Mystic Eyes: My Eyes Steal the Laws of Cultivation

Chapter 235: Cloud Empire (55)

Elder Tian’s announcement was still echoing against the walls of the Cloud Coliseum when the initial silence finally broke completely.

First came heavy breaths. Then, restrained exclamations. Then, like a wave breaking through a dam, the Coliseum exploded into voices.

"He won."

"He really defeated someone in the Core Formation Realm while only at the 6° stage of the Qi Liberation Realm."

"And it wasn’t luck."

"It was total dominance..."

Kyrian’s name shone on the ranking wall, slowly rising to rank 85. The golden light surrounding the names seemed more intense than before, or perhaps it was simply the perception of the spectators that had changed.

Until that moment, many had still harbored doubts. He was talented, yes. He was strange, yes. But facing someone a major realm above... that was something else.

Now there was no more room for questioning. Kyrian had not only defeated Li Shen. He had surpassed him in technique. Surpassed him in reading. Surpassed him in intent.

Kyrian, lower in cultivation, had crushed someone in the Core Formation Realm in a direct sword exchange.

"When he reaches the same realm... what kind of existence will he become?" That question circulated through the noble boxes and the common stands of the Coliseum.

If Kyrian could already fight like this while below...

What would happen when his cultivation reached the same level as Li Shen’s? Or even surpassed it?

The imagination of many went too far.

Kyrian, however, showed no grand emotion. He sheathed his sword calmly, breathing steadily, as if he had just finished an ordinary training session.

Without looking at the audience, he turned and walked out of the arena.

In one of the side sections, a group celebrated loudly.

"I told you!"

"I told you he would win!"

The bets had been heavy. The odds had strongly favored Li Shen. Many had bet against Kyrian. But those who believed in him were now celebrating noisily.

Kyrian ignored all of it.

He climbed the steps leading to the stands reserved for participants and returned to his section. He quickly retrieved the stones he had bet on himself and scheduled his next fight.

But when he returned to his seat, he found someone who had not been there before.

Yun Hao.

Sitting casually on one of the benches, legs crossed, immaculate white robe, a faint smile on his face. He raised a hand in greeting when he saw Kyrian.

Kyrian stopped for a second, slightly surprised. Yun Hao would also be participating in the fights at the Coliseum.

"You came." Kyrian said, voice neutral, as he sat beside Bai Zhu.

Yun Hao shrugged.

"Couldn’t miss the fun. Besides... I heard you’re rising fast. I wanted to see it with my own eyes."

Bai Zhu, still excited from the previous fight, slapped Kyrian on the shoulder.

"Leader! That was insane! You didn’t even let the guy breathe! You copied every strike like it was child’s play!"

Nan Feng Yu, sitting on the other side, chuckled softly.

"It was a little terrifying, I admit. I’ve never seen someone completely copy an opponent like that."

Kyrian merely nodded, not responding. His eyes were already on the hologram in the sky, waiting for the next fight. He didn’t need praise. He needed more stones.

Then Elder Tian raised his voice again.

"Next challenge. Yun Hao, of the Cloud Academy, versus Gu Tian, Rank 93 of the Coliseum!"

The crowd exploded.

Shouts of "Yun Hao! Yun Hao!" echoed through every level.

Yun Hao’s special physique was well known in the capital, a physique capable of controlling a portion of the ambient Qi, the ability to manipulate free energy as if it were part of his body. He was a famous genius.

The bets in the sky rose quickly. They were second only to Kyrian’s fights in volume. The odds were balanced but slightly in favor of Yun Hao, after all, he was already in the Core Formation Realm, and his physique was common knowledge in the capital.

Gu Tian descended from the reserved stands. Immaculate white robe, radiant sword on his back. He looked at Yun Hao with a serious but confident expression.

"Let’s see if the genius of the Cloud Academy is really all that."

Yun Hao smiled, leaping lightly into the arena. He landed at the center, hands behind his back, posture relaxed.

Elder Tian gave the signal.

"Begin."

Gu Tian attacked first. His radiant sword shone with intense light. He unleashed a sequence of strikes, blades of pure light cutting through the air like lightning, creating brilliant lines that converged toward Yun Hao.

Yun Hao did not fully move but raised one hand. The ambient Qi around him responded instantly as if the air itself were his body. At the same time, blue lines appeared around him. His physique had been activated.

The blades of light rushing toward him were halted midair, trembling, as if caught in an invisible net.

He rotated his wrist. The blades of light curved, turning back toward Gu Tian. The leader of the Radiant Sky Sect widened his eyes and blocked with his radiant sword. The impact created an explosion of light that illuminated half the arena.

Gu Tian retreated three steps.

Yun Hao advanced.

He was not using a weapon now. He did not need one. The ambient Qi condensed in his hands, forming blades of pure energy. He attacked with fluid strikes, each movement manipulating the free Qi around him, creating cutting gusts of wind. Gu Tian defended with difficulty, his radiant sword shining weaker and weaker.

The fight was intense for twelve minutes.

Gu Tian used light techniques from his sect, luminous barriers, blinding bursts, and strikes that burned the air. Yun Hao responded with absolute control of the environment. He dodged, manipulated, and counterattacked. At one point, Gu Tian attempted a supreme technique. A condensed sphere of light that exploded into thousands of rays.

Yun Hao smiled.

He extended his hands. The ambient Qi spun around him like a vortex. The sphere of light was sucked into the vortex and dissipated. Then Yun Hao counterattacked, a wave of pure energy that pierced through Gu Tian’s defense, striking his chest.

Gu Tian was thrown backward, crashing against the arena barrier. He fell to his knees, coughing blood.

"I concede."

Elder Tian raised his hand.

"Victory to Yun Hao, of the Cloud Academy!"

At that moment, Yun Hao ran his hand along the corner of his mouth, wiping away a bit of blood. Many did not see it, but Kyrian, who had been focused on Yun Hao from the beginning, noticed.

’So there are drawbacks to using his physique so much.’ Kyrian understood.

Gu Tian’s name disappeared from rank 93. Yun Hao took the position.

The crowd roared, now with absolute respect. Yun Hao returned to the stands with a light leap, smiling at Kyrian.

"It wasn’t easy. But it wasn’t difficult either."

Kyrian nodded.

"Good fight."