Chapter 678 Apparition
Jonathan had inherited the Ancient Sacred Dragon Technique by chance. It happened when he had just joined the military and was serving under Quilton Army at Harfush.
Back then, Hades was but a regimental leader. Quilton Army wasn’t able to hold itself against its opponent which was triple in size. Thus, they could only retreat into the mountains while engaging in intermittent fights.
Jonathan’s company was tasked with delaying enemy troops to buy more time for the main troops. The company retreated as they fought, and Jonathan ended up being the sole survivor.
While fleeing from the enemies, he fell through a hole beneath a river by accident. The hole started off being the width of a well, but there was a cave the size of a basketball court after passing through it.
Within the enclosed space, Jonathan found nothing aside from a corpse that sat upright. Another object that caught his attention was a jade slip that was glowing in the dark.
After he reached out to touch the jade slip, he felt as if a cool stream flowed through his arm before seeping into his mind. Within an instant, it eradicated all of his negative feelings, including hunger, fear, and panic.
He was so focused on leaving the place alive that he didn’t pay attention to all that had happened and merely assumed that the place was a tomb that saved his life.
It wasn’t until he thought back on it that he realized it was a retreat for someone that went into seclusion during ancient times.
Somehow, that person didn’t manage to emerge from his period of seclusion and passed away inside instead. Meanwhile, Jonathan obtained that jade slip by a twist of fate and inherited the divine knowledge it contained.
After Jonathan was out of danger, he returned to seal the cave lest somebody else disturb the eternal rest of the deceased.
According to the introductory chapter, the technique was passed down from ancient times, but nobody knew who exactly created it.
It was also mentioned that it was the later generations who named the technique according to the sigil of the Sacred Dragon which could be found in the introductory chapter.
The contents of the text spanned various topics, including but not limited to the basics of the technique, cultivation methods in general, spells, pill-making, and weapon-refining.
Fast-forward to then, the spell that Jonathan was casting was Five Elements of the Dragon Deity, which was one of the most basic spells within the Ancient Sacred Dragon Technique.
Although he had no idea what ancient times might look like, the fact that even the most basic of moves recorded within the text required wielders to have achieved God Realm was proof of the spell’s sheer power.
During previous battles, Jonathan didn’t get the chance to cast such a complicated spell.
After all, not only did it consume a lot of energy, but the process of it was slow too.
Moreover, the opponents he faced were all extremely skilled, and none gave him the chance to cast such a spell.
After Jonathan’s chanting, the shattered ice that was dispersed around them began to bob in the water.
Aidan and the rest could sense danger coming from beneath, prompting them into action and dispersing.
Despite their speedy retreat, Jonathan’s spell was even quicker.
Following an explosion, countless tornadic waterspouts broke out from the water surface around Jonathan and shot upward into the skies.
Water droplets fell from the skies amidst the chilly northern winds.
By the next instant, the droplets merged to form countless eerie-looking triangular blades with scaly surfaces.
“Slice them up!”
Jonathan waved his arm with all his might, and the blades floating mid-air began soaring at a manic speed.
Initially, the soaring eerie blades merely picked up speed gradually.
Aidan and the rest who were within their vicinity had to dodge and duck. Although they were fumbling, they weren’t injured.
However, after a few seconds, the blades drew silver lines that spanned across the skies, arriving before their targets within the blink of an eye.
On the riverbank at the sidelines, Sawyer stared at the sight above the river and his gaze was filled with astonishment.
Even though he was also a cultivator, the sight before him was beyond his understanding.
For all that Sawyer knew, cultivation was a mere means to strengthen the human body by ingesting spiritual energy found in nature.
Even though those who had reached Grandmaster Realm could transform their surroundings using their spiritual energy, Sawyer was mindblown when he witnessed Jonathan’s unpredictable techniques.
Meanwhile, Karl had a solemn look on his face.
When he had broken through into God Realm, he, for a moment, had assumed that his skill was finally on par with Jonathan’s.
That was what he based his choice to defect from Asura’s Office so that he ventured out on his own path.
However, he only came to know how big a mistake he had made.
He never was on par with Jonathan.
Just as Jonathan said, he could kill him at any moment if he wished to.
On the ice, the eerie blades were still manically making their way toward Aidan and the rest.
Even if they wished to launch themselves forward to kill Jonathan, they had to first get past the countless ice blades.
Jonathan’s spell was an extension of elemental spells.
While standing on the ice floes with the running waters of River Onxy beneath him, it was easy for Jonathan to cast a water-based spell. Although it would also consume a lot of his spiritual energy, he could, in turn, create countless blades.
Although Aidan and the rest could easily avoid the ice blades by retreating to the riverbank, the catch was that they couldn’t do that.
There were only six people engaged in the fight, but there were hundreds and thousands of people watching from both sides of the river.
There were even spies, bribed by various factions, studying everything closely at the headquarters of both armies.
Jonathan was up against three of them, so they would be embarrassing Remdik if they retreated.
Thus, their only choice would be to push forth.
Followed by a spurt of blood, Aidan let out a roar. Pure spiritual energy erupted from his fist and cleared out a ten-meter pathway before him.
Alexander sprang into action right away, running on the surface of the water.
Due to his immense speed, his thrust set off a series of huge waves across dozens of meters as if a bomb had exploded.
Four spiritual senses clashed as the waves obscured everyone’s view.
An energy slash sliced through the waves, aiming for Jonathan’s head.
“Converge!”
Jonathan cast a spell as he leaped backward. Drops of water quickly converged next to Antoine’s body. Within moments, Antoine’s body and the gigantic waves behind him were frozen into a solid wall of ice.
After glancing at Antoine’s blade that almost touched his forehead, Jonathan procured his Heaven Sword and pierced it toward Antoine’s throat.
Ding!
After a crisp noise, a speck of light at Antoine’s chest grew increasingly brighter while he was still frozen in the ice.
The chilly ice shattered into fine particles that filled the skies.
On the frozen river, Aidan, Alexander, and Antoine knelt on the ground on one knee.
Countless specks of light began to merge mid-air as an overwhelmingly terrifying aura emerged.
Jonathan took out his bronze handbell before leaping backward in a flash.
Back on the riverbank, he stared at an apparition of more than ten meters tall hovering while still holding Heaven Sword.
The apparition of an elderly man was watching him condescendingly.
