"Hmm, the lake is a lot farther than I thought, looks like we will have to spend a night here" Liu Zhong spoke to the group after they hiked for several hours. They didn't have to go very deep but instead went along the periphery of the forest so the beasts they encountered were very weak.
"Of course it's far, if it was close to the city, the crab would have already been killed a long time ago" Huo Long spoke up.
"It's already getting late, how about we kill some low tier beasts and have some supper?" Gong Yu licked his lips.
"Sure!" Jia Shuren agreed. The rest didn't object so the group quickly decided on a course of action.
Zhao Fan took the hunting role and wandered off on his own. Soon, he found a tier 3 wolf which was not imposing at all compared to the tier 6 wolf they faced before. If just a few weeks ago, he would have been terrified, now the only thing he felt when he saw the wolf was hunger.
"Woof!" The wolf jumped at him, baring its teeth. Zhao Fan casually grabbed at the mouth of the wolf, the teeth not managing to break his skin.
The whole yelped and tried to get free as it realized something was wrong. It was too late, Zhao Fan dragged it back, his other hand reaching for its throat and ripping it out effortlessly.
"Damn, the strengthening from the tier 6 wolf in the cave probably made my body on par with at least a tier 5 wolf! If I use demonic qi now, the kid from earlier might have been beaten black and blue!" Zhao Fan scoffed at the unpleasant memory. He felt very satisfied with his improvements, his entire body felt filled with power.
Not wasting any more time, he dragged the carcass to the campfire Zhou Da set up earlier and started roasting the wolf.
"Brother Zhao, did you bare handedly kill this wolf?" Gong Yu suddenly asked.
"My body has improved a bit lately so I wanted to try it out" Zhao Fan said smugly.
"You know all of our bodies here are maybe slightly stronger than those of mortals? If you get close to any of us, you can just rip us apart? What kind of heavenly technique are you practicing!" Huo Long shouted in astonishment.
"Brother Long, how would I get closer to you without getting skewered by your spear? Gong Yu, you can block my attacks easily with your shield, and your sword is strong as well! It just so happens my specialty is my body, so of course it's stronger than a normal person but every style has its advantages. My technique is nothing noteworthy, it's just a common one you could find laying on the side of the road!" Zhao Fan cooled the enthusiasm of the two.
Although he was more comfortable with revealing his strength to the group, he wouldn't reveal the fact that he could absorb demon essence no matter what.
"Brother Zhao, I have read a lot of stories in my free time and the one thing I learned is that the things laying on the side of the road are usually the most precious treasures! I'm curious now, can my shield really block your attacks? Here, hit me with your strongest fist!" Gong Yu laughed and took out the circular shield from his back.
He stood up and stepped a bit away from the campfire, raising his shield at chest level. Zhao Fan hesitated on whether he should reveal his whole physical strength.
"Do you think acting like a mysterious protagonist makes you look cool or something? Go up there and show us what you can do" Zhou Da encouraged him with her usual mocking tone.
"Alright, alright, don't say I didn't warn you!" Zhao Fan stood up and stepped right next to Gong Yu.
The latter suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine, as he looked his boss straight in the eyes.
"Hold on a sec" He waved his hand.
"It's just one punch, are you that scared?" Zhou Da mocked.
Gong Yu didn't pay her any attention and activated his Earth Infusion which turned his skin a reddish orange. Then he activated the ability of his shield which produced a spherical brown light around the center of the shield.
"Since you are using an ability, let me use one as well!" Zhao Fan waited until his opponent finished his preparations. He rotated his body, bringing his fist back and then slammed it forwards.
"Steel Gorilla's Fists!" Zhao Fan decided to use a technique he hadn't used for a while.
Even though it was simple, it still augmented his power by a considerable amount even with his stronger body. As for techniques like Spirit Dash, they were basically useless at his level since it was just a simple muscle nourishment technique, it wasn't worth it to spend his entire qi storage to use it a couple of times with his strong body.
BOOM
As the fist collided, the brown sphere shattered and Gong Yu was pushed back. Even though he did not lose his posture, his feet slid on the ground for almost a meter before coming to a dead stop.
"Impressive! That's like an attack from that lightning wolf!"
"How is that possible? None of us can possibly break Gong Yu's defense in a short time. Zhao Fan only needs about two hits! Your close range strength is insane!" Huo Long shouted in astonishment.
"Haha, thanks but at the end of the day, it's just close range. I'm not that good in other areas" Zhao Fan tried to play it off, regretting using all of his strength. After all, a certain level was fine, but after that it would raise questions he couldn't play off like usual.
"Stop being so humble, you look stupid." Zhou Da criticized.
"Hmm, if you insist, then I will boast! Without a shadow of a doubt, my cooking skills are better than yours!" Zhao Fan burst out laughing.
"Wha? Ahh, it's burned!" Zhou Da realized that she got too carried away and stopped rotating the stick with the wolf's corpse. One part of it was directly under the flame for so long, a black crust formed on it and a bad smell permeated the air.
Zhou Da blushed embarrassingly as everyone laughed. She punched Zhao Fan who sat beside her in the shoulder. His shoulder was as hard as a rock so he didn't feel any pain, finding it cute instead.
After that incident, the group grew even closer together, laughing and eating happily. Even if the meat tasted burnt and bland, the atmosphere was still merry.
As the sky grew dark, at one point, rustling sounds could be heard from just outside the clearing. Huo Long raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet, the atmosphere turned taut in an instant.
"You brats make such a ruckus, I heard it from all the way at the Limestone Forest!" A middle aged man walked out of the dark shrubbery.
The youths paled when they saw him. He was extremely dirty, his dark hair was disheveled as if he just walked out of an explosion and he was missing his left arm. The dark green leather tunic he wore was littered with claw marks, and spots of it were dead with blood. A long sword, covered in runes, sat sheathed on his hips. Overall, his appearance was hideous, and his aura was extremely fearsome as well.
"Not even going to offer an old man a seat? How audacious of you juniors." The man sighed and walked over close to the campfire, sitting down calmly. He grabbed a piece of the wolf meat and wolfed it down as if he was a wild beast.
"No need to reach for your weapons, after all we are all humans here." He let out a laugh seeing the tense expressions of the youths. As his eyes scanned over their faces, they suddenly stopped on Zhao Fan.
"Actually, maybe not, kid what are you?" His eyebrows furrowed.
"Senior, I just train body strengthening techniques using the blood of demons, I'm 100% a human!" Zhao Fan didn't want to cause a misunderstanding. Hearing this, the rest of the group looked at him strangely.
"Oh, you are one of those desperate brats! You should probably stop before it's too late. Demon essence and humans are not compatible, it can't assimilate into your body but it will leave traces which build up and eventually will destroy your organs from the inside. Or you know, a demon hunter might separate your head from your body before you even reach that point!" The man laughed as if he just made the best joke in the world.