"She's my concern now. You can forget about your power ever reaching her again."
John's defiant words seemed to echo within Laia's mind as she heard them, and her cheeks couldn't help but turn rosy-pink as she stared at John above.
Bang!
Another Advent of Annihilation cleaved out, slamming into the lightning warrior and knocking it backwards. With his rage ignited, John's power grew as well, and his attack had finally managed to win against the lightning warrior.
His body flashed forward like a bolt of lightning, and he appeared before the lightning warrior once more. His golden axe cleaved outwards again, its might like a mountain slamming down on his opponent. The lightning warrior stabilized itself and thrust out its lightning lance in response, and the collision between attacks once again blanketed the land in their apocalyptic power.
With the rain and wind raging about, and battle arts destroying all in its path, it truly appeared as if the end of the world had arrived for this small piece of land.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Thousands of attacks were exchanged over the next fifteen minutes as the two fighters fought to a complete stalemate. Each of John's attacks would cause the lightning warrior to block or parry, stripping away a bit of its power one attack at a time. The lightning warriors attacks would also injure John as well, but thanks to Laia's heavenly talent in healing, those injuries were washed away in an instant.
While John did feel his essence Qi reserves start to lessen, he still had ample reserves thanks to his twenty times compressed dantian being able to hold a heaven defying amount of essence Qi. At the same time, his blood reserves within his palace realm were almost immeasurable, as he had spent an incredible amount of time and money collecting beast blood essence, either by himself or through purchase. With his blood essence pool as well, consisting of Heaven Tribulation and Dao Transformation blood essence, he could rely on that as well.
While using blood essence instead of beast blood was a waste in terms of making body Qi, it was still something he could rely on in a pinch. Their battle raged on, illuminating the dark clouds above and ravaging the earth below. Each explosion was guarded by Kirii, as he allowed not a single scrap of Qi to land on her.
The lightning warrior would occasionally attempt to attack Laia, but it stopped after a while as it realized the futility of it all. Even if the attack was not blocked by John, Kirii still stood guard. As a heavenly lightning creature, and one that had stepped into the Middle Heaven Tribulation Realm thanks to the lightning it had absorbed from Iris's tribulation, Kirii was more than strong enough to thwart any attack from the lightning warrior.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The explosions continued to bathe the sky in gold and blue explosions, as if the battle arts were paint and the sky the canvas. Through the terrifying explosions, the scene was almost one of beauty.
Bang!
An Advent of Annihilation slammed against the lightning warrior, whose body shot backwards like a cannonball. Another, and then another slashed out, piercing through the sky and violently exploding against the lightning warrior.
Boom!
A full powered Advent of Annihilation landed on the lightning warrior's unguarded body, and the body shattered into a mist of lightning. The lightning warrior had healed through each and every attack John had landed on it, but its energy finally ran out due to the prolonged battle.
John's gaze lingered on the spot where the lightning warrior had dispersed, his heavy breathing taking a while to calm down. Despite Laia's healing, his essence Qi had been drained by half, and his body was wracked with fatigue and pain. However, he had managed to beat the lightning warrior in the end, and had done so without using his Asura Transformation.
He had never expected such an outcome before starting his tribulation, and was more than content with the outcome.
A look of glee appeared on Laia's face, which had paled considerably since the start of John's battle. Sweat dripped down her brow and slicked her face and dress, making her dress cling to her body tightly, revealing a mesmerizing figure beneath.
Were it any other time, John would not have taken in the entrancing view with no hesitation, but he did not even gaze at Laia for an instant.
"It is over?" Laia asked Kirii between heavy breaths. The Divine Tribulation Guardian had been beyond anything she had ever expected, but John had not let any of them down, and had managed to defeat it after an arduous and grueling battle.
However, Kirii did not reply to her question, and his gaze was focused on the clouds above, the same as John.
The blackened tribulation clouds above rumbled in rage for a moment, before they went calm and silent. John's gaze narrowed as he stared at the clouds, as the calm silence sent a wave of warning down his spine. It was as if the Heavens had decided something, and they had become calm after that decision, as if John's fate had been decided the instant it decided to do so. The rage within the heavenly clouds was no more, and John's gaze focused on the two heavenly eyes above, who stared at him much the same.
The gaze from the eyes had also changed from rage, to one as if it were looking at a worthy opponent, but one whose fate was already sealed.
"There's more?" Laia mumbled, almost unable to believe what was going on. Her ragged breaths slowed down as she stabilized herself, as her temporary soul link with John gave her a vague idea of what he was feeling at the moment. That feeling was one of the gravest warnings, as if John knew his life would truly be on the verge of death in the moments to come.
As if answering her question, the clouds gathered their power into a singular point, the same as the lightning warrior. The aura coming from this singular point was far above that when the lightning warrior had been formed, and a blood red glow suddenly appeared just below the blackened clouds, staining them red as if they had been bathed with blood.
The red light slowly started to grow in size, and soon it took a humanoid shape, the same as the lightning warrior. The blood red glow of the red lightning illuminated the clouds, the land, and everything in between, as if an omen for the blood that was about to be spilled. The figure continued to condense and become more clear, and distinguishable features soon appeared on the figure. A blood red robe of incredible design was formed, one that John had seen once in his life before.
At the same time, a face that he had seen once in his life before also appeared on the lightning figure. The face was so detailed that it looked completely lifelike, only that it was blood red.
John's eyes narrowed as a cold-blooded look appeared on his face, but beneath that cold-blooded look existed a small tinge of confusion, as he had not been expecting to see that face here. It was the same face as the youth he had fought in the ancient cities Divine Trial, only a few years older.
The youthful face of his mysterious father!
