Chapter 403: Grotto Lake
Khal took off his robe and with his body completely naked he walked into the small pond which seemed to be more of a pool full of mud than a lake!
"Hm... This is not that bad at all," Khal mumbled quietly once he was fully merged inside the Grotto Lake with only his head visible outside.
"I wonder if I can cultivate like this." Khal pondered once he felt that the pond was nothing special and did nothing to him despite him standing in it for an entire hour.
"Well, let’s give it a try. At the very least it won’t work." with those words, Khal closed his eyes and concentrated on the essence inside his body.
Time ticked by, and five minutes flashed away in an instant, however, under that five minutes nothing happened. It turned out if he was not sitting in a lotus position, Khal was incapable of cultivating.
"Sigh... What a pity... And here I thought I can cultivate while I am standing in one place..." Khal sighed helplessly once his eyes opened, but soon he began to feel a kind of itchy feeling on his chest.
In the beginning, it was only his chest thus he ignored it, but the longer he remained inside the brownish liquid the greater this itchy feeling became. Furthermore, it even began to spread all over his body, making him feel as if hundreds of ants were suddenly crawling on his skin with great enthusiasm!
"So this is what this Grotto Lake does?" Khal lowered his gaze at the mud-like liquid he was currently in and activated his Heaven’s Eyes.
Though once his eyes changed colors and his vision expanded both in his eyes and in his mind, he was incapable of seeing and finding any hint that could tell him what made this pond so special.
’Hey, Nova... Do you have any clue what is happening?’ Khal decided to ask Nova’s help once the itchy sensation no longer appeared on his skin but below it inside his flesh even though he was doing perfectly fine physically and no worms or some sort of creature invaded his body.
[If my guess is correct, this Grotto Lake must be somewhat similar to the Flesh Swamp in the Sixth Realm.]
’Flesh Swamp?’
[Yes. It is a unique region where everything is covered in special mud which is capable of giving one the illusion that their flesh is being devoured by worms and insects. Those with weaker willpower go insane right away!]
’Such a place does exist?’ Khal was pleasantly surprised.
[However, while the Flesh Swamp is a literal death place for anyone with weak willpower, for those with a solid mind it can be beneficial. It can fortify one’s mental strength to greater heights!]
"Oh?" an awed gasp escaped Khal’s mouth and asked, "I see, then this is a blessing in disguise."
[Well, this Grotto Lake is slightly different from the Flesh Swamp, so the benefits you can gain are not as great either.]
"A growth is still growth no matter if it’s big or small. Until it profits me and my strength, I do not really care." Khal said and closed his eyes, focusing on himself to ignore the ever-growing itchy feeling inside and outside his body.
Meanwhile, outside Moon Grotto, at the entrance of Moon Sect, suddenly a figure appeared out from thin air, looking around with a slightly dazed expression.
"So this is the place? I thought it will be more grandeur." the individual that looked to be in his middle thirties and wore casual clothes that only were common when one went to the beach, looked at the sect walls with a nonchalant face.
"Hey! You! What is your name and from where did you come from?" the guards before the gate walked before the individual and pointed their weapons at him.
The man lowered his indifferent gaze and when he saw that the two guards were on the same Cultivation Stage as him, he smiled and instead of replying asked, "Do you know anyone with the name of Khal Nevio?"
The two guards were surprised and glanced at each other before they asked, "Do you mean Elder Khal?"
"Huh? He has become an Elder?" the person mumbled with surprise but soon broke into a laugh and said, "I see, I see. That brat is truly something else."
The guards were confused when they saw how carefree the person in front of them was and subconsciously lowered their weapons.
"Anyways, can you find him for me? I want to talk with him."
"And who exactly are you?" suddenly, just as the guards were about to reply, a cold voice appeared from the sky, forcing the person to raise his head and look at the floating individual above him.
"Sect Master!" both guards bowed toward Senior Lin once she descended and landed before them.
Naturally, Senior Lin ignored them and stared at the person in front of her with narrowed eyes.
’Huh? His Cultivation Base is...’ a glint flashed in Senior Lin’s eyes as he noticed how the person in front of him had a solid Cultivation Base even though he was still on the Awakened Stage.
’His cultivation is not weakened despite being a human. He is a true Awakened Stage being.’ Senior Lin thought in her heart, feeling deeply shocked by her finding.
As for the person in front of her, he just looked indifferent and said, "You ask who I am? Well, you can say I was the master of that little brat before he ascended. Though, for you, I am just a simple no one who happened to ascend from the First Realm a day ago, so you can just call me Logan."
Senior Lin’s eyes widened when she heard the name of the man as that was among the many names Khal mentioned her in the past when he arrived back into the sect with Raven.
’So he is from Moon Academy and it seems he was his master, huh?’ Senior Lin realized who Logan was but still held an indifferent facade and said, "I see, Elder Khal has informed me about your arrival. However, he is currently under punishment so you can’t meet him for the time being."
"Huh? Punishment?" Logan frowned with puzzlement as he could hardly believe that someone like Khal was rendered to the point to accept punishment, especially with the strength he possessed.
It was like hearing that God itself was grounded. It made no sense at all and was something that was impossible to happen even after a million years!
