Mystic Eyes: My Eyes Steal the Laws of Cultivation Chapter 360: Five-Horned Lava Lizard (6)

Within Kyrian's pupils, snowflakes began to spin at a leisurely pace. A subtle azure tint started to bloom in the very depths of his eyes, a departure from their previous icy white.

’What is happening to me?’

There was no moment for contemplation. The monstrous lizard bellowed once more.

However, this time, it withheld its draconic breath.

The five horns crowning its head simultaneously ignited, radiating an intense, pulsing orange light. Each horn greedily absorbed immense amounts of fire Qi from the surroundings, compressing it within.

The atmosphere warped visibly. The already extreme heat intensified, becoming a crushing, suffocating force. Rocks encircling the lizard started to liquefy, forming a molten pool that crept outward.

Kyrian released a soft exhale.

It's preparing a major strike. He, in turn, readied himself.

A new layer of ice armor materialized around his form. This was unlike the thick, cumbersome layers from his prior attempts; it was different.

More refined, yet significantly more concentrated. Sheer, translucent sheets of ice enveloped his skin like a second epidermis, perfectly conforming to every contour of his musculature.

Concurrently, a staggering volume of ice Qi burrowed deep into the earth.

Stealthily. Rapidly.

Like a frigid serpent navigating the molten underworld, the Qi permeated the strata of rock and magma, eluding the beast’s senses.

Kyrian held onto the hope that the lizard was too preoccupied with its impending assault to notice.

And his hope was well-placed.

Kyrian’s eyes flared with light.

...

The lizard’s maw gaped open.

From its five horns, a colossal beam of fire erupted in unison. Five concentrated streams of flame coalesced into a singular lance of light so potent that the ambient illumination seemed to recede in comparison.

The attack blazed across the arena like a destructive tide, obliterating the air in its path.

Kyrian did not fall back.

He lifted his arms, crossing them over his chest in a posture of ultimate defense. The ice armor blazed brilliantly, inscribed runes pulsing with a soft, azure luminescence.

The very instant the fiery torrent impacted him, the Qi concealed beneath the ground detonated.

Hundreds of formidable ice spires thrust violently upwards from the earth beneath the lizard. Their emergence was not haphazard; each spike had been placed with meticulous precision, targeting the minuscule fissures between the beast’s scales—its most vulnerable areas.

It resembled a frozen forest spontaneously sprouting from the mountain's core, reaching ambitiously towards the heavens.

The spires surged towards the creature’s body with terrifying velocity.

Yet, the lizard detected the tremors resonating from below.

Primal instinct. Centuries of combat had honed its ability to sense peril before it materialized.

The creature sprang upwards.

Its immense bulk ascended with a force that seemed to mock gravity, propelled by jets of fire erupting from its scales. For a fleeting moment, the lizard hung suspended in the air, a floating behemoth of scales and conflagration.

Simultaneously, it unleashed a torrent of flame downwards, incinerating as much of Kyrian’s offensive as possible.

The spires began to vaporize. To melt. To shatter.

Dissipating into steam before they could impale the beast.

Kyrian remained unfazed.

That had never constituted the true assault.

His gaze locked onto the airborne lizard. In that suspended instant, the creature was incapable of altering its course. It was exposed. Defenseless. Lacking the earth's support to muster its full might or evade.

Kyrian slowly elevated his right hand.

All surrounding cold seemed to converge upon a singular point.

The ice. The Qi. The resolve. Everything.

The white vapor cloaking him compressed, growing thick and dense. The very air around his hand began to solidify, forming minute crystals that sparkled like precious gems.

A solitary needle commenced its formation before him.

As slender as a finger.

Diminutive.

Yet, profoundly menacing.

An astonishing quantity of ice Qi was condensed within this needle, representing a third of his remaining energy reserves, all focused into an object no larger than a feather.

Equally, an overwhelming aura of freezing intent began to radiate from it.

The lizard’s eyes dilated in alarm.

Its draconic instincts shrieked a warning. Not the mundane threat of conflict, but the visceral danger of something that could inflict grievous harm. Something capable of ending its existence.

Kyrian extended two fingers forward.

The needle vanished without a trace.

No sound accompanied its departure. No flash illuminated its movement. Only the passage through space, breached by something traversing too rapidly for the eye to discern.

The lizard roared instantly. Its accumulated experience battling formidable creatures in the fiery mountain range had instilled an absolute trust in its instincts. It attempted an evasive maneuver mid-air, contorting its massive frame into an unnatural curve.

But its sheer size was a hindrance.

Its immense weight was a burden.

And unlike true dragons, devoid of wings for aerial agility, it could not truly fly.

With no other recourse, the creature instinctively raised one of its forelimbs to intercept. This was the most heavily fortified section of its body, shielded by exceptionally thick scales that had repelled assaults potent enough to shatter mountains.

The wyrm’s scales ignited, a fiery shroud completely enveloping its limb. This inferno sought to vaporize the mystical needle before it could strike.

Yet, in that critical moment, Kyrian’s eyes blazed with an intense, piercing light.

“More power. More cold,” he willed, his focus unwavering.

The needle’s azure glow intensified, more Qi channeling into it, guided by Kyrian’s otherworldly gaze.

With unstoppable momentum, the needle tore through the wall of fire.

Then, it effortlessly breached the scales, as if they were but brittle kindling instead of formidable volcanic armor.

Next, it plunged through the beast’s flesh.

It sank deep into the lizard’s claw, vanishing into the formidable mass of muscle and bone.

The creature’s roar, once defiant, twisted into a piercing shriek of agony.

Its colossal body plummeted from the heavens like a toppling peak, devoid of grace and control.

The impact with the earth sent shockwaves rippling outwards, erupting in a violent explosion that tore open a massive crater.

Then, the great lizard roared once more.

This time, it was the raw, unadulterated sound of genuine pain.

Its claw began to succumb to an unnatural frost.

This was no mere surface chill, unlike the ice barriers it had so easily shattered. This cold emanated from within, spreading from the bone outwards, through the muscles, the blood, and the very Qi meridians that pulsed with life.

The ice propagated through the beast’s flesh with impossible speed, akin to an irrepressible poison. The frigid energy advanced relentlessly, transforming everything it touched into shimmering blue crystal.

For the first time, sheer terror dawned in the lizard’s eyes.

This was beyond mere surprise or a flicker of curiosity.

This was primal fear.

The realization struck with chilling certainty: if this encroaching frost reached the rest of its body, if the ice touched its vital heart, its thinking brain, or the beast core that fueled its immense power, it would spell certain death, even for a creature of its formidable might.