Lilian's gaze shifted from surprise to cold as she heard the Asura mentioned. The Asura was the root cause of all her past betrayals, and so she wanted it and everything associated with it to perish.
"You better make his death a miserable one," Lilian said while staring at Asuros across the hundred-mile-wide arena. Asuros noticed her gaze and smiled back smugly, knowing they were talking about him.
"You don't have to tell me that," John said, repeating the words Lilian gave him when he said she better make Zeras suffer.
"Good," Lilian said, and then fell silent as she and John watched the battle unfold.
The battle lasted over an hour, as Zasgoth and Rahze unleashed mystical battle arts and devastating attacks. Due to their dantian being restricted to the Heaven Tribulation Realm, neither was able to tap into the true potential of their World Expansion cultivation.
However, their terrifying comprehension levels still allowed them to unleash attacks far greater than what a Heaven Tribulation cultivator would be capable of.
'Their attacks are at least on the level of a middle Dao Transformation cultivator, maybe even higher. Comprehensions truly are just as important as cultivation level, maybe even more,' John mused internally as he watched the battle unfold.
His gaze naturally shifted to Zeras, who sat far away from them dozens of miles away. Zeras hardly looked at the battle, as if it were of no interest to him, and was instead reading something contained with a jade piece he held.
'I wonder how much stronger he is than the others,' John mused. Zeras was no doubt the strongest cultivator here when it came to unrestricted power, and John didn't know what his limits were.
Was he capable of beating Lilian, and if so, was he capable of beating Asuros? The pinnacle genius of the Astral Empire was not to be looked down upon, cultivation normalized or not. John was already preparing himself for that situation, although he hoped it was not what was to come.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The battle reached its climax, as both Rahze and Zasgoth no longer held back. Zasgoth's body changed as he transformed into a monstrous looking form; an innate trait of the monster race. His body grew larger, his nails grew longer, acting like sharp knives on his hand, and his power multiplied.
Even John couldn't help but be impressed at the transformation, and the level of physical strength Zasgoth was displaying. On the other side, Rahze utilized his superior essence Qi talent to unleash a torrent of crimson blades that nearly filled the arena, making it so that there was no safe space for Zasgoth to run to.
Zasgoth's claws slammed against the tempest of blades, with neither side getting a fatal blow on the other. The tempest of blades suddenly vanished, causing a moment of confusion for Zasgoth. He recovered and sped towards Rahze like a blur, intending on landing the final blow.
"Haha. Out of Qi already? Die then," Zasgoth roared as arrived before Rahze to unleash the finishing blow.
Rahze smirked, and Zasgoth's eyes widened, and instincts flared, urging him to retreat.
"Too late," Rahze said as his body paled, as if all the blood had been drained from his body. An instant later, a blood red spike, clearly made from Rahze's blood, pierced out of his chest, its speed faster than any of the sword attacks he had unleashed earlier.
Zasgoth was too close, and he was unable to dodge in time.
Che!
The blood red spike pierced into Zasgoth's chest, and penetrated his formidable body with ease. It pierced out his back, drilling through his entire body.
"Puh!" Zasgoth spat out some blood, and then smiled sinisterly at Rahze, his teeth stained red with blood.
"Not bad, but this isn't nearly enough to kill me," Zasgoth sneered and placed his two hands on the blood spike. "And now you have no strength left after this attack," he added, as Razhe had almost no blood left in his body.
Zasgoth's arms flexed with might as he tried to pull out the spike of blood from his chest. His eyes widened as he realized he was unable to make it budge, and then fear crept onto his face as he realized his own strength was weakening.
His eyes locked with Rahze's, who was sneering back at him. The color was returning to his face slowly but surely, as if blood was being restored to his body. However, the blood spike remained the same size and power, which made Zasgoth realize something.
Rahze was absorbing his own blood!
"You fucker! You think you can steal my blood? Keep dreaming!" Zasgoth roared angrily as his power flared to resist. Surprise returned to his face as he realized his struggles were in vain. No matter what he did, he could not stop the absorption process. It was as if Rahze had full dominion over all blood.
John stared on with surprise, as he had not expected Rahze to have such a battle art. He studied Rahze's aura, and raised an eyebrow as he detected something.
'The Dao of Blood! And Rahze's comprehension into Dao of Blood is no doubt in the Dao Expert Stage, or maybe even higher. No wonder he had control over Zasgoths blood once he was able to land that final blow.'
John watched on as Zasgoth's aura slowly faded away, while Rahze's climbed. Zasgoth finally abandoned trying to escape and instead unleashed his strongest ranged attack on Rahze, who sneered and slashed his sword to easily parry it.
"Too late," Rahze smirked. "You might have been able to escape if you had attacked me right away, but your strength is gone, as is your blood."
Zasgoth's eyes widened with fear, as he realized he had not only lost, but his life was now in Rahze's hands. They had not agreed to a life and death battle, but that didn't mean Rahze couldn't kill him.
"I concede!" Zasgoth exclaimed, and then gritted his teeth with frustration and shame. The pinnacle genius of the monster race had lost without winning a single fight.
"Smart choice," Rahze said as he unleashed his battle art. The blood spike disappeared and Zasgoth slumped to the ground as the first battle of the final trial came to a shocking end.
