"What!? What happened to the altar?" Mohan exclaimed in confusion.
Arunketu quickly rushed to the altar to ascertain the reason behind its sudden blackening. Initially shocked, his expression soon turned to anger as he inspected the altar.
"Lokeshwar! Lokeshwar! Come quickly!" Arunketu shouted, summoning the guard near the door.
The guard swiftly ran towards Arunketu and kneeled down before him, asking, "What is it, sir?"
The guard was visibly nervous, his forehead beaded with sweat.
"I asked you to change the core of the altar yesterday. Why haven't you done it? Why has the energy in the core depleted?" Arunketu demanded.
The guard quickly explained, "Sir, I changed it as you instructed me. Perhaps the quality of the new core isn't good. I'll try to exchange it again."
"Why didn't you check it while bringing it from the treasure storage? Are you neglecting your duties and trying to cover up your mistake?" Arunketu questioned sternly.
"No, sir, I haven't neglected my duties. Deacon Deva even recorded the details of the core while I was taking it," the guard replied, still visibly nervous.
"Hmm. I'll excuse you for this time, but I don't want this same situation to happen again," Arunketu conceded, his expression softening slightly.
Mohan bowed respectfully and replied, "Thank you for your concern, sir."
"Good," Arunketu acknowledged before continuing. "I don't want to dampen your spirits, but I have to instruct you. Do not become arrogant just because you have awakened. Awakening is merely the first step, and you have a long journey ahead in cultivation. Many people become arrogant and end up losing their lives. There are nine realms to achieve transcendence or immortality. The cultivation realms for cultivators range from Postnatal, Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Spiritual Connection, Nascent Soul, Soul Integration, Mahayana, Transcendence."
"Each realm further divides into nine stages," Arunketu continued, "and as you gain experience and expertise in that realm, you will advance to higher stages. Right now, you are only in the Postnatal Stage 1 realm, so I hope you will work hard to progress. Once again, welcome to the cultivation world."
"Each person will awaken with innate talent skills," Arunketu emphasized. "You can upgrade them as your cultivation improves. Alright then, you may leave now."
Arunketu gestured for both Mohan and Nanda to leave as the next batch of awakening people were arriving.
Once they had departed, Arunketu turned his attention back to the core of the altar.
"It's my first time seeing the core turn completely black with only black residual smoke inside it. Usually, it would only diminish in color when the energy is depleted. Perhaps the core is of poor quality," he mused to himself.
After stepping out, Nanda asked Mohan, "Why are you so silent? I thought you would be excited after awakening..."
As Nanda spoke, Mohan's eyes turned golden once more. When Mohan glanced around, he noticed that with his right eye, he could perceive the details of all things, while with his left eye, he could see people and objects in different colors. It was as if seeing the world from a completely different perspective.
Nanda suddenly tapped Mohan on the shoulder and said, "Hey, are you spacing out? I know you might be disappointed that you became an appraiser, as it can be challenging to earn money and requires a lot of knowledge about things. But don't worry, I heard that we can learn new techniques beyond the innate skills we were awakened with."
When Mohan looked at Nanda, he saw details of his friend, which left him feeling shocked.
What Mohan saw were the details about Nanda that he hadn't known before. Typically, appraisers needed prior knowledge of objects to evaluate them accurately. However, with his innate skill, Mohan could effortlessly perceive all the details, whether known or unknown.
The innate skill Mohan obtained is called "Origin Eyes: Evil Eye (left) and Heavenly Eye (right)."