John's slightly widened eyes focused on the objects before him, with one in particular catching his attention more than the rest.
Like the other temples, everything within was hollow, with the only things of interest at the very center of the massive room. At the very center of the room were dozens of dragon statues, each around fifty yards tall. The statues were so incredibly lifelike that they appeared to be true dragons frozen in time, and they formed a circle fifty yards wide with each statue facing inwards.
Just looking at the statues made John want to bow his head in reverence, but he defied that instinctual urge and shifted his gaze elsewhere. In the middle of all the dragon statues was a circular platform, raised a few feet off the ground. A simple staircase led up to the platform, which had so many tiny formation runes carved into it that John estimated they numbered in the millions.
It was the most complicated formation circle he had ever seen in his life, and despite it being deactivated and unused for who knows how long, it still gave off a profoundly powerful aura, as if the masters who had created it had infused all their Dao's into the formation.
However, despite both these things being eye-catching, there was still one thing even more shocking resting at the far end of the raised platform. It rested on a pedestal several feet tall, and instantly reminded John of something similar he had encountered once in his life before.</anda>
"A dragon egg?" John mumbled, just recovering from his shock.
The dragon egg remained completely motionless, as if it had already become petrified, but John could tell that it was not as simple as it appeared. Although it was well contained, he could detect a profound and monstrous aura coming from within the dragon egg, but at the same time, that monstrous aura was also rather weak.
It was as if the aura belonged to an ancient deity, but the deity had fallen and all that remained was a lingering remnant of its power.
John stared at the egg for some time before moving towards the dragon statues and raised platform between them. His footsteps remained steady as he stepped onto the stairs, and eventually onto the platform itself. He studied the formation runes beneath his feet for a brief moment before his gaze shifted back towards the dragon egg on the opposite site of the platform.
"Is the reward of this trial the dragon egg? Or something else?" John mused, as he could tell that the formation before the dragon egg seemed to be something unrelated to it. After inspecting the formation, John walked over towards the center of it.
Boom!
A muffled boom rumbled through the temple as it seemed to suddenly come alive. The formation circle beneath John's feet lit up with power and began to glow with a green brilliance. Green light surged up all around John, while he found himself be locked into place by a powerful restrictive force. However, the force did not try to harm him yet, and so John remained calm but wary as the ancient formation beneath his feet continued to grow in power.
Outside the temple, all the youths ascending the stairs opened their eyes in shock as the ancient dragon corpse suddenly flared with power, as if it had somehow come alive. The eyes of the dragon began to glow brightly, and after a brief moment, they all saw a white beam of energy slam down onto the temple below the dragon's head.
"What is happening?"
"Did the dragon come alive?"
"How is that possible?"
The startled cries of the Honorable Alliance youths echoed out amongst one another as they saw the subtle changes to the long dead dragon happen before their very eyes.
Boom!
The temple shook once more and trembled violently within, while John suddenly felt an aura beyond compare slam down onto him. His knees buckled from the pressure, but he remained standing as he struggled against it.
After slamming onto him, the energy invaded his body, something that shocked John greatly as he was unable to resist its might at all. It coursed all throughout his body, surging from his skin, to his muscles, to his blood, and then his bones.
No inch of his body was left untouched, as if it were inspecting him with utmost thoroughness. At the same time, a part of the energy surged towards his soul and wrapped around it as if trying to crush it.
"Submit!"
The word suddenly echoed in his mind, like war drums booming from within. The voice was deep and ancient, profound and powerful. His mind ached with pain as the word reverberated through it, and his soul power flared with absolute power to resist against it.
"Submit!"
The word boomed again as the power crashing against his soul amplified, trying to force him to open his soul and submit to the power. John grit his teeth against the pain as his anger began to steadily rise. If there was one thing in this world that he hated more than anything, it was others trying to force their will on him.
Supreme Battle Art!"
John activated the Supreme Battle Art, increasing his strength to fight back against the powerful energy.
"Submit!"
The word boomed out again, further enraging John to the point that he finally snapped.
"YOU fucking submit!" John roared as his aura suddenly exploded outwards with incredible intensity, slamming into the energy descending from above. His body instantly changed forms as he activated his Immortal Asura Body to fight against whatever power was pressing down on him.
The energy descending from above trembled for a moment as if the source of it had become shocked, and then immediately afterwards the energy pressing down intensified with power. A power that now contained obvious malice and hostility.
A new word boomed in his mind as the energy slamming down onto John intensified by a horrifying degree, as if the source of it had truly decided to kill him.
"Perish!"
