Ascension of the immortal Asura

However, after inspecting the dark arena for some time, he detected no movement at all. With his strong instincts, he was sure the threat was over.

"The Jade Dragon Empire sure is ruthless, having two Abyss-Shadow Spiders for this trial. Almost no one would be able to pass this trial on their own."

Even he would have had a tough time fighting against two Early Heaven Tribulation Abyss-Shadow Spiders. While he still would win in the end, the battle would be incredibly hard fought. However, when he thought about the fact that the Jade Dragon Empire youths would have been stronger and more talented than the Honorable Alliance youths, it made some sense as to the difficulty of the trial.

"Still, being able to kill one of them. I knew I wasn't wrong in my judgment about you," John praised the youth.

Flash!

A flash of green light appeared in the distance, revealing the end of the current trial. A wry smile appeared on the youths face as he gazed at the distant barrier.

"At least we know there isn't a third spider," the youth said in a self-deprecating manner.

"Haha, I suppose you're right," John replied with a small laugh. He reached out to help the youth to his feet, who took his helping hand.

"Let's go!"

The youth popped a healing pill into his mouth, while the group made their way towards the formation barrier.

"Should we wait?" Ziora asked as she glanced at the injured youth, "you know, for him to heal up?"

"No need," John replied, as he stepped through the barrier without hesitation.

He was more than confident in his ability to protect the two of them if need be. The two youths stared at each other for a moment before they both stepped through the barrier.

John appeared in their vision once more, and they quickly gazed around the room, expecting to see another opponent. However, before them was not a battle arena, and instead the found themselves in the middle of a massive, well-illuminated room. The jade green walls were ornately detailed with gold designs, while hundreds of translucent floating orbs hovered in the air above their heads. Many of the orbs were empty, but several dozen of them contained items, ranging from weapons, to scrolls, to other fantastic things. The auras each of the items gave off was beyond compare, making all three youths desire nothing else than to race into the air and grab the items.

To the side of each item was a number, ranging from five for the lowest items and rising as the items got higher up off the ground.

A voice suddenly filled the room, sounding artificial and lifeless.

"Using the Jade Marks received from this True Warrior Trial, you may pick your rewards! Use your divine sense to interface with the item, and it will be retrieved."

The youths were surprised to hear the voice, but quickly realized it was most likely some sort of ancient artifact spirit in charge of this trial. Their gazes heated up as they realized they would be able to claim some of the items above them, as all three gazes started scanning for what they wanted.

Ziora had sixty five points, as she had not helped with the Abyss-Shadow Spider. However, this number was still quite high, and she quickly found something she desired. A large smile appeared on her face as she sent her divine sense out, locking onto one of the translucent orbs.

The orb had the number sixty next to it, signifying the Jade Mark price. After touching the orb with her divine sense, it began to lower, and arrived in front of her after a short moment. Her eyes lit up as she reached out and grabbed the item, which was a brilliant jade green and gold staff.

The staff was perfect for use by War Mages, and exuded the aura of a Peak Heaven Tribulation grade weapon, if not better.

The injured youth also spotted what he wanted, and sent out his divine sense towards an orb around the same area as Ziora. As he had not battled anything higher than his own cultivation but had battled in all the trials, most alone, he had received seventy points.

The orb he wanted lowered and arrived before him, and the youths face lit up with excitement as a profound sword appeared in his hand. It was also jade green and gold, and too exuded the aura of a Peak Heaven Tribulation grade weapon. It was much better than his own sword, and would allow him to unleash much stronger battle arts in the trials to come.

The youth inspected his weapon, before he gazed at John with sincerity and thankfulness.

"I must thank you," the youth said to John. "Were it not for you, not only would I not have this sword, but I would most likely be dead by now."

"Don't mention it," John replied to the youth, "you would have done the same were the roles reversed."

The youth smiled at John once again, as he was impressed by John's lack of arrogance despite his awe-inspiring combat prowess and talent. Most geniuses were completely arrogant and looked down on all weaker and less talented than them, but John was not like this.

John's gaze shifted back towards the items above his head, and his eyes locked onto the item at the very top. It floated at the top alone, as if the other orbs were not worthy of approaching it. He inspected it, and quickly made up his mind. The item within the orb cost four hundred Jade Marks, which was a terrifying number. While John had received seven hundred Jade Marks from this trial, that was from jumping three minor realms three times and two minor realms once with the Abyss-Shadow Spider. One would need to jump two minor realms four times to achieve this score, which was a testament to its high requirement.

While there was an element of teamplay which could factor into being able to accomplish such feats, it was still no easy task to defeat an opponent two minor realms above one's cultivation, regardless of how many teammates there were.

He sent out his divine sense, which approached the orb at the top. A thunderous roar appear in his mind as if warning him to stay away, like the roar of a dragon but within his mind and soul. It's power was awe-inspiring, but John ignored the roar of warning as he interfaced with the orb, which now slowly descended towards him.