Dylan was just about to sit down and break his spirit core when he heard the sounds of feet running towards the cave. He quickly stood up and prepared for battle.
Using his Heavenly Eyes, he saw 15 men moving towards the cave in high speeds! The man who lead the group was at the Pinnacle 15th level of the Awakened Spirit Realm while his lackeys were all at the 11th or 12th Awakened Spirit Realm!! He estimated that they would arrive in just two minutes time!!
"Shit, I have been discovered!" Dylan cursed as he crushed the Primal Stones he got from his mindscape.
...
During the twelve days, Dylan had 300 customers daily and earned approximately 15,000 gold coins a day. Dylan. Dylan now had a total of 3600 Primal Stones and 360 decastones with 36 Centurion Stones! Dylan was initially shock by the number of customers that came to their restaurant but after learning that the gigantic Thundercloud City contained more than 100,000 citizens with 90% of the population being cultivators, he felt that 300 customers were far too little. Even more so, when he discovered that the Premier Hall had an average of 17,000 customers daily!
...
Dylan's cultivation continued to soar as he crushed the Primal Stones! Dylan did not need to refine the energy from the stones because his Legendary Core could insta-refine any type of energy that the user absorbs! Back when he still had his original spirit core, Dylan needed to refine the pure energy he got from the Primal Stone because it was still not considered his own despite being stored within his spirit core. Now, he could just carelessly crush the Primal Stones while the Legendary Core immediately converts to his own the moment it enters it.
Initial 1st level Spirit Core!
Pinnacle 1st level Spirit Core!
Initial 2nd level Spirit Core!
High 2nd level Spirit Core!
Pinnacle 2nd level Spirit Core!
Initial 3rd level Spirit Core!
Intermediate 3rd level Spirit Core!
High 3rd level Spirit Core!
...
Dylan only used one Primal Stone to jump from the Initial stage of the 1st level to the Pinnacle while he usedthree Primal Stones to get through the 2nd level. When he arrived at the third level, Dylan expended about 10 stones to get through it!
Dylan then found out that his consumption was far greater than it originally was! But being stuck in this situation where he might be found out, Dylan disregarded it as he continued to use 30 stones to get past level 4 and 70 stones to break through the Initial 5th level to the Pinnacle 5th level! To advance from the Spirit Core to the Spirit Veins, he used a total of 30 stones!!
...
Initial 6th level Spirit Veins!
Intermediate 6th level Spirit Veins!
High 6th level Spirit Veins!
Peak 6th level Spirit Veins!
Pinnacle 6th level of the Spirit Veins!!
Initial 7th level of Spirit Veins!!
...
Dylan used a total of 300 stones just to get over from the 6th to the 7th level! Disregarding everything, he used all of his Primal Stones to quickly raise his strength!!
800 Primal Stones- 7th to 8th level!
2000 Primal Stones- 8th to 9th level!!
...
Anyone who would have witnessed such a drastic increase in strength would die from shock! Crossing 9 levels in just 2 minutes was downright monstrous! He still had about 300 more Primal Stones so he used it to advance from the Initial Ninth Level Spirit Veins Realm to Intermediate stage!
He did not use the Deca-Stones because he wanted to use it after his 6th refinement. He wanted to conserve as much Deca-Stones possible.
Dylan believed that with his current cultivation would still unable him to fight the boss and the 14 others. Although he now had the Legendary Core which had 5 times the capacity of a spirit core and had the ability to instantly refine energy, it did not have any particular features for the augmentation of strength.That's why he used the Stealth Cloak and hid close by as he awaited for them to come to where he currently was. Activating the Stealth Cloak, it was like he completely blended with the rock walls of this cave.
...
The 15 hunters has just entered the cave and cautiously scanned their surroundings for any type of ambush. They formed a double-edge blade like pattern with the leader at the front. His lackeys were in two rows as theyfaced the walls left and right while the last pair was facing south . The purpose of this formation was to ensure that their would be no ambush that would occur by facing all four directions. This showed their experience when it comes to hunting.
After cautiously proceeding, they eventually reached the end of the cave where they found a formation diagram which exuded blood red lights! It faintly exuded a very concentrated amount of medicinal essence and energy.
"What the heck is this? I thought that there would be a monster on this cave. What a letdown." A lanky grunt complained.
"Boss, do you know what this is?" A thick grunt asked the hairy man.
"..." The boss did not respond but it was clear from his expression that he did not know what it was.
"This is... an energy refining formation!!" A slightly knowledge black-haired lackey exclaimed to his boss.
"A energy refining formation?! Are you sure?!" The boss was shocked when he heard those words. He immediately grab a hold the lackey who just spoke and asked.
"I-I'm not entirely sure but based on the records I have read,the concentrated refined energy and the complex runes, it matches the description uncannily. What's more is that it is a very high class formation! I don't know why a great expert would leave behind such a powerful formation but this çould be said to be a heaven sent opportunity, boss. You could use this formation to breakthrough to the Origin Realm!" The lackey immediately answered and invited his boss to use it for himself.
"I see..." The boss contemplated for a bit before he laughed at the top of his lungs. "Hahahaha, you have done a very meritorious service. I will promote you as my right-hand man! Hahaha, the heavens do love me! My fate would not be stuck to a mere Awakened Spirit Realm cultivator!"
"Really boss?" The lackey's eyes brightened. Being his right hand man meant that the he would have a status only second to the boss.
"Hahaha, of course! I never go back on my word! Now, guard me all of you! I will be trying to break through to the Origin Realm! Once I have, we will be able to stand as a high-class hunting group!" The hairy boss walked to the center of the formation.
'Marvelous!' The orange haired boss gasped inwardly. He felt the purity of the energy of this formation was out of this world! It was then that he knew with this energy, he would certainly enter the Origin Realm! When he reached the center, he swiftly sat down and entered a meditative state.
"It is time for I, Timber Smith, to become an Origin Realm expert!" He proudly murmured to himself as he closed his eyes.
When he was just about to absorb the energy from the foundation, a voice from his back softly entered his ears. "Unfortunately, you will never get the chance too anymore." After the voice faded, a Crescent Moon Slash was what followed after!
*Swish**Boom*
"What the-" Before Timber Smith could react, he was hit by a full-powered Crescent Moon Slash on his neck. Without knowing the source of his death, he was immediately decapitated with his head obliterated from the strike and his body blown off to the group of hunters.
"What!?! BOSS?!!" The group of hunters was flabbergasted by what happened! Just a moment ago, their bosses was alive and doing well, he was even laughing. But now, he was decapitated in an instant. They did not even know what happened to their bosses or who killed him. They were one hundred percent sure that there was no one in this cave aside from them.
When the dust subsided, they saw a cloak wearing handsome young man who was holding a sword. He was none other than Dylan. Dylan hid himself until the moment Timber went to the center of the diagram before attacking because he wanted to immediately eliminate the strongest one of the group.
Dylan timed his attack the moment Timber enters a meditative state because this was the state where a practitioner is most vulnerable at. That's why he moved in for the kill when he saw Timber meditating and used his strongest move.
"Who's there?!" The grunts readied themselves for battle and took out their weapons.
"This cave will be your burial ground." Dylan coldly said.
"Hmph, you only killed boss due to your petty tricks! If you were not an assassin, Boss would only kill you with a slap!" A hunter immediately disdained when he saw that Dylan's strength was only at the 9th level! He thought that he was only able to kill Timber due to him being well-versed in the art of assassination.
"That's right! Guys, your petty tricks won't work anymore since you have already been found out!" Another hunter added.
"You're only a 9th level Spirit Veins cultivator! Any one of us could easily kill you!" The lanky hunter ridiculed.
"Then, come at me." Dylan calmly spoke.
"Hahaha, you're courting death, pretty boy! Bros, let me handle him! It'll be done in a jiffy." The lanky youth mocked as he retrieved his saber from his storage ring and attacked Dylan. He was at the High 12th Awakened Spirit Realm.
"Psh, what an idiot." Seeing that he did not use his avatar, Dylan also lunged forward and took the chance while he raised his right hand which was holding the Waning Moon Sword and slashed forth an Energy Slash!
"Hahaha, struggle like a cornered animal, brat!" The lanky youth used a Mid Spirit Battle Technique and tried to overpower the Energy Slash. However, his expression changed when he discovered that dispelling the Energy Slash was much harder than he originally thought. It was as if he was already fighting someone at the same level as him.
"I don't believe that a 9th level brat can beat me!!" The lanky youth shouted angrily. He eventually overpowered the attack with much effort and laughed cockily, "Is that all you got, pretty boy?! Hahahah!"
When he dispelled the Energy Slash, he did not see Dylan in front of him. A foreboding feeling arose in his hear when he heard Dylan's voice.
"You talk too much." Dylan calmly mused when he appeared in his left side and slashed through his neck with an Energy Slash.
Without even the chance to scream or ask for help, his head met the ground before his body could even do so. When his body fell, a blood pool came after.
The hunters had their jaws opened widely. They did not expect that the lanky youth would die in a matter of seconds when he fought the young man in front of them.