"How is this possible?" one of the Honorable Alliance youths, a girl from the Miststream Sect, couldn't help but ask while shuddering slightly.
"He was holding back the entire time?" another youth mumbled, equally stunned, as was most of the Honorable Alliance group. John's battle with Asuros had already been beyond their comprehension power wise, and yet Asuros had just seemingly transformed even further and erupted with even more power, revealing he had yet to use his full strength.
His strength now was at least twice as strong as before, putting it at a level that should not be possible for a Half-Step Dao Transformation cultivator.
Grave expressions appeared on many of the Honorable Alliance youths' faces, as the possibility of total annihilation became a reality once more. Only a few remained relatively calm, such as Miko, who had full faith in John, as well as himself.
On the opposite end of the battlefield, the enemy youths felt their hope return as many had malicious and sinister smiles return to their faces. With Asuros' revealed power, John's defeat was imminent, at which point they would finally wipe out the Honorable Alliance youths once and for all.
The space around Asuros seemed to almost shudder and tremble under the might of his aura as well as physical power. Just a casual movement from him seemed to cause this effect, let alone his actual attacks.
The sinister smile on Asuros' face widened as he suddenly flashed forward, appearing before John in an instant. His speed was far faster than before, and was at a level that even John had trouble keeping up with at the moment.
John's grip tightened around the shaft of his weapon as he slashed it out with his full physical might towards the oncoming saber. The saber contained awe-inspiring power, as if it could sever the entire temple realm with a single slash.
Bang!
Battle axe and saber collided, causing the space around their weapons to visible tremble and shudder for a moment. As the weapons collided, John felt an overwhelming force flow through his axe, into his arms, and then his body. The physical power was Asuros's attack was even greater than his own at the moment, and John couldn't resist its power as he was violently knocked backwards.
His body flew through the sky at incredible speeds, eventually slamming into a distant mountain several miles away.
Boom!
The center of the mountain exploded outwards as John pierced right through it, and it crumbled down soon after from the destruction John's body had caused. John slammed against the earth behind the mountain, bouncing off it several times as his body carved several deep trenches into the land.
The Honorable Alliance youths gasped in panic and shock as they saw this happen, and realized the overwhelming might of Asuros. Not even John had been able to resist the attack at all, confirming their deepest worries.
John finally managed to recover, stopping his backwards momentum and stabilizing himself. His muscles and organs screamed in pained protest, while the blood in his body tumbled, making him feel quite miserable at the moment. Blood dripped down from several wounds on his arms and chest, as well as the corner of his mouth, revealing he had truly taken damage from that singular attack.
Just as John recovered, Asuros appeared before him once more like a ghost, his smile wide and saber slashing down once more. His eyes were shining with obvious ecstasy, enjoying the feeling of breaking John one attack at a time, as well as establishing his body superiority.
Bang!
Weapons collided once more as the two stood near the ground, which instantly shattered and cratered as their physical exchange created a blast of power that destroyed everything nearby. John's body shot out from the blast of outwards exploding earth, once again unable to resist Asuros' might.
His body flew upwards from the attack, piercing high into the sky as he struggled to stop his backwards momentum.
Flash!
Asuros appeared behind John in a flash, his speed so shocking as to be impossible for his cultivation level. He appeared above John and slashed down with his saber once more, while John grit his teeth in pained struggle as he raised the shaft of his battle axe before his body.
Bang!
Asuros' saber slammed against the shaft of his axe, which strained in protest as it struggled to block the attack. The saber made a small indent on the shaft, which managed to resist the direct on attack.
Che!
A sharp sound rang out as John's body pierced downwards through the sky like a bullet towards the ground below.
BOOM!
The ground erupted once more as he slammed into it at full speed, sending the land outwards like a tsunami while large debris rained down on the entire battlefield. A mile wide crater formed where his body had slammed into, while John himself burrowed deep into the earth, out of the sight and divine sense range of all watching.
The battlefield fell silent once more as the only audible sound was the occasional piece of debris falling down to the ground. The Honorable Alliance was like a camp of death, not a single peep being made as everyone felt a wave of dread wash over them.
The opposite was true for the enemy camp, who's smiles continued to widen as they saw the last hope of the Honorable Alliance be crushed before their very eyes.
Asuros stopped and hovered above the massive crater, his actions mimicking John's when he had arrived on the battlefield. His smug and arrogant gaze stared down at the earth below, not pressing his advantage as he had full confidence in his ability to finish off John whenever he pleased.
The Honorable Alliance group held their breath as they stared at the massive crater, which remained silent for quite some time. Each second that passed filled them with more dread, as they didn't even know if John was alive or dead. Only Miko gazed on with relative calmness, while the Bobs gazed at Asuros with obvious battle lust, not caring about their lives but only the thrill of a good battle before death.
After a short while of pure silence, the ground started to tremble, the source clearly coming from beneath the crater. Slight hope returned to the Honorable Alliance youths as they felt a power surging up from below, and their gazes locked onto John as he blasted out from beneath the earth, appearing directly before Asuros once more.
His body was covered with wounds and blood, making him look incredibly miserable. Most with his level of wounds would already be out of the battle, but thanks to John's Immortal Asura Body, he was able to ignore the wounds for the most part. At the same time, his Limiter of Healing was slowly going to work, ensuring that his wounds did not become too grave.
Asuros' smug gaze locked onto John, but did not attack as he instead decided to mock him once more.
"Come now? I thought you said my Asura Body was nothing but a farce? Where is that smugness of yours now?" Asuros mocked, his voice deeper and more sinister due to his demonic-like transformation.
John's bloodstained face remained calm as he gazed at Asuros for a moment, before a slight smile appeared on it once more. Asuros frowned as he saw this smile, as it was not the smile of someone who had no hope of victory.
"As I said, your "transformation" is nothing but a farce," John replied with calm confidence. "If I'm not mistaken, your "transformation" is nothing more than an impressive body battle art disguised as a transformation, instead of a true transformation itself."
Asuros' gaze narrowed while a frown replaced his smile, clearly revealing both his doubt at John's words, as well as displeasure.
"You don't understand?" John continued, the small smile continuing to linger on his face. "Then I'll explain it to you in a way you can understand. Your transformation is a body battle art, which uses your Qi to forcefully transform your body in an unnatural way. While this should be impossible, I'm sure your ‘Master' had something to do with making your body able to accept this change. Your battle art is beyond the limits of this world, but it still has its limitations," John started to explain.
Asuros remained silent as he stared coldly at John, his silence an indirect confirmation of John's words.
"So I was right," John scoffed, his confidence growing by the second. "As I said, your transformation is nothing but a farce. A pseudo-transformation at best, but not the real thing."
"And how is that any different from your transformation?" Asuros growled in anger.
"The difference is simple," John replied with calm confidence. "A cultivator can only use one body battle art at a time, and must undo that art to use another. Since your transformation is due to a battle art, you cannot use any essence attacks or other body battle arts, which our battle so far has confirmed."
This battle had confirmed two things for John. One was that Asuros' transformation was not a true transformation, as he had yet to use any other battle art in their battle. The second was that his mysterious father was truly beyond his comprehension, as he was able to gift John with an Asura body even beyond the level of Asuros' ‘Master'.
His only downfall in this battle was his far lower cultivation. If he had the same cultivation as Asuros, he was more than confident in being able to defeat him in his current form. However, since his cultivation was far lower, he had to employ his full power to win.
"So what? Are you saying you're somehow able to do that? Impossible!" Asuros raged, enraged at the mere suggestion that his transformation was lesser than Johns.
"That's exactly what I'm saying," John replied with proud confidence, his widened smile sending another wave of rage though Asuros. "Even I am limited to using one body battle art at a time, but a true transformation is not a battle art… only an evolution of the body to a different state! That's the difference between us. Like I said, your transformation is a farce when compared to mine."
"Impossible!" Asuros growled dismissively, unable to contain his anger and about to unleash his assault on John to finish him once and for all.
"Find out for yourself how ‘impossible' it is," John suddenly roared as his aura began to rapidly climb, soaring far beyond what he had displayed before.
His muscles rapidly grew and began to bulge with absolute power, while his gaze of confidence locked onto Asuros as he roared once more, sending his body power to entirely new heights. A billowing golden aura mixed with his previous red aura, making him look like a glowing sun of absolute power hovering over the battlefield. John roared out loud once more, his voice alone shaking the land for miles in each direction.
"Supreme Battle Art!"
