Cultivation Through Artifacts

"What? The Creator's Gaze?" as if she just heard something extremely terrifying, Noelle's complexion suddenly paled, and stared at Khal in deep silence.

"Eh... Yeah?" Khal didn't really understand why was it such a big deal, like wasn't it just a Secret Art? It's not like he asked to kill someone or something, right?

However, when he answered and confirmed Noelle's uncertainty, her face paled even more, and swallowed hard before shaking her head, "N-no... We do not have that Secret Art, not in the slightest. B-but why do you need that, if I may ask?"

"Umm... I just got to hear about it and I liked its concept so I wanted to see if I can find or even buy it here. Though, it seems I won't be able to, do..." Khal sighed, but soon frowned and asked, "But why do I feel like I have asked about something I shouldn't have?"

When Noelle heard this, she frowned and asked, "Wait... You don't know what that Secret Art truly is?"

"Huh? No? I mean, should I?" Khal asked from her, while slowly a strange feeling began to arise in his body.

'...' Noelle remained silent, but watching Khal's innocent face and the fact he truly seemed oblivious, she glanced around before leaning forward.

"That Secret Art you want to buy... It's a Forbidden Art!"

"WHAT!?" 

Hearing Khal's abrupt and loud yell, many Cultivators in the distance turned to look at him with raised brows and confused looks.

Realizing his mistake, Khal quickly cleared his throat and then said, this time with a lowered voice, "I wasn't told about something like that! I hope I won't get into trouble because of this."

"I thought so..." sighed Noelle with relief, almost as if a huge stone just fell off from her heart.

She then continued to say, "Don't worry, it's not the first time that someone came and asked about it as it is hidden from the public, thus you can say not knowing about it is a norm."

"I see, thank God..." Khal sighed too, feeling as if things could have gone out of hand real quick if it wasn't for Noelle.

"Anyway, I hope you will just think about my previous question as a bad joke that you didn't hear, "Khal said to her with a wry smile that was plastered over his face.

"As I said, there is no reason for you to feel anxious. It's obvious you didn't know about it being a Forbidden Art thus you are safe. However, next time make sure you are careful as you can easily find yourself in trouble." Noelle said to her, her eyes and face dead serious this time.

"I will definitely be cautious next time, thank you very much for your warning. As for this Secret Art... Why is it forbidden to use? Isn't it just a simple Sight Enhancement skill?" Khal felt his interest piqued and couldn't help to ask.

Noelle kind of anticipated Khal to ask this question sooner or later, thus answered him without complaint as it is only better for him to ask her instead of someone else.

"The Creator's Gaze is indeed an Art specialized for sight enhancement, but it's a bit more than that. While the Secret Art can see everything in its radius, it can also affect other being's minds, such as their emotions or way of behavior. They even say it can alter one's memory too, thus using it is strictly prohibited."

" I see, thank you for explaining this important piece of information for me!" said Khal afterward and after bowing at Noelle, he left the building.

'I will need to talk with rascal the next time I meet with him!' thought Khal inwardly, as he felt the urge to enter the Soul Prison and choke Neo alive as he didn't feel him something so important!

As for his future plans though, it seems until he can't obtain the Secret Art, killing Alde will be purely impossible for him.

'It seems I have to think for another solution for the time being.' thought Khal and he suddenly had an idea who could help him.

Walking through Moon Academy, Khal reached this small lake with a single colorful tree next to its side, whereas he thought, Logan's sleeping figure could be seen below it.

"Master, I need your help."

"In what matter?" without even opening his eyes and remaining still on the ground, Logan asked from him.

Seeing this Khal's eyes twitched slightly, but considering it is Logan who he was talking about, it was normal to see him act so carefree.

Thus, he just sat down before him and proceeded to talk, "I need a Secret Art that can detect others in a big area."

"How big are you exactly talking about?"

"About a few cities large or a bit more than that."

'...' opening his eyes slowly and staring at Khal like a fool, Logan didn't know what to say for a long time.

Only after pondering for a while did frown and ask, "Who do you want to find? I hope you don't plan to do something unnecessarily stupid."

"I won't, as for the reason, I just simply want to increase my strength."

"But you have your Heaven's Eyes, isn't that enough?" asked Logan from him.

"Enough? There is no such thing as enough. As a Cultivator, I must strive for more, even if it's an ability that seems to be the same such as my Talent, but in truth, it is not."

'...' Logan stayed silent for a couple of minutes before sighed and sat up and nodded.

"Sure, I have quite a few in mind that can help you, but they are not strong enough to cover several cities. They could wrap a single city at most, but more than that is impossible. Only one Secret Art is capable of doing more than that, but it's a Forbidden Art so don't even try to ask about it."

"Sure." Khal nodded with a serious face, but unfortunately, he already knew about the Forbidden Art his Master talked about.

Seeing that Khal seemed uninterested in the Forbidden Art, Logan nodded but couldn't help and feel as something was not quite right here. Anyone that heard about a Forbidden Art would become curious and at least try to know the name of it, but Khal didn't which either meant he didn't have an interest in Forbidden Arts or he already knew about it.

'Well, whatever. Until he doesn't use any Forbidden Arts and gets in trouble, I am okay with that...' thought Logan inwardly before starting to talk.

"Let's see... As far as I know, there are exactly three Secret Arts that can help you."

"The first one is called Earth Sense and until you have at least one of your limps on the ground, you can see and detect anything in a huge radius and even things underground! Though, learning this Art is quite tricky and hard, they also say you need and earth associated Talent to use it, thus I don't really recommend you choose it."

"The next one should be the Ruler's Domain. It is very similar to Domain-type Talents as it summons a big domain where you can see everything to your will, but because of its huge energy consumption, it is quite hard to use. They say not even a Cultivator on the Ninth Stage has what it takes to use it more than 3 seconds."

As for the last one, and I think you should choose this, Jade Tombstone is the best. Though, it's quite a hassle to use it, but if you can get complete mastery over it, you can survey cities non-stop! Sounds cool right?"

"Hmm..." Khal began to ponder once Logan finished talking and it seemed he was in a deep dilemma about which one he should choose.

'Earth Sense sounds good, but if what Logan said is true and I need a Talent associated with the earth element, then it's a no-no. As for the last two...'

Khal began to reevaluate the last two Secret Arts and soon nodded as he knew which one he should choose.

"A? Which one will you choose?" asked Logan, but inside he already knew the answer and just asked him out of pure boredom.

"Well, even though the Ruler's Domain seems to be the most promising one that I was looking for, but because it has a huge energy consumption, I will try and learn the third Secret Art."

"Just as I have thought." smiled Logan and nodded before lying back down and waving his hand, "It's a good choice indeed, and if you don't like it or either can't learn it, you always have the chance to learn the other two."

"Yes, thank you for your help, Master." bowed Khal toward Logan once on his feet before walking away with quick strides.

Sometime later, he reached and entered the Cultivator's Organization once again, taking Noelle by surprise as she didn't think Khal would come back so soon.