Sword and scythe collided powerfully in the middle of the arena as John and Alix clashed against each other. John was wielding his signature blood red scythe, while Alix was wielding a slender pitch black sword.
The first exchange was pure might and strength, and contained no battle arts, as each side wanted to triumph over the other using nothing but weapon skill and cultivation power.
Alix's cultivation was at the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, while John was solidly in the Late Core Formation Realm. Although Alix was a bit higher in cultivation base, such a thing did not concern John at all. Cultivation level was not the only thing that dictated power.
In the ensuing collision, the result was a tie. If John had wanted to, he would have completely crushed Alix in a pure collision of strength. However, doing so would reveal his body cultivation, and would out him as an imposter.
No matter how talented he now claimed to be, it was known by all that John Harren was not a body cultivator. One could not become one overnight as well, and so using any of his body cultivation power was not possible.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The two exchanged dozens of moves in quick succession, each trying to come out on top using nothing but martial prowess. Weapons sliced from strange angles, twirled in defensive parries, and collided dozens of times as the two continued to exchange attacks.
The crowd watched in awe, barely able to keep up with the moves being exchanged. Just a casual weapon attack from either of the fighters on the stage would be enough to claim their lives, let alone when they used battle arts on top of such attacks.
Several more attacks were exchanged, until both fighters jumped backwards and separated from each other. They stared at one another with focused eyes.
"Wow, John actually kept up with Alix in those exchanges," a disciple exclaimed in excitement.
"Sure, but that was just pure martial attacks. Wait until Alix uses his battle arts and essence Qi, and then we can see if John can still keep up," a nearby disciple who was a fan of Alix replied in slight disdain.
Alix stared at John for a while, slightly annoyed that he was not even able to slightly scratch John in their initial exchanges. He wanted to kill John using only his weapon, as a testament to his overwhelming strength.
He wanted to proclaim to the crowd that even without using his battle arts, he was undefeatable. However, things had not gone according to plan, as John was surprisingly just as good at wielding a weapon as Alix was, if not even better.
Alix frowned as such a thought, and his aura once again towered high into the sky.
"Fine, if I can't kill you like that, then it will just have to be through overwhelming power," Alix said to John.
Without waiting for a reply from John, Alix slashed his blade out immediately. The attack was similar to the Crimson Blade Slash John used, in both speed and power.
Che!
A sword image pierced towards John at incredible speed, reaching him in almost an instant. It was the fastest attack John had ever seen from a Core Formation opponent, and made him respect Alix's strength slightly.
John infused his scythe with his essence Qi and slashed it out in response. Scythe and sword image collided, and John was bathed in an explosion of essence Qi as his body was knocked back slightly.
'No wonder Alix was able to become an Emperor. Just this casual attack of his is quite powerful, and would be able to severely injure most of the Core Formation disciples.'
However, while the attack was incredibly quick and powerful, it was not nearly enough to overwhelm John. His reaction times, partially due to his natural talent, and partly due to the Vice-Sect Leader's training, were at the absolute peak of his realm.
Not only that, but his essence Qi was stronger, and his natural body defense was high as well. Even if he didn't use body arts, his natural defense was more than enough to keep him protected.
Alix frowned slightly as he saw John parry his attack with ease. His sword slashed out again, and again, and again, sending an endless barrage of sword images towards John.
Che!
Che!
Che!
The sword images reached John in an instant, bathing him in a constant barrage of powerful sword attacks. His attacks were so quick and seamless that it gave John no chance to counter attack, and so he could only focus on defending with his full power.
The arena began to quake violently from the battle art explosions, as John slashed his scythe out rapidly to meet every attack.
This barrage of powerful sword attacks continued for several minutes, as the crowd watched in rapt attention at the scene before them. John's figure wasn't even visible anymore to the crowd, as his constant parries of the sword images showered him in a perpetual explosion of Qi.
The longer this barrage of attacks went on, the more surprised the crowd became. Just unleashing one of these attacks would be draining for them, but Alix was able to do so nonstop. Once again, he was showing his status as an Emperor was well deserved.
After several minutes of sending out these attacks, Alix stopped attacking. His face was slightly pale and breathing slightly heavy, as even he found himself starting to become exhausted after sending out that many powerful Qi attacks.
The crowd watched with bated breath as the Qi explosions began to fade.
"Do you think John survived that?" A disciple couldn't help but ask.
"Are you kidding? Did you see how powerful a single one of those attacks were? How could he possibly survive a continuous barrage like that?" another replied.
"You're probably right. His body probably doesn't even exist anymore, just a smear of him most likely remains," another replied.
The battle art explosions faded, revealing the now damaged arena. All the previous battles had not significantly damaged the arena, but the barrage from Alix had, showing how powerful his attacks were.
The smooth arena platform was now riddled with cracks, and several areas had small holes carved into the surface.
Standing in the very middle of this ruined section was John, whose clothes were slightly torn. Blood trickled down several parts of his body, indicating that he had taken some damage in the last exchange. His narrowed eyes stared at Alix with full vigor, showing that his fighting spirit had not diminished at all.
The crowd gasped in surprise at John's revealing, as most did not expect him to be alive anymore. The barrage from Alix had been completely overwhelming, and most likely only the other Emperors would be able to survive it.
"How is that possible?" A fan of Alix couldn't help but exclaim in shock. Alix himself couldn't help but open his eyes slightly in surprise at seeing John's mostly healthy condition, as he assumed John would be half dead at best by now.
'Fighting without my body battle arts is quite different. Alix was actually able to injure me slightly with those attacks, although that's mostly because I allowed those attacks to land on me. Still, I need to be a bit more careful going forward, at least until I can utilize my body battle arts again.'
John's free hand brushed some collected dust off his shoulder, before he looked back at Alix. he raised his scythe in front of his chest, as it began to radiate incredible power.
"My turn."