The giant white-scaled toad looked majestic from underneath the water. The beast was ugly no doubt but the aura it emitted was extremely threatening.
Liam was not even able to see the level of the beast. There were only three question marks atop its head. This meant that there was at least 50 level difference between him and the beast?
"Just miss." He gripped the handful of white scales in his palm. Seeing the beast still glaring at them he had a bad feeling so he patted Luna on the back. "Let's go."
Liam did not dare take his eyes off of the beast while Luna quickly speeded away. Of course, he was not planning to leave this toad alone.
A beast of this grade would typically have impressive drops, not to mention give a lumpsum experience points boost. He couldn't afford to miss something like this.
"Shall I come back here with the guild or maybe…" The image of the two insatiable demonesses popped into his mind and Liam chuckled wryly.
Clearly, the latter was a better option but at the same time, he did not know how much he could resist those two now that an extra soul was also clinging to him.
He would probably crumble like a champagne tower and attack the two back, paying severalfold for everything he had endured all this while.
"No need to worry about that right now." Liam shook his head and gazed at the white scales he was still holding onto his palm.
"Tsk. So cold, but they should have some sort of use. Hmm." He placed the two scales into his inventory, marked the spot on the map, and then started picking out the next target spot.
It wasn't too far away and the duo quickly arrived at the area.
Since they did not know the exact region, this time as well Liam and Luna circled around the huge territory that was filled with thorny brambles and densely clustered coarse coniferous trees.
However, unlike in the previous zone, there was nothing suspenseful or suspicious here. Plenty of beasts roamed about the area and they seemed to be around Level 40.
"So long furred black panthabears and stone beetles huh…" Liam calmly observed the area first.
Though both the inhabitants seemed to be roaming around in huge packs and clusters, there was nothing else special about this spot.
Even after circling a few times, he did not find any anomalies. "No wonder those guys explored this area." Liam shrugged.
At this time when the nether realm opened up, the Gu family's strength was still on the lower side though they were constantly growing. So for their level, the guild would have only been able to explore places like this.
Liam did one more lap around the area and then the duo directly landed near the huge tree where an enormous beast was lying down leisurely.
It had long limbs like a panther and thick claws like a bear, its black fur gleaming in the moonlight.
It was an Elite, bigger than the rest of the prowling beasts and the leader of the group.
"Come out," Liam shouted as he hopped off of Luna and dashed towards the panthabear elite without giving it any chance to prepare.
Behind him, the group of undeads as well ferociously roared. However, Liam immediately gave the command for the beasts to stop.
For now, he only ordered the two dryads and the few imps to attack the beast. The others would instantly dissipate if the panthabear managed to land even a single attack.
Not that Liam needed any of their help. He was used to relying on his own strength. He unsheathed his sword and parried with the panthabear as it clawed at him ferociously.
With the difference in the attributes and the combat experience, the beast was no match for the man's sword moves and the fight ended before it began.
[Ding. You have gained experience points]
A dozen silver coins scattered, along with a furry pair of gauntlets.
Luna as usual dashed towards the shiny treasures and brought it all back over to Liam.
He placed them in the inventory and calmly wiped the blood off the purple sword, placing it back into the hilt. "Alright, now that this is done. Why don't you all head out and hunt for a while?"
"Search this area without leaving a single spot and bring me back whatever you find. Luna, you know what to do."
Kyuuuuu!
The fox bobbed her head up and down hurriedly, brimming with excitement and enthusiasm. She was the picture of a brown-nosing student who desperately wanted to be a teacher's pet.
Liam watched the gang scurry away and then sat down beside the elite panthabear's corpse.
The others were not able to see it or sense it but unexpectedly he was still holding onto something, a small whitish-blue bead, the soul bead.
The elite panthabear's soul had still not dissipated!
He did not know how or why this improvement came about but he was now able to stabilize and hold the soul for a longer period of time.
Liam steadied himself and then began the forging process. Among all the beasts he had attempted to forge, this was the highest level.
The beast was also a very powerful elite beast with fast reflexes and strong attack power. He was already looking forward to this undead soul.
"This should be good." Liam grinned and started pummeling the soul bead with nether hammers.
Almost instantly a sharp pain exploded in his mind, quickly spreading to the entire body. Liam frowned as he already knew what was going to come next.
Without disappointing him the very next second, familiar chanting verses started echoing in his mind.
DIE! DIE! DIE!
Liam's concentration was instantly ruined like someone poked a balloon with a needle and the soul bead that he was hammering crumbled and dissipated.
[Ding. Soul Forging has failed]
This was the first time Liam was seeing this notification.
Another pang of severe pain erupted in his body and his core and as if this was not enough, taking advantage of this momentary weakness, Gorak's vengeful soul started loudly ramming against his brain.
Liam clutched his head and convulsed on the ground. This was the second major attack that he was trying to withstand.
The bastard simply refused to submit and surrender. The soul was hell-bent on wreaking havoc.
Fuck! Liam silently screamed.
This was a mistake. Since he was able to successfully concoct a potion with the ghost still clinging to him, he had assumed that forging also wouldn't be an issue.
Especially after seeing the improvement in soul sensing and manipulation, he really thought that this was going to be a piece of cake.
But it was not! It hurt like hell!
Because of this constant repeated mental assault, he felt as if he was going crazy. It was making him weaker and weaker and he did not like it.
He wanted to be in control of his fate.
"Damn it! SHUT UP!" Liam screamed. This was not the Xion realm. This was the nether realm. Here, he had the absolute advantage.
He clenched his fists and grabbed hold of the sliver of rationality he had left and started to inhale nether from the air like there was no tomorrow.
His exhausted body and mind instantly felt invigorated.
Liam used this chance to make a counterattack and regained some of his composure.
He controlled the pain enough to sit up straight and focused on the thin film of soul pigments surrounding him all around.
He had tried this already once and also failed, but that was back in the Xion realm. Now he was in the nether realm.
He had a feeling that this time he was going to succeed.
"COME ON!" Liam shouted and started gathering all the soul fragments together, one after the other.
