Ascension of the Immortal Asura

The final form of the Eight-Seal Gravity Field Art was so simple it seemed silly. It merely dropped a hard, metallic object from a height, using the gravity of the art to magnify its power. Compared to the eye-catching and awe-inspiring battle arts that had been used thus far, it seemed like something a child would come up with.

And yet, this simple looking Mage Art was unleashing the strongest and most powerful attack of the tournament thus far. The metallic slab fell towards John with the speed of a meteor and the weight of a mountain, its combined mass over fifty million pounds. Anyone in the tournament, from the weakest fighter all the way up to Ji'Han would not take this attack head on. The weaker opponents could only surrender or perish, while those like Ji'Han would have ended the fight before it even got to this stage, or would muster their fullest strength to attack the slab and destroy it before it destroyed them.

There was not a single Dao Transformation genius, the strongest body cultivators included, who would take this attack head on without dodging. To do so was suicide without the slightest hope of survival. "No one would be that bold…or dumb."

Or so that was what Chloe, the crowd, and even the powerhouses watching thought. That singular thought was crushed in the minds of everyone watching as John erupted with power they didn't know a human could unleash. This power was foreign to almost everyone watching, as even on this stronger world, only a select few had ever seen a True Dragon. And yet, the fear, awe, and respect everyone felt was instinctual. From the strongest cultivator to the smallest child, everyone could only look up to a True Dragon as if it were a god.

And yet a true dragon had appeared in the arena before their very eyes. Or so they all instinctually felt. While what appeared before them was not actually a true dragon, the power was that of one. John's aura exploded like a star, blinding the arena with a gold brilliance. His aura surged dozens of miles upwards, piercing past the limits of the stadium and into the sky above. It blazed like a massive bonfire, one that seemed to reach up and touch the heavens. Roar!

Another draconic roar blasted from John as his Dragon-God Shift fully activated, filling him with a primal might of unmatched power. The roar was so powerful it shook the entire hundred mile stadium, while the nearby Chloe felt as though she was going to be overwhelmed by this roar alone.

His muscles wriggled within like worms, growing larger and stronger, making his body more muscular than it already was. Greenish-gold dragon scales appeared on his cheeks, forehead, shoulders, arms and chest, like a dragon born from a human vessel. At the same time, his clothing instantly swapped from his simple robes to the draconic armor Laia had won for him, as it felt proper and right to wear it when unleashing this body transformation art.

HIs eyes turned golden-yellow, glowing brilliantly like two fiery beacons of power. It had been some time since John had unleashed this heaven-defying body transformation art, and he took a moment to bask in its divine power. Then he moved.

Against all odds, against all expectations, against everything Chloe and the rest thought possible, John stood up. Such an action was so mundane that in any other situation it wouldn't even be considered noteworthy, but under the effects of the gravity Mage Art, it was heaven-defying. In one swift action, he stood tall against the one thousand times gravity, as if the weight of his body was nothing more than a mere nuisance. Chloe's eyes went as wide as possible as she saw John stand up, his face and body covered with dragon-scales, his body covered in heroic-looking dragon armor. It was as if a cultivator of legends had appeared before her, more powerful and heroic than she could comprehend. After a instant of shock, she then felt relief. She had expected John to surrender before the metallic slab dropped, but he had not done so. Once that happened, his only fate was to perish under the immense weight of the slab. Against all expectations, he managed to stand up, which means he would be able to dodge the slab just in time before being crushed to death. As such, she would not be disqualified from the tournament. As for defeating him after he dodged the slab, she would worry about that in a few seconds.

She breathed a sigh of relief which cut off half-way through, her relief instantly turning back into shock and horror as she watched John turn his face upwards towards the slab falling down onto him, then smile and open his arms wide as if ready to embrace the slab.

"Come on!" John roared like a primordial beast as the slab crashed down onto him with the weight of mountains. BOOM!

With the slab being a dozen yards wide and long, his figure disappeared underneath, his outcome unknown.

"Ahhh!" Chloe, and most of the spectating crowd, gasped as the slab slammed onto John with a sickening crunch. The arena shook so violently that it seemed as though the Yang-Sphere was about to crumble and fall apart at any moment. The trembling lasted for several seconds before dying down, with many in the crowd having been thrown from their seats into others nearby. Those still in place had their eyes glued to the slab in the middle of the arena, which had come to a complete rest directly on top of John. There was no movement, no sign at all to reveal he had managed to withstand the attack at all. From their elevated perspective, it seemed as though the slab had crushed him flat, killing him instantly. After a short moment of silence, blood trickled out from under the edge of the slab. Several streams of blood appeared moments later, followed by gasps of shock from the crowd. The blood was all the evidence they needed: John was dead.

The idea of John, the heaven-defying dark horse perishing so suddenly was something that needed time to process. As such, the crowd didn't even react right again. Instead, a deafening silence filled the arena, with the only sound being the wild rushing of John's aura surging through the sky.

His aura! Everyone then realized, the immense aura had yet to fade away. They had been so shocked by the sudden turn of events, that many had failed to realize John's aura was still as strong as ever, surging upwards like a beacon of almighty power.

Roar!

Another primal, draconic roar boomed out from the arena as the metallic slab began to tremble for a moment, before it shot a short distance into the sky, then crashed a short distance away, its weight once again shaking the arena with its tremendous might. The crowd completely ignored the shaking, with a single gaze locked onto John's figure, now revealed. Streams of blood slicked his arms, legs and waist, damage he had sustained from withstanding the attack head on. Blood also trailed from his mouth, revealing signs of internal damage. That had been expected.

What hadn't been expected was that the damage on his arms and legs appeared to be superficial, the broken skin and ripped muscles already healing at a visible rate, his muscles wriggling like worms underneath his skin as they snapped back into place. What wasn't expected, what defied everything they thought possible, was that John was still standing in place, his stance tall and firm, his body unbroken, his aura unyielding.

John shifted his gaze towards the slab he had just thrown aside, then returned it to look at Chloe. She stood several hundred yards away, her eyes wide and face white. Her lips trembled as if she were looking at a Devil, one with inconceivable levels of power.

"....how…" was all she could mutter, her mind frozen with fear and disbelief. That attack would have crushed any Dao Transformation cultivator to a meaty paste, regardless of their strength. The only salvation was to dodge the slab, or destroy it. There was no one who could physically withstand such a monstrous attack. And yet...her opponent had done just that.

John rolled his shoulders, his body now free of the burden of fifty million pounds. Despite standing in a thousand times gravity, he felt as light as a feather when compared to moments ago. That, combined with the power of the Jade Dragon's surging through his body, filled him with an overwhelming battle lust.

His eyes, like that of a predator hunting its prey, locked onto Chloe. He smiled widely, then moved towards her. His speed was not that incredible, but considering he was still under the effect of one thousand times gravity, it was far faster than he should be capable of. He sped towards Chloe, reaching her a second later. His hand shot out towards her neck as she still looked at him with a face full of fright and disbelief. John's hand hit air, as Chloe managed to dodge his attempt to seize her neck.

He stopped, then looked down at her, as she had fallen to her knees, her will completely broken, her battle lust completely shattered. She stared at the ground with wide, disbelieving eyes, muttering something incoherent to herself. A moment later, she turned her head upwards, wide eyes locked onto John's eyes of golden brilliance. She shared that gaze for a moment as the pillars all around them vanished, and the gravity field with it. Her trembling lips then moved to finally form coherent words, which seemed to echo across the stadium despite its softness.

"I…concede."