John's battle axe, brimming with the might of his newly learned three Dao's, collided against creatures Qi attack. After having been slightly weakened by the lightning domain attacks, John was able to meet this attack head on without losing his life. However, even then, it was nearly overwhelming.
John felt the battle axe tremble in his grip, sending powerful and painful vibrations up his arms as he resisted the attack with all his might. His body was continuously sent backwards, his feet carving two long lines in the earth as he used all his power to resist the attack.
After having been knocked back several hundred yards, the attack finally subsided. John collapsed to his knees from both exhaustion and pain, as he quickly undid the Immortal Asura Transformation Art.
He had only used the transformation art for a few seconds, and so had not used too much body Qi. His body dantian was still quite full with body Qi, and so he did not need to draw any beast blood essence into it to replenish his Qi.
The creature had a slight look of surprise on its face, as John had managed to take the attack head on much easier than he had expected. Of all those who had taken this trial in the past, this trial was where most failed and died. Although there were two more attacks to take place, John's performance in the first attack was quite impressive.
However, when the creature thought of who was supporting John from the shadows, the power he displayed made more sense.
Blood trickled down his arms, as several wounds had been opened on them from the force of the impact. He quickly popped a healing pill in his mouth, and looked up to the distant creature with slight displeasure.
"What the hell kind of death trial is this? How is anyone supposed to pass this trial when the very first attack is three minor realms above their level?" John yelled out.
"Three minor realms?" The creature asked with slight confusion and amusement. "The attack I sent out was barely equivalent to a Late Core Formation attack."
Surprise appeared on John's face as he heard this.
"Barely a Late Core Formation attack? That attack was equivalent to a peak Half-Step Meridian Forging attack!" John rebuked.
The creature scoffed at John's ignorance. "Maybe for your regressed world of today. But from when I roamed the world, the attack I sent out was what Late Core Formation youths were capable of," the creature replied.
Understanding immediately washed over John.
'Just how weak is our current world compared to the past? From what this creature is saying, any average youth from back then would be a heavenly genius based on today's standards.'
John could hardly believe it, but had no grounds to argue against it. The only thing he could do was rest, recover, and prepare for the next attack. Defending against an attack was easier than truly fighting back, but it still wasn't a guarantee of safety.
'Based on what the creature said before, each attack will be stronger than the last. The next attack should be equivalent to an Early Meridian Forging Expert, and the last a Middle Meridian Forging Expert.'
John grit his teeth at this thought. Even with his heavenly talent and wonderful cultivation advantages, even he didn't know if he was capable of that. He was only in the Early Core Formation Realm. Blocking an attack from a Middle Meridian Forging Expert was jumping more than a major realm.
With each realm having three true realms, and four if one considered half-step as a realm, John would need to jump five minor realms. Not only that, but the jump between major realms, from Late Core Formation to Early Meridian Forging, was roughly equivalent to two minor realms on its own.
'I'll need to jump six minor realms when blocking his last attack. Even with my talents, that's impossible. I need to improve my body to the Mid Core Formation Realm, as well as make some improvements somewhere regarding my battle prowess. Just how insane is a Divine Level Talent for this to be the requirement?'
John ignored the creature and sat in a meditative position, to heal as fast as he could, as well as start cultivating his Immortal Asura Body.
His mind formed a link with his palace realm, in which the corpses of his enemies rested. Damon, Culein, Kaiden, and Turner were all collected, giving him the blood essence of two Mid Core Formation cultivators and two Late Core Formation Cultivators.
'The jump between major realms for my Immortal Asura Body requires an absolutely insane amount of blood essence, but the minor realms in between require a bit less. Hopefully this is enough to break through to the next realm.'
With his body only at the Early Core Formation Realm, the blood essence of the youths before him were quite potent. John made a small cut on the forehead of Turner, one of the Bloodfiend Sect Kings.
The blood was quickly extracted, and John's body dantian immediately absorbed the blood in accordance with the Immortal Asura Tome. His body dantian began to surge with power, pushing its level slowly but surely closer to the Mid Core Formation Realm.
However, the blood essence ran out before John could advance, although this was to be expected. He extracted the blood essence from the other King, Kaiden, and absorbed it as well. His body cultivation began to steadily rise once more, but still stopped short of breaking through to the Core Formation Realm.
His eyes locked onto the body of Damon, and grew slightly cold. Even with him successfully avenging Russell, he still felt hatred and anger any time he looked at Damon. Damon's blood essence was extracted as well, and brimmed with an incredible vitality and potency. Its potency was enough to shock even John himself, who had dealt with blood quite frequently.
'I guess he deserved his title as the Blood Emperor for a reason. I'm not sure what technique he cultivated, but his blood potency is incredible. Surely this will allow me to break through.'
John quickly absorbed the blood essence, and channeled it into his dantian. The potency of the blood essence filled John's dantian with incredible power, and quickly raised his cultivation. Without hesitation, his body dantian shattered the minor realm barrier, breaking through to the Middle Core Formation Realm.
It continued increasing for quite some time as well, reaching the middle stages of the realm before finally dispersing. A satisfied smile appeared on John's face. He was much more confident now regarding the trails.
'At least Damon provided me with some benefits.'
The creature, who had been resting quietly, opened its eyes and stared at John curiously. From what it could tell, John still had the same cultivation, but for some reason, he could tell there was a slight change to John. However, the creature was unable to determine what had happened, despite its great power.
"How peculiar."
After breaking through, John focused on recovery. His body was still injured from taking that first attack head on, and he didn't want to go into the second attack injured. After consuming numerous pills, John's body slowly but surely healed over the course of the waiting period.
'Thankfully my wounds aren't too deep, or I would need more time to heal.'
John's body finally fully healed, and he inspected it to make sure he missed nothing. After doing so, he nodded his head with satisfaction.
'With this, although it will still be incredibly difficult, I should be able to live through his next attack. I just need to figure out how to raise my battle prowes- Oh, I forgot about that!"
John's eyes lit up in excitement, as hastily sent his mind into his palace realm. However…
"Time's up. Prepare for the next attack!" the creature spoke out.
John's excited face soon turned sour, as he looked at the creature with slight displeasure. He just needed another hour, but knew he couldn't argue against the creature.
His battle axe once again appeared in his hands, as he steadied himself and faced the creature. A look of determination appeared on his face, while a thick battle-intent emanated off him. As soon as he had obtained the mysterious sphere, Immortal Asura Body and Celestial Lightning Script, John had always looked down on those within his realm. None of them had been able to provide him with a challenge, and he needed to fight above his realm to experience a good battle.
Now however, this trial was indicating that even with his immense talents, there were those in the past who were just as talented as him. If not, this trial would not have been this difficult. This ignited his battle spirit, as he wanted to rise above even those geniuses of the past.
"Not bad!" the creature nodded his head in approval. John's battle intent was truly impressive, and he didn't falter even in the face of a nearly impossible trial. Even in the ancient times, this trial was basically a death sentence for those who attempted it.
The creature once again raised his finger and pointed it at John. The power brimming on his finger was even stronger than before, and this time contained more than just power. John could immediately tell that the attack was going to be equivalent to an Early Meridian Forging Experts attack. A thick blood-lust was emanating from the attack as well, so thick that it was tantamount to a soul attack.
John felt his blood boil in the presence of the blood-lust, as if he was being challenged by it.
John felt the blood-lust attempt to invade his mind and drive him mad. Those with weaker wills and souls would be driven insane by it, resulting in their deaths. However, John only grinned as he raised his own aura to be filled with a thick battle-intent and bloodlust, clashing against that of the creatures. He shouted at the creature with all his might, arms spread wide.
"COME ON!"
