A pair of deep blue eyes, widened as far as they could go, stared at John as he stood on the twentieth step. His demonically heroic figure stood tall and proud atop the talent testing formation, and the aura surrounding gave off a sensation as if all of creation was beneath him. This wasn't John's opinion, but instead was the natural presence he gave off at the current moment.
His long black hair fluttered behind him, while his aura surged with power beyond what a Meridian Forging cultivator should ever be capable of.
To Iris, looking at John was as if she was looking at an imperial emperor who had made his first declaration to the world that he would soon be ruling it. Iris almost felt the instinctive urge to kneel before John, further shocking her. However, the sinister and malevolent aspect to the aura made her instincts flare with warning, giving her a conflicted feeling as she stared at John.
The Grand Elder stared at John for a moment, both surprised and almost expecting the result after everything that John had done. A deep sigh escaped his lips as he stared at John, as the prophecy of the Asura of Annihilation was truly confirmed as of this moment.
He knew that from this day on, the Heavenly Lightning Sect would walk a tightrope over a chasm of death. If they were to get to the other side, the rewards would be beyond counting. But if they were to slip and fall, all would be doomed.
Che!
A piercing sound suddenly erupted as a thick beam of golden light shot up from the formation and high into the sky. The light pierced several miles high into the clouds above before it split into eight parts. The eight beams of light each pierced off towards a different direction as they travelled over the horizon in an instant.
All in the Heavenly Lightning sect saw the lights pierce into the sky, and their gazes turned confused at what was happening. They knew what the light meant, but knew it was not yet time for it to appear.
"What's going on?" a confused disciple couldn't help but ask a nearby Elder, who was looking up at the light as well.
"I'm not sure," the Elder replied. "But the Sect Leader himself told no one to move, and has not yet removed that order. You best obey it unless you want to face his wrath."
The disciple shivered for a moment upon hearing the Elder's words, and fell into motionless silence as he looked up to the beams of light above. Similar scenes played out across the entire sect, causing it to fall into a collectively dazed silence.
John's gaze shifted upwards to look at the beams of light, before his gaze shifted to look in front of him once more. An item had suddenly appeared in the air before him, hovering there as if beckoning him to take it.
John's blood red eyes inspected the item for a moment, which was a ten-sided formation disk. It was shaped like a star, and had incredible tiny yet detailed formation runes etched into the surface of the disk. The formation runes glowed a deep purple color, contrasting the light blue color of the disk itself.
The power of the disk was incredible, and John could tell that the item was an absolute treasure just from looking at it. Without hesitating, he reached out and grabbed the item, which put up no resistance.
His blood red eyes inspected the formation disk in his hand for a moment before he put it away in his spatial realm. After doing so, John felt an incredible wave of pain wash through his body, as if his body was about to explode from within.
Crack!
The skin on his arms, legs, and face suddenly popped open in several places as his durable body was unable to properly contain the rampaging energy within.
Creak!
The sound of bones creaking rang out, loud enough for even Iris and the Grand Elder to hear. The combined power of his bloodline ability and Asura Transformation Art continued to surge, its power unstoppable even by his own body. Every second increased the pain, as well as damage incurred.
Through the pain, John raised an eyebrow in surprise at the events unfolding. His body was incredibly special, and its durability was unmatched within the same realm. However, even it was unable to withstand the energy within him at the moment.
'I've only used this power for less than a minute, and yet I'm on the verge of collapse. How terrifying. I better undo this before the damage adds up too much.'
"Name!"
A voice suddenly appeared in John's head, taking his attention away from his body and towards the source of the voice. However, he was already on the verge of collapse, and ignored the voice as he focused on withdrawing his bloodline ability and transformation art.
"Name!"
The same voice appeared in his mind, once again asking him for his name. John ignored the voice, as he instead focused on the energy once again. Much to his surprise, quelling the rampaging energy within his body was much harder than he had expected, despite it being his own energy.
It was as if he had pushed a boulder off of a mountain, and the momentum had grown to an incredible level. John grit his teeth in strained pain as he focused his all on quelling the bloodline transformation, and a stalemate within his body soon broke out. His skin continued to crack and bones continued to creak as he struggled against it.
"Name!"
The voice once again appeared, but John's full concentration was on his internal struggle. From the side, both Iris and the Grand Elder's shocked expressions turned to concern, as they noticed John's body became more and more bloodied and destroyed.
"Gahh!"
John suddenly cried out in pain as he collapsed to the ground, while his surging aura faded away and returned to normal once more.
"John!"
John heard his name cried out by two voices, and quickly felt a powerful blanket of energy wrap around him, bringing him off the top step. His vision grew blurred as he noticed two faces appear above him, before turning black as he collapsed into unconsciousness.
