John compared his talent next to Miko's. Miko revealed incredible battle prowess in his battle against the Sword Emperor, and had managed to jump a minor realm and even kill the Sword Emperor. Such talent truly was amazing, and John was sure that Miko had not revealed his trump cards in that battle.
However, with his incredibly unique and powerful inheritances, as well as cultivation situation, John was completely confident in his talent, or at least combat prowess, being above all others. Not only that, but he had managed twenty dantian core compressions, raising that talent even further. While his talent before could be attributed to his mysterious sphere dantian, now it could be attributed to his own talent.
"Oh yeah, how many core compressions did you manage to achieve? I'm sure you did quite well," John suddenly asked Miko. If he could know this information, he could gauge his talent against Miko's.
With Miko's incredible talent, John expected eight to ten compressions to be the answer.
Pride lit up in Miko's eyes at the question, as he began to laugh wildly. "Hahaha, of course I managed to do well. I got fourteen core compressions," Miko replied.
Both John and Adam thought they heard wrong, and asked Miko to repeat himself.
"Yes, I got fourteen," Miko replied, his face full of pride. "When I reached nine compressions, I hit my limit, and was about to end it, when all of a sudden, I felt a strange mix of power well up within my body, which aided five more compressions," Miko elaborated.
Adam sat there in complete speechlessness, truly wondering how he had become acquainted with two monsters such as John and Miko. Ten was the known limit to Adam and the rest of the Yuan Continent, and yet both of these monsters had been able to completely shatter that barrier. Not only that, but ten was the limit of the absolute pinnacle prodigies relegate to only myths and legends, let alone the compression counts that were realistically obtainable.
Meanwhile, John began to surmise about that strange energy.
'It must have been from Celestial Soulrend. Miko is his true successor, so I'm sure he used some weird technique to aid Miko's compressions.'
However, whatever the true reason, John was truly happy for Miko. The more powerful he was, the stronger of an ally, and friend, he would have in the future.
"How many did you get?" Miko suddenly asked John with great curiosity. He had always been extremely competitive against John.
John cleared his throat before replying. "I did pretty well."
"Pretty well my ass," Adam suddenly spoke up in an annoyed tone. "This bastard got twenty compressions. TWENTY. How the hell is that even possible?" Adam raged out, although mostly in joking.
Miko' face became stunned at the news, and he looked to John to see if it was a joke. John's relaxed look told him it was the truth, as he didn't correct Adam.
"Twenty? How the hell did you manage that?" Miko asked in a stunned voice.
"I guess I'm just much more talented than you, is all," John replied with a playful tone. He knew Miko thrived off competing with him, and this would only serve to motivate him further.
Miko punched John on the arm, as a fiery look appeared in his eyes. "I can't lose out on talent to you. I guess that just means I'll have to try even harder in the future," Miko replied.
While he considered John his best friend and brother, he was incredibly competitive against him as well. This news only served to raise his desire for power even more.
The group continued to chat for quite some time, as they ate around a bonfire they made. Roasted meat was consumed in great amounts, while the stories of everything interesting in each other's lives were told.
While the group was conversing, a lone cultivator, unnoticed by any of the others, slipped into the fourth arch, disappearing from sight.
After the feast was done, John replenished his blood essence reserves slightly with the two beasts Miko had donated. His eyes locked onto the fifth arch, determination burning in his eyes.
Miko noticed John's gaze, as a surprised look appeared on his face.
"Are you actually going to try the fifth arch?" Miko asked.
"What? The fifth arch? Are you crazy?" Adam exclaimed.
John smiled and replied to Miko. "Haha, you truly know me best. Yep, I think I'll enter the fifth arch," John replied.
"Are you sure? That aura gives me a bad feeling," Miko replied. His instincts were incredibly sharp, and as such, he had avoided the fifth arch.
"Yep," John replied once more, not elaborating any further. He knew it wasn't a death trial, and that as long as he qualified as having Divine talent, he would be fine. With his unique cultivation, he was sure he qualified as such.
Miko patted John on the back with several forceful slaps. "Well, good luck. Don't die on me in there!"
He knew there was no changing John's mind when he made it up. Adam still wanted to protest, but after seeing Miko's reaction, he remained silent.
John stood up, stretching his aching legs as he readied himself to enter the fifth arch. Kirii noticed his change in mood, and quickly slipped back into his soul space.
"I'll return in a short while," John said to Miko and Adam as he began to walk towards the fifth arch.
"Good luck," Adam replied.
The youths all noticed John finally stand up, and were curious as to his next move. However, shock appeared on their faces as they noticed which arch he was walking towards.
"The fifth arch? Surely he's not going to enter it?" A Divine Soul Sect youth spoke up.
"Didn't you see his battle prowess? Maybe he can pass the trial?" A proud Heavenly Lightning Sect youth replied.
"Yeah, but that aura is dreadful. Surely its too much even for him," another youth replied.
Heated discussions immediately broke out as everyone watched John calmly walk towards the fifth arch. He soon arrived before it, and to everyone's surprise, John entered it without hesitation. He didn't even pause for a moment.
"He actually entered it," a youth exclaimed.
"He's as good as dead then," Mason suddenly replied. He hoped John would perish, or he would never be able to rise to the top of the sect.
All eyes focused on the dreadful fifth arch, waiting to see what the fate of John would be.