Wolf Pack (First Update)

Skywater City

After purchasing several detailed maps, Huo Yuhao bought a large quantity of dry provisions in the city, such as dried beef and bean products.

The Far North Land was a long way off. To venture deep into that bitterly cold region and search for Brother Sky Dream's whereabouts would surely take considerable time. With his current cultivation, he was still far from being able to go without food.

Afterward, Huo Yuhao purchased a high-end sled carriage in Skywater City for thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins.

Sled carriages were an important means of transportation in the Northern Border, capable of traveling unimpeded across snow-covered lands.

The sled carriage he bought closely resembled a horse-drawn carriage. Its interior was spacious, with finely assembled and carved wooden panels, glossy paintwork, and excellent insulation.

What surprised Huo Yuhao was that there was even a metal stove in the middle of the carriage, with a round platform on top.

According to the salesman, it was a heating stove, while the round platform could be used for hot pot, grilling meat, and the like. It truly opened his eyes.

The creatures responsible for pulling the sled carriage were wolf-like canine soul beasts. Their grayish-white fur was fluffy, and whenever they lay down, they could never resist scratching at things with their paws.

The salesman said it was an instinct of the species. Even after being bred and domesticated for centuries, they had never been able to shake the habit.

That was right—these Wolf Dogs were soul beasts raised and domesticated by the locals. Most people used ten-year soul beasts.

Huo Yuhao had purchased the top-tier version. Even the Wolf Dogs pulling his carriage were hundred-year soul beasts, much larger than those ten-year soul beasts.

According to the seller, in special circumstances, these Wolf Dogs could intimidate lower-level soul beasts. When faced with stronger soul beasts, they could also rely on their instincts to sense danger and avoid it in advance.

Huo Yuhao listened with some skepticism.

Once he had finished making all the necessary preparations, he climbed into the sled carriage pulled by the Wolf Dogs.

Then, the two Wolf Dogs happily pulled the sled carriage northward.

Along the icy mountain road.

Two towering Wolf Dogs pulled the sled carriage in a wild sprint, leaping over ravines and racing recklessly ahead.

Huo Yuhao gripped the reins tightly. The cold wind, mixed with fine snow, lashed painfully against his face.

If his physique had not been enhanced by immortal herbs, he truly would not have been able to control these two hundred-year soul beasts.

The snowfield ahead was a vast expanse of black. Braving the wind and snow, Huo Yuhao barely opened his Spiritual Eye Martial Soul and gazed into the distance!

Ahead lay an enormous black forest, stretching in an unbroken mass to the end of the blizzard—boundless and immeasurably vast.

They were towering coniferous woods, layered like canopies and blanketed in thick snow.

Pure white snow drifted down from the sky, painting this ink-wash world with a pale frost.

Icebound Forest!

A broad ravine lay ahead. The Wolf Dogs charging in front leaped high, carrying the sled carriage behind them soaring into the clear blue sky—

Boom!

The sled carriage crashed heavily onto the snow and ice. Huo Yuhao, inside the carriage, was shaken dizzy, while the two Wolf Dogs continued pulling the sled onward at full speed, charging toward the black forest ahead.

Icebound Forest

Huo Yuhao drove the sled carriage into the forest.

The previously lively hundred-year Wolf Dogs became much more subdued after entering the Forest Area. From time to time, they sniffed the air and cautiously checked the paths to either side.

Huo Yuhao was also surveying the surroundings.

From afar, the Icebound Forest appeared pitch-black, like a scene painted in ink. Only upon drawing near and entering it did one notice that the needles on the branches of those towering trees were actually dark green, merely covered by snow.

The outer reaches of the Icebound Forest were mainly inhabited by low-level soul beasts, such as ten-year Snow Rabbits and Snow Foxes.

Low shrubs grew throughout the woods, most of them cold-resistant and hardy plants such as Wind Resilience Grass and Tribulus Vine.

While they were still in the outer region, the two hundred-year Wolf Dogs could rely on their hundred-year cultivation to frighten off those low-level soul beasts. But as they gradually ventured deeper into the Forest Area, the Wolf Dogs immediately tucked their tails between their legs and even began slacking off.

After every dozen or so steps, they would turn around to look at Huo Yuhao in front of the carriage, their innocent eyes seeming to ask, Are we really going any farther?

Huo Yuhao was left rather speechless. They had taken bullying the weak and fearing the strong to the absolute extreme.

He urged the two big fellows onward, but they openly obeyed while secretly resisting, pulling him along in a roundabout, zigzagging route.

A clear wolf howl echoed from the depths of the forest. The accumulated snow atop the coniferous woods trembled slightly, startling the cold crows on the branches into scattering in flight.

The howl stirred the blood of the two Wolf Dogs. Both threw back their heads and imitated it with drawn-out "Awooo! Awooo!" cries, as though determined to take the stage once the other had finished singing.

Huo Yuhao stepped forward and gave each of them a slap.

"What the hell are you howling for? Can you be quiet?"

The Wolf Dogs grew restless, pacing in circles as they tried to break free of their reins. Then they anxiously looked at Huo Yuhao and whimpered mournfully.

Hmm?

Huo Yuhao caught faint sounds several hundred meters away, like paws treading on snow—dense, chaotic, and noisy.

Huo Yuhao abruptly raised his head. Purple-gold patterns flickered in his eyes as he looked toward the depths of the forest ahead, where he saw a great number of white and yellow light cores moving in a half-encircling pincer formation toward this place.

A Wolf Pack?!

His gaze shifted sideways. On a snowy hillside five hundred meters away, he spotted a massive Snow Wolf King. The Core Pill gathered within its body emitted curling violet light.

A Thousand-Year Soul Beast!

"Awooo! Awooo!"

The two Wolf Dogs pulling the sled carriage whimpered urgently beside Huo Yuhao, rubbing their heads against his legs, wagging their tails, and nudging him to hurry into the carriage.

Sharp Tiger Bone Claws extended from Huo Yuhao's right hand, and he immediately cut through the reins around the two Wolf Dogs' necks.

The two Wolf Dogs instantly bolted backward in panic. Before fleeing, they even turned around for one last look, only to find that the human showed no intention of running at all.

One of the Wolf Dogs circled back and bit his pant leg, trying to drag him away.

Huo Yuhao bent down and gave it a hard slap.

"Why aren't you running already?"

The Wolf Dog was dazed by the blow. It looked at Huo Yuhao tremblingly before finally turning and fleeing.

The Wolf Dog that had run ahead was even waiting up front, looking back.

Seeing this, Huo Yuhao could not help feeling a little emotional.

After being domesticated, not only had their wolfish nature vanished, but even when disaster loomed over them, their bones still revealed a streak of servility.

The clothes on his back billowed, and a pair of dazzling Golden Ghost Butterfly Wings suddenly burst forth. He soared into the sky, looking down from above at the charging pack of snow wolves.

Huo Yuhao flapped his butterfly wings in succession, sending wind blades to kill the snow wolves at the very front. Blood dyed the snowfield red, buying the two foolish Wolf Dogs time to escape.

Only after watching the two idiots leave did Huo Yuhao turn back. His gaze locked onto the snarling Snow Wolf King on the snowy hillside five hundred meters away, and he immediately beat his butterfly wings, flying straight toward the hill.

Since you dared to come looking for trouble, I'll indulge you!