Cultivation Through Artifacts

After seeing the Night Crawler's gesture, Khal nodded and was ready to follow them, but was abruptly stopped by Astro.

"Before you leave, please take this with you. My Lord told me to hand this over to you once we arrive," said Astro calmly and extended his arms forward, holding a blue token in his hand.

Khal took a glance at the token and was surprised to see that except for the color, it looked exactly the same that he has gotten from Jas after successfully beating Logan during his graduation.

'Now that I think about it, I should see what that token can really do now that I am in the Second Realm.' Khal thought after realizing his mistake, but quickly put the matter to the side for the time being and grabbed the blue token from Astro's hand.

"And this is...?" Khal asked as he examined the token, feeling the smooth and cold surface of it. It felt almost like he was touching not an item but a piece of ice instead!

"That is a communication token. If you pour a little bit of your essence into it you can send a message to us through that. My Lord said, if you ever wish and have the time to meet with him, don't hesitate to use it." Astro explained slowly and without any change of facial expression.

"I see." Khal nodded and looked at Astro with a smile, "Thank you. I will make sure to use it when I will have the time to do so."

Astro nodded briefly and after saying his farewell he quickly walked back into his spaceship and flew away, leaving Khal behind all alone.

"Can we go now?" one of the creatures asked in a slightly irritated tone from Khal, seemingly not happy that Khal was wasting their time with useless chit-chat.

"Yeah, sorry." Khal quickly nodded his head and without further ado followed the creatures closely from behind while observing the surroundings.

But not even a few minutes after he did, Khal couldn't help but sigh with appreciation; Planet Thov was indeed a breathtaking sight, Khal couldn't deny this fact. 

Huge mountain peaks in the far distance, piercing the milky white clouds above, colorful trees and fields of emerald grasslands on all sides while even an azure blue lake that shone brightly under the moon's glow was visible toward the west.

However, the most noticeable fact was not those things that made him feel like he was currently looking at a piece of art, but the density of Realm Essence that flowed through the air, filling Khal's nostrils and lungs before increasing his essence in his body with almost every sniff he took!

'This planet... A magnificent place indeed.' Khal showed a slight smile, seemingly excited to go and hunt for beasts as soon as possible.

[Magnificent? Haha! This place is utter trash! Just wait until you reach the Higher Realms. Almost all the planets there are tens, if not hundreds of times better than this!]

Khal hearing Nova's scoff simply showed a bittersweet smile and shook his head inwardly. He kind of knew Nova's reaction would be something like this the moment he said those words, but he couldn't blame her; she was a Celestial Being, someone powerful that once lived in the highest realm one could possibly live, in the Sixth Realm!

'Well, at least for me it is a magnificent place.' Khal thought and watched as he finally arrived before this huge facility that was built from dark and solid material, slightly akin to dark steel.

"Wait here." the creature told Khal to wait and left him outside with the rest of the Night Crawlers before it walked inside.

'I don't really understand. Many fears from the Night Crawlers but they seem to be rather chill. I mean, they show no hostility and yet to start a fight with me even though I thought that's what will happen.' Khal thought as he looked at one of the creatures that stood on his side.

Black and rigid skin, long and sharp claw-like nails, short black hair, and eyes that contained no iris nor sclera, but only a huge and single pupil. Looking at those eyes made Khal feel that he was staring into the abyss itself, with no sign of soul existing in it at all!

[They fear their powers, not their behavior. Although they possess a dangerous Blessing that could easily induce chaos, it does not mean they will behave arrogantly or viciously toward another without a solid reason.]

'So that's how it is.' Khal nodded in realization and watched as the door before him opened and the previous creature walked out with an older-looking Night Crawler following behind it.

"So you must be the one who wishes to hunt for beasts, right?" the creature asked and examined Khal's figure from top to bottom before letting out a hum and saying quietly, "So he is a human, huh?"

Khal raised a brow when he heard the last words and felt slightly insulted by the tone he said it, he decided to just ignore it and wait patiently for what he will say next.

And soon enough, the old creature nodded mildly after pondering for a full minute and said with an indifferent expression, "A hundred Gold Coins for an hour. You must decide on the duration and pay the amount beforehand. After that, you are free to go anywhere on this planet and kill as many beasts as you wish, but once the amount of time you have paid for expires, you will be brought back here."

"Naturally, at that time you will have the chance to pay more and stay longer or simply decide not to and leave this planet under an hour of duration. Any questions?"

Listening to the old crawler's explanation Khal widened his eyes in shock, finding the amount of money he has to pay a little bit ridiculous.

A hundred Gold Coins just for an hour? More than two thousand for a single day!? That was simply outrageous and he couldn't afford that much!

Although he had a lot of money thanks to the spatial ring he has obtained after killing Andre, it was still not an amount he could call himself rich with. At the very best, with the number of coins he had currently, he could only stay on this planet for at least a little bit more than 18 hours before going completely bankrupt and needing to leave if he didn't wish to cause trouble.

'Fucking bullshit!' was what Khal could think after many minutes of silence, feeling as though the old codger before him wished to scam him.