John felt his blood boil in excitement at the words Russell just spoke. He had always enjoyed battle, but ever since he first successfully practiced the Immortal Asura Transformation Art, he could tell that his desire for battle had exploded even more.
However, he thought about the battle for a moment before accepting.
'Russell is at the peak of the Qi Condensation Realm. His strength is even above the late Qi Condensation Lion I fought, which is a problem. If I went all out, we might be relatively even strength, but that would make me reveal all my trump cards. Even so, revealing all my trump cards still wont result in a win.'
Russell was one of the strongest first year disciples, and his strength was terrifying. Unfortunately for John, his body cultivation was still at the early Qi Condensation realm, which was an entire two minor realms lower than Russel. If it was in the middle Qi Condensation realm, he would have much more confidence, but sadly he had found no opportunity to obtain more human blood essence.
Even with his Supreme Battle Art, John knew he was most likely not a match for Russell. He would have to use his Immortal Asura Transformation Art to fight him evenly, but that would mean revealing his biggest trump card to the entire group of first years.
Such a fight would draw the eyes of many, as all of the disciples would be eager to witness a fight between two of the top first years. While John was not all that concerned about the Elders knowing about his full strength, he knew revealing all this trump cards to the other youths this early was a bad idea.
'I can tell that Mason hates me, and he'll probably challenge me for my spot as soon as he is allowed to. I have no idea how strong he is, or what our cultivations will be like when he challenges me, so I need to keep my Immortal Asura Transformation Art hidden until that battle at least.'
John wanted to maintain his spot as top Core Disciple. Not only did it provide the most benefits, it would elevate his status in the Sect itself, making it easier to have the sect help him and his clan in the future.
However, despite all this…
"Sure, lets fight," John responded, his battle lust climbing.
Despite not being able to use his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, John was still eager to battle.
'I want to see just how powerful the top youths are.'
"Wraahhhhh," Russell belted out a warcry as a smile broke out on his face. "That's what I like to hear, prepare yourself!"
Russell's aura began to rapidly climb in preparation for battle. The nearby disciples all stopped and prepared to watch the fight about to take place, eager to see what the top disciples were made of combat prowess wise. Suddenly, a figure appeared between the two of them, causing Russell to pause.
"Fights between disciples are only permitted inside the martial arenas. You cannot fight here," Elder Orin stated to both of them.
Russell frowned for a moment before speaking. "Fine, then we'll just move there now."
Elder Orin shook his head before replying. "You think you're the only disciples who want to battle? This sect has tens of thousands of disciples. The martial arenas are always occupied, and as such, you have to register your battle beforehand and find an open time slot."
"What? Why the fuck is there such a thing?" Russell belted out in frustration. "Can't you just build more arenas? And why cant we just fight here?"
"Elder Orin," John spoke up quickly before Elder Orin lashed out as Russell. "How do we register for a battle?"
Elder Orin turned to John. "You need to go to the martial arena's entrance. There's a large stone tablet with all the registered battles. Send your Qi into the tablet and register a time."
"So there's such a thing. Thank you Elder," John responded before turning to Russell.
"How about we go register our battle?" John said to Russell.
"Sure, lets go." Russell's battle lust was ignited once more, and he quickly ran off in the direction of the martial arenas, with John following immediately after. With classes done for the day, the disciples were free to use their time how they wished until the following days classes.
"Wait for me!" Adam yelled out and chased after the two quickly. Many of the other disciples also chased behind as well, eager to see if the battle would take place today.
After some time running through the vast campus of the sect, Russell and John finally arrived in front of the martial arenas. There were several large arenas with vast stands surrounding them, allowing for tens of thousands of people to witness each battle. Glowing formations surrounded the fighting platforms, clearly designed to protect the crowd from any attacks.
Hundreds of other disciples streamed in and out of the martial grounds every minute, showing how busy it was.
In the very center of the grounds, a massive arena stood tall, dwarfing the other arenas. The stands stretched high into the sky, allowing for hundreds of thousands of people to witness the battles within. Its grandness was beyond all the other arenas.
However, the arena was empty at the moment.
At the entrance to the arena grounds, a large smooth black tablet stood. It was twenty feet tall, and close inspection revealed hundreds of names and arena numbers, as well as times associated with them.
"This is the tablet the Elder was talking about. Let's see when the next available time slot is," John said to Russell, before walking towards the tablet and placing his hand on it.
His Qi flowed into the tablet, and he was immediately presented with information regarding the available time slots. A frown appeared on his face.
A moment later, John stepped away from the tablet, and all eyes could see both his and Russell's name slowly appear on the bottom of the list. An associated arena appeared next to their names, as well as a time.
Russell's eyes narrowed as a displeased look appeared on his face.
"What the hell? Two weeks from now? Bullshit!"
Russell was clearly displeased, and the surrounding disciples were also disappointed that they wouldn't be able to see a fight right away.
"It's the earliest slot available. It seems like the arenas are quite popular," John replied.
"The large arena is completely empty, why the hell can't we fight in that one?" Russell shouted in displeasure, causing the surrounding disciples to look at him with mixed expressions.
An older disciple stepped towards the group and spoke up.
"That's the Life and Death Martial Arena. Only life and death battles are allowed in that arena. As such, it's normally empty."
