Peng!
John opened his eyes in shock at the sight in front of him. The very tip of his sharp scythe had been blocked by his father effortlessly, but to add even more insult, his father had blocked it with a single finger. John stared at his fathers finger and saw a extremely thin but very dense layer of Qi surrounding his finger, turning into something just as powerful as his own scythe, or even stronger.
John quickly recovered from his shock and jumped backwards, putting some distance between him and his father. Barden slowly opened his eyes and stared at John for some time before speaking out.
"Is this everything you've learned so far? You disappoint me if so."
John gripped his scythe tightly before he steadied it in front of him once more.
"This is just the beginning" grunted John as he once again charged towards his father. He used the first step of his movement technique to instantly close the distance to try to catch him off guard, at which point he sent his scythe slicing towards his father with even more power than before.
Myriad Annihilation Scythe!
John sent a surge of Qi into his weapon in accordance with the technique and sent it crashing down towards his father. He decided to use the melee version of the Myriad Annihilation Scythe, as it was more powerful than the ranged attack. By keeping the powerful Qi within the weapon instead of sending it outwards, John was able to increase the strength of the attack.
Barden opened his eyes and stared at the incoming attack, but made no effort to move.
Boom!
A loud sound rang out as scythe and finger once again collided. Although he didn't want to believe the difference was so great, John was expecting this to be the result, and so was prepared to follow up his attack instantly.
John quickly used the second step of his movement technique to get behind his father, at which point he sent the second attack of the myriad Annihilation Scythe towards his fathers back. Barden raised his eyebrows slightly, but made no effort to move nonetheless.
Boom!
A loud sound exploded out once more as John's scythe came crashing down on his fathers back. A dense layer of Qi appeared on Barden's back and successfully blocked the attack with ease. John pushed his scythe forward with all his might, but it wouldn't move no matter how much he tried.
John once again jumped backwards and separated himself from his father. He was panting slightly from the continuous attacks, but still hadn't given up yet. Thinking that was everything, Barden was just about to speak up when John suddenly dashed forward to him once more.
John quickly unleashed the first attack of the Myriad Annihilation Scythe, which was unsurprisingly blocked with ease. Continuing the momentum of the first attack, John channeled his essence to its strongest state for the second attack of the Myriad Annihilation Scythe, and also sent his most powerful surge of Qi from his body dantian to unleash the most powerful attack he could.
John's previous attacks had only been essence attacks, and he had kept his body strength hidden. John had thought about keeping his body strength a secret from his father, but decided to reveal it after all. There were only a few people John would trust with this secret of his, and his father was one of them.
Barden's eyes widened in shock at the power of the oncoming attack. He quickly raised his hand and covered it with a powerful layer of Qi.
Boom!
Scythe and hand collided, and the scythe blade came to a abrupt halt in Barden's hand. John pushed forward with all his might, but was unable to make his fathers hand budge even slightly. Barden stared at the scythe blade in his hands for some time before he looked over towards John with a serious look on his face.
"That's enough for now," stated Barden. "We have some things to discuss, and I've seen enough."
John quickly put away his scythe with a slightly dejected face but didn't argue. He wanted to keep fighting, but listened nonetheless.
"Sit!" ordered his father. John nodded his head and sat before his father. He noticed the serious look on his fathers face and was fairly certain why his father had become gloomy all of a sudden. John sat there in silence for some time before Barden finally spoke up.
"That last attack of yours clearly had the strength of a body cultivator behind it...Do you want to explain yourself?" Barden looked towards John with some anger visible on his face. Everyone in the world knew that it was a terrible idea to cultivate both body and essence. The Fenix Clan was an essence cultivation clan, and John was clearly an essence cultivator as well. But that last attack of his combined the power of both essence and body, which caused Barden to be both shocked and angry.
John sat there in silence for some time as he thought about what to say.
'What should I tell him? Should I reveal the sphere? And if so, how much should I reveal?'
John had wanted to keep the sphere a secret from the world, as he was sure if it was found out, it would be a disaster for both him and his clan. But his father was different. Even so, he still was hesitant about how much he revealed.
'If I can't trust my father, then who in this world can I trust?'
John continued to debate internally for some time before he took a deep breath and looked up towards his father. He decided to tell his father some of the truth, but not all of it. The less his father knew, the more safe he would be, and the safer the clan would be as well. Although it was at a level much higher than his clan was capable of, John had heard rumors and legends of extremely powerful cultivators being able to read souls and memories. As such, he didn't want to reveal too much to his father in case that ever happened to him.
"Father, when I touched that sphere you kept in the basement, it changed something inside of me. I don't know how, but I am able to cultivate both essence and body fully with no negative effect on the other."
John decided to keep the exact nature of what happened a secret. That way, if anyone ever found out about the sphere, they would assume that his body was changed by it and not that the sphere existed in his body itself. With no treasure, the greed of anyone who found out would be much less. Also, both Barden and Rachel believed that the sphere went missing after John touched it. No one knew it existed inside of him.
Shock appeared on Barden's face at John's answer. No matter how he thought about it, such a thing should be completely impossible, as no one had ever managed to find a way to cultivate both body and essence to full effect. Barden was just about to question John about the truth of this claim when he thought of the sphere, and the nature in which he had found it. Although what John said seemed too good to be true, whenever he thought about what he saw and heard when he found the sphere, he figured nothing was impossible.
Barden and John sat there in silence for quite some time as Barden tried to collect his thoughts. Several minutes later, Barden started laughing boisterously.
"Hahahaha, if that's the case then everything is fine. You can cultivate both body and essence. My son will be a genius that soars through the heavens!"