บท 9: Start of The Ceremony

Time passed by slowly and one person after another arrived at the Ceremony.

Some came with their relatives, some with their friends, while some just came alone. There were even a few who lived with the opportunity and only came in the hope to make friends or build connections with the noble kids from around the city.

Particularly with Alde and Eliss. They were the center of attention and almost everyone wanted to know them better. Everyone wanted to form a close friendship with them, knowing that getting on those two's favorable side couldn't hurt them at all.

Maybe if they succeeded, they will be able to achieve something great in the future, so at least it was worth a try for them.

However, even like this that almost everyone was around him, Alde didn't look satisfied at all. Instead, he looked quite bitter, while he glanced toward Khal's and Liza's direction from time to time.

It was quite visible that he was troubled by the happenings that occurred not long ago.

"He glanced here again. Are you sure you will be alright?", asked Nate a little worriedly, knowing just how scary the Ourvi family could become if it came to solving unwanted problems.

Almost all the time when something happened, they didn't bother themselves to find out the causes of the problems. They just simply sent assassins and killed anyone who provoked them, let it be in the past or present.

And knowing all of these things, Nate exactly knew just how dire the consequences could become if Alde decided to hold grudge against Khal.

However, Khal didn't really care about the unknown. He just simply looked toward Alde's direction and a while later he averted his gaze.

When Nate saw Khal's uninterested expression could just smile wryly and ask something, but before he could have, suddenly a loud voice came from the Altar's direction.

"Attention everyone! The Ceremony will now begin, so please come closer!"

On the middle of the bridge, which was right above the lake, a man in his forties with a bald head was standing calmly, while he looked at the people around him with an unfazed expression.

He was wearing a long white robe with unique patterns on it. It was quite similar to that of a Hanfu from Khal's past life, yet the design was a bit different.

While examining the old man's extraordinary dress, Khal walked closer to the Altar with Liza and Nate following him closely from the side.

The old man watching as everyone strode closer, nodded slightly, and started to talk.

"My name is Famir and I will be your Saint throughout the Ceremony. But before we start, it is very important for me to say that only those are allowed up onto the Altar who has the invitation envelope without opening it. Those who fail these requirements are strictly forbidden from stepping even a single step onto this bridge. Understood?"

"Yes!"

Hearing the several approving voices at the same time, Famir nodded slightly without a single change in his expression.

"Perfect, then let us start the Ceremony."

With that said, Famir looked at an unknown boy before him, and after pointing at him, he said, "You! Come! You will be the first one. Take your envelope out."

"Yes, Sir!", said the boy with a deep bow and after taking out the envelope from below his robe, he handed it over to Famir.

Taking the envelope over and examining it, Famir nodded and after turning around, he said without glancing back at the boy, "Follow me."

Doing as the old man ordered him, the boy followed Famir closely from behind, right into the middle of the Altar.

Famir pointed at a spot not far away from the jade stone and said tonelessly, "Sit down and drink this."

The boy, seeing as Famir handed him a small bottle of full of strange-looking liquid, nodded, and without a single question, he sat down and started to drink it.

Khal watched as the watery substance started to disappear from the bottle right into the boy's mouth, looked confused and asked Nate.

"What is that liquid in the bottle?"

Nate, while looking at the boy, started to explain calmly, "No one truly knows it. The Cultivator's Organization makes sure to hide this information strictly away from the public, but even like this, there have been few guesses about this matter. Some say that the liquid is a high-quality Beast Essence, while some say that it is a gift from God, but to be honest, no one knows the truth. We can only guess blindly."

As Khal heard Nate's explanation nodded calmly, but the next second his eyes widened in surprise suddenly.

On the Altar, after drinking everything from the bottle, suddenly the boy's hand started to shine, and slowly, a small black line started to form on the side of his wrist.

"What is happening?", asked Khal with a slight frown, but this time instead of Nate, Liza answered.

"That is your Cultivation Tatoo. After you obtain your Cultivation Talent you will have a mark somewhere on your body which will expand the stronger you become. But this is basic knowledge, why did you ask this?"

Seeing Liza's frown and suspicious stare, Khal coughed awkwardly and said, "Um... I'm just a bit excited so I start to ask foolish questions... Sorry."

"Hmm...",

With a slight humming sound, Liza looked at Khal for one last time and without asking anything else, she turned her gaze back at the Altar.

A few seconds later the light on the boy's hand started to diminish and in the end, when it has finally vanished, a black dot was left on the top of his wrist.

Famir seeing this nodded slightly and opened the envelope in his hand. Taking out a piece of paper from it, Famir shook it around gently.

Instantly as he did that, the paper started to change shape and in no time at all, it turned into a cube shape pebble that had a white color.

"Take this and pour a bit of your essence inside it."

Doing as Famir said, the boy took the stone away from his hand and without hesitation, he started to pour his essence into it.

Khal hearing this instantly knew what was happening.

In the diary, it was written that after obtaining the power, the so-called Cultivation Talent, from then on you need to consume Beast Essence to become stronger.

After consuming Beast Essence, your Cultivation Talent will automatically refine it, and that way it will become stronger. It was just like charcoal for old-fashioned trains. The more charcoal you poured into it, the faster they became.

However, every person with a Cultivation Talent had a minimum amount of Essence in their body, similar to that of the Beast Essence, which they could use in special ways, just like this time.

Just how he was told, the boy poured a small portion of his essence into the pebble and shortly, the stone lit up in a similar manner as his wrist did.

As this happened, it suddenly floated up into the air, right before the boy's face, and like a bullet, it burst into the jade stone in the distance.

While the stone melted into the Destiny Stone's surface and foreign words appeared on it, Famir showed a satisfied look and said, "We are done here. You can go now."

"Thank you, Sir!", said the boy with a deep bow, and with an excited expression, walked away hurriedly.

The moment the boy has left the bridge, Famir turned his gaze toward the crowd, and with a loud voice, he shouted, "Next one! Now!"