Encounter with a Terrorghoul

Fast forward couple days.

Outside the Godfrey Clan's estate, William and Dustin alongside couple armored figures could be seen standing in front of the gate.

Next to them was a carriage tied to two huge, obsidian-like horses. These two black gigantic horses were definitely hybrid species unique only to this world, they were three times the normal size of a horse from earth, and everytime they neighed, fumes would come out from their noises.

William would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't intrigued by these two horses, his gaze lingered on them all the time, and he even took the liberty to touch them in order to further study them.

Plus, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he bombarded his biological father, Dustin, with countless questions.

According to his father, these two horses were Godbeasts of the Kelpie species.

Godbeasts are animals and monsters who managed to mutate and transform into a higher form of existence, they possess supernatural atributes and just like Immortals and Cultivators, the things these Godbeasts can do are unimaginable, beyond human comprehension.

Hearing this, William came to the conclusion that not only humans can pursue Immortality, animals too can cultivate, and supposedly, the World Encyclopedia states that millions of species exist, and humans are nothing more but one of the many myriad lifeforms who live in this world, it's just that because of the intricacies of the human race, they managed to reign supreme in this continent.

On the other hand, the Kelpie species are Godbeast horses who are suitable for long-distance travel, they are fast and agile with iron-like hooves that allow them to navigate through hard terrains. Not only that, but their senses are superb, which can inform the rider of danger ahead of time.

Currently, Dustin figured out that it'll be a good idea to bring toddler William with him on his journey.

"William, today we're visiting a friend of mine who resides in the Draetrohan Empire." Dustin casually informed.

The Draetrohan Empire is one of the neighbouring countries of the Godfrey Clan's territory, they're a huge superpower of the Southern Domain who command hundreds of thousands of kilometers of land.

The size of that territory is mind-boggling, even William couldn't quite comprehend the number, he wondered what kind of monstrous world he got put in.

After boarding the carriage, the coachman used his whip on the Kelpie Godbeasts so they can start running.

Just like the Godfrey Clan's estate, the insides were quite old-fashioned, there were many fancy decorations but William paid them no heed because he already got used to them. However, what caught his attention was the speed they're moving at.

'Wow, I doubt the cars and vehicules of Earth can catch up to this carriage in terms of speed.'

If William was to guess the speed of this carriage randomly, he'd say they were moving at three hundred kilometers per hour at the very least, this was akin to Earth's high-speed trains. And most importantly, the carriage was not bumpy at all, instead it was quite stable with no unexpected movements.

William couldn't help but sigh at how technologically advanced this world's civilization is, not only have they managed to figure out ways to increase their lifespan and improve their vitality, their means of transportation are eco-friendly and pretty damn good.

On one sofa, Dustin was seated next to William. On the other sofa were three guards who looked towards William with a friendly expression. Although Dustin was just an ordinary member of the clan, he still had the bloodline of Godfrey in him, and therefore wherever he goes, protection is mandatory by the clan.

"Father, who is this friend of yours?" William looked at his father with an 'innocent' and 'inquiring' expression.

"Back in the day before I met your mother, I used to roam the Southern Doman. One day when I was adventuring, I met Deirain. We went through tons of life-and-death battles together, and as a result became life-long friends." Dustin had nostalgic expression on his face, seemingly reliving the memories of the past.

"Is he also an Immortal? Just like you." William asked 'expectantly', he couldn't help but wonder if his father's friend, Deirain, was also one of those legendary Immortals and Cultivators.

"Haha, you've always been quite a smart child. Although an 'Immortal' is a wrong word to describe Deirain, you're not too far away. He's a Cultivator just like me." Dustin replied.

Smart? Since both adventured and went through battles together, it's only natural to assume that Deirain is a Cultivator, just like Dustin.

Although the Draetrohan Empire borders the Godfrey Clan, the distance between the estate and their destination is enormous. Even with Kelpie Godbeast horses running at three hundred kilometers per hour, it'll take at least two weeks before they arrive at their destination.

As a result, the journey will be quite long but that's exactly what Dustin wanted. Although he was proud that his son was spending all his time in the clan's library, he thought it was unhealthy and repetitive, therefore he wanted William to experience something else.

William passed the time listening to his father and his guards' adventure stories and sightseeing. The outside views are extraordinary and eye-opening, verdant, lush forests that span for millions of kilometers, heaven-towering mountains whose peaks pierce through the clouds, a variegated flora and fauna the likes of which William never seen before, etc...

Plus, listening to his father's stories alongside the guards' as well, William is now starting to have an uncontrollable urge to adventure and explore this unknown world.

Such a feeling was something William never felt before, he wanted to exit the carriage right here right now and explore every edge of this continent.

One week passed in the blink of the eye, Dustin was in the middle of telling William a story about how he slayed an evil villain when something unexpected happen.

Neighing could be heard from the outside when the carriage abruptly stopped.

"Master, problem! Big problem!" The coachman's voice rang out.

Dustin's expression changed, and the accompanying guards went on full alert, they grabbed their hilt and immediately exited the carriage. Dustin turned around and warned William.

"No matter what happens, do not exit the carriage!" Although he had a stern expression on his face, William can see the deep love and care within his biological father's eyes.

Growling could be heard from the outside, it was so loud to the level where William's ears started ringing. On top of that, it was not any ordinary growling, it was eerie and sinister, anyone who heard it will have goosebumps and a chill run down his spine.

"Formation! Quick! Assemble into a formation!" The guards' voices could be heard from the outside.

William couldn't help but peek from the window, what he saw made his eyes widen in shock and astonishment.

What welcomed his sight was an enormous winged-beast, it was a giant furred creature who was almost twenty meters tall, it had two curly horns akin to a goat's and two folded wings in it's back.

It ignored everyone else except for Dustin, it looked at him with red blood-shot eyes that hid inexplicable anger and madness. The beast warily took slow steps forward as it growled, letting out a comprehensible sentence in human words.

"Die you Godfrey miscreant!"

After saying these words, the beast's entire expression turned savage almost instantly.

"DIEEEEEEE!" The cry was extremely shocking, the entire carriage trembled as if it's the end of the world, and William's ears couldn't stop ringing.

The beast bent it's knees and pounced towards William's father at inhumane speeds, it's claws swept in a slashing motion, bringing with it a terrifying wave of wind that almost threatened to topple the carriage upside down.

The two Kelpie horses collapsed to the ground, they were limb because they were overwhelmed by fear and terror. Everything happening right now was something out of a horror movie, even William who kept his composure all the time ever since he came to this world couldn't help but feel dizzy and an unstoppable urge to vomit.

To William, the furred creature was way too eerie and creepy, if you add on top of it it's supernatural attributes and characteristics, it gave of an indescribable vibe that made William's stomach twirl and whirl.

On the other hand, Dustin stayed calm and collected, in fact, he didn't even try to dodge the incoming claw slash.

SLASH!

The claw tore Dustin's clothes apart but surprisingly, there was not even a scab on his skin.

Upon seeing this, the furred creature's savage expression quickly changed. It quickly became that of astonishment and fear, it's wings unfurled as it transformed into a blurred black figure that shot towards the air, running in the opposite direction and leaving behind many afterimages.

"GODFREY IMMORTAL, MERCY!!!" It's cry could be heard reverberating throughout the surroundings. Hearing this, Dustin simply smiled mischievously as he unleashed his sword from it's scabbard and slashed it vertically towrds the furred creature.

The beast was always two kilometers away from Dustin's position, it's running speed was inconceivable yet the sword slash unleashed by Dustin travelled that distance merely in the time it takes one to blink his eyes.

Whoosh!

Sword light spanning for almost five hundred meters vertically hit the furred beat, slashing the furred beast in half. William was stupefied by everything happening right now. Although the encounter with the furred beast took quite some time to describe, everything happened in less than five seconds.

William couldn't even keep up with the 'plot twists' and unexpected changes, he even started experiencing some hallucinations in his vision and felt sick in his stomach.

Seeing the state William is in, Dustin and the three guards couldn't help but sigh.

"He's just a one year old toddler, he shouldn't be seeing stuff like this." One of the guards spoke.

"Indeed, the undulations are harmful to his little mind and body." Another guard added.

"Not necessarily." Dustin casually spoke.

Fortunately, the dizziness and unpleasant feelings weared off by the time Dustin and the others got into the carriage. Everyone stayed silent, no one spoke a word of the previous encounter, in fact, even William with his curious personality did not ask any questions, instead he kept silent and contemplated what just happened.

'A twenty meter tall beast that can speak? It can fly for kilometers in mere seconds? My biological father can hit something from two kilometers away casually?' The more William thought about it, the more fervent he became.

Slowly but surely, a kindling fire ignired in his heart. Earlier, he was just intrigued and curious regarding this world. Just like most people from Earth, he wanted to explore the unknown and learn more about this world. Cultivation and pursuing Immortality was of secondary importance to him, although he read tons of light-novels and watched couple movies, he wasn't that interested in becoming 'the strongest Immortal'.

However now, upon seeing what his father can do, he was filled with a burning desire to become just as powerful as him, in fact, if his father is just an 'ordinary' member of the Godfrey Clan, and is already this formidable, than what about the strongest members of the clan? What about the founder who carved out his own territory in the Southern Domain?

With the desire to pursue the path of Immortality, coupled with his curious nature, a thought slowly formed in his head.

What's the limit?

What was the ceiling in Immortality?

What's the things the strongest Immortals and Cultivators are capable of doing?

Once he thought of things, something disturbing also popped up in his mind... pertaining to that floating orb he last saw in Earth.

Is that silver-like orb some sort of treasure forged by a powerful Immortal?

Why was he brought here? This surely must be the doing of some extremely powerful Immortal, if so, then what's his purpose? William didn't believe in kindness and benevolence, there is no way an Immortal brought him here so that William can have an opportunity at pursuing Immortality...

That mysterious Immortal must have a reason, and he must have a use for William in one way or another. Thinking about such things made William grim, however he quickly put those thoughts in the back of his head and looked at his father with a fervent gaze.

"What was that?"

Dustin sighed, he knew this question would come sooner or later. Due to some reason, he didn't want to introduce William to this world at the age of one. Usually, once people reach 'adulthood' which is around the age of fourteen and fifteen, they would be introduced to the world of Immortality and be told many secrets. As for pursuing that path, that'll be up to their decisions, talent and capabilities.

William is too young, waaaay too young, he's just a one year old toddler, getting to know such secrets will be detrimental to his future development because of the mysteries and intricacies pertaining to Immortality.

However, Dustin knew that from this day on forward, he wouldn't be able to hide such secrets from his son because... He knew very well what kind of personality his son has!

William is a knowledge freak! He learnt how to read, write and speak in less than two months, and ever since then, he spent ALL his day in the library, reading countless books and accumulating knowledge.

Once William got a lead, or was intrigued by something, he would do everything possible in order to unravel it. Plus, because of his talent and his top-grade spiritual roots, getting some forbidden books from the clan's elders and uncle-masters wouldn't be that difficult.

"Sigh.. I can see the look in your eyes." Dustin sighed however, deep inside he was pretty happy. Children were usually pretty easy to impress, and an event like this is VERY VERY detrimental to children's mental development, especially toddlers.

In most cases, laying an eye on such an eerie baleful monster would almost certainly cause trauma and nightmares for people around Dustin's age, in fact, even eight and nine year old would be haunted by the sight.

And the magical undulations coming from an encounter at such a high level would also leave scars which will be detrimental when one grows up.

This is why the guards sighed when they looked in William's way, on the other hand, Dustin wasn't that worried not because he was confident in William, but because he was confident in his clan!

The Godfrey Clan is an ancient clan who managed to carve it's own territory in the Southern Domain, it's clan members and main lineage consists of terrifying Immortals and Cultivators, naturally, they have many ways to erase traumatic experiences and other mental problems.

Upon seeing that William was not affected by the earlier encounter but was motivated instead, the guards gasped. However, when they thought about his extraordinary intelligence and how he managed to learn how to read, write and speak in just two months, they nodded in approval as they said something along the lines of: "I wish my son is like this."

"William, that monster was a Godbeast as well. What I'm going to tell you now is extremely important and even considered as a secret, so don't go around and tell your peers about it."

The three guards looked towards William and said: "Master.. He's too young."

"Master, I don't think he should be hearing this right now."

"Master, it's too early for him to learn about this."

Dustin glared at the guards, then he paid them no heed as he continued speaking: "That's Godbeast Terrorghoul, the Godfrey territory is large so we don't keep track of who comes in or who goes out, we only do that at our cities and the Godfrey Estate. Apparently, that Terrorghoul harbors a grudge against our Godfrey Clan, so he decided to lay in the nearby woods and assault whoever passes by like a bandit."

Dustin took a deep breath as though he was preparing to say something heavy, however William can see deep down in his eyes that they were burning with kindness, care, love and excitement?

"But I'm pretty sure that's not what you want to hear, am I right?" William nodded silently, seeing where the conversation is heading, the nearby three guards couldn't help but perk up their ears, although they were Cultivators and Immortals just like Dustin, they were clearly way too weaker than him, so they wanted to take this opportunity to learn something.

"I train as an earth-path Body Forger and a sword-path Ki Refiner, what I used just now to slay that Terrorghoul is a Magical Artifact, it's a flying sword." Dustin took out his sword, showcasing it to William.

Hearing what his father is saying, William's curiousness reached unprecedented heights as he was filled with countless questions.

'Body Forger? Ki Refiner? Earth-path? Sword-path? Magical Artifact? Flying swords? What are all these?'

Seeing his son so flustered and struggling with questions, Dustin laughed as he said: "You can go ahead and tell me any questions you have, I'll try my best to answer them."

Dustin knew that his son is a knowledge freak, that's the reason he brought him in this journey in the first place, naturally, he will try to help his son as much as possible.

"What's a Body Forger? What's a Ki Refiner? What's earth-path and sword-path? What's a Magical Artifact?" William blurted out all the questions that are at the top of his head.

"Listen carefully, what I'm going to say is not recorded in the books of the clan's library and I'm not going to repeat it again." Although Dustin said kinda-sternly, he looked towards his son with deep love and care. "The path of cultivation is divided into two paths, Ki Refiner and Body Forger. Ki Refiners are pretty much mages who use the natural energy of Heaven and Earth to unleash spells and magics, although their bodies are weak, their spells are extremely powerful and even devastating. Most Immortals and Cultivators are Ki Refiners because technically it's an easy path to pursue and as long as you have sufficient understanding of the Dao, your journey will be a breeze."

More questions popped up inside William's head, 'Spells? Magics? Natural energy of Heaven and Earth? Dao?'

"On the other hand, Body Forgers are literally moving tanks, their bodies are made of steel, impervious to swords and spears. They are literally indestructible, and can regenerate severed limbs just by using their Divine Power. But this path is waay harder to pursue than Ki Refining because not only does it involve a sufficient understanding of the Dao, you also need a Body Forging technique which is rare than Ki Refining techniques and more importantly, you need an indescribable amount of treasures to forge your body. Oh and I forgot to mention forging the body is an extremely painful process." Dustin took a deep breath.

Naturally, William had way more questions than before, 'Divine Power? Body Forging techniques? Ki Refining techniques? Treasures to forge the body?'

"Both Body Forging and Ki Refining is divided up to nine stages, with the first being the weakest and the ninth being the strongest." Dustin continued, "Oh, and each Body Forger or Ki Refiner must pursue a path. For example, my Divine Power is of the earth-path. Making my body several times stronger and sturdier than other Body Forgers while my Ki is of the sword-path, giving me unprecedented offensive power compared to my peers."

The reason why Dustin was provided with many perks and bonuses in the Godfrey Clan despite being an ordinary member was not only because of his status as a dual-cultivator of Body Forging and Ki Refining, but also because of the paths he's pursuing!

Earth-path is notorious for it's sturdiness and hardiness, giving Dustin nearly impenetrable defense that makes even his peers helpless against him, not only that, but he also pursues one of the most offensive paths in the cultivation world, the sword-path!

Sword-path is fast, sharp and penetrative. Due to it's properties and attributes, it is widely acknowledged that sword-path is ranked amongst the top ten paths in the cultivation world, however, unlike earth-path which is a path belonging to the five natural elements, sword-path is pretty hard to pursue and comprehend.

The Dao of Earth is easy because it's literally everywhere, it makes the majority of every day people's lives and there are rumors that state all living being are made of earth, naturally anyone can pursue earth-path with just a little bit of effort.

On the other hand, the Dao of the Sword is man-made, it was invented and created by the myriad beings who reside in this world, and to pursue it is extremely difficult and hard, a lot of talent, practice, effort and hard word must be put into it.

"Dad, what rank are you?" William couldn't help but ask, his father looked at him smilingly, "Now I can't tell you that, can't I? You always need to keep your cultivation base and prowess hidden."

The journey to the Draetrohan Empire continued, and no matter how many questions William asks his father, Dustin kept his mouth shut, and only replied occassionally something along the lines of, "sooner or later you'll get to know" or "when you grow up, you will know".