The massive building, grand in aura yet minimalist in design, grew larger in his vision as he quickly approached it. It had looked quite close at first, but that was only due to its overwhelmingly immense size. It took him a short while to arrive before it, and stopped before one of the entrances he had spotted.
The massive building dominated his view, leaving nothing else in sight. It stretched out to either side as far as he could see, and towered into the sky higher than most mountains. The exterior was made of stone, with the only decorations being massive pillars that stretched miles up to an overhanging roof.
A massive arched opening stood before him, the entrance swirling with mystical energy.
"Another portal, huh?" John mused as he saw the obvious portal before him, which was similar to the one that had been used to enter this realm. He inspected it for a brief moment and then stepped into it, as it was the only way forward that he could see.
While he could fly over the building if need be, he knew the realm wasn't designed with flight in mind, and so that would most likely be useless. The mysterious yet profound aura was emanating from within, seeping through the very walls of the massive structure as if nothing could contain its presence.
Whatever it was, it was firmly within the structure, and thus he would enter.
John stepped into the portal, and as expected, felt his body move a short distance through space before nearly instantly appearing in another location. As he had done dozens of times before with each portal he had stepped through, his head quickly swiveled about while his divine sense spread out in all directions, ensuring that he understood his new location and any possible dangers lurking about.
His divine sense quickly retracted as he realized there was no danger, and instead he had found himself standing in the very middle of a massive arena. The arena was circular and one hundred miles across, so large that it could hardly be called an arena.
Only the stone platform stretching out to the edges of the walls, which were then lined by a small row of stands gave a hint to the fact that it was an arena. However, it was quite unlike other arenas he had seen.
Most arenas had seating for hundreds of thousands, or even millions, but this arena only had three rows of seats. While the number of potential viewers was staggering solely due to the arena's circumference, it was still quite an odd setup.
As John gazed about, his eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed figures start to apparate in the stands, as if appearing out of thin air. The figures were misty and ethereal at first, but quickly solidified to form detailed figures.
Humans, beasts, monsters…men…women…races of all kinds, each appearing incredibly lifelike. The figures lined the entire arena, causing John to turn all about as he took in the sudden and unexpected change. Each figure appeared quite young, as young as him to a bit older, although their ages were hard to truly tell, as cultivation skewed the ability to guess one's age quite a bit.
However, one thing was certain that was true for all the figures. They were geniuses. Paramount geniuses.
Their auras were all displayed. They were not flaring their auras, but enough was leaked to gauge the talent level and power of the figures. And each was without a doubt a monstrous genius.
"Holograms?" John mused to himself as he studied the figures, which reminded him of one other figure he had seen before.
The youthful avatar of his mysterious father that he had fought in the final trial of the Divine Talent trial years ago. That avatar and these figures were almost identical in how they formed and how they now appeared, making him realize that these were most likely geniuses who had participated in this trial in the past, much like his father had done.
Flash!
Flash!
Flash
John wanted to study the figures a bit more, but three brief flashes caught his attention. He turned around to face the sudden appearances of three new figures, each standing within the arena proper much like himself.
Unlike the holograms that had just appeared, these figures were no doubt alive.
'The other trial participants!' John thought to himself, studying them closely. The three that had appeared were two females and one male.
The first female was ethereally beautiful, like an angel. She had long light blue hair, which framed her angelic face. She wore a dress that seemed more like mist than real fabric, and her aura gave off a strong soul aura, icy in nature.
'A Faerie!' John mumbled, as the figure looked similar to the Faeries he had seen in the Jade Dragon Empire Realm.
The two other people that had appeared looked the complete opposite. Both wore blood red clothes, one a sensual dress, and the other a tight-fitting robe. Both gave off a sinister aura, and were obviously part of the Forbidden Alliance.
'Rahze and Lua,' John thought, recalling that there were two Forbidden Alliance experts who had joined the realm. Their results had been quite good, indicating that both were formidable talents. As they arrived, both instantly noticed John, and their expressions narrowed slightly, cold yet a tinge of amusement in them.
John remained calm as he saw these two, as he could tell that their cultivations were suppressed to the Heaven Tribulation Realm. While he had not known this was being done, he breathed a slight sigh of relief upon detecting it. If he had to face against two World Expansion enemies at once, his odds were not good.
But against two World Expansion experts who had their cultivations suppressed to his realm…that was more than manageable for him.
He stood still as he watched the two approach him, while a flash of light appeared behind them again, indicating another had arrived. It was a young man with a sinister looking face, clad in black clothing.
Boom!
A powerful aura blasted out from the new arrival, as well as John as the two locked gazes, and rushed towards each other, murderous hatred plastered over both their faces.
"Die!" they both roared as they arrived before each other, fists surging forward with awe-inspiring might.
