"Are you sure?" another leader asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Absolutely sure?"
"Absolutely sure." The young man replied quickly, gesturing toward the companions behind him.
"We all saw the beast. And we felt the draconic pressure described in the ancient legends, that sensation that sothing superior is watching you, judging you."
The leaders imdiately looked toward the other survivors from the sa group. One by one, the disciples quickly nodded.
Confirming it.
That was real.
For a mont, even the four leaders fell silent.
Their eyes t. Silent ssages were exchanged.
Five-Horned Lava Lizard.
An ancient beast. A creature considered practically extinct, even within the Inner Area of the Great Volcano.
Its draconic blood made every part of its body possess absurd value.
Scales capable of resisting blows from powerful cultivators. Bones as hard as refined steel, perfect for forging high-level weapons. Blood overflowing with vital essence.
And the beast core, the heart of its power, a Qi stone condensed over centuries of cultivation.
Everything was a treasure.
Greed instantly appeared in the eyes of all the leaders.
Even Ming Hai’s tomb was temporarily forgotten.
"Guide us there imdiately." One of the leaders said, his voice firm. It was not a request. It was an order.
The young man quickly nodded.
Then he began advancing through the Interdiate Area, guiding the way back toward the region where they had encountered the beast.
Imdiately, all the groups began following him.
The atmosphere had completely changed.
Before, many had been frustrated. The exploration had seed futile. The mood had been one of defeat.
Now, everyone seed excited.
Simply seeing such a rare beast was already incredible by itself. It was said that the Five-Horned Lava Lizard was so rare that few living people had ever seen one, and even among those, most had only seen it from afar while fleeing in panic.
Furthermore, with the four leaders present, Spiritual Awakening cultivators, nobody believed the lizard represented any real danger.
In their minds, the beast was probably already dood.
And so, hundreds of cultivators began advancing through the Interdiate Area toward the direction where the Five-Horned Lava Lizard had last been seen.
Pan Zheng walked among the group, his thoughts clouded.
...
anwhile, inside the small cave hidden between the volcanic rocks...
Kyrian was still sleeping deeply.
His body had practically shut itself down completely during those days. The slow recovery continued, tissue by tissue, cell by cell.
Although Kyrian was extrely powerful for his realm, capable of facing and defeating enemies who stood at the peak of Core Formation, his physical body still possessed an unavoidable limitation.
He was still mortal.
His cultivation did not directly strengthen his physique like it did for normal cultivators. Most cultivators, upon advancing realms, would see their bodies transform, harder bones, stronger muscles, and tougher skin.
Kyrian did not.
His true power had always resided in his eyes.
Of course, with every realm advancent, his eyes released energy that slowly strengthened his body, a secondary consequence, a byproduct of the true power.
But that was far from turning Kyrian into soone specialized in endurance or regeneration.
His recovery was not particularly fast.
Especially this ti.
The lizard’s draconic fire had been extrely dangerous. Even with the ice barriers protecting much of his body, so flas had still managed to pierce through his defenses during the monts when his defenses were weaker.
The burns took nearly three entire days to heal completely.
Now, only fresh pink marks remained where charred flesh had once been.
But that was not his worst injury.
The real problem was the ice.
That strange ice left inside his body after using the translucent blue aura during the final mont of the battle.
It was a cold far deeper than ordinary ice. Different in essence. Kyrian could not even fully comprehend it.
Even after five days, small traces of that energy still remained scattered through his bones, muscles, and blood. Like frozen fragnts, impossible to remove.
Kyrian did not know whether that was permanent damage, sothing that would remain with him forever, or if it would eventually dissipate.
For now, he had learned to ignore it.
...
Then, finally...
On the morning of the sixth day, Kyrian’s fingers slowly moved.
First the pinky of his right hand. Then the ring finger. Then the middle finger. One by one, his fingers contracted, as if testing whether they still functioned.
His eyes opened.
The darkness of the cave reflected within his eyes.
For a few seconds, Kyrian simply remained still.
Silent. Feeling his own body.
The burns had completely disappeared. The skin on his arms and chest was smooth once again, without marks.
The muscle pain had also diminished greatly, what remained was rely a sensation of residual fatigue, muscles that had worked too hard and were still not fully recovered.
But the internal cold still remained. Weaker. More dispersed. Yet still present.
Kyrian slightly frowned.
He still could not control that residual energy inside himself. He could not direct it, expel it, nor use it in any way.
Because it did not seem to be simple ice.
And his body, still weak, still at the beginning of the Core Formation Realm, simply was not capable of fully enduring it.
Even so...
The pain no longer bothered him as much as before.
Furthermore, his Qi had finally returned to its complete state after the long period of rest. Both cores pulsed softly, filled with renewed energy.
That was the most important thing.
Kyrian slowly breathed before standing up.
The movent was hesitant at first, his muscles protesting from the effort after days of immobility.
He stretched his arms above his head, feeling his spine crack softly.
Compared to the miserable state in which he had arrived at that cave, unconscious, bleeding, half-charred, and partially frozen, that was already more than enough.
He was finally ready to leave.
And continue his search for Ming Hai’s tomb.
Kyrian walked toward the cave entrance, where he had created the wall of ice. He placed his hand against it.
The ice cracked and shattered into fragnts that dissipated into the hot air.
The heat of the volcano imdiately struck him like a wall.
Kyrian stepped outside.
His eyes quickly adjusted to the external brightness, and he looked around.
What he saw, however, was not what he expected.
Silhouettes on the horizon. Many silhouettes.
Advancing toward him. People. Many people.
Kyrian frowned.
He imagined who they were, but he did not know why they were coming specifically to that region.
But his eyes detected sothing else.
An orange fla in the sky above the people.
The sa fla that had observed him before.
Kyrian narrowed his eyes.
The fla vibrated.
Then disappeared.
The group of people continued advancing toward Kyrian.
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