I am Villain Cultivator
Chapter 64: Even Without Qi, I Am Kaal

Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Even Without Qi, I Am Kaal

The girl led Kaal through the maze of ragged tents, past shivering children and weary faces, until they reached a modest shelter patched with torn cloth and stitched canvas. A frayed flap served as the entrance.

Inside, the air was musty, but dry. A cracked clay pot sat near the corner beside a wooden cup half-filled with rainwater. A bed made of dry grass was pressed together unevenly, and a faint shaft of moonlight slipped through a hole torn in the roof.

"Sit down, Arthur," the girl said gently.

Kaal obeyed, lowering himself onto the bed. The stiff straw pricked through the thin cloth of his rough pants, and he shifted uncomfortably. It was coarse. Hard. He had never sat on something like this in his life, even the cold ground of a battlefield had offered more comfort than this.

The girl didn’t seem to notice. She knelt by his side, opening a small bundle wrapped in coarse linen. From it, she took out a greenish paste with a sharp, bitter scent.

"Comfrey," she muttered to herself, dipping her fingers into the paste. "It’ll help with the swelling..."

She leaned in and gently dabbed it onto his face where the whip had struck him.

"Arthur," she scolded softly, her voice filled with quiet exasperation, "how many times have I told you not to go near that devil David?"

Kaal blinked.

She wasn’t just helping him. She knew him.

Not Kaal... but the version of him that existed here. Arthur.

He studied her as she worked, her fingers deft and practiced despite her youth. Her hair was tied into a messy braid, her dress faded and stitched at the seams, but her touch was gentle, her tone familiar. Protective.

He didn’t know her name yet.

But she clearly knew him.

And in this strange world where his power was gone and even his identity stripped, this girl’s mysterious companion might be the only clue to unraveling the truth behind the Third Trial.

Kaal wanted to speak, and the questions burned on the edge of his tongue, but he held them back.

I can’t slip up... not yet. If I say something wrong, I’ll give myself away.

So he stayed quiet as the girl finished applying the comfrey paste to his bruised cheek.

Just then, the tent’s flap rustled open, and an old man stepped inside. His back was bent with age, his beard long and grayed, his eyes clouded but still sharp.

"Amelia," he rasped, "I heard Arthur was beaten by David again. Is he alright?"

Amelia stood quickly and nodded. "He’s alright, Uncle. He hasn’t spoken since, but I checked just bruises."

The old man walked closer, squinting as he examined Kaal. He placed two fingers gently on Kaal’s wrist, feeling for the pulse. Then he leaned in and peered into his eyes.

"Hmph. Arthur was always... a little slower than other children," the old man said bluntly. "If not for you, girl, he wouldn’t have lasted this long."

At that, Amelia shot upright, her voice sharp with emotion. "UNCLE! My brother is normal!"

The old man raised both hands defensively. "Alright, alright. I was just concerned for you. No damage apart from the swelling. He’ll be fine in a week, I swear it."

Kaal, still seated on the straw bed, remained silent, absorbing every word. So... she’s my sister here. Amelia. And the original Arthur, the founder, had brain damage or was considered ’slow’?

He kept his expression blank, but his thoughts ran fast.

If I suddenly act smart, they’ll know something’s wrong. I’ll have to play along until I understand more.

(Seven Days Later)

Time passed slowly in the mines.

Kaal’s wounds healed, the swelling on his cheek finally fading. He followed the rhythms of Arthur’s life, careful to mimic the mannerisms Amelia expected. He said little. Listened more.

And most importantly, he observed.

He was a miner here. Just a child, working with Amelia deep inside the fire crystal caverns. Day after day, they chipped at the glowing crimson stones embedded in the black walls, fire crystals, valuable for forging weapons and cultivation tools.

They weren’t just miners.

They were slaves.

Belonging to the Silversong Tribe, a minor faction in this trial realm. The one in charge of this mine was a supervisor named David, the same cruel man who had whipped Kaal on his first day.

Kaal clenched his fists every time he saw the man, but he endured.

During that first week, he quietly gathered information.

The strongest cultivator in the Silversong Tribe was at the Opening Realm, and most of the guards barely reached Body Tempering. He also learned that the fire crystals they mined were highly flammable and volatile when broken incorrectly, something even the guards treated with caution.

The more he learned, the more the shape of the trial became clear in his mind.

This is no illusion. It’s a simulation... a world where I’ve been placed to experience something deeper. I can’t use my Qi. I have no cultivation. I have no power.

And most importantly, He had Amelia.

Kaal’s gaze drifted to her one evening, watching as she slept curled up beside the old fire pit, her face thin, her body covered in bruises from the day’s labor.

This trial... isn’t about strength. It’s about salvation. About defiance. I have to escape this mine. And I have to take Amelia with me. How does kaal know about the trial? It’s because he has feelings, and for cultivators, this type of feeling can’t be ignored.

Then, a deeper thought entered his mind, unsettling him, and he said in a low voice.

"Why... would the Founder of the Kilvish Clan, Kilvish Arthur, be born into a body that couldn’t cultivate at all? After all, he became one of the strongest cultivators in ten thousand years ago.".

He flexed his small fingers. Trying to use Qi. There wasn’t a shred of Qi.

He even tries to activate Mind Eye, Hell asura bloodline, and his physique, Myriad of thousands Demon Body, but none of the things are available right now, but Kaal feels their presence in his soul because of the Origin Core, which is the soul treasure and connected to Kaal’s soul but unknown force interface Kaal for accessing Origin Core.

Kaal was lost in thought when Amelia called Kaal.

"Arthur," Amelia said softly as they sat by the weak firelight. "I have to go to the lower levels of the mine tomorrow. It’ll be for a week... maybe more. Listen to Uncle Bai while I’m gone, okay?"

Her voice carried worry. Her eyes lingered on Kaal like a mother before parting with her child.

Kaal nodded silently, playing the part of the quiet, dull brother.

Later, Amelia boiled rice in a cracked clay pot. The meal was bland, nearly tasteless, but warm. She carefully fed him, brushing aside his tangled hair and whispering small reassurances, as if her presence alone could protect him from the world.

So this is how they live...

Kaal accepted the food in silence. It was nothing like the rich cuisine he had known growing up as Kaal of the Kilvish Clan. He, who dined on delicacies prepared by chefs from three empires, now tasted burnt rice and ash water.

But beggars had no choice.

That night, the siblings slept side by side, curled against the chill of the mountain wind. And when morning came.

Amelia was gone.

The boy who had been silent... changed. The dullness in Kaal’s eyes vanished.

In its place burned cold resolve.

He slowly sat up on the dry grass bed, cracked his knuckles, and turned his gaze toward the distance toward the guard camp where the brute, Supervisor David, patrolled with cruel delight.

"It’s time," Kaal muttered under his breath. "Let’s begin the plan."

He grabbed a half-torn cloth and wrapped it around his mouth to conceal his face. Then, like a shadow, he slipped through the ragged camp, weaving between tents, his small body moving with practiced stealth.

Before long, he reached the main guard post, a filthy area where a dozen Silversong guards barked orders, whipped miners for fun, and lounged with smug arrogance.

Kaal narrowed his eyes. He was no match for any of them, not in this form.

Without cultivation, I can’t fight a grown man... let alone a Rank 3 Warrior. But I’m not out of options.

Silently, he ducked behind a stack of discarded mining crates.

From a cloth satchel sewn into his sleeve, Kaal took out three small fire crystals stolen from discarded rubble over the past days. He carefully placed them in a triangular formation on the ground, drawing faint lines with a piece of chalk-like mineral. It was a Basic Qi-Gathering Formation, crude but functional.

His hands didn’t tremble.

Father... this Formation you taught me when I was nine. Don’t fail me now.

With a faint hum, the formation activated.

The fire crystals glowed faintly and spilled raw Fire Qi into Kaal’s meridians.

His body jerked at the sudden influx. Heat burned through his fragile limbs. No dantian, no Qi pathways... but just for ten minutes, he had the power of a Rank 1 Warrior.

Just enough Strength for his plan to work.

He took a deep breath, then activated a footwork technique: Ghost Gale Steps.

His figure blurred as he slipped into the guard camp’s food tent.

The stench of dried meat and boiled fungus filled the air.

Kaal crept forward, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a small silver pouch, a powdered concoction he had scraped together from a mix of crushed sleep herbs, spoiled mushrooms, and wild dustbloom, a potent plant used by hunters to corrupt beasts. This powder, known as slow-acting Qi corruption.

Without hesitation, he sprinkled it into the stew pot and stirred it with the hilt of a spoon. The smell didn’t change. But any guard who ate this meal...

Would sleep like the dead for hours, and when they woke up, they had red marks appear all over their body, and slowly they died from this slow-acting Qi corruption, after mixing poison in the guard’s food.

He turned, retracing his steps quickly, each breath heavier than the last. The Qi was already fading. This body, this cursed body, wasn’t built for it. But he held on just long enough to slip back into the darkness.

Back to his tent.

He collapsed onto the grass mat, his breathing ragged, his limbs twitching from strain. But his lips curved into a quiet smile as he stared in the direction of the guard camp.

"Let the fun begin, Even Without Qi, I am Kaal".

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