The Asura creature couldn't help but growl and gaze sideways at Asuros, who recoiled in instinctual fear. The eyes of the black-haired man lit up slightly as he noticed this interaction.
"Ahhhh, so it seems as though there may have been one other option, but that option is now no longer possible. How amusing…and lucky for me," the black-haired man mused.
The Asura scoffed and stared at the man in silence for a moment before turning on his heel to leave.
"You speak of bargains, and yet your last payment was quite some time ago," the black-haired man said before the creature could leave.
The Asuraic creature stopped for a moment, and after a short pause, waved its hand. A spatial ring appeared in the air before it, which was flung violently towards the black-haired man.
Boom!
The man caught the ring, the power of the ring's momentum causing the massive palace to shake violently once more. Without another word, the Asura and well as Asuros flashed forward, disappearing from the temple chamber.
"I will return within five years," the creature's voice lingered within the chamber. "Your daughter best be ready before then, Astral Emperor!"
The Astral Emperor stared at their leaving figures for a moment before his attention focused on the ring in his hand. He sent his divine sense within, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face shortly after as he inspected the massive pile of cultivation resources, as well as cultivation methods and battle arts far beyond the scope of what the world had to offer.
One of the items suddenly appeared in his hand, which was a jade piece of ancient quality and profundity. The jade piece was around the size of his hand, and on the top had several words carved into it.
"Blood-Dao Transference!" he whispered the words, his gaze widening after inspecting it for a moment.
"I wonder. Who will accomplish their goals first…me, or him?" the Astral Emperor mused softly, finding the situation exciting more than anything. "The winner gets the world, and the loser, a miserable death. How amusing!"
…
"Master, I don't understand why we don't just kill him and take his daughter? Force her to heal you? Then we wouldn't need the Astral Emperor's help" Asuros asked his master after they left the palace.
"If you cannot figure that out yourself, then you are even more worthless than I previously thought," the Asura scoffed with disdain, as if finding Asuros even more and more of a failure as time went on. His claws swiped down before him, opening a hole in space in which he stepped through, and Asuros hastily followed behind, returning the Astral Empire behind.
…
All eyes were on John as he steadily climbed the second half of the massive set of stairs. Only just now had the three Battle Bobs managed to reach the half-way point, and other than them, no one else had.
The three Bobs roared with rage as they realized John had already moved on, and began to furiously cultivate once more in an attempt to eventually catch up.
They could only imagine the pressure and strain John was feeling on the second half, although his steady progress made it appear as though he was not struggling at all.
"Is…is he truly going to make it to the top?" on of the youths asked as they watched John closely.
"If he can't, then no one can. Even for the ancient Jade Dragon Empire, I refuse to believe someone as talented as him cannot make it to the top…right?" another replied.
If even someone like John was unable to match the ancient youths of the Jade Dragon Empire, then the state of the current world would truly be beyond pathetic.
"I guess we'll find out shortly," a third youth replied, while everyone's eyes remained fixed on John's back.
Boom!
John's foot slammed down onto another step, shaking the steps with his power. The energy not only invaded his body and tested his bloodline and bones, most likely to check on his assimilation with the dragonic inheritances he had just received, it also tried to force him off the stairs.
"Hmph, with my Immortal Asura Body, family bloodline, and now draconic inheritance, this trial is no longer burdensome," John mused as he continued to climb steadily, although he felt a strong amount of strain as he did so. "But for anyone else, this trial alone would be almost impossible. I wonder what is in the top temple for such an impossible trial to be placed before it?"
Step by step, John pushed through the profoundly powerful energy, using his heaven defying body and talents to surge through the trial. His steady footsteps shocked all, as they had expected even someone like him to slow down a bit. However, after climbing for an hour, his foot slammed down on the last step, placing himself at the top of the stairs directly before the temple.
"He did it! He actually did it!" one for the youths exclaimed, equally in excitement and shock.
"Is…is the second half not that hard?" another youth asked, confused at how easily John had managed to climb it.
"RUAHHHH! I refuse to fall so far behind!" one of the battle Bob's suddenly yelled loudly as he saw John reach the top. That Bob stood up and stepped on the next step, and after a brief struggle, was violently thrown back onto the step he had previously been on.
Everyone widened their eyes as they saw this, as someone as strong as one of the Three Battle Gods failing so quickly was a testament to just how powerful the steps were. They all gazed back up at the top of the stairs towards John as a result, but saw him no more as he had already crested over the edge towards the temple at the top.
John ignored the ruckus behind him as he arrived before the temple, which was identical to the others save for the door. Above the door were carved words, reading ‘Rebirth of the Jade Dragon.' The door was slightly different, which different indentations on the front. There were the same indentations for reverse dragon scales as before, but John had already used both of the dragon-scales in his possession for the previous trial.
A frown appeared on his face as he inspected the other indentations, and his eyes lit up slightly as he recognized the shape of one of the indentations.
"Could it be?" John mused as he took out his battle axe, which had belonged to the Jade Dragon Emperor. The battle axe's core was a reverse dragon scale, and the indentation in the door before him perfectly matched the battle axe.
After taking it out, the battle axe instantly shot into the indentation on the door, and as expected formation runes lit up all around, causing the door to slowly open. John's eyes lit up with glee as the door opened, but his frown returned as he realized his battle axe was still in the door.
He wanted to retrieve it, but didn't know if doing so would lock him inside forever. After giving it a bit of thought, he decided to proceed forward for now, but collect the weapon again once he left the temple.
"You better not go anywhere," John grumbled before walking forward and entering the temple.
"As expected, it's the same as the other temples," John mused as he arrived within, finding the interiors to be the exact same as the two other temples. His eyes shifted towards the center where the objects of interest should be, and his face lit up with shock as he saw what was before him.
"Is that…?!?!"
