Ascension of the immortal Asura

In the Divine Source Monastery, the Grand Abbot was sitting in a room, conversing with Prior Hishen. Mid-conversation, his gaze shifted towards the center of the divine realm, as if he could see all the way to the center of the realm thousands of miles away.

"What is it?" Prior Hishen asked curiously.

"There appears to be scrying eyes peering into the realm," the Grand Abbot replied calmly.

Prior Hishen frowned as he heard this. Someone dared to violate the sanctity of the Divine Source Monastery.

"Should we take action?" Prior Hishen asked.

"No need," the Grand Abbot shook his head lightly. "Our mission is to ensure the safety of the World Seed until it is claimed by someone worthy. Those peering within will not dare to step foot within the monastery itself, so they are of no concern."

"I see," Prior Hishen replied.

"However, i doesn't seem fair that some are viewing the happenings of the trials while the rest are left in the dark," the Grand Abbot said, and then flared his power for a brief moment, activating unseen formations and mechanisms.

Prior Hishen raised an eyebrow, as he knew which formations were just activated.

"It seems the crowd outside is going to be quite rowdy for a time," Prior Hishen sighed, already growing tired of the massive crowds presence.

The Grand Abbot smiled but said nothing. It would definitely be a event to remember.

…

The makeshift city outside the divine source monastery continued to thrive and grow, reaching a staggering size and population. It was as if a small nation had decided to establish itself there.

The bustling city continued as usual, although it had been relatively quiet for a while, as no updates to the stele had happened for some time.

Rumble!

The familiar rumbling occurred, stirring the crowd into frenzied excitement once more. The streets flooded with those leaving their establishments to lay their eyes on the massive stele.

However, the expected change to the stele did not happen, and insisted something completely unexpected occurred instead. The eyes of everyone went wide with surprise, and then uncontained excitement as a screen of light appeared on the stele instead; a screen of light that depicted eight of the participants standing within a massive arena.

"They're showing us what's happening within!"

"There's even sound! We can hear what's being said!"

Exited uproars spread through the city from this change, as watching what was happening within would be far more entertaining than waiting for textual updates on the trial results.

Those excited uproars heightened as they heard the words uttered by the stone golem standing before the cultivators.

"The final trial will be a combat trial, where only one of you will be allowed to progress onwards to the one true treasure of this realm."

…

"A combat trial? Finally something interesting,"

Zasgoth said, his voice like a snakes hiss.

Many of the other cultivators also felt their excitement grow, as combat was their true speciality. Only Serilia of the Faerie race frowned upon hearing the nature of the trial, but did not voice her protest.

John felt his blood boil with murderous anticipation, and he instinctively shifted his gaze towards Asuros, who had done the exact same. A confident smirk appeared on Asuros' face.

"Finally, I'll have my chance to end your pathetic life once and for all," he said with a sinister smile.

John's eyes narrowed and his face darkened, but he did not bother with a reply. He would let his fighting do the talking for him.

At the same time, Lilian exchanged her cold gaze with Zeras, who was staring back with amusement.

"I guess I'll finally be able to see the progress you've made over the last decade. Just don't disappoint me too much," he said, and the pointed above their heads, causing Lilian to stare at the spot he pointed at.

Her gaze narrowed as she felt something high above their heads, but could not see anything. It was as if space was slightly unstable at a certain spot in the air.

"And don't disappoint father either. It seems he's quite interested with your progress as well," Zeras added, to which Lilian frowned coldly.

Zeras had confirmed her suspicions. Her father was peering into this final trial. Her frown turned into a smile as she shifted her gaze back to him.

"Good, then he will see how pathetic of son you are when I crush you beneath my heels," Lilian replied before averting her gaze from Zeras, who frowned with displeasure at her words.

The artifact spirit golem spoke up again before he could reply, and so he kept those words to himself.

"I will now explain the rules of the final trial," the golem said. "The rules are simple. You are ranked according to your trial results. The rankings are as follows.

8) Zasgoth

7) Rahze

6) Serilia

5) Lua

4) Zeras

3) Lilian

2) Parker

John

The rankings caused mixed expressions to appear on their faces. Some were fine, others displeased, and some incensed. All eyes naturally fell onto John, who remained straight faced as he waited for the rules to be explained.

"The trial will work as such," the golem continued. "Eighth place will fight seventh place, and the winner shall then fight sixth place, and then fifth, and so on, until only one remains."

"Unacceptable!"

"What type of dogshit rules are these?" Zasgoth and Rahze said loudly, displeased with such a format. They would need do fight many battles to climb their way to the top, while those at the top would only have to fight one or two. It was completely unfair.

"You will be fully healed at the end of each round," the golem said, trying to calm them down.

"Still unacceptable," Rahze said. "The others will watch us battle and learn our techniques, while we learn nothing of theirs. How is this fair?"

"This realm is not about being fair, but is about finding the most suitable candidate for the final reward," the golem replied. "If you wanted an advantage, you should have done better in the previous trials."

Those words caused Rahze to grimace, but he complained no more.

"I have one question," Asuros spoke up.

"What is the question?" The golem asked.

"We are allowed to kill our opponents, right?" He asked while casting a menacing gaze towards John.

"If you so wish," the golem replied. "At the start of battle, if both fighters agree to it, then it shall be a battle to the death, otherwise, it shall be a battle until one side gives up or loses consciousness."