Breakthrough

Cultivating was difficult. This was a universally accepted truth. The concept was simple: absorb the Qi across the world to increase your strength. Using this strength you could seek out bigger and better sources of Qi to further improve yourself. A cultivator had to seize every opportunity that fell into their lap. Risks were inherent to trying to obtain power and immortality.

Thus this resulted in one inescapable harsh truth. This world was unfair. Some people are born into obscene wealth while others in inescapable poverty. This was the way of the world. However, even the lowliest of all could rise to become a God, they simply had to seize the opportunities that presented themselves.

This was exactly what Kalum was trying to do. He had received a blessing in the form of the Cultivation System Maker. He had that assurance that his efforts would be rewarded because of the Beast Hunting System had created. The possibilities were infinite and Kalum vowed to not squander them.

A small burst of power released off of Kalum and dissipated across the walls of the Cultivation Room. A sign of his breakthrough to the 5th Minor Realm of Qi Gathering. An impressive accomplishment for someone so young. Cultivators lived far longer than mortals and thus many people simply cultivated for hundreds of years and minimized the risks to their health to gain power the long way around.

But not Kalum! Kalum had vowed to never become some stuck up snob that simply sat in an ivory tower and mindlessly cultivated. He would take the risks and be proactive in his road to divinity. He had been given an immense advantage and he intended to use it.

Kalum still had a single free use of the Cultivation System Maker left. Although this free use was only allowed to be given to others, it was still important that Kalum find a way to make it benefit himself. Whilst he was cultivating the Qi of the world and comprehending its secrets, he also thought on what to do with this advantage. Did he simply find a girlfriend or wife and give them a system to increase his power that way? Or did he give it to a trusted friend or ally in the future? He even considered purchasing a slave and gifting them a customised system, they could be kept in line with contracts and slave collars and would be easy to take advantage of. In the end, Kalum did not come to a decision. There were simply too many options and he had a feeling that the answer would come naturally, he couldn't force it.

Kalum got up out of his meditative position and left the cultivation room. Asking someone for the date he realized that it was one day before the auction. Kalum left Cultivators Paradise and decided to have a look around the stores and markets of the second layer. If he did not find suitable equipment in the auction he could use the spirit stones from the frost serpent core to buy something of note afterwards.

Kalum stopped after walking around for twenty minutes in front of a beautifully designed store. Joan's Weapons of Destruction sounded like just the sort of place he needed to visit. Making his way inside he breathed deeply to absorb the sight in front of him.

Rows and rows of different weapons greeted him at the front of the store. Most of them looked rather fearsome and the aura coming off each one was at least in the Qi Soaring Realm. It seemed that the second floor did not bother with Qi Gathering Realm weapons.

This was further established when he teared his eyes away from the weapons and at the owner of this store. A well built woman who was at least seven foot tall and had two yellow broadswords across her back. She looked at Kalum with derision, as if someone of so low Cultivation was an affront to her store. She quickly scoffed and paid attention to another customer.

Kalum was used to this so he did not let it bother him, the strong always either held contempt or pity for the weak of this world. Shrugging it off Kalum had a look at all the other weapons, eventually coming across weapons enshrined in some sort of glass casings. No matter the look of the cases, Kalum knew that he would not be able to break them if he tried, in a world of cultivation and formations that never gave the full story.

One weapon in particular caught his eye, a green lance that was almost his height. Made out of an unknown wood that was pure lime green and had a natural looking glossy finish and the head of the beautiful weapon made out of a metal that constantly changed colour all across its surface like the gamer lights of Earth that many used in their rooms. Encased in one of the most extravagant cases.

"I see you have a good eye." The mountain of a woman begrudgingly grunted at him as she stared over his shoulder at the impressive weapon.

"Does it have a name?" Kalum asked respectfully.

"The Unbridled Wrath of the Blight Wood." She eventually revealed, slightly reluctantly.

"Do you mind telling me more about this impressive piece?" Kalum requested.

She looked at him searchingly for a second with a hint of contempt.

"You are reaching far above your weight class, but I shall humour you nonetheless." She told him.

Grabbing a tiny chair that was laughably comical for such a huge woman to sit on, she sat next to the weapon along with Kalum.

"This weapon was found in an ancient ruin a few years ago, nothing special itself other than its impressive craftsmanship. It was taken in by the master blacksmith Hui'ne and made into what you see before you. A grand multitude of resources were sunk into the void to make this weapon truly impressive. Yet in the end it was a failure to the great master, who sold it to me."

Such an impressive item was a failure? Kalum wondered why, and after realizing that she wouldn't say it on her own he prompted her.

"Why was it a failure?" Kalum asked.

She then smiled, showing her perfect teeth and letting loose a terribly harsh smile.

"Because the wearer must pay a terrible toll to wield such a weapon. So grand was the ambition and its power that no one could pay its price that they did not already have their own powerful weapons. Thus now it is a mere collectors piece, sold only to be used as a simple weapon or a collectors piece. A shame really. " She told him slowly with that terrible smile still present.

"What was the price they had to pay?" Kalum asked, enraptured by the story.

"Why the one thing no cultivator would dare touch, their very soul essence of course." She laughed.

She then turned to look him directly in the eye.

"The five who tried to use this weapon were all impressive for a time, paying their very souls to use the abilities of this weapon and making a legend of themselves. And yet, the more they used it the weaker they became, and so the more they relied on its power to simply exist. In the end all of them became soulless husks and the weapon made its way back to the master blacksmith who re-forged the weapon." She lectured.

Kalum shivered slightly but shouldered on anyway, asking the question that had been burning in his heart since he laid his eyes on this masterpiece.

"How much for you to part with it?"