Cultivation Through Artifacts

The night passed relatively fast as Khal tried to remember and understand everything he read from the book, yet even under the whole night, he was able to read only 11 pages out of the 3000 plus pages…

“Schreeech!” with a loud cry that snapped Khal right back into reality, Rubie landed on his shoulder and pushed her face against his cheeks.

“It’s already time? Damn, time flies real fast…” sighed Khal and glanced at the book inside his hand.

“So far I was able to learn a few things about this world, especially about the 4 Continents, but alas, it’s time to go.”

Shifting his gaze at the ring on his side that he put down there since the very start, Khal grabbed it and placed it onto his right ring finger.

Swish!

With white light, Khal placed the book and his Secret Art scroll into the Spatial Ring to save himself from carrying them inside his pocket and stood up.

“Let’s get going, Logan must be already waiting for us,” said Khal and after stretching his sore muscles as he didn’t move an inch for hours, he went to leave his room.

–

“Are you ready? If you forgot anything you will come back here on your own.”

“I am ready, I am no longer a small kid who forgets stuff that easily.” sighed Khal helplessly once he reached the main hall and heard Logan’s question.

“Perfect, then let’s get going! Others are already waiting for us.”

“Un.” nodded Khal, but before following Logan, he turned and glanced at Raven and Theon who stood close to him.

“I hope we can meet again in the future.” smiled Khal, his arm already extended for a friendly handshake.

“The feeling is mutual.” smiled Raven after accepting Khal’s hand after Theon and took out a black token from her pocket, “But before you leave, please take this. If you ever change your mind, make sure to come to Eternal Mountain and show this to the people there. They will bring you to me and my Sect right away.”

“Thank you, I won’t deny this offer this time,” said Khal, and took away the black token and placed it inside his ring.

When Raven and Theon saw this they seemed surprised as only noble people could afford to buy Spatial Rings, but still decided to remain silent.

“Well, I hope once we meet again we won’t stand before each other as enemies but as equals.” smiled Khal, making the two before him immediately understand his words and nod.

After saying a quick and a not so heartfelt goodbye as he was sure they will meet again in the future, Khal watched as Logan placed his arm on his shoulder, and just like the way they came, he teleported them away.

Swish!

In a split second that was faster than blinking, Khal watched as the scenery around him changed from a luxurious hotel hall into a hist green open space, with a massive city wall rising toward the skies before him.

“Welcome back to Moon City kid. You have done better than I have expected.” Jas who waited for their arrival for hours before the city gate, smiled at Khal, his eyes holding unmistakable pride once he noticed Khal.

He started at him like a proud dad before his son who achieved great scores on an extremely hard exam that everyone failed to do successfully.

“I am honored for your compliment, but in truth, I did nothing special at all. I was only able to beat those below my Stage, yet was unable to win against someone who was not,” said Khal, without a bit of arrogance or false regret seen inside his eyes.

“Haha, that is true and it’s great you admit your defeat and mistakes, but don’t make that influence your mind. Your opponent was indeed stronger than you, but as I can feel, you have already reached her Stage right? If it were now, you would definitely win.”

“What?” surprised by Jas’ sudden statement, Khal raised his gaze with shock, not believing if he just heard it right or not.

He was currently in a Talentless state thus his presence was non-existent. He had no Cultivator Presence, yet Jas was able to guess his Cultivation Base? How?

Seeing the shock and confusion inside his eyes, Jas just simply touched his beard and laughed, “Haha, don’t be so surprised. Everyone has secrets and hidden tricks that no one knows about, even myself is one among them.”

Khal nodded upon hearing this, but deep inside he felt wary. 

Could this mean Jas realized his source of power and found out his bracelet’s use or was he simply able to detect his real Cultivation Base through different means? Well, in both cases this meant he must need to be cautious around him as he does not want to become a lab rat for others much less an enemy.

If his ability, that he can cultivate through Artifacts, or if he wants to be more precise through their Cores gets revealed to everyone, his life could easily become a mess, no different than hell itself.

Everyone will try to hunt him down for his bracelet, trying to obtain the heaven-defying power to hold multiple abilities and Talents at the same time.

Hence, he must avoid this at all costs!

Jas and Logan as they were powerful Cultivators obviously noticed Khal’s sudden change of mood and behavior, but as he was not their enemy not they wanted his bracelet, they didn’t do anything but simply ignored him.

They too wanted to find people with similar abilities as Khal, as they have already figured out his secret, but they knew that he was not in connection with ‘them’ not even the slightest.

Hence, they just simply ignored him, and continued to monitor his growth as maybe they will be able to see something that the world did not see for hundreds of years, a-

“Khal!” suddenly a feminine voice sounded from the gates, and the only thing Jas and Logan were able to see was a blue flash and a girl’s figure hanging around Khal’s neck.

“Schreeech!” Rubie who was pushed down from Khal’s shoulder seemed to be angry and wanted to land back, but as the girl was hugging him way too tightly she couldn’t.

“I’m glad you are alive…” a quiet voice akin to a mosquito buzzed inside Khal’s ear, causing his body to feel relaxed in an instant.

“Me too,” said Khal, his voice softer and warmer than it originally used to be, and hugged Liza back tightly.

Maybe it was because he missed her or because he knew she was truly Nancy, but this time Khal felt like everything seemed insignificant and only the current sensation he felt was what mattered.

“Khm… Can we go now? We still have a few things to do.” Logan on the side cleared his throat, making the two instantly come back onto earth step back from each other.

“Haha! You two are truly close to each other.” chuckled Jas quietly, but his voice still made Liza’s face turn slightly rosy.

On the other hand Khal just simply smiled and said, “Yeah, let’s go. We really do need to do a few things.”

However, because no one truly realized the hidden meaning behind his words and his kind of serious tone of voice, Logan nodded and began to walk toward the city, with the rest closely following him from behind.