John closed his eyes, assuming a seated meditative position, and focused on the mental image of the Asuras aura domain during that hellish battle. The pain of the trial rained down on him ceaselessly, making it nearly impossible to think about anything other than the pain.
It was all encompassing, all consuming.
John took a deep breath and held it in while he focused on stabilizing his mind and pushing out the pain. He exhaled a while later, feeling a sliver of thought created in his mind, one that could ignore the pain, and focus on the Asura domain.
'The Dao of Pain. That was most certainly one of the Daos I felt from the Asuras aura. It wasn't that the aura was strong enough to cause pain, but that it emanated the actual Dao instead. Then why did it take me so long to realize that?'
His experiences with pain, as well as his experience with the World Dimension Seed had raised his Dao comprehensions significantly. It wasn't at the level of actively using the Dao, but he could at the very least detect when pain was caused by the Dao itself, or some other reason.
'This trial has a multitude of Daos working together to cause pain. The Dao of illusions. The Dao of heat. The Dao of space. The Dao of blood. All these Daos are being used to torture my body, filling it with pain. But the Dao that is making the pain beyond excruciating is the Dao of Pain, which seems to not only cause pain itself, but heighten the pain caused by other things. And yet, the Asura's Dao of Pain felt different compared to the Dao I feel now. It's not just the strength that's different, but the very nature itself. How can the same Dao feel so different?'
It was the first time John had experienced this bizarre truth. Stumped by the answer, his will exploded with resolve, setting his mind to work through the pain.
…
A week passed by, which felt quite quick for the spectators, but a lifetime for John. The pain never stopped, never lessened in intensity. It was already present, always piercing deep into his body and soul.
And yet, he resisted, and even somewhat ignored the pain as he focused on the task he set for himself; figure out the truth of the Asura aura domain. If he could do that, he would potentially have another powerful trump card to use in the future.
A week in, he had made some progress in solving the riddle, but had not figured it out fully just yet. The pain raining down on him slowed his mind, making it nearly impossible to think. And yet, it also aided him, as the Dao of Pain enveloping him gave him a direct and clear method of studying the Dao.
A few days into the trial, he had shifted from trying to figure out the truth in one go, and instead started from the base of the issue. The Dao of Pain. Studying the Dao, and becoming proficient in it was incredibly hard to do, as one needed to not only subject themselves to horrifying pain to study it, but also needed to meditate and comprehend the Dao through the pain as well.
The Dao of Pain was an incredibly fearsome Dao, one that would cause the hearts of men to shudder if going against it, and yet it was incredibly rare to encounter someone using it. Such a dangerous and useful Dao would only be so rare in one case; it was incredibly difficult to cultivate and comprehend.
This trial used formations to unleash the Dao of Pain, but formations were not the same as comprehending the Dao itself. The one creating the formations only needed the formational skill to craft the appropriate runic patterns, as well as knowledge of the correct runic patterns associated with the Dao itself.
As such, a skilled formation master could create a formation to unleash the Dao of Pain, without having comprehended the Dao themselves. It was one of the reasons formation masters were held in such high esteem.
The only downside was that when compared to a true expert that compheneded the Dao directly, the Dao from the formations would be lacking. That is unless the formations master also comprehended the Dao itself, at which point they could infuse their Dao comprehensions into the formations, elevating its level to its true potential.
'Based on the potency and quality of this Dao of Pain, I'd bet that whoever made this trial has also comprehended the Dao of Pain to a decent extent,' John mused for a moment before returning to comprehending the Dao himself.
Another week passed by, at which point a heavenly aura descended down on John for a moment, even piercing through the veils of the trial to reach him. It was a sensation he had felt many times before.
The sensation of breaking through to the Dao Adept stage. John's eyes snapped open, a grin appearing despite the pain he felt, which he could ignore a bit better than when he first entered the realm.
'After two weeks of torturous meditation, I have finally grasped the fundamentals of the Dao of Pain!'
After basking in the sensation for a brief time, his eyes closed once more, returning to solving the mystery of the Asura aura domain.
…
John spent the next two weeks studying the Dao of Pain from the trial, from himself, and from his memories of the Asuras aura.
A ball of black and red Qi swirled above his palm, glowing with a malevolent glint. It was as if red eyes of devils and demons were appearing and fading away, waiting to spring out of the ball of Qi and cause pain to everything around it.
John studied the ball of Pain Qi, formed by his essence Qi, for a long time. Everything from the aura to the sensation of pain it gave was studied as he tried to mimic the Dao of Pain that permeated the Asuras aura domain.
'It's no good,' he grimaced, letting the ball of pain fade away. Despite the ball being of his own creation, it still caused him pain when near him, surprising him slightly.
'I figured grasping the Dao would make me mostly immune to its effects, but that's not the case. While I can withstand the pain better, the level of pain I feel from it is no different to what others would feel. Does that mean the Asura is affected by his Dao of Pain as well the entire time? And why does my Dao feel so different?'
John recalled the battle, of the Asura grinning with malicious glee as he fought Raijen and the others.
'If he does, he showed no signs of it,' John shook his head, and formed a new ball of Pain Qi above his palm. He studied the Dao endlessly, mind focused on one thing alone, until suddenly, the pain suddenly vanished.
John blinked after a few seconds, slow to react to the unexpected change. He frowned as he felt his focus and insights slip away.
"What the hell?" John grumbled loudly, although he was greatly relieved that the horrifying pain had stopped. "I was making good progress."
Despite feeling agitated, he also breathed out loudly in relief. Despite being a prodigy when it came to withstanding pain, and despite his advances in the Dao of Pain, the trial had been an absolutely brutal one. It had pushed him to the edge several times, and he knew it would have eventually driven him mad had it never stopped.
He felt as though he had gone from being in a hellish inferno to a cool spring breeze, invigorating his exhausted body and strained soul. While basking in the sensation, he felt a strong energy wrap around him, pulling him through space.
Flash!
The scene before him instantly changed, and John's guard raised instinctively. His guard relaxed slightly as he heard amused laughter come from his left. He turned and quickly spotted the source of the laughter
"You!" John said, staring at the mysterious old man who had appeared during the trials. He also noticed another man sitting nearby, younger in appearance compared to the old man, but also mysteriously powerful.
"Congratulations," the old man said, smiling as he held a bottle of wine in his hands. "You have passed the Heaven's Shadow trial. Come, sit down and have a drink of celebration with us. We have much to discuss."
