Cultivation Through Artifacts

Chapter 57: Shadow Woods

/Mission: Kill 5 Gold Hawks on Moon Mountain./

The very moment as Khal read the sentence out loud that was on the screen as clear as day, his whole body stiffened up like he had just been thrown into freezing water.

Moon Mountain was the highest hill that could be discovered not far away from Moon City on the east. Rumors said that when the sun was high above the clouds, it was as gorgeous as a well-painted scenery, putting anyone into a captivated daze, just after a single glance.

However, this beauty vanished in the very instant when dawn came and the moon emerged onto the starry night sky. Like falling from a sweet dream into an unforgettable nightmare, the whole Moon Mountain gets flooded with creatures on or above the Third Cultivation Stage, while not even a single creature below that could be found there.

And out of the many creatures that lived there, one of them was the Gold Hawk, which cultivators referred to as the King of the Skies.

When Khal was in the library, reading and getting knowledge about this world, one of the very first things he had learned about was the characteristics and traits of the Gold Hawks.

Even though that it was a creature on the Third Cultivation Stage, thanks to its speed, it was able to slay even weaker creatures on the Fourth Cultivation Stage!

But not only was it insanely quick, but it had a special ability called Gold Toxic. It was an incredibly lethal toxin that once getting into the victim’s body, it made the blood to slowly turn into a gold-like substance, causing its victim a slow, painful, but certain death.

And that is why Khal was not only shocked, but a bit scared too. If he needed to kill 1 or 2, then he definitely would accept it, but 5? He was not even on the Third Cultivation Stage and now Logan wants him to kill 5 creatures that were considered as terrifying predators of Moon Mountain? Was it some kind of joke, because right now, Khal hoped that it was.

“This will be the one.” smiled Logan as he stepped to the side, letting Khal to accept the mission.

“This? Can’t we just find something else?” asked Khal with a wry smile.

“No.”

“But I-.”

“No.”

“…”

As the two looked at each other in silence, Khal closed his eyes and sighed.

“At least tell me why this one then.”

Logan pointed at the screen and explained, “Just look at the rewards and you will understand it right away.”

With furrowed brows, Khal turned his gaze at the screen once again, but instantly as he did, both of his eyes widened in great surprise.

“What?!”

• Mission Reward:

– 10.000 pieces of silver coin!

– 1 Cultivation Rank Promotion! (Only below Rank C!)

– 1 freely selected Secret Art from Moon Academy! (Only below Expert Level!)

“…”

The three rewards left Khal completely speechless. Let alone the fact that his Cultivation Rank will be promoted from F Rank to E Rank after completing the mission, but he will be also rewarded with 10.000 Moon Coin and 1 free Secret Art!

Did the world just go crazy or did he hit the jackpot? In either way, it would be completely foolish not to accept such a mission even if it meant risking his life!

“With 10.000 coins, I am pretty sure that I won’t need to worry about food and drinks for a few months.”

In this world, both cultivators and normal people used coins as currency. No matter how strong you were, if you had no money, you were as good as a dead person. Buying food, drink, Secret Arts, potions, weapons, and even more, one needed money, so coins were almost as essential as one’s life. It could be said that it was the second most important resource after Beast Essence!

“I understand. I will accept this mission then.” said Khal and touched the ‘accept’ word on the right bottom corner of the screen.

*Swish!*

With a silver light, Khal watched as his Cultivator’s Badge flew out of his pocket and while it hovered before his face, small words started to form on it one by one.

/Mission: Gold Hawk Hunt/

• Gold Hawk killed: 0/5

“Now that you have accepted it, every time you kill a Gold Hawk, the badge will automatically detect and count it. Once you have killed 5 Gold Hawks, the only thing you need to do is to come back and collect the rewards.” explained Logan on the side with his arms crossed before his chest.

“I see. Then let’s go, I can’t wait to receive the rewards!” smiled Khal and walked toward the exit, but seeing Logan’s standing figure turned around.

“What? Did something happen?” asked Khal as he furrowed his brows in confusion.

“No, nothing happened at all.” waved his hand Logan, “You just go. I will wait for your arrival here, but be sure to come back after 3 days. I hope you don’t want to lose the right to keep your key.”

“…”

“What? Oh… Haha! You thought I will help you kill those creatures?” smiled Logan, making Khal realize one crucial fact he forgot in an instant.

In this world the only way to become truly strong if he overcomes obstacles only with his own power without any external help, including his teacher’s assistance.

Also, Logan was not his guard who always protected him, but his teacher who was there for him only to teach him things he didn’t know or protect him only when things were truly out of his league.

And maybe this mission he has accepted was hard to the point where it could put his life in danger, it was definitely not out of his league. Especially with his Devil Fangs and Heaven’s Eyes, Logan knew that if Khal was careful enough, he could complete this mission quite easily.

With a deep sigh, Khal shook his head realizing his mistake, and after turning around, waved his hand around.

“Not at all, I was just simply confused. Now then, if you excuse me, I’m off.”

Watching as Khal’s shadow disappeared in the distance, Logan smiled and closed his eyes.

“In the future, there won’t be others to hold your hand and protect your life. To become powerful, you must learn how to protect yourself from dangers. Also…” as Logan thought about the Moon Robe he gave Khal, a slight curve emerged onto the corner of his mouth and chuckled, but the next second a sudden realization hit him.

“Ah! I forgot to tell him not to climb too high onto the mountain… Well, nevermind it now. He knows the danger of Moon Mountain, so I’m pretty sure he will be fine.” shrugged Logan, and without giving it a second thought turned around to leave.

However, what neither he nor Khal noticed, was that on the other side of the hall, behind a small pillar, Alde was standing motionlessly with a terrifyingly wicked smile etched on his face.

“This could be a perfect opportunity.”

***

Stepping out of Moon Academy’s territory then right through Moon City’s gates, Khal turned toward the east and walked toward Moon Mountain with steady steps.

Because the sun was still high up in the sky, he wasn’t in such a hurry, because the creatures only appeared at night, so instead, decided to go hunt for weaker creatures to consume their Beast Essence and strengthen his Heaven’s Eyes.

Since the moment he reached the Second Cultivation Stage and fought against Angor, Khal noticed that quite a few changes happened with his Heaven’s Eyes.

First, the radius where he could detect his surroundings expanded from 5 meters to exactly 6 meters. Maybe the difference was not big, but during a fight, even an inch could determine about his life or death.

But the biggest change he discovered wasn’t that, but instead something even greater. Until this moment, while his Heaven’s Eyes were able to detect anything inside of its radius as clear as day, without making things move slower in his eyes. It only bestowed him a greater reaction speed than normal people.

So if he would have fought with Angor when he was still in the First Cultivation Stage, he was 100% sure he would have lost. Even if his reaction speed was enhanced by his Heaven’s Eyes, he still wouldn’t have been able to react in time to those insanely fast assaults, let alone block them.

However, now that he reached the Second Cultivation Stage this completely changed. Not only did his reaction speed became faster when using his Heaven’s Eyes, but even the things that entered his detection radius became significantly slower.

That was the sole reason why he was able to defeat Angor, who was a whole Cultivation Stage above him, and not because he used some kind of secret skill. Naturally, his Devil Fangs did play an important role during the fight, but Khal was quite sure that even without its help he would have won.

“I need to reach the next Stage as fast as possible. I can’t wait to see what new things will wait for me then.” thought Khal with obvious excitement and walked toward a forest in the distance, that was not far away from Moon Mountain.

“Let’s go to Shadow Woods!”