After entering seclusion to chase a breakthrough, the struggle begins.
Of course, hard as cultivation was, ascending beyond a certain realm was next to impossible; most tend to fail. And that is how hidden realms are made.
Because of the death of a powerful cultivator, there is an abundance of Qi in the space, an overflowing amount of it.
And a failed breakthrough generates demonic Qi energy, as well as demonic living beings on the same spectrum, who thrive in such environments.
Spiritual beasts also like to dwell in such places, and more hostile entities, such as wraiths and demonic beasts, occupy these hidden realms.
The treasures that fill these spaces are considered to have once been that person's valuable personal items, treasures, and collectibles.
Of course, the stronger the person who died in the tomb was, the richer the Qi, and the more valuable the resources.
No one ever reached the peak without building up a decent amount of wealth.
As such, most commonly known tombs were cleared out millennia ago. As soon as a new tomb is discovered, a team of cultivators of appropriate strength is sent out to venture inside.
The royal family is responsible for distributing these tombs to noble families to maintain a balanced ecosystem.
It was not an uncommon sight for large-scale conflict to begin over a tomb that appears on a border between two regions.
And that is how a lot of wars between noble families happened in the past. So this was done as a countermeasure to prevent avoidable wars.
Determining the value of a tomb is easy to do, by just checking the quality of the residue Qi emanating from it.
The reason Kyle was visiting such a place was to get firsthand combat experience, fighting spiritual beasts and demonic beasts. And Nuna was just here as an escort, just in case they ran into something he could not handle.
"I understand the need to get stronger, Kyle, but Noah is two stages weaker than you are, coupled with your sword skill, it should be an easy fight for you. Why the sudden seriousness?"
Kyle smiled at Nuna's question.
"Oh my dear wifey, there's more to strength than immediate goals. I do not consider him a challenge, not even close; it is what comes after that I am preparing for."
Nuna blushed; she was still not used to how Kyle just casually called her his wife out of nowhere.
"What comes after? What do you mean?"
"You will know soon enough. Don't worry, you won't have to wait long." He answered.
Although he expected to have an easy fight against Noah, who was only a middle Qi condensation cultivator, what was important was what came after.
The Titans' Martial Tournament. That is what he was concerned about.
It was yet to be announced, but Kyle was well aware of when and where it would take place.
And truth be told, he was not confident of winning the whole thing. There would be people stronger than him, cultivators, a whole realm above him.
Climbing that kind of mountain was not going to be a walk in the park. His goal was to gain enough attention to be invited to join the Twilight sect as an outer disciple; he did not need to win.
Regardless, even though he was more than strong enough to garner the big sects' attention, Kyle was a person who liked to be careful.
That is why he was here. To increase his odds. No, to guarantee his chances of receiving an invite.
'Actually, I hadn't thought about it, but what if I bring Nuna with me?' He thought.
'She is strong enough to make it well on her own. As a mid-stage Foundation establishment cultivator at her age, procuring an invitation to join the sect would be a walk in the park, and once we both enter, I won't be so lonely.'
He smiled, deciding that his idea wasn't so bad. It was the best course of action.
Kyle had grown attached to Nuna. Well, he also did not want to miss out on bedroom activities while he was away.
Jihriel had advised him to have as many partners as possible, but his earth mentality was still holding him back from actually doing exactly that.
It would take him some time to conform to some of this world's norms. And that touched upon many practices he had yet to try.
Such as killing. But that is a topic for another time.
'Okay, I will have to speak to both father and Nuna about this. It should be easy to convince them.'
He was sure they would agree with him. Nuna was extremely talented; one could even say keeping her around doing housework was a waste of her talents.
And even then, even if she had been getting resources from the Ravenshade family, which is why she was as strong as she was now, it would be nothing compared to what sects gave to the best of their disciples.
There was a reason why noble families, affluent as they were, sent their young ones to grow up in sects.
The resources and teachers they had access to were on another level entirely. It was what struck a balance between the various powers in the world.
They all wanted pieces of the same pie.
On the topic of strength, Kyle himself could feel that he was on the cusp of a breakthrough.
The bottleneck stage was extremely difficult to get past, even after continuously absorbing Nuna's Yin Qi for days, and multiple times at that, Kyle's base strength had barely moved an inch after he reached the peak stage.
But he was not worried about it. He could feel it.
He was close.
'Besides, I should at least give them a chance to win at the tournament, otherwise it would all be a breeze. No fun in that.'
He smiled lightly. Kyle's arrogance was only getting worse the longer he spent in this world. It knew no bounds now.
A more pressing matter had to do with the date for his duel with Noah, which had finally been decided; it would be a week from now. The only problem is, the venue was in the Dragonvale Mountains city, at Duke Von Gaussian's Mansion.
So they would have to travel there a few days prior. That was not the main problem, though.
His father had warned Kyle that it was highly likely this was all a hoax. A setup to have Kyle assassinated either on the way there, or most likely on his way back.
But they could not turn down the duel after already accepting. And openly accusing them of foul play would make the Ravenshades look like a family of cowards.
So after considering their options, Cassian had decided that Sebastian and Nuna would both be Kyle's escorts for the excursion.
While waiting for the day to come, Kyle decided to kill time by practicing his combat skills in the local hidden realm.