Chapter 12: Brutal Slaughter

A terrifying beastly roar thundered through the mountain forest, causing many spiritual beasts to reveal expressions of fear as they swiftly fled the mountainous region.

Within a patch of withered woods, a massive earth-yellow bear standing about four to five meters tall let out a deafening roar toward the sky. It then stood upright, its enormous paws heavily slamming onto the ground ahead, instantly causing the earth to shake and crack apart.

Before the bear's paws could land, a tiny figure flashed past it. The silhouette wielded a trace of black light in its hand, which left a shallow wound on the giant bear's body.

Roar!

The bear bellowed in fury once again.

Though the opponent's attacks couldn't deal fatal damage, the human was like a pesky insect, flitting around in front of it, occasionally landing a few cuts. This infuriated the bear to no end.

Liu Bai dodged another attack from the bear, though his expression was far from relaxed.

This Earth splitting Bear was one of the most powerful among low-level spiritual beasts. Even practitioners at the latter Phase of the Spiritual Movement Realm would struggle to penetrate its defenses. Furthermore, its temperament was explosive, and it was prone to entering a berserk state, during which it would possess strength comparable to that of a mid-Level spiritual beast.

Seeing that the Earth splitting Bear's eyes were gradually turning bloodshot, Liu Bai knew he could not afford to delay any longer.

"Death Seal!"

With a roar in his heart, a flicker of black light burst from Liu Bai's right hand. A black seal exuding an explosive aura surfaced in his palm.

In the next moment, a crimson glow surged beneath his feet. Accompanied by the light sound of an explosion, his figure appeared atop the Earth splitting Bear's back, and he fiercely drove the death seal toward its massive bear head.

Boom!

A violent explosion erupted. Even though the bear had thick fur for protection, under the devastating power of the Sinister Death Seal, its massive head was blown open with flesh torn and skin split.

Such overwhelming force sent the Earth splitting Bear staggering forward uncontrollably. Seizing the opportunity, Liu Bai flipped in the air, and with his left hand, he plunged a dagger into one of the bear's eyes.

ROARRR!!!

Inflicted with consecutive heavy blows, the Earth splitting Bear finally went berserk. A layer of earth-yellow light burst from its body, hurling Liu Bai off with tremendous force.

Once berserk, the Earth splitting Bear's attack and defense soared dramatically, making it much harder to injure.

Using the force of the blast, Liu Bai leapt back several dozen meters and quickly positioned himself within the bear's blind spot—its now-blinded side hiding behind a massive boulder.

In its berserk state, the Earth splitting Bear had lost all sense of reason. Its mind was now filled with only one thought: destruction—endless destruction…

Within moments, everything within a hundred-meter radius mountains, rocks, grass, and trees was utterly devastated. Its terrifying strength, combined with earth-elemental spiritual energy, ravaged the surroundings, leaving behind only shattered rubble and scorched terrain.

Peeking out cautiously from behind the boulder, Liu Bai could not help but click his tongue at the horrifying destructive power. Had he not dodged earlier, he might've been turned into minced flesh by now.

However, the Earth Splitting Bear's berserk state would not last long. Once it faded, the bear would enter a prolonged period of weakness. That would be Liu Bai's best chance to strike and kill.

As expected, the earth-yellow aura around the Earth splitting Bear began to dim, its once violent aura weakening noticeably. With its body already heavily wounded, the beast was no longer a threat.

Only then did Liu Bai slowly emerge from behind the boulder. He didn't approach immediately, but instead halted about twenty meters away and hurled his dagger forward. The blade pierced straight into the Earth splitting Bear's throat.

At the moment of death, the Earth splitting Bear let out a final mournful cry, glaring at the distant despicable figure who didn't even dare come close. In the end, it died with lingering unwillingness.

"These spiritual beasts really aren't simple creatures. They even play dead to ambush their enemies..."

Even low-level spiritual beasts possessed intelligence not inferior to humans. Underestimating them as mere wild beasts would lead to heavy losses during battle.

Looking at the bear's cracked skull its spiritual beast essence already exposed—it was clear the Earth splitting Bear was truly dead. Liu Bai swiftly collected the spiritual essence and left the area.

This was already the seventh low-level spiritual beast he had slain today. Some were weak, like the Wind Fox, merely an early-stage low-level beast. Others, like the Earth splitting Bear, stood at the very peak of low-level spiritual beasts.

Even among low-level spiritual beasts, the experience points they provided varied greatly. Weaker ones gave only forty to fifty points, while stronger ones granted over a hundred. At this moment, Liu Bai's accumulated experience had surpassed 1,200 points.

And this was merely the first day of cultivation in the Northern Spiritual Field. With several days still to come, it didn't seem difficult to advance to the Spiritual Wheel Realm. The only question was how far he could go.

As Liu Bai continued searching for prey, he encountered several students from the Northern Spiritual Academy. However, they seemed to be in dire straits, many of them covered in dust and dirt. From their conversations, it was clear they had run into spiritual beasts and lost…

This was not surprising. For many, it was their first real experience with such situations. Naturally, they needed time to adapt. The first few days of each training period were always for acclimatization. Only the final few days were when true rankings were determined.

While scouring the area, Liu Bai suddenly halted atop a tall tree and looked in a particular direction.

"Such a strong stench of blood…"

At this level of bloodiness, there had to be numerous casualties. The question was whether the dead were humans or spiritual beasts…

After some thought, Liu Bai decided to take a look. If there was an opportunity to gain something, he certainly wouldn't mind.

Following the trail of blood, Liu Bai soon arrived at a secluded valley.

The valley entrance was not large and seemed narrow. Dense branches extended from both sides, and piles of rocks made the entire entrance appear hidden and indistinct. It would be extremely difficult to find this place amidst the mountainous forests.

The stench of blood was undoubtedly coming from within the valley…

Confirming this, Liu Bai did not rush in recklessly.

Regardless of what was happening inside, barging in without a plan would be foolish. After thinking it over, Liu Bai surveyed the surroundings and discovered that although the valley was surrounded by mountains, it wasn't impassable.

Finding a concealed spot, Liu Bai gripped a dagger in his left hand and used his right arm empowered by the Qilin Arm with fingers as sharp as blades to carve into the hard rock. Step by step, he climbed upward.

Once atop the mountain ridge, Liu Bai heard angry shouts interspersed with howls of wolves.

Within the valley, the stench of blood was overwhelming. It was clearly the den of a wolf clan, and someone had forced their way in.

Liu Bai crept forward and quickly took cover behind a protruding rock, then silently peered into the valley below.

There, a group of a dozen blood-clad warriors were locked in fierce battle with a pack of scarlet-furred giant wolves. Behind the humans lay the corpses of over ten slain wolves along with four or five human bodies. Clearly, the brutal slaughter had been ongoing for some time.

"Scarlet Flame Wolves?" Liu Bai's eyes lit up.

It appeared that this valley was the den of a Scarlet Flame Wolf pack. Judging by their numbers, there were more than thirty of them an exceptionally large wolf pack that even large adventurer teams would avoid provoking under normal circumstances.

To think someone had chosen to assault a wolf den… Could there be some treasure within the valley?

It wasn't hard to guess. These people seemed to be an adventurer team. Without sufficient incentive, who would dare to provoke an entire wolf pack?

With that in mind, Liu Bai shifted his gaze deeper into the valley.

At the forefront of the group stood a Person clad in full iron armor, standing two meters tall. At this moment, he was brandishing a massive war blade, locked in fierce battle with a terrifying giant wolf over five meters tall, flames spewing from its maw.

The area surrounding the man and the wolf had been cleared. Whether it was the members of the adventuring party or the Scarlet Flame Wolves, all had intentionally kept their distance from that battlefield.

"Mid-Level spiritual beast — the Scarlet Flame Wolf King!"

Liu Bai was inwardly shocked. As expected, such a large pack of Scarlet Flame Wolves would indeed produce a mid-Level wolf king, but he hadn't anticipated that the wolf king's strength would be so formidable. It was likely already at the mid-phase of the Spiritual Wheel Realm.

As for that burly man, being able to fight the wolf king on equal footing meant his cultivation was also at least at the mid-phase of the Spiritual Wheel Realm.

"Wait, something's not right…"

Very quickly, Liu Bai noticed something was off.

Despite appearing fierce, the Scarlet Flame Wolves' attacks were clearly weak and sluggish, as if they were drunk. Most of their attacks lacked precision and power, making them easy targets for the adventurers to dodge.

Their speed and strength fell far short of what Scarlet Flame Wolves should display…

"Looks like these people didn't directly charge in, but instead used some method to weaken the wolves' combat strength."

No wonder such a massive wolf pack was being pushed back so thoroughly in its own territory. It seemed they had been calculated against beforehand probably poisoned or affected by some special means.

"Tsk tsk, going to such lengths... whatever is inside must really be worth it…"

A slight smirk rose on Liu Bai's face. He decided to stay put for now and act as the oriole behind the mantis.

Even though this group had used underhanded methods, it was evident that the wolf king hadn't been greatly affected. On the contrary, seeing its kin continuously slaughtered sent it into a frenzy. Flames surged all over its body as it launched a violent assault at the burly man.

The armored man was clearly startled. Gritting his teeth, he roared, "Lu Ling, leave the other wolves to the others. Come here and help me slay this wolf king!"

It was now evident that this group was indeed the Blood Fiend Adventuring Party from earlier, with the burly man being the party leader, Blood Fiend. The "Lu Ling" he called for was none other than the deputy who had previously inspected the corpses.

This enraged Scarlet Flame Wolf King was not easy to deal with. Even with Blood Fiend's strength at mid-phase Spiritual Wheel Realm, it wasn't enough!

Upon hearing the call, Lu Ling, who had been leading others in slaughtering the Scarlet Flame Wolf pack, immediately turned and shouted to the others, "Hold off the pack for now! Once the captain and I kill the wolf king, we'll clean up the rest of these beasts!"

As he spoke, the slender spiritual sword in his hand surged with green light. In the next moment, he charged directly at the wolf king.

"Another Spiritual Wheel Stage cultivator!" Liu Bai's expression shifted. He hadn't expected this adventuring party to be so powerful — they actually had two Spiritt Wheel Realm experts!

This meant he had to be even more cautious. If he were fully prepared, he could still contend with a single early-phase Spiritual Wheel Realm opponent. But if there were two, he would have no choice but to flee.

"Let's hope this Scarlet Flame Wolf King can deliver a fight…"

As if it had heard Liu Bai's unspoken wish, the Scarlet Flame Wolf King erupted.

Enduring Lu Ling's sharp sword slash, it charged headlong into Blood Fiend's chest. At the same time, it clamped its jaws down on his arm and, with a brutal twist of its head, tore it clean off.

"Aaahhh!!"

A bloodcurdling scream erupted as Blood Fiend's aura visibly weakened. Clenching his teeth and enduring the searing pain, he immediately activated spiritual energy to seal the wound and prevent excessive blood loss.

At the same moment, Lu Ling's sword descended, slashing across the wolf king's back.

Rip!

The Scarlet Flame Wolf King's back, hard as steel, was split open by the strike. Blood gushed out in a torrent.

Roar!

The searing pain on its back sent the wolf king into a maddened frenzy. It violently twisted its body and swiped its paw at Lu Ling, unleashing a torrent of berserk spiritual energy that sent him flying with blood spraying from his mouth.

"Die, beast!"

Missing an arm, Blood Fiend leapt up, roaring angrily. Pouring all of his spiritual energy into his long blade, he slashed down with a massive blood-colored arc over three meters long, aiming straight for the wolf king's neck.

"Blood Fiend Butcher Blade!"

This was Blood Fiend's signature move — his strongest technique.

Taking advantage of the wolf king's impaired mobility due to its back injury, the strike came fast and fierce, landing squarely on its neck.

Rip!

In one blow, he nearly severed the wolf king's neck in half. However, the blade lodged itself in the bone.

Seeing this, Blood Fiend's heart sank. He quickly let go of the weapon and stomped his foot to retreat.

But the gravely wounded wolf king launched one final, desperate counterattack. Its jaws latched onto his lower leg, and the flames in its mouth instantly charred the entire lower half to a blackened stump.

None of the members of the Blood Fiend Adventuring Party had anticipated that what once seemed like a balanced confrontation would so suddenly deteriorate into this outcome.

Even though the Scarlet Flame Wolf King was clearly on the brink of death, their captain was now crippled, and their vice-captain was injured. Calling this a hard-earned victory would be an overstatement. It was nothing short of mutual destruction.

...

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