Cultivation Through Artifacts

Golden light broke out from the young man's palm, swallowing the whole landscape in its entirety in blinding gold light and forcing Khal who watched this whole spectacle from afar to close his eyes in an instant!

Whoosh!

"If you can't even distinguish the strong from the weak, how can you even call yourself someone blessed with knowledge? What a shame..." a disappointed sigh escaped from the mysterious young man's mouth once the golden light weakened and vanished, seemingly talking to himself as Old Eye's body was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh? Where did he go?" Khal seemed confused as he tried to find Old Eye, but no matter where he looked, he found not a single trace of him; it was like he has just evaporated into thin air together with the golden light!

[He has died. That fool didn't even realize who he was messing with.]

"Died? But how?" Khal asked when he heard Nova's voice, his right brow slightly raised toward the sky on his forehead.

"How, you ask? His body was simply disintegrated through the passage of time, that is all that happened."

"?!"

Khal flinched from surprise when he heard the somewhat unfamiliar voice appearing behind his back, and without hesitation jumped several meters forward and spun around with raised guard.

[Don't even try to do anything stupid, Khal. He will kill you as easily as squeezing an ant between his fingertips!]

Khal remained silent when he heard Nova's advice and once he remembered just what kind of fate did Old Eye end up with because of his hot temper, he just stayed in one place and decided to examine the young man in front of him.

And what to say, with the crimson robe with the golden sewing on it that symbolized different ancient beasts that gave him a rather ancient aura, the young man had a relatively dazzling and attractive look which was a pretty strange thing to think of as a male.

He had long golden hair that reached the middle of his waist, waving from side to side whenever the breeze blew from either of the four directions. His skin was flawless like white jade while his golden eyes flickered with great intelligence that made Khal feel he was standing before an ancient being that lived not millennials but eons, someone who has seen many and lived enough to know everything!

'Nova was right, he is definitely not someone I can escape from even if I was given a whole year's head start!' such a thought appeared in Khal's head, finally realizing that he was by no means a match for the young man! If he dared to try anything suspicious, he was pretty sure he would watch the world spinning even before he could have the ability to utter a single sound much less move!

Swallowing hard, Khal remained frozen in one place like an ice sculpture and prayed silently in his heart for the young man not to hold a grudge against him and decide to kill him as he did with Old Eye just a few seconds ago.

"Hm? Oh, my apologies, I have forgotten to introduce myself. No wonder you are so tense, haha! My bad, my bad!" the young man let out a lively chuckle as he said that, and once calmed down he extended his hand with a bright smile and said, "My name is Hale, the Lord of this Realm. It's a great pleasure to meet with you."

Khal's gaze fell on the extended palm in front of him and seemed a bit hesitant to accept it or not, fearing that it was some kind of trap that he failed to see.

[Idiot! Accept his hand, quickly!]

'Wha-, s-sure!' Khal snapped out of his daze when he heard just how angry Nova just yelled at him in his head and without a second thought extended his arm too, accepting the handshake from Hale.

"S-Same... T-The name is Khal." Khal forced himself to remain as calm as he could during the handshake, but couldn't help but stutter a few times with a rather awkward smile.

[You are pathetic...]

'Hey!' Khal felt insulted by that, but as he was currently in front of Hale, an individual possessing the ability to kill even a being from the Fifth Realm as easily as blinking, he resisted the urge to show how he felt on his face, avoiding the possibility of offending Hale all of a sudden.

"So it's Khal... With such a unique name, it is no wonder you were able to reach the Zero Realm, haha!" Hale laughed with joy as he shook Khal's hand wildly, threatening to tear Khal's hand right off his shoulder!

However, although it seemed he was about to rip Khal's hand down, if one took a closer look then one would get to notice a gentle golden light emitting from Hale's palm, constantly fusing into Khal's hand through the invisible armor seemingly in an unnoticeable manner.

'Huh? My body...?It suddenly became warmer?' Khal felt surprised in his heart as he felt a warm sensation sweep through his body and replenish his depleted Body Essence, filling him with fresh Realm Essence although he was not consuming any at all at the moment!

[Just don't resist. He is trying to help you.]

Khal nodded when he heard this and did exactly what Nova said, relaxing his body and accepting all the strange but warm energy that Hale wished to give him.

A minute went by before Hale finally let Khal's hand go and with the same calm smile as before, he asked, "Anyways, why did you come to the Zero Realm? This is not a place where someone like you, a Second Realm existence should wander around, I hope you know that, right?"

[Yeah, I told him the same but didn't listen to me.]

Khal's brow twitched when he heard what Nova said again, but still deciding to just ignore her he just scratched his nose and said, "Well, it is quite a long story, but shortly, I have ascended accidentally and I have a few unfinished businesses back in the First Realm, hence why I wish to find the Realm Path and go back."

"The Realm Path? You mean this?" Hale asked curiously and with a quick snap of his fingers changed the scenery around them in a mere instant, almost as if he has used some kind of magic!