The sensation was strange, like diving into cold water after standing inside a fire. On one side, deadly heat. On the other, heat that was still intense but bearable.
The next instant, Kyrian fell inside the small cave hidden behind the formation.
His body crashed violently against the stone floor. He rolled several tis, once, twice, three tis, before finally stopping against a wall of black rock.
Above him, the lava completely covered the entrance once more.
The small frozen section he had used as an impact point disappeared instantly, absorbed by the sea of fire.
The spear of ice lted.
Everything lasted less than two seconds.
Kyrian remained lying there for a few monts, breathing heavily.
The sound of his own breathing echoed through the cave walls, ragged, uneven, but alive.
The last layers of ice over his body slowly evaporated, turning into vapor that rose toward the stone ceiling.
His Qi was almost completely empty.
Kyrian estimated that less than ten percent of his total energy remained.
But he had succeeded.
Kyrian slowly stood up.
He looked at his arms. His skin was reddened, with small blisters in so areas, but nothing too serious.
The heat inside that small cave was still extre. Kyrian estimated the temperature there was comparable to the hottest points of the Interdiate Area, enough to kill ordinary cultivators, but bearable for him.
Above him, the lava continued moving violently, separated from the cave only by the transparent red barrier. He could see the magma bubbling, the waves crashing against the protection Ming Hai had left behind.
The formation prevented the magma from entering.
But it did not prevent people from passing through it.
Kyrian had already realized that earlier. Even from a distance, his eyes could partially analyze the structure of the barrier. It was a one-sided formation, designed to hide and protect the entrance but not to block passage.
Kyrian then looked around.
The cave was small.
It was no more than ten ters wide and five ters deep. The ceiling was low enough that Kyrian could touch the stone with his fingertips if he stretched out his arm.
Empty.
There were no treasures scattered across the floor. No skeletons. No inscriptions on the walls telling Ming Hai’s story.
The only thing present in that place...
There was an enormous red stone gate embedded into the inner wall of the volcano.
Kyrian approached it.
The gate was impressive, at least three ters tall and two ters wide, carved from a type of rock that was not ordinary volcanic stone. The texture was different, smoother, and darker.
Runes faintly glowed across its surface.
Complex runes.
Kyrian did not recognize them, but he could feel the power within them. Even after centuries, even without anyone feeding them, they still pulsed with fire Qi.
’Ming Hai’s tomb is behind this.’ Kyrian thought.
He extended his hand.
And pushed.
Nothing happened.
The gate did not move even slightly.
Kyrian used more force, not only physical strength but also Qi, channeling energy into his arms.
The muscles in his arms tensed. His hands pushed against the cold stone with all the power his cores could provide.
Still nothing.
The gate remained completely motionless.
As though it had fused with the mountain itself.
Kyrian slightly furrowed his brow.
Then stepped back.
"Should I force my way in?" He asked calmly out loud, to no one in particular.
"Or is there another thod?"
Ice Qi slowly began circulating around his body once more, what little remained. If he completely froze the gate and used enough force, perhaps he could shatter it.
But before he could act...
A small orange fla appeared in front of the gate.
Silently. Floating in the air.
Kyrian imdiately narrowed his eyes.
It was the sa fla.
The one that had been observing him since the Interdiate Area. Now, it was here.
Floating between him and the gate.
Kyrian stepped back half a step, his eyes fixed on the fla. His posture shifted slightly, not openly hostile, but prepared. His relaxed muscles concealed readiness for action.
The fla flickered softly.
Then it spoke.
Its voice was deep. Ancient. Filled with echoes that did not belong to the human world, like the sound of bubbling lava deep within a cavern.
It did not sound human.
But neither did it carry hostility.
"Child."
"Even if you use all your strength, you will never be able to open this gate."
The fla slowly floated before him, approaching his face. Kyrian did not retreat.
"You are far too weak."
"Not even humans in the Spiritual Awakening Realm, those far above you, would be capable of forcing this entrance open."
Kyrian did not answer imdiately.
His eyes remained fixed on the fla.
He could sense it. There was consciousness behind it. Real intelligence. It was not an automatic formation chanism nor a lingering fragnt of will left behind by Ming Hai.
It was sothing alive.
’The Fire Spirit.’ Kyrian thought.
’Or at least its manifestation.’
After several seconds, he calmly asked, his voice neutral.
"Then what?"
"What do I need to do to open it?"
The fla flickered slightly. Its voice now carried sothing close to sorrow.
"That is impossible for you."
"Unfortunately, you are not qualified to inherit old Ming Hai’s legacy."
Kyrian imdiately frowned.
He did not like those words.
He did not like the certainty in the fla’s voice, as though it already knew the answer before even testing him.
"How would you know that without even testing ?" He asked coldly. His tone did not change, but there was a trace of steel within it.
"Tell what is required. Then we will see whether I am qualified or not."
The fla seed to grow slightly irritated. It pulsed, its orange light becoming a little more intense.
"You are stubborn, child."
"If I say you are not qualified, then you are not."
"The path you cultivate belongs to ice. I can feel it in every fiber of your being. Your Qi, your eyes, your very soul breathes cold."
"And Ming Hai’s inheritance belongs to fire."
The fla floated in circles around Kyrian, as though examining him from every angle.
"Even if you are talented, and you are, very talented, you will never be able to open a gate that requires pure fire Qi and strong fire intent to activate."
Kyrian remained silent.
His face did not change.
But the fla’s last words caught his attention.
"Fire Qi."
He understood.
The gate would not open through brute force. Not with ice.
It was a barrier specifically designed to respond to the opposing elent.
Fire.
Kyrian simply ignored the rest of the fla’s speech.
Without responding, he began walking toward the gate once more.
The fla imdiately moved in front of him, blocking his path. Its voice now sharper, impatient.
"Child, are you deaf?"
"I literally just explained that this gate will not open for soone who cultivates ice. No matter how much you push, no matter how badly you want—"
Then, it stopped.
Because it felt sothing change.
The environnt around Kyrian changed completely.
The cold emanating from his body, that constant cold the fla had sensed from the very first mont it observed him, disappeared.
Not weakened. Not suppressed. Simply... gone.
In place of the cold...
A strange heat began to erge.
It was not the violent heat of the volcano nor the aggressive heat of fire beasts. It was sothing more restrained. More controlled.
The orange fla quickly floated closer to Kyrian, its attention fixed on his face.
And then it saw.
Kyrian’s eyes had changed.
The light blue, that blue resembling the skies, had completely disappeared.
Now, his irises were dark gray. Gray like ash. Gray like smoke. Gray like the sky above the volcano.
And in the center of each pupil, small flas silently danced.
They were not orange flas. Nor red.
They were gray.
As though the fire had burned so intensely that even its color had transford.
The Eyes of the Gray Fla.
Kyrian raised his hand.
Without hesitation, he touched the gate.
The mont contact was made, fire Qi began flowing from his eyes directly into the red runes carved into the stone surface. It was not ordinary fire but an extrely pure fla.
And that was enough. The runes imdiately began glowing intensely.
One by one, they lit up red.
The stone groaned.
Then, the gate slowly moved.
Opening.
Behind Kyrian, the small orange fla remained completely motionless.
In disbelief.
Because it had been absolutely certain. It had examined Kyrian from the very first mont it saw him. His Qi was ice. His eyes were ice. Everything about him breathed cold.
So then...
How was he using fire Qi?
And not only that, an extrely pure fire. A fire it did not recognize. A fire that...
The fla no longer looked at Kyrian with irritation or sorrow. No more impatience.
Now, the Fire Spirit looked at him with excitent, with hope.
For the first ti in centuries, the Fire Spirit felt that old Ming Hai might finally have found the successor he had been searching for.
Kyrian did not wait.
He stepped through the opened gate.
Disappearing into the darkness beyond.
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