Wide eyes, most filled with fear, stared at the stone stele, which revealed Asuros' transformation. He had appeared like a hellish demon before, but now appeared even more fearsome, more brutal, more terrifying. It was a fear at the instinctual level, as if every cell in their bodies was warning them to flee.
Even the stronger cultivators in the crowd, Dao Transformation and World Expansion experts alike, felt this instinctual warning, although they were better able to control their emotions than the weaker cultivators witnessing Asuros' true form.
There were some gazes in the crowd belonging to the ancient experts of the world that narrowed. They had read ancient scriptures and passages about an ancient foe, terrifying beyond all measure. Those descriptions matched Asuros' appearance almost perfectly.
The Grand Abbot narrowed his gaze as well, staring through the thousands of miles of land, mountains, and formation barriers to peer within the arena.
"Grand Abbot," Prior Hishen said.
The Grand Abbot nodded. "That is no doubt an Asura transformation, as is the other childs. However, where one maintains his humanity, the other has completely shed it."
"How did they come to obtain such transformations?" Prior Hishen asked with surprised curiosity.
"We can only speculate at this moment about the one child, but as for the one who has shed his humanity, I have some ideas," the Grand Abbot said, elaborating no further.
Prior Hishen wanted to ask more about it, but knew the Grand Abbot would not speak further of this matter.
"This is the true form of an Asura!" Asuros roared, his voice demonic, deep, and guttural. A sharp-fanged smile appeared on his face as he stared at John like he was his prey. "You claimed in our previous battle that my transformation was a false Asura transformation, while your's was true. Let's see if you can still say those words!"
Asuros roared once more like a beast, and then pressed off the arena ground. The land shook violently with his step, while Asuros sped forward like a blur, his speed far greater than before despite his larger size.
He appeared before John in an instant, and slashed out at him with calamitous power. It was as if an entire world was falling onto John. John gripped his scythe shaft tight and slashed it out towards Asuros, using every ounce of strength he had.
Bang!
Weapons collided, and the arena seemed as though it was about to fall apart. It shook with calamitous ruin, making those seated in the stands feel as though they were experiencing a world-ending earthquake.
John felt an overwhelming force surge into his arms and then through the rest of his body, making his muscles and bones ache with pain. Despite his overwhelming strength as well as weapon weight, John felt himself lose out in the exchange, much to his surprise.
Unable to contest against Asuros, John was knocked backwards, violently tumbling through the air. He quickly righted himself midair and came to a halt, as he had lost in strength, but had not taken much damage in that exchange.
'So strong!' John couldn't help but mutter to himself.
He knew Asuros would be terrifyingly strong in this new form of his, but didn't know it would be to this level. He now knew where Asuros' confidence came from, as his new transformation put him on the same level as John's Asura Transformation in conjunction with his Supreme Battle Art.
John grumbled internally at his lower cultivation, which always seemed to be the case when he fought against his opponents. Despite the realm normalizing their cultivations, Asuros still had a great advantage when compared to John. Much like the comprehension advantages Lilian and Zeras had, Asuros had a body advantage.
His higher cultivation had made his body a level higher than John's at the physical level, and despite the formation restricting it to the same cultivation realm, the formation was only able to do so much. It could not completely erase the advantage Asuros had, much to John's displeasure.
Lastly, he could tell that Asuros' had incredible comprehension as well, as each and every slash of his saber was infused with multiple Dao's. John recognized the Dao of Destruction, which not at John's comprehension level, was still formidable. There were other Dao's as well, such as the Dao of Saber's and some John didn't recognize, which all together made Asuros truly dangerous, worthy of his status as a pinnacle genius.
That last slash alone was more powerful than anything Zeras had unleashed in his battle with Lilian. Lilian watched John's battle unfold with a neutral expression, although internally she was not as calm as she appeared. Many things had already happened in the battle that were outside of her expectations, including the sheer power Asuros possessed. She now understood where John's confidence in Asuros' strength came from.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The arena trembled violently as Asuros and John exchanged more attacks, with Asuros on the offensive the entire time. Each slash of his saber sent John flying backwards, at which point he would just be able to stabilize before Asuros would appear before him and unleash another apocalyptic saber slash, forcing John to defend once more.
Lilian frowned as she saw this battle-flow unfold. She knew this was not all her disciple was capable of, as his confidence from earlier would have been a joke if this was his limits.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Asuros' overwhelming assault continued ceaselessly, making everyone watching feel as though this was the end of the battle. Despite the fact that John had been the number one trial participant up to this point, it appears as though his talents and combat prowess were not at the same level.
Many felt pity, as well as disappointment. Despite the fact that Asuros' power was beyond stunning, as was John's at the moment, they expected more from the man who had achieved a perfect score in the divine realm, as well as twenty steps on the Talent Testing Steps.
Lilian's gaze narrowed as she watched John be beaten back time and time again, each time only managing to block Asuros' attack by a thin margin, just keeping himself alive. His gaze seemed almost distracted, and his actions seemed instinctual, as if he were reserving the least possible amount of focus on the battle to keep himself alive, while the rest of his mind and soul was elsewhere.
Suddenly, she leaned forward unconsciously as she studied John closely, and her eyes went wide with realization.
"That idiot! Is he actually trying to do something so…stupid?" she grumbled with calm anger.
Bang!
Another collision of scythe and saber caused John to go flying backwards like a broken kite. His arms were trembling from the repeated collisions, as if they were on the brink of collapse, and blood began to trickle down from the corners of his mouth.
However, despite being pushed to the edge, John's expression remained calm, confusing most who were watching the battle unfold. That was not the expression of someone on the edge of defeat. It was not the expression of someone with no hope of victory.
While others noticed this, Asuros seemed to be oblivious, as he was drowning in the pleasure of dominating John. While he had not managed to gravely injure or kill John, that was only a matter of time.
"Is this all you're capable of?" Asuros roared with smug satisfaction. "Pathetic!"
Bang!
Asuros slashed out, his saber sending John flying once more.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
John was knocked throughout the arena like a pinball, going from edge to edge of the arena ceaselessly. However, with each attack blocked, a bizarre and profound energy wrapped around him, which Lilian was the first to notice.
With each attack, the energy grew stronger and stronger, until even Asuros finally noticed its existence.
"The spatial Dao? What can you hope to do with your measly grasp of the spatial Dao?" Asuros said mockingly as he unleashed another saber slash.
Lilian suddenly stood up, her mouth agape and eyes wide, as if she had been stunned to her core.
"Impossible! He was just…"
A heavenly aura descended from the sky around John, as if he were being blessed by the heavens. Asuros', as well as everyone watching, became stunned as they instantly recognized what that heavenly aura was.
It was the heavenly blessing, the heavenly acknowledgement, when someone broke through from one comprehension realm to the next. The aura descended down on John, making it clear who had broken through.
John smiled as he watched Asuros' saber slash down towards his skull, but he didn't raise his scythe to block it.
"Thanks for pushing me to the edge," he said calmly, "it helped me advance much faster than normal," John finished, and then the energy and profundity of spatial Dao he had been using before magnified severalfold, stepping into an entirely new realm.
The saber fell onto John, and passed right through him. Millions winced as they thought they had watched a heavenly genius be cleaved in half, but those winced became expressions of shock as they watched Asuros' saber slam down onto the arena floor, with John nowhere in sight.
Bang!
Asuros' gaze snapped to the side, his eyes red with rage. He spotted John standing a hundred yards away, completely unharmed, frowning.
"Huh, spatial teleportation is much harder to control than master makes it look," John mumbled to himself, "I meant to appear right behind Asuros, and yet here I am all this distance away. What a shame."
