Thunder-Stroke Wolf King

Suddenly, as Minos was arriving at the end of the trail, a loud howl echoed through the forests, frightening his horse to a stand still.

Looking around, Minos saw the beady red-eyes that began appearing from the bushes, gathering around him.

Looking back forward, near a small cliff, a massive wolf was standing, looking down on him with a human-like arrogance.

The wolf had blue fur that had occasional sparks of lightning traveling through it. Its eyes were a lighter blue, akin to an icy-lake, perfectly matching the coldness within the beast's eyes.

None of the wolves attacked right away however, instead seemingly waiting for Minos to slip up and create an opening.

Unfortunately for the wolves, Minos had no openings, but lucky for them, he also had no plans of sitting around and doing nothing.

After pulling a talisman from his spatial ring, Minos bite into his thumb, using the blood to activate it.

At an incredible speed, a thick fog gathered in the area, completely destroying any visibility.

But for Minos who had opened his Nose and Tongue Lock, he was far less affected. Shutting his eyes, he began forming a scent map in his mind, quickly re-establishing all the wolves' locations.

If he wanted to, he could just abuse his talismans and easily slaughter the pack, but his plan was to refine his sword skills, so beyond the Fog Talisman, he didn't plan on using anymore.

Pulling the Heaven-Sundering Sword from his spatial ring, Minos could feel the blade slightly vibrating, clearly dissatisfied having been tucked away for so long.

'Don't worry, from now on, you'll be able to taste blood once more.' Minos thought, as he gently stroked the sword and calmed it back down.

'Let's begin!'

Using his smell as a radar, Minos quickly pulled up to the first wolf, which was still darting around in confusion, not knowing where to go.

After waiting for it to show a lapse, Minos pulled his sword out at tremendous speed, using his Flashing-Spark Sword technique to attack even faster.

Before the wolf could even react, its head was severed cleanly from its body, collapsing to the ground.

Normally a wound like that would bleed tremendous, but due to using the Flashing-Spark Sword, the cut was cauterized as soon as it appeared, sealing it back closed.

Without the scent of blood to give the wolves a guide, they could only keep walking around cluelessly, letting Minos cut through them like a scythe through wheat.

Watching its pack being ruthlessly harvested by Minos enraged the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King. After letting out a massive howl, it leapt from its cliff, lunging directly towards Minos.

The sound of the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's massive body traveling through the air instantly raised Minos to max-alert.

Unlike the Wolf King's pack which didn't have strong enough senses to detect Minos in the fog, the Wolf King had no such problem.

While human and beast cultivation were naturally different, they shared much in common, including strength and sense enhancements.

At the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's cultivation, its senses were even sharper than Minos's, and it quickly detected him from among the thick fog.

Minos wasn't stupid enough to face off directly with the Wolf King, so using the trees, he temporarily avoided the Wolf King.

Demon beasts were naturally stronger than humans in the same realm, not to mention that the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King was only a step away from the Inner Heaven Realm, hence it had more than enough strength to crush Minos.

As Minos was traveling through the fog, using trees to block his path, a massive paw suddenly cut through the thick mist, heading directly towards Minos's head.

If this paw landed, then Minos's head would be completely crushed, luckily Minos had already sensed the attack earlier, so he just barely managed to duck out of the way.

The paw continued unhindered, slamming into the tree that was right behind Minos. Wood splinters shot everywhere as a massive dent appeared into the tree, nearly splitting it in two.

Seeing the effects of the attack, Minos couldn't help but sweat slightly, knowing that he would certainly die if such an attack landed on him.

The threat of death would make most people anxious, affecting their performance in a negative way, but for Minos, it had the reverse effect.

Knowing a single slip up could spell the end for him, Minos's senses were propelled to an even higher level, the world seemingly slowing down as his will to survive pushed his instincts to an apex.

Minos knew he had one chance to win, and that was when the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's guard was at its lowest.

As he ran, a plan quickly formulated in Minos's mind, and soon enough, a light went off. Knowing what to do, Minos continued weaving through the trees as he prepared himself.

Taping on his spatial ring, Minos pulled out a Shining Talisman. This was the first talisman he had ever made, and throughout his journey, it seemed to always have a role to play.

He originally planned on not using any talismans, but he had to acknowledge that the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King simply overpowered him too much, so he'd use one to even the odds.

With another attack, the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's massive paw headed directly for Minos's torso. Seeing the paw on the verge of splitting his body into two pieces, Minos's sweat pores completely sealed shut, his body slightly ducking as he prepared to jump.

'Now!'

Just as the paw was about to land, and the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King seemed confident that it got Minos this time, he activated the Shining Talisman.

The bright light quickly filled the area, completely ignoring the fog as if it wasn't there. The Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's guard was at its lowest as it thought Minos was done for, so it failed to defend itself against the light.

Don't think demon beasts are stupid, especially ones as strong as the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King. It had killed plenty of humans, and was naturally aware of talismans, hence, normally if it saw Minos pull out a talisman, it would have avoided it.

But Minos made use of the slight gap in the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's guard to use the talisman successfully.

The Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's paw faltered for a second as it reacted to the bright light, giving Minos a chance to dodge.

But while most people might use this chance to escape the demon beast completely, Minos instead used it to get even closer.

Releasing his ducked body, Minos jumped up into the air, flying right above the paw, and directly over the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's body.

At this moment, the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King finally came to its senses, but as it opened its eyes expecting to see Minos, it saw nothing.

"Too late." Minos said, as he twisted his body in the air while swinging his Heaven-Sundering Sword downwards.

The Heaven-Sundering Sword could already cut through most things with no problem, but Minos's spin added the needed speed, allowing the sword to land on the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's neck before it could react properly.

The sudden pain quickly shot into the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King, alerting it of danger from above, but it was far too late by this moment, and before it could even react, its world went black.

The Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's massive head fell forward, separating from its body. Without the head, the body naturally followed suit, collapsing as well.

Minos landed at this moment, swinging his Heaven-Sunder Sword once to clean off any excess blood before sheathing it once more.

Turning back, he looked at the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's lifeless body, after wishing it a final farewell, Minos tucked away the corpse into his spatial ring, not forgetting to rip off a tooth for his mission beforehand.

As a Ninth Layer Mortal Renewal Realm demon beast, every piece of its body was a treasure, so it would be a waste to just leave its corpse here.

As he cleaned up the battlefield, Minos went through the battle once more in his head. Despite winning, he didn't become arrogant, knowing that he only won because of his Heaven-Sundering Sword.

Had he used a Three-Moon grade weapon those in his realm normally use, it would have been impossible to cut through the Thunder-Stroke Wolf King's neck like that, at most leaving a deep wound.

Simply put, without the Heaven-Sundering Sword, Minos wouldn't even have the qualifications to take on this mission, not to mention 'Merth' who was only at the Sixth Layer of the Mortal Renewal Realm.

It made sense why the receptionist warned Minos against this mission, since if 'Merth' actually took this mission, at best, he could escape with his life.

Of course how 'Merth' managed to complete a mission so much beyond his level might raise some suspicions, but Minos didn't have the time to care about this.

He couldn't stay in the Thousand Split Sword Sect for long, so he had to take the high contribution missions even if that meant people may get suspicious of him.

While they may get suspicious, it's unlikely they would think of something so wild as Merth being replaced, instead they would likely just guess he stumbled upon a treasure.

Since it was inevitable that people would start asking questions, then Minos would give them 'answers.' After cleaning up the remaining wolves, Minos left, heading back to the sect. The missions wouldn't end here, so a rumor concerning Merth's 'treasure' should soon begin spreading.