Herag closed his eyes to feel for a moment and discovered that the demon aura he had absorbed in the past had originally integrated throughout his body.

Now, this demon aura seemed to be trembling, with some sort of connection between them.

After a while, Herag felt as if something from the outside was being infused into his body.

The demon aura within him began to transform into a layer of black membrane, covering various parts of his body.

This black membrane covered his internal organs, wrapped around every bone, integrated into every piece of flesh and blood, enveloping every cell.

After a long time, Herag opened his eyes, standing in the cold wind.

By now, he knew what changes had occurred in his body.

He had awakened the exorcist's talent ability, now considered an official exorcist.

The black membrane inside Herag is his ability, significantly enhancing his body's strength, toughness, and defensive capabilities.

At the same time, his physical power would also be greatly enhanced.

Strangely, when Herag checked the data panel, none of his physical attributes had actually improved.

This meant that, even though the black membrane made Herag's physical strength and toughness stronger, it wasn't achieved by enhancing physical attributes, but it was due to the properties of the black membrane itself.

Herag raised his hand, squeezed his fist, and clearly felt a difference from before.

This feeling wasn't because his physical strength had increased, but because the nature of his body seemed to have changed.

Herag wasn't sure of the principle behind this black membrane and hadn't heard of any other exorcists with similar abilities.

He once heard Jim mention that an exorcist's abilities often reflect their character, habits, bloodlines, etc.

But this is also a metaphysical explanation, similar to using zodiac signs to determine personality.

Nonetheless, Herag was quite satisfied with this ability, feeling that it suited him well.

If he used the Titan Power now, Herag believed he would be much stronger than before.

After feeling the changes in his body, he looked at the giant bear's corpse on the ground.

The giant bear was poisoned to death, its body filled with various toxins.

If it just stayed there and some animals ate it, that would be fine, but if it accidentally poisoned a few people, that wouldn't be good.

Herag thought for a moment, took out a portion of corrosive potion from his space ring, and poured it onto the bear's body.

The bear's body began to melt quickly, sizzling and smoking.

A single portion of corrosive potion wasn't enough, as the bear's body was too large.

Herag used two more portions to completely dissolve the bear's body, leaving only some liquid at the site.

He then thoroughly cleaned up the marks on the ground before leaving.

Because he used a magic potion, Herag was more cautious, leaving no traces behind.

When Herag returned to Fire Land Ranch, he found the ranch empty of people, except for cattle, sheep, and horses.

The ranch owner Bowen and others had disappeared, with no sign of them within the environment detection range.

Herag did not bother about them and went back to his cabin to continue his meditation practice.

By the next morning, Bowen and the others slowly returned.

They were very cautious, observing the surroundings outside the ranch for a while before entering.

Seeing that the cattle, sheep, and horses were mostly still there and there were no traces of blood or carcasses, they felt puzzled.

When they went to the back plain, they saw Herag practicing swordplay in the distance, and were immediately surprised.

Seeing them return, Herag approached and greeted them, "The giant bear has been driven off by me and shouldn't be coming back."

He did not elaborate on the details, merely mentioned it casually before heading towards his cabin.

"Driven off?" Bowen was somewhat incredulous, but Herag was unharmed, and the ranch had suffered no losses, so he had no choice but to believe it.

Watching Herag leave leisurely, Bowen was deep in thought.

Half a month passed in a flash.

During this time, no demons came to attack, seemingly due to the giant mountain bear's passage; no other demons appeared during these two weeks.

Herag didn't plan to stay here longer, as winter was approaching, and demons would only become fewer.

In some time, heavy snow would block the mountains, making travel inconvenient.

When Bowen learned that Herag was leaving, he did not try to stop him, merely personally sending him to the road outside, handing him a bag of money, "This is your reward."

Herag looked inside the money bag, puzzled, "Why are there twenty gold coins? I haven't been here for three months."

Bowen took a drag from his pipe and said, "You may not have stayed for three months, but driving off the giant mountain bear saved the ranch from significant loss, this is rightfully yours."

Herag nodded, accepted the money bag, and without further words, mounted his horse, cracked the whip, and rode away.

Bowen stood outside the ranch, watching Herag leave, then slowly returned to the ranch.

...

After returning to Amy City, as soon as Herag got back to the inn, the clerk told him that Jim had come looking for him a few days ago.

At that time, Herag was performing a commission task at Fire Land Ranch, so Jim asked the clerk to relay a message, saying he had something to discuss with Herag.

Upon hearing the news, Herag went to the address Jim had given the next day.

Jim lived in a small courtyard with a limited area.

He knocked on the door, and soon Jim opened it.

"You're back, I thought you'd return after winter. It's good that you're back now, winter there isn't very comfortable, and supplies are scarce." Jim ushered Herag into the courtyard as he spoke.

Herag asked, "How are things going in Thousand Lakes Town?"

He hadn't heard much after returning to Amy City and was unsure if things were resolved.

Jim sat beside a table in the courtyard and said, "There was indeed an apostle-level demon in Thousand Lakes, a jellyfish."

"A jellyfish?" Herag recalled, that white translucent tentacle indeed resembled a jellyfish, just magnified many times.

Jim nodded and continued, "That jellyfish was very strong, and Lord Arios fought it to a standstill, neither able to defeat the other. It seemed stronger in water. Later, realizing it couldn't handle Lord Arios, the demon left, disappearing from Thousand Lakes."

"Disappeared?" Herag asked.

"Lord Arios believes the demon used some special means to leave. No trace of it can be found in Thousand Lakes now, and it's uncertain if it will ever reappear. After this event, Thousand Lakes has been designated a dangerous area, those living by fishing there might struggle." Jim explained.

The two of them continued to discuss details about Thousand Lakes Town's situation, and Herag gained a deeper understanding.

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