When the two returned to where they had left Fourth Brother, they found him groaning in agony, arrows sticking out of his chest and leg. Rage burned through them.
But just as they were about to rush forward, pairs of eyes suddenly lit up in the surrounding bushes, each glowing a sinister green.
There were more than a dozen pairs!
"Not good! It's a Nether Wolf Pack! Run!"
Jiang Yi's scalp prickled. He made the decision at once.
They didn't even have time to carry off Fourth Brother, who could no longer move. They turned and ran!
"Boss! Save me! Please, save me!"
Fourth Brother's desperate screams were soon drowned out by the pack's savage tearing and crunching.
The sounds rang out for a hundred meters. Even Ye Feng, already far away, couldn't help shivering.
Jiang Yi and Second Brother didn't escape unscathed, either.
Part of the pack broke off and chased them relentlessly.
A bloody battle erupted. Second Brother was the weaker fighter, and seven or eight Nether Wolves, each with a hundred years of cultivation, quickly tore him to pieces.
Only Jiang Yi, their leader, managed to escape. He was, after all, a Soul Elder above level thirty, and his third Soul Ring was a thousand-year one. At the cost of severe injuries and nearly exhausting his Soul Power, he fought his way out, escaping with wounds all over his body.
Leaning against a tree, he gulped in great breaths. Before he could feel the relief of surviving, a quiet voice sounded from ahead of him.
"Heh, truly a display of unmatched valor," the voice said, punctuating the words with a round of applause.
Jiang Yi jerked his head up. The young man he wanted to eat alive and sleep in the skin of stood before him, arms folded, blocking his way with an air of leisure.
"You... you little brat! You dare show your face!"
Jiang Yi's throat was hoarse, but the venom in his voice went bone-deep.
"Today, I'll take your life if it's the last thing I do!"
"Tsk, what big talk."
Ye Feng pursed his lips and walked toward him, one step at a time.
"How much Soul Power do you have left? With those injuries, how much strength can you still muster? How are you going to fight me?"
Golden light flashed over Ye Feng as his Radiant Body activated again. Brimming with formidable force, he charged straight at Jiang Yi!
The most primitive kind of battle erupted in an instant!
Their fists landed flesh against flesh!
Jiang Yi was horrified. How could this kid's strength and physical toughness be a cut above those of an ordinary Soul Master?
If Jiang Yi's Soul Power Level weren't higher, the kid would have knocked him flat already!
But now, his Soul Power was spent and he was badly injured. Every punch tugged at his wounds, and his strength was rapidly draining away.
"Get lost!"
Jiang Yi summoned the last of his potential and threw every ounce of strength into a punch, forcing Ye Feng back several meters. Then, without hesitation, he turned and ran!
Ye Feng steadied himself and watched Jiang Yi's battered figure flee. Unhurriedly, he picked up the hard bow from the ground.
"Tsk, no wonder he's a Soul Elder. Even badly injured, he can still unleash that kind of power."
If you were at full strength, I really wouldn't dare trade blows with you.
He drew the bowstring, nocked his last Wolf-Tooth Arrow, and took aim at the figure stumbling through the woods.
"Too bad. With your Soul Power spent, you're no different from an ordinary person."
The bowstring twanged softly.
The arrow flew.
Jiang Yi's running body suddenly jolted. An arrowhead protruded from the back of his head. He stumbled forward twice, then collapsed helplessly to the ground.
Ye Feng walked over and made sure he was dead. Then, with practiced ease, he searched the corpse and took the money pouch.
He weighed the few heavy pouches in his hand. Without stopping for even a moment, he turned and vanished into the dark forest.
Back beneath the familiar giant tree, Ye Feng felt as if all his strength had been drained away. He leaned against the rough trunk and slid to the ground.
Only after confirming that there were no more signs of danger nearby did he let out a long breath.
As soon as his taut nerves relaxed, exhaustion and pain surged over him like a tide.
He grabbed the water flask hanging on the wall and tipped it back, taking two long gulps. The cool liquid slid down his throat, slightly easing the burning sensation in his body.
After resting for a while, he took out all the pouches he had looted from the bandits.
Three heavy bags spilled onto the ground. Golden Soul Coins and scattered silver coins mingled together, glimmering invitingly in the dim hollow of the tree.
Ye Feng didn't complain. He counted them carefully, one by one.
Seven hundred and twelve Gold Soul Coins.
Tsk, they were so poor!
A Soul Elder above level thirty with four Soul Masters, and their entire Soul Hunting team couldn't even scrape together a thousand Gold Soul Coins.
What a miserable lot.
Pursing his lips, he gathered up all the coins and stuffed them into his shirt along with the six hundred Gold Soul Coins he'd earned earlier from selling the lion.
One thousand three hundred and twelve Gold Soul Coins.
He weighed the heft against his chest. For the first time, he felt truly well-off. He was practically a little rich man.
But he'd earned this money at far too great a risk.
His original plan had been to hunt a few more Soul Beasts around the forest's outskirts and earn money to fund his cultivation. Now, it was clear that plan was completely unworkable.
His successful counterattack had been pure luck.
The chaos of the beast tide had hidden his tracks, and the Nether Wolf Pack's appearance had helped him even more.
Once the beast tide died down and the forest returned to normal, if he were targeted by another group of desperadoes, he might truly find himself with no way out.
This bloody lesson had given Ye Feng a real taste of how dangerous and cruel this world was.
He didn't feel the slightest guilt about the five men who had died by his hand.
The strong preyed on the weak. That was the most fundamental law of the world.
The only thing they'd done wrong was lack strength and luck.
If Ye Feng had been in their shoes, he would have attacked without hesitation for those six hundred Gold Soul Coins.
Greed was a sin, but excessive greed was a one-way road to death.
He'd already gotten more than enough out of this. If he stayed any longer, he would only put himself in greater danger.
Too many people in the town had seen him. There was no guarantee that someone with ulterior motives wouldn't target him again.
By then, it would be too late to leave.
Having made up his mind, Ye Feng wasted no more time.
He packed up the few pounds of dried Soul Beast meat stored in the hollow, then carefully checked the hard bow on his back and the Short Sword at his waist.
Everything was ready.
Using the sparse moonlight filtering through the trees to get his bearings, he set off at a swift pace toward Nuoding City.
More than half a month later.
A somewhat bedraggled figure appeared at the gates of Nuoding City.
Ye Feng was travel-worn, with exhaustion from the long journey written all over him. He was covered in dust.
He went straight to a reasonably clean inn in the city and rented a room.
After a thorough wash, he threw away the tattered clothes stained with blood and dirt and changed into a new black outfit he had bought.
He looked completely refreshed and much more alert.
Now that he was a Soul Master, it was time to take care of business.
That monthly allowance of one Gold Soul Coin was no small sum. He might as well claim it.
He pushed open the door and headed straight for the Spirit Hall Branch without pausing.
He knew the way by heart and soon arrived at the familiar building.
"Well, Xiao Feng, you're here!"
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