Ascension of the immortal Asura

John watched with awe as the Thunder Tyrant, an Astral King, exploded with power. The scene felt so incredibly lifelike, like he was actually standing before the Thunder Tyrant. The auras, the power, everything was recorded into the jade piece perfectly, allowing him to experience what it would have been like to stand before this Astral King.

Lightning exploded off the Thunder Tyrants body, each flicker followed by a deafening clap of Thunder. The sound seemed to be even louder than what lighting was typically capable of, as if it had been augmented and empowered several times over. While he was fine as the scene was just a recording, John was sure that the mere clap of Thunder was enough to kill him had he really been this close to this ancient warrior.

The thunderstorm surrounding the man churned and grew, as if invigorated by the Thunder Tyrants aura. The sky shook and ground broke as the combined might of the aura and thunderstorm broke everything around it.

John's eyes, wide with awe, suddenly narrowed as he spotted something. He looked closely at the Thunder Tyrants body. The parts that were not covered by his blue robe, his hands, neck and face began to glow bright blue as intricate symbols appeared on his skin.

"Attribute runes," John said, instantly recognizing the runes. He had formed something similar upon completing his cultivation of the Celestial Lightning Script, forming attribute runes on his skin, bones, and even meridians.

These runes would appear and glow softly on his skin whenever he used his lightning Qi, but other than that, had never really used them for anything else. While they definitely seemed to naturally help his lightning comprehension and cultivation, he had not been able to actively use them, if such a thing were even possible.

John stared intently at the glowing runes. Some were the same as nearby runes, others completely unique. Each was intricate and complex, as if they were formation runes carved by the most heavenly of formation masters.

"Runes are the indication that one has an innate attribute body," John murmured, eyes glued to the man. "While I was able to forcefully change my body into a lightning attribute body, I've never heard of anyone else being able to do the same. It's most likely something unique to the Celestial Lightning Script, so I would guess that the Thunder Tyrants lightning attribute body is truly innate."

A moment later, the Thunder Tyrants body erupted with even more lightning power. Powerful lightning completely surrounded the Thunder Tyrants body, like a suit of lightning armor. Some of the lightning dove into the man's skin, disappearing into his body.

While John was not sure exactly what was going on, he knew one thing for sure; the Thunder Tyrant was using lightning to augment his body.

"But this level of lightning…inside the body, it's too powerful, even for one with a lightning attribute body. Only a body cultivator would be able to withstand such internal power. That, or…someone with a strong innate variant body," John mumbled, awed by the Thunder Tyrants talent and power.

"He has both an lightning attribute body, as well as an innate variant body," John said, with awe. This was the first time he had met another cultivator so similar to him in nature.

"No wonder the Prime Shadow recommended this battle art."

John watched as the Thunder Tyrant, appearing like a warrior born of lightning, hovered in the sky, eyes forward.

"Hmm? What's he staring at?" John wondered, shifting his gaze towards the horizon where the Thunder Tyrant was looking.

He saw nothing for a short while, and was starting to think the Thunder Tyrant was just showing the nature of his powers for this scene, when he finally spotted something appear on the horizon.

"Hmm? What is that?" John wondered for a moment before a horrifying aura washed over him, drowning the land in malevolent power. A power he had felt before, a power that had hunted and haunted him. The power of an Asura.

The dot on the horizon quickly grew, while the malevolent aura strengthened, making John feel as if were plunged into the depths of hell itself. He instinctively braced his mind and flared his soul power to resist, only easing up a moment later as he realized the Asura aura was not actually assaulting his mind and soul.

"That's right. This is just a projection, a recording of events that happened a long time ago," he sighed a breath of relief.

With the threat of the Asura aura gone, John watched with full focus as the Asura appeared before the man, shooting forward like a meteor of incompressible speed.

"This must be slowed down for me, otherwise I doubt I'd even be able to see that Asura at all," John realized.

A flash of light erupted by the Thunder Tyrant as a large halberd appeared in his hands. The shaft of the halberd was marble white, created from an unknown yet obviously precious material. The blade of the halberd was blue, and seemed to flicker from within, as if lighting flowers underneath its surface.

The Thunder Tyrant stood tall, expression defiant as the Asura sped towards him like a comet. The Asura was similar to the one he had seen on his homeworld. It's skin was dark red, like that of dried blood. It had a large, four armed body, with muscles brimming with power, a power that seemed to defy what should be possible. It's blood red eyes glowed brightly, while its fanged maw widened into a menacing smile, as if it were a predator staring at prey it was about to slaughter and devour. Four curved horns jutted out of its skull, two pointing forward, the other two pointing to each side.

The Thunder Tyrant breathed in deeply, paused for a moment, and then exploded forward, lightning erupting in all directions as if he were the incarnation of the lightning Dao, the storm around him intensifying.

The halberd in his hands flowed with lightning, which spun and then slammed into the Asuras massive hand, one that nearly dwarfed the Thunder Tyrant himself. The world around the two exploded, unable to withstand their power. John's eyes wide with disbelief as he realized what was about to be shown to him.

"I'm about to watch a battle between the Thunder Tyrant… and an Asura!"

An ancient battle, one that most likely occurred during the calamitous ancient war, was about to be shown to him. An ancient battle between an Asura, and an Astral King.