In a different part of the Jade Dragon Empire trial lands, a lone youth stood before a battlefield full of death and carnage. The youth wore a robe with a hood that shrouded their features, as if there was a formation built into the robe blocking any from peering within.
Before the youth, the slaughter and carnage continued on the battlefield. It pitted man against beasts, as the two sides fought for survival. The carnage and death flooded the battlefield with blood, dying it red.
The youth watched on calmly for some time, before their right hand raised up and hovered outstretched towards the battlefield. A brilliant white and green light flared from their outstretched hand, and also seemed to flare from within the hood of the robe, as a vibrant energy flooded the battlefield.
The vibrant energy washed over all the humans on the battlefield, at which point their wounds began to rapidly close, and those on the verge of death were healed back into a battle-ready state. The vibrant energy instantly turned the tides of the battle, as the wounded humans returned to combat, while those who were felled afterwards rose again to battle once more.
Before long, the humans surged with might, washing over the beast tide and erasing them from existence. As the last beast fell, the humans instantly stopped fighting, and stood in place as if awaiting commands. The carnage filled battlefield slowly faded away, revealing a flower filled field, with a singular tower in the middle of the field. The carnage and destruction that was just visible was no more, as if it had all been a dream.
The tower suddenly lit up, as a beam of light landed on the shrouded youth’s body. The beam of light quickly faded, as it had given the appropriate Jade Marks to the one who had just taken the trial..
The shrouded person ignored the change in score, as if such a thing had no interest to them. They began walking forward once more through the field, deeper into the Jade Dragon Empire trial lands before they stopped, and a jade piece appeared in their hands.
They quickly inspected the list, while a slightly disappointed frown appeared on their face as they studied one name. After a moment of inspection, the lone youth put the jade piece away and continued onwards, deeper into the mysterious lands.
…
John’s eyes slowly opened, his gaze unfocused as if he were deep in thought.
‘Thanks to the Celestial Lightning Script, my body is almost fully healed of any lightning damage. While I still have some lingering damage due to using my Bloodline Ability, the Celestial Lightning Script can’t help with that. However, I can now start taking healing pills to heal the lingering bloodline ability damage, while also ensuring that I don’t accidentally erase any lightning damage.’
John clenched his fight, feeling the power that once again returned to his body. His muscles still ached with pain from using his Bloodline Ability, but there was nothing he could do about that other than slowly heal it.
‘After a week or two, the remaining surface level damage should be healed, and I’ll be back at full combat strength. However, I can tell that each time I use my Bloodline Ability, it creates injuries that bury deep within my body, and are incredibly difficult to heal. While those injuries won’t affect my combat power much, if I use my Bloodline Ability too soon again, it will exacerbate those injuries more, making them much more severe and harder to heal. I guess my mother was right, that I can only use this Bloodline Ability sparingly.’
John thought back to the first time he had used his Bloodline Ability, on the Talent Testing Steps. That had been almost half a year ago, which was why he was able to use his ability again recently and not suffer severe consequences. However, he would have to wait another six months to use it again without consequence, which slightly irked him.
‘It all comes down to my body strength. If I can raise the quality of my body to unprecedented levels, I’m sure I can use my Bloodline Ability more often.’
John’s mind shifted back to his conversation with his mysterious mother, who had revealed that she had unlocked his Bloodline Ability, but was only able to partially do so as she did not have access to the true way to unlock his Bloodline Ability. This made his ability less potent, and also did more damage to his body when used.
‘I’m guessing using this Bloodline Ability without the proper way to unlock it would normally be impossible, but the freakishly powerful Immortal Asura Body allows me to brute force it. As such, the only way forward is to improve my body strength, at least until I manage to unlock my Bloodline Ability properly.’
John put such negative thoughts aside after a while, as his focus shifted to the positives of his recent battles.
‘My Lightning Dao comprehensions have risen tremendously, thanks to cultivating before the mysterious lightning sphere, as well as absorbing that lightning warrior. I can feel that I’m just about ready to break through to the next level of the Celestial Lightning Script, which should vastly improve my Lightning Attribute Body and lightning battle arts once more. However….’
His thoughts shifted to Iris’s tribulation, and his near death.
‘When I had absorbed the lightning warrior, it had a soul aspect to its power, which nearly destroyed my soul and resulted in me collapsing into unconsciousness for so long. My own tribulation will be far stronger, and I’m sure something like that warrior will appear again…I’m confident in being able to brute force my way through my tribulation, but that isn’t good enough.’
A cold smirk appeared on John’s face as he thought about his eventual tribulation, and his battle with the heavens once more.
‘No, when my tribulation comes, I don’t just want to survive it, I want to dominate it. If that lightning warrior or something even stronger shows up, I want to absorb it just like before, and turn heaven’s strength into my own…’
If anyone heard John’s thoughts at the moment, they would think he was an absolute madman wishing for death. However, John knew his cultivation pathway in the future would be filled with dangers and tribulations, and that he needed to grasp every opportunity to raise his strength to the fullest.
‘However, to do that, I’ll need to greatly improve the strength of my soul, as well as make it more resistant to lightning. I don’t know how I’ll do that, but I need to make sure it happens…’
A sound filled John’s ears, and his gaze shifted over to the source. Adam, Iris, and Chase were huddled around a campfire some distance away, roasting some food for dinner. The aroma wafted into John’s nose, as his stomach growled in hungered protest.
He stood up and walked over to the group, his actions surprising them, as it had been the first time in over a week that he had moved from his mediation.
“John! Come eat with us!” Adam exclaimed happily.
John nodded his head as he sat next to his friends, who handed over a leg of meat. He bit into it as a wave of satisfaction washed over him. For the first time in weeks, he felt joy instead of pain.
“So what are the plans now?” Iris asked, as she could tell that John was just about ready to set out once more.
John thought about it for a moment before replying.
“I wanted to take it slow and work our way through every trial in these lands, but we’ve already wasted a month of time with everything that’s happened,” John replied before taking another bite of his food and swallowing. “We’re probably already behind everyone else, so we no longer have that luxury.”
“So what’s the plan then?” Adam asked, as he could tell John had made up his mind.
“The plan is to move forward without hesitation, ignoring the initial trials as we focus only on what lies at the end of this realm. We will reach the ends of this land without question, and cut down anyone who stands in our way,” John replied as a smile of confidence appeared on his face. “That…is our plan.”