Cultivation Through Artifacts

Khal followed Darla and soon he was standing before the gate that emitted an ancient aura that made him feel an urge to kowtow before he could enter.

"What is a hidden shrine?" Khal asked Darla as he inspected the gate with keen eyes.

"You never heard about hidden shrines before?" Darla looked surprised as the concept of hidden shrines was well-known not only around the Second Realm but above it too.

"Do you think I would ask about it if I would know?" Khal asked with a frown on his face.

Although he had the Record of All Realms in his possession, Khal had yet to meet with the concept of hidden shrines, so it was still unknown for him what it really was.

He had read about many things such as dungeons like the Neverending Dungeon from the First Realm or Realm Zones where one can teleport into separate spaces with the help of Realm Keys, but hearing about Hidden Shrines was the first. 

Darla just shook her head and once she shifted her gaze back at the gate, she began to explain, "Well, hidden shrines are places created by powerful individuals that failed to ascend into the next Realm and decided to create a shrine where they settle down and wait until they take their last breath."

"Only when the creator of such a place dies will the shrine emerge and appear, thus why they are called as hidden shrines." Darla said, but quickly added, "However, it does not mean one will be safe once they enter as danger will await inside there almost every corner! Dying inside there is much easier than one could think as the slightest mistake could easily lead to one's demise."

Khal listened to Darla's explanation before asking, "Then why take the risk to enter a place where you are not sure you can even survive? Isn't it the same as a suicide?"

"Maybe it is." Darla nodded before continuing, "But the treasures one can find and collect from inside are worth the risk, believe me. Especially if the entrance is this big."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means, the bigger a hidden shrine's entrance is, the more treasure will reside inside as the place itself was created huge too," Darla said.

"Every expert that creates a hidden shrine will use their own life force during the process, hence they will only create such a huge gate if they have many things to protect."

"I see, then should we enter it?" Khal asked with piqued interest as he was excited to see the interior, particularly because what was hidden there were many treasures and not trash.

And who in their right mind didn't like treasures? Only fools would not like or those that lacked the desire of greed!

Darla fell into deep pondering silence, showing a troubled expression she didn't reveal before. It was pretty obvious she felt hesitant to enter even though she wished nothing more but to acquire the rich from inside.

As Darla was silent for many minutes Khal just shook his head and place a hand on the gate. 

"W-What are you doing!?" Darla snapped out of her daze when she saw Khal was about to open the shrine's entrance and raised a hand.

"What? I will enter the shrine or I can't?" Khal halted his movements and glanced at Darla with a subtle frown.

"It's not like you can't, it's just too much of a risk and you will die if you d-, H-hey! Are you even listening to me?" Darla was shocked to see as Khal just shook his head and pushed the gate open, feeling even a little bit panicked.

Maybe she didn't tell this to Khal, but once a hidden shrine's gate was opened it will trigger the shrine's core inside, which will detonate itself automatically after a specific amount of time. It could last for a day or even a week, no one really knows the exact period as each shrine differs in this case.

However, once the core detonates, the results will be pretty obvious; everything in a mile radius will be destroyed and turned to dust while the shrine itself and the things inside it will be erased from existence in seconds!

"Yeah, I do. But then what if it's too much of a risk?" Khal shrugged, "Who knows when such a chance will present itself ever again, so even if I have to wager my life, I will do it."

Also, he was not an idiot. Although he knew Darla only for half a day and under that time she showed nothing but coldness, he could easily discern her thoughts as her face immediately changed the moment she began to ponder. 

It was obvious she wished to call for help, which in this case was her race or family. Of course, he will not wait for that to happen as that would mean the things inside will be taken away without anything left for him. And as he didn't wish for that to happen, he decided to act. before her.

"But you are just a Body Refiner while the one creating this place was an Ascender! The difference between the two of you is simply too vast, you will just make yourself killed! If you wait for a while, I can call for my family that will help us clear the traps inside the shrine." Darla tried to stop Khal, but unfortunately, she didn't know that with her sentence she only made Khal's choice even firmer.

'So I was right.' Khal sighed inwardly and without saying anything turned back around and walked through the now opened gate.

"W-Wait!" Darla's face paled when she saw this and wished to grab Khal's hand, but it was already too late. Khal has long vanished into the void inside the gate, his life now in the hands of fate.

"Why is he so stubborn? If he would have waited for a while longer, I could have asked my parents to send a squad to clear this place, saving us huge trouble." Darla shook her head helplessly and summoned a jade token from her necklace.

"Let's hope they will arrive in time or else..." mumbled Darla and after making the token lit up with gentle blue light, she placed it down on the ground before running after Khal with her Frozen Mist in hand.