John felt an aura lock down on him, as if slightly embracing him.
"Hmm?"
John stopped to inspect the aura, but much to his surprise, it got ever so slightly tighter around him.
"Is it constricting me?"
John could feel that slowly but surely the aura was pressing down on him, as if it would crush him eventually. However, his attention was once again moved to the shadow figure, as it held the battle axe above its head.
John's eyes locked on both the shadow figure and the battle axe, making sure to miss no details. He would think about the strange aura later.
The figure held the axe in the air for a brief moment, before it casually slashed it downwards in front of it. The attack looked completely relaxed and natural, as if the shadow figure was merely lowering the axe.
Death!
The word entered John's mind as the axe slashed down in front of him. As if seeing a vision, John saw the white void split apart before him, as the axe tore the entire void asunder. His breathing rapidly increased as he thought he was about to die, but found that he was completely alright, as if he was in a separate dimension compared to the shadow figure.
The void instantly healed before John, returning to normal once more. The shadow figure raised its axe above its head once more, and slashed down in the same manner.
Power!
The word filled John's mind in a similar manner to the first, as if the axe was speaking to him. The void once more tore asunder from the seemingly casual attack, the exact same as the first time.
The void healed once more, and the shadow figure slashed out again.
Annihilation!
The same scene continued to play out before him, of the shadow figure slashing out with the axe, and the entire void being torn asunder. Every slash filled John's head with a word, although he was uncertain exactly what was going on and how those words were coming to mind.
He watched the shadow figure slash out countless times, trying to grasp what it was doing. However, he could detect no battle art at all from the figure, as all it seemed was a simple slash.
"Is it some sort of concealed battle art? Or is the power of this shadow figure so immense, that a casual slash from it results in such power?"
John sat down on the ground and watched the figure continue to slash the axe out. No matter how he looked at it, all John could see was a casual attack, unfueled by a battle art, strike out with immense power.
"Hmm?"
John once again felt the strange aura wrap around him, pushing down on him with even greater force. While it was not a physical restriction, John could feel that the power of the aura pressing down on him was growing greater and greater.
"It's a time trial!" John realized what was going on.
"This strange energy will continue to grow in power until I pass this trial, or the energy kills me!"
John initially felt that this trial was too easy for the fifth arch, as it was just watching the shadow figure attack and learning from it. Now however, there was a time limit.
"This trial is testing comprehensions! Not only must a divine talent have divine battle prowess, they must have divine comprehensions as well, or they will quickly fall behind their peers in the future!"
Now that John fully understood what was going on, he focused on the shadow figure with his full concentration.
Slash!
Destruction!
Slash!
Annihilation!
Slash!
Power!
The same scene continued to play out again and again, while the same few words filled John's mind. He meditated on the attack, the words, and the seemingly hidden battle art, but was getting nowhere.
John stood up, and raised his axe above his head in a similar fashion to the shadow figure. He slashed it down, causing the air to ripple from the force of the attack. However, there was no destruction at all, and his attack felt completely different in both power and profundity when compared to the shadow figure.
"It seems to be a simple slash. Why is it so profound, and also so powerful?"
John continued to slash outwards, doing his best to mimic the attack perfectly. His form continued to improve on the slash, and John could feel his affinity with the axe steadily grow. However, no matter what he did, he was unable to emulate the attack.
Time continued to grind on, and John could feel the strange energy continue to press down on him. While it was ignorable at first, it continued to steadily grow. Its power was now at a level that even John could not ignore, and he felt death slowly but surely creep up on him.
John had lost track of time, as the endless void gave him no hints towards time. He could have been in here for a few hours, or a few days. It was the same to John.
"I've been in here for who knows how long, and I still haven't made any progress!"
John didn't expect a divine talent trial to be easy, but he didn't expect it to be this hard as well. He could tell that his time was running out.
Not wanting to panic, John once again sat down and calmed his mind. He formed a meditative link with his palace realm, falling into a trance and raising his comprehensions to their peak. His axe was laid out on top of his legs, his fingers slowly tracing the blade of the axe.
His eyes locked onto the shadow figure, but instead of focusing on the figure, he focused solely on the axe this time. He washed out all other thoughts, and only had the axe in his mind.
Slash!
Power!
Slash!
Destruction!
Slash!
Annihilation!
The words echoed in his mind like drums. Without realizing it, John fell into a rhythm, as if forming a connection to both the axe he was watching, and the words they were speaking out to him.
Power!
Destruction!
Annihilation!
The words continued to beat in his mind like an endless drumming, while John soon forgot himself, the trial, and everything else. All that filled his mind was the axe. His world was the axe. Everything was the axe.
The strange pressure pressed down on John with even greater power, seemingly nearing the end of the trial. However, despite death quickly approaching, John ignored it as he only focused on the axe.
The words that seemed to speak to John continued to grow in volume, until John felt like his mind was shattering with each echo. His mind was being driven to the edge, but his focus remained. He pressed through the soul-tearing pain, as the words seemed to sear their teachings into his mind and flesh.
Time lost all meaning to John as he focused only on the axe before him.
The pressure continued to grow, nearing the very end of the trials time limit.
"The Dao of the Axe! The Dao of Power! The Dao of Destruction! The Dao of Annihilation!"
At his time came to an end, John's comprehensions snapped together, understanding finally washing over him. He stood up, still in a trance, and raised his axe above his head. The comprehensions that had come to him swirled in his mind, and he casually slashed his axe forward.
The axe seemed to fall before him, as if he was dropping it. The motion was simple, yet the void seemed to tremble as the axe fell. There was no physical power behind the attack.
Silence...and then.
Boooom!
The void before John split open from the power of the attack. The fissures spread for dozens of yards in each direction. While paling in comparison to the destruction the shadow figure caused, a similar power and intent spread out, cleaving the void.
John's calm eyes suddenly brightened, as he finally snapped out of his trance. He suddenly realized the pressure around him was incredibly powerful, and felt as if he would die at any moment.
However, just as he thought he was at his end, the pressure vanished. John breathed out a massive sigh of relief, as he had seemingly managed to pass the trial just in time.
The void before him healed, returning to pristine white once more. The axe still rested in his hands, as if it was the reward for passing the trial.
"No wonder that attack was so difficult to understand. There was no battle art, its power stemmed only from the Dao's infused into its attack. Not only that, but there were three Dao's mixed together, forming a perfect fusion of power, annihilation and destruction. How profound!"
John had only managed to grasp the very initial fundamentals of the three Dao's but even that resulted in his slash having incredible destructive power. John slashed his axe out once more, infusing the newfound comprehensions he had obtained into the blade.
Boom!
The void trembled once more as it was torn apart in front of John. A large smile lit up on his face, as his new weapon and Dao insights were now an incredible source of attack power for him.
Flash!
A bright light appeared before John, revealing the start of his next trial.