Chapter 23: Ch 23- Goraths liar
The journey to the Ruined Sanctuary was not easy, Even with Mo Yuan’s speed, it still took him two full days to reach his destination.
During those two days, he encountered many low-level Beasts along the way but none of them posed much of a threat, so he used them as practice targets.
Battle after battle, his understanding of the Shadow Blade continued to improve, and his control over his saber became even more refined.
Although he had already reached the Major Achievement stage, actual combat experience was still the best way to polish his skills.
Of course, not every encounter was easy.
Several times, Mo Yuan came across intermediate Beasts whose strength far exceeded his own.
Whenever that happened, he didn’t choose to fight.
Instead, he quickly activated his Shadow Talent, merged into the surrounding darkness, and quietly waited for the beasts to leave before continuing on his journey.
Sometimes, avoiding a battle was far wiser than winning one.
Because of his careful approach and the help of his Shadow Talent, Mo Yuan successfully reached the Ruined Sanctuary without suffering a single injury.
Standing on top of a rocky cliff, he looked at the vast forest stretching before him.
Ancient trees towered into the sky, blocking most of the sunlight. The entire area was unusually quiet. Only the occasional roar of a powerful Beast echoed through the mountains.
A faint smile appeared on Mo Yuan’s face.
"Finally made it."
"Thank goodness I copied the Shadow Talent."
"Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have survived the journey here."
For the first time, Mo Yuan felt a little grateful toward Hong Yuan.
If Hong Yuan hadn’t hired Grey to assassinate him, he would never have obtained such a useful talent.
In a strange way, Hong Yuan had delivered one of the greatest opportunities straight to his doorstep.
Of course, if Hong Yuan were still alive and heard those thoughts, he would probably cough up blood from anger.
After calming himself down, Mo Yuan looked deeper into the forest.
"Now it’s time to find a Gorath."
According to the information recorded in the Beast Atlas, Goraths rarely wandered around without reason.
Most of the time, they stayed inside caves, coming out only to hunt or defend their territory.
Finding one shouldn’t be too difficult.
After entering the Ruined Sanctuary, Mo Yuan immediately began searching for caves. There were many different kinds of Beasts living in this place.
Massive wolves.
Giant poisonous snakes.
Armoured bears.
Even strange bird-type beasts that circled high above the forest.
Fortunately, Goraths were also one of the dominant species here.
As long as he searched carefully, he would eventually find what he was looking for.
Three hours quickly passed.
During that time, Mo Yuan discovered several Goraths.
However, after checking them with his Copy Talent, he quietly gave up.
Most of them were only low-level Goraths.
Although they possessed Strength Talent, their talent grades were only Standard Grade or Superior Grade.
Those talents were useful, but they weren’t enough to satisfy Mo Yuan.
If he was going to risk his life coming this far, then he wanted the very best. His target had always been a Peak Grade Strength Talent.
It was already evening, the sun began to set, Mo Yuan discovered a huge cave hidden behind a cliff.
The entrance alone was over ten meters high.
Broken trees and massive beast bones were scattered around the area.
Just standing nearby made him feel a heavy pressure filling the air.
Without hesitation, Mo Yuan activated his Shadow Talent and hid within the shadows outside the cave.
He didn’t dare step inside.
The aura coming from the cave was far stronger than any Gorath he had encountered before. Even from outside, he could feel an overwhelming sense of oppression pressing down on him.
"This..."
"This should be the lair of an intermediate Gorath."
A trace of excitement flashed across Mo Yuan’s eyes.
"If my guess is right..."
"It should possess a Peak Grade Strength Talent."
"But I can’t rush in blindly. I need a plan."
Since the Gorath was an Intermediate Beast, one capable of killing even Origin Core Realm cultivators, if Mo Yuan made even the slightest mistake, he would be delivering himself straight to death’s door.
"My Copy Talent only works within a two-meter range. Let’s see how close I can actually get."
Taking a deep breath, Mo Yuan activated his Shadow Talent and slowly stepped into the cave.
The deeper he went, the heavier the air became.
Then he saw the scene inside.
His pupils shrank.
Inside the cave, the enormous Gorath was sleeping peacefully. Its massive six-meter-tall body lay curled up on the stone ground, its eyes tightly shut. Every breath it took sounded like distant thunder, causing the entire cave to tremble slightly.
Not far away, three small Gorath cubs were chasing each other around playfully, completely unaware of the danger surrounding them.
However, none of that was what shocked Mo Yuan the most.
Near the cave wall lay the remains of a human cultivator.
The corpse was already badly mutilated. The face had been completely destroyed, making it impossible to tell whether it belonged to a man or a woman.
Scattered beside the body were several valuable items.
Nine Gold Cards.
A crystal bottle containing eleven portions of Advanced Beast Blood.
And an old manual lying partially beneath the corpse.
Because of the distance and the dim light inside the cave, Mo Yuan couldn’t make out the words written on its cover.
’Holy shit...’
His breathing nearly stopped.
’What kind of luck do I have?’
’Nine Gold Cards... that’s nine million yuan!’
’There’s also Advanced Beast Blood... and that manual definitely isn’t ordinary.’
’Hahaha...’
’I think I’ve used up my entire lifetime’s worth of luck today.’
Even while feeling excited, Mo Yuan quickly forced himself to calm down.
Greed could easily get him killed.
His eyes carefully swept across the entire cave.
’There are cubs here...’
’Then there should also be another adult Gorath.’
’Is this one the male or the female?’
He frowned for a moment before shaking his head.
’Forget it.’
’Who cares whether it’s male or female?’
’Let’s see its talent first.’
Without wasting another second, Mo Yuan silently activated his Copy Talent.
Species: Gorath
Bloodline Talent: Superior Grade
Strength Talent: Peak Grade
’Hell yeah!’
’It really has a Peak Grade Strength Talent!’
A huge smile almost appeared on Mo Yuan’s face.
’Finally.’
’After all this effort, I can finally obtain a truly powerful Strength Talent.’
His excitement only grew stronger.
’And if everything goes well...’
’I can also take everything that cultivator left behind.’
’The Gorath must have killed the cultivator and dragged the body back here as food for the cubs.’
Just to be safe, Mo Yuan also checked the talents of the three cubs.
Unfortunately, although each possessed Strength Talent, none of them had reached Peak Grade. The highest among them was only Superior Grade, which wasn’t enough to interest him.
Mo Yuan continued moving forward little by little.
Two meters...
One and a half meters...
Just as he stepped within a single meter of the sleeping Gorath...
Its enormous eyes suddenly snapped open.
The cave instantly became silent.
The Gorath slowly lifted its massive head and stared directly toward the area where Mo Yuan was hiding.
Its sharp eyes narrowed slightly as if it had sensed something unusual.
’Shit!’
’It detected me the moment I entered its one-meter range!’
Without the slightest hesitation, Mo Yuan instantly retreated.
Using his Shadow Talent, he shot backward like a ghost and escaped out of the cave in one smooth motion.
Only after reaching a safe distance did he finally stop.
A thin layer of cold sweat had already covered his back.
’I can’t take a risk like that again.’
’The moment I leave the shadows and that Gorath gets a clear look at me...’
’I’ll die instantly.’