Read Novel Full Chapter 247: Cloud Empire (67)
Chapter 247: Cloud Empire (67)
Other battles took place before Kyrian’s name was called.
The arena vibrated with intense confrontations. Blade techniques collided, explosions of Qi shook the ground, and two cultivators in the Core Formation Realm exchanged blows until one of them was thrown against the wall of the arena, defeated.
The audience was excited. The level of the fights had been rising with each passing day.
But even so, the atmosphere seemed to hold a different kind of expectation.
Everyone was waiting for a specific fight. When Elder Tian returned to the center of the arena, the murmuring intensified.
He raised his hand, and the Coliseum gradually fell silent.
"Next challenge."
His gaze swept across the stands before settling on the now familiar figure.
"Kyrian. Rank 37 of the Coliseum, against Mu Liu, Rank 21 of the Coliseum."
The name echoed with weight.
Kyrian stood up unhurriedly. He descended the steps of the stands with the same calm as always. Neither fast nor slow. His steps were steady, his expression unchanged.
But everyone knew. That was the most anticipated fight so far.
On the other side of the arena, Mu Liu walked toward the center. The moment he crossed the entrance gate, a cold wave spread across the ground. The air seemed to grow heavier as a thin layer of ice began to form over the stones of the arena.
A shiver ran through the stands.
"Ice Qi..."
"He also cultivates the path of ice like Kyrian!!"
Mu Liu had brown hair that fell just above his shoulders. His features were well-defined and relatively handsome, although Kyrian outshone him in that regard. He was young, perhaps in his early twenties.
But what drew the most attention was the energy he released.
It was cold, restrained, and deadly. Relatively similar to Kyrian.
He was at the seventh stage of the Core Formation Realm. The final stages of the realm. Kyrian was now facing someone an entire major realm above him.
Many wondered whether he could still advance. Mu Liu stopped a few meters away. He was empty-handed.
Kyrian observed in silence.
Yesterday it was fire, now it is ice.
First an opponent with fire Qi, now he would have to face one with icy Qi. He found that definitely interesting. That demanded changes, at least that was what Kyrian thought.
Tian raised his hand as he spoke loudly.
"Begin."
In the next instant, Kyrian closed his eyes. For a brief moment, the external world disappeared. Kyrian appeared once more in a completely dark space. The inner world of his eyes.
There, the silence was absolute. An infinite void. But he knew what he wanted to search for. It did not take long. In the middle of that darkness, a small gray flame danced softly.
It was cold and hot. Kyrian focused on it. And suddenly, everything changed.
When he reopened his eyes, the sky-blue eyes had disappeared. The extreme cold vanished. In its place, heat suddenly emerged.
Kyrian’s eyes turned gray. The pupils... now became two dark gray flames dancing incessantly.
A wave of heat spread across the arena. Tian narrowed his eyes immediately, while the crowd erupted.
"That is... Another type of Qi?"
"He really is an aberration!! Isn’t this already the fourth type of Qi and intent that he possesses?!"
"It is as if he is cultivating four different paths."
The astonishment was visible.
Mu Liu frowned as he felt the heat arise, the ice beneath his feet beginning to melt. He did not hesitate and decided to act first.
An explosion of cold Qi burst from his body. The ground froze instantly, forming ice spikes around him.
A freezing wave advanced toward Kyrian, and behind Mu Liu, dozens of ice swords formed in the air.
Each of them vibrated with deadly intent. With a gesture of his hand, the blades shot forward. The air was cut apart.
Meanwhile, Kyrian did not move. He merely raised a single finger. And then, a small gray flame appeared at its tip.
And in another instant, it exploded into a horrifying flame that sent chills down the spine, seeming almost cold and hot at the same time. The flame touched the air, and all the ice swords were immediately melted. There was almost no resistance, nor was there a prolonged clash.
They simply ceased to exist. The flame then advanced.
Mu Liu narrowed his eyes and released even more Qi. A gigantic barrier of ice rose before him, thick as a wall.
The gray flame collided against it as a loud hissing sound arose. Vapor rose, the ice resisted for a second. Two. And then it began to melt.
Mu Liu clenched his teeth, pushing even more Qi into the barrier. The ice wall became thicker, denser with each passing second.
But Kyrian’s flame kept advancing. He had not moved more than a finger. And no matter how much Mu Liu struggled, the ice disappeared shortly after meeting the flames.
It melted and vanished.
The flame did not diminish, the arena began to fill with vapor.
Cold and heat collided violently, the ground cracking under the abrupt changes in temperature.
Kyrian then raised his other hand. More gray flames appeared. They were large and pure.
He began to press even harder. Mu Liu responded by creating ice spears, pillars, and freezing storms.
The arena turned into a field of white mist. It was a direct contest over who would exhaust all of their Qi first.
But there was a clear difference. The gray flame was naturally superior to ordinary ice. Kyrian used less Qi to attack, while Mu Liu needed to spend much more to defend.
Time passed as the stalemate continued.
One minute. Five.
The vapor grew denser.
Ten minutes.
The audience watched in tense silence. Finally, the flow of icy Qi began to weaken. The barriers no longer rose at the same speed.
The ice spears formed smaller. More fragile.
And then...
The vapor began to dissipate. The sight of the arena slowly returned. One figure remained standing. Gray eyes burning. Flames dancing in the pupils.
Kyrian was standing.
In front of him, Mu Liu was on one knee. His chest rose and fell heavily.
The ice around had already disappeared. Only water evaporating from the cracked ground remained.
He raised his gaze. Met Kyrian’s gray eyes. There was a brief silence. Then, he lowered his head.
"I surrender."
The Coliseum exploded in voices.
Tian raised his voice above the noise.
"Victory for Kyrian."
The name rose on the panel, shining as Kyrian’s name climbed to position 21.
Kyrian remained motionless for a moment. While looking at his name.
’I think the next battle will be the last. I do not believe I can defeat someone at the peak of the Core Formation Realm, not now. These last fights have already made me spend practically all of my Qi...’
’I have decided the next one will be the last battle. I believe I have already earned enough spirit stones, besides, none of the leader disciples like Nan Feng Yu will be able to climb to my rank. I have already won the bet.’
He turned his back and walked out of the arena as if nothing extraordinary had happened.