As he pushed himself over the edge, forcing his Body Dantian into the Half-Step World Expansion Realm, John felt his mind twist and bend under the pressure of the murmurs, of the sinister aura growing by the second within his mind and soul. The pain became overwhelming, and then it vanished.
Not the pain. No, the pain was still very much there. What vanished was the overwhelmingness of it all. John felt his mind snap, his humanity shattering like glass, his being embracing the Asura. At that moment, the pain was no longer an enemy, but a friend.
He looked up, his eyes widening slightly before narrowing into a cold, murderous gaze as he stared at the sinister gate before him. Without realizing it, without knowing he had been drawn in, without doing it himself, John found himself standing before the sinister gate within his palace realm.