Cultivation Through Artifacts

Khal stared at the letters in the air with a somewhat perplexed look before frowning, "What the hell is this? Why is everything 1?"

[Those are your Cultivation Traits. They are showing your current strength as a Real Cultivator.]

"Oh?" Khal exclaimed out with piqued curiosity and asked, "But still, only 1 for each status isn't it a bit... low?"

[It is indeed, but you can improve the numbers by completing Quests!]

"Quests? Do you mean Cultivation Quests?"

[Yes. Open it and you will see it.]

Once Khal heard this he subconsciously nodded his head before opening the Cultivation Quests.

Swish!

In the next second, the white light around his bracelet began to move and form letters, showing him a completely new sight that he has never seen before.

{Cultivation Quests}

/Do 100 push-ups/

• Done push-ups: 0/100

~Contribution~

• +1 Physical Strength

• +1 Speed

---

/Challange and win against any other Cultivator/

• Done challenge: 0/1

~Contribution~

• +1 Mental Resistance

• +1 Mental Strength

---

/Kill 50 Beasts above the Fourth Cultivation Stage/

• Killed Beasts: 0/50

~Contribution~

• +1 to every Cultivation Trait

'...'

When Khal remained silent and didn't talk, Nova took the chance to speak and clarify a few things.

[Every Cultivation Quest is available only for 24 hours, so it is highly recommended to do them in time as the more you do the stronger you can become!]

[Also, you have access only for 3 Quests currently at the most, but if you wish, you can increase this amount in exchange for 10,000 Body Essence!]

"T-Ten thousand!?" Khal couldn't help but exclaim with shock as the amount was astronomical even for him.

[Yes.]

"And with how many quests will it increase? Three? Four? I hope it's more than four."

[With just with one.]

'...'

Despite kind of anticipating this kind of answer, Khal still hoped Nova will say otherwise, but alas, she didn't and he could do nothing about it.

'10,000 Body Essence... Wait, now that I think about it more, that's only 500 Beast Essence thanks to my Essence Refiner ability. Maybe 10,000 isn't as a ridiculously huge amount as I have first thought.' pondered Khal inwardly, even touching his chin.

After a moment of silence, Khal raised his gaze as if Nova was standing before him and asked, "By the way, these Cultivation Traits... Is it a must for me to improve them?"

[No, but if you do, you will have an easier start once you reach the Second Realm.]

"The Second Realm? Why? How will these traits help me there?" questioned Khal, but unfortunately, this time no answer came.

"I see... Trying to be secretive, huh?" Khal narrowed his eyes and then asked, "Then at least can you tell me if they have a limit? I mean, is there a threshold of how much I can collect for each Cultivation Trait?" 

Khal waited patiently for an answer and just as he thought, Nova answered him in the same calm manner.

[There is none. You can improve each of your Cultivation Traits as much as you wish.]

[However, once you reach the Tenth Stage, you won't be able to increase them until you reach the Second Realm!]

"What? Tenth Stage? Wasn't there only nine, so how come you say tenth?" Khal looked confused as he clearly understood that in the cultivation world the highest Stage was the Ninth whilst there was nothing such as the Tenth Stage. Yet, Nova just said there was, but no matter how long he waited for an expected answer, he didn't get any; this made him feel a bit helpless.

It seemed, either Nova did not want to answer or not she didn't have the answer to his question. In Khal's opinion, Nova was the former one, but as he couldn't do anything about it he let it slide for the time being.

'Cultivation Quests and Traits, huh? Let's see how it will affect me.' thought Khal and didn't hesitate to start the first quest, which was the 100 push-ups.

"1...2...3...25...26...38... Hell, this is harder... than I have thought..." taking a break after reaching the halfway point, Khal wiped the sweat off his forehead while his face showed sheer disbelief and confusion.

He was able to do only 50 push-ups in one go? What? Is he truly this weak or what?

[Yes, you are indeed weak. Or to be more precise your body is.]

"What? Then how was I able to swing my hammer during training without getting tired so fast? Or how was I able to block other's attacks without sustaining any minor injuries? This makes no sense at all!" Khal exclaimed out loud, a bit aghast to believe he was truly this weak.

Hell, even under Bazz's hellish training without his Creation Mode, he could endure at least for several hours straight or even a day without getting tired, yet here, under 5 minutes of push-ups, he became so tired almost as if he just worked out for hours!

[Those are all because of your Body Essence.]

"What? What should that even mean?" Khal questioned in a bit higher tone than he originally wanted to.

[Every time you fight or move, your body subconsciously uses your Body Essence to assist you.]

[So whenever you either move or use a weapon or tool, a small portion of your Body Essence will boost your strength, giving you stamina and power that is slightly above the normal level.]

'...'

Hearing Khal's silence, Nova continued to speak.

[Also, there are a few Cultivation Quests that will restrict different aspects of your body to achieve greater results.]

[For example, during this Cultivation Quest what you are doing, your Body Essence will be temporarily sealed as its purpose is to strengthen your body without any interior or exterior assistance.]

"So the reason why my body feels rather light whenever I move or fight even if I don't use any Secret Arts is that my Body Essence helps me automatically?"

[Yes. But if you want, try to move while examining your Essence flow and you will see.]

Khal nodded and did exactly what Nova said. After standing up and closing his eyes, he started to walk around the cave, even jumping a few times only to see that Nova was right; whenever he took a step or leaped into the air, a small portion of his Body Essence would move into his feet, strengthening his legs without him noticing it!

It was quite a startling discovery, but now that he knew about this and he finally understood why his hand didn't break when he blocked others' attacks with enormous force with his weapon or why his movements remained exceptionally fast even when he didn't use any Secret Arts, everything became clear to him.

Even when he jumped, he could easily leap into the air 2 to 3 meters high, but when he forcefully blocked the Essence from boosting his legs, he couldn't even jump a few feet!

The disparity was ridiculously vast that stunned and amazed Khal at the same time!

'So it was all because of my Essence... How intriguing...' Khal smiled and without hesitation continued to do the push-ups, rather excited to see the difference between 1 and 2 points of Physical Strength as soon as possible!