Ascension of the immortal Asura

It was as if a supernova had exploded within the arena. The arena and everything around it turned white, blinded by the intensity of the explosion.

The arena and surrounding stands trembled violently, as if an earthquake was about to tear the world apart. The formation barrier surrounding the arena lit up, shielding against the calamitous explosion.

John had instinctively braced himself for the impact, and only a moment later remembered the formation barrier before him. The explosion had triggered his natural survival instincts instantly. It was even stronger than his dragontail decimation fully charged, which was one of his strongest attacks.

The formation barrier held up against the explosion, but John couldn't help but wonder if the same would happen if Zeras had his unrestricted power. If this explosion was so powerful, then his full might was terrifying to even think about.

After several seconds, the explosion began to fade away, and the arena was once again revealed to all.

Zeras stood tall in the middle of the arena, his body completely unharmed. Despite being in the very center of the explosion, he had managed to avoid taking any visible damage.

A smirk lingered on his face as he stared forward. John and the others traced his gaze, and saw Lua on the other side of the arena against the far wall.

She was kneeling on one knee, panting heavily, and was covered in wounds and blood. Some of the wounds had charred, revealing she had been gravely injured by the attack.

Surprise appeared on most faces, as they had never expected Lua to still be conscious, or even alive after such an attack.

"Not bad. As expected of someone of your caliber," Zeras praised calmly, "at the last moment, you managed to gather all your clones before yourself to act as a shield. Quite smart."

Lua's gaze narrowed with displeasure despite her pain and fatigue. She was finding Zeras to be incredibly annoying and arrogant.

"But based on your current state, you cannot use that clone technique again," Zeras added.

"And I doubt you can unleash such an attack again," Lua sneered back, blood trickling from her mouth. The attack Zeras had unleashed had no doubt consumed a great deal of Qi, even for someone as talented as him. Unleashing another attack like that was most likely not possible.

"I could, but where's the fun in that?" Zeras said smiling.

"Liar," Lua spat, but her wavering gaze indicated she was not confident. She would not be able to withstand another attack like that.

Zeras sighed as if growing bored of their conversation, and then put his weapon away, surprising everyone.

"What is he planning? How is a war mage going to fight unarmed?" John asked his master. Even hurt, Lua was still a threat when it came to close combat. Lilian's gaze narrowed as she stared at her brother.

"Let us finish our battle," Zeras said, and guestered with his one hand for Lua to come. Lua growled with frustration and stood up. She braced against the pain and readied her daggers, and then flashed towards Zeras like a blur.

"Zeras isn't my fathers favorite for no reason," Lilian finally spoke as she watched Lua appear before Zeras. "Not only is Zeras a War Mage…"

Luas body vanished as she stealthed herself once more. Zeras smirked and turned to the side, punching at an angle with his fist. His fists were imbued with astral energy, making them all the more dangerous.

Peng!

A metallic sound rang out as his fist struck against the side of one of Luas daggers, who was revealed again by the shockwave of the collision. All eyes widened again, unable to believe what they were seeing.

"Zeras also had an innate variant body. An emperor grade innate variant body," Lilian's voice trailed off.

"What?" John couldn't help but exclaim, completely stunned by what he had heard.

Zeras was both a war mage, and also had an emperor grade innate variant body. Having just one of those talents was already shocking, but to have both was almost unbelievable.

"That means…"

"Zeras has no weaknesses," Lilian nodded in confirmation.

War Mages were powerful in battle, but had one glaring weakness; they see vulnerable when they used channeling battle arts. A war mage with an innate variant body could rely on their physical strength to protect themselves while channeling their battle arts, making them nearly impossible to deal with.

John's shocked gaze returned to Zeras, who was fighting against Lua unarmed. His physical combat instincts were incredibly refined, like that of a genius body cultivator.

Luas daggers slashed and sliced, but Zeras was able to parry or dodge all the attacks with seeming ease. While Lua was gravely injured and slower than before, her attacks were still potent and deadly. Only one incredibly skilled in close combat would even have a chance at doing what Zeras was doing.

John's expression grew grim as he realized one thing.

When it came to both essence and body talent combined, Zeras was the closest cultivator in regards to his own talent and fighting style he had ever met. While someone like the Jade Dragon Emperor might have similar talents, in regards to seeing one fight, Zeras was no doubt the closest to him.

Even Asuros couldn't compare, as while his body was stronger than Zeras', his essence talent was nowhere near the same level.

Peng!

Peng!

Bang!

After a series of quick parries of Lua's daggers, Zeras managed to break her guard and dashed forward. His palm, glowing with thr bright purplish glow of astral energy struck out, smashing against her unguarded chest. His other hand struck out immediately after, slamming into the side of her head.

The sounds of fracturing bones rang out as Lua shot backwards like a bullet, and slammed into the arena wall dozens of miles away.

Boom!

The arena trembled as she slammed into the wall, and then she fell to the floor. Lua remained motionless, and the golem appeared in the arena next to Zeras. It's appearance meant one thing; Lua had been knocked unconscious.

"The winner of the fourth round; Zeras."