“What?” A gasp of pure disbelief rang out from nearly everyone in the stadium.

The millions of cultivators within the stadium couldn’t believe what they had heard, their minds going blank for a moment, trying to process John’s words. Even with everything that had happened, from the incredible grand finals, to the Sword-Saint’s interference, to the Yang-Sovereigns plot, this was the most incomprehensible thing to happen yet.

A Dao Transformation youth said he was going to kill the Yang- Sovereign. The Yang-Sovereign, who was one of the two strongest cultivators on the planet. The Yang-Sovereign, who had the other powerhouses like the Prime Shadow and the Sword-Saint thoroughly defeated with no hope of salvation. The Yang-Sovereign, who despite having his true cultivation restricted, was still able to battle at the Early Holy Manifestation Realm thanks to the power of the Yang Lotus.

It was the most insane thing they had ever heard in their life. It was utterly impossible, so much so that the instinctual hope most felt vanished a moment later, logic and reason erasing that hope without second thought. That hope many felt turned to renewed despair, disappointment, and even anger.

They were not angry at John, as he was apparently willing to fight the Yang-Sovereign with no possibility of winning. That alone was something beyond commendable, beyond heroic. Instead, they were angry at themselves, angry that they dared to hope for a second, believing in such a farcical and impossible thing.

“How! How are you moving? And your power!” the Mage-Sovereign finally said, her voice filled with absolute disbelief.

“What’s going on, John? How have you restored your power?” the Prime Shadow couldn’t help but ask. While he knew some of John’s secrets, he did not know most of them. He did not know about John’s second Dantian, a Dantian so heaven-defying that even the Yang-Sovereign’s repression formation couldn’t detect it, let alone suppress it. As such, John being able to move was no doubt a surprise.

John ignored those questions, as time was not on his side. Every second he delayed, thousands died. The screams of those being sucked up into the Yang-Sphere, mostly youths at this point due to being the weakest, filled the stadium with cries of horror and despair, those cries snuffed out by the Yang Lotus just moments later.

Eyes glued to the Sword-Saint, awaiting his response, the Sword- Saint looked back with disbelief, unable to comprehend what was going on. He was able to negate a portion of the Yang-Sphere’s formation power by using his secret sword domain art, but even then, he was not able to negate it all. And on top of that, the Sacred Sword Domain was the number one secret art of the Sword-Dao Sect, a domain art never before revealed to the world.

From what he could tell, John was not only fully empowered, uninhibited by the formation at all, but he wasn’t even using a domain art as far as the Sword-Saint could tell. “Wh…what are you?” he asked, voice trembling. Time and time again, John had defied all reason and logic, his actions now even more impossible. First with the Illusory Talent Tests, then with his performance in the tournament and against his prodigious son, and now this.

“Will you help me?” John repeated, glancing quickly towards the Yang Lotus, then back at the Sword-Saint. “You’re the only one besides me who can fight, and fighting the Yang-Sovereign will be much easier with your help. Even if you can’t defeat him alone, that’s fine. I’ll take the lead, and you just need to assist me.”

Other than the continued screams in the background, the arena fell silent. The Sword-Saint, along with the other powerhouses, looked at John with stunned expressions, still trying to process everything. Eventually the Sword-Saint snapped back into reality, an angry frown appearing on his face.

“Now is not the time for your jokes,” the Sword-Saint growled. “Your strength barely reaches the World Expansion Realm, let alone the Holy Manifestation Realm. You are nothing but an ant before the Yang-Sovereign. Even with his power restricted to that of a normal Early Holy Manifestation cultivator, he’s still far beyond your ability to fight.”

John frowned, not surprised by the Sword-Saint’s reaction, but still disappointed. He turned around to move towards the Yang-Sphere, hoping that when the Sword-Saint got a glimpse of his true power, he would join at that time. No amount of talking would convince the Sword-Saint of the impossible being possible.

“Sword-Saint,” the Prime Shadow suddenly said, drawing the Saint’s attention. “Trust John. Although I’ve not known him for a long time, I know him well enough to know that he won’t throw his life away on a hopeless endeavor. Besides, what other option is there? You said yourself that you are not strong enough alone. From everything we know, this may be our one and only hope.”

The Sword-Saint fell silent for a moment, his face twisting with a multitude of emotions. He looked to the Yang Lotus above, grimacing as he watched thousands of youths and weaker cultivators flying up into the Yang Lotus, their lives incinerated in the blink of an eye.

He looked down to the arena below, his gaze resting on his son. Ji’Han and the Sword-Saint locked eyes, complicated expressions on both their faces. He took a deep breath, then looked back at John, his expression growing firm as he nodded slowly. “I don’t believe for a moment that you have the strength to make a difference, but if it means my son has a glimmer of hope of surviving this ordeal, then…. I will join you. Besides, I’d much rather die fighting than being sucked into that **ing lotus!” 𝑖𝘦.𝑐ℴ𝘮

That last line incited a soft chuckle from John, not expecting the Sword-Saint to curse in such a crass way.

“Good,” John nodded, feeling a tinge of respect for the Sword-Saint for the very first time. Then he waited for the Sword-Saint to activate his secret domain, and join him in the sky. The Sword-Saint gave Ji’Han one last glance, one filled with emotions of love and grief. Then in a moment, his expression changed.

It was so sudden that it caught John off guard, the Sword-Saint’s expression intensifying like nothing he’d ever seen from the man. Even with all the rage and anger he felt for John, he never once looked at John like this. It was a look that could almost kill, a look of someone resolved to die if that meant killing his opponent.

A moment later, John felt an aura begin to emerge from the Sword- Saint’s body. It started small at first, but quickly grew in intensity and power. Like a small flame turning into a raging wildfire, a potent Sword Qi began to emerge from the Sword-Saint’s body, so sharp that it stung John’s soul just looking at it.

The aura, a pure white aura with tiny sword-images flickering in and out of existence, expanded to be a few feet around the Sword- Saint’s body. His body glowed a brilliant white, almost blinding those who looked at him. At the same time, the Sword-Saint’s cultivation began to return, only stopping once it reached the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm. 𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ

“This is as far as I can push my power,” the Sword-Saint said after expanding his Sacred Sword Domain. “Now what?” he asked, his words almost asking for proof that John was able to do something about this situation, and not lying for some inexplicable reason.

“This,” John smirked, sending a surge of Qi from his body dantian through the rest of his body. He said a silent internal thanks to the Sword-Saint, as his interference early in his battle with Jill-Ian had made it so he had not expended a great deal of Qi yet.

Roar!

The familiar draconic roar of the Dragon-God Shift boomed throughout the arena as John reactivated its power. The Sword- Saint’s frown remained, not moved at all by the Dragon-God Shift, not because it was weak, but because it was not enough. Suddenly, the Sword-Saint’s expression, followed shortly by everyone else, changed. Their eyes went wide and mouths fell slightly agape as a power began to emanate from John, one completely different from the Dragon-God Shift. A power that made them feel an instinctual dread, an instinctual fear and hopelessness.

A black and red aura began to emerge from his body, while John’s body began to change once more before their very eyes. They watched as his body grew in size, his muscles building like mountains beneath his flesh. They watched as his skin turned dark red, his eyes turned blood red, and two horns emerged from the top of his head.

A collective gasp of disbelief and even horror rang out, as everyone felt as though a true demon had just appeared before them.

Boom!

As if the aura had broken through an invisible barrier, John’s power surged to the sky, the mix of his Dragon-God Shift and new, dreadful power mixing to create an impossible strength. Space seemed to shudder and twist in the presence of this power, one that should not exist.

A power that defied all reason. A power that defied the Heavens itself. A power that reignited the hope everyone felt be snuffed out just minutes ago.

A power known as the Asura Transformation Art!

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