Ascension Of The Immortal Asura

'Sword Dao,' John thought, naturally thinking of his mysterious father, who had displayed a monstrous comprehension of the Sword Dao when he had fought his fathers youthful avatar in the Divine Talent Trial.

'Dao Tournaments?' John thought next, but refrained from asking about them. He was sure Luri would eventually get to explaining what they were.

"Beneath the Tier One Sects are the Tier Two Sects, which are as the name suggests the second strongest set of powers of the human race," Luri continued. "There are twelve Tier Two powers, and each one is affiliated with one of the Tier One Sects."

"Affiliated?" John asked, as the word could mean many things.

"Basically subsects," Luri said before elaborating further. "Under the protection of a Tier One Dao Sect. In exchange for that protection, the subsects provide taxes, treasures, talented geniuses and more."

John nodded his head in understanding.

'It's essentially the system the Heavenly Lightning Sect had back home, with the Yuan Continent Sect serving the main sect on the Divine Martial Continent. Or perhaps it's closer to the Honorable Alliance, as it seems as though the subsects are a variety of sect types and not just of one main sect,' John thought.

"There are five Tier Two Sects that are affiliated with the Sword Dao Sect, four affiliated with the Mage Dao Sect, and three affiliated with the Yang Dao Sect," Luri continued. "Below the Tier Two Sects are the Tier Three Sects, of which our Light Dao Sect is one of them."

'A Tier Three Sect huh? Lower than I expected,' John thought, remaining silent.

"There are dozens of Tier Three Sects, each reporting to a Tier Two Sect, which reports to the Tier One Sects. There are Tier Four and Five Sects below us, but those are not important enough to discuss. The Tier Two Sect we report to is the Fire Dao Sect," Luri said, pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Fire Dao Sect? Fire, Light, Yang. Are the subjects all related Dao-Wise to the Tier One Sect they are affiliated with?" John asked, noticing a connection between the three sects.

"Yes, but not always," Luri answered. "Some sects chose to align themselves based on Dao familiarity, while others aligned themselves based on the power balance of the three Tier One Sects. Many allied themselves with the Sword Dao Sect based on their power, not necessarily their Dao compatibility."

John nodded his head, asking another question.

"So does a Tier One Genius only come from a Tier One Sect?" he asked curiously.

"No," Luri shook his head, his face eager as if he wanted to start explaining the details of the genius tiers. "Genius Tiers are determined annually, at the Dao Tournament I mentioned earlier."

John felt his interest pique as the Dao Tournament was mentioned.

"The three Tier One Sects host a Dao Tournament each year, the location of the tournament changing between them each year," Luri continued, his face lit up with excitement at the mere mention of the tournament. 

"Each Tier One Sect and Tier Two power is allowed to send a certain number of cultivators to participate, while those from a Tier Three power and below must qualify beforehand in order to participate," Luri said, giving John a pointed gaze. Clearly he would need to qualify as Luri just mentioned. 

"After the tournament is complete, a participant is assigned a tier based on their placement. Placing between two hundred and fifty sixth and one thousand becomes a Tier Three genius," Luri said, and noticed the unimpressed look on John's face.

"Top one thousand? That's not that impressive is it?" John asked curiously. Based on what Suri had said earlier, the Light Dao Sect had never had a Tier Two genius, which meant they never had someone place higher than two hundred and fifty sixth. Either the tournament was incredibly cutthroat, or the Light Dao Sect was not an impressive sect genius wise.

"There are over ten thousand participants each year," Luri explained, "and only the most talented geniuses can participate in the tournament. Placing top one thousand means you can claim to be a genius amongst geniuses."

"I see," John said, nodding his head. 

'Top one thousand of all geniuses back on the Divine Martial Continent would indeed be impressive based on how many youthful cultivators there are, and this continent seems even larger than the Divine Martial Continent, so I guess it actually is rather impressive,' John thought to himself.

Luri cleared his throat and continued. 

"To become a Tier Two genius, one must place at least in the top two hundred and fifty six," he said, pausing a moment as if to build up the excitement for the revealing of what it took to be a Tier One Genius.

"As Suri mentioned, our sect has never produced a Tier Two genius, so that alone should tell you how hard it is to accomplish. As for a Tier One Genius, one needs to place in the top sixteen of all Dao Tournament participants," Luri said with a flourish of grandeur, falling silent a moment later as if to allow John to digest everything he had been told.

'Top sixteen? Out of the entire human race? No wonder their father only considered it a possibility that I am able to become one, and not a guarantee,' John thought. He had already revealed a considerable amount of combat prowess, and although it was not his full strength, what he had revealed was no doubt heaven defying even to a world like this.

And yet Furi had still not been sure of John's success, only that it was a possibility. John felt his blood heat up at the thought, as it could only mean one thing; the geniuses of this world were impressive monsters themselves, one that would no doubt be thrilling to fight against.

John pushed down his growing battlelust after a short moment, his eyes shifting back to Luri who looked at him closely. It was as if the youth was studying his face, trying to see if the gravity of the task his father had requested was too much for John to handle. It was as if the youth was holding his breath, waiting for a reaction from John, one that would tell him if the task was achievable or not.

John smiled and decided to make the youth wait for an answer a bit longer, and asked his own question instead.

"So how does me becoming a Tier One Genius help your father obtain the pill he wants?" John asked.

A pout of disappointment appeared on Luri's face as he did not receive the answer he sought, but he hid it quickly as he answered John's question.

"As you can tell, becoming a Tier One Genius is something that only the pinnacle talents of this world can accomplish. To reward such talents, the three Tier One Sects offer a gift to each of the geniuses that place in the top sixteen," Luri explained. "And one of those gifts happens to be a Holy Transcendence Pill."

"I see," John said, finally understanding the full picture. 

Furi wanted him to place top sixteen, become a Tier One Genius, and obtain a Holy Transcendence Pill for him. As long as John agreed to accomplish this goal, he would help him look for Lilian. 

John knew he was being taken advantage of in this transaction, and knew he would need to change the deal to be a bit better for him. Furi would no doubt do everything he could to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity, and so John was going to make sure he received the proper price for achieving such an impossible task.

He looked at Luri again, who still waited with baited breath for an answer. John smiled and nodded his head at the youth.

"It shouldn't be too hard to accomplish," he said calmly, his words causing a boisterous cheer of excited celebration to boom out from both youths. 

In the nearby room, Furi opened his eyes, leaving his mediation for a moment, obviously overhearing the last bits of the conversation. A small smile appeared on his face, one brimming with hope; a hope that had been buried for far too long.