The Peak Heaven Tribulation Lava Elemental exploded from beneath the lava, its power raining lava all over the surrounding area. John dodged to the side rapidly to avoid the lava, while his cautioned gaze stayed focused on the foe before him. The lava elemental inspected the area, and its rage was instantly ignited. It noticed John who appeared like an ant before him, and it exploded with a fiery aura of rage and anger.
"Shit…I didn't notice this elemental due to it being made of lava, and blending in with the lava beneath my feet…but more importantly, how the hell is something so strong just slumbering here?"
John thought over the issue, and came to a quick realization as to what was happening. The Jade Dragon Empire Realm had been unoccupied for over one hundred thousand years, allowing things like the Golden-Flame Magma Lotus to appear.
The lotus was a flower of yang energy, and it would naturally attract the attention of any lava elementals as well.
"This one must have been sleeping beneath the lotus for who knows how long, absorbing some of its power and growing non-stop. I'm sure the Jade Dragon Empire would have cleared out something like this when it existed, but that's no longer the case."
The lava elemental roared with rage as one of its arms slammed down towards John below. Its power was beyond terrifying, and John knew he would only be able to block such an attack if he was utilizing his Asura Transformation. While he could contest with the elemental at his full power, he would not be able to defeat it due to its regenerative nature. Such a battle was not worth the cost, and so John had no choice but to retreat.
With no hesitation at all, John activated his Limiter of Speed and Thunderbody Flash. He sped away from the lava elemental, whose hand slammed into the lava where John had been, causing a massive explosion of lava and earth to erupt.
A massive wave of lava spread outwards, traveling towards John and the other youths, who stood there, frightened stiff by the lava elemental's power.
"Run!" John yelled angrily, rousing them from their frightened state. The youths all realized the stupidity of their actions, and each activated their fastest movement techniques as they sped into the distance.
At the same time, he turned towards the oncoming explosion of lava and took out his battle axe.
Sky Sundering Axe!
A brilliant gold axe image slashed forward, slamming against the wave of lava. The axe attack cleaved a pathway through the lava, although it looked quite insignificant in comparison to the massive wave. However, this was all John needed, as the wave of lava passed by him, while he slipped through the path he had created.
'How frightening. Just the remnant explosion from this creatures attack was enough to injure me if I had not acted in time.'
Roar!
The lava elemental roared in frustration as it saw John live through its attack. Its other arm stretched forward towards him, the speed of its attack too fast to dodge. John's eyes narrowed as he activated his peak body state.
Limiter of Pain!
Limiter of Power!
Supreme Battle Art!
His battle axe cleaved forward once more, slamming against the massive hand of lava that appeared before him. His axe turned golden as he once again utilized the Sky Sundering Axe, although he used the melee version of the attack this time.
Boom!
The monstrous power of the lava elemental slammed against John's battle axe. He felt a horrifying force course through his arms and into his body, as his arms creaked in protest, barely able to withstand the force of the attack.
John's body shot backwards like a blur, his speed causing the nearby air to ripple and boom. His body felt like a mountain had just landed on top of him, but he resisted the pain as he focused on the task at hand; retreating.
Using the backwards momentum of blocking the attack, John stabilized his body and sped forward once more, his speed even faster than what he was capable of on his own. He was like a flash of lightning as he sped forward, appearing miles away in almost an instant.
John sped off in a different direction than the youths, as he knew that only he was fast enough to escape the lava elemental. If he fled in their direction, they were as good as dead.
Roar!
The lava elemental roared once again as it saw John had used its own attack against him, and sped forward towards him. Despite its gargantuan body, in the sea of lava, its speed was just as fast as John's.
John reached a massive stretch of land and landed upon it, at which point he activated his Thunderbody Flash. He continued his momentum as he flashed over the land. The lava elemental roared in rage as it watched John arrive at the large stretch of land and disappear into the distance. However, its massive body was a detriment as it could only move freely within the lava itself. It eventually came to a rage-filled stop as it watched John speed out of sight into the distance, unable to contend with his incredible speed.
The enraged lava elemental slammed its fist onto the patch of rocky earth, easily breaking it apart before it eventually returned to the area where it had been slumbering, its massive body disappearing beneath the lava once more.
…
"Whew! That was a close one," John breathed out a sigh of relief as he noticed the lava elemental had finally stopped chasing him.
Were he able to use his Asura Transformation or Bloodline Ability, he would have loved to contest against the monster and test his might. However, without being able to use either, he had almost no chance of defeating the lava elemental. Not only that, but if he took grave damage in his battle, he would be susceptible to other youths, as well as hinder his progress through these lands. Despite the fact that he yearned for such a battle, John knew he was not able to take part in it this time.
He remained in place for a moment to recover his energy, and after doing so checked his surroundings.
"Hmm?"
Before him in the distance, a medium sized cave in a distant mountain appeared in his vision. His body sped forward towards the cave, and he stopped before it. His eyes locked onto the words that were etched above the cave.
"True Warrior Trial!"
"True Warrior Trial?" John mused. "The other trials were just called Warrior Trials, while this one is a 'True Warrior Trial'. I wonder what the difference is?"
He thought about it for a moment, but couldn't conclusively determine anything based on the words alone.
"Well, it seems like the only way to find out the truth is to enter the trial, so that's just what I'll do."
Without further hesitation, John entered the cave. The cave had a thin stretch of land to walk on, while lava flowed on both sides of the strip of land. Lava waterfalls from above would occasionally fall down on the strip of land, forcing him to resist it. However, it was nothing to concern him, and before long John arrived at the end of the cave.
He stopped for a moment as his eyes locked onto a glowing green formation entrance before him. It was a formation barrier similar to the previous ones he had entered in these lands, although he didn't know if this one had any score requirements.
John studied the formation for a moment, but didn't find anything suspicious about it. He felt no danger from the formation barrier itself, and so after a moment of studying the barrier, he stepped forward and into it.
His body passed through the formation without trouble, and he soon found himself on the other side. He turned and placed his hand back on the barrier, while his eyebrows rose slightly in realization.
"This barrier is a one way barrier. I can enter, but cannot leave. I suppose that's the meaning of the 'True' portion. I can only progress forward, and retreat is not possible. That means if I can't progress forward, death is most likely the only alternative…"
After thinking through this, a confident smile appeared on John's face as he felt his blood begin to boil.
"Now this is more like it! Victory or death! I just hope this trial doesn't disappoint me."
Roar!
A booming roar bellowed out behind John, causing him to turn towards the source. A sprawling cavern appeared before him, several hundred yards tall and almost a mile wide. The walls and floor were covered by reinforcing formation runes, while in the middle of the arena stood a hulking figure.
"An Ice Troll huh?" John said as he spotted his opponent, although a slight frown appeared on his face as he noticed his opponent's cultivation.
"Late Meridian Forging? How disappointing," John muttered, once again disappointed by the trial before him.
As if listening to his words, a few of the formation runes on the ground before him lit up, while floating text suddenly appeared in the air before him. John's eyes lit up in both surprise and excitement as a list appeared before him.
Opponent: Ice Troll
Pick the difficulty:
Late Meridian Forging
Early Heaven Tribulation
Middle Heaven Tribulation
"Now this is more like it!" John said with excitement as his hand stretched out, tapping the Middle Heaven Tribulation Prompt.
