Ascension of the immortal Asura

"Here?" John thought, feeling pure confusion. He looked around, seeing nothing of note beneath the ship. They were still over the ocean. The ship entered the void of space and then left it a moment later, the scenery below changing.

'Land!' he thought, tired eyes going wide. It was land he recognized, and a familiar Qi washed over him. 'The Yuan Continent.'

The nostalgic emotion vanished instantly, the present situation too dire to allow him to feel anything else but pain and fatigue.

John glanced at the land that blurred far beneath their feet, the speed of the ship so fast that he was almost unable to make out anything amidst the blur. The ship suddenly shot down towards the land, the first time since they had started fleeing that their altitude had changed at all. Their altitude change combined with their speed made John feel as though they were a falling meteor about to slam into the earth at speeds he would not be able to withstand. He suddenly felt a strong spatial energy from Lilian wrap around him pulling him into the void. The next instant, he appeared within the ship, standing beside Lilian, still at the ship's command center.

The ship suddenly came to an abrupt halt, hovering several hundred yards above the ground. John breathed a sigh of relief, thanking his master for bringing him into the ship. Within the ship, one was able to resist the inertia of suddenly stopping, as if the ship was a different dimension.

If he had still been outside the ship, he would have slammed into the earth below, his body no doubt exploding from the force of the impact. John's tired and bleary eyes glanced at the land below him, and his eyes went wide with realization. He had been here before.

"The ancient city!" he exclaimed.

Towering buildings stretched out as far as the eye could see, and directly beneath them was a massive temple, one that John instantly recognized.

'The temple at the center of the city! The temple that contained the Divine Trials.'

"Why are we her-"

John's voice cut off as Lilian grabbed his hand and yanked him through a spatial portal she had created. With his exhausted and pained condition, John felt as though Lilian had nearly yanked his arm off as she took him into the spatial void.

The world around them returned a moment later, John finding himself standing next to Lilian within a massive chamber hundreds of yards tall and miles wide. He blinked, pushing the physical pain and mental anguish aside to focus on the chamber.

His eyes widened as he turned to look around him. Nine piles of spirit crystals encircled them, appearing like small, shimmering mountains. It was the largest sum of spirit crystals he had ever seen, a wealth eclipsing what he had made by selling his tea leaves.

His eyes peeled away from the mountains of spirit crystals towards the ground below, and he took a step backwards. Beneath him, formation lines stretched out in all directions, forming an intricate formation of incomparable complexity. John finally realized where they were, his gaze snapping up to confirm his suspicion.

The fractured arch he expected to see stood a short distance away, confirming his suspicion.

'Were in the chamber beneath the Divine Trial! The chamber where I met Laia. The chamber where we fought that bizarre skeleton! The chamber with the amazing…formation!'

And then it all clicked, his gaze shifting to Lilian, who dashed around the massive formation, sending her Qi into various nodes, alighting them with power. The nodes lit up one by one, nine nodes, nine mountains of spirit crystals.

"Where does this formation lead to?" John asked, his mind still dazed by pain and surprise.

"No idea," Lilian said, appearing next to John, grabbing his hand. He stared at her, her intense gaze locked with with his, slight worry and uncertainty contained within her eyes. "All I know is that it's far from here."

"You have no idea?" John asked with concern.

Lilian replied by sending a sliver of Qi towards the last remaining node yet to be activated, which alighted the moment her Qi entered it. The nine nodes intensified, their brightness blinding. John squinted against the bright light, seeing the nine mountains of spirit crystals suddenly vanish, followed by the chamber they were in.

…

The Asura grinned as it fought Raijen, the thrill of battle surging through its body as if it were the most pleasurable thing in the world. The two exchanged a barrage of devastating attacks, Raijen losing out with each exchange. However, as expected from a true dragon, Raijen kept itself alive, and kept the Asura's focus.

The Asura allowed the battle to continue, allowed his prey to flee. There was nowhere in this world that his prey could run to anymore. There was no escape. The Asura noticed a distant land-mass appear in the distance, and smiled as he figured out their plan.

"A formation to flee to another part of the world?" it sneered, its smile widening. "A pathetic, futile plan," it added.

Thunderzen ignored the mockery, his focus on John and Lilian instead. He felt them appear over the continent, moments later appearing above the ancient city. Less than several heartbeats later, they vanished. A large, relieved smile appeared on Thunderzens face.

They had won!

"Now!" he then roared, sending a command to the others.

The tempestuous storm suddenly vanished, and each of the six tore through space, utilizing formation disks that had appeared in their hands, while Raijen used his own strength. The six vanished in an instant, their retreat so quick and sudden that it shocked even the Asura himself.

It gave thought to chasing them, but ignored them in the end. They were small fry. They were not his prey. The Asura arrived above the Yuan Continent a moment later, appearing directly above the ancient city.

It peered down at the massive temple below, a frown appearing on its face. This had been the place where John had vanished, no doubt taking a transportation formation. It sneered again, smiling.

"Where have you run to?" it said, voice rumbling.

The Asura flared its power, his eyes closing as if he were feeling for something within himself. His eyes snapped open a moment later, a look of anger exploding onto its face.

"Gone?" It roared, unable to detect John's presence at all.

There was only one explanation. John was no longer on this world.