"Great job today. You did even better than I could have hoped for." John was stirred out of his thoughts by his father congratulating him.
"Thanks dad. You were pretty awesome yourself" John responded as he thought back to his fathers fight with Warren.
"Haha, thanks. Putting Warren in his place really was satisfying." Barden laughed loudly for some time before a serious look appeared on his face.
"Now that your full talent has been revealed, the Crimson Valley Sect and others surely won't just idly sit about and watch you grow, as you saw today. While I'm confident in protecting you when I'm around, I can't say the same of when you enter the pocket realm."
"Not only that, both Jason and Dylan are mysterious figures. Jason has talent above what the Crimson Valley Sect can produce, and Dylan recognized your Supreme Battle Art today."
Dylan had recognized the Supreme Battle Art in the fight with John, a fact that was not missed by the Fenix Clan Elders. No junior should be able to recognize the technique, as it stemmed from a land far removed from this one, but somehow Dylan recognized it nonetheless.
John nodded his head in agreement. Both of those characters truly were mysterious.
"Father, if we believe them to be of mysterious origins, cant we disqualify them from joining the pocket realm?" John asked curiously.
Only members of the five involved powers were permitted to enter the pocket realm per the agreement laid down between all the powers.
"Unfortunately, we have no proof of these accusations. Warren will surely make something up that sounds plausible. The only thing we can do is proceed with caution. In the pocket realm, I'm sure Jason will target you. While I'm confident in you being able to protect yourself, make sure to stick with Miko the entire time to ensure your safety." Barden said with a heavy voice.
John nodded his head in agreement with his fathers suggestions. Although John had his own pride, he knew he currently was not a match for a Qi Condensation genius, and so he would most likely have to stick with Miko for now to ensure his safety.
'It truly is the only way for now. This is just another confirmation that strength is the only way forward. I can't even protect my own life as I am right now, let alone the lives of those around me.'
John had a heavy look on his face as he once again looked out the carriage window and watched the scenery pass by. The trip back to the Fenix Clan took two days, and after arriving back home, John immediately started his cultivation. He had asked his father if he was able to obtain as many late Mist Creation and early Qi Condensation beasts as he could for him when he arrived back home. Barden was confused at John's request, but complied nonetheless.
Several days later...
A muffled sound rang out of John's body as he sat on the floor of his bedroom.
'My essence dantian is finally at the late Mist Creation Realm.'
A large smile appeared on his face as he sent his divine sense into his body to inspect the changes. He inspected his dantian, and was delighted to see that both the quality and quantity of Qi in his essence had increased. In the middle Mist Creation Realm, his dantian was wispy and somewhat hazy, while now the Qi mist was so thick it appeared as if it was about to liquefy.
Up to this point, John had been relying mostly on his body to fight, but his essence strength had finally caught up and would be able to assist him in the fights to come.
After inspecting his body for some time, John took out some beast blood essence and tried to cultivate his body dantian with it. A frown soon appeared on his face as he examined the results.
'As I thought, beast blood essence has stopped working. It appears that only human blood essence will work for raising my body cultivation, but I can't just ask my father to go gather human blood.'
While there were cultivation techniques that involved the use of human blood, all were seen as heretical cultivation arts, and anyone practicing them would be hunted down. Only powerful sects that could protect themselves openly cultivated these types of arts, but they were all considered evil sects and were enemies of the world. John wracked his mind for solutions, but was unable to come up with any.
'Since this is the case, I should go outside and test my new strength.'
The days quickly passed by, and John continued to vigorously cultivate and practice all his techniques. Two weeks quickly passed by, and once more the Fenix Clan was seen gathered together about to embark out. While the crowd for the tournament was filled with roughly one hundred people, this group was filled with many times more people.
The opening of the pocket realm was a once in twenty years event, and even those who couldn't participate wanted to at least witness its opening. Over one hundred carriages, each pulled by powerful Qi Condensation Ethyr Horses, were gathered at the Fenix Clan's front gates.
Cade Fenix stood at the front of the large group and spoke out with a loud voice.
"The time of the pocket realm opening has come. All of our juniors made us proud with their performances in both tournaments, and I'm sure they will make us proud once more. Remember, the pocket realm is filled with wonderful, life changing treasures and opportunities, but it is also filled with immense danger. You must remember to stay vigilant, not only for the dangers of the realm inside, but also the people."
Based on previous pocket realm expeditions, Cade knew the biggest danger stemmed from the vicious hearts of others. After addressing the crowd, the Fenix Clan all set off towards the pocket realm.
John steeled his eyes as he anticipated the events to come.
'It's finally arrived.'