Cultivation Through Artifacts

Khal felt confused when the voice said it was on the Third Stage when it was quite apparent that he just obtained it and didn't consume any Beast Essence to strengthen its power.

"Wait, don't tell me it's because my Heaven's Eyes is also on the Third Stage? Then, does this mean..." wondered Khal with widened eyes and an idea manifested inside his head all of a sudden.

"Just like how Natural Born Talents function, I only need to cultivate only one power to make the rest follow? Isn't this a bit... Ridiculous?"

Maybe right now it wasn't that obvious, but what if in the future he strengthens his bracelet to the point where it could hold not one but several other Cores at the same time while his strength also reached the Final Stage in cultivation?

Didn't that mean whenever he obtains a new Power Core in the future it would automatically reach the highest Stage right away? That was fucking overpowered!

"This bracelet... Just who was the one creating this thing?" pondered Khal as the question about this item's true origin finally appeared in his mind on a deeper level.

"Neo told me it was given to him by an old man several years ago but he didn't know who the old man truly was. On the other hand, in my past life, I got it from Nancy and this was the cause that I was transmigrated into this world. Maybe..." an idea that never appeared in his head suddenly arose, making his eyes flash with a profound light.

"Could it be that she knew what this thing's real purpose was but decided not to tell me? No, that can't be... Especially in my old world where cultivation wasn't even a thing. Then how?"

Khal felt his brain almost melting by the way he tried to figure out the currently impossible. Naturally, it had ways to solve it, but right now he was not strong nor had enough clues to solve this problem yet.

That is why he just shook his head and instead glanced at the purple Power Core embedded inside his bracelet.

"Let's see what it can do. I spent my sweat and Essence on you so be powerful!" said Khal in a serious voice and stood up.

When he obtained his Heaven's Eyes for the first time he knew exactly how to activate and use it.

And this is what was happening right now. Extending his left arm before his body with his palm facing downward, Khal opened his mouth and began to talk, "Stellar Domain, Open!"

BAM!

Immediately as his voice fell, the surroundings around him vanished and changed. The cave walls, ground, and ceiling disappeared and what replaced it was an infinite galaxy filled with uncountable colorful stars and universes!

"Woah! It's... Gorgeous!" was Khal's first impression of the breathtaking sight and stepped forward; however, the very moment he moved, a shocking scene followed to happen.

When he raised his right foot and stepped an inch forward, the entirety of the galaxy around him rotated forward too! However, the biggest surprise wasn't this, but Rubie, who suddenly cried out with pain and fell weakly from his shoulder right next to his feet!

"Rubie!" Khal became instantly worried by this and extended his arm to pick her up, but when he did the galaxy around him rotated once again, causing Rubie to shriek up again but this time with greater pain.

"Fuck! Stellar Domain, Close!"

Swish!

In a blink of an eye, the galaxy around Khal shrunk and vanished from sight, revealing Blade Mountain's cave where he just was a few moments ago.

"Rubie... Are you okay?" asked Khal as he raised her small body from the ground. 

Standing onto his claws atop his palm, Rubie shook her head gently and even staggered a few times doing so, seemingly confused about the past moments.

But except that, nothing seemed to happen with her and she was perfectly safe and sound.

"Sigh... Thank God!" sighed Khal with relief and put Rubie back onto his shoulder, "Just what happened now? This new Power Core seems to be exceptionally powerful but I can't seem to understand its purpose..."

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After the unexpected that happened with Rubie, Khal decided not to try out his newfound power but instead consume a few more Essence Particles to strengthen his Heaven's Eyes. Only after that did he go to Logan to continue fixing his Secret Art with his help.

Naturally, when Logan noticed the Ruby Beast on Khal's shoulder he seemed to be surprised, but after hearing the story his only answer was a simple nod, and proceeded to ignore her.

It appeared as though this wasn't the first time for him to see a real Beast follow a Cultivator.

Two days passed in a blink of an eye, and soon the three days where he could do whatever he wanted to finally come.

Because the tournament began less than a month, Khal decided to now strengthen his Power Cores before expanding his Body Essence.

That is why he chose to go to Moon Mountain and slay lower Stage Beasts at the bottom of the Mountain's feet.

Now that he had a Rubie, two Power Cores, and his Diamond Skin with his Devil Fangs, Khal wasn't scared to hunt alone. If it weren't a powerful Beast on the Fifth Cultivation Stage or above, he could easily take care of any creature.

But his worry was only useless because under the whole night he met no strong Beasts only weak ones. And even they were killed mercilessly and turned into solid corpses of ruby by Rubie, who in fact consumed not their Beast Essence as any normal Beast would, but their corpses which were transformed!

She left the Beast Essence to Khal, while she merrily devoured the ruby corps like it was the most delicious meal in the world!

"Ruby Beasts are truly unique species," exclaimed Khal with awe as he went to consume the Beast Essence.

An entire night went on like this, and Khal was able to consume 23 Beast Essence under one night, pushing his Heaven's Eyes all the way to 71!

Obviously, it was all thanks to Rubie who killed any Beast in their proximity like bats would insects; without her, he wouldn't have been able to consume even half of this.

And what was even more surprising, that after consuming so many corpses without rest even Rubie seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough into the Second Cultivation Stage!

"For the Fourth Stage, I just need 500 Beast Essence. I have no time to waste," mumbled Khal as he watched the sun rising from the east.

"For the time being, I can't hunt here even if I try. Beasts on Moon Mountain hide the moment the sun comes out so where should I go hunt for more Beast Essence?"

Khal began to ponder on that question, but it wasn't long when suddenly his eyes brightened up with an idea, and a smile formed on his face.

"Shadow Woods. Even though it is extremely occupied by Cultivators, there is something there that only I know about," said Khal as the memories about a specific creature that almost killed him appeared inside his head.

The Beast could hunt even stronger Cultivators than its Stage, but because of the sunlight, it's forced to hunt only on innocent preys or weak Beasts that walked into its territory.

He was almost killed by it, but thanks to Moras' unexpected 'help', he was able to avoid being eaten by it.

And now that he became stronger, way stronger than that time, Khal decided to kill that Beast!

"Ghost Spider... I wonder if it became stronger or not," said Khal, a slight curve forming on his face.