Cultivation Through Artifacts

"Just how long does he plan to remain down there? Should we go after him?" Deva asked Baylie as she gazed at the beast's mouth with concern.

"If he said he will be fine then he will be fine. Did you already forget hiw he slew this beast all alone? I don't think there is anything in the First Realm that could threaten him." Baylie lay next to Deva with a casual expression, his eyes closed.

"I know, but still..." Deva shook her head helplessly and was ready to lie down, but just as she was ready to do so, something flashed out from the creature's mouth before it reappeared before her and Baylie.

BAM!

"!?"

Baylie and Deva froze up on the spot upon seeing the humongous figure of another World Devourer before them, but quickly snapped out of their daze and summoned their weapons.

"Where did this thing come from? Where is Young Master?" Baylie who was already on his feet asked with a nervous expression.

"Right before you."

"Eh?"

Deva and Baylie looked confused when they heard Khal's voice but did not see him. What made them even more confused was that the beast after appearing before them did nothing but simply remained before them with no intention of harm.

"Wait... Is that... Young Master?" soon Deva realized what was happening and her eyes widened extra large from shock.

"Huh? There is no way in hell! That's a creature before us! Can't you feel its presence? Let's kill it now or we will die here!" Baylie tightened his grip around his sword, but it was obvious he was anxious.

Deva however just simply shook her head and said, "No, he is the Young Master." 

"Nonsense! What are you tal-" Baylie was ready to oppose Deva, but suddenly the creature moved which immediately caused Baylie's body to stiffen up, ready to fight.

"Calm down big boy. It is indeed me." Khal's voice resounded from the beast's mouth and soon the massive image of the serpent shrunk into Khal's figure.

The sight as the several hundred meters tall and long beast abruptly changed into Khal made Baylie stupified and speechless while Deva simply sighed with relief.

"What? You have never seen someone with a Transfiguration ability before or what?" Khal smiled at Baylie's reaction.

'...'

Baylie remained silent as he realized he indeed failed this time, but as he indeed did not see any Cultivator with a Transfiguration Talent before, it was not a huge embarrassment for him.

As for Deva, it seemed she immediately recognized Khal's fake presence, thus why she did not attack him right from the start.

"Congratulations Young Master, you have acquired a powerful Beast Core," Deva told Khal.

"So it was a Beast Core... Why did I not think about it sooner?" Baylie sighed and shook his head, finally accepting his defeat.

Khal seeing Baylie just laughed and said, "Let's descend. I have a feeling that the beast's corpse will soon vanish and turn into Essence as I have consumed its core."

Thus, without any objection the two followed Khal down, using the World Devourer's scales during their way down.

Once they reached the bottom, Khal looked at the humungous corpse that was akin to a huge skyscraper, and waited patiently. And to his not so surprise, after a few minutes later the World Devourer's body began to shift and change before it became a mass of a yellow substance that floated a bit above the ground.

"Young Master should go and consume it," Deva said which Baylie agreed without hesitation.

"Then I won't be humble this time." Khal nodded and went to consume it. He wanted to see just how much Beast Essence can he obtain after killing a Tenth Stage Beast.

And to his surprise, the amount was astronomical!

[Notify! You have has consumed 101 'Beast Essence'!]

'101?! That's a lot!'

Although he could easily acquire that many by slaying several weaker creatures or simply consume enough Essence Pills, it was a different feeling when he acquired that many essences from a beast from above the Ninth Cultivation Stage.

And exactly with this amount, Khal's units of Beast Essence reached the peak of his base, accumulating an exact amount of 10,000!

'Now the only thing I have to do is to unseal all of my Essence Paths!' thought Khal and without hesitation continued to descend even deeper.

Killing beasts and with ease, the three cleared all the floors they entered without breaking a sweat, and after a few hours later they finally reached the objective they have come for.

Floor 489!

The whole floor was like an oversized prison, with the walls, ground, and ceiling made out of a mirror!

Even the bars of the cells were made out of that material, giving the whole place a bizarre but unique feeling.

"What is this place? Why is everything made out of a mirror?" Baylie asked curiously.

Although they have cleared and saw many different environments on each floor, one such as this was the first for him.

"It is called Mirror Prison."

"Mirror Prison? How do you know it's called as such?" Baylie raised a brow, curious how Khal knew about something that not even those that examined the Neverending Dungeon for years knew yet.

Khal, however, just smiled and shrugged.

"I have my ways of knowing what I want to know."

Clatter

"Get ready to fight," Khal said calmly once he heard the clattering sound and summoned his Devil Fangs into his hand.

Deva and Baylie did exactly like that and summoned their weapons. They watched as several humanoid figures, clad in mirror armors appeared in the distance, their hands holding shields that were made out of mirror too.

Khal seeing this scene took a step forward and said, "Listen here carefully. Those things are called Mirror Soldiers, creatures at the peak of the Eighth Cultivation Stage, and their shields and armors are capable of reflecting any type of attacks, let it be spiritual, mental, or physical. What's more, if your attack falls on your reflection, you will likely die, so make sure not to do anything reckless."

"What? Then how should we fight? They are simply invincible!" Baylie frowned.

"Not exactly." smiled Khal and without hesitation fired a wind blade, hitting one of the Mirror Soldier's reflections on the walls in the distance.

Crack!

"If you aim at their reflections in the surroundings, they can be killed just this easily," said Khal with a calm face and watched as the Mirror Soldier got sliced into half just as its reflection was a second ago.