Rebirth: Supreme Soul Master

As Peter finished speaking, everyone's attention returned to William. They had no choice but to abandon their search for and attempt to kill a Gold-level monster. Now, if they could find a way to solve the problem with these bottles, they would have another unmissable loot, one that could be easily collected.

“Me neither,” William sighed. He knew that for alchemists and craftsmen, blood was as valuable as gold. It was a widely used material in forging and refining, which made him not regret not having more bottles to collect it.

“I don’t have many here,” Ibra suddenly said, touching his ring and taking out a lot of empty bottles.

“Damn old man! Don’t tell me you’re interested in alchemy!” Even William was surprised by the number of bottles.

"I dare you to say that to me again!" Ibra roared, glaring at William, who completely ignored the guy's threat.

"Then hurry up, take them with you, and collect all the blood you can," William urged the group. Led by Berry, most of them followed her to the cave entrance and filled the bottles with brown blood.

Only Ibra, Sarah, Peter, Lang, and other Silver-level Soul Masters remained. William's gaze swept among them, understanding why they had been left behind to wait with him.

“Come on, tell us all the secrets about this horrible fellow,” Ibra said, crossing his arms and resting them on his sword, while giving William a deep look.

“This is something you must avoid at all costs,” William said, not hiding his knowledge of the terrifying monster. “This creature can use dark elements very effectively, and may even be one of the best monsters in the world. To use such elements to this extent.”

“Why is that?” Sarah paused. “Even more powerful than demons and monsters? The Silent Reapers?”

She learned some things about the world's most terrifying monsters from her grandfather and his library.

"Compared to this guy, this is actually quite cute." William wasn't surprised to hear those two terrifying names. And the one they were facing here—both of them were listed among the top ten most dangerous dark monsters in this small world and the outside world.

“Really!” The silver-clad young man she brought seemed to recognize the two as well. Besides these two, Ibra also knew these two insanely powerful monsters.

“I’ve never heard of any dark monsters stronger than these two,” Ibra commented, and the other two nodded in agreement.

“Then listen to something that will open your eyes and let you see a vast world unknown to many,” William paused, took a deep breath, and added, “This terrifying monster can use dark elements to create illusions.”

"An illusion? You mean it can separate the body into different parts like that damn stone?"

"First of all, it's not a rock, it's a Bulgarian monster. No, this thing doesn't break its body into pieces like we did when we fought together. It can create illusions, like clones of itself, and scatter them all over a vast expanse of land."

“Then it’s quite simple to deal with,” Peter said. “Just avoid those instances, since they’re all illusions and won’t be that strong, right?”

“Wrong,” William slowly shook his head. “This guy can fight anyone and anything, and once he kills someone, he will use his illusion to copy that person’s skills and abilities. In other words, we may be facing a monster, but in fact we are facing a huge army composed of powerful Soul Masters and terrifying monsters. They have countless abilities that make us feel desperate and powerless.”

“Don’t panic, we still have a chance.” William looked around. “The sun is about to set. Unlike other monsters, especially dark monsters, this one becomes lazy and weak at night. Moreover, it needs a lot of time to spread all its illusions throughout the area, and it won’t let other monsters stay in its territory.”

"So, the Territorial Monster... this is truly a hellish nightmare!" Lang Lang gasped. William couldn't help but nod in agreement.

“So…where is the glimmer of hope?” Unlike the others, Ibra was far more skilled and experienced in fighting powerful monsters. Therefore, he realized that despite William's earlier statement that there was hope, he knew there was no hope at all!

“These…” William understood Ibra’s thoughts, but simply pointed the tip of his sword at the other nine monsters.

"I do not understand……"

"As long as these are still alive, it means that the terrible monster has not used up all its power... It must deal with these monsters first before it can deal with us."

"This means..."

“Yes, we need to escape tonight,” William said earnestly. “Traveling through the forest at night is very risky. But for us, this is our only hope. Tomorrow, that monster will make its move. We need to clear out the other monsters and take control of the entire area.”

“I understand,” Sarah and the others finally understood why William’s first words were to escape from here. “Is there anything we can help you with?”

“That formation,” William knew that escaping at night would be quite difficult. Moreover, apart from that terrifying nightmare monster, the other nine were not easy to deal with. “It was used by the five scouts… I hope all of us will use it when we go on our journeys.”

"Are you that afraid of it? Didn't you say it would be weak and lazy?!" Peter asked, puzzled.

“I said it would become lazy and weak, but I didn’t say it would sleep all night or stop moving around and chasing us like a hound,” William paused. “We also have these nine monsters to worry about. If we find them and drag out the fight long enough, then that horrible guy will come and take advantage of the situation, and none of us want that to happen, right?”