Chapter 102: Bitterly Enduring

John sat on the ground, teeth gritted so hard he believed they could shatter at any moment. His divine sense was trained on the jade piece while the lightning struck out at his body, charring it and rending flesh. Pain continuously assaulted his body as he did his best to maintain consciousness. John ate healing pill after healing pill, hoping that it would provide some help withstanding the lightning, but its effects started to diminish the more he ate.

Hours passed by as John watched his flesh char, fall off, heal, and char again. This process continued ceaselessly as he struggled to withstand the pain. Nearly a day later, his weary eyes finally brightened slightly.

Upon careful inspection, John could tell that his body was charring at a slower rate, and that the charred flesh was healing faster than before. Not only that, but the pain was diminishing slightly as his body began to temper to a level that could withstand this lightning.

After several more days of cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script, John finally smiled for the first time in a long time. He stopped cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script, and allowed the lightning stream to fall on him unguarded.

Boom!

The sound of lightning striking his body continuously exploded out as John smiled and bathed in the lightning.

"Hahahaha, success!"

John cried out in joy as the results of his bitterly painful ordeal had finally paid off. His body, both outside and internally, had been tempered to a level that was able to withstand this lightning. Although it was still quite painful, and was still causing damage to his body, it wasn't lethal to him anymore.

While celebrating, his joyful eyes started growing ever so weary, and before he could react, John passed out deep asleep.

While John was passed out in deep slumber, the artifact spirit was observing him closely.

"How has he progressed in the Celestial Lightning Script this fast? Even with it being a heaven defying technique, I've never heard of some being able to cultivate it this fast. If an ordinary cultivator were to try this method of his, they would have surely died by now. What is his secret...perhaps it's that body of his."

The artifact spirit couldn't figure out what was happening, but the one thing it did know was that John was full of secrets, and perhaps he would be worthy of the reward. However, he knew the boy's journey in the trial was just getting started.

Some time later, John finally woke up and slowly opened his eyes. Lightning continued to crash down on his body, and due to him not guarding his body, it was charred all over, with some serious wounds to his body, but it was not lethal. His clothes had long since been destroyed by the lightning, but he was not concerned about that since he was alone in this temple.

John sat up in pain and popped several healing pills into his mouth as he focused on healing. By circulating the medicinal energy throughout his body while simultaneously cultivating the Celestial Lightning Script, he was able to fully heal his body in less than two days. The natural recovery speed of his Immortal Asura Body also aided in his quick recovery.

After fully recovering, John stood up, and with a large smile on his face, took several steps forward.

Boom!

Lighting exploded out of the round object with even greater force than before, knocking him back slightly and opening up several wounds on his body. The smell of charred flesh filled the air as John once again found himself almost unable to withstand the lightning.

'What the fuck? I just took a few steps forward and the lightning grew this much in power? Isn't that too much? How is this a trial? This is just a death penalty.'

Bleakness appeared on John's face as he once again knew what he had to do. After taking a deep breath, John took a few steps forward and allowed the powerful lightning to strike his body. Wounds opened up continuously as he sat down with gritted teeth and took out the jade piece once more. Flesh, organs, bones, and muscle were charred, stripped away, healed, and charred once more in a never ending cycle of pain.

For the next month, the scene of a boy cruelly cultivating under an endless torrent of lightning could be seen. John had lost count of how many times he had passed out from the pain, but each time he woke up, his body would be covered in gruesome wounds.

However, a bitter smile was present on John's face for two reasons. The first was that he had advanced almost eighty percent of the way towards the platform, and was almost in reach of it. The second was that during the continuous trials of enduring the lightning trial, John could see thousands of lightning essence runes on over eighty percent of his body.

The runes flickered blue with dazzling light, and small wisps of lightning could be seen dancing around them occasionally.

The artifact spirit watched John in rapt attention. It was continually surprised by John's progress, and had even become hopeful that he would manage to succeed. Not only that, but John's extremely firm will was something it had hardly seen in all its years of existence. Most of the heavenly juniors that took this trial entered with bravado and confidence, but almost all of them became terrified and scared as soon as they were faced with pain and danger.

John however, entered the test with almost no lightning talent and through sheer will and determination, was able to carve his way forward. The Celestial Lightning Script played a large part of it, since without it he would never be able to move forward, but the Celestial Lightning Script alone wasn't enough. Only through his unflinching determination was John able to steadily proceed forward.

"Only a handful of juniors had managed to make it this far, but even heavenly geniuses such as them perished. This trial is not only about the ability to withstand lightning, but also receiving the eggs approval. Without its approval, no amount of talent will be enough. Unfortunately, due to the nature of this trials reward, anyone who learns of its secrets but doesn't obtain it cannot be left alive, as was the will of the trials creator. Let's hope he has what it takes to win its approval."