After over two weeks of recovery, John and the others left the cave, feeling the scorching sun above for the first time in a while. The desert sand swirled before them, reminding the group of their lack of progress through the first month of being in the Jade Dragon Empire trial lands.
"It's damn hot," Adam once again complained as he felt the scorching sun bake his skin. He took out one of the frost plants that Chase had given him, and instantly felt relief as a cool breeze washed over him.
A jade piece appeared in John's hands as he stared out at the expansive desert before them, while his divine sense entered the jade piece. A map of the Jade Dragon Empire lands appeared in his mind, and John couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at what he saw.
"It seems we have fallen even further behind than I thought," John said to the group.
"Let me see," Adam asked to see the map, which John handed over to him. The rest of the group inspected the map, and all couldn't help but feel slight surprise.
"The map reveals over halfway through these lands," Adam exclaimed, "and that's just the Heaven Scrying Sect that's made it that far. Who knows how far some have made it already?"
"The good news is that we can move forward without a care now," John chimed up once again. "We moved slowly before so as to not run into anything unexpected, but now that the map has revealed the way forward, we can move much faster."
"That's true," Adam replied as another jade piece appeared in his hands. He had forgotten about it with everything that had happened recently, but John pulling out the jade piece reminded him of it.
"You've fallen down the list," Adam said, his voice filled with slight displeasure. "How dare they move you down the list like that? Are the Heaven Scrying Sect members all blind?"
"It's to be expected," John replied calmly, "the list will be constantly shifting, with those revealing their strength climbing the list, while those who don't will fall down. I've done nothing in over three weeks, so the decline is only natural."
"Still, I don't like it," Adam replied, still disgruntled. His divine sense inspected the rest of the list, and Adam's eyes lit up as he discovered the other sections listing Alchemists, Formations Experts and Healers were filled up with five hundred names as well. However, his disappointment returned as he didn't find his name, or Chase's either.
"They truly are blind!" Adam grunted, "I'm not listed on the Formations Expert list, and Chase isn't listed on the Alchemist list."
"Have you done anything to reveal your talents to the Heaven Scrying Sect?" Iris asked.
"Well…no, but still!" Adam replied, as he realized what Iris made sense, but didn't want to admit it.
"Well it's simple. Just reveal your formations' talents at the trials to come, and you'll be listed in no time," Iris replied, providing a solution to Adam's complaints.
Adam stared sideways at Iris, unsure of what was going on. She would normally mock him in such situations, but such mockery was absent, and was instead replaced with helpful suggestions.
"Are you feeling alright?" Adam asked, his suspicious gaze locked onto Iris.
"What do you mean?" Iris asked, not sure what he meant.
John could tell that Iris was still slightly shaken from everything that had happened during the tribulation, and as such was not concerned with arguing with and disparaging Adam like normal. He could also tell that Adam was about to poke a slumbering bear, as his people skills were beyond subpar.
"Well, you are normally nice- "
"Hey, can you pass me the jade list?" John asked, interrupting Adam before he could say anything further.
"Ah, sure," Adam replied, forgetting his previous thoughts as he handed the list over to John. John took it and quickly inspected it, searching for several names. His name was at rank three hundred, while Lily was at number fifty.
John nodded his head in approval, as that was quite an impressive ranking. He spotted Rael at rank one hundred and twenty, and couldn't help but wonder what was going on. He had spotted Rael much higher on the list when he had first expected it, and Rael's strength was equal to Lilies.
Their ranks should have been similar, but that was not the case. John found the situation odd, but figured that Rael was laying lower than Lily, as he was quite a loner by nature, who preferred to be on his own.
John's focus shifted to the top of the list, which had previously been unranked as there was not enough to separate those that stood at the top. The top twenty names now had ranks, as the Heaven Scrying Sect started to collect enough information to rank them. John quickly read through the list, as these would be the youths that posed him the most threat in these lands.
'Rank 1: Ignis…it says here that he's from the Beast Race. I wonder what someone from the Beast Race is doing in these trials, as the Honorable Alliance is just for humans…whatever the reason, he seems quite formidable. Late Heaven Tribulation cultivation, specializes in fire arts, the most talented youth from the Beast Race…
Rank 2: Luth Chaster…I remember his name from when I took the Talent Testing Steps. He was the number one Honorable Alliance youth at the time, and it seems he's kept his rank since. Specializes in pure sword arts…ignoring everything else…interesting…'
John continued to read the list, when a name he wanted to know about popped up. His gaze narrowed as he read the name.
'Rank Four: Kadin Starforge….'
John had been expecting to see Kadin's name, but did not expect to see it so high up the warrior list. As the number one young master of the Starforge Clan, Kadin was a formations expert first and foremost. Yet his combat strength was strong enough to rank fourth on the Jade Dragon List, a number which shocked even John.
'It seems as though he made a breakthrough to the Late Heaven Tribulation Realm recently…iof his strength is this high up and does not even include his formation talents, he just might be the strongest youth on this list. It seems as though things won't be as easy as I first assumed.'
John's frown continued to linger as he pondered the name. He had been confident due to having his Bloodline Ability to fall back on, but now no longer had the means to do so. The only thing that could separate him from someone as strong as Kadin was his Asura Transformation, which he was forbidden from using. He was destined to run into Kadin again, and was sure Kadin would make a move on Adam and himself.
'Oh well, if all else fails, I'll use the Asura Transformation and kill every last witness in the area if it means protecting myself and my friends.'
John put such thoughts aside for the moment as he continued to study the list, as another name quickly appeared that caught his attention.
