Frost-Steel wolf

Li Zhu quickly entered the shadows, an act which was now second nature for him. He traveled behind the Frost-Steel wolf, before punching its side with all his might.

The attack surprising connected, and the wolf was flung into a wall, forming cracks in the ice from to the impact.

The first attack using shadow lurk was always the most effective, since Li Zhu could take his enemies by surprise. That said, the wolf now knew about his skill, and it would be more careful.

The beast was not heavily injured, even after having been hit by the full force of Li Zhu. This was due to the gap in their cultivation, which meant it could take many hits by Li Zhu. It was not the same for Li Zhu, though, who could be put out of commission by one strong hit of the wolf, since it was an offensive type spirit beast.

Li Zhu was aware of this, but with the ability to use shadow lurk, he was positive that he could escape, if needed.

The wolf charged towards him again, without changing its strategy.

Li Zhu, although surprised by this, simply entered shadow lurk and popped up behind the wolf, as before. He then repeated the same punch as earlier, putting all of his force in his right fist.

The moment his fist touched the right side of the wolf, though, Li Zhu knew something was wrong. He immediately tried to retreat, yet he could not move... his fist was frozen onto the wolf!

The Frost-Steel wolf had surrounded itself in its frost qi, which resulted in the dangerous situation Li Zhu was now in.

Knowing it had caught its prey, the wolf turned its face around, before opening its large jaw and striking Li Zhu.

The teeth of the wolf shined, and Li Zhu knew they were as strong as steel. Frost-steel wolves were known for their powerful frost qi and steel-like teeth and claws. These aspects were what they were named for, and their most dangerous traits.

Finding a way to avoid the bite, which he could not face head on, Li Zhu jumped up high, bringing the wolf with him.

He had put all of his energy into his legs while jumping, which had allowed him to drag the wolf with him. As he fell back down, he raised his right arm up high, before slamming it down with all his might.

The wolf crashed into the floor, temporarily dazing it, which gave Li Zhu a chance to break free from the frost qi.

With a strong tug, the ice simply shattered, and Li Zhu retreated a few yards, panting.

Although the wolf had not used the best strategy, Li Zhu was still placed in a dangerous situation, and if it wasn't for his quick battle instincts, the clash could have ended differently.

He could not attack the wolf without risking his arm being trapped, so Li Zhu needed to find another way to face the wolf.

'Although it may be dangerous, I think I need to separate with Buddy, and let him deal the damage.'

Buddy would be safe from the frost qi, since the Frost-Steel wolf only expected to fight Li Zhu, and if a dog appeared out of the shadow, it would have no time to react. That said, they needed to make this attack a finishing one, since revealing Buddy would then allow the wolf to change its strategy once more.

Since Li Zhu was already fused with Buddy, he could easily communicate his plan, trough their souls.

He then abruptly stopped his fusion with Buddy, yet the dog entered shadow lurk immediately, without being noticed by the Frost-Steel wolf, that had begun its charge once again.

Li Zhu retreated, not willing to face the charge straight on. As he noticed Buddy about to come out of the shadows, though, he jumped high up.

As the wolf waited for him to fall down, the small head of a dog popped up underneath it. Buddy then rammed into it, causing the wolf to be thrown into the air, weakened.

Li Zhu, having prepared for this, circulated all of his heavenly energy into his legs, before kicking down the wolf, which had almost reached his height.

The Frost-Steel wolf slammed into the ground once again, yet this time it was injured. The combination of Buddy's and Li Zhu's attack had disoriented it, and the two took advantage of this, charging towards it, performing their strongest attacks.

The wolf, realizing the danger of the situation, quickly stood up, still dazed. Knowing it was its only option, it then charged towards them, meeting their attacks head on.

Although Li Zhu and Buddy both had the advantage over the injured wolf, they still dreaded its charge, since it was at a much higher cultivation than them.

This was a rare chance to further injure it, though, so they did not stop their attacks, finally reaching the wolf.

"Crack!"

The moment the three attacks hit each other, the Frost-Steel wolf was thrown back into the wall, yet Li Zhu was not left unharmed, either.

His knuckles had cracked, from the strong impact they had received by hitting the wolf as it charged. His fist had come into contact with the wolf's teeth, which were stronger than steel, resulting in the current injury.

Li Zhu gritted his teeth, persisting through the pain. He and Buddy looked at each other, before charging at the fallen wolf, intending to land a finishing strike.

Li Zhu now used his left fist, which though slightly weaker, was uninjured, and could display most of his power.

The wolf, lying on the ground, began howling furiously. At that moment, frost qi surrounded it, causing the air itself to freeze, casing it into a sphere of ice.

Li Zhu and Buddy, seeing this, immediately retreated, realizing they could not break through the ice. The wolf had gone berserk, and the result was currently unknown.

Li Zhu and Buddy could only stand on the sidelines, waiting, since it would be far too dangerous to approach the crazed wolf.

At that moment, inside the ice sphere, the wolf began to glow, as its injuries were slowly healed. At the same time, it began to give off an extremely powerful aura, which made Li Zhu feel out of breath.

"Buddy, we need to run! The Frost-Steel wolf is breaking through to the core consolidating realm!" yelled Li Zhu, realizing what the phenomenon represented.

When in a situation of life or death, breakthroughs could suddenly occur, as was happening to the Frost-Steel wolf.

While they could barely beat the wolf when it was in the ninth stage qi gathering, there was now way for them to defeat it if it reached the core consolidating realm. Each time a cultivator or spirit beast advanced to the next realm, their power would have a massive increase, something which could not be taken lightly.

Furthermore, spirit beasts were generally stronger than humans at the same stage, so beating this Frost-Steel wolf would be even more difficult than defeating a human core consolidating realm expert.

Aware of this, Li Zhu began to fuse with Buddy, ready to escape through the shadows.

At that moment, though, the atmosphere froze, blocking Li Zhu in place. The Frost-Steel wolf came out of its ice shell, with fury in its eyes, which had now turned white.

"Run, Buddy, i'll survive somehow!" was all that Li Zhu could yell, before the wolf rammed into him, causing him to fly tens of yards back, all bloody.

It may have been a mistake by the wolf, but Li Zhu fell into a lake made out of liquid Yin, a place that even the core consolidating realm beast would not dare enter, for fear of freezing to death.

It had all happened so fast, and Buddy stood there, unsure of what to do. Although he had known Li Zhu for only a short time, their souls were connected, and it could not bring itself to give up on its new friend.

Buddy jumped into the lake, following Li Zhu, who was now sinking to the bottom, while his body gradually froze.

Watching this turn of events, the Frost-Steel wolf simply growled, before traveling deeper into the caves, having now reached a worthy strength to reside in the core of Solitude Peak.

Unnoticed by the wolf, though, a small blue bird entered the lake after Buddy, bringing with it a bone-chilling frost qi.

As Li Zhu sunk to the bottom of the lake, he began losing consciousness, the feeling of cold now invading his whole body. The cold was so extreme that Li Zhu was unable to differentiate it from heat, as he simply stared at Buddy, a few yards above him.

'Although I did not manage to achieve much in this life, in one way I surpassed my previous identity... I found someone loyal to me!' thought Li Zhu, with a pained look.

At that moment, though, he remembered an old man, yelling at him about never giving up... his master. Recalling the man who had made him into who he was now, Li Zhu's expression turned from that of a dying man, to the one of a determined youngster.

'I will not die here, because Li Zhu is not that easy to kill! I will go against the heavens, so what can this puny Yin lake do to stop me?!' were his last thoughts, before everything went black.