"Hahaha," Hunter immediately broke out into laughter upon hearing those words.
"That's quite a bold statement coming from someone who ran for his life just a few weeks ago," Hunter replied with sarcasm once he contained his laughter.
John felt that strange sensation last time when he had run from Hunter, and refused to do so again. He had also raised his body cultivation to the Late Qi Condensation Realm now, and was much more confident in fighting against Hunter. Not only that, but he had recently absorbed the blood essence of the five Bloodfiend Sect youths, which had pushed his body to the peak of the Late Qi Condensation Realm.
His body power was overwhelming compared to when he first entered the wastelands and ran from Hunter.
Adam looked between John and Hunter in a confused manner. While he had put some pieces together from their short dialogue, he was still in the dark as to what exactly was going on.
"John, what exactly is going on?" Adam asked in a confused and concerned manner. He could tell that the situation was not good.
John glanced sideways at Adam before looking back at Hunter. His calm eyes relaxed Adam's taught nerves somewhat.
"Although I don't know why, Hunter has been targeting me since the start of entering these lands, isn't that right?"
An amused smile appeared on Hunter's face once more.
"That's right. You have something that I want, and I'll be taking it from you today," Hunter replied.
"And what is it that I have that you want?" John asked, looking for clarification. He really didn't know what Hunter was looking to steal from him.
"You don't need to worry about that," Hunter replied as he took out his weapon. It was a lustrous silver colored sword, with fantastic designs on the blade and gold hilt.
"Aren't you afraid that we'll just use our spatial talismans and leave this place, and then let the Elders know about what you've done?" John asked in a slightly confused manner.
It was a gaping flaw in Hunter's plan, and John did not know why he didn't care about it.
Hunter scoffed before replying. "Do you really think I didn't think about that? Who do you think created those talismans? My master, that's who. He's one of our sect's leading talisman forgers, and made the talisman you hold...He also gave me this!"
An item suddenly appeared in Hunter's hands. He sent Qi into it, and the item flared outwards as it unleashed a special aura. John felt the aura wash over him, and it continued to linger in the surrounding space.
"This item specifically counters the spatial fluctuations of the talisman you hold, so you won't be going anywhere," Hunter stated with a confident grin on his face. He was staring at John as if he was prey.
John nodded his head in understanding. "Ah, so that's why. Truly, not a bad plan. However, you need the appropriate strength to carry it out."
"I heard about your little display of power at the entrance to this city, which is what allowed me to track you down. Not bad, defeating those opponents at your realm. But if you think that's enough to beat me, then you're far dumber than you look," Hunter replied once more.
John's scythe suddenly appeared in his hands, and he turned to look at the nearby Adam.
"Leave this area for now, as it's about to get quite chaotic. I don't want you getting caught up in our attacks."
Adam nodded his head and began to leave. Being a formations master, his expertise was not in direct fighting. He turned around and began to leave.
"You won't be leaving either," Hunter confidently stated as he pointed out his sword at Adam. He would not allow either of them to leave, as he could not leave any witnesses alive.
An incredibly powerful lightning attack shot straight out of his sword, piercing directly towards Adam's unprotected back.
Boom!
The lightning exploded outwards, revealing a figure after the explosion faded. John stood there with a look of growing anger on his face as he lowered his scythe once more. He had been ready for such an attack, and had acted the instant Hunter attacked.
"That attack truly was meant to take his life, in that case..." John stated with a calm voice, although his rage was growing like an inferno internally.
Despite being from the same sect, Hunter truly wished to kill both of them. Now he had no reservations about reaping Hunter's life. Hunter was surprised that John had moved quick enough to block the attack, but wasn't too concerned. Even if Adam did escape, no one would believe his words over those of a direct disciple.
Supreme Battle Art!
Heavenly Lightning Domain!
John instantly activated two of his strongest techniques. Hunter's cultivation was in the Early Core Formation Realm, a major realm higher than John's own cultivation. While strength roughly doubled between minor realms, the jump in power between major realms was nearly four times that.
Fighting Hunter was equivalent to jumping two minor realms, and so John would need to put his full power into this fight.
Lightning nodes instantly appeared in the air, surround both John and Hunter. Hunter scoffed at the display.
"Do you think you're the only one who knows this technique?"
More lightning nodes instantly appeared in the air around the two of them. The number of nodes from Hunter was more numerous than John's, due to him practicing the Core Formation version of the technique.
However, John wasn't concerned about the quantity or power of the nodes, but the speed at which they were established. Slight surprise appeared on his face as he looked at Hunter.
"You have a Lightning Attribute Body?" John asked.
The speed at which Hunter would establish the domain nearly rivaled his. Although it was a little bit slower, it was still much faster than the average lightning user.
"Hahah, I do. Are you scared now?" Hunter asked in an amused tone.
John's surprise soon turned into a large smile.
'I wonder what would happen if I absorb the blood essence of someone with a Lightning Attribute Body. I can't wait to find out.
Excited by the prospect of absorbing Hunter's unique blood essence, John instantly pointed his finger outwards.
Lightning Ruin!
A burst of lightning pierced directly towards Hunter, while a beam of lightning from the domain attacked from behind. Hunter scoffed as he noticed both attacks. He pointed his finger outwards as well, and lightning soon exploded from it in a similar manner to John's.
Boom! Boom!
Both Lightning Ruins collided, neutralizing each other, while the domain attack from John was neutralized by Hunter's own domain attack. Surprise washed over Hunter's face, and his once humorous expression turned slightly serious.
Despite having a much higher cultivation than John, their power in lightning based attacks was even. The only explanation for this was that John was more talented than himself, and that his Lightning Attribute Body was of an even higher grade than his own. Envy and Jealousy washed over Hunter at this realization.
His desire to obtain John's corpse intensified further.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The two exchanged lightning attacks repeatedly. The nearby buildings shook from the powerful shockwaves, and the plaza was half destroyed by the explosions. Lightning radiated everywhere as the techniques collided, and neither one was able to win out on the other.
Bang! Bang!
Eventually, the lightning attacks from both John and Hunter managed to land on each other, sending both flying backwards. Lightning coursed over John's skin and into his body from Hunters Lightning Ruin. The lightning runes on his body quickly flared up, and he instantly repressed the rampaging lighting. With his incredibly high grade Lightning Attribute Body due to the Celestial Lightning Script, John could essentially ignore lightning damage. Unless it was from an overwhelmingly powerful source, John was pretty much impervious to lightning damage.
"Pathetic," John barked out as he quickly repressed the lightning.
Hunter, on the other hand, was still struggling slightly against John's lighting. The destructive nature of the lightning, due to the Primordial Extermination Lightning technique, shocked Hunter greatly.
He grit his teeth as he finally neutralized it, although it had done some damage to his body.
"Impossible, how can an ant like you have such powerful lightning," Hunter shouted out in protest. He had never seen anything like it before.
"Does it matter? Now taste this 'ant's' power," John replied as he sent out another Lightning Ruin. He put even more power into the attack this time, and was unleashing it at full power.
"Hmph, don't get too cocky yet," Hunter shouted out as he sent out his own Lightning Ruin once more.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The plaza continued to shudder from the force of the explosions, as both sides sought to overwhelm the other with pure lightning power. However, despite Hunter's best efforts, he was unable to overwhelm John with his lightning power, shocking him greatly. John was jumping major realms in this fight, which was completely unheard of.
Boom!
The earth behind John suddenly shattered as he dashed forward with his full body power, seeking to close the gap between the two of them. With his powerful body, he held the advantage in close quarters combat. John reached Hunter in an instant and slashed out his scythe.
Peng!
A confident expression appeared on Hunter's face as he slashed his own sword out. He might be inferior in terms of lightning talent, but he refused to lose out in weapon talent and overall cultivation power.
Sword and scythe collided, and a look of surprise appeared on Hunter's face as he was sent flying backwards like a broken kite.
Bang!
His body slammed into a nearby building, rebounding off the hard surface violently. The sounds of bones creaking echoed out, as Hunter fell to the ground below.
"Idiot," John muttered as he dashed forward once more. If Hunter had done just a bit of research, he would have known that John was a body cultivator as well.
Hunter quickly stood up and wiped the blood from his lips as he noticed the fast approaching John. He realized John was an incredibly bad matchup for him, as most of his power stemmed from lightning attacks. John's body was clearly able to ignore the damage from such attacks, effectively cutting Hunter's power in half.
A determined look appeared on Hunter's face as he jumped up into the air before John reached him. John suddenly paused as he watched Hunter jump up, at which point his body remained in the sky.
John frowned as he looked at Hunter. Once a cultivator reached the Core Formation Realm, the energy output from their core dantian allowed them to fly. While those in the Early Core Formation Realm were only able to stand in the sky and not achieve true flight yet, it was still enough to obtain a massive battle advantage.
"If Lightning won't work on you, then I'll just have to resort to other means," Hunter said in a vicious voice as an item suddenly appeared in his hands. It was a banner, containing fantastical runes, as well as ancient words written on the surface.
John's eyes narrowed as he recognized the ancient words, which was the same as the language of the Divine Reaping Scythe page, as well as the Celestial Lightning Script and Immortal Asura Tome book.
'Soul Stealing Banner?'