The veil of darkness surrounding him vanished, the tendrils of Asura corruption receding from his mind, body, and soul. John fell into Lilian’s embrace, nearly overwhelmed by the exhaustion and pain he felt.

Had it not been for the blood of the Yang-Sovereign that he drank, his wounds would not have healed as much as they did, and his body would have been completely devoid of energy. Even still, many of his wounds still persisted, the damage to his body far too great for him to heal though his innate healing ability alone.

Only Laia would have a chance of healing his body into a working condition, and even then, it was doubtful she could heal him in less than several weeks at the very least. As for the underlying damage that lurked deep within his body, only time could heal those wounds.

The millions of other cultivators breathed out a collective sigh of relief upon seeing John return to his human form. They had been just as scared at his deranged Asura form as they were of the Yang-Lotus, but now that he had changed back to normal, the fears related to him disappeared.

They couldn’t help but stare at John with wide eyes, their expressions a range of complicated emotions. There was awe, disbelief, and pure relief as Yang-Sovereign, the one who had plunged them into this abyssal hell, had been killed.

“He…he’s dead!”

“The Yang-Sovereign is dead!” 𝑖𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ𝘮

“He…he actually did it. John and the Sword-Saint defeated the Yang-Sovereign!”

The stadium suddenly erupted into a roar of absolute joy, disbelief, and relief, as they looked at the headless corpse of the Yang-Sovereign, and the two who had defeated him despite the impossible odds.

At that moment, many of the cultivators felt nothing but pure shame as they stared at John, whose body was wounded beyond anything they had seen before, his existence nearly on the brink of collapse. They had jeered at him. They had taunted him. They had doubted him. They had said every insult imaginable to him during the duration of the Three Dao Tournament, and yet, in the end, he was the one who had saved them from the Yang-Sovereign’s betrayal.

‘Saved’. That word crept into the minds and thoughts of all, many realizing their plight was still far from over. While the Yang-Sovereign, the one who had orchestrated this betrayal was dead, there was still one massive problem that still needed to be taken care of.

The Yang-Lotus.

“Can I?” John sighed tiredly as he looked up at the Yang-Lotus above, its power still blazing in the sky like a small sun. “It seems we still have one massive problem to take care of.”

“Your body is on the brink of true collapse,” Lilian said sternly, putting him at arms length to look directly into his eyes and soul. “You have done enough. You need to re-”

“What use is rest if we all die?” John interrupted Lilian. “The formations are still active despite the Yang-Sovereign’s death. And now that the Yang-Sovereign is no longer absorbing the Lotus, it’s power will start to climb until it destroys everyone here, and then everyone in the surrounding lands for thousands of miles. No, this isn’t over yet.”

“And what do you plan to do?” Lilian asked sternly. “Fly up into the Lotus in this condition and try to absorb it yourself? You may be strong, but not even the Yang-Sovereign could absorb the Lotus without greatly weakening it first, and his control over Yang Qi is far beyond you. Even if you had your full power at your disposal, you would not be able to absorb the Lotus without perishing. This is a task beyond your ability to solve.”

Lilian’s words were not false. John did not have the power to absorb the Yang-Lotus, as even if he had his full power and perfect body condition, the Yang-Lotus was still far too powerful for him. It would burn him to cinders before the absorption process was finished, and even if he managed to absorb it, it would kill him from within, its power and heat far too great for him to withstand.

The Yang-Sovereign, a Late Holy Manifestation cultivator focused on the Yang Dao was only able to do so by greatly weakening the Lotus, at which point absorbing it would push his cultivation in the Astral Realm, a realm with enough power to manage the terrifying power of the Nine-Petal Yang Lotus.

Despite his strength, John was just a Late Dao Transformation youth. His peak level of power was not enough, and that level could only be used for several minutes at the longest.

“You’re right,” John said softly, his tone hoarse from fatigue and pain. “I can’t absorb it. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a solution.”

Lilian raised a single eyebrow, looking deep into his eyes to see if there were any lies at all. She found none, although that still didn’t make her feel at ease. She knew John’s level of recklessness, and even if he wasn’t lying, that didn’t mean he could accomplish what he hoped he could do.

Still, there was no other option, and so she sighed deeply, then nodded slowly, letting go of John. John’s legs trembled for a moment as he braced himself, then he walked over to the Yang-

Sovereign’s body and stored the remainder of his corpse in his palace realm. There, he drew in some of the Yang-Sovereign’s normal blood into his body dantian, which after converting it to Qi, spread throughout his body, healing some of the lighter wounds and restoring some of his energy.

Bang!

The ground trembled lightly as a figure landed on the ground near John. He looked at the Prime Shadow, who had jumped from his platform high above to the ground near him, the power of his Late Holy Manifestation body enough to withstand such a fall with ease, even with no Qi at his disposal.

He walked over to John and handed him his spatial ring, which John took with a questioning look.

“I have no cultivation and space itself is locked down, so I cannot access the contents of my spatial ring,” the Prime Shadow said as he patted John on the shoulder, a proud smile appearing on his face. “But you seem to have the ability to do so. Inside is a healing treasure beyond compare, one of my most precious treasures. Take it and eat it. You’ll need all the strength you can muster if you are to survive re-entering the lotus, as its power is only growing now that the Yang-

Sovereign is dead.”

John nodded and stored the spatial ring in his palace realm, where the spatial lockdown couldn’t reach. He then inspected the ring and found what the Prime Shadow was speaking of. On an ornate marble pillar in the middle of the spatial ring realm was a singular fruit.

The fruit was bright green in color, and was a type John had never seen before. It was three inches across and star-like in shape, with a dozen soft ridges protruding from the fruit like how one would draw a rudimentary star. Most eye-catching of all was its innate aura, which was beyond anything he had felt from a natural treasure before.

An aura of greenish yellow surrounded the fruit, one that gave off a fresh and vibrant energy, reminding John of Laia. An aura that had unmatched vitality and vibrancy. An aura the complete opposite of death.

‘The Dao of Life!’

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