Battle Wolves

After the time it took to burn an incense stick, the remaining few Low-level Demonic Wolves gradually fell into defeat. As Qin Yu Niang brought her sword down and severed the last Low-level Wind Wolf Beast's head, Shi Chun and the other finally finished off their opponents.

Looking at the several Demonic Wolf corpses sprawled across the ground, Shi Chun made sure none had slipped through the net, then glanced toward the other battlefields. He found that Zhang Tieshan's situation was somewhat dire. Under the High-level Wind Wolf Beast's fierce assault, he was already in imminent danger.

They had still somewhat underestimated the strength of this Peak Qi Refining High-level Demonic Wolf. The beast's Mana was extremely abundant; judging by its condition, given a few more decades, it might very well break through to become a Level 2 Demonic Beast.

Shi Chun rapidly considered the matter, quickly making up his mind. He said to Qin Yu Niang beside him, "Yu Niang, Iron Mountain won't be able to hold on much longer. I'll go help him first. You go assist Fellow Daoist Zhang."

Shi Chun had originally planned to help Zhang Bai Shan first, since he had the higher cultivation among them. They would first kill the Mid-level Demonic Wolf holding him back, free up his hands, and then go help Zhang Tieshan together. But now, Zhang Tieshan likely could not hold out until then. After considering it, Shi Chun decided to change strategies: he would have his Junior Sister Qin Yu Niang support Zhang Bai Shan alone, while he went first to help Zhang Tieshan stabilize the situation.

On Song Qingming's side, facing this Mid-level Wind Wolf Beast that had only recently broken through, he appeared quite at ease from the very start of the battle. While using the Earth Wall Technique to slow the Wind Wolf Beast's attacks and evade its assaults, Song Qingming used the Fire Attribute Spells released by the Blazing Sun Sword, along with several low-grade Fireball Talismans, to strike his opponent from afar.

After several failed attacks, the Wind Wolf Beast had been struck by several Fireballs and looked rather bedraggled. It was already seething with anger.

Seeing that it could not get close to Song Qingming, the Wind Wolf Beast let out an enraged howl and leaped onto an earth wall. Spiritual light flashed across its back, and a crescent-shaped wind blade shot rapidly toward Song Qingming. Song Qingming had intended to dodge again with the Light Body Technique, but the wind blade was simply too fast. In the blink of an eye, it had reached him.

Seeing how swift the wind blade was, Song Qingming did not panic. He immediately drew a Black Shield from his Storage Bag and raised it before himself. The wind blade struck the shield with a clang, leaving only a faint mark before turning into a streak of azure light and vanishing without a trace.

This Black Shield was called the Black Gold Shield. A year ago, Song Qingming had purchased it on Caolu Mountain from a Late Qi Refining Stage Rogue Cultivator for the steep price of forty Spirit Stones. It was also a Mid-grade Magic Tool, but it had been mixed with a considerable amount of High-grade Black Gold Ore. Its quality was three parts better than ordinary Mid-grade Defensive Magic Tools, and naturally, its price was also twenty percent higher.

Song Qingming had refined the Black Gold Shield for over a year and could already wield it with perfect familiarity. Earlier, it was precisely this item that had protected him, allowing him to escape injury while being pursued by that High-level Demonic Crocodile.

Seeing the Black Gold Shield easily block the wind blade, Song Qingming was delighted. His forty Spirit Stones had indeed not been wasted. He could counter both this Demonic Beast's greatest strengths—its speed and wind blades—so the rest of the battle would naturally be much easier.

Level 1 Demonic Beasts possessed almost no intelligence. Even cunning Demonic Beasts like wolves relied mostly on their beastly instincts when attacking. Song Qingming first used the Black Gold Shield to lure the Demonic Wolf into attacking with spells. Only after it had expended more than half the spiritual power in its body did he turn from defense to offense, wielding the Blazing Sun Sword to launch an assault on the somewhat exhausted Demonic Wolf.

Not long after Shi Chun and his Junior Sister ended their battle, Song Qingming also dispatched this Mid-level Demonic Wolf with a single sword strike. After sweeping his gaze over the other battlefields, he had intended to first help Zhang Tieshan and Shi Chun, who had been constantly suppressed by the High-level Wind Wolf Beast, but Shi Chun unexpectedly called out to stop him.

"Fellow Daoist Song, we can still hold on here. Go help Fellow Daoist Zhang and Yu Niang first."

Zhang Bai Shan had already gradually gained the upper hand. After Qin Yu Niang joined the battle, the Demonic Wolf fighting them had been beaten until it could no longer attack. Not even a few exchanges after Song Qingming joined them, the Wind Wolf's throat was sliced apart by the twin short blades in Zhang Bai Shan's hands.

The High-level Wind Wolf Beast fighting Zhang Tieshan and Shi Chun saw the Wind Wolf Beasts under its command being slain one after another. Then it saw Song Qingming and the other two, now free to act, preparing to surround it. It immediately sensed danger, desperately unleashing a wind blade to force back Zhang Tieshan and the other man before turning and fleeing into the dense forest.

The last Mid-level Demonic Wolf, which had been fighting Wu Tianmu, saw the Wolf King retreat and also wanted to break away from Wu Tianmu to follow the Wolf King in fleeing for its life. Unfortunately, it did not have the Wolf King's luck. Wu Tianmu soon entangled it again, and once everyone surrounded it, it died in grief and fury beneath Zhang Tieshan's greatsword.

Through everyone's desperate fighting, they had finally defeated this pack of Demonic Beasts. It could be considered a narrow escape without real danger.

After the battle, Shi Chun urged everyone to quickly clean up the battlefield and leave, lest other Demonic Beasts catch the scent of blood and come rushing over.

Everyone's faces were filled with smiles. They had not expected so many Demonic Beasts to deliver themselves to their doorsteps when they were nearly home. After gathering the Demonic Beast Materials, everyone began discussing how to divide the spoils under Shi Chun's arrangements.

The greatest contributor was naturally Zhang Tieshan. If he had not desperately held back that High-level Wind Wolf Beast, everyone would have had no choice but to flee for their lives. This time, they had killed three Mid-level Wind Wolves and five Low-level Wind Wolves. As everyone expected, Zhang Tieshan received the largest Mid-level Wind Wolf.

Next was Shi Chun, who had directed the battle. When facing the pack of wolves' siege, this fellow had remained unflustered in the face of danger. His calm and capable command had also left a deep impression on Song Qingming. Shi Chun and his Junior Sister received one Mid-level Wind Wolf, one Low-level Wind Wolf, and five Spirit Stones together.

Zhang Bai Shan smiled broadly as he received the last Mid-level Wind Wolf, then took out five Spirit Stones to compensate Shi Chun and Qin Yu Niang.

The remaining two, Song Qingming and Wu Tianmu, had contributed about equally and received slightly less. Each was given two Low-level Wind Wolf Beasts. Song Qingming had no objections to this. Although he had used several low-grade Spirit Talismans in this battle, obtaining two Low-level Demonic Beasts still meant he had made quite a profit.

Though he had killed a Mid-level Wind Wolf by himself, the Mid-level Demonic Wolf he fought had not been particularly strong to begin with. Only because everyone else had held back the stronger Demonic Beasts did he have that opportunity. Everyone understood this perfectly well.

After receiving their spoils, everyone was beaming with delight and thoroughly satisfied. They then resumed their journey.

"This really is strange. Guiyuan Workshop isn't far from here, yet there are still packs of Demonic Beasts like this. It seems the Northern Frontier Demonic Beast Turmoil is drawing ever closer." Zhang Bai Shan stroked the beard at the corner of his mouth and, looking at everyone's delighted faces, suddenly spoke with a grave expression.

Hearing him mention the Northern Frontier Demonic Beast Turmoil, everyone's expressions changed. For a moment, no one spoke.

Song Qingming had long heard of this matter from the elders of his family and hurriedly asked, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, calculating from when the last Demonic Beast Turmoil occurred, shouldn't the Northern Frontier Demonic Beast invasion still be twenty years away?"

"Who knows? The timing of every turmoil has never been so precise. It is entirely possible for it to come twenty years early or twenty years late. I only fear that with such meager cultivation, it will be difficult for people like us to survive this calamity." After saying this, Zhang Bai Shan took the wine gourd from his waist and took a long swig.

The Northern Frontier was vast, occupying one-quarter of the entire Eastern Phoenix Immortal Continent. It was filled with mountain ranges and spiritual treasures everywhere, yet few cultivators dared venture deep within. That was because Demonic Beasts were everywhere there; it was the core territory of the Demon Race. The Floating Cloud Mountain Range in northern Wei State was merely a small part of the frontier of the entire Northern Frontier.

About once every hundred years, the Demonic Beasts of the Northern Frontier would launch a turmoil. At such times, vast numbers of Demonic Beasts would cross the Floating Cloud Mountain Range and attack the human lands to the south. Whenever this happened, the several surrounding states, including Wei State, would face the siege of Demonic Beasts.

Facing the once-in-a-century Northern Frontier Demonic Beast invasion, the Carefree Sect of Wei State was also deeply troubled. It could only conscript the many cultivators within its territory and send them to the border to resist the Demonic Beast invasion. This was one of the rare great wars in the several-thousand-year peace of the Wei State Cultivation World.

After every Northern Frontier Beast Tide, a great many cultivators would fall on the battlefield against the Demonic Beasts. Even Foundation Establishment Cultivators and Golden Core Ancestors, who normally stood high above all others, could not avoid it. That was why everyone's expressions changed so drastically upon hearing of it.

Seeing everyone somewhat dispirited, Shi Chun grinned at Zhang Bai Shan and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhang, the Demonic Beast Turmoil is still at least a decade away. It has little to do with Rogue Cultivators like us anyway. That is a problem for those High-tier Cultivators of the Carefree Sect to worry about. We do not even know whether we will live to see that day. Maybe tomorrow we'll run into the Fire Wolf Gang, and everyone will reincarnate right where they stand." His words drew a burst of laughter from everyone, and the weight in their hearts immediately lightened.

The Fire Wolf Gang Shi Chun spoke of was a group of Rogue Cultivators that had become active in the Floating Cloud Mountain Range over the past few years. They specialized in robbing fellow Rogue Cultivators and used exceptionally cruel methods. Rogue Cultivators targeted by them rarely survived, and even Guiyun Marketplace had issued a bounty for these notorious bandits. When Song Qingming had first encountered Shi Chun and the others, Zhang Tieshan had nearly mistaken him for a bandit from the Fire Wolf Gang.

"You old drunkard, after drinking, all you know is how to scare people. Twenty years from now, perhaps we won't even be here anymore. What does it matter to us whether the Demonic Beasts come or not?"

Qin Yu Niang was the youngest, yet the most free-spirited. Faced with a crisis still one or two decades away, there had never been much worry on her face. She appeared the calmest of them all.

Only Song Qingming could not calm his heart for a long time.

Unlike those Rogue Cultivators who drifted from place to place, Song Qingming belonged to a Wei State cultivation family. He believed the Song Family would certainly find it difficult to avoid this calamity. Even now, he did not know whether, should he be swept into it, he would have the ability to survive.

On such a battlefield, one would at least need Late Qi Refining Stage cultivation to possess a few chances at self-preservation.

Song Qingming silently made up his mind. Before the Northern Frontier Beast Tide arrived, he would certainly raise his cultivation to the Late Qi Refining Stage.