Cultivation Through Artifacts

The ice-cold glare from Khal caused the guy to fall back onto his rear and gulp down his alive with a struggled expression; it was apparent he was shocked beyond belief.

And not only him, but everyone present, including Connor and Logan, the two experts who should look out for any mishaps during the fight.

On the other hand, Alia's shock came from entirely elsewhere; she was stunned, awed, and most importantly... Moved! Moved by Khal's act, because never in her wildest dream would she have thought that a stranger, who she never met before and even looked down a moment ago, protected her before hundreds of people!

Ever since she knew herself, she was bullied by others because of her eyesight. She was born with such horrible vision that even if someone wrote a letter exactly a meter away from her, she wouldn't be able to read them; and that this why, she was the center of pranks! There were actually even times where she occasionally stumbled on a piece of rock in the street and fell before others, becoming the center of ridicule too!

Her parents even though not coming from a noble family, decided to buy her a Secret Art to help her enhance her eyesight, but except for small improvements, nothing changed at all. And what's more, because the Secret Art was such a Low Level one, even lower than average ones, just the slightest deconcentration could cause it to fail to work completely!

And that is exactly what happened now. Khal's unexpectedly quick speed stunned her and as a result, she forgot about her Secret Art, resulting in her vision becoming extremely blurry for few moments once again; and when she realized this problem... Everything was too late.

Just like when she was small, she became the center of mocking and ridiculing; a girl who couldn't even see properly!

Yet, when everything seemed to turn back to how it was before, a guy who she didn't even know, a complete stranger, helped her silence not only the guy who started all this, but everyone else present!

For no reason at all!

"You... Why?" Alia could only mutter those two words toward Khal with a questioning look, but instead of giving her a solid reason, Khal reply with a rather... shocking answer.

"Don't you think it's a waste of time caring about clowns like them?"

"!?"

Immediately as his voice fell, a huge uproar broke out among the people, turning the silent arena into a place filled with cursing and screaming.

"Huuuuh?! Clowns?? Just who the hell do you think you are?!"

"Your mother was a fucking clown! Your whole being is a fucking clown! Just let me get you... If your parents couldn't, then I will fucking teach you how to behave!"

"I want to challenge you!"

"Me too!"

"Me too!"

People one after another stood up with bulging veins present on both their faces and neck, sending saliva flying through the air as they cursed and showed their will to challenge Khal right there and then. There were even a few bold ones that stood onto the edge of the spectator seats, ready to run inside and beat him up, but naturally, they were stopped by a single glance from Connor and Logan.

"Haha, now he has done it!" laughed Lyra merrily but below her happy face the shock could be visibly discerned. Even the guy next to her showed awe by Khal's boldness which he did not know if he should call it extreme bravery or complete foolishness.

"To say that before several Cultivators with an unshakable sense of pride... Now everyone will go for his head. He became a target half of the people present here." said Nate making Liza lightly nod her head in agreement.

"This guy... I need to teach him a lesson once everything is over..." 

With an indifferent expression, Khal turned his gaze at Alia and after lowering his stance while twirling his Essence around his feet, he began to talk calmly, "We should end it fast. It seems like I will have to take care of a few things after this."

Alia was dazed by Khal's behavior and find herself unable to utter a word for a while, but still nodded and raised her palm; right now, Khal in her eyes completely changed.

"Let's sta-, eh?" however just as she talked, Khal already appeared on her side like a ghost and swung his hand.

"!?"

Although startled, Alia's reaction speed was surprisingly fast. The moment she saw Khal on her side yellow mist broke forth from her body and enveloped Khal's body completely. 

"Why did he approach me even after my warning? Does he have a death wish?" Alia was bewildered by Khal's choice but at the same time, her heart tightened with worry.

Her Daydream Fog was a Shapeshifting-type Talent that she could control and shape at will; just like how she did previously, she was able to turn her mist into solid objects and use them as weapons. However, her Talent's most hazardous trait wasn't its molding aspect but its toxic characteristic. It let her put anyone into a deep slumber by a small portion and could even kill if the dose were huge!

And right now, the amount of mist that swallowed Khal was way too enormous that let alone him, even a Fourth Stage Cultivator would die by such a massive amount of Daydream Fog!

"I was reckless!" was the only thing Alia could say before a huge wind storm manifested out of nowhere, sending all the yellow mist high up into the air.

"I won," said Khal with a sedate complexion and he held his Devil Fang's edge inches away from Alia's throat.

'...'

At that point, Alia's eyes were so round that it was feared her beautiful eyes will fell out from their sockets, but luckily, she smiled and closed her eyes deliberately, "I lost."

Right after she admitted her loss, the key in the air flashed with a white light and vanished into Khal's pocket.

However, people didn't care about this at all but instead ignited their hate and will to fight against Khal as soon as possible.

"And who cares you won? Beating a 'blind' opponent couldn't be considered as an achievement! If you have the nerve fight with me!"

"He is right! This daddy here wants to challenge you right here and now! I will show you manner!"

The guy who mocked Alia all this time stood up too and with collected determination started to shout at Khal.

As this occurred, Khal listened to the curses and yells he got and inspected all the person that wanted to challenge him.

After pondering for a while in silence, suddenly a smug grin curved on Khal's face and his eyes flashed with a profound light, "Well, if you want to challenge me this much, I can't refuse. Then to save some time, how about you come and fight me all at once?"

"..."

With each word that left Khal's mouth, the whole arena turned quieter and quieter and at the end of his sentence, the whole place became so silent that even a pin drop could be heard as clear as thunder.

And a few seconds later as the realization hit...

"HUUUUHH?!"