John and Ryan arrived at the sparring arenas a while later and entered one of the empty ones. Dozens of ongoing spars could be seen taking place in either the main sparring area or the many fighting arenas.
John and Ryan both picked up a blunt training sword before walking to opposite ends of the arena.
"Show me what you got!" Ryan shouted out to John from across the arena as he held his sword by his side.
John smiled and started running towards Ryan "Here I come. Prepare yourself!"
Ryan scoffed but said nothing. He watched as John began running towards him, and steadied his sword as he too ran towards John.
The two approached each other and swung their swords forward.
Peng!
The sounds of sword colluding rang out and John and Ryan came to an abrupt halt. Their swords were locked together, and neither one had the power advantage in that last exchange.
A slightly surprised look appeared on Ryan's face after the exchange. Although he hadn't used his full power there, he had still used around fifty percent and had expected John to be knocked back due to his higher cultivation.
"Not bad!" Ryan was truly impressed by John's power.
"I know that's not all you got. Come at me for real" responded John as both of them jumped backwards and stared at each other.
Ryan started laughing at John's provocation. "Haha, fine, but don't blame me if you get hurt. I'll attack with my full power so prepare yourself."
Ryan assumed a wide stance and raised his sword which began to glow slightly before slashing it towards John. A powerful sword light flew straight towards John.
John opened his eyes in shock at Ryan's powerful attack.
'It seems like Ryan hasn't been slacking off either. This attack is even more powerful than the attack of that late Mist Creation Assassin I fought.'
John quickly channeled Qi into his feet and utilized the first step of the Five Step Movement technique to narrowly dodge the attack. Ryan instantly reacted and used his own movement technique to close the gap between them.
"If you're gonna just dodge my attacks, then I'll start attacking up close." Ryan reached John quickly and slashed down with his sword. His sword was glowing slightly as he hacked down towards John.
'I could dodge this attack with the second step, but I'm here to have a fun fight.'
John raised his own sword and quickly struck out with his Mountain Crushing Sword.
Boom!
The two swords collided, and John was knocked back a dozen yards while Ryan was still standing at the site of the collision.
John quickly recovered and instantly dashed forward again and sent another Mountain Crushing Sword towards Ryan. Ryan quickly dodged the attack and sent his sword cleaving towards John's waist.
John quickly redirected his sword and hastily raised it to block the attack. Swords collided and once again John was the one knocked back while Ryan was standing firmly. Ryan instantly followed up his attack with a ranged Qi attack. John sent out his own ranged Mountain Crushing Sword, and the two techniques collided in mid air. Ryan's attack slightly overwhelmed Johns, at which point it continued to fly towards John, although weakened considerably.
John quickly dashed to the side and narrowly avoided the attack.
Boom!
The ground behind John kicked up earth as the Qi attack landed on it. John once again dashed towards Ryan and swung his sword down and Ryan raised his sword to block, but just as the swords were about to collide, John used the second step to appear at Ryan's side. Ryan instantly turned and struck out with a Qi attack, but was surprised to find it hit nothing but air.
John utilized the third step of the Five Step Movement Technique to appear behind Ryan, at which point he struck out with a Mountain Crushing Sword. Ryan was surprised at the speed of John's movement technique, but managed to quickly turn around and send his own attack towards Johns.
Boom!
Techniques collided as both Ryan and John were knocked back. John was panting slightly from his many attacks as he stared at Ryan and wiped the sweat off his brow. Ryan's breathing was slightly labored, but other than that, he was for the most part fine.
'It seems like trying to fight Ryan with only my middle Mist Creation essence attacks is a little too much. I would need to use my scythe and the Myriad Annihilation Scythe to fight him evenly at the very least. Time to add some body power into the mix.'
Ryan stopped for a moment and looked at John. "That seriously can't be everything huh? Where's this power that you claimed would win you the tournament?"
John smiled once again. "Prepare yourself Ryan, our warmup is over!"
A serious look appeared on John's face as he started to explosively channel Qi from his body dantian into his body. John's face instantly changed as a hardened look appeared in his eyes. Ryan's face instantly stiffened as he noticed the aura around John change in a heartbeat.
Before while fighting, John had a normal aura around him, but now all Ryan could feel was an intense and sinister blood lust, as well as an intimidating battle aura radiating from John. This aura was a combination of the Immortal Asura Body, the sinister aspect of the Qi that John generated, as well as the newly acquired blood lust that John had accumulated by killing all the cultivators on his recent journey. John's tempered will by cultivating in front of the sinister gate also added to the mix, making his battle aura both sinister and resolute.
John himself was unaware of the intense aura he was projecting however.
It took a few seconds for Ryan to realize that he was breathing quite heavily before he managed to get his breathing and emotions under control.
"Just what the hell is going on?" thought Ryan as he looked towards John. Although he didn't know what was going on, Ryan was well aware of the fact that John was like a completely different person right now.
"He's even stronger than me right now I think. I have to use my full power to stand a chance." Ryan steadied his sword and prepared to use his most powerful attack.
"Here I come. Prepare yourself!" John pressed off the ground and dashed towards Ryan.