John stared at the lightning warrior, his guard raised to the maximum. He felt lethal danger from the lightning warrior at the moment, and could not let his guard down for a second.
The lightning warriors gaze lingered on Iris down below, before its gaze shifted slowly towards John. It studied him for a moment, which made John's instincts flare further.
'This lightning warrior clearly has some sentience, similar to the lightning Kirin Kirii fought against.'
While it was not full sentience, it was enough that the lighting warrior would be a tricky opponent. Fighting against the tribulation lightning bolts were far easier, as the attacks were incredibly straightforward. However, an opponent that could think and react was far different, and judging by the lightning lance in its hands, each attack would be as strong as a tribulation lightning strike.
John's narrowed eyes suddenly widened as his battle axe cleaved out with his full power. The lightning warrior had appeared before him in an instant, his movement as fast as a flash of lightning. It pierced forward with its lightning lance, intending on claiming John's life with a single thrust.
Boom!
John barely managed to raise his battle axe in time, as the blade of his battle axe violently collided with the tip of the lightning lance. A thunderous explosion instantly radiated outwards, while John shot backward like a cannonball. The casual thrust of the lightning lance was like a battle art being used by a Late Heaven Tribulation opponent, far exceeding John's expectations.
In this exchange with the Divine Tribulation Guardian, he had been on the losing end.
"John!" Iris called out from below as she watched John flung violently through the air. The aura and power of the Divine Tribulation Guardian was beyond terrifying, filling Iris with a wave of fear and doubt.
"Don't worry!" a childlike voice appeared in Iris's mind. Iris glanced over to Kirii, who stood protectively in front of her while watching John fighting high above. "Big brother is far too strong to lose to something like this!"
"Kirii!" Iris mumbled, surprised to hear Kirii was able to communicate. She stared at Kirii for a moment, before her gaze shifted back towards John. "Besides, if he starts losing, he can always rely on me to protect him!"
"Hehe," a light laugh escaped Iris's lips, her mood lightened for the first time in quite some time. Her emotions and nerves calmed slightly, as she once again decided to trust in John and his strength.
Bang!
Lightning lance and battle axe collided, flinging John through the sky once more like a ragdoll. The lightning warrior took the opportunity to rush down towards the ground, his vision locked onto Iris. Despite the fact that John was his opponent, Iris was his true target. If the lightning warrior could kill her, the tribulation would be over, and all would end.
"Tch, to think I'm being looked down on like this," a disgruntled voice sounded out from behind the guardian, who instantly turned and thrusted his lightning lance forward.
Bang!
Battle axe and lightning lance once again collided, as John had managed to stabilize himself and appear behind the warrior in time. However, the lightning warrior's speed was beyond incredible, and was something John could just barely keep up with when using both his Limiter of Speed and Thunderbody Flash. Prepared for the monstrous strength of his opponent, John activated his full might in his attack, finally managing to trade equal blows. His battle axe cleaved out once more, coated with the full might of his Sky Sundering Axe.
A brilliant gold axe cleaved into the lightning lance, severing it with a single blow. The lightning lance split apart, while John's battle axe cleaved towards the lightning warriors chest.
Bang!
A monstrous explosion once again rocked the sky as John's battle axe cleaved partially into the lightning warrior's body, injuring it greatly. The attack had been the strongest battle axe attack he had ever performed, as he left nothing in reserve.
John's cold gaze stared directly at his opponent, which was now cleaved in two. His eyes suddenly widened as his head leaned to the side, as the lightning lance's thrust had just missed his head by inches. He dashed backwards a few yards, and watched with a cold gaze as his opponent's body and weapon reconnected, as if it had never been severed.
The aura of the lightning warrior had diminished ever so slightly, but the diminishment was so miniscule as to be ignored.
"So you can regenerate?" John grumbled, his expression turning sour as he stared at his opponent. He had thought the battle to be over with that attack, but chastised himself for such thinking. His opponent was not a living thing, and so it was not able to be killed in the same fashion as a living creature.
Each lethal attack would clearly diminish his opponents power, but based on his previous attack, it would take at least an hour to whittle down his opponent to nothing. At the same time, his Qi reserves would be strained to their limits by then, making such an endeavor a risky one.
The warriors lighting lance once again thrusted towards John, who just barely managed to dodge to the side in time. His body spun around, while his battle axe used his full momentum to unleash another devastating attack on his opponent. The lightning warrior quickly retracted his weapon, and slashed it out to meet John's attack head on.
Boom!
Another thunderous explosion radiated outwards, as the two found themselves in a deadlock. The lightning warriors calm gaze shifted from John to Iris below, his free hand suddenly pointing at her.
Bang!
A lightning beam as powerful as a tribulation lightning strike blasted outwards, piercing directly towards Iris.
"Kirii!" John yelled as he watched the beam reach Iris in an instant. He had no idea that the warrior was capable of such an attack.
Roar!
Kirii's mouth opened wide as a deafening roar boomed out. Being challenged by a creature of lightning was the biggest insult to Kirii, as a lightning beam exploded out from within his opened mouth.
The lightning beam pierced through the sky, colliding with the tribulation lightning bolt. The sky turned white as the two attacks collided, bathing the land and sky in all directions in an apocalyptic explosion. The explosion quickly faded away, revealing Kirii and Iris to be unharmed, as Kirii had used his body to shield her afterwards.
John breathed out a sigh of relief, as he silently thanked himself for having Kirii guard her.
The lightning warriors' calm gaze stared at Kirii, before its gaze quickly shifted forwards once more.
Bang!
Lightning lance and battle axe collided once more, followed by dozens of similar exchanges in the blink of an eye. The sky above the desert turned white, as apocalyptic lightning blasts filled the entire sky.
Tribulation lightning slammed into John's body, opening wounds and charring his flesh. Without the use of his Asura Transformation, John found himself in a stalemate with his opponent. However, his opponent did not take damage and instead only lost some energy to regenerate, making him slowly but surely start to lose out in the battle. If the battle were to go on forever, John would no doubt lose. However, he just needed to hold on until his opponent ran out of energy and faded away, which was something he was confident of doing.
Blue lightning runes flared on his body, as John utilized his Celestial Lightning Script to absorb the lightning and reduce the damage. The True Jade Origin Piece appeared in his free hand, further augmenting his ability to absorb the tribulation lightning.
At the same time, his golden battle axe cleaved outwards ceaselessly, assaulting his lightning opponent with a non-stop barrage of earth-shattering attacks. Like this, the two fighters reached a stalemate, as the battle raged on in the sky for several minutes, as a battle for the ages raged on within the Jade Dragon Empire lands.
