Capture Alive

"Fortunately, this Hunter is only at the intermediate beast general level. If it were an advanced beast general, its speed would be even faster..."

The Silver Moon Fierce Wolf missed its strike. Before its front paws even touched the ground, its other three legs pushed off, and it lunged forward again, opening its blood-red maw to bite at Feng Qingmo.

For a three-meter-tall giant wolf, biting off Feng Qingmo's entire head would be effortless if it opened its jaws wide enough.

"Whoosh!"

With a sharp whistle, a black throwing knife flew out from behind Feng Qingmo, shooting toward the wolf's gaping maw at an incredible speed.

Although the throwing knife exceeded the speed of sound, the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf, as an intermediate beast general, possessed equally rapid neural reflexes. Startled, it immediately clamped its jaws shut and twisted its neck.

With a soft "chi" sound, a shallow wound was left on the side of the giant wolf's mouth—while the S-grade throwing knife could penetrate its defenses, Feng Qingmo's spiritual power was not strong enough to drive it deep into the wolf's skull.

"Awoo~"

The Silver Moon Fierce Wolf licked the wound at the corner of its mouth, casting a cold, ghostly gaze toward him. The fur on its body appeared even brighter, and the tuft of hair in the center of its forehead turned a deeper, more vivid shade of red.

Feng Qingmo stood his ground, somewhat amazed by the wolf's reaction speed. At such close range, despite the immense speed of the throwing knife, it had still managed to dodge and avoid a grievous injury.

"Again!" Feng Qingmo extended his left hand and beckoned to the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf.

"Swish!" The giant wolf was clearly provoked. It kicked off the ground with all four hooves and charged with incredible speed. However, while fast, it lacked the agility of its first pounce; it was clearly wary of the throwing knives circling Feng Qingmo and was holding back some of its strength.

The Silver Moon Fierce Wolf raised its front paw to strike. Feng Qingmo sidestepped and retreated a step, his sword tip pointing directly at the wolf's eyes. The wolf tilted its head slightly, let its paw fall, and swung its waist, lashing its long tail like a whip toward Feng Qingmo's head.

Feng Qingmo ducked to avoid it, lowering his stance, and thrust his sword toward the wolf's rear. Startled, the wolf hurriedly whipped its tail downward and surged forward.

It immediately twisted its body to charge again, baring its fangs to bite at Feng Qingmo.

Although the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf stood nearly three meters tall and was nearly five meters long, its streamlined body was extremely agile. With its massive jaws, sharp claws, tail, and even its back all serving as weapons, combined with its incredible speed, it was easily one of the most difficult monsters to deal with at its level—no wonder it was called a 'Hunter'.

Feng Qingmo remained focused, his sword hacking and parrying. Although he was slightly slower than the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf, he relied on his micro-level footwork to maintain a steady defense.

Under such intense pressure, his swordsmanship and footwork improved significantly, becoming more concise and efficient.

Previously, neither his time in the Trial Tower nor the charge of the Bloodthirsty Tank wild boar herd had been able to place him under true life-or-death pressure.

The Trial Tower was a simulation, and the boar herd wasn't strong enough. Although he sparred with Guan Chenglong every day, that pressure couldn't replicate the stakes of a life-and-death struggle.

Now, facing an intermediate beast general-level Silver Moon Fierce Wolf, Feng Qingmo was determined to use it to hone his skills, only using his telekinetically controlled throwing knives to escape at the most critical moments.

In just a few minutes, Feng Qingmo experienced the most grueling battle since he began his cultivation. He had come within a hair's breadth of being devoured by the wolf at least three times, nearly been swiped by its claws four times, and grazed by its tail twice.

Relying on the aid of his spiritual power to narrowly survive these brushes with death, Feng Qingmo gradually adapted to the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf's speed. The progress in his footwork allowed his evasions to become more composed.

A flicker of confusion appeared in the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf's eyes. It could not understand why, despite having nearly killed this human several times, some inexplicable force always seemed to push him away from its jaws.

Clearly, this Silver Moon Fierce Wolf had never crossed paths with a human spiritual master before.

But with its intelligence, after several minutes of combat, it realized that the chances of killing this human today were slim. As a member of the noble Silver Moon Wolf clan, it never kept subordinates, nor would it deign to call other monsters to swarm a single human.

Thinking to itself that he was lucky today, the giant wolf prepared to leave. With its speed, it believed this human would be unable to catch it.

Although Feng Qingmo could not read the wolf's eyes, he keenly sensed that it had lost the will to fight.

"I wanted to train a little longer..."

He took the initiative and charged at the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf, the tip of his sword whistling as he thrust toward its chin. This move immediately infuriated the giant wolf, and it raised its front paws to strike, each claw like a sharp dagger.

"Clang!" Feng Qingmo's sword flew from his hand—he had intentionally released the hilt!

Taking advantage of the moment the wolf stumbled from the force of its own strike, he pushed off the ground and hammered his right fist toward the wolf's head.

At the same time, he flicked his left hand, and the Gold-Severing Thread shot out, aiming to entangle the wolf's two front legs.

If the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf had simply raised its head, it could have neutralized this punch and perhaps even bitten off Feng Qingmo's right hand, but it felt an ominous, greater danger from the movement of the human's left hand.

In the blink of an eye, it made a decision: it tucked its front legs to avoid the Gold-Severing Thread, and used the momentum of that tuck to drive its forehead forward into Feng Qingmo's fist.

But just as its upward momentum peaked, it was horrified to find that Feng Qingmo's fist had not yet connected with its head—Feng Qingmo was using his spiritual power to suspend himself in mid-air.

As the wolf began to fall, Feng Qingmo's fist finally hammered into its skull. Although its bone was incredibly hard, this punch was delivered with Feng Qingmo's full strength; with a 1.8x force multiplier, it packed over ten thousand kilograms of power. It not only drove the wolf downward faster but also left it momentarily dazed.

As the giant wolf fell, taking advantage of its disorientation, Feng Qingmo's left hand guided the Gold-Severing Thread through a precise trajectory using the three-edged barbs.

It first wrapped around the two front legs, then passed over the wolf's belly to bind the hind legs, looped back to wrap twice around the wolf's neck, and finally bound its massive jaws shut.

When the Silver Moon Fierce Wolf hit the ground, Feng Qingmo flicked his left hand to tighten the Gold-Severing Thread. Instantly, the giant wolf's four legs were pulled together; unable to move anything but its tail, it couldn't even let out a howl.

Lying on the ground, the giant wolf looked toward Feng Qingmo with a dazed expression, seemingly unable to comprehend what had happened. This did not stop it from tensing its muscles, trying to break free from the bindings.

Unfortunately, its strength was far from enough to snap the Gold-Severing Thread. Fortunately, its fur was incredibly defensive, avoiding the gruesome fate of the primary beast general-level Bloodthirsty Tank, which had been sliced into its flesh.

Retrieving his Slender Willow Sword, Feng Qingmo looked at the giant wolf on the ground, lost in thought.

"An intermediate beast general-level Silver Moon Fierce Wolf should sell for between 150 and 200 million. I wonder how much it's worth if captured alive... Better leave first!"