Cultivation Through Artifacts

Crack!

Logan pushed Khal\'s face hard into the platform, making the ground below his face to crack and turn into debris bit by bit.

"Let... Me... Go..." with a monotone and ice-cold tone, Khal hissed at Logan, seemingly still not woken up from his trance-like state.

"What happened? Why did Khal attack his Master so suddenly?" Liza stood up, her eyes holding confusion and a bit of worry.

Nate on her side remained silent as he had a guess, but if he was right, then he was afraid Khal had almost zero chance to turn back to his old self!

As everyone knew, one could only open their sealed Essence Path if they have understood their meaning. However, there was that slight chance where they comprehended the meaning so deeply that their minds get affected!

The better case was when one only got affected by a small amount, only changing their behavior or the way they talked slightly, but in the worst scenario, they would turn into a completely new person!

And as far as things seemed to be, the latter one happened to occur with Khal, changing his whole being maybe forever!

\'...\' Logan seemed to see that his strike didn\'t work at all thus sighed and hit a point on Khal\'s shoulder that appeared to be exactly where his opened Essence Path was!

"ARGH!" Khal yelled up with pain, almost as if somebody just pierced his heart and struggled to get out of Logan\'s firm hold!

But because Logan was way above him in Cultivation Stage, an existence who could surpass him by a single finger, Khal had no chance to escape.

"Just wake up already!" said Logan and slapped Khal firmly on his cheeks.

SLAP!

"!?"

The slap was so strong and loud, that the whole arena reverberated by the sharp sound, causing many Cultivators\' buttocks to tighten up as if they were the ones that just got hit and not Khal!

\'...\' Logan looked at Khal, whose eyes were tightly shut, and raised his hand to slap him again but suddenly Khal\'s low and hoarse voice sounded.

"Ouch... It... hurts for god\'s sake!" mumbled Khal and as though he just woke up from a deep slumber, he opened his eyes, seemingly dizzy.

"Huh? Wait... Why does my face hurt like hell? Damn, my nose is even bleeding! What did you do to me?" asked Khal now with a more energetic tone, seemingly oblivious to all that happened with him in the previous few moments.

Once Khal came back to his senses and no longer acted like an emotionless maniac, Logan smiled and stood up, "You got out of control so I had to step in."

Khal watching Logan\'s extended arm seemed to be confused, but still accepted his help.

After being on his feet, Khal looked around only to see as everyone looked at him with a scared or either a shocked expression, almost as if he was a ghost!

"What happened? Where is Andre?" questioned Khal, but soon noticed Andre\'s figure deeply buried in the wall and his complexion changed.

Logan seeing this glanced at Andre and said, "You have no reason to worry, he is still alive. You just simply broke a few of his bones inside his body, but still..."

Logan looked at Khal, and after pondering for a while he said quietly, "You have quite a tremendous amount of Body Essence. If it weren\'t for me stepping in just in time, I\'m pretty sure you would have blasted a hole into his chest."

\'...\'

Khal stared at the unconscious Andre in the distance and wanted to say something when suddenly Jas figure appeared on his side out of thin air.

"The winner is Khal, you all can leave now." with a calm tone of voice, Jas looked at every Cultivator on the spectator seats and waved his hand, causing everyone to vanish into thin air.

"?" Khal stared at this scene with a dumbfounded expression while Jas on his side asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Huh?" Khal seemingly surprised by Jas\' serious behavior, thought for a while and nodded, "Yeah, kind of. Except for this numb feeling in my should... Eh?"

"What?" asked Jas with a frown.

"I... Why is it sealed?" mumbled Khal as he felt that the Essence Path was sealed again, no sign that it was opened a few moments ago at all!

Logan understood his confusion thus began to explain slowly, "I sealed your opened Essence Path before things could have truly get out of control, but you do not need to worry. Once you reach the Peak Phase of your current Stage, you can safely attempt to open it again."

"Huh? You sealed what?" asked Khal, his eyes wide open.

Logan wanted to explain him in greater detail, but even before he could have had the chance, Jane from the side interrupted him, "How were you able to open your first gate? It is common knowledge one can only see the Essence Paths in the body if they reach the Peak of the Fifth Cultivation Stage, yet you, who is still in the Middle Phase, succeeded not only seeing it but open led one of it too! Did you use a Forbidden Art?"

Khal noticed that a lot of teachers now stood around him, all of them staring at him with a stern gaze as if he was a murderer or something!

Even Jas seemed to be skeptical about him, looking at him as if he just did a grave sin that no punishment can wash away!

"What? Forbidden Art? I didn\'t use such a thing! I won\'t lower myself to such a degree as using Forbidden Arts! The thought alone is hurtful!" Khal turned slightly angry upon hearing what he was accused of as he was way too clear about what Forbidden Arts were.

Forbidden Arts were quite similar to Secret Arts, with the sole exception they were used to achieve things that are strictly prohibited.

For example, Khal has already read about a few Forbidden Arts from his book, The Life and Death Gate was able to bring back the dead into life in exchange for hundred other lives!

It was strictly banned to use, and anyone that was caught upon using such a terrifying Forbidden Art had to be beheaded on the spot!

"You didn\'t? Then how were you able to open your first gate so soon?" asked Jane, her and everyone else\'s gaze filled with suspicion as they stared at Khal in silence.