A slight look of surprise appeared on John's face as he stared at Araxus, whose aura was surging, creating a storm of lightning centered around him. The arena shook with each explosion of lightning, hundreds of bolts of lightning scattering throughout the arena each second.
He had expected Araxus to become depressed or mentally defeated upon seeing his Lightning Origin Essence Runes. He knew Araxus was a smart and reasonable cultivator, and knew based on what John had shown, that Araxus considered himself to be at a disadvantage. Now that his Origin Essence Runes had been revealed, that disadvantage had only grown, and yet Araxus didn't seem to care at all.
On the contrary, it seemed to have amplified his lust for combat, surprising John greatly. He had never seen an opponent act like this before, at least not to this level, and the only person that Araxus reminded him of at the moment…was himself. "Good," John said with a wide, confident grin. "I'd be disappointed if you reacted in any other way."
Araxus returned his grin, then turned to look at the nearby Yang-Dao Sect Elder, who was standing there silently.
"Start the fight already," Araxus said, his words causing the Elder to frown. While Araxus was talking to the Elder, John took the time to inspect Araxus' armband, checking his Illusory Testing Scores for the first time.
Name: Araxus Shinan
Age: Twenty
Cultivation: Late Dao Transformation Realm
Special Attributes: Lightning Attribute Body
Qi Quantity: 98
Qi Quality: 98
Health: 87
Durability: 87
Stamina: 93
Comprehensions: 97
Instincts: 98
Willpower: 98
Soul Talent: 87
Speed/Movement Arts: 99
Battle Arts: 98
Attack Power: 98
Total: 1138
Rank: 4 .
Upon reading his scores, John's eyes flickered with surprise. He had not expected Araxus' scores to be so high. In the categories that directly influenced combat, such as movement speed, instincts, battle arts and attack power, Araxus didn't lose out to Jaxus at all. In fact, in some categories, such as instincts, movement speed, soul talent, and willpower, Araxus was actually higher than Jaxus.
The only reason he was ranked lower was his health and durability, which were the categories that he lost out to compared to Jaxus. Those were low enough that his overall score was below Jaxus', although only by three points. If he had to guess which fighter was stronger, Araxus or Jaxus, just based on their scores, John would have picked Araxus every time. He nodded his head a moment later, satisfied with his opponent's talent. With metrics like those, he would be able to put up a good fight.
While John inspected the score, Araxus conversed with the Yang-Dao Sect Elder. Were Araxus not from the Yang-Dao Sect, he would most likely have received some stern words from the Elder. Instead of making a scene however, the Elder shot Araxus a firm glare, then stepped back as his voice boomed across the stadium.
"The second semi-final match, between Araxus of the Yang-Dao Sect, and John Fenix, begins!"
The moment the fight started, Araxus' cultivation was restricted to the Middle Dao Transformation Realm. The restriction process felt different to John, making him wonder if Araxus had restricted his cultivation himself, or if it was the armband doing so.
The sound of exploding lightning and a roaring crowd broke out immediately, combining into one deafening cacophony of noise. Araxus' aura surged to the sky, like a storm of lightning shooting upwards instead of down. The air began to cackle with electric intensity, as if it were about to become lightning itself.
"I know I can't afford to hold back against you at all, so this battle is going to be short and intense," Araxus said, grinning with self-confidence. "I'm going to skip the testing attacks and come at you with everything I have, so prepare yourself."
"How kind of you," John replied with a smile. Araxus did not need to warn John of his intent to start all out from the beginning, but had decided to do so regardless. The more John interacted with the youth, the better impression he had of him. "Now show me what Awakened King Lightning Essence Runes can do," John said, his scythe appearing in his hand a moment later.
"Gladly," Araxus grinned, his own weapon appearing in his hand as well. John's eyes snapped to the weapon, a brief look of surprise appearing on his face. The weapon in Araxus' hand was not a sword, a saber, a spear, or one of the conventional weapons he was used to fighting against.
Instead, Araxus' weapon was a lance. The lance was nine feet long from tip to hilt. The blade, or weapon portion of the lance, was seven feet long. It started out narrow at the tip, the tip so sharp that it seemed as though it could pierce all of creation. It then widened outwards as it approached the hilt of the weapon, eventually stopping at six inches wide at the base. The shaft and tip of the lance was a dark blue color, with light blue runic patterns carved into its surface. The runic patterns spread chaotically like branching lightning, making it appear as though lightning itself had been carved into the weapon.
The hilt of the lance was light blue, and at the very base of the hilt was a small carving of a dragon's head. The dragon head had an open mouth, as if it were spewing lightning from within.
John inspected the weapon closely, then nodded his head approvingly. As far as the opponents he had fought thus far in his life, Araxus' lance was the highest quality weapon he had seen an opponent wield. Its overwhelmingly sharp point, combined with the explosive power of a lightning cultivator, was no doubt a dangerous combination, even against someone as prodigious as John. "I don't see why you use a scythe," Araxus said, giving John's scythe a quick glance. "Your scythe is no doubt incredible, but a scythe doesn't allow you to fully employ the advantages of lightning. A lance on the other hand," he trailed off, then smirked lightly.
"The Lightning Dao is only one of my focuses," John replied calmly, although he couldn't argue against Araxus' logic. "As far as I'm concerned, this scythe is perfect for me."
"Is that so," Araxus sneered, his aura still exploding outwards like a storm of lightning. "I think we've talked enough. It's time to get this battle started."
"I couldn't agree more," John replied, assuming a combat-ready stance.
"Good, then let's see how you deal with this!" Araxus roared, then opened his mouth wide, his action far faster than what it would have been had he moved his arms and body to ready his weapon.
The instant he opened his mouth, John felt his instincts flare with the warning of approaching danger. Araxus' mouth glowed brightly from within for an instant, at which point a storm of lightning exploded outwards directly onto John, giving him no time to dodge or prepare.
It was as if Araxus had become a dragon himself, spewing a tempestuous storm of lightning from his mouth. John felt himself become drowned in the storm of lightning, which overwhelmed his senses. Everything he saw was lightning, and everything he heard was the calamitous thunderclaps of the lightning exploding on his skin.
The lightning blasted onto his body, doing its best to damage and invade, causing as much damage as possible. With his innately durable body and Origin Essence Runes, he directly withstood the initial barrage of damage, although he was thrown violently through the air, the power of Araxus' lightning breath too powerful to resist without warning.
As he was flung through the sky, the storm of lightning still enveloped him within. After initially resisting the lightning, a small portion of it began to damage John's body, causing him great surprise. With his resistance to lightning, he had not expected to take any damage. He realized the truth of the matter a moment later, as while being flung through the air like a broken kite, he focused on the lightning trying to invade his body and cause him harm. The lightning was unlike anything he had felt before. While the underlying power was no doubt lightning, it was tinged, or more aptly described as brimming, with another power.
The power of ice.
"Thunderfrost Tempest!" John heard Araxus roar, his voice mixing with the sound of thunderclaps all around him.
The lightning from the lightning breath dissipated a moment later, having forced John backwards dozens of miles. His body was covered from head to toe with a layer of ice, while his body felt as though it were becoming frozen.
He halted his backwards momentum and steadied himself, then turned to look at Araxus in the distance. His eyes widened as he looked above Araxus, and the violent storm clouds above his head. For a second, he thought heavenly tribulation clouds had appeared, only realizing the truth as he studied its aura.
Unlike tribulation clouds, however, the clouds above flickered with the ruinous power of Araxus' frost lightning.
"You look surprised," Araxus said, smiling with confidence as the ruinous storm churned above him, like clouds of the apocalypse descending onto the arena. "Have you never seen frost lightning before?" he asked curiously, to which John shook his head. "I didn't even know something like frost lightning existed," John replied truthfully.
"Well then, allow me to teach you something today! Thunderfrost Tempest!" Araxus roared as the storm above him surged to life, followed by a calamitous barrage of frost lightning crashing down onto him like a heavenly tribulation.
Boom!
