The setting sun on the fifth day stained Black Wind Valley blood-red. Su Yu gave his wrist a slight flick, and the Lone Swan Sword flashed with a chill gleam. Another Iron Back Wolf fell with a thud.
The sword tip deftly pried out its Beast Core and tucked it away.
Still no sign of it... Su Yu felt the spiritual power newly added within him and furrowed his brow.
Since entering Black Wind Valley two days ago, he had encountered nothing but Level 1 High Rank Demon Beasts—Iron Back Wolves and Earth Splitting Bears—yet he still hadn't seen a single Magic Wind Wolf.
The Ancient Sword grew faintly warm, converting another Beast Core into pure spiritual power.
Over the past two days, Su Yu had slain nearly a hundred Demon Beasts. All fifty-odd Level 1 Beast Cores he had collected had been converted and absorbed by the sword.
Although each Beast Core provided only a little spiritual power, the gains accumulated, and his cultivation had been pushed from the initial stage of the second level of the Spirit Condensation Realm to the middle stage.
If the other disciples knew, they probably wouldn't believe it.
Su Yu thought to himself.
Ordinary Inner Sect Disciples might cultivate bitterly for months without advancing a single minor stage, while he had made such progress in just two days—and was actually dissatisfied with how slow it was.
If word got out, it would likely draw countless envious, resentful gazes.
He looked up toward the shadowy depths of the valley, suspicion rising in his heart. Could someone have beaten me to it?
Then he shook his head, dismissing the thought. How could there be only one Magic Wind Wolf in all of Black Wind Valley?
Suddenly, his powerful divine sense keenly detected movement fifteen zhang ahead.
Four martial artists... two at the third level, two at the second.
Su Yu held his breath and focused his senses. There was also... the aura of a Level 2 Demonic Beast!
Could it be... a Magic Wind Wolf?
Su Yu lightly touched the ground with his toes, his figure drifting up into an ancient tree like a falling leaf.
Through the dense branches, the battle at the bottom of the valley came into full view—
Four martial artists were surrounding a wolf-shaped Demon Beast, its entire body pitch-black.
Blue-green whirlwinds coiled around the Demon Beast. Its bristling fur stood on end like steel needles, while phosphorescent flames flickered in its ghostly green eyes.
It was the Magic Wind Wolf he had been searching for these past few days!
The four worked together with practiced precision, clearly a professional hunting party.
Their leader was a dark-faced, powerfully built man of around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. His short hair stood straight up like steel needles. His third-level Spirit Condensation Realm cultivation, combined with a defensive martial technique, allowed him to hold the Magic Wind Wolf's attacks at bay head-on.
Several claw marks already scored his burly body, yet he remained as steady as a rock.
"Chen Mo, strike its spine! That's its weak point!" the dark-faced man shouted in a deep voice.
At his side, an ordinary-looking young man of about twenty-five heard him and suddenly sent a cold gleam flashing along the longsword in his hand.
Third-level Spirit Condensation Realm spiritual power poured into the blade, and a fierce streak of Sword Qi shot straight for the Magic Wind Wolf's back. "Got it, boss!"
The other two women provided support from the perimeter.
One was about twenty-three. Her tight-fitting leather armor outlined a mature, graceful figure. At the peak of the second level of the Spirit Condensation Realm, she wielded a pair of sabers that filled the air with silver light.
The other was a sweet-faced girl in her early twenties, but she showed no hesitation in battle. Her second-level Spirit Condensation Realm spiritual power formed blade after blade of Wind Blade, constantly disrupting the Magic Wind Wolf's sight.
"Sister Fei, we finally brought down that big brute! I'm exhausted!"
Seeing the Magic Wind Wolf crash to the ground, the sweet-faced girl cheered excitedly.
The mature woman called Sister Fei wiped the fragrant sweat from her brow and curved her red lips into a smile. "Xiao Yue did well this time."
The dark-faced man lowered his defensive stance and laughed heartily. "Once we get our reward, we'll have a good—"
Before he could finish, Su Yu's divine sense suddenly blared an alarm!
Within the seemingly dying Magic Wind Wolf, an utterly violent surge of demonic power was rapidly gathering!
Bad! Su Yu's pupils contracted. That beast is preparing a last-ditch counterattack!
The Magic Wind Wolf's dying counterattack came without warning, and with savage force.
A flash of madness crossed its ghostly green eyes. The blue-green whirlwinds around it abruptly swelled, and its steel-needle fur bristled as it hurtled at astonishing speed toward the weakest member of the group—the sweet-faced girl!
"Xiao Yue! Run!" Sister Fei's scream tore through the valley.
The twin sabers flew from her hands, but she was still a beat too late.
For the first time, an expression of despair appeared on her mature, beautiful face.
Qin Yue stood frozen in place, the approaching, savage wolf's head reflected in her pupils.
The stench of death rushed toward her. She could even smell the foul, hot breath in the Magic Wind Wolf's mouth. Time seemed to freeze in that instant—
Shhk!
A streak of purple light shot through the air!
A three-foot blade wrapped in fierce Sword Qi pierced the Magic Wind Wolf's throat like a meteor chasing the moon.
The Purple Glow dancing along the sword met the ghostly green flames in the wolf's eyes, forming an image that would remain etched in the girl's memory forever.
Thud! The Magic Wind Wolf's massive body slammed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Dark red blood gushed from the hole in its throat, quickly soaking into the surrounding earth.
Only then did Qin Yue see that her rescuer was a young man in a green robe she had never met before.
He stood with his back to the sunlight, his silhouette rimmed in gold, the longsword in his hand still dripping blood.
"Th-tha—" The girl had only just started to speak when the young man had already turned and walked away, his back straight as a pine. He had acted as if he had merely brushed aside a falling leaf.
"Wait!"
Qin Yue finally found her voice and hurried after him, gathering up her skirt. "Please wait! Thank you for saving me!"
Her voice echoed through the valley, trembling with the relief of having survived a close brush with death.
Only then did the other three snap out of it. The dark-faced man strode forward to inspect the Magic Wind Wolf's corpse, while Sister Fei's eyes had reddened and her twin sabers had fallen to the ground.
Chen Mo watched the retreating figure and murmured, "What a fast sword..."
Sunlight passed through the gaps between the leaves, scattering mottled shadows across the ground.
In the direction the young man had gone, only a few leaves stirred up by the Sword Qi remained, drifting slowly through the air.
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