John took in a deep breath of crisp early morning air, before he closed the door behind him and began to walk deeper into the sect. His housing was located near many of the other disciples, and he quickly spotted most of the other disciples also leaving for the bi-annual placement battles.
As he ventured forward, the amount of disciples heading towards the martial arena steadily increased, and before long, a massive crowd was moving towards the arena. Countless discussions amongst disciples broke out, as an air of excitement and anticipation filled the crowd.
John heard many boasts from various disciples, as they detailed to their peers of how they would triumph and rise in status. Other discussions were about predictions on which disciples would rise through the ranks, and if there would be any shake up at the very top.
"You think there will be a change in direct disciples, or the Three Emperors?" one excited youth asked as John passed by.
"Maybe for some of the direct disciples, but there's no way any of the Three Emperors are defeated," another youth replied.
As John pushed his way through the crowd, many discussions broke out about him as those nearby noticed him.
"Hey, it's John. You think he'll have another surprise victory today?"
"No way. I heard a rumor that the only reason he was able to kill Esker was that he used a bizarre soul art, which distracted Esker for a moment. This was the only reason he was able to kill him," a nearby youth replied as he glanced sideways at John.
"That's right. As long as you stay on your guard and raise your soul defense to the maximum, it shouldn't work a second time. Esker was just caught off guard, and wasn't expecting it. Such a trick won't work twice," another youth mocked.
John scoffed internally as he heard these discussions, but ignored them as they were beneath him to react to. His only goal today was to kill an Emperor, and claim their spot to become a direct disciple of Elder Praxx. Everything else was inconsequential.
Although there were many discussions that mocked John, most of the disciples in the crowd still parted aside as he walked, not wanting to offend him. Regardless of how he had killed Esker, he still displayed frightening killing potential in that battle, and most outer disciples and even some inner disciples did not want to offend him.
The crowd continued to move in unison towards the martial arena's, and eventually arrived some time later. The main arena, which could house up to several hundred thousand spectators, was being used for the battles today.
The arena was over well over a mile in diameter, and the stands towered up high into the sky. At the front base of the arena, a grand entrance was opened for all to enter. The crowd steadily moved towards the entrance, and began to flood into the arena.
The flow of the crowd slowed down considerably as they were bottlenecked through the entrance, making the process take quite a long time. After standing in line for quite some time, John finally reached the entrance.
"Look!" an excited cry echoed out nearby.
"It's them!"
The crowd quickly turned into one of excitement and anticipation. Curious as to what was going on, John paused and turned around. The crowd behind him had begun to part to the sides, and before long, a long open channel was formed down the middle of the crowd.
At the very end, three youths were walking forward, each carrying an air of arrogance around them. John's eyes narrowed slightly as he recognized one of them, Azalea. The two others he had never seen before, and were the replacements for the Blood Emperor and Sword Emperor, which had been killed in the ancient city.
One of them was a rather tall boy, with short black hair, a rugged face for his age, and a powerful, muscular body. An aura of brute power emanated from him, surprising John slightly.
'Does he have an innate variant body?'
The other youth was of average height, and had long, smooth black hair. His face was incredibly handsome, and all the nearby girls looked at him with infatuation. He had a look of smug arrogance on his face, as if such infatuation was only natural. A dense blood aura emanated from him, similar to Damon.
"It's the Three Emperors!"
"It's actually them. We hardly ever see them!"
"Thats Thraks! I hear he had a innate variant body, and used his incredible strength to become an Emperor!"
"Thats Alix, who replaced Damon. Apparently his blood talent is just as high as Damon's was. Maybe it's even higher."
Excited discussions immediately sprung up within the crowd as the Three Emperors continued forward unhindered. They each acted as if such reverence was only natural, and John could only roll his eyes at this sight.
"How can Azalea act so arrogant after she fled with her tail tucked between her legs," John mumbled as he shook his head at the sight.
The crowd had now fully parted for the Three Emperors, leaving only John standing at the end of the channel, looking at the three of them. He glanced at Azalea one last time before he turned around, intending to head into the arena.
Now only several dozen yards away, the Three Emperors finally noticed John, who was facing away from them and walking into the arena. With him not standing to the side like everyone else, he was clearly saying that he didn't place the Three Emperors in his eyes.
Azalea, as well as the muscular youth frowned as they saw this, but it was the long haired boy who spoke up.
"You there, halt," the boy commanded. His tone was authoritative, as if his every command must be followed.
John could tell that he was talking about him, and grumbled internally.
'Seriously? I'm just walking into the arena, and they find offense with it. These Emperors truly are a pain in the ass,' John grumbled internally.
However, he decided to ignore the boy, and continued to walk deeper into the arena entrance.
The boy frowned as he saw this, and slowly raised his finger.
When he was almost within the arena, John's instincts flared, and he quickly moved his head to the side. Immediately after, an incredibly sharp Qi attack flew by.
Boom!
The Qi attack landed on the wall behind John, and pierced several feet into it before coming to a stop. Clearly the attack had been with the intention of killing John.
Surprise appeared on the boy's face as John dodged his attack, while looks of interest appeared on Azalea's and the muscular boy's face.
John paused his footsteps and looked backwards towards the boy. His face was completely calm and relaxed, as if the attack wasn't even worth noting.
"I was going to choose the big guy, but I guess I'll be choosing you instead," John calmly said to the boy.
Without missing a step, he turned around again and entered the arena, leaving the Three Emperors, as well as the completely stunned crowd, behind.