Cultivation Through Artifacts

Cultivators with their respected Masters arrived one after another, each wearing a special uniform akin to the Moon Robe on Khal.

Some looked quite the same as Khal's with only the color varying while there were some whose uniforms' style was designed completely different.

There were even some that arrived half-naked with only the lower parts of their robes or uniforms seen on them; naturally, these types of Cultivators were only males while none of them were females.

Just imagining the faces all the male Cultivators present as they watched a female walk into the hall half-nakedly... The sight would be extremely hilarious for sure!

And exactly how Khal was evaluated the moment he stepped in, each and every Cultivator that arrived went through the same thing as him; it was apparent that everyone wanted to know who was stronger and who was weaker than them.

Sometime later the whole hall was filled almost to the brim with participants and their Masters, making the air in the room turn heavier than normal.

The tension in the air could be physically felt and even that was a simple underestimation!

"Esteemed Guests! Master Adam has finally arrived!" the woman who escorted them inside the hall now stood at the side of the door and spoke loudly for everyone to hear.

Immediately, the whole place turned dead silent and a man in his late thirties walked inside the hall, his aura majestically enveloping his body.

He was wearing a black robe with blood-red crystals embedded into its surface, forming a wild dragon. On its waist, a long but thin sword was sheathed in its scabbard, the man's palm gently resting on the sword's hilt, indicating he could and will pull it out whenever he wanted.

His blue eyes that held an indescribable passion but at the same time firmness looked at everyone in the hall one by one, his gaze stopping on a few participants but only for a split second.

Among the few was Khal too, but the moment Master Adam looked at him a cold shiver swept through his spine in an instant as though he was glanced at by a terrifying Beast he can't fight with, not even in a thousand years!

"He is on the Ninth Cultivation Stage!" was what appeared in everyone's mind together with deep respect toward the man before them.

Anyone that was able to reach the Ninth Cultivation Stage was considered nothing but a powerful expert who is about to step into the Second Realm!

In their eyes, including even the participant's Masters, Master Adam was an existence way above them that they could only hope to reach one day.

After glancing at everyone present, Master Adam nodded and in a low hoarse voice asked from the woman on his side, "Is this all?"

"Yes, Master Adam. There are a total of two hundred and fifty-one participants present that decided to partake in the tournament."

"Only that much?" asked Master Adam, his eyebrows tightly furrowed with a hint of anger.

"Yes, it seems out of the three hundred and eighteen Academies that are currently existing on the Southern Continent only two hundred and fifty-one decided to participate in the Thousand Life Tournament."

"So less than 80% percent?"

"Yes." nodded the woman, her face holding extreme indifference.

When Master Adam heard the answer a slight snort escaped his mouth and exclaimed loudly, "A bunch of weaklings, cowards that don't deserve the title of a Cultivator!"

As those words of his fell, every Cultivator in the hall couldn't help but flinch slightly as even Master Adam's voice held a kind of dominance they have never seen in their entire lifetime!

If it were anyone else who would have said those exact same words, they wouldn't have hesitated to beat the individual up until not even their mothers would recognize them, but the situation now was a bit different.

The one saying those words were no one else but a powerful expert on the Ninth Cultivation Stage and the Organizers of the Thousand Life Tournament, Master Adam!

Anyone that tried to say a single bad word about him, especially right in his face could only pray for a merciless death!

As a heavy silence filled the hall no one daring to utter a word, Master Adam sighed and began to walk toward the platform in the distance.

Instantly, everyone before him stepped to the side, giving him and the woman behind him way without any complaint.

Walking with steady steps, Master Adam stepped onto the platform and faced everyone in the hall, his palm still on the hilt of his sword.

"My name Adam Godford and I will be the one who oversees the Thousand Life Tournament in Haven City this time. If you have any questions you can ask me freely, but I would be glad that with useless questions find Madam Snow," gestured Master Adam toward the woman on his side, who as a result bowed toward the Cultivators politely.

"Well then, now that we are done with this, I ask you to come up onto this platform one by one and briefly introduce yourselves. Name, Academy, and your Cultivation Stage. Naturally, you can lie about the latter one, but let's hope you won't find yourself dead because of that."

"Also, it's the part of the Registration Process. Madam Snow will record these pieces of information for the future so please do as I said."

After he said that, Master Adam walked to the side and waited for the first one to come onto the platform.

"Well, if no one wants to be first, I guess I will." said a voice on the front and stepped onto the platform.

It was a boy, around the age of 17 or 18. He had medium-short brown hair and nut-brown eyes that held great confidence together with his posture. He wore a uniform similar to Khal's with the only difference that his was azure blue with golden scales akin to dragon scares sewed into its surface.

"It's Theon from Skywave Academy. I am on the Third Cultivation Stage!"

After he introduced himself, Theon glanced at Madam Snow on the side, and only after seeing her nod did he step down.

And surprisingly after he did, Cultivators one by one walked onto the platform and introduced themselves one after another.

"My name is Varys from Arrowhead Academy. Fourth Cultivation Stage."

"Elysia from Crystal Academy. Third Cultivation Stage."

...

Sometime later, about 15 minutes later when more than a hundred Cultivator introduced themselves, it was Khal's turn to walk up and introduce himself.

However, when he did, a lot of Cultivators' complexion turned sour and confused, as all of them thought the same thing as the very first time they saw him.

"He is a fool."

No one was brave enough to tell or show their Talents, yet Khal did exactly that and exhibited to everyone in the hall that he had a Beast Summoning Talent with Rubie sitting on his shoulder.

"My name is Khal from Moon Academy. Fourth Cultivation Stage."

"Huh?"

In a flash, almost every Cultivator's face turned confused than into ridicule as they seemed like they just heard the worst joke in the world.

"Fourth Cultivation Stage? Who is he trying to fool here? His bird is obviously on the Third Cultivation Stage, haha!"

"Everyone knows that Beasts are on the same Cultivation Stage as their Master! He is simply digging his own grave trying to say such ridiculous lie!"

Some people began to chuckle and whisper among each other with mocking grins on their faces, while some just simply looked at Khal like an idiot who went crazy.

However, Logan who was still eating in the corner just simply smiled upon hearing the mockery and even a slight chuckle escaped from his mouth.

Obviously, this couldn't escape Master Adam's eyes and a slight frown even appeared on his forehead but that was all.

After making sure Madam Snow recorded his information he looked toward the crowd and watched as the next Cultivator, walked onto the platform.

"Seila, Holy Academy, Fifth Cultivation Stage."

'...'