"Next Match: Dimitri of the Psychic Fire Eye Clan vs. Rin-Tao of the Jade Dust Sect!" Gasps broke through the crowd. Everyone had heard of Dimitri's clan. Known for spirit-burning flames and ocular bloodline techniques that seared through ordinary defenses, few truly understood how their fire worked—only that no healer under the true Immortal core realm could mend the scars it left.
Dimitri stepped into the ring like a shadow laced with fire. He wore a high-collared suit trimmed in crimson embroidery that shimmered faintly with heat distortion. His long black hair was tied back, and over his left eye, an eye patch shimmered with a stylized eye glyph. His right eye was visible and glowing like a coal being oxygenated by a blacksmith's billows
"That's one of the Fire Eyes," a spectator muttered from the stands.
"They say his parents had glyph work performed on him at eight years old, carved directly into his Iris."
I didn't blink. No… that's no glyph work, I thought. That's a bloodline power. I opened my spiritual senses, focusing in with my Vorpal eye on the fight.
GONG!
Rin-Tao, his opponent, was fast—he launched forward with wind-boosted steps and jade spiral discs flying from his sleeves. His movement resembled a whirling dance. Dimitri didn't move. His one visible eye flared. A streak of red light blinked across the arena—no fire, no sound, no qi pulse. Rin-Tao suddenly froze mid-strike. His face twisted in confusion. Then—
"I—I'M BURNING! AH! AHHH!!!"
He dropped his blades and collapsed, flailing and shrieking, rolling on the ground like a torch. But there were no flames. No smoke. His spirit body was on fire—visible only to high level cultivators. "STOP DROP AND ROLL WON'T WORK," Faeluxe shouted from the stands. Rin-Tao's agony was horrifying to behold. His voice broke with screams. The audience was stunned.
Even some of the Iron Fang Elders narrowed their eyes. Dimitri raised a hand slowly, his voice was calm. "Yield. And I will quench the pain." Rin-Tao sobbed and slammed his palm to the ground.
"I YIELD! I YIELD!!!"
Dimitri closed his eye.
A pulse of red qi reversed outward, pulling the fire back into him. Rin-Tao lay shuddering, his spiritual body charred and cracked—but intact. "Victory: Dimitri of the Psychic Fire Eye Clan!"
The crowd didn't cheer. They whispered. Dimitri turned and left the arena, fluttering with residual heat.
He passed me without a word—but as he walked by, I caught a brief flicker of thought echoing from the patched eye: "You're next, Sovereign-Slayer. And I wonder how your spirit burns."
My gaze narrowed, cataloging everything I had just witnessed. That was spiritual fire. His Eye could ignite spirit body threads. If I ever faced him, I would need a countermeasure or a reflection method. Maybe even a sacrificial technique. Faeluxe glanced at me, "You can take him."
I smiled, but gave no answer.