Chapter 77 - Tournament Continues
"How could such a thing be possible?" Warren Gildar refused to believe it. Even a Sovereign Variant Body was something that was myth and legend, let alone a Heavenly Variant Body. Although Warren couldn't identify just how powerful and profound John's body was, he still refused to believe it. He had already hated that the Varis Clan produced Miko Varis, and now the Fenix Clan produced John.
"If these two boys are allowed to cultivate for even just ten years, they will completely overthrow the power balance, and our sect could possibly be wiped out. We must hasten our plans. I need to inform Elder Forren about this after the pocket realm." Warren Gildar thoughts frantically raced, and the thought of John and Miko cultivating to adulthood scared him stiff.
While the Elders of all the powers were still shocked, the juniors who had no idea about the importance of Innate Variant Bodies started asking about it.
"Why is everyone so shocked? Is John's body awesome like my soul or something?" Miko couldn't help but ask. Ryan was quite curious too, but knew the matter would be explained by the Fenix Clan elders soon enough.
Barden once again spoke up, as he had delayed the tournament proceedings enough already. "As you can see, John has an incredibly powerful body, and it's profound to an extent that even we cannot fully understand it. Only John himself understands it, but he has no intentions of letting anyone know anything about his body type, and so you will have to live with that. I only brought this matter up in the first place to put all the cheating accusations to rest. I hope we continue with the tournament now."
Warren Gildar wanted to say something, but knew what Barden had said was the truth. There really isn't anything he could disqualify John with, and so he sat down and remained silent, although a slightly murderous light glinted in his eyes.
Waylon Varis finally regained his composure, and walked up to Barden on the stage while laughing loudly. "Haha, I guess I should congratulate your clan. It seems like the Varis Clan is now not the only one with a heavenly genius."
Barden laughed in response and thanked Waylon, before he hopped off the stage and returned to his seat.
"Congratulations Cade and Barden. Seems like your clan will soar in the near future."
"Mhm, if only we were lucky enough to have someone with an Innate Variant Body."
All the powers except the Crimson Valley Sect started showering the Fenix Clan with praises. They were truly jealous of this revelation, but expressed their goodwill nonetheless. Unless something disastrous happened, John was destined to be a mighty figure in the future, and they all wanted to be on the Fenix Clan's good side.
"Why didn't you inform us of John's variant body?" Cade Fenix couldn't help but ask his son Barden.
"You were going to find out today anyways, so I felt no need to reveal it beforehand." Barden nonchalantly responded.
"You know, this changes things. John's heavenly talents will draw the envy and hate of many. We will need to use all our resources to make sure hes protected at all times from now on." Cade Fenix understood the hearts of men, and knew John would be targeted in the future.
A serious look appeared on Barden's face as he nodded his head. He knew revealing John's talents would draw the eyes of many onto him, but entering the pocket realm was far too important for John to give up, and so revealing his full power, and thus body type, was the only way forward.
"Now that this matter has been settled, let's continue with the tournament." Waylon wanted to get the tournament started once more, as there were still many rounds to complete. John hopped off the stage and returned to his seat by Ryan and Miko.
"John, what's a Variant Body? And why is everyone freaking out so much?" Miko couldn't help but ask John curiously. Ryan himself was quite curious, and when he thought back to how John had beaten him in their fight, it all made sense to him now how John was able to beat him while at the middle Mist Creation Realm.
"Uhhh, it's kinda like your variant soul, but only for my body." John tried to explain it in the most simple and vague manner, as even he was unsure of how powerful his body was or what type of variant body it was. The only thing he knew was that his variant body was caused by cultivating the Immortal Asura Body.
"Oh, that makes sense. That's awesome, now we both have special cultivation's. With us working together, we'll dominate the entire continent soon enough, hahahah." Miko started laughing like a deranged madman as he thought about him and John dominating everything and everyone. Miko had always felt like somewhat of an outcast, as almost everyone treated him as some kind of special cultivation prodigy, but he liked it when people treated him normally. John was one of those people, and finding out that John was special just like him made Miko incredible happy.
John shook his head at Miko's antics and sat down besides them. After such a big scene, the crowd took a while to settle down, and many eyes were curiously peering towards John, some with reverence, some with curiosity, and some with hate.
In the Fenix Clan stands, a pair of eyes filled with jealousy and slight anger were staring straight at John. After some time of staring, Parker Fenix looked away and back towards the arenas where the fights were about to resume.
All the fighters in the fourth round had stopped their fights when the commotion involving John appeared. Now that it had settled down, they continued their fights until all of them had been finished. The fifth round began, and Ryan instantly perked up when he saw who was fighting.
"Oh, my sister is fighting huh? Go Ella, kick some Crimson Valley butt." Miko Varis shouted out cheers of encouragement for this sister's fight to come. Ella Varis looked towards Miko and smiled and waved. Her eyes lingered slightly on Ryan who was staring at her in complete infatuation before she once again looked towards her opponent in front of her.
John noticed her gaze pause on Ryan and a smile crept up on his face. "Seems like there may be some mutual interest Ryan. Why don't you go talk to her and congratulate her after her fight?"
Ryan blushed slightly and started stammering. "Uhhh...may..maybe."
John shook his head and looked over towards Miko. "Miko, has your sister ever talked about who she likes?"
Miko was surprised by the question, but paused to think for a bit before he shook his head. "She hasn't said anything of the sort to me. Why do you ask? Do you like her?" A mischievous smile broke out on Miko's face as he started poking John in his ribs with his elbow.
"Cut it out. And it's not me" John pushed Miko's arm aside as he eyed Miko towards Ryan several times. Miko finally caught on to John's meaning, and loudly started talking to Ryan.
"You like my sister? Why haven't you said anything? I can help hook you up." Miko winked at Ryan and started badgering him about his feelings for Ella. Ryan repeatedly tried to get Miko to stop talking about it, but to no avail.
"Fine, I'll go talk to her after her fight? Happy John?" Ryan finally gave up and agreed to John's proposal.
"Good. Looks like the fight's about to start."
The three of them looked towards the stage Ella was fighting on, and watched her battle with a member of the Crimson Valley Sect. Her fighting style was filled with grace and fluidity, and her unending and unpredictable attacks eventually allowed her to win over her opponent.
Miko started cheering loudly for his sister's win, and Ella waved to him before she walked over to the stands where her friends were.
Ryan steeled his eyes and stood up resolutely. "Well boys, wish me luck."
John and Miko started laughing and encouraging Ryan as he walked over to Ella, and John was just about to say something to Miko when he noticed a certain someone step onto the fighting arena for the next rounds of fights.
"So, Dylan is finally up huh?"