While thinking, Kyrian’s eyes suddenly moved toward the sky.
For a mont, Kyrian could not explain why he had looked upward. It was an instinctive movent, as if sothing had pulled at his attention without making a sound, a silent call that only his eyes could perceive.
Sothing had moved within his peripheral vision.
Very high above. Extrely far away.
So well hidden within the smoke and ashes that no ordinary cultivator would ever be capable of noticing it. Normal human vision, even enhanced by Qi, would have difficulty distinguishing a small fla among the millions of incandescent particles floating across the volcanic sky.
But Kyrian’s eyes noticed it.
High in the volcanic sky, hidden among streams of smoke and ashes rising from the crater of the Great Volcano, a small orange fla danced silently.
It looked like nothing more than ordinary fire, a spark lost among thousands of others, insignificant amidst the spectacle of destruction and heat that surrounded the landscape.
But Kyrian imdiately sensed it.
That fla was not ordinary. It was watching him.
Kyrian’s eyes narrowed instantly.
The fla remained motionless for a second, floating in the air, glowing softly among the clouds of ash, as if waiting for sothing. Or soone.
Then, it seed to look directly at him.
It was not a feeling. It was not an impression. It was absolute certainty. Kyrian felt the gaze of that fla upon him, even from an impossible distance. It was as though sothing alive and conscious existed inside it, using it as a distant eye.
A strange sensation passed through Kyrian at that instant.
As if intelligence existed within that fla. Consciousness.
Sothing observing him, evaluating him, trying to understand him.
’What is that?’
The question echoed in his mind, but no answer ca.
The strangest part was that Kyrian did not feel hostility coming from the fla. It was not a threat nor an imminent attack. It was rely... observing.
Curiosity, perhaps.
As if the thing were trying to understand what he was.
But before he could analyze it further or attempt any action, the fla disappeared.
It simply vanished into the air.
It did not fade gradually. It did not go out like normal fire, with smoke and embers slowly dying. One mont it was there, shining in the sky like a small orange star... the next mont, there was only smoke.
Kyrian’s eyes remained fixed on that point in the sky for several seconds.
His brow slowly furrowed.
’What was that...?’
’Another beast?’
It did not seem exactly like one.
A cultivator?
Kyrian did not know.
He did not have enough information to form a solid hypothesis.
But one thing was certain, that fla was definitely not normal.
After several seconds of silence, Kyrian finally looked away.
There was no point standing still staring at the sky.
He was still injured. Tired. Exhausted.
His entire body hurt, not only externally because of the burns and cuts, but internally as well. That sensation of cold within him remained, as though sothing inside him had frozen.
Before doing anything else, before continuing his search for Ming Hai’s tomb, and before trying to understand what had happened to his eyes, Kyrian needed to rest.
His body was at its limit. If he continued ignoring the signs of exhaustion, he could suffer even worse damage.
Kyrian looked around.
Even weakened, his eyes pierced through the smoke and volcanic mountains as if they were nothing. He scanned the region across several kiloters, searching for sothing suitable.
Soon, he found it.
A small cave hidden between two dark rock formations, partially covered by stones and hot steam rising from the surrounding ground. The place was discreet, invisible to anyone not specifically searching for it, and offered protection from both the heat and possible threats.
Without hesitation, Kyrian began walking toward it.
...
Every step sent pain coursing through his frozen muscles.
His body felt heavy, as if traces of that mysterious blue energy were still circulating beneath his skin. Kyrian could feel the ice within his bones, even within his blood.
It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
As he walked, Kyrian slowly began growing accustod to the freezing pain inside him.
His body was adapting.
Not completely, far from it, but enough for him to continue moving without groaning at every step. The pain did not disappear, but Kyrian learned to ignore it, to treat it as just another background noise within his consciousness.
At the sa ti, his mind inevitably returned to the battle against the Five-Horned Lava Lizard.
His ice eyes had been crucial, obviously.
Not only during the final attack, that blue aura he still did not understand, but also throughout the entire battle. The ice barriers that blocked the flas. The armors that absorbed the impacts. The spikes that pierced the beast’s scales.
’If I had used another type of Qi...’
Kyrian reflected on the possibility.
He possessed other paths, other kinds of eyes. Each with their own advantages and abilities.
Ice, however, was his greatest defense against fire.
Without the frozen barriers that slowed the flas.
Without the pure ice armors that absorbed the impacts.
Without the absurd ability to slow, block, and weaken the power of draconic fire...
Kyrian would have died many tis during that battle.
The first ti the lizard used its draconic breath, if not for the barriers, he would have been vaporized. The first ti the tail struck him, if not for the ice armor, his bones would have been crushed.
The thought caused a faint smile to appear on his lips.
Even though it had been dangerous... the battle had been fun.
And it was rare for Kyrian to admit such a thing.
Not rely fun. It was the first ti in a very long while that Kyrian had truly felt his blood boil during combat.
The sensation of being pressured, of needing to use everything he possessed just to survive, that was sothing he had not experienced since...
How long had it been?
Perhaps never. Because even in the most difficult battles he had faced, Kyrian had never been so thoroughly outmatched in terms of brute force.
The lizard was stronger. Faster. More durable. It had more Qi. It possessed a superior bloodline.
And yet, Kyrian won.
Furthermore, that battle had shown him sothing new.
A deeper understanding of his eyes. A new connection with ice.
A power he still did not completely understand, but which he could feel pulsing within him.
Even if he could not use it again now, Kyrian instinctively knew that his body would not survive another eruption of that blue energy, it was still sothing precious.
When his body beca stronger, when his cultivation increased.
He would possess a new tool. A new trump card.
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