John looked at the dragon before them, which flew through the sky with absolute power and grace. It was equally terrifying and mesmerizing, giving John a conflicted feeling when looking at the creature.
Screech!
A loud screech boomed out from below the ship, as the ocean suddenly exploded outwards. From the explosion of water emerged a creature which looked similar to an octopus, only much larger and much more powerful. Just the movements of a single tentacle caused tidal waves to wash over the nearby ocean, and its screech shook the sky above.
The ocean creature had noticed intruders invade its territory, and had exploded out of the ocean with absolute fury. However, the creature suddenly froze for a moment before darting back into the waters below, as it had finally gotten a good look at what had invaded its territory.
Unperturbed at all, the dragon continued to fly forwards without a care, as if the creature below wasn't even worth noticing. In fact, it had not even glanced in its direction, as if the ocean creature was nothing more than an eyesore.
In the ship trailing the dragon from behind, John watched all of this take place. When the creature had exploded from the water below, he was shocked at its power, and could tell that although it was not as strong as his master, it was definitely stronger than himself.
'With my current essence and body cultivation, I'm quite confident in being able to fight against a Mid Heaven Tribulation Realm creature, and even keep my life against a late Heaven Tribulation Realm creature. Against that ocean creature, I would stand no chance, and yet it fled from the mere sight of the dragon. Just how strong is this dragon?'
John stood at the helm of the ship and observed the dragon for quite some time while also conversing with his master on various things related to the Divine Martial Continent. After a long discussion, he retired to his room, which was reserved for him alone.
The room was quite spacious, as well as luxurious. There was a bed, a washroom, and everything else he could need for the trip to the Divine Martial Continent. There was even a small room for cultivation, which blocked out any and all sound from the outside.
After getting settled in, John entered the cultivation room and closed the door, isolating himself from any and all distractions. Calm filled his body, making him feel completely at ease. However, a fleeting thought of his brought him out of this calm state, as his divine sense entered his soul space.
Within his soul space, Kirii still slumbered after having blocked part of the tribulation lightning beam for John. John's heart ached slightly as he saw Kirii still unconscious, but a quick inspection of Kirii made him realize that Kirii seemed to be much better off than before.
'I guess Thunderzen was right. Kirri is fine physically, it's just that he needs to overcome whatever internal battle he's having at the moment. Hopefully he's able to do so, and comes out the other end stronger than ever.'
John enjoyed fighting next to his companion, and hoped to do so in the near future again. After confirming that Kirii was alright, John sat down on the floor of the meditative chamber and linked his mind with the mysterious artifact of his, which allowed him to fall into a perfect meditative trance.
The Supreme Battle Sect scroll that had been gifted to him by Sect Leader Earthfist appeared before him, as he began to read the contents contained within once again. The Supreme Battle Art was an immensely helpful battle art for his fighting style, and learning the Meridian Forging stage of the battle art would be incredibly useful.
As he read through the scroll, John's eyes read over a piece of information that caused him to raise his eyebrows in slight surprise.
"So that's what it was," John exclaimed slightly. "I always found it strange that essence cultivators could use domains, but body cultivators didn't. It seemed with this being the case, body cultivators would be at a great disadvantage. However, according to this scroll, body cultivators do use domains, just internally instead of externally."
Domain Arts were incredibly powerful, and if used by only one side in a fight, would be able to overwhelm the other. With this in mind, John was always confused by this aspect, but his question had been answered within the scroll.
"It says here that the Supreme Battle Art establishes an internal domain, flushing out negative affects inflicted by other domains, while also augmenting the body even further. It seems as though the version father had was incomplete, as it did not contain this domain version. No wonder the Supreme Battle Arts used by the other youths in the ancient city felt different, as well as more powerful. They were establishing internal domains whenever they used it!"
John's eyes eagerly scanned over the rest of the scroll as he etched all the information deep inside his mind. After reading the scroll many times, he followed the principles of the Meridian Forging Stage of the battle art, as well as the domain establishment portion.
Powerful body Qi instantly surged throughout his body, infusing every inch of blood and muscle with incredible power. John felt his body rise to levels of power unfelt before, as he successfully unleashed the Meridian Forging Stage of the Supreme Battle Art.
With a thought, he activated the next portion of it, which was the Supreme Battle Domain. Upon doing so, John felt even more power surge within his body, as he felt the domain seem to almost take control of his body for him. It was as if a puppet was moving his muscles, but the puppeteer was himself.
"How strange!" John couldn't help but exclaim as he felt using the Supreme Battle Domain to be quite strange. However, he could tell that the domain augmented his body even further, boosting his power once more.
'This domain aspect is quite incredible, but is also quite taxing on the Qi reserves. It seems as though the main portion of this domain is to combat the negative effects of other domains, while the strength increase is the secondary concern. This would be incredibly useful to others, but my Immortal Asura Body already achieves this neutralizing effect naturally.'
John was a little disappointed to find that the Supreme Battle Domain was mostly useless to him, but it would come in handy in certain situations.
'I suppose in situations when I need more power than the base form of the Supreme Battle Art, but less power than using my Transformation Art, this domain will be quite useful. My Transformation Art is quite taxing on the body, and I can tell its getting harder on my body as my cultivation increases. At this rate, it might eventually become like my bloodline ability, in which I can only use it in dire situations. With that in mind, this battle art and battle domain are just what I need.'
John practiced using the Supreme Battle Art and Supreme Battle Domain for the next day or two before he felt fully comfortable using it, at which point he stopped cultivating the art and shifted his training.
A jade piece suddenly appeared in his hand, which seemed to glow and flicker from within. John stared at the jade piece in his hands for a moment before he sent his divine sense as deep into it as he could.
His divine sense pierced the first layer of the True Jade Origin Piece in his hands, before it came to a halt at the second layer. The moment he felt the second layer, he saw visions of lightning flicker within his mind, almost as if they were real lightning strikes. Images of cultivators utilizing lightning, as well as nature itself unleashing lightning attacks filled his mind.
He focused on the flashes of lightning, as they transitioned from strike to strike, each lightning strike similar yet completely different to the previous. While focusing on the images and the Dao's they contained, John felt a pain in his soul, which continued to grow stronger.
He grit his teeth and focused on the lightning images as he struggled through the pain, as doing so was the only way forward. While studying the jade piece and struggling through the pain, John lost track of time as he fell into a deep meditative trance.
Lightning continued to flash in his mind and soul, as if it was trying to etch itself into his very being. However, each flash of lightning brought a flash of pain, as he could not fully comprehend the lightning Dao's contained within. It was as if the universe was telling him that he was not ready to see the truth of the lightning Dao before him. Each strike contained different essences of lightning, which seemed just out of his reach of comprehension.
This internal struggle continued for an untold amount of time, as John felt himself grow closer and closer to the lightning he was studying. He could feel his comprehensions slowly but surely increase, building atop the already robust lightning Dao foundation he had already established.
This process continued endlessly, as he felt himself grow closer and closer to the truth, until eventually he felt something click in his mind and soul. The lightning flashing in his mind, which before seemed obscure and more profound than he could understand, suddenly seemed to make sense to him.
It was as if the heavens had opened up and gifted him with a clear vision of the true nature of lightning. John looked at the flashes of lightning in his mind and soul as if he was seeing true lightning for the very first time in his life.
Without thinking about it, John raised his palm upwards as lightning started dancing on it. The lightning snaking over his hand excluded a nature far beyond what he was capable of before. This different nature was not power or intensity, but profundity.
He gazed at the lightning on his hand, and seemed to be able to see its very nature of existence more clearly.
"My comprehensions towards the Dao of Lightning seemed to have changed completely, although I'm not exactly sure what has happened. However, the control I have over lightning, as well as the power I can unleash are now both far greater than before!"