Cultivation Through Artifacts

The motions of the hundreds of beetles were like tidal waves of a storming ocean. Under the gentle light of the full moon above, the shining exoskeletons of the creatures made the surrounding trees and rocks to be filled with flickering and shining glints.

The sight was both mesmerizing but at the very same time… Scary. It was frightening because not only were there so many of them in one place, but each of the creatures before Khal had a presence on the Second Cultivation Stage! Just the thought alone as this many beasts attacked him at once made Khal breathe in some cold air.

“What should we do now?” whispered Khal quietly, visibly afraid of attracting the beasts’ attention to them.

“Diamond Beetles are occasionally gentle beasts and won’t attack anyone even if you walk next to them. But if they feel that their King’s life was in danger or you try to hurt them, well, then you will find yourself in a very dire situation.” replied Moras calmly, but he too was unable to hide the shock in his eyes.

As Khal listened to this he sighed with relief and turned his gaze at the gaps on the mountain wall.

“So what is your plan then? We can’t kill so many Diamond Beetles with our current Cultivation Stage and I hope you know that too.” said Khal as he glanced at Moras on his side.

However, this question only made Moras to smile and chuckle slightly.

“Who said we will kill these weak creatures? We came here to kill the Diamond Beetle King.” 

“!?”

The moment Khal heard this his mouth opened slightly wide while his eyes got so round that it was almost feared that his eyeballs would fall out.

Weak creature? Kill the Diamond Beetle King? Let alone the fact that a normal Diamond Beetle had a defense that not even a Fourth Stage Cultivator had what it took to penetrate, he wanted to slay the Diamond Beetle King?! Did he get bored with his life or was he just simply a crazy maniac?

Diamond Beetle Kings had the title of ‘King’ because of a specific reason. They were the unparalleled Diamond Beetles among all of its species! Its exoskeleton not only was super durable to the point where a Fifth Stage Cultivator would start crying in hopelessness, but it had an ability that made it feared by low Stage Cultivators too!

Reverse Crush!

Diamond Beetle Kings had a unique power that not only let them fend against almost any kind of powers below the Fifth Cultivation Stage, but they could also reverse any kind of physical attacks with double the force! It could be considered as an absolute defense!

And right now, Moras not only wanted to challenge such a frightening creature, which was considered undestroyable below the Fourth Cultivation Stage, but he wanted to kill it! Before hundreds of normal Diamond Beetles to top it off!

Khal was unable to think of any ways that Moras, who just stated he was on the Fourth Cultivation Stage, would have what it took to accomplish such a feat; let alone him who was brought here for the sole reason to help.

But seeing the dead-serious eyes and the determined presence around Moras, Khal had no choice but to believe him and ask, “And how do you plan to kill it?”

“Hiw? That is easy. That is why I brought you here.” said Moras, turning Khal’s face on the side instantly full of astonishment.

“Me? I told you, I’m only on the Second Cultivation Stage. I can’t… No, I don’t have the ability currently to kill such a powerful creature.” answered Khal as he knitted his eyebrows tightly.

“I know. I didn’t even say you should be the one killing it. You will be the bait.”

“…”

“The… What?” asked Khal with an expressionless face, hoping that what he just heard was a joke.

However, it didn’t seem that Moras was in a mood to joke around, and instead, his face showed mad gravity. He was insanely serious about what he just said.

“Are you serious? Why me? And also, why should I be the bait? That’s just equal to committing suicide!” raised his voice Khal as he said that, but still made sure not to attract any unwanted attention.

“Why? There are quite a few reasons why.” smiled Moras and raised his index finger, “Firstly, you are the weakest between the two of us, so you wouldn’t stand a chance against the Diamond Beetle King.”

“…” Khal watched in silence as Moras raised his middle finger.

“Secondly, you don’t have what it takes to kill the King; you don’t have the proper Talent to counter it’s the ability nor the strength to slay it.”

“…” watching the extended ring finger, Khal was still silent.

“And lastly,” said Moras calmly, but his warm smile slowly turned into a frozen glare, “I saved your life, so this should be the very least you should do to me.”

“!?”

When Khal noticed the way Moras looked at him he felt a kind of tingling sensation in the back of his head for a split second. The way Moras looked at him was just like how the assassins looked at him; it was killing intent! Without a mistake, those eyes were definitely from someone who was ready to kill, no question at all!

Subconsciously, Khal raised his guard and stepped a bit away from Moras in alarm, while Moras himself turned surprised.

“Huh? What happened?” asked Moras with confusion as he looked around, making his killing intent vanish away from his eyes in the very next instant.

“…”

Khal furrowed his brows upon seeing this ‘confused’ act, but although suspicious, he still shook his head and said, “No… it’s nothing.”

“Oh, I thought you noticed something. Haha! You scared me a little bit there!” chuckled gently Moras, but that laugh was no longer a normal one in Khal’s eyes. Right now, it was a complete facade, a huge act.

“So what is your plan?” asked Khal leisurely trying to act like nothing happened, but deep inside he was on the edge. He felt that somehow Moras was not as simple as he first believed and needed to act with more caution from this moment on.

This guy was strange.

Naturally, Moras noticed these changes too but decided not to say anything. Instead, he looked at the hundreds of Diamond Beetles on the ground and said, “Just go out and attack them and once their attention is on you, start running. Diamond Beetles have a strong defense but they are horrible at speed, so baiting them away without getting caught should be relatively easy even with your speed.”

“Understood.” nodded Khal and without wasting any more time he walked toward the wave of creatures. Somehow, since he noticed that ‘killing intent’ in Moras’s eyes he felt no more safe in his proximity. Now, he would rather choose hundreds of Diamond Beetles than staying even a single second more next to him. 

“…”

Mora’s watched as Khal stood up and walked away, while a cold glint flashed in his eyes for a single moment.

As Khal stepped out from the shadows, a black crystal weapon representing a hybrid between a short sword and a dagger appeared in his clenching hold.

“Let’s start it then!” murmured Khal with determined eyes and flicked his wrist slightly.

*Clang!*

The moment the dagger opened up into a crystal fan, filling the whole surroundings with the sharp sound of metal, all the creatures before Khal stopped moving at once and turned their gaze at him.

Watching as hundreds of pairs of eyes peered at him in complete silence made Khal’s mouth twitch slightly and raise his hand to the side.

“Here I go!” shouted Khal and as the fan in his hand lit up with a silver light, he waved his hand.

*BAM!*

As the small explosion he created made the creatures on the front to be blown away, Khal turned around; and like he had been just fired out from a gun, started to run away with insane speed.

“ZIIIIKKK!!!”

Instantly triggered by what Khal did, like raging waves of a once peaceful sea, the hundreds of Diamond Beetles screened up with anger and started to chase after Khal.

“Not bad.” nodded Moras from behind a tree with an approving nod and looked at the mountain wall.

Thanks to Khal’s help, all the low Stage Diamond Beetles had vanished, and what remained was an empty space, with only the Beetle King inside the mountain wall.

“Let see th-.” said Moras as he walked out from the tree’s shadow in a calm manner, but what waited for him to freeze up in a single second.

*Ziik… Ziiikk!*

With a sound that was akin to a chainsaw but with a significantly quieter tone of sound, the mountain wall erupted like it had been detonated and a head as big as two fists put next to each other emerged from the created huge hole.

*Ziiik… Ziiiikk!!*

“It’s the Diamond Beetle King! It truly came out!” thought Moras happily and watched as the beast slowly climbed out through the gap and scanned its surroundings in fear.

“I see, so it’s true.” thought Moras and slightly, the side of his mouth curved upward, “Diamond Beetle Kings can’t survive alone even for a second! That’s why once all the normal Diamond Beetles had been killed or brought away, the Diamond Beetle King will appear and look for its species in hurry.”

And just as Moras thought that, suddenly the creature detected his presence, making it screech toward the sky with a deafening cry.

“Scree-.”

Or at least wanted to, but without any prior warning or indication suddenly Moras’s palm was placed on its head with an evil grin on his face.

“Die!” said Moras in a chilling tone and a huge explosion followed.

*BOOM!*