Cultivation Through Artifacts

Inside the Moon Temple, which now was full of fissures and holes while all the treasures were blasted to the sides, Khal stood motionlessly in the center, his chest heaving up and down rapidly. It was obvious that he has reached his limit which was the very first for him since he was reincarnated.

"I... Did I... do it?" Khal asked with a weakened voice as he watched the weapon that was buried deep into the jaded floor together with his arm.

However, his question was quickly answered. Not long before he asked his doubts, the weapon in his hand broke free and floated before his face, its blade pointing at his face in a threatening manner!

'It's over!'

Khal's eyes widened with shock. He wanted to move, but his body didn't abide by what his brain commanded it to do. As a fact, it turned numb to the point where he was forced to drop onto one knee, supporting himself with the other as though he was pressed down by an eternal mountain from above.

Khal readied himself for the worst, but surprisingly, the weapon didn't attack him. It just floated before him motionlessly, doing nothing at all. Although it emitted a threatening aura, upon closer inspection Khal quickly realized it was not really threatening him as it wished to strike him, but it was its natural aura!

'It won't kill me? Then does this mean...' Khal wondered if this really meant that he just won, and used his remaining strength to push himself onto his feet.

Once he was wholly on his feet, which felt like a mass of jelly, Khal stared at the weapon in silence before he extended his hand to grab it.

At first, he believed the weapon would attack him or avoid his attempt, but nothing like that occurred at all. Instead, the weapon floated into his grasp, placing itself perfectly into his hand that now felt even more comfortable to the touch than during the first time when he held it.

'I see... So your name is Moonshadow.' Khal's eyes widened. The moment his fingers got into connection with the weapon, memories that were obviously the weapon's flooded his mind, helping Khal understand Moonshadow's past with ease.

It seemed Moonshadow was once a core of a moon that was acquired by a powerful expert who crafted it and was able to forcefully awaken its consciousness.

After it was refined, tempered, and designed to perfection by the expert, it was given the name Moonshadow before it was gifted to a deity called Moon Goddess.

However, because the Moon Goddess despised weapons with cruel appearance such as the Moonshadow had, it was tossed and sealed away among thousands of other treasures for centuries without anyone using it.

'Judged by your appearance even though you were the strongest at that time... How cruel... Why keep something in your possession if you decide not to use it? At least give it to someone who would be glad to use it and don't toss it away as though it was trash!' Khal felt anger swelling up inside himself. He not only was able to see the memories but also feel what Moonshadow felt, thus why he felt like that.

It was like someone judged you as good-for-nothing and instead of giving you a chance, see if you had potential, you were sealed away inside a small room for thousands of years without having the chance to do a single thing!

It was like torture, worse than death itself!

Khal looked around the hall and seemed to realize that all the spiritual weapons around were the same. They were tossed away just like Moonshadow was, without having a single individual to use them properly.

They too wanted to get free of this place just like how Moonshadow.

But then why is it that they didn't choose Khal as their master? Well, Khal knew the answer for that and he realized just how foolishly did he think previously.

It seemed, the weapons didn't choose him not because he was weak or they looked down on him, but because he was not proficient enough with their type of style. And it was a truth he couldn't deny.

Since the beginning, he has used hybrid and fan-type weapons, only using swords rarely. And because these weapons had their own consciousness and pride, just like humans had, no matter how much they wanted to be free, it was only natural for them to ignore Khal instead of sticking with him, who couldn't utilize their full potential as a real expert would.

As for Moonshadow, because Khal was used to hybrid weapons, which were looked down on almost all the time and were rarely used by any because of their complex usage, it was only obvious why Khal was chosen.

Although Khal felt rather nervous because he completely understood just how complex this weapon in his hand truly was, he also felt the trust and confidence from Moonshadow so he couldn't help but smile.

'One day, you will become a symbol that will be feared by all, I promise.' Khal said to Moonshadow, who as a response emitted a powerful aura that was filled with anticipation, excitement, and... Bloodlust. After thousands of years of isolation from the outer world, Moonshadow couldn't wait to get out and spill some blood to vent its anger that accumulated through time.

'Woah, calm down there!' Khal was surprised, feeling that dealing with this weapon will be quite tricky, but as it immediately withdrew its bloodlust, Khal let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" Jas approached Khal from afar as he was blasted away, but when he noticed the weapon in his hand he smiled and said, "Congratulations. You have acquired a spiritual weapon too."

"I can say the same to you. You were even luckier than me, at least you didn't have to fight it." Khal smiled before he looked around and noticed stairs at the other end of the hall and asked, "Should we check out what is above us? Or do you want to look around here for a bit more"

"Nah, I got what I wanted. Let's go and check the upper floors out. I am curious to see what lies up there too."

Khal nodded and after tossing a healing pill into his mouth he followed Jas up to the second floor. However, when the two of them reached the second floor, what waited for them was not a hall filled with treasure but a single pond, which color was white! If Khal didn't walk closer to see that it was slightly transparent, he would have thought it was milk!

[Oh? To think a Pond of Ascension will be found here.... Truly unexpected.]