John had read about dragons in his clan's library, which stated that dragons were some of the rarest and most powerful beasts to ever exist. Their power would grow to the peak of the cultivation world, and all those who saw them would tremble at their power. However, every piece of literature had stated that dragons were either myths, or extinct.

John never imagined dragons actually existed, and that he would ever be able to see one in the flesh.

The massive dragon stared down at the youths below, and its power was so overwhelming that none of the youths dared to move a muscle. In fact, all of them were so scared and awed by the majestic creature, that they wouldn't be able to move even if they wanted to. Sweat trickled down all their backs, and some even collapsed to the floor in a nervous mess.

John stared directly at the dragon, and was awestruck. It was the most awe-inspiring thing he had ever seen in his life, and the power of the dragon was so overwhelming that John couldn't even begin to imagine its heights.

The crowd that had gathered stared at the dragon in complete awe as well. Despite seeing the dragon once a year, they were amazed by such a sight every time.

The dragon's attention focused on the group of youths that had passed the trial. Suddenly, the power of the dragon flared out, and all the youths felt an incredibly strange, yet overwhelmingly powerful energy invade their bodies, minds and souls.

John felt this invasive energy as well, and did his best to resist it. However, it was as if he was an ant struggling against a hurricane. No matter what he did, he wasn't even able to slightly hinder the progress of the invasive energy. John felt as if his very existence was completely exposed to the strange energy.

It reminded him of when Celestial Soulrend had started to probe his memories. However, it was slightly different. Celestial Soulrend's soul probe was much more direct and invasive, while this felt different to John.

"Don't resist it,

" the Sect Leader's voice suddenly spoke out.

"This is the final trial I spoke of. Our Heavenly Lightning Dragon has a special power. It is able to read the thoughts and intents of those it inspects. Resisting will only result in self harm.

"

Upon hearing these words, John gave up all ideas of struggling, and allowed the strange energy to invade wherever it pleased. However, true to the Sect Leader's words, the invasive energy did not attempt to read his memories, causing John to breathe a sigh of relief.

His memories held incredible secrets, and he wanted to guard them at all costs. John was unsure of why such a trial was needed, but he set aside such thoughts, as he was sure he would find out the truth shortly.

The dragon continued to inspect the youths below it for some time, and not a single sound was uttered by those being inspected. After some time, John slowly but surely felt the invasive energy leave his body, and breathed out in relief when he felt it leave his body completely.

The rest of the youths in the crowd also breathed out sighs of relief. They had never expected such a thing to happen, and were just happy that it was over. Being inspected by the dragon like that made them feel smaller and more powerless than they had ever felt before.

After regaining his composure, a determined look appeared on John's face. The dragon's overwhelming strength, and his complete inability to resist its power was just another piece of motivation for him to get stronger.

'Unless I stand at the very peak of the cultivation world, I will always be at the whims of those more powerful. Only when I stand at the top can I truly control my own fate.'

The crowd watched closely as the dragon inspected the youths. They all felt its power begin to fade, indicating the end of the test. However, just as the power was about to fade completely, it suddenly surged out with incredible power and locked directly onto one boy standing in the crowd.

The Sect Leader and Vice Sect Leader narrowed their eyes as they stared directly at the boy who had been singled out by the dragon. The dragon's strange energy began to violently invade the body of the boy, and his face began to turn red from the power which was overwhelming him.

"What do we have here?

" The Sect Leader spoke out calmly as he stared directly at the boy. The Sect Leader waved his hand slightly, and all the other youths felt their bodies levitate in the air and quickly moved away from the boy.

John felt the Sect Leaders power wash over him as well, and was surprised that he wasn't able to resist it even slightly. His body levitated through the air, and was placed down in a spot several hundred yards away from the boy who the dragon had focused on.

He stared back towards the lone boy who had been isolated from the rest. He recognized the boy as the one who had come eighth in the Trial of Pain, and was to become one of the ten Core Disciples.

He had never detected anything strange going on with the boy, but now something completely unexpected was happening.

'What's going on?'

The Sect Leader slowly began to walk down the stairs and towards the boy in the middle of the courtyard. The strange yet powerful energy from the dragon continued to focus on him, locking him in place.

"Hehehehehe.

"

A sinister sounding laugh suddenly escaped the boys body, sending a chill up everyone's spine. It was more sinister and vile sounding than any laugh they had heard in their life, and the voice seemed to contain a strange energy that made all their bodies lose their strength.

The laugh penetrated into their souls, and many felt a sharp pain invade their souls.

John too felt his soul ache slightly, and his soul power surged to resist the pain.

All of a sudden, an incredibly powerful soul aura flared out of the boy and washed over all those within the crowd, making them feel as if they were being peered down on by a sinister fiend.

The soul aura gradually began to condense and take form, and before long, the ethereal outline of a human hovered directly above the boy.

"Even with this much effort, your Heavenly Lightning Dragon still managed to detect me. Truly, not bad

"