Cultivation Through Artifacts

Somewhere on Planet Thov, inside a capacious underground cavern where the only source of light came from little bugs that emitted gentle crimson light whenever they began to crawl on the sides, a little golden fox emerged from the shadows, his flaxen eyes flickering gently in the dark as it scanned his surroundings with caution.

"This will be a perfect spot to cultivate." the little canine opened its mouth lightly, causing a deep masculine voice to escape it before its little frame began to twist and grow, quickly revealing a young man wearing a silver robe.

Whoosh!

With a complexion that held none of the existing emotions known in the world, Khal didn't think twice and sat down into a lotus position before closing his eyes and putting his hands gently on his laps.

'Now that I have reached the peak of the Second Cultivation Stage with the units of my Beast Essence, I must attempt to refine my body from the inside out.'

Indeed, for one to reach the Third Cultivation Stage and become a Body Temperer, one not only needed to increase their Blessing's potential to the peak inside the Second Cultivation Stage, but they also had to undergo a so-called Body Refining process which required one to possess an immense quantity of Body Essence that could be accumulated only through the consumption of the Realm Essence or some unique technique!

Luckily, Khal accumulated and possessed just enough Body Essence, as the required amount for the Body Refining process was exactly 30,000 units, if not a little bit more!

However, although he had a sufficient quantity of Body Essence, it did not mean he will succeed in refining his body with 100% success as Body Refining was way more complex than that; it required one to use the essence in the body to refine everything, including every piece of bones, muscles, tendons and even the organs before retracting every ounce of the essence into the Meridians, keeping and circulating it in there constantly!

Such a process was extremely dangerous and one could easily end up before death's door if they were not careful enough or even worse, getting crippled by their very own hand!

And that is why Khal decided to find a place where not even the Night Crawlers could gain access, or at least not until they were crazy enough to detonate an entire mountain into bits of debris!

Yes, into bits of debris as he was currently sitting in the very center of one of the largest mountains existing on this planet and without powers comparable to his Perfect Disguise and Bloodshed Touch or something that could peer miles into a solid mass, there was simply no way they could found him!

Khal took a deep breath as he calmed his mind down, and began to control the more than 30,000 units of Essence in his body at once!

Whoosh!

In a blink, the dense amount of azure essence in his body exploded and became turbulent, enshrouding his entire body both on the inside and the outside; right now, he was glowing like a huge lantern, emitting an almost blinding blue light from every pore of his body!

"Hm? Did you feel it just now?" several Night Crawlers in a few miles radius shifted their attention toward a specific direction before each and every one of them kicked their feet against the ground and began to dash ahead.

Even Bane, who was several tens of miles away felt the sudden surge of aura in the distance and started to run toward the source with an expression as cold as ice and eyes as sharp as swords!

Khal obviously noticed the approaching presence with the discernable killing intent, but decided to just ignore them and continue with his refining process; he was pretty confident in both his hiding spot and in his chances to break into the Third Cultivation Stage before the crawlers find a way to him. 

Everything will be perfectly fi-!

BOOOOOM!

"?!"

A powerful tremor shook the entire mountain range together with the whole interior of the cave while a loud roar was heard even from where Khal was sitting.

"HUMAN! YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS TO SHOW YOURSELF OR I WILL OBLITERATE THIS ENTIRE MOUNTAIN RANGE TOGETHER WITH YOU, LEAVING NOT EVEN YOUR CORPSE BEHIND!"

Khal remained motionless on the ground, but it wasn't long before a cold and mocking smile emerged on his once indifferent face.

Demolish the entire mountain range? Did his mind get shrouded from revenge or was he just that retarded? He not only was inside the very center of a mountain which had a width that was several hundred miles long and height that pierced the clouds above, but the entirety of this mountain was also ridiculously hard to the point where one full strike from him could only leave a small crater and nothing more!

In Khal's eyes, Bane's declaration was rather bold and arrogant than being intimidating.

'What a fool...' Khal shook his head helplessly and without giving any more of his attention to the creature he continued to concentrate on refining his body with the knowledge he has obtained from the Record of All Realms.

Bane stood before the mountain's foot with a chilly look and waited patiently for a response with several soldiers behind him. However, when he saw that the aura deep in the mountain only became stronger instead of showing signs of weakening, his face darkened and dense killing intent broke out from his body.

"WHAT INSOLENCE!!" Bane roared toward the mountain which caused even the surrounding landscape to tremble under his rage!

Without caring to surpass his visible bloodlust and wish to skin Khal alive for his audacity, Bane turned toward his soldiers with a grim face and hissed, "Find a way to him even if it means to force and squeeze yourself through pits and holes! I want his head before my feet no matter what!"

"YES, BOSS!"

Every Night Crawler before Bane let out a thunderous cry filled with rage and thirst for blood before each of them used their movement technique and vanished from sight.