The Almighty Cultivator

Chapter 4

Chris turned slowly.

The old man was still sitting beneath the tree, but his eyes were open. He coughed again and spat a mouthful of black blood onto the ground.

The last traces of poison disappeared from his body with it.

“You are alive,” Chris said.

“Were you hoping otherwise?”

The man placed one hand against the tree and stood. Moments earlier, he had been unable to breathe without pain, but now he straightened his back without any help.

His pale face had regained its colour, and the dark marks around his heart were gone. Even his voice sounded stronger.

Chris, on the other hand, looked worse than before. His hands trembled, sweat covered his forehead, and the poison he had absorbed had left his skin unusually pale.

The old man studied him with open curiosity. “You removed all of it.”

Chris looked through his body once more. His essence channels were flowing properly, and the poison that had almost reached his heart had completely vanished.

“I suppose I did.”

For the first time since they met, the man’s proud expression softened.

“I owe you an apology,” he said. “I looked down on you and assumed you were another foolish child trying to impress me because of my status. If you had walked away, I would have died before sunset.”

Chris folded his arms. “You also threatened to have me killed if anything happened to you.”

The man cleared his throat. “That warning was necessary at the time.”

“It sounded more like a threat.”

“You were touching a dying stranger without permission. What else was I supposed to think?”

Chris almost laughed at the shameless response.

What he did not know was that the man standing before him was no ordinary cultivator. He was the First Tutor of Cultis Academy and one of the few Grandmasters powerful enough to make entire cultivation families lower their heads.

He had trained some of the strongest cultivators in the kingdom, yet a poison none of his healers understood had almost killed him in an empty forest.

Now an unknown boy had removed it with one hand.

The Grandmaster looked at Chris again, paying particular attention to his torn clothes and the faint energy surrounding him.

“How did you do it?”

Chris had expected that question.

He placed a hand against his chest. The black core was still absorbing the last of the poison, and each beat sent a stronger force through his channels.

One of the cracks across its surface had already begun to close.

However, Chris did not understand the core himself. Even if he did, telling a powerful stranger that he had found it inside a corpse would be foolish.

“That is my secret,” he replied. “I cannot tell you.”

The Grandmaster raised an eyebrow. Very few people dared speak to him so directly, especially after learning that he possessed powerful connections.

Instead of becoming angry, his curiosity peaked.

“Try again later man.” Chris almost laughed at the stupid attempts to get his detials and track.

The answer made the Grandmaster pause. He looked as though he wanted to ask another question, but Chris turned towards the forest path.

“I need to leave.”

“Wait,” the man called. “You saved my life. Name whatever reward you want.”

Chris stopped but did not turn around.

A few hours earlier, wealth and cultivation resources would have been enough to change his life. Now the black core inside him was filled with the power it had taken from the poison.

Chris had not saved the man without gaining anything.

“I already received what I needed from you.”

The Grandmaster looked confused. He checked his hands, robe, and storage ring, but nothing appeared to be missing.

“What exactly did you take?”

Chris continued walking. “That is also my secret.”

“Wait, young man. I have not finished speaking to you.”

Chris heard him but did not stop. He needed to understand his second core before trusting anybody with the truth, regardless of how grateful they appeared.

Behind him, the Grandmaster watched until Chris disappeared among the trees.

“A boy without a clear reading, carrying a power I cannot recognize,” he murmured. “This year’s selection may finally be worth attending, that's if he would be attending.” His face fell slightly, but was still hopeful.

Chris knew nothing about the man’s identity or why he had been poisoned. His thoughts were already fixed on Cultis Academy.

His first core was gone, but another one now beat inside him. With this, be could easily pass the academy's test. Once a core had been absorbed, it was difficult to tell whether one posssesed it or not. The only way to find out were through standard test determined by the coordinator.

He still had a chance to enter and find a powerful tutor.

More importantly, entering the academy would bring him close to Diego and the core stolen from him.

By the time Chris reached Cultis Academy, the entrance grounds were already crowded. Young cultivators stood in several lines while academy officials checked their selection cards.

The laughter began as soon as people recognized him.

“Is that Chris?”

“What is he doing here? I thought he went into the mountains to refine his core.”

“He probably failed and came to beg the officials for another chance.”

“Another chance will not give him a core. Everyone knows someone like him could never enter this Academy.”

Chris heard every word, but he continued towards the registration gate. Their insults no longer carried the same weight because he could feel the black core beating beneath his chest.

Near the front of the longest line, an academy official stood beside a stone table and examined the cards presented by each candidate.

Two familiar people were waiting before him.

Rachel stood close to Diego, wearing a new cultivation robe bearing the village chief’s crest. Diego looked even more pleased with himself, one hand resting over the place where Chris’s silver core now sat inside his body.

The official checked their cards before gesturing towards the academy gates.

“Your registrations have been confirmed. You may proceed to the selection grounds.”

Rachel smiled and moved closer to Diego. They were about to enter when the whispers behind them became louder.

Diego frowned and looked over his shoulder.

Rachel turned with him.

The colour immediately disappeared from her face when she saw Chris standing at the registration gate.

“Chris, you are alive?”