69 Trembling

"Are you saying that my Young Master is a liar? Preposterous!"

"Indeed, that is what I suspect that he is…" Wallie Dawson retorted back. Even though he was supposed to be the host for the other judges and be the 'neutral' party, he could not back down now that Cloverleigh City was instigating the rest to withdraw from their commitment towards the production of the hybrid cores.

It was going to be a war of words again, seeing how the situation was deteriorating similar to the first part of the challenge, where the scores given by the judges were equal.

Suddenly, Kael stepped in.

"Honored judges, let me just clarify on this." Kael paused for a moment, waiting for the whole crowd to gather their attention on him.

"Speak, Kael." The judge from Hailford City spoke.

"Everyone is under the misconception that my Ice Artifice is just a common object. This includes Young Master Darth Wilkes. However, it is not a common object."

"That's bullshit. You think that everyone here is a three year old kid, that we can't distinguish between what is an Ice Artifice and what is not?" The judge from Cloverleigh City was about to explode in anger.

"I'm not saying that this is not a Ice Artifice. In fact, this is an Ice Artifice. However, Ice Artifices are divided into different categories. Maybe this knowledge is not privy to the cultivators in the Myriad Lower Region."

"Different categories? Do enlighten us, Young Master Kael." Even the judge from Anchorage City had his interest piqued and he didn't want to engage in petty squabbles with Kael.

"The common Artifice is a Commoner Rank object, be it in the element of Ice, Fire, Lightning, Wind, Earth or any other natural elemental properties. Each of them is able to exude the energy of its nature towards its surroundings and the cultivator using the Artifice is able to absorb the spiritual energy from within and convert their own spiritual energy into that particular property."

"That's something we all know. I use a Fire Artifice back in Cloverleigh City as well. This is something most cultivators present know. I suggest you stop trying to explain your way out of this and admit that you have cheated." Darth Wilkes sneered.

Kael ignored Darth Wilkes and continued speaking. "The second category of Artifices are rarer. In fact, they can be easily mistaken as a normal Artifice and have its function unexplored in the hands of the owner. This particular group of Artifices are able to not just convert spiritual energy of a cultivator, they are even able to temporarily increase the capacity of spiritual energy in the cultivator. When used in battle, they act as a form of spiritual energy reserves for the cultivator so that he or she is able to utilise more Spirit Arts and Magic Arts."

In fact, Kael wasn't saying a lie. It was the truth. When Kael muttered the incantation, the spiritual energy within the Ice Artifice was expanded. Kael could choose to draw strength from the Ice Artifice for a limited period of time.

"If that is the case, then we can only find out the veracity of Kael's words by testing it out."

"I agree. Someone from a neutral party should try."

"Let me try then." The judge from Hailford City spoke out. Following that, without any objections from any party, he went up to the Ice Artifice and attempted to absorb the spiritual energy from it.

After a brief five seconds, the expression of the Hailford City judge changed drastically into one of shock and bewilderment.

"Strange… this is strange, but it is true. Though the amount is negligible for a cultivator's rank like mine, the Ice Artifice did indeed increase my spiritual energy reserves by a very thin margin. However, in a battle between experts, it is often a thin margin that decides the victor. This Ice Artifice is really a valuable treasure…"

The crowd started murmuring to themselves. It was their very first time hearing this new knowledge about Artifices. Some of them couldn't wait to get back to their cities to explore the functions of their own Artifices.

However, Darth Wilkes was quick to spot out the crux of the matter.

"Since it is proven effective, then naturally I have nothing to say about it. However, isn't it strange that the Ice Artifice started exhibiting this particular function out of nowhere? Kael, you are hiding something from us right?"

"That's right, why did the Ice Artifice started reacting like that? Something is amiss."

"I agree. There must be some particular way to activate this function of the Artifice."

"..." The crowd started leaning in into Darth Wilkes' reasoning.

Kael chuckled lightly. He then spoke, "Indeed, I did do something to activate this function of the Ice Artifice. As for the method to activate it, it is secret knowledge for myself to know only. However, Young Master Darth Wilkes, you have to admit defeat in this particular aspect. The reason is simple - in your replication efforts, you didn't have enough knowledge to foresee that the properties of the Artifice can be altered. Therefore, it can be said that you lacked the ability to replicate an Artifice's properties which led to this failure of yours."

Darth Wilkes' eyes widened once again in extreme shock and anger. Furthermore, he felt humiliated by Kael's words. He, the expert in spiritual energy control, had a lack of knowledge and was defeated? Such words were never spoken to him before in his city. He was always treated with respect and reverence from his peers and the City Lord faction.

His whole body started trembling. That was because Kael's words cut deep into his heart. He knew that what Kael said was true. In a challenge, one had to account for unknown variables, which he failed to do so. Darth Wilkes couldn't even come up with words to retort Kael.

The judge from Cloverleigh City saw Darth Wilkes' reaction and knew that it was a lost cause. He could attempt to say something, but it was no use when the other judges and the crowd were bought by Kael's reasoning.