Chapter 29: The Pack of Wolves on the Run

Outside the cave, a dense pack of wolves had gathered, originally licking the blood and flesh scattered on the ground. Sensing humans emerging from within, catching the scent of people, the wolves became roused and charged into the cave.

"Damn it, I forgot about the blood of a Spirit Adept," Liang Zi cursed furiously.

Spirit Adepts, their flesh and blood tempered by spiritual energy, possessed blood ten times stronger than ordinary people. To beasts and magical creatures, such blood was irresistibly tempting.

Wolves, with their keen noses, were clearly drawn here by the scent of that blood.

As the wolves surged into the cave, the four had no choice but to retreat. Gu Yan was already petrified with fear, so Liang Zi scooped her up and ran deeper inside.

As she ran, Liang Zi urgently asked, "Dong Haoran, tell me, how deep does this cave go?"

Dong Haoran, stifling his panic, replied, "The cave isn't very deep—another twenty meters or so and it ends. But there's a pool of water at the end."

"A pool?" Liang Zi muttered. "Wolves aren't afraid of water, are they?"

Chased by the wolves, the group soon reached the cave's end, where they found Xue Zhulin struggling on the ground, trying to crawl out.

Seeing Xue Zhulin's miserable state, Liang Zi and Ke Yan were both taken aback—Dong Haohu had only mentioned crippling his cultivation, but hadn't said he'd severed the tendons in his hands and feet.

Xue Zhulin, sensing people entering, realized it was Dong Haohu and his group and panicked. Did they really need to return and finish him off when he was already like this?

Then, hearing the wolves' howls, Xue Zhulin was stunned, and then overjoyed. He understood immediately what the four fiends had stumbled into and began to laugh hysterically. "Ha! Liu Haoran, Dong Haohu, you two harlots, you got your retribution so soon! Come and die with me!"

The five bypassed Xue Zhulin and saw the pool up ahead. Because it was so dark, Liang Zi produced a luminous pearl.

Gu Yan, still in Liang Zi’s arms, looked at her anxious face, deeply moved.

Spotting a large, protruding rock on the far side of the pool, Liang Zi urged, "Jump onto that boulder!"

All five squeezed onto it.

The boulder could barely fit four people; with five, it was cramped. Thankfully, Liang Zi and Ke Yan, wary of Dong Haohu and Liu Haoran taking advantage of Gu Yan, shielded her behind them, forcing the two men to stand at the front and bear the wolves’ attack.

The wolves first encountered Xue Zhulin. The scent of human blood drove them wild, and in an instant, they devoured him, leaving only a clean skeleton behind.

Witnessing this, terror gripped the five.

Howls echoed—earsplitting, shaking the very cave, as the wolves gathered at the pool’s edge. The sound was so intense it was like a sonic attack: Gu Yan fainted on the spot, and even the other four were dizzy and disoriented.

Fortunately, the sonic shock wasn’t only aimed at people—the wolves themselves suffered as well.

Most of the wolves were equivalent to second- or third-rank human warriors, with only the wolf king matching a fifth-rank human. Yet, wild beasts are fiercer and more relentless than people, so a fifth-rank wolf king could rival a sixth-rank human warrior.

Wolves, being pack animals, could overwhelm enemies with sheer numbers even if they couldn’t match them in strength.

Meanwhile, Gu Feng, inside the Revival Space, was watching anxiously. To him, the wolves were merely sources of experience, but to Liang Zi’s group, they were a calamity.

When the furious howls actually knocked his little sister unconscious, Gu Feng nearly lost his mind and grew to hate the wolf race with a passion.

Thankfully, things weren’t as dire as they seemed—the wolves were also knocked out by their own sonic assault. Only the wolf king remained, staggering but upright.

Seeing this, Liang Zi and the others were stunned, while Gu Feng breathed a sigh of relief.

Liang Zi was the first to react, barking, "Kill!" and charged ahead.

Liu Haoran and the other two quickly followed.

Now, only the unconscious Gu Yan remained on the boulder, accompanied by the luminous pearl.

The four tore into the briefly stunned wolf pack without resistance, dispatching them with ease. The cave filled with the sounds of blades sinking into flesh. Each wolf awoke in the moment of its death, wailing and struggling as it perished.

The stench of blood thickened the already stifling air, agitating the four so much that their eyes turned red with killing frenzy.

The wolf king, coming to its senses and facing the four who seemed like demons, was terrified and turned to flee.

The wolves that hadn’t been knocked out and were still pressing forward saw their king fleeing and, with angry howls, turned tail and ran from the cave.

The four, driven by bloodlust, gave chase.

In a dramatic reversal, those who had been hunted by the wolves were now hunting the wolves instead.

Soon, the wolves were chased out of the basin.

The pack thundered across the land, their howls echoing—more than forty or fifty wolves in a surging tide, enough to make one’s scalp prickle.

Adventurers in the forest, hearing the pack's frenzied howling, hid themselves, peeking out in curiosity to see what madness had seized the wolves.

When they saw four young men and women chasing the pack, driving them to flee for their lives, the onlookers were stunned. Had the world changed—or had the wolves simply grown weak?

Many recognized the four and exclaimed, "Four of the Five Geniuses of Senyuan Town, together, madly chasing a wolf pack!"

Others wondered aloud—these five were always together; why were only four here? Where was Xue Zhulin? Why wasn't he with them?

As the four cut down the fleeing wolves, corpses littered their path, and many cultivators trailed behind, eager to see what the four were after.

Pushed further, the scattered wolves blundered into the territory of a higher-ranked beast.

A bull’s roar split the air. From the mud, a mighty bull—awakened from its slumber by the commotion—rose in fury and charged out.

Mud flew everywhere. The bull’s strength was immense, its power explosive. Almost instantly, it reached the wolf king.

The wolf king let out a pitiful cry, trying to escape, but had no chance.

With a sickening crunch, the bull’s massive horns skewered the wolf king, lifting it high. The wolf king wailed and thrashed, blood gushing from its wounds.

The remaining wolves, terrified and leaderless, scattered in all directions.

Liang Zi and her companions were also seized with fear at the sight of the bull, wolf king still impaled on its horns.

The mighty bull was a ninth-rank beast, its strength no less than that of an average Spirit Adept, with explosive power to match.

Looking around, the four realized with a start that, in their pursuit, they’d chased the wolves all the way to the outskirts of the Forest of Beasts.

Liang Zi was the first to react, shouting, "Run!"

Catching the scent of humans, the bull locked onto the four.

With a furious roar, it gave chase.