Flash!
Laia's vision flashed white as she entered the portal, quickly appearing on the other side. Her fatigued eyes took in the scenery before her, which was a massive golden room several hundred yards long and wide, with a roof even higher above.
The golden room was empty save for hundreds of objects that floated in the air above her, each wrapped up in a semi-translucent bubble. Each item hovering above was grand and marvelous, but she ignored them as she turned to gaze at the portal she had just come from.
Her worried eyes stared at the portal with great intensity, while her uncertainty rose by the second. Each second seemed to last a lifetime, as silence flooded the room.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine," Kirii consoled Laia, as he could tell she was worried for John's safety.
"Mmm," Laia hummed in agreement as she smiled and patted Kirii's head, but her worried gaze betrayed her true feelings.
After what seemed like an eternity to her…
Flash!
Another flash of light flooded the room as John appeared within. Laia breathed out a heavy sigh of relief as her eyes lit up with happiness, but that happiness quickly faded away as she took in the state of his body. His skin had become desiccated and blackened in many places, like it was about to fall off from rot, while his vitality seemed sapped as well.
"You're hurt!" Laia exclaimed as she rushed towards John and instantly started healing him.
"I'm fine," John replied, "these injuries appear worse than they actually are. I'll heal from them before long."
Even without Laia's help, his unlocked Limiter of Healing would help him quickly recover from these aura of death inflicted wounds. However, the situation would have been much worse if not for his masters training, something that John was sure to never reveal to her. If he admitted to her training saving his life, he was sure she would never let him hear the end of it. He could already imagine her smug smile staring at him as he told her what had happened, quickly followed by another hellish death aura training session. He was resolved to never give her that satisfaction of being right.
Laia ignored John's words and continued to heal him, something he did not protest against. His gaze shifted about the massive empty room before him, and took in the various items hovering high above.
'This is exactly like the other True Warrior Trial,' John mused internally as the two rooms were almost identical. The only difference was that this room was larger, and the items within more impressive based on their appearances and auras.
Both John and Laia suddenly felt an almost ticklish sensation on their upper chest, something that they had felt quite a few times before. John pulled down the collar of his robe to inspect his Jade Marks, and couldn't help but widen his eyes as he saw his score, which had increased by ten thousand marks.
'Wow…my Jade Mark count was just over two thousand, but I've catapulted up to twelve thousand in an instant.'
John couldn't help but be surprised at the amount he received, but after thinking it over, he thought of it as almost too low.
"Ten thousand Jade Marks!" Laia couldn't help but exclaim, surprised as well.
"Tch, I doubt anyone has ever gone through the Dao Transformation Trial while in the Heaven Tribulation realm," he said to Laia, "I feel as though this amount is too low."
"Actually, one person did achieve that feat in the past," another voice sounded out within the empty room, catching both John and Laia off guard.
"You!" John replied as he recognized the sound of the voice, as it was the same voice as the previous temple spirit he had encountered after the True Warrior Trial.
"We meet again," the temple spirit replied indifferently, as if unable to feel any emotions.
"You've met before?" Laia asked curiously, her guard relaxed after realizing the source of the voice was a temple spirit.
"Once before, after a trial I had completed earlier in this realm," John explained, before a small frown appeared on his face. "You said one had completed this trial in the Heaven Tribulation realm before? Who was it?" John asked the temple spirit, curious to hear the answer.
"The daughter of the Jade Dragon Emperor," the temple spirit replied.
"The Jade Dragon Emperor's daughter?" John repeated. He had no idea the Jade Dragon Emperor had such a talented daughter, but then again, he knew almost nothing of the warrior from the ancient past.
"Indeed," the temple spirit replied. "She was by far the most talented youth to arise within the Jade Dragon Empire after it was established by the Jade Dragon Emperor, and she managed to survive this realm while having a cultivation in the Peak Heaven Tribulation Realm."
John's eyebrows raised once more as he heard this, as he had expected her cultivation to be at the Half-Step Dao Transformation realm instead. Were it not for Laia, he would most likely have had to get his cultivation to the Late Heaven Tribulation realm to pass the trial safely, something that gave an insight into how powerful the Jade Dragon Emperor's daughter had been.
"The Jade Dragon Empire surely was a land of tigers and dragons," John replied, impressed at just how far above the current world they were in all aspects of cultivation.
"Whatever happened to the Jade Dragon Emperor's daughter?" John asked, as he had never heard of her before. Surely someone as talented as her carved a name for herself in the ancient past, and should still be remembered.
The temple spirit remained silent for a short while, before its voice sounded out once again.
"You have successfully passed the Dao Transformation trial, and have received your Jade Marks. As you did before, you may choose from the items above. You have ten thousand Jade Marks to spend."
John frowned as he realized the temple spirit had changed the subject, but did not push the issue and instead gazed up at the item above. He gazed at the very top, and a familiar looking object came into view.
Another reverse scale of an ancient dragon!
