Running through the colorful forest with great speed, a golden figure could be seen zigzagging among trees and boulders while leaving behind nothing more but golden blurs that remained under the moon's silver light for only a second or two before fading away into thin air.
Traveling several miles in minutes, the golden figure changed directions several times before it finally slowed down and halted its steps, revealing that it was a little fox with golden fur and three small but elegant tails that moved gently up and down.
The little fox examined its surroundings cautiously before it locked its flickering golden gaze onto the huge figure not far away from itself.
It was a creature with physical traits that of an ape with the slight difference that its size alone was twice as huge as a normal ape's. It had deep crimson fur on its muscular figure that blazed gently akin to flames while its raven claws flashed with a sharp metallic cluster whenever the moon's glow shone on them.
The golden creature remained hidden in the tree's shadow for over a few seconds before its little frame blurred for a moment only to vanish from its spot and reappear right at the ape's side!
"?!"
The mammal seemed to sense the sudden threat and wished to react, but sadly, that was only a false dream and the sole thing it was able to do was sense the approaching death and nothing more!
Swish!
With a quick and smooth slash, the little fox swung its small but razor-sharp claws, and like a hot knife cutting through butter, it sliced the creature into shreds under a blink, giving it no chance at all to cry out from the horrendous pain it could have felt at the moment.
Thud!
Watching as the once terrifying beast that in the past was capable of killing any existence on the Body Refiner Stage while also threatening some of the beings' lives on the Body Temperer Stage fell onto the ground in pieces, the golden little creature just remained indifferent and approached the now pile of flesh and organs in front of it.
And just like magic, when the little canine arrived into a three-meter radius from the pile of mess, the bloody mash slowly began to twist and turn before flying slightly into the air, changing into a yellowish substance that hovered inches above the ground!
Seeing this change, the creature's golden eyes flickered with joy for a moment before turning indifferent once again and decided to sit down calmly just a foot away from the floating substance.
And exactly a second later...
Whoosh!
The yellowish liquid-like matter quickly moved and melted into the golden fox's body, seemingly becoming one with it.
Feeling as the substance entered its body, filling it with mysterious but pleasant energy to its very core, the little creature couldn't help but tremble slightly from pleasure before opening its eyes and standing up on all fours.
[You have successfully consumed 81 Beast Essence!]
[You have consumed enough Beast Essence, thus reaching the threshold of your current Stage!]
[You must refine your body in its whole to reach the next Cultivation Stage!]
As the notifications sounded in the creature's mind, a sparse smile that seemed slightly sly formed on its tiny face before its body began to bend and grow, inducing its little frame to become larger and wider with each passing second!
"The peak of the Body Refining Stage, huh?" a deep and nonchalant voice resounded in the night while a young man dressed in a silver robe appeared on the spot where the little trickster stood moments ago.
Khal raised his eyes that sparkled like two pieces of polished emerald toward the silver moon above, his seemingly flawless face showing indifference that looked even more elegant than it has used to be for no apparent reasons.
After mesmerizing himself for a while in the moon's grand form over his head, Khal lowered his gaze and waved his hand.
{Cultivator Status}
Cultivation Talent: Power Imitation
Natural Born Talent: Perfect Disguise
Hidden Talent: Lost
Body Essence: 34,463
Beast Essence: 12,500
Cultivation Stage: Body Refiner
Examining his Cultivation Status in silence, Khal showed slight disappointment before shaking his head and averting his gaze toward the scenery in the far distance.
[Why do you feel dissatisfied? Not only did you reach the peak of the Second Cultivation Stage under just three days, but you have also increased the amount of Body Essence by a whole 2,000 units! That's something you must feel proud of!]
However, Khal just shook his head after hearing Nova's voice and said, "Not at all. On a planet like this, where creatures have strong Cultivation Stages meaning they had a dense amount of Beast Essence, I should have reached the peak way sooner than 72 hours."
[Maybe. Maybe not. But why fret about something you cannot change any longer and why not concentrate on the things you still can? If I were you, I would think about ways to refine my body and reach the Third Cultivation Stage as soon as possible!]
Khal remained silent and didn't answer. However, from the way how his eyes flickered, it was rather obvious he clearly understood what Nova just told him, and couldn't help but nod as a result.
"Yeah, you are right," Khal replied calmly before his eyes suddenly turned sky blue and several figures image appeared in his mind.
'Already here? They are pretty fast for crawlers.' Khal thought to himself before his body twisted once again, becoming the little golden fox he just previously used as a disguise and vanished from his spot.
Whoosh!
And just a few seconds after he disappeared, two Night Crawlers appeared out of thin air, their vigilant gazes scanning their surroundings in great detail and caution.
"Eh? But I swear I just felt his presence here a second ago, so where is he now?" Zeke asked with furrowed brows, feeling deeply confused by the current change of events.
Ramin felt the same way as he too could state positively that he just felt a slight presence from around here, but now he felt nothing as if it was just an illusion of some sort.
"Maybe he used some kind of unique technique to disguise his presence, so he must be around here, he couldn't have gone too far away. Let's go!"
Zeke nodded as he too thought the same way, hence without any further hesitation began to follow Ramin, quickly disappearing into the woods in the distance.
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