As soon as John stepped into the gateway, he felt his body be dragged forward. A strange pressure descended on him as he felt himself both moving and not moving at the same time, which confused him. All of a sudden, his feet landed on solid ground and an expansive world appeared before him.
John looked down, and noticed he was standing on a prairie, filled with grass and flowers. In the far distance, an expansive mountain range was visible, with towering waterfalls blanketing the mountains in a hazy mist.
John looked up to the sky, and noticed there was no sun, but the world was illuminated regardless. He took in a deep breath, and his eyes soon widened in surprise. The air was filled with Qi at a density he had never felt before.
'How is the Qi here so dense? Cultivating here would be multiple times faster than back home.'
John breathed in the dense Qi for a few seconds before breathing out heavily with a refreshed look on his face. John's eyes quickly narrowed and he turned around to look behind him, and immediately unleashed his Supreme Battle Art and punched out.
Boom!
An incredibly powerful Qi attack collided with John's fist, and John was knocked back dozens of yards before he managed to stabilize himself. His fist was bleeding heavily, and his arms were shaking from the force of the attack he just blocked. Some of his finger bones were visible from the flesh that had been stripped from blocking that attack.
Another powerful Qi attack immediately followed up the first, and John took his scythe out and struck out with his full power.
Bang!
John was once more knocked back dozens of yards, but this time was relatively uninjured as he managed to counter with his weapon and full power attack, although the attack still made the blood within his body tumble.
John stabilized himself and stared straight ahead at the source of the attacks. Just thirty yards away from him, Jason, Dylan, and the other Crimson Valley Sect members were standing. Jason was holding his sword, and the power emanating from it revealed that he was the one who had sent out the attacks.
"Motherfuckers, do you all want to die?"
An incredibly loud shout boomed out as a powerful Qi attack landed at the feet of the Crimson Valley Sect members. The three Qi Condensation members were thrown back several yards, while the Mist Creation members were violently thrown into the distance, coughing up blood.
A second powerful attack traveled straight towards Jason, and Jason swung his sword out with his full power to block it.
Peng!
The attacks collided, and Jason was knocked backwards a few yards before he managed to stop. His hands were trembling slightly from the force of the attack he had just blocked, and he narrowed his eyes as he stared at his attacker.
Miko quickly appeared by John's side and pointed his sword directly towards Jason.
"It seems you truly don't place me in your eyes at all. How about we fight to the death right here and now. I've been itching to pay you back for last time." Miko said loudly while looking directly at Jason. His anger had truly been ignited at the sneak attack towards John.
When he was teleported to the pocket realm, Miko and the rest of the first wave all appeared in the same area. Although some words were thrown about, no one started fighting, and Miko decided to wait for John to show up. The other Qi Condensation junior from the Varis Clan stayed as well, while the Crimson Valley Sect walked somewhat to the side and waited there for their other members. While some of the juniors used this head start to start looking for opportunities first, Parker included, others stayed behind and waited.
A while later, Miko had seen the next wave appear, and spotted John as well, but quickly noticed that John had been placed much closer to the Crimson Valley Sect members. He ran over as quickly as he could, but was still just a bit late to stop Jason from attacking out twice.
Luckily, John was able to block the attacks without being gravely injured, and Miko attacked the Crimson Valley Sect members full force as soon as he got into range.
"Hmph, it was just a blow to return the favor for what he did to Dylan in the finals." Jason scoffed in a dismissive tone.
Dylan's face went even more icy as he heard Jason talk about him like that, but he remained silent nonetheless. However, a small smirk hung on his face, as if he knew something would happen soon that would be worth waiting for.
By now, all the members who had been teleported here and stayed were watching the two sides argue. Jason looked around at all the peering eyes, put away his sword and started walking away.
"We're going to leave just like that?" One of the Crimson Valley Sect members asked Jason quietly.
"Don't worry. We'll have our revenge soon." A large smile appeared on Jason's face as he took out an item from his spatial ring and channeled Qi into it.
John watched as the group left and felt an odd sensation pass over him, but couldn't tell what it was or if it was just his imagination. While thinking about it, he suddenly heard Miko speak up.
"Are you alright? I got here as fast as I could."
"I'm alright, just a fist injury" replied John as he popped a Life Mist Healing Pill into his mouth. "It'll fully heal within a day and I'll be as good as new.
"That's good. Those bastards really are despicable, attacking you like that despite the warnings from my father." Miko truly hated Jason to his core.
"John, are you alright?" Ryan finally caught up to the group, and joined Miko and John.
"I'm fine. Anyways, Miko, have you found anything amazing yet?" John decided to change the conversation to the pocket realm, as they were here for that, not the Crimson Valley Sect.
"No, I was waiting for you. Now that you're both here, let's head out and explore."
"Alright, lets go. You pick a direction." John responded.
Miko picked the direction opposite the Crimson Valley Sect, and the three of them walked off into the distance towards the mountains. Everyone from the other powers also scattered, Ella Varis with the other Varis Clan member as well, in search of their own fortunes within the pocket realm.