Ascension of the immortal Asura

Rumble!

Rumble!

Rumble!

For the next few weeks, frequent rumblings shook the makeshift city built before the Divine Source Monastery. The city had continued to grow in size until it almost matched Divine City itself, although it was not as grand in design or quality.

The city had become harmonious with the stele, as if the city had a rhythmic pulse aligned with the stele itself. Whenever the stele rumbled, the city seemed to come to life for a short moment, like a momentary heartbeat before dying down to a regular atmosphere again.

At this time, more than seven different trials within the mysterious realm had been completed by the geniuses within. While the natures of the trials were a mystery to all, the scores were clear. By now, none dared to look down on John anymore, who had placed first in every single trial thus far, shattering even the wildest expectations of anyone in the city.

The gamblers who had initially been eager to bet against John in the hopes of making it big no longer dared to do so, as all who did had lost too much money already. By this point, it was expected that John would place first, and thus the only bets made were on the other contestants, of which eight remained at this point.

With eight straight first place finishes, the fame around John grew even faster than before. By this time, almost none on the continent did not know of his name, with the only exceptions being those in remote areas.

His performance had brought immense glory to the Honorable Alliance, which saw more neutral powers trying to enter the alliance for the first time than ever before, perhaps thinking the alliance could help them replicate some of that talent for their own youths. The Honorable Alliance naturally welcomed those powers with open arms into the alliance, which bolstered its strength considerably.

This shift was quick and sudden, making the Forbidden Alliance and enemy races uneasy. The balance of power was quickly shifting. Their advantage was slipping away, and all because of a singular youth. As such, the winds of war continued to surge forward, hastening its pace more than before.

Rumble!

The stone stele rumbled once more, and the city sprung to life like a heartbeat once more.

…

John stepped forward out of a land of darkness, emerging into the normal day of light once more. The light level was a normal sunny day, but it felt as if he were being blinded by the light, as he had been shrouded in darkness for so long. He glanced behind him, and saw nothing but darkness. The darkness was like a wall before him, somehow contained within the previous trial, and suddenly stopped where he had stepped out. It was quite peculiar to look at.

The previous trial had been done in complete darkness, while creatures of unknown origin assaulted him as he tried to move forward.

In this land of darkness, his divine sense and sight were restricted, leaving him to rely on sound and touch to avoid the creatures and fight back. It had been a long and arduous journey through the trial, but he had eventually emerged relatively unscathed.

"That makes nine trials," John mumbled to himself, thinking back to the previous trials he had ventured through.

The land of mist after the pain trial was a soul based trial, which tested one's soul-instincts on choosing the best path forward without being led astray by distracting illusions and other tricks that were within the trial. After that there trials of combat, trials of will power, trials of comprehension, and so on.

Each trial tested a different aspect of cultivation, and it seems that no aspect was going to be left untested.

"What other aspects are there to test?" he muttered to himself thoughtfully, as he couldn't really think of anything else to test.

Thus far, the trials had been easier comparatively than the trials he had faced within the first Divine Trial realm, disappointing him slightly. He had never faced any true danger yet, unlike when he ventured through the first one.

"I have become much stronger than when I first went through that previous trial, but it seems like this realm has yet to truly test what it means to be a divine talent. Maybe the trials ahead will be a bit harder, and these are meant to weed out the unworthy of even taking the divine trials," John mused, although he wasn't sure if his guess was right or wrong.

While thinking about this, John stared at a massive structure before him in the distance. It had only become visible after stepping out of the darkness trial.

It was a man made building, shaped like a circle. This circular building was hundreds of miles wide, the walls rose up vertically for dozens of miles as well, making the interior of the building quite massive. In fact, it was even larger than the temple in the Jade Dragon Empire trial realm, which up to this point had been the largest building he had ever seen.

The outside of the building was rather plain, similar to the Divine Source Monastery in design.

"It seems like purpose is more important than looks for whoever made this realm," John mumbled to himself and took a few steps forward. He stopped, since as expected, a formation blocking his path forward appeared before him. It had appeared after every trial, and had stopped him until the last participant finished their trial.

He sat down as he had done before, using the down time to cultivate. His eyes lingered on the building before he started his cultivation, while his soul focused on a unique aura that seemed to flow out from within. It was an aura so profound that he couldn't help but want to find its source, and learn the truth of what was making such an aura. Perhaps it was the reward for completing the trials, or perhaps it was something else.

This aura had become noticeable after the fourth trial, and only grew stronger as he ventured further and further into the realm. Upon laying his eyes on the building, he could finally tell that the source of the mysterious and overwhelmingly profound aura came from within.

Whatever it was, he needed to find it, and if possible, obtain it. He felt just standing in the aura was giving him insights into things he never before thought about. The insights were mainly cultivation based, and he felt his cultivation speed up considerably just by existing within the aura.

"I guess I'm finally reaching the end of the realm. Whatever the source is, I must have it," John said softly before closing his eyes, falling into meditation once more.

…

Some time later, his eyes opened as the familiar screen of light appeared before him, revealing the results of the trial. His interest in the information was secondary to his wanting to move forward towards the massive building in the distance, and after the screen of light vanished, so did the formation restricting his path forward.

With a blast, John pressed off the ground and surged towards the building, and the truth of the mysterious aura.