Li Shen advanced in the next instant.
The blue sword traced a wide arc through the air and, instead of cutting directly toward Kyrian, released the accumulated energy.
Crescent moons of sharp Qi shot forward.
They were not simple disordered waves. Each cut had a calculated angle, trajectory, and overlap. So ca high, others low, two crossed at the center, forcing a specific evasion.
The air whistled.
The arena floor was torn apart even before the attacks reached their target.
Kyrian did not move imdiately. His green eyes glead. The sword-shaped pupils rotated slightly.
He saw.
He saw the density of each crescent. He saw the weakest points. He saw the possible paths before the attack had completed half its course.
His Qi flowed into the sword. The sword’s intent expanded.
He slashed the air.
Once. Twice. Three tis.
Green crescents erged, no less nurous than Li Shen’s. They ford with frightening precision, each one aligned to intercept a specific attack.
The waves collided in the middle of the arena. Successive explosions of Qi echoed. Dust rose like a curtain. When the view cleared, neither of them had been hit.
Murmurs ran through the stands.
"He... even copied that?"
"Not even the long-range technique worked..."
Li Shen ground his teeth. Attacking from afar would not work. He did not hesitate.
His body surged forward in an explosion of speed. Much faster than before. The Qi reinforcent of the Core Formation elevated his acceleration to a new level.
In the blink of an eye, he was already less than three ters away. His sword shone.
"Blue Sword Art! Three Shadow Steps!"
His body split into afterimages as he advanced. They were not simple illusions, they were real variations of trajectory, micro-adjustnts that confused ordinary perception.
Slashes ca from impossible angles. From above, from below, and from the side.
Kyrian remained at the center.
His eyes captured each true displacent. The false trajectories were ignored. He saw the exact point where Li Shen’s weight truly shifted.
The first blade was blocked. The second deflected with minimal movent.
Li Shen accelerated even more, the pattern becoming chaotic to most eyes.
But to Kyrian, everything was clear. He was not rely defending. He counterattacked in the exact space between one strike and another. His green sword traced short and precise lines.
The sword’s intent enveloped each movent. One cut sliced across Li Shen’s arm. Another opened his thigh superficially.
Li Shen tried to twist his body to minimize the damage, but intent was not sothing that could be blocked with brute Qi alone.
He had not comprehended any intent. And, against soone who had, that was fatal.
The exchanges beca more intense.
Kyrian was pushed back twice by heavier impacts, but he never lost his balance. Each ti he retreated, he responded with a perfect counterattack.
The difference was becoming clear.
In the stands, so more experienced cultivators sighed.
"It’s over."
"Kyrian is a monster... he is superior in technique."
"Superior in reading the fight."
"Superior in intent."
Nan Feng Yu crossed his arms.
"If Kyrian wanted to... he would have already finished it. But he seems to be enjoying himself a little."
Lin Qiao nodded slowly.
Li Shen realized it as well. Between one clash and another, he saw it. Kyrian was not forcing anything. His face remained calm. No tension or urgency, like the one he himself was showing.
It was as if he was not even in a fight.
’He is... playing with .’ The thought hurt more than the cuts.
Li Shen retreated abruptly, opening ten ters of distance. His chest rose and fell more intensely now. Blood stained his blue robe. He tightened his grip on the sword. If this continued, he would lose gradually.
Then there was only one option left.
His best technique.
He closed his eyes for a brief instant. The Qi of the core spun violently within his dantian. He channeled everything into the sword, compressing, refining, and ignoring the strain.
The blue blade began to vibrate.
The air around it was pushed back.
A single line of Qi began to form in front of the sword.
Unlike the previous multiple crescents, this one was single. But its density was absurd. It grew and grew.
Until it reached the size of a person. A pure, solid slash, ford entirely of sword Qi. The pressure caused small cracks to open in the ground.
"Blue Sword Art! Supre Slash!"
Li Shen advanced with a restrained shout and released the attack. The gigantic blade of Qi tore through the air in a straight line, compressing everything ahead.
The audience held its breath.
Kyrian watched. His green eyes beca even deeper. He raised his sword slowly. His Qi flowed, not explosively, but concentrated. The sword’s intent expanded, sharper than ever.
Then, he slashed. A single strike. A green arc erged. It was half the size of Li Shen’s strike. But it was several tis sharper. Purer and more complete.
When the two attacks collided, there was no imdiate explosion.
There was a sharp sound. Like glass being pressed. Then, the blue blade began to crack.
Small fissures spread across its surface of Qi. In the next second, it shattered. The green slash passed through the remaining fragnts and continued advancing.
Li Shen’s eyes widened. He tried to raise his sword to defend himself. But it was too late. The strike hit his chest. The energy enveloped him and sent him flying back like a rag doll.
He flew several ters before colliding with the arena floor, rolling until he stopped near the edge. A heavy silence fell over the Coliseum. The dust settled slowly.
Li Shen coughed.
Blood ca out of his mouth.
A deep cut ran diagonally across his chest, not fatal, but decisive. His blue sword fell from his hand, clattering against the stone.
He tried to stand. He managed to get to his knees. His gaze found Kyrian in the distance.
Kyrian remained standing at the center of the arena, sword still in hand, aura stable, breathing even.
Without a single wound. Li Shen held the gaze for a few seconds. Then, he lowered his head. The tension left his shoulders.
"I give up."
His voice ca out hoarse but clear.
Elder Tian raised his hand imdiately.
"Victory of Kyrian, from the Blood Court!"
On the ranking wall, Li Shen’s na began to fall, while Kyrian’s rose to rank 85.
Murmurs erupted again. But, this ti, no one doubted Kyrian anymore.
He had not only defeated soone in the Core Formation realm, a major realm above his own. He had completely dominated the fight from beginning to end.
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