That pain was nerve wrecking; if it was an ordinary person, probably by now only the corpse would be left on the ground, but it was an entirely different experience for cultivators such as Liam, who have a higher vitality than the ordinaries.
Liam's eyes twitched but did not open, so he continued with his meditative state.
However, pain was a dude, like Naruto, who never gave up, so it inflicted more on Liam.
Before the increase in pain began, the crimson energy started fighting against the wisps of demonic energy.
The demon core shot out more of its energy toward the crimson energy; it was as though both energies that had become one with each other just now were going through a conflict.
The demonic energy was dominating while the crimson energy was not giving up, even though it was at a disadvantage in the fight.
Pain came forward like a stabbing pain that ran throughout his entire being; it was like he was sitting in a chain made out of needles that stabbed into his body at all points.
But it was in fact the work of both energies, which condensed into needle-mouthed vessels that connected with his body.
This pain was too much, right now. Even Liam could not bear it anymore. He quickly opened his eyes.
Unfortunately, he had no pill with him that would be able to take care of the pain.
"Ahhhh!!" Liam cried out loud; the pain was no longer bearable for him, and for some reason he could not stop any of the energy; they had gone berserk.
After about two minutes of pain, Liam finally let go and fell to the ground unconscious.
...
Meanwhile, in the inside-grain earth forest, Rocky and Jordan combed through the forest in search of the person in their drawing, who was none other than Liam.
It was the middle of the afternoon, and the sun was still up in the sky, sending down its wonderful light.
Thankful it was not evening yet; if not, the curse would have taken over and turned him into something uncontrollable and powerful.
"He's not here either." Jordan let out a desperate sigh as he unmounted Rocky and landed on the ground with a killing look in his eyes.
Rocky lowered his head to the ground; he was resting.
After taking Jordan everywhere he wanted, the Rocky Dragon was really exhausted.
At that moment, a wolf of the radiant heart realm entered their range.
Rocky's eyes lit up; this was its chance to catch a good meal, and it wasn't planning on letting it go.
The radiant heart realm wolf targeted Jordan; the big tree was blocking its view from Rocky, which has scales that blend in with the earth.
Jordan caught a glimpse of the beast, but he did not have a change of expression as though he was looking at Minor.
The wolf readied itself and pounced at Jordan; at that moment, its last limb left the ground.
Whoosh~
Rocky, with its superior speed, caught up with the wolf and, with its sharp claws, chopped off the wolf's head, killing it at that instant.
The beast wasn't even allowed to cry out in pain; its death was so fast that it didn't even see its killer, or rather, its predator.
Rocky gnarled on the flesh of the world, devouring it all without leaving even the bones.
Jordan did not bother with it; he looked far away from him, as though he was sure that the person he was looking for would show up at anytime.
Meanwhile, Rocky licked its rocky lips, which were stained with the blood of the wolf it ate; it also gave off a satisfied sound after that.
From another part of the forest, Gabriel and a team of other professional hunters have currently taken down a young adult wind-devouring tiger.
They were exactly eight of them; they did not set out to meet such an evil beast.
They were initially on a mission to go and scout for the serpent queen that has arrived in the grained earth forest, but on their way they met the ferocious wind-devouring tiger, and they had to fight.
Fortunately, none of them died; they only sustained injuries, and two of them, including Gabriel, lost part of their limbs.
Currently laying on the ground with his left hands chopped off and Gabriel's eyes moistened, it was hard to tell why he was really having such an outburst, but there were two suspects in this case. Pain from the injury and their survival from such a beast
At this moment, he realized that he really did not praise Liam enough for catching one with his own strength and even killing it.
His own was even the adult one; it was both stronger and bigger than the young adult they have just slain.
"He's really a monster." One of them sitting on the ground let out a weird tone.
"Who?" Another one, who was a new hunter, asked.
"That boy Gabriel talked about—look at what a young adult did to us, but that lad did not even sustain a single injury in his body." "What can I say if not call him a monster, and a powerful one at that?"
Gabriel did not speak anymore. His wife was pregnant and was nearing the time to give birth. It was his first child, so he wanted both mother and child to have a good life, not like his when he was a kid.
And the only way was to be active in the hunting field that he majored in and make more than enough money to take care of them; if he has at least 10 million gold before then, he will leave the hunting business and find a good trade to start, one that doesn't call for the shedding of blood.
"My child must cultivate in the future, attend a good sect, and leave a good life so I will be able to die without regret." Gregor thought to himself.
"And to attain that, I need to survive and make more money." Gregor thought.
His expression changed at different instances; his colleagues looked at him weirdly because he was behaving really weirdly right now.
"I will retire soon." Gregor decided to tell his colleagues, most of whom were once his followers in the hunting field before they became independent.
"That's too fast; you said you wouldn't be retiring any time soon just five months ago; why the sudden change of plan?" One of Cletus's colleagues asked.
"My wife is pregnant!" That was good news, and the others rejoiced with him, some offering handshakes even though they were stained with their own blood.
Gregor explained his reasoning, and the others knew exactly how he felt.
"But no hunter can retire now until two months from now, and we also can't escape the call for missions. The hunter union and the ministers from the emperor are bent on taking down the serpent queen that has entered grained earth forest."
Gabriel told them he knew about that and he wasn't going to quit this mission.
"The serpent queen is a threat to me and everyone else. A demonic beast that has evolved and transformed is a big threat to everyone. It wiped out a small kingdom from the map of the Great Sun Empire just to evolve. and it's most likely that grained earth is its next target." Gabriel said with a pained look on his face.
Thankfully, their mission was only to scout for trails leading to its habitat in the fine-grained earth forest.
Of course, there was a good reward; you can't expect that they'd send them to such a dangerous result without a good reward.
The reward for each of them on the scouting team was 3 million gold coins.
One million dollars has already been paid to their loved ones; the other one will come after the job is done.
Cletus sighed; the pay was just too enticing, and the mission was the type that accepts withdrawal.
It's the lives of the people they are talking about here; all those with the strength to help were ready to do so at the cost of their lives.
"I think we should invite him to join us," Cletus suggested.
Gabriel shook his head. He was closer to Liam than all of them, so he knew exactly how he was.
"He won't help us." He was afraid to burst their bubbles, but right now he really needed to. Cletus looked at him with questioning eyes, demanding a reason.
"He is not that type that pokes his head into the matters of others; he hunted in the forest not to decrease the rate of danger but because he wanted to buy some expensive stuff from the merchant guild; he's really mysterious, and even if he is way younger than us, I won't regret respecting him as a master. That lad takes hunting as a game."
"What! Don't tell me it's true he took down the wind-devouring tiger and other stronger beasts just for that." Cletus was terrified; it was rare to see someone that takes hunting as just a game.