Ascension of the Immortal Asura

The ship sailed across the land at monstrous speed, the ground below appearing like a blur. John watched with wide eyes as a giant formed in the far distance, and then a calamitous explosion swallowed everything whole.

The next instant, he was too far to see the battle, already tens of thousands of miles away. The ship, combined with Lilian's control over the Dao of Space, slipped into the void of space, and then reappeared thousands of miles away.

Dozens of the high-grade spirit crystals powering the ship shattered, completely stripped of their power. The ship entered the void again, and then again, skipping through space like a stone over a pond, the mountain of spirit crystals growing smaller by the second. John watched as the world around him swirled with chaos, then returned to normal, the ship appearing somewhere over the Divine Martial Continent.

The next moment, the world of spatial chaos surrounded the ship once more, the process repeating more times than John could possibly count.

…

The calamitous explosion blasted against the formation walls, so strong that it appeared it would shatter the formation in an instant. Against all odds, the formation held, although cracks stretched up the walls in many locations, revealing it had taken damage.

The formation circle on the ground flared once more with incredible power, instantly healing the formation barrier. It was pulling an astronomical amount of Qi from a chamber created beneath the surface, a chamber filled to the brim with all the spirit crystals the five could muster together. It was a sum large enough to purchase dozens of nations, empires, and sects, and yet was being used to power a defensive formation.

Boom!

Daoist Eternal Weapon's hulking figure slammed against the formation barrier in the direction the Asura's ruinous blast of physical power had been traveling. His massive forging table had been blasted to the side, parts of it cracked from also taking the attack head on.

Blood, like massive waterfalls of red due to his large size dripped down many parts of his body, coming from wounds dozens of yards wide and deep.

"Ugh!" Daoist Eternal Weapon groaned, pain wracking his entire body. He stood up while shaking his head to clear the pain, his massive footsteps shaking the ground all around him.

"What are you doing?" a figure appeared before him, so tiny in comparison that it was like a fly hovering before Daoist Eternal Weapon's face.

Thunderzen stated at Daoist Eternal Weapon with concerned eyes, studying his condition. The wounds on his body were massive, although they looked worse than they were due to his incredible size.

"I wanted to test my might against the Asura, and also show off for my newly appointed disciple" Daoist Eternal Weapon said, smiling wryly. "A foolish endeavor it seems. A casual attack of his was able to brush aside one of my strongest attacks and injure me to this extent. It's far more formidable than we feared. Still, I managed to block the attack, which would have pierced the barrier and struck the ship. I would say that was a resounding success."

"Are you still capable of fighting?" Thunderzen asked, concerned.

"I am. These injuries are far from being able to stop me," Daoist Eternal Weapon said, his body flaring with the power of a body cultivator. The injuries started to heal at a visible rate, slowly closing and stopping the blood flow. Thankfully he was a body cultivator with an incredible durability. If he had been an essence cultivator, taking that attack head on like that would have killed him.

"Stick to the plan," Thunderzen said sternly, "the Asura is too strong for us to defeat. That single attack of it made that more than clear. All we can do is follow the plan and stall for long enough."

Daoist Eternal Weapon nodded his head, and then shifted his gaze towards the distant Asura and Astral Emperor. Neither had moved from their spot, as if the fleeing ship wasn't even a concern. The Asura had its two upper arms folded across its chest, while the two lower arms were resting on its waist. All four arms bulged with muscles upon muscles, as if the creature was carved from a mountain.

It stared at Daoist Eternal Weapon with an inspecting gaze, as if surprised he was still alive. It then smiled, a smile so wide and vicious it made the five feel as though they were about to be devoured that very instant.

"It looks like I'll be able to feel the thrill of battle today," it said, its voice a guttural growl. "Don't die on me too quickly, little ants!"

It then shifted its gaze towards the Astral Emperor at its side.

"Go grab the boy," it instructed, "and bring him back to me, alive."

The Astral Emperor nodded, and his power began to flare, ready to use his grasp over the spatial Dao to pierce through this formation restricting him. His gaze suddenly shifted to the side, narrowing as an oncoming storm of lighting approached him.

The storm stretched out for dozens of miles in each direction, appearing like a massive tornado of lightning. A figure moved in front of the storm of lightning, the lightning cascading off his body and forming the tornado of lightning behind him. It was like a god of lightning was approaching him, and the Astral Emperor scoffed as Thunderfist arrived before him, body coated from head to toe with lightning, like a suit of armor.

"Hahahah! You're not going anywhere!" Thunderfist roared loudly, a large smile on his face, his laughter echoing like thunder.

Boom!

His fist slammed towards the Astral Emperor, who raised a hand to the side to block it. Powerful spatial energy formed between him and Thunderfist, who slammed his fist onto it with his full power.

The spatial energy absorbed the thunderous attack, although it was not able to absorb it all. The Astral Emperor's eyes flickered with surprise as he was knocked backwards dozens of miles before he could right himself in the air.

When he came to, he was surrounded by three figures, each placed equally apart from each other. He inspected the three and then scoffed with amusement.

"Thunderfist, the Grand Elder,, and Daoist Eternal Weapon. I feel honored that you three would dedicate yourselves to battling me," he said, his voice tinged with egotistical mockery.

"You should feel honored," Thunderfist roared loudly. "Today, you get to wet my fists with your blood. That is more than the honor you deserve, vile traitor of humanity!"

The Astral Emperor narrowed his gaze at the raucous man, and then smiled mockingly.

"So haughty, and yet this plan of yours seems to be forgetting one critical thing," he said smugly. His gaze shifted to the distance, towards the Asura.

Before the Asura were two figures, both less than half his size, seeming like insignificant creatures in both stature and power. The Asura's arms were still folded over his chest, but the amused expression on his face was replaced with a scowl as the others had stopped the Astral Emperor from retrieving John.

It was clear he would entertain their battle and his lust for it, but not at the expense of losing John.

…

The Asura stated at the two before him, his sinister aura drowning the area with incomparable malevolence.

"I will maim you, devour you, and then I will retrieve your brat of a disciple, and do the same to him," the Asura said to Thunderzen and the Alliance head, as if the matter was already settled. "Now that I've experienced his aura firsthand, there's not a single place in this world that can hide him from me. His fleeing is only delaying the inevitable."

Thunderzen and the Alliance Head stared with wary yet even expressions on their face, as if they didn't worry about such a thing. The Asura narrowed its eyes, studying their expressions. They should have felt despair upon hearing that their futile struggle would be useless, but neither displayed any of that.

It was almost as if they didn't consider the Asura's words to be the truth, and that John would be able to hide from it once he escaped. The Asura studied them for a moment, unable to determine if that was the case, or if they were just putting up a brave front.

He growled, like that of a primordial beast, his growl alone shaking the entire battlefield with ruinous power.

"No matter," it growled, "you two are far too weak to stop me for more than a moment. Your disciple will be in my hands in a short moment, and then in my stomach a moment later."

And then it flashed, appearing before Sect Leader Thunderzen in an instant. Thunderzen's eyes went wide, an instinctual fear, like one seeing the grim reaper himself. His wide eyes narrowed, his fear instantly reigned in as he faced the Asura head on. Thunderzen smirked as his eyes shifted upwards.

..

"And what's that?" Thunderfist asked the Astral Emperor, referring to his question a moment ago.

"You assigned the three of you to me, and left only Thunderzen and the Alliance head for the Asura?" he said, his voice growing more mocking by the second. "Have you all gone senile in your old ages, or have you resigned yourself to death, and are looking for a decent fight before you die? They won't be able to last half-a minute before his might."

"It appears you're the one who's gone senile," Thunderfist replied with a smile as if the Astral Emperor were an idiot, his words causing the Astral Emperor to narrow his eyes.

And then he remembered. How could he have possibly forgotten? Had his arrogance grown to such a level that he dared to forget about such an existence? Had he assumed this was merely a distraction, and they would not attempt to fight for real?

ROAR!

A devastating, primordial roar suddenly boomed out from above, its power seeming to shake the very world itself. The existence to rival the Asura had arrived.