usenovelonline Chapter 403 - 404
Chapter 403 - 404
Kyrian furrowed his brow slightly. This was the difficult part.
Creating a technique was not something simple. If it were, every cultivator would do it. Techniques took generations to develop.
Decades. Sometimes centuries.
Knowledge was required, understanding how Qi flowed, how meridians reacted, and how the body responded.
Experience, testing, failing, adjusting, and testing again.
Comprehension of the path, of the element.
Talent. A great deal of talent.
Even so...
For some reason, Kyrian felt no fear. No doubt. Only conviction.
A deep and inexplicable certainty.
If it were him... he could do it.
Perhaps it would take years. Perhaps decades. But he would succeed.
That feeling was so strong that it seemed like an absolute truth. As if the universe itself were saying:
"Yes. You can."
Or perhaps it was his eyes.
Then the night passed.
As the stars, few and obscured by the smoke, appeared above the clouds of ash.
As the magma illuminated the distant mountains with its red and orange glow.
Kyrian remained meditating. Studying. Thinking.
Creating possibilities and refining his ideas.
And when morning arrived, Kyrian opened his eyes.
Rested. The pill had been completely absorbed.
His body was better.
His Qi as well, the two cores had recovered part of the energy lost during the battle.
Not completely. Still far from ideal. But enough.
Kyrian stood up.
He stretched his arms above his head, felt his muscles lengthen, and his joints crack.
And resumed walking.
...
The hours passed quickly.
Vegetation began to reappear.
Small shrubs, resistant to heat and adapted to ash, emerged among the rocks.
A few twisted trees, with black branches and ash-colored leaves.
Dry, yellowed grasses growing in sparse clumps.
Life gradually returned as he moved farther away from the volcano.
Kyrian noticed something curious.
Throughout the entire descent, from the slopes of the Inner Area to the foot of the mountain, he did not encounter a single spiritual beast.
Not one. Which was strange. The region used to be full of them.
They had all disappeared. But the answer was obvious.
"The eruption."
The beasts had fled. Survival instincts.
Not even spiritual creatures, adapted to heat and accustomed to fire, wished to remain near a volcano gone mad.
Which made his journey extremely peaceful. No ambushes. No battles. No interruptions.
Just a quiet walk.
After several hours...
A silhouette finally appeared on the horizon.
Tall, dark walls made of volcanic stone.
Pointed towers with red banners fluttering in the wind.
Buildings with dark roofs stained by ash.
Red Smoke City.
Kyrian quickly calculated. A few more hours.
And he was right.
As the sun began approaching the horizon, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple, tinting the gray clouds with a strange beauty, he finally passed through the city’s gates.
The activity remained intense.
Merchants shouting their offers. Cultivators walking in groups.
Wagons loaded with goods creaking along the cobblestone streets.
Travelers resting in the shade of the buildings.
Everything looked exactly the same as the day he arrived.
Except for one difference.
He himself had changed. A lot.
Kyrian walked through the busy streets without drawing attention.
He no longer wore the torn robe from the battle, having replaced it with a new light-violet robe taken from his spatial ring.
His face was clean. His hair was tied back.
There were no visible traces of the injuries from the battle.
He passed as a stranger among strangers.
First, he found a restaurant, not the same one as before, but one near the stables.
He ordered food. A lot of food.
Dish after dish, grilled meats, hot soups, fresh bread, cooked vegetables.
His body was still recovering and needed energy.
Not just Qi. Calories. Nutrients. Physical fuel.
For nearly an entire hour, he simply ate. In silence.
Watching the movement of the city. Merchants closing their stalls. Cultivators heading to their evening training sessions.
When he finished, he felt much better.
He stood up. Paid.
And walked toward the stables.
Or rather...
Toward the enormous stable specialized in spiritual mounts.
The manager, the same robust middle-aged man with old burn scars on his arms, recognized Kyrian immediately.
"Sir..."
He gave a respectful bow.
"You’ve returned."
Kyrian merely nodded.
The man understood the gesture.
He stepped aside.
Minutes later, Arcon appeared.
The beast was majestic as always.
Its black feathers gleamed beneath the evening light, reflecting bluish and purplish hues.
Its red eyes, intelligent and alive, immediately fixed themselves on Kyrian.
For a moment, the creature remained motionless. Then it let out a deep sound.
Recognizing its master.
Kyrian felt something strange.
A small smile appeared on his lips, not the cold smile from before, but something softer.
He ran a hand along the beast’s neck.
The feathers were soft. Softer than they looked.
"Did you get bored?"
Arcon let out another low sound.
Like a complaint.
Kyrian almost laughed.
He could stay one more night.
Rest at an inn. Leave the following morning. That would be the logical choice.
"But..."
Something inside him rejected that idea.
He had already stayed in this region for too long.
The Great Volcano, where he fought the lizard, where he received the Bone of the Heavens, and where he killed four Spiritual Awakening cultivators.
Red Smoke City, where this journey began.
All of that now belonged to the past. It was time to move forward.
The Central Territory awaited him.
Kyrian left the city with the horse. He did not look back. The gates were left behind. The entire city was left behind.
Then, Kyrian mounted Arcon’s back.
The beast immediately spread its enormous black wings.
A gust of wind scattered dust across the road.
And then... it leaped.
The wings beat once. Then again.
And the city began to grow smaller. Smaller. Smaller.
Until it became a distant cluster of buildings, a dark blur upon the orange horizon.
The wind struck Kyrian’s face. Cool. Pleasant.
In the sky, he retrieved the map from his spatial ring.
He carefully observed the markings. Red Smoke City was far behind.
The Central Territory was still distant, so distant that it did not even appear on the map.
But there was an important stop along the way.
A much larger city. Much more influential. Much more powerful.
A city controlled by a Third-Level force.
Far above Red Smoke City, which was governed by Fifth-Level forces.
Far above the leaders he had just killed.
Kyrian’s purple eyes gleamed faintly.
As he observed the mark drawn on the map.
’Perhaps there I will find new techniques.’ He thought.
’Perhaps there I will find what I need to create my own technique.’
Arcon cut through the heavens.
The clouds passed swiftly beneath them, gray, dark, and heavy with moisture.
And as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, painting the sky in shades of purple and scarlet, Kyrian continued his journey toward his next destination.