Cultivation Through Artifacts

Under the moon's light, a young man could be seen standing not far away from a crystal clear lake, his arms crossed before his body as a manner of defense.

Splash!

??

Suddenly, out of the lake, a creature that represented a fish but with a long, blade-like nose jumped out high into the air, and like a gun, fired a ball of water toward the young man.

Bam!

Like a bullet, the attack exploded onto the boy, sending drops of water and a gentle gust of wind into the surroundings, but except for that, nothing serious happened.

'Right more to go.' Khal thought to himself and watched as the River Shifter jumped out once again and fired at him another attack.

Bam!

Khal defended against the creature's attack with nothing more but with his bare skin and watched as on his arms deep wounds began to form gradually, sending drops of blood onto the ground.

Bam!

"One more to go," mumbled Khal with gritted teeth as he withstood the piercing pain in his arms.

Luckily, the River Shifter was only on the Fourth Stage and while its speed was exceptionally terrifying in the water, it had weak attacks once outside on the surface.

If it weren't for the fact that he had to defend with nothing but his body, Khal would have easily killed the Beast hundreds of times already even with his eyes closed!

'Here it comes!' Khal got ready for the final attack as he saw slight movements below the lake`s surface, but soon his eyes widened as not one, but five River Shifters emerged, each facing him with visible killing intent.

Not waiting for Khal to react at all, all five creatures fired at him a huge ball of water that this time was not only blue in color but had a slight hue of crimson too!

"!?"

BOOM!

Each ball of water erupted into Khal's body like bombs, sending a powerful shockwave into the surroundings that were strong enough to shake trees several tens of meters away like crazy!

"Cough... Cough... That was close..." Khal coughed slightly because of the dust that rose into the air because of the previous attack, and lowered his hands to his side that no longer had any skin, but only raw and bleeding flesh!

Blood dripped onto the ground, painting the grass and the earth into a color of dark red, while Khal had a kind of ugly complexion.

It was obvious he felt immense pain, but because of Nova's voice in his head, the pain eased slightly.

[Congratulations! Cultivation Quest 'Defend against 10 attacks with only your body ' was successfully completed!]

[+1 Physical Resistance acquired!]

[+1 Mental Strength acquired!]

"At once..." Khal groaned with a mixture of relief and pain, but couldn't help but lower his gaze at his arms that were now in a very unsightly shape.

Splash!

However, before he could have thought any further about what to do, the five River Shifters emerged once again, ready to attack him just like previously.

"It was enough, get out of my sight at once!" Khal said out loud with an annoyed expression and waved his Devil Fangs twice.

Swish!

BOOM!

Without any mercy, the five creatures were sliced and ripped apart by Khal's Secret Art before turning into a yellowish substance floating above the lake, ready to be consumed.

However, Khal couldn't care less about the Beast Essence as the pain in his arms was getting more and more unbearable, while his blood was also flowing without halt which made him feel a bit scared he will die from blood loss.

But soon, he realized something and without hesitation activated his Bloodshed Touch while also concentrating on both of his arms.

And soon, just as he thought, the blood that would have flowed and dropped down suddenly turned solid, forming a layer of solid blood around his flesh akin to armor.

"This will do it for the time being," Khal told himself after seeing that the solidified blood was quite durable and even made the pain feel not that hurtful as it previously was.

Hence, Khal didn't hesitate and half of the Beast Essences, getting 24 units of Essences, while giving the other half to Rubie who gladly accepted it.

After that, Khal checked his last quest, which was quite a difficult one.

/Kill 1 Beast on the Sixth Cultivation Stage/

? Killed Beasts: 0/1

~Contribution~

? +1 to every Cultivation Trait

'Sixth Cultivation Stage, huh? If I am right, toward the peak of Moon Mountain I will be able to find one, so let's check it out.'

With that, Khal didn't hesitate and with his Secret Art began to ascend the mountain at a rapid pace.

Of course, if he met with a Beast on his way, he would kill them without a second thought and consume their Essence to further strengthen himself.

And exactly an hour later, Khal reached the middle region of the mountain, but because here the path became way steeper than below, he had no choice but ascend slower.

Obviously, bird type Beast that habituated that region all tried to attack and kill him, but because they were all only on the Fourth Stage and only a few in the Fifth Stage, they were all slain and consumed by Rubie in a blink!

She made sure Khal was safe and sound, giving other creatures no chance at all to approach him. They stood no chance before Rubie, who was called the Emperor of the Skies way before her evolution!

After climbing for a bit more than half an hour straight, Khal finally reached the area where the ground was almost flat once again and looked around.

Though the very moment he did, the sight that waited for him made his whole body stiff as a few meters away from him, a beast that represented a hybrid between a wolf and a tiger with silver fur lied on top of a boulder, its gold eyes staring straight at him.

Its whole figure leaked a terrifying and suffocating presence that only creatures that broke through the bottleneck of the Fifth Cultivation Stage and reached the Sixth Cultivation Stage had; a True Beast that stepped on the path of real cultivation!