Gu Yue looked around. A sweep of the breeze gave her a general sense of the surroundings.
"Seventeen in total." Her gaze darted through the mist. "Three Golden Wolves, twelve Silver Wolves, and—"
Her words caught in her throat. Was this something their group could handle?
Something tore through the mist.
A gigantic wolf, silver-white from head to tail, emerged from the shadows. It stood nearly two meters tall at the shoulder, moonlight-like radiance rippling across its fur, and a silver crescent mark gleamed on its forehead.
Behind it, twelve Silver Wolves and four Golden Wolves spread out in a fan, their eerie green eyes glowing like lanterns in the dark.
Silver Wolves, descended from the Silver Moon Wolf King.
A thousand-year Soul Beast.
"Golden Wolves have powerful physiques, while Silver Wolves excel at controlling elements." Gu Yue's voice was unusually tense.
"Classic frontline tanks and backline damage dealers," Xiao Mu said. "But as long as it's not a 999, we should be able to take them."
"What about the wolf king?" Xie Xie couldn't help asking.
"What do you think? It's the commander, obviously," Xiao Mu explained. "That Silver Moon Wolf has mastered at least six elements: earth, water, fire, wind, light, and darkness."
The Silver Moon Wolf King raised its head and let out a long howl. The sound wave exploded through the forest, scattering the thin mist.
The twelve Silver Wolves growled in unison, elemental light gathering in their mouths—fireballs, ice spikes, and wind blades, packed tightly together.
"Its elemental control is better than Gu Yue's!" Xiao Mu's force field spread out, silently neutralizing every attack and absorbing all the kinetic and thermal energy.
"What do you mean, its elemental control is better than mine? How is it better than mine?" Gu Yue protested outright. Wasn't this control exactly the same as hers?
"Come on, you've got brains and wisdom. If you use the same attacks as them, doesn't that make you look weak?" Xiao Mu said nonchalantly.
"Damn it..."
"Are you getting worked up?"
Gu Yue glared at Xiao Mu. Her Soul Ring lit up, and four elements—wind, fire, water, and earth—gathered in her palm, spinning into a four-colored sphere.
"Watch closely. I'll show you what real control looks like."
The four-colored sphere shot from her hand and slammed into the middle of the pack.
Fire rode the wind, water bolstered the earth. The four elements collided and exploded, and the shock wave sent three Silver Wolves tumbling through the air. Their fur was scorched, their bodies frozen in ice, and they were left in a sorry state.
"Isn't that what you're supposed to do? What's there to brag about?" Xiao Mu said bluntly.
Just then, the Silver Moon Wolf King attacked.
The silver mark on its forehead suddenly blazed. An earthen wall roared up, blocking Gu Yue's Elemental Storm. Then water elements gathered, and ice spikes shot from behind the wall like a torrential downpour. Bolstered by wind, they flew as fast as bullets.
Light flashed, blinding everyone. Dark elements lurked in the shadows, like venomous snakes flicking their tongues.
"Look at that. There are even two dog heads on the earthen wall," Xiao Mu said, watching it.
"Xiao Mu, those are wolf heads," Xie Xie reminded him.
"They look about the same," Xiao Mu said, stepping forward as his force field spread around him.
"Na'er, you and I will take on the wolf king. Wang Jinxi, Zhang Yangzi, Tang Wulin, Wei Xiaofeng, you four take on the Golden Wolves. Gu Yue, Xie Xie, you handle the Silver Wolves. Xu Xiaoyan, provide control."
The silver mark on the Silver Moon Wolf King's forehead suddenly blazed. Earth elements surged beneath its feet, and an earthen wall roared up, its surface bulging into the grotesque shapes of two wolf heads.
It leaped out from behind the wall, six elements swirling around it like a colorful aura.
Wind gathered beneath its feet, sending it forward as fast as a silver bolt of lightning. It lunged straight at Xiao Mu, jaws opening as it fired a fireball and an ice spike at the same time, one red and one blue, spiraling together.
Xiao Mu didn't move.
His First Soul Ring lit up, and the force field shifted.
The fireball and ice spike suddenly twisted off course, as though they had struck an invisible mirror, and ricocheted to either side. The fireball slammed into the treetops, setting the branches ablaze. The ice spike buried itself in the ground and burst into a patch of white frost.
The wolf king's pupils contracted. It couldn't figure out what had happened, and earth elements churned rapidly around it.
"Trying to run? Take this!" Xiao Mu planted his foot on the ground. The earth abruptly surged upward as rocks and soil churned under his vector control, gathering into a curved earthen wall that sealed off the wolf king's escape in the blink of an eye.
The wall's surface was rough, like a mountain that had suddenly grown out of the ground.
The wolf king crashed into it, six elements flashing around its body. It opened its mouth, and a dark orb gathered in its throat before shooting straight at the wall.
The earthen wall exploded.
But Na'er's Silver Dragon Spear had already struck.
The spearpoint thrust through the smoke, its silver-eyed wielder's gaze icy. The wolf king leaped sideways, wind elements bolstering it, and moved so fast it left an afterimage.
It landed, and the silver mark on its forehead blazed again. Light elements erupted, and a blinding white flash burst through the forest, making it impossible to keep one's eyes open.
"Airflow Manipulation."
Xiao Mu's first Soul Skill changed again. Air whirled around him, refracting and scattering the intense light. The white glow dimmed abruptly, as though something had swallowed it.
The wolf king's eyes widened.
Before it could react, gravity suddenly doubled. Its four paws sank into the soil, and its nearly three-meter-tall body was forced low. Its spine groaned under the unbearable strain.
"Subdue it. Help me out, and this'll be over soon! Feeling dizzy is normal."
Xiao Mu smiled as the downward pressure grew even more terrifying.
Na'er reacted swiftly, raising the Silver Dragon Spear high. A moonlight-like radiance gathered at its tip as she thrust straight at the Silver Moon Wolf King.
The wolf king struggled, unleashing all six elements at once. Earthen walls sprouted wildly from the ground, while water elements formed a storm of ice spikes. Fireballs, wind blades, light blades, and dark orbs filled the air—a wild carnival of elements.
Seeing this, Xiao Mu shifted his force field again. Every attack's trajectory twisted at once. Fireballs crashed into wind blades, light blades collided with dark orbs, and ice spikes pierced the earthen wall.
The elements collided in midair, bursting into a dazzling fireworks display, but none came within three meters of Xiao Mu and Na'er.
"Finished," Xiao Mu said.
Na'er stepped forward, and the Silver Dragon Spear pierced the wolf king's throat. The spearpoint emerged from the back of its neck, drawing a spray of dark-red blood.
The wolf king's body gradually stiffened. The light of its six elements went out bit by bit, like fireflies scattered by the wind, fading into the air.
It fell with a thunderous crash, sending dust billowing into the air.
On the other side, the battle was also nearing its end.
Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Claw tore open the chest of the last Golden Wolf, while Wang Jinxi's Bone Dragon Claw smashed another's skull.
Gu Yue's Elemental Storm sent several Silver Wolves tumbling at once. Xie Xie drove his Light Dragon Dagger into the back of a Silver Wolf, delivering the final blow.
Xu Xiaoyan stood at the back of the group, swinging her Ice Staff. An Ice Wheel sailed through the air and slammed into a Silver Wolf's head, leaving it dazed.
Zhang Yangzi seized the chance to strike with his Eagle Claw, and the Silver Wolf fell with a howl.
Specks of spiritual energy drifted up from the corpses, so dense they looked like an entire field of fireflies rising into the air.
Xiao Mu looked around. All nine of them were there, without a single casualty.
Finally, he turned his gaze to the Silver Moon Wolf's corpse, hoping to see whether it had dropped anything good.
He had no idea what part of the body the Silver Moon Wolf Soul Bone would come from.
The wolf king's corpse gradually faded, transforming into a much larger surge of spiritual energy that flowed into Xiao Mu and Na'er before disappearing completely.
"Where's my reward? Where's my Soul Bone!"