Chapter 197 - Hideout
After consuming the Plant Beast's Essence, Khal roamed deeper into the shadows, hoping to find more Plant Beasts.
And even though he couldn't detect them with his Bloodshed Touch, Khal had a plan to figure out Plant Beast's positions.
As far as he knew, normal Beasts feared Plant Beasts so much that they would rather leave and escape from their own territories just to avoid fighting them!
Thus, Khal planned to simply search the areas where he could see no normal Beasts with his Bloodshed Touch, and see if his hunch was right or not.
And once he reached such an area, and indeed, there really were Plant Beasts around him, four to be exact!
Each had a small physique, about two feet in size while their appearance was similar to that of a small rabbit, with the sole difference that their bodies were not made out of flesh and fur but colorful flowers akin to roses!
Their fur was rose petals while the seemingly sharp and spiked fangs and claws on their bodies were thorns! Khal seeing them had an impression of being beautiful, but as he knew these Beasts were terrifying creatures on the Fifth Cultivation Stage, he was no fool to believe they were weak or harmless beings at all!
He understood really well that they could easily kill even him, someone on the Sixth Stage if he lowered his guard completely, but alas, only a complete idiot would do such a ridiculous thing.
Therefore, he didn't hesitate to use his Hundred Slice Cage and slice them up without any mercy.
After killing them with relative easily, Khal consumed two of their Beast Essence, getting 11 and 21 of Beast Essence from each, while giving the remaining two to Rubie.
Now that she has reached the Fifth Stage, Khal wanted her to reach the next Stage as fast as possible as he knew once she did, she would become a True Beast just like how humans would become a Real Cultivator once they reached that Stage.
It could be said just like how for humans, the Sixth Stage for Beasts was also a milestone where their power would improve with leap and bounds!
Continuing his hunt for 5 hours straight and slaying every Plant Beast that attempted to kill him together with a few normal Beasts, Khal's units of Beast Essence increased steadily while he also reached the 50th kill.
Swish!
BAM!
[Congratulations! Cultivation Quest, 'Kill 50 Beasts above the Fourth Cultivation Stage' has been completed!]
[+1 to all Cultivation Trait acquired!]
Khal closed his eyes for a moment to enjoy the slight changes inside his body, and once everything vanished he opened his Cultivator Status.
{Cultivator Status}
• Cultivation Talent: Talentless (Sealed)
• Hidden Talent: Lost
• Body Essence: 1050
• Beast Essence: 338
• Cultivation Grade: Real Cultivator
° Physical Strength: 3
° Mental Strength: 2
° Soul Strength: 2
° Physical Resistance: 2
° Mental Resistance: 2
° Agility: 2
° Speed: 2
Glancing at his Cultivation Status, Khal nodded with a satisfied grin and raised his gaze.
'Now that I have finished this quest, I should go back but...' Khal remembered what Neo told him hence he decided to throw his previous plan aside and push deeper into the darkness.
With his Devil Fangs in his hand and his blood detecting ability with his Bloodshed Touch, Khal walked around the inner parts of Shadow Woods, but except for Plant Beasts and normal Beasts, he saw nothing.
'Strange... So far I have been walking aimlessly for 4 hours straight yet no sign of humans. Maybe Neo's guess was wrong?' Khal wondered to himself with furrowed brows.
However, after many minutes of silent pondering, Khal raised a brow as an abrupt idea popped up in his head, 'Or maybe he was actually right?'
Khal gradually lowered his gaze onto the ground and soon a smile that so far never shown appeared.
'So there you are. Lying low in your hideout like a little rat.'
Right below his feet, Khal was able to see several red dots moving almost with no change of position here and there. And because they were dots, almost as small as a speck of grain, Khal knew they were awfully deep underground, even several miles deep if not more!
Though, soon Khal's mood changed to the complete opposite, and his brows gradually lowered into a frown, while his eyes scanned his surroundings.
Now that he found out that Neo was right and Alde has really had a hideout in Shadow Woods, and underground on top of that, now Khal had to make sure to do a few things before he could attempt to kill him.
'First, find and learn the Secret Art Neo told you then find his other selves before killing them together with the main one!' Khal thought to himself and after taking one final glance at the spot belowground, he walked away.
Meanwhile, about a hundred meters away from him atop a tree, a monkey made out of some material similar to black wood was staring at Khal's departing figure.
"Did he go away?" Alde who was sitting inside a small room in a lotus position asked from a man who stood outside before his door.
"Yes, Young Master. It seems so." replied the man, his face void of any emotion whilst his voice held deep respect.
"Did he find the entrance?"
"No, Young Master, he didn't. He is still unaware of the secret passage and it seems he just came to hunt for Beasts without any secondary intentions. However..."
When Alde heard as the man abruptly halted his speech, Alde's indifferent, but cold voice sounded, "However?"
The man thought for a while, and after taking a breath he explained, "It seems Young Master's 'friend' has successfully broken into the Sixth Stage. Even his tamed Beast reached the Fifth Cultivation Stage, and seemingly underwent an evolution?"
"WHAT?!" Alde's angry voice reverberated from the room, however, everyone that heard it could clearly hear the disbelief in his voice.
The man remained silent and motionless as he waited for Alde to become even more furious and cause a ruckus, but luckily and unexpectedly, he didn't. Instead, he turned calmer than ever and commanded in a low voice, "I want details."
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Back inside Moon Academy, Khal decided to go and check the Cultivator's Organization if he could buy or at least find the Secret Art that Neo talked about.
Once inside the building, Khal proceeded to walk before this huge desk on the side, that had Noelle's alluring figure standing calmly behind it.
"Hi, welcome back. How can I be onto your help this time?" once noticing his figure and approach, Noelle stopped doing whatever she was doing behind her desk and smiled at Khal as though he was a very close friend of hers for years now!
Obviously, it was all because of the previous time when he came and used his Golden Card that in truth only a few can have. And also, with his amazing achievements such as his placement inside the Thousand Life Tournament, his reputation was quite high, even among the Cultivator's Organization.
Khal naturally understood this and smiled too before speaking without beating around the bush, "Do you know about a Secret Art called Creator's Gaze?"