John and Adam spent the next day and a half in the cave. John focused on recovery, while Adam studied the broken formation disk with almost possessed passion. Every time he looked at the disk, its runes, and its formation make-up, Adam was inspired with new insights regarding the formation path.
"Amazing, truly amazing!" John heard Adam exclaim over and over.
He continued to tinker with the disk, and constantly tried new things regarding it.
John smirked but said nothing while he recovered.
'Seems like he's at least getting something out of it.'
By this time, John had fully recovered his lost essence Qi, and his body was over half healed. At the rate he was recovering from his wounds, John figured that it would only require one more day to be at full strength.
A frown suddenly appeared on John's face as he opened his eyes and stared towards the cave entrance.
'It seems I didn't hide my tracks well enough.'
Boom!
The boulder guarding the cave entrance exploded, sending debris everywhere. John slowly stood up, while Adam yelled in fright as he was stirred from his studies. He had been so engrossed in studying the disk, that he had failed to notice that another party had just arrived.
"Come on out! We know you're in there!" A voice from outside shouted.
John's ears perked up as he heard the voice. The voice sounded familiar, and it took him a second to put the voice to a face. A surprised expression appeared on his face, before it was replaced with a slight smile.
'There's no way I'm that lucky, right?'
John turned to Adam.
"Keep studying the disk. I'll be back in a few minutes."
"But you're hurt. Don't you need help?" Adam asked with slight concern.
"They're only in the Late Qi Condensation Realm. Even in this injured state of mine, its still more than enough to handle the likes of them," John replied before turning to leave the cave. His essence Qi was fully recovered, and even without using his injured body, it would be more than enough to win.
Even without using his body powers, John's battle prowess was immense. His Lightning Attribute Body, combined with his Primordial Extermination Lightning made his lightning attacks incredibly powerful. Not only that, but his essence cultivation was incredibly firm and robust, resulting in an essence power that was far stronger than a normal cultivator.
Adam nodded, fully confident in John if he said it was alright. He took out the formation disk from his spatial ring once more, and began to intensively study it.
John's shadowed silhouette appeared at the mouth of the cave as he began to walk out. The three Bloodfiend Sect youths saw someone emerging, and a smile broke out on Jason's face.
"At least you know what's good for you. Tell me, what did you obtain from the lak-"
Jason's voice suddenly cut off as the shadowed figure emerged from the cave, his facial features revealed for all to see. His words caught in his throat as he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
The two other youths with Jason noticed his bizarre behavior.
"Jason, what's going on?" one of the boys asked.
"Yeah, why the hell are you acting like this?" the other asked.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Jason finally regained his wits. A large, sinister smile appeared on his face.
"Haha, what kind of dogshit luck do you have? First you run into me in the pocket realm, and now here. I don't know how the hell you survived that fall, but you won't be so lucky twice," Jason said to John while laughing sinisterly.
John smirked as he looked at Jason unfazed.
"I thought I recognized that voice. Do you remember what I told you in the pocket realm as I jumped off that cliff?" John asked Jason.
The two other youths looked between Jason and John in a confused manner.
"Jason, do you know this Heavenly Lightning Sect boy?" one of them asked.
Jason nodded while keeping his eyes on John. "We ran into each other several months ago, and he ran with his tail tucked between his legs. Well John, there's no cliff this time, so where are you going to run off to now?"
John smirked as he slowly began to walk towards the three of them.
"I guess you wouldn't remember, but when I last saw you, I told you to 'Wash your neck and wait for your death,' and now you've delivered yourself straight to me. How thoughtful of you," John replied.
Jason frowned slightly, as he had expected John to attempt to run like last time. However, John was walking alone directly towards the three of them, unconcerned.
A thought suddenly struck Jason, as he had completely forgotten about it. His divine sense washed over John, and a slight tinge of fear crossed his face before turning to normal, but this change in expression did not go unnoticed by John.
"Ah, you finally put two and two together," John said to Jason, his smile growing ever larger.
"What's going on? Why the hell aren't we killing him and taking all his belongings?" one of the youths asked.
It was quite unusual, as their group just eliminated anyone they saw immediately.
"Since he won't tell you, I'll let you know. To put it simply...if your cultivation is in the same realm as mine, your only choice is to die," John replied with a large smile. His eyes looked towards the three as if they were prey.
"Pfft."
"Hahaha."
Both of the Bloodfiend Sect youths started laughing loudly, as if they had heard the funniest joke.
"You're outnumbered three to one, the only one who will die is you," one of the boys replied with a smug smile. Tears hung from his eyes from laughing so hard.
However, both boys suddenly stopped laughing as they noticed Jason was standing there in silence. Normally he would have been the one to lead such mockery, but he was as silent as the grave right now.
While the boys were laughing, Jason was thinking about his previous encounters with John. John had dominated Dylan, who was in the same realm as him back in the tournament, and had even managed to kill him despite being surrounded in the pocket realm. Although Dylan had a weaker cultivation than Jason, his combat prowess within the same realm was similar. They were both Inner Disciples, and had the same talent level. Dylan was only a year younger than Jason, resulting in his lower cultivation.
Jason was used to looking down on John, but he finally realized that was only due to having a higher cultivation.
Now that their cultivations were even, Jason did not see a path to victory. Although Jason acted high and might back in the past, he was only an Inner Disciple of the Bloodfiend Sect, and he knew that he was nothing when compared to someone like John in the same realm. Their only hope was to team up on him and overwhelm him with numbers.
The surrounding sky suddenly turned blood red as Jason unleashed his Crimson Hell Domain. The two other youths were surprised by such an action, as that was Jason's strongest move being used right at the start.
"Use your full strength immediately!" Jason shouted out as he summoned his domain. His sword appeared in his hand, and he slashed it towards John.
The two other youths were Outer Disciples, and did not know any domain arts. However, they noticed the seriousness in Jason's voice and actions, and heeded his advice. Their weapons appeared in their hands, and they each struck out with their strongest attacks.
John smiled as he watched the three attacks approach.
"This is more like it. Entertain me with your lives!"
Boom!
The three attacks struck John at exactly the same time, superimposing on each other. The two Bloodfiend youths were about to celebrate such an attack landing, when their eyes locked onto John's figure being revealed after the dust settled.
John stood there with his scythe in his hand, completely unharmed. His smile grew larger.
"My turn!"
Heavenly Lightning Domain!
John unleashed his lightning domain, as he wanted to see how it operated against superior numbers. He also wanted to practice using it in real combat to become more experienced in using it.
Eight lightning nodes, brimming with power, suddenly appeared in the air surrounding John. Each existed roughly thirty yards from his body, as this was the maximum range he could currently support.
However, all three Bloodfiend Sect youths were inside this range, making it more than enough.
John suddenly sat down in the middle of his domain and put his weapon away. His actions shocked the three boys, but they were not in the mood to make any mocking comments. The power brimming in the three nodes were immense, and it chilled them to their cores.
Che!
Jason struck out with one of his attacks at one of the lightning nodes in an attempt to destroy it. The attack struck the lightning node, and the two opposite forces struggled for a moment before the attack erased the node.
Relief appeared on Jason's face.
"Destroy the nodes, and we'll be fin-"
His words cut off as the destroyed lightning node reformed a second later.
"Come now. You don't think my sects signature domain art is that easy to destroy, do you? I can't just erase your Crimson Hell Domain, so why could you do that to mine?" John asked in a mocking tone.
Jason's Crimson Hell Domain was still washing over John, and it targeted his blood, soul, and will. However, John's blood was tempered by his Immortal Asura Body, and was unable to be affected at all. His soul and will were tempered to extreme levels, and were unaffected as well.
Jason's domain was effectively useless.
Jason grit his teeth but didn't panic. He had been in many life and death battles, and his mind quickly worked for a new solution. If attacking the domain was useless, then attacking John was the only option.
"Group up. Brett, you and I will attack John. Ren, you focus on blocking any attacks from those lightning nodes!" Jason commanded quickly.
John nodded his head in approval. "That's not a bad idea. Let's see if it works."
"Lets go!" Jason commanded as he began to dash towards John. His sword began to glow, as it prepared to unleash his strongest attack. Brett followed alongside him, ready to attack. The both unleashed their attacks, which pierced directly towards the seated John.
John casually raised his finger and pointed it at the approaching attacks.
Lightning Ruin!
A powerful lightning beam exploded out of his finger, emanating an aura of pure power and destruction.
Boom!
The three attacks collided in mid air, which resulted in an explosion of Qi in every direction. Jason grit his teeth, as this confrontation revealed they were completely outmatched.
Bang!
An attack from John's domain struck directly towards the group, and the boy in the back struck his weapon out with all his might to block it.
"Gah!"
The boy screamed out in slight pain as he was launched backwards by the collision. Although he managed to block it, its power was overwhelming, and he felt his blood tumble. His eyes widened as he noticed another attack from the lightning domain travel straight for him. He raised his sword once more and struck out with his own battle art to block it.
At the same time, Jason prepared to send out another attack towards John, but his eyes widened as another incredibly powerful lightning beam pierced directly through the fading explosion. John's ability to attack with Lightning Ruin was much faster, and Jason was unable to counter in time with his own attack.
"Shit!"
Jason managed to twist his body at the last moment, barely dodging the attack in time.
"Aahhhhh"
A deathly scream sounded out behind Jason, and he turned around to look at it. His eyes widened as he noticed a large charred hole in Ren's body, directly through his chest. The attack that Jason had just dodged had just hit Ren in the back, and Ren looked down at his chest for a moment before collapsing, the last vestiges of life fading from his body.
"Tsk tsk," John suddenly said out loud in a condescending manner while shaking his head, as if he was disappointed.. "Why'd you have to dodge my attack Jason? Your friend, who was fighting so valiantly against my domain, died because of you. You should feel ashamed."