John spent the week cultivating, sparring with Ryan, and doing whatever he could to improve his combat prowess. Every day he would spar until he was bloodied and bruised, and every night he would spend hours focusing on his cultivation.
John opened his eyes and got out of bed, ready to tackle the day ahead of him. He washed up and then walked over to his wardrobe and donned his black robe. After getting ready for the day, John walked downstairs to have breakfast with his mother, but was completely surprised to see someone he hadn't expected. His father was sitting at the dining room table, eating breakfast with Rachel.
"Dad, you're home?"
John ran over to his father and hugged him. Barden rubbed his son's head while laughing boisterously.
"Yup. I'm home. And I have a gift for you."
John opened his eyes wide as he stared at his father expectantly.
"Did you really get a body battle art?" John asked with excitement in his voice.
"Haha, yes I did. And not just any normal body battle art. I had to use a massive owed favor I had been saving for a long time to get my hands on this art. Here, take it."
Barden took out a scroll and handed it to John. John took the scroll and quickly unfurled it, eager to read its contents.
"Supreme Battle Art. Wow, this sounds pretty amazing!"
Barden patted his sons back and laughed loudly before replying. "That it is. In fact, I can guarantee you that no one within thousands of miles has a better body battle art. Not only that, but this scroll also contains a body strengthening technique, the Supreme Battle Body."
John quickly read through the scroll and confirmed what his father said was true. The scroll contained both a body cultivation technique, as well as a body battle art.
'I don't need a body cultivation technique since I have the Immortal Asura Body, but this body battle art will be extremely useful. Just at a glance I can tell its incredibly profound.'
Although John only skimmed through the contents of the scroll, he could easily tell that the battle art was incredibly intricate and powerful.
"This will surely raise my strength by a lot. Thanks Dad."
John once again hugged his father as he thanked him profusely.
"No problem son. Try your best to learn some of this technique before the tournament. Your chances of placing well will go up by a lot if you do so."
John nodded his head and put the scroll away, stored safely in the palace inside the body dantian.
"Where did you get this battle art from?" John asked curiously. Since his father said it was more powerful than any body battle art within thousands of miles, John had no reason to not believe it.
Barden looked at his son and thought about his response for a moment.
"Lets just say it's from quite far away. No where near us."
John frowned at his fathers explanation. Between this battle art and his encounter with Leah and Elliot, John realized there was much about his world that he didn't understand. He felt like a frog at the bottom of a well, and the feeling was stifling.
"Dad, I want to know more about our world. You're obviously hiding information from me. I don't know why, but please tell me."
Barden looked at his son's serious expression and thought about what to say. He had been keeping this information a secret as to not give John a mental blow upon finding out the truth, but based on John's expression, he wasn't going to let the situation rest until he found out the truth.
Sigh!
Barden let out a big sigh. "I suppose it is about time for him to find out. Also, with his cultivation system, maybe he can one day make his way over there and join one of those powers." thought Barden
"Let's discuss this outside on the meditation platform."
John nodded his head and followed his father outside to the family meditation platform. The platform was raised slightly above the ground, and was surrounded by flowers and a small stream, giving it a very tranquil feeling.
Barden sat in the middle of the platform and John did the same. The two of them sat there in silence for a while before Barden suddenly spoke up.
"How much of our continent do you know?"
John had expected his father to tell him about the world, but he had asked a question instead. John thought about it for a moment before responding.
"We live in the middle of the continent at the base of the Skycleave Mountain Range, which spans thousands of miles from east to west. The land stretches thousands of miles both north and south of the mountain range until it reaches the ocean. To the west, the land eventually reaches the ocean as well, while to the east, there is a massive mountain range that stretches from north to south and spans the entire continent. That's all I know."
Barden nodded his head at John's description.
"That is correct. The continent we live on is called the Yuan continent, and it is exactly as you described. The land stretches for thousands of miles in each direction from us, and we are located in the very center. There are hundreds of other clans, sects, and kingdoms that occupy this land, and their power ranges from the Mist Creation Realm all the way up to the Meridian Forging Realm. Even when considering all these powers, our clan stands at the very peak of power. There are clans and sects equal to us, but none of them are stronger than us."
John raised his eyebrows at this revelation. He knew his clan was strong, but he didn't know it was at the very top of the power pyramid.
'Meridian Forging? Seems like our clan has powerful elders that even I'm not aware of.'
John was just about to ask his father about this when Barden spoke up once more.
"But...what you know of our continent isn't the entire thing, in fact, the area you described consists of only around ten percent of all of the landmass of the Yuan Continent."