Cultivation Through Artifacts

Even though Khal just hit nothing but air, the moment his weapon reached the crescent arc, a metallic pitch appeared together with a powerful gust of wind, shocking both Khal and Liza at the same time.

"So this is a Sword Aura, huh?" Khal mumbled in a low voice and began to swing his weapon once again.

Swish!

Clang!

Another metallic pitch reverberated in the air followed by a strong shockwave, but this time after Khal pulled his weapon back and was ready to strike once again the hundreds of Sword Aura around him moved and began to assault him.

"Watch out!" Liza seemed shocked once she saw this, and even tried to help Khal, but she was quickly halted in her tracks.

With quick and smooth feet movements, Khal avoided the half-transparent arcs that now represented sharp swords, while also clashing against those that targetted his vital parts such as the head, throat, and chest.

Clang!

The continuous sound of steel crashing against steel resounded throughout the air, attracting several gazes from the distance.

"Look! What is he doing? Isn't unofficial fights prohibited in the Academy?"

"Yes, it indeed is, but he fights with no one. Watch closely, he is battling against... Wind blades?"

"What?"

Many that became curious gradually began to approach the spot where Khal was avoiding and deflecting the translucent sword attacks, watching the happenings in silence.

"What is happening here?" Jane suddenly appeared next to Liza and watched as Khal fended against the hundreds of sword strikes around him, while Rubie just watched the whole spectacle from above the tree with a nonchalant gaze.

Liza proceeded to tell her Master what happened, and a minute later, she stopped talking.

"Oh? So he already attempting to open his second Essence Path?" Jane seemed interested, her eyes flickering with a profound light as she stared at Khal in the distance.

BAM!

After several minutes of straight avoiding and deflecting, suddenly the onslaught became even more rapid and crazy, pushing Khal more and more into a corner where he could do nothing but watch as his body was getting stabbed and sliced from time to time.

However, at the same time, Khal could feel as his sight became sharper and sharper, while a sensation began to appear between him and his weapon.

'Soft, hard, calm, chaotic, flexible, stiff... Each strike holds a different Sword Aura... It seems they try to enlighten me on the way how I should use my weapon.' thought Khal as he noticed that each attack varied from one another, and their attack pattern was different too. 

'However, the only problem here is that my weapon is not a sword but a hybrid... Should I still try to comprehend their meaning?' Khal asked himself inwardly as he evaded a slow sword strike from the side, but failed to do the same when a fast and aggressive one appeared from above, cutting his shoulder deeply.

When Liza saw this she clenched her tiny hands and asked, "Master, can one die during their attempt to open their Essence Path?"

Jane obviously understood Liza's worry, and even though she wanted to say no, she could only nod her head.

"Unfortunately, yes they can. As everyone has different Essence Paths in their bodies, their meaning also differs too. Some Essence Path only needs to be understood through simple knowledge to unlock, but some had harsher conditions, such as the one Khal is currently doing."

She then proceeded on saying, "There are way too many paths with way too many meanings that can be comprehended through way too many manners. For example, one of my Essence Path required me to stay alive in an almost inhuman cold environment where I almost froze to death."

When Liza heard this she suddenly realized unlocking Essence Paths is way more hazardous and difficult than she first belived it to be.

After pondering for a while and watching as Khal started to struggle and collect numerous wounds under the barrage of attacks, Liza asked, "Why is he not stopping?"

"Because he can't," Jane replied, stupifying Liza in a blink.

"He can't? Why?"

"Because if he does stop now, he will suffer from a backlash greatly as he already opened his second Essence Path slightly. He must keep on going or he can die or worse, become a cripple." 

"!?"

Liza's eyes widened like saucers, not believing what she just heard. 

Cripple? What did that mean? It meant if Khal failed to open his Essence Path and became a cripple, he could no longer proceed on his cultivation, sticking on his current Cultivation Stage or even worse, falling all the way back to the First Stage!

Now Liza felt really anxious as Khal's situation didn't look great at all. He had several wounds all over his body, crimson blood flowing out them slowly.

However, what neither she nor the others knew that the reason why Khal obtained so many wounds was not that he couldn't dodge in time, but because he tried to mimic and comprehend each sword strikes meaning.

Which in fact was crazy as he could have easily opened his second Essence Path if he just simply inspected each Sword Auras, but he decided to mimic them!

There were indeed others with such thoughts as him and even attempted to improve their knowledge about swords, but all failed miserably as all died or either became a cripple.

Why? Because the Sword Auras were no living beings and even though they had a level of consciousness, they didn't know what the word 'stop' or 'mercy' meant. Once they started attacking someone, they will persist until that individual is either a corpse or they were erased from existence itself.

This is the true reason why Cultivators with Sword Aura or Auras are so scary that anyone would bow their heads just to avoid being killed.

'Soft as silk then hard like steel. Aggressive like a beast and peaceful like an ancient pond. Sometimes predictable but in other times unpredictable. There are numerous ways one can use the sword, but in truth, it all depends on the enemy.'

'If my opponent is forceful I will act calm. If my foe decides to surpass me with heavy strikes I will counter him with light movements! This is how it is, and the way how the sword should be used!'

BAM!

In that very instant, as Khal countered the Sword Auras with their complete opposite characteristic, suddenly a slight eruption occurred in his body and the second gate opened entirely!

[You have successfully unsealed the Path of Myriad Swords!]