Cultivation Through Artifacts

Time passed silently, and everyone watched with back-held breaths as Khal sat in one place, his body still covered with blazing flames without any sign of his body turning into ash!

"It seems the fire is completely harmless on him. He will be fine." Jane exclaimed, instantly soothing Liza's nerves on her side.

"But still... To think he was bold enough to try his luck and attempt to unlock his third seal right after opening his second... Just what is he thinking?"

Everyone understood that once an Essence Path was opened, the body needed time to get used to it before one could try to use it with Secret Arts or either attempt to open another path.

Yet, Khal didn't even wait for a second much less a minute after he successfully opened his Second Path, which was considered an extremely foolish decision.

Why? Because if he didn't let his body adapt to the additional fraction that appeared in his body, he could easily suffer internal injuries or worse, destroying the Essence Path in his body which in the long run will be an extremely huge blow to one's cultivation.

'Why does he love risking his life all the time? This is not funny at all!' Liza sighed inwardly, feeling her heart tighten from anxiety whenever she watched Khal do something risky.

However, if she would have known that Khal would be perfectly fine even if he opened up several seals at the same time she wouldn't get worried so easily.

What Jane said was indeed right, but it only applied to ordinary Cultivators and not Khal, who was undoubtedly not an ordinary Cultivator thanks to his bracelet.

Why was that? Why must ordinary Cultivators wait and get used to the Essence Paths they opened while Khal didn't? The answer was really simple if one took a moment to think.

Because of Body Essence. 

While other Cultivators had less than 100 units of Body Essence in their bodies that needed time to fully occupy the opened Essence Path, Khal had over 1000 units which immediately filled the path the moment Khal unlocked it.

Thus, fearing his Essence Path will get destroyed or he will sustain internal injuries was only meaningless distress. 

Soon, three hours have passed already, but no sign indicated that Khal was on the verge of a breakthrough while the flames didn't get weaker but happened to burn even stronger with each passing second.

The majority of the onlookers have already walked away as they had either something else to do or just simply got bored. Only a few remained, including Jane and Liza, who inspected Khal's body with keen eyes, ready to help him if something unexpected would happen.

Meanwhile, inside his head, Khal was watching over and over again the pictures, his brain burning on all cylinders as he tried to figure out the meaning behind the images.

'So far 576 pictures of my past life, half of them about Nancy while the other half is about those individuals that I once called family.'

He then continued to say, 'Yet, even after seeing so many past memories, I have no idea at all what I'm missing out.'

Khal sighed inwardly and even tried to stop unlocking the sealed gate but find it with a shock that he... Couldn't! 

What's more, not only did he fail to retract his Body Essence from the third gate that will open the route into the next Essence Path, but he couldn't even open his eyes!

'What?' Khal was shocked to discover that his eyes were glued down, completely sealing away his sight. The only thing he could see was the memories of his past life appearing inside his mind one after another!

'Wait... Why can't I talk! Huh? Now that I say, even my hearing is gone too! What's happening here?' Khal seemed to realize that things now became quite complicated.

Though, thanks to his experience when he opened his first Essence Path, he understood that whenever stress appeared to emerge in his mind, he must do everything to first cool off and remain calm, which, in fact, happened surprisingly easily.

'It seems every Essence Path I open will influence me in one way or another. I'm curious if I will be able to use those Sword Auras I have fought against. How cool would that be?'

However, Khal soon pushed this idea and question back into his head, and I stead concentrated on his current situation.

He couldn't move his body at all, cutting off all the possibilities of him talking and opening his eyes while he couldn't feel or hear anything.

The only thing he could do was to think and watch the changing images in his mind while the burning sensation still lingered in his chest.

'Okay, let's think! As it seems, I cannot leave this state until I don't figure out the meaning behind these pictures, but what exactly do they want me to understand? They are all past memories, one about the happiest days of my life while the other one is about my worst. What should I see or notice?'

Khal pondered with all his might, and soon he noticed something.

Suddenly, he discovered that each memory carried not only one thing in common, but two to be more precise!

Each image was about Nancy, one about herself, and the other one was about him, struggling to keep safe the things he either tried to give to Nancy or got from her.

And the more Khal watched this, and the more he realized it was indeed the way he discovered, a sudden idea appeared in his mind, that not even he could have thought about as it was rather... Simple.

And once the idea about the picture's meanings arose in him, a different memory emerged in his mind, representing a sole figure he knew way too well.

Liza.

And right as her image appeared, Khal seemed to realize the meaning and if he could have, he would have smiled right there and then.

'So that's how it is, huh?'

BAM!

Immediately after he said that, the sensation in his chest exploded, followed by Nova's calm voice. 

[You have successfully unsealed the Path of Blazing Flames of Ambition!]