Roy looked at John with widened eyes and an open mouth, completely shocked, and the crowd's reaction was not so different as well. They could all feel an intense battle aura emanating from John, which made him seem like a completely different person. Not only that, but the power emanating from his body was unlike anything he had revealed before.
"What the hell is going on with John?" In the stands, Miko stared at John with widened eyes as well.
Ryan looked at John and nodded his head in approval. "It seems like he's finally getting serious. He used this technique against me before, and was able to beat me with it."
"Barden, what the hell is going on?" Cade Fenix couldn't help but ask. Orenn and Rodi Fenix both had the same question as well.
Barden also was quite surprised, but not as much as the others. He knew John had a unique cultivation system and powerful body, but this was the first time he truly felt the extent of that power, as well as that intense battle aura that John emitted. He could feel in intense blood lust and battle will in the aura, which was quite surprising considering John was still just fourteen years old.
Barden quickly regained his wits and responded to the group. "I'll explain it to you and everyone after the fight, as I'm sure there are going to be questions from many of those around."
Back on the stage, John was channeling body Qi into his body without any technique. Although it was the simplest version of strengthening himself, the power it gave to his body was still quite intense, and the aura released was enough to shock anyone. The aura combined the intense battle lust and tempered will that John had acquired with the sinister nature of the body Qi he used. The three aspects mixed together, and gave anyone watching John the feeling that they were looking at a blood hungry battle demon.
Roy noticed he had involuntarily retreated a few steps before he stopped himself. He calmed himself down and took a deep breath, at which point he steadied his sword in front of him and steeled his nerves.
"It seems like you were still holding back in your first fight." Roy could tell that John was most likely even stronger than him right now.
"That I did. Let's end this, shall we?" Although this state was powerful, John didn't want to use it for too long, as John's body dantian could only be replenished through absorbing blood essence from beasts or humans.
Through trial and error, John had discovered that beast blood essence was much less effective than human blood essence for raising his cultivation, but in regards to replenishing lost Qi reserves, it was just as effective as human blood essence. As such, John had stored a lot of Mist Creation beast corpses in his palace realm, and had collected the blood essence into many different barrels for storage. John had discovered that he could actually directly absorb the blood essence into his body dantian from the palace realm, and so he was able to replenish his lost reserves even while fighting, much like a normal cultivator would replenish their reserves by absorbing Qi from the air around them.
However, John had limited beast blood essence, and he didn't want to run out before the tournament was over. If he did, he wouldn't be able to use his body Qi to empower his attacks, which would leave him at a disadvantage.
Five Step Movement Technique!
John combined both his body power and the first step of the Five Step Movement Technique to immediately appear in front of Roy with his scythe slicing towards Roy's body. Roy had been in the process of thinking of a battle plan, when John had suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Too fast!" Roy thought as he desperately raised his sword and struck out with his most powerful attack he could muster.
Bang!
Roy was instantly sent flying backwards, but had managed to keep his balance and landed on his feet. John once again dashed towards him, but opted against using the second step of his movement technique. The technique became predictable the more he used it, and he didn't want to give his future opponents a good chance to read the technique. Others who witnessed the technique could tell that there were limitations with each step, such as direction and distance, and they could exploit these limitations.
Sword Splitting Art!
Roy immediately struck out at John, and a powerful beam of sword Qi instantly flew towards John. Unlike Ryan's sword Qi which focused on power, this sword Qi focused on sharpness, and felt as if it could slice anything in half.
John narrowed his eyes as he stared at the approaching attack.
'Although I wouldn't die if I took this attack head on with my body, it would still injure me, and I can't afford to take any injuries this early on into the tournament.'
John decided against taking the attack head on, and quickly dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. John could have blocked the attack with his scythe, but he would have been knocked back slightly, at which point Roy would have taken the initiative in the fight.
John once more dashed towards Roy, but put even more power into his legs as he dashed from side to side while approaching Roy, dodging every Qi attack that Roy sent towards him. The stone stage behind John was continuously sliced into by Roy's attacks, showcasing the sharpness and power of the attacks.
"Shit!" Roy blurted out as John successfully managed to get into melee range once again.
Bang!
John struck out with his scythe once more, with even more power than before. Roy had managed to raise his sword in time to deflect, but was sent flying backwards more violently than the first time.
"Why the fuck is his scythe so heavy?" Roy couldn't help but notice that John's scythe weighed far more than his own sword. Scythe wielders were usually known for their light and agile attacks, but John was the complete opposite. Not only was his scythe extremely heavy, the weight and power behind his attacks made Roy feel like he was fighting against a massive greatsword user and not a scythe user.
John immediately took advantage of his attack by closing the distance with his first step of his movement technique and appearing in front of Roy once more. His scythe struck down again, and Roy once again raised his sword to parry it.
Peng!
Roy successfully parried John's attack, and had even managed to stand his ground in this exchange. John and Roy's weapons were locked together as they stared at each other. Just as Roy was trying to think of how to turn the tides, John let go of the scythe with his left hand and sent a powerful punch towards Roy's ribs.
"Gah!"
Roy was sent flying backwards like a kite, and he tumbled over several times before he eventually came to a stop. Although he had taken quite a bit of damage from that blow, Roy still managed to maintain consciousness, and even stood up as quickly as he could to continue fighting.
"Give up!"
Just as Roy stood up, he noticed John's fist steadied right in front of his face. If John had wanted to, he could have completed his punch there and ended the fight, but that would have severely injured Roy. John had quite a good impression of Roy, and saw no need to injure him excessively.
Roy grit his teeth before responding. "I concede."