Ambush

Atop a high mountain in the Destruction Mountain Range, Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling crouched and surveyed the distant landscape.

"Uncle Zong," Dongbo Xueying asked, "we've been in the Destruction Mountain Range for twelve days and searching for just as long, but we still haven't found any trace of the Curved Blade Alliance."

"Whenever the Curved Blade Alliance flees into the Destruction Mountain Range, they come to this area. Based on the information gathered over the years from all over, the region we've marked out should be right," Zong Ling said.

Their main purpose in coming to the Destruction Mountain Range was to hunt down the Curved Blade Alliance!

The Curved Blade Alliance had been wreaking havoc throughout Yishui for far too long. They came out to commit evil again and again, then fled again and again. People had often seen them, too, so by piecing together the reports, they could determine roughly where the Curved Blade Alliance was hiding!

The camp they'd set up outside the mountain range had been chosen with care, too.

They'd used the camp as their starting point and marked out an area extending five hundred miles into the Destruction Mountain Range. That was the region Dongbo Xueying and the others had chosen to search.

They were convinced the Curved Blade Alliance was almost certainly somewhere within that area!

"Those desperadoes from the Curved Blade Alliance go in and out of the mountains all the time, so they must have a relatively safe route they've used for years. But this is still the Destruction Mountain Range, where magic beasts could appear at any moment. They wouldn't dare venture too far in. Otherwise, would it take them seven or eight hours to get in and out each time? They're on foot, so they can't move as fast as we can, and many of them aren't even knights," Zong Ling said. "We'll find them if we keep looking."

"Right."

The five-hundred-mile area might not seem large, but it was still difficult for just the two of them to search carefully.

After all, the Curved Blade Alliance would have chosen an extremely well-hidden lair.

Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling continued their careful search. They occasionally encountered magic beasts, but Dongbo Xueying could briefly reach Silver Moon Knight-level strength when he unleashed his power, and his spear technique was formidable, so they were able to hold their ground. After all, magic beasts above Tier 3 rarely appeared in the outer areas.

"Whoo, whoo, whoo~~~"

In the shadowy mountain forest, the snow never melted, and the air was thick with cold.

Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling moved quietly through the area, scouting for traces of the Curved Blade Alliance.

"Hm?" Dongbo Xueying's ears twitched. He lowered his voice. "Uncle Zong, let's check over there." He pointed toward a high ridge in the distance.

"Did you spot something?" Zong Ling asked as he quietly followed Dongbo Xueying toward it.

"You'll see."

Dongbo Xueying carefully climbed up the ridge.

Zong Ling climbed up after him. The two of them cautiously peeked over the top and looked into the distance.

A vast lake stretched out before them, beautiful as a giant emerald. Beside it lounged a huge pack of snow-white wolves. They were everywhere, in twos and threes, some lowering their heads to drink, others half-reclining on the grass by the water. At a glance, there seemed to be two or three hundred of them! They were much bigger than Black-scaled Jackals, each one comparable in size to a Frost-Flying Magic Beast Colt. Their fur was snowy white, sleek, and rather beautiful.

"Silver Moon Wolves!" Zong Ling swallowed hard, his face paling.

"And there's a Wolf King!" Dongbo Xueying watched the largest Silver Moon Wolf, reclining by the water in the distance. More than ten noticeably larger Silver Moon Wolves surrounded it.

"I didn't expect to actually run into a Silver Moon Wolf King." Dongbo Xueying grinned wryly.

"Let's go. We can't fight them. We don't stand a chance," Zong Ling said, shaking his head.

Dongbo Xueying kept watching.

That was right.

They didn't stand a chance!

The Silver Moon Wolves were Tier 3 magic beasts, and their size alone showed how much larger they were than Black-scaled Jackals! They were also incredibly powerful when they charged. Each one weighed eight thousand pounds, and when it sprinted, its impact must have reached tens of thousands of pounds. How fierce! Dongbo Xueying could easily sweep four or five Black-scaled Jackals aside with one swing of his spear. But Silver Moon Wolves? He could probably only knock one aside! And there were two or three hundred of them. Even three or five Meteor Knights wouldn't be able to hold them back.

And then there was the strongest of them all, the Silver Moon Wolf King!

"I could use my footwork to dodge and try to face only a few Silver Moon Wolves at a time," Dongbo Xueying thought. "But with the Wolf King leading and directing them, it won't go as smoothly as I imagine. If anything goes wrong and I get surrounded, there'll be no escaping."

"Let's go!" Dongbo Xueying decided to give up.

He'd spent some time in the Destruction Mountain Range and understood how terrifying these magic beasts could be. If he fought the entire Silver Moon Wolf Pack now, his chances of success would be less than one in ten, while the odds of dying were seven or eight in ten!

It wasn't worth the risk.

Three more days passed in the blink of an eye.

Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling kept up their arduous search for the Curved Blade Alliance's lair.

"The Curved Blade Alliance sure knows how to hide," Dongbo Xueying said through gritted teeth. Half a month had already passed, and they'd searched the five-hundred-mile area roughly twice.

"They're afraid, too. They don't want their lair discovered," Zong Ling said with a smile. "Xue Ying, you still need to learn patience. When I, Uncle Tong, and your parents searched for a treasure back then, we spent more than three months looking."

"Did you find it?" Dongbo Xueying asked.

"No," Zong Ling replied.

"You didn't?" Dongbo Xueying was startled. He'd assumed Uncle Zong had brought it up because they'd found something valuable.

Zong Ling smiled. "What, are you surprised? Did you think people were guaranteed to find treasure just because they searched for it? Most things in this world don't go the way people want."

Dongbo Xueying nodded slightly.

The words stirred something in him.

Things in this world rarely went as one hoped.

In many areas, such as managing the territory's finances or various cultivation techniques, he considered himself far more capable than Uncle Zong and the others. But when it came to life lessons, he still had a lot to learn.

The two of them continued their search.

Just then—

A small, hazy gray, four-legged beast stood on a tree branch, watching Dongbo Xueying and Zong Ling below.

The two of them hadn't noticed it at all.

With a light leap, the four-legged beast silently landed on another tree and continued watching them. Even Dongbo Xueying, with his keen senses, hadn't noticed a thing.

It had a streamlined body, about the same size as a Black-scaled Jackal.

But its coat was as smooth as satin, and it could create an illusion that made its body seem like a shadow.

This was a terrifying predator—a Tier 5 magic beast, the Shadow Leopard.

The Shadow Leopard was extremely dangerous. It moved through the shadows without a sound, and by the time it bared its fangs, its target was usually already dead! It was one of the top predators in the Destruction Mountain Range.

The legendary Tier 6 Magic Beast, the Shadow Leopard King, was even more fearsome. It could merge its entire body with the shadows, becoming invisible even to people staring straight at it!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

The Shadow Leopard crept closer in silence, carefully watching the young man in black.

As a top predator, it could sense that the young man in black posed a far greater threat than the silver-haired snake-man beside him. If it killed the young man in one strike, the rest would be easy.

"Whoosh!"

A killing intent flashed in the Shadow Leopard's dark eyes, and it suddenly sprang forward.

A gray blur!

It was too fast.

Even Dongbo Xueying at his top speed couldn't match the Shadow Leopard. Its terrifying speed was enough to give even Silver Moon-Rank Knights a headache.

"Hm?" Dongbo Xueying had been walking alongside Uncle Zong when his expression suddenly changed. The hair all over his body stood on end, and his heart clenched.

"Die!"

Dongbo Xueying had no time to turn around. He lunged forward, with no time for any other defensive move. All he could do was thrust the butt of his spear behind him as he moved! The thrust carried immense force. It would have stopped an ordinary Tier 4 magic beast, but this time he was facing a Tier 5 Shadow Leopard, a beast adept at ambushes!

The Shadow Leopard's claws struck the spear shaft Dongbo Xueying had thrust behind him, pressing it down. Using the rebound, it followed through with a vicious swipe across his back. A terrifying force surged into his body, sending him tumbling forward despite himself.

"Bang!"

As its claws struck the spear shaft, Dongbo Xueying, a master of the Spear Technique Master, naturally used the force to his advantage. His spear spun a hundred and eighty degrees and struck the Shadow Leopard in midair before it could dodge. Although he was flying forward, he still forced himself to twist and strike with all his strength. The sweeping blow was immensely powerful.

The Shadow Leopard slammed onto the ground, but its boneless body instantly absorbed the impact and darted backward.

As Dongbo Xueying fell toward the ground, he flipped in midair and landed in a crouch, clutching his spear as he glared at the Shadow Leopard in the distance. Pain throbbed in his back, and his internal organs shook. Blood welled up in his mouth.

"Ptooey." Dongbo Xueying spat out the blood. His teeth were stained red as he stared at the Shadow Leopard.