Cultivation Through Artifacts

So far, Khal killed two participants in the tournament, and both times he hesitated not even the slightest! He killed both of them like they were no different than Beasts in the wild; without any sympathy or remorse.

Naturally, this didn’t mean he was a bad person or Cultivator as they also knew if he didn’t decide to kill then he would have been the one dying, though he should have at least showed a bit of emotion!

Killing for the first time should leave an impact on the individual’s mind or behavior, right? Like throwing up, a pale face, or a kind of depression or change in mood, right?

Yet, Khal showed none of them and even looked kind of happy! This confused many and even made them think about one thing…

That he was a cold-blooded person who didn’t know what sympathy was!

“Well, at least we don’t have to fear he will die because of hesitation…” sighed Scarlett, even leaning back into her chair as her complexion relaxed.

“Indeed, but don’t you find it strange?” suddenly a petite woman with a huge weapon on her side talked up, causing the rest around her to shift their gaze at her.

“What did you mean, Dorothea?” asked Jas as his gaze titled from Khal’s figure.

“I mean look at his eyes,” said Dorothea as she pointed at Khal, “Do you think those are the eyes one should have?”

Jas and the others seemed a bit troubled by this question, but Dorothea quickly explained, “Anyone should feel disturbed upon killing another human being, except if the individual was born cold-blooded or already killed before. Of course, the difference between the two is huge and I hope I don’t need to explain to you why.”

“And you think he was born cold-blooded? Just simply because of his actions?” asked Connor from the side with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“No.” as she shook her head, Dorothea said, “I think he has already killed before. And when I say kill, I don’t mean Beasts but human beings.”

“!?”

When others heard this their complexion changed drastically as they knew what that indicated.

Maybe not every Cultivator knew it, but if a human kills another then they could consume their Essence and become stronger just like how they would with Beast Essences.

Typically, it needed a special Secret Art to do so, but once one learned how to use it, consuming both Beast and Human Essence wouldn’t pose a problem!

Though, maybe killing other Cultivators in the Cultivation World because of battles or wars was common and inevitable, but consuming their Essence was not and even strictly prohibited!

One could even get a death sentence just because of it! This also showed just how dire the consequences were if one decided to consume Human Essence!

When Dorothea noticed the mixture of emotions on the other’s faces she shook her head and said, “Don’t misunderstand me, when I said he must have killed before I didn’t mean he must have consumed Human Essence. I just say he must have killed humans before as his actions, behavior, and eyes indicate toward that.”

“Yeah, but that didn’t suggest he didn’t consume Human Essence before. Maybe…”

“He did not consume Human Essence.” cut into Connor’s sentence Jas, silencing him right away.

Sometime later Connor swallowed his saliva and asked, “How are you so sure about it?”

Jas simply shifted his gaze at Connor and said, “If one consumes Human Essence their Cultivation presence will slightly alter. Also, the individual becomes akin to a drug addict and will crave for more Human Essence, thus Khal obviously didn’t consume Human Essence before.”

Once others heard this their complexion relaxed right away, but then another question appeared in their minds.

“Then who do you think he killed before?” pondered Scarlett loudly.

However, Jas this time didn’t answer but stayed silent as he had a guess who Khal killed before.

–

Time passed in a blink of an eye, and surprisingly nighttime came. Ever since Khal killed the guy, he met with no one else and even didn’t try to venture anywhere else. He remained in the forest and built a campfire.

“It’s kind of lonely here, but luckily I have you,” said Khal with a smile as he patted Rubie on his side.

Putting sticks on the campfire to make the fire burn even brighter, suddenly a silver light flashed before Khal and hovered before his face.

Swish!

“Hug? What is this?” exclaimed Khal with surprise and watched as his Cultivator’s Badge abruptly lit up and a hologram emerged before his face.

“Dear Participants! Welcome to the Thousand Life Tournament!”

Suddenly, a guy in a black suit and tie popped up inside the screen, startling Khal a bit as he didn’t expect this to happen.

Of course, the guy was no one else but David, the host of the Thousand Life Tournament.

“Maybe you don’t know me so let me introduce my humble self.” after bowing graciously David smiled and continued, “My name is David Kilgard and I am your host in this decades tournament!”

After he said that, David took out a notepad from somewhere that the screen did not show and glanced at it, “Well now that we had this, let’s not waste your precious time and let me get straight to the point.”

“Only half a day have passed since the start, yet out of the two hundred and fifty-one participants so far eighty-three Cultivators have died, leaving only one hundred and sixty-eight alive. Quite amusing if you ask me!”

When Khal and the other participants heard this their complexion changed and remained dead silent. Just under half a day 83 have died? What? How can that be amusing at all?

While others absorbed this piece of news, David waved his hand and a map appeared on the screen.

It was a huge island sectioned into 251 areas, each seemingly having its own environment.

As Khal inspected the map, trying to figure out where he was, David began to talk, “As you can see, this is the island you are currently fighting on! Several areas, each varying from one another!”

After a brief silence, David waved his hand once again, but this time several sections turned black; almost 1/3 of them!

“These are the sections where no one is currently staying at, hence we will make a slight change to this!”

Immediately as his voice fell, a slight tremor shook the ground while the dark sections vanished from the map while what appeared in their place were long lines between each section that still remained!

“What happened? An earthquake?” asked Khal as he stood up immediately.

And it wasn’t just him but every Cultivator that appeared to be on edge because of the sudden change of events!

While they tried to figure out what happened, David smiled and said, “This phenomenon will happen after every 24 hours until one section not remains! I hope you understand what that means.”

“Well then! I wish the best of my luck to all of you and let us see which one of you will become the Strongest Cultivator!” and like that, the screen together with David vanished, making everything turn silent once again!

Except for one change as the map that David showed now remained on every Cultivator’s Badge!