John sat next to the stream, his fishing rod still in hands. Behind him, a small hut had been built, which contained a makeshift bed, chairs and a table, and a fire pit outside, in which a fire was currently roaring. A spit had been erected over the fire pit, in which several fish were currently roasting. There was even a hammock that had been made between two trees right next to the stream, which John had often found himself sleeping the day away in.
It had already been several days since the test started, and John had decided to erect a makeshift house for himself, as he planned on staying here until the very last day of the test.
A rich and fragrant aroma wafted over John's nose, who stood up in a relaxed manner and walked over to the firepit. He leaned over and inspected the fish for a moment before a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"Cooked to perfection."
John took the fish off the fireplace and walked inside his hut to eat at the table. Each bite of the fish infused his body with a rich Qi essence, as the fish were seemingly incredibly high quality fish.
"I have no idea what kind of fish these are, but they are beyond any fish I've ever had before. Each bite seems to fill my body to the brim with Qi, and I can even feel my essence Qi foundation stabilize and also rise slightly. Is everything this amazing on the Divine Martial Continent?"
If this type of fish were sold back on the Yuan Continent, it would fetch the highest of prices. However, here in the Divine Martial Continent, the fish were just left to do as they pleased, and it seemed as though it was beneath the true Heavenly Lightning Sect to farm them.
This fact alone made John realize just how big of a difference there was between the Divine Martial Continent and the Yuan Continent.
"And to think I came from a place that even the Yuan Continent considers backwater," John mused to himself as he took another bite and ruminated on his incredible journey to this point thus far.
While eating and thinking about his journey, the distant sound of tree limbs breaking and fearful cries entered John's ears, who took one of the fish with him as he walked outside his hut to see what was going on.
As he took another bite of the succulent fish, a cultivator suddenly crashed through the nearby treeline several dozen yards down the riverside in a panic. Their speed was quite incredible, and a lightning attack suddenly pierced towards them from behind, which veered to the side at the last possible moment. John raised his eyebrows slightly as he saw the one who had just appeared was Adam, who seemed to be running from someone.
"Stop running and give me your damn badge," a flustered voice boomed out from behind.
"Fuck you! Just piss off already!" Adam replied angrily as he turned to speed off once again, but suddenly spotted John standing several dozen yards away next to the river, eating fish.
"John!" Adam cried out in elation, as if he had seen his savior, and suddenly sped towards him.
The youth chasing Adam crashed out from the treeline as well, as lightning cackled all around him. He had an Early Meridian Forging cultivation, and seemed to be quite powerful when compared to others in the same realm. The youth spotted Adam racing up the river bank, and quickly moved to chase him.
However, he stopped in his tracks as he saw Adam arrive next to John, who stood there casually taking bites of a roasted fish in his hand.
"John! I finally found you!" Adam cried out as he arrived before John, huffing and puffing. However his happy expression quickly turned sour as he spotted what John was doing.
"You built yourself a house? And you've been fishing while I've been running for my life? What the hell are you doing?" Adam cried out in protest.
John stood there casually, eating his fish while inspecting Adam before him. A strange aura seemed to be emanating from Adam, which John couldn't exactly identify. However, it seemed to be some sort of formation power, the level of which impressed even John.
John reached out his free hand and moved it towards Adam, and felt a strange resistance push back against his hand.
'Hmm, it seems as if this strange repulsive power was what caused the boy's attack to miss.'
"Not bad. This formation of yours is quite impressive," John said to Adam with an approving look on his face.
"Right?" Adams' expression quickly turned from fatigue and discontent to one of pride upon hearing John praise his formation. He quickly raised the sleeve of his robe, and revealed something that made John's skin crawl slightly.
Embedded into the flesh of his arm was a small formation disk, which seemed to almost be a part of his body. John had never seen a formation embedded into the flesh of someone before, and the sight was quite disturbing.
"It's this formation disk here!" Adam replied with great excitement, more than happy to talk about his creation.
"I used that formation disk you found in the ancient lake, which had a great attractive power towards Qi, and was able to reverse its design to come up with something to repulse Qi and Qi attacks instead. Aren't I a genius?" Adam replied proudly, as if he had not just been running for his life from the youth still standing in the distance.
"I won't lie, that's actually quite impressive," John replied before taking another bite of fish in his hand. "But why embed it into your flesh? Isn't that kind of going overboard?"
"Not at all," Adam replied proudly. "This is actually an ancient secret of my family, which specializes in formation. We have learned how to embed formation disks into our body, which allows us to control them in the most optimal way. My ability to control this formation has increased by fifty percent when compared to just holding it."
John raised one eyebrow as he heard Adams' explanation. He had never heard of such a thing before, but he knew he was not really knowledgeable when it came to formations.
'That's the first time Adam has mentioned his family, which appears to be a powerful clan. I wonder what power he comes from?'
John took another bite of fish, while Adam turned around to face the nearby youth, who was still standing there unsure of what to do. He wanted Adam's badge, but John's cultivation was higher than his own, and he knew he could not take Adam's badge if John decided to protect him.
"What the fuck are you still waiting here for? Scram!" Adam yelled out at the youth with his nose raised, as if he was looking down on the youth.
His meek attitude from before had vanished as soon as he found John, which caused John to shake his head slightly in a disapproving manner.
'It seems as though I've coddled Adam too much during the trials we've had together. He's become too reliant on me. Without him fending for himself, he'll never truly grow.'
"It's fine," John suddenly said to the youth down the stream. "I won't protect him. If you can catch him and take his badge, you have my blessing."
"What the fuck John?" Adam suddenly turned to look at John with a look of betrayal on his face. However, he could tell that John was serious.
John's smiling face stared back at Adam, as he took another bite of fish.
"Good luck. I'd suggest you start running," John replied with a mouth full of fish, as the youth down the river suddenly sped towards Adam.
"Gahhh!"
Adam cried out in panic as he suddenly sped off into the distance, while John stood there watching for a moment before taking another bite of fish.
"Good fish!"
