Demon Stones

The black beast had no facial features apart from two deep crimson eyes and a mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth capable of tearing apart steel as if it were a piece of paper. Four legs with claws that had tips as sharp as a spear supported the beast's movement. It was tailless and hornless but that didn't fail to give the creature a fear-inspiring momentum with its one-metre height as it glared at the team from the dark.

If it weren't for them being on alert right from the start, they would have failed to spot it. Having seemingly realized it was spotted, the creature remained still while maintaining a threatening pose. Its instincts could sense that the mana levels on the six before it was above it but retreat wasn't an option at the moment for the creature.

"Neo-beast…?" Asher muttered, unsure of his own conclusion.

The 33 heavenly realms' universe was a world with thirty-three major heavens, a few hundred minor heavens, thousands of pocket worlds, and mundane worlds. In summary, it was a really large world. Even after living for so long, Yi Feng wasn't fully versed in all the knowledge of the various worlds but he did know quite a lot about them as well as the creatures that lived there.

The Netherworld Lands[1] was one of the 33 major heavens and the minor heavens around it were modelled after it. This major heaven was the hotspot for all sorts of evil creatures and existences, be they demons or devils. The lesser breeds occupied the minor heavens and proliferated their seeds to the much lower worlds. One such species were the neo-beasts, also known as darkness beasts.

They were creatures that thrived in the dark and had a natural affinity towards the darkness element, making them very dangerous monsters. This was especially s for the stronger neo-beast who had unlocked intelligence and were as smart as a human adult.

Seeing this creature once again but in what he felt to be an entirely different universe made Asher perplexed. Nonetheless, he shoved his confusion to the side and took on a serious countenance. Neo-beasts were darkness-elemental monsters and the darkness element was one of the more unique and powerful elements. Even for Asher, a neo-beast of the third-stage would require his full focus, although this creature radiated energy on par with a first-stage Guardian mage.

As for why Asher took it seriously despite its weak appearance, it had something to do with the nature of these monsters. Neo-beasts typically moved in packs. Even if you spotted one alone, the pack would not be very far from it, and an average neo-beast pack had at least thirty of them with the upper limit depending on the strength of the pack leader and their base.

'A lone neo-beast and it's the first we've spotted. Most likely a scout of low rank. In that case, the average strength of the pack would probably be between the second stage to third-stage of the Guardian realm.' Asher grimaced.

With the average strength of the pack peaking at the third stage, the pack leader would most likely be a peak third-stage Guardian monster or even the fourth stage.

If it were him alone here, this wouldn't be much problem but Asher had a team with him.

At this moment, the monster seemed tired of waiting and made its move. It pounced at the group, to be precise, at Luna who was the weakest in the group.

Asher didn't react to its movement but instead kept a close eye out in the area.

Noah, who was the closest to Luna at the time, move in front to block the monster, swinging the torch in his hand at it.

"Wrrrytt."

The creature made a weird sound as it suddenly retreated, dodging the blow. It didn't stop there as it moved further out to a distance where there was less light.

"It's afraid of the fire." Melissa said.

By this time, James had dashed towards it as he slashed his dagger at the creature, but it noticed in time and tried to dodge. However, James was a second-stage wind mage, so he was much faster than the creature's reactions.

A deep slash appeared on one of the arms as the creature somehow barely escaped James' killing blow. It tightened its teeth in pain when it was some distance away before opening its mouth out wide.

"Wryt-"

The loud shrill the monster released was abruptly cut short as Owen appeared behind it and grabbed its throat with one hand.

Weird choking sounds escaped the creature's mouth as it stared at Owen with shock and fear visible in its brutal red eyes.

Crack.

Owen squeezed his right hand, sending the creature into an eternal rest all with a cold expression on his face.

"What the hell is that?" Noah couldn't help but ask.

While his action of swinging the torch seemed simple, he was a second-stage Guardian mage and his reactions and movements were much faster than an average first-stage Guardian's, which happened to be the same power level as the creature. However, the monster dodged the attack. Not only that, but it even survived James' assault, which was even stranger. There was no explanation for why a first-stage Guardian rank monster could do so.

"I don't know. It seems like some darkness-oriented creature."

At this moment, Asher moved towards the creature and took a closer look at the corpse. He then realized that he was wrong about his previous conjecture. This wasn't a neo-beast but a shadow beast, a creature on a lower bloodline rank than the neo-beast but had a lot of similarities to the point they could be mistaken for the other, which was exactly what Asher had just done.

'Shadow-beasts thrive in worlds one realm lower than those of neo-beasts.' Asher thought.

"There are probably more." Asher spoke up.

At the same time, frost began spreading all over the corpse until it was entirely covered in ice. Asher then snapped his finger and the frozen corpse broke apart in pieces. In one of those frozen particles was a dark purple object that looked like a pebble. Asher picked it up and analysed the object. Upon realizing what it was, he raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"A demon stone." Owen exclaimed.

Melissa was speculating about the object's origin but when she had Owen's exclamation, she was shocked.

"What's that?" James asked.

Owen went on to explain, something he usually didn't do.

Monsters that were strengthened by mana and possessed the ability to wield this mystical energy usually had a core that functioned as the storage facility of this mana, just in the same way that Guardian mages had their twelve meridians or mana points to contain energy. The only difference was that while those of human practitioners increased in number, those of monsters remained one which simply increased in quality by following three steps; solidification, crystallization, and embodiment.

For example, the first monster Asher's teammates had defeated, the bear-like monster that was defeated by both Noah and James, possessed a core that was jelly-like in nature, almost like a gummy bear. This was the lowest rank of monster cores and contained mana equivalent to Klobat crystals which were suitable for first to fifth-stage Guardian mages.

Usually, monsters below the fourth phase(10-12 stage) produced these types of cores but they differed at each phase, becoming less jelly-like and suitable for higher stages unlike the one Asher and his team encountered. It was only in the fourth phase that they solidified completely and lost their gelatinous nature. They then become known as demon stones, because at this stage, they were as hard as a rock.

Both Asher and Owen were shocked that they had found a demon stone in the corpse of a first stage Guardian level monster.

What made true demon stones special compared to gelatinous demon stones was that the purity of mana within was higher, hence making it more suitable for higher stages. Using the gelatinous demon stones meant right after absorbing the mana content, one would have to spend quite a bit of time refining the mana before it can truly become one with them. Skipping this process would result in adverse effects in the future. But true demon stones required less time and contained more mana so their value was expectedly higher.

A typical gelatinous demon stone from a Guardian stage monster wasn't suitable for use by a mage three levels higher, due to not only low mana content but also poor quality, because at higher stages, terrible mana quality would be even more dangerous. At higher stages, mages were even more dependent on mana, and having their mana affected and corrupted could be harmful to their lives. Although they could be refined, the low mana content was an additional reason not to bother.

However, a true demon stone offered not only higher mana content but better quality, erasing any fear for practitioners. While there was still a need to refine the mana within, it was much less tasking than with a gelatinous demon stone.

"This entire place is a gold mine." Asher smiled.

Although the mana content within this demon stone was only about 5% higher than that of a gelatinous demon stone from a monster at the same stage, it was just as pure as a real demon stone. Asher knew this because he had seen one at the Arnhaunt treasury in the family mansion in Red Maple province during one of his holidays.

The advantage of a 5% increase in mana content and better quality meant that they could improve their training speed and strength at a faster rate than the others. Rising in ranks was even a possibility in sight, not far from being a reality.

"It's been long since we went hunting, don't you think?" Asher said.

"Let's make the best out of this moment, shall we?"