Under Attack

A fierce wind swept in with ice pellets, stinging his face.

The subzero temperatures felt quite comfortable to Feng Qingmo, whose physical fitness had reached the mid-level War General Level. Besides, his S-class Combat Suit was both warm and windproof.

It was polar day in the Arctic, and slanting sunlight illuminated the distant glaciers, making them look breathtaking. Unfortunately, Spiritual Force couldn't sense such beauty.

Bracing himself against the howling wind, Feng Qingmo headed in one direction, toward the general area where the Boria Mercenary Group members had gone missing.

"There sure are a lot of monsters..." He'd been walking for only a few hours and had already encountered several kinds of monsters. Most were at the Beast General level, though, and he hadn't come across any Lord-level Monsters yet. Clearly, he was still on the outskirts of the Arctic.

Perhaps because the mercenary group's Martial Artists had killed some of them earlier, and Jia Yi had led a group of War Gods through the area again a while ago, the monster packs scattered as soon as a few of their members were killed and they realized their prey was too tough to be worth the trouble.

The Arctic ground was covered in both solid ice and snow. Even Beast Soldier-level monsters had plenty of strength; they could simply burrow into the snow and vanish without a trace.

Although Spiritual Force scans left them nowhere to hide, Feng Qingmo couldn't be bothered to hunt down the weaker ones. He only had one backpack, which couldn't hold that much monster material. It was far more worthwhile to collect Lord-level materials.

He traveled like this for several days, and whenever he got tired, he carved out an ice cave in the snow. There were plenty of guides to this method online; it was one way ordinary people survived in polar regions, and it was even easier for a Martial Artist.

Every time, after carving out a cave, he used Spiritual Force to seal the entrance, leaving only a few tiny holes for ventilation. That way, even Lord-level Monsters would be unlikely to find him.

On the fifth day, Feng Qingmo finally reached the area where the mercenary group members were suspected to have gone missing. He spent several days circling this region, which stretched dozens of kilometers in every direction, scanning it countless times with Spiritual Force. He'd practically plowed through every inch of the ground, but found nothing.

At first, whenever he discovered cracks and caves beneath the ice, he'd eagerly explore them. But every time, he came away disappointed. Fortunately, his state of mind was exceptional, and he didn't grow frustrated.

After exploring the entire area, he finally confirmed that there were no traces of any Ancient Civilization Ruins. He shook his head and was about to leave when a deafening roar suddenly rang out in the distance.

He released his Spiritual Force as far as it would reach and was immediately startled.

To his right, dozens of silver-furred Arctic Wolves were fleeing for their lives. In the air behind them, a flock of Arctic Rock-Thunder Birds was in hot pursuit. From time to time, a few birds caught up with the Arctic Wolves lagging at the rear and struck at their more vulnerable eyes and noses with their talons. Then several Rock Thunder Birds would tear a wolf apart and devour it.

Even the smallest Arctic Wolf stood over two meters tall and measured four or five meters long. With their wings spread, the Arctic Rock-Thunder Birds had wingspans of more than ten meters. Their talons and sharp beaks gleamed in the polar sunlight, clearly razor-sharp.

The largest Arctic Wolf at the front was at least an Elementary Lord. But among the flock of Arctic Rock-Thunder Birds behind it, several were just as imposing. From what Feng Qingmo sensed with his Spiritual Force, they were at least Elementary Lords as well.

No wonder the Arctic Wolf pack was fleeing for its life.

As soon as Feng Qingmo spotted the two monster groups, the Arctic Wolf King noticed the human far away. Without hesitation, it changed course slightly and charged straight toward him.

At the same time, the leader of the Rock Thunder Bird flock spotted Feng Qingmo as well. It let out a piercing cry, then led the birds behind it in a rush toward him.

"What the hell? Why are they all coming after me..."

Feng Qingmo turned and ran. But humans could hardly outrun Arctic Wolves on snow, especially when the Arctic Wolf King was a Lord-level Monster. Even with his Force Application Technique, Feng Qingmo was only about as fast as the king. On the snow, he was probably only a little faster than a high-level Beast General Arctic Wolf.

The biggest problem was that the Arctic Rock-Thunder Birds were in the air. They weren't known for their speed, but they had wings. Even at their slowest, they were faster than someone running on the ground.

That also meant Feng Qingmo couldn't use a Spiritual Master's greatest advantage—flight.

The two monster groups had been enemies, but the moment they saw a human, they abandoned their feud and turned on their common enemy. Clearly, monsters hated humans more than they cared about conflicts between their own species or even their need to survive.

Before he'd run a kilometer, the Rock Thunder Birds in the air caught up first. They beat their wings, and the air filled with a howling gale. A powerful gust blasted toward the human on the ground as a pair of talons reached for Feng Qingmo's head.

Whoosh!

A black throwing knife shot out. Driven by two streams of mental force at once, it instantly broke through ten times the speed of sound and streaked toward the Rock Thunder Bird's eye.

Clang! The Lord-level Rock Thunder Bird drew its neck back, then thrust its head forward. Its sharp beak struck the side of the throwing knife so quickly that Feng Qingmo couldn't change its direction in time.

The brief interruption caused the Rock Thunder Bird's talons to miss. But while it had been delayed, the Arctic Wolf pack had caught up.

Awooo! The Arctic Wolf King opened its jaws, baring its fangs as it lunged for Feng Qingmo. The other Arctic Wolves surrounded him. Some pounced, while others crouched low and darted at his legs.

A flash of sword light flared. Several Arctic Wolves had their legs severed, while others were stabbed deep in the eye, the blade piercing straight into their brains. Feng Qingmo then darted and dodged, escaping the Wolf King's jaws by a hair.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several throwing knives shot out in succession, and a swath of Beast General-level Arctic Wolves fell. But Feng Qingmo didn't dare devote all his Spiritual Force to the wolf pack. There was an even greater threat above him!

Fortunately, he'd already grown used to being surrounded by monster packs in the Trial Tower, and he'd faced plenty of them during these past few months in the wilderness.

But none of that compared to this. With the Wolf King and the bird leader directing them, the wolves and birds attacked with clear coordination and distinct waves. Before one wave had even ended, another was already upon him...

He threw everything into his footwork and swordplay, while five throwing knives spun through the air under the control of his Spiritual Force, relentlessly cutting down members of the wolf and bird packs.

The beating wings of hundreds upon hundreds of Rock Thunder Birds made the whole area feel like the eye of a storm. Fierce winds roared, whipping up countless ice pellets and snowflakes...

His Perfect Level footwork let him evade the repeated attacks from the air and ground, his sword flashing again and again. But the monsters' encirclement seemed to grow denser by the moment, until even his Perfect Level footwork could barely find a gap to slip through.

The situation grew more and more perilous, but Feng Qingmo remained calm, constantly searching for a way to break through.

The fierce wind sent tiny snow pellets swirling everywhere. Many of them struck his face and even his eyes!

In the midst of this desperate situation, for some reason, a memory suddenly surfaced in his mind: the first time he'd mastered the first layer of the Wind-Washing Sword. He'd been sitting on the second-floor balcony as a few withered leaves blew toward him...