John felt an incredible surge of Qi course through his body, flooding every inch of his meridians with overwhelming power. His Qi flooded out from his Dantian, which was overflowing with channeled Qi, like a dam about to burst from holding back too much water.
This Mage Art, the Kirin-God Extinction, was devised as a replacement for his Dragontail Decimation. It had been devised from the ground up, focusing on his talents, specifically his monstrous Qi reserves and heaven-defying meridian and body durability.
All Mage Arts were designed with limitations built into them, as exceeding those limitations would result in the cultivator dying from being unable to withstand the amount of Qi surging within their body. Dragontail Decimation also had this limitation, limiting the amount of power John could unleash with it.
After increasing the durability of his meridians, the limitation on Dragontail Decimation's power was no longer himself, but the Mage Art instead. While the Kirin-God Extinction was not as refined as the Dragontail Decimation yet, it exceeded the Dragontail Decimation in its compatibility with John specifically.
His Kirin-God Extinction was designed with no limit in mind. It was designed to be able to use as much Qi as was supplied to it, the limit of its power being John himself, and not the Mage Art. Like a desert during rainfall, the Kirin-God Extinction greedily took in every ounce of Qi, then wanted more.
It was like a glutton that was never satisfied, never full. It wanted more, and more is what John gave it. He poured every ounce of Qi that he could into his body, moving his Qi according to the principles of his newly created Mage Art.
This was the first time he had used this Art in true battle, and there was a sliver of doubt within his mind, wondering if he would be able to successfully unleash it in the heat of battle. To his surprise, he found unleashing the Mage Art as natural as walking and breathing. Because he created this Art, he knew it more intimately than any Art he had ever used before.
He knew what each and every section of the Art did, knew the meridian pathways and Qi timings better than he could have hoped for. With the heat of battle pushing his comprehensions and instincts to the maximum, what occurred was his first flawless unleashing of his Kirin-God Extinction.
As the final revolution of Qi surged through his body, John put the finishing touches on the Art. He pressed all ten of his fingers against one another in front of his chest, forming a triangle with his fingers, completing the final steps of the Mage Art. The moment before release, the Kirin avatar behind him as well as the crystal on his forehead lit up like a beacon of power, drowning the arena and stadium in a bright blue hue.
Then….
BOOM!
Twin beams of lightning, far more powerful than anything John had revealed to the Nine-Dao World thus far, exploded out of the crystal on his forehead, as well as the forehead of the Kirin avatar behind him.
The crowd gaped with awe and disbelief as their views, their thoughts, their worlds became lightning. Overwhelming lightning, unlike anything they had ever experienced before burst into existence, shaking everyone to their core.
The twin beams of lightning surged into the sky with a speed far faster than most could follow with their eyes. In less than a blink of the eye, the first beam of lightning met its target.
The beam of lightning unleashed from the Kirin avatar slammed into the twin bolts of lightning unleashed by Araxus, colliding in the air directly between John and Araxus. The Yang-Sphere flashed with a brightness most had never experienced in their lives, followed by an explosion of even greater immensity. .
The collision between the two beams turned the arena into a realm of chaos, with pure power radiating outwards seeking to destroy everything in its path. Before the explosion consumed everything, the crowd watched as the second beam of lightning, unleashed from John himself, pierced towards Araxus in the sky.
One beam to stop Araxus' attack. The other to target Araxus himself. Araxus' eyes went wide as he noticed this, not expecting this turn of events at all. Without losing a step, his body reignited with power as he thrust his lance towards the second beam of lightning, unleashing the most powerful Thunderdragon Surge he could muster.
While most only gaped in shock and awe as the events unfolded, the true powerhouses of the world, the Yang-Sovereign, the Sword-Saint, and the others on the VIP viewing platform instantly understood the enormity of what was happening.
Araxus, one of the true pinnacle geniuses of the world, one as strong as Jaxus and perhaps Ji'Han, had unleashed his ultimate attack, mustering every ounce of power he could bring forth, holding nothing back at all.
To meet this attack, John had used his own Mage Art, and then had unleashed two beams of lightning to meet Araxus' attack. This was not what shocked the powerhouses. What truly shocked them was the power they felt from all three beams.
In the moment before collision, the powerhouses were able to feel the relative power of each beam. What shocked them to their core was the fact that John's beams of lightning did not lose out in power to Araxus' attack.
It was natural to assume that when geniuses of the same level unleashed similar Arts, the one the singular attack would be stronger than the Art unleashing two separate attacks. Instead, both of John's attacks were stronger than Araxus' singular one, and by a significant margin as well.
They instantly understood the ramifications of what this simple fact entailed.
John's Dantian, talent, and ability to unleash powerful battle arts was more than twice as profound as Araxus. This thought consumed their every thought as the world turned into a blinding explosion of lightning and fire, the explosion of Mage Arts consuming everything in the arena.
BOOM!
The explosion slammed into the defensive formation screens like a continent destroying tsunami, shaking the entire Yang-Sphere violently. The sound of the monstrous collision caused almost everyone to wince in pain, their eardrums nearly bursting from the mere sound of the explosion, which had already been greatly reduced in power by the defensive formation screen.
While some did their best to recover from the sudden pain wracking their bodies, the stronger cultivators looked at the arena with unflinching attention. The ruinous power of the resulting explosion roiled within the arena for some time, lasting much longer than any previous explosion that had occurred in the arena.
After what felt like an eternity to the crowd, the explosion finally began to recede, revealing some of the arena. As the edges of the arena were revealed, the crowd saw that every single inch of the land was destroyed, reduced to ashes. What had once been a sprawling landscape of mountains, rivers, lakes, and valleys, was now just charred ash.
The explosion then receded further and further until it eventually reached the center of the arena, where both fighters still stood. John's figure was revealed first, causing the crowd to gasp slightly as they saw his body.
His body was covered in blood and wounds, making him look like a blood-soaked demon. He stood in his original location, staring up at the sky, his gaze unwavering. The crowd followed his gaze and spotted Araxus, still hovering in the sky near his original position.
Araxus' body was in an even worse condition, with not a single inch of his body not covered in blood. Multiple deep wounds covered his body, exposing flesh and bone underneath. His robe was torn in various places as well, making him look incredibly miserable.
While his body was gruesome and damaged, the crowd was shocked to find his gaze was as calm and resolved as before, perhaps even more. A stern, almost heroic glint was visible in Araxus' eyes as he peered down on John, like a lord peering down on a subject.
The two locked eyes, while the crowd waited with bated breath, wondering what was going to happen next. Both fighters still standing already shocked them to their cores, as they had assumed the horrifying explosion would have at the very least maim them, perhaps even kill them.
The two stared at each other for what felt like an eternity to everyone watching. Araxus moved first, pointing his lance directly towards John, a small smile appearing on his face.
"That…" he said, his voice firm yet hoarse, "was a fun fight!"
Then he wavered, and then fell. All traces of aura vanished as Araxus fell from the sky, falling towards the ground below. John mustered his strength and flew forward, catching Araxus before he smashed into the ground.
He looked at his opponent in his arms, then studied him with his divine sense. A moment later he landed on the ground, and gently placed Araxus on the floor. He took a few steps back as the Yang-Dao Sect Elder rushed forward to check on Araxus, then looked towards the sky as the Yang-Dao Sect Elder's voice boomed out for all to hear.
"The victor, by rendering his opponent unconscious…John Fenix!"
