Out in the wilderness, on a broad official road.
More than a dozen cargo-laden wagons stood end to end, forming a ring to defend against enemies.
The caravan guards gripped their weapons tightly, cold sweat running down their foreheads as they faced the danger with tense, wary expressions.
The ones who had them trapped here were more than twenty wolf-headed, human-bodied demons.
Even hunched over, they stood at least a head taller than ordinary people. Their gray-black fur gleamed, and their muscles bulged across their bodies, brimming with explosive strength.
They fixed their eyes on the prey before them. Greed burned in their blood-red demon eyes, and drool streamed from their mouths full of sharp fangs.
Yet, intimidated by the figure standing with a sword before them, not a single wolf demon dared take a step forward.
He was a swordsman in green robes.
He had sword-shaped brows and bright, starry eyes, and his handsome features were held in place by a jade hairpin.
The young man held his sword in his right hand, its three-foot blade angled toward the ground as demon blood dripped slowly from its tip.
At his feet lay seven or eight wolf demon corpses, their heads severed from their bodies. Clearly, they had all fallen to the young man's sword.
"I told you, with Senior Brother Cao here, there was no need to fire a signal flare..."
In the caravan, a girl in white folded her arms and spoke softly to the portly steward beside her. Her voice brimmed with pride:
"My Senior Brother Cao is the strongest disciple at Soaring Cloud Martial Hall!
"Not only has he mastered Flowing Cloud Swordplay, he's also opened thirty-one of his thirty-six major acupoints. He's just one step away from the eighth level of the Qi Blood Realm!"