Chapter 57: Locke’s Inquiry, Enemies Meeting on Narrow Road

They had survived countless battles where one mistake meant death.

A brief moment of surprise was all they needed.

The next instant, they attacked.

Jack charged forward first, his enormous body moving like a battering ram as he blocked the Shadow Cat’s escape route.

Locke moved around the battlefield like a ghost, constantly changing positions while keeping track of the creature’s movements.

The remaining members attacked from different directions, forcing the Shadow Cat to constantly defend itself.

Even Alchemist Dawn didn’t remain idle.

Standing behind the others, he continuously launched attacks toward the Shadow Cat, his offensive power forcing the creature to spend more and more magical energy defending itself.

The Shadow Cat hissed furiously.

Its body flickered between shadows, appearing and disappearing as it desperately searched for an opening.

But the team had already adapted to its movements.

Little by little...

Its magical power began to decline.

Jackson watched carefully.

Ten percent.

Twenty percent.

Thirty percent...

The creature’s movements gradually became slower.

Its shadow techniques were becoming less frequent.

Then Jackson’s eyes suddenly lit up.

It’s almost time.

He had been waiting for exactly this moment.

Without wasting another second, Jackson raised his hand.

The Golden Brush appeared in his grasp.

His spiritual force surged outward.

This time, there was almost no resistance.

The Shadow Cat’s magical defenses had been weakened enough.

Jackson’s eyes narrowed.

The invisible power of the Golden Brush wrapped around the monster’s body.

Then he made his edit.

Its spiritual force rapidly increased.

By tens of points.

For an instant, the Shadow Cat’s body froze.

Its pupils contracted.

Something inside its body had been pushed far beyond its natural limit.

Then—

Bang!

A muffled explosion echoed through the forest.

The Shadow Cat’s entire body violently ruptured.

Blood and flesh exploded outward, scattering across the surrounding trees and ground.

The battle abruptly stopped.

Everyone froze.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Their gazes slowly shifted toward Jackson.

They had all witnessed what had happened.

There had been no visible attack.

No weapon.

No obvious technique.

The Shadow Cat had simply...

exploded.

Then realization appeared in their eyes.

They had seen this before.

Anyone who had watched Bitter Rain’s arena battles knew this scene.

His opponents had exploded in exactly the same manner.

Locke’s eyes widened.

So this is how he did it?

The others exchanged glances, equally stunned.

Jackson, however, paid little attention to their expressions.

He simply nodded once.

Then he walked toward the remains of the Shadow Cat and bent down to collect its monster core.

None of the men present objected.

After all, Bitter Rain had been the one who had ultimately killed it.

Jack glanced around the surrounding forest.

His expression remained serious.

"Though we’ve killed the Shadow Cat, the danger isn’t over yet."

He looked toward the deeper parts of the forest.

"The smell of blood will attract other monsters. We need to leave before something stronger arrives."

Everyone immediately understood.

They nodded and quickly began moving.

The team didn’t dare remain in the area for even another minute.

As they hurried through the forest, Locke eventually couldn’t suppress his curiosity.

He moved closer to Jackson.

"How exactly did you kill that Shadow Cat from so far away?"

Jackson glanced at him.

He could see the curiosity in Locke’s eyes.

But there was no reason to reveal the Golden Brush.

So he simply shrugged.

"Just a petty trick. Nothing worth mentioning."

Locke stared at him for a moment.

A petty trick?

He clearly didn’t believe that explanation.

But after thinking about it, Locke understood what Jackson was implying.

Bitter Rain didn’t want to reveal his ability.

Since that was the case, continuing to ask would only make things awkward.

Locke wisely closed his mouth.

The forest once again fell silent around them as the group continued deeper into the Blood Demon Forest.

One hour later, Jackson and his group finally arrived at the location of the Nine Essence Flower.

The dense forest suddenly opened into a wide clearing. Sunlight poured through the gaps in the enormous canopy above, illuminating the center of the clearing where a strange flower quietly grew.

The Nine Essence Flower.

Its nine delicate petals shimmered with a faint spiritual radiance, and wisps of energy constantly gathered around it. Even from a distance, Jackson could sense the extraordinary aura it emitted.

However, the moment the group entered the clearing, everyone’s expressions turned grim.

They weren’t the first ones here.

Several dozen meters away from the Nine Essence Flower stood two groups of hunters. Their weapons were already drawn, and their expressions were anything but friendly. They appeared to have been arguing for some time, with neither side willing to give an inch.

The atmosphere between them was tense enough that a fight could break out at any moment.

Jackson’s eyes swept across the two groups.

Neither side seemed willing to back down.

Then, perhaps because they noticed Jackson and the others entering the clearing, the arguments suddenly stopped.

The two groups turned toward them almost simultaneously.

Cold gazes swept across Jackson’s team.

There was no friendliness in those eyes.

If anything, the hostility was unmistakable.

"Damn it. We were late..." Alchemist Dawn muttered under his breath.

His expression was filled with frustration.

He knew very well what this meant.

The Nine Essence Flower was practically gone.

They had rushed here as quickly as possible, but in the end, they had still arrived one step too late.

Jackson noticed the change in Alchemist Dawn’s expression.

A faint crease appeared between his brows.

He couldn’t help but feel slightly responsible.

If the team hadn’t waited for him earlier, Alchemist Dawn would probably have reached this place sooner. Perhaps by now, he would have already obtained the Nine Essence Flower and left the forest.

Jackson felt a trace of guilt.

However, he had no intention of fighting these people for no reason.

There was no guarantee that the flower would even end up in Alchemist Dawn’s hands if they started fighting. Creating unnecessary trouble simply because they had arrived late wasn’t worth it.

Still, Jackson quietly made a note of this matter.

He would find another way to compensate Alchemist Dawn in the future.

Almost as though he had somehow seen through Jackson’s thoughts, Alchemist Dawn walked over and gently tapped him on the shoulder.

"Don’t blame yourself."

Jackson looked toward him.

Alchemist Dawn smiled faintly.

"Even if we’d arrived earlier, we would have encountered these people sooner or later. You didn’t cause this."

Before Jackson could respond, a voice suddenly rang out from the opposite side.

"It’s you, Locke..."

The voice carried obvious surprise.

A man standing at the front of one of the groups stepped forward.

He appeared to be the leader. His gaze had initially been fixed on Jackson’s group with suspicion, but the moment his eyes landed on Locke, surprise flashed across his face.

Then that surprise quickly turned into something colder.

Locke’s expression changed as well.

The relaxed look that had been on his face disappeared almost instantly.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at the man.

Jackson immediately noticed the change.

They know each other.

More importantly, judging from the expressions on both sides, their relationship was clearly anything but friendly.

The other members of the team also became tense.

A moment ago, they had merely arrived at a clearing where two groups were fighting over the Nine Essence Flower.

Now, they had unexpectedly become involved in whatever grudge existed between Locke and the opposing leader.

The already tense atmosphere became even heavier.

Jackson’s gaze slowly swept across the opposing hunters.

It seemed their situation had just become considerably more troublesome.