Cultivation Through Artifacts

Khal stood at the edge of the lake, his gaze fixed on the azure ice that had the slight hue of crimson and this indescribable aura around it that he has never seen before.

At first glance, he would say it was like any ordinary ice with the sole exception it seemed way more solid. However, knowing no glaze had crimson color while no ice had such a weird feeling to it, Khal understood clearly Liza created something exceptionally unique and unknown.

'I bet not even Logan, someone with tons of experience and knowledge, has seen something like this before.' Khal thought to himself and extended his arm to touch the surface of the Frozen Flames.

'Huh? Did he lose his mind? His arm will get injured if he touches it!' Liza screamed in her heart loudly while her expression changed abruptly.

Even though she wanted to win this bet, and know what Khal was doing that made him behave so secretive, she didn't want to see him injured especially not because of her. Thus, she felt the desire to jump in and stop him, but once she realized Khal's Cultivation Base and the ways he could protect himself, she realized he couldn't be harmed that easily.

Or at least, she thought he wouldn't...

Khal obviously noticed these sudden change of emotions on Liza's face from the corner of his eye, but still decided to proceed on touching the ice.

'But just in case, let's use my Diamond Skin.' told himself Khal, and covered his palm with his black, crystal-like cluster and placed his palm atop the ice.

"!?"

However, he had to pull his hand back immediately, as the moment his palm got in contact with the Frozen Flames, the Diamond Skin that was able to defend himself from the Scorching Sun Steel's heat during his forging, now melted into black dripping stuff almost with no resistance!

'Holy... This is fucking amazing and terrifying the same time!' yelled Khal loudly inwardly, his gaze subconsciously shifting at Liza on his side.

Now he fully realized that these Frozen Flames were way scarier than the first belived. These Frozen Flames opened a completely new path for Liza in both fighting ways and cultivation.

Damn, it could even be possible that she just created a Talent that was far stronger than any Natural Born Talent existing currently! If that was the case, her future was truly limitless without any question!

'She is truly a genius.' Khal praised Liza in his heart.

However, he noticed in that instant as Liza crossed her slender arms below her peaks and a mocking grin formed on her delicate face.

It seemed as if she wanted to tell Khal, 'See? I told you, no? You can't win this one!', which Khal just merely smiled and shifted his gaze back.

After standing up, Khal dusted his silver robe before raising his hand and saying, "To tell you the truth, I indeed felt surprised just now. Your Frozen Flames... It is truly one of a kind that if mastered completely could become a heaven-defying power that only a few could rival with."

Liza hearing Khal's honest compliment smiled even wider and was ready to open her mouth to ask him if he just gave up, but suddenly she noticed as Khal clenched his pain into a tight fist and glanced at her with a peaceful smile.

"However, it is not indestructible, not even close!" Khal said calmly before swinging his fist, punching the thick ice as though he just forgot what happened with his Diamond Skin previously.

BAM!

A powerful ripple broke out the moment Khal slammed his fist into Liza's Frozen Flames, and the next second huge and wide cracks began to form on its surface before it exploded into numerous parts!

"What... H-how?" Liza became utterly speechless, her jaws hitting the ground while her small eyes opened extra wide and round like saucers.

Just now, Khal hit and destroyed the Frozen Flames as though it was a mere ice block! Hell, he even looked extremely relaxed, breaking no sweat at all during his attempt when he broke the ice!

"How is this even possible? This makes no sense at all!" exclaimed Liza out loud after a moment of deep silence, hardly accepting that Khal just demolished her Frozen Flames so easily.

"Makes no sense? I think it makes pretty much sense considering I'm in a whole other realm in Cultivation Base than you." shrugged Khal, feeling no pain just now.

In fact, he felt and was perfectly fine, as the amount of time his fist touched Liza's Frozen Flames was no longer than a few milliseconds if not less! Under such a short amount of time, feeling pain was simply impossible much less getting injured or burnt.

Liza stared at Khal with a slightly opened mouth, I know how to react to that statement just now.

When she said that it didn't make any sense, she didn't mean like that. What she wanted to say, that her Frozen Flames were way more durable than her Jade Ice, thus they couldn't be broken by simple means such as punches or kicks, or at least not until one didn't use a special Secret Art or had a body associated Talent.

But she clearly understood that Khal had neither a body associated with Talent nor he used any unique Secret Art that could have boosted his physical strength as her special ability would have activated on its own, but it didn't.

Hence, she couldn't think about anything at all, but stare at Khal like a monster in human disguise.

Khal obviously realized Liza's confusion, but what could he do? Tell her that he can improve his physical strength and almost every characteristic of his body through quests that he can do daily? Not even he would believe such a story if he were told, much less Liza.

Instead, he just ignored her confused gaze and smiled.

"So? You told me if I succeed in breaking that 'indestructible' ice of yours, you will do whatever I say so, right?"

"That's..."

"Right?" asked Khal with a sharper tone, but his face was still as calm as before.

'...'