Mystic Eyes: My Eyes Steal the Laws of Cultivation Chapter 359: Five-Horned Lava Lizard (5)

Instantly, a colossal torrent of draconic fire obliterated the battlefield. Everything caught in its path simply ceased to exist. Rocks as large as houses melted into liquid upon contact with the inferno, and the very ground evaporated, carving out a deep crater stretching for dozens of meters.

Kyrian reacted without a moment's delay. His form blurred into a streak of blue as dozens of ice platforms materialized in the air. Each one served as a launch point, allowing him to continuously alter his trajectory. He weaved left, right, up, and down, moving like a shard of ice, unpredictable and swift.

Despite his agility, the draconic fire grazed him. The very edge of the fiery pillar brushed his right arm, and an explosion of heat consumed half his body. The sleeve of his robe vanished instantaneously, and the skin beneath was on the verge of burning.

Kyrian desperately conjured barriers, seeking mere fractions of a second. Each one evaporated almost instantly. Finally, a massive layer of ice condensed around him, forming a frozen sphere that encased his entire being in a protective shell of crystal.

For three agonizing seconds, the sphere held. Then, battered by the heat that permeated from every direction, it shattered violently from the inside out. But those three seconds were sufficient.

Kyrian channeled half of his remaining Qi into a new ice armor. It was thinner than the previous one, yet possessed greater density and purity, encasing his skin like a second layer of frozen flesh.

The fire struck true. The armor hissed ferociously, releasing explosive white vapor in all directions, but it endured. Kyrian was violently propelled backward, skidding across the molten ground before finally grinding to a halt.

...

Silence descended once more. The battlefield was utterly transformed. An immense scar of destruction now bisected the Intermediate Area of the Great Volcano, a gash hundreds of meters long, wide enough to engulf entire structures. Rivers of lava flowed through the newly formed craters, snaking like fiery serpents between the smoking ruins.

Distant mountains still smoldered, their slopes coated in glassy volcanic remnants. In the midst of this inferno, Kyrian slowly rose to his feet.

Half of his robe had been completely incinerated by the draconic fire, reduced to ash. The remaining fabric, scorched along the edges, clung to his skin, matted with sweat and dried blood. Patches of his skin were reddened – not severe burns, but enough to sting. Small blisters formed on his right arm where the flames had made more direct contact.

His black hair, once neatly tied in a simple bun, now cascaded freely over his shoulders, mingling with the cold vapor still emanating from his body. His breathing was noticeably uneven.

The intense battle had depleted a significant portion of his Qi. Two ice armors, numerous barriers, offensive ice crystals, and the continuous upkeep of the frozen environment surrounding him – all of it had demanded a substantial expenditure of his energy.

But his eyes… they gleamed with an intensity greater than ever before. The tiny snowflakes within his pupils rotated slowly. Unbeknownst to Kyrian, the white hue of his irises had begun to shift, imperceptibly at first, taking on a slightly more bluish tint.

A flicker of almost childlike excitement surfaced on his face. Kyrian smiled. It was a genuine smile, devoid of the coldness he usually displayed, something far more sincere, bordering on pure satisfaction.

Finally. He had found an opponent capable of truly pushing him to his limits. Someone, or something, that compelled him to unleash and thoroughly test the full potential of his Mystic Eyes.

His adrenaline surged with exhilaration as he gazed at the colossal Five-Horned Lava Lizard in the distance. The contrast was almost surreal: the lizard, a twenty-meter-long behemoth, its scales radiating an infernal heat, surrounded by molten rock and utter devastation. And Kyrian, a young man under two meters tall, his clothes tattered, his skin marked by burns, yet standing resolutely like an unyielding mountain.

Even the usually stoic and composed Kyrian displayed raw emotion on his face. That entire experience… it had been perfect. And he was reveling in every single second of it.

The lizard tilted its massive head again, a look of confusion on its reptilian features. Its draconic instincts screamed that its prey should be cowering in terror, grievously wounded, and desperately seeking escape. After all, it was the superior being. Instead, the diminutive human was smiling.

The Five-Horned Lava Lizard remained motionless, a colossal living mountain perched above the ravaged landscape. Its dark-red scales pulsed with the internal heat escaping from every fissure in its natural armor. Wisps of smoke curled lazily from its skin, and its eyes remained locked onto Kyrian with a predatory intensity few creatures had ever faced and survived to recount.

Kyrian observed the monstrous beast with heightened focus, his snowflake pupils meticulously cataloging every detail. Its breathing… even after the exchange of cataclysmic attacks, after shattering small mountains, evaporating rivers of lava, and unleashing draconic breaths capable of leveling a small city, the creature’s respiration remained remarkably steady.

The pressure wasn't overwhelming, nor was it erratic. It maintained a steady rhythm, as if the previous exertion had merely been a prelude.

Kyrian's gaze meticulously assessed the creature's Qi.

Its immensity was staggering, profound, far surpassing his own reserves.

This was true even with his dual co res...

He drew a slow breath, reassessing his own standing in the conflict.

Merely half of his Qi remained available.

Even possessing two extraordinary cores, both vastly larger than those found in typical cultivators, it was still insufficient to contend with the energy reserves of a draconic bloodline beast at the zenith of the Core Formation realm.

And this comparison didn't even account for the creature's formidable physical might. A single lash of its tail had almost ended his life. A single claw could obliterate him as easily as crushing an insect.

Should his Qi deplete entirely...

Kyrian had a crystal-clear understanding of the inevitable outcome.

That beast could simply crush him to death with its paws. It wouldn't necessitate draconic breath or any specialized abilities. Plain brute force, sheer weight, and immense size would suffice.

Yet, paradoxically...

He felt no anxiety. No trace of fear afflicted him. He didn't even entertain the notion of defeat.

This unwavering conviction stemmed not from his current might, nor from his tactical maneuvering, nor from any strategic blueprint he might have formulated. It originated from a more fundamental source. An instinctual, almost haughty, certainty.

His eyes.

The unique eyes he possessed were an inheritance from his mother.

At some point in his journey, or perhaps from the very inception of his presence in this realm, those eyes began to imbue him with an unshakeable confidence. A frigid arrogance that intensified with the ebb and flow of the prolonged battle.

It was as if the more he utilized his ice eyes in combat, the more a dormant power within him stirred and awoke.

An inexplicable sensation began to unfurl.

A profound connection.

Not solely with the element of ice, but with something far grander. Something more profound.

A truth he had yet to fully grasp or comprehend.