The powerful pressure pressed down on John, seeking to push him out of the tunnel. However, John was able to resist the pressure with relative ease, as he didn’t even have to use anything other than his natural body strength to push forward.
The tunnel before him was hundreds of yards high and wide, while the walls were smooth and polished. Nothing other than the endless expanse of tunnel before him was visible, and so John’s footsteps remained steady as he progressed forward.
“The pressure is increasing the further I go into this tunnel,” John mused as he continued to walk. “It must be another filter, meant to let through only those who are worthy in the eyes of the Jade Dragon Empire. Afterall, only fifty points were required to enter this tunnel, so anyone doing trials every day could eventually enter it, regardless of their strength.”
Although the tunnel seemed to be another filter, the pressure was not anything worth noting. John’s progress remained unhindered as he steadily moved forward, and eventually he spotted other youths in the tunnel before him. He quickly caught up to them and passed by them with ease, shocking the youths who were struggling. These youths were all in the Heaven Tribulation realm, and John could tell the pressure on them was greater than it was on himself.
‘This pressure seems to be scaled based on cultivation level, as were many of the previous trials. I imagine the Jade Dragon Empire let a wide range of ages enter this trial land whenever it opened, so scaling it based on cultivation is the most logical thing to do.’
While it was logical, John was slightly disappointed as he came to this realization.
‘This means that the trials won’t be challenging for me at all, at least not until the very end of this realm. My greatest challenges will be the other geniuses of this land, particularly those in the top twenty on the Jade Dragon List.’
John’s progress remained steady as he moved forward, while he passed dozens of other youths that were struggling to progress forward. The youths all had their auras flared to the maximum as they exerted all their power, while John only used his natural body strength to move forward. His ease through the tunnels shocked the other youths, who could only watch on enviously as he raced past them..
The tunnel stretched for over a dozen miles, and John finally saw light appear on the other side after an hour of walking through it. He quickly reached the end, and a blazing red landscape came into his view. Before him, a land filled with roiling magma stretched as far as the eye could see. A scorching heat washed over him, although his durable body was easily able to resist the heat.
Mountainous terrain, barren earth, and sharp rocks filled the land as well, making it look quite troublesome to navigate for the average youth. Visible one hundred miles to each side was a mountain range that stretched high into the sky and into the distance.
‘Those mountains must be the border of this next area, which also separates the warriors from the other groups. That means this next area is just over two hundred miles wide, although with this hard to navigate terrain, it probably seems even wider.’
A small group of youths came into John’s view as well. There were roughly a dozen of them recovering at the exit from their arduous journey through the tunnel.
John ignored these youths as he took out his jade map and inspected it for a moment. The map revealed some of the magma filled land before him, but not all of it. There were areas that were still undiscovered, or at least not recorded in the map.
‘These unrecorded areas could be due to two reasons. Either they’re too hard to traverse, and no one has been able to do so, or they’re not worth exploring. I’d guess it’s the former, so I’ll set off down one of these unrecorded areas and see if there’s anything worth discovering.’
With no further hesitation, John sped forward, his actions surprising the other youths. Everyone who left the tunnel felt fatigue, and needed to rest for some time to recuperate their Qi.
John’s body flashed forward, his powerful legs propelling him from one island to the next. The flight restrictions from the previous area were present here, although much more restrictive. John could not take flight at all anymore, which slightly surprised him.
‘The previous area at least allowed me to fly a few dozen yards off the ground, but here I can’t fly at all. I suppose that’s part of the difficulty of this particular warrior trial area. The landscape itself if a trial, as flying over it would invalidate it completely.’
The barren islands dotted the ocean of lava, making a navigable pathway forward for youths who could not resist the lava itself.
His speed was incredibly quick as he jumped from one island to the next without caution, as even if he fell into the lava he was confident in being able to resist its incredible heat. Many of the islands were several hundred yards to a mile wide, and were separated by similar distances from one another.
The other youths watched as John’s body flashed forward, and before long disappeared behind a nearby mountain, his progress shocking to them.
John sped forward for fifteen minutes, not encountering anything of note other than lava, scorched islands, and mountainous terrain. Lava flooded down from the tops of many of the mountains, making the land look like a brutal hellscape.
Boom!
The lava to John’s right suddenly exploded outwards, while a thick column of lava shot towards him. Reacting in an instant, he pointed his finger towards the column of lava.
Lightning Disintegration!
A powerful beam of lightning blasted against the lava, causing it to explode and shower the nearby area with lava. John stopped his forward progress as he gazed at the mass of lava that continued to grow larger, until a figure appeared before him.
It towered over him at thirty yards tall, and was made of pure lava. Two flaming eyes stared at him, while a gaping maw in the lava below the eyes appeared like a mouth. Two arms stretched out to each side as well, while John raised an eyebrow at the sight before him.
“A flame elemental? No, a Lava Elemental.”
He had not been expecting to see such an opponent here, but there was no doubt that the creature that stood before him was lava elemental.
“Elementals are natural born entities, formed when enough of one type of elemental Qi is gathered in one spot for a long enough period of time. With this lava existing here undisturbed for over one hundred thousand years, I suppose it’s only natural that a lava elemental would appear.”
The lava elemental slammed down its right arm at John again, while his body flashed to the side, dodging the attack. His finger pointed towards the creature once more, as he unleashed a barrage of Lightning Disintegrations.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Several explosions blanketed the nearby area as the lava elemental was blasted again and again by John’s lightning attacks. Its body made of lava was pierced through and scattered all throughout the area, but it’s injuries were quickly healed as it absorbed more lava through from the nearby area, restoring itself once more.
“Tch, how troublesome,” John scoffed as he sped away, no longer interested in fighting this opponent. The lava elemental was not strong enough to provide him any challenge, but was also not able to be defeated easily due to its regenerative nature.
“Elementals typically have a central core, or an elemental seed I believe it’s called, which acts as the heart and brains of the elemental. It’s the first thing to form when an elemental takes form, at which point the rest is built around it as it grows in power. I could fight it and find the seed to defeat it, but it’s not worth the hassle. Some elemental seeds are quite valuable if obtained and sold, but this elemental is quite a low level one…a pity.”
The lava elemental roared as it tried to unleash another attack on John, but his speed was too quick as he disappeared from sight in an instant. After a moment of hesitation, the lava elemental returned to the lava below once more, ready to attack the next unsuspecting victim.
John sped through the land for quite some time, seeing nothing but scorched earth, jagged terrain, and seas of lava.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The sound of several explosions appeared off in the distance, catching his attention. He veered his direction slightly as he sped towards the commotion, at which point he spotted what the source of the explosions were.
Several hundred yards away were two groups of disciples, who were battling it out against each other. One of the groups wore red robes that danced in the air like flames, while a flaming sun was embroidered on their clothes. They numbered at six youths, with their cultivations all in the Early Heaven Tribulation Realm.
The other sect was none other than the Heavenly Lightning Sect, consisting of a group of five disciples of the sect, also all in the Early Heaven Tribulation Realm. The two groups were battling it out with great intensity, surprising John slightly.
His gaze scanned over the nearby area, at which point he spotted something that made his eyes widen and excitement rise. Sitting in the middle of the lake of lava half a mile away, a blooming red lotus floated atop the lava, its body two feet wide. A strong yang aura radiated off of it, while strong golden flames billowed up from the flower petals, scorching the nearby area.
“A Golden-Flame Magma Lotus!”