From a nearby distance behind some boulders, Rydan and the rest of the Starforge youths watched as John and his group approached them.
"They're almost here. Be ready to attack on my command," Rydan instructed the youths near him. They all nodded in unison, ready to move at a moment's notice.
Suddenly, John's group stopped several dozen yards away from the formation, causing Rydan to frown. However, he remained silent as he watched them stand there and discuss something.
"They couldn't have detected the formation, right?" one of the youths finally asked.
"Impossible. They're Meridian Forging scrubs," Rydan replied. "Let's just wait a bit more."
After waiting for a short while, Rydan's eyes narrowed as he watched Adam, Iris and Chase retreat. He was just about to spring up and attack them, as it seemed like they had somehow noticed the trap. However, John remained in place, and even moved forward, stopping Rydan from making a move.
"What's going on?" one of the youths asked.
"I don't know," Rydan replied. "Just wait for my command."
Rydan watched as John stepped into the formation, and clicked his tongue with frustration.
"Damnit, only that idiot brute sprung the trap. We've been exposed. Let's go!"
…
John stepped forward, and the instant he did, a powerful formation sprung up all around him. A formation barrier appeared all around him, sealing all directions of escape. At the same time, a formidable pressure pushed down on him, trying to force him to his knees.
John nodded his head in approval, as the formation truly was quite incredible. His power surged to resist the pressure, and John found that he even needed to use the full force of the Supreme Battle Art to maintain his stance.
'This formation would easily overwhelm any Early Heaven Tribulation youth, despite being set up by an Early Heaven Tribulation formations cultivator. No wonder formation cultivators are so feared. If they get time to prepare, they're basically unmatched. Just breaking through this barrier is going to take more effort than I originally imagined."
All of a sudden, four youths appeared in his vision from the front, appearing from behind a large boulder. John's calm gaze locked with Rydan's, who quickly glanced over towards Adam and the rest, who were not retreating.
John could see Rydan sigh in relief, before his gaze locked back onto John's. The three other youths also gathered next to Rydan, clearly not worried about Adam and the others escaping. They were all in the Early Heaven Tribulation Realm, and even though they were formations cultivators, beating Adam and the rest should be easy enough. The only slight concern was Iris with her Half-Step Heaven Tribulation cultivation, but even then they had numbers on their side.
"Are Adam and your other two friends truly so stupid?" Rydan asked John, as he could instantly tell what was going on. "Do they really think you have the power to break free of this formation and protect them? It seems as though exiling Adam also exiled his brain," Rydan mocked.
"I have to admit, this formation is quite a bit better than I thought it would be," John replied calmly from the inside as he resisted it with his powerful body. "However, my Sect Leader made his stance clear on what would happen if your Elder targeted Adam. Are you truly not concerned of the wrath of my sect?"
"Haha, your sect is not worthy of notice," Rydan replied dismissively. "Besides, after we deal with you three and capture Adam, there will be no evidence that we were the ones to kill you," Rydan replied. "There are many dangerous trials in these lands. Your group just happened to succumb to one of them. How tragic"
"So it's like that," John replied. If their bodies were never found, then even the Heavenly Lightning Sect could not pin the blame on the Starforge Clan. "I suppose such a lie is fitting for cowards such as yourselves. I just have to ask, Adam is already exiled and is no longer a threat to Kadin's future ascension. Why are you so focused on capturing him?" John asked.
"That is not something the likes of you has to know," Rydan replied dismissively. "But…since you're about to die, I suppose I can satisfy your curiosity. He has something the Clan wants, and we need to interrogate him of its location."
"You sent him away as a child. Couldn't you have taken what you wanted then?" John asked, confused at the explanation.
"I'm done answering your questions. It's impressive that you can even stand inside the formation, but I suppose that freakish strength of yours helps in that regard," Rydan replied, truly impressed by John's strength. "However, you are far too naive if you think strength alone can break through this barrier of mine."
"You're completely right," John replied, agreeing with Rydan's words. "Even with my strength, I can't break through this barrier as I am right now with brute force. While I have some other tricks to break through with pure strength, you are not worthy of seeing such methods."
"Oh?" Rydan replied with an amused and mocking tone. "It almost sounds as if you are confident of being able to break out of this formation. Fine, let's see it then. Let's see how a Late Meridian Forging peasant can break out of a Starforge Clan's formation. You would already be dead if I had used a slaughtering formation instead, so count yourself lucky enough to still be breathing."
John was clearly the group's linchpin, and Rydan wanted to crush him fully before moving on to Adam. John had insulted him a few days earlier, and he wanted John to suffer as well. Crushing his ego would be the first step of making him suffer.
On the Divine Martial Continent, the Starforge Clan reigned supreme when it came to formations. While Rydan was not a supreme genius of the clan, he was still an Early Heaven Tribulation cultivator using the Starforge Clan's methods.
There were only a handful of cultivators on the continent at the Early Heaven Tribulation Realm that could break through this formation once trapped. Such was the power of a formations expert. They had weaker upfront combat prowess, but if allowed time to set up and plan a trap, their might skyrocketed to the forefront.
As for a Late Meridian Forging cultivator, someone a major realm lower in power, such a thing was impossible. As such, Rydan had no problem allowing John to attempt to break free, before succumbing to despair.
The other youths all watched on as well, smug expressions plastered to their faces. They were looking forward to the failure of John, and the capture of Adam and the rest.
'If I had to use brute force, I would need my Asura Transformation to break out of this barrier. However, I have the perfect battle art to do the job instead, one meant to sever apart anything in its path.'
A scythe suddenly appeared in John's hands, one which brimmed with the might of a Half-Step Heaven Tribulation grade weapon. John had obtained this scythe in the Bloodfiend Sect, and was finally strong enough to use its full might. In fact, he would soon require an even stronger scythe, but this one would do in the meantime.
"A scythe huh? Let's see what you can do then?" Rydan said mockingly, his arms crossed over his chest.
John raised the scythe over his head while his eyes locked with Rydans. The scythe began to glow with a sinister red and black light, while its power climbed higher and higher. An aura of annihilation also began to emanate from the scythe, furthering its fearsome power.
Rydan's smug expression, as well as the other Starforge youths faded away as their instincts began to flare. However, it was too late to do anything about it.
John's scythe slashed down with absolute speed, as a black and red scythe image shot forward towards the barrier of the formation. His scythe slashed out again a second time immediately after the first, both targeted at the Starforge youths standing near the barrier.
Che!
The first scythe image slammed into the formations wall, which offered only the briefest moment of resistance before it was cleaved apart. The scythe image's power faded away, revealing that all its might had been used to carve open this path. However, even this was beyond anything the Starforge youths had considered possible.
A single attack from a Late Meridian Forging youth carving open the barrier? This story would never be believed by anyone, no matter who told it. However, the truth was laid bare before their very eyes, eyes that were opened wide in shock.
Che!
Before they could react, the second Divine Reaping Scythe cleaved through the opening made by the first.
Che!
Che!
Two slicing sounds sounded out as the Divine Reaping Scythe sliced onto two of the Starforge youths. Formation barriers popped up over their skin as the ability fought against some sort of protective formation. After a brief struggle, the Divine Reaping Scythe won, and cleaved the two directly in half. These two youths had only recently ascended to the Heaven Tribulation Realm, and were barely considered to be in the realm. As such, John had targeted them first.
Thunderbody Flash!
John's body flickered like lightning, and he appeared before the third youth, whose body suddenly flashed as he sped off into the distance. Clearly the youth had used some sort of formation disk to increase his speed, and his speed was quite impressive. With Rydan still close by, John did not want to chase after the youth and lose Rydan. He needed to eliminate all four without failure.
"Kirii! Bring him back here," John commanded as Kirii suddenly appeared before him. Without hesitation, Kirii's body flashed like lightning as he chased after the youth.
Bang!
John spun on his heels as his leg swept out. His powerful kick collided with the weapon of Rydan, who had finally recovered his wits and began to counter attack. However, his hastily mounted counter attack crumbled in face of John's full Supreme Battle Art might.
Rydan felt as if a mountain had struck onto his weapon, which forcefully collided with his body. His body shot backwards like a cannonball while his protective formation did its best to shield him from harm. The formation flared with incredible power, but even then it was not able to fully dull the attack as Rydan felt his ribs crack from the force of the attack.
His body tumbled head over heels across the arid desert sand, carving a ditch across the land before finally coming to a stop several hundred yards away. Through the excruciating pain, Rydan quickly sat up, and began to struggle to his feet.
Bang!
The sand in front of him suddenly exploded outwards as something slammed down onto it with incredible force. The cloud of sand quickly cleared, revealing John standing directly before Rydan. His cold gaze stared at Rydan, who felt as if he was being stared at by death itself.
