Despite his fear, Rydan quickly stood up and unleashed a sword art at John. While formations cultivators did not excel in physical combat, they still carried weapons such as swords and spears in case they were not able to prepare for battle ahead of time.
John scoffed as he saw the attack. His body flashed to the side as the sword light pierced by, easily dodging the attack.
Immediately after throwing out the sword attack, Rydan threw out a formation disk beneath John's feet. At the same time, another formation disk was thrown above John's head, Rydan's actions smooth and practiced. The two formatted disks immediately linked up by some unknown energy, and quickly formed a cage around John.
While this cage would be enough to stop a normal Early Heaven Tribulation cultivator, Rydan knew it was not enough to stop John. Without pause, he threw out four more disks, two appearing in front and behind John and two to his left and right.
In less than a second, six formation disks, each glowing with the might of powerful formation runes, encased John from all directions. It formed a singular barrier which glowed with great power, and the runes on the disks suddenly lit up brightly as they activated with their full power.
Che!
Che!
Che!
A series of sharp and powerful beams of formation light shot out of all six formation disks, slashing directly onto John's body. The formation disks continued to shoot out sharp attacks, drowning John in a non-stop barrage of attacks. The barrage of attacks became so dense that John's body was no longer visible from the outside, and all that was visible was the onslaught of powerful formation Qi attacks.
The barrage of attacks continued for a short while, while Rydan's expression slowly turned from one of panic to one of confidence.
"Idiot," Rydan muttered disdainfully. "You should have finished me off when you had the chance, instead of showboating before me. Now that you're trapped in this slaughter formation, even if you survive, you'll be half dead."
Rydan had hastily set up this formation, but it was his most powerful quick-use slaughter formation he had. He knew John was strong, but strength and durability were two different things.
While the slaughter formation continued to rain down ceaseless attacks on John, Rydan glanced over towards Adam, Iris and Chase. Their calm yet amused gazes stared back, while Adam's defiant and heated gaze lingered on Rydan.
Rydan felt a bad feeling creep up as he noticed none of their gazes were panicked or fearful for John's life at all, as if they didn't even consider the possibility of him losing. Rydan quickly looked back towards the slaughter formation, his eyes growing wide as the formation disks finally ran out of Qi.
John's figure, still standing tall and firm, appeared in Rydan's view. The fading formation barrier revealed his state, which shocked Rydan beyond all belief. John's body was riddled with small cuts all over, causing blood to flow down his face, arms, and legs. He looked quite miserable, as if he was gravely injured, but a quick inspection revealed all his wounds to be superficial surface wounds.
None of them were more than half an inch deep, something that was easily ignorable by cultivators, let alone body cultivators.
"Impossible," Rydan muttered in disbelief as he took a step backwards. He had at least expected the formation to injure John to a state where he could fight him directly, but even that had not occurred.
"That's not a bad formation you have there," John replied calmly as he slowly started walking towards Rydan. "I had allowed you to trap me with it, as the more you reveal, the better I'll be prepared when I fight Kadin. Thank you for showing me that even when cornered and unprepared, formation cultivators can still be quite powerful."
Rydan's face was filled with panic and fear as he continued to take steps away from John. At this point, he knew that fighting back was a futile effort. He instantly turned to flee, but a flash of lighting appeared in his vision as John suddenly appeared before him.
Bang!
John's leg swept out and slammed against Rydan's left leg, but was once again hindered by the mysterious protective formation lining Rydan's body. However, the power of the attack buckled Rydan's leg, forcing him to the ground. John frowned at the resistance, and instead decided to take a more forceful approach.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang
John quickly rained down a barrage of punches onto Rydan's chest, who at this point was no longer able to fight back. The protective formation worked its hardest to defend Rydan, but eventually ran out of energy.
Bang!
A punch directly landed onto Rydan's ribs, shattering several of them and causing Rydan to howl out in pain.
Bang!
John's leg stomped down on Rydan's left leg, instantly shattering it at the knee. Rydan once again howled out in agonized pain as he clutched his leg. John's gaze shifted towards his three friends, and he beckoned them to approach.
The three did so, and quickly arrived next to John and Rydan. Their calm gazes stared disdainfully at Rydan, as if this outcome had been ensured from the start.
"What should we do with him?" Adam asked after a brief moment of silence.
"We'll get as much information out of him to start with," John replied calmly as his gaze returned to Rydan.
Through the excruciating pain, Rydan gazed up definitely at John.
"You can't kill me," Rydan muttered through the pain.
"Oh? Why not?" John asked, amusement in his voice.
"Gideon has already escaped," Rydan replied confidently, although his voice was shaky with the pain he was feeling. "He will inform Kadin of what you have done. You may be strong, but before Kadin, you are nothing."
"Is that so?" John replied calmly. "Let's say your friend does escape and informs Kadin, won't he seek revenge regardless? I already killed your two friends, surely killing you won't make much of a difference."
"The two you killed are low level members of the sect, from a fringe lineage and barely worth notice," Rydan replied, as if the two friends who had just died were less than trash. "Kadin won't care about their deaths. But I am of a much more prestigious lineage and am someone Kadin values. If you let me live, Kadin should forgive you. But if you kill me, he will hunt you four down and slaughter you like animals."
