Devastation and jealousy

Kalum had been watching from afar while Castella had hunted down the White Horror Rabbits. It was a sad sight but he knew he was not much better at her cultivation realm. What mattered most was her motivation and drive.

"My first disciple. Well maybe." Said Kalum joyously.

Kalum then was hit by the massive instinctual urge to run away. It was so powerful that he immediately stopped trailing Castella and made a run out of the forest at his top speed, caring not for anyone or anything noticing him.

Luckily for him, Kalum was able to escape the massive vortex that appeared in the frozen horrorland of a forest. He sat down on a nearby pillar of ice and simply watched. The sheer amount of Qi being sapped from all life, sentient or not, was staggering. Trees withered and died and all the Demon Beasts turned unto dust once again. A massive dust cloud blew in the wind and the sheer scale of such a phenomenon was mind boggling.

It wouldn't be for an hour after the vortex's appearance that it would leave as quickly as it came. Leaving only a husk of a forest. Even the ground has been sapped dry of all life, the frozen grass and snow nowhere to be seen. A barren wasteland was all that remained. Kalum then received a notification from the System he had given to Castella. They were both linked together after all.

[Your disciple has reached the 1st Core Creation Realm. Congratulations!]

She had surpassed him already?!

"What kind of stupid system lets the master be surpassed in a mere day!" Kalum yelled at the sky, his question unanswered by any deity he might have imagined.

Well at least she didn't know he was weaker then her right now right? The Cultivation System Maker seemed to be geared towards primarily increasing the power of those he gives the Systems too. For now, Kalum decided that it would be best to increase his own power and remain as a mysterious master to Castella. He would have to create a fake identity at some point but that was for future Kalum to deal with.

Unfortunately however, Kalum had to find somewhere else to hunt Demon Beasts as Castella had completely ruined the forest he liked to frequent. On that note he should be leaving now. The sects would have seen or heard about this event and would have sent their own investigation teams, once the fear of interrupting an expert had fled their minds.

Kalum created a mission for Castella to hunt some stronger Demon Beasts in a nearby Deadzone. Her new cultivation realm was just enough for her to be eligible to fight such beasts. She would need time to familiarize herself with her new strength. Shooting up so many realms even with the help of the System's rewards must have been taxing on top of being a new experience. Conveniently, the Deadzone he was sending Castella too was in the opposite direction of his intended destination, the Rocky Grove.

The Rocky Grove was what might be considered a slightly higher level than the forest. There were only Demon Beasts of the 3rd Qi Gathering realm and above, it was even rumoured to have a great many Qi Soaring Realm Demon Beasts in the centre.

Gathering his wits he made for a more stealthy approach than before. He was far enough that he was unlikely to run into any of the teams dispatched to the forest by the sects. Kalum was not taking any chances though so he maintained stealth until he reached his target, occasionally giving out missions to Castella during his nine day trip.

Kalum had stopped at daytime to cultivate whenever there wasn't a cover to hide under. His stealth technique only gives him enhanced stealth when under or near a shadow. Much to his regret he wasn't able to progress any further in his cultivation, even with Qi Attracting Pills and cultivating the lowest realm Demon Beast Cores he gathered. There was little value in selling them when he could sell any gains he did not loot. Fortunately he did make some progress towards the next level so his time was not completely wasted.

"If only I could gain such a treasure." Kalum lamented, thinking of the pill Castella had gained.

He finally reached the Rocky Grove. Some common oak trees littered around the massive ice-sheathed rocks. The rocks had been sharpened to the point of being able to cleanly slice through most common materials after some unknown even a few hundred years ago. Just another wonder of the cultivation world.

Kalum did not need to wait long to find his prey. A group of Jester Beaver's managed to spot Kalum in his stealth technique! The three of them instantly leapt at him with their claws glistening. It was only his experience hunting that allowed him to dodge.

He immediately readied his new sword and ran through the nearest beaver. The hide of the animal did not protect it from the power of his new sword. Enraged, the other two attacked him with even greater ferocity, giving him a small injury on his leg before he was able to dispatch them all.

[Host has killed four Jester Beaver's within 10 minutes. Would host like to combine the prize for the chance of a higher multiplier or take the individual prizes?]

This was not even a question to Kalum.

"Combine them." He ordered.

[Host has combined four Jester Beaver's prize rewards and gained one 1st Core Creation Realm Wildborn Red Crab Demon Beast Core.]

This was exactly why Kalum had combined! The mere chance of getting a Core Creation Realm prize was more than sufficient for him to forgo the individual prizes! He had not heard of the Wildborn Red Crab but that was starting to become a running theme with the System rewards. It might not even care what monsters are found on the northern continent and just give him completely random prizes. This could invite subscription if he kept auctioning them off.

"Fortunately I invented my own mysterious ally to shove all the blame and suspicion onto." Kalum muttered, thankful of his luck and insight.

It was then that Kalum had perhaps the best idea he had ever had in this life and the last.

"Castella we might be meeting each other sooner than expected." Kalum laughed to himself.

Shaking his head at his new fool proof plan, he first went right into the fray, hunting as many Demon Beasts as possible before resting.

"One month and I'll be done here. Come Beasts and meet your end!" Kalum yelled laughing as he mindlessly slaughtered everything he found.