Ascension of the immortal Asura

Like a demon emerging through the veil of reality, John's Asura form burst into existence. A black and red aura churned around him like an inferno from hell, twisting the air with its power. The Asura form overlapped his Dragon-God Shift, red intertwining with green, changing his body into an amalgamation of Dragon and Asura.

John bathed in the power he felt, his eyes closing for a singular moment. He tested the limits of his new Late Dao Transformation powers, then opened his eyes and nodded with satisfaction. He then felt a gaze burning into his back, a gaze not filled with awe, horror, or disbelief, but instead shame and even...anger.

He looked down towards the source of the gaze, and locked eyes with Ji'Han. Ji'Han stared up at him, his face mimicking the emotions John felt from his gaze. It was an expression of a tme genius humbled for the very first time in his life, a shocking realization that John had not even considered him a true opponent from the beginning.

It was at this moment that Ji'Han understood everything. He understood John's lack of concern towards him. He understood Lilian's words of caution. He understood the truth of the Illusory Testing Scores, and that John's impossible scores were not false, but just a testament to his genius.

It was an understanding of what it truly meant to be heaven- defying. Ji'Han then hung his head, staring down at his feet. He couldnt force himself to stare at the one who had not only taken everything from him, from the spotlight to the Ancient Blessings of the Three Dao's. Most of all, he couldn't face himself.

Despite everything that was going on, despite the harrowing danger that everyone felt, Ji'Han's first thoughts upon seeing John's transformation were of jealousy, anger, and embarrassment. He now only felt shame at himself, shame from thinking about such trivial things when everyone around was going to perish. While he thought of the spotlight, John thought of stopping the Yang-Sovereign.

He finally understood that there were levels above himself, levels that he would never be able to obtain.

"What...are you a Devil?" the Sword-Saint finally spoke up after recovering from his shock.

"No," John shook his head, his voice deep and sinister like that of an Asura. "But would it matter if I was?"

"I suppose not," the Sword-Saint shook his head. "You're on our side, and that's all that matters."

John raised an eyebrow at the Sword-Saint's even-headed reply, then nodded. The Sword-Saint eyed him up and down for a moment, then frowned.

"Is this the limit of your strength?" he asked. "I can feel your strength is on the same level as mine right now, the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm. While we outnumber the Yang-Sovereign, that will not be enough for us to win."

"I have another trump card," John said with a confident smile, his words shocking everyone to their cores. His combat prowess was already at the Half-Step Holy Manifestation Realm, a full five minor realms higher than his true cultivation. It was already beyond heaven-defying, beyond impossible, and yet he claimed to have more. "It's just that I can only use it for a few minutes at most, so I'm saving it for when we start the fight."

The Sword-Saint stared at John with an unreadable expression, too many emotions flittering across his face to determine his true thoughts.

"Also, once that time runs out, I'll be unable to fight again," John continued. "We need to defeat the Yang-Sovereign in a few minutes, or we all perish. So do me a favor and don't hold anything back. If you have a secret sword art, use it. If you have a heaven-defying weapon, wield it. The time for secrets and holding back is far behind us."

The Sword-Saint remained silent for a moment, then nodded his head.

"I will use everything in my power, you have my word." "Good," John nodded.

"Then...it's time for us to begin," the Sword-Saint said, drawing in a deep breath. He looked down towards Ji'Han for a moment, his eyes filled with deep emotions, then looked back at John and nodded. "Lead the way. You will need to be the one directly confronting the Yang-Sovereign, while I will help you from a distance. If I get too close to him, he may be able to kill me before I can react."

John nodded, then turned around and looked up towards the Yang- Sphere. His expression turned from confident to cold and murderous, his bloodlust and battle lust rising by the second. He steeled his mind for the harrowing life and death battle to come, pushing his body to the maximum state he could achieve.

"Let's go," John growled, then sped into the sky towards the Yang- Sphere.

The Sword-Saint followed behind, the two cultivators rising into the sky like twin-beacons of hope for all who remained. The duo of the John and the Sword-Saint was something no one could ever have expected, but now that antagonistic duo was their one and final hope.

As he rose into the sky, John felt the heat of the Yang-Sphere become more and more intense. His skin began to sizzle, the durability of his body fighting against the heat of the Lotus. Behind him, the Sword-Saint started to mumble a soft mantra, one that seemed to increase the power of his Sacred Sword Domain.

The sword Qi from the Sacred Sword Domain seemed to push aside much of the Yang energy, keeping his body relatively unharmed from the heat. This would have normally been impossible, but thanks to the Yang-Sovereign, the Yang Lotus was at the weakest state it had ever been.

The Yang-Lotus grew larger and larger in their vision, until finally John and the Sword-Saint arrived before it. The entrance into the spatial domain inside the Yang Lotus, opened up by a formation made by the Yang-Sovereign, was still intact.

A wall of fire and flame surged within the entrance, separating the spatial domain from the rest of the world. John peered into the entrance and saw the Yang-Sovereign seated a distance away, his back facing them. He sighed a breath of relief, then turned to the Sword-Saint.

"He hasn't noticed us yet, so we will need to make sure our first attack wounds him considerably at the very least. Prepare your strongest attack as we enter, and unleash it the moment we step foot inside the Yang Lotus," John said firmly.

"I was going to suggest the same," the Sword-Saint nodded, his sword gripped tightly in his hand. It began to glow with the power of a true Holy Manifestation cultivator, the power twisting the fabric of space around it.

The Sword-Saint's aura and sword continued to grow in strength, then stopped after a short while. He held that power at a strong and constant level, as if he needed only to push a bit further to unleash a horrifying, continent destroying attack.

Then he glanced at John, his silent expression conveying his words for him. An expression that said, 'time to reveal the true limits of your power.'

John made sure the Sword-Saint was ready, then nodded and turned to face the entrance again. Then, his focus shifting inwards, he focused on his innate power used only a few times in his life thus far. An innate power given to him by his true mother and father. An innate power, that much like the Asura Transformation Art, defied all reason and logic, and even the Heavens itself.

John prepared himself for the surge of power to come, a surge that would push his body and soul to his very' limits and then further. Then he committed to the act.

Like a billion tiny Dantian's come to life, each and every blood cell in his body surged to life, pouring an incredible amount of Qi into his body and soul as he activated his Innate Bloodline Ability.

The power coursing from his body exploded once more, pushing him over the edge, increasing his combat prowess from the Half- Step Holy Manifestation Realm and into the Early Holy Manifestation Realm. The power coursing through him nearly overwhelmed him as he felt his body twist and creak, almost breaking apart from within.

He controlled that surging power as best he could, doing his best to minimize the internal damage increasing by the second. Then, without looking back at the Sword-Saint or anyone else, he sped forward as a Kirin Avatar began to materialize behind him, following him into the entrance of the Yang Lotus.

He sped through the tunnel-like entrance, stepping into a world of Yang and Fire. The internal area of the Yang Lotus was far more expansive than he thought it would be, the confines of the lotus stretching for hundreds of miles in each direction.

In the middle of this domain sat the Yang-Sovereign, his back still to them. Without missing a beat, lightning burst alight on John's skin as he sped forward with his maximum speed, his scythe crackling with lightning, the Kirin Avatar exploding with power behind him.

At the same time, the Sword-Saint appeared next to him, his sword exploding in size, becoming over a mile long, slashing down towards the Yang-Sovereign with his absolute might.

Kirin-God Extinction!

Asura Reaping Scythe!

Sacred Sword Scripture!

The combined might of these three battle arts almost seemed to destroy everything as they surged towards the Yang-Sovereign, who stood up and faced them at the last possible moment, his eyes going wide, his power surging with fiery anger a moment later.

BOOM!