Kyrian remained seated on the high branch of the Ancestral Tree, the gentle wind swaying the leaves around him. He observed everything with half-closed eyes, his mind calm like the surface of a still lake.
Below him, the scene began to change.
Around thirty young talents arrived almost at the sa ti at the base of the colossal tree. They were the strongest among the participants of the fifty domains, those who had survived the initial hunts and accumulated enough points to reach the core of the Pocket Realm. Disciples from the Flaming Sword, the Ancient Forest, the Golden Mountain, the Shadow Valley, and other powerful domains. So ca alone, confident in their strength. Others in small groups of three or four, still maintaining a temporary alliance.
They stopped in the gigantic clearing around the tree, looking at one another with caution.
"... There are no more beasts." murmured a young man from the Flaming Sword, Huo Ling, frowning as he looked around.
"The closer we get to the core, the fewer we find. It should be the opposite."
A disciple from the Ancient Forest, Mu Qing, nodded slowly.
"Exactly. The powerful beasts simply... disappeared. In the last few hours, we only found weak creatures, at most at the 1° stage of Core Formation."
The others noticed the sa. The central region, which should have been the most dangerous, was strangely empty of strong prey. Only weaker beasts wandered along the edges. It was as if soone had cleared the place before they arrived.
No one understood why.
But everyone understood what it ant now.
There were no more beasts to hunt. The only way to gain remaining points was to steal from other participants.
The air grew heavy. Gazes crossed with poorly concealed hostility. Glowing leaves were openly displayed by so, showing their accumulated points, between 800 and 1,800 in most cases. Others kept their leaves hidden inside their clothes, trying to avoid unnecessary attention.
No one made the first move.
They looked at each other, calculating strength, weighing risks. A palpable tension filled the clearing. The smallest wrong movent could start a massacre.
Then soone looked up.
"Hey... look up there." said a disciple from the Golden Mountain, pointing.
"Soone got here before us."
Everyone raised their heads almost at the sa ti.
At the top of the Ancestral Tree, sitting casually on a wide branch with his legs dangling in the void, was a solitary figure.
Long black hair swaying lightly in the wind. A simple black robe from the Verdant Sword Sect. An almost perfect appearance, cold and refined. And those distinct green eyes, with sword-shaped pupils that seed to shine even from afar.
Kyrian.
He had taken the leaf from his chest and held it in his hand, deliberately displaying it for everyone. The golden rune shone intensely.
4,012 points.
Absolute silence took over the clearing.
Then ca the shock.
"Four thousand... points?!"
"That’s impossible!"
"He... he is only at the 1° stage of Core Formation... and has more points than all of us combined!"
Their gazes rose again. Kyrian watched them from above, with a montary interest that soon turned into indifference. Practically everyone there was still in the Qi Liberation Realm, with a few at the 1° or 2° stage of Core Formation. Their strength was pitiful compared to what he had faced in the Cloud Empire or the Blood Court.
Kyrian quickly lost interest.
Outside, on the Central Plateau, the audience exploded in commotion.
The holographic screens focused on the scene. Thousands of people watched live as Kyrian’s na shone at the top of the ranking with an overwhelming advantage.
"He’s up there alone!"
"4,012 points... and the others barely pass 1,500!"
"That kid is a monster! How did the Verdant Sword Sect produce soone like that?!"
In the VIP sectors, the domain leaders were equally impressed.
The Leader of the Flaming Sword tightened his grip on the armrest, his flaming eyes fixed on the screen.
"This Kyrian... he cleared the central region alone. That’s why the others couldn’t find strong beasts."
The Leader of the Ancient Forest chuckled softly, looking at Feng Yuan with newfound respect.
"You truly raised a dragon, Feng Yuan."
Feng Yuan rely smiled calmly, saying nothing. i Ran, beside him, maintained a serene expression, but her eyes shone with pride.
Inside the Pocket Realm, the tension in the clearing increased.
The thirty geniuses looked at Kyrian with a mixture of caution, greed, and reluctant admiration. No one dared to attack first. The gap in points was too large, and Kyrian’s strength had already been indirectly demonstrated.
Kyrian, on the other hand, continued sitting calmly, waiting.
He had hunted enough.
Now, he would let the others hunt and fight among themselves, he was no longer interested in participating. But if any of those below dared to try to face him, Kyrian would not mind eliminating them from the competition.
The stalemate continued beneath the great tree.
No one dared to make the first move. The thirty young geniuses remained scattered across the clearing, exchanging glances filled with caution, greed, and cold calculation. The air was so dense it felt ready to explode. Glowing leaves were openly displayed by so, while others kept them hidden, but everyone knew the true targets now were people, not beasts.
However, no one wanted to be the first to challenge Kyrian.
He was up there, sitting calmly on the high branch, his legs dangling in the void. His presence was like an invisible blade hanging over everyone. The golden rune on his leaf shone with 4,012 points, an abyss no one there could ignore. Attacking him ant risking everything against soone who had clearly dominated the first phase alone. No one was willing to be the pioneer of that madness.
Instead, hostile gazes began to turn toward the other participants. Temporary alliances dissolved in silence. Hands tightened around sword hilts. Qi began to leak faintly into the air.
Kyrian observed everything with indifference.
He did not care about them. His mind was elsewhere. His green eyes slowly swept across the forest horizon, trying to locate familiar signs. He searched for Mo Tianhai, Mo Xia, Long Xue, Shen Yu, and Wu Jian. The group that had arrived with him. He had not yet seen any of them approaching the core.
’They are probably still hunting in the outer edges.’ Kyrian thought.
’They are more cautious. It will take longer for them to get here.’
He waited patiently. Minutes turned into almost an hour. Occasional bursts of Qi echoed in the distance, indicating that clashes had already begun in other parts of the forest. But in the clearing around the Ancestral Tree, the tense silence persisted.
No one climbed to challenge him. No one dared.
Kyrian finally lost complete interest in those thirty geniuses. They were strong by the standards of the fifty domains but still insignificant compared to what he had already faced. He leaned slightly against the trunk, closing his eyes partially, maintaining only the awareness necessary to react if soone tried anything.
Below, the tension continued to grow. Low murmurs began to rise. Whispered plans. Exchanged glances.
The true battle between humans was about to erupt.
And Kyrian, high above the tree, simply waited.
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