The sound of metal on metal, as well as the anguished cries of men, rang out within the forest for a short while.

John, utilizing his Thunderflash Steps and unlocked Limiter of Speed, dashed around the battlefield like a bolt of lightning, instantly appearing before his opponents. They had not expected him to be so powerful, and were instantly put on the defensive.

John didn't even activate his Supreme Battle Art, as he would be unable to do so within the Bloodfiend Sect. He was using this opportunity to get used to fighting without his Supreme Battle Art, relying more on his essence Qi, as well as battle instinct to overwhelm his opponents.

However, even without his Supreme Battle Art, the might of John's attacks were overwhelming. His blood red scythe, procured from the body of the boy he had slain earlier, slashed out continuously, each strike filled with incredible power.

Crimson Blade Slash!

John sent out a Crimson Blade Slash towards one of his opponents, testing out its might. The Crimson Blade Slash had many forms for many different types of weapons, and John was using the scythe form at the moment.

A blood red scythe image pierced towards one of the men, its might completely shocking. With his twenty times compressed dantian, just a casual essence attack from John was more than someone in the same realm could handle.

The scythe image landed on the man's body, who could not fully block it. His body was cleaved in half, ending his life in a single blow.

Peng!

Peng!

The sounds of attacks rang out for a short while longer, before silence descended within the forest.

John stared down at the six corpses gathered before him. With his opponents only being in the Late Core Formation Realm, slaughtering them was incredibly easy.

"Thank you for your contribution to my cultivation, as well as solving a headache of mine,

" John said to the corpses before him.

Their blood essence was already collected, and absorbed in accordance with the Immortal Asura Tome.

'My body cultivation is now in the Late Core Formation Realm as well. It took the blood essence of over a dozen cultivators to advance, but I finally made it. However, advancing major realms is always a major headache when it comes to my body cultivation. I'm sure I'll be requiring the corpses of dozens and dozens of Meridian Forging experts to advance to the Meridian Forging Realm.'

Not only that, but John's mind strayed to the last time he had advanced a major realm with his body cultivation. It had been back in the ancient temple, and at the time of his advancement, tribulation clouds had appeared. They had been on the verge of sending down tribulation lightning, but had just barely stopped before doing so.

John frowned as he thought about this.

'If my guesses are correct, I'll experience a heavenly tribulation when advancing to the Meridian Forging Realm, which is completely unheard of. All other cultivators experience their first tribulation when advancing to the Heaven Tribulation Realm, hence the name, but I guess I'm different. It must be the Immortal Asura Body of mine that is drawing the wrath from the heavens, causing it to rain down tribulation on me early.'

John didn't know how powerful his tribulation would be. When he felt the tribulation clouds last time, he could tell that there was anger, hate, and the desire to destroy him emanating from the tribulation clouds.

Normal tribulations were supposed to be a barrier for cultivators to ascend beyond. It was a trial that could result in the death of the cultivator, but the true purpose was to allow those who were worthy to advance their powers to be closer to the heavens. While death did occur, it was an incredible boon for those who passed the tribulations.

However, John had felt no such goodwill from the tribulation clouds last time. The only thing he felt was the desire to destroy him. Another thought suddenly appeared in John's mind.

'My tribulation lightning is probably going to be absolutely brutal, and much harder to pass than a normal tribulation. I always found it strange that the only other cultivation material in my palace realm was a lightning based art, with the only purpose of giving me a lightning attribute body. Did the creator of the palace realm know that the Immortal Asura Body would draw the wrath of the heavens, and give me the Celestial Lightning Script in order to increase my chances of passing the lightning tribulations?'

John mused on this subject for a while, but couldn't confirm or deny it. His gaze once again focused on the pile of corpses before him.

John's battle axe sliced out six times, severing the heads of each corpse. He gathered the heads, as well as all their valuable belongings, before waving his hand towards the pile of corpses before him. Lightning exploded onto the bodies, burning them to ashes.

After doing so, John turned around, his vision focusing on the direction he had come from.

…

"Eight thousand spirit stones!

"

"Nine thousand spirit stones!

"

A flurry of bidding raged out amongst the market crowd, as they stared up at the auction stage where the slaves were being sold. A girl in her late teens was being auctioned off at the moment. Her beauty had attracted the eyes of many, as so a bidding spree had broken out.

"Fifteen thousand!

" a bid skipped several thousands, causing the faces of many who had bet before to grimace. They could not afford to spend fifteen thousand spirit crystals on a single mortal slave.

"Fifteen thousand!

" the auctioneer on the stage called out loudly, a large smile on his face.

"Do I hear any other bids? No? Going once, going twice...sold-

"

His words cut off as an object suddenly landed on the stage before him, followed by five more similar objects. The man quickly inspected them, and his gaze instantly turned to one of panic. He looked up to the sky above, and saw a blood red robed person standing above, looking down on him with a cold stare.

"We have a new addition to the auction,

" John's voice boomed out over the crowd, as all their eyes locked onto him.

"Begin your bids on this man before you. The price starts at one spirit crystal.

"