The pool of ancient dragon blood was completely still, as if it had remained undisturbed for tens of thousands of years. Yet it remained pure and untainted, as if nothing, not even time, could change it at all.
John stared in awe at the pool of dragon blood, which continued to emit a continuous aura of power, as if just stepping into it would spell death for those not strong enough. After staring at the pool of blood for quite some time, John gazed throughout the rest of the temple, but found nothing else of note.
There was nothing else other than the pool of blood, and dragon statue behind it.
"Should I try to absorb this blood for my Immortal Asura Body?" John mused softly, thinking of whether such a thing was possible or not. His Immortal Asura Body was only able to be strengthened through blood essence, not regular blood.
Not only that, but not all essence blood worked equally. Essence blood from humans seemed to be the best, while blood from typical beasts was almost useless for cultivation. While a dragon was anything but a typical beast, John was not sure if such a thing would work.
Silence filled the temple as John thought it all over. He eventually moved forward once more, stopping directly before the pool of blood. He gazed at the pool of blood before his feet, which seemed to almost push him away, as if no human was worthy of stepping within.
"Let's see what this is all about," John said out loud as he stepped forward and floated above the pool, eventually arriving in the center. With no further hesitation, John descended downwards, disappearing within the pool of blood.
As soon as he entered the pool of blood, the dragon statue flared with power, while its eyes began to glow. A beam of mysterious power emanated from the head of the dragon statue down towards the pool of blood, infusing it with a bizarre power.
As soon as this happened, John felt the pool of blood stir into action. The blood began to rapidly revolve, forming a whirlpool with him at the very center. The whirlpool of blood intensified in power, focusing on him at the center.
John remained calm as this all happened, and his eyes widened slightly as he felt the dragon blood begin to flow into his body all of a sudden. The blood flowed through his pores into his body, which caused John to raise his guard for a brief moment as he prepared to fight back against the blood if need be. However, his aura faded as he noticed the blood begin to infuse within his body, as if assimilating with him and becoming his own.
The dragon blood flowed into his skin, muscles, sinew, merging with it and transforming it into something stronger, something more profound. Wherever the blood passed, it infused with his body, strengthening it to incredible heights. It attempted to do the same with his own blood, but was unable to, as if his blood would not allow it to be sullied at all, not even by dragon's blood. After a brief struggle, the dragon's blood seemed to give up on merging with his own, and instead flowed freely within his veins next to his original blood.
Roar!
John couldn't help but roar with overwhelming power as he felt the strength of his body rapidly rise, soaring to entirely new heights.
…
Boom!
In a far off land, the ground suddenly exploded outwards as a bloodied and wounded figure shout out from within. Asuros soared into the sky and gazed down at the ruined land beneath his feet, surprise and confusion evident on his face.
"What the hell happened here?" Asuros mused coldly as he stared at the ruined land that once housed the hidden lair of him and his master. When he had crushed his spatial talisman, he had been transported deep underground, buried amongst the rubble and ruin of his old lair.
His thoughts shifted back to the day when that mysterious figure had appeared at their portal, and had stepped through towards his master. He had assumed that that mysterious person would have perished without any ability to fight back at all, but things had not happened as he thought they would.
"Just who was that man?" Asuros mumbled, recalling the overwhelming power and furious rage that the man had displayed. Just a roar from that man had nearly killed him, and it had not even been directed at him.
"He even roared the word ‘Asura'…does he know who my master is? Impossible. How can someone like that still exist after all this time? According to master, the lifespan of a World Expansion cultivator is one hundred thousand years…yet the war happened far before that. Everyone from that war should already be dead by now…unless….that man was somehow in the Holy Manifestation Realm?" Is that even possible?"
Asuros' thoughts swirled with confusion and disbelief as he tried to piece everything together. He had assumed that he would be greeted by his master once he left the Jade Dragon Empire realm, and yet his master was nowhere to be seen.
After debating his next course of action, Asuros drifted down to the shattered ground and sat down.
"No matter who that man was, my master will surely return. I will wait here until then," Asuros said as his eyes closed and he entered deep meditation. The rage-inducing thoughts of his battle with John flooded into his mind, but he pushed them aside as best he could to focus on cultivation. However, his gritted teeth and trembling lips betrayed his otherwise calm demeanor.
…
Some time later, Asuros' eyes suddenly snapped open as a powerful energy appeared before him. Space twisted and swirled for a moment before tearing open, revealing the chaos of the turbulent space on the other side. A massive figure stepped out from within the opened gash in space, which quickly closed behind him.
"Master!" Asuros greeted as he quickly stood up and bowed with great deference, respect, and fear. He quickly noticed his master's wounded and bloodied body, but dared not to comment on it despite the shock he was feeling at seeing his overwhelmingly powerful master wounded for the first time.
Not only that, but he could tell that his master's wounds were even worse than they looked, and that his power was far beneath what he was normally able to display. Shock once again flooded through Asuros' body as he thought about how powerful one would need to be to push his master to this state.
The Asuraic creature gazed down on Parker with an indifferent expression, inspecting him for a short while.
"Do you have the dragon-essence bone?" the creature asked Asuros, its voice deep and menacing.
Asuros trembled for a short moment out of instinctual fear as he heard his masters question, and shook his head after a moment.
"I did not manage to obtain the dragon-essence bone. I have failed you, master," Asuros replied with deep regret in his voice.
"All those resources for you to return empty handed," the Asuraic creature growled as he heard Asuros' words. The Asuraic creature narrowed its eyes in angered disappointment, and one of his arms reached out, pressing one of his massive claws directly against Asuros' forehead.
Asuros' eyes widened for a moment as he could tell his master was debating whether or not to kill him for his failure, and his survival depended on his next words.
"But I did manage to find something just as good," Asuros quickly muttered, his words causing the creature to pause for a moment, and it waited in silence for Asuros to explain.
Asuros took a deep breath of relief as his gaze hardened, while his rage soared as he thought
about the one who had made him fail his mission and put him in this situation.
"I discovered the identity of the one called ‘Asura'," Asuros said, his words causing the creatures eyes to light up slightly.
"Oh? And?" the creature mused, his voice deep and guttural.
"And its as you guessed," Asuros replied, his gaze becoming cold with rage, "The one called ‘Asura' has a body of a true Asura."
The creature's eyes lit up with surprise, and then menacing delight as he stared at his disciple before him. A sinister smile appeared on its face as
"Good. If your words are true, then I just may excuse you for your abject failure," the creature growled. "What is the identity of the one called ‘Asura'?"
An equally sinister smile appeared on Asuros' face as he heard his master ask this question, and he replied without any hesitation at all.
"John Fenix!"
