Ascension of the Immortal Asura

The round of sixteen continued without a hitch, with each fight being more entertaining than the last. Unlike the fights up to this point, most of which had been finished in a few minutes or less, these fights carried on for much longer. None of the top sixteen were weak, and none were able to be dispatched quickly.

Half a day passed before John was interrupted by Naelia, informing him that his fight was coming up next. John and Zuri cleaned themselves up, then made their way to the arena. The roaring of the crowd grew louder as John approached the arena, which became a deafening roar as he stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the arena below.

"We've been blessed with amazing fights today," the Yang-Dao Sect Elder said from the arena below, followed by another roar of agreement from the crowd. "And we are about to be blessed once more. For the next fight, we have the rank fifteen Bastian of the Sword-Dao Sect versus the second rank Ji'Han of the Sword-Dao Sect!"

The crowd roared upon hearing Ji'Han's name, then roared even louder as Ji'Han hopped off the viewing platform above the arena and floated down towards the arena below. His long hair waved in the wind behind him, adding to his graceful and handsome appearance, causing many girls in the crowd to swoon and go crazy.

John watched Ji'Han land on the arena, then gave Naelia a sideways glance. She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "You may be right about training, but you should at least get an idea of what Ji'Han can do. That's equally as important!"

John sighed and shook his head but didn't argue. Now that he was here, he figured he might as well stay, as his fight was the one after this one. He leaned against the balcony railing, as finding a seat was impossible due to every seat being taken already. 

After the Yang-Dao Sect Elder introduced and readied both fighters, the fight commenced to the roaring of the crowd. 

Ji'Han and his opponent, Bastian, stood opposite each other, a serious expression on Bastian's face, a relaxed one on Ji'Han's. Ji'Han's cultivation was then restricted from the Half-Step World Expansion realm to the Late Dao Transformation Realm of his opponents level. 

"Hmm?

John hummed, noticing that the cultivation restriction was a bit different than normal. Unlike the energy that came from the armband to restrict ones cultivation, this was different.

"Ji'Han restricts his own cultivation to his opponents level, regardless of their cultivation speed," Naelia explained. "He detests fighting with a cultivation advantage, as he considers that beneath him. With his cultivation speed, that includes almost every single fighter in this tournament, other than Jaxus, Silfia, and Araxus."

"I see," John nodded. It was indeed something a haughty genius would do to make themselves appear noble. He didn't know if it was because Ji'Han wanted a true fight or he wanted to show off for the crowd, but to John, the true answer didn't really matter anyways.

"I know defeating you is out of the question," Bastian said as he unsheathed his sword from his back, which was a massive greatsword almost as large as his body. A quick scan from the arena's formations revealed the weapon to weigh almost a million pounds, a fact that caused the crowd to roar again in wonder and excitement. "But before this fight is over, I'll at least force you to draw your True Sword."

Ji'Han merely smiled at the comment, standing patiently for his opponent to start the fight. Bastian gritted his teeth, then exploded outwards with a powerful aura. His aura surged to the sky, then began to twist and turn as he unleashed some sort of battle art. From the aura formed three giant avatars, each appearing like a glowing white human. Their faces were featureless, and each held a massive sword far larger than Bastians.

"There it is! The Sword of Three Sword Lords!" the announcer exclaimed excitedly. "Bastian has only used this sword art once, and it completely overwhelmed his opponent. Will this art force Ji'Han to his limits, or will he defeat Bastian and his avatars with ease like all his other opponents?"

John raised an eyebrow while watching the battle art form, as it was not only eye-catching, but he could tell it was a very profound art. Each of the avatars, formed entirely from Bastians Qi and Dao comprehensions, were almost as powerful as Bastian himself. As such, it was as if Ji'Han was fighting one versus four.

In response, Ji'Han remained standing in place, then closed his eyes. His actions stirred the crowd into an uproar, as well as the announcer.

"In response, Ji'Han has closed his eyes! His actions speak loud and clear! He does not consider Bastian a worthy opponent!" the announcer exclaimed.

Bastian frowned at the lack of respect, although it wasn't unexpected. He slashed his greatsword to the side, at which point his three giant avatars sped towards different directions. A moment later, Ji'Han found himself surrounded by Bastian and the three sword wielding avatars, with no direction to escape.

Without saying a word, Bastian slashed his greatsword outwards, unleashing a shockingly powerful and explosive greatsword image towards Ji'Han. At the same time, his sword avatars slashed down towards Ji'Han, their sword drawing him in size.

Eyes still closed, four swords materialized in the air around Ji'Han, each formed from his Qi and control over the Sword Dao. The swords were regular sized, almost insignificant in size when compared to the greatswords slashing towards him.

A moment after appearing, each of the four swords slashed out towards the four oncoming attacks. There was no flair to the attacks, no grandiose aura or eye-catching phenomena. Instead, Ji'Han's four swords looked rather normal, the only thing betraying their normality being the incredibly sharp and lethal sword aura coming from each one. Despite the fact that they were swords made entirely of Qi, the swords seemed just as strong as World Expansion grade weapons, and deadlier than most of them.

Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng!

The four swords shot out towards the greatswords, a loud metallic ringing filling the arena as weapons collided. The arena then trembled slightly from the collision, part from the attacks, part from the roaring crowd.

Despite the difference in size and aura, Ji'Han's four swords completely stopped the four greatsword attacks in their tracks. The greatsword wielding avatars pressed forward with all their might, trying to reach Ji'Han, but to no avail.

Nearest Ji'Han was Bastian, who was stopped by Ji'Han's flying sword only a few dozen yards away. Bastian gritted his teeth as he tried to force his way forward, but was unable to. He then sped backwards, then resumed his assault from another angle, his three avatars doing the same.

An incredible battle between giants and flying swords broke out, with Bastian and the avatars speeding around Ji'Han like blurs, unleashing hundreds of attacks each second. Ji'Han remained motionless the entire time, his eyes still closed as his flying swords flew out towards each attack, parrying them with seeming ease. 

The arena trembled ceaselessly from the battle between giants and men. John couldn't help but nod his head approvingly towards both fighters, as both were displaying incredible talent and combat prowess. Bastian's sword art was incredibly powerful, and his combat prowess could have easily placed him atop the list of geniuses back on John's homeworld, easily surpassing those like Amber Bloodrose.

Unfortunately his opponent was Ji'Han, the overwhelming favorite for the tournament, and long number one genius of the human race. As such, Bastian's incredible combat prowess was still not enough to break through.

The stalemate continued for some time before Bastian finally ceased his attack, unable to make his way through Ji'Han's defenses. Teeth still gritted, Bastian took a deep breath and then recalled his avatars towards him.

"Your defense is impenetrable as always," Bastian said, taking another deep breath. "If that's the case, then I can only gamble everything on one attack."

After saying that, Bastian's aura exploded outwards again, while the three giant avatars began to be sucked towards him, going from corporeal figures to mist, and then nothing. Bastian began to glow brilliantly like a star, growing brighter and brighter by the second.

A moment later, his aura exploded like a star, then infused almost entirely into the greatsword in his hand. His greatsword then rapidly grew from human sized to over a hundred yards long. It rose and floated in the air above Bastian, brimming with an incredibly potent power. 

After floating in the air, Bastian's aura exploded once more as Qi surged out from him, swirling into mist and quickly coalescing to form an avatar like before, only three times larger. The giant avatar reached out and gripped the sword, steading it as if it were a real giant. 

Bastian's face paled to white as he unleashed this aura, revealing he had spent almost everything. John glanced at the information sheet regarding Bastian, and saw that the figure displaying his stamina had nearly depleted, confirming this fact. 

"Swordfall Extinction!" Bastian roared with all his might, as did the avatar a moment later, its roar deep and guttural like that of a primordial beast. Bastian swung his right arm forward, his action mimicked by the avatar an instant later. 

The enormous great sword, brimming with calamitous power, cleaved towards Ji'Han, its power capable of shattering entire mountain ranges with ease. Even John felt his combat instincts flare, revealing this attack was something he would at the very least need to defend against or be wounded.

As the great sword fell, Ji'Han finally opened his eyes to look at the great sword, then smirked. His right hand reached across his waist to his sheath, then gripped the hilt of one of the two swords sheathed on his waist. He drew the sword calmly, then slashed it outwards.

Che!