Chapter 610: Peak Meridian Forging

"Perfect Innate Variant Body!" Ziora exclaimed in shock, while Oliver was also stunned to hear this. Even John was surprised, as he had only ever run into Common Innate Variant Bodies in his life. After Common was the King Variant, and after the King Variant was the Sovereign Variant. The Perfect Innate Variant Body was after the Sovereign body, and was so rare as to almost be considered a myth. In fact, there were no confirmed rumors of anyone having been born with such a body since the Jade Dragon Emperor.

'No wonder the Jade Dragon Empire was so terrifying. The Jade Dragon Emperor was practically a mythical existence from the moment he was born,' John mused internally.

However, he also realized that he had made a fantastic choice in items, as a battle art created by the Jade Dragon Emperor himself would no doubt be beyond powerful. John quickly stored the items away, as he would have to study them at a later time.

Flash!

Green light flashed within the room as another green formation barrier appeared.

"Your True Warrior Trial has ended. You may now leave," the artifact spirit said to the group.

"Wait," John said, as he had one last thing to ask. "What's the significance of the dragon scale?"

The artifact spirit remained silent for a short moment before replying.

"Prove yourself worthy in the trials to come and you will discover the truth," the artifact spirit replied.

John frowned, but knew he would get no more information. However, his gains had been beyond rewarding for this trial, and so he did not complain. The three youths stepped through the formation barrier, and a lava-filled world once again came into their view as they found themselves transported outside.

Oliver and Ziora couldn't help but sigh in relief, as their harrowing journey through the True Warrior Trial was finally over.

"Thank you," Ziora said to John, and Oliver did the same. Without him, both would no doubt already be dead.

"No need to thank me," John said to the two of them, "just repay the favor by helping any other Heavenly Lightning Sect youths you come across that need help, and I'll consider ourselves even."

"Deal," Oliver said firmly with a smile on his face, while Ziora nodded her head as well. John wished the two of them luck in their trials to come, before his body flashed forward, disappearing into the distance. The two watched him leave, before they too parted, each continuing their adventure through the dangerous lands.

...

Two weeks later, John's body flashed across the still lava-filled land, his aura stronger than ever as it was firmly in the Peak Meridian Forging realm. After leaving the True Warrior Trial, he had found a cave to cultivate in while he learned the Roar of the Jade Dragon and Advent of Annihilation. A smile lingered on his face as he raced through the land once more, more than content with his recent cultivation progress.

'The Roar of the Jade Dragon and Advent of Annihilation are even more powerful than I thought they would be. Although I've only grasped the initial concepts of Advent of Annihilation, it's already more powerful than my Sky Sundering Axe. Not only that, but I managed to push my cultivation to the peak of the Meridian Forging Realm in both Essence and Body cultivation. I could break through at any time, but I first need to improve my body durability and soul defense a bit more before I make that leap.'

Despite not breaking through to the Heaven Tribulation Realm, his strength had grown by quite a bit. Coupled with his new battle arts, John felt even more confidence in dealing with future trials and other geniuses.

'My cultivation speed is still shockingly fast. I reached the Late Meridian Forging Realm just over three months ago, and I'm already able to proceed to the next realm if I wanted. Most youths take over six months to go from Late Meridian Forging to Early Heaven Tribulation, which just further reveals the profundity of my Primordial Extermination Lightning cultivation technique.'

After leaving the cave, John spent another week traversing the lava-filled land. He had come across two more warrior trials, although neither were True Warrior Trials. He had passed them with full scores, bringing his Jade Mark total to fifteen hundred marks.

"Hmm?" something came into John's view in the distance. He sped towards it, and soon came about another trial to partake in. A group of thirty youths were gathered at the base of the trial, which seemed to be a sheer face wall, several hundred yards tall.

A lone youth was climbing the wall, his progress slow as he seemed to be struggling, while the thirty or so youths watched him climb from below. John arrived amongst the youths at the base of the wall, his arrival catching the attention of the others.

They all noticed his cultivation level, and many curious gazes inspected him as they couldn't help but wonder if he was the one the rumors were about.

"What's going on here?" John asked a nearby youth as he ignored the stares.

"It's another warrior trial," the youth replied, his tone and expression unsure about how to reply. One would not reply in an overly respectful manner to those weaker than them, but the Jade Dragon List had revealed that there was one youth in the Meridian Forging Realm that could not be looked down on, although the youth was not sure as John's aura was hidden at the moment.

"A warrior trial? To climb the wall?" John asked, as the trial didn't seem very warrior-like.

"It's not as simple as it appears," the youth replied. "As you climb, a strange energy washes over you. While it gets physically harder to climb the higher you get, that's not the hard part. The wall invades your mind and soul, making you feel excruciating pain, amongst other terrifying things. It's a dreadful test of willpower, and you get more Jade Marks the higher you climb."

"Ah, so that's how it is," John replied. Having a firm willpower and ability to withstand pain was something very important to climbing through the cultivation world, and one that John was very familiar with.

"Why is only one climbing?" John asked, as he noticed the others just waiting around.

"Only one can climb at a time," the youth replied, "most likely to stop any teamwork."

John's gaze lingered on the climbing youth, who seemed to be on his last legs. He was around sixty percent of the way up, and was most likely going to fall soon.

"Has anyone managed to climb to the top?" John asked curiously.

"Two, apparently," the youth replied. "I didn't see it personally, but others did. One was Luth Chaster, who climbed the wall in fifteen minutes. The other was Parker Noren, who climbed in nine minutes."