Cultivation Through Artifacts

Khal continued to venture inside the forest and surprisingly he met Beast here too just like in the desert.

Though, the only difference this time was that the Beasts were not Grit Eaters but creatures that Khal recognized way too well; he even killed them before!

Razor Hounds!

They were Beasts that loved hunting in groups and liked to trap their prey even more. They had terrifying learning capacity, hence if you were incapable to escape quickly they will find a way to trap you and kill you right away!

Their most hazardous trait was their fur that was capable of turning steel strong. The only way to penetrate their fur was to attack them with an exceptionally sharp weapon or attack their check where the fur was lesser than anywhere else on their body.

However, back when Khal killed them he was still on the First Cultivation Stage while now he was on the Fourth! Killing them now will be as easy for him as taking a stroll in a park!

Walking behind a tree, Khal glanced at the group of Razor Hounds in the distance that was sleeping soundlessly in the grass, their long noses buried below their paws.

“In their sleep, they look exactly like dogs. Kind of cute.” thought Khal and withdrew his Devil Fangs while his mouth formed a slight curve, “But unfortunately they are not.”

Swish!

In the following moment, Khal’s body flashed like a ghost and with a single move beheaded all the Razor Hound in the ground.

He was so fast, smooth and quiet that neither of the Razor Hounds had time to realize what came to collect their souls!

“Dance of The Celestial Serpent Third Form- Emerald Snake Dance!”

After modifying and fixing his Secret Art with Logan’s help, Khal was able to use almost all the 7 Forms of the Secret Art without problem, including the Third Form too!

The First Form accelerated his speed continuously on a long run while the Second Form helped him get behind close enemies undetectably while also using the Essence around his palm to blast away opponents or projectiles with ease.

On the other hand, the Third Form was surprisingly a mixture of these two Forms; accelerating his speed to a limited level but in a way where his approach was hardly detectable.

It was exceptionally effective against enemies that were far away from him and lost track of his figure for a split second or entirely.

Naturally, because it was so powerful Khal could hardly use it with his current Cultivation Strength. Maybe twice or thrice a day, but any more than that would injure his legs for sure!

[Notify! ‘Heaven’s Eyes’ has consumed 2 ‘Artificial Beast Essence’!]

[Notify! ‘Heaven’s Eyes’ has consumed 3 ‘Artificial Beast Essence’!]

[Notify! ‘Heaven’s Eyes’ has…]

Notification one after another sounded in Khal’s head, pushing his Heaven’s Eyes to even greater heights.

From his past 409 units of Essence his Talent reached 427, making him get closer and closer to the halfway point!

“Four hundred and twenty-seven… I start to feel that I am not in a tournament but back on Moon Mountain collecting Essence to become stronger…” sighed Khal as he continued to walk forward.

Killing Razor Hounds from the Third Cultivation Stage as though he just sawed grass in the back of his yard, Khal strengthened his Talent with a steady pace while Rubie could do nothing but spy their surroundings from above with a saddened expression.

Sometime later when he killed his 33rd Razor Hound, Khal turned disappointed as there remained no more Beasts in the forest he was in.

He searched the entirety of the area and killed every Beast he met with, leaving nothing alive in the woods except him and Rubie!

“Sigh… And here I am thinking I can reach the Upper Phase of the Fourth Cultivation Stage… What a disappointment…” sighed Khal with dissatisfaction as he heard the final notification ring inside his head.

However, the spectators that heard this and saw his face didn’t seem that dissatisfied as they were instead angered by that proclamation of his!

“What? Dissatisfied?! You should consider yourself fortunate that you are still alive!”

“Fuck… This is a total joke! He didn’t meet with a single participant so far except that weak one, yet he dares to act so arrogantly! I feel like choking him alive!”

“His arrogance will lead to his demise!”

Spectators cursed and 

“Pfft… He is truly nuts for saying something so bold before millions of Cultivators just because he killed a few weak Beasts.” laughed Nate, even wiping a small teardrop away from the corner of his eyes.

Even Liza seemed to smile as she knew that when Khal acted this way it meant he was confident.

However, what neither they and the spectators knew that Khal said those things not because he was arrogant or felt strong after killing a few Beasts, but because he didn’t know he was watched 24/7, letting him say things with greater ease.

He knew there will be ways to inspect the happenings that occurred with the participants, but he thought there will be an object like a camera in the air or something else that indicated who was currently watched and who was not.

If he would have known others heard what he just said he would have definitely buried himself just from pure shame!

He was in a tournament to kill participants and not in a tour where he should strengthen his Talent!

Exclaiming how good and disappointed he was just because he killed a few Third Stage Beasts… Ha! How ridiculously pathetic!

“SCREECH!” just as Khal was about to think what he should do next, suddenly Rubie’s cry resounded from above his head while he noticed a slight movement behind him in the distance.

“Enemy!” thought Khal, but suddenly a great idea appeared inside his head.

Except raising his guard he did nothing. He even unsummoned his Devil Fangs and made Rubie land on his shoulder as he crouched down to seem unsuspicious!

“Huh? Someone else?” a guy in a black robe with blue symbols sewed into its surface walked among the woods when he abruptly noticed Khal in the distance.

The guy seemed to be 17, his physique and facial expression looking quite average with his slim body and dark black hair and brown eyes.

The only thing that seemed special about him was the long spikes coming out of both of his elbows, looking quite scary and sharp.

“Body Modifying Talent. Quite powerful as it can modify different parts of the body, giving the individual inhuman powers that not even Secret Arts can achive,” exclaimed Connor deeply, but soon a frown appeared on his face.

“He seems to be on the upper Phase of the Third Cultivation Stage but… Why is he showing his back to that guy? Did he go insane or what? He is right behind him, he should have noticed him already!”

This question caused many to feel confused, but not the guy. Instead, what appeared on the guy’s face sly girn as he even licked the side of his mouth!

“I hit the jackpot! It’s him! The guy with his stupid summon! And he is even showing his back to me, completely unaware of what will kill him! What a fool, this will be too easy!” thought the guy with a wide grin and began to approach Khal while gradually lowering his presence.

“Turn around you fool!” said Scarlett, her complexion a bit worried as she didn’t want to believe Khal was incapable of detecting the Cultivator behind him.

However, the following events not only dumbfounded Scarlet but everyone else that watched Khal.

“Haha! You are mine!” shouted up the guy when he was an inch away from Khal and swung his bent arm, causing the spike to fly toward Khal’s neck with blinding speed!

But what the guy didn’t expect was just as his assault was about to behead Khal, Khal himself suddenly vanished into thin air and appeared behind him the very next second with a crystal black weapon before his neck.

“!?” the guy froze up in an instant, his back soaking with cold sweat right away.

“You… How?” was what the guy could ask through clattering teeth as he didn’t think Khal would be this strong.

However, instead of getting an answer, the guy watched as Khal bent his face a bit forward and with a calm grin looked straight at him from the side.

Though, the guy stiffened up not because of the grin but because of the pair of eyes that stared at him with a terrifyingly calm glare!

It was as though he was stared at by a devil that pierced right into his soul just with its gaze alone!

The feeling was chilling and extremely scary!

“But… How!? You have a Summoning Talent! How can you have…” asked the guy with a shaking voice, his eyes holding great terror.

“Do I?” asked Khal with a smile, and without waiting for the guy to reply, he cut his throat wide open.