As the door continued to open wide, John was able to peer into the depths of the crypts lowest level. The stairwell where the four of them were standing began to glow more and more red as the crypt began to be revealed.
Elder Thame had explained the crypt in some detail as they had walked down the stairway.
According to the Elder, the crypt was used to punish both criminals and wrongdoing sect members. The crypt had five levels, and each level down was a more brutal ordeal to withstand.
The lowest level of the crypt was the most brutal, and only the worst offenders would be sent down there. In fact, it was used an an torturous execution ground for the worst offenders, who would be kept inside until they died.
However, death only occurred by spending weeks and months inside. John's stay was only three days, so his life would not be in danger.
As the door opened fully, the foul aura completely washed over John and the Elders. John was able to see inside the crypt, which was unlike anything he had seen before.
It was like the pits of hell itself. Intense fire burned continuously within, and a foul odor which threatened to empty John's stomach wafted over him.
Elder Thame blanched slightly at the scent, but escorted John within. As soon as the two of them stepped inside, an intense heat washed over them. John felt his skin start to heat up, making it feel like he was on fire.
"The deeper you go into this lowest level, the stronger the fires, smell, and everything else gets. You will be in the shallowest part, due to your low cultivation," Elder Thame explained.
John could see hundreds of dungeon cells stretching into the far distance. Some of the cells contained cultivators inside. Some of them were screaming in torturous pain, some unconscious, and some babbling nonsense, clearly the sign of having gone insane inside the crypt.
In fact, some of the nearby cells contained the corpses of the recently dead, a sign of the brutality of the crypt. They all emanated the aura of mid and late Qi Condensation cultivators.
"This is your cell, I'll come fetch you in three days," Elder Thame stated as he stopped in front of the first cell.
John nodded and stepped inside, at which point the cell door closed and trapped him inside. Although there were no formations surrounding these cells, they were made from extremely durable material, and John was unable to even slightly dent the bars.
"Good luck."
Elder Thame looked at John apologetically before leaving. John watched the Elder leave, not too uncomfortable.
'This isn't so bad. Although this smell is so nauseating as to nearly make me vomit, three days should be fine.'
Just as John thought this, Elder Thame left the crypt and the large entrance door shut. The second the door shut, the intensity of the crypt skyrocketed. The heat picked up tremendously, the smell amplified tenfold, and John could even feel some mysterious power within the crypt assault his mind, his soul, and all five of his senses.
John vomited several times as he desperately tried to block out the smell, but was unable to do so. Despite blocking his nose, the smell was somehow able to penetrate into his senses, causing him to feel its effects fully.
The intense heat within began to build and slowly cook his skin, turning it redder and redder. The power invading his mind and soul also pained him, but due to his extremely strong will and soul, John was able to ignore those aspects for the most part.
However, the combined pain from all the attacks threatened to drive him mad.
"Gah!"
John grit his teeth as he let out a slight scream of pain. Even with his high pain tolerance, this place had become a miserable existence. If he activated his Supreme Battle Art and Immortal Asura Transformation Art, John was sure he would be able to withstand this place much easier.
However, he did not have nearly enough blood essence reserves to maintain those arts for three days straight, and so he could only bitterly endure the crypt head on.
"Fuck! Isn't this too much of a punishment for what I did?" John grunted through gritted teeth.
He had felt it was quite weird that the Vice Sect Leader had gone so easily on him after he had attacked her, but now he realized that this punishment was even more brutal than her attacking him back and beating him up. All he could do was endure as best he could, and hope the three days would pass quickly.
His eyes darted around the crypt, at which point they focused on the several corpses in the nearby cells. A slight smile crept up on his face.
…
News of John's antics soon spread like wildfire throughout the sect. No one could believe that he had directly attacked the Vice Sect Leader, and those who knew the Vice Sect Leader assumed she had killed him.
However, when they heard his punishment was three days in the lowest levels of the crypt, they felt as though that was even more brutal than death itself. All knew of the crypt, and the horror stories from the lowest levels of the crypt were enough to scare anyone within the sect.
When this news reached Elder Ragur's ears, his heart stopped for a moment. He thought about asking for leniency from the Vice Sect Leader, but knew doing so would only result in a brutal beatdown from her. Whenever the Vice Sect Leader made a decision, no one could shake her, not even the Sect Leader himself.
Amongst the disciples, two camps had formed regarding John's actions. The first camp thought he was an idiot for doing such a thing, and should be severely punished, and even kicked out of the sect. The most vocal of this group was Mason Light, who wanted nothing more than to see John kicked out of the sect or worse.
However, another camp had formed, which praised, and almost worshiped John's display of pure arrogance. His bold and brash actions inspired others in this camp to become more bold and brash themselves, acting to their true nature.
The loudest voice of this camp was none other than Adam himself. He made sure that John's display of unbridled boldness would echo loud across the entire sect, as the more popular John got, the more popular he would get. In fact, he relished at the opportunity to be the center of attention, and did his best to rile his camp up as much as possible.
Adam had become the defacto leader of the group, and did his best to raise John's fame far and wide. In fact, he even began to embellish some of the details regarding John's actions, making it seem even more bold and heroic than it actually was.
The two groups had become completely at odds, and some small skirmishes even broke out between the two camps, forcing the Elders to intervene and quell such things.
Despite the situation being settled, John's fame once again skyrocketed amongst the disciples, making him the most popular and talked about disciple within the first year group. News of John even managed to spread beyond the first years, attracting the attention of those far removed from the normal disciples.
...
Somewhere in the Heavenly Lightning Sect, in a large luxurious abode at the top of a majestic mountain, a fifteen year old boy sat in silent meditation. Dozens of servants scurried about with work throughout the mansion, which was much larger and more grand than the mansion John lived in.
The boy had long silver hair, and a handsome face. His cultivation emanated powerfully, revealing it to be in the early Core Formation Realm. Lightning danced all over his skin as he cultivated in silence.
Suddenly, the door to his room opened, and a young girl around his age walked in. She bowed towards the boy as he slowly opened his eyes.
"What is it?" the boy asked calmly, although his face clearly contained agitation at having been disturbed.
"Lord Hunter, I'm sorry to interrupt your cultivation, but you instructed me to inform you if there was ever any news of someone else having a Lightning Attribute Body," the girl replied.
Her words caused the boys ears to perk up.
"Oh? And?"
"Well, a first year has just appeared. According to the Elders, he has an Innate Variant Body, as well as a Lightning Attribute Body," the girl replied with her head still bowed.
Silence filled the room for a moment before the boy spoke up once more.
"You may leave. Oh, and find out more information regarding this boy. I want to know everything about him."
The girl nodded and bowed slightly before leaving. A small smile crept up on the boy's face as he stared forward.
"Interesting. Perhaps I can finally start cultivating that technique!"
…
Three days passed by, and the door's slowly began to part to the lowest level of the crypt. John's eyes slowly opened as he stared at the distant door slowly opening.
A familiar figure walked into the crypt, his hurried steps clearly filled with worry. Elder Ragur finally came to stand in front of John's cell, and stared at the figure within.
"Hi, Elder," John said with a calm voice.
Slight surprise appeared on Elder Ragur's face as he closely inspected John's condition. Although John's body was baked completely red, and his skin was cracked all over, he still looked relatively at ease. Most who spent even three days inside would be driven mad from the pain and other things they had felt within.
Elder Ragur had expected to find John half dead, but his calm smile indicated that he was not in too much pain. However, Elder Ragur knew John had an innate variant body, and such a thing would definitely help within a place like this. His body was in a pretty bad condition though and would take a few days to heal completely.
"Come, let's go," Elder Ragur replied and waved his hand. The cell door opened, allowing John to leave.
John stood up and stretched his aching body, and quickly followed the Elder out of the crypt. His eyes lingered on the nearby cells for a moment, which now laid empty, before he turned to follow the Elder.
Although he had managed to survive, it had still been a brutal experience. John was glad to be leaving, and did not want to return to the crypt anytime soon.
'This place truly deserves its reputation. It was just as hard to endure as the lightning world trial, and I'm sure even I would die after a few months being locked up in here...but coming here was completely worth it!'
A small smile hung on John's face as he left the crypt with Elder Ragur. He clenched his fists with his full power repeatedly, relishing in the feeling of his newfound Mid Qi Condensation body cultivation.
