The doors took a while to move again, but eventually started to close behind John. They slammed closed behind him, rumbling the land around him for a brief moment. John ignored the closing doors, instead looking about in all directions, eyes slightly wide with awe.
The door had been the exit to the labyrinth, leading to a wide-open expanse of barren earth. The expanse stretched out to the sides as far as he could see, and forward for several miles before reaching some tall cliffs. John ignored that, and instead looked to upwards towards the crowd that encircled the arena he was in.
Now that he was out of the labyrinth, he was able to see a most of the stadium, which seemed even larger standing inside the arena. Tens of millions of people covered every seat of the stadium stands, appearing like a multi-colored ocean of people. Blue, white, red, black, orange, yellow, purple, and every color in between filled that ocean as cultivators from thousands of different sects wore their sect colors.
John took in the awe-inspiring view for a moment, basking in it. He then frowned lightly, noticing something he had not immediately noticed.
"I…I expected the crowd to be louder when in the arena, but I can barely hear anything at all," John said to himself, wondering if a formation of some sorts was preventing the sound of the crowd from reaching the arena.
What he didn't know was that most of the crowd was stunned silent, still reeling in shock from him simply kicking the stone door open as if it had been nothing. Most had expected him to fail that test, and were looking forward to watching him fail, and yet, he had breezed by it with the most casual display of power many had ever witnessed.
Many in the crowd snapped back to their senses upon hearing John's words. The silence vanished almost immediately as a cacophony of noise flooded the arena. John was surprised by the sudden inrush of noise, then nodded his head with a satisfied expression.
"That's more like it," he said approvingly, then frowned a moment later.
Words from the ocean of noise finally reached him, some of them audible.
"Who the hell are you calling quiet!"
"You…you cheated again somehow, you fraud!"
"Even if you are strong, you're still a violent brute! You should be ashamed!"
"There's no way you're stronger than Ji'Han. You must be cheating!"
John raised an eyebrow as he heard this barrage of insults, taunts, and even boos. While not everyone was screaming insults at him, the loudest and the most audible were the ones throwing these insults ceaselessly.
There were those in the crowd that had finally realized that John's strength was the real deal, and were excitedly discussing that fact. Based on his illusory test scores, many had assumed he was a body cultivator. His kick had confirmed that, and also the fact that his body was incredibly powerful.
"No wonder he was able to fight against those statues using only a person as a weapon, and without using any battle arts" many thought, realizing the situation wasn't as simple as it first appeared.
However, those coming to realize this were still in the minority, as the members of the Sword Dao Sect, Yang Dao Sect, and their subsects were too blinded by anger to stop and consider the facts.
John was taken aback at suddenly being the center of attention from almost everyone it seemed. He then noticed that before almost everyone in the crowd was a floating formation screen, revealing a scene to the spectators. He studied the scene, then looked upwards.
There he spotted that floating orb again, staring down at him.
"So that's what this orb is doing," John said, instantly realizing what was going on. Everyone had seen him brutalize the others, then use Gerid as a living weapon. And not only that, but his score had been revealed for everyone to see, naturally incurring doubt and anger from those who thought he was nothing but a fraud.
While he had easily breezed through all the trials, he had done nothing to assuage their doubts. Even his logic-defying kick was without any spectate, making some doubt its difficultly, while others thought he used an external device, like a formation, to augment his strength, which was against the rules.
It was not the reaction he was expecting to receive, but then again, John had not given thought about what reaction he was expecting in the first place. He listened to the barrage of ceaseless insults for a while, face expressionless. Then he smiled.
The crowd seemed to pause for a brief moment, the sound dying down for an instant. They had expected the millions of insults being thrown at John to overwhelm him, but instead he smiled.
'I was always the hero back home, but it seems in this land, where my name is unknown, have a chance to play the villain,' John thought, his smile widening as if he were a lunatic or a madman. 'Oh…I think I'm going to enjoy this quite a bit.'
He basked in the cacophony of insults, which started to become less frequent as those insulting him realized John didn't seem to care at all. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying the insults, confusing those who were trying to get him to collapse under the pressure of being detested by so many.
As the sound died down, John shifted his gaze from the crowd to the land before him. Two cultivators, both young men who were most likely in their early twenties, stood side by side, glaring at him.
One wore a bright red and orange robe, with the insignia of a sun embroidered on the back and shoulder. He had long orange hair that danced wildly like fire, rugged facial features, and a powerful looking build.
The man next to him had a more slender build, and wore a pure white robe. He had short black hair, a sharp and handsome face, and wore a scabbard on his waist, revealing the handle of a sword.
"Yang-Dao Sect and Sword-Dao Sect huh?" John mused, scratching his chin as he stared at the two of them. With the way they were staring at him, it was clear that both of them were here for him, and no doubt with hostile intentions.
"What do you two want?" John asked curtly, paying no respect to these two who stared at him with such provocation. John felt their divine sense touch his armband, no doubt checking his identity to confirm who he was.
"So it is you," the Sword-Dao Sect cultivator said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Yes, it is I," John said with an extravagant wave of his hand. "So what of it? Am I supposed to know who you are?"
"No, you are only meant to be cut down by my blade," the Sword-Dao cultivator said as he unsheathed his sword. A sharp and dangerous sword aura filled the air around them as the sword was unsheathed. "Your score is fraudulent, and casts a farcical shadow over the Whiteflame Sword King's score."
"Whiteflame Sword King?" John repeated, tiling his head to the side in confusion. "Is that Ji'Han?"
"Do not use the Whiteflame Sword King's name so informally," the young man growled. "You are not worthy of speaking his true name."
"Hmm, I see.; Quite an impressive sounding Dao Name he has," John said, nodding his head as if he understood the young man's reasonings. He then shifted his gaze to the Yang-Dao Sect cultivator, who had yet to speak.
"And you? What feud do you have with me?" he asked.
"Your score is also an insult to Jaxus, the Yang-Dao Sect, and the entire Three Dao Tournament," the Yang-Dao Sect cultivator said, his voice deep and powerful, like a rumbling volcano. "I am here to prove that you are an unworthy fraud."
"I see, I see," John nodded his head. "Quite a reception I have here. Two dogs have come barking at me, doing their master's bidding."
His words caused both men to grit their teeth, angered by the insult. Both took a step towards him, about to attack. John glanced between the two of them for a moment, then pointed to the Sword-Dao Sect cultivator.
"Since you cannot team up on me, I suppose I will need to choose my first opponent, which will be you."
The Sword-Dao Sect cultivator smiled, thrilled that he would be the one to take down John in front of all these people, both stamping out this fraud before him, as well as making a name for himself. The Yang-Dao Sect cultivator frowned, clearly displeased by John's choice.
"Don't be so unhappy," John said to the man. "I chose this Sword-Dao Sect runt to do you a favor. Well, not you, but the Yang-Sovereign. You see, I have a rather good opinion of the Yang-Sovereign, so I would prefer not to embarrass one of his disciples publicly before everyone here."
He shifted his gaze to the Sword-Dao Sect cultivator who was steadily walking towards him, sword to the side, eyes ignited with battle lust.
"You, however? I have quite the grudge to settle with the Sword-Dao Sect, so I'll gladly accept your challenge," John said, then curled his fingers towards him, gesturing for the young man to approach. "I wonder, with you being a Sword cultivator, does that mean your body is more suitable to be used as a weapon? Will you become a fearsome sword when wielded like one? Let's find out, shall we?"
