Chapter 15 - Mutation

When Wei Bai saw the black shadow coming towards him as he landed near An Xin, smiled viciously and immediately punched out with his force of Qi behind it.

"Nothing, and I mean, NOTHING gets to touch my wife and get away with it." Wei Bai seriously swore.

Wei Bai then flashed over to An Xin's side at his fastest speed.

"Are you alright?! Are you hurt anywhere, Xin Xin?!" Wei Bai anxiously asked while checking her body all over for injuries after taking care of the black wolf.

"I'm fine, Bai Bai, it's only a graze. See? It's healing up now." An Xin replied with a slightly pale face as she used her healing technique.

"Then why is your face pale? Is there poison in the claws??" Wei Bai worriedly asked

"It's... No, there isn't any poison. It's just, I had a strange feeling just now."

"Back when that shadow was behind you?"

"Yeah..." An Xin trailed off as she looked at the 'shadow'.

"It's a black wolf, looks to be a tier 1 savage beast in level. But it's speed was off the charts!"

"En. At first, it was just a little faster than you. But when it's shadow melted and appeared behind you, it was faster than me by a little." Wei Bai agreed.

"And it's claws... I shivered when I felt it tear through my armour like nothing. Its claws were incredibly sharp too. If I didn't manage dodge in time..."

"Ancient forests can't be underestimated, even if it is only the edge, huh." Wei Bai muttered.

"That's the thing. I underestimated that black wolf, and when I heard the sound from behind me, I froze for a breath of time. I felt like death was breathing down my neck. Which is why I was surprised when I dodged it. A graze at my shoulder is a small price to pay. I felt the wolf aim at the centre of my back, and I instinctively moved away so Yan Yan wouldn't be hurt... Speaking of which... How is Yan Yan?! Is she okay?"

"She's fine. She didn't even cry. Much better than us?" Wei Bai confirmed after glancing behind her.

"Are you sure?" An Xin asked again.

"Yes. ...She looks to be sleeping." Wei Bai speechlessly mentioned after observing more closely.

"...As long as she's fine. What was that black wolf anyway?"

"Hmm. Uncle Liang wasn't kidding that something rare in the outside world would be just uncommon in here. I think that's a mutated elemental wolf. It must've eaten something that had copious amounts of shadow Qi in order to have such capabilities merely at the savage beast tier. The shadow clone decoy thing it did earlier was usually something only a beast at the demonic beast tier could do. It might even have a small core or something." Wei Bai suggested.

"It was incredible. It felt intelligent, since it could capture the moment I let my guard after my arrows pierced its shadow decoy." An Xin commented.

"Nah, it had to be at least a demonic beast if it was truly intelligent. Then it would've realised that our cultivations far outstripped it by a whole stage, but judging by the level of cultivation this beast had, It must've been a normal beast before it ate that treasure. Since it had a sliver of intelligence, it might be on its way to demonic beast tier, and hadn't finished digesting the treasure."

"Our Yan Yan is so lucky, for her First Hunt to be so valuable. Sharp claws, and even a demonic core. She just might have a bright future. Why do you even know so much about mutated beasts?"

"I took a side job before. It was to eliminate a crazy scholar who was being unbridled in gathering his 'materials'. He took things too far, from what I saw in his research notes. He was trying to improve the beasts' strength, which he succeeded, but he could barely control them. The pain of forcefully mutating the beast was enough to drive the beast insane and extremely savage. It was a domesticated wolf breed after all.

So he turned to using soul branding, but the difference between the strength of the mutated beast, soul branded and not was too large, the beast was under his control, but the beast couldn't control its new powers. So he turned to using human souls, under a soul binding contract. But souls of the dead were all deteriorated, and wasn't strong enough to control the mutated beast body.

Unless the soul was from a freshly dead body, the soul would take damage and be scattered by the material world. Or if the soul had a strong emotion or attachment. But those would only be left with their soul core and the emotion that allowed them to not be scattered, and those with strong attachment would be soulbound to that particular attachment. Taking it away would mean shattering the soul, unless it cultivates its soul enough.

Back then, the war was far from starting, so there wasn't any chance to grab a few souls. So he had no choice but to take some from others. He had trouble transplanting the soul, and kept repeating the experiment over and over, so others noticed his behaviour and reported it to the Mercenary Association for a job." Wei Bai long-windedly explained.

"...Oh. That book you brought back the other time. Why are you keeping so many books anyway? They're all random stuff from your spoils on the job..?"

"You were the one who said that you wanted your child to be wise and beautiful if you ever had one." Wei Bai replied.

"...You remembered? W-we, we weren't even engaged yet, that was 6 years ago!" An Xin blushingly turned her head away.

"...I liked you since back then."

"...You smooth little punk." An Xin happily pouted with a red face.

"I guess I also should've kept all the knowledge spoils instead of just the ones I find good... Maybe our daughter could've gleaned something from them. Something like the research notes of that scholar you mentioned wasn't something I would've kept in our library." An Xin depressingly muttered.

"Ufufufu, you're quite talkative today, you must be very excited huh?" An Xin teased, changing gears at the speed of sound.

.

"Of course. I'm both happy and excited. Our daughter's first hunt was such a good thing. Fortune has smiled upon our daughter today, since the First Hunt was always the first normal savage beast we can find. Whatever comes our way, if we can defeat it, will be our daughter's First Spoil. With such a great First Spoil, her future prospects can be seen as great. The only thing I'm worried about is the Second Hunt. To prove herself worthy of continued support from the family, she has to hunt a beast equal or greater than her First Spoil, which would be a hard test for Yan'er..." Wei Bai was both happy and worried for his daughter.

"It will be fine. Yan Yan is a smart girl. She'll handle it. I know she can." An Xin reassuringly said.

"Haaaa. Sometimes, I wonder where your confidence in our daughter comes from." Wei Bai sighed.

"From the heart, of course. Now, let's bring this wolf back and have a feast, shall we? I think we should make a bracelet. Or 2." An Xin happily collected the wolf corpse and the teeth punched out by Wei Bai scattered on the floor, and skipped away

"...Fine. Hey, wait up, let me carry that wolf." Wei Bai said as he chased after An Xin.