John looked at the approaching man with calm eyes, unconcerned about the newcomer's power, which was in the Early Heaven Tribulation Realm.
"John Fenix in the flesh! I assumed Allfiend would have already killed you, but it seems you somehow managed to escape. No matter. I will kill you now and bring your head back to him. Surely he will reward me for it," the man said to John as he approached.
John glanced at the man for a moment before he turned to look over his shoulder once more. His father still floated in the sky behind him, the stunned expression still lingering on his face.
"Retreat to where Grandfather is," John instructed his father. "I'll take care of things here. You don't have to worry for my safety."
Barden wanted to argue against John's words, but John's reassuring smile revealed to Barden that he was confident in his own power. Barden didn't know the extent of John's power, but his previous display gave a hint towards it.
Not only that, but he knew his son was not a stupid boy who would throw his life away. After a moment of hesitation, Barden nodded his head and retreated without a word, leaving his son alone in the sky with the new Bloodfiend Elder.
"You were watching this whole battle take place, without assisting at all?" John asked as the man stopped a few dozen yards away from him.
The man frowned at John's lack of fear, but replied nonetheless. "Partaking in such a lowly battle is beneath me. If the Crimson Valley Sect couldn't win the battle, even with the help of one of our Elders, then they were not worthy to be one of our underlings," the man replied.
"I must thank you then," John replied, his voice still cold. "If you had assisted the enemy, I would have arrived late. As such, I will let you die quickly, so that you may join the rest of your pathetic sect in the underworld."
The Elder's eyes narrowed as he heard John say this. John instantly picked up on the man's slightly confused expression, and a slightly amused look appeared on his face.
"I guess you don't know. Not that it matters anyways."
As if talking to the man was beneath John's notice, he suddenly slashed his scythe out towards the man without warning.
"You think too highly of yourself."
The man scowled as he saw John attack him without warning and slashed out his sword at John's attack.
Bang!
The battle arts collided high in the air above the Fenix Clan, its power great enough to shake the distant ground below. The Fenix Clan members shielded their eyes and braced themselves as a violent tempest, kicked up by the explosion of battle arts, washed over the clan grounds.
The Elder was slightly surprised by John's power, as he had expected to completely overwhelm him in that exchange. However, it was a relatively even exchange.
"Your talent truly is a threat to our entire alliance. As such, you must die here today."
After saying this, the Elder's aura exploded out with even greater power, revealing he had been holding back considerably in their last exchange. John watched the Elder' power up with indifferent eyes as the Elder suddenly unleashed another sword battle art towards him.
Supreme Battle Art!
John instantly activated the Supreme Battle Art, which explosively increased his strength, and slashed out his scythe towards the Elder.
Bang!
Weapons collided, and John was knocked backwards hundreds of yards in the collision before he finally stabilized his backwards momentum. A frown appeared on his face as he inspected his body.
'I only have the first three stages of the Supreme Battle Art, which caps out at the Core Formation Realm. It seems like this technique is useless to me for now.'
John's head snapped up as another sword battle art was upon him, and slashed his scythe out to meet it.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The Elder unleashed a torrent of battle arts in quick succession, giving John no breathing room. His scythe twirled in front of him defensively as he parried each attack, but each attack was strong enough to knock him backwards hundreds of yards.
Boom!
John's body suddenly slammed into the mountainside above the Fenix Clan and burrowed deep inside it.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang
A barrage of additional sword images slammed against the mountainside, shattering the top half of the mountain as the barrage continued.
"John!"
Barden cried out in panic as he saw his son overwhelmed with powerful battle arts. However, the debris raining down from above threatened the clan, and so Barden and the rest of the able bodied Elders unleashed their own battle arts to destroy the falling boulders and debris.
The Bloodfiend Elder ended his barrage of attacks as he looked at the half-destroyed mountain.
"Truly overestimating himself," the man scoffed out loud.
He glanced at the Fenix Clan below, but his eyes quickly locked back onto the mountainside as a horrifying aura suddenly exploded out from within it. The shocking aura was so powerful that the nearby mountain exploded open, revealing the source of the aura for all to see.
Two small, straight, and sharp horns, pitch black in color, protruded from John's head, as his blood red eyes stared at the distant Elder. Blood red runes covered most of his body, and his malevolent aura radiated outwards with absolute power. A powerful battle axe rested in his hands, its aura alone making anyone who looked at it feel fright.
"How is this possible?" the Bloodfiend Elder cried out in shock, as the power John was revealing right now was enough to make even him scared.
Lightning coated John's legs, as he suddenly activated his Thunderflash Steps and unleashed him Limiter of Speed to appear before the Elder in an instant.
Heavenly Lightning Domain!
At the same time, dozens and dozens of lightning nodes sprung up in the air around John, surrounding both him and the Elder. The lightning nodes instantly began to unleash a ceaseless barrage of lightning at the Elder, while John's battle axe, infused with the Dao of Power and Annihilation, struck out at him.
The Bloodfiend Elder instantly activated his own domain, and the sky around him and John suddenly turned red. John felt the familiar aura of the Crimson Hell Domain wash over him, but he ignored it as he continued his assault on the Elder.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
A series of horrifyingly powerful weapon and battle art collisions exploded out high above the Fenix Clan as John and the Elder fought with all their might. The Fenix Clan members looked up at the battle with absolute shock and awe on their faces, still not believing that their own young master was capable of such power.
Barden and Cade looked up at John with a mix of shock and pride on their faces, as they watched John fight evenly against a Heaven Tribulation Elder. Never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined such a thing was possible. However, the truth was clear before their very eyes.
The Fenix Clan members watching from the ground watched the battle in the sky, and they soon began to cheer for their young master. The young master of their Fenix Clan, once believed to be dead, had returned to them at their greatest time of need with power far beyond their imagination.
Their impassioned cries echoed out in unison, loud enough to shake the earth, and loud enough for John to hear in the sky high above.
"Young Master John! Young Master John! Young Master John!"