Cultivation Through Artifacts

Bam!

Another gust of wind broke forth while the fissures expanded in size below the two, causing the spectators to exclaim their thought with awe.

"Even though they are just on the Third Cultivation Stage, their powers are exceptional. Especially that boy, um... What was his name again?" asked a Cultivator from the seats, his body emitting a powerful aura from the Fourth Stage.

"Junior Brother's name is Khal." replied a hoarse voice from behind, making the Cultivator nod merrily and turn around, "Yes, his name was Khal! Thanks buddy! I almost for... got... it..."

The guy who just was about to thank the one who helped him suddenly froze up, while thick drops of cold sweat began to form on his back. 

Marx who sat behind the guy all this time with Merlyn and Asur, glanced at the guy and raised a brow in confusion, "What? You want something?"

"Eek?! Wha... No... I'm sorry!" as though like a little girl who just got scared, the Cultivator stood up abruptly and ran away like his life was on the line.

Marx watching the guy's escaping figure in the distance furrowed his brows tightly together while sneering, "Why does everyone so scared of us? We did nothing major to deserve this reputation, right?"

"Didn't deserve? Gravely injuring a fellow Cultivator accidentally on our very first Group Mission. Unintentionally destroying several hundred stalls at once on our very first day in Moon City. Beating up a group of people in Moon Academy on our fourth day after enrollment... We have quite a few reasons to deserve that..." began to explain Merlyn with a shrug, her eyes fixed on the battle below.

"Okay, first of all, the Cultivator in the Group Mission was a complete dumbhead! He was the one running before my attack so he could only thank himself instead of blaming us!"

"And what about the stalls in Moon City or the innocent people in Moon Academy?" asked unexpectedly Asur from the side, his face and voice as indifferent as ever.

Marx was surprised by his friend's sudden question so crossed his bulging arms before his wide chest before replying, "I admit that I have destroyed those stalls because I lost my temper, but on the other hand, those people deserved a good beating. They stole from the Alchemy Department! They are Cultivators and not thieves!"

Bam!

As he said those words, another gust of wind erupted from the platform, making Marx squint his eyes lightly while Merlyn and Asur's upper body got pushed back an inch.

"This is already their sixth exchange yet none of them seem to get the upper hand," exclaimed Nate quietly somewhere else among the spectators, seemingly curious about the outcome.

Boom!

After several exchanges with their palms that caused shockwaves after shockwaves to appear, Khal and Liza increased the distance between each other and stood motionless.

"This won't do it. Even though her proficiency with the Art is lower than mine, her Essence control is greater!" thought Khal as he never would have thought Liza would fight him with his very own Secret Art.

"His understanding about the Art is great and even realized the secret advantage of this Form, but it seems he needs time to comprehend it fully." thought Liza calmly, but her eyes still held a bit of shock by the density of Khal's Essence.

If it weren't for the fact that Khal realized the hidden purpose of the Second Form and would have practiced it from the very beginning, with that thick Essence around his palm let alone blowing her away, he would easily shatter her body with a single blow!

"Just how does he have such a huge amount of Essence? No normal human being should possess that much!" pondered Liza in confusion, but suddenly noticed as Khal lowered his stance once again, but this time it was a completely new stance than before.

"What stance is that? Another Secret Art?" frowned Liza upon seeing Khal's almost crouching position, but still, she didn't let this attract her attention.

No, instead she pushed her right feet forward a bit, while both of her hands got lowered next to her left side.

Freeze!

With cracking sounds as though ice was smashed and formed in a small area, a Jade sword gradually began to appear in Liza's tight hold, its edge glowing with a crimson hue.

"Get ready. This can get out of h-" began to say Jane as she was about to move, but was abruptly halted by Jas.

"There is no need for that," said Jas in a low voice and waved his hand. 

In an instant, a translucent barrier was formed around the platform, preventing any unnecessary problems that could arise in the following moments.

Ignoring the changes around them, Khal stared at Liza with a tranquil gaze and began to move the Essence inside the upper part of his legs at full speed!

"Dance of The Celestial Serpent Third Form; Emerald Snake Dance!"

"Heaven Slash!"

Swish!

The exact moment as Khal's figure moved an inch, Liza swung her Jade Ice blade toward Khal with lightning speed, and in a blink of an eye, the crimson arc that will explode on the slightest of impact appeared right before Khal's eyes!

KA-BOOM!

As tough thunders descended upon the earth, Liza's assault exploded into the place where Khal was, shaking the whole arena with great tremor as dust and debris flew everywhere.

"I won," exclaimed Liza with pride but suddenly her eyes widened with shock, and turned around.

Or at least wanted to but it was too late and the only thing she was able to see was Khal's figure emerging behind her, his Essence-covered palm approaching her back.

"This is bad! I won't be able to turn around in time!" was what Liza thought, but she forgot that she didn't have to.

The moment her Talent, the Jade Ice detected Khal's approach and Liza's inability to act, it manifested out of thin air and formed a thick defense barrier from Khal's assault in a flash, faster than a millisecond!

Khal however instead of getting stunned by this sight like 90% of the spectators present, just simply smiled and his eyes flashed with profound light.

Tap...

Placing his hand gently onto the surface of the Jade Ice, Khal pushed all of his Essence into his palm and as though pulling the trigger on a gun, fired all of it at once.

Crack!

"?"

BOOM!

"!?"

The thick Jade Ice that was referred to as an indestructible defensive Talent that showed its strength during the time against Janna's Heaven Slash, right now turned into pieces of ice powder while Liza's body was blasted away by the aftershock!

Cultivators and experts on the seats turned bewildered while Jane on the side couldn't hold herself and open her small mouth into an oval shape.

Everyone present was stupified to see as a Cultivator with a below-average Talent just now penetrated a Natural Born Talent's defense as easily as a hot knife would do through butter!

Watching as he succeeded in breaking through Liza's defense and even blasting her away, Khal's complexion turned merry and after deactivating his Heaven's Eyes began to walk toward the still lying Liza on the ground.

"It seems I have won fair and square, so the Moon Robe will remain mine. And you can-"

Shortly after he began to talk, suddenly Khal noticed as the front of his feet got stuck into a deep fissure in the ground right below him, and watched as he began to fall.

"Eh?"

Like a miserable tree that was chopped out from its bottom, Khal watched helplessly as the ground approached him at a terrifyingly rapid pace, and with a loud 'Paff' sound, his head crashed powerfully into the platform.

'...'