At the top of the monastery steps, the remaining monks stared at the stone stele, a few of them with wide eyes. The stone stele was mirrored, with the same information appearing on both sides, allowing them to see what the crowd was seeing on the other side from their position.
Expressions of surprise were rarely seen on the normally stoic monks, but a few of the most experienced of them had rare expressions of surprise as they stared at a particular name.
"Prior Hishen!" one of the other monks addressed the Prior, who nodded his head in acknowledgement of the unsaid words.
"Goddess of Death! It is no doubt an Empyrean Dao Name!" Prior Hishen mused, his surprise taking quite some time to fade away.
…
The Divine Wall stood firm throughout the ages, surviving even the calamity itself. No one other than the monks of the monastery knew what was on the other side of the Divine Wall, and none could enter without their approval.
The first stretch of land beyond the Divine Wall was a vast plain, one that seemed to have been untouched by man for untold ages. The plain was quite beautiful, filled with tall grasses, blooming flowers, and chirping insects. A calm breeze drifted through the plains, shifting the grass ever so slightly.
The plain appeared to be slightly golden, its color derived from the massive golden wall of light nearby.
Flash!
A flash of light suddenly appeared within the plain, and a singular figure appeared, standing in the waist tall grass. Rahze's stoic gaze and narrowed eyes scanned the nearby area immediately, taking note of what was all around him.
A slight look of disgust appeared on his face as he took in the scenic plains before him, as if something so beautiful was instead an eyesore.
"Alone huh?" Rahze mused, noting that he had appeared here without his ally Lua. Although he didn't care about traveling with her, and instead found it more appealing to travel alone, he still noted that the portal seemed to have split him up from her, as well as the others who most likely entered just after him.
As his eyes scanned the plains, his gaze suddenly narrowed as he felt a pressure descend upon him just a few seconds after entering the formation.
"Hmm?" Rahze mused as he felt the pressure peirce through his body without pause, despite his best efforts to stop it. It was as if the pressure existed in a different dimension, and was not something he could interact with. The pressure fell onto his dantian, and began to restrict it, limiting the amount of Qi he could unleash from his dantian.
Rahze fell as if a wave of weakness was surging through him, something all cultivators felt when their cultivations were forcibly restricted. A displeased look lingered on his face as he felt his cultivation drop to the Middle Dao Transformation Realm before stopping.
"Tch, how annoying," Rahze mumbled in displeasure, as the feeling of not having full access to his dantians power was like he was stuck in mud, unable to move. He cast the feeling aside and set his gaze on the only thing of note he could see; a large mountain range in the far distance.
Making up his mind, he urged Qi through his body to take flight, and took off the ground. His face scrunched up in displeasure once more as he landed on the ground shortly after, and cast his gaze up to the sky, although there was nothing there to see.
"Flight restriction? Tch, this realm is becoming more and more annoying by the second," Rahze spat out in disgust as he cast aside the thought of flying to the mountains, and began to move by foot instead. His body flashed forward with incredible speed as he raced towards his destination.
…
John stepped into the portal before him, and felt himself enter a different space entirely. All around him was a golden light, as if he had entered a realm of nothing but that. A strange energy suddenly washed over him, invading each and every inch of his body.
John knew this energy was far stronger and more profound than he could deal with, and so he didn't bother to fight back against it. After scanning him for a short while, a monotone voice sounded out within the golden void, surprising John slightly.
"True Name : John Fenix
Cultivation : Peak Heaven Tribulation
Age : …"
The voice paused upon mentioning his age, as if it was stuck. Silence returned to the void for a moment before the voice spoke up once more.
"Bone Age : Eighteen
Dao Name : Not Found…"
"Yeah, no shit. I'm not in the Dao Transformation realm yet," John mumbled to himself. Once one ascended to the Dao Transformation Realm, they could acquire their heaven bestowed Dao Name by interfacing with a special artifact. Until then, one could typically not acquire a Dao Name.
"Hmm? What's this? It seems as though the Heavens have already taken note of you," the monotone voice sounded out, revealing that it had some intelligence.
'An artifact spirit?' John mused, and concluded that it was the most likely answer.
"Scanning!" the monotone voice sounded out again, and remained silent for a moment as John felt a strange energy wash over him. As the energy washed over him, John felt the gaze of the Heavens fall upon him, almost like when he had experienced his tribulations. The gaze lasted only for a brief moment, before both the strange energy and Heavenly gaze vanished.
"A Dao Name in the Heaven Tribulation Realm? It seems you have truly caught the attention of the Heavens already!" the voice mumbled again.
"Dao Name : Immortal Asura!"
'Immortal Asura huh? I guess that is the name of the cultivation technique I possess afterall,' John mused as he thought about his Immortal Asura Body cultivation technique. The strange energy scanned him for a brief bit longer before fully fading away.
"You have met the required conditions. You may proceed," the monotone voice sounded out again, as another portal of light appeared before John. John nodded and stepped within without hesitation, disappearing from the golden void he was in moments before.
….
Several minutes after entering, Rahze stopped once more, and his face scrunched up again with displeasure, and even disgust. His forehead twitched with anger as he felt the pressure descend on his dantian once more, restricting it again.
The restriction continued to force his cultivation down until he was able to unleash the same amount of Qi as when he was in the Peak Heaven Tribulation realm, making him feel incredibly weak.
"Tch!" Rahze clicked his tongue in frustration again before moving on once more, doing his best to ignore the unpleasant feeling.
