11 pm, Rose Valley Town, army division building.

The squad leader Ans sat weakly on the bed with a blank expression on his face.

Two healers in white cloths sat beside his bed as they reviewed the test reports of Ans’s treatment.

"Sir, from the impact of the blow, there was severe bleeding around your inner organs. The most troubling part was that hammer intent had already entered your body, which caused minor damage to your meridians. All in all, you have to undergo treatment for a week to completely recover. During this period, try not to cultivate, as your meridians will be further damaged from the strain if you do," the old healer said politely before he left with his assistants.

Ans gestured to one of the soldiers standing at the side to escort the healers out.

After the healers left, Ans looked at his most trusted subordinate and asked in a low voice, "What do you think, Ben?"

Ben, who was a bald old man, remained silent for a moment and said, "There is no doubt about it. The qi fluctuation around him was only at the first heaven of the mortal realm, but he was still able to injure you. This only means that his meridian networks are abnormally strong, even possibly..."

Ans interrupted him and said, "It is not a possibility. That guy is definitely an emperor level body cultivator. But what is abnormal is how such a person could appear in the 36th stronghold, and that too in a backwater tribal village like Stone Fort."

Ben thought for a moment and said, "Maybe he is one of the prodigies who entered the 36th stronghold in search of the ancient runes from outside."

Ans frowned, "The possibility is quite low. According to the records, he was a refugee living in Stone Fort village for seven years now. If he really is a prodigy from a privileged family outside the 36th stronghold, why would he have to remain in this place like an ordinary person?"

"Should we contact old master and inform him about this news?" Ben asked.

Ans nodded gloomily. "Inform him. And for the time being, all of you stay away from that bastard. Don’t try to mess with him. We’ll deal with him after father arrives."

Ans gritted his teeth in hatred when he thought about the humiliation and pain he suffered today. "Just you wait, little bitch. I will tear you apart limb by limb one day."

.....

Next day, Leon arrived at John’s house. Together, both of them entered the forest to hunt once more.

As they were walking, Leon took out a storage ring and handed it to John. He had brought the ring from Rose Valley Town the previous night when he went there to sell the carcasses of the wind wolves and the iron horned cows.

John was stunned when he saw the ring Leon had handed over. "Why are you giving it to me?"

"Just keep it as a gift. I’m tired of carrying the game we hunt every time. From now on, just place it inside," Leon said casually.

"But..." John tried to return the ring, but Leon ignored him and continued walking forward. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

John shook his head helplessly and accepted the ring. Leon had been following him for seven years now. He understood the boy’s personality well enough to know that once he decided on something, it was very difficult to change his mind.

"So, are we entering the deep forest this time as well?" John asked curiously.

Leon nodded. "I have scouted a pond full of iron realm crocodiles. If my estimation is correct, there are at least thirty of them and all are at the first to second heaven of the iron realm. But we have to make sure that there is no higher realm crocodile inside before we start the hunt."

"Iron realm, huh?" John sighed. "Honestly, I can’t understand you anymore. A few weeks ago, we used to run for our lives when we heard about an iron realm beast, but now we are actively hunting them."

Leon shrugged. "Isn’t it a good thing? We are a hundred times better than before, right?"

John shook his head helplessly. "That’s not what I meant. I feel as though I am a dead weight following you and earning without doing any actual work."

Leon paused for a moment and said to John in a calm tone, "Seven years ago, you chose to bring along a ten year old weakling as your hunting companion and even taught him how to hunt while protecting him under your shadow. That boy was also a dead weight back then, but you didn’t chase him away. So you don’t have to feel guilty now."

John smiled lightly and didn’t say anything else.

After walking for about three hours, they reached the side of a mountain river formed by a waterfall.

But when Leon and John reached this place, they noticed two young men standing at the banks of the river discussing something.

The two were wearing high end battle armors and held weapons with strong qi fluctuations, likely all at the iron realm.

John frowned when he saw this. "It seems some outsiders have discovered this place. Let’s retreat. We can’t mess with them."

Leon also nodded. After all, the incident with the ninja suit girl was still fresh in his mind. Who knew if these people were psychos like her.

But before they could walk far away, Leon sensed sudden movement from behind and he hurriedly pulled John to his side, barely missing the football sized fireball that just flew past him.

"You dodged it?" The younger of the two men looked stunned when he saw this.

Leon turned around and glared at the young man. Judging from the fire qi fluctuations around this guy, it was clear that he was the one who had used the fire spell just now.

"What are you glaring at, pest? Do you want to try dodging my spells a few more times?" the young man said with a grin, and another fireball appeared on his palm.

Leon took out his two swords from his storage ring and began walking towards the young man expressionlessly. But John suddenly blocked him and smiled at the young man apologetically. "Please forgive our intrusion. We are just local hunters and were unaware that this place was already reserved."

The young man with the fireball tilted his head and looked at Leon who was staring at him with a deadpan expression. "But your friend doesn’t seem to share the same thought."

"Max, stop it." Just as the young man was about to throw the fireball towards Leon, the young man who looked to be the eldest of the two waved his hand and the fireball in the young man’s hand was extinguished by a veil of water from the river.

Max clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked away.

The older young man smiled at Leon and John. "Please forgive our rudeness. He is a bit hot tempered."

John nodded without any displeasure and pulled Leon with him, intending to walk away from this place.

But just then, the young man called out once again. "You two friends, my name is Martin. I would like to ask for a small help from both of you."

John halted in his step and said helplessly, "Please don’t joke, sir. We are just mortal realm cultivators. How can we be of any help to you?"

Martin smiled. "You might be aware of the existence of the iron realm crocodiles inside this pond, right?"

John nodded.

Martin continued, "See that swamp at the other side of the lake? We just want you to go there and take the crocodile eggs there for us. We’ll pay you for that."

John looked at the calm lake and hesitated. "But sir, there are a lot of iron realm crocodiles inside. We won’t be able to come out if we are discovered."

Martin took out a large piece of cow sized meat from his storage ring and said, "This is a specially made bait. The crocodiles inside will go mad for it and won’t notice the two of you. We will also provide an iron grade boat for you guys. You just have to follow my instructions and you will be safe."

John remained silent for some time and asked helplessly, "Can we refuse?"

Martin just smiled, while Max glanced at John coldly and asked indifferently, "What do you think?"

John and Leon exchanged glances and finally John nodded towards the young men.

Max sneered coldly when he saw this, while Martin still had his usual smile on his face.

....

Leon scrutinized the two men and felt some relief in his heart. Fortunately, both were still at the iron realm, and judging from their aura, they were even weaker than that fatty squad leader. But anyway, Leon decided not to act since he was not sure what other means these outsiders had.

If he rashly attacked them and they turned out to be like him, whose strength was far above what was shown outside, then it would not be good.