Ancient Battlefield

Both John and Adam stood there in stunned silence as they stared out at the scene before them.

John took a moment to gather his wits, before replying to Adam.

"It...seems like an ancient battlefield," John replied with a somewhat dazed voice.

In front of them, as far as the eye could see, thousands and tens of thousands of skeletons were scattered on the battle-scarred terrain. The terrain had been completely changed, with massive craters miles and tens of miles wide formed on the ground. Sword scars ran so deep into the ground that the bottom could not be seen, and stretched out into the distance.

The ground was charred all over, and not a single spec of vegetation or life was seen within the ancient battlefield. The tens of thousands of skeletons strewn across the battlefield varied greatly in shape and size.

Many human shaped skeletons were visible, which numbered in the thousands. There were also skeletons so large that they appeared to be small mountains, with hundreds of these skeletons easily towering several hundred yards tall. The structure of the skeletons were somewhat similar to humans, but a quick glance revealed that they were not humans. Many of the skeletons had four arms or more, and their skulls were shaped quite differently.

Alongside these skeletons were those of various other shapes and sizes, indicating that there were many different species that took part in this battle. John even recognized many skeletons similar to the one he had just encountered in the forest, and they numbered in the thousands as well.

Many of the skeletons were incomplete, indicating that they had been severely damaged by the powerful attacks used in this battle. Ancient weapons jutted out of many of the corpses, while others were strewn about in a random fashion.

An incredibly profound and powerful aura lingered on the battlefield, and both John and Adam could still feel the traces of the incredible battle arts used in this battle, even after all this time. Lingering sword Qi, fire Qi, ice Qi, blood Qi, and many other types lingered, nearly overwhelming their senses.

The auras of the corpses still emanated incredible power, despite being dead for countless years.

John's eyes lingered on a nearby corpse, which was just several hundred yards away. An incredibly powerful weapon jutted out of its ribcage. John was about to step forward, when his instincts screamed out in danger.

His footsteps paused, and his eyes narrowed as he stared forward. After a moment of contemplation, John bent down and picked up a stone near his feet. He juggled it in his hands for a moment before throwing it out towards the battlefield.

Boom!

The rock suddenly exploded into bits as it entered the battlefield, and John could see lingering spatial rifts erupt from where the rock had entered. A frown appeared on his face as he looked forward.

"It appears that the battle was so intense, that lingering spatial rifts remain," Adam mused as he watched the rock be reduced to nothingness. Not even dust remained afterwards.

A weapon suddenly appeared in John's hands, which was one of the swords from the Bloodfiend Sect disciples John had killed. It was a Qi Condensation grade weapon, and was quite sturdy.

Compared to John's body, the sword was as sturdy as his body in his peak state. John hurled the sword towards the battlefield, wanting to see if perhaps something more study could survive the lingering battlefield aura's.

However, just like the rock, the sword was quickly erased to nothingness as soon as it entered the battlefield. A disappointed look appeared on John's face.

"Looks like we won't be able to obtain any of the spoils within," John grumbled out loud. He thought he had run into a goldmine, but unfortunately was unable to obtain any of the treasures in his view.

"Unfortunately," Adam replied. He had noticed several items within that he wanted to claim as well, but their strengths were far too low to enter without dying.

"I wonder what this ancient battle was about?" Adam continued. The scene before them was apocalyptic, and was unlike anything they had ever seen before.

"I'm not sure,maybe we can find clues about it deeper into these lands," John replied as he began to walk.

The ancient battlefield spanned for tens of miles in each direction, and the two of them needed to walk around it to continue further in the wastelands. Reaching the central parts of these lands was still the goal, as long as it wasn't destroyed like this battlefield.

The two of them continued to walk around the battlefield for quite some time, and occasionally spotted other disciples from the Heavenly Lightning Sect, the Supreme Battle Sect, and Divine Soul Sect inspecting the ancient battlefield from outside as well.

However, since there were no opportunities to obtain from this battlefield, no fighting was carried out, as the three sects did not consider themselves enemies. Only the Bloodfiend Sect would fight without reason, but John had not seen any of them yet.

Occasionally, John and Adam spotted the other disciples seated on the ground, meditating around the battlefield. If they found a matching aura, the lingering auras gave them profound insights, allowing them to deepen their comprehensions towards their battle arts and cultivation.

After walking for several hours, John's footsteps slowed as he turned to stare at the battlefield. He closed his eyes to feel the powers washing over him, and was able to identify a trace of a scythe aura within the mix. He suddenly sat down in a meditative position, and began to use his divine sense to study this aura.

"Let's rest here for a moment," John said to Adam, before turning his attention towards the scythe aura again. Adam nodded and sat down as well. The broken formation disk appeared in his hands, and he quickly put it on the ground as he continued to study it.

John concentrated on the scythe aura, doing his best to isolate it from the other auras.

'Once I isolate this aura, I can gain comprehensions from studying it.'

John eventually isolated the aura from the others, and his mind fully focused on studying the scythe aura. Although it was a lingering scythe aura from an unfamiliar battle art, John was still able to learn from it.

'How profound. There are many aspects to this aura, and it's completely different to the Divine Reaping Scythe. The Divine Reaping Scythe focuses on pure sharpness and power, seeking to cleave anything in its path in half, while this aura focuses on fluidity and speed.'

John had always used his scythe in a brutish manner, almost akin to a sword. However, this aura was revealing new aspects to the scythe arts that he had never learned or considered, showing him an entire new world of scythe insights to explore.

Although he would not be able to learn the battle art he was feeling, it would still help push his scythe skills to a new level.

'While the Divine Reaping Scythe is an incredible battle art for head on fighting, and used as a finisher move, it cant be used more than a few times. This battle art however, focuses on the unique aspects of the weapon itself.'

John's mind focused even more, and he began to see images form in his head. A man stood in the sky, holding an incredible looking scythe in his hands. Hundreds of enemies swarmed him from every direction, but the man stood there with a calm face.

His scythe began to move, and wherever it moved, an enemy was cleaved. The scythe moved nonstop in graceful yet unpredictable arcs, which made each attack look like it stemmed from the last. There was no wasted energy in each attack, as one attack flowed into the next as if it was natural.

The scythe appeared like a blur to John, as it moved at speeds he considered impossible.

'Speed, and fluidity…'

After many hours of studying the aura, John slowly opened his eyes as the aura began to fade. New auras took its place, as if the auras within were a stream, never staying in the same place.

John continued to sit there for a while, making sure to remember what he had just seen. An entirely new fighting style had been revealed to him. Although it was just insights and not a complete battle art, his gains had been immense.

John turned to Adam, who was still closely studying the formation disk.

"Let's set out again."

Adam nodded his head, and put away the formation disk. The two of them continued to walk around the massive battlefield, seeking to get to the other side and continue further into the wastelands. By now, they were several hundred miles into these unknown lands, and had a few hundred left before they reached the center.

Nearly a day later, John and Adam finally made their way around the incredibly massive battlefield. They passed by hundreds of other youths meditating around the battlefield similar to what John did, and John even spotted Hartley and Mae seeking insights from the battlefield.

Unfortunately, neither John nor Adam noticed any auras that they had affinity with, and so paid the ancient battlefield no more attention. As they finally broke away from the ancient battlefield, John and Adam spotted something in the distance.

As they continued to walk towards it, the objects in view grew larger and larger until it became readily apparent what it was.

"It's an ancient city. A massive ancient city!" Adam exclaimed

Walls thousands of yards high stretched in each direction as far as the eye could see, with massive gates at the base of the wall appearing every dozen or so miles. Behind the massive walls, towering buildings were visible, each emanating an incredibly profound and ancient aura.

However, due to the ravages of time, both the wall and many of the buildings behind it were crumbling or destroyed. A large hole in the gate in front of them, which stretched up hundreds of yards, allowed John and Adam passage into the city.

"It seems a massive ancient city exists in the very center of these wastelands. Let's enter and see what it's about," John said to Adam as he began to walk forward. Many other disciples were also in the area, also intent on entering the city.

John and Adam entered the city through the large hole in the wall. An ancient aura washed over them as they stepped inside, and they looked around in awe as they entered. Roads, hundreds of yards wide, stretched into the distance as far as the eye could see. Grand buildings lined the roads, although many had decayed to near ruin.

Just stepping inside this city made John feel incredibly small, as it was so large that it dwarfed the Heavenly Lightning Sect. John had been expecting to see many more corpses like the ancient battlefield within the city walls, but surprisingly found none.

John and Adam soon noticed a large crowd of hundreds of disciples, inducing disciples of all four sects, had gathered in the middle of the massive road that stretched deeper into the city.

"I wonder what's going on?" Adam commented as the two of them walked towards the crowd.

John and Adam made their way into the crowd, and pushed their way forward to the front. A somber atmosphere filled the crowd, making John all the more interested in what was going on.

He eventually made his way to the front, and spotted several youths in blood red robes standing in front of the crowd.

"This is what happens when you challenge one of our Three Emperors," one of the Bloodfiend Sect disciples said as he looked at the crowd with an amused and prideful expression.

John's eyes looked towards the middle of the group, and his face instantly ignited with unbridled rage. A severed head was mounted on a pike, blood still dripping down to the ground below. Russell's lifeless eyes seemed to pierce directly into his soul.