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nWhile the Ritter Motor Company was attracting the attention of the continent’s powers for its lucrative business and gradually expanding into new states, Lothur and his group had finally returned to the border between Thasan and Utrary.

nAfter a week since their last stop to deal with a group of spectres, the group returned to such an area to deal with the possessed bodies on the loose in these states.

nArriving the morning before at the borders of these two states, their group didn’t have to wait long before they received communication from Lothur’s slaves in that state.

nReceiving the locations of each possessed body from these two states that had not yet been dominated by the black flames, Lothur, and his women set off the previous afternoon to sort it out.

nSearching for the strongest first wouldn’t take them long to finish their preventative action in these states!

nIn just 5 days, the group would meet each of these beings, with Lothur overpowering them and giving new orders to his slaves.

nNo problems had arisen in those days, and the whole operation had gone smoothly, with no demons or more powerful spectres noticing what was happening in Thasan and Utrary.

nWith that done, Lothur obtained 10 new slaves in those states, individuals who would be his eyes and ears in secret in those areas.

nHaving sorted this out, he returned to his previous plans, intending to eliminate the 6 groups of spectres and 8 of demons he had information on before looking at 5th stage creatures.

nThe moment for him and his group to take a risk and attract the attention of their pursuers was coming!

n…

nIn the blink of an eye, a whole month would pass!

nIn the meantime, Lothur and his group would travel through the northern region of Concordia, going after the 14 groups they planned to eliminate before proceeding with the most dangerous part of their journey.

nNone of Lothur’s slaves in Thasan, Utrary, or the Castle of Shadow had been heard from in the last month, so he and his group had focused entirely on the mission of dealing with the 14 groups.

nAlthough these groups had been scattered throughout the northern region of Concordia, in just one month, Lothur and his companions had reached 12 of the 14 groups, eliminating almost all of them!

nThis morning, the group had attacked the last group of 4th-stage spectres they had planned to attack, and now they were standing on a mountain in the Petha Empire, preparing for a new attack.

nTheir last two targets were in this state, so the group intended to finish their hunt for 4th stage creatures in the next few days.

nBut while waiting for the right moment to act, Lothur observed the statuses of Blood and Smoke, these kittens who had finally advanced to level 23!

nName: Blood

nSoul Cultivation: level 23

nBody Cultivation: level 22

nSTR: 5,077 CON: 5,449 DEX: 5,199 AGI: 5,272

nINT: 1,499 PER: 5,556 WIL: 3,419 SOU: 8,399

n…

nName: Smoke

nSoul Cultivation: level 23

nBody Cultivation: level 22

nSTR: 5,129 CON: 5,523 DEX: 5,209 AGI: 5,459

nINT: 1,499 PER: 5,556 WIL: 3,533 SOU: 8,525

nHaving devoured many level 21 spectres in recent weeks and even the souls of some demons, Lothur’s two kittens had improved not only their soul powers but their physical attributes.

nTo use their ability, they needed to connect with their targets somehow. But to do this, they had to move, and so they ended up exercising and improving their bodies.

nSeeing them at this level, Lothur knew they were still weak compared to ordinary level 23 cultivators. They had recently advanced and also had a lot of their powers in their body cultivation. But even so, they had become strong enough for him to take them with him to hunt 5th-stage demons.

nSimilar in features to Lothur’s women, the two little cats had reached the minimum for him to risk them in combat.

nHappy with this, Lothur looked at his own status.

nName: Lothur Ritter

nPhysique: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger

nBloodline: Life Devourer

nSoul Cultivation: level 23

nBody Cultivation: level 22

nSTR: 4,680 CON: 7,600 DEX: 4,900 AGI: 4,980

nINT: 1,599 PER: 6,280 WIL: 3,200 SOU: 18,950

nEVF: 2

nSeeing his status, Lothur clenched his fists, feeling that he was not far from level 24 in soul cultivation. However, it would cost him the equivalent of between 50 and 100 level 21 demons absorbed.

nThat was no small feat!

nEach group of demons he had attacked so far had between 3 and 8 members.

nDemons, even when they followed the orders of their superiors and had rational beings among their group members, found it challenging to work together in large numbers.

nMost demons worked in small teams to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

nThus, even though he was very close to reaching the 3rd Catastrophe of the 5th stage, Lothur would still have to deal with many 5th-stage demons or go against 5th-stage beings to achieve it.

nIf he needed 50 to 100 level 21 demons to advance, he would need 20 to 50 level 22 demons or 10 to 25 level 23 demons to advance. 𝒃𝙚𝙙𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝒍．𝒆𝒕

nKnowing how much each creature was ‘worth’ to him, Lothur knew he could achieve another breakthrough in just a few weeks!

n‘If I can do this before I absorb my next Soul Bone, I’ll have a great breakthrough when I absorb my 8th bone.’ He thought to himself, eager despite the danger he would face in the coming weeks.

nThen he looked at the people in his group and said. “Let’s finish this part of our journey. I want to go after the first group of 5th-stage demons in no more than a week.

nIt’s time to get us some bones!”

nListening to Lothur, his four women looked at him with determination in their eyes, eager for new bones but also prepared for this moment.

nThey had been preparing for months for the day when they would hunt high-level creatures.

nEven though they knew that they would be in great danger from now on, they were already psychologically prepared for what was to come!

nBlood and Smoke were also prepared, eager to deal with any creature, human, beast, demon, or spectre that stood in their leader’s way.

nOnly Cykad was a little more apprehensive about all of this but committed to the mission his old master had left him, he would lead this group, even though he was the weakest of the bunch and aware of the dangers ahead.

n‘If I have to die, so be it. I’ve lived long enough.’ He clenched his claws before getting up and heading out with the rest of the group, searching for the last relatively safe targets they could hunt.

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