Ascension of the immortal Asura

John shook his head at himself in a self-pitying manner, as he had intended to appear directly behind Asuros for a perfect sneak-attack, but had failed to do so due to his lack of control over the newly comprehended technique.

"Still, master's comprehensions and techniques are beyond amazing. She truly is a genius," John mumbled to himself, still content that he was able to learn her spatial movement technique so quickly.

'Treat space like the surface of a body of water. To someone above the water who cannot see within, it would appear as if you had mysteriously appeared in another location, despite swimming normally beneath the depths of the water's surface. Absolutely genius,' John said internally, still enthralled by the feeling of moving through space.

He had always considered space to be something abstract, invisible, and hard to perceive or grasp. His master's notes had suggested that he should look at it like a pool of water he was diving into, swimming beneath the surface, and then reappearing elsewhere. The only other addition to it was using the spatial Dao to contract the space in front of him, allowing him to move through space much faster than he would be able to physically move in the real world.

He had never been able to see that surface of the spatial dimension, but that surface had appeared to him when his Spatial Dao comprehensions advanced to the next level. It was like he was seeing an entire new world appear before him, one that existed just beyond a thin pane of glass. His new comprehensions allowed him to not only see this new reality, but open it, although with much effort.

When he had managed to step into the spatial dimension beyond this reality, he had seen swirling colors of light, like a million different paint brushes coloring everything around him. It had been incredibly beautiful, one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.

The dimension almost seemed as though it was between his reality and something else, sandwiched in between. That was just his intuition though, as he couldn't see or feel anything other than the spatial void and his physical dimension.

Through the swirling colors of light, he could still see his physical reality, although it was like looking through a fogged-up window. He could see into his real world, but it was hard to make out exactly what was going on.

The swirling energy all around him was the chaotic energy of the void, as his masters notes had mentioned, which was quite powerful. He had expected its power, but it was still stronger than he had expected. Like a leaf in a strong gust of wind, the energy had blown him off his initial intended path, causing him to appear farther away from Asuros as he had hoped for.

Learning to deal with that chaotic energy would be quite troublesome, as it took more than just brute force to swim though. It took spatial comprehensions to part open or avoid, and so he would only be able to use this amazing technique proficiently once his spatial Dao comprehensions had improved.

But for now, it was far more than enough. While it took quite a great deal of Qi to utilize, just being able to instantly disappear like he had just done was more than enough for combat. Even if he couldn't use it offensively, it was a perfect defensive tool as long as Asuros didn't have a way to suppress the space around them.

While John marveled in his new-found powers, everyone else stared at him with wide eyes, including Asuros, and even Lilian. They had all felt his spatial Dao level earlier when he had initially tried to use this technique. They had also felt his new level of spatial Dao comprehension when he advanced in one fell swoop, and comparing the two was like comparing a candle to the sun.

It was utterly impossible to improve one's comprehensions so much instantly. Completely impossible!

And the one who knew this the most was Lilian herself, who had created those notes and cultivated the spatial Dao herself. Even she, born with the rune of space carved into her body, had never improved so quickly in the spatial Dao. While John had the luxury of studying her notes while she had to discover mostly everything herself, she was still certain that such a rate of improvement would have been impossible for her, even if her younger self had those notes.

"It should have taken him months to go from where he was to where he is now, if not longer," Lilian mumbled to herself, still in a daze. She quickly snapped out of her daze, and stared at John with a new viewpoint, as if she were truly seeing him for the first time.

"Absolutely monstrous," she shook her head lightly, a smile appearing on her face. She really had her work cut out for herself, being the master of such a monstrous freak.

While John was still basking in the joy of such a monumental breakthrough, Asuros appeared before John like a ghost again, enraged beyond all measure. He was dominating the battle, and yet John was completely at ease, as if Asuros posed no threat at all.

"Who cares if you can teleport," he roared like a wild beast, "you're still going to fucking die!"

Boom!

His saber slammed down onto the arena floor where John had been standing just a moment prior.

"How are you going to kill me if you can't even hit me?" John said mockingly, appearing several hundred yards away from Asuros again, stepping out of the spatial void like a ghost.

Asuros' teeth grit so hard that it became audible as his gaze snapped towards John.

Roar!

A guttural, beast-like roar boomed from him as his aura exploded out even more, flooding the entire arena with his sinister malice. His blood-red eyes, wide with unbridled fury, locked onto John with hate and malice.

"Let's see if you can still flee in the face of absolute power!" he roared as another sphere of Asura blood appeared in his grasp, and he immediately popped it into his mouth and swallowed.

John's smug gaze narrowed as he watched Asuros' figure transform into an even more terrifying and hideous monstrosity. His muscles wriggled like worms and grew larger and more powerful. His body expanded, becoming taller and wider, and his aura grew even more, surging in the sky high above the arena.

Grunts of pain boomed out from Asuros as he seemingly struggled to withstand this even stronger form of his, which seemed to be finally accomplished with great struggle.

"Die!" Asuros roared, his voice like a primordial beast. His roar alone shook the entire arena as he pressed off it, his one step shaking everything as if he had unleashed an ultimate battle art.

He appeared before John like a hulking beast, blood red and brimming with unstoppable apocalyptic power. His aura surged out in all directions, so powerful that it made everyone else, even Lilian, hold their breaths.

The central focus of Asuros' power was none other than John, who felt as if the weight of a mountain was pressing down on him at all times, just from Asuros' aura alone. He frowned as he tried to part space open before him, but that spatial ability was interfered with by Asuros' overwhelming Aura.

He would no longer be able to utilize that spatial movement technique.

Asuros' saber slashed down towards John, who had not yet disappeared from his location. Eyes went wide and breaths were bated as everyone noticed no spatial Dao had appeared around John. He was obviously no longer able to use it, and the power behind Asuros' saber slash was beyond compare, nearly equal to a World Expansion experts battle art.

Was this his end? Was this how an absolute pinnacle genius would die?

John's playful expression faded away instantly as he watched the saber fall down towards him, and was replaced by one of absolute battle and blood lust. The time for playing around was over. The time for Asuros' death had arrived.

"Your death will be one of no glory, no honor," John said, his voice growing stronger through the surging aura. "You will die the death of a nobody, because that is all you deserve!"

Without warning, a primordial power surged out from within the arena, like the appearance of an ancient being who ruled above all of creation. A power that made everyone become stunned to their cores, Lilian included, who felt as though she were standing in the presence of a god.

Dragon-God Shift!