Ascension of the Immortal Asura

John soared through the sky towards Naelia and Zuri, then disappeared into the tunnel with the two of them. There were no cheers, no taunts, no boos. The crowd was mostly silent, still processing the gruesome scene they were witnesses to. Rafinia's horrified screams still echoed freshly in their minds, a terrible sound most of them would remember for a long time.

As before, John returned to his training room to continue to hone his newly created battle and movement arts. The round of two hundred and fifty-six took several days to finish, with very few surprises and upsets. 

The round of one hundred and twenty-eight then started, with John's opponent being the number one genius of the Saber Dao Sect. Their fight was flashy and eye-catching, although John quickly made work of his opponent, winning in several minutes. 

Compared to the prodigy that Rafinia was, his next three opponents were rather average in comparison. They were powerful in their own right, but none of them managed to push John to the extent of needing his Dragon-God Shift, let alone his Immortal Asura Transformation. Rafinia, with her prodigious soul talent, was the only one who managed to make John have to try at all.

The round of sixty-four was against another Mage-Dao Sect cultivator, Vayenra, who was older and far more mature than Rafinia. Unlike Rafinia, Vayenra did not try to trick John or even fight. She was a Mage Cultivator as were most in the Mage Dao Sect, and so her true strength was in channeled arts. These arts were incredibly powerful in large scale combats, but were quite useless in one-on-one fights.

Against her previous opponents, Vayenra was able to buy enough time through stalling arts to channel her abilities, but against someone like John, she knew that was impossible. He could not be overwhelmed through his soul, and his body was far too powerful and durable to be stalled in any sort of way.

Instead of fighting, she opted to talk to him for some time, much to the crowd's disappointment. She displayed quite a bit of curiosity towards John, like a scholar studying a wild beast never before seen. She asked about his upbringing, his body type and soul peculiarities, and other things pertaining to him.

Naturally, John didn't answer most of her questions, much to her disappointment. After asking all the questions she wanted to ask, Veyenra surprisingly conceded, again to the crowd's disappointment. 

As such, the fight that was supposed to be the hardest thus far turned out to be the easiest, landing him in the top thirty two with little to no struggle thus far. Top thirty two was considered a dividing point, separating the true geniuses from the false ones. None who made it this far were weak.

Unfortunately for John's opponent, the matchup was a particularly poor one. It was a soul cultivator from the Mage Dao Sect. His opponent, Leeran, was considered the number two soul cultivator still standing in the tournament. 

His signature soul art, Soulbody Severing, was a soul art focused on severing, or at the very least, interrupting the connection between the body and soul. It was particularly terrifying soul art, as it was able to focus on the lesser of the two of his opponents. For an enemy with a strong soul but a weak body, the art could focus on the body's connection to the soul, making movements sluggish and even stopping someone completely.

As for an opponent with a strong body but weak soul, the art focused on the soul, directly overwhelming it with a forceful soul attack. It was a profound art that many dreaded to face, but unfortunately for Leeran, his opponent was someone with no weaknesses. 

After realizing that his art was not able to affect either soul or body to any extent that would inhibit John's combat prowess, Leeran conceded, opting not to follow Rafinia and suffer the same, miserable fate. As such, over the course of the next week, John swiftly made his way into the top sixteen, a feat that cemented his status as one of the pinnacle geniuses of the world.

Most interesting of all, and also frustrating for the crowd, was that John had yet to show his full strength, as his previous two battles had mostly been over before they started, with his opponents conceding before a true battle broke out. 

With the round of sixteen starting the next day, the most popular topic of discussion was naturally about John and Ji'Han. Neither of the first and second rankers had shown their full strength yet, and neither had made any public statement about the others. That led all assumptions to be pure speculations, with countless guesses and bets being placed on the assumed victor.

Unexpectedly, the overwhelming favorite was still Ji'Han. With John not having shown anything to prove he could stand even with Ji'Han, and with his villain status increasing after his actions against Rafinia, the debate of John versus Ji'Han was quickly becoming one of villain versus hero, unknown outsider vs prodigal son. 

…

The next day, the Round of Sixteen ceremony took place. The ceremony was a tradition spanning hundreds of thousands of years, where the final sixteen participants were brought back onto the arena to thunderous applause, each then given an metallic emblem signifying their status as Tier One Geniuses. 

Standing on the arena with the other geniuses near him and tens of millions of eyes looking at him, John felt a sense of melancholy when accepting his metallic emblem. He traced the edge of the circular emblem with his finger, feeling the intricate designs of the Three Dao Sects carved into the surface. This emblem, one gifted only to Tier One Geniuses, was what Furi had hoped John would be able to claim, as well as the Holy Transcendence Pill afterwards.

Unlike the others, when John accepted his emblem, he was not met with applause, but instead a mixture of both taunts and applause, with the overwhelming favorite being the first. He ignored those taunts, having become completely used to them. He didn't care about being liked or loved. About being showered with praise and adulation. He only cared about his strength, and of the safety of those near to him.

If obtaining those two things meant turning the whole world against him, that was a price he was more than happy to pay.

John remained silent for most of the ceremony, his mind focused with other, more important thoughts. His discussions with the Prime Shadow about his findings regarding Azurae and the movements in the shadows that were slowly being uncovered. Compared to these things, the tournament itself was more like a child's plaything. 

The Vice-Sect Leader of the Yang-Dao Sect, an Early Holy Manifestation male cultivator, led the ceremony processions. His voice was a drowned-out noise to John, who only half paid attention to it. After a long rambling from the Vice-Sect Leader, the man finally said something that snapped John out of his deep thoughts.

"And now, for the list of this tournament's Three Dao Heavenly Treasures List," the Vice-Sect Leader said, followed by a burst of cheering and applause from the crowd. 

'Three Dao Heavenly Treasures List?' John thought. 'I wonder if that's the list that contains the Holy Transcendence Pill?'

His question was soon answered as the Vice-Sect Leader waved his hand, followed by a massive screen of light forming over the arena. The screen was like a translucent page of information floating over the arena, its flat side facing directly down on the arena below so all who looked up could read it.

The formation screen was a dozen miles long and wide, allowing for all to read it regardless of their position in the arena. John looked up towards the screen above, and quickly read through its contents. He quickly spotted the Holy Transcendence Pill on the list, confirming his suspicions, then read through the rest of the list.

His heart started speeding up as he read the list of items to claim based on performance. Pills, weapons, cultivation treasures, natural treasures and more were options, each more amazing than the last. Upon getting to the end of the list, his eyes locked onto the last one and its small description beneath, filling him with a level of desire he had not felt in a very long time. He read that last potential reward over and over, as well as the brief description beneath explaining what it was.

The Ancient Blessings of the Three Daos! A reward given only to the one who places first in Dao Transformation Tournament. An ancient formation construct where one could raise their cultivation several minor realms in the span of a week.