Chapter 996: Combat Bottleneck

"Good," the Prime Shadow nodded his head, approving of John's confidence. The more confident John was, the more secrets he most likely had, and the more heaven-defying he really was. The Prime Shadow had placed all his bets on John carrying his masters legacy to the pinnacle of the martial universe, and so was pleased to find out there was more to him than he had revealed.

"Now that I've bet everything important to me on you, I will support you as much as I can, to ensure your growth is as optimal as possible," the Prime Shadow said, surprising John slightly.

'I knew his master's legacy was important to him, but I didn't know it was this important to him. He's acting as if I'm more important to him than his own Guild,' John thought.

"I won't say no to your help," John said despite his surprise. Strength was everything, and he would seize every opportunity to advance his strength, and this was an opportunity he could not say no to.

"Good," the Prime Shadow nodded. "Then tell me this, when it comes to your combat prowess, what is the one thing that you would like to improve. Is there something holding you back from reaching your true potential?"

"Something holding me back?" John said thoughtfully, thinking over his combat talents.

'My muscles, bones, and flesh are of both Asura and Dragons, so there's not much room for improvement there, and if there is, I highly doubt it would be on this world. As for my dantian, its as strong as it can possibly be, and the Prime Shadow would not be able to do anything with my body dantian...'

John thought over his situation, his eyes lighting up a moment later.

"I suppose the thing holding me back the most are my meridians," John said after assessing the situation.

Both his Asura and Draconic augmentation aided in strengthening his meridians, but the focus was mostly on his muscles, blood, and bones. As such, his meridians had been strengthened the least, and was often a bottleneck, especially with his heaven-defying dantian.

"Your meridians?" the Prime Shadow said with some surprise, clearly not expecting to hear this answer. For most cultivators, their meridians were the least concerning aspect of their cultivation, as they could not come close to generating the amount of Qi needed to damage them.

John nodded his head. It was a problem that had plagued him since the start of his cultivation. Two Dantians, both heaven-defying, and only one set of meridians to handle the Qi from both.

The Prime Shadow reached out and touched John's wrist, placing his index finger on the veins of his wrist.

"Let me inspect your meridians," he said, asking for John to allow his Qi to enter his body.

John nodded and allowed the Prime Shadow to do so. The man was powerful enough to erase him with a wave of his hand if he really wanted to, so if he secretly wanted to harm John for some reason, he would be able to do nothing to stop the man. With the Prime Shadow's importance he placed on his masters legacy, John was confident the man valued his safety above all else, most likely even his own life at this moment.

John felt the Prime Shadow's Qi enter his body, and start to snake through his meridians, testing their quality and durability. A moment later his Qi was withdrawn. A surprised and also skeptical look appeared on the Prime Shadow's face.

"Child, your meridians are the most impressive meridians I've ever seen from a Dao Transformation youth. In fact, it's practically equal to a Middle World Expansion cultivator's meridians. How are your meridians your bottleneck in combat? You've shown incredible combat prowess, but not to the level that you would need stronger meridians," the Prime Shadow said skeptically.

A wry look appeared on John's face, while he debated whether or not to tell the Prime Shadow the truth.

'I'll have to use my Asura Transformation eventually, and the Prime Shadow will learn about it then. It's most likely best to reveal it now. With the fact that Zuri was alright with my transformation, it shouldn't be a complete taboo on this world to use the powers of enemies. It's just...his master was crippled by an Asura...how would he react to knowing I can use their powers?'

"I can see you're debating whether to reveal some of your secrets to me," the Prime Shadow said, a soft smile appearing on his face. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. I have placed my greatest burden, the legacy of my master, on your shoulders, and as I told you, will support you with my fullest power. Your life is now more important than my own. So, tell me what weighs so heavily on your mind."

John felt true sincerity in the Prime Shadow's words, as if he was a grandfather speaking to his most cherished grandchild. It was a startling thing, to become so important to the man so quickly, but he understood the reasoning. It wasn't John the Prime Shadow cared about, but the legacy he now carried.

"Instead of telling you, it would be easier to show you."

Boom!

The ground shook and air trembled as John activated his Dragon-God Shift, unleashing his aura into the sky. Undisturbed by his strong aura, the Prime Shadow watched on silently with a curious expression. John hesitated for only a single moment, then unleashed his true power.

BOOM!

The ground exploded beneath their feet, unable to withstand the power of John's aura. The sky seemed to twist and turn as his golden aura was stained blood-red, infused with the sinister and malevolent powers of an Asura.

The Prime Shadow stared at John with a stunned expression, eyes wide as he took in the John's Asura form. Blood red eyes, two pitch black horns, a dark-red body bulging with muscles and true, physical power. It was as if a true Asura had appeared before him, and although the Prime Shadow had never met an Asura personally, he instantly knew the source of the power.

The aura suddenly faded away as John undid both of his transformations, returning to his normal form. There was no reason to hold that exhausting combination of Dragon and Asura powers any longer than what was needed, as even a few minutes of using both took a toll on his body.

The Prime Shadow stared at John silently, a complicated expression on his face. John remained silent, allowing him to process whatever emotions he was feeling.

'Thankfully, I feel no bloodlust, so that's good,' John thought with relief.

"I see," the Prime Shadow eventually said, exhaling a deep breath he had been holding. "No wonder you were so confident against the Devil during that battle. You had this trump card up your sleeve the entire time. No wonder your friend has placed so much faith in you...."

John remained silent, as he could tell the Prime Shadow was still processing everything. It took the man a few minutes to gather his wits, at which point he seemed to have accepted John's powers.

"I won't ask you to tell me how you came to obtain this power," the Prime Shadow said, eyes slightly narrowed. "I only want to ask this...do you have full control over this power of yours, or does it control you?"

"I have never lost control of this power, if that's what you're asking," John replied truthfully.

The Prime Shadow fell silent for another short while, then nodded his head, a small smile appearing on his face.

"I had thought finding you gave my master's legacy a chance to rise to the top of this universe. Now that I know your full strength, as long as you do not perish on your climb to the top, there is no doubt in my mind that you will spread his legacy to every corner of the universe," the Prime Shadow said, sighing with obvious relief. "It seems I have chosen my successor well. Still, with that level of power, I think your meridians should be fine. There is one place on this world that could help meridians of your level, but the risk isn't really worth it considering what I know. Your meridians should be strong enough to withstand the Qi you use going forward."

Relief by the Prime Shadow's acceptance of his powers, and also wanting to learn of this opportunity to potentially fortify his meridians, another wry look appeared on John's face as he scratched the back of his head, laughing lightly.

"Ha...ha...actually, that's not my full strength," John said wryly.

"....What?!?!?"