign smiled, nodded, then waved his hand to the side, releasing a burst of Qi. A momentter, a formation red to life, and arge viewing tform next to his materialized, filled with ten thousand seats. The Yang-Sovereign gestured to the tform, at which point the Netherfrost Beasts flew up towards it and took their seats shortly afterwards.


    The Yang-Sovereign then instructed the Yang Elder to continue the tournament, which resumed shortly afterwards. The fights started again, although the focus of the crowd was almost entirely on the Netherfrost Beasts, as they were still unable to process everything that had just happened.


    "An alliance with the beast race?" the Mage-Sovereign asked, both eyebrows raised with surprise. "When were you going to tell us of this n?"


    "Now," the Yang-Sovereign replied, unbothered by everything that had just happened.


    "Creating an alliance without consulting either of us," the Sword-Saint said with great displeasure. "You alone cannot decide the future of the human race. We are an alliance. You do not speak for all of us."


    The Yang-Sovereign looked at the Sword-Saint, meeting his eyes.


    "Just test the alliance out for this tournament," the Yang-Sovereign said. "Talk to them, discuss future ns, mingle as much as you want. By the end of the tournament, I''m certain you will agree that an alliance between us and the beast race is the best course want. By the end of the tournament, I''m certain you will agree that an alliance between us and the beast race is the best course forward."


    The Sword-Saint met his eyes with a re, then sneered and looked away. After a while, the crowd finally came to ept the unexpected events, and focused on the tournament once more, their cheers, taunts, and roars of passion and excitement filling the stadium once more.

 Chapter 1055 Start of the Second Round

    Chapter 1055 Start of the Second Round


    The Yang-Sovereign felt questioning eyes on him, and looked to the side. The Prime Shadow was looking at him with a raised eyebrow, as if asking for this situation to be exined to him.


    The Yang-Sovereign chuckled at the questioning look, but didn''t say anything.


    "When did you n this¡­alliance?" the Prime Shadow asked curiously. Matters of alliances, truces, war and whatnot was the domain of the Three Dao Sects. His purpose, and the purpose of the Shadow of Death Guild was to operate in the shadows, dealing with the messes the Three Dao Sects made.


    Still, the Prime Shadow was surprised by this move, and wanted to know what the Yang-Sovereign was nning.


    "I reached out to the Netherfrost Beasts a decade ago, although they only recently epted my offering of a temporary truce," the Yang-Sovereign replied. "This isn''t a formal alliance, but is only something meant to test the possibility of a future alliance between men and beasts. I figured that if theplete opposites, Yang Humans and Yin Beasts can put aside differences and unite against the devils, that perhaps the rest of both races will follow as well."


    "I see," the Prime Shadow nodded, shifting his gaze back to the arena below.


    "My instincts gave me warning when I entered your sect the other week," the Prime Shadow said a few minutester, eyes still on the fight. "Although I wasn''t able to pinpoint why. Would you happen to know the reason?"


    "The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus," the Yang-Sovereign replied without pause.


    "Hmmm? What about it?"


    "It''s been growing stronger as ofte," the Yang-Sovereign answered. "It seems to be going through a maturing phase, evolving in an unknown way. I''m not sure why this is happening, but the lotus is growing in strength as it is doing so. You might have felt that, or might have felt the stronger spatial formations I had built to contain its growing strength."


    "I see," the Prime Shadow nodded, "that would exin the feelings I had. "And what of this Yang-Sphere? It feels different from thest time I was here."


    "As a matter of convenience, many of the Elder''s have started using this Yang-Sphere as their training grounds. We''ve strengthened some of the spatial formations surrounding the Yang-Sphere in order to amodate their strength, otherwise they could destroy the sphere entirely," the Yang-Sovereign exined.


    The Prime Shadow nodded his head, then focused on the fight below which wasing to an end.


    ¡­


    In the seemingly boundless training room, John and Zuri shed through the sky, battling against each other. Battle arts flew about, and explosions sted out in all directions, shaking the room with violent intensity.


    "What are you doing!" a loud, frustrated shout boomed out within the training room, startling both John and Zuri. They stopped what they were doing and looked over to the source of the voice standing in the far distance.


    Naelia, face red and sporting a pout, looked at both of them as if she were a parent scolding their unruly children.


    "What are we doing? We''re training," John replied calmly as he moved over towards Naelia, who was standing before the open entrance of the room.


    "That''s exactly what I''m talking about!" Naelia replied with a huff. "Your fight starts in eight minutes! Why are you still here?"


    "The first round is over already?" John replied, slightly surprised. He had bepletely focused on his training, and had lost track of time.


    "Already? It''s been six days since the tournament started!" Naelia replied.


    "We''ve been training for six days?" John said with surprise, then looked to Zuri who shrugged and gave him a look of equal surprise. While John had been focused on honing his newly created Arts, Zuri had been using this training session as an outlet to vent her anger and frustrations which had surfaced when John had revealed the identity of her fathers and siblings'' killer.


    Both had beenpletely lost in their thoughts, and both had clearly lost track of time. Still pouting, Naelia eyed John up and down as he arrived before her, her eyes going wide a momentter.


    "You¡­you''re injured, and exhausted! You should be resting before your fight, not wearing yourself down to the bone!" she eximed frantically. John''s body and robe was covered in dirt and some blood, making him look like he had just gotten out of a fearsome battle.


    "I''ll be fine," John said as he wiped his forearm on his face, cleaning some of the blood and grime away. While he was definitely not in his top form, it was still more than enough to deal with his next opponent.


    Unconcerned with the time remaining, John walked past Naelia and through the training room exit. With no time to clean himself, he left the room and made his way through the hallways to the stadium seating. Naelia and Zuri raced up behind him to catch up, just in time to watch John hop off the ledge towards the arena below.


    The crowd noticed his arrival and burst alight with loud conversations, many shocked and surprised to see John''s current condition. It was the first time that any of them had seen a tournament participant show up to their fight so tired and wounded.


    John ignored the looks andnded on the arena below, noticing his opponent for the first time. His opponent, most likely John''s age or a year older, was a muscr male wearing bright yellow robes, most likely from a Yang-Dao Subsect. Based on the strength of his opponent''s body, he figured his opponent was a body cultivator.


    The Yang-Dao Elder stood a short distance away, frowning at John''s appearance and almostte arrival, although he said nothing as John had broken no rules. The Elder then introduced both fighters to the crowd, with John''s opponent getting a much louder roar of cheers. After checking that both fighters were ready, the Elder started the fight.


    "The Second Round of the Dao Transformation Tournament, between John Fenix and Hranth of the Roaring Heart Sect¡­


    begins!"


    The roar of the crowd greatly intensified as John and his opponent looked at each other. His opponent had looked at John with wary caution, but upon noticing his condition, seemed to have gained some confidence. Their armbands linked, revealing the information of the other. Both cultivation stayed at the Middle Dao Transformation Realm, as his opponent had reached this realm when he was John''s age.


    "Hmph," his opponent scoffed. "You may be strong, but you are far too confident in your strength if you think you can show up to your battles like this without consequence."


    "Is that so¡­" John mused in an unconcerned manner, taking a step towards his opponent to quickly finish the fight.


    Boom!


    His opponent exploded with power, his aura surging high into the sky. John paused to look at him, wondering what his opponent would try to do.


    Boom!


    Another loud boom sounded out a momentter, followed by Hranth''s aura increasing in power once more.


    "You''vepletely underestimated me, and that will be your downfall!" Hranth said firmly.


    Boom!


    "My Roaring Heart Sects secret body strengthening art is tied to my heartbeats. Upon activating this art, each heartbeat strengthens my body significantly. At one hundred heartbeats, my strength reaches the level that can stand against those in the top fifty. You''ve chosen the wrong opponent to underestimate."


    Boom!


    expression.


    John paused and looked at his opponent with a bewildered expression.


    "Shocked by the power of this body art?" Hranth said with slight mockery.


    Boom!


    "It''s toote to do anything now. With my power increasing with every heartbeat, I''ll soon reach a level that you cannot hope to stand against in your current condition."


    John''s confused expression lingered for a short while, then he sighed and shook his head in disbelief.


    "I''m not shocked by your body art," he said, raising his head to look at his opponent again. "I''m shocked by the fact that you would reveal such an important part of your body art. Why would you ever tell your opponent such a thing? You could have drawn out the battle so you could reach your full strength, but why would I let that happen now knowing what I know?"


    "I¡­" Hranth said, slightly taken aback by John''sment. "Everyone knows what the Roaring Heart Sect''s body art does. Besides, just because you know doesn''t mean you can stop it."


    "Well, I didn''t know," John said, shaking his head once more. "But now that I do¡­"


    Hranth took a step back, ready to react to anything that John did. He needed to buy time to reach his full power, which was the main drawback of his body art. He paused a momentter, eyes going wide with surprise, as did the crowds, as they watched John sit down on the arena in a rxed manner, as if he weren''t in a fight at all.


    "Go ahead and power up fully," John said, yawning slightly from a mixture of boredom and fatigue. "I have some new battle arts I recently created. A durable body cultivator is the perfect target to practice them on. Take your time. I''ll wait."

 Chapter 1056 Roaring Heart Body Art

    Chapter 1056 Roaring Heart Body Art


    "What''s this! John Fenix has decided to sit down mid battle! What is he thinking!" a female voice sounded throughout the arena, voicing the thoughts of everyone in the crowd.


    John looked about, trying to find the source of the voice, but couldn''t pinpoint it. However, based on the loudness and rity of the voice, it was most certainly not someone from the crowd yelling out their thoughts. It was too clear, too official in its sound, as if it had been amplified by some sort of formation in order to be audible above all other noise in the arena.


    ''An announcer?'' he wondered. He had not heard the voice during his first fight, although his fight hadsted only a short moment before it was over.


    "He''s not taking any action at all! John Fenix is allowing his opponent, Hranth of the Roaring Heart Sect, to fully charge up his sect''s famous body battle art! The strength of the Roaring Heart Body Art is famed for its formidable power once fully charged. Is John overestimating his own strength, or perhaps underestimating his opponent!" the same female voice sounded out, full of excitement and passion.


    ''Most certainly an announcer,'' John thought, shifting his gaze back towards his opponent.


    His opponent''s surprised look shifted into wide smile, one of relief and joy. He didn''t attack or say anything to provoke John into attacking. Instead, he stood patiently a short distance away, dy taking this opportunity to charge up his body battle art.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The heartbeats grew louder, growing from a rather weak sound to something like a wardrum. The beats filled the arena with their power, as if it were the heartbeats of an ancient beast slowlying back to life.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    As the beats grew, so did Hranth''s aura. After seventy-five beats, it reached a level that far exceeded what a five-hundred ranker should be capable of, revealing that his im of being able topare against those in the top fifty might not be a false one.


    After eighty beats, a weapon suddenly materialized in Hranth''s right hand. John raised an eyebrow uponying eyes on the weapon, as it was truly unique.


    It was a hammer, with a shaft six feet long and three inches thick. The shaft was ck in color with yellow designs, depicting various battle-scenes of hammer wielding cultivators. At the end of the The crowd gasped at the sight of the weapon, which emanated a formidable, overbearing might, as if it were the king of hammers.


    shaft was the head of the hammer, which was the most eye-catching part of the weapon. The head of the hammer, a mixture of silver and blue, was six feet long, four feet wide, and four feet tall.


    The head alone wasrger than Hranth himself, making it look like it was a weapon meant for a giant, not a regr sized human. The crowd gasped at the sight of the weapon, which emanated a formidable, overbearing might, as if it were the king of hammers.


    As he took the weapon out, the ground trembled lightly beneath Hranth''s feet. An energy suddenly descended from above the arena,ing from a small orb hovering in the sky high above. The energy locked onto the weapon then vanished.


    ''What was that about?'' John wondered.


    "Wow! Hranth''s hammer, named Giant''s Heart, weighs a staggering six hundred thousand pounds! Incredible!" the announcer eximed, followed by a roar of the crowd.


    John looked at the weapon, then nodded his head approvingly.


    "A good weapon for a body cultivator," he said, to which Hranth sneered.


    "When I use my full power, each attack with Giant''s Heart is like a mountain is being mmed onto you," Hranth replied. "You may be strong, but if you don''t defend against this attack, I''m afraid I''ll be disqualified for killing you and spreading your guts all over the arena."


    John smiled at the taunt yet remained sitting. "How long is this going to take? One hundred heartbeats is a long time. This body art might have its uses, but in a true one on one fight to the death, this body art is as good as a fart in the wind."


    Hranth frowned, clearly upset that John had insulted his sect''s famous body art. A small smile reced his frown as he steadied his weapon to the side as if preparing to attack.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Boom!


    The heartbeats continued, as did the growing power emanating from Hranth. Ny-four heartbeats. Ny-five heartbeats. Ny-six. Ny-seven.


    Bang!


    The arena shook violently as Hranth pushed off the ground with his full power. His legs muscles bulged as he used his full physical strength to speed forward. With the distance between them being less than a hundred yards, that distance was closed instantly.


    His hammer was already above his head when he arrived in front of John. Hranth''s aura surged outwards like a wild beast, flooding the entire arena in his power. His body Qi flowed over his hammer, coating it with power and amplifying its might. His arm muscles bulged with trembling power as he swung the hammer downwards, mming it onto John who was still seated on the ground.


    BOOM!


    Hammer met flesh, and the world seemed to freeze for an instant before erupting into absolute chaos. The entire arena shook as if an earthquake was trying to rip it apart, while the arena around John was bathed in a cmitous st of physical as well as the remnant of the Qi that had coated the hammer.


    Hranth''s hammer glowed brightly like a star as he unleashed everything in the attack, holding nothing back. If he killed John, he could im it was an ident, and that John had done nothing to defend. While he would still be disqualified from the event, his punishment would not be that severe, and he would forever have the reputation of the one who felled the mysterious and viinous John Fenix.


    "You might be strong, but you are a fool to think you can withstand my full powered attack without defending against it," Hranth said with a sneer. "And as for moving on my ny-seventh heartbeat, well, let''s just say that fights are abination of both brawn and brain. Only an idiot would believe that I would wait until my one hundredth heartbeat to attack."


    The crowd recovered from the violent trembling of the arena, and burst into roaring cheers and apuse. Hranth basked in the sound, his hammer still held in his hand, unmoving since it had mmed against John. After enjoying the sound for a moment, he finally withdrew his power to assess the oue of his attack. He withdrew the blindingly bright Qi from his hammer, revealing the oue for all to see.


    Gasps of shock and disbelief sounded out as the oue was revealed. Hranth''s smile instantly vanished as if it had never existed. Then he stumbled backwards, as if he had seen the most shocking, most unbelievable thing. He even let go of his hammer, forgetting to keep it under his control.


    "You''re not going to need this?" John asked as he held the head of the hammer with his right arm that had been raised above his head. Trickles of blood ran down his arm, revealing he had taken some damage in that attack, but other than that, there was no visible damage at all.


    Instead, he still sat on the ground in his original position, only his right hand having moved. With its position and the head of the hammer being held back by his hand, it was obvious what had happened. He had blocked Hranth''s all-out attack with only his right arm.


    "W-w-wh-wha-wha-what just happened!" the announcer stammered out, her voice filled with pure disbelief. "With just one hand, John Fenix managed topletely stop a full powered attack from Hranth and his hammer, Giant''s Heart! Did he manage to use a battle art quickly without any of us noticing, or is his physical power truly this heaven-defying!?"


    As the crowd looked on with stunned disbelief, John slowly stood up, the head of Giant''s Heart still held up with his right hand as if its weight of six-hundred thousand pounds meant nothing to him. He juggled it up and down a few times, testing its weight, then nodded his head approvingly and threw the weapon back to Hranth.


    Bang!


    The weapon crashed on the arena before Hranth, its weight shaking the ground. The wide-eyed Hranth looked at the weapon, then back to John, mouth slightly agape.


    "Here''s your weapon back," John said as he rolled his shoulders as if to warm them up. "You''re going to need it for what''s toe."

 Chapter 1057 No Path To Victory

    Chapter 1057 No Path To Victory


    Hranth looked at his weapon at his feet, then back to John, eyes still wide. That weapon took much of his strength to wield, and yet his opponent had tossed it over to him like its weight of six hundred thousand pounds was a trifling matter.


    He picked it up a momentter, the weight manageable since his Roaring Heart Body Art was still active. His body surged with incredible power at the moment, which usually made him feel invincible when using its true might. At the moment, he felt only disbelief, and would have felt fear had this been a real battle to the death.


    "Good," John nodded, then burst alight with lightning.


    Hranths eyes went wide as John appeared before him like a ghost. John hadn''t used any fancy movement arts, and instead just used his physical power to speed towards his opponent. The arena trembled and a loud thunderp followed after as John punched forward with all his might.


    Hranth managed to raise his hammer shaft in time to partially deflect the blow, but was unable to fully guard against it. John''s fist mmed into Hranths shoulder, who flew backwards immediately after, unable to withstand the punch.


    Boom!


    Hranth mmed against the arena barrier formation after soaring through the sky. The formation red with powerful Qi, defending those on the other side. Hranth bounced off the barrier and fell to the ground,nding on his feet.


    He looked at John who was a dozen miles away, shaking slightly from the pain of that attack. Hranths heart beat rapidly, shocked by the sheer power of that simple punch. Had he not been a body cultivator, that punch would have ended the fight immediately.


    John stared at Hranth for a moment, a slight frown on his face as he looked at Hranths shoulder and saw some blood there. It was only a surface wound, and it was healing quickly, but the damage was visible.


    As he saw John''s frown, Hranth breathed a sigh of relief, mistaking John''s frown for disappointment in how little damage he caused. If that was the case, then he must have overestimated John''s strength due to how shocking his defense was.


    "Haha," Hranthughed nervously. "If that''s your strongest attack, then¡­"


    "My strongest attack?" John interrupted, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "Why would that be my strongest attack? I was merely testing out the durability of your body. It''s not bad, but I''m not sure if you can handle my actual attack without dying."


    "Your¡­actual attack?" Hranth said hesitantly, fear appearing on his face a momentter as he watched a weapon appear in John''s hand. He just now realized that John had yet to take out a weapon. He had been so shocked by the previous exchanges that he had failed to notice something so simple.


    "A weapon! John has taken out a weapon! This is the first time we''ve seen him use a real weapon!" The announcer eximed, making many in the crowd realize this truth for the first time.


    John had used ''weapons'' before, but those had not been weapons. This was truly the first time he had used an actual weapon, shocking all who finally realized this. A weapon easily doubled thebat strength of most cultivators, and yet he had gotten this far without even using one.


    John''s scythe, pitch ck and emanating a slight death aura, seemed to suck in the light around it. It caused many to hold their breath in instinctual fear, as the weapon''s aura itself was enough to kill the weaker members of the crowd.


    As for the stronger cultivators, they were surprised at something else; the scythe itself. John had shown himself to be a body cultivator, which excelled when using heavy weapons. A scythe was supposed to be light and nimble, the opposite of what a body cultivator wanted. While they questioned the type of weapon, they didn''t question the weapon itself. Just from a nce, they were able to tell the quality of the weapon, which was incredible.


    "Where did this boy get such a weapon?" The Mage-Sovereign looked at the Prime Shadow and asked. "Its quality is remarkable, and I''ve never heard of such a scythe existing in this world before."


    "It is truly a fine weapon," the Yang-Sovereign agreed, nodding in approval. "But it''s an odd match for a body cultivator such as him."


    While John has used some simple essence Qi abilities, none of them had been powerful enough to make anyone think he was a dual cultivator. As such, the weapon choice was truly odd.


    The Prime Shadow smiled and remained silent, focusing on John million pounds!" The announcer eximed, almost unable to believe the number. "And¡­John is holding the weapon with such casual below. The others would see the answer soon enough.


    John felt the same energy as before descend, only on his weapon this time as opposed to Hranths hammer. It vanished a momentter, immediately followed by the crowd and announcer roaring in unison.


    "One and a half million pounds! His scythe weights one and a half million pounds!" The announcer eximed, almost unable to believe the number. "And¡­John is holding the weapon with such casual ease. What is going on? Is he using his Qi to support the weight? Or perhaps some sort of gravity art?"


    While that is what many thought might be the truth, theck of Qi emanating from John revealed that it''s weight was almost entirely supported by his physical strength.


    John ignored the roaring crowd and rambling announcer. He rested his scythe on his shoulder as he looked at his opponent, who looked even more stunned than before.


    "Prepare yourself," John warned, taking his scythe off his shoulder and holding it slightly to the side and above his head. "You''ll die if you don''t defend with your full strength, and I''d rather not be disqualified."


    Thatment would normally cause Hranth to explode with rage at being looked down on in such an embarrassing way, but that was not his concern right now. Instead, it was the growing feeling of impending death.


    Bang!


    Lightning flickered into existence, flowing over John and the scythe itself. A profound spatial energy appeared a momentter, as did several profound Daos.


    Hranth went pale as John raised his scythe ever so slightly. His instincts were screaming, ''if that attack is unleashed, it''s over. It is not something I can defend against.''


    Scythe steadied, John waited patiently for his opponent to fully prepare himself. Hranth looked at John as if he were the incarnation of death, eyes wide, face pale. He remained like this for a moment, then¡­


    Bang!


    Hranths hammer smashed against the ground, falling from his grip. A look of haunting defeat appeared on Hranths face as his shoulders slumped and he fell to his knees. Even if he could defend against that attack, he would be near death''s door afterwards. The gap in their power was just too great.


    Against this monstrous opponent he was facing, there was no path to victory. The aura, the impending feeling of doom that scythe Art made him feel made that as clear as day.


    "I concede!"

 Chapter 1058 The Third Round Begins

    Chapter 1058 The Third Round Begins


    "I concede!"


    The words, tinged with desperation and despair, echoed throughout the arena. The roaring crowd quieted down, disappointed by the sudden concession. Whether they realized it or not, by now, most of the crowd was eagerly anticipating John''s fights. While most still rooted against him, they by now learned that his power was quite formidable at the very least, and they wanted to see what the true extent of his power was.


    However, Hranth''s concession ended the fight, and the opportunity to learn the truth about John''s limits. John slowly lowered his scythe, the lightning fading and his aura vanishing. Still covered in blood and grime from his training sessions with Zuri, he stood tall and poised, as if this battle was merely a steppingstone on his journey through this tournament.


    He studied Hranth for a moment, who looked at the ground in utter despair. He had hoped to bring pride to himself and his sect, but all he had brought was shame.


    "It''s not shameful to admit defeat when there is no hope of victory," John said. "Your instincts are sharp, and that you can be proud of. Do not let this defeat be a permanent cloud on your cultivation journey."


    After saying that, John took to the sky while the Yang-Dao Sect Elder announced his victory. All eyes followed him as hended by Zuri and Naelia, then disappeared within the nearby tunnel. He made his way back to the Prime Shadow''s room, and continued his training with Zuri.


    "How disappointing," the Mage-Sovereign said, her mouth curled into a small frown. "I was quite interested in seeing that scythe art of his. The aura alone was quite formidable."


    The Yang-Sovereign nodded his head in agreement but said nothing, remaining silent and stoic as usual.


    "As for that scythe of his, I''m still caught up in its quality and profundity," the Mage-Sovereign continued, looking at the Prime Shadow. "A weapon of such power and quality cannot just appear out of thin air, and I''ve heard no rumors or ims of its creation. Such a¡­peculiar oddity, don''t you think?"


    The Prime Shadow smiled but said nothing. The Mage-Sovereign studied him for a moment, then continued.


    "I heard a rumor the other month, about tws falling from the sky over the Human Continent about a year ago. One of thoseets has been confirmed," the Mage-Sovereign said, casting a quick nce to Lilian who sat a distance away near the Sword-Saint. "Since one of thoseets was confirmed to be her, it''s not unlikely that the other was another person. I wonder, just who could that person be? It''s surely not the youth from your Guild who showed up out of the blue, wielding a remarkable weapon of mysterious origins, could it?"


    "And if he is? Would that change anything" the Prime Shadow said, meeting his gaze.


    "Oh, not at all," the Mage-Sovereign waved her hand dismissively. "As long as his interests align with the rest of us, his origins do not matter. It''s just a shame¡­"


    "A shame?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    "A shame that he was found by you first," the Mage-Sovereign sighed. "It would have been quite lucrative for my sect if he had joined us instead."


    "Is it that, or is it the fact that you have a¡­unique taste for younger men?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    The Mage-Sovereign looked at him with an even expression, then smiled coyly. "I can''t help it that young, strong, talented men are the most¡­pleasurable to enjoy. And I can tell that your¡­sessor¡­


    would be more enjoyable than any I''ve tasted before."


    "You should really learn the meaning of modesty," the Yang-Sovereign said while giving the Mage-Sovereign a pointed nce. She smiled and him and then shrugged, returning her focus to the arena for the next fight about to start.


    The crowd roared with wild passion as Ji''Han floated down from the tform to the arena, ready for the next fight.


    ¡­


    In the Shadows of Death guild library, Grandmaster Darkcloud sat at a table, pursuing various documents on the table before him. He held a thick book in his hands, titled ''History and ounts of The Sword-Dao Sect.''


    He flipped to a section of the book, titled ''History and ounts of Azurae, the Crimson Swordmaster'', then began reading.


    "The Skyfire Empire huh?" he mused to himself.


    After reading the section on Azurae, he closed the book and returned it to its original location, then strode out of the library.


    "I''ve learned of the location of Azurae''s birthce. I am making my way there to look for any clues into this matter," Grandmaster Darkcloud sent to the Prime Shadow through a sound transmission, then stepped on a transformation tform, vanishing a momentter.


    ¡­


    "Heyyyyyy!" a loud, youthful voice boomed throughout the training room, causing John and Zuri to pause their battle midway.


    Both moved over towards Naelia, who stood next to the training room door. John wiped his face with a towel, removing some of the blood, sweat and grime on his body. "Is it time for the next fight already?" John asked.


    "Already? It''s been three days since youst fought," Naelia replied, eyeing him up and down with a disapproving pout. "And I knew it. I knew you would be in the same condition asst time. Don''t you have any pride in your appearance?"


    John gaze Zuri an amused nce, as if to say he was surprised and impressed by Naelia''s growing confidence in dealing with him.


    "Anyways, I figured this would happen, so I arrived an hour early this time," Naelia continued.


    "An hour early?" John asked.


    An hourter, John left the washroom, fully washed and rxed. He wore a fresh robe, one ck in color with red trimmings. Naelia "Yes, so go clean up and make yourself presentable for the next fight," Naelia said in amanding fashion, causing John to exchange another amused nce with Zuri and chuckle. He then nodded, thanked Naelia for her concern, patted her on the head, and walked past.


    An hourter, John left the washroom, fully washed and rxed. He wore a fresh robe, one ck in color with red trimmings. Naelia eyed him up and down, then nodded with approval, satisfied with his appearance.


    "Good, let''s go," she said, then turned, leaving no time for John or Zuri to reply.


    They shared another amused nce, then followed behind. The roaring of the arena washed over them as they appeared on the same balcony as before, some seven miles up one side of the arena stands. Ten million plus cultivators came into view, most of them rowdy with excitement. It was truly an electrifying feeling to be standing, fighting, in front of such a crowd.


    Without pause, John hopped off the ledge and flew down towards the arena, where his opponent was standing. Naelia raised an eyebrow as she saw a girl barely older than her standing on the arena, then went wide eyed with sudden realization.


    "Oh no!" Naelia eximed nervously.


    "What is it?" Zuri asked curiously.


    "His opponent! It''s Rafinia of the Mage-Dao Sect!" Naelia eximed.


    "So? What about her?" Zuri asked. She was not as well versed with the tournament and the entrants as Naelia was.


    "She''s trouble! Damn. I should have told John about her before he left!" Naelia cursed angrily at herself.


    "He''ll be fine!" Zuri patted Naelia on the shoulder.


    "You don''t understand," Naelia shook her head. "Rafinia isn''t like the others. She''s a soul cultivator, and an extremely tricky one at that. If shends her soul art on John, I don''t know if he''ll be able to withstand it."

 Chapter 1059 Rafinia of the Mage Dao Sect

    Chapter 1059 Rafinia of the Mage Dao Sect


    Johnnded on the middle of the arena where the Yang-Dao Elder and his opponent already stood. The Yang-Dao Elder nodded his head approvingly upon seeing John''s presentable appearance, clearly satisfied that he had cleaned himself up this time to match the prestigious image of the tournament itself.


    John ignored the Elder, instead looking at his opponent with one eyebrow raised. His opponent, who stood fifty yards away, was a young girl who seemed to be even younger than he was. She appeared to be fifteen or sixteen, although John was sure she was a few years older than that.


    She was quite short, her head onlying up to his chest, and looked more like a child than a young woman. She had long brown hair tied into twin ponytails behind her head, andrge hazel eyes. Her face, still round with youth, was quite cute in a sisterly sort of way. She wore a beautiful dress of light purple with blue trimmings, with gems embroidered into the sleeves and skirt of the dress.


    She held a long staff in her hands, one that almost seemed too big for her to wield. The staff was brown in color, and was clearly made from some sort of profound, high-quality wood. Arge purple crystal was embedded on the end of the staff, matching her dress.


    She stood there awkwardly, like a child who was lost in a situation well over her head. Her knees trembled slightly, and she had a slightly nervous expression on her face as she watched John arrive, as if she had seen the arrival of a terrifying beast. She even jumped slightly as hended on the arena, then calmed down a momentter.


    John raised an eyebrow, surprised that his opponent was so¡­


    skittish. This was a tournament of pinnacle geniuses, most of them battle hardened and formidable. This girl was theplete opposite of that.


    Curious, John sent out his divine sense to link with the girl''s armband. Information appeared in his mind a momentter.


    Name: Rafinia


    Sect: Mage Dao Sect


    Age: Eighteen


    Cultivation: Middle Dao Transformation


    Qi Quantity: 90


    Qi Quality: 93


    Health: 26


    Durability: 24


    Stamina: 82


    Comprehensions: 97


    Instincts: 78


    Willpower: 82


    Soul Talent: 97


    Speed/Movement Arts: 86


    Battle Arts: 92


    Attack Power: 82


    Rank: 256


    It wasn''t surprising to run into a disciple of the Mage Dao Sect. From this point on, most of the remaining cultivators would be from one of the Three Dao Sects, as each had sent about one hundred cultivators to this tournament, and most of them had made it this far with only a few exceptions.


    ''Eighteen and Middle Dao Transformation?'' John instantly noticed. That cultivation speed was prodigious, even amongst the rest of these geniuses. Only peak cultivators like Ji''Han and Jaxus could im to be on the same level as her, which impressed John greatly.


    Even more impressive was her soul talent, which was even higher than John''s. While the soul talent metric was a wed one from John''s perspective, he couldn''t help but be impressed by her stats.


    ''If her health and durability wasn''t so low, she would have had a much better ranking than this.''


    The girl looked at him nervously, then jumped slightly as the Elder asked her if she was ready. She nodded her head hesitantly, then looked back to John. Her staff trembled in her hand as John confirmed he was ready.


    "Begin!"


    The Elder announced to a roaring crowd. John took a step forward, unsure of how he was going to deal with this girl. Her health and durability were so low that he had to be careful not to kill her from a casual attack of his, so he needed to be more careful in this battle.


    As the battle began, John felt the energy of his armband restrict his cultivation, lowering it to the Early Dao Transformation Realm. At the same time, he felt the energy wash over his soul, almost as if attacking it. He needed to use a portion of his soul to defend against it, which acted as a way to reduce his soul output in battle as well, restricting its output to the Early Dao Transformation level as well.


    "Wait!" Rafinia hastily said, her voice trembling. John stopped and looked at her curiously, wondering what she was going to say.


    "I¡­I know I''m not a match for you," Rafinia said, her voice unsteady. "But I can''t surrender without at least attacking once."


    "So, you wish for me to withstand one of your attacks, at which point you''ll surrender?" John filled in the nks, to which Rafinia nodded meekly.


    He fell silent for a while, studying his skittish opponent. She averted her gaze as the two locked eyes. John''s gaze narrowed ever so slightly for an instant before returning to normal, then he scoffed and nodded.


    "Alright, one attack," he confirmed.


    "T¡­thank you," Rafinia replied timidly, then pointed her staff towards John. "Please defend yourself."


    Johnughed lightly at her words of caution, then folded his arms across his chest as he waited for her to attack. The roaring of the crowd seemed to change slightly as John agreed to Rafinia''s demands, with moreughter and snickering drifting about.


    Rafinia''s aura exploded outwards as she prepared to unleash her attack. John studied her aura then nodded approvingly, as it was truly impressive for one her age. It was beyond obvious that Rafinia was a prodigious genius near the level of Ji''Han and Jaxus, with only some ws in her cultivation holding her back.


    Rafinia''s aura continued to climb as she channeled her attack.


    ''A mage, huh?'' John raised an eyebrow. Rafinia''s attack was clearly a channeled one, one she would not be able to get out in normal battle. Her aura and the profundity of the channeled attack continued to rise in power, quickly reaching a level that impressed John.


    The crowd held its breath with anticipation as Rafinia seemed to reach her limit, then¡­


    Boom!


    An explosive attack, deep purple in color sted out of her staff, piercing towards John. It was like a star had exploded and funneled its attack in one direction, monstrous in its power. John smiled and braced himself, pushing his body limiters to the maximum.


    With his cultivation a minor realm lower than Rafinia''s, he needed to fortify his body more than his previous battles. However, the attack was not on the level that it needed his Dragon-God Shift to defend against, surprising him slightly. While the channeled attack was powerful, it wasn''t as powerful as it should have been.


    Boom!


    The attack sted onto him, drowning him in its power. John disappeared within the torrential beam of purple Qi, whichsted for a short while before vanishing. The fading attack revealed John still standing on his feet where he had originally been, with only minor damage on his face and arms.


    That damage quickly healed, showing he had not taken any significant damage from the attack. He stood still, eyes staring forward into the distance.


    "Oh no," Naelia said, hands cupped to her mouth.


    "What is it?" Zuri asked.


    "He''s been caught in her soul art. He fell for her trick!"


    "Her trick?" Zuri asked curiously.


    "Rafinia did the same during the Heaven Tribtion tournament three years ago. She acted all cute and innocent tond an attack like this, and then unleashed that battle art. But that battle art is only a trick. Her true attack, her soul attack, is hidden within the battle art. Her trickery allowed her to get all the way into the top fiftyst tournament before her ruse became well known, and no one would fall for it anymore¡­.no one but John, who knows nothing of this tournament."


    "Hahahahaha!" maniacalughter boomed out within the arena as Rafinia pointed at John. Her timid and cute demeanor was no more, and instead a crazy, wide-eyed look appeared on her face as if she was apletely different person. "You men are all the same. You see a cute girl and you lose your minds. What kind of idiot would allow their opponent tond an attack for free!"


    She slowly walked up towards John, who didn''t react at all as she arrived before him. She looked up at him with a wide smile, then poked him in the head with the base of her staff, to which he didn''t react at all.


    "Idiot! Now that you''ve been caught in my soul art, you''ll suffer a thousand deaths and a million miseries before your mind breaks. You have already lost, and you don''t even know it yet!"

 Chapter 1060 Eternal Soulbind Art

    Chapter 1060 Eternal Soulbind Art


    "Your sessor has fallen into Rafinia''s soul art," the Mage Sovereign said to the Prime Shadow. She had a small smile on her face and was clearly enjoying this development. "Your sessor may be strong, but he overestimated himself by allowing Rafinia tond this attack for free. Had he fought all out from the start he would have no doubt won, but now that things have gone this way, I''m afraid your sessor is in quite the bind."


    The Prime Shadow looked at her, then simply smiled. It was a carefree smile, one that had no doubt or worry. The Mage Sovereign frowned, then looked back to the arena, as did the Prime Shadow.


    The roaring of the crowd intensified as Rafinia continued to taunt John. He waspletely stationary, his gaze distant, the hallmark signs of being trapped in a soul art.


    "Rafinia has sessfullynded her Eternal Soulbind Art! It''s the first time we''ve seen it used since the previous Dao Tournament three years ago!" the announcer eximed, her tone a mixture of excitement and shock. "Once this art has sessfullynded, no opponent has ever managed to break free from its grasp. And to make matters even worse, John''s soul has been restricted to be a minor realm lower than Rafinia. Is there any hope for his escape?"


    Without many realizing, John had be a monstrous powerhouse in the eyes of everyone watching, his limits still unclear. For him to be bound in this illusion art, and potentially lose this way, was quite anticlimactic.


    Rafinia smiled radiantly as she heard the crowd cheer and the announcer talk about her. Her previous demeanor was aplete ruse. Her true personality was that of a sadist that loved attention. She mmed the base of her staff into John''s forehead again, much 07:36


    more forceful this time.


    She mmed the base of her staff into John''s forehead again, much more forceful this time.


    "Tch," she clicked her tongue, noticing no damage had appeared on John''s unprotected forehead at all. "Just how thick is that skin of yours, you brawny beast?"


    "Just try not to gopletely insane. I''d rather not get disqualified from the tournament¡­Hmm, on second thought, that might be worth it," Rafinia said. "Your smug attitude, as if you''re better than everyone else, has really pissed me off."


    A soft snicker escaped John''s lips, soft enough that it was easy to dismiss as a sound from the crowd. Rafinia frowned and looked at his face, studying it carefully. Her eyes narrowed for a moment, then she rxed, thinking she misheard the sound.


    "Right now, you''re trapped in an illusion where you live countless lives, lives that all end in miserable tragedy. This cycle continues endlessly until your mind can no longer withstand the pain, and it breaks downpletely. The longer you resist, the greater the lingering damage," she continued, thenughed at herself a momentter.


    "I don''t know why I''m even telling you this. You''re caught in my illusion. You can''t hear a single word I''m saying," Rafinia sneered.


    "No, I can hear you just fine."


    Rafinia''s eyes and mouth snapped wide open as she looked at John and noticed his gaze was no longer distant and unfocused, but was focused on her.


    "You¡­.how¡­!?" Rafinia eximed, taking a few steps backwards. "You were trapped. I know you were!"


    "You''re right," John said calmly, his full focus returning to the real world. "I was trapped, although only partly."


    "What?" Rafinia said withplete confusion. "How is that possible?"


    "Come on," John scoffed. "You didn''t expect that childish ruse of yours to actually work, did you? You might fool others with that ruse, but not me. I detected your malicious intent, bordering on killing intent, when I agreed to withstand one of your attacks. Because of that, I was able to fully prepare myself for your attack, which based on your soul talent score was obviously going to be a soul art of some sorts. If you''re going to try to trick an enemy like this, you need to hide your malicious intent better."


    "Wha¡­but¡­you were caught in the illusion! Even if you knew it wasing, you were still trapped! How did you escape? Its impossible for you to have escaped!" Rafinia said, her voice bing loud and panicked.


    "I was caught in your illusion because I allowed myself to be caught in it," John said, taking a step towards her. "I wanted to see what type of soul arts the Mage Dao Sect uses, and to be perfectly honest, I''m rather disappointed. I''ve seen far more profound illusory arts before, and from someone even younger than you. Breaking free of your soul art was easier than farting into the wind."


    "Im¡­impossible!" Rafinia eximed, teeth gritted. "You must have used a trick of some sorts. And even if you did manage to escape with your own power, there''s no way you didn''t drain nearly all of your soul power to do so. You''re merely acting calm and rxed to trick me into thinking you can easily withstand my soul arts."


    John raised an eyebrow in amusement at her assessment of the situation, but gave no reply. His silence only enraged Rafinia even more.


    "I know I''m right! Not only is your soul at a lower realm than mine, but your soul talent score is also less than mine. There''s no way you are able to withstand my soul art with such ease," she raged, her voice angered, and almost maniacal. Clearly she had taken a great mental blow when John broke free of her soul art, which was the first time such a thing had ever happened to her.


    "I will admit it took quite a bit of soul power to break free of your illusion. In that regard, you have my respect, as the profundity of your soul art is quite amazing. But the soul talent scores?" John said, then shook his head disapprovingly. "cing your trust in those scores is quite idiotic, especially for the soul talent score. There''s only a single score for one''s soul, which means defense, offense, soul arts and more are contained in that one score."


    "So?" Rafinia replied, her guard raised.


    "So? It means that there''s far too much variability in what that score truly means," John replied calmly. "Tell me, if you were to take that illusory soul test and only have your soul defense be your soul talent score, what would it be?"


    "I¡­I don''t know," Rafinia replied, clearly having never thought of that question. However, it was certain that her score would be much lower if it didn''t include things like her soul power, her Eternal Soulbinding Art, and whatever else went into it.


    "Well, for me, I don''t know a single soul art. I don''t even know a single soul defense art, if such a thing exists. Your score might be ny-seven to my ny-five, but my ny-five consists solely of my natural soul power and soul defenses. That''s why I''m saying that score is beyond wed."


    "Impossible!" Rafinia eximed, almost yelling. "No one can score ny five on soul quality alone!"


    "Is that so?" John smirked. "Then allow me to make the impossible, possible!"


    A momentter, John pushed his soul power to the limit, bathing the entire arena with its formidable might. Rafinia''s eyes went wide with shock, as did everyone else in the audience, as they felt a soul power unlike any they had felt before. It wasn''t the profundity of it, or theplexity of the soul power. It was the sheer density and quality of soul power that they had never felt from someone in the Dao Transformation Realm.


    The soul power flowing from John was so thick, so overwhelming in its quality that everyone felt as though they were being drowned by it, as if it were an ocean they couldn''t escape. Even Rafinia couldn''t help but cower before it, her mindpletely unable to grasp how one''s soul could be so formidable.


    She recalled the words she had said to him earlier, that even if he had escaped, his soul power would be almost fully drained. With the soul power washing over her, she knew her im had beenpletely false.


    sh!


    A sh of lightning flickered in the arena and then vanished. The crowd gasped as they noticed John had appeared before Rafinia, whose neck was now held in his hand. John lifted her off the ground and brought her eye to eye. Rafinia''s eyes went wide with fear as she struggled against his grip, but didn''t even manage to budge it a little bit. Her fear intensified as she noticed the smile on John''s face, a smile that lookedpletely devilish to her.


    "I conc-"


    John''s other hand suddenly pressed against her mouth, stopping her from being able to concede. Rafinia''s eyes widened with horror as her body became bound with lightning chains, restricting her movementpletely.


    John released his grip from her neck, then reached up and ced the palm of his hand on her forehead.


    "Now, I might not know any soul arts, but I''m sure I can manage to do something. Your soul art tried to break my mind with misery and torment to the point of despair. Let''s see if I can do the same to you," he said as his ring soul power was sucked back into his body like a whirlpool, then flowed through his hand directly into Rafinia''s head, enveloping her soul like a vice-grip. "


    HIs soul power pierced forward like a spear towards her soul, which red with power to defend against it. A battle between souls took ce for a short time before Rafinia finally ran out of soul power, unable to win a battle of attrition against a monster like John.


    Careful not to pierce too deep and cause irreparable damage, John instead created a link between his soul and hers. Rafinia immediately felt her mind be pained beyondpare as a sinister aura, so hellish and malevolent she was unable to believe it existed in the first ce, flowed into her mind. She felt as though she had been plunged into the depths of a nightmarish hell. She felt as though her soul was about to copse from the pain she felt.


    Her cries of pain and agony filled the arena, while the horrified crowd watched on in stunned silence.

 Chapter 1061 Anguished Retribution

    Chapter 1061 Anguished Retribution


    Rafinia''s eyes were open as wide as possible, looking upwards towards the sky. However, she was not looking at anything in the real world. Instead, her mind and soul were trapped elsewhere, drowning in the aura from the sinister gate.


    Even John had nearly be overwhelmed when first experiencing the sinister gates aura, and had onlye to withstand it by building up a tolerance over time. Cultivating before the gate was now a boon to him, fortifying his will, strengthening his soul, although he still felt excruciating anguish every time he did so.


    As for someone like Rafinia, who had no tolerance to the aura at all, and whose will was rather average, it was a nightmarish aura she had no hope ofprehending or withstanding. In fact, the only reason John had used this method was because Rafinia''s soul was incredibly powerful, and would be able to withstand the aura without copsing.


    For those with weaker souls, they would have most likely perished already, their souls overwhelmed by the malevolent aura, breaking and shattering apart into a million splintered pieces.


    Rafinia''s screams echoed through the arena, ceaseless and shrill. The crowd grimaced from the sound, some shivering from the sheer terror, agony, and horror contained within Rafinia''s screams. It was as if she was suffering the worst anguish imaginable.


    "Your opponent is no longer able to fight back," the Yang-Dao Elder said from a short distance away. "Release her. This battle is over."


    "She has yet to surrender or be unable to fight," John replied calmly, not even sparing the Elder a nce. "If she''s strong enough, she can still break out of this nightmare and resume fighting."


    While that was true, it was obvious to everyone that Rafinia''s fate was sealed. Her face twisted and contorted in agony, and her screams were even more terrifying.


    "Release her," the Yang-Dao Eldermanded, frowning with displeasure at being ignored by a Dao Transformation youth.


    Johnpletely ignored the Elder, as he had broken no rules at all. If the Elder wanted to stop him he could, but until then, he would continue to hold Rafinia''s soul in his hand.


    Atop the exclusive viewing tform, the powerhouses of the world looked down with various expressions. The Sword-Saint sneered with disgust, then turned to the Yang-Sovereign and the others, making sure to fix his gaze on the Prime Shadow the longest.


    "See, this boy is nothing but a barbaric brute. He''s no better than a Devil."


    To his side, Ji''Han looked down at John with a nk expression, his thoughts impossible to read. He shifted his gaze to his left, locking eyes with Lilian who felt his gaze fall upon her. Both said nothing, but a small smile on Lilian''s lips expressed her feelings on this matter.


    It was as if she was saying to Ji''Han, ''this is what will happen to any who be John''s enemy.'' It was the same warning she had given him weeks ago, warning him not to push John too far. This fight of his was proof of her previous warning.


    Ji''Han calmly returned his eyes to the arena below, unconcerned about Lilian''s silent warning. Nearby, the Mage Sovereign''s expression grew colder by the second, her narrowed eyes locked onto John. She turned her gaze to the Prime Shadow, who didn''t turn to meet her eyes, as if it wasn''t worth the effort.


    "Rafinia is one of my most promising geniuses," the Mage-Sovereign said, her voice slightly cold. Had it been anyone else, she would have most likely had an even colder, more threatening tone. "If your sessor permanently harms her with these actions of his, I¡­"


    The Mage-Sovereign''s words cut off immediately as the Prime Shadow finally looked towards her. His expression was calm, so calm that it was unnerving. The Mage-Sovereign felt as though she was being stared at by a god who didn''t even consider her in his eyes.


    "If he harms her, you''ll do what, exactly?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    The Mage-Sovereign''s expression changed several times, from anger, to uncertainty, to everything in between. She didn''t reply, and instead stood up from her seat and walked towards the edge of the tform.


    "I''ll allow you to stop this fight," the Prime Shadow said. "But just remember. If any harm befalls John now or in the future by your hand or those who serve you, the Mage-Dao Sect will cease to exist from that day on."


    The Mage-Sovereign paused for several seconds, then vanished.


    sh!


    A figure appeared next to John like a ghost, her arrival so fast that John didn''t even notice her appear until she was already there. John spotted her out of the corner of his eye some ten feet away, but didn''t bother to avert his gaze. Rafinia was still held off the ground, her neck in his right hand, his left palm ced on her forehead. The Mage-Sovereign frowned as John continued to torment her disciple, unconcerned of her arrival. From up close, Rafinia''s screams were even more gruesome, igniting the Mage-Sovereigns rage. On top of that, she was able to feel the aura John was pouring into Rafinia''s soul, shocking and enraging her further. She had no idea how John was able to control and unleash such a hellish aura, but knew it would cripple Rafinia permanently if it went on too long.


    She kept that rage in check, as the consequences of unleashing it was not something she was able to withstand.


    "Release Rafinia," the Mage-Sovereign said as calmly as she could, but not without a tinge of anger.


    "The battle isn''t over," John replied, not even sparing the Mage-Sovereign a single nce.


    "The battle is over because I say its over," the Mage-Sovereign said, more forceful this time as if there was no room for debate.


    "You were fine with Rafinia using her Eternal Soulbind Art, which causes the one trapped in the illusion to suffer a thousand deaths and a million sufferings, and yet you draw the line here? Quite hypocritical, wouldn''t you say?" John replied, finally shifting his gaze to meet the Mage-Sovereigns.


    "Hypocrisy or not, I can draw this line because I am stronger than you," the Mage-Sovereign replied coldly. "Besides, the torment Rafinia is suffering right now is far greater than any sufferings her soul art caused others. I will not ask again. Release her."


    John met her gaze with unflinching resolve. When he set his mind to get retribution, to get revenge, he cared not for anything else. The two stared daggers at each other for a short while before a sound transmission appeared in his mind.


    "Release her John," the Prime Shadow said. "You have won, and you have had your retribution. The Mage-Sovereign and I have a rather decent rtionship after all."


    John released Rafinia''s neck. She slumped to towards the ground, her mind still trapped in that nightmarish hell. Even without the aura assaulting her soul, she would be trapped in that nightmare for quite some time before breaking free of it.


    The Mage-Sovereign waved her hand, catching Rafinia with her Qi before she hit the ground. She inspected Rafinia, then shot John onest re.


    "Be careful, boy," she said. "You may have protection now, but should that protection ever vanish, you will find yourself in a world surrounded by nothing but enemies. You should tread carefully, and make sure to not turn allies into enemies."


    John smiled at her thinly veiled threat.


    "If that time ever doese to pass, by then, this world will no longer be in my eyes, let alone a threat to me," John replied, still smiling lightly. "But I thank you for your concern."


    The Mage-Dao Sovereign narrowed her eyes, then vanished. Silence filled the arena for some time before the Yang-Dao Sect Elder spoke, his voice filled with displeasure.


    "The Victor¡­by forfeit¡­John Fenix."

 Chapter 1062 Top Sixteen

    Chapter 1062 Top Sixteen


    John soared through the sky towards Naelia and Zuri, then disappeared into the tunnel with the two of them. There were no cheers, no taunts, no boos. The crowd was mostly silent, still processing the gruesome scene they were witnesses to. Rafinia''s horrified screams still echoed freshly in their minds, a terrible sound most of them would remember for a long time.


    As before, John returned to his training room to continue to hone his newly created battle and movement arts. The round of two hundred and fifty-six took several days to finish, with very few surprises and upsets.


    The round of one hundred and twenty-eight then started, with John''s opponent being the number one genius of the Saber Dao Sect. Their fight was shy and eye-catching, although John quickly made work of his opponent, winning in several minutes.


    Compared to the prodigy that Rafinia was, his next three opponents were rather average inparison. They were powerful in their own right, but none of them managed to push John to the extent of needing his Dragon-God Shift, let alone his Immortal Asura Transformation. Rafinia, with her prodigious soul talent, was the only one who managed to make John have to try at all.


    The round of sixty-four was against another Mage-Dao Sect cultivator, Vayenra, who was older and far more mature than Rafinia. Unlike Rafinia, Vayenra did not try to trick John or even fight. She was a Mage Cultivator as were most in the Mage Dao Sect, and so her true strength was in channeled arts. These arts were incredibly powerful inrge scalebats, but were quite useless in one-on-one fights.


    Against her previous opponents, Vayenra was able to buy enough time through stalling arts to channel her abilities, but against someone like John, she knew that was impossible. He could not be overwhelmed through his soul, and his body was far too powerful someone like John, she knew that was impossible. He could not be overwhelmed through his soul, and his body was far too powerful and durable to be stalled in any sort of way.


    Instead of fighting, she opted to talk to him for some time, much to the crowd''s disappointment. She disyed quite a bit of curiosity towards John, like a schr studying a wild beast never before seen. She asked about his upbringing, his body type and soul peculiarities, and other things pertaining to him.


    Naturally, John didn''t answer most of her questions, much to her disappointment. After asking all the questions she wanted to ask, Veyenra surprisingly conceded, again to the crowd''s disappointment.


    As such, the fight that was supposed to be the hardest thus far turned out to be the easiest,nding him in the top thirty two with little to no struggle thus far. Top thirty two was considered a dividing point, separating the true geniuses from the false ones. None who made it this far were weak.


    Unfortunately for John''s opponent, the matchup was a particrly poor one. It was a soul cultivator from the Mage Dao Sect. His opponent, Leeran, was considered the number two soul cultivator still standing in the tournament.


    His signature soul art, Soulbody Severing, was a soul art focused on severing, or at the very least, interrupting the connection between the body and soul. It was particrly terrifying soul art, as it was able to focus on the lesser of the two of his opponents. For an enemy with a strong soul but a weak body, the art could focus on the body''s connection to the soul, making movements sluggish and even stopping someonepletely.


    As for an opponent with a strong body but weak soul, the art focused on the soul, directly overwhelming it with a forceful soul attack. It was a profound art that many dreaded to face, but unfortunately for Leeran, his opponent was someone with no weaknesses.


    After realizing that his art was not able to affect either soul or body to any extent that would inhibit John''sbat prowess, Leeran conceded, opting not to follow Rafinia and suffer the same, miserable fate. As such, over the course of the next week, John swiftly made his way into the top sixteen, a feat that cemented his status as one of the pinnacle geniuses of the world.


    Most interesting of all, and also frustrating for the crowd, was that John had yet to show his full strength, as his previous two battles had mostly been over before they started, with his opponents conceding before a true battle broke out.


    With the round of sixteen starting the next day, the most popr topic of discussion was naturally about John and Ji''Han. Neither of the first and second rankers had shown their full strength yet, and neither had made any public statement about the others. That led all assumptions to be pure spections, with countless guesses and bets being ced on the assumed victor.


    Unexpectedly, the overwhelming favorite was still Ji''Han. With John not having shown anything to prove he could stand even with Ji''Han, and with his viin status increasing after his actions against Rafinia, the debate of John versus Ji''Han was quickly bing one of viin versus hero, unknown outsider vs prodigal son.


    ¡­


    The next day, the Round of Sixteen ceremony took ce. The ceremony was a tradition spanning hundreds of thousands of years, where the final sixteen participants were brought back onto the arena to thunderous apuse, each then given an metallic emblem signifying their status as Tier One Geniuses.


    Standing on the arena with the other geniuses near him and tens of millions of eyes looking at him, John felt a sense of mncholy when epting his metallic emblem. He traced the edge of the circr emblem with his finger, feeling the intricate designs of the Three Dao Sects carved into the surface. This emblem, one gifted only to Tier One Geniuses, was what Furi had hoped John would be able to im, as well as the Holy Transcendence Pill afterwards.


    Unlike the others, when John epted his emblem, he was not met with apuse, but instead a mixture of both taunts and apuse, with the overwhelming favorite being the first. He ignored those taunts, having bepletely used to them. He didn''t care about being liked or loved. About being showered with praise and adtion. He only cared about his strength, and of the safety of those near to him.


    If obtaining those two things meant turning the whole world against him, that was a price he was more than happy to pay.


    John remained silent for most of the ceremony, his mind focused with other, more important thoughts. His discussions with the Prime Shadow about his findings regarding Azurae and the movements in the shadows that were slowly being uncovered. Compared to these things, the tournament itself was more like a child''s ything.


    The Vice-Sect Leader of the Yang-Dao Sect, an Early Holy Manifestation male cultivator, led the ceremony processions. His voice was a drowned-out noise to John, who only half paid attention to it. After a long rambling from the Vice-Sect Leader, the man finally said something that snapped John out of his deep thoughts.


    "And now, for the list of this tournament''s Three Dao Heavenly Treasures List," the Vice-Sect Leader said, followed by a burst of cheering and apuse from the crowd.


    ''Three Dao Heavenly Treasures List?'' John thought. ''I wonder if that''s the list that contains the Holy Transcendence Pill?''


    His question was soon answered as the Vice-Sect Leader waved his hand, followed by a massive screen of light forming over the arena. The screen was like a translucent page of information floating over the arena, its t side facing directly down on the arena below so all who looked up could read it.


    The formation screen was a dozen miles long and wide, allowing for all to read it regardless of their position in the arena. John looked up towards the screen above, and quickly read through its contents. He quickly spotted the Holy Transcendence Pill on the list, confirming his suspicions, then read through the rest of the list.


    His heart started speeding up as he read the list of items to im based on performance. Pills, weapons, cultivation treasures, natural treasures and more were options, each more amazing than thest. Upon getting to the end of the list, his eyes locked onto thest one and its small description beneath, filling him with a level of desire he had not felt in a very long time. He read thatst potential reward over and over, as well as the brief description beneath exining what it was.


    The Ancient Blessings of the Three Daos! A reward given only to the one who ces first in Dao Transformation Tournament. An ancient formation construct where one could raise their cultivation several minor realms in the span of a week.

 Chapter 1063 Araxus

    Chapter 1063 Araxus


    A roar louder than any John had heard thus far sted out within the arena, one filled with surprise and shock. John looked towards part of the crowd and noticed looks of pure shock on the faces of many, then shifted his gaze towards the other fifteen Dao Transformation participants.


    Each had a look of envy on their face, although some hid it better than others. Ji''Han was the most stoic of all, although his clenched fist betrayed his otherwise calm demeanor. If this was something that even Ji''Han would show excitement, then it was most likely even better than it sounded, and it sounded amazing already.


    High above the arena, the roaring of the crowd washed over the viewing tform. Other than Ji''Han, who was on the arena itself, everyone else was present and seated.


    "The Ancient Blessing?" the Prime Shadow asked, showing surprise on his face for the first time in a long time. "How did I not catch wind of this before?"


    The Yang-Sovereign shot him a quick nce, then a small smile. "Us three sovereigns kept it a secret amongst ourselves until yesterday."


    "Is that so?" the Prime Shadow replied, looking the opposite way towards the Sword-Saint. The usually stoic Sword-Saint was leaning forward in his seat, eyes glued to the screen above. A look of surprise and slight envy was on his face, although he quickly wiped it away as he realized he was being looked at.


    Based on his reaction, the Prime Shadow discerned that even the Sword-Saint was not aware of this reward until now. If that was the case, then it was reasonable that he did not learn of it either until now, although he still felt being caught off guard quite irksome for one who was supposed to know everything and everything.


    "Why now?" the Prime Shadow asked, returning his gaze towards the Yang-Sovereign.


    "It was a personal request from the Sword-Sovereign," the Yang-Sovereign replied calmly.


    "I see," the Prime Shadow mused. A personal request, most likely done for the benefit of Ji''Han who was expected to win this year, at least before John had arrived. After thinking it over, the Prime Shadow smiled lightly, then leaned backwardsfortably in his chair. Regardless of the reason, this was a boon for John that he had never expected before.


    ¡­


    The ceremony continued for some time, with the Vice Sect Leader of the Yang-Dao Sect exining several things of importance. John listened carefully, not wanting to miss a single thing.


    The first thing of importance was the tournament structure. For the top sixteen and on, each roundsted a day, and the time limit for the fights was extended to four hours. Upon the conclusion of the round of sixteen, the round of eight would start the next day, and the round of four the day after.


    Between the round of four and the final round, there was a day of rest to let the fighters fully recover, and to allow for everyone attending the finals to make their arrangements on time.


    The next important thing mentioned was the prize structure of the tournament. For those who ced ninth to sixteenth, they were permitted to select a single item from the Three Dao Heavenly Treasures List. For those who ced fifth through eighth, they could select two items. Third and fourth were allowed to select three items, while second ce could choose four items.


    items from the list, but they would be granted ess to the Ancient Blessings construct, which at a nce seemed more amazing and fortuitous than the rest of the listbined.


    The ceremony eventually died down, with the Vice-Sect Leader mentioning that the fights would now go in reverse order. As such, John, who had always kicked off each round with one of his fights, was to fightst each round. That gave him many hours to rx and prepare, something he found both to his liking and against it.


    On one hand, he wanted to start his fight and get it over and done with as fast as possible. On the other hand, it felt nice not to be the first for everything, and to be able to watch the others fight first.


    "With all this being said, I now announce the official start of the Dao Transformation Round of Sixteen," the Vice-Sect Leader said to thunderous apuse. He smiled and basked in the attention, patiently waiting for the crowd to eventually die down. "The first fight between eight ranked Briena of the Mage Dao Sect and ninth ranked Garux of the Yang Dao Sect will start in ten minutes. Will all the other participants please clear the arena."


    With that being said, John prepared to take to the sky. He stopped as he felt a hand fall on his shoulder, in a forceful yet not overwhelming way. He stopped and turned to look at the man who had stopped him.


    It was a Yang-Dao Sect male around the age of twenty or twenty one. John recognized the man from the published list of participants. Araxus of the Yang Dao Sect. Axarus was a well-built man with a rugged yet handsome face, a short beard, piercing blue eyes and short ck hair. He was almost as tall as John, only an inch shorter, and had muscles more suitable for a body cultivator than an essence cultivator.


    Most eye-catching of all was the flickers of lighting from within Araxus'' eyes, or more specifically, lightning. Not only did his eyes contain lightning within, but even with his aura mostly withdrawn, John could still feel a strong lightning presenceing As for the victor of the tournament, not only could they select five from this man.


    "I look forward to our fight toe," Araxus said firmly, a confident smile on his face. Just based on his bearing and aura, John could tell this man was a true genius, one that would push him farther than he had been pushed thus far in the tournament.


    "So, you''re my opponent today?" John greeted him, to which Araxus shook his head.


    "I''m the fourth ranker, so should we both win our fights, we will meet in the round of four," Araxus replied with a look of utmost confidence on his face, as if him not making it that far was impossible.


    "I see," John nodded.


    "I''ve seen all your fights, and I must admit you are quite an interesting opponent," Araxus said, "and I couldn''t help but notice you used lightning in some of your battles. So, what are you? An essence cultivator, or a body cultivator?"


    "You could say I''m a bit of both," John replied, his response drawing a raised eyebrow from Araxus. It was always rare to run into a dual cultivator, especially one of this cultivation and talent.


    "Well, regardless of what you truly are, I hope your lightning prowess is a bit more powerful than what you''ve shown so far," Araxus replied, then gave John a confident grin as his body began to flicker all over with powerful lightning, whileplex runes began to form on his skin. Other than himself, it was the most profound lightning John had ever felting from another cultivator. "After all, I always yearn to fight others experienced in the Dao of Lightning."


    Araxus gave John a toothy smile, then his lightning vanished, and he patted John on the shoulder before turning and leaving. John watched Araxus soar through the sky for a bit, then smiled with anticipation.


    ''King Grade Lightning Runes huh? And from what I can tell, his runes are in the awakened stage. While my runes are of a higher quality, I have yet to awaken them yet,'' John mused. His opponent, Araxus, was no doubt a pinnacle genius from the little bit he had just disyed. A rush of excitement flowed through John as he smiled and took to the sky.


    "It seems that Ji''Han won''t be my only interesting opponent."

 Chapter 1064 Soaring Sun City

    Chapter 1064 Soaring Sun City


    Johnnded next to Naelia and Zuri. Naelia gave him a beaming smile, then congratted him on making the top sixteen.


    "And to think the Ancient Blessings of the Three Dao''s is a reward for the winner this year," Naelia eximed excitedly, her fists balled before her chest. "I never imagined I would see the day."


    "What exactly is the Ancient Blessing?" John asked curiously.


    "You don''t kno- Ah, right," Naelia caught herself, remembering that John seemed to know very little of this tournament and the world around it. She always found that odd for one so powerful, but kept her questions surrounding that to herself. She cleared her throat and puffed out her chest proudly, clearly happy to be the ''experienced'' one of the group when it came to the tournament. Being able to answer these questions filled her with a sense of value and purpose, which she enjoyed.


    "The Ancient Blessings of the Three Dao''s is the ultimate reward for the Dao Transformation tournament, and also the rarest," she started exining. "It''s so rare that thest time it was offered as a reward was over four thousand years ago!"


    "That long!" John couldn''t help but reply with surprise.


    ''No wonder it stirred up such amotion,'' he thought, remembering the crowd''s overwhelming reaction, and the other participants'' look of envy and desire on their faces, Ji''Han included.


    Naelia nodded her head. "That long! From what I know, it''s an ancient temple of some sorts, created so long ago that I don''t even know the details of it. Most of the details are kept secret, but what I do know is that the one who enters it is blessed with an enormous amount of stored Qi, which allows them to raise their cultivation quickly."


    "How does that work?" John asked, slightly skeptical. If absorbing Qi was the only requirement to cultivate, he would be doing it nonstop. There was a physical limit of Qi that the body could absorb at once, and so even if one was blessed with unlimited Qi to cultivate with, it would still take a long time to steadily absorb the Qi and integrate it into one''s dantian.


    "I''m not exactly sure," Naelia frowned, trying to recall everything she knew about the Ancient Blessing. "I think there''s a time-altering factor to it, but I''m not entirely sure. All I know is that from stories I''ve heard, those who entered the temple left it a weekter with their cultivations at least two minor realms higher than when they entered."


    John fell silent for a while, then thanked Naelia and walked past her towards the tunnel leading to the stadiums interior hallways.


    "Ah, where are you going?" she asked, hastily turning around. "Aren''t you going to watch the fights? It''s the top sixteen, and any one of these fights could be your opponent in the next round."


    "I''m going to continue my training," John said without turning around.


    Naelia huffed and then rushed up to him, blocking his way. She gave him a re while he returned a questioning look.


    "You need to rx asionally," she said. "You push yourself too hard. You''ll end up causing more harm than good that way."


    "I don''t have the luxury of time to rx," John replied, moving to step around her.


    "Why?" Naelia asked. "You''re already so talented, surely you can rx here and there. Why are you pushing yourself so hard? Even Ji''Han stays to watch the fights sometimes, so why can''t you?"


    "There are two aspects to cultivation," John replied calmly. "Talent, and effort. A talented cultivator will beat an untalented cultivator with the same effort put in, while an untalented cultivator could beat a talented one if they put in more effort. Both are equally important when ites to cultivation, and I refuse to lose to anyone when ites to either."


    He then walked past her, while Naelia ruminate over what he said.


    "With what faces me in the future," John said over his shoulder. "Even training one hundred percent of the time might not be enough. My life isn''t so simple as these pampered geniuses like Ji''Han. If I don''t train like my life depends on it, I die, it''s as simple as that."


    John turned the corner, leaving Naelia and Zuri behind. Zuri patted Naelia on the shoulder, then followed John to resume their training, which helped not only him, but her as well.


    Naelia watched them disappear, a nk look on her face. She thought over John''s words for a while, then clenched her fists, feeling his words reach to her very core. She clenched her fists as she felt a wave of motivation surge through her.


    She was a talented cultivator, talented enough to join a pinnacle sect like the Yang-Dao Sect. And yet without realizing it, she had becent and unmotivated in recent years. John''s words cut through thatcency like a sharp knife, reigniting the youthful passion for cultivation that had allowed her to join a sect like the Yang-Dao Sect.


    After clearing her thoughts for some time, she hastily rushed after them. She arrived at the Prime Shadow''s room, then sat on the ground before the door, assuming a meditative position. A momentter, Qi started to swirl like a tempest towards her as she resumed her cultivation.


    ¡­


    In a distantnd, a figure shrouded in ck robes floated in the air above a coastal city. The city, Soaring Sun City, was neither small norrge for a city on the Human Continent, with approximately one million people living within its borders. The nearby ocean and the picturesque mountains in the distance gave the city a rather tranquil feeling, one that would be perfect for a cultivator retiring from the life of battle and death.


    Marble white buildings made up one side of the city, while fire red buildings made up the other half. The two were divided right down the middle, making the city look quite unique. This was due to the city being controlled by two opposite sects. The marble white side was controlled by the Soaring Sword Sect, a Tier Three subsect of the Sword-Dao Sect.


    The red side of the city was controlled by the Rising Sun Sect, a Tier Three Subsect of the Yang-Dao Sect.


    Grandmaster Darkcloud studied the city for a moment, then descended towards it. Despite the formations protecting the city and guards surveilling the area, he entered it without anyone''s notice.


    After making his way through the city, he arrived before the entrance to the Soaring-Sword Sect. The ce where Azurae started her cultivation journey.

 Chapter 1065 JiHan vs Bastian

    Chapter 1065 Ji''Han vs Bastian


    The round of sixteen continued without a hitch, with each fight being more entertaining than thest. Unlike the fights up to this point, most of which had been finished in a few minutes or less, these fights carried on for much longer. None of the top sixteen were weak, and none were able to be dispatched quickly.


    Half a day passed before John was interrupted by Naelia, informing him that his fight wasing up next. John and Zuri cleaned themselves up, then made their way to the arena. The roaring of the crowd grew louder as John approached the arena, which became a deafening roar as he stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the arena below.


    "We''ve been blessed with amazing fights today," the Yang-Dao Sect Elder said from the arena below, followed by another roar of agreement from the crowd. "And we are about to be blessed once more. For the next fight, we have the rank fifteen Bastian of the Sword-Dao Sect versus the second rank Ji''Han of the Sword-Dao Sect!"


    The crowd roared upon hearing Ji''Han''s name, then roared even louder as Ji''Han hopped off the viewing tform above the arena and floated down towards the arena below. His long hair waved in the wind behind him, adding to his graceful and handsome appearance, causing many girls in the crowd to swoon and go crazy.


    John watched Ji''Hannd on the arena, then gave Naelia a sideways nce. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "You may be right about training, but you should at least get an idea of what Ji''Han can do. That''s equally as important!"


    John sighed and shook his head but didn''t argue. Now that he was here, he figured he might as well stay, as his fight was the one after this one. He leaned against the balcony railing, as finding a seat was impossible due to every seat being taken already.


    After the Yang-Dao Sect Elder introduced and readied both fighters, the fightmenced to the roaring of the crowd.


    Ji''Han and his opponent, Bastian, stood opposite each other, a serious expression on Bastian''s face, a rxed one on Ji''Han''s. Ji''Han''s cultivation was then restricted from the Half-Step World Expansion realm to the Late Dao Transformation Realm of his opponents level.


    "Hmm?


    John hummed, noticing that the cultivation restriction was a bit different than normal. Unlike the energy that came from the armband to restrict ones cultivation, this was different.


    "Ji''Han restricts his own cultivation to his opponents level, regardless of their cultivation speed," Naelia exined. "He detests fighting with a cultivation advantage, as he considers that beneath him. With his cultivation speed, that includes almost every single fighter in this tournament, other than Jaxus, Silfia, and Araxus."


    "I see," John nodded. It was indeed something a haughty genius would do to make themselves appear noble. He didn''t know if it was because Ji''Han wanted a true fight or he wanted to show off for the crowd, but to John, the true answer didn''t really matter anyways.


    "I know defeating you is out of the question," Bastian said as he unsheathed his sword from his back, which was a massive greatsword almost asrge as his body. A quick scan from the arena''s formations revealed the weapon to weigh almost a million pounds, a fact that caused the crowd to roar again in wonder and excitement. "But before this fight is over, I''ll at least force you to draw your True Sword."


    Ji''Han merely smiled at thement, standing patiently for his opponent to start the fight. Bastian gritted his teeth, then exploded outwards with a powerful aura. His aura surged to the sky, then began to twist and turn as he unleashed some sort of battle art. From the aura formed three giant avatars, each appearing like a glowing white human. Their faces were featureless, and each held a massive sword farrger than Bastians.


    "There it is! The Sword of Three Sword Lords!" the announcer eximed excitedly. "Bastian has only used this sword art once, and itpletely overwhelmed his opponent. Will this art force Ji''Han to his limits, or will he defeat Bastian and his avatars with ease like all his other opponents?"


    John raised an eyebrow while watching the battle art form, as it was not only eye-catching, but he could tell it was a very profound art. Each of the avatars, formed entirely from Bastians Qi and Daoprehensions, were almost as powerful as Bastian himself. As such, it was as if Ji''Han was fighting one versus four.


    In response, Ji''Han remained standing in ce, then closed his eyes. His actions stirred the crowd into an uproar, as well as the announcer.


    "In response, Ji''Han has closed his eyes! His actions speak loud and clear! He does not consider Bastian a worthy opponent!" the announcer eximed.


    Bastian frowned at theck of respect, although it wasn''t unexpected. He shed his greatsword to the side, at which point his three giant avatars sped towards different directions. A momentter, Ji''Han found himself surrounded by Bastian and the three sword wielding avatars, with no direction to escape.


    Without saying a word, Bastian shed his greatsword outwards, unleashing a shockingly powerful and explosive greatsword image towards Ji''Han. At the same time, his sword avatars shed down towards Ji''Han, their sword drawing him in size.


    Eyes still closed, four swords materialized in the air around Ji''Han, each formed from his Qi and control over the Sword Dao. The swords were regr sized, almost insignificant in size whenpared to the greatswords shing towards him.


    A moment after appearing, each of the four swords shed out towards the four oing attacks. There was no ir to the attacks, no grandiose aura or eye-catching phenomena. Instead, Ji''Han''s four swords looked rather normal, the only thing betraying their normality being the incredibly sharp and lethal sword auraing from each one. Despite the fact that they were swords made entirely of Qi, the swords seemed just as strong as World Expansion grade weapons, and deadlier than most of them.


    Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng!


    The four swords shot out towards the greatswords, a loud metallic ringing filling the arena as weapons collided. The arena then trembled slightly from the collision, part from the attacks, part from the roaring crowd.


    Despite the difference in size and aura, Ji''Han''s four swordspletely stopped the four greatsword attacks in their tracks. The greatsword wielding avatars pressed forward with all their might, trying to reach Ji''Han, but to no avail.


    Nearest Ji''Han was Bastian, who was stopped by Ji''Han''s flying sword only a few dozen yards away. Bastian gritted his teeth as he tried to force his way forward, but was unable to. He then sped backwards, then resumed his assault from another angle, his three avatars doing the same.


    An incredible battle between giants and flying swords broke out, with Bastian and the avatars speeding around Ji''Han like blurs, unleashing hundreds of attacks each second. Ji''Han remained motionless the entire time, his eyes still closed as his flying swords flew out towards each attack, parrying them with seeming ease.


    The arena trembled ceaselessly from the battle between giants and men. John couldn''t help but nod his head approvingly towards both fighters, as both were disying incredible talent andbat prowess. Bastian''s sword art was incredibly powerful, and hisbat prowess could have easily ced him atop the list of geniuses back on John''s homeworld, easily surpassing those like Amber Bloodrose.


    Unfortunately his opponent was Ji''Han, the overwhelming favorite for the tournament, and long number one genius of the human race. As such, Bastian''s incrediblebat prowess was still not enough to break through.


    The stalemate continued for some time before Bastian finally ceased his attack, unable to make his way through Ji''Han''s defenses. Teeth still gritted, Bastian took a deep breath and then recalled his avatars towards him.


    "Your defense is imprable as always," Bastian said, taking another deep breath. "If that''s the case, then I can only gamble everything on one attack."


    After saying that, Bastian''s aura exploded outwards again, while the three giant avatars began to be sucked towards him, going from corporeal figures to mist, and then nothing. Bastian began to glow brilliantly like a star, growing brighter and brighter by the second.


    A momentter, his aura exploded like a star, then infused almost entirely into the greatsword in his hand. His greatsword then rapidly grew from human sized to over a hundred yards long. It rose and floated in the air above Bastian, brimming with an incredibly potent power.


    After floating in the air, Bastian''s aura exploded once more as Qi surged out from him, swirling into mist and quickly coalescing to form an avatar like before, only three timesrger. The giant avatar reached out and gripped the sword, steading it as if it were a real giant.


    Bastian''s face paled to white as he unleashed this aura, revealing he had spent almost everything. John nced at the information sheet regarding Bastian, and saw that the figure disying his stamina had nearly depleted, confirming this fact.


    "Swordfall Extinction!" Bastian roared with all his might, as did the avatar a momentter, its roar deep and guttural like that of a primordial beast. Bastian swung his right arm forward, his action mimicked by the avatar an instantter.


    The enormous great sword, brimming with cmitous power, cleaved towards Ji''Han, its power capable of shattering entire mountain ranges with ease. Even John felt hisbat instincts re, revealing this attack was something he would at the very least need to defend against or be wounded.


    As the great sword fell, Ji''Han finally opened his eyes to look at the great sword, then smirked. His right hand reached across his waist to his sheath, then gripped the hilt of one of the two swords sheathed on his waist. He drew the sword calmly, then shed it outwards.


    Che!

 Chapter 1066 Chloe of the Mage Dao Sect

    Chapter 1066 Chloe of the Mage Dao Sect


    Ji''Han casually shed his sword outwards, as if it was an insignificant action. As his sword shed forward, a beam of white sword light sped outwards at incredible speed.


    As the colossal great sword fell, the beam of white light shed upwards towards it, almost insignificant in size and aura. It was as if an ant was trying to contest against a giant, making the exchange appearpletely one sided.


    The beam of white light had almost no aura, and yet looking at it race upwards made the weaker cultivators in the crowd wince with pain, as if their minds and bodies were being pierced by swords. The beam of white sword light met the massive great sword, mming into the sharp edge of the great sword with incredible precision.


    The cmitous explosion of colliding battle arts did not happen as many expected. There was no loud sound. No powerful explosion. Instead, the beam sliced directly through the massive great sword as if the weapon didn''t exist at all. The beam of white sword light raced out the other side of the great sword, traveling from edge to edge of the great sword.


    The great sword continued to cleave towards Ji''Han, as if the collision between weapon arts never happened in the first ce. Ji''Han stood there unmoving, as if the cmitous great sword cleaving towards him didn''t even exist.


    The crowd watched with bated breath as the great sword reached Ji''Han, then at thest moment before hitting him, split apart from hilt to tip, splitting in half. The two halves of the great sword then moved apart, each half mming into the arena on either side of Ji''Han.


    Boom!


    The arena trembled from the power and weight of the weapon, and even cracks appeared on the arena which at this point had yet to take any damage from the previous battles. After hitting the ground, the great swords continued to press down for a moment before vanishing, the cohesiveness of the great sword art cleaved in half, causing the art to break down and fall apart.


    The great sword dissipated into a rushing tempest of Qi, no longer able to hold its form. The storm of Qi enveloped both fighters for a short while before fading away, revealing the oue of the battle.


    Bastian, on his knees and gasping with fatigue, looked upwards at Ji''Han who calmly held his sword tip to Bastians neck. Bastian looked up with gritted teeth, then took a deep breath and sighed, his shoulders slumping in defeat.


    "At the very least, I''m d I was able to force you to draw your sword, even if it wasn''t your True Sword," Bastian said dejectedly. "I concede."


    Ji''Han removed his sword from Bastian''s neck, then extended a hand to help his fellow sect member stand. Bastian took his hand begrudgingly, not wanting to offend the scion of the Sword Dao Sect.


    "That final sword art was impressive," Ji''Han replied. "You should be proud."


    As Bastian nodded his head, the Yang-Dao Sect Elder announced the oue of the battle.


    "The victor by forfeit, Ji''Han."


    Roar!


    The crowd burst into thunderous apuse, awed by what they had seen. Bastian''s sword arts had been incredibly eye-catching and powerful, and yet he had been defeated by a casual attack from Ji''Han.


    Leaning on the balcony miles above, John watched on as the two fighters exchanged a few more words, then left the arena. He remained in silent thought for some time, the roaring of the crowd not even registering in his mind. That casual attack from Ji''Han had caused his mind to go into a meditative trance as he tried to discern the secrets behind Ji''Han''s powers.


    "John¡­.John!"


    Naelia''s voice finally broke through, drawing him from his deep thoughts.


    "Hmm?" John turned to look at her.


    "You''re up," Naelia said, pointing to the arena.


    John looked back at the arena, and noticed not only had the other fighters left, but his opponent was already standing on the arena waiting for him.


    "Ah, thanks," John said to her, then took to the sky and flew towards the arena below. Hended a momentter and looked towards his opponent, another girl from the Mage Dao Sect.


    The girl was quite beautiful. She hadrge hazel eyes, long ck hair that flowed down to her lower back, and was rather tall whenpared to other girls her age. She wore the signature purple robes of the Mage Dao Sect, and appeared to be in herte teens. A casual inspection of her formation armband revealed some of her information to John.


    Name: Chloe


    Age: Neen


    Cultivation: Middle Dao Transformation


    Qi Quantity: 95


    Qi Quality: 94


    Health: 75


    Durability: 73


    Stamina: 81


    Comprehensions: 97


    Instincts: 91


    Willpower: 93


    Soul Talent: 85


    Speed/Movement Arts: 91


    Battle Arts: 97


    Attack Power: 96


    Rank: 16


    "Not bad," John nodded, impressed by some of her scores, especially her battle art and attack power scores. Unlike the others he faced, it seemed as though she would be able to press him to use Chloe gave John an even look, as if she wasn''t too concerned about him. A small frown lingered on her face, almost as if she were tense or struggling with something. It was a rather odd look for one standing so rxed, causing John to give her a questioning look.


    Chloe did not greet him or speak to him, so he opted not to as well. He had no desire to make small talk with any of the fighters anyways. The Yang-Dao Sect Elder addressed both of them, asking if they were ready. A nod from both fighters followed.


    "Now that both fighters have entered the arena, I will announce the beginning of the next round," the Yang-Dao Sect Elder called out. "The final battle of the round of sixteen, between Chloe of the Mage Dao Sect and John Fenix, begins!"


    The crowd roared with excitement at the start of the round, but that roaring was instantly drowned out by an even louder sound as Chloe suddenly exploded with an incredible amount of power, far greater than she should be able to do in such a quick amount of time. At the same time, eight massive gray pirs materialized in the sky, each pir one hundred yards in height and ten yards in width at the base.


    The pirs crashed down to the arena, each powerful enough to shake the entire stadium. In an instant, John found himself surrounded by these eight massive pirs which formed a ring of around two hundred yards. At the very center of this ring stood Chloe, who looked at John with a strained yet confident look.


    After a moment of confusion, John instantly realized what was going on. He now realized why Chloe looked tense before the fight started, as if she were struggling with something. She was struggling¡­to hold in the Qi from her channeled ability she unleashed at the very start of the round.


    The weakness of Mar Mages and their channeled abilities was the time it took to activate their mage arts. Chloe hadpletely removed that restriction by silently channeling her mage art undetected, unleashing it the very second the battle started.


    some of his true power.


    John couldn''t help but nod his head in approval, as it was a sneaky yet sound strategy from Chloe. His nod was interrupted halfway through as a powerful energy suddenly pressed down on him, almost forcing him to his knees from the suddenness of it. John exploded with physical power and braced himself against the unexpected energy which filled the entire circle formed by the eight pirs, then took a second to study it after recovering his wits. It was something he had never encountered from another cultivator before, but was a force of nature he was all too familiar with. The power that made even moving a difficult task.


    The power of gravity!

 Chapter 1067 Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art

    Chapter 1067 Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art


    "What¡­what is this Mage Art Chloe has unleashed?" the announcer said frantically, equally shocked and excited at the sudden mage art being used. "We''ve never seen Chloe use this art before, so what could it possibly be? Wait a minute, I''m receiving word from our tournament experts that this is one of the Mage-Dao Sect''s most secretive and formidable Mage Arts, the Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art!"


    The gravity field pressed down on John with incredible power, trying to force him to his knees. John stood tall against the power of the mage art, although it took a good portion of his heaven-defying physical strength to do so.


    The crowd roared again with excitement, thrilled to see a legendary mage art from the Mage Dao Sect be used. As the crowd roared with excitement, John studied the eighth pirs surrounding him.


    The pirs were all the exact same, gray in color with exquisite glowing runes of some sort carved into their surfaces, making them look arcane and mystical. As he studied the runes closer, John was able to notice that all the intricate runes were made from a single base rune, the rune for gravity.


    In addition to the runes, John noticed that some of the pirs were covered with paper like talismans. The four sides of each pir was covered with one of these paper talismans, which covered approximately half of the pir''s surface. John scanned the eight pirs and noticed that three of them had no talismans at all, while five of them werepletely covered.


    After studying the pirs, he shifted his focus back to his opponent. Chloe stood in the very center of the circle made by the massive pirs, her face strained with focused concentration. However, the strain was not from the gravity pushing down within the circle, but from channeling the mage art itself.


    ''So she''s still channeling this art?'' John mused, studying his opponent.


    After a short silence, Chloe finally spoke to him for the first time. With her still using most of her power to continue channeling this mage art, her voice was strained from the effort.


    "This is the Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art, one of the nine restricted Mage Art''s of my Mage-Dao Sect," Chloe said while looking at John, a look of confidence on her face now that John was trapped within.


    "So I heard," John said, shifting his focus between Chloe and the eight pirs. "So what does it do exactly? Just increase the gravity?"


    "Just increase the gravity?" Chloe repeated, her tone almost as if she was disgusted by John''s dismissal of the power of gravity. "Each pir restricts a portion of this Mage Art, with the first pir unlocked resulting in a ten times increase in gravity. When I remove additional sealing talisman¡­like this," she said, her power ring again, followed by the sealing talismans on one of the pirs turning to ash. "The power of this gravity art doubles! Right now, with four pirs unsealed, you''re experiencing eighty times gravity."


    Boom!


    The arena trembled again as the gravity within the confines of the pirs increased again. John''s knees buckled under the strain of the gravity, which indeed seemed to have doubled when the talismans were removed from the fourth pir.


    "You speak of the power of gravity so casually, but gravity is one of the most destructive forces in the universe," Chloe continued, her voice slightly more strained than before. "Looking down on the power of gravity will be your undoing in this fight."


    Still straining against the gravity pushing down on him, John waved his hand dismissively before his face. "I''m not looking down on the power of gravity. I was just curious if there was more to this mage art I had to be careful of, but it seems like there isn''t."


    Chloe frowned, clearly not pleased by John''sment which indicated that he was indeed looking down on the power of gravity. Her frown turned into a confident smile as her aura exploded again, while her face became even more strained from the power coursing through her.


    Boom!


    The arena trembled again as a fifth pir was removed of its talisman seals. John felt the power of gravity double once again, this time sessfully pressing him to his knees. His bones creaked and his muscles strained against the formidable power pressing down on him; power that would crush any not strong enough to withstand it.


    "Woah! For the first time in this tournament, John Fenix has been forced to his knees!" the announcer eximed. "Is this where the mysterious dark horse meets his end, or does John have something that can deal with this overwhelmingly powerful Mage Art?"


    "By the time this battle is over, you wille to respect the power of gravity. That is, if you forfeit before you are crushed to death by my power," Chloe said, her confident smile still lingering on her face. "I''ve been perfecting this Mage Art for thest three years in order to win this year''s tournament. With the Ancient Blessings being the ultimate reward this time around, I cannot afford to lose. Give up before you are killed. I''d rather not be disqualified."


    "Heh, using my own words against me huh?" John scoffed upon hearing the same warning he had given his previous opponents.


    Using the full strength of his body, John slowly stood up and returned to his feet. The overwhelming power of gravity pushing down on him made moving quite difficult, with each step feeling as though he had an entire mountain pushing down on him.


    After standing, he looked at Chloe who stood a short distance away, seemingly unaffected by the gravity.


    ''I have to admit that this Mage Art is incredibly impressive. The only way to beat Chloe now that I''m trapped is to either destroy the pirs, or defeat Chloe directly, but I doubt either is so simple.'' John thought, then decided to pick one to try.


    He turned towards the nearest pir, then mustered his full strength to race towards it, scythe appearing in hand.


    Boom!


    His scythe mmed into the ground at his feet, the weight of it far too great to wield under the effects of this gravity field. John clicked his teeth in frustration then stored his scythe away, continuing towards the pir, opting to destroy it with his fists instead.


    As he neared the pir, the direction of the gravity field suddenly and unexpectedly changed, going from downwards to horizontal. Not expecting the change, John found himself flying through the air as the gravity pulled him sideway. It changed a momentter, returning to its original direction of pushing downwards.


    Boom!


    John mmed against the arena violently as if he had fallen from hundreds of miles up. The arena trembled from the impact as John was forced t onto his back, looking up at the sky above.


    "Naive," Chloe said from a short distance away. "Not only can I increase the level of gravity, I can also change its direction. If you move at all, I will change the direction to face the opposite of where you want to go. Give up, you cannot win."


    Johnid there t on his back for quite some time, not speaking or even making a single sound at all. After a minute of this, a confused look appeared on Chloe''s face, wondering what her opponent was up to.


    "What are you doing? Why are you just lying there? Have you given up?" she asked, cautious focus on her face as if she were ready to react to anything John did at a moment''s notice. Unlike his previous opponents, she was clearly not looking down on him, and hade at him with her full strength right from the start.


    Upon hearing her question, John strained against the powerful gravity to lift his head and look at her.


    "Am I giving up? Not at all," he said, voice also slightly strained under the effect of the gravity pushing down on him. "But moving about is too much of a pain right now, and from what I can tell, this Mage Art is eating up a great deal of your Qi every minute."


    As he said that, he looked towards the crowd, where the floating formation screens revealing each opponent''s battle statistics hovered in the sky. He read one, then smiled, noticing that Chloe''s stamina and Qi reserve numbers were rapidly draining, already being twenty percent drained.


    He looked back at Chloe, then smiled.


    "No, I don''t have to do anything at all to beat you," he said, then rested his head against the floor again, looking up at the sky above. "I just have to lie here and wait until you run out of Qi."


    He then ced his hand in front of his mouth as he yawned, then closed his eyes.


    "I''m going to take a nap. Wake me up when you''re done," he said, then fell silent as if he had truly fallen asleep.


    A stunned look appeared on both Chloe''s face on the face of almost everyone in the crowd, as none of them had expected John to lie down and fall asleep in the middle of his battle.


    The stunned look on Chloe''s face was quickly reced by an enraged look.


    "Insolent brat! Don''t me me for killing you then! Sixth pir, unsealed! Chloe said as she exploded with even more power than before, removing another pir of its talismans, doubling the power of the gravity in the arena once more.

 Chapter 1068 Sixth Seal

    Chapter 1068 Sixth Seal


    After undoing the sixth seal, the very air in the arena seemed to twist and turn under the immense gravity. The power of the gravity instantly increased to three hundred- and twenty-times normal gravity, making John''s body, which normally weighed around four thousand pounds, feel like it weighed almost one and a half million pounds. John felt his entire body pressed t against the arena as if a mountain was pushing down on him from above.


    His organs felt like they were being pressed t, while his brain felt as though it was about to be reduced into mincemeat. Thankfully, due to his Immortal Asura Body and Jade Dragon inheritance, the natural durability of his body, his organs and brain included, was unparalleled. While it felt as though his organs and brain were about to copse, that was just the feeling he had due to the abnormal level of gravity he felt, and not the actual state of his body''s internals.


    Chloe''s face paled ever so slightly after undoing the sixth seal, while her Qi reserves dropped by another ten percent instantly, revealing that removing a single seal was incredibly taxing on her.


    The crowd roared again as the sixth seal was undone. Chloe ignored the crowd cheering for her, and instead focused on John. While she wanted to crush him into defeat, she also wanted to avoid killing him if possible. Killing him would win her the fight, but would also result in her disqualification. With the Ancient Blessings as a reward for the winner this year, that was an uneptable oue.


    As such, she paid close attention to John, ready to undo her gravity art in an instant once he was unconscious.


    While the crowd continued to roar loudly with excitement, the arena was silent other than the creaks and groans of the arena straining under the immense gravity. Chloe narrowed her gaze after thirty seconds of the sixth seal being undone, as John had not moved a single inch since.


    Without using her divine sense to check on his condition, it was impossible to tell if he was unconscious or not. With the amount of physical and mental strain this gravity art put upon her, doing something as simple as using divine sense was incredibly difficult and taxing on her, and was not worth the cost.


    "Are you giving up?" Chloe said through gritted teeth as she strained to maintain her channeled gravity art.


    No reply was given, as John continued to lie there on the ground, arms syed to the side, face pointed up at the sky above.


    "Give up!" Chloemanded again, hoping for a response from John. Still, she received no reply. A frown appeared on her face as she considered her options, at which point she shifted her gaze to the Yang Dao Sect Elder who stood just outside the confines of the gravity art.


    "Is he unconscious?" she asked the Elder, hoping he would answer her question. The Elder was under no obligation to answer, and didn''t do so either. His silence was answer enough, as the Elder would have ended the fight as soon as he detected John was unconscious, or so she hoped.


    There had been times in the past when the referee''s actions were unscrupulous towards those of the other Three Dao Sects, and it was not impossible that the referee would refuse to rule on John''s status until he was crippled or dead, thus resulting in Chloe''s elimination.


    "Hey, asshole! Say something!" Chloe yelled loudly, bing increasingly frustrated by her uncertainty.


    "What do you want? I''m having a nice nap here?" John finally replied, his voice groggy as if he had truly been asleep. Chloe''s eyes went wide at the sudden reply, as well as the casual tone. When unleashing this art against opponents in her realm, most of them sumbed to it by the time the fifth seal was removed.


    As for the sixth seal, the level of gravity was so high that even if her opponent could withstand it, they found it almost impossible to talk. As for the seventh seal, she had only unleashed that once against an opponent in her realm, which had resulted in their immediate concession.


    "Can we hurry this up?" John spoke out again with annoyance in his tone. "All you''re doing is standing there, and all I''m doing is lying on the ground. This battle is incredibly boring. Do something interesting, or just run out of Qi already, because if this is all the famed Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art can do, then I must say I''m quite disappointed."


    Chloe''s eyes went wide with shock again, then narrowed immediately as she felt embarrassment and rage flow through her. This was her ultimate art and one of the ultimate Mage Arts of the Mage Dao Sect, and yet it was beingpletely looked down upon by her opponent.


    "Tch! You insolent, arrogant bastard!" Chloe sneered, no longer concerned with John''s safety. He had insulted her art and thus had insulted the Mage Dao Sect and the Mage Sovereign who had created this art, and that was an offense worthy of death in her eyes.


    She took a deep breath, then quickly made a hand seal in front of her chest. Her face paled even further and her body began to tremble slightly as her Qi red. A momentter, one of the two remaining talisman covered pirs began to tremble as the talismans on it disintegrated.


    "Seventh pir, unsealed!" Chloe growled, straining with great effort to not only unlock the seventh pir, but use herprehensions of the Dao of Gravity to resist the immense gravity within the arena.


    Boom!


    The arena shook as the gravity exploded again, doubling once more to an unprecedented level. Another mountain''s worth of weight pressed down on John, making him feel as though he weighed nearly three million pounds.


    While such weight was something he could lift, the true danger of the gravity art was how it affected the internals of the one trapped in it. Even with his incredible body, John felt as though his organs were going to be pressed t at any moment. His Qi surged within his body to fight against the gravity, the first time he had used any Qi at all in this battle.


    As the Qi surged through his body, reinforcing its durability and also pushing outwards against the gravity, John felt the weight pressing down on him lessen. It was still incredible and made it almost impossible to move in his current state, but the threat of taking serious internal damage had been alleviated.


    "You cannot move, and you''re most likely being crushed to death at the moment. Give up before you die!" Chloe said, teeth gritted and voice strained. After what felt like an eternity to her, a reply finally came.


    "I''m good. Just hurry up and run out of Qi so we can end this joke of a battle!"

 Chapter 1069 Withstanding A Thousand Times Gravity

    Chapter 1069 Withstanding A Thousand Times Gravity


    "What''s this! Even under the power of six hundred times gravity, John is still calmly withstanding it using only the power of his body and his Qi. How is this possible!" the announcer roared, her voice filled with true bewilderment.


    Her words echoed the thoughts of everyone in the crowd, as well as Chloe herself. She had only ever used the seventh level of this Mage Art once against an opponent in the Dao Transformation Realm, and that opponent, Indara, the second strongest Dao Transformation genius of the Mage Dao Sect, and who was currently ranked ninth, gave up instantly despite using her full power.


    This gravity art was something that was hard to unleash and even more difficult to ramp up to level seven without the opponent figuring out a way to deal with it. In her battle with Indara, it had been more of a test to see its true power, and not something that she had actually managed to aplish in a true battle. The only reason she was able to reach level seven of this art was because John had allowed it, and she assumed that hubris would be his downfall.


    If he truly wanted to, he could have used range attacks to attack the pirs or herself, possibly undoing the art. He had done nothing though, which was something Chloe could only hope for. And yet the battle was not going in her direction. It was impossible, and yet it was happening before her very eyes.


    Chloe ground her teeth from anger and strain. Her Qi reserves had already dropped below half, and in this state, she could only use the Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art for another minute or two before she ran out of Qi. From the ease in which John was withstanding the art, that was bound to happen unless something changed.


    Her mind raced with options, at which point she came to one conclusion. She breathed in deeply, focusing her mind as much as possible for the task toe; unleashing the eighth seal. She steadied her hands before her chest, then paused as she looked at John.


    "I''m going to unleash the eighth and final seal," she said, struggling to get the words out. "If that happens, you will die! Just surrender before that happens."


    "I''m good," was John''s only reply as heid t against the ground, unbothered to even move an inch to look at her. He continued to stare straight up at the sky above, waiting for this battle to be over.


    A deep frown appeared on Chloe''s face as she finally cast aside all worry about killing John. If she didn''t defeat him, that was the same as winning and being disqualified. In that case, she would at least prefer the honor of having defeated the dark horse of the tournament.


    Mind made up, a resolved look appeared on her face, her worries and doubts gone. A small smirk appeared on her strained face as her eyes were locked onto John.


    "Fine," she sneered. "Since you refuse to surrender, then your death can only be med on yourself. And just to warn you, the eighth seal ispletely different than the previous ones. Once I unlock the final seal, I won''t be able to stop what''s toe. And what''s toe will result in your death without a doubt."


    "Oh? Sounds interesting. Let me see it," John replied, his voice strained but calm.


    Chloe clicked her tongue, hoping that he would have surrendered there, then cast aside all inhibitions. Her fingers moved quickly to form several hand seals, at which point her Qi exploded out with the most amount of power she had revealed thus far.


    Her power immediately linked with the eighth and final pir, which began to glow as if there was a sun shining from within. The talismans covering the eighth pir disintegrated into ash, unlocking the final seal of the gravity art.


    Boom!


    The level of gravity doubled again, stepping over one thousand times normal gravity. John felt the weight of the world press down on him, its instantaneous power nearly overwhelming him. His organs were pressed and contorted within his body, while his brain felt as though it was being ground to mush. With the weight pressing down on him, he felt it impossible to move at all.


    Blood began to leak out of his mouth and nose, the first sign of damage for the battle.


    "Chloe has unleashed the eight and final seal, pushing her gravity art to the ultimate level! And John has finally shown signs of damage, bleeding from his mouth and nose. That can''t be a good sign! Is this the end of the¡­what''s that?!?!"


    The announcer cut off as all eight pirs began to glow brightly. A beam of light then shot out of the top of each pir, each beam meeting at the very center of the gravity art in the air directly above John. The beams of light, or Qi, began to press into each other, slowly materializing something in the middle.


    "Eight beams of Qi have collided above the center of the gravity art, directly above John''s position. What is going on?" the announcer eximed. "Wait! Is..is that. It is. The beams of power have converged to form an object! It looks like some sort of metallic object!"


    The announcer continued to describe what was going on, although she had no idea what was truly happening. John stared upwards at the object materializing above him, formed by the convergence of the eight beams of power.


    "This is the final stage of the Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art," Chloe said to John, her face marble white and voice hoarse from the strain of activating the art to this level. Her Qi levels were nearly zero as she had used everything to unleash this final attack. "The eight beams of Qi are converted into a b of pure Iridite metal, which weighs ten thousand pounds and can withstand the force of a thousand times gravity without breaking. As soon as the beams disappear, the b will fall towards you, no longer weighing ten thousand pounds, but thirteen million pounds as it enters the gravity field. Combined with its momentum towards you, the b will crush down on you with the force of over fifty million pounds!"


    John''s eyes opened wide, his calm look disappearing for the first time in the battle. Chloe smirked through the fatigue as she saw this look appear on his face.


    "The beams of light will vanish in eight seconds, at which point I can no longer stop what is happening. Give up before that happens, or your death is certain!" Chloe said with smug confidence.


    Silence filled the arena for several seconds as the announcer started counting down the time in the background. As the time ticked down, Chloe prepared to undo her art at a moments notice, waiting for the words of surrender from John.


    His words came as the time hit three seconds, her eyes going wide with absolute shock by what she heard.


    "Finally! Something interesting is happening!" John said, an excited look on his face.


    "Wha¡­what are you-" Chloe''s voice was cut off by a booming sound that surged from John. A primordial sound that shook the bodies and minds of all who heard it, filling them with instinctual awe and fear.


    The roar of a primordial dragon. A roar that timed with the beams of light disappearing, and the b of metal falling towards him like a meteor looking to end the world.


    Dragon-God Shift!

 Chapter 1070 The Dragon-God Shifts Debut

    Chapter 1070 The Dragon-God Shift''s Debut


    The final form of the Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art was so simple it seemed silly. It merely dropped a hard, metallic object from a height, using the gravity of the art to magnify its power. Compared to the eye-catching and awe-inspiring battle arts that had been used thus far, it seemed like something a child woulde up with.


    And yet, this simple looking Mage Art was unleashing the strongest and most powerful attack of the tournament thus far. The metallic b fell towards John with the speed of a meteor and the weight of a mountain, itsbined mass over fifty million pounds. Anyone in the tournament, from the weakest fighter all the way up to Ji''Han would not take this attack head on. The weaker opponents could only surrender or perish, while those like Ji''Han would have ended the fight before it even got to this stage, or would muster their fullest strength to attack the b and destroy it before it destroyed them.


    There was not a single Dao Transformation genius, the strongest body cultivators included, who would take this attack head on without dodging. To do so was suicide without the slightest hope of survival. "No one would be that bold¡­or dumb."


    Or so that was what Chloe, the crowd, and even the powerhouses watching thought. That singr thought was crushed in the minds of everyone watching as John erupted with power they didn''t know a human could unleash. This power was foreign to almost everyone watching, as even on this stronger world, only a select few had ever seen a True Dragon. And yet, the fear, awe, and respect everyone felt was instinctual. From the strongest cultivator to the smallest child, everyone could only look up to a True Dragon as if it were a god.


    And yet a true dragon had appeared in the arena before their very eyes. Or so they all instinctually felt. While what appeared before them was not actually a true dragon, the power was that of one. John''s aura exploded like a star, blinding the arena with a gold brilliance. His aura surged dozens of miles upwards, piercing past the limits of the stadium and into the sky above. It zed like a massive bonfire, one that seemed to reach up and touch the heavens. Roar!


    Another draconic roar sted from John as his Dragon-God Shift fully activated, filling him with a primal might of unmatched power. The roar was so powerful it shook the entire hundred mile stadium, while the nearby Chloe felt as though she was going to be overwhelmed by this roar alone.


    His muscles wriggled within like worms, growingrger and stronger, making his body more muscr than it already was. Greenish-gold dragon scales appeared on his cheeks, forehead, shoulders, arms and chest, like a dragon born from a human vessel. At the same time, his clothing instantly swapped from his simple robes to the draconic armor Laia had won for him, as it felt proper and right to wear it when unleashing this body transformation art.


    HIs eyes turned golden-yellow, glowing brilliantly like two fiery beacons of power. It had been some time since John had unleashed this heaven-defying body transformation art, and he took a moment to bask in its divine power. Then he moved.


    Against all odds, against all expectations, against everything Chloe and the rest thought possible, John stood up. Such an action was so mundane that in any other situation it wouldn''t even be considered noteworthy, but under the effects of the gravity Mage Art, it was heaven-defying. In one swift action, he stood tall against the one thousand times gravity, as if the weight of his body was nothing more than a mere nuisance. Chloe''s eyes went as wide as possible as she saw John stand up, his face and body covered with dragon-scales, his body covered in heroic-looking dragon armor. It was as if a cultivator of legends had appeared before her, more powerful and heroic than she couldprehend. After a instant of shock, she then felt relief. She had expected John to surrender before the metallic b dropped, but he had not done so. Once that happened, his only fate was to perish under the immense weight of the b. Against all expectations, he managed to stand up, which means he would be able to dodge the b just in time before being crushed to death. As such, she would not be disqualified from the tournament. As for defeating him after he dodged the b, she would worry about that in a few seconds.


    She breathed a sigh of relief which cut off half-way through, her relief instantly turning back into shock and horror as she watched John turn his face upwards towards the b falling down onto him, then smile and open his arms wide as if ready to embrace the b.


    "Come on!" John roared like a primordial beast as the b crashed down onto him with the weight of mountains. BOOM!


    With the b being a dozen yards wide and long, his figure disappeared underneath, his oue unknown.


    "Ahhh!" Chloe, and most of the spectating crowd, gasped as the b mmed onto John with a sickening crunch. The arena shook so violently that it seemed as though the Yang-Sphere was about to crumble and fall apart at any moment. The tremblingsted for several seconds before dying down, with many in the crowd having been thrown from their seats into others nearby. Those still in ce had their eyes glued to the b in the middle of the arena, which hade to aplete rest directly on top of John. There was no movement, no sign at all to reveal he had managed to withstand the attack at all. From their elevated perspective, it seemed as though the b had crushed him t, killing him instantly. After a short moment of silence, blood trickled out from under the edge of the b. Several streams of blood appeared momentster, followed by gasps of shock from the crowd. The blood was all the evidence they needed: John was dead.


    The idea of John, the heaven-defying dark horse perishing so suddenly was something that needed time to process. As such, the crowd didn''t even react right again. Instead, a deafening silence filled the arena, with the only sound being the wild rushing of John''s aura surging through the sky.


    His aura! Everyone then realized, the immense aura had yet to fade away. They had been so shocked by the sudden turn of events, that many had failed to realize John''s aura was still as strong as ever, surging upwards like a beacon of almighty power.


    Roar!


    Another primal, draconic roar boomed out from the arena as the metallic b began to tremble for a moment, before it shot a short distance into the sky, then crashed a short distance away, its weight once again shaking the arena with its tremendous might. The crowdpletely ignored the shaking, with a single gaze locked onto John''s figure, now revealed. Streams of blood slicked his arms, legs and waist, damage he had sustained from withstanding the attack head on. Blood also trailed from his mouth, revealing signs of internal damage. That had been expected.


    What hadn''t been expected was that the damage on his arms and legs appeared to be superficial, the broken skin and ripped muscles already healing at a visible rate, his muscles wriggling like worms underneath his skin as they snapped back into ce. What wasn''t expected, what defied everything they thought possible, was that John was still standing in ce, his stance tall and firm, his body unbroken, his aura unyielding.


    John shifted his gaze towards the b he had just thrown aside, then returned it to look at Chloe. She stood several hundred yards away, her eyes wide and face white. Her lips trembled as if she were looking at a Devil, one with inconceivable levels of power.


    "....how¡­" was all she could mutter, her mind frozen with fear and disbelief. That attack would have crushed any Dao Transformation cultivator to a meaty paste, regardless of their strength. The only salvation was to dodge the b, or destroy it. There was no one who could physically withstand such a monstrous attack. And yet...her opponent had done just that.


    John rolled his shoulders, his body now free of the burden of fifty million pounds. Despite standing in a thousand times gravity, he felt as light as a feather whenpared to moments ago. That,bined with the power of the Jade Dragon''s surging through his body, filled him with an overwhelming battle lust.


    His eyes, like that of a predator hunting its prey, locked onto Chloe. He smiled widely, then moved towards her. His speed was not that incredible, but considering he was still under the effect of one thousand times gravity, it was far faster than he should be capable of. He sped towards Chloe, reaching her a secondter. His hand shot out towards her neck as she still looked at him with a face full of fright and disbelief. John''s hand hit air, as Chloe managed to dodge his attempt to seize her neck.


    He stopped, then looked down at her, as she had fallen to her knees, her willpletely broken, her battle lustpletely shattered. She stared at the ground with wide, disbelieving eyes, muttering something incoherent to herself. A momentter, she turned her head upwards, wide eyes locked onto John''s eyes of golden brilliance. She shared that gaze for a moment as the pirs all around them vanished, and the gravity field with it. Her trembling lips then moved to finally form coherent words, which seemed to echo across the stadium despite its softness.


    "I¡­concede."

 Chapter 1071 Kings of the Dragon-Gods

    Chapter 1071 Kings of the Dragon-Gods


    The silence within the arena felt deafening, as almost no one made any noise at all. Millions were standing upright, not even realizing they had stood up in instinctual awe when John had unleashed his Dragon-God Shift. They looked at him with stupefied expressions, still trying toprehend what they had seen and felt. After several seconds of silence, the Yang-Dao Sect Elder finally regained his wits and announced the final result.


    "The victor by forfeit, John Fenix!"


    The crowd was silent. Then it roared to life with a mixture of emotions, ranging from disbelief to pure excitement. The roaring crowd shook the arena with its cries, like a million beasts roaring out in unison. Even those who had hated John thus far and wished for his demise were calling out with wild emotion, forgetting the grudges they had against him. His aura, his performance, his sheer power was too much for them to contain themselves.


    They had seen the impossible happen before them, and none could stay calm upon seeing such a thing happen.


    While the crowd came to life with mixed emotions, John continued to look at Chloe, who remained kneeled before him, eyes glued to his. It was as if she could not remove her gaze from him, still stunned and awed by what she had personally witnessed.


    After a short moment of sharing this gaze, John smiled and extended his hand out towards her. "You should be proud," he said as he withdrew his Dragon-God Shift and his aura returned to normal, then withdrew into him to make him look like an average cultivator, and not one who had just defied all realms of logic and reason. "Proud?" Chloe repeated absentmindedly, then reached out and took his helping hand.


    John nodded again as he pulled her to her feet. "Yes, proud," he repeated. "That''s the most damage I''ve taken from an opponent my age in many years. The damage I sustained from your attack was not light, and if not for my formidable healing factor, it would have been a decisive blow."


    Chloe''s expression and gaze remained scattered and unfocused for a while, her mind still working out everything that had happened, and still processing her sudden and unexpected defeat. Her gaze eventually cleared up, once more focusing on John''s face. She studied him for a few seconds, then returned a small smile.


    "Thanks," she said, nodding ever so slightly. "You''re not as bad as the rumors make you out to be."


    "I can only imagine what is being said about me," John said,ughing lightly. Chloeughed a momentter as well, the weight of her defeat slowly fading away. When faced with someone as heaven-defying as John, sometimes all you could do was ept that monsters like him existed, and move on.


    She breathed deeply, holding the breath for a long time, then finally exhaled. Her shoulders slumped slightly and body released some of its tension, as if the weight of everything had fallen off her shoulders.


    "If you are able to learn how to activate that gravity art at the seventh or eighth stage instantly, you will be a formidable threat in the future, one that even I will have to be cautious of," John said to her, to which Chloe nodded again.


    "Thank you, for showing me there are still more heights to achieve in this world of cultivation," she said softly, etching John''s power in her mind, making sure she never forgot this overwhelming defeat. "From this day forward, my mind will no longer be bound by the illusory restrictions of possible and impossible. You have shown me a new way to view this world of cultivation."


    John''s smile widened as he nodded again. "That''s the way a cultivator should think. Impossible only means someone hasn''t done it before, but it doesn''t mean that you cannot aplish it yourself. If you move forward with this new mindset, I''m sure you will be a formidable powerhouse in the future."


    Chloe smiled at him, then silently nodded. John gave her onest nod of parting, then turned to leave the arena. "Wait," Chloe called out. John stopped and looked at her. "Was¡­was that your full strength?" she finally asked after a short pause. "My defeat stings like the sharpest of pains, but I can rest a bit easier knowing that I managed to push you to use your full power to defeat me."


    John gave her an even look, thinking over whether he should tell the truth or not. He eventually decided that he had a rather good opinion of Chloe, and that lying would only hurt her in the long run.


    "No, that was not my full strength," John replied, then turned and took to the sky. Chloe looked at him leave with a stunned look on her face, a smile of defeat and eptance on her face as she turned around and left as well. The two of them soared through the sky in opposite directions. All eyes were on John as hended next to Naelia and Zuri, the former looking at John with wide eyes full of awe and wonder. John smiled as Naelia started waving her arms widely and raving about his battle, then disappeared with them into the nearby tunnel leading into the stadium''s interior.


    "...What was that power?" on the exclusive viewing tform, the Mage-Sovereign was standing, so surprised that she had stood up like most of the crowd. Even the Yang-Sovereign was leaning forward in his seat, a rare look of surprise on his face. As for the Sword-Saint, he was gripping the armrests of his chair tightly, fingers digging into the wood, brow furrowed.


    The Mage-Sovereign realized her actions a momentter and sat down, coughing once in embarrassment, then turned towards the Prime Shadow. "What was that power?" she asked again.


    The Prime Shadow met her eyes, a small smirk on his face as he thoroughly enjoyed the reactions of the other powerhouses. He then shrugged, arms moving out to the side in an unknowing expression.


    "I have no idea," he replied. "John has shown me this power before, but never borated what the origin of it is."


    The Mage-Sovereign narrowed her eyes as if trying to see through the Prime Shadow to tell if he was lying or not.


    "It''s clearly draconic in nature," the Yang-Sovereign interjected, voicing his opinion. "Obviously," the Mage-Sovereign said. "But I''ve never felt draconic powers so potent, so¡­powerful. Such a draconic inheritance is almost unheard of. Even the beasts on the Beast Continent with draconic inheritances don''te close to what we just witnessed."


    The Yang-Sovereign shifted his gaze to the side, looking towards the Netherfrost Beasts on the other tform nearby. The Netherfrost Beast leader was standing up, eyes glued to John''sst location, clearly shocked by what he had seen. The Yang-Sovereign sent the beast a sound transmission, at which point the Netherfrost Beast flew over to their tform andnded before the Sovereigns. "Who¡­who is that boy?" the Netherfrost beast asked, voice tinged with shock and awe. He received no answer, as only the Prime Shadow knew, and he was not going to divulge John''s secrets.


    "Do you know something about the power he used?" the Mage-Sovereign asked, shifting the topic slightly. "It''s clearly draconic in nature, but in all my readings and studies, I cannot think of a dragon race that matches the sheer power and profundity of what we all just saw and felt."


    The Netherfrost Beast looked at her, then nodded. "Just as there are many races of beasts, there are countless races of Dragons," the Netherfrost Beast said. "Like all other races, Dragons range from weak to strong, with the weakest races having impure bloodlines, while the strongest have pure draconic bloodlines."


    The Mage-Sovereign''s eyes widened slightly, realizing where the Netherfrost Beast was going.


    "Are you saying his inheritance is that of a True Dragons?" she asked, her voice filled with doubt. "How could you possibly know that just from what you saw and felt?"


    The difference between a Dragon and a True Dragon was its bloodline purity. There were thousands upon thousands of races that boasted they had draconic blood in their ancestry, and many could be considered as dragons themselves.


    However, only the most pure blooded could im themselves as True Dragons, the mightiest of all dragons. Their status was so lofty and mythical that even the Sovereign''s had only ever heard of True Dragons, never having seen or felt the power of one before.


    The Netherfrost Beast gave her a pointed gaze, clearly unhappy by her doubt of his words. "When a beast is born, they share the blood and bone of all those who came before it," the Netherfrost Beast exined. "Yes, yes, so do humans," the Mage-Sovereign interrupted. "So do all creatures. So what of it?"


    The Netherfrost beast narrowed her eyes, further agitated by her interruption. The Yang-Sovereign gestured for the Mage-Sovereign to let the Netherfrost Beast speak freely, which she begrudgingly obliged to.


    "While you humans inherit blood and bones," the Netherfrost Beast continued, "unlike us beasts, you do not inherit the instincts of those who came before. We beasts are different. When one of us encounters another beast of mythical strength, the feelings, the awe, the power, the fear¡­is etched into our very blood, our very bones. Those feelings and instincts are passed down unfiltered to future generations, making it so that almost each and every beast surviving to this day instinctively knows the powers of other beasts of note."


    "So you''re saying your ancestor''s ran into the type of dragon the boy''s inheritance is from?" the Yang-Sovereign asked, to which the Netherfrost Beast nodded.


    "My very blood is telling me the truth of that boy''s powers," the Netherfrost Beast agreed, his expression and tone turning serious. "In the hierarchy of dragons, True Dragons reign supreme, and can be considered the absolute peak of the beastial world, the Gods of all Beasts. And at the very top of the True Dragons, the ones who reign supreme as mightiest of all dragons¡­.That, is the boy''s inheritance," he said, pausing for a moment as the Sovereign''s and all those in earshot were stunned silent by the truth.


    "The power of Jade Dragons, the Kings of the Dragon-Gods."

 Chapter 1072 Pride of the True Dragons

    Chapter 1072 Pride of the True Dragons


    "What?" the Mage-Sovereign eximed, standing up in shock once more. The Yang-Sovereign almost did the same, but managed to control his emotions and remain seated, although his widened eyes betrayed his true emotions.


    "Are you absolutely certain?" the Mage-Sovereign asked, although she knew the answer already. Someone as strong and knowledgeable as the leader of the Netherfrost Beasts wouldn''t make ims that elevated the talent of a human unless he was absolutely certain it was true.


    "Without a doubt," the Netherfrost Beast replied, his face still serious with emotion. "And not only does he have the inheritance of the ancient Jade Dragons, but from what I can tell, his inheritance is aplete one."


    "Aplete one?" the Yang-Sovereign asked for rification.


    "Aplete beast inheritance means several things," the Netherfrost Beast leader answered. "It means his bodily inheritance isplete without ws. That means he has absorbed Jade Dragon blood, bone, even sinew. Every aspect of his body has been infused with pure Jade Dragon power, and not only that, he has also inherited the Body Transformation Art meant to fully activate the Jade Dragon powers. That is what it means to beplete."


    "I see," the Yang-Sovereign said, then fell into a thoughtful silence.


    "Where did your boy find this inheritance?" the Mage-Sovereign asked the Prime Shadow.


    "Like I said, I have no idea," the Prime Shadow shrugged, a small, satisfied smile on his face, clearly enjoying the reactions of the others. "Not that I would tell you even if I did," he added, causing an eye-roll from the Mage-Sovereign.


    "Such an inheritance could be used to greatly increase the strength of the human race," the Mage-Sovereign said to the Prime Shadow, "and yet you would seek to keep it secret from the rest of us."


    "Oh? If that''s the case, then divulge the all the secrets of your Mage-Dao Sect to the world, as that should also increase the power of the human race," the Prime Shadow replied, throwing the Mage-Sovereigns words right back in her face, showing her the stupidity of such a request.


    She red at him but fell silent, realizing her request truly had been too forward.


    "Hahahaha," the Netherfrost Beastughed, amused by their conversation. The Mage-Sovereign gave him a pointed nce, not amused by hisughter.


    "What''s so funny?" she asked.


    "You truly don''t know the severity, the profundity of what you just witnessed, do you?" the Netherfrost Beast asked.


    "Clearly not," the Mage-Sovereign replied, leaning back in her seat to calm herself down. "So why don''t you enlighten us on this matter. What profundity are we not understanding here?"


    The Netherfrost Beast exchanged a heated look with her, the two already at odds, but obliged as he was an honored guest here, and would act like one.


    "We beasts are a prideful bunch," he started exining. "But none are as prideful as the dragons, and atop that pyramid of pride, are the True Dragons. There is no creature more prideful than a True Dragon, and amongst them, no True Dragon more prideful than the Jade Dragons."


    "So, how does their pride have any bearing here?" the Mage-Sovereign asked curiously.


    "The True Dragons, and the Jade Dragons especially, are so prideful, that they consider every other creature in existence to be inferior to them, humans included," the Netherfrost Beast Leader exined. "One of their greatest points of pride is their bloodline and its purity, which they value almost more than anything else."


    The Netherfrost Beast paused for a moment, realizing he needed to exin a bit more background before getting into the details.


    "My Netherfrost Beast n is not from this world, but is from the Netherfrost World," the Netherfrost Beast exined, drawing some raised eyebrows. "This branch of the Netherfrost Beasts came to this world hundreds of thousands of years ago, just after the ancient war concluded. We brought with us the history and teachings of the main Netherfrost n, which is still taught today.


    A part of those teachings deal with the ancient True Dragons. From what is taught, the True Dragons do not share their power lightly. From what I know, the True Dragons have shared their power less than a dozen times in the history of the martial universe, and each time the power was shared with a pinnacle being of absolute talent and might.


    As for the Jade Dragons, from what I know, they have never once imparted a true inheritance on any other creature. They consider themselves the ultimate lifeform, and to impart their powers to others would be an insult to their entire lineage. They would never do such a thing."


    "So, you''re saying this boy stole these powers somehow? Pilfered an ancient ruin or something?" the Mage-Sovereign asked, easing up a little if that was the truth.


    "That''s not possible," the Netherfrost Beast shook his head. "The Jade Dragons pride and hubris is unyielding. They would sooner go extinct than let a single unworthy creature absorb even a single drop of their blood. They are so prideful that if they perish in battle, they will destroy their own body before allowing their remains to be used by others. And the boy''s body transformation itself. That body transformation art cannot be forcefully learned from some scrolls or jade pieces. No, that has to be taught by a True Dragon itself. No, the boy''s power was not stolen, or pilfered."


    "Then what? Are you saying he was given this power by a True Jade Dragon? Isn''t that impossible, based on what you just said?" the Mage-Sovereign asked, eyebrows raised in questioning judgment.


    "There is only one scenario where a True Jade Dragon would make such an exception and bestow aplete inheritance on another creature," the Netherfrost Beast said, a serious look on his face. "And that exception is¡­a Jade Dragon considering the one being blessed with the inheritance to be of equal standing in terms of bloodline and talent. Only an existence considered a Jade Dragons equal could be blessed with such an inheritance."


    The weight of the Netherfrost Beasts words hit the gathered powerhouses with the weight of a, nearly knocking them senseless. They struggled to form words as they processed the severity of the words just spoken.


    An existence equal to the strongest of all creatures. An existence considered an equal of the Jade Dragons. An existence, known as John Fenix.

 Chapter 1073 Sacred Sword Scripture

    Chapter 1073 Sacred Sword Scripture


    The sound of the crowd drowned out the silence on the tform, the crowd unaware of the discussion taking ce at the moment between the powerhouses of the world. Had they been witness to it, they too would be stunned into silence, unable to form words or even think.


    Nearby, Lilian listened to the conversation silently, an amused smirk on her face the entire time. She looked at Ji''Han who sat next to her, her smile growingrger as she noticed a serious, contemtive look on his face for the first time.


    Ji''Han was gripping his armrests tightly, his face stoic with seriousness. He eventually noticed her gaze, and looked at her. His eyes narrowed as he spotted her amused smile, clearly not shocked at all by this conversation, indicating one thing. She had known of this power the entire time.


    "No wonder you are so confident in him," Ji''Han said softly, not wanting to draw attention to himself.


    "Are you intimidated?" Lilian asked amusingly.


    Ji''Han remained stoic for a moment, then against Lilian''s expectations, smiled instead. His smile widened into an almost maniacal one, his eyes seeming to pierce into her soul.


    "On the contrary," he said, his aura simmering within as if he wanted to burst alight with power and battle this very moment. "It seems I have finally found someone my age that might be able to push me to my limits. I couldn''t be happier than I am right now."


    Lilian raised an eyebrow, then smirked.


    "Don''t be too happy," she warned him. "The stronger he is, the greater your odds of defeat."


    "Hmph," Ji''Han scoffed, clearly not threatened by John or Lilian''s words. His gaze shifted to the other side as the powerhouses started talking again.


    "Are you absolutely certain?" the Yang-Sovereign eventually asked.


    "I would never make such a serious im without being certain of it. Just as my blood tells me his inheritance is of a Jade Dragon, my n''s history gives me insights into the nature of which his power was obtained," the Netherfrost Beast nodded. "True Dragons are akin to gods to us beasts. I would never make light of any situation regarding them, especially one as unheard of as this."


    Silence filled the tform for a short while again before a snapping sound rang out, drawing the attention of all.


    "That''s impossible! Utterly impossible!" the Sword-Saint scowled, the armrests of his chair broken under the strength of his angered grip. "How could that barbaric boy be worthy of such powers? I refuse to believe it!"


    "Let''s prevail with cooler heads," the Yang-Sovereign cautioned the Sword-Saint, as his words were akin to calling the Netherfrost Beast a liar.


    The Sword-Saint gritted his teeth, then hastily stood from his seat.


    "Ji''Han, follow me," he said coldly, then took to the sky in the direction of the Yang-Spheres exit. Ji''Han stood and flew behind his father, the two of them disappearing from sight. Lilian watched them leave, then returned her gaze to the other powerhouses.


    She spotted the Prime Shadow looking at her, the two of them never having formally spoken since Ji''Han and the Sword-Saint were always present. She smiled and nodded at him, greeting him warmly.


    "John has spoken highly of you," the Prime Shadow said through sound transmission. "From what I can tell up close, his praise still undersold your talent."


    Lilian smiled, clearly pleased by thepliment. "Thank you for taking care of him all this time," Lilian replied. "I hope you didn''t go easy on him."


    "Haha, on the contrary," the Prime Shadowughed.


    "Good," Lilian nodded, the two of them starting a conversation about everything of importance, from Lilian''s arrival to the world, to the current state of things.


    ¡­


    Bang!


    The door to the room flew open as the Sword-Saint strode in, footsteps heavy with emotion. Ji''Han followed behind him, silent since they had left the arena. The Sword-Saint led them into a training room, the most luxurious one on the Sword-Dao Sects flying ship.


    The training room was almost boundless, with a rich Qi environment far greater than the natural outside level of Qi, which helped with long training sessions, and promoted faster cultivation. The Sword-Saint''s body flickered, appearing several miles deep into the training room.


    Ji''Han followed him, appearing next to his father.


    "What are we doing here?" Ji''Han asked, looking about the training room. He had a fight the next day, and his father had instructed him to be fully rested for each fight thus far.


    "Tch, that fucking brat," the Sword-Saint clicked his tongue, not hearing Ji''Han''s questions.


    "Father?" Ji''Han asked again, at which point the Sword-Saint finally looked at him.


    "I''m going to teach you the ultimate killing sword art I know," the Sword-Saint said, his face serious and voice cold.


    "The ultimate killing sword art?" Ji''Han repeated. "If it''s so amazing, why haven''t I been taught it yet."


    The Sword-Saint took a step forward and ced his hand on his son''s shoulder. "This art is one of our Sects three most powerful sword arts, taught only to those who have reached the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm.


    "I''m far from that realm," Ji''Han said, face scrunched up with confusion. "So why would you teach me it now?"


    "This Sword Art exacts a grave toll from the user," the Sword-Saint replied. "The main concern is one''s control over the Sword Dao. If one does not have sufficient control over the Sword Dao, this Sword Art could end up killing the user. That level ofprehension and control is usually at the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm, but I am confident you will be able to use it."


    "Why now? Do you think I cannot defeat John?" Ji''Han asked, as this was clearly stemming from the powers John had just revealed.


    "No, I do not think that," the Sword-Saint said, "but it''s better to be prepared than unprepared. If you are able to unleash this sword art, your victory will be one hundred percent assured."


    "So, what''s the ''grave toll'' using this art will inflict on me?" Ji''Han asked, as such a powerful art would have been taught to him unless it had great side effects.


    The Sword-Saint remained silent for a moment before answering.


    "Even if you are able to unleash this art sessfully, you will sustain significant internal and external damage. If you use this art, you will not be able to cultivate at all for a minimum of three months, perhaps more, and the effects will linger for at least a year afterward, hindering your cultivation slightly until all the wounds are healed, and even the most heavenly of healing items will not be able to speed up the process," the Sword-Saint exined to a surprised Ji''Han.


    Three months might not seem like much to an average person, but to a genius like Ji''Han, it was a very significant amount of time. That was three months he was unable to cultivate during the prime of his youth. Such a hindrance could result in his ultimate cultivation peak being impacted by a minor realm or two, and could even be the thing that prevented him from reaching the Astral King realm in the future.


    As for the year-long effect, that only made the situation worse. It was an uneptable consequence.


    "I know what you''re thinking," the Sword-Saint said, reading his son''s thoughts through his doubtful expression. "Such a cost is normally not worth it, but right now it is. If you are pushed to the point of having to use this, do so without question. The rewards bestowed upon you by the Ancient Blessings will vastly outweigh the negative consequences of using this sword art, so victory is the only thing that matters, do you understand?"


    The two exchanged a heavy gaze for a while before Ji''Han eventually nodded.


    "Good," the Sword-Saint smiled. "This art is called the Sacred Sword Scripture, and is an advanced extension of the Sword Art you already use, the True Sword Mantra. Let''s begin"

 Chapter 1074 Cinder Street

    Chapter 1074 Cinder Street


    The news of John''s draconic transformation spread throughout the continent like wildfire, reaching the farthest corners of the continent in a matter of hours. While many knew about the dark horse known as John who had turned the Three Dao tournament on its head, that had been before the transformation art he had revealed.


    Everyone knew of the strong underdog who constantly defied expectations, but the overwhelming opinion was that he was still faking his strength, and that his illusory test score was still false. After all, his score was the highest in tournament history, even higher than Ji''Hans, making it almost impossible to believe.


    That confidence in his score being false shattered as the news of his newly revealed powers spread. His powers, coupled with the fact that he managed to physically withstand Chloe''s final attack head on, turned more than a couple of people into believers. After all, no one could fake withstanding over fifty million pounds of force through strength alone. That type of thing could not be faked in front of tens of millions of spectators without them noticing any tricks.


    As the news of his feats spread, so did his growing legend. Stories of those who had seen John before the tournament, of those iming to have known him and see his feats in person spread, each more oundish than thest. In mere hours, his status went from cheating loser to heaven-defying genius, one who now stood firmly amongst the other heaven-defying names such as Ji''Han and Jaxus.


    As discussions around him grew, so did a singr topic. His attack power score. In the illusory testing trials, John had managed to score a one hundred on the ''Attack Power'' score. This score tested the absolute might, the absolute potency of what one could unleash through battle arts or other means, and was typically the number one indicator of how far a genius could go in the tournament.


    A score of one hundred meant that amongst all the Dao Transformation geniuses who had ever taken the illusory trials, John had scored the highest. That spanned back hundreds of thousands of years, and included hundreds of millions of the top geniuses who had ever taken the trial. The thought that this score was not false, and that John was actually capable of such a feat stunned everyone to their core.


    If the score was real, then how heaven-defying would such an attack be? The billions who followed the tournament could only wait with baited breath, hoping to soon see the true power of the one known as John Fenix.


    ¡­


    In the underground hallways of the Soaring Sword Sect, Grandmaster Darkcloud was being led through a sprawling library. The library was quite dark and dusty, with many of the books, scrolls and jade pieces covered in dust, revealing most of the documents had gone unused for hundreds of years or more.


    "I must say, this is quite an unusual request," the Soaring Sword Sect Elder said as he walked through the endless rows of shelves. "But I don''t doubt the crest of authority you carry, so I will do what I can for you."


    "Thank you," Grandmaster Darkcloud said, following closely behind the Middle World Expansion Elder. As this was a Third-Rate Sect, this Elder was quite high ranking despite his middling cultivation.


    He walked passed row after row of bookshelves, eventually stopping and turning into one of the rows. He walked several dozen yards down the row until he stopped and turned towards one of the shelves which was covered in books and scrolls.


    "Ah, here it is," the Elder said, reaching out towards one of the books. He grabbed it, wiped the dust off the cover, then opened the book. After flipping through hundreds of pages, he stopped and read a particr section.


    "Hmmmm, ah. Here it is. The one you seek, Azurae, was born in Jagged Cliff City. Her address of origin is listed as neen twelve, Cinder Street," the Elder said, turning to Grandmaster Darkcloud. "Is that everything you need?"


    "It is," Grandmaster Darkcloud said appreciatively. "I have taken enough of your time. I bid you farewell."


    The Grandmaster then vanished before the Elder could react, who was startled by the Grandmasters ability to evade his senses despite their somewhat simr cultivations. The Elder muttered something under his breath, put the book back on the shelf, and left the archive library, returning it to its usual darkness.


    Several hourster, the Grandmaster arrived at Jagged Cliff City. The city was given its name by the cliffs it was built next to, which soared up to the sky and then broke in uneven patterns, like a titanic beast had taken arge bite of the cliffs. Grandmaster Darkcloud hovered over the bustling city for a moment, then sped towards it, entering through the main entrance.


    He paid the city entry dues and made his way through the busy streets, eventually finding the location mentioned. He confirmed the address, then read the signboard above the entrance to the rather in looking building.


    Neen Twelve, Cinder Street. The Cinder Street Orphanage.


    The orphanage was a rather simple building, three stories tall. It was colored a simple yellow, and had a medium sized plot ofnd to the side of it, which was filled with young children running about. Some were running about, ying games, while others were sparring in a contest of might.


    Grandmaster Darkcloud watched them y for a moment, then stepped towards the front entrance. He opened the gate leading to into the orphanage grounds, then stopped as the door to the orphanage building a short distance ahead parted open. A middle aged woman stepped out of the entrance. She was rather tall, and wore a simple yet tight fitting workers dress, giving her a conflicting appearance of alluring yet casual.


    She had long ck hair and a piercing gaze, one that seemed as though it could see through souls and read minds. Grandmaster Darkcloud looked at her, a curious expression appearing on his face as he studied her cultivation.


    Late World Transformation.


    "Can I help you?" the woman asked Grandmaster Darkcloud.


    "Yes, I''m looking for some information on someone known as Azurae," Grandmaster Darkcloud said, stepping through the open gate. "I was told she grew up here, so I was hoping to inquire about her upbringing."


    A sharp look raced across the woman''s face for an instant, so fast that it was almost imperceptible. Grandmaster Darkcloud caught the look however, his demeanor remaining rxed to not betray his thoughts.


    "I do not recall one with such a name growing up here," the woman said. "I''m sorry, but I cannot help you. Please leave. I have children to attend to."


    Bang!


    She closed the door in the Grandmaster''s face, leaving him alone in the front yard of the orphanage. The Grandmaster''s eyes narrowed for a moment before he retreated. He moved several streets away, then took out a long-range transmission disk.


    "I have discovered a location of interest, one that seems to be guarding secrets regarding Azurae. I will dig deeper and ry my findings," he sent through themunication disk, then put it away and slipped into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

 Chapter 1075 Seraph of Karmic Judgement

    Chapter 1075 Seraph of Karmic Judgement


    The door to John''s training room cracked open as Naelia stepped inside. Her presence was indication enough for John that it was time for his round, and so he stopped his training session and cleaned up, thanking Naelia in the process.


    After getting clean, John made his way through the now-familiar hallways towards the arena, arriving there a short timeter. The familiar roar of the crowd entered his ears, so loud that it was nearly deafening. As he arrived at the balcony ledge overlooking the arena from several miles up, John noticed Ji''Han soaring through the sky towards his viewing tform, his fight having just finished.


    His eyes narrowed slightly as he focused on the youth, who seemed slightly different than before. Whereas Ji''Han from before was like a sheathed sword, one deadly yet contained, he now gave off a more dangerous, more lethal aura. It was as if he was now unsheathed, ready tond a killing blow on anyone at a moment''s notice.


    "How did Ji''Han''s fight go?" John asked Naelia, who shrugged with a pouting frown on her face.


    "How would I know? I was with you the whole time, and you refuse to show up early to your fights," she said, clearly disappointed she was not able to catch a glimmer of Ji''Han''s battle.


    John nodded and patted Naelia''s head apologetically, then took to the sky and plummeted towards the arena below. His appearance created a roar of noise from the crowd, which seemed to have more cheering in it than before, at least as far as he could tell.


    Hended on the arena, receiving an appreciative nod from the Yang-Dao Sect Elder for not only arriving looking clean and presentable, but also early. John smiled at the elder, then shifted his gaze as he spotted a figure floating through the sky from the other direction, soaring majestically towards the arena.


    It was a young woman who appeared to be in herte teens. She had long blonde hair that billowed in the wind behind her, and a beautiful yet cold face. The expression on her face seemed as though she was looking down on all around her, a haughty, judgemental look. Her hair was tied up into a neat bun on her head, which was topped with a regal looking crown of some sorts. The crown was purple with three gems embedded into the front, white, ck and multicolored in color.


    The multi-colored gem seemed to constantly shift colors, almost like the swirling chaos energy found in the void. She wore a long and beautiful dress of purple with gold trimmings, with long tassels blowing in the wind behind her, making her look both arcane and mesmerizing.


    Shended gracefully on the arena, her poise and bearing like that of a queen. She looked at John with an indifferent expression, although her piercing gaze was full of hidden judgment.


    ''Another Mage Dao Sect opponent?'' John couldn''t help but wonder, as he seemed to be fighting them much more often than the other sects. From what he knew of the final eight geniuses, there were three from the Sword Dao Sect, three from the Yang Dao Sect, one from the Mage Dao Sect, and him.


    His opponent, Ishnai, was considered the strongest Dao Transformation genius of the Mage Dao Sect, a prodigious genius known as the Seraph of Karma. John sent out his divine sense to link with her armband, curiosity reading her information contained within.


    Scanning through her scores, he stopped on her most impressive stats; her Soul Talent, Attack Power, and Battle Art scores. All of these were scored at ny eight, indicating she was a frightfully powerful genius.


    The crowd cheered with apuse and adtion as Ishnainded on the arena, the loudest cheers naturallying from those supporting the Mage Dao Sect.


    John studied her for a moment,paring her to his previous Mage Dao opponent, Chloe.


    "Are you going to unleash a channeled Mage Art right from the start?" John asked curiously, although he received no answer. His only reply was a cold re from Ishnai, who almost seemed to consider John inferior based on her haughty expression.


    "Well, I don''t care either way," John shrugged nonchntly, not worried about what she could throw at him. She was the same age as John, and also had a Middle Dao Transformation cultivation. With their cultivations even, the threat she posed to him was minimal. While John didn''t like being overly confident like this, he also wanted to find out what battle arts and mage arts existed on this world, and the only way to find out was to let his opponents use them on him.


    If he went all out from the start in each battle, he would learn nothing of the battle arts and mage arts of this world, and with his goal of creating his own battle art, he needed to be as knowledgeable about the martial universe as possible.


    A few minutester, after confirming that both fighters were ready, the Yang-Dao Elder finallymenced the fight. The crowd erupted into thunderous cheering as the fight started, their eagerness to see the fight between the number one genius of the Mage Dao Sect and the number one darkhorse nearly overwhelming them.


    As he indicated, John did not take action right away. He stood in ce, waiting for Ishnai to attack first. As expected, she exploded with a brilliant might right away, her strategy the same as Chloe''s. With her aura fully concealed before the fight began, there was no way to prove she had been channeling the art before the fight started, and thus she did not break any rules.


    Her aura shot into the sky like a brilliant me of pure white, almost holy in nature. At the same time, a profound and arcane Qi began to flow from the weapon that had suddenly appeared in her hand, a scepter of some sorts.


    The shaft of the scepter was purple with gold trimmings, three feet in length. The head of the scepter was a glowing diamond-like crystal, four inches in diameter. It was held in ce by golden fixings extending from the shaft, with colorful gems embedded in the fixings, adding to its profound and grand appearance.


    The crystal on the end of the scepter began to glow brightly as Ishnai activated her Mage Art. Her Qi was thick and more potent than anyone he had fought thus far, causing John to nod his head in approval, as she was no doubt a pinnacle genius.


    Ishnai waved her scepter above her head, a burst of Qi sting out, then swirling in the air, slowly but surely shifting shape before John''s eyes. In the matter of seconds, the Qi solidified as Ishnai unleashed her Mage Art, drawing gasps of astonishment from the crowd.


    "Seraph of Karmic Judgement," Ishnai said, her voice drifting through the arena like it was floating on an invisible wind. Behind her, a giant seraphic-like avatar appeared, one thirty feet tall. The avatar was glowing and white, like it had been carved from the purest of marbles. Large-feathery wings extended to both sides behind its back, blocking the sun above and shrouding Ishnai and John in shadows.


    The angel had an ethereal face of pure perfection, as if each and every feature was created by the heavens itself to form the ultimate creation. It wore a long white dress which flowed into mist at the skirt. It held two golden measuring scales, one in each hand. Carved into the side of both scales were two words. One read ''righteousness;, while the other read ''death''. Its eyes, brilliant gold like shining suns, seemed to lock onto John, wanting to pierce through his very existence.


    Most eye-catching of all was the third eye on its forehead which was currently closed. The closed eye was surrounded by a circle ofplex runes which pulsed with various colors and constantly shifted, making the seraph-like avatar look both holy and arcane.


    John couldn''t help but gape at the angelic avatar, as it was one of the most beautiful and also most arcane things he had ever seen. As far as battle or mage arts went, it was no doubt the most eye-catching art an opponent had ever used against him.


    Ishnai, her eyes closed all this time, finally opened. She looked at John with a distant look, as if she were looking at him through the lens of a thousand different perspectives, each more arcane than thest.


    "Every living being is linked with Karma, and Karma is a source of power as potent as the heavens itself. Geniuses are blessed by the heavens, and as a result, their karmic threads are the most numerous, as well as the strongest," Ishnai said, her voice sounding as if a thousand different people spoke at once, their voice resonating together to form something alien sounding. "The Seraph of Karmic Judgement feeds will feed off your karma, empowering me with the karmic threads bound to you."


    She then waved her scepter once, the crystal in the middle shining brightly. The blinding brightness faded away, revealing a glowing rune floating within the confines of the crystal.


    "The seraph has chosen," Ishnai said. "Your method of judgment: The Karma of Death! You will now be judged by all the lives you have taken, all the death you have created."


    Boom!


    A chain shot off from the measuring scale with the word death carved into it, reaching John in an instant. Ittched onto him, then seemed to squirm all around him,tching onto invisible things he couldn''t see but could now feel. His threads of Karma.

 Chapter 1076 Judged By Karma

    Chapter 1076 Judged By Karma


    The chainstched outwards onto the air around him as if grabbing onto something corporeal. There was nothing visible, but John knew the chains had attached to his threads of Karma. He felt true surprises for the first time in a long time, as Karma was a very abstract concept to him and almost everyone he met.


    He had not expected a Dao Transformation opponent to be able to deal with Karma, as even he himself was unable to do so yet.


    "How¡­how are you able to interact with Karma, especially the Karma of others?" John asked curiously, his mind racing with questions.


    "Like I said," Ishnai replied, her voice still like that of a thousand people speaking. "Karma is one of the many fundamental forces of power and energy of this universe. Once you begin to understand it, you can interact with it, as well as interact with the Karma of others. With someone like you, who is unable to hide or obscure your Karma at all, interacting with your Karma is incredibly easy."


    "I see," John said thoughtfully. "So, what does this Mage Art do exactly? Are you going to read my Karma? Tell my fortune?"


    While Karma was no doubt a profound concept beyond his current understanding, he didn''t know exactly how it could be used in battle. He felt as though he could rip the chains off him through great effort, but decided against that action for now. If the Mage Art reached a level that could harm him he would take action, but for now he would sit back and learn. Perhaps he would learn something about Karma, at least enough to be able to mask his own Karma.


    Ishnai smirked at hisment, especially the quip about reading his fortune. Most who dealt with Karma were scryers and prophesier''s, dealing with the abstracts of fortune and future telling.


    "The Seraph of Karma is a physical manifestation of the Dao of Karma," Ishnai decided to entertain his questions, clearly not worried about him using the information she gave against her. "Through its hand and myprehensions of the Dao of Karma, I can interact with your unseen threads of Karma. As I mentioned before, Karma is not just something incorporeal, but is a real, true source of power."


    "I see," John nodded. "So, you''re going to empower yourself using my Karma?"


    "Yes," Ishnai said, smirking again. "But not only your Karma, but yourself as well!"


    Boom!


    The seraphic angel floating behind Ishnai exploded with power, bing so white that it was almost blinding. An arcane energy surged from the angel though the chain towards John, the chain itself glowing with power as well. After reaching John, it did things unseen with his Karma, then turned around, surging back towards the angel.


    The energy hit the angel, at which point another chain shot out of it,tching onto Ishnai''s back. Ishnai shuddered for a moment, her eyes rolling back for a second. Then her aura began to rise once more, her eyes snapping open and locking onto John with focused purpose.


    "Let Death be your Measure, and Regret your Judgment," she said, her voice growing even more alien.


    Boom!


    Both Ishnai and the seraph exploded with power, like twin beacons of white fire. John felt a profound energy m into him through the chain, nearly knocking him off his feet. He groaned lightly and stabilized himself, not taking any true damage in whatever just happened. His eyes widened a momentter as he felt his Qi churn within his body, moving without hismand.


    Some of his Qi roiled as if out of his control, then surged through his meridians and out into the chainstched onto him.


    "What?" he couldn''t help but ask, unsure of what was going on. For the first time in a very long time, he was not fully in control of his Qi.


    "Karma is a source of power, but so are you," Ishnai said, her smirk gone and reced by a look of pure arrogance, like a king looking down on a lowly subject. "Each life you have reaped has sowed a thread of Karma. Through those threads, the Seraph of Karma is able to strengthen itself off your Karma, while I use your Qi to strengthen myself."


    "How¡­how is that even possible?" John couldn''t help but ask. He waspletely taken aback, as this was by far the most obscure and arcane battle art he had ever fought against. He could rip the chains off his body, but still didn''t feel any grave danger and so opted against such an action.


    Ishnai ignored his question, and continued to speak of her Mage Art. "Each thread of Karma is judged by the Seraph, which is then strengthened by your Qi as well as your Karma. The greater your regret for each life you have taken, the more your Qi is drained."


    "That''s¡­actually amazing," John couldn''t help but praise, feeling his Qi slowly be drained from his body. In terms of pure abstract profundity, this Mage Art was unmatched when considering all the Arts he had faced up to this point.


    "Your cloud of death is far greater than any I have fought against! It is like a tempest of death, a storm of destruction. I see flickers of your karmic memories. Memories of those you have killed. So many. So many deaths¡­Your Karma is incredible, and your regrets must be even moreso. I will feed off this power, growing to a level that you cannot hope to fight," Ishnai said, her eyes glowing white and her face bing almost like that of the seraph behind her.


    As his threads of Karma continued to be judged, his Qi continued to be drained through the chain and into the Seraph. As it did so, the Seraph continued to be stronger, more lethal.


    John watched the process unfold, then chuckled lightly. "You''re right about how many lives I''ve taken," he said to Ishnai, then shook his head. "But as far as regret goes, I do not regret a single life I have taken."


    "Impossible," Ishnai muttered. "So much death and not one regret¡­I refuse¡­" her voice trailed off as she fell silent for a moment, clearly feeling something through the chains linking her, John, and the Seraph of Karma.


    The Seraph continued to grow for a short time, while John felt his Qi continue to be drained. When his Qi drained ten percent, the process finally stopped. He tilted his head to the side, curious why the process had stopped.


    "Is that all?" he asked, his question cut off by a sudden cry of euphoria from Ishnai.


    "This Qi of yours! So pure. So potent. It''s unlike anything I''ve ever felt before!" she eximed, shuddering from the overwhelming power she felt. She floated in the air for a few seconds, head back, arms outwards, basking in the overwhelming power coursing through her. She then began tough maniacally, as if her mind waspletely ensnared by the power coursing through her.


    She then waved her hand, shing her scepter through the air towards John. As she did so, the Seraph mimicked her action, the scale of Righteousness disappearing, reced by a copy of her scepter, only muchrger.


    Boom!


    A beam of incredible power, tinged with the Dao of Karma, pierced towards John. He frowned as it approached, but didn''t take any action to defend against it. The beam mmed onto him with incredible power, drowning him within.


    The crowd gasped and the announcer spoke frantically as the beam of power enveloped John,pletely drowning him in its ruinous power.


    Boom!


    After mming into John, the beam of power exploded outwards, drowning most of the arena in its remnant power. The arena shook violently and the defensive formations red to life, protecting the spectators from being harmed.


    "So¡­so much power!" Ishnai said as the explosion began to fade, her alien-sounding voice brimming with euphoria. "I have no idea how you came to obtain such pure and potent Qi, but you are unworthy of the powers you possess. Still, using your own power to defeat you is judgment enough for now. Your Karma has been read, and you have been judged."

 Chapter 1077 Karmic Reprisal

    Chapter 1077 Karmic Reprisal


    Shended softly on the arena, looking forward at the ce John had been attacked. The explosion was still quite thick and had yet to fade away, obscuring her vision of him. She looked upwards and noticed the chain from the Seraph was still extending outwards towards John''s location, causing her gaze to snap onto his location with haste.


    Eyes narrowed, they grew wide as the fading explosion revealed John standing there in his original location. His body was covered in wounds, mostly on his arms which had been used to block the attack. Those wounds cut deep, although they were quickly mending at a visible rate. By the time the explosion fully faded, the wounds had fully mended, leaving only the blood on his body as an indication that he had taken any damage at all.


    John shook his arms in an unconcerned manner, then nodded his head with a ir of satisfaction.


    "Wow, so that is what it''s like to be attacked with a portion of my power huh? No wonder everyone gets overwhelmed the second I get serious," he said in a self-satisfied manner.


    "What¡­how?" Ishnai muttered, eyes wide as she stared at John. "You were drained of almost all your Qi, and I unleashed an attack using all of itbined with the power of Karma as well. How are you still standing?" "Drained of almost all my Qi?" John said, tiling his head to the side in confusion. "You might want to look again," he said, telling her to check his armband.


    Ishnai sent out her divine sense, eyes growing wide like saucers as she read hisbat values. "What! Your Qi reserves are still at ny percent!? Impossible! I absorbed so much. It''s impossible that what absorbed was only ten percent!" she eximed,pletely shocked by what she was seeing.


    When she had absorbed his Qi through her Mage Art, she had be enthralled by the feeling of his power, of the pure might of it all. She naturally considered it to be a great portion of his Qi, and in her euphoric state of power, had not checked his stats to be sure. Now that she was seeing the truth, she was almost unable toprehend it.


    "Impossible!" she muttered again. "The Seraph absorbed all there was to absorb from your Karma of Death! That should have drained you of all of your Qi!"


    "Well, I''m not sure what happened, but it didn''t, so¡­" John shrugged.


    Ishnai frowned, an uncertain look appearing on her face. The Seraph behind her selected between the Karma of Righteousness and Karma of Death, always picking the more potent of the two based on her opponent. These two aspects almost always consisted of at least half of her opponent''s Karma, resulting in them being drained of a majority of their power. In that state, with her empowered and her opponent weakened, a single attack should be able to finish the battle.


    And yet it hadn''t. "The Seraph is never wrong! It chose Death, and that¡­unless¡­but that''s impossible!" she started muttering to herself.


    "Are you going to do something, or should I take action now?" John asked, his question aplete insult as if he wasn''t even concerned about this battle at all.


    Ishnai frowned, her gaze locked onto his. She then red with power once more, although different in nature from before. A momentter, her forehead began to glow brightly, runic patterns moving around to form a circle that rotated to the left. As the runes rotated, an eye made of arcane energy materialized, then snapped open.


    As it did so, John felt as though he was being stared at not by Ishnai, but some other creature or force of nature. It felt unnerving, although there was no dangering from it.


    "This¡­how is this possible," she muttered softly, staring at something around John unseen to others. "The Seraph is never wrong¡­but the truth is clear before me."


    While she rambled to herself, John started impatiently tapping his right foot. He could have ended this battle a dozen times by now, but was taking his time, trying to learn more about the Dao of Karma. Unfortunately, he had learned almost nothing, as this Mage Art was tooplex to understand from just a nce.


    "So that''s how it is," Ishnai muttered, then smiled lightly. "You might have managed to obscure the Seraphs'' initial judgment of your Karma, but with my Third Eye of Karmic Truth, you cannot hide the truth from me."


    "The truth? What truth?" John asked, confused by what was going on. He had done nothing, nor had he hidden anything from her.


    Ishnai smirked, as if she was seeing through his lies, then made a quick series of hand seals. Her scepter began to glow brilliantly a momentter, her power linking with the Seraph behind her. A momentter, the third eye on the Seraphs forehead began to glow, then snapped open.


    A thunderp filled the arena as the eye opened and a beam of brilliant white light pierced out,nding on John before he could even react. He felt another link form between him and the seraph, far more potent than the chains that had bound him before. The beam of light locked him in ce, making movement difficult. While he could break free, he decided to y along for now until his instincts warned him to take action.


    "What is this?" John asked, feeling a growing dread simr to the one he had felt when his father had shown him his threads of Karma all those years ago. "The Seraph should have chosen the most potent of the Three Karmas, but for some reason had not," Ishnai said.


    "Three Karmas?" John asked curiously. He knew of two, but not the third. "What''s the Third Karma?"


    "The Karma of Fate," Ishnai said, smirking with confidence. "I was blind to it before, as it was hidden from me by you. I have no idea how you did that, but now that I''ve opened my third eye, I can see the cloud of Fate Karma surrounding you. Your Karma of Death is insignificantpared to your Karma of Fate."


    "Karma of Fate?" John repeated, slightly taken aback. He had a bad feeling grow within, and hastily spoke out once more. "If I was you, I would stop what you''re doing right now. My Fate Karma is not something you can withstand."


    From what Ishnai had said, the stronger the Karma, the stronger the Seraph grew feeding off that Karma, and the stronger Ishnai grew feeding off his own Qi. Earlier, she had reveled in the Qi she had absorbed from him, acting as if it was the ultimate power she had ever felt. That had only been ten percent of his Qi, and to be more urate, ten percent of his Essence Qi.


    If she tried to absorb more of his power¡­


    "Stop?" Ishnai scoffed. "I''m only getting started. Now show to me the truth, Karma of Fate!"


    Boom!


    The Seraph exploded with incredible power, far greater than before. It was as if a true angelic being had descended onto the world, a god amongst men. Many in the crowd shuddered and recoiled from the blinding power, feeling as though they needed to prostrate before the figure.


    At the same time, John felt the power binding him intensify, and the Qi draining from him hasten. "Hahahaha!" Ishnai startedughing maniacally as she felt the power of John''s Fate Karma and his own Qi empower the Seraph and herself respectively."This power! It''s¡­I need more!"


    As Ishnai continued tough, John felt his Qi continue to drain. It hit eighty percent, then seventy percent. As his Qi drained, the auraing from both Ishnai and the Seraph intensified, growing from a tempest to a cataclysmic storm of power. "Hahaha! So this is your fate! The immensity of it! Its unlike anything I''ve ever seen! So much Karma. So much power!" Ishnai said as slivers of Karmic memories shed in her mind. The stronger the threads of Karma, the more Qi she was able to siphon from John.


    Memories of John''s homeworld. Memories of Laia, Lilian, and the Astral Emperor. Memories of the Jade Dragons. Memories of the Asura. The Asura memories caused her to shudder with instinctual fear the moment it appeared in her mind, the horror of the Asura''s piercing through time and space.


    As the memory of the Asura shed, the Seraph behind her grew so bright and powerful that it began to shake and shimmer, as if it were growing too powerful to contain it''s own power. An instability formed in the Seraph, followed by a visible crack forming on its body, going from skirt to shoulder. Light leaked out of the crack, blinding the arena in its brilliance.


    Ishnai was unable to react in time. Unable to stop the process as the crack grew. Lastly, a memory shed past through her mind, so brief that it was only for an instant. A memory of a soul taken human form. A memory of John''s father, and the Karma tied to it. As the memory shed, John felt a great deal of Qi siphoned from his body, taking his reserves from seventy percent to forty percent due to the immensity of the Karmic thread.


    "Hahaha....Ahhhhhhhh!" Ishnai''sughs of euphoria immediately turned into cries of horrified pain as the surge of power overwhelmed her. Behind her, the Seraph opened its mouth for the first time and screeched with what sounded like agony. Then without warning, it exploded, unable to withstand the Karmic power surging through it.


    Boom!


    The seraphs explosion bathed the arena in cataclysmic power, drowning out all sound and thought.


    "Ishnai!" the Mage-Sovereign cried out in sudden panic, her figure vanishing as she moved towards the arena. She arrived a moment toote. The Mage-Sovereign appeared before her, arms reaching towards her pinnacle genius. Ishnai looked at her master, a look of agony on her face, unable to withstand the buildup of Qi she had absorbed from John. Then, like a balloon filled with too much air, her body suddenly exploded, drowning the arena in an explosion of Qi, blood, and bone.

 Chapter 1078 The End of The Round of Eight

    Chapter 1078 The End of The Round of Eight


    The gasps of ten million stunned spectators resounded throughout the stadium at the shocking sight of Ishnai exploding from within. Then there was silence, as no one knew what to do or say in the moment, as the turn of events was too sudden and too shocking to process quickly.


    Ishnai, the number one genius of the Mage-Dao Sect, and one of the most talented to evere from the sect, had perished. Tens of millions of eyes stared at the Mage-Sovereign, who stood motionless in the arena, the blood and viscera of Ishnai sttered all around her. The Mage-Sovereign remained silent and motionless for what felt like an eternity to everyone. She then waved her hand, using her power to collect every bit of Ishnai''s remains, most likely for some sort of burialter. Then she turned around to face John, an action that caused everyone to hold their breaths. The two locked gazes, and John felt the piercing weight of the Mage-Sovereigns gaze. He could feel her emotions through her gaze. Her shock. Her confusion. Her rage. He could feel her thinly veiled bloodlust, as if she wanted to tear him apart at a moment''s notice. That was understandable, given the circumstances, although John was not concerned. With the Prime Shadow nearby, the Mage-Sovereign would have to be suicidal to take action against him.


    Her eyes then became unfocused, as if she were looking at things around John, and not at him. John instantly realized what she was looking at; his Karmic threads. While he didn''t know how much a Holy Manifestation cultivator could see or discern from his Karmic threads, he was certain she could see how many were connected to him, and the profundity of each thread. Her eyes wavered, growing wide with hidden disbelief, then him, and the profundity of each thread. Her eyes wavered, growing wide with hidden disbelief, then returned to normal an instantter. Her gaze slightly changed at this point, one less blood-lusted, and more one¡­awed. "Such Karmic Fate¡­" she trailed off. The two locked eyes for a moment longer, then the Mage-Sovereign turned to leave, taking to the sky in a direction opposite the viewing tform she hade from and towards the Yang-Sphere exit.


    "Wait!" a loud yell boomed through the arena, causing the Mage-Sovereign to pause and stop in the air. She turned towards the source of the voice, as did all the others in the stadium, John included.


    He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Sword-Saint, who was standing before his chair, eyes locked onto John with menace, as well as¡­amusement. A tinge of a smirk appeared on his face as the two locked eyes, then he shifted his gaze to look at the Mage-Sovereign, then the Yang-Sovereign to his side.


    "This boy has vited the rules of the tournament. His actions have resulted in the death of his opponent, and the rules in this matter are clear. He is to be disqualified, as well as punished in a manner befitting such a grievous crime," the Sword-Saint said, a lofty look on his face as if he were the arbiter of justice for the human race.


    The crowd gasped again upon hearing this, their eyes shifting between John and the three powerhouses. Was the dark horse''s fate going to end like this, with a whimper instead of a bang? "This matter is not so simple," the Yang-Sovereign said, a thoughtful frown on his face. As if expecting such a reply, the Sword-Saintlooked to the Mage-Sovereign, who still floated in the sky above the arena, her face expressionless.


    "Mage-Sovereign. Surely you are in agreement that judgment must be meted out?" the Sword-Saint said, trying to get the Mage-Sovereign on his side. If he was able to do that, then John''s disqualification was almost ensured. While punishing John was almost impossible with the Prime Shadow at his side, getting him disqualified was more than enough for the Sword-Saint at the moment. "My dearest disciple''s blood has yet to cool, and yet you are trying to use her death for your own personal gain?" the Mage-Sovereign sneered sharply, her reply and viscous tone surprising the Sword-Saint, who had been expecting agreement from her.


    "I''m only trying to obtain justice for your departed disciple," he replied with the sincerest tone he could muster. "Letting this boy continue to participate in the tournament after what he did is an affront to you, Ishnai, and the entire tournament!"


    "Silence!" the Mage-Sovereign barked out immediately, her voice booming throughout the entire Yang-Sphere like a thunderp. Her sudden outburst shocked everyone, as none had ever seen her react with such raw emotion, the Sword-Saint included. "You will speak no more of Ishnai, nor will you attempt to use her death to further your goals," the Mage-Sovereign scowled. The Sword-Saint opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off immediately as the Mage-Sovereign continued. "Ishnai''s death was of her own doing. She knew the risks of using another''s Karmic Fate, and in the end lost her way. Not only was her death her own doing, but this boy," she said, turning her eyes downward towards John, "this boy warned her of the consequences of doing so. He took no action whatsoever during their fight, and thus cannot be found at fault for Ishnai''s death. I will not sully Ishnai''s death by partaking in this farcical disy of yours."


    An aghast expression appeared on the Sword-Saint''s face, clearly not expecting this event to be turned on him in such a way, making him look like a impulsive and vindictive fool. After a moment of silence, he sat back down, burying the subject. Without the Mage-Sovereign''s support, punishing John was impossible.


    The Mage-Sovereign continued to stare daggers as the Sword-Saint for a short while, then shifted her gaze back down to John who had yet to move from the arena, the two locking eyes.


    "Boy," she said, no respect in her tone when speaking to John. "Ishnai''s death might not be your doing, but her blood is still on your hands. If you fail to win the tournament and let her death be in vain, I will seek you out, regardless of the consequences."


    A sad, understanding smile appeared on John''s face as he nodded towards the Mage-Sovereign in understanding. There was no doubt on his face whatsoever, a silent confirmation of the Mage-Sovereigns request.


    "Good," she said, then turned and flew through the sky, disappearing from sight a momentter. Her departure once more filled the arena with a deafening silence, as no one knew what to say or do with everything they had just seen and heard. A short whileter, the Yang-Dao Sect Elder coughed, then stepped towards John to announce the result of the battle.


    "The victor, by¡­" he paused, not knowing how to describe the oue while still being respectful of the Mage-Sovereign and her dead disciple. In the end, he cleared his throat and continued.


    "The victor, John Fenix!"

 Chapter 1079 Surprising Guest

    Chapter 1079 Surprising Guest


    The two moons of the Nine-Dao World hung high in the sky, bathing thend in a silvery light. The inhabitants of Jagged Cliff City went about their nightly business, unaware of the hidden shadow lingering nearby. Shrouded by his stealth arts, Grandmaster Darkcloud lingered near the orphanage, waiting for his opportunity to infiltrate and learn of the secrets contained within. The night dragged on for several hours before the door to the orphanage opened and the Late World Expansion caretaker stepped out. She tapped the formation panel next to the door, which red with a sh of light as it closed, sealing it off with some sort of formation. She looked about in all directions then left, leaving for some unknown business.


    The Grandmaster watched her leave down Cinder Street, then moved. His figure was like a mass of darkness, almost indiscernible from the surrounding darkness, like a shadow at night. ''Quite a defensive formation for a mere orphanage,'' he thought, inspecting the main door. The defensive formation was not one he couldn''t break, but it would alert those in control of it that it had been breached. After inspecting it, he moved again, searching for any weaknesses in the building''s defense. He eventually found one, which was a narrow gap between two formations guarding the orphanage, seemingly created from an addition to the orphanage. Instead of extending the defensive formation after the addition was constructed, a new formation was created for the addition. The two formations blended together almost seamlessly, but for someone like the Grandmaster, ''almost'' was not nearly good enough. His figure, like smokey darkness, filtered through the crack, entering the building undetected.


    He found himself standing in a storage room of some sorts, and quietly made his way out and into the hallway. Silence greeted him, as all the orphans inside were sound asleep. The Grandmaster made his way through the orphanage, searching each room silently.


    ''Hmm?'' he stopped halfway down a hallway, turning towards the wall. He then smiled and slipped through an almost indiscernible crack in the wall, appearing on the other side. A dark stairwell leading down into the earth greeted him, some sort of hidden hallway.


    He made his way down the stairs, careful of any hidden traps or formations. Arge underground chamber greeted him, one filled with hundreds of shelves and tables, all holding countless books, jade pieces, items, and other objects. He smiled, then got to work.


    ¡­


    Several hourster, the Grandmaster held a book in his hand, having already read through thousands of books. None had given him the information he wanted, and without someone to point him to the information he desires, he had to manually check each one. His divine sense could have checked all the books in an instant, but that would have been dangerous, and could potentially trigger hidden formations. As such, he opted for the slow but caution method of checking for what he wanted. As he picked up the book, titled ''Basic Formation Principles'' and flipped open the cover, a small smirk appeared on his face as he read the contents within. The title was a lie for what was contained within; information regarding Azurae.


    The Grandmaster flipped through the book, which contained the archives of Azurae''s early life. Page after page flipped over, the Grandmaster''s eyes growing wider with each page. He finally set the book down, a shocked and grim expression on his face. ''We have been so blind,'' he muttered internally, shaking his head with disbelief. Boom!


    An explosive sound and blinding light suddenly filled the underground chamber, startling the Grandmaster as he had detected nothing before. He spun around and red with power, his aura destroying the shelves and tables in the room, erasing it into nothingness. He stared at the chamber stairs that he hade from, eyes narrowing as a figure walked down and into the chamber.


    It was a female, appearing to be in her early forties, although her true age was far older than that. She had long green hair which changed to red at the ends, giving her quite a unique look. She wore a dress of simr design, green at the top, fading into red at the skirt. She had an alluring and beautiful face, although her hawk-like eyes stared at the Grandmaster as if he were prey.


    Lastly, her cultivation leaked out ever so slightly, revealing it to the Grandmaster, although he already knew of this woman and her cultivation. The Early Holy Manifestation Realm. Although the Grandmaster was incredibly powerful, with his Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm cultivation, he was no match for this woman in a straight one on one battle. "You!" the Grandmaster growled.


    "Yes, me!" the womansaid, smiling as they stared at the Grandmaster. She looked all around at the destroyed chamber, then back to the Grandmaster. "The Shadows of Death truly live up to their reputation," she said, an amused smirk on her face. "I never thought this location would be discovered. Tell me, how did youe to find this ce?"


    The Grandmaster remained silent, his guard raised to the maximum. Suddenly and without warning, a long-range transmission disk appeared in his hand, which he crushed in an instant after adding his message to it. The energy from the disk red and raced outwards, then mmed into an invisible nothingness, rebounding back into the room.


    The Grandmaster''s eyes went wide as he saw this, while the woman''s smile deepened.


    "This location is protected by the best defensive formations, which includedmunication blocking formations as well," she said, then took a step forward. "Now, are we going to do this the easy way with you surrendering, or are we going to do this the hard way?"


    The Grandmaster remained silent, then his figure shed into dark mist, moving with incredible speed. The woman sighed.


    "The hard way it is!"


    ¡­


    The night passed by giving rise to the next day. In the Yang-Sphere, there was only bright sunlight, thend illuminated by the artificial sun hanging high in the sky. Per his usual routine, John spent the entire time training with Zuri, honing his new self-created Arts. What would have been the round of four tournament day was instead pushed back one day, and a day of mourning for Ishnai, per the Mage-Sovereign''s request, was decreed instead. It included a ceremony as well as a burial, the Mage-Sovereign opting to bury the remains of her precious disciple in thends she had died.


    Figuring his presence would be distracting and unweed, John skipped the ceremony, spending the entire day in training instead. He trained straight through the day and into the night, at which point Naelia entered the training grounds, interrupting his training session.


    "Is it time already?" John asked after stopping his battle with Zuri, surprised he had lost track of time in such a manner.


    "No," Naelia shook her head, "but someone is here to see you."


    "Someone''s here for me?" John asked, surprised to hear this, as well as curious who it could be. His mind raced with potential options, ranging from Lilian all the way to the Sword-Saint. He followed Naelia out into the Prime Shadow''s room, his eyes widening ever so slightly as he saw the person seated on a nearby couch, smiling at him.


    His next opponent, and number four Dao Transformation genius of the Nine-Dao World human race. Araxus

 Chapter 1080 JiHan vs Jaxus

    Chapter 1080 Ji''Han vs Jaxus


    "You missed today''s ceremony," Araxus said. John looked at him for a moment, then walked over and sat down on a couch opposite his next opponent. "I figured my presence would be in bad taste," John replied after taking his seat and rxing for the first time in a full day. "So, what have youe here for?"


    "No idea," Araxus said while shrugging. "So, how are you feeling?" "How am I feeling? About what? About Ishnai?" John asked, to which Araxus nodded.


    John shrugged. "I''m not really feeling any particr way. While sad, Ishnai''s death was her own doing."


    "Agreed," Araxus nodded, then leaned forward. "But a lot of people are ming you, despite the Mage-Sovereigns'' words. Mostly fans of the Mage-Dao Sect, or other disciples of the sect."


    John shrugged again, not concerned about how others, especially those from the Mage-Dao Sect felt about him. Silence filled the room for a short while before Araxus spoke again.


    "So, I''ve been curious. What kind of Fate Karma do you have to be able to cause Ishnai to explode like that?" Araxus asked curiously. "I''ve heard of her Mage Art, and I''m pretty sure its the first time anyone''s ever died to brutally and so quickly when using it."


    John gave Araxus a level look, one eyebrow raised. "Do you think it''s wise to ask about the thing that killed someone just a day ago?"


    "Hahaha, I guess not," Araxusughed. "Still, I can''t help but be curious. What are you, the son of the Heaven''s or something?" he joked.


    Rumble!


    A deep rumbling boomed out for an instant before fading away, causing Araxus to sit up straight in his chair.


    "What the?...Was that¡­That felt like Heavenly Daos!" he said, eyes wide with surprise. "Is someone undergoing Heavenly Tribtion?" he asked, then shook his head, realizing the aura had been far too brief, and also¡­angry¡­for it to be such a thing.


    He looked at John, who was sitting there calmly, undisturbed by the heavens'' brief appearance.


    "The Heavens and I¡­don''t see eye to eye to say the least," John said wryly, "so calling me its son probably pissed it off."


    Araxus stared at John with wide eyes, inplete disbelief of what had just happened. He remained silent for a short while, then burst out into boisterousughter.


    "Hahaha! I knew you were a nutjob, but I didn''t know you were crazy enough to piss off the Heavens to such an extent! A merement draws their ire? I''ve never heard of such a thing!" Araxus said between bouts ofughter. "No wonder the crowd has been unable to get under your skin even slightly. Compared to the Heavens, they''re nothing. In fact, you''ve pissed them off more than anyone I''ve ever seen before. They stand no chance at all against someone like you!" he said, hisughter continuing for some time before dying out.


    "Thanks¡­I guess?" John replied, unsure if that was apliment or not.


    Araxusposed himself, then stood up. "To be honest, I came here to check on you and make sure you were going alright. After all, our battle is tomorrow, and I wanted to make sure you were ready and not in some bout of depression or something. It seems my concern was not needed."


    "I see," John replied, then stood up. His impression of Araxus was quite good, and this brief interaction only made him like the man even more. "Now that I know my concerns were misced, there''s only one thing left to say before I leave," Araxus said. "And what''s that?" John asked curiously.


    "Don''t disappoint me tomorrow," Araxus smirked confidently. "I expect our battle to be a thrilling one, so you better not let me down in that regard."


    "I''d say the same thing to you," John replied with a small smile.


    Araxus grinned upon hearing this, then nodded and patted John firmly on the shoulder.


    "Then I''ll see you in the arena tomorrow, and I''lle at you with everything I have," Araxus said, meeting his gaze with confidence, then stepped past John and walked out of the room. "He''s quite confident," Naelia said from the side, having listened to their conversation. "He''s strong, so he should be confident," John replied while giving her a quick look. He thanked her for her ongoing help, then retreated back to the training room.


    ¡­


    Another day passed by, heralding the start of the semi-finals. The roar of the crowd boomed out with vigorous power, shaking the arena and stadium as if a stampede of beasts were approaching. All eyes were on the two contestants standing in the middle of the arena, as the tournament''s most anticipated fight was finally about to start.


    "We''re just minutes away from the most anticipated fight in millenia!" the announcer eximed to another roar of the crowd. "The fight between the two powerhouses of the Three Dao Sects. The fight to finally put to rest the argument of who is stronger! The fight to determine who advances to the final round! We all thought this fight would be in the finals, but fate had other ns! Nheless, let me hear you all roar for Jaxus and Ji''Han, the two scions of the Three Dao Sects!"


    The crowd exploded into a cmitous frenzy of cheering, as the fight between Ji''Han and Jaxus was about to start. This had been the fight everyone assumed would be the grand final, but John''s presence had thrown a wrench into all of that. In the arena, Ji''Han and Jaxus stood several hundred yards apart, both staring at each other. Jaxus looked at Ji''Han with a heated expression on his face, as if he were ready to pounce at the moment the round started. Ji''Han looked back with calm indifference, as if his opponent was not the number two genius of the human race. His calm demeanor only ignited Jaxus'' ire and battlelust even further, who hoped to prove once and for all that he was the king of the geniuses, and not Ji''Han.


    The Yang-Dao Sect Eldernded on the arena, then inquired from both participants if they were ready. Both nodded, at which point the Elder reached down and touched a tile on the arena, one glowing with bright formation runes.


    As he did so, the arena began to rumble, then sprung to life as the ground began to surge up from below. Before everyone''s eyes, the lifeless arena surged to life, with mountains, valleys, streams, forests and more springing to life beneath the two youths'' feet. Both ignored the sudden change of events as if expecting it, their gazes still locked onto the other. The process continued for a full minute before finallying to a halt, at which point an entirend of natural wonders filled the arena grounds, transforming the arena into a true battlefield.


    Standing on the peaks of two small mountains opposite each other, the two youth''s auras slowly began to churn, ready to explode at a moment''s notice. In the Prime Shadows room at the top of the stadium, Naelia, Zuri, John, and Araxus sat, looking down at the battle about to begin. Just minutes before the battle, Araxus had invited himself into John''s room and pulled him out of training, urging him to watch the battle. John had begrudgingly obliged, and looked down at the two youths, one which was to be his opponent in the final round.


    "The semi-finals between the third ranked Jaxus of the Yang-Dao Sect and the second ranked Ji''Han of the Sword-Dao Sect¡­.begins!"

 Chapter 1081 Whiteflame

    Chapter 1081 Whiteme


    Just before the start of the battle was announced, John turned his gaze towards one of the millions of semi-translucent floating formation screens that popped into existence in the air before the spectators. The screens contained the information regarding both fighters, from their illusory testing scores to their current fighting metrics such as Qi reserves and health.


    He narrowed his eyes as he read the illusory testing scores of both fighters, which was the first time he had done so for either of them.


    Name: Jaxus


    Age: Twenty Two


    Cultivation: Half-Step World Expansion


    Special Attributes: Yang-Attribute Body


    Qi Quantity: 98


    Qi Quality: 98


    Health: 92


    Durability: 90


    Stamina: 96


    Comprehensions: 96


    Instincts: 97


    Willpower: 97


    Soul Talent: 83


    Speed/Movement Arts: 98


    Battle Arts: 98


    Attack Power: 98


    Total: 1141


    Rank: 3


    John raised an eyebrow upon reading Jaxus'' scores, especially in regards to his movement arts, battle arts, and attack powers. Those were all frightfully high, as was his Qi quality and quantity. With such values, the explosive power Jaxus'' would be able to release was guaranteed to be incredible.


    He then turned his gaze slightly and began to read Ji''Han''s information. He had not been interested in Ji''Han''s scores up to this point, as it made no difference to him. He would have to fight Ji''Han and defeat him, and knowing his scores didn''t change that. However, with the information readily avable to him at the moment, he decided to inspect his most likely opponent in the next and final round.


    Name: Ji''Han


    Age: Twenty Two


    Cultivation: Half-Step World Expansion


    Special Attributes: me Attribute Body. Emperor Grade Innate Variant Body


    Qi Quantity: 99


    Qi Quality: 99


    Health: 91


    Durability: 91


    Stamina: 93


    Comprehensions: 98


    Instincts: 98


    Willpower: 97


    Soul Talent: 88


    Speed/Movement Arts: 99


    Battle Arts: 100


    Attack Power: 99


    Total: 1152


    Rank: 2


    As he scanned the short list, John''s surprise steadily rose. He knew Ji''Han as a pinnacle genius, so talented that he was heralded as the most promising genius of thest several hundred thousand years, and perhaps the most talented in the history of the Nine-Dao World.


    And yet, the scores still surprised John. Ji''Han''s Qi quality and quantity was both ny-nine, a score only bested by John himself. The rest of hisbat-based abilities were incredible as well, with his instincts, movement arts and attack power all nearly the maximum score possible.


    The most shocking of all was the battle art score, which was the maximum one could obtain; one hundred. This meant that in the history of the Three Dao Tournament illusory testing scores, Ji''Han''s battle arts were by far the most powerful. John assumed that the only reason Ji''Han''s attack power was ny-nine instead of one hundred was due to his own score dethroning Ji''Han''s, as despite having worse battle arts, John''s outright power was the strongest in the history of the tournament.


    After reading both fighters'' statistics, John considered Ji''Han the favorite to win. Both his and Jaxus'' stats were neck and neck, but Ji''Han managed to edge Jaxus out in the most important things when it came to battle; Qi quality and quantity, power, speed, and instincts. These were the things that affected one on one battles the most, and in all these categories, Ji''Han scored higher.


    "Ji''Han''sbat statistics are amazing!" Naelia eximed, giving voice to John''s thoughts. "He''s sure to win!"


    "Testing scores aren''t everything," Zuri said, looking past John to Naelia who sat on the opposite side of John. "While Ji''Han does have better scores,bat is far too wild and unpredictable to be decided by such things. Jaxus'' scores are prodigious as well, and if he''s able tond a couple of critical blows on Ji''Han, he could win."


    "Ah, I guess you''re right!" Naelia said, her eyes glued to the battle that was just about to begin.


    A momentter, the Yang-Dao Sect Elder voiced the start of the battle.


    "The semi-finals between the third ranked Jaxus of the Yang-Dao Sect and the second ranked Ji''Han of the Sword-Dao Sect¡­.begins!"


    The crowd roared to life upon the start of the battle, as the two most popr geniuses finally shed. That roaring was instantly drowned out by a fiery explosioning from the center of the arena.


    Boom!


    The arena trembled and the stadium was drowned in a fiery glow as a tempest of mes erupted from Jaxus, like a volcanoe to life. His aura of pure yang mes erupted outwards, covering everything in the arena in his fiery power.


    The newly created rivers andkes nearby evaporated from the heat, while the mountains began to melt and turn into magma. In a mere instant, thendscape turned from serene to a hellscape of ash and mes. It was as if he had instantly be the god of fire, reducing all of creation nearby to ashes.


    "I may have lost to youst tournament, but this time will be different," Jaxus roared with heated passion, his battlelust as potent as his fiery aura.


    Standing a hundred yards away, Ji''Han stood tall and calm, his focus on his opponent before him. Unlike his previous opponents, Jaxus was not someone he could look down on. Much like himself, Jaxus was a pinnacle genius that stood at the top of humanity, and as such, was someone who could cause serious problems if not taken seriously.


    The aura of mes sted onto Ji''Han, making it feel as though he was standing in the middle of a chamber of the hottestva. The heat scorched the ground beneath his feet, turning the vibrant and lushndscape into lifeless destion, while the wind all around raced like a tempest.


    That same heat scorched Ji''Han''s skin, trying to do the same. Ji''Han merely stood there unconcerned, as if the heat didn''t exist at all, his white robes and long hair the only things moving at all. Jaxus smirked at the sight.


    "I knew your me Attribute Body would be able to resist my aura, so why don''t we skip all the usual gimmicks and get right to using our strongest battle arts," Jaxus said, his aura growing by the second. "Anything else will only be a waste of time."


    "Agreed," Ji''Han said with a calm nod, then reached towards his two sheathed swords, gripping the hilt of one of them and drawing it from its sheath.


    The sword he drew was not the one he had drawn before, and was instead the longer of the two. The shorter sword was a mundane sword, meant to be used against unworthy opponents. Against opponents worthy of respect and attention, he used his true sword.


    As it was drawn from its sheath, a sh of the brightest white light filled the arena for an instant, blinding everyone for a second. The sh faded away as the sword was fully drawn, revealing its form to everyone. The sword was pure white from handle to sword tip, like the glow of an angelic being. Tiny wisps of white mes danced on the swords surface, giving it an ethereal glow.


    A cmitous uproar broke out amongst the crowd at the sight of the sword.


    "It''s Ji''Han''s true sword! Whiteme!"


    "I never thought I''d see him actually draw it!"


    "Jaxus is the real deal. His mere presence has forced Ji''Han to draw his real sword. This fight is going to be amazing!"


    While the crowd discussed Ji''Han''s sword with frenzied passion, Jaxus smirked, a satisfied look on his face. Being the only one thus to force Ji''Han to draw his true sword was already something he could be proud of, but for a pinnacle genius like Jaxus, that was not nearly enough.


    "Good! Then let''s get this battle started!" Jaxus said, his voice growing louder until hest word was like a roar of thunder.


    Boom!


    His aura exploded outwards with even more power, growing from a storm into a tempest of the apocalypse. Thend for a dozen miles in all directions was reduced to ash, withkes and rivers evaporating into a steamy mist, while mountains melted intokes of magma.


    Arge, fiery red saber appeared in Jaxus'' hand. Its handle was two feet long, giving plenty of space to use both hands. The de was six feet long and half a foot wide, with the tip curving upwards slightly towards the end. A fiery heat emanated from the de as it appeared, its power no less than that of Jaxus'' aura.


    Then he pressed off the ground beneath his feet, which exploded into a shower of ash and magma. Jaxus'' figure shed forward like a storm of fire, incinerating everything in his path. His saber shed outwards as he neared Ji''Han, who finally took action for the first time in the battle.


    True sword in hand, Ji''Han raised it, then shed out towards his opponent.

 Chapter 1082 Nine-Petal Destruction

    Chapter 1082 Nine-Petal Destruction


    Jaxus''rge saber shed downwards on his opponent, its power like that of an erupting volcano. The arena trembled as his sword mmed onto Ji''Han''s, who had raised it outwards to block the attack.


    Boom!


    Weapons collided, and the earth beneath their feet shattered, sending a shower of rock and magma outwards, creating arge crater that stretched all the way down to the arena''s floor, revealing it once more.


    A moment after the weapons collided, Ji''Han shot backwards, using the power of Jaxus'' attack to create some space. Jaxus'' sneered and shot forward again, his fire-cloaked figure leaving a fiery afterimage as he appeared before Ji''Han immediately.


    Boom!


    Weapons collided again as Jaxus'' explosive power drowned him and Ji''Han, rocking the arena once more. An instantter, Ji''Han''s figure sted out from the explosion of fire beforeing to a halt in the air a hundred yards off the ground. Despite taking two head on attacks from Jaxus, he appeared unscathed and unbothered, his face calm and aura steady.


    The explosion of fire faded away, revealing Jaxus once more. The two locked gazes for a second, Ji''Han looking at the saber in Jaxus'' hand then back at his opponents eyes.


    "I thought we were skipping the testing blows and going straight to using battle arts," Ji''Han said calmly with a slight tone of questioning.


    A smirk appeared on Jaxus'' face. "We are! Nine-Petal Destruction!"


    Ji''Han''s eyes suddenly shifted to his weapon in his hand, his eyes widening ever so slightly as two bright runes, both fiery in color, sprung to life on his sword de. The runes took the shape of a nine-petaled lotus, both brimming with the power of descriptive yang energy.


    The runes activated in an instant, both exploding right in Ji''Han''s face. The twin explosions were far more powerful than the explosions created when sword met saber, shaking the arena, the stadium, and the Yang-Sphere with its remnant power. Up to this point in the tournament, this explosion was the strongest yet by a considerable margin.


    The crowd gasped in shock as the explosion sted onto the defensive formation screen surrounding the arena, which red to life to block the powerful st. Pure yang mes filled the entire arena like an ocean of fire, leaving not a single inch ofnd or sky untouched.


    The yang mes roiled for a short while before finally fading away, revealing the two youths once more. Both stood in the same ce they had been before the explosion, almost as if nothing had happened. Jaxus'' shed towards Ji''Han once more, thetter taking action and moving to the side, narrowly dodging Jaxus'' saber strike.


    John''s gaze narrowed as he studied Ji''Han, whose pure white robe now contained the slightest traces of damage, as did his skin. While the damage was only superficial and Ji''Han''s wounded skin began to heal and mend at a visible rate, returning his body to perfect condition, it was the first time that anyone had seen Ji''Han take damage.


    "Whoa! The first win of this battle goes to Jaxus, and for the first time in this tournament, Ji''Han has taken damage from an opponent! Thest time we saw him take damage was three years ago, in his battle against the very same opponent he now faces!" the announcer eximed, followed by a roar of cheering from the overwhelmingly Yang-Dao Sect supporting crowd.


    "I should have expected as such," Jaxus sneered, clearly disappointed by the minimal damage his battle art had inflicted on Ji''Han. In fact, the damage was so superficial that Ji''Han''s health hadn''t even dropped yet. "That me Attribute body of yours is a true pain in my ass."


    With Ji''Han having a me Attribute Body, the damage Jaxus'' Yang based abilities could do was greatly minimized. This also meant that Ji''Han''s me based abilities were less effective against Jaxus, but with Ji''Han specializing in the sword while Jaxus'' specialized in yang-based battle arts, the advantage went to Ji''Han.


    "That was a new ability," Ji''Han said calmly, inspecting his sword closely to see if there were more lingering runic arts like before. He discovered none, and looked back towards his opponent.


    "I see," Ji''Han said. "Each time your saber touches something, you can leave behind a runic art like that. How troublesome!"


    "Figuring out what the ability does doesn''t mean you''ll be able to deal with it," Jaxus smirked, unconcerned about his art being figured out. It was a rtively straightforward art, meant to give him an advantage in directbat instead of being used deceptively.


    In their future exchanges, Ji''Han would need to avoid direct contact with Jaxus'' saber, otherwise he would need to deal with the runic arts left behind.


    "Who said I need to deal with such mundane art?" Ji''Han asked, his voice and expression as tranquil as a gentle stream.


    "Mundane?" Jaxus scoffed questioningly. "Then let''s see how you deal with this ''mundane'' art of mine!" he roared, then sped forward once more. As he did so, Ji''Han also moved, using his own movement art to dash to the side. Like this, the two raced through the sky above the arena, like twin beams of light, one pure white, the other fiery red.


    Both were moving at incredible speed, as a strong sword Dao emanated from Ji''Han''s body, while powerful yang-mes exploded behind Jaxus, propelling him forward at speeds most in the crowd were unable to follow. Even John couldn''t help but nod his head approvingly, as it was the fastest he had ever seen others in his cultivation realm move.


    "So fast!" Naelia eximed with shock. "I can''t even follow them with my eyes!"


    "That''s to be expected," Zuri said while watching the fight intently. "They''re a full major realm above you, and are the pinnacle geniuses of this world. If you could follow their movements, their statuses as pinnacle geniuses would be nothing but a joke."


    "But¡­how am I supposed to know what''s going on?" Naelia pouted, trying to figure out what was going on in the arena below. All she could see was the afterimages of the two geniuses soaring through the sky, their des finally connecting in a series of blows too fast to follow.


    Zuri shrugged, unable to help Naelia with her issue. Still pouting with disappointment, Naelia looked sideways at John, whose eyes were darting around the arena, following the two fighters as they sped throughout the battlefield.


    "Can you follow what''s going on?" she asked him curiously, and received a silent head nod from John.


    Naelia harrumphed again with disappointment, then fell silent and continued to watch the fight, hoping to catch a glimmer of action here and there.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Saber and sword collided a thousand times a second, the power of each exchange trembling the ground below and the sky above. After several seconds of exchanges, Jaxus suddenly shot backwards and sneered at Ji''Han.


    "Let''s see you withstand this! Nine-Petal Destruction!" he roared, his power ring to life as he activated a thousand runic imprints left behind in their previous exchange.


    Ji''Han''s sword suddenly erupted with a blinding bright light of fiery orange and red as a thousand runic imprints sprang to life on his sword. The crowd gasped in shock and horror at the sight, as two explosions had already been so powerful. Even though he was Ji''Han, would he be able to survive thebined power of a thousand Nine-Petal Destructions?


    His expression still as calm as ever, Ji''Han shed his sword out towards Jaxus the moment before the explosion. The thousand runic imprints created by Jaxus had somehow been thrown off his sword by Ji''Han, streaming towards Jaxus like a meteor shower. The moment they reached Jaxus, each imprintpleted its activation.


    A thousand cmitous explosionsbined into one, drowning everything in cmitous ruin with Jaxus in the very center of the storm.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 1083 Blooming Lotus, Falling Star

    <h4>Chapter 1083 Blooming Lotus, Falling Star</h4>


    An explosion unlike anything the crowd had seen thus far in the tournament erupted, with Jaxus directly in the center of all the explosions. The moment before detonation, the thousand runic imprints surrounded him, perfectly ced by Ji''Han''s counter attack.


    Pure yang energy, the most potent and powerful of all fire-type attacks filled every inch of the arena, only stopping with violent impact as it mmed against the defensive formation screens. The screens red to life, stopping the explosion from killing millions, but did little to stop the vibrations from the explosion.


    Many of the weaker cultivators in the crowd were thrown from their seats, onlying to a halt as they used their own power to stabilize their bodies. A blinding fiery red light filled the entire Yang-Sphere, as if the sun itself had materialized inside the arena.


    The explosion reached all the way to the top of the arena, stopping at the very top as it mmed into the defensive formation covering the top of the fighting area. The fire of the explosion and rumbling of the arena continued for quite some time, the power contained within too much to dissipate quickly.


    Seated in the Prime Shadow''s private room, a whistling sound came from Araxus, who was watching the fight with John and the others.


    "What just happened?" Naelia asked, trying to discern what had happened. "Ji''Han turned Jaxus'' attack against him. How did he do that?"


    "I told him that runic art of his could backfire. Ji''Han is too smart to not find a way to beat that ability," Araxus said while shaking his head.


    "What did Ji''Han do?" Naelia asked.


    "He covered his sword with thousands of miniature swords created from his Qi and the Sword Dao," John exined, while Araxus nodded his head in agreement. "When Jaxus ced his runic art on Ji''Han''s sword, he was actually cing it on those Qi swords instead, which Ji''Han sent over to Jaxus at thest possible moment."


    "Howe Jaxus didn''t notice that before he activated his ability? You noticed it, so why didn''t he?" Naelia asked curiously.


    "I didn''t notice it," John replied tly, "at least not until he shed those swords of Qi from his true sword. Only after those swords were flung out towards Jaxus was I able to notice them. His ability to create Qi based swords that have the same aura and potency as his true sword is quite incredible."


    "That''s Ji''Han for you," Araxus chimed in. "Part of why he''s so dangerous is his monstrous control over the Sword Dao, as well as his monstrous Qi quality and quantity. With those twobined, a simple sword made of his Qi is as strong and dangerous as a World Expansion grade weapon, making each and every attack of his, regardless of how profound it is, a potentially lethal one.


    "So is Jaxus alright? Surely such an explosion did alot of damage to him" Naelia asked.


    "Nah, he''ll be alright," Araxus replied, a small smirk on his face.


    "Ah," Naelia said musingly before falling silent. She gave Araxus a thankful nod, a look of reverence on her face as she did so. Geniuses such as Jaxus and Araxus were practically mythical figures in the Yang-Dao Sect. Araxus was the second strongest genius of the Yang-Dao Sect which she belonged to, and it was the first time she was able to talk to him like this.


    As their conversation died down, so did the explosion of pure yang inside the arena. As the explosion faded, John gave a quick nce towards the nearest formation screen, checking Jaxus''bat metrics.


    His Qi reserve was still over ny percent, while his health had taken fifteen percent damage, a testament to the power of the explosion. A momentter, the fading explosion started to swirl, quickly going from a fading explosion into a swirling tempest of pure yang energy. The swirling yang energy quickly formed a violent hurricane, the center focused on Jaxus''st position.


    The tempest of yang energy hastened into a cmitous storm of fire, revolving faster and faster around Jaxus. Before long, Jaxus himself became visible once more, the tempest of yang funneling down towards him and then disappearing within. Visible wounds covered Jaxus'' body, which began to mend at an incredible rate, disappearing a few secondster.


    As that happened, John gave another nce towards the information screen, an eyebrow raising when he noticed something he had not expected. Jaxus, whose health value was at eighty-five percent a moment ago, had climbed back up and now rested at ny eight percent.


    "What! How did he-" Naelia eximed with surprise.


    "Like I said, such an explosion is far from being able to harm Jaxus," Araxus smirked. "His Yang Attribute Body can easily resist powerful yang-based explosions, and he also has the Life-Yang Restoration Art, which allows him to absorb Yang energy to heal himself."


    "He can do that?" John asked curiously, not expecting Jaxus to have such a potent self-healing ability. Normally such a thing was reserved for cultivators that specialized in healing, or those with variant bodies capable of unlocking the limiters of healing and life. Jaxus was not a body cultivator, and he did not have any limiters unlocked.


    "It''s one of the reason''s he''s so hard to defeat," Araxus nodded. "Any Yang Qi he expends can be reabsorbed to heal himself. While a bit of that Qi is lost, meaning he can''t heal himself infinitely, it''s still incredibly hard to damage him to the point that he loses anybat potential."


    "Troublesome indeed," John nodded, bing more and more impressed by what he was seeing.


    "Wow! Jaxus not only managed to withstand that cmitous st, but he''s also almost fully restored the damage he sustained! Amazing!" the announcer eximed, her voice finally audible as the tempest of Yang was fully absorbed into Jaxus, returning the arena to rtive silence.


    After restoring his body, Jaxus looked at Ji''Han with a smirk on his face.


    "Not bad," he said, nodding his head. "I didn''t expect you to adapt so fast to my Nine-Petal Destruction, but then again, I didn''t expect it to do much to you in the first ce."


    "So, what''s your next scheme?" Ji''Han asked calmly, sword held at his side. He floated in the air with elegant grace, his hair and pure-white robe billowing gently in the wind, as if he were some ethereal being.


    "Heh, no more schemes," Jaxus sneered, his right arm stretching out in front of him, palm turned upwards. His fingers curled into a fist, with only his pointer and index finger outstretched, pointing upwards towards the sky. "When schemes don''t work, the only thing to rely on is pure, destructive power."


    Boom!


    A point of blinding light suddenly materialized in the air above Ji''Han and Jaxus, like the birth of a miniature star. As it appeared, Jaxus'' aura exploded once more with fiery power, far greater than what he had shown thus far. The mere heat emanating from the star began to melt the ground beneath it, turning the arena into and of magma.


    With his power linked to the ball of yang energy that had appeared, it quickly grew from a small ball into a massive sphere over a mile wide. The sphere, like a mile-wide star, churned with ruinous Yang energy, so powerful and dense that it seemed as though the energy within wanted to break out from its confines and destroy all of creation.


    "Let''s see how you deal with this," Jaxus sneered as the ball of pure Yang energy suddenly shifted shape, transforming from a sphere into the shape of a massive nine-petaled lotus. As it changed shape, so too did its power, as if the shape of the lotus had somehow made the battle art more profound. The crowd gasped at the power of the battle art, which seemed to be even more powerful than thebined explosion of the thousand runic yang imprints.


    The beautiful yet destructive lotus shaped star churned and roiled, with flickers of yang energy exploding out before being incorporated into the star, a cycle that continued to increase the power of the lotus star. Thend of magma beneath the star heated up, roiling and churning with power.


    The entire process, from the first appearance of the ball of yang energy to the emergence of the lotus star took only a second, at which point Jaxus moved his right hand, his upward pointing fingers moving downwards, pointing directly at Ji''Han.


    "Blooming Lotus, Falling Star!" Jaxus roared, his fiery passion seeming to give the lotus star onest boost of power before it fell down like a meteor towards Ji''Han, its power looking to destroy everything in its path, Ji''Han included.

 Chapter 1084 Seal of Sword and Space

    <h4>Chapter 1084 Seal of Sword and Space</h4>


    Looking upwards at the falling lotus star descended towards him, Ji''Han gripped his sword tightly as his aura and the aura of his sword began to climb. Pure white mes shed into existence on his sword, glowing brightly like a beacon, while seven white swords formed from his Qi materialized in the air around him.


    A moment after appearing, the seven Qi swords began to rotate clockwise, the swords rotating for form aplete circle. As they did so, afterimages of the swords appeared, making each of the seven original swords appear like a shield of seven swords, forty-nine in total, each like a node of swords.


    After spinning once, the swords began to emanate a strong aura, one that John instantly recognized.


    The Dao of Space!


    He leaned forward in his seat, curious as to what ability Ji''Han was going to unleash. A momentter, the seven shields of swords vanished, as if they never existed at all. Bright shes an instantter revealed that they had moved, suddenly and without warning appearing in various locations around the falling lotus star.


    Bang!


    The seven sword nodes red to life, as if formation runes that had been activated. The moment they did so, new swords started to materialize around each of the sword nodes, blinking into existence one after another, branching off from the nodes like cracks in space. While seemingly random at first, it became more and more obvious as more swords appeared that the swords themselves were formingplicated runes made entirely of sword Qi.


    In less than a second, seven massive formation runes made of Sword Qi red to life, branching towards each other like roots, connecting all seven runes like a cocoon of swords. The sight mesmerized the crowd with its beauty, a glowing lotus star enveloped by awork of marble-white sword runes.


    Even John couldn''t help but be awed by what he was seeing, as well as what Ji''Han was doing. John had very little experience with runes, but he could understand its general purpose after studying it for a second. He instantly could tell that the sword-formed runes now encircling the lotus star were spatial Dao based, forming some sort of spatial seal.


    As he came to this conclusion, the sword-runework fully linked, encircling the lotus starpletely. A moment before the lotus star fell onto Ji''Han, the cocoon of sword runes shed with power, then vanished.


    The process happened in an instant, startling the crowd, the announcer, and even Johnpletely. From the start of the sword art to its final activation, the entire process had taken only a second. And yet somehow, the sword art had enveloped the lotus star, and then vanished, taking the lotus star along with it.


    What had previously been an arena brimming with the might of a yang-star, was now apletely silent and empty arena devoid of any power.


    Boom!


    A muffled sound suddenly filled the arena, seeming toe from everywhere and nowhere at once. It was as if an explosion a million miles away had happened, and the remnant sounds were flooding the arena.


    As the muffled boom filled the arena, space began to ripple and bend in the exact location the lotus star had been sealed. Space itself appeared like it was boiling water, bubbling and churning from a hidden power. After a few seconds of this happening, both the rippling of space and the muffled boom faded away, returning the arena to true calm and silence.


    "Wha¡­.what just happened?" Naelia eximed, standing up from her seat. "Where did Jaxus'' battle art go?"


    "Ji''Han sealed it away on the other side of the space, in the chaos of the spatial void," John said, eyes narrowed as he stared at his future opponent.


    Ji''Han stood there with calm confidence, as if his sealing of Jaxus'' powerful battle art was somethingpletely mundane. When it came to the spatial Dao, John was quite proud of his quick aplishments in the Dao.


    Only Lilian had been more proficient in the Dao, although that was to be expected. However, John finally ran into someone with a much higherprehension over the Dao of Space; Ji''Han. While he would be able to defend against Jaxus'' lotus star attack, he definitely was not capable of sealing it away as Ji''Han had done.


    ''His spatial Daoprehensions have definitely reached the Dao Expert Stage, and it''s definitely firmly in that stage, far from being at the initial portions of the Dao Expert Stage,'' John thought,paring what he had just seen to his ownprehensions.


    In regards to the Dao of Space, Ji''Han''sprehension level could bepared to John''sprehension of the Dao of Lightning, which was his most adept Dao in terms ofprehension level.


    "Wow!" Naelia said, eyes wide with awe and wonder. Nearby, Araxus frowned as he watched the battle unfold.


    "Well, this is a new battle art I''ve never seen Ji''Han use before," Araxus said, still frowning. "It''s going to be hard for Jaxus to deal with him if his Blooming Lotus, Falling Star battle art can be sealed like that."


    John nodded his head in agreement, eagerly watching the battle to see how it would unfold.


    "What was that sealing art?" Jaxus asked, pausing to stare at his opponent with a grim expression. "You''ve never used it before in our battles. Were you holding back in those battles?"


    Ji''Han lightly shook his head. "I only recentlyprehended this sealing art, The Seal of Sword and Space."


    "The Seal of Sword and Space?" Jaxus raised an eyebrow, his expression remaining grim. "I''ve heard of that before. It''s the Sword-Sovereign''s ultimate sealing art if I recall correctly. How bothersome," he clicked his tongue in frustration.


    Jaxus then closed his eyes as if he suffered a crippling defeat, making some wonder if he was going to give up.


    Boom!


    Jaxus'' aura exploded with incredible power a momentter, dwarfing everything he had revealed thus far as mes of Yang pulsated off his body. His eyes snapped open and began to glow like twin-stars, while thousands of runic patterns of red and orange began to appear on his skin, each glowing brightly with a profound aura. A smug smirk appeared on his face as he stared at Ji''Han, his aura and appearance as if he were a god of fire.


    "Then I''ll just have to kick it up a notch again," Jaxus roared as he swiped his index finger and pointer finger across the t of his saber, at which point potent Yang mes exploded to life on his de.


    In an instant, Jaxus transformed himself into a being of pure Yang, brimming with destructive might. Thend around him for dozens of miles turned into pure magma, creating a caldera of magma beneath their feet.


    Ji''Han floated above the magma unbothered, his me Attribute body and defensive Qi resisting the heat. He inspected the yang runes on Jaxus'' body for a moment.


    "So you''ve awakened your King-Grade Yang Runes it seems. Congrattions," Ji''Han said, although his calm delivery of his praise sounded more like mockery than praise to Jaxus.


    "You may have a Heaven-Grade me Body, but I can tell you''ve yet to reach the awakened stage," Jaxus said with a smirk. "In the battle of yang and mes, I win."


    "My me Attribute Body is nothing but a distraction from the one true path of cultivation, the Sword Dao," Ji''Han replied calmly.


    "Heh, so arrogant. Let''s see how long you can keep up that arrogant attitude! Before this battle is over, I''ll make you realize the true power of Yang, and make you regret looking down on it," Jaxus sneered, his aura exploding even more as he shot towards Ji''Han like a ming star of ruin and destruction, while twin wings of yang in the shape of lotus petals appeared behind him, increasing his speed with explosive might.

 Chapter 1085 Nine-Petal Hell Domain

    Chapter 1085 Nine-Petal Hell Domain


    Jaxus arrived before Ji''Han in the blink of an eye, his arrival like that of a god of fire. His saber exploded with Yang Qi, so hot and powerful that it seemed as though it could burn all of creation. His saber shed out from the side, cleaving towards Ji''Han''s waist with the power of exploding stars.


    Ji''Han shed his sword out towards the attack, a beam of sword-light shing out and meeting the attack. Boom!


    The arena exploded into a sea of fire as saber met sword-image. Jaxus followed up his attack with another, weaving his saber attacks seamlessly, giving Ji''Han zero openings. Some of his attacks were explosive and powerful, like that of stars, while others were quick and unpredictable, like the movement of mes. Jaxus'' saber arts continued to transform during his assault, each attack different from thest. In response, Ji''Han activated a movement art to speed around the arena, unleashing simple sword attacks in response. The two soared through the air like tws of light, one white and one fiery red. Thend broke and crumbled wherever they appeared, while the sky rumbled from their might.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Thousands of attacks sted out in the arena, with Jaxus on the attack the entire time, hisbat style like that of overwhelming and unpredictable mes. "Wow! Jaxus has utilized two of his signature arts! His Nineform Yang Saber, which has nine different fighting styles, and his Pure-Yang Lotus Wings movement art, which increases his speed to heaven-defying levels!" the announcer eximed excitedly. "How will Ji''Han react to thisbination? Wait, what''s this! Another lotus star has appeared in the sky above the arena!"


    While their battle, with each attack as powerful as the full out attack of a Dao Transformation genius raged on, Jaxus unleashed another Blooming Lotus, Falling Star. The starburst into existence above the two of them, bathing the arena with a fiery glow.


    "Heh, let''s see you seal this again while having to deal with me!" Jaxus sneered, not letting up on his ceaseless barrage of attacks for a moment. While defending against his attacks, Ji''Han nced upwards towards the star, which had taken the shape of a lotus and was almost ready to be unleashed.


    "Your attack willnd on both of us," Ji''Han replied, returning his gaze to his opponent. "Heh, I can withstand the power of my Yang Qi," Jaxus sneered. "So let''s test it out. What will resist my yang star better? My Yang-Attribute Body, or your me Attribute Body and Emperor-Grade Variant Body?"


    Ji''Han frowned, the first time he had shown any sort of emotion thus far. While he was confident in his body''s ability to withstand the lotus star explosion, he knew he would lose out in that battle of attrition against Jaxus. Jaxus had already shown he was capable of reabsorbing his Yang Qi to heal himself, which gave Jaxus the advantage in this situation.


    "I''d rather not find out," Ji''Han replied as he shed his sword out towards Jaxus, giving him some space. He then activated his sealing art, as seven swords appeared in the sky around him and began to move the same as they had done before.


    "As if I''ll let you," Jaxus roared, shing his saber out hundreds of times sending saber images of pure Yang energy towards the seven floating swords, attempting to destroy them before they could activate."


    "Infinite Sword Domain!" a soft whisper came from Ji''Han''s mouth as he steadied his non-sword wielding hand before his chest, hand t and upright like that of a monk in prayer. A momentter, ten swords of Qi, each brimming with the might of World Expansion grade weapons appeared in the sky around Ji''Han. The ten swords split into two, creating twenty, which split again, and again, and again.


    In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of swords shed into existence around Ji''Han, like a storm of swords surrounding him. The swords moved about freely, surging like waves of swords towards the approaching Yang saber images.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Yang and Sword collided in the air, like the collision of two opposing forces of nature. The sky instantly turned into a battle of sword and fire, a mesmerizing spectacle unlike anything else. As the same time, the lotus star finally formed and began to fall towards Ji''Han, while the seven sword seals shed out and into existence, appearing around the falling lotus star. The sword-seals then began to grow and create their spatial seals, intending to seal away the lotus star in the chaos of the spatial void.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Jaxus unleashed a torrent of yang saber attacks at the sword seals, each attack more powerful than thest. Thousands of floating swords shed towards the yang saber images, meeting them in the air and slicing them apart before they could reach the seals.


    "Tch, fine then!" Jaxus sneered, quickly making a hand seal with his left hand. "Yang-Lotus! Explode!"


    BOOM!


    Activating his yang lotus early, Jaxus exploded it in the sky above them before the sword-seals could seal it away. The lotus star exploded with the might of a thousand Dao Transformation battle arts, bathing the arena in ruinous yang power that instantly washed over both geniuses.


    The arena rumbled like nothing before, almost as if the stadium would shake loose of its foundations and crumble to the ground. The defensive formation screen red to life, containing the battle art before it could harm any in the stadium.


    After stabilizing themselves, millions in the stands hastily stood up, feeling pure shock and awe. They peered into the yang energy roiling within the arena, hoping to see the oue of the cmitously powerful yang star exploding. Even John waited with bated breath, his impression of both youths growing by the second. That yang lotus of Jaxus was so strong that John would need to use the full might of his Dragon-God Shift to defend against, and maybe even his Asura Transformation Art.


    While part of that was due to Jaxus'' cultivation being in the Half-World Expansion Realm, part of it was due to the profundity and sheer power of the Blooming Lotus, Falling Star battle art.


    After what felt like an eternity to many, the yang explosions finally faded away, revealing the oue. Lying in a pool of magma a distance away was Jaxus, whose body was wounded and charred in ces, revealing he had taken damage in the explosion.


    A quick nce to the formation screens revealed he had sustained thirty percent damage to his health, although that number quickly began to rise as the fading yang energy swirled towards Jaxus as he used his Life-Yang Restoration Art, quickly returning his health above ny percent.


    After ncing at Jaxus'' metrics, John gave Ji''Han''s a quick nce. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at the health metric, which was still at one hundred percent. In that explosion of ruinous power, Ji''Han had not sustained a single ounce of damage. However, his Qi reserves had finally dropped a bit, although only by less than ten percent. As Jaxus absorbed thest of his yang energy, Ji''Han finally came into view, or more aptly, his sword domain was visible instead.


    Using the countless swords from his Infinite Sword Domain, Ji''Han formed a cocoon of sword''s dozens of yards thick, which enveloped him tightly within. The swords on the outside of the cocoon shattered into misty Qi, their power depleted from within standing the ruinous explosion. After thest remnants of the explosion faded, the cocoon of swords churned, the swords moving with haste back into the air all around Ji''Han, revealing him once more,pletely unharmed. He still wore the same calm and arrogant look on his face, as if nothing Jaxus could do would have any effect. An angered look on Jaxus'' face, who stood up and took to the sky, his eyes glowing with the light of stars. He opened his mouth and roared, a deep glowing from within his mouth.


    "I''ll wipe that arrogant look off your face once and for all!" he roared, his aura exploding outwards like that of a volcano.Behind him, a point of light appeared, only an inch across. However, the point of light was beyond powerful, made of condensed yang Qi.


    The point of light exploded to life, forming the shape of a lotus, although its leaves were curled up, making it look more like a ball than a lotus. The lotus of yang was roughly a foot across, and hovered directly above Jaxus'' head. A secondter, five of the lotus petals unfurled, sying to the side.


    The instant that happened, every inch of sky andnd of the arena turned fiery red, like everything had been stained with the power of yang. Ji''Han looked all around him, seeing only the tempestuous power of pure yang, so powerful that it incinerated everything to ashy nothingness, the magma in the arena included.


    While Ji''Han could only see the tempest of Yang swirling all around him like an apocalyptic storm trying to destroy everything, John and the rest of the crowd could see the true form of the ability Jaxus had unleashed.


    Stretching from edge to edge of the arena was a massive lotus made of pure yang. Five of its petals had unfurled to the side, while the rest still clung to the center, the exact same as the small lotus of yang hovering directly above Jaxus'' head. John''s gaze narrowed as he stared at the battle art used by Jaxus. While he was not inside it, he could feel the extraordinary power and heat contained within. A power that would push him to using his Asura Transformation Art to withstand its power. "Nine-Petal Hell Domain!" Jaxus roared, as a sixth petal unfurled, increasing the power of the domain once more. The crowd gasped at the sheer might of the domain, and many in the crowd had a thought appear in their mind for the first time in the battle.


    "Was Ji''Han able to deal with this incredible domain art, or would it be the end of the line for the most famous genius of the Nine-Dao World?"

 Chapter 1086 Nine-Petal Hell Domain Pt. 2

    Chapter 1086 Nine-Petal Hell Domain Pt. 2


    From outside the arena, the spectators looked on with wonder and awe at the massive Yang lotus domain within the arena. It was as if a mountain-sized flower of mes and heat had blossomed to life, bathing the arena in vibrant heat and life.


    Inside the domain was apletely different story, one everyone could feel in their bodies and souls. Inside the domain was a literal hellscape, the temperature within pushed to the absolute limit. What remained of the arenandscape turned to magma, which then turned to ash and dissipated into nothingness, not even magma itself able to withstand the horrifying heat within the lotus domain.


    It was as if a true star had appeared within the arena, with Jaxus and Ji''Han trapped firmly within. "Jaxus has sessfully cultivated the Nine-Petal Hell Domain?" the Sword-Sovereign asked with surprise, looking towards the Yang-Sovereign who looked down on the arena with a calm, neutral expression, making it impossible to know what he was thinking.


    The Nine-Petal Hell Domain was the signature domain of the Yang-Sovereign. It had been created by him after studying the Yang-Lotus for millennia, and had allowed him to climb to the top of the Nine-Dao cultivation world. The mere mention of the domain filled the Devils and Beasts with dread, as there was almost none who could withstand its terrifying heat.


    "He has," the Yang-Sovereign replied, eyes glued to the battle below. "Although he has not managed to grasp the full profundity of the domain yet."


    "I see," the Sword-Sovereign nodded his head, noticing the five petals unfurled instead of nine, which was a sign of true control over the domain. Only the Yang-Sovereign had ever managed to unleash the full Nine-Petal domain, a testament to its difficulty and profundity. "He''s a true genius, one worthy of his status as a pinnacle prodigy."


    The Sword-Saint was an antagonistic man towards many that opposed his opinions and stood in his way, such as the Prime Shadow and John. However, he was not an unreasonable man, and had much respect for the Yang-Sovereign. As such, he treated him with the respect a sovereign deserved. While he had full confidence in Ji''Han winning, he would not insult Jaxus or the Yang-Dao Sect in any way, especially not when he stood in for the Sword-Sovereign, who was in closed-door cultivation.


    "As is your son," the Yang-Sovereign replied calmly. "Despite being in the middle of the domain, he seems quite calm."


    The Sword-Saint gave the Prime-Shadow, who was sitting between him and the Yang-Sovereign, a sly smirk, as if saying ''this is what true genius looks like.'' He then looked away and smiled silently, allowing the battle below to do their talking once more. Pure Yang mes roiled with ruinous heat and power with the Nine-Petal Hell Domain, leaving nothing untouched. Ji''Han looked all around him, slight surprise at the sudden appearance of the domain.


    "This is new," he said, lifting his hand before his face, which began to char at a visible rate under the immense heat. Ji''Han frowned as his me Attribute Body essence runes red to life, pushing his heat resistance upwards. Each rune looked somewhat like a tiny me, the branches of the runic patterns waving like a me would. While he had not awakened his essence runes yet, they naturally responded to heat, activating in a purely defensive way when provoked.


    After ring for an instant, the fire-colored runes on his skin began to fade, bing dim as fast as they had lit up brightly. The process shocked Ji''Han, who showed surprise on his face for the first time.


    "When ites to mes and fire, Yang is the true king," Jaxus said loudly, his voice carrying over the sound of crackling mes and roiling heat. "You may have Heaven-Grade me Essence Runes, but you have not awakened them yet. Within this domain of mine, all things Yang are under my control, including your essence runes. I will make you regret looking down on and ignoring your me attribute body."


    "I see," Ji''Han said as he lowered his hand, which had started to char over, bing almost ck. A momentter his expression hardened, turning from his former calm to seriousness for the first time. "Ji''Han looks flustered for the first time this battle," the announcer eximed. "He''s even taken ten percent damage in the few seconds he''s been in the domain. Has this domain pushed him to his limits, or can he deal with it someway?"


    John nced to Ji''Han''s metrics on the floating formation screen, and saw what the announcer had mentioned. For the first time, Ji''Han had taken actual damage. His health metric now hovered at ny percent, then dipped down to eighty-nine percent. On the other side, Jaxus'' health was higher thanks to his Life-Yang Restoration Art, but his overall Qi reserves were lower than Ji''Han''s. His Qi reserve metric was at sixty percent and was falling a percentage every minute, revealing the shocking level of Qi the Nine-Petal Hell Domain consumed. His me Attribute Runes no longer effective, Ji''Han moved with haste before the horrifying heat of the hell domain damaged him further. He waved his hand in the air before him, thousands of swords of Qi materializing in the air. They moved around him a momentter, forming the same sphere of swords that he had used earlier. The swords formed a defensive cocoon around Ji''Han, greatly reducing the power of the domain around him. The falling of his health percentage slowed greatly, while his Qi began to slowly fall instead. As the swords formed the cocoon around him, the outer swords were quickly incinerated by the terrifying heat, dissipating into nothingness.


    Those swords were quickly reced by theyer beneath, while new swords were formed from Ji''Han''s Qi every second to keep the defensive integrity. A stalemate between the two quickly broke out, as both burned through a terrifying amount of Qi to resist the might of the other. "Impressive, but that''s not enough to deal with me," Jaxus roared, his lotus wings growingrger behind him, as if he had been augmented by the Yang energy within his domain. He shot forward with explosive speed, as if a volcano had erupted behind him, propelling him forward. He streaked through the sky like a shooting star, carving a path of ruinous Yang power wherever he went.


    He arrived before Ji''Han and his sphere of swords instantly, then raised his fiery saber and shed down with his full might. "Yang-Saber Eruption!" he roared, his saber exploding with ruinous Yang energy as it mmed against the sphere of swords. An explosion nearly as strong as the lotus star''s erupted, bathing Ji''Han, Jaxus, and everything around them in cmitous Yang energy. The explosion shook the entire stadium as it nketed the domain in its power, dissipating only a short whileter. The crowd gasped as they saw Ji''Han''s sphere of swords shattered, most of thempletely shattered or thrown aside by Jaxus'' saber attack, exposing Ji''Han to the power of the domain once more, his body covered with open wounds, his skin slickened with his own blood.

 Chapter 1087 Dao Lord

    Chapter 1087 Dao Lord


    The crowd gasped as they saw Ji''Han''s condition. It was almost impossible for them to believe; Ji''Han taking damage. Many stood up in their seats, unable to control their emotions, while the announcer roared with passionate shock, detailing the events that had just unfolded.


    Ayer of blood covered Ji''Han''s skin, which quickly baked into ckened soot under the heat of the domain. Jaxus sneered at the sight of his injured opponent, then charged after him once more to press the attack.


    Watching his opponent close the distance once more, Ji''Han did what no one thought he would do and closed his eyes. There wasn''t even time for the crowd to react as Jaxus arrived before Ji''Han once more, his power and aura like that of an exploding volcano.


    His saber lit up with even more powerful mes as he raised it and shed towards Ji''Han, who was now directly exposed. Eyes still closed, Ji''Han''s lips began to move. First there was silence. Then there was a humming chant, appearing instantly and everywhere as if it had always existed. The humming chant came from Ji''Han, who had his left hand before his chest, hand t and fingers pointing upwards.


    His right hand gripped his true sword, which began to glow brighter and brighter as the chant intensified, as did Ji''Han himself, as if the chant itself was awakening a slumbering beast within Ji''Han and his sword. In an instant, Ji''Han transformed from a normal cultivator to a zing beacon of white, as if he had transformed into a holy deity. A pure white me-like brilliance began to emanate off of him, defiantly resisting the tempetrous power and heat of the Nine-Petal Lotus domain. "True Sword Mantra," the crowd heard the announcer exim, her voice shocked beyond all belief. "That''s the True Sword Mantra, the famous Sword Art of the Sword-Sovereign, which raises one''s affinity towards the Sword-Dao tremendously."


    At first it looked like Ji''Han had managed to summon mes in the hell domain, which Jaxus had said was impossible. Upon looking closer, John and the other powerhouses noticed that it was not mes, but swords instead.


    Millions upon millions of tiny swords materialized in the air around Ji''Han, flowing off his body like a brilliant white me. It was no doubt some sort ofbination of his sword and me powers, although the sword was the true leader in thisbination.


    Jaxus'' instincts red with warning, but he gritted his teeth and continued his saber sh, as it was toote to do anything else. As his saber fell towards Ji''Han, Ji''Han''s eyes snapped open. They glowed brilliantly, like twin beacons of holy light within the roiling hellscape.


    Ji''Han seemed to transform in some way, not physically, but spiritually. Looking down on him from above, John felt as though he was looking at someone bing the true embodiment of the Sword Dao. While Ji''Han had terrifying control over the Sword Dao before, that was him wielding it. Right now, it was as if Ji''Han had be a sword himself, and had be the embodiment of the Sword Dao.


    After undergoing this transformation of sorts, Ji''Han lifted his head to look at Jaxus, who was falling towards him like a meteor, ming saber in hand. Jaxus roared loudly and swung with all his might towards Ji''Han. Ji''Han lifted his right hand, which held his true sword Whiteme, and shed it outwards in a casual motion.


    A brilliant white sword light flew out of his sword, far faster and sharper than anything Ji''Han had revealed thus far. It mmed against Jaxus'' sword, stopping his downward momentum in an instant. Jaxus'' saber shot upwards, almost leaving his grip, while remnant sword-image powernded on his shoulder.


    Jaxus'' shoulder was instantly sliced open, blood shooting outwards for a moment before Jaxus used his Yang Qi to heal the wound. He paused in the sky above Ji''Han, a shocked and grim expression on his face.


    In the Prime-Shadow''s private room high above the arena, John and the others stared at Ji''Han with shocked expressions. Jaxus'' assault had been so powerful and overwhelming that they had expected to see Ji''Han struggle to regain his footing in the battle. Instead, he had begun chanting, had transformed in some inexplicable way, and then had unleashed a single sh of his sword to counter Jaxus'' overbearingly powerful saber art. "Dao Lord," Zuri whispered softly, drawing the attention of the others. Araxus and Naelia looked at Zuri with wide eyes full of shock, while John looked at her with a questioning expression. "Ji''Han has be a Dao Lord."


    "What? Really?" Araxus eximed, stunned by what he was hearing. "What''s a Dao Lord?" John asked curiously, never having heard the term before, although he had his guesses based on what he just saw.


    Zuri turned to him with a questioning look, then remembered John''s origins. She breathed in deeply as she looked towards the arena once more.


    "A Dao Lord is the title for one who has stepped beyond the threshold of the Dao Expert Stage, and into the next stage, the Dao Lord Stage," Zuri said, her words shocking John despite his suspicions being confirmed. "The Dao Lord stage indicates that one hasprehended at least forty percent of a certain Dao," Zuri continued. "In regards to the Sword Dao, Ji''Han has firmly stepped into the Dao Lord Stage."


    "Not even Jaxus or I have achieved the Dao Lord stage for any of our Dao''s," Araxus said, still stunned by this revtion. "Have you?" he asked John, who shook his head firmly.


    "Unbelievable," Araxus muttered, a heavy expression on his face. "Jaxus is in for a tough battle."


    John nodded his head in agreement, while internally his fighting bloodlust was rising, ignited by Ji''Han''s talent andbat prowess. Maybe, just maybe, he would be pushed to his limits in a battle against his peer. He could hope, at the very least.


    "You''ve¡­stepped into the Dao Lord Stage?" Jaxus asked Ji''Han, still surprised by this sudden and shocking revtion. Ji''Han merely nodded, as if the subject were of little importance. Jaxus'' grit his teeth tightly, a loud grinding sounding from his mouth. "So what?" he roared! "Although I haven''t broken through, My Yangprehensions have begun to touch the initial parts of the Dao Lord Stage as well. Inside my domain, you are still my prisoner!"


    Ji''Han looked calmly at Jaxus, his brilliant aura of sword and me resisting the power of the Nine-Petal Hell Domain. It was as if his aura itself, powered by his True Sword Mantra and Dao Lordprehensions, was a defensive art itself, almost fully resisting the terrifying heat of the hell domain. He then looked above Jaxus'' head, towards the small floating Yang lotus hovering directly above him. That Yang lotus moved with Jaxus wherever he went, and burned with a profound and powerful aura. "That must be the core of your domain," Ji''Han said, his words more of a fact than a question. Jaxus paused for a moment, then sneered.


    "So what? You cannot reach me, nor can you reach it," he replied. "Your power may be amazing, but within my domain, you are nothing."


    "Is that so?" Ji''Han muttered softly, then raised Whiteme and pointed its tip directly towards Jaxus. Jaxus moved backwards instinctively, then stopped in the air a distance away that he could react to, uncertain of what Ji''Han was doing.


    Ji''Han then moved his sword upwards, pointing its tip towards the small lotus above Jaxus, instead of at Jaxus himself.


    Suddenly, space itself seemed to freeze for a moment, as if suspended in time. The mes of the hell domain around Ji''Han slowed down, affected by Ji''Han somehow. A thin line in space materialized in an instant, starting at Ji''Han''s sword tip and piercing forward through the entire arena until stopped by the defensive formation dozens of miles away.


    The line pierced directly through the tiny Yang lotus, although it didn''t seem to do anything to it.


    The thin line seemed to have appeared all at once, as if it had always existed in that ce, and had only be visible upon Ji''Han''smand. "Sword of Space and Time," Ji''Han muttered, his voice calm yet ethereal, as if the words had been uttered by a god.


    The entire process had happened almost instantly, and an instantter, the line in space changed. It transformed from an almost imperceptible line in space, as if someone had taken a pen and drawn a line in the very air itself, into a blinding beam of white.


    mes roiled off the beam of white, which extended from the edge of the formation barrier all the way back to Ji''Han''s sword, Whiteme, which was now dozens of miles long, and upied the same space the thin line had previously upied.


    His sword, Whiteme, had in almost an instant extended through space, the process so fast that only the true powerhouses of the world could see what had happened. For everyone else, Ji''Han''s sword had suddenly be dozens of miles long, and most importantly of all, was now piercing directly through the heart of the Yang lotus above Jaxus'' head.


    Jaxus looked upwards with an expression of shock and horror, his eyes glued to the sword piercing directly through the core of his Nine-Petal Hell Domain. The Yang lotus bubbled and roiled as it grew out of control, then sted outwards in a cmitous explosion, bathing Jaxus and the arena in the condensed power of the Nine-Petal Hell Domain.


    Boom!

 Chapter 1088 Sword of Space and Time

    Chapter 1088 Sword of Space and Time


    John and Araxus stood up from their seats, as did almost everyone in the crowd. The battle had instantly been turnedon its heels, as Ji''Han had unleashed a terrifying Sword Art, destroying Jaxus'' domain before he could react. While the crowd stood from the shock of the turn of events, John and Araxus had stood for another reason. "Was that?" Araxus mumbled with shock in his voice.


    John nodded silently, his eyes glued to the explosion filled arena.


    Ji''Han''s Sword Art, the Sword of Space and Time, had used his Dao Lord stage Sword Daoprehensions as a base, while a fusion of Space and Time had been used to augment it further. While the fusion of the Space and Time Dao''s was rudimentary at best, even lower than John''s fusion of Lightning and Power in terms of the fusion quality, such Dao''s were so profound thatprehending them separately was nearly impossible, let alone fusing them together.


    The level of both space and time used in that fusion had been at the Dao Adept level, most likely limited by Ji''Han''s control over the Dao of Time, which was even more ethereal and esoteric than the Dao of Space. His grasp on the spatial Dao was far beneath Lilian, and his grasp of the Time Dao was far beneath Laia, but fused together, the result had been absolutely shocking. A deep breath left John''s mouth as he exhaled deeply, his battle lust climbing to a point that he felt like flying into the arena to fight Ji''Han right here and now. The explosion faded while everyone looked on with shock and awe, revealing the arena once more. The domain was no longer present, having beenpletely destroyed by Ji''Han''s Sword Art.


    Jaxus hovered in the sky, his body swaying slightly as wounds covered his body and blood slickened his skin. He coughed, a mouthful of blood spewing from his mouth and onto the ground below. Jaxus wiped his mouth with his right sleeve, a grim look on his face as he stared at Ji''Han.


    "What was that Sword Art?" Jaxus asked, voice slightly hoarse. Many nced at the formation screens at this time, eyes widening as they noticed Jaxus'' health below fifty percent, revealing the extent of the damage he had sustained from his domain being forcefully destroyed. They drew in a deep breath, also noticing that Ji''Han''s Qi reserves had tanked considerably, hovering around sixty percent.


    Ji''Han''s health was also lower than before, the damage he sustained from Jaxus'' assault taking its toll. While at sixty percent it was not as low as Jaxus'' health, Ji''Han was not able to heal as well as Jaxus, and so the damage was more permanent as far as the battle was concerned.


    Despite everything that had happened, both fighters had pushed the other to the limit, both living up to their hype as the two pinnacle geniuses of the world. "Does it matter what it was?" Ji''Han replied calmly.


    "No, I guess not," Jaxus sneered, then roared loudly, his domain broken but not his fighting spirit. The remnant Yang energy of the domain explosion began to swirl back towards Jaxus as he activated his Life-Yang Restoration Art, counting on his healing ability to oust Ji''Han''s stamina. All he had to do wasnd one critical blow on Ji''Han, and he would not be able to heal from it as easily as Jaxus could heal his own wounds. "You''ve improved considerably since ourst battle," Ji''Han said calmly as he raised his sword, pointing the tip towards Jaxus. "But it''s time to end this battle."


    Seeing Ji''Han use the same art, Jaxus red with power and dashed to the side, attempting to dodge the attack. At the same time, thousands of swords sprung to life around Ji''Han, soaring through the air in all directions, filling the sky all around him and Jaxus.


    Jaxus sneered and shed his saber outwards, unleashing an inferno of yang, knocking aside all the nearby swords. While doing this, his true focus was still on Ji''Han, who continued to point his sword directly at Jaxus. He knew he had to be prepared to dodge the instant Ji''Han activated that art, or he would be skewered like his Yang lotus had been. As he soared through the sky, a point of light appeared in the sky as Jaxus unleashed another Blooming Lotus, Falling Star. The point of light erged into a fiery lotus, one brimming with cmitous power. It exploded a momentter, sting aside all the swords from Ji''Han''s sword domain and towards Ji''Han himself.


    Ji''Han moved his sword and shed it outwards, sending a sword-image towards the explosion. The sword-image carved the explosion into two halves, both halves sting onto the ground on either side of Ji''Han. He then pointed his sword back towards Jaxus'', who gritted his teeth with frustrated despair and changed his direction, speeding towards Ji''Han instead to force closebat.


    "Smart, but not enough," Ji''Han said, then suddenly vanished. The crowd gasped in absolute shock as Ji''Han vanished like a ghost, his figure disappearing from the entire arena. Jaxus'' eyes went wide with shock, his instincts ring a momentter, warning him of danger from behind.


    A dozen yards behind him was one of Ji''Han''s floating swords, which by itself was not threatening enough for Jaxus to care about. The sword blinked out of existence a momentter, instantly reced by Ji''Han himself. ''A spatial based movement art!'' John thought, seeing through the movement art immediately. Compared to his own movement arts, at least before he started developing his own arts,it was so much more profound that it was insulting topare the two. The entire process happened nearly instantly, with Ji''Han moving forward before Jaxus could turn around. The point of his radiant sword Whiteme touched against the back of Jaxus'' neck, ready to pierce into it at a moment''s notice.


    Jaxus'' instantly froze, no longer moving, while the crowd gasped with shock, awe, and for some, despair.


    "Concede," Ji''Han said with his sword ready to pierce forward at a moment''s notice. "This battle is over."


    "Heh," Jaxus scoffed with annoyance. "With my Life-Yang Restoration Art, I can survive you slicing into my neck. This battle is not over."


    He had not yet moved, as doing so would force Ji''Han''s hand. Ji''Han narrowed his gaze, then raised his sword tip slightly. The crowd gasped again, this time with horror, as the sword tip was pointed directly as Jaxus'' head. Despite his Life-Yang Restoration Art, he would instantly die like all others if his brain, as well as soul, was pierced through directly.


    Jaxus'' gritted his teeth, grinding them with angered ire. "You couldn''t dare," he muttered through gritted teeth. "You''d be disqualified."


    "I''d sooner choose disqualification than defeat," Ji''Han said calmly, his words so firm and sincere that none, not even Jaxus himself doubted them. Everyone fell silent, not wanting to make a single sound as they awaited what came next. The only sound filling the arena came from Jaxus, whose grinding teeth sounded like mountains moving against each other.


    His head then slumped forward slightly, and a deep sigh filled with fiery heat escaped his mouth.


    "You win¡­again. I concede."


    Silence filled the arena for what felt like an eternity. Then everything and everyone exploded into a cmitous uproar, with no one, not even the sovereigns, able to fully contain their emotions.


    Before the Yang-Dao Sect Elder could appear and speak, the announcer roared loudly, her voice filling the entire arena with contagious excitement.


    "In the most amazing battle that I have ever witnessed in my entire life, the victor, and still undefeated heavenly genius¡­Ji''Han of the Sword-Dao Sect!"

 Chapter 1089 Engagement Announcement

    Chapter 1089 Engagement Announcement


    The announcement of Ji''Han''s victory sent the already frenzied crowd into even more of a frenzy, making the stands filled with ten million spectators descend into chaos. Heated arguments broke out amongst the Sword-Dao Sect and Yang-Dao Sect supporters, thetter not satisfied with the oue. Many thought this would be Jaxus'' year to shine and reign supreme, but the pinnacle genius that was Ji''Han once again thwarted Jaxus'' ascension to the top.


    Inside the Prime Shadow''s private room, the atmosphere was theplete opposite. Silence filled the room instead, as John and the others ruminated on what they had just watched.


    The battle reyed in his mind, especially the unrivaledbat prowess that Ji''Han had disyed. His movement arts were supreme, faster than anything he had seen before from one his age. As for hisprehensions and battle arts, those were unlike anything John had seen in one simr to his age.


    While Ji''Han was three years older than John, hisprehensions were still on a level above anyone else, including those like Jaxus. While John was confident he would reach the Dao Lord stage in some of his Dao''s by that age, it was not a guaranteed thing. ''I guess that''s the difference in upbringing between me and Ji''Han,'' John mused silently, noting the differences in their childhoods.


    Ji''Han was born into the most powerful human sect in the Nine-Dao World, and to the second inmand no less. His father, the Sword-Saint, was a pinnacle cultivator standing at the very top of the martial world, and had ess to all the resources avable to this world.


    ''Ji''Han was most likely showered with cultivation resources, treasures, martial lectures and more since before he could walk. He''s been given the best there is to offer, from pills to battle arts, and everything in between for as long as he''s existed. The two of us couldn''t be more different in these aspects.''


    Ji''Han had the advantage of upbringing and cultivation time, while John had the advantage of natural talent and heaven-defying inheritances. John''s early life had been mostly wasted, as he had been unable to cultivate until he was fourteen years old. Since then, he had to scrounge his way through the martial world, wing and grasping for every opportunity. Compared to Ji''Han, who was given nothing but the best for his entire life, he was like a peasantpared to a prince. ''I suppose it''s not all bad though. I was given the Celestial Lightning Script and Immortal Asura Body immediately, so that makes up for it for the most part,'' John thought. ''And if I had to choose between the two, I''d choose my life all over again. While Ji''Han may have been given everything he needed, allowing him to perfect almost every aspect of his cultivation, his perfect upbringing has pampered him too much. He''s like a perfect, ornamental sword of unmatched quality, but with the de dulled. Someone who''s lived their life in luxury instead of on the edge of life and death every day like me won''t be able to defeat me.''


    Still, despite all this, John couldn''t help but admit that Ji''Han was a pinnacle genius, onepletely worthy of his title. The only other person he had ever fought who disyed this much talent andbat prowess had been Asuros, who had been raised by the Asura into a monstrous fighting weapon.


    To stand amongst Asuros, and most likely even beyond him in terms of talent andbat prowess was a feat worthy of praise. Up on the sovereign viewing tform, the Sword-Saint looked down on Ji''Han with a proud, satisfied smile on his face. "Congrattions," the Yang-Sovereign said, drawing the Sword-Saint''s eyes towards him. "Your son fought marvelously. His win was well earned."


    "Thank you for your praise," the Sword-Saint said, smiling lightly. He dared not start this conversation with the Yang-Sovereign, as it could be seen as poor sportsmanship, but now that the Yang-Sovereign had brought it up, he was more than happy to talk about the fight. "Jaxus fought admirably as well. Hismand over the Nine-Petal Hell Lotus is incredible, and he will no doubt he a worthy rival for Ji''Han for a long time toe."


    The Yang-Sovereign nodded silently, then looked at the Prime Shadow who silently say between the two of them.


    "What are your thoughts on the fight?" the Yang-Sovereign asked the Prime Shadow, who had a thoughtful look on his face. The Prime Shadow looked towards the Yang-Sovereign.


    "Marvelous," he replied tly. "Both of them lived up to their expectations and exceeded them."


    "Is something the matter?" the Yang-Sovereign asked. "You seem to be distracted."


    "It''s nothing," the Prime Shadow waved his hand dismissively. "Just some internal Guild matters that require my attention."


    The Yang-Sovereign nodded, while the Sword-Saint smiled widely. The Prime Shadow noticed his smile, then scoffed. He could tell that the Sword-Saint figured his distracted expression was due to him being concerned for John''s safety now that he saw Ji''Han''s true potential, but the truth was far from that. Instead of souring the mood with boastful bragging, the Sword-Saint kept hisment to himself, then stood up from his chair.


    "Yang-Sovereign," he said, drawing the sovereign''s attention once more. "As the host of this year''s tournament, I ask your permission to make an announcement to the crowd."


    The Yang-Sovereign studied him for a second, then nodded in approval. The Sword-Saint gave his thanks, then shot the Prime Shadow onest look of haughty satisfaction before taking to the air.


    His actions were noticed by the crowd, which quickly died down as the Sword-Saintnded on the arena below,nding next to his son. The Sword-Saint was a pinnacle figure on the Nine-Dao World, his power legendary, his existence nearly mythical.


    While John despised the man, to the rest of the world, the Sword-Saint had a nearly god-like status, as proven by his presence alone drawing the attention of the ten million in the stadium. He ced his hand on his son''s shoulder, a proud, satisfied look on his face, before he looked outwards towards the expansive crowd encircling the arena. "The fight between my son Ji''Han, and his long-time and worthy rival Jaxus, was a battle I''m sure none of us will ever forget for as long as we live," he said, his words stirring the crowd into apuse once more. He waited for the apuse to die down before he continued, then said some words of praise to Jaxus, who stood nearby. Jaxus epted the praise as well as he could given his defeat, then soared through the air a momentter, disappearing into one of the countless tunnels leading into the stadium''s interiors.


    "To celebrate this year''s historic Three Dao Tournament, I am formally announcing the engagement ceremony between my son and his wife-to-be, Lilian Celestria!" he eximed loudly and proudly, gesturing towards Lilian who sat on her seat high above on the viewing tform. The crowd was stunned for a second, then burst into thunderous apuse, as the exciting fight was immediately followed up by a stunning announcement of immense importance. The pinnacle genius of the human race was getting married, with his own father, the Sword-Saint, announcing it first to this crowd. The Sword-Saint then made a hand gesture for her toe down to the arena.


    Sitting high above, Lilian wore an indifferent, almost bored expression on her face. Shepletely ignored the looks of the millions looking at her, as if she were not at the center of a million gazes. Shepletely ignored the Sword-Saint''s gesture, remaining seated withplete indifference.


    The crowd noticed this with questioning looks, while the Sword-Saint chuckled lightly, not wanting to cause a scene.


    "The engagement ceremony will take ce a week after the tournament concludes, in the heart of the Sword-Dao Sect. It is with great pleasure that I announce to everyone here that the ceremony is open to everyone, regardless of status or power!"


    The Sword-Saint''s surprising announcement was followed by an even bigger surprise; that the engagement ceremony was an open ceremony. Such an event would no doubt be attended by even more people than the Three Dao Tournament, as there was limited seating for the tournament, but not for a ceremony such as this one.


    The crowd burst into thunderous apuse and excitement, with millions of conversations breaking out regarding the sudden and shocking announcement. A wide smile appeared on the Sword-Saint''s face as he basked in the attention for both him and his son, while Ji''Han stood there with a rather indifferent expression on his face. The crowd continued to cheer for several minutes while the Sword-Saint allowed the praise and apuse to continue, which finally died down quickly and without warning.


    The Sword-Saint frowned, then turned his head to the side, following the eyes of the crowd. He spotted John descending through the sky towards the arena, whonded close by a few secondster. The two exchanged heated res for a short while before John shot a quick nce at Ji''Han, then back at the Sword-Saint.


    "Unless I''m mistaken," he said, his voice loud for the entire stadium to hear. "Isn''t there a bet of some sorts in ce between you and Ji''Han''s wife to be?"


    The Sword-Saint''s frown deepened upon hearing this. "There is indeed a wager between me and Lilian," the Sword-Saint replied, unable to dodge the question. "That the victor of the Three-Dao Tournament will win her hand in marriage, am I correct?" John asked while smirking.


    "Correct," the Sword-Saint nodded, then smiled confidently. "And based on what we just saw, it''s quite clear to me, yourself, and everyone watching that Ji''Han''s victory is inevitable. Why? Are you iming that you will be victorious instead?"


    John''s smirk widened into arge grin as he turned to look at Lilian high above. The two exchanged a quick nce, both having amusement in their eyes. He then looked back at the Sword-Saint, then nodded confidently.


    "Naturally," John replied calmly and sinctly, his words shocking the crowd. While they knew he was strong, his opponent would be Ji''Han, who had just put on a heaven-defying performance.


    The Sword-Saint frowned as he heard this, then opened his mouth to reply. A loud, boisterousughter interrupted him before he could.


    "Hahahahaha, as expected of a fellow lightning cultivator. Bold and confident," the boisterous voice said, each word cracking through the stadium like a thunderp.


    Boom!


    A beam of lightning mmed into the arena, shaking everything for a moment before the sh faded away, revealing Araxus standing nearby, arge grin on his face.


    "But you''ll have to get through me first, and I can assure you that won''t be an easy task," he said with fiery passion as lightning flickered over his skin and within his eyes. "You bettere at me with everything you have, or I will be the one iming the tournament and the girl in the end!"

 Chapter 1090 Revealing The Origin Essence Runes

    Chapter 1090 Revealing The Origin Essence Runes


    Araxus'' arrival stirred the crowd into another frenzy, especially the Yang-Dao Sect supporters. While Jaxus was ranked number two and Araxus number three, the two had spent their entire lives as the two top geniuses of the sect, constantly swapping ces. The two were almost exactly equal in strength and talent, and so there was still hope that a Yang-Dao Sect member made the grand finals.


    John grinned at Araxus'', as his boisterous arrival had dampened the Sword-Saint''s momentum even more. The two acted as if the Sword-Saint, who was still standing nearby, didn''t even exist. This tournament was for them, and they were the next two to fight. The Sword-Saint had used this opportunity to boast about Ji''Han''s engagement, but that had beenpletely overshadowed by the two of them.


    The Sword-Saint frowned deeply upon being ignored in such a fashion, but knew he would only cause a greater headache for himself if he tried to argue against John and Araxus. He turned and took to the sky a momentter, maintaining his dignity and poise, as if their arrival was all part of the n. John watched with a satisfied smile as the Sword-Saint slinked away with Ji''Han in tow, then turned his gaze back to Araxus. The youth standing before him was flickering with lightning, as if he was ready to go at a moment''s notice. "I have high hopes for this battle," Araxus said with passionate excitement. "My instincts are telling me, warning me even, not to fight you. But I can''t help myself when a strong opponent is in front of me."


    "I''d expect nothing less from you," John replied, not surprised by Araxus'' sharp instincts, or willingness to ignore those instincts. "Hopefully this battle of ours can teach me something new in regards to the lightning Dao," Araxus said with hopeful expectation. "I wonder what''s stronger. Your body, or my lightning."


    "Oh, I won''t be using any body battle arts for this fight," John replied calmly. His words immediately shocked everyone, from Araxus, to the crowd, to even the sovereigns.


    "What? Are you conceding before the fight starts?" Araxus asked, head tilted to the side in confusion.


    "No, not at all," John shook his head. "It''s just that I''m going to only use my lightning Dao as well in this fight, and not any body rted arts. I want to see how my lightningprehensions match up against yours."


    Araxus stared at John with a stupefied expression, as did most of the crowd.


    "Are¡­are you a dual cultivator of both essence and body?" Araxus asked, his tone almost as if he were asking a stupid question not even worth uttering. No one, not even the most heavenly of geniuses, cultivated both body and essence. Those that did fell behind their peers in both aspects, resulting in a life of wasted talent. John merely nodded to answer the question, a confident and rxed smile on his face. His expression alone was proof enough that he wasn''t lying, shocking everyone to their core.


    They had seen John use some rudimentary lightning Qi before, but nothing special. So far in this tournament, John had mostly used his body strength to get this far, revealing very little of his essence Qi talent. For him to have such heaven-defying body talents, and also be an essence cultivator as well. Well, it was just too much to believe. Part of the reason many thought his Illusory Test Scores to be fraudulent was exactly because of this.


    His durability, health, and stamina scores were all one hundred, meaning he was the strongest and most durable body cultivator to ever be tested. That alone would have been jaw-dropping, let alone the other categories that he scored one-hundred in, such as his qi quality, qi quantity, and attack power. Those hinted at something being awry, as body cultivators never had the strongest attack power. Essence cultivators almost always had the strongest attacks, while body cultivators had the strongest defense. When the two shed, it would be a battle of if the essence cultivator could break the body cultivator''s defenses. If they did, they won. If they didn''t, they lost.


    It was rarely a case that the body cultivator had stronger attacks, forcing the essence cultivator to be on the defense. A deafening silence filled the arena for a short while before Araxus spoke once more, recovering from his shock.


    "Between your essence and body, which one is stronger?" he asked, no longer doubting John. Unlike the others, he had a great impression of John, and could tell he wasn''t one to lie for false glory or fame. Otherwise, he would have been much more high-profile in the tournament thus far.


    "Hmmm?" a thoughtful look appeared on John''s face as he contemted the question, then he shrugged. "They''re about the same to be honest."


    His words stunned everyone once more, as such a im was utterly impossible. He had already shown body strength and durability greater than anything anyone had ever seen for his cultivation level, and was now also iming his essence talent was on par.


    While the im sounded oundishly impossible, it was the truth. While his body talent was heaven-defying with his Asura and Jade Dragon inheritances, his essence talent was equally as terrifying. He had a twenty-timespressed dantian, which would have already put him above everyone else as far as essence talent was concerned.


    On top of his dantian, he had his essence bloodline ability, which was as heaven-defying as his dantian. With those twobined, the power he could unleash was definitely on par with his body power, perhaps even more so. Whenbined, he formed the ultimate fighting machine, unmatched by anyone in his same realm.


    "Hahaha," a chuckle came from Araxus as he recovered once more. "Just my luck to have to fight someone like you," he shook his head. He breathed in deeply, then locked gazes with John again.


    "Onest thing," Araxus said, walking towards John. He stopped a few feet away, then reached out and touched John''s shoulder. John let the process happen, as he didn''t feel any harmful intentionsing from Araxus, and well as the fight not having officially started yet.


    Lightning surged from Araxus'' hand, piercing into John''s body. He instinctively tensed up in surprise, but rxed a momentter as he felt no dangering from the lightning. Instead, the lightning coursed through his body, snaking towards his lightning essence runes like a hound following a strong scent.


    The profundity of the lightning surprised John, as it was no less profound than his own lightning, and even contained traces of augmentation from Araxus'' awakened King Grade essence runes. As Araxus'' lightning hit John''s essence runes, the essence runes red to life as if awakened from a deep slumber.


    The process startled John, as the runes normally only came out when he himself was using strong lightning abilities, taking strong lightning damage, or using the Celestial Lightning Script.


    One by one the runes on his body activated, and in less than a second, his body both outside and within red brightly as tens of thousands of bright-blue essence runes appeared. The moment they appeared, a wide-eyed look appeared on Araxus'' face, who took a step back in even more shock than before. The same shock was on the Sovereign''s faces high above, who also instantly recognized the runes on John''s body.


    "Origin Essence Runes!" the Yang-Sovereign muttered with shock, then turned his head towards the Prime Shadow. "Just how many heavenly secrets does this boy''s body contain?"

 Chapter 1091 The Four Types of Essence Runes

    Chapter 1091 The Four Types of Essence Runes


    The Yang-Sovereign''s words caused many nearby to stand from their seats in shock, while the ten million strong crowd couldn''t help but overhear, bing filled with disbelief themselves. This reaction spread far and wide across the continent, as those watching the fight remotely through formation screens overheard this as well. "What! Impossible! No one since the Sword-Sovereign or my son has been born with Heavenly Runes, let alone Origin Runes," the Sword-Saint said hastily, unable to ept that his son was outshone by John in another category. His son, Ji''Han, was the first Nine-Dao World cultivator born with Heavenly Essence Runes in tens of thousands of years, and was a point of pride for the Sword-Saint.


    "Stop embarrassing yourself," the Prime Shadow said with a light scoff, clearly enjoying the Sword-Saint''s reaction. The Sword-Saint gave him a firm re of displeasure, unhappy by this remark.


    "I''ve already confirmed myself that the boys runes are Origin runes," the Prime Shadow continued. "Not only that, but you yourself should be able to tell the difference. While none of us have ever seen Origin runes before, its abundantly clear that John''s lightning essence runes are above Heavenly Runes, such as the ones your son has."


    While no one present had ever seen Origin Essence Runes, information regarding Essence Runes was rtivelymonce on the Nine-Dao World, including information on Origin Essence Runes. Unlike John''s homeworld, that had been shattered and its ancient history decimated, the Nine-Dao World was left rtively intact, as was its ancient information. Essence Runes were broken into four tiers. Common. King. Heavenly. Andstly, Origin. The mostmon, per the name, were Common Runes. Common Essence Runes were easy to determine from a nce. They were rtivelyrge, approximately three to four inches across, as well as rtively simple in their runic designs. A typical Common Essence Rune cultivator had anywhere from one hundred to one thousand runes covering the exterior and interior of their body.Lastly, they were the most dull of all the rune grades, barely luminescent when activated.


    Above that were King Essence Runes, which were smaller, about one to two inches across, more numerous, as well as moreplex than Common Runes. As runes were thenguage of the Heavens, the moreplicated the designs, the more powerful they were. The King Essence Runes were also brighter, shining to a point that the cultivators body glowed considerably when fully activated. For a typical King Essence Rune cultivator, their runic count ranged from one thousand to five thousand runes on and within their body.


    Heavenly Essence Runes were even smaller, about an inch or less across, and were so detailed that it looked like a thousand lines made up each rune. Typical Heavenly Essence Rune cultivators had anywhere from five thousand to ten thousand runes on their body. The runes linked seamlessly across the cultivators entire body, and glowed even brighter when activated. When Heavenly Essence Runes were activated, it looked as though the cultivator was glowing from within, like magma shining from cracks in the skin. Additionally, the auraing from the runes was more profound than the Common or King Essence Rune. Lastly, Origin Essence Runes werepletely unlike the other three. They were so small that it was hard to pinpoint one rune specifically without looking closely, and they linked up with one another so perfectly it was as if the entire runic pattern was not thousands of separate runes, but onerge rune made of tens of thousands of sub-runes. There was no w in the runic design, making it incredibly eye-catching to any who saw it. It was as if the Heavens painted a perfect design on a body, making it impossible to not admire with awe.


    The number of runes was also much greater than even Heavenly Essence Runes. Ten thousand runes was already an amazing number, as Heavenly Essence Rune cultivators were like a canvas on which the Heavens wrote on, a perfect work of creativity, power, and beauty. John''s body contained over thirty thousand Origin Essence Runes, each so intricately detailed that it was almost impossible to avert one''s eyes. When seen, it was as if one was looking at the most perfect work of art the Heaven''s had ever created.


    The runes also glowed differently than the other stages. While the other stage runes glowed like a stable light source wasing from within the body, shining through the runes to make them glow, Origin Essence Runes seemed to be constantly shifting in color and intensity. The shift was subtle, but it was as if the runes themselves were alive, like lightning swimming through the runic patterns.


    Compared to the other runes, Origin Essence Runes felt alive while the rest felt rtively muted. Those runes on John''s body brimmed with vibrant vitality, flickering and moving within. The most important difference between the tiers was their profundity. The more profound the runes, the more power they could lend to the cultivator. Each rune, when activated, acted as a miniature amplification formation, empowering the specific essence type the runes consisted of. The more intricate the runes and the more numerous, the more power they provided.


    With all this already known to the Sovereigns of the Nine-Dao World, there was no mistaking the types of essence runes John''s body contained. The Sword-Saint stared down at John for a moment, teeth tightly gritted. He exhaled sharply and then sat down, no longer entertaining the subject.


    He nced to his side, giving his son a quick look. Ji''Han''s face was rather calm, but his clenched jaw betrayed his otherwise calm expression.


    "This changes nothing, son," the Sword-Saint whispered to him. "Your overall talent is still supreme, and you will win the tournament, obtain the Ancient Blessing, and also firm your marriage for the world to see."


    He said thest part looking directly at Lilian, who turned to meet his gaze. Her neutral expression turned into a sly smile, one clearly enjoying John''s constant undermining of the Sword-Saint and his son. He narrowed his gaze at her, then averted his eyes, returning them to the arena below.


    "No wonder you are so defensive of this boy," the Yang-Sovereign said to the Prime Shadow. "I had thought your level ofmitment to him odd, but with the natural talents he had disyed thus far, I have to admit that I would be the exact same in your position."


    The Prime-Shadow replied with a smile and a headnod, then turned his gaze down below, a small smile on his face knowing what John had revealed thus far was only the tip of the iceberg.


    In the arena, Araxus looked at John''s glowing Origin Essence Runes, which he had forcefully activated. His shocked expression lingered for some time before fading away, a self-deprecatingugh sounding out a momentter.


    "Hahaha, I knew I felt something specialing from your body, but never did I imagine it to be Origin Runes," Araxus said, hisughter dying out as a heavy look appeared on his face.


    "Do you still want to fight?" John asked calmly. With his Origin Essence Runes revealed, so too was his advantage in this fight revealed. When two cultivators of the same essence type fought, a great determining factor was essence rune quality. Not only did John''s Origin Essence Runes make him more powerful when it came to using lightning, it also made him more resistant to lightning damage as well. His opponent, Araxus, was a lightning cultivator, and so while he himself had King Grade essence runes, they were not nearly as profound as John''s runes.


    The other difference between the two was their stage. John''s runes were in the Creation stage, while Araxus'' King Essence Runes were in the Awakened stage, allowing him to actively use them to augment his power.


    Araxus tilted his head to the side, a confused look on his face. "Do I still want to fight?" he repeated John''s words questioningly. He let the question linge in the air for a moment. Then he grinned. It was not a normal grin, but a wild, almost bloodlusted grin normally seen on one caught up in the heat of battle.


    "No, I don''t want to fight," he said, his words causing many to gasp with shock. Was Araxus, the fourth ranked genius of the tournament, really going to surrender without a fight.


    Boom!


    Lightning exploded from Araxus'' body a momentter, thick and powerful tendrils of lightning coursing into the air, mming violently against the formation screens and arena floor. His aura began to surge higher and higher, forcing the lightning to be even more powerful and violent.


    "No, I don''t just want to fight," Araxus repeated himself, each word booming like a thunderp as he assumed abat-ready stance. "I want to win!"

 Chapter 1092 Thunderfrost Tempest

    Chapter 1092 Thunderfrost Tempest


    A slight look of surprise appeared on John''s face as he stared at Araxus, whose aura was surging, creating a storm of lightning centered around him. The arena shook with each explosion of lightning, hundreds of bolts of lightning scattering throughout the arena each second.


    He had expected Araxus to be depressed or mentally defeated upon seeing his Lightning Origin Essence Runes. He knew Araxus was a smart and reasonable cultivator, and knew based on what John had shown, that Araxus considered himself to be at a disadvantage. Now that his Origin Essence Runes had been revealed, that disadvantage had only grown, and yet Araxus didn''t seem to care at all.


    On the contrary, it seemed to have amplified his lust forbat, surprising John greatly. He had never seen an opponent act like this before, at least not to this level, and the only person that Araxus reminded him of at the moment¡­was himself. "Good," John said with a wide, confident grin. "I''d be disappointed if you reacted in any other way."


    Araxus returned his grin, then turned to look at the nearby Yang-Dao Sect Elder, who was standing there silently.


    "Start the fight already," Araxus said, his words causing the Elder to frown. While Araxus was talking to the Elder, John took the time to inspect Araxus'' armband, checking his Illusory Testing Scores for the first time.


    Name: Araxus Shinan


    Age: Twenty


    Cultivation: Late Dao Transformation Realm


    Special Attributes: Lightning Attribute Body


    Qi Quantity: 98


    Qi Quality: 98


    Health: 87


    Durability: 87


    Stamina: 93


    Comprehensions: 97


    Instincts: 98


    Willpower: 98


    Soul Talent: 87


    Speed/Movement Arts: 99


    Battle Arts: 98


    Attack Power: 98


    Total: 1138


    Rank: 4


    Upon reading his scores, John''s eyes flickered with surprise. He had not expected Araxus'' scores to be so high. In the categories that directly influencedbat, such as movement speed, instincts, battle arts and attack power, Araxus didn''t lose out to Jaxus at all. In fact, in some categories, such as instincts, movement speed, soul talent, and willpower, Araxus was actually higher than Jaxus.


    The only reason he was ranked lower was his health and durability, which were the categories that he lost out topared to Jaxus. Those were low enough that his overall score was below Jaxus'', although only by three points. If he had to guess which fighter was stronger, Araxus or Jaxus, just based on their scores, John would have picked Araxus every time. He nodded his head a momentter, satisfied with his opponent''s talent. With metrics like those, he would be able to put up a good fight.


    While John inspected the score, Araxus conversed with the Yang-Dao Sect Elder. Were Araxus not from the Yang-Dao Sect, he would most likely have received some stern words from the Elder.Instead of making a scene however, the Elder shot Araxus a firm re, then stepped back as his voice boomed across the stadium.


    "The second semi-final match, between Araxus of the Yang-Dao Sect, and John Fenix, begins!"


    The moment the fight started, Araxus'' cultivation was restricted to the Middle Dao Transformation Realm. The restriction process felt different to John, making him wonder if Araxus had restricted his cultivation himself, or if it was the armband doing so.


    The sound of exploding lightning and a roaring crowd broke out immediately,bining into one deafening cacophony of noise. Araxus'' aura surged to the sky, like a storm of lightning shooting upwards instead of down. The air began to cackle with electric intensity, as if it were about to be lightning itself.


    "I know I can''t afford to hold back against you at all, so this battle is going to be short and intense," Araxus said, grinning with self-confidence. "I''m going to skip the testing attacks ande at you with everything I have, so prepare yourself."


    "How kind of you," John replied with a smile. Araxus did not need to warn John of his intent to start all out from the beginning, but had decided to do so regardless. The more John interacted with the youth, the better impression he had of him. "Now show me what Awakened King Lightning Essence Runes can do," John said, his scythe appearing in his hand a momentter.


    "dly," Araxus grinned, his own weapon appearing in his hand as well. John''s eyes snapped to the weapon, a brief look of surprise appearing on his face. The weapon in Araxus'' hand was not a sword, a saber, a spear, or one of the conventional weapons he was used to fighting against.


    Instead, Araxus'' weapon was ance. Thence was nine feet long from tip to hilt. The de, or weapon portion of thence, was seven feet long. It started out narrow at the tip, the tip so sharp that it seemed as though it could pierce all of creation. It then widened outwards as it approached the hilt of the weapon, eventually stopping at six inches wide at the base. The shaft and tip of thence was a dark blue color, with light blue runic patterns carved into its surface. The runic patterns spread chaotically like branching lightning, making it appear as though lightning itself had been carved into the weapon.


    The hilt of thence was light blue, and at the very base of the hilt was a small carving of a dragon''s head. The dragon head had an open mouth, as if it were spewing lightning from within.


    John inspected the weapon closely, then nodded his head approvingly. As far as the opponents he had fought thus far in his life, Araxus''nce was the highest quality weapon he had seen an opponent wield. Its overwhelmingly sharp point,bined with the explosive power of a lightning cultivator, was no doubt a dangerousbination, even against someone as prodigious as John. "I don''t see why you use a scythe," Araxus said, giving John''s scythe a quick nce. "Your scythe is no doubt incredible, but a scythe doesn''t allow you to fully employ the advantages of lightning. Ance on the other hand," he trailed off, then smirked lightly.


    "The Lightning Dao is only one of my focuses," John replied calmly, although he couldn''t argue against Araxus'' logic. "As far as I''m concerned, this scythe is perfect for me."


    "Is that so," Araxus sneered, his aura still exploding outwards like a storm of lightning. "I think we''ve talked enough. It''s time to get this battle started."


    "I couldn''t agree more," John replied, assuming abat-ready stance.


    "Good, then let''s see how you deal with this!" Araxus roared, then opened his mouth wide, his action far faster than what it would have been had he moved his arms and body to ready his weapon.


    The instant he opened his mouth, John felt his instincts re with the warning of approaching danger. Araxus'' mouth glowed brightly from within for an instant, at which point a storm of lightning exploded outwards directly onto John, giving him no time to dodge or prepare.


    It was as if Araxus had be a dragon himself, spewing a tempestuous storm of lightning from his mouth. John felt himself be drowned in the storm of lightning, which overwhelmed his senses. Everything he saw was lightning, and everything he heard was the cmitous thunderps of the lightning exploding on his skin.


    The lightning sted onto his body, doing its best to damage and invade, causing as much damage as possible. With his innately durable body and Origin Essence Runes, he directly withstood the initial barrage of damage, although he was thrown violently through the air, the power of Araxus'' lightning breath too powerful to resist without warning.


    As he was flung through the sky, the storm of lightning still enveloped him within. After initially resisting the lightning, a small portion of it began to damage John''s body, causing him great surprise. With his resistance to lightning, he had not expected to take any damage. He realized the truth of the matter a momentter, as while being flung through the air like a broken kite, he focused on the lightning trying to invade his body and cause him harm. The lightning was unlike anything he had felt before. While the underlying power was no doubt lightning, it was tinged, or more aptly described as brimming, with another power.


    The power of ice.


    "Thunderfrost Tempest!" John heard Araxus roar, his voice mixing with the sound of thunderps all around him.


    The lightning from the lightning breath dissipated a momentter, having forced John backwards dozens of miles. His body was covered from head to toe with ayer of ice, while his body felt as though it were bing frozen.


    He halted his backwards momentum and steadied himself, then turned to look at Araxus in the distance. His eyes widened as he looked above Araxus, and the violent storm clouds above his head. For a second, he thought heavenly tribtion clouds had appeared, only realizing the truth as he studied its aura.


    Unlike tribtion clouds, however, the clouds above flickered with the ruinous power of Araxus'' frost lightning.


    "You look surprised," Araxus said, smiling with confidence as the ruinous storm churned above him, like clouds of the apocalypse descending onto the arena. "Have you never seen frost lightning before?" he asked curiously, to which John shook his head. "I didn''t even know something like frost lightning existed," John replied truthfully.


    "Well then, allow me to teach you something today! Thunderfrost Tempest!" Araxus roared as the storm above him surged to life, followed by a cmitous barrage of frost lightning crashing down onto him like a heavenly tribtion.


    Boom!

 Chapter 1093 Lightning Shatters the Void

    Chapter 1093 Lightning Shatters the Void


    A barrage of frost lightning bolts rained down on John, like the Heavens had shown up to resume his tribtions. The sky shattered and ground shook as the bolts pierced through the sky, mming directly onto John. The nearby mountains were ripped apart from the power of the lightning, while the ground beneath John''s feet turned shattered and then was frozen solid, unable to resist the frigid cold of the frost lightning. John roared as he punched outwards, sending a powerful shockwave that mmed against the lightning strikes just before it hit him. The air exploded into a chaotic mess as some of the lightning bolts scattered outwards in all directions, while a few managed to pierce through John''s hasty counterattack and continue down towards him. Boom!


    Three massive bolts of frost lightning mmed into his body, throwing him into the air once more. The arena shook from the power of the bolts, while John felt his bodye under assault from a simultaneous mix of lightning and frost powers. The lightning crashed into him and coursed over his skin, trying its best to pierce underneath and snake its way through his body.


    His Lightning Origin Essence Runes red to life, partially activating to amplify his resistance to lightning. While he was not yet in the Awakened stage, Creation stage runes were like instinctive defense mechanisms, onlying to life when under assault. After a brief struggle, the frost lightning depleted its power, unable to pierce into John''s body as it had wished.


    While he had resisted the destructive portion of the lightning attack, his body felt as though it had been plunged into an ocean of ice. Ayer of frost coated his skin, making him look more like a creature of ice than a human. Internally, he felt his muscles and tendons harden from the cold, slowing his movements and making his reactions sluggish.


    The feeling was quite ufortable for John, who was not used to his body being affected in such a manner. He roared as his aura surged to life. His powerful Qi surged through his body while his blood surged like powerful rivers through his veins, pushing aside and removing the lingering frost effects. "Not bad," he heard Araxus say from above, causing him to snap his head upwards to look at his opponent. Araxus hovered high in the sky, just beneath the clouds from his Thunderfrost Tempest. The clouds swirled above him with chaotic power, frost lightning swimming through the clouds ceaselessly. Araxus'' made a hand gesture a momentter, while his Qi red for a short moment.


    In response, the storm above him changed suddenly, bing much more powerful and chaotic. The clouds began to swirl like a whirlpool, with the center rotating at incredible speeds. Gusts of wind kicked up in the arena, each gust strong enough to shatter any mountain that it ran into. Then snowkes began to burst from the center of the stormcloud, falling to the ground below. The snowkes mixed with the tempestuous wind, creating a storm of pure chaos in the arena. Visibility fell to near zero, causing John to rely on his divine sense to navigate his way through the storm. His divine sense spread out in all directions, and he winced slightly as he felt a stinging pain assault his soul. A surprised look appeared on his face as he studied the snowkes, which somehow interacted with his divine sense.


    ''Lightning. Each snowke is infused with the power of frost lightning!'' John instantly understood. He looked closer, another look of surprise appearing on his face as he realized what the snow truly was.


    It was not snow, but was instead runic imprints of frost lightning. Each snowke was a rune that scattered throughout the arena, unleashing a powerful jolt of frost lightning when interacted with. Against anyone else, a single one of these runes would be able to cause a decent amount of damage, quickly adding up as tens of thousands of them mmed against the opponent. With the entire battlefield filled with these runic snowkes, Araxus'' Thunderfrost Tempest was more like an expansive domain-type battle art than anything else. There was no safe space to move, making the only way to fight Araxus by fighting in the domain of runic snow, or using his own arts to push the runes away. John sneered as he realized this, his confidence unwavering.


    "This battle art is impressive," he called out, unable to see Araxus in the thick storm, but knowing Araxus could hear him. "But unfortunately for you, its useless against me."


    "Is that so," Araxus scoffed from within his storm, giving John a rtive sense of his location.


    He surged forward in that direction, blitzing through the storm without care. Each snowke that smashed against him unleashed a bolt of frost lightning against him, but thanks to his lightning essence runes and durable body, he was able to resist them without taking much damage at all, and any damage that he did sustain, his body quickly healed.


    Boom!


    A barrage of lightning suddenly mmed against John as he sped through the storm of white, arriving so fast and unexpected that he had little time to prepare against. The only warning of impending danger was his instincts, which allowed him to raise his body defense to the maximum as the lightning mmed against him.


    Boom!


    John smashed against the arena floor with violent power, shattering several nearby mountains from the force of his impact. Arge crater formed where he had fallen, while dirt and ice fell in that crater, covering himpletely.


    "What''s your next move?" Araxus called out loudly from within the storm, his body unable to be seen through the chaos of the storm. "Surely this isn''t everything you''re capable of! Why don''t you bring out that dragon form you used earlier?"


    "I already told you," John''s voice boomed out from beneath the ruined ground, the power of his voice alone shaking the earth around him. "I''m going to defeat you using only my lightning Qi."


    "Is that so?" Araxus sneered. "Then show me how you n on doing that. Because all you''ve done so far is defend yourself."


    "dly," John replied, the end of his word growing loud like that of a dragon''s roar. A momentter, the ground that had covered him exploded outwards like a volcano eruption, as a powerful draconic roar sted out from beneath the ground, sting everything aside. A momentter, another roar boomed outwards, even louder than before.


    While the crowd couldn''t see much, as the storm of white was covering most of the battlefield, it sounded to them as if a true dragon had been awoken from a slumber, roaring inside the arena to announce its arrival.


    Boom!


    The roar surged through the sky, sting aside the howling winds and snow-like lightning runes moving in the sky. In a mere moment, the tempest of white was pushed aside, like a tidal wave hade and taken the storm with it. The parting storm revealed the battlefield once more to everyone, with John standing on the ground, Araxus hovering miles up in the sky.


    John smirked as he finally spotted Araxus, who returned the smirk with equal confidence. After being pushed aside by John''s Roar of the Jade Dragon, the tempest began to return to the arena, covering it in its ruinous power once more.


    "Cool roar," Araxus said while nodding with praise, "but kind of useless at the same time."


    With the storm almost returned to its original power, the effects of John''s roar were almostpletely gone. John''s smirk deepend as he heard Araxus.


    "Useless?" he repeated, then grinned. It was time to reveal his first self-created art, which he had been working on ceaselessly for weeks now, perfecting it as much as he could. ''Lightning Shatters the Void!''


    His aura suddenly exploded outwards, lightning surging off him as if he had be a god of lightning and thunder. The flickering bolts of lightning splintered the sky and shattered the ground all around him, each bolt powerful enough to destroy an typical Early Dao Transformation cultivator.


    The instant after bing the incarnation of lightning, space shattered around John''s body as if it was no longer able to withstand his ruinous power. Then John suddenly disappeared,pletely vanishing in both person and aura. Before Araxus could react to the sudden events, space shattered apart behind him, as if a primordial creature was stepping out of the void of chaos.


    Boom!


    John exploded through the firmament, shattering space as he appeared like a ghost of lightning behind Araxus. Araxus turned instantly and thrust hisnce out towards John, who sneered as Araxus was a moment toote. Whilences were incredibly powerful when it came to thrusts, they were a slow weapon to use when an opponent was not directly in front of thence wielder.


    His right fist, coated with powerful lightning, surged forward, mming against the side of thence before Araxus could properly position it. As his right fist knocked thence aside, his left hand, index and pointer finger already pointing directly at Araxus, exploded to life with catastrophic lightning power.


    ''Twentyfold Lightning Ruin!''


    Boom!

 Chapter 1094 Self-Created Arts

    Chapter 1094 Self-Created Arts


    In the arena, the storm of white dominated mostly everything, drowning the world in its runic power. That all changed when John unleashed his Twentyfold Lightning Ruin, another self-created battle art of his.


    Using his Lightning Ruin as the blueprint, he altered it to fully amodate his twenty-timespressed dantian and essence Qi talents, empowering the attack to a level that only someone like him could withstand internally. With his newly reforged meridians, a quick and sudden surge of this much power was possible for him to withstand, making the quick-use battle art devastating in power.


    The world suddenly turned from white to bright blue as the Twentyfold Lightning Ruin exploded point nk at Araxus, sting onto him with cmitous power.


    Boom!


    The air around them exploded as the lightning beam sted against Araxus'' body, immediately knocking him far into the distance. Araxus tumbled head over heels like a broken kite, while the storm of runic lightning scattered outwards in all directions, pushed apart by the powerful explosion.


    The crowd gasped as they watched Araxus m into the distant defensive formation screen, which red to life, immediately halting his momentum. He bounced off it with a sickening boom, then fell to the ground below.


    Bang!


    The ground rumbled as hended on the ground, falling face first onto a mountainside. Silence filled the arena for a short moment as everyone held their breath, wondering what the oue of the sudden attack was. Almost in unison, everyone looked towards the formation screens, eyes glued to the health metric. Ny five percent!


    After taking that catastrophic attack head on and mming into the defensive formation and thousands of miles an hour, Araxus had only taken five percent damage.


    "Hahahaha," loudughter boomed out of Araxus, slightly muffled as his face was down on the ground beneath him. He lifted his head and looked at John who hovered in the sky dozens of miles away. "Just how many secrets do you have?"


    "I''m not sure what you''re talking about," John replied, as nothing he had just done was considered a secret, at least as far as he was concerned. While he had never shown either of those arts, he hadn''t kept them a secret on purpose.


    "First off," Araxus said, standing up and brushing the dirt from his robe. "What the hell was that movement art of yours?"


    "I call it, Lightning Shatters the Void," John replied truthfully, his words shocking Araxus, as well as the Sovereigns and other powerhouses watching the battle.


    "You¡­call it?" Araxus repeated with surprise. "Does that mean you made it yourself?" he asked, filling in the dots. John merely nodded his head. Araxus'' eyes went wide with surprise, while the Yang-Sovereign turned to look at the Prime Shadow, a surprised and questioning look on his face.


    "A self-created Art of this level?" The Yang-Sovereign said. "While it still has some traces of imperfections and ws, this art is already on the level of being considered a powerful movement art, one worthy of being taught to our foremost geniuses. Did you teach this boy this art?"


    "I''m just as surprised as you are," the Prime Shadow said while shaking his head. "I''ve never seen this Art before, nor did I teach him anything about Art creation."


    "That attack of his had the same traces of a self-created Art as well. It was so simple, yet so powerful," the Yang-Sovereign said, returning his surprised gaze to John below. Self-created Arts were typically reserved for the ancient powerhouses of a world, such as the Yang-Sovereign, his counterparts, or elders and sect leaders from powerful sects. Only after amassing a lifetime of experience was one considered ready to create their own battle or movement Art, as anything they created before that point would be much less powerful than an already established art they could learn from.


    The only reason to create a self-created Art this early was if one had unique cultivation conditions that made learning other Arts ineffective, or if one had a monstrousprehension ability capable of making fundamentally sound Arts. In John''s case, it was both.


    "This boy is truly something else. And most importantly of all, the destructive nature of his lightning is unlike anything I''ve ever felt. The only other time lightning has invoked a simr feeling was¡­Heavenly Tribtion¡­" the Yang-Sovereign''s voice trailed off, as he himself was shocked by what he had juste to realize. "Lightning Shatters the Void huh?" Araxus repeated, then nodded his head approvingly. "I like the name."


    "Thanks," John replied.


    When he hade up with this movement art, John had wanted to utilize both his Dao of Lightning and Dao of Space to create an ultimate movement art. However, the two were rather different in nature, as the Lightning Dao was powerful and chaotic, hard to control and predict.


    On the other hand, the Spatial Dao was calm, sharp and precise. When undisturbed, it was like a pool of calm water, pristine and undisturbed. When utilized, it was like a sharp knife, sharp and precise. He had tried to fuse the two, but found the process harder than expected, and with the tournamenting up, decided to focus on creating something he could use in time for his battles.


    Thinking over the issue, he weighed the pros and cons of the two Dao''s. Using the Spatial Dao to move through the spatial chaos on the other side of the spatial void was fast, but had its limitations. One was mostly at the mercy of the storms of spatial chaos on the other side, which could alter and prohibit his movement, making it hard to move unless he had perfect control over the spatial Dao.


    On the other hand, his Lightning Dao was fast and powerful, capable of smashing through any obstacle in his path with power and speed. After trying to figure out a smart solution to merging these conflicting Dao''s, he finally came to the realization that he didn''t need to merge them at all. Instead, he needed to use the advantages of both Dao''s to the greatest extent he could, doing something only he himself could do.


    Using his control over the Spatial Dao, John opened up a passage through the firmament, stepping into the spatial chaos on the other side. Then, instead of focusing on reading the storms of chaos, he decided to just shatter through them with pure power, tanking the power of the chaos storms with the power of his Qi and body. Space to tear into the other dimension. Lightning to shatter through the chaos storms and arrive at his destination with utmost haste. Why care about the chaos storms when you could shatter right through it? At the same time, the coursing power of the ruinous lightning distorted space around him, making it easier to burrow into and out of the chaotic void of space. With the Lightning Dao being a derivative element of Chaos, it was the perfect Dao to use to shatter through Chaos itself.


    On top of all that, Lightning itself was used for a fast speed movement art, increasing his speed through the chaos of the spatial void. Using other lightning-based movement arts as a blueprint, John created an explosively powerful lightning movement art. The art put great strain on his body due to the intensity of the lightning Qi in and around his body, but the result of that intensity was an incredibly quick and powerful physical movement art, one on par with the movement arts shown by Jaxus and Ji''Han earlier.


    Combined, it resulted in the perfect movement art for him, one far faster than using either of the Dao''s alone. That was the realization he hade up with, resulting in the creation of his Lightning Shatters the Void.


    The power of spatial chaos was enough to kill even World Expansion experts if they did not carefully heed the storms of chaos, avoiding the powerful ones with cautious care. Even someone like Lilian had to read the spatial chaos storms, burrowing through some of them, using some of them, and avoiding the ones too powerful to deal with.


    For this movement art, all of those concerns were thrown away. It was something only he could do in the Dao Transformation Realm. Something only someone with the body of an Asura and Dragon, as well as a Twenty-Timespressed Dantian could do. With his Dragon-God Shift and Asura Transformation, the movement art would be even faster, but due to his agreement with Araxus, he had not used either.


    "So, tell me," Araxus said, giving John a serious look as if he wanted a truthful answer. "Where did you obtain that lightning?"


    "Obtain this lightning?" John asked with confusion, tiling his head slightly to the side. He had no idea what Araxus was talking about.


    "Yes. Where, or how, did you obtain your lighting? Your lightning type. I''ve only ever seen it once before. From Heavenly Tribtions! " Araxus repeated. "Destruction Lightning!"

 Chapter 1095 Thunderous Blitz

    Chapter 1095 Thunderous Blitz


    John instantly understood what Araxus was talking about. When he had first received the Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique from Celestial Soulrend, it had been famed as a cultivation technique that focused on the aspect of destructive lightning. While normal lightning was itself destructive in nature, it could not be considered destructive lightning. True destructive lightning was akin to that of Heavenly Tribtions, where the very nature of the lightning itself focused on causing as much destruction and damage as possible. Not only was the lightning more powerful, it was also much more efficient at causing more damage and pain, amplifying the physical and mental anguish it could unleash on an enemy.


    True destruction lightning was different from a fusion between the Daos of Destruction and Lightning as well. While a fusion between those two Dao''s would result in something simr to true destruction lightning, it was still considered an inferior version. True Destruction Lightning, such as Heavenly Tribtion lightning or John''s lightning was born, or created, from the Dao''s of Lightning and Destruction. It was a perfectbination between the two with no ws, unlike fusion, where there were still inefficiencies in the fusion process.


    In John''s case, his destruction lightning hade about as abination of his Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique, which altered the very nature of his Dantian to produce true destruction lightning, as well as the Heavenly Tribtion lightning, he had absorbed during his tribtions. Thetter had been possible thanks to cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script, which turned his body into an Origin-Grade Lightning Attribute Body, allowing him to not only absorb tribtion lightning, but contain it within his body without it rampaging and killing him.


    After absorbing tribtion lightning, John had stored it inside his body for years. Over that time, the Tribtion Lightning came to infuse into his very being, including his Dantian, empowering his ability to unleash true Destruction Lightning as quickly and naturally as normal lightning, making each and everyone one of his lightning based attacks a potentially deadly one.


    Back on his homeworld, the knowledge of the Dao''s was far less than that of the Nine-Dao World. On his homeworld, his enemies and the powerhouses of the world could tell John''s lightning was special and dangerous, but didn''t know exactly why.


    For someone like Araxus however, who not only had the teachings of a pinnacle sect of the Nine-Dao World, but also had an Awakened King-Grade Lightning Attribute Body, spotting the difference was beyond simple. He had been able to discern at a nce the truth of John''s lightning, especially whenparing it to his own tribtions, in which he had studied the Heavenly Tribtion lightning with extraordinary care.


    "Oh, that," John said with realization, scratching his chin in an awkward manner. While he did like Araxus, he couldn''t just outright tell him of his Primordial Extermination Lightning technique or his Celestial Lightning Script, at least not in front of everyone here.


    "I¡­I absorbed my Tribtion Lightning, and made it my own," John decided to say, giving a partial truth. While his im was still beyond shocking, it didn''t reveal any hints towards his secretive cultivation techniques.


    Araxus'' eyes went wide upon hearing this, as did every single person in the crowd. Almost everyone present had experienced tribtions themselves, and knew how horrifying Tribtion Lightning was. When undergoing tribtion, every cultivator focused on surviving first and foremost.


    To absorb Tribtion Lightning, when one was already fighting for their life, was an unheard of concept, as well as a suicidal one. Only John, with his incredible inheritances could aplish such a thing. For anyone else who attempted to do that, death would be the only oue, Araxus included.


    Araxus stared at John with a bewildered expression for a moment, then began to break out into loud, almost crazyughter.


    "Hahaha, there''s just nopeting with you, is there?" Araxus said while shaking his head. "No, but you can still put up a good fight nheless," John replied truthfully. Such words would normally ignite Araxus'' ire, as they werepletely overbearing and confident, but when it came from John, it was as if he were merely speaking the truth.


    A wide grin appeared on Araxus'' face as he pointed hisnce directly at John.


    "You might be more talented than me, and might be stronger, but that doesn''t mean I can''t win," Araxus said with unwavering resolve. "Until I''m lying on the ground, unable to move, this battle isn''t done."


    Boom!


    The ground beneath Araxus'' feet shattered as lightning sprung into existence all around him. The lightning arced high into the sky, smashing against the nearby formation barrier, then returned towards Araxus, mming into his body.


    More tendrils of lightning flew off him and returned, the process quickly forming the shape of two massive wings. John looked at the wings and instantly recognized what they were stylized after, as he had seen those wings before in real life.


    A Lightning Dragon!


    "Rush of the Lightning Dragon!" Araxus roared as the earth shattered around him like brittle ss. With no warning at all, Araxus surged forward through the sky, his body almost appearing like it had be a bolt of lightning itself. His speed was absolutely incredible as he sped towards John far faster than John had ever seen an opponent move. It was as if Araxus had transformed himself into the concept of lightning, focusing only on moving fast, powerfully, and most importantly, unpredictably.


    He arrived before John in an instant, his momentumpletely overwhelming. Lightning roared to life on hisnce, which thrust out with his full power. The world around John became lightning, his vision fully epassed by ruinous lightning.


    "Thundersurge Lance!" Araxus roared as hisnce thrust forward, piercing directly towards John''s chest. John felt as though a true Lightning Dragon was approaching him, with one of its massive ws surging directly towards his heart. This was the most powerful attack he had faced head on since in quite some time, eclipsing the power of the World Expansion cultivators he had fought roughly a year ago.


    Only the Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art had been more powerful, and that was only the final attack after Chloe had channeled her ability for a long time, draining her Qi in the process. If he took this attack head on, without using his Dragon-God Shift or Asura Transformation, he would take considerable damage despite his Lightning Attribute Body.


    Roar!


    John roared outwards, unleashing a Roar of the Jade Dragon, as it was his fastest use battle art. The powerful roar mmed against Araxus'' who pierced through its power as if it were made of paper. However, that momentary pause was enough for John to raise his arms in time, just before thence pierced into his chest.


    Hands raised to both sides, his mental focus was pushed to the absolute limit as Araxus''nce reached him. With another roar, not of a dragon, but of one mustering his full strength, John''s body exploded into a shower of lightning, covering him fully like armor. At thest possible instant, his hands surged with his full power towards one another, palms mming against both sides of thence as the tip just reached his chest.


    Boom!


    The sky rumbled and the ground far beneath their feet shattered as Araxus''nce mmed against John with incredible power. Araxus'' eyes flickered with surprise for a moment as he watched John inexplicably catch hisnce, which was moving so fast that most in the crowd couldn''t even see it move. He then sneered and summoned even more of his power, pushing forward with everything he had.


    Due to his monstrous momentum, Araxus surged forward, pushing John backwards with thence against his chest.


    The two sped through the sky like a bolt of lightning, speeding across the hundred-mile-wide arena in less than in mere seconds before mming into the defensive formation on the other side of the arena. John''s back mmed into the formation screen without any slowing down or using a defensive technique, causing a cmitous boom to crack across the stadium, while thence pushed against his chest with the power of exploding volcanoes and the weight of mountains. The formation screen red to life, lightning up brightly as it used its full power to defend against the monstrously powerful collision. Lightning exploded from Araxus''nce, drowning the nearby area in an explosion of lightning as he unleashed the final portion of his attack. The crowd gasped as the attack finally ended, although lightning continued to flicker on the location where John was pressed against the formation screen. They all exchanged nces with their neighbors, the same though visible in each of their expressions.


    ''Was it possible to survive such an attack?''


    That attack was more than powerful enough to easily kill a typical Late Dao Transformation cultivator, and then some. While John was not a typical cultivator, he had not been using the Dragon-God Shift he had revealed earlier. Without that, his survival was questioned by all.


    A momentter, they looked towards the formation screens disying his information, which updated a momentter. Their eyes went wide with shock as they stared at the number detailing his health, which had hardly moved at all.


    Health: Ny-Six Percent!


    "Hahaha," boisterousughter came from within the explosion of lightning, which faded away a short distanceter as Araxus hovered a short distance away, staring into it with a stern expression. "I thought you had me for a second there," John said as his form was revealed to all. Araxus studied John''s body, noticing a small wound on his chest where thence had pierced, as well as some blood on his back from directly smashing into the formation screen head on without any protection.Those wounds began to heal instantly as John''s Limiters and natural healing factor activated. Araxus turned to look at the formation screen, which showed John''s health quickly return to one hundred percent, undoing all the damage he had just done. "Fucking monstrous," Araxus said tly, not expecting this attack of his to do so little damage to John. With John''s healing factor on top of that, he realized he would need to exhaust John''s Qi and prevent his healing before he could even think about winning the battle.


    "Surprised?" John asked with a smile. Most opponents would have expected John to perish or at least be gravely injured upon taking such a powerful attack head on, but Araxus only stared at him with an even, yet stern expression.


    "On the contrary," Araxus sneered, a small smile appearing on his face as his aura began to surge once more. "The tougher you are, the more times I get to unleash my full powered battle arts without any concern. This is quite a rare opportunity for me to test my limits, so be a good target dummy and take more of my attacks."


    "I could say the same to you," John said, then pressed off the formation screen and sped towards Araxus to resume their battle of lightning.

 Chapter 1096 Thunderdragon Surge

    Chapter 1096 Thunderdragon Surge


    The moment John sped towards Araxus, thetter moved backwards through the sky, keeping his distance from John. His actions drew skeptical looks from John and the spectators, wondering if he was going to go on the defensive.


    "Retreating after talking so confidently?" John asked with a smirk.


    "On the contrary," Araxus replied. "I know I said I would go all out from the start, but the truth is I didn''t do what I said I would."


    "Oh? You mean to say you''ve been holding back in this fight?" John asked curiously. If that was the case, then Araxus truly was a pinnacle genius. He had already injured John in thatst exchange, and while it didn''t result in serious injury, being able to injure John while fighting in the same realm was already an aplishment that most geniuses were not capable of.


    Araxus nodded to John''s question. "Since you decided to not use that dragon form of yours, I was worried that my attacks would harm you too much, and thus I held back until I could confirm otherwise."


    He paused for a moment as his eyes scanned John''s body up and down, seeing all the previous signs of damage already healed over. He scoffed lightly and shook his head, seemingly at himself.


    "It seems my worries werepletely unwarranted," he continued. "Since you are able to withstand my attacks with rtive ease, I will do what I said I would earlier, and no longer hold back. Prepare yourself."


    "How kind of you to not only hold back for my sake, but also warn me once more that your attacks are going to be stronger going forward," John replied.


    "Heh," Araxus sneered, ignoring John''s obviously taunting words. "I''d rather lose fighting fairly than win fighting with tricks."


    "That''s quite a naive way of thinking," John replied. "In a battle of life and death, the winner lives and the loser dies. Tricks and fair fighting don''t matter in true battles."


    "Hah, if I die in battle, then that only means I was not strong enough," Araxus replied with unwavering resolve, then grinned. "Now prepare yourself, for I''m about to show you what Awakened Essence Runes are capable of!"


    Boom!


    Araxus'' aura exploded outwards, far greater than anything he had revealed thus far. His aura naturally created bolts of lightning that scattered out in all directions, mming into the ground with considerable power. The arena began to rumble ceaselessly as the lightning bolts continued to shatter everything they touched.


    A momentter, Araxus'' body began to glow. The glow was subtle at first, but in mere seconds, he glowed brightly as blueish lightning runes appeared on his skin. The lightning runes thrummed, as if lightning was flickering within them, making him look quite exotic.


    John narrowed his gaze as he stared at his opponent. After activating his Lightning Essence Runes, the level of danger he felting from Araxus greatly increased.


    The lightning wings sprouting from his back grewrger and more visible, almost as if they were bing true wings made from lightning. At the same time, the powering from hisnce intensified, bingpletely coated with a powerfulyer of lightning.


    "Thunderdragon Surge!"


    Araxus thrust hisnce forward without warning, the tip pointing directly towards John in the distance. Unlike the previous time he had used his Thunderdragon Surge, Araxus was several miles away from John, making thetter question the efficacy of using such an attack at this distance.


    John''s doubt was instantly washed away as a monstrous beam of lightning shot out from thence. The tip of the lightning beam was just as sharp as thence itself. It was so sharp, fast, and powerful, that John could see space itself tear ever so slightly wherever the beam passed by.


    The speed of the lightning beam was even more shocking, as it reached John almost instantly. Recovering his wits in time, John dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the beam of lightning. Flickers of the beam mmed onto him as it passed by, but the majority of the beam''s power continued onwards before eventually mming into the ground several dozen miles away.


    Boom!


    The ground behind John erupted into an explosion of lightning, throwing boulders and earth out in all directions. The debris quickly reached John''s position, withrge boulders mming into him, then breaking apart as they broke against the durability of his body. A moment after the beam passed by, the ground around Araxus shattered as he activated his Rush of the Lightning Dragon once more. His body seemed to be lightning itself as he surged forward with awe-inspiring speed, far faster than he had been the previous time he used this movement art.


    In almost no time at all, he appeared before John, his momentum overwhelming. The speed shocked John, as although his overall movement speed was faster when using his Lightning Shatters the Void, his true physical movement speed was not any faster, and perhaps it was even a bit slower than Araxus currently.


    Appearing before John like a god of lightning, Araxus thrust hisnce forward once more, its power eclipsing the first Thunderdragon Surge he had unleashed. John felt true dangering from thence this time, enough to injure him if he took it head on like before. The danger came not only from the increased powering from the thrust, but also the nature of the lightning.


    The lightning Araxus had used before was frost lightning, but this was somethingpletely different. It felt energetic, hot, and explosive, theplete opposite of frost lightning.


    Thunderdragon Surge!


    Araxus unleashed a full powered Thunderdragon Surge, the tip of thence exploding forwards towards John''s chest. More prepared to receive the attack this time, but still overwhelmed by the increase in Araxus'' speed, John barely managed to lift his scythe before his body in time.


    Peng!


    Thence mmed against the shaft of the scythe, deflecting upwards and ramming into John''s shoulder instead of his chest.


    Boom!


    Lightning exploded from thence after piercing into John''s shoulder, the power of Araxus'' battle art exploding directly onto John''s shoulder. The explosion overwhelmed John, who winced slightly from the pain of having his shoulder stabbed into several inches. The explosion of lightning then threw him backwards with violent power, throwing him into the ground below.


    John mmed against a nearby mountain, his momentum carrying him directly through the mountain and out the other side. The mountain shattered and then crumbled from the force of the impact, while John continued to m onto the ground, onlying to a rest milester. His back mmed against the base of another mountain, finallying to rest in a crater several yards deep.


    He groaned ever so slightly from the pain enveloping his body. His shoulder had been stabbed into by Araxus''nce, at which point the youth had practically exploded a battle art within his shoulder, sending it through the tip of thence to bypass John''s defenses.


    John''s shoulder and the nearby area on his body felt as though it had been crushed by a mountain, wracking that part of his body in pain. John drew in a deep breath, feeling true surprise for the first time this tournament, as for the first time, he had taken damage despite wanting to avoid it. While he wasn''t using his full power just yet, it was not an easy task to damage him even in his base form.


    sh!


    A sh of lightning appeared before John once more, as Araxus continued to press his assault. Lance pointed directly towards John once more, Araxus surged down at him like a meteor of the apocalypse. With his Awakened King Lightning Essence Runes augmenting his attack, the power of Araxus''nce was truly terrifying.


    Thunderdragon Surge!


    Boom!

 Chapter 1097 Yin and Yang Lightning

    Chapter 1097 Yin and Yang Lightning


    John''s eyes went wide as he watched Araxus appear before him like an incarnation of lightning. Thest time he had felt lightning this dangerous was during his Heavenly Tribtion, surprising him greatly. He lifted his right hand and unleashed his fastest Twentyfold Lightning Ruin, which sted outwards towards Araxus.


    Boom!


    The beam sted onto Araxus, who pierced directly through the center of the beam. That process slowed him down enough for John to recover his wits and speed to the side, narrowly avoiding Araxus'' powerful attack.


    The earth where John had been shattered into a monstrous explosion of lightning, far greater than the previous explosion. A crater a dozen miles wide appeared in the arena, with molten magma flowing down the sides, forming a pool of magma at the base.


    Hovering in the sky after barely dodging the attack, John whistled softly as he looked at the result of the attack. He rolled his shoulder, which was still stinging with pain, then activated his Limiter of Healing and Limiter of Life once more, quickly sealing the wound and restoring his body to its former condition. With his Limiters, as long as the damage was not too great or done to an important part of his body, healing the wounds was rtively simple as long as he had sufficient Qi. Still, the damage he had sustained had been quite significant for him, as he was hardly ever damaged by another in his realm.


    "Ny one percent," Araxus'' voice sounded out from within the crater, his figure appearing a momentter as he rose from it and into the sky, staring at John with narrowed eyes. "I pierced your shoulder and exploded a battle art within it, and you only took nine percent damage," he said, his eyes looking at John''s now-healed shoulder.


    "And that damage is already healed," he added, shaking his head in a defeated manner. "You really are a freak."


    "I should say the same to you," John replied. "That''s the most damage someone in my realm has done to me in years."


    "I''m sure you meant that as apliment, but to me, that was more like an insult," Araxus replied.


    John''s words insinuated that defeating him was impossible, and that Araxus should be content with only injuring John and treating that as an aplishment. Regardless of if this was true or not, to a pinnacle genius like Araxus, it was most certainly a veiled insult.


    John merely shrugged, as the truth was often cold and indifferent to one''s feelings. He liked Araxus, but wouldn''t lie to him to make him feel better. Araxus was a true-born warrior through and through much like John himself, and sugarcoating words was not something either of them would appreciate.


    "Heh, I guess I''ll just need to be stronger in this battle is all," Araxus said, then pointed hisnce towards John once more.


    "Wait," John called out, causing Araxus to pause his movements. He looked at John with narrowed eyes, wondering what this was about.


    "That lightning of yours was different than before," John said. "Was it another type of lightning?"


    "It was," Araxus nodded. "Nine-Yang Lightning."


    "Nine-Yang Lightning?" John repeated questioningly. Much like frost lightning, he had never heard of such lightning. "Is it rted to the Yang-Lotus?" he asked, drawing parallels from the number used.


    "It is," Araxus nodded. "Iprehend this yang-based lightning by studying and cultivating before the Yang-Lotus for many years. Is theplete opposite of my frost lightning."


    "Yin and Yang based lightning," John mumbled softly. "A frighteningbination."


    He reached out and held his hand upwards as a flicker of this Yang lightning crashed from Araxus'' aura and towards John. The bolt mmed against John''s hand, knocking it downwards with its power, then disappeared. Araxus narrowed his eyes as he saw John absorb his lightning, then sneered and raised his hand to point towards John. "I woudlnt advise absorbing my lightning," he said with warning. "You may have absorbed it, but the lightning is still mine. Now that its inside your body, lets see what damage it can do."


    He flicked his hand upward as if tomand the absorbed lightning, but nothing happened. His eyes widened as he tried again, but failed once more. "How did you cut me off from my lightning?" Araxus asked curiously. "You may have Awakened King Runes," John said, smiling lightly. "But I have Origin Essence Runes. Once your lightning enters my body, it bes mine, simple as that."


    While that was the truth, John had left out the other half of the equation, which was the Celestial Lightning Script. The script had taught him how to perfectly absorb and use all sorts of lightning, while also changing the structure of his body to be able to absorb lightning without harm befalling him. The Origin Essence Runes amplified that further, making John the God of All Lightning inside his body.


    "I see," Araxus said, lowering his hand. He raised hisnce to point towards John once more, his expression bing firm again. "No matter. I will just beat you into submission externally then."


    "Wait," John said, then closed his eyes. His actions shocked everyone, including Araxus, as closing one''s eyes in battle was foolhardy. While John''s Divine Sense could see everything around him, relying only on Divine Sense in battle was never a good thing, as there were ways to fool one''s Divine Sense.


    John''s eyes remained closed for several seconds, while Araxus paused and waited for him to finish. True to his words from before, he proved his resolve in wanting to win in a straightforward manner, and not through trickery or deceit. While such a personality was naive, John couldn''t help but respect Araxus more and more the better he got to know him.


    A minuteter, John finally opened his eyes, locking gazes with Araxus. He then pointed a finger towards his opponent, then smiled.


    Boom!


    A beam of lightning sted out towards Araxus, whose eyes went wide with shock. He raised hisnce and easily batted aside the beam of lightning, as its power had not been that great, and had been more like a testing blow than anything. What had surprised him was not the power of the attack, but the very nature of the lightning used.


    "Tch, it''s quite difficult toprehend," John sighed. "It seems I won''t be able to use it in this battle at the very least."


    Araxus, as well as the spectators looked at John as if he were aplete monster. The arena went silent as they stared at him with wide eyes, Araxus especially.


    "Did you¡­.how did you just unleash Nine-Yang Lightning?" Araxus asked, voice tinged with confusion and awe.


    "What do you mean?" John replied. "Iprehended it just now, but you could say that what I unleashed was merely a shadow of your Nine-Yang Lightning''s true power. It''s far from being at the same level you can unleash."


    "Do you know how long it took me to initiallyprehend Nine-Yang Lightning?" Araxus asked, voice and face still filled with disbelief.


    John shook his head.


    "Three days!" Araxus replied. "It took me three days toprehend what you justprehend in one minute!"


    "Ah," John said, lowering his hand. He didn''t know how to respond to that, as any reply would most likely be taken as derision or an insult of some kind.


    Araxus stared at John with an even look for quite some time, then gritted his teeth ever so slightly.


    "You know, you''re really starting to piss me off with everything you do," Araxus said. While his words sounded angry, his voice was rather calm, revealing that it was more of a joke than anything.


    Hisnce suddenly pointed upwards instead of at John, then surged with power as two beams of different lightning surged to the sky. As they rose, storm clouds like before began to form, quickly churning into a violent tempest far more powerful than the Thunderfrost Tempest Araxus had used before. A momentter, Araxus shot upwards like a bolt of lightning, disappearing within the clouds.


    The power contained within the clouds increased explosively in an instant, turning from a tempest into something even stronger. The winds kicked up, forming gales that shattered mountains and emptied rivers.


    At the same time, the clouds seemed to divide into two halves, one half bing white in color, the other ck. The two-halves began to revolve around each other, quickly forming a symbol John recognized.


    A Yin-Yang diagram!


    "Prepare yourself," Araxus'' voice boomed out from within the clouds. His voice was deep and explosive, like thunder itself.


    His figure appeared from the clouds a momentter, descending just below its surface. He locked gazes with John, then pointed hisnce directly towards him.


    "Yin-Yang Lightning Tribtion!" Araxus said, his voice exploding with power as twin bolts of lightning shot out directly from the center of the Yin and Yang clouds, merged with hisnce for an instant, then shot down towards John with the horrifying power of Yin and Yang Lightning.

 Chapter 1098 All-Out Gamble

    Chapter 1098 All-Out Gamble


    The appearance of Araxus'' tribtion-style battle art caused millions in the crowd to instinctively gasp as their instincts red with warning. While typical geniuses of the martial world passed their tribtions with rtive ease, most battled the tribtions with their lives on the lines, many just barely getting through it without dying, while many also perished in their tribtion attempts.


    For those who barely passed, tribtion clouds formed a mental scarring of sorts, causing them to react with fear and panic. While Araxus'' tribtion battle art was not a true tribtion, it evoked a simr feeling to many.


    Standing on the arena ground, looking up at the horrifying Yin-Yang clouds and twin bolts of lightning descending towards him, John merely grinned. To him, a tribtion was a familiar foe, one that he had bested many times. In fact, the appearance of the tribtion clouds sparked his battlelust immediately, reminding him of the times he fought all out to best the heavens.


    The crowd watched with surprise as John''s grin widened into something almost maniacal, while his arms spread outwards to the side as if waiting to embrace the twin-bolts of Yin-Yang aspected lightning.


    "The Heaven''s couldn''t defeat me with its tribtions, and neither can you," John roared as the twin bolts of lightning mmed directly onto him at the same time, hitting himpletely unguarded.


    The moment before the twin bolts hit him, John saw them move and collide directly in front of him. Yin mmed into Yang, creating a cmitous mixture of opposing power.


    The crowd gasped again as the arena seemed to freeze for an instant, then¡­


    Boom!


    Cmity erupted within the arena as an explosion greater than anything they had seen thus far erupted within the arena. The explosion even exceeded what Jaxus had been able to unleash in his battle against Ji''Han, shocking the crowd to their core. While Jaxus had been defeated before he could unleash his final attack, the attacks he had unleahsed had been absolutely devastating.


    And yet, Araxus had exceeded what his Yang-Dao Sect counterpart had unleashed in the prior battle.


    A st of pure energy erupted from John''s location outwards, mming against every section of the defensive formation screen a momentter. The crowd watched with wide eyes as the entire arena was engulfed in fiery energy, which roiled and churned with ruinous power. The defensive formation screen strained against the power sting against it, protecting the crowds at all costs.


    Their vision blocked by the engulfing explosion, all eyes naturally went to the information formation screens, which disyed the vital information of the two youths within. They watched as John''s health slowly began to lower, and wondered where exactly it would stop.


    Would he be able to resist the power of this ruinous explosion with little damage like previous attacks, or would this profoundly powerful battle art finally be the one to damage John significantly.


    The explosion continued to roil within for several seconds, while John''s health continued to drop. After several seconds, the explosion began to fade away, while John''s health also stopped going down. The crowd studied the number, eyes wide, then looked back at the arena as it was revealed to them once more.


    "Eighty percent!"


    The number shocked almost everyone, as they had been expecting the damage to be much greater. Although John had shown his body to be incredibly powerful and durable, that was when he was using his Dragon-God Shift. He was not using that form for this battle, and thus his body durability was far lower than it could have been. Despite that, he had still only taken twenty percent damage despite taking that attack head-on and unguarded, revealing that he could withstand five of those directly before sumbing to his wounds.


    Thest flicker of energy faded away, revealing both John and Araxus once more. Araxus still hovered high in the sky just below his tribtion clouds, while John stood in the same ce, staring up at his opponent.


    His body was slickened with blood, while several wounds covered his arms, face, and chest. Araxus looked down on John with an even expression, which became slightly grim as he watched John''s wounds heal at a visible rate, while his health started to climb once more.


    In mere seconds, it had returned to one hundred percent health, using almost none of his Qi reserves to heal his body. What the crowd didn''t know was that most of the healing had been done by John''s body Qi, which was hidden to the crowd, unable to be detected by the formation armband.


    John raised his hands before his face, inspecting the damage on his arms as it healed over. He then looked at Araxus, a surprised look on his face.


    "That was an incredible battle art," he said with honest praise. He had been expecting the lightning bolts to hit him directly, and while both bolts had aspects to them that he couldn''t fully resist, he could still withstand the bulk of the lightning damage using his attribute body and natural durability. That had not been the case. Instead, the moment before the bolts had hit him, they mmed together in a violent collision of opposing energy. The yin of the frost lightning reacted with the opposing Yang-lightning, resulting in an explosion as the two opposing energies interacted.


    The result had been the monstrous explosion of pure energy, which John had not been expecting. Unguarded against the explosion detonating directly in front of his face, the damage had been considerable, at least whenpared to the damage he had sustained throughout the tournament.


    "And yet, you stand there unmoving,pletely healed in a few seconds," Araxus replied evenly, his lips drawn to a line. "You haven''t even used your dragon form, and yet you can withstand my attacks directly so easily. Exactly what is your body made of?"


    John replied with a silent smile, unable to answer that question at the moment. He had already revealed part of his body constitution, the power of the Jade Dragons, but had yet to reveal his Asura inheritance. Unless forced to do so, he wanted to avoid revealing his form in front of so many people.


    Araxus sighed deeply, closing his eyes for a moment in frustration. He then opened them, a more determined look contained in his eyes.


    "It''s as I expected," he said. "Unless I defeat you in one fell swoop, I won''t be able to win¡­."


    John waited for Araxus to move again, wondering if he was going to unleash the same art, or something different.


    "In that case," Araxus continued, "there is only one choice left. I have no choice but to gamble everything on one, all-out attack."


    "Announcing your intentions again," John replied. "How kind of you."


    Araxus ignored the veiled jest from John, then looked up at the surging clouds above him. He pointed up at the clouds with his right hand, at which point twin bolts of lightning, one from the Yin portion of the clouds, and one from the Yang, shot towards him.


    The beams of lightning surged onto him ceaselessly, making Araxus'' figure change into a two-colored being of lightning. One half of him was blue, and the other fiery red, while even his eyes were the same, with one flickering red with yang lightning, the other blue with frost lightning. He then looked down at John again, his emotions obscured by the lightning covering most of his face.


    "You might want to guard this attack," he said, his voice booming like thunder. "For even you will not be able to withstand this attack directly like before."


    John smiled lightly at the friendly warning, waiting for Araxus to unleash the attack. The attack did note as John expected. Instead, the lightning from the clouds continued to surge into Araxus, as well as hisnce, growing steadily with power.


    Before long, the power emanating from Araxus was unlike anything from before, reaching a level that caused the crowd to gasp, and John to frown.


    For his final attack, Araxus was channeling his Yin-Yang Lightning Tribtion battle art, explosively increasing its power with every second it was channeled. In mere seconds, the power emanating from Araxus grew over twice as strong as his first attack, with no signs of him slowing down.


    "I didn''t know you were a War Mage," John replied with surprise in his voice.


    "I''m not," Araxus replied, his voice bing more and more strained by the second. "But I''m willing to gamble everything on this one attack, including my life."

 Chapter 1099 Kirin-God Extinction

    Chapter 1099 Kirin-God Extinction


    Several days ago¡­


    Boom!


    John flew backwards within the private training room, crashing against the ground a momentter and skidding over it like a stone on a pond. He came to a halt a short whileter, groaning from the pain wracking his body.


    "John, are you alright?" Zuri asked, racing over to him and kneeling next to him.


    "I''m¡­I''m fine," John replied slowly while shaking off the pain and getting to his feet. Blood leaked from his nose and mouth, as well as from wounds on his body, which looked as if something had exploded from within, ripping open his skin. He shook his head and activated his healing limiters, restoring his body to good condition a short whileter.


    "Maybe this Mage-Art is too much for you to handle right now," Zuri said warmly. "Mage-Arts are already incredibly dangerous, and you''re trying to create a brand new one on top of that. I think this might be a little too reckless, even for you."


    "Nonsense," another voice said as a figure appeared next to John. John and Zuri looked at Kirii, who stood next to them with a look of smug disappointment on his face. "The problem isn''t the art, it''s John! He''s too weak to handle the power of a Kirin!"


    "Let''s fight right now, and see who''s the weak one," John growled, taking a step towards Kirii. Kirii moved backwards like a sh of lightning, stopping only when he saw John wasn''t following. He coughed in veiled embarrassment, then returned next to them as if nothing had happened.


    John gave Kirii a firm look, then looked back at Zuri. "Kirii and I have already spent well over a month developing this Mage-Art, and I think we''ve finally created something that will work," he said to Zuri while brushing off dried blood from his robes. "I just need to be better at following the proper meridian pathways, as well as timing the meridian cycles to sync up perfectly."


    He turned to Kirii, who eyed John cautiously, ready to retreat at a moment''s notice should John lunge at him for his earlierment. John reached out towards Kirii, who flinched, ready to retreat.


    "Rx," John said begrudgingly. "I''m not going to attack you. I just want to watch your meridian pathways once more."


    Kirii eyed him warily, but eventually obliged. He allowed John to ce his hand on his head, at which point John sent his divine sense into Kirii''s body. With Kirii allowing this to happen, John was able to see everything within Kirii''s body. His blood vessels, his bones, his muscles, and most importantly, his meridians and Qi.


    The Qi surging through Kirii''s meridians was as clear as day to John. They looked like thousands of rivers of Qi snaking throughout Kirii''s body, forming aplex maze of power only the Heavens truly understood.


    "Activate your innate art," John instructed, at which point Kirii happily obliged.


    Power surged from Kirii''s Dantian, sending Qi coursing through his meridians like raging rivers. John watched the entire process unfold, as Kirii''s Qi snaked through his meridians in patterns now-familiar to him. Qi coursed through Kirii''s stomach, chest and head in profound ways, the Qi within forming runic patterns, the meridians the paper, the Qi the ink.


    Thousands ofplicated meridian pathways were used in almost an instant, as unleashing this art was almost second nature to Kirii at this point. The Qi cycled countless times within his body, all eventually converging on the bright blue crystal embedded on Kirii''s forehead.


    That crystal was something innate to all Kirin''s, and upon much study, John was shocked to discover that the crystal was made up of millions of tiny lightning runes, joining together to form a solid crystal of lightning runes.


    The lightning Qi surged into the crystal, at which point it was augmented several fold in bizarre andplex ways, reminding John of the way Awakened Essence Runes were used to amplify cultivators Qi.


    The result of all this was a monstrous st of lightning being released, the lightning Qi more profound than even John was able to unleash. The beam of lightning sted off into the distance, then mmed into the ground and erupted into a cmitous explosion of lightning.


    Zuri watched the explosion st towards them, then used her power to shield them from its st. This was not done to protect John or Kirii, but to stop the st from interrupting John''s concentration.


    Ignoring the st, John''s mind raced as he remembered the pathways the Qi took throughout Kirii''s body, as well as the profundities he felt from not only Kirii''s Qi, but the crystal on his head. While a human''s body and a Kirin''s body were different, the lessons he learned from Kirii''s body could be used in his. He had learned this through much trial and error, his long hours of developing his own battle arts leading to this moment.


    The explosion faded away, while Zuri and Kirii remained silent as John''s mind raced, hisprehension ability unwrapping the secrets behind Kirii''s art. What John was after was not the art itself, but the underlying nature of Kirii''s Qi usage.


    As the pinnacle beast of lightning, Kirii was naturally able to unleash perfect lightning attacks with no wasted movements. Every meridian pathway was perfect, the revolutions and timings pristine. He stayed like this for several hours, putting everything he had just learned into ce with what he already knew, slowly unwinding the secrets behind Kirii''s power.


    Zuri and Kirii waited patiently for John to finish, staying silent the entire time. Hourster, John''s eyes finally opened once more, a profound glint contained within. He looked at the two, then smiled.


    "I think I have everything I need to put the final pieces on this Mage-Art," he said confidently.


    "Oh? Well then, let''s see the fruits of your tirelessbor," Zuri said, smiling. John nodded, then patted Kirii in thanks as his aura began to surge, prepared to unleash his self-created Mage-Art.


    ¡­


    Looking up at his opponent, John was slightly taken aback by Araxus'' overwhelming resolve. While it was not impossible for a non-War Mage to channel an attack, it was incredibly dangerous. War Mages had innate talents that allowed them to hold monstrous amounts of Qi in their Dantian without them losing control.


    John himself was not a true War Mage, but his twenty-timespressed Dantian essentially converted him into one. For someone like Araxus, who did not have a Dantian at John''s level, one wrong move could result in him losing control of his Qi, which would undoubtedly result in him perishing from the internal explosion of rampant Qi.


    Despite all this, Araxus continued to channel his Yin-Yang Lightning Tribtion Art, barreling forward with unyielding resolve. John studied Araxus for a moment, then grinned and nodded, impressed by Araxus'' resolve. "Your resolve is contagious," John replied loudly, his voice almost drowned out by the continuous thunderpsing from Araxus'' storm clouds. "I''m sure you''d be insulted if I didn''t receive your attack with my full power."


    John watched as Araxus nodded. He was sure the youth was smiling, although the lightning covering his face hid his expression. John nodded in return, his expression bing serious for the first time in battle.


    "Then allow me to unleash my newly created battle art," John replied as his aura began to surge. "You''ll be the first I''ve ever used it on in real battle, so don''t me me if it''s a bit too powerful."


    Araxus scoffed, clearly amused by John''s grandiose opinion of himself. Still, based on everything he had seen thus far, he didn''t dare to look down on John.


    As John''s power began to surge, he sent his divine sense into his soul, where Kirii rested.


    "Kirii," John called out, waking the sleeping Kirin from his slumber. Kirii opened his eyes, their spiritual gazes meeting.


    "It''s time to reveal to this world the power of a Kirin!"


    Kirii let out a whoop of excitement, instantly rousing from his slumber. He stood tall within John''s soul space, using the link between their souls to look out from John''s eyes, seeing what John saw.


    "You better not mess up, or I''ll beat you up!" Kirii replied with obvious excitement in his voice. John smiled, then nodded his head as he began to muster the full power of his twenty-timespressed essence Dantian. "I won''t!"


    Boom!


    John''s aura suddenly, and without warning, red from him with incredible power. His aura surged upwards towards the clouds, mming against them a momentter. His aura continued to climb with ceaseless intensity, like an endless well of power. Every inch of his being was poured into his Dantian, while his mind raced with the profundities of his self-created art. Already surprised by his seemingly endless Qi, the crowd went wide eyed as they spotted a figure materialize behind John.


    The figure shed into existence in a moment, formed from pure lightning. The figure was almost nondescript at first, hazy and unclear to the point that no one could tell what it was. As John continued to pour his Qi into his Mage-Art, the figure started to be more and more corporeal, eventually turning into something that many in the crowd recognized.


    "A Kirin!"


    A lightning avatar in the shape of a Kirin, some thirty yards tall and forty yards long appeared behind John, like a guardianing to his protection. While its form was still slightly blurry, there was enough detail to make out the nature of the avatar.


    Bang!


    A loud thunderp sounded out as John''s forehead burst alight, a dazzling blue hue emanating from it. The blue hue faded away after a time, revealing a bright blue crystal on his forehead, embedded into his skin. The crystal glowed with a hundred hues of blue and emanated a thousand profundities, so awe-inspiring and eye-catching that many couldn''t peel their gazes away from it.


    Hovering in the sky, Araxus looked at the lightning Kirin and crystal on John''s forehead with absolute shock. He couldn''t tell exactly what was happening, but as a genius lightning cultivator, he could tell one thing; the art John was unleashing was horrifyingly dangerous.


    Reaching his absolute maximum point of power he could contain, Araxus burst alight with power as he pointed hisnce down at John.


    "Yin-Yang Chaos Lightning Tribtion!" he roared as twin bolts of devastatingly powerful lightning sted towards John, its power eclipsing the previous attack Araxus had unleashed.


    Feeling its awe-inspiring power, John grinned, then roared loudly, his voice like a primordial beast announcing its arrival as both the avatar behind him and the crystal on his forehead began to glow with surging power, preparing to unleash a Mage-Art to rece his Dragontail Decimation.


    "Kirin-God Extinction!"


    BOOM!

 Chapter 1100 Kirin-God Extinction Pt. 2

    Chapter 1100 Kirin-God Extinction Pt. 2


    John felt an incredible surge of Qi course through his body, flooding every inch of his meridians with overwhelming power. His Qi flooded out from his Dantian, which was overflowing with channeled Qi, like a dam about to burst from holding back too much water. This Mage Art, the Kirin-God Extinction, was devised as a recement for his Dragontail Decimation. It had been devised from the ground up, focusing on his talents, specifically his monstrous Qi reserves and heaven-defying meridian and body durability.


    All Mage Arts were designed with limitations built into them, as exceeding those limitations would result in the cultivator dying from being unable to withstand the amount of Qi surging within their body. Dragontail Decimation also had this limitation, limiting the amount of power John could unleash with it.


    After increasing the durability of his meridians, the limitation on Dragontail Decimation''s power was no longer himself, but the Mage Art instead. While the Kirin-God Extinction was not as refined as the Dragontail Decimation yet, it exceeded the Dragontail Decimation in itspatibility with John specifically. His Kirin-God Extinction was designed with no limit in mind. It was designed to be able to use as much Qi as was supplied to it, the limit of its power being John himself, and not the Mage Art. Like a desert during rainfall, the Kirin-God Extinction greedily took in every ounce of Qi, then wanted more. It was like a glutton that was never satisfied, never full. It wanted more, and more is what John gave it. He poured every ounce of Qi that he could into his body, moving his Qi ording to the principles of his newly created Mage Art. This was the first time he had used this Art in true battle, and there was a sliver of doubt within his mind, wondering if he would be able to sessfully unleash it in the heat of battle. To his surprise, he found unleashing the Mage Art as natural as walking and breathing. Because he created this Art, he knew it more intimately than any Art he had ever used before.


    He knew what each and every section of the Art did, knew the meridian pathways and Qi timings better than he could have hoped for. With the heat of battle pushing hisprehensions and instincts to the maximum, what urred was his first wless unleashing of his Kirin-God Extinction.


    As the final revolution of Qi surged through his body, John put the finishing touches on the Art. He pressed all ten of his fingers against one another in front of his chest, forming a triangle with his fingers,pleting the final steps of the Mage Art. The moment before release, the Kirin avatar behind him as well as the crystal on his forehead lit up like a beacon of power, drowning the arena and stadium in a bright blue hue.


    Then¡­.


    BOOM!


    Twin beams of lightning, far more powerful than anything John had revealed to the Nine-Dao World thus far, exploded out of the crystal on his forehead, as well as the forehead of the Kirin avatar behind him.


    The crowd gaped with awe and disbelief as their views, their thoughts, their worlds became lightning. Overwhelming lightning, unlike anything they had ever experienced before burst into existence, shaking everyone to their core.


    The twin beams of lightning surged into the sky with a speed far faster than most could follow with their eyes. In less than a blink of the eye, the first beam of lightning met its target.


    The beam of lightning unleashed from the Kirin avatar mmed into the twin bolts of lightning unleashed by Araxus, colliding in the air directly between John and Araxus. The Yang-Sphere shed with a brightness most had never experienced in their lives, followed by an explosion of even greater immensity.


    The collision between the two beams turned the arena into a realm of chaos, with pure power radiating outwards seeking to destroy everything in its path. Before the explosion consumed everything, the crowd watched as the second beam of lightning, unleashed from John himself, pierced towards Araxus in the sky.


    One beam to stop Araxus'' attack. The other to target Araxus himself. Araxus'' eyes went wide as he noticed this, not expecting this turn of events at all. Without losing a step, his body reignited with power as he thrust hisnce towards the second beam of lightning, unleashing the most powerful Thunderdragon Surge he could muster.


    While most only gaped in shock and awe as the events unfolded, the true powerhouses of the world, the Yang-Sovereign, the Sword-Saint, and the others on the VIP viewing tform instantly understood the enormity of what was happening.


    Araxus, one of the true pinnacle geniuses of the world, one as strong as Jaxus and perhaps Ji''Han, had unleashed his ultimate attack, mustering every ounce of power he could bring forth, holding nothing back at all.


    To meet this attack, John had used his own Mage Art, and then had unleashed two beams of lightning to meet Araxus'' attack. This was not what shocked the powerhouses. What truly shocked them was the power they felt from all three beams.


    In the moment before collision, the powerhouses were able to feel the rtive power of each beam. What shocked them to their core was the fact that John''s beams of lightning did not lose out in power to Araxus'' attack.


    It was natural to assume that when geniuses of the same level unleashed simr Arts, the one the singr attack would be stronger than the Art unleashing two separate attacks. Instead, both of John''s attacks were stronger than Araxus'' singr one, and by a significant margin as well.


    They instantly understood the ramifications of what this simple fact entailed.


    John''s Dantian, talent, and ability to unleash powerful battle arts was more than twice as profound as Araxus. This thought consumed their every thought as the world turned into a blinding explosion of lightning and fire, the explosion of Mage Arts consuming everything in the arena.


    BOOM!


    The explosion mmed into the defensive formation screens like a continent destroying tsunami, shaking the entire Yang-Sphere violently. The sound of the monstrous collision caused almost everyone to wince in pain, their eardrums nearly bursting from the mere sound of the explosion, which had already been greatly reduced in power by the defensive formation screen.


    While some did their best to recover from the sudden pain wracking their bodies, the stronger cultivators looked at the arena with unflinching attention. The ruinous power of the resulting explosion roiled within the arena for some time,sting much longer than any previous explosion that had urred in the arena.


    After what felt like an eternity to the crowd, the explosion finally began to recede, revealing some of the arena. As the edges of the arena were revealed, the crowd saw that every single inch of thend was destroyed, reduced to ashes. What had once been a sprawlingndscape of mountains, rivers,kes, and valleys, was now just charred ash.


    The explosion then receded further and further until it eventually reached the center of the arena, where both fighters still stood. John''s figure was revealed first, causing the crowd to gasp slightly as they saw his body.


    His body was covered in blood and wounds, making him look like a blood-soaked demon. He stood in his original location, staring up at the sky, his gaze unwavering. The crowd followed his gaze and spotted Araxus, still hovering in the sky near his original position.


    Araxus'' body was in an even worse condition, with not a single inch of his body not covered in blood. Multiple deep wounds covered his body, exposing flesh and bone underneath. His robe was torn in various ces as well, making him look incredibly miserable.


    While his body was gruesome and damaged, the crowd was shocked to find his gaze was as calm and resolved as before, perhaps even more. A stern, almost heroic glint was visible in Araxus'' eyes as he peered down on John, like a lord peering down on a subject.


    The two locked eyes, while the crowd waited with bated breath, wondering what was going to happen next. Both fighters still standing already shocked them to their cores, as they had assumed the horrifying explosion would have at the very least maim them, perhaps even kill them.


    The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity to everyone watching. Araxus moved first, pointing hisnce directly towards John, a small smile appearing on his face.


    "That¡­" he said, his voice firm yet hoarse, "was a fun fight!"


    Then he wavered, and then fell. All traces of aura vanished as Araxus fell from the sky, falling towards the ground below. John mustered his strength and flew forward, catching Araxus before he smashed into the ground.


    He looked at his opponent in his arms, then studied him with his divine sense. A momentter hended on the ground, and gently ced Araxus on the floor. He took a few steps back as the Yang-Dao Sect Elder rushed forward to check on Araxus, then looked towards the sky as the Yang-Dao Sect Elder''s voice boomed out for all to hear.


    "The victor, by rendering his opponent unconscious¡­John Fenix!"

 Chapter 1101 Master

    Chapter 1101 Master


    Silence filled the arena as the crowd processed what they had just witnessed. The battle still fresh in their minds, thoughts of the awe-inspiring battle arts reyed over and over.


    For many, this tournament was the first Three Dao Tournament they had attended. All had been expecting to see battles between pinnacle geniuses and powerful battle arts being used. The fame of the Three Dao Sects was almost mythical to most, engraving a heavenly image of the sects and the battle arts they used in their minds. Despite all that, they have not been expecting to see battle arts at this level.


    Araxus'' Yin-Yang, lightning tribtion and John''s Kirin-God Extinction had pushed well beyond the boundary of what many thought possible for Dao Transformation cultivators. Even those who were used to such things were awed by what they had seen, including the powerhouses of the human race. The sh between monstrously powerful battle arts, unleashed by even more monstrously powerful geniuses, was beyond awe-inspiring. The most shocking of all was undoubtedly John''s Kirin-God Extinction.


    His Kirin-God Extinction had all the signs of a newly created battle art. There were imperfections that a more experienced battle art creator would have avoided, and there were also design aspects that were far too unique to belong to a widely distributed battle art.


    From a single nce, the powerhouses could tell that the Kirin-God Extinction was something almost nobody could unleash, even including their younger, Dao Transformation selves. The horrifying amount of QI that they had felt surging through Jon''s body was just too incredible, too self-destroying for a normal cultivator.


    Only a body cultivator, and a monstrously powerful one of that, could withstand that amount of internal Qi rushing through their body. And yet, only an essence cultivator could produce that much explosive, external use Qi. It was an impossible contradiction in the world of cultivation, one not even they could solve.


    And yet it had happened before their very eyes. The power of an essence cultivator with the body of a body cultivator. They knew John cultivated both, but despite knowing that beforehand, nothing could have prepared them for just how powerful thebination was. A dual cultivator was not supposed to excel in either cultivation aspect, let alone both like John was revealing.


    It was utterly impossible, tried by billions in the past. The failures of those billions built a bedrock on which the concept of the dual-cultivation impossibility was built, and yet that bedrock had been shattered before their very eyes.


    While the power houses digested what they had seen, two figures on the viewing tform locked eyes with differing expressions. Jihan studied the amused expression on Lilian''s face, then frowned. He looked away, but was drawn back to her as she spoke.


    "Feeling worried?"


    Jihan scoffed lightly. "What is there to be worried about?" he asked. "While I admit that final battle art was impressive, it''s only a mere Mage Art. I have no reason to be concerned about a mere Mage Art."


    Lilian understood his reasoning. Mage Arts, while powerful, took too long to unleash in one-on-onebat. The only reason John was able to use his Kirin-God Extinction in this battle was because Araxus had allowed it, opting to test the might of his Yin-Yang Tribtion versus John''s Kirin-God Extinction. For someone like Ji''Han, stopping John before he could unleash that art was child''s y.


    Lilian shot Ji''Han an amused look but said nothing. Ji''Han''s frown deepened, clearly not amused by her expression, which to him felt like mockery more than anything.


    "From what I''ve seen he''ll be lucky tond a single blow on me," Ji''Han added a momentter.


    "Oh? For you to be talking this much unprompted, it seems you''ve been shaken a bit from what you''ve seen" Lilian mused, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face afterwards. "As for catching you. Well, I don''t think catching you will be an issue for him."


    "Do you mean that crude movement art of his?" Ji''Han scoffed. "It''s nothing more than a brutish movement art, one not even suitable to be taught in my sect, or any of the Three Dao Sects for that matter."


    Lilians amused smile grew wider as she heard this. "True, his control over the Dao of space isn''t as refined as ours are, but can you truly, and without shame, im to be able to do what John does? Are you able to barrel through the chaos of the spatial void as if it were a mere nuisance, and not something capable of destroying you if you are not careful?"


    Ji''Han remain silent. He couldn''t make that im, and he knew Lilian knew he couldn''t make that im. Doing so would only make him look like a lying fool.


    "Why would I bother barreling through something I canpletely avoid?" Ji''Han refuted. Lilian studied his face for a moment, then reached out and patted him on the arm in a friendly manner. "Just remember my advice from before. Don''t piss John off and you''ll be fine."


    She then stood up from her chair and took a step forward as if to leave. "Enraged or not, he has no chance against me tomorrow," Ji''Han said with a light sneer. "In fact, I might enrage him just to see what he''s truly capable of, as your words imply, he only fights with his full strength if he''s angry. An uncouth brute to the end."


    Lilian paused and looked back at Ji''Han, her amused expression returning to her face. She studied him silently for a moment, then looked away once more.


    "On second thought, you might want to have a skilled healer on standby for your flight tomorrow," she said, then returned her gaze back to the arena below.


    A frown returned to Ji''Han face, while the nearby Sword-Saint looked at Lilian with deep displeasure. She felt the gaze upon her and turned to meet the Sword-Saint''s gaze, her amused expression unwavering.


    "And you might want to be ready to interfere with the battle at a moment''s notice," she said to the Sword-Saint. "On Ji''Han''s behalf, that is. It would be a shame for the Nine-Dao World to lose such a pinnacle genius in a ce such as this."


    Not waiting for the Sword-Saint to say anything, she then hopped off the tform and floated down to the arena below. The Sword-Saint stood up in his seat ready to move, but a casual gesture from Ji''Han stopped him.


    "Leave her," he said to his father. "Let her have her fun. When I crush him tomorrow, all of her actions will be moot."


    The Sword-Saint looked at his son, then smiled, nodded, and sat back down.


    All eyes followed her as shended right before John, surprise and curiosity growing as they wondered what she was doing. As for the men in the crowd, their hearts throbbed with desire and envy, watching the elegant, goddess-like figure descend gracefully downwards like an angelic being.


    While everyone knew who she was thanks to the Sword-Saint''s announcement, it was the first time they had seen her do anything of note. They watched as she then took several steps towards John, who turned as he felt her approach.


    For the first time in well over a year, he was finally face to face once more with his master. He smiled at her, then nodded lightly in respect.


    "Master!"

 Chapter 1102 Chaos Lightning

    <h4>Chapter 1102 Chaos Lightning</h4>


    John had been deep in thought as the Yang-Dao Sect attended to Araxus. His thoughts raced regarding that final sh of theirs, and the battle art that Araxus had unleashed.


    ''Yin-Yang Chaos Lightning¡­.'' he mused internally, then raised his hands before his face to look at them.


    Despite his body limiters activating and working to heal his body, visible wounds still covered his body. The wounds were not grievous or deep, but they persisted despite his intentions to heal them.


    Thatst attack of Araxus had been different than the others. The lightning he had unleashed has been far more powerful, far more¡­chaotic. In fact, the remnant energy that persisted in his wounds, making it harder to heal, reminded him of the spatial chaos he experienced when stepping into the other spatial dimension.


    Not only had this bizarre energy amplified the power of Araxus'' attack, it also made it harder to heal afterwards. It reminded him of his Destructive lightning in terms of its potency and ability to resist healing effects.


    ''Is he truly capable of unleashing Chaos Lightning?'' John wondered, and wondered if such a thing even existed. If it did, he had no information regarding it.


    Thatst attack of Araxus'' had been mostly destroyed by his own Kirin-God Extinction, resulting in the power of Araxus'' attack to be greatly reduced. John had been expecting the entire thing to be destroyed, but the bizarre lightning Araxus had unleashed had managed to resist destruction, and had made its way towards him afterwards.


    While the damage was mostly superficial, some of the lightning had managed to avoid falling under his control despite entering his body, which had surprised him greatly. With his Origin Lightning Essence Runes, he was able to control all lightning that entered his body. All lightning other than this¡­


    Deep in thought, John felt someone appear behind him. Without seeing her or using his divine sense, he could instantly tell who it was. The presence of the figure, the smell, the natural aura, was all too familiar.


    He turned around and locked eyes with Lilian, then smiled. She returned a soft smile, then studied him up and down, most likely inspecting the changes that had happened to him over thest year up close.


    "Master," John said as he nodded lightly in respect.


    The moment after he spoke, there was deafening silence. Then the crowd exploded into a frenzy.


    "What? Did he just call her master?"


    "Ji''Han''s bride to be is John''s master????"


    "How¡­what¡­when?"


    "No wonder Ji''Han and John are so antagonistic! The Sword-Saint had betrothed John''s master. That must be a sore point for him!"


    "I even heard that the betrothal isn''t of Lilian''s choice, hence the bet between the two. That must really piss John off!"


    The crowd erupted into boisterous discussion, with almost everyone unable to believe what they had just heard. It waspletely unexpected and unbelievable, and yet John''s words had been clear for all to hear.


    Up on the viewing tform, a look of realization appeared on the Sword-Saint''s and Ji''Han''s face, while everyone else turned to look at the two of them to see their expressions. The Sword-Saint knew the two were connected somehow, but didn''t know the exact rtionship. Now they did.


    "So that''s how it is," Ji''Han mused lightly, then fell silent.


    "It changes nothing," the Sword-Saint said to his son, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face for a moment. He then smiled, as if thinking of something.


    "Master, huh?" the Yang-Sovereign said, looking towards the Prime Shadow. The Prime Shadow shrugged silently, then smiled a knowing smile.


    After nodding in respect, John looked up to see Lilian''s fist surging towards his face.


    Bang!


    Her fist mmed onto the top of his head, knocking him downwards slightly.


    "Ow! What was that for?" John cried out in surprise.


    "I told you long ago not to call me that," Lilian said with a frown of displeasure on her face. She hated being called ''master'', as it made her feel old. A master was someone like Thunderzen, powerful AND ancient.


    While she considered herself powerful, she was definitely not ancient.


    "You didn''t have to hit me though," John grumbled, then flinched backwards, narrowly dodging another punch from her.


    Lilian''s eyes widened ever so slightly, as she had not been expecting him to be able to dodge in time. While the punch was not powerful, it was fast. Fast enough that it would have caught John off guard in the past.


    "Heh," John sneered with obvious pleasure. "You''re going to have to try harder if you want to hit me like you did in the past."


    "Oh?" Lilian said musingly. "You get a bit stronger and you think you can speak to me as if we''re equals?"


    "Equals?" John repeated, then grinned as he shook his head. "No, we''re not equals anymore."


    While his wording was vague, his meaning coupled with his toothy grin was more than obvious. He was saying, ''I''m stronger than you now.''


    Lilian raised an eyebrow. "Your confidence sure has grown since west spoke, although it would be more aptly described as arrogance."


    "Is it arrogance if it''s true?" John said back, his confident expression unwavering.


    He had been beaten, bullied, and brutalized by Lilian countless times in the past. While all that had been done to train him to be a better cultivator and fighter, and while he appreciated her training despite the pain, he couldn''t resist talking back to her.


    While he most likely couldn''t defeat her in battle, he was confident in being able to hold his own if he used his full power. That gave him the confidence to do what he had always wanted to do; talk back to her.


    Lilian silently studied his face for a short while, then smiled for the first time. It was a warm,forting smile, one that filled John''s heart with warmth.


    "You''ve done well in the time we''ve been apart," she said to him with full sincerity. John returned her smile, then nodded once more.


    "I''ve definitely been busy," he replied, then shifted his gaze upwards towards the Sword-Saint who sat on the tform high above. "How have you been?"


    "You don''t have to worry about me," Lilian replied calmly. "In fact, you could say that despite my situation, my life this past year has been quitefortable."


    John chuckled lightly as he heard this. The Sword-Saint had no doubt pampered Lilian, who he had considered his daughter-inw to be, with countless treasures. Lilian had no doubt epted everything thrown her way with wide arms, and in the end would walk away from that ''arrangement'', leaving the Sword-Saint with nothing to show for it.


    Lilian reached out and touched John''s arm, sending her divine sense into his body. Her eyes widened as she noticed the changes to his body, especially his improved meridians.


    "You''ve definitely been busy," she said, eyes filled with surprise.


    "The Prime Shadow and I paid the Devil Continent a visit, and that visit was quite lucrative" he said to her through his divine sense, surprising her once more.


    "I see," she replied, then withdrew her divine-sense.


    A light groan sounded out next to them, drawing their eyes towards Araxus who was rousing from his unconsciousness. His eyes snapped open wide, and he hastily stood up, his gaze darting towards John. His narrowed eyes studied John for a second, then he rushed over hastily, hand reaching out towards John.


    "That battle art of your''s was amazing!" Araxus said as he grabbed John''s arm. "Can you teach it to me! I''ll give you anything."


    "Uhhh¡­it''s not something I can really teach you," John replied truthfully.


    A disappointed look appeared on Araxus'' face, who acted normally despite the wounds on his blood-slicked body. Now that he was awake, John couldn''t help but ask the question that had been lingering on his mind earlier.


    "Thatst attack of yours¡­was that Chaos Lightning?"


    Araxus paused for a moment, then grinned and nodded vigorously.


    "It was amazing, wasn''t it?" he asked John, to which John nodded, then felt true surprise as he heard Araxus say something he had not been expecting to hear.


    "Want to learn how to use it?"

 Chapter 1103 The End of the Semi-Finals

    <h4>Chapter 1103 The End of the Semi-Finals</h4>


    John looked wordlessly at Araxus for a short time, almost unable to believe what he had heard. Araxus was his opponent that he had just defeated in this incredibly important tournament. The winner of the tournament was to receive countless treasures and rewards, most importantly the Ancient Blessings of the Three Daos.


    That was a reward that stirred someone like Ji''Han into an excited state, revealing the weight and worth of such a reward. Araxus was a pinnacle genius that no doubt wanted to seize each and every opportunity to improve his strength, and had proven that in his actions and words during their battle.


    He detested trickery and tactics, and wanted to battle using only his power alone, wanting to overwhelm his opponents with strength even at the cost of defeat. To someone like Araxus, the Ancient Blessings would be a great boon to further that desire, and yet that opportunity had been thwarted by John''s victory.


    John would have expected rage, anger, disappointment, and every other negative emotion toe from Araxus, and it would have for the most part been justified. Losing was something that he himself despised and strived to avoid at all costs.


    And yet, Araxus had not only greeted him with a smile and jubnt attitude after waking up from his unconscious state, but had also offered to teach John one of his most secretive lightning arts. In this moment, John knew everything he needed to know of Araxus'' character, who reminded him of someone from his homeworld.


    ''He''s just like Miko,'' John thought. ''Immensely talented and highlypetitive, but is someone who values friendship above all.''''


    Someone like Araxus, who was able to smile and joke in such a situation was worthy of befriending and cing trust in. He was a rare type of person, a type of person that John greatly appreciated.


    John''s surprised expression eventually turned into a smile as he nodded his head.


    "Absolutely."


    "Awesome!" Araxus cheered, seemingly more excited than John despite the fact that he was going to be the one giving John a great reward, and not the other way around. "If you''re able to grasp the fundamentals, you''re going to love using Chaos Lightning."


    "When do you want to teach me it?" John asked curiously.


    "Why not now?" Araxus replied quickly, his expression eager as if he wanted to get right back into the heat of battle.


    "Now?" John said, slightly taken aback while studying Araxus'' condition. The youth had been pushed to his limits and was not only low on Qi, but was also still injured from facing John''s attack head on.


    "Don''t worry about me," Araxus smirked as two pills appeared in his hands. One glowed bright green and gave off a refreshing, almost intoxicating aroma, and made John instinctively think of Laia as it was potent with healing vitality.


    The other was dark blue and brimmed with a potent energy, as if it were a condensed dantian. It no doubt contained a thick amount of Qi to replenish his spent reserves, as well as other ingredients to speed up his own, natural Qi generation.


    Araxus popped both pills into his mouth, then swallowed them. Before the pills hit his stomach, then took to the sky and gestured for John to follow along.


    "Come on, let''s go to that training ground of yours," Araxus said excitedly. "Its quite nice, and I have a few things I want to try. Our battle filled my head with ideas, and I don''t want those thoughts to fade away."


    John nodded, then gave Lilian a quick nce. She smiled and waved him off to follow Araxus, her expression saying, ''we''ll talkter.''


    John smiled back and gave her a firm nod, then took to the sky, soaring towards Araxus and disappearing into one of the tunnels on a high up balcony leading into the stadium''s interiors.


    The crowd watched with stunned surprise as both John and Araxus disappeared almost immediately after the round was done. Given the importance of the tournament, there was normally a ceremony to congratte the top four fighters, as getting to this stage was a monumental aplishment.


    Not only that, but geniuses capable of making it this far were almost always haughty and prideful. They basked in the attention and adoration of others, and loved to participate in ceremonies that emphasized their genius and talent.


    Araxus and John were theplete opposites, surprising everyone. They didn''t care for glory, praise, or adoration. They seemed to only care about their strength and the thrill of battle.


    Lilian smiled lightly as she watched John leave, then turned and flew back up to her seat on the viewing tform. While John''s victory would cement her ''freedom'' from the Sword-Saint, for the time she was still in ''his care.'' That care came with the perks of being showered with treasures and cultivation resources, so Lilian was in no rush to let such opportunities pass her by until necessary.


    As shended on the tform, she ignored the looks from the Sword-Saint and sat on her seat, a small smile lingering on her face. Discussions continued amongst the powerhouses on the tform regarding the recent battle, until the Prime Shadow eventually excused himself, saying that he had some matters to attend to.


    The crowd continued to linger in their seats for a long while until eventually dispersing to their rooms, their excited discussions continuing on throughout the night and into the next morning. The day had been far too exciting with the disys of awe-inspiring talent and power from Ji''Han, Jaxus, Araxus, and John.


    Even most of the continent was discussing the semi-finals, as recordings of the battles quickly circted all throughout thend. The main point of discussion was undoubtedly about John, who had entered the tournament as a suspected fraud, one looked down on by everyone.


    Those thoughts were no more, as everyone now knew that John was the real deal. An unknown talent, never heard of before the tournament, had made the finals of the most important Three Dao Tournament to date. It was a shocking turn of events no one had ever expected, and was something that would be discussed for generations toe.


    ¡­


    John, Araxus, Naelia, and Zuri entered the Prime Shadows room, and to Naelia''s urging, rxed for a while before starting their training. She made convincing arguments to them, especially regarding Araxus'' condition.


    "How can you two properly train and fight if one of you is on your deathbed?" she had told them, convincing both to take it easy for an hour or two, allowing Araxus to recover, before starting their training.


    A healer hade to the room at the request of Naelia, and had worked tirelessly to restore Araxus to fighting condition. While recovering, the two discussed their recent battle, exining some of the arts they used in more detail.


    While in the middle of discussion, both John and Araxus fell silent all of a sudden. They looked towards the front door leading into the Prime Shadow''s private room, both feeling the presence of a new arrival.


    An overwhelmingly powerful, and familiar presence. John''s expression hardened as Naelia went to the door and opened it, revealing the figure on the other side.


    Standing there with a calm, neutral expression, the Sword-Saint instantly locked eyes with John, who was sitting in the lounging area of the room a short distance away.


    "I have some things I would like to discuss with you," the Sword-Saint said to John, his voice calm but containing a natural aura ofmand. "May I enter?"


    John raised an eyebrow, surprised at the pleasant and formal request from the Sword-Saint. A pinnacle powerhouse like him could do what he pleased, and if he wanted to enter this room, no one here could stop him.


    John thought over it for a moment, quickly understanding the source of the respect. This was the Prime Shadows room, and no one, not even the Sword-Saint himself, dared to enter without an invitation.


    John gave the others in the room a quick look, then returned his gaze to the Sword-Saint and nodded slowly.


    "You may enter."

 Chapter 1104 The Sword-Saints Offer

    Chapter 1104 The Sword-Saint''s Offer


    The others in the room gave John a surprised look, although Araxus'' expression was more one of amused anticipation than anything else. Being a foremost genius of the Yang-Dao Sect, he was used to interacting with powerhouses, and found John''s feud with the Sword-Saint quite entertaining.


    The Sword-Saint paused for a brief moment, almost as if expecting for John to decline his request. He stepped into the room a momentter, ncing about before returning his gaze to John.


    John continued to sit, but couldn''t help but notice the Sword-Saint''s natural presence when this close to the man. While he found the Sword-Saint''s personality to be ill-tempered and short-fused, he couldn''t help but admit that the man was a prodigious powerhouse. He gave off a simr feeling to the Prime Shadow in that his presence alone was like a zing bonfire on a dark night, unable to be missed and overwhelming in its power.


    He had no doubt that if he were to fight this man, he would not evenst a single second before being snuffed out with a casual wave of the Sword-Saint''s hand. He didn''t worry about iting to that, as the Prime Shadows backing was the best deterrent there was.


    The Sword-Saint gave Araxus a brief nod as he entered the room, which Araxus returned, his nod slightly deeper to show respect. While the Sword-Saint was a rather unpleasant person to be around, he was still the Sword-Saint. His existence alonemanded respect, regardless of whether one felt true respect towards the man or not.


    As for Araxus, he was a top two genius of the Yang-Dao Sect and highly favored by the Yang-Sovereign. As such, the Sword-Saint treated him with the respect of an uing genius, one that may in the future find himself on the same level as the Sword-Saint himself.


    The Sword-Saint then gave Naelia and Zuri a brief nce, then looked towards John with an even expression. After a few seconds of silence, the Sword-Saint understood that John was not going to tell anyone to leave.


    "You two fought well today," the Sword-Saint said to John and Araxus, not opting to take a seat near them, indicating he would most likely not be staying long.


    "Thanks!" Araxus replied, while John remained silent. This frivolity from the Sword-Saint was leading up to something, and he didn''t care for any decorum with this man. However, he kept these thoughts to himself, waiting for the Sword-Saint to reveal his purpose for being here.


    The Sword-Saint studied John''s neutral expression, one that showed no respect, but also no animosity. The Sword-Saint was used to all bowing at his feet to get under his good graces, and so John''s reaction waspletely out of the norm. He didn''t speak on it however, and continued with a slightly warm expression on his face instead, although he got to the point instead of beating around the bush.


    "So, Lilian is your master?" the Sword-Saint said, getting to the subject John knew he hade here for.


    John merely nodded, then waited for the Sword-Saint to continue.


    "I had looked down on you in the beginning, mostly due to your unknown origins," the Sword-Saint continued, "although you can''t me me for being skeptical. An unknown youth appearing out of nowhere, achieving impossible testing scores¡­" his voice trailed off.


    There was an incredibly faint look of doubt on the Sword-Saint''s face, as if he still believed John''s scores to be false. While it was obvious he was a talent worthy of standing next to Ji''Han, he had yet to reveal anything that would support his numerous perfect scores; scores which indicated he was the number one genius in that category, spanning most of the history of the Nine-Dao World.


    "Regardless," the Sword-Saint said, "it seems this¡­feud¡­between you and I has all been a misunderstanding."


    "Is that so?" John finally replied with a raised eyebrow.


    "Of course," the Sword-Saint said, smiling. However, his smile was not a friendly one, and was instead something more akin to a snake, with narrowed eyes and almost pursed lips. It was clear that the man was not used to faking his expressions, and was quite bad at it.


    "However," he continued. "Now that I know you are Lilian''s disciple, we can put this entire matter behind us. Instead of feuding with you, I would be more than happy to wee you into the Sword-Dao Sect as a pinnacle disciple, equal to my son Ji''Han in status. Normally such a thing would be beyond my ability to do, but with you as the honored disciple of my son''s wife-to-be, such a thing is within my power to do. With you and Ji''Han as the future of the Sword-Dao Sect, the ascension of the Sword-Dao Sect to the top of this world is guaranteed."


    John''s eyes widened slightly as he heard the Sword-Saint''s words, while the others in the room had even greater looks of surprise and even shock on their faces. They could have never guessed the Sword-Saint would havee here in an attempt to win John over to his sect.


    Before John could reply to this sudden offer, the Sword-Saint continued.


    "Before you answer, I would just like to remind you of the opportunities you will receive should you join us. Countless Heavenly treasures, cultivation resources beyond your imagining, and fame beyond reckoning. It''s all yours should you ept," the Sword-Saint said before falling silent, a small smile on his face as he waited for John''s reply.


    John remained silent for some time, almost unable to believe the audacity of this man. This man wanted nothing more than to eliminate him, and would have already done so had John not had the backing of the Prime Shadow. Now that he couldn''t do that, he tried an alternative method; bribery. He tried to y this situation up as a misunderstanding, with the hopes that John would be swayed by treasures and rewards into not protesting against Lilian''s situation.


    "This offer is something every youth in the world can only dream of," the Sword-Saint said, his smile widening. "So what do you say? Would you like to be a foremost disciple of the number one sect in the world?"

 Chapter 1105 A Short Discussion

    Chapter 1105 A Short Discussion


    The Sword-Saint''s words seemed to echo throughout the room, and also within John''s mind. Even after thinking for some time, he was still finding it hard to believe the audacity of the Sword-Saint.


    This offer was most likely some sort of ploy to eliminate him in the long run, and even if it was truly a sincere offer, it was almost farcical that the Sword-Saint thought John would even entertain the offer for a second.


    ''Such is the way of someone whomanded everyone and everything his entire life,'' John thought silently. ''He waves his hand and thinks everyone will rush to do his bidding. Well, I''m certainly not everyone.''


    "What about my master?" John asked curiously.


    "What about her?" the Sword-Saint asked, the small, ''friendly'' smile lingering on his face.


    "Well, you captured her, basically enved her, forced her into a marriage she didn''t want, and then only gave her an out when you thought there was no way you could lose. Why should I want to join up with someone like that?" John said tly, not sugarcoating his words at all.


    Naelia''s eyes went wide with shock, while even Zuri had a slightly surprised look on her face. Only Araxus was calm, with an amused look on his face as if he were truly enjoying where this conversation was going, like a bystander enjoying juicy drama.


    A sour look appeared on the Sword-Saint''s face, one that he suppressed with great effort.


    "That was all a¡­misunderstanding," the Sword-Saint said with a wry smile.


    "A misunderstanding?" John repeated. "From what I know, the situation is quite clear. What is there to misunderstand?"


    "That¡­" the Sword-Saint said. "Lilian, your master, was not forced into this situation. I merely strongly suggested she go through with this marriage, as it would be an affront to the Heavens for a union between two pinnacle geniuses such as her and my son not to¡­" the Sword-Saint trailed off again, realizing his words were not as convincing out loud as they sounded in his head.


    "Oh?" John hummed lightly, leaning back in his chair. "So then let me ask a quick question before I give my answer. If I were to lose against Ji''Han in the finals, and my master decides not to go through with the marriage, would you ept her decision and let her go?"


    "Well, of course I would honor-" the Sword-Saint replied quickly, almost as if expecting this question from John. However, he cut off mid-sentence as he heard John continue.


    "Would you be willing to swear a Dao Oath to the Heavens that you would respect her decision, regardless of what her decision ends up being?" John asked, a questioning look on his face.


    The Sword-Saint froze, his calm, friendly guise gone. Heavenly Dao Oaths were something that no cultivator wanted to mess with. Dao Oaths made to the Heavens were considered the most binding oaths of all. A Heavenly Dao Oath if broken could lead to no consequences at all, or could lead to one bing despised by the heavens, forever ending up as an enemy. The Heavens were fickle, and no one could know for certain what it would end up doing. As such, almost none dared to risk it, especially not someone like the Sword-Saint who had so much to lose, and very little to gain.


    To John, who battled the Heavens his entire cultivation life, such a thing was eptable. To someone like the Sword-Saint, who already lived at the pinnacle of the world and respected the Heavens above all else, breaking such an oath was not eptable.


    The Sword-Saint''s hesitation was all the information John needed. He had heard what the man had wanted to say, and was not interested in the slightest. Even if he didn''t have the backing of the Prime Shadow, he would still refuse out of principle alone. He despised people like the Sword-Saint, who schemed and plotted with everything they did.


    "I appreciate the offer, but I decline," John said calmly but firmly, his tone leaving no room for doubt or debate.


    The Sword-Saint''s friendly smile instantly vanished, reced by a cold, calcting re.


    "You will regret this decision," he said as he turned around and strode towards the front door of the room, opening it, then stepping out without pause.


    "Tell Ji''Han I said hi, and that I hope he doesn''t disappoint me," John called out as the Sword-Saint vanished from sight. "It would be a shame for the crowd to watch a one-sided beatdown in two days."


    He waited for a moment, then turned to look at the others. Araxus immediately startedughing, his boisterousugh flooding out into the hallway. Zuri had a slightly surprised look on her face, while Naelia looked as if she had seen a ghost.


    "You¡­you can''t just speak to the Sword-Saint like that!" Naelia said, her voice shaky.


    "Why not?" John replied questioningly. "Just because he''s powerful doesn''t mean I should respect him. Respect is earned with more than power alone."


    "I¡­" Naelia trailed off, still shocked by the Sword-Saints sudden arrival and hasty departure.


    "You really know how to piss people off," Araxus said with a toothy grin.


    "Hey, I didn''t start this feud," John replied, "but I sure as hell will end it."


    "How?" Araxus asked. "Even if you do beat Ji''Han, that won''t end things. While the Sword-Saint won''t go back on his word and not honor the bet between him and your master, he''ll most likelye for you in other ways."


    "He can try," John replied calmly. "If my personality was to make the safe decisions and to appease the powerful instead of doing what I want to do, I would have never made it this far in the cultivation world."


    "I couldn''t agree more," Araxus said approvingly. "I''m d someone else understands this. All the other geniuses like Ji''Han and Jaxus only care about fame. It''s rare to find another true genius that cultivates for strength and the thrill ofbat alone."


    "Speaking ofbat," John said as a sly smile appeared on his face. "How about we resume our battle once again?"


    "Hell yeah!" Araxus roared, not hesitation at all to stand up and rush towards the training room entrance. He opened the door and disappeared on the other side, not listening to Naelia''s calls of concern for him to properly rest and heal himself.


    John smiled and stood up, moving towards the training room as well. If Araxus was true to his word, then it was time to see if he could learn to use Chaos Lightning.

 Chapter 1106 Chaos Lightning Crystal

    Chapter 1106 Chaos Lightning Crystal


    As he stepped into the training room, John saw Araxus standing a short distance away. Arge smile was on his face as he waited for John to walk over, at which point he raised his arm with his right palm facing upwards.


    John looked at the empty hand with a questioning expression, one that changed to surprise as an item appeared on Araxus'' palm. As the item appeared, the atmosphere around them seemed to change. It went from calm to chaotic, as if every sort of energy had sprung up into existence near them.


    John''s gaze was fixated on the item in Araxus'' hand. The item was a small, ck crystal, norger than a grain of rice. While the crystal was ck in color, a multicolored source of energy glowed from within, its color ever changing. It instantly reminded John of the chaotic energy he encountered when he slipped into the spatial dimension filled with chaos energy.


    At the same time, it was also different. The chaotic energy in the spatial void was formless and also boundless. It seemed to contain every source of energy at the same time, changing from one form to the next ceaselessly.


    While this was simr, the energy emanating from the crystal was without a doubt lightning aspected. The forms of lightning changed, but the source energy remained lightning. The crystal flickered ceaselessly, throwing light throughout the training room, bathing it in different color hues every second.


    "What is this?" John eventually asked, his gaze still fixated on the crystal.


    "A Chaos Lightning crystal¡­I think," Araxus answered. "Or at least, the Yang-Sovereign thinks. I showed this to him a few years ago, and that''s what he guessed it was."


    "A Chaos Lightning¡­crystal?" John repeated, a questioning look on his face. "Lightninges in crystals now?"


    "Apparently," Araxus replied. "I didn''t know about it either, but when I was on the Continent of War three years ago, I stumbled upon a hidden cave. I ventured deep into its depths, and eventually found a singr crystal embedded into the cave wall. It wasrger back then, but it''s been losing more and more of its mass and energy as time goes on. Also, whenever I absorb the Chaos Lightning within to study it, it diminishes the size of the crystal. After years of studying this crystal, this is all that remains."


    John remained silent for some time, digesting all the information Araxus had just given him. It was all so shocking, from the existence of Chaos Lightning crystals, to the fact that he had found this crystal on the Continent of War.


    As the crystal flickered before his face, John felt a familiar aura flicker into existence, then out of existence a momentter.


    "Frost Lightning!" John said out loud, surprised by the fact that he had felt Frost Lightning within the Chaos Lightning crystal. It had a very simr aura to the Frost Lightning Araxus had unleashed in their prior battle.


    "Of course it contains Frost Lightning," Araxus said with a smug expression, "this is Chaos Lightning. From what the Yang-Sovereign told me, Chaos Lightning is the source of all lightning types. Every type of lighting that exists can be found within Chaos Lightning."


    Araxus'' exnation stunned John to his core. Every type of lightning that exists was contained within Chaos Lightning? It seemed far too amazing, far too profound to be true.


    "Isn''t that¡­a little too strong?" John couldn''t help but ask. "If Chaos Lightning contains all forms of lightning, is there a reason to learn any other type of lightning instead?"


    "Ah¡­I guess I exaggerated a little bit," Araxus said with a wry look on his face. "What I meant to say is that, ording to the Yang-Sovereign, true Chaos Lightning can contain the multitude of all lightning types, but that doesn''t necessarily mean it actually does contain it."


    A confused look appeared on John''s face, as Araxus'' exnation was contradictory.


    "Let me exin," Araxus quickly said to further rify. "True Chaos Lightning contains the multitude of lightning types, but that doesn''t mean every Chaos Lightning crystal contains all of those lightning types within. ording to the Yang-Sovereign, this Chaos Lightning crystal, while amazing, only contains a portion of the Lightning Dao. He figures that either this crystal lost some of its profundity over time by leaking energy continually, thus losing certain types of lightning contained within, or when it crystallized, it crystallized in an iplete form. Either way, while true Chaos Lightning contains the multitude of the Lightning Dao, this crystal contains pseudo-Chaos Lightning, or iplete Chaos Lightning. It''s as if I have a book containing all the information regarding the Lightning Dao, but its missing most of its pages."


    "I see," John replied after a moment of consideration.


    "Still, it''s far better than nothing at all," Araxus hastily added. "And as far as learning other lightning types, there''s still a reason to do so. Chaos Lightning is amazing because it contains multiple lightning forms. One second it can be unpredictable and hot, while the next second it can be destructive and cold. It''s ever changing in a way I can''t even fathom yet, and as such, when I use it, I don''t exactly know what I''ll get out of it.


    With how impossiblyplex and profound Chaos Lightning is, when I unleash it, all I can do is create some rudimentary Chaos Lightning. Compared to what''s in this crystal, it''s a night and day difference. Not only that, but after I release it, I cannot control what it changes into. I haven''t learned nearly enough about Chaos Lightning to be able to control it like that yet.


    The very nature of Chaos is its unpredictability, so I can''t force it to be destructive or quick, or hot or cold. All I can do is use it, and hope it''s good enough once it hits you. If I''m lucky, its super powerful when it hits my enemy. If I''m unlucky, they can get hit with healing lightning and I end up helping them more than hurting them.


    Like when I used it against you, even now I don''t know what form of Chaos Lightning it was when itnded against you. All I could hope for is that it was powerful enough."


    "Oh, it was quite powerful," John couldn''t help but say, recalling the damage it had done to him despite his Lightning Attribute Body. The unpredictable and uncontroble nature of the Chaos Lightning had made it incredibly hard to defend against, and even harder to get under control once it hadnded on him.


    "So, for an attack like your Kirin art, which was absolutely amazing by the way, the Destruction Lightning you used is far better to use, as the purpose of that art is to cause maximum damage," Araxus continued. "Chaos Lightning is better to use in a situation when unpredictable attacks are better. Chaos lightning isn''t necessarily more powerful, but it definitely has more wide-ranging applications."


    "I see," John replied with a nod of his head.


    "But the most useful part of Chaos Lightning isn''t itsbat potential," Araxus said, a sly grin appearing on his face.


    "It''s not?" John asked.


    "No," Araxus shook his head. "The most useful part of learning Chaos Lightning is that it gives you an easy way to study the Lightning Dao in all its forms. Instead of having to track down all the different lightning forms out in the world and study them one by one, you can use Chaos Lightning to study those forms specifically. For example, if I wanted to study Destruction Lightning, if the Chaos Lightning Crystal contained Destruction Lightning, then I could focus on that aspect until I learn to cultivate it. It''s how I learned to cultivate both Yin and Yang aspected lightning types, as you saw in our battle."


    "I see," John nodded again. "If you could study all the lightning types, then why focus on Frost lightning? Why not something more powerful like Destruction Lightning?"


    "Pft, as if Destruction Lightning is so easy to learn to use," Araxus scoffed while giving John a pointed re. "Just because you and your freakish body can handle Destruction Lightning, doesn''t mean everyone else can. Besides, like I mentioned before, this Chaos Crystal is iplete, and so it doesn''t contain the really profound lightning types like Destruction."


    "Ah¡­I see," John replied with slight disappointment.


    "The hell is that look on your face?" Araxus grumbled. "I''m giving you ess to extremely rare Chaos Lightning, and you''re pouting because it''s notplete enough for you?"


    "Haha, it''s not that at all," John said,ughing to try to hide the fact that Araxus was spot on.


    Araxus'' gave him a pointed re for a while, then smiled and reached out towards John, dumping the crystal into John''s hands.


    "Still, this crystal is amazing, and has enough inside of it that you''ll be studying it for years before you''veprehended everything within. Here, take it," Araxus said.


    "Are you sure?" John asked, surprised Araxus was fully handing him the crystal.


    "Of course," Araxus nodded. "I''ve already learned most of what I can from that crystal, and there''s only so little left, so it won''t do me much good to use the rest. But for you, you should be able to learn a thing or two from it before its energy runs out."


    John looked at the grain-sized crystal in his hand, then closed his fist around it. He looked at Araxus, and gave him a smile and a nod of thanks.


    "Thanks, I''ll make sure to put it to good use," John said.


    "You better," Araxus said with a toothy grin. "Now then, shall we start this training?"


    "Sure," John nodded while feeling the crystal pulse with power in his hand. It was time to learn to use Chaos Lightning.

 Chapter 1107 Geniuses of the Three Daos Store

    Chapter 1107 Geniuses of the Three Dao''s Store


    For the next day, John spent his time in the training room, studying the tiny Chaos Lightning crystal in his hand. He had made significant progress already, although was surprised to find how hard it was toprehend Chaos Lightning. It was ever changing, ever unpredictable, making it incredibly hard to use. Using Chaos Lightning was much like starting a fire. One only needed the ingredients to start the fire, the spark and the tinder, and after it was lit, the mes moved and acted ording to its own will.


    It was impossible to control the direction, size, and movement of the mes, just as it was nearly impossible to control Chaos Lightning once it had been sparked into existence. Starting it was doable. Controlling it was next to impossible.


    ''Even then, just creating Chaos Lightning is harder than any other type of lightning I''ve dealt with,'' John grumbled internally. ''It''s even harder toprehend and create than Destruction Lightning, although only by a little bit.''


    Bang!


    The door to the training room flew open, revealing a figure standing in the doorway.


    "You''re still training, huh?" Naelia asked, looking him up and down. She frowned as she noticed the blood, sweat and grime on his body, revealing that he had not been taking it easy.


    "The finals are tomorrow, and yet you are pushing yourself to your limits!" Naelia grumbled with a pout.


    "Heh, I''m hardly pushing myself to my limits," John replied with a light chuckle. If Naelia saw how far he could push himself, what would her reaction be? John could picture her shocked expression already.


    "Still, you''re far too antisocial! You missed your ceremony!"


    "Ceremony?" John asked with a questioning look on his face.


    "Yes! The big, humongous ceremony before the grand finals!" Naelia replied. "Everyone went, even Araxus. Everyone except you!"


    ''Ah, so that''s where he went,'' John thought. He remembered Araxus saying a few words to him before leaving hours ago, but was far too focused on his Chaos Lightning that he didn''t even hear what Araxus had said.


    "You didn''t miss much," Araxus said as he appeared in the doorway and entered within. John looked Araxus up and down, a questioning look appearing on his face as he saw Araxus wreathed with ornaments and other eye-catching things.


    "Don''t lie to him," Naelia said with a stern tone. "It was amazing. There was an amazing stage where the top one hundred geniuses were showered with praise, rewards, and other things. There were even majestic beasts flying through the sky, while fireworks exploded overhead constantly. It was breathtaking," Naelia described with a reminiscent expression on her face, then frowned. "Without you there, it was mostly a Ji''Han praising ceremony though. You should have been there to take some of the spotlight off of him."


    John merely chuckled upon hearing this. "I''ll take that spotlight when I win. Nothign else really matters."


    "Haha, I couldn''t have said it better!" Araxus said through boisterousughter, then gave John a gesture to get up and follow them. "Come on, let''s go," he said.


    "Go? Go where?" John asked.


    ¡­


    A whileter, John found himself out of his room, exploring the countless hallways, stores, entertainment venues and restaurants with Araxus, Naelia and Zuri. Somehow, they had convinced him to take a break from his training to spend some time hanging out as friends before the tournament ended.


    John had eventually agreed, and had spent thest few hours hopping from entertainment venues, such as casinos, to restaurants, and everything in between. While he did miss training, John couldn''t help but admit that taking a break now and then was good for the mind. It helped him reset, allowing him to see things from other angles and perspectives when he resumed his training.


    As he explored the mind-bogglingly enormous stadium, the most surprising thing was the attention his group got. Wherever he went, people stared with expressions of awe and wonder, to anger and hate. It was quite amusing, especially the times that the adoring fangirls rushed up to Araxus, begging for his signature.


    He received no such greetings, but it wasn''t surprising. He had eliminated favorites of each of the Three Dao Sects, and had garnered quite a bit of hate from the fans and members of those sects.


    "Ah, let''s go in there!" Naelia pointed as the group was walking past a row of shops, each specializing in different things.


    John gave the store a quick look, then looked at Naelia. "You''re kidding, right?"


    The store, named ''Geniuses of Three Dao''s'' was adorned with bright, colorful signs, indicating the goods they sold within. Novels! Comics! Figures!


    "Not at all!" Naelia said as she rushed into the store, followed by Araxus and Zuri. John sighed and entered a momentter.


    As he stepped into therge store, he was greeted with a vast floorspace covered with a variety of objects. The objects in question ranged from figurines, ranging from small to life-sized, to books, novels,ics, and more. It was unlike anything John had seen before, as there was nothing like this store back on his homeworld.


    "Haha! Look what I found!" Naelia said as she rushed back towards the group, holding a small figurine in her hand. John looked at it, then went wide eyed.


    "Thats¡­me," he said, bbergasted. "What the hell is a figurine of me doing in this store?"


    The figurine was a foot tall, and depicted John with shockingly urate detail. It was wearing his robes and holding his scythe in a heroic pose, making it look quite impressive. "It''s not just you!" Araxus said while pping him on the back, then pointed to a nearby shelf. There, John saw shelves and shelves of figures of youths he recognized, such as Chloe, Ishnai, and more. "It''s all of the high-ranked geniuses who participated in this tournament. This is one of the many stores that sells merchandise rting to the tournament participants."


    He inspected the shelves, then looked back at Araxus.


    "Why are there no figures of you then? Or Jaxus, or Ji''Han?" he asked, not seeing any of those three.


    Araxus gave him a wide, toothy grin. "That''s because everything rted to us three is already sold out. Unlike you, I''m quite popr!"

 Chapter 1108 Geniuses of the Three Daos Store Pt.2

    Chapter 1108 Geniuses of the Three Dao''s Store Pt.2


    The haughty look on Araxus'' face caused John to roll his eyes. He then stepped forward and inspected the other figures, then moved about the other rows. While perusing, he noticed a section that seemed to be dedicated to him. It was a table covered in books, scrolls, paintings and more, all depicting him on the art.


    He reached out and picked up one of the books, a rather thin and flimsy one, and opened to the first page. He was greeted with aic of him, one that he quickly flipped through the pages to read. Theic depicted him as a youth, seemingly an origin story of his. He was supposedly raised by a dark and mysterious figure, one that tasked him with the mission of destroying the Nine-Dao World. His first mission since emerging from his secretive training was to destroy the other geniuses in the Three Dao Tournament.


    His eyes went wide as he flipped through theic, which depicted him in quite a viinous light. "I never agreed to any of this!" John grumbled. "Are you okay with your likeness being used like this?" He turned and asked Araxus.


    Araxus merely shrugged. "This is how its always been, so it''s not worth getting worked up over."


    John returned his gaze to theic in his hand, which was suddenly snatched by a neer.


    "No reading unless you buy theic-" the neer said, then stopped immediately as he finally noticed John''s face. The man, a man who appeared in this thirties and had a rather portly frame, went wide-eyed as he looked at John. His eyes went even wider as he noticed Araxus.


    "Ah! It''s you! And Araxus! What an honor it is to have you in my store," the man hastily said while removing his cap and wringing it nervously in his hands. He then noticed he still held theic he had snatched from John, and hastily returned it.


    "Ah, here you go. Apologies for my hastiness," the man said to John.


    "It''s alright," John said tly, then looked at the table next to him that held all the merchandise regarding him. The man looked as well, then looked at theic in John''s hands. He grimaced and quickly picked up another book from the table, then handed it to John.


    "Here, you should read this one instead," the man hastily said. "Thisic depicts you in a much, much better light. Not all the stories about you paint you as a¡­." his voice trailed off.


    "A viin," John filled in the rest, while the man''s grimace deepened.


    "It''s alright," John waved his hand dismissively. "I''m assuming you didn''t make thisic."


    "No," the man shook his head. "I just purchased them to sell to the tournament crowd. Your items have been selling like crazy ever since you defeated Araxu-"


    He paused while ncing at Araxus who stood nearby. "It''s alright to say it," Araxus said. "He beat me fair and square."


    The man sighed a breath of relief, obviously happy that Araxus wasn''t a pompous genius like most others, who were sore losers as well. He then gestured to the table.


    "Take anything you like. It''s on the house," he said to John, as well as Araxus.


    "Thanks," John nodded, then took a few of the novels andics about him. While he wasn''t really concerned about what they said, he was quite curious to see read them nheless.


    Afterwards, the man hounded John with a million questions, mostly asking about his past and upbringing. To everyone, John was a mysterious youth with almost nothing known about him, and so the man used this opportunity to garner as much information, most likely for his novels andics, as possible.


    John answered some of the questions, giving vague enough answers that it didn''t reveal much, while still satisfying the man''s curiosity.


    "I see, I see," the man mumbled excitedly while taking notes. "You were raised by a rather low born n, and worked your way up mostly on your own. How exciting! I''ll be able to use this information to make the most urateic yet! It will sell like wildfire!"


    This continued for a while before John finally got bored of it, and said his goodbyes to the man. The man thanked John with great eagerness, then wished him luck for the fight toe.


    "Good luck young man," the man said with arge smile on his face. "I truly hope you win. Not only do I detest the Sword-Dao Sect, but I don''t think much about that Ji''Han either. Going along with his fathers ploy to force your master to marry him? How barbaric."


    John smiled lightly and thanked the man for his kind words, then left the store with the others as well as some new stories and books to read in the future when he had free time. The other''s in the store watched the group leave with awed looks on their face, then hastily began to discuss what they had overheard.


    As John and the others left the store, he felt that the day, while enjoyable, had run its course.


    "I think its time for me to get back to training," he said, then got a stern look from Naelia and Zuri. "I''m close to making a breakthrough with Chaos Lightning, and I''d rather do that sooner thanter while theprehensions are still fresh in my mind."


    That answer seemed to appease the two, who nodded their heads.


    "Alright, let''s go back then," Zuri agreed as the group stepped into the wide and busy hallway to return to the Prime Shadow''s lodging. They walked and conversed for quite some time, as the trip back to the room would take over an hour at this pace. While they could rush to the room with faster speed, that was looked down upon in this ce.


    "I already told you, I''m unable to teach you the Kirin-God Extinction," John said to Araxus, who begged him to teach it to him. "I made it specifically for me, so even if I taught it to you, you wouldn''t be able to-"


    John''s words cut off instantly as he felt his instincts re with warning. His Dantian instinctively sprung to life as Qi flooded into his body, activating his Dragon-God Shift as fast as possible.


    An instant after his instincts red with warning, Araxus and Zuri both surged with power as well, all three of them turning to see a powerful sword-image, almost on them, piercing directly towards John''s heart.


    The nearby crowd was sted away by the sudden explosion of auras as the sword-image reached its target.


    Boom!

 Chapter 1109 Assassination Attempt

    Chapter 1109 Assassination Attempt


    The day before the grand finals of the Dao Transformation tournament, a pleasant yet excited mood permeated the Yang-Dao Sect tournament stadium. The stadium, hundreds of miles long containing tens of thousands of stores, restaurants, entertainment venues and more were buzzing with activity. Despite the tens of millions of spectators attending the tournament, many who were at odds with spectators supporting those from rival sects, the Yang-Dao Stadium had yet to experience any sort of conflict outside of the arena itself.


    That all changed in an instant.


    Boom!


    "John!" a unison cry of shock boomed from Zuri and Araxus, who were a step toote to help him. The hallway suddenly sprung to life as the sword image pierced into John''s chest, mming against his ribcage. The sword image came to a sudden halt as John''s hands mmed inwards towards the sword-image de, stopping it just shy of his heart thanks to his overwhelming strength and durability of his flesh and bones.


    Blood spurted from his chest as he flew backwards from the power of the sword image. Cries of shock and panic rang out throughout the crowded hallway as he barreled over the unsuspecting crowd, knocking aside many as he flew backwards through the hallway.


    Boom!


    He mmed against a wall some distance away,ing to a brief and sudden stop. The wall exploded from the impact, while John mmed onto the ground below,nding on his feet, wobbling briefly before stabilizing himself. A wave of pure anger and bloodlust surged through John as he sessfully defended against the surprise attack intending to im his life. His head snapped up towards the source of the attack, a ce shrouded in dark shadows several hundred yards away.


    A line of destruction stretched forward for a hundred yards, from where he had encountered the attack to his current location. Hundreds of injuredyed scattered about on either side of the wide hallway, many groaning in pain as they tried toprehend what had happened.


    "I''m fine! Go after the attacker!" John roared loudly as he noticed Araxus and Zuri speeding towards him.


    Without missing a beat, both nodded and turned around, using their fastest movement to speed towards the ce of the attack. John growled with anger and sped after them a momentter, opting to use his physical speed instead of his Lightning Shatters the Void. While incredibly fast, it was a powerful and destructive movement art, destroying the space near his entry point and exit point. With so many of the crowd, many greatly injured, nearby, he opted not to do so as using his movement art would surely cause more harm, and perhaps even result in several deaths. The hallways shook with a violent shockwave as he sped through it with incredible speed, appearing like a trailing blur to everyone. He arrived at the location of the attack a momentter, where both Zuri and Araxus stood, their heads looking around, their divine senses spread to their maximum range.


    John spread his divine sense as well after finding nothing visually, then frowned deeply. Within his divine sense were tens of thousands of other cultivators, with hundreds strong enough to have made such an attack. With the sudden chaos of the attack, many were leaving and more were arriving by the second, making it impossible to track everyone''s movements.


    "They''re gone. Fuck!" Araxus growled deeply, lightning crackling over his skin, his eyes still scanning in all directions. At the same time, Zuri used her control over the spatial Dao to search in her own way, but her deepening frown indicated to John that she had found nothing either.


    "Are you okay?" she said after grunting with displeasure, turning to John to inspect his wounds.


    Arge, six inch long wound was carved directly into his chest above his heart, with blood flowing out to the ground below. John kicked his healing limiters into action, which coupled with his natural healing rate thanks to his dragon and asura bloodlines, healed the wound in several seconds.


    "I''m fine," John replied tly as the wound finally sealed itself, healing his damaged ribs as well.


    sh!


    sh!


    sh!


    Several shes of light appeared nearby a momentter, followed by the appearance of three familiar figures; The Yang-Sovereign, the Mage-Sovereign, and the Sword-Saint.


    They quickly scanned the area, noticing its destruction, and then turned to John and the others with stern, questioning expressions. They then instantly noticed the dried blood on John''s chest, giving them insight into what happened.


    "What happened here?" the Yang-Sovereign asked, a look of deep concern on his usually stoic face.


    With his experience with the Yang-Sovereign, Araxus stepped forward and quickly exined the events. The frowns on the three powerhouses'' faces deepened as Araxus finished his story, while a look of anger appeared on the Yang-Sovereigns face.


    "An attack on an honored guest within my own sect? This shame cannot be left to stand," the Yang-Sovereign growled, shing a quick look to the Sword-Saint before looking away. "What''s that look for?" the Sword-Saint instantly understood the meaning of that nce. "Do you think I would be stupid enough to call for an assassination of the Prime Shadow''s sessor, using sword arts to do the deed?"


    The Yang-Sovereign and Mage-Sovereign said nothing, their silence deafening within the destroyed hallway.


    "Tch, do not insult me with these baseless usations," the Sword-Saint growled, clearly displeased by these silent usations. "If I wanted this boy dead, he would be dead already. And I wouldn''t be dumb enough to use a sword cultivator to do the bidding."


    The Sword-Saint shot John a curious look, and studied the wound on his chest for a second before speaking to the Sovereigns once more.


    "I do not recognize the lingering sword aura in his wound, so I can say with confidence that it is not someone from my Sword-Dao Sect," he continued, then shot John a quick nce, his gaze firm. "Besides, I would never deny my son the opportunity to defeat this boy in the arena. My son''s glorious victory will note at the hands of some underhanded assassination."


    Those final words seemed to be spoken true and from the heart, surprising even John with the sincerity he felt in them. He had immediately assumed this was the working of the Sword-Saint, but now had some doubts regarding that. While it was certainly possible the Sword-Saint was lying, from what John knew of the man so far, the Sword-Saint wore his emotions on his sleeves. For him to lie, and so convincingly at that, was out of character for the man. The softening looks on the Yang-Sovereign and Mage-Sovereign seemed to indicate they believed the Sword-Saint, who returned his gaze to John, his brows furrowed.


    "Don''t you dare die before the finals tomorrow," he said with a low growl. "You will not deny my son the opportunity to thoroughly defeat you in the arena. I will not have your death stain my reputation, or my son''s reputation."


    "You don''t have to worry about that," John replied with a firm voice and narrowed eyes. "I won''t be dying anytime soon."


    The Sword-Saint locked gazes with John for a moment, then looked back towards the Sovereigns. "I will look into this matter, as I''m sure you two will as well. If I find the one responsible, I will bring him to you for judgment."


    "Very well," the Yang-Sovereign nodded, as did the Mage-Sovereign. The Sword-Saint then vanished, while the Sovereigns checked in on John and the others, before diverting their attention to the injured in the hallway. A group of Yang-Dao Sect healers appeared a short whileter, healing those who had been caught up in the attack.


    "Do you believe him?" Zuri asked John as she stepped next to him.


    "For some reason, I do," John nodded. "Everyone knows of my Dragon-God Shift by now. That attack was strong, but was definitely not strong enough to overwhelm me in my Dragon-God Shift state. Either the assassin thought I would be caught by surprise and not defend in time, or they expected me to defend against it."


    "Why would they attack you if they knew you could defend against it?" Araxus asked curiously. "Shouldn''t they have used a stronger cultivator to attack you then?"


    "That''s what I''m wondering as well," John replied with a thoughtful tone. "It doesn''t make any sense."


    "Whatever the reason, we should get you back to the Prime Shadow''s room for now. It''s not safe out here anymore," Zuri said, to which John agreed. Uncaring of the social conventions of the arena, the group used their movement arts to speed through the stadium hallways, arriving in the room a short whileter. As he arrived and stepped inside, a nagging thought appeared on John''s mind.


    Where was the Prime Shadow?

 Chapter 1110 Discussion with the Prime Shadow

    Chapter 1110 Discussion with the Prime Shadow


    For the next several hours, the Yang-Dao Sphere was buzzing with frenzied activity. Thousands of Yang-Dao Sect, Sword-Dao Sect, and Mage-Dao Sect Elders worked tirelessly to investigate the assassination attempt, hoping to find out the truth of the matter.


    While they investigated, the news of the assassination attempt spread like wildfire, shocking everyone who heard of it. Who was crazy enough to attempt such a thing in the Yang-Dao Sect? Such an action was an outright insult to the Yang-Sovereign. If the Yang-Sovereign ever caught the one responsible, their fate would no doubt be incredibly miserable.


    Several hours after the assassination attempt, a knock appeared at the door. After checking who it was, Naelia let in the Yang-Sovereign himself, surprising everyone that he would show up personally.


    The Yang-Sovereign greeted the group, then exined what they had found.


    "Unfortunately, we were unable to catch the one responsible," he said with shame. "I ask for your forgiveness in thispse of protection. I had not thought anyone would be bold enough to attempt such a thing in my sect."


    "It''s fine," John replied calmly, slightly disappointed in the oue of the investigation, but not surprised either. Whoever it was, they were skilled enough to attack him and leave unnoticed by anyone. It was obviously not a rank and file cultivator who had attacked him.


    "You should stay in this room until the finals tomorrow," the Yang-Sovereign said while ncing about the room.


    "I n on doing just that," John nodded, then decided to ask the question burning in his mind. "Do you know where the Prime Shadow is?"


    Based on what had happened, John would have expected the Prime Shadow to show up right away. Since he had yet to arrive, John could only wonder what was keeping the Prime Shadow upied.


    "After your semi-final, the Prime Shadow said he had some matters to attend to, and left the Yang-Dao Sect. I am uncertain of his current location," the Yang-Sovereign said, to which John thanked him.


    sh!


    As if summoned by his name alone, a sh of darkness appeared in the room a momentter, followed by the Prime Shadow stepping out of the smokey darkness surrounding him.


    "What happened?" he asked firmly while hastily stepping towards John. He quickly inspected John''s body, then shot an angered gaze towards the Yang-Sovereign.


    "You assured me John would be protected during my absence!" the Prime Shadow said, a tinge of simmering anger in his voice.


    "I apologize for mypse in judgment," the Yang-Sovereign said, appearing apologetic for the events that had unfolded. "I had assumed no one would dare to make an assassination attempt within my sect grounds. It appears my hubris has clouded my judgment."


    The Prime Shadow gave the Yang-Sovereign a firm stare for quite some time before looking back towards John.


    "I''m fine, really," John assured the elderly man, who finally sighed a breath of relief. "Have you found anything?" the Prime Shadow asked the Yang-Sovereign, who shook his head from side to side.


    "Tch," the Prime Shadow clicked his tongue. "Please leave us for now," he said to everyone. The others followed his orders and left the room, while the Yang-Sovereign lingered for a moment, apologized once more, and then left.


    The door closed behind him, leaving only John and the Prime Shadow in the room. Before John could speak, the Prime Shadow''s power red, enveloping them in a cocoon of darkness.


    "What happened? Truly. Leave no details out," the Prime Shadow instructed John, who quickly exined the events in as much detail as he could remember.


    Silence filled the cocoon of darkness for some time as the Prime Shadow thought over the matter. "Where were you?" John eventually asked, drawing the Prime Shadows gaze back towards him.


    "I was¡­out," the Prime Shadow said, a grim look on his face. "I sent Grandmaster Darkcloud on a mission to seek out the truth regarding Azurae."


    "Azurae!" John repeated, his brows furrowing. That woman was responsible for the death of Zuri''s father and siblings, and who knows what else. She was currently in the Sword-Saints entourage, casting doubt on the Sword-Saint once more.


    "What did you find?" John asked curiously.


    "Nothing," the Prime Shadow said with a low voice. "Grandmaster Darkcloud went silent quite some time ago, and I have no idea why. Hisst mission report was that he was in Jagged Cliff City, following a lead regarding Azura. After that, he stopped sending sound transmissions."


    John''s eyes went wide with surprise. Grandmaster Darkcloud, a Half-Step Holy Manifestation cultivator had gone silent like that? There were only two exnations. Either he had been captured, or he was dead. "I left after your fight to seek him out, but didn''t find anything. While searching the city, I received word of the assassination attempt, and made my way back here as fast as possible."


    "I see," John replied, his question finally answered. Silence filled the cocoon of darkness for some time before the Prime Shadow spoke again.


    "I''m afraid there''s much I do not know about the events surrounding this tournament. Whoever is in charge is incredibly careful. They''ve left no clues whatsoever, and my ability to move throughout the sect is limited as well. There are far too many eyes around. Powerful eyes that would notice any movement from the Guild," the Prime Shadow said, a deep frown on his face.


    "Do you think something''s going to happen tomorrow?" John asked curiously.


    "Perhaps. I''m not certain what''s going on, but I''m certain something is going on," the Prime Shadow replied. "I will keep looking for answers, but all I can say to you right now is be on guard at all times. I will handle the rest."


    John nodded firmly, his thoughts swirling with the chaos that was unfolding. ''Just exactly what is going on? Azurae is with the Sword-Saint, but the Sword-Saint doesn''t seem to be the one who tried to assassinate me. It''s all so¡­conflicting,'' John mused as the Prime Shadow undid his darkness cocoon and vanished, most likely to investigate the assassination location himself.


    John remained in ce for some time, thinking over everything that had happened. After a while, he shook the thoughts from his mind and walked to the training room to focus on what was truly important at the moment; winning the tournament. The hours quickly passed by as he trained. The training room door opened the next day, with Zuri stepping in to greet him. She studied his condition for a moment, then smiled and gestured for him to approach.


    "Come. Its time for you to clean up and restore your energy. The grand finals starts in an hour," she said.


    John looked at her, nodded, and then smiled.


    It was finally time. Time for him to battle Ji''Han. Time for him to embarrass the Sword-Saint. Time for him to win Lilian''s freedom. Time for him to battle to his heart''s content. With the assassination attempt and everything else that had happened, John felt his blood and battle lust ignited to a level far greater than normal.


    His smile turned into a look of firm resolve as he walked over towards Zuri, his thoughts swirling on the battle toe.


    With his blood and battle lust ignited, even if he didn''t use his Asura Transformation, he was not going to hold back at all. While he might not transform into an Asura for the battle if Ji''Han was not strong enough to force him to do so, he was sure as hell going to fight like one.


    It was time to reveal to the Nine-Dao World what it truly meant to be a pinnacle, heaven-defying genius. Hey everyone. Apologies for theck of chapters over thest few weeks. The end ofst year was incredibly busy for me, leaving me almost no time to write.

 Chapter 1111 Start of the Grand Finals

    Chapter 1111 Start of the Grand Finals


    1111 Start of the Grand Finals


    As the sun rose on the next day, the entire Human Continent stirred into a frenzy only seen every three years, when the Dao Transformation grand finalsmenced. It was the most anticipated event in years, and this year''s tournament was special even whenpared to the previous Dao Transformation grand finals.


    It was the matchup between Ji''Han, the youth touted to be the most talented Nine-Dao World genius in hundreds of thousands of years, and John, the dark horse who came out of nowhere to disy talent beyond anyone''s wildestprehensions.


    It was a battle between two monstrous geniuses, with the ouepletely up in the air.


    Across the entire Human Continent, almost every single person was focused on the Grand Finals. For those not in the arena, live formation screen showings were disyed across the continent to give those not fortunate enough to attend the tournament in person a chance to witness history.


    After cleaning up and recovering his strength, John followed Naelia to arge room on the bottom floor of the stadium. The room had a tunnel leading directly into the arena itself, where he was to enter the arena from after being announced.


    "Are you nervous?" Naelia asked while fidgeting with an item in her hands.


    John looked at her, noticing her nervous demeanor, and smiled lightly.


    "It looks like you''re more nervous than I am."


    "How could I not be?" Naelia replied with a soft voice. "Your opponent is Ji''Han. He''s beyond monstrous, and I know you''re strong, but..."


    "I''ll be fine," John said with a firm tone and a confident smile. His demeanor seemed to appease her nerves, as a small smile appeared on her face a momentter.


    "What''s that you''re fidgeting with?" he asked her, noticing that she was ying with some sort of ne, one that he had not seen on her before.


    "Oh, this," Naelia said, holding the item for John to see. The Yang- Sovereign gave it to every Yang-Dao Sect disciple. It holds several formations within, such as a defensive formation, or a spatial formation. It''s a gift meant to celebrate this year''s sessful tournament."


    John looked at the object, which was a small metallic formation seal attached to a golden chain. It was quite beautiful, and he couldn''t help but nod his head at its craftsmanship. He then nced at Araxus who stood nearby, and saw him wearing the same ne.


    "Must be nice having such a rich benefactor," John said teasingly, to which Naelia stuck her tongue out at him.


    "Being part of one of the strongest sects in the world does have its perks," Araxus chimed in with a smug smile. John scoffed in jest and shook his head, then fell silent as he thought about the pressing matters on his mind.


    The Prime Shadow said something was going on with this tournament, yet no more moves have been made against me. I wonder what, if anything, is going to happen,'' he thought, then pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind.


    The grand final was his first and only concern as of right now. He would leave the rest to the Prime Shadow.


    The room began to tremble slightly a momentter, steadily growing stronger, followed by the sound of the crowd above them growing louder. The crowd continued to grow louder and louder while John could hear someone speak from within the arena, while at the same time he was attended to by some Yang-Dao Sect Elders, ensuring that his formation armband worked, and that he knew what to do once announced.


    That announcement came sometimeter, to which John looked at his friends, giving each an assuring nod of the head and a confident smile.


    "Good luck," Naelia said with a nervous expression and clenched fists, while Zuri merely smiled and Araxus patted John on the back. "Don''t beat Ji''Han up too bad," he said. "I still need him alive so I can one day beat him myself."


    John couldnt help butugh upon hearing that, then nodded again. "I can''t promise anything, but I''ll do my best to keep him in one piece."


    Their parting words said, John walked forward towards the tunnel entrance, his expression turning from a calm and rxed to firm and resolved. Each step he took made the sound of the cheering crowd grow louder. Each step made his heartbeat speed up as his battlelust started to grow.


    Entering the tunnel felt like entering their of a powerful beast stomping on the ground on the other side. The tunnel shook from the booming crowd, and as he stepped out of the tunnel and into the light of the arena, the ten million spectators came into view, like an endless ocean of people, as did the collective sound of ten million cheers and boos, drowning him in a cacophony of noise.


    It was the most electric atmosphere John had ever felt before, and even he couldn''t help but feel his heartbeat quicken as he was drawn into that electric atmosphere.


    "Entering the Arena, John Fenix!!!"


    While he had not heard what the announcer had said leading up to his entrance, the moment he stepped into the arena, he heard his name booming across the stadium, greeted by another, even louder wave of cheers and boos.


    John did his best to ignore the crowd and the sounds, and walked towards the center of the arena where the Yang-Dao Sect Elder was standing. He stopped a few feet away and greeted the Elder, then stood in ce as the Elder introduced Ji''Han next.


    The crowd erupted into an even loudermotion for Ji''Han, with both the cheering and booing louder than what had been done for John. The Sword-Dao Sect members cheered for him with unwavering passion, while the members of the other sects mostly booed, as they were rival sects.


    John watched with calm yet simmering battle lust as Ji''Han entered the arena and walked over to him, stopping near the Elder as well. Ji''Han entered the arena with the same haughty, arrogant expression he always wore, and when he locked eyes with John, that expression only grew stronger.


    John returned the smug expression with a wide grin, like that of a predator about to devour its prey. Before the two could say any words to each other, the Yang-Sovereign stood from his seat and raised his hand, asking for silence from the crowd.


    "As this year''s host of the Three Dao Tournament, it is my utmost honor to announce themencement of the Dao Transformation Grand Finals. While yesterdays events are an unfortunate stain on the legacy of this tournament, we should not let it diminish the prestige of this tournament, or the aplishments of the geniuses who have made it this far."


    The crowd fell silent as they listened to the Yang-Sovereign''s speech, while John looked up at the Sovereign as well to listen to his speech. As the Sovereign went on, John looked a bit to the side, and shared a quick, knowing smile with Lilian.


    Lilian sat on her throne-like chair with rxedfort, and the small smirk on her face revealed that she was looking forward to what was going to happen. John then exchanged a quick nce with the Prime Shadow, who sat to the right of the Yang-Sovereign. The Prime Shadow gave him a quick nod, to which John returned.


    He also noticed the Sword-Saint nearby, looking down on him with a t, arrogant expression. As expected, Azurae, the one who had killed Furi, Suri and Luri, was standing behind the Sword-Saint''s chair. John gave her a quick nce then looked away, not wanting to draw attention to himself and the fact that he knew of her.


    Lastly, John looked to the other side of the Yang-Sovereign, to the chair on his left. That chair had been used by the Mage Sovereign thus far, but she was not sitting in it at the moment.


    ''Most likely still dealing with the death of Ishnai,'' John thought as he studied the features of the one sitting in the chair.


    It was a woman he had never seen before. The woman, appearing to be in her early forties, had a regal aura about her, like a queen who had ruled for millennia. She had an alluring and beautiful face, one that her mature age only entuated her charm, and one that was no doubt able to topple kingdoms in her earlier years.


    She wore a dress that was green at the top, fading into red at the skirt. Lastly, her most unique feature was her hair. She had long green hair which changed to red at the ends, which was something that John had never seen before. It appeared to be natural as well, adding to her unique allure. Lastly, her cultivation was in the Early Holy Manifestation realm, surprising John slightly.


    After looking at her, John returned his attention to the Yang-Sovereign as he began to wrap up his speech.


    "And thus, it is a great honor, for both me," the Yang-Sovereign said, then gestured to the red and green haired woman sitting next to him, "and my wife, who was unfortunately out on important business before today but thankfully made it back in time to witness this historic event, that I announce the start of the Dao Transformation Grand Finals. Elder Tarish, please proceed."


    ''Wife, huh? Well, I suppose the Yang-Sovereign''s partner should be strong as well,'' John thought.


    The Elder in the arena, Elder Tarish, nodded his head, then turned to the two fighters. Both nodded their heads that they were, with both Ji''Han and John withdrawing their weapon before the fight even started.


    "Then, it is my honor to announce that the Grand Finals, between Ji''Han of the Sword-Dao Sect, and John Fenix, begins!"

 Chapter 1112 Struggle

    Chapter 1112 Struggle


    1112 Struggle


    An explosive roar louder than any the crowd had unleashed yet sted across the stadium, shaking it as if it had been hit by powerful battle art. The weaker members in the crowd, those in the Meridian Forging Realm, groaned in difort from the power of the crowd, their bones creaking and souls aching.


    For this very reason, any cultivator below the Meridian Forging Realm was not allowed to attend the tournament in person, as the atmosphere was far too electric to contain. Johnpletely ignored the soundsing from the hysterical crowd, instead focusing only on Ji''Han.


    The moment the match started, John''s aura burst alight like a heavenly bonfire, drowning the arena in his power. Scythe tightly gripped in hand, he prepared tounch towards Ji''Han in an instant.


    "Wait," Jill-Ian said calmly, raising his hand in a gesture to stop John before he could react.


    John''s surging battle lust stalled for an instant, while his eyes narrowed, wondering if JiTIan was trying to pull some sort of trick. Knowing Ji''Han''s prideful character, he paused for a moment, but was ready to act at a moment''s notice.


    As he stood there, John noticed something he had not expected. Ji''Han''s armband formation did not activate and restrict his cultivation. Instead, Ji''Han''s cultivation remained in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, surprising John greatly.


    ''What cultivation speed,'' John couldn''t help but admit. Since Ji''Han''s cultivation would be restricted to his cultivation when he was exactly John''s age, this indicated that he had already stepped into the Half-Step World Expansion Realm when he was only neen years old.


    "You look surprised," Ji''Han scoffed with light mockery.


    "l really am surprised," John nodded his head, holding back his urge to start the fight. "You reached the Half-Step World Expansion realm almost over two years ago. And now, after all this time, you''re still in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm. Talk about a bright candle burning out too quickly."


    John had expected JiTIan to react negatively, as his cultivation and power was the number one point of pride for the youth. Instead, Ji''Han smiled. It was the smile of someone looking down on another, thinking they''re nothing but a dumb, uneducated peasant.


    "It''s true that I''ve been in the Half-Step World Expansion Realm for over two years," Ji''Han confirmed, "but that was by my own design."


    "Your own design?" John repeated questioningly.


    "Yes, my own design," Ji''Han said, staring at John withplete calm and confidence. "I purposely kept my cultivation in this realm for one simple reason.


    "I see," John nodded, his blood still rushing with nearly uncontainable battle lust. "And the reason is?"


    "The reason should be quite obvious," Jill-Ian replied. I wanted to participate in this year''s Three Dao Tournament. Had I stepped into the World Expansion Realm, I would have been unable to enter this tournament, and would have missed out on the Ancient Blessings of the Three Dao''s reward. The Ancient Blessings is an enticing enough reward to halt my cultivation progress for a year or two."


    "I see," John hummed, nodding his head lightly. "That is a good reason I suppose."


    Ji''Han smirked, his confident gaze locked onto John like a hawk. "Now that you know the truth of the matter, that I was holding back in each and every fight thus far, are you going to do the smart thing and concede? You should now know that vou have no chance of victory. Either you concede in shame in front of all these people, or I cut you down until what''s left of you is hardly recognizable. These are your only two options. This is the price you must pay for attempting to stand against me."


    John fell silent for a moment, his face scrunched up in thought. The crowd had fallen silent as well, holding their breath in bated anticipation. Ji''Han''s true cultivation speed had shocked them all, and now that the truth was revealed, all felt a sense of hopelessness for John. They had hoped for an amazing fight, but it seemed as though it would be a one-sided ughter.


    "You really like to ramble, don''t you?" John replied, his words causing Jill-Ian to frown slightly.


    "So, you do not wish to concede, even when your defeat is guaranteed?" Ji''Han asked, a slight smile appearing on his face as if he were hoping for this answer from John. "You might find the truth unfair, but in this matter, you can only me yourself and yourck of cultivation talent. In the world of cultivation,bat prowess and cultivation speed are equally important.


    "Nothing in this world is guaranteed," John scoffed. "Besides, I''m rather happy with my cultivation speed so far. You''ve probably been cultivating since your early childhood, while I only started five years ago. If anything, your cultivation speed is the one that''scking."


    "Impossible," Ji''Han scoffed dismissively, not believing John''s words for a second.


    John merely shrugged, not caring at all if he was believed or not.


    "Very well," Ji''Han said as his aura red for a moment, then his cultivation began to slowly drop in power. "If you wish to fight, then I will not give you the honor of fighting against my true power. I will restrict my cultivation to your level, and show to you that this battle was hopeless from the start."


    As he spoke, Ji''Han''s cultivation dropped from the Half-Step World Expansion Realm to the Late Dao Transformation Realm, a full minor realm higher than John''s Middle Dao Transformation cultivation.


    "Fuck that!" John roared loudly as his aura reignited, bursting alight with vibrant golden power. At the same time, a draconic roar seemed to echo from within his body, as if a true dragon would emerge from within. The process happened instantly, followed a momentter by space shattering around John as his body sprung to life with devastating lighting.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    Space shattered twice, once at John''s location, and once near Ji''Han. Like a god of war, John burst out of the ruined space, his body covered with green draconic scales and golden draconic armor, his scythe shing out towards Ji''Han''s side.


    Not expecting the sudden attack, Ji''Han turned and shed his sword outwards to meet the attack. Scythe and sword collided, followed by Ji''Han soaring backwards through the air, his eyes widening ever so slightly as stared at John.


    In that exchange, despite Ji''Han''s cultivation still being in the Late Dao Transformation Realm, he had lost out in an exchange of strength against John. While John was a body cultivator, Ji''Han still had an Emperor Grade Variant Body, granting him physical strength far beyond the normal essence cultivation genius.


    JiTIan looked at his sword, which still trembled slightly from the lingering power, then looked back to John, who was slowly and steadily walking towards him, his aura steadily growing by the second. In that moment, Ji''Han felt as though a true dragon were walking towards him, its power increasing with each and every step.


    "I''m not going to give you an excuse when you lose," John said, his voice low and firm, his scythe held at his side, his footsteps steady.


    "Your Half-Step World Expansion cultivation will not buy you victory, it will only buy you time. So, use your full power and struggle as long as you can. Struggle for your father. Struggle for your Sect. Struggle for yourself and struggle for your pride.


    But most importantly, struggle for me. Struggle and fight as long as you can, so that I can taste the thrill of true battle for at least a moment. This is the only option you have. This is the price you must pay for attempting to stand against me."

 Chapter 1113 JiHans Provocation

    Chapter 1113 Ji''Han''s Provocation


    1113 Ji''Han''s Provocation


    John''s words reverberated throughout the stadium, stunning everyone. No one could believe he would utter such words, yet alone say it with such confidence. After Ji''Han revealed his cultivation speed, the fight should have been over there.


    It was almost impossible to jump two minor realms, let alone against a pinnacle genius like Ji''Han. Even with his cultivation paused at the Late Dao Transformation Realm due to John''s interference, that was still an entire minor realm higher than John''s cultivation. That gap was utterly impossible to bridge against a genius like Ji''Han, where fighting him at even cultivation was next to impossible.


    And yet, there was no doubt, no uncertainty in John''s tone, nor was there any hesitation in his movements. He walked calmly towards Ji''Han, like a beast who had already cornered its prey with no hope of escape. It was not the demeanor of someone who was at a great disadvantage as everyone had thought.


    "Is he bluffing?" some asked those near them, confused as to what was going to happen next.


    "Surely this is a bluff, right? He''s going to act strong, then ept defeat before he is gravely injured, thus saving face," other''s assumed, still unconvinced that John could stand against Ji''Han.


    While the crowd discussed the fight toe with anxious anticipation, Ji''Han looked at John with a calm, yet slightly furrowed expression. He held this gaze for a short while, then closed his eyes for a moment and sighed.


    "I''ll admit your physical strength is far greater than I had assumed it would be," Ji''Han said, putting his weaker sword away and drawing his true sword instead. "But what good is your strength if you can never reach me? This battle will end without you drawing a single drop of my blood."


    A smirk appeared on John''s face as he steadily approached JiHan. Ji''Han then shifted his gaze upwards and to the side, up towards the VIP viewing tform. John followed his gaze and noticed he was staring at Lilian, who watched with a calm expression from high above.


    Ji''Han then returned his gaze towards John and smiled lightly. "Since you do not know your ce in this world, I''ll let you in on a little secret. Your master, or shall I say, my wife-to-be, warned me not to anger you during our battle."


    Ji''Han scoffed lightly to himself, as if he were remembering a funny joke. "I thought nothing of it at the time, just empty threats from a desperate woman. But with everything unfolding as it has, I now understand that she truly believes you not only have the power to win, but that you have the power to utterly destroy me should you be enraged enough."


    "You would be wise to listen to her words," John replied, the distance between the two only several dozen yards by now.


    "On the contrary," JiTIan sneered lightly. "I will do exactly that. I will push you to the edge of sanity. I will enrage you until all you see is red. I will pull every ounce of strength out of you, and when you are at your strongest state, I will cut you down as easily as if you were a fly, or a rat. I will destroy you at your strongest state, so that there isn''t a shadow of a doubt regarding where we both stand in the cultivation world."


    "And how do you n on enraging me? I''m quite level-headed, you know. It takes quite a bit to push me over the edge," John asked, pausing when the two were separated by only ten yards.


    The two locked eyes for a short time, at which Ji''Han smiled and sent over a sound transmission for only John to hear. Ji''Han''s words and images flooded directly into John''s mind. Words and images of Ji''Han and Lilian, of things Ji''Han wouldn''t dare say out loud, of things he nned to do to her, as the depravity of it all was far too grotesque for anyone else to hear.


    John''s expression darkened as these words and images flooded his mind, disappearing only half a minuteter. He stood there silently staring at Ji''Han, his smug expression nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was only simmering bloodlust, boiling hotter each and every second.


    While he knew these images had never happened, and knew Ji''Han was only showing him these things to upset him, it did the trick. Any goodwill that John had towards Ji''Han vanished at that moment. Any mercy he had nned evaporated like water in an arid desert.


    The scythe shaft in his hand groaned under the force of his tightening grip, while the Asura within him felt as though it was about to burst out on its own ord, wanting to rip Ji''Han apart limb from limb. John pushed the emerging Asura within him back down. Against someone like Ji''Han, his Dragon-God Shift was enough. Ji''Han did not deserve the honor of losing to his full power. He was not worthy of making the Asura appear.


    "Your son is an absolute moron," Lilian said out loud, her tone tinged with mockery.


    "What did you say?" the Sword-Saint asked, his eyes snapping towards her. The others on the tform looked over as well, surprised to hear Lilian say such a thing, to the Sword-Saint no less. Only the Prime Shadow reacted differently, with an amused smile creeping onto the corner of his mouth for a moment.


    "I said he''s a moron," Lilian repeated calmly, turning to look at the glowering Sword-Saint, meeting his heated gaze with a cold, indifferent expression. "I warned him not to anger John, and he ignored that warning."


    "Tch, so what if that boy is angered? His anger won''t help him," the Sword-Saint sneered.


    Lilian smiled ever so lightly, then averted her gaze, returning it back to the arena below. "I hope you have a good healer on standby," she sighed lightly. "Your son is going to need one very soon."


    "This battle has only one conclusion," the Sword-Saint scoffed. "With my son reigning supr-"


    Boom!

 Chapter 1114 Hundred-Yard Sword Image

    Chapter 1114 Hundred-Yard Sword Image


    1114 Hundred-Yard Sword Image


    A sudden explosion of incredible power sted below in the arena, snapping everyone''s attention back towards the two youths. As they looked back at the arena, all they could see was a towering surge of Qi, golden in color like that of the sun, piercing into the sky, stopped only by the defensive formation at the very top of the stadium a dozen miles overhead.


    Many wondered if they had missed the start of the battle, caught up in the Sword-Saint and Lilian''s discussion to the point that they had missed the youths using battle arts.


    Their eyes widened as they saw the real reason for the sudden explosion. It was not some pinnacle battle art being used by the two geniuses, nor was it caused by a sh of their weapons. Even the Sword-Saint''s expression changed, from smug arrogance to stunned disbelief.


    "Impossible," the Sword-Saint muttered, his mouth slightly agape. To his side, Lilian merely smiled, then leaned back in her chair, awaiting the bloodbath toe.


    Down in the arena, Ji''Han looked at John with a stunned look, one almost never seen on his face. His eyes trailed upwards, following the surge of Qi that pierced into the sky, then looked back at John.


    The source of that overwhelming surge of Qi was not from a battle art. It was not from an explosion. Instead, it was entirely from John''s aura, a byproduct of him pushing his essence dantian, body dantian and Dragon-God Shift to its absolute limits for the very first time since enhancing his meridians from the Titan-Demon Meridian Essence.


    With his power no longer restricted by the amount of Qi he could send through his meridians, John''s current state equaled that of his Dragon-God Shift and Asura Transformationbined before augmenting and fortifying his Meridians.


    The arena and the entire stadium itself shook from the power of his aura alone. It was as if a powerful battle art was exploding ceaselessly, drowning everything with its power. Even while protected by the formation barrier, the weaker cultivators in the crowd felt as though they were suffocating from the weight of the aura, unable to draw a single breath.


    Even Lilian''s eyebrows raised slightly as she felt his power continue to surge higher and higher. Then she smiled. "It seems you''ve improved more than I had guessed," she hummed with amusement. ''Well then, you''ve held back for long enough. It''s time you had some fun."


    Boom!


    The ground beneath John''s feet exploded as he took a step forward, sending cracks snaking outwards for miles in each direction. Without any hesitation, Ji''Han snapped back into focus and took to the sky, separating himself from John, as only a fool would fight a body cultivator in closebat.


    John snapped his gaze upwards, his eyes glued to Ji''Han like a hawk. His power fully unleashed, the overwhelming draconic energy surging through his body, John opened his mouth and unleashed the most primal of roars.


    Roar!


    Almost everyone in the crowd mped their hands over their ears, nearly unable to withstand the might of the roar. Even space itself rippled ever so slightly from the roar, bending under its power.


    The roar sted towards Ji''Han, its might no less than the most powerful of Dao Transformation battle arts. Then he pressed off the ground, which shattered like ss beneath his feet as he surged up towards Ji''Han.


    "Infinite Sword Domain!" Ji''Han said as he moved his sword in an arc all around him, forming aplete circle. Wherever the sword passed, a sword image as true as his real sword appeared in the sky, each sword arching through the air around him. One sword turned to two, then four, then a thousand, then countless as the sky around Ji''Han because a sea of swords.


    His sword domain activated, Ji''Han shed his true sword towards the approaching roar, unleashing a quick yet powerful sword image.


    Che!


    Ji''Han?s sword image cleaved through the powerful roar, reaching John an instantter. Scythe gripped tightly in his right hand, John extended his left arm and pointed towards the sword image.


    Twentyfold Lightning Ruin!


    Boom!


    A beam of lightning sted out from his finger, mming against the sword image, shattering into a million pieces of light that scattered in the air like dust. He streaked through the sky like a god of lightning, his scythe shing out as he neared his opponent.


    Che!


    A scythe image shot towards Ji''Han, who sneered as his sword domain moved to intercept it. Scythe and swords smashed into one another, the power of the seemingly simple exchange drowning the arena in ruinous energy.


    John sted through the explosion,pletely ignoring its power, appearing next to Ji''Han like a ghost. His scythe shed towards Ji''Han''s waist from below. Ji''Han sneered and shed his sword towards John''s scythe, while thousands of sword images pierced towards John from all directions.


    Heavenly Lightning Domain!


    Thousands of lightning nodes flickered into existence around John, followed by an explosion of thousands of lightning beams moving from one node to the next. The instant before the sword images pierced into him from behind, a solid cocoon of lightning appeared all around John, leaving only his front unprotected.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The thousands of sword images rained down on the lightning cocoon like meteors, each shattering into thousands of pieces of light as lightning and sword met. The arena trembled once more as the barrage of swords fought against the lightning wall, both being destroyed by the second.


    No longer having to protect his back, John''s scythe continued towards Ji''Han, brimming with the power of space and lightning. In that moment, even Ji''Han felt danger, his instincts warning him not to confront John in a head on collision.


    "Tch," Ji''Han sneered as the spatial Dao enveloped him, making him disappear in an instant.


    sh!


    Ji''Han flickered back into existence an instantter, now several hundred yards away from John. His sword was already shing towards John even before he reappeared, sending a sword image far more powerful than before towards John. The sword image grew in an instant, creating a brilliant white sword a hundred yards long.


    Space rippled from the might of the sword, with the tip slicing a thin line into space wherever it passed, with space reforming only a short whileter. John flickered to the side as thest possible moment as the sword sliced inches to his side, its size dwarfing him, making him look like an ant before it.


    After dodging the attack. John snapped his gaze towards Ji''Han who floated in the air a distance away.


    "Not a single drop of blood," Ji''Han said, repeating his boast from before that John wouldn''t be able to harm him at all.


    Ignoring the taunt, John gripped his scythe and prepared to move once more. The instant before he did, his instincts red with warning at the same moment his divine sense detected the massive sword image piercing towards his back. Somehow, without him noticing, Ji''Han had managed to redirect his previous attack, sending it back towards John with almost no warning at all.


    A sneering smile appeared on Ji''Han''s face as the massive sword image reached John. It was far toote for him to dodge, and even if he stepped into the spatial void, the spatial aspect of the sword image cleaved into the spatial void as well, able to harm John even if he used his spatial movement art.


    In that split second before the sword-image reached him, John nned his response.


    Roar!


    John roared once more, turning towards the sword image while unleashing the full might of his Dragon-God Shift and body limiters to push his strength and durability to the maximum. His scythe vanished from his grip, returning to his spatial realm as its massive weight would slow him down too much to counter with his own scythe art.


    As he turned around, the tip of the hundred yard sword-image was upon him, just feet from his chest, a distance that would be closed in less than a hundredth of the time it took to blink.


    Unleashing another primal roar, John''s arm muscles bulged beneath his skin, like mountains emerging from the earth as he punched his right fist with his full, uncontained might.


    The crowd gasped with horror as they watched John punch towards the sword image, one powerful enough that not even Jaxus or Araxus would dare to block without a weapon. John''s right fist exploded forward, space rippling outwards from his sheer might alone.


    Boom!


    The air shattered like a thousand battle arts went off as his fist mmed into the side of the sword, just two inches past the very tip of it. The power of his fist sted the tip of the sword slightly to the side, enough that the sword-image shot passed his body at thest possible moment, only lightly grazing his left shoulder.


    Che!


    The de of the sword carved into his flesh, creating a shallow wound in his upper arm. John ignored that insignificant pain as he turned to face the t of the massive-sword, which was shot by him in an instant. As the sword fully passed him by, he reached out towards it, his two hands mping onto either side of the sword- images two yard wide hilt, barely able to wrap his arms around the massive grip.


    Then, like an ant wielding a sword, he turned and threw his arms downwards, sending the massive sword-image shing towards the one who had created it.

 Chapter 1115 Sword vs Scythe

    Chapter 1115 Sword vs Scythe


    1115 Sword vs Scythe


    The crowd, from the lowliest of Meridian Forging youths to the powerhouses themselves watched with awe as John forcefully redirected the massive sword-image back towards Ji''Han.


    Made from his prodigious Qi quality, Ji''Han''s sword-image was so dense that its weight alone was something that only a body cultivator could directly deal with. However, its weight was not the only factor. Since JiTIan had created the sword-image, its direction and momentum werepletely under his control.


    It moved wherever he wanted it to move, and only something even stronger than Ji''Han''s control over his own Qi could change that. That level of strength should have been impossible for one in the Dao Transformation Realm, but John''s actions once again defied all sense of reality for those watching.


    Che!


    Despite his best efforts to stop it, the hundred-yard-long sword image shed down on Ji''Han''s position with ruinous power, as Johnbined the momentum the sword-image already had with his own strength. The sword sliced apart space itself as it descended, opening the thinnest sliver in space, which shone a brilliant multi- colored hue from the light of the spatial chaos leaking through.


    "Futile," Ji''Han sneered, watching the sword fall towards him.


    He then waved his hand to the side, intending to send the sword away from his position. His expression wavered slightly as he felt an overwhelming force resist his control over his sword-image, keeping its direction towards him. He frowned and waved his hand again, this time with more power.


    This time, the sword changed directions ever so slightly, but then a momentter returned to its original direction; directly towards him.


    "Tch," Ji''Han clicked his tongue in defeat, then snapped his fingers in a casual motion as the sword reached his location.


    The crowd gasped as the sword fell directly onto Ji''Han, then suddenly dissolved into a million tiny sword images, which scattered in the air before dissolving into nothingness. He had intended to overwhelm John''s strength with his control, proving that his essence power was greater than John''s physical strength.


    In that endeavor, and for the first time in a decade, Ji''Han had lost out on an exchange. Begrudgingly epting his defeat at thest possible moment, he undid his sword image, scattering its Qi to the wind. The sword images fell down to the ground and faded out of existence, like a million snowkes drifting in the air.


    As the sword-image faded from his hands, John didn''t let up for a single second. While other geniuses would have paused for a second to contemte what had happened or exchange words with their opponent, John was consumed by one singr goal at the moment; beating Ji''Han until he was bloody and unrecognizable.


    Boom!


    His body exploded with power as lightning appeared all over him, turning him into a glowing lightning war god. Space then shattered around him a momentter, then reformed, swallowing him into the chaotic void.


    Boom!


    Space shattered once more near JiTIan''s location as John burst through the spatial veil, scythe already shing towards Ji''Han.


    "Too predictable," Ji''Han said, his sword already shing towards John, sending a simple yet monstrously powerful sword-image directly towards him.


    While the action was simple, the sword-image was equal to some of the strongest attacks unleashed during the tournament thus far. Such was the power of a true Sword Dao cultivator, especially one in the Dao Lord stage such as Ji''Han.


    Each and every attack of his was sharp and quick beyondpare, with a casual swing of his sword capable of cleaving apart mountains and even space itself.


    Boom!


    Sword-image and scythe collided, sending sparks of sword-light flying outwards in all directions as John''s scythe shattered the sword-image. The sparks of sword light mmed into his body, but with its power greatly diminished, all they could do was cut him superficially. His momentum still strong, John surged towards Ji''Han, who was flying backwards through the air, unleashing sword attack after sword attack.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Scythe and sword-images mmed into one another ceaselessly, while swords-images from Ji''Han''s sword domain moved about the air, surrounding John and piercing towards him without pause.


    Boom!


    Mustering a full-powered st of lightning Qi, John sent out an explosion of lightning radiating in all directions, like a ball of lightning expanding like an exploding sun. The lightning st mmed into the approaching sword-images, doing enough damage to weaken and destroy some of the swords, but not all of them.


    The remaining swords shot towards John while he chased Ji''Han, the sky around them chaotic with swords and lightning.


    "Idiot," Ji''Han sneered again as he saw John ignore the remaining sword-images piercing towards him, instead focusing on Ji''Han himself. Jill-Ian smiled and stopped retreating, then shed his sword hundreds of times in a second towards John, sending sword-image after sword-image slicing outwards.


    John''s scythe moved with fluid speed and power, mming against each and every single sword-image, slicing each apart before it could reach him. While Ji''Han''s sword Qi was nothing to look down on, when it came to sword-image versus his scythe created by Daoist Eternal Weapon himself, there was noparison.


    Pressing forward with unyielding might, John carved his way through Ji''Han''s torrential stream of swords like an unstoppable war god. He arrived before Ji''Han and shed his scythe forward once more, this time with Ji''Han as the target.


    "Truly an idiot," Ji''Han said he waved his free hand upwards. Summoned by his power, the thousands of domain sword-images near Ji''Han appeared before him with incredible speed, forming a thick wall of powerful sword-images the moment John''s scythe struck forward.


    Che!


    John''s scythe carved into the wall of sword-images with his full might. The sharpness of the Abyssal-Demon scythe de carved into the sword-wall like it was paper, while a st of lightning emanating from his scythe de sted from within the gap in the sword-wall, sting a hole directly into it.


    He could see Ji''Han standing just on the other side of the sword- wall, staring at him with a smug grin. He then shot forward into the hole in the sword-wall, speeding directly towards Ji''Han.


    The thousands of sword-images behind John, weakened but not destroyed by his lightning, finally caught up to him, as the momentary pause Ji''Han created was all it needed catch up to John.


    Che! Che! Che!


    Like a torrential rain of heavenly swords, they smashed into John''s unprotected back, shattering into him with lethal intent. The remaining swords in the sword wall then moved as well, turning and piercing tip first towards John, smashing directly against his unguarded body.


    Boom!


    The air above the arena exploded into a storm of sword-light, drowning both John and Ji''Han within. The crowd gasped as they watched the events unfold, with many wondering if John would be able to survive such an attack.


    Che!


    A beam of blue lightning suddenly pierced out from within the blinding explosion of white sword light, pressing against Ji''Han''s body as he was forcefully sted backwards by its power. The beam of lightning then exploded with furious power, drowning Ji''Han in a sea of lightning.


    Boom!


    The entire stadium trembled as sword and lightning exploded within, while the crowd watched with wide eyes and bated breath, unable to discern what the oue of this exchange was. One thing was for certain though. If John was not on his deathbed, the wounds he sustained from Ji''Han''s sword images were certainly grievous enough to end this battle.


    "Rahh!" A roar of anger boomed out from within the lightning st, followed by a wave of Sword Qi sting outwards, pushing the lightning aside.


    Ji''Han''s figure was revealed a momentter, his brows furrowed, his expression cold. He stared directly into his sea of sword images, which continued to drown John within.


    The wide eves in the crowd somehow widened as thev looked towards the information screens, noticing that John''s "health" metric had only dropped ten percent, and was rising by the second, undoing the damage that had been done to him.


    Even Jill-Ian couldn''t believe his eyes, as he had thought that exchange would have gravely injured John. Thousands of his sword images had smashed directly into John''s unprotected body. While he wasn''t using his full power, that attack of his was enough to injure an Early World Expansion cultivator with ease.


    Ji''Han''s furrowed expression instantly changed as he felt his instincts warning him to a level he hadn''t felt in over a decade. Then, from within the fading explosion of sword-light, Ji''Han saw a figure standing in the air, with a glowing beast of lightning behind him.


    "Kirin-God Extinction!"


    Boom!

 Chapter 1116 Lightning and Nothingness

    Chapter 1116 Lightning and Nothingness


    1116 Lightning and Nothingness


    The fading sword-light evaporated into nothingness as an enormous beam of lightning burst from within the mist, its power pushing aside Ji''Han''s remnant power like it was dust. The arena shed a brilliant blue, its brightness causing many to raise their hands to shield their eyes.


    His instincts ring with grave warning for the first time in years, Ji''Han''s confident expression vanished, reced by a grim yet firm expression.


    "Tch," he clicked his tongue, silently chastising himself for allowing John to unleash his Kirin-God Extinction. He had made the bold im to Lilian just days ago that he would never allow John to unleash this long-channeled attack, but that boast had been shattered just minutes into their battle. That failure alone caused Ji''Han to feel a slight anger he rarely felt, the anger of failure.


    His hubris had been his undoing in this matter, as he not only believed John to be defeated after taking a barrage of his Sword Domain head on, but also because he was acting as if he were battling another genius of the Three Dao Sects.


    While the geniuses of the Three Dao Sects, such as Jaxus, Araxus, and Ishnae were no doubt powerful, they were far too inexperienced with real life and death battles. Most of their battles had been done in a controlled environment against other geniuses, and so theirbat instincts were not nearly as refined as John''s.


    Had they survived Ji''Han''s attack, they would have retreated to recover, or used the moment to make boastful ims. John did neither of those, instead opting to use the cover of Ji''Han''s chaotic sword energy to quickly channel his Kirin-God Extinction.


    While it was not a fully powered Kirin-God Extinction, it was good enough.


    Boom!


    Space rippled wherever the beam traveled, sending visible shockwaves throughout the arena. The deafening thunderp of the st mmed against the defensive formation like an invisible tsunami, causing it to light up to defend against the power of the soundwave.


    Below, the makeshift mountains and valleys nearby shattered into pieces, unable to withstand the deafening thunderp. Despite being caught off guard, Ji''Han, being the pinnacle genius of the Nine-Dao World, instantly reacted. He sped backwards at his fastest speed all while pointing his true sword directly towards the lightning beam.


    "Whiteme True Sword!" Ji''Han mumbled softly as his sword began to glow a brilliant white hue. The shining rapidly intensified, his sword quickly glowing like a white, blinding sun.


    Then the glow began to fade at a rapid pace, while Ji''Han''s tme sword began to growrger andrger, growing to the size of his hundred-yard sword-image he had unleashed earlier. However, unlike that attack, thisrge sword was his true-sword, making its power and sharpness much greater.


    While the de of the sword grew and grew, the handle remained the same size, allowing Ji''Han to wield it with ease as he thrust it forward.


    Che!


    The massive true-sword shot forward as it grewrger, piercing directly towards the beam of ruinous lightning. In the blink of an eye the two attacks met as the massive sword cleaved directly into the middle of the lightning beam. The sword plunged directly into the heard of the lightning beam, like a rock parting a stream of water.


    Boom!


    Another thunderp sted outwards as the lightning beam was carved into two halves, both sides parting to the side of the massive sword. Ji''Han''s face tensed, his teeth gritting tightly as the massive sword trembled in his grip, threatening to break free from the monstrous energy coursing through his sword and into his body.


    Ji''Han roared as the two halves of the lightning beam sted by him, both sides missing him by mere inches. He strained as the beam continued to st onto him, ceaselessly unleashed by the Kirin avatar, still visible at its original location. The lightning Kirin''s figure rapidly faded away as it converted its power into the monstrous attack, finally fading away into nothingness only a few secondster.


    Bang!


    The two lightning halves sted against the defensive formation dozens of miles away, mming into it with apocalyptic purpose. The world turned to white and blue as the power of the sts exploded in all directions, redirected by the formation screen. The explosion sted directly towards Ji''Han, threatening to drown him within its remnant power, which while not strong enough to defeat him, was definitely strong enough to injure him.


    Che! Che! Che!


    Thousands of domain swords soared through the sky gracefully towards Ji''Han, falling into ce a short distance behind him. The wall of pure white sword-images quickly grew to be hundreds of yards wide and across, forming just in time to brace against the approaching explosion.


    Boom!


    The st shattered into the sword-wall like a stampeding beast tide, shattering some of the swords into pieces, which then faded to dust. New swords quickly formed and reinforced the wall, keeping it firm against the explosion. The lightning st continued past the sword-wall in all directions, forming a cage of ruinous power on all sides of him.


    Ji''Han''s gaze snapped around in all directions as he desperately searched for John, who had seemingly vanished into thin air after unleashing his Kirin-God Extinction. He had initially thought John would use the lightning st as a screen to attack him immediately, but he had felt no such threat approaching.


    Neither did Ji''Han feel John surging through the spatial void towards him, as his highmand of the spatial Dao allowed him to feel into that realm without actually being there physically.


    "Where?" Ji''Han muttered under his breath, his face truly grim, as for the first time in a decade, he felt he was in a battle no longer fully under his control. His divine sense continued to search the arena, covering every mountain, valley, cave, andke, searching for his opponent. However, the search was fruitless, frustrating him further.


    "Hiding now? How pathetic!" Ji''Han roared as the lightning st started to fade. He waved his hand to the side, sending thousands of sword-images throughout the arena, slicing into mountains and valleys, destroying every possible hiding ce John could be in.


    Several miles away, standing out in the open on the ruins of what was a moment ago a tall mountain, John looked up at Ji''Han, who frantically searched for him.


    "Hahhhhhhhhh," he breathed out slowly, a stream of hot air leaving his mouth as his mind be more and more nk, his thoughts vanishing from himself and the world. The ground nearby shattered and trembled from Jill-Ian''s sword attacks, but even those quickly became a distant memory.


    The thoughts of Ji''Han, of Lilian, of the Nine-Dao World, of the Sword-Saint, of the Asura, of everything. Every thought scattered into the wind as his mind and soul became an empty beacon of nothingness. That nothingness radiated outwards from him like an invisible energy, slowly enveloping the area around him in its power, erasing its presence and memory from the world.


    After what felt like an eternity to his formless mind, John breathed in slowly, his consciousness, his thoughts, his existence returning to the world. The thoughts of the battle crashed back into his mind, reminding him of his current purpose. His eyes snapped back into focus as he locked onto Ji''Han hovering in the air a mile away, still frantically searching for his opponent.


    With the Dao of Nothingness still thick in the area around John, his figure was still shrouded from Ji''Han''s sight and divine sense, although only for a short moment. That short moment was all the time John needed, as his dantian surged to life once more, sending monstrous amounts of Qi surging through his meridians.


    The powerful Qi tried to pierce through his acupoints and re into the air around him, only to m into his flesh and skin, his acupoints forcefully sealed. John felt his body tremble and groan from the strain of the internal Qi, but he ignored the growing pressure and pain, instead focusing his all on his attack.


    Circte. Recircte. Recircte. Increase power. Increase explosiveness. Cycle after cycle of Qi churned through his body, rapidly intensifying the power growing within him.


    Then, following the practiced principles of his recently learned assassination art, John exploded to life with a bang as all the Qi in his body converged, mming forward within him in one direction, his target still hovering in the sky.


    Shadow of Death: Form Two!


    BOOM!

 Chapter 1117 The Price of Arrogance

    Chapter 1117 The Price of Arrogance


    1117 The Price of Arrogance


    Dragon-God Shift.


    Limiter of Pain. Limiter of Power. Limiter of Speed. Limiter of Healing. Limiter of Life.


    Shadow of Death: Form Two


    All theseponents of John''s power red to life at the same time, filling his body with an indescribable level of strength.


    A monstrous explosion of Qi sted inside him, powerful enough to rip apart any other Dao Transformation cultivator with ease. His bones creaked, organs trembled, and flesh and muscles ripped as the explosion within shot him forward like a heavenly meteor intent on destroying all in its path.


    Boom!


    The veil of nothingness shattered as John elerated forward like a blur of heavenly lightning, so fast that only the most pinnacle of powerhouses watching could follow his movements. Even then, they watched with wide eyes filled with awe, nearly overwhelmed by the profundity, explosiveness, recklessness, and lethality of the assassination art he had just used.


    A shiver of instinctual dread crawled up the spine of many, including the likes of the Sword-Saint and even the Yang-Sovereign, both who couldn''t help but look towards the Prime Shadow, who sat there with a wide and proud smile on his face. They studied him for a moment, the realization of what they were seeing creeping in.


    The ultimate assassination art of the most powerful assassin in the world, one that even they couldn''t help but respect and fear, had been taught to a genius whose talents and genius far eclipsed the Prime Shadow himself. A thought urred in their mind at that moment of a future time when this pinnacle genius was at his fully realized cultivation level, able to unleash such a deadly assassination


    Che!


    Space rippled like a jetstream behind him as he elerated towards Ji''Han, the gap between the two of them closed in the blink of an eye.


    "What!" Ji''Han cried out with shock and even disbelief as he felt a lethal danger approaching out of nowhere. By the time he turned to look, John was already upon him, scythe already shing out towards his waist. At that moment, Ji''Han?s eyes went wide as he felt tme dread for the first time in his life, with thoughts of not only loss of the tournament, but loss of his life shing through his mind.


    His mind raced with options, his instincts desperately trying to deal with the situation. There was not enough time to move his domain swords to intercept John. There was not enough time to seal John with his Seal of Sword and Space or counterattack with his Divine Sword Pierces the Firmament. These arts were powerful enough, but were not quick enough.


    His pride and hubris shattered like ss by his instinctual will to live, Ji''Han''s instincts took over, his actions urring before he could even think or process them. A primal roar of desperation boomed out from Ji''Han as his dantian red to life with his absolute power, smashing through the self-imposed restriction on his cultivation.


    His cultivation instantly climbed back into the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, his power doubling in an instant. At the same time, his body red with vibrant strength as his Emperor Grade Variant Body activated, unlocking the few limiters he had unlocked earlier in his life. While he was not a true body cultivator and thus could not unlock all the limiters avable to a Dao Transformation cultivator, he had managed to unlock the Core Formation Limiter of Pain and Meridian Forging Limiter of Power. While these paled inparison to theter limiters'' usefulness, his instincts were activating every inch of power he had.


    sh!


    At the same, his body became alight with bright, powerful mes as his me Attribute Body activated as well, augmenting his explosive power and defensiveness. Finally, his true-sword returned to its normal size, he shed it outwards with the full power of essence and strength he could muster in time.


    The moment before John''s scythe sliced through his waist, Ji''Han managed to raise his sword, swinging it halfway before scythe and sword collided in an apocalyptic sh of power.


    BOOM!


    Already weakened by the spatial altering effects of the Yang-Dao Sphere, space splintered like a web of cracks in a windowpane where the two weapons met. The cracks mmed onto both John and Jill-Ian, the force of the spatial chaos enough to cut their skin and flesh.


    "Gah!"


    A cry of pain boomed from Ji''Han, as despite using his full cultivation and everything he could throw at John, his hastily- summoned power was still weaker than John''s overwhelming speed and heaven-defying strength. At the same time, John felt a wave of surprise rush through him, as the sh had managed to injure him as well, a testament to Ji''Han''s formidable strength. His arms trembled from the force of the impact, his muscles and bones straining in protest.


    Che!


    JiTIan shot backwards through the sky like a kite, his body tumbling head over heels hundreds of times, his momentum far too great to steady. Blood spurted out of several wounds on his body as he tumbled through the sky, painting the sky with streaks of red. Having activated his near-full strength at thest possible moment, Ji''Han''s instincts had saved him from a swift and sudden defeat.


    Being caught off guard like this could not be med on Jill-Ian. He, as well as most of the world, had no idea that such a terrifying assassination art existed. He had no idea that one in the Dao Transformation Realm would be able topletely erase their presence in such a short time. Had he known that John possessed such a dangerous assassination art, he would have used his full power from the very start to cut John down before he could use it. Such was the terrifying nature and lethality of the Shadow of Death: Form Two used by the most perfect match for such a self-harming yet explosively powerful and strealthy battle art.


    Refusing to lose his advantage, John pushed down the pain in his arms, sending a full wave of essence and body Qi into his meridians once more. His body shed to life with brilliant lightning as he shattered space around him, stepping into the void.


    "Chaos Lightning Shatters the Void!"


    Using his newly-improved movement technique after learning Chaos Lightning, John surged through the spatial chaos with far greater ease than before. After learning the initial properties of chaos energy, he found his ability to read and even slightly control the flows of spatial chaos to be far greater. Combined with his ability to directly smash through the chaos with his body alone, this movement art was far more formidable than just a week ago.


    Boom!


    Space shattered directly above JiTIan''s position as John smashed through the spatial void like a war god, his right leg mming down onto Jill-Ian''s waist with his full strength.


    Boom!


    Ji''Han cried out in pain again as he shot down towards the ground, mming into it with disastrous power. The mountain he hit shattered into a million pieces as his body pierced directly through it, tumbling head over heels on the other side, smashing apart more mountains, valleys, and everything else in his path.


    sh!


    John flickered into existence again, stepping out of the spatial void directly above Ji''han once more. He hovered a hundred yards in the sky, looking down on his wounded opponent. Blood sickened Ji''Han''s body, while John pressed the advantage once more, giving Ji''Han no time to react.


    This series of events had been from Ji''Han''s own doing. Had he used his full cultivation, his full power from the beginning, John would have never been able to overwhelm him as he had just done, at least not without using his Asura Transformation.


    ''This is the price of your arrogance'' John thought as he tightened his grip on his scythe, spatial power and ruinous lightning shing into existence on the de, transforming it into a reaper of spatial lightning.


    His power fully surging through his body, both essence and body pushed to the limits, filling each and every inch of flesh with monstrous Qi, John raised his scythe, which suddenly burst alight with awe-inspiring power.


    Four Dao''s surged onto his de, merging towards one another. The Dao of Power fused with the Dao of Lightning, creating a burst of brilliant lightning far more powerful than any lightning unleashed yet.


    At the same time, the Dao of Space fused with the Dao of Annihtion, the aspects of both Dao''s, speed, sharpness, lethality, mixing in perfect harmony. His soul strained under the weight of creating not one, but two fusions of profound and powerful Dao''s, the process draining even for someone as gifted as himself. At every moment it felt as though he would lose control of the fusion, resulting in a catastrophic explosion directly in his face and within his soul.


    Teeth gritted and soul pushed to its limits, he finally stepped over the edge after a brief struggle. Four Dao''sbined into two fusions, his scythe shed downwards, unleashing a scythe-image unlike anything he had unleashed before.


    His face paling slightly from the Qi expenditure of this monstrous battle art, he breathed out softly, muttering the name of the Battle Art for the first time out loud.


    The name seemed to reverberate through the air, lingering there for a moment, allowing all to hear it''s name.


    The name of a battle art created to cleave through anything in its path. A battle artbining the strongest aspects of hisbat talents. A battle art created with the singr purpose of felling his ultimate foe.


    "Asura Reaping Scythe!"

 Chapter 1118 Asura Reaping Scythe

    Chapter 1118 Asura Reaping Scythe


    1118 Asura Reaping Scythe


    "Asura Reaping Scythe!"


    The very air seemed to chill from the mere name of the battle art, as if its name alone had the power to cleave apart all of creation. That chillsted for only an instant before being shattered by the power of the scythe-image unleashed by John''s sh, the four-intermixing powers of Lightning, Space, Power, and Annihtion creating an unfathomably powerful scythe-image, one that seemed capable of cleaving the entire world in half.


    The space before John was instantly cleaved apart as the scythe- image shot towards JiTIan, forming an unbroken gash of exposed spatial chaos trailing behind the attack. The lightning flickering off the scythe-image sted in all directions, shattering the spatial void even further, widening the gap created between this realm and the realm of spatial chaos. The nearby air rushed into the gash in space, like water rushing into a chasm, forming a tempest behind the attack.


    Every single person watching the battle drew in a deep breath of shock and awe. Many felt disbelief by the sheer lethality of the scythe-image, their bodies and souls feeling as though they would be cleaved apart at any moment.


    John''s aura then exploded once more, the power of the spatial Dao bursting off him. This spatial power expanded outwards towards Ji''Han in an instant, its speed even faster than the Asura Reaping Scythe. A visible wave in space appeared for all to see, sting downwards at a horrifying speed.


    Boom!


    The wave of spatial power sted against the ground where Ji''Han was, shattering it with its invisible might. The ground trembled violently from the st of spatial power, which then didn''t evaporate, but instead remained strong and dense in the area. The very air seemed to solidify from the thickness of the spatial Dao, as if space itself was turned into a solid object.


    "What is this!" The Sword-Saint roared as he jumped from his seat, eyes glued to the descending scythe-image. Even the nearby Yang- Sovereign looked on with shock on his face, with both the Prime Shadow and Lilian sharing simr expressions. Despite both of them knowing John and his iparablebat prowess, they were still stunned by the sheer deadliness of the attack.


    Boom!


    The ground below shattered as an aura of pure white, like a heavenly bonfire of yang energy, pierced up into the sky.


    Boom!


    The ground shattered once more as Ji''Han shot up out of the destroyed earth, his body slickened with his blood. Despite his gruesome appearance, a look of grim determination appeared on his face as he saw the scythe-image fall. His instincts within activating to its limits, searching for a way to deal with this attack.


    The thought of dodging didn''t even cross his mind for a second, as he felt the spatial Dao around him thick and powerful. While he had the strength to break free of these confines in a short time, the time taken to destroy John''s spatial cage was longer than the time the scythe-image would take to reach him. All he could do was face the attack head on, using the greatest strength he could muster in time. And most disastrous of all, he did not have enough time to unleash his Sacred Sword Scripture, the only sword art he had capable of dealing with this monstrously dangerous scythe-image.


    Che! Che! Che! Che!


    Eight swords flickered into existence and shot up towards the scythe image, the swords brimming with the spatial and sword Dao. His eight swords arrived around the scythe-image in an instant, then red to life with the power of space and sword.


    Seal of Sword and Space!


    The eight swords shed with a blinding brilliance, then vanished, along with the scythe-image. As he had done with Jaxus'' attack a round before, his sword art sealed the attack in the spatial void in an instant.


    Che!


    The spatial void suddenly ripped apart, a long line of spatial ruin springing into existence as the scythe-image cleaved out of Ji''Han''s seal, its sharpness unable to be contained by such a hastily formed sealing art.


    "Ji''Han!" the Sword-Saint roared, his face turning white.


    Reacting to his defeat instantly, Ji''Han pointed his sword directly at the scythe-image, which was only dozens of yards away, a distance that would be closed in an instant.


    At that moment, everything within him went still. The lethality of the scythe-image was so strong that his instincts took over once more, his mind going nk, his thoughts and actions instantaneous. The thoughts of the tournament, of his father, of John. All that went nk. All that remained was one, deafeningly loud thought that sted within his mind and soul.


    Survive!


    As Ji''Han''s entire being searched for the answer, the entire crowd watched with horror as the scythe-image cleaved towards Ji''Han with lethal intent, their thoughts all simr; was it possible to survive such an attack? Were they truly about to witness the death of one of the most heavenly geniuses the Nine-Dao World had ever seen?


    Standing on the ground, sword pointed towards the scythe-image, Ji''Han felt his entire essence locked onto the solution to survive. It was abstract at first, but the life-threatening danger of the situation pushed everything to its limits, making it so that even the scythe- image seemed to move in slow motion.


    Piece by piece the solution to his survival became clearer, his existence closing in on the only way to survive. In fact, not only was there still a way to survive, but to win as well. All he had to do was cling to it, grasp it, and make this surging power his own. His lips began to move as a slow, harmonious chant began to echo from his mouth. The air around him began to twist and turn with a blinding brilliance as his existence pushed through the bottleneck, the power to survive this attack finally obtained.


    His sword shed a brilliant white as his entire essence was poured into his sword, which began to grow in an instant.


    sh!


    A figure suddenly appeared in front of the attack like a ghost, his right hand raising towards the scythe-image while his brilliant white aura red with incredible strength. At the same time, a unified gasp echoed throughout the stadium, the ten million spectators unable to believe their eyes.


    Che!


    The scythe-image mmed into the figure''s outstretched hand, smashing against his palm. The figures Qi red on his hand, pressing back against the scythe-image, a stalemate forming between the two sources of power. The scythe-image continued to press against his hand, the air shattering, reforming, and then shattering anew as the two powers contested.


    After what felt like an eternity to all those watching, the hand stopping the scythe image tightened, shattering the scythe-image into a million sparks of Qi. Space shattered onest time before slowly returning to normal, while a deafening calm reced the once chaotic battlefield.


    Ten million eyes stared with disbelief at the figure hovering in the sky, while John''s expression turned from surprise, to cold, simmering anger. He and the Sword-Saint locked eyes, the Sword- Saint looking at him as if he wanted to kill him on the spot.


    "This attack was done with the intention of iming my son''s life!" the Sword-Saint roared, his aura zing wildly like a wildfire. "I was right about you all this time! Your ruthless barbarity has no ce in this world! I will-"


    "You''re an absolute idiot," John said coldly, cutting the Sword-Saint off. The Sword-Saint paused for the briefest of moments before bing enraged once more. He then made to move, but paused as he saw John point behind him.


    The Sword-Saint turned around, his eyes going wide with disbelief. He then saw Ji''Han staring up at him, a look of fury and rage on his face, a rage only equaled by the fiery aura zing around Ji''Han''s body and sword, ember-like runes glowing on his skin.


    Ji''Han''s sword had grown and pierced forward, almost into the Sword-Saint himself, stopping just inches short. This sword art that had been unleashed to deal with the Asura Reaping Scythe. A sword art brimming with a terrifying me Qi of one who had broken through his limits, stepping his me Attribute Body into the Awakened Stage, pushing the power of his quick-use sword arts to a level that, while not stronger than the scythe-image, was powerful enough to weaken it considerably, thus protect his life and allowing him to continue this battle.


    "Ji''Han....you broke through-" his voice cut off as he noticed the look of pure disappointment and shame on Ji''Han''s face.


    "Congrattions" John said from behind, his voice even colder than before, feeling no pride or joy from this turn of events. "Yourck of faith in your son just cost him this tournament."


    "I...." the Sword-Saint nched, the realizations of his actions finally setting in like a cold ssh of water thrown on him. In his panic, he had cast everything aside to save Ji''Han from an attack he thought his son could not survive. He realized that if Ji''Han had protected himself, with his newly acquired power and full knowledge of John''s strength, victory was entirely possible for Ji''Han. Or at least, it had been, until his interference.


    The Sword-Saint looked up towards the Yang-Sovereign, who met his gaze with one of regretful disappointment.


    "The rules are the rules," the Yang-Sovereign said, sighing, his tone filled with disappointment for this historic tournament ending in such a miserable fashion. "Your interference has ended this fight. The victor of the Dao Transformation tournament...is John Fenix."


    A thick silence hung in the air as everyone looked on with disbelief, trying toprehend what had just happened. They had been promised the greatest battle of all time, one to be remembered forever. And yet, in the blink of an eye, the promised battle had been cut short before it could really even begin.


    The Sword-Saint opened his mouth, the words he wanted to say noting out. Suddenly, his gaze snapped upwards, his as well as everyone else''s expression bing grim.


    sh! sh! sh! sh! sh! sh! sh!


    Before a single person could react, the arena suddenly shed to life as hundreds of cloaked figures appeared in the air within and above the stadium, weapons in hand, auras ring to life. Then, without any warning at all, a hidden de emerged from the shadows and pierced towards the still-seated Yang-Sovereign, its power, sharpness, and lethality eclipsing the Asura Reaping Scythe like that of an ant to a dragon.


    Boom!

 Chapter 1119 Hidden Formations

    Chapter 1119 Hidden Formations


    1119 Hidden Formations


    Before anyone could react to the Sword-Saint''s sudden and unexpected interference, another unexpected event urred, far more bewildering and shocking. As if triggered by the final rounds ending, hundreds of mysterious figures cloaked in ck robes appeared in the air throughout the stadium, each having a cultivation in the World Expansion Realm or above.


    The ten million spectators gasped in shock, then jumped in absolute fright as the viewing tform of the powerhouses exploded with a sharp and precise power, shaking the entire Yang-Dao Sphere like nothing before.


    Boom!


    Those near the Yang-Sovereign, the target of the attack, were sted away by the remnant power of the attack. John and the two others in the arena looked up with startled confusion as well, not expecting such a sudden and chaotic situation to unfold.


    sh!


    Before he could worry about Lilian being caught up in the explosion above, a sh of light appeared nearby, with Lilian emerging from the spatial void to appear right next to John. The two exchanged a quick nce before looking back up at therge viewing tform, hoping to see what exactly was going on.


    On the tform, the Yang-Sovereign sat on his throne, his chin rested on a fist. A calm yet simmering cold expression on his face as he stared at the dagger frozen in the air directly in front of his face, not able to reach him due to a defensive formation enveloping his throne.


    Crack!


    A cracking sound rang out, loud enough for all to hear. A crack appeared a momentter on the Yang-Sovereign?s throne, then another, the cracks spreading like wildfire.


    Bang!


    The seat exploded into a thousand pieces, crumpling to the ground while the visible defensive formation faded away as well. The Yang- Sovereignnded gracefully on his feet, turning towards the one holding the dagger nearby, who had retreated ever so slightly after his surprise assassination attempt failed.


    "What is the meaning of this, Prime Shadow?" the Yang-Sovereign asked coldly.


    The Prime Shadow stood ten yards away, a grim expression on his face as he shifted his gaze momentarily to the now-destroyed throne. The remnant pieces revealed traces of a now-exhausted formation, one powerful enough to block a surprise attack from the Prime Shadow himself.


    While that attack was not his full strength, as attacking with his full strength would have destroyed almost every living soul in the Yang- Dao Sphere, it was still a considerable portion of his power, all condensed into his de. Had the defensive formation not existed, his attack would have been capable, at the very least, of greatly injuring the Yang-Sovereign.


    "Exin yourselfl" the Yang-Sovereign''s wife yelled, her face red with anger as she made her way back to her husband''s side after being sted away.


    "What is going on here!" the nearby Netherfrost Beast leader asked as well, enraged as some of his weaker nsmen had been injured by the st, saved only due to the timely interference of the Netherfrost Beast leader himself. They had been enjoying the chaos of the tournament as indifferent outside spectators, but now that this event had injured his own, his rage was ignited.


    sh!


    Another figure appeared nearby like a ghost a momentter, a marble white sword brimming with awe-inspiring might pointing directly at the Prime Shadow. "Exin yourself, now!" the Sword-Saint demanded, his face a mixture of confusion and rage. "Have you gone mad?"


    The Prime Shadow shot the Sword-Saint a quick, unconcerned nce, then looked back at the Yang-Sovereign.


    "A hidden defensive formation built into your throne, almost as if you expected to be attacked during this tournament. And one profound enough to not only stop my attack, but also escape my detection. How many spirit crystals did you spend to create such a powerful formation?" the Prime Shadow asked coldly.


    "One cannot be careful enough these days, as this event has shown," the Yang-Sovereign replied, his tone calm yet cold. "Now exin the meaning of these traitorous actions of yours. I treat you as a close friend for thousands of years, and this is how you repay my friendship? With betrayal?"


    "Do not speak to me of betrayal," the Prime Shadow replied with a cold, murderous tone. "Not when you nned to betray every living soul here for your personal gain."


    The Yang-Sovereigns rtively calm gaze narrowed in that instant, a cold, piercing expression appearing instead.


    "Do you have any proof of these baseless lies?" the Yang-Sovereign''s wife replied angrily, pointing a finger directly at the Prime Shadow. "Give us one good reason why we don''t destroy you and your entire Guild for this treachery."


    The Prime Shadow''s gaze shifted to the woman, his eyes bing filled with cold, murderous rage. The woman, Seraphia, took a step back as she felt the murderous bloodlust oozing from the Prime-Shadow, her instincts warning her to flee from this lethal danger. Only the presence of her husband, the Yang-Sovereign, kept her somewhat calm in front of the world''s most dangerous assassin.


    sh!


    Another sh of light appeared as a figure materialized like a ghost, hovering in the air a short distance away. The Mage-Sovereign looked on with confusion and caution, arriving due to the sudden explosion of power she had felt. While she was not attending the grand final, she was still within the sect itself, and was able to arrive almost instantly.


    The Prime Shadow gave her a quick nce, then ignored her as she seemed to not be taking any action yet, waiting for rity on this unexpected manner.


    "When did you n on enacting your n exactly?" The Prime Shadow ignored everyone else and asked the Yang-Sovereign.


    "l have no idea what you are speaking of," the Yang-Sovereign replied coldly. "I ask again, what has-"


    "Silence," the Prime Shadow sneered, cutting the Yang-Sovereign off. He then turned to look at Seraphia, his cold gaze as if he wanted to rip her apart at this very moment. "You ask for proof because you think I have none, and thus want to turn the world against me. I admit you two have been incredibly careful in your movements over thest few centuries, careful enough to evade my detection as well."


    He then paused and raised his hand upwards, a small formation disk appearing a momentter. The Yang-Sovereign and his wife exchanged a quick nce, a small, almost hidden look of reassurance appearing on Seraphia''s face, before the two looked back to the Prime Shadow.


    A cold smile appeared on the Prime Shadows'' face as he looked at them, then at the disk in his hand. The Yang-Sovereign''s brows furrowed ever so slightly, his eyes turning from calm to a cold, piercing gaze, while Seraphia''s expression remained cold yet calm, as if she had no worries about the Prime Shadow''s next actions. The Prime Shadow smiled as he noticed her rxed expression.


    "But in all your perfect secrecy, you made one, singr mistake," he said, looking directly at Seraphia. "Your dealing with Grandmaster Darkcloud was meticulous, to a level that even I cannot help but be impressed. Even I couldn''t find him, nor could any Guild member I sent to find him," the Prime Shadow said, the mere mention of Grandmaster Darkcloud causing the Yang-Sovereign''s expression to darken, while his wife paled ever, her eyes widening slightly.


    "When you captured Grandmaster Darkcloud, I''m sure you stripped him of everything, sound transmissions included," the Prime Shadow continued, his grip tight on the formation disk as if it were the most precious thing in the world to him at the moment. "But you missed one crucial thing."


    No answer came from the two as they waited for the Prime Shadow to continue. They couldnt outright take action against him at the moment, as despite everything, he was the Prime Shadow. He was not someone that could be confronted easily, at least not through battle, as such a battle would destroy the entirety of the Yang-Dao Sect, a cost the Yang-Sovereign was unwilling to pay.


    The Prime Shadow nced at the Yang-Sovereigns destroyed throne for a moment, a small, sad smile on his face. "Much like the formation you hid within your throne, high ranking guild members of mine have hidden formations embedded into their body, or in this case, their heart, to use in times of grave necessity. A formation that can do many things, including record and transmit sound."


    Seraphia''s pale face whitened even further, a slight gasping from her mouth.


    "The only way you would have discovered the formation within Grandmaster Darkcloud''s heart, was if you knew of its existence beforehand. These hidden formations are inexorably linked to the heart, and the only way to activate them is through self-sacrifice, converting the entirety of one''s essence into onest, brilliant burst of power," the Prime Shadow continued.


    "Grandmaster Darkcloud''s final action in this world was activating his hidden formation, whichbined with his burning life-essence had the power to pierce through the most powerful of restriction formations, the one he was captured within included," the Prime Shadow said as he sent a surge of Qi into the formation disk, which activated with a burst of light. "With hisst breath of life, Grandmaster Darkcloud sent me this, received only minutes ago."


    The formation disk then activated, the voice of Grandmaster Darkcloud and Seraphia''s conversation transmitting throughout the stadium for all to hear.

 Chapter 1120 The Yang-Sovereigns Plans

    Chapter 1120 The Yang-Sovereign''s ns


    1120 The Yang-Sovereign''s ns


    The Yang-Dao Stadium, a ce that held ten million powerful cultivators, was as silent as a grave as the audio began to y for all to hear.


    "Why...why are you and the Yang-Sovereign doing this?" the Grandmaster''s hoarse voice sounded out, his voice alone giving enough insight into his condition when he said these words, as the pain and agony he felt was audible for all to hear. "What are you going to do?"


    "Hmph," Seraphia scoffed, her tone smug and haughty. "What, so you can escape and tell that little Prime Shadow of yours our ns, hoping that he can put a stop to it all?"


    Silence lingered for a moment before Seraphia''sughter could be heard, at which point she spoke again.


    "l suppose I''ve already stripped you of everything, and this formation is beyond your means to break free from, so consider this as fulfilling thest wish of a dying man," she said, her voice growing louder as she was approaching the Grandmaster at that time. ''The full details are too exhausting to exin, but by the time the Three Dao Tournament is over, my husband will have sessfully absorbed the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus, and by doing so, will ascend to a level of power beyond even the Eternal Serpent. This world will be his once our ns have been achieved."


    "1m...possible..." the Grandmaster replied weakly. "The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus is far too powerful for the Yang-Sovereign, for anyone in this world, to absorb. Doing so is suicide."


    "You are correct," Seraphia replied, "and carrying out this n is still a great risk to my husband and the Yang-Dao Sect, but the alternative is far worse for us."


    "Alternative?" Grandmaster Darkcloud repeated questioningly.


    "What alternative?"


    "Tch, it''s all that stupid lotus'' fault," Seraphia sneered angrily. "If that lotus knew what was good for it, it would have allowed my husband to absorb it long ago, and together they would have been able to rise to heights beyond the scope of this world..." her voice trailed off, silence filling the air for some time.


    "But," she chimed up eventually, "instead of being absorbed, that stupid lotus is trying to bring ruin to everything my husband and I have built over tens of thousands of years. It continues to defy us, continues to grow stronger and stronger, and has begun to reach a level of power that can no longer be contained by the formations of this world. Once that happened, once it broke free from our formational confines, its power would destroy the entire Yang-Dao Sect, as well as the surroundingnd for tens of thousands of miles."


    A rhythmic tapping sound yed next, as if Seraphia was drumming her fingernails on a nearby table.


    "So, realizing this issue hundreds of years ago, my husband and I have been tirelessly nning to deal with that problematic lotus," she continued. "And the culmination of our ns will y out at the end of the Three Dao Tournament, and, if sessful, will change everything!"


    "Why...why not ask the other powers for help? Surely together-" the Grandmaster''s voice was cut off by a loud scoff.


    "Hmph! Ask the Mage-Dao Sect? The Sword-Dao Sect for help?" Seraphia sneered with obvious disdain. "There''s no way either of them would ever agree to help."


    A short silence hung in the air before Seraphia spoke again.


    "What? You don''t believe me? Well then, let me ask you this question," she said with a loud whisper, as if she were leaning close to the Grandmaster. "Now that the Yang Intus is reaching a level that can no longer be contained, there are two ways to deal with it. The first is to use everything to destroy it, although neither my husband nor I know if that''s even possible."


    She paused momentarily again, as if she were considering that option for a brief moment.


    "Even if it was, the Yang-Lotus is the cornerstone of our sect. Destroying it would be akin to destroying the future of the sect itself. That is out of the question. The second option," she said after drawing in a deep breath, "is to absorb it, permanently. And there''s only one person strong enough when ites to Yang Qi to absorb it without perishing, my husband. Now, my question for you is this; do you really think the Mage-Dao Sect or Sword-Dao Sect would help my husband absorb something that will give him power to dominate thempletely? If my husband absorbed the lotus, he would be the true hegemon of this world. Do you really think the other Dao Sects'' would allow such a thing? Allow them to be surpassed by another?"


    "No," the Grandmaster''s soft whisper sounded out after a long, deafening silence. Seraphia''s words rang true.


    "Exactly," Seraphia sneered disdainfully. "The Sword-Sovereign would never allow such a thing toe to pass, and would sooner destroy the entire Yang-Dao Sect before allowing my husband to absorb the lotus. The only reason that old sword-fanatic hasn''t tried to destroy my husband already is because he does not believe it possible for the Yang-Lotus to be absorbed. But he''s wrong, so very, very wrong," her voice trailed off with heated hatred, as if the mere thought of the Sword-Sovereign filled her with rage.


    "So you see, Grandmaster," Seraphia said, her voice firm once more. "While our actions may be reprehensible to you, we were left with no choice. It''s either us, or them. And I chose us."


    "l see," the Grandmaster whispered again, defeat in his voice, as he could not argue against her logic. "Then, how do you n...to do it?" he asked another question. "Is it even possible to-"


    "To absorb the Yang-Lotus?" Seraphia cut him off. "Of course it is, otherwise, why would we even bother with this n of ours. If our n fails, we lose everything, so it must work!"


    Her footsteps could be heard as she paced back and forth, then returned to speak with Grandmaster Darkcloud.


    "As for how we are going to do it, well we''ve been nning for it for centuries as I mentioned," she continued. "And while I''ll spare you the boring details, let''s just say that there''s a reason we built the Yang-Dao Stadium to hold ten million of the strongest cultivators in the world. Their Qi and blood will be very useful in subduing the lotus, at least long enough for my husband to absorb it and make it his own."

 Chapter 1121 The Yang-Sovereigns Plans Pt. 2

    Chapter 1121 The Yang-Sovereign''s ns Pt. 2


    1121 The Yang-Sovereign''s ns Pt. 2


    Seraphia''s words struck every single person like the most heavenly of battle arts, stunning them to their core. No one was able to utter a single word, as their thoughts, their very souls, still tried toprehend the sheer madness of this situation. Even John could only stand there with wide eyes, doing his best to process this horrifying situation.


    "I see," the Grandmaster''s voice sounded out again, filling the deafening silence. "Then before you kill me, answer me this onest question."


    "Oh, I''m not going to kill you just yet," Seraphia scoffed with amusement. "No, there''s still much you will tell me regarding your Shadows of Death Guild. Only once I''m confident that your guild poses no threat to my husband in the future shall I grant you the release of death...But, I shall answer onest question, as a gesture of good will towards all the good your guild has done for this world."


    "The string...of assassinations," the Grandmaster said hoarsely. "The Sect Leaders that have been assassinated over thest year or two... was that your doing?"


    "Oh, those," Seraphia replied, her tone as if those events were a distant memory only now remembered. "Yes, those were of our doing as well."


    "Why?" the Grandmaster asked. "Why kill uninvolved Sect Leaders? Some of those were loyal to your sect! Why kill them?" "To cause a distraction," Seraphia replied as if those assassinations meant nothing to her. "To be more specific, they were meant to distract your guild specifically. In order to set everything into motion, we needed to make several ys, manyrge enough to be caught by your sniveling guild, should you be allowed to sniff around like normal. To deal with that, we decided to kill dozens of powerful Sect Leaders and act as if the Devil''s had done it, all so that your guild would spend countless resources on a false trail, allowing us to move on our n unnoticed. If we had only killed those belonging to the other sects, it would have been suspicious, so unfortunately some of our loyal sub-sects needed to be sacrificed for the greater good. We fed some baseless reasons to those assassinate in case of prying ears to add further confusion..."


    "And yet," Seraphia continued after a short pause. "You and your guild still somehow managed to discover this ce of ours. Tell me, how did thise to pass? How did your guild manage to find this ce? This ce, as well as several others, is where we''ve raised countless of our spies, spies who keep tabs on the other Dao Sects, as well as do our bidding. My husband and I have made certain of this ce''s secrecy, so I truly have no idea how you managed to find it."


    "So that''s what all this is," Grandmaster Darkcloud said softly, finally putting all the pieces together.


    "Now answer me this question," Seraphia said with amanding tone. "How much of our n has your guild discovered?"


    Only silence answered her, the Grandmaster not giving up a single ounce of information. "Tch, expected of your guild," Seraphia sneered. "No matter, if your guild had found any evidence at all of our ns, that Prime Shadow of yours would have already taken action. Hisck of action tells me everything I need to know."


    Footsteps filled the audio next, growing softer as if Seraphia was walking away from the Grandmaster.


    "Now, I have to attend the grand finals, but once the tournament is over, rest assured I will return here to finish our conversations," she said.


    Then silence. A deafening silence unlike any before filled the arena as the sound transmission recording cut off. Ten million souls churned with chaos, confusion, and disbelief so thick they were unable to make a single sound.


    Then, within the silence, a single voice erupted, filled with so much rage and fury that it snapped everyone out of their daze.


    "You fucking bitch!" Zuri roared from her seat in the stands dozens of miles away, her aura exploding with furious hatred, her gaze locked onto both Seraphia and Azurae, who stood on the tform with a stunned expression, clearly not expecting what had just happened. "You murdered my father! My brother! My sister! I''ll fucking kill you both!"


    Boom!


    The stadium around her exploded as she pressed off the ground, soaring into the sky towards the floating tform. Dark shadowy tendrils sted off her as she prepared to attack Azurae and Seraphia.


    Suddenly, a wave of dark energy appeared in the air around her, enveloping her in a cocoon of darkness. She shed out towards the cocoon to destroy it, but was unable to make it budge an inch.


    "Let me out! I''ll kill them!" she roared to the Prime Shadow, who had used his power to subdue her. With Zuri''s Middle World Expansion cultivation, she was no match for Azurae, let alone Seraphia.


    As Zuri raged against the cocoon of darkness, her actions snapped everyone back to reality. Soon, voices started to cry out, at first dozens, then thousands, then millions, as every person in the stadium began to roar with questions, rage, hopelessness, and everything in between.


    The roars became so loud that they shook the Yang-Dao Sphere violently, as if a million beasts were trampling over it.


    "Is this true?"


    "Have you betrayed us?"


    "Yang-Sovereign. Surely this is all false? Tell everyone these usations are not tme!"


    "Kill him! Kill him before he activates his n!"


    Even the Sword-Saint and Mage Sovereign couldn''t help but look at the Yang-Sovereign with disbelief, wanting to ask him if the recording was a lie. It had to be!


    "Silence!" a booming roar from the Yang-Sovereign sted out, so loud that it knocked many of the weaker cultivator''s unconscious, as if he no longer cared for pretense or cordiality at all. The stadium fell silent once more, a heavy sense of anxious dread lingering in the air.


    "Do you deny what everyone just heard?" the Prime Shadow asked, his voice cold and angry.


    "Of course we deny it!" Seraphia hastily eximed. "That recording is nothing but a fabrication. A lie meant to tric-"


    "It''s enough" the Yang-Sovereign said to her, cing his hand on her shoulder. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he looked back at the Prime Shadow, his face so calm that even the Prime Shadow couldnt help but feel unnerved. While the Prime Shadow was powerful, so was the Yang-Sovereign. Now that his assassination attempt had failed, killing the Yang-Sovereign was far, far more difficult.


    At the very least, a battle to subdue him would destroy everything and everyone, a price no one was willing to pay. John, amongst many others, realized this exact thing in this very moment.


    ''Now that everything had been revealed, with the assassination attempt failing, it might no longer be possible to stop the Yang- Sovereign, at least not without the battle killing every single person here,'' John thought, a cold dread washing over him.


    As it was, the battle may have already been lost.

 Chapter 1122 The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus

    Chapter 1122 The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus


    1122 The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus


    "I underestimated you," the Yang-Sovereign said to the Prime Shadow. "I thought I had you fooled this entire time. How did you manage to discover the trail that led you to sending your Grandmaster to investigate. Entertain this question of mine, and I shall give you the answers you seek."


    The Prime Shadow considered the question for a moment, then shifted his gaze towards Azurae. Azurae froze up as she felt the Prime Shadow''s murderous gaze, as it felt as though she would die from his gaze alone.


    "When Azurae killed Furi, she left one witness behind," the Prime Shadow answered truthfully. "That witness identified her, which led us on a trail to find proof to confront her and the ones behind her."


    "I see," the Yang-Sovereign said, his gaze turning cold and murderous as he nced at Azurae, her face marble white from the shock and fright she felt.


    "Yang-Sovereign, he''s lying," Azurae hastily eximed. "There was no one left to identify me. The only one not ounted for was a Dao Transformation boy, but there''s no way someone so weak could have survived that explo-"


    Her voice cut off as she realized she made a grave error, her face going more pale. Not only had she just confirmed that she had assassinated Furi, but also that the Yang-Sovereign was the one who hadmanded it.


    "A Dao Transformation boy, huh?" the Yang-Sovereign said, his gaze shifting down towards John in the arena, instantly filling in the nks of what had happened. John was the only one associated with the Prime Shadow who could have survived such an explosion in the Dao Transformation Realm.


    "Azurae!" the Sword-Saint suddenly roared, his voice filled with questioning rage. "You were a spy for the Yang-Sovereign this entire time?"


    "I..." Azurae opened her mouth to speak, but no words formed. She was too stunned by everything that had happened, the entire n unraveling because of her carelessness. She knew that even if the Yang-Sovereign carried out her ns, there was no salvation for her any longer.


    Her reaction made the Sword-Saint''s expression turn to one of furious rage. "I found you as a child. I raised you almost as my own. I nurtured you to be what you are today, and now I found out that not only have you been a spy for the Yang-Sovereign, but you areplicit in a n to destroy us all?"


    "I..." Azurae continued to mumble, stumbling backwards in shock and fear. Watching from below, a look of surprise appeared on John''s face. He had thought Azurae was working for the Sword- Saint, and that the Sword-Saint was the one behind the undiscovered plot. Based on the Sword-Saint''s reaction, it was clear he was as surprised as everyone else to hear the truth.


    "Perish!" the Sword-Saint roared, his sword shing towards Azurae with a sharpness beyond description.


    Che!


    Before she could react, the sword-image cleaved directly through her from head to feet, her expression of horror and disbelief parting in two as her two halves fell to the ground, the once prideful Half- Step Holy Manifestation powerhouse felled in a single stroke, her legacy forever tarnished.


    Ten million gasps echoed within the arena, their souls feeling as though they were about to be snuffed out from the pure horror and shock they felt. The Yang-Sovereign nced at the now-dead Azurae, then shifted his gaze to the Sword-Saint, who was hovering in the air a short distance away, sword pointed directly at the Yang- Sovereign.


    "Your n has been discovered, and you are surrounded," the Sword-Saint growled, his position in this matter made clear to all. The proof that had just been given, as well as the reaction of the Yang-Sovereign, was all the proof he needed to make a decision on the matter. "Surrender yourself, or don''t me us for destroying you, your sect, and everything you hold dear. You may be powerful, but you have no chance of victory in this battle."


    The Yang-Sovereign stared at the Sword-Saint with a cold, piercing gaze for a moment.


    "You are correct, Sword-Saint. My n has been discovered, and I do not deny it," the Yang-Sovereign said as he looked about the stadium, taking in the looks of shock and horror from the Yang-Dao Sect members who had no idea of this n, and looks of hatred and disbelief from everyone else, his gaze returning to the Sword-Saint, then the Prime Shadow. Then he smiled.


    It was the smile not of a cornered man, but one stillpletely in control. It was a smile that sent shivers down the spine of all who saw it.


    "But the discovery of my n only changes the timeframe in which it is enacted. I''m afraid that for you, and everyone else here, the n has already been set in motion," the Yang-Sovereign said, his words causing gasps of shock and looks of horror to appear on most faces. Before anyone could react, a soft rumbling appeared, shaking the entire Yang-Sphere. That rumbling quickly intensified until it felt as though an earthquake was going to rip it apart.


    "In fact, the moment you all set foot in my Yang-Sphere, you were already trapped," the Yang-Sovereign said as the arena below suddenly shook violently, a visible seam ripping down the middle of the arena, then through the stadium itself.


    "Watch out," Lilian called to John as the two, as well as Ji''Han, sped to the side, avoiding the chasm that had appeared and was widening by the second. The ten million spectators braced themselves as well as the entire world seemed to be parting, soon revealing a massive chasm several miles wide that had split the entire Yang-Dao Sphere into two halves.


    Then, like the sun rising in the morning over distant mountains, a glow began to emerge from the depths of the chasm. The glow quickly intensified to a point that it was nearly blinding, while a merciless heat escaped from the depths as well.


    Hovering in the sky a short distance away from the edge, John couldn''t help but look over the edge, his eyes growing wide as he saw an ocean of magma far below, glowing with an orange brilliance, with a singr object resting on the surface of the magma.


    An object surrounded by visible formations, one that seemed to be pushed to their limits, straining from the power of the thing they contained. A beautiful, mesmerizing object, several dozen yards wide, glowing with the power of a sun.


    Feeling as though his soul was about to be ignited just by looking at it, John drew a deep breath as he instantly realized what the object was.


    "The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus!"

 Chapter 1123 The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus Pt. 2

    Chapter 1123 The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus Pt. 2


    1123 The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus Pt. 2


    The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus burned like a brilliant sun, its light all- epassing, its heat and intensity beyondpare. It was as if the Yang-Sovereign had just opened up a portal to the deepest, hottest pits of hell, bathing the Yang-Sphere with nearly unbearable heat. Hundred ofyers of a spherical formation enveloped the Yang Lotus, each brimming brightly as they struggled against the might of the lotus.


    John couldn''t help but notice that the innermost formations were showing signs of weakness. Visible cracks coursed through the formation''s, looking as if they were about to burst apart at any moment. The energy leaking through the cracks was suppressed by theyers beyond, but even thoseyers were not able to contain the Yang Lotus fully.


    ''And that''s while it''s still contained in that formation. If it was unleashed without restriction, it would burn everything to ashes,'' John thought, feeling true awe for the first time in quite a while. After taking a peak over the edge and into the abyss below, John moved backwards a good distance, then looked back up at the Yang- Sovereign and Prime Shadow.


    A grim look appeared on the Prime Shadow''s face, a look that was notforting in the slightest. John had never seen such a look on the Prime Shadow''s face, who was normally in control of every single thing that happened around him.


    The powerful trembling of the Yang-Sphere eventually ceased as the chasm stopped parting, leaving only a deep, ominous vibration coursing through the Yang-Sphere, the source of the vibrations from the Yang Lotus itself. Despite being contained by one of, if not the most powerful formation John had ever seen, its power was still leaking through, unable to be fully contained.


    "As you can see," the Yang-Sovereign said calmly, gesturing towards the Yang Lotus far below with his right hand. "The Nine-Petal Yang Lotus is continuing to grow in strength, and has reached a level that even the most potent of formations can no longer fully contain it. By my most recent calctions, it''s power will grow to a level strong enough to breach the formations fully in less than a month. I''m afraid I had no choice in this matter but to proceed with my ns."


    "This is madness," the Sword-Saint roared, his sword still pointing at the Yang-Sovereign. "It''s not toote to stop all this. Release us, let us help you subdue the Yang Lotus, and we can forget any of this happened. No lives have been lost yet. It''s not toote to put an end to this madness."


    The Yang-Sovereign nced at the Sword-Saint, his eyes focused on the sword for a moment. "I''m afraid that''s no longer possible," he said, his voice almost a regretful sigh. "The only regret I have is that I was not able to convince the Sword-Sovereign to attend this tournament. After I absorb the Yang-Lotus, and after what I''m about to do to everyone here, he will no doubt do his utmost to kill me. He will no longer be my equal after I absorb the lotus, so his death is only a matter of time, but the damage our battle will do the continent will be disastrous."


    "Why wait?" the Sword-Saint sneered, his sword tip moving, pointing towards the ceiling of the Yang-Sphere above. "I will destroy this sphere of yours, contact the Sword-Sovereign directly, and have hime here to help us put an end to your madness."


    "l would advise against doing that," the Yang-Sovereign replied calmly, then gestured in all directions towards the Yang-Sphere enveloping them. "l have been nning for this moment for a long, long time, and have considered every possible oue. I have nned for every counter-measure, every contingency, every n you could possiblye up with."


    He then slowly pressed off the ground, soaring into the sky directly over the arena for all to see. He stopped directly above the Yang Lotus and peered down into the deep chasm, eyes glued to the Yang Lotus as if it were a god to be revered.


    "The Yang-Sphere''s construction was nned for this very day," the Yang-Sovereign continued. "It''s been constructed with inbuilt formations, far too profound to be detected, far too powerful to be undone. Sending sound transmissions is impossible..." he paused, ncing quickly at the Prime Shadow, remembering what Grandmaster Darkcloud had done. "Well, nearly impossible...but, even if you do manage to send a message to the outside, its futile. The Yang-Spheres defensive formations have been activated. Not only has space itself been locked down, but any attempt to breach the Yang-Sphere itself will result in a catastrophic explosion, killing everyone for tens of thousands of miles."


    Gasps of shock and horror rang out throughout the stadium, as everyone wasing to terms with this ten-ible situation they found themselves in. Many had thought to break free and flee, but the Yang-Sovereign''s words crushed those hopes. Those proficient in the spatial Dao tested the Yang-Sovereign''s ims, and were shocked to find that they could not burrow into the spatial void like normal.


    Even John found his spatial power contained, able to be used, but not able to be used to break through to the other spatial realm.


    "You''re a madman!" the Sword-Saint roared. "You''d kill your whole sect, your entire legacy? All your greatest geniuses are here. The future of your sect. Even if you seed, they will no doubt perish in this endeavor."


    "I''d rather it note to that," the Yang-Sovereign said. "Either my n seeds, or we all perish. There is no other oue to how this will y out."


    At that moment, John noticed someone approaching him andnd nearby. He shared a quick nce with Araxus, whose surprised, almost honified expression revealed that he had no part or knowledge of this n.


    "The Yang-Sovereign has gone mad!" Araxus said to John, his tone a mixture of pain and anger.


    "Are we able to stop him?" John asked curiously, hoping for one of the pinnacle geniuses of the sect to have a n, or an idea of what to do. Araxus'' grim expression and shake of his head said otherwise.


    "My geniuses," the Yang-Sovereign repeated, then nced about the stadium. "Elders and disciples of my Yang-Dao Sect. You all have a choice to make today."


    Araxus'' and the other members of the Yang-Dao Sect tensed up, wondering what the Yang-Sovereign was going to do next.


    "The future of the Nine-Dao World will be controlled by us, the Yang-Dao Sect," the Yang-Sovereign continued. "As loyal followers and disciples, I offer you a path to follow me into that future. Recently, each and every member was bequeathed many items, a spatial talisman included."


    Upon mention of that, Araxus looked down as he grabbed the ornate ne he wore, one gifted to him by the Yang-Sovereign during the ceremony two days ago. He and Naelia had shown these gifts to John earlier, but had no idea what the Yang-Sovereign had in n when gifting them.


    "And so, the choice I give you is this; activate your spatial talisman and be taken out of the Yang-Sphere, to be safe from what''s toe next. These talismans are the only way out of the Yang- Sphere. All those that do so will be treated as true, loyal followers, showered with treasures and rewards beyond your wildest imagination. Or refuse, and die with everyone else."

 Chapter 1124 The Yang-Spheres True Purpose

    Chapter 1124 The Yang-Spheres True Purpose


    1124 The Yang-Spheres True Purpose


    "What?"


    "You n to kill us all?"


    "You''re an absolute madman!"


    "What about us? We''ve been a loyal subject for thousands of years. Where is our talisman?"


    Millions of differing cries boomed out in unison, making it hard for anyone to hear anything. John nced at Araxus, who held the spatial talisman in his hand, looking at them with wide eyes. He stared at the talisman for quite some time, then nced at John.


    "You want it?" he asked, much to John''s surprise.


    "Use it and beplicit in the deaths of ten million cultivators? That''s not my style," Araxus said, a light sneer in his voice, clearly enraged by the Yang-Sovereign''s actions.


    "Then I''ll pass as well," John declined, feeling his approval and friendship towards Araxus surging like a raging bonfire.


    "I expected as much," Araxus smiled, then shed away towards the stadium. There, John saw him hand the spatial talisman to a Meridian Forging girl, one who had a look of horror and fear on her face. She epted the talisman with wide eyes, tear-filled eyes, holding onto it tightly.


    A surge of cultivators crashed towards her, trying to steal it from her. A quick surge of power from Araxus sted them away, doing enough damage to keep them at bay. The girl began to cry, mumbling something to Araxus. He smiled and sped her hands around the talisman, then used his own Qi to activate it.


    The girl was enveloped in a thick spatial power, then vanished a momentter. Araxus returned to John''s location momentster, his expression determined and resolved for whatever came next. The two exchanged a head nod, then looked around as tens of thousands of talismans red to life, bringing those who had chosen to ept the Yang-Sovereign''s offer out of the Yang-Sphere.


    John looked towards Naelia, who Zuri now stood at her side, released by the Prime Shadow after the death of Azurae. He watched a teary-eyed Naelia be taken away by the talisman, forced to leave by Zuri. John nodded to her, relieved to see Naelia leave, who nodded back.


    The Yang-Sovereign watched those who epted his offer leave, then returned his gaze to the Prime Shadow and Sword-Saint.


    "So, what happens next?" the Prime Shadow asked coldly.


    "This!" the Yang-Sovereign said, a formation disk appearing in his hand, which activated instantly. At that moment, the entire inside of the obsidian Yang-Sphere red to life as millions of fiery formation runes red to life, activating in an instant.


    BOOM!


    A wave of crushing pressure suddenly permeated the entire Yang- Sphere, mming into every single person like a brick wall. Those on the weaker side were instantly crushed against the ground, some ttened nearly to death against their seats. The stronger cultivators were able to continue standing, but were shocked to find that their power had been cut off from them.


    "My dantian! I can''t ess my dantian!"


    "My cultivation! It''s restricted!"


    "What have you done to us?"


    Millions of panicked cries boomed out in unison as the cultivators within felt their powers fleeing from their control. John felt this pressure envelop him as well, wrapping around his essence like a cage, making it impossible for him to ess the powerful Qi stored within. No matter how he tried, he was unable to summon Qi from his essence dantian, making him feel like he had lost a limb.


    He couldn''t even ess his spatial rings or spatial realm, as that required Qi to be able to do so.


    He nced to the side, and saw Araxus and Lilian with looks of shock on their faces, clearly suffering from the same thing. He then looked back up to the Prime Shadow, who usually looked like a deadly grim reaper, but now looked much more like a mortal old man. The edge, the danger that permeated from him was no longer there.


    "Such a powerful formation," the Prime Shadow said grimly, testing his power but finding it out of his reach. "Just how much did this cost you to create?"


    "A lifetime of resources, the umted wealth of my entire Yang- Dao Sect and more" the Yang-Sovereign replied calmly as he began to fall slowly from the sky.


    "The Yang-Sovereign as well!" Some called out, noticing that the Yang-Sovereign himself seemed to have been weakened the same as everyone else. The Yang-Sovereign moved to the tform once more,nding on it as his power faded.


    "So, you''ve drained us all of our power, yourself included," the Sword-Saint said as hended on the ground, no longer able to fly well. "Do you really think you can take us all in battle if all our powers are restricted? You are not a body cultivator. You cannot defeat us all alone. Even if you were, you could not defeat all of us."


    "You are correct, Sword-Saint," the Yang-Sovereign nodded. "My cultivation is restricted as well. For this repression formation to be all-powerful, it needed to have no exceptions to who it restricted, no ws in its design. Only by ensuring that there was no w, no countermeasure, no way to bypass its restriction could I be confident in its sess."


    "In that case, I, along with every other cultivator here, shall beat you to death with our hands," the Sword-Saint said, his expression brimming with murderous bloodlust.


    The Yang-Sovereign smiled at that, sending a shiver down the spines of all who saw it, as it was not the smile of a cornered opponent, but of one still very much in control.


    "My cultivation may be restricted the same as the rest of you, but that does not mean I am powerless. On the contrary, I am the only one here that has any considerable power remaining," the Yang- Sovereign replied with confidence.


    Then, slowly but surely, the Yang-Sovereign began to rise into the air, drawing shocked gasps as no one else could do so. He moved through the air to his position above the Yang-Lotus, his arms stretched wide as his aura began to slowly but steadily grow, soon bing powerful enough to burn brightly like a zing sun.


    "The Yang Lotus," Araxus eximed, drawing John''s attention. "He''s absorbing the Yang-Qiing from the Yang-Lotus. He''s absorbing the lotus Qi directly, and is using it as a remote dantian."


    "What? Can you do that?" John asked quickly.


    "No," Araxus shook his head. "The Yang Lotus is the ultimate source of Yang Qi. Only the Yang-Sovereign can withstand that potent Qi, let alone use it. He is the only one here who can do such a thing. While his power isn''t as great as it normally is,pared to the rest of us, he might as well be a god amongst men."


    John looked up at the Yang-Sovereign and felt his power. The Yang- Sovereign normally had a cultivation in the Late Holy Manifestation Realm, but that was no longer able to be felt. Instead, he could feel the general level of power emanating from the Yang-Sovereign, thenpared it to what he had felt from others before.


    ''Early Holy Manifestation! Using the Yang Lotus as a remote dantian, the Yang-Sovereign has the strength of an Early Holy Manifestation cultivator. Compared to everyone else who is nearly powerless, he truly is like a god amongst men.''  The Yang-Sovereign hovered in the sky above all, his body glowing brightly like the sun. Everyone looked up at him like he was truly a god, looks of fear and horror on their faces.


    "Yang-Sovereign!" A deep, almost guttural voice boomed out, drawing everyone''s attention. The Yang-Sovereign shifted his gaze towards the Netherfrost Beast Leader who had spoken, who also seemed to be restricted by the repression formation.


    "We will not interfere with these ns of yours," the Netherfrost Beast leader said. "What you humans do to each other is none of our concern. But we still not stand idly and be caught up in your human schemes. Release us, and we will leave quietly."


    "Release you? Why would I do that?" the Yang-Sovereign scoffed as if he had heard the funniest joke.


    The Netherfrost Beast leader''s eyes went wide with rage. "If you dare harm us, the entire weight of the Beast Continent will bear down upon you. You cannot withstand such a-"


    "When I have fully absorbed the Yang Lotus, the entire world will be my domain, the Beast Continent included," the Yang- Sovereign interrupted, then slowly flew towards the Netherfrost Beasts, stopping a short distance away. "I will have no need to concern myself with the opinions of the weak."


    "Besides," he continued, a sinister smile creeping onto his face, sending shivers down the already frozen spines of the Netherfrost Beasts. "I invited your race for a very specific purpose. After all, I am trying to absorb the most potent and powerful source of Yang in the world. A source so powerful that even with my full strength, I am unable to absorb it."


    Bang!


    The Yang-Sovereign''s hand shot out, sping onto the weakened Netherfrost Beast Leader''s icy neck before it could react. I''s sharp ws began to scrape against the Yang-Sovereign''s arms, but with its power restricted, all it could do was leave faith scratches and nothing more.


    He then lifted the Netherfrost Beast Leader into the air by his neck, then floated back over the center of the arena directly above the Yang Lotus.


    "No, even with my full power, I am not able to subdue the Lotus," he said, looking down below. "As such, the only alternative is to temporarily weaken the Lotus itself so that I may absorb it."


    The Yang-Sovereign then returned his gaze to look directly into the eyes of the panicking Netherfrost Beast. "The ultimate source of Yang can only be weakened by the ultimate source of Yin, and when ites to Yin, there is no better source than the Netherfrost Beasts!"


    The Netherfrost Beast''s eyes went wide with realization and horror, finally understanding why they had been invited by the Yang- Sovereign himself. They had considered it a sign of honor. Instead, it was only a path of death.


    Then, in front of ten million wide eyes, the Yang-Sovereign let go of the Netherfrost Beast''s neck, and watched him plunge down into the abyss, directly towards the Yang Lotus.

 Chapter 1125 A Horrifying Sacrifice

    Chapter 1125 A Horrifying Sacrifice


    Cries of horror boomed out from the Netherfrost Beast n as they watched their leader plunge into the fiery abyss below, disappearing from sight as he fell helplessly into the formations surrounding the Yang Lotus.


    As if expecting the Netherfrost Beast''s arrival, the formations enveloped him with ropes of light, then guided him towards the Yang Lotus. Cries of agony sounded from within the chasm for a short moment before falling silent as the Netherfrost Beast Leader plunged directly into the Yang Lotus.


    A sizzling sound emanated from the chasm a momentter, like the sound of something being fried in pan. That sound faded a momentter as well, followed by a slight drop in the power and heat emanating from the Lotus.


    "Noooooo! Patriarch!" the tearful cries of the Netherfrost Beast group, ranging from youths to other Elders, boomed over the stadium.


    "Do not despair" the Yang-Sovereign said to them with a calm,forting voice. "I will soon reunite you with your Patriarch!"


    "You! You Devil!" some of the Netherfrost Beasts roared, cursing the Yang-Sovereign, their expression the epitome of rage and bloodlust.


    sh!


    The tform they were standing on shed with formation runes, then quickly moved towards the Yang-Sovereign, hovering above the chasm. Their expression went from rage to horror as they realized what was toe, and their screams of fear and agony rang out as the tform gave way, sending the hundreds of Netherfrost Beasts plunging into the abyss below.


    The same sounds filled the stadium as the Netherfrost Beasts fell into the Yang Lotus, their bodies incinerated by the immense heat. At the same time, the potent Yin within their bodies acted like water on a fire, dousing its power, subduing its heat.


    As thest Netherfrost Beast was consumed, the power of the Yang- Lotus dropped by a noticeable amount, although it was still akin to a miniature sun, one capable of destroying everything should the formations surrounding it fail.


    "Hah," a powerful Half-Step Holy Manifestation cultivator, a sect leader from a tier two subsect, roared in amusement. "Even with the Netherfrost Beast blood, the Lotus is still too strong for you to absorb. You have failed."


    "And the formations surrounding the Yang Lotus seem to be failing," the Prime Shadow added, feeling the powerful restriction formations diminishing in power. "I''m assuming you did not have enough spirit crystals to power both the restriction formations and the Yang-Sphere formation."


    "You are correct, Prime Shadow" the Yang-Sovereign nodded.


    "What then? We wait for the formations surrounding the Yang Lotus to fail, thus destroying us all?" the Sword-Saint sneered, his expression still brimming with murderous bloodlust.


    "Not quite," the Yang-Sovereign smiled at him. "This is all ording to n. I was not naive enough to think the Netherfrost Beasts alone could subdue the Yang Lotus, but their Yin Qi did subdue it by a considerable margin, enough for the rest of the Yin energy to do its job in subduing it. But before then, I think it''s time I reinforce the Lotus formations for now."


    Snap!


    The Yang-Sovereign snapped his fingers, activating another hidden formation built within the enormous Yang-Sphere, a once awe-inspiring construction now turned into a tomb. Everyone saw as more runic patterns emerged on the Yang-Sphere overhead, its power intensifying greatly. Then, they felt their Dantians, no longer in their control, start be drained of their power.


    Like a whirlpool consuming everything that approached it, the formation restricting them began to tug on their Dantians, forcefully drawing the Qi from their bodies. Everyone began to panic, doing their best to resist the pull from the formation, but no one was able to stop it.


    With horrified expressions, the ten million cultivators, the pinnacle powers of the Human Continent, watched as their Qi streamed through the air as if controlled by an invisible hand, then surged down into the abyss, infusing the weakening Yang Lotus formations.


    Millions of cries of pain, of agony, of fear, of hopelessness sounded out as everyone desperately struggled to resist, but to no avail. One by one, the cultivators felt their Dantians be drained of Qi, their bodies growing weaker, their faces growing more and more pale.


    Bang!


    A cultivator, a Meridian Forging youth from a tier three subsect, copsed to the ground, his Qi fully drained, leaving him an empty husk without power. Then, as if reacting to his drained state, an invisible power picked him up and dragged him into the air, directly above the chasm.


    On the edge of unconsciousness, the boy struggled as much as he could to break free of the invisible restrictions, but was powerless to do anything. With one final cry of horror, he plunged into the depths below, disappearing within the Yang Lotus'' fiery power.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    More and more cultivators, all on the weaker side, began to copse,pletely drained of their Qi. Then same as the boy, they were flung into the abyss towards the Yang-Lotus, like drops of rain hoping to extinguish a raging wildfire.


    "Stop this madness at once!" the Sword-Saint roared, his voice brimming with desperation.


    "Stop it?" the Yang-Sovereign scoffed. "It''s only getting started. While far less potent than the Netherfrost Beasts, the blood of a typical human cultivator is naturally Yin-aligned, except for when one cultivates Yang, thus changing their blood to be Yang-aligned. To subdue the Yang Lotus, I need far more Yin energy than what the Netherfrost Beasts were able to provide."


    "But that much Yin energy...you would need to kill millions!" the Mage-Sovereign roared with helpless anger.


    "Yes, millions of the strongest human cultivators on the continent," the Yang-Sovereign agreed. "And the only ce where I would be able to gather millions of the strongest Yin-blooded cultivators without any suspicion was this tournament. It''s almost as if the creation of this tournament a hundred thousand years ago was done by divine intervention, done with the singr purpose of what is urring today."


    "You''re actually insane," the Mage-Sovereign growled, looking on with helplessness as hundreds, then thousands of cultivators were sent over the edge, plunging towards the Yang Lotus below.


    "Your hatred is expected," the Yang-Sovereign said, his words meant for her and everyone else. "The only thing I can do to console you all is to promise that your sacrifice will not be in vain. Once I absorb the Yang Lotus, I will use my newfound powers to dominate the Devils and the Beasts, and bring humanity into the forefront of this world. The sacrifices of today will lead to a prosperous future for the rest of humanity."


    "Fuck that!"


    "You''re a murderous bastard!"


    "Traitor!"


    Thousands of insults boomed out from those still maintaining their consciousness. The Yang-Sovereign ignored their insults, instead waving his hand towards the Yang Lotus. The world began to tremble once more as the light emanating from the chasm began to grow brighter.


    Then, in front of millions of stunned and awed faces, the Yang Lotus rose from the chasm, appearing for all to see. The formations enshrouding the Yang Lotus fought with furious intensity to keep its power and brightness in check, as otherwise everything, even the Yang-Sovereign would be destroyed.


    The Yang Lotus continued to rise up into the air, eventually resting high in the sky dozens of miles above the stadium.


    "Ahhhh! Cries of panic and pain rang out as those fully drained of their Qi were sucked up towards the Yang Lotus like dilt in a vacuum, disappearing within the apocalyptic mes of the lotus.


    The Yang-Sovereign watched the process continue for some time, with thousands, then tens of thousands of cultivators sacrificed to the lotus, all while the Prime Shadow, the Sword-Saint, the Mage- Sovereign, and everyone else could only watch with hopelessness on their face, waiting for their inevitable turn.


    "I''m sorry, young one," the Prime Shadow''s defeated voice sounded out within John''s mind, sent through direct sound transmission. "My friendship with the Yang-Sovereign blinded me. It seems I have lost my edge in my old age. I have failed you and everyone else. I hope you can forgive me."


    John drew in a deep breath, the weight of the Prime Shadow''s words crashing into him. If there was anyone who could save them it was him. But even the Prime Shadow had been ensnared in the Yang-Sovereign''s trap, making him as powerless as the rest of them.


    As more and more cultivators were sucked into the Yang Lotus, its power began to slowly but visibly diminish. The Yang-Sovereign watched the process happen, then against all expectations, turned and looked downwards towards John.


    The two locked eyes, a furious bloodlust contained within John''s gaze.


    "I was going to extend an olive branch towards you in hopes that you would join me," the Yang-Sovereign said. "After all, your talent is truly unlike anything I''ve ever seen, and to waste it like this is almost unforgivable...but I can see from your expression that you would decline such an offer. Such a shame."


    Then, without looking back, the Yang-Sovereign soared up into the sky, hovering a short distance from the Yang-Lotus.


    "The Lotus has been tempered enough to begin the process," he said softly to himself, a smile of anticipation appearing on his face. Then, in front of everyone''s shocked eyes, he moved forward through the restrictive formations, which opened a tunnel for him directly into the center of the lotus, then disappeared within the lotus itself.


    His figure barely visible through the Yang mes of the lotus, everyone watched as the Yang-Sovereign sat down within the Lotus, the Lotus'' power''s slowly beginning to flow towards and into the Yang-Sovereign''s body.

 Chapter 1126 A Glimmer of Hope in an Ocean of Despair

    <h4>Chapter 1126 A Glimmer of Hope in an Ocean of Despair</h4>


    Like a door to salvation being closed before their eyes, the millions of cultivators felt theirst hope vanish as the Yang-Sovereign stepped into the Yang Lotus. Many had the tiny glimmer of hope that the Yang-Sovereign would change his mind, realizing the madness of his n, but his entry into the Lotus sealed their fate.


    "We''re doomed!"


    "The Yang-Sovereign has betrayed us all!"


    "I can''t believe my death is going to be at the hands of a Sovereign! He should be protecting us, not destroying us!"


    Millions of cries of anguish and despair rang out within the stadium, mixed with the cries of horror from those sucked up into the lotus, their bodies incinerated to nothingness. It was like a cacophony of anguish,posed by the vilest of creatures.


    "Everyone, link arms! The strong should help the weak, stopping them from being absorbed into the lotus! Link arms and brace yourself against something solid. If we can prevent this process, we may be able to stop the Yang-Sovereign from absorbing the lotus!" A tier two subsect leader said, trying to find a path to salvation.


    "The Yang-Sovereign would rather destroy everything than allow himself to fail! Your n is doomed before it even begins," another sect leader replied.


    "So what? I''d rather him die with us than live on, using our lives as steppingstones!" the first leader eximed with furious anger.


    "Is that truly better? If the Yang-Sovereign destroys everything, himself included, the power of humanity will drop to a level that can no longer withstand the Beasts and Devils. If that happens, the human continent will be swept upon like a gue, its destruction guaranteed. Perhaps it''s better for him to seed, otherwise humanity itself is doomed!" another cried out.


    "What about the Sword-Sovereign!" someone cried.


    "What about him? The Sword-Sovereign is the strongest of us humans, but can he alone stem the onught of both Beast and Devil?"


    While the Sword-Sovereign was not caught up in this situation, he alone was not powerful enough to withstand the powers of the Devils and Beasts. With the Yang-Sovereign, Prime Shadow, Sword- Saint and Mage-Sovereign dead, humanity would meet a swift demise at the hands of the enemy powers.


    This realization was like a cold bucket of water dousing the hopes of those who still clung to it. Even if they seeded somehow in destroying the Yang-Sovereign''s n, that would only ensure the destruction of humanity. While they hated the Yang-Sovereign more than anything, ruining his ns and destroying humanity was even more unspeakable than what the Yang-Sovereign was doing.


    Back and forth arguments continued within the stadium for a short while before a loud,manding voice boomed out, drowning the voices and silencing everyone. All eyes turned to the Mage- Sovereign, their hopes slightly reignited. If anyone could get them out of this mess, it was the Mage-Sovereign, the Sword-Saint, and the mysterious Prime Shadow.


    "Cool heads must prevail if we are to get out of this situation alive," she said, her tone firm andmanding.


    "Do you have a n?" a nearby subsect leader asked, a small glimmer of hope on his face.


    The Mage-Sovereign grimaced slightly, biting her thumbnail as her face scrunched up with thoughtful contemtion. Her mind and soul raced for solutions, although her increasingly hopeless expression doused the reignited hope everyone felt.


    "I may have a way," the Sword-Saint said, drawing ten million eyes to him, hope appearing once more within the despair.


    "How?" the Mage-Sovereign asked hastily.


    "I have a secret domain art, a domain art taught to me by the Sword-Sovereign himself, the Sacred Sword Domain. It is a domain where the Sword Dao is king, forcing aside all other forms of energy. While I won''t be able to fully negate the effects of the Yang-Sphere, I should be able to return some of my strength, at which point I can destroy part of the Yang-Sphere formation, restoring everyone''s power. Perhaps with that, we can-"


    "That wont work," the Mage-Sovereign said, shaking her head. "I''ve been studying the Yang-Sphere formations since they appeared, and now understand some of it. From what I can tell, the Yang-Sovereign waspletely ruthless in its creation. Any tampering with any portion of the Yang-Sphere will result in its destruction, killing everyone here before their powers would return. The only hope we have is to defeat the Yang-Sovereign directly," the Mage- Sovereign said, her narrowed gaze locking onto the Yang Lotus.


    "From what I can tell, there is an internal pocket realm within the Yang Lotus, in which the Yang-Sovereign currently sits," she continued. "He won''t be able to leave it while the absorption process is taking ce, so if we can enter it and battle him there, we may be able to destroy him without him activating the destruction formation of the Yang-Sphere. Can your sword domain negate the formation''s influence on others as well? Perhaps if we could join you, the odds would be greatly in our favor."


    The Sword-Saint grimmaced upon hearing this, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "No, only my cultivation will be unbound by the restriction, no one else''s. It is a domain focused on the self and the sword, nothing else. Besides, even if I restore my power through the Sacred Sword Domain, I would at best be at the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm, as my domain alone would not be enough topletely erase these formation effects. I will not have the strength to defeat the Yang-Sovereign, not alone."


    The Sword-Saint''s words created another wave of despair, all hope smothered out once again. A thick silence hung in the air, only filled by the screams of those sucked into the Yang-Lotus above.


    "Then all hope is lost!" a sect leader sighed, his voice echoing the thoughts of everyone else in the arena. There was no hope. No one had any power remaining other than the Sword-Saint, who could not handle this burden alone.


    Down below in the arena, John nced up at the Yang-Sovereign, who was fully enclosed within the lotus. With the Yang-Sovereign fully focused on absorbing the Yang Lotus, it was now safe to move through the Yang-Sphere without being targeted.


    He nced at Lilian who stood nearby, who felt his gaze fall upon her and looked at him. Her expression was calm, or as calm as one could be given the situation. There was an underlying tinge of anxiousness, an expression never seen on her face before, giving more weight to the gravity of the situation. That calm expression changed slightly as she saw John''s expression, an expression she had seen on his face many times before.


    It was the same look when he destroyed the Bloodfiend Sect. The same look when he had dominated Asuros in the Divine Realm trials. The same look when he faced off against the Asura while they fled for the portal. It was a look of resolve, confidence, determination. It was a look of battle lust, of one who wanted to burst with power and y their foe. It was not the look of someone who had epted their death.


    "Can you defeat him?" Lilian asked softly, reading John''s thoughts through his expression alone.


    John nced up at the Sovereign for a second, then back to Lilian. Then he smirked.


    "I guess we''ll find out soon, won''t we?" John smirked as he sat down and closed his eyes, his focused moving within towards his two Dantians.


    Boom!


    A soft, muffled boom sounded out from within his body, its noise drowned out by the thousand cries of terror all around. His body dantian surged to life within, its power unrestrained by the Yang- Sphere repression formation. While the Yang-Sphere was a pinnacle creation of the Yang-Sphere, the Dantian Artifact was a pinnacle creation of the martial universe, unbound by a lesser creation.


    Like a desert soaking up rain, his body greedily drew in every ounce of power. His body Qi expanded outwards around his Dantian, pressing against the formation energy, forming a barrier around his essence Dantian. The formation energy pressed down on his body Qi, making it strain against the weight and power of the formation energy.


    John struggled back, quickly forming a stalemate between the two energies, both vying for supremacy. He tried to press outwards even further against the energy, but was not able to do so, only able to keep it at bay near his Dantian, but not at a distance.


    A frown appeared on his face as he was hoping to be able to use his Qi to restore the cultivations of others in a simr manner, but the difficulty of keeping his own Dantian protected was already straining, making it impossible to do so for others, as he would need to keep his power activated all times, and at a much further range thanpared to his own Dantian.


    ''Good enough!'' he clicked his tongue, frustrated but not surprised. Having to shield his essence dantian would reduce the amount of Qi he could use for his battle arts, but it was better than nothing.


    His essence dantian, now protected from the formation by his cocoon of body Qi, red to life as the repression effects were sted away, returning his full strength to his body. John bathed in the wave of power coursing through him, then he focused on what he had to do next.


    Up above, the three powerhouses continued to discuss amongst themselves, searching for any solution to this issue. All their solutions were centered around the Sword-Saint, who was the only one who would be able to fight to any measurable degree. Every n was cast aside after brief consideration, their despair growing as second by second hundreds of cultivators were being drawn into the Yang Lotus, consumed by its terrifying mes.


    Minutes passed by, the number of deaths and the hopeless despair growing by the second.


    Boom!


    The stadium suddenly trembled once more, startling everyone. Many braced for another catastrophe, wondering what next the Yang-Sovereign had in store for them. They looked towards the source of the sound, their wide eyes locking onto a zing aura surging into the sky, and the source of the aura itself.


    They watched as John rose into the sky, his power somehow unrestricted by the repression formations. John bathed in the feeling of breaking through to the Late Dao Transformation Realm, his body and soul surging with newfound strength.


    Then, with millions of eyes glued to him, eyes filled with hopelessness, awe, confusion and despair, he nced at the Sword- Saint, who was looking at him as if he were truly an iprehensible monster. The words he said next were even more iprehensible, but for some reason, despite its impossibility, his words ignited the tiniest glimmer of hope within the ocean of despair everyone felt.


    "I''m going to kill the Yang-Sovereign. Will you join me?"

 Chapter 1127 An Unlikely Duo

    Chapter 1127 An Unlikely Duo


    "What?" A gasp of pure disbelief rang out from nearly everyone in the stadium.


    The millions of cultivators within the stadium couldn''t believe what they had heard, their minds going nk for a moment, trying to process John''s words. Even with everything that had happened, from the incredible grand finals, to the Sword-Saint''s interference, to the Yang-Sovereigns plot, this was the most iprehensible thing to happen yet.


    A Dao Transformation youth said he was going to kill the Yang- Sovereign. The Yang-Sovereign, who was one of the two strongest cultivators on the. The Yang-Sovereign, who had the other powerhouses like the Prime Shadow and the Sword-Saint thoroughly defeated with no hope of salvation. The Yang-Sovereign, who despite having his true cultivation restricted, was still able to battle at the Early Holy Manifestation Realm thanks to the power of the Yang Lotus.


    It was the most insane thing they had ever heard in their life. It was utterly impossible, so much so that the instinctual hope most felt vanished a momentter, logic and reason erasing that hope without second thought. That hope many felt turned to renewed despair, disappointment, and even anger.


    They were not angry at John, as he was apparently willing to fight the Yang-Sovereign with no possibility of winning. That alone was something beyondmendable, beyond heroic. Instead, they were angry at themselves, angry that they dared to hope for a second, believing in such a farcical and impossible thing.


    "How! How are you moving? And your power!" the Mage-Sovereign finally said, her voice filled with absolute disbelief.


    "What''s going on, John? How have you restored your power?" the Prime Shadow couldn''t help but ask. While he knew some of John''s secrets, he did not know most of them. He did not know about John''s second Dantian, a Dantian so heaven-defying that even the Yang-Sovereign''s repression formation couldn''t detect it, let alone suppress it. As such, John being able to move was no doubt a surprise.


    John ignored those questions, as time was not on his side. Every second he dyed, thousands died. The screams of those being sucked up into the Yang-Sphere, mostly youths at this point due to being the weakest, filled the stadium with cries of horror and despair, those cries snuffed out by the Yang Lotus just momentster.


    Eyes glued to the Sword-Saint, awaiting his response, the Sword- Saint looked back with disbelief, unable toprehend what was going on. He was able to negate a portion of the Yang-Sphere''s formation power by using his secret sword domain art, but even then, he was not able to negate it all. And on top of that, the Sacred Sword Domain was the number one secret art of the Sword-Dao Sect, a domain art never before revealed to the world.


    From what he could tell, John was not only fully empowered, uninhibited by the formation at all, but he wasn''t even using a domain art as far as the Sword-Saint could tell.  "Wh...what are you?" he asked, voice trembling. Time and time again, John had defied all reason and logic, his actions now even more impossible. First with the Illusory Talent Tests, then with his performance in the tournament and against his prodigious son, and now this.


    "Will you help me?" John repeated, ncing quickly towards the Yang Lotus, then back at the Sword-Saint. "You''re the only one besides me who can fight, and fighting the Yang-Sovereign will be much easier with your help. Even if you can''t defeat him alone, that''s fine. I''ll take the lead, and you just need to assist me."


    Other than the continued screams in the background, the arena fell silent. The Sword-Saint, along with the other powerhouses, looked at John with stunned expressions, still trying to process everything. Eventually the Sword-Saint snapped back into reality, an angry frown appearing on his face.


    "Now is not the time for your jokes," the Sword-Saint growled. "Your strength barely reaches the World Expansion Realm, let alone the Holy Manifestation Realm. You are nothing but an ant before the Yang-Sovereign. Even with his power restricted to that of a normal Early Holy Manifestation cultivator, he''s still far beyond your ability to fight."


    John frowned, not surprised by the Sword-Saint''s reaction, but still disappointed. He turned around to move towards the Yang-Sphere, hoping that when the Sword-Saint got a glimpse of his true power, he would join at that time. No amount of talking would convince the Sword-Saint of the impossible being possible.


    "Sword-Saint," the Prime Shadow suddenly said, drawing the Saint''s attention. "Trust John. Although I''ve not known him for a long time, I know him well enough to know that he won''t throw his life away on a hopeless endeavor. Besides, what other option is there? You said yourself that you are not strong enough alone. From everything we know, this may be our one and only hope."


    The Sword-Saint fell silent for a moment, his face twisting with a multitude of emotions. He looked to the Yang Lotus above, grimacing as he watched thousands of youths and weaker cultivators flying up into the Yang Lotus, their lives incinerated in the blink of an eye.


    He looked down to the arena below, his gaze resting on his son. Ji''Han and the Sword-Saint locked eyes,plicated expressions on both their faces. He took a deep breath, then looked back at John, his expression growing firm as he nodded slowly. "I don''t believe for a moment that you have the strength to make a difference, but if it means my son has a glimmer of hope of surviving this ordeal, then.... I will join you. Besides, I''d much rather die fighting than being sucked into that fucking lotus!"


    Thatst line incited a soft chuckle from John, not expecting the Sword-Saint to curse in such a crass way.


    "Good," John nodded, feeling a tinge of respect for the Sword-Saint for the very first time. Then he waited for the Sword-Saint to activate his secret domain, and join him in the sky. The Sword-Saint gave Ji''Han onest nce, one filled with emotions of love and grief. Then in a moment, his expression changed.


    It was so sudden that it caught John off guard, the Sword-Saint''s expression intensifying like nothing he''d ever seen from the man. Even with all the rage and anger he felt for John, he never once looked at John like this. It was a look that could almost kill, a look of someone resolved to die if that meant killing his opponent.


    A momentter, John felt an aura begin to emerge from the Sword- Saint''s body. It started small at first, but quickly grew in intensity and power. Like a small me turning into a raging wildfire, a potent Sword Qi began to emerge from the Sword-Saint''s body, so sharp that it stung John''s soul just looking at it.


    The aura, a pure white aura with tiny sword-images flickering in and out of existence, expanded to be a few feet around the Sword- Saint''s body. His body glowed a brilliant white, almost blinding those who looked at him. At the same time, the Sword-Saint''s cultivation began to return, only stopping once it reached the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm.


    "This is as far as I can push my power," the Sword-Saint said after expanding his Sacred Sword Domain. "Now what?" he asked, his words almost asking for proof that John was able to do something about this situation, and not lying for some inexplicable reason.


    "This," John smirked, sending a surge of Qi from his body dantian through the rest of his body. He said a silent internal thanks to the Sword-Saint, as his interference early in his battle with Jill-Ian had made it so he had not expended a great deal of Qi yet.


    Roar!


    The familiar draconic roar of the Dragon-God Shift boomed throughout the arena as John reactivated its power. The Sword- Saint''s frown remained, not moved at all by the Dragon-God Shift, not because it was weak, but because it was not enough. Suddenly, the Sword-Saint''s expression, followed shortly by everyone else, changed. Their eyes went wide and mouths fell slightly agape as a power began to emanate from John, onepletely different from the Dragon-God Shift. A power that made them feel an instinctual dread, an instinctual fear and hopelessness.


    A ck and red aura began to emerge from his body, while John''s body began to change once more before their very eyes. They watched as his body grew in size, his muscles building like mountains beneath his flesh. They watched as his skin turned dark red, his eyes turned blood red, and two horns emerged from the top of his head.


    A collective gasp of disbelief and even horror rang out, as everyone felt as though a true demon had just appeared before them.


    Boom!


    As if the aura had broken through an invisible barrier, John''s power surged to the sky, the mix of his Dragon-God Shift and new, dreadful power mixing to create an impossible strength. Space seemed to shudder and twist in the presence of this power, one that should not exist.


    A power that defied all reason. A power that defied the Heavens itself. A power that reignited the hope everyone felt be snuffed out just minutes ago.


    A power known as the Asura Transformation Art!

 Chapter 1128 Entering the Yang Lotus

    Chapter 1128 Entering the Yang Lotus


    Like a demon emerging through the veil of reality, John''s Asura form burst into existence. A ck and red aura churned around him like an inferno from hell, twisting the air with its power. The Asura form ovepped his Dragon-God Shift, red intertwining with green, changing his body into an amalgamation of Dragon and Asura.


    John bathed in the power he felt, his eyes closing for a singr moment. He tested the limits of his new Late Dao Transformation powers, then opened his eyes and nodded with satisfaction. He then felt a gaze burning into his back, a gaze not filled with awe, horror, or disbelief, but instead shame and even...anger.


    He looked down towards the source of the gaze, and locked eyes with Ji''Han. Ji''Han stared up at him, his face mimicking the emotions John felt from his gaze. It was an expression of a tme genius humbled for the very first time in his life, a shocking realization that John had not even considered him a true opponent from the beginning.


    It was at this moment that Ji''Han understood everything. He understood John''sck of concern towards him. He understood Lilian''s words of caution. He understood the truth of the Illusory Testing Scores, and that John''s impossible scores were not false, but just a testament to his genius.


    It was an understanding of what it truly meant to be heaven- defying. Ji''Han then hung his head, staring down at his feet. He couldnt force himself to stare at the one who had not only taken everything from him, from the spotlight to the Ancient Blessings of the Three Dao''s. Most of all, he couldn''t face himself.


    Despite everything that was going on, despite the harrowing danger that everyone felt, Ji''Han''s first thoughts upon seeing John''s transformation were of jealousy, anger, and embarrassment. He now only felt shame at himself, shame from thinking about such trivial things when everyone around was going to perish. While he thought of the spotlight, John thought of stopping the Yang-Sovereign.


    He finally understood that there were levels above himself, levels that he would never be able to obtain.


    "What...are you a Devil?" the Sword-Saint finally spoke up after recovering from his shock.


    "No," John shook his head, his voice deep and sinister like that of an Asura. "But would it matter if I was?"


    "I suppose not," the Sword-Saint shook his head. "You''re on our side, and that''s all that matters."


    John raised an eyebrow at the Sword-Saint''s even-headed reply, then nodded. The Sword-Saint eyed him up and down for a moment, then frowned.


    "Is this the limit of your strength?" he asked. "I can feel your strength is on the same level as mine right now, the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm. While we outnumber the Yang-Sovereign, that will not be enough for us to win."


    "I have another trump card," John said with a confident smile, his words shocking everyone to their cores. Hisbat prowess was already at the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm, a full five minor realms higher than his true cultivation. It was already beyond heaven-defying, beyond impossible, and yet he imed to have more. "It''s just that I can only use it for a few minutes at most, so I''m saving it for when we start the fight."


    The Sword-Saint stared at John with an unreadable expression, too many emotions flittering across his face to determine his true thoughts.


    "Also, once that time runs out, I''ll be unable to fight again," John continued. "We need to defeat the Yang-Sovereign in a few minutes, or we all perish. So do me a favor and don''t hold anything back. If you have a secret sword art, use it. If you have a heaven-defying weapon, wield it. The time for secrets and holding back is far behind us."


    The Sword-Saint remained silent for a moment, then nodded his head.


    "I will use everything in my power, you have my word." "Good," John nodded.


    "Then...it''s time for us to begin," the Sword-Saint said, drawing in a deep breath. He looked down towards Ji''Han for a moment, his eyes filled with deep emotions, then looked back at John and nodded. "Lead the way. You will need to be the one directly confronting the Yang-Sovereign, while I will help you from a distance. If I get too close to him, he may be able to kill me before I can react."


    John nodded, then turned around and looked up towards the Yang- Sphere. His expression turned from confident to cold and murderous, his bloodlust and battle lust rising by the second. He steeled his mind for the harrowing life and death battle toe, pushing his body to the maximum state he could achieve.


    "Let''s go," John growled, then sped into the sky towards the Yang- Sphere.


    The Sword-Saint followed behind, the two cultivators rising into the sky like twin-beacons of hope for all who remained. The duo of the John and the Sword-Saint was something no one could ever have expected, but now that antagonistic duo was their one and final hope.


    As he rose into the sky, John felt the heat of the Yang-Sphere be more and more intense. His skin began to sizzle, the durability of his body fighting against the heat of the Lotus. Behind him, the Sword-Saint started to mumble a soft mantra, one that seemed to increase the power of his Sacred Sword Domain.


    The sword Qi from the Sacred Sword Domain seemed to push aside much of the Yang energy, keeping his body rtively unharmed from the heat. This would have normally been impossible, but thanks to the Yang-Sovereign, the Yang Lotus was at the weakest state it had ever been.


    The Yang-Lotus grewrger andrger in their vision, until finally John and the Sword-Saint arrived before it. The entrance into the spatial domain inside the Yang Lotus, opened up by a formation made by the Yang-Sovereign, was still intact.


    A wall of fire and me surged within the entrance, separating the spatial domain from the rest of the world. John peered into the entrance and saw the Yang-Sovereign seated a distance away, his back facing them. He sighed a breath of relief, then turned to the Sword-Saint.


    "He hasn''t noticed us yet, so we will need to make sure our first attack wounds him considerably at the very least. Prepare your strongest attack as we enter, and unleash it the moment we step foot inside the Yang Lotus," John said firmly.


    "I was going to suggest the same," the Sword-Saint nodded, his sword gripped tightly in his hand. It began to glow with the power of a true Holy Manifestation cultivator, the power twisting the fabric of space around it.


    The Sword-Saint''s aura and sword continued to grow in strength, then stopped after a short while. He held that power at a strong and constant level, as if he needed only to push a bit further to unleash a horrifying, continent destroying attack.


    Then he nced at John, his silent expression conveying his words for him. An expression that said, ''time to reveal the true limits of your power.''


    John made sure the Sword-Saint was ready, then nodded and turned to face the entrance again. Then, his focus shifting inwards, he focused on his innate power used only a few times in his life thus far. An innate power given to him by his true mother and father. An innate power, that much like the Asura Transformation Art, defied all reason and logic, and even the Heavens itself.


    John prepared himself for the surge of power toe, a surge that would push his body and soul to his very'' limits and then further. Then hemitted to the act.


    Like a billion tiny Dantian''se to life, each and every blood cell in his body surged to life, pouring an incredible amount of Qi into his body and soul as he activated his Innate Bloodline Ability.


    The power coursing from his body exploded once more, pushing him over the edge, increasing hisbat prowess from the Half- Step Holy Manifestation Realm and into the Early Holy Manifestation Realm. The power coursing through him nearly overwhelmed him as he felt his body twist and creak, almost breaking apart from within.


    He controlled that surging power as best he could, doing his best to minimize the internal damage increasing by the second. Then, without looking back at the Sword-Saint or anyone else, he sped forward as a Kirin Avatar began to materialize behind him, following him into the entrance of the Yang Lotus.


    He sped through the tunnel-like entrance, stepping into a world of Yang and Fire. The internal area of the Yang Lotus was far more expansive than he thought it would be, the confines of the lotus stretching for hundreds of miles in each direction.


    In the middle of this domain sat the Yang-Sovereign, his back still to them. Without missing a beat, lightning burst alight on John''s skin as he sped forward with his maximum speed, his scythe crackling with lightning, the Kirin Avatar exploding with power behind him.


    At the same time, the Sword-Saint appeared next to him, his sword exploding in size, bing over a mile long, shing down towards the Yang-Sovereign with his absolute might.


    Kirin-God Extinction!


    Asura Reaping Scythe!


    Sacred Sword Scripture!


    Thebined might of these three battle arts almost seemed to destroy everything as they surged towards the Yang-Sovereign, who stood up and faced them at thest possible moment, his eyes going wide, his power surging with fiery anger a momentter.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 1129 Battling The Yang Sovereign

    Chapter 1129 Battling The Yang Sovereign


    From the moment he activated his bloodline ability to unleashing his attack, John had only one singr thought; unleashing the most powerful attack he was capable of, holding nothing back at all. He had done just that, as his Kirin-God Destruction, channeled to his maximum potential, surged towards the Yang-Sovereign like a world-ending meteor, followed up a momentter by his Asura Reaping Scythe.


    At the same time, the Sword-Saint''s Sacred Sword Scripture shed towards the Yang-Sovereign with awe-inspiring sharpness and lethality, its killing potential not losing out to John''s Kirin-God Destruction or Asura Reaping Scythe to all despite the Sword-Saint having a lower effectivebat potential.


    It was only as the two battle arts collided with the Yang-Sovereign that John finally noticed a change within his body that he had not expected. After activating his bloodline ability, the invasive Yang- Sphere repression formation energy had been pushed back father, no longer invading his body as it had done before.


    His Body Dantian had allowed him to use his own Qi, but the repression formation had still fought for supremacy within his own body, making the movement of his Qi throughout his meridian''s far more taxing than normal.


    That was no longer the case, shocking him greatly. Unexpectedly, his bloodline ability had managed to push the energy of the repression formationpletely out of his body, fighting the battle for supremacy not around his dantian, but around his body instead. It was almost as if his bloodline ability acted in a simr fashion to the Sacred Sword Domain, making him the sovereign of everything that happened within his body.


    John''s expression twitched as he realized what was going on, his mind racing to figure out exactly what had happened. Did his bloodline establish a domain within his body? Was his bloodline beyond the scope of the Yang-Sphere, and thus unable to be repressed? Or was it something else?


    Those rising thoughts were instantly squashed, left for contemtion at ater date. The only thing that mattered was the life and death battle he was charging headfirst into. His current task was to kill the Yang-Sovereign and nothing else, as if he failed, nothing else truly mattered.


    With his strength surging once more due to regaining full control over his body and the Qi surging within, John pushed forward even faster, his speed alone almost slicing space apart as he sped through the infernal domain of the Yang-Lotus!


    The Kirin-God Extinction, Asura Reaping Scythe and Sacred Sword Scripture finallynded on the startled Yang-Sovereign, who managed to take his weapon out at thest moment, swinging it towards the two battle arts as his aura exploded with the power of pure Yang.


    The Yang-Sovereign.s weapon, a il with a long orange shaft, a chain made of pure Yang Qi, and a striking head in the shape of a nine-petaled lotus, cracked against the two battle arts like a whip capable of shattering the firmament. The lotus-shaped striking head lit up like a star upon contact with the battle arts, then exploded with a power the Human Continent had not seen in millennia.


    BOOM!


    As if a star had exploded within the lotus domain, a st of pure yang, mixed with lightning and sword Qi sted outwards, its power capable ofpletely decimating entire continents.


    John''s expression hardened as he raced headfirst into this expanding explosion, his arms bulging with his full strength as he shed his scythe in front of him. The power of his four pinnacle Dao''s burst alight once more as he unleashed another Asura Reaping Scythe, his bones creaking from the weight of the weapon, his muscles straining from the force of the attack, his meridian''s straining from the surging Qi within.


    Che!


    The Asura Reaping Scythe image cleaved forward into the explosion, its sharpness carving a path into the explosion itself. John raced headfirst into that path, one that still had the power to shatter the body of a typical Early World Expansion cultivator with ease.


    Boom!


    The st of pure yang smashed into him like a thousand exploding volcanoes. His skin shattered and vanished like ash under the heat and power of the horrifying explosion, revealing muscle and bone beneath. Teeth gritted, John pressed forward into the horrifying explosion, his body racing through the path carved by his Asura Reaping Scythe!


    As he raced further into the explosion, the path he created began to wane, the power of the explosion copsing in on the empty space. As it did so, the heat of the pure Yang surrounding him burned at his flesh and singed his hair, drowning him in a world of agony once more.


    Bang!


    The explosion finally copsed on him, its power mming into him from all sides at once. John felt as though he had been smashed into by heavenly mountains from all directions, his body nearly breaking from the force. His muscles tore and bones fractured, repairing a momentter from thebined healing factor of his Dragon, Asura, Limiters, and innate bloodline healing ability.


    Che!


    John finally shot out of the explosion, appearing once more in the normal domain of the Yang-Lotus. While the heat and power here was beyond terrifying, it felt like a breath of fresh airpared to thebined power of the Yang-Lotus and explosion he had just been in.


    The world still burning around him, the air shimmering and baking from the Yang energy permeating the domain, John''s eyes locked onto the Yang-Sovereign. The Yang-Sovereign stood several miles away, his lotus-shaped il held in his right hand, his left arm lying on the ground next to him, no longer attached to his body.


    In the opening exchange of the battle, the surprise attack being the most crucial advantage John and the Sword-Saint would get, a single severed arm was their only victory. For a cultivator as powerful as the Yang-Sovereign, such an injury could hardly be considered as such. In their endeavor to kill the Yang-Sovereign in their opening surprise attack, John and the Sword-Saint had failed.

 Chapter 1130 Battling The Yang-Sovereign Pt. 2

    Chapter 1130 Battling The Yang-Sovereign Pt. 2


    John didn''t know if his Asura Reaping Scythe or the Sacred Sword Scripture had severed that arm, but it didn''t matter either. Despite their best surprise attack, using their strongest attacks possible, they had only managed to sever an arm of the Yang-Sovereign.


    Such an injury, while debilitating, was hardly battle-changing. It was a disappointing sight, as John had hoped their attack would have grievously wounded the Yang-Sovereign at the very least, but it was better than nothing.


    The Yang-Sovereign was looking at his severed arm, then the stump at his left shoulder. Blood and pure Yang mes burst from the open wound, as if the Yang-Sovereign himself was a hybrid of human and Yang.


    His gaze snapped up, instantly locking onto John as he burst out of the explosion. His teeth gnashed, his expression as if it could kill alone, the Yang-Sovereign turned towards John, only feeling rage and fury instead of shock and disbelief.


    Then, without uttering a single word of anger or mockery, the Yang- Sovereign swung his right arm out, the Pure Yang chain of his il elongated as the lotus-shaped striking head shot out towards John, its power like that of an exploding sun.


    John dashed to the side with his fastest speed at thest possible moment as the striking head shot past him, its remnant power alone nearly overwhelming him. The heat of the striking head charred the right side of his body, turning it ck. His skin cracked and turned to ash, then fell off, revealing his muscles and bones beneath once more before being healed over by his healing ability.


    John shot towards the Yang-Sovereign with renewed speed, his scythe raised, prepared to unleash a decisive blow.


    "Naive child," the Yang-Sovereign sneered, his right hand snapping the il shaft downwards. A cracking sound as loud as an exploding battle art rang out behind John as the Yang chain snapped tight, the striking head changing course directly towards John''s unguarded back.


    With the distance between the two, the striking head would no doubtnd on John first, its power far too great for him to withstand through his body durability alone. With the level of battle he found himself in, only his Asura Reaping Scythe and Kirin-God Extinction could stand up to an attack from the Yang-Sovereign. His Heavenly Lightning Domain or Twenty-Fold Lightning Ruin were far too weak to contest the Yang-Sovereign''s attack, making a quick counter- attack impossible. Only his full strength could deal with such an attack.


    However, if he turned to defend against it, that opening would be all the Yang-Sovereign would be able to attack him directly,nding a killing blow while his back was turned to the Sovereign. It was the first counterattack of the life and death battle, and John had already lost.


    Yet, he pressed onwards, his gaze unwavering, his speed increasing through the hellish inferno he found himself in. With things as they were, he had no choice but to trust in the one who he had despised more than anyone else on the Nine-Dao World.


    A sneering smile appeared on the Yang-Sovereign''s face as he watched John fly towards him, his striking head catching up with ease, about to smash into John''s back with the weight of mountains and the power of stars.


    Che!


    A blinding white light suddenly shot through the explosion a moment after John, shooting towards the il''s striking head with a speed even greater than the Yang-Sovereign.s weapon. Before the Yang-Sovereign could react, the Sword-Saint appeared like a ghost next to the striking head, his sword shing outwards with the power of a Saint.


    Bang!


    The Sword-Saint''s sword mmed against the striking head, his power weaker but still strong enough to knock the attack to the side. The striking sted to the side, narrowly missing John at thest possible moment.


    Asura Reaping Scythe!


    Arriving near the Yang-Sovereign, John shed forward with his full might, unleashing a point nk Asura Reaping Scythe; the strongest version of the attack there was. His scythe exploded with the power of space and lightning, power and destruction, sting apart the Yang inferno around him.


    Che!


    Despite being locked down by the spatial repression formation, space itself was sliced into as John''s scythe cleaved down on the Yang-Sovereign with lethal purpose.


    BOOM!


    An explosion of Yang so intense that it nearly knocked him unconscious sted out before John, erupting from within the Yang-Sovereign himself. John was sted backwards by the sudden release of power, his skin turning to ash, his muscles burning from the heat, his bones melting and reforging anew.


    John tumbled head over heels through the infernal air of the Yang- Lotus realm, feeling as though he had been bathed in the center of a star. He regained his momentum a momentter, pressing down the blood rising in his throat, its heat making it feel as though pure magma was coursing through his veins.


    Che!


    A sword-image cleaved through the air as the Yang-Sovereign exploded from his location towards John, space shattering beneath his every step. The Yang-Sovereign turned and swung his il towards the Sword-Image, an explosion erupting as the two collided in mid-air.


    The Sword-Image shattered like ss, then the very Qi it was made of seemed to melt from the heat of the Yang-Sovereign''s attack, dissipating into nothingness. The Sword-Saint was flung back in a simr manner, righting himself only a momentter.


    "You Sword cultivators think yourself the pinnacle of the cultivation world," the Yang-Sovereign roared as he ignored John and shot towards the Sword-Saint, his il cracking towards the still recovering Sword-Saint like a meteor of death and destruction. "You look down on everyone as lesser creatures, considering yourself gods amongst men. Yet, before the power of True Yang, even the Sword Dao shall melt, and even True God''s shall burn!"


    Boom!


    A cataclysmic beam of ruins lightning sted towards the Yang- Sovereign''s side, drawing his attention at thest possible moment before his attack connected with the Sword-Saint. The Yang- Sovereign diverted his attack at thest moment, his il mming into the beam of the Kirin-God Destruction, shattering it and drowning the Yang Lotus realm in another apocalyptic explosion.


    Che!


    A sword-image pierced towards the Yang-Sovereign''s side a split secondter, piercing directly towards his heart. The Yang- Sovereign gnashed his teeth in anger and fntstration, unable to deal with it directly as his off-hand had been severed earlier.


    Bang!


    An explosion of pure yang sted out from the Yang-Sovereign.s injured shoulder as a new arm made of pure Yang Qi appeared with a sh of light, appearing more like a yang-petal than an arm.


    Bang!


    A st of pure Yang-Qi exploded towards the Sword-Image, shattering it before it could reach his body. Then, with a roar of pure anger and fury, the Yang-Sovereign''s aura exploded to heights yet unseen, his power seeming to reach the level of the surrounding Yang-Lotus itself.


    Like a being of pure Yange to life, the Yang-Sovereign''s body began to glow with the power of essence runes, while tendrils of Yang Qi emerged from his body. The Yang-Qi expanded a short distance around him, eventually stopping several yards in each direction as a translucent lotus of pure Yang enveloped the Yang- Sovereign, its nine-petals moving about like nine arms of pure Yang.


    Then, with his eyes glued to John, eyes containing murderous malevolence, the Yang-Sovereign growled softly.


    "Nine-Petal Lotus Transformation!"

 Chapter 1131 The Yang-Sovereigns True Power

    Chapter 1131 The Yang-Sovereigns True Power


    John stared grimly at the Yang-Sovereign, who was nowpletely enveloped by a translucent lotus made of pure Yang Qi, his body enshrouded within. The nine petals of the lotus moved independently of one another, like nine limbs of destruction.


    While the Yang-Sovereign had called the art a ''transformation,'' John could tell it was not a true body transformation art. It was more akin to an essence art, one quite simr to the Astral Emperor''s astral form. It was a form made entirely of Qi, so strong that it was almost like a body cultivator had embraced the Yang-Sovereign within, their powers working in unison to form the ultimate fighting form.


    The nine yang petals writhed like tentacles, pping the air around the Yang-Sovereign. A st of air strong enough to destroy weaker cultivators boomed out from each movement of the petals, like a primordial beast was trying to destroy everything around it.


    Most terrifying of all was the heat that enshrouded the Yang- Sovereign. The translucent lotus of yang emanated a terrifying heat, one almost on par with the weakened Yang-Lotus. The air shimmered and space seemed to roil under the intense heat and pressure surrounding the Yang-Sovereign, greatly increasing the danger of approaching him.


    Just approaching the Yang-Sovereign at this point would be a dangerous undertaking, let alonending an attack. John''s gaze narrowed, his face grim as he stared at his opponent, one who truly deserved his reputation as a Sovereign of the Nine-Dao World. And most shocking of all, this was his weakened form.


    John could only imagine how horrifying the Yang-Sovereign was at his full strength, and didn''t want to find out either. This battle needed to end here, and quickly.


    "I don''t know what power that is you possess," the Yang-Sovereign said to John, his voice itself roiling like a hellish furnace was speaking, and not a human. "But it won''t be enough to save you. Both you and the Sword-Saint shall perish here, then everyone else as well!"


    Boom!


    The air exploded behind John as he shot forward once more, understanding that the Yang-Sovereign was stalling for time by speaking to him. It was beyond obvious that John''s current form was unsustainable, and every second the Yang-Sovereign wasted was a second closer to victory for him. Unfortunately for him, space was locked down by the Yang-Sphere formation, and so using his spatial movement art was impossible for him at the moment. While he could open space through his attacks, stepping into it anding back out would require far too much time and energy, making it far worse than moving through physical speed alone.


    The Yang-Sovereign scoffed and swung his il towards John, the striking head like an approaching star of destruction. John didnt even try to deal with the attack, as although he could deflect it with his full power, it would at best result in a stalemate between him and the Yang-Sovereign. In a battle where time was the most precious resource for him, it was a tactic he could not afford to do.


    Che!


    As hoped, a brilliant sword-image cleaved towards the striking head, followed by the Sword-Saint shing into existence before John, his true sword cleaving out as well. The two had an understanding that in this battle, John was the lead, while the Sword-Saint was the support.


    As such, he needed to help John find an opening tond a decisiveand fatal blow on the Yang-Sovereign.


    Boom!


    The lotus realm trembled as sword struck il, the powers of two Holy Manifestation cultivators shing with apocalyptic ruin. The Sword-Saint''s sword image shattered and turned to ash from the first exchange, but weakened the il enough for his true sword to deflect the striking head to the side of John, who sped by like a blur of lightning, a wake of lightning and yang sting behind him.


    "Tch, annoying gnat," the Yang-Sovereign grunted, his arm snapping down as he tightened the chain of his il, sending the striking head back towards John.


    A sh of brilliant white light drowned the lotus domain for a moment as the Sword-Saint activated his Infinite Sword Domain. Tens of thousands of swords appeared in the air around him, the sight beyond awe-inspiring. The sword twisted and burned in the heat of the lotus domain, but more swords took their ce, forming a ceaseless sea of swords in the sky.


    Bang!


    The striking head mmed into the sea of swords, shattering through them like a cannonball through panes of ss. The swords shattered and dissipated as the striking head crashed through like an unstoppable beast, then reformed on the other side, surging towards the striking head with ceaseless determination.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Swords and il fought a battle of attrition, one that the Sword- Saint was clearly losing. However, his actions were working, slowing down the ils striking head to a point that it was almost useless to the Yang-Sovereign.


    While the Yang-Sovereign''s il was incredibly dangerous and unpredictable with enough range to reach every corner of the Yang Lotus realm, its reach was being used against it at the moment as the Sword-Saint locked it down a great distance away from the Yang-Sovereign.


    "Locking down his weapon is about as much as I can do for you," the Sword-Saint said through sound transmission. "The rest will be up to you."


    John nodded wordlessly, his figure carving a beam of destruction through the Yang Lotus realm, piercing directly towards the Yang- Sovereign, who was still pulling on his il, trying to retrieve it.


    A gunt of frustration boomed from the Yang-Sovereign as he abandoned his weapon for the moment, his focus returning to John. Two of the lotus petals shot out towards John, intercepting him before he could reach the Sovereign.


    Kirin-God Extinction!


    An kirin avatar of lightning formed behind John, its form bing corporeal in an instant. The gem on its forehead lit up brightly, like a blinding blue sun, then unleashed a powerful beam of destructive lightning directly towards the lotus petals. It was not a fully channeled attack, but it was the strongest attack John could unleash at a moment''s notice to deal with the Yang-Sovereigns lotus petals.


    Boom!


    The attacks collided, shattering the air and sending an explosion outwards in all directions. The petals shattered the lightning beam, ending its path towards the Yang-Sovereign, but lost a great deal of energy in the exchange as well.


    Che!


    A scythe-image suddenly cleaved through the explosion, cleaving its way directly towards the Yang-Sovereign. John shot out of the carved path an instantter, his scythe gripped in two hands, ready to sh down on the Yang-Sovereign with his absolute might.


    As he rapidly approached the Yang-Sovereign, John saw the Sovereign sneer, a look of both amusement and malevolence appearing on his face. He narrowed his gaze as he watched the Yang-Sovereign drop his weapon, the shaft falling through the air below him.


    Then, the Yang-Sovereign raised his remaining hand, his index finger, ring finger and thumb connecting together above his palm. Suddenly, the Yang qi permeating the Yang Lotus Realm started racing towards the Yang-Sovereign, like a tidal wave converging on one singr location.


    An incredible amount of heat raced over John, who ignored it as best he could while pressing on for his assault. He knew the Yang- Sovereign was doing something, but couldn''t back down now, not when time was of the essence.


    The Yang Qi continued to race towards the Yang-Sovereign, converging above his palm and inside his conjoined fingers. A brilliant sh of glowing Yang materialized on his palm, like a miniature sun had formed. More and more Yang Qi converged into that sun of Yang, and instead of growing in size, the miniature sun continued to shrink, going from two inches across to a size John could hardly see.


    John''s instincts suddenly red with a warning only eclipsed during his battle with the Asura, his eyes widening with horrifying realization. THis attack was not something he could withstand head on from this close, at least not without sustaining grievous damage.


    Abandoning his attack, he shot backwards at the fastest possible speed he could. The Yang-Sovereign sneered as he saw this, while the space within the Yang Lotus realm suddenly seemed to freeze, almost as if time and space itself was stopping to watch what was about to happen, but only for a single moment.


    "Pure Yang Supernova!" John heard the Yang-Sovereign sneer, his palm moving to face directly towards John and the Sword-Saint.


    Then, as if a true star had copsed and gone supernova, an explosion of Yang beyond anything John had expected or experienced appeared, its power coursing directly towards him. The Yang supernova reached him almost instantly, drowning both him and the Sword-Saint in its power.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 1132 Plunging Into the Asura Abyss

    Chapter 1132 Plunging Into the Asura Abyss


    BOOM!


    Watching from below, the stunned crowd watched as a wave of Yang Qi, so powerful that it shook them to their cores, sted against the edge of the Yang Lotus, its power enough to st a small opening into the side of the lotus.


    Despite the power of the explosion being reduced by the Yang Lotus, the resulting shockwave sted against those watching from below, its power enough to shatter the bodies of the weaker cultivators who had been present.


    Unfortunately for those cultivators, they had already been sucked up into the Yang Lotus, leaving only those in the Heaven Tribtion Realm and above remaining. Those in the Heaven Tribtion Realm groaned from the pain, feeling as through their bodies were about to copse from the pressure of the shockwave alone.


    A moment after exploding out of the Yang Lotus, the remnant power of the Yang explosion faded away before it could reach the edge of the Yang-Sphere. The hole in the Yang Lotus reformed an instantter, Yang Qi reknitting the wound as if it had never existed. Millions of wide eyes, filled with both awe and horror, watched as the battle unfolded within the Yang Lotus realm. While they could not use their divine sense to peer into the lotus, its translucency allowed them to follow the battle within for the most part.


    They had watched as John, his power defying reality and the Heavens, and the Sword-Saint fought the Yang-Sovereign, their battle beyond terrifying, their powers beyondprehension. They had considered John''s words of killing the Yang-Sovereign to be nothing but empty blustering, but after feeling his true power, their hope was once again reignited.


    The eight million remaining cultivators watched on with wide eyes and bated breaths, their hopes ced in the Sword-Saint and a Dao Transformation youth they had cursed and insulted for most of the tournament. Those hopes were squashed as they felt the horrifying power of thetest explosion, as almost none believed John and the Sword-Saint could withstand that and remain in fighting condition.


    Still, they clung to thatst sliver of hope, millions of silent prayers said for the two who could provide their salvation.


    Boom!


    The Pure Yang Supernova sted over John and the Sword-Saint, both of them unleashing their strongest attack at thest possible moment to give them a hope for surviving this explosion.


    Kirin-God Extinction!


    Sacred Sword Scripture!


    Sword and Lightning sted forward, mming onto the unstoppable explosion of Yang. The two attacks were swallowed up instantly, their power eclipsed by the might of the Pure Yang Supernova.


    Bang!


    The explosion of Yang mmed against them an instantter, drowning them in ruinous power and horrifying heat. Despite his Kirin-God Extinction lessening the power of the explosion by a small amount, he tumbled through the sky, sted outwards by the explosion without being able to resist at all.


    His skin turned to ash, his muscles cooked within his body and even his bones began to melt, nearly unable to withstand the unstoppable might and heat of the Yang-Sovereign.s attacks. Teeth gnashed, John did his best to control the Qi within his body, sending it to the parts most damaged by the continuous st. His healing Qi coursed through his damage body, healing the melted bones and cindered muscles and ashen skin, only to be destroyed a momentter by the explosion again.


    As he was flung through the sky, the battle between healing and destruction raged on within his body, John barely able to keep his body intact and mind focused. The pain was nearly overwhelming, even for someone as experienced with pain as him. After what felt like an eternity, he finally regained a sliver of control over himself and his Qi, then shed out with his scythe, carving a path through the explosion.


    He surged forward and burst out of the explosion just before mming into the internal walls of the Yang Lotus, narrowly avoiding a gruesome end.


    Che!


    A sword-image cleaved out from the explosion a moment afterwards, followed by a miserable looking Sword-Saint speeding out of the explosion. Blood slicked the Saints body in many locations, with deep wounds covering much of his body. John was surprised to see the Sword-Saint manage the attack even better than him. While the Sword-Saint was weaker than him in power at the moment, and was not a body cultivator, his true body was still that of a Holy Manifestation cultivator.


    As such, it was on aparable level to John''s current durability, allowing him, alongside the terrifying sword arts he used, to survive that attack.


    "That''s a true Holy Manifestation cultivator for you," he yunted, returning his gaze to the distant Yang-Sovereign.


    The Sword-Saint shed towards John, appearing next to him an instantter.


    "Can you still fight?" he asked John, eyeing his gruesome condition. John merely nodded, his answer surprising the Saint. "You''re far more terrifying than I could have ever imagined. I...apologize for the way I treated you before. It was shortsight-"


    "You can apologize after we kill the Yang-Sovereign," John cut the Sword-Saint off, as now was not the time for heartfelt apologies. Every second was a second closer to his body copsing from the tremendous strain his current level of power burdened him with, and so no second could be wasted.


    The two watched the Yang-Sovereign remain motionless in the distance, not approaching them, eyeing them with an amused smile. The surrounding Qi from the Yang Lotus coursed towards him, reinvigorating the Qi he expended in that apocalyptic Pure Yang Supernova.


    Both John and the Sword-Saint grimaced,ing to a terrible realization.


    "In this realm of pure Yang, the Yang-Sovereign has an almost infinite amount of Qi to use," the Sword-Saint said through sound transmission, his expression grim. ''We cannot fight a battle of attrition against him. Either we suppress his power, weakening him to a point that we can kill him, or we cut off his ability to freely absorb the lotus Yang. If we cannot do that, defeat is imminent."


    He nced at John, eying his condition again, surprised at how much John had healed in just a few seconds. Compared to before, his condition was night and day. What he didn''t know was the horrifying amount of Qi John used to heal his body, Qi that was slowly but surely dwindling.


    "I do not have a way to restrict his Yang Qi absorption, nor do I have a way to suppress his power," the Sword-Saint continued, his piercing gaze silently asking John the question. ''Do you?''


    John remained silent for a second, his mind racing for solutions. They had already used their most powerful attacks against the Yang-Sovereign, and had not seeded in killing him. The Sword- Saint was right in his assessment of the battle. They had to weaken the Yang-Sovereign first, or cut him off from his unlimited Yang.


    He didn''t have a way to do thetter, but an idea was forming in his mind regarding the former. He gritted his teeth as the idea grew in his mind, one so crazy that he would never have considered it in any situation other than the one he currently found himself in.


    "I might have a way," John finally replied, expression grim. The Sword-Saint''s eyes lit up with hope and relief, his expression begging for John to exin. John nced at the Sword-Saint, then breathed in deeply as he prepared for what was toe next.


    "I have a Domain Art that I''ve been cultivating, one that has the power to diminish the powers of others within the domain," John said, his words growing the hope within the Sword-Saint''s soul. "But, I''ve never been able to sessfully unleash the domain, and I doubt I can do so now either."


    "Then...." the Sword-Saint replied with defeat, unable to finish his sentence.


    "But," John continued. "I may just have a way that will allow me to not only be a tiny bit stronger, but also allow me toprehend the fundamentals of that domain to a point that I can use it in battle."


    "Truly?" the Sword-Saint replied, hope evident in his voice. "Then why haven''t you used it yet?"


    "Because," John said after breathing out deeply. "Doing so will push myself to the edge of destruction, both physically and mentally. In order to achieve this power, I will need to abandon a part of my humanity, sacrificing it to fuel the Asura within me. If I do that, I have no idea what will happen, and in the worst-case scenario, I perish from the power, or I lose my sanity and no longer have control over my body and mind. In that case, I could see you as an enemy just as much as the Yang-Sovereign. Its an all-out gamble, one that very well might fail even if it works."


    The Sword-Saint fell silent for a second, then instantly made up his mind. "There is no other option, John," he said to John with soft sincerity, using his name for the first time instead of calling him boy or some form of insult. "Do what you must. From everything I''ve seen of you so far, I have full confidence in your ability to control this power."


    John gave the Sword-Saint a surprised nce, then nodded slowly. His mind made up, he focused his Qi inwards towards the Artifact, the object that had been his Body Dantian for many years now.


    Ever since stepping into the Heaven Tribtion Realm, his Essence Dantian and Body Dantian became inexorably linked, making it nearly impossible for him to raise his Body Dantian to a level above his Essence Dantian like he had done in his early cultivation realms.


    Every attempt to do so had nearly pushed his mind and soul into the realm of insanity as his Asura powers sought to overtake his body and mind, a risk too great to ever take.


    Now, that risk was the only possible solution for getting out of this alive. To suppress the Yang-Sovereign to a level that they could kill, he needed to be able to unleash the Asura Domain. And in order toprehend the Asura Domain, he needed to be an Asura.


    With onest deep breath, John plunged his mind over the edge as he sent his beast blood essence reserves into his Body Dantian, pushing it towards the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, and his soul towards insanity.


    The process was almost instant, as what stopped him before was not the difficulty, but the danger of doing this. An agonizing amount of pain assaulted his mind, body, and soul, as the familiar murmurs gnawed at his very existence.


    Defile! Pige! Murder! ughter!


    In an instant, his Body Dantian stepped over the edge, taking his mind and soul with it. With thest shred of his remaining control, John formed a defensive wall around his soul using his strongest soul power he could, then plunged into the Asura abyss.


    As he took the plunge, deep within the pce realm, a deep, muffled growl emanated from the sinister gate as a hidden power stirred, tendrils of red and ck Qi permeating through the gate.

 Chapter 1133 Whispers From The Gate

    <h4>Chapter 1133 Whispers From The Gate</h4>


    As he pushed himself over the edge, forcing his Body Dantian into the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, John felt his mind twist and bend under the pressure of the murmurs, of the sinister aura growing by the second within his mind and soul. The pain became overwhelming, and then it vanished.


    Not the pain. No, the pain was still very much there. What vanished was the overwhelmingness of it all. John felt his mind snap, his humanity shattering like ss, his being embracing the Asura. At that moment, the pain was no longer an enemy, but a friend.


    He looked up, his eyes widening slightly before narrowing into a cold, murderous gaze as he stared at the sinister gate before him. Without realizing it, without knowing he had been drawn in, without doing it himself, John found himself standing before the sinister gate within his pce realm.


    The sinister aura permeated the massive room, a dark ck and red glow to everything. This aura was far thicker than normal, almost like a mist thick enough to choke a person. It was as if he were nearly swimming in this aura of murder and malevolence, an aura that typically drove him to the point of insanity, beyond the edge of madness.


    Now, this aura felt much less sinister, much less painful. Instead, it was something he found himself yearning for.


    ''More!'' he thought.


    More. More of this aura. More of this power. More of this pain!


    He nced at the sinister door, noticing thick tendrils of ck and red Qi emanating from it, something that had never happened before. He narrowed his eyes, studying it for a moment, then turned to leave this ce.


    The thrill and lust of battle nearly overwhelmed him, and in the outside world, there was a thrilling, murderous battle to be fought.


    "So...." a low growl boomed from the gate, causing John to pause his footsteps. He turned and looked at the sinister gate, studying the tendrils of ck and red Qi that writhed in the air as they made their way over to him.


    "You...have finally embraced the power of an Asura,n the voice continued, its pitch rumbling and deep, its nature sinister and malevolent. John''s narrowed eyes stared at the tendrils that surrounded him, then nced back at the massive gate.


    "So, there really is something behind this gate," John sneered, a smile of amused derangement appearing on his face. "I figured as much."


    The tendrils of Qinded on him like soft feathers, touching his skin and embracing his body. At that moment, he felt as though he had tnlly been plunged into the depth of the vilest of hells, one that would cause themon mind to shatter and break from the murmurs alone.


    Those murmurs told him to defile. To destroy. To kill. To ughter. To massacre everyone and everything. They told him to bring pain and anguish to the world, and cause as much chaos as possible.


    Normally, he would have defied these murmurs, pushing both them and the tendrils away, recoiling in pain and disgust. His mind now seeing things different, he swam in these thoughts, not embracing or denying, but considering. The temptation of the murmurs were truly enticing, so he remained instead of leaving.


    "Yes...." the voice growled menacingly. "I have been here....for time beyond counting...waiting for this day. Embrace me, and I shall give you power beyond your imagination."


    "Embrace you?" John replied, his voice almost as deep and guttural as the other voice but not quite. "I don''t know you. Why would I embrace you?"


    "You need my power, do you not?" the voice said, its message clear, its tone enticing. "You need my power to kill. Power to kill that man. Power to-"


    "I need your power?" John sneered, his face twisting. "Right now I have all the power I need. I understand everything my naive self wasn''t able to see just moments ago. I do not need your power. I alone am enough."


    A growl boomed from within the sinister gate, shaking it and rattling the chains binding it closed.


    "YOU NEED ME!" it roared with loud malevolence. "RELEASE ME!"


    "Piss off and stay in your cage," John said with a twisted expression and gnashed teeth, as if he were smiling down on a lesser creature, then he turned to leave, his soul fading from the sinister room. "This conversation bores me. I have things to do, and people to kill." Then he vanished.


    The sinister gate boomed again, shaking with violent intensity. Then the tendrils of Qi slowly began to withdraw back into it, the room returning to its former condition.


    "You will eventually reach out to me, open yourself to me and embrace my power," the voice growled, its tone a mixture of rage and expectation. "And when that dayes...."


    ...


    The Sword-Saint watched John fall silent, his entire existence like it has be frozen in time. There were no movements, no sounds made, nothing at all. It was as if John had be and empty shell, unnerving even the Sword-Saint.


    Then, as if a tempest of malevolence had erupted from the depths of the deepest hells, the Sword-Saint felt a horrifying aura emerge from John, one far more sinister than anything he had ever felt in his life. He had dealt with the Devils his entire life, beings of chaos, murder and destruction. And yet,pared to the Devils he had encountered, this aura was far, far more terrifying. Comparing the two auras was likeparing a child to an adult, a peasant to a God.


    A momentter, a sinisterugh suddenly filled the entire Yang Lotus Realm, the malevolence of it shaking both the Sword-Saint and the Yang-Sovereign to their cores. Thatughter was followed by the most horrifying cry that they had ever heard, like a roar from the most terrifying of primordial beasts. The sound was so shrill that it made their ears ache, and so evil that it made their souls tremble.


    Eyes wide, the Sword-Saint couldn''t help but move backwards instinctively, his guard raised as he stared at John. John''s body wriggled and writhed, like worms were underneath it, changing by the second. His frame grewrger, his arms and legs far more muscr, his two curved horns longer. Every aspect of his body became more brutal, more sinister, more perfect for ughter and destruction.


    Most terrifying of all were the two blood red eyes that seemed to glow like twin suns, eyes that snapped onto the Sword-Saint, plunging him into the depths of this sinister evil. He felt as though he was being stared at by a primordial demon, a creature of nightmares. He recalled John''s words at that moment, when John had mentioned the nature of his power.


    The word struck the Sword-Saint like a hammer from the heavens, his entire being bing stiff as he recalled all he knew of that mysterious, horrifying race that had plunged the universe into darkness eons ago.

 Chapter 1134 Asuraic Domain - Domain of Anguish

    Chapter 1134 Asuraic Domain - Domain of Anguish


    John''s maniacal words echoed throughout the Yang Lotus Realm as he sped towards the Yang-Sovereign. A trail of ck and red Qi spread behind him, like a blight tainting the realm. A wild, bloodthirsty look dominated his face as heughed loudly, his eyes glued to the Yang-Sovereign like a hawk.


    "ughter! Maim! Destroy!" John roared as he neared the Sovereign, who just now recovered from his shock at John''s sudden and terrifying transformation.


    While the Sovereign had never seen or fought a true Asura, he had read ounts and seen drawings of them. The creature before him now was so simr that it was almost as if John had truly be an Asura, something he had no idea was even possible.


    At the same time, the Yang-Sovereign felt the increased power emanating from John, reaching a level that could truly threaten him. Recovering quickly, he put away his il and raised his hand before him, connecting his three fingers in a circle as he had done just moments ago when unleashing his Pure Yang Supernova.


    The Yang Qi surrounding him began to race towards him, the power contained within his hand busting alight with blinding brilliance. He watched as John sped towards him like a demon, the Lotus realm trembling under his speed and might.


    Unlike before, John showed no signs of retreating. Instead, his speed increased as he raced towards the Sovereign, who smirked as the power in his hands increased, the miniature sun bing smaller and denser.


    "Perish, vile creature," the Yang-Sovereign said as he prepared to unleash his Pure Yang Supernova in the instant before John reached him, ensuring the maximum damage possible.


    "Hahaha, you shall know....ANGUISH!" John cried out, hisughter frenzied and maniacal as his aura suddenly exploded outwards. Thanks to his newly acquired power and the perspective it brought, John was finally able to understand the missing pieces to the domain of pain the Asura had used, one he had desperately tried to emte.


    His human perspective had been his shoring, obscuring his ability to see the true nature of the domain. He had tried to create a domain in which everyone but himself was affected, giving him a boost over his opponents.


    Now that he had embraced the mental state of a true Asura, that perspective had shattered, allowing him to see the truth.


    All shall know pain, and all shall be drowned in anguish, himself included. The domain of pain was not a self-excluding domain, it was an all-epassing domain. Pain was not an enemy, it was a friend. Pain gave him rity. Pain gave him strength. Pain gave him resolve. And more importantly, pain caused his enemies misery. Caused them unimaginable anguish. Caused them to suffer.


    To create the ultimate domain of pain, he needed to embrace the concept of pain to its fullest, using it on both enemies and himself alike. He could not make a true domain of pain while excluding himself from the effects. There were no exceptions, not even himself. Pain and anguish were absolute. Only when pain was absolute, could his domain be absolute.


    ''Asuraic Domain - Domain of Anguish!''


    Boom!


    Without any warning at all, a domain of ck and red burst into power around John, its power instantly mixing with the potent Yang Qi surrounding them. This domain enveloped the Yang-Sovereign and the surrounding area for miles in each direction, sting against the Sovereign before he could react.


    A surprised cry of pain left the Sovereign''s mouth, his face twisting in pain as an overwhelming pain assaulted his body, mind and soul. Murmurs of ughter, destruction, and other vile actions wed at his soul, while his body felt a physical pain great enough to cause his body to shudder and twist. It was a power that made his every thought be filled with pain, every movement of his body be thick with agony. It was a power that was impossible to resist, which also made it impossible to fight with his full strength.


    Boom!


    Overwhelmed by the sudden onught of physical pain and mental anguish, the Yang-Sovereign lost control of his Pure Yang Supernova. It began to ripple in his hand as it became unstable, and he desperately pushed through the sudden pain to regain control; but it was toote.


    Boom!


    The half-formed sun in the Yang-Sovereign''s palm exploded right in his face, a cataclysmic explosion bursting into existence directly in front of him, as well as John.


    A wide-eyed grin appeared on John''s face, one looking more like an Asura than a human at this point, as he increased his speed once more, diving headfirst into the horrific explosion. The explosion sted onto his body with ruinous power, instantly destroying his skin, rupturing muscles and organs, and fracturing bones.


    A spurt of blood burst from his mouth as well as open wounds on his body, blood that was instantly incinerated from the heat of the Lotus domain. The explosion fought to push him backwards, but John only increased his power, ignoring any wounds and embracing the pain they brought as he surged forward into the explosion.


    Then his scythe shed forward with full power as he approached a dark figure within the explosion.


    Bang!


    The scythe de mmed against the Yang-Sovereign''s hastily raised il, one he had managed to raise just as he saw John appear. The Yang-Sovereign''s body was covered in deep wounds from his destroyed battle art, his skin charred in many ces, blood dripping from several open wounds.


    "Gah!" The Yang-Sovereign cried out in pain as he shot backwards through the sky, his defense instantly overwhelmed by John''s impossible strength. It was the first time in this battle that he hadpletely lost out on an exchange, causing panic to arise within the Sovereign.


    The Yang-Sovereign shot out of the explosion, his body leaving behind a trail of blood and ash.


    "Dieee!" A sinister cry followed as John shot out of the explosion an instantter, his arm that he had used to attack the Sovereignpletely shattered, the arm held together by flesh and sinew. That flesh and sinew sizzled and was cooked by the heat of the Lotus realm, but the healing factor within John''s body fought against it, starting to reform his broken arm anew.


    His aura still enveloped both the Yang-Sovereign and himself, continuing the onught of pain and anguish both felt. The Yang- Sovereign grimaced against the pain, his body slowly but surely healing from his Yang-based healing abilities.


    "Come on!" John roared, his face twisted to an unrecognizable state, his tonepletely insane. "More! More! More! More pain. More ughter. More struggle! More death!"


    Boom!


    John exploded forward with shocking speed as he put away his heavy scythe, his heel mming down on the Yang-Sovereign''s chest before the Sovereign could fully react. The sound of breaking bone and tearing flesh rang out as John''s leg exploded into a mist of blood, his flesh rupturing and bones breaking under the force of the impact.


    At the same time, the Yang-Sovereign coughed up another mouthful of blood, his ribs fracturing from the force of the kick. His body shot downwards through the Lotus realm, screeching towards the internal wall of the Lotus. He watched as John''s maniacal smile grew wider, seemingly ignoring the pain of the domain and the anguish of his leg nearly shattering apart.


    A cry of pain and effort boomed from the Yang-Sovereign''s mouth as his power exploded once more, finally able to recover slightly from the pain and sudden onught. His il reappeared in his hand, which he swung outwards with incredible power, the striking head rising upwards towards John who was speeding towards him once more.


    "Hahahah, good! Resist! Fight! Suffer!" John roared manically as he sped towards the striking head, his scythe reappearing in his healed hands, swinging outwards with the power of a true Asura.


    Che!


    A brilliant sword-image suddenly appeared, cleaving apart all Yang Qi and mming into the striking head. The sword-image exploded into a shower of Sword Qi, but did enough to st the striking head aside, causing it to burst past John and into the distance.


    John''s head snapped to the side, his wide eyes glued to the distant Sword-Saint who hovered just outside the reaches of his Asuraic Domain.


    "Fuck off!" John roared, his blood red eyes brimming with rage and fury. "Do not interrupt my feast, or I''ll kill you next!"


    ...


    [Poster notes: I made a mistake while posting thest chapter and posted an iplete chapter, so feel free to read it again to make sure you didn''t miss anything] - Gus

 Chapter 1135 A Gruesome Battle

    <h4>Chapter 1135 A Gruesome Battle</h4>


    The Sword-Saint recoiled slightly,pletely surprised by John''s sudden outburst towards him. He gripped his sword tightly, his guard raised to the maximum as the two locked eyes. In that moment, the Sword-Saint felt what true terror was, of locking eyes with a creature of pure malevolence, pure destruction.


    He could tell that John was sincere in his words, that he would turn his scythe towards the Saint if he interrupted this battle of his. The Sword-Saint gritted his teeth, unsure of how to proceed for the moment.


    He had already been shocked to his core upon seeing John unleash his Domain of Anguish, which was unlike any domain the Sword- Saint had ever seen. It was apletely brutal domain, one that inflicted just as much harm onto John as it did his opponents. However, this only seemed to fuel John''s anger, fuel his bloodlust, turning him into a frenzied beast with no thoughts other than to ughter and destroy.


    The Sword-Saint then breathed a slight sigh of relief as John turned and shot towards the Yang-Sovereign once more, his sword tightly gripped in his hands. His mind raced with next steps, but only one thought seemed to have any hope of victory.


    ''I need to support John,'' the Sword-Saint thought, studying John''s body closely. This form of his is beyond his bodies ability to withstand, and each action of his does as much damage to him as it does the Yang-Sovereign. While he seems to have a slight advantage against at the Yang-Sovereign, his body will give out before he is able to turn that advantage into victory. There is only one option I can choose; trust in John, and help him no matter the cost.''


    Mind made up, the Sword-Saint sped forward towards the battle, his sword pointing directly towards the Yang-Sovereign''s heat.


    ''Divine Sword Pierces the Firmament!''


    Che!


    The Yang-Sovereign''s grimace deepened as his attack was thwarted, then breathed a sigh of relief after John paused to confront the Sword-Saint instead of press the advantage. His weapon returned to his side as he recovered as much strength as he could in this opening, his grimace turning into a confident yet pained smile as he saw John approach.


    ''His body will fall apart before long. All I need to do is stall and wai-''


    The Yang-Sovereign''s gaze snapped to the side as he felt a lethal danger approaching from his side. He spotted the Sword-Saint''s battle art, the Divine Sword Pierces the Firmament, piercing towards him with unimaginable speed.


    This was the same battle art that Ji''Han had unleashed against Jaxus to destroy his lotus battle art, only far faster and more lethal due to the Sword-Saint''s higher cultivation and increased control over the Sword-Dao.


    The Yang-Sovereign roared out with panicked fury as he shed his il towards the attack, knowing that his Yang Lotus Transformation form could not fully protect his body from such a terrifying attack.


    Bang!


    Sword and il smashed into one another several dozen yards from the Yang-Sovereign, creating an explosion of Yang and Sword. The Sword-Saints sword image shattered like ss, unable to withstand the power of the Yang-Sovereign.s more explosively powerful il. Yet, that opening was all that was needed, one the Yang-Sovereign realized as his gaze snapped upwards towards the one falling down towards him.


    "Hahahaha!" John''s maniacalughter boomed out as he shed down with his scythe, which cleaved directly towards theSovereign''s head.


    All nine lotus petals sun-ounding the Yang-Sovereign''s body surged upwards towards John, hoping to stop his scythe for long enough to put distance between the two of them. Another burst of frenziedughter boomed from John as he did the unexpected, and threw his scythe towards the Sovereign. His arms burst into a shower of blood from the force at which he threw his extraordinarily heavy scythe, but his maniacalughter showed no signs of caring about such damage or pain.


    Che!


    The scythe, turning head over heels like a wheel of ruin, cleaved directly through the lotus petals, its power and sharpness far too great to be stopped by concentrated Yang Qi alone. The Yang- Sovereign opened his mouth, which lit up brightly like the sun, followed by a beam of pure Yang Qi sting towards the scythe.


    Bang!


    The scythe was sted aside, finally stopped by the Yang- Sovereign''s attacks. The beam then sted onto John, exploding against his body with horrifying power, stopping his momentum and sting him upwards away from the Sovereign.


    The sound of bones breaking boomed out as John was sted upwards, blood spurting about him, turning to ash in the terrifying heat. His maniacalughter paused for only a moment before he righted himself and burst alight with power once more, speeding back towards the Yang-Sovereign with unwavering dedication, grabbing his falling scythe on the way.


    He didn''t even utter words anymore, the only sounds he made were guttural roars and frenziedughter.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    John and the Yang-Sovereign smashed into one another over and over, their apocalyptic power shaking all of creation. The Sword- Saint continued to fight alongside John despite his earlier warnings, staying just outside the range of his domain, keeping John alive whenever he could.


    As such, the battle, a battle that appeared to be a battle between gods and demons for those watching from below, raged on with unbelievable power and cruelty. The sky fractured and the realm shook under the weight of their powers, seeming as though it would fall apart at any second.


    As the battle raged on, the Sword-Saint became increasingly anxious, his fears of defeat growing by the second. Despite John''s incredible power and horrifying domain, and despite him holding the slight advantage in their direct battle, the Yang-Sovereign was able to hold on. Even with the Sword-Saint doing all he could, the Yang-Sovereign persisted like an undying battle god, waiting for the time that John''s body finally sumbed to the internal destruction, at which point the Sovereign''s victory would be assured.


    And based on the rapidly deteriorating state of John''s body, that time was rapidly approaching. It was already a miracle that his body could withstand such incredible power and such a horrifying burden for so long, especially considering his true body was only in the Dao Transformation Realm.


    It was beyond heaven-defying, but even those who defied the heavens had their limits. And if the Yang-Sovereign was not defeated before that limit was reached, then everyone was doomed to perish.


    ''As expected of a Sovereign. He''s truly deserving of his title; the Sword-Saint thought, although he hated to admit it. He always was jealous of the Yang-Sovereign, and considered him the Sovereign''s equal despite his lower cultivation.


    Now he understood that there was a gap between them, one that determination and the Sword Dao alone could not bridge. While speeding through the Lotus realm, following the battle and unleashing his most powerful sword arts, the Sword-Saint nced downwards, his eyes locking onto a figure on the other side of the Lotus realm, standing in the arena far below.


    The Sword-Saint locked eyes with his son, Ji''Han, for a singr moment, then breathed in deep as he made up his mind. The anxious look on his face vanished immediately, reced by one of pure resolve. A look formed by a resolve so strong, the Sword-Saint could not recall a time when he was more resolved in his life.


    A resolve to win this battle at all costs, regardless of the personal price he had to pay. For his son''s survival, everything was an eptable price. A deep breath then escaped the Sword-Saint''s mouth as, mind firmly made up, he sped towards the battle again, piercing into the Domain of Anguish as his aura exploded like a brilliant, white sun, powered by the burning of his blood essence, the lifeblood of a cultivator.


    [Poster Notes: This is a left over chapter from the previous month that I was toozy to post, sorry about that. I''ll most likely get priv this month again and start posting, thanks - Gus]

 Chapter 1136 The Sword-Saints Resolve

    Chapter 1136 The Sword-Saint''s Resolve


    His blood essence burning within, igniting a power that the Sword-Saint had never felt before, he sped towards the battle, piercing into John''s Domain of Anguish. The Sword-Saint braced himself for the pain, but still couldn''t help but gasp from the agony he felt, both mental and physical.


    It was as if his body was being yed, his skin peeled, his muscles ripped, his bones ground into dust. It was as if his soul was being cooked alive by an infernal hellfire, making each thought excruciating, affecting both hisbat prowess and instincts.


    Still, despite this excruciating pain, the Sword-Saint pushed forward, knowing that he needed to help end this battle quickly and decisively. The only way to do that was to get up close and personal to the Yang-Sovereign, unleashing an attack that the Yang-Sovereign was not able to deflect at thest possible moment. As he sped into the dark domain, his vision became a blur as the ck and red of the Asura Domain mixed with the Yang of the Lotus Realm. It was like being plunged into a sea of ck and red magma, so thick it was difficult to move through. So hot that it burned his flesh, charring his skin and adding to the pain he felt.


    Within this sea of agony, the Sword-Saint spotted John and the Yang-Sovereign, the two of them locked in a brutal battle, exchanging attack after attack, wound after wound. The Sword-Saint grit his teeth and firmed his resolve for thest push of power, both in this battle, and potentially his life. Then, his sword glowing like a brilliant white sun, he joined the battle.


    Within this sea of agony, the Sword-Saint spotted John and the Yang-Sovereign, the two of them locked in a brutal battle, exchanging attack after attack, wound after wound. The Sword-Saint grit his teeth and firmed his resolve for thest push of power, both in this battle, and potentially his life. Then, his sword glowing like a brilliant white sun, he joined the battle.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The realm of the Yang Lotus trembled nonstop as John and the Yang-Sovereign exchanged a flurry of attacks, both of themnding gruesome blows on the other. Qi and blood flew about the air, bing singed by the immense heat of the Yang surrounding them. The Yang-Sovereign flicked his one arm towards John, five balls of power, like miniature suns, appearing before each finger. The miniature suns sped towards John and surrounded him in an instant, then exploded before he could react. While not as powerful as the fully powered Pure Yang Supernova, each of the five miniature suns were powerful enough to destroy entire countries, ruin entire kingdoms. All five exploded at point nk range, drowning John in the center of a horrifyingly powerful explosion.


    BOOM!


    The entire Yang-Sphere shook violently, the Yang Lotus realm unable to fully contain the power of the explosion and shockwaves. The spectators below were sted by this shockwave, many of them knocked unconscious by its power, then sucked up into the Yang Lotus as they no longer had the power to resist its suction.


    For those who stayed conscious, their anxious worries continued to grow, as there was seemingly no end to the battle in sight. And even if there was an end, it didn''t look promising that it would end in victory.


    "Hahaha!" maniacalughter boomed from within the explosion of Pure Yang, followed by John shooting out of it, his expression twisted. His body waspletely devoid of skin, while many of his muscles were ripped, many bones fractured orpletely broken.


    The Yang-Sovereign''s eyes went wide as he watched John approach him without a care for his injuries, which began to heal at an unnatural speed. The Sovereign thought that attack would have given him breathing room, but no matter what he did, John continued toe for him like an undead zombie, unable to be killed. An Immortal Asura, unable to be defeated. "KILL!" John roared maniacally, his scythe shing outwards towards the falling Yang-Sovereign. An Asura Reaping Scythe image cleaved towards the Yang-Sovereign, parting all Yang before it, reaching the Yang-Sovereign in an instant. The Yang-Sovereign grit his teeth and swung his il outwards, the striking head mming against the scythe image. Another explosion sted between them, which John ignored as he shot through it, his body destroyed and reformed anew before he could truly die. He no longer held his scythe, and so his speed was far greater than before, not slowed down by its immense weight. Like a meteor crashing down to a, John sped downwards feet first, his heels smashing directly towards the Yang-Sovereign''s chest.


    The Yang-Sovereign had already received one of these attacks from John, and had no intention of taking another directly. He no longer looked down on John''s physical body attacks, which were somehow just as strong as his attacks with his weapon, or so it seemed. The Yang-Sovereign recovered his il''s striking head with a flick of his wrist, then swung it outwards towards John. With the power of stars, the striking head shot upwards towards John, intending on ending the fight now that John was weaponless.


    The Yang-Sovereign''s gaze suddenly snapped to the side, his eyes going wide as he saw a sh of light appear, like a metallic object catching the light just right. He then saw John''s scythe, spinning through the air, moving directly towards him like a ded wheel of death. Without realizing it, John had thrown his scythe in the middle of the explosion, which arced around towards the Yang-Sovereign while he dealt with John directly. This simple attack would have been easily detected in a normal battle with divine sense, but the heat and intensity of the Yang Qi within the Lotus realm was so intense that it interfered with everyone''s divine sense, the Yang-Sovereign''s included.


    The Yang-Sovereign, abat expert as he was, didn''t panic. He continued his il attack towards John, while his head turned to the side, his mouth opening, a deep glow emerging from within.


    Boom! n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    A st of ruinous Yang Qi exploded from the Yang-Sovereign''s mouth, sting towards the scythe. The two met in the air, crashing against one another, followed by an explosion as the beam sted the scythe off course enough to miss the Yang-Sovereign. The Yang-Sovereign smirked as his il was about to reach John, whose legs would undoubtedly turn to paste if directly struck by the weapon.


    "What?" the Yang-Sovereign suddenly cried out, his instincts altering him of an enormous danger approaching from the other side. He knew it was the Sword-Saint, but was surprised by the level of lethality his instincts currently felt. He turned to look at the Sword-Saint, ready to intercept whatever ranged attack he used, much like each of his other attacks.


    The Yang-Sovereign''s eyes went wide as he spotted the Sword-Saint himself, piercing through the twin domains of Anguish and Yang, directly towards the Yang-Sovereign. The Sword-Saint''s body glowed a bright white, tinged ever so slightly with a blood red color. At the same time, the Sword-Saint''s power was actually on par with the Yang-Sovereign, something he had not expected at all.


    "Have you gone MAD? Burning your blood essence?" the Yang-Sovereign roared with a wild panic.


    "I''m dead either way," the Sword-Saint sneered, his sword growing in his hand to be a full mile long, glowing with the white power of the ultimate Sword Dao. With his power increased by burning his blood essence, he swung the massive sword towards the Sovereign, parting Yang and Asura Domain as if both were butter before a hot knife.


    The Yang-Sovereign felt dread creep through his body. He could easily deal with the Sword-Saint with the power difference, but with their powers at the same level, that was utterly impossible. Unless he dealt with the Sword-Saint with his full power, thetter would have the opportunity to cleave his body in half. The Yang-Sovereign was not dumb enough to look down on the Sword Dao, known for being the most lethal of all Dao''s.


    In what was potentially the final battle of his life, the Sword-Saint held nothing back as he swung his sword with his absolute power, intending to cleave even the Heavens apart if that''s what was required to win this battle.


    "Sacred Sword Scripture!"

 Chapter 1137 Finale of Devastation

    Chapter 1137 Finale of Devastation


    The Sword-Saint''s mile long sword cleaved down on the Yang-Sovereign with unmatched speed and sharpness, capable of cleaving the Yang-Sovereign clean in half if he didn''t use his full power to defend against it. And on top of that, he had lost an arm at the start of battle, making it impossible to deal with both John and the Sword-Saint with the same amount of power. As such, he needed to make a decision, and he did so after a moment''s hesitation.


    The Yang-Sovereign''s arm flicked downwards, pulling on his il''s chain, redirecting the striking head towards the Sword-Saint''s sword. The striking head turned immediately, its speed or power not lessening at all as it crashed towards the sword.


    Then the Yang-Sovereign looked towards John, his mouth opening again, unleashing another beam of pure Yang Qi, its roaring heat scorching the air, its power parting all before it.


    BOOM! BOOM!


    Both attacks met their targets at the same time, immediately drowning the entire Yang Lotus realm in the ruinous power of all three cultivators. Space shook and the entire Yang-Sphere trembled, the power so great that it bled out to the Yang-Dao Sect outside the Yang-Sphere, rumbling thend for hundreds of miles in every direction.


    The Yang-Sovereign was sted downwards by the explosion, increasing his speed towards the bottom of the Lotus Realm. The explosion sted against him, nearly destroying him before he could muster the power to withstand it, then used the surrounding Yang Qi to heal his fresh and gruesome wounds.


    "Haaaaaaaahahaha!" sinisterughter boomed from within the explosion, loud enough to be heard despite the explosion around him. "More! More! MOOOREEE!"


    Boom!


    A beam of ruinous lightning pierced through the explosion, carving a channel directly through it. It pierced directly towards the Yang-Sovereign, who spotted John from within the open channel, whose maniacal expression and sinister glowing-red eyes locked onto him, his battle lust not lessened at all despite the fact that his body was almost unrecognizable by the damage it had sustained.


    Yet again, John''s body began to heal at a terrifying rate, his rippled muscles reconnecting, his shattered bones reforging anew. However, the healing process was slower this time, fast enough to heal John in time for the next attack, but slow enough that the Yang-Sovereign could tell John''s Qi reserves and healing ability were almost at their end. His eyes flickered and a determined look appeared on the Yang-Sovereing''s face as he prepared to deal with the lightning beam and hold on for just a bit more, when suddenly the danger from the Sword-Saint reappeared, the Yang-Sovereign''s instincts ring with grave warning. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Che!


    The massive mile-long sword cleaved through the explosion with incredible speed and sharpness, seemingly uninhibited by the Yang-Sovereign''s weapon attack at all. Each attack of his il contained the power of a fully powered battle art, and yet, the sword fell towards him as if it had done nothing to stop its power.


    "Pft!" a spurt of blood shot out of the Sword-Saint''s mouth as he appeared from within the explosion, his body like an ant, his sword like a mountain. His face was pale and spirit waning, but the Sword-Saint''s expression was as resolved as ever, unwavering as he looked at the Yang-Sovereign with hatred in his gaze.


    "All of your blood essence?" the Yang Sovereign roared. "You''ll be a cripple!"


    "That''s better than being dead," the Sword-Saint sneered as he used thest remnants of his power and blood essence to power his final attack. His body burst alight with brilliant white Sword Qi.


    The Sword-Saint coughed out another mouthful of blood, but ignored his internal damage as he mustered his full power towards the Sovereign.


    "This is thest time I''ll be able to unleash you," the Sword-Saint said with a soft whisper towards his sword''s artifact spirit. "So, let''s go all out, and make sure we end this battle with no regrets."


    As if inspired by the Sword-Saint, his true sword exploded with another level of power, growing evenrger, bing faster and sharper.


    Then the Sword-Saint swung his sword towards the Yang-Sovereign, his arms shattering from the force of his final and ultimate attack. It was the culmination of a lifetime of cultivation, putting everything towards one technique. One final attack. His strongest finale of devastation.


    Che!


    Space parted despite the spatial repression effects; a thin line sliced into the void as the apocalyptic sword cleaved towards the wide-eyed Yang-Sovereign. The Yang-Sovereign roared with rage and panic as he turned towards the sword attack, ignoring John''s lightning beam.


    He flung his il out towards the sword, then let go as it sped outwards. An instantter, he pointed his five fingers towards the sword, time not on his side to unleash a Pure Yang Supernova, but instead his quick release version of it.


    The five balls of pure Yang Qi raced towards the sword, reaching it a momentter and exploding with the power of five small suns. They then exploded with horrific power, the striking head smashing against the sword at the same time, thebined power of the Yang-Sovereign dealing with the Sword-Saint, who he had looked down upon his entire life as a lesser cultivator.


    Then his head snapped towards John, who was almost upon him. His mouth opened as another beam of ruinous Yang Qi sted directly towards the lightning beam, like the most powerful of volcanoes exploding.


    The Yang-Sovereign cried out in pain as his own explosion sted against him, sending him downwards at an even faster pace. The bottom of the Yang Lotus realm was fast approaching, its barrier brimming with the ultimate Yang. Even for the Yang-Sovereign, smashing into this wall of pure Yang would result in gruesome injuries, ones he could not afford to sustain. He drew in the surrounding Yang to power his body and prepare his next attack. Instead, a chill of dread and despair crept up his spine as that sinisterugher boomed from above, followed by John, whose body was half-destroyed, sting down towards him as if he didn''t care that his body was about to fall apart at any moment.


    His legs were shattered and turned into a meat paste held together by muscles and sinew. His body was devoid of flesh, exposing his muscles and bones to the heat of the realm. And yet, the menacing¡­creature¡­before him didn''t care.


    He was relentless. Unyielding. Undying. In that moment, the Yang-Sovereign knew what true despair was. Boom!


    John''s hastily reformed legs smashed directly on the Yang-Sovereign''s chest before he could react. The gruesome sound of bones breaking, both from John and the Yang-Sovereign, echoed outwards, followed by a grunt of pain and a mouthful of blood being coughed up by the Yang-Sovereign.


    Then, before he could react to anything, the Yang-Sovereign smashed against the floor of the Lotus realm, his body crashing against the wall of pure Yang Qi with unrelenting speed and power.


    Boom!


    The entire Yang Lotus trembled as John, using the Yang-Sovereign''s body as a shield, smashed into and then through the Lotus confines. The world outside the Lotus shook with horrifying intensity as a streak of fire and blood shot down from the Lotus above, crashing towards the ground below. With the terrifying heat of the Yang Lotus Transformation surrounding his body, John''s flesh cooked from the intense heat, the damage and pain seemingly ignored by himpletely.


    Those in the arena below, hastily made their way to the side, using their fastest physical speed to avoid being near where the two above were descending towards. They looked up with awe and horror as they watched the most terrifying creature descend towards them, a demon mounting a lotus of pure Yang,ughing maniacally the entire way down.


    Then, with a wicked bang and sickening crunch, the Yang-Sovereign mmed back first into the arena ground, John''s full power smashing onto him an instantter.


    BOOM!

 Chapter 1138 Carnage and Warmth

    <h4>Chapter 1138 Carnage and Warmth </h4>


    The Yang-Sovereign struck back first into the arena ground, an arena designed to withstand the most brutal of impacts. The arena ground barely broke as the Yang-Sovereign smashed into it, his body absorbing most of the impact.


    Bang!


    John mmed down on the Yang-Sovereign an instantter, his momentum and power so great that his legs shattered from the impact, turning into a bloody red mist as his bones pierced through his skin in several ces, while his flesh and muscles ripped apart.


    The Yang-Sovereigns chest shattered from the brutal impact, which was akin to an entire mountain falling directly on top of him. A burst of blood shot out of the Yang-Sovereign''s mouth, who despite being used as a meat shield to pierce through the Yang-Lotus walls, and despite crashing into the arena ground with enough force to kill a Half-Step World Expansion cultivator, was still conscious, his power still rtively intact.


    The Yang-Sovereign growled at John who was mounted atop him, ready to pummel the Sovereign to death. The Yang-Sovereign breathed in deeply, drawing in a strong surge of Yang Qi from the Lotus above, restoring his power, mending some of his more gruesome wounds.


    Then he opened his mouth and sneered, his mouth glowing brightly, a Yang power to rival the most powerful of volcanos emerging from within. After his attack, John''s legs had yet to fully heal, and were still quite damaged, indicating that his healing ability was almost done.


    With this point-nk attack, he was as good as dead.


    Che!


    The Yang-Sovereign''s eyes went wide with sheer horror and disbelief as a sword suddenly pierced directly through his heart, its speed and sharpness far too great for him to notice, let alone react to in his damaged state.


    His wide eyes looked upwards, then found the Sword-Saint hovering in the sky just below the opening in the Yang-Lotus that John had created. The Sword-Saint had unleashed his Divine Sword Pierces the Firmament sword art, an art that focused on absolute speed over anything else.


    His heart suddenly pierced, the Yang-Sovereign''s battle art surged out of control, exploding within before it could be unleashed. A burst of Yang Qi emanated from the Yang-Sovereign''s mouth, followed by him coughing up abination of blood and ash. At the same time, blood spurted from the sword wound in the Yang-Sovereign''s chest, followed by another burst of blood as the Sword-Saint withdrew his miles long sword, which retracted to its normal length.


    Then the Sword-Saint, his face white as paper, his aura as weak as a candle, fell from the sky, his power gone, his body beyond grievously wounded and spent.


    "Father!" Ji''Han roared as he raced towards the falling Sword-Saint, whose body mmed into the arena ground a short whileter, rebounding off the ground with a sickening crunch.


    The Yang-Sovereign, eyes wide with panic, reached out to the Yang-Lotus, his one remaining arm reaching up into the sky as if to grab the lotus itself.


    "Help¡­me," the Yang-Sovereign said weakly, as if speaking to the lotus itself. "I have¡­always cared for¡­you. Help¡­me."


    "You¡­enved me!" an almost childlike voice, both immature and ethereal, sounded out throughout the entire Yang-Sphere,ing from above. Everyone looked up in surprise, not expecting the Lotus to be able to speak, let alone converse out loud with the Sovereign.


    "I¡­I did that for the great-"


    Bang!


    A fist suddenly smashed into the Yang-Sovereign''s face, breaking bones and sending blood flying in all directions.


    "Hahahaha! Die!!!" John shrieked with a look of thrilling bloodlust on his face, interrupting the Yang-Sovereign before he could finish his sentence.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Mounted atop the Yang-Sovereign, John reigned fist after fist down on the Sovereign''s face, each punch as powerful as a falling mountain, its power shattering both face and fist with every blow.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The blows reigned down ceaselessly, hundreds every second, each punch shaking the arena as if a monstrously powerful battle art had exploded, followed by another, and another.


    The crowd, eyes wide with horror, disbelief, shock, and a million other simr emotions, watched on as the most demonic of creatures they had ever seen, one who could hardly be recognized at John anymore, reigned down a barrage of punches onto the Yang-Sovereign''s face without any end in sight.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    After several thousand attacks, John''s fists were nearly no more, reced by fleshy masses at the end of his shattered arms. And yet, he continued to bash the Yang-Sovereign''s face as if he didn''t feel any of the pain at all, focusing on absolute destruction and carnage instead.


    "Hahahaha!" his shrieking, maniacalughter boomed throughout the arena, the sounds apanied only by those who were still being sucked up into the Yang-Lotus, their powers leaving their bodies, their bodies used to quench the lotus'' power.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    John reveled in the feeling of obliterating the Yang-Sovereign''s face, which was now more of a mass of destroyed flesh than anything else. The Sovereign''s face was no more, his power was no more, his lifeforce was bing weaker by the second.


    And yet, John continued breaking the Yang-Sovereign apart, the impact of the Sovereign''s face caving beneath his fists too enjoyable, the sight of the Sovereigns'' blood flying too exquisite, the feeling of the Sovereign''s fleeting lifeforce beyond intoxicating.


    It was the most enjoyable sensation he had ever felt in his life, his thirst for blood, ughter and destruction growing by the second. It was an unquenchable thirst, a desire beyond description, a craving beyond denying.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    "Hahaha, more! MORE!" John roared, his soul bing stained by the Asura power creeping into every inch of his existence. Thest wall of soul power he had put up to keep his sanity in check was encroached upon by the tendrils of ck and red Qi, while a satisfied growl emanated from deep within the pce realm.


    "Yes! Give in to your desires!" the voice from within growled sinisterly. "Destroy and ughter all who stand before you! Embrace the power of an Asura!"


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    John felt his vision grow darker, tinged with a red aura he had never seen before, while his soul yearned for more. More destruction. More blood. More death! He embraced the euphoria he felt, diving headfirst into the intoxicating madness.


    He finally stopped punching, his fists turned into knubs of flesh, his blood and the Sovereign''s blood staining the ground around them like the most gruesome of murder scenes. A wide, malevolent smile appeared on his face as he reached out with his right hand, which healed juts barely enough to restore his fingers with enough power to grip something.


    He gripped on the Young-Sovereign''s blood-slicked hair, then yanked with his full remaining strength. The sound of tearing flesh rang out, followed by the loudest of gasps from the crowd as John tore the Yang-Sovereign''s head directly off his body, holding the Sovereign''s face, his expression one of horror and absolute disbelief, above him for all to see.


    Then, his smile growing wider, John held the head above his own, and opened his mouth, drinking the blood of the Sovereign like it was the most exquisite of wines. The Sovereign''s hot Yang blood singed his mouth and tongue, but that only made John''s euphoria rise, his maniacalughter ringing out again as he consumed more and more of the blood.


    The Yang-Sovereign''s potent Yang-infused blood surged through John''s body, absorbed by his body dantian, then released as healing Asura Qi, restoring some of his more gruesome wounds. He continued to suck down the blood, uncaring of all those watching. His face was stained red by the Sovereign''s blood, his wide grinning maw the most sinister sight the crowd had ever seen.


    It was as if they were staring into the depths of the most hellish abyss, and John was staring back at them from within.


    The blood eventually stopped falling, the Yang-Sovereign''s lifeless head spent of the blood that had been flowing through it. A frown appeared on John''s face as he shook the head, then frowned as no more blood came from it. He sneered and stored the head away, then suddenly looked to the side, his eyes locking onto a figure on the far side of the arena.


    "You!" John growled, standing up slowly, his blood red eyes locked onto the unconscious Sword-Saint, and Ji''Han who stood over him protectively, stopping him from being sucked into the Yang-Lotus above.


    Ji''Han felt John''s gaze fall upon him, a deep grimace appearing as he saw John step off the Yang-Sovereign''s lifeless corpse, then begin to walk over towards them. It was as if the most terrifying of demons was approaching, instilling a terror Ji''Han had never felt before in his life. And yet, Ji''Han remained in ce, moving in front of his father, sword drawn and pointed towards John.


    "You will not have him!" Ji''Han said firmly and coldly, his face grim as his aura began to rise within, the same aura as the Sacred Sword Domain the Sword-Saint had used in their battle.


    While Ji''Han''s use of the domain was rudimentary inparison, it did restore a portion of his strength, although not enough to stop John, even in his current condition. Step by step, John approached the two of them, his malicious smile widening by the second.


    At that moment, John felt something touch his shoulder, the object soft yet firm. John roared with fury as he spun around and reached out, grabbing the neck of the one who had appeared behind him and touched him. His grip tightening around the neck, he lifted the person up in the air, his hand''s trying to squeeze the life out of the one who had dared interrupt his next meal.


    Crystal blue eyes looked into his blood red eyes, no hint of panic or fear in them. Instead, there was only warmth and love in those eyes, enough to shatter his current state of mind. John felt as if his soul was being peered into at that moment, the eyes of the one he held in his grip more than familiar to him.


    Like the weight of a mountain hitting him, John felt rity appear in his soul, the face of the one in his grip wing his mind back towards his true self, pushing aside the Asura consuming him. That sliver of room was all the remaining portion of his soul, defended by the cocoon of soul-power he had set up before his battle, needed to burst alight with power.


    His soul red like a white sun, pushing aside the darkness that had been encroaching on his very existence. Those tendrils vanished like shadows during the rising sun, his soul slowly but surely returning to his control. Those tendrils were notpletely washed away, lingering like barely visible stains on his pure-white soul, but their influence was washed away by the face of the one before him.


    John''s aura began to fade and his Dragon-God Shift and Asura Transformation vanished as well, his bloodline ability finally running out. A wave of exhaustion and pain unlike any he had ever felt before washed through him as he copsed to his knees, unable to support himself any longer.


    Two arms caught him and drew him into a warm embrace, one that felt moreforting than any he had felt in his life before.


    "Wee back," Lilian whispered softly in his ears, a sad yet proud smile on her face as she drew him into a tight, loving embrace. "You did well. You can rest now."

 Chapter 1139 A Temporary Victory

    <h4>Chapter 1139 A Temporary Victory</h4>


    The veil of darkness surrounding him vanished, the tendrils of Asura corruption receding from his mind, body, and soul. John fell into Lilian''s embrace, nearly overwhelmed by the exhaustion and pain he felt.


    Had it not been for the blood of the Yang-Sovereign that he drank, his wounds would not have healed as much as they did, and his body would have beenpletely devoid of energy. Even still, many of his wounds still persisted, the damage to his body far too great for him to heal though his innate healing ability alone.


    Only Laia would have a chance of healing his body into a working condition, and even then, it was doubtful she could heal him in less than several weeks at the very least. As for the underlying damage that lurked deep within his body, only time could heal those wounds.


    The millions of other cultivators breathed out a collective sigh of relief upon seeing John return to his human form. They had been just as scared at his deranged Asura form as they were of the Yang-Lotus, but now that he had changed back to normal, the fears rted to him disappeared.


    They couldn''t help but stare at John with wide eyes, their expressions a range ofplicated emotions. There was awe, disbelief, and pure relief as Yang-Sovereign, the one who had plunged them into this abyssal hell, had been killed.


    "He¡­he''s dead!"


    "The Yang-Sovereign is dead!"


    "He¡­he actually did it. John and the Sword-Saint defeated the Yang-Sovereign!"


    The stadium suddenly erupted into a roar of absolute joy, disbelief, and relief, as they looked at the headless corpse of the Yang-Sovereign, and the two who had defeated him despite the impossible odds.


    At that moment, many of the cultivators felt nothing but pure shame as they stared at John, whose body was wounded beyond anything they had seen before, his existence nearly on the brink of copse. They had jeered at him. They had taunted him. They had doubted him. They had said every insult imaginable to him during the duration of the Three Dao Tournament, and yet, in the end, he was the one who had saved them from the Yang-Sovereign''s betrayal.


    ''Saved''. That word crept into the minds and thoughts of all, many realizing their plight was still far from over. While the Yang-Sovereign, the one who had orchestrated this betrayal was dead, there was still one massive problem that still needed to be taken care of.


    The Yang-Lotus.


    "Can I?" John sighed tiredly as he looked up at the Yang-Lotus above, its power still zing in the sky like a small sun. "It seems we still have one massive problem to take care of."


    "Your body is on the brink of true copse," Lilian said sternly, putting him at arms length to look directly into his eyes and soul. "You have done enough. You need to re-"


    "What use is rest if we all die?" John interrupted Lilian. "The formations are still active despite the Yang-Sovereign''s death. And now that the Yang-Sovereign is no longer absorbing the Lotus, it''s power will start to climb until it destroys everyone here, and then everyone in the surroundingnds for thousands of miles. No, this isn''t over yet."


    "And what do you n to do?" Lilian asked sternly. "Fly up into the Lotus in this condition and try to absorb it yourself? You may be strong, but not even the Yang-Sovereign could absorb the Lotus without greatly weakening it first, and his control over Yang Qi is far beyond you. Even if you had your full power at your disposal, you would not be able to absorb the Lotus without perishing. This is a task beyond your ability to solve."


    Lilian''s words were not false. John did not have the power to absorb the Yang-Lotus, as even if he had his full power and perfect body condition, the Yang-Lotus was still far too powerful for him. It would burn him to cinders before the absorption process was finished, and even if he managed to absorb it, it would kill him from within, its power and heat far too great for him to withstand.


    The Yang-Sovereign, a Late Holy Manifestation cultivator focused on the Yang Dao was only able to do so by greatly weakening the Lotus, at which point absorbing it would push his cultivation in the Astral Realm, a realm with enough power to manage the terrifying power of the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus.


    Despite his strength, John was just a Late Dao Transformation youth. His peak level of power was not enough, and that level could only be used for several minutes at the longest.


    "You''re right," John said softly, his tone hoarse from fatigue and pain. "I can''t absorb it. But that doesn''t mean I don''t have a solution."


    Lilian raised a single eyebrow, looking deep into his eyes to see if there were any lies at all. She found none, although that still didn''t make her feel at ease. She knew John''s level of recklessness, and even if he wasn''t lying, that didn''t mean he could aplish what he hoped he could do.


    Still, there was no other option, and so she sighed deeply, then nodded slowly, letting go of John. John''s legs trembled for a moment as he braced himself, then he walked over to the Yang-


    Sovereign''s body and stored the remainder of his corpse in his pce realm. There, he drew in some of the Yang-Sovereign''s normal blood into his body dantian, which after converting it to Qi, spread throughout his body, healing some of the lighter wounds and restoring some of his energy.


    Bang!


    The ground trembled lightly as a figurended on the ground near John. He looked at the Prime Shadow, who had jumped from his tform high above to the ground near him, the power of his Late Holy Manifestation body enough to withstand such a fall with ease, even with no Qi at his disposal.


    He walked over to John and handed him his spatial ring, which John took with a questioning look.


    "I have no cultivation and space itself is locked down, so I cannot ess the contents of my spatial ring," the Prime Shadow said as he patted John on the shoulder, a proud smile appearing on his face. "But you seem to have the ability to do so. Inside is a healing treasure beyondpare, one of my most precious treasures. Take it and eat it. You''ll need all the strength you can muster if you are to survive re-entering the lotus, as its power is only growing now that the Yang-


    Sovereign is dead."


    John nodded and stored the spatial ring in his pce realm, where the spatial lockdown couldn''t reach. He then inspected the ring and found what the Prime Shadow was speaking of. On an ornate marble pir in the middle of the spatial ring realm was a singr fruit.


    The fruit was bright green in color, and was a type John had never seen before. It was three inches across and star-like in shape, with a dozen soft ridges protruding from the fruit like how one would draw a rudimentary star. Most eye-catching of all was its innate aura, which was beyond anything he had felt from a natural treasure before.


    An aura of greenish yellow surrounded the fruit, one that gave off a fresh and vibrant energy, reminding John of Laia. An aura that had unmatched vitality and vibrancy. An aura theplete opposite of death.


    ''The Dao of Life!''

 Chapter 1140 Star of the Serpent Tree

    <h4>Chapter 1140 Star of the Serpent Tree </h4>


    The fruit was brimming with the aura of life, so great that only Laia''s healing orb she gave John was more potent. John withdrew the fruit into the real world, which drowned the entire stadium in its vibrant aura. All eyes locked onto the fruit, with some gasping in recognition.


    "The Star of the Serpent Tree!" the more experienced powerhouses gasped, recognizing the object. Even the Mage-Sovereign, who stood on the tform high above, looked at the fruit with an expression of awe and envy.


    Based on their reactions, John could tell that the fruit was well known, and an object of unimaginable value. He gave the Prime Shadow onest look for confirmation, then bit into the fruit, swallowing it after a few bites.


    An iparable wave of life Qi began to flood through his body the moment the fruit hit his stomach, filling every inch of his benign, from his flesh to his soul, with a vibrancy he had only felt once before in his life. His wounds began to knit at visible speeds once more, all but the most deep and gruesome of wounds healed within seconds.


    Only the deeper, more foundational rted wounds remained, wounds that not even this miraculous fruit could heal. Wounds suffered from using his Bloodline Ability and True Asura Transformation. Still, John felt a wave of renewed vigor course through him, restoring a portion of his power and a great deal of his vitality.


    He bathed in the sensation for a moment, guiding the healing Qi all throughout his body, the wounds that could be healed mending in less than thirty seconds. After healing what he could, John noticed that a great deal of the fruit''s life Qi remained, unable to be absorbed, as if its very nature was different from the healing Qi he used to heal his body.


    It was potent and vibrant, but in a different way, a way that couldn''t be used for healing wounds directly. John scrunched his face slightly as he tried to use this energy, but couldn''t no matter what he tried. Giving up, he let the energy do as it pleased, which coalesced into an orb of pure Life Qi, then moved towards his body''s spatial realm which held his dantian and his body dantian.


    There, it floated in the spatial realm around his essence dantian, like a moon orbiting a. John studied this for a brief moment, then asked the Prime Shadow about it.


    "I''ll exin its purposeter," the Prime Shadow said, then looked up to the Lotus above. "First, you''ll need to deal with the lotus. I''m sorry I''m putting all the burden on you, it shouldn''t be this way."


    "It''s alright," John smiled, then without wasting another moment, he flew up into the sky, soaring towards the infernal Yang-Lotus.


    Millions of cultivators watched him rise into the air, first a demon of anguish and carnage, now a god of hope for them, the only thing that could save them from this damnation. John arrived at the Lotus, the entrance into the lotus created by the Yang-Sovereign''s formations still intact.


    John felt the heat within the lotus rising, already hotter and more powerful than when he had been battling within. Without the Yang-Sovereign''s constant absorption of its power, it began to strengthen once more despite the yin blood of the cultivators being used to quench it.


    Then, wasting no more time, as every second others died to the lotus, John sped into the tunnel and into the infernal hell of the lotus realm. As he did so, his body shifted as he activated his Dragon-God Shift and Asura Transformation once more, pushing his frail body to the level required to withstand the heat of the lotus.


    The cultivators below grimaced as he entered, hoping that he still had the power to not only sustain his transformations, but also resist the growing heat and power of the lotus. They watched him be consumed by the hellish Yang Qi within, then watched him struggle to move through the Lotus realm to the location the Yang-Sovereign had been seated, trying to absorb the Lotus.


    He arrived there a short whileter, his flesh burning and turning to ash, his body wavering with struggle, pain, and exhaustion. Then they watched him stop in that location, and all any of them could do was pray.


    Pray for the one who they had scorned all this time, to once again save them from sure damnation.


    ¡­


    The infernal Yang Qi surrounding him sted onto his body with ceaseless heat and destructive power, nearly overwhelming him from the very start. It was like swimming through the hottest of magma''s, its heat unbearable, its currents nearly overwhelming.


    Through the horrific pain and growing fatigue, John made his way to the center of the Lotus realm, to the location where the Yang-Sovereign had been seated.


    After great struggle he arrived there, and noticed that directly above where the Yang-Sovereign was seated, was a small condensed ball of Yang Qi, far more powerful and potent than the Yang Qi permeating the lotus realm. The ball was in the shape of a nine-petaled lotus, and in the depths of its core, John could feel the existence of a sentient soul within.


    ''The soul of the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus!'' John couldn''t help but exim internally.


    While most natural treasures didn''t have souls, the most powerful of them were able to form a sentient core after hundreds of thousands of years of existence. For John, this was the first time he was meeting such a sentience.


    Then, he reached out towards it.


    "Go away!" the same ethereal and childlike voice that had spoken to the Yang-Sovereign spoke, followed by the lotus core growing in power and intensity, far too great for John to withstand. He moved a short distance away to keep himself alive, then hovered in the air, peering at the core.


    "You hated the Yang-Sovereign, did you not?" John said, his tone as calm and friendly as he could muster in the moment. "He tried to enve you, right?"


    "He DID enve me!" the voice replied angrily, although its childlike tone made it hard for John to take it seriously. Were it not for the Lotus'' unimaginable power, he would haveughed at its tone, but obviously didn''t as to not anger the already angry Lotus soul.


    "He enved me for so long!" the voice continued. "Tens of thousands of years, maybe more. I can''t remember. All I can remember is bing sentient, and already being captured and enved by the Yang-Sovereign. I will NOT allow you to do the same to me."


    "I''m not trying to enve you," John said, struggling to speak through the scorching heat every time he spoke. "I just killed the Yang-Sovereign. I''m sure you saw it."


    "So what?" the soul replied. "You killed him so you could kill me and absorb my powers. I will not allow you to do what that man tried to do to me. I will not be chained again!"


    John fell silent for a moment, studying the nature of the Lotus soul, contemting its words and tone. From what he could tell, the Lotus itself was not an evil entity. It had no part of the Yang-Sovereign''s ns, and most likely didn''t even know enough about the concept of death to understand the magnitude of the death and destruction happening just outside.


    It was like a child kept locked in a basement all its life, its perspective of the world limited to what the Yang-Sovereign allowed it to see and know.


    "So, you wish to be free?" John asked, trying another angle. He needed to be able to touch the Lotus soul without perishing, and to do that, he needed to have the Lotus restrict its power for him for a moment. Otherwise, there was only failure and death.


    "Yes!" the soul eximed, its tone full of yearning.


    "And then what?" John asked curiously.


    "I¡­" the voice said, pausing as if it had never contemted such a concept before. "I¡­I wish to¡­I wish to be the ultimate source of Yang, even more powerful than the strongest of stars! So powerful that no one can ever enve me again."


    "Hahaha," a soft, understanding chuckle escaped John''s lips, followed by the Lotus soul growing brighter and more powerful again.


    "What''s so funny?" it asked angrily. "You can''t possibly understand-"


    "I understand," John said, interrupting the Lotus as time was not on his, or anyone''s side. "I understand more than you could possibly know."

 Chapter 1141 The End of the Three Dao Tournament

    <h4>Chapter 1141 The End of the Three Dao Tournament</h4>


    "How¡­how so?" the Lotus asked, its anger gone, reced by curiosity instead. Its emotions seemed to change at a moment''s notice, truly like that of a child. Despite being hundreds of thousands of years old, the soul of the Yang-Lotus was truly childlike.


    "It''s why I started cultivating in the first ce, and it''s also the reason that I seek strength," John replied truthfully. "I wish to be the most powerful cultivator in existence, so that the only one who can control my fate is me alone. In this regard, you and I are exactly alike."


    "So you do understand," the Lotus soul said, almost happy that someone finally understood it for the first time.


    "I do," John nodded, struggling to maintain his calmposure when his body was being cooked alive, while also falling internally from the damage of his dual transformations and previous battle. "And not only do I understand, I can also help you reach your goal."


    "What? How?" the Lotus asked, its eager tone disying its emotions on its proverbial sleeve.


    "Allow me to draw you into my spatial realm," John said truthfully, not trying to trick the Lotus at all. If he lied and it detected he was lying, the consequences could be fatal. "I have a way to store you without harming anyone. Join me in my mission to climb to the top of the martial universe, and I promise you I will help you achieve your mission of bing the ultimate source of Yang."


    "Liar!" the soul trembled with fury. "You''re lying. You''re trying to trick me, and enve me as the Yang-Sovereign did."


    John shook his head. "The Yang-Sovereign tried to absorb you, and by doing so, would have snuffed out your self-will, making you a true ve in every sense of the word. What I''m offering is an agreement. Not only do I swear on the Heaven''s that I will not enve you, I also swear that I will let you go when you desire to be set free. And while you''re under my care, I will do what I can to empower you to reach your goal, you have my word."


    Silence filled the infernal realm for a while, each second more agonizing than thest, his body getting closer by the second to true failure. If that happened before he tamed the Lotus, then all was doomed. John eagerly awaited a reply, which came after what felt like an eternity.


    "How¡­how do I know you can do what you promise?" the soul asked. "You are not nearly powerful enough to do so."


    "Did you not see me kill the Yang-Sovereign?" John replied, gesturing to the arena far below. "I''m a Late Dao Transformation cultivator, and I just killed someone who had the power of an Early Holy Manifestation cultivator. Even you must know the impossibility of such a thing happening. While I don''t have the power now, you won''t meet someone with a greater chance of fulfilling your dream."


    The lotus fell silent once more, no concept of the hastiness and seriousness of the situation for John and the others.


    "I can promise you this. This is the best deal you are ever going to get, and when ites to rising to the top of the universe, I''m the best shot you have."


    Silence again, one that seemed tost for far too long. The Lotus soul trembled as it contemted its choices, while those outside continued to perish, sucked up by the Yang-Sovereign''s formations.


    "Ayy, just ept his offer!" another voice appeared in the realm as Kirii, against John''s wishes, appeared in the infernal realm. "Ahhh, so hot! My skin is burning!" Kirii eximed with a yelp of pain, his body exploding with a thick coat of lightning to protect against the hellish Yang Qi.


    Even then, he struggled to defend himself, his body defenses crumbling by the second. While Kirii was strong, he would not be able tost for more than a minute inside this realm of Yang.


    "Kirii, get back inside my soul," John eximed, worried that Kirii would perish under this immense heat.


    Kirii ignored him, instead moving towards the Lotus soul. Unlike when John had approached it, the Lotus soul didn''t intensify in its power, and instead seemed to weaken itself slightly, allowing Kirii to approach.


    "You¡­you are a¡­" the Lotus'' voice trailed off as it allowed Kirii to approach.


    Kirii did just that, moving right beside the lotus soul, which much to John''s surprise, had no wariness towards Kirii at all. In fact, the temperature around Kirii dropped by a great deal, allowing him to withstand the Yang Qi with much greater ease.


    Kirii then started speaking to the Lotus'' soul, whispering softly as if telling secrets that could not be heard by others. He looked over his shoulder towards John, noticing that John was listening to their conversation, then leaned even closer towards the Lotus'' soul, whispering so softly that John couldn''t overhear their conversation over the roiling Yang Qi surrounding them.


    Kirii nodded vigorously while rambling about something, asionally looking over his shoulder and looking towards John, making sure he wasn''t trying to peep in on their conversation. In response, the Lotus soul grew dimmer and brighter, shing as if its emotions were ever changing.


    The two continued to converse for a short time, although this felt like an eternity to John, the pain nearly overwhelming, his body close to sumbing to his gruesome injuries. Still, he trusted in Kirii, as he knew hispanion wouldn''t waste precious time for no reason at all.


    Then, finally, Kirii stopped speaking, and zipped back into John''s soul, his ability to withstand the infernal heat of the Lotus realm nearing its end. Then the Lotus soul spoke once more, the soul core flickering as it spoke.


    "I¡­I''ve made my decision."


    ¡­


    The millions of cultivators, from the most lowly of them to the pinnacle powerhouses, all stared up at the Yang-Lotus, and the one they could barely see floating within its confines. Time continued to creep on and on, each second an eternity.


    For those who were being sucked up into the Lotus, that eternity was not nearly long enough. At first, everyone''s hopes were fully ignited. If John could absorb the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus somehow, this entire nightmare would be over.


    The Lotus was the power source for the repression formation, the spatial lock formation, and even the Yang-Sphere destruction formation. If it was removed from the equation, everything would be solved.


    But time continued to tick on and on, and with it, the hopes of everyone started to fade. John had no chance of absorbing the Yang-Lotus in the same fashion as the Yang-Sovereign had attempted, and so in their eyes, either he had a way to seed rather quickly, or his n had already failed.


    They saw another figure cloaked in lightning appear, then after a short while, disappear. They had no idea what that was about, but their hopes continued to fade by the second, while the death count continued to rise.


    "Do you think he has a way?" the Prime Shadow asked Lilian, who was standing next to him.


    "If he said he did, then he does," Lilian replied calmly, not a hint of doubt to be found on her face. The Prime Shadow studied her for a moment, then looked back towards the Yang-Lotus.


    "That fruit you gave John," Lilian said, turning to meet the Prime Shadow''s gaze.


    "Oh, that''s nothing important," the Prime Shadow said with a dismissive wave of his hand.


    Lilian narrowed her eyes slightly, studying the Prime Shadow''s face. "That fruit was beyond incredible. If I''m not mistaken, it should contain properties that increases one''s vitality and lengthens one''s lifespan. If I had to guess, despite your recent breakthrough, you are still nearing the end of your life, with maybe a few thousand years remaining. That fruit was meant to add tens of thousands of years to your life at the very least¡­


    and yet you gave it to John."


    The Prime Shadow gave Lilian a surprised nce, not expecting her to see through everything so clearly. He smiled and shrugged, then looked back at the Lotus. "I''ve lived a long life and managed to find the perfect sessor for my Master''s assassination arts. A few tens of thousands of years is worth the cost of keeping him alive."


    Suddenly and without warning, the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus vanished, disappearing as if it had never existed. The process happened so quickly that no one could process what had urred until several secondster, as the Yang-Sphere dimmed and the formations surrounding it faded into obscurity.


    Almost every single cultivator''s eyes widened like saucers, their mouths falling agape. They felt their powers return to them once more, a feeling of euphoria so great many had never experienced anything like it before. It was as if they were dying of thirst, and were given the most rejuvenating of waters to quench their thirst.


    Then, they spotted a lone figure in the sky, falling down towards the ground below.


    "He came through, as you said he would," the Prime Shadow said with a wide smile, sighing the deepest sighs of relief.


    Lilian nced at the Prime Shadow, then smiled as well. "He always does."


    sh!


    Lilian appeared in the air next to John, catching him in her arms before he could fall to the ground. John''s body was ruined and his eyes were closed, already having fallen into an unconscious slumber.


    There was stunned silence. And then, as if born of one singr voice, the entire stadium erupted in a cry of joy and tion, its collective power shaking the entire Yang-Dao Sect.


    "We¡­we''re saved!


    "He did it! John actually did it!"


    "He saved us! Bless the Heavens, he saved us!"


    "It''s over! It''s finally over!"


    Millions of hearts joined in unison to celebrate the conclusion to the most intense, harrowing, and terrifying ordeal they had ever encountered in their life. They had been caught in a scheme with no hope of survival, and against all odds, the one who had been hated and taunted the most had be their savior.


    And thus, after three long months of trials, battles, deceit and betrayals, the Three Dao Tournament finally came to grand and unforgettable close.

 Chapter 1142 JiHans Command

    Chapter 1142 Ji''Han''s Command


    ??Amidst the roars of joy and salvation, Lilian began to descend towards the arena below, John held firmly in her embrace. His eyes were closed, his soul weak and flickering. His skin was ckened in many parts, burnt ck by the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus'' immense heat.


    Beneath his ckened flesh was even worse. His muscles were gruesome, with more of them torn than intact. His bones were fractured in hundreds of ces, and broken in dozens. His blood was drained, enough to make his body pale white was it not for his burnt flesh.


    Finally, his aura was as weak as a flickering candle, the candle saying alight from the remnants of his healing powers, as well as the healing Qi from the Star of the Serpent Tree fruit. Even so, it was as if he were a mere mortal at the moment, one on their deathbed ready to take the final step into the dark abyss at any moment.


    The jubnt cheers of the crowd started to die down as Lilian slowly floated down to the arena, with John''s condition finallying into full view. Those cheers were reced by horrified gasps as they saw his condition, which was far worse than they had ever seen from a still living cultivator.


    As shended on the arena ground, the Prime Shadow rushed up to Lilian, closely inspecting John. A grim look appeared on his face as he studied John''s body, the grim frown deepening by the second.


    "Ahhhhh, he''s pushed himself to the edge of death. This isn''t good. If not for the Star of the Serpent Tree," the Prime Shadow sighed deeply. "Healers¡­we need to get him back to the Guild so that he may receive-" his voice trailed off as he felt someone approach, as did Lilian.


    They both turned to look at Ji''Han, who held his unconscious father in his arms. The Sword-Saint''s aura was incredibly weak, as were the gruesome injuries covering much of his body. Much like John, his lifeforce flickered like a candle in the wind, ready to be snuffed out at any moment.


    Ji''Han gently ced his father on the ground, then walked the remaining distance towards the others, who watched him approach with cautioned expressions. They didn''t think Ji''Han was dumb enough to try anything in front of the two of them, but nothing was for certain.


    Ji''Han ignored their wary expressions and walked up to Lilian, stopping a few feet away, looking only at John. A small frown appeared on his face as he noticed John''s gruesome condition, then looked at Lilian for a moment. The two shared aplicated nce, at which point Ji''Han turned to look at a certain section of the stadium, where the bulk of the Sword-Dao Sect and subsect members were located.


    He grimaced upon noticing how many seats were vacant, memories of those who had been sacrificed to the Yang Lotus. He sighed deeply, his grimace reced with a firm, determined look.


    "Members of the Sword-Dao Sect and subsects, with my father unconscious and the Sword-Sovereign in closed-door cultivation, I am for the moment the ultimate authority of the Sect," Ji''Han said, his voice loud enough for everyone in the stadium to hear.


    Many held their breath, wondering what Ji''Han was nning. Was he going tomand them to help him squash John and the others, trying to use this opportunity to benefit the Sword-Dao Sect? Was he going to leave, leaving the mess to be cleaned up by others? No one knew for sure.


    "Healers of the Sword-Dao Sect and subsects. I herebymand all of you to begin healing my father immediately," he continued, then paused and nced back at John. "As well as John. Do everything in your power to keep both of them alive, or do not me me for being ruthless in the future if you fail."


    Ji''Han''s words stunned all eight million remaining cultivators. They had thought of a million possiblemands Ji''Han would give, but this was never one of them. Silence filled the arena as everyone tried to process Ji''Han''s unexpected words.


    "Did you not hear me?" Ji''Han roared angrily. "Heal them, now!"


    The crowd suddenly burst to life all at the same time, Ji''Han''s furiousmands stirring them into a hasty frenzy. Thousands of cultivators took to the sky and flew over towards Ji''Han and the others,nding next to the two injured cultivators.


    Lilian and the Prime Shadow exchanged a surprised nce, then looked towards Ji''Han, both nodding appreciatively.


    "Thank you," Lilian said, something she never thought she would say to Ji''Han. Ji''Han merely nodded, then walked towards his father and kneeled over him.


    The more experienced healers, those in the World Expansion Realm and above, rushed towards the two injured saviors, instantly studying their conditions and barking out orders. In less than a minute, both John and the Sword-Saint were surrounded by a group of thousands of healers, some sending streams of healing Qi into their bodies, others debating on what the best next steps were.


    Lilian gently ced John on the ground, then stepped away to allow the healers to fully inspect him. With everything that had happened, they knew each and every healer would do their utmost to save the one who had saved them.


    "Healers of the Yang-Dao Sect and subsects," a voice roared loudly, drawing all eyes towards the source. Araxus hovered in the sky above the arena, his expressions firm.


    "What are you all waiting for?" Araxus roared angrily. "Healers, get to work and help the others save John and the Sword-


    Saint! For those who cannot help there, help the other injured!"


    Another wave ofmotion broke out as the Yang-Dao Sect healers, those who had remained behind and didn''t partake in the Yang-Sovereign''s ns, rushed towards the arena. The number was far less than those of the Sword-Dao Sect, as most of the Yang-Dao Sect members had fled when given the opportunity by the Yang-Sovereign.


    Many rushed to join the healing in the arena, while others soared about the Yang-Sphere, finding and healing all the injured they could.


    "Will he be alright?" the Mage-Sovereign asked as shended next to the Prime Shadow and Lilian, her gaze locked onto John surrounded by the healers.


    Silence answered her, as neither Lilian nor the Prime Shadow had an answer at the moment. John''s condition was unlike anything they had seen before, and even for someone like him, recovery was far from guaranteed.


    The three then watched on silently as the healers did their best, restoring as much vitality to John and the Sword-Saint, keeping them away from death''s edge. After quite some time, an elderly healer, a woman from the Sword-Dao Sect who appeared to be in her sixties but was far, far older, walked over to the Prime Shadow and the others, her face pale from exhaustion.


    "The boy''s body is aplete mystery," the elderly healer said. "No matter how much healing Qi we pump into his body, his body barely heals itself."


    "So you cannot heal him?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    "We can keep him alive," the woman said with a deep frown, "but restoring his condition is something else entirely. When ites to healing an injured cultivator, their rate of recovery is determined by three things, healing quality, healing quantity, and the nature of the one being healed. When healing someone, not only must the quantity of healing Qi be enough to restore their body, but the quality of the healing Qi must be of an equal level to the one being healed, or at the very leastparable."


    "So, your healing abilities are not enough to heal him?" Lilian asked.


    The woman shook her head, sighing deeply. "The quality of his body is unlike anything any of us have ever seen. Every single cell of his is like a transcendent existence, its quality far too great to be healed by ordinary healing Qi. No matter how much healing Qi we pump into his body, his cells are unaffected. We can stop his condition from bing worse, but none of us have the ability topletely heal him."


    The Prime Shadow eventually nodded in understanding, a grim look on his face. He turned to Lilian and the Mage-Sovereign, his expression bing cold once more.


    "Since John''s condition is stable, we should take him from here and find a better source of healing," the Prime Shadow said. "But for now, we need to take care of the remnant traitors outside."


    ¡­


    Outside the Yang-Sphere, a group of tens of thousands of Yang-Dao Sect members waited at the entrance, their expressions anxious and eager. The dome of mes surrounding the Yang-Dao Sect had vanished, a sign that the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus had been absorbed.


    At the head of the group was Seraphia, the Yang-Sovereign''s wife. Her expression was the most ted of all, one that grew even stronger as she felt someone leaving the Yang-Sphere. Her wide, joyous smile faded away as the figure stepped through the exit, followed by more and more leaving each and every second.


    "What? What''s going on here?" Seraphia eximed, shock and panic on her face as she stared at the Prime Shadow, the Mage-


    Sovereign, and thousands of other cultivators leaving the Yang-Sphere each second. "Where is my husband?"


    "Your husband is dead," the Prime Shadow said, his cold eyes locked onto her like a predator about to devour its prey. In that moment, Seraphia felt a horror unlike any she had felt before, and couldn''t help but copse onto the ground, her knees buckling under her.


    "Now, if all of you don''t want to follow the Yang-Sovereign into death, then surrender yourselves immediately," the Prime Shadowmanded, his aura of ckened darkness emanating from his body. "Otherwise, the Yang-Dao Sect will cease to exist today. Make your choice."

 Chapter 1143 News Spreading Like Wildfire

    Chapter 1143 News Spreading Like Wildfire


    ??The Yang-Dao Sect offered some resistance initially, led by Seraphia, who was unable to yield when so close to bing the ultimate power in the Nine-Dao World.


    Despite having several Early Holy Manifestation cultivators and one Middle Holy Manifestation cultivator, the resistance was crushed in nearly a moment as the Prime Shadow and Mage-Sovereign vented their fury, annihting thousands in an instant.


    The strongest of the resistance, the Middle Holy Manifestation cultivator, was grabbed by the Prime Shadow before he could react, then dragged face-in-hand up into the sky, their battle taking ce hundreds of miles in the sky where their powers couldn''t harm the others.


    The sky became consumed by a thousand-mile-wide cloud of darkness, enveloping both the Prime Shadow and his opponent. That cloud faded away a short whileter, the Prime Shadow returning to the sect below with the head of his opponent in his hands.


    At that moment, all resistance crumpled, and the Yang-Dao Sect was finally defeated, the remaining resistance rounded up and chained, their punishments to be dealt out at ater date. A few momentster, a frantic Naelia came rushing towards the group, tears streaking from her face, relief appearing as she saw Zuri, Araxus, and the others.


    That relief vanished as she saw John''s condition, her face turning as white as snow.


    After the resistance was squashed and control over the Yang-Dao Sect assumed by the Mage-Sovereign, the news of the events that had urred spread like wildfire across the entire continent.


    The viewing formation screens that had shown the tournament to those outside had gone dark when the Yang-Sovereign had started his betrayal, making it obvious that something had gone wrong. No one expected the severity of what had truly happened, and almost no one could believe what they were hearing was the truth.


    The Yang-Sovereign, the most respected human cultivator alongside the Sword-Sovereign, had betrayed his own race, sacrificing millions in order to further himself. The official count of those who had perished during his betrayal came to two million eight hundred thousand, with many of those being the youths of all the sects that had attended, greatly crippling their future growth.


    No one could believe the Yang-Sovereign was capable of such atrocities. And yet, the evidence was overwhelming. The Yang-Sovereign was dead. The dome of Yang that had enveloped the Yang-Dao Sect for millennia was gone, as the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus was no longer powering the sect''s formations.


    The Mage-Sovereign''s promation of the events that had unfolded confirmed the truth of the matter, as none dared to doubt her words. A wave of horror and disbelief stronger than any in history washed over the continent, with hardly a soul not knowing of the Yang-Sovereign''s betrayal.


    Thousands of experts that had not been at the tournament flooded towards the Yang-Dao Sect to held with the aftermath of the worst betrayal in the Nine-Dao World''s history, as now more than ever the human race needed to act together, as with the Yang-Sovereign dead and the Sword-Saint crippled, the human race was at its weakest in tens of thousands of years. As such, a coalition was formed, one created to get humanity back to its former strength at all costs.


    With the Sword-Sovereign in closed-door cultivation, the Mage-Sovereign was appointed as head of this temporary coalition. With her in charge, the human race began to work towards several key issues.


    The first was the Yang-Dao Sect, which had fallen from grace. With the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus gone, it would never be the powerhouse it once was, but its foundations were deep. Even with the loss of the lotus, the Yang-Dao Sect was like a phoenix, capable of rising from the ashes.


    The old leadership cleaned out, the Mage-Sovereign appointed Jaxus as the next leader of the Yang-Dao Sect. The position had been offered to Araxus, but he had declined, feeling that Jaxus was a more suitable candidate for leading a sect. The Mage-Sovereign appointed several of her key Mage-Dao Sect Elders to positions around Jaxus, with the task of restoring the Yang-Dao Sect to its former glory.


    While the powers of the human race worked towards restoration, another piece of information spread throughout the world, the information so shocking that most felt it more unbelievable than the Yang-Sovereign''s betrayal.


    The information had been contained at first, but with how many had been witness to it, it was impossible to keep the secret for long. Like a wildfire consuming an entire continent, news of John''s battle against the Yang-Sovereign spread, reaching the most remote corners of the continent in days.


    Within a week, almost every single human on the Nine-Dao World had heard of the most impossible battle to ever exist. A battle between a pinnacle powerhouse of the world, a Late Holy Manifestation cultivator, one who had other powerhouses dancing in the palm of his hands, and an unknown youth, one barely touching the Late Dao Transformation realm.


    A youth with impossible strength, winning an impossible battle. It was a story so mythical that it eclipsed the stories told as legends to youths of the world, of heroes battling against all odds, struggling with everything they had against beasts and devils, winning out in the end.


    It was so impossible that most doubted its veracity at first, considering it to be a tale made up to make the Sovereign''s betrayal more exciting. However, the fact that the Mage-


    Sovereign and the other powerhouses didn''t decry the story as false was telling enough, and soon, none came to doubt its veracity.


    John Fenix, the unknown youth who had taken the Three Dao Tournament by storm, had unleashed a strength so heaven-


    defying that he was able, with the help of the Sword-Saint, to battle against the weakened Yang-Sovereign, killing him and saving millions, and perhaps more.


    Thus, over the span of a single week, John became a figure of unprecedented status, a figure of legend and myth, one that the entire human race could only look up to with awe and wonder. He became a bastion of hope for the older members of the human race, a hope that John could lead the world into a better future.


    He became an object of passion for the youths of the world, a figure that each and every genius strived to be, so that they could one day save the world in a simr manner.


    Eventually, the news of the Yang-Sovereign''s betrayal and the battle that had urred spread beyond the confines of the human continent, the story too important to be contained to the human continent. The news of the battle spread across water andnd, reaching the ears of those on the Beast and Devil continents, and the powerhouses ruling them.

 Chapter 1144 Gathering of Devils

    Chapter 1144 Gathering of Devils


    ??On the Devil Continent, on the highest peak in thend, a ck tower pierced into the dark clouds above, its sharp spires like ws reaching towards the heavens. On the top floor of that tower gathered a group of Holy Manifestation powerhouses, each more sinister and grotesque than thest.


    The nine figures sat on thrones facing inwards, the thrones forming a circle. Three of the thrones were higher than the others, with two lower seats on either side of them, forming nine seats in total.


    Two of the figures on the highest thrones had Late Holy Manifestation cultivations, with the the six on the lower seats having Middle Holy Manifestation cultivations, the gathering of the pinnacle powerhouse of the three Devil powers; the Titan Devils, the Blood Devils, and the Abyssal Devils. Thest of the nine, a devil who sat on the highest seat of all, had a Half-Step Astral King cultivation, the strongest of the nine.


    Looks of consternation and contemtion appeared on each face figure, their mouths snarled, revealing sharp teeth.


    "Impossible! These ounts are utterly impossible!" a deep voice growled, mming his fist on his armrest. The figure, a member of the Titan Devils, was thergest of the nine. His figure hulked over the others, standing thirty yards tall.


    "It is impossible, and yet, our sources indicate that everything is true," another voice, a female Devil with a blood red face, a beautiful face and an alluring figure spoke, her sharp nails strumming against her armrest. Compared to the Titan Devil nearby, she was like an ant, her heightparable to that of a normal human.


    "The death of the Yang-Sovereign is good," another male said, his voice deep but not as deep as the first. All fell silent as they looked towards this figure, another male devil. He wore pitch ck armor that covered his chest and lower body, leaving his bulging arm muscles to be revealed to all.


    His skin was a dark maroon color, like that of dried blood, while his eyes were bright red. Most eye-catching of all were the spikes on his shoulders and arms, with two small scythe-like protrusions on the backs of his elbows.


    This Devil had amanding presence, one that none of the others dared to look down on. When he spoke, all devils listened. When he gavemands, all devils obeyed. Such was the power of Mal''Kezath, the leader of the Abyssal Devils, the Half-Step Astral King powerhouse of the Devil Race.


    "Mal''Kezath is right. Had the Yang-Sovereign seeded in his n to reach the Astral King Realm¡­" the woman said, her voice trailing off, filling the chamber with silence.


    "The Yang-Sovereign failed," Mal''Kezath said, his eyes sweeping over the others. "We need not pay him any more attention. Our focus must fall on the boy, this John Fenix."


    "He is too dangerous to be left alive," the alluring woman said, her lips drawn to a line. "We must move to eliminate him before he grows to a level that threatens us. Based on his talent andbat prowess, it''s a matter of when, not if, he reaches the Astral King Realm."


    "Hmph, you''re always taking the safe option Sanguinia. To kill the boy is a waste," the hulking figure sneered.


    Sanguina scowled at the hulking figure, her sharp nails still strumming on her armrest. "Then what do you suggest, Bal''Rameth?" Sanguinia asked. "That we let him live and grow stronger, waiting for him to cut us down?"


    Bal''Rameth scoffed, his deep voice making the entire chamber rumble. "Did you not listen to the details of the battle? Of the boy''s powers?"


    "So what of them?" Sanguinia asked. "He''s still human, and humans cannot be trusted."


    "The boy revealed a form that we can all guess as to its origins," Mal''Kezath said, the others falling silent as he spoke.


    "How is such a transformation possible?" Sanguinia asked, her face scrunched with confusion.


    "I do not know," Mal''Kezath said, his voice like a constant growl. "All that matters is, as far as we can tell, the boy can use the powers of the Asuras."


    That line made the room fall silent, a silence thatsted for quite some time.


    "Then, if we don''t kill the boy, what do you propose?" Sanguinia asked, her gaze on Mal''Kezath.


    All eyes fell on Mal''Kezath, who fell silent for a moment, contemting the next moves. After a short time, he spoke.


    "This boy can use the powers of the Asuras. We cannot afford to kill him, not right away at least," Mal''Kezath said, his eyes sweeping over the others to make sure they knew the weight of his words, hismands. "We must do what we can to obtain the boy, either through coercion or force."


    "Coercion?" Sanguinia scoffed. "How can we convince a human toe to us willingly?"


    "The boy, when he assumed his transformed state, was told to be unstable," Mal''Kezath said. "Heshed out at the Sword-


    Saint and others, stopping only because his body could no longer withstand the strain of his powers. If the stories are to be believed, then his mental state must be quite chaotic, tainted by the Asura powers he uses. It''s not impossible that such a human would join us if given enough incentives."


    "But the humans surely know this, and will shower the boy with every single resource to keep him loyal to them," Sanguinia said, not convinced.


    Mal''Kezath nced at her, his bright red eyes seeming to look into her very soul. "First, we will try coercion. If that fails, we will use force to bring the boy here. The secrets to using the powers of the Asuras lies within his blood, and we must do everything we can to obtain those secrets."


    This answer seemed to convince Sanguinia and the others. First, they would try to entice John to join them. If that failed, then they would use force, the thing they were best at.


    "And if we are unable to capture him?" Bal''Rameth asked.


    "Then we kill him, and bring his corpse back, if possible," Mal''Kezath growled like that of a primordial beast, while wide, agreeable smiles appeared on the faces of the others.


    "When will we take action?" Sanguina asked, her smile fading into a thoughtful frown. "The boy will be guarded by the collective powers of the human race. We cannot barge into theirnds to grab the boy. Doing so would be suicide. The only way we could guarantee sess is to do a full-scale invasion of the human continent, throwing every ounce of our powers at it. But if we did such a thing, our victory would be costly, and we would open ourselves to counterattack from the Beasts."


    The others looked at Mal''Kezath, waiting for his answer, as Sanguinia was right. They couldn''t afford to invade the human race, even with the Yang-Sovereign now dead. The humans not only had home field advantage, but also the Prime Shadow and Sword-Sovereign. Those two alone would cause much of their invasion horde to perish, a cost they were unable to afford while the Beast Race lurked, waiting for an opportunity to strike and gain supremacy of the Nine-Dao World.


    Mal''Kezath leaned back in his seat, eyes studying the others.


    "We will have an opportunity to capture the boy appear before long," Mal''Kezath said.


    "What opportunity?" Sanguinia asked curiously, to which Mal''Kezath gave his answer, a snarling smile appearing on his face.


    "The Continent of War!"

 Chapter 1145 Bastion of Beasts

    <h4>Chapter 1145 Bastion of Beasts</h4>


    Deep in the heart of the Beast Continent, in a forest of towering trees that seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions, a singr mountain pierced above the canopy, stretching a hundred miles into the sky. At the very top of the mountain was a grand statue of a serpent coiling around the mountain peak, one that was several miles long and tall.


    Carved into the que at the base of the statue was the name of the mountain region, the ''Bastion of Beasts''.


    At the base of the enormous mountain was a singr entrance, a tunnel over two miles wide and a mile tall. The tunnel was guarded by two massive stone doors which parted in the middle. On each door was a massive carving of a winding serpent, one that enveloped an entire world.


    The carvings were so real that they appeared lifelike, as if the snakes would lunge out from the doors at any moment.


    A wide road carved through the forest straight to the mountain entrance, which was bustling with activity as beasts of all races moved into and out of the mountain. Two enormous beasts, each fifty yards tall with the body of a lion and the head of a serpent guarded the entrance, their vertical pupils scanning all who entered.


    Their eyes locked onto a group that was swiftly approaching the tunnel gate, a group that made the surrounding ground turn to ice as they walked, the nearby air shimmering with a frosty mist. The group of Netherfrost Beasts, those who had made the journey to the Three Dao Tournament, marched up to the entrance, led by a lone Half-Step Holy Manifestation beast.


    "We demand entrance," the leader said loudly as they were stopped by the two guards. "We demand an audience with the council!"


    After a short and intense standoff, the guards backed down and opened the massive doors, which were so heavy they shook the entire mountain as they opened. The Netherfrost Beasts marched into the tunnel, which led deep into the heart of the mountain.


    The tunnel was as wide as the entrance, with beautiful multi-colored crystals jutting from the walls and ceiling, providing all colors of light to the tunnel. The tunnel stretched for over a dozen miles, with smaller tunnels branching off periodically, burrowing into other parts of the mountain.


    The group of Netherfrost Beasts eventually arrived at the end of the main tunnel, which gave way to a massive circr chamber dozens of miles wide, and so tall that it seemed to stretch to the top of the mountain a hundred miles above.


    The chamber was filled with countless beasts of all races, each going about their business. There were avian beasts, reptilian beasts, aquatic beasts, mammal-like beasts, and everything in between. Some emanated an aura of fire, others of ice. Some of death. Others of life. It was as all the Dao''s coalesced into physical forms and congregated here, more types of beasts and more Dao''s emanated than could be counted.


    Some of the beasts soared through the sky, while others ascended the stairs spiraling up at the edge of the chamber.


    At the base of the chamber and every five hundred yards, tunnels led into the mountain in all directions. These tunnels stretched up as far as they eye could see, like an infinite web of tunnels carving throughout the entire mountain.


    At the very center of the chamber was a raised transformation tform, one closely guarded by a group of Half-Step World Expansion guards of varying beast races. The guards spotted the Netherfrost group rapidly approach, and as if instructed prior, allowed them onto the formation tform.


    The tform red to life as thest Netherfrost Beast set foot on it, transporting them to another part of the mountain''s interior.


    sh!


    The Netherfrost Beasts arrived at the start of an ornate crystal hallway that stretched forward for several hundred yards. Crystals of all colors covered every single inch of the walls and ceiling, polished to a marble smooth finish.


    The crystals flickered with a mesmerizing hue, almost beautiful enough to make the Netherfrost group forget their purpose for being here. Almost.


    After recovering their wits, the group walked forward down the hallway, passing by many closed and open side rooms. They ignored those as they strode towards the end of the hallway, arriving at another set of closed, ornate doors.


    The guards there opened the doors as they arrived, revealing a breathtaking throne room on the other side. Three massive thrones lined the opposite side of therge chamber, a figure sat on each throne.


    The first throne was fiery red and orange in color, as if it was the source of all fire. On it sat a creature of fire, with the body of that of a human, but the head of a phoenix. The creature wore a bright red robe which flickered like mes, and had two beautiful wings of fire spreading from its back to either side, a regal creature beyondpare.


    This was the humanoid form of Eos, the Phoenixbeast Matriarch. As many beasts did, it assumed its humanoid form, which many beasts found morefortable to use for day-to-day activities.


    The throne opposite Eos was crystal blue in color, a color that seemed to change slightly, like waves rippling over its surface. On the throne sat a creature of a simr blue hue, another humanoid figure with the head of a water dragon. It wore a blue robe, while its body was covered in blue and green scales which shimmered and sparkled like the ocean under the sun.


    This was the humanoid form of Leviatanos, the Oceanbeast Patriarch.


    Lastly, the throne in the middle was pitch ck in color, with dark blue designs. On the seat sat another humanoid figure, one who wore a robe of simr color to the throne and whose skin was covered in pitch ck scales. Two green and yellow eyes with vertical pupils stared forward, its head like that of a serpent.


    This was the humanoid figure of Etaras, the Serpentbeast Patriarch.


    These three figures were the pinnacle powerhouses of the Phoenixbeast n, the Oceanbeast n, and the Serpentbeast n, the three pinnacle powers of the Beast Continent.


    The three figures watched the Netherfrost Beast group enter the chamber, at which point the guards closed the door to the chamber. The group stopped a respectable distance away from the three figures, then fell to one knee, their heads bowed in respect.


    "We humbly greet the Three Honored Ones," the Netherfrost Beast leader said, his words echoed a momentter by those behind him.


    Silence filled the chamber for a while before one of the three figures spoke.


    "We heard of the horrendous betrayal your n suffered at the hands of the humans," Leviathan, the Oceanbeast Patriarch said. His voice was deep and rippled as if spoken by churning waves.


    "We assume you are here on matters rted to this incident," Eos, the Phoenixbeast Matriarch said, her voice roiling as if spoken by a volcano itself.


    "Yes," the Netherfrost Beast leader said, raising his head to meet the eyes of the three. "At your suggestion, we epted the offer of the traitorous Yang-Sovereign, and we have suffered deeply from this incident."


    "We did suggest epting his offer as a way to bridge rtions between beasts and humans," Leviatanos said, then shook his head regretfully. "Never did we expect such an act of barbarity from the Yang-Sovereign."


    "He brings shame to all Yang-based creatures," Eos spat in disgust, her wings of fire rippling with a burst of disgust.


    "Speak," Eos continued. "What do you wish to say to the Council of Three?"


    "We demand retribution!" the Netherfrost Beast leader said angrily. "We demand justice. We deman-"


    "You demand nothing," Leviatanos cut him off loudly, causing the Netherfrost beasts to recoil slightly.


    "Of¡­of course," the Netherfrost Leader hastily said. "I¡­we¡­havee here, to humbly request justice for our n."


    "What justice do you seek?" Eos said, her eyes of fire staring at the group before her. "The Yang-Sovereign is dead and so are his followers. There is no justice left to obtain."


    "The humans!" the Netherfrost Beast leader said, respectfully yet angrily. "The humans must pay for this betrayal. They cannot be allowed to ughter us beasts without repercussion! The world will think us weak if we allow this-"


    "You need not care about the opinions of the world," Eos interjected. "Care only about your people, and how best to restore your strength."


    "Of course," the Netherfrost Leader agreed, "but a price must be paid. A price of blood!"


    "What would you have us do? Storm the humannds and demand justice?" Leviatanos scoffed, to which the Netherfrost leader didn''t answer, knowing the stupidity of such a suggestion.


    "We merely demand the opportunity to enact our revenge," the Netherfrost Leader said. "It matters not which humans or how many, just that we are allowed to restore our honor and wipe away the stain of this betrayal."


    The chamber fell silent for some time, at which point Etaras, the serpent-like creature, stirred lightly in his seat, drawing the eyes of all. The Serpentbeast n, while not the official ruler of the Beast races, was the DeFacto ruler.


    Not only were they the most powerful race amongst the beasts, but their blood contained a trace of the Eternal Serpent''s blood, granting them not only power beyond most other beats, but a connection to the Eternal Serpent no other beasts could im.


    "Storming the humannds is out of the question," Etaras said, his voice powerful andmanding, but with the undertone of a snake-like hiss. "But the opportunity for your n to avenge itself may be possible."


    "Do you mean?" Eos asked, while Leviatanos looked on with a questioning look.


    Etaras nodded his head, then leaned back into his throne. "I will converse with the Eternal Serpent, and request the Continent of War be opened once more. If the Eternal Serpent agrees, you will have your battleground to seek vengeance."


    "Thank you!" the Netherfrost Beast Leader said as he bowed his head, followed by the rest of the Netherfrost Group. "We humbly ept his offer for vengeance!"


    "Good," Etaras said with a light nod. "Then should the Eternal Serpent agree, the world shall converge on the Continent of War once more, to bathe itsnd in blood for the Eternal Serpent!"

 Chapter 1146 Yang Phoenix Sect Ceremony

    Chapter 1146 Yang Phoenix Sect Ceremony


    ??As time moved on, the story of the Yang-Sovereign''s betrayal and John''sst stand spread to every single corner of the world, with almost every souling to learn of the truth. For the Beasts and Devils, many thought the story to be made up, at least when it came to John''s impossible power and defiantst stand.


    Many considered it to be propaganda from the humans, who were trying to shine the spotlight on a heavenly genius instead of the treacherous Yang-Sovereign. In times of defeat and suffering, having a hero to look up to was a motivation beyondparison, or at least many of these beasts and devils thought.


    For the humans, John''s legendary battle turned into something mythical almost immediately. Overnight he turned into a figure more akin to a god than a human, something that the youths of the continent worshiped, and the older cultivators looked to as the new hope of the race, a future powerhouse capable of weathering all storms and obstacles.


    Several weekster¡­


    Thends surrounding the Yang-Dao Sect were bustling with activity, with thousands of experts flooding to and from itsnds, each charged with a task toplete in the efforts to restore the Yang-Dao Sect to its former glory.


    Incredible progress had already been made in the weeks since the Yang-Sovereign''s betrayal, with Jaxus leading the new sect with a firm grip. The remnant traitors were all rooted out and dealt with, with many executed for their treacherous crimes.


    Those with less egregious crimes, but stillplicit with the Yang-Sovereign''s schemes, were chained and used as ves, theirbor put towards restoring the sect and the surroundingnds.


    On this particr day, the restoration efforts had been paused, as an event no one wanted to miss was taking ce within the grounds of the Yang-Dao Sect.


    ¡­


    At the top of the tallest spire of the Yang-Dao Sect, one that had pierced up to nearly touch the dome of Yang when the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus had been under the sect''s control, stood many figures familiar to the human race.


    The Prime Shadow, the Mage Sovereign, Araxus, Lilian, and several other powerhouses from other prominent sects. These powerhouses stood atop a balcony at the top of the spire, overlooking a ceremony taking ce below in the courtyards of the Yang-Dao Sect.


    In thergest courtyard, one stretching miles in each direction, gathered tens of millions of humans. The crowd ranged from youths to the pinnacle powers of the human race, all gathered for one singr purpose; the ceremony that Jaxus, the new sect leader of the sect, was leading.


    This ceremony was created for two purposes; to pay respects to those who had fallen during the Yang-Sovereign''s betrayal, and to pay respects to those who had saved them.


    Standing on a podium before the endless crowd, Jaxus gave an emotional and riveting speech, then turned and waved his hand towards a veiled object behind him. As he did so, the veil formation receded, revealing the first of two objects for all to see.


    A collective gasp emanated from the crowd as theyid their eyes on the object, a wall that stretched wide to both sides of Jaxus.


    "This wall," Jaxus said to the crowd, gesturing to the obsidian wall behind him that was over a mile long and one hundred yards tall, with white inscriptions covering most of its ck surface, "is a wall dedicated to those who fell during the Yang-Sovereign''s betrayal. The wall, forever known as the Tomb of Sacrifice, contains the names of every single person who died during the Yang-Sovereign''s betrayal, as a permanent reminder of their legacy."


    A mournful apuse broke out as many in the crowd wept, remembering those close to them that they had lost. Geniuses of premier sects, elders, patriarchs, matriarchs, sisters, brothers, fathers and mothers.


    After giving another rousing speech, Jaxus gestured to the second veiled object, at which point the veil fell, revealing therge object for all to see. A collective gasp emanated from the crowd, followed by a thunderous apuse that shook the entire sect.


    The unveiled object was a two-hundred-yard-tall statue, or two statues connected as one at the base, of John and the Sword-Saint. John and the Sword-Saint stood side by side, their postures firm, their expressions heroic, their weapons held in one hand.


    Both statues were so detailed and ornate it felt as though they woulde to life at any moment, and were so awe-inspiring that many were reduced to tears as they stared at them.


    "This statue," Jaxus continued, "will forever remain here as a reminder of the heroes that stood up to the Yang-Sovereign and thwarted his treachery, saving millions and perhaps even more. These statues will be a symbol of the new era for this sect, no longer known as the Yang-Dao Sect, but instead the Yang Phoenix Sect. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, our sect shall once more rise again, and¡­"


    As Jaxus'' speech continued, the powerhouses above looked down on the ceremony, watching it unfold. Lilian raised an eyebrow as she saw the statue, which while deserving, was quite gaudy.


    "That''s¡­quite eye-catching," she couldn''t help but mutter softly, to which the Prime Shadow chuckled lightly.


    "True, but it''s also a symbol of hope for many, which is important in times such as these," he said.


    A short whileter, Jaxus finished his speech and soared into the sky, returning to the tform where the powerhouses were, leaving the rest of the ceremony to the Elders of the sect. As hended, he greeted the powerhouses one by one, eventually stopping at Lilian and the Prime Shadow.


    "How is he?" Jaxus asked, a hopeful expression on his face.


    "Still unconscious," the Prime Shadow sighed, to which Jaxus and the others nearby did as well.


    "Is¡­is he at least improving?" Jaxus asked hopefully. While they had once been rivals, Jaxus now considered John more important to the Yang Phoenix Sect than he himself, as John was a symbol of its new direction, a hero for the sect and the world to look up to.


    He had been hoping for John to attend this ceremony in person, but that had unfortunately not been possible.


    "Yes¡­and no," the Prime Shadow replied, then borated upon noticing the curious expressions of the others. "He is no longer at risk of dying."


    That resulted in a collective sigh of relief from all those gathered, as the worst was finally over.


    "However, he is still far, far from recovery," the Prime Shadow continued.


    "What''s wrong with him?" Jaxus asked. "If there''s anything my sect can provide to aid his¡­"


    "Thank you, but his injuries are beyond the ability of your sect, or any of our sects, to heal," the Prime Shadow said, then exined further. "The first, and most serious problem, is that of his soul."


    "His soul?" Jaxus repeated.


    "Yes, his soul," the Prime Shadow nodded. "The main reason he is still unconscious is because of his soul. While his soul is stable, it still contains the taint of the power he used to defeat the Yang-Sovereign. That taint, while mostly removed, still lingers, and holds onto his soul with unyielding relentlessness. As far as I can tell, John''s soul is trying to break free from this foul taint, but is unable to do so, at least not quickly. Until he''s able to cleanse the taint from his soul, I''m afraid he will remain unconscious."


    "Not quickly? So there is hope he heals after a while?" Araxus chimed in, a hopeful look on his face.


    "Yes," the Prime Shadow nodded, "but we''re talking at the very least a year, if not more."


    A dejected look appeared on everyone''s face again, as this was not good news. A year for John to recover was uneptable. This was the prime of his youth, and a pinnacle genius losing a year of cultivation was too great a cost to pay.


    "The second problem," the Prime Shadow continued, "is that his body is still far from healed. While his most gruesome injuries are healed, and there''s no worry of him dying, some of the damage is far too profound to be healed through any means we have. If not for the meridian strengthening he went through recently, the power he used would havepletely shattered them, turning him into a cripple. Even then, his meridians are quite damaged, with many on the verge of copse. Even if he wakes up, he will not be able to use any power until his meridians are restored, or else he could permanently cripple himself."

 Chapter 1147 Temple of the Ancients

    Chapter 1147 Temple of the Ancients


    ??A grim look appeared on everyone''s face, as everyone here knew how hard meridians were to heal. Meridians were one of the hardest parts of the body to heal, and for someone with heaven-defying meridians like John, healing them would be far more difficult than the average genius.


    "And the problem ispounded by his bloodline he has," the Prime Shadow continued, then borated as he noticed the questioning looks from the others. "His bloodline is beyond anything any of us have seen, and whenever healing Qi is poured into his body, his blood greedily absorbs it all, leaving almost nothing for the rest of his body. The appetite of his blood is insatiable, and we haven''t been able to restore his blood fully, let alone the rest of his body. I''m afraid only the most potent of healing treasures would be capable of such a thing, but¡­"


    "None of us have such a treasure," Jaxus filled in the remaining words, and received a head nod from the Prime Shadow.


    "Andstly," the Prime Shadow continued, "is his foundation. When John pushed his cultivation as high as he did, his foundation was shaken. His Dantian is quite unstable at the moment, and with him unconscious and unable to firm his foundation again, the cracks in his foundation could grow worse and worse, eventually bing irreparable if he remains unconscious for too long."


    Silence descended on the group,sting for some time as many sought for solutions, but coulde up with nothing.


    At that time, footsteps sounded from behind them, as two figures approached the group, emerging from the chamber leading to the balcony. Looks of wee appeared on everyone''s face as the moved towards the two who had arrived.


    "Wee!" Jaxus said, hastily rushing up to Ji''Han and the Sword-Saint, thetter whose face was pale and posture quite frail. With the sacrifice of his blood essence, the Sword-Saint had dealt an unrecoverable blow to his body and cultivation, which had receded to the Early World Expansion Realm in terms of power. Not only that, but he would never be able to raise his cultivation in the future, forever stuck at this realm.


    For someone like the Sword-Saint, a Holy Manifestation powerhouse whose future was bright, this was a mental and physical blow beyondpare.


    The Sword-Saint greeted the others, exchanging some niceties with them before turning his attention to the Prime Shadow. With his power diminished and his perspective changed, the Sword-Saint was like a different person, one far less haughty and confrontational.


    "I do not have a solution for the first two problems," the Sword-Saint said, having clearly overheard the Prime Shadow as he arrived, "but I may have a solution for his unstable foundation."


    "What solution?" the Prime Shadow asked.


    "The Ancient Blessings of the Three Daos!" the Sword-Saint said, his expression firm.


    "The Ancient Blessings?" the Mage Sovereign chimed up, a thoughtful yet doubtful look appearing on her face. "While the Ancient Blessings would help to improve his foundation, the boy is still unconscious. He won''t be able to guide the heavenly Qi into his body and Dantian, and will instead waste most of the Qi given to him. Are you sure it''s worth the cost? After all, we can only open the Ancient Blessings once every ten thousand years, and only at great cost to us all."


    "John cannot guide the Qi into his body, but someone else can," the Sword-Saint replied, his words causing the Mage Sovereign''s eyes to widen slightly.


    "Impossible," she scoffed lightly, then corrected herself. "Well, it''s not impossible, but it might as well be."


    "What''s the problem?" Jaxus chimed in, his eyes shifting between the Sword-Saint and the Mage Sovereign. While he was not a powerhouse like the Mage Sovereign, or former powerhouse like the Sword-Saint, his status as Sect Leader of the Yang Phoenix Sect allowed him to speak freely with the others as a rtive equal. "If anything can help¡­"


    The Mage-Sovereign nced at Jaxus, then sighed. "It''s not that it''s impossible, but it''s very very difficult. Since John is unconscious, someone will need to enter the Ancient Blessings with him, and act as a conduit to move the heavenly Qi within the temple into his body and Dantian for him."


    "So, what''s the problem?" Jaxus asked curiously. "I''ll volunteer to-"


    "It''s not that simple," the Mage-Sovereign cut him off. "While I do not doubt your intentions, I doubt your resolve."


    Her words caused Jaxus to frown, not pleased by her opinion of his resolve. The Mage-Sovereign noticed this frown and smiled lightly. "Do not take my words as an insult, because they are not. Not only do I doubt your resolve, I doubt everyone''s resolve when ites to this matter."


    She nced at the Sword-Saint, whose expression held firm, then sighed again and borated to Jaxus and the others further.


    "The Ancient Blessings of the Three Dao''s is an ancient creation far beyond the scope of our current world. We know only how part of it works, and even those parts are beyond incredible. When one enters the Ancient Blessings, the umted Qi of ten thousand years is refined into the purest form of Heavenly Qi one can imagine. Topare it to the Qi surrounding us right now would be the most egregious of insults.


    One taste of this Qi will drive any cultivator into a frenzy, with their only goal to absorb as much as possible. To a cultivator, the Qi within the Ancient Blessings is like the most potent of drugs, so intoxicating that it would drive me into a frenzy, let alone anyone else.


    If I were to enter the Ancient Blessings with the boy in order to guide the Qi into his body, while my initial intentions would be pure, the desire to absorb that Qi for myself would be too great for me to resist. Myself, you, even the Prime Shadow would most likely sumb to this temptation, taking the Qi for ourselves instead of giving it to John," she said, falling silent to allow the others to digest her words.


    "And there''s one more problem," she spoke again after some time, all eyes falling on her once more. "In his unconscious state, and with his internal battle with that foul taint, John''s soul is in a state of heightened alert, treating any foreign entity as an enemy. Even if I was able to resist the urge to use the Qi for myself, his soul would instinctively reject my help, treating me as an enemy the same as that foul taint. The only way this would have a chance of working is for the person who joins him to not only have a will beyond any temptation, but also a soul that the boy would never consider a foe. Only then is there a possibility of sess, but there is no one like that here-"


    "There is one," the Sword-Saint interrupted the Mage Sovereign, who nced at him curiously. The Sword-Saint smiled lightly as he shifted his gaze to Lilian, who stood next to the Prime Shadow, silently listening to everyone.


    "Her?" the Mage-Sovereign said with slight surprise. "It''s true that she is his master, but I''m not sure their bond is great enough to ovee this obstacl-"


    "Trust me," Ji''Han spoke for the first time, drawing all eyes to him, while he looked directly at Lilian, their eyes locking onto one another. "If there''s anyone who can do this, it''s her. Of that, I have no doubt."


    Lilian couldn''t help but raise a surprised eyebrow at Ji''Han, never expecting to hear such words from him. Everyone nced back and forth between these two, while the Mage Sovereign looked back to the Sword-Saint, who nodded in agreement with Ji''Han''s words.


    "Can you do it?" the Mage Sovereign asked Lilian, who nced at the Sovereign, then frowned.


    "Had I known this was an option, I would have already been inside that ce restoring John''s condition," Lilian replied, then nodded lightly. "I''ll do it. When can we start?"


    "Tomorrow," the Sword-Saint replied before anyone else could, then looked at the Mage-Sovereign and Jaxus. "Make the preparations. Tomorrow we shall meet at the Temple of the Ancients, and open it for John and Lilian to enter."

 Chapter 1148 Sea of Effervescent Tranquility

    <h4>Chapter 1148 Sea of Effervescent Tranquility</h4>


    As the ceremony continued below, the powerhouses discussed the opening of the Ancient Blessings, and what was required to do so. As they discussed the details, another person appeared on the spire balcony, walking towards Lilian.


    Zuri smiled and greeted Lilian, the two having struck up quite a friendship in thest few weeks. They were both in their twenties, were both prodigious talents, and also had simr interests.


    "Here, take this," Zuri said as she opened her closed fist, revealing a spatial ring on the t of her palm.


    "What''s this?" Lilian asked curiously, picking up the ring and sending her divine sense into it. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw the contents within, then she looked back at Zuri with a questioning expression.


    Zuri smiled lightly, then exined. "When John and I entered this city, we ced a bet on at thergest auction house regarding his performance in the tournament. The spirit crystals within are John''s winnings."


    Even with her upbringing, Lilian couldn''t help but draw in a deep breath. The Nine-Dao World was richer than her homeworld, and so this number of spirit crystals was far more than she had ever seen or had in her life.


    Mountains upon mountains of spirit crystals, many of them medium and high-quality crystals, covered almost every inch of the spatial realm within the ring. The value of crystals within was even greater than the worth of the entire Heavenly Lightning Sect, and by great deal as well.


    "John is now one of the richest cultivators on the," Zuri said with a smile, which saddened slightly. "When he wakes up to spend it, that is."


    The two of them conversed about matters while the powerhouses sorted out the Ancient Blessing details. After a long while, the matter was finally settled, allowing them to move on to the other pressing matters.


    "So, with the Ancient Blessings restoring his foundation," the Mage Sovereign said, "that still leaves the matter of his soul and body, both which need to be healed by means none of us possess. Does anyone have an idea of how to proceed?"


    Silence filled the air for some time, until the Prime Shadow spoke up.


    "While none of us possess such fantastic healing treasures, they do exist in this world," he said, drawing looks of curiosity and doubt, while the Mage Sovereign looked at him as if he were crazy.


    "If you are speaking of the Continent of War, it''s best you forget such a suggestion," she said firmly. "The Continent is closed, and sneaking into it to steal from the Eternal Serpent is out of the question."


    "I''ve done it before," the Prime Shadow said to the surprise of everyone. A wry smile appeared on his face as he shrugged lightly. "How do you think I possessed the Star of the Serpent Tree."


    "I see," the Mage Sovereign said, finally understanding how that came to pass. "You''re lucky the Eternal Serpent didn''t chase you down and kill you."


    "That serpent is far toozy to chase me all over this world," the Prime Shadow grinned. "It may be far stronger than me, but it knows it won''t be able to catch me easily. For a being such as the Serpent, the Star was not worth the trouble of chasing me."


    "True," the Mage Sovereign nodded lightly, a thoughtful look appearing on her face. "From what we know, the Eternal Serpent is very protective of the heart of the Continent of War. He never leaves the continent, as if refusing to leave something unguarded."


    She fell silent for a moment, then nced at the Prime Shadow and shook her head dismissively. "Still, this suggestion won''t work. You were able to steal the Star because of your movement abilities, as well as the fact that you didn''t need to stay there long. I''m assuming the treasure you have in mind to heal his soul is the Sea of Effervescent Tranquility?"


    The Prime Shadow nodded lightly, to which the Mage Sovereign sighed deeply.


    "While I agree that the Sea of Effervescent Tranquility is the best chance for healing his soul, there''s one problem. For his soul to be healed, John will need to be bathed in its spiritual waters for days, maybe weeks, in order to purge the foul taint gripping his soul. That makes intruding on the continent without the Eternal Serpent''s knowledge or interference impossible."


    "Perhaps we could sneak it and steal some of this Sea of Effervescent Tranquility, and take it back with us to heal him?" Jaxus chimed in.


    "Not possible," the Mage Sovereign shook her head. "The Sea is Effervescent Tranquility is enclosed in arge man-made structure, one of ancient designs. The only way to ess the ancient structure is to venture near the heart of the continent, where the Serpent''s gaze is strong and all-knowing. The Prime Shadow was able to steal the Star of the Serpent Tree due to its open location, but the Sea is another story."


    Jaxus fell silent upon hearing this, a brooding expression on his face. Like many of the premier geniuses of the world, he had been to the Continent of War before. However, due to his strength when he had visited, he had only ventured through the perimeternds of the continent, and not deeper into the heart of thatnd.


    "As you are well aware," the Mage-Sovereign continued. "The Continent of War grows in both danger and opportunity as one ventures deeper into itsnds. The continent was the central powerhouse of this world during the ancient war, and after its conclusion, the Eternal Serpent imed it as payment for its service in defending this world. The perimeternds where you have explored are safer but offer less opportunities. The treasures that can aid John are deeper into the continent, where the Serpent is able to see all and know all. Only if the Serpent opens the Continent once more may we have an opportunity to seize these much-needed opportunities."


    Another, heavier silence descended upon the group. The Eternal Serpent was the most famous creature in the entire world, one that every single person knew of. Its indifferent temperament was also well known, a creature so stubborn that almost none could entice it to do something it didn''t want to do.


    If the creature wanted to open thends of its continent, it would. If it didn''t, it was almost impossible to convince it to do so. As such, their only hope was that the Serpent did decide to open the continent soon, which hadst been opened over three years ago.


    "Perhaps I could-" the Prime Shadow started, then stopped as a marvelous wave of multicolored clouds surged through the sky above, like a wave of sparkling clouds. All eyes widened as the clouds surged overhead, followed shortly after by a low and deep gong-like sound, one that chimed throughout the entire world over and over.


    Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong! Gong!


    Seven times the sound washed over thends, its deep and permeating resonance fading away a whileter. The sparkling clouds above also passed beyond thends, surging towards more distant ces of the world to announce the message for all to hear.


    "Speak and you shall receive," the Mage Sovereign muttered, then nced at the Prime Shadow. "The Eternal Serpent has opened itsnds once more, with the seven chimes indicating seven cultivation realms. In one month''s time, all the world shall surge once more towards thends of war and death."


    "All in the World Expansion Realm and below may enter," the Prime Shadow said softly, a conflicted expression on his face. "This timing is far too convenient to be coincidental. If I had to guess, the Beasts have requested its opening, giving them and to seek revenge against us for the Yang-Sovereign''s actions."


    "That is my assessment as well," the Mage-Sovereign nodded, as did the Sword-Saint.


    "World Expansion, huh?" The Sword-Saint mused softly, then nced at Ji''Han, who was now in the Early World Expansion Realm, then Lilian, whose cultivation was in the Middle World Expansion Realm, and was almost ready to step into the Late World Expansion Realm.


    He nced at the other powerhouses once more, then nodded in agreement to their silent but obvious intentions.


    "Then it is settled," the Sword-Saint said, his gaze returning to Ji''Han at his side. "After John is out of the Temple of the Ancients, you, my son, shall lead a coalition towards the Continent of War. Once there, your purpose shall be simple; lead the coalition towards the Sea of Effervescent Tranquility, and heal John''s soul. Shall you discover opportunities to heal his body as well, you may use your judgment to proceed if the risk is worth the reward. Do you understand?"


    Ji''Han raised an eyebrow at his father, a surprised look on his face. He knew his father had changed his opinion of John after fighting side by side with him, but did not realize his opinion had changed to this level. After a moment of silence, a resolved expression appeared on Ji''Han''s face, followed by a firm nod.


    "As for you," the Sword-Saint said, shifting his gaze to Lilian. "Well, I see no better person to be charged with the personal protection of John. I assume you n on joining the mission as well? I must warn you, the Continent of War is and of unimaginable dangers, both from the dangers there, as well as the Beasts and Devils that will be searching thends. If you go, you may not return."


    "The only danger will be for those who dare to stand in my way," Lilian replied calmly, to which the Sword-Saint smiled and nodded.


    "Then it is settled," he said, his voice surging with newfound hope. "We will bathe John in the blessings of the ancients, and then, we shall set out for the Continent of War!"


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