Cultivation Through Artifacts

While Khal inspected the chaos he did, Rubie flew off the edge of the bed and landed before Khal, her gaze holding worry.

When Khal noticed her, he couldn't help but smile bitterly before patting her head gently, "I already told you, there is no reason to feel worried. I am perfectly fine."

Rubie seemed to relax when Khal began to pet her and talk, thus she just closed her eyes and enjoyed the gentle and pleasant caressing on her body as she usually do.

After a while, Khal stood up and began to fix the room's appearance before sitting down on the bed with a pondering look.

'Neo told me I should dig my way to the hideout as to avoid being detected, but how? With items, it would take an eternity for me to reach the hideout from 'there' but I have also no ability to help myself.'

Khal mulled over the ways he should proceed on before suddenly his eyes lit up like stars in the sky and waved his sleeve.

Right then, a piece of the forged metal that had slight energy around it appeared in his hold. It was the steel he forged during his blacksmithing competition and succeeded to pull its Soul Essence out, the Scorching Sun Steel!

He also had another metal in his spatial ring, the Dark Oak Iron, but that wouldn't help him at all, or at least the Scorching Sun Steel seemed a better choice.

"I always wanted to ask this, but what is the difference between a Power Core that was created from a piece of metal that had Soul Essence or Spirit Essence?" Khal asked calmly, his question obviously directed toward Nova.

[Soul, Spirit, Life, and God Essence. As their name suggests, each is superior to the other one, thus the Power Core created from them will be stronger too.]

"For example?"

[Let's take your Stellar Domain as an example. If you would have further tempered it and created its Spirit Essence, it could have obtained extra features.]

"Like my second Beast Core that unlocked hidden potentials the moment it was turned into a Power Core?"

[Yes.]

"Interesting..." pondered Khal as he stared at the piece of steel in his hold and after a moment of silence later asked, "How much Body Essence do I need to use to unlock another slot in my bracelet together with the Spirit Creation Mode?"

[Exactly 4500 units of Body Essence.]

Khal kind of waited for such an answer, but after hearing it from Nova he sort of felt puking up some blood.

Currently, he had a bit more than 7500 of Essence, thus that meant he will remain with a bit more than 3000 units of Body Essence!

It maybe seemed a lot, especially for other Cultivators, but if he wanted to find Alde's clones inside Moon City with his Secret Art, that 3000 was an extremely low amount, could be said trivial!

However, those two things he asked Nova were just as important as any other part of his plan, hence he had no choice but to acquire them.

"Then do it."

[You want to unlock the ability 'Spirit Creation Mode' and strengthen the ability 'Power Core Holder'?]

Khal nodded firmly as he said, "Yes, I want."

[Understood!]

Swish!

Khal watched as his bracelet underwent another change, forming a new slot on it while inside his body a new power emerged.

And soon, once everything calmed down, Khal tossed his Scorching Sun Steel into his spatial ring before he stood up and walked to the door.

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Inside the Blacksmithing Department, Khal walked to the section where Bazz used to forge, and once there he said, "Master, I am here to forge."

"Oh? So soon?" Bazz halted his swinging in mid-air and turned to look at Khal who seemed more than eager to forge than before."

"Oho? You seem quite enthusiastic today, kid. Come let us start our pr-"

"Master, if I can have a selfish request, can I forge myself? I want to try out something."

"Hm?" Bazz appeared surprised by Khal's sudden interruption into his sentence as this was the first, but instead of getting angry he turned silent and began to think.

After a while, he touched his chin and asked, "Yeah, you can. But what do you want to do? I hope you don't plan to do something wasteful or stupid, right?"

Khal however shook his head while showing the metal he wants to forge.

"I want to temper and create this piece of steel's Spirit Essence," said Khal with a nonchalant face, without beating around the bush.

"!?"

Bazz on the other became stupified the moment he noticed the Scorching Sun Steel in his disciple's grasp, and soon turned dead serious once he realized what Khal just said.

"You are just shitting me, right? If it's a joke, I must tell you that you try to play with the wrong man here, brat."

Khal saw Bazz's serious and even a bit irritated gaze on him, but still remained calm as an ancient pond before replying with solid gravity, "I don't joke, neither I am shitting on my own Master. I really am wanting to forge this metal, with 100% affirmative!"

When Bazz heard Khal's answer together with his serious complexion and determined eyes, Bazz's brows quickly lowered into an even deeper frown.

"You know what you are talking about? That metal is extremely hard to forge metal which is also Supreme-Quality steel! In contrast to other steels, this one is capable of demolishing mountains if forged wrong much fewer cities! And you try to tell me you want to create its Spirit Essence with nothing more but the minor experience you have? Ha! Ridiculous!"

Khal continued to listen to Bazz, but his firm gaze never vanished from his pair of emerald green eyes which surprised Bazz quite a lot.

Did he know what that piece of steel was really capable of doing and yet he still wants to forge it? Did he go insane or simply got bored with his life? Not even him, a professional blacksmith who forged, refined, and tempered thousands of metals if not millions have the courage to forge that piece of metal!

It was akin to committing suicide while also dragging everyone else's life in Moon City into death!

He must either have gone mad or have a few loose screws!