After defeating Mu Liu, Kyrian calmly returned to the exclusive stands of the ranked fighters.
The murmurs still echoed throughout the Coliseum. His na shone on the golden panel above the arena. Rank 21.
He received his spirit stones without any visible expression. The number was high. Much higher than he would have imagined when he first entered the Coliseum.
Without hesitation, he declared his final challenge of the day and probably the final challenge of the Coliseum.
Rank 15.
The na appeared on the golden hologram suspended in the sky of the Coliseum. The inscriptions shone intensely when the confrontation was confird.
Kyrian, Rank 21, against Xuan Zhi, Rank 15. The bets began imdiately.
The arena continued to vibrate with other battles as ti passed. Shining techniques, spiritual weapons, successive explosions.
The leaders of the external forces also stepped into the arena that day. Nan Feng Yu tried to challenge soone above him. He lost after an intense battle. He Yun was defeated in less than five minutes when facing a cultivator at the seventh stage of the Core Formation Realm. Mo Qian lasted longer but ended up being pressured into surrender.
They were talented.
But they were not Kyrian. They could not fight an entire major realm above with natural ease.
The sun began to tilt toward the horizon. The shadows stretched across the already devastated arena.
The ground was cracked, burned, frozen, and slashed by blades. After a week of opening, it would need to be completely rebuilt.
When the sky began to take on orange hues, Elder Tian appeared once again at the center.
"Last fight of the day."
The Coliseum fell silent.
"Kyrian, Rank 21 of the Coliseum, against Xuan Zhi, Rank 15 of the Coliseum."
A roar swept through the stands. Kyrian imdiately jumped down from the seating area. His body descended lightly, landing on the broken ground of the arena.
On the other side, the gate opened and Xuan Zhi entered.
He was thin. Tall. Long brown hair loose and falling down to the middle of his back. His features were delicate to the point they could be mistaken for a woman’s, but not a particularly beautiful woman.
His eyes were narrow. Cold. His Qi was already released. He was at the 8° stage of the Core Formation Realm.
The pressure was dense. Superior to any opponent Kyrian had faced so far.
Tian raised his hand.
"Begin."
At the sa instant, Xuan Zhi withdrew a thin, green-colored sword from his spatial ring. Wind Qi exploded around his legs.
He then disappeared. It was not just fast, he was extrely fast. Faster than the shadow cultivator Kyrian had faced days before.
The green sword descended vertically toward Kyrian’s head.
Without hesitation. Without testing. It was a killing blow.
Kyrian jumped backward at the last instant. The blade grazed his forehead. It did not hit him directly. But the Wind Qi wrapped around the sword pierced through his defense.
A thin line of blood ran down his forehead.
Silence.
It was the first ti Kyrian had bled in combat in the Coliseum. The audience was stunned.
"He was injured!"
"Finally soone hit him!"
Kyrian landed several ters back. He brought his hand to his forehead. He looked at the blood on his fingertips. Surprise briefly passed through his eyes.
He had seen the strike. Every centiter. But his body could not react at the sa speed. His perception surpassed his physical speed.
That was a problem.
Xuan Zhi did not give him ti to reflect. He advanced again.
The sword slashed horizontally, accompanied by invisible blades of compressed wind that tore through the ground wherever they passed.
Kyrian blinked.
When he opened his eyes again, his pupils had changed. Perfectly geotric snowflakes rotated within his sky-blue eyes.
Icy Qi exploded in all directions. The ground froze instantly. Ice spikes erged all around.
Xuan Zhi’s advance was abruptly interrupted. He retreated at high speed, the wind propelling his body backward before the spikes could reach him. He was fast enough not to be struck.
Kyrian frowned. He could not allow Xuan Zhi to approach again. If that blow had descended a few centiters lower, it could have been fatal.
Xuan Zhi tilted his head slightly.
"If you don’t take this seriously and think I am like your previous opponents... you will die." His voice was thin, almost soft. But his eyes were cold.
He disappeared again. This ti, three images appeared simultaneously around Kyrian. They were like wind clones. The three green swords descended at the sa ti.
Kyrian released a circular wave of ice around himself. Two images dissipated. The third was real.
The blade collided against an ice barrier ford at the last instant. The impact generated an explosion of wind and frozen fragnts. Kyrian was pushed back several ters.
The ice on his arms cracked. The force was brutal. Xuan Zhi spun his body in midair and launched dozens of compressed wind slashes.
Kyrian raised both hands. Walls of ice rose successively. The slashes pierced through them. So were blocked. Others tore through the ice like paper.
One of them cut the sleeve of Kyrian’s robe. Another opened a small cut on his shoulder.
The audience held its breath. Xuan Zhi landed lightly on the ground, as if he had not exerted any effort at all.
The icy Qi around Kyrian beca denser. The temperature dropped drastically. The entire ground began to freeze within a wide radius.
"Want to keep your distance?" Xuan Zhi murmured.
The wind around him began to spin faster.
He disappeared once more. But this ti, instead of attacking directly, he began to circle Kyrian at extrely high speed. A windstorm ford.
Sand, fragnts of ice, and dust spun violently.
But despite that, Kyrian could see exactly the opponent’s position. When Xuan Zhi advanced again from behind, the ice spear was already ford. It shot backward without Kyrian even turning around.
Xuan Zhi twisted his body in midair, dodging by centiters. But for the first ti, he was forced to completely interrupt his rhythm.
Kyrian realized. If he could not match speed with speed... he would need to control the field. The ice began to spread even further. Layer upon layer froze the ground, creating uneven terrain.
Spikes erged randomly. The space for movent shrank. Xuan Zhi landed in an area still intact.
His eyes narrowed.
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