The Corpse King began to laugh at John's ridiculous comment. While John had shown surprising combat prowess, he was still an entire minor realm lower than the Corpse King. Everyone knew fighting above your realm was incredibly difficult. As for killing above your realm, that was essentially impossible..
"Jejeje, you could barely fight evenly with your weapon, what can you do barehan-"
Boom!
John dashed forward incredibly quickly, upheaving the earth behind him from the force of his steps. He appeared like a blur of lightning as he sped directly towards the Corpse King. His speed was incredibly fast, shocking the Corpse King. His eyes widened slightly as he formed a hand seal.
The two closest puppets to the Corpse King retreated to stand directly in front of him, forming a solid defensive wall. John reached the puppets in an instant, and punched out with all his might.
The puppets punched out as well, looking to counter John's attack.
At the last moment, John twisted his shoulders sideways at an awkward angle, narrowly dodging the fist attacks of the puppets. While the puppets were incredibly durable, they were not all that quick. His fist punched straight towards the first puppet's chest.
Bang!
An incredibly powerful punch landed solidly on the puppets chest, sending it flying backwards like a broken kite. While the puppet took minimal damage, it was launched backwards hundreds of yards, being removed from the fight in an instant. John felt a slight wave of pain rush up his hand from the attack, but took no damage either.
'How tough.'
Utilizing his momentum to his advantage, John spun around and landed a solid kick on the other puppet who was still recovering from missing its attack.
Bang!
His kick landed centermass, once again delivering an incredibly powerful blow to the second puppet. The puppet was launched upwards and backwards even farther than the first, nearly half a mile away, tumbling head over heels in the sky before it landed. The ground shattered beneath the puppets body as it violently landed, and the puppets body carved a long trench into the ground before it finally came to a stop.
John's head instantly snapped towards the nearby Corpse King, who no longer had any puppets between him and John. John pushed off the ground once again, speeding towards the corpse king like a blur.
The Corpse King narrowed his eyes as he stared at John. John was an anomaly, as he was both an essence and body cultivator, but he didn't seem to have compromised power on either one. His combat prowess was incredibly shocking, and the Corpse King could no longer hold back.
The Corpse King scoffed as he formed a hand seal.
A flash of light appeared before John as a corpse puppet appeared before the Corpse King. John's eyes narrowed as he stared at the puppet, its features still obscured by the fading light. It displayed overwhelming power when compared to the other puppets, and had an odd shape as well.
It was incredibly large, and was headless. John's eyes grew with rage as he considered a possibility, and the fading light confirmed that possibility to be true.
"This corpse was provided to me by Damon, the Blood Emperor. I hope you enjoy my trump card, jejeje" the Corpse King said in a sinister laugh as he revealed his trump card.
The fading light revealed Russell's headless corpse, standing tall before John. John instantly recognized the aura, as well as the Innate Variant Body that Russell had, making it easy to recognize.
John's rage instantly snapped his mind and reasoning, as he unconsciously activated his full power.
Immortal Asura Transformation Art!
Heavenly Lightning Domain!
Without even thinking about it, John unleashed his full power. It was as if his mind had become possessed, with the only desire being to kill the Corpse King.
The Corpse King's smug face instantly turned to complete shock as he felt the overwhelming power emanate from John's body. He had expected John to tremble before the might of the puppet, but his reaction was the complete opposite. He took a step backwards, both in fear and from the force of the aura spreading outwards. It was unlike anything he had felt before, especially from a fellow Core Formation cultivator.
It was as if a bloodthirsty Demon God stood directly before him. His bloodlust and sinister aura was shocking even to the Corpse King, who grew up his entire life around such things.
"DIE!"
A sinister growl escaped John's mouth as he dashed towards the Corpse King. The earth behind him exploded from the power of his steps, and he appeared next to the Corpse King in an instant. His speed was more than double the speed he displayed earlier in the fight.
"Shit!"
The Corpse King grunted in shock as he hurriedly moved to defend. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew he could not defeat his enemy anymore.
John's fist sailed directly towards the Corpse King, its power causing the air to ripple and boom as it sailed through it. A powerful body suddenly appeared directly in front of the Corpse King.
Boooom!
John's fist collided with Russell's body, creating a shockwave of pure power and causing the ground beneath them to shatter. Russell's body instantly went airborne as it sailed far into the far distance, unable to withstand a single blow of John's full power. Slight cracks appeared on Russell's chest from the force of the blow, shocking the Corpse King senseless.
"Die!"
John growled out once more as he pointed a finger and sent a Lightning Ruin directly towards the Corpse King. At the same time, lightning nodes sprung up in the air behind the Corpse King, unleashing a devastating barrage of lightning.
Panic appeared on the Corpse King's face as he formed new hand seals. The remaining puppets that lingered in the area all sped towards John. As they reached him, they began to glow for an instant before…
Boooom!
Each puppet exploded from within, catching John in a series of incredibly powerful blasts. The Corpse King had sacrificed all his puppets in an attempt to kill John. At the same time, the Corpse King formed one last hand seal, and his body suddenly disappeared from sight.
Bang!
John's Lightning Ruin and lightning domain attacks exploded on the ground where the Corpse King had just been, but hit nothing but earth.
The puppet explosions slowly faded, revealing John standing within. His clothes were tattered from the force of the blasts, and there were slight cuts and bruises on his body. He had suffered a slight amount of damage from the incredibly powerful explosion, but it was nothing serious, as he had been in his most powerful state during the explosions.
His cold and ruthless eyes quickly surveyed the nearby area, searching for the Corpse King. However, he was unsuccessful, as the Corpse King had already disappeared. He spread out his divine sense to the maximum range it could reach, but was unable to detect any traces of the Corpse King.
"Fuck!"
John screamed out in rage, as he had let the Corpse King leave with his life. He punched his fist down furiously onto the earth below, causing it to explode outwards. A massive boom echoed out, filling the entire expanse with its deafening boom.
Adam suddenly approached John after the exploding earth settled, his hand holding a certain object.
….
Nearly a mile away, Russell's corpse puppet lay on the ground, quite damaged from John's attack. Suddenly, a rune lit up on its chest, and a flash of light appeared. The flash faded, revealing the heavily breathing Corpse King. Fear still filled his face, as he looked downwards with a frustrated look.
Russell's corpse was now completely shattered like clay, leaving only fragments of it left.
"Goddamnit. This amazing corpse was the only one durable enough to hold that spatial rune my master gave me, and now it's ruined because I used it. Fuck that kid. I don't know what's up with him, but I'll have my revenge. I must obtain his corpse to make into a corpse puppet."
The Corpse King had lost out greatly in his fight, losing all his puppets, including Russell's. He had sacrificed it to escape, and now his combat prowess was incredibly low. He relied on puppets to do his fighting, and no longer had them to rely on.
His face once more ignited in rage, as he cursed John again.
"I'll kill that kid, if it's the last thing I do."
"Is that so?"
A rage-filled voice suddenly sounded out behind the Corpse King, shocking him greatly. He knew he fully escaped the fight, and should be alone right now. The familiar voice sent a chill down his spine, and he quickly turned his head to see John staring directly at him, just mere feet away from him.
The Corpse King had expended all his Qi on causing the puppets to explode, and had no Qi to fight or be wary of his surroundings.
John suddenly noticed the completely shattered corpse of Russell beneath the Corpse King, igniting his fury and rage once more.
"Die!"
A fist punched out, landing on the defenseless Corpse King's face.
"Noo-"
His short pleas were instantly snuffed out as John's fist connected with his head, exploding it like a watermelon. Blood and brain rained out as the Corpse King was finally killed.
John stood there motionless as the blood rained down on him. After a moment, his rage-filled eyes slowly faded back to normal as he looked at the shattered corpse of Russell.
"I'm sorry brother. I couldn't even give you a proper burial."
Adam walked alongside John with an item in hand, and put his other hand on John's shoulder.
"You did all you could. You can't blame yourself." Adam comforted John.
John nodded his head, and collected the shattered pieces of Russell's corpse, storing it in his spatial ring.
"I'll give you a proper burial once we're back at the Heavenly Lightning Sect."
A deep sigh escaped John's lips as the overwhelming power faded from his body. His body began to ache from the strain of the power he had used, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Thankfully, his body was greatly strengthened due to the mysterious blood red fruit, allowing him to handle the Immortal Asura Transformation Art for a longer time, with less drawbacks afterwards.
"At least you managed to put a spirit mark and track him with that item of yours, or he would have permanently escaped," John said to Adam as he sat down on the ground heavily.
During their fight, Adam had stealthily attached a spirit mark to the Corpse King, in the small chance that he escaped. Luckily, it had worked out, allowing John to instantly track down the Corpse King once more. The Corpse King was far too busy fighting John, or he would have noticed such a thing.
John stared at the Corpse King's body, slightly upset with himself. In his blinded rage, he had completely destroyed the head of the Corpse King. The blood essence of all human cultivators dwelled in the center of the forehead, between the brows. John's punch had destroyed it completely, making him unable to absorb it.
"We rest for a few hours, and then we'll proceed forward once more."
John closed his eyes and recovered, before standing up. A determined look appeared on his face once more.
"If the Corpse King is here, I'm sure the Blood Emperor is as well. Let's go."