John's quick divine sense inspection of Russell's cultivation revealed him to be at the Half-Step Core Formation Realm. Although not an official realm, the half-step realm was when a cultivator was in the middle of breaking through to the next realm, but had not broken through all the way.
In Russell's case, his dantian was beginning to solidify from a liquid to a solid Core, but his comprehensions towards the Core Formation realm were just slightly lacking. After this fight however, Russell would most likely break through to the Core Formation Realm.
Those in the half step realm were not as strong as those who had completely broken through to the next realm, but were also much stronger than late stage cultivators in the same realm. In this particular case, Russell was much stronger than a Late Qi Condensation cultivator.
'I thought this might be an easy fight with my recent break through, but it seems like Russell's gone and made that quite difficult.'
While John still wasn't too worried, he was slightly upset, as he would most likely have to reveal at least some of his trump cards in order to win. Revealing his trump cards was something John did not want to do unless his life was on the line, but Russell's strength made it impossible to win without doing so.
If Russell was a normal Half-Step cultivator, then John wouldn't be too concerned. However, Russell's talent was immense, and he even had an Innate Variant Body. While it was only the Common Grade and far below John's in terms of quality, it was still strong enough to make him a threat.
However, John was definitely not going to reveal his ultimate trump card, his Immortal Asura Transformation Art, no matter what.
'Of all the techniques I can reveal today, that one must remain secret, as it's my ultimate trump card. If only my body dantian was at the Late Qi Condensation Realm as well, then I wouldn't have to try so hard….I really need to find a way to get more consistent human blood essence.'
John quickly put such thoughts aside and focused on the issue in front of him; his fight with Russell. Russell was one of the strongest first years in the entire sect, and John would need to give it his all.
"I knew those rumors had to be false," Russell said to John in a loud voice. "There's no way someone like you is running away from this fight. I just hope after all this, you don't disappoint me."
John smiled at Russell's words of provocation. "I can say the same to you. After this long wait, at least give me a good fight."
An Elder walked into the middle of the arena, signaling both John and Russell to approach. Adam quickly turned towards the stands, and hopped over the tall wall towards the nearby seats.
Seeing this, the Elder waved his hand infused with Qi towards a certain direction. The formation surrounding the arena suddenly lit up, blaring with full power. The formation was completely transparent, allowing the spectators to see the fight unobstructed, but would block any attacks that went toward the stands.
This allowed weaker cultivators to watch the fight without fear for their lives.
"The rules are simple. No crippling. No killing. Stop when one side says they surrender, or when I say stop. Understood?" The Elder asked the two of them in a firm tone.
While John and Russell had no grudges against each other, and would fight a clean fight, that could not be said for all the fights that took place in the arenas. Some went overboard, and the Elders made sure that no one suffered greatly unless it was a life and death battle.
"Understood"
"Understood"
Both sides agreed, and the Elder nodded his head.
"Good. then you may begin!"
A loud eruption of anticipation boomed out from the crowd at the signaling of the fight.
Both Russell and John broke out in grins as they stared at each other, getting ready to attack at a moment's notice.
"It's unfortunate that your cultivation is still lower than mine." Russell said to John.
Although it sounded like arrogance, Russell's body truly was powerful. It was enough to overwhelm mostly anyone in the same realm, and no one knew just how high John's combat prowess was.
Although his feats in the entrance exam were known by all, many were skeptical, and figured John had done some trickery to accomplish those feats.
"Then don't cry when you lose out on a test of bodies," John replied. He was more than willing to fight through pure strength, as he loved the feeling of it.
The crowd broke out in surprised discussion at John's words.
"He's going to fight Russell using only his body? Does he want to die?" one first year chimed up.
"He may be strong, but that's only because of his Lightning Attribute Body and essence talents. Fighting Russell like that, who has an Innate Variant Body, is pure suicide," another replied.
Similar discussions broke out throughout the entire crowd. The disciples knew John was strong, but that was because of his essence strength and Lightning Attribute Body. Only the Elders of the sect knew about John's Innate Variant Body, and that information had not yet been revealed to the rest of the sect.
"Hahahah, good, lets go!" Russell yelled as he suddenly pushed off the ground and dashed forward. The earth at his feet rippled slightly from the force of his strides.
"About time!" John replied as he too dashed forward with all his might. His aura rapidly climbed as he began to strengthen his body.
Their two fists punched out as they rapidly approached each other.
Boom!
Fists collided, and a loud boom echoed throughout the entire arena. Both John and Russell felt a powerful vibration travel up their arms from the force of the blow, but neither were knocked back or injured.
Russell's eyebrows raised in surprise, and he soon began laughing in delight.
"Hahaha, good, good. It seems like you too have an Innate Variant Body. Now I can fight without fear of breaking you!"