"What...what just happened?" An Elder in the formations room commented, but received no reply.
The Elders had all been watching and discussing the various fights, with most of their eyes glued to the room John was fighting in. He had shown some promise in his initial fights, and the bet between the two Elders spiced up the otherwise mundane watching experience.
After his initial collisions with the Golden Mane Lion, many of the Elders guessed that Elder Harn was correct, and that John would not last five minutes against it.
However, his aura and power had unexpectedly exploded to a level well beyond what a Mid Qi Condensation cultivator should be capable of, and he had also shown off an immensely profound and powerful scythe battle art.
These two things allowed him to not only fight against the beast, but actually slay it. None of the Elders had expected such a thing, and all had been stunned into silence.
Elder Harn stood there with an incredibly sour expression on his face. He wanted to accuse the boy of cheating somehow, but he knew that was impossible. The power was clearly the boy's own power, and doing such a thing would only disgrace himself.
Elder Ragur stood there in equally stunned silence. His initial estimate of John lasting five minutes against the beast was a bet of passion in the moment, and even he was unsure if John would be able to last that long.
However, John's performance far exceeded his expectations. His stunned silence soon turned to happiness.
"I'll collect those spirit stones later, so be sure to gather them for me," Elder Ragur turned to the still silent Elder Harn and spoke out, before his figure suddenly vanished.
…
John laid on the floor for several moments before he finally managed to climb back on his feet. His stance was unsteady and his breathing incredibly heavy, but as long as he maintained consciousness, John was unwilling to lie on the floor like that.
After regaining his composure, John inspected his body and let out a sigh of relief.
'Although I have some pretty nasty wounds from taking that last attack head on, none of it is life threatening. I'm mostly just exhausted from using the Divine Reaping Scythe on top of the Immortal Asura Transformation Art.
However….These wounds are going to take quite some time to heal, and the Life Mist Healing Pills I have are only really good for healing Mist Creation Cultivators…'
Although it was ineffective for his cultivation, a Life Mist Healing Pill still appeared in John's hands.
"This is my last one…"
From his battles in the pocket realm, as well as the ancient forest, John had used up all his healing pills.
"After I'm done with this entrance exam, one of the first things I should do is get a new batch of more effective healing pills."
John raised the pill to his mouth and was about to swallow it, when a voice behind him suddenly spoke out.
"That won't be necessary."
John quickly turned around and was greeted by a familiar figure. Elder Ragur stood there inspecting John's condition, while a satisfied smile hung on his face.
"You really do manage to give me surprise after surprise," Elder Ragur stated in a happy tone, his satisfaction with John's performance evident.
John had first given him a surprise with his Lightning Attribute Body, then his revealing of his Innate Variant Body. Now, he had revealed his incredible combat prowess, shocking the Elder once more.
A small pouch appeared in Elder Ragur's hands, and he threw it over towards John before he could respond. John caught the pouch and quickly inspected the contents inside. A deep medicinal fragrance emanated from the pouch, and John felt his body become refreshed just from smelling its contents.
"Those are Spiritgrass Healing Pills, which are very effective for Qi Condensation cultivators," Elder Ragur said as he watched John inspect the pills closely.
John could feel a vibrant medicinal aura emanating from the pills. It was much better than his Life Mist Healing Pills.
"Good stuff! Thanks," John replied without standing on courtesy. He took out one pill while storing the rest in his spatial ring.
The pill was slightly bitter, but as soon as the pill entered his stomach, John could feel the gentle yet powerful healing properties of the pill circulate throughout his body. Before long, John could see his superficial wounds begin to slowly heal before his eyes. His body began to feel lighter, and his pain began to slowly subside.
"The light wounds should be healed within the hour, while the heavier wounds will take about a day. You're in luck though, the next trial only starts once all the participants have either failed or passed the third trial, which should happen in about a day or so," Elder Ragur said with a smile on his face.
He was in an incredibly good mood, as he had just won ten thousand spirit stones from Elder Harn. Not only that, but John's talent was beyond his expectations, and the more talented he was, the more benefits he would receive from having brought such a talent to the sect.
After healing his lighter wounds, John followed Elder Ragur out of the room while discussing the test that he had just taken.
…
Later that night, John sat in a small room and focused on healing his body and recovering his peak strength. After the third trial had been completed, Elder Ragur escorted John to where the fourth trial would take place.
It was a massive circular building, hundreds of yards wide and several dozen yards tall, and was painted pitch black, giving off an ominous feeling. Outside of the building, hundreds of small cottages were available to rest in.
After explaining that the next trial would start in a day, Elder Ragur left, leaving John to himself. John entered one of the small cottages and began to recuperate.
"I'm not sure what the next test will be, but I need to make sure I'm at my peak state for it."
John closed his eyes and focused on guiding the medicinal properties of the Spirtgrass Healing Pill through his body, slowly healing the remaining wounds. He also focused on restoring his essence Qi reserves, and before long, it was back to being full.
"I have plenty of beast blood essence, so I won't have to worry about obtaining more for quite some time. I wonder how Adam did in the third trial."
After healing to full, John decided to leave his small cottage and take a walk outside, and see if he could find Adam. He stood up and opened the door, and a look of disbelief appeared on his face.
"J-John, help me!"