Ascension of the immortal Asura

Similar to what happened after clearing the first hurdle of the Labyrinth, another three way branch in the passageway appeared before the group. The group stopped to stare down the dark and damp passageways, but couldn't discern anything from them.

After doing so, they all simultaneously glanced at Adam, who already had his chest puffed out and a prideful smile on his face. However, he had not moved yet, as if he were expecting them to say something.

John rolled his eyes and decided to humor Adam, which was a rare occurrence.

"Sir Grandmaster Formations Expert of the Heavens, please grace us with the direction to go," he said in an exaggerated manner while bowing in a formal manner.

"Haha, that's more like it. I see you've finally learned how to address me," Adam replied with a hearty laugh, which was quickly cut off by a punch from John onto his shoulder.

"Ow, what the hell was that for?" Adam exclaimed in shock and pain.

"I already humored your ego once, do not push it further," John replied. "Besides, the path you took us down last time led us to that poison trap. Are you sure you're taking us in the right direction? How can you even tell which way to go just by sending those objects down the passageway?" John asked.

"Of course I am," Adam replied quickly while rubbing his still sore shoulder. "Those two other pathways led to dead ends and inescapable traps, while the pathway we went down was dangerous but was able to be escaped. It's not my fault this labyrinth is dangerous no matter where we go! As for how I can tell which way to go…these formations link my mind to the objects I send down the passageway, and I can see through each of them. That's how I know the other passageways were traps!"

"Fine, fine," John replied while waving his hand in front of his face. "Just find us the next route."

Adam quickly sat down after another small exchange of words and went to work. He took out the same formation disks as before, and three more arrowhead like objects appeared before him. They each sped down the three passageways as Adam sought the next route to take.

While waiting for him to figure out which way to go, the rest grouped together to discuss the Labyrinth.

"Don't you think its a bit strange so far?" John asked the rest of the group. "This is supposed to be a realm of opportunities and rewards, but all the Labyrinth has given us is dangerous traps. What's going on?"

The group all glanced at Gerrid, who was the most knowledgeable of the group. Gerrid shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I have no idea. The Labyrinth is always the most mysterious place to pop up in this realm, and no one knows its true purpose. I have heard there are rewards, only they are very few and far between. However, the rewards that do appear within usually are higher grade, so its not all bad."

"Is that so?" John replied.

"Well let's hope there's something within. Going through all this just to get nothing would feel awful," Iris added.

He had come here to find lightning opportunities, but had only found the lightning in the sky to raise his Lightning Attribute Body. However, it was not enough, and he needed more opportunities before he ascended to the Heaven Tribulation Realm, or his life would be in grave danger.

'This realm better have something to raise my lightning talents, or I'll need to go somewhere else to find it.'

"This way," Adam suddenly exclaimed with pride on his face once again. However, his face was red and sweat covered, revealing that doing such a thing put a great strain on his body and cultivation.

"See anything at the end of this passageway?" John asked.

"This way ends in a large room, and I see other disciples gathered within. It seems as though there's a bottleneck in progressing forward of some sort. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," Adam replied.

"Other disciples? That'll be the first time we see them within this Labyrinth and not be trapped by something. Let's go," John replied.

The group quickly set off down the passageway, which was uneventful like the previous one. After walking for quite some time, light once again appeared in their visions, and they soon came to the room Adam had mentioned.

The room was circular, with the ceiling high above their head and lit with formation runes. It was several hundred yards across, and had a raised platform in the very center of it. On that platform was a disciple fighting against a stone golem quite similar to the ones that guarded the Labyrinth entrance.

Below the platform was a large group of around one hundred disciples who had gathered together. They appeared to exclusively third and fourth years, as they were the only ones strong enough to progress forward this far. They were all watching the disciple who was currently fighting against the golem while discussing something amongst themselves.

The arrival of John's group caught their attention, and their faces all had surprise appear on them as they noticed that the group consisted of four first years, who were all in the Meridian Forging Realm.

"Gerrid. How the hell did you manage to drag four first years with you this far?" one of the male disciples called out with a friendly tone, who was seemingly a friend of Gerrid's.

"I didn't do anything to get us here I'm afraid," Gerrid shook his head in self-pity as he replied to that youth.

His reply caused another wave of surprise to appear on their faces, as they all glanced at John and the rest.

"Surely you're just joking," the youth replied, but Gerrid affirmed the truth once more.

They all stared at John and the rest, before they finally realized that with luck such a thing was possible.

"I guess it's not impossible. Both the deceptive disciples and poison room didn't really rely on cultivation level. Man, you guys sure must be lucky to be able to get this far," another youth replied.

"I suppose," John replied with a shoulder shrug, as he didn't really care about such things. His eyes glanced over to the youth fighting the golem, who seemed to be struggling against it.

"Why are you all gathered here?" Gerrid spoke up again. "What's this trial?"

"It's a combat trial," the boy who had spoken up first replied. "And one that is hard as hell to get by. We're all grouped here to figure out a way forward."

"A combat trial huh?" John mused out loud as a smile appeared on his face.

'Finally, something for me to do!'