Cultivation Through Artifacts

The sight, as the spider which was as massively huge as a building vanished before his very eyes made Khal's face turn pale as a sheet of paper and raise his guard instantly.

All around the whole world, there were millions of terrifying creatures each having their chilling and creepy aspects, but none of them were as fearsome and brutal as the Ghost Spider.

Ghost Spiders were considered Plant Beasts on the Third Cultivation Stage, but because of the unusual ability that let them venture below sunlight and moonlight, they were classified instead as Beasts. They were able to make their whole body and silk turn invisible for a small amount of time, not only giving them protection from light but also gave them a huge advantage during their hunt.

Ghost Spiders' ability was extremely scary and it worked exceptionally well against unperceptive victims. If one was not careful enough, it was relatively easy to fall into their traps and die without knowing what happened.

But even though Ghost Spiders were considered terrifying Beasts, they occasionally lived in deep caves and not in forests! To think that fate made him encounter such a scary creature on the very first of his mission couldn't be said was unlucky, but instead as a disastrous coincidence!

"..."

While scanning his surroundings with 120% concentration, Khal decided to carefully and slowly start to back away. He knew that fighting against such a creature with his current strength would only lead to his demise, so the best choice now was to retreat nice and slowly. Yet, he didn't even take half a step back when suddenly the air on his left side moved, making his sky blue eyes to widen with alarm in a split second.

"!"

*Clang!*

*BOOM!*

The only thing Khal was able to do was to lift his hand and use his Devil Fang as a shield, however, the power he anticipated, unfortunately, was at least greater by two levels, resulting in his back crashing against a tree in the distance with a loud 'bang'.

"Argh!" as Khal's eyes went extra wide because of the pain, while below that deep shock emerged onto the surface, only one thing appeared in his mind.

"Fourth... Stage... It's on the Fourth Cultivation Stage!"

To think that not only did he meet with a Ghost Spider in a forest, a place where it shouldn't have appear at all, but it turns out it was on the Fourth Cultivation Stage! Just how bad did his luck become? Did he offend the Gods in the heavens and now they decided to get their revenge on him or what?

"It's definitely not a joke. I need to get out of here as soon as possible!" with clenched teeth, Khal stood up and started to run toward the direction where he just came from, yet not even as he took half a step forward, the air above his head vibrated once again and a gust of cold wind hit his face from the side.

*Clang!*

*BAM!*

An unpleasant noise sounded from Khal's body as he was slammed onto a tree in the distance once again, while his hand holding his fan trembled uncontrollably.

After taking two consecutive strikes head-on from such a terrifying beast, Khal was pleasantly surprised he was still alive let alone the fact that his weapon was in one piece!

With a painful moan that was instead a quiet growl, Khal stood up and ignored the pain inside his body, while only one thing lingered inside his head.

To leave this hell no matter what!

Or wanted to leave, but the very next second he wanted to move the air above his head quivered just like the previous two times, turning his expression ashen in an instant.

"Get lost!" shouted Khal with irritation and channeled half of his Body Essence into his fan.

The last time when he used his weapon's special power during his fight he ended up injuring Raffin, an expert above the Fifth Cultivation Stage, so how could a creature that didn't even reach that rank resist such an attack?

Or at least that was what he thought, but his hope was shattered like porcelain the very moment he swung his weapon. As the silver light broke forth from his fan, creating hundreds of razor-sharp wind blades, the creature's leg that was currently half-visible this time moved and twisted like a snake, attacking Khal from a completely different direction.

"!?"

*Clang!*

*BOOM!*

Bones breaking and blood flowing, Khal crashed onto a tree once again, forming a huge dent behind his back, but in contrast to the previous two times, this time he remained on the ground with ragged breathing.

The fan inside his tight but shivering hold started to show small cracks on its surface, while trails of dark-red blood oozed out from the corner of his mouth. Bones inside his body broke, especially a few of his ribs, while the muscles on both of his legs and arms spasmed from time to time in pain.

It was quite apparent that after the third blow, Khal's weak body had been put on the verge of collapsing.

But it was not a surprise at all. To begin with, Khal's body was way weaker than anyone else on the same Stage so instead of being scared, he should be shocked how he was still alive. Against a creature that was not one, but two whole Cultivation Stages above him, it was God's blessing he didn't die a long time ago.

"Chatter... Chatter!"

With blood-freezing and soul tightening sound that was almost similar to sharp teeth slowly chattering against each other, the Ghost Spider's gigantic figure appeared above Khal's unmoving figure, gazing at him with hundreds of eyes at the same time.

"Get up!! Get up!!" roared Khal inwardly as he watched the gigantic creature's stare, but no matter how hard he tried, his body didn't heed to his will. He just sat there motionlessly with his back against the tree, ready to be killed at any given moment.

Right now, he was like a pig ready to be slaughtered.

"Chatter... Chatter!"

"I'm so dead!" Khal's pupils shrunk needle-thin in fear and watched as the spider moved and was ready to swallow him down in one single bite.

But just when he thought the reaper would come and collect his soul, Khal noticed as a crimson flash appeared from the corner of his eyes and with a huge 'boom' exploded into the Ghost Spider's face.

"Schreeech!!!"

With a cry that would make even the dead to stiffen up during its eternal sleep, the Ghost Spider's colossal body fell down heavily onto the ground, shaking the whole area like it was a small earthquake.

"Schreeeaach!!!"

As crimson flames enveloped the creature's body, slowly turning its face into scorched ash, the Ghost Spider stood up on all 8 and with a deafening cry; like a berserk beast started to retreat toward the darkness.

Watching as the massive silhouette hew down the thick trees in its wake like they were nothing more but grass, Khal breathed in a mouthful of cold air and turned his gaze to his side.

"Oi kid, are you alright?"

A foot or two away from Khal, a man around his late twenties was standing calmly, staring down at him with a questioning look.

"..."

Hearing no answer from Khal, the man crouched down next to him and waved his hand before Khal's eyes slowly, while asking in a louder voice, "Hello? Are you alright?"

"Yeah... I'm fine." nodded Khal, but it was totally apparent he was not fine at all.

The man naturally noticed this too together with Khal's pale complexion so sighed slightly and put his hand into his pocket.

"Here, eat this. It will help you recover relatively fast." said the man with a smile as he took out a pill from his pocket and handed it over to Khal.

The pill was relatively small, almost as tiny as a bean and had a half-transparent shade with small greenish-black beads inside it.

"What's this?" asked Khal with a bit of suspicion because he never saw a pill like this, but still went and took it away from the man.

"Don't worry, it is not a poison or anything. It is called Emerald Marble. Although, its quality not the best you can find out there, but it will definitely help you recover from your injury once you eat it, I promise." smiled the man with a face that could make even the slightest suspicion in one's heart vanish in a single instant.

"..."

Khal watched the man's face for quite a while in silence trying to figure out his hidden motive, but in the end, sighed and raised his hand.

"Well, if he wanted to harm me, he would have already done it. In my current state even if he tries to attack me, I don't really have what it takes to resist him, so there is no need for me not to accept his offer." thought Khal as his suspicion vanished completely and one single motion swallowed the pill down.