Cultivation Through Artifacts

The wind blew gently on Moon Mountain while the full moon shone brightly on the boundless starry sky like a piece of diamond; making the whole earth, including the great mountain below it to swim in its gentle white light.

The view even from miles away looked as eternal as a historical sight; both captivating and breathtaking.

But even though the scenery looked that exceptionally peaceful and ancient, the inner part of it was the total opposite. Among the huge trees at the base of the mountain, a young man's running shadow could be noticed moving here and there like a ghost, while a long shining and glittering moving glow akin to a raging wave chased after him with rapid speed.

Khal did as he was told and attracted the Diamond Beetles away from the mountainside, giving Moras bigger space to take care of the Diamond Beetle King. But what he didn't expect that what Moras said was actually true and the normal Beetles were really not fast. Even with his Second Cultivation Stage and below-average tempo, he was able to easily run down the Beetles; there were even times he needed to slow down and attack once again just because the beasts were about turn back around and leave.

Yet, even though he had such an easy job like this, Khal's face didn't show the slightest of satisfaction nor happiness. Instead, his complexion carried trouble and worry; visibly he was bothered deeply with something.

Since he started this 'tag game' with these creatures, he couldn't stop thinking about the way Moras looked at him. Those eyes, the cold glint flashed in them for a split second... Everything was simply way too familiar that it sent shivers down his spine.

"I definitely sensed killing intent, but why? He saved me, so why did he want to kill me all of a sudden. If he wanted to the perfect chance for him would have been back in the forest where I was still injured. It's strange."

As Khal pondered while running away from the Diamond Beetles, suddenly the earth trembled while a loud explosion sounded from the west where he just came from.

"Huh?"

Turning his head toward the source of the sound, Khal watched as a huge dust cloud in a shape of a mushroom rose above the trees, filling the air with dust and ash in a split second.

"It seems they started to fight already," mumbled Khal but suddenly his expression changed and stopped.

"Ziiik... Ziiik!"

With screams that carried a hint of fear and agony, the Diamond Beetles stopped chasing after Khal and in a flash started to run back toward the west.

"Not good!" Khal realized the problem right away and without a second thought raised his fan and swung it.

*Swish!*

*BOOM!*

Hundreds of razor-sharp wind blades that were able to cut down trees and crush boulders erupted into the wave of beasts, but only in vain. Not only did the attack fail to kill a single creature, but it even failed to stop them or trigger their wrath; they just simply ignored his attack while continued to run toward where their King was.

"Hey! Come back!"

*BOOM!*

"Stop!"

*BOOM!*

Shattered stones and crushed earth; Khal swung his fan around like crazy in the hope to halt the creatures' movement, but no matter how many times he attacked they simply ignored him. Although he was able to injure a few Diamond Beetles that got hit by his assault from time to time, he was still unable to stop them.

[Notify! 'Body Essence' dropped below 50%!]

As the voice sounded in his head after a few seconds, Khal snorted and raised his weapon ready to channel more than half of his current Body Essence, but even before starting his attack, a figure appeared behind him without a single warning.

"Moras?" Khal shouted up with surprise seeing Moras on his rear. It was like he just popped out of nowhere like a ghost which made him feel quite scared and terrified! If it weren't for his Heaven's Eyes that he activated way before this chase, he wouldn't have noticed him at all!

"Haha! Let's get out of here. If they find out that their King was killed by me, they will follow us for sure." smiled Moras happily, but for some strange reason, disappointment flashed in his eyes.

"Sure..." nodded Khal firmly, but secretly he already raised his guard. At first, Moras showed killing intent toward him and now looked disappointed because his endeavor to approach him from the rear while hiding his presence failed. Even after so many hints, a complete idiot would know that Moras was no longer a friend but an enemy that attempted to kill him now for the second time!

Naturally, Khal thought about escaping after the very first sign where Moras showed his killing intent but with his current Cultivation Stage and speed, let alone Moon City, he would die even before reaching Shadow Woods.

So for now, he decided to play along with Moras's act and watch what will happen.

"Anyway, you said you killed it but not even a minute went by between the explosion and your arrival. Were you able to consume its Essence that fast?" raised an eyebrow Khal as he asked this, feeling a bit confused.

Before the explosion occurred he baited the Diamond Beetles away for around 2 minutes, meaning he was 2 minutes say from the position of the mountain wall. Considering the fact that Moras appeared after 1 minute after the explosion, it meant he consumed the Beast Essence and reached this spot in less than 1 minute. Under 1 minute, not to mention Beast Essences from a Fourth Stage Diamond Beetle King, even Essence that came from a First Stage Beast was impossible to consume under mere 60 seconds!

"Oh, that? I didn't kill it for its Essence. I killed it because of this." as Moras said that, he took out a small orb from his pocket and showed it to Khal.

"What is that?" furrowed his brows Khal as he looked at the orb. It had a black color and a perfectly smooth texture even from that far away, while inside it a tiny creature exactly that of a Diamond Beetle was frozen in one place with a mysterious swirling light around it.

"Oh? First time seeing a Beast Core?" Moras was surprised by this and glanced at the Beast Core.

"A Beast Core?" knitted his brows together even more in confusion Khal and pondered. He didn't meet with a concept such as Beast Cores back in the library and he had no clue what they did or how could one obtain them. It was a completely foreign definition for him.

"It's certainly not associated with my bracelet because then it would have already reacted to it. It must be something else but what exactly?"

Moras noticed Khal's confused complexion and smiled while fidgeting with the orb in his hand, "It's not a surprise you didn't hear about Beast Cores; you are still too young to know about them. Beast Cores, or in their other name the Soul of the Beast, are considered priceless treasures that could only be obtained through luck and hard work. As for what it can do exactly..." as Moras said that he put the core away and smiled at Khal: "You don't need to know it."

"..."

Khal was in complete silence as he looked at Moras. It was simply too obvious that he tried to provoke him by that last statement and only a fool would think another way.

"Okay that was enough." declared Khal calmly and halted his movement. He realized playing along with Moras was completely useless and a waste of time; he got tired. He already knew that Moras wanted to kill him even if Moras acted now like he didn't, so there was no reason to pretend as if not.

"Who sent you?" not beating the bush around, Khal asked straightaway.

"What do you mean who sent me? What quest-."

"Please don't act as if you don't know what I'm talking about. You clearly know what I meant," said Khal with a freezing glare while his grasp tightened around his fan slowly.

"..."

Realizing that he was busted, Moras put his palm over his face gently and started to laugh wildly.

"Haha! Haha! Ah... What a fool I am. I should have killed you the very moment I met with you, but my greed was stronger, thinking I could hit two birds with one stone." sighed Moras as he lowered his hand, revealing an evil grin.

"How were you able to tell it?" asked Moras, but in truth he already knew the answer; he just wanted to confirm if he was right or not.

"How? You looked at me with the intention to kill while also attempted to approach me from the rear without presence; also the disappointment in your eyes after you failed told everything. Even a blockhead would know something was not right," said Khal as he slowly stepped back a meter.

"I figured," laughed Moras once again and sighed, "Well, it seems I still need to work on my act. But before that..."

And right after he said that, Moras's figure vanished into thin air and like a ghost reappeared behind Khal, extending his palm toward his neck.

"Die."